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My first house after getting married was a 980-square-foot two-bedroom Ranch-style home. When our second child was on its way, it became obvious that we were going to be stretched for space. We needed to find a bigger place!
It's not unusual for a young couple to start off married life in a small home of less than about 1,000-1,500 square feet. Then the children start to come along, and space gets tight. Even more typical these days are Baby Boomers facing the empty nest syndrome, where the family has moved on and the married couple face living in a too-big house.
That's where the 2000-2500-square-foot house plan comes in. Like the momma bear's porridge, chair, and bed in the "The Three Bears," that size home plan is not too big, not too small – but just right. In fact, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the median-size single-family home currently being built in the United States new-construction housing market is 2,445 square feet.
We take a look at this house-plan segment to discover 10 popular features that house plans in the 2000-2500-square-foot range have to offer. And there is no lack of selection in architectural styles. From Craftsman to Country or Farmhouse to Ranch and more, you are sure to find something that strikes your fancy.
One of the hottest trends in recent years, the open floor plan – in which the kitchen, dining room, and family room are open to each other, without walls – makes the space seem larger and is conducive to family living and entertaining. It is a no-brainer for smallish family homes.
Typcial of the open floor plan, this space, which is in a stunning 3-bedroom, 3-bath Ranch-style house plan, spells exquisite modern living. The family is to the left, behind the chair peeking out at bottom left (Plan #106-1274).
Talk to anyone with experience managing a home, and you will hear the same thing: the kitchen – the heart of the home – is the most important space in the house. No matter what size the home, you should maximize the kitchen space and make sure it has plenty of storage, with lots of cabinets and if possible, a walk-in or closet pantry.
With plenty of cabinets here (and more base and wall cabinets to the left, just outside the view of the photograph) this kitchen sports storage galore, plus the added benefit of a walk-in pantry behind the translucent glass sliding door to the right, just past the wall ovens (Plan #153-1987).
A sure-fire way to make a smaller home live larger is with high ceilings. The more volume inside the shell of the house, the larger it will feel. If you can afford to have 9-foot-high ceilings – or even 10-, 11-, or 12-foot-high ceilings in certain entertaining areas – you won't regret it once you step into the expansive space.
This room in a 2,250-sq.-ft. Southern Country-style house plan is not all that large, but it seems roomy and grand because of its 9-ft.-high ceiling (Plan #141-1060).
Popular especially among Baby Boomers – and almost by definition empty nesters – the master suite on the main floor is almost becoming universal in new construction. It eliminates the worry of having to negotiate stirs in advancing years and makes one-level living possible even in a two-story home, with extra bedrooms upstairs. Highly recommended for your move-up (or down) new house.
The master bedroom (top), with a view of the pool, is tucked in its own cozy corner, away from the other bedrooms and the "public" areas, as seen in the floor plan (bottom). It also has it own entrance to the rear deck (Plan #190-1007).
You'll want to pamper yourself in your new home, and what better way than with a luxurious bathroom with all the space and amenities you desire. Double vanities is de rigueur in the master bath these days; separate vanities/sinks, say each one on it own on each side of the room, is even more fashionable. And don't forget the water closet, or compartmented toilet, for privacy.
This floor plan of a magnificent 2,344-sq.-ft. Craftsman-style home illustrates a lovely master suite occupying its own wing to the left of the home. The vanities in the master bath are separate and face away from each other; the private water closet speaks for itself (Plan #106-1276).
Continuing the pampering theme of tip number 5, his and her closets are a decadent but enjoyable feature if you can manage it in your new home. Clothes seem to have a strange way of multiplying over the years, so why not have your own roomy closet to store them?
With the entire right side of the 2,257-sq.-ft. Country Luxury home all to itself, the master suite in this floor plan has all the hallmarks of exquisite living: large master bedroom, his and her walk-in closets, separated vanities, vaulted ceiling, luxurious shower and separate tub, and private water closet (Plan #163-1052).
An active family needs a place where the kids can come in without your worrying about them messing up the house or the gardener of the house can enter after working the soil and not have to worry about muddy boots. So you should make sure you plan ahead an include a side entry (often off or near the garage) with a closet and seating as a mudroom.
This mudroom (top) is representative of the one you will find in the beautiful 2,495-sq.-ft. Country-style home at bottom (Plan #135-1049).
Having a laundry room on the main living level makes so much sense, especially considering that laundry areas were usually relegated to the basement in days gone by. Why not make it convenient to do that inevitable chore by placing the space where you do most of your living?
The laundry room (circled at top) is located just off the entry from the attached garage at the back of the 2,400-sq.-ft. Acadian-style home at bottom (Plan #142-1098).
Becoming ever-more popular in recent years, the classic front porch is the perfect welcome for guests and the perfect relaxation spot to watch the world go by. Speaking of relaxation, a house design with a wraparound porch or even a covered rear patio or deck extends your living area by giving you extra space out of the weather. Both front and rear porch (or patio) make the smaller home seem that much larger.
The wide porch on this 2,156-sq.-ft., 1-story Country-style home is outfitted with a swing and four relaxing rockers (Plan #123-1039).
This covered rear patio and barbecue porch / outdoor fireplace (to the right looking out of the home) extends the living area of the 2,091-sq.-ft. house by keeping occupants out of the weather (Plan #117-1092).
You can never have too much storage, so make sure your new house is outfitted with plenty of closets; sufficient cabinets in the kitchen, laundry, and bath areas; built-ins where appropriate; and a garage sized slightly more than the needs of your vehicles to provide space for the inevitable "extras" like lawn mower, power tools, and other garden and workshop paraphernalia.
This master bath and walk-in closet of a charming 2,199-sq.-ft. Country-style house plan demonstrate smart use of storage – and that's just the beginning. Each of the other 3 bedrooms in the home has its own walk-in closet; the kitchen has a walk-in pantry; and the breakfast area has a built-in breakfront (Plan #141-1107).
Isn't it time gather up your favorite features from these 10 and get started on searching for your own dream house?
Footnote: The lead (top) image in this article is a 2,402-sq.-ft., 1-story, 4-bedroom Country-style home. For more on the home, view: (Plan #141-1125)
The Queen Anne Style: Charm, Imagination, and Versatility
North Carolina Offers an Eclectic Mix of Residential Architectural Styles
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Home > All celebration cakes. > Cakes for guys. > Guitar life sized / Music - Click on the pic for more info
Look at this - A life sized guitar
This is so impressive
This incredible carved cake is available in Classic chocolate or White chocolate.
Same size as an actual guitar
Serves 65 dessert or 130 coffee serves
We require 10 days notice
All our cakes are made without chemicals and contain no preservatives or colouring in the baking.
We only use free range eggs.
Always buy the best food you can afford. You never regret buying quality.

subset: commoncrawl


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3 Bedroom Apartment / Flat for sale in Wadala, Mumbai
Ready to move Apartment in Lodha Estrella
, Wadala, Mumbai - 400037 (Maharashtra)
- Area: 1360 SqFeet
- Bedrooms: Three
- Bathrooms: Two
- Transaction: Resale Property
- Price: 29,000,000
- Rate: 21,324 per SqFeet +10%
- Possession: Immediate/Ready to move
When you contact, don't forget to mention that you found this ad on PropertyWala.com.
Other features
- Builtup Area: 1360 Sq.Ft.
- Carpet Area: 1086 Sq.Ft.
- Super Area: 1650 Sq.Ft.
- Freehold ownership
- North-East Facing
- Balconies: 2
- Floor: 8th of 40 Floors
- Immediate posession
- 0 to 1 year old
- Society: Lodha Estrella
- Additional Rooms: Pooja Room
- Marble Flooring
- Furnishing: Semifurnished
- Gated Community
- Reserved Parking
Price Trends Wadala, Mumbai
Apartments / Flats for sale in Wadala, Mumbai
Locality Reviews Wadala, Mumbai
Wadala west is a pretty silent area, with five gardens as the famous landmark with lots of greenery there. And now after mono the connectivity has also become good.
- Silent area
- Good connectivity
- Railway stations are bit far
- Conjusted at times of festivals
It is the central suburb of Mumbai. It gives a good connectivity to every place. Has many interesting places near by.
- 20 Minutes to South Mumbai via Eastern Freeway
- Upcoming Monorail connecting Jacob Circle and Chembur
- Short Drive to BKC via Dharavi Bypass
Wadala is getting a complete transformation since the past few years. Imax Adlabs is very famous here. Huge projects like Lodha New Cuffe Parade, Ajmera iLand are coming up in this areas. The Monorail will also halt over here. Wadala is well connected to Mumbai via Harbour line and by road ways via Bombay port trust road. Its close proximity to Dadar also adds to its advantage. Five gardens is also located nearby. It is indeed a very good place in terms of real estate investment.
- Monorail
- Imax Adlabs
- Lodha cuffe parade
- Good place for real estate investment.
Wadala used to be considered as a central suburb of the city of Mumbai, but is now well within the city limits. The area is bordered by Dadar on the West, Matunga on the Northwest, and Sewri on the South. The western areas of Wadala are covered by salt pans, which are on the shores of the Thane creek.
- There are a number of schools, colleges and hospitals.
- Well connected.
- One of the concerns for residents of Wadala is that it does not have any malls or supermarkets.


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Affirming lower court's finding that musical albums were compilations, and therefore each infringer was liable for only one award of statutory damages per album, rather than one award per song.
"...[I]nfringement of an album should result in only one statutory damage award. The fact that each song may have received a separate copyright is irrelevant to this analysis." The Court expressly declined to adopt an"independent economic value test" (adopted by other circuits) that would have allowed a statutory damage award for each song on the album because the Copyright Act specifically states that all parts of a compilation must be treated as one work for the purpose of calculating statutory damages. "We cannot disregard the statutory language simply because digital music has made it easier for infringers to make parts of an album available separately." See also fn. 6, collecting local district court cases that have considered whether a compilation is subject to only one statutory damage award (and noting that those courts reached the same conclusion).
The Court then went on to review the District Court's decision on intent (it had found that the conduct was innocent, not willful infringement), its calculation of statutory damages ($2,400), and its decision not to award attorneys' fees.


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When are we getting a discord server? We now have an official discord server! Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers Get on our discord first, sync your forum account to discord after you're on, and all your titles from the forums follow you as roles on discord! It's that simple!
- For staff who were very adamant about not using teamspeak because it is "outdated" and because it "doesn't have as many features", you are expected to be active on our discord now. We have constantly tried giving incentives to use our teamspeak, but now we were pretty much forced to move to discord to make our community whole.
- That being said, community channels on discord will NOT be sold, we have already given a few voice + text channels for a few staff and members for free, and anyone who wants a channel (even if you're not staff) is expected to be active on those channels, or they will be removed for wasting space.
- Anyone who bought teamspeak channels will get exclusive badges for the forums, and something special on discord in the future. (will be discussed among higher ups first) Active members on discord will earn credits on the forums as well very soon.
We are testing out our brand new server, it is a modded server and these are what you need to know.
- 2x Gathering/Crafting Speed
- /TPR enabled
- /set home "Name" enabled
- /remove enabled, which lets you remove things in your own house if you placed it + if you have access to the cupboard in your area.
Hope you guys enjoy! Let us know what you think of these changes!


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The category of simple and complex carbohydrates can refer to a biochemical definition or have a nutritional context.
The biochemical definition refers to a simple difference of the molecular structure described below.
Nutritional context of simple and complex carbohydrates
The nutritional definition was established in 1977 by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. (1)
It uses the same terminology as in biochemistry and was created to distinguish unhealthy simple sugars (simple carbs) from other, complex carbs, considered at the time as healthy, such as whole grains, fruit and vegetables.
The usage of the term "complex carbohydrates" has been widespread in recent decades and can now, depending on the source, refer to a wide range of carbohydrates, with the exception of refined sugars.
What is now being realized now is that the meaning of this grouping of complex carbs is too vague to use in the nutritional sense for a number of reasons (1):
- it doesn't distinguish between healthy and unhealthy carbohydrates as it was originally intended;
- there is no agreement as to what is included and what is excluded from the definition, even between official sources.
In other words, the commonly used definitions of complex carbohydrates in the nutritional sense present several points of view, sometimes conflicting, but most of the time with shortcomings, since:
- Some foods considered as complex carbohydrates are not as healthy as was intended by this definition. For instance, some complex carbs:
- have a high GL and exert similar metabolic effects on the body as simple carbs (e.g. potatoes vs sugar). (read more..)
The most common foods in this category include tubers such as potatoes and refined or unrefined grains such as white or brown rice, wholegrain and white flour breads.
- are empty calorie, refined foods, such as white bread, white rice or white flour pasta, which have been stripped of most nutrients and contain mostly glucose in the form of starch.
- have a high GL and exert similar metabolic effects on the body as simple carbs (e.g. potatoes vs sugar). (read more..)
- Definitions are conflicting depending on the source:
- Some definitions consider that the prerequisite for naming complex carbs is the presence of starch while others include non-starchy fruit and non-starchy vegetables in this category.
- Some sources refer to complex carbs only as plant foods that come from whole fruit, whole vegetables, and legumes and other sources consider foods with any fiber or starch contents as complex carbs.
Despite being ambiguous and varying in meaning between official sources, many health professionals and lay-publications still use this classification in a nutritional sense, adding to the confusion.
Separating carbohydrates into simple and complex has no use in nutrition.
The first reason is because the biochemical definition doesn't have any practical use, since it doesn't consider the health implications of carbohydrates. The second reason is because of the confusing way it has been used, as previously explained.
Difference between simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates – Biochemical definition:
- Simple carbohydrates (mono or di-saccharides) consist of:
- one molecule of a single sugar called monosaccharide, such as glucose, fructose, galactose or xylose, or;
- a pair of two single sugars bonded together called disaccharide, such as sucrose, lactose or maltose.
Simple carbohydrates can occur naturally (e.g. in fruit as sucrose, fructose and glucose, or in milk as lactose), or be available as refined sugars (e.g. purified sucrose, agave syrup or high fructose corn syrup).
- Complex carbohydrate (polysaccharides):
Consists of a chain of 3 or more sugars (called polysaccharide), such as starch, cellulose (insoluble fiber) or pectin (soluble dietary fiber) (2)
The following image illustrates various types of carbohydrates that exist in food. Carrots contain them all and are a good visual example.
You will find a summary of the most common nutrition myths and evidence-based nutrition facts here.


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Mom, grandma get prison in death of Nebraska boy
The grandmother and the mother of a 2-year-old Nebraska boy who was fatally abused by his grandfather have been sentenced to prison.
Forty-nine-year-old Nancy Draper on Tuesday was given 20 to 30 years by Judge Terri Harder in Franklin County District Court. Twenty-five-year-old Laura Rinehart was given 12 to 22 years.
Draper had pleaded no contest to felony child abuse. Rinehart had pleaded no contest to attempted child abuse. Prosecutors had reduced the charges in exchange for the women's pleas.
Authorities say the two did nothing to stop the abuse of Joseph Rinehart Jr. by Draper's husband, 48-year-old Peter Draper, in April last year at the home they shared in Naponee.
Peter Draper has been found guilty of two child abuse charges. He's scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 10.


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Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Channeling Goldilocks
The perfect accompaniment was this delish Parmesan Pine Nut Bread (from the Better Homes and Gardens Bread Machine Baking book).
In the bread machine pan put 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 T EVOO. On top of that add 3 cups bread flour, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 1 t Italian seasoning, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t sugar and 1/3 cup pine nuts. Kinda spread the dry ingredients with your finger to cover the liquids. Make a little well in the center of the dry ingreds and add 1 t bread machine yeast. Finish according to your bread machine instructions. Mine takes about 3 hours and 50 minutes for this 1 1/2 pound loaf, set to "extend rise". So tasty.
Yesterday here in KC we lived that lyric from "Oklahoma" that went....'the wind comes whippin' cross the plains.' The umbrella on our deck table was lifted up and carried to the ground below, ala Mary Poppins. Leaves were blown so hard that they clogged up the pond pump box. Neighbors' Halloween decorations in their yards looked pretty frazzled.
I love how the local grocery stores have gotten into autumn with their store front displays. It almost makes grocery shopping fun to be greeted with all this color and whimsy.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Tinges and Twinges
Such fun! Hopefully they are far enough out of the weather on my front porch to avoid paint runs in the rain!!!
Younger son is now in town for a business meeting and we'll see him later today on his way to the airport. A mom's delight--getting to see both sons in the same week!
Still no progress on the quilting front. I have, instead, been doing a bit of knitting. Nothing finished to show yet but it is so-o-o relaxing to work those sticks and strings together. Just to keep this blog a teeny tiny bit quilty, I pulled out this little Itsy Bitsy Spider doll quilt for a rerun. Maybe that's just what the quilting doctor is ordering--a new fun fast doll quilt! But for now, I am off to concoct some of the homemade soap balls from 2 Old Crows Primitive Craft. Thanks, Libby, for pointing us to that wonderful website!!! I tried to link to it but they were on AOL Journal which has been closed down. Maybe a search could bring it up. Sorry.


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Aneke scores goal of the season contender to set Crewe on their way to victory
Steve Davis has told the club's official web-site that yesterday's New Years' Day clash with Carlisle United was crying out for a moment of individual brilliance. Thankfully, Crewe Alexandra had Chuks Aneke in top form and the on-loan Arsenal starlet scored a contender for goal of the season with a superb outside of the boot finish that gave Ben Amos no chance.
It was a wonderfully technical goal from Aneke and it put Crewe in pole position to go on and record back-to-back wins for the first time since October.
Steve told crewealex.net: "We have found chances harder to come by this season and we have found well drilled and organised defences in this league. It is tough to get those opportunities and it was the same against Carlisle.
"They are hard to break down and you can see how they have got some really good results this season because they work hard and keep going. They were in some good form and came here on the back of a win over Peterborough.
"The game was crying out for a moment of individual skill and Chuks provided it. It was a terrific finish with the outside of his foot and we know he is capable of that.
He added: "It was a good build up and Chuks showed great technique to change the course of the game."
You can now view Chuks goal free from our Official YouTube Channel.


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- VictoriaDevelopmentSOLD
Development Site in the heart of Box Hill
845 Whitehorse Road, is poised to become the largest development in Box Hill's history.
It provides a premier opportunity to capitalise on this strategic location, with a remarkable permit approval for a development of significant scale featuring un-repeatable CBD views.
This large scale mixed use development opportunity comprises three towers yielding 517 luxury residences, a 150 room hotel, and 1,316 square metres of retail and commercial space.
Box Hill has an engaging community atmosphere, and is one of Melbourne's most exciting economic and cultural precincts. It offers unrivalled investment growth, specialty retail outlets, and exceptional access to public transport and freeways.


text: Oliver Lewis is an international human rights lawyer specialising in the interface of mental health, intellectual disability and human rights. He is a barrister and an associate member of Doughty Street Chambers, London, and a Professor of Law and Social Justice at the School of Law, University of Leeds. From 2001 to 2017 he was Legal Director then Executive Director of the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre, an international human rights NGO that uses the law to secure equality, inclusion and justice.


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Understanding Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the insertion of fine, hair-thin needles into specific points on the skin to influence and correct the flow of energy, or "qi," in the body.
How does Acupuncture work?
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on the philosophy that qi flows through certain channels in the body, nourishing the tissues and organs and providing the energy to maintain life. When the qi is deficient or blocked in a channel, imbalance occurs and manifests as pain and illness. Acupuncture is the art of accessing the qi to correct the body's energy.
What does Acupuncture Feel Like?
Acupuncture is mainly painless and many people do not even feel the needle at all. Most people experience a sensation of warmth, tingling, or pressure at the acupuncture point as a result of the energy pathways being stimulated. Most people find the treatments pleasant and relaxing and may even fall asleep.
What is Chinese herbal medicine?
Chinese herbs are often prescribed to achieve the best possible treatment outcome. They are powerful medicinal substances that work on a more internal level than acupuncture. Usually, a prescription of 10 to 16 different herbs is put together by the doctor, uniquely tailored to treat the individual at the exact stage of their healing.
Are Chinese herbs safe?
Prescribed by a trained herbalist, yes. They do not have the side effects of Western medications. They do not interact with most prescription drugs and your acupuncturist is aware of and will avoid those interactions.
How do I take Chinese herbs?
Chinese herbs can be administered in a number of different ways. They can be taken whole and raw in which case the patient takes them home and decocts them to drink as a liquid. They may be taken as powdered extracts which are dissolved in hot water and taken orally. Or they may be taken pre-made as pills or tinctures. The doctor will recommend which form of herbs to take, but it is always your choice.


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Mentorpreneurship Program Overview
When A Girl and Her Band was just an idea incubating on the sidelines over mom coffee talk, our group of entrepreneurial thinkers wanted to do more than create awesome products. We wanted to build a company that was sustainable and we wanted girls of all ages to feel empowered to chase their dreams. After speaking with many of our friends and customers, it was clear that there are many dreamers out there who have always wanted to own their own business or who want to be a part of creating something powerful. After much deliberation, our Mentorpreneurship Program was born!
We live in a world where time is one of the hottest commodities around. Sometimes, our 'To-Do List" seems to take front seat in life while we shift our dreams to the back burner until the time is right. Our team wanted to create a program that would give realistic insight into launching a company while juggling the demands of a hectic lifestyle. For the young girl interested in what it means to be an entrepreneur but is busy with school, homework, friends and afterschool activities, we will meet at her convenience and scale the program down to compliment her quest for knowledge and learning capabilities (you're never to young to become an entrepreneur!). For the college graduate trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up, we will go through the steps we took when starting our business in detail, and include her in the day-to-day tasks. Basically, we will give each participant as much insight as they can digest.
Our program will show each participant how we came up with the idea for our business and the steps we took to incorporate. We will also show participants how we went about choosing a name, logo, building a website, sourcing materials, interviewing manufacturers and other aspects involved in the startup and day to day running of AGAHB.
Following is an overview of how we will mentor others on the road to becoming a successful entrepreneur:
~I have an idea, now what? (What product of service to offer)
~What will I call it? (Naming your business)
~How to sell (website creation, storefront, wholesale..oh my!)
~Philanthropy- 12 months of giving
~Becoming official: articles of organization, tax ID, sales tax license, insurance, NDA, trademarking, operating agreement
~How to finance your idea, opening a bank account, managing money, budgeting
~Sourcing material, cost of goods sold, manufacturing (You will get to create your own band!)
~Social Media…what is it and how does it tick to drive business?
~Marketing (You will market your band too!)
~Sales (Yep, you are responsible for selling the band you created!)
Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com or call Casey Whitney at 720-841-8167 for more information.


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CAMPAIGNERS trying to prevent the extradition of Scot Gary McKinnon to face computer hacking charges in the US have been told that "it's over" by US ambassador Louis Susman and that the UK has no choice but to comply with its treaty obligations.
Susman said the US believes that the legal process has been exhausted with Mr McKinnon, a computer analyst who has Asperger's syndrome.
He said critics who argue that the US has not in the past deported criminals wanted in the UK – including IRA terrorists – are misinformed. "[Since the treaty was signed] every single request the UK has made to America for extradition has been granted," he said.
Out of 54 requests, 38 have been deported from America. The other requests were withdrawn.
"There's presently a number of requests from the US to the UK and there are presently 28 that are still pending.
"I think that it is clear that when this new government came in, the Tory government, I think they wisely said because of these complaints they formed probably one of the most elegant blue-ribbon commissions I've ever seen, of most respected judges and legal minds to look at the treaty. They have come back and said that the treaty is fair, it is balanced, there is no need for change and that we should move forward."
On Mr McKinnon he said: "I understand that people have emotional feelings about why a loved one is being extradited. But at the same token we have feelings that somebody took down our whole defence system in a computer hacking incident. That made us very vulnerable. So we are living by the spirit of the law.
"Individual cases will be viewed by this government within the framework of that law and treaty, and there is no need to renegotiate. The Gary MacKinnon case has gone through seven or eight courts and one home secretary and they have all found that it is appropriate that he be extradited. If Gary MacKinnon has health problems we have a pretty good health service in America and he would be well protected.
"I don't want to go beyond that because we don't comment on individual cases, but it's over. The UK has looked at it and they have come back and said it is fair and balanced, and I don't know how we can go beyond that."


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The introduction of a state-of-the-art ticketing and online booking system by award-winning ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) has taken a step closer with the award of a contract to Worldline, the European leader and a global player in the payments and transactional services industry.
The initial three-year contract will see Worldline, a specialist in online transactions, team up with Hogia, the largest provider of IT systems for ferry and sea freight operators for the European transport market, to deliver a modern, integrated ticketing system to support lifeline ferry services on the west coast of Scotland.
Martin Dorchester, Managing Director of CalMac, said: "We have received a raft of awards in recent years in recognition of our focus on customer care but we know we can always do more to improve the customer experience and that is why we are currently undertaking a major programme of improvements to modernise our systems to help us be the best we can be.
"The award of this contract is an important milestone in that journey as we recognise that our ticketing and online booking systems are starting to show their age and no longer meet the expectations of customers for whom e-ticketing and the use of mobile technology is becoming the norm.
"The two companies selected to work with us have unrivalled experience in this field providing between them similar services for a host of rail and ferry operators both in the UK and overseas and we are sure all of our customers will find the new systems easy to use and greatly enhance their experience of travelling with us."
Scottish Government Transport Minister, Keith Brown MSP, said: "The award of this contract is excellent news, as it brings CalMac another step closer to delivering a state-of-the-art ticketing and booking system that will provide real benefits to ferry passengers.
"The system will make it quicker and easier for travellers to make bookings and reservations, and will allow smart ticketing technology to be rolled out in the future. I want ferry travel in Scotland to remain an attractive option, and this new system will help enhance the customer experience on board CalMac services."


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It was a really nice sunny day in a summer filled with too many dreich rainy ones. Today, the bike commute between Crail and St Andrews (10 miles) didn't feel that challenging or long at all. I was just pedalling along idyllic pastures and daydreaming happily. I was thinking to myself how cool dreadlocks looked…
Hang on, what's stopping me from getting them myself?
Not a lot, actually. This summer was the bridge between finishing secondary school and moving away to university – once I left my parent's home I could wear and do what I liked, I'd be totally independent. University was my chance to explore who I was as a person – if that involved dreadlocks…well, then this would be the perfect time to find out. Dreadlocks. Man, dreadlocks would be cool.
This wasn't a totally unprecedented decision. As a Christmas present when I was in 3rd year at Madras I'd got my hair braided. I had been inspired by the BBC's Jamaican history/culture month and my mother had found me an African hair salon in Kirkaldy. I had fairly short and unremarkable brown hair at that point – once I'd had the artificial hair braided in it became long and exciting. I reckon the braids were also a way of sticking my finger up at the bullies in my school: I don't care what you think of me. The artificial hair extensions lasted a couple of months before they became too itchy and my hair too intolerably greasy. Combing the braids out involved me screaming in pain over my mother's bath tub, I recall. Anyway, I had an established Thing for Afro-Carribbean inspired hairstyles.
After reading around the subject of dreadlocks I came to several important conclusions. Firstly that I wasn't going to let them form naturally (matted quasi-dreadlocked hair is fairly disgusting). So I'd have to go with the back-combing method, which is the most effective way to get Caucasian hair knotted up. I wasn't brave enough to attempt to put them in myself (and I didn't want to test any friendships by asking my friends to help me out). I needed a pro.
Dreadlock pro = a Loctician.
In mid-December I took an early Saturday morning train down to Newcastle to meet a guy called Aleisso who styled himself as a loctician.
…and 8 hours…
…and several broken plastic combs later…
…I had dreadlocks.
Short and spiky baby dreadlocks: Aleisso back-combed my hair really fiercely so my shoulder-length hair was now barely past my ears. They stuck out at bizarre angles for a month afterwards, until they loosened up. As one little boy on a train commented that winter – "It's like a spider…"
Growing up as a child, I always was slightly…different. I always felt like I was the odd one out: how I thought, how I dressed, how I behaved. Never to the extent of feeling alienated, but it did always seem that I was…marked in some way.
Dreadlocks don't do anything to nullify that, in case you wondered.
Now complete strangers can tell within 2 seconds of looking at me that I'm different. In every country I've lived in I hear shouts of "Rasta girl!" when I walk down the street. People who've just met me remember my name and face VERY quickly – before I remember theirs, embarrassingly – I stand out like a sore thumb. It has sometimes been v. clear when I'm with older adults or those from less liberal educational backgrounds that they don't quite know how to treat me. They don't quite know what I am: a dope smoker (…NO), a crazy leftie (…um, I think I'm a neo-liberal?) or somebody who's just irrevocably different from them.
I don't think it's just the novelty of being a white person with dreadlocks, it's also to do with being a female and effectively shutting your hair off from any kind of beautification: you can't dye dreads, you can't wear many hair accessories, you can't get dreadlocks cut into a fashionable style. You don't comb or wash dreadlocks either. For a woman, saying such a strong Fuck You to commonly-held notions of femininity is unusual. Hence I've been asked if I'm a lesbian ("Dreadlocks are a very gay thing." "…They are?"), and why I saw a lot of girls at a Women of the World event sporting them.
Despite the shouting in the street, I've not had to deal with very many objections from people about a white person turning what is a religious movement (Rastafarianism) into a fashion statement. Perhaps that issue is becoming less prevalent…or else I'm not walking through the places where it would be a problem…or else the objectors don't think it's worth publicly reprimanding me over. In my experience, black people are more likely to tell me that they like my dreads. White people are more likely to express curiosity and ask to touch them (dreadlocks are like hairy sponges, in case you're wondering).
I'm used to the "being different" part now – it has its advantages too. Once people get used to me I think they realise I'm not that different all in all…
Other Interesting Facts
1. My natural hair colour has become decidedly blonde since the dreads were installed. It's either the splitting of hairs tips or a case of sun-bleaching. People ask "ARE you a blonde?" No dammit, I'm not.
2. My dreadlocks are certainly sentient. For starters they LOVE eating jewellery, I think my earrings are their main food source. Like meerkats, one dreadlock always seems to stick up on sentinel duty, no matter how much I tug at them. Dreadlocks also sometimes fuse together: I've had to attack a few with scissors in a bid to stop my hair becoming one big dreadlock.
3. I reckon that 10-20% of my body weight is in fact dreadlock. Seriously, those beasts are heavy.
4. My USA "Trail Name" is the Rasta Goat.
5. Across the Eastern Seaboard ballrooms, men have learned to beware dreadlocks flying at them at high speeds. Though when I returned to the UK, I think some secretly missed it. Getting my hair into a DanceSport updo requires (a) the help of multiple female ballroom veterans (b) super-sized kirby grips (c) more super-strength gel and hairspray than the rest of the ladies' team combined.
So Happy Birthday, dreadlocks. I still love you.


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Have you ever seen one of these? They're fascinating and thy show the rotation of the Earth. It would seem that a pendulum swings in the same plane (as in geometry plane) but it doesn't if allowed to swing freely for a day. To mark this when […]Read more →
I'm sitting here listening to a jazz classic "What A Difference A Day Makes" while sewing up a fun project. One of the most phenomenal things you discover when you sew, is how a fabric makes all the difference in the world. It's almost as magical as […]Read more →
There's no one – I mean NO ONE – who loves extravagant clothing more than me, and I've done some pretty wild things in my past to satisfy that extravagant taste and had a lot of fun with it. But I was always just a little practical. […]Read more →
Almost everything I make has a story. Simple because most of the time there is thought that goes into the garment and usually there is a purpose to the garment. This sort of attitude I think is indicative of sewists who have always put more thought into […]Read more →


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Build a PiKon
The PiKon is an open hardware project. Free build instructions and STL files are avaliable HERE.
UPDATE: We've also had lots of questions about how to align the mirror, so here's an update: Aligning the Mirror
Alternatively you can download from the following sites:
Make:Live have made a 30+ minute video about the PiKon build: HERE
If you have difficulty finding the components, including mirrors, you can buy them at our on-line shop: www.Elektric-Tube.shop
What's in the kits?


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P.O.V. Film Fund's Summer Competition Winners to be awarded
Two projects will get grants
On October 8th, 2014 at 7 pm an award ceremony for the winners of the summer competition organized by the P.O.V. Film Fund will be held. The ceremony will take place in the conference hall of the Exchange building at the tip of Vasilievsky Island.
The winners of the P.O.V. Film Fund's summer competition were determined at the end of August. The Fund's Expert Group chose the following two projects from the list of applications for the grant:
• The project No one Nowhere will be presented at the ceremony by its Russian producer Anastasia Pavlovich, its French co-producer Juliette Lepoutre and its director Andrey Redkin
• The project The Thirtieth Love will be presented by its producer Julia Mishkinene, its director Angelina Nikonova and actress Olga Dykhovichnaya
The following experts of the P.O.V. Fund will also take part in the ceremony: Sergey Selyanov, Artem Vasiliev, Konstantinos Kontovrakis and Riina Sildos.
According to the decision of the P.O.V. Film Fund's Expert Group, ˆ15,000 will be awarded for the development of the Russian-French co-production No one Nowhere, produced by Anastasia Pavlovich. The film will tell about the two separate worlds that co-exist in the tundra: those of nomadic reindeer herdsmen and exploratory geologist drillers. The plot is based on a real story that happened recently at one of the drill sites. The herdsmen and the drillers have completely different perspectives on these events, which even became the basis of an indigenous people's traditional song, 'Khynabts'.
The French side of the project is represented by the MPM Film production company, co-founded by Marie-Pierre Macia, the head of the Co-Production Forum at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The film will be directed by Andrey Redkin.
Another grant of ˆ15,000 will go to producer Julia Mishkinene's project The Thirtieth Love. The film is based on Vladimir Sorokin's novel Marina's Thirtieth Love. Moscow, 1983. Marina is a beautiful dissident 30-year-old music teacher in the Culture Center of a large factory. Her house is full of forbidden literature, her head is full of forbidden thoughts, and her body is full of forbidden energy. She has 29 affairs under her belt, but not one love. Everything changes after a night spent with the secretary of the factory's Party organization, Sergey Rumiantsev. Now there is no place in Marina's life for doubts and moral disintegration.
The film will be directed by Angelina Nikonova and the main role will be played by Olga Dykhovichnaya. This will be Nikonova's and Dykhovichnaya's third time working together after Welcome Home (2013) and the much talked-about Twilight Portrait (2011), which received many awards at Russian and international film festivals including the Best Cinematography award at the Kinotavr film festival as well as prizes at the Reykjavik International Film Festival, the Warsaw Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Besides that, the fund will support one of the projects from a Russian producer participating in the B'EST educational program (www.eave.org). The project taking part in the B'EST program that is to receive the Fund's grant will be announced during the Baltic Event 2014 in Tallinn at the end of November.
Financial support from the P.O.V. Film Fund will also be given to projects that will be selected during the winter competition. This starts in December 2014 and the winners will be announced in February 2015. Russian co-producers can apply for this grant. The fund accepts applications both from projects geared towards mass audiences and towards festival participation.


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by Jayne D. Frank
If you heard the press conferences today from both President Obama and the Republicans, you would have thought they were in two different meetings. Obama races to the microphone before the last Republican is out the door and his stale, repetitive rhetoric that the American people made their voices clear that they wanted us to cooperate and get things done, is just disingenuous, and his most comical line was that "there will be plenty of time for campaigning." What has this man been doing for the last 2 years but campaigning for his extreme Marxist agenda. He is no longer believable and the only source that the American people have for verifying the Government's intent is their actions.
Speaker Boehner also sat there after the meeting today in the White House and said that the President "clearly heard the people" and he was glad to see that the President is going to assign a team of people from Secretary Geitner's Office and OMB to meet with 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans to come to agreement on the Bush Tax Cuts.
What is the matter with you people in Washington? The people did speak clear and loud, giving you Republicans resounding victories in the House and Senate, but with strings attached to those victories. We gave you a mandate to get rid of this class warfare of the Obama Administration and extend the tax cuts for not only the middle class but for All Americans, especially those that actually produce jobs and will bring revenue into the economy. We told you that we didn't want you passing any legislation that you did not read or have time to read, and that extends to ratification of the START treaty which is completely unnecessary for getting done in the lame duck session of Congress. Americans told you to cut spending, cut Government redundant or useless programs and stop wasteful pork projects.
More importantly, we gave you your seats in the House and Senate as guardians of our Constitution and you swore to uphold that Constitution. Do not forget this, because we won't and we will hold your feet to the fire.
Filed under: 112th Congress, 2010 and 2012 Votes, Budget and Taxes, Congress, Free enterprise system, The President, U. S. Constitution | Tagged: 11/30 White House meeting, Boehner, Bush tax cuts, Obama, START Treaty | Leave a comment »


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Romantic Red Layout
Fresh Green Layout
This are my latest layout for the day. Both are personal layout. You can get this layout for a very affordable price of $15. The $15 will go to the donation for my sister treatments and medication. Just let me know if you are interested to this layout, leave me message and hope you like this two cutie layout ;-) Have a great day!


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We offer strategy and design solutions to Visionaries.
A Visionary is someone who turn problems into solutions. They don't accept no as an answer. They don't need validation and are extremely committed to the vision. These people are the forerunners to every trend. They use their frustrations as inspiration to create something new and exciting for the rest of the world to experience. They are often admired yet misunderstood, and we're here for every bit of controversy.
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As a freelance graphic designer, I noticed a common issue that many of my logo clients faced. Many were under the impression that they simply needed a logo to make their business official. After seeing how hard it was for my clients to describe their business to me, I knew there was so much more that wasn't being considered. They had the passion, but lacked the strategy and foresight to clearly define their brand positioning. In my efforts to help them dig deeper into their purpose, I became fascinated with the artistry of molding abstract ideas into tangible brand elements. As a result, TheoryIllustrated was born.
In April 2016, I established TheoryIllustrated as a branding and digital design agency. With the Visionary in mind, our intent is to capture and magnify the key qualities that their business is built on and use those qualities to create distinct strategy and design solutions.