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The Federal Government plans to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar. It targets domestic production of 1.7 million metric tonnes of sugar by 2020, to, among others, halt the yearly loss of about N350 billion to importation of the product and create jobs. But the realisation of these targets via the implementation of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) is being threatened by smuggling, community hostility, and flooding, among others. Already, investors are worried that they may not savour the sweetness of their multi-billion naira investments in sugar, unless remedial steps are taken urgently. Asst. Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.
The three major investors in the Nigerian sugar industry – Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, BUA Sugar Refinery Limited and Golden Sugar Company Limited – are, no doubt, big ticket investors credited with having the Midas touch. Their successes in turning businesses into extremely profitable ones are widely known. However, their foray into the sugar sector appears not to be enjoying a smooth sail.
The Nation learnt that the investors' prospects of reaping bountifully from their substantial investments in the Federal Government's Backward Integration Programme (BIP), to boost the implementation of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), have come under severe threats. The activities of smugglers and host communities' hostilities as well as incessant flooding of sugar estates, among others, may have conspired to prevent the investors from savoring the sweetness of their investments in sugar.
The implementation of the NSMP commenced in January 2013. It was aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in sugar production by stepping up its production within 10 years. Specifically, Nigeria, under the plan, targeted domestic production of 1.7 million metric tonnes of sugar by 2020. This was in the hope of halting its importation that has been digging a hole in the Federal Government's purse to the tune of N350 billion annually.
It also sought to create numerous job opportunities, contribute to production of ethanol and generate electricity. While 37,378 and 79,803 direct and indirect/seasonal jobs were expected to be churned out from the sector, respectively, the plan targeted the production of 161.2 million litres of ethanol annually. It also envisaged that Nigeria will ride on the back of the sugar master plan to generate 411.7 megawatts (mw) of electricity yearly.
To meet these ambitious targets, the NSMP said there was the need to establish about 28 sugar factories of varying capacities, and bring about 250,000 hectares of land into sugarcane cultivation. The sugar master plan made it clear that the bulk of the investment capital required to meet the targets would come from private investors.
This was why the government entered into a tripartite arrangement with Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, BUA Sugar Refinery Limited and Golden Sugar Company to drive the implementation of the roadmap. Accordingly, each of them, driven by a combination of patriotism and prospects of bountiful returns on investment, has committed significant investment capital into the sector.
Dangote throws his hat in the sugar ring
Pan African investor and President of Dangote Group Alhaji Aliko Dangote last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Niger State Government for the establishment of a $450 million fully-integrated sugar complex.
The MoU will allow the indigenous conglomerate access to 16,000 hectares of land at Lavun Local Government Area of the state for the production of raw sugarcane. The project, on completion, will create over 15,000 jobs in the state. It will also turn around the state's economic fortunes, according to Dangote.
"The Dangote's Integrated Sugar Project in Niger State will include the establishment of integrated sugar mills, generate power, produce molasses, ethanol fuel, biomass and produce animal feeds," the serial investor said, during the signing of the MoU in Government House, Niger State, in August.
Giving more details on the project, which has put Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello and the people of the state in an expectant mood, the Group Managing Director of Dangote Sugar Plc, Abdullahi Sule, said the integrated sugar mills have the capacity to produce 160,000 mt of raw sugar. He described the MoU as a game changer for Niger State economy and Nigeria as a whole.
However, the $450 million investment in the state was not the only project upon which Dangote hinged his hope of giving impetus to the BIP on sugar and, by so doing, making profit. The conglomerate, which boasts of Africa's largest sugar refinery in Lagos, also has a sugar cane plantation in Numan, Adamawa State.
Dangote Sugar Refinery, according to Sule, was also developing a sugar backward integration plan, through the production of 1.5 MT/PA in 10 years in Nasarawa, Adamawa, Kogi, Kwara, Taraba and Niger States.
The Nation learnt that since 1981 when the Group started its foray into sugar business, it has injected a $104 million into the Savannah Sugar Company Limited, which it acquired from the government in 2003. This year alone, the acquired firm is said to have produced 20,000 mt of raw sugar from its plantation.
BUA Group takes the plunge
BUA Sugar Refinery Limited has never hidden its intention to give Dangote Sugar Plc a run for its investment in sugar. The 2008 acquisition of Lafiagi Sugar Company (LASUCO), in Kwara State, which has over 20,000 hectares of arable land suitable for sugar cane plantation, was seen as a demonstration of its resolve in this regards.
"BUA is serious and is ever ready to surprise Nigeria and Nigerians in its current efforts to become a mega local sugar producer and first sugar exporter in the country," the Managing Director of BUA Sugar, Mr. Ibrahim Yaro, said.
That was at the recent visit of the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, and the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) to the firm to ascertain the level of progress at the LASUCO sugar plantation.
The NSDC is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. The Council developed the road map called the NSMP for the attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar. It's mandate was to articulate policies and programmes that will bring about rapid development of the sugar sector.
Specifically, the Council was charged with progressively reducing the level of sugar importation by increasing local production so as to achieve self-sufficiency. Its mandate also included encouraging greater private sector participation in sugar production while reducing direct government involvement.
During the Minister's visit in the company of the Council, Yaro announced the company's investment of $300 million in its sugar plantation, in line with the Federal Government's BIP in the sugar industry. He said the sugar plantation, which will gulp over $300 million, was strategically located to serve the northern and southern markets.
He explained that the 500 hectares the company earmarked for nursery development in 2016 has been developed. According to him, what is ongoing is the land clearing and development preparation for additional 5,000 hectares, which would take the company through 2018.
Yaro said: "We are focused, determined and vigorously marching forward to meet our set targets. LASUCO targets the production of two million tons of sugar cane annually and this segment alone could produce over 4,000 jobs. LASUCO operates the second largest sugar refinery in Sub-Saharan Africa."
The Group's investment in sugar includes sugar refineries in Lagos and Port-Harcourt and cane-sugar estates in Kwara and Kogi states. The combined capacity of its two sugar refineries of around 1.5 million mt/p.a makes BUA Group, arguably, the largest single refiner of sugar within Nigeria.
Golden Sugar Company Ltd also
Since its inauguration in June 2013, Golden Sugar Company Ltd's state-of-the-art N40 billion sugar refinery has been delighting customers and businesses with its premium white sugar. With a production capacity of 750,000 tonnes of sugar, it is one of the largest facilities in Africa.
Why investors walk tightrope
For investors in the sugar value chain, the stage appeared set for the transformation of the sector by riding on the back of the BIP on sugar. With their mind-boggling investments and NSDC's commitment towards achieving set targets, the investors looked forward to rewarding returns.
They sure have reasons to be expectant. For one, the implementation of the BIP in the cement sector in 2002, during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, paid off.
The adoption of the policy in the production of cement by ensuring that cement import licences were granted only to importers who show proof of building factories for local cement manufacturing in the country, worked magic.
On the strength of the BIP on cement, Nigeria has since moved from the era of cement importation to exportation. And this has significantly cut the huge foreign exchange spent on the importation of the product while also creating several jobs.
However, government's and investors' attempts to replicate the BIP's success in the sugar industry appear to have been met with daunting challenges. The activities of smugglers across the nation's numerous porous borders, host community hostilities, persistent flooding of sugar estates and dearth of infrastructure, among others, may have instilled fears in the investors that their investments might go down the drain, if nothing is done urgently. They have also raised fears that the sugar self-sufficiency target may not be realised.
For instance, despite the Federal Government's ban on the importation of sugar to encourage operators in the sugar value chain, it still lacked the political will to enforce the ban.
Interestingly, it was NSDC that brought this situation to the fore when it recently expressed regrets that St. Louis cube sugars are still being smuggled into the country. Its Executive Secretary, Dr. Latif Busari, lamented that smuggling was threatening the businesses of local cubing and packaging companies.
Busari, who spoke at NSDC's recent mid-term implementation report in Abuja, however, said the Council has evolved new strategies for effective implementation going forward, including increased inter-agency cooperation and sanctions for defaulters.
But as investors and stakeholders in the sugar industry await such increased inter-agency cooperation to begin to yield fruits, about N190.3 billion worth of sugar was said to have been shipped into the country from Brazil between April 2016 and April 2017.
That was not all. The Nation also learnt from reliable industry sources that between March and April this year, 137, 000 metric tonnes of raw sugar estimated at N23.7 billion were discharged at the nation's seaport.
Host communities throw spanner in the works
As if smuggling of sugar into the country was not enough to push investors to the panic mode, many of their projects, which would have raised the NSMP's implementation profile were said to have been stalled by government and host community's unwillingness to give out land.
For instance, despite Dangote Sugar Refinery's acquisition of 6,500 hectares of land in Guyuk for the expansion of its Savannah Sugar Company Limited, Numan, in Adamawa State, the project, according to the report, was stalled by unrealistic demands by local community leaders.
The company's project site in Lau/Tau in Taraba State, also suffered the same fate. Although, the company was said to have gotten a certificate of occupancy, and had paid compensation following which 20 hectares of nursery was established for further development, the Taraba State administration allegedly frustrated the projects with its "untenable demands."
The pan-African investor also got a raw deal from the political elite in Kebbi State. The report said that despite undertaking preliminary perimeter surveys and initiating action for topographical and soil surveys for the establishment of a sugar estate in Zaria Kalakala, Kebbi State, political elite's interference and demands stalled the project.
The Sugar Council also said the establishment of a new green field project by the Great Northern Agribusiness Limited – Lee Group, a Kano-based conglomerate – was disrupted by political elite interference.
Golden Sugar and BUA Sugar also suffered similar fate. For instance, Golden Sugar Estate, Sunti, according to the report, witnessed many disruptions during its development, even as recent as March 22, 2017, requiring interventions by police and local chiefs.
"The company's intention to expand its cane fields stalled due to hostile and anti-investment sentiments," the Council said. Same for BUA Group, which reported community hostilities against operations at its project site in Lafiagi Sugar Estate.
According to NSDC, BUA Group recorded four incidents of physical attacks against contractors working on estate roads and irrigation canals. Flood protection dykes constructed at very huge costs were breached and cane fields washed away. Farm infrastructures – irrigation systems were damaged.
Long road to sugar self-sufficiency
In fairness to NSDC, the mid-term implementation report gleaned from its website indicated that some considerable achievements were recorded during the review period.
For instance, the mid-term implementation report showed that the sector attracted N157 billion in new investments. And the establishment of a new 50, 000 tons per annum sugar estate at Sunti was said to be the best investment in sugar.
Also, 9,000 hectares of land were brought under sugarcane cultivation as at 2016. It was an increase of 250 per cent from 2013 when NSDC's implementation commenced.
The NSDC mid-term report also showed that 481 hectares of out-grower farms supplying cane to sugar estates were in place, up from 81 hectares in 2013. This represented 600 per cent increase.
The sector also created 7,850 jobs, up from a total of 3, 500 employed by all the refineries as at 2013. It was 224 per cent increase.
Two new companies namely, McNichols and Dogan's also came on stream at the downstream segment of the sugar value chain. This, according to the Council, led to the emergence of Packaged Sugar Producers Association of Nigeria (PSPAN).
However, not a few experts and industry stakeholders note that when these achievements are placed side by side with the projections of the sugar master plan, the success rate was everything but inspiring.
For instance, the three major sugar producers – Dangote Sugar, BUA Sugar and Golden Sugar (a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc) were said to have achieved only 40.3 per cent of the target set in the NSMP.
While the NSMP projected that five new projects would come on stream in the sugar sector by 2016, up from one that existed in 2013, four new projects were recorded within the review period.
It also projected the establishment of new or refurbishment of five sugar factories by 2016, up from one in 2013. But only two were recorded by 2016. Against the 39,200 hectares of land expected to come under sugar cane cultivation, from 3,600 in 2013, only 9,000 was achieved by 2016.
Also, while local sugar production was projected to hit 145,300 by mid-term of the implementation of the master plan, up from 6,000 in 2013, only 21,000 metric tons of sugar production was recorded in 2016.
Moreover, by the middle of the implementation of the plan, 16,236 jobs were expected to be churned out. But only 7,000 jobs were recorded by 2016. On the other hand, out-growers farms stood at 281 as at 2016. Eighty-one out-growers farms were available in 2013. This was below the plan's 3,250 projections.
To meet the target
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, was emphatic that Nigeria must get the sugar revolution right just as she did in the cement sector.
According to him, the value of getting it right will be enormous in an economy as large as Nigeria's with a huge market unrivalled in Africa.
The Minister, who was at the public presentation of the status report on the mid-tern implementation of the NSMP, said revolutionising the sugar sector will have huge effects on job creation and reduction on foreign exchange for sugar imports.
He, therefore, pledged Federal Government's commitment to assist investors involved in BIP in the sugar sector to overcome their challenges.
Although, Busari said the prospects for the effective implementation of the NSMP over the next five years was "bright," the Director General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Emmanuel Cobham, said less emphasis on market monopoly will do the tricks.
Cobham, who observed that sugar production companies are there to make profit and monopolise the market, said rather than investors thinking more of monopolizing the sugar market, they should concentrate on satisfying the need of the customers and on how to create more employments in the sector.
He, therefore, urged the Council to develop policies that will create more jobs by allowing local players come into the field. This, he said, will make the market expand and rub off positively on the nation's economy.
On the issue of smuggling, which has been a pain in investors' neck, Cobham said the blame might not be put on the doorstep of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). According to him, it could be coming out from illegal routes, because when one product is banned, it does not take the normal routes to come in.
Other industry experts, who expressed optimism that Nigeria could still achieve the set targets in the sugar master plan, pointed out that there need to develop value chain for sugar as a commodity right from production to the market.
They noted that the value chain begins with farmers, who must be provided with all the necessary inputs including the variety of sugarcane to plant to be able to deliver the quality of sugar required, and the right quantity per hectare.
Apart from bringing the farmers extension into it, there is also need to encourage not just large scale sugarcane plantation, but also Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) to provide their own support to the sugar master plan.
Experts also canvass full involvement of members of host communities as farmers who will be involved in the sugar value chain instead of allowing them become spanner in the works for investors.
The consensus is that sugarcane out grower farmers should be encouraged and supported through the provision of credit facilities, procurement of necessary inputs and development of basic infrastructure.
Will government summon the political will to address the issues agitating the minds of investors and stakeholders in the sugar sector, particularly, by reining in smugglers and host communitie' hostilities? Will investors replicate their successes in other sectors in the sugar sector, despite the daunting challenges?
While answers to these remain a matter of conjecture, what is, however, clear is that the sugar industry has the potential to help diversify the economy, generate significant foreign exchange and also create employment opportunities.


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About Jo Tutrani
Jo Tutrani R.D. is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Personal Trainer. Jo received her B.S. degree in Nutrition at James Madison University and completed post graduate classes in integrative and medical nutrition therapy.
Jo has over 25 years experience as a nutritionist and has worked in an array of settings including hospitals, private medical offices, corporations, community and in private practice. In addition to nutritional counseling, Jo has lectured on topics such as weight management, heart disease, sports nutrition, diabetes and nutritional supplementation. She is a recipient of the "Best of LI 2014″ for nutritionists.

subset: commoncrawl


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Today brings the first two big acquisitions out of Sundance 2011. Paramount has acquired Like Crazy, a mostly improvised romantic drama starring Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), Felicity Jones (The Tempest), and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone). The one liner is, "the story follows a British college student who falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa." Paramount has mostly been out of the Sundance game since their specialty label Paramount Vantage folded in 2008, but outbid a number of other studios in an all-night negotiation.
Margin Call came into the fest with a high profile given its stars: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci. No surprise that the drama about the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis quickly found a buyer in Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate. Hit the jump for the official announcements
Benaroya Pictures, Before the Door Close One of the First Major Deals During the 2011 Sundance Film Festival
Park City, UT (January 23, 2011)- Steve Beeks of Lionsgate and Howard Cohen of Roadside Attractions jointly announced today that the companies have partnered to acquire and release J.C. Chandor's thriller, MARGIN CALL. Following all night negotiations, the deal was negotiated by Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson of UTA on behalf of MARGIN CALL producers. Howard Cohen negotiated on behalf of Roadside and Steve Beeks on behalf of Lionsgate. The film's world premiere is Tuesday night at the Eccles Theater, and a 2011 theatrical release is planned.
MARGIN CALL stars a stellar ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The film was written and directed by Chandor and produced by Michael Benaroya and Barnum of Benaroya Pictures, and Quinto, Dodson, and Corey Moosa of Before the Door Pictures and Joe Jenckes. Elwes, Laura Rister, Randy Manis, and Joshua Blum are executive producers. Myriad Pictures represents international rights on the project.
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, MARGIN CALL is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white. Chandor's enthralling first feature is a stark and bravely authentic portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions that shape our global future.
HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 23, 2011) – Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush announced today the worldwide acquisition of LIKE CRAZY for Paramount Pictures to release in 2011. The Super Crispy Entertainment production from co-writer and director Drake Doremus ("Douchebag"), producers Jonathan Schwartz ("The Way Back," "Douchebag," "Funny Games") and Andrea Sperling ("Kaboom," "Sympathy For Delicious") of Super Crispy Entertainment, and executive producers Audrey and Zygi Wilf had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday.
Starring Anton Yelchin ("Star Trek," and "Terminator Salvation"), Felicity Jones ("The Tempest") and Jennifer Lawrence ("Winters Bone"), LIKE CRAZY was written by Doremus and Ben York Jones ("Douchebag"). The story follows a British college student who falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa. Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum said of the movie "Young love has rarely been so palpable or looked so real," while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said "Like Crazy" brings a compelling intimacy and heart-stopping delicacy to showing the push and pull of love, longing and regret."
Adam Goodman, President of Paramount's Film Group and Matt Brodlie, Senior VP of Productions and Acquisitions for Paramount, along with Indian Paintbrush's President of Production Mark Roybal negotiated for the rights with the film's reps Rich Klubeck and David Flynn from UTA, along with Schwartz and Doremus' attorney Lawrence Kopeikin from Morris Yorn.
Said Goodman, "Along with our partners at Indian Paintbrush, we are extremely pleased to be a part of such a great movie, and look forward to working with Drake, Jonathan, Andrea and a tremendous cast of actors."
A spokesperson for Indian Paintbrush added, "Drake is a brilliant filmmaker, who has crafted a fresh, iconic film. With Paramount's unrivaled production and marketing teams, Drake, Jonathan, Andrea and their amazing cast are in great hands to share this jewel of a film with the world."
"Paramount and Indian Paintbrush's passion and commitment towards the film is incredibly exciting," said Super Crispy Entertainment President and producer Jonathan Schwartz.
For all of our coverage of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, click here.


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The various aspects of booking a good hotel room
It has never been so easy to find a cheap hotel room in the world. Right now, there are so many choices that it is sometimes difficult to decide or to get a precise idea of the hotel. In order to know more about the lantern hotel group, you may always take the help of the web portals.
Know what you want
Yes, it's a bit of the basic question when looking for a cheap hotel. For you, what does a "cheap hotel" mean? Some think of luxury hotels at discount prices. For others, it can be a chain hotel with standard comfort. For others, a simple bed to put the backpack. Be clear with yourself, it will avoid many disappointments. And it will greatly facilitate the search for a room at a good price.
Choose the best period
The earlier you book, the more interesting the offers will be. Hoteliers have every interest in filling their establishment with cheaper rooms rather than playing the clock and ending up with a disappointing occupancy rate. Still, it is necessary to be certain of being able to leave, and this sometimes several months in advance. Not easy. Of course, better avoid the high season. Not always easy, when you have school children for example. And then, pay attention to the concept of high season. She is not everywhere the same. In the southern hemisphere, it is in winter. Of course, there may be some good, last minute fares. But by "last minute", we really hear "last minute"! So, it is better to have the nerves well hung and avoid traveling too many. If you want to go on a weekend, chain hotels often offer more attractive prices than weekdays and for good reason, they mainly work with a business clientele. If you do not necessarily look for charm or luxury, this can be an interesting plan. In general, find out about the destination and major events of the year.
Get away from tourist areas
This is the # 1 tip that is usually given to find a cheap hotel. To be honest, we are a bit divided on the question. Yes, on the outskirts, it's probably cheaper. But being on the outskirts of Paris or London, it's not the same as being on the outskirts of Strasbourg for example! If you integrate the cost and transport time to get downtown, is it really so interesting in the end? If you only have one weekend to enjoy Paris, will you want to spend a large part of your time on the metro or the RER? Take a little time to study the question, and you will really save money. These are the matters you should consider upon.
Finding A Great Place To Stay Without Paying A Lot
Travel is a fantastic thing to do. It broadens your horizons, lets you meet new people and see new places and it is a great way to take some time off to relieve stress and blow off steam. Travel can also be difficult and dangerous, however. Read on to find out what you need to know when traveling.
If you want to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando on a budget, consider going around the beginning of December. Fees to the park do not go down, but this is when hotels in the area cut their prices and run promotions to attract local visitors. In addition, the park is less crowded, so you do not have to wait in line as long for your favorite attractions.
International travel can be quite fun. On the plane flight to your destination, bring along a phrase book and try to learn a few phrases in the language of the culture where you will be spending time. You do not have to be fluent in the language and many locals will be delighted that you tried to learn a little bit of their language. Do not be shy about mistakes. Most people will appreciate you tried to learn a little bit about their culture.
In countries that you travel to, be aware of the cultural view of how questions are answered. In some places, especially India and Asia, it can be considered very rude to tell someone that you don't know the answer to their question. Others may simply answer "yes" to any question asked in English. Pay attention to doubtful body language.
Now that you know what kinds of concerns there are when traveling, and how to counter them, you're ready to book your own trip! Travel is great for your mind and health and can be a whole lot of fun. We hope you enjoy your trip and have a great time!


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Apple Arcade vs. Slot Machines
When I left TheCodingMonkeys for my journey at Apple, my last post on this blog was Slot Machines, bemoaning the shift to free to play games in the App Store.
Although this was 4 years ago, nothing much has changed in that area since. In fact, it got worse. It is ironic to see that Apple was and is a very willing participant. As platform owner it has the full power to change the rules, which is clearly visible in other areas, just look at porn and politics.
For those who remember: with the introduction of in-app purchases in 2009, Apple had the customer at heart and made it explicitly clear that "Free apps remain free".
Nowadays, with the staggering amount of money they make from those in-app purchases, I think they painted themselves in a 'Revenue Corner'. Probably not one to easily get out of without a significant drop in their services category, stock price, et cetera.
However, they could change the rules, and they should, but clearly for years now they have chosen not to. I would argue that decision was quite short sighted and made both iOS and the App Store a worse place for it.
Now fast forward to their latest approach: Arcade – essentially an attempt to pull all games outside that casual, slot-machine-style genre into their own Netflix-style curated subscription service. There are multiple reasons why I think that is a bad idea, to name a few:
- Exclusivity: I don't want platform exclusive games, especially not the kind of independent games they are going for. That is unhelpful to the eco-system.
- Curation: I don't want Apple to be the kingmaker, influencing and deciding which kind of games they put in there.
- Independent Games: I think this will essentially destroy what is left from the market for paid games out there, both in terms of people buying as well as in terms of marketing. The App Store app will certainly rank Arcade ahead of other games in the store.
- Apple's track record: Just take Game Center, Game Controllers, SpriteKit and tv as examples on how Apple handles the games sector.
Lastly, I do think it is worth calling out the two major games they put on stage on the last two iOS Keynotes. I do see them as further evidence how arbitrary and undecided their direction in the games sector is.
Blades - Bethesda
Announced in the 2018 Keynote, The Elder Scrolls: Blades has been in Early Access for quite a while, accessible exclusively to users with a Bethesda account (although recently, that requirement was removed).
While Blades is a nice example of a complex, good looking 3D engine on mobile, it sadly falls squarely into the slot machine genre. For example, many items in the game drop as loot boxes that take a certain amount of time to open and reveal their contents. Of course, spending real money allows you to speed that up.
Sky - thatgamecompany
The still to be released Sky, from the terrific makers of Journey was announced at the 2017 iPhone reveal keynote. As it turns out, Apple heavily pushed thatgamecompany to make that game free to play:
"They were concerned about our business model, because they'd seen a big decline in people's willingness to pay for a game that comes with a huge price." […] Just when the game was ready for its final spit and polish, Chen was told he should consider making Sky a free-to-start game.
It is quite a shame that Apple is so confused on what they want to do in the games sector. The iOS devices are so powerful, and the potential is really great. Maybe at least the developers in the Arcade program currently do have good working/funding conditions, so that might be worth something.
SubEthaEdit 5 – Now free and open source!
The new version 5 of SubEthaEdit, the Apple Design Award winning text editor for macOS, is now available free of charge in the App Store and as direct download. The complete source code with history going back 15 years is also available under the MIT License.
This release fills me with great pride and joy. SubEthaEdit always has a special place in my heart. It is where my journey as a developer in the Apple ecosystem started. I owe it the position I am in today. This connection is why I'm taking the time to maintain it again and try to lead it towards a long lasting future. Therefore I think it is worthwhile looking at how everything came together.
It all started with the initial set of peers at our university at the end of 2002: Ulrich Bauer, Martin Ott, Martin Pittenauer and me. As university students we wanted to build something real. So we searched for a project to grow into a fully grown app. Motivated by the Apple Design Awards competition, we challenged ourselves with a fitting deadline to do submit an entry.
At that point in time there weren't many good native text editors on the platform, so doing a general purpose text editor was always an aspiration of mine. I had recently switched from my old Acorn RiscPC over to the Mac, and was really missing my then beloved StrongEd (fair warning that website is quite a sight, as sadly most of the RiscOS ecosystem is and almost always was in terms of style).
I was playing around with the existing text editors, but BBEdit really wasn't for me (and at this time very Carbon, and as such looked dated and did not integrate too smoothly into the new OS X). Personally I went with MacroMedia's Dreamweaver as the least bad option for my web development work.
Luckily one of us dug up an old Xerox Parc Paper that showed how latency free live collaboration can be done. At that time it fit perfectly with the newly released Bonjour technology to allow for networking without configuration between Macs. That was super exciting and we quickly got to a point where we could see this technology as viable and so we went on to build our application.
It was with great joy that we submitted our freely available work, then named Hydra, to the awards, and with even more joy that we won in the student category we applied in.
At that time we didn't charge any money for it. Only at the end of our university careers, the three remaining of us started out our luck as TheCodingMonkeys to live the dream of a Mac indie studio. We all started out doing this part time, the transition from free software to paid shareware did not support more than one person at that time. And while it was fantastic to see SubEthaEdit being used in conferences all over the world, the financial aspects weren't looking great for us.
Marketing wise we shoehorned ourselves into the collaborative aspects, and failed to communicate the fact that SubEthaEdit was a great general purpose text editor of its own right. Worse, the commercial start of SubEthaEdit was overshadowed by the then not yet released TextMate. This was mainly based on David Heinemeier Hansson's well deserved hype of the initial ruby on rails videos featuring it. So we lost the race for the second most popular text editor on the platform (BBEdit still got the first place because of Mac users loyalty and steady development), and therefore the commercial success too.
SubEthaEdit icon history. Unused initial draft, Hydra, SubEthaEdit 2.x, 3.x-4.x, now.
It was at this point that we began struggling a little. While we had enough success to sustain one person, we were not on track to support more than that. Developing and maintaining SubEthaEdit easily consumed most of our time though. It is by that fact, that we all had still day jobs. And while we dabbled in other product ideas (one of the bigger ones a more creative writing based collaboration tool codenamed 'Fenchurch') we didn't get to produce any.
Fenchurch prototype mockup.
Instead we got another lucky break. The great folks at Panic were planning their then secret Coda, and were looking for something they could base their editing engine on. And that influx of financial support was what enabled us to become a real working company. We are forever grateful to Panic for this, as they essentially gave us this opportunity. This was the point in time when Martin Ott, our third co-founder left us, and we started venturing to build Carcassonne for iOS. Another project of mine that was very close to my heart. I have been a board game geek from my early teens on, and joining this with my professional world was just a fantastic opportunity. It also gave me the opportunity to do real production work with Erlang.
The success of Carcassonne also had a somewhat unfortunate side effect for us: With still no real viable long term business story for SubEthaEdit it moved more and more on the back burner. We still maintained it and brought it up to the App Store eventually, but sadly it couldn't prove its financial viability. A big shout out goes to Lisa Brodner and Michael Ehrmann, who took the bulk of the work to create the 4.x releases.
And while it served us well, even for our own development – SubEthaEdit was our main editor to develop it, in the times of Project Builder with external editor support – it did not plant roots in any specific community. And with Xcode slowly getting better, moving to the single window layout only and providing all the Project aware metadata we couldn't, even our own top use case went away. However, we are still very fond of it and use it for all things scripting and of course text creation and collaboration.
Fast forwarding to 4 years ago, I left TheCodingMonkeys to try my luck in the US working for UIKit at Apple while Martin Pittenauer took over the company. It was with both surprise and delight that I experienced how SubEthaEdit still resonated with many of my colleagues there. Even with the success of Carcassonne, SubEthaEdit seemed to have been the product that was part of many of their pasts.
So now that I'm back to a more independent life I feel that SubEthaEdit deserves a future. Although I'm not rejoining TheCodingMonkeys, we are on good terms and we were able to make an arrangement that hopefully proves beneficial to everyone. From today on SubEthaEdit will be free and open source.
What was the focus for this release?
- Bring the code base into a state that builds fine and fully supports macOS Mojave
- Generate a nice repository with as much history as possible, both for reference and educational purposes (Fun fact: SubEthaEdit started out in Subversion, had a long time in Mercurial and very much later moved on to git)
- Update and or remove dependent libraries, support current Mojave features
- Get into shape for dual App Store and Website download releases, so contributions can have a quick turnaround time
- Remove the dependency on the Website for system integration, e.g. the see tool and authorization scripts are now part of the distribution
What are my hopes for the future?
- Attract contributors to ensure a long term thriving ecosystem
- The free availability both in and out of the App Store should reduce the barrier to entry to the collaborative use cases in education, pair programming, etc, leading to good bug reports and use cases that are worth investing some future development in
- Support for more languages, modes and contributions thereof
- Longevity of SubEthaEdit as a product
So I hope you all share and enjoy this release, file bug reports, enhancement requests and contribute the scripts, modes and styles you make.
Ken Kocienda: "Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs" ⚓
I had the great fortune to work alongside Ken for a short while, and he is one of the few people who really have a tight grasp on what Apple and its products are all about. I'm not through the book yet, but even just after the first chapter it is a clear recommendation if you want some insights on how product decisions came to fruition back then.
Ken is a fantastic inspiring public speaker and as such I'm very happy he narrated the audible version himself.
There is a lot of non-commercial Ken based content out there as well, all worth your time and worth pointing you towards it.
- 2011: "Writing Easy-To-Change Code: Your Second-Most Important Goal As A Developer"
- 2012: "Basics+Habits: Building Your Software Projects To Last"
- 2014: "A Strategy for Great Work"
Affinity Designer iOS App Icon Template and my Love of Vector Graphics
Last week marked a big milestone for the fantastic people at Serif - the release of Affinity Designer for iPad.
I immediatly put it for a spin, and it is really fantastic. I have been using the desktop version for a while to produce nice app icons for my own prototype projects. So of course I wanted to try if this works nicely on the iPad as well. My test subjects were the following 3 icons:
In case you were wondering, these are already the result as nice SVG export. It took me just few hours to produce them, all on iPad and half of it on a train ride. I intentionally put in a more nostalgic icon with more details to have more variance.
I created this hopefully helpful artboard (which has the examples as turned off layers in them) for your free use: Monkeydom iOS App Icon Template v1.afdesign
Note the v1 as I probably haven't used all the features to the max yet, and I might update that here. However, with the symbol feature, pixel preview, export persona, layer effects, easy grouping and masking, great bezier tools, it is an powerful template for me already.
One sore spot is, that the "global color" feature is missing from the iPad version currently, which I tend to utilize a lot to be able to adjust my color schemes after the fact.
tl;dr: I like vector graphics, I hate most vector packages, I've used an Acorn for far too long and Affinity makes me very happy.
Vector graphics and system support thereof have been dear to my heart since the beginning of my personal computing time. I started out using CorelDraw on Windows 3.1 in the early nineties, which introduced me to the subject, but otherwise was not a great experience.
After my short Windows/PC exposure I took the rather unusual turn to the Acorn Archimedes and Acorn RiscPC. RiscOS, its operating system, has system wide vector graphics support. This includes a data format, as well as anti aliased vector fonts. It was put to great use in the desktop publishing and word processing products on that platform, which were way ahead of the curve for a very long time.
What blew me away though, was Computer Concepts's Vector graphics package, ArtWorks. Their raw speed, live-antialiasing, and simple direct manipulation interface (as far as I know this is where the now standard direct line for gradients came from). Sadly even before the demise of Acorn, this package was discontinued (interestingly over the lack of a great C++ compiler). It went on to be PC only as Xara, then was bought by Corel to become CorelXara and later Xara again. The technology is still great, but it was mangled through so much marketing hotchpotch (just look at the current website) and windows interface paradigms, that it's quite a mess.
So I stayed with my little RiscPC for as long as I could stand it (2000), and eventually I moved to the Mac with the first white iBook. And while MacOS X was slow as a dog at that point, the deep integration of fully anti aliased Fonts and Quartz2D/PDF were so promising to me (and I was doing web development, so a unix on your laptop didn't hurt either) that I made the jump. Although in the early 10.1 times I did use the iBook more as a server for my web development driven by my RiscPC.
And while there was a great charting tool with OmniGraffle, somehow, nobody really took up the bait to provide a real alternative to the IMHO still horrible user experience of Adobe Illustrator. Even the more bearable tools like Freehand did get killed over time.
For a while I used Lineform and tried to be content with it, sadly Freeverse did not really maintain it and it died. Sometimes there were other short term contestants. Most of the apps never really got anywhere, or had humongous bugs and speed problems with big documents, etc. The last one I could slightly stand before Affinity Designer was Sketch. However, I did have my fair share of fighting with the interface and bugs there too.
This is why it makes me unbelievably happy, that Serif plays the long game, and that it created an engine that doesn't make me afraid of working with my apps, or wait to a response. And while I'm not in print or professional asset creation, these suite of apps (and I'm looking forward to Publisher), is what drove my private creativity with computers, and helped me generate semi-professional to professional looking things.
With the fantastic displays and devices, and these apps, I'm having a blast doing that again. This for me, is part of the joy of using computers, when they just are a great tool to help me create what I want to create, and couldn't without them.
On my Misalignment with Apple's Love Affair with Swift
During my life as a software engineer there only have been a few occasions where the design and principles of a language struck me as inherently beautiful and consequently inspired me to work with them.
- Lua for its simplicity, modularity and clear design goals that are followed through.
- Objective‑C / Cocoa for its very simple object oriented extension to C, with a great tradeoff of being a consistent and clear while still having optimal inter-op to the existing world of C and C++. And of course because of Cocoa and its design principles, purpose and empowerment.
- Erlang/OTP for being the most powerful implementation of the actor model, its concept of lightweight processes, and its ease to build distributed system. And due to being purely functional, the eye opening benefit of always having all the state necessary to analyze and fix any crash.
- Ruby (on Rails) for being an going all in, everything is an object, dynamic, object oriented scripting language. Rails for adding fantastic model view controller abstractions on top of it, and for such great use of the dynamism of the language. Amongst other parts, I'm still in awe of Builder for the XML view part.
None of those languages / language framework combos are perfect. But they all have one thing in common: A well defined set of carefully chosen design goals that are tailored towards certain usage scenarios. And those goals give guidance when using it, move you towards consistency and greatness when writing in and for them.
So now contrast that to Swift. First of all: Which question did it desire to answer? Think about it. There is no one clean answer. It just wanted to be better, more modern, the future – the one language to rule them all. A first red flag for anyone who ever tried to do a 2.0 rewrite of anything. From the outset, it wanted to be a silver bullet:
- It should scale from App/UI language down to system language.
- It should inter-op with existing Foundation and Cocoa, but still bring its own wide reaching standard library, adding a lot of duplication.
- It is functional, object-oriented and protocol oriented all at the same time.
- It wants to be strongly typed, but at the same time so convenient in type inference, that it falls over its own feet while trying to grasp simple expressions, and they become too complex to manage. By design.
- It is compiled and static, but emphasized the REPL and playground face that makes it want to look like a great scripting solution. Which it isn't.
- It seems to have been driven by the needs of the compiler and the gaps that needed to be filled for the static analyzer. Those seem to have been super-charged instead of catering to app developer's actual needs: efficient, hassle free, productive (iOS) App development.
- It is meant to offer progressive disclosure and be simple, to be used in playgrounds and learning. At the same time learning and reading through the Swift book and standard library is more akin to mastering C++. It is quite unforgiving, harsh, and complex.
On top of that it chose to be opinionated about features of Objective‑C, that many long time developers consider virtues, not problems:
- Adding compile time static dispatch, and making dynamic dispatch and message passing a second class citizen and introspection a non-feature.
- Define the convenience and elegance of nil-message passing only as a source of problems.
- Classify the implicit optionality of objects purely as a source of bugs.
At the same time it failed to attack, solve and support some of the most prominent current and future computing problems, which in my book all would be more important than most of the areas it tries to be good in:
- concurrency
- distributed-systems
- overall API interaction complexity
- debug-ability
- actual App and UI development
- developer productivity
It keeps defering the big wins to the future while it only offered a very labour intensive upgrade path. Without a steady revenue stream, many apps that would have just compiled fine if done in Objective‑C, either can't take advantage of new features of the devices easily, or had to be taken out of the App Store alltogether, because upgrading would be to costly. If you are working in the indie dev-scene, you probably know one of those stories as well. And while this is supposed to be over now, this damage has been done and is real.
On top of all of this, there is that great tension with the existing Apple framework ecosystem. While Apple did a great job on exposing Cocoa/Foundation as graspable into Swift as they could, there is still great tension in the way Swift wants to see the world, and the design paradigms that created the existing frameworks. That tension is not resolved yet, and since it is a design conflict, essentially can't be resolved. Just mitigated. From old foundational design patterns of Cocoa, like delegation, data sources, flat class hierarchies, over to the way the collection classes work, and how forgiving the API in general should be.
If you work in that world you are constantly torn between doing things the Swift/standard-library way, or the Cocoa way and bridging in-between. To make matters worse there are a lot of concepts that don't even have a good equivalent. This, for me at least, generates an almost unbearable mental load. It leads to writers block and/or running around in cognitive circles trying to answer questions on how to best express the problem, or make Swift be happy with my code.
To add insult to injury, all this attention is taken away from solving and focussing on the actual problem: writing a great app or framework that is a joy to use. Whereas Objective‑C/Cocoa always strived for maximum developer productivity and purpose.
Yes, Swift code might end up being more correct in the end. It also might alert you to edge cases early on. However, the flip side is it inhibits your creativity while writing. When starting out to program, the way I enjoy working, I don't yet know how the API is best expressed. So I try out different ways to express it until I find a sweet spot. Then I go back and unify accordingly.
Swift actively distracts me in that endeavor by making me answer questions I really don't want to answer right now. Yes, stuff might be less correct in the meantime, but heck that is what I want during the design phase. Find my concept, sweet spot, iterate, pivot quickly.
So my opposition to Swift is very deep – on a fundamental design level. I see it as the devil on your shoulder, always fighting for your attention away from your problem domain, back to how everything is completely correct, or more swifty. And at the same time it is very unforgiving towards bigger change - ever tried to switch code from objects back to structs, or vice versa?
Objective‑C had and has nice progressive disclosure there, you can start out to your prototyping and then slowly get help from the tools to refine it when you found your sweet spot. Turn on more warnings, run the static analyzer, optimize hot spots towards C or C++.
It is 4 years in now. It is not too late to pivot and take everything that has been learned and form that into the developer experience in an evolution of Objective‑C that really caters to the goals and ideas of the platform. In my opinion, a lot of the "lofty goals" haven't been achieved, and as discussed, should even be non-goals. Just imagine a world where Objective‑C would have gotten the same amount of drive and attention Swift got from Apple? It is not a big leap to see that everyone would be better off right now. Swift just ended up being a jack of all trades, master of none. (I defer my own ideas for a Objective‑C 3.0 evolution to a potential later blog post, as this is nuanced as well.)
I would love to see a pivot like that, but to be honest, it does seem quite unlikely at this point. That's not to say that an ecosystem with swift at the heart will not produce something one can be productive and content with. However, for me at least, it definitely does not fall into the delightful category of the language/framework combo's I mentioned at the beginning. This, to me, is as a sad and unnecessary regression.
So given my clear opposition to Swift, where does my personal journey go now? Luckily there are a few promising avenues to explore:
- Rust – a strongly typed language with a clear direction and purpose. I don't like the strong type system world very much in general, but for lower level hard problems it clearly serves a purpose. I both want to get a clear grasp of those benefits, and wander more in the lower level world.
- Elixir/Phoenix – this looks like the perfect mind meld of rails and erlang to me. Hope it is as good as it sounds.
- I won't leave the Apple eco-system completely. Even with all their flaws, Macs and iOS devices are still and will be best of breed in many ways. However, I will have a strict no-Swift policy on any of my own future software projects and hope that this is still feasible.


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At Tiny Texans Pediatric Dentistry, it is always our goal to keep your little one smiling, content, and comfortable during treatment in our office. Happy patients make us happy!
Whatever the reason for your child's visit, we want him or her to be comfortable with us. That is why Dr. Christina Ramirez recommends a visit to our Austin pediatric dental office right around your child's first birthday.
We invite you to browse our patient smile gallery and see some of the happy, healthy smiles we cherish at Tiny Texans Pediatric Dentistry.
01/08/2020: Wonderful appointment as usual. Quick friendly and efficient. -Elizabeth V


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Whenever I'm at home during the day, I spend the whole morning thinking about what I'm going to make for lunch. Inevitably the first idea that comes to mind is something covered in melted cheese, like a toastie or a big bowl of pasta. But then I remember that I'm trying to be healthy and suddenly the cheesy meal of my dreams seems like a bad idea. So instead I turn to my other favourite lunch food: eggs. Currently my favourite ways to cook eggs are scrambled with herbs and spices (particularly with curry powder), simmered in a spicy tomato sauce shakshuka-style, or fried in olive oil. The olive oil fried eggs are the feature of this recipe. Their crispy edges make them a great crunchy topping for a salad, and when the yolk runs through the quinoa it's like a built-in salad dressing. Sooooo delicious! And that's exactly what I've done with this Moroccan quinoa.
I think a lot of people find grains like quinoa and rice quite boring, but there's an easy way to make them more flavoursome. The trick is to add flavour to the grain whilst you're cooking it. To do this, you can either cook the quinoa/rice in stock (chicken stock is my favourite), or you can cook it in water and add spices to the grains while they're simmering. That's what I've done here to create a Moroccan quinoa salad. The result is a fragrant, flavoursome and richly coloured grain that's great as both a base for a salad and as an accompaniment to a curry or stew.
Adding some freshly grated carrot, toasted pistachios and dried currants to the quinoa adds extra crunch and sweetness, and the fried egg is the protein element that completes the meal. The combination of the quinoa, eggs and pistachios makes for a very filling, healthy, and energy-rich Moroccan quinoa salad – a perfect work lunch!
Drop me a line in the comments below and let me know how you get on with this salad. I'm hoping to make a lot more healthy-work-lunch recipes like this, so stay tuned, and be sure to sign up to my newsletter (in the sidebar) and follow my social media!
- 1 cup white quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp dried currants
- 1/2 carrot, grated
- 2 tbsp pistachios
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt + pepper, to taste
- Place rinsed quinoa into a medium-sized pot on the stove. Add spices and water, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, fluff up the quinoa with a fork, put the lid on the pot and let sit until ready to assemble.
- Meanwhile, grate the carrot into a mixing bowl and stir in the currants.
- Dry toast the pistachios in a small frypan over low heat, tossing frequently, for about five minutes or until fragrant and darker in colour. Add to the mixing bowl.
- Add cooked quinoa to the mixing bowl, and stir all ingredients together thoroughly.
- In the same frypan used for the pistachios, add olive oil, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Crack eggs into pan, and cook over low heat for approx. 4 minutes or until the bottom is crispy but the white is not entirely set. Flip the eggs very gently, and turn off the heat, letting the eggs sit in the pan for a further 30 seconds–1 minute (just long enough for the white to seal, but not long enough for the yolk to cook). Remove eggs from pan and set aside.
- Divide the quinoa evenly between two serving bowls, and top each serving with an egg. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
Keeping time: the quinoa will keep for two days in the fridge, but the eggs should be prepared immediately prior to serving.


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Nicholas Martin
Licensed Sales Consultant - Harcourts HornbyLicensed REAA 2008
395 Main South Road
Nicholas brings a wealth of experience and a wide knowledge of the real estate industry to his clients having begun his career in 1993.
With 26 years experience he has an extensive knowledge of the specialised "Development Market" and a reputation for sound advice to those considering an investment purchase.
Consistently ranked in the top 10% of Harcourts consultants nationally and with a total value of sales at $200 million, its not surprising that most of his business now comes from referrals and repeat business... a testimony to his success.
Now working in partnership with his wife Lyn, who has herself 15 years experience in real estate, they make an effective, friendly team who are genuine and focused in bringing you a great result!


text:
February traditionally being the Month in Which My Daughter Doesn't Get An Education, because of the high number of snow days at school. However, this year January seems to be making a run for the title, as she had two and a half snow days last week (the "half" being the days school started late/got out early because of weather conditions), and today school was canceled, not because of snow, but because it rained last night and then the temperature dropped below freezing, meaning that every road in my immediate vicinity is composed of black ice. Which is bad. So she's currently down in the living room, watching Invader Zim. Which is educational in its way, I suppose.
What worries me is the possibility that February, jealous of January's encroachment of its usual role, will strive to take back the crown, slamming us in bad weather, that Athena will actually not receive any schooling for four weeks straight and as a consequence will have to stay in school through July to make up for it. She will not be pleased. Although I suppose it would take care of what to do with her over the summer.
Anyway, this is why I'm online at the moment instead of working toward the daily writing quota. How are you?


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- More
Chateau Latour 2000 . Pauillac . owc. Bottle (12). ... (Total: 12 Btls. )Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
DescriptionChateau Latour 2000
Bottle (12)
"Deep garnet in color, the 2000 Latour has aromas of kirsch, creme de cassis and dried mulberries with nuances of leather, incense, salami and fertile loam. The palate is just starting to mature into a wonderfully satiny texture, with layer upon layer of berry preserve, baking spice and earth notes resulting in a wine of incredible poise." (99 pts. Lisa Perrotti-Brown, In Asia, Nov. 2012)
"The extremely rich, black/purple color to the rim is followed by a wine with some subtle smoke, loads of minerals, a hint of vanilla, and plenty of creme de cassis as well as roasted meat and a slight scorched earth character. Broad, savory, and rich, the wine seems to be about 5 years away from full maturity and should drink well for at least 40-50 more years." (98 pts. Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #189, June 2010)
Shipping Restriction: Please note that we cannot ship to addresses in Massachusetts, so please bid accordingly.
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There are several good sites to look at and ponder for healthy trading. It is always good to cultivate a habit of learning and to obtain different perspectives. After all, the stock market is a complex interrelationship between all sorts of parties.
Here are the more prominent ones whom I pretty frequently refer to for them for Singapore trading.
Local blogs
The Finance - compilations of articles from numerous local finance blog authors.
Createwealth8888 - finance and retirement-focused blog
BULLy the BEAR - SG stock market and general finance blog
Singapore IPOs - an excellent read on local IPOs and know-how.
A Singaporean Stockmarket Investor - SG stock market focused blog
A Young Investor's Diary - FA-focused blog
Wealthy Story - general finance blog towards infinite wealth.
Options Singapore - trading options in Singapore
SmartPassiveCashFlow - finance blog towards passive cash flow
Alternative Market News
Remisiers - a local website with daily updates of stock recommendations and analyst reports.
Shares Investment - a local website offering numerous feed information on local stocks.
IMF Blog - fast IMF news updates on a global scale.
Economic Indicators
FX Street Real-Time Economic Calendar - real-time economic data; very comprehensive.
FX Street's Economic Data Reports - economic data reports and reviews.
IMF Data Mapper - a source of macroeconomic data presented in a very palatable manner.
Online Learning Resources
How Winning Traders Think - Whether you might be a fundamental or technical analysis trader, you might want to take a look at how to think and control emotions better with this video.
Million Dollar Traders - An excellent Reality TV show produced to select the best trader from a basket of participants from all walks of life. Really, this should be the initiation video should you decide to do trading of any sort.
Technical Analysis Course on YouTube - a very comprehensive module based collection of videos teaching fundamentals of Technical Analysis.
Candlestick Forum - An excellent website dedicated to candlestick trading in Technical Analysis.
Google Search
Alternatively, if all else fails, there's always Google search that can solve our search headache.


text:
Whistler Crankworx 2009 Slideshow!
Pictures to be re-posted soon.
Check out all our pictures from Crankworx in Whistler.
Here is the link to the pictures on flickr of our helmet cam adventures.
Wow, did we ever have an amazing time at Crankworx Whistler in August. It was great to meet so many world class riders and bike fans face to face. All our major suppliers were at Crankworx. The Vio guys were there and generously sponsored our booth. Thanks so much guys, we had a blast!
We took out the Vio Pov 1.5 and had a chance to session a lot of trails with our bud Michael from VIO. We shot some amazingly sharp bike footage with it! The video is coming soon so keep checking the blog. In the meantime you can view some of our other Vio videos on Youtube.
Crankworx is definitely a mountain bike event everyone should check out. We made a lot of new friends there and met people we only communicated online before face to face. We're hoping next year will be an even bigger bash. Looking forward to the after parties in 2010 too!


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Visiting verifier
A visiting verifier is responsible for supporting the principal verifier, depute principal verifier and/or senior appointee's in maintaining national standards for the qualifications within their remit by ensuring that all tasks associated with the quality assurance of internally assessed units and components of course assessments are carried out within the conditions, timescales and arrangements set by SQA.
The primary role is to support and quality assure the work of SQA centres, for qualifications in the subject area concerned, to ensure that national standards are being consistently applied and maintained.
Activities will be under the direction of the principal verifier, depute principal verifier and/or senior appointee's and staff from SQA's Operations and Qualification Development directorates as appropriate.
Outline of duties
- Attend appropriate verification training as required
- Support the quality assurance processes in accordance with SQA policy and specification
- Monitor, support and quality assure the work of allocated centres
- Prepare clear and professional verification reports that will be issued to the centre that the report relates to.
- Assist SQA in the review of national consistency in relation to internal assessments
- Visiting verifiers may be asked to undertake additional activities. These activities could include the following, which may attract additional payment:
- undertake follow up quality assurance activity to resolve outstanding issues
- participate in workshops/seminars/networking events
Selection criteria
Successful candidates must:
- currently be delivering a course in the subject area at one or more levels (or a closely-related course)
- have an in-depth understanding of the requirements across the course/levels in the subject area
- be able to communicate professionally, confidently and effectively; work professionally and co-operatively with stakeholders, subject specialists and SQA staff
- have excellent organisational and administrative skills and provide attention to detail
- have a home computer or laptop with broadband internet connection and a private e-mail address
Key Performance Measures for visiting verifiers
Each year, on completion of the duties outlined in the Visiting Verifier contract specification, the Visiting Verifier will be measured against the following Key Performance Measures (KPMs) and informed of the outcome in relation to their performance.
- Complete training as required
- Carry out verification of SQA centres within conditions and timescales set by SQA
- Write and submit verification reports to meet the required standard, within conditions and timescales set by SQA
- Positive engagement with staff at SQA centres and SQA staff.
- Demonstrate behaviours' outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Appointment which support SQA's values.


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Posting ID : A1068533812
Date Posted : 2015-08-19
Category : Heavy Equipment By Owner
2005 Aeromaster composter this comes with a big water tank behind it, This has turned less than 300 ton of compost. Brand new sells for $38,000 will sell for $21,000.
This is a steal of a deal if you're in the compost business
Please call Mark at or


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The Exilis Elite™ is an award winning FDA approved technology for fat reduction and skin tightening in the face and body. Exilis Elite™ is a non-surgical procedure, multi- award winning and clinically proven to be safe and effective. It as a breakthrough of non-invasive skin tightening which uses radio frequency in order to achieve body shaping, contouring and facial rejuvenation.
Exilis is used to target the signs of ageing like droopy or tired-looking eyes, loose and saggy skin on the face and neck and jowls.
Often described as a "non-surgical face-lift", it uses radio frequency energy to heat the deep layers of the skin. This triggers a reaction in the skin, which leads to collagen contraction and, over time, collagen remodeling. The Radio Frequency is transferred directly to smaller fatty deposits in the body with the effect of "melting" the fat, excreted by the body's own natural process.
The Exilis treatment is completely painless.
You may feel a warm sensation during treatment.
The computer-controlled device delivers energy precisely into the deep layers of the skin where it is required to break down fat cells, a process known as "lipolysis".
During this part of the treatment, a cooling system and monitor is used to make sure the temperature of the skin remains at a comfortable level throughout the treatment
The treatment takes around 20-30 minutes
The recommended course of treatment is generally four to six sessions, one every two weeks.
You can have additional treatments if desired.
Patients show persistent results at least six months after the Exilis treatment.
The best results are typically achieved after a course of treatment.
Four to six sessions are usually recommended.
These can be carried out every one to two weeks over a period of one to two months.
Results have been shown to last for at least six months and additional treatments can be carried out if and when required for maintenance.
There have been no significant side effects reported with Exilis treatment


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Windows Utility SuitesWhen a computer has odd behavior it could be a security problem but it might also be a maintenance problem. A good system tune up utility software suite could be helpful. For current prices of these products, see our custom Windows Utility Suites price list powered by Amazon or click on one of the product pictures below.
Comparative Reviews
- PC System Utilities Software Review, Top Ten Reviews, 2010
- Declutter Your PC's Hard Drive, Wayne Rash, Computerworld, PC World, March 24, 2009 -- CCleaner, Norton Utilities, and System Mechanic
- AVG PC Tuneup 2011, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/14/2010
- Comodo System Cleaner, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/13/2010
- Iolo System Mechanic 10, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/19/2010 -- editor's choice
- Review: System Mechanic Is a Nice Product, Especially For Younger Computer Users, Corrina Lawson, Wired, July 11, 2010
- System Mechanic 10.0.0.73, Seth Rosenblatt, CNet, October 28, 2009
- Review: Iolo System Mechanic, Andrew Nusca, ZDnet, January 21, 2009
Norton Utilities, Symantec
- Norton Utilities, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/20/2010
- Norton SystemWorks Standard Edition, Barry Brenesal, Computer Shopper, February 4, 2009
- Hands On: Norton Utilities 14, Neil Rubenking, PC Magazine, February 3, 2009
- PC Tools Performance Toolkit 2011, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/13/2010
- TuneUp Utilities 2011, Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine, 10/27/2010
- Computer Shopper review, Barry Brenesal, March 2009


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The world beyond the clouds still lays unexplored. Forget us earthlings who can't fly that far; even those who regularly take flights above are left happily stunned by the beauty the heavens have to offer.
He said, "I like this photo so much because you can feel the amazing size of the storm and its power, but at the same time it's wonderful how peacefully you can fly around it in still air without touching it."
Santiago Borja is an Ecuador Airlines pilot and while flying his aircraft over the Pacific Ocean near Panama, he chanced upon the most spectacular view of a thunderstorm brewing. And losing no time, he took these amazing captures.
Photo:Santiago Borja. Borja told The Washinton Post, "Storms are tricky because the lightning is so fast, there is no tripod and there is a lot of reflection from inside lights."
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I can't really explain this, other than to say that when you've found Your Tribe, you just know. And here is an exchange with someone I just know would let me into Her Tribe. She has a collection of ridiculously cool shoes and she takes pictures of them sometimes. Also, she raises chickens in the Taj Mahal of chicken coops. Plus, she's about as funny as I've ever seen. Her name is Kathi, and I get her.
(Original photo used with permission from Kathi D)
foolery: Orange is my favorite color. And vegetable.
Kathi: Me too, except it's a fruit, isn't it?
foolery: Is it? I was gonna say "meat," but I had my doubts.
Kathi: Oh, meat. Now I am questioning myself. Meat sounds right.
foolery: Sure.
Kathi: In the meat family, at least. Like, Orange Chicken, you know?
foolery: Certainly. I was wrong to doubt it.
❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦
Go visit her site, I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus, and see if we can collectively convince Kathi post more photos of wacky shoes on her blog.


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My initial goal this time around in Eve Online is to not pay the subscription fee with money out of my own pocket. That means buying Pilot License Extensions (PLEX) with the in game currency, ISK. A single PLEX, as of this posting, goes for somewhere in the ballpark of 600 million ISK. I came to the conclusion the most feasible way to wrangle up that kind of cash in a month is to play the market.
I have no prior experience trading in Eve Online. During my past stints I never invested in trade skills, nor did I play the market. I was content to buy what was needed and to sell the excess.
Next I will showcase my day-to-day progress and lessons learned tackling station trading in Rens.


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Alive on Canvas and Keepsake Art
Alive on Canvas is a very personal, tangible and unique work of art that commemorates a special moment in time. It's a three-dimensional story, a one-of-a-kind conversation piece that can be framed and displayed in your home or office. And you can pass it down for generations. Alive on Canvas YouTube Channel


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Transaction services (M&A)
Every transaction - merger, acquisition, joint venture, disposition or strategic alliance - has a unique set of due diligence, planning and structuring needs. The exhaustive list of activities includes identifying risks, minimizing tax liabilities, enhancing post-transaction earnings and after-tax cash flows, achieving synergies, implementing cost-saving measures and maximizing proceeds from divestitures or exit strategies.
Deloitte, through its global network, is the acknowledged marketplace leader in mergers & acquisitions (M&A) services for private equity investors and strategic corporate buyers. Our multi-functional practice allows us to provide these highly discriminating acquirers with a full spectrum of accounting, tax and business advisory services along the continuum of the deal. With more than 1,000 professionals dedicated solely to merger and acquisition activities in the major markets of the world, we offer decades of wide-ranging experience, superior transaction execution skills, extensive industry knowledge and a proven highly collaborative approach.
Our recommendations take into account all aspects of the deal necessary for success. From developing a workable strategy through successful integrations, our flexible framework wraps around the key elements, drivers and intricacies of each deal. Our service in corporation with the tax and audit divisions, encompasses five critically important elements:
- Focused due diligence
- Model reviews
- Accounting and tax structuring
- Post-transaction accounting and tax services
- Merger integration


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Schacht Looms
BIG SALE going on NOW on selected items!
We match prices.
We match prices.
Schacht Wolf Pup Maple 4 Harness 4 Treadle Loom * Free Ship
The Schacht Wolf Pup loom is a sturdy, portable loom that travels well. Take it along to workshops or conferences, to your vacation home, or just out onto the patio or deck. It is a sturdy and portable loom that is easy to warp and weave on
Code: FL3000-Wolf-Pup
Price: $1,195.00
Quantity in Basket: none


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Terms & Conditions for EU-Shipping
Delivery / Shipment
- In principle, delivery is made within three weeks from the date when the Customer receives confirmation of his/her order. Delivery dates and times are only binding if they are expressly confirmed as such by artcom venture in writing.
- Delivery is available to Germany as well as some European countries:
Belgium, Monaco, Bulgaria, Netherlands (except non-European territories), Denmark (except the Faroe Islands, Greenland), Austria, Estonia, Poland, Finland (except the Åland Islands), Portugal, France (except overseas departments and territories), Romania, Greece (except Mount Athos), Sweden, United Kingdom (except the Channel Islands), Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia, Italy (except Livigno and Campione d'Italia), Spain (except the Canary Islands, Ceuta + Melilla), Latvia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Luxembourg, Cyprus (except Northern Cyprus), Malta
- Delivery shall be conducted by a shipment service provider chosen by artcom venture . The customer has to pay standard shipping costs which may depend on order value, and where it is shipped to. Current shipping prices can be viewed at Orderprocess.
- If in exceptional circumstances delivery is not possible within the period of three weeks after conclusion of the contract mentioned in (1), artcom venture shall promptly inform the customer about it in writing, at the latest with the expiration of this time limit (§ 126b of the German Civil Code). The customer is then entitled to a right of withdrawal, which they, in turn, shall exercise immediately in writing (§ 126b of the German Civil Code).
Prices & Payment
- For customers ordering from EU states, the prices as given are the gross prices and include the statutory incidental taxes, in particular Value Added Tax. Postage and packing is charged for separately and shown separately in the invoice. The delivery address is definitive.
- Purchase price, along with shipping and handling charges are immediately payable, without deduction.
- Payment will be carried out according to artcom venture´s choice of either PayPal, credit card, advance payment or other payment methods. artcom venture reserves the right to limit the method of payment chosen by the customer depending on order value, shipment region or other objective criteria.


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First, replace the five-axis machine with an industrial robot. Both can describe the spatial trajectory to achieve three-dimensional cutting, industrial robots repeat positioning accuracy slightly lower than the five-axis machine, about ± 100uM, but it can fully meet the automotive sheet metal cover and chassis parts industry precision requirements . The use of industrial robots greatly reduces the cost of the system cost, reducing power system costs and system operation and maintenance costs, reducing the system's footprint.
Second, replace the CO2 laser with a fiber laser. Fiber laser technology is the rapid development of laser technology in recent years, compared with the traditional laser, with better cutting quality, lower system cost, longer service life and lower maintenance costs, lower power consumption. The key is that the laser of the fiber laser can be transmitted through the optical fiber to facilitate the connection with the industrial robot so as to realize the flexible processing.
Thirdly, the only drawback of this system is that it can only process metal workpieces and can not process non-metal workpieces. This is because the system uses a fiber laser, the wavelength of 1064NM, relative to the wavelength of 10640NM CO2 laser, not easily absorbed by non-metallic parts.


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In many of my previous articles i said that becoming aware of your own emotions is one of the best things you can do to yourself to maintain a healthy emotional state.
In my previous article Where do emotions come from i said that emotions are signals sent by the brain to notify us about important matters.
The key to having a great mood is to learn the purpose of those messages and to respond to them in a timely manner. This is why in my book The ultimate guide to getting over depression i said that one of the major causes of depression is ignoring those signals and giving your back to them.
This leads us to a very important conclusion which is that mindfulness is a very useful technique because it can allow a person to get in touch with their emotions, to understand them better and to become fully aware of their presence.
However this is not how people use mindfulness. So many people use mindfulness as a way to ignore their emotions after becoming aware of them and this is why it backfires in such cases.
So many people use mindfulness to ignore their emotions after they become aware of them while totally forgetting that the only way to get over emotional pain for good is to respond to the signals the mind sends.
In my previous article How to stop thinking about something that bothers you i said that our brains keep sending us unpleasant emotions and reminding us of unpleasant situations so that we do something about them.
Even if those bad situations were past events our minds would still require some kind of an action plan to provide reassurance that those bad situations won't be repeated again.
What so many people do is that they use mindfulness to watch their emotions as they develop then totally ignore them as if they were purposeless things.
Let's suppose that you felt thirsty, does it make any sense to ignore your thirst and treat it as if it's a foreign desire that has no purpose?
If you did so you will become even more thirsty hours later simply because you didn't respond to the signal. The same thing exactly happens with emotions when you ignore them. When you ignore your emotions, after becoming aware of them, they will come back at you stronger hours or even moments later. See The ultimate solution to all of your problems
Mindfulness isn't working for you for two major reasons:
Mindfulness can be a great technique that can help you understand yourself even more but if you used it as an escapement method then it will backfire, make you feel worse and even ruin your life.
In the Ultimate guide to Developing super powers you will know how to hypnotize people, seduce them, control their minds, read their faces and be more like a super human. If you are interested in getting that kind of power then check the course out.
2knowmyself is not a complicated medical website nor a boring online encyclopedia but rather a place where you will find simple, to the point and effective information that is backed by psychology and presented in a simple way that you can understand and apply. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself.
Want to know more?
Why do i feel bad when i try to do anything
Is there a way to instantly feel good
How to get over anyone in few days (book)
How to make anyone fall in love with me fast (book)
How to end Depression instantly (book)
How to control people's minds (Course)
How to develop rock solid self confidence fast (course)
How to make someone fall in love with you. Based on the psychology of falling in love
How to get over anyone in few days Breakups will never hurt like before.
How i became a dot com millionaire The ultimate guide to making money from the internet


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The Gathering of the Community
The Apostolic Greeting—Pg. 185
Hymn 91: People Look East
The Collect of the Day
The Proclamation of the Word
The Readings: see other side
Anthem: A Mighty King is Coming
The Gospel
The Affirmation of Faith: see front
The Prayers
The Prayers of the People: see inside
Confession & Absolution—Pg. 191
The Peace
Announcements & Transitions
The Lighting of the Advent Wreath
The Celebration of the Holy Eucharist
Hymn (offertory) 104: Joy Shall Come
Prayer over the Gifts
Eucharistic Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
The Breaking of the Bread
Lamb of God
- 109: When the King Shall Come Again
- 95: O Come Divine Messiah
- 656: She Comes Sailing (v 3 & 4)
The Scattering (Mark 4:20)
Hymn: Gathered in His Name
Prayer after Communion
The doxology & Blessing
Hymn: There is Joy in the Lord


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Why S&S Pension Consultancy?
- We have 20 years of experience in pension (law) consultancy.
- We are known for our critical attitude and integrity.
- We strive to completely unburden our client.
- Implemented through our legal, fiscal and actuarial background and explicitely client focused approach.
- Due to our network we can act quickly in international matters.
- We strive to have a long lasting contact with our clients.
- We charge a normal fee.
- Our result is often 5-10 times higher than our invoice.
- Central location at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport.
- The traceable recommendations of our clients on our site, Google and Facebook.
Background S&S Pension Consultancy
We are inspired by Sparkman & Stephens. They designed slender sailboats which are known for their speed,
high quality and simplicity.
Values that inspire us each day!
Background Patrick Donders
Patrick Donders
Patrick Donders is Pension Jurist/Consultant and founder of Expat Pension Holland. He graduated from Law School and has a Pension and Post Doctorate Tax Law background. As well as an actuarial education at the Actuarial Institute.
After an internship at the Columbia Law School in New York City Patrick started his career at Arthur Andersen. During his career Patrick had several management positions at financial institutions. During his 10 years at Moore Stephens Amsterdam Patrick build the international pension consultancy practice.
Patrick has more than 20 years of experience regarding International Pension Consultancy. Both collective and expats. Patrick is passionate about quality and adding value. He is a trusted advisor of a number of especially German and Japanese Global Companies. As well as of many Expats of whom most are of Board level.
In his spare time Patrick loves the outdoors and especially endurance cycling, sailing and running. After which he appreciates a nice glass of wine!
Also for your company?
Does your company require an effective consultant who communicates clearly?
Feel free to contact us.


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Cop Out (book 5 of 5 of THE ROZZERS series)Word count target: 20,000+ each part. Genre: Police/memoirs
Part 1 (End of the Road) published May 2012, my first baby.
Part 2 (Cops Don't Run) published Nov 2013.
Part 3 (One for the Road) published in June 2014.
Part 4 (Thief Taker) published in November 2015.
Part 5 (Cop Out) in progress.
Prequel to above series: (Cop Stopper), an exclusive ebook only available (FOR FREE) to my newsletter sign ups!
Once the final book in this series is finished, I will release all five of them as a complete collection for just 2,99 as well as releasing it in print (my first print book!).
I will then turn my attentions back to my first full length novel Filthy.
My first full-length novel, inspired by actual events.
If you have lived in Spain for any period of time, you will certainly sympathise with the protagonist's views of living there.
Dover Lord seriesThis is a post-apocalyptic tale based on a group of survivors who take refuge in the mighty Dover Castle in south east England.
The Dream Makers (series), Book 1: The Seven KingdomsWord count: 140,000. Target: less! Genre: High Fantasy
This is my major work, and the first of six book in the series. In truth, it is two series of three books each; the first series tells the story of the beginning of Dreams, and the second series is set in the present day.
|Not a writing award,
just the UEFA Cup
His journey ends in tragedy, whilst he himself is tasked to do the impossible. History starts that day with Orixe, a history mankind has yet to discover, despite being right at the heart of it.
The Dream Makers (series), Book 2: The High King
The Dream Makers (series), Book 3: The Dream Factory
The Dream Makers (series 2, present day), Book 1: The Shadow Prince
So I started book one in the series, and will have to return to this one once I have written the preceding three books! By then, I'm hoping to have passed my 'million words of crap' so that I can really make this book into something special!
The Dream Makers (series 2, present day), Book 2: The ****
The Dream Makers (series 2, present day), Book 3: The ****
The Humptybackcrocodillopig Returns (Plus books 2-5)Wip. Word count: approx 2000. Target: 3-4000. Genre: Children's Literature (Modern Fantasy) Traditional publishing.
Kicking the Cans
The Dragon on the Balcony
Insideout (working title)Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy (story still whizzing around my head)
Thanks for your interest!


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Premiere Colorado DJ Services
Nufusion Productions is Denver Colorado's premier, full-service event company. When you book your event with us, you get the most talented Colorado DJs and the most knowledgeable event staff out there. We specialize in event DJ services in Denver, event production and lighting, and photo booth rentals throughout Colorado. We provide Wedding DJ services (ceremony & reception), Corporate Event Entertainment, School Dance DJs, and more. We also provide services for fundraisers, greek organizations, retail events, teen events and anything else where music is needed. Nufusion Productions has been serving Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado with the best DJ services for more than a decade. If you're looking for the best Colorado DJ services, you've come to the right place!


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We are proud of the unique perspective, excellent service and results for our clients. Here is what they have to say about working with us.
What our clients say about us!View all testimonials
We've used social media for several of our businesses with good effect. We wanted to take the next step, so we hired DowSocial. They were professional and had a real impact on our business by providing strategic insight that helped us build our presence & increase revenues.
Rachel Parkin
Managing Director, Balagan Group
DowSocial grew our social media followers 10 fold in the time we worked together. They are highly motivated and took the initiative on the best strategy for us (Censornet). I would have no hesitation in recommending DowSocial to others looking to build their social media presence.
Tim Lloyd
Technical Director, Censornet
DowSocial were hired to work on my social media marketing and they continues to prove their worth to my business. As for so many other businesses finding the time to put 'pen to paper' and keep in touch with my customer base through blogs and social media content is a real challenge. I work with Managing Director Kristian whose enthusiasm for doing just this on my behalf means that I now have a trusted partner helping me grow my business. He works methodically and starts every phase with a customer meeting to ensure that full agreement is reached on scope and content. Kristian works autonomously to research and write each piece and ensures there is a final editorial review prior to each blog being posted. His writing style is adapted to the person he is writing for and this shows his dedication to providing his clients with a personalised service. I would certainly recommend Kristian and his company DowSocial to any other business.
Chris Smith
IT Consultant
Kristian Downer, Managing Director, at DowSocial was brought on to manage our Twitter account. His expertise in social marketing helped to increase donations from the Twitter community. He was very diligent about ensuring the posts were sent and the content was appropriate for our organization brand. I recommend him to any company looking to increase their marketing via social marketing.
New Beginnings Incorporation
United States Military Veterans Charity
DowSocial are excellent at what they do. They have helped me reach over 10,000 followers on twitter and the opportunities I am getting because of this are paying dividends. They are professional and would recommend him to anyone who is serious about taking their business to the next level.
Martin Peston
Owner, Top Australian Wines


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Our Mission
"As the daughter of a single mother who worked two full-time jobs, a mom of two young girls myself, and an entrepreneur in the financial industry, I know first-hand how difficult it is for women to get ahead – and stay ahead.
That's why it's time to create the first generation of women who will lead from the top. Women who will think nothing of creating a business or being the next CEO."
Jennifer Openshaw, CEO & Founder, Girls With Impact
We need Girls with Impact… because these are the realities our daughters are facing:
- In just three years, 40% of the US workforce will be freelance
- Women are still paid less – 78c for every dollar earned by men – and continue to be under-represented in high-skill, high-wage jobs – from tech and engineering to the CEO spot
- Only 6% of CEOs are women
- And although women start about 38% of all businesses in the US, they receive only 2-6% of venture funding
By creating the next generation leaders – from all walks of life — and a strong network that will serve them in both the corporate and public sectors — we can change these statistics.