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|It's Time To Make New Memories! Grab Our 18% Off And Make Someone's Day!
|It's Time To Make New Memories! Grab Our 18% Off And Make Someone's Day!
BeautyFresh Beauty X'mas Bazaar is happening from 21 to 23 November 2019! Take this chance to stock up on X'mas gifts as well as pampering deals at up to 80% off! Beauty products include fragrances, cosmetics and skincare from Aveda, Benefit, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Cle De Peau, Eve Lom, Estee Lauder, SK-II and many more. Get attractive gifts with purchase above $250!
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Mr Bean is bringing more deals to everyone – prize winner or not. Enjoy a holiday treat with their 8 SOY-awesome deals! Tap to find out more!🎄Head down to any Mr Bean stores (except Jewel, Sentosa and Yishun Polyclinic) to enjoy these yummy deals today!
Celebrate J.CO Donuts & Coffee's 11th anniversary! Enjoy a special treat on 20th and 21st November 2019 - Buy 1 dozen, get a half dozen for free (assorted)!


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Protecting animals in communities
Animals play a vital role in communities worldwide – and we move the world every day to protect them
Support our work to stop dogs suffering needlessly
Discover how we stop abuse to working horses, donkeys and mules in the West Bank
Taking action that counts
We find the most effective ways to protect animals in communities – and then we act. So we help governments to manage dog populations humanely and to vaccinate against rabies, instead of culling dogs. We share advice on responsible pet ownership. We prevent working animals being overworked and abused. We do whatever is necessary to protect animals in communities worldwide.

subset: commoncrawl


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Skin loses its vitality with age and repeated sun exposure as lines, loss of firmness and areas of increased pigmentation become more pronounced with time. Many of these changes are a direct result of sun damage. Sun exposure causes free radicals to form that damage collagen and elastin, two proteins that keep skin firm and wrinkle-free. Skin aging occurs prematurely in people who don't shield their skin from the sun's damaging rays. It is the mission of Lierac Paris is to repair skin damaged by the environment while protecting it from further assault.
Using the power of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, their products target skin aging at the cellular level. For dry, moisture-starved skin, Lierac Paris offers treatments with ingredients like hyaluronic acid, a compound naturally found in the dermis that helps skin hold onto water. Fine lines and wrinkles are no match for their advanced treatment products formulated with concentrated plant botanicals. Plus, the formulas offer targeted treatments for other skin problems like sun spots, stretch marks, under-eye circles and puffiness as well as solutions for skin that's lost its youthful firmness and youthful vitality. Cosmetically elegant Lierac Paris products never feel heavy or greasy. It's all about light-weight, targeted therapies to address your most pressing skin care concerns.
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If you are in need of a beauty solution for a specific skin issue, consider taking the time to browse through our current selection of Lierac Paris Products. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover one or more delightful formulas.
If you want access to a medley of high performing beauty solutions that deliver skin-soothing benefits and rejuvenate the radiant beauty of your skin, take a look through the existing collection of Lierac Paris Products. You can choose eye care products, wrinkle-fighting solutions, vitamin-infused skin formulas, toning lotions, moisturizing emulsions, and so much more.
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An rich botanical concentrate, Lierac Paris Deridium Anti-Wrinkle Restoring Serum delivers an intensive skin-smoothing capability that reduces the look of existing wrinkles, while also rejuvenating the natural tone of your skin. Your facial countenance looks younger and more radiant as its natural supple nature is restored through the powerful effect of this anti-wrinkle serum. This high performing solution is suitable for all types of skin, including normal, oily, dry, and combination.


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Soroptimist International of Olympia Endowment Scholarship
Amount: $1,090
Due Date: Friday, February 22, 2019
Keep this scholarship funded for future generations.
Offered to a new transfer or currently enrolled female student who has completed a minimum of 45 credits at the time of application with demonstrated involvement in community activities and/or services. The successful applicant must enroll full time. Preference will be given to students demonstrating financial need. Soroptimist International of Olympia, part of the world's largest classified service organization for executive and professional women, has supported successful community service initiatives in the Olympia area for more than 60 years. The recipient is expected to attend a Soroptimist scholarship recognition meeting during the academic year.
- Letter of application, not to exceed two typed, double-spaced pages, indicating why you should be awarded this scholarship. Include a statement related to your financial need.
- Two letters of recommendation written within the past year from individuals other than relatives regarding your community activities/services.
- FAFSA or WASFA (see How to Apply #4).


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>>>live stats
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. - The No. 2 Georgia College & State University golf team is just four strokes out of the all-important top-five with one round to go at the NCAA Southeast/South SuperRegional. The Bobcats are tied for sixth in the 20-team field, where the top five teams move on to the NCAA Finals round.
The Bobcats shot a 12-over 300 today on the par-72, 7,126-yard Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals course. Combined with yesterday's plus-two 290, Georgia College is tied with Barton College at 14-over par.
Junior Pedro C. Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was the lone Bobcat under par today, carding a one-under 71. Combined with yesterday's 75, he now shares the lead for the Bobcats at two-over in 19th place. Sophomore Billy Shida (Berkeley Lake, Ga.) followed up yesterday's opening-round 69 with a 77 and slipped to tie at 19th.
Classmate Joe Young (Cochran, Ga.) is also 19th, carding a 74 with yesterday's 72. Young had a strong finish with birdies in two of his last four holes. Junior Niclas Johansson (Skanor, Sweden) added four more strokes to yesterday's 74 and stands in 63rd at plus-eight. Rounding out the starters for GCSU was junior Francisco Bide (Buenos Aires, Argentina) with a pair of 80s.
No. 9 Lynn University overtook the lead as the only team under par today (-1), and the Knights are now at four-under overall. There is a tie for second at even par between host No. 11 University of North Alabama and No. 12 Barry University. Then the drop to fourth is an eight-stroke difference at plus-eight No. 3 Nova Southeastern University. Fifth place is owned by the top Peach Belt Conference (PBC) school, No. 1 Columbus State University at 10-over par.
Lynn's Chris Goldan maintains his hold on the individual lead, shooting a one-under 71 for a six-under effort after two rounds. Jake Greer of UNA is just one stroke behind.
The Bobcats take to the links for the final round tomorrow, needing to shave the four-stroke difference to get in the top five and continue their 2009 season.
Visit www.GCSUBobcats.com to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame. The GCSU Department of Athletics sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, GCSU prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at Twitter.com username GCSUSID for up-to-the-minute reports.


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Book Discussions
The adult book discussion group meets in the library's meeting room every first Monday of the month at 7:00 PM.
This is an informal discussion group and the public is invited to attend, copies of the book are available at the library.
Title of the book for discussion will be listed on the library calendar.
The group does not meet during the months of December and August.


text: Vulnerability of the Heart and Land Posted on July 25, 2013 | by Nechama Tamler The name of this week's parasha, Ekev, is kind of a hard word to translate precisely into English. Here are 3 renditions of the first phrase (Deuteronomy 7 verse 12): "And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully…" (Jewish Publication Society) "And it shall come about in consequence of your heeding these laws when you keep them and do them…" (Robert Alter) "Now it shall be: because of your hearkening to these regulations, keeping and observing (them)…." (Everett Fox) Ekev shares its root with the word for heel, ahkev. If we remember that Moshe/Moses is giving his culminating speech to the Children of Israel as they are poised on the border of the Promised Land, right before crossing over into the Land of Israel, he seems to be hammering home this point: "OK you guys, on the heels of all of the commandments God gave you is this crucial point: You must obey / heed / listen to these laws! And if you don't do them, there will be major trouble, which I will now go on to describe." And as if a simple reminder wasn't enough, Moshe takes the opportunity to recount things that surely the descendants of the Israelites who left Egypt must already know. Think about it: what stories were the parents and grandparents telling their offspring during all those long 40 years of wandering about in the desert? As far as we know, there were no Golden Books, no Goodnight Moon, and certainly no tablets with entertaining illustrated stories for the young set. It's not hard to imagine that the older generation related the miracles of being brought into freedom from the bondage of Egypt, and the promise that they were going to live in a land flowing with milk and honey, a land where they would lack nothing (Deuteronomy 8: 7-10). It sounds like a fantasy or dream… certainly a rosy enough picture to pacify the kids when they complained about having to pull up stakes from one campsite to travel to another. The G-dcast storyteller this week spends some time with the phrase in chapter 10 verse 16, about circumcising or cutting away the thickening around our hearts. The storyteller believes that when we cut away this thickening, we will become vulnerable and open; this is a good thing for our relationships with God and with others. You might want to look at this paragraph from the Curveball Health Coaching blog, on being vulnerable: What I learned today reinforces with what I already believe — the more vulnerability you show — the better life you have. There are so many ways to be vulnerable, and Annelise highlighted some this morning: being in the moment, having self-compassion and asking for help. I'd love to hear from you: What are some ways you show vulnerability? Do you recognize these moments when you're in them? Part of Moshe's valedictory speech was adopted by the rabbis of the Talmud when they began to construct the written siddur (prayerbook). The second paragraph of the Shema, recited twice daily, comes right from this parasha, chapter 11 verses 13-22. Here Moshe transmits to the people what God tells him about the consequences of not obeying the laws and commandments. I suggest that we take a second look at the language, noticing that the commandments are inextricably tied to the way the earth will continue to produce its plenty. We are told that if we observe the commandments, "the rain will fall in its season, and there will be plenty of grain and wine and oil." And if we don't… well then, we will experience the dire consequences of no rain and no produce, and we will perish from "the good land" that God has given us. Moshe goes on and presses home the point: tell your children about all of this, keep talking about it, be vigilant about passing on these commandments lest they be forgotten. Stepping back for a moment and looking at this passage using a wider lens, it seems to me (and many others before me) that we could read this passage metaphorically. Instead of reading it as if God will be angry or threatening and will demand only strict adherence to a set of biblical laws, we might read this passage as descriptive of what is actually happening with the degradation of the planet. That is, try to read the word "land" as "earth." And read the words "loving the Lord your God and serving Him" as "loving the rules of nature that provide balance, seasons, and the capacity to nourish all" and read the words "for the Lord's anger will flare up against you and He will shut up the skies so there will be no rain" as "the forces of nature will react, and we will encounter devastating droughts, famines, and climate [climactic refers to climax, not climate] catastrophes." Seen this way, the words resonate differently. That is, the consequences of what we do, and also what we ignore, may be damages of biblically disastrous magnitude. The earth itself will react to our not heeding the commandments of stewardship with all our hearts and with all our souls. I recently spoke to a cousin, an enlightened and intelligent farmer, who shared her beliefs about the decimation of the bee population. According to her, bees use electromagnetic fields to navigate their flights from and back to their hives. With the proliferation of cell phones and towers, the electromagnetic fields are compromised and many bees never make it home. And without bees to pollinate, we are doomed — the good land that the Lord gave to all of us will no longer yield its produce and we will soon perish. What do you think? Are we obeying the commandments and therefore enjoying the blessings of living on the good land/earth that the Lord has provided us, or are we headed down a path of curses? What are the consequences of the ways we have used technology (including pesticides, etc.) in the way we conduct our agricultural lives? About Nechama Tamler View all posts by Nechama Tamler →


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msnbc.com visited the Occupy Wall Street protesters at Zucotti park in New York this week. Here are some of the people we met.
John Makely / msnbc.com
Shane Stoops prepares meals for others gathered at Zucotti Park on Oct. 5 for the Occupy Wall Street protest.
by Miranda Leitsinger / msnbc.com
Shane Stoops, a 23-year-old self-described "renaissance man" and nomad from Port Orchard, Wash., said he learned of the protest on his first night in the city – which happened to be the second day of the encampment. He has been there ever since, doing what he can to help keep the movement running. Today, he is helping prepare food for the demonstrators. Stoops is also handing out his resume daily.
"I've just been here learning what there is to know. … I didn't even know that a protest was going to be going on."
What keeps you here?
"There are a lot of different messages going on here. However, we have one common one: We don't want big business owning any of us anymore. We're tired of that."
How long will you stay here?
"I'm definitely committed until we are either arrested or beaten to death."
What would be mission accomplished?
"Mission accomplished would be when the entire world is globally dynamic and we're sitting here and nobody has to starve death. … I want the world to be united." He had earlier elaborated that a global dynamic was "where everybody works for a common goal for humanity," such as ending starvation and providing free education.
What do you say to critics of this movement?
"We're too big to ignore now. We're opening more and more eyes."
What do you think this movement could become?
"A global revolution. I believe that every race, every religion, every person in the world can eventually come to terms with that -- we can all work together."
John Makely / msnbc.com
Elad Ozeri, 31, brings his son Ron, 18 months old, to the Occupy Wall Street march.
Elad Ozeri, 31, from Jerusalem, Israel, came down to the protest with his 18-month old son, Ron. He moved to New York two months ago, where his wife is studying for her doctorate. It was his first day at the camp, and he said he'll try to spend a week there. While he spoke with msnbc.com, Ron ate a bagel and toddled around his dad.
Why are you here?
"We had a similar demonstration in Israel the whole summer. … I think it was almost the same idea but maybe it was more political in Israel, I don't know. … It's (the protest there) how to live, how to make a living, how to pay the rent and you know, I think the idea is to stop the robber barons. … And I think it's the same idea here: to have a decent life, a simple life."
What's your specific grievance?
"I'm not against people with a lot of money but it depends where the money comes from."
Do you think this movement could grow?
"I do think that it has the potential" but it must become populist, "so more people can relate to that."
What would make you think mission accomplished?
"I just say enough for what's happening. … I'm not a citizen here and I'm not that involved, but I think it's just important to be here, for me."
John Makely / msnbc.com
Sade Adona, 25, in New York with other Occupy Wall Street protesters on Oct. 5.
Sade Adona, a 25-year-old from Oakland, Calif., now residing in Brooklyn, has lived at the camp site for 1.5 weeks and said she is in for the long haul. At one of her three jobs, her hours were cut severely; at another, they cut a program she was teaching. Financial troubles forced her out of her apartment and to take a semester off of school. She now rents a room in a friend's place.
Why are you here?
"There are just a lot of things going on … I feel like it's greatly important to be a part of the cause, everybody counts. … I'm down here to support; I'm down here to, like, just make sure that I am aware of what's going on so that I can report back to others," she said, noting she was first moved to join the protest by the recent execution of Troy Davis in Georgia and also was concerned about the tough economic times and employment opportunities.
What do you say to critics?
"I want to hear where they're coming from," Adona said.
She also pushed back criticism from some saying "that we are just, like, angry college-age students" and "lazy" … (but) I'm here in between time camping out when I'm not at work."
What would be mission accomplished?
"The acknowledgement is good enough for me," such as a nod from the federal government of the movement, she said. "But if people were still out here and there was a reason, and I could find myself on accord with that reason, I would probably be out here still."
John Makely / msnbc.com
Sue VanDerzee, 65, left, and Gloria Earls, 66, both from Connecticut, join the crowd for the Occupy Wall Street march.
Grandmothers and friends, Gloria Earls, a retired teacher from Middletown, Conn., and Sue VanDerzee, a retired newspaper editor from Durham, Conn., traveled to the Occupy Wall Street site for the day and they hope to come back with more people.
Why are you here?
"I'm here to protest against corporate greed ... It seems like money is the bottom line for any action that our country takes," said Earls, 66.
"We're worried about our grandkids, too. … I want our grandkids to grow up and, you know, have a world to live in, and Americans use way too much of it," said VanDerzee, 65.
What do you want?
To "take money out of politics" and to "stop the wars," VanDerzee said.
What do you hope this becomes?
"If it has to be a revolution, it may be just that time – and I'm willing to work for that," Earls said.
How do you respond to critics of this movement?
"Get your head on straight and, you know, look around. It's not as rosy as they're painting it," Earls said.
John Makely / msnbc.com
Ashley Valdespino and Luis Lluicota in Zucotti Park for the Occupy Wall Street march.
Friends and college students Luis Lliguicota, 20, and Ashley Valdespino, 19, are also part-time workers who have had to take out loans to pay for their education. They study at a college north of the city.
Why are you here? "The student loans and the financial aid that's available. Basically, it's a circle of debt with us. Like it's over and over, I already owe money. And I think that education should be free or [cost] less money. … Our students are our future and that's what needs to be addressed here," Valdespino said.
Lliguicota said his concern about corporate greed brought him downtown. He works in a grocery store, where the hours have been cut.
"How are we going to get out of debt if we can't even get money?" he said. "We're working every day, every week, check by check."
How do you respond to critics of this movement?
"They can't relate … there is going to be negativity to anything anybody does," Valdespino said.
What do you think this could become?
"The reason I am here is to see what can come out of this … I think it is uniting the people [of] our generation so far," Valdespino said.
"We need to be educated about what's going on in the world so I am here for that," Lliguicota said.
What would be a mission accomplished?
"I don't know yet … [I'm] waiting for it," Valdespino said.
"I want to end corporate greed, so hopefully equality – you know, the way they distribute the wealth," Lliguicota said.
John Makely / msnbc.com
John Reiner, 49, in Zucotti Park waiting for the Occupy Wall Street march to start.
Jon Reiner, a 49-year-old New Yorker laid off three times since 2001 from marketing executive jobs, has been without work for five years despite sending out what he figures to be 2,000 resumes. Now a stay-at-home dad of two boys, he has journeyed down to the camp for four days while his sons are at school.
What do you want?
"To enforce the corporate tax code … corporations do everything they can obviously to find loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying their fair share."
What do you hope this movement becomes?
"My hope would be that, like all great social movements, that it gets so large in number and influence that it fundamentally changes the priorities of our elected officials so that they believe then that it's their obligation to serve individuals and not corporations."
What do you say to critics of this movement?
"I think that most grassroots movements that I am aware of start out messy and disorganized but they do come together because there is some galvanizing need … I think it's unfair to dismiss what is a real national crisis because it looks as though it's less than serious."
What would make you go home (or say "mission accomplished")?
"I think that it's important to maintain this as a national issue either in this park or by other means of organizing in a collective effort until there is significant change in the priorities of government, with regard to the government's role in creating a more equitable economic system."
For more on Jon Reiner's story click here.
John Makely / msnbc.com
Dennis and Elizabeth Carbone prepare to march in the Occupy Wall Street protest.
Retired New York City couple Elizabeth and Dennis Carbone have made a few trips to the camp since the protest began on September 17. At one time, they were resident managers of a corporate bed-and-breakfast. They had to live in a shelter once, and now a dispute over their rent may land them there again. Their 51-year-old son died from an illness earlier this year, just a few days after his home went into foreclosure.
Why are you here?
"The American people would like a piece of the pie. They've had enough … (of) the rampant greed," said Elizabeth Carbone, 64.
What do you want?
"Bring home all the troops" and "remove the tax-exempt status from … every house of worship," Elizabeth Carbone said.
What do you hope that this movement becomes?
Elizabeth Carbone wants leaders who "represent the people. Not the 1 percent, but the people, the real people: the oil in the wheel, the ones who work and toil every day."
What do you say to critics of the movement?
"I would tell them that they are simply unconscious. … there's 2 percent of the wealth left for 98 percent of the population to scramble over, okay, and that's what they're doing, scrambling."
How long will you be here?
"As long as the young people and this movement need our support, we'll be here. We can't do what they're doing, they're young. We did that before. But we're here, to give them support, to [let them] know that we're behind them," said Dennis Carbone, 69.
John Makely / msnbc.com
Jim Weatherby, 50, from New Briton, Conn., waits in Zucotti Park in New York for the Occupy Wall Street march to start on Oct. 5.
Jim Weatherby, a 50-year-old father of three adult children from New Britain, Conn., is a state employee who works with adolescent and juvenile delinquent males. His wife is a teacher, and he said they are a middle class family struggling to make ends meet. They can't save money, he said, noting that their biggest problem is that they can't get out from credit card debt. He took a day off work to travel to the Occupy Wall Street site.
Why did you come here?
"The excesses of Wall Street, the economic collapse that happened under George W. Bush that led to the TARP bailout, two grossly mismanaged and unnecessary wars have led to the economic situation in this country and I think it's time that the rich paid their fair share."
What do you want?
"The Bush tax rates … should have been rolled back or done away with the last time it came up."
What do you hope this protest becomes?
"I hope it calls attention to the problem and that our lawmakers hear us and see that we are – like the signs say – we are the 99 percent. The country is being run backwards; we're serving the 1 percent," he said, adding that he hoped it would make an impact on the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, galvanizing the middle and working classes.
What do you say to critics of this movement?
"They're not listening. They don't get it. They don't understand that all we want is a fair opportunity to work, all we want is a fair tax structure that doesn't favor the wealthy."


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Noosa Day Spa
No Noosa holiday is complete without spending some time in a Noosa Day Spa at Youngs 82 Noosa day spa on the beautiful Sunshine Coast.
Noosa Day Spa. Enjoy a range of Noosa day spa treatments including face treatments, massage, body treatments, hands, feet and hair treatments all set overlooking the beautiful and peaceful Australian bush at the picturesque location in Doonan - just a short drive from Noosa - in the Noosa hinterland.


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ADEPT Driver Observes National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and CA Teen Safe Driving Week
ELK GROVE, Calif., April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ADEPT Driver, a California company that develops proven crash reduction programs, called on all drivers to observe National Distracted Driving Awareness Month by putting away phones, food, iPods and other diversions that can distract from safe driving.
"While it may be tempting to reach for your smartphone, eat, or do other activities while driving, multitasking while behind the wheel is not safe," said Dr. Richard Harkness, a traffic safety expert and CEO of ADEPT Driver. "No phone call, text, snack, or song is more important than your life and safety, and the lives of your passengers and others. National Distracted Driving Awareness Month is an excellent reminder to all of us to put away things that could distract us before we get behind the wheel. Parents need to model this safe behavior for children watching from the back seat and for teens that are just getting used to driving."
The month of April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the first week of April is Teen Safe Driving Week in California. The need for increased safety awareness is great.
The Governors Highway Safety Association recently released a report that indicates deaths of 16- and 17-year-old drivers were up 19 percent between the first six months of 2011 and the first six months of 2012. Distracted driving is one of the prime suspects for the increase in teen driver fatalities.
The number of teens talking on a cell phone, texting, emailing or engaged in social media while driving has skyrocketed in the last few years. According to a recent study, 54 percent of teens admit to illegally talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving, and 30 percent admit to reading a text or email every time they get behind the wheel. Research has shown that texting while driving elevates the crash risk by as much as 23 times, and can be five times more risky than drunk driving.
In 2011 over 390,000 people were killed or injured by distracted driving.
"These sad statistics are a reminder that we need this double dose of driver safety awareness," Dr. Harkness continued. "teenSMART and Lifelong Driver help teach teen drivers and mature drivers how to improve their driving skills and avoid crashes. There are many other excellent resources, including the National Safety Council."
Contact: Hilary McLean
Phone: 916-441-2917
Email: email@example.com
SOURCE ADEPT Driver


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Game Character Hub is the brand new name of Fusion Maker. It used to be RPG Maker Tools, but it has been renamed to a more explicit name: Game Character Hub.
If you don't know Fusion Maker, RPG Maker Tools, or Game Character Hub, you may read this, and their main features there. For your convenience here is a short description:
Game Character Hub is the next version of a program I designed. It is still under development. The latest release is called Fusion Maker.
Game Character Hub is a helper program for 2D game design. There is a series of 2D game design software: RPG Maker, which is made to design a particular kind of games: RPGs. Game Character Hub is mainly for two issues of that series: RPG Maker XP and RPG Maker VX, but not only.
Game Character Hub provides additional tools for RPG Maker or game design in general. In RPG Maker, you need to have graphics resources in order to design the game. Game Character Hub helps you to create those resources, missing in RPG Maker. Those resources can be designed for RPG Maker or any other program like.
I am proud to announce that the Beta version of Game Character Hub has been released! You may download it for free here.
This new version is mainly an entirely revamped version of the last one. Huge performance improvements have been made: the program no longer slows down as you zoom, or use some specific functions.
Several features have been added to make it more powerful, and the user interface has been overhauled so it is easier to use. Lots of tiny details have changed, to make your work easier and more efficient and the program more convenient.
Here is a list of the new features of this release:
All those features are already implemented in the beta version. However some features (e.g. drawing functions) are still left to implement for the final version.
The beta version is provided for free. However you can only use it until the final version is released. An internet connection is required to run the beta version (only to launch the program, no need for a permanent connection), as it will be for the final version.
The final version won't be provided for free, but at a very low price (< $10).
In a few months the final version will be released. After that another version will be under development. It will include – as a main feature – a collaborative online item library so everyone can create and share items (like hat, clothes).
Date: 2012-09-22 | Time: 14:00:00 | Posted by: Sébastien Bini | Related: Game Character Hub, Project advancement | Comments (2)
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ShinGamix 2013-04-07 01:16:36
I hope you still a free version available after 2.0 is released! maybe a "Lite" version aka the beta!
1 0
Maroshyu 2014-11-24 01:19:18
How do I buy the program with you? and must be connected to the internet to use the program? Because I bought the RPG Maker VX Ace and use on my notebook and I'm without internet it ...... so I ask if I need connection to use your programs ... grateful for the attention ...
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When you look at your November California ballot this year you will see 11 propositions for your consideration, including two (prop. 30 and 38) to fund shortfalls in education, a repeal of the death penalty (prop. 34), a reform of the Three-strikes law (prop. 36), and a measure that would require labeling of genetically engineered foods (prop. 37). On Monday, September 24 at 7 p.m., the League of Women Voters of Humboldt County (LWVHC) has scheduled a live presentation, "The Pros and Cons of the Ballot Propositions," to be held at the Fortuna City Council Chambers, located at 621 - 11th Street in Fortuna. The community is invited to attend this free event. For more information on this event, contact the LWVHC at 444-9252 or visit on-line at: lwvhc.org. The "Pros and Cons" Booklet can be downloaded from the "Additional Resources" below.
The list below is from the California Secretary of State website and contains a .pdf file with the Summary Analysis for each of the propositions. Below that list are listings of additional resources to help you become informed about these ballot measures. This resource page is a work in progress so check back occasionally for new information. Click here for a Resource Page on the CANDIDATES.
Click on the linked text to see or download a pdf file with the Summary Analysis for each of the propositions:
- Proposition 30 - Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
- Proposition 31 - State Budget. State and Local Government. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
- Proposition 32 - Political Contributions by Payroll Deduction. Contributions to Candidates. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 33 - Auto Insurance Companies. Prices Based on Driver's History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 34 - Death Penalty. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 35 - Human Trafficking. Penalties. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 36 - Three Strikes Law. Repeat Felony Offenders. Penalties. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 37 - Genetically Engineered Foods. Labeling. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 38 - Tax to Fund Education and Early Childhood Programs. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 39 - Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses. Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Funding. Initiative Statute.
- Proposition 40 - State RedistrictingSenate Districts. Referendum.
Additional resources:
California Secretary of State website
California on Ballotpedia
"Pros and Cons" booklet prepared by the League of Women Voters
Video of Voter Education Forum on Propositions 30 and 38
According to a story that aired on KMUD Local News for Thurs., Sept. 13:
"Cinnamon O'Neill Paula is a motivated parent, she has 4 boys, one at South Fork High School and 3 attending Leggett. She's worked hard to raise money for the schools through PTA and organized to save school bus funding, now she's hoping more parents will get involved to save what's left of rural school funding."
Use the player below to hear Terri Klemetson's (KMUD News Cordinator) interview with Cinnamon O'Neill Paula.
Click here to view Propostion 30
Click here to view Proposition 38
Related links:
The old cliché, "When life gives you lemons...make lemonade!" was brought to life last Friday at the Garberville Farmers' Market when students from Redway Elementary School set up a lemonade stand at the Farmers' Market in Garberville to raise money for their school.
The last three years of California education budget cuts have hit schools hard. Governor Brown has proposed another series of "trigger cuts" if the Tax Initiative, California Proposition 30, doesn't get the votes required to pass this November. Locally, there have been efforts by parents and community members to raise money for school programs and recently students from Redway Elementary School have gotten involved.
News Coordinator, Terri Klemetson, aired this news piece on the August 10, 2012 edition of the KMUD local news. Use the player below to hear the story.
Use the links below to get more Information about the November Tax Initiative:


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Artist description:
heres Roro and Jelly x3 i just adore Roro when he sleeps with his tongue out! :3
Flash Draw Created Sep 25, 2010 640 x 460px Unless noted Copyright 2010 epq.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
awwww so sweet :P love it!! 5h
too cool and cute for words 5HCC:)
I love this drawing! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::♥♥♥♥♥:::::::::::::::::::::
ok welll when i saw the thumb nail im like no fair no photo graphs an then its all like yha and you did a very very good job
This...this...this...is SO CUTE!!!!! AWWWWW!!!! I have to put this in my fav's folder and 5♥s of course!!!!
This is soooooo cute!! :) I love how you did the fabric for Jelly. :)
great drawing.5/5
Roro is indeed cute when he sleeps^^ and his tongue too hehe and i love the new family member :) 5h+fav
Beautiful cat , great drawing very realistic...5/5


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Myanmar: Cross-line aid mission reaches isolated communities in Kachin
TitleMyanmar: Cross-line aid mission reaches isolated communities in Kachin
It is early morning in Myitkyina—a town in the far north of Myanmar's Kachin state. The first light of dawn is breaking as final preparations are made for the cross-line mission into the areas beyond Government control in Kachin.
Eleven trucks loaded with pulses, cooking oil, salt, nutrition supplements and cooking stoves sit idling as aid workers from five UN agencies and two NGOs prepare for the 100-kilometre journey north to the town of Laiza, near the border with China.
The route between Myitkyina and Laiza is eerily quiet as traffic fades. The modest houses, schools and stores on both sides of the road stand empty. Approximately 100,000 people were displaced by the conflict that broke out between the Government of Myanmar and the Kachin Independence Army in June 2011.
More than 50,000 of those people are living in the areas beyond Government control, where access for international organizations is gradually opening up, but remains limited.
Protracted displacement affects displaced and host families
Peace negotiations between the parties are ongoing. But the situation for families displaced in the areas beyond Government control is becoming increasingly difficult. Many have now been away from their homes for almost three years, with no idea of when they can return and begin rebuilding their lives.
Sporadic fighting continues to force communities from their villages. In November 2013, more than 4,000 people were forced to flee following renewed violence in Kachin.
The protracted situation is also straining the resources of host communities and local aid groups. The support of international groups is vital.
"Fuel-efficient cooking stoves are part of our social-cohesion programme," says Stean Tshiband, the Early Recovery Coordinator for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Kachin state.
"Competition for scarce resources like firewood, that people rely on for cooking, could be a source of tension between those displaced and the local community. By minimizing the amount of wood needed for cooking, the stoves help to reduce the likelihood of tensions arising between communities."
Other issues, including the risk of mines in some areas, also limit the availability of firewood.
Local NGOs meet displaced people's needs
These missions help to lighten the load that has been placed on local NGOs. The UN and its partners are keen to highlight the major role of local partners, many of which have provided development and humanitarian support in Kachin for years.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) joined the mission in order to assess its Kachin shelter-and-protection programmes. These projects are being implemented in partnership with the local NGO Karuna Myanmar Social Services and the Kachin Women's Association in displacement camps in and around Laiza.
"Local NGOs have a permanent presence in Laiza and are therefore able to provide ongoing assistance," explains Chiara Carli, DRC's Programme Manager in Kachin. "Housing for IDPs [internally displaced persons] is a key concern. [The] displacement has become more protracted, and the housing that was built over two years ago is in need of repair and maintenance ahead of the monsoon season in May."
"The cross-line missions are an important opportunity for us, as international staff, to meet with local NGOs implementing projects in the field, and to assess needs in shelter and other areas," she adds.
Cramped and crumbling living conditions
Many IDP shelters are overcrowded, with extended families living together in cramped and difficult conditions.
"The living conditions are difficult," says one woman in the Woi Chai camp, in Laiza. Here, some of the displaced families are living in small, basic shelter units, constructed of plywood in a former garage building.
"There is little space and the ceilings are low, so it gets very hot," she explains. Her family of seven has lived in this small unit for more than two years.
Between 20,000 to 25,000 people in the areas beyond Government control live in sub-standard shelters, have no shelter or live in cramped units, such as the women in Woi Chai, according to the Shelter Cluster. An estimated 2,500 shelters need to be repaired or upgraded in 2014 after almost three years' use.
Sustained access to all of Kachin is needed
Since September 2013, international humanitarian organizations in Myanmar have had more regular access to the areas beyond Government control. These cross-line missions have allowed international aid workers to deliver assistance to tens of thousands of people, and to better support local response efforts.
"It is a very welcome development that the Government is authorizing increasingly regular cross-line access to these areas," says Mark Cutts, OCHA's Head of Office in Myanmar. "Tens of thousands of displaced people in these areas require humanitarian aid."
"We are continuing to consult closely with the Government on ways of expanding this access further, as many activities require more sustained support to ensure vulnerable people get the quality of care, services and assistance they need."
As the latest cross-line mission leaves Laiza for the return trip to Myitkyina, it is clear that more needs to be done to assist vulnerable conflict-affected people throughout Kachin.


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Embree's deal; Braves sign Norton, Nats add Patterson, Sosa
Alan Embree was signed to bolster the Rockies' bullpen, not save it.
However, his one-year, $2.25-million contract provides protection if he becomes Colorado's closer, a role that currently features Huston Street and Manuel Corpas as top contenders. According to contract details obtained Tuesday by The Denver Post, Embree can earn an additional $800,000 for games finished, beginning at 40 and stopping at 55.
Embree's deal contains a $3-million club option for 2010, with a $250,000 buyout. Per the language of his deal, Embree can void the option and receive the buyout if he chooses. Also, the Rockies have agreed not to offer Embree salary arbitration at the end of either season if he earns Type A free agent status.
While the Rockies have added left-handers Embree and Glendon Rusch, they are still seeking bullpen depth. They have continued talks for hard-throwing right-hander Derrick Turnbow and remain strongly in the mix for free-agent starter Tim Redding. Left-handed reliever Will Ohman, originally on the Rockies' radar, is being pursued to varying degrees by the Rays, Mets, Indians, Orioles and Braves.
With baseball's offices preparing to shut down for a week for the holidays, more players are finding homes. Former Rockie Greg Norton signed a one-year, $800,000-deal to stay with the Braves, Houston added starter Clay Hensley on a $550,000-minor-league deal, the Nationals signed center fielder Corey Patterson ($800,000) and pitcher Jorge Sosa ($850,000) to minor-league contracts and the defending champion Phillies agreed with right-hander Gary Majewski on a $650,000 minor-league contract.
Rockies winter development camp set
Continuing a tradition that has accelerated the careers of everyone from Garrett Atkins to Ubaldo Jimenez, the Rockies will hold their annual winter development camp for many of their top prospects Jan. 6 through Jan. 23 at Coors Field.
Topping the list are left-hander Franklin Morales, whose strong finish and fastball command in the Venezuelan winter league encouraged team officials, and newly acquired outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Other members of the club's 40-man roster attending include: pitchers Samuel Deduno, Shane Lindsay, Ryan Mattheus and Esmil Rogers and infielders Hector Gomez, Chris Nelson and Eric Young Jr.
The last two No. 1 picks, Christian Friedrich and Casey Weathers, who is recovering from elbow surgery, will attend along with Jhoulys Chacin, arguably the team's top pitching prospect.
Rockies minor league staff complete
As provided by the club today, below is a complete list of the staff. For those who have changed positions in the organization, the title he held last year is beside his name in parentheses.
Field Coordinator – Ron Gideon
Pitching Coordinator – Bo McLaughlin (Pitching Coach, Tulsa)
Hitting Coordinator – Jimmy Johnson
Catching Coordinator – Marv Foley
Infield Coordinator – Scott Fletcher
Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator – Trenidad Hubbard
Special Assistant, Baseball Operations – Rick Mathews (Bullpen Coach, Colorado Rockies)
Senior Advisor, Player Development – Bobby Knoop (Professional Scout, Colorado Rockies)
Strength and Condition Coordinator – Gabe Bauer
Video Coordinator – Jimmy Hartley
Mental Skills Coach – Ronn Svetich
Rehabilitation Coordinator – Scott Murayama
Cultural Development Coordinator – Daniel Pace
Equipment Manager – Jerry Bass
Tom Runnells – Manager Stu Cole – Manager
Chuck Kniffin – Pitching Coach Bryan Harvey – Pitching Coach
Rene Lachemann – Coach Dave Hajek – Coach
Heath Townsend – Trainer Austin O'Shea – Trainer
Jerry Weinstein – Manager Joe Mikulik – Manager
Doug Linton – Pitching Coach (Pitching Coach, Asheville) Dave Schuler – Pitching Coach (Pitching Coach, Tri-City)
Duane Espy – Coach Houston Jimenez – Coach
Chris Dovey – Trainer (Trainer, Asheville) Billy Whitehead – Trainer (Trainer, Casper)
Fred Ocasio – Manager Tony Diaz – Manager
Darryl Scott – Pitching Coach Craig Bjornson – Pitching Coach
Anthony Sanders – Coach Kevin Riggs – Coach
Andy Stover – Trainer Josh Guterman – Trainer


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Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday took issue with a former high-ranking Chinese official who said that recognition of the so-called "1992 consensus" would eventually lead to unification between Taiwan and China.
In an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix television last month, former deputy chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Tang Shubei (唐樹備) said it would be inconsistent with the principle of the "1992 consensus" if the two sides were to remain separated indefinitely.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) believed the so-called "1992 consensus" was reached during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives, under which both sides claim to have acknowledged that there is "one China," with each side having its own interpretation of what "one China" means.
The Democratic Progressive Party insists the "1992 consensus" does not exist.
Tang said in the interview that the core spirit of the "1992 consensus" was "one China," and that its goal is that both sides join efforts to pursue unification.
At the legislature's question-and-answer session yesterday, the premier said he disagreed with Tang because the "1992 consensus" referred to an understanding that each side of the Strait has its own interpretation of what "one China" means.
The understanding, which was reached by both sides, does not contain anything related to unification and does not set a timeline for unification, Jiang said in answer to Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Huang Wen-ling's (黃文玲) question on his views about Tang's statement.
"Sometimes they [the Chinese side] overinterpret the meaning of the '1992 consensus,'" Jiang said.
Jiang added that the overarching principle guiding the KMT government's cross-strait policies is to maintain the cross-strait "status quo."
In related news, China's new Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) director, Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), yesterday said it was not necessary to set conditions for him to visit Taiwan.
Zhang was responding to recent remarks by Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), who said that Zhang was welcome to visit Taiwan "at an appropriate time, in a suitable capacity and when all related conditions are right."
Wang added that he would not meet Zhang unless Zhang agrees to address him by his official title, instead of simply "Mr Wang."
Zhang, who was attending a seminar in China's Fujian Province, said that any related problems, such as in what capacity and format the visits should be made, can be resolved with sincerity.
However, throughout his talk, he did not refer to Wang by his title, but only referred to him as "those responsible for such affairs in Taiwan."
Zhang added that his predecessor, Wang Yi (王毅), had never had the chance to visit Taiwan in the five years he was office.
"I hope not to harbor such regrets in my term," Zhang said.
Zhang added that the TAO would continue to remove any obstacles that stand in the way of cross-strait relations and seek to promote understanding on both sides.
The office would also "seek to purge the rancor left by the pro-Taiwan independence consciousness and increase recognition of [Chinese] ethnicity (民族認同感)," he said.
Zhang said that by moving forward step by step and not setting restrictions, both sides can slowly come to a consensus on what to do, adding that starting dialogue through civil organizations is a viable method.


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May 12 has been a pretty important day for left-hander Mike Belfiore.
Last year, on May 12, Belfiore was traded to the Orioles as the player to be named later in the deal that sent infielder Josh Bell to Arizona. And on Sunday, he was called up from Triple-A Norfolk to provide bullpen insurance after consecutive four-inning outings by Orioles starters.
So Belfiore stepped into a big league clubhouse for his potential debut one year to the day of joining the organization.
"It's pretty crazy because last year at this time I got traded the exact same day," said the 24-year-old Belfiore. "So it's just one of those weird days, I guess you can say. Life-changing days."
Belfiore, who was 1-0 with a 5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings for the Tides, learned late Saturday night that he would be getting his first call to the big leagues. He's not sure how long he'll stay, but his parents, girlfriend and some friends made the trip to Minnesota just in case.
"It's unbelievable. This is the dream that everyone wants to do when they are younger and it's finally here," said Belfiore, who did not pitch Sunday. "It hasn't set in yet, but just a dream come true."
Injury updates
Miguel Gonzalez right thumb) did not throw a side session Sunday because the blister on his thumb has not fully healed. He likely will do that Tuesday instead. He still could make a rehab start Thursday or Friday. … Tsuyoshi Wada's first rehab start has not been set, but if it is Thursday, it would be at Norfolk because that is prospect Kevin Gausman's regular turn at Double-A Bowie. Wada is recovering from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow last May. … Infielder Wilson Betemit (right knee) is still not doing baseball activities. He is limited to exercises in the pool. He obviously will not be activated when eligible May 30. … Catcher Taylor Teagarden (dislocated left thumb) will see hand specialist Dr. Brian Schofield for a follow-up Thursday in Sarasota.
Around the horn
Wednesday's starter for the Orioles will be either Jason Hammel or Freddy Garcia, Showalter said. The off day Monday would allow Hammel to stay on regular rest. … RHP Zach Clark did not fare well in his first game as a knuckleballer at Double-A Bowie. He allowed six runs (five earned) on four hits, six walks and a hit batter. He threw 105 pitches (50 strikes) in just 3 1/3 innings. … Minor league first baseman Christian Walker, who was the organization's player of the month in April, has been promoted from Low-A Delmarva to High-A Frederick. … INF Nick Delmonico has been reinstated from the disabled list at Frederick.


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Giants beat Rockies 5-2, end 6-game losing streak
DENVER — Madison Bumgarner scattered four hits over seven innings, Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer and the San Francisco Giants ended their longest losing streak in three years with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
San Francisco had lost six straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row from June 26-July 1, 2010. The World Series champions had dropped seven straight road games.
Bumgarner (8-5) struck out five and walked three, improving to 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last five starts. Sergio Romo pitched a one-hit ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.
Buster Posey put the Giants ahead with a solo homer in the third.
Colorado's Michael Cuddyer singled in the eighth off Sandy Rosario, extending his hitting streak to 27 games. The streak is the longest in Rockies history and in the majors this season. He has reached base safely in a franchise-record 45 straight games.
Drew Pomeranz (0-1), making his 2013 big league debut after being recalled from Triple A Colorado Springs, allowed four runs, seven hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings.
San Francisco extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth on a run-scoring throwing error by first baseman Jordan Pacheco on Posey's grounder and Pence's 13th homer.
Carlos Gonzalez hit his 22nd homer of the season in the sixth.
NOTES: The Giants avoided what would have been their fifth series sweep. … San Francisco RHP Chad Gaudin (bruised right elbow) threw a bullpen session Saturday, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he will be ready to be activated from the DL when he is eligible on July 6. … 3B Nolan Arenado was limping after being hit in the left ankle by Bumgarner in the sixth but remained in the game. … Dexter Fowler missed his fifth straight game with a sore right hand. Colorado manager Walt Weiss said Fowler showed improvement and could be ready Tuesday.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
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Career employees represented by largest postal union will receive 1 percent pay raise, effective Nov. 17.
Some postal workers will receive a pay raise in a few weeks.
Career employees represented by the American Postal Workers Union will receive a 1 percent pay increase, effective Nov. 17, and reflected in their Dec. 7 paychecks, according to the union. Those workers also will get two cost-of-living adjustments in March 2013. The pay boosts are a result of a collective bargaining agreement for 2010 through 2015 between APWU and the U.S. Postal Service.
It is the first pay raise in three years for the workers.
Postal support employees, who are not eligible for COLAs, will receive an across-the-board increase of 2 percent.
APWU career employees in March will receive a COLA for 2012 and 2013; the 2012 COLA was deferred until 2013 under the agreement between the union and the Postal Service because of the agency's "dire financial straits," APWU spokeswoman Sally Davidow said. The 2012 COLA based on January 2012's Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers will result in an extra $62 per year for APWU career employees. The 2013 COLA reflected in March paychecks will be based on the January 2013 CPI-W figure.
Click here to see the new pay scales, effective Nov. 17.
"It is a very modest raise and certainly one that is well-earned," Davidow said. APWU is the world's largest postal union and represents more than 220,000 USPS employees and retirees and nearly 2,000 private sector mail workers.
The Postal Service's financial obligations stemming from a 2006 law and the popularity of electronic communication have nearly bankrupted the agency. In late September, USPS hit its borrowing limit of $15 billion after defaulting on congressionally mandated payments to prefund retirees' health benefits. The agency's inability to make those payments has not affected mail service or employee pay, but the overall financial situation at USPS is grim. The Senate has passed a postal service reform bill, but the House version -- which is very different from the Senate bill -- has stalled in that chamber.
The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which included the retiree health benefits prefunding requirement, also prohibited the agency from raising postage rates above the rate of the inflation. "As we noted when the law passed, the restriction on increases in postage rates acts as a cap on wages, so our modest raises are an important achievement," APWU President Cliff Guffey said.
Davidow said the country depends on the jobs these postal workers do and USPS employees perform a valuable public service. The Postal Service won praise from many people for its commitment to delivering mail during this week's megastorm on the East Coast, which so far has killed nearly 100 people in the United States, destroyed countless homes and businesses, and dealt a severe blow to transportation systems up and down the Atlantic seaboard.


text:
Continuing Education
Distance Learning University for Adults & Professionals.
Continuing Education Online via distance learning.
Bircham International University
Course Online - Continuing Education.
Bircham International University offers a great variety of distance learning continuing education courses in an attempt to provide practical companies' training and online continuing education in various specialization.
COURSE FEES & MATERIALS: 500 Euros (700 US$)
Bircham International University is a higher education alternative for adults from all countries and cultures who choose not to attend a formal campus based university. The special character of BIU is reflected in its diversity of programs, its effective pedagogical distance learning degree programs and its international presence.
In today's world, companies often require employees not only to have acquired professional experience but also a university education. BIU offers you the opportunity of boosting your professional career with our many distance learning degree programs.
A distance learning university makes studying & working easy and compatible.
More info...
Enrolling at Bircham International University is an important decision.
Consider the advantages of a distance learning university and how we can effectively help you to achieve your personal and professional goals.
A university education is a lifetime asset. More info...
Continuing Education Online via distance learning
It does not matter if you are seeking online continuing education courses for self-enrichment and recreation, career advancement, or company training. In either case, Bircham International University online continuing education via distance learning offers a great variety of continuing education courses in all types of subjects ranging from management, business, communications, humanities, arts, psychology, natural health, therapies, computers, sciences, technology, engineering, among others.
Bircham International University online continuing education also applies a friendly and effective distance learning education pedagogical methodology that will allow you to study at your own pace, free of exams pressure, and earn the corresponding continuing education course credits and certificate.
Many companies and people are finding out, especially today, that the only way to gain professional efficacy and back up specialized skills is by having a competitive high education degree(s). Bircham International University online continuing education courses have proven to be ideal for company training and/or to fulfill certain requirements at work. The target population is formed by those individuals who are bound by demanding obligations and/or have little time and money to spare on continuing education.
Online continuing education via distance learning demonstrates an unquestionable level of willpower, responsibility, motivation, and capacity for self-improvement. These skills are highly appreciated at the workplace.
Bircham International University distance learning continuing education does not imply painful memorization techniques. Instead, it teaches students how to think critically, increasing thus their intellectual capacity. Online continuing education courses lead the student to a private and personal learning experience, where the assessed quality is the student's thinking process and not data memorization. Bircham International University innovative methodology makes home studying achievable, time-effective, and highly productive. Bircham International University online distance learning continuing education emphasizes quality and not quantity. It draws its concept from real-life experiences and content-specific material, avoiding superfluous details. Thus, students efficiently achieve full command and real-life skills in different areas as well as practical application of the acquired know-how.
The aim of an efficient continuing education online via distance learning should be to teach us HOW to think, rather than WHAT to think.
A degree earned in the past does not ensure the persistence of its knowledge in our memory. Online continuing education courses are the best way to keep our professional or vocational know-how updated and to prepare ourselves for any career or interests shifts. Learning does not come to the end the day you receive your diploma. It is a lifelong and enriching process, and online distance learning continuing education is undoubtedly the best tool to cope with it.
How do I study a Bircham University continuing education course?
The online continuing education course is offered completely by distance learning. You study from home. You do not need to attend any examination center. First, you need to select the course of your interest and then fill out and submit the application for enrollment, no charges involved. There are no admission fees for online continuing education courses via distance learning. Once you confirm your enrollment, Bircham University will provide you with the corresponding course textbook by post. The cost of the book is included in the course fee. You have to read this text and write a report according to the instructions provided. For more information about how to do the report or the Bircham University pedagogy; you should read the BIU study guide. This written report constitutes the course exam, so when you submit the written report after reading the assigned book, you will earn the online continuing education course credits and receive the corresponding course professional accredited certificate. If you do not get the minimum passing grade, you will be asked to repeat the report and you will receive the appropriate feedback to help you improve. Bircham University offers a tutoring and guidance system that is also explained in the study guide.
Online continuing education course certificate.
After successful completion of the online continuing education course via distance learning required report, you will get a Professional Certificate issued by Bircham University with 7 CEU's, Continuing Education Units, equivalent to 5 semester credits. You will also get an additional 9 ECTS Credits certificate issued by the Education Quality Accreditation Commission.
The European Union is taking the steps for the future recognition of non-formal and independent learning. The Education Quality Accrediting Commission is advancing this policy by providing formal recognition through ECTS Credits Certificates for non-formal independent learning and training like the one that may be acquired at Bircham International University. ECTS credits course certificates facilitate academic credit recognition.
There are over one thousand online continuing education courses via distance learning prepared at Bircham University, so if you do not find the subject you are looking for, do not hesitate to ask.
BIU OFFICES - Distance Learning University - Contact ...
If you have any further questions, please let us know. :)
Study via Distance Learning from anywhere in the world and at any time in the year.
More info...
Bircham International University distance learning degree programs merge the best of the two leading higher education systems of the world: Europe and the United States of America.
BIU Earned Credits
Bircham International University will grant credit for the academic work (reports, projects and thesis) approved according to the instructions provided in the study guide. BIU earned credits will show the number of credits granted per course and the corresponding grade. More info...
1 BIU Earned Credit = 1 USA Semester Credit (15 hours of learning) = 2 ECTS Credits (30 hours of study).
BIU earned credit composition is the following:
+ 40% - Reading & comprehension
+ 30% - Data organization & writing
+ 20% - Review & formatting. Examples, case studies, etc.
+ 10% - Conclusion & opinion. Critical thinking.
BIU Earned Credits
Bircham International University will grant credit for the academic work (reports, projects and thesis) approved according to the instructions provided in the study guide. BIU earned credits will show the number of credits granted per course and the corresponding grade. More info...
1 BIU Earned Credit = 1 USA Semester Credit (15 hours of learning) = 2 ECTS Credits (30 hours of study).
BIU earned credit composition is the following:
+ 40% - Reading & comprehension
+ 30% - Data organization & writing
+ 20% - Review & formatting. Examples, case studies, etc.
+ 10% - Conclusion & opinion. Critical thinking.
Company Training Online via distance learning
Bircham International University introduces a unique online company training via distance learning formula. We may prepare a program of study any time of the year, in any specialization, and from anywhere in the world. The company does not pay unless there is an effective learning. More info...
Continuing Education Online via distance learning


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To help visualize the filling-out process more concretely, why not check to see how mainstream hardware has progressed on this chart? The easiest place to start is the long-standing mainstream CPU and more recent GPU:
- From the 1970s to the 2000s, CPUs started with simple single cores and then moved downward as the pendulum swung to increasingly complex cores. They hugged the left side of the chart by staying single-core as long as possible, but in 2005 they ran out of room and turned toward multicore NUMA cache architectures; see Figure 8.
Figure 8.
- Meanwhile, in the late 2000s, mainstream GPUs started to be capable of handling computational workloads. But because they started life in an add-on discrete GPU card format where graphics-specific cores and memory were physically located away from the CPU and system RAM, they started further upward and to the right (Specialized / Disjoint (local)). GPUs have been moving leftward to increasingly unified views of memory, and slightly downward to try to support full mainstream languages (such as adding exception handling support).
- Today's typical mainstream computer includes both a CPU and a discrete or integrated GPU. The dotted line in the graphic denotes cores that are available to a single application because they are in the same device, but not on the same chip.
Now we are seeing a trend to use CPU and specialized (currently GPU) cores with very tightly coupled memory, and even on the same die:
- In 2005, the XBox 360 sported a multicore CPU and GPU that could not only directly access the same RAM, but had the very unusual feature that they could share even L2 cache.
Figure 9.
- In 2006 and 2007, the Cell-based PS3 console sported a single processor having both a single general-purpose core and eight special-purpose SPU cores. The solid line in Figure 9 denotes cores that are on the same chip, not just in the same device.
- In June 2011 and November 2011, respectively, AMD and NVIDIA launched the Fusion and Tegra 3 architectures, multicore CPU chips that sported a compute-class GPU (hence extending vertically) on the same die (hence well to the left).
- Intel has also shipped the Sandy Bridge line of processors, which includes an integrated GPU that is not yet as compute-capable but continues to grow. Intel's main focus has been the MIC effort of more than 50 simple, general-purpose x86-like cores on the same die, expected to be commercially available in the near future.
Finally, we complete the picture with cloud HaaS; Figure 10:
Figure 10.
- In 2008 and 2009, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and other vendors began rolling out their cloud compute offerings. AWS, Azure, and GAE support an elastic cloud of nodes each of which is a traditional computer ("big-core" and loosely coupled, therefore on the bottom right corner of the chart) where each node in the cloud has a single core or multiple CPU cores (the two lower-left boxes). As before, the dotted line denotes that all of the cores are available to a single application, and the network is just another bus to more compute cores.
- Since November 2010, AWS also supports compute instances that contain both CPU cores and GPU cores, indicated by the H-shaped virtual machine where the application runs on a cloud of loosely coupled nodes with disjoint memory (right column) each of which contains both CPU and GPU cores (currently not on the same die, so the vertical lines are still dotted).
The Jungle
Putting it all together, we get a noisy profusion of life and color as in Figure 11: This may look like a confused mess, so let's notice two things that help make sense of it.
Figure 11.
First, every box has a workload that it's best at, but some boxes (particularly some columns) are more popular than others. Two columns are particularly less interesting:
- Fully unified memory models are only applicable to single-core, which is being essentially abandoned in the mainstream.
- Incoherent/weak memory models are a performance experiment that is in the process of failing in the marketplace. On the hardware side, theoretical performance benefits that come from letting caches work less synchronously have already been largely duplicated in other ways by mainstream processors having stronger memory models. On the software side, all of the mainstream general-purpose languages and environments (C, C++, Java, .NET) have largely rejected weak memory models, and require a coherent model that is technically called "sequential consistency for data race free programs" [PDF] as either their only supported memory model (Java, .NET) or their default memory model (ISO C++11, ISO C11). Nobody is moving toward the middle vertical incoherent/weak memory strip of the chart; at best they're moving through it to get to the other side, but nobody wants to stay there.
But all other boxes, including all rows (processors), continue to be strongly represented, and we realize why that's true because different parts of even the same application naturally want to run on different kinds of cores.
Second, let's clarify the picture by highlighting and labeling the two regions that hardware is migrating toward in Figure 12:
Figure 12.
Here again we see the first and fourth columns being de-emphasized, as hardware trends have begun gradually coalescing around two major areas. Both areas extend vertically across all kinds of cores and the most important thing to note is that these represent two mines, where the area to the left is the Moore's Law mine.
- Mine #1: "Scale in" = Moore's Law. Local machines will continue to use large numbers of heterogeneous local cores, either in-box (such as CPU with discrete GPU) or on-die (Sandy Bridge, Fusion, Tegra 3). We'll see core counts increase until Moore's Law ends, and then stabilize core counts for individual local devices.
- Mine #2: "Scale out" = distributed cloud. Much more importantly, we will continue to see a cornucopia of cores delivered via compute clouds, either on-premises (e.g., cluster, private cloud) or in public clouds. This is a brand new mine directly enabled by the lower coupling of disjoint memory, especially loosely coupled distributed nodes.
The good news is that we can heave a sigh of relief at having found another mine to open. The even better news is that the new mine has a far faster growth rate than even Moore's Law. Notice the slopes of the lines when we graph the amount of parallelism available to a single application running on various architectures; see Figure 13. The bottom three lines are mining Moore's Law for "scale-in" growth, and their common slope reflects Moore's wonderful exponent, just shifted upward or downward to account for how many cores of a given size can be packed onto the same die. The top two lines are mining the cloud (with CPUs and GPUs, respectively) for "scale-out" growth and it's even better.
Figure 13.
If hardware designers merely use Moore's Law to deliver more big fat cores, on-device hardware parallelism will stay in double digits for the next decade, which is very roughly when Moore's Law is due to sputter, give or take about a half decade. If hardware follows Niagara's and MIC's lead to go back to simpler cores, we'll see a one-time jump and then stay in triple digits. If we all learn to leverage GPUs, we already have 1,500-way parallelism in modern graphics cards (I'll say "cores" for convenience, though that word means something a little different on GPUs) and likely reach five digits in the decade timeframe.
But all of that is eclipsed by the scalability of the cloud, whose growth line is already steeper than Moore's Law because we're better at quickly deploying and using cost-effective networked machines than we've been at quickly jam-packing and harnessing cost-effective transistors. It's hard to get data on the current largest cloud deployments because many projects are private, but the largest documented public cloud apps (which don't use GPUs) are already harnessing over 30,000 cores for a single computation. I wouldn't be surprised if some projects are exceeding 100,000 cores today. And that's general-purpose cores; if you add GPU-capable nodes to the mix, add two more zeroes.
Such massive parallelism, already available for rates of under $1,300/hour for a 30,000-core cloud, is game-changing. If you doubt that, here is a boring example that doesn't involve advanced augmented reality or spook-level technomancery: How long will it take someone who's stolen a strong password file (which we'll assume is correctly hashed and salted and contains no dictionary passwords) to retrieve 90% of the passwords by brute force using a publicly available GPU-enabled compute cloud? Hint: An AWS dual-Tegra node can test on the order of 20 billion passwords per second, and clouds of 30,000 nodes are publicly documented (of course, Amazon won't say if it has that many GPU-enabled nodes for hire; but if it doesn't now, it will soon). To borrow a tired misquote, 640 trillion affordable attempts per second should be enough for anyone. But if that's not enough for you, not to worry; just wait a small number of years and it'll be 640 quadrillion affordable attempts per second.


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Copyright Lobby: The Public Has 'No Place In Policy Discussions'
from the don't-list-to-them,-they're-just-the-public dept"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." That is the purpose of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution, which is sometimes referred to as the "copyright clause" (or "the patent clause"), which enables both areas of law to be created via Congress. It's also the part that is most often ignored. As we've discussed, the whole purpose of this clause is to make it clear that the public are the sole stakeholders when it comes to proper policy making decisions regarding these laws. However, with this new push for comprehensive copyright reform, it appears that the copyright lobby is already working on ways to make sure that the public is marginalized in the discussion.
We've got two recent examples from the "Copyright Alliance," a DC-based lobbying shop put together by copyright maximalists (with the help of super right wing interests who normally don't link up with Hollywood on much), who are seeking to spin the debate in their favor with a lot of bluster and propaganda, often trying to demonize and/or marginalize the public's role in this debate. First up is an op-ed piece, in which the Copyright Alliance argues first that any new copyright reform must focus on maximalist principles, whether or not they make any sense. And then it digs in against the public, arguing that their voice shouldn't count for much because, apparently, they're so easily manipulated.
Those skeptical of copyright protection have expended a lot of energy to redefine its language and revise its history. Calls for lessening copyright protections are far too often accompanied by heated rhetoric. Appealing to emotions may be a great way to drum up signatures for online petitions, but has no place in policy discussions. Finally, it is not hard to find examples of those who propose dramatic changes without understanding the business realities of how creative individuals and industries operate.Let's unpack that a bit. Each sentence is ridiculous in its own special way. If we are to look at the history of the copyright debate, one side and one side alone, has focused on "redefining its language and revising its history" and that would be the maximalists. In fact, there's an entire book that details exactly how the copyright maximalists have continually changed the language of copyright and revised its history. Copyright turned from a very narrowly focused concept, which was designed to encourage the spread of learning and knowledge, to something entirely different. A "limited monopoly" (as the framers called it) was turned into boundlessly vague "intellectual property." The act of "infringement" was turned into "theft and stealing." People who incidentally infringed on copyrights were describes as "pirates." The law was expanded and expanded because of moral panic after moral panic.
As for "heated rhetoric," we've been told over and over again that if we don't expand protections and kill of technologies, "the creative industries will die," despite no evidence to support that. Technologies which have helped to expand the industry, to create new ways to create, to promote, to distribute and to monetize were seen as the enemy because the powers-that-be did not control them. This is why the VCR was called "the Boston strangler of the movie industry" by the MPAA's Jack Valenti. I'm sorry, but the idea that those of us skeptical of today's copyright laws are the ones redefining the language or history is simply a laughably false claim.
But the really disturbing part is the next line. The claim that the public speaking out, such as via petitions or through various actions in which they contact politicians, should be ignored because it has "no place in policy discussions" is really just downright insulting. We know that, in the wake of SOPA, the copyright lobby has spent plenty of effort pretending that the public really didn't speak out, or that, if they did, it was only because they were stupid and deluded. But that should be seen for what it rightfully is: an insulting way of dismissing the public's interest in a law that is for the public's benefit.
The copyright lobby is scared to death that the public might actually speak up on its own behalf, because that would ruin the scam it's been running for quite some time.
In another piece by the same Copyright Alliance group, in response to the good ruling in the Kirtsaeng case, the alliance lashes out at public interest groups Public Knowledge and others for supposedly deluding the public:
Supporters of Kirtsaeng, including companies like eBay and groups such as Public Knowledge, have played an aggressive role in warping the public's understanding of the anti-arbitrage provisions of the Copyright Act and the benefits of market differentiation. Behind the veil of the Owners Rights Initiative, they perpetuated a series of falsehoods; these sweeping generalizations mischaracterize the impact of Kirtsaeng, generally attempting to recast a case limited in scope as an issue that will concern all individual resellers of goods.The entire article is full of "redefinition" and "revising of history" -- to the ridiculous point of suggesting that the US hasn't recognized first sale rights on foreign goods for decades (a laughably false claim). But in the paragraph quoted here, you see its true contempt for the public. Apparently the public is simply too stupid to understand copyright law and is easily led astray by groups like Public Knowledge.
Taken together, you see both the fear and outright contempt that the copyright lobby has for the public. To them, the public are interfering with "the industry's rights" and are apparently stupid, gross and easily led astray and into mob behavior. I'm guessing that some of this is just PTSD following the lobbyists getting their clocks cleaned in the SOPA fight -- through cognitive dissonance, they've determined the only plausible explanation is that the public was duped.
But some of us believe that copyright law is supposed to be used in the public interest, and if that's the case, we should recognize that the public is the stakeholder who matters. To claim they should "have no place in policy discussions" isn't just wrong, but it's insulting. We should be welcoming the public into these discussions as much as possible -- not just because they are the key stakeholders here, but (more importantly) because if the Copyright Alliance actually wants a law the public respects, it might want to try including them in the process this time around. That its kneejerk reaction is to insult, demean and exclude the public gives a pretty clear indication where they would like this debate to go.


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Fresh-smoked New Year's Ham! Yum! I smoke a lot, have about every thermometer available, but for tonight's dinner, I'm trying something different: iGrill, the iOS-enabled meat thermometer. So far it's tons better than sitting in my yard staring at the smoker. Updated
So, I can't really tell you much about the experience yet—because my pork's only been in for an hour or so—but so far, so good. Mostly. Had some problems Bluetooth-pairing the thing with my iPhone, so I switched to my iPad, and that worked fine. It was actually a better choice, because iGrill's iPad app is much more fun than the iPhone version: more screen real-estate means a delicious BBQ dashboard you can burn hours playing with.
On the main screen, there's a kitchen timer (I'm using it to remind me to add charcoal and wood chips every 45 minutes), a real-time thermometer that tracks both of the iGrill's probes simultaneously, a temperature histogram that shows the progression of your meat-heat, and customizable alarms for each probe. The iGrill only comes with one probe, but I was able to plug in the one that came with my Polder thermometer with no problems. I'm using one to track the smoker's internal temperature, and one to measure the meat's doneness. I'm aiming for around 155-160—a perfect medium-well ham. Zooomigod I am so freaking hungry.
Then, if you flip the little stainless-steel drawer-handle-looking thinger down, the app offers tips about cooking and food safety, recipes, even a Web browser so you can cruise the forums at BBQ Bretheren. But don't do that too much—the Bretheren are loyal, but they have differing opinions and can cause you to freak out and over-think your process. Or so I hear. Never happened to me, I swear.
All in all, I'm having fun. I'll update this post as the day—and my pork—progresses. Here's to hoping that all my technological fiddling doesn't distract me from the task at hand: smoking a 16-lb pork leg. [opens beer]
200-foot range my ass. (That's what they advertise.) I got about 50 feet into my apartment, and the pairing broke. To be fair, though, I have thick plaster walls and about 95 Russian supermodels all sitting around dirtying the air with their incessant tweeting. (Hashtag is #ZOMG_hanging_w_JoeBrown.) On the bright side, when I came back into range, the iPad instantly picked the probe back up.
Commenter abigfoot chimed in with a very big piece of news: the iGrill has been recalled! You would think they iGrill people would, like, mention something about that in their iPad app. Oh well, soldiering on—nothing's changing the fact that my pork is going to bathe in smoke for about 10 hours. Let's see if we can figure out what the problem is.
OK, I think I figured out why the iGrill was recalled: It doesn't f-ing work. While it showed the smoker's internal temperature as 145, my trusty instant-read probe registered 250. That's a big difference! The discrepancies were less pronounced in lower range: while iGrill read 66-degrees, my instant-read showed 78. I'll keep tracking this as the day progresses. Hey abigfoot: Thanks for pointing that out to me. In a perfect world, I would buy you a beer; in this virtual one, you'll have to settle for the getting promoted to star commenter.
Turns out that the iGrill recall only applies to the units sold in Apple Stores—I guess my test unit must be part of that batch. I really hope they get this problem ironed out, because this has the potential to be a very cool product.
iGrill says 78 degrees, instant-read says 80. That's an acceptable margin of error to me. iGrill must be Bluetooth-reading this post and stepping up its game out of embarrassment. I'm eating cheese and drinking a sickeningly sweet Riesling that my roommates left in the fridge because its open and I'm a lush.
iGrill and I are friends again. It says 116 degrees, and my probe says 115. One degree of variation in a 16-pound piece of meat that's still cooking is perfectly acceptable to me. I was a little mystified by the apparent inaccuracy of probe #2, the one I was using to measure the smoker's temp, but then I got this email from a reader named Craig:
While the connectors on all probes are the same, they give different readings when plugged in to different thermometers. I think they may be calibrated to work with the device they were sold with. If you are experiencing this problem with your extra probe, but not your iGrill one then this could be the problem.
That's freaking astute, Craig. Given the improved performance of probe 1, I'm going to assume that the iGrill I'm using isn't defective. Or at least, I'm going to test it a couple more times in more controlled circumstances before I declare that it is.
Sorry I didn't post this last night, was too busy EATING DELICIOUS PORK. In other words, it came out! Apologies for the phonecam pic.


text: Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, producer, and singer who is involved in film, musical theatre and television. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold, the action-horror film Van Helsing, the magic-themed drama The Prestige, the epic historical romantic drama Australia, the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel, the film version of Les Misérables, and the thriller Prisoners. His work in Les Misérables earned him his first ... more on Wikipedia


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Another post for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks...
I have watched with interest the ongoing battles concerning Blair Mountain in West Virginia. This mountain and its people just won't give up.
Bless their hearts.
I began to study the history of this mountain, beginning with an article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain
I saw the images of the battle that raged back in August and September of 1921. What I did not know was that my own father played a part.
He was a boy, not even 10 years old. Let me quote from his own writings:
As well as I remember we did not stay in Olive Hill very long after Betty died because we moved back to Lawton where we lived till we moved to West Virginia and that was quite an experience because moved to W. Va. In a boxcar along with a man by the name of Milton Cline, each family had one end of the boxcar and since we were moving to the same place everything worked out all right, there was no trucks to move one in those days and very few automobiles, one might see a half dozen autos a week and there was no paved roads, we moved to an area called Rex Camp which was owned by the coal company, I think it was the year of 1920 when we made that move and that would have made me about eight years old at that time, it could have been 1919 when we moved, I do remember that I was very young and I had never heard anyone talk in a foreign language and it sounded so silly to me, it took me a long time to get used to it because we had foreigners living all around us but they had their own schools and the black people had their own so we managed to get along allright with everyone but it still was a lot different than Kentucky, my oldest brother Russel and my father both worked in the coal mines and although we were poor people I cannot remember a time when we went to bed hungry.
Let's go back for a moment when we were moving to W. Va., I remember that we were in a passenger coach on the train and the boxcar with our household furniture in it was the last car on the train so we did not get there before our belongings did and one thing I remember so well is that my uncle Logan Brown was sharing the same seat on the train and I got awfully sick and I begged him to let me sit next to the window so that I could vomit out the window and he would not do it and when the train stopped I could not hold it any longer so I vomited all over him and he was very mad about it and I told my father what happened and he told Logan that if had let me to the window it would not have happened.
As well as I remember we lived there about one year or more before trouble started, the union was trying to organize the coal fields and the coal companies didn't want that to happen and there was fighting all around, the union men were coming over Blair Mountain into Logan County and all who would not join the union were called red necks and my uncle Arthur Fitzpatrick, a big Irishman who had just gotten out of the army in 1918 and he was tough but they arrested him because marshal law had been declared and him and me started to walk to Logan about four miles away and a deputy sheriff inquired where we was going and he told him it was none of his business and he arrested him, and he handed me his big 45 army colt and he told me not to let anyone take it from me and I took it back to my aunt Etta Bee and gave it to her and they blackballed him out of Logan County and never would let him come back, it was not easy living under marshal law but we did it for about two years or more.
During the war between the union and non union there were many people killed on Blair mountain, the sheriff of Logan county and some of his deputies was killed and many coal miners went to work and never returned.
The army moved heavy artillery right by our house by mule team and we could hear the heavy artillery being fired from our home, nothing looked good at all for a long time but we finally come out all together.
Wow. My own father was part of the history of Blair Mountain, and he was only a boy. He acted in the face of danger - danger than an adult placed him in.
A different type of battle rages there now, and I am unsure what the outcome will be. I wonder what my dad would be thinking now...


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