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Below are some thoughts I wanted to share today at the closing plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa. Many thanks to Mike Macharia, Bill Hoffman, Lorna Irungu-Macharia and Paul Cohen for their thoughts. [More edits later when I get time!]
With population growth of < 30 who could be disaffected, unemployed uneducated or we could be investing in this generation to make them innovative entrepreneurs who are participants in shaping a better future. Africa is at an inflection point of engaging and training the future. From Large corp, Civil Society, innovation hubs like iHub. We should engage on transforming Africa, or we give up a century.
McKinsey estimates Africa's gross domestic product at about US $2.6 trillion, with US $1.4 in consumer spending. Africa's population growth and urbanization rates are among the highest in the world and these are the statistics generating demand for innovative new ways to handle the problems they raise
Be careful not to confuse growth with transformation. Growth statistics can provide confidence to invest and a willingness to change. Change cannot be orchestrated, sometimes it happens often from the bottom up. Tolerance for this change and actually support for these changes. One of those positive changes is the growth of innovation and business hubs like the iHub in Nairobi, Bongohive in Tanzania and IceAddis here in Ethiopia. e.g Tax Breaks and incentives for innovation hubs Africa wide. Connect, Invest and scale the work happening here.
A connected world has different velocities, power structures, different risks but transformative opportunities. We are in a hyper connected century of not just consumers, but producers, diverse micro economies and We cannot be afraid of complexity, diversity and gender equity. Empowerment of women and education. Although only 1 in 5 women is a legislator it is higher than the global rate.
Solutions need to be Demand based From my perspective: We can learn from Technology adoption worldwide can provide near term benefits in areas in Agriculture, a woman with a mobile phone and access to an Ushahidi system to get information about appropriate plant disease in Argentina. Adoption of these kinds of systems in Africa can help. The best uses of open source technology is often not under our control. We can provide a great skeleton on which various stakeholders can flesh out appropriate, local solutions. In addition there are homegrown startups like Mfarm and iCow in Kenya. These are young tech women creating solutions for the agricultural sector. We need to support and scale what they are doing to other parts of Africa.
Illusion of a nexus between education, entrepreneurship and innovation. There are real gaps that need to be filled. Focus needs to be on bridging these gaps in a real way and not just in talk. Digital and financial literacy need to be embedded into education systems. Nevertheless, In a nation of 34 million, over 28 million Kenyans own a mobile phone, representing 71.3% of the total population. There is an opportunity to do more to impact more people with the technology they have in their pockets.
Unbelievable paucity of intra-african trade, cost of a 40% of US trade is within NAFTA, 60% of European trade is within Europe, 12% of African Trade is within Africa. The cost of a phone call from Kenya to the US is 10kes, India and China 18kes, and within Africa, 30. Clearly there is more to do here from infrastructure perspective to even internet access where only 13% of Africans have internet access.
Culture: Reimagining "This is Africa" When faced with Process and resource efficiencies, we need to be impatient and demand better. It is not enough to have 600 million mobile subscribers we have answer the question of access to what. Do people have access to healthcare, education, finance and agriculture information and services via those mobile phones or do we have another digital divide emerging. What needs to happen is to figure out the economics for provision of services everywhere even in rural areas. In 10 years Europer could look to Africa on how to crack this.
Linking the digital and physical world in a coordinated way can provide efficiencies. The Transportation sector could benefit greatly transnational communications.
The African opportunity is not just theoretical, given the right opportunity; people can make incredible contributions; as we have seen with several African business leaders from Africa and this year's Social Entrepenuers. Talent is universal opportunity is not. In order to transform Africa, we need to create opportunities. I was greatly encouraged to see Bethhelem's sole rebels workshop. She is creating opportunities and is already transforming Ethiopia with a global business. Mxit is an instant messaging and social network platform that processes over 500 million transactions every single day. Fantastic contributions.
The transparency we see with the open data movement, presents opportunity in creating a new asset class. When governments provide data that is accessible, relevant and useful. Many government agencies have fantastic information on historical weather patterns, water levels in rivers and even consumer protection information. Providing that data in an accessible and meaningful way could lead to a new data economy where entrepreneurs leverage that data to reduce inefficiencies.
Hyper local innovation that can make a difference on a village level. It matters and we need open platforms to support these kinds of innovations.
Innovative ideas? Draw on the open source culture that helped grow Ushahidi. global entrepreneurship index is at 2.49: Kenya is at 2.63, second only to Nigeria at 2.7 in Africa among others like the US at 2.8. This number clearly depicts the great potential for Kenya to become a globally- recognized ICT center and more so, an environment for nurturing entrepreneurs talent to a higher level.
Making the case for open source technology as an investment not only by ministries, to invest in the youth in a truly concerted way to build future businesses. What if the national innovation ecosystem is not driven by local needs and culture, its great to partner with multinationals in clusters, but that needs to happen in partnership with local firms. To enable knowledge and skill transfer. That is key in various industries.


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Beware of Direct Sales
Business owners need to beware of direct sales people that come to your door, in many cases, you will be paying for business advertising that will not provide you with any results. The next time someone comes a knocking with an unbeatable advertising opportunity, do a basic check before advertising.
Check Organic Rankings
Beware of Direct Sales
The main item to look for when you are paying for advertising is if the website ranks for any relevant keywords on the major search engines, so basically if you are paying for advertising on a website for business advertising you will need to check keywords for business classifieds, business advertising, etc. and also check rankings for regional areas also as they may be more a state or local area advertising resource. As an example for state business advertising, you would type in the keywords Ohio Business Classifieds for the state of Ohio or Ohio Free business classifieds if you are looking for free and paid listings.
Using Relevant Keywords with Business Advertising
Relevant keywords will change with the type of business you are in also but the most important thing is that they rank for relevant keywords as to the type of business you are in or business in general. In many cases, though they are outselling advertising because they have no rankings online, they may be a great salesperson though so you need to have a basic understanding as to what you are purchasing. In many cases when you purchase advertising from your local paper their online resource will only be ranked locally and by the company name so you are paying for only local advertising which in today's market environment may not be cost effective advertising.
One example of high ranked advertising with free advertising if our own resource, BuckeyeAds.com, BuckeyeAds is an Ohio based business advertising resource, online now for over 15 years. Consistently ranked on top of all the major search engines for regional, state and national searches plus the fact that it offers stability. Let's face it 15 years online beats the majority of the websites today, as an advertiser you need to no that when you spend your hard earned dollars that the company is not going to close up next week. Also, you will never see us knocking on your door unless you ask us too, as our business comes from organic rankings, we are professional organic optimization experts so we rank high for many relevant keywords. Enough about us let's back to building your business.
Business Owners – Central Ohio Advertising
I provide many resources like Central Ohio Advertising so that business owner can begin to understand how to use the internet to build their business since today if you are not online then in many cases your business is just one step from going out of business. There are many steps that a business owner today should take to secure his or her future for tomorrow which include the following.
1. Social Media Marketing
2. Business Website with links to your social media
3. Placing business listings on ranked resources
4. Listing your business in directories relevant to your business.
5. Interacting with your customer online.
When utilizing the above resources you need to train yourself in basic optimization techniques so that all of your advertising brings business back to you, even in social media proper use of keywords is extremely important. Understanding keywords and how to properly use them is probably one of the most important parts of building an online presence.

subset: commoncrawl


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The FIH Hockey Academy START Hockey online programme is now live!
START Hockey is for ALL Hockey stakeholders: fans, players, officials, coaches, volunteers, CEOs, presidents, professional staff, etc.
The FIH Hockey Academy, in partnership with the World Academy of Sport, is focused on delivering a simplified education pathway for people who want to pursue coaching, officiating or management at a higher level. Continental and National federations are encouraged to adopt this framework allowing for a global movement of education.
It is an introduction to the world of hockey in 4 sections:
1. The FIH Hockey Academy
2. The history of hockey and FIH
3. About hockey
4. Delivering hockey
Make sure to check it out!
Source and Photograph: FIH


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Michael Garicoits was a Basque, from the French region of the Pyrenees. He was born on the 15 April 1797 in the hamlet of Ibarre.
Michael was ordained a priest on the 20 December 1823 and was appointed curate to the important town of Cambo not far from Bayonne.
It is interesting to note that while Michael was still studying for the priesthood the Bishop asked him to teach at the Junior Seminary at Larressore. Here Michael was much loved by the pupils and staff at the seminary. So it was not surprising that after two years as curate at Cambo Fr Michael was sent to Bétharram to teach Philosophy.
Bétharram, situated at the foothills of the Pyrenees, is an ancient shrine of Our Lady.
When in 1833 the Bishop closed his seminary at Bétharram Fr Michael was left to care for the shrine and its many pilgrims. This allowed Michael to fulfil a dream, to start a Congregation of Priests and Brothers. The task of this congregation, which was dedicated to the Sacred Heart, was to evangelizes the people through missions and to teach the young a Christian way of life. The ideal Fr Michael placed before his congregation was the very programme of the Sacred Heart: when entering this world, He said, "Here I am, O God, to do Your will'. (Heb. 10: 5-7)
Bétharram is eight miles from Lourdes and is situated on the same river. When Fr Michael learnt the details of the apparitions from Bernadette he immediately recognised their reality. This is in contrast to most bishops and priests of the area who did not recognise the apparitions for a long time. Despite his personal certainty Fr Michael remained discreet and prudent. He did not go on pilgrimage to Lourdes until the Bishop recognised the apparitions on the 18 January 1862.
Did Michael's understanding of Our Blessed Lady's designs at Lourdes come from his great love and devotion to Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother? Many times during the day Fr Michael could be seen saying a decade or so of the rosary. St Michael died on the 14 May 1863 at 3.00 o'clock in the morning. This was the time he use to start his day by saying the whole rosary of Our Blessed Lady.
The feast day of St Michael is on 14 May.


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So in my attempt to capture the water that gets splashed all over the floor, I bought a mat, a backseat car mat actually, which happened to hold both the food and water dispense perfectly together. Even with the lip around the mat, Dolly has still managed to push obscene amounts of water out, forcing me to pump it out with a syringe because the mat is flopping and I can't pick it up without spilling every where. There was that much water. Ugh! Problem not solved :(
|Are you serious?
So, alas, I must separate the food and water dishes so she doesn't have the desire to water down her food. Silly dog!


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How to become Marty McFly: Red vest; Blue Jeans; Jean Jacket; Checked Shirt; Calculator Watch; Nike Sneakers
Did you know that Marty McFly's middle name was Seamus? Also, did you know his birthday is June 12th, 1968? Also, did you know that even though you're a lovely lady you can still dress up as Marty for Halloween? I actually loved putting this costume together, and if I ever did anything for Halloween ever, I'd totally rock this look. My favorite part of this costume? The calculator watch!
Also, those Nikes are pretty rad.


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Some photos taken from the Royal University of Phnom Penh for the Love issue of Lift Magazine which is a supplement that is targeted towards university students in Cambodia.
Cambodia's oldest and longest university, the Royal University of Phnom Penh is a photographers dream to shoot. All of the buildings were constructed in the style of New Khmer Architecture which was an architectural movement in the 1950's and 1960's spearheaded by Vann Molyvann.
Check out Ka Tours for examples of New Khmer Architecture and if you are in town, book one of their tours or download a walking tour of central Phnom Penh.
The cover is above but I put a couple good ones below for your perusal.


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BOARD InternationalOfficial real estate partner
BOARD International is a leading global provider of software for improving business results through better decision making.
By unifying Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management in a single product, the BOARD platform provides a single, accurate and complete view of an entire organisation's information.
Fully integrated with enterprise processes, BOARD uniquely enables planning and monitoring of business performance from a strategic overview down to operational detail.
Since 1994, BOARD has helped over 3000 global organisations improve their business performance by making better decisions.
"Our Global partnership with TopUp Consultants demonstrates our commitment to working with high quality Partners who are expert in their chosen sector"Dominic Policella
Some of our partners and products
We form partnerships with best-of-breed providers in order to provide our clients with the most effective solutions on the market. Solutions marked with * are part of our own suite of products for the real estate industry.


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Little BIG DASH: Brisbane
Sunday, 24 July 2016
Seventh Brigade Park, Chermside, Brisbane, QLD
Little BIG DASH at Seventh Brigade Park in Chermside, Queensland on Sunday, 24 July 2016 is an obstacle adventure, full of colour, fun and guaranteed laughs for parent and child.
There are 10 obstacles over the 3km course.
Little BIG DASH™ is designed to give you a new experience of family fun! Live in the moment and release that inner-child while having heaps of laughs helping each other through each stage. There will be prizes for dressing up - so find some fun and quirky matching outfits to wear!
Parents and kids are together but never more than two children per adult. The child must be aged between 5 and 15 years on event day.
Little BIG DASH
- Next in series (21 August 2016)
3km Parent & Child Obstacle Course


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Gnurz has risen from the ashes and ruins and rules the world with an iron fist. It is up to you to defeat him.
A sequel/remake in multiple languages and for several platforms is announced for 2016.
[+] Users who have solved this game
[+] Users currently playing this game
Hello. The game is from 1993, not 1983. In 1983 I was only 5 years old. By the way, the game was created for a small group of friends only. I wonder how it made its way around the world.
If you have any other details to add about the game (what system/language it was programmed in), a brief plot outline or whatever, please add this info :)


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Pam and I had a connection before we met. She was the english teacher for Suginoko and Suzumekko preschools in Japan after I moved back to the states in 2008. We lived in the same apartment, taught in the same classrooms, and share the same child/mother bond with the matriarch of Suginoko, Gota Sensei. When we finally met our spirits matched like magnets, and I was just so thrilled when she asked me to document her marriage to sweet, smart, and utterly hilarious Jeff!
We started off our coverage the night before with Pam and Jeff's impressive rehearsal dinner (this is reserved for ANOTHER journal entry) and continued on the next morning to the beautiful Benachi House for a day of celebration steeped in the particular southern charm that only New Orleans can offer. Take a look for yourselves!
Florals | IRIS floral + event design studio
Cake | Restaurant August (Chef Patricia Stackeni)
Coordination | Everly Event Planning & Design
Venue | The Benachi House & Gardens
Second Line Band | Below Sea Level Brass Band
Catering | Cooter Brown's Tavern & Oyster Bar
Favors | Sip Hip Hooray
Hair | Bouffant Beauty & Barber
Makeup | Sarah Tucker
Dresses | David's Bridal
Suits | Tuxedos to Geaux
Bridal Jewelry | Kendra Scott
Bridesmaid Jewelry | Tooth & Nail Trading Co.


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"The best place in the world. It has everything you need… I practically live here." – Louis Parkinson
While walking around the streets or at the shopping mall for example (please, do not judge this idea too hard), you may find yourself in front of a glass wall and behind it – like in a big aquarium – strong people battle gravity. You witness a different climbing fauna and immediately are impressed – a thousand reasons make you crave trying some of the things these people do.
The picture is similar with Vauxwall Climbing Centre at the heart of London. While curiously observing the busy South Lambeth Road – only two minutes from VauxHall Station, you'll come upon the sheeny windows and orange-blue colors of VauxWall. You will notice the occupied hosts working their stuff at the reception desk and behind them – all kinds of species: smaller and bigger fish, powerful whales showing off their fitness and slick boulder sharks swimming gracefully through their sporty entertainment in the climbing aquarium.
Continue reading Vauxwall Climbing Centre|London's Finest #3


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Be the Change
Our volunteer corps is one of the most valuable assets of our community. Nearly every element of quality of life on Bainbridge Island is positively impacted by volunteerism. According to recent surveys, more than 66% of our citizens volunteer for at least one local organization. If you're looking to get involved, we can help. The following is a list of organizations that offer volunteer opportunities:
Volunteer Match
Volunteer Match is a nationally recognized posting board for volunteer opportunities. At the Volunteer Match website, you can search for volunteer opportunities by geographic area and/or by sector.
City of Bainbridge Island
The City of Bainbridge Island has a number of civic volunteer opportunities throughout the year.
Kitsap County
Kitsap County has ample volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups.
Volunteer Kitsap
Volunteer Kitsap is a program of the United Way of Kitsap County, where you will find volunteer opportunities for organizations on and off Bainbridge Island.
Looking to volunteer with Bainbridge Community Foundation? Learn more here!
"When I think about BCF, I visualize a beautiful, dynamic, colorful, perpetual cycle with islanders donating money to BCF and with community volunteers assisting BCF in awarding funds to nearly 50 nonprofit Bainbridge Island organizations. This lovely interaction generously impacts people of all ages and interests and comes back to enrich all our lives on Bainbridge Island."
—Anna Neff, Bainbridge Community Foundation Community Grants Cycle Evaluation Team


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The very best video production/post-production products and websites.
VFX Scenes You Thought Were Real
You can't always believe your eyes. VFX isn't always made-up monsters and otherworldly landscapes. Sometimes the best VFX executions are so subtle they're invisible.
Considerations for Shooting in Abandoned Locations
Videographers love taking their cameras and drones into beautifully eerie places. Want to try it? Here's what to consider before shooting in abandoned locations.
Stabilizer Rigs for Run and Gun Gigs
These camera stabilizers are perfect for when you're on the run and only have seconds to capture a shot.
Our 10 Favorite Demo Reels (Fall 2015)
Need a quick creative boost? Get inspired with these 10 amazing demo reels!
Industry News: Cameras, Lenses, Gear, Freebies & More (Sept. 2015)
Get the scoop on the new RED RAVEN camera, URSA Mini footage, the a7S II price, lenses, gear, free stuff and more in this industry news roundup.
The Greatest Openings in Film History
A solid opening sets the tone for the rest of the narrative. Let's take a good look at a few of the greatest openings in film history.
Learn the Lingo: 15 Weird Filmmaking Terms
From Cheeseplates to Deadcats, let's take a look at some strange filmmaking terms.
The Filmmakers Behind Next Level Music Videos
Music videos are so much more than just simple promotional material. Check out these stunning videos and the directors behind them.
Apps to Help You Find the Golden Hour
Golden hour is a short period of time each day when the natural light is perfect for filming. Here are some apps to help you find out …
Tutorial Roundup: Color Grading in FCPX
Learn how to use FCPX's powerful built-in color grading tools with these helpful tutorials from around the web.
How Does a Film Become a Cult Classic?
Let's do the timewarp and take a look at how a film becomes a cult classic.
Affordable Software Every Filmmaker Should Have
One of the last things to usually make its way into our toolbox is software. Let's look at affordable software options for your video production arsenal.


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Do readers have any natural suggestions for a female fungal foot infection sufferer?
Marigold ointment
According to Ken, athlete's foot can be cured by applying marigold (Calendula) ointment to the affected area daily. Use it in the morning after washing and thoroughly drying the feet, he advises. Marigold ointment is available from some health food shops, or you can make your own. Place the petals and stamens of 12 marigold flowers in two ounces of melted lard, then leave the mixture in a warm place overnight. In the morning, strain the mixture using a sieve or tea strainer; press all the juices out of the flowers by using the back of a teaspoon. Put the preparation into a jar and you will have marigold ointment ready to use.
Coconut oil
Another natural remedy that may work is coconut oil. Katrien switched to this treatment after conventional antifungal Daktarin stopped working for her. She recommends looking for certified organic virgin varieties of the oil and applying it to the feet day and night.
Other suggestions
Other suggested topical solutions are tea tree oil, colloidal silver, cider vinegar, aloe vera gel (shop bought or, better yet, applied straight from the plant), grapefruit seed extract and oil of oregano. Another idea is to soak the feet in a solution of warm water and aspirin tablets. "The aspirin kills of the fungus," says Sue.
Addressing the causes
On the other hand, a few readers recommend investigating the underlying cause of the problem. Diabetes and Candida overgrowth have both been suggested as possibilities, while Eleana reckons emotional problems could be to blame.
E-news broadcast 10 April 2007 No.349


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Talari recently announced the release of the Talari Adaptive Private Networking 4.3.
4 Things You Didn't Know About Your Corporate Network
While the vast majority of enterprise leaders know the importance of the corporate WAN, many don't give this resource a second thought until there is an outage or other problem. It's an understandable situation – executives have a lot on their plates, and if something isn't broken, there's no need to fix it, right?
Well, when it comes to the WAN, there are a few important things all decision-makers should know. Technology usage is changing right alongside the times – new and emerging solutions may mean the time is right to rethink the way your company leverages its network.
In this spirit, let's take a look at a handful of the most essential facts you should understand about the network that underpins your organization:
1) Cloud and real-time apps are more critical than ever
In many business circles, cloud resources have become the name of the game. After all, leveraging the cloud comes with numerous benefits, including specific advantages for the IT team that no longer has to maintain and update internal servers and other on-premise equipment. The cloud also helps ensure real-time access to the most up-to-date information in every branch office.
In fact, according to Right Scale's State of the Cloud report, a multi-cloud strategy is now more desirable than ever before. Researchers found that most organizations – including 82 percent of enterprises surveyed with 1000 or more employees – have more than one cloud supporting their business. This strategy encompasses 11 percent with several private environments, 16 percent with a series of public clouds and 55 percent with a hybrid strategy deployed.
What does this mean for your network? In a nutshell, rising cloud usage translates to an increasing amount of traffic passing through the data center or coming directly from the branch and into the cloud. And while this configuration does bring advantages, it doesn't mean your IT team has to be in the dark when it comes to network activity. An SD-WAN solution can ensure that your company has the visibility it needs into every part of the network, including traffic passing into your business's cloud environments.
2) Connectivity: Internet links are making great strides
One of the biggest changes to corporate networks recently is the influx of connectivity options available. Whereas T1 or MPLS links were traditionally the standard, more enterprise leaders and IT teams are realizing that broadband internet is much more affordable, and can still offer the robust reliability the organization enjoyed with its MPLS lines. And with more network traffic than ever destined for the internet anyway, including broadband connectivity in the WAN simply makes sense. Network World pointed out in a recent article:
"The natural concern is that the highly engineered private MPLS network has become an expensive conduit to centralized internet breakout points – the enterprise pays for the private network bandwidth and then pays again for the Internet breakout capacity. In most enterprises, non-Internet traffic is becoming an ever-smaller percentage of the total WAN traffic. This trend is resulting in enterprises considering a greater adoption of Internet technology, along with the necessary intelligence in the network to deliver traffic to its destination using the most appropriate path."
Best of all, broadband can be used to complement existing MPLS lines, or replace them altogether. Such an approach offers considerable cost savings, particularly when incorporated into a software-defined WAN.
3) Secondary links don't have to sit idle
Organizations are also changing their tune when it comes to links that were previously dedicated for failover situations. While redundancy is still important in the event of a service outage, this doesn't mean that companies have to shell out money to pay for a link that will simply sit unused most of the time.
"SD-WAN is becoming increasingly desirable, and is being deployed in more industry verticals than ever."
SD-WAN solutions have not only ensured a seamless failover – to the point that users have no idea that an outage or issue has even taken place – but this technology has also enabled businesses to make the best use of their available uplinks. This includes secondary links that were formerly only used for failover.
An SD-WAN continually measures every network link for jitter, latency, packet loss and availability, and uses this information to direct data packets to the best available path. In this type of configuration, robust connectivity is ensured, and traffic always reaches its destination, even in the face of link degradation or other issues.
4) SD-WAN: The market has spoken
The state of the current next generation WAN leads enterprises to one solution: a software defined wide area network that aligns with the traffic patterns and needs of today's businesses.
The current market environment reflects the fact that SD-WAN is becoming increasingly desirable, and is being deployed in more industry verticals than ever. Currently, 13 percent of enterprises based in North America will have a live SD-WAN solution included in their infrastructure by the end of this year, SDX Central contributor Linda Hardesty reported. What's more 62 percent will be utilizing SD-WAN technology on a trial basis. This will lead to the overall market surpassing a value of $6 billion by 2020, IDC researchers predicted.
However, not all SD-WAN solutions are created equally. Talari Net works has been a leading provider of SD-WAN systems since before the technology term emerged, and has nearly 10 years' experience working with businesses across an array of verticals. Talari network engineers understand the requirements of today's businesses. Whether you're using a hybrid WAN, or need a solution that can enable Internet-as-WAN or better support cloud traffic, Talari Networks is here to help.
To find out more about how this type of corporate network could benefit your company, contact us for a custom demonstration of our SD-WAN technology and be sure to check out our eGuide on 10 Tips for Building a Failsafe Network.
Categories: Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN), Application Performance/Application Quality, WAN to Cloud, Network Reliability, Internet as WAN (MPLS Alternatives), Hybrid WAN


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The Foresta Timber Group is comprised of Foresta Drum Manufacturing and Foresta Timber and Board. What makes us unique is the fact that we are timber wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers of timber products.
In 1994 Foresta Timber and Board opened its doors to the public and celebrated their 21st birthday in 2015. Customer convenience and competitive pricing paired with expert knowledge has been the driving force that has ensured Foresta's position as one of Gauteng's largest wholesalers of timber and related products. A wide variety of specialised machined products were added to the product mix 'Broadening the Horizons' for Foresta's customer base in terms of product choice. The D.I.Y factory shop and warehouse located in Alrode, Alberton provides timber and related products to trade, wholesale and D.I.Y Customers. In 2015 a new 45000 m2 site in Alrode Alberton was acquired to consolidate and streamline the warehousing and manufacturing component of Foresta, the current Foresta Timber and Board site will remain where it is and continue to service the DIY , trade and wholesale markets.
Foresta Timber and Board and Foresta Drum Manufacturing are collectively known as THE FORESTA TIMBER GROUP. Foresta Timber & Board primarily caters to trade, wholesale and DIY enthusiasts. Their customer base of specialised customers such as Truck Bodies, Events Companies and Wendy House Manufacturers have grown steadily and the on-site Factory shop enjoys tremendous support from the D.I.Y market, as well as the smaller contractors. A keen focus on customer convenience resulted in the opening of an on - site Paint Shop and Coffee shop. The Drum Manufacturing division was launched in 2001 to cater to the cable drum industry and warehouse has recently been added to the product mix.
Copyright 2015 Foresta. All Rights Reserved.


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DVDs - John C. Kirk — LiveJournal
Jan. 17th, 2007
07:02 pm - DVDs
I've been thinking recently about the logistics of lending DVDs between friends. It's not too hard to keep track of what I've actually lent out (I use a single Word document for books/comics/DVDs/whatever), but it's more tricky to know what DVDs other people have that I might want to watch or to keep other people informed about what I have without spamming everyone with huge emails. I saw someone set up a wiki for this a couple of years ago, but that didn't work very well; I think it worths better in a structured database. Ideally, you want everyone to store their info centrally, although that may be difficult with big lists. For instance, I've heard people praising LibraryThing, but I'm not realistically going to type 700 books into a new system, and then keep two databases up to date. (That's even more of a challenge for my comic collection.) I think there may be a way around this, using something like a web service, where the central site would connect to individual databases on separate servers to query them, but I'm not sure whether there are any clear standards for that yet.
Anyway, coming back to DVDs, I don't have a huge number of them, so it wouldn't be too hard to retype them all somewhere else. I did think about creating my own website (linking to a back-end database) for this, but I figured I should have a look around for an existing site first, rather than re-inventing the wheel (particularly if I want other people to enter their data). I found DVDLender, which looks pretty good: the idea is that you can belong to multiple "gangs", and only people in the same gang as you can see what you've got. This means that I can have different gangs for different circles of friends, without needing any transitive relations between them. You can then search for a DVD, it will show you everyone who has a copy, and you can click a button to ask to borrow it.
It's a free site, and seems to have been set up out of genuine goodwill, rather than as a money-making scheme. (They get commission from Amazon sales, but that's all.) Having said that, I'm not sure how much it's maintained, and from a technical point of view I can see several areas for improvement; also, the DVDs I've picked at random from my own collection aren't in their central list yet, so it will take a bit longer to add them. Still, I think it's worth playing with, so "if you wanna be in my gang" then just let me know. Alternately, if you know of any better sites elsewhere, I'd be interested to hear about them too.
Meanwhile, speaking of videos, here are a couple of good YouTube clips that I saw on Peter David's blog recently:
* March of the Emperor - very funny.
* Pandas - quite cute, although you'll need to have sound turned on to get the full effect.
Edit: PaperbackSwap seems to work on a similar principle, although it's only for the US, and arranges donations between strangers rather than temporary loans between friends.
The normal version is free, you enter dvd by barcode number (or reader if you have one) or can search for it in their database. The database is user maintained and the obsessive DVD collectors keep it pretty much up to date (I may occasionally be one of them...).
It's a windows app that lets you publish your collection to their site (mine is at - http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/cowfishbill) and the software allows you to mark where dvds are in location as well as who they have been loaned to (it can be used by small/medium video shops).
The pay-for version gives you a few more features and "high res" cover scans...I've never felt the need.
And if you want to borrow any of my DVDs, let me know - that page is pretty much up to date, although I need to do an audit (the software prints out lists to do that as well...I quite like it, you may be able to tell :)
The other site I'm looking at is BillMonk (partly because it reminds me of the "Monkfish!" sketches from The Fast Show). There's an interview with the guys who developed it here, who both used to work at Amazon.com. I think that shows in the app itself, since it has a handy "bulk entry" feature, where you can enter a series of codes (e.g. ISBN numbers) and it will look them up against the Amazon website of your choice. Conveniently, it will accept line breaks as a separator, so I can run a SELECT query in my existing database, then copy/paste the results. So far it's been doing pretty well about matching the results; it couldn't find a few ISBN-13 numbers, but it did recognise the corresponding ISBN-10 numbers. The bulk entry page stopped loading properly in IE7 after my first go (it keeps saying that I have a local copy of the page that's out of date), so I'm using it in Firefox 2.0 instead, and that's working fine.
One advantage of BillMonk is that it can track more than just DVDs, e.g. books/music/games/clothing. They also have a system for tracking financial debts between friends, although I doubt I'll use that. The main disadvantage is that they limit each person's "library" to 500 items, which in my case is woefully inadequate :) Following up on sulkyblue's post about social networking sites, BillMonk will accept FaceBook accounts; that's no use to me, but I can see it being helpful if it's one less password to remember. The way visibility works is closer to LiveJournal than DVDLender is; rather than me defining a "gang", each person defines their own group of friends. That's more flexible, but it also involves a bit more work and duplication of effort for the individual people involved.
also didnt lorna write a dvd sharign thing a while back. or rwas that books i forget.
As for the bulk uploading, the software downloads a complete copy of the title and basic metadata database to your machine, so after you enter a barcode it find the dvd pretty much instantaneously. It then looks up all the DVDs you've entered on the dvdprofiler site and downloads all the user entered info from there - which is a cross between IMDB, Amazon and random obsessive information enterer's info. I don't think it's got a bulk imprt where you can just give it a text file though - you have to type/scan things directly into the app.
Meanwhile, I submitted a couple of suggestions/requests to BillMonk last night (one of which was about their 500 item limit), and the automatic acknowledgment said that they'd reply within 24 hours, so I'm waiting to see how they get back to me as well. They can duel for the privilege of giving me a free service, mu-ha-ha!
I remember the experiment that one of our windows devs tried a couple of years back - he tried to develop using visual studio and a non-admin account. He lasted a few weeks, but gave up in the end.
Yes, I remember you mentioning that, and I've been meaning to write a post about my experiences with non-admin for the last year or so :) I gave a talk about this for my SJA skilled presenter training, so I'll try to transcribe my notes over the weekend.
As for the app itself, I am generally impressed by it, to the extent that I think I'll switch over to this as my primary database (replacing the Access file I've got at the moment), so thank you for the recommendation. I've entered most of my disks now, and I should get the rest of them finished tonight. I also found a couple that weren't already in the main database, so I have one contribution pending ("Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 & 2") - feel free to review that and vote on it :)
Of course, that would probably require a big CDDB style database to already exist :/


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|You are in: World: Americas
Wednesday, 17 May, 2000, 23:32 GMT 00:32 UK
Pressure to quit Kosovo
By Paul Reynolds in Washington
The House of Representatives in the United States has called for American troops to withdraw from Kosovo next year unless other Nato countries meet their troop commitments.
The Senate is considering an even stronger proposal which would require Congress to vote in favour of US troops staying in Kosovo past July 2001.
Both proposals are being opposed by the Clinton administration and the Republican presidential candidate, George W Bush.
Pressuring Nato allies
The House vote calls for the president to certify by April of next year that Washington's Nato allies have substantially met their commitments for funding the development of civil society in Kosovo.
If this cannot be certified, US funds would be used only to pay for the withdrawal of American troops from the province.
The Congressional moves reflect concern about the open-ended commitment the US is making towards peacekeeping in a number of countries and is in line with an emerging American belief that regional powers should take the lead in solving crises.
This attitude has been evident most recently in Sierra Leone.
It is not certain, however, that the Senate will approve the proposed restriction.
The Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, made a strongly worded speech opposing the restriction on US involvement in Kosovo. She said that it was playing with fire and would be seen as weakness which would attract the vultures.
And Governor George W Bush has told Senate Republicans that the plan is an overreach by Congress and would threaten presidential rights over foreign policy.
Mr Bush is hoping to avoid having his hands tied over Kosovo if he becomes president. A leading Republican Senator said that this intervention could kill the proposal.
See also:
18 Mar 00 | Europe
Balkan aid project to cost $1.5bn
09 Mar 00 | Europe
The implications: Strains within Nato
17 Mar 00 | Europe
Unfinished business in the Balkans
28 Feb 00 | Europe
Kosovo: What happened to peace?
17 Feb 00 | Europe
Nato 'stays until Milosevic goes'
16 Mar 00 | Europe
Kosovo one year on
Internet links:
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Links to more Americas stories are at the foot of the page.
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Specific Proposal Preperations
Commercial/Industrial Sponsors
Commercial/industrial organizations may become an increasingly important source of research support. Support resulting from relatively informal technical discussion between the sponsor and investigator is encouraged. However, the business portion of these agreements must be negotiated by University. Therefore, do not discuss financial or other business aspects of the proposal or the agreement (e.g., monetary compensation, patents, etc.) until you have consulted with the OSP. All proposals must be approved by your primary Department Chair, Vice President for Financial Affairs, the OSP Director and the Provost before they are submitted to the potential sponsor. Failure to do so could result in disapproval of the agreement. Any Confidentiality/ Non-Disclosure Agreement associated with sponsored research support that commercial/industrial sponsors may request of a faculty member will require review by the OSP prior to execution of the agreement.
Unsolicited Proposals
When specific application formats are not provided, the following minimum items should be a part of the unsolicited proposal (in addition to the Sign Off Sheet and the Information Form to Accompany All Proposals):
- cover letter
- cover page with space for institutional endorsement signatures
- statement of work to be performed
- budget
In cases where the industrial sponsor prefers a negotiated fee per completed unit of service, an internal expenditure budget needs to be developed to explicitly demonstrate that all costs are included. The budget must also include all direct and indirect costs (using the pre-approved percentage).
Copies of any written response from the industry concerning your proposal must be made available to your Department Chair and the OSP. If a formal contract is desired, the Business Office personnel with the OSP will negotiate one with the industrial sponsor.
Be sure you are familiar with Fisk University's Intellectual Property Guidelines and related policies before you develop any relationships with commercial organizations (see Intellectual Property Policies and Procedures in Section V of this manual). If a commercial or industrial organization initiates contact regarding support of your research, discuss the potential agreement with the Office of Sponsored Programs Director before any formal documents or oral understandings have been formulated.
Formal associations with commercial organizations such as Consulting agreements, Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements and scientific advisory board agreements require review by Fisk's OSP at an early stage of discussion (prior to a final agreement, i.e. during the proposal formulation). This action is taken to ensure that they comply with University policies, and that they have been approved in writing by your Department Chair, Division Director and Provost from the standpoint of conflict of commitment. Work for a commercial sponsor, non-profit organization (such as another institution of higher learning), or individual, performed using Fisk's facilities should be via a contract between the University and the organization, not a consulting agreement between the faculty member and the purchasing agent. For example, screening tests for growth inhibition performed by a Fisk faculty member should be via a contract with the University, not a consulting agreement.
Questions on the Fisk Information Sheet (Appendix F) request disclosure of relationships which may be viewed as conflicts of interest. Reviewing such information will allow the OSP to advise investigators regarding the applicable sponsor and institutional policies.
White Papers/Concept Papers
Some foundations or other agencies will sometimes request a succinct description of proposed work prior to the submission of a full grant application.
This 'white paper' or 'concept paper' is usually limited to less than ten pages (sometimes as few as one or two pages), with an abbreviated budget or simple statement of approximate cost. White papers which contain a budget that is binding must also be approved via the Sign Off Sheet. If the budget is given as a single line item (that is to say there is NO breakdown whatsoever), approval by the Vice President of Financial Affairs is not required at this stage of the application process. If the agency is interested in your idea, they may request a full proposal, at which time, budget items will be subject to a thorough review. The 'White Paper' process is a time saving and cost efficient tool. Investigators do not have to invest large amounts of time and energy into projects that are non-fundable or of no interest to a particular agency. Also, the funding agencies will not have to commit significant resources in the review process of many fully developed grant applications.
Discipline Specific/Targeted Granting
Discipline Specific or Targeted Granting Organizations (American Cancer Society, American Chemical Society, American Association of Retired Persons, etc.)
These organizations may have official application forms which are available upon individual request. Direct communication with the sponsor is necessary. Due to cost cutting efforts, multiple forms will not routinely be sent to institutions, unless individual inquiries are made.
Foundations and Corporate Foundations
There are many different kinds of foundations that will fund projects of Fisk University. Some have application forms others simply require a letter. Direct communication with the sponsor will reveal procedures necessary to apply for support. However, before direct contact with a foundation is initiated, approval must be obtained from the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.
Many foundation programs limit the number of applications per institution for a grant cycle (e.g., David and Lucille Packard Scholars). Such programs need to be cleared through the Office of the Provost and the OSP to determine selection of the applications to be submitted. Time will be required for this process and must be taken into account when faced with deadlines.
Unsolicited project applications to foundations require institution-wide coordination in order to avoid flooding a particular foundation with competing applications. Requests made to the same foundations for both project support and general fund raising may compete against one another. Therefore, the OSP must coordinate the project applications to such foundations with the University Development staff. Discuss your interest in foundations with the OSP and it will clear your ideas with the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.


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Welcome summer with a mouthwatering collection of recipes, from grilled grub to fruity salads to icy treats to frosty beverages…and so much more!
Memorial Day weekend is the typical kick-off for dusting off those grills and initiating those summertime menus, so I thought it would be fun today to put together a round-up of recipes to keep you cooking (and drooling) all summer long! I hope you enjoy these warm weather favorites from the Five Heart Home archives, as well as some delicious contributions from the best in blogland!
Peanut Butter Cookie S'mores Pizza | Five Heart Home
Minty Peach Tea Punch | Five Heart Home
Tortellini Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, & Fresh Corn | Five Heart Home
Spicy Pineapple Chicken Kabobs | The Gunny Sack
Greek Salad Skewers | Little Broken Blog
Skillet S'mores Dip | Five Heart Home
Farmers' Market Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing | Yellow Bliss Road
Texas Pesto | Five Heart Home
Frosted Lemonade {Chick-Fil-A Copycat} | Your Homebased Mom
Ultimate Stuffed Cheeseburger Sliders | Five Heart Home
Watermelon Salsa | Kleinworth & Co.
Homemade Blackberry Cobbler | Five Heart Home
Easy Oven-Baked Barbecue Chicken| Love Grows Wild
Greek Chicken Pasta Salad | Five Heart Home
S'mores Oreo Icebox Cake | Inside BruCrew Life
Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa | Five Heart Home
Quick & Easy Tomato Basil Couscous | Maison de Pax
Baked Parmesan Zucchini Rounds | Five Heart Home
Banana Berry Split | Lemon Tree Dwelling
German Potato Salad | Five Heart Home
Grilled Balsamic Peaches | A Family Feast
Minty Peach Lemonade | Five Heart Home
Balsamic Grilled Flank Steak | Taste and Tell
Fajita Chicken Kebabs | Well Plated by Erin
Authentic German Potato Salad | Five Heart Home
Frozen Grasshopper Squares | Lil' Luna
Bacon-Wrapped, Cheese-Stuffed Hot Dogs | Five Heart Home
Overnight Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast Bake | Life Made Sweeter
Key Lime Pie with a Pretzel Crust & Coconut Whipped Cream | Five Heart Home
Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Crema & Mango Salsa | Club Narwhal
Tomato Cucumber Salad with Olives & Feta | Five Heart Home
No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie | The Recipe Critic
Grilled Tex-Mex Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers | Julie's Eats & Treats
Cherry Vanilla Wine Slushies | Five Heart Home
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry S'mores | Like Mother Like Daughter
The Easiest, Tastiest, BEST Way to Cook Fresh Corn on the Cob {Oven Roasting} | Five Heart Home
Honey Mustard Chicken & Bacon Skewers | Diary of a Recipe Collector
Fruity Granitas | Real Food by Dad
Double Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream {Dairy-Free} | Five Heart Home
Red, White, & Blueberry Chicken Salad | I Should Be Mopping the Floor
Strawberry Lemonade Mojitos {or} Faux-jitos | Five Heart Home
Blueberry Coconut Bars | Tastes of Lizzy T
Slow Cooker Charro Beans | Five Heart Home
Cherry Sangria | Wine and Glue
Homemade Lemon Ice | Little Miss Celebration
White Chocolate Cheesecake Fruit Dip | Five Heart Home
Tropical Fruit Smoothie Bowls | Pint Sized Baker
Grilled Caprese Chicken | Delightful E Made
Carrot Apple Slaw | Five Heart Home
Pineapple Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls | Baking A Moment
Marinated Grilled Flank Steak | Five Heart Home
Rainbow Veggie Skewers | Gimme Some Oven
Coconut Cashews | Dessert Now Dinner Later
Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes | Five Heart Home
Choco-Taco | Love Bakes Good Cakes
Blueberry Buttermilk Sherbet | Five Heart Home
Couscous Salad with Peaches & Arugula | Cooking with Curls
Red, White, & Blue Watermelon Salad | Five Heart Home
Quesadilla Burger | Will Cook for Smiles
Dye-Free Fruit Juice Snow Cones | Five Heart Home
Red, White, & Blueberry Healthy Fruit Popsicles | Yummy Healthy Easy
Tangy Cucumber Salad with Dill | Five Heart Home
Mini Portobello Margherita Pizza | Joyful Healthy Eats
Southern Baked Beans | Five Heart Home
Blueberry Lemonade | Carmel Moments
Strawberry Banana Popsicles | Five Heart Home
Baked Key Lime Donuts | The Emotional Baker
Tomato Cucumber Pasta Salad with Avocado | Five Heart Home
* * * * * * * * * * *


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Her (and the Top 10 most terrifying films about technology)
Available next week on Blu-Ray and DVD, Her is the latest film from director Spike Jonze and stars Joaquin Phoenix as a writer named Theodore who is on the verge of divorce from his wife and who tries to console himself by purchasing a new operating system for all his tech gadgets.
If that sounds like it might be a fairly dull concept for a film, think again; this is Spike Jonze we're talking about here, the man behind films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, so as you might expect things do get a little weird.
First of all, this isn't just any old operating system. OS-1 is billed as the first operating system to feature artificial intelligence - as the advertisement tells us, 'it's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness' - and in this case it's one with a female persona named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The lovelorn Theodore soon begins to find himself falling in love with Samantha, which is reciprocated by the seductive-sounding operating system.
On the one hand, the film is lovingly put together and the odd concept is no problem for Jonze, who handles the idea with a delicacy and poignancy that actually makes this a very heart-warming film, helped along by a great performance from Phoenix who lends a level of intimacy to the role that really makes the film what it is.
On the other hand though, the film does raise so many questions about our relationship with new technology and the concept itself is a fairly terrifying one that shares a few common threads with one of the episodes of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, in which a woman buys an app and, later, a computer-generated facsimile of her deceased husband, in order to help get over her loss.
Her is by no means the first film to address our fears about technology - as far back as 1927 Fritz Lang was addressing some of these in Metropolis - so we decided we'd put together a list of the Top 10 most terrifying instances of what happens when technology goes bad on the silver screen…
I, Robot
Isaac Asimov's Robots series of books quite literally set the rules for robotic behaviour on the big screen and Alex Proyas' 2004 film starring Will Smith makes use of modern CGI to bring the film's terrifying concept to life. When a new series of robots is produced, the manufacturers secretly embed a new type of firmware that allows them to override the robots system of moral conduct, allowing them for the first time to harm humans. The results make for an Orwellian nightmare in which thousands of robots turn from servant to master, imprisoning their owners in their own homes, and only the technophobic Del Spooner (Smith) can see what's coming.
This classic from Disney was released in 1982 when arcade gaming was right in the middle of its golden age. Jeff Bridges stars as Flynn, the owner of a video game arcade and a talented programmer / hacker who gets sucked into the machine universe when an experiment to digitise objects goes wrong, leaving him to battle his way out of a system that has been corrupted by the Master Control Programme, a mutation of one of his creations that rules the cyberworld in a decidedly totalitarian fashion. Lauded at the time for its special effects, even if they do look a bit dated now, this film has grown into a cult classic, but it's another example of machines developing a consciousness that quickly turns malevolent.
Event Horizon
Paul Anderson's 1997 film stars Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill as two members of a rescue crew sent to recover a pioneering research ship that suddenly returns after being sucked into a black hole, but something sinister now inhabits the ship, which seems to have developed a form of consciousness and annihilated her own crew. We'd advise avoiding the pause button on your Blu-Ray player if you're squeamish, as some of the images flashed across the screen are pretty gruesome, but the film has a tension that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick's classic space adventure introduced us to HAL, the ruthless ship's computer that puts scientific discovery before human life. The often disorientating plot involves a race to series of monoliths placed throughout the universe by an mysterious, unknown entity that act as a catalyst for evolution. Things unravel as HAL takes control of Dr. Dave Bowman's spaceship in order to reach the next stage of evolution for itself. HAL's cold, unfeeling malevolence is a concept that has been copied many times.
Minority Report
Philip K. Dick's novels have featured some of the most terrifying 'what if' scenarios ever seen in science fiction, but the one that really sends a shiver down our spines is depicted in Minority Report. The concept is a reasonably familiar one: government arrogantly believes new system is flawless but fails to anticipate the consequences if the system is actually flawed. In this case, the idea is that of three 'pre-cogs', gifted humans with an ability to predict the future through their dreams who are kept in sensory deprivation tanks and wired to a sophisticated computer that allows the 'pre-crime' department of the police force to apprehend people for crimes they have yet to commit. What the government neglects to tell people is that, sometimes, the pre-cogs disagree on future events, hiding any minority predictions and going with the 'two-out-of-three-ain't-bad' rule of thumb. As Tom Cruise's character discovers to his peril, this has the potential to wrongly convict the innocent for something they never even intended to do, and if that doesn't frighten you, we're not sure what will…
Probably the film on this list that bears the most similarity to Spike Jonze's new film, Transcendence stars Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster, a scientist who is striving to create the first artificial intelligence programme, but things get dangerously out of hand when he uploads his own consciousness into the system following an attempt on his life by a terrorist ground named RIFT (Revolutionary Independence From Technology), who are opposed to the new system fearing it could be the downfall, not the saviour, of humanity. Also starring Paul Bettany, Morgan Freeman and Rebecca Hall, it's a nightmarish depiction of what can happen when artificial intelligence surpasses our own.
Maximum Overdrive
Directed by Stephen King and starring Emilio Estevez, this film from 1986 is less scary than it is ludicrous in its depiction of what can happen when technology goes bad, but it does feature one of the funniest death scenes ever to grace a cinema screen. Based on one of King's short stories (Trucks, in case you were wondering) the film hasn't aged well, but the concept of every piece of electronic equipment in the world, from cash machines to electric chainsaws, suddenly developing a murderous consciousness is a pretty frightening one.
Kairo (Pulse)
Being a Japanese horror film, Kairo has, of course, already had a hollywood remake in the form of Pulse, but in our opinion Kiyoshi Kurosawa's original just edges it in the terror stakes. Set in a Japanese university, a group of students try to solve a series of strange happenings following the death of one of their friends, leading them to a webcam that offers communication with the dead. It's quite a slow-moving film, but it's paced for maximum tension and there are moments that will have you jumping out of your seat. Not for the faint-hearted…
This John Hughes film from 1983 stars a young Matthew Broderick as a computer-savvy teenager who accidentally hacks into a super-computer that is able to control the world's nuclear weapons. When he challenges the computer to a game that he believes to be a simulation, he inadvertently begins the countdown to World War III. He must then embark on a mission to find the man who created the system in the hope that the countdown can be stopped before the computer causes Armageddon. If you're a parent, now might be a good time to check on whether that's really 'homework' your kids are doing up there…
Starring Bruce Willis and Rosamund Pike, Jonathan Mostow's 2009 film is set in a future where humans stay in the comfort of their own homes and instead send out 'surrogates' - robotic versions of their younger, fitter selves - to carry out their day-to-day lives, creating a utopian society where fear, crime and murder are all but eradicated, but when the first murder for many years uncovers a secret government plot, Greer (Willis) abandons his surrogate to unravel the mystery. The really terrifying thing about this whole scenario is what happens to the actual humans as they stay festering inside their homes, never venturing into sunlights and becoming pale shadows of their former selves.
Her is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Monday (June 23rd) in hmv stores across the UK.


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Some say that unity must proceed the Eucharist; others say that the Eucharist leads to unity.
We can look at Marriage to serve as an analogy for this question. When a couple first mets, there is little unity. As they learn more about one another that unity grows until one day they may express a desire to be as united in the sacrament of matrimony. That sacrament actually unites the two, and while they are still individuals they continue to grow in love and unity.
Unity is on both sides of that sacrament. A marriage does not actually take place unless both parties truly desire unity prior to the sacrament. At the same time, unity is fulfilled as a result of the sacrament.
So, both statements are true: unity must proceed the Eucharist and the Eucharist leads to unity. However, the unity preceding the sacrament will be incomplete.
I believe the unity which precedes is largely absent from both parties (Catholics and Protestants). With out the desire for unity (again, on both sides), the act unifying us is not possible.
The wide-spread sharing of the Eucharist is certainly the end goal, but this is "putting the carriage before the horse." Its like proposing on the second date. Even statements of common faith produced by high-level Church officials is a bit too soon.
Unity must begin on the lowest level; between congregations and individuals. We must know each other before we can express our unity with one another. Let us participate in ministry together, have fellowship, and study the Bible together. Through this our unity may grow to a point when we may be able to express it more fully.


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Heavy Hauling
We have the brains and the brawn to move the biggest equipment or material loads, in the most challenging applications, and on the most complex projects. If you've got big things to move, we're the Big Mover Specialists.
Hohl Industrial Services Inc.'s wide range of experience encompasses a broad range of projects involving heavy hauling of high-value components and equipment. Our team of experts make the Hohl Industrial Services Inc. difference, with the experience and knowledge to do it right.
These include:
- Project Managers
- Skilled Tradesmen
- Fabricators
- Machinist: Hohl Industrial Services Inc. utilizes the leading names in heavy lifting, transportation, erecting and related equipment including:
- Goldhofer hydraulic platform trailer systems
- Lift-N-Lock(TM) gantry systems
- Grove and Todano Cranes
- Taylor, Hyster, Clark and Royal Forklifts
Heavy Hauling Services and heavy hauling equipment are provided from Buffalo New York throughout New York State and Western Pennsylvania. Eastern Ohio including Cleveland, Canton, and Warren/ Youngstown is serviced by our Burton Ohio operations.


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Studies at LUT Business Administration
At the Interface of Business and Technology
LUT Business Administration is a dynamic and agile teaching and research unit at Lappeenranta University of Technology, unique in its specific areas of expertise. We educate highly skilled and flexible professionals who understand the laws of economics while acknowledging the importance of technology as the driving force of business. As part of a university of technology it emphasises the interface between business and technology, and has specific expertise on Russian markets. Its efficiency is rooted in a results-oriented and collaborative culture.
Our students are actively involved in the activities of the school and enjoy the spirit of the academic community.
Specialized Master's programmes
The mission of LUT Business Administration is to offer focused programmes and contribute to new knowledge on sustainable competitive advantage among firms in global markets for the benefit of the international academic community, the students, and society in general.
The current degree portfolio of LUT Business Administration comprises two general programmes and four specialised Master's programmes. The Bachelor's programme is taught in Finnish and there is no international admission. There are four specialised Master's Programmes that are also open to international students: International Marketing Management (MIMM), Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability (MSIS) (possibility to a double-degree programme with St. Petersburg State University, Graduate School of Management), Supply Management (MSM) and Strategic Finance and Business Analytics (MSF).
Focused Doctoral Programme
The overarching aim at the LSB doctoral education strategy is to offer focused multi-disciplinary programme in our areas of research expertise with international partners. The doctoral programme of the Business Administration welcomes applications twice a year. For further information about completing the postgraduate degree of Doctor of Science (Economics and Business Administration), please visit the page for postgraduate studies at the Business Administration.
From this Uni-portal you can find information about studies at LUT Business Administration.


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Book Review: A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960
February 3, 2018
Robin Sutton Harris was born on October 27th, 1919 in Toronto, Ontario. In 1941, Harris received his BA in English Language and Literature from honor courses within the University of Toronto's English department. After a brief period of war service, he found himself teaching at the elementary school level for about a year before applying returning to his Alma mater. Here, in 1947, Harris earned his MA degree in English. He accepted a temporary instructor-ship at the University of Western Ontario, and his experience teaching in upper academia encouraged him to continue his own education. In 1952, Harris received his PhD in English and Education after surviving the rigorous doctoral program at the University of Michigan. His dissertation, "The Place of English Studies in a University Program of General Education" laid the groundwork for his interest in the foundations of Canadian and American higher education systems. Harris passed away on February 11th, 2000 at the age of eighty.
Harris spent most of his academic life teaching and researching the history of higher education. His contribution to both the fields of education and history were recognized by Claude Bissell – the 8th President of the University of Toronto – as he was appointed to the position of 'University Historian'. At the height of his career, Harris received honorary degrees from both the University of Western Ontario and the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. I see no room for bias in such analytical and research-based writing. His books, including A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960, all have substantial merit and show applied research in a way that showcases a true form of advanced historiography.
If one were to cycle through some of Harris's works, one would witness his incredible infatuation with the evolution and changing patterns of higher education in Canada on both a provincial and national sense. He had twelve major publications[1], with his most significant work being his six-hundred-plus page study titled A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960. It reads exactly as one would expect, with academic vomit-thought that goes above and beyond what the average reader could take advantage of. The history, albeit as complete as "fifteen years of research"[2] could possibly be, leaves one in a sea of wine-dark ambiguity and language that could easily startle if not completely isolate a majority of possible readers. If one can think through Harris's language, then one would be able to evaluate the books ground-breaking research and outstanding history.
The book itself is far more valid than it even needs to be. Harris's background in the field and his extensive fifteen-year period of research shows readers a staggering amount of information with sources along every step of the way. Each chapter ends with a "notes" section, highlighting endnotes and leading to additional resources concerning the topics that had been previously discussed. At the end of this rather large work exists appendixes filled with data tables and a complete bibliography. Any questions on validity or credibility of A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960 are almost instantly answered by the immense amount of research provided.
A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960 is separated into five distinct events over a period of nearly three hundred years. From the royal visit of Prince Albert Edward (later crowned Edward VII) which showcased staggering connections between Canadian enterprises of education with those across the pond to the altering of federal and provincial "higher education" exactly one hundred years later, Harris analyzes the critical events in Canadian educational history.[3] Perhaps the most astonishing problem within the Canadian education system, as portrayed through Harris's extensive research, would be the complete separation of French and English Canadian provinces.
Even as Prince Albert Edward roamed the sprawling urban universities in 1860, he was careful to avoid Roman Catholic institutions regardless of academic prowess.[4] I believe that this very well marks just how the English culture and the French culture of Canadian geography and history have always been at odds. Such stark differences in language and religion created chaotic differences in how English Canadians and French Canadians created and continued their universities and colleges.
The book dedicates a very early chunk of its foundation to highlighting the development of higher education in both French and English Canada from the very beginning until around the period of 1860, when conferences and educational societies began the attempt to bring scholarship and research together to improve upon the floundering and separatist provincial governments. With two major cultures at constant odds against one another, Harris attempts to find out if Canada's education system is sui generis, or unique, in any way or if the country had ultimately stolen its learning theory and university foundations from each of the 'founding nations' of their society. [5]
In a sense, the main question would have to be whether their education was inherently Canadian by nature, or if "Canadian" education had crawled behind the well-established ideologies presented by Father France or Mother England. As Canadians began heading for increased institutional development on a more national and legislative level, it appears as if the Canadian system took shape as a fully independent and sui generis system.[6] As the Canadian economic position in the world allowed for increased budgets and slight compromise (rather than unity) across the provinces and territories, the nation's education system began migrating away from those of the 'major players' that the growing nation had been forced to copy early on in their colonial history.
Prior to 1850, ten years before Prince Albert Edward visited English-speaking universities, Canadian colleges were nothing more than "transplants from England, Scotland, the United States, and France." It was secularization, throughout the 1850s, that would eventually distance Canada's concept of education from neighboring forces and ancestral heritage. Harris refers to this as "the Canadianization of the curricula", something that would take centuries to come into fruition as the country had to shed much of their adoration for previously existing systems.[7] With no early sense of identity or history, the provinces had to play catch-up to become something unique and advanced.
Professional reviews have been on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to the presentation and necessity of A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960. In a review published by The Canadian Historical Review in 1977, writer A.R.M. Lower claimed that "Mr. Harris's book is hard to review, […] as it is a manual rather than a history". The History of Education Quarterly published a review by Paul Axelrod claiming that Harris should have "narrowed his ambitions and deepened his analysis [to have a] greater contribution to his subject". This is a historiography of higher education, one with a focus on research and scholarship across a country that has become a melting pot of many distinct cultures. The history itself is obtuse and infinite in many ways, which made writing this book a lengthy challenge. Had Harris "narrowed his ambitions", I highly doubt that his overall thesis would have been sufficiently answered.
Robert Lawson, a professor at the University of Calgary, stated that "[…it] is a work of master craftsmanship, flawless in its form and precious in its substance. No other such complete record exists, so the book will surely serve as a basic reference for educational historians as well as for those with general and specific interests in Canadian higher education." This is by far the most accurate representation of the book, in my professional opinion. A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663 – 1960 is an extensive work that is unrivaled due to its sheer amount of content.
Overall, I would have the same opinion as Robert Lawson when it comes to recommending this book to anyone. As stated earlier, the language and structure of the piece would be an instant nosebleed to those who were uninterested in Canadian history or educational history. To those Canadians who wish to know why their schools have 'failed' them or those Americans who are deeply interested in the neighbors to the north, I would highly suggest picking up some light reading before attempting to finish this masterpiece of research.
Read more: J. L. Granatstein and the Message of Multiculturalism in Canadian History
[1] "Harris, Robin S." Harris, Robin S. - Senior College Encyclopedia. September 13, 2015. Accessed January 15, 2018. https://sce.library.utoronto.ca/index.php?title=Harris%2C_Robin_S. [2] Harris, Robin S. A History of Higher Education in Canada, 1663-1960. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Pr., 1978, pp. xvi. [3] Ibid, pp. xxi, 3-8. [4] Ibid, pp. 9-10. [5] Ibid, pp.14-36. [6] Ibid, pp. 103. [7] Ibid, pp. xix.


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Projects on corrective measures develop the correct application of corrective and preventive measures initially proposed in an Environmental Impact Assessment and, if an Environmental Impact Statement has been issued, the specific measures indicated in this last document.
They usually are part of the civil works construction projects, reaching the same level of detail as these, and they should lead to and allow the correct and exact execution of the restoration works.
Important aspects of these projects are, for example, the design and construction details of visual shields or noise barriers, wildlife bridges and underpasses, landscaping of slopes or landscape integration of manmade structures by seeding, hidro-seeding and planting native species, installation of nest boxes, installation of bird scarers on power lines, etc. among many other possible corrective measures.


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Samsung is toting that they're all about color these days with their displays, from their "tab into color" event held earlier last month to unveil the Galaxy Tab S to the recent TV commercial that had been uploaded to YouTube called "turning up the color" and apparently directed by Jake Scott, who commonly directs other TV commercials and film. Before you rush to YouTube or the source link below to look for the video and watch it,(normally we would have posted it here)it appears that it may have been pulled. Upon attempting to watch the video of the commercial ourselves, it came back with an error and hitting the button to watch it on YouTube provided us with no results either.
This is the third TV commercial for the Galaxy Tab S that Samsung will be putting out, focusing on the superior quality of the Super AMOLED display that users can expect to interact with when they purchase a Galaxy Tab S. Samsung believes that the screen on the Galaxy Tab S is unrivaled and they want to show consumers that there is no better device for an exceptional viewing experience. This is also conveyed with a statement from Samsung's Executive VP of Global marketing Younghee Lee, who stated that "There is no other tablet on the market that can compete with the unrivaled viewing experience, innovative design aesthetics, and industry-leading productivity features of the Galaxy Tab S"
The Galaxy Tab S comes in both 10.5-inch and 8.4-inch models, and both tablets are now on sale here in the U.S. as of June 27th which was just a few days ago. You can find the tablets at a handful of online and brick and mortar retailers including Amazon and Samsung's own website, for $399 if you want to pick yourself an 8.4-inch model and $499 if you're looking to grab a 10.5-inch model. Both tablets also come in two colors, White and Titanium Bronze, with a gold trim around the edges. The Galaxy Tab S also carries the same perforated looking back as the Galaxy S5 which everyone already knows but should have also been expected. Both models also come in 16GB and 32GB internal storage models.


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Main Content
Novis Vita Juicer at Abt
The Novis Vita Juicer is a new type of kitchen appliance that combines four functions in to one beautiful product: juicing, pressing, blending and Vitatec.
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X3M Music soul singer Simi basked out from her Simisola album and debuts his first single of the year titled I Dun Care.
The hardworking Joromi singer has bagged different awards this year, Its no doubt Simi's new single tagged I Dun Care is a banger.
Asides I Dun Care, Simi had worked with various artistes this year including Johnny Drille of Mavin Records on Halleluya, Simialso premieres loads of videos off her last year sophomore album Simisola.


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Guest post by John Victor
Thanks again to John, who earlier wrote a guest post about the Pring-Wilson trial, for providing his analysis of another high-profile case.
The killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman is a story that ran through most of the media earlier this year, with strong opinions expressed on both sides of the issue. Martin was shot by Zimmerman as he walked to his father's apartment in a gated community. Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watcher who was armed, followed Martin assuming he was a potential burglar. The two had a confrontation, where Zimmerman pulled out his holstered handgun and shot Martin.
Contrary to reports in the media, it is possible to reenact the murder and to discredit the stories coming out of the Zimmerman camp. My own background is in martial arts and I do reenactments of street crimes for the purposes of self-defense training.
Zimmerman's first story (as related by his brother to the media) is full of easily discredited holes. He claims that Trayvon Martin was seated on top of him, smashing his head against the pavement, whereas he went for his holstered gun and shot him in the chest. This story is as unlikely as "space aliens made him do it."
Let's start with the position that Martin and Zimmerman were allegedly in. It's called "the mount" as shown in the following picture: READ MORE
One of the keys to understanding a street fight is that "multitasking" is not an option for most people. When a karate master takes on, say, three attackers simultaneously, his or her approach is to deal with this as one single attack and not three separate attacks. Screaming for help is a separate event from fighting. One does not fight and scream for help simultaneously. It's the party that has stopped fighting (or never engaged in a fight) that does the screaming.
I would put my money on Trayvon Martin as the screamer when he was pinned to the ground. Why not Zimmerman? Because he had an ace in the hole in this fight, his gun, and he would have been fighting to get to it, and not taking the time to do anything else. It would have been a single minded effort. Even assuming that Zimmerman was being "ground and pounded," he would know that he had the ultimate weapon in this fight, and that's what he would have been going for, and not screaming for help.
George's Shoes


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Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) believes that US Attorney General Eric Holder "purposefully" made remarks meant to "incite racial tensions" by talking about voter identification efforts at the NAACP.
In a statement released Tuesday, Perry calls on President Obama to apologize for Holder's speech at the NAACP, during which he said that voter identification laws amounted to a "poll tax":
"Perhaps while the President is visiting Texas, he can take a break from big-dollar fundraisers to disavow his Attorney General's offensive and incendiary comments regarding our common-sense voter identification law.
"In labeling the Texas voter ID law as a "poll tax," Eric Holder purposefully used language designed to inflame passions and incite racial tension. It was not only inappropriate, but simply incorrect on its face.
"The president should apologize for Holder's imprudent remarks and for his insulting lawsuit against the people of Texas."
The Department of Justice blocked Texas's law particularly because of its negative impact on Latino voters, saying that it violated the Voting Rights Act. Indeed, Texas judges seem to agree that the voter ID law would disenfranchise voters of color.
It's not incorrect to say that voter identification legislation effectively adds up to a poll tax: 25 percent of black and 16 percent of Latino eligible voters lack photograph identification — which can be expensive to obtain.
In fact, voter ID laws themselves may incite racial tension. A poll released yesterday revealed that people who are most supportive of voter ID efforts also tend to be those who harbor a lot of "racial resentment," particularly toward African Americans.


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Buckeye Gardening
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Don't have tickets to the next game? Better get on it.
Take a look at how the Buckeyes rate with the press, and maybe check out the competition.
The Official site of The Ohio State University Marching Band Percussion Section. An essential part of gameday.
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I have another Father's Day card today. And for this one I used Freshly Made Sketch #30, a great sketch for clean and simple designs. I think clean and simple is perfect for masculine cards.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
Cardstock: PTI Rustic White and Smokey Shadow
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico Classic Calico Vol 2
Stamps: Wplus9 Super Star, PTI Heart Prints and My Hero, My Dad
Ink: Colorbox Cranberry, PTI True Black and Pure Poppy
Other: MFT Die-namics Circle Stax 1 & 2, clear embossing powder
Size: 4.25" x 5.5"
April 15, 2012
It's Your Day! Dad
Posted by Linda Suarez at Sunday, April 15, 2012
Labels: Father's Day, Freshly Made
4 comments:
What a great Dad card! But you are freaking me out - I haven't done my Mom cards yet!!ReplyDelete
Such a great card for Father's Day. You are really ahead this year! Thanks for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches this week.ReplyDelete
What a wonderful dad card! I love it Linda! Thanks for joining us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!!!ReplyDelete
Great card Linda Luv Sue xReplyDelete
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Erstwhile Obama Administration "auto czar" Steve Rattner takes to the opinion page of the New York Times to argue that it's time to end the corporate income tax. Reacting to the same news I commented on earlier he writes:
A more ambitious, and therefore more politically difficult idea, would be to scrap our unworkable corporate tax system altogether and instead tax shareholders, first by eliminating low tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
That would offset only a small portion of the loss of corporate tax revenue (a projected $350 billion in 2015), so we should raise the balance by eliminating loopholes enjoyed by wealthy Americans, increasing rates on their earned income and potentially introducing new concepts, such as taxing gains on investments as stock prices rise rather than when they are sold.
The wealthy need not fear; eliminating corporate taxes would lead to a jump in business earnings and, consequently, stock prices. That would encourage similar actions by other countries. Otherwise, their companies might move here to enjoy a zero corporate tax rate.
Higher stock prices would also help pension funds, foundations and other tax-exempt institutions focused on social betterment.
While eliminating corporate taxation would be branded a giveaway, properly engineered reforms would provide a huge uplift to ordinary Americans.
It's heartening to see a Democratic Party apparatchik like Mr. Rattner getting behind eliminating the corporate income tax. As best as I can tell, it presently serves mostly to give large corporations that can afford armies of tax attorneys and accounts and are able to engineer exemptions for themselves a competitive advantage over small and medium companies that don't have the resources to do the same thing.
Just as a reminder, the U. S. has the highest marginal effective tax rate on corporate investment of any OECD country.


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On Dec. 17th 2015, the OSA student chapter at Zhejiang University organized a communicating activity with teachers and students of Chaoshan Centre Primary School located in the suburb of Yuhang District, Hangzhou,China, aiming to warm them up in the winter and arouse their interest in science. At the same time, we gave them an introduction of some basic optical knowledge. Twenty of our members took part in it.
The class began at 9:30 a.m. There were about 75 students attending our activity.
(the class is in session)
From morning to the afternoon, three lectures were reported in the class focusing on two different topics. One of the topics was to teach them some optical phenomena and the other one focused on the psychological health, including teaching them to firm in spirit and try their best to work hard.
During the first class, Weixi Liu and Huifang Chen, members of our OSA student chapter, gave them a class about the first topic mentioned above. They explained some basic optical phenomena to them, such as pin-hole imaging and mirage. They tried to ask more questions to make all of the students participate in the class. Most of the students raised their hands and answered these questions perfectly. At last, Jiang Li, the vice president of OSA student chapter at Zhejiang University; Jingye Chen, Jing Jia and Jingguang Tong, officers of our chapter, guided them to do some demonstrative experiment of optics using optical suitcase, and the students were excited to learn a lot from the interesting phenomena. To our surprise, one of the students found the explanation of polarization experiment in the class. All of the students were immersed in the interesting experiment. We gave them pieces of polarizers as a keepsake after class.
(Two of our members were explaining the optical phenomena)
(One of our members were guiding the kids to use polarizers)
As regards the second topic in this activity, members from Institute of Optical Inertia, the joint organizer of this activity, gave these students a psychological training lecture about dreams. When asked what dreams they have, these students spoke out their dreams confirmedly. One student stood up firstly, and said, "I want to study optics in the future." What a surprise! We were so happy to hear this voice coming from a little boy. Finally, we told them an inspiring story of an Australian person, Nick Vujicic, to encourage them and build up their confidence in life and study.
Through the whole activity, the students had expanded their horizons, particularly in the optics science. They were highly encouraged to have a dream and work hard, and were taught methods to solve the problems and overcome the problems they might meet in the future. Our members established the contact with the students, so that the students could get help after this activity. We are looking forward to cooperating with the teachers and students next time.
(The group photos of the members of OSA and joint organizers with the kids)
Happily and actively, students from Chaoshan Central Primary School participated in the activity. We were expecting to talk and share with them next time.
(Scene of Chaoshan Central Primary School and our members)
Article by Jingye Chen (firstname.lastname@example.com)
Photos by Jiang Li (firstname.lastname@example.com)&
Jing Jia (email@example.com)


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"There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness." - Frank Capra
Sunday, June 19, 2016
The Conjuring 2 Review
The Conjuring was a reawakening for me when it comes to an appreciation for horror cinema. Prior to that film being released I was very much a pessimist of the genre, as franchises like Saw and Hostel and Paranormal Activity had very little substance to them capable of keeping me interested for more than a handful of minutes. I remember being shocked by the positive reviews to The Conjuring as I figured it would be nothing more than recycled jump scares and fatigued tropes, so I went into it with an open mind...and I absolutely loved it. Rather than throw shit at us and pray that it made us jump, director James Wan showed an incredible amount of patience using mood and atmosphere and wonderfully creepy set pieces in order to make my skin crawl by building dread.
A sequel though? Don't horror sequels always disappoint compared to the original?
Well, yes and no. I am absolutely certain I prefer the first film at this moment, that doesn't mean I didn't dig the hell out of The Conjuring 2 as well. The aspects that fell short for me were the fact that Wan seemed a bit more reliant on those jump scares I mentioned before, and also that the haunted home and the characters that occupied it this time around just didn't quite engage me the way the Perron family and their big, creaky abode did back in 2013.
What does make me second guess myself though are when I think about those jump scares, because criticize the reliance on them all I want but lord are they executed masterfully. Often times I am not phased by these attempts to get me flying out of my seat, but goodness Wan did some extremely terrifying stuff here that did in fact make my heart skip a beat. This nun business...I just can't. Absolutely horrifying. The type of figure that will pop up in my mind in a few hours when I am trying to sleep, and next thing I know I will be laying awake in the middle of the night watching a comedy to try to trick my brain into thinking about something else.
One scene in particular involving Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and a painting of the face of the aforementioned nun...good gravy. I find myself looking into the other room trying to pierce my sight through the darkness because of it, fearing what lurks in the shadows. It keeps playing over and over in my thoughts and I am uncomfortable. I know it's all fake, I am far old enough to recognize the magic of movie making, yet when done right a horror film can trick us into believing in the unbelievable.
Speaking of Farmiga, she and Patrick Wilson as her husband Ed have demonstrated excellent chemistry through both of these films and thank heavens for them here because again, the family being terrorized at the center of this story just didn't win me over. I don't know what it was because there are plenty of pieces in play that I should be more sympathetic towards, like vulnerable kids and a struggling single mom, but they lacked the charisma that I gravitated towards in Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor and their kids showcased in the first film. This could also be because the love of the Warren's is more built up and focused on this time around with premonitions of death causing some second guessing as to whether they should even be involved in the first place, where as the familial dynamic in The Conjuring contained the most emotional depth.
The more I am thinking about it and writing about it, the more I appreciate The Conjuring 2. I recall the first time I watched the first film I was thrilled yet a bit nitpicky, and it played even stronger months later in my living room on Blu-ray. Gut feeling the same happens with the sequel.
Oh lord I just thought about the nun again.
Heaven help me.
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JEvents v1.5.2
Copyright © 2006-2009
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Download the brochure here: concession_scheme.pdf


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[trip style = weekend getaway]
This post is written by Trip Styler fashion and lifestyle blogger Heather.
Weekenders are the Goldilocks of the bag world, sitting pretty between totes and carry-ons. They're juuust right for quick jaunts home for the holidays, cozy mountain retreats, or sunny escapes.
A good weekender bag is roomy enough for a few costume changes and rugged enough for a beating in the trunk or overhead compartment. Look for features like handles AND detachable shoulder strap, plenty of interior pockets and zipper closure. Bonus points for water-repellant fabric, dark colors to hide dirt and leather that gets better with age.
Travel in style this winter with any of the eight durable and design-forward weekend bags shown above at price points you'll love ... and love to hate.
top row: Stephen Kenn encounter collection travel duffle, WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie hartsfield weekender tote, Filson small duffle bag middle row: JADEtribe maroc traveler, Lo & Sons the catalina, Baggu weekend bag bottom row: Joshu + Vela xl boat tote, Clare Vivier leather weekender
[graphics by @heatherlovesit]