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This book was written by an experienced maths tutor to help parents and carers to be able to tutor their child in general maths. This book contains 14 lesson plans for hourly tuition sessions (which would cost £20-£25 if you paid a tutor)on maths units ranging from basic addition to more advanced ratio questions. Also suitable for adults taking basic or functional skills exams in adult numeracy.
Suspecting self-harm, newly qualified teacher, Abriella Garside, risks everything for a troubled pupil. An incident with a craft knife and unexplained injuries are not enough to secure help for the girl. Unsure whether Beth is being bullied or has problems at home, Abby tries to win her trust and the two begin a friendship. But has the teacher gone too far?
Name of animals in French:
Ebook with beautiful common animals Flashcards with its French name. Each flashcard contains a funny picture of the animal and its corresponding French name. Ideal for any educational work, such as home, travel, etc.
Special Visual Dictionary eReaders version with beautiful Flashcards of the most common means of transport with its French name. Each flashcard contains a funny picture of the instrument and the corresponding French name. Ideal for any educational work, such as home, travel ... | {
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Someone you care about has been given the ultimatum to “Get sober or get out,” received another DWI, awakened in Intensive Care from an overdose, realized that being in a blackout best explains thirteen hours of memory loss, or resorted to prostitution or theft to pay...
Mindfulness: Being present to the moment in which one finds oneself. This posting will address why mindfulness is so important to attaining recovery and maintaining long-term sobriety, and throughout the words addict and addiction are used to refer to both drug and... | {
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Earlier in the month, Nintendo announced that Cranky Kong will be a playable character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. This morning, they showed off a trailer featuring Cranky and
Cranky will have his own moves in the game, including the ability to bounce off enemies and obstacles using his cane. Additionally, if you collect 100 bananas in a stage, you can pull off a new move called the KONG-Pow, which turns all enemies on the screen into items.
Taking Cranky’s place to manage the in-game shop will be Funky Kong, who will offer items for trade. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be available on February 21st in North America and Europe. | {
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Whether you're an avid swimmer or not, swimming has obvious benefits as opposed to other forms of exercise. With the lack of stress on joints, save perhaps shoulders, it is an ideal activity for all ages and is often used for physical therapy.
I have been swimming since I was just 5 years old and although learning how to swim can be a challenge it can be rewarding in ways I have only begun to realize as I venture into my early twenties. If you ever see older people swimming at the local YMCA then you're not alone, or the ever-exclusive women's water aerobics (aka gossip club). But, the fact that you see these older people in the pool tells you something. It shows you that the water is the most accepting medium for exercise.
So often you hear about sports injuries and people requiring rehabilitation due to joint or tendon issues, but swimming has allowed me over the years to maintain peak conditioning while making sure recovery is always easy. If you say, "Swimming is too hard" or "I'm just bad at it" that's OK. You don't have to be good at swimming to get a workout, and it doesn't take long for you to start learning how to make it easier. Swimming is simply fantastic, it works practically every part of the body all at once.
If you're still convinced you're not a swimmer then consider this: swimming in general helps speed up your recovery of muscles. What this means for athletes and others is that you can get an edge on your competition by speeding up your recovery process which ultimately means you can workout harder and more often than the other guys. In college swimming we often times warm-down after an intense exercise which helps get rid of the lactic acid built up in our system. So basically, by swimming (light to medium paced) you can get rid of that lactic acid that causes soreness and prevention of muscle building.
Swimming helps build muscle!
So why wouldn't you start using your local pool? Even if you just jump in for 30 minutes it'll be one of the most important 30 minutes of your workout week. After all, there's a reason why people marvel at the "swimmer's body", the water lets your body do things it normally could not. So BE SMART about your workouts and include some swimming, if nothing else to just rinse off after lifting. | {
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Insert your card silagra review In the summer of 2012, as security conditions unraveled, with documented attacks on western facilities, a State Department officer who served on the Libya desk said Kennedy was asked about the mission’s future, and Kennedy said he would first have to check with Clinton. Based on a conversation between Ambassador Chris Stevens â who was later killed in the attack — and Clinton, Stevensâ deputy Greg Hicks testified it was the former secretary of State’s personal goal to have a permanent operation in Benghazi. | {
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Waterscape Condominiums
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida
Client:Crescent Resources, LLC
Project Size:381,000 sq ft
Recognition:
ABC Excellence in Construction Merit award
Waterscape Condominiums is a 381,000 sq ft, 339-unit condominium complex with a six-story parking deck. The project consists of one-, two-, and three-bedroom condominiums ranging from approximately 800 to 1500 sq ft. The complex features a split-level courtyard offering extensive swimming and recreation areas. The interior of the facility offers a club, conference rooms, meeting areas, fitness facilities, and game rooms.
Major work on the project included bringing in over 50,000 cubic yards of beach sand to bring the site up to grade; excavation and backfill of a foundation wall over 1,100 feet long; excavation and backfill of nearly 500 pile caps; demolition of existing asphalt pavement; installation and maintenance of two crane pads with a combined length of over 1,400 feet; and installation of domestic water, sanitary sewer, and storm drain systems. By self-performing this work, the team created significant savings for the project.
Brasfield & Gorrie is one of the nation's largest privately held construction firms, providing general contracting, design-build, and construction management services for a wide variety of markets, including healthcare, commercial, institutional, federal, municipal, industrial, infrastructure, and water/wastewater treatment. | {
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Sole Material -Croslite Color Family -Grey Upper Material -Suede Leather Perfect for casual occasions, this pair of charcoal grey casual sneakers from Crocs will enhance your personal style and take it to a new level. The stylish suede leather and mesh upper is durable and adds to the overall look of this pair of casual sneakers, while the croslite sole will negate the chances of accidental slips and falls. You can wear it with a pair of grey chinos and a blue T-shirt to nail the laidback look. | {
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U.S. consumers, bracing for higher interest rates and slightly slower economic growth, were a bit less optimistic in August, a survey released on Friday showed. The index on consumer sentiment slipped to 80.0 from 85.1 in July. This result was well below the 85.5 reading expected by economists.
U.S. consumers, bracing for higher interest rates and slightly slower economic growth, were a bit less optimistic in August as sentiment retreated from last month's six-year high, a survey released on Friday showed.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment slipped to 80.0 from 85.1 in July, the highest since July 2007.
August's result was well below the 85.5 reading expected by economists.
Consumers' view of current economic conditions showed the biggest decline, and most expected the pace of growth to ease slightly. However, these changes were not large enough to upend "the prevailing view that the economic expansion will continue," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.
"Perhaps the most important recent changes have been the increase in home values as well as the jump in the numbers that expect interest rate increases during the year ahead," he added.
Long-term interest rates have risen by more than a full percentage point over the last three months on the view that the Federal Reserve will start scaling back as soon as next month its hefty support for the economy.
That has pushed up mortgage rates, which could sap some of the strength from a housing recovery that has been pushing prices higher for more than a year.
On Thursday, wary investors sold both stocks and bonds in expectation of higher rates, sending benchmark 10-year Treasury yields to a two-year high above 2.8 percent.
The survey's barometer of current economic conditions fell to 91.0 from 98.6. The gauge of consumer expectations slipped to 72.9 from 76.5.
Upper-income households said they anticipated slightly slower income gains in the year ahead due to future inflation, according to the survey.
However, the medium- and long-term inflation outlook overall held steady, with the one-year inflation expectation stable at 3.1 percent and the five-to-10-year inflation outlook unchanged at 2.8 percent. | {
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Very amusing! As someone who's also put a bit of weight on this year - mainly all the beer at hockey matches - and is now going to the gym three times a week to try to get rid of it, at least it made me feel better!
I did note on my trip to Prague that compared to walking around in the states I saw very few overweight people and none that I would call obese. As bad as it is now, I really dread thinking of how much of how much worse it may be in as little as 10 years. Of course, why build a park when we have to have yet another god-awful strip mall.
These European statistics just say how many people are above proper weight. Do not say how much above proper weight. Lot of people in CZ is only slightly but still overweight hence the statistic is for Czechs so much ugly. On the other side Americans "do it" heartily and are not satisfied with so poor results like Czechs do. If overweight then heavily overweight.
It make that "look on people on street" difference. Many Czechs who are overweight just do not look overweight.
Anyway I think that Czechs are more weighty every year. It goes slowly but the trend is here. On the other side weight problem in US is improving. | {
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Quick Links
OHSU Programs Among Top Five In NIH Research Funding
Anesthesiology program jumps to 3rd from 15th; neuroscience programs remain second in nation
Oregon's four-year-old investment in medical research and bioscience infrastructure, particularly in anesthesiology, is paying off.
The Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine's ranking in anesthesiology leaped to third from 15th in newly released National Institutes of Health data on research funding for comparable programs across the country. OHSU drew more than $4.57 million for anesthesiology research in 2005.
Ranking first and second were the anesthesiology programs at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and the Washington University School of Medicine, respectively. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was fourth.
Anesthesiology was one of several areas of focus for the Oregon Opportunity, the statewide biomedical research funding initiative supported by public and private dollars.
OHSU research awards grow 7.4 percent overall with the help of the Oregon Opportunity
In fiscal year 2006, OHSU garnered $294 million in research awards from all funding sources, a 7.4 percent increase over the previous year.
"OHSU exceeded its strategic goal to grow by 5 percent, and that bodes well for the university's research endeavors. This is only the beginning of the impact the Oregon Opportunity funding has on the quantity and quality of bioscience research in the state," said Dan Dorsa, Ph.D., OHSU vice president for research.
The Oregon Opportunity brought together a voter-approved, one-time state investment of $200 million, plus a private fundraising campaign that raised nearly $378 million. The Oregon Opportunity helped OHSU to recruit 80 top-tier researchers so far and to fund the Biomedical Research Building and other research space and equipment.
Jeffrey Kirsch, M.D., OHSU professor and chairman of anesthesiology and peri-operative medicine, said anesthesiology's high ranking this year, and growth in the last several years, is a testament to voters' and lawmakers' commitments to biomedical research in Oregon.
"Without that investment, our growth would never have happened," Kirsch said. "They believed in us and provided us their support, and it's caused us to rise to the occasion and bring in 40 to 50 laboratory employees who weren't there just three years ago."
Five OHSU programs rank in the top five in NIH funding
OHSU neurosciences remained at No. 2, with no change in rank between 2004 and 2005. It pulled in $26.93 million in funding from the NIH, the nation's single largest supporter of university research, behind first-place holder the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and ahead of third-ranked Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with $14.53 million.
In addition to anesthesiology, OHSU ranked third among peers nationwide in the other basic science category, which includes research from the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology and the behavioral neurosciences, among others. They dropped one spot in NIH funding between 2004 and 2005. They received more than $8.79 million in 2005, behind first-ranked Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of Massachusetts Medical School at second
OHSU ranks in the top five in two other NIH departmental funding categories, including otolaryngology, which had no change in its fourth-place ranking between 2004 and 2005, and emergency medicine, which jumped two spots to No. 5.
The university also ranks in the top 10 in four other categories, including physiology and microbiology/immunology/virology, both at sixth; ophthalmology at ninth; and biostatistics and other math sciences at 10th. And it was in the top 25 in an additional six categories.
OHSU ranks high in overall research funding
OHSU gained two spots, from 30th to 28th, in an NIH tally of domestic higher education institutions receiving NIH money, after scientists located on OHSUs Marquam Hill and west campuses drew $175,443,012 in research, training and fellowship, research and development contracts, and other awards during fiscal year 2005.
Coming in at 27th on the domestic higher education institution list was the University of Maryland-Baltimore Professional Schools, and at 29th was Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University. Massachusetts Institute of Technology was 30th.
Among all institutions, including hospitals, research centers, clinics, foundations and private companies, OHSU also jumped two positions, from 35th to 33rd, again one spot behind University of Maryland-Baltimore Professional Schools and one ahead of Mount Sinai School of Medicine of NYU. MIT replaced OHSU at 35th.
Among United States medical schools, however, OHSU slipped one spot, from 23rd to 24th. Ranked at 23rd is the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, and at 25th is the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Harvard Medical School was 26th.
Bringing more research funding into the state is long-term OHSU goal
The NIH granted nearly $276 million in out-of-state funding to Oregon's institutions in 2005. Of that total, more than 63 percent, or $175.4 million, went to training, and applied and basic science projects at OHSU.
"It has been one of the university's longtime goals to bring more research funding into the state. Our scientists' research growth has been steady and this is one more benchmark of their success," said Joseph Robertson, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, who becomes OHSU president on Thursday, Sept. 14.
OHSU's technology transfer efforts are creating new companies, which in turn, are bringing additional out-of-state funding on their own. Five OHSU spinoff companies received more than $3 million in NIH support in 2005: Najit Technologies Inc., Targeted Gene Delivery Inc., Virogenomics Inc., Znomics Inc., and Proteogenix Inc. OHSU has helped start 30 spinoff companies since 2000, most of which are based in Oregon.
As Oregon's only health and science university, OHSU is a knowledge leader. OHSU's mission focuses on: sharing knowledge through teaching; creating and advancing knowledge through research; using knowledge to achieve quality outcomes in patient care; and applying knowledge to find and advocate for solutions in our community. | {
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Brad Pitt Opens Up About Personal Life Since Divorce
The world was shocked to find out that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were breaking up after only three years of marriage, however the couple had been together for 12 years and shares six children together.
Brad Pitt has recently opened up about his life since his very public divorce from Angelina Jolie. | {
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* The 35mm width MTB rims were designed according to the latest trend. By getting rid of the hook from the top of the rim sidewall, the rim wall became smooth and straight, it is easy to install a tire, and the tire and rim will work perfectly to create a seal. So riders are allowed to run lower tire pressure without the risk of air loss or pinch flats.
* Hookless: By getting rid of the hook from the top of the rim sidewall, the rim wall became smooth and straight, it is easy to install a tire, and the tire and rim will work perfectly to create a seal. So riders are allowed to run lower tire pressure without the risk of air loss or pinch flats.
* Filled with 3D weave, that will make the rim stable, safe and durable.
* Manufactured by new technology, the rims’ manufacturing process are without EPS bubbles, this means the rims are molded with a air bag that has the inner shape of the rim. Unlike the traditional technology, we don’t need to cut a lid to take out the bubbles. So the rim is complete, stronger and stiffer.
The box we use for package is specially designed with strong inside structure. It could protect the goods from violently throwing and pressure during the shipping. It may have some damage to the box during the shipping, but you will get complete and brand new wheels finally.
About us:
Xiamen Boostbicycle composite material Co.,Ltd is a high-tech enterprise specialized in researching and developing carbon bike parts. What we have:
Experienced team: our R&D staffs and managers had worked in international brand Oem factory for more than 10 years.
1.High TG and high heat-resistant basalt braking surface improve heat dissipation, effectively reduce the impact in heat caused by braking to provide you with reliability and stopping power.
2. Filled with 3D weave, that will make the rim stable, safe and durable.
3.Manufactured by new technology, the rims’ manufacturing process are without EPS bubbles, this means the rims are molded with a air bag that has the inner shape of the rim. Unlike the traditional technology, we don’t need to cut a lid to take out the bubbles. So the rim is complete, stronger and stiffer.
4.The seat stay improves the frame’s strength, the symmetrical design shares the function of buffer, allowing you to ride more comfortable.
5.The frame has many different sizes and larger adjustment space, so there must be one that fits you.
Testing the carbon bike rims/frames:
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Testing the carbon bike rims/frames:
Sophisticated testing equipments: We use the En and UCI standard to testing the carbon bike wheels and frames,, brake suface temperature machine, Simulation of cycling test equipment,and other precise machines imported from Japan and Germany.
Cooperation case show:
1. 88mm road bike wheels (from Silva bicycle Co.,Ltd )
2. Velo bike parts (UK company)
3. Painted frames (Colossi mche company from USA bike shop)
4. 60mm road bike wheels (from Cipressa bike club Co.,Ltd )
5. Road bike handbars decal(from Velo bike Co.,Ltd )
F.A.Q(Frequently answer and question)
Why use basalt braking surface?
The basalt braking surface has higher TG than Toray T700 carbon fiber fabric, it can dissipate heat build-up and provides consistently solid braking. The rough surface can increase the friction to improve the stopping performance of the carbon wheel. Besides, it won’t squeal when braking thanks to the rough surface.
What’s the minimum order quantity? If there is a discount in bulk?
The MOQ of rims and frames is 1/piece, the MOQ of wheelset is 1/pair. You can get 3%off when you order more than 10 pieces/pairs, 5% off if you order more than 20 pieces/pairs. More favorable price welcome to contact us.
How about the productions guarantee?
We offer 1 year quality warranty for wheels/rims, 3 years for frames and 1 year for other carbon bicycle components .
After I place an order, when will it become valid and what\'s the delivery time?
When you place and pay the order successfully, it will become valid immediately. Generally, the delivery time is 5-15 days, it will be slightly different according to the order quantity.
Payment
We accept Ali escrow , if you want to pay in other ways please contact us for instructions. Full payment must be made within 15 days of placing your order.The buyer is responsible for any tax and/or duty charged by their country.
Feedback
Your feedback is very important to us. If you are satisfied with our products and service, please leave five stars and posticve feedback to us, that\'s a big encouragement to us. If there is any problem, please feel free to contact us before you leave negative feedback, we will do our best to solve it. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Price:Negotiable Minimum Order:Negotiable Payment:T/T or Western union Price:NegotiableSpecifications:2.8cm,3.2cm and so on Minimum Order:NegotiablePayment:T/T or Western union Shipping :FEDEX,TNT,DHL,EMS | {
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Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the by Kathleen Deagan
By Kathleen Deagan
This long-awaited follow-up to Deagan’s first quantity on ceramics, glassware, and beads specializes in the transportable own items owned and utilized by the citizens of Spanish colonial the United States. those items should not merely of Spanish foundation; the gathering comprises many English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, and American items to boot. Deagan not just offers an authoritative resource of identity for these things but additionally attracts greatly on colonial records, trip money owed, work, and museum collections, in addition to different modern assets to indicate particular features of the goods and the meanings they held for the folks who used them. She files and demonstrates how the gadgets have been made and exchanged within the Americas, and explores how they include Hispanic cultural identities, attitudes, and trust systems.
Fresh efforts to have interaction extra explicitly with the translation of feelings in archaeology have sought new techniques and terminology to inspire archaeologists to take feelings heavily. this can be a part of a starting to be knowledge of the significance of senses—what we see, odor, listen, and feel—in the structure and reconstitution of prior social and cultural lives.
Remembering the lifeless within the historical close to East is one of the first complete remedies to give the various ways that old close to jap civilizations memorialized and commemorated their useless, utilizing mortuary rituals, human skeletal is still, and embodied identities as a window into the reminiscence paintings of previous societies.
Maize has been defined as a main catalyst to advanced sociocultural improvement within the Americas. cutting-edge study on maize chronology, molecular biology, and solid carbon isotope learn on historic human diets have supplied extra traces of facts at the altering position of maize via time and house and its unfold during the Americas. | {
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My friends Kevin and Joy recently got married at Architectural Artifacts in Chicago, an incredible 80,000-square-foot store/event space specializing in antiques, found objects, architectural salvage, and all sorts of other treasures. As a shopper, I highly recommend it, but it was also an awesome place to have a wedding. I helped with the centerpieces, and the store let us pluck from the inventory to create these found-object arrangements. I couldn't resist buying one of the pieces, an antique mold for making doll heads. Click through to see the awesome space and decor. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
144 posts in this topic
Hello everyone! I got bored earlier so I started to mess around with WMP11. I was wondering if I could get it to run on Windows Server 2003. It wasn't real easy but I have got it to work. The only programs I used were Wise Installation System and VmWare running Xp plus some custom batch files I made to copy and register what Wise missed.
If I come up with an easier way to do this I will post it. Right now it is to complex for me to remember everything I
Edited 30 Jun 2006 by Mr. Dick C. Normous
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I think that you should release a custom installer. That would be sweet. NSIS for WMP11 on Win2k3.
[/quote]
Thanks I am still working on it but right now the customer installer is almost double the size of the original, it was messy, and didn't work right. The only thing it did was put most of the files and registry entries where they needed to be. Neither WMP10 or WMP11 would run right after using the installer. I used the update.inf files to figure out what went where and what needed to be registered.
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I've made a little bit of progress. System Restore was the problem causing my installer to be as bloated as it was. It started off at 89 megs I've got it down to 24 megs now but something is still missing. I will be going to bed soon, it's three in the morning here but I will continue working on this until I hopefully have a clean and fully working installer.
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[quote name='DG55' post='587512871' date='May 16 2006, 04:18']
Is that third screenshot the fullscreen mode?
[/quote]
Yes it is. I cannot get WMP11 to hide the controls in fullscreen mode for some reason but I haven't tried much to fix it. One nice touch is that DVD's automatically run in fullscreen.
PSG22
[/quote]
It runs really well for a beta. It uses between eleven and fifteen megs of memory (playing wma files) when visable and eight megs in mini mode. It is a little slower opening media but its not bad. The new search feature is nice, it searches as you type. One odd thing I found is if I use high quality mode most (of my) divx files do not play correctly.
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well there's really an easier way
that is the original update.ini when u extract the update :
[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
LanguageType=0
InstallPlatform=0
CatalogFile=%SP_SHORT_TITLE%.cat
NoRestorePoint = 1
MaxNtMinorVersionToUpdate=1
MaxNtMajorVersionToUpdate=5
NtBuildToUpdate=2600
NtMinorVersionToUpdate=1
NtMajorVersionToUpdate=5
MaxNtBuildToUpdate=2600
MinNtServicePackVersion=512
MaxNtServicePackVersion=2304
and that is now it should be when you install it on win2003
MaxNtMinorVersionToUpdate=3
MaxNtMajorVersionToUpdate=5
NtBuildToUpdate=2600
NtMinorVersionToUpdate=1
NtMajorVersionToUpdate=5
MaxNtBuildToUpdate=9999
MinNtServicePackVersion=0
MaxNtServicePackVersion=512
that's all
and here is my screen [url="http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=158285"]http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?act=...=post&id=158285[/url]
i must note that i used the instrustions for getting work the ie7 on 2003 and the wmp11 also worked
you may google "ie7 on 2003" or somethin and you will find it
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I will have to give that a try thechief55 I tried that but I don't remember if I used the same values or not. I alway got an Cryptographic Services error message. I'm working on something similar using control.xml right now.
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[quote name='alexk4mvp5' post='587514984' date='May 16 2006, 17:50']
So whens the link gonna be Up?
[/quote]
Unfortunately I don't know yet. The batch file I used won't work for most other pc's because it
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[quote name='wallynufc' post='587516270' date='May 17 2006, 03:35']
I can just about confirm that this does not work under Windows XP x64. I just get message boxes apear almost immediatly saying "This wmp11 (and WMFDist11) is for a different hardware platform"
[/quote]
I don't know if there is any way around that. I don't have the hardware or the software to even try and figure it out.
Were you able to download the installer correctly or did you have to extract it twice?
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[quote]' date='May 17 2006, 08:46' post='587516293']
this is a BETA, get over it. You can't cry over them not releasing a BETA for 64bit windows. They will probably have it ready to ship with the final. Support and Beta do not mix.
[/quote]
You can quit your attitude towards my comment, it
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[quote]' date='May 17 2006, 09:46' post='587516293']
this is a BETA, get over it. You can't cry over them not releasing a BETA for 64bit windows. They will probably have it ready to ship with the final. Support and Beta do not mix.
[/quote]
Sure, Support and Beta are not equal to each other and people running XP x64 represents a ultra-minority of Windows users around.
Yet, what would it cost for MS to release x64 compatible versions of their beta?
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[quote]this is a BETA, get over it. You can't cry over them not releasing a BETA for 64bit windows. They will probably have it ready to ship with the final. Support and Beta do not mix.
[/quote]
i can cry over them, because new wmp was more important for xp x64 than for 32 bit. except of business with urge there is nothing significantly new in wmp11 for 32 bit windows users. xp x64 users awating for working wmp for "good" year already.
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Ive got it installed at work on Windows XP SP2 (32bit) but its situated to the right of the screen and I can only see about 5px of width, the rest I guess is off the screen, anyone had this problem? (downloaded it from Microsoft).
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Mr. Dick C. Normous, i'm sorry i forgot to tell about cryptografic service error . in my way you must make a copy of the original update.ini then when you run update.exe you must fast copy over modified inf the origal one and it won't get that error
btw: that instructions should work for any patch or update designed for Windows XP on Windows2003 | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Description
On a physical level, Pinolite is said to soothe the nervous system, calming down any over active (ie stressed) areas of the body. If you hold your nerves in your stomach, chest, head or muscles on any level, you might feel the energy of this mineral pass through like a wave, easing any tension as it goes. It is a great stone for insomnia as it soothes the emotional, physical AND mental systems.
The Magnesite (white) element of Pinolite is said to be good for teeth and bone growth, so this is a great stone to carry when healing from broken bones! It also has a detoxifying effect, particularly on a physical level. I felt the urge to drink more water, eat healthier and was generally made more aware of looking after & nourishing my physical body when working with it. Several people have reported the same feeling, so I would say Pinolite is helpful when trying to lose weight or start a new exercise regime. The Dolomite (black) element of Pinolite is said to be helpful with reproductive system disorders, PMS/PMT, hormones and menopause.
On a spiritual level, this is a lovely stone to use if you just want to hold one whilst meditating, reading or lying down to rest. It is a good stone to provide grounding and protection whilst doing visualisation or manifestation work. It is said to aid psychic development as it makes us feel ‘safe’ enough to open up and let go! This element can be applied in any area of life.
Pinolite also encourages love ~ both of ourself and others. It helps us to love the parts of ourselves that we are neglecting at any given time. This little black & white stone can make us feel safe when opening up the heart chakra, particularly if we’ve been hurt or betrayed in the past. I love how it bucks the trend of mainly pink/green stones working in the heart area 🙂
You will receive the crystal in the photograph. Approx 2.4cm (24mm) long X 2.3cm (23mm) wide.
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My name is Kristy Hodges. I was born in California in 1972, but spent a lifetime growing up in overseas countries and travelling the world.
I first ‘felt’ the energetic impact of a crystal in 1990. It was Moldavite and the flush sent me out of my mind! It took a further 20 extensive years to learn how to work with crystals & energy. Read More… | {
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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The GNSS IC market is showing steady revenue growth in 2012, with the
industry now setting its sights on the next major milestone: $3 Billion.
The smartphone market remains over 70% of revenue in 2012, but is an
increasingly difficult market for standalone GPS IC vendors. For those
that remain, indoor location will be the next major make-or-break
technology, while also presenting the potential to generate additional
revenue, as illustrated by Qualcomm’s IZat platform. However, in the
latest edition of its GPS & GNSS Market Data, ABI Research is
forecasting that as the overall GNSS market continues to grow, cellular
will become less important, declining to approximately 55% of revenues
in 2017. The reason is the changing landscape of the GNSS market, as new
opportunities emerge across a range of portable device markets.
As illustrated, ABI Research is forecasting a major shift in the market
mix for GPS ICs, as new markets emerge around tablets, cameras,
femtocells, M2M, fitness, and personal tracking and IC vendors become
less reliant on the more traditional PND and the in-car markets. This
should create opportunities for combo-ICs modules, indoor and
software-based implementations. Senior analyst Patrick Connolly
commented, “All major vendors are re-assessing their design approaches
for emerging markets, by U-Blox’s acquisition of Fastrax and the recent
CSR-Samsung deal.”
Practice director, Dominique Bonte added, “Breaking $2 Billion
illustrates how valuable the consumer GNSS IC market has become. The
year 2013 will bring significant change and opportunities to the market,
with new indoor technologies, emerging vertical markets, and
competitors.”
This quarterly Market Data, entitled “GPS &GNSS” focuses on the GPS IC
and in-car navigation device markets. The database includes shipments
and revenues split by region and key vertical market. These findings are
part of ABI Research’s GPS
& GNSS (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/service/gps-gnss/)
Research Service which includes Research Reports, Market Data, Insights,
and Competitive Assessments.
ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of
trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From
offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team
of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and
advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com,
or call +1.516.624.2500. | {
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Yalies join forces to prank Gaddis’ ‘Cold War’ lecture
This afternoon, students attending Professor John Gaddis’ “Cold War” lecture witnessed history come to life. Literally.
Dressed in costumes ranging from President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the Yale Pundits, the Yale Precision Marching Band and the Yale Russian Chorus stormed Gaddis’ class this afternoon roughly 10 minutes into the Cold War historian’s lecture. After bursting onto the balcony and ground level of SSS 114, a Gorbachev impersonator delivered a grandiose speech in Russian while other students divided the room in half by stringing a curtain — representing the Berlin Wall — across the lecture hall.
The Russian Chorus then entered the room on one side, while two students — one dressed as a U.S. Air Force pilot — yelled at each other from the other side of the room.
“West Berlin is falling, we’re gonna need an air drop!” shouted the makeshift pilot as silver packets of Alpha Delta Pizza chips rained down from the balcony and onto the “free” side of the room.
The chips had barely stopped falling when Alex Kramer ’13 called across the room to Gorbachev and began to deliver Reagan’s famous speech at Brandenburg Gate, in which Reagan famously asked Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!”
“Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!” Kramer called from the balcony, just as the Yale Precision Marching Band burst into the room blaring “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Russian Chorus rushed down the wall.
As the curtain came down, pranksters on both sides briefly hugged and celebrated their brief liberation, then fled the room almost as quickly as they had come.
Gaddis, no doubt used to such disruptions — pranking his class has become an annual tradition — smiled as the dramatic scene unfolded.
“It’s a good thing they didn’t get champagne on the computer, or there would’ve been no lecture,” he quipped.
Correction: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012
An earlier version of this article mistakenly attributed part of the above events to the Yale Slavic Chorus. In fact, the pranksters were members of the Yale Russian Chorus. | {
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The NRA has done it in great detail for years. Now, Bloomberg's Mayor's Against Illegal Guns continues its attempt to be a counterweight to the NRA. From the Washington Post:
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the nonprofit group financed by Bloomberg (I), will unveil a scoring system Tuesday to award lawmakers grades of A through F, much like the National Rifle Association, which has derived much of its power by deploying letter rankings against politicians at election time. The group’s strategists briefed The Washington Post on the plans ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
The article also notes that Bloomberg began running more ads yesterday that feature Neil Heslin, whose son, Jesse Lewis, was killed in December’s elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn:
Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned noted yesterday the difficult possition that Toomey is in in Pennyslyvania. Reports that are now centering around Toomey as the key vote to get so-called "universal background checks" through the Senate may be just the latest in a long list of the "Key Vote of the Day" as we don't get real substance in the reports. And, as Sebastian wrote yesterday, Toomey is in a reliably blue state in which he will have to run for re-election in a presidential year when turn-out among Democrats will be much higher. That doesn't mean we excuse them for not supporting our rights, we just need to make sure we do all we can to support them when they support. | {
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Old School
A Drugs Row Has Broken Out Between Two Senior Welsh Labour Politicians, With One Accusing The Other Of Getting His Facts Wrong Over The Risks Of Decriminalising Cannabis.
Former Welsh Office Health Minister Jon Owen Jones criticised Huw Lewis, a new minister in the assembly government, for his "hardline approach" to drugs.
Mr Jones, the MP for Cardiff Central, has long advocated decriminalising cannabis and two years ago tried to change the law to enable it to be sold in off-licences.
He claimed that Mr Lewis, the Merthyr Tydfil Assembly Member had suggested there should not be a "proper debate" on drugs in Britain.
'Quality cannabis'
Ironically, the row was sparked by Mr Lewis's attack on Plaid Cymru over its attitude to drugs. He criticised new Plaid AM Leanne Wood, who he said had called last year for "quality cannabis" to go on sale. We've moved on from where we use drugs as a political football and kick it around
MP Jon Owen Jones
Ms Wood speaks for Plaid on social justice, which includes responsibility for tackling drugs. Mr Lewis, who has just been made deputy minister for social justice, asked whether Plaid would change its drugs policy, or if Ms Wood would change hers. Jon Owen Jones wants cannabis to be decriminalised
"Decriminalisation risks encouraging the use of cannabis," said Mr Lewis.
"I understand the Dutch desire to separate the markets for hard and soft drugs, but the fact remains that coffee shops are part of the commercialisation of cannabis in Holland which has led to an increase in use."
But his Labour colleague said the approach backed by Mr Lewis had failed. Mr Jones said: "We've moved on from where we use drugs as a political football and kick it around."
The MP described the drugs death toll in south Wales as horrendous and said: "We won't get anywhere by simply shouting at each other and calling one another names."
Mr Jones said: "Huw Lewis is wrong on his facts, and wrong to suggest we should not have a proper debate on drugs in this country.
"Cannabis use in Holland is considerably less than that in Britain. The evidence suggests that the Dutch experiment has been a success, not only in reducing the growth of cannabis use but more importantly cutting the link with hard drugs. Deputy minister Huw Lewis challenges Plaid on drugs policy
"Where heroin use in Holland is decreasing and its users getting older, heroin use in Britain is increasing."
Mr Jones said latest available figures showed that Holland, with a population of 15m, had 70 deaths from heroin, and the average age of an addict was 36.
That compared with south Wales, where with a population of 1.5m there were 200 heroin deaths, and an addict's average age was 25.
"To put that in context Holland has about 30 times less heroin deaths than south Wales per head," said the MP.
Enlightened
"With the terrible and growing problems of drug use in Wales we desperately need a sensible analysis of the problem based on reliable evidence."
In response to Mr Lewis's criticism, Ms Wood said a proper debate on drugs was long overdue in the assembly.
The Plaid AM said: "It's a serious problem which has not been addressed by Labour.
"The 'war on drugs' has been long lost and their initiatives haven't worked. It is time for a mature and enlightened debate which Huw Lewis obviously lacks." | {
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NXN Speaking at the Blockchain Middle East Forum on 25,26 September
NXN Speaking at the Blockchain Middle East Forum on 25,26 September
Dubai has launched the strategy to improve efficiency by shifting 100% of government transactions to Blockchain network by 2020 and encourage paperless transactions, cutting almost 100 million paper transactions annually which comes in line with the Dubai Future Agenda that aims to transform the UAE into a global center for designing the future.
As a result of this, a number of Middle East companies have made substantial progress on understanding the opportunities, application and preparations of adopting the Blockchain technology within their company.
With this in mind, we are participating in the Blockchain Middle East Forum which will be taking place on 25 September 2017 in Dubai, UAE.
The forum will be attended by both public and private sector companies looking to explore and evaluate the latest technology innovation that demonstrates an opportunity to deliver a more seamless, safe, and efficient experience.
Our senior consultant @Andrew Rippon will be engaged in the below activities:
Day One: Conference Day- Monday, 25 September 2017
•8:45 AM Opening remarks from the conference chair and start of conference
₋The Dubai strategy: Recognize how Dubai aims to reach its goal of being the first blockchain powered government in the world by 2020 and how this aligns with their vision of being the city of the future.
₋Market overview: Regional insights of those adopting blockchain in the Middle East.
Day Two: Roundtables And Interactive Workshops- Tuesday, 26 September 2017 | {
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Aimed at new home Macintosh users, iCreate covers the main Apple programs--iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto, iCal, Safari and Mail, as well as OS X itself and includes in-depth beginners' tutorials and features on new Mac hardware. | {
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When Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his budget plan in January, many observers were scratching their heads over one number in particular: $200 million in pension savings. That’s the amount the Mayor said the city would save in the next fiscal year alone if a new pension arrangement first proposed by Governor David Paterson was approved in Albany.
This so-called Tier V would require newly hired city employees to pay more into the pension system than current workers and make the new hires work longer before they become eligible to retire with full benefits, among other changes designed to lower public pension costs. Given that these changes would only apply to new municipal workers and that the city’s current budget malaise makes it unlikely there will be many of them in the near future, the Mayor’s savings estimate seemed very high.
It appears that the savings number in the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget is inconsistent with other estimates provided by the Bloomberg Administration. A Memorandum of Support of the Tier V proposal for city uniformed employees—police, firefighters, correction officers, and sanitation workers—based on information submitted by the Bloomberg Administration to the state Legislature cites much lower estimated savings. The memo says, “This bill will result in savings to New York City of approximately $25 million in the year after enactment. Savings would increase by approximately $25 million per year as new employees are hired, such that the annual savings will be $500 million in 20 years.”
So maybe most of the savings will come from the rest of the city’s workforce, including teachers and other civilian employees? A memo from the Mayor’s budget office to the state’s budget office puts that supposition to rest. Sent last January 9—just 21 days before the Mayor presented his Preliminary Budget—the memo estimated that savings from a new pension tier for teachers and civilian workers would be $10 million in the first year and grow by $10 million annually in subsequent years and reach $200 million in 20 years.
So how does a combined estimate of $35 million in first year savings morph into $200 million? It seems the Bloomberg Administration is hoping to get an agreement to “frontload” some of the expected savings by taking the average over a relatively long term and applying it annually rather than allow it to accrue on a year-by-year basis as current employees retire and new employees with lower pension costs for the city are hired.
Why the Mayor would want to do this is a matter for conjecture. But one thing is clear: whatever its longer term fiscal merits, a Tier V wouldn’t really save $200 million in 2010.
One of the most eye-popping numbers in the Mayor’s budget presentation last month was the threat of 14,000 teacher layoffs. Unless the state restores school aid that the Governor has proposed cutting to help solve Albany’s own budget woes, the Mayor said the teachers would have to go. The Mayor’s real point to state lawmakers may have been in the context of the federal stimulus bill: pass along our fair share of any assistance the state receives from the bill that’s intended to avoid cuts in local education aid.
This gambit got a lot dicier over the weekend as it emerged that the single biggest change in the Senate leadership’s compromise with Senate moderates was scaling back money to help states maintain their local school aid. Helping states and local school districts cope with sharp declines in tax revenues by providing temporary federal aid helps to avoid layoffs and cutbacks in local school district spending, which would worsen the economic contraction.
The deal, which awaits passage by the full Senate and then reconciliation with the House bill, cuts the state fiscal stabilization fund essentially in half, from $79 billion to $39 billion. Assuming this smaller stabilization amount is maintained, the state will receive less and in turn would have less available to restore the school aid cut to the city. If the Mayor sticks to his guns and does not come up with city dollars to make up the shortfall, the possibility of teacher layoffs may be more real than many observers had assumed.
In December, the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal for the upcoming state fiscal year called for cuts in education aid to local school districts, including postponing increases that had been promised as part of the resolution to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case. The Bloomberg Administration has estimated that the change amounts to a loss of $771 million in anticipated state aid for the Department of Education.
The stimulus bill that emerged from the House in late January included the $79 billion fiscal stabilization fund along with language that directed states to send much of their stabilization money on to local school districts using each state’s existing school aid formula. Analysis of the House bill by the Congressional Research Service indicated that New York State could expect to receive nearly $2 billion in stabilization aid which—assuming it was distributed according to current state aid formulas—might have brought the city nearly $800 million, almost exactly offsetting the Governor’s proposed cut.
An earlier version of the Senate bill still had a $79 billion stabilization fund, but was less clear as to how the states should distribute the proceeds to local school districts. That lack of certainty may have been what led the Mayor to make it clear that he expected New York State to distribute the anticipated federal dollars under the current state formula—or 14,000 city teachers could get the axe. Arguing that the city didn’t have enough of its own funds to plug the $771 million hole in state school aid, Mayor Bloomberg was placing the responsibility for avoiding the layoffs on Albany’s doorstep.
With the possibility that the stimulus bill may contain less than half the aid to states than what was expected last week, it may be harder for Albany to fully restore the education aid to the city even if the federal dollars are distributed by current state formula. This raises the possibility that the Mayor’s bluff would be called and he, the City Council, and the schools could be confronting the layoff of thousands of teachers.
The New York Times reported this morning that despite rising unemployment, public assistance rolls in 30 states declined or remained flat in 2008, while 20 states had an increase in their welfare caseloads. Does an increase in job losses necessarily lead to an increase in the welfare rolls? Some observers who project increases in the city’s welfare caseload and grant expenditures think so. But evidence from the last two recessions suggests the relationship between job losses and public assistance isn’t so clear. History suggests that the effect on welfare rolls will depend largely on the size of the economic downturn and how government policies treat those applying for and receiving public assistance grants.
From 1989 through 1992, the city experienced a deep recession, with job losses totaling more than 350,000 over four years. The job losses brought about a reversal of a prior downward trend in the welfare caseload. During the years of job losses, the number of welfare recipients increased by 231,000, including a rise of 118,000 in the program for families with children and 113,000 in the program for single adults and childless couples. The link between changes in employment and caseload was quite strong: for every three jobs lost about two more individuals were added to the welfare rolls.
In 1995 the city began to implement new local welfare reform policies that were later reinforced by changes at the state and federal levels. The new initiatives included intensive screening of new applicants, work requirements, and the use of job placement firms to push recipients aggressively into the paid workforce. The changes affected the ability of city residents to access and retain public assistance grants.The new policies helped to bring about a long period of caseload decline, with the total number of welfare recipients dropping by 60 percent between March 1995 and September 2001.
In early 2001, the city once again began to slide into recession. Later in the year, the attacks on the World Trade Center pushed the economy into further decline, leading to heavy job losses. By the end of 2003, the city had suffered a net loss of about 220,000 jobs. Compared to the prior recession, the rise in unemployment had a much smaller effect on the public assistance caseload because of the more restrictive welfare policies. In fact, the caseload of families on welfare continued to decrease. (It leveled off for a while in 2003 before resuming its decline.) Over the same period the caseload of single adults increased by a modest 20,000, but far less than in the prior downturn.
These findings are relevant today, since the more restrictive welfare policies remain largely in place. Although it is likely that large job losses in the next few months or years would lead to an upturn in the city’s public assistance caseload, IBO expects the welfare reform policies that began in the mid-1990s to limit their effect. Any increase in the city’s welfare caseload would likely lead to further increases in the Medicaid and Food Stamp rolls, since eligibility for public assistance generally makes an individual eligible for both of these programs.
Much of the outcry over the recent vote to give the Yankees (and Mets) a second helping of tax-exempt bond financing for their new stadiums overshadowed the most important issue: would the public investment in the stadiums pay off? At times it seemed like a public policy version of an infielder holding the ball and arguing with an ump over whether a hit was fair or foul while base runners scored uncontested.
In the days leading up to the Industrial Development Agency’s vote on the financing, lots of attention focused on the question of the so-called PILOTs—payments in lieu of taxes— and if these dollars, which would be used to pay debt service on the tax-free bonds, should be counted as lost revenue to the city. It’s an important question, but not the one that ultimately determines who wins and who loses on the stadium deals.
In terms of the PILOTs, IBO concluded that since the current stadiums don’t pay property taxes, the fact that the new deals also leave the new stadiums tax exempt means there’s no new loss of revenue. The debt service payments are being called PILOTs in a creative dance around prohibitions against using tax-exempt financing for sports facilities that were enacted by Congress in 1986 under the sponsorship of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Absent the need to squeeze through a loophole in the IRS regulations—since closed—the payments probably wouldn’t have been called PILOTs and there would be little question that they are not really property tax payments.
What went largely unexamined leading up to the IDA vote was whether the tax revenues generated from the construction and operation of the new stadium would exceed the value of the public subsidies. Because such estimates are very dependent on the assumptions used, they should be accompanied by full disclosure so that decision-makers and the public can assess the reasonableness of the estimates. Unfortunately, we saw little evidence of such transparency.
When IBO asked the Industrial Development Agency for information about how the benefit estimates it cited were derived, we were told that the city’s staff was too busy. But they could get back to us later—after the vote.
Consider that the city’s Industrial Development Agency asserted that the benefits from the new Yankee Stadium will amount to $438 million, exceeding their estimate of the cost to taxpayers by $60 million. From the little information that was made public, it appears this might have resulted from some generous official scoring. The Yankees expect to draw the same 4 million fans in the new stadium as they did in the old one. And it’s unlikely that fans in 2009 will eat, drink, and buy Yankee regalia in much greater quantities than those who filled the stands in 2008. So besides the construction activity there’s little obvious reason to believe the new stadium will deliver much in the way of new jobs and tax revenue.
Spring training, a time when all fans are filled with hope for the upcoming season, is just a few weeks away. So let’s hope that consideration of future requests for taxpayer assistance for sports facilities and other big projects will provide greater detail on the claimed benefits. That detail will help all of us consider whether the public subsidies are a home run—or a strikeout—for the taxpayer.
As Mayor Bloomberg wrestles with the city’s projected budget gaps, pressure to reduce the size of the municipal workforce—by far the city’s biggest single expenditure—is growing. In the wake of the last recession, full-time city staffing dropped to 239,616 in 2003 from a previous high of nearly 251,000 in 2000. Since 2003, full-time staffing has grown steadily, reaching 280,649 at the end of the last fiscal year, a rise of more than 41,000 over five years.
While full-time staffing has grown at nearly every city agency, a large share of the growth occurred at just a few. The Department of Education saw the biggest rise in total number of employees: the number of teachers, principals, and other classroom staff (pedagogical employees in budget speak) rose by nearly 19,000 from 2003 through 2008, when it totaled 112,852; the number of non-pedagogical employees also jumped by nearly 4,000 over the same period, reaching 10,760 in 2008.
But numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. While the city has steadily increased the ranks of teachers, a significant share of the rise in education department staff isn’t really due to new hiring—but rather from a reclassification of about 15,000 paraprofessionals who were previously listed as part-timers and not included in full-time staffing levels. The same holds true at the parks department, where the official full-time headcount nearly doubled to 3,702 by 2008 as many so-called seasonal workers who were really working full time were added to the count.
Still, the staffs of many agencies increased because more people were hired. Under plans to beef up its inspection and enforcement efforts, the Department of Buildings has grown 45 percent since 2003 and had 1,162 full-time employees in 2008. Full-time staffing at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has grown even more since 2003 in both percentage and absolute terms, rising by 60 percent to 5,202 in 2008. The Mayor’s office has also gotten bigger, growing by nearly 11 percent since 2003 to a full-time headcount of 923 in 2008.
Not every agency saw growth in its full-time staff. The number of uniformed officers at both the police and correction departments declined during the 2003-2008 period. The number of police officers fell by 715 to 35,405—though the number of civilian employees grew because school safety agents were reclassified as full-time workers. The number of correction officers dropped by 404 to 9,149. At the Commission on Human Rights staffing has declined by more than 25 percent, to 79 in 2008.
So while the total city workforce has certainly grown since the last recession, the number of workers newly added to the payroll is not as high as the numbers indicate at first blush. Nor are the increases equal across all agencies.
As many Capitol Hill watchers expected, the latest version of a federal stimulus bill from the House includes significant assistance to state and local government. Some of the aid would come from Washington picking up a bigger share of Medicaid costs, just as it did temporarily in the wake of September 11.
The details of the bill probably will not be available for several weeks. But it’s expected that some key provisions of the new bill will resemble those in H.R. 7110, a federal stimulus bill passed by the House in October 2008, which also included language increasing the federal Medicaid share. So the earlier bill still serves as a good indicator of how much in Medicaid savings—a nearly $6 billion a year expense in the city’s budget—New York may be able to expect.
Currently, the share of a state’s Medicaid costs covered by the federal government, called the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage or FMAP, is based on mean state income, with higher-income states getting a lower federal share of Medicaid spending than poorer ones. (This formula is sometimes criticized for focusing on average incomes rather than the fraction of low-income residents.) FMAPs range from 50 percent to 75.84 percent; New York is one of a number of states with 50 percent. The 2008 stimulus bill would leave this basic structure in place but increase the FMAP by 1, 2, or 4 percentage points depending on various economic trends. In the absence of a major improvement in the state economy, New York would meet the criteria for the full 4 percentage point increase. So, federal payments would have increased by 8 percent, from 50 percent to 54 percent of total Medicaid spending.
New York is one of a handful of states that requires counties (including New York City) to bear a portion of the nonfederal share of Medicaid. The 2008 bill specifically required states to share the savings from an increased FMAP with local governments in proportion to their current share of costs. Therefore, one would expect it to reduce both the state and the city’s Medicaid costs by 8 percent. But two special Medicaid payments to hospitals with a high proportion of low-income and uninsured patients—the Disproportionate Share Hospital and Upper Payment Limit programs—were specifically excluded from the FMAP increase.
New York City hospitals receive about $2 billion through these special payments, and the state and local shares are different from other Medicaid payments; most importantly, the city pays the entire nonfederal share of the $760 million going to public hospitals through these programs. As a result, they account for a large fraction of city Medicaid spending—about 12 percent. Relatively little of the special payments go to hospitals in other parts of the state, and in all other counties the cost is divided between county and state, just like other Medicaid spending. So New York City would get significantly less relief under the 2008 stimulus bill than other counties in the state.
By IBO’s estimate, the 2008 stimulus bill would reduce state Medicaid expenditures by 7.7 percent, or $1.1 billion. Counties outside of New York would save a similar proportion of their Medicaid costs. But New York City savings would be nearly a full percentage point lower: 6.8 percent, or $377 million for 2009. If the higher federal match covered all Medicaid payments, the city would save an estimated $428 million.
It appears that the FMAP increase being considered now is somewhat larger—4.8 percentage points, plus more for states with high unemployment. New York’s unemployment rate of 6.1 percent in November 2008 (the most recent month available) was significantly below the national average, so under this formula, as opposed to the one in the 2008 bill, the state may get only the basic FMAP increase. That means the savings to the city and state would be 20 percent higher than estimated above. Of course, the exact savings depend on the details of the bill, which are still being worked out; in particular, it is unclear whether the new stimulus bill will have the same exclusion for the special Medicaid payments as the 2008 bill.
One other point is worth noting: The state legislation that capped annual growth in local Medicaid spending is specifically written to limit local shares of Medicaid spending before the federal match. So in the absence of specific language like that in the 2008 bill, nothing in state law would require an increase in FMAP to be shared with New York City or other local governments. This is an issue New York City policymakers will want to watch closely as negotiations over the federal stimulus move forward. | {
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Overview of Datetime and Interval Datatypes and Time Zone Support
Businesses conduct transactions across different time zones. Oracle Database datetime and interval datatypes and time zone support make it possible to store consistent information about the time of events and transactions.
Note:
This chapter describes Oracle Database datetime and interval datatypes. It does not attempt to describe ANSI datatypes or other kinds of datatypes except when noted.
Datetime and Interval Datatypes
The datetime datatypes are DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE. Values of datetime datatypes are sometimes called datetimes.
The interval datatypes are INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH and INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND. Values of interval datatypes are sometimes called intervals.
Both datetimes and intervals are made up of fields. The values of these fields determine the value of the datatype. The fields that apply to all Oracle Database datetime and interval datatypes are:
YEAR
MONTH
DAY
HOUR
MINUTE
SECOND
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE also includes these fields:
TIMEZONE_HOUR
TIMEZONE_MINUTE
TIMEZONE_REGION
TIMEZONE_ABBR
TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE does not store time zone information internally, but you can see local time zone information in SQL output if the TZH:TZM or TZRTZD format elements are specified.
The following sections describe the datetime datatypes and interval datatypes in more detail:
DATE Datatype
The DATE datatype stores date and time information. Although date and time information can be represented in both character and number datatypes, the DATE datatype has special associated properties. For each DATE value, Oracle Database stores the following information: century, year, month, date, hour, minute, and second.
You can specify a date value by:
Specifying the date value as a literal
Converting a character or numeric value to a date value with the TO_DATE function
A date can be specified as an ANSI date literal or as an Oracle Database date value.
An ANSI date literal contains no time portion and must be specified in exactly the following format:
DATE 'YYYY-MM-DD'
The following is an example of an ANSI date literal:
DATE '1998-12-25'
Alternatively, you can specify an Oracle Database date value as shown in the following example:
The default date format for an Oracle Database date value is derived from the NLS_DATE_FORMAT and NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE initialization parameters. The date format in the example includes a two-digit number for the day of the month, an abbreviation of the month name, the last two digits of the year, and a 24-hour time designation. The specification for NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE is included because 'DEC' is not a valid value for MON in all locales.
Oracle Database automatically converts character values that are in the default date format into date values when they are used in date expressions.
If you specify a date value without a time component, then the default time is midnight. If you specify a date value without a date, then the default date is the first day of the current month.
Oracle Database DATE columns always contain fields for both date and time. If your queries use a date format without a time portion, then you must ensure that the time fields in the DATE column are set to midnight. You can use the TRUNC (date) SQL function to ensure that the time fields are set to midnight, or you can make the query a test of greater than or less than (<, <=, >=, or >) instead of equality or inequality (= or !=). Otherwise, Oracle Database may not return the query results you expect.
TIMESTAMP Datatype
The TIMESTAMP datatype is an extension of the DATE datatype. It stores year, month, day, hour, minute, and second values. It also stores fractional seconds, which are not stored by the DATE datatype.
Specify the TIMESTAMP datatype as follows:
TIMESTAMP [(fractional_seconds_precision)]
fractional_seconds_precision is optional and specifies the number of digits in the fractional part of the SECOND datetime field. It can be a number in the range 0 to 9. The default is 6.
For example, '26-JUN-02 09:39:16.78' shows 16.78 seconds. The fractional seconds precision is 2 because there are 2 digits in '78'.
You can specify the TIMESTAMP literal in a format like the following:
TIMESTAMP 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS.FF'
Using the example format, specify TIMESTAMP as a literal as follows:
TIMESTAMP '1997-01-31 09:26:50.12'
The value of NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT initialization parameter determines the timestamp format when a character string is converted to the TIMESTAMP datatype. NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE determines the language used for character data such as MON.
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE Datatype
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE is a variant of TIMESTAMP that includes a time zone region name or time zone offset in its value. The time zone offset is the difference (in hours and minutes) between local time and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, formerly Greenwich Mean Time). Specify the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype as follows:
TIMESTAMP [(fractional_seconds_precision)] WITH TIME ZONE
fractional_seconds_precision is optional and specifies the number of digits in the fractional part of the SECOND datetime field.
You can specify TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE as a literal as follows:
TIMESTAMP '1997-01-31 09:26:56.66 +02:00'
Two TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE values are considered identical if they represent the same instant in UTC, regardless of the TIME ZONE offsets stored in the data. For example, the following expressions have the same value:
You can replace the UTC offset with the TZR (time zone region) format element. The following expression specifies US/Pacific for the time zone region:
TIMESTAMP '1999-01-15 8:00:00 US/Pacific'
To eliminate the ambiguity of boundary cases when the time switches from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time, use both the TZR format element and the corresponding TZD format element. The TZD format element is an abbreviation of the time zone region with Daylight Saving Time information included. Examples are PST for US/Pacific standard time and PDT for US/Pacific daylight time. The following specification ensures that a Daylight Saving Time value is returned:
TIMESTAMP '1999-10-29 01:30:00 US/Pacific PDT'
If you do not add the TZD format element, and the datetime value is ambiguous, then Oracle Database returns an error if you have the ERROR_ON_OVERLAP_TIME session parameter set to TRUE. If ERROR_ON_OVERLAP_TIME is set to FALSE (the default value), then Oracle Database interprets the ambiguous datetime as Standard Time.
The default date format for the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype is determined by the value of the NLS_TIMESTAMP_TZ_FORMAT initialization parameter.
TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE Datatype
TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE is another variant of TIMESTAMP. It differs from TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE as follows: data stored in the database is normalized to the database time zone, and the time zone offset is not stored as part of the column data. When users retrieve the data, Oracle Database returns it in the users' local session time zone. The time zone offset is the difference (in hours and minutes) between local time and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, formerly Greenwich Mean Time).
Specify the TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype as follows:
TIMESTAMP [(fractional_seconds_precision)] WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE
fractional_seconds_precision is optional and specifies the number of digits in the fractional part of the SECOND datetime field.
There is no literal for TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE, but TIMESTAMP literals and TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE literals can be inserted into a TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE column.
The default date format for TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE is determined by the value of the NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT initialization parameter.
Create a table table_tstz with columns c_id and c_tstz. The c_id column is of NUMBER datatype and helps to identify the method by which the data is entered. The c_tstz column is of TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype.
Note that the time zone is different for method 3, because the time zone information was specified as part of the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE literal.
Example 4-4 Inserting Data into the TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE Datatype
Consider data that is being entered in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., whose time zone is UTC-7.
SQL> ALTER SESSION SET TIME_ZONE='-07:00';
Create a table table_tsltz with columns c_id and c_tsltz. The c_id column is of NUMBER datatype and helps to identify the method by which the data is entered. The c_tsltz column is of TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype.
Insert the same data as a TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE literal. Oracle Database converts the data to a TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE value. This means the time zone that is entered (-08:00) is converted to the session time zone value (-07:00).
Choosing a TIMESTAMP Datatype
Use the TIMESTAMP datatype when you need a datetime value without locale information. For example, you can store information about the times when workers punch a timecard in and out of their assembly line workstations. The TIMESTAMP datatype uses 7 or 11 bytes of storage.
Use the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype when the application is used across time zones. Consider a banking company with offices around the world. It records a deposit to an account at 11 a.m. in London and a withdrawal of the same amount from the account at 9 a.m. in New York. The money is in the account for three hours. Unless time zone information is stored with the account transactions, it appears that the account is overdrawn from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype requires 13 bytes of storage, or two more bytes of storage than the TIMESTAMP and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatypes because it stores time zone information. The time zone is stored as an offset from UTC or as a time zone region name. The data is available for display or calculations without additional processing. A TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE column cannot be used as a primary key. If an index is created on a TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE column, it becomes a function-based index.
The TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype stores the timestamp without time zone information. It normalizes the data to the database time zone every time the data is sent to and from a client. It requires 11 bytes of storage.
The TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype is appropriate when the original time zone is of no interest, but the relative times of events are important. Consider the transactions described in the previous banking example. Suppose the data is recorded using the TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype. If the database time zone of the bank is set to Asia/Hong_Kong, then an employee in Hong Kong who displays the data would see that the deposit was made at 7 p.m. and the withdrawal was made at 10 p.m. If the same data is displayed in London, it would show that the deposit was made at 11 a.m. and the withdrawal was made at 2 p.m. The three-hour difference is preserved, but the time zone/region of the original transaction is not. Because of this, the actual time of the transaction can be interpreted differently depending on the time zone/region from which the information is retrieved. For example, in London, the transactions appear to be conducted within business hours, in Hong Kong, they do not.
Note that, because the original time zone region of the time data is not preserved in the TIMESTAMPWITHLOCALTIMEZONE data type, time data referring to times from regions such as Brazil and Israel, regions that update their Daylight Savings Transition dates frequently and at irregular periods, may be inaccurate. If time information from these regions is key to your application, you may wish to consider using one of the other datetime types.
Interval Datatypes
Interval datatypes store time durations. They are used primarily with analytic functions. For example, you can use them to calculate a moving average of stock prices. You must use interval datatypes to determine the values that correspond to a particular percentile. You can also use interval datatypes to update historical tables.
Datetime and Interval Arithmetic and Comparisons
Datetime and Interval Arithmetic
You can perform arithmetic operations on date (DATE), timestamp (TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE) and interval (INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND and INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH) data. You can maintain the most precision in arithmetic operations by using a timestamp datatype with an interval datatype.
You can use NUMBER constants in arithmetic operations on date and timestamp values. Oracle Database internally converts timestamp values to date values before doing arithmetic operations on them with NUMBER constants. This means that information about fractional seconds is lost during operations that include both date and timestamp values. Oracle Database interprets NUMBER constants in datetime and interval expressions as number of days.
Each DATE value contains a time component. The result of many date operations includes a fraction. This fraction means a portion of one day. For example, 1.5 days is 36 hours. These fractions are also returned by Oracle Database built-in SQL functions for common operations on DATE data. For example, the built-in MONTHS_BETWEEN SQL function returns the number of months between two dates. The fractional portion of the result represents that portion of a 31-day month.
Oracle Database performs all timestamp arithmetic in UTC time. For TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE data, Oracle Database converts the datetime value from the database time zone to UTC and converts back to the database time zone after performing the arithmetic. For TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE data, the datetime value is always in UTC, so no conversion is necessary.
Datetime Comparisons
When you compare date and timestamp values, Oracle Database converts the data to the more precise datatype before doing the comparison. For example, if you compare data of TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype with data of TIMESTAMP datatype, Oracle Database converts the TIMESTAMP data to TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, using the session time zone.
The order of precedence for converting date and timestamp data is as follows:
DATE
TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE
For any pair of datatypes, Oracle Database converts the datatype that has a smaller number in the preceding list to the datatype with the larger number.
Explicit Conversion of Datetime Datatypes
If you want to do explicit conversion of datetime datatypes, use the CAST SQL function. You can explicitly convert DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE to another datatype in the list.
Datetime SQL Functions
Datetime functions operate on date (DATE), timestamp (TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE) and interval (INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND, INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH) values.
Some of the datetime functions were designed for the Oracle Database DATE datatype. If you provide a timestamp value as their argument, then Oracle Database internally converts the input type to a DATE value. Oracle Database does not perform internal conversion for the ROUND and TRUNC functions.
Table 4-1 shows the datetime functions that were designed for the Oracle DATE datatype. It contains cross-references to more detailed descriptions of the functions.
Extracts and returns the value of a specified datetime field from a datetime or interval value expression
FROM_TZ
Converts a TIMESTAMP value at a time zone to a TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE value
LOCALTIMESTAMP
Returns the current date and time in the session time zone in a value of the TIMESTAMP datatype
NUMTODSINTERVAL
Converts number n to an INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND literal
NUMTOYMINTERVAL
Converts number n to an INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH literal
SESSIONTIMEZONE
Returns the value of the current session's time zone
SYS_EXTRACT_UTC
Extracts the UTC from a datetime with time zone offset
SYSDATE
Returns the date and time of the operating system on which the database resides, taking into account the time zone of the database server's operating system that was in effect when the database was started
SYSTIMESTAMP
Returns the system date, including fractional seconds and time zone of the system on which the database resides
TO_CHAR (datetime)
Converts a datetime or interval value of DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, or TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype to a value of VARCHAR2 datatype in the format specified by the fmt date format
TO_DSINTERVAL
Converts a character string of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND datatype
Converts a datetime or interval value of DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE, INTERVAL MONTH TO YEAR, or INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND datatype from the database character set to the national character set
TO_TIMESTAMP
Converts a character string of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of TIMESTAMP datatype
TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ
Converts a character string of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype
TO_YMINTERVAL
Converts a character string of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of the INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH datatype
TZ_OFFSET
Returns the time zone offset that corresponds to the entered value, based on the date that the statement is executed
Daylight Saving Time Session Parameter
ERROR_ON_OVERLAP_TIME is a session parameter that determines how Oracle Database handles an ambiguous datetime boundary value. Ambiguous datetime values can occur when the time changes between Daylight Saving Time and standard time.
The possible values are TRUE and FALSE. When ERROR_ON_OVERLAP_TIME is TRUE, then an error is returned when Oracle Database encounters an ambiguous datetime value. When ERROR_ON_OVERLAP_TIME is FALSE, then ambiguous datetime values are assumed to be the standard time representation for the region. The default value is FALSE.
Choosing a Time Zone File
The Oracle Database time zone files contain the valid time zone names. The following information is also included for each time zone:
Offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Transition times for Daylight Saving Time
Abbreviations for standard time and Daylight Saving Time
Two time zone files are included in the Oracle Database home directory. The default time zone file is $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezonelrg.dat, which contains all the time zones defined in the database. $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezone.dat contains only the most commonly used time zones.
If you use the larger time zone file, then you must continue to use it unless you are sure that none of the additional time zones that it contains are used for data that is stored in the database. Also, all databases and client installations that share information must use the same time zone file.
To enable the use of $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezone.dat, or if you are already using it as your time zone file and you want to continue to do so in an Oracle Database 11g environment, perform the following steps:
Shut down the database if it has been started.
Set the ORA_TZFILE environment variable to $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezone.dat.
Restart the database.
Note:
If you are already using the default time zone file, then it is not practical to change to the smaller time zone file because the database may contain data with time zones that are not part of the smaller time zone file.
Oracle Database time zone data is derived from the public domain information available at ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/. Oracle Database time zone data may not reflect the most recent data available at this site.
You can obtain a list of time zone names and time zone abbreviations from the time zone file that is installed with your database by entering the following statement:
SELECT tzname, tzabbrev FROM V$TIMEZONE_NAMES;
For the default time zone file, this statement results in output similar to the following:
There are 6 time zone abbreviations associated with the Africa/Algiers time zone, 3 abbreviations associated with the Africa/Cairo time zone, and 4 abbreviations associated with the Africa/Casablanca time zone. The following table shows the time zone abbreviations and their meanings.
Time Zone Abbreviation
Meaning
LMT
Local Mean Time
PMT
Paris Mean Time
WET
Western European Time
WEST
Western European Summer Time
CET
Central Europe Time
CEST
Central Europe Summer Time
EET
Eastern Europe Time
EEST
Eastern Europe Summer Time
Note that an abbreviation can be associated with more than one time zone. For example, CET is associated with both Africa/Algiers and Africa/Casablanca, as well as time zones in Europe.
If you want a list of time zones without repeating the time zone name for each abbreviation, use the following query:
SELECT UNIQUE tzname FROM V$TIMEZONE_NAMES;
For the default time zone file, this results in output similar to the following:
Upgrading the Time Zone File
The time zone files that are supplied with Oracle Database are updated periodically to reflect changes in transition rules for various time zone regions. The files supplied with Oracle Database 11g have been updated to version 3. This version includes the recent change in the Daylight Savings Time (DST) rule for US time zones starting with the year 2007.
Note:
Oracle Database 9i includes version 1 of the time zone files, and Oracle Database 10g includes version 2. Various patches and patch sets, which are released separately for these releases, may update the time zone file version as well.
DST Transition Rules Changes
The changes to DST transition rules may affect existing data of TIMESTAMPWITHTIMEZONE datatype, because of the way Oracle Database stores this data internally. When users enter timestamps with time zone, Oracle Database converts the data to UTC, based on the transition rules in the time zone file, and stores the data together with the ID of the original time zone on disk. When data is retrieved, the reverse conversion from UTC takes place. For example, when the version 2 transition rules were in effect, the value TIMESTAMP'2007-11-02 12:00:00 America/Los_Angeles', would have been stored as UTC value '2007-11-02 20:00:00'plus the time zone ID for 'America/Los_Angeles'. The time in Los Angeles would have been UTC minus eight hours (PST). Under version 3 of the transition rules, the offset for the same day is minus seven hours (PDT). Beginning with year 2007, the DST will be in effect longer (until the first Sunday of November, which is November 4th in year 2007). Now when users retrieve the same timestamp and the new offset is added to the stored UTC time, they will receive TIMESTAMP'2007-11-02 13:00:00 America/Los_Angeles'. There is a one hour difference compared to the data previous to version 3 taking effect.
In the most common case, the value TIMESTAMP'2007-11-02 12:00:00 America/Los_Angeles' is meant to represent noon of November 2nd, 2007 in Los Angeles. Because the change to the DST transition rules introduces the one hour shift, the timestamp must be updated to point back to 12:00 p.m., as described further in this section. In the less common case, the value might be meant to represent the local time in Los Angeles when it is 08:00 p.m. in UTC. In this less common case, the value actually becomes correct only after the time zone file has been updated. No further correction is needed in this case. Therefore, before updating any timestamp values, it is important to understand what the values are meant to represent.
Note:
For any time zone region whose transition rules have been updated, the issue discussed in this section, "Upgrading the Time Zone File", affects only timestamps that point to the future relative to the effective date of the corresponding DST rule change. For example, no timestamp before year 2007 is affected by the version 3 change to the 'America/Los_Angeles' time zone region.
Updating the Time Zone File with the utltzuv2.sql Script
You can use the $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utltzuv2.sql script to discover all columns of TIMESTAMPWITHTIMEZONE datatype in your database that are potentially affected by a time zone file update. The result is stored in the sys.sys_tzuv2_temptab table, which has five columns: table_owner, table_name, column_name, rowcount, and nested_tab. Each row of sys.sys_tzuv2_temptab describes a TIMESTAMPWITHTIMEZONE table column that: (a) contains at least one timestamp in any of the time zone regions that are affected by the time zone file update, or (b) belongs to a nested table. The nested_tab value 'YES' indicates that the table specified in the table_name has been inserted because of condition (b). For performance reasons, nested table columns are reported without scanning their contents for the affected time zone regions. For columns inserted because of condition (a), the rowcount value contains the number of timestamps in the column that contains one of the affected time zone regions.
The utltzuv2.sql script must be run before you update the database time zone file. This script identifies the time zone regions to search for by comparing the version of the current database time zone file with the version of the time zone file for which the script has been created. If the database time zone file is updated too early, then the script does nothing, as the two versions are equal. If the time zone file changes as result of an Oracle Database software upgrade from a previous release, or because a patch set is installed, then the script must be run before the database is upgraded. Therefore, before any new software is installed, you must locate and install the appropriate utltzuv2.sql patch that is specifically for your combination of old software version and new time zone file version.
To run the utltzuv2.sql script, start SQL*Plus, log in as SYSDBA, and run the following command:
SQL> @?/rdbms/admin/utltzuv2.sql
If your database has data that will be affected by the time zone file update, as discussed in the preceding section, then back up the timestamp data to an alternative format before you upgrade the time zone file. After the upgrade, update the data using the backup that you created, to ensure that the data is stored based on the new rules.
The Export utility cannot be used to correct the timestamps, because timestamps are exported in the internal storage format. Export followed by Import never changes the values.
Although the transition rule changes may affect data of TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype, there is no way to upgrade the data. The data cannot be upgraded because this datatype does not preserve the original time zone/region associated with the data.
Customers who update the time zone file in a database, and who use time zone regions that are affected by the new file version, are required to update the time zone file of all database clients. Additionally, all other databases communicating with this database must be updated to the same version. This ensures that the whole database environment will have the same version of the time zone file. This is not a requirement for customers not using the affected regions. However, Oracle recommends that you do so.
Note:
You can find the matrix of available patches for updating your time zone files by going to Oracle MetaLink at http://metalink.oracle.com and reading Document ID 396906.1.
See Also:
$ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezdif.csv, provided with your Oracle Database software installation, for a full list of time zones changed since Oracle9i, and Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for upgrade information
The utltzuv2.sql script that was provided for Oracle Database 10g to update its time zone file to version 3 uses an external table based on the supplied timezdif.csv file to describe time zone changes introduced in the version of the time zone file associated with the script and in the previous versions. To access this data yourself, for example, to check the years in which a changed rule is valid, create an equivalent external table as in the following example. Replace $ORACLE_HOME with the actual path to the Oracle Home directory of your Oracle Database software installation.
Example 4-6 Sample External Table to Query Contents of timezdif.csv
The following example creates an external table whose contents come from the file $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezdif.csv:
Setting the Database Time Zone
Set the database time zone when the database is created by using the SET TIME_ZONE clause of the CREATE DATABASE statement. If you do not set the database time zone, then it defaults to the time zone of the server's operating system.
The time zone may be set to an absolute offset from UTC or to a named region. To set the time zone to an offset from UTC, use a statement similar to the following example:
CREATE DATABASE db01
...
SET TIME_ZONE='-05:00';
The range of valid offsets is -12:00 to +14:00.
To set the time zone to a named region, use a statement similar to the following example:
CREATE DATABASE db01
...
SET TIME_ZONE='Europe/London';
Note:
The database time zone is relevant only for TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE columns. Oracle recommends that you set the database time zone to UTC (0:00) to avoid data conversion and improve performance when data is transferred among databases. This is especially important for distributed databases, replication, and exporting and importing.
You can change the database time zone by using the SET TIME_ZONE clause of the ALTER DATABASE statement. For example:
The ALTER DATABASE SET TIME_ZONE statement returns an error if the database contains a table with a TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE column and the column contains data.
The change does not take effect until the database has been shut down and restarted.
You can find out the database time zone by entering the following query:
SELECT dbtimezone FROM DUAL;
Setting the Session Time Zone
You can set the default session time zone with the ORA_SDTZ environment variable. When users retrieve TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE data, Oracle Database returns it in the users' session time zone. The session time zone also takes effect when a TIMESTAMP value is converted to the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE or TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype.
Note:
Setting the session time zone does not affect the value returned by the SYSDATE and SYSTIMESTAMP SQL function. SYSDATE returns the date and time of the operating system on which the database resides, taking into account the time zone of the database server's operating system that was in effect when the database was started.
The ORA_SDTZ environment variable can be set to the following values:
Operating system local time zone ('OS_TZ')
Database time zone ('DB_TZ')
Absolute offset from UTC (for example, '-05:00')
Time zone region name (for example, 'Europe/London')
To set ORA_SDTZ, use statements similar to one of the following in a UNIX environment (C shell):
You can find out the current session time zone by entering the following query:
SELECT sessiontimezone FROM DUAL;
Converting Time Zones With the AT TIME ZONE Clause
A datetime SQL expression can be one of the following:
A datetime column
A compound expression that yields a datetime value
A datetime expression can include an AT LOCAL clause or an AT TIME ZONE clause. If you include an AT LOCAL clause, then the result is returned in the current session time zone. If you include the AT TIME ZONE clause, then use one of the following settings with the clause:
Time zone offset: The string '(+|-)HH:MM' specifies a time zone as an offset from UTC. For example, '-07:00' specifies the time zone that is 7 hours behind UTC. For example, if the UTC time is 11:00 a.m., then the time in the '-07:00' time zone is 4:00 a.m.
DBTIMEZONE: Oracle Database uses the database time zone established (explicitly or by default) during database creation.
SESSIONTIMEZONE: Oracle Database uses the session time zone established by default or in the most recent ALTER SESSION statement.
Time zone region name: Oracle Database returns the value in the time zone indicated by the time zone region name. For example, you can specify Asia/Hong_Kong.
An expression: If an expression returns a character string with a valid time zone format, then Oracle Database returns the input in that time zone. Otherwise, Oracle Database returns an error.
The following example converts the datetime value in the America/New_York time zone to the datetime value in the America/Los_Angeles time zone.
Support for Daylight Saving Time
Oracle Database automatically determines whether Daylight Saving Time is in effect for a specified time zone and returns the corresponding local time. The datetime value is usually sufficient for Oracle Database to determine whether Daylight Saving Time is in effect for a specified time zone. The periods when Daylight Saving Time begins or ends are boundary cases. For example, in the Eastern region of the United States, the time changes from 01:59:59 a.m. to 3:00:00 a.m. when Daylight Saving Time goes into effect. The interval between 02:00:00 and 02:59:59 a.m. does not exist. Values in that interval are invalid. When Daylight Saving Time ends, the time changes from 02:00:00 a.m. to 01:00:01 a.m. The interval between 01:00:01 and 02:00:00 a.m. is repeated. Values from that interval are ambiguous because they occur twice.
To resolve these boundary cases, Oracle Database uses the TZR and TZD format elements. TZR represents the time zone region in datetime input strings. Examples are 'Australia/North', 'UTC', and 'Singapore'. TZD represents an abbreviated form of the time zone region with Daylight Saving Time information. Examples are 'PST' for US/Pacific standard time and 'PDT' for US/Pacific daylight time. To see a list of valid values for the TZR and TZD format elements, query the TZNAME and TZABBREV columns of the V$TIMEZONE_NAMES dynamic performance view.
Examples: The Effect of Daylight Saving Time on Datetime Calculations
The TIMESTAMP datatype does not accept time zone values and does not calculate Daylight Saving Time.
The TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatypes have the following behavior:
If a time zone region is associated with the datetime value, then the database server knows the Daylight Saving Time rules for the region and uses the rules in calculations.
Daylight Saving Time is not calculated for regions that do not use Daylight Saving Time.
The rest of this section contains examples that use datetime datatypes. The examples use the global_orders table. It contains the orderdate1 column of TIMESTAMP datatype and the orderdate2 column of TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype. The global_orders table is created as follows:
This example shows the effect of adding 8 hours to the columns. The time period includes a Daylight Saving Time boundary (a change from Daylight Saving Time to standard time). The orderdate1 column is of TIMESTAMP datatype, which does not use Daylight Saving Time information and thus does not adjust for the change that took place in the 8-hour interval. The TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype does adjust for the change, so the orderdate2 column shows the time as one hour earlier than the time shown in the orderdate1 column.
Note:
If you have created a global_orders table for the previous examples, then drop the global_orders table before you try Example 4-9 through Example 4-10.
Example 4-9 Comparing Daylight Saving Time Calculations Using TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE and TIMESTAMP
The TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype uses the value of TIME_ZONE that is set for the session environment. The following statements set the value of the TIME_ZONE session parameter and create a global_orders table. The global_orders table has one column of TIMESTAMP datatype and one column of TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype.
Because a time zone region is associated with the datetime value for orderdate2, the Oracle Database server uses the Daylight Saving Time rules for the region. Thus the output is the same as in Example 4-8. There is a one-hour difference between the two calculations because Daylight Saving Time is not calculated for the TIMESTAMP datatype, and the calculation crosses a Daylight Saving Time boundary.
Example 4-10 Daylight Saving Time Is Not Calculated for Regions That Do Not Use Daylight Saving Time
Set the time zone region to UTC. UTC does not use Daylight Saving Time. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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June 12, 2014
A Missouri slaughter house is recalling thousands of pounds of beef distributed to a grocery store chain and two restaurants -- including one in Kansas City -- because the meat could be tainted with mad cow disease. Fruitland American Meat in Jackson, Mo.(Read full article) | {
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Add a new page
Here is a list of various projects for Cincinnati Anonymous to participate in for expanding public awareness. If there any Anonymous operations or projects that you are participating in not listed here, please create a page for them, or at least add a link to where they're being organized here, with a tl;dr describing them.
Project Sleeper Cell - Join online forums unrelated to Scientology, and setup a custom signature that looks innocuous, but will change on March 13th.
Full details of these operations are on the Enturbulation forums at http://forums.enturbulation.org. If those forums are taken offline, someone who is fully aware of the details of these operations will update them with all the information necessary to keep it going. | {
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} |
Thursday, August 04, 2011
The U.S. economy is bloated and inefficient; if we want to nurture enterprise and employment, we need to strip away what no longer works or is counter-productive.
The bottom line is that there is a fantasy view of America as a dynamic, innovative, efficient economy, and the stark reality that it is actually grossly inefficient, bloated, wasteful and not innovative in any meaningful structural way.Rather, the U.S. economy and culture have become calcified and rigid, fixated on counter-productive rationales and "projects" which yield no real return but which feed self-protective fiefdoms that stripmine the nation to feed their insatiable appetite for revenue and political power.
If we want to foster enterprise and employment, we have to face the reality that the U.S. economy is horribly inefficient and loaded with deadweight costs. Many seek external reasons for America's sagging economy, and issues of globalization, "free" trade and tariffs are certainly real. But we should keep in mind that imports and exports combined are roughly $3.2 trillion, or about 22% of the GDP.
We should also keep in mind that roughly half of "imports" are actually "related party trade" which the U.S. Census Bureau defines thusly: "Related-party trade includes trade by U.S. companies with their subsidiaries abroad as well as trade by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies with their parent companies."
In other words, half of the imports come from U.S. subsidiaries: they are not the result of "foreigners" but of U.S corporations shipping in goods within their global corporate structures to reap immense profits in America.
Globalization is all about reaping vast profits, which is why U.S. corporate profits are near all-time highs: almost 14% of the entire GDP.
So while we need to understand how trade and trade policies have impacted employment, we should start by recognizing the gross inefficiencies and high cost structure of the domestic U.S. economy. No amount of fiddling with trade and tariffs can overcome the domestic bloat and counter-productive "projects" of fiefdoms and cartels.
2. Cut healthcare/sickcare in half to align it with the costs of our developed-world competitors
3. Make starting small business and expanding small business easier by centralizing and speeding up permitting, regulation and oversight functions of overlapping government fiefdoms
Here are more essential steps which must be taken to lower the cost structure and eliminate counter-productive systemic bloat. Covering each topic would take an entire volume, but in shorthand:
1. Rationalize the tax structure to incentivize productivity and labor and disincentivize speculation and arbitraging of global wage and environmental imbalances.
2. Reduce unproductive waste of energy, and lower the cost structure of energy production in the U.S.
3. Eliminate the "war on drugs" and the drug-prison gulag, and transform drug abuse from a law-enforcement issue to a medical-care issue.
4. Reorient the Federal government's vast expenditures on basic research to creating enterprises and jobs.
5. Revolutionize education from the "factory" model to the "workshop" community model.
6. Reorient "free" trade away from ideological excesses of purity and from policies which benefit corporate profits at the expense of employment opportunities.
Before you fire off a hot email defending the wonderfulness of "free" trade (there is no "free" trade, there are only trade policies with implicit incentives), please read Globalization and UnemploymentThe impact of globalization on income and employment by Nobel laureate Michael Spence.
Spence does not paint globalization with either a black or white brush--he notes that trade policies are chosen to benefit either employment and labor (as in Germany) or corporate profits, as in America.
Since corporations "own" the machinery of Federal governance, there is no mystery in the policy choice of the U.S. government. Spence's point is that we could choose a different policy and still maintain "free" trade: he argues that trade could benefit employment and labor, and reduce the widening income disparity in the U.S. (The top earners here reap eight times the salary of lower-paid workers, while the ratio is 4-to-1 in Germany. This is the result of national goals and policies, not some "invisible hand.")
As correspondent Arthur B. recently observed in an email, "Tariffs are legal within the WTO (World Trade Organization). The United States has chosen to have zero tariffs on most items from most countries, but we do have a 10% tariff on Pharmaceuticals. Our average tariff on goods imported from China is 2.5%, while China's average tariff on U.S. goods is 25%."
I can verify via our Chinese friends that many U.S. goods are much cheaper in the U.S. than in China due to high tariffs and other mechanisms that make imported goods costly.
Some friends from Denmark recently rented a Cadillac on their vacation here, and they told us this $60,000 car costs over $100,000 in Denmark due to tariffs and fees.
Both Denmark and China are members of the WTO, and both promote their version of "free" trade. "Free" trade is an ideological construct; it does not exist in the real world. Trade is an expression of policy, be it benign neglect, maximizing corporate profits or fostering local industry; there is nothing "free" about it.
Slapping 100% tariffs on everything from abroad is not going to solve America's deep structural problems. However, we would profit from understanding Spence's article and resetting our goals to align with those of our competitors such as Germany which have goals of maintaining employment.
Spence also noted the critical role of research and development (R&D) if it is reoriented to foster enterprise and employment. Correspondent John W. made the same point:
Yes, small business is where the jobs are created but there has to be a reason to create them. This is where the role of government comes in. Traditionally, of necessity, government funds basic research and creates markets by seeding them and putting the appropriate regulatory and legal frameworks in place. Almost every new industry with the possible exception of chemicals that started in Germany and maybe one or two others was brought into being by government. In short, businesses exploit markets. Businesses do not create them. This makes sense for doing basic research and creating markets are not profitable adventures with risks that are way too high for any business to assume willingly.
For example, I have personal experience with the support government provided to get the integrated circuit industry going. Back in the 1960's, ARPA was charged with funding promising new technologies. At that time, our leaders know it was easy to get funding for "defense" so they used ARPA as the vehicle for basic research and market creation for society as a whole not just for defense. Ironically, ARPA is now DARPA showing its change in focus to defense rather than society. Of course, we also believed in basic research then and funded universities according. All of that was in the era before industry and finance took over the universities and bastardized their output.
Thank you, John, for clarifying the role of R&D. Clearly, R&D could be realigned to focus specifically on creating employment opportunities. This would have to go hand in hand with a revolution in education, shifting it from the fiefdom-factory model to the "workshop" community model. I have written extensively about education, and without belaboring the obvious: the present "factory" model system is completely broken and connot be "reformed."
The only way to "educate" people to prepare them for real life and a changing era and economy is to do so on a community level, involving the entire community. Setting up a huge "factory" run by fiefdoms has failed and will always fail.
The "classroom" as traditionally designed has also failed.
I could easily write an entire book about this, but you get the basic idea: we have to scrap the entire system as broken and counter-productive, and set up an entirely new way of understanding education, socialization, learning, skills, and the need for full community engagement in education. Diddling around with the parameters-- gaming test scores, lowering class size from 31 to 27, etc--will accomplish nothing. We need a revolution, from the ground up, if we want to foster enterprise and employment in the era of "the end of work."
The "war on drugs" is a complete failure, and acts as a "useless tax" on productive citizens. Here is the fallacy of the "war on drugs" in a nutshell: the base assumption of the "war on drugs" is that the availability of drugs alone will increase their use to epidemic levels and ensnare otherwise healthy citizens in a downward spiral of addiction.
Clearly, the "war on drugs" has failed to limit availability; rather, by increasing the profitability of drugs, it has created a tidal wave of availability. But the real issue here is that the model of availability being the source problem is simply wrong.
Here's the reality: healthy people with positive goals, caring families and productive lives have little interest in getting drunk, wasted or addicted. Availability has little to do with "demand" for getting drunk, wasted or addicted. People who are in internal pain/distress, who feel useless and who lack goals and productive lives seek out drugs, and low availability does not hinder them; they either get what they seek legally (i.e. get drunk) or quasi-legally, i.e. OxyContin, a synthetic heroin which is legal, restricted yet widely available despite the "war on drugs," and which is laying waste to thousands of people via its addictive properties.
The one and only solution is to end the "war on drugs" and face the reality that drugs are a medical/healthcare issue, not an availability/law enforcement issue.Trying to restrict availability via law enforcement has been a perverse disaster, creating drug cartels and a costly prison-gulag complex that acts as a hidden tax on the society and economy.
Make all drugs (other than "ice") legal, controlled and cheap, and you will wipe out the drug cartels overnight, and free resources squandered on the gulag/prosecution/law enforcement fiefdoms. The reason people get addicted is not because it's available--it's always available. They get addicted because they're in some sort of internal pain and they're troubled.
I come from a family with severe alcoholism, so please spare me the stories about perfectly healthy, untroubled people who puff a spliff and soon end up in the gutter with smack tracks on their arms. Of all the hundreds of people I have met and known in 57 years, I have never met one psychological healthy (that is, with basic self-esteem, positive attitude, emotional well-being/"intelligence", positive goals, caring family and friends and tools of self-management) who found drug abuse appealing.
What we are in denial about is not drugs, but the sickness of our society and culture which fosters drug abuse. The only way we can face up to this is to understand drug abuse as a healthcare/mental-health issue, not as an issue "solvable" by law-enforcement, the courts and the drug-gulag.
Disagree if you want, but please do not rely on prepackaged ideology for "answers." What no one can possibly deny is that 40 years of attempting to restrict availability has failed, completely, utterly, totally. Even if you truly think that is the "answer," the policy has failed. The "demand" is not "insatiable" from healthy people, it's from people who are troubled and prone to addiction as an "answer." Reducing "supply" has simply driven people to "legal" OxyContin. If that's your idea of "success," then what precisely would constitute failure?
Lastly, we have to face the reality that as local government resources are thinned by declining tax revenues, law enforcement resources available for the "war on drugs" will dwindle. Laws will not be enforced uniformly, and so a state of lawlessness will be "normalized." Is that a solution any rational person would choose over junking the entire "war on drugs" model and reframing it as what it really is, a healthcare/social issue?
The U.S. squanders a monumental amount of energy. yet despite this obvious reality, all the hubbub is about getting "more energy." The easiest way to generate "more energy" is to radically improve efficiency and cut waste. This mindset runs counter to the standard American ideology of "no limits, only more," which is a strong headwind to a rational understanding of energy consumption.
Here is a very useful presentation about energy consumption and generation: The Game Plan. While the author invokes climate change, this is not the core of his presentation; the issue he discusses in fascinating detail is personal consumption patterns and global production of energy.
The first is the impersonal story told in very big numbers about climate change, global energy consumption, and fossil fuels.
The second is the personal story about how every decision you make in your life impacts everyone you share the planet with, and just how big the scale of the energy challenge is.
I highly recommend reading the entire presentation.
As for taxes: the current complex tangle acts as a hidden tax with virtually no yield or benefit. Choose whatever tax scheme you want, but it should fit on one piece of paper. Anything 1,000 pages long is not a "solution," it's the problem.
People are aware of the unfairness of the current tax system, and the goal should be to restore fairness and faith in the fairness of the tax structure. Vast disparities in tax rates and enforcement breed contempt for taxation in general, and are rapidly delegitimizing fundamental institutions. People want accountability on how their taxes are spent but also on how they're imposed on the economy.
Those who own the machinery of governance will buy exemptions and loopholes; until the nation imposes some limits on concentrations of wealth and the political power it buys, then that won't change.
ABOUT THAT "SUSPENDED SERVICE" NOTICE: The site was transferred to a dedicated server yesterday, and there was a brief interruption of service as a result. Thank you to everyone who emailed to notify me of the outage. I maintain a mirror site on Blogspot, which you can always book mark charleshughsmith.blogspot.com or access via my RSS feed. (Note: the Internet is not "free" by any stretch of the imagination. A dedicated server cost thousands of dollars a year.)
NOTE OF THANKS: Thank you to everyone who wrote positive, encouraging emails recently--I have read and savored every one. Due to the press of events and workload, I am unable to respond at this time. To those I owe books to: please be patient, I hope to have worked through my backlog by next week.
Thank you to everyone who emailed me in the past week; while I read every email, at this point correspondence is like the incoming tide and my little sandcastle of time and energy has been completely swept away. Thank you for your understanding that I am just one standard-issue individual with extremely limited time to spend on the site.
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Weekly Musings Reports
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Author: Charlie Bertsch
Charlie Bertsch lives in Tucson, Arizona. A founding editor and regular contributor to one of the world's first online magazines, Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life, his work has appeared in numerous publications since including The Oxford American, Punk Planet, Phoenix New Times, Cleveland Scene, Tucson Sentinel, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
After my mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, I tried to console myself with the idea that her suffering had ended. But the more I thought about what her life had been like, the more confused I became. She had spent so many years coping with pain, that it was impossible for me to imagine her being free of it. It had fused with her identity (More…)
While the death of Arizona Senator John McCain has inspired heartfelt tributes from mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike, his long-time detractors have shown little reluctance to call his legacy into question. Here in Arizona, where he was regularly criticized for his tendency to seek positive coverage in the national media instead of the legislative results his constituents were hoping for, many conservatives expressed relief that he was finally out of the way. (More…)
Shortly after I moved to the Sonoran desert, I developed a standard response for friends and family who wondered how I was holding up. “Yes,” I’d say, “it’s hot as hell in summer. And, yes, the landscape is full of danger. But that’s what makes it exciting. I mean, in half a day I can make it from a trailhead minutes from my house into extreme wilderness.” (More…)
Like last summer’s widely lauded Get Out, Sorry To Bother You, the first film by hip-hop activist Boots Riley, is a rollicking bad time, every bit as fun as it is disturbing. And that’s surely the main reason that, like Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, it is doing well with audiences that don’t generally seek out left-wing multicultural art. Although less narratively “tight” than Get Out, (More…)
I’m standing outside in the rain. Not the savage sort we usually see during our summer Monsoon season here in the Sonoran Desert, but an impossible soft mist. There’s just enough of a breeze to set our wind chimes in motion, creating a soundscape that implores me to be completely in the moment. I hear myself saying, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.” (More…)
As I stood there in the brutal midday sun, I had a decision to make. Should I go back inside and leave the man trying to repair our air conditioning unit to do his work in silence? Or would it be more respectful to stand there and suffer with him? In the end, I stayed. He seemed happy to have the company. And I was, too. (More…)
Usually, if I walk in on a concert in progress, it takes me a while to pay full attention. I’ll go buy a drink, look for people I know, size up the crowd. This past Monday was different. Although I’d never heard of the band Lié before that moment, I knew I’d never stop wanting to hear them. (More…)
It’s no secret that Kanye West has been stirring up controversy again. Pushing buttons with the aplomb of Donald Trump – with whom he remains friendly –West has given every indication that he is positioning himself for future punditry in the right-wing media, if not a political career. (More…)
You can sense them building up, like storm runoff at a dam. It’s possible that the worst won’t happen this time. But one day they will become impossible to contain. The excuses, I mean. Although Donald Trump may wildly overstate his prowess in many areas, there is no doubt that he makes them with the aplomb of a world-class con artist and, more importantly, also makes them stick. (More…)
Like many people I know, I spend much of my time on social media avoiding information. There are days when, to invoke the long-running memes, I simply “can’t even”. Maybe it’s bad news about the economy or opioid addiction or climate change; or maybe I just can’t stand to hear about Trump’s latest outrage. But I also expend a lot of energy avoiding potentially good news. (More…)
Like a whole lot of people around the world, I went to see Black Panther during its four-day opening “weekend”. Although I am not usually that keen on superhero comic books or the movies made from them, I absolutely loved the experience of watching the film. But it wasn’t just for the admittedly awesome hand-to-hand combat scenes. From the opening minutes, I wanted desperately to debate it. (More…)
The first time I saw The Fall live was also the last. I was under tremendous pressure, both at work and at home. The band was late. The club was hot. I tried to distract myself by drinking, but that only made matters worse. I wanted to leave, but knew I couldn’t drive home. It was my birthday. I was depressed. Conditions were perfect. (More…) | {
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Even after 60-plus years of a fragile peace, South Koreans are fully aware that their efforts to build a modern society and economy are constantly at risk of being turned quickly again into rubble, by accidents, blunders and miscues from…
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem along with a group of 30 women peace activists crossed the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea on Sunday, in what organizers called a “symbolic act of peace” meant to encourage dialogue…
PANMUNJOM, Korean border | Although it stands for the "demilitarized zone," the DMZ is the most militarized border in the world, U.S. Army Col. Kurt Taylor told us during our recent tour of the buffer zone separating North and South… | {
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That's a hard assignment Could you go w/ (candy molded) angels? And say "God Bless (their names)"Have you check the galleries for christening cakes? Or make 2 single layers sitting side by side on the same board so each has their own design & cake...I've done a couple like that but not for those 2 occasions. | {
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As I screamed uphill toward the 3-foot ledge, the voice inside my head said "Don't fight it. Go for it." Knowledgeable mountain bikers called the move the lunge, but I had neither named nor internalized it yet. | {
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Tips on Using IFDB
IFDB has three main functions.
First, it's a comprehensive catalog of IF, past and present. IFDB
is a collaborative, community project - it's a little like a Wiki for IF
bibliography. Members can edit the game listings in the catalog, and
even add new listings, so you never have to wait for the site's
administrators to get around to adding the latest releases or fixing
errors in existing listings. If something's missing, you can add it;
if something's wrong, you can fix it.
Second, IFDB is a place to share recommendations. The site offers
several tools for giving and getting personalized recommendations
about games to play. The key word is personalized. IFDB isn't
just a "Top 10" scoreboard that boils everything down to an average of
what everyone likes (although it can do that, too). IFDB's
recommendation tools are based on the idea that tastes vary, so the
goal is to help you find games that match your individual style. One
way we do this is by giving you lots of ways to sift through the
database, and another is by helping you find other people with tastes
in IF similar to your own.
Third, IFDB makes it easier to get started at playing these games.
Modern IF games usually require "interpreter" programs, so it can be
time consuming, and sometimes frustrating, for new players to track
down everything they need. IFDB's "Download Adviser" is designed to
fix this. The Download Adviser can give you step-by-step
instructions that tell you precisely what you need, where to find it,
and how to install it - customized for the exact game you want to play
and the computer you want to play it on. IFDB can even make the whole
process completely automatic via a browser
plug-in.
If you're looking for recommendations
Here are some ways to use IFDB to find recommendations for games
to play:
1. Start with a "Recommended List." One of IFDB's key
features is the Recommended List. Any member can create a list of
favorite games in any category. There's no pre-set list of
categories, so members can get as creative as they like. If you're
looking for a particular kind of game, try using "Search for a list,"
which you can find on the IFDB Home page. Enter keywords describing
the kind of list you're looking for - "children's fantasy," say, or
"post-apocalyptic science fiction." You can search the same way for
polls created by other members - polls are similar to Recommended
Lists, but reflect the votes of the whole IFDB community rather
than just one member's favorites.
Browse lists -
Browse polls.
2. Start with a reviewer you trust. Spend a little while
browsing through games, and read some of the member reviews. You'll
probably find some reviewers who seem to have similar taste to your
own. When you see a review you like, you can click on the reviewer's
name to see all of their other reviews. Take a look at which games
they rate most highly - chances are that you'll like them, too.
3. Start with a game you really like. If you have a favorite
game, look at its listing. There are a couple of useful connections
you can explore from here. The listing will point out some
Recommended Lists that feature the game - these lists can be great
sources of recommendations for similar games. Also, look at the
reviews: people who give the game high marks might have similar taste
to yours, so you can see what other games they like by viewing their
other reviews.
4. Create a poll. If you still can't find what you're
looking for, you can directly ask for help from other members by creating a poll. When you create a poll, you
describe what sort of game you're interested in; then, other members
can provide their input by voting for games that they think match what
you're seeking. Votes will appear on your poll's home page, so you
can see everyone's suggestions in one place.
If you want to promote your favorite games
1. Make sure the game is listed accurately. If you can't
find a favorite game listed on IFDB, add it! IFDB lets members add new
listings, so there's no need to wait for a central administrator to
get around to updating the catalog when a new game comes out. Click here to add a new listing, or use the
link on the Home page. And if you find a listing that's incomplete
or inaccurate, you can expand or correct it yourself - every game
page has a link titled "Edit this page" that lets you update the listing.
2. Write a review. One of the best things you can do to
promote a game is to tell people what's so great about it. Don't just
say that the game is great - tell people why. In your profile, or
even in the review, give some thoughts on your own taste, so
readers will have some idea of how closely your perspective aligns
with theirs. To write a review, go to the game's main page and
click the "Write a review" link.
3. Create a Recommended List. People looking for games want
customized, personalized recommendations - they want to know about the
specific kinds of games they're looking for. Recommended Lists let
you give other members exactly this kind of custom recommendation. If
there's a particular category of game that you like, create a list
with your favorite games in the category. You can create as many
lists as you want, so you don't have to limit yourself to a generic
"Top 10" list - you can create lists tailored to the niches you're
interested in. Click here to create a list.
4. Vote.Browse
polls once in a while to see if you have any suggestions to add.
When you know of a game that would be a good fit for a poll, vote
for the game. | {
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Lughnasa.
As we head into August we remember the festival of Lughnasa, one of the great Celtic cross quarter festivals. A time to harvest the offerings from the land and hedgerows. A time to reap the rewards of our work in the garden. A time of abundance, of preserving the bounty and stocking up our larders for the coming Winter.
For as sure as night follows day the seasons are changing too. The wheel of the year continues…the cycle must be completed. Already some plants are starting to show Autumn hues…
while others are still full of colour and vibrancy. But very soon they too will move onto the next phase of their yearly cycle. As all life on this planet must…
Here in Ireland we awoke this morning to hear of the death of Meave Binchy, a wonderful author and journalist. At just 72 it seems she has been taken too early, but obviously it was her time. Meave was an amazing individual who despite having massive success, she sold 42 million books worldwide, remained a kind and warm hearted person. Always appreciative of her fans she treated each and every one as a cherished friend. She could teach us all a thing or two.
Here in Arigna we are revelling in the abundance of produce from the garden. The Onions in the bed above will soon be ready for harvesting, hung in braids in the shed for use throughout the Autumn and Winter. The flowers are self seeders from the compost that was dug in here last Spring. I must remember to pull the Poppies out before they spread their multitude of seeds everywhere. There are lots of berries to be harvested this year. This is ongoing as they are ripening slowly because of lack of sunshine. That makes it easier in a way as there is less urgency about the harvesting. Blackcurrants and Gooseberries have given great harvests. I freeze them in 1 kilo bags which is ideal for making small batches of jam and chutney. This produce, as well as being for our own use, forms part of our income as I sell it at local markets throughout the year. Something to keep me busy during the long dark days of the Winter.
I seem to be focused on the changing seasons this morning. The dull grey, windy day that it is is not helping the mood. What has happened to our Summers? I’m off now to light the stove and warm up the house. No berry picking today as I just can’t bear that wind which is surely going to bring us more rain later.
Hello Bridget, sorry not to have been around for a while, last few months have been difficult, bereavement, changes, but I have peeked in at your pictures and to read your stories. Take care dear heart. I am hoping for a bit of autumn heat here and some more clear skies to lift our spirits and ease our hearts.
I was deeply saddened to hear of Maeve Binchy’s passing — we have lost many iconic people in 2012!
But, as for your lovely, vibrant photos of the beauty of the harvest, it reminds us the cycle of life goes on and from death, life shall come again.
Happy summer or sort of summer, Bridget,and thank you for sharing your precious place through this blog!
It’s way to early for autumn to be arriving, but the air has that feel about it some mornings. I’m watching the swifts and swallows every day and hoping they won’t leave too soon – their departure is always a sign that summer is nearly over.
I was so sorry to hear about Maeve Binchy. I love her books. My blueberries have started to turn red already and I’ve noticed the nights getting darker. Oh it’s just too depressing to think autumn is close by. Despite last weeks good weather here I don’t feel like I’ve had enough of a summer yet. Have been thinking about escaping somewhere warm but hubby doesn’t have enough leave.
I refuse to believe that autumn is on its way just yet – we haven’t even had summer. My berries haven’t done very well this year except for the gooseberries they never seem to fail. Sad to hear about Maeve – I enjoyed her books and understand she was a lovely person.
Blimey. I’m pleased you had a good fruit harvest – I certainly didn’t. Ho hum. Always next year. Your post title reminds me of when I worked at Ticketmaster and ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ was a hot ticket. We had some great stabs at pronunciation by the punters! D
There is a sense of Autumn already and the swallows will be leaving very soon. Your gooseberries looks good… the three I have on my bush have got mildew!!
Sad news about Meave Binchy – her warm spirit will be missed.
Isn’t it true about August? One minute it’s summer and the next moment we are hurtling headlong toward autumn? I wonder if, as gardeners, we feel the change of seasons more keenly than most? I don’t know that others around me notice quite so much. Lovely post.
I had not heard about Meave Binchy’s death….such a loss…by the way I loved your blog this morning I truly felt what you are talking about when I walked out the door this morning and breathed in I could smell just a hint of fall coming. Maybe I shall blog about this feeling and I am amazed by all you are getting done at your place too. Lovely photos as well! 🙂
Rest in Peace Maeve Binchy, a great author! Our gooseberries and raspberries did not bear fruit this year at all! We ,down south in Cork are expecting gales and rain by this evening, the autumn is definitely creeping in slowly.The days have already shortened by an hour. | {
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It's a fact of London roads that pedestrians, cyclists and motorists all hate each other at times. And given the standards of cycling, driving and walking in the U.K. capital, there's good reason.
There's also good reason to think drivers could pave over these tensions just by thinking more about their wallets.
As a cycle commuter, I'm obliged to share a traffic lane with bus drivers, and know too well their penchant for what Americans call "jackrabbit starts" and "stopping on a dime."
Buses pull out of stops, accelerate to an Olympic sprint--overtaking my bike--and then jam on the brakes just in front of me at the next stop, throwing any standing passengers off balance. Sometimes they pull in before fully overtaking me, forcing me to jam on my brakes to avoid being pushed into the sidewalk. Usually, I'm able to then go around their outside, drawing level with the driver before the bus has come to a stop -- so they've gained nothing, and burned some brake and tire rubber in the process.
Rubber's not all they're burning: aggressive driving uses up fuel needlessly. Even if cycle safety weren't a concern (and it should be), the bus companies could save a penny or two on fuel by telling their drivers to observe the U.K. government's advice on fuel-efficient driving: "speed up and slow down smoothly."
The U.S. Department of Energy goes a step further and quantifies the costs of aggressive driving. Steep accelerations and braking can lower gas mileage -- the distance covered by a gallon of gas -- by 5 percent. Drive sensibly, and the equivalent gasoline savings amount to $0.19 per gallon, based on an assumed fuel price of $3.72 per gallon, the department says . (At highway speeds, the savings are greater -- 33 percent, or $1.23 per gallon.)
In the U.K., the price of diesel, the fuel used by more than 97 percent of London's 8,546 buses, averages 6.49 pounds a gallon ($10.25). (The capital also has about 200 hybrid buses and 5 hydrogen-fueled vehicles). With the average diesel bus covering 6.1 miles per gallon, and the fleet covering 486 million kilometers (302 million miles) a year, we can deduce that fuel use is about 49.5 million gallons.
The annual fuel bill for London buses therefor comes to about 321.3 million pounds. Save 5 percent of that, and you’re talking about 16 million pounds a year. And if you're cutting fuel consumption by 5 percent, it follows that you're cutting carbon dioxide emissions and particulate pollution by a similar amount. That can only be a good thing, given that London, the Olympic Games host city for 2012, last year exceeded annual European air pollution limits just four months into the year.
That's uncomfortable for all London cyclists -- but at least in the Olympic velodrome, there aren't any buses. | {
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Craftsmen from the Huichire community work together to build the rope bridge, an ancient tradition that involves the entire community.
(Photo courtesy of Andean Lodges)
Craftsmen from the Huinchiri community depend on teamwork to craft the bridge, the safety measures have been passed down through the generations and involve the entire community.
(Photo courtesy of Área de Expresiones Tradicionales y Costumbristas, Sub Dirección de Interculturalidad, Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura del Cusco)
Huinchiri men burn an offering in respect for the Q'eswachaka bridge.
(Photo by Rafael Varón, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)
Women prepare the q'oya grass to create the rope used in building the bridge.
(Photo courtesy of Área de Expresiones Tradicionales y Costumbristas, Sub Dirección de Interculturalidad, Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura del Cusco)
A Dozen Indigenous Craftsman From Peru Will Weave Grass into a 60-Foot Suspension Bridge in Washington, D.C.
The ancient technology used lightweight materials to create soaring 150-foot spans that could hold the weight of a marching army
As much as maize, or mountains, or llamas, woven bridges defined pre-Columbian Peru. Braided over raging rivers and yawning chasms, these skeins of grass helped connect the spectacular geography of the Inca empire: its plains and high peaks, rainforests and beaches, and—most importantly—its dozens of distinct human cultures.
Now a traditional Inca suspension bridge will connect Washington, DC to the Andean highlands. As part of the Smithsonian’s upcoming Folklife Festival, which focuses on Peru this year, a dozen indigenous craftsmen will weave together grass ropes into a 60-foot span. It will be strung on the National Mall parallel to 4th Street Southwest, between Jefferson and Madison Avenues, where it will hang from several decorated containers (in lieu of vertical cliff faces) and hover—at its ends—16 feet above the ground. It should be able to hold the weight of ten people.
“One of the major achievements of the Andean world was the ability to connect itself,” says Roger Valencia, a festival research coordinator. “How better to symbolize ideological, cultural and stylistic integration than by building a bridge?” The ropes are now ready: the mountain grass was harvested last November, before the Peruvian rainy season, then braided into dozens of bales of rope and finally airlifted from Peru to America.
For native Peruvians, traditional bridge-building is an important tie not only to new people and places, but also to the pre-colonial past.
“I learned it from my father and grandfather,” says Victoriano Arisapana, who is believed to be among the last living bridge masters, or chakacamayocs, and who will be supervising the folklife project. “I lead by birthright and as the heir to that knowledge.”
His own son is now learning the techniques from him, the latest in an unbroken bloodline of chakacamayocs that Arisapana says stretches all the way back to the Incas, like a hand-twisted rope.
The Incas—who, at the height of their influence in the 15th century, ruled much of what is now Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile as well as parts of Colombia—were the only pre-industrial American culture to invent long-span suspension bridges. (Worldwide, a few other peoples, in similarly rugged regions like the Himalayas, developed suspension bridges of their own, but Europeans didn’t have the know-how until several centuries after the Inca empire fell.) The Inca likely rigged up 200 or more of the bridges across gorges and other previously impassable barriers, according to analysis by John Ochsendorf, an architecture scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Though anchored by permanent stone abutments, the bridges themselves had to be replaced roughly every year. Some of them were at least 150 feet long and could reportedly accommodate men marching three abreast.
Ochsendorf believes that Inca bridges may have first been developed in the 13th century. The engineering breakthrough coincided with—and likely enabled—the rise of the empire, which maintained a sprawling road network (the subject of “The Great Inka Road” exhibition) that united previously isolated cultures under Inca rule.
The bridges allowed for many Inca military victories: Inca commanders would send their strongest swimmers across a river so building could begin from both sides. But the exquisite structures apparently so dazzled some neighboring tribes that they became vassals without any bloodshed. “Many tribes are reduced voluntarily to submission by the fame of the bridge,” wrote Garcilaso de la Vega, a 16th-century historian of Inca culture. “The marvelous new work seemed only possible for men come down from heaven.”
The invading Spanish were similarly amazed. The Andean spans were far longer than anything that they’d seen in 16th-century Spain, where the longest bridge stretched only 95 feet. The Incas’ building materials must have seemed almost miraculous. European bridge-building techniques derived from stone-based Roman technology, a far cry from these floating webs of grass. No wonder some of the bravest conquistadors were said to have inched across on hands and knees.
“The use of lightweight materials in tension to create long-span structures represented a new technology to the Spanish,” Ochsendorf writes, “and it was the exact opposite of the 16th-century European concept of a bridge.”
Ultimately, the bridges—and indeed, the whole meticulously maintained Inca roadway system—facilitated the Spanish conquest, especially when it became clear that the bridges were strong enough to bear the weight of horses and even cannons.
Despite the Inca bridges’ utility, the Spanish were determined to introduce more familiar technology to the Andes landscape. (Perhaps they weren’t keen to swap out each woven overpass every year or two, as the Inca carefully did.) In the late 1500s, the foreigners embarked on an effort to replace the grass suspension bridge over Peru’s Apurimac River with a European-style stone compression bridge, which depended on a masonry arc. But “to construct a timber arch of sufficient strength to support the weight of stone over the rushing river was simply beyond the capacity of colonial Peru,” writes Ochsendorf. “The bridge construction was abandoned after great loss of life and money.”
The colonists wouldn’t be able to match the Inca technology until the Industrial Revolution two hundred years later, with the invention of steel cable bridges. Some of traditional grass bridges remained in use until the 19th century.
An Inca rope bridge still hangs over a canyon near the highlands community of Huinchiri, Peru, more than a four-hour’s drive from the capital city of Cusco. It is one of just a handful remaining. This is the bridge that Arisapana’s family has overseen for five centuries, and it’s similar to the one to be built on the National Mall.
“The bridge is known worldwide,” Arisapana says. “Twenty people could cross it together carrying a large bundle.”
The old bridge stands near a modern long-span steel bridge, built in the late 1960s and typical of the sort that eventually made the Inca bridges obsolete. Unlike a handmade grass bridge, it doesn’t need to be rewoven every year because of exposure to the elements, with last year’s masterpiece discarded.
Yet Arisapana says his community will build a new grass bridge every June.
“For us, the bridge is the soul and spirit of our Inca (ancestors), that touches and caresses us like the wind,” he says. “If we stop preserving it, it would be like if we die. We wouldn’t be anything. Therefore, we cannot allow our bridge to disappear.”
Raw materials probably varied according to the local flora across the Inca empire, but Arisapana’s community still uses ichu, a spiky mountain grass with blades about two feet long. The grass is harvested just before the wet season, when the fiber is strongest. It is kept damp to prevent breakage and pounded with stone, then braided into ropes of varying thickness. Some of these, for the longest Inca bridges, would have been “as thick as a man’s body,” Garcilaso claims in his history. According to Ochsendorf’s testing, individual cables can support thousands of pounds. Sometimes, to test the ropes on site, workers will see if they can use it to hoist a hog-tied llama, Valencia says.
To do everything by himself would take Arisapana several years, but divided among community members the work takes only a few days.
“We have a general meeting beforehand,” he says, “and I remind (the people) of each person, family and community’s obligations, but they already know what their obligations are.” The bridge-raising becomes a time for celebration. “The young people, the children, and even the grandchildren are very happy…they are the ones that talk and tell the story of how the bridge was built by our Inca ancestors, and then they sing and play.”
The old Inca bridge style differs from more recent versions. In modern suspension bridges, the walkway hangs from cables. In Inca bridges, however, the main cables are the walkway. These large ropes are called duros and they are made of three grass braids each. The handrails are called makis. Shorter vertical ropes called sirphas join the cables to the railings and the floor of the bridge consists of durable branches.
The bridge on the National Mall will be made of hundreds of ropes of varying thicknesses. The math involved is formidable.
“It’s like calculus,” Valencia says. “It’s knowing how many ropes, and the thickness of the ropes, and just how much they will support. They test the strength of the rope, every piece has to go through quality control, and everything is handmade.”
Even for those fully confident in the math, crossing an Inca rope bridge requires a certain courage. “You feel it swaying in the wind,” Valencia recalls, “and then all of a sudden you get used to it.”
“Our bridge…can call the wind whenever he wants to,” Arisapana says. Traditionally those who cross the dizzying Andes spans first make an offering, of coca, corn, or “sullu,” a llama fetus. “When we don’t comply…or maybe we forget to demonstrate our reverence, (the bridge) punishes us,” he says. “We could suffer an accident. That’s why, to do something on the bridge or to cross on it, first one must pay respects and offer it a plate.”
Even tourists from other countries visiting his remote village know to not to approach the bridge empty-handed. “We ask our visitors to ask permission and give an offering…at least a coca—that way they can cross and come back without any problems.”
Visitors will not be permitted to cross the Folklife Festival’s bridge, but perhaps an offering can’t hurt.
The bridge builders—who are accustomed to receiving curious visitors back home, but who have never traveled to the United States—are pleased that their ancient craft is carrying them to new lands.
“All of them are very excited,” says Valencia. “They are going to a different world, but their own symbol of continuation and tradition, the bridge, is the link that connects us.
“The bridge is an instrument, a textile, a trail, and it’s all about where it takes you.” | {
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Assassins assault Golems creed for decades now and as the time comes, the end of its reign comes to an end. As the legend goes to those assassins who portrayed its heroism have been now told to those who seek hope, justice and freedom. Now its a matter of time until they reach the heart of its quest and end this madness brought by the opposers to those who are innocent.
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Thorough testing concludes Power does not have concussion
Mar. 16, 2016 at
09:31 p.m.
Updated:
Mar. 16, 2016 at
09:31 p.m.
INDYCAR announced today that results of an extensive evaluation at the University of Miami Concussion Program revealed no definitive evidence of a recent concussion for Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power. The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion passed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) test and a MRI/DVI study was normal in all parameters. Power was evaluated by a team of physicians specializing in concussions.
Power has been cleared to return to Verizon IndyCar Series competition after sitting out race-day on-track competition for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 13.
“The doctors at the University of Miami concluded Power’s symptoms were not the result of a concussion, and may have been related to a lingering inner ear infection for which he was being treated,” said Dr. Terry Trammell, safety consultant to INDYCAR. “There is no evidence that he sustained a concussion in the crash on Friday, which is consistent with his ear accelerometer data and the mandatory screening evaluation conducted after his crash.”
Power was involved in a one-car crash during morning practice in St. Petersburg on March 11. He was evaluated at the scene, under INDYCAR protocol, and was cleared to drive by INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows after showing no concussion-like symptoms.
Power experienced severe nausea on March 12 following Firestone Fast Six qualifications – where he claimed the Verizon P1 Award and broke the St. Petersburg track record. He was required to submit to an examination by INDYCAR Medical on March 13, where he failed a SCAT (Sports Concussion Assessment Tool) and was presumed to have been suffering from concussion-like symptoms. He was replaced in the Team Penske No. 12 Chevrolet by Oriol Servia for the morning warmup practice and the race.
“Given the nature of his inner-ear infection, it would have been extremely difficult for Will to pass the SCAT, which is what ultimately led to the concussion diagnosis,” Dr. Trammell explained. “At the University of Miami they conducted a week’s worth of testing in one day and Will was seen by multiple physicians. The doctors concluded definitively that Will had not sustained recent head trauma.” | {
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The Corporate Welfare State
Conservatives in North America identify Europe (Scandinavia in particular) with its high social safety net, health care systems and high tax rates as “welfare” states. A welfare state is a country where the government provides for the well-being of its citizens, the objective is to create greater economic equality and ensure a certain minimum standard of living.
On the other side of the pond, Conservative politicians in the United States are quick to criticize the countries that care for their poorest citizens and decry those who wish to see the US follow the same path. I wonder if they see the hypocrisy.
You see, the United States does have elements of these so called “welfare” states, such as welfare, social security and unemployment. Far right conservatives are trying to do away with these important programs, but at the same time they continue to subsidize corporations who don’t need it.
These same people, who supposedly believe in the free market as much as they believe in Jesus, prefer to give billions in tax subsidies to oil companies, weapons manufacturers and farmers, rather than giving it to those who actually need it. After all, these companies are “job creators”, the less they pay in taxes the more jobs they create right?
I saw an interview about a week ago featuring Honeywell CEO David Cote. During the interview he was asked what he thought the effective corporate tax rate should be; Cote to no one’s surprise said zero, he argued “jobs come from companies and if we wanted to create the most effective foreign direct investment pipeline you’ve ever seen, we would have the lowest rate possible.”
Honeywell CEO David Cote
Well… as it turns out, between 2008-2010 Honeywell received $1.75 billion in federal tax subsidies making their effective tax rate -0.7%, better than Mr. Cote could have dreamed.
With that kind of tax rate Honeywell must have created lots of jobs, right? During that same time period their jobs gain was -996 and managed to use loopholes in the law to fire hundreds of union workers and replace them with cheaper labour.
With all these negative numbers, Honeywell must be struggling to stay afloat right? Actually they profited $4.9 billion over that time period and David Cote himself got paid $37 million last year for his efforts.
Honeywell’s example of corporate welfare can be compared on a lower level to a personal welfare recipient who sells drugs on the side. Conservatives desire to shut down the entire welfare program because of individuals who cheat the system. Why then do they continue to subsidize companies who are not only on their feet, but flying over everyone?
The answer is simple: lobbying. From 2008-2010, Honeywell spent $17 million to lobby politicians and received $1.75 billion in tax subsidies for their hard work. For every dollar they spent, they received a hundred back. Do you think if I gave Prime Minister Harper a $1000 donation I could get $100 000 back on my taxes?
The type of corporate welfare we have in North America is the product of corporate influence over politicians; money buys power and therefore benefits the wealthy at the expense of the poor who have no money and consequently no say in the goings on in government.
It’s a reverse Robin Hood if you will. Whether it’s the tar sands in Alberta or the oil, corn and arms industries in the US among others, government subsidization of profitable corporations creates more wealth for the already wealthy and increases government debt. It does absolutely nothing for the common man.
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Quiet Mike has been a politics & news writer at www.forgetthebox.net since May 2010. In December of 2012 he founded www.quietmike.org where he is the chief writer, editor and administrator. He has been active in politics, writing and social causes for many years. When he’s not busy working he enjoys music, bowling, baseball, hockey, and reading.
2 comments
Maybe one day /w an iVote ap we can have more say in politics. Citizens daily voting alongside Senators would make for stronger tax laws…tracking of corporate tax rates, amounts paid, AND workers fired/union busting scab labour, all should be open source for the public to view…
…and we can vote /w dollars on who we support. Starve out corporate slave drivers…
I would change the last sentence..
It does in fact do something for the common man… just nothing good 🙂
don’t forget that governments do not generate wealth, but can only appropriate it from others. so to subsidize these corporations, especially if they have a negative overall tax rate, it must come from the common man. | {
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Taheri, Amir
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
The Times - United Kingdom | 26/08/2010
Iran resembles the Soviet Union
With Chinese technology the Iranian regime has managed to control satellite television within its borders. Now only programmes broadcast by the state can be received. With its control of the media, its megalomania and its ailing economy Iran resembles the Soviet Union shortly before its downfall, writes the conservative daily The Times: "Behind the scenes, President Ahmadinejad's rivals are sharpening their knives. ...The Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industry warns that almost a million jobs could be lost because the Government is unable to pay its debts to private contractors. The Ministry of Labour has coolly announced that the economy is losing an average of 3,000 jobs a day. With double-digit inflation perverting economic activity, state-owned banks cannot attract investors even with annual interest rates of 20 per cent labelled as 'Islamic mutual benefit'. In its last phases the Soviet Union, having earned the sobriquet of 'Burkina Faso with missiles', was little more than an oil-exporting country with superpower pretensions."
Clash of religions?
For Iranian journalist Amir Taheri, "the attempt by neo-Islam to destroy individual freedoms is as great a threat to Islam as the Inquisition was to Christianity. By emphasizing martyrdom as the supreme goal for Muslims and trumpeting 'the clash of civilisations', neo-Islam also poses a threat to world peace and international law. In order to protect itself, Islam needs to revive its theology with the stress on divinity. In other words, Islam has to become a religion again. That does not mean Muslims have to keep out of politics or not feel concerned by Palestine, Iraq and Kashmir or any other political cause that might interest them. It means that they have to recognise that these causes, like other similar ones, are political, and not religious." | {
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Advertisement
Beastie Boy dies
Adam 'MCA' Yauch, founding member of the Beastie Boys, has lost a three-year-battle with cancer and has died at the age of 47.
As well as being a rapper and bassist Yuach was also a dedicated activist for Tibetan rights. He formed the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. After 9/11 he organised a benefit concert called New Yorkers Against Violence.
It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam "MCA" Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.
– beastyboys.com
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1963, Yauch taught himself to play the bass guitar as a teenager and formed the band that became the Beastie Boys for his 17th birthday.
Together with Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, the Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four number one records, and win three grammys.
The Beastie Boys 1986 debut album "Licences to III" was the first rap album to ever top the US Billboard 200. | {
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We have a bunch of reset Starbucks VIA printable coupons. It looks like these coupons reset again this morning, even though they just reset a few days ago. Here are the preclipped links for these great coupons: | {
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Life expectancy across the globe has increased by five years since 2000, the fastest rise in lifespans since the 1960s, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Babies born in 2015 can expect to live to 71.4 years (73.8 years for females; 69.1 years for males), but major inequalities persist within and among countries, according to the WHO report, “World Health Statistics: Monitoring Health for the Sustainable Development Goals”.
The report brings together the most recent data on the health-related targets within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. Highlighting significant data gaps that will need to be filled if the new UN sustainable development targets are to be reached.
With an average lifespan of 86.8 years, women in Japan can expect to live the longest. Switzerland enjoys the longest average survival for men, at 81.3 years.
The shortest life expectancies are still in Africa. Babies born last year in Sierra Leone have a life expectancy of just over 50 years. Those in Angola, Central African Republic, Chad and Ivory Coast are expected to live only slightly longer.
The gains since 2000 reverse declines during the 1990s, when life expectancy fell in Africa because of the AIDS epidemic and in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The increase was greatest in the African regions where life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years, driven mainly by improvements in child survival, progress in malaria control and expanded access to antiretrovirals for treatment of HIV.
“The world has made great strides in reducing the needless suffering and premature deaths that arise from preventable and treatable diseases,” said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. “But the gains have been uneven. Supporting countries to move towards universal health coverage based on strong primary care is the best thing we can do to make sure no-one is left behind.”
The report shows that newborns in 29 countries – all of them high-income -- have an average life expectancy of 80 years or more, while newborns in 22 others – all of them in sub-Saharan Africa -- have life expectancy of less than 60 years.
The report puts figures on some of the leading causes of death and ill-health that will affect the likelihood of meeting SDGs. Each year:
303 000 women die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth
5.9 million children die before their fifth birthday
2 million people are newly infected with HIV, and there are 9.6 million new TB cases and 214 million malaria cases
1.7 billion people need treatment for neglected tropical diseases more than 10 million people die before the age of 70 due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer
800 000 people commit suicide
1.25 million people die from road traffic injuries
4.3 million people die due to air pollution caused by cooking fuels
3 million people die due to outdoor pollution
475 000 people are murdered, 80% of them men.
Addressing those challenges will not be achieved without tackling the risk factors that contribute to disease. Around the world today:
1.1 billion people smoke tobacco;
156 million children under 5 are stunted, and 42 million children under 5 are overweight;
1.8 billion people drink contaminated water, and 946 million people defecate in the open; and
3.1 billion people rely primarily on polluting fuels for cooking.
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio received an endorsement for re-election from The New York Times editorial board.
The headline on the board's editorial said de Blasio is "the best Democratic choice" for the position.
When de Blasio, "the most left-wing mayor in New York's modern history," became mayor in 2014, critics expected poor results, according to the board. However, de Blasio exceeded expectations.
"New York remains, on the whole, well run. Crime has continued its remarkable decline. Garbage is collected as efficiently as ever. The local economy is humming, and municipal finances are sound, with steady budget surpluses. Most unions representing city workers are content."
"We firmly endorse Mr. de Blasio in this primary as he seeks a second, and final term and urge Democratic voters to support him next Tuesday over four lesser-known opponents. His able stewardship of the country's largest and most cantankerous city deserves to be rewarded," the board wrote.
However, the endorsement did not include universal praise for the Democratic mayor. "There is a moral haughtiness that has served him and the city ill … it also renders him almost incapable of publicly admitting error," the board wrote.
The board issued a warning to de Blasio about focusing on higher office beyond the mayorship. "He might also bear in mind, in case he has lofty aspirations, that no New York mayor has won election to higher office since the 1860s." | {
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Diving to the Rosebud Vents - Galápagos Rift
May 1, 2005In 2002, researchers diving in the submersible Alvin returned to the
Galápagos Rift, a mid-ocean ridge about 250 miles from the Galápagos Islands in
the eastern Pacific Ocean where hydrothermal vents and exotic organisms were
first found in 1977. They discovered that seafloor lava had paved over a
hydrothermal vent site called Rose Garden, named for its abundant communities of
red-tipped tubeworms, mussels and clams the size of dinner plates, and other
animals. But a few hundred feet away, tiny animals had begun to colonize a new
vent field the researchers named Rosebud. On May 20, scientists will return to
the site to see how the hydrothermal community has evolved at Rosebud during
Dive and Discover Expedition 9. Researchers will again use Alvin to
see what chemical, microbial and geological changes have occurred, make detailed
maps of the animal distributions, and take high-resolution photographs to create
photomosaics of the seafloor. They will also sample the animals and lava flows,
deploy time-lapse cameras, larval traps, and chemical sensors directly at the
vents, and search for new animal communities and black-smoker vents along the
Galápagos Rift. Students and the public can join the expedition May 20-June 3 at
Dive and
Discover.
For Immediate Release
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society. Learn more » | {
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We are seeking goal oriented customer service representatives to work with our company. Must be able to work unsupervised. Applicants must possess excellent work ethic with an ambition to succeed. Part time or Full time schedules available. Daily pay and unlimited earning potential.
Will train the right individuals.
Qualities that an applicant must possess to be considered for our positions must include:
Ambition, strong work ethic, and open to new ideas
Be a self-starter with problem solving skills
Be a career oriented individual searching unlimited opportunities | {
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From Carol Donaldson, a well known Environmental Consultant and published author, an article that shows how vital North Kent Farms are to the wildlife in the area. Note the reference to Oare Marshes which are right next door to Graveney, Nagden and Cleve Marshes.
I can report that numbers of fledged lapwing chicks from North Kent Farms were up again with redshank and yellow wagtail also doing better.
black winged stilt chicks. Photo Frank Cacket
One pair of chicks in particular caught everyone’s attention. This year a pair of black winged stilts successfully raised two chicks on one of the farms I work on. This is the first time a pair of chicks has fledged outside of a reserve in Britain.
For now we intend to keep the name of the farm and farmers a secret as there is a high chance that the birds will return again and there is a need to keep the site (which is on private land) undisturbed. This lack of disturbance throughout the breeding season was well managed by the farmers and, along with the creation of excellent wetland habitat, was the reason these birds did so well.
Why is this important?
The developers have repeatedly said that the farmland that they propose to industrialise will ultimately benefit from their intervention. But already without their intervention the wildlife is doing quite well thank you very much.
It’s true that the farmer at Nagden, Graveney and Cleve Marshes could do more for wildlife by being more careful and considerate (and yet still make a good crop). But we certainly don’t have to put 1 million solar panels back-to-back, 4 metres high, and the world’s largest battery onto the site to ensure that more black winged stilts, lapwings, redshank, and yellow wagtails continue to thrive.
Have you donated to our online fund-raising site yet? Every little helps, so if you can manage to donate £10, £20 or even £50, we’ll use it wisely. Just head over to GoFundMe
Public – have your say
Even if you think the proposal should not be allowed, you should explain your concerns to the developer so that, if it does go ahead, the impact on the community and the environment is managed in the best way possible. | {
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December 9, 2008, Tuesday
Democrats picked up three seats in the House of Representatives that were previously held by Republicans, and for the first time in decades, they won a majority of the seats in the State Senate. In the 13th Congressional District, covering... | {
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This Friday will see the annual MIT Sloan Investment Conference take place, after months of dedicated organization and careful planning. Part of the Sloan finance tradition, this student-run conference brings together influential individuals in the finance and investment world today to debate and discuss pressing issues in their areas of expertise.
We have themed the conference “Investing in a Brave New World”. More than six years after the financial crisis, the investment world today has fundamentally changed from the one many of us in grew up in. This has been driven by cheap money, new regulations, and the impact of technology. The aim of the conference is, therefore, to take stock of all things new in the investment world today, and anticipate what the new landscape has in store for us.
We are honoured to have a group of incredible speakers to take the stage and guide us through the day, including Carson Block (Muddy Waters), Ben Golub (BlackRock), Megan Greene (Manulife), Jean Hynes (Wellington Management), Martin Mannion (Summit Partners), Howard Marks (Oaktree), Vikram Pandit (TGG Group), Tom Speechley (Abraaj), and Eric Wetlaufer (CPPIB). Our very own Professor Robert C. Merton will also make a presentation on his latest research. With 10 speakers scheduled from 8am to 6pm, the conference will be packed to the brim with content. We invite you to check out our website for the agenda: www.sloaninvestmentconference.com
Organizing such an event is no easy task. In fact, some of the relationships and planning began over one year ago in the lead up to the 2014 conference. Venues were negotiated for and booked, speakers were reached out to and enthused, and tickets were marketed and sold – and are still selling, for those interested. It was thanks to a committed team of individuals, who are passionate about finance and the opportunity to meet some of the most influential minds in the industry, that the conference has come together so seamlessly.
It should be clear that the MIT Sloan Investment Conference is a must-attend. The insights, speakers and networking opportunities are amongst the best the conference has seen to date, and we hope you are free to enjoy the spectacle.
Brian Liston is a Master of Finance candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management
Governments not only regulate the private financial marketplace, they also own and operate some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Government agencies make trillions of dollars of loans, insure large and complex risks, and design new financial products. Yet their leaders often lack the analytical support and rigorous financial training of their peers in the private sector, and transparency is often lacking.
“This is a big unmet need,” said Professor Deborah Lucas, director of the center. “To have an academic center devoted to the broad swath of government financial policies that have such an enormous effect on the allocation of capital and risk in the world economy.”
“What we want to do is to promote research that policymakers, practitioners, and informed citizens can turn to as an objective source of information when they’re thinking about these policy issues. That information often isn’t available now,” she said.
Research endeavors so far include, among others: the production of a world atlas of government financial institutions, an effort helmed by Lucas to catalog, compare, and evaluate governments’ financial involvement worldwide; a project led by Professor Andrew Lo to develop a dashboard that measures systemic financial risk; a study of the effects of algorithmic and high frequency trading, led by Professor Andrei Kirilenko; and a study of policies on retirement finance led by MIT Sloan professor and Nobel laureate Robert Merton.
Lo, Kirilenko, and Merton are all co-directors of the center.
Along with the research work, Lucas said there is also an educational mission for the center. In many cases, the center’s leaders say, financial problems could have been avoided, mitigated, or at least predicted had public sector workers had an education on par with that received by many private sector finance professionals.
“The idea is to provide the people who are working on finance within a government context with the same skillset as their peers in private industry,” Lucas said. “One reason you see a lack of finance education is because it’s tended to be a rather expensive education. And people going into the public sector may not even realize that finance is what they will need to know.”
At MIT Sloan, work at the center has already led to the creation of Kirilenko’s new course—Core Values, Regulation, and Compliance—as well as a student club on financial markets and policy.
The center began sponsoring events in October 2013, but officially launched Sept. 12-13 with the inaugural MIT Center for Finance and Policy Conference in Cambridge, Mass. More than 120 people attended the invite-only event, which featured discussions on the cost of government credit support, the costs of single-family mortgage insurance, and contagion in financial markets. Peter Fisher, senior director at BlackRock Investment Institute and a former undersecretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, gave a keynote talk.
The conference also included a panel discussion on improving government financial institutions, which addressed the need for government agencies to improve how they manage credit portfolios and monitor program risk levels over time. Panel members also discussed ways to raise red flags when there are problems in government credit programs.
The outlook was not entirely dire. “The move toward embracing risk management concepts across the federal government has been impressive in recent years,” said Doug Criscitello, a managing director at Chicago-based audit, tax, and advisory firm Grant Thornton and the former CFO of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “We’ve seen the rise of independent risk management offices … that are housed outside the credit extension department.”
Lucas said she believes MIT’s depth in finance, economics, policy, and systems thinking make it the ideal place to study governments as the world’s largest and most complex financial institutions.
“I think an important reason that more academics haven’t taken on these issues—despite their importance—is that they are extremely complex,” she said. “Making progress takes a big investment in understanding institutions and laws and motivations. The problems are inherently interdisciplinary. And MIT is this great institution in terms of having the horsepower and energy to go after it and say ‘We can hit this question from a lot of different dimensions.’”
Organized by the CUHK Business School, The Global Leader Series Economic Forum held on 16 October “proved a great success, filling the Grand Ballroom of Kowloon Shangri-La with over 600 participants and drawing an impressive array of eminent speakers and attendees. Titled ‘The Rise of the Asian Century’, the forum featured four world-renowned economists: Prof. Liu Mingkang, former Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission; Prof. Robert C. Merton, 1997 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences and School of Management Distinguished Professor of Finance at MIT Sloan School of Management; Prof. Lawrence J. Lau, Chairman of CIC International (Hong Kong) Co., Limited; and Prof. Fred Hu, Chairman of Primavera Capital Group. Before a captivated audience, they knowledgeably presented their views on the challenges and opportunities of Asia’s economic and financial development as China continues to gain prominence.” | {
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Any information on blending strength percentages of the different oils for use on the skin?For example if I blend my oil with carrier for a 1% - 4% or (7% just because I like if strong), are there any guidelines for oil strengths that you can apply to the skin?I guess it depends on your skin, I do use some oils on my skin @ 100%, but I do take warning on oils that are not recommended to apply with out dilution.Just looking for some guidelines.
ali
Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:38 am
Ananda Staff
Site Admin
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pmPosts: 132
Re: Blending Strength
Hi Ali,
The CO2 'fruit and vegetable" source oils can be used at a little higher concentration -- sometimes I'll use as much as 1, maybe even 2 full milliliters of Sea Blackthorn, 1ml of Rose hip oil CO2 to"total" extract, or Carrot Root. These somewhat resemble cold-pressed seed oils, but with with a much higher concentration of flavenoids and other nutrients besides fats.
I use less so of pretty much everything else except oils that can be used neat, if they are used that way often (really only helichrysum, lavender, and plai, but I have yet t experiment with this one). So don't let "CO2" fool you -- it's certainly easy to use too much Frankincense (irritating); German Chamomile & Calendula - may (according to some professionals), have a pro-inflammatory effect when used at greater than 2%,
And particularly for topical facial skincare, if I use to high an amount of the Heli or Lav., it cam irritate my eyes. So really it's just those :Fruit CO2's, oh AND Sandalwood -- that seems to be fairly benign as well -- being a base note (releasing slowy aromatically around the eyes)
GENERALLY, skin care formulas created without the idea of treating some medical condition are in the neighborhood of 3% - 5% total essential concentration, particularly those for continuous daily use.
Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:56 pm
*ether*
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 amPosts: 10
Re: Blending Strength
My latest, all-around, face serum has an 11-12% concentration of oils to one ounce of carrier. The oils consist of:
sea buckthorncarrot roothelichrysumrosemary verblavender
According to what Eric has said, most of these oils are safe to use at higher concentrations because they fall under "oils that can be used neat" or as one of the qualifying "fruit & veg" oils. I've been using this blend for about 2 weeks now, and so far it doesn't feel like it's too strong. But I do have some concern about it being potentially pro-inflammatory, due to the high concentration of EO's (and my predisposition for acne).
Any thoughts?
Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:30 pm
Sue Cruz
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:32 pmPosts: 5
Re: Blending Strength
Hi *ether*,
Re: 11% - 12% All Around Face Serum
To be safe, perhaps you should consider diluting your blend somewhat with some hazelnut carrier oil, which has an astringent quality (but won't dry out your skin) and should be suitable for skin prone to acne.
Regards,
Sue
Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:11 pm
Ananda Staff
Site Admin
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pmPosts: 132
Re: Blending Strength
Hi Ether & Sue -- I DO think it's a very nice anti-aging / regenerative blend. The rosemary and lavender might be anticeptic enough to ward off acne, but Sue made a good suggestion -- and I think you could use Grapeseed as well.
Regarding the concentration, that is a pretty high number, I don't think even with those oils I go over 6 or 7%, but if there's reasonably more sea buckthorn and carrot root than the others in their ratio of concentrations, I could see it may be ok. Now, I still wouldn't used Heli, Lavender, and particularly the Rosemary (not one that should be used "neat") at 2% each (just an example, as if you're blend had equal parts).
I don't think you'll see a pro-inflammatory condition (I've heard that specifically about German Chamomile, and would consider Marigold/Calendula in the same category, as the distiller suggests only up to 0.3%). I have not heard potential negative reactions about lavender or helichrysum, and because they're often used "neat", some highly educated therapist would have said something over the last 20 years
I think if the concentrations were too high, you would notice it feeling unpleasant. I've made a similar blend, including Frankincense CO2 at a slightly high concentration, which made my eyes water and my skin feel a little warm. It's interesting too that in all the literature, there's little discussion of the effect of high concentrations for skin care - again, I've only heard this mentioned about German Chamomile, and the distiller's recommendation of just a few more. We're not talking about cinnamon or oregano, but oils that are generally used in beauty/anti-aging/general skin health formulas. Those oils we know can burn the skin. Yet, is a blend with 8% Ylang Ylang going to produce any negative results? No one seems to actually know, but goes along with mainstream thought regarding optimal concentration.
We do have one distiller who notes concentration values in some of their products. We have noted these, yet perhaps will make a page or table with these values all in one place (honestly, I think we've mentioned them all!) But a table for skin care blending concentrations on the site sounds like a really good ideal
My final words: I would still recommend those that are first blending for facial skin care to stay at or below the 5% limit, and ask if they have questions about certain oils which may be ok to use more of (as the distiller of the CO2 Sea Buckthorn, Carrot Root, German Chamomile, Arnica, Rosehip Total and Calendula gives limits only for the Chamomile (0.1% to 0.3%), Arnica (keeping this low is actually mentioned in other places) and Calendula (0.1% to 0.3%) and NO limit mentioned for the other oils - generally ones with high lipid concentration, in addition to volatile aromatic components).
And for all readers, don't feel more is better; more can be better and more can burn. Because the long-term daily use on the skin of really MOST essential oils is not known, it's a good idea to even make small (10ml) test batches of your own recipes, and see how your skin feels from using it. Does it look better? Good. Does it make your skin warm or your eyes tear? Probably not something you want to keep using. The carriers have therapeutic effects too -- certainly Tamanu, Coconut, Borage, Hemp, Evening Primrose and Pomegranate are actually very therapeutic (anti-inflammatory, regenerative, nutritive in important ways). Trust them as well.
Let us know how it goes, Ether! You may have found an important new concept when working with the newer "supercritical CO2" extract oils!
Cheers and Thanks,Eric
Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:24 pm
*ether*
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 amPosts: 10
Re: Blending Strength
Hi Sue,
I should have been more thorough. To the EO's I originally listed, I added approx. a 1/3 of each for a total of one ounce:HazelnutArganTamanu
I really enjoyed discovering how the Hazelnut seems to help everything else get absorbed better - which is why the next time around I think I'll reduce the Tamanu to a 1/4, and perhaps switch the Argan to Grapeseed (as Eric suggested).
Eric, I went a little nuts, didn't I . I would actually prefer that "less is more", when it comes to concentrations... But it WOULD be interesting if indeed higher concentrations COULD be more effective... I didn't really have any guidelines as to what the maximum percentage of EO's (considering the CO2 oils, etc.) in a 1oz blend should be, so I just went for it figuring the risks weren't that great. Lucky for me, so far so good... But next time, I'll keep it to below 5%.
I've been archiving many of the recipe blends from the Ananda blog and Forum, and came up with my formula by piecing different ones together. Frankincense is one I've been meaning to add...
I once added some drops of Helichrysum and Lavender atop my moisturizer and experienced that watery eye sensation as well. Not so with this formula, however.
Ether, you're inspiring me to work with hazelnut more. I'll have to check out how my skin likes it.
By MY calculations you're between 8.68% and 9.21%. This is using the 33-35 drops per mL value which we've consistently recorded across droppers and oils...maybe it's the altitude?
Yes, and we've some 1 dram vials here that are really a great blend tester size for formulas without carriers. We should bring in enough to put on the site, as they're really useful for aromatic alchemy!
(Actually, it's been a side project to re-bottle oils that are either pastes or really thick at room temperature, and we're sampling bottles to find ones we like. It sounds easy -- I don't know why we're not offering our vanila with a screw cap soon. But it's happening )
Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:06 pm
*ether*
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 amPosts: 10
Re: Blending Strength
I have a feeling there's something I'm not getting right in determining the concentration of blends. Considering I have 114 drops of essential oil to 1oz of carrier oil in this blend -- Eric, will you break down the math?
Thanks, ether
Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:06 am
Ananda Staff
Site Admin
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pmPosts: 132
Re: Blending Strength
Hi Ether,(I expect you're not necessarily looking for this diatribe I'm about to embark on, but read through and I'll answer your question in the bullet points at the end).
We'll do the calculation of the essential oil concentration in your blend using milliliters. One doesn't need to care about milliliters so much, but I think it make it easier to do the math. It's also the "drops per milliliter" figure that really need to be addressed in aromatherapy practice, IMHO, hence the long response.
Because drops per milliliter is an easy and common way to figure the concentrations of EO's in carriers, which is pretty important, one day I decided to actually measure this -- rather than assume the figure that's for WATER (20 drops per millimeter) is correct for essential oils. The numbers are very different.
I JUST did this test again a few minutes ago, using a scientific disposable transfer pipette, and here's what I observed: 1) for water, there were 20 drops per milliliter, 2) for a thin oil (tea tree) there were 30 drops per milliliter, 3) for a thicker oil (Sea Buckthorn Berry CO2 Total) there were 40 drops per ml.
This difference has to do with the attraction of the molecules in each liquid to each other. Water molecules have a high cohesive force (and hence high surface tension, why waterbug doesn't sink). That simply means they stick together with more force than many other liquids, which results in more force being required to separate a drop from the water still in the pipette. That drop needs to get bigger and heavier before it'll let go from the dropper.
SO, to get down to business and answer your question about what's the concentration of 114 drops of essential oils within one ounce of blend!
There are 30 milliliters in one fluid ounce.
There are (about) 30 to 38 drops of essential oil per milliliter, depending on which essential oil.
Let's go with the average being 35d/ml of the oils in your blend. So you want to figure out first how many milliliters is 114 drops, then divide that by 30 (milliliters in one fluid ounce) to give you the percent concentration (ml's of essential oil relative to the total number of ml's).
Tomorrow the staff will be measuring the number of drops per milliliter of each essential oil, and we'll put up a chart for anyone who would like to use it in their blending.
Cheers!Eric
Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:50 pm
*ether*
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 amPosts: 10
Re: Blending Strength
Got it! took me a few readings... but i got it, thank you.
SO COOL that you guys are going to measure how many drops per milliliter of each essential oil!
Y'all ROCK!
Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:12 pm
Sue Cruz
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:32 pmPosts: 5
Re: Blending Strength
Hi *ether*,
Eric posted the link to "Table with Drops Per Milliliter Chart" for all the Ananda oils under the topic: "How to make blends according to % concentrations". I didn't want you to miss it. The link to the chart is below as well.
So my question for blending then is: if you have something that calls for say 5 drops coriander and 3 drops cardamom that you mix 1 drop of that blend in 1/2 teaspoon carrier oil when it is needed, can you double the EO to have more on hand? Do you still use 1 drop of blend in 1/2 t or do you use 2 drops and then also double the amount of carrier oil to 1 teaspoon when it is needed? I'm thinking about this too much and I'm confusing myself:?
Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:08 am
Ananda Staff
Site Admin
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pmPosts: 132
Re: Blending Strength
Hi Merlin: As this is a "general skin care" blend, and not specifically for healing wounds, injuries or scars, the % concentration are around .5% Rose, and 1-2% Helichrysum. For general skin care, the max % recommended is generally 5%. With a very few CO2 oils, you can use a little more (Carrot Root, Sea Buckthorn, perhaps Rosehip) as they're not as volatile -- more long change lipophillic molecules that won't be irritating in high amounts. But that's really only a few.
So, a TOTAL of 5% max is the general rule of thumb for skin care - if your eyes are watering from application that wasn't "on" them, or your skin feel slightly sunburned, your concentration is too high
Hi Kelly: Yes, you can make a gallon of the EO blend if you like, though you'd still put one drop of it into 1/2tsp when needed. You could use two drops in 1tsp, it's the same concentration, though your choice whether you feel like 2 drops of the essential oil formula is best for at that moment. How's that?
~ Eric
Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:53 pm
Ananda Staff
Site Admin
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pmPosts: 132
Re: Blending Strength
Well, of course in the store we have a different pipette for every oil. And with the 3ml pipettes, you can shake them pretty clean such that less than a drop would remain before using. Consider the physics of actually getting one type of oil into the bottle of another. Your next step is to draw up oil from another bottle, then dispense that into your blend. If you've drawn more than you need, of course that's going back into the stock bottle -- but it's really so little of another variety that might make it in there. Let's say it was 1 drop (when I've shaken most oil pipettes clean, even one drop is hard to come by).
1 drop in a 12ml bottle is something on the order of 1/480th. It's just not something that's going to have an effect. Now, if you're using some of the really thick oils - rosehip CO2, for example, you might want to dedicate a pipette to the bottle, or wash it with Vodka, shake, then dry.
We generally don't recommend measuring precise amounts with the orifice reducer. Really, most of the times, "close enough" really is, but some blends call for fairly small numbers -- if that oil and reducer are enabling you to do it, great - go for it. If not, just use a different device.
Overall, there's multiple methods and dispensing tools because no one works best for every condition. I think if you get 5 or 10 pipettes, and do the Vodka rinse, shake out and dry, you'll have some nearly perfectly clean tools to work with every time.
Cheers!Eric
Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:40 pm
merletrim
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:30 pmPosts: 2
Re: Blending Strength
Can you give me guidance when I am mixing the essential oils and carrier oils, if it is 1% (for example) how many drops do I use to carrier oil? | {
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Long Time Gone
by ED SYMKUS & r & & r & & lt;span class= "dropcap " & I & lt;/span & t's darker than its predecessor, there are battles more numerous and more violent, and the beards are much cooler. Seriously, the second film based on the C.S. Lewis series about World War II-era siblings caught up in power struggles in the land of Narnia features some of the best, longest, scraggliest, and (in one case) symmetrical beards in movie history.
There is again a lion -- Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson), ever so briefly, near the end -- and a witch (Tilda Swinton returns, for no good reason, taking up about three minutes of screen time), but no wardrobe. This time the four Pevensie kids -- Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy -- are transported from London to Narnia when Narnia's rightful leader, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes, looking like a younger, sleeker Kyle MacLachlan), flees his home upon learning that his wicked Uncle Miraz (Sergio Castelitto) has sent men to make a pincushion out of him with arrows.
How exactly do they get there? Oh, you know... a Tube station, a ram's horn, a great wind, disappearing walls ... magic! And voil & agrave;, they pop out onto a gorgeous beach, frolic for a bit, then find out that although only a year has passed since they left Narnia, many hundreds of years have gone by there, and much of the place is in ruins.
It doesn't take long for them to meet up with Caspian, who blew the horn that summoned them, and only a little longer for some ambitious storytelling to get underway. A couple of dwarfs (Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis) and a badger (voice of Ken Stott) join with Caspian; the kids hope to find King Aslan; all of the good guys get together with the Narnians, who are the sworn enemies of the bad-guy Telmarines. Yes, Caspian is a Telmarine, but he's not like the others.
This is an epic fantasy adventure, taking place on land, underwater and, with the inclusion of some friendly high-flying gryphons, in the air. Because this all happens in Narnia, those birdlike creatures are joined by a cadre of other mythical ones, including minotaurs and centaurs, as well as your standard sword-fighting mice. But no matter how fantastical things get, the filmmakers have managed to keep a sheen of reality glistening throughout the film. Sword-fighting mice? Why not?
Even when gryphons aren't carrying our heroes into and out of danger, director Andrew Adamson likes to shoot major action sequences from way above, as much as he likes to have cameras chasing after the smallest animals on the ground, right down at their shoulder level.
A note to parents who feel that their kids are on the delicate side: Although the film is violent and there's a fairly high body count of both good and bad guys, the weapons are swords, arrows, and axes -- no guns -- and most of the carnage is done off-camera. But there is one sequence of a battle-gone-wrong in which it's implied that there's going to be some big-time slaughter.
The story gets around to being about the Pevensies returning to Narnia with a heck of a reputation to live up to, at least after what they did there all those years ago. The Narnians grow to love them; the Telmarines (except for Caspian) would love to knock them off. But it's more focused on the hate-hate relationship between the nephew and the uncle (who is so evil, he would have his own men killed in order to blame the deed on the Narnians). On a wider scale, it's about lust for power, desire for freedom and an almost uncontrollable urge for revenge.
Three items might have been better explained: the reason a bridge is being built across a river and why it needs to be destroyed; how the archer Susan's quiver always seems to refill itself with red-feathered arrows; where a watery creature that resembles the WWE's Triple H comes from.
But because Caspian's two and a half hours move along so quickly, it's difficult to stop and wonder about these things -- better to just accept them. Anyway, before you know it, things are sorted out, and our young heroes are once again back in dreary London, most likely wondering when they'll again be summoned to Narnia.
All they have to do is look it up on the Internet. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is scheduled for release on May 7, 2010.
Sun., Aug. 2, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
More by n/a
The new one is smart and funny and action-packed, and it’s bigger and better and sleeker. And Downey does it again, this time ramping up Stark’s arrogant wisecracking, telling anyone who’ll listen (mostly women) that, via the creation of his powerful Iron Man suit, he’s brought years of uninterrupted peace to the world. | {
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Maple Leafs Trade Bait: The Time is Now
The Toronto Maple Leafs certainly haven’t given their fans much to cheer about over the past couple of months. After a good start to the season the team’s struggles have been magnified with their lack of defensive coverage and their seemingly flawless ability to give up third period leads.
Leafs’ Jonathan Bernier has seemingly taken on the role as the number one goalie. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
On Tuesday, memories of last year’s playoff series were in full force. Up by two goals in Boston, the Leafs seemed to get flustered in their defensive end. They left the points open and it was newcomer Tim Gleason and goaltender Jonathan Bernier that weathered the Bruin storm – helping the blue and white escape with a 4-3 win.
But the fact is, something has to change. The Leafs can’t continue to fall back and play defensive hockey when they have the lead – clearly it’s not working. So how do you shake things up? How do you change a team that showed so much promise in October?
Some would go the route that the Winnipeg Jets just took by firing their coach. However, Leafs’ GMDave Nonis has already put those ideas to rest.
Therefore, there’s only one other possibility – a trade. But who should the Leafs consider parting ways with? According to an article by The Toronto Star’s Damien Cox, Nonis is looking to make a significant move, but won’t jeopardize the future of the team.
“I’m still trying to see if there’s a deal out there that can change our look but not hurts us long term,” said Nonis.
Now Nonis has come out with a list of his ‘untouchables’ which include Morgan Rielly, Fredrik Gauthier, and this year’s first-round pick. But he also stated that Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner wouldn’t be going anywhere unless the team received a similar aged player in return. So, who would the Leafs – and more specifically GM Nonis – be willing to part ways with? Here’s a look at some players that the Leafs should consider moving.
Joffrey Lupul (LW)
He has 25 points (14g-11a) in 39 games for the Leafs this season, but he’s struggled lately. That’s not saying much as the entire team hasn’t been playing all that well. However, Lupul has played with arguably the most fight of anyone on the team during their slump.
In his first full season with the Leafs in 2011-12, Lupul recorded a career-high 67 points (25g-42a) in 66 games. But the 30-year old has struggled with injury throughout his career which could hinder any return the Leafs may get.
However, this is definitely the best time for the Leafs to trade Lupul. His value is at an all-time high with his play thus far this season, his return should increase especially if he can find his scoring touch again.
James Reimer (G)
When Nonis traded for Jonathan Bernier this past offseason, the future of James Reimer came into question. In all honesty, it’s been in question ever since Bernier’s contract extension was announced. While Reimer’s still seen time in 20 games this season, Bernier’s 34 games seems to suggest that last year’s starter has lost his number one role.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Reimer isn’t ready to backstop an NHL team. In 124 career NHL games, the 25-year old is 61-38-15. Although his numbers aren’t the best this season, Reimer demonstrated his abilities in the Leafs’ playoff push last season.
He put up career bests as the starter in 2012-13 in both goals-against average (2.46) and save percentage (.924) while leading the Maple Leafs to game seven against the eventual Eastern Conference champions.
He got them to Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, but now we’re left wondering when the Toronto Maple Leafs will trade James Reimer (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)
Head coach Randy Carlyle continuously assures fans and media that he’ll push forward with the two-goalie system. It’s something he alluded to even after Bernier’s stellar performance at this month’s Winter Classic.
“There’s going to be opportunities for James to get back in the net. And we think that – again I know you’re tired of hearing it and think that I’m full of it when I say 1-A and 1-B – but that’s what I believe in. And I think competition for the position allows people to compete and bring the best out of them,” said Carlyle in his post-game press conference.
But it’s what’s best for the team. If Nonis can find a trade that would improve the Leafs in other areas, Reimer should be available as part of that trade. Either way, Reimer’s been a good sport while playing backup to Bernier, but any return in a trade involving him could put the Leafs where they need to be to make a playoff run.
Nikolai Kulemin (LW)
Kulemin is one player that the Leafs should definitely consider trading. But don’t expect him to be traded as a single piece. Any return in a move like that would be more of a future consideration as the Leafs would likely receive a late-round pick for the defensive-minded forward.
But the Leafs could package the Russian Olympian with other assets to get a player that would help them now. However, teams won’t be looking at Kulemin for his scoring ability – at least they won’t expect it from him.
In 36 games this season, the former 30-goal scorer has 11 points (5g-6a). But the 27-year old has shown the ability to score and do so when it counts. Of his five goals this season, three of them are game winners. He is big part of the Leafs penalty kill alongside Jay McClement and Tyler Bozak and he has a lot of forechecking upside. If the Leafs can offload Kulemin in a trade to upgrade their top-six forwards, look for him to be part of a blockbuster move.
Possible Return: Late-round pick OR Prospect
Now, there’s no evidence that any of these three have been dangled in front of other NHL general managers. But with the way the Leafs have been playing they’re going to have to make some kind of splash in the trade market. What they have to look at is not just what they are sending out, but what they are bringing in and how it can help them now and in the future.
Like Chris said… Trading Lupul would be a fool move. When they talk about “intangibles” for players like Clarkson, they could only dream that it was something like what Lupul actually provides… on top of a very decent offensive skillset, to boot. Lose him and the team is literally half the team it was. That may sound like an overstatement, but that’s how fragile this team is. So… no.
http://andrewgforbes.wordpress.com Andrew Forbes
Henrik – great to see some passion for the Blue and White. I do believe that he is a big part of the Leafs. As I mentioned to Chris, I think that his value – in terms of return – is just higher now than it will be later in the season.
That’s what I’m trying to get across here. But thank you for your feedback and thoughts – a good way to get my mind seeing different perspectives.
Hope you keep reading.
Cheers.
Chris McHugh
Fair enough – I now see that by saying “This is the best time to trade” Lupul” you meant literally that, rather than “Trade Lupul now…” Makes sense!
Chris
Good piece, but I don’t agree at all with trading Lupul. You have to have a degree of leadership and spirit on your front lines and Lupul, though his points have slowed, is a face of a team who desperately lack players with personality and drive. Lose Lupul and you have noone to lead from the front – you only have Phaneuf, who I like as a player and captain, but is a different sort of leader.
Thanks Chris for your thoughts. I agree that trading Lupul would definitely be a bad move. What I do try to emphasis is that the value of the return – in my humble opinion – would be better now than it would be at the deadline or ever more so if he were traded at the end of the season.
Thank you for your thoughts however as it’s always great to get feedback and get me thinking. | {
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Description: Up for auction is the Plastic Right End Cap for a Yamaha DX21 Synthesizer. This part was pulled from a broken DX21. It is in good condition: there are no cracks, dents, or major scratches on the piece. There are some light scuffs on the rounded corners and edges of the piece, but they aren't very noticeable. All off the interior screw holes and their pillars are intact and unbroken. | {
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Thank you as always for your kind words, but from my heart, I MEAN IT! You are family to me and I am so grateful to have someone like you on the side of so many affected with this dreadful disease. Family always stick together, through the bad and the good. I am here for you. How is your brother doing? I hope you take alot of pictures so you have the wonderful memories to look back on. He must be very proud of you as I am sure you are of him. I have had the colposcopy done. I am awaiting the results. Thank you for giving me the strength to go through with it. I felt your presence with me and am very grateful for it and your encouragement. I pray you feel my presence with you and your family in your painful situation and may you gather the strength from it to continue to do the outstanding things you do for yourself, your family and the little people like me. Please take care. I think of you always. Sending you all my love, hugs and kisses. Mommy of three
Hello dear friend.
As always, this mommy of three has you in her heart and on her mind. I just received an email from POZ and a deeply upsetting article came up. I have pasted it so you can read it and please tell me if you think we are all at risk of this and if there is anything you can suggest we can do to stop it. Can you believe it? And then they wonder why people do not want to get tested. Isn't there a law that can protect us? What about confidentiality laws?It is not enough that we have to cope with discrimination from people who are petrified of us when we have to disclose, but imagine what this will do to the rest of us, who want the option of not disclosing. Is it legal? I am having such a difficult time coping with my diagnosis and my sons, not to mention my positive pap test and awaiting my colposcopy results and am already starting to worry about where on this earth can we hide, so they cannot invade our privacy in fear of our very lives. Anxiously awaiting your reply but more than that, sending you lots of love, hugs and kisses as well as your brother and Dr. Steve. Love, Mommy of three
|| Health News ||
October 20, 2005
Illinois will begin names-based HIV reporting in 2006
Eric Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, on Tuesday announced that Illinois will begin in January tracking cases of HIV by name rather than alphanumeric code in response to mounting federal pressure to bring its HIV surveillance system in line with those operating in most other states, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago reports.
"The federal government has made the decision rather simple: Switch to name-based reporting or lose millions of dollars for essential HIV care, prevention, and housing programs," said Mark Ishaug, AFC executive director. "IDPH is facing this new challenge responsibly by bringing together stakeholders to ensure that every effort is made to protect client confidentiality and promote acceptance of HIV testing and care services."
AFC will serve on a task force convened by IDPH to review internal systems and assist the state in developing and communicating how HIV surveillance will operate in the future.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pressuring all states to adopt names-based HIV reporting, which it considers a more accurate and consistent collection method than codes-based systems. The CDC has refused to integrate data from 13 states using codes-based reporting into its national HIV projections. At least 10 of the 13 regions without names-based reporting, including the states of California, Massachusetts, and Washington and the city of Philadelphia, are in the process of switching to names-based reporting systems. (Advocate.com)
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hi Mommy of Three,
I combined your two posts into one.
Thank you for your kind words and support. They are warmly appreciated. As the song says, "People who need people. . . ."
Regarding names-based HIV reporting, it is a battle that many of us have been fighting for over two decades. California is one of only seven states and the District of Columbia that use coded reporting for HIV cases. The federal government (CDC) has been pushing for names-based recording for many years. We, on the other hand, have encouraged a code-based system to protect privacy, prevent discrimination and encourage HIV testing. The code-based system used here, like those used elsewhere, has been somewhat cumbersome and expensive. Some cases are lost because laboratories and doctors' offices sometimes send incorrect or incomplete codes. Some members of the health department have complained they are having difficulty gauging and tracking the HIV epidemic, because the reporting is incomplete. Therefore, there are problems in allocating appropriate funds to the proper counties, etc. The federal government has now said they will withhold funds from states that use code-based reporting rather than "confidential" names-based reporting. California, for instance, will lose as much as $50 million annually in federal HIV/AIDS funds if it does not switch. Overall, I still believe names-based reporting is a bad idea due to ongoing HIV/AIDS stigmatization and the potential for discrimination. If this leads to decreased HIV testing, the consequences will be more, rather than fewer, new HIV infections. Unfortunately, even though names-based reporting is a bad idea, it appears it's a bad idea whose time has come. We still do have HIV discrimination laws on the books. (Hopefully the new Supreme Court won't overturn that with Roe v. Wade.) We need to use those laws whenever discrimination occurs. We must also redouble our efforts to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and education. Ultimately proper education will decrease HIV/AIDS ignorance, apathy, myth and discrimination. Of course, HIV/AIDS education in the era of "abstinence only" sex education and puritanical policy wonks in positions of power in Washington is challenging to say the least.
Try not to worry too much about bad policy decisions. Eventually these problems will work themselves out. For now, focus your attention on getting well and enjoying those three little rascals of yours, O.K.?
This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.
Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.
The Body is a service of Remedy Health Media, LLC, 750 3rd Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The Body and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of The Body's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: The Body is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through The Body should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider. | {
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It is revolutionary freeware for simple sending of paper documents over the internet. You can transform images captured with your camera or documents into professional multi-page PDF documents in just a few clicks.
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Science
Will you be picking up a new iPad Pro? The cost of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has remained the same for the most part, with the upside being that storage has doubled. More specifically, it was an unspoken statement that clearly said Apple was going to kill off one of its laptops in favor of giving a boost to iPad usage.
Ostapenko was playing in only her eighth Grand Slam tournament and never had been past the third round before. 2017 - Before entering Roland Garros , she came close to winning three titles this year, losing in the semi-finals at Auckland and Prague and the final at Charleston.
The Rio disinfected again on Friday, and could disinfect on Saturday as well, according to the Review Journal. Upon report of the second case, water sampling found the bacteria throughout the system. Generally, people do not spread Legionnaires' disease to other people. After the outbreak in the South Bronx in 2015, the Health Department announced a comprehensive plan to reduce the risk of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks in the city, including implementation of the toughest cooling ...
The 10 DUP MPs would provide vital support to Mrs May after her majority was wiped out as the snap election gamble backfired , leaving her with 318 seats. By polling day the mood had lifted and inside Conservative campaign headquarters they were telling themselves that an overall majority of 70 was the very least they could expect.
At EA's E3 2017 press conference, we expected the biggest games to be Need for Speed Payback , Madden 18 and Star Wars Battlefront 2 . A Way Out is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Origin on PC in early 2018. It's designed for split screen co-op only, they've pushed for playing the game split-screen locally but it will also be able to be played online. A Way Out is set in a prison, where you can play as Vincent, a new inmate, or Leo, a seasoned one.
Photos and video posted online show victims being treated and ambulances and police cars at the scene. Amsterdam police later tweeted that apparently the driver had been unwell. Police say that the driver, who most likely crashed accidentally, had been parked illegally nearby. No further details were immediately provided, including whether police believed the incident was a terror attack. | {
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More like this
But chairman Phillips is rosy about future
The prognosis for Northamber’s future is brighter, according to its colourful chairman, despite widening losses and revenues remaining in free fall for fiscal ’14 ended June.
The AIM-listed tech distie - the oldest in Blighty - reported prelim sales of £62.8m, down a whopping 19 per cent year-on-year, and a loss from operations of £1.225m, versus a loss of £1.15m.
The numbers were boosted by a steep reduction in operating costs, with distribution and admin expenses down 24 per cent and by a fifth respectively to £2.55m and £2.948m.
In spite of the top and bottom line slip, David Phillips, the colourful chairman at Surrey-based Northamber, who in the past voiced a lack of optimism for the industry and his firm’s place in it (falling demand and eroding product margins), has softened his tone.
The man still thinks "our own sector has and is struggling with strong and increasingly dominant performance competition from more stable technologies and vendors".
But he claimed the direction of travel for the organisation improved significantly in the second half of the year, with an operating loss just shy of £500k, better than the loss of £730k in the first half.
“In the second half we achieved increases in both turnover and margins,” he said, “costs were contained… even though we increased the quality and quantity of resources put into marketing, selling and liaison with suppliers.”
One new face to show up in the year was Alex Phillips, son of David and heir to the Northamber empire (David Phillips has a majority stake in the business). He came on board as director of strategy.
Northamber has exited the PC market, sales of which it previously described as “empty revenue”, and is trying to swell the portfolio with emerging technologies.
“We must continue to minimise as far as is avoidable, exposure to empty revenue,” said Phillips.
Of course this shift takes time to translate to improved financial results, but the chairman said falling bad debts, the debt-free position and its “competent logistics, infrastructure and facilities” were positive signs.
The company made redundancies last year but said it is now recruiting “new, experienced and qualified staff to help deliver our change of focus and the drive forward”.
Phillips said he is “always cautious when saying too much about the future” but said the improving economy and relative uptick in the second half of the year, were positives.
“On that basis I am more optimistic than I have been for some time on the future of the company. With the dedicated team we have and the underlying strength of the company in not only its trading history and connections as well with the capital resources, I hope to be able to report more progress in the coming years.”
One thing is certain: Northamber is light years away from the heady days of the early 2000s when turnover almost reached the £300m milestone. ® | {
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On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:18:32 +0100, Ian Yang <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Steve,
>
> I understand that there are use cases for these two features. I was just
> being inspired by and being interested in different opinions. After all,
> different opinions sometimes can be helpful if they are insightful.
Yes. So far I have not seen an insightful opinion on why main is a bad
idea.
(I don't think it is the best idea in the history of the universe, but I
do think it is something that is helpful to the web on balance...)
> So personally I would be willing to know the details.
Me too, of course.
cheers
Chaals
> Kind Regards,
> Ian Yang
>
> On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 11:21 PM, Steve Faulkner
> <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>> Hi Ian,
>>
>>
>> > Ian Hixie, he mentioned that the existence of the ARIA landmark role
>> "main" is a mistake
>>
>> >That's very thought-provoking
>>
>> how so? hixie offers no concrete reasons and there are concrete use
>> cases
>> for role=main and <main> none of which hixie has managed to dispute.
>>
>> both role=main and now <main> are part of the web platform and
>> interoperably implemented across browsers and assistive technology, so I
>> suggest that they will not be discarded even due to an opinion of
>> Hixie's
>>
>>
>> with regards
>>
>> --
>> SteveF
>> HTML 5.1 <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/>
>> <http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-about.html>
>>
>>
>> On 23 March 2013 14:57, Ian Yang <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi editors and all other folks,
>>>
>>> In a previous discussion with Ian Hixie, he mentioned that the
>>> existence
>>> of the ARIA landmark role "main" is a mistake. In other words, the role
>>> "main" should not have been introduced.
>>>
>>> That's very thought-provoking. I used to be one of those who supported
>>> the adoption of the HTML5 <main> element. Yet after reconsidering the
>>> above
>>> theory these days, I seem to gradually realize that a mechanism for
>>> differentiating main contents from other contents is not always
>>> necessary.
>>>
>>> I may have missed a past discussion about this topic. Could someone
>>> point
>>> me out a resource? Personally, I think this topic is very worth
>>> discussing.
>>> However, it might lead to discards of the ARIA landmark role "main"
>>> and the
>>> HTML5 <main> element.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>> Ian Yang
>>>
>>
>>
--
Charles McCathie Nevile - Consultant (web standards) CTO Office, Yandex
[email protected] Find more at http://yandex.com | {
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A method and apparatus are provided for establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website. The method includes the steps of downloading a webpage from the website to the client, such webpage including an embedded agent access applet and a communication...http://www.google.com/patents/US7027585?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7027585 - Web callback through multimedia devices
A method and apparatus are provided for establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website. The method includes the steps of downloading a webpage from the website to the client, such webpage including an embedded agent access applet and a communication system port identifier of the agent, the communication port identifier of the agent being different than a communication port identifier of the web site, activating the agent access applet within the downloaded webpage and forming a communication connection between the client and the communication system port of the agent based upon operation of the activated applet.
Images(4)
Claims(35)
1. A method of establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website, such method comprising the steps of:
downloading a webpage from the website to the client, such webpage including an embedded agent access applet and a communication system port identifier of the agent, said communication port identifier of the agent being different than a communication port identifier of the web site;
activating the agent access applet within the downloaded webpage; and
forming a communication connection between the client and the communication system port of the agent based upon operation of the activated applet and where the communication connection is formed entirely under control of programming information contained within the downloaded webpage.
2. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a telephone number.
3. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a universal resource locator.
4. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 further comprising establishing the communication connection between the client and an Internet gateway under a voice-over-Internet-protocol format and between the Internet gateway and the agent through the public switch telephone network.
5. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 further comprising downloading a session identifier to a contact center through the communication channel.
6. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 5 further comprising retrieving a webpage contact list of the client from a host of the website based upon the downloaded session identifier.
7. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 6 further comprising downloading a webpage contact list to the agent based upon the downloaded session identifier.
8. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 further comprising downloading session information from the client to the agent through the communication channel.
9. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 8 wherein the session information further comprises an identifier of a webpage downloaded by the client.
10. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 9 further comprising retrieving the identified webpage from a memory of the agent.
11. The method of establishing the communication connection as in claim 1 further comprising broadcasting the webpage to the client from a local cellular base station.
12. An apparatus for establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website, such apparatus comprising:
means for downloading a webpage from the website to the client, such webpage including an embedded agent access applet and a communication system port identifier of the agent, said communication port identifier of the agent being different than a communication port identifier of the web site;
means for activating the agent access applet within the downloaded webpage; and
means for forming a communication connection between the client and the communication system port of the agent based upon operation of the activated applet and where the communication connection is formed entirely under control of programming information contained within the downloaded webpage.
13. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a telephone number.
14. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a universal resource locator.
15. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 further comprising means for establishing the communication connection between the client and an Internet gateway under a voice-over-Internet-protocol format and between the Internet gateway and the agent through the public switch telephone network.
16. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 further comprising means for downloading a session identifier to a call center through the communication channel.
17. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 16 further comprising means for retrieving a webpage contact list of the client from a host of the website based upon the downloaded session identifier.
18. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 17 further comprising means for downloading a webpage contact list to the agent based upon the downloaded session identifier.
19. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 further comprising means for downloading session information from the client to the agent through the communication channel.
20. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 19 wherein the session information further comprises an identifier of a webpage downloaded by the client.
21. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 20 further comprising means for retrieving the identified webpage from a memory of the agent.
22. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 12 further comprising means for broadcasting the webpage to the client from a local cellular base station.
23. An apparatus for establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website, such apparatus comprising:
a webpage,
an agent access applet with a communication system port identifier of the agent embedded within the webpage, said communication port identifier of the agent being different than a communication port identifier of the web site;
a website adapted to download the webpage to the client;
a softkey on the webpage adapted to activate the agent access applet within the downloaded webpage; and
a communication connection formed between the client and the communication system port of the agent based upon operation of the activated applet and where the communication connection is formed entirely under control of programming information contained within the downloaded webpage.
24. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a telephone number.
25. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 wherein the communication system port identifier further comprises a universal resource locator.
26. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 wherein the communication connection further comprises a first portion formed between the client and an Internet gateway under a voice-over-Internet-protocol format and a second portion formed between the Internet gateway and the agent through the public switch telephone network.
27. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 further comprising a session identifier downloaded to a contact center through the communication channel.
28. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 27 further comprising a central processing unit within the contact center adapted to retrieve a webpage contact list of the client from a host of the website based upon the downloaded session identifier.
29. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 further comprising the host processor adapted to download a webpage contact list to the agent based upon the downloaded session identifier.
30. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 further comprising an integrated digital services user part adapted to download session information from the client to the agent through the communication channel.
31. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 30 wherein the session information further comprises an identifier of a webpage downloaded by the client.
32. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 31 further comprising a memory adapted to provide the identified webpage.
33. The apparatus for establishing the communication connection as in claim 23 further comprising a local cellular base station adapted to broadcast the webpage to the client.
34. A method of establishing a voice call connection between a call center and a client of the call center, such method comprising the steps of:
downloading a webpage including a VoIP applet from a website of the call center to the client, such webpage including a telephone number of the call center embedded within the downloaded webpage;
activating the VoIP applet within the downloaded webpage;
forming a VoIP voice connection between the client and a public switch telephone network gateway based upon operation of the activated applet; and
setting up a voice call between the gateway and call center using the downloaded telephone number of the call center and where the voice call is set up entirely under control of programming information contained within the downloaded webpage.
35. A method of establishing a voice call connection between a call center and a client of the call center, such method comprising the steps of:
downloading a webpage including a VoIP applet from a website of the call center to the client, such webpage including a telephone number of the call center embedded within the downloaded webpage;
activating the VoIP applet within the downloaded webpage; and
automatically setting up a voice call between a terminal of the client and call center based upon operation of the applet and the downloaded telephone number of the call center and where the voice call is set up entirely under control of programming information contained within the downloaded webpage.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention relates to communication systems and more particularly to contact centers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Contact centers are generally known. Such centers are typically used as a means of facilitating contact between an organization using the contact center and large numbers of persons through the Internet or through conventional telephone systems.
Contact centers have generally evolved from call centers. Call-centers typically include at least three elements: an automatic call distributor (ACD), a group of agents for handling the calls, and a host computer containing customer information. The individual agents of the groups of agents are each typically provided with a telephone console and a computer terminal. The telephone terminal is used to receive customer calls distributed to the agent by the ACD. The terminal may be used to retrieve customer records from the host.
Call centers are typically used to place and receive telephone calls. While they are relatively effective in receiving incoming telephone calls, they are often viewed much less effective in the context of placing outgoing calls. People who receive frequent calls from telemarketers, in fact, often find the calls intrusive and distasteful. The reaction of many people to telemarketers often defeats the purpose of the call.
As an alternative to telemarketing through call centers, many commercial, environmental and political organizations now rely on a website to spread their message. In the case of a website, an interested party may access the website at their leisure, browse its contents and download any interesting material.
In order to further enhance the effectiveness of websites, some organizations have begun to offer the option of receiving a return call from an agent of the website. Text windows have been provided through which a visitor may enter a telephone number for purposes of requesting a return call from an agent of the website.
While such utilities are effective, responses are often delayed or not returned. Further, users are often hesitant of entering a telephone number for fear of being placed on call lists for later telemarketing efforts. Accordingly, a need exists for a method of establishing a telephone connection between a computer user and website that does not involve the entry of contact information by the user.
SUMMARY
A method and apparatus are provided for establishing a communication connection between a client of a website and an agent of the website. The method includes the steps of downloading a webpage from the website to the client, such webpage including an embedded agent access applet and a communication system port identifier of the agent, said communication port identifier of the agent being different than a communication port identifier of the web site, activating the agent access applet within the downloaded webpage and forming a communication connection between the client and the communication system port of the agent based upon operation of the activated applet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 depicts a system for providing web callback messages through multi-media devices, in a context of use under an illustrated embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 depicts a webpage that may be downloaded by the website of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one of the portable devices of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another one of the portable devices of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 for processing multi-media messages, shown generally under an illustrated embodiment of the invention. While the system 10 may have many applications, it may be particularly useful in providing a pair of simultaneously available information paths that allow a computer user to access a website through the Internet while he/she is also conversing with a human agent of the website.
Under the illustrated embodiment, webpages may be downloaded through the Internet from a website to a browser through any of a number of remote devices (e.g., a computer terminal, palm pilot, cell phone with browser, etc.). Included within one or more of the webpages may be a softkey allowing connection to a human agent. Activation of the softkey may result in creation of an information path between the user and agent of the website.
The creation of the communication path with the agent may occur entirely under the control of programming information contained within the webpage. Further, the physical location of the agent is entirely programmable and may change from one webpage to another within the same website.
Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts a simplified layout of the system 10 in the context of communication systems 12, 18 and information paths connecting the systems 12, 18. As shown, a first set of terminals 22, 24 may access a website 38 of a host 14 of the system 10 through the Internet 12. The first set of terminals may be conventional computers (e.g., desktop, laptop, etc.). Each terminal 22, 24 may be provided with a soundblaster card and headset including an earphone and microphone for purposes of conversing with an agent of the website 38.
A second set of terminals 26, 28 may be portable devices that access the website 38 through a local cellular system 16 and the Internet 12. A first type of portable device 26 may be provided in the form of a cellular telephone, with a web browser and display (e.g., Sprint PCS, Motorola Accompli 009, etc.). A second type of portable device 28 may be provided in the form of a personal data assistant (PDA) with a cellular interface. While only one of each type of portable device 26, 28 is shown, it should be understood that any of a number of portable devices 26, 28 could be used within the system 10.
From any one of the terminals 22, 24, 26, 28, webpages may be downloaded and displayed on a display associated with the terminal 22, 24, 26, 28. FIG. 2 depicts a webpage 100 that may be downloaded from the website 38. Included within the webpage 100 may be any of a number of information display area 102, 104.
The system 10 may be effectively used by any of a number of different types of organizations (e.g., an environmental organization, a political organization, a merchant, etc.) to setup contacts through information paths between external clients of the organization (e.g., a client using an communication device 22, 24, 26, 28) and agents of the organization (e.g., agents working at an agent station 30, 32, 36) for purposes of advancing the agenda of the organization.
Upon downloading the webpage 100, the user 22, 24, 26, 28 may review and/or print the information elements 102, 104. The webpage 100 may include one or more softkeys 106 for contacting an agent 30, 32, 36 of the website 38. (As used herein an agent of the website is a person employed by the owner or operator of the website and who is knowledgeable about the subject matter of the website 38 and who acts as an agent of the owner or operator for purposes of advancing the agenda of the owner or operator (e.g., taking donations, accepting orders, offering assistance in the use of the website, etc.).)
Associated with the softkey 106 may be an agent access applet 108. The agent access applet 106 may be downloaded to the client 22, 24, 26, 28 as part of the html file of the webpage 38. Within the applet 106 may be a communication system port identifier 110 (e.g., telephone number, URL, etc.) of an agent 30, 32, 36 of the website 38. As used herein, an agent access applet is a program downloaded within a webpage, that independently sets up and maintains a communication link between the client 22, 24, 26, 28 and an agent 30, 32, 36 of the webpage 100. The agent 30, 32, 36 may be associated with a predetermined communication system port that is independent of the website 38 providing the webpage 100.
Activation of the softkey 106 activates the agent access applet 108. The agent access applet 108, in turn, interacts with the terminal of the client 22, 24, 26, 28 to set up an independent communication connection between the client 22, 24, 26, 28 and agent 30, 32, 36. Independent, in this context, means the provision of a communication connection that does not interfere with access to the website 38 or with the downloading of webpages 100 to the client 22, 24, 26, 28.
The agent access applet 108 may be structured under any of a number of different formats. For example, where the port identifier 110 is a telephone number, the applet 108 may first search a resources list of the terminal 22, 24, 26, 28 for a non-interfering interface with a switched circuit voice channel. In the case where the terminal 22, 24 is coupled directly to the Internet or to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), then the only non-interfering voice channel may a logical channel under VoIP
In the case of VoIP, a first portion of the communication connection between a client (e.g., 22) and an agent (e.g., 30) may be set up under a VoIP format within the Internet and second portion of the connection may be set up as a switched circuit connection within the PSTN 18. The functionality of the agent access applet 108, in this case, may be provided by any of a number of existing object-oriented software applications (e.g., dialpad.com).
Under the illustrated example, the applet 108 forms a VoIP connection between the client 22 and the gateway 50. The applet 108 also transfers the port identifier (i.e., the telephone number) 110 to the gateway 50 as a call destination. The gateway 50, in turn, transfers the telephone number 110 to the PSTN 18 as part of a call set up message. The PSTN 18 forms the switched circuit connection between the gateway 50 and ACD 20 or remote agent 36. Where the call is routed to the ACD 20, the ACD 20 forms the final leg of the connection between the client 22 and agent 30.
Within the ACD 20, the port identifier 110 may functionally identify a particular trunk on a set of incoming trunks 52. The identity of the trunk receiving the call may alert the CPU 45 as to the agent destination and may route the call accordingly.
While the applet 108 under this particular example relies upon VoIP, the use of VoIP in the system 10 differs from prior art uses in a number of regards. For example, prior art uses of VoIP (e.g., Netphone, Webspeak, etc.) have typically required the installation of similar VoIP software in the computers at both ends of the connection. The agent access applet 108 differs from prior art VoIP applications in a number of regards.
For example, the agent access applet 108 is a relatively small, single use file (300 kb) that is included within and downloaded with the webpage 100 from the website 38. Further, the applet 108 is directed to a single call destination for any particular downloaded webpage 100. While the call destination (port identifier 110) is easily changed by the operator of the system 10, the port identifier 110 is not readily available to the client 22. As such, the applet 108 functions as a software robot to set up a connection with a predetermined destination in accordance with its instructions in response to activation of the softkey 106 by the client 22.
The independent creation of a communication link between a client 22, 24, 26, 28 and agent 30, 32, 36 simplifies use of the website 38 by allowing the client 22, 24, 26, 28 to remain at the website 38 viewing webpages 100 while simultaneously conversing with the agent 30, 32, 36 through the headset and soundblaster card within his terminal 22, 24. Further, by separately addressing each webpage to a different predetermined port identifier (i.e., different agent), calls from clients to be automatically directed to the best qualified agent
Client access from a terminal 26 that includes a cellphone may be accomplished in a similar manner. In this case, the terminal 26 may access the website 38 through the cellular infrastructure 16 and the Internet 12. Since the terminal 26 is a mobile device, it may not have a permanent URL assigned to it and may, instead, be assigned a temporary URL allocated for use by the cell system 16 during a current data session.
Upon accessing the website 38, the temporary URL may be transferred to a URL analyzer 56 within the host 14 that may function to identify and determine a locale associated with the temporary URLs assigned to portable terminals 26, 28. Temporary URLs and their locale may be identified by any of a number of known methods (e.g., comparison of URLs with a list of URLs reserved for cellular use in each locale, comparison of a URL suffix with known paths to cellular systems, etc.).
Further, by associating temporary URLs (and terminals 26, 28) with locale, targeted webpages 100 may be delivered. Targeted webpages 100 may be appropriate in the case of a merchant with a local presence. Where targeted webpages are delivered to a terminal 26, 28 in the locale of the merchant, a telephone number 110 of a local agent may be included within the applet 108 of the targeted webpage.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the terminal 26. As shown, a transceiver 152 may be provided for exchanging signals with a local base station antenna 62. Signals received by the transceiver 152 may be routed to a coder/decoder (CODEC) 154.
The CODEC 154 may be hard-coded to exchange logical signals between the cellular system 16 and three separate logical entities (three separate code plugs) within the terminal 26. A first code plug may be coupled to a voice channel and may include the speaker 156 and microphone 158 of the cellular phone portion of the terminal 26. A second code plug may include a phone control section 166. A third code plug may include a browser 164 of the Internet interface.
Upon receipt of any webpages 100 downloaded from the website 38, the CODEC 154 routes the webpages 100 to the browser 164. The browser 164, in turn, displays the webpages 100 on the display 160.
If the operator should activate the applet 108, then the applet searches a resource list 174 of the CPU 150 for a second communication channel. Upon searching the list, the applet 108 may locate a dialing application 166 of the cell phone portion of the terminal 26. Upon locating the dialing application 166, the applet 108 may insert the port identifier 110 into a dialed number buffer 168 and activate the dialing application 166. The dialing application 166, in turn, sets up a voice channel between the agent 30, 32, 36 of the website 38 and client 26.
Since the dialing application 172 resides within the phone control 166, it represents a separate logical entity than that of the browser 164. Further, set-up of a telephone connection through the voice channel code plug allows the client to continue to download webpages 100 through the browser code plug.
Agent access through a PDA 28 may function in a similar manner. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the PDA 28.
As shown, the PDA 28 may include a transceiver 204 and CODEC 206. The CODEC 206 may function to exchange information between the Internet 12 and two logical entites (code plugs) within the PDA 28. The first code plug may be with the browser 212 and the second code plug may be with a data exchange (e.g., email) application 214.
The client 28 may access the website 38 through the browser 212 and request webpages 100. As with the terminal 26, the URL analyzer 56 within the host 14 may identify the temporary URL assigned to the terminal 26 and may download a targeted webpage 100 to the client 28. In this situation, the port number 110 may be an e-mail address of a local agent 36.
Upon activating the softkey 106, the applet 108 may search the resources list 218 of the terminal 28 and locate the data application 214. Upon locating the data application 214, the applet 108 may transfer the port identifier (e.g., e-mail address of a local agent 36) 110 to the data application 214 and activate the data application 214.
Upon activation of the data application 214, the user of the PDA 28 may enter any appropriate query and activate a SEND button. In response to activation of the SEND button, the e-mail message is sent to the local agent 36 through the Internet 12 and PSTN 18.
Under another illustrated embodiment of the invention, session information may be provided by the applet 108 to help the agent 30, 32, 36 receiving the call understand the context of the call. The session information may provide a visitation history of webpages 100 visited by the user of the terminal 22, 24, 26, 28 before the call was placed to the agent 30, 32, 36. The visitation history may be forwarded to the agent upon call delivery in order to allow the agent 30, 32, 36 to quickly familiarize himself with any visited webpages 100 and to answer any question posed by the client 22, 24, 26, 28 without the necessity of asking questions directed to identifying the webpage source of the client's concern.
The session information may be obtained under any of a number of different methods. For example, once the applet 108 is activated, the applet 108 may retrieve URLs of webpages 100 from a “COOKIES” file within the browser of the client 22, 24, 26, 28. Alternatively, the URLs or a session identifier may be appended to the applet 108 before the associated webpage 100 is downloaded to the client 22, 24, 26, 28.
Once the applet 108 has been provided with the session information, it may be forwarded to the agent receiving the call using any of a number of different methods. In the case of the VoIP call through the gateway 50, the session information may be packetized and sent to the gateway 50 as call associated information. Within the gateway 50, the session information may be forwarded to its destination through the PSTN 18 within a user part of an ISDN “D” channel.
In the case where the destination is an agent 30, 32 within the ACD 20, a CPU 54 within the ACD 20 may receive the session information and forward the information along with an agent identifier to the host 14. The host may use the agent identifier and session information to deliver the appropriate webpages 100 to the terminal 44, 46 of the agent 30, 32 at the same instant that the ACD 20 delivers the call to the console 40, 42 of the agent 30, 32.
In the case of the portable terminals 26, 28, the session information may be obtained by the applet 108 from the terminal 26, 28 in a similar manner. Once activated, the portable device 26, 28 may also deliver the session information to an agent 30, 32, 36 through an ISDN “D” channel.
In the case of the remote agent 36, a local cache 62 within a memory of a terminal of the agent 36 may be provided for storage of the information content 102, 104 of the webpages 100. Once a call is received from a client 22, 24, 26, 28, the session information is used to retrieve and display any visited webpages 100. The webpages 100 may be reviewed by the agent 36 on a display of the terminal of the agent 36 as the agent 36 converses with the client 22, 24, 26, 28.
Under another illustrated embodiment, the host 14 may broadcasts Internet ads (e.g., html mini-webpages 100) to any portable device 26, 28 within the service coverage area of predetermined base stations 62. The ads are created based upon the needs of businesses located within the service coverage area 62. Each ad is constructed with content 102, 104 selected by the local business and an applet 108 that may include a port number of an agent 36 of the business. Where a user of the portable device 26, 28 activates the softkey 106, the user is placed into contact with the agent 36. When placed in contact, the agent 36 may answer any specific questions or explain any special offers displayed on the mini-webpage 100.
A specific embodiment of a method and apparatus for providing web callback through multi-media devices according to the present invention has been described for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention is made and used. It should be understood that the implementation of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. Therefore, it is contemplated to cover the present invention and any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein. | {
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چکیده انگلیسی
This paper investigates the effects of reducing subsidies for private health insurance on public sector expenditure for hospital care. An econometric framework using simultaneous equation models is developed to analyse the interrelated decisions on the intensity and type of health care use and private insurance. The framework is applied to the context of the mixed public–private system in Australia. The simulation projections show that reducing premium subsidies is expected to generate net cost savings. This arises because the cost savings achieved from reducing subsidies are larger than the potential increase in public expenditure on hospital care.
مقدمه انگلیسی
In many modern economies, the public sector plays an important role in the financing of health care. Nearly all OECD countries have universal health systems, where health care is funded either through taxation, or through publicly-sponsored or subsidised health insurance. Even in the market-oriented health system of the United States, health insurance is directly subsidised for individuals and families with low incomes and the elderly, while employment-based private health insurance is indirectly subsidised through the tax system. The extent of public involvement on health care financing in the United States is expected to rise with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which aims to ensure that all individuals have health insurance through a combination of mandates, premium regulations and subsidies.
While there are generally strong justifications for the provision of subsidies for health care and health insurance, the arguments for subsidising duplicate private health insurance (PHI) in countries with universal health systems are less compelling. In these countries (e.g. Australia, Spain, United Kingdom), a private health care market coexists alongside the public sector providing health services already covered under the public system. Public subsidies for private insurance, either in the form of tax incentives or monetary rebates on premiums, have been a source of policy contention (Colombo and Tapay, 2004). It is often argued that incentives for PHI can stimulate the private health care market, relieving both capacity and cost pressures off the public system, and improving access to and quality of public sector care. However, questions have been raised as to whether an expanding private sector diverts valuable resources away from the public sector. In addition, issues of equity arise as privately insured individuals, who usually have higher incomes, can bypass the public sector queues and obtain faster access to care.
An important question in evaluating the effectiveness of subsidies for duplicate PHI is whether subsidies are self-financing – if its introduction would lead to cost savings within the public health care system that exceed the cost of the subsidy program. The converse question, one that is pursued in this paper, is whether public savings achieved from reducing subsidies can more than offset the potential increase in public expenditure. Understanding the costs and benefits of subsidy programs for private insurance is important as it apprises the effectiveness of policy instruments avail to governments seeking to influence the public and private composition of health expenditures. This is especially relevant as policy makers look towards sources of private finance to pay for the health care demands of their populace in the face of rapidly growing public spending.
A number of studies have examined the self-financing nature of subsidies for private insurance. Emmerson et al. (2001) and Frech and Hopkins (2004) investigate this issue through an ex-post policy evaluation for the United Kingdom and Australia respectively. The studies conclude that the cost of subsidising PHI exceeds the fiscal benefits on the public sector. López Nicolás and Vera-Hernández (2008), through an ex-ante policy simulation, arrive at a similar conclusion when simulating the effects of abolishing tax subsidies for private insurance in Spain. In addition to the significant cost involved in subsidising PHI, Colombo and Tapay (2004) highlight two other reasons why duplicate PHI is expected to have little cost-shifting effects (pp. 193 and 194). Firstly, relative to the public sector, the private health care sector usually focusses on elective treatments for patients with less complex and severe medical conditions. Secondly, privately insured individuals can continue to utilise the public sector. Following this, a question that is central to the debate is whether privately insured individuals ‘opt out’ of the public system by substituting private for public health care, or ‘top up’ and enlarge their use of health care without reducing their reliance on the public system (Fabbri and Monfardini, 2011).
This paper contributes to the literature investigating the self-financing nature of PHI subsidies. It develops a microeconometric framework to analyse the interrelated decisions on the intensity and type of health care use and PHI. The framework builds on the work by López Nicolás and Vera-Hernández (2008) who construct a discrete choice model to analyse the (binary) decisions surrounding public and private health care use and private insurance. The framework proposed here comprises of three simultaneous equation models which accommodate the count data nature of the health care utilisation measures (number of hospital admissions, length of overnight stay) and the binary nature of the measures of the type (public vs. private) of hospital care and PHI.
The econometric framework is applied to the context of the mixed public and private health system in Australia. Australia is an interesting case study for examining the self-financing hypothesis. In the late 1990s a series of policy measures was introduced in the PHI market within a short time frame to encourage the purchase of private insurance. These measures include a tax penalty on high income individuals without private health cover, a generous 30 percent rebate on premiums, and the introduction of entry-age adjusted premiums. To evaluate the self-financing nature of PHI, the estimates from the econometric models are used in an ex-ante simulation analysis in which the premium rebates are scaled back.
This study combines two themes within the literature on the economics of health care and health insurance. The first concerns the effects of tax subsidies on the demand for health insurance, for which there have been considerable research in the United States (e.g. Gruber and Poterba, 1994; Gruber and Washington, 2005) and Canada (e.g. Stabile, 2001; Finkelstein, 2002). These studies, like most program evaluation research, focus on the ex-post evaluation of a policy or program. They exploit variation in the insurance price that arises from changes in the tax treatment on premiums and benefits affecting only a part of the population (e.g. defined by occupation types or geography), and examine how demand has changed relative to a subpopulation or ‘control group’ not affected by the policy change. While this treatment-control approach has its merits, it is not always feasible. For many important applications, it is often the case that the policy of interest affects the entire population, or that a comparable ‘control group’ is not available. In some instances, a series of policies could have been introduced either concurrently or in close succession, as in the case of the PHI market in Australia, for which isolating the effects of a particular policy is difficult. Another limitation of the ex-post analytical techniques is that they do not allow the evaluation of the impacts of policies prior to their implementation. It is often important for governments to be able to assess the expected impacts, and costs, arising from a range of hypothetical policy options, hence facilitating the optimal design of policies to achieve the outcomes desired (Todd and Wolpin, 2006).
The second theme concerns the determinants of the demand for PHI, and the relationship between private insurance and health care use in the context of a National Health Service. On the former, the literature emphasises the role of public sector waiting times and quality, household income, and education attainment as important determinants of the decision to purchase PHI (see Barros and Siciliani (2012) for a comprehensive review). There is evidence from a variety of countries that individuals with private insurance consume more public and private health care.1 In these studies, a key methodological issue that has to be addressed is that health insurance status is potentially endogenous to health care use, which arises as a result of the interdependency in the decisions to insure, and to consume health care (Cameron et al., 1988).
The endogeneity problem is addressed using three simultaneous equation models that accommodate the mixed count-binary nature of the utilisation, type and insurance outcome variables. Traditional workhorse models for non-negative and integer-valued (count) outcomes such as the Poisson and Negative Binomial models have been extended to more advanced models with a variety of applications such as the multivariate count data models (e.g. Munkin and Trivedi, 1999; Fabbri and Monfardini, 2009; Hellström, 2006), and count data models as a system of simultaneous equations (Deb and Trivedi, 2006; Atella and Deb, 2008; Cheng and Vahid, 2011). A novel econometric model developed in this paper is a bivariate lognormal Poisson model with a common endogenous binary regressor, used to jointly analyse two hospital care utilisation measures (number of day and overnight hospital admissions) and the decision to purchase PHI. This novel model contributes to the growing literature on multivariate simultaneous equation count data models.
نتیجه گیری انگلیسی
Policy incentives such as premium or tax rebates for duplicate private health insurance are often justified based on the argument that private financing can relieve cost and capacity pressures on the public system. This paper investigates the question of whether cost savings that are achieved from reducing subsidies for private health insurance outweigh the potential increase in public expenditure on hospital care in the context of the Australian health care system. The study develops a microeconometric framework to analyse the effect of policy incentives on the decision to buy private health insurance, and the effect of private insurance on the decisions of whether to obtain hospital care from the public or private sector, and how much care to consume. The econometric estimates are used in a simulation analysis to assess whether reducing premium rebates on private health insurance in Australia is likely to generate net cost savings to the public budget.
The econometric results indicate that individuals with private health insurance are more likely to seek hospital care as a private patient compared to those without private insurance. However, the intensity of hospital admissions and length of overnight stay do not differ between the insured and uninsured groups. The estimates of the elasticity of demand for private insurance are in the range of −0.32 to −0.35. The simulation projections show that reducing premium subsidies is expected to generate net cost savings to the public budget. This result is obtained in all 5 different simulation scenarios that are considered, and is robust to different methods used to account for uncertainty in the projections. To illustrate, a 10 percent reduction in rebates for instance is projected to lead to an increase in public expenditure that is either not statistically different from zero, or substantially smaller than the cost savings achieved through lower spending on premium subsidies.
The estimates of the price elasticity and the simulation results are mostly robust to different approaches used to formulate the insurance price. For example, using predicted premiums in placed of observed premiums, and accounting for entry-age rating through the Lifetime Health Cover policy produce elasticity estimates that are very similar. Although the cost projections from the simulation analysis vary slightly by the estimation strategies used to address potential endogeneity problems, the conclusion that reducing subsidies generate cost savings remains unchanged.
A question that naturally arises is whether the simulation results are driven primarily by the inelastic demand for private insurance, or whether it is due to the differential rates of hospital care use by the insured and uninsured groups. The simulation projections indicate that the frequency of hospital admissions and the number of hospital nights remain unchanged when the proportion of privately insured individuals decreases. This suggests that differences in utilisation across the insured and uninsured groups are not the reason why cost savings occur. It is also not the case that individuals continue to use private hospital services despite dropping private health insurance cover. The inelastic demand is the main reason for the cost savings, as only a small fraction of individuals are likely to respond to the higher prices for insurance by dropping private health coverage. This conclusion is consistent with previous studies by Emmerson et al. (2001) and Frech and Hopkins (2004), who both show that the price elasticity needs to be substantially higher for private health insurance subsidies to be self-financing.
The estimates of the demand elasticity for private insurance obtained in this study is broadly comparable with those from previous Australian studies. Butler (1999) for instance uses a similar definition of the insurance price and obtained a price elasticity estimate of −0.44 for hospital cover. This study is based on data that predates the policy reform when financial incentives were introduced. It is conceivable that consumers are more responsive to price changes back then, in the absence of the tax levy that penalises high income individuals without private insurance. Frech III et al. (2003) use time series data and model the spike in private health insurance coverage in the Australia population following the introduction of the 30 percent rebate and obtained a price elasticity estimate of −0.37, which is very similar to those in this study. In a recent study, Ellis and Savage (2008) use survey data from the post-reform period and obtained elasticity estimates with respect to premiums of −0.6 for singles and −0.4 for families. In this paper, using the method by Ellis and Savage (2008) to incorporate entry-age rating produces elasticity estimates in the range of −0.33 to −0.36, which are quite similar to their estimate for families. This is interesting to note that the estimates of the price elasticities for duplicate and supplementary PHI are broadly comparable internationally (e.g. −0.5 in UK and Spain (King and Mossialos, 2005; López Nicolás and Vera-Hernández, 2008), −0.4 to −0.49 in Canada (Stabile, 2001; Finkelstein, 2002)). Obviously, differences in definitions and empirical methods may limit comparability. Notwithstanding, the slightly smaller elasticity estimates obtained in this paper are likely due to the tax levy and the entry-age rating policy in Australia. What follows is that individuals, particularly those with high incomes, have considerable financial incentives to take up or maintain private insurance cover even in the face of premium increases.
It is important to highlight that the results in this paper may not be generalisable, and do not necessarily imply that reducing subsidies on private health insurance would generate cost savings in other countries. This is because the Australian context is unique in that a series of three different policy incentives exists to encourage individuals to buy private health insurance. Reducing the premium subsidy may have little effect given that individuals would still have considerable financial incentives to buy private health insurance because of the tax levy and entry-age premium adjustments.
With further cost pressures on public health care budgets, interest in a greater role of private financing is only likely to increase. Two follow-on questions that are open for further research arise from this study. First, what are the alternative measures that are available to policy makers seeking to expand the role of private financing? Second, how do these measures compare in terms of their costs and effectiveness in achieving the stated health policy goals? These are some important questions that would inform the debate surrounding the appropriate roles and relative sizes of the public and private sectors for health care. | {
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Welcome to our January SOTM blog hop featuring the January Stamp of the Month - Little Reminder S1201! If you have joined me from Wendy's blog then you are on the right path.
I've created a standard size card featuring the Wonderland papers X7146B (and Chocolate ink distressing) to welcome a new baby boy! In addition to the January Stamp of the Month, I also used the Save the Date stamp set D1386 (page 111) for the little star image that I stamped with 2nd and 3rd generation Twilight ink. Remember, you can click on my photo above to see it in closer detail if you want to! I realize that it is a little late, but I created this specific card to celebrate the birth of my new little nephew, Bradley Brinkerhoff, who was born on July 20th, 2011! You can learn more about Bradley's birth and how he continues to be our precious little miracle on my sister Mary's Blog. Finally, you can see all of the very versatile and useful images included in this stamp set here (below):
Now you can continue on with the hop by visiting Amy's blog next! Enjoy!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
I can't take credit for this adorable idea, but it is just so cute that I couldn't resist sharing it here with all my creative friends! This was created by my crafty friend Kathy Hazelbaker. Wrapped inside is a Hershey's chocolate bar, yum!! Here is the link to Laurie Furnell's blog where you can find and print the wrapper (although you know I've already got the wheels a-turnin' in my head as to how I can re-create this with my stamps)!!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Welcome to my blog and thanks for joining us for our special "Rock the Block" blog hop! If you've just joined me from Krista's blog then you are on the correct path!
The "Rock the Block" kit is the new special promotion Close to my Heart is offering now through the end of January. You can purchase this kit that includes an E-size stamp set and My Creations Collage Cubes for just $15 with any $25 purchase from our Autumn/Winter Idea Book!
Here is just one side of my blocks completed...and I still have five more sides to go! I tied a ribbon around them to hold them all in place for now, but that ribbon will likely be adhered around the outside edge of the tray when it is all complete. I started by stamping a 6x6 piece of Olive cardstock and adding my photo and embellishing before I cut it up into 2x2 squares. Then I adhered them to the blocks with my tombow adhesive. I will come back and post more photos of the rest of the block sides once I am able to complete them. While this project was quite easy to put together once I got going, it took a lot of time at first deciding what photos I would be using. Once I'm finished, this will be something I can get out each year to display alongside all of my Christmas decorations! My four year-old already can't keep his hands off of it and I can foresee that it will be one of his favorite "puzzles" to play with every December!
Here is a view of the cubes (above) inside the tray before I covered them and the co-ordinating 8.5x11" stamp set (below). The blocks are made of paper and are hollow so they are light-weight. Notice how I started sponging the edges and corners of the block on top using a sponge dauber and Cocoa ink. This way I will be sure not to have any white edges showing once I get all of my 2x2 squares of paper adhered to them.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Happy December everyone! I am really looking forward to the upcoming holiday season and hope you are too! I have just a few events planned for this month.
Please join me in my craft room for my
Holiday Clearance SALE and Christmas Card Buffet
Saturday, December 3rd from 1pm to 5pm
RSVP's are not required, but appreciated when you can. You can come and create any of the cards you see below for just $1 each (make just a few or as many as you want)!! These are just 4 of the cards I'm offering as I am still working on designing a few more cards for you to choose from using the Wonderland and Believe papers (think snowflakes, glitter, and elegant wintery scenes!) and I hope to get the rest of the card options posted here soon also. For the clearance sale I am offering all of my in-stock discontinued/retired products at 50% off!!...PLUS a bunch of my well-loved/used stamp sets at 50% off to pick from...in addition, there will be no sales tax/shipping on all of my "in stock" items because I need to make room for all of the new Spring/Summer products I'll be ordering in January (customers can start ordering from the NEW Idea Book starting February 1st), so come and get yourself a deal now!! Finally, if you aren't able to stop by this weekend, I am offering a few other dates this month for you to come by to shop and/or create with me:
Thursday, December 8th (9am-11am)
Thursday, December 15th (9am-11am)
Friday, December 16th (6pm-10pm)
Tuesday, December 20th (6pm-10pm) last chance this year!!
I hope to see you all here soon! Have a very Merry Christmas!!
I will also be selling my Scentsy products at the Harvey House holiday sale coming up on Saturday, December 10th from 9am-5pm, so feel free to stop by my booth that day to say hello and I will have a little hand-made Christmas "goodie" for you (as well as a lot of great gift-giving ideas)!
THANK YOU
Who is sticky boy?
My Jewel Box
Dedicated to my Grandmother,
Wanda Stuebner, who inspires
me. She wrote this poem when
she was a young mother
(younger than I am now).
Some ladies have fine jewel boxesof ivory and jade;Some have theirs of platinumWith diamonds all inlaid.Within these lovely boxesThey carefully hide from sightTheir costly rings and bracelets;They're locked in the safe at night.
Now I have lovely jewels too,Priceless and very rare.My jewel box is a baby's bed,How sweet to see them there -Two sapphire eyes, two ruby lips,Four tiny gleaming pearls,The sun strikes lovely golden glintsFrom wispy silken curls. | {
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} |
Arizona Authorized Third Party Provider for the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD)
Phoenix Office:(602) 667-7574 Mesa Office:(480) 649-3010
Home
Mardini Multi-Services is an Authorized Third Party Provider for the ADOT / MVD. We provide our customers with fast, friendly, and affordable motor vehicle services without the wait. Just stop by any of our locations, no appointment necessary and we’ll have you in and out within minutes. That’s quality service. That’s Mardini Multi-Services. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
PHP email message class for extracting attachments
I've done a bit of work in the past extracting attachments from email with PHP and posted a few articles here showing how to do it. None of them have really been all that satisfactory and so a little earlier this year I started again from scratch. I've posted here what is a work-in-progress due to requests from several people. It's not complete but it does work.
Notes about the email class
When working on it, I discovered just how difficult it is to actually get information out of emails because email clients format emails differently, and also differently depending on whether there are attachments, inline attachments, html and/or plain text body parts.
This class recursively loops through the email and finds all the attachements including email messages themselves that may have been attached and recurses through those too. While doing all this it puts the html and plain text body of the top level message into the bodyHTML and bodyPlain properties.
Unfortunately I didn't write any comments through the code because I was intending to get it finished at the time and write a blog about it which would have served that function, but time ran away from me.
Basically the format of a message is in "parts" and they can be like e.g. 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, etc and you need those numbers to be able to get the "attachments". I worked out through trial and error with many emails that the order and numbering varies considerably.
At some point in the future I will do some more work on this code, making it more usable for email in general, adding commenting etc and probably post it to GitHub. | {
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} |
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The TV stand was a great addition to our den. The TV and all related equipment fit perfectly.
I was able to hide all the wiring
in the framework in back of the stand. The wife is very happy about no wires showing !!!
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...
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This is the only Maple TV stand I found online or any where, I love it, it matches the color of my other furniture in my study,
fits perfectly my 35" TV. Assembly is very easy. Love it. The only thing I am curious about is the shipment date on the web site, it always says this item is on back order, and keep changing delaying date every time I want to place the order, finally my husband said" just order it, see what happens" so I did , I got it in two days after I placed the order, even before I received the shipment notice, a month before the posted deliver date. It is strange, but I am happy I got it earlier.
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Read more | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
PapiThugz – Deep Dicc & Xavier – Xavier Takes Deep Dicc Deep
A chance meeting between Deep Dicc and Xavier on the train platform turns into full-blown hookup action that is not only deep, but hard, thick, and pounding. Xavier’s hot hole is all systems go, ending with Deep Dicc’s deluge drenching him. See it now! | {
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} |
After a TERRIFIC outpouring of comments, Facebook hits and tweets, my May 2010 contest has come to a close. I amassed all the names into a hat, (an actual hat, a BIG mexican party hat, obvs!) and pulled out the winner!
This is not only good news for her, being that's she's won a free sitting and a stack of complimentary prints, but good news for me since little Julian is completely ADORABLE! Let's chat soon to arrange Elina!
Also, I do have to shout out to my girl Jennifer of Double Duty Mommy, as she tireless tweeted for me DAILY throughout the whole month of May, unprovoked, to promote this contest--J, you get a special treat from me, email me for details!
Sending love, hugs and days full of Tiny Victories to ALL my supporters who participated. THANK YOU! :) | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Volume 11, Issue No 11, Circulation: under revision, 29th May 2011
Next Issue: 12th June 2011
With 'Pathway To Success' you are receiving only top
information, reliable and proven resources vital for your
online home business success and profitability, never anything
just to make a couple of dollars at your expense. However,
to make full use of the resources, get fast ahead of your
competition and have your business and profits grow, you
should read, apply and follow the information you receive.
Translate into YOUR Language automatically: click the fish
Start today!Today is the tomorrow you put itoff until yesterday.Lyndon Forman
Editorial:
Wonderful publishing Sunday, my loyal Readers!
I want to inform you about Exit Tweet Generator. It doesn't
work any longer, so do not Promote!
If you are promoting Exit Tweet Generator on your
download/thank you pages.. or in your follow up series or
anywhere else... remove the campaign.. :(
The script will no longer work with Twitter's API.
Twitter has told Frank Salinas that the script is in violation
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every time. So, it is no longer a working script.
If something changes, I will let you know.. but for now,
the script no longer works...
I used it as well, have tried to remove the links but not
quite sure if all of the links are gone now. So, please if
you spot the link within my site, please let me know.
Thank you.
More useful, profitable tools and tips in Today's Issue.
Enjoy and stay tuned, your Pathway To Success
is back in 14 days...
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In recent months we’ve been especially focused on helping
people find high-quality sites in Google’s search results.
The “Panda” algorithm change has improved rankings for a
large number of high-quality websites, so most of you
reading have nothing to be concerned about. However, for
the sites that may have been affected by Panda we wanted to
provide additional guidance on how Google searches for high-
quality sites.
Our advice for publishers continues to be to focus on
delivering the best possible user experience on your
websites and not to focus too much on what they think are
Google’s current ranking algorithms or signals. Some
publishers have fixated on our prior Panda algorithm change,
but Panda was just one of roughly 500 search improvements
we expect to roll out to search this year. In fact, since
we launched Panda, we've rolled out over a dozen additional
tweaks to our ranking algorithms, and some sites have
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and science, so rather than focusing on specific
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Our site quality algorithms are aimed at helping people
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questions we ask ourselves as we write algorithms that
attempt to assess site quality. Think of it as our take
at encoding what we think our users want.
Of course, we aren't disclosing the actual ranking signals
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our search results; but if you want to step into Google's
mindset, the questions below provide some guidance on how
we've been looking at the issue:
Would you trust the information presented in this article?
Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows
the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant
articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different
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Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that
distract from or interfere with the main content?
Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine,
encyclopedia or book?
Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking
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Are the pages produced with great care and attention
to detail vs. less attention to detail?
Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Writing an algorithm to assess page or site quality is a much
harder task, but we hope the questions above give some insight
into how we try to write algorithms that distinguish higher-quality
sites from lower-quality sites.
What you can do:
We've been hearing from many of you that you want more
guidance on what you can do to improve your rankings on
Google, particularly if you think you've been impacted by
the Panda update. We encourage you to keep questions like
the ones above in mind as you focus on developing high-
quality content rather than trying to optimize for any
particular Google algorithm.
One other specific piece of guidance we've offered is that
low-quality content on some parts of a website can impact
the whole site’s rankings, and thus removing low quality
pages, merging or improving the content of individual
shallow pages into more useful pages, or moving low quality
pages to a different domain could eventually help the
rankings of your higher-quality content.
We're continuing to work on additional algorithmic
iterations to help webmasters operating high-quality sites
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your sites, rather than focusing on one particular
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same sorts of questions we ask when looking at the big
picture. This way your site will be more likely to rank
well for the long-term. In the meantime, if you have
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continue to monitor threads on the forum and pass site info
on to the search quality team as we work on future
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YOUR CART
Water Activities on the Beaches of Tampa Bay
Florida is pretty flat. It’s difficult to find a spot where you can see for miles in every direction. There is, however, one very exhilarating way to do just that – parasailing!
From your perch high above the beautiful waters, with the breeze blowing through your hair, you can observe the magnificent Tampa Bay beaches landscape as the ever present seagulls do. Parasailing and Florida go hand in hand, so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, or check out our other water activities! | {
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Attend Events Of San Diego Art Galleries-exit safe mode
Photography There are lot of reasons why you need to attend exhibitions and events held at San Diego art galleries. It is only the art lover who will understand the soothing feeling that he gets through attending an art exhibition. Chaotic work schedules and tiresome days will force the art lovers to go to bed early. For this kind of people online events of art and photography has actually been a boon. Attending San Diego art galleries is simple and fun. In San Diego there are lots of art enthusiasts and for this reason the number of San Diego art galleries is increasing day by day. There are actually lots of facilities .ing up but then it is be.e tough for the enthusiast to attend the organized events. However, online galleries make it convenient for the art lovers to attend the exhibitions. There are lots of sites online that offer fine art paintings. However it is up to the art lover to search for the best one. You can select one or more site however the best part is that you can attend it all. Only because you are attending one event does not mean that you will not miss any other event. This actually makes attending online events interesting. One thing that you will agree to is that mortar gallery has restricted alternatives. There are plenty of artists in San Diego however there is limited space in art gallery which limits them to up all the art developed. However there is no limitation with San Diego art galleries. These galleries have lot of space and lot of paintings can be offered for sale. Through these galleries every artists will get maximum exposure for displaying their work. Art lovers will get access to wide choices. At the time it .es to purchasing art from online galleries it is very simple. You just have to ensure that they offer you with secured mode of payment. There are lots of alternatives from which you can select and with this it is simple to find good piece and book it. The art pieces that you select from the online gallery will be delivered to your door step. There are chances that art lovers will not have the time to check out the art exhibitions held through mortar art galleries. However with online alternative they will be able to attend all events at any point of time. There is no .pulsion to visit at particular time period. Art lovers can actually check out the gallery at any point of time and book any pieces according to their convenience. About the Author: 相关的主题文章： | {
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Best British TV Comedy Shows -The Young Ones
Best British Comedy – The Young Ones
The Young Ones was first shown on British TV in 1982 and it was unlike any comedy that had ever been seen before.
It was a full on sitcom with a powerful anarchic streak.
The Young Ones TV show run for 3 series, it was for all intents and purposes a comedy of manners – it said ‘this is how students live and behave’ in a way which made young people laugh, it had out and out gross comedy but blended in surrealism and layers in some satire and lampooning.
Older adults didn’t get the show at all and that made us teenagers love it all the more.
It was written by two up and coming script-writers, Ben Elton and Rik Mayall and Rik’s then girlfriend, Lise Mayer.
The Young Ones' Rik
The Young Ones' Vyvyan
The Young Ones' Mike The Cool Person
The Young Ones' Neil
Who's Who in The Young Ones
It starred Rik Mayall as ‘Rick’ a pompous, self-important politics student, Ade Edmondson as violent, punk-rocker Vyvyan, Nigel Planer as miserable, occasionally suicidal hippy, Neil and Christopher Ryan as the smart, streetwise Mike ‘the cool person’. Technically, there was a fifth ‘young one’, Alexei Sayle as any one of many members of the Bulowski brothers a seemingly villainous gang of siblings.
All but one of the 5 main characters were stand-up comedians at the time The Young Ones was made. All were regular performers at the then highly successful Comedy Store in London, famous for its regular ‘open mike’ nights, hundreds of comedians in the UK in the 80s and 90s either lived or died on its stage, it was like a rite of passage for British comedians to be roundly heckled there.
The Comedy Store spawned another venue, The Comic Strip, the brainchild of Peter Richardson (who was meant to play Mike in the Young Ones but had an argument with Young Ones producer, Paul Jackson leading to him being replaced by Christopher Ryan). Elton, Mayall and Edmondson had all been students together at the University of Manchester and had followed one another to London. The Young Ones also had a band or artiste playing a song in their living room in every episode. Britain really had seen nothing like it before.
Vyvyan's hamster, SPG
The Young Ones - Sometimes 'Surreal' Comedy
It really was unique – animals featured more than once in walk-on parts or in musical numbers.
It had rats living behind the skirting boards who talked to one another and discussed the writing of Euripides.
Vyvyan owned a hard-as-nails hamster called SPG (Special Patrol Group) and all in all, just when it looked like the Young Ones might turn into a normal sitcom, it veered off at odd little tangents. You learned to expect the unexpected.
You either loved it or hated it – I was 19 in 1982 and I absolutely loved it, it was all my friends and I ever talked about and even today, has a huge cult following.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
The Young Ones
Radical Comedy, Unique Comedy
The TV audiences in the late 60s must have felt like Monty Python’s Flying Circus was a truly unique TV programme, very different to anything they’d ever seen before and the Young Ones did the same for audiences in the 1980s.
I am not sure if we’ve had anything like it since. It was very much ‘of its time’, Mrs Thatcher had just come to power with the Conservative Party and Britain had a lot of unemployed young people and was getting used to a different sort of government. War with the Falkland Islands in 1982 made the country feel like a very different place.
It was a time for more radical comedy and saw a resurgence of political (or anti-politics) humour, with many of the young writers of the time poking fun at Mrs Thatcher and her politics.
Ben Elton was a leading exponent of this type of humour and The Young Ones was his and Rik Mayall’s idea of creating a subversive comedy, totally out of step with Mrs Thatcher’s ideals for British young people.
Rik, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike
Made FOR The 80's Teenagers
The 4 students in the Young Ones were an unusual, mismatched bunch of young men sponging off their student grants and other state benefits.
They lived in squalor and were all, in one way or another, larger than life.
The thing which made the Young Ones stand out from other comedies on TV at the time (in 1982 other comedies included Emery Presents, Tom, Dick and Harriet and Eric Sykes Show) was that it was 100% anti-establishment and it didn’t care who it offended.
1982 is in many ways a remarkable year in British comedy because it was the first year that more radical ideas were coming into comedy; for example Rik Mayall’s Kevin Turvy-The Man Behind The Green Door also made its debut in 1982 on the back of a regular slot on Three of A Kind, Comic Strip Presents and Alas Smith And Jones were also watched by millions when shown on Channel 4 and BBC2 respectively.
The Young Ones thumbed its nose at our parents’ generation –it was a comedy show, which felt like it was made for young people.
The Young Ones - Grotesque, Satirical, Surreal, Special
It lampooned other shows from time to time, amongst the best episodes were lampoons of The Good Life, which had been the antithesis of all that the Young Ones stood for and a brilliant lampoon of the long-running BBC quiz show, University Challenge, where viewers watch real undergraduates battle it out for an annual prize of best university quiz team, they are all very, very clever students –real people answering difficult questions. The Young Ones are supposedly contemporaries of these students!
After The Young Ones
Ben Elton went on to write 3 series of Blackadder with Richard Curtis and The Thin Blue Line, another successful BBC comedy starring James Dreyfuss.
He also wrote the play, We Will Rock You as well as 13 bestselling novels. Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson went on to have huge success with their own TV comedy, Bottom, which was very much in the same anarchic vein as The Young Ones, Mayall also starred as Alan B’stard a comedy Conservative politician and did an amazing series of cameos as Lord Flashard on Blackadder.
Nigel Planer continues to work as a successful actor on both stage and screen. Christopher Ryan has appeared in Bottom and Absolutely Fabulous amongst other comedy shows. Alexei Sayle is a bestselling novelist and continues to do stand-up comedy.
The Young Ones remains popular to this date because it was so different. It blazed a trail for other British comedies but none quite matched its mix of radical, grotesque,satirical and surreal comedy.
Comments
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sending
AUTHOR
Jools Hogg
7 years agofrom North-East UK
TWD, Steve and Eddy - thanks so much for your great comments -Steve, I was also in the mood to start watching again and only have it on VHS so I am treating myself to the DVDs on Play.Com
TWD - I am doing a comedy hub on all my faves so Blackadder will get one (or two or three) of its own.
Eiddwen
7 years agofrom Wales
A great hub which has to be awarded an up up and away.
Take care and enjoy the rest of your day;
Eddy.
Steve Lensman
7 years agofrom Manchester, England
This brings back memories Jools, great hub! Laugh out loud funny series. Black Adder was another show I enjoyed in the 80's. Have you done a hub on that one? My all time fave sitcom was probably Fawlty Towers. John Cleese, brilliant.
Your hub has got me in the mood to watch the Young Ones again, think I only have it on VHS though.
Voted Up
The Writers Dog
7 years ago
My all time favourite Young Ones episode was when Neil was hit over the head by Rick, and buried in the the fertiliser. The Neil Army was brilliant.
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Recommended Posts
After completing Cindered Shadows you unlock the Abyss library with lots of books in it that the church wouldn’t want you to see. Most of it fits fairly easily into established lore of Fodlan, with the exception of of one - “Romance of the World’s Perdition”. I think this might be the most important book there. It reads as follows:
“Romance of the World’s Perdition
“In the land of Thinis, where the old gods are said to live, the False God has awakened. Its looming, heteromorphic vessel was resurrected to sink the world to the depths of the ocean. It will bring extinction to all children of men, and salvation to all beasts of the land, sky, and sea. For the children of men who spilled too much of the blood of life, it promises only cruel retribution.
”the False God must be defeated before the world sinks into a watery grave. To this end, the children of men have erected pillars of light upon the land. Thinis, Malum, Septen and Llium were utterly destroyed. Those lands have vanished from this world. Yet even still, the False God stands. And soon, a flood aptly named Despair will drown this world.
”The children of men fled to the depths of the earth, beyond the sight of the False God, beyond the embrace of the sacred sun, and beyond the reach of the waters of Despair. They swore a fervent oath of revenge against the surface world, ruled by beasts, and against their tormentor, the False God.”
Ok, so there’s a lot in there and at first glance it doesn’t really seem relevant to Fodlan. There’s four lands; Thinis, Malum, Septen and Llium, that as far as I can see have never been mentioned in 3H or any other FE game. And they all got flooded. Curious.
Anyway, I reckon that this might actually be an origin story for Fodlan, and for Abyss. There’s a couple of things that stand out yo support this theory. First is the “heteromorphic vessel” of the False God. “Heteromorphic” means “occurring in two or more different forms, especially at different stages in the life cycle.” - I reckon we’re talking about Sothis here, and her ability to switch between dragon and human form. The second is the last paragraph - if the False God is Sothis, then it becomes clear that this is an origin for the Slitherers, who existed before Sothis and created Abyss to escape the flood that she created.
The third is the mention of pillars of light in the second paragraph, which were created to defeat the False God. It’s pretty clear that these must be proto-javelins of light. If all this was to pan true, it would mean that those lands mentioned either used to be Fodlan or are currently under the ocean around Fodlan. This book was clearly written by Slitherers who were probably hiding out in Abyss at the time, but I don’t think it’s propaganda per say. If it was, why use a bunch of old names that no one would understand?
Anyway, having established that this book is about the origins of Fodlan, it has some pretty interesting implications. 1. Sothis was originally resurrected - who was she before? 2. Who were the old gods, other dragons? 3. Why did Sothis go all Old Testament? 4. It gives us an actual motivation for the Slitherers to hate the church and 5. Humanity existed before Sothis came about (or at least, was resurrected). I also wonder if this perhaps has implications for connecting 3H to the rest of the series.
Anyway, maybe the true villain isn’t Rhea or Edelgard, but Sothis for committing genocide which pushed the mole people to seek revenge over generations.
EDIT: Duchess of Strasbourg on the r/FireEmblem discord made some interesting notes about the etymology of some of the names:
Septen: Septentrional means "of the north", also used for stars of the Big Dipper
Thinis: Capital of the first Egyptian Dynasties
Malum: Latin for "bad"
Llium: Could be Illium/Ilion, the old name for the City of Troy i.e. the Trojans
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Wait a minute....if Sothis was resurrected and is similar in appearance to Tiki, that could mean that she's either Naga incarnate or Naga had another child who was casted away. This is just a theory, I'm just shooting in the dark.
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Didn’t they say that Sothis had to stop the argathans who had abused her gifts and then she slept to heal the world and nemesis killed her at some point here.
Iirc it was her own people, the Nabateans, who she warred against because they abused her gifts. Then when she went to sleep, the Agarthans took advantage of that and hatched their plot to kill Sothis.
I think the timeline must go something like this:
Agarthans live on the old lands, worshipping their gods.
Sothis is resurrected (by who?) and goes all Old Testament on the world (for an undisclosed reason?), Agarthans hide underground creating Abyss and swearing to take revenge against Sothis.
After the flooding recedes Sothis creates a new race of people to populate Fodlan, the Nabateans. Eventually they and/or the native humans start abusing Sothis’ gifts and go to war. More conjecture here, but I reckon the Agarthan’s probably manipulated certain actors etc in order to start the war, rather than actually participating themselves.
Sothis ends the war between the Nabateans but is greatly weakened. The Agarthans, who have been pulling the strings this whole time, take the chance to kill the regenerating Sothis by manipulating Nemesis and other humans.
And then the rest we’re all familiar with. Most of this is based off of a suspicion that Sothis didn’t actually create the Agarthans, unlike what some of the church material would suggest.
EDIT: I’m uncertain about this and it could be the case the flooding was part of the war. It’s incredibly hard to deduce the truth when everyone has their own version of history.
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We don't know who wrote this, when was this written, or how much primary source they have to begin with since it's called "romance" (like Romance of Three Kingdom, which takes extremely biased side of historical events), it could just be Agarthan mythology from a few thousand years of oral traditions.
Of course Agarthan mythology was going to blame the other side starting the war, yet all the Agarthan we know are manipulative people that use misinformation and deceptions, making their claim questionable at the best. It also oversimplify the cause of the war, simply claimed "human spilled too much blood." What does this even mean? Who's blood was spilled?
I think the key to solve the truth is if Byleth could fully recover Sothis' memory one day, if IniSys would continue expend Three Houses universe.
Rhea implied this is possible but without elaborating it. In the game we indeed see part of Sothis' memory in the opening cutscene (which was completely flashback from her memory fragments), and again in Red Canyon when Byleth picked up more memory from Sothis' life (but only in text form), then we never really revisit this topic.
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What I got from this along with the stuff we learn by Rhea is the following.
Sothis descends upon the world afar from Foldan from the sky (the star Sirius is my prediction as it is mentioned a lot). From her blood she creates her children and they share their powers with Humans advancing civilisation. Then she could possibly have gone to a sleep and during that time her children with the humans went to war over the abuse of her powers. So she awakens and starts flooding the world saving her children and during that time humans make what would evolve into the javelins of light, the pillars of light however they further damaged the world and she didn't die. Then she finally did flood the world killing all humans except those that hid in Shambala who sought revenge against her and her children. Then she restored balance to the world and created new humans (I think, please correct me if I am wrong) and fell into a deep slumber to restore her powers in the holy tomb and nearby, her original Dragon-like children built Nabatea and the story we know and love about Nemesis continues.
Whatever the case, I like that they gave Sothis some more spotlight even if it was this way. If the DLC had gone the Torna route and was about the War of Heroes then perhaps we would have learnt way more.
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What I got from this along with the stuff we learn by Rhea is the following.
Sothis descends upon the world afar from Foldan from the sky (the star Sirius is my prediction as it is mentioned a lot). From her blood she creates her children and they share their powers with Humans advancing civilisation. Then she could possibly have gone to a sleep and during that time her children with the humans went to war over the abuse of her powers. So she awakens and starts flooding the world saving her children and during that time humans make what would evolve into the javelins of light, the pillars of light however they further damaged the world and she didn't die. Then she finally did flood the world killing all humans except those that hid in Shambala who sought revenge against her and her children. Then she restored balance to the world and created new humans (I think, please correct me if I am wrong) and fell into a deep slumber to restore her powers in the holy tomb and nearby, her original Dragon-like children built Nabatea and the story we know and love about Nemesis continues.
Whatever the case, I like that they gave Sothis some more spotlight even if it was this way. If the DLC had gone the Torna route and was about the War of Heroes then perhaps we would have learnt way more.
I think this is pretty much correct. Adding in a couple things, I think the advanced civilisation created was known as Agartha. Thinis, Malum, Septen and Llium must have been Agarthan names for places in Fodlan.
We assume she went to war because the Agarthan’s abused their powers, but important to note that that is a church narrative. Could it be that instead, they started their own belief system as Sothis slept, worshipping different God’s, which is what made Sothis declare war? That would fit what is said in the Perdition book.
Now, thinking about the geography of Fodlan, a flood actually makes a lot of sense. If the Nabateans used Garreg Mach as a home base, it could survive a flood that takes the rest of Fodlan because it’s atop a mountain. The few surviving Agarthans also made a Homebase in those mountains to survive the flood - Abyss, and then presumably they move to Shambala later on.
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If what is said in this book is true, that completely changes what I thought I knew about this game and those you slither in the dark. This actually makes their motivations makes sense
if true, then maybe it is for the past if Sothis never recovers her memory, she could become a monster that would flood the world and commit mass genocide. Surely Rhea wouldn't intend for this will write with resurrecting her mother? But there is a chance of her being the person who resurrected Sothis in this text, which reveals a far more sinister nature than I knew. Strange, Sothis really doesn't come across as evil. Is that just because she doesn't have her memories?
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If what is said in this book is true, that completely changes what I thought I knew about this game and those you slither in the dark. This actually makes their motivations makes sense
if true, then maybe it is for the past if Sothis never recovers her memory, she could become a monster that would flood the world and commit mass genocide. Surely Rhea wouldn't intend for this will write with resurrecting her mother? But there is a chance of her being the person who resurrected Sothis in this text, which reveals a far more sinister nature than I knew. Strange, Sothis really doesn't come across as evil. Is that just because she doesn't have her memories?
The problem is Sothis nearly the fusion and after it seems to recover some, if not most of her memory (how much she shared with Byleth is up to debate, but she does address Byleth as part of herself in the end of the quote)
Yet her request to you is actually stop human from fighting and dying, which doesn't sound to me like a human hating goddess
Quote
You… How long do you intend to sleep? Your body is awake. Your eyes must open now, and you must find the strength to stand upon those legs of yours. Like so much rain, a pool of blood has fallen to the ground… As spears and arrows pierce the earth, it weeps. And even now…it weeps. In order to survive, they kill. And so, the people of this world are lost in an abyss of suffering. They weep as well. The only one who truly knows the nature of such things is I… Or rather, you.
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Maybe the Agarthians actually believed that they were innocent and Sothis was destroying them because of lulz. But as we have two contradicting versions of history, one from a source that is known for their lies and deception and one who seems not to be.... I bet my money that Sothis version is the correct one. After all in three Houses she never seem really to care if people worship her or not, so i find it hard to believe that that would be a reason to go angry goddess..... but slaugthering her children to (e.g.) harnest their magical power .... that is another story .....
But I am pretty sure that they left such kind of books laying around in the imperial palace for a certain someone to find ....
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Maybe the Agarthians actually believed that they were innocent and Sothis was destroying them because of lulz. But as we have two contradicting versions of history, one from a source that is known for their lies and deception and one who seems not to be.... I bet my money that Sothis version is the correct one. After all in three Houses she never seem really to care if people worship her or not, so i find it hard to believe that that would be a reason to go angry goddess..... but slaugthering her children to (e.g.) harnest their magical power .... that is another story .....
But I am pretty sure that they left such kind of books laying around in the imperial palace for a certain someone to find ....
Given that one of those sources is the church, who literally created a false history of the war 1000 years ago...I'm betting neither is true.
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Given that one of those sources is the church, who literally created a false history of the war 1000 years ago...I'm betting neither is true.
I was just going to say that, both factions actually have a history of lies and deceit
That being said, it is totally possible that Edelgard could have been fed a false version of events in order for Thales to propagate his war. I do also believe that those who slither in the dark has been deliberately spreading unrest in order to raise and the church sentiment. This is just a theory, but it is also why I think he assassinated King Lambert as his reforms would have actually fixed some of Fodlan's problems and would have undermined the need for the war, and that would be the last thing Thales wanted. Edelgard might have been manipulated into starting the war while believing it was her own idea. I don't think anyone has been more of a victim of Thales schemes than Edelgard
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Honestly the church edelgard and those who slitter in the dark all have a false history Rhea by her own admission was virtually a child when Nemesis killed her race so how could she really know everything edelgard is using a history told from emperors from the beginning of their empire for all we know Rhea never told them the truth behind why they were fighting nemesis and they also could have been influenced by those who slitter in the dark but The most important thing is that the empire and the church don't get along with each other they blame them for the kingdom and alliance so there's a good chance that one emperor just decided to change everything to spite them one day and those who slither in the dark the only thing we have for confirmation with them is nemesis was bandit
The only person alive who should know everything that's happened is Seteth realistically
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The only person alive who should know everything that's happened is Seteth realistically
Actually, Byleth themselves is the real answer. They are the only one that could inherit Sothis’ memory, the opening cutscene was a recall from her memory.
In fact both Red Canyon levels discussed about her lost memories, plus some between level dialogues, but they then dropped this sub arc and her memory was never mentioned again like everything else about Sothis. | {
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Tag Archives: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
After some time, finally here we are witha new interesting publication!
We will present you the story of Mrs. Franca Pettinari, who has been interviewed in 2013 by Father Emidio Alessandrini. This new video-interview has been entitled “Forebodings” (for a direct access,click here). Franca will tell us what happened to her just before and after the First Communion of her second-born child, Massimo. First she started having a very bad foreboding, then she had a “vivid” dream of her grandma Ottavia, who had passed away some years before… Well, what happened? We don’t want to anticipate anything more…
Don’t miss our video and you will find out all the details of this intriguing story.
We will present you a new and intriguing story of Mrs. Concettina Iezzi – you have already seen her in “The invisible hand” -, and Father Emidio Alessandrini has interviewed her.
This new video-interview has been entitled “Run away right now…” (for a direct access,click here). Concettina will tell us what happened to her when she was 10 or 11 years old and lived in Naples. The World War II was still going on and one day in December, while she was queuing at the Post Office in order to get a letter for her cousin, she clearly heard a voice that told her to immediately run away. So Concettina started running away and once she got around 50 meters far from there, she saw…
Well, to know how the story of Concettina ends, don’t miss watching our videoand don’t forget to post a comment. Moreover, let us know similar stories, in case you have any…
This time, we will present you an interesting video-interview of Father Emidio Alessandrini to Mrs. Maria Cristina Venanzoni: “Communicating before the Internet” (for a direct access to the new page, clickHERE).
Maria Cristina will tell us about an “unusual dream” she had, where she met the mother of a dear friend, who had cancer. The lady in the dream was in good health and started telling her about all the concerns she had. But what did Maria Cristina come to know when she managed to phone her friend? You will find out by watching our video…
We will present you an interesting video-interview, and we are pretty sure you will consider it intriguing: “With my slippers” (for a direct access to the new page, clickHERE). The video-interview will deal with an “unusual” dream, and this will be the first of a series of stories told by Mrs. Carolina Fabiano.
Some years ago, Carolina dreamed of her grandmother Maria, who had passed away some years before. Her grandma invited her to give a message to her father, her son, in order to convince him not to blaspheme anymore. Finally, her grandma said her time was over and had to go away. Before leaving, Maria told her something Carolina thought to be quite extravagant even for a dream.
What happened the following day when Carolina met with her father and told him that dream? Was his father convinced that Carolina had really met her grandma’s soul? You will find it out watching our video…
First of all, we would like to apologize for the delay in publishing this our new contribution, but your patience will be appropriately rewarded!…
Well, what are we going to present this time?
We will provide you with a new video-interview and are pretty sure you will find all this very interesting: “Santa ‘Ddora Cacate and popular magic in Mentana” (for a direct access to the new page, clickHERE). It will be not only the story of an unusual dream, but also a wide-range survey on popular magic, that is indeed found not so far from the places where we use to live. Furthermore, for this video-interview we have decided to use an editing technique that will offer you scenes with increasing rhythms, able to intrigue you even more than usual…
This will also be the first video-interview of Mrs. Valentina Raffaelli we will publish since she passed away (last November), after a quite short period of illness. After a long life (she was almost 93) and fruitful years (2 children, 3 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren), Valentina returned to that Heavenly Home she has always been looking at with great hope and perseverance till the end, especially during all the numerous challenges she had to go through in her life. We like to remember her just like she will show herself in this video-interview, that is strong and proud in her convictions, but – under an apparent rough behavior – also rich in longanimity towards others, family members or otherwise. Which memory, more than any other, will we have of her, something that indeed emerges from all her video-interviews – already published or not yet – regarding all those “anomalous events” she went through during her life? We would like to remember her for her immense curiosity for the unusual, miraculous, supernatural facts, of which she was never satisfied enough, and that has definitely contributed to our today interest for research in this borderline area, which, unfortunately, continues to be considered “terra incognita”. Now, dear Valentina, you can fully enjoy the overwhelming “spiritual dimension” that during your life, despite the undoubted abundance of unusual events that have happened to you, you could just have a glimpse of thanks to those cracks which, every now and then, open on the veil that separates our dimension of existence from that awaiting all of us.
Here we are with a new publication, and we are sure you will find it very interesting!…
What will we deal with this time? Well, we will try to answer the following question: “Is it possible, even if only in certain circumstances, to see the Soul of someone who is near us?”
To answer this question, we would like to let you listen to the words of Father Emidio Alessandrini, a Franciscan friar who, during his long religious experience, has witnessed many unusual events. Following his video-interview you will be able to hear, directly from him, the story of some “anomalous” events. To his astonishment and sometimes even disappointment, rather than seeing the usual faces of his interlocutors, he saw monstrous and decaying faces, a sort of tangible manifestations, perhaps, of the condition of their Souls. To his great joy, in some circumstances, however, the faces that showed up before his eyes were filled by such a beauty to convince him that, somehow, Paradise had already been glimpsed.
Are you curious to know something more? Then, go directly to our new page by clickingHERE.
Well, today we would like to present you again our story “I will love you even beyond death”, that was published during last Easter…
Do you remember the wonderful love story that was recounted by Mrs. Raffaella Raffaelli? Through her words we were taken back in time to eight years ago, just a few months after the death of Carlo, her husband. We are sure that some of Mrs. Raffaella’s words are still in your souls, but maybe it is better to briefly mention what happened to her…
One morning, Raffaella was on the phone talking to her sister, who had called her for comforting her since her recent loss and being November 2 (the Day of the Dead). Her granddaughter – just three years old – was at Raffaella’s home that day and was playing in another room. Suddenly the little girl showed up, bringing a folded note and started nagging at her, insisting she took the note. Once opened, Raffaella noticed there was something hand-written on the note, and it was in Latin: “TE DILIGERE NON INTERMITTAM” (I will not cease to love you). She had no doubt that it was her beloved Carlo’s hand-writing…
Today, we are dealing with this story again (a story with an intense message of hope, which should not leave us indifferent) because we would like to finally show you some pictures of that note, which Mrs. Raffaella, from that day on, carefully kept together with a photo of her husband.
If you like to see further photographs of the note but also – why not? – if you are willing to watch again Mrs. Raffaella’s video-interview, you can click here for directly accessing the page “I will love you even beyond death”.
Here we are with the publication of a new video at the following path: “Boundaries” > “Time had gone… forever…”!
After letting you wait for some time, we thought that it was the right moment to publish a new interview of Father Emidio Alessandrini. The Father, a Franciscan Friar Minor, will tell us a “special” dream he had around 15 years ago. It was certainly one of those dreams that C. Jung calls “big dreams”, and Father Emidio is sure about it. In fact, even after all these years, he doesn’t hesitate to consider it as one of his life’s milestones.
But what dream are we referring to? Well, we can just anticipate that this dream was about the Afterlife…
To directly access the new page with the interview, you can click on the following link: “Time had gone… forever…”.
We have decidedto release our new video-interview during Easter season because we want to tell you a beautiful love story. Well, what is it about? In the section “A bridge to the Afterlife”, you will find the new page “I will love even beyond death” (for direct access, click here).
You will be able to watch the first story of Mrs. Raffaella Raffaelli, who has taught religion for a short period of her life. Her recount will bring us back to about seven and a half years ago, only two months after the death of her husband Carlo. Raffaella will tell us what happened to her one morning, when her granddaughter, who was only three years old and was playing in her room, suddenly showed up, bringing her a note with a sentence in Latin, handwritten: “TE DILIGERE NON INTERMITTAM”(I will not cease to love you)…
Don’t miss this short video, which has the undoubted value of being able to carry you far beyond the words used… Death is not the end of everything, and love will always have the last word!…
Don’t forget to post a comment and let us know your similar stories, if you have any.
Here we are with our first publication of the new year! Some days have passed since our previous release at the end of 2014 but we believe that, once you have seen what we have decided to publish for you, you will deem it to be worth. Well, what is it? Following the path“Windows unto the future” > “Revealing deceased” you will find the new page “Final greetings” (for direct access, click here).
Here you can find the second story of Mrs. Giovanna Alessandrini, teacher now retired and very skilled painter, that will bring us back to about ten years ago, when our protagonist used to assist an elderly lady, more than eighty years old, blind, very sick and forced on a wheelchair.
Do not miss the opportunity to follow this short story, that is really so meaningful and deeply comforting, even for those who are possibly in a period of profound personal or family suffering… Death is not the end! Love always has the last word!…
Post a comment and tell us, if you have any, similar stories, it will be a favor that you will do to all. | {
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Institute for War and Peace Reporting | Giving Voice, Driving Change
Dagestan Mourns National Poet
Rasul Gamzatov was the best known figure from Dagestan in Soviet times.
ByNina Agayeva
Another era has ended in Dagestan, with the death of its national poet and most famous son Rasul Gamzatov at the age of 80.
For many in Dagestan, the death of Gamzatov - who was buried on the slope of Mount Tarki-Tau in Makhchkala on November 4 - is an important milestone as he represented a certain kind of Dagestani who was loyal to the communist system, but was also modern and internationally-minded.
"When Gamzatov died, it felt like the entire 20th century died with him, but there is no void - it's full of his poetry," said Skandarbek Tulparov, director of the Russian Drama Theatre.
Makhachkala resident Patimat Magomedova, a professor at the environmental Biology Centre, told IWPR that the poet had given Dagestanis an instantly recognisable identity during Soviet times.
"When my husband and I met people during our seaside vacations [in the Soviet era], we found it hard to explain where we were from," she explained. "But as soon as we mentioned Gamzatov, our friends would immediately liven up, and quote some of his poetry."
Gamzatov, the son of a well-known folk poet, Gamzat Tsadasy, came from the mountain village of Tsada. He started writing poetry at the age of ten and his first Avar-language book of poetry was published in 1943, with his first Russian-language collection being issued four years later.
He headed the Dagestani Writers' Union for more than half a decade, having published numerous books of poetry, prose and essays including "My Heart's in the Mountains", "Lofty Stars", "My Dagestan" and many others.
For younger Dagestanis Gamzatov was a more remote figure, a poet laureate constantly caught up in one celebration or commemoration and another. Fazir Jaferov, 33, who heads the Verba youth creative writing club at the Dagestani Writers' Union, told IWPR, "Gamzatov lived in an epoch with a cast-iron system of values and coordinates. The nation needed him, and Soviet authorities highly appreciated [loyal] writers. We have it harder; we are on our own, and our poets are at a loss."
To a great extent, Gamzatov owed his international fame to his skilful creation of his own image. Although a graduate of the Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow, he never became fully fluent in Russian. "Not that he ever really tried. The Communist authorities only needed him as long as he was a celebrated mountain poet from the ethnic outskirts of the Soviet empire," said one writer who knew Gamzatov well.
In that capacity, Gamzatov travelled the world at a time when Soviet citizens were rarely allowed abroad. He gave Dagestani felt cloaks to Fidel Castro and Yassir Arafat, and every Dagestani loved him for it, as did the Soviet rulers. When asked why he wouldn't emigrate, Gamzatov said, "What am I going to do abroad with my Avar-language poems?"
When liberalisation began in the Soviet Union, Gamzatov was cautious about it, keeping a portrait of Lenin in a prominent place in his house. Five years ago, he said in an interview, "Dagestan needed the [1917] revolution... It gave minorities everything, it revived them."
Later he commented, "We were better off under the communists. People still vote for them, because they want order back."
However, Gamzatov was often accused of not helping those writers who were persecuted by the Soviet regime.
"I regret the fact that I let myself be misled," he once said. "I made hasty judgments about things I knew nothing about. I was 23 in 1947, and I did speak at the meeting denouncing [dissident writers Anna] Akhmatova and [Mikhail] Zoshchenko. My father asked me if I had read them. I said no."
Both the Soviet and Russian authorities were lavish in their awards for Gamzatov. For his recent 80th birthday celebrations, Gamzatov was flown out to Sochi on the Black Sea coast, where President Vladimir Putin awarded him an Order of St. Andrew the First-Called for "outstanding contribution to national literature and active public life".
Gamzatov himself said, "I told [Putin] that I had the impression that religion has merged with the state, while literature and culture are divorced from it."
Dagestani people wonder if all the fuss actually helped kill their national poet. "He was an old man. It must have been too much for him," said one local.
According to an unofficial source, Gamzatov's anniversary cost the government one million dollars, but the focus of the celebrations did not look well during the festivities. However, he went to Sochi, listened to the endless congratulatory speeches of government officials, and went to his home village high in the mountains for yet more events.
Despite its proverbial hospitality, Dagestan is a very closed society and locals never write about the private life of public figures. So the private face of Gamzatov still remains a mystery to most.
"I wanted to write about Gamzatov the way he really was," Felix Bakhshiev, a well-known Dagestani writer and journalist told IWPR.
"I was planning to see him again after his anniversary celebrations, and ask him what he thought about all this fanfare. Now I'm not going to write anything. Were he alive, he would read my stuff and tell me if it was okay to publish, but now I'm afraid I might offend his family."
A memorial named "White Cranes" is to be erected next to the poet's grave to commemorate one of his best-known poems that became a song about Second World War soldiers who never returned from the battlefield.
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IWPR gives voice to people at the frontlines of conflict and transition to help them drive change
IWPR supports local reporters, citizen journalists and civil society activists in three dozen countries in conflict, crisis and transition around the world. We contribute to peace and good governance by strengthening the ability of media and civil society to speak out. We do this by training, mentoring and providing platforms for professional and citizen reporters; building up the institutional capacity of media and civic groups; and working with independent and official partners to remove barriers to free expression, robust public debate and citizen engagement. | {
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Are Independent Mac Software Developers getting the shaft?
I enjoyed MacHeist. I thought it was a fun “game”, and enjoyed trying (usually in vain) to figure the Heists out on my own. One of the things that I enjoyed the most about it was how supportive of the independent Mac development community it was. If it’s one thing we like here at Apple Gazette, it’s indy developers (just look at how many Software Spotlights we run). However, after reading this post on Daring Fireball this morning, I can’t help but question if MacHeist is really helping the indy dev community, or hurting it. First, let me be clear, that John Gruber’s post does assume a few things (for example the cut that some of the top tier developers are getting)…but those things would be in FAVOR of the developers not against them. If the information in his post IS true…then MacHeist may not be the champion of indy developers they claim to be…if these numbers are true, it seems to be more like exploitation.
From the article:
Respectable agents or managers take no more than a 15 percent cut of their clients’ revenue, and usually not more than 10 percent. That’s true in sports, it’s true for authors, and it’s true for entertainers. MacHeist’s role isn’t that of an agent or manager; the closest traditional description I can think of is that of a promoter. But the basic analogy holds, in that they’re ostensibly looking after the interests of “the talentâ€; a 10-15 percent cut of the profits sounds about right to me — which in the case of MacHeist’s 8-10 member ensemble of developers would make MacHeist’s fair share roughly equivalent to that of one of the developers.
But those numbers are based on the sales numbers at this writing, two days into a weeklong promotion. MacHeist is on pace to take a far larger share of the actual profits than the average developer in their bundle. Consider the distribution of profits when and if sales meet the levels for unlocking NewsFire and TextMate:
(To compute this table, I estimated that David Watanabe (NewsFire) and Allan Odgaard would be getting the same “more equal†$12,500 payment that I believe Delicious Monster is getting. I have no information to back this guess up; if I had to wager I’d bet they’re making less, but it seems more fair to guess high than low. I also treated John Casasanta as a regular developer.)
What this table makes clear is that because these payments are for a flat fee, as sales goes up, additional profits all go to the MacHeist organizers. If sales reach the level to unlock TextMate, MacHeist will keep more than 70 percent of the total profit, and the average individual developer will get less than 3 percent. I repeat: 70 percent of the profit would go to the MacHeist team — almost 25 times more money than the average profit of a developer in the bundle, and more than double the profit of all 10 developers combined.
Consider this: How much worse for one of these developers would it be for you to pirate a copy of their app than to obtain a legitimate license through this bundle? They don’t get any extra money either way, because they’re getting the same flat payment from MacHeist whether you buy the bundle or not. And if you do buy the bundle, they’re on the hook for providing you with technical support.
I hope that we hear from the MacHeist team about this in the near future.
Comments
Our firm is accepting bids for a custom software package. Project: 64-bit, Animated user interface, written in Objective-C 2.0 in Cocoa with detailed documenting throughout program.
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Our firm is accepting bids for a custom software package. Project: 64-bit, Animated user interface, written in Objective-C 2.0 in Cocoa with detailed documenting throughout program.
We will market and sale project. Currently there is no mac software available servicing our intended market.
That being said, a non-disclosure and no-compete agreement is required before detailed information of project is given.
We are interested in a fixed price bid. Our project is well-defined with detailed specifications. However, communication with several other companies to integrate project with other companies and transfer data both ways via the internet is required.
Project must integrate with iChat, iCal, Mail 3, address book, office 2008 and Quick books to name a few.
If you are interested great, if not and you know of someone that would be please forward.
[…] Well – turns out he was fake. A creation of the guys behind MacHeist, the online game (contest, activity…whatever you want to call it) that caused a bit of controversy last year as well. After the game was over, and numbers started coming out about it, it looked, to some, like Mac Heist may not have been terribly fair or helpful to the indy developers who gave serious (and sometimes ridiculous) discounts on their software. You can read more about that here. […] | {
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I've read a few negative reviews, but I think they must be from different companies, possibly in different states? This Crystal spring is in Santa Cruz, CA and my girlfriend and I live just a few cities to the South. We get water delivered weekly, they are always prompt with their deliveries, and the drivers have always been very nice! Also, the water tastes great! I can't drink tap water, or even bottled water from the store anymore! | {
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do you often get the feeling that things make little sense in your life? like events do not logically follow one another? this KEEPS happening to me. i keep finding myself thinking, what sense does that make? i keep wanting to know why he or she will say/do something. very confusing. like why would you do so many things contrary to what you say? i know i'm being very vague, but it's another one of those things where i dont want to go into a great deal of detail. but i'm wondering if you can relate on the most simplistic of levels?
ANNOUNCEMENT: antithesis will be attending Nordstrom's Cosmetic Trend Show tomorrow morning at Pentagon City. This make-up newbie is SUPER excited. i'll try to remember to take lots of pics (not of me because i am certain to look a hot ass mess having to wake up at like 6 am on a saturday).
5
thought(s):
To keep the vague theme going: trying to make sense of things that don't make sense is senseless. When someone does a lot of things contrary to what they say they're going to do, instead of trying to figure out WHY, just accept that that person is a liar (or truth-challenged, whatever you prefer) and don't expect truth to flow from them.
People often do things that we just cant make sense of so like T mentioned, don't dwell on it just move on. If the actions of some people don't seem to match up with their words keep that in mind for future reference just protect yourself. We just can't explain the actions of others.Ummmm yayayayayay to you going to the Nordstroms Cosmetic Show. I can't wait to see your pics.PJD | {
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Description
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Terms & Conditions
The images represent actual product though color of the image and product may slightly differ. | {
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Welcome to What's Best Forum! Please consider joining our friendly and helpful community of enthusiasts where we discuss the best in audio and video to everything else we love from food to movies and music. We are proud of the professional conduct of our membership and strict moderation of the same, combined with high level of technical content shared by our members. If you want to learn and have fun doing it, or share what you know about our favorite hobbies without fear of antagonism, WBF forum is for you.
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NASA finds ingredients for life spewing out of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus
The geysers of Saturn's moon Enceladus are gushing up food for life, scientists say. Researchers report Thursday in the journal Science that the jets of ice and gas gushing from the moon's south pole contain molecular hydrogen, a chemical characteristic of hydrothermal activity. On Earth, hydrogen provides fuel for communities of organisms that live around vents on the seafloor. Its presence on Saturn's icy moon suggests that this alien world, which harbors a saltwater ocean encased in a frozen crust, has the right conditions to give rise to microbial life. “For a microbiologist thinking about energy for microbes, hydrogen is like the gold coin of energy currency,” said Peter Girguis, a deep sea biologist at Harvard University who was not involved in the research. “If you had to have one thing, one chemical compound, coming out of a vent that would lead you to think there’s energy to support microbial life, hydrogen is at the top of that list.”
“It makes the Enceladus ocean seem a heck of a lot more habitable than we were thinking yesterday,” agreed Ariel Anbar, an astrobiologist at Arizona State University. “And wouldn’t we like to know, is there life living there?”
Everything scientists know about biology on Earth suggests that life is irrepressible. It thrives in clouds, in caves, in lakes of meltwater buried half a mile beneath the ice sheets of Antarctica, in boiling water plumes that gush from the ocean's deepest, darkest depths. Almost no environment is too extreme, as long as water, organic molecules and a bit of energy are available for organisms to exploit. Enceladus (pronounced “en-SELL-a-dis”) provides all three. It's looking more and more like the most habitable spot in our solar system beyond Earth, and scientists' best target yet in the search for alien organisms. And it might not be alone. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that plumes much like those on Enceladus are also spewing from Jupiter's moon Europa, NASA announced today. Like Enceladus, Europa harbors a subsurface saltwater ocean and could contain organic molecules. NASA hopes that Europa's geysers are likewise connected to the moon's watery interior. In the coming decade, the space agency will send a probe called the Europa Clipper to seek signs of life on Jupiter's moon by flying through those plumes.
In the press conference, they also said they'd put their money on Europa rather than Enceladus | {
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Join Olive Tree Genealogy on Facebook! An interactive site where visitors can ask questions, join in discussions or start a topic of interest. Get daily feeds of Blog Posts, articles and discussions. Videos, photos, etc are allowed.
New Netherland & New York Genealogy
* Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef - A genealogy to five generations...
* The Van Slyke Family in America: A Genealogy of Cornelise Antonissen Van Slyke...
* The Barheit Family Revealed: A Genealogy of Hans Coenradt and Barenjte Jans Straetsman...
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VAN SLYKE BIBLE 1729 in NEW YORK
The following pictures are from the Van Slyke Bible that was recently auctioned off on e-Bay. The successful bidder phoned me and after a lengthy chat, he drove up from the States to visit me here in Northern Ontario. What a great time we had! Of course he brought the Bible with him and we eagerly went through it page by page. Beautiful engravings (100 or more) fill its pages, and you can easily imagine how impressive it must have been for the Van Slyke family to gather around.
The publication date of the Bible is 1729, but the first genealogical entry that remains is dated 1794 and written by Adrian C. Van Slyke. Adrian's baptism record is found in Schenectady Reformed Dutch Church on February 07, 1779. He was 15 years old in 1793 and his handwriting (as you can see from the photos) is beautiful. He went on to become a lawyer, and we suspect that his father asked him to sit down and record the family events on the day the Bible was purchased.
Adrian's parents were Cornelis Van Slyke and Elizabeth Yates, and the Bible entries on one page start with the birth of Cornelis in 1744 and his marriage to Elizabeth.
But first let's take a look at the Bible itself. It weighs 19 pounds, and measures 18 inches by 10 1/2 inches, being 5 1/2 inches in depth. Ornamental brass fittings are seen in each corner and a close inspection reveals where two clasps held the front and back covers together. These were most likely brass to match the cover corners. | {
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Awesome Wallpapers HD Photos Superman
Description: Awesome Wallpapers HD Photos Superman from the above 2400x1500 resolutions which is part of the 4K Wallpaper directory. Download this image for free in HD resolution the choice "download button" below. If you do not find the exact resolution you are looking for, then go for a native or higher resolution. | {
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What are some of the most pressing tech policy issues for 2017 in New York State/City and how will that impact consumers, startups, corporations and employment?
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A special workshop on technology innovation policies and legislation in Trump’s first year as President. Using current events and expert insight as a guide, Scott Schwaitzberg provided an overview of the most pressing legislative issues in emerging technology and highlight the issues technology companies and the Trump administration will most likely focus on in 2017.
President Elect Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. How will his agenda, the first year he is in office, impact Silicon Valley and technology innovation in the country for the next year and what do we, as citizens, entrepreneurs, and consumers, need to know in order to participate in shaping technology innovation policy that will impact us for years to come?
Who is
Scott Schwaitzberg
Managing Director, Tusk Ventures
by
Scott (@sjttocs) additionally manages the efforts of the Tusk Montgomery Philanthropies to provide sophisticated political counsel and expertise to hunger advocacy groups and food banks in cities and states across the country to better leverage government benefits and funding on issues like school breakfasts, food stamp enrollment and other issues that impact hunger and food insecurity.
Scott sits on the board of The NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education (CSNYC).
Scott was previously the first public member of the San Francisco Committee on Information Technology, the governance and oversight body for technology decisions for the City and County of San Francisco.
Scott is currently focused on cryptocurrency, telehealth, transportation, and other emerging sectors.
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Learn how legislation drives (and sometimes inhibits) technology innovation and how government, technology companies, and lobbyists enact policy change. Gain an understanding of how Trump’s administration can drastically change the direction of our economy (for better or for worse) based on his stance on current technology innovation issues. Find out how you can participate in technology policy discussions (ie, New York Is Having Serious Discussions About Driverless Cars). | {
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San Diego A key San Diego panel approved incentive packages this week that would allow local breweries Ballast Point and Alesmith to move into much larger production facilities and add new amenities.
The deals, which were approved by the City Council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, would make San Diego home to three of the eight largest brewing plants in the state.
Members of the committee said the expansions would bolster San Diego’s reputation as the craft beer capital of California.
Approval from the City Council later this year is still needed for both of the deals, which would reimburse the breweries for about $150,000 each in development fees.
City officials estimated it would take about three years for full reimbursement, but said the timing could vary because it would be based on how much property and sales tax revenue the breweries generate.
Members of the committee said the incentive packages were warranted because breweries create local jobs and boost tourism, and because the companies plan to expand into large empty buildings in Mira Mesa that have been in danger of becoming blight.
In addition, they said the incentives would keep both breweries from relocating outside the city limits or possibly even outside the region.
“Craft beer represents a growth industry — very successful small and medium-sized companies that are providing good, well-paying jobs,” Councilman Mark Kersey said. “We need to be looking for other niche industries like this and supporting them with similar agreements.”
The deals aren’t financially risky for the city because the breweries don’t get reimbursed unless they generate tax revenue.
City officials said such deals could become the new model for economic incentives, suggesting they would serve a similar function to redevelopment revenue, which the state eliminated two years ago.
Each brewery is estimated to produce about $50,000 per year in total tax revenue for the city after the reminbursements are complete.
Ballast Point, now located in Scripps Ranch, would expand in size from 23,000 to 125,000 square feet, add a full-service restaurant, an outdoor patio, a tasting room and a gift shop.
Alesmith, which would relocate within Mira Mesa, would expand from 20,000 to 106,000 square feet, add two tasting rooms and a cheese production facility.
Ballast Point would have the largest beer production facility in the county and the sixth largest in the state, and Alesmith would be No. 8 in California. Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, the largest facility in the county at 110,000 square feet, would rank second in the county and seventh in the state after the expansions.
San Diego has 22 breweries and 19 brew pubs with three other breweries under construction — the most of any city in the state.
A recent study by National University said the industry has a $300 million annual economic impact on the region, including increased tourism. | {
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Is NATO a busted flush?
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Rory Stewart is no soft-touch. When he was elected chairman of the Defence Select Committee, it was thought that he would hold the government and NATO’s feet to the fire. And so it has come to pass. The committee has published an alarming report on NATO’s unpreparedness to meet a threat from Russia. It says, in terms, that the risk of Russia attacking a NATO member, either conventionally or asymmetrically, is ‘small’ but ‘significant’. NATO has inadequate rapid reaction forces, cyber defence and strategic plans to counter this risk. The report also makes a telling political point: the public might no longer support NATO’s defining principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
Stewart’s analysis is underpinned by general observations, some of which he described on the Today programme earlier this morning. He said that NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan, and a decade of instability in the Middle East and the Maghreb, have distracted attention from Russia. Financial insecurity has led to reduced defence investment and the diminution of ‘Russian expertise’ (a glorious euphemism for spies?). Figuratively speaking, NATO’s leaders are under-gunned and in the dark.
Recent events in Ukraine, the Crimea and Georgia, Stewart says, show that NATO’s strength urgently needs to be ‘recalibrated’ to ‘vulnerable’ regions in eastern Europe and the Baltic states. He wants Britain to lead the way by making a commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence (a basic NATO requirement) in the next parliament. He also questioned the international development budget, which has been increased perhaps at the expense of defence. And Stewart restated an often neglected fact: Russia is a smaller economy than Britain (and much smaller next to NATO members combined), but spends considerably more on defence.
Perhaps Stewart’s sentiments will see him condemned as a ‘Cold War warrior’, ignorant of the growing ties between Europe and Russia. If so, it would be unjust because he doesn’t fit the stereotype. His objective, clearly, is to deter Vladimir Putin’s expansionist policy. This is what the so-called ‘Cold War warriors’, be they advocates of tough sanctions or sabre rattling, hope to achieve. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former secretary of state at the FCO and the MoD, told me last week that the ‘objective [of tough sanctions] is to normalise relations with Russia by forcing a change in President Putin’s foreign policy. That is the only objective.’
Michael Fallon, the current Defence Secretary, replied to Rory Stewart – and by extension other critics of the present policy – on Today a little while ago. He said that Britain was committed to spending 2 per cent in this parliament (my italics). The challenge, he said, was to convince other NATO members to follow suit. He also gave a robust defence of international development spending, arguing that it was an arm of foreign policy used, for example, in nation building. He also described Britain’s contribution to NATO’s temporary deployment in eastern Europe and the Baltic states, including the pledge to send a 1,350 strong battle group with 300 armoured vehicles and tanks to an exercise in Poland.
The aim of these very public statements about NATO manoeuvres is to deter Putin, and curb his foreign policy. Fallon and Stewart are, therefore, closer than they might appear. However, Fallon was not (at least to my ears) asked to address Stewart’s most interesting political point: that the public might not support the principle that an attack on one NATO state is an attack on all. What does the government think about that?
Give something clever this Christmas – a year’s subscription to The Spectator for just £75. And we’ll give you a free bottle of champagne. Click here. | {
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Survivor Exit Interview | Latest Player Out from David vs. Goliath – 11/26/18
Listen to the Podcast
Survivor: David vs. Goliath Exit Interview – Episode 9
Rob Cesternino is back with the tenth of our Survivor: David vs. Goliath exit interviews as Rob talks with the third member of the jury, Dan Rengering. Rob talks with Dan about his epic blindside at Tribal Council, his “bro-chacho” alliance and “showmance” with Kara, how he felt being the first ever victim of the idol nullifier, and much more.
Then, Rob Cesternino invites Jordan Kalish back to the podcast to host the THIS WEEK IN SURVIVOR HISTORY QUIZ, where Rob takes on Michael Clark from the Pilot SZN podcast. | {
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
I saw this tree with some really odd fruits on it. A lot were green but they were turning red as they ripen. Some however, were oddly spikey with only the tips of the spikes turning redish. I'm guessing they are infected with something and aren;t naturally like that. The trees are right near the corner of Rosedale Ave and Wisconsin Ave if you want to take a look at them.
It will be built as a public/private partnership with the Wu Wei Tai Chi Club and will cost from $60,000 to $70,000. The club has already raised $10,000, now that the project is approved they will raise the rest of the money.
Update 5/31I believe the spot of the court will be to the right and behind the picnic shelter in this picture, where the people are playing.
The post reports that a five story office building was purchased by Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (with a low-cost 5.25 million dollar loan from the county) and will be converted into single room housing for men and women in need of inexpensive housing. The ground floor will be leased out as retail. The building is on the corner of Woodmont Ave and Cordell Ave in downtown Bethesda, MD.
Supporters of projects such as these say that finding housing for the homeless quickly makes it easier for them to focus on finding jobs. Residents will lease month to month and as long as they meet eligibility requirements will be allowed to renew the leases indefinitely.
Not everyone is happy about this project, the post quotes Jack Alexander, a former Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce president and a partner in a Bethesda real estate brokerage firm, said a per-unit price of about $170,000 is too high. "For a 10-foot-by-12-foot room, that is just beyond comprehension," he said. Others are upset because they have been having trouble getting information about the project from the county.
I wonder how people who take the bus to Bethesda because they can't afford to live here feel about their tax dollars loaned to make really convenient housing for the soon to be former homeless.
Back in January I made a couple of posts about the bank on Cordell Ave that was demolished (see "Bank Demolition" and "A bare lot"). Well, here it is the end of May and you can see the new building starting to take shape at 4834 Cordell Ave, Bethesda, MD. The foundation is all concrete and just about done. There will be outdoor seating and potential for a roof-top deck (sounds like they are angling for restaurants, always a safe bet in Bethesda). The sign says there is office space, but the web site (unfortunately unlinkable) says that it will be two stories of retail, one opening to Cordell Ave and one on Woodmont Ave. Each will have 4,600 square feet of space. It should be ready this Fall (late fall from the looks of it).
Thursday, May 28, 2009
I was walking down Woodmont Avenue near Battery Lane in Bethesda and saw this. "Coming Very Soon, Woodmont Market" They were working on it today and the shelves and coolers are there already. It is a really small place so I don't quite know what to expect from it, time will tell. It is two doors down from Woodmont Deli at 8227-B Woodmont Ave, Bethesda, MD.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The land under the McDonalds at 4500 East-West Highway in Bethesda, MD is going to be replaced with 223,300 square feet of new office and retail development. There will be ground floor retail, a public plaza, and a bike path to the Georgetown Branch Trail. DCmud has a detailed post with lots more info and sketches.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Rockville, MD is pulling out all the stops this weekend, it is their annual "Hometown Holidays" celebration. Three days of events culminating in the Memorial Day parade on Monday at 10:30. The bad news is you have missed the first day already. All is not lost though, the festivities continue on Sunday.
"Taste of Rockville" try food from the menus of restaurants such as Lebanese Taverna, Armands, Potomac Pizza, Rocklands BBQ, Whole Foods, Phillips Seafood, Spice Xing, Bombay Bistro, Oro Pomodoro, Vocellis, Yogiberry, Noodles & Company, Gifford's, Baci, Carmen's Italian Ice, La Tasca, and others! There is also more of the Visarts Fine Arts Festival with jewelry, paintings, photograph and more.Rides and lots of blow-up things to climb and jump on for the little kids (individual rides between $1 and $3, unlimited rides for $20). These are mostly geared at the younger kids, lots of 3 to 5 year olds on them and pretty much all the kids were under 10.There are also six stages with music, puppets and more, the going green expo, and a smattering of other events. Check out the schedule and see if anything interests you.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I've never seen a cottonwood tree before, so it never crossed my mind that they might produce cotton. Imagine my surprise when I went for a walk and saw lots of cottony fluff all over Battery Lane Park in Bethesda, MD. The stuff was everywhere, big clumps of it. And there were bits of it floating in the air. It took me a few minutes to track it down to the trees by the playground. If you have a little time over the next few days, I'd recommend that you go there and take a quick look, it is pretty interesting.
If you look close at the drifts of fluff you can see the small white seeds. I'm not positive, but I think that some of them have already sprouted.
Some cottonwood trees are female and some are male. Only the female trees have the fluff. The seed pods are way up in the top of the tree and each one produces a lot of the snow-like fluff.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rockville, MD has a bunch of neat stuff scheduled for Memorial day weekend (May 23-25), it is their annual Hometown Holidays celebration. Check out the link for full details, but some of the highlights are Taste of Rockville on Saturday and Sunday. Pat McGee and Sharon Little singing on the main stage starting at 7:30pm Saturday. The Wailers and Can't Hang on the main stage starting at 7:30pm Sunday. On Monday there is the Memorial Day Ceremony at 9:30 am followed at 10:30am with the 65th Annual Memorial Day Parade.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Every year California Tortilla does Pop Tart day. Go in to any location tomorrow (May 20th) and get a free pop-tart. Pretty random isn't it? This is the 15th year they have been doing it. Feel free to get a burrito at the same time, but that isn't free. They now have a bunch of locations, but my favorite is still the one in Bethesda, MD
Update 5/20: It is free, no purchase necessary. The line was longer than usual, but pretty clumpy, you'd see 4 or 5 people walk in together and the line would get long, then no one for a while and the line would shorten up. I added a picture too.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Montgomery county is trying to increase the number of trees on residential property. Their "Leaves for Neighborhoods" program lets you get $25 dollars off a qualifying tree you buy before May 31st if costs $75 or more, and you print out the coupon on their website, and buy from one of the participating nurseries. That's a number of restrictions, so see the website for full details.
According to them, there are environmental benefits:
Trees protect soil and help prevent erosion
Trees absorb carbon dioxide and improve local air quality
Trees filter stormwater runoff to improve local water quality in streams, rivers and tributaries
Native trees are drought-tolerant and need less water than non-native trees
Your actions result in proactive environmental stewardship
and economic benefits:
Trees can increase residential property values by as much as 15 percent
I went down to "Strut Your Mutt" in Bethesda, MD today. Man were there a lot of dogs. All sizes too, the smallest one I saw was probably 5 pounds or less and the largest was over a hundred pounds. There were lots of dog-related booths too and a number of dogs walking around with "Adopt Me" bibs on them. There was also a moon bounce and inflatable slide for the kids. It is on Woodmont Avenue between Bethesda Ave and Elm St. It runs until 3pm today, so if you have been watching this blog carefully and see this post immediately you have 45 minutes of it left, otherwise, you will have to wait until next year.
The funniest thing that I saw there was was someone walking their cat on a leash, I don't think it was one of those exotic cats either, just your normal house cat. That is one bold cat.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Most conspiracy theories have, at their base, a tiny nugget of truth in them then loads of speculation or pure fiction. Sometimes they even involve NIH, but rarely do they relate to other parts of Bethesda, MD. Earlier this week I blogged about the storm of stuff coming from the hotel construction on Waverly St. There were actually quite a few news articles about it, all seemingly sourced from the same Washington Post article that I saw.
This blog post however, takes the cake, calling it a "mysterious substance raining on Bethesda, MD" full of scary conspiracy theory stuff like "Local officials say they’ve traced the source of the material to a nearby construction site, but not everyone believes this answer." and "Chemtrail conspiracy theorists think they [NIH] could be conducting a new experiment on the people right outside their gates."
Anyway, I find it somewhat funny. Especially since I walked by there and there is quite a bit of little styrofoam balls blowing around in the breeze. When all the facts point to it coming from the construction site, I wouldn't be too hasty to dismiss the obvious answer.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Today they were putting asphalt down on a small stretch of the Georgetown Branch trail, from the entrance at Elm Street Park to just outside the tunnel (going east) in Bethesda, MD. They also have recently paved the drainage ditch that runs alongside the trail. In the photo, you can see where the blacktop ends in the lower right corner. You can also see the wood plank across the ditch where you would access the trail from Pearl St. When I went by they had just finished the paving, the blacktop was still warm and they were still packing up.
Update 5/16: I went down the trail a ways to see how far the concrete drainage ditch goes. It continues until near the bridge at East-West Highway.
The Washington Post has an article about how the construction of the Hilton Hotel on Waverly St in downtown Bethesda, MD is causing problems. They have been sanding the side of the building and it is causing a blizzard of fine dust and plastic foam to swirl through the air. The problem, began in "late March, [and] continued as recently as yesterday, despite eight more visits from county environment officials, three citations totaling $1,500 in fines and a threat by the county to withdraw the building permit."
There is a daycare right next to this building (Childtime), I wonder how those parents feel about this.
Update 3:20pm: I walked by there and even though they weren't working today there were a lot of small bits of Styrofoam swirling around on the ground. Nothing you would inhale, but anything smaller would have blown away by now.
If you are planning on being in Downtown Bethesda, MD on Saturday I hope you like dogs. It is the 4th annual Strut Your Mutt Dog Parade and Festival. There will be a a Pooch Parade, dog fashion show, canine contests, kids play area, and more. It runs from 10:00am to 3:00pm with the dog parade at 10:45. I wonder if Alley Cat Allies will be watching from a window.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The sixth annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festivalwill be held Saturday, May 9 & Sunday, May 10, 2009 in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle. Fine art and crafts created by 150 of the nation's best artists, live entertainment and great food from some of Bethesda's best restaurants!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Washington Post has a story about the new meters appearing in Bethesda. They are old parking meters but they aren't for parking. They are for donating to Bethesda Cares, an organization dedicated to reducing homelessness in Bethesda, MD. There are four of these meters spread throughout downtown. The goal of these meters is more to raise awareness than to collect money. According to Sue Kirk, the director of Bethesda Cares "With these meters, I mean, we're literally talking about pocket change, but we're already seeing people doing double takes as they pass by. As people start to notice, we're hoping it will do a lot of good."
I was a bit disappointed they took off the thing you spin and the time dial, I'd like to be able to put money in and have the time remaining go up. If your bored one day, you could try and find all four and put a quarter in each.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
According to Montgomery County's DPWT, parking lot 31A is closed for a couple of months so they can "relocate utilities". This is a really tiny (about 20 spaces) lot on the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Bethesda Lane, right in the heart of Bethesda, MD and right across the street from a much larger surface lot. The closure was supposed to begin "On or about May 1st" but this morning there were still three cars parked in the lot.
The reason they need to relocate utilities is to prepare for a much larger construction project that will turn both this lot and the large one across the street (lot 31) into a large mixed-use development with an underground public parking garage containing nearly 1,500 spaces. Construction for that project is scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2010. More info about the development at the Gazette.
Update 5/30: The lot still isn't closed, the news release has been updated to a Mid June closing date, exact date to be determined.
Update 8/20: This lot still hasn't been closed, now it is scheduled to close around 9/1, we will see if they stick to that.
Update 11/16: Next they said it would close on 11/1, then pushed it to 11/16. It looks like that date stuck, because it is closed now.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Today I went to watch a horse race. No, not the Kentucky Derby, a different horse race that happens to be on the same day and is much closer to were I live.
I went to the Virginia Gold Cup a four mile long steeplechase run on a large grass field with timber jumps the horses go over. It is held the first Saturday of May every year in The Plains, VA. This years winner was Salmo and last year's winner, Bubble Economy came in second. In the photos, Salmo is the one with the green-shirted rider.
It is actually a whole afternoon of races, they hold 6 races, but the gold cup is the main draw.I have a photo album from the fourth race, the Starter Allowance Hurdle as well as one from the main event, the VA Gold Cup.
Glen Echo Park Family Day: Family Day celebrates the opening of the Park's historic Dentzel Carousel for the 2009 season and highlights the full range of activities offered at the Park. The celebration also recognizes the Asian-Pacific American Heritage during the month of May with hula dance performances and art activities. Families will enjoy artist demonstrations, magic shows, family dancing, Irish dance performances, tours by National Park Service rangers and $1.25 carousel rides. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. The playground has been closed for renovation and is slated to re-open early May. Hopefully by that they mean May 2nd, but I don't know if it will be open for family day.
Free comic book day: Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores. Big Planet Comics is participating.
Bethesda Farmers Market: Every Tuesday & Saturday - 10am - 2:30pmMay 2 - October 31, 2009 in Veteran's Park. This Saturday is the first one of the year. | {
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Every year, for as long as I remember, our family would travel to Perth for summer holidays with Nanna and Poppa. We stayed in their house at Bird Street, Mosman Park, with its great back yard. It was near Cottesloe Beach, the Swan River, Chidley Point Golf Club and the local cricket nets. It was a great holiday spot for two boys from the inner city of Sydney.
Mosman Park Home
I remember one summer when I was six or seven, Poppa picked us up from the airport. As I was getting out of the car at Bird Street, I tripped and skinned my knee. I started to cry, but when Poppa rushed over he looked intently at the bitumen where I’d tripped and said: “I hope you haven’t damaged the road”. He was distracting me with humour, but it also in a way encapsulates Pop – things are pretty good and it’s not all about you.
If I was in a sulky mood he would say, “Go out and find smiley”. If I was unhappy, it was “chin up m’boy”. When I asked him anything about his childhood he would say, “We was too poor”. If I asked where to look for something, it was always “up the bum of the black chook”. When I asked what was for dinner, it was always “H, P & H” – hen’s poop and honey. Every time we went on a picnic, or were floating off Cottesloe he would invariably say, “I wonder what the poor people are doing”. He would ask me how I was, and when I said “good” he would say “I know you’re good, but are you well?”. Pop had a phrase for every situation, a vocabulary that lasted him to the end.
Even in the holidays he went into the Sunday Times most days. Every night he’d arrive home from work, with his grey New York magazine bag over his shoulder full of that night’s work. “Ho Ho”, he’d say, as he let himself in the front door. After dinner he’d go up to his office to begin the evening’s work. I remember Pop writing in his little pocket diary, several times a day – a habit that served him well when he started to lose the small details.
Trump Tower Penthouse
I remember on their trips back and forwards to New York, Nanna and Poppa often stopped over in Sydney. They stayed on the fold out bed in our spare room. It was easy for him to go from their Trump Tower penthouse to that small cramped room. It was the same when he left Bird Street and moved into a retirement apartment and then into Peter Arney. He always saw what was good in a situation.
Peter Arney nursing home at Salter Point
When I think of Poppa and the kind of person he was, a couple of things spring to mind. He was someone you knew would always do the right thing, someone with a deep sense of loyalty and someone with a ferocious work ethic. This may make him sound kind of boring, but with his honesty and determination, he managed to have a sparkling career, to be a part of television history, to give back to the community and to marry his sweetheart – Sheila. Sheila knew that loyalty – he always stood by her, they were a team.
It has been very hard to see him fade over last few years. But despite his memory loss, the essential Poppa has continued to shine through. His “how are you m’boy?”. His smile and his salute. Every time we visited, we would get the salute. There he was, ready for duty – which hopefully involved a view of the ocean and a glass of beer. | {
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Real life gets in the way sometimes!
It’s been a rough week. There have been quite a few lows and not a lot of highs it has to be said. Looking back at the last few days, it makes me think that we have enough to deal with right now without the stresses of day to day life getting in the way. I don’t want to think about work, overdrafts, broken radiators, car services, and even worse, washing and ironing. It’s all too much at the minute. I even went to work in an un-ironed shirt the other day and I just didn’t care. That is not like me at all.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse though, the snow came. We live at some altitude in a place called Stanley where the normal rules of weather don’t apply. It’s like the Twilight Zone of weather up here. The wind blows harder, and the snow falls relentlessly thicker. To make things worse, we live at the bottom of a big hill. I can’t believe how stupid I was to allow this to happen. I basically made the same mistake as my parents. My Mother always warned me, “Don’t ever live at the bottom of a hill”. Did I listen? Did I heck! Not only did we move to the bottom of a big hill, it’s also at the bottom of a big hill that’s practically touching the sky! I’m surprised we don’t get altitude sickness up here, It’s just ridiculous. On the plus side, the house was cheap back in 2004. Not that it matters right now of course as we are always at the wrong end of our overdraft, and we barely make it to pay day without the threat of bank charges. Welcome to the recession eh!
As if that is not bad enough, the house is now completely unfit for purpose for us in nearly every way imaginable. It is small and inappropriate, and we are completely cut off from any family who could help us with the boys on a daily basis. Never was this more apparent when that horrible white stuff fell from the sky on Wednesday. I was at work, and Louise had to go and pickup George from school. No one could help her with this, and no one could look after Olly. There was no way she could drive up the hill in these conditions, so she had to walk. It’s not that far, but it’s difficult getting there on foot in such conditions, and this is without taking Olly’s autism into account. It’s impossible to walk him anywhere, as he either walks in the wrong direction, or runs toward danger. So he has to be in his pushchair. Without going into the gruesome details of this expedition too much, it rapidly turned into a nightmare for poor Louise. She got to the school OK, but on the way back, the heavens opened, and she now had George to take care of as well as Olly in a pushchair that could barely be pushed. I was beside myself with worry and contacted our next door neighbour who very kindly went to intercept her and help. She eventually made it home, but was deeply affected by the experience and in a state of shock. It didn’t help that it took me three hours to get home that night on a journey that normally takes twenty minutes. I even ended up abandoning my car and walking the last quarter of the journey. It was absolutely ridiculous.
So it was a very unpleasant experience, and the worst part of it all is that even worse weather is forecast for next week. I really don’t know how we are going to cope with it again if it happens? It really did serve as a reminder to me that we have been through so much in the last few months though with Olly’s diagnosis. We have done so well as a family, and I think we have all adapted to it in our own way and made our own individual progress. Olly especially of course, and he has made real progress with his PECs this week for example.
There is so much to think about and deal with on this journey on a day to day basis though. Appointments, PECs, Portage, Intensive Interaction, and so much more. We also have to remember that George needs us just as much as Olly does too, all the while trying to fit in family and friends and the like. It’s not easy, and the day to day rubbish that takes over and clutters up your life is most unwelcome right now it has to be said. I feel like our attention is being divided among trivialities when it needs to be focused on what’s important.
Sadly, there is no answer to this however. The mortgage still has to be paid, the house still needs to be cleaned, George still has to go to school, and I still have to go to work. I know I must sound ungrateful to some, and I appreciate that. I have a lot to be grateful for compared to many I have no doubt, but you can only assess your life on your own terms and definitions, and for me right now, I feel like I am wasting a lot of important moments dealing with the clutter and background noise of life. Maybe I have to realise that it’s still early days for us all in this journey, and with any luck it will get a little easier and make a little more sense as time progresses. I certainly hope so, but I guess all we can do is wait and see.
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6 thoughts on “Real life gets in the way sometimes!”
How old is Olly? I can relate to your story and feel the emotion- your tired. I am guessing Olly is young. My autistic son is now 15… It gets much easier in so many ways, but I’ve been told there will always be mountains and valleys. You are a wonderful husband and Dad
It does get easier but then it gets hard again, just for different reasons! I keep thinking that without real life it would be a damn sight better to deal with! We’ve had hubby in hospital, kids sick, dogs breaking back doors! If all I had to handle was autism I’d be laughing!
That’s exactly how I feel Donna. If we only had Olly’s autism to focus on we would be laughing. It’s so good that someone else understands this. Hope you getting on OK, and have a great weekend ahead of you!
It definitely gets easier – it’s true that you start to learn how to manage the autism quite well, and it’s everything else that gets more difficult!! Bad weather is a bummer, can’t help you with that one – I’d just say stay in whenever you can! Chin up, it’s nearly Christmas 🙂 | {
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HOME VIDEO
HOME VIDEO; Older Films Out on DVD
By Peter M. Nichols
Published: November 29, 2002
As always, recent DVD releases are all over the spectrum. Special editions of older films have been especially rich of late, with ''Roman Holiday'' and ''Sunset Boulevard'' from Paramount and, perhaps the best of these ''classics'' packages, ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1992) from Artisan. Maybe current economic uncertainty fans the perception, but it's more electrifying than ever to find Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris and Al Pacino sweating in the same real estate office in James Foley's film, adapted by David Mamet from his play. Blake (Alec Baldwin), the slave master boss with the gold Rolex, hasn't gotten any nicer, either. Mr. Foley's lively commentary is a fine addition.
A smaller film with interesting commentary, Rebecca Miller's ''Angela'' (1996), was released on VHS and DVD Tuesday by New Video. Ms. Miller's new film, ''Personal Velocity,'' a triptych telling the stories of three women (Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk), opened to good reviews last Friday. ''Angela,'' about a 10-year-old girl and her 6-year-old sister dealing with their mother's manic depression, was Ms. Miller's first feature. ''Its early scenes beautifully capture a childhood intuition of a world where boogeymen lurk and angels hover,'' Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times.
Next Tuesday, Fox is to release ''My Neighbor Totoro'' (1988), an animated feature by the Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, which in turn has something of a connection to ''Lilo and Stitch,'' to be issued the same day by Disney. Like ''Angela,'' both films are about sisters coping with real and potential loss of parents. In ''Lilo and Stitch,'' A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times, ''the early science-fiction sequences, with their bright colors, whimsical characters and sublime sense of scale, show the influence of Japanese anime, but with the highly articulated, computer-assisted movements that have long been a Disney hallmark.''
Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders, co-directors of ''Lilo and Stitch,'' acknowledge the influence of ''Totoro'' and its director, Mr. Miyazaki, whose much acclaimed ''Spirited Away,'' is now in theaters. ''We loved the portrayal of the sisters,'' Mr. Deblois said in an interview, ''the whimsical balancing with the realistic.''
''Lilo and Stitch'' abandoned 3-D computer-generated animation now prevalent in films like ''Shrek'' and ''Monsters, Inc.'' for the old-fashioned warmer look of past features. Some critics would say that drawn animation is flat and insubstantial by comparison. But that could enhance an intimate story, not undermine it. ''Hardly a work of state-of-the-art virtuosity, but rather an example of quiet confident craftsmanship that tells a sweet, charming tale of intergalactic friendship,'' Mr. Scott wrote of ''Lilo and Stitch.''
Mr. Sanders said in an interview that he and Mr. Deblois found some Disney films ''stylistically beautiful and technically perfect'' but a ''little bit cool'' in relating to the audience. ''We wanted a film that was a whole lot simpler, with emphasis on character and story, and we also wanted to create a certain amount of story freedom by keeping costs down,'' he said. ''One way to do this was to design a film that was 2-D friendly.''
Photo: The Disney characters Lilo (right) and Stitch buck current trends in animation; they are portrayed in simpler, old-fashioned 2-D. (Disney Enterprises) | {
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Instant Pot White Rice
Instant Pot White Rice – How to Make Basic White Rice using Your Instant Pot That is Delicious and Easy to Prepare with Just Few Simple Steps.
The Instant Pot is wonderful at making rice for many reasons. If you are cooking dinner at the stove, this frees up another dinner chore because this white rice practically makes itself.
Here is step-by-step how to make white rice in your instant pot. Remember – The Instant Pot “Rice” button is for WHITE rice only. This is not for brown or wild rice varieties.
Step-By-Step for How to Make The Best Basic White Rice in The Instant Pot:
We start off using a long grain white rice. We do not rinse the rice before cooking. You can try either long grain or short grain white rice.
Add 1 cup of white rice to the Instant Pot.
Add 1-1/4 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the pot; stir gently.
Lay 1 tablespoon of butter on top of the rice.
Secure the lid and turn the valve in the back to “SEALING.”
Push the “RICE” button to start the cooking process.
When the rice is finished cooking and you hear the beep, let rice stay in the pot for 8 additional minutes.
After 8 minutes, turn the valve in the back to ‘VENTING” to release any pressure.
Hit the “CANCEL” button and carefully remove the pot. Fluff rice with a fork and add additional salt & pepper if necessary. And YUM, always add a little bit more butter.
This is a basic recipe for making white rice in the Instant Pot. You can also use 1-1/4 cup of chicken broth for additional flavor.
Instant Pot white rice will finished a little quicker than stove top rice, but the beauty in making rice this way is you don’t have to stir, wait for the liquid to boil, and watch the pot to make sure it doesn’t boil over.
You just toss everything in your Instant Pot, hit the “RICE” button and the amazing pot does the rest. The best thing about using your Instant Pot to cook white rice is it’s basically fool-proof deliciously perfect rice. | {
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10 Pakistani Movies That Transcend Borders
Makes movies, not war
It’s a known fact that our neighbour produces better serials than movies. In a sign of changing times, Pakistan’s fledgling film industry, which goes by the rather uncharitable name of Lollywood, is constantly trying to up the ante. The last few years have seen some really great films come out of Pakistan and interest in past films is gaining traction as well. At a time when relations with Pakistan are at an all-time low, a constructive way of understanding our neighbours is through their films. Instead of banning their artistes, let’s sit down and reflect on the state of Pakistan and their movies with these gems. #ArtCrossesBoundaries
Teri Yaad
Independent Pakistan’s first movie was Teri Yaad, released on August 7, 1948. The movie was directed by Daud Chand and starred Asha Posley (no, not Bhosle) along with Nasir Khan and premiered at Parbhat Theatre in Lahore. Nasir was Dilip Kumar’s brother and is survived by his son Ayub Khan, best known for playing Preity Zinta’s obsessive boyfriend in Dil Chahta Hai.
Waar
We would have put slick action-thrillers beyond the scope of Pakistani filmmakers before Waar released in 2013. Taking ‘inspiration’ from the 2009 Lahore attack on the Police Academy, the film focuses on the war on terrorism that plagues Pakistan as well. The movie, which paints India in a poor light, is not recommended for ultra-nationalists who claim that the Pakistani army funded the film. Fun fact: Ram Gopal Varma is a big fan of Waar.
Karachi Se Lahore
Karachi Se Lahore is the first road trip film from Pakistan starring an ensemble cast of actors. The movie covers the 36-hour journey between the two cities and is also the first film from Pakistan to premiere in Hollywood. This movie is the perfect introduction to the people and some of the beautiful places that lie just across the border.
Main Hoon Shahid Afridi
With MSD: The Untold Story recently crossing the Rs 100 crore mark, not mentioning this film from across the border would be a huge miss on our part. And while Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is not a biopic on Pakistan’s Peter Pan cricketer, Afridi himself has a cameo appearance in the film that tells the story of underdogs who dream of playing cricket.
Khuda Kay Liye
Khada Kay Liye is perhaps the most well-known Pakistani film to Indians. Released in India in 2008, this movie that stars Naseeruddin Shah alongside well-known local actors, including Fawad Khan, and tells the story of two Pakistani singers who are caught in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in USA. The movie is also a commentary on the strictures of Islam after one principal character is forcibly married. Notably, the resurgence of Pakistani cinema is attributed to Khuda Kay Liye and its success in Pakistan and abroad.
Bol
Another popular film from Pakistan, Bol stars Atif Aslam (yes, the singer) as the main protagonist along with Mahira Khan and a clutch of other actors. Bol managed to achieve the rare distinction of being a critical and commercial success with its storyline of patriarchy and the preference for male children, which is sure to ring familiar bells in India as well.
Manto
Based on the life of Pakistan’s famous short-story writer Sadat Hassan Manto, the eponymously-named Mantostars Sarmad Khoosat in the titular role. Released 60 years after Manto’s death on September 11 last year, the movie focusses on his final seven years when he wrote some of the most controversial stories of his life such asThanda Gosht, Toba Tek Singh and Upar, Neechay Aur Darmiyan among others. These stories were so controversial that Manto was slapped with obscenity charges on more than one occasion.
Bin Roye
Mahira Khan is currently in the eye of controversy for acting in Raees alongside Shah Rukh Khan, but her claim to fame will always remain Bin Roye. The love story is based on Farhat Ishtiaq’s novel Bin Roye Ansoo and is one of the most critically-acclaimed films of Pakistani cinema. The movie had a limited release in India last year and purportedly landed Mahira her Bollywood role.
3 Bahadur
This film makes it to this list simply for being the first computer-animated film to come out of Pakistan. Both Indian and Pakistani animation have yet to find their feet among their respective audiences, which is why this film is worth catching up on. The simplistic storyline revolves around three eleven-year-olds from Roshan Basti (aka poor man’s Paris) coming together to fight evil after receiving superpowers.
Jawani Phir Nahi Ani
Released last year, Jawani Phir Nahi Ani is Pakistan’s highest-grossing film (in Pakistan and the world) to date after collecting over Rs 46 crores. It’s also the reason why this film is on our list. Starring an ensemble cast of actors, the comedy film tells the story of three childhood friends who are afraid of their wives, but still take a trip to Bangkok after a fourth friend comes back into their lives. The real adventure begins when the wives learn the plan and crash the boys’ party in Bangkok. PS: If your mind suddenly flashes back to No Entry, we don’t blame you.
Honourable Mention: Jago Hua Savera
This is the film that was supposed to be screened at MAMI this year before protests prompted the organisers to scrap it from the final line-up. Written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the 1959 movie is based on the lives of fishermen who lived in East Pakistan before it became Bangladesh. The classic, which was Pakistan’s entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film in 1960, was also screened at Cannes this year before being canned in India.
#QueMagazine is about real people, real stories. It is the digital destination to discover everything from style ideas to popular culture and good living (think travel, food, books, and health & fitness) as well as 'personal' technology. We talk about the stuff that matters to the GenYer and the Millennial, as well as every Yuccie in between.
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How your interns should be spending their time
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SCHOTT Cartridges HS (High Speed)
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