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Use "My Favorites" to collect pages, downloads, properties, companies, and reports that you would like to keep in one place. To store a page, click on the "Add to My Favorites" button at the top of the page. To store a download, click on the plus button next to the download link. To store a property or company or community, click on the "Add to My Favorites" button listed next to each listing. Reports that are generated are automatically saved to My Favorites. My Favorites will be saved for seven days.
Healthcare Software Start-Up Launches in Buffalo Niagara
Healthcare Software Start-Up Launches in Buffalo Niagara
Release date: 7/7/2015
Region continues to foster a thriving entrepreneurial community
BUFFALO, N.Y. --- Entrepreneurial investment opportunities continue to flourish as Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE) formally announced its successful attraction of Healthcare Management Software Developer, Patient Pattern to Buffalo, New York. The company will hire 20 people and invest $355,000 at its new location in the University at Buffalo’s Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS) on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
The growing complexity in navigating the health care system, particularly for elderly patients, is compounded by the lack of specialists in the industry to diagnose and assess geriatric needs. To address this problem Patient Pattern has developed a web-based application that gives doctors, home health care providers, health care advocates, family members, and in some cases even the patients themselves, a platform to develop highly customized and comprehensive care plans, ultimately resulting in greater control and optimal outcomes. Patient Pattern provides their services to local care management companies, post-acute care programs, hospitals and home care agencies to help them understand how to best care for their complex patients.
Patients, with input from medical professionals and caregivers, undertake a validated assessment through a smart survey, which learns from each response and tailors subsequent questions based upon those responses. The end product is a Comprehensive Care Plan that summarizes the current situation, tracks progress or decline and delivers recommendations along the way to improve decision-making and preparedness.
“Our user-friendly, web-based application collects information and transforms it into a care plan based on a fitness score,” said Dr. Steven Buslovich, a practicing geriatrician and founder of Patient Pattern. “It assesses risk and vulnerability and provides for the creation of a very personalized treatment approach consistent with the patient’s priorities and expectations of care,” Dr. Buslovich added.
Patient Pattern was originally founded in western Connecticut and operated virtually as it refined and developed its software. As the company considered locations for launching the product, they were attracted by the Start-Up NY Program and the potential to align with the University at Buffalo. Start-Up NY creates tax-free zones across New York State for new and expanding businesses that partner with a college or university. BNE supported Patient Pattern in its relocation to the region by introducing the company to Start-Up NY and other potential incentive programs, and also by assisting with site selection and facilitating introductions to potential local partners in the healthcare sector.
“We saw Patient Pattern as a perfect fit to our life sciences communities growing focus on personalized medicine, and we were very pleased to assist them in coming to the Buffalo Niagara region,” said BNE President & CEO Thomas Kucharski. “Not only are they are creating jobs and investing here, we believe their exciting product can bring better care management to our community, significantly improving the quality of life for our aging residents and their families and care givers,” Kucharski added.
The high-level computational capacity of U.B.’s Center for Computational Research (CCR), as well as opportunities to collaborate with the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for clinical trials, were key factors driving Patient Pattern’s desire to partner with U.B.
“The University at Buffalo is excited to partner with Patient Pattern in this groundbreaking economic development program that is driving innovation, investment and job growth in the Buffalo Niagara region,” said Christina Orsi, associate vice president for economic development at UB. “Patient Pattern’s focus on improving health care, especially for the elderly, makes it an ideal partner for UB’s expert medical researchers, and enterprising students and recent graduates.”
Partnering with Margaret Sayers, a local Geriatric Nurse Practitioner and healthcare advocate, has led to new products and “bench to bedside” applications. “As health and medical professionals dedicated to improving people’s quality of life, we are excited by the potential we see our product has in driving solutions for the sandwich generation by creating a good plan for mom and dad to help them keep their independence,” said Dr. Buslovich. “That’s why we chose this line of work and at the end of the day that’s what inspires us,” he concluded.
About Patient Pattern - Patient Pattern is a Health IT and data analytics software company founded in 2013. It uses mobile and web-based smart-survey technology to generate a comprehensive health risk assessment to determine levels of physiologic fitness and provides predictive and practical intelligence using evidence-based clinical algorithms. To learn more, visit www.patientpattern.com.
About Buffalo Niagara Enterprise - Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, a private, non-profit, marketing, business and economic development organization, is the point of contact for business attraction and investment in the eight counties of the Buffalo Niagara region. Working with local economic development groups, real estate & development professionals, governmental agencies, utilities and private sector business leaders, BNE assists businesses seeking to re-locate or expand in our region with access to the various incentives, financing, site selection and other services relevant to their project. For information on doing business in Buffalo Niagara, visit www.buffaloniagara.org | {
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we have the need to use a ABAP mapping on our PI 7.40 (dual stack) that converts a flatfile to an xml idoc (I know that there is a module operation for the receiver channel that does the same, but it is not working for us because in the sended flatfile the header information are missing)
I have added the needed parameter in the echange profile:
After that I have implemented the mapping in the OM field:
But every message that we try to send get's stuck with the following error:
Any suggestions what causes this error?
regards
Christian
Tags:
pi_7.31
pi_731
Former Member
January 12, 2015 at 07:54 AM
1
Likes
Correct Answer
Former Memberreplied
January 08, 2015 at 18:49 PM
I'm just guessing, but maybe you are using an "Integrated Configuration" and no "Classic Configuration" (Sender Agreement, Receiver Agreement, Receiver Determination, ...), and ICOs don't support ABAP Mappings as they don't use the ABAP stack at all? | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
February 7, 2012
This is the first in a series of posts that will detail the 2011 political spending by California state workers' unions. The records are downloaded from the California Secretary of State's office and reflect activity filed as of Jan. 31, 2012.
A political action committees operated by SEIU Local 1000 gave $380,000 to campaigns and organizations last year, including nearly $195,000 to the Democratic State Central Committee of California, according to records filed with the state.
One of the union's PACs donated several hundred dollars of staff time to politicians, including Controller John Chiang.
For a list of the union's political entities, click here. The union's reports to the state duplicated some expenditures. Note: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that public sector employees may not be compelled to subsidize political or ideological activities of public employee unions.
We've embedded a spreadsheet below that details how the union's various political entities received and gave last year. To get a sense of political spending in California by other interest groups, check out Maplight.org (the California data on the site run through December 2010).
Editor's note, 2:29 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that unions could not use members' dues to fund PACs.
On October 14, The Sacramento Bee will temporarily remove commenting from sacbee.com. While we design the upgrade, we encourage you to tell us what you like and don't like about commenting on sacbee.com and other websites. We've heard from hundreds of you already and we're listening. Please continue to add your thoughts and questions here.
We also encourage you to write Letters to the Editor on this and other topics.
About The State Worker
The Author
Jon Ortiz launched The State Worker blog and a companion column in 2008 to cover state government from the perspective of California government employees. Every day he filters the news through a single question: "What does this mean for state workers?" Join Ortiz for updates and debate on state pay, benefits, pensions, contracts and jobs. Contact him at (916) 321-1043 and at [email protected].
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK
Now on the State Worker column
State Pay Database
This database allows you to search the salaries of California's 300,000-plus state workers and view up to four years of their pay history. | {
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Tag: Petite Modeling Agencies
ZARZAR MODELS recently released the latest list of the highest paid actresses in the world (the world’s highest paid actresses). The latest list of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood (the top earning actresses in the world) covers all actress earnings for the past 12 months (from June 2013 to June 2014) and are approximate based on the leading industry sources including Forbes magazine (one of the most prestigious financial magazines in the world and a leader in financial data analysis). All amounts are in United States Dollars.
The Highest Paid Actresses In The World – The World’s Highest Paid Actresses For 2014
1. Sandra Bullock (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $51 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Sandra Bullock Modeling For The Cover Of Harper’s Bazaar Modeling As The Highest Paid Actress In The World. The Highest Paid Actress In Hollywood. The Top Earning Actress In The World.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Sandra Bullock Modeling For The Cover Of Harper’s Bazaar Modeling As The Highest Paid Actress In The World. The Highest Paid Actress In Hollywood. The Top Earning Actress In The World.
Movies based on original ideas, as opposed to comic books or young adult novels, are rare these days in Hollywood. Movies based on original ideas that cost $100 million dollars to produce and feature one actress for the majority of the screen time are even rarer but director Alfonso Cuaron and Warner Brothers had a huge hit with the movie “Gravity”. A lot of that success is due to the outstanding performance of American actress Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone. The movie “Gravity” won seven Oscars (Academy Awards) and also helped actress Sandra Bullock become the highest paid actress in the world with acting earnings for the year of $51 million dollars.
2. Sofia Vergara (Colombia) with acting earnings for the year of $37 million dollars.
Beautiful Colombian Actress Sofia Vergara Modeling For CoverGirl Advertisements (CoverGirl Ads) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Above: Beautiful Colombian Actress Sofia Vergara Modeling For CoverGirl Advertisements (CoverGirl Ads) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Colombian actress Sofia Vergara (currently 42 years old) continues her streak as the top earning television actress in the world (the other actresses on this list of the world’s highest paid actresses mostly focus on major motion pictures) in large part due to her business skills. Actress Sofia Vergara secured endorsement deals with Diet Pepsi, cosmetics brand CoverGirl, shampoo brand Head & Shoulders, and telecommunications company AT&T, among other major national and international companies. Actress Sofia Vergara also has a 12 year modeling contract with K-Mart in addition to fragrance modeling contracts, movie roles, and of course a reportedly $325,000 per episode for the television show “Modern Family”. In addition, the talent management and entertainment marketing firm she co-founded known as Latin World Entertainment provides her with additional income diversification (meaning even more cash to her bank accounts) and helping her to rank as the second highest paid actress in the world with acting earnings for the year of $37 million dollars.
3. Jennifer Lawrence (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $34 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Jennifer Lawrence Modeling For The Cover Of Harper’s Bazaar UK (United Kingdom) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses And The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Jennifer Lawrence Modeling For The Cover Of Harper’s Bazaar UK (United Kingdom) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Who says women can’t be action heroes? Beautiful Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence is proving that women can attract millions of fans for blockbuster action movies such as “X-Men” and “The Hunger Games”. “The Hunger Games” is the most successful young adult franchise since “Twilight” and her recent return as Mystique in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” helped make the movie the highest grossing film of the franchise. Combine the ability of actress Jennifer Lawrence to be featured in movies that have become global blockbuster hits with the fact that she has received three Oscar nominations and one Oscar (Academy Award) win and you have one of the most powerful actresses in Hollywood.
Beautiful American actress Jennifer Lawrence is best known for playing Raven Darkholme (Mystique) in the superhero film “X-Men: First Class” which was released in the year 2011 and its sequel “X-Men: Days of Future Past” which was released in the year 2014. Beginning in the year 2012, Jennifer Lawrence gained international fame and acclaim for playing the heroine Katniss Everdeen, in the commercially successful “The Hunger Games” movies which established her as the highest grossing action heroine of all time. Did we mention that she is only 24 years old? Thus, Jennifer Lawrence is the definition of a true “Money Girl”.
4. Jennifer Aniston (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $31 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Jennifer Aniston Modeling For The Cover Of Glamour Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses And The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Jennifer Aniston Modeling For The Cover Of Glamour Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World (The World’s Highest Paid Actresses And The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood).
American actress Jennifer Aniston (currently 45 years old) is enjoying the kind of success most actresses her age only dream about (Jennifer Aniston became super famous playing the role of Rachel in the hit television show “Friends” in the 1990’s). Thanks to mid-budget movie comedies like “Horrible Bosses” and “We’re the Millers” actress Jennifer Aniston is earning millions on some very profitable movies. In addition, Jennifer Aniston still earns a lot of money from endless reruns of the hit television show “Friends” and from being an in-demand spokesperson for major national and international brands such as Aveeno and Vitamin Water.
5. Gwyneth Paltrow (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $19 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Modeling For The Cover Of Self Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Modeling For The Cover Of Self Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
American actress Gwyneth Paltrow makes serious money from blockbuster films like “Iron Man 3” where she returned as Pepper Potts, the beautiful girlfriend of billionaire Tony Stark of Stark Industries. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow also earns millions of dollars from endorsements for brands like Max Factor and Hugo Boss helping her to rank as the 5th highest paid actress in the world with acting earnings for the year of $19 million dollars.
6. Angelina Jolie (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $18 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Angelina Jolie Modeling For The Cover Of Vogue Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Angelina Jolie Modeling For The Cover Of Vogue Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
American actress Angelina Jolie is back in Walt Disney’s hit movie “Maleficent” where she managed to make Disney’s classic “Sleeping Beauty” villain sympathetic, brave, and with a heart. While earning one of the biggest paychecks in Hollywood with acting earnings for the year of $18 million dollars, actress Angelina Jolie still finds time to advocate for human rights. Most recently, actress Angelina Jolie has turned her activist attention to encouraging governments to investigate and prosecute war rape.
7. Cameron Diaz (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $18 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Cameron Diaz Modeling For The Cover Of Marie Claire Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Cameron Diaz Modeling For The Cover Of Marie Claire Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Never underestimate the beautiful American actress Cameron Diaz. Born in beautiful San Diego California, the 42 year old actress was featured in the 2014 movie “The Other Woman” and it looked like it was going to be a failure. But women from around the world went to see the movie and the film, which was made for around $40 million, earned approximately $197 million at the global box office. In fact, Cameron Diaz has pulled this trick before with previous movies. Her 2011 film “Bad Teacher” did not seem to have much promise but the movie which was made for around $20 million earned an amazing $216 million globally helping the beautiful American actress Cameron Diaz make millions of dollars that year.
8. Scarlett Johansson (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $17 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Scarlett Johansson Modeling For The Cover Of Vanity Fair Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Scarlett Johansson Modeling For The Cover Of Vanity Fair Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
American actress Scarlett Johansson is known as Black Widow in the Marvel movies, but she doesn’t earn as much as someone like Robert Downey Jr. who plays Tony Stark in the “Iron Man” movie franchise. However, it is when you combine these small paychecks with her lucrative endorsement deals that you get a very rich and very powerful actress helping her to rank as the 8th highest paid actress in the world with acting earnings for the year of $17 million dollars.
9. Amy Adams (Italy) with acting earnings for the year of $13 million dollars.
Beautiful Italian Actress Amy Adams Modeling For The Cover Of Vanity Fair Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful Italian Actress Amy Adams Modeling For The Cover Of Vanity Fair Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
American actress Amy Adams shifts effortlessly between comedies (like “Julie and Julia” and “Leap Year”) and independent dramas like “The Master” but it took until 2013 for actress Amy Adams to embrace the comic book life where she co-starred in the Superman reboot “Man of Steel” as Superman’s love interest Lois Lane. With Warner Brothers lining up a lot of D.C. Comics movies, actress Amy Adams will have the chance to appear in plenty more blockbuster movies. In the meantime, actress Amy Adams earned her fifth Oscar (Academy Awards) nomination for her “Best Supporting Actress” role in “American Hustle” helping her to rank as the 9th highest paid actress in the world with acting earnings for the year of $13 million dollars.
10. Natalie Portman (Israel) with acting earnings for the year of $13 million dollars.
Beautiful Academy Award Winning Actress Natalie Portman Modeling For The Cover Of Marie Claire Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Above: Beautiful Academy Award Winning Actress Natalie Portman Modeling For The Cover Of Marie Claire Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Beautiful Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman lands on the list of the highest paid actresses in the world thanks to her acting role in “Thor: The Dark World” (which was a bigger hit than the first “Thor” movie) earning approximately $645 million at the global box office.
11. Mariska Hargitay (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $13 million dollars.
Famous American Actress Mariska Hargitay Modeling For The Cover Of Ladies’ Home Journal Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Famous American Actress Mariska Hargitay Modeling For The Cover Of Ladies’ Home Journal Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
American Actress Mariska Hargitay is the second highest earning television actress after Sofia Vergara (the other actresses on this list of the highest paid actresses in the world mostly focus on major motion pictures) due to a salary increase for her Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance as detective Olivia Benson on the hit television show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. In addition to her $450,000 per episode salary for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, actress Mariska Hargitay earns significant profits from the extensive syndication of the popular television show.
12. Kristen Stewart (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $12 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Kristen Stewart Modeling For The Cover Of Glamour United Kingdom (Glamour UK) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Kristen Stewart Modeling For The Cover Of Glamour United Kingdom (Glamour UK) Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World.
Kristen Stewart is an American actress that is best known for playing Bella Swan in the popular “Twilight” movies, which have grossed over $3.3 billion in worldwide receipts. With the “Twilight” movie franchise now completed, beautiful actress Kristen Stewart is now focused on building an acting career outside of playing Bella Swan. Once ranked as the highest paid actress in the world, the acting earnings of 24 year old Kristen Stewart have taken a huge hit from approximately $34.5 million per year (when Kristen Stewart was ranked as the highest paid actress in the world) to only $12 million in acting earnings this past year.
13. Kaley Cuoco (United States) with acting earnings for the year of $11 million dollars.
Beautiful American Actress Kaley Cuoco Modeling For The Cover Of Cosmopolitan South Africa Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Above: Beautiful American Actress Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting Modeling For The Cover Of Cosmopolitan South Africa Modeling As One Of The Highest Paid Actresses In The World. The World’s Highest Paid Actresses. The Top Earning Actresses In Hollywood.
Beautiful American Actress Kaley Cuoco is currently 29 years old and already takes home a reported $350,000 per episode for “The Big Bang Theory”, Chuck Lorre’s top rated television comedy. In addition, actress Kaley Cuoco also profits considerably from syndication of the popular television show around the world. Kaley Cuoco also has an endorsement deal with Priceline and a movie coming out this year. It is also worth noting that the beautiful American actress Kaley Cuoco and the rest of her cast mates in “The Big Bang Theory” television show recently renegotiated their acting salaries and contracts including her salary for a significant raise that is reportedly worth up to $1 million dollars per episode, so expect the beautiful American actress Kaley Cuoco to be seen again in the 2015 list of the highest paid actresses in the world (the world’s highest paid actresses and the top earning actresses in Hollywood) which will be published later this year.
ZARZAR MODELS is one of the top modeling agencies for women in the United States representing models in print fashion editorials, high fashion runway, film, television commercials, and promotions. The agency represents top models in all of the major fashion cities and counties including Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Orange County Southern California, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami, New York, London, Paris, Milan, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo and recruits and represents models throughout the world through its global fashion and modeling network. | {
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23rd ‘Banana Fish’ Anime Episode Previewed
The new anime adaptation of the Banana Fish manga from Akimi Yoshida kicked off on July 5th, 2018 to celebrate Yoshida’s 40th-anniversary debut of the work. The series is part of the noitaminA block on Fuji TV in July on Amazon Video worldwide where it’ll run for two-cour and the official site has now updated a preview of the twenty-third episode that arrives on December 13th, 2018. The show has set Hiroko Utsumi to direct based on the series composition by Hiroshi Seko. Akemi Hayashi is on board with the character designs and MAPPA will be animating it.
Plot Concept: Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of “Papa” Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash’s older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa’s insatiably ambitious hands—and it’s exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx’s acquaintance…
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since. | {
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Focus
On The Web
Welcome The Wilderness
Creativity is like living with a wild animal in your house.
When you call on it, it won't come.
When you try and force it it will bite you and hide for days after.
It takes work and a lot of trickery to coexist with it.
But if you feed it, take care of it and nurture it,
you will be rewarded in ways you never thou… Read More
Creativity is like living with a wild animal in your house.
When you call on it, it won't come.
When you try and force it it will bite you and hide for days after.
It takes work and a lot of trickery to coexist with it.
But if you feed it, take care of it and nurture it,
you will be rewarded in ways you never thought possible.
So, don't fear it. Open your doors and
Welcome the Wilderness. Read Less | {
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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag requires online pass for some single player content
If you’ve owned a PS3 or Xbox 360 then chances are good you’ve encountered an online pass in some form or another. Typically, a code is included in the box with a new game that you use to register the game with a publisher and unlock multiplayer content. However, Ubisoft is extending its version of an online pass to single-player content for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Ubisoft calls it a Uplay Passport. As usual it will mean entering a code for the game, but in the case of Black Flag it will unlock the ability to add ships you board to your fleet. Those ships can then be sent on missions that once complete will return with useful items and money.
This is a feature of the single-player campaign, not multiplayer, but it will not function without the Uplay Passport. So, if you borrow Black Flag from a friend, or purchase a used copy it won’t work. Of course, Ubisoft offers a way around this problem in the form of the ability to purchase a new Uplay Passport code. But buyer beware: if you purchase the game used, Black Flag will require a further payment to fully unlock the single player content.
Black Flag is being released on current-gen and next-gen consoles, so we can expect this to be a feature on the PS4 and Xbox One versions, too. In fact, it’s going to be the first instance of an online pass for a next-gen game. The only detail we don’t know yet is how much purchasing a Uplay Passport will cost. I’d guess Ubisoft will want at least $10 for one, though.
You’d think Ubisoft would have learned by now that gamers do not appreciate having content blocked by a pay wall. EA scrapped its Online Pass due to negative feedback from gamers. Ubisoft persists, though, and I will not be surprised to see it negatively impact sales of the game if enough gamers hear about the content blocking.
I am also left wondering if Watch Dogs will have a similar Uplay Passport requirement for single player content? I suspect it will. | {
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Uber & Ola (India) have introduced a new dimension to our lives. As a user, of course, the convenience of calling a cab to your doorstep. The bigger change, however, is to the life of the drivers.
The popular mode of private public transport was the auto rickshaws in many cities till the advent of these cabs. Infact, the only place that did have cabs was Mumbai, fondly called ‘kaali peeli’ describing the yellow and black coloured cabs.
However, the arrival of app-based cab service turned the ecosystem upside down. Cab and auto rickshaw drivers typically were on the low-end of the earning scale. Rickshaw drivers were also perceived as time wasters, who bought an auto and just worked when they wished like.
With Uber & Ola, suddenly the earning potential exploded multi-fold. I’ve heard stories from the older cabbies about earning more than 60 grand a month (the salary of a 3-4 year experienced IT techie – one of the most coveted jobs in India). Infact, I did have conversations with many cabbies about how they not just earned enough to pay off their car loan, but were able to buy a couple more cars and were running it with part-time or full-time drivers.
This rags-to-riches stories attracted people from smaller towns and soon, we had a a ton of people flooding in to be cab drivers. And then reality set in. Companies yanked incentives, the drivers had to work insane hours but the legend lived on. And so they continue to work as cabbies.
When you meet as many people as a cabbie does, there are bound to be great stories. I’m sharing some of the ones I’ve heard directly from them.
Story 1:
The journey was for more than an hour. It was close to 10.00 PM or later, but there was a bit of traffic (when isn’t there traffic in this city!).
“I was just getting ready to switch off the app when your call came in,” the driver said. Now, this is a story that I’ve heard before, and sometimes leads to requests for extra money. My typical answer to this the question “Where do you stay”.
He said he didn’t have a house in Bangalore. Infact, he bought the car 4 days ago and had come in to the city 3 days ago from a little town about 3 hours away. He had been sleeping in his car for the past two nights, and bathing at the public bathrooms when he got a chance.
I had heard stories of such newbie drivers before but most of them had a friend in the city where they could crash for a couple days.
“I don’t really want to stay with anyone. I actually don’t want to stay in this city itself. I’m going to head back tonight.”
He went on to say that he was sick of the city, the attitude of the passengers and the incredible chaos.
Manju was a farmer. The delayed monsoons a few months ago hit his family hard, and he claimed that he had to get tankers ‘from far away’ to water his fields (which smelled a lot like bullshit). He bought this car because the money from the farm was low, and thought he could earn good money. After 3 days, he realised that he would rather work on the farm instead of being yelled at by passengers, find a hovel-like house where he could sleep and spend all waking hours fighting through the nightmare of Bangalore traffic.
Manju’s Last Words: “People don’t have patience. They want you to come to a location and come right now, even if they can see that the road is blocked. They want you to find a place that they do not know. And they yell at you no matter what.”
Like this:
I first heard of Tesla back in 2008. Electric Vehicles (EVs) were yet to become commonplace like they are today. But Tesla was fascinating to me personally, as a tech lover, and the fact that EVs could look cool. The EVs I had seen till then honestly looked like funny little toy cars.
Of course, I never thought about owning an electric car back then, though I did think if I ever made the switch, it would be to a Tesla. Since it was a dream, affordability didn’t even enter the picture.
A decade later, when we are talking about EVs, global warming, pollution etc, EVs become an important part of our lifestyle. Or they should. Unfortunately, for a common man like me living in India, EVs are still a distant dream.
The look and feel of EVs has changed much in a decade. Reva, the electric car by Mahindra, was India’s most popular EV. But it looked like a little toy car, especially with their bright yellow, which was the most popular one. They’ve been around for nearly two decades or more. One of my college professors owned one, and she was a bit of a joke (not just because of the car). As an adult, I have to admire her eco-consciousness but back then, it just was funny.
Now, as someone who is concerned about the amount of carbon we’re pumping back into nature, I’d love to shift to an EV. But my choices are still limited to Reva, now known as E2O, alone. The car, along with its name, changed the way it looks as well. It looks like a compact little car, and I’ve seen it go pretty fast on the highway as well.
However, E2O comes with a price tag of over INR 10 Lakhs. That’s on par with any mid-sized car in the Indian market. Assuming you are willing to pay the price for being environmentally conscious, is the Indian infrastructure ready to support you.
I live in one of the largest metro cities in the world, and one of the most developed. Yet, I’ve not seen a single EV charging station in the city, let alone on the highway. That essentially means, despite owning a car worth 10 lakhs, I cannot take it out of the city. The E2O has a range of 140 kms approximately.
There have been several conversations about setting up EV charging stations, and apparently the future will even have stations where you can just swap out your battery instead of waiting to charge. Sounds great. But that day is not today and I’m not even sure when that day will come.
In the meantime, I remain an average middle-class Indian citizen who cannot afford to own two cars – which is what would be required if you want to own an electric car and drive out of the city frequently. In simpler terms, this means that being an eco-conscious motorist remains the privilege of a non-middle class citizen, or compromising your lifestyle heavily.
I was keenly awaiting the introduction of non-sedan hybrids, till EVs would develop enough by 2030. We aren’t really that far away from 2030 but far enough. India, however, decided to skip past the hybrid stage.
What this means for me? I’m going car hunting for yet another petrol car.
Like this:
Four hours on the street and not a single thing bought. Three hours online and all I have to show is a single little top that, lucky me, was on a sale.
The modern woman today is apparently particular about what she wears. The modern Indian woman is apparently even more exacting.
Why then in the hundreds of sites and apps are similar products of bad quality? Where are the rich fabrics, the fun designs? And if you do come across one or the other, they come with a hefty price tag with it.
Shopping today is no longer fun. It is a riot of clothes, bad tailoring, worse fabrics and makes you wanna scream. Every time you see those little list “5 must haves in your wardrobe”, you wanna slap the writer because you know most of that is paid. Or the writer has a fantastic salary or an inheritance.
The common girl simply cannot survive fashionably in this city. Reading the listicles online make you wonder if all those good things are simply eluding you.
I’m someone who appreciates quality. I hate this concept of fast fashion where you clothes not only go out of style in a few months, but fade away as well. As someone who has my favourite clothes from a decade ago (and yes, many of them came back into fashion as well!), I choose my clothes with care and love and I want them to last.
But in the days where ‘subscription’ is the norm and not buying, fast is preferred over quality, fashion doesn’t allow you the same luxury. From what my fashion-conscious friends tell me, there are some brands that do last but the price tag… well, I mentioned that before already right?
There was a time when I bought Ferragamo and Bardot and dailywear were brands… but it is all so boring today. Putting together a look requires more effort… even the t-shirts are badly shaped! The $2 t-shirt fits me better than the $20 branded wear.
And since this is a rant, I can perhaps conclude it – where the hell do you get quality, funk and prices for normal human beings?
Like this:
Women are supposed to be easier to market to than men. Why? Because women are apparently more susceptible to suggestions. We tend to take things at their face value. If an ad says “use this shampoo and you’ll have awesome hair”, we will go try it out. Is it because we’re trying to constantly aspire for a better body image or we are just fools? I think it is the former.
Because women aren’t fools always. They know how to take advantage of a situation.
Recently, a friend of mine got into a spot of trouble on the road. She was backing out for a legit parking spot, and someone coming in the wrong direction banged her car. She started fighting with the guy and demanded he pay to fix the damages. A crowd collected, and they were pretty supportive of her. But as usual, there were some who were supporting the guy and telling her to let it go.
A plump old aunty came to my rescue, my friend said. She started arguing with the guy much more loudly, and finally threatened him in Hindi “If you don’t back off, she’ll put a molestation and rape case on you. We’re tear her clothes a bit and then we’ll see how you won’t pay damages.”
The statement shut up most people and apparently the crowd dispersed quietly. My friend was too shocked to do anything more than take the now-subdued guy’s number and move.
This isn’t the first time such a thing has come in conversation. Another lady advised a friend to complain about someone who was troubling her (in a absolutely non-sexual way). “Tell the cops he attempted to rape you,” the lady said. The disturbing part was she actually meant it.
How does this India co-exist with an India where women who have been subject to this atrocity kill themselves?
We thought that women being raped as a form of punishment was abhorring enough. Now, we find out that women are filing fake rape complaints to get their way. What makes it worse is that a woman is ready to destroy a person’s reputation and life for something as trivial as a fender bender. Or because someone complained about the dogs in your apartment.
On one hand, we are facing serious issues regarding women empowerment. We are facing issues in getting the cops to take molestation and rape seriously. We want them to be educated and be sensitive towards people who’ve suffered – men or women. And on the other, we have women who are misusing these laws to further to their own agenda.
Cases of sexual harassment have become the norm. And today, I find it hard to believe anything that I read. A comment on a nail polish colour could be construed as sexual harassment. A opinion about how someone has become fat is considered as sexual harassment.
Like this:
Art deserves its due. Every artist struggles to create art – be it a painting, a photograph, a piece of dress or a pot. I completely agree with that.
My tastes lie towards more earthy, hand made products rather than the factory-produced nonsense. And I agree that the effort an artist has put in deserves a good price. A labour of love for a home of love.
In recent times, there has been a vast array of products that are sold on ecommerce sites – either under the banner of ethnic stuff or as ‘by the artisan, for the artisan’. And these products are priced so high that it makes me wonder who on earth is making all this money. Does an earthenware pot truly cost 2 grand? Does a terracota coffee mug cost one grand a piece?
Today, these are ‘kitsch’ and are sold at outrageous prices. Because they are currently considered cool. I cannot wait for the days when these are not cool again and prices go back to normal. When I can walk into a local store and buy the things I like without having to sell a kidney.
While art does deserve it due, it shouldn’t be unreachable to the common man.
Like this:
It has been nearly half a decade since I was in a place where I interacted with several people from countries and cultures. Such interactions are always interesting, even if you do not agree with everything you learn.
In recent times, there’s been a general dissatisfaction over the way things are portrayed in the media. I understand, as a former reporter, that “news” is something that is current and notable for its cause alone. But there is a horrible distillation of “news”, which essentially comes down to what is controversial and what is sensational. While some of the news that is spoken about has to be highlighted, it ends up being a one-side story all too often. The other side is rarely highlighted.
One such instance came to light in the recent meeting. I was chatting with a woman from Zimbabwe and I asked her to tell me something about her country that we wouldn’t know from reading news stories. She wrinkled her nose and said “There’s so much! Everyone only writes about how Zimbabwe is a horrible place with so much violence. But we’ve a beautiful city, and one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.”
Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is supposedly more stunning than Niagara Falls, which gets a lot of PR and talk.
I had heard about it once upon a time, but honestly, I wouldn’t have recalled it without her mentioning it.
Our conversation continued, and she expressed surprise that I was wearing a dress. She had been worried about India, with much of the international coverage focussing on the horrible rapes in the country. Well, this is an issue that needs to be addressed. But from the sounds of it, India had been portrayed as a horrible country for women. That women were being raped everywhere, and a woman couldn’t walk in the streets in broad daylight alone.
We cannot deny that is entirely untrue. There are enough stories going around about this. Then again, the perception created is of a country that’s similar to the Middle East, with archaic laws. Where are the stories about the progress in India? Where are the stories about our vast growth and developments?
For a country with a population of over a billion, some of the advancements we’ve made are quite commendable. For a population that’s essentially as diverse as the world, some of the laws we’ve changed are definitely noteworthy.
I’m not going on a India-praising spree. I know the shortcomings of our country. But in recent times, some of the comments of international media are getting annoying.
We launch a space program, and they say why aren’t we spending more on removing poverty. We sign a climate agreement, and people ask about trade agreements.
I’m really glad that people from various countries came to India and saw the reality of the country.
The Zimbabwe woman’s parting statement was “India isn’t really any worse off than my country. I’m not sure why media makes it out to be a nightmare, then again, they write about my country as a violent one as well.”
So essentially going back to the question I had when I chose to quit reporting: Who do we believe?
Like this:
Did you know that your eyes can constantly see the tip of your nose (or more!)? They just learn to ignore it.
We all are aware that our activities are being monitored online. We can see samples of it everyday – the ads that we online, the “add friend” that pops up on Facebook… but like our eyes ignore the nose, we ignore these little things. Sometimes, we install ad blockers, we click on the ‘do not send my data’ or ‘delete my data’ and believe that we are secure.
Recently, while cleaning up my computer, I installed a few tools that analysed the amount of data that was going out from my computer.
Google Chrome showed massive activity. It was sending several packets of information to sites, which on a quick search turned out to be a ‘security’ company. The interesting part about this was I had no sites open at that point. Just Chrome and an empty tab. I shut down Chrome and there were some sporadic things still being sent.
Then, there was the infamous Windows 10. Windows takes a few years to perfect their products, which is strange considering their bandwidth. Windows 10 tells you that to ensure your security there are certain things they want you to use. I could probably delve into what exactly is being sent out, but hell! knowing the way things work, I know they are tracking quite a few key things.
I decided to veer away from the popular tools – Chrome etc and switch to something that was good but not as popular. Strangely, though the browser has been around for decades, several sites do not support it. I’ve to install different components for this. The one good thing though was I was not automatically signed into every Google product I did – and Google pushed hard. Some sites threw me out, even though I tried to login. Some sites put up a pop up every few minutes tell me to sign in via Facebook or Google+ ‘For a better experience’.
**
We are conditioned to tap on ‘Sign in with Facebook / Google’ for any site. It makes life less irritable and it is one less password to remember. But all of these things add up to your user behaviour. The sites and Facebook show you news that they think you prefer.. so if you’ve clicked on two links about Shah Rukh Khan being detained at the airport, they show you similar links about celebrities. They do not show you more links about racial profiling and the terrorist watch programs at the airports. Nope, you are very subtly directed to read more about the celebs and leave things like violation of privacy behind.
You read about Leonardo DiCaprio making a statement about the environment. The next they show you is a link about his girlfriend or him sunbathing somewhere. They don’t show you links about global warming and what our industries are doing.
The ‘curated’ content or ‘personalized’ experience these sites are touting, including the social media platform will keep you in a cage. Is this intentional? Conspiracy Theorists and some others believe so. Or it could just be the ‘algorithm’. The result, however, remains the same. You remain in a cage that you are not even aware about. You are the protagonist of your own Truman Show.
Most people, including me, do not realise how easy it is to shape their influences. You read what your friends share. You read what your newsfeed says. You read what is ‘suggested’ and rarely venture beyond that. So some issues come to the forefront – the death of a Dalit student, the rape of a 12-year old, cow slaughter. Important topics, no doubt. But what about the other stories that you are not reading about? That barely surface from this nonsense and are buried because they did not get enough likes… simply because it was not written about well enough or simply did not contain enough gore to make it interesting.
And what if, and we go into the conspiracy theory mode here, one day the government decides that there’s too much trouble being caused by a particular topic and they want to trend something else to take away the attention? Do you think this hasn’t happened? Do you think this won’t happen? After all, we are all sheep and we follow the herd. So you are happy reading about SRK’s detention, random arguments about local languages and arguments about pellet guns, while elsewhere, something more serious is happening. And we’ll never know about it… because the only person who wrote about it on a blog has gone quiet and the blog disappeared. | {
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Dear Jacob and LisaYour welcome!Please let me know either by EMail or PIM if you find anything different then what I have learned;it would appear that the WiFi only option is the same as the WiFi+3G model, with 3G omittedThank you in advance!Robert | {
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1996's SPACED sees the release of long-forgotten tapes that Soft Machine had made in 1969 to accompany a staged "happening" in London. The seven pieces are improvisations of varying length, centered on the electric piano and organ of Mike Ratledge, the electric bass of Hugh Hopper, and the drumming of Robert Wyatt. The recordings also feature appearances by saxophonist Brian Hopper.
Ratledge and Hugh Hopper pioneered innovations that added depth and breadth to the sounds of their instruments. Their truly unique sonic signatures are wonderfully in evidence here. This set catches the band with its core ensemble still more-or-less intact, prior to the addition of new musicians. At the time of this recording, the short, song-form experiments of the first two SOFT MACHINE albums (S/T and VOLUME TWO) were behind the band, and the expansive landscapes of THIRD were just around the corner. | {
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It is not often I run across a post on Facebook, or other social networks, that really captures my attention. Today was a much different story! As I scrolled through my newsfeed, I came across a post that not only captured my attention, but held my attention. The story of self truth realized through a tough experience. Letting his friends and followers into a personal journey that may be embarrassing for some to discuss, Actor, Best Selling Auther and founder of Natoni CosmeticsAnttoni Lopez shares the story of his personal relationship…and its end.
1 year married 2 years Divorced
By Anttoni Lopez
1 year married 2 years Divorced Written by Anttoni Lopez As I held the divorce papers in my hand all I could say was Did I fail? Did I try enough? Was it me? What happen? These are the questions I ask myself still till this day. This pain is a pain I never felt before. A feeling like your locked in a room and there is no way out. We started off dating March of 2011 I remember that day because that was the day you made your self known. You looked so handsome in your outfit and everytime I looked over my shoulder you was there. We didn’t exchange numbers that night, but I knew I would see you again.
Two weeks later we met at a mutual friends gathering and we hit it off. We talked for hours and forget everyone was there. We didn’t care because at that point we knew it was gonna be us. Before I left you that night you said to me “You know I’m going to marry you?” I laughed and said yea ok. By the 3rd week of March 2011 we officially became a couple. For the next 6 months everything was good and then we were selected to get married on the day the Same-Sex marriage bill was passed here in New York 7-24-11.
That day changed my life forever. All I ever dreamed about was being married, having a great career, and having my very own family. That changed! We would argue about anything and everything. At times it was just to much. Then 1 year later we had a big fall out and he packed his bags and moved out of our apartment. I was stuck and lost. I mean there was no cheating or lies on my part so why leave? For the next 4 months I tried everything and anything to win him back. I went to counseling and even tried to get marriage counseling for the both of us and it didn’t work. We went to one session and you told me I can’t do this no more.
I cried for so long because my life was falling apart. My career wasn’t going anywhere, my money was running low, my marriage was over, I lost friends I mean I didn’t have anyone. All I could do was turn to GOD and pray. What made it worst was that he was doing interviews and writing about me and our marriage calling it toxic and poisonous and I never mentioned anything about our marriage until now. I had to read all this from the man I say I do to and that made me feel like shit. It took me until March of 2014 to file for the divorce. I had to make the choice for me and my life.
The email I got from you after you got summoned for court was priceless. The part that hit me was this “THANK YOU for finally taking an initiative to resolve this broken union. I will be handling expeditiously. I am happy to be able to finally move on with my personal life and dedicate time to the person who has been by my side through this meandering transition of severing ties with you. If not for you, I would not have found my new relationship and real anchor in this journey of life.” Damn so you are still married and in a committed relationship? Sounds to me like adultery! Doesn’t it?
“I am very happy for you and your new found love” was what I said and it will be easier now for you to sign the divorce papers and for us to move on. In the past 2 years I have launched my own cosmetics line called Na~Toni cosmetics, I am working on my second book, and have been cast for some upcoming new films and projects, booking more photo shoots and fashion shows. Life couldn’t be better and I thank you for leaving me because I found a new me. All it took was 1 year of marriage and 2 years divorce for me to open my eyes.
What an amazing admission of self truth! I do hope you too will find strength in this personal story shared with us. It goes to prove that time stops for no person, and you determine what will be made of the time we all have left. | {
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While active seniors increasingly refuse to let age stand in the way of
athletics and physical fitness, aging does present unique challenges, especially
with regard to joints and feet. Podiatrists urge fitness buffs to take their age
into consideration and exercise caution when exercising or engaging in a
sport.
(PRWEB) July 7, 2005 -- Southern California's dry, balmy climate has been
attracting settlers and visitors ever since Spanish explorers discovered it in
1542. More than four hundred years later, California has come to represent an
entire way of life, one that's tantalizingly different from the rest of the
country.
With its relaxed attitude and breathtaking scenery, it's no
wonder California is a haven for tourists, especially those who enjoy sports.
ESPN writer Jim Caple has called California "the center of the sports universe."
Outdoors enthusiasts can be seen virtually everywhere, surfing, playing golf and
tennis, or heading to the mountains for snowboarding or skiing. Not surprising
is the dramatic increase in the number of participants in those sports over 55.
According to a recent survey by American Sports Data, Inc., a company that
specializes in sports participation and fitness research, baby-boomers and
seniors are "transforming the landscape of physical fitness."
While
active seniors increasingly refuse to let age stand in the way of athletics and
physical fitness, aging does present unique challenges, especially with regard
to joints and feet. Podiatrists urge fitness buffs to take their age into
consideration and exercise caution when exercising or engaging in a
sport.
For example, as we age, our feet become longer and wider, known as
"splaying." Ligaments in our feet begin to collapse and arches fall as the
result of both gravity and wear and tear. The process is so gradual, it often
goes unnoticed, and many individuals make the mistake of continuing to wear the
same shoe size, rather than adjusting for these changes. Podiatrists agree that
poorly-fitted shoes are a major cause of many foot complaints, including foot
callus. Other signs of aging feet are loss of cushioning in the fat pads on the
balls of our feet, as well as loss of moisture. "Dry foot" syndrome and cracked
heels are common.
Dr. Jack Morgan is a Monterey Park, California,
podiatrist and podiatric surgeon who has lectured around the country on foot
problems ranging from congenital foot defects in infants to problems specific to
the elderly and diabetic. According to Dr. Morgan, "Out of every 50 patients I
see, 10% have problems with dry, scaly or cracked skin on their feet and
increased thickness to skin, which takes the form of either foot calluses or
corns." He adds, "Among the many products for dry feet, only one, Callex® Callus
Ointment, contains natural plant enzymes, which have proven to be remarkably
effective for softening and thinning calluses, exfoliating dry cracked heels and
moisturizing dry, scaling skin."
Newly patented, acid-free Callex®
Callus Ointment is being recommended and sold by Dr. Morgan and other
podiatrists around the country. Distributed by Xenna Corporation, Callex
Ointment has been shown in consumer studies to significantly reduce callus, dry,
flaking skin and cracking on soles and heels within 15 to 30 days. Callex
moisturizes dry, rough or flaky skin, and exfoliates and thins callused areas,
while leaving normal skin unaffected and is safe for diabetic use.
Xenna
CEO C.J. Buck, says, "Callex is a refreshing exfoliant for callus and dry,
cracked heels, formulated with natural enzymes. It's free of acids, mineral oil,
colorants and lanolin and is excellent for sport, brace and work-related
calluses, whether on feet or hands. Callex also softens and smoothes ragged,
thick or hardened fingernail cuticles." The 1.75 oz. jar is a one to two month
supply, and is money-back guaranteed, as are all of Xenna's products.
Dr. Bruce Bitcover, a Lawrenceville, NJ, podiatrist says, "This product
is a real winner. Eighty percent of my patients have some type of foot callus.
There are no side effects and the ointment is easy to use. I recommend Callex
for use anywhere on the feet or where thickened skin exists." Seniors are urged
to be as active as possible and products like Callex Ointment help assure that
outdoor activities remain enjoyable.
Xenna also distributes
podiatrist-recommended NonyX® Nail Gel for yellow, dark or discolored nails.
NonyX Gel is a topical, easy-to-use gel that breaks down and removes keratin
debris - the discolored, yellow or thick granular buildup under nails which is
the actual source of nail discoloration. It softens keratin debris using natural
ethanoic acid, and permits it to be scraped out from under the nail after about
four weeks. Once keratin debris is removed, NonyX Gel keeps nails looking clear
and attractive with regular use.
Callex Ointment is now on sale in the
footcare section at Longs Drugs, at a savings of $2.00 off the regular price.
Callex is also available from podiatric physicians and online at www.drugstore.com and www.xenna.com. To order Callex
Ointment online, find a store near you or to view clinical photos, click on www.xenna.com. | {
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All the Likes and Comments on my Facebook page and my Instagram as well as all the Tweets on Twitter from people who enjoy my photos are a boost to my confidence, too. I’m becoming more sure of myself when I’m on the field or at courtside. | {
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Ancient Walls: A Geological Walking Tour of Downtown Portland
Come see billion-year-old building stones and the fossils hidden under our feet. Join us Saturday, August 22nd for a two-hour outdoor walking tour of downtown Portland’s geological mysteries and oddities. (Time and location TBA.) Bring good walking shoes, sunscreen and clothing for a cool, but possibly rapidly warming summer morning. Water and snacks are advisable, although the trip will end at a lunch stop. Open to public. Children under 12 must be supervised.
Pre-reservation for this field trip is temporarily closed. This year's President's Field Trip to Steens Mountain and other Geologic Wonders of SE Oregon will be September 8th through 13th, 2015. Planned activities will be on Sept. 9th through 12th, with the 8th and 13th being travel days.
I was in high school in 1957 when the Russians successfully launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. It is hard to explain to younger generations just what a profound event that was. To us, it was totally astonishing: that we humble humans could put an object into outer space. Until then I had planned to be an artist, but I thought “Wow! If scientists can do that, they can solve anything (ghettos, hunger, strife, …)”. So began my checkered studies in science.
About 100 of us gathered in Cramer Hall 53 to hear the very knowledgeable geologist Dr. Scott Burns talk about his newest adventure – first trip to Mt. Lassen National Park. This active volcano, the southernmost in the Cascade Mountains, last erupted in 1916. The mode of eruptions seems to be bi-modal – either quiet or violent. The volcano was named after Danish immigrant Peter Lassen who was a local blacksmith. The LA Times recently wrote that Mt. Lassen was California’s “most overlooked volcanic park” with only 400,000 visitors per year, as compared with Yosemite’s 4-million visitors per year.
President Sheila Alfsen called the meeting to the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Paul Edison-Lahm, Marty Muncie, Bev Vogt, Bo Nonn, and John Piccinnini. Also in attendance was GSOC member Bart Bartels, and Directors-elect Kirben Smoody and Larry Purchase. The minutes of the December 13th, 2014 board meeting were approved. The Treasurer’s report was approved by the board.
The GSOC board has created at new Public Outreach Coordinator position to address our objective of supporting and promoting geologic study and research, Outgoing GSOC President Prof. Sheila Alfsen has volunteered to staff the position in keeping with her love of public education. She has given numerous public talks to civic groups and schools throughout her term as president — and looks forward to keeping the public’s interest and curiosity for Geology alive. Contact her for speaking engagements!
I was in high school in 1957 when the Russians successfully launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. It is hard to explain to younger generations just what a profound event that was. To us, it was totally astonishing: that we humble humans could put an object into outer space. Until then I had planned to be an artist, but I thought “Wow! If scientists can do that, they can solve anything (ghettos, hunger, strife, …)”. So began my checkered studies in science. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Oropharma Dextrotonic is the ideal energy supplement for racing pigeons: water-soluble electrolytes, trace elements, dextrose, fructose and L-arginine L-aspartate. It increases the performance capacity, ensures quick and optimal recovery after heavy exertion or illness. It helps tired pigeons to recover and strengthens in case of muscular weakness. Dextrotonic is a powerful energy supplement. The pigeon can recover quickly by providing it with high levels of dextrose and fructose, direct sources of energy. L-arginine L-aspartate is added to Dextrotonic to overcome fatigue. The electrolytes support the fluid balance and ensure an optimal acid-base balance in muscles and blood. As a result dehydration and disruption of the biological balance is avoided. The trace elements ensure optimal metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. The combination of all these components increases the pigeon's performance capacity.
Directions for use:
During 2 days before basketing 3 bottle tops (15 ml) of Dextrotonic per litre of drinking water or
per 0.5 kg of feed. Increased effect when used in combination with Oropharma Omniform.
Pharma Pigeon Products UK
Pigeons Products International is an online store with the highest range of products for racing pigeons, pigeons sports, race, pouter, class, etc. dedicated solely and exclusively to the pigeons. Here you can find everything you need for our birds, such as creating a good medicine cabinet and essential accessories with international products. | {
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The Air Force fears it will face thousands of empty positions in the next few months because of the federal hiring freeze imposed by the White House on Jan. 23.
The service said it is working with the Defense Department to provide additional guidance for those in the pipeline for new jobs.
"The appointment of federal employees who began work on or before Jan. 23 will not be affected, and those with existing 'firm' offers with effective dates on or before Feb. 22 may proceed," the service's announcement said.
Aside from military personnel already exempt from the ruling, the Air Force said other exemptions "may be permitted to meet the national security mission."
"Our civilian force is absolutely critical to our readiness and mission; we are taking every step to ensure we get this right," said Lt. Gen. Gina M. Grosso, the deputy chief of staff for Air Force manpower, personnel and services.
"Our team has been working closely with [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] to draft clear Air Force guidance on implementation and hiring freeze exemptions," Grosso said in the release.
"As of today, we have not received the final DoD guidance memorandum, which we believe will contain some relief in critical mission areas," she said.
Civilians make up roughly 26 percent of the total Air Force, with 179,000 positions currently staffed, Air Force spokesman Maj. Bryan Lewis told Military.com. About 96 percent of civilian Air Force jobs are currently filled, he said.
But on any given month, the service loses about 1,300 personnel. Between the already vacant positions unable to be filled because of the freeze and the Air Force's historic attrition rate, the civilian workforce could shrink by 3 percent over the next four months, leaving more than 13,000 open positions, officials said.
"Once the DoD guidance is released, we will provide the field with detailed guidance on exemption processing to ensure the most swift and effective method to request needed relief," Grosso said. | {
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Get ready for Summer Reading at the East End Library’s community day, happening TODAY Saturday, June 18th, from noon to 2:00 PM. The event will be taking place in the field across from the library (1200 North 25th Street) with free food (while it lasts), information, games, face painting, and special give aways! | {
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SOLUTION for Premiere Pro Error AudioPrefetch.cpp-99
Is Premiere Pro giving you an error ‘….AudioPrefetch.ccp-99’ when trying to record audio into your timeline?
For some reason in the middle of recording the program started giving me these error boxes. I searched online, but none of the solutions people recommended in the Adobe forum or other forums helped.
What caused it? I don’t know, but it appears that the sequence suddenly became corrupted. Check to see if you try to record at another time point in your sequence if it also gives you that same error.
The simple solution to this Premier Pro error that worked for me, was to either copy and paste all the audio and video tracks into a new sequence, or to record the audio in another sequence and then copy the audio back into the corrupted sequence.
TIP: Pressing the ‘Continue’ button in the Premiere Pro Debug Event error message is not very helpful, you may end up pressing it 247 times (as some users said they counted) without it closing. Best way to deal with that error message popup is to switch windows back to the Premiere Pro program, save your project, crash the program and then re-open it.
Hope this helps you!
If you enjoyed reading this article, then please tell your friends about it. This helps us Elves get the word out, so more fellow artists can benefit! All goes hand in hand - Blessings to you the Elves shall send! :)
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This is a demo of Alawar Games' Flower Quest. Flower Quest is a puzzle game in which you rotate the branches of budding flowers to connect the plants one to another. Doing so removes the tiles on which they rest and allows other twigs and blossoms to drop onto the game board. Once all of the tiles have been cleared, you advance to the next level. | {
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Wow, has it really been over a month since I posted last? It seems like yesterday that I made my last post. Since then, it's been nothing but busywork and client jobs.
Here's a comic to help relate to my previous month+ of absence:
I won't bore anybody with the finer details of what has happened over the past month, but here's a quick overview (just to keep you entertained):
- last week was a week of bad luck: had a co-worker's computer crash (had to re-install A LOT of software and do a full hard drive backup since the backup manager wasn't syncing everything), had the roof of an office space collapsed and spewed water and insulation all over, the co-worker had to find an old copy of Office 2007 so his SBA software would work right (OOo didn't cut it, unfortunately), prepared for a client's Open House, worked at said client's Open House, had both of our PPT and SEO seminars (which went great, with the exception that our PR got out late (again) and the first attendee showed up before we did), had a confused conversation with a current client over a chart display, had a very odd sewer smell in the office all week (turned out to be a lack of water in the drainage system; finally solved that after playing the "blame game" with the building secretary), one of the units got a fresh coat of paint which made the whole building smell odd, our first marketing order arrived (YAY!) and a client got some custom t-shirts, Tokyopop shut down their US office (not relevant, but I thought it was important news to mention), switched our DNS servers to CloudFlare which made the response rate lower dramatically and the uptime much higher, helped a client with a business plan for a competition (after having to re-write most of it), had some confusion over a potential client website and the hosting issue, finally switched over 2 clients DNS records (one had a major pain trying to get her domain from her old provider), made a video for switching over DNS records for said (and future) clients, had a mixup of payment systems for a client (although they had an invoicing system from the credit processor, they wanted another one created from us; we got a call today saying they wanted to go with the credit processor's invoicing system instead of ours, which we are okay with), said client had confusion when issuing credit to organization payers, uploaded the financial reports for the past 4 quarters to the corporate site, had some SSH and FTP issues with the server (solved?), went to a new Thai restaurant in downtown, had a large influx of followers for both my and the business's twitter accounts, got a DM from George Takei on Twitter (YAY!), and that's about it for last week.
- not much else happened in the past month, aside from getting some insurance quotes, WCU getting a new chancellor, offering remote tech support for some clients, received an email that was sent 7 months ago (talk about being lost in cyberspace), had a mis-payment of a license (which was fixed), participated in a ΠΛΦ ΩΖ initiation, had a hard communication with a client's old hosting service, attended my first MeetUp, uploaded a few videos of Niko and Chi, installed our first successful SSL certificate, got 2 new clients signed on, and worked on other client works (still have no time for other projects), wrote a few informational articles, and got a mini squishy fox!
That's about it for the past month. I'll try to be better about posting on a regular basis and not every other month. | {
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Pakistan has no intention of a dialogue, says Khurshid
Former external affairs minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Monday said that Pakistan has no intention of a dialogue over Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Advisor Sartaj Aziz's statement that no formal dialogue would take place with India without Kashmir issue on agenda.
Former external affairs minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Monday said that Pakistan has no intention of a dialogue over Nawaz Sharif’s Foreign Advisor Sartaj Aziz’s statement that no formal dialogue would take place with India without Kashmir issue on agenda.
“It feels as if Pakistan does want to have clear talks or does not want to go in the right direction with India. Pakistan has no intention of a dialogue, they just want to show the world that they are talking, but India is not giving its support,” Khurshid told ANI here.
“Government should have been alert. The BJP-led government say that they have found all the solutions to the problems,” he added.
Earlier today, addressing the media in Islamabad earlier, Aziz had said that no formal dialogue would take place with India without Kashmir issue on agenda.
A joint media statement released after the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Russia on Friday stated that both sides had decided to expedite the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial, including additional information like providing voice samples.
The joint statement also said that both sides had agreed to hold a meeting in New Delhi between the two National Security Advisors to discuss all issues connected to terrorism. | {
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People love Fourth of July fireworks — the big boom followed by a glitter of color lighting up the sky. Paying the price of admission to a professional show will guarantee you a seat and let you hear a soundtrack synchronized to the blasts.
Not into big crowds and traffic? Have no fear: You don’t have to abandon your patriotic viewing. We have a list of “secret” vantage points where you can catch some of L.A. and the Inland Empire’s fireworks shows while (hopefully) dodging some of the masses.
South Bay
The annual Torrance Beach firework show is a go again this year. You’ll be able to see the show from anywhere along the coast up to the Redondo Beach Pier. The traffic can be quite a deterrent, but luckily the Palos Verdes Peninsula has some great vantage points.
The bluffs in Malaga Cove look down on the beach, offering a great spot to catch the fireworks. All along Paseo del Mar there is great visibility of the show, and there are baseball fields at the old Malaga Cove School that offer grassy seating. You’ll still need to get there early and deal with some traffic at these locations, but your best bet is to drive the long way around the peninsula (arriving at the destination from the south) or take Hawthorne Boulevard to Palos Verdes Drive North.
At the end of Via Pinzon in Palos Verdes Estates, you can walk out onto the hill and get a 180 degree view of Los Angeles. From the street level, you can see the Redondo Beach firework show and, from a distance, fireworks shows all throughout Los Angeles. You can also see Torrance Beach fireworks, but for the best view of those you’d want to hike up the hill. The best way to get to this location is to take Hawthorne Boulevard to Via Valmonte, take a left on Via Paro and another left on Via Pinzon. Keep in mind this is a residential neighborhood and parking is limited.
Long Beach
It’s not easy to avoid the masses at the Queen Mary’s fireworks show but there are some recommended spots such as Harry Bridges Memorial Park, Shoreline Aquatic Park, Rainbow Lagoon Park and Marina Green.
If you’re truly looking to avoid the Long Beach crowds, try Big Bang on the Bay, a fireworks show that takes place July 3. It’s only in its third year so it’s still relatively unknown.
For this show, there are great vantage points throughout the bay and Naples Island, or for $40-$75 ($20 for children) you can join the celebration at Boathouse on the Bay (formerly McKenna’s on the Bay), which will include a great vantage point for the show as well as music, vintage aircrafyt flyovers, food and more.
San Fernando Valley
To see the fireworks show at Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills, head over to Pierce College. Next to the college there’s an area known to residents as “The Farm” which contains livestock and horticulture, but behind it there’s a hill that offers a great vantage point. Get there using a hiking trail accessible off the south side of Stadium Way.
Top of Topanga Overlook has a beautiful view of the Valley’s west side. Though there’s not necessarily a fireworks show close by, you can still see the show at Warner Center Park and, in the distance, Porter Ranch. The overlook is at 3400 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. with plenty of parking available.
For an alternative view of the fireworks show at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, head over to the Castaway Restaurant and Special Events Center. For $45 you can get a table on the patio with a view of the fireworks and food from the buffet. Or for $50, you can get a table in the parking lot that offers an even better view of the show, and in addition to the buffet you also get unlimited beer.
San Gabriel Valley
On a clear night you can see the lights of Catalina Island from Glendora Ridge Road in Glendora, so this spot gives you a view of all the fireworks in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond.
Glendora Ridge Road is accessed by one of three routes: 1) The road departs from Mt. Baldy Road in Baldy Village; 2) From the city of Glendora, via Valley Center Avenue, then taking Glendora Mountain Road to Glendora Ridge Road; 3) Via the interior of San Gabriel Canyon, taking East Fork Road off Route 39, to Glendora Mountain Road, which then leads to Glendora Ridge Road.
The U.S. Forest Service has announced that due to fire dangers, Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road will be closed the morning of July 3 through July 8. The area will be accessible by foot and bicycle. So depending on where along Glendora Ridge Road you are trying to get to, you may have to modify your means of getting there.
Or, the equestrian trail off Turnbull Canyon Road offers a view of all the fireworks Los Angeles County has to offer. (On nights with a full moon, you can even see the Channel Islands shadowed against the Pacific Ocean.) Turnbull Canyon Road is accessed from either Hacienda Heights or Whittier. Drive to the road’s crest. Find the gated trail on the south side of the road, just short of the road crest. Follow this trail 1/4 mile to the hill crest, at 1200’ above sea level.
Pasadena
The Angeles National Forest isn’t just good for hiking. Take Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada-Flintridge up to Angeles Crest and stop at the first or second turnout in the forest to find a great view of Downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.
This next spot may not necessarily be a secret, but Colorado Street Bridge is a great spot to see the Rose Bowl display.
Redlands
Mentone residents who live on Nice Avenue between Agate and Crafton avenues bring out their lawnchairs for an easy and beautiful view of the fireworks show at the University of Redlands. You can join them, but remember it’s a residential area.
Whittier
Rio Hondo Community College is a suggested location to park and watch fireworks in Whittier. Take the 605 Freeway, exit Peck Road and go south. The entrance is right where Peck meets Workman Mills Road. There’s also a side entrance from Workman Mills, just north of the intersection.
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Dalai Lama tells business leaders to have a heart
By JOHN MILLER, Associated Press, September 13, 2005
KETCHUM, Idaho (USA) -- The symbolism of the Dalai Lama's Idaho trip was on display as the spiritual guide for 20 million Tibetan Buddhists, perched on a stage 5,800 feet up in the Sawtooth Range, gave advice to 350 American business and political leaders who traveled here looking for answers.
In a distinctly Sun Valley twist, the pilgrimage vehicle of choice for some was private jet.
Monday's event was meant to encourage the powerful to incorporate compassion into their business and public lives. Coming after fraud convictions of U.S. executives including Worldcom Inc.'s Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan and cable-TV magnate John Rigas, the Dalai Lama's address underscored the importance of respecting employees, shareholders and customers, said Kiril Sokoloff, a financial industry consultant and Buddhist who spent $1 million to bring the exiled Tibetan leader to the Idaho resort area.
"We human beings have the seed of human compassion," said the Dalai Lama, sitting next to a translator inside an event tent on Sokoloff's Ketchum estate, where trees along the main road toward Galena Summit hide a house with ponds, fountains and the jagged Sawtooth peaks beyond.
A day earlier, the 70-year-old monk had addressed 10,000 people on a high school football field _ and millions of others via a live CNN broadcast _ to mark the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to extend sympathy for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
At Monday's event, guests included business people and fund managers who oversee a combined $3.5 trillion in capital, according to organizers of the event. Other attendees included Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne; U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.; Alan Blinken, former U.S. ambassador to Belgium under President Clinton; and the motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
"It's not mutually exclusive, being compassionate and running a successful business," Thomas McKissick, a Los Angeles fund manager who oversees $5.5 billion in one of the TCW Galileo funds, said in an earlier interview. "It has to do with corporate responsibility."
During his first visit to Idaho, the Dalai Lama told reporters Sunday that the value of the U.S. invasion of Iraq remains something for history to decide.
He reiterated concerns about his native Tibet, which he fled in 1959 following a failed uprising, as the Chinese government pursues a program of economic expansion in the Himalayan region that human rights groups believe is pushing native Tibetans to the margins.
Later Monday, the Dalai Lama was to speak to thousands of Idaho school children in Hailey. After leaving Idaho on Wednesday, his extended U.S. visit includes stops in Arizona, Texas, New York, New Jersey and California before concluding in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13. | {
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Donald Trump Claims He Never Met Some Women Accusing Him of Sexual Assault
Donald Trump contends he doesn’t know and never even met some of the women accusing him of sexual assault, and his running mate said Friday the campaign is working on producing evidence that the claims are false.
Trump himself has called his accusers “horrible liars” and said he will prove the allegations aren’t true, but Hillary Clinton and ally Michelle Obama say Americans are learning more about Trump’s unacceptable behavior every day.
“We can’t expose our children to this any longer, not for another minute, let alone for four years,” the first lady told Clinton supporters at a rally in New Hampshire. In a passionate address Thursday, Mrs. Obama said that after years of working to end “this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect … we’re hearing these exact same things on the campaign trail. We are drowning in it.”
In an appearance Friday morning on Fox News, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence blamed the news media for what he characterized as an obsession with “unsubstantiated” claims by Trump’s accusers.
“There will be more evidence coming out” to prove Trump’s innocence, Pence said. Asked what evidence he was talking about, Pence said, “The campaign is working on bringing that information out.” He did not elaborate.
Trump was cheered at rallies Thursday in Florida and two appearances in Ohio, states central to his campaign. He is campaigning Friday in another crucial state, North Carolina.
Clinton has no rallies planned Friday, but President Barack Obama planned to campaign for her in Ohio.
The allegations against Trump dominated the campaign Thursday. Four women have told publications detailed stories about encounters with Trump that ended with groping, kissing and other unwanted sexual advances.
“These vicious claims about me, of inappropriate conduct with women, are totally and absolutely false. And the Clintons know it,” Trump said Thursday in Florida. He offered no evidence discrediting the reports except to ask why his accusers had waited years and then made their allegations less than a month before the election.
His defense appeared undermined by a video that surfaced last week in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their permission. Similar behavior was detailed by women who accused Trump in articles published late Wednesday by The New York Times and the Palm Beach Post. Separately, a People magazine reporter offered a first-person account accusing Trump of attacking her in 2005 while she was in Florida to interview him and his pregnant wife.
The New York billionaire denied the allegations and blamed them on Clinton’s campaign and a complicit news media. He promised to sue his media critics and said he was preparing evidence that would discredit his female accusers, whom he called “horrible people. They’re horrible, horrible liars.” For her part, Clinton said “the disturbing stories just keep on coming.”
Trump’s attacks came after campaign manager Kellyanne Conway earlier in the week highlighted a Clinton tweet that said “every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported.” Conway hoped to encourage more women to come forward with allegations against Bill Clinton, building on the campaign’s decision to bring three of the former president’s accusers to the second presidential debate.
“His campaign is promising more scorched-earth attacks. Now that’s up to him,” Hillary Clinton said during a San Francisco fundraiser. “He can run his campaign however he chooses. And frankly, I don’t care if he goes after me.”
Republican leaders across the country said they were deeply troubled by the allegations against Trump, but there was no evidence of new defections. Over the weekend, dozens of Republican senators and congressmen vowed they would not vote for him, with many calling on him to step aside. Some recanted after an aggressive weekend debate performance.
The stories about Trump and his countercharges against Clinton’s husband have distracted attention from the release of thousands of hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta that included some potentially damaging information.
A new batch indicated on Thursday that her 2008 presidential campaign had tried to move the Illinois Democratic primary to a later date, believing it might help her. The emails are being parceled out by WikiLeaks.
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Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) , a leading global provider of cloud services for video, today announced that PrimeTime Entertainment, Thailand’s newest on-demand streaming service, has partnered with Brightcove to power transcoding for its over-the-top (OTT) entertainment channel. With Brightcove’s Zencoder cloud-based encoding service, PrimeTime is able to rapidly deliver high-quality video on-demand (VOD) content to satisfy audiences across platforms and devices.
“With the biggest on-demand selection of movies and TV series in Thailand, we manage a huge volume of content spanning popular movie franchises, indie movie jewels, all-time classics and whole seasons of TV dramas and comedies,” said Kasidit Kolasastraseni, Founder and CEO for PrimeTime Solution Pte., Ltd and PrimeTime Entertainment Pte., Ltd. “Our goal is to deliver video content to consumers quickly and on the connected device of their choice. This requires tremendous video processing power and the Brightcove Zencoder service gives us impressive savings in time, resources and costs throughout our media processing workflow.”
PrimeTime selected Zencoder for its consistently fast encoding times and its simplicity and ease of use over previous in-house deployments. Zencoder’s well-tuned encoding software, intelligent queueing algorithms and instant scalability, has enabled PrimeTime to release to market new movie and series titles every week. Up to 70 shows are encoded per day with Zencoder, enabling PrimeTime to deliver video to consumers in 720p and 1080p with 5.1 surround sound for a high-quality viewing and cinema-like experience. Zencoder’s well documented API, easy-to-use API Request Builder and rich integration libraries also allows PrimeTime to seamlessly integrate Zencoder into its broader content workflow to scale media processing operations in the cloud.
“We are focused on providing the best possible encoding performance, in terms of speed, reliability and efficiency,” said Mark Blair, Vice President of Asia Pacific at Brightcove. “PrimeTime is set to change the local OTT video streaming landscape in Thailand and we are excited for the company to take advantage of the power of our Zencoder cloud-based encoding solution to scale its video initiatives even further as a home-grown, world-class video streaming service.”
Brightcove Zencoder’s cloud-based approach gives media organisations access to unlimited video encoding power through a simple API, without the expense and complexity of traditional encoding hardware. Zencoder’s VOD service converts videos into interoperable formats so that content publishers can quickly distribute video to consumers on virtually any Internet-connected device. In addition to the VOD encoding service, Brightcove also offers the Zencoder Live Cloud Transcoding service that allows publishers to scale live event transcoding and easily deliver high-quality viewing experiences.
About PrimeTime Entertainment
PrimeTime Entertainment Company Limited is a provider of on-demand Internet streaming media that allows consumers to watch Hollywood movies and TV series on their mobile, tablet, laptop or smart TV. With the newest content than any home entertainment service or DVD retailer in Thailand, the biggest on-demand selection and the highest quality movie and TV series library, viewers can watch their favourite content on PrimeTime anytime and anywhere. To subscribe, visit www.GoPrimetime.tv
About Brightcove
Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) is a leading global provider of powerful cloud solutions for delivering and monetizing video across connected devices. The company offers a full suite of products and services that reduce the cost and complexity associated with publishing, distributing, measuring and monetizing video across devices. Brightcove has more than 5,500 customers in over 70 countries that rely on the company’s cloud solutions to successfully publish high-quality video experiences to audiences everywhere. To learn more, visit www.brightcove.com.
This press release may include forward-looking statements regarding anticipated objectives, growth and/or expected product and service developments or enhancements. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the following words (among others): “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “plan,” “should” or “anticipates,” or comparable words and their negatives. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees but are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations contained in these statements. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K. Brightcove assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of changing circumstances or otherwise, and such statements are current only as of the date they are made.
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a result of reliance on the information contained within this website including
data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals. Please be fully informed regarding the
risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the
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Contract: Reggie Evans signed a three-year deal worth approximately $5.1 million with the Los Angeles Clippers in a sign-and-trade that sent Evans to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets acquired him using a trade exception, meaning they didn’t have to use any of their salary cap exceptions to sign Evans. In return, the Nets gave the Clippers the option to swap second-round picks in 2016.
The Nets wanted Evans, a historically great rebounder and solid defender with few other discernible NBA-level skills, as their backup power forward behind Kris Humphries. Evans earned the starting role in early December and never relinquished it, though improving on Evans at power forward is a priority for the Nets heading into the offseason.
Options: There are no options in Reggie Evans’s contract.
Expectations: Reggie Evans is expected to play out the duration of his contract with Brooklyn, though his small contract and historic rebounding ability makes him a possible trade chip. Once his contract expires after the 2014-15 season, Evans will be an unrestricted free agent. The Nets will own his full Bird rights and can go over the cap to re-sign him if they so choose. | {
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2 months at the office
Countless clicks, phone calls and sketches done on paper and notebooks all together in a single picture: 50 days in office.
Image taken with a pinhole camera mounted insaide the suspended ceiling, within 10 weeks of continuous exposure on black & white photographic paper fomaspeed C312 matte. | {
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Estate Planning for Childless Couples
You may be under the impression that you do not need estate planning if you do not presently have any children or if your estate is relatively small. However, this can be a major mistake that can compromise your ability to pass on as many assets as possible to other beneficiaries including to charity. There are many different benefits, even for couples who do not currently have children, to engage in the estate planning process. These include:
Balancing your charitable, financial and personal goals.
Health care planning.
Preventing exploitation.
The fact that many people around the country are dual income couples who do not have kids, it is extremely important to think about the benefits of consulting with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney. You may still be able to accomplish numerous goals in particular when it comes to charity or assisting other beneficiaries even if you do not presently have children. Furthermore, estate planning is about more than what will happen to your assets after you pass away.
It is also about the process of determining who will step in and make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. These critical questions need to be answered even if you do not presently have children and you want to be on the same page as your spouse even if you do not have any minors currently in the picture. Talk to an Ohio estate planning lawyer to learn more. | {
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We had a great fresh fish lunch, followed by an afternoon filled with hierbas, conversation and laughter with the very spanish and funny waiters, turning out to be all part of the family. Such a great time that we almost missed the last tram back...More
We had a very pleasant evening here, with good service and food but the overall bill was on the high side. The location could not be bettered which no-doubt created a premium on the price, but all in all we thought it expensive.
Went there to avoid the tourist traps close to the tram station based on reviews. Food was OKish (we had shrimps, their special soup with fish and lobster and pulpo), waiter was a nice chap (the place was virtually empty). If you go inside you'll...More
Had higher hopes after reading many glowing reviews. Went for lunch and it was very quiet. We had quid and soller prawns. The prawns were very undercooked and not enjoyable to eat. The salad it came with was so so. The squid was fine but...More
We ate what the restaurant is known for : calderata of lobster. Pretty pricy, 30 euros per person, but still worth the buy. Good quality seafood and a great sauce along with it. So far for the food. Then the waiter...Some young guy, about 20...More
Went there after seeing local fishermen eating their lunch there the day before. The Caldetera (fish stew) was excellent. Very pleasant lunch indeed in the sunshine Will say lots of very good seafood in reataurants local catches beeing caught and eaten .
The Real “Gambas de Sóller”
When you go to Can Miquelina you know for sure you are going to eat fresh an high quality food.
They make a delicious lobster stew and they have the best prawns of Soller.
I say the best because all...More
We were early, and managed to get a nice table, even without a reservation. We saw that many had to look elsewere, when they came later, as this is a popular restaurant. Excellent fish, and very serviceminded staff, and a winelist with with all you...More | {
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Chu, in Review
Secretary of the Department of Energy Steven Chu announced his resignation Friday in a 3,700 word “Dear Colleague” address. While this is the time usually reserved for valedictory addresses or sentimental remembrances, I for one cannot do that. For me, and I’d guess other supporters of biofuels and all those who support balanced leadership of all DOE programs, it is a time of Good Bye to All That and a hope that the future will be better.
Yesterday I was at the Washington DC Auto Show/Industry Day where Secretary Chu made his last public appearance before the announcement. It encapsulated all the traits that made a shambles of US biofuel/bioenergy policy while continuing his elevation of the poor selling and poor performing electric car to the pedestal of savior.
To set the stage. Just before his appearance, Nissan Automotive was on the schedule at the show. Their topic? Dropping the price of the electric Leaf by $2,000-$3,000 to improve sales. Would that be the marketing strategy of a company with a hot, in-demand product? About 10,000 Leafs were sold in the US last year by Nissan. The sales goal announced for 2012 was around 20,000. What else could they do but try dropping the price, which still left the Leaf priced considerably above a comparably equipped Nissan Sentra that runs on liquid fuel.
Another interesting fact was reported by the Nissan speaker. 90% of all Nissan recharges (which take about 3 hours) were performed at the home. This was happening despite millions of dollars of public money having been spent on public and place-of-work chargers.
On to Secretary Chu’s performance.
The Secretary was introduced by David Danielson who is the head of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Mr. Danielson stated upfront that the task of DOE was to support President Obama’s “All of the Above” energy strategy. So what is one of the first things we hear Secretary Chu say?
That the US will reduce our dependence on foreign oil with EVs (electric vehicles), LNG, CHG, and hydrogen.
That’s right, biofuels are not mentioned. In his speech they were not part of “All of the Above.”
Furthermore, he didn’t mention the need for the development of every economically possible method to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), which is the Federally mandated goal of the new 54.5 mpg automobile fuel economy standards.
What did he talk about? EVs. How great they will be. How the government needs to spend even more tax dollars on public charging stations so people will buy them. How they will lower consumer electrical costs.
How there will be 1 million of them on the road by his 2015-2016 deadline even though there are about 50,000 on the road in 2013 and sales are not going well. How they should be marketed as a great way to address his displeasure with getting gasoline on his hands when he pumps fuel. (I wonder how often this happens since he said earlier that he doesn’t own a car?)
What happened to “All of the Above?” What happened to the importance of how 10% ethanol in our fuel reduces oil imports by about 900,000 barrels a day while also reducing GHGs? And, while you knew you were leaving yesterday, what happened to thanking the people of EERE for all the hard work they are putting into the development of new, even lower GHG biofuels?
For me, Good Bye to All That. Good bye to devoting all your time to only your pet projects. Good bye to failed lithium-ion batteries (Boeing 787s anyone?). Good bye to confusing Congressional budget sequestering with carbon sequestration.
I look forward to a new time, a new land, a place where a DOE Secretary will provide leadership for the entire portfolio of EERE programs. I look forward to a DOE secretary who knows that only renewable energies, and not natural gas, will get us on a straight path to mitigating climate change and reducing oil imports. I look forward to better and clearer days in this new land.
Good bye to all that.
This essay is reprinted with permission from Advanced Biofuels USA, which promotes public understanding, acceptance, and use of advanced biofuels by promoting research, development and improvement of advanced biofuels technologies, production, marketing and delivery; and by promoting the sustainable development, cultivation and processing of advanced biofuels crops, and agricultural and forestry residues and wastes.
Note from the Digest.Nissan announced last month that it would be shifting from emphasis of battery-powered EVs to liquid fuel-powered hybrids. More on the rationale, here – and on the dismal sales of 14,687 battery-electric cars in the US, or 0.1% of US auto sales. | {
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Petzold’s Barbara sold across Europe, with deals for the U.K. (Soda), France (Pyramide), Spain (Golem), Italy (BIM), Benelux (A-Film) and Scandinavia (Future). Adopt Films picked up the title for the U.S. while New Select snatched it for Japan.
Widely praised as Petzold’s strongest work, Barbara stars Nina Hoss as a doctor living in communist East Germany who is banned to the countryside as punishment after requesting a visa to leave to the West.
Just The Wind, Fliegauf’s look at the murderous oppression of the Romany in Hungary, was sold for Spain (Vertigo), Benelux (Contact), Ex-Yugoslavia (Discovery), Greece (Ama), Czech and Slovak Republic (Artcam) and Taiwan (Joint).
Match Factory had strong sales across its entire Berlin slate. Music Box Films picked up U.S. rights to Julian Roman Pölsler’s The Wall starring Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others), which won the prize of the Ecumenical Jury for a film screening in Berlin’s Panorama section. Other territories sold include the U.K. (New Wave), Benelux (ABC-Cinemien) and France (Bodega).
Competition title Home For The Weekend from Hans-Christian Schmid went for France (Jour2Fete), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Poland (Aurora) and Colombia (Babilla Cine), while Edwin’s magic realist entry Postcards from the Zoo was picked up for Austria (Stadtkino), Korea (Sponge) and Taiwan (Joint).
Market title And If We All Lived Together from French director Stephane Robelin sold to Canada (A-Z Films), Israel (United King), Norway (Fidalgo), Spain (Golem) and Estonia (Tallinn Films), with a U.S. deal expected soon. | {
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The new CharaPukas came in a few weeks ago, but I only just got a chance to photograph them!! The little rafts are so hard to blow air into?? Why??! But worth it!!
I got special “waking up face” Haru and Sousuke, as I found them to be the cutest, but I also always get the special face Haru since he is always the cutest. He is the only CharaPuka I have the full special face collection for, but his original, where he is smiling, is the best of all <333
These CharaPuka can also spoon one another so nicely. Yeah.
And does anyone else actually use these as bath toys?!? It’s fun!!!!!!
Haruka:“Who are you!?” He had heard his partner’s muffled cries around the beach when he was jogging a little late in the night. The teenager had a feeling of worry grow in his gut as he tried to find the voice’s source. He soon found them cornered on a rock in the beach and someone pinning them down, their lips on theirs. His partner squirmed, trying to break away. Haru immediately pushed the stranger away and embraced his partner. Once the stranger saw Haru snarling at them, they ran. He hugs his partner tight, kissing their cheek. “It’s okay… I’m here."
Makoto:”____…?“ Makoto was walking the school halls when he heard his partner’s muffled voice, followed by a desk scraping on the wood floor. Filled with confusion, he looked around and found a classroom where he could hear noises. Once he opened it, he found that it was empty except for his partner and another student who was kissing them. At first, Makoto thought that his s/o was cheating on him, but soon saw that their face was twisted in fear and struggle. His mind quickly changed and he ran towards the student, punching their cheek. They hit the ground hard and realized they were caught, so they scrambled away. Makoto then pulls up his partner and strokes their hair, his heart beating fast. "Are you okay?"
Nagisa:"What are you doing to ____-chan!?” He had been about ten minutes late for his date with his partner, but finally reached his destination: The park. They were supposed to have a picnic today and chose the park to eat at. He looked around, but couldn’t find his partner anywhere. He started to ask other people if they’ve seen them and a person replied that he saw them head towards the restrooms. Nagisa thanked them and dashed to the bathrooms only to find his partner shaking and struggling while their lips collided with a stranger’s. In less than a second, he tackled them to the ground and grabbed his partner’s hand, running away with them. After he was done running, he plants his lips on his partner. “___-chan, did they do anything else to you?"
Rei: "Let go of ____!”
Rei was shopping around the local bookstore and had seen his partner walking on the street through the store windows. Deciding to try and get to them, he quickly hurried to the cashier to buy his books he wanted, but found that the line was a bit slow. Finally, after he had purchased his items, he went out to the street and went in the direction his s/o went. He found the street empty and he felt a frown etch his face. He was about to turn and go home, but then heard his partner’s voice yell “Please! Someone!”. Rei turned back and saw that a small ally was in the direction his partner went. When he checked, there they were, their lips molded with another. Rei drops everything and yells while grabbing his partner away from the stranger. The stranger quickly fled while the megane checks on his beloved. He holds both their hands, checking for any physical damage done to them. “I’m sorry, ____… I should have met up with you sooner."
Rin: "Get the fuck away!” Rin was waiting for his partner in the café they decided to meet at. After they didn’t arrive at the designated time, he was confused and tried calling them, just to hear it go to voicemail. He didn’t know why, but he felt fear rise up, so he decided to walk over to their house and see if they had left already. After about 20 minutes, he got into his s/o’s neighbor hood and saw two people. When he squinted, Rin saw that it was his partner being backed up onto a fence while a stranger held their wrists. His s/o kept trying to part away, but the stranger kept smashing their lips back in. He was completely frozen for a second, but before he even realized it, he had punched the stranger and held his partner. The stranger crawled away, afraid Rin would hurt them more. He would have, except his partner was shaking, so he just held them in his arms and whispered that everything was okay. “You’re safe now."
Sosuke:"What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Sosuke was coming out of Iwatobi’s hospital, feeling completely tired. He headed to his partner’s house, hoping that they can make him feel better, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw them just sitting in one of the benches outside the hospital, playing with their phone. He smiled as he went over to them, but frowned when an unfamiliar person beat him to it. His partner looked up and tried to leave, but the stranger had forced them to sit down as their hands roamed his s/o’s body. Sou completely lost it when the stranger smashed their lips on theirs. The next thing Sosuke knew, the stranger was passed out on the ground and he had his fist raised up. He quickly hugged his partner and ran away from the stranger. He kisses them deeply and holds onto their hips, not wanting to ever let them go. “I swear, I won’t ever let this happen again…”
Rin would have no problem at all communicating with his S/O parents, as he is able to speak English just as well as Japanese. He would be very calm and polite during the meeting, but would get a bit embarrassed and bashful if the parents started to talk about their relationship. The parents would most likely end up liking him.
Makoto isn’t as good as Rin when it comes to English, so he would be very nervous. He would have studied a bit beforehand, so that he could communicate with his S/O parents better.
When the time came, Makoto would be very bashful and a bit awkward, but very polite. He’d need his S/O to translate the things that he didn’t understand, though. Overall, the parents wouldn’t be able to resist his charms and would end up loving him.
What do you think Makoto, Aii, Rei, Rin, and Kisumi would feel watching their s/o sing and act on stage? (Totally not a self-indulgent ask pfffft not at all)
this entire blog is for self-indulgence, my dear. we live in the lap of luxury~ (that is, if you consider my writing a luxury. huh)
Makoto would feel an overwhelming surge of pride, seeing you performing. He’d helped run lines with you the previous night, calmed your nerves before you left that morning; he’d seen every gruesome stage that a performer went through to get such an exquisite performance. He knew how hard it had been for you, doing runthrough after runthrough, so seeing the production go so smoothly comforted him. Your voice was more captivating than ever, your characters more convincing than he’d seen before - he could describe his current state as nothing less than exultant.
Rei had always seen the merit in theatre and musical performances, and having a partner who was so gifted in the area was a treat to savour. He respected all the hard work you put into your performance, and, even though he hadn’t seen much of your practices or run-throughs, he could see the effort paying off right before his eyes. The crowd was exuberant, as was he - observing your talents in action was truly something to behold.
Rin had never really been all that fascinated by the more ‘extravagant’ subjects, often teasing you for spending so much time practising your lines. Now, however, he truly couldn’t deny your talents, and the value of your time spent repeating line after line, memorising every single word, capturing the spirit of another human being - Rin realised that you weren’t just playing that character: You were that character, and it was astounding. He could certainly appreciate the time and effort you spent honing your voice, your characters, your mind; and as such, he appreciated you all the more.
Nitori was blown away by your courage - stepping on a stage in front of all those people, letting them hear your lovely voice, portraying a character and telling a story… He marvelled in your confidence; it radiated from you, even from the stage, and the performance was made all the better because of it. He had not a single doubt in his mind that you would pull the performance off perfectly. When the show was over, Nitori proudly informed other guests that you were his partner, and yes, you really were that talented. He felt honoured to have such a talented partner.
Before the show, Kisumi wouldn’t stop bouncing in his seat; he wasn’t dissimilar to a child that had been given too much sugar. How could he feel any less energetic, though? His ____ was performing, and oh boy, he was excited. When you appeared on stage, he had to remind himself not to scream and wave in encouragement - he felt just as proud as when Hayato performed in his first school play. His shouts were the loudest, his claps the most enthusiastic, come the curtain call. And no, there was absolutely no way you were going to stop him from sneaking backstage to congratulate you on the wonderful performance firsthand. | {
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1:1,250,000 scale wall map of South East Australia covering the most populous corner of Australia. Covering from Adelaide in South Australia in the west, to Newcastle in New South Wales in the north, and all of Victoria in the south, this map is both large in size and breadth of area it covers. Designed to meet the needs of the business and travelling public who commute between the state capitals on a regular basis, the map provides excellent detail of the whole region, unimpeded by state borders, lists of towns or other information including a Distance Grid and Road Distance/Time Travel Guide. This map is an invaluable tool for businesses, homes, and schools. Use it to determine routes of travel, customer locations, and distance and time measuring and more through the South East corner of Australia.
Map Product Range
Related Products
About Us
Meridian Maps publications are available from Australia's map shops, books shops, and outdoor recreational businesses. Our maps are also available for purchase on this website. New releases include new editions of the Wombat State Forest 4WD Map, The Otways 4WD Map, Great Ocean Walk Map and the Lerderderg & Werribee Gorges Map Guide. In addition Meridian's Custom Mapping service means we provide tailored mapping over any area we cover. | {
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Note: Most Limited Editions will be sent using USPS Priority Mail® due to their size and weight.
International Shipping Restrictions
The NISA Online Store is able to ship to many locations around the world. However, we are unable to ship to addresses in the PAL region. Attempting to create an order on our store using a shipping address in the PAL region will result in the error message of "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time." To check if you are in the PAL region, please view the list of countries provided below.
If you live within the PAL region, please visit our sister site NISA Europe Online Store. The NISA Europe Online Store was created in order to give our fans in Europe and Australia a place where they can order PAL versions of items, if we have the opportunity to offer them. Please note--although we always try to bring our titles to as many regions as we can, we are not always able to make all titles available in both the NISA Online Store as well as the NISA Europe Online Store.
Please also note that due to licensing restrictions, NISA Online Store is unable to ship any items to Japan. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Return Policy
We will accept returns of damaged/defective products if we are contacted by the customer within 14 days of the delivery confirmation on your tracking number.
Returns will require the following:1) The item MUST be in its original plastic shrinkwrap. 2) The return must be approved by an NISA Online Store representative. Please contact us at [email protected].
Note: If your order has already shipped before you request to cancel your order, we will have to ask for you to pay for the return shipping. Please note that in many cases, orders can instead be marked as "RETURN TO SENDER" or refused upon delivery to have it sent back to us at no further charge. We appreciate your understanding.
Giclees are not eligible for returns or exchanges, as they are made to order.
Exchange/Replacement Policy
We are happy to do our best to help address any damage claims created within 14 days of the delivery date as shown on your tracking number, and if replacement components are available. Due to the low quantity made of our Limited Editions and other products, we only have a certain amount of replacement components and items available specifically for this use. These replacements are available only while supplies last.
Please detail what is damaged within your order, and we will do our best to offer a replacement component. In most cases we have replacement outerboxes, art books, soundtracks, and other components available to send as replacement units.
If a full replacement is needed for your product, and we have sufficient stock to replace your unit, then we will provide a shipping label for you to use, and ask for your product to be shipped back to our office. Once we receive the item, we will be able to ship you one replacement. All our products are packed with great care in preparation for shipment, although we cannot control all aspects of the shipping process as it is handled by a third party. If additional assistance is needed after the first replacement, we will need for the customer to pay for shipping on any additional replacements.
Please note that we are only able to accept full units for replacement if they are still sealed. Additionally, a replacement may not be shipped until the damaged unit is shipped back to our address.
Please send any damage claims to [email protected]
Order Limitations
Due to the limited quantities of our products, the NISA Online Store reserves the right to adjust orders that exceed 3 units of one Limited Edition product. A customer is allowed to order over 3 units, but please be aware that we may change the quantity back down to 3 units of that one product at our discretion. We will notify customers in the event their order has been modified.
Orders above $500 are monitored for possible fraudulent activity.
Sales Tax
Our Online Store charges sales tax to all shipping addresses located in California, Washington, and Texas.
Reward Points
Reward points are a way for customers to earn discounts on their Online Store purchases!
Customers with NISA Online Store accounts receive 5 Reward Points for every whole dollar spent on the store. Reward Points can be redeemed during checkout once you reach a balance of at least 500 reward points. There is no limit to the amount of Reward Points you can earn and they never expire.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a preorder?
A preorder is an order placed for an item that is not yet available. Placing a preorder reserves a copy of this item for fulfillment at a future date. This means that the item will not ship directly after your order is placed, but later, once the item is available. You can reference the date or period during which your preorder item is scheduled for release in the left hand side of the item’s store page, adjacent to the preorder button.
Because preorder items are not yet in stock, we do not charge for preorders when an order is placed. For more information, please see “Payment/Billing”, section “When is payment taken for preorders?”
Will I receive my Limited Edition on release day?
We begin shipping orders a few days before a title's release date. In most cases, customers receive their orders by the release date. Although we do always try to have items arrive by the release date, factors such as weather, holidays, or other events impacting the delivery service mean that we cannot guarantee a delivery date.
Please note that if your order contains multiple preorder items that have different release dates, the order will not ship until all items have been released. For more information, please see the help topic immediately below. If you have any questions about your delivery, please reference your tracking number, or feel free to contact us!
What happens if I order additional items with a preorder?
We ship orders to our customers once all items in the order are available to ship.
Example: If you preorder two items in the same order, "Product A" releases May 9th and the other item in your order "Product B" releases on June 1st, then both items will not ship until the last item is ready, meaning your order will not ship until shortly before June 1st.
Preordering multiple items together in this fashion allows customers to combine shipping for a lower cost, or to add multiple items together to reach the minimum required to get free shipping.
If you are interested in receiving your orders separately, we can help you arrange that! Please note that splitting orders apart may require you to pay shipping charges for one or more of the new orders.
Do out of stock products ever become available again?
Typically we do not restock any items and most products are available only once on our store. This is especially true with our Limited Editions! Because of this, we highly recommend on placing preorders on items you are interested in. This is the best way to ensure you can receive the product you are looking for.
Once an item has gone out of stock, there is a possibility for copies to return to our store following customer cancellations or returns, the cancellation of customer orders that remained unpaid for a period of time after the item's release, or by the release of copies initially held for lost/damaged item replacement back into sellable inventory. You can request to be automatically notified in the event that an item receives additional stock by using the link on the item's product page: "SIGN UP TO GET NOTIFIED WHEN THIS PRODUCT IS BACK IN STOCK."
Why does my order still say Processing?
Orders will show as "Processing" on the NISA Online Store until they have been confirmed as shipped. Typically, the only two order statuses a customer will see for their order are "Processing" and "Complete". Even if your order has been billed, it will still show as "Processing" until it has been shipped.
How can I make a change to an existing order? (Cancellation, order modification, change of address, change of payment method, etc.)
Customers are unable to modify orders that have already been created. Please contact us and we will be happy to make those changes for you!
Send us an email at [email protected], or click the green "Help" button at the bottom right of any store page. Please let us know your order number as well as what changes you would like made to your order.
Please note that we may be unable to update customer information for orders that contain a preorder that is one week from its release date, or orders of in-stock items once they have been placed, as the orders may already be preparing for shipment in our warehouse.
Why hasn't my order shipped?
Most commonly, orders have not shipped because either 1) the order contains preorder items that have not yet been released yet, or 2) because there was an issue during the billing process.
Please contact us at [email protected] with your order number, and we will happily look into the reason why your order has not shipped.
When is payment taken for preorders?
We do not take payment for a preordered item until about two weeks before an item's release. An authorization to your payment method will be created when your order is first placed, but will expire, at which point the funds will become available again. We will usually send out a notification email a few weeks before an item's release to inform you about when the billing for your item will take place.
Please note that if any changes to your billing method occur after you place your order but before it is billed, such as a card being reissued or your billing address changing, your order may need to be updated with this new information. Otherwise, your order may fail billing, and may not be shipped to you.
Why was I charged early? / Why did my payment expire and return to my balance?
When you first place your order, we take an authorization for the full amount of your order. An authorization will hold funds aside in your bank account to see if the form of payment you listed is valid, and does not represent the final charge for your order. Although we do not take any funds from you at this time, the authorization will hold the funds aside and they will be unavailable until the authorization expires. For credit cards, it typically expires 6-10 business days after it is placed. PayPal payments can take up to 30 days to show as expired. The exact amount of time depends on your financial institution. After the authorization expires, the money it was holding aside will be returned to your account. If an authorization has not expired by these time frames, please contact your financial institution directly. The NISA Online Store is not able to void authorizations directly for credit cards.
PayPal users: If you need to have a PayPal transaction ID for an active order voided, you may contact us at [email protected] to do so. Please note that we may need to issue a PayPal invoice in its place if you are still interested in receiving your order.
Why can't I select shipping? I just get the message "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time."
The NISA Online Store is able to ship to many locations around the world. However, we are unable to ship to addresses in the PAL region. Attempting to create an order on our store using a shipping address in the PAL region will result in the error message of "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time." To check if you are in the PAL region, please view the list of countries provided below.
If you live within the PAL region, please visit our sister site NISA Europe Online Store. The NISA Europe Online Store was created in order to give our fans in Europe and Australia a place where they can order PAL versions of items, if we have the opportunity to offer them. Please note--although we always try to bring our titles to as many regions as we can, we are not always able to make all titles available in both the NISA Online Store as well as the NISA Europe Online Store.
Please also note that due to licensing restrictions, NISA Online Store is unable to ship any items to Japan. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Preorders, Limited Editions and Product Availability
Limited Edition Stock Meter
To help make sure that you do not miss out on the NISA Limited Editions we sell in our NISA Online Store, we have a stock meter to help give you an idea of how many units remain of our available products. Below is a listing of each status and what it means:
Stock Meter 76% - 100%: Just started! We have most of our stock available!Stock Meter 51% - 75%: We have sold at least a quarter of our stock that we have available. Stock Meter 26% - 50%: We have sold over half of our stock! Stock Meter 11% - 25%: Less than a quarter of our stock is available.Stock Meter 6% - 10%: We have at most one tenth of our stock that is still available.Stock Meter 0% - 5%: We have less than 5% of our stock available. This can also mean that there are no more remaining units. In this case, placing an order results in a "Requested Quantity Not Available" message.
In many cases, a Limited Edition will sell out within the month prior to its release. When a title's release date is less than a month away, or when a title has less than 25% stock remaining, it may start to sell out at a faster rate as customers start to place their last minute orders. If you are interested in receiving a Limited Edition, be sure to place an order while you can!
Once an item is sold out, there is a possibility for copies to return to our store following a customer cancellation or return. You may wish to sign up for a product alert on a product's Online Store page to receive a message if we are able to make additional copies available. Please note--the items may return to our store in low quantities, and we cannot guarantee how long they will be available until they are sold out.
Note: If you find yourself looking for one of our sold out products, we recommend checking out the NISA Online Store pages 1 to 2 weeks before the release date as most of product order cancellations occur during this timeframe.
Order Limitations
Due to the limited quantities of our products, the NISA Online Store reserves the right to adjust orders that exceed 3 units of one Limited Edition product. A customer is allowed to order over 3 units, but please be aware that we may change the quantity back down to 3 units of that one product at our discretion. We will notify customers in the event their order has been modified.
Orders above $500 are monitored for possible fraudulent activity.
Out of Stock items
If an item you are interested in is showing an "Out of Stock" status, or if you receive the message "Requested Quantity Not Available" when trying to add an item to your cart, this means the item has no more units in stock.
Typically we do not restock any items and most products are available only once on our store. This is especially true with our Limited Editions! Because of this, we highly recommend on placing preorders on items you are interested in. This is the best way to ensure you can receive the product you are looking for.
Once an item has gone out of stock, there is a possibility for copies to return to our store following customer cancellations or returns, the cancellation of customer orders that remained unpaid for a period of time after the item's release, or by the release of copies initially held for lost/damaged item replacement back into sellable inventory. You can request to be automatically notified in the event that an item receives additional stock by using the link on the item's product page: "SIGN UP TO GET NOTIFIED WHEN THIS PRODUCT IS BACK IN STOCK."
Will I receive my Limited Edition on release day?
We begin shipping orders a few days before a title's release date. In most cases, customers receive their orders by the release date. Although we do always try to have items arrive by the release date, factors such as weather, holidays, or other events impacting the delivery service mean that we cannot guarantee a delivery date.
Please note that if your order contains multiple preorder items that have different release dates, the order will not ship until all items have been released. For more information, please see the help topic immediately below. If you have any questions about your delivery, please reference your tracking number, or feel free to contact us!
What happens if I order additional items with a preorder?
We ship orders to our customers once all items in the order are available to ship.
Example: If you preorder two items in the same order, "Product A" releases May 9th and the other item in your order "Product B" releases on June 1st, then both items will not ship until the last item is ready, meaning your order will not ship until shortly before June 1st.
Preordering multiple items together in this fashion allows customers to combine shipping for a lower cost, or to add multiple items together to reach the minimum required to get free shipping.
If you are interested in receiving your orders separately, we can help you arrange that! Please note that splitting orders apart may require you to pay shipping charges for one or more of the new orders.
When do I get charged for my preorder?
We do not take payment for a preordered item until about two weeks before an item's release. An authorization to your payment method will be created when your order is first placed, but will expire, at which point the funds will become available again.
When you first place your order, we take an authorization for the full amount of your order. An authorization will hold funds aside in your bank account to see if the form of payment you listed is valid, and does not represent the final charge for your order. Although we do not take any funds from you at this time, the authorization will hold the funds aside and they will be unavailable until the authorization expires. For credit cards, it typically expires 6-10 business days after it is placed. PayPal payments can take up to 30 days to show as expired. The exact amount of time depends on your financial institution. After the authorization expires, the money it was holding aside will be returned to your account. If an authorization has not expired by these timeframes, please contact your financial institution directly. The NISA Online Store is not able to void authorizations directly for credit cards.
Please note that if any changes to your billing method have happened after you place your order but before it is billed, such as a card being reissued or your billing address changing, your order may need to be updated with this new information. Otherwise, your order may fail billing, and may not be shipped to you.
PayPal users: If you need to have a PayPal transaction ID for an active order voided, you may contact us at [email protected] to do so. Please note that we may need to issue a PayPal invoice in its place if you are still interested in receiving your order.
What happens if I am unable to pay for my order during billing?
If your order is not able to be successfully billed during our billing cycle before an item's release, your order will be placed on hold and you will be sent a billing failure notification with instructions on how to resolve your issue. Your order will not be cancelled at this time. Please contact us and provide your order number so that we may help you set up a new payment.
Orders that remain unpaid in excess of two months are subject to cancellation.
My order was damaged or lost, but the item is sold out! Will I still get my item?
We reserve a small amount of units aside during our release for use as replacement units. Even if an item is sold out, please contact us and we will be happy to help the best we can.
Reserve units are eventually returned to sellable stock once we can guarantee that all preorders for that item are able to be fulfilled without issue.
What does the sticker on my Limited Edition mean?
Some of our Limited Editions are released for multiple platforms. In the instance that a release shares an outer box with another simultaneous release, we will label them with a sticker that indicates the game’s platform in order to help tell these items apart.
The stickers indicate the following:
“For Home Device” -- for non-portable devices designed for use on a separate monitor
“For Portable Device” -- for strictly portable devices that do not use a separate monitor
“For Hybrid Device” -- for devices both portable and designed for use on a separate monitor
Payment/Billing
When is payment taken for preorders?
We do not take payment for a preordered item until about two weeks before an item's release. An authorization to your payment method will be created when your order is first placed, but will expire, at which point the funds will become available again. We will usually send out a notification email a few weeks before an item's release to inform you about when the billing for your item will take place.
Please note that if any changes to your billing method occur after you place your order but before it is billed, such as a card being reissued or your billing address changing, your order may need to be updated with this new information. Otherwise, your order may fail billing, and may not be shipped to you.
Why was I charged early?
When you first place your order, we take an authorization for the full amount of your order. An authorization will hold funds aside in your bank account to see if the form of payment you listed is valid, and does not represent the final charge for your order. Although we do not take any funds from you at this time, the authorization will hold the funds aside and they will be unavailable until the authorization expires. For credit cards, it typically expires 6-10 business days after it is placed. PayPal payments can take up to 30 days to show as expired. The exact amount of time depends on your financial institution. After the authorization expires, the money it was holding aside will be returned to your account. If an authorization has not expired by these timeframes, please contact your financial institution directly. The NISA Online Store is not able to void authorizations directly for credit cards.
PayPal users: If you need to have a PayPal transaction ID for an active order voided, you may contact us at [email protected] to do so. Please note that we may need to issue a PayPal invoice in its place if you are still interested in receiving your order.
What happens if there's an issue with my payment?
If we are unable to bill your order, it will not be cancelled. Instead, your order will be placed on hold and we will promptly contact you. However, if we do not hear back from you after several attempts to contact you, then your order may be cancelled. We won't be able to process or ship your order until the payment issue is resolved, but as long as your order is on hold, your items will stay reserved for you.
Orders that remain unpaid in excess of two months are subject to cancellation.
Why did my payment expire and return to my balance?
When you first place your order, we take an authorization for the full amount of your order. An authorization will hold funds aside in your bank account to see if the form of payment you listed is valid, and does not represent the final charge for your order. Although we do not take any funds from you at this time, the authorization will hold the funds aside and they will be unavailable until the authorization expires. For credit cards, it typically expires 6-10 business days after it is placed. PayPal payments can take up to 30 days to show as expired. The exact amount of time depends on your financial institution. After the authorization expires, the money it was holding aside will be returned to your account. If an authorization has not expired by these timeframes, please contact your financial institution directly. The NISA Online Store is not able to void authorizations directly for credit cards.
I have a payment confirmation from PayPal, but I never received an order confirmation from the NISA Online Store.
As it turns out, when our Online Store is experiencing high-volume traffic, we sometimes have issues with PayPal purchases not being created correctly. A PayPal Transaction ID is created, but an order is not placed in our system.
The PayPal Transaction IDs that are created when this problem occurs are authorization holds, to check if your payment method is valid. PayPal authorizations will show as expired after as many as 30 days. Since the order was not linked correctly, you will not be charged for items that you did not purchase.
Please try ordering again. You will know an order has been created correctly when you receive a confirmation email from both the NISA Online Store and PayPal.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept payment by all major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) and PayPal. We do not accept cash, checks, or money orders.
We will accept prepaid cards, as long as they are backed by of one of the above credit card companies. Please note: in some cases, authorizations placed onto prepaid cards will not expire, even if we have not collected payment. This is at the discretion of the financial institution that operates the prepaid card. We recommend holding onto any prepaid cards used to place an order on our Online Store until you have received your items, in the event that there is a problem with payment.
How do PayPal invoices work?
We may send you a PayPal invoice to collect your updated payment information in the event that your payment method needs to be changed. You do not need a PayPal account to use these invoices. You will be able to use the invoice to set up a new payment by credit card. Before submitting payment, we request you review your order information to ensure all order details, such as your shipping address, are satisfactory.
Funds will be removed from your account once you have completed the invoice. If you are not ready to pay for the order, you do not need to submit payment until the release date of the final item in your order. You can hold onto the invoice until a later time when you are ready to make payment.
What currency does the NISA Online Store use?
The NISA Online Store will process all transactions using the US Dollar (USD). If you are using a payment method linked to another form of currency, the exchange rate will be determined by your financial institution at the time your payment is collected.
How do I track my orders?
Additionally, customers with NISA Online Store accounts can track their orders by logging in and viewing them under the My Orders tab.
Viewing orders will allow you to also see any tracking numbers or DLC codes associated with the order, once the order has shipped.
Why can't I see an order I placed under my NISA Online Store account?
Orders will appear under the My Orders tab if you are logged into your Online Store account when the order is first placed. If you cannot see an order you placed in the My Orders tab when logged in, it may be because you were not logged in at the time you placed the order.
Please contact us if you think this is the case--we can easily link any orders to your account! Please let us know any billing names, shipping names, or alternate email addresses you may have used to place the order to help us locate any missing orders.
How do reward points work?
For every completed order that is linked to an NISA Online Store account, you will receive 5 reward points for every whole dollar spent, before tax and shipping are calculated. These points will be stored in your account, and do not expire!
Once you have a balance of at least 500 reward points, you will be able to redeem the points at our checkout screen. Every 100 points will give you a discount of $1.
Using reward points will not impact any free shipping offers, if the new balance falls below the free shipping threshold.
Why can't I redeem my reward points?
In order to redeem reward points during the checkout process, you must have a balance of at least 500 reward points, and be logged into your NISA Online Store account. A check box will appear under "Payment Method" allowing you to redeem your reward points.
PayPal users, please note that you will not be able to redeem reward points using PayPal Express Checkout. If you wish to redeem your points, please use our store's checkout page. You will have an option to redeem your reward points, as well as pay via PayPal.
Domestic Shipping within USA
Free Domestic Shipping Offer
All orders that are shipping to domestic (USA and its territories) addresses and are over $74.98 USD before shipping qualify for our free shipping offer!
The method used for free shipping will vary depending on the weight or contents of your order. The breakdown of the free shipping methods we offer is as follows:
The times posted here are not absolute and are instead averages presented on the postal service websites. Each shipment time may vary.
Will I get a tracking number?
Once an order has been shipped, the tracking number becomes available. Once available, our system will send you this information to your email address on file! This information will also be posted into the order on the NISA Online Store, and can be viewed athttps://store.nisamerica.com/sales/guest/form
Will I receive my Limited Edition on release day?
We begin shipping orders a few days before a title's release date. In most cases, customers receive their orders by the release date. Although we do always try to have items arrive by the release date, factors such as weather, holidays, or other events impacting the delivery service mean that we cannot guarantee a delivery date.
Please note that if your order contains multiple preorder items that have different release dates, the order will not ship until all items have been released. For more information, please see the help topic immediately below. If you have any questions about your delivery, please reference your tracking number, or feel free to contact us!
What happens if I order additional items with a preorder?
We ship orders to our customers once all items in the order are available to ship.
Example: If you preorder two items in the same order, "Product A" releases May 9th and the other item in your order "Product B" releases on June 1st, then both items will not ship until the last item is ready, meaning your order will not ship until shortly before June 1st.
Preordering multiple items together in this fashion allows customers to combine shipping for a lower cost, or to add multiple items together to reach the minimum required to get free shipping.
If you are interested in receiving your orders separately, we can help you arrange that! Please note that splitting orders apart may require you to pay shipping charges for one or more of the new orders.
How long does it take for my order to ship?
Typically, most orders are shipped within 3 business days if it does not contain a preorder item. Please note that NIS America, Inc. as well as our warehouse facilities are not open for business and will not ship on weekends and some holidays.
How can I update my shipping or billing address?
Customers are unable to modify orders that have already been created. Please contact us and we will be happy to make those changes for you!
Send us an email at [email protected], or click the green "Help" button at the bottom right of any store page. Please let us know your order number as well as what changes you would like made to your order.
Please note that we may be unable to update customer information for orders that contain a preorder that is one week from its release date, or orders of in-stock items once they have been placed, as the orders may already be preparing for shipment in our warehouse.
International Shipping
International Shipping Restrictions
The NISA Online Store is able to ship to many locations around the world. However, we are unable to ship to addresses in the PAL region. Attempting to create an order on our store using a shipping address in the PAL region will result in the error message of "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time." To check if you are in the PAL region, please view the list of countries provided below.
If you live within the PAL region, please visit our sister site NISA Europe Online Store. The NISA Europe Online Store was created in order to give our fans in Europe and Australia a place where they can order PAL versions of items, if we have the opportunity to offer them. Please note--although we always try to bring our titles to as many regions as we can, we are not always able to make all titles available in both the NISA Online Store as well as the NISA Europe Online Store.
Please also note that due to licensing restrictions, NISA Online Store is unable to ship any items to Japan. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
First Class International Shipping Restrictions
NISA Online Store cannot replace or refund damaged or lost shipments for orders shipping via USPS First Class as their shipping method. Choosing this shipping method is at the customer's own risk.
This shipping method normally takes about 3 to 4 weeks to arrive at the shipping address, and is not guaranteed to provide tracking information once it leaves the United States.
Note: Typically, you will no longer receive updates on your order's shipping status once the package has left the United States, and will need to follow up with your local shipper for any additional assistance. Your tracking number given when the item was shipped from USPS will normally be used by the local shipper of the destination as well. As the tracking number may not be updated once the package leaves the United States, it is common for the last USPS update to show as "ARRIVED AT [US CITY]" even after the package has departed the United States.
USPS First Class International is the least expensive of our international shipping methods; however, it may come with little to no tracking information after US departure, which prevents us from being able to claim any assistance with the third party shipper. Additionally, since First Class international shipping also exchanges hands from USPS to the local shipper of the destination, USPS and the NISA Online Store cannot provide additional assistance if an inquiry is needed on a shipment taking longer to arrive than anticipated. Again, we caution that this shipping method is used at the customer's own risk.
Please note--If your order arrives back at our location due to an incomplete, incorrect, or undeliverable address, we will be able to reship the same item once for free. However, if the order is to return to us a second time due to a bad shipping address or incorrect/incomplete information, we will have to ask the customer to pay for the third shipment out.
Average International Shipping Times
These are the shipping times as they are presented on the official website for the United States Postal Service:
*Please note that International shipments may be delayed at Customs in the receiving country. This may happen to any shipping method, and the order may be delayed an unpredictable amount of time.
**Most orders are processed and shipped out within 3 business days from when the order is placed, unless it is for a preorder item or special order item.
Will I get a tracking number?
Once an order has been shipped, the tracking number becomes available. Once available, our system will send you this information to your email address on file! This information will also be posted into the order on the NISA Online Store, and can be viewed at https://store.nisamerica.com/sales/guest/form
Will I receive my Limited Edition on release day if I am an international customer?
We begin shipping orders a few days before a title's release date. Due to the increased time needed to ship internationally, it is not common for our customers in other countries to receive their orders by the release date. However, in most cases the customer will have already received their tracking number and will be able to track their package by this time. The exact time needed for delivery depends on what shipping method was used and the time needed for the package to clear customs in the receiving country, among other factors.
What happens if I order additional items with a preorder?
We ship orders to our customers once all items in the order are available to ship.
Example: If you preorder two items in the same order, "Product A" releases May 9th and the other item in your order "Product B" releases on June 1st, then both items will not ship until the last item is ready, meaning your order will not ship until shortly before June 1st.
Preordering multiple items together in this fashion allows customers to combine shipping for a lower cost, or to add multiple items together to reach the minimum required to get free shipping.
If you are interested in receiving your orders separately, we can help you arrange that! Please note that splitting orders apart may require you to pay shipping charges for one or more of the new orders.
Additional Customs Charges/Import Tax
Any additional charges that are accrued for customs and import taxes are to be covered by the customer. However, we do try to help where we can to avoid any additional charges on all international shipments. Please note that we are unable to lower the declared value of any orders any further. We appreciate your understanding.
My tracking number has not updated in some time, and still says "Arrived In [US City]"
Orders shipped USPS First-Class do not have guaranteed tracking updates once the item has left the United States. In a majority of instances, the package is still on its way to you. However, the tracking is simply not being updated by the carrier. In these cases, the last tracking update for the order will show that it has been received by a facility in a US city.
Customers in other countries may be able to receive tracking updates once the package reaches their country from their local postal service by referencing the USPS tracking number they were provided. For example, customers in Canada can reference their tracking numbers at www.canadapost.ca
I need to update an existing order.
Customers are unable to modify orders that have already been created. Please contact us and we will be happy to make those changes for you!
Send us an email at [email protected], or click the green "Help" button at the bottom right of any store page. Please let us know your order number as well as what changes you would like made to your order.
Please note that we may be unable to update customer information for orders that contain a preorder that is one week from its release date, or orders of in-stock items once they have been placed, as the orders may already be preparing for shipment in our warehouse.
What currency does the NISA Online Store use?
The NISA Online Store will process all transactions using the US Dollar (USD). If you are using a payment method linked to another form of currency, the exchange rate will be determined by your financial institution at the time your payment is collected.
Orders
Customers are unable to modify orders that have already been created. Please contact us and we will be happy to make those changes for you!
Send us an email at [email protected], or click the green "Help" button at the bottom right of any store page. Please let us know your order number as well as what changes you would like made to your order.
Please note that we may be unable to update customer information for orders that contain a preorder that is one week from its release date, or orders of in-stock items once they have been placed, as the orders may already be preparing for shipment in our warehouse.
How do I track my orders?
Additionally, customers with NISA Online Store accounts can track their orders by logging in and viewing them under the My Orders tab.
Viewing orders will allow you to also see any tracking numbers or DLC codes associated with the order, once the order has shipped.
Why can't I see an order I placed under my NISA Online Store account?
Orders will appear under the My Orders tab if you are logged into your Online Store account when the order is first placed. If you cannot see an order you placed in the My Orders tab when logged in, it may be because you were not logged in at the time you placed the order.
Please contact us if you think this is the case--we can easily link any orders to your account! Please let us know any billing names, shipping names, or alternate email addresses you may have used to place the order to help us locate any missing orders.
What does my order status mean?
Orders will show as "Processing" on the NISA Online Store until they have been confirmed as shipped. Typically, the only two order statuses a customer will see for their order are "Processing" and "Complete". Even if your order has been billed, it will still show as "Processing" until it has been shipped.
In the unlikely event your order status shows as "Pending", please get in contact with us so we can look into your order and determine the issue.
Why hasn't my order shipped?
Most commonly, orders have not shipped because either 1) the order contains preorder items that have not yet been released yet, or 2) because there was an issue during the billing process.
Please contact us at [email protected] with your order number, and we will happily look into the reason why your order has not shipped.
Damage/Missing Items/Returns
Return Policy
We will accept returns of damaged/defective products if we are contacted by the customer within 14 days of the delivery confirmation on your tracking number.
Returns will require the following:1) The item MUST be in its original plastic shrinkwrap. 2) The return must be approved by an NISA Online Store representative. Please contact us at [email protected].
Note: If your order has already shipped before you request to cancel your order, we will have to ask for you to pay for the return shipping. Please note that in many cases, orders can instead be marked as "RETURN TO SENDER" or refused upon delivery to have it sent back to us at no further charge. We appreciate your understanding.
Giclees are not eligible for returns or exchanges, as they are made to order.
Exchange/Replacement Policy
We are happy to do our best to help address any damage claims created within 14 days of the delivery date as shown on your tracking number, and if replacement components are available. Due to the low quantity made of our Limited Editions and other products, we only have a certain amount of replacement components and items available specifically for this use. These replacements are available only while supplies last.
Please detail what is damaged within your order, and we will do our best to offer a replacement component. In most cases we have replacement outerboxes, art books, soundtracks, and other components available to send as replacement units.
If a full replacement is needed for your product, and we have sufficient stock to replace your unit, then we will provide a shipping label for you to use, and ask for your product to be shipped back to our office. Once we receive the item, we will be able to ship you one replacement. All our products are packed with great care in preparation for shipment, although we cannot control all aspects of the shipping process as it is handled by a third party. If additional assistance is needed after the first replacement, we will need for the customer to pay for shipping on any additional replacements.
Please note that we are only able to accept full units for replacement if they are still sealed. Additionally, a replacement may not be shipped until the damaged unit is shipped back to our address.
Please send any damage claims to [email protected]
Website issues
What is "Error Code 106"?
"Error Code 106" can happen if more than five digits are entered into the ZIP code field. Even if you know your full ZIP+4 number, please only enter the first five digits into the ZIP code box. Our warehouse will automatically ship your order using the full ZIP+4 code once they receive your shipment information.
Wrong: 12345-6789Right: 12345
What is "Error Code 146"?
"Error Code 146" occurs when more than 15 characters are used in the Customer Name field. If you receive this message, please ensure you have split your name into the First and Last name fields, and please abbreviate where able.
What is "Error Code 148"?
"Error Code 148" occurs when more than 50 characters are used between the Address 1 and Address 2 lines of a shipping address. Please abbreviate your shipping address where able, and please split the address between both the Address 1 and Address 2 lines.
What is "AVS Mismatch"?
"AVS Mismatch" occurs when the billing address you have entered on your order does not match the billing address the financial institution that operates your payment method has on file. If this happens, we recommend getting in contact with your bank and verifying the address they have on file for your card. If you have recently moved, but have not updated your information with your bank, you may wish to try and use your previous address for the billing address.
Under Shipping Method, it only says "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time."
The NISA Online Store is able to ship to many locations around the world. However, we are unable to ship to addresses in the PAL region. Attempting to create an order on our store using a shipping address in the PAL region will result in the error message of "Sorry, no quotes are available for this order at this time." To check if you are in the PAL region, please view the list of countries provided below.
If you live within the PAL region, please visit our sister site NISA Europe Online Store. The NISA Europe Online Store was created in order to give our fans in Europe and Australia a place where they can order PAL versions of items, if we have the opportunity to offer them. Please note--although we always try to bring our titles to as many regions as we can, we are not always able to make all titles available in both the NISA Online Store as well as the NISA Europe Online Store.
Please also note that due to licensing restrictions, NISA Online Store is unable to ship any items to Japan. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
When I try to add an item to my cart, it only says "Requested Quantity Not Available"
If an item has recently gone out of stock, you may receive the message "Requested Quantity Not Available" when attempting to add the item to your shopping cart. This message means we do not have any remaining stock of this item at this time.
What are Reward Points?
For every completed order that is linked to an NISA Online Store account, you will receive 5 reward points for every whole dollar spent, before tax and shipping are calculated. These points will be stored in your account, and do not expire!
Once you have a balance of at least 500 reward points, you will be able to redeem the points at our checkout screen. Every 100 points will give you a discount of $1.
Using reward points will not impact any free shipping offers, if the new balance falls below the free shipping threshold.
How do I redeem Reward Points?
In order to redeem reward points during the checkout process, you must have a balance of at least 500 reward points, and be logged into your NISA Online Store account. A check box will appear under "Payment Method" allowing you to redeem your reward points.
PayPal users, please note that you will not be able to redeem reward points using PayPal Express Checkout. If you wish to redeem your points, please use our store's checkout page. You will have an option to redeem your reward points, as well as pay via PayPal.
Other
Giclees
Giclees are canvas prints that have been enhanced by professional artists who add a layer of clear acrylic paint brush strokes over the canvas to add texture and detail. Giclees purchased from our Online Store are produced "on demand."
Giclees take about two weeks to be created, as they need to be printed, enhanced, and allowed to properly dry before shipment. Giclees will ship directly from our manufacturer--please note that for orders with additional items, the giclees will ship separately, and will typically arrive about two weeks after the rest of your order.
As giclees are made to order, they are not eligible for returns or exchanges. | {
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} |
mod mod mod
i had the same problem
i cant wear makeup
i cant go to a professional
and i look weird
is there foods i can eat/ is 2 weeks enough to have my eyebrows grow back a little bit?
Hey girl,
As far as I know, there aren't any specific foods for hair growth, but you should be able to see at least a small difference after two weeks! Try taking a vitamin supplement and eating tons of veggies!
Oh it's okay, I messed up mine. I tested to see if it hurt, and it didn't. So I kinda went crazy, but I used my FINGERS to do it. So if I pull on a hair and it didn't come out, it looked curly and weird. But I just use eyebrow pencil to make it look normal
Oh don't worry about your eyebrows i am sure they look better than my friend's did 2 years ago. Ok so 2 years ago my BFF was getting ready for the girls choice dance. And she had picked her ultimate crush she was getting so carried away she kept plucking and plucking and plucking! then he came to pick her up and then when they got to the dance he saw her face in the light and he wen to the bath room and never came back! Jerk! But it was a funny story!
~MOD~
I am going into 8th grade this year. I got a 100 in math in the last term of 7th grade, so the school has decided to put me in an algebra class instead of pre-algebra course. After asking several students, I am a little worried that I won't do as well as I hope. Is algebra really all that hard, or does it just take a lot of practice? Thank you for all your help! I appreciate it very much.
~Sarah~
Hey girl, honestly, algebra isn't that bad. Just work at it and don't be afraid to ask your teacher if you need help.
ADD A COMMENT
Make it known that I am very available and dying to go, and hope you crush picks up on the cluesWalk up to my crush and ask him to be my date. I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for Prince CharmingMy BFF and I have vowed to be each other's dates to spare us the embarrassment of not getting askedYou won't see me attending any dances with these two left feet! | {
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Freaky Findings About Organic Foods
In an ideal world, you’d be feeding your family nothing but local, organic food—prepared without any pesticides, and packaged without any harmful substances. Unfortunately, even that utopian scenario might not protect you from potentially hazardous chemicals.
A small study from the University of Washington (UW) set out to evaluate whether an entirely local, organic diet, packaged without any plastics, could reduce the levels of phthalates and BPA (two chemicals linked to several health problems in humans) in the body. Ten families were divided into two groups: One merely received advice pamphlets on how to reduce chemical exposures from food, while the other was assigned an entirely organic, local, plastic-free diet for two weeks.
The results aren’t what you’d expect: The phthalate and BPA levels among that second group of families actually rose, sometimes to alarming levels. “I was very, very surprised,” says study author Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics at UW. “We fully expected the concentrations to decrease.”
Prompted by the unexpected results, researchers tested several of the food items consumed by families in the organic group. According to their findings, high-fat dairy products and organic coriander may be the culprits—meaning that somewhere in production, both foods were exposed to chemical contamination (possibly from plastics used during manufacturing).
"We used to think of plastic bottles or other plastic products as the biggest sources of exposure to these chemicals,” Dr. Sathyanarayana says. “But it is really likely that diet is a significant contributor to phthalate and BPA concentrations.”
Unfortunately, the results suggest that it might be tougher than we’d hope to reduce our exposure to these chemical burdens. Still, Dr. Sathyanarayana continues to recommend an organic meal plan. “Eating organic still reduces pesticide exposure and also ensures non-GMO foods," she says. "I think the advice I would give is to focus on fresh foods and a low animal-fat diet to reduce exposures to these chemicals." | {
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} |
I went to a rock concert that took place between Thrusday night/Friday
morning. Over the various acts, I estimate the total combined length of
the music was around 3 1/2 hours, and while I don't know what the level of
intensity was, it was louder than any concert I've been to in recent
memory. (Along with that, I was also within 15-25 feet away from the
speakers towards the final act.)
Through most of Friday, not only could I hear less in volume (sounds had
to be louder for me to hear them, including normal conversation), but the
tone was off as well (the sounds I was hearing sounded as though they were
coming from a cheap audio system). I'm typing this on Sunday afternoon,
and while the hearing in my right ear has almost returned to normal, the
hearing in my left ear is still considerably off (especially in regards to
the precieved tonal quality, in comparrison to the right ear). I am still
occasionally hearing a ringing in my left ear.
Is this account consistant with permanant hearing loss, and is there a
chance that most or all of my previous hearing range will be recovered? I
forgot to bring ear plugs to a concert, and I would hate to have permanat
hearing loss due to attending just one concert. Should I also contact the
concert hall to see if they have any statistics as to how loud the concert
was?
BTW, I would appreciate private email replies as well as replies to the
newsgroups, as I do not normally check the newsgroups I have posted to.
Peace,
<> David
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"We have a Department of Defense, they're to make war. We have an
intelligence community to produce secrets- I'm sorry, to gather secrets."
--CIA Director John Deutch, speaking freely at his recent college reunion
----------
"My experience is that most people who think they are beyond the intellect
actually haven't quite gotten up to it yet."
--Ken Wilber, transpersonal philosopher, in Yoga Journal, Fall 1987 | {
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} |
To Get sample Brochure [email protected] http://tinyurl.com/zylabgu\n\nA detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining growth of the World Cloud Identity Access Management (IAM) Market and future opportunities are provided in the report.\n
Copyright Complaint Adult Content Flag as Inappropriate
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Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author.While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server.
Identity and access management (IAM) is a security framework which ensures secure access to end users across multiple applications. At present, integration of IAM with cloud is gaining pace owing to its low cost and enhanced security. Cloud identity and access management (IAM) is an approach to revamp the traditional IT security environment by offering IAM solutions over the cloud. Cloud IAM helps large as well as small organizations to secure their IT infrastructure and patents & intellectual properties (IP) in a cost-effective manner.
Renowned market players have adopted acquisition as their key strategy to strengthen their technical expertise and to enhance their market foothold. For instance, in 2015, EMC Corporation acquired Virtustream, a cloud computing management software provider, to manage its cloud service business and to enhance its hybrid cloud product portfolio. In 2014, IBM acquired two IAM firms, Lighthouse Security Group and Cross Ideas, to expand and enhance its identity and access management (IAM) offerings. The cost effectiveness of the cloud IAM service compared to the traditional IAM services is one of the major factors driving the adoption of cloud IAM. Enterprises are adopting cloud applications at a large scale owing to the fast dropping rates of bandwidth and storage.
It has been estimated that an organization can save more than 35% of the annual cost by adopting cloud IAM services. In addition, the increasing popularity of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and various mobility trends in organizations have augmented the end user device authentication security.
The services segment is categorized into user provisioning, access management, multi factor authentication, single sign-on, directory services, password management, and governance. User provisioning was the most widely adopted cloud IAM service, which accounted for a share of around 40% in 2014.
The cloud IAM is segmented based on different industry verticals such as BFSI, IT and telecommunication, healthcare, media & entertainment, retail, education and others. BFSI, IT & telecom and retail witnessed highest adoption of cloud IAM services over the forecast period (2015 - 2020). Based on the deployment type, the market is further categorized into private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud.
This would offer a competitive advantage to stakeholders to make profit-oriented business decisions and help strengthen their supplier and buyer network. SWOT analysis of key market players highlight the essential strengths and potential opportunities in the market CLOUD IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT (IAM) MARKET SEGMENTATION. The market is segmented on the basis of deployment type, services, industry vertical, and geography.
A detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining growth of the World Cloud Identity Access Management (IAM) Market and future opportunities are provided in the report. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Sometimes, I wonder what we did in those dark years without the Internet and, more recently, without Twitter. Friday was one of those days, as I sifted through a Twitter search for a hashtag dubbed "WireDerbyHorseNames." Warning: Omar's coming, yo.
As far as I can tell — that is, as far back as Twitter's search function extends — this gem of genius can be attributed to The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay, who, presumably, took similar, television-themed Derby horse name hashtags and turned his attention to The Greatest Television Show Of All-Time. His first three names — Proposition Joe, Carcetti and Hungry Man — were fairly conventional, taking the hashtag quite literally. But of course, the beauty in naming Kentucky Derby horses rests not in actually naming them after characters from The Wire, but rather, naming them after catchy ideas and pithy quotes from the show. (There are exceptions. Like, Poot.) So that concept soon began to spread, and it wasn't long before the masterpieces rolled in, fewer than 140 characters at a time. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Monday, November 08, 2010
An afternoon in Berkeley
When we were out exploring Berkeley today we stumbled upon a bus that looked quite shocking:
We tried to find out what had happened by asking bystanders and they seemed convinced some kind of bomb exploded because all the windows were shattered (at least as they could see from the side we were on). the inside was totally burnt out and the engine seemed to be totally fine and unburned. Yasu and I had actually seen huge clouds of smoke in the distance about an hour earlier when we left the train station. So people concluded it happened more than an hour ago and all the victims were already taken from the scene by ambulances. I just hoped nobody had been seriously hurt.
Yasu desperately needed a haircut and the salon was right across the bus scene. The hairdressers told us that something under the bus had suddenly caught fire several hours earlier, and that the bus driver had gotten all the passengers out quickly and safely. The bus had been burning for a while before the fire department came to put out the fire. The firefighters had broken half of the windows in the bus in order to put out the fire inside the bus better. Great, no terrorist attack and no casualties, except for the bus of course.
Sorry, forgot to take before and after pictures of Yasu's hair but I got some 'during the haircut' pictures while the lady with the razor was telling us the bus story.
The reason we were in Berkeley was actually to do some grocery shopping at the Berkeley Bowl, the biggest and most impressive supermarket ever, according to one of Yasu's classmates anyway. Yasu wanted to check it out and I also though it would be fun to do some groceries together for a change. The produce department was impressive.
They had loads of seasonal products like pumpkins of course and also produce I know from home but sold in a very different way, like Brussels sprouts still on their stalks. Didn't even know they grew on stalks, but I don't know a lot. They also had weird produce, like kiwis in the shape of fans (sorry no picture), tomatoes in the shapes of pumpkins and bell peppers in all colors, even purple, and cauliflower in rather sick colors, green, orange and again purple. No thanks.
Although, the supermarket's produce department was amazing, because of quantity and quality (the supermarket near us can learn a LOT from the Berkeley Bowl), the rest of the supermarket wasn't impressive at all, a little dirty and unorganized and rather small. Apparently, we'd gone to the wrong Berkeley Bowl, the original one is about 8 to 9 times larger than the one we visited. Well, I'm not sure if I believe that, so we'll just have to check that out another time! | {
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Alex Cobb started the season 1-1, with a 1.89 ERA in 19.0 innings pitched for the Rays before going to the DL.(USATSI)
Programming note: For all the day’s sports news, tune in to SportsNet Central tonight and every night at 6, 10:30 p.m. and midnight on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
Out since mid-April with a strained oblique muscle, Rays right-hander Alex Cobb is scheduled to come off the disabled list Thursday to start against the A’s.
Cobb was off to a very strong start before the injury and tossed five shutout innings in a minor-league rehab start Saturday at Single-A, striking out nine batters and throwing 46 of 64 pitches for strikes. | {
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Europe's boat people numbers make ours look minuscule
Richard Ackland
It's the summer boat season in Europe. Everyone's out on their boats, including tens of thousands of refugees from Africa making the trip across the Mediterranean. Not all of them make it.
So far this year about 42,000 people have tried to cross the Med to get to Italy. They're from Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria – anywhere in Africa and the Middle East beset by bloodletting. Men, women and children.
About this time last year the comparable number was 3362 arrivals in Italy. The humanitarian problems are escalating at an alarming rate and the EU and UN are thrashing about for solutions.
Sicily bears the brunt of the Italian influx, since the closure of the reception centre on Lampedusa, close to where 366 drowned last October. Greece too is under siege, with the government saying 15,000 undocumented migrants last year attempted to enter Europe.
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Italian authorities estimate that there are 800,000 people sitting on the coast of Africa, waiting for a chance to cross.
The mayor of the Sicilian town of Catania was quoted in the press as saying that Europe faced "a looming, colossal humanitarian catastrophe".
That should put our little old "illegal maritime arrivals" problems into perspective, with 51,637 arriving by boat on our shores over five years between 2009 and 2013 (parliamentary research figures). The peak year for us was 2013 with 20,587 arrivals, about half what Italy has received in the past five months.
The Refugee Council of Australia's figures for 2006 to 2011 show Italy had 152,821 irregular maritime arrivals, Yemen a massive 342,192 and even tiny Malta with a population of 420,000 had 9372 arrivals in this period.
The "looming catastrophe" is so serious that the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, is rethinking its approach. It is looking at ways to create safe refugee holding centres in North Africa and the Middle East. In other words, for the first time, the UN is thinking about offshore processing for refugees heading to Europe.
The UNHCR's European director, Vincent Cochetel, was quoted saying: "We would not be totally against external processing if certain safeguards were in place: the right to appeal, fair process, the right to remain while appeals take place."
You can't image any of that happening in Egypt, Libya or Sudan, just as you can't imagine it happening in other places nearer to hand with poor human rights records, viz. Papua New Guinea, Nauru or Cambodia.
In effect, there would have to be EU bolt holes planted in the middle of chaotic landscapes and protected by small standing armies. Instead of border protection the focus would be on developing safe pathways for genuine refugees.
You'd have to wonder why aren't the Europeans and the UN reaching out to a strongman with the answers, like Admiral Tow-Backs Morrison? He's dealt with a few thousand asylum seekers/refugees on his watch, so why couldn't he scale up to 800,000?
He could transfer his "solution" to the European theatre of war: tow-backs, long periods of detention at a "processing centre" in Somalia with attendant riots, physical and mental deterioration, doses of terrorising from local guards, refoulement, cancellation of legal assistance, then eventual resettlement for genuine refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It would work a treat and it would get the hardline anti-boat vote back where it belongs, with decent democratic Christians.
As it stands, the refugee crisis in Europe is the main factor fuelling the rise of the ultra right and neo-fascist parties. Outfits like the Golden Dawn party in Greece have shamelessly exploited the refugee problems and made major gains in European elections.
Xenophobes in Italy are demanding an end to the Mare Nostrum operation, which so far has rescued 30,000 people at sea.
Silvio Berlusconi introduced a law making it an offence to enter the country illegally, punishable by up to four years' jail. Still they come. Nearly half the Italian jail population is composed of foreigners. "Illegals" are an easy target for populists to exploit, and yet populists offer no real policy prescription for one of the planet's enduring problems: human displacement.
Refoulement, or sending people back from where they came, is now one of Morrison's important policy prescriptions.
Last October the minister said: "Anyone who may have come from Sri Lanka should know that they will go back to Sri Lanka."
In view of that, maybe it was not surprising that a Tamil man burnt himself to death in Melbourne. Leorsin Seemanpillai was waiting for the outcome of his claim for asylum.
Australia is particularly pally with the odious Rajapaksa regime in Sri Lanka and seems oblivious to evidence about the treatment of Tamils in that country.
But back to the global perspective. There are all sorts of way to measure our kindness to refugees. The one favoured by the government is to pick our intake under the official UNHCR humanitarian program and measure it on a national per capita basis. That puts Australia at No.3 in the world after the US and Canada.
However, if you look at what we call our onshore intake, people who have been found to have refugee status after arriving by plane or boat, our ranking drops to No.32 on 2012 global figures. We fall below Sudan, Afghanistan, Gambia, Chad and Burundi.
The UN data shows we took 8367 onshore asylum seekers as refugees in 2012, which is 0.61 percent of the global total recognised as refugees.
Since 1978, an average of less than two boat people a day have arrived in Australia.
What's to whinge about?
Twitter: @JustinianNews
213 comments so far
So Europe, population 739 million (2011), has had 42,000 boat people in 5 months.
Meanwhile Australia, population 23 million, had 13,108 boat people in the 6 months to 30 June, 2013.
It doesn't take a mathematical genius to realise that Australia has been inundated by these people more than in Europe.
Commenter
The Village Idiot (Reformed)
Date and time
June 05, 2014, 11:33PM
The thing is, BOAT PEOPLE ARE NOT REFUGEES,!they are economic migrants. They have flown to Indonesia a place where they aren't suffering any persecution and are in a country that is consistent with their religion.
If they wish to migrate to Australia, for economic purposes, then they can join the queue.By getting on a boat they are lying about their status and jumping the queue.
There are millions more refugees who are in far worse wretched conditions that they have denied access into Australia
Commenter
Aesop
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 4:28AM
Thank you Richard Ackland - a time to reflect.This is an enormous challenge for the global community - quite frankly, a broadly acceptable solution appears beyond the reach of us all. Discussions are often heated - with little room for respect for the opinions of those who would disagree with us; it is easy to fall back on to cherished default positions - accusing the other side of (i) pretensions to moral superiority or (ii) rank naivety (failing to consider the potential problems).Surely, any opportunity to discuss this complex issue is a good thing - please note the word 'discuss'.Is it presumptuous of me to say there is no 'perfect' or one ideal solution? This topic segues nicely into questions of - what is a 'sensible' number of refugees/immigrants to accept on a yearly basis, population (what is a 'good' number for Australia), infrastructure spending (to support a growing population), overcrowding in capital cities, environmental degradation, our capacity to absorb these desperate souls, their ability to integrate, etc.You can't discuss refugees - without also considering these things.People have differing degrees of concern and sense of responsibility for the refugees - who is 'right' or 'wrong'?Is there an absolute and inviolable 'truth' here? Oh..Vituperative barbs and indignation, That will help resolve this situation. How many refugees to welcome here,Whilst not provoking too much fear.Oh..Do you know the population number,That on our soil we could lumber?Is to ask this far too selfish a view?And no limit to set on people new? Oh..Everywhere to see, misery and grief,Yet we offer some modicum of relief.There is a world of bottomless need,Just how many mouths can we feed?
Commenter
Howe Synnott
Location
Sydney
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 4:44AM
Rudd's pink batts fiasco pales into insignificance compared to the cost of his efforts to dismantle our border controls. And if the Europeans can't manage their borders, thats their problem.
Commenter
SteveH.
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 5:17AM
@The Unreformed Village Idiot - Whatever Europe's population is,and however united or not the EU - it is actually a continent and not a country.
There are national and local rules, and EU rules - and one of the EU rules is that asylum seekers must be processed in the country where they are first registered.
Commenter
Ross
Location
MALLABULA
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 5:20AM
So Aesop, You personally know as a fact that boat people are not refugees and you also know for a fact they are all Muslim? There was me thinking you were just making sweeping racist generalisations but of course you can produce the data to back up your claims yes? Please do, I'm waiting.
Commenter
PP
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 5:22AM
hi Aesop - are you seriously arguing that economic migrants would take so great a risk of drowning, but that genuine refugees would not?
Commenter
Ross
Location
MALLABULA
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 5:36AM
An asylum seeker is, by definition, a person who claims to be a refugee and is waiting for that claim to be assessed. It is impossible to say one way or the other whether their protection claims are credible until they have been assessed. Historically, however, the vast majority of asylum seekers who have reached Australia by boat have been found to be refugees. According to figures compiled by the Australian Parliamentary Library, between 70 and 97 per cent have typically been found to be refugees. In 2012-13, 88 per cent of asylum seekers who arrived by boat were found to be refugees.
Even if an asylum seeker is found not to be a refugee, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is an economic migrant or that his or her refugee claim was “made up”. It simply means that the person isn’t a refugee. For example, some asylum seekers may legitimately fear persecution but this fear may not be well-founded (e.g. they don’t have enough evidence to back up their claims) or they may fear a form of mistreatment which isn’t sufficiently serious to trigger Australia’s protection obligations. Even people who have a well-founded fear of serious persecution may be found not to be refugees if they are able to avoid persecution by moving to another area within their home countries, or if the authorities in their home countries are able to provide effective protection.
Commenter
David Hill
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 6:24AM
We are very lucky to have Abbott and Morrison in charge - the boats have stopped coming and no doubt all the illegals who wanted to come here are now targeting Europe. And good luck for the illegals - if the EU is so stupid to have their gates wide open - let them pay the price.Australia has shown the world the way to deal with the illegals economic arrivals but the political class of do-gooders of Europe can't get - and when finally the EU public wakes up it will be too late - as the problem is already out of control in Italy, Spain, UK, France.....
Commenter
Ted
Date and time
June 06, 2014, 7:12AM
The Village Idiot,
Except they are not landing in Europe, They are landing in Italy, Greece, Yemen, Malta, etc. In case you were not aware these are actually separate countries from the country you imagine called Europe. Their individual contributions somewhat outpace ours!!!!
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Hodson's daughter: Witness protection not safe
"I feel sorry for anyone coming into witness protection," says the tearful daughter of police informer Terence Hodson after the State Coroner delivered an open finding into his murder and that of his wife Christine in 2004. | {
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Tadjoudine v. Rodriguez
United States District Court, D. New Jersey
May 8, 2017
IMOROU TADJOUDINE, Petitioner,v.ORLANDO RODRIGUEZ, Respondent.
OPINION
Hon.
Susan D. Wigenton, United States District Judge.
Presently
before the Court is the petition for a writ of habeas corpus
of Petitioner, Imorou Tadjoudine, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241. (ECF No. 1). Following an order to answer, the
Government filed a response to the Petition. (ECF No. 6).
Petitioner did not file a reply. For the following reasons,
this Court will deny the petition without prejudice.
I.
BACKGROUND
Petitioner,
Imoou Tadjoudine, is a native and citizen of Benin who
applied for admission to this country at the Mexican border
near Otay Mesa, California, in September 2015. (Document 1
attached to ECF No. 6 at 2). Because Petitioner was not
entitled to admission as he was not in possession of a valid
visa, Petitioner was taken into immigration custody at that
time and placed in removal proceedings. (Id.). On
September 27, 2016, an immigration judge entered a removal
order against Petitioner. (Document 4 attached to ECF No. 6).
Petitioner appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration
Appeals, but the Board denied his appeal on February 8, 2017.
(ECF No. 6 at 1-2).
II.
DISCUSSION
A.
Legal Standard
Under
28 U.S.C. § 2241(c), habeas relief may be extended to a
prisoner only when he “is in custody in violation of
the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United
States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). A federal court
has jurisdiction over such a petition if the petitioner is
“in custody” and the custody is allegedly
“in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties
of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3);
Maleng v. Cook, 490 U.S. 488, 490 (1989). As
Petitioner is currently detained within this Court's
jurisdiction, by a custodian within the Court's
jurisdiction, and asserts that his continued detention
violates due process, this Court has jurisdiction over his
claims. Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998);
Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court, 410 U.S. 484,
494-95, 500 (1973); see also Zadvydas v. Davis, 533
U.S. 678, 699 (2001).
B.
Analysis
In his
habeas petition, Petitioner contends that his continued
immigration detention violates Due Process. In order to
address that claim, this Court must first determine the
statutory basis for his detention. While 8 U.S.C. §
1226(c), 1 the statute Petitioner contends controls this
matter, governs the detention of aliens who have been
convicted of a crime prior to their receipt of a final order
of removal, once a final order of removal is issued, an alien
is instead subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C.
§ 1231(a). Under § 1231(a), upon the entrance of a
final order of removal an alien enters a ninety day statutory
removal period during which the Government is statutorily 1
As an arriving alien applying for admission (See
Document 1 attached to ECF No. 6 at 2), Petitioner was
actually subject to detention pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §
1225 prior to his final order of removal, not § 1226(c).
Because Petitioner has now received a final order and is
therefore detained pursuant to § 1231(a), however, this
distinction is immaterial to the matter at hand. required to
detain the alien. See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(2);
see also 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(B)(ii). Thus,
once an alien is subject to a final order of removal, his
detention is governed by § 1231, unless and until he
seeks review of his removal order by the Court of Appeals and
is granted a stay of removal. See 8 U.S.C. §
1231(a)(1)(B)(ii). In this matter, Petitioner received an
administratively final order of removal when the Board denied
his appeal on February 8, 2017, and Petitioner entered his 90
day removal period upon that date as he has apparently not
filed an appeal and stay motion with the Court of Appeals. 8
U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(B)(1).
Because
Petitioner is subject to a final order of removal, the
propriety of his detention is controlled by the Supreme
Court's decision in Zadvydas. In
Zadvydas, the Court observed that § 1231(a)
requires the Government to detain all aliens subject to
administratively final orders of removal during the statutory
removal period. 501 U.S. at 683. The Court further held that
the statute permits the Government to detain aliens beyond
that ninety day period so long as their detention remains
“reasonably necessary” to effectuate their
removal. Id. at 689, 699. Based on these statutory
provisions, the Court in turn determined that an alien may be
detained under § 1231(a) for a period of up to six
months following his final order of removal during which his
continued detention must be presumed to be reasonable and
therefore not violative of Due Process. Id. at 701.
Thus, where a removable alien has been detained under §
1231(a) for less than six months following the entry of a
final order of removal against him, his challenge must be
dismissed as premature. Id.
In this
matter, Petitioner received a final order of removal when the
Board denied his appeal on February 8, 2017. As fewer than
six months have passed since the entry of Petitioner's
final order of removal, Petitioner is still within the six
month period during which his detention under § 1231(a)
must be presumed to be reasonable. Id. As such,
Petitioner's current habeas petition is premature, and
must be dismissed as such.
III.
CONCLUSION
For the
reasons expressed above, this Court will dismiss
Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus (ECF
No. 1) without prejudice ...
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Pages
Monday, January 24, 2011
Basic Swirls
Since I am doing research and practicing soap swirling techniques, I decided to start with the most basic of swirl techniques. I swirled with one color in a simple log mold. My soap was 40% olive oil, 30% coconut oil, and 30% palm oil, with 5% superfat. I did NOT discount my water, which I like to do when I'm not trying to be artistic with my soap. It traces way too fast. I mixed my oils and lye between 90 and 100 degrees. I've been wanting to try the "room temperature" method, but that's for another day. I made sure that I didn't do anything that would accelerate trace.
I used rose kaolin clay to get a nice rosy-pink shade and I colored about 1/3 of my soap base. Since I used a log mold for this soap, I decided to pour my colored soap in the mold in layers. First, I poured in about 1/2 of my uncolored base. Then, I poured my pink soap in, in a zig-zag pattern (see below). Next, I poured then rest of my uncolored soap and finished with another round of zig-zagging with my pink soap.
Colored soap zig-zag pattern
I used a wooden skewer to swirl the colors together. I ran the skewer through the soap in a diagonal zig-zag pattern, making sure that my skewer went all the way to the bottom.
Alternating layers of soap
Pouring a zig-zag
I think it looked pretty nice when I finished. Hopefully it will turn out nicely when I go to cut it. I did not create my swirls so that they are sitting on top of the soap, but poured the soap so that the color sank. I'm hoping that they color will be all the way to the bottom, but that it didn't all sink. We shall see. If I hadn't used a log mold, I think I would like to see the swirls more on top of the soap, but when I cut the log, I want the color to look nice from the sides. I know what I'll be trying next.
Swirling
Finished!
I'm excited to unmold and cut the new soap. I can't wait to see how it turned out!
I've read about swirling with multiple colors using the "In The Pot" method and I think that might be pretty interesting to try.
About Me
I am a teacher, a soapmaker, and a mom. I run a business called Honu Naturals, LLC and I made handcrafted soaps, lotions, scrubs, and balms. I teach middle school science. I have 2 beautiful children that help keep me balanced. I enjoy everything I do and wouldn't give up any of my jobs for the world. | {
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A Dunedin 5-year-old may have made headlines all around
the world, but all Mataawhio Matahaere-Veint wanted was to hug
a real princess.
Pictures of the George St Normal pupil hugging the Duchess of
Cambridge featured on international media sites following the
Royal couple's arrival in Dunedin.
The last in a line of Ngai Tahu representatives to greet the
couple, Mataawhio took part in a traditional hongi with the
princess before asking if she could have a hug.
''That is just her. She is quite a precocious little girl,''
proud grandmother Donna Matahaere-Atariki, who was keeping a
watchful eye behind Mataawhio, said.
''She was under strict instructions to listen,'' she said.
Seizing the opportunity following the hongi, Mataawhio asked
for a hug and was given a long cuddle with the visibly
delighted duchess.
Mataawhio later told the Otago Daily Times the experience was
''good''.
And her highlight?''Meeting Princess Kate,'' she said.
Mataawhio also gave two books for Prince George, including
The Little Yellow Digger and one on Maori colours.
She had also been practising to curtsy, received advice from
her ballet teacher and had some last minute preparations with
cousin Ripeka Potiki (7) at the Dunedin International Airport
terminal.
Earlier, a crowd of several hundred people cheered as the
Royal New Zealand Air Force plane touched down about 9.30am.
The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for the appearance
of the duchess.
Wearing an aquamarine dress by United Kingdom-based New
Zealand designer, Emilia Wickstead, the duchess timed her
walk down the stairs as the first rays of sunlight lit up an
otherwise dull Dunedin day.
Bagpipes greeted the Royal couple before they were welcomed
by a traditional Ngai Tahu mihi whakatau led by Otakou elder
Edward Ellison.
''They were a gracious couple, and inspirational to the
people young and old.''
The duke told Mr Ellison the grey weather reminded him of
Edinburgh, and thanked him for the welcome.
Waiting to see the couple was Gina Cosgrove and her daughter
Chelsea, of Invercargill, who arrived at Dunedin airport at
8pm on Saturday.
''I was a big fan of Diana and Charles, but now it is Kate
and William.''
Other early morning arrivals included Sherie Wright, Rachel
Black and Meg Eade, all from Haast, who travelled through the
night to be at the airport by 5.30am.
The intrepid trio were lined up at the tarmac even before
security arrived to put up the temporary barriers.
The throngs of wellwishers were separated from the nine-car
motorcade by makeshift barriers wrapped with Union Jack
bunting sent from Rebecca Mathieson's England-based mother. | {
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www.photospot.hr
Opatija Riviera agent
Book by phone
The center of Opatija Riviera is Opatija, the cradle of croatian tourism and of particular elegancy, located in the Kvarner bay, in the foothills of the mountain Učka (1.401 m).
Opatija, with its tradition and appearance, stands out from other tourist towns because of her very colourful history and is also known under different names, such as "Old dame", "Pearl of the Adriatic" or "Queen of Tourism". Opatija is a great choice either during the summer or winter time. Beautiful nature, parks, old villas, promenades and beaches attract, for over 170 years, tourists from all over the world. It is known for fancy hotels, well tended parks and unique promenade called "Lungomare".
Opatija will not dissapoint you, either you are coming for holiday, relaxation, health, business or for any other motive, because you will have the possibility to enjoy in all sorts of cultural, entertaining or sport events.
Opatija is also leading tourist town in Croatia when it comes to congress tourism and organisation of seminars and conferences. During the whole year you can also enjoy in festivals, concerts, exhibitions and all other cultural and sport happenings. Holiday in Opatija is an adventure, something you will have to tell to your friends, an everlasting, interesting myth about one destination, which has never left anyone indifferent. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
void handlePart(const MessageHeader& header, std::istream& stream) /// Handles a part. If message pointer was provided at construction time, /// the message pointed to will be properly populated so it could be written /// back out at a later point in time. { std::string tmp; Poco::StreamCopier::copyToString(stream, tmp); if (_pMsg) {
These values are not case sensitive. That is, Base64 and BASE64 and bAsE64 are all equivalent. An encoding type of 7BIT requires that the body is already in a seven-bit mail- ready representation. This is the default value -- that is, "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT" is assumed if the Content-Transfer-Encoding header field is not present
So, Poco should default to 7-bit if there is no content transfer encoding header on the mail. Looks like it is defaulting to 7bit BUT also looks like there is no check if the header exists.
I suggest you open an issue on github (https://github.com/pocoproject/poco/issues/new) with a link to this post and/or with this information. And as you are a developer, maybe also fork and push a fix suggestion, if you wish. Anyway a Poco developer or another community contributor (like me and maybe you ) might find some time to fix it and then it can get into next releases . Looks like a simple fix, just checking if the header exists before getting its value seems to be a good fix. | {
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Spring Guitar, Bass & Ukulele Recital
Our instructor (and owner) Joey Archer had a great recital with his guitar, bass and ukulele students. As a studio we strive to teach music that challenges AND interests the students. Many of the songs that were performed were chosen by the student and the instructor together. We covered the whole range from Pop to Metal.
We had performances by students who have been playing less than a year, all the way up to students who have been taking lessons for 6-7 years. We also had three Skype performances by students who moved away but still wanted to study with Joey (see photos below).
We are lucky to be friends with a fantastic photographer, Joel Sorrell @ Sorrell Design and Photography. He took photos of the performances and we even did a fun photo booth.
Some highlights were…
Tom Sawyer by Rush – Performed by Abbey. Abbey has had only been studying bass with Joey for less than a year! Truly remarkable progress in such a short time. There is a part in the middle where she nailed a solo that she had been working hard on for quite some time. We are very proud of you Abbey!
Shamane performed three very advanced pieces – Cherry Blossom Ending by Paul Yoon, Distance by Gogo Satoshi, and Friday by Paul Yoon. All very challenging and executed very well.
Shofukan by Snarky Puppy – Performed by Jaden. Another talented bass student who made a lot of progress in a short time. Jaden is a big fan of Snarky Puppy so Shofukan was a great choice. It has some challenging parts. Give it a listen.
Grady performed an original Jam in C and Cm. He shredded and wow’d the crowd with his melodies and solos.
For several students, this was their first performance
Isaac at 8 years old performed Banana Pancakes on his Ukulele
Natalie sang and performed Best Day by Taylor Swift on her guitar
Gabby performed Sparks by Coldplay
Jacob performed Love Yourself by Justin Bieber
There were many more memorable moments and photos. See below. Again a big shout out and thanks to our friends at Sorrell Design. | {
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Operations Research, Institute of Applied Mathematics, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
M.S. (Sep.1995 – June.1998)
Operation Research, Qufu Normal University,China
B.S. (Oct.1990)
Mathematics, Self-taught education
Professional Experience
1986.7-1995.9, middle school teacher
2001.3-2002.12, Post-doctor, State Key Laboratory of Science and Engineering Computing, Institute of Computational Mathematics and Scientific/Engineering Computing, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2002.12-2004.12, Post-doctor, School of Management and Economics, Tsinghua University. | {
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Sidepull (Bit-Less Bridle)
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I start all my young horses in the side pull bridle when teaching ground work maneuvers, such as turns on the forehand, turns on the haunches and yielding. I also use the side pull when I begin ground driving, which teaches the horse about turning, stopping and backing. Once I am riding the horse, I keep him in the side pull until he is confident at the walk, trot and canter.
If your horse has mouth problems or is over-reacting to the bit, try riding him in the side pull bridle. You will make your horse happy! | {
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The flattening of fame
Am I right about this? The age of social media has humanized many celebrities. Those who voluntarily engage with their followers via Twitter or Facebook have traded in the aura of aristocracy to remain among us. I think it’s nice when a famous person genuinely asks for direct feedback through these channels. I like that Lady Gaga is following thousands on Twitter. I dislike that Kanye West is following 5. I’d say he really doesn’t get it and she does. And poof. There’s not much more I’ve got to say about that. | {
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Just a quick post to say that we had a busy 2015 outside of Return to Film, which is why there weren’t that many posts. The new year will bring lots of exciting things for all of us, and we plan on talking about them here! | {
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Archive for November, 2014|Monthly archive page
We decided to purchase our vehicle from Dealer World because of Steve’s friendly personality and his honesty. He was friendly, helpful and you can tell personal relations are the utmost important to him. And that was important to us. Thank you Steve. You’re awesome.
Dealer World is truly a revolutionary auto dealer. Other mainstream dealers claim to be “listening” or to “bend over backwards” for you, yet at those dealerships the same age old game of dealership politics and scheming prevail over their marketing ploys. Dealer World is simply different – and better in every way. If you really want a no hassle purchase where you know you got a great deal and not have to sweat or wheel and deal, please come here.
I will never purchase a car from anywhere else ever again. Dealer World has made a lifetime customer out of me. You really need to check them out. What do you have to lose? | {
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Sometimes it is impossible to know whether we have someone or not, or if we have that someone, what is the degree of relationship between you and him/her. Here “have” does not mean owning the person like a random possession in our lives. It renders that “him/her” means us a lot, like if ever we have to lose that “him/her” we will feel as if we are killed….
Have you ever had someone you try to have with all your existence, with all your alive feelings, with a burning passion or with a childish innocence? If you had, then you will be able to figure it out how one feels after letting that “him/her” go away from your life; trying to protect at least the traces “he/she” left on your life, trying to refresh each and every memory with every passing day, trying to revive a smile or a lovely gesture by “him/her”; or a warm word as if it’s just said…
Consider the chain of people around your life once again and if you have such people who are still with you and you still “have” them, just hold them tightly because when they leave you behind by any reason the footsteps of “his/hers” mixing with the heartbeats of yours keep echoing in you forever! | {
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LocationAddress: Barstow, California 92311GPS: 35.038, -116.384View on MapLocal Directions: Located in the Afton Canyon Natural Area ACEC, adjacent to the Mojave River, about 37 miles northeast of Barstow and a few miles south of Interstate 15. | {
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Joy Behar slams Sarah Palin regarding rumors she's joining The View
Sarah Long was born in the cozy town of Monterey, California and is now happily enjoying the SoCal sunshine in Los Angeles.
When she's not hanging out with her cats, Sterling and Draper, you can find her cruising the beach, trying o...
Sarah Palin needs to say bye-bye and disappear, says Joy Behar
The recent exits of co-hosts Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters have left some major holes in the lineup on daytime talk show The View. If you ask Joy Behar who should be next to join Whoopi Goldberg on the popular program, she has a very definite opinion on who should not be hired.
While at the Venetian Las Vegas on Thursday, the comic and ex-View co-host took time out with Extra to comment on rumors that Sarah Palin may join the show. "Shouldn't Sarah Palin be turning letters over on some game show at this point? Why is she even relevant? She and Dick Cheney need to say bye-bye and disappear," Behar said. "So I don't really see her on any show, frankly... I wouldn't watch."
This isn't the first time Behar has had choice words for political figures. In addition to Palin and Cheney, the comedienne has a strong disliking for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In 2012, she agreed with Susan Sarandon's remarks about Romney, saying that he is "a Scrooge."
While Palin may not be well-liked by all, she's not totally unqualified when it comes to the media spotlight and being on network television. The former vice presidential candidate currently hosts Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportsman Channel and has enjoyed two stints as a paid consultant on Fox News.
Behar may not want Palin on The View, but she doesn't want to nominate herself for the job either. "I don't need to go back to that particular show," she told Extra. "I have other things I'm doing right now which I enjoy. I like the freelance aspect without having to be somewhere every day." | {
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Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a class of stochastic optimization methods inspired by the principles of natural evolution. Adaptation of strategy parameters and genetic operators has become an important and promising research area in GAs. Many researchers are applying adaptive techniques to guide the search of GAs toward optimum solutions. Mutation is a key component of GAs. It is a variation operator to create diversity for GAs. This paper investigates
several adaptive mutation operators, including population level adaptive mutation operators and gene level adaptive mutation operators, for GAs and compares their performance based on a set of uni-modal and multi-modal benchmark problems. The experimental results show that the gene
level adaptive mutation operators are usually more efficient than the population level adaptive mutation operators for GAs. | {
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Are you British and have applied to the US Embassy in Paris for a B1/B2 visa recently??
I am flying into Miami mid-October with no specific job lined up as
yet, with a return flight booked to the UK for 3 months later . I have my STCW95 and ENG1 and I will be staying in Fort Lauderdale
to network and look for work for the winter season. I would like to organise a B1/B2 visa before my arrival as a safeguard.
I
am wondering since I won't have papers for a specific boat/job whether it is: better during my appointment with the consulate in Paris to openly state my intention to look and gain employment on a boat in the US (I have satisfactory paperwork to qualify my 2 years in the industry as a stewardess) , or to simply say I will be a tourist for more than 3 months whereupon they stamp me in on the B2 tourist part of the visa and then once I get a job there, return with the boat papers and get stamped in B1 business status???
The problem with the latter option is that 1) my booked flight denotes I will be staying for less than 90 days (so immigration might ask me why I am applying for a B2 when as a UK passport holder I qualify for the Visa Waiver Program) 2) when I present bank statements they may not think I have a sufficient amount of funds for a "tourist-related" trip of longer than 3 months anyway.
I have been told that as long as I state clearly my intention to work, I shouldn't have a problem, even without boat papers. How
hard IS it to get this visa? ?
Any fellow Brits out there who have undertaken a similar route to get themselves over to the States/Caribbean would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!
2) I am a merchant mariner who works on non-US (i.e., foreign flagged) private and charter yachts (here is my Seaman's Book with my qualifications and work history, plus other standard supporting documents).
3) Since I am neither a US citizen nor a US Landed Immigrant, if I wish to visit the US, I am required to have the appropriate visa (usually a B2 tourist visa) or 90-day visa waiver.
4) The private and charter yacht industry has two major seasons when they hire new or replacement crew. The summer season hiring usually occurs in April and May in the Meditterranean. The winter season hiring usually occurs in October and November in southern Florida (especially around the time of the FLIBS).
5) When foreign flagged vessels visit US waters, the crew must have a valid entry visa (usually a D1 Crew visa or a B1 Business visa).
6) The D1 Crew visa does not allow crew on yachts to stay for longer than 29 days (and, depending on the USCIS processing officer, may not be allowed at all for private yachts).
5) When foreign flagged yachts are in US waters and if the yacht's visit is going to be longer than 29 days, the crew must have a B1 business visa. Most foreign flagged yachts visiting the US during the winter season stay longer than 29 days.
6) The hiring managers for foreign flagged yachts that wish to operate in US waters for longer than 29 days at a time, will not usually interview and/or offer jobs to crew who do not already have a B1 visa. In addition, they usually will not offer a position to any seaman without personal interviews by the captain and/or senior crew.
7) I wish to obtain work on a foreign flagged yacht for the winter season which means I will need to visit Florida for personal interviews with the hiring managers or captains.
7) Unfortunately, I have a chicken and an egg problem. i.e., no job no visa and no visa no job.
8) A multi-entry, dual use B1/B2 business/tourist visa (as described in the attached support letter) would allow me to solve this problem. Can you help me?
Dockwalk article which references the support letter (and for further discussion on the issue if you are interested):
"Here's the link to the MIASF site for the current (visa application support) letter: http://www.miasf.org/index.htm. (From this page) Go to (the pdf document found by clicking on) Boating/Industy Info/Document Library/MIASF Crew Visa Letter."
There are documents that the State Department uses when adjudicating visa applications - here are links to a couple (see the three sections I have extracted that I believe relate to most crew visa applications).
What happens if they ask me what I do for a living? If I fail to mention my intentions for looking for work, surely they will assume I will be doing this anyway if I tell them my intended destination (FL - i.e. yachting capital fo the world) and then wonder why I lied???!
ANY confirmation on thsi would be most welcome, getting v.confused answers - some say you should openly state your intention to work, others don't.
Try Arjan apartments in Barbados the lady who rents the apartments can help you with most of the paperwork since she did that for years.
Try Google, B1 B2 visa Barbados, make sure you have a letter from a captain (try just one letter for one trip to the USA) and make a list of countries visited the last ten years etc.
Complete list is on their website.
For British citizens it's not a big deal since you passport already allows you to visit the states (that's different with the green mamba passport)
With reference to entry into USA (or any other seafaring nation) for individuals in possession of a 'Seamans Discharge book' (and it really is your possession as opposed to a passport...)
A Seaman's Discharge Book is a government issued document which identifies the holder as a bonefide 'seafarer' whose full time occupation is of course at sea. Also, if a copy of the official crew list is provided, showing proof the SDB holder is indeed on the crew list, along with a copy of vessel registry, your entry will not be denied.
It has been a time honored, internationally agreed standard to allow the free passage of registered seafarers in the interest of efficient international commerce.
Nothing moves in this world without ships or without the mariners who operate them.
And another thing...
When applying for B1/B2 at any US Embassy with your Passport, Seaman's Discharge Book, crew list and a begging letter from the captain & copy of ship's papers etc, you will have success.
rodsteel.
Perhaps you missed my point; My discussion was in reference only to the benefits of holding a Seaman's Discharge Book.
The original poster would have been denied entry after admitting they are seeking work on a boat...regardless of anything.
You seem to be confused, quoting 'visa waiver' entry and 'B1/B2 entry by sea', no sense there...
What is your point?
However, my point concerned Ninja123's initial question. Ninja123 does not have a "Captain's Letter" to support a request for a US B1 Business Visa (which is required to work on yachts sailing in US waters for longer than 29 days).
In addition, Ninja123 is a UK national and therefore, because of the mutual Visa Waiver Program, does not need a US B2 Visitor's Visa to travel to the US for tourist purposes. Unfortunately, many agents and/or yachts require prospective crew to have at least the B1 and preferably a B1/B2 combination before they will offer employment.
The US State Department is the issuing agency for visas (usually at US Embassies or Consulates). The US Citizenship and Immigration Service is the authorizing agency for entry to the US using such visas (usually at US marine terminals and airports). Two different entities with two different mandates.
Thus, my suggestion to Ninja123 that they follow Henning's advice to tell the truth to the State Department when filling out the visa application form (i.e., I work on yachts, I am required to possess a B1 visa when any yacht I am working on intends to enter US waters for longer than 29 days).
Assuming Ninja123 successfully obtains a B1 visa from the US State Department, independent of whether they are also issued a B2 visa, if they do not have a Captain's Letter of employment and they wish to visit the US, they should only request from the processing USCIS official, at the airport port of entry, authorization to enter the US as a bona fide tourist (with valid supporting documentation if asked). In addition, while in the US under tourist entry status, they should behave appropriately and discretely (e.g., no solicitation of day-work).
HELP........
Sorry if I am being stupid here I am trying to get the forms to get a B1/B2 visa and finding it impossible.
I have contacted Immgration Direct paid them but they have been having tec problems and I do not have the paper work.. now they are sending me a refund, I just want to be legel whilst working, but I can understand people getting annoyed with all the loops.
Does anyone no a direct way to get the paperwork???
If you have a visa and you fly in to miami for a 3 month vacation are you expected to use the b2 of your visa part or VWP if you qualify for that as it is valid for 90 days. Also will they ask to see bank statements to see if you can afford a 3 month vacation?
They definitely ask for bank statements and other stuff. They want to see if you have enough money to stay in the country for those 3 months mainly because you won’t have permission to generate any extra income in that period. I used to work on a Business jet charter company with office in Fort Lauderdale. I stayed in the US for more than 3 years and with everything legal. The big thing about it is follow everything by the book and do it in advance. | {
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Green Gardening for Allby Adam Sarmiento - posted 05/17/16
Here in the 21st century the idea of ecological or “green” gardening is nothing new. As gardeners we have a unique connection to ecology that leads many of us to desire to garden in ways that don’t harm the environment. Most of us approach using chemicals with at least some level of apprehension and concern about both environmental and human health. Scientific research is increasingly confirming suspicions that horticultural and agricultural chemicals are contributing to a wide array of concerns such as cancer, pollinator decline, and poor water quality. Still, much confusion remains about what going green in the garden entails and how practical it is, especially as we age and become less physically able.
The good news is that the biggest challenge in going green is a mental one. Going green won’t necessarily require you to do much differently physically, but it will require you to challenge some of your assumptions about gardening. The following is a list of six things you can do this year to make your garden healthier and more ecofriendly.
We can learn a lot by observing how natural ecosystems contain a wide variety of plants providing different roles and functions.
Embrace Diversity
Most natural landscapes include a plethora of plant species interacting and filling different niches that support wildlife, like pollinators and birds, and environmental functionality, like fertile soils and clean water. The more plant species, especially native, that we bring into our gardens the more potential we have for a healthy ecosystem. Start by taking an inventory of the number and types of plant species you have and then make a list of beneficial plants you could add.
Take Back Your Lawn
The elephant in the room when it comes to a lack of plant diversity in most gardens is the lawn. Our obsession with golf course-like expanses comes with many ecological consequences. Poor water quality, toxic chemical exposure, air pollution, species decline, noise pollution, and habitat loss can all be attributed to the modern lawn. Take stock of how much you actually use your lawn, how it contributes to the design of your garden, and how much you spend to maintain it, and then consider ways to reduce your lawn and replace it with native grasses, flowers, and other beneficial plants. A lawn is essentially an artificially maintained pioneer or newly established ecosystem.
By bringing together many native and useful plants we can mimic natural systems and create beautiful gardens.
Go Native
Native plants provide beauty, habitat, food, and ecological functionality in the landscape. By observing your local native plants you can begin to see the types of ecosystems you have in your area and the ways in which you can replicate them in your garden. Take an inventory of the origins of the plants you have. You may be surprised to find that you have few plants native to your region. Most states and regions have a native plant society or group that can help you learn about your native plants and the benefits they provide. Many nurseries are offering increasingly more native plants.
Go Organic
These days, organic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are readily available and provide good non-toxic alternatives. Use of organic products will increase the health of both you and your plants, and increase the long-term fertility of your gardens.
Raised beds like these can make gardening more accessible for those with limited mobility.
Grow Your Own
The ecological costs of our industrial-scale agricultural systems are numerous. By growing some of your own food you can help mitigate this situation and assure yourself that you are getting the freshest, tastiest, and healthiest food possible. As we grow older and/or have more limited mobility, it can be challenging to continue to grow food. One of the biggest challenges is being able to work on the ground. Using raised beds or taller containers can help alleviate this problem and make your plants more accessible.
Composting is an easy way to make your gardening more sustainable and reduce waste.
Compost
Every day good compostable material is dumped into landfills. You can reduce your need for fertilizers and mulch and reduce your contribution to your community’s waste stream by composting your food scraps. You don’t need a fancy bin or to invest much money into the process. A simple well-built pile only requires a small space in a shady part of your property. For urban dwellers or those with limited mobility, a worm bin can provide a good alternative to make use of your compostable materials.
The environmental legacy of our gardening and landscaping can be one of restoration, protection, and health or one of species extinction, toxic chemical pollutants, and illness. It is up to each of us as gardeners, landscapers, and consumers to decide what kind of legacy we will leave. These six simple steps are a good way to make your garden more ecologically friendly and with some little personal tweaks it can be something you can sustain for a lifetime.
A version of this article appeared in a March 2016 print edition of State-by-State Gardening.
Photography courtesy of Adam Sarmiento.
Adam Sarmiento has been gardening professionally for 18 years and owns the environmentally focused landscaping design/build firm Eco Landscaping. He also leads workshops and presentations on sustainable gardening, and is working on a book on the subject. For more eco gardening tips visit ecogardenok.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of State-by-State Gardening, its parent company or affiliates. The author is solely responsible for all content. Our articles are only meant to educate and entertain our readers. We are not medical professionals and cannot recommend the ingestion or topical application of any herbal remedy, poultice, tea, etc. Please consult a medical professional before ingesting any plant. | {
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Mary Iris Malone liked her old psychiatrist better. This new one wants her to take medication, and her father is thrilled to have someone finally agree with him. He is determined to have everything go smoothly and normally now that he left Mim’s mom in Ohio and moved to Mississippi with Mim and his new wife, Kathy. Now Mim hasn’t heard from her mother in a while, and when she is called to the office at school, she overhears her stepmother telling the principal that Mim’s mother will beat this disease, that she’s a fighter. What disease? Mim turns around before they see her and walks right out of school, finds the coffee can where Kathy keeps her cash, and takes off on a Greyhound bus to see her mom while she’s still alive.
Told in Mim’s inimitable voice and punctuated by letters to an unknown person named Isabel, this road trip story packs in a cast of colorful characters and wild situations. Equipped with a tricky epiglottis, Mim has to work to keep her lunch down, which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on whose shoes are in front of her. During the trip, she decides not to take her medication, so the reader is continually aware that everything Mim sees may be filtered through schizophrenia. Mim is precocious and well-read, with a vocabulary both prodigious and foul, a great storyteller who often ends a depressing tale with “…’twas ever thus.” Her journey is peppered with creepy old men, great old ladies, a homeless boy (“Hey, hey. I’m Walt.”), and a devastatingly handsome young guy, to name a few. All of these people work to help or hinder Mim’s desperate journey to reach her mother before it’s too late.
When I read the description of this debut novel, I didn’t think it would interest me, but I bought it for the library because of all the starred reviews. I read it only because I knew it would be a Printz contender next year. By about page two, I fell in love with it. This is a brilliant novel, and Mim is one of the most appealing protagonists I’ve read in a long time. Her voice is sterling: so tough, and yet terribly vulnerable. Smart, witty teens are one reason that my job is so gratifying, and I resent it when people say that the teen characters in some YA novels are unrealistic. I know too many great kids to believe them. Teens have little control over their own lives, and Mim is someone who has fought against the choices adults have made in her life—either ignorant choices for her or self-centered choices for themselves—with her natural intelligence and humor. Sometimes, she is afraid to trust the right people because so many have let her down before, and yet her heart is wide open to the inner beauty of the innocence she sees in Walt, another character who is just… well, I have tears in my eyes just remembering him.
I highly recommend Mosquitoland, with the caveat that the language can be rough and the situations are sometimes those that should be expected of a sixteen-year-old girl traveling alone. Older teens and adults. Kudos to David Arnold on an incredible debut. May he write many, many more.
Disclaimer: I read a library copy of this book. Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect those of my employer or anyone else. | {
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CloudOasis is a blog discussing datacenter and cloud technologies
The Relationship between BCP and DRP
What is your understanding of Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity Planning? Are these two terms related, or maybe not? How could companies implement these seemly unrelated services as a unified strategy to offer a complete service for business?
If you were going to develop a unified strategy using these services, what would be some common mistakes that you might make, and how would you avoid them?
I will answer these questions in this blog post, and in so doing, will guide you through making the technology work for you to implement your strategy.
Definitions and Technologies
Before we start our discussion, lets first understand the definitions of each term we will be using, starting with the first term:
Disaster Recovery:The process by which data and services are restored following an outage event or crash.
Business Continuity: The steps and processes a business takes to continue operations during an outage or crash to maintain accessibility and services to the business.
The graph below illustrates the concept of the two plans
As illustrated by the graph, when a disaster strikes, the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) focuses on the services used to recover the system and its data back to full operations. From a technology point of view at this stage, the plan is more focused on Backup and Recovery.
On the other hand, the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is more focused on keeping the business operating and functional during the recovery after the disaster has struck. From a technology point of view, the BCP is focused on Replication, instead of Backup and Replication.
The Relationship
From the definitions of these two terms, you can see that that both plans are dependent upon each other; both plans are discussing the engagement of recovery operations to restore business. BCP focuses on the resumption of business activity by addressing the processes, people and property to be used for business continuity; while disaster recovery focuses on the recovery of the information technology systems used to restore business operations by addressing data and system recovery.
Building Your Effective Business Continuity and Disaster Plan
Understanding the relationship between the DRP and the BCP is essential before you can start building an effective plan for your business. Discussing these terms with customers requires using the ITIL framework to explain the concepts of our solution. I use the diagram below to illustrate the relationships.
ITIL Framework
By concentrating on the business and its tolerance for downtime, you can adopt the right technologies to protect your business against any type of outage. To put things in perspective, let us examine the ITIL Framework diagram:
Identify: Start with identifying the potential causes of outages, and apply a risk assessment of that outage and how it will affect your business operation. At this stage, it is important to consider natural disasters, human errors, hardware and software malfunctions, losing a key employee, and more.
Analyze: Here, you must analyze the impact of the outage on your business. What happens if an outage hits the business? Remember that the disaster is all about the impact on the business, and not the event itself.
Design: Start building a strategy to avoid, or at least minimise, the risk you have already identified to reduce, or even avoid, an impact on your business following an outage.
Execute: Start executing the plan by building the steps and procedures necessary in the event of an outage.
Measure: Continue developing and adjusting the plan. Test your plans. Testing is the key to identifying gaps in your plan. Testing can also identify the need for a different approach.
Common Mistakes
As humans, we learn by making mistakes. Sometimes, the mistakes can be costly, especially when they involve the impacts and costs to the business. Let’s look at some common mistakes that you should avoid:
No Business Impact Analysis: Outages can occur for many reasons. It is important to analyse the many reasons an outage might occur, and how each outage might impact the business. You can plan a protection or recovery strategy for an outage risk after you identified it.
Too Much Technology Focus: Technology alone will not cover the entire strategy to maintain business availability. Technology is only a medium to enable the execution of your business availability plan.
Not Involving the Business:Remember, building your BCP/DRP is not a one person exercise. You must involve the business and understand how each business unit is generating and using the data. By understanding the connections between the business units, you can understand the impact an outage might have on that part of the business; then you can protect it.
Not Making Operations Personnel Responsible: You must ensure that all key operations personnel in your plan have the knowledge and authority to implement your plan, and can be contacted in the case of an emergency.
Not Reviewing or Testing the Plan: You must run your plan to test it. The test run is to allow for a review of its effectiveness and to identify gaps in the processes. Testing your execution and simulating an outage from time to time will help you identify new requirements your business may need. Testing can assist you to adjust your plan to include new developments.
Summary
BCP and DRP working together help to keep your business operational through any type of outage. it is very important to examine all the potential threats to your business; then you can build a plan to protect against them. Technology is called into play after you have identified the threats and analysed a response. Remember also that each business unit has different tolerance to a data outage. You will need different techniques ready to execute the plan.
Last, don’t forget about the testing and revision of your BCP and DRP. In the fast-paced digital world today, companies are continually altering their business models, which in turn calls for new technologies that must be accounted for, and tested, in your plan. | {
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On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Oakland on January 21, 2019, the Anti Police-Terror Project hosted a powerful and moving day of civil rights speakers, marches, children's activities, drums, music, song, and dance. In tribute to families who have lost loved ones to police violence, guns were melted and cast into into stars, displayed in a pattern recreating the constellations visible in the night sky when Oscar Grant was murdered ten years ago. These video clips capture some of the sights a...
Shortly after the completion of the construction of the second city-sanctioned Tuff Shed compound under the I-980 freeway at Northgate Avenue and 27th Street in April, the city of Oakland began evicting residents from the largest encampments in the surrounding area. Over the course of four days in May and June, the residents of 50-plus tents and shanty structures were forced out.... | {
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Atmos Nail 510 Vaporizer Pen Review
Atmos Nail 510 Vaporizer Pen Review
WHY USE AN ATMOS NAIL 510 VAPORIZER?
I’ve been looking for a great wax vaporizer so I decided to check out the Atmos Nail 510 vaporizer pen. I love to vape using concentrates to because I am on the road a lot. I drive often for my job and I like to go away for the weekends to the mountains and such. So it’s imperative that I have a discreet, travel-friendly delivery device for my concentrates.
WHAT COMES IN THE BOX?
When I got the Nail in the snail mail, the first thing I noticed was how cool it looked. This device is super sleek and it heats up really quickly. Like many vaporizer pens it takes about 5 hours for it to charge fully but it will give the user days of continuous usage on a full charge. There’s no cigarette adapter included, but most cars feature a USB nowadays and the Atmos Nail comes with both a Wall Charger and a USB Charger included. So if you’re like me and you drive a kick-ass car, you should be good to charge your Nail wherever you are.
PERFECT VAPE FOR OIL OR WAX
Another thing that’s awesome about the Nail Vaporizer is the unique chambers: there’s one for liquid oils and another for the concentrated waxes. I can take a draw in the car, at a movie theatre or in a bar and no one is the wiser. It comes with a replaceable and refillable oil chamber so it looks just like I’m smoking a regular e-cigarette. Nobody can tell I’m enjoying my precious herbal concentrates with this tasty device. And if that weren’t enough, fans of vaping herbs can get a special herb chamber because it’s compatible with Atmos’ 510 threading.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
There’s really not much to complain about with the Atmos Nail 510 Vaporizer Pen except that it takes a little bit of practice to get used to the unlocking mechanism. Also experienced vaporists may be tempted to hold the button down longer than the 10 second limit. But this is not really a concern. If you have a couple dabs of concentrate in the chamber, 10 seconds is more than enough time to get a really potent hit. Buy this vaporizer. It’s a relatively cheap vaporizer pen and it’s very easy to clean, maintain and take with you wherever your day takes you.
The Breakdown | Atmos Nail 510 Vaporizer Pen Review
8.3
Great
Terrific pen vape for concentrates and essential oils. Looks really cool, easy to maintain and delivers quality rips. Also its a really affordable vaporizer if you’re new to vaping.
Chuck Shweig is a vaporizer enthusiast from Venice, CA. He first started using medicinal herbs as treatment for chronic pain in 2007. Right away he bought his first vaporizer - a Vapor Brothers unit. He's currently a big fan of his Arizer Air and Da Buddha, and looks forward to getting the Vapir Rise for social gatherings.
Chuck spent four years behind the counter of medical dispensaries, helping patients get the medicine they needed to alleviate a variety of physical and mental issues. He's had the opportunity to try dozens of vaporizer units and hear patients' direct reviews of how those vaporizers helped (or didn't). When it comes to you reading an unbiased and sometimes brutally honest vaporizer review, just remember, you gotta trust Chuck!
A perfect chill day for Chuck involves a bike ride down to the beach and enjoying a good session with his favorite portable vape in his hand and Chemical Brothers playing in his headphones. | {
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Crazy bad (in a good way) zombie film, written and directed by a 14 year old who also stars in the film. Think 28 Days Later, in New York, with a budget of maybe two thousand dollars. You have to see it to believe it! | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Hawkins' college connection to Bucs OC Jeff Tedford could only get him so far. The return man hasn't caught a pass in a game since 2012 while with the Titans. Wed, Aug 20, 2014 12:07:00 PM
Bucs signed WR Lavelle Hawkins.
Hawkins, 28 in July, played for new Bucs OC Jeff Tedford at Cal. He has been an ineffective wideout in the pros, but has kick-return value. The Bucs remain extremely needy at wide receiver. Hawkins, Louis Murphy, and Chris Owusu would compete for their No. 2 wideout job if the season began today. Mon, Apr 7, 2014 01:08:00 PM
The Bucs are finalizing a deal with free agent WR Lavelle Hawkins.
Hawkins will give the Bucs depth behind Vincent Jackson following the trade of Mike Williams, but shouldn't be higher than their No. 4 receiver if he makes the final roster. A 2008 fourth-round pick, Hawkins has experience on special teams and is a candidate to return kicks. Sat, Apr 5, 2014 04:50:00 PM
Hawkins, 28 in July, played for new Bucs OC Jeff Tedford at Cal. He has been an ineffective wideout in the pros, but has kick-return value. The Bucs remain extremely needy at wide receiver. Hawkins, Louis Murphy, and Chris Owusu would compete for their No. 2 wideout job if the season began today.
Hawkins will give the Bucs depth behind Vincent Jackson following the trade of Mike Williams, but shouldn't be higher than their No. 4 receiver if he makes the final roster. A 2008 fourth-round pick, Hawkins has experience on special teams and is a candidate to return kicks.
It's an indication the Bolts don't expect Malcom Floyd (neck) back any time soon. The longtime Titan couldn't make it past final cuts with the 49ers, but had a strong preseason. Hawkins should contribute mostly on special teams in San Diego.
Hawkins made some big plays for the receiver-needy Niners in the preseason, finishing with seven catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. But he drew the ire of head coach Jim Harbaugh when he picked up two personal foul penalties in the finale. Hawkins is just 27 years old, but doesn't have the talent to make those mistakes.
27-year-old Hawkins was cut loose by the receiver-needy Patriots early in camp, which tells you all you need to know about his abilities. The 49ers will likely view Hawkins as a camp body due to several injuries at wide receiver.
Hawkins, 27, was released by the Patriots on Wednesday, and he's expected to be in San Francisco this weekend. The Niners have been working out veteran receivers all summer. The team is thin at the position with Michael Crabtree (Achilles'), Kyle Williams (knee), and Mario Manningham (knee) nursing injuries.
So continues the Patriots' annual purge of their veteran receiver fliers. Hawkins' release is both a mild vote of confidence in the Pats' extremely young receiver corps, and poor sign for Hawkins' future. Getting cut loose before August is never a good thing, but particularly so when a team has as little proven depth in your position group as the Pats do in their receiver corps.
Patriots agreed to terms with WR Lavelle Hawkins to a two-year contract.
A fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2008, Hawkins managed just 71 catches over five seasons and was replaced by Kevin Walter. In New England, he'll battle fellow castoffs Donald Jones and Michael Jenkins for a roster spot. Contract details aren't yet available, but we wouldn't expect any guaranteed money. Hawkins isn't a real threat to projected starting "X" receiver Aaron Dobson.
He became expendable following the signing of Kevin Walter, which says a lot about where Hawkins' career has gone. He was owed $1.9 million. Hawkins was active just seven times last season, and has only 71 catches for 771 yards through 52 career games. He offered little on special teams in 2012. The former fourth-round pick will try to latch on elsewhere and compete for a final receiver spot. Nate Washington could be the next veteran wideout to go in Tennessee.
Titans WR Lavelle Hawkins' roster spot is in danger following the addition of Kevin Walter.
Hawkins has a $1.9 million base salary, nearly $1 million more than Walter's 2013 pay. The Titans have never gotten much receiving production from Hawkins, and he didn't help on special teams last season, either. It's possible that the Titans will part with both Hawkins and Nate Washington before the draft.
The Titans opted to play Preston as a reward for stellar play in practices and because he's a better fit in at the "X" position. Hawkins has just four receptions after signing a three-year, $7.2 million contract last February. Kendall Wright's addition has made him superfluous.
Depth Charts
Lovelocke (6'5/248) was a four-year starter for the PVAMU Panthers, completing 57.6 percent of his senior-year passes with a 16:9 TD-to-INT ratio and ten additional rushing scores. A massive quarterback with 10 1/2-inch hands and 34 1/4-inch arms, Lovelocke has ideal tight end dimensions and could get a look there after running 4.81/4.84 at his Pro Day with a 31-inch vertical and 9-foot-5 broad jump. Lovelocke isn't going to make it as a quarterback.
The Chiefs used a 2012 sixth-round pick on Gray. He appeared in 35 games the past three seasons, mainly on special teams. He's rushed for 99 career yards and one touchdown on 24 carries as the No. 3 back. Gray suffered a torn ACL in November and is now healthy enough where the Chiefs could cut him.
Copeland (5-foot-11 1/8, 271) went to LSU as a four-star defensive tackle, but converted to fullback as a true freshman and became a 22-game starter. What Copeland lacks in versatility -- he's no more than a short-yardage runner and caught seven career passes at LSU -- he makes up for with aggressive, relentless lead blocking. An extremely physical player, Copeland consistently removed linebackers from plays to clear alleys for Jeremy Hill. Dallas isn't a great landing spot for Copeland, however, due to OC Scott Linehan's pass-happy leanings.
Cardinals undrafted WR Damond Powell was shot on Friday, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
The incident happened in Powell's hometown of Toledo, Ohio. According to FOX10TV.com, Powell was sitting in his driveway with friends when he was shot in the face. Standing in at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Powell is a slot prospect out of Iowa. It's unclear if he'll be ready for training camp this week. | {
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Bamboo Desktop Dry-Erase Board
Item Number: 575975-BB
Price: $14.00
The term eco-friendly has been used a bit loosely. It could be compared to the word safe. There is a big difference between safe and tested for small children safe. Exactly how eco-friendly is the Bamboo Dry-Erase line from Three by Three? ...VERY eco-friendly, they've covered all the bases with this line.
"I am please with the size and the style of this dry erase board. It is perfect for my cubicle desk. I was a little hesitant to purchase they because of one review stating that the marker was no good. However, I am glad I purchased it anyway because the marker works perfectly fine"
Brianna Hawkins on 5/15/2012 12:17:27 PM
Rating:
"I have purchased this item and I love that I no longer have to use all kinds of paper when leaving love notes or " | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Keep It Simple and Stupid
[转]Getting Started: Redis and Python
So if you have been following NoSQL movement, the migration of some types of data to non-relational datastores has recently picked up speed. For web (and other developers) this has lead to some impressive engineering resources developing some amazing tools being open sourced for the world to use. One that caught my eye recently has been Salvatore Sanfilippo’s redis which has been taken under the wing of VMWare, solidifying and validating the great work that Salavatore has done making redis an amazing tool in any developers arsenal.
A very simplified explanation of redis is that it is an in memory key-value store like memcached but, it is persistent on disk, unlike memcached which is volatile. Along with being disk-persistent redis also supports some basic data structures like lists, sets, ordered sets, hashes, and of course basic key-value string storage like memcached. Redis, with disk-persistence and basic data structures, remains blazing fast with published benchmarks of 110,000 SETs per second, about 81,000 GETs per second.
This post is the start of a series of articles on redis for Python programmers. A prerequisite for this is going to be some basic Python knowledge, which if you haven’t used before I highly recommend the free web book Dive Into Python. This is going to be a simple overview of the basic data types and usage for Python programmers and we will slowly progress into more complex usages, so if you haven’t done anything with redis before this is a perfect start.
Installing Redis
Redis is extremely easy to install on POSIX systems (Linux, OSX, Cygwin for Windows). Simply download either a release version or checkout the trunk version of redis from the project home page. Unpackage, make, and run. That’s it!
6 commands and redis is running and ready for a connection. Obviously this isn’t best practice for running redis in production but, it works well for just getting it up and running for some experimentation. Let’s leave that window open and open another for a Python console.
In every example below we only are covering the basic operations of each type. If you want to learn about all of the possible operations for redis read up on the redis Command Reference. This has all of the commands available to you.
Redis and Python
First thing we need is the redis-py module for Python. You can install this manually or just use easy_install.
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easy_install redis
Everything has a place: keys
Redis is a key-value store just like a Python dictionary. So everything that goes into redis no matter what it is, has a key (or location, or address, whatever makes sense to you). You can’t store something without a place for it to go
Now let’s open up a Python console and start to play with the basic data structuresData structure: String
The most basic data structure in redis is the string. Simply, you have a key and it stores a string.
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>>>import redis
>>>r_server=redis.Redis("localhost")
>>>r_server.set("name","DeGizmo")
True
>>>r_server.get("name")
'DeGizmo'
So, line by line let’s walk through what we’ve done here.
1. import the redis module
2. create an object called “r_server” of redis.Redis type with the parameter “localhost” which is the network location of our running redis server
3. call the function “set” on the “r_server” object with the parameters “name” and “DeGizmo”. The first parameter “name” is the key and “DeGizmo” is the value. So in redis we created a key-value pair of “name” -> “DeGizmo”
4. call the function “get” which will retrieve the value from the key which is passed as the parameter. We are getting the key “name” and redis returns the value “DeGizmo”
That’s it. If you go and stop the redis server and restart it and run r_server.get(“name”) command again, it will return “DeGizmo” again due to redis’s persistent store.
Data structure: Integer
The second data type available is an integer.
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>>>r_server.set("hit_counter",1)
True
>>>r_server.incr("hit_counter")
2
>>>r_server.get("hit_counter")
'2'
>>>r_server.decr("hit_counter")
1
>>>r_server.get("hit_counter")
'1'
Again using the “r_server” Redis object we run the following commands
1. We set the redis key “hit_counter” to a value of 1 just like in the example above
2. Then we run the command “incr” on the key “hit_counter”. This will increment (incr) the key by 1
3. We get the value for the key “hit_counter” to verify that it was been incremented
4. Then we run the command “decr” on the key “hit_counter”. This will decrement (decr) the key by 1
5. We get the value for the key “hit_counter” to verify that it was been decremented
Simple huh? Well remember that redis is a persistent store that can be accessed by multiple machines (or programs) simultaneously. If you have a horizontally scaled web farm with many different web servers running on separate machines, your web app can all call on and reference the same redis instance and all operate on the “hit_counter” key at the same time and increment it just like how you would use a MySQL database. You can kind of think of redis like a “shared” storage across different applications.
Data structure: Lists
Very similar to the built in Python list type, the redis list type has a few basic methods that combined can quite powerful. We are only covering a tiny portion of the commands available, you can find all the commands in the redis Command Reference.
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>>>r_server.rpush("members","Adam")
True
>>>r_server.rpush("members","Bob")
True
>>>r_server.rpush("members","Carol")
True
>>>r_server.lrange("members",0,-1)
['Adam','Bob','Carol']
>>>r_server.llen("members")
3
>>>r_server.lindex("members",1)
'Bob'
We don’t actually have to create or declare anything when using redis, we just use it and redis handles everything else for us. So we just go ahead and tell redis at the key “members” we are going to add (rpush, right push) the value “Adam”. Redis creates the list for us at key “members” and adds the value “Adam” to the list.
1. With the r_server object again we call the method “rpush” which will add the value “Adam” to the newly created list “members”
2. We add “Bob” to the same list
3. Finally we’ll add “Carol”
4. With the lrange method we are asking redis to return all the objects in “members”. lrange takes 3 arguments: key, start index in list, end index in list. We are getting the objects from the key “members” starting at index 0 and ending at -1 (which is technically the -1, or last index in the list, which will return everything)
5. The llen method asks redis to return the length of the list at the key “members” which now has 3 objects
6. lindex method tells redis that we want the object from the key “members” at the index position of 1 (remember lists start at index 0), so redis returns “Bob”
We’ve got some elements in the list at the key “members”; now lets get remove some elements.
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>>>r_server.rpop("members")
'Carol'
>>>r_server.lrange("members",0,-1)
['Adam','Bob']
>>>r_server.lpop("members")
'Adam'
>>>r_server.lrange("members",0,-1)
['Bob']
1. With the method rpop (right pop) we remove the element in the list on the right side (tail), which is “Carol”
2. Now when we ask for the list “members” from redis again (from the start of 0, and the end of -1 which returns everything) we see our list now doesn’t have “Carol”
3. We now lpop (left pop) an element from the list “members”. This will remove the far left element from the list, “Adam”
4. Now the entire list only contains “Bob”
Data structure: Set
Again, sets perform identically to the built in Python set type. Simply, sets are lists but, can only have unique values. In the above example if we added the value Adam (r_server.lpush(“members”, “Adam”) ) 20 times our list would contain 20 values all containing the value “Adam”. In a set, all elements are unique.
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>>>r_server.delete("members")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("members","Adam")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("members","Bob")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("members","Carol")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("members","Adam")
False
>>>r_server.smembers("members")
set(['Bob','Adam','Carol'])
1. First off we delete the old list in the key “members” so we can use it as a set
2. Then we sadd (set add) the value “Adam” to the key “members”
3. Do the same for the value “Bob”
4. Do the same for the value “Carol”
5. Now we try to add the value “Adam” to the key “members” again but, this time it returns “False” since we are working on a set, and a set only has unique values. There already is a value “Adam” present in this set
6. The method smembers returns all the members of the set in the Python type set
An example of a use of sets in a web application would be for “upvotes” on a reddit, or hacker news type website. We want to keep track of who up votes a story but, you should only be able to up vote a story once.
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>>>r_server.sadd("story:5419:upvotes","userid:9102")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("story:5419:upvotes","userid:12981")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("story:5419:upvotes","userid:1233")
True
>>>r_server.sadd("story:5419:upvotes","userid:9102")
False
>>>r_server.scard("story:5419:upvotes")
3
>>>r_server.smembers("story:5419:upvotes")
set(['userid:12981','userid:1233','userid:9102'])
I added a little twist in here with the name of the key: “story:5419:upvotes” but, it’s easy to explain. Redis is “flat” with it’s keyspace. So if we have many different stories we use a fixed key naming convention for easy reference in redis. For this example our key is broken down like this: “object type” : “id” : “attribute”. So, we have an object of type “story” with an ID of “5419″ with an attribute “upvotes’. Redis has no idea what any of this means it just knows the key is “story:5419:upvotes” but, it doesn’t matter, we know what it means and we can divide up our objects into this name space to make it easier to work with and keep from “losing” things. The value being added to the key is divided up in the same way. “userid” is the type and “9102″ is the value or the ID for that user voting on the story.
1. Just like before we are adding the value “userid:9102″ to the key “story:5419:upvotes”
2. Now we are adding the value “userid:12981″
3. Finally adding the valud “userid:1233″
4. Now, the user with the ID 9102 tries to up vote the story with the ID 5419 again, and redis returns False since that user has already up votes this story before and you can’t up vote a story twice!
5. The method “scard” is asking redis for the cardinality of the set at key “story:5419:upvotes” or how many things are in this set, and redis returns 3.
6. Finally we return the list of userid’s that we have stored in the set.
Data structure: Ordered sets
The last data structure we are going to talk about today is an ordered (or sorted) set. This operates just like a set but, has an extra attribute when we add something to a set called a “score”. This score determines the order of the elements in the set. We will stick with the concept for this final example
Quick namespace explanation like before. For the key we are going to be referring to “stories:frontpage” which is going to be a set of stories slated for the front page of our website. We are storing in that key the value of “storyid:3123″ which is the ID of some story on the site and then a score, which in our case is going to be the number of votes on a story.
1. First we add the value “storyid:3123″ to “stories:frontpage”, and “storyid:3123″ in our example is going to have 34 votes.
2. Then add “storyid:9001″ with 3 votes
3. Then add “storyid:2134″ with 127 votes
4. We are going to try to add “story:2134″ to the set again but, we can’t since it already exists.
5. Now we are going to ask redis for all the elements in “stories:frontpage” from index 0 to index -1 (the end of the list) with all associated scores (withscores=True)
6. We’ve got the scores but, they are in ascending order, we want them in descending order for our website, so we are going to store the results in the variable “frontpage”
7. Then reverse it (which is an in place operation in Python)
8. Now print out the front page!
In conclusion let’s do a quick example of a “view” in an application in which a user will vote of a story using redis as a storage engine
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#given variables
#r_server = our redis server
#user_id = the user who voted on the story
#story_id = the story which the user voted on
ifr_server.sadd("story:%s"%story_id,"userid:%s"%user_id):
r_server.zincrby("stories:frontpage","storyid:%s"%story_id,1)
2 lines of code? This is might compact but, once we unravel it we can see how it makes sense and how powerful redis can be. Let’s start with the if statement.
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ifr_server.sadd("story:%s"%story_id,"userid:%s"%user_id):
We know the command “sadd” already. This will add an element to a set at a key. The key in this case is
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"story:%s"%story_id
If story_id is 3211, then the resulting string will be “story:3211″. This is the key in redis which contains the list of users that has voted on the story.
The value to be inserted at this key is
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"userid:%s"%user_id
Just like with story, if the user_id is 9481 then the string to be inserted into the set at “story:3211″ will be “user_id:9481″
Now the redis command “sadd” will return False if that element is already present in the set. So if a user has already voted on this story before we don’t execute the statement under the if. But, if it is added, then we have a brand new vote and we have to increment the votes for the front page.
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r_server.zincrby("stories:frontpage","storyid:%s"%story_id,1)
We have an ordered set at the key “stories:frontpage” and we are going to increment the element “storyid:%s” % story_id (“story:3211″) by 1.
And now we’re done! We’ve made sure the user hasn’t voted on this story before and then we’ve incremented the number of votes for this story on the front page! | {
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Shopping For A New Health Or Dental Insurance Plan?
The mall may be a perfect place to go to buy garments, however it is also a spot of confusion. In traditional shopping, you simply take a journey in your automotive to your favorite shopping middle or retailer and you buy what you want or want. Instance: You’ve gotten a $50 copay for a health care provider visit where the fee is $eighty. Online shopping is nothing but electronics commerce (e-commerce) used for enterprise-to-business (B2B) or Business-to-Consumer transactions or it relates to variety of enterprise dealing performed online.
5) Product Price: Compared to regular shopping stores the merchandise can be found at cheaper then them. Still thought of as a fairly current phenomenon, online shopping has definitely made the lifetime of numerous customers easier and more handy.
For about the same value as a family room in a median resort, you and your family can benefit from the luxurious and convenience of staying in a incredible vacation property whilst experiencing Britain’s shopping destination cities.
You’ll be able to check-drive several models domestically, then cruise websites regionally for value, coloration, accessories, delivery costs, taxes or other fees. This massive Outlet mall has over 200 outlets, 180 of them outlet stores. Most of us are sometimes concerned with private shopping; on-line shopping presents you a great platform to take action with consolation.
In case you are considering this is all what online shopping has led to, you then definitely have ignored the other part of the story. There are number of online shopping store and on-line shopping malls, eshop, e-retailer, web cease, internet shop, are available over web which provides choice to purchase or buy merchandise of your own selection.
The psychology behind online shopping is there aren’t any human boundaries to confront you, you merely choose, click and pay and wait for the shock. Customers may compare prices from a variety of different retailers with better ease, compared to them bodily going to buy in a constructed shopping centre to test costs. | {
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She is of Portuguese and Italian descent, and has four brothers and one sister. While shopping for groceries with her mother at age 14, a hairstylist suggested that she should become a model. During Goulart's first ever fashion show appearance, she experienced a wardrobe malfunction when her top fell open. The incident made many Brazilian newspapers. In the same year, she was voted the best international top model by the magazine Glamour Mexico. She also appeared on the cover of GQ Portugal in December , after she was elected as the magazine's "International Woman of the Year" in May of that year. She can speak Portuguese, English and French. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Project References from Around the World
Discover a variety of international projects achieved by Distech Controls' Authorized Partners using our leading building automation and energy management solutions. See a sampling of our projects on Honest Buildings.
The 2 500 square meters new building offers double the space of the previous facility, supporting the company’s continued growth in Europe. Occupied since January 2017, the building is home to 80 of Distech Controls’ 250 worldwide employees ranging from production, research & development, product management, marketing, sales, finance and administration.
The building reflects the image of Distech Controls: increasing employee’s well-being and optimising energy efficiency. It was designed to offer an efficient, comfortable, and pleasant work environment for the Distech Controls team. Optimized for collaboration, it features open workspaces.
The Euro-Centrum building, awarded the Green Building Award in 2013 as one of the most sustainable buildings in Europe, operates modern heating technologies and is using artificial sunlight, designed to test the efficiency of solar panels. It has 5 storey and an underground parking.
Our solution provided, as required, an open solution that enables the integration of devices and systems from different vendors using LonWorks, M-Bus and Modbus, and which allows to achieve an energy consumption of 15kWh/m2/year.
Integration of the room control (HVAC, lighting and sunblind control) to make them easy to use for occupant and ensure automatic remote management with our programmable controller series combined with lighting and sunblind expansion modules.
The aim of the project was to turn a palace of the XVII century into a modern and luxurious hotel.
In this type of building the air conditioning is always very energy consuming. With Distech Controls’ BMS, these costs are monitored and likely to be more controlled. The building owner or facility manager can access the historics and create alarms to improve service in an environment where comfort is the main objective.
The requirement for this new building was a sunblind control fully integrated with the BMS to perform sun tracking, and allow the users to override control with a wireless solution.
Distech Controls’ LonWorks RCL-Blind controllers enabled to integrate seamlessly the sunblind control within a third-party BMS. The infrared receivers connected to the sunblind controllers and the infrared remote controls allow the users to override the automatic sunblind positioning.
EPRUS means " Etablissement de Préparation et de Réponse aux Urgences Sanitaires". The building stores many pharmaceutical products and medical material at a constant temperature (with a 15 meters high ceilling).
Distech Controls' solution had to provide a solution for the entire HVAC system.
The Helios building, located in Massy, France, is a six-story bioclimatic building of more than 17,000 m². It includes a green roof, a central courtyard maximizing natural light, and a 600 m² patio accessible on multiple floors.
The goal of this new commercial project, home to Ericsson’s headquarters, was to develop a truly sustainable building.
Distech Controls was selected to provide a unified solution for energy management, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting and shades/sunblind control.
The Building Silver Tower Center has 14 storey which include a set of commercial services: 3-star hotel, conference center, offices, shops and an underground parking (2 storey). It was awarded the Green Building Award.
Headquarters of the "Institut National de l’EnviRonnement Industriel et des RisqueS". They carry out or commission studies and research programmes aimed at preventing the risks brought by economic activities on health, the safety of persons and property and on the environment.
This innovative architectural building, with interior courtyards and an outdoor park, has 108 bedrooms each with an independent patio. The project consisted in the refurbishment of an obsolete control system with a new and open solution.
An energy monitoring system to analyse thermal and electrical energy consumption by metering using the LonWorks protocol has been installed; the ECL-PTU controllers are eu.bac certified with AA classification, offering greater flexibility and lowering costs.
53-storey skyscraper located in the central business district of Brisbane, including 24 floors of premium office space, 11 floors of luxury residential apartments and 13 floors of car park, representing 328,299sq ft (30,500m2 )
Retrofit of Bank of the West’s, financial services company, tower in Fargo, North Dakota
Built in 1973, the building features a glass façade, and is 10-storys
Bank of the West was looking to achieve control over their system from one location and to be able to view a graphics display of all of their equipment in operation. They also wanted trending and alarming reports.
EC-NetAX Web-based building management platform used to achieve multi-site integration and for the ability to integrate with existing control and terminal equipment
ECB BACnet Series controllers for HVAC control and integration
Now eligible to apply for energy savings rebates using the reports and the trending data available in EC-NetAX.
By using the reports and display graphics, the staff at Bank of the West can control their energy use by tracking data and adjusting values where needed so as to make the entire building more energy efficient, and increase comfort levels of the multiple office areas.
Ottawa Train Yards is Ottawa’s first centrally located retail powercentre and office development; it houses over a half million square feet of retail space, covering over 92 acres of property
269,000 sq ft of class A office space
EC-NetAX web-based platform and ECB Series BACnet controllers
Over 1200 control points
Minimized downtime and tenant disruption
Building automation system designed to meet LEED Measurement and Verification requirements. These requirements consist of controlling all mechanical and lighting systems as well as monitoring the electrical consumption, natural gas consumption, domestic water and CO2
Real-time monitoring of energy meters and building load variations allowed for continuous optimization of energy saving strategies in the first year of the retrofit, resulting in significant energy savings compared to the previous year
Second Clinical School of the University of Western Sydney's (USW) School of Medicine
Brings together expert medical teachers and has new facilities to create outstanding opportunities for clinical education
EC-NetAX web-based multi-protocol building management solution for control, real time monitoring and alarm management of all HVAC equipment in the main teaching auditoriums and supporting teachers rooms
Provision of an easy to use web based graphical user interface allowing the facilities staff to operate the HVAC equipment on an ongoing basis
Multiple site integration, through unified, centralized EC-NetAX building management system, including 25 existing systems across multiple campuses at Richmond, Bankstown, Parramatta and Kingswood, allowing staff to view the system from any connected PC within the UWS network at anytime
Provided dynamic and historical trend logging of all critical connected control points enabling quick and efficient diagnosis of any issues
Time sync client interface to the UWS campus time servers connected to the local master time clock
Easy to use web-based graphical user interface allowing the facilities staff to operate the HVAC equipment on an ongoing basis
Multiple site integration, through unified, centralized EC-NetAX building management system, including 25 existing systems across multiple campuses at Richmond, Bankstown, Parramatta and Kingswood, allowing staff to view the system from any connected PC within the UWS network at anytime
Provided dynamic and historical trend logging of all integration and control points, thereby enabling quick and efficient diagnostics of any issues
Complete retrofit of a failing and no longer supported building automation system within 2 school buildings of the District
Wanted to view, monitor, and adjust their building controls as easily as possible and avoid having to manually adjust each room/area
EC-NetAX web-based building management system
Total of 1600 control points
Facility was occupied, requiring minimization of downtime of mechanical equipment during the installation of the new BMS
The District now has an operating system accessible via the Web, providing a complete user interface for the control and monitoring of their BMS, including all graphics, schedules, trends and logs, and other reports
The District is now eligible to apply for energy savings rebates using the reports and the trending data available in EC-NetAX
Retrofit of 3 school buildings within the District, during which the facilities were occupied, requiring minimization of down time of mechanical equipment
EC-NetAX Web-based building management platform for integrated control and monitoring of HVAC and lighting systems and for fuel oil tank monitoring
Retrofit of HVAC and outdoor lighting using BACnet ECB Series controllers, Allure communicating thermostats and EC-Light lighting control panels
The schools now have an operating system accessible via the Web, providing a complete user interface for the control and monitoring of their BMS, including all graphics, schedules, alarms, trends and logs, and other reports
This enables them to monitor their entire buildings’ comfort levels and the operation of the equipment, and make changes as needed from any location rather than manually adjusting each unit
In addition, they are able to perform detailed tracking and trending reports to be eligible to apply for energy rebates
Retrofit of 4 elementary school buildings in the district, ranging from 70,000 sq ft to 104,000 sq ft, with up to 2 levels
The District required universal and remote control over all of their locations, for monitoring and efficiency purposes
EC-NetAX Web-based building management platform used to achieve multi-site integration and for the ability to integrate with existing control and terminal equipment, helping the District to respect their retrofit budgets
District now has a majority of its schools networked together via EC-NetAX, a single, unified interface and system, for efficiency in operations and monitoring, and additional operational cost savings.
Retrofit of existing building. Building automation system was designed to accommodate the planned future extensions without any modification, but operating at appropriately reduced airflows until that time
EC-NetAX web-based multi-protocol building management solution used to achieve unified integration and for the ability to integrate with existing control and terminal equipment, including energy (Thermal & Electrical) and water metering system.
700 integration and control points
Contributed to an increased level of patient and staff comfort
This hospital is fully accredited by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)
EC-NetAX web-based multi-protocol building management solution for fully integrated control and monitoring system, used to achieve unified integration throughout the campus of all mechanical equipment and :
Water Cooled Chillers,
Variable Primary system,
Low temperature thermal Storage,
CHW & Hot water Energy Management,
Energy and water metering
300 Variable Air Volume boxes
And other services monitoring
The building has a traditional water-cooled chillers and gas fired heating water boiler however the chilled water system is connected to the sites 1,000,000L TES or low temperature water storage facility to allow load shedding of the chillers in peak energy periods
Retrofit of multiple building segments including office areas and shop areas
The MNDOT was also especially concerned with control of comfort levels within the building
EC-NetAX Web-based building management platform for HVAC and Lighting control integration
BACnet ECB Series controllers for control of mechanical equipment
LONWORKS ECL Series controllers for VAV control, also allowed for re-use of existing BUS lines in the building
Control of outdoor parking lights with BMS integration - schedule based control
Fast track completion of project, with minimized downtime of equipment, as facility was fully occupied during retrofit
The retrofit provides additional controllability over their building, with usability allowing the facility management team to perform continuous commissioning themselves and to integrate in-house developed monitoring and control sequences
In addition, the retrofit has provided for improved comfort levels for occupants as well as operational cost savings
New construction of Air Traffic Control Complex for Abu Dhabi International Airport
EC-NetAX Web-based multi-protocol building management solution
Integrated building automation system including control and monitoring of HVAC and exhaust ventilation, chiller plant and chilled water pumps control, fire and safety, water treatment, automatic doors, elevators and more
800 control points with LONMARK Certified programmable and configurable controllers
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An innovation leader in energy management solutions, Distech Controls provides unique building management technologies and services that optimize energy efficiency and comfort in buildings, all the while reducing operating costs. We deliver Innovative Solutions for Greener Buildings™ through our passion for innovation, quality, customer satisfaction and sustainability. The company serves multiple market segments through its worldwide business divisions, service offices and a superior network of Authorized System Integrators and Distributors. Distech Controls, Inc. is a subsidiary of Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. | {
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Paiste 28" Symphonic Gong - Brilliant Tai Loi
The 28" Paiste Symphonic Gong - Brilliant Tai Loi is an uber-cool, extremely rare gong, now in stock only at Memphis Gong Chamber! We are excited to offer this never-before-seen gong to the public. Its the same Brilliant Symphonic gong sound you love, now with added Tai Loi symbols. Own this one-of-a-kind gong today! | {
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Every Focus (US and Canadian) should have the TPMS sensors. If you have the sensors already installed in the wheels you can change the tires out youself but the onboard computer will need to "re-learn" the new sensors. This could be done at the dealer with their little tool or you could pick one up from us - Ford Trigger Tool - and train them yourself. If you already have one of these tools shoot me an E-mail because they don't come with instructions, I can get those right out for you.
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Hey everybirdie!Whoa man guys! Thanks for BOTD! I have been singing, talking, dancing, and cracking Mom up all day! I'm finally keeping feathers, took me a year, but I've got em! I think that's due to my diet change, lots of love, daily baths in my water bowl and warm showers, and vitamins + a stable enviroment. Abby has has some awesome new feather growth too, and she's not plucking hard core either! Her chest is still pretty naked, but like me, she's growing in the feathers on her wings and back and leaving them alone. She gets all the things I get too, and it's really helping (to anyone else with a stubborn plucker- we get zupreem fruity pellets *didn't like the Lafeber, not fruity enough!* a trail mix with dried fruits and nuts, bee pollen granuals, a couple times a week we get multigrain cheerios added, as a morning treat pieces of fruity cereal bar, and about 3 times a week fresh fruits, veggies, pasta, and birdie bread). That's helped Abby and I both gain our weight back to a healthy one and grow some feathers!
Hey BlueberryPunkin here. Welcome to BC and here's another vote for you too.What a pretty picture, but when do we get to see YOU? Or IS that you and you just didn't have a place to go to? Oh we gotta know. That is just so pretty and we MUST know. Fly by and tell me. Please
Hi BlueberryWow you are one gorgeous bird. I would love to have your picture on our wall along with our other art and seriographs. Love being the first one to blog. Welcome to the BC. Definitely the happening place for us birds. Looks like you have quite a number of friends. Hope your stay here is fun and exciting. Birdy hugs and kisses to your flock. Left you a vote. Take care.
Disclaimer: The posts and threads recorded in our message boards do not reflect the opinions of nor are endorsed by I-5 Publishing, LLC nor any of its employees. We are not responsible for the content of these posts and threads.
*Content generated by our loyal visitors, which includes comments and club postings, is free of constraints from our editors’ red pens, and therefore not governed by I-5 Publishing, LLC’s Gold Standard Quality Content, but instead allowed to follow the free form expression necessary for quick, inspired and spontaneous communication. | {
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Monday, January 12, 2009
State District Judge Jan Krocker vows to put public safety first and says she's unafraid to mete out tough sentences. But the Republican doesn't take a lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach when it comes to handling cases of those with mental illnesses.
"Success in these cases is relative," she said in her chambers last week. "If you have someone who was arrested 25 times for loitering and trespassing in a year and that person gets on medication and arrests drop to five times a year, that's a success."
Krocker, who has been on the bench since 1995, will begin to handle cases of the mentally ill full time in the coming months.
The county is following the lead of scores of other counties across the United States that have created mental health courts with the hope of decreasing the number of mentally ill coming through the criminal justice system.
Such courts can save money by diverting the mentally ill from jail into treatment. Local officials and advocates for the mentally ill warn, however, that one court will have little effect if more treatment services for the mentally ill are not provided in the community.
"A mental health court is a piece of a large puzzle, many of which remain missing. Those include providing housing for this group and case management," said David Buck, president of Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston.
Since 1997, when the nation's first mental health courts were created in Indianapolis, Ind., and Broward County, Fla., more than 150 such courts have begun operating across the country.
Two-fold purpose
Their aim typically has been to provide more humane, effective treatment for the mentally ill and to reduce jail and court costs, said Allison Redlich, a researcher who is studying the effectiveness of mental health courts at Policy Research Associates, which advocates for better treatment of the mentally ill.
Krocker and other state district judges have been pressing for the creation of a mental health court here for several years as the number of mentally ill defendants has swelled. On a given day, nearly 20 percent of the 11,000 inmates at the Harris County Jail receive medications for mental health conditions.
Some mentally ill are arrested so many times, often for minor offenses such as trespassing, that county jail officials have dubbed them "frequent fliers."
With the creation of her court, "I'm hoping some of them will be flying less frequently," Krocker said.
Just as separate courts have been created to address problems such as domestic abuse and drug addiction that weren't always being handled well in regular courts, mental health courts allow judges to gain expertise in handling cases involving schizophrenics and those with other mental disorders, Redlich said.
Better care behind bars
In Harris County and elsewhere, those in need of treatment often receive better mental health care when they are in jail rather than out, Krocker said.
The county and state do not provide enough resources to offer case managers and therapists for all mentally ill inmates when they are released, said Ethel Perry, manager of a local program for mentally ill people on probation. The program -- New Specialized Team of Advocates and Rehabilitation Therapists, or New START -- is run by the county Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority.
New START receives state funding -- $3 million this year -- to run a program for 300 former inmates. Many were on the verge of having their probation revoked when they entered the program, Perry said.
Krocker envisions working closely with counselors, psychiatrists and the staff of New START.
Perry said praise from a high-ranking official such as a judge can mean a lot to a group of people who often feel like outcasts.
"We are not coddling anybody," said Judge Mark Ellis, who over the past two years has been running one of the two state district courts in Harris County that have been partly devoted to handling cases of mentally ill people on probation. "We are trying to get them to the point that they are on medication and can think for themselves, take some control of their lives, get involved with their kids."
Revocations differ
In 2006 and 2007, the county studied whether mentally ill people on probation who were assigned to the two courts avoided getting into trouble and returning to jail.
Most of these people were in the New START program, and 4 percent had their probation revoked, Ellis said.
During the same period, 30 percent of the mentally ill not in the program had their probation revoked.
Studies of mental health courts in the U.S. have concluded that they reduce recidivism among the mentally ill, the number of violent crimes committed by them and the number of days they spend in jail, Redlich said.
Since becoming better informed about mental illness, Ellis said he no longer thinks the mentally ill invariably should be treated the same as people who have full control of their faculties and recognize right from wrong.
"Mental illness is an illness," he said. "They don't choose to be bipolar or schizophrenic."
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Project Status
Rewards
A big Thank You! Your name will appear in the credits on the website, social networks and the book of the project.
CHF
20.-
36 taken
A big thank you! + a postcard form ouagadougou specially made by the graphic team and the photographers in collaboration with local artisans. + your name in the credits.
CHF
50.-
27 taken
A big thank you! + a postcard from Ouagadougou + a poster specially made by the graphic team and the photographers in collaboration with local artisans. + your name in the credits.
CHF
100.-
11 taken
A big thank you! + a postcard from Ouagadougou + the book of the project signed by the whole team.
CHF
150.-
7 taken
A big thank you! + an invite for you and a plus one at the opening of one the exhibitions (to choose from Ouagadougou, Paris or Lausanne) + an explain visit by one designer of the team +the book signed by the whole team.
CHF
250.-
7 / 10 taken
A big thank you! + a diner with specialities from Burkina faso with the team to share and discuss about the workshop (back in France) + the book signed by the whole team.
CHF
500.-
2 / 5 taken
A big thank you! + a diner for 2 with specialities from Burkina faso with the team to share and discuss about the workshop (back in France) + the book signed by the whole team+ 2 objects from Burkina Faso
CHF
1’000.-
0 / 10 taken
YAYYY thanks! you choose a photography (signed copy, 100x150cm approx) and the book signed by the whole team.
OR
An object made in collaboration with the artisans and the book signed by the whole team.
CHF
4’000.-
0 / 1 taken
Welcome to Ouagadougou !! You’ll spend the week with us all inclusive and you will take part of the workshop with the artisans. (flight france/swiss to Ouagadougou, accommodation in our house. a week to choose from 15th of septembre to 18th of octobre 2013)
Pledged without rewards:
CHF 1’070.-
About the Initiators
Initiating the project, Amandine David and Marie Douel, both designers, have a shared passion for crafts and foreign cultures.In Burkina Faso they met artisans willing to share their perspectives and getting involved in various workshops.
Now they want to share what they learned by inviting 8 other designers who want to share their creative potential with artisans. | {
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Why I like it, conclusively
This is what I call a 'make it sound good' box. Put sound through it, make some adjustments, and the audio coming out sounds better than what went in. I recently recorded music I wrote for a film trailer, and used the L2 for the first time on that project. The producers wanted the piece to be exciting and punchy, and there were many big orchestral hits and hard-edged sound design type effects. We tracked a combination of prerecorded tracks from the original film score layered and intercut with sequenced music played on my collection of samplers and synths. Everything was mixed to stereo and sent to the L2 for A-D conversion and limiting, then S/P-DIF from the L2 to a MotU 2408 MkII, and from there to disk. The results exceeded my expectations and were noticeably better than the last recording I had made in my studio, pre-L2. Needless to say, the L2 has become a permanent fixture in my signal chain!
I also plan to use it recording acoustic instruments. When I play piano I tend to have a wide dynamic range, which in the past has created the need for multiple takes due to sometimes pegging the meters in loud passages. There is a comfort in dialing -.5dB and then setting reasonable record levels, knowing that there will be no overs on any of the takes thanks to the look-ahead limiting of the L2. Put the preamp outputs into the L2 analog ins, and enjoy a clean signal path right to disk.
As far as IDR versus Apogee UV22, as I stated earlier I didn't do extensive listening tests so I won't make any comparisons. IDR sounds excellent to my ears, and while I'm sure this gets argued very passionately by proponents of either box, I suspect IDR is roughly equivalent to UV22 in terms of sound quality. I bought the Waves L2 for its combination of quality A-D conversion and limiting, and also for the excellent and easy user interface that makes using the device a pleasure.
At a street price of about $2,000 US, this is rather pricy for the home studio owner. However, for the musician or mastering engineer looking to raise the quality of his/her recordings, the L2 definitely provides a step up into a world of high quality professional audio.
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The Dallas Cowboys receiving corps is not where it needs to be. Last week, against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL they were only able to accrue 194 net passing yards.
The blame for the lack of offensive explosion could take up its own article, if not a series. Simply, everyone is to blame in some way, from the play calling to the quarterback to the receivers. Fortunately, there are more receivers available than the six featured in a previous piece.
Instead of an overall evaluation of the prospects, finding specific traits they possess that could help this football team with Dak Prescott as the quarterback of the Cowboys seems more appropriate. What is the point of having traits if they won’t be used by the current scheme or signal caller?
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Measurables: 6-foot-1, 225 pounds
Evaluation: His physical profile is intimidating. Brown’s lower half is comparable to a bruising running back. He is a matchup nightmare for smaller, nickel cornerbacks because of that lower body strength. He’s able to shed arms tackles and regularly drags 180-pound defensive backs downfield for first downs. That helps this offense specifically because many a route seems to come back to the line-of-scrimmage, which hurts the ability for yards after the... | {
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QUESTION 31You need to create a formula that extracts the area code from each customer’s telephone number and displays the region based on the area code. Phone numbers are stored in a text field in the form 555-555-5555. Which formula will meet the stated requirements?
A. Local stringVar sCode := {Customer.Phone} [1 to 3]; IF sCode in [“604”, “250”] THEN “BC” ELSE IF sCode in [“415”, “714”,”310″,”661″] THEN “CA”;B. Shared stringVar sCode := {Customer.Phone} [1 to 3]; IF aCode in [“604”, “250”] THEN “BC” ELSE IF aCode in [“415”, “714”,”310″,”661″] THEN “CA”;C. stringVar sCode := {Customer.Phone} [1 to 3]; IF sCode in [“604”, “250”] THEN “BC” ELSE IF sCode in [“415”, “714”,”310″,”661″] THEN “CA”;D. Global numberVar sCode := {Customer.Phone} [1 to 3]; IF sCode in [“604”, “250”] THEN “BC” ELSE IF sCode in [“415”, “714”,”310″,”661″] THEN “CA”;
Answer: A
QUESTION 32You create a new Crystal report and add an alert. After refreshing the report the alert is triggered. New data that meets the alert condition is added to the database, but the alert is not triggered again. Why is the alert NOT triggered?
A. The AlertMessage flag is set to “False.”B. Once an alert is triggered, it is not evaluated again until the report is refreshed.C. The alert condition must be refreshed after the alert is triggered.D. Alerts are only triggered once per report.
Answer: B
QUESTION 33Which three methods can you use to access the Global Formula Search? (Choose three.)
A. In the Preview Pane, right click on the field.B. In the Formula Editor, right click on the field.C. In the Preview Pane, select the field and press Alt-D.D. In the Formula Editor, select the field and press Alt-D.
Answer: ABD
QUESTION 34You are designing a Crystal report that contains a chart. Your chart must contain one “On change of” value and one “Show” value. Which three chart types can you use? (Choose three.)
A. StockB. PieC. FunnelD. Radar
Answer: BCD
QUESTION 35Which three options can you use to export a Crystal report to a file type that maintains conditional formatting? (Choose three.)
A. Rich Text FormatB. MS Excel 97-2003C. Acrobat Format (PDF)D. XML
Answer: ABC
QUESTION 36You are using a parameter to highlight sections in a Crystal Reports 2008 report. What will happen if you run the report with a different parameter value?
A. A database refresh will occur.B. The report will produce an error.C. The report refreshes from saved data.D. A database logon prompt will appear.
Answer: C
QUESTION 37You create a new Crystal report using a dynamic cascading parameter. You want to use all available values in the parameter prompt without selecting each value individually. How can you achieve the required result?
A. Create an “All values” item using a shared variable then reference this item in the record selection formula.B. Create an “All values” item in a command object then reference this item in the record selection formula.C. Create an “All values” item using the All command then reference this item in the record selection formula.D. Create an “All values” item using an argument then reference this item in the record selection formula.
Answer: B
QUESTION 38You specify the “read-only” option on the Common tab of the Section Expert. Which action can a user perform on objects in that section when editing the report?
A. MoveB. CopyC. FormatD. Delete
Answer: B
QUESTION 39You create a new dynamic cascading parameter using an existing prompt group in a report. You receive an “Unable to save the parameter” error message trying to save the parameter. Why does this happen?
A. The Prompt Group Text is not conditionally formatted.B. The Value names within the dynamic cascading parameter are duplicated elsewhere in the report.C. The Description field is empty.D. The prompt group already has parameters bound to each level.
Answer: D
QUESTION 40You design a Summary report with the Suppress option selected instead of the Hide option. Which two types of information will be displayed when you double-click a summary figure on the report? (Choose two.)
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The Christmas Story: 5 Little-Known Facts You’ve Never Heard [“The Rest of the Story” of the Manger]
“And it came about that while they were there [in Bethlehem] the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:6-7, NASB)
You’ve even seen paintings of Mary and Joseph in a stable or cave … with cattle and other animals looking on … and baby Jesus laying in a wooden feeding trough filled with hay.
But have you ever wondered whether there is any Biblical corroboration for these images and Christian traditions? And have you ever wondered:
Where did the strips of cloth come from?
How did the shepherds know which manger to go to? How did they know where it was located?
You’re about to find out…
You see, the area around the village of Bethlehem was where the lambs were birthed and raised to be sacrificed in Jerusalem as part of the temple worship.
Two male lambs “without blemish” were sacrificed every day in the temple courtyard: one in the morning … the other at twilight. This required over 700 male lambs to be sacrificed every year.
Here are 5 little-known facts about the birth of Jesus you’ve probably never heard before.
The manger wasn’t “a” manger; it was a specific manger. In the Greek New Testament, the definite article “the” is used in Luke 2:7, 2:12, and 2:16. It is mistranslated as the indefinite article in our English Bibles. Why is this important? Keep reading…
To ensure that male lambs were born “without spot or blemish,” priestly shepherds would watch the birthing process, inspect the lambs immediately after they were born, and protect them from becoming injured or blemished after birth. How did they do this?
They built watchtowers called Migdal-Eder – “tower of the flock” so they could observe a flock of sheep from a high position … and bring sheep that were about to give birth into the base of the tower where there was – guess what – a manger!
Micah 5:2 is the well-known Old Testament verse prophesying that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But Micah 4:8 is also an important Messianic prophecy that is usually overlooked:
“As for you, tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come – even the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
The feeding troughs of that day weren’t made of wood. They would have rotted over time from moisture. Instead, they were carved out of a large stone.
When a sheep was about to give birth, a shepherd would bring the sheep into the tower of the flock so that the birth could take place in a controlled environment.
If the new-born lamb was male – and was determined to be without spot or blemish – it was wrapped in “swaddling clothes” to prevent it from thrashing around and becoming blemished … and was placed in the stone feeding trough until it could be transported to the temple for sacrifice.
What were the “strips of cloths” or “swaddling clothes” made of? They consisted of old priestly undergarments. The unblemished lambs would remain constrained by the priestly undergarments until they were sacrificed in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem.
So, when the angels announced, “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths [priestly undergarments], and laying in the manger,” they knew exactly where to go…
They went to the tower of the flock … which was probably a very short distance across the Bethlehem hillside from where they were watching over the flock.
What’s so amazing about these little-known details about the birth of Jesus is that God was communicating to the shepherds – and to the world through the original Biblical text – that this Baby was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world!
No wonder John the Baptist – who no doubt heard the story of the birth of Jesus directly from those same shepherds – declared Him to be the Lamb of God in John 1:29.
And now … as news commentator Paul Harvey used to say … you know “the rest of the story.” | {
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The scenes from Minsk’s downtown were déjà vu for another dictator, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has ironically been residing in Belarus for months now. The Kyrgyz equivalent of “Uhadzi!”, “Ketsin!”, was the main slogan during the April 7 riots in Bishkek that resulted in Bakiyev’s ouster.
Lukashenko was the only leader to host Bakiyev and his family members (including Bakiyev’s unofficial younger wife). Bakiyev’s move to Belarus highlighted similarities between Lukashenko and himself. Both greedy for power and money, the two men are mocked by their own people for reeking idiocy and shortsightedness.
Bakiyev’s authoritarian policies were deepening as social discontent with him mounted. In the final months of his leadership he tightened control over the military, appointing relatives and cronies to key posts. Bakiyev also created special elite forces to ensure his own personal security. Reportedly, these special forces were ordered to shoot at protesters during the April 7 demonstrations. Eighty-six people were shot dead and hundreds were wounded that day.
Lukashenko has already created a loyal military that showed its unwavering support on elections day. Several layers of police and army personnel are trained to defend the leader against social unrest. Although the forces dispatched against the crowds did not shoot, Jamestown sources report that snipers were planted on rooftops of buildings surrounding the Nezavisimaya and Oktyabrskaya squares where most protesters gathered.
Some reports suggest that government provocateurs stirred unrest during the protests by smashing windows of nearby government buildings. Such imposed chaos presented an opportunity for OMON to purge crowds and arrest roughly 650 protesters. Similar ingenious techniques have been widely used by both Bakiyev and his predecessor, Askar Akayev.
As Lukashenko continues his rule, a lot will depend on the Belarus opposition’s ability to organize and pressure the regime. However, the experience of Kyrgyzstan, as well as that of other countries ruled by unpopular authoritarian leaders, suggests that clashes between the regime and civilians do not pass unforgotten. Rather, civic discontent continues to breed, creating more opportunities for opposition leaders to gain both domestic and international support.
Effectively, Lukashenko has three options lined up for him in the next few years: consider giving up his power, opening up to the opposition, or suppressing the next round of protests with more violent means. Bakiyev’s experience might come in handy, though Lukashenko should not rely too much on his friend in need.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
In his highly publicized speech in the European Parliament on November 23, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili unveiled peace initiatives aimed at reducing tension between his country and Russia. They include the commitment of non-use of force against Russian occupying bodies and their proxies and a readiness to engage in high-level talks with Moscow without preconditions. The Kremlin’s response to what is called Georgia’s constructive unilateralism so far has been a mixture of diplomacy by proxy and a reinforcement of Russia’s military presence in the occupied Georgian territories in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.
Although Georgia has vowed to seek reunification of the country within its UN-recognized borders only through peaceful means, it nonetheless retains the right to self-defense if Russia perpetrates new military attacks against the Georgian government and people.
On November 24, a day after Saakashvili spoke to the European Parliament, the Russian Foreign Ministry made its first comment on his speech only to argue that Russia is just a mediator and there is no conflict between Russia and Georgia. Instead, according to the Foreign Ministry, “at issue is…the long-running conflict between Tbilisi and the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Therefore, the statement went on, there should be “a legal enshrinement of obligations not to use force” between Georgia and the two Russia-sponsored proxy regimes.
In a matter of days, the proxy regimes themselves issued statements in which they pledged that they would not resort to force “against Georgia” and requested that non-use of force agreements be signed between Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia and Georgia, “preferably under international guarantees.”
Then, on December 7, the Russian Foreign Ministry made another statement to sum up the non-use of force pledges by Georgia and the Russian proxies in the occupied Georgian regions. Hailing the “exceptionally important step…taken towards sustainable peace and security, Moscow stressed the importance of building “equitable and neighborly relations between Abkhazia, “South Ossetia” and Georgia. The “full-fledged legal enshrinement” of a regime of non-use of force between the three was again underlined in the statement and with that, apparently, Russia’s role as that of the guarantor of peace and security in “Transcaucasia” – Russian jargon for the South Caucasus used to make clear that the region is part of the Kremlin’s geopolitical orbit.
In parallel with these “multilateral” diplomatic overtures, Georgia announced in early November that it broke yet another network of Russian intelligence operating within its territory and arrested 13 people, including four Russian citizens, who were accused of spying for Russia’s military. This was the fourth time since 2006 that Tbilisi made a public announcement about the arrest of a Russian spy network. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, called the latest incident a “farce” and “anti-Russian hysteria.”
In early December, Georgian police arrested several people accused of organizing, carrying out and participating in a series of explosions, including one fatal incident, that took place in September and November 2010. Police claim their activities were directed by a Russian general, Yevgeny Borisov, stationed in one of the Russian military bases in Abkhazia. It is not immediately clear from the statements made by Georgian law enforcement if Borisov’s activities were closely coordinated by Moscow.
On the ground in the occupied regions, Russia has continued to build up its military infrastructure and capabilities. New military garrisons were inaugurated in both Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, and in addition to S-300 systems already stationed in Abkhazia, Russian media recently reported the deployment of the BM-30 “Smerch” heavy multiple rocket launchers to the Tskhinvali region, within striking distance of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. According to Georgian estimates, there are at least 12,000 Russian troops in both territories.
Georgia has continually tried to disentangle itself from Moscow through a two-track approach of “diplomacy of peaceful de-occupation.” On the one hand, it asks the international community to condemn Russia’s illegal occupation of its territories and demand its termination. On the other, it shows willingness and readiness to engage in high-level talks with Moscow.
Russia seems to be using a two-track approach of its own, as well. On one side, it has proxy regimes in the occupied territories through which it reacts diplomatically to Georgia’s peace offers and, on the other, it continues to strengthen its military presence in the occupied lands in order to underpin the “proxy” diplomatic response. The irony is that the regimes in de-populated Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia are mere extensions of the Russian state structure and by no means do they represent the local populations, the majority of whom live in other parts of Georgia as victims of the two-decade-old ethnic cleansing.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Everyone in Central Asia knows where to buy pirated copies of the latest movies. DVDs burned in Russia, China and Eastern Europe flood the local markets as soon as they appear on big screens in the West. Controlling this part of the black market is inefficient and costly for the authorities. Pirated movies and music are relatively cheap ($0.50-$3 per DVD) according to the local standards, and the quality is often quite acceptable.
Nevertheless, in an attempt to regulate the market, UzbekKino published a list of 744 movies banned in Uzbekistan during 2005-2010. The list includes Western, Russian and Uzbek movies. All movies on the list were produced during the past decade.
The list was comprised of mostly horror and pornographic movies, including “Eyes Wide Shut”, “The Secrets of Kamasutra”, “Saw” and “Hostel”. Russian movies about the war in Chechnya are banned in Uzbekistan as well.
Movies by the famous Umida Akhmedova, who was persecuted in Uzbekistan for slandering the Uzbek nation, are banned as well.
Some family cartoons, like “Shrek” and “Madagascar”, are also in the list. Epic movies including “Lord of the Rings” and “Eclipse” are banned in Uzbekistan as well.
UzbekKino has not explained why certain films are banned or what type of punishment can be expected for breaking the rule. Inevitably, some movies that could have made it onto the list but for some reason were left out, are in the grey zone. For example, most of Quentin Tarantino’s films are banned, but “Pulp Fiction” is not. Does UzbekKino recommend that people avoid watching it?
It is also unclear as to who decided the contents of the list. UzbekKino’s staff mostly includes actors, directors and scriptwriters. Members of the agency’s higher administration have backgrounds in cinematography as well. Were the decisions made based on ethical, cinematographic or political views?
UzbekKino’s website also offers a list of movies allowed to be shown and watched in Uzbekistan. Nearly all of them are movies produced by local directors. Each year UzbekKino lists 8 to 16 of such movies.
While the logic behind UzbekKino’s choice of prohibited movies is difficult to define, the effectiveness of this ban should not be overestimated. In 2008, Jamestown watched “Madagascar 2” on a train from Samarkand to Bukhara. Dozens of fellow travelers enjoyed the cartoon as well.
Friday, December 10, 2010
After weeks of negotiations, the Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) finally formed a ruling coalition with the Ata-Meken and Respublika parties. The coalition, however, fell apart the next day when Ata-Meken party leader Omurbek Tekebayev failed to gain enough votes to be elected parliament speaker, a position he coveted since becoming MP.
Several members of the Respublika party prevented Tekebayev from earning the position. From the very beginning, Respublika was against Tekebayev’s leadership.
President Roza Otunbayeva has now granted Respublika the responsibility to form a coalition. The party will have several weeks to do so. Respublika’s deputy chief, Bakyt Torobayev, has said that the party is seeking to form a wide coalition comprising either all or four out of five parties represented in the parliament. All five political parties have agreed to form a special working group that would facilitate the process of coalition formation.
Even if Respublika is unable to gather all parties into one alliance, the likelihood that Ata-Jurt will be included in the ruling coalition is high. Ata-Jurt is infamous for its nationalist views; most of its members are still loyal supporters of deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Ata-Jurt’s inclusion in the ruling coalition, however, will bridge the gap between the so-called “northern” and “southern” parties. Indeed, Ata-Jurt’s main electorate is concentrated in the country’s south.
Whatever the interplay, Respublika’s leader, Omurbek Babanov, will seek the prime minister position. He will likely be challenged by SDPK’s Almazbek Atambayev, who has been determined to earn the post.
Ata-Meken, in the meantime, is facing a leadership problem. Tekebayev has become a victim of his own achievement. He authored the current constitution that allows for transparent and balanced political leadership. Tekebayev’s opponents, however, have used the process of coalition formation to marginalize him within the parliament.
Kyrgyzstan today lacks a functional government and parliament. Its judicial system is deeply ineffective and the president’s control over police forces is lacking in southern parts of the country. Yet, there are grounds for optimism. The prolonged process of coalition formation has considerably improved the parliament’s transparency. Voters and mass media are able to observe what guides individual MPs and their parties. Distribution of key government posts is an obvious divide behind coalition formation.
The coalition formation process has also been a steep learning curve for MPs who have never before had to function is such a transparent environment. If a stable coalition emerges, for the first time in its post-Soviet history Kyrgyzstan might be experiencing elements of deliberative politics. Judging from the past two months, however, a coherent, ruling coalition is still far away.
About The Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation’s mission is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information. Utilizing indigenous and primary sources, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias, filter or agenda. It is often the only source of information which should be, but is not always, available through official or intelligence channels, especially in regard to Eurasia and terrorism. | {
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Using Location-based Services for Content Marketing
Sure, location-based services like Foursquare are great for customer engagement and loyalty rewards. But they are also potential sources of great content.
When we say “content creation” what we usually think of is the company in question creating informational materials themselves, and putting that information on a website, blog, and/or YouTube. But when you look at the tips in Foursquare (or the customer-created microcontent in any LBL platform) you’ll see an array of potential content handholds.
At Yogi’s in Bloomington, Indiana the Foursquare tips talk about karaoke night, the restaurant’s signature “Big Salads”, and even a beer education class. All of these + other tips are potential blog posts, email newsletter topics, podcasts and other content pieces that Yogi’s can use to inform and entertain customers and prospects.
Through location-based services, customers are telling companies what they think is most interesting and noteworthy. Tap into that stream and use it as raw materials for your next round of content creation.
(Video production help from my friends at Real Simple Video, who have a super easy, affordable video editing and polishing service that’s as low as $99/video. Check them out here, and if you sign up put “Jay Baer” in the referral box please, so they’ll keep powering the video at Convince & Convert) | {
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The paper was cropped in CraftArtist to make DL type card. A black rectangle was created and the transparency function in the programme used to fade it. A border was created using one of CA's brushes and finally the tulip and border imported and placed in the black rectangle. | {
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Padre is very much at home here in Altadena. After having loved our other dog Nico for 15 years, we lost her, and Padre is helping to fill that void. They
were good friends for a year. Now, Padre has taken her place in being "the sweetie". No one looking at that large rather intimidating dog could imagine what
an oversized puppy he has become. He loves his daily hikes, neighbor dog-friend, and especially supervising all pedestrian, bike and equestrian traffic on our forest service access road. Here's a for you to share with everyone over there....highly tempted re: another shepherd, however we will probably wait awhile.
Fondly, Suzanne and Carlos Uribe
PS: we will be donating to Westside this year for sure.
Happy New Year. We hope and pray that 2008 is a landmark year for dogs finding forever homes full of the love they so much deserve. We would like you to know that "Maggie Ann" formerly known as "Zuky" is doing so well. She has brought so much love and warmth to our home and has helped to ease our pain over the loss of our beloved Carly last year. We have included photos of "Maggie Ann" and our other "four legged Family"members including Carly. Thank you, and GOD bless you and all of the volunteers who work so hard to assure so many dogs have "happy ever after" endings to sometimes very tragic prior lives. Regards, Paulette and David Kaufman
Thought you might like to see current pictures of Majai (formerly Tashi). She's doing great and she still only has eyes for my daughter who takes her everywhere she goes. We even bought a brand new truck so she and her crate can travel with us. We had to give away one of our cats to a good home in order to keep peace in the house, but we kept our 15 y.o. deaf cat who taught Majai who was boss the first day. They tolerate each other pretty well. Hope all is well with you and the rescue shelter. Best thing we ever did was find you guys on the internet. We tell everyone who asks about your shelter.
Trish & Sarah Phipps
On the photos you see Tobi (very dark, aka Sable), Hannah (the smaller light female), and Nuri (the big sister). They know well many commands including sit, down, and stay. Therefore, taking photos is a joy and very easy. They actually can stay for hours if we ask so.
All photos are from our 2-week July vacation to Utah, a trip we do every year. Tobi (aka Sable) our beautiful long-coated dark male and Hannah, your very special girl, love to explore different places, though Hannah is a home body. Her favorite place is simply indoors at home in addition to playing with her big sister Nuri. The two look surprisingly alike. Hannah is very gentle and gives kisses all the time. Tobi loves hugs - the more the better. The two GSs you rescued are pure fun. Adding to that is 1 1/2 year old Nuri who still acts like a pup. These three wonderful dogs live in pure harmony. Hannah and Tobi lay really close during the day, and often, Tobi uses Hannah as a pillow. Outside, Tobi watches Hannah and Nuri play for hours until they are dirty and wet. By then, they emptied the little pool which we have to fill up twice a day when it's not frozen.Thank you for all you do, Uli and Annemarie from Colorado
As you can see there is nothing Rocky loves better then putting on his Dogels. It means he's going for a ride to the park .... don't worry, he's wearing a chest harness & the truck has a rubber non skid mat for him .... although you can't see it in the photo he's also got a ramp so he can walk in & out of the truck ....
P.S. the backpack is loaded with his water & treats .... so he likes it too !!!
Your friends ROCKY & the Hendersons
I just want to show you how my little Charlie ( 8 months now ... one of the Kern pups) is so beautiful, happy and very smart. I want to thank you again for bringing Charlie in my life, we are very happy together! Happy holidays! Sincerely, Stephanie Houdin. Ps: I wonder how all his brothers and sisters look??
I hope you're finding success with getting the babies homes for the holidays! Choto (Ludwig) is a VERY funny boy! He passed his "beginner obedience" class at K9 Syrius school. He was a bit nutty occasionally, but the teachers said that male GS pups are usually the biggest drama queens!! He's growing like a weed and is much better with the cat, although he still perks up (and usually gets up too!) when he sees her, but not as much as when they first met. He still thinks he's a lap dog. I changed our comforter and threw the "decorative pillow" on the floor at night, where Choto usually sleeps. He felt compelled to make that his NEW bed!! ("big boy bed") Bless him! Take care and we are grateful for all your hard work. I just told someone in the park today about Westside. They're were looking for a GS!! Amy, Faisal & Choto
On the picture to the right you see what our volunteer saw as she was walking the halls of a shelter. Bella's sweet face and sad but hopeful eyes made her stop to take this picture and we made sure she got on our list of dogs to rescue. That was 2 years ago. Bella has been a very spoiled and happy member of a family with other shepherds to play with, and her 15 year old favorite human and best friend Tyler.
Hi, just want to send you some pictures of Dime (was Riley). Dime is such a different dog from when we first got him. He was kind of shy, HATED the water (as you see now he LOVES IT) and not very snuggly. But now he thinks he's a lap dog ALWAYS wanting hugs and kisses. He is the perfect dog. We love him SO much. Thank you for our baby. Stefani, Anthony, Dime and Ducci
We adopted Lupo (formerly Diesel) August 06 and he has just been the best dog I’ve ever known. Everywhere we go and everyone that meets him remarks on his inner and outer beauty. He just turned 2 in May 07 and he’s now 115 lbs of loving doggy. At first he would not stop going after our two cats, but after a month and a lot of coaching, he soon learned they were his brothers and not to be herded! I’m so glad that I knew from the first to walk him diligently every day. I really think that is why he adjusted so well and that is what keeps him the calm happy guy he is today. He has this cute prancing trot that reminds me of Scooby Doo. He loves to go to the dog park and gets along with all the dogs. He’s still learning to return the ball; most of the time he’d rather chew on it than chase it. Every day this wonderful dog amazes me with his sweetness. Thank you for all the rescue work you do for these great dogs. Marnie Volpe
Bonnie and the boys are very busy playing and having a ball at both the ranch and in Altadena. I'm taking Bonnie on a long rope when we go walking--we think she's just so totally at home that she doesn't have to be on her best Behavior anymore!! She's sleeping between us on the bed with her head on the pillow and Sparkles at her feet. PS- Bonnie now loves ice cubes and gets her teeth brushed everyday along with Nicky and Sparkles.
Thank you, Ann Kennedy
I promised to send you pics of our boy Charlie!! (One of Bridgette's puppies - see first picture) Here he is the great big boy - He still is an awesome dog. All the little problems have seemed to have resolved easily!! He's a fast learner. He had torn apart his doggie bed in the middle of the night - he looks like he's on a cloud! Enjoy,Carrie
Thought I would send a few new pics of Monty… he is getting bigger and we just adore him! Yours, Doris Schjelderup
Gorgeous and lucky Reinhart finally has the wonderful home he so deserves!
I had no idea Marcus and Pinot (Nelly's puppy) were hanging out on the bed until I walked in the room and saw the two of them together. I laughed so hard!
Have a good weekend,
Laura Cohen
Dutch and Gypsy are quite the pair. We were at a dog park a couple of weeks ago and Gypsy was off playing chase with a couple of younger dogs and Dutch
was staying close by me. A Bull Mastiff sauntered over to check out Dutch and they smelled each other in good doggy fashion when suddenly the Mastiff
knocked Dutch to the ground and stood over him growling; leaning on Dutch with all his weight and would not let him up. I tried to grab the dog by his studded collar but he would not budge and growled at me...I kept pulling.
The owner was nowhere in sight. The gentle Dutch let out a loud whimper when the big dog pawed at his face and sore leg and I could see this black blur out of my peripheral vision heading towards us. It was Gypsy, with her ears back and growling like I never heard her growl before. Gypsy ran, head down, straight into the Bull Mastiff's mid section and practically knocked him over. Gypsy was all over the big dog and the he took off with Gypsy in chase. Gypsy came back when I called her and she went over to Dutch to rub noses and then they rough-housed for a bit as we headed to the parking lot. They really have become the best of buds and I don't think that I would ever think of just having one dog. I still can't have a vegetable garden with Gypsy around. She loves the tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. She even squeezed between the fence posts and munched on the neighbor's strawberry's that were within her reach. Gypsy and Dutch like vegetables and I sometimes make a homemade dog food with fish, chicken and veggies and they eat it all.....Gypsy will eat my salad if I get up to go to the bathroom and when I come back, Gypsy still has her nose in my salad bowl.
With Love, Nick, Dutch and Gypsy
I think it's fair to say that Cole is now fully coated and, as you can see, is now a member of good standing in the venerable Pressler pack. Never mind the drop 'n drag daddy episode last night when a cat broke cover during our evening walk... Good old Pavlov used to do the same thing so I'm an experienced dog surfer by now.Best regards,
David Pressler | {
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Recent Articles
Nintendo has been granted a US patent that yields it the ownership of key online multi-player gaming facilities, including player league tables, voice communications and online gaming host services.
The patent, number 6,769,989, was granted on 3 August this year, but is essentially a continuation of another Nintendo patent, 6,599,194, which was filed in April 1999.
The two patents detail a "home video game system with hard disk drive and Internet access capability", but the second filing adds provision for "substantially real-time" online multi-player gaming, connection via an online gaming service, support for online "player performance data", using the connection to download information and do so securely through an authentication process, and the communication across the Net of "audio input signals".
All of these components are well-established elements of modern online gaming, and have been available for PCs for some time. Nintendo's patents focus on "home game video systems", so it's more of an issue for rival console vendors than PC gamers. The PC world might provide the basis for a prior art claim, but it would arguably be negated by Nintendo's specific console-oriented implementation of the broader concepts.
Patents can be modified to add new elements, and technology companies frequently amend existing intellectual property with new, related ideas - which then apply from the first filing date, in this case April 1999, long before last year's introduction by Microsoft of Xbox Live, its console-oriented online gaming and information service, and which also offers voice chat facilities.
How Nintendo will make use of its new intellectual property remains to be seen, but it does appear at first sight to give it some weight over rival console vendor Microsoft and, indeed, any moves Sony or other console vendors offer in that direction. It certainly strikes us that Nokia's online N-Gage Arena service may fall within the terms of Nintendo's patent, as might the upcoming Internet-enabled (via GPRS) Gizmondo handheld console. ® | {
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Editorial: Colleges need new rating system
President Barack Obama wants the federal government to get into the college ratings business, to the dismay of some college administrators.
“It is time to stop subsidizing schools that are not producing good results, and reward schools that deliver for American students and our future,” Obama said when he announced the idea during the summer.
His goal is to move away from the rankings rat race that favors higher spending, selectivity and prestige, like U.S. News & World Report’s annual so-called “Best Colleges” guide, toward a system that emphasizes affordability and the value of a college education. He’s headed in the right direction.
Students and their families should know which colleges turn out students with debt but no degree, and which colleges have high graduation rates, low student loan default rates and affordable cost. This will have to be done carefully to avoid creating perverse incentives that, for example, favor schools that admit fewer disadvantaged students.
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• Graduation. Only 58 percent of full-time students who started college in 2004 had earned four-year degrees by 2010.
• Debt. The average borrower with a bachelor's degree graduates with more than $29,400 in debt.
• Default. While student loan default rates fell from more than 20 percent in 1990 to less than 5 percent in 2005, default rates have been rising and are at 10 percent. Default rates for students at for-profits schools are 14 percent, and at 15 percent at public two-year colleges.
The nation needs to fix this. Education beyond high school remains the best way for young people to invest in their future. And California is falling far short.
Only 39 percent of Californians ages 25 to 64 had at least an associate’s degree in 2010, placing California 23rd among the states. That is costly to individuals and hurts the state’s long-term economic prospects.
Tracking admissions, costs and outcomes should help. The president wants to measure access by, for example, tracking the percentage of students receiving Pell grants. He wants to measure affordability by tracking net price and loan burden.
He also wants to measure outcome, including graduation and transfer rates, completion of degrees and percentage of students in further schooling, the military, volunteer positions, such as AmeriCorps or Peace Corps, or in jobs within a year of leaving school. To avoid penalizing schools that recruit low- and moderate-income students, Obama proposes to give colleges bonuses based upon the number of Pell Grant students they graduate.
Before embracing Obama’s concept, however, we should ask how to prevent schools from dumbing down graduation requirements and inflating grades to boost graduation rates.
There is lively debate about whether the rating system should include post-college earnings. No one should want a system that penalizes schools whose graduates go into public service or nonprofit work. Obama, after all, worked as a community organizer where, he wrote, he earned “$12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car.”
With taxpayers putting more than $150 billion a year toward federal student loans and grants, the federal government ought to expect accountability.
California has moved in that direction, adopting eligibility standards for schools participating in the Cal Grant program. The legislative analyst has recommended accounting for differences in schools’ populations to avoid creating a disincentive for schools to serve disadvantaged students. Obama’s rating system should do that, too.
Difficult as it will be to settle on details, this is a worthwhile endeavor. | {
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Keiran McDermott has lived by one simple rule for over a hundred years: keep a safe distance from humans at all times. He knows from experience that close proximity to them can be disastrous and more often than not, end up badly. But when the need to explore a nearby town places him directly in the path of a woman being stalked by two foul predators, the instinct to protect the young beauty from the men intent on causing her harm forces him to break his self-imposed law.
However, once she’s safely away from her attackers, Keiran finds himself locked in another battle. He knows his weakness can kill; it did so in the past. But how can he find the courage to stay away when the image of her lovely face torments his mind?
When a new threat forces him to come to Celine’s aid again, will Keiran be able to fight temptation long enough to keep her alive and protected, even from himself?
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
When my body stopped tumbling, everything was silent. Eerily silent. No crying. No screaming. No moaning. No more breaking glass. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing until a pitiful whimper escaped from somewhere deep inside of me, “Mom? Dad?” The sound of my own voice scared me. I started to cry. That was when I felt the throbbing in my head. It felt like someone had put a vice around my skull and was slowly winding it tighter and tighter. Within seconds, the pressure was unbearable.
That was when I realized that my feet were above my head. I was wedged inside the car upside down. I felt around for the door’s handle. Instead, I found an opening where I guessed one of the windows had been. My hands groped the edges of the hole. Something sharp poked my palms, and a stinging pain shot through my fingers and up my arms. My hands turned wet and slippery. My breath caught in my throat as I realized I was bleeding. I forced my body through the gap in the wreckage and rolled onto the ground.
The throbbing in my head subsided, and I stared into the darkness. I half wondered if I was blind. Everything was black. I couldn’t see a shadow, the outline of our car…nothing. I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t feel the ground. I couldn’t feel my arms or legs. I just felt numb. No, not even numb. Detached.
I felt like crying again, but I couldn’t. Was I dead? I suddenly began searching through my consciousness for a memory of what had happened. I didn’t understand where I was. Panic shot through me. I felt the desperate need to escape.
That was when the first shadow appeared. It was just a pinpoint at first, a dark gray mass in the abyss surrounding me, but it grew larger and began to pulsate. I felt an inexplicable wave of terror pass through me. This thing was headed toward me, and it made my mind race with dread. I had no idea what the shadow was; still, I was scared of it.
The shadow triggered a memory of my parents at the dinner table. “When ya die, Deirdra,” I heard my father say, “all of your past comes back ta ya, and ya must answer for the good or evil ya’ve done.”
I had scoffed at their theorizing. However, as I lay staring at the growing shadow approaching me, I anxiously began to speculate on who was right.
The feeling in my limbs suddenly returned, and every one of my muscles began to shake with fear. It was then that I remembered tomorrow was my birthday. I would have been seventeen.
Author Bio:
Regina M. Geither was raised on stories of legends, curses, and all things paranormal. Today, she is a teacher, writer, and published author of the middle grade short story, Swamp Stallion, part of McGraw-Hill’s Imagine It! reading series. Her most recent publication is the young adult paranormal fantasy novel, Island of Tory, a tale of Celtic myth and Irish curses.Along with being an intermediate school teacher, Regina teaches adults novel writing at Polaris Career Center. She resides in northern Ohio and is currently working on the sequel to Island of Tory, Cursing Stone. Find out more at www.reginamgeither.com.
In this stunning, imaginative novel, Eve Marie Mont transports her modern-day heroine into the life of Jane Eyre to create a mesmerizing story of love, longing, and finding your place in the world... Emma Townsend has always believed in stories-the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates. Perhaps it's because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn't come close to filling the void left by her mother's death. And her only romantic prospect-apart from a crush on her English teacher-is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma's confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre...
Reading of Jane's isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane's body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she's never known-and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane's story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own...
Jane Eyre is my all-time favorite novel. It was the only thing that kept me company when I was in my pre-teens. It was the book I relied on. I couldn't get enough of the movie and tv adaptations that I decided to search around for retellings and re-adaptations of the novel and I found A Breath of Eyre. I was ecstatic and thrilled about my find that I bought it immediately. The moment it arrived, I started reading it and I knew I couldn't stop.
Emma Townsend is a lonely teenager who confides herself in Jane Eyre's world. And when disaster strikes in reality her whole world turns upside down and she's thrown into the fantasy that is Jane Eyre's shoes (literally). She lives out Jane's life for her. She teaches Adele, chats with Mrs. Fairfax and falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester. Her image of reality and fantasy slips a little the first time she makes it to Jane's world. But when she returns to reality, she wants nothing more than to escape back to the illusion of Jane's world. By illusion, I don't mean Emma is crazy and is seeing things. Each time she's in Jane's world, she's in a coma in reality. As she explores her feelings in Jane's shoes, the author changed my whole outlook of my childhood best friend Jane and my childhood crush, Mr. Rochester.
She portrayed Jane Eyre as a feminist that stupidly fell in love with a controlling monster who married his wife, Bertha for money then drove her into a state of loneliness and depression. This eventually drove her so insane and violent that he locked her up like an animal just because he didn't want to deal with her. If I think about it long enough, it may look that way if we sat in Bertha Mason's place. But honestly, what happened to the bi-polar-ness that drove every female in Bertha's family insane? Bertha Mason is self-destructive, and Rochester did what every man would do in that era: lock her up because they were afraid of a mental illness that they did not understand. I see no harm in Mont's perception of Jane Eyre, after all everyone is entitled to their own opinions. And this particular opinion can be a real eye-opener and I tip my hat to Mont for her concept twist.
The unique twist, the emotional and dark characters, the romance, the fights and interactions that were realistic, brought this book together pretty well. Despite all the copy-paste from the original Jane Eyre book, I still found myself loving this book, if not whole-heartedly but sincere enough to say that I adored the message that came with it: Appreciate and be grateful of the people who love you in reality because people in fantasies are just scripted, unreal and well... an illusion. Nothing beats reality, even if reality beats you.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
(Click image to add to your to be read pile)Title: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica #1)Author: Beth FantaskeyPublisher: HarcourtGenre: Young Adult: Paranormal Romance, Teen, Young Adult: RomanceFormat: PaperbackBuy:Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository
The undead can really screw up your senior year ...
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.
The first impression I got from this book was how humorous and funny it both sounded and looked. The title itself sounded way more sarcastic than serious. So I wasn't expecting a book with too much plot and depth.
When I picked up the book (finally). It was exactly what I expected until the story got deeper and the plot began to drip with more depth. Some may say that this book was just like all the usual vampire books but for me, it was Dracula with a new twist. A new twist that was captivating enough to keep a reader up all night.
Jessica's confused and distressed when she finds out that she's vampire royalty and has been betrothed to a vampire Prince since birth. You find yourself following Jessica as she walks the road of self-discovery, denial and sometimes anger. I liked Jessica, she was a great character to follow and she was easy to connect with. She had her flaws and I didn't agree to all her decisions but hey! She's not me.
Lucious Vladescu (her counterpart), on the other hand, is brooding, tall, dark, Romanian and 100% vampire. Lucious was the perfect male counterpart, he wasn't lame and annoying like the male protagonists in "certain" vampire romances that I won't mention. He was extremely dark that any reader can tell that he was coming from a harsh and violent background that tailored his good manners and demeanor. I pitied him a few times and definitely wondered what in the world was he thinking when he did certain things in the book. Tsk.
Jessica and Lucious' relationship was realistic. She didn't immediately fall for him even though she found his charm and looks irresistible. They started out hating each other, then friendship and finally, at the very end, they began to realize how strongly they felt about each other. Though I didn't appreciate what happened near the end of the book.
I enjoyed learning how vampires operate in this book. The author writes it up pretty well, even though it was used before. This version of how vampires operate work fits the story so well that I don't see why anyone would complain about it.
Overall, I loved the unique and clean writing style, the snarky and dark characters and finally, the plot that captivates a reader enough to keep them from putting the book down. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel and more of Beth Fantaskey's books (especially, Jekel loves Hyde).
(Click image to add to your to be read pile)Title: The Truth About FakingAuthor: Leigh T. MoorePublisher: SmashGenre: Young Adult: Contemporary Romance, TeenFormat: eBook for ReviewBuy:Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Jason just wants a date with Harley.
Harley just wants a date with Trent.
Trent's still getting over Stephanie.
When Harley and Jason decide to fake date, they uncover a school of deceptions. Trent's got a secret, but so does Jason. And the more time Harley spends secretly kissing her fake boyfriend, the further she gets from her dreams with Trent.
Worst of all, Harley's mom is getting cozy with her hot massage therapy student, and even Harley's Reverend Dad can't fake not being bothered by it. But when the masks finally come off, can everyone handle the real truth?
The Truth About Faking (TTAF as we call it on social networks) is one of those books I'll read as an eBook and then get the paperback just to show it off on my shelf and to fellow readers. It's a fluffy and a cute book for teenage girls or girls in general. I know for sure some moms would like this.
The book starts with Harley thrown in an accident where she meets a new addition to the town, Jason. He's cute and accurately described as 'hot' throughout the entire book. And when Harley gets home she's on the phone with her best friend, plotting how to get another guy from school, Trent, to ask her out. I found their plan to get Trent cute and funny. It made me think about what I would do to get a guy to ask me out. Anyways, things happen, Jason interferes and ruins Harley's chances with Trent and now Jason and Harley have to fake date to make Trent realize he wants her. I know, its a typical highschool move but it was so fun to read.
Some characters were great and fun to read about, like Jason and Ricky, while the rest were just infuriating! I didn't like Shelly (Harley's best friend) much. She is so oblivious to Harley's feelings sometimes that she doesn't realize she's hurting her. Best friends are supposed to be attentive towards each other. Well, I'm just glad she stopped being infuriating towards the end. I also didn't like that woman who hates Harley's mom and constantly finds a way to ruin everything for her, just because of a job her husband didn't get. Childish much?
I enjoyed reading about Harley, her life, her struggles, etc. Moore wrote a great character all girls can connect and relate to. I felt Harley's pain and happiness throughout the entire book and that connection just kept me reading all the way to the end.
The best part of the book is the messages that it holds. The book had many messages, all telling you things like 'not to judge without knowing the whole story', 'somethings are really not what it seems', and my favorites would be : 'If you want something, get it. There's no point in wasting time pondering the what if's'. There are many more in the story but I'll let you guys figure them out yourselves.
The Truth about Faking is a wonderful, fluffy, fun, and page-turning romance that'll make you squeal, laugh, smile, frown, cry and most of all, it'll make you turn those pages faster because it's just that good. Leigh Talbert Moore you are an awesome author! Don't stop writing! :)
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Griffin’s
Storm (Book Three: Water)
by Darby Karchut
Publisher: Copper Square Studios, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9741145-5-2
December 2012
Paperback, e-book
For centuries, there have been rumors about a lowly caste of supernatural beings known as the Terrae Angeli. Armed with the power to control Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, these warriors and their apprentices clandestinely serve as guardians for humans in danger.
An old enemy returns. A new alliance is formed. And Griffin finds himself in the eye of the storm when an ancient racial hatred is set loose, jeopardizing the very existence of the Terrae Angeli.
Once again, the teen guardian angel is forced to battle his worst nightmare. But this time, Griffin comes back swinging. With a vengeance.
Darby Karchut is an award-winning author, teacher, and a compulsive dawn greeter. She lives in Colorado with her husband and owns more backpacks than purses. As she should. Her YA books include Griffin Rising (2011 Sharp Writ YA Book of the Year) and Griffin’s Fire (2012 Readers Favorite Bronze Medal Winner). Her debut Middle Grade novel, Finn Finnegan (Spencer Hill Press) will be released March 2013. The next book in the Finnegan series, Gideon’s Spear (Spencer Hill Press) will be released February 2014.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Fireblood: Fireblood #1
Release Date: 2013
From Spencer Hill Press
To save a kingdom, Zara must choose between a prince who could be the answer and a rising rebellion that threatens to take control.
When Zara Dane is chosen to marry Prince Sebastian Hart, son of the man who ordered her father’s capture, Zara knows she must fight to save everything she loves from ruin.
Being betrothed to the prince means a life trapped behind the towering stone walls of the Camelot-forged realm. Under the watchful eye of the prince's first knight, Sir Devlan Capra, changing her future becomes difficult.
When an unlikely rebel reveals the truth about the deadly secrets that fuel King Hart’s twisted world, Zara’s path to rescue her father becomes clouded by deception. The Rebels clear her path by forcing Zara’s hand with an ultimatum: sway Prince Sebastian to join the Rebels, convincing him of his father’s evil nature, or they will take him out.
But Zara is uncertain about a future under the Rebels’ command and where the prince’s heart truly lies. She must decide who to trust, what to believe, and what she’s truly fighting for before the king destroys all of Karm, including her heart.
Add Fireblood to your Goodreads shelf!
Author Bio
I’m the author of the YA Steampunk/Paranormal Romance DESTINY'S FIRE (Omnific Publishing) and the upcoming YA Sci-Fi Utopian FIREBLOOD from Spencer Hill Press, November 2013. My published short stories have appeared in YA literary journals, Fantasy magazines, and anthologies. I’ve written four books in the past two years, and I’m currently working on a new YA Sci-Fi project.
And I’m also a business owner, partnered with my partner, my husband. When I’m not busy doing all of the above, I’m a wife and the mother of a gorgeous teen boy who's the sounding board for my male characters.
Naj's Comment: Loving the cover, though I'm not quiet sure if I like the look of the guy. Hmmm. But I do love the book synopsis a hell lot more! I wonder if Zara manages to sway the Prince into seeing how his father is really like!
This blog is Designed by:
All books are either purchased by me or given by publishers, authors or are gifts from friends. Anything from an author or publisher for free is marked for review. I do not make any money out of reviewing book from all parties mentioned above. I write honest reviews that aren't written to offend anyone. | {
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Senate Bill 469 shouldn't get Gov. Jindal's signature: Editorial
Delacroix.JPG
There was a time when Delacroix was a thriving community of 700 fishers and trappers, surrounded by forests of oak, maple and sycamore trees that provided protection against storm surges moving west toward Chalmette. By the time this photo was taken in June 2010, barely a sliver remained, as the marsh continued to erode, in part due to the effects of nearby oil and gas development activities.
(Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archives)
Gov. Bobby Jindal set out this spring to derail the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East lawsuit against 97 oil and gas companies for their role in the erosion of the state's coastline. It wasn't as easy as he might have hoped, but he may have done it. The final version of Senate Bill 469 gives the companies explicit permission to get out of the lawsuit. The question is how fast they will race to court to file those motions -- and whether a judge will agree to dismiss the case.
That shouldn't be allowed to happen, though. The bill should be vetoed, especially given the new analysis released Saturday by legal scholars who argue the legislation could undermine ongoing lawsuits against BP in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and any future such accidents. That prospect ought to make even Gov. Jindal rethink SB 469.
If he doesn't, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell should look for a way to salvage the authority's lawsuit and minimize the damage of SB 469. Mr. Caldwell is the people's lawyer and should look out for their well-being. Having the Legislature pre-empt an ongoing lawsuit and summarily let an industry off the hook for decades of damage to our coast is not in the best interest of the people of Louisiana.
The House amended SB 469 to make its provisions retroactive, and the Senate concurred Friday (May 30). Making something illegal after the fact seems like an invitation for a court challenge.
SB 469 prohibits not only the two Southeast Louisiana flood protection authorities, but parish governments and other agencies from suing for negligence, strict liability or other causes of action for damage to levees or coastal lands, according to an analysis by the Bureau of Governmental Research.
Nor could they sue for increased cost of operation and maintenance of flood control structures or construction costs because of coastal erosion caused by the industry.
If the lawsuit were dismissed "with prejudice," it couldn't be filed again.
The legislation could "very well permanently deprive the residents of greater New Orleans and the rest of coastal Louisiana of significant claims against the oil and gas industry and others," BGR said last week.
SB 469 left in place the right of parish governments to file so-called legacy lawsuits against oil and gas companies for permit violations, but those suits are much narrower in scope and would involve much smaller amounts of money. It is a drastic step to take away such broad rights from parish governments, which are charged with protecting the best interests of their residents.
The forces behind the bill, including Gov. Jindal, claim that the flood protection authority's lawsuit was a reckless decision. They want Louisianians to believe that SB 469 is a reform bill to curb lawsuit abuse. They say the legislation is simply an effort to reinforce the state's lead role in coastal restoration.
That isn't true.
The flood protection authority, which is made up of engineers, hydrologists and other coastal experts, based its lawsuit on in-depth research and followed all the rules in filing it. Mr. Caldwell signed off on the authority's request to hire a law firm for the lawsuit, and a Baton Rouge judge ruled in March that he acted properly.
The lawsuit ought to be allowed to unfold in the court system. A judge can decide whether it has merit. That is not the Legislature's job. Nor is it the governor's.
The oil and gas industry has acknowledged that its activities have contributed to coastal erosion in Louisiana. Yet SB 469 would give the companies a pass.
That makes no sense.
The authority's flood protection system "guards millions of people and billions of dollars' worth of property in south Louisiana from destructive floodwaters," the lawsuit says. Those residents and the levees and pumps built to protect them are threatened by the wetlands loss that was created in part by oil and gas pipelines.
The two New Orleans area flood protection authorities will have to spend tens of millions of dollars to maintain the $10 billion system the Army Corps of Engineers built post-Katrina. The state's master plan to protect and rebuild the coast will cost at least $50 billion -- and there aren't nearly enough tax dollars on the horizon to cover it.
If the oil and gas industry helped cause the problem -- and that isn't in dispute -- it's fair to file a suit asking companies to help pay to fix the damage. Whether the suit prevails should be up to the legal system.
Believing the lawsuit should continue isn't about beating up on the oil and gas industry; it's about safeguarding our community from future storms. | {
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Tag: EMC Recovery Point
The customers who have placed their workload in both on-premises and cloud forming a “Hybrid Cloud” model for your Organisation, you probably need on-premises storage which meets the requirement of hybrid workloads. EMC’s Unity hybrid flash storage series may be the answer to your business critical problem. This unified storage array is designed for organisations from midmarket to the enterprise. Cover the broadest range of workloads – SAN and NAS both. The EMC unity has been designed for workloads rather than a tin seating on your data centre consuming power and cooling bills, and you are calling it a SAN. After all, that was a traditional tin-based SAN solution.
Previously I wrote an article about Dell Compellent. I received an overwhelming response from the Compellent user. I have been asked many occasion what other option do we have if not the Compellent storage.
To answer the question, I would choose from either EMC Unity Hybrid Storage, Nimble and NetApp Storage subject to the in-depth analysis of workloads, casestudy and business requirements. But again, this is a “Subject to x,y,z” question. The tin-based storage does not fulfil the modern business requirement. I would personally like to use Azure or AWS than procure any tin and pay for power, cooling and racks.
EMC Unity
The Unity midrange storage for flash and rich data services based on dense SSD technology helps provide outstanding TCO. The Unity provides intelligent insight into SAN health with CloudIQ, which provides cloud-based proactive monitoring and predictive analytics. Additionally, the ongoing operation is simple with proactive assistance and automated remote support.
What I like about Unity is that the Unity Software, most notably CloudIQ, Appsync and Cloud Tiering Appliance. The Unity has the capabilities include point-in-time snapshots, local and remote data replication, built-in encryption, and deep integration with VMware, Microsoft Apps, Hyper-v, Azure Blob, AWS S3 and OpenStack ecosystems. The Unity provides an automated tiering and flash-caching, the most active data is served from flash.
Management
The Unity provides the most user-friendly GUI management interface. After installing and powering on the purpose-built Dell EMC Unity system for the first time, the operating environment will boot. The interfaces are well-defined and highlighted for areas of interest – drive faults, network link failures, etc. Within Unisphere are some options for support, including Unisphere Online Help and the Support page where FAQs, videos, white papers, chat sessions, and more
Provisioning Storage
The EMC Unity offers both block and file provisioning in the same enclosure. The Disk Drives are provisioned into Pools that can be used to host both block and file data. Connectivity is offered for both block and file protocols using iSCSI and Fibre Channel. You can access LUNs, Consistency Groups, Thin Clones, VMware Datastores (VMFS), and VMware Virtual Volumes.
Fast VP
The FAST VP (Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools) is a very smart solution for dynamically matching storage requirements with changes in the frequency of data access. Fast VP segregate disk drives in three tiers
Extreme Performance Tier – SSD
Performance tier – SAS
Capacity Tier – NL-SAS
Fast VP Policies – FAST VP is an automated feature but provide controls to setup user-defined tiering policies to ensure the best performance for various environments. FAST VP uses an algorithm to make data relocation decisions based on the activity level of each slice.
Highest Available Tier
Auto-Tier
Start High then Auto-Tier
Lowest Available Tier
No Data Movement
Cloud Tiering Appliance (CTA)
If you are an organisation with hybrid cloud and you would like to move data from on-premises to Azure Cloud or AWS S3, then Cloud Tiering Appliance (CTA) is the best solutions for you to move data to a cloud-based on user-configured policies. The other way is also true which means you can return your data to on-premises using this appliance.
Why do you need this appliance? If you run of storage or free-up space, you can do it on the fly without capital expenditure. This ability optimises primary storage usage, dramatically improves storage efficiency, shortens the time required to back up data, and reduces overall TCO for primary storage. This functionality also reduces your own data centre footprint. You can move both file and block data to Azure Cloud or AWS S3 using CTA.
Your priority is workload. You must protect workloads and simplify management of workloads. AppSync empowers you to satisfy copy demand for data repurposing, operational recovery, and disaster recovery with AppSync.
AppSync simplifies, orchestrates, and automates the process of generating and consuming copies of production data. You can integrate AppSync with Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Exchange for application-consistent copy management. AppSync is the single user interface and provides VM-consistent copies of data stores and individual VM recovery for VMware environments
The Storage Analytics is dashboards based visual tools provide deep visibility into EMC infrastructure. Actionable capacity and performance analysis help you troubleshoot, identify, and act on issues fast.
Encryption
EMC Unity lets you encrypt user data as it is written to the backend drives, and decrypted during departure. Because encryption and decryption are handled via a dedicated hardware piece on the SAS interface, there is minimal impact on Unity Storage. The system also supports external key management through the use of the Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP).
This article provides a tour of the configuration steps required to integrate EMC Data Domain System with Veeam Availability Suite 9 as well as provides benefits of using EMC DD Boost for backup application.
Data Domain Boost (DD Boost) software provides advanced integration with backup and enterprise applications for increased performance and ease of use. DD Boost distributes parts of the deduplication process to the backup server or application clients, enabling client-side deduplication for faster, more efficient backup and recovery. All Data Domain systems can be configured as storage destinations for leading backup and archiving applications using NFS, CIFS, Boost, or VTL protocols.
The following applications work with a Data Domain system using the DD Boost interface: EMC Avamar, EMC NetWorker, Oracle RMAN, Quest vRanger, Symantec Veritas NetBackup (NBU), Veeam and Backup Exec. In this example, we will be using Veeam Availability Suite version 9.
Data Domain Systems for Service Provider
Data Domain Secure Multitenancy (SMT) is the simultaneous hosting by a service provider for more than one consumer (Tenant) or workload (Applications, Exchange, Standard VMs, Structured Data, Unstructured Data, Citrix VMs).
SMT provides the ability to securely isolate many users and workloads in a shared infrastructure, so that the activities of one Tenant are not apparent or visible to the other Tenants. A Tenant is a consumer (business unit, department, or customer) who maintains a persistent presence in a hosted environment.
Basic Configuration requirements are:
Enable SMT in the DD System
Role Based Access Control in DD Systems
Tenant Self-Service in the DD Systems
A Tenant is created on the DD Management Center and/or DD system.
A Tenant Unit is created on a DD system for the Tenant.
One or more MTrees are created to meet the storage requirements for the Tenant’s various types of backups.
The newly created MTrees are added to the Tenant Unit.
Backup applications are configured to send each backup to its configured Tenant Unit MTree.
The Data Domain System broadcast itself to the backup server using one or more path physically or virtually connected. The design of entire systems depend on the Data Domain sizing on how you connect Data Domain with backup server(s), how many backup jobs will be running, size of backup, de-duplication, data retention and frequency of data restore. A typical backup solution should include the following environment.
Backup server with 2 initiator HBA ports (A and B)
Data Domain System has 2 FC target endpoints (C and D)
Fibre Channel Fabric zoning is configured such that both initiator HBA ports can access both FC target endpoints
Data Domain system is configured with a SCSI target access group containing:
Both FC target endpoints on the Data Domain System
Dual Fabric for fail over and availability
Multiple physical and logical Ethernet for availability and fail over
Examples of Sizing
To calculate the maximum simultaneous connection to Data Domain Fibre Channel System (DFC) from all Backup servers. DFC device (D) is the number of devices to be advertised to the initiator of the backup server(s). Lets say we have 1 backup server, single data domain systems, the backup server is running 100 backup jobs.
DFC Device Count D= (minimum 2 X S)/128
J=1 Backup Server x 100 Backup Jobs=100
C= 1 (Single DD System)
S=JXC (100X1)=100
D=2*100/128 = 1.56 rounded up 2
Therefore, all DFC groups on the Data Domain system must be configured with 2 devices.
Step1: Preparing DD System
Step2: Managing system licenses
Select Administration > Licenses> Click Add Licenses.
On the License Window, type or paste the license keys. Type each key on its own line or separate each key by a space or comma (DD System Manager automatically places each key on a new line)
Click Add. The added licenses display in the Added license list.
OR
In System Manager, select Protocols > DD Boost > Settings. If the Status indicates that DD Boost is not licensed, click Add
License and enter a valid license in the Add License Key dialog box.
Step3: Setting up CIFS Protocol
On the DD System Manager Navigation>click Protocols > CIFS.
In the CIFS Status area, click Enable.
Step4: Remove Anonymous Log on
Select Protocols > CIFS > Configuration.
In the Options area, click Configure Options.
To restrict anonymous connections, click the checkbox of the Enable option in the
Step4: Restrict Anonymous Connections area.
In the Log Level area, click the drop-down list to select the level number 1.
In the Server Signing area, select Enabled to enable server signing
Step5: Specifying DD Boost user names
The following user will be used to connect to DD boost from backup software.
Select Protocols > DD Boost.
Select Add, above the Users with DD Boost Access list.
On the Add User dialog appears. To select an existing user, select the user name in the drop-down list. EMC recommends that you select a user name with management role privileges set to none.
To create and select a new user, select Create a new Local User and Enter the password twice in the appropriate fields. Click Add.
Step6: Enabling DD Boost
Select Protocols > DD Boost > Settings.
Click Enable in the DD Boost Status area.
Select an existing user name from the menu then complete the wizard.
Step7: Creating a storage unit
Select Protocols > DD Boost > Storage Units.
Click Create. The Create Storage Unit dialog box is displayed.
Enter the storage unit name in the Name box e.g. DailyRepository1
Select an existing username that will have access to this storage unit. EMC recommends that you select a username with management role privileges set to none. The user must be configured in the backup application to connect to the Data Domain system.
To set storage space restrictions to prevent a storage unit from consuming excess space: enter either a soft or hard limit quota setting, or both a hard and soft limit.
Generate an advanced certificate from Active Directory Certificate services and install into the Data Domain DD Boost. You must install the same certificate into the backup servers so that both data domain and data domain client which is backup server can talk to each via encrypted certificate.
Start DD System Manager on the system to which you want to add a host certificate.
Select Protocols > DD Boost > More Tasks > Manage Certificates….
In the Host Certificate area, click Add.
To add a host certificate enclosed in a .p12 file, Select I want to upload the certificate as a .p12 file. Type the password in the Password box.
Click Browse and select the host certificate file to upload to the system.
Click Add.
To add a host certificate enclosed in a .pem file, Select I want to upload the public key as .pem file and use a generated private key. And Click Browse and select the host certificate file to upload to the system.
Install the DD Boost API/plug-in (if necessary, based on the application).
Step10: Configuring storage for DD Extended Retention (Optional)
Before you proceed with Extended Retention you must add required license on the DD System.
Select Hardware > Storage tab.
In the Overview tab, select Configure Storage. In the Configure Storage tab, select the storage to be added from the Available Storage list.
Select the appropriate Tier Configuration (or Active or Retention) from the menu.
Select the checkbox for the Shelf to be added.
Click the Add to Tier button. Click OK to add the storage.
Step11: Configure a Veeam backup repository
To create an EMC Data Domain Boost-enabled backup repository, navigate to the Backup Infrastructure section of the user interface, then select Backup Repositories and right-click to select Add Backup Repository.
The next step is to select the repository type, De-duplicating storage appliance. Type the Name of the DD Systems, Choose Fibre Channel or Ethernet Option, add credentials to connect to DD System and Gateway to connect to DD System. To be able to connect Veeam Backup server to the DD System using Fibre Channel you must add DD System & Veeam Backup server in the same SAN zone. You also need to enable FC on the DD System. To be able to connect Veeam Backup Server using Ethernet Veeam backup Server and DD System must be in same VLAN or for multi-VLAN you must enable unrestricted communication between VLANs.
On the next screen, select the Storage Unit of the DD System to be used by the Veeam Server as repository, leave concurrent connection as default
Active Full- Financial or health sector prefer to keep a monthly full backup of data and retain certain period of time for corporate compliance and satisfying external auditor’s requirement to keep data off-site for a period of time.
Synthetic Full- A standard practice to keep synthetic full at all time to reduce storage cost and recovery time objective for any organization.
For most environments, Veeam recommends to do synthetic full backups when leveraging EMC Data Domain Boost. This will save stress on primary storage for the vSphere and Hyper-V VMs and the Boost-enabled synthesizing is very fast.
For a Backup Copy job using GFS retention (Monthly, Weekly, Quarterly and/or Annual restore points), the gateway server must be closest to the Data Domain server, since the Backup Copy job frequently involves an offsite transfer. When the Data Domain server is designated in the repository setup, ensure that consideration is given to the gateway server if it is being used off site.
Backup job timed out value must be higher than 30 minutes to be able to retry the job if it is to fail for any reason
DD System Option:
A virtual synthetic full backup is the combination of the last full (synthetic or full) backup and all subsequent incremental backups. Virtual synthetics are enabled by default.
The synthetic full backups are faster when Data Domain Boost is enabled for a repository
DD Boost reduces backup transformation time by less than 80% of total time if DD Boost was not used.
The first job has the bulk of the blocks of the vSphere or Hyper-V VM on the DD Boost Storage Unit, it will only need to transfer metadata and any possible changed blocks. This can be a significant improvement on the active full backup process when there is a fast source storage resource in place.
Taking a VMware snapshots and Hyper-v checkpoint can produce a serious workload on VM performance, and it can take considerable effort by sys admin to overcome this technical challenge and meet the required service level agreement. Most Veeam user will run their backup and replication after hours considering impact to the production environment, but this can’t be your only backup solution. What if storage itself goes down, or gets corrupted? Even with storage-based replication, you need to take your data out of the single fault domain. This is why many customers prefer to additionally make true backups stored on different storage. Never to store production and backup on to a same storage.
Source: Veeam
Now you can take advantage of storage snapshot. Veeam decided to work with storage vendor such as EMC and NetApp to integrate production storage, leveraging storage snapshot functionality to reduce the impact on the environment from snapshot/checkpoint removal during backup and replication.
Supported Storage
EMC VNX/VNXe
NetApp FAS
NetApp FlexArray (V-Series)
NetApp Data ONTAP Edge VSA
HP 3PAR StoreServ
HP StoreVirtual
HP StoreVirtual VSA
IBM N series
Unsupported Storage
Dell Compellent
NOTE: My own experience with HP StoreVirtual and HP 3PAR are awful. I had to remove HP StoreVirtual from production store and introduce other fibre channel to cope with workload. Even though Veeam tested snapshot mechanism with HP, I would recommend avoid HP StoreVirtual if you have high IO workload.
Benefits
Veeam suggest that you can get lower RPOs and lower RTOs with Backup from Storage Snapshots and Veeam Explorer for Storage Snapshots.
Veeam and EMC together allow you to:
Minimize impact on production VMs
Rapidly create backups from EMC VNX or VNXe storage snapshots up to 20 times faster than the competition
Easily recover individual items in two minutes or less, without staging or intermediate steps
As a result of integrating Veeam with EMC, you can backup 20 times faster and restore faster using Veeam Explorer. Hence users can achieve much lower RPOs (recovery point objectives) and lower RTOs (recovery time objectives) with minimal impact on production VMs.
How it works
Veeam Backup & Replication works with EMC and NetApp storage, along with VMware to create backups and replicas from storage snapshots in the following way.
Source: Veeam
The backup and replication job:
Analyzes which VMs in the job have disks on supported storage.
Triggers a vSphere snapshot for all VMs located on the same storage volume. (As a part of a vSphere snapshot, Veeam’s application-aware processing of each VM is performed normally.)
Triggers a snapshot of said storage volume once all VM snapshots have been created.
Retrieves the CBT information for VM snapshots created on step 2.
Immediately triggers the removal of the vSphere snapshots on the production VMs.
Mounts the storage snapshot to one of the backup proxies connected into the storage fabric.
Reads new and changed virtual disk data blocks directly from the storage snapshot and transports them to the backup repository or replica VM.
Triggers the removal storage snapshot once all VMs have been backed up.
VMs run off snapshots for the shortest possible time (Subject to storage array- EMC works better), while jobs obtain data from VM snapshot files preserved in the storage snapshot. As the result, VM snapshots do not get a chance to grow large and can be committed very quickly without overloading production storage with extended merge procedure, as is the case with classic techniques for backing up from VM snapshots.
Integration with EMC storage will bring great benefit to customers who wants to take advantage of their storage array. Veeam Availability Suite v9 will provide the chance to reduce IO on to your storage array and bring your SLA under control.
In most of the SMB customer, the nodes of the cluster that reside at their primary data center provide access to the clustered service or application, with failover occurring only between clustered nodes. However for an enterprise customer, failure of a business critical application is not an option. In this case, disaster recovery and high availability are bonded together so that when both/all nodes at the primary site are lost, the nodes at the secondary site begin providing service automatically, or with minimal intervention.
The maximum availability of any services or application depends on how you design your platform that hosts these services. It is important to follow best practices in Compute, Network and Storage infrastructure to maximize uptime and maintain SLA.
The following diagram shows a multi-site failover cluster that uses four nodes and supports a clustered service or application.
The following rack diagram shows the identical compute, storage and networking infrastructure in both site.
Physical Infrastructure
Primary and Secondary sites are connected via 2x10Gbps dark fibre
Storage vendor specific replication software such as EMC recovery point
Storage must have redundant storage processor
There must be redundant Switches for networking and storage
Each server must be connected to redundant switches with redundant NIC for each purpose
Since I am talking about highly available and redundant systems design, this sort of design must consist of replicated or clustered storage presented to multi-site Hyper-v cluster nodes. Replication of data between sites is very important in a multi-site cluster, and is accomplished in different ways by different hardware vendors. You will achieve high performance through hardware or block level replication instead of software. You should contact your storage vendor to come up with solutions that provide replicated or clustered storage.
A multi-site cluster running Windows Server 2008 can contain nodes that are in different subnet however as a best practice, you must configure Hyper-v cluster in same subnet. You applications and services can reside in separate subnets. To avoid any conflict, you should use dark fibre connection or MPLS network between multi-sites that allows VLANs.
Quorum Selection: Since you will be configuring Node and File Share Majority cluster, you will have the option to place quorum files to shared folder. Where do you place this shared folder? Since we are talking about fully redundant and highly available Hyper-v Cluster, we have several options to place quorum shared folder. | {
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Anthony Weiner’s Penis Pic: The Twitter Community Reacts
Related
The public pipes up about congressman’s lewd photo in 140 characters or less
Now that a presumed photo of Anthony Weiner's, uh, Congressional staff has wormed its way onto the Internet, it shouldn't be any surprise that the world is offering its reactions via the venue that started this whole mess in the first place: Twitter.
In the interest of an informed public, TheWrap has performed a deep, vigorous and thorough probe of the best Weinergate tweets — so you don't have to.
"The View" co-host Joy Behar was so impressed — or maybe not — with Weiner's latest penis portrait that she was compelled to chime in multiple times.
"Just saw the latest Anthony Weiner photo. I don’t know what to say," Behar wrote. "Except maybe 'turn your head to the left and cough.'"
Apparently, however, Behar found a little more to say, as she fired up the Twitter account again shortly thereafter to issue another missive, this time taking a poke at a recent presidential pretender.
"Everyone's shocked by the new Weiner photo," Behar added. "Strangely, Donald Trump wants even FURTHER proof."
Nate Silver, of political web site 538.com, meanwhile, took the situation as an opportunity to crack wise about the traditional-marriage crowd.
"Weiner's story is more proof that everything goes off the rails once you allow Straight Marriage," Silver joked.
Slate writer Dave Weigel also found humor in the situation. Reacting to reports that Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, is pregnant, Weigel mused, "On the bright side, Weiner will soon have a family to Spend More Time With."
Comedian Jeffrey Ross offered his own mea culpa in the midst of the whole brouhaha, noting, "I'd like to formally apologize to any fans who may have received pics from me. They were meant for my proctologist." | {
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# /etc/fstab: static file system information.## Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).## <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0# / was on /dev/sda5 during installationUUID=a7715f4e-7c36-4ac5-be8f-c08d3c543263 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installationUUID=ec721573-a290-4adb-a5fd-45915a9ccf5f none swap sw 0 0//192.168.2.100/multimedia /mnt/freenas/multimedia cifs iocharset=utf8,credentials=/home/graeme/.smbcredentials,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 0 0
Do you want me to remove the last line ?
Logged
If you can keep your head while all around are losing theirs, then you're not quite grasping the situation | {
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Spectra Energy posts higher net profit, sales
SarahTurner
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Spectra Energy
SE, -3.84%
said that its second-quarter net income rose to $174 million, or 27 cents a share, from $140 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of 29 cents, according to data compiled by FactSet. Operating revenue rose to $1.1 billion, from $937 million last year. The results reflect a sound performance from the company's fee-based businesses, higher commodity prices at its Field Services business, and a stronger Canadian dollar. It said it's well positioned to deliver on its financial, strategic, safety and operational goals.
Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements. | {
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WARNING: There are spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.
Hydra
We got some layers added to the new Hydra backstory in this episode, and I have to say it really worked for me. Reed Diamond made a flashback appearance as Daniel Whitehall, and it managed to reconcile the old Hydra story as a science-based criminal organization with the new backstory as a centuries-old cult worshipping and facilitating the return of Hive. It’s good that this scene was squeezed in because I was starting to question the rationality of the two sides of Hydra. Now we know there are factions to Hydra, one that believes in the existence of Hive and one that is grounded in science, even if it is a bit of a mystical science (this is a comic book show, after all). We also learned that these two sides don’t exactly get along. Gideon Malick’s father didn’t believe in Whitehall’s Hydra, and we see the full contempt that Gideon shows when he has to visit the cell of Whitehall in 1970.
My favorite thing about this is not knowing whether the science-based faction of Hydra is still around. We were pretty sure Coulson and company destroyed Hydra in season two, but they seemingly came back. What if the Hydra we saw taken down so surgically by SHIELD was actually the science division and all that remains is the Hive worshippers? I don’t really know what that means for the story, but it leaves us with a group of powerful people worshipping an apocalyptic Inhuman with god-like powers, one that literally destroyed an entire civilization on another planet. There’s a fascinating story to be told there.
Coulson
Coulson has really traveled down a dark path this season. We probably saw this coming when he killed Ward in the mid-season finale. That’s just not who Coulson is. Sure, he’s killed people as a SHIELD agent, but he didn’t just kill Ward, Coulson beat him nearly to death and then finished him off by crushing his chest. It was such a disturbing move for Coulson that he literally detached his prosthetic hand and left it on Maveth. Now that Ward is back, or at least his body is back, all of Coulson’s misgivings about the actions are coming back to haunt him. Although May and Fitz assure him it had to be done, and that reassurance carries particular weight from Fitz since he was there, Coulson still doubts whether or not it was the right thing to do. I like that Coulson is feeling these things because it shows us that he’s not perfect, he’s just as flawed and troubled as every other character in the MCU. While I didn’t need this revelation to continue appreciating Coulson, it does make him more interesting to watch. Now we’ll see what happens when he comes face-to-face with Hive.
Bring on the Secret Warriors
The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here; the Secret Warriors are going to be unleashed next week. This was an exciting scene, almost as exciting as last season’s “it’s time to call in the Avengers” line from Coulson. While the Secret Warriors aren’t the Avengers, finally showing the team on screen makes Agents of SHIELD a bonafide superhero show with its very own team-up episode. This is exceedingly exciting stuff. | {
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Messy mealtimes: does your child drop food from the high chair?
If your child is throwing food off his or her high chair, here are some thoughts and tips that might be helpful:
Often a child, observing an accidental spill, becomes interested in studying and mastering gravity by watching various foods fall down in different ways.
With very young children, ages 9 to 12 months, you can simply remove the food from the tray and provide a distraction. Make sure that, outside of meal times, your child has plenty of opportunities to safely practice dropping, throwing, and dumping with balls and other soft toys and objects that will not break. These “science experiments” foster cognitive and motor development and can sometimes turn into fun back and forth games with another person.
At other times, dumping or throwing food can be a communication. Depending on how this is handled, the behavior can taper off or can escalate into a power struggle. You can respond to the behavior according to what you think your child is trying to tell you.
Below are some examples of what you might say:
If you feel the throwing means that your child is no longer hungry, you can say in a matter- of-fact way. “I think you’re done” and take him out of the highchair. Depending on your child’s understanding of language and expressive abilities, you can model verbal communication by adding, “You can tell me ‘all done’.”
If you think your child is bored, you can sit and interact with her as she eats, thereby focusing on a positive engagement.
If you think your child doesn’t like the food, you can say in a neutral tone, “I don’t think you like that” and provide another option. Again, if your child is able to express himself verbally, you can suggest that he say, “I don’t like it” rather than throw the food.
From about 15 months on, throwing food can become a testing behavior, especially when your child has seen you get angry and wants to see how you will react if she does it again. This can feel very exasperating, but again, if you can stay neutral, the behavior is likely to decrease. You can say to your “testing” toddler in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, “I think you want to see what I’ll say if you do that…we don’t throw food and dinner is over now”. If your toddler insists that she is hungry, you can say, “Okay, if you are hungry and are going to eat, you can stay in your high chair,” but if she throws food again, say “ all done” and take her out immediately. Try to do this using a calm voice and body language.
IF PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR BY SCOLDING OR REPEATING STERNLY “NO THROWING FOOD!”, THE UNDESIRABLE BEHAVIOR TENDS TO ESCALATE.
Here are some additional tips to help through this phase:
Place the highchair over a mat or on a floor that is easy to clean.
Stay away from tomato sauce and give your child a few pieces of food at a time.
Sit with your child and engage with him. This will distract him and allow you to grab the bowl before it’s dumped. This will spare you and your child the anger you will feel when you have to clean up a mess. Family meals will become important when your child is older, so sitting down with him now while he is eating is good practice and will have a lot of meaning for the future.
Upper West Side Parenting Support helps mothers and fathers in their transition to parenthood through family consultations and discussion and play groups. Our parenting experts address child development, behavior challenges, and common parenting concerns, such as sleep, eating and tantrums. | {
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UFC on Fox 6 Results: Ricardo Lamas Pounds Out Erik Koch
Ricardo Lamas (12-2) continued his march towards a title shot, with his fourth consecutive win since moving to featherweight with a second round TKO stoppage at 2:32 over Erik Koch (13-1) at UFC on Fox 6 on Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago.
Koch was returning off a 16-month injury layoff, and both fighters looked to trade strikes early on before Lamas pressed the attack and had Koch in a clinch against the cage. Koch showed good takedown defense, both men fighting for dominance. After more combinations were thrown by Lamas, he was able to secure the clinch and take Koch to the mat, but he was quick to return to his feet.
Lamas opened the second round on the attack before he slipped over, but that is where Koch came undone. Koch was looking for a dominant position on the mat and was active off his back, but Lamas reigned down with elbows cutting Koch until the fight was waved off.
“I’m a nervous wreck before all of my fights, but being in Chicago in front of all my family and friends, I was at ease,” Lamas said. “If I get on top you better watch out, because I’m not letting you up until your bloody or knocked out.” | {
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Word of the Day: VR headset
A virtual reality headset is a heads-up display (HUD) that allows users to interact with simulated environments and experience a first-person view (FPV). VR headsets replace the user's natural environment with virtual reality content, such as a movie, a game or a prerecorded 360-degree VR environment that allows the user to turn and look around, just as in the physical world.
Although virtual reality has been around for years, the tethered hardware to experience it has traditionally been expensive, bulky and power-hungry. Today, mobile VR headsets, which are basically goggles that will hold a smartphone, have allowed VR apps to spread into the consumer market. The goal of each type of VR headset is to provide the viewer with an experience that is so real, the headset itself is forgotten.
VR apps for both mobile and tethered apps incorporate technology such as gaze tracking, IR sensors, gyroscopes and accelerometers to move the user's point of view in a natural manner. Mobile apps often include stereo sound, while tethered apps may feature surround or even 3D sound. Development challenges for all VR apps and headsets include eliminating latency to reduce viewer disorientation, headache and nausea.
Types of VR headsets:
Oculus Rift - a computer-based system that reignited interest in virtual reality when the Oculus VR startup launched a successful Kickstarter campaign. Rift works with positioning technology that lets the user move physically through 3D space and has Touch controllers.
Microsoft's Hololens - a standalone VR headset. The system features 3D spatialized sound, Wi-Fi, a Kinect-like camera with a 120-degree spatial sensing system, a fleet of gyroscopes and accelerometers and a transparent screen for each eye.
HTC Vive - plugs into a powerful gaming PC for its performance. Dual base stations allow users to move freely through a 15' X 15' area. The system was developed collaboratively with Portal, a video game software company.
PlayStation VR - works with PlayStation 4 rather than a PC. The system duplicates the headset VR display on a TV.
Samsung Gear VR - a smartphone container that uses the phone's processing power. The system, which works with high-end Samsung Galaxy models, was developed in collaboration with Oculus VR.
Google Cardboard - a low-cost, smartphone container made of plain cardboard. There are a number of inexpensive headsets based on the original open source model. | {
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VLM-33+
The VLM-33+ from Mini Circuits is a Limiter with Frequency 30 to 3000 MHz, Flat Leakage 0.01495 W, Flat Leakage 11.5 dBm, Input Power 12 to 30 dBm, Input Power 0.01 to 1 W. More details for VLM-33+ can be seen below. | {
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There has been a lot of negative feedback towards Steam’s Early Access programming, mostly because it releases lower quality games, often for the same price as a standard release. As such, I feel that previews of Steam Early Access games should all be accompanied by the following disclaimer, so as to avoid senseless repetition: This game is buggy, unfinished, glitchy, poorly balanced and slow. It is a concept and an idea, one that is still being worked on, developed and fleshed out – as such, this preview will be more of a look into what the game could be like when it releases proper, and whether the fundamental foundations and systems already in place are well designed and interesting enough to warrant your purchase. Capiche?
Kenshi is an odd beast. Bucking the trends set by most games that take place in dystopian settings, Kenshi is a hardcore, squad based, free roaming strategy/RPG. It’s main focus is on giving the player a “normal life” – not in the sense that they drink tea and watch Coronation Street all day, that would be boring – in the sense that the player is just one of many people trying to make a living in a harsh, barren world of bandits, thieves and cannibalism. After creating a character in what is a fairly complex creation tool, the player can choose an origin, be it that of an old war veteran, a survivor among wounded friends, or a lone wanderer.
I decided to choose Lone Wanderer, because videogames have taught me that I can make it on my own as long as I’m careful, strong and courageous. In Kenshi, however, I walked around the desert for a bit, and then died. It was here that I was struck with the immense range of possible paths and choices one can make in Kenshi, not in a Good/Evil, kill a child/ save a child sense, but in a way that more closely reflects the real implications of living in such a dystopian world. I decided then to choose the origin of The Freedom Seekers; a fairly established group of survivors with a decent sum of cash and some building materials.
Once I had explored some of the nearby towns, I decided to set up a small shack near a large trading town. From here, my team and I constructed a mine, a stone processor, farming facilities, a store room, walls and a gate, a rum still, and a hemp field (so I could make clothes, this isn’t Far Cry 3). What felt at first like a direction-less, sand-filled sandbox game had now become something of a city building sim. I was making rum and fabrics to sell to the town nearby, with each of my team members devoting time and effort to specific tasks to further the development of “Eagle Outpost”. All in all, to research, construct and become comfortable in a small mining and farming enclave, it took about 5 real hours, and about a week in game time (double and triple speed options are most welcome in Kenshi).
As fun as town building was, a setting like this needs some sort of conflict, whether it’s violent or not. Although bandit raids are few and far between, they are incredibly dangerous encounters early on, and the game actively encourages you to bait your enemies towards nearby towns so that guards will assist you.
As with most other tasks in the game, there are numerical skill levels attached to combat which can be increased by practising on dummies or fighting in real life. The battles themselves are fairly passive, and their outcome is determined by your (and your opponent’s) attack and defence skills, as well as the defensive qualities of your clothing. At one point, I was visited by a roaming group of bandits. When I refused to pay their tithe, they left, only to return a few days later and brutally attack my group, leaving each member bleeding out and in need of medical attention.
That’s the thing about Kenshi. It’s hardcore. Sometimes even too hardcore. To learn each of the game’s different facets and avenues takes a serious amount of time and dedication, something a casual player just wouldn’t be interested in. The game is also very menu and UI heavy, not to the point where it’s especially cluttered or unintuitive, but the whole thing can look rather daunting on start up.
This is where things can become a little problematic. For all its depth and complexity, it can be easy to get lost in the sheer amount of content on offer in Kenshi, and when that content is often glitchy and broken (my female character recently lost all of her hair for no reason, characters belligerently refuse to walk through doors), it can be a frustrating time. I often found myself questioning whether the skills I was upgrading were really having a noticeable effect on the efficiency of my squad’s labour and research, and how to proceed with certain building or trading strategies (I researched harpoon turrets, but I couldn’t work out how to place them in my town when the option to build them never turned up in build mode). There are also some pretty aggravating issues with dodgy camera rotation and unreliable cursor hovering and clicking.
Visual glitches aside, Kenshi isn’t the prettiest of games. It doesn’t really need to be gorgeous considering its focus on strategy and choice, but it’s hard to escape the fact the Kenshi resembles something like brown re-skin of Runescape. As for art direction, the game’s commitment to a Mad Max meets feudal Japan aesthetic is a fresh and interesting take on the genre, and will probably make most players look past ugly textures.
It’s possible, of course, that these issues will be ironed out closer to launch, and when they are, Kenshi should be a gruelling, complex and rewarding SRPG. For all of it’s frustrating quirks, Kenshi presents a level of depth and content evocative of classic RPGs and strategy games of the 90s. It’s hard and it’s unforgiving, but that’s what life should be like in a dystopian, desert land. If you fancy an experience that resembles the original Fallout, only with a tougher exterior and a greater level of freedom, Kenshi is for you. | {
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The Giada lace dress features long sheer sleeves, fully lined throughout the body, with the underskirt finishing above the knee. This style also features a thin waistband adding shape, and the hem is finished with a beautiful scalloped edge. Fastened at the centre back with a gold exposed zipper.
MAIN
The Giada lace dress features long sheer sleeves, fully lined throughout the body, with the underskirt finishing above the knee. This style also features a thin waistband adding shape, and the hem is finished with a beautiful scalloped edge. Fastened at the centre back with a gold exposed zipper.
FABRICATION
40% Nylon, 60% Cotton
SIZE & FIT
Model wears AUS size 8 and is 5'9"/175cm tall.
MAIN
The Giada lace dress features long sheer sleeves, fully lined throughout the body, with the underskirt finishing above the knee. This style also features a thin waistband adding shape, and the hem is finished with a beautiful scalloped edge. Fastened at the centre back with a gold exposed zipper.
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