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School market magic
Private schools fill needs, but which ones?
By The Economist | WASHINGTON
THE blogosphere, including Free Exchange, has been actively debating school voucher programmes of late, in a long and complicated discussion I've been reluctant to enter. The debate has suffered, I believe, from its constant reflection on the District of Columbia as a test case. Washington schools have been so wretched for so long that practically any new system would seem to be an improvement, allowing defenders of any new program to suggest their opponents prefer the status quo. In fact no one, not even the dreaded teachers unions, who fight tooth and nail to protect their own jobs, prefers the status quo. Like everyone else, they prefer a high performing system in which they're costlessly made better off.
I was interested to see this contribution to the discussion, however, made by Tim Lee at the American Scene and responding to Matt Yglesias, and other bloggers who suggest that voucher programmes could not improve the lot of most students, because supply is too limited. To this Mr Lee writes:
It seems blindingly obvious to me that "handing a voucher to every family in DC" is precisely the policy most likely to "increase the supply of schools that do a good job of educating poor children." I mean look, in any other part of the economy, we have these people called "entrepreneurs" that see an unmet need, find a way to meet that need, attract paying customers, and thereby build a successful business. What makes entrepreneurship possible is a large pool of potential paying customers. The larger the potential market, the more entrepreneurs you're likely to attract.
The author is indisputably correct that a widely adopted voucher programme would spur entry into the private education market. Where I fear he goes wrong is in suggesting that this will significantly increase the supply of schools that "do a good job of educating poor people." This betrays a real misunderstanding of the way that markets actually function.
Entrepreneurs are not interested in maximising quality (though happily, they sometimes do). If they were, we could safely eliminate all of our regulatory agencies, and I'd never have to see another Ann Coulter text on the shelves of my local bookshop. Entrepreneurs are interested in maximising profit, and in order for this desire to result in the creation of good educational outcomes, a number of conditions must be in place. First, parents and students must demand schools providing good educations to poor students, and second, parents and students must be willing and able to inform themselves of which schools actually do a good job providing those educations. I would think that if those conditions were in place, we wouldn't need to be having this discussion.
Now, many poor parents and students are willing to do their utmost to find the best schools and get their children into them. For those individuals, vouchers may be quite useful. For other families, the most attractive school might be the closest one, or the one with the best food, or the one with dominant athletic programmes, or (for busy or disinterested parents) the one with the longest school hours, or one simply chosen at random. In a voucher program, there is money to be made providing these options, and entrepreneurs will provide them.
A local government might then attempt to fix the problem by requiring all private schools to meet certain educational standards, but such a regulation will deter entry, especially if educating poor children is hard and expensive, which it is. This would certainly leave room available for the lowest cost private provider of good educational outcomes to expand, but for how long? Successful private schools have good teachers and excellent students, but as those schools expand the supply of both runs thin. Private schools can't spread the talent around too much, or those parents demanding the best will move their children to places that aren't expanding, depriving the former high performing schools of their best students. If the secret to school success isn't the method but the presence of concerned parents and students, then the private market falls flat on its face. Private schools aren't able to share the wealth on a grand scale, because there's choice in the market, and there will be constant exit at the top.
I think that the key to creating good schools is ensuring that all of them, public or private, enjoy a critical mass of concerned parents and quality students. Concerned parents exercise an oversight and involvement function displaying positive externalities--students without interested parents benefit from the involvement of other kids' interested parents. Quality students have a similar effect, by raising the level of instruction, increasing classroom expectations and the economies for resumé building activities. In a private market, desirable parents and teachers have an incentive to congregate together, in order to reduce free-riding by low-performing families, thus undermining the voucher system.
As a result, I suspect the best thing that the District and other struggling school systems could do would be to offer subsidies to families with high-performing students who attend public schools. This would be politically difficult, since the recipients of those subsidies would tend to have higher than average incomes. On the other hand, the plan would immediately raise classroom standards and school accountability. Plus, you could reduce the subsidy over time; once a critical mass of highly-involved families is attending public schools, the process is self-perpetuating. Is it the best solution? I don't know. I do know that failure to support it represents a preference for the status quo.
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Wacky Waldo's gathering supports Vero Beach lifeguards
Now in its third year at Waldo's Restaurant on Ocean Drive, the Barefoot Beach Ball is part formal affair and part beach party with the proceeds benefiting the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association.
The event draws an eclectic crowd with guests dressed in attire ranging from chic to shorts and flip flops. The fashion police was on full alert.
The emphasis was on fun, but the lifeguards were working overtime keeping an eye on the beach-goers, while also taking part in the evening's entertainment.
The hallmark of the event -- the sunset conga line into the Atlantic Ocean -- drew scores of dancers who end up running fully clothed into the water.
Waldo's Manager Lee Olsen said this year's ball was the best yet.
"We couldn't have done it without the Peter W. Busch Family Foundation," he said. "They were our primary sponsor, purchasing the first 150 tickets so that families could come for free. We're also very grateful to those who bought the remainder of the tickets."
VBLA Board President Erik Toomsoo was impressed by the turnout.
"We'd like to thank everyone in the community who came out to support the lifeguards because we protect the beaches and that's what it's all about," he said. "We appreciate it."

subset: commoncrawl


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Engagement is an auspicious occasion as it is the laying stone for a successful and eternal romantic journey. When it comes to buying the engagement rings, most women are sure about what they are looking for. However, a lot of men find it extremely hard to select a ring for their own. Even if you are imitating Harrison Ford or Javier Bardem with their exquisite diamond wedding bands, chances are that they do not go well with you or you might not get comfortable wearing them. So if you are tying the nuptial knots, here are some things to keep in mind for selecting the right diamond rings for you –
- The first thing to keep in mind before selecting the right diamond ring for you is the style you are looking for. Although like the ladies, you won't cherish a huge diamond or precious stone, there are various engagement rings available for men that are stylish and classy that you can choose from. You can choose from a simple band to a studded, hammered or textured design, depending upon your taste.
- If you are looking for a simpler design, you can go for wedding bands as they can never go out of fashion. There are various wedding bands that you can select from depending upon your preference. You can opt for a wedding band with a golden tinge or something more exquisite having rigged edges.
- Another consideration would be your type of work and activities that you undertake. For instance, if you are someone who is into outdoors activities and involve working outdoors, select a strong and scratch resistant metal such as tungsten or titanium. It is recommended not to go for a ring that is too flashy or too loose.
- The choice of metal also plays an important role in choosing the right ring for you. Platinum is the metal which is most popular these days, however, it can be a little expensive when compared to other metals. Other popular metals include white gold, titanium, palladium, tungsten and silver.
Weddings are made in heaven but every bit of them are planned and executed here on earth. Wedding ring is one of those things that generally remain with you for a lifetime. Find the best jewelry stores and select the best ring for you.


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Even with the prevalence of universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) peripherals on microcontrollers (MCUs), bit banged UART algorithms are still used. The reasons for this vary from application to application. Sometimes it is simply because more UARTs are needed than the selected device provides. Maybe application or layout restrictions require certain pins to be used for the UART functions but the device does not route UART pins to the required package pins. Maybe the application requires a non-standard or proprietary UART scheme.
Whatever the reason, there are applications where a bit banged UART is used and is typically a pure software implementation (a timer is used and the MCU core controls a GPIO pin directly). A better alternative may be to use Flextimer (FTM) or Timer/PWM Module (TPM) to take advantage of the features of these peripherals and possibly offload the CPU. This document will explain and provide a sample application of how to emulate a UART using the FTM or TPM peripheral. A Kinetis SDK example (for the TWR-K22F120M and FRDM-K22F platforms) and a baremetal legacy code example (for the FRDM-KL26Z) are provided here.
Before creating an application to emulate a UART, the UART protocol and encoding must be understood. The UART protocol is an asynchronous protocol that typically includes a start bit, payload (of 7-10 data bits), and a stop bit but does allow for many variations on the number of stop bits and what/how to transfer the data. For this document and application example, the focus will be UART transmission that follows 1 start bit, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, and no flow control. The data will be transmitted least significant bit (LSB) first. The following image is a block diagram of this transmission.
However, this doesn't specify what the transmission looks like electrically. The figure below shows a screenshot of an oscilloscope capture of a UART transmission. The data transmitted is 0x55 or a "U" in the ASCII representation.
Notice that the transmission line is initially a logic high, and then transitions low to signal the start of the transmission. The transmission line must stay low for one bit width for the receiver to detect it. Then there are 8 data bits, followed by 1 stop bit. In the case shown above, the data bits are 0x55 or 0b0101_0101. Remember that the transmissions are sent LSB first, so the screenshot shows 1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0. The last transition high marks the beginning of the stop bit and the line remains in that state until the start of the next transmission. The receiver, being asynchronous, does not require any type of identifying transition to mark the end of the stop bit.
The first question many may ask when beginning a project like this is "How do I configure the FTM/TPM when emulating a UART". The answer to this depends on the aspect of this problem you are trying to solve. Transmitting and receiving characters require two different configurations. Transmission requires a configuration that manipulates the output pin at specific points in time. Receiving characters requires a configuration that samples the receive pin and measures the time between pin transitions. The FTM and TPM have the modes listed in the following table:
The FTM and TPM have four different modes that manipulate an output: Output compare (no pulse), Output compare (with pulse), Edge-aligned PWM, and Center-aligned PWM. Neither PWM mode is ideal for the requirements of the application. This is because the PWM modes are designed to produce a continuous waveform and are always going to return to the initialized state once during the cycle of the waveform. However, the UART protocol may have continuous 1's or 0's in the data without pin transitions between them.
The output compare mode (high-true or low-true pulse modes) is designed to only manipulate the pin once, and only produces pulses that are one FTM/TPM clock cycle in duration. So this is obviously not desirable for the application. The output compare mode (Set/Clear/Toggle on match) is promising. This mode manipulates the output pin every cycle. There are three different options: clear output on match, set output on match, and toggle output on match. Neither "clear output on match" nor "set output on match" are ideal as either would require configuration changes during the transmission of a character. The "toggle output on match", however, can be used and is the selected configuration mode for this sample application.
To receive characters, there is only one mode that is intuitive: "the input capture mode". This mode records the timer count value on an edge transition of the selected input pin. Similar to the output compare mode chosen for the transmit functionality, the input capture mode has three sub-modes: capture on rising edge, capture of falling edge, and capture on either edge. It is clear from the descriptions that capture on either edge should be selected.
The selection of the FTM/TPM mode is moderately intuitive, but using this mode to emulate a UART transmission is not. There are two issues that make this a little tricky.
1) The output pin is initialized low. However, the UART protocol needs the pin to begin in a logical high state.
2) The pin transitions on every cycle provided the channel value is less than the value of the MOD register. Due to continuous strings of 1's or 0's, it is necessary to have periods where the pin does not transition.
Both of these points have workarounds.
For the first issue, the channel interrupt is first enabled and the channel value register is loaded with a value much less than the value in the MOD register. Then in the channel interrupt service routine, the pin is sampled to ensure that it is in the logic high state and the channel interrupt is disabled (and will not be re-enabled throughout the life of the application). The code for this interrupt service routine is as follows.
For the second issue, a method of not transitioning the pin value while allowing the timer to continue counting normally is necessary. The Output Compare mode uses the channel value register to determine when the pin transition occurs. If a value greater than MOD is written to the channel value register, the channel value will never match the count register and thus, a pin transition will never occur. So, when a series of continuous 1's or 0's need to be transmitted, a value greater than the value in the MOD register can be written to the channel value register to keep the output pin in its current state. However, when a value greater than MOD is written to the channel value register, no channel match will occur (which means channel interrupts will not occur). So the timer overflow interrupt must be used to continue writing values. This requires the updates to be output pin to be planned ahead of time and makes the transmission algorithm a little tricky. The following diagram displays when which values should be written to the channel value register at which points in time to generate the appropriate pulses.
Writing a function to translate a number into the appropriate series of MOD/2 and MOD+1 values can be a little tricky. To do this, we must first notice that MOD/2 needs to be written when changes on the transmission pin are need and MOD+1 needs to be written when pin transmissions are not desired. So, what logical function can we use to determine when a change has happened? XOR is the correct answer. So what two values need to be XOR'd together? One value is obviously the value that we want to send. But what is the second value? It turns out that the second value is a shifted version of the value that we want to send. Specifically, the second value is the desired value to send shifted to the left by one. (You can think of it as sort of a "future" value of the desired value). The following pictures show how to determine the queue to use for the transmission.
The receive functionality has an advantage over the transmit functions in that it is possible to use DMA for the reception of characters. This is because the receive function takes advantage of the input capture functionality of the FTM / TPM and therefore can use the channel match interrupt. The example application provided with this document implements a DMA method and a non-DMA method for reception. First, the non-DMA method will be discussed. Before discussing the specifics of gathering the input pulse widths, some details of the receive pin need to be discussed.
The receive pin needs to be able to determine when the start of the packet transmission begins. To do this, the receive pin is configured as an FTM / TPM pin. At the same time, the GPIO interrupt functionality is configured on the same pin for a falling edge interrupt. The GPIO interrupt capabilities are enabled in any digital mode, so the GPIO interrupt will still be able to be routed to the Nested Vector Interrupt Controller (NVIC). The pin interrupt is used to start the FTM / TPM clock when a new character reception begins. In the GPIO interrupt for this pin, the FTM / TPM counter register is reset and the clock to the FTM / TPM is turned on. The code for the GPIO interrupt service routine is shown below.
Now, when receiving characters and not using DMA, the first thing to understand is that the Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) will be used and it will mainly be used to record the captured count values. The interrupt service routine also tracks the current receive character length and resets the counter register. This is so that the values in the receive queue reflect the time since the last pin transition. The interrupt function for the non-DMA application is shown below.
Notice that the first two actions in the ISR are resetting the count register, and clearing the channel event interrupt flag. Then the channel value is stored in the receive pulse width array (this is simply an array that holds the receive pulse widths of the current character being received). Next, recvQueueLength, the variable which holds the current length of the character being received, is updated to reflect the latest character length. The next step is to determine if the full character has been received. This is determined by comparing recvQueueLength to the RECV_QUEUE_THRESH, which is the threshold as determined by multiplying the number of expected bits by the expected bit width plus another bit width (for the start bit). If the recvQueueLength is greater than the RECV_QUEUE_THRESH, then a semaphore is set, recvdChar, to indicate that a full character has been received. The FTM / TPM clock is turned off, and the pin interrupt functionality of the receive pin is enabled. The final step in the interrupt routine is to increment the receive queue index, recvQueueIndex. This variable points to the current entry in the receive queue array.
When using DMA, the receive FTM / TPM interrupt is much different. The interrupt routine simply needs to clear the channel interrupt flag, stop the FTM / TPM timer, disable the DMA channel, and set the received character semaphore. The character is then decoded outside of the interrupt routine. The interrupt function when using DMA is shown below:
Once the array of pulse widths has been populated, the received character needs to be translated into a single number. This varies slightly when using DMA and when not using DMA. However, the basic principle is the same. The number of bits in a single entry is determined by dividing by the expected bit width and this is translated into a temporary array that contains 1's and 0's, and then that is used to shift in the appropriate number of 1's and 0's into the returned char variable. A temporary array is needed because the values are shifted into the UART LSB first, so the bit must be physically flipped from the first entry to the last. There is no logical operation that will do this automatically. The algorithm to perform this translation is shown below. In this algorithm, note that recvPulseWidth is the array that contains the raw count value of the pulse width. The array tempRxChar holds the decoded character in reverse order and rxChar is a char variable that holds the received character.
This document provides an overview of the UART protocol and describes a method for creating a software UART using the timing features of the FTM or TPM peripheral. This method allows for accurate timing and while not relying entirely on the CPU and the latency associated with the interrupt and the GPIO pins. The receive function is open to further optimization by using DMA, which can provide further unloading of the CPU.


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A quick reference guide to Glitter Girl's scrapbooking adventures
I know I'm dreadfully behind at keeping up with Glitter Girl's adventures here. She has eighty-seven episodes now! She has never missed a week since starting her Wednesday videos at Two Peas and YouTube at the beginning of 2012. Now, I definitely have plans to get that Glitter Girl archive up to date here soon, but I've also had some requests for a sort of quick guide that would allow you to jump right to the project you need. With that many videos, it's easy to get them muddled in my mind, and I have to help that Glitter Girl person film and edit them every week! They display at Two Peas and YouTube with a sneak peek thumbnail and the titles are a little less than straight forward sometimes, so it's time for a simple guide that includes the full layouts and a description of each episode.
You can find exactly that now on Glitter Girl's pin board over at Pinterest. Each week's adventure will be added, so you're welcome to follow the board for updates if you like. Or just bookmark if it you tend to get stuck looking for an old adventure you remember but can't quite identify from titles and thumbnails. If you're more interested in catching the new videos each week rather than going through the archives, it may be best to subscribe to either my YouTube channel or the Two Peas channel. Glitter Girl's videos are hosted on the Two Peas channel, but they are also featured in a playlist on my channel, so both channels give subscribers a reminder link when the video is up each Wednesday!
I hope you find the pin board helpful, and Glitter Girl asked me to thank you for your ongoing support for the series!
Read more about: adventures-of-glitter-girl two-peas-in-a-bucket15 September 2013
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and developer guides
Attendees: Amir Chaudhry (chair), Thomas Gazagnaire, Thomas Leonard, Hannes Mehnert, Richard Mortier, Gabriel Radanne and Dave Scott
xl files — Last time, a patch was mentioned about better
.xl files.
There was some discussion on the PR (mirage/mirage#440), and this has now
been merged. There are still things to do as the deployment scripts will need
updating. The plan is to update the skeleton file for the unikernel rather
than the generic one. Some discussion that it might be useful to think about a
more generic skeleton framework for deployment — like the one we ended up with
for TravisCI. Dave will think about this but part of the process is to find
out where the abstractions should be made. A separate comment was that the
logic for Xen file generation might be better placed in a standalone library
related to the point below).
functoria — See mirage/mirage#441. The work on this is close to being ready but unfortunately the above xl patch meant that a lot of messy work is required before the functoria patch is ready to merge again (as it changes a lot of things internally to the mirage tool). Things are looking a lot tidier already though.
The goal is to integrate this fairly soon and the next release of the
command line tool will incorporate it. There are a three pull requests to
merge before this one and perhaps a fourth one too. Note that the whole engine
is in functoria so the mirage tool will have a new dependency.
In terms of impact on users, it's largely the same as before. There may be
changes to how things work with TLS and there will be much better ways to do
certain things. It's not really a huge, breaking change as most existing
config.ml files will work (although a few will need tweaking). Should be
ready to look at for merge before the next call. Gabriel will work on some new
examples that will help explain the differences, as well as a blog post.
Should also add a note to the breaking changes page for anything
that does need updating (as well as emailing the list).
We have a reasonably good toolchain that gets us from code push to deployable unikernel but one of the less clear pieces is how to set up and deploy to a Xen machine. We do have the current deployment scripts Mort put together but there's room for further simplification (Thomas also did some work to make them more parameterised). One way to think about this is to aim for a short post (<1000 words) that describes the three stages of local build, CI and deployment. Keeping it this short means we need to have enough automated infrastructure to point people at. As an example, we've already achieved this with the Travis skeleton scripts.
Ultimately, we agree that deploying to EC2 is important but a good first step would be to document (and to some extent, automate) our deployment on the current Bytemark machines. Dave has been looking at these machines anyway and it's a manual process to set things up appropriately. It would be great to improve what we have and there have been new RPMs for Xen released recently that can help with this.
Release numbering. Related to the functoria patch, we should consider our
release numbering and how things are related to each other. For example, the
mirage tool has a version number (and we use
V1 in the APIs), functoria
will be versioned, and the major MirageOS announcements also use numbers.
Question about work on DHCP servers but folks aren't around to answer.
The next call is scheduled for Wednesday, 23rd September, but it looks like we may need to shift the date. Please add any agenda items you wish to discuss in advance and refer to the mailing list for actual details a day or so in advance.


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Early in the K-12 school design process, when the ideas start to fly, there is a moment when it is important to pull back and reflect. Everyone is excited about the idea of a fancy new building or a cool redesign and they need to pause, take a breath, and continue the search for the best, most efficient ways to achieve the goals of the educators.
Typically, I don't like to get into a design discussion too soon in the process. We're better off spending time really focused on understanding the challenge, asking a lot of questions. The solution reaches a deeper level if you really hear what people are telling you, rather than hearing what you think they are telling you. You miss critical design parameters when you start trying to solve the problem too soon.
At LPA, our focus is designing from the inside out. Instead of first trying to design the building, let's start with the learning spaces, and then build on that to discover the best way to create the building. Start with the big idea of the school, focusing on the core purpose of the facility, and build from there. The learning spaces are the building blocks and we want to look at how they all fit together. But we can't really do that unless we truly understand how the space will be used and respond to the learning model.
There is a process to achieving that understanding, a collaborative effort essential to producing learning environments that deliver on the educators' goals. We think the biggest value that designers bring is really delving into the goals of the district and educators, and helping them define those goals clearly and realistically. If we can get inside the head of the teacher or administrator and pull out their aspirations, then we can reach a level of true understanding and find the best way to create a great learning institution.
The core of the process is a series of conversations. We get everybody is a room and start talking through the issues and listing the top priorities. From our perspective, it is about listening first and then coming in and working as a team, finding the conceptual ideas behind the learning space and how it should function.
This isn't a casual process. It's about really engaging in a conversation; not half-listening and then going off and trying to design. Architects often have the attitude that they've heard it all before. They hear part of the story and say, "Oh, yeah, we got it." But they've only scratched the surface.
The listening stage is the most important part of the process. It's where we really gain that awareness of what educators and administrators want to do and where they want to go. It's essential to allow enough time for this discovery to occur, rather than jumping too quickly into the design. If you actually listen, the best solution develops quickly and organically. The design addresses the core goals and uniquely responds to the future, saving everybody a lot of work and a lot of headaches.
There is no set list of questions; no road map that fits every situation. Every district and school is different. The designer must adapt to each client, and each discipline within the school. Digging below the surface means looking at how the spaces support the core curriculum might have different goals, but also might have commonalities that could be utilized to increase efficiency. It also requires discovering where the truly unique qualities of space are required.
Early on in the process, we like to discuss different examples with everybody, real projects that they can see in action. It allows us to ask more questions about the space. How does the space suit your goals? What works? What doesn't work? It's always a revelation to take educators to a space they like, so they can stand in it and really understand what the space is about and how it works. We get to see how they react and what they liked, gathering bits and pieces of information.
In those early conversations, we're always looking for clues and data points to mine down to the client's real goals. We want to learn about the dream, the ideas that they don't think are possible. Finding ambitious ideas for a space is a two-way process. We often like to bring a pad and sketch to use while we are talking, to help bring a visual representation to an idea.
As talks progress, we're always looking for any available research that is pertinent to the conversation. LPA has its own in-house research team, LPAred, but we want to cast a wide net for data that can address the goals of the facility. We want to determine early on if there are strategies or markers that can be established, which will help track and research the performance of the facility, giving everyone a clear indication of what works—and what doesn't.
At LPA, we've also started using virtual reality as a design tool—rather than a presentation strategy—which really helps the process. People put on the goggles and they immediately can see in 3D how the space works. They can virtually explore the nooks and crannies and see how the ideas will transform into a real environment. It's only a tool, but it's an important tool, helping to work through any issues before the concrete starts to pour.
Throughout the process, there's often some gentle push back. We don't want to accept the first answers; and we don't expect the client to accept our initial perspectives. We want to dive deep into the questions so we really understand the implications and meanings of the input. Are you sure? What if we did this? What about five years from now? We want to challenge the standard expectations and really push the envelope to find those unique and special solutions.
Ultimately the goal is to create designs that support the educators, developing flexible, cost-effective spaces that perform on every level. The instructional model should be guiding the learning environment, rather than a desire to stick to old practices. Educators are thinking differently these days, and the campuses should reflect their new attitudes and goals.
Craig Drone serves as Principal and Regional Studio Director for LPA's new office in Dallas. He is responsible for developing the company's presence in Dallas, sharing the benefits of LPA's integrated design approach and pursuing opportunities with local clients.
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Kount Omniscore
How To Redefine The Future Of Fraud Prevention
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52% of financial institutions plan to invest in additional measures to secure existing accounts, and 46% plan to invest in better identity-verification measures. 42% of digital businesses that consider themselves technologically advanced are finding fraud is restraining their ability to grow and adopt new digital innovation strategies. 33% of all businesses across retail, financial institutions, […]
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7 Ways AI Reduces Mobile Fraud Just In Time For The Holidays
By Louis Columbus on December 1, 2019
There has been a 680% increase in global fraud transactions from mobile apps from October 2015 to December 2018, according to RSA. 70% of fraudulent transactions originated in the mobile channel in 2018. RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Center saw phishing attacks increase 178% after leading banks in Spain launched instant transfer services. Rogue mobile apps are […]
Posted in Business, Featured Posts, Technology / Software, Trends & Concepts | Tagged AI, Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, Fraud prevention, Fraud screening, Kount, Kount Omniscore, Louis Columbus' blog, Mobile Transactions, RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center


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You won't know 'til you try . . .
I was recently privileged to be included in a new author's planning session, where together we threw around title ideas for a good couple of hours. It was a wonderfully creative moment and I left feeling completely humbled by being given the opportunity to do this. And more than this … a reminder of two big life… Read More You won't know 'til you try . . .


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1. Post photos of a face you do not have. It's totally natural to want to use your best angle or make yourself look as bangin' as possible, but contorting your musculature in a way that makes you look half human, half sexy-drawing-done-by-a-13-year-old-in-study hall is not doing you or him any favors.
2. Post an age you are almost definitely not. I get why you want to lie about your age a little bit, especially when women are told this holds so much of our value, but think of it this way: if you're in your 30s and say you're in your 20s, you might attract a dude who only dates women who are way younger than he is, and you'll end up wasting your own time.
3. Judge a book by its cover. Obviously, everyone does this. But I've seen a lot of my guy friends' dating profiles and on paper, I would not date them. Granted, I wouldn't date most of them IRL either (except you, John, HMU!), but I also know that beneath their dorky photos and awkwardly phrased jokes lie some really good dudes. Sometimes it's just not that obvious in someone's list of six things they couldn't live without.
4. Tell him something super personal super soon. Since you're a human, sometimes when you're chatting with a guy online, you're also having a super-hard day. It makes sense to want to reach out to someone, but close out the dating app and open up a text with your best friend. You don't even know this guy's real name yet, so save the work drama for an IRL meeting at the very least.
5. Talk about your relationship history. This is along the same lines as telling them something too personal too soon. Everyone's had their heart broken. But it's way less weird to ask him something random like, "Do you have any body scars?" than it is to tell him about your emotional ones before you've even set up a date.
6. Talk about how online dating is so weird. Literally everyone has dated online. A thing everyone has done cannot be weird. Please shut up about this.
7. Tell yourself this is stupid and there are no good guys out there. Even if you're right (and depending on where you live, you might be!), if you think that way, you'll never see them. If you're going to online date, keep an open mind. You're on there and you're great, so maybe someone else who is also great is on there!
8. Compare these guys to your exes. Look, even if you were ripped apart by bad timing or multiple oceans, your relationships all ended for a reason: because it wasn't right. So now you're looking for new guys with whom you could maybe have better timing and who probably do not require ocean travel to get to.
9. Worry about how it could all go horribly wrong. It could. It totally could. I hear you. But it could also be great. And if it is, in fact, horrible, everyone loves a horrible dating story. You literally cannot lose.
10. Put all your eggs in one dating website basket. Tinder sucking the life out of you? Try OKCupid. OKCupid yielding nothing but guys who make terrible jokes about murder or something? Try Plenty of Fish. And if none of these work, remember to leave your house!!! Often, really hot, totally available and cool dudes hang out there too. Or so I've heard.
Follow Lane on Twitter.


text: News Soap Box Derby is partnering with Northeast Ohio STEM Ecosystem and Cuyahoga Community College to pilot a program to engage students in designing, building and racing autonomous Soap Box Derby cars 10.20.2017 Read More Soap Box Derby and Sphere Leadership Form Partnership for Soap Box Derby Programs in Australia 10.17.2017 The International Soap Box Derby (ISBD) today announced that it has signed an agreement with Sphere Leadership of Australia to bring Soap Box Derby programs to Australia. Sphere Leadership will be collaborating with the Soap Box Derby to further its international reach with its All-American racing program and STEM-based education program. Read More Burton D. Morgan Foundation Awards Grant to International Soap Box Derby in Celebration of 50 Years 10.12.2017 Burton D. Morgan Foundation has awarded a grant of $50,000 to International Soap Box Derby, the third of four special $50,000 grants to the community that Morgan Foundation is announcing throughout the year in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Read More Pioneering IndyCar Crew Member Hardy Allen Influenced By Soap Box Derby 08.28.2017 Pioneering IndyCar crew member Hardy Allen has died of pancreatic cancer. A native of Los Angeles, Allen worked for two of the sport's icons as a mechanic, fueler and parts man in the 1960s and early 1970s for Dan Gurney's All American Racers before moving over to A.J. Foyt Enterprises. A love for making and racing soap box derby cars sent Allen on a path that would eventually lead him to motor racing and two of its great innovators. Read More Derby Spotlight - Bob Ballard 08.24.2017 Bob Ballard was born to be an engineer. The moment he set foot on the Derby track his fate was aligned. Even at a young age, Bob found that building, designing, testing and engineering Soap Box Derby cars intrigued him. His racing lead him to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering; a second degree in electrical engineering would soon follow. Read More New Rule and Car Plan Changes For 2017-2018 AASBD Racing Season 08.24.2017 The International Soap Box Derby announced rule changes and car plan changes that will go into effect immediately for the 2017-2018 All-American Soap Box Derby racing season. Read More 2018 Openings On The Racing Commission and A-Team 08.17.2017 The FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby Racing Commission is looking for new members for the 2018 racing season. Applications for the Racing Commission and A-Team are being accepted from the public until October 1, 2017. Elections will be held electronically in October. Read More Soap Box Derby Champion Cayson Hayes will appear on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" on Wednesday, August 2 08.01.2017 Nine-year-old Cayson Hayes of Summerville, S,C., who won the world championship title in the local Stock division in the First Energy All-American Soap Box Derby here on July 22, will be a guest on the nationally syndicated television program "Live with Kelly and Ryan" on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Cayson and his family are traveling to New York City, where he... Read More Derby Spotlight- Jenn Baugher 07.24.2017 Jenn Baugher grew up in Akron, Ohio beginning her Soap Box Derby racing career in 1992 at the age of eight. She was the first and only member of her family to take part in the sport. By participating in the Derby, it allowed Jenn to become closer to her father, an engineer who enjoyed helping her build her Stock and Super Stock Derby cars. Jenn's already existing interest in cars paired with her father's engineering insight helped lead her to the STEM career field she works in today! Read More The Graphite Kid Returns To Derby Downs 07.19.2017 Gilbert (Gil) Klecan, of San Diego, Calif., the 1946 world champion of the All-American Soap Box Derby, will serve as Grand Marshal of Saturday's pre-race parade at the 80th FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby. Klecan, 85, is returning to Derby Downs for the first time since the 50th anniversary race in 1987. Read More « Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next » View Archives


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Reflecting on Practice Coaching Workshop at the California Academy of Sciences
Date and Time:
Monday, April 17, 2017, 9:00am to Wednesday, April 19, 2017, 5:00pm
Reflecting on Practice (RoP™) is a professional learning program developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science for educators in informal learning environments such as zoos, aquariums, museums, and nature centers and is currently used in over 50 institutions across the U.S. and Canada. This program introduces educators to the latest research on learning, and how this knowledge can contribute to their teaching practice.
Reflecting on Practice is a Learning Partner with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), approved continuing education provider for the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), and a special partner with the Association of Science-Technology Centers.
Participants can earn elective or continuing education credit towards their NAI certifications or AZA's Professional Development Certificate in Education and Interpretation.
We are seeking leaders and/or emerging leaders (mid-level manager, coordinators, or directors) from education or volunteer departments at zoos, aquariums, museums, and nature centers to attend a Coaching Workshop to become RoP Facilitators. In this Coaching Workshop, participants will:
- become familiar with the philosophy and design of Reflecting on Practice program
- learn about the models of teaching practice and activities from the program
- connect with other RoP Facilitators in the region.
As RoP Facilitators, they take the curriculum materials and implement the program with educators at your institution over a period of 6 to 12 months. The program consists of fourteen 2.5 hour sessions organized into modules that focus on topics relevant to learning and teaching science in informal environments (see below for more details). It is designed so that all educators (both veteran and beginning educators) at your institution can learn together and from one another.
Additionally, RoP Facilitators become part of a national community of learners advancing the informal science education field. There are currently over 50 institutions around the U.S. and Canada that have adopted the program, with more institutions and educators joining the community.
How to Register:
More information and register here: http://www.calacademy.org/educators/reflecting-on-practice-coaching-workshop?utm_campaign=Teachers%2...
Contact Email:


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Mayweather v McGregor undercard: Early ending in Badou Jack vs. Nathan Cleverly
As the world prepares for Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, let's take a break from the spectacle and divert our attention to the undercard, which features Baltimore's own Gervonta "Tank" Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) vs. Francisco Fonseca (19-0-1, 13 KOs) and Badou Jack (21-1-2, 12 KOs) vs. Nathan Cleverly (30-3-0, 16 KOs) for the WBA Super Heavyweight Title.
Davis is an absolute beast and is being touted as the heir apparent to Mayweather's throne. The 22-year-old is listed as a -3500 favorite and there isn't any real value in the bout, but even so it's worth watching the young man work. Even if the main event disappoints, Davis figures to give fans an exciting knockout against Fonseca.
Prior to Davis vs. Fonseca, Jack and Cleverly will tango and there's something in this one. Let's take a look.
Badou Jack (-355) vs. Nathan Cleverly (+290)
Over 10.5 rounds: -300
Under 10.5 rounds: +240
Jack (21-1-2, 12 KOs) is coming off of a controversial draw as an underdog against James "Chunky" DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KOs) in January. Most people will tell you that Jack should have won that fight.
Cleverly (30-3-0, 16 KOs) scored an upset over Juergen Braehmer, who was forced to quit with an arm injury, in his last bout last October. Prior to that the Welshman has lost three of his six seven bouts. Each one of his losses came against quality opposition, including Sergey Kovalev, and Jack represents another tough opponent for 'Clev.'
Jack is a 33-year-old Stockholm native and, like Davis, is part of the Mayweather stable. He is jumping up from super middleweight to light heavyweight and Cleverly will serve as the gatekeeper. As impressive as "The Ripper" looked in his draw with DeGale, he was coming off a series of uninspiring results, including a shocking first-round TKO loss against Derek Edwards, a few questionable decisions that went his way and a draw-turned-disqualification win over Lucian Bute after the latter tested positive for a banned substance.
The question is whether or not the DeGale fight represented a step forward from Jack or if it was just a one-off performance. His decision to move up in weight and leave an up-and-down career as a super-middleweight sends the right signal.
This fight is going to come down to how well Jack controls the distance against the offensive-inclined Cleverly. 'The Ripper' is a solid all-around fighter who won't blow you away with power or athleticism, but if he uses his jab to keep Cleverly from coming in, he should put himself in good position to win the fight after the first six or seven rounds.
Cleverly is a good combination fighter and its not out of the question for him to turn out the lights on Jack here, but he's not a great defensive fighter and could be picked apart by the technically sound Swede. If the Welshman falls too far behind, he will press and search for the KO and leave himself vulnerable to be slept, himself.
The value here is with the under at those odds.
[Photo: Noah K. Murray, USA Today]
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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State regulators want to fine EnergySolutions Inc. $80,000 for burying low-level radioactive waste that exceeds the state's hazard limits, and they are asking the company to take on an environmental project as part of its penalty.
The fines are part of a "notice of violation" issued Thursday by the Utah Radiation Control Board. The proposed penalties stem from 23 containers of waste from government cleanups that were too hazardous to meet safety limits for burial at the company's mile-square disposal site in Tooele County.
"EnergySolutions did report the problem to us, and we did consider that when we determined the penalties," said Rusty Lundberg, director of the Division of Radiation Control, in a news release. "Although we appreciate the cooperative efforts to resolve the errors, we will continue to ensure a process is in place to prevent this from happening again."
Acting in his role as the radiation board's executive secretary, Lundberg signed five violation notices last month for the four government contractors and NASA for bringing the waste to Utah.
The company buried the waste during the past two years. Then it discovered during a self-audit in December that the containers amounted to a violation of its state license.
Val Christensen, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City nuclear-waste company, said EnergySolutions recognized unauthorized containers would mean penalties.
"We feel the fines are appropriate," he said, "and will work with the state to plan and complete a state-approved supplemental environmental project."
EnergySolutions has 30 days to officially respond to the proposed enforcement action. Company officials continue to negotiate with regulators concerning the type of environmental project that will be required and what to do about the 23 worrisome barrels.
Since 2005, it has been illegal to dispose of radioactive waste in Utah that is more hazardous than Class A. By definition under federal law, Class A waste loses most of its hazardous characteristics in a century.
Low-level waste that has a higher classification, such as the material that wound up at EnergySolutions' Utah site, continues to be hazardous for up to 500 years.
Christopher Thomas, executive director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, applauded the state's action on the violations.
"EnergySolutions made repeated, fundamental errors that led to illegal nuclear-waste shipments coming here," Thomas said. "We're glad to see the state taking action now, especially when EnergySolutions has started to decommission entire nuclear reactors that contain lots of waste above the legal limit."
Last month, violation notices went out to the five EnergySolutions disposal customers that sent the excessively hazardous waste to Utah. The fines ranged from $3,250 to $4,875 for each customer and totaled $17,875.
Lundberg said the violators have checked their own waste-monitoring systems to understand how the errors occurred and have improved their quality controls to ensure the mistakes don't happen again.
On the question of whether or not to dig up the waste, no decision has been made, he added. It could be that removing the containers poses a bigger risk than leaving them where they are.
"We're not eliminating that as a possibility," Lundberg said.
As part of its state license, the company routinely uses computers to assess the waste going to the Tooele County site. A reanalysis of past shipments using updated software turned up the problem containers and prompted EnergySolutions to report them to the radiation division.
Usually, when EnergySolutions identifies containers of improper waste, it returns them to the sender before it is even unloaded. See the violation letter
It was sent by the state to EnergySolutions on Thursday:


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*No new apprenticeship contracts are being concluded anymore in Flanders, but existing agreements are allowed to continue until the end of their term, although they must not exceed the final end date of 30 June 2021. You can find more information on Vlaanderen.be.
Are you entitled to the Groeipakket?
If your son or daughter is less than 25 years old and combines studying and working an apprenticeship agreement or apprenticeship contract, you will be entitled to the Groeipakket if you can answer 'yes' to these 3 questions:
- Is the contract recognised by a training centre for small and medium-sized enterprises or by a service for the integration of persons with a disability or disorder?
- Is a learning path counsellor monitoring the contract?
- Is your child in other employment in addition to the apprenticeship contract and does it meet the set requirements? Do you want to know more about these conditions, click here.
Even if your apprenticeship contract has been terminated, you may still be entitled to the Groeipakket.
A contract can be refused, withdrawn or terminated. However, you can still be entitled to the Groeipakket for up to 3 months after the date of termination. This is the case if your child meets these conditions:
- Your son or daughter is not making any money, not even under the apprenticeship contract.
- Your child continues to attend class.
- Your child is not exempt from accreditation.


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What Do B.S. CS: Concentration Software Engineering Majors Do After Graduation?
Public kiosk computers are supplied to guests of DePaul University and members of the general public needing to access library sources, including authorities info, without needing to provide private credentials. Public Kiosks can be found at both the Richardson Library and the Loop Library.
I also agree that every one relevant cancellation/refund policies apply, and that all promotional … Read More


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Egan's Bar, a longtime bar in Tuscaloosa in conjunction with Buffalo Rock Pepsi and the Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa are seeking proposals from artists or artist teams for the commission of a site specific outdoor mural to be installed on an existing blank concrete wall on the Egan's bar building.
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UpdatesOctober 15, 2017
So this is an unusual blog post for me but it has been an eventful few weeks so I thought I'd give a bit of an update and also a reminder about a few upcoming courses.
I was delighted to have an article published in the TES as I do feel very strongly that excluding children from school is never going to solve the problems with behaviour – yes it might get troublesome students out of the classroom, or even school, for a while but unless there is some 'input' or some attempt to work out why they behave the way they do the chances are they will come back into school and behave exaclty as they did before. Have a read and I wouldl love to know your views
Vulnerable Children
Many of you will know that I have worked a lot with vunerable children, those who are in care, have suffered trauma, attachment issues or other 'vulnerabilities' so I was very pleased that my article for the Guardian about ways schools can support such students was published recently.
Particulalry when I have read other artices like one on in the Guardian Saturday by Deborah Orr explaining how it's children who suffer during austerity or indeed another one earlier in the week blaming austerity for record numbers of children and young people being taken into care.
I then had the privilege (costly) of exhibiting and presenting at the TES SEN show – first time doing this and you can read a bit on my linked in post about it. I really enjoyed delivering my workshop on 'behaviour management strategies that work' and also chatting to all the teachers, school staff and parents who visited my rather humble stand and a thank you to those who bought my book!! If you haven't yet you can get it from Worth Publishers
But in fact soon you'll be able to get it from my very own on line shop along with various other items – exciting I know!!!
As some of you know i have also started to blog for Huffpost and my first blog was about how parents can help their child excel at school you can read it here. and my next one explains why hiring a private tutor for your child can be a good idea I'll let you know when it is published so keep an eye on twitter, facebook, and instagram
I enjoyed running a Sounds-Write Course for teachers and school satff recenlty at KingsOak Primary School in Bedford. Sounds-Write is an evidence based, highly effective, linguistic phonics programme. Quite simply in 4 days it not only gives a thorough theoretical background to the teaching of reading but with lots of practical activities shows adults exaclty how to go about teaching reading to a class, small group or individual child.
The next one is scheduled to begin on Wednesday 1st November (then Wednesdays 8th, 22nd and 29th Nov)at Weatherfield Academy in Dunstable.
If you'd like to book a place either visit Sounds-Write
or email me.
Other courses
In addition to courses for schools and you can see a complete list of these by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post, please also take a look at our Attuned Success site as we have 2 one day courses in November
Mind design on Novemebr the 11th and a
Business Builder workshop on 25th Novemebr
Both take place in the delightful surroundings of Woodlands Manor and include lunch and refreshments.
You can book places here or by emailing me.


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When My Face Changes
Last week we saw in Daniel three that King Nebuchadnezzar's face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He had put them in authority, but when they chose to serve their God instead of his gods, they lost favor with him. We discovered that sometimes this happens to us when we follow Christ. Sometimes, people who were once a friend now look at us with contempt. We discovered how to address such a situation and still find favor with God.
This week, we will be looking at faces changing from a different angle. This week, we are King Nebuchadnezzar. Our faces are the ones that are changing. Someone who we used to look at with delight is now someone that we are not pleased with. What do we do in that situation?
If you remember, Daniel 3:19 says, "…Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." Why? They were not doing what he wanted them to do. His expectations of them were not being met.
Why did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's refusal enrage the king so quickly? Why did it affect him so violently? What was behind his expression being altered so drastically?
Part of our answer lies in verse fourteen. Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible says that King Nebuchadnezzar asks them, "Is it a laid plan?" Our translations today do not mention this, but the exact translation indicates to us that King Nebuchadnezzar believed that they were plotting a coup. He thought that they were staging a takeover and this refusal to bow was the beginning. He became suspicious of their motives.
That kind of thing makes us all furious, doesn't it? Someone trying to get our job? Someone trying to usurp our authority? Maybe that person is simply trying to adhere to their beliefs, but if they question ours in the process, it infuriates us. Why?
I believe it is pride. Ick! I said it. Pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride cometh before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall." Pride is never a good thing. King Nebuchadnezzar had it in spades and so do we. God dealt with King Nebuchadnezzar's pride later in Daniel and He will deal with ours.
Proverbs 13:10 says, "Arrogance leads to nothing but strife…."
If our face has changed towards someone, then we must ask ourselves if our pride is involved. Actually, we need to ask ourselves where the pride is involved, because believe me, it is. Sometimes, it is just hiding a little better than usual. Pride is a constant battle for all of us, all the time. We must be willing to lay ourselves open before our Father for close inspection.
James 4:6 tells us that "God resists the proud…." When we are full of pride, God has to resist us. We must ask ourselves if our feelings toward another human is worth losing our right standing with our Father. We must ask His Holy Spirit to reveal to us our pride; ask Him to give us the power to remove it from our life and confess our sin before our Father. Psalm 103:10 says, "He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our offenses." That's our God, always willing to forgive. We have to allow Him to reveal to us our pride and have Him to remove it from our lives.
So, we know that pride is a piece to the puzzle, but what do we do with the everyday struggle? How do we deal with the day to day issue of having to toil with someone who our faces have changed towards? How do we go from suspicious pride to the place where God would have us to be? How do we get back to a right relationship with those in the world around us?
Another piece of the puzzle is peace. We must turn our face toward good relations and the making of peace. Jesus Himself is our Prince of Peace and we want to be like Him. Psalm 34:14 says, "Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it." We are to seek peace with everyone, not just those who we favor. Romans 12:18 tells us "If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone." Verse sixteen of this chapter says, "Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation."
I dare say, if I were living these verses my face would never alter toward someone. If I were "not wise in my own estimation", I would not have to have my own way. I would not resent someone's opinion, I would invite it. I would not be scared of losing my job, I would encourage teamwork and support. Living out these verses takes total abandonment to the Holy Spirit's leading. We cannot do this in our own strength. Being submitted to the Spirit is another piece to the puzzle.
Yet another piece to the puzzle of our face changing back to where God would have it to be is found in Daniel three once again. It reveals to us why King Nebuchadnezzar's face changed back to favor towards Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Do you remember what happened to cause him to look on them with delight once again? It was when He saw the fourth man in the fire.
The final piece in the puzzle? We have got to see Jesus in the situation. Oftentimes, we just want the person to go away that has affected our pride or, caused us harm. We might not want them to be thrown into a literal fiery furnace, but our anger definitely causes us to daydream that we would never have to see them again. But, Nebuchadnezzar shows us the key. We have got to see Jesus in the fire. Then, our focus is on His work, not what others are doing. King Nebuchadnezzar stopped noticing that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not adhering to his expectations and started focusing on Jesus. The result? He simply saw the work of God's Son. Seeing Jesus returned the favor that the king originally had toward the three because his focus had changed. Ours can as well.
There is freedom in seeing Jesus in a fiery situation. Freedom for ourselves and others. The binding that holds our focus to them and their actions is gone and the binding that we placed on them in our mind's eye has vanished because we are focused on the one, true and living God. We are not concerned about others, we are seeing Jesus. We are open to His work. The Lord Himself speaks to us in Psalm 27:8. He says, "…You are to seek My face." Our response should be as the psalmist's was "Lord, I will seek Your face." When this happens, our face is changed back to the image of Christ. It is not mauled by envy and strife, but beautiful because His expression towards others is now our expression as well.
I confess that just a few weeks ago my face changed towards someone. I would have NEVER thought that my face would change toward this particular person, but it did. As I look back, it was a somewhat gradual alteration with a final "fiery eruption". I found myself praying things like "Lord, Your Word tells me to be angry and sin not so, I know it's possible. You have got to get me through this day without sinning." But, while praying this prayer, I admit that I still wanted them to know that I was upset. I wanted them to see that my face had changed. Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to convict, I wanted to speed along the process. As you probably can gather, if I can avoid a situation and have a "cooling off" period, it is much better but, it was simply not possible. I had to deal with it head on, in the heat of the moment. The furnace was blazing and my face was altered. I could feel the intensity of anger and pride and hurt. The person was standing before me and I knew that only God Himself could get me through that moment. It was such a struggle and in all honesty there is still some tension, but I am trying, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to see Jesus in the flames. I am trying to focus on Him because He is here with me and the other person. He is doing a great work and I am praying to perceive it. I know that when I can hone in on His face, all else will fall away. The fire is hot at times, but God is here in the flames and I'm praying to see.
O, God, of all gods. Help us to see You in the flames. Help our faces to shine Your light, Your love and Your hope to the world. If our face alters, may they only be altered into the beautiful image of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus.


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What OTC Medications Are Made From Animals?
Updated: Aug 10, 2020
The trend for a plant-based diet has risen by 600% in the US(1). While it is easy to find plant-based (vegan or vegetarian) food, when it comes to drugs, people often compromise. We performed our own investigation based on a list from U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with Pharmacy Times of the top Over-The-Counter (OTC) health products recommended by pharmacists in 2019(2). For now, we picked 5 popular categories and analyzed every ingredient as having a:
Plant or synthetic origin
Unknown origin (unable to determine if plant or animal derived)
Animal origin
To identify the source of the inactive ingredients in the products, we used dailymed.nlm.nih.gov, an official provider of FDA label information. Then, we utilized multiple sources such as the Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients 6th ed.(3), and online references such as doublecheckvegan.com(4), and veganpeace.com(5). Since some of these online references are not entirely validated, we also did some searching using our own pharmacy knowledge to determine the manufacturing process for each ingredient. While we cannot be entirely sure, this list is as complete and accurate as we can get without speaking directly with the manufacturers (which is not very easy) or performing lab testing (available via VeganMed).
The findings were very interesting! Out of 12 products evaluated, 6 contained at least 1 animal derived ingredient. The remaining 6 were unknown, as the manufacturers do not necessarily disclose if they used a plant or animal derived ingredient. The table below describes the product and exact drug code, along with the ingredients so you can check for yourself!
Source: All pictures are taken from DailyMed.(6)
At least 50% of the products I looked at had ingredients from an animal source. However, they do not have to, as alternatives for those inactive ingredients already exist. In an analysis from the United Kingdom, nearly 60% of the most commonly prescribed products contained lactose (7). Another analysis from the UK suggested that gathering information about the origins of ingredients in medications needs much improvement. Many health care providers and patients are unknowingly prescribing and consuming animal derived ingredients. The lack of labeling and access to the manufacturing process for these drugs are unclear and challenging to find. The article stated how the European Union manufacturers are banned from describing this data, since diet is considered a "lifestyle choice"(7). Having only the excipients listed, but not the origin of the ingredients, makes it more difficult for patients to fit it into their dietary preferences. Learn more about inactive ingredients in medications on our blog.
While finding vegan food is easy, changing your diet is quite hard! On the flip side, finding animal-free medicines is quite hard, but asking for it is easy! Except for a few rare exceptions, the medicine should work just the same and we wouldn't even taste the change. We have contacted the pharmaceutical companies and done the research to help you find animal-free options. Check out some of our product recommendations:
For anyone that cares about animal welfare or climate change, simply asking for the use of an animal-free ingredient will make the industry and world better! Make your voice heard by taking our survey!
Looking for certified and verified animal-free products?
Browse animal-free products on our online marketplace!
Want to learn more?
Check out VeganMed's Animal Ingredients list!
Thank you for your awareness and concern for animal-derived ingredients!
If you have any further questions about ingredients in your medicines and supplements, feel free to reach out to the VeganMed team!
Oberst L. Why the Global Rise in Vegan and Plant-Based Eating Isn't A Fad (600% Increase in U.S. Vegans Other Astounding Stats). Food Revolution Network. https://foodrevolution.org/blog/vegan-statistics-global/. Published January 18, 2018. Accessed September 2, 2019.
Pharmacists' Picks: Top Recommended Health Products. U.S. News & World Report. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/pharmacists-picks-top-recommended-health-products. Accessed September 2, 2019.
Sheskey PJ, Quinn ME. Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients. 6th ed. (Rowe RC, ed.). London: Pharmaceutical Press; 2009.
Vegan Ingredient Checker. Double Check Vegan. https://doublecheckvegan.com/. Accessed September 1, 2019.
Ingredients. Vegan Peace. http://www.veganpeace.com/ingredients/ingredients.htm Sodium Hydroxide. Accessed September 1, 2019.
DailyMed. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/. Accessed September 1, 2019.
Tatham KC, Patel KP. Suitability of common drugs for patients who avoid animal products. BMJ. 2014;348(Feb 4). doi:10.1136/bmj.g401.
#OTC #medications #drugs #lactose #shellac #gelatin #lanolin #overthecounter #animalingredients #healthylifestyle #commonmeds #advil #delsym #zyrtec #sudafed #excedrin #peptobismol #colace #tums #osteobiflex #metamueil #midol #azo


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After that, two "Class III" licenses could be made obtainable for equally restricted Gambling gambling at greyhound tracks in Corpus Christi and Harlingen. The proposals would create particular Gambling licenses for 4 "vacation spot resorts" within the state's four largest metropolitan areas: Dallas-Fort Value, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. The "vacation spot resort" licenses can be thought of as "Class I" licenses. I assumed it could be enjoyable to write down Gambling tips publish that might provide suggestions that could be relevant to all gamers, no matter which video games they like to play. Save your cash and play on Gambling as a substitute. Gambling at licensed Gamblings in Tier 2 areas is restricted throughout the hours of 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM every day, and Gambling occupancy is restricted to 25% of fireplace code capability.
Many tribes see this limited monetary success as being tempered situs judi qq by decreases in reservation unemployment and poverty charges, though socioeconomic deficits stay. They're at present in a position to supply restricted gaming. Known as "angle-shooting, "there are some Gambling gamers who willfully act in opposition to or look to use guidelines to be able to elicit info from their opponent(s). The invoice, if handed, would permit friends 21 and over who register to remain a day and an evening at an Oahu resort to have a $20-per-day Gambling admission cross. John Mizuno, a Democrat who represents Kalihi and Kamehameha Heights on Oahu. In the meantime, other payments launched within the state Legislature would legalize lottery gambling. Alvarado, in the meantime, chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, within the Senate.
This helps extends gameplay or give gamers an even bigger bankroll. On-line Gamblings with free bonuses far outnumber in-individual Gamblings with comparable presents for non-member gamers. Use at your discretion, and be happy to submit your observations within the feedback beneath. Feel the must be secretive about your gambling. I don't advocate this path to getting wealthy from gambling. This implies they don't enable monitoring software programs, data mining, multi-tabling too many tables, observe taking, and so forth. Gamers wager on their fingers in plenty of rounds as playing cards are drawn, using varied mathematical and intuitive methods in an try to raised opponents. Plenty of issues. To begin with, you need a Gambling site that has quite a lot of gamers.


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Coconut Drink is Rich in minerals-amino acids-electrolytes
As coconut water is a nutritious and healthy drink, it is increasingly consumed by the people. Natural, young, and fresh coconut has a higher content of water in it. They are rich in electrolytes and have highly nutritious. Coconut water is commonly called coconut juice.
The rising awareness among consumers for the consumption of healthy drinks has increased the demand the coconut water in both fresh and processed forms. The modern generation is more conscious of their calorie intake. So coconut water fits into their expectations.
What is coconut water?
Coconut water is the liquid that is found in the central part of the young and green coconut. It nourishes the fruit. The watery part of the coconut is initially present in the fruit and helps in providing nourishment to the growing fruit. As the fruit matures, juice ripens to form a solid part, and some remain as a liquid.
The nutritional value of coconut water
Coconut water is a highly nutritious drink. Unflavoured coconut water contains sugar, sodium, potassium. This drink has low calories, and also it is free from fat and cholesterol. The carbohydrates present in coconut water can be easily digested. Although sugar content is much less than soda and other fruit juices. One cup of coconut water contains only 45 calories.
Side effects of coconut water
Although coconut water is considered as a healthy drink. It also has some side effects. Some people may feel the fullness of the stomach or an upset stomach after taking coconut water. It may cause allergy in some though it is very rare. People suffering from kidney disease must limit the consumption of coconut water.
Health benefits of coconut water
Nutritional source
Coconut water is a good source of many nutrients required by the body. It is rich in sodium and potassium. These electrolytes are very important for the body. It also contains carbohydrates, proteins, magnesium, and calcium.
Antioxidant properties
The free radicals produced in the body during metabolism. These oxygen free radicals are harmful to the body and cause oxidative stress. Coconut water has antioxidant properties and it neutralized the effect of free radicals.
Beneficial for diabetic patients
Diabetic patients are suggested to take less amount of sugar in their diet. Coconut water is said to be a healthy drink for diabetic patients as it contains less sugar and has a higher amount of electrolytes.
Improves the health of the heart
Drinking coconut water on a daily basis decreases the risk of heart disease. It also reduces fat and cholesterol in the blood. This in turn controls the blood pressure.
Have hydrating properties
Coconut water is a very good hydrating agent. It is suggested to take coconut at least 1-2 cup of water after exercise. Those who follow a strict diet for weight gain or loss should include coconut water in their diet.
Packing of coconut water
The companies that are involved in the processing and selling coconut water package it in two different ways. Either it is packed in tetra pack or in plastic bottles.
Tetra Pack
It is in the form of a food cartoon. Coconut water in the tetra pack can be stored for a longer duration of time. People prefer to buy tetra packs as it is easy to carry. Tetra pack is available in different sizes.
Plastic Bottle
Coconut water is also packaged in plastic bottles. Depending on the volume of water, it differs in size.
Coconut water is available in different forms
Coconut water powder is also available. Powdered is made by evaporating the water followed by freeze-drying. They are later rehydrated by adding water to it.
Coconut water in liquid form is either taken directly from the fruit or is packed. This is made available in tetra-pack or in plastic bottles.
Regions in the world where Coconut Water production is high
The coconut water processing and selling are largely dependent on the production of coconut in the region. Indonesia is the leading country in the production of coconut all across the globe. South Asian countries are rich in coconut. India is the third-largest producer of coconut. So in this are the cost is less. Whereas in European counties, coconut water is available mostly in processed and packed forms.
To sum up
The Coconut Water Market has been witnessing rapid growth due to increasing awareness about the consumption of healthy drinks among the people. Nowadays coconut water is available in small & compact, easy-to-carry tetra packs and plastic bottles. It is also available in different flavors. There are many health benefits of coconut water that make them more preferable for health-conscious people.
Although there are few side effects of coconut water for some people. They may get allergic reactions on their skin. Increasing adoption of the vegan diet and escalating preference for non-dairy products the factors that are boosting the market. The Global Coconut Water Market has been anticipated to rise at a growth rate of 16.8% CAGR over the forecast period.


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Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny
For what seems like years, Adult Swim fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of what many consider the station's flag ship program, The Venture Brothers, and on Sunday, June 1st it arrived.
The episode opens with the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend fighting off the Guild of Calamitous Intent's killer robot assassins while the Monarch recalls the secret Dr. Girlfriend revealed to him in last season's finally.
The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend are captured and both separately suffer the questioning of the GCI's Council of 13 (pictured above). It seems that the Monarch's arching of Dr. Venture is without sanction and therefore he must stand trial.
Both have secrets of their past revealed but in the long run the Monarch is able to outwit his questioners and he and Dr. Girlfriend's marriage as well as their arching of Dr. Venture is sanctioned. All the while two creepy dwarf-like men in Victorian era children's clothing attack and force the Monarch's henchmen to rebuild the Hive.
Now, that is just the quick and dirty. It might seem like I'm glossing over some facts and fun but as a whole that's the basic story and in true V Bros. form, the open episode is just OK. So, instead of saying "OMFG! The new Venture Bros. was Friggen rad!!!" I'll just say, I love the Venture Bros. Seasons I and II were awesome and I can only imagine Season III, just like both seasons before it, will pick up speed with every new episode until it is a flaming ball of pop culture drivel that we all just can't seem to get enough of.