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Beef in oyster sauce
From Cookipedia
When I came to make this I discovered that all of the spring onions had run to seed, so, I used a very finely sliced red onion and cooked it for slightly longer. I'm not so keen on bamboo shoots so used extra carrot instead.
Create a printable shopping list for this recipe's recipeIngredient
- 225g (8 oz) sirloin steak or braising steak
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 4100g (4 oz) broccoli
- 100g (4 oz) bamboo shoots - omit and add extra carrots if preferred
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 100g (4 oz) button mushrooms (or 4 dried mushrooms)
- 3 slices ginger root, peeled
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 dried red chili, crushed
- 2 spring onions (scallions) sliced diagonally
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ pint chicken stock or water
- If using dried mushrooms, soak in boiled water for 20 minutes, squeeze dry and discard stalks
- Cut the beef into very thin straw-like slices
- Mix the oyster sauce, sherry and cornflour. Marinate the beef in this mixture for 20 minutes
- Cut the broccoli into small florets and the bamboo and carrots into slices about the same size as the beef
- Cut the ginger into match-like sticks
- Heat the wok and add half of the oil, stir-fry the beef for 3 minutes. Remove and keep warm
- Add the remaining oil to the same wok and heat.
- Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and spring onions, followed by the rest of the vegetables, sugar and soy sauce and half of the stock
- Cook for 5 minutes
- Return the beef to the wok, add the remaining stock and bring to the boil, reduce slightly if to too thin, then serve
Serving suggestions
Serve hot with plain rice or noodles
Peeling ginger
There is no need to peel ginger. As a result of attending a Thai cookery demo, we have learnt that peeling ginger is unnecessary unless for aesthetic purposes as the skin is high in fibre and full of flavour. However, do remove any bits that have become tough or woody.
Graph your Body Mass Index
See your personal Body Mass Index (BMI) plotted on a graph against national averages.


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CNAM: Innovation in Scientific and Technical Museums | France
Published: Sunday, 18th December 2016
Comments: Leave a Comment Australia, France, Switzerland Innovation, Publication, Research
A new publication by France's CNAM addresses innovation in technical and scientific museums, with examples drawn from Australia, Switzerland and France, among others. Read More
Online Course: "How to Develop a Code of Ethics for Your Museum"
Published: Sunday, 18th December 2016
Venue: Online
Date: January 3, 2017 - January 29, 2017
Comments: Leave a Comment Asia, Europe, Pacific Collecting, Training
This online course, organised by Museum Study, aims to enable participants to develop a code of ethics for their museums. Read More

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genoboost's Advance Wars 15th Anniversary Retrospective/
Advance Wars is my game. The one series I constantly sing the praises of and attempt in vain to get my friends to try. I'd rank this series right alongside Zelda, Super Mario, Metroid, and Donkey Kong Country on my personal list all time great Nintendo series.
It feels like this game was made just for minds like my own. Finding Advance Wars was a gaming epiphany. This series taught me to have some patience, and to think ahead a little. Eventually I would understand that an intense game doesn't have to be based simply on reflexes and memorization.
Like most forms of media that find a way into my heart, it just wasn't meant to last. I'm still tweeting at Nintendo of America to this day, just in the vain hopes of getting a re-release of Advance Wars Dual Strike on the Nintendo Wii U. It's already been available in the UK for months now. There aren't even any games coming out for the Wii U, and still nothing. Someone at NOA just needs to flip a switch, and the game is available for download. Well, okay, it's probably not just a switch. Knowing Nintendo, it's probably a glass you have to break, then there are two keys that need to be inserted. One of the keys belongs to Reggie Fils-Aime, and the second key is perched precariously at the top of an active Volcano.
I'm an old school, arcade type gamer, which means I'm impatient as hell. I like games that keep you guessing, and in an ever growing state of panic. That is why puzzle games are my jam, and also why the final lap in Mario Kart feels so intense.
How kids these days are able to sit through updates and loading screens and logo screens of all the tech companies and developers and producers and audio companies and sound design studios and any other vested interests that played a role in the game, is completely beyond me. I think the youth are gaining a longer attention span at this point. How else do you explain all the repetitive games these days?
With my lack of focus, most modern games simply aren't made for me. Cut scenes? Tutorial stages? Character building? All I know is that when I hit the 'Start' button, it means I should start playing the game. Straight up, moving my avatar with the analog stick, and being able to attack things, friend or foe, I'm swingin'. None of this dialogue box bullshit. I am not playing the game just because I'm hitting 'A' through some dialogue boxes, or watching an in game graphics cut scene rather than the big budget CGI cut scene. There is nothing worse in a game than a cut scene ending, and then another one beginning! (I was going to use this moment to dis the MGS series, but I don't even have the energy, you can wait for my upcoming Lunar Knights retrospective for that.) Reading is not a game, it's a book. So what if your budget allowed for a 30 minute CG cut scene, when the next 20 minutes after that is dialogue boxes explaining the non battle sequence of the backstory.
Sorry. Dialogue boxes aren't all bad, I mean, how else would I know what to do in a game, or how bad the writing is?
Advance Wars couldn't possibly be mistaken for 'action' or 'arcade.' It is not that type of game at all. It is slow. It is so slow that I can waste hours playing only one or two stages. Even the first stage.
Too bad you won't be playing the first stage anytime soon. First, it's the tutorial. This is no simple tutorial stage either, it's more like an entire semester of tutorials, and this is just to understand what the hell is happening on the screen. After a few training battles, you'll pretty much have ground units understood. Too bad the next five tutorials are exclusively about boats. So after a battery of tests to see whether I'm ready to fly into the danger zone, I FINALLY get to take on a real stage.
I got my ass kicked.
By no means am I an expert gamer, or even a competent one, (except for Mario Kart where I will murder your body) but this was completely different. Imagine playing chess for the first time, against a seasoned pro, but you don't know the rules to chess, and, also everybody told you that chess is just checkers with some hoity toity pieces. Everything I learned in the tutorial was utterly useless in a real battle scenario. There is no practice that truly prepares you for battle. Not even fake battles.
What I mean to say is, I sucked at Advance Wars (in fact, maybe I still suck now). I kept coming back for more though. Perhaps it was the colorful art style, which I've always been a sucker for. Maybe just the fact that I hate when I don't understand how winning occurs. It's a pretty low bar, but I tend to be satisfied with knowing that I can at least beat the stage, but I couldn't even do that!
A dozen losses, another dozen 'C' grades, and probably twice as many rage quits later, that level of competency was within my reach. Now, in 2016, and literally hundreds of hours of Advance Wars games later, I consider competence my middle name. Honestly I still haven't come to grips on using air support. My copters often run out of gas and crash in the middle of the ocean. Sorry guys.
This is your basic turn-based strategy. You take control of one of several Commanding Officers, which give your units different attributes and their own, specific, Super CO power. If you've played Fire Emblem (which statistically you are more likely to do than play Advance Wars, even when you are the type of person to read an article about Advance Wars), then you know the drill. Move your units, they move their units, you feel like an idiot for moving your units there. The big difference is that instead of a sword, or a winged horse, your weapon is a never ending army of nameless goons that move according to your every whim. Their demise is inevitable, but they do not die in vain. Every lost helicopter that crashes, and every APC I park in the way of gunfire was necessary to-ah crap I didn't mean to move my missile launcher there. Restart.
So instead of every character being an indispensable commodity that can never be replaced, nor forgotten. Intelligent Systems went the complete other direction in this series. Troops can now be created quickly, and sent to die even faster. The strategy comes in as you allocate resources, and build and deploy the proper units for the current battle.
There are four games in the Advance Wars series. The first three, I like to define as the "original trilogy," which consists of the original 2001 Advance Wars, followed closely by Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising in 2003. In 2005, the Nintendo DS received Advance Wars Dual Strike (i.e. the perfect game.)
As an aside, I'd like to mention that Advance Wars Dual Strike and the original Nintendogs came out on the Nintendo DS on the same day. Way to cannibalize your own game Nintendo. There was a DS game drought the entire summer, if Meteos hadn't come out earlier that year, I would have tossed that ugly old DS in the garbage months ago. How many dog owners would have preferred War! There's no way to know now. I bought both games, at launch, on August 22, 2005 from GameCrazy, yes I remember, and it cost way too much. I can understand a more fiscally conservative gamer only choosing one. The vast majority of DS owners went with the hit game Nintendogs. I played Nintendogs for a week. I've played Advance Wars Dual Strike for the rest of my life.
These three games were followed up in 2008 with a gritty re-imagining for the Nintendo DS called Advance Wars Days of Suin, no wait, this game doesn't have a "DS" pun, it's called 'Days of Ruin.' Okay, That's cool.
The original Advance Wars debuted in 2001. The series had existed in Japan as Famicom Wars on the NES back in 1988. Very much like Fire Emblem's eventual Western release for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, the Famicom Wars series was being exported out of Japan for the first time. What is most interesting though is that once the Wars series went international, it sold better in Western territories far better than Japan.
Advance Wars was so underappreciated in it's home country that Nintendo's number crunchers figured that releasing an already finished game wouldn't even recoup the costs of the cartridges the game was printed on. So, despite the rest of the world receiving Advance Wars for the GBA in 2001/02, and even getting the follow up, 2003's Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, Japan wouldn't get either game until 2004, when Nintendo finally saw fit to release both games at home, as a single cartridge called "Game Boy Advance Wars 1+2" like some kind of 2 for 1 bargain bin reject of a game. If you release the game as an afterthought, it might not sell well.
Things seemed to be getting back on track as 2005's Advance Wars Dual Strike released all over the Northern Hemisphere in 2005. At this point Intelligent Systems was dropping hit after hit for Nintendo. Between the launch of Advance Wars in 2001, and AWDS in '05, Intelligent Systems debuted the WarioWare series, introduced Fire Emblem to the west, created Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door for GCN, and then released another couple WarioWare games. Advance Wars Dual Strike was an incredibly polished game which won a variety of awards and accolades for it's replayability, variety, and gameplay. It sold terribly.
Unlike all the other lame niche junk I love, this one is the most objectively great. Advance Wars Dual Strike was the indie darling of niche handheld gamers. Too bad that narrow group of game buyers doesn't seem to move a lot of units. This series got Zelda level scores, tossing around 9 out of 10s like they were going out of style. Dual Strike is still sitting on a cool 90% on metacritc from both critics and players. Intelligent Systems made a damn near perfect turn based strategy game. How come more people didn't want to play it? Not even anyone in Japan, as always.
Nintendo and Intelligent Systems gathered their greatest minds to understand the problem. They were probably in a bunker deep below Nintendo headquarters, I speculate. According to the secret documents smuggled from that bunker, war is gritty, gruff, and grimy, while Advance Wars is colorful, cute and full of character. The reason people were buying that war game Call of Duty, and not Nintendo's turn based war simulator, was clearly because of the color schemes.
As gritty, realistic, brown and gray as fuck FPS games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty came to the forefront, something as colorful and kid friendly as Advance Wars tried to change with them. This train of thought led directly to the gritty Advance Wars re-imagining known as Days of Ruin (and also forced the console outings, known as Battalion Wars, to feature more on the ground gameplay and twitch shooting action, the exact opposite of why I play Advance Wars).
In 2008, Advance Wars Days of Ruin debuted around the world, well, except Japan. Somehow, a game produced, in Japan, by a Japanese game company, was released everywhere on earth except Japan. Somehow. How often could this possibly have happened in the history of video games? Seriously?
A game studio in Japan creates a game that never gets a Japanese release. The game was created in Japanese right? I would naturally assume so, so how could it be more cost effective to shelve a game that was already done? I'm honestly baffled.
…and due to a lack of any real explanation from Nintendo and those who worked on Advance Wars Days of Ruin, I am left to speculate.
The easiest assumption is that Intelligent Systems went full steam ahead with a dark and gritty reboot, pandering to the west in a vain attempt to satisfy Western tastes. So the creators of such whimsical fair as the Paper Mario series, WarioWare, and the cutest damn game ever Cubivore, were now in charge of a dramatic tale about the tragic, and often deadly realities of war.
Guess how that went over?
Despite some heavy handed moments in the story, the dialogue didn't actually veer too far from the optimistic, often comedic tone of the original Advance Wars and other Intelligent System produced games. Which immediately clashed with the art style of the game. Though well drawn, the style was much less cartoonish, darker, drabber, and, well, brown and gray as fuck. Intelligent Systems couldn't help themselves in the art department either though, wedging in a few blue haired characters and unkempt protagonists to tinge the whole game with anime vibes. Nothing wrong with anime vibes, just tone it down a little.
Intelligent Systems and Nintendo bet everything on a rebooted IP aimed solely at Western audiences, even at the expense of Japanese gamers, who, frankly don't even deserve Advance Wars at this point. Why don't YOU import an obscure game, Japan? Even when the series had a colorful, cartoonish, Japan inspired aesthetic, Nintendo's home country couldn't be bothered. Unfortunately the game failed to truly catch fire in the west either (which Ironically Fire Emblem would accomplish in the present day, even while reverse pandering to the western market).
Though the series saw a significant growth in sales, from just below half a million sold worldwide, to just over half a million sold worldwide! Staggering, it seems the reboot really did pay off!
Another fun way to be disappointed is to contrast the fact that 2005's AWDS sold about 440 thousand copies. That isn't bad, considering that only about nine million DS's were in gamer's hands at the time. Days of Ruin on the other hand, sold just over 600 thousand units in 2008, when sales of the DS were fast approaching 80 million. So once you consider the possible sales, well, well, I need to sit down.
Luckily for the small niche of Japanese citizens who love Advance Wars, the game eventually came out, in 2014, for the 3DS, as a downloadable Platinum reward for the new defunct Club Nintendo. Which also makes it the only DS game to be available as a download for the Nintendo 3DS. Even when Japan loses they win.
Also, perhaps ironically, I really don't understand the definition of irony, is that instead of bringing in more international fans of Advance Wars, the new reboot pretty much split the fanbase in two. Thus guaranteeing that a follow up to Days of Ruin, or a throwback to the original Advance Wars trilogy would immediately piss off half the fanbase. Great work everybody. Now let's get back to the bunker and never discuss Advance Wars again.
The music is very marching band, war song, drum and horn driven affair, which makes it boring as hell. The music would be fine in small doses, but one stage can take several hours, so the lack of variety becomes evident very quickly. The simple vibe of the tracks is not a good thing when they repeat endlessly as you try to decide whether to move your infantry three steps forward, or two steps forward and one step upward. not to mention that listening to it on the tin cans that the GBA calls speakers makes it an even harsher listen. At this point I very rarely listen to the in game music. I've heard it quite enough.
I love these graphics. Absolutely timeless for me. The little troops, and CO artwork are well ingrained in my mind after hundreds of hours of Advance Wars. The graphics are nothing to write home about, This series is strictly handheld, so ergonomics took precedent over getting all artsy on a tiny handheld screen. The sprites and backgrounds are crisp and easy to identify with a glance. The battle animations are nice, and give a good visual for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different units. I turned the battle cut scenes off ages ago though, Advance Wars is slow enough as it is.
There are essentially two stories in Advance Wars. The ever escalating war of the original three Advance Wars titles, and the completely separate story line of 2008's Advance Wars Days of Ruin. I'll get more into that gritty reboot soon, I'll start with the original story line.
There is a land called War World, no wait. There is a world called War World, and a land in War World called Cosmo Land.
The main protagonists of the GBA titles are Andy, Max, and Sami. (as an aside, I always hoped that one of them would get the go ahead as a Smash Bros character, but instead we got an entire Fire Emblem inside Smash Bros. instead)
So what else do you do on War World? You start a war! The series starts off small, with a battle between the belligerent Blue Moon army versus the protagonists, Andy, Sami, and Max and the Orange Star army. As the series continued, the armies, and CO's, and tank units, and even continents expanded. From Cosmo Land, to Macro Land, and finally, Omega Land. It's like the villains knew there would be ever escalating sequels, and used that logic to attack the smallest, least valuable continents first.
Also, how do you fit all these continents into one War World? Cosmo Land is enormous, basically the size of the Americas plus Japan. The next game has the much larger Macro Land. At this point I can assume that maybe these continents are on the opposite side of the planet. That theory ends when AWDS introduces the EVEN LARGER continents known as Omega Land. Is Omega Land in Antarctica? How did no one notice it? Did no intercontinental war commander care to bring up the most giant continent of all? Assuming each continent in War World is roughly equivalent to a similar shaped content on earth… ah forget it.
This story is as lighthearted as the graphics, even as you send wave after wave of soldiers to an early demise in an attempt to take a key bridge, a strategic factory, or because tanks just seem so expensive. They're doomed regardless. The writing is more about the interaction between CO's and the tactics they use on the battlefield. It's less grizzled war generals with thousand yard stares, and more like an intense battle in a decent chess club. The story line is mostly told in dialogue box cut scenes before and after each battle. All this leads up to the revelation of a doomsday device, at the end of each game. No grand tales are woven in this series, so I won't dig much deeper into the plot. This article is already off the rails.
I have to mention Days of Ruin as well though. Same thing, except darker. The world, which isn't War World, has been devastated by meteors, causing massive deaths around the world. The straggling armies that survived in the aftermath continue to war, so get to warring already. Also spoiler, another doomsday device. Even though doomsday already occurred, but you know those people who go too far to relive their nostalgia.
What can I say about a game series that is never going to get another sequel?
Advance Wars is never coming back. Ever.
To be fair, 'never' is a strong word, especially for video games. Duke Nukem Forever was 'never' going to be finished. Nintendo would 'never' make games for mobile phones. You can call me out on this when it happens though. I'm saying that right now, that the Advanced War is over.
I'm sorry for your loss, I know you were hoping things might be different. That I would have a big pep talk in the end, and get hyped for the future of the series. Nope.
Let's go through the grieving process together.
Nintendo has made some strange decisions with the Advance Wars series. Fire Emblem got larger scale games on both the Gamecube and the Wii. So did Advance Wars. Sort of.
Following the release of Advance Wars Dual Strike, Nintendo released Battalion Wars for the Gamecube, quickly followed up by Battalion Wars 2, or BWii (ugh, feels gross to type that out). Though they weren't true Advance Wars games, Nintendo felt that they would shut up whiny Advance Wars fans for a while. In actuality, they were fun games, but just confused Western gamers who had been led to believe it had something to do with Advance Wars. Then Intelligent Systems rebooted the series with Advance Wars Day of Ruin. So now the already small contingent of Advance Wars fans splintered into fans of classic AW, Days of Ruin, and Battalion Wars. Now you are guaranteed to piss off at least some of the fans.
In truth, Intelligent Systems had produced itself into a corner. The main draw of Advance Wars is the gameplay. Though they can make some changes to the gameplay, in terms of units and CO powers, the basic rules that make it an Advance Wars title are dead set. All that could be done was to change the art style and try to appeal to a wider audience. That didn't work out either. At this point, neither Intelligent Systems nor Nintendo have any clear direction to go with the series, so it sits on a dusty shelf, wedged between F-Zero, Pokemon Pinball, and all the other Nintendo IPs that get eternal shrugs from Nintendo producers.
What hurts the most is that Fire Emblem is living this incredible resurgence of their brand. Back in the GBA days, the FE and AW series were brother and sister. Both turn based strategy, but presented with very different styles and aesthetics. Since I hate grass and magic and bullshit, I quickly gravitated towards the modern, colorful war games interpretation of turn based strategy in Advance Wars. I much prefer the cartoonish spamming of troops over the existential angst of permadeath.
Despite my specific preference, neither series could break the hallowed number of a million units sold until Fire Emblem Awakening came out on the 3DS in 2012. Thus it became everyone's favorite handheld series, and took up half the roster in Super Smash Bros. All Advance Wars got in Smash Bros was the game's most impotent assist trophy. Way to kick a guy when he's down, Sakurai.
That 3DS resurgence could have been Advance Wars! It feels like merely a coin flip. Before the 3DS launched, there was another meeting between Nintendo and Intelligent Systems, not in a bunker, it's not that important of a secret meeting. The 3DS needs a turn based strategy game. But which one? Then the president of Intelligent Systems greenlit a new Fire Emblem because he had an upset stomach and just wanted to go home. If only he had his heartburn medicine, I could be playing as Sami (oh who am I kidding, it would be Andy) in the latest Smash Bros. Tell Sakurai I'll trade one Advance Wars character for three Fire Emblem swordsman.
Advance Wars is to Fire Emblem, as Metroid is to Legend of Zelda. Let's note the similarities:
Zelda & Fire Emblem are medieval, magical games, while Metroid and Advance Wars are modern and focused on weapons and technology.
Both Advance Wars and Metroid sales are poor, in general, and especially in comparison to Fire Emblem and Zelda.
The Advance Wars series (more specifically the 'Famicom Wars' series) and Metroid have been shuffled around both 1st and 3rd party development studios.
Both Advance Wars and Metroid are being (or have been?) run into the ground with a lack of direction for the series. Is Metroid an action game? An FPS? A fucking soccer game? Same with Advance Wars. Is it turn based? Real time? Gritty? Cartoonish?
So, now Intelligent Systems just creates Fire Emblem games and a bunch of half-assed Paper Marios.
I'm not mad though, Intelligent Systems has done so many great series. Development costs have gone up exponentially since many of those series were first created, and it's understandable that the lowest selling series are first on the chopping block. Intelligent Systems' resources are spread too thin to pander to Fire Emblem fans, develop new installments of WarioWare and Rhythm Heaven, release a game called Codename STEAM, just to have one more IP that only five people care about, create uncompelling battle systems for Paper Mario, and still have time for another Advance Wars game. They don't even have time to re-release Advance Wars Dual Strike on the Wii U Virtual Console.
In conclusion, get it together Nintendo. Just double the size of Intelligent Systems studios, or at least give some of the game producers the Sakurai treatment like Smash Bros and just rent Namco's studio for them.I'm not saying that this course of action would revive the Advance Wars franchise, but it would at least help to keep the Paper Mario franchise from irrelevancy. It's the best we can hope for.


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Strong Hold Products
About Strong Hold Products
In 1993, we set out to design the ultimate industrial storage product. Our vision was to manufacture a product capable of withstanding the treatment common to an industrial environment. Included in this vision was the need to securely store heavy tools and valuables. Strong Hold Products is the realization of this vision. Our storage cabinets, lockers, shop desks, and related products are the strongest, most secure in the marketplace. Our products can be found in manufacturing, warehousing, pharmaceutical, financial, and educational facilities throughout the U.S. Our determination doesn't stop here. We continue to meet the ever changing needs of the most important people we know, our customers!
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Gifted kids sense and experience the world differently.
Anamaria b call
Gifted kids' intensity, sensitivity, and unique quirks aren't just 'different'; they're part of a perfectly normal, albeit uncommon, way of being and behaving in the world.
Through Gifted Culture Kids, our mission is to create fun, powerful stories and activities that teach gifted kids about being gifted. Why? Because we believe that when gifted kids understand what it means to see and experience the world the way that gifted people do, they'll spend less time trying to fix or hide their differences, and more time connecting, creating, and learning about the world as a place where they are seen and where they belong.
Through our workbook series Gifted Culture Kids, we're laying the groundwork for kids to integrate the idea of giftedness as a part of who they are (an identity) and how they see the world (a culture). Here's how we're helping you and your gifted kids get started on this one-of-a-kind learning journey...
Workbook #1: We All See & Experience the World Differently
Workbook #2... coming soon!


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The Observer XT allows you to collect meaningful data. Code behaviors accurately, record one or multiple videos, integrate data modalities, and explore your results.
Code behaviors accurately
The Observer XT is designed to reduce the amount of work and simplify behavioral coding. You can record subjects, behaviors, and modifiers by typing shortcut key codes, allowing you to keep your eyes on the scene, while coding at great speed. The time of each code is recorded automatically and errors are prevented by an on-line check. Up to 1024 characters per event can be used to comment on behaviors or write down notes. Text is presented in the event log and in a separate window.
"A powerful tool and a worthwhile investment if you are at all interested in behavioral coding"
Dr. David Baron | University of Southern California
Work with video and audio
The use of video adds great flexibility to behavioral studies. It allows you to make detailed observations and frame accurate descriptions of fast moving phenomena. Audio signals are visualized providing another great visual aid when observing behavior. Use the playback functions to easily position the video, play it back at different speeds, play it frame by frame, and play multiple videos at the same time. All data play in sync: when moving through the data, the video and audio follow and vice versa. You can set a loop in the video and audio files to code this episode in great detail, or use the quick review button to take a small step back in the video. After the observation, you can easily create a video highlights clip by using the improved episode selection.
With The Observer XT, you can combine data from different sources in your observation. The Observer XT is compatible with Viso and MediaRecorder: software tools for recording video and audio. Viso is the multi-room video recording suite and MediaRecorder is ideal when you want to combine up to 8 different video and audio signals from a wide range of different cameras and microphones. Videos can be stored separately or combined into one video stream. Of course the audio can be recorded in sync with the video.
"The Observer XT has helped me capture children's natural behaviors in an unobtrusive manner and this has added value to the behavioral interpretations I could draw. This tool is best suited for observational research where subjects can be observed without their awareness, which adds to the authenticity of findings. It is easy to use and gives data that can well be statistically analyzed."
Prof. Mayuri | India
Integrate data modalities
In The Observer XT overt behavior and physiological responses can be studied together. Synchronization is guaranteed by using The Observer XT. Sections of the physiological data correlating with interesting behaviors can be exported for further analysis.
Data acquisition using a BIOPAC system can be started/stopped from The Observer XT software. Using this setup ensures high data quality. Read more about The Observer XT - the ideal integration platform.
Tobii Pro Studio integration
Communication between Tobii Pro Studio and The Observer XT now also makes use of the Noldus communication protocol N-Linx. This simplifies start and stop of the eye tracking recording and synchronization with the Event Log in The Observer XT. Read 18 reasons why The Observer XT is the ideal integration platform.
Questionnaire tool - uASQ
uASQ is a questionnaire tool which enhances The Observer XT with direct feedback from your test participant during a live observation. It enables you to ask your test participant three different types of questions: open ended, multiple choice, and Likert scale.
- Combine video and event data with a participant survey.
- Collect quantitative and qualitative data.
- Find answers quickly by using the find functionality in The Observer XT.
- Analyze data in The Observer XT.
User-system interaction - uLog
uLog™, an add-on module of the The Observer XT, is a tool for monitoring user-system interaction.
- Record user-system interaction automatically.
- Increase the consistency of user experience observations.
- Log Windows applications accurately and in great detail.
- Combine uLog and The Observer XT for optimal control, visualization, and analysis options. uLog is an add-on module of The Observer XT.
- Select data of your choice using the advanced filter function in The Observer XT.
Mobile and multi-user solutions
Next to coding with The Observer XT, it is also possible to code on-the-go or work together on a research project.
- Code on-the-go using Pocket Observer. It combines the power of The Observer XT with the portability of a handheld computer, Android phone or tablet.
- Coder Licenses will allow you to work together efficiently on a research project. They limit the use of The Observer XT to coding and visualization only.
"Related events can be identified quickly if the data has been coded using a programme like The Observer, where codes/event logs are time-stamped and linked to the relevant video files. Systematic observation software is a powerful tool for archiving and managing large data sets."
Snell, J. (2011). Interrogating video data: systematic quantitative analysis versus micro‐ethnographic analysis, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 14 (3), 253-258.


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About the Project
Established in 2013, the Commission for Children and Young People (Victoria) is an independent organisation consisting of 30 staff, who aim promote activities that improve the lives of Victoria's children and young people. It promotes innovation in policies and practices relating to the safety and well-being of children and young people, especially those who are vulnerable, and develops and promotes the provision of out of home care services for children.
CCYP asked Starship to develop a new brand for them that reflected their newly conveyed powers at the time. Part of the scope of Starship's brief was to create a brand icon, brand language and look and feel that conveyed the Commission's innovative and upbeat attitude to children in need.
Starship created a vibrant, young and visually exciting brand that reflected the youthful purpose and outlook of CCYP, particularly with regards to its purpose in helping to connect children and young people to activities and to each other, as well as in helping them build and enrich their lives. We wished to visually express CCYP's tagline, 'improving young lives', in a meaningful and creative way.
Our brand strategy rolled out across stationery, office fit-out, and over the design for their website.


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Answer:If you are a sysop, you can go to a view called 'List by Date-include Cancelled.'If the schedule was cancelled, the cancelled schedule will be shown in purple along with information about which user cancelled it and when.If the schedule was overlayed, the overlayed schedule will be shown with a line through it. If you click on the exclamation point of the schedule that overlayed this schedule, the top of the window that comes up will name the user that made the overlaying schedule. (The overlaying schedule will overlap in the time period with the one that was overlayed.)
Who cancelled or overlayed the schedule?Follow
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When my son came home from his first day of school this week, I asked him how it went with regard to using his AmEx PASS card to purchase lunch, since this was one of the things he was wary about when switching from cash to card to receive his allowance.
"The place we went to wouldn't take my card," he said.
"Oh. How did you handle that?" I asked.
"I just borrowed money from a friend," he replied.
Ok, but how are you going to pay your friend back, I wondered. Presumably, his friend doesn't take AmEx either! But I bit my tongue and didn't ask. I wanted to, I really wanted to! But I didn't.
On the second day of school, I noticed that he had used his card for a purchase. Although I had promised myself not to look at every single item he used his card for, I was curious so, yes, I admit it, I peeked. $11 for lunch? Wow, I thought, that's a pretty expensive lunch. He won't be able to keep that up on his allowance. However, I didn't mention it.
This morning I was wondering aloud about what to write about in my post this week.
"Oh, you mean for AmEx?" my son inquired.
"Why don't you write that I paid my friend back for buying me lunch by buying him lunch the next day using my card?"
I grinned. "Thanks, Dan. That's a great idea."
For the past eight weeks I've writing about how to create a financially literate teenager. I've given examples of how to teach our kids the skills they need to develop that literacy. But in thinking about the resourcefulness that my son showed in handling his cash-flow problem, I had to wonder whether or not "skill" with money is all we want to impart to our children or if there's something more.
An obsolete definition of the word "skill" in the dictionary says that it used to mean "understanding; discernment." While our more modern thinking dictates that we view skills as comprised of "knowledge, practice and aptitude," I think the more old-fashioned definition of the noun is a bit closer to what I mean when I talk about financial literacy.
Teens (actually maybe people in general) need a broader understanding of money that encompasses more than just the skills of budgeting. I think one can be knowledgeable about and even very careful with their money without necessarily being resourceful or discerning. Take the idiom "Penny-wise and pound foolish." An example of someone who is "penny-wise and pound foolish" would be a person who spends $25 dollars every time his old toaster breaks down. Over the period of a year, it breaks six times. While each of the $25 spent on the toaster may have seemed "sensible" and fit into the person's budget, in the long run it would have been wiser to purchase a new toaster for $80.
My father was an example of a man who was often "penny-wise and pound foolish." In a previous post, I talked about him eating cereal that had bugs in it rather than purchasing a new box of cereal. A man who was extremely intelligent about and careful with his budget, he did not, at times, show discernment where money was concerned.
Perhaps part of financial literacy means also being able to think in a resourceful, problem-solving manner, not just in a literal one. My son, for example, could have left the pizza place where his friends were eating and found someplace else (using up part of his precious lunch time in the process.) Instead, he discerned that, while spending time with friends and having a leisurely lunch did not have dollar values attached to them, they did in fact have their own worth.
Some of the things I want my son to know about money follow:
1) Sometimes your time is worth more than your money.
2) Sometimes buying someone a gift that you know they'll really love is worth the strain on your pocketbook.
3) Generosity deepens the soul and broadens the mind.
4) Giving to charities should never only be done for the tax write-off – where your money is, there will your heart be also.
5) Think outside the box because an open box allows money to flow in and a closed box does not.
I'll leave you with this final thought: discernment and a deeper understanding of money (or any other of your values) is not taught in the way you would teach math in a classroom. It's taught by being in a dialogue with your teen and by being a good role model and explaining your financial decisions. Children learn understanding and discernment by being in an understanding and discerning relationship with their parents. Talk to them, but not at them. Good communication is, ultimately, what it's all about.
Please note that Julie Ross is being compensated by American Express for these blog posts and that any opinions expressed are entirely her own. Also, remember to take advantage of the upcoming "National Money Talk Night http://www.moneynighttalk.com on September 16, 2010!


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Make no mistake, the Bugatti Veyron is the pinnacle of modern car engineering and is at the top of the food chain when it comes to luxury, performance sports cars.
Starr Luxury Cars is incredible proud to have the largest fleet of Bugatti Veyrons available to hire in the UK today.
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The Bugatti Veyron is surprisingly made at a loss, so making money is not the sole objective of producing these remarkable sports cars. Instead, each Bugatti is made to show the world the true potential of what modern car engineering can achieve.
The Bugatti Veyron is truly a ferocious beast that is incomparable to anything else available on the market today and hiring a Bugatti Veyron will be a life changing experience for those who are lucky enough to feel the full force of these incredible machines..
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Speak to one of our team today to discuss your requirements and the team will be happy to assist in getting you in the driving seat of the Bugatti Veyron in no time.
Our customer support staff can be contacted on 02036001631 if you have any specific requests we will be happy to help.


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By Becky Huebner, Nebraska Home Sales Realtor
My job is like most others. I Love it one day and bang my head against the wall the next. I think our job however is often perceived is sort of a fun hobby. We get to look at some cool houses and meet some fun people. True enough BUT….
I sell houses that are over $900k and under $45k and everything in between. I sell houses that have been maintained with love and elbow grease and houses that have been beaten down and neglected. I sell houses where I am reluctant to open the front door and terrified to walk down the basement steps. I sell houses where I can't wait to see the décor beyond the front door because the door is so welcoming that I know I'm in for a treat. I sell houses where I get to see new coolest new appliances and countertops and ones that have circa 1965 everything. You might be surprised that I remember most of them; the cool and not so cool as well.
But what I really remember are the people. When I see you in the grocery store I may not remember your name but I likely remember your home and our time working together. We are all a mixed bag the stress of this house business can bring out the worst in us. But then I have clients who say thank you even when they don't get their offer accepted, drop me a note to tell me how much they love their home, hold open the door for me while I'm locking up, cry tears of joy and thanks when their offer is accepted on a much downsized home under difficult life circumstances , and even bring me a piece of pie when dropping off a check ( really!).
So all in all while my job is far, far from a hobby and homes often far, far from cool the goodness is people is what carries the day.


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Alternative Medicine is a non-conventional medicine aiming to "rebalance" the functioning of the body by means of natural remedies, healthy food, healthy lifestyle, and exercises. It is not based on drugs taking only to relief one disease and cause 100's more. Unlike the conventional medicine, in naturopathy, the patient taking an active part in the treatment, and the healing is safe and radical. Alternative medicine addresses the whole person's mind, body, and spirit in the healing process.
The increasing interest in alternative medicine in the United State since the beginning of the 21st century by people in all social level is a tangible proof of the benefits of natural herbal remedies. Now days, more patients are combining conventional medicine and alternative treatments in their search for better health and wellness. Those users always get better result in the conventional treatments than those who rely on taking drugs only without changing their lifestyle and increasing healthy supplements intake in their diet.
In a survey published in 2001 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers declare, "the number of Americans using alternative therapies rose from 60 million in 1990 to 83 million in 1997, and the number is increasing daily." When questioned, majority of natural remedies users have the same comment: "natural remedies attack and treat the cause of the disease, not just the symptoms. They preserve and optimize the overall health of the individual. They help the body to heal itself through its natural defense, the immune system. In short, Naturopathic medicine is effective and safe."
Natural alternative have been using from antiquity. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine", relucted to administer medication and use a specific treatment which may do harm to the body. His motto is "above all, do no harm". Today it's quite the contrary. The modern motto is almost "Do more harm to the body". Daily TV advertising can help you understand this reality. Each drug that is being promoted for one disease has at least two life threatening side effects. A good therapeutic approach is based on the healing power of nature. Which means, work with the natural defense of the body to heal itself.
Naturopathy is at the same time curative and preventive. Let us take apple cider for example. It is shown that Apple Cider Vinegar taking with or without other remedies can cure sinus infection, high cholesterol, sore throats, arthritis and more… According to numerous researches, Apple cider vinegar is proven to prevent heart disease, allergies, and help to lose weight.
Naturopathic medicine consists of seven main principals:
• 1.First do no harm to the body
• 2. Nature is healer – What you eat can prevent and even cure so called incurable diseases
• 3. Identify and treat the cause, not just the symptoms
• 4. Treat the individual's overall problem
• 5. The therapist is an educator – the patient must participate
• 6. Prevention is the best cure
• 7. Establish the health and well-being


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The following letter, while visceral reaction to a tasteless political conversation at Toronto City Hall, articulates the importance of Complete Streets policy in Toronto and in every jurisdiction globally. We need to recognize that Bikes are part of the solution for decarboning the economy. We need to consider with humility that the Streets of Yesterday were designed by and for adults with cars, and the Streets of Tomorrow will be designed for maximum efficiency in creating cities that move, where all modes of travel are accessible and safe, including Walking, Cycling and Transit. by Dave Meslin on Wednesday, 08 December 2010 at 10:13 Dear Don, Congratulations on being chosen to introduce Mayor Ford on his first day at City Council. It's quite an honour. I think it's unfortunate that you used the opportunity to be divisive and fan the flames of partisan politics at City Hall. What our city needs, and wants, is a collaborative approach to decision making that attempts to take into account different perspectives and opinions.
Toronto Coalition for Active Transit Interview with Barbara McCann
This is part of a series of videos from the Toronto Coalition for Active Transit Complete Streets Forum 2010. Click here to subscribe to the TCAT channel.


text: Right at the centre of Bluewater our local florist has a wealth of knowledge and are more than acquainted with delivering smiles to and further away. Whatever you're looking to send, be it a bouquet, hand-tied aquapack or sympathy tribute, our Bluewater flower expert belongs to a nationwide network of florists all around the UK. The eFlorist network of dedicated florists allows us to deliver flowers almost anywhere in the UK, with most deliveries being hand delivered the same day! Sending flowers is to send your smile and emotions, so it is important you can put your full faith in us and our Bluewater florists to treat your floral delivery with the care and attention it deserves. Bluewater


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If you want to save your children, take away their fantasy books!
They may cry, they may clutch their favorite storybook to their chest, but you must pry those misleading, occultic volumes from their hands. Why? Because an authority on the matter says that they'll be damaged if they open themselves to the power of myth… unless those myths hold up to scientific analysis.
No, I don't mean Movieguide's Ted Baehr (although he's condemned Harry Potter on countless occasions). No, this time it's the atheist-activist and scientist Richard Dawkins who is worried about the effect of Harry Potter on children.
Yes… having fallen out of the headlines for a while, Dawkins must have brainstormed some new way to get back into the media spotlight. What better way than to threaten the stories beloved by children around the world?
How interesting, that both of Dawkins and Baehr — the athiest and the right-wing Christian alarmist — want to warn us about reading stories about magic and wizards. And yet, both of them make exceptions if the stories blatantly demonstrate their own particular worldviews. (Baehr likes Narnia, Dawkins "loves" Phillip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass.) But Dawkins wants scientific children's stories that don't incline them toward believing in anything supernatural.
I wonder if he's ever read Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. L'Engle loved science. It enhanced her faith in God.
According to Dawkins, the power of myth may be very dangerous, and he intends to use his scientific instruments to come up with some evidence. He says that it's destructive, and he's going to write a book telling your kids that they shouldn't bother with "unscientific fairy tales."
Perhaps he has some kind of instrument like those horrific "cutting" devices, like the machines in Pullman's The Golden Compass that can sever a child's capacity for make-believe…
Professor Richard Dawkins plans to find out if stories like Harry Potter have a "pernicious" effect on children.
The prominent atheist is stepping down from his post at Oxford University to write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in "anti-scientific" fairytales.
Prof Hawkins said: "The book I write next year will be a children's book on how to think about the world, science thinking contrasted with mythical thinking.
"I haven't read Harry Potter, I have read Pullman who is the other leading children's author that one might mention and I love his books. I don't know what to think about magic and fairy tales."
Prof Dawkins said he wanted to look at the effects of "bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards".
"I think it is anti-scientific 'Äì whether that has a pernicious effect, I don't know," he told More4 News.
"I think looking back to my own childhood, the fact that so many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes, whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's something for research."
But Prof Dawkins, the bestselling author of The God Delusion who this week agreed to fund a series of atheist adverts on London buses, added that his new book will also set out to demolish the "Judeo-Christian myth".
He went on: "I plan to look at mythical accounts of various things and also the scientific account of the same thing. And the mythical account that I look at will be several different myths, of which the Judeo-Christian one will just be one of many.
"And the scientific one will be substantiated, but appeal to children to think for themselves; to look at the evidence. Always look at the evidence."
Discussion has begun over at Arts and Faith.
QUICK! Before you discover that it's bad for you… come join me in celebrating this destructive habit of fantasy! Let's enjoy the finer points of Beauty and the Beast!
On Friday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. I'll be reading from Cyndere's Midnight and Auralia's Colors at Cafe Babel in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.
The SPU Bookstore will offer copies of these soon-to-be-banned books.
Cafe Babel is located right along the canal in Fremont, at 126 NW Canal St, Seattle, WA, 98107. (See cafebabelseattle.com for a map.)
Then, on Thursday, November 20, at 7:00 P.M., I'll be at Village Books, that amazing independent bookstore in Bellingham, Washington. Join us at Village Books, do some Christmas shopping, listen to some storytelling, and let's celebrate the joys of fairy tales and fantasy.
By the way… here are a few of my own thoughts on the dangerous power of fantasy.
And here are a few books you should buy for your kids before anybody proves that they're unhealthy.


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Microsoft Lync Has Reached RTM
Yesterday, the Microsoft Communications Server Team announced that Microsoft Lync has reached the RTM milestone (Released to Manufacturing). This process begins the steps to get the code available to customers and partners worldwide called General Availability (GA). I know many of you are very anxious to get your hands on the final release and understand what it means to go from RC to RTM code, but please be patient. It typically takes 2 weeks from the RTM announcement to have code GA to Microsoft Volume Licensing (MVLS) and TechNet follows behind that. Make sure to follow the Microsoft Communications Server team here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/uc/archive/2010/10/27/microsoft-lync-released-to-manufacturing.aspx
RC to RTM Migration
Those of you that have deployed the Release Candidate of Microsoft Lync Server will take solace knowing that there will be a process to migrate to the RTM code. Notice however that I said migration; this will be a side by side migration with new servers and new enterprise edition pools (this includes a new SQL instance to avoid overwriting the RTC databases!).
There is a lot of excitement out about this product and how it is going to truly change the landscape of PBX deployments. This is the reason I started this blog 2 years ago! It is an exciting time to be a UC consultant and I am very proud to be a Microsoft UC MVP!


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My last city, my home city, is not really much of city. A stop-over. A gateway to the rest of the world. All heat and wind and prosaic buildings spread over four blocks which someone once labelled 'city'. Somehow the label stuck. It might have been a city. Once. A long time ago. But it has not been able to keep up with its neighbours. We get out of there as quickly as we can. Often we have no choice. It closes before the sun goes down.
Author Archives: katywarner
Things I nearly wrote
You fail only if you stop writing.
Ray Bradbury
It's been about 70 days since my last post.
These are things I have been writing and deleting:
1. Changing the dream.
2. Selling out: The reality of "changing the dream".
3. Why am I here or: Casting directors who flirt with your audition partner.
4. Anxious Sunday nights.
5. Coconut flour.
6. The death penalty.
7. Andrew and Myuran.
8. Mercy.
9. Rehabilitation.
10. Is this really the world we live in?
11. Nauru.
12. Children in detention.
13. Australia needs more lectures from the UN, please.
14. Real Australians Say Welcome.
15. Is this really the world we live in? (part two)
16. 90s Hip Hop is the greatest Hip Hop.
17. Fake it till you make it.
18. Thoughts on being a 34 year old babysitter or: $20 an hour just doesn't cut it anymore.
19. Walking home, alone.
20. Cats.
21. Itchy feet.
22. School Assemblies.
23. To the person who tried to steal our car.
24. How many cups of tea are too many cups of tea?
25. Writers Block – The Return.
26. What is the point of this blog anyway?
27. Finish something goddamn it.
28. Hit the publish button.
29. Something is better than nothing.
30. that's what my psychologist said when I told her I was concerned about doing enough exercise in a day, you know, sometimes you just can't fit it all in and she said, don't be so hard on yourself, just think something is better than nothing so even if you just a walk around the block that's great because that's something but now I find it hard to even fit in a little something every single day and I worry because if something is better than nothing then what is nothing … nothing is … nothing is nothing and I need to worry about that … surely …
31. Nothing
32. my grandad said nothing is at the end and he seemed OK with all that until nanna died but you can't truly change your mind when you're an atheist unless, you know, someone from the "other side" comes over and tells you "hey, there is something" which then completely undoes all that need for faith upon which all this is (conveniently) built and you wouldn't believe it anyway because you're an atheist and you can't truly change your mind on that sort of thing, can you? Besides, we have all seen City of Angels and know the awful consequences of those sort of "visits".
32. City of Angels.
33. Where are you, Meg Ryan?
34. I'd rather be in New York.
35. I'm doing this wrong: 30 minutes and 20 drafts to create one tweet.
36. Being quiet.
37. Anxiety.
38. Nothing. Again.
39. …
Short thoughts from a messy notebook: Two
The tiny butterfly flew out of his mouth.
He thought he had something important to say. Instead he got a butterfly.
He cupped it in his hands. Its colourful wings folded upwards. It wasn't flat and colourless like a moth. If it has been a moth that flew from his mouth he would have been worried. And disappointed. But it was a butterfly. And that was OK. Impressive almost.
A boring story we have all heard before.
A male passenger in a white van stuck his head out of the window and yelled. At me. I was walking down the street, nearly home after a long day at work when they drove by. A quiet street. My quiet street.
I couldn't hear the words exactly but I could hear the sound. Like when someone speaks in a foreign language and even though you don't know what they're saying, you know what they're saying. Know what I'm saying? Something in that tone, that leering face, jolted me. He made that certain kind of sound you will sometimes hear certain groups of certain kinds of men make at certain establishments when they have reached a certain level of a certain thing I shall call "jerk-ness".
I stopped. I turned around, flung my arms in the air, in that Tom Hanks I'm-acting-like-I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that fashion (which I always thought was kind of unrealistic until I found myself doing it) and watched the van continue on its way. Come back, I thought, come back and have a conversation with me. Get out of the car, look me in the eye, and repeat what you said.
He didn't. Of course. Even though I knew they could see me, standing there all Tom-Hanks-esque and angry. No, of course they didn't come back…
This happens from time to time. Most of the time. Because, to some men, when women walk down the street they are not people. Not fellow human beings. We are objects to be objectified. Of course. Yell, whistle, beep the horn.
It is not flattering. It is not funny. It is not harmless.
It is intimidating and pathetic. It is vile.
These are not sincere, heartfelt compliments given from one human to another. These men don't look you in the eye. They couldn't.
You never see these cowards again. You never know who they are.
However …
This van was marked with a company name.
I tweeted them.
They got back to me. Quickly. That sort of thing doesn't look so great on social media.
They were sorry. They wanted more details. They would follow-up. They took this seriously.
Good, I thought.
Then –
The managing director, who was shocked and wanted to call me right away, called me right away.
She had been given a different story.
She thought I should be told the Different Story.
Here it is: A couple of young guys driving to football training with the radio up, singing loudly, having a good time. The passenger is not an employee. The driver is. And he is a great guy. Polite. Hardworking. Finishing his masters degree at a top university. From a good family. He doesn't remember any incident … But he remembers singing, having a laugh with his friend.
The story ends.
And I wait.
The managing director takes my complaint seriously. She told me so. Many times.
And because she Takes This Sort Of Thing Seriously she would have to fire him. He would have to go. Her hands were tied on this one. The company takes a strong stance on this type of thing.
Unless ….
Is there any doubt in your mind? she asked.
Could it have been a couple of guys singing and having harmless fun? she wanted to make sure.
I heard no music. I heard no singing. I heard a man yell. At me. I saw his face. Hanging out the window. At me. It made me stop. It made me fling my arms in the air. It made me red, it made me shake …
It made me change the route I walk home.
If that is this case, she told me, then he would be fired. Will be fired. The company takes a strong stance on this type of thing. Her hands were tied on this one.
But … If there is any chance I was mistaken … well … then she wouldn't have to fire him. He would get a warning but he wouldn't be fired.
I told her again – I didn't hear what was said even though I knew what was said, you know? (I don't think she did.) But, yes, I suppose … Doubt.
And that was that.
She thanked me for my considerate handling of the situation.
He would get a warning: A Serious Warning.
He would write me an apology letter.
I got the letter. I don't know if he got the warning.
In the apology letter he wanted me to know he was polite and responsible and goes to a top university and comes from a good family. He wanted me to know he had learnt from the actions he said he had no recollection of.
I didn't get to tell him I am polite and responsible and went to a top university and come from a good family.
I read his email, keep my head down and my iPod on. Loud.
And that was that.
Except it isn't.
It's not.
Is it?
(PS: I have had this post written for some time but never wanted to publish it until I read Girl in the Hat's excellent post If I Had a Dollar (Why I Am a Feminist). My story ain't all that important. It doesn't even matter in the scheme of things. It doesn't even register when we consider what other women (and men) deal with on a daily basis. I have dealt with a lot worse but I know I have it a lot better than many, many women (and men) on this planet. This didn't hurt me. This just made me think; what the hell? But I think what is interesting is my reluctance to post it … Are there any posts you have been reluctant to publish?)
Short thoughts from a messy notebook: One
The new girl in the office said she didn't eat carbs.
But I saw her eating chocolate and stealing staplers. It made me wonder about her moral compass. But then, who knows which way that thing is meant to point?
When I have two choices, north or south, I always end up going the wrong way. Heading In The Wrong Direction.
This must be south, I think, but it never is.
You'd think I'd get it by now …
That time I met Simon Armitage
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.
Robert Frost
I needed to say something but I thought I would cry and if I cried I'd need to explain and that would be hard so I didn't really say anything. In the end.
But I needed him to know the profound effect his ordinary poems had had on me. Like hearing someone with a similar voice say –
this is the day
this thing that you do
this language that you use
this voice that you have
it is okay
I would hear the the words and my voice and I longed to sound different.
I wanted to show him that effect he had had, the difference he had made, with his ordinary poems on an ordinary person.
All I could manage was to ask for his signature and then wonder why I said signature not autograph and then why I bothered asking such a question at all considering there he sat and there I stood at the book signing table.
Behind him they sold his books. Collections of his poetry. I had brought my own. Like a cheapskate at a cheap restaurant holding on to the cheap BYO wine. Free corkage. Bargain.
I felt a wave of guilt for my well loved copies.
One I had bought on special at a closing down sale.
One was two quid at the Oxfam store in Notting Hill.
I wanted to tell him where I had stumbled on his poems. I wanted him to notice my copies stubbornly ignoring the gleaming newly designed slick covers of his back catalogue. Look at me. A true fan. With the real copies. Battered and read despite the uninspiring cover art. It's the inside that counts. Don't judge a book by its cover. Or price tag.
But I didn't say that. In the end.
I just politely asked for a signature.
Polite is boring. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
Before I lined up I did the obligatory browse through the obligatory pop up book store that accompanies such events. Couples in expensive coats who are meant to be seen at such events pondered which book to buy. A woman sighed wearily. Looking was difficult – she didn't realise there were so many, didn't know which one to buy. She could have bought them all. I could tell by her umbrella.
Into her sighs I suggested my favourite. This is my favourite, I said. Politely. Of course. She had that umbrella.
She smiled a non-smile and flicked through my choice. Quickly. Too quickly. Then she put it back.
No, she winced, these are short stories.
No, I said, they are poems.
And I left her to figure it out.
At the book signing table I thought I should tell him that story. But I didn't. In the end. I asked for his signature and tried to find that thing to say, to make that connection, to have that moment that would make the change –
this is the day.
Suddenly, without warning, the word Inspiration fell out of mouth. A decayed tooth sitting there on the page he was about to sign. Or autograph. Or both. I wanted to pick it up and put it back. But there it was in all its clichéd glory … Inspiration …
I tripped over an apology but on my way he offered a landing; you write poems? he asked with his voices and his eyes.
I try, I told him.
We're all just apprentices, he said.
And I felt like that was okay. In the end.
Ugly Ducklings and Snow Queens: Thoughts on a New Year
Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up.
Hans Christian Andersen
I chose the swan, and everyone laughed. Even the girl who was meant to be my friend – although I had had my doubts before this incident. The mean girl, whom I shall call Vanessa, because that was her name, had a tendency to rub her hands all over my face and chant "snow queen, snow queen" at me because, duh, I am quite pale. Yep. But still … Vanessa was meant to be a friend. And she laughed. At my swan.
It was the first year of high school. The well-meaning, socially awkward health teacher must have had some weird epiphany overnight and instead of the usual food pyramids and condoms on bananas, he asked us to draw a picture of the animal we'd most like to be.
I wanted to draw a human because, when you think about it, we have it pretty good compared to other animals. But I was studious and well-behaved and my rocking the boat stage wasn't set to begin for another two years or so.
I had heard how swans mated for life and I thought there was something lovely about that, plus I thought they were elegant and I still secretly harboured a desire to be a ballerina despite my lack of coordination and, well, training. I had gone the route of many young women growing up in the early 90s; Jazz Dancing. There was nothing elegant about Jazz Dancing: Jazz Hands and Jazz Smiles and Jazz Leaps to The Shamen's Ebenezer Goode. Anyway, regardless of my varied and weird reasons, I drew a swan.
If I had known we had to share our pictures with the class I may have gone for the lion or the eagle or the dolphin like everyone else. I said swan and they all laughed. Because they laughed, my well-meaning, socially awkward teacher thought I should be put through more humiliation and offer up an explanation for my choice. I wanted to tell him where to go but I was studious and well behaved and, as a result, provided much needed entertainment on that god-awful final period of the day.
I don't know what the point of that story is to be honest … Maybe I still haven't embraced my inner swan, maybe I'm still the ugly duckling, maybe I am a writer and read too much into things.
It happens every year; every time we click over to January 1 – I start to overanalyse and get anxious about goal setting and dream journalling and vision boards and what-am-I-doing-with-my-life and who-am-I and does Kiki-K have a range of items to help me plan for everything I think I need to achieve this year? (The answer is yes, yes they do. And no, I will not buy them all.)
I worry about the point of this blog, its raison d'être and the fact that I just popped in the phrase raison d'être because I love it even though I know it sounds completely pretentious, unless you happen to be French, of course. Nothing and everything sounds pretentious if you're Parisian. What do I intend to do with this thing, this blog thing, this year? Why am I even keeping a blog? What is a blog really meant to be anyway? If my blog was an animal, what would it be? Blog is a weird word.
If I had the confidence and, let's be honest, vanity and, let's be even more honest, musical inclination, I might put it to music and become one of those on-trend cabaret performers who sing about their love-lives and embarrassing-but-oh-so-cute moments in witty, pithy songs whilst straddling the piano Delta Goodrem style. But this sort of vanity, let's call it blog vanity, probably suits me better; I can hide in my "office" and assume no one has noticed, rather than looking out to the empty auditorium.
In the first serious show I wrote and performed in a friend whispered to me from the front row. We were about to begin. I started on stage. Very contemporary.
"Do you want to bother? No one is here," he whispered – although he didn't need to.
Despite his well intentioned warning, we went on. I couldn't tell who was out there with the stage lights in my eyes, naivety in my heart. The three people in the audience, including the lighting / sound guy, clapped at the end and we all got a drink afterwards.
And that's it … That is my big old plan for 2015. To perform for the three people in the room. To choose the swan when everyone else is the lion. To maintain a messy blog. To preserve. To create. To throw in French whenever I can, merci. And to try and read less into things …
Here's to 2015.


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Five-time Scottish rally champion David Bogie took a dramatic victory at the third round of the Scottish Rally Championship, winning the Speyside Stages by over 40 seconds in his Skoda Fabia R5.
The Dumfries driver claimed a record-breaking eighth win in the Moray and Aberdeenshire forests but was challenged early on by reigning SRC champion Jock Armstrong. However, the slippery, flowing stages would later claim the Subaru Impreza pilot who would disappear down the order in the closing stages of the event.
Bogie was on the pace immediately, grabbing the lead after SS3, the first gravel test that followed the two tarmac spectator stages in Elgin's Cooper Park. A puncture would see the Skoda driver lose his lead briefly to Armstrong who was on a charge in the opening loop. But Bogie soon turned a deficit into a healthy advantage and would never look back, to win eight of the event's ten special stages.
"It's been a good rally, with the car feeling great and no real moments to speak of" said Bogie at the finish. "The nature of these stages makes them so enjoyable to drive, they're very fast and flowing with good medium speed corners. It feels like a home event to me as I know so many people up here so I couldn't ask for better preparation ahead of the Pirelli [next weekend]."
Euan Thorburn brought his Ford Fiesta R5 home in second place to take a third consecutive podium in as many starts this season. Third SRC driver home was Mike Faulkner in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, repeating his podium result from the Border Counties Rally.
Shaun Sinclair took fourth overall in his Subaru Impreza S14 WRC, five seconds down on Faulkner's Mitsubishi.
Mark McCulloch made it back to Elgin seventh overall, with an unnerving noise and a puncture slowing his Mitsubishi down. Donnie MacDonald grabbed eighth as he continues to acclimatise to his right-hand-drive Fiesta R5. Ninth went to Armstrong. The 3.8 miles of the Bin stage had not been used in over a decade and the Castle Douglas star would ditch his car near the start on the slippery surface, losing three minutes in the process.
The RSAC Scottish Rally, based in Dumfries, is next up on Saturday 20th May.


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I have a dispute with a security alarm company. They have implied a contract extension on a policy that I did not approve. I have not made a payment on the policy since November 2012 and am concerned that they may eventually turn the balance over to collections, thus negatively affecting my credit, though they have not threatened such action yet. Is there an arrangement I can make with the credit reporting companies that can prevent harm to my credit in the event that issues with this company escalate? That is, can I prevent them from damaging my credit history by reporting this unpaid balance? Or is my only option to pay them?
Dear JSS,
Unfortunately, you cannot "block" a creditor from turning a past due account over to collections or from reporting the past due debt to the credit reporting companies. The dispute is between you and the creditor, and ultimately needs to be resolved with them.
As you continue to try and resolve the issue, communication between you and the creditor is key. Ask for documentation about the extension and keep copies of all correspondence.
If you ultimately cannot agree on the contractual obligation and they report you as delinquent, you can add a statement of dispute to the account.
Thanks for asking.
The "Ask Experian" team


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The world of kids toys and technology is full of fun, creative, and imaginative new things. That's why we like to spotlight cool stuff for kids that we find each month. From new technology to adorable bedroom decor to simple ideas and tips that make mom's life easier – you'll find all of the latest and greatest in cool kids stuff. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2015
Beach Family Photos: 8 Tips To Make Your Portraits Perfect
Even though it's freezing outside, Spring is only a mere month away. And believe it or not, now is the time to start planning your beach family photos for the summer. To help you get started, we've reached out to one of our favorite local photographers, Blakely at Crescent Moon Photography, to get some tips. Continue reading
Our Sunday Best: Yellow Patent Leather Shoes
There's no better way to jazz up an outfit than with a great pair of shoes. And we have the perfect ones for Spring. These yellow patent leather shoes are adorable and a perfect way to brighten up any outfit. Plus, the ankle strap and tiny bows make them great for formal occasions. A perfect Sunday Best accessory. Continue reading
Lowcountry Lowdown: Take a Charleston Carriage Ride
Once you live somewhere for a while – even if it's a historic tourist city that draws people in from all over the world – you can get bogged down in day-to-day responsibilities and forget what makes your city so special. We know we've been there. That's why we recently decided to reconnect with our Charleston roots and rediscover what makes this city such a great place to live and to visit. And where did we start? With a Charleston carriage ride, of course! Continue reading
Valentines Kids Crafts: Heart-Shaped Melted Crayons
Valentines Day is almost upon us, and before you settle down with a nice glass of wine and a relaxing dinner with your sweetheart, keep your other sweethearts engaged with some fun Valentines kids crafts. If you're like a lot of other kids growing up in the 80s and 90s, you probably remember experimenting in school or at home with melted crayons. Whether you used them to color on tin foil or make colorful swirled crayon hybrids, crayon crafts are always fun. Continue reading
Kid Friendly Recipes: Pita Pizza Snacks
Trying to do seven things at once while running after a few toddlers? We get it – parenting can be rough. That's why we've got some more kid friendly recipes to help simply at least one aspect of your life – lunch time. Continue reading
Tips from the Trade: What is Smocking?
If you're anything like us, you LOVE smocked clothing. In a world of fly-by-night fashions, smocked kids clothing is a beautiful, timeless, and classic way to dress your young ones. But one thing you might not know is just how smocked clothing is made. Luckily, we've got some insight into how the magic happens. Here's what you should know. Continue reading


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What Arenas did was stupid and inconsiderate. Having a permit to carry a gun and owning guns is perfectly fine by me. However, bringing them to a facility where there is no good possible reason to have a weapon was plain moronic. He's obviously, well hopefully has learned his lesson after serving his time.
Posts Tagged 'Washington Wizards'
Get Gilbert Arenas in a Knick UniformMay 20, 2010
Ain't No such thing as Halfway CrooksMarch 26, 2010
Suspended Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was ordered Friday to spend 30 days in a halfway house for his conviction on gun charges stemming from a locker-room confrontation with a teammate.
District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin also sentenced Arenas to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics, and a $5,000 fine.
Gilbert Arenas is a clownJanuary 11, 2010
"No guns in NBA arenas, events or facilities…." I guess Arenas didn't get the memo.
On December 24, 2009, NBA star Gilbert Arenas brought unloaded firearms into the Wizards lockeroom at the Verizon Center. Most people know the story already, so I won't bore you with the rest of the details. However, I will tell you that on January 6th, NBA commissioner David Stern finally showed some balls. Criticized as a "players commish" and basically a bitch over his tenure in charge, Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely, without pay, and said Gilbert would face a lengthy suspension with the possibility of something "worse."
David Stern is a 'tardJanuary 8, 2010
This whole Gilbert Arenas situation is pissing me off.
OK. I get it. You shouldn't bring guns into a locker room. You probably shouldn't bring guns anywhere. I mean, if you feel you the need to bring a gun with you for protection, it's probably a place you shouldn't be going to in the first place. And throwing up finger pistols after being caught with four guns, and allegedly pulling one out and pointing it at one of your teammates is just straight up idiotic. Read the rest of this entry ?
In the words of Marv Albert: Yesssss!!!!!January 8, 2010
Bits n' Pieces
– High Tide, Alabama beats Texas for National championship
– Go directly to jail, Burress denied work release
– Kicked to the curb, Vinatieri will not kick for Colts during playoffs
– Out of the mix, Arenas erases Twitter, Crittenton to face fines
Lucky number 6 after the jump….
Gun Runner… NBA suspends ArenasJanuary 6, 2010
NBA commissioner David Stern has suspended Gilbert Arenas indefinitely and without pay, pending a full investigation into allegations he brought weapons to the Washinton Wizards training facility. There are also allegations that he drew one of those weapons on teammate Javaris Crittenton over a card game.
In the words of Marv Albert: Yesssss!!!!!December 7, 2009
Happy Monday!
Bits n' Pieces
– Balllliiiinnnn!!, Giants beat Boys in Texas
– Bowl Time, Alabama and Texas to meet for BCS Championship
– Brees it out, Hartley's FG keeps New Orleans perfect
– Love and hate, Vick runs and throws for TD's against former team
Jersey's finest and more bits after the jump…what are you waiting for???


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It seems like we've been waiting a long while for FX's adaptation of the book trilogy The Strain, but we're now a little under two months away from the show's premiere and the network has unveiled some new teaser trailers and images to tide us over. Created and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, the story revolves around a team of scientists who wage war against an ancient strain of virus that confers vampirism, along with those it infects. Del Toro co-wrote and directed the pilot and oversaw the writing of the scripts for the first season, but Lost alum Carlton Cuse acts as the day-to-day showrunner of the series. It continues to look like a sufficiently creepy horror drama, and I can't wait to check out the full show this summer.
Hit the jump to check out the new The Strain trailers and images. The series stars Corey Stoll, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Kevin Durand, Natalie Brown, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, Robert Maillet, Jack Kesy, Ben Hyland, and Miguel Gomez. The Strain premieres on FX on July 13th.
Here's the official synopsis for The Strain:
The Strain is a high concept thriller from Academy Award® nominated Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, author Chuck Hogan and writer/producer Carlton Cuse, which is based on the best-selling vampire novel trilogy of the same title written by del Toro and Hogan. It tells the story of "Dr. Ephraim Goodweather," the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself.
Take a look at the The Strain trailers and images below, via FX.


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Some Interesting Things About Santorini
Mr. M and I have been to the island of Santorini, Greece twice. How we love it there! For such a small island, there is so much to see there! Even getting to the town of Fira, Santorini is an adventure! When approaching Santorini by boat one docks at the base of a mountain. The town of Fira is perched at the top of the mountain. There are basically two ways to go up the mountain. First there is the funicular which is like a slanted, vertical glass elevator. Its has fantastic views and is pretty slow.
What's This in my Front Yard?
We have some visitors:
One of the sandhill crane families that live in our community is visiting our front yard. If these photos seem a little filmy it is because I took them through the screens of my "Florida room".
Argon Oil and Moroccan Tea
I posted here about one of of the stops we made in Morocco, a Souk. While I loved the Souk, I was determined to obtain some Argon oil during our visit. It is so very expensive here in the US. Since I like to make my own cosmetics, I was interested in Argon oil for that purpose. Read the rest of this entry »
When The Cows Come Home
I am a frugal woman. I have even been called a cheapskate by a man trying to sell me a timeshare. I am very creative when it comes to looking at something and thinking "what else can I use this for?". Our home is relatively small and I try to make things serve more than one purpose. Read the rest of this entry »


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Rank: 70 (Previous Rank: 71)
520 3rd St. SE
Hartley IA 51346
Hartley IA 51346
Phone: 712-728-9980
Fax: 712-728-3590
Website: http://www.northwestagsupply.com/
Organization Type: Independent Local Dealership
Year Founded: 1999
Retail Outlets: 1
States Served: 1
Employees: 25
2018 Revenue: $26-$50 million
Revenue by input: Crop Protection: 74%, Fertilizer: 15%, Seed: 8%, Custom Application: 3%
Northwest Ag Supply LLC offers a full line of generic and name brand bulk and prepackaged chemicals backed up and serviced by all the major chemical manufactures. Our inventory of packaged products and our incredible bulk selection allows us to fill your order quickly. We have now added liquid fertilizer and starter to our line-up of seed and chemicals and a new farm storage tank program.


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Canon PIXMA MG6850 Series Software & Drivers Download
PIXMA MG6850 Series
All-in-One Inkjet Printer
Canon MG6850 – MG6800 Series driver and software download supported (Windows – Mac OS) Operating Systems Operating Systems Windows 10 Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7/SP1, Windows Vista SP2, Windows XP SP3, and Mac OS X v10.7.5 – v10.10, supported Mobile Systems iOS/Android. PIXMA MG6800 Printer series is so quick to print a stack of task Office or your home. Presenting performance 5-inkjet all-in-one while Wi-Fi and a touch screen so that you are very easy to use Printer MG6800 series. Enjoy high quality photos of beautiful/documents, directly from the intelligent device for kompotible internet access or a wide ranging from the devices and the cloud. Now comes an all-in-one Printer, a copy of the scan, with mold, directly from the camera/memory card, Even well connected with easy with Tablet/Smartphone to popular cloud services. With speeds ISO ESAT (mono), Up to 9.3 ipm/color 9.7 ipm, photos limit up to 10 x 15 cm approx. 7 seconds, print, easy scan of intelligent device with Canon print app/Wi-Fi direct. Download Canon print applications, easily print or scan using only the Tablet/Smartphone, and access the service cloud. Without having an internet connection and wireless router/password with Wi-Fi direct mode that creates a wireless network. Has a touch screen color large 7.5 cm for the Navigate menu, select function, and preview the image, great quality when printing a maximum resolution of 4800 dpi/Canon's FINE technology-5 single ink.
Here's a driver Canon PIXMA MG6800 Printer series that correspond to your printer model.


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On Sale
Duncan Button Down Flannel
The Boyfriend Shirt buttons all the way up, and has a traditional cut for a classic silhouette. Super soft and super light weight brushed cotton make this a comfy favorite you will reach for time and again.
- Washed Japanese Cotton Flannel
- Made in the USA
- Relaxed fit - Model is 5'7" wearing size S
- Soft unstructured collar and cuffs
- Classic box pleat in back of shirt for extra comfort
- Open Neckline
- Wash cold and tumble dry low


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Panama City Retirement Planning
Panama City retirement planning takes a lot of time and attention, but it's worth it in the end. Located along the beautiful Emerald Coast in Florida, Panama City is a great place to spend your life after you retire. Residents who plan to continue living in Panama City after retirement should start the planning process as soon as possible. The earlier start you get, the greater chances you have of making an adequate amount of planning income that will see you through the years after you retire.
Why Search Online?
Some FL residents may be curious as to why it's a good idea to look for retirement planning experts online. The answer is that it's the easiest and most convenient way to get access to lots of local Florida retirement planners in your area. With just a few simple clicks, you can gain access to qualified Panama City retirement planning professionals who are ready to help you establish and achieve retirement goals. This online process also makes it easier to compare different providers and narrow down your choices. Depending on what kind of planning topics interest you, you can do a search that will come up with Panama City experts who have just the knowledge you are looking for.
Another great thing about searing for Panama City retirement planning professionals online is that it is so convenient. You can go online at any hour of the day or night and browse your options. You don't have to wait around for business hours to begin. You can start your search for a Panama City retirement planning professional on your own time. This definitely beats having to put your search on hold to wait for an office to open. Now you can make a list of potential Florida planners at any time, and then take your time choosing the right one for your situation.
Savings Amounts
One of the things that you must do with your Panama City retirement planning professional is to sit down and plan for your retirement expenses. This can actually be a very difficult thing to do. If you plan to live as you do now, then you may need to assume that you need to make the same amount of money each month after you retire as you do now. There are some exceptions to though, that could change your mind about what you need to save. If, for example, you manage to pay off the entire mortgage of your FL home, then your monthly costs are likely to go down a considerable amount. However, this does not automatically put you in a great position because you may need to use this savings for something else. If you plan to travel after you retire, then you're going to need lots of money to do this.
After you retire, you can definitely count on some of your expenses being decreased or eliminated completely. For example, you are less likely to spend lots of money on FL transportation costs, as retiring can seriously affect your Panama City commute. This means that you will also spend less money on gas, putting a lot more money in your pocket. However, always keep in mind that new expenses could rise up in your retirement, so you should talk to your Panama City retirement planning expert about these things. He or she can help you figure out what your lifestyle is going to be like after you retire, and that can help you figure out what your expenses are going to be.
Proper Panama City retirement planning includes will thus include both your anticipated expenses and unforeseen things that might arise in the future. Health care coverage may actually go up for you after you retire, so you need to be aware of it as you are in the planning stages. A lot of times people do not consider the fact that their Panama City employees were paying most of their healthcare costs in the past, and that this coverage will not last once they retire. If this is the case for you, then you need to factor this into your expenses when you are deciding on Panama City retirement planning options.
You can't ignore some other types of costs that retirees often incur after they have retired. You might, for example, want to redecorate your Panama City home or buy a new vehicle. It's best for you to sit down with your Panama City retirement planning expert and think about all the things that could come up in the future. If you spend some time anticipating these costs early on and getting planning advice, then you are likely to save more money for your future.


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RV rental Namibia – motorhomes & campers
There are very few countries in the world with as much desolate yet strangely captivating beauty then Namibia. With so much open space, culture and wildlife going on a camping trip in this region really is a dream for outdoor lovers.
With Drive South Africa's RV rental Namibia services, you really couldn't be in better hands. So get out there and experience the entirety of this desert wonderland. Namibia is a great place for camping and renting a RV will ensure that you have a certain air of freedom as you wander through this great country.
Best time to visit
Namibia's climate is conducive to year round camping however many people will visit based on when the best time to view wildlife is. It's widely considered that the best time to see wildlife is from June to October and Etosha is believed to be the mecca of Namibian wildlife areas. Between December and March the days become a little more humid with possible chances of rain.
Around the area
You really won't have any shortage of things to do in Namibia on your camping adventure. Some of the highlights include hot air ballooning over the Namib Desert, the walking trail with Tok Tokkie, exploring the Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. Get haunted at the Kolmanskop ghost town. You can go on a horse ride at Garub pan, experience the majestic Fish River Canyon and hot springs at Ai-Ais. Believe it or not Namibia also has some world class surf spots in certain areas. RV rental Namibia with Drive South Africa just opens up your world and enables you to explore.
Getting around
The benefits to RV rental Namibia are endless as you will get to truly embrace the outdoors for which this great country is famous for. Not many places on planet earth boast such open spaces and with Drive South Africa finding the ideal places to camp will be a breeze.
Length of stay
With so much to explore you won't be able to do a worthwhile Namibian camping trip within anything less than 2 weeks. Make sure you get the correct information on visa requirements for the country before you leave and what are the laws are around extending your visa if you wish to stay longer.
What to pack
Make sure you make allowances for cold nights especially if you are travelling during July, remember if you are going to the desert, however RV rental Namibia will help with this as you will have more comfort and options for places to stay. Take walking boots and good shoes and be prepared for dust, when walking through many of the national parks. Water is an extremely important item when going on long walks or when you will be out in the wild past civilization. A good first aid kit is also vital as well as malaria medication and mosquito nets. Half the country is in risk of malaria.
Where to stay
Namibia is all about open spaces and Windhoek is no different and there are literally loads of camp sites and accommodations facilities within a 15 minute to 30 minute drive of the city. This will make the start or the end of your camping experience a breeze as you will more than likely be flying out of Windhoek on your way home. Hiring a motorhome in Namibia will enable you to really get under the skin of the great outdoors of this sandy yet magical region.
This is a popular coastal town famous for its sandboarding and desolate beaches where one can get lost for hours and days. It's also a great place for camping and exploration and there are many options for any adventure in your new rented RV.
Etosha National Park
This is considered to be one of the best wildlife viewing areas throughout the whole of Namibia and it's also considered a great place to camp, this is likely to be one of the highlights of your camping trip.
Skeleton Coast
This is one of the most remote stretches of coast on the planet and it's famous for its ghostly shipwrecks and ghost towns which has kept tourists flocking to the area for decades. There are also many camp areas available in this region of Namibia.
Why rent an RV in Namibia with Drive South Africa
With such a vast and magical country waiting to be explored, it would be amiss not to rent an RV and get out there in the Namibian wilderness. With our vast experience in this regard it really will be a breeze. Drive South Africa is here to get you out there in nature in style with our amazing range of motor homes. Just pick up the phone; send an email or fill out the easy booking form below and one of our sales representatives or travel experts are here to help you in any way possible. Renting a RV with Drive South Africa really is that simple.


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BF Vacuum Cleaner Centre Ltd. in Ottawa has remained family owned and operated since its inception in 1964. You know you can trust a business when it has lasted for almost 50 years!
BF Vacuum Cleaner Centre Ltd. has some of the best canister vacuums in stock. These deliver the most power, efficiency and ease of use.
If you are going for a traditional vacuum that you can roll right into a closet once you're done cleaning your floors, an upright vacuum may be the right choice for you. We offer a broad selection of upright vacuums from all of the leading brands.
Designed around your family, stick vacuums are the perfect choice for rugs and hard flooring surfaces. These are great at lifting off dirt, dust and crumbs from floors. With many lightweight designs, these are very easy to take from room to room, or floor to floor.
Handheld vacuums go where others simply cannot, whether to clean rugs in your minivan or between cushions on your sofa. BF Vacuum Cleaner Centre Ltd. in Ottawa has a selection of handheld vacuums from which to choose!
Whether you need a new vacuum cleaner, service or just a part, you can rely on BF Vacuum Cleaner Centre Ltd. to provide it. And while you're at it, don't forget to check out our specials.
BF Vacuum Cleaner Centre Ltd. carries the following products: