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You know the stuff, you have some enums that logically wraps for instance integer constants. Typical case is numeric DB column mapped to enum. We all know that using EnumType.ORDINAL is one of those worse solutions. And EnumType.STRING is not really loved by our DB admins (if you have them) – even though it's easy to read for sure. 🙂 Normalization suffers, enum constant renaming is a bit problem too. So we want to map it to numeric (for instance) which would be Integer in JPA entity.
This mapping does not necessarily related only to JPA, there are many cases when you want to convert enum to something and back. For instance, with generated web-services I often map generated enum to my "business" one and if it suits me (as it is not always clean) I embed this mapping into my enum (not the generated one of course :-)). So I map enum to another related enum and back. But we will work with JPA example. JPA 2.1 with AttributeConverter<X,Y> to be precise. You can do something similar with Hibernate converters too, I'm sure.
This blog post is accompanied by this GitHub project containing all the variations. Copy and paste and use whatever however you like.
Naive approach
Before going on, know that you can check all examples in this GitHub repository. First case can be found in this location. We have our simple enum:
public enum SomeEntityType { NORMAL, SPECIAL }
And we have our entity that is mapping numeric column to our enum:
@Entity public class SomeEntity { @Id private Integer id; @Convert(converter = SomeEntityTypeConverter.class) @Column(name = "type") private SomeEntityType type; }
This entity will be the same throughout all of our solutions, so we will not repeat it. Important line is the one with @Convert annotation that finally allows us to do conversion (JPA 2.1, part of Java EE 7). All we have to do now is to implement that converter:
import javax.persistence.AttributeConverter; /** * This is coupled too much to enum and you always have to change both classes in tandem. * That's a big STOP (and think) sign in any case. */ public class SomeEntityTypeConverter implements AttributeConverter<SomeEntityType, Integer> { @Override public Integer convertToDatabaseColumn(SomeEntityType someEntityType) { switch (someEntityType) { case NORMAL: return 0; case SPECIAL: return 1; default: // do we need this? if for nothing else it catches forgotten case when enum is modified throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid value " + someEntityType); // actually the value is valid, just this externalized switch sucks of course } } @Override public SomeEntityType convertToEntityAttribute(Integer dbValue) { switch (dbValue) { case 0: return SomeEntityType.NORMAL; case 1: return SomeEntityType.SPECIAL; } // now what? probably exception would be better just to warn programmer // but if it happens in production, it doesn't really matter if it's here or NPE later return null; } }
Ok, so I revealed the problems in the comments. There may be just one reason to do it this way. If you need the enum independent from that dbValue mapping – but I really don't know why. On the contrary, you should go for cohesive solution. And in this case you will be just fine with encapsulation. Put the stuff that changes into one place – the enum.
Encapsulated conversion
You need to implement AttributeConverter, because it is kind of glue between JPA and your class. But there is no reason to leave the actual mapping in this infrastructure class. So let's enhance the enum to keep the converter simple. Converter I want to see looks like this:
public class SomeEntityTypeConverter implements AttributeConverter<SomeEntityType, Integer> { @Override public Integer convertToDatabaseColumn(SomeEntityType someEntityType) { return someEntityType.getDbValue(); } @Override public SomeEntityType convertToEntityAttribute(Integer dbValue) { // this can still return null unless it throws IllegalArgumentException // which would be in line with enums static valueOf method return SomeEntityType.fromDbValue(dbValue); } }
Much better, we don't have to think about this class at all when we add values to enum. The complexity is now here, but it's all tight in a single class:
public enum SomeEntityType { NORMAL(0), SPECIAL(1); // ENUM -> DB VALUE CONVERSION // first part is easy and most programmers get here (Effective Java 101 after all) // fields are not final implicitly, but we better make them private final Integer dbValue; private SomeEntityType(Integer dbValue) { this.dbValue = dbValue; } public Integer getDbValue() { return dbValue; } // DB VALUE -> ENUM CONVERSION // static reverse resolving: public static final Map<Integer, SomeEntityType> dbValues = new HashMap<>(); static { for (SomeEntityType value : values()) { dbValues.put(value.dbValue, value); } } public static SomeEntityType fromDbValue(Integer dbValue) { // this returns null for invalid value, check for null and throw exception if you need it return dbValues.get(dbValue); } }
I saw also some half-solutions without the static reverse resolving, but I hope we all agree it goes into the enum. If it's two value enum, you may start with switch in fromDbValue, but that's just another thing to think about – and one static map will not kill anyone. You can find this solution here on GitHub.
Now this works, so let's imagine we need this for many enums. Can we find some common ground here? I think we can.
Conversion microframework
Let's say we want to have order in these things. We will require the method named toDbValue, etc. So our enums will implement interface ConvertedEnum:
/** * Declares this enum as converted into database, column value of type Y. * * In addition to implementing {@link #toDbValue()} converted enum should also * provide static method for reverse conversion, for instance {@code X fromDbValue(Y)}. * This one should throw {@link IllegalArgumentException} just as {@link Enum#valueOf(Class, String)} does. * Check {@link EnumAttributeConverter} for helper methods that can be used during reverse conversion. */ public interface ConvertedEnum<Y> { Y toDbValue(); }
It's parametrized, hence flexible. Javadoc says it all – we can't enforce the static stuff, because that's how Java works. While I suggest that reverse fromDbValue should throw IllegalArgumentException, I'll leave it to return null for now – just know that I'm aware of this. 🙂 I'd personally go strictly for IAE, but I'll show how we can use null in conversion.
What are the changes in the enum? Minimal really, just add implements ConvertedEnum<Integer> and you can add @Override over toDbValue method. Not worth the listing as it's all here on GitHub anyway.
Now to utilize all this we need a base class for AttributeConverter – here it goes:
/** * Base implementation for converting enums stored in DB. * Enums must implement {@link ConvertedEnum}. */ public abstract class EnumAttributeConverter<X extends ConvertedEnum<Y>, Y> implements AttributeConverter<X, Y> { @Override public final Y convertToDatabaseColumn(X x) { return x.toDbValue(); } // you can end here, or you can add handy stuff if necessary public X notNull(X x) { return notNull(x, null); } public X notNull(X x, Y dbValue) { if (x == null) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("No enum constant" + (dbValue != null ? (" for DB value " + dbValue) : "")); } return x; } public X withDefault(X x, X defaultValue) { return x != null ? x : defaultValue; } }
As you can see, only convertToDatabaseColumn is mandatory here. Here is our concrete converter:
public class SomeEntityTypeConverter extends EnumAttributeConverter<SomeEntityType, Integer> { @Override public SomeEntityType convertToEntityAttribute(Integer integer) { return notNull(SomeEntityType.fromDbValue(integer)); } }
What a beauty suddenly! I also used notNull to enforce IllegalArgumentException (unless you do it on enum level), or I could use withDefault to fallback to some default value – if it makes sense of course (better when it doesn't :-)).
And now the last push. What is repeating? And what we can do about it?
- It would be cool to have just a single converter class – but this is impossible, because there is no way how to instruct the converter about its types. Especially method convertToEntityAttribute is immune to any approach because there is nothing during runtime that can tell you what the expected enum type would be. No reflection or anything helps here, so it seems.
- So we have to have separate AttributeConverter classes, but can we pull convertToEntityAttribute into our EnumAttributeConverter? Not easily really, but we'll try something.
- How about the static resolving? Can we get rid of that static initialization block? It is static, so it seems problematic – but indeed, we can do something about it.
Let's try to hack our converters first. We need to get the type information into the instance of the superclass. It can be protected field like this:
public abstract class EnumAttributeConverter<X extends ConvertedEnum<Y>, Y> implements AttributeConverter<X, Y> { protected Class<X> enumClass;
And subclass would initialize it this way:
public class SomeEntityTypeConverter extends EnumAttributeConverter<SomeEntityType, Integer> { { enumClass = SomeEntityType.class; }
But this is not enforced in any way! Rather use abstract method that must be implemented. In abstract converter:
protected abstract Class<X> enumClass();
And in concrete class:
public class SomeEntityTypeConverter extends EnumAttributeConverter<SomeEntityType, Integer> { @Override protected Class<SomeEntityType> enumClass() { return SomeEntityType.class; } }
But we're back to 3 lines of code (excluding @Override) and we didn't get to ugly unified convertToEntityAttribute:
@Override public X convertToEntityAttribute(Y dbValue) { try { Method method = enumClass().getMethod("fromDbValue", dbValue.getClass()); return (X) method.invoke(null, dbValue); } catch (IllegalAccessException | InvocationTargetException | NoSuchMethodException e) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("...this really doesn't make sense", e); } }
Maybe I missed something on the path, but this doesn't sound like good solution. It would be if it lead to unified converter class, but it is not. There may be one more problem with hunt for unified solution. While the concrete implementation contains methods that have concrete parameter and return types, unified abstract implementation don't. They can use the right types during runtime, but the method wouldn't tell you if you used reflection. Imagine JPA checking this. Right now I know that unified public final Y convertToDatabaseColumn(X x) {…} works with EclipseLink, but maybe we're asking for problems. Let's check it really:
// throws NoSuchMethodException // Method method = converter.getClass().getMethod("convertToDatabaseColumn", Integer.class); Method method = converter.getClass().getMethod("convertToDatabaseColumn", Object.class); System.out.println("method = " + method); // prints: method = public java.lang.Object com.github.virgo47.enumconv._4evenmore.EnumAttributeConverter.convertToDatabaseColumn(java.lang.Object)
Great… so if something strictly matches the method types with column/enum types, we may have a misunderstanding. Sometimes too smart may be just that – too smart. Check this overboard solution here on GitHub.
Simplified static resolving
Anyway, let's look into that enum's static resolving. This is actually really useful. Without further ado, this is how enum part may look like:
// static resolving: public static final ConvertedEnumResolver<SomeEntityType, Integer> resolver = new ConvertedEnumResolver<>(SomeEntityType.class); public static SomeEntityType fromDbValue(Integer dbValue) { return resolver.get(dbValue); }
So we got rid of static initializer. But the code must be somewhere:
/** * Helps reverse resolving of {@link ConvertedEnum} from a DB value back to enum instance. * Enums that can be resolved this way must have unified interface in order to obtain * {@link ConvertedEnum#toDbValue()}. * * @param <T> type of an enum * @param <Y> type of DB value */ public class ConvertedEnumResolver<T extends ConvertedEnum<Y>, Y> { private final String classCanonicalName; private final Map<Y, T> dbValues = new HashMap<>(); public ConvertedEnumResolver(Class<T> enumClass) { classCanonicalName = enumClass.getCanonicalName(); for (T t : enumClass.getEnumConstants()) { dbValues.put(t.toDbValue(), t); } } public T get(Y dbValue) { T enumValue = dbValues.get(dbValue); if (enumValue == null) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("No enum constant for dbValue " + dbValue + " in " + classCanonicalName); } return enumValue; } }
And this I actually really like. Here I went for strict checking, throwing exception. Without it, or without needing/wanting the type name it could be even shorter. But you write this one once and save in each enum. Check the complete sources here on GitHub.
So there are three players in this "framework":
- ConvertedEnum – interface for your enums that are converted in this way.
- ConvertedEnumResolver – wraps the reverse mapping and saves you most of the static lines in each converted enum.
- EnumAttributeConverter – maybe the most questionable part here. It takes care of one direction of the conversion, just be aware of potential problems if something introspect the method types.
Alternative conversions with entities
While not exactly on the topic of enum to value mapping (and back), we were demonstrating this all in context of JPA 2.1. So I'd like to at least mention alternative solutions for older JPA versions.
- You can always use vendor specific extensions. Hibernate has its Custom types and I'm sure EclipseLink doesn't fall behind.
- But there is also possibility to use mapping annotations on properties. That is put your @Id on the getter, or specify AccessType.PROPERTY. This allows you to convert anything to anything in getter/setter. I even used it to back Dates by long (or Long if nullable). This way various tools (like Sonar) didn't complain about silly mutable Date breaking the encapsulation when used directly in get/set methods, because it was not stored directly anymore. Hibernate used get/set for Date, and I had @Transient get/set for millis long available. I actually liked comparing millis more than before/after methods on Date, but that's another story. The same can be used for mapping enums – just have JPA compatible type mapped for JPA and @Transient get/set with enum type. Most of the stuff about enum encapsulation and static resolving still applies.
I hope you liked our tour around enums. If you knew or used this before, good for you. I'm surprised how many programmers don't try to design and refactor these little things where you don't even need to think in UML.
And if you have better solutions, share them in comments, please. 🙂


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EU-Indonesia CEPA Negotiations
The EU is negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Indonesia with the objective to facilitate and create new market access, increase trade between the EU and Indonesia as well as to expand direct investment.
The EU officially launched negotiations with Indonesia on 18 July 2016.
The 8th round of negotiations with Indonesia, that took place in Jakarta from 17 to 21 June 2019, showed continued progress, with further text consolidation in most chapters under negotiation.
Report of the 8th round of negotiations (Jakarta, 17-21 June 2019)
Previous reports
Report of the 7th round of negotiations (Brussels, 11-15 March 2019)
Press Release (5 April 2019): European Commission reports on latest negotiating round with Indonesia
Report of the 6th round of negotiations (Palembang, 15-19 Oct 2018)
Press Release (22 Oct 2018): EU and Indonesia complete 6th round of negotiations for a trade agreement
Report of the 5th round of negotiations (Brussels, 9-13 July 2018)
Report of the 4th round of negotiations (Solo, 19-23 Feb 2018)
Report of the 3rd round of negotiations (Brussels, 11-15 Sep 2017)
Report of the 2nd round of negotiations (Bali, 24-27 January 2017)
Report of the 1st round of negotiations (Brussels, 201-21 Sep 2016)
More documents on the European Commission's DG Trade website:
EU-Indonesia CEPA negotiations

subset: commoncrawl


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What is B Corp? B Corp is "a movement of people using business as a force for good." It's a group of companies who have decided to put people and planet before profit. It's a mission to invest in future generations and in the future of the Earth.
Click image to enlarge
To be certified as a B Corporation, a business must first pass strict social and environmental testing to be sure that they are leaving the world better than they found it. Here at Sunflower we are proud to carry many B Corp certified brands. Here are some...
... Or, just
look for
this symbol:
If you've purchased anything from the above brands, then you've helped to make the world a better place. High five! Thank you for doing your part. We hope to see you all soon!
Health & happiness,
(For more information, visit bcorporation.net)
* Image from bcorporation.net. Post by Julia Marchand.


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Monty Python star and acclaimed travel presenter Michael Palin has given a tremendous endorsement for the west coast of Scotland, claiming it to be the most beautiful place in the world he has seen on his travels.
Although his adventures have taken him to such unique places on the globe such as the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert and the Himalayas, Michael mentioned that the remoteness of the Scottish countryside and its 'breathtaking' beauty as being just two reasons why the west coast was his top choice. As reported by Deadline News, Michael Palin shared his love affair with the area which began in his Monty Python days :
"I loved the contract of getting on the train in a grey, noisy city and getting off in utter tranquility with the Rannoch Moor opening up in front of you.
It's an area I've returned to time and time again and its my favourite part of the world.
There are peaks I've climbed many times with my son, Tom. I've had some great nights in the Kings House Hotel as well.
In recent years I've traveled to places such as Iona and I have found that breathtaking as well.
I love talking to people and getting to know them but I am not a fan of big crowds.
I think that's why I like the remoteness of Scotland so much. There are beautiful landscapes such as the Himalayas but they're inaccessible.
In Scotland you can jump on a train and be in the middle of nowhere in a couple of hours,"
Read the full article at the Deadline News website here. Also, why not take a look at the wide range of things to see and do on the picturesque west coast of Scotland today?


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Baths Talks His Dark New Album, Working With Anticon, and Being Comfortably Medicated
For our debut episode we welcomed Baths. We had no idea what we were doing yet. Thankfully he was patient enough to bear with us. I hadn't started taking photos of guests yet which explains the terrible graphic design.
Please search for Kinda Neat on Itunes and subscribe, rate and comment!
Episode 1: Baths [ 43:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Facebook Comments


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SKY-WATCHING LANDMARK: The stars are free, so the saying goes (and a thousand sayings like it). We can gaze up, any night of the year, and if clouds aren't doing their clouding-up thing, well... we're soaking in Ursa Major and Orion and deep space, all for the pleasure of it, the mystery, the science, and knowledge. But there's a special something in getting together with other looker-uppers, people who like to stare into the vastly voidness of it all and consider why planets and meteors and stars act in the ways they do. The Julian StarFest is one of the stellar astronomical gatherings on the California calendar, meaning that both professional astronomers and nebula-lovin' backyard-telescopers circle the summer date as a must-do. This year's dates are Thursday, Aug. 21 through Sunday, Aug. 24, the place is Menghini Winery in Julian, and there's a special field trip, of sorts, that'll require sooner-than-later reservations: a tour of Palomar Observatory.
IT'S TRUE... that you can visit the mountain observatory, which sits northwestish of Julian towards Temecula, most any day of the year in the daytime, but hopping on a Julian StarFest tour'll be a treat (and we can't imagine all the info that'll be shared and parsed regarding the observatory's magnificent and huge Hale 200" telescope). You will need to make reservations, though, ahead of time, which means soon. If you'd rather stick closer to the StarFest, you can: The free public star party is on Saturday night, Aug. 23. "(M)any telescopes" shall dot the grounds, meaning you'll get a thorough look at something far, far, far and away from Julian, and, well, earth. And you'll have plenty of astronomers on hand to tell you what you're looking at and answer questions. Cosmic knowledge and universe-cool good times, indeed.


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The historic tower of Gonbad Kavoos is an enormous decagon building with a conic roof located in a city by the same name in Golestan Province, northeast of Iran.
Robert Byron (1905-1941), the British travel writer and architectural critic, wrote that it was a photograph of the tower that motivated him to visit Persia. Seeing the tower, he maintained his high opinion of its qualities, writing in The Road to Oxiana, that 'the Gonbad Kavoos ranks with the great buildings of the world.'
Massive cylinder capped by a conical roof, the tower reaches 72 meters high (including the height of the platform) and is a majestic structure made of brick, with special technicalities and affects of art, related to the 4th century AH.
While it is not the world's tallest brick tower (it is shorter than the St. Martin's Church in Landshut, Germany and Church of Our Lady, Bruges in Bruges, Belgium and Qutb Minar in Delhi, India) but it is still the world's tallest pure-brick tower. This structure which is located on a hillock amidst the grand park of Gonbad Kavoos city, is the tomb of Shams al-Ma'ali Qaboos ibne Voshmgir Ziyari.
The circular plan, broken by 10 flanges, is 17 meters in diameter, and with 3 meter thick walls. It is a fortified building, constructed by strong elements, and consists of beautiful ornamental works in proportionate lines adorned with harmony. The said structure consists of three parts - foundation, the main building and the dome which is conical (reaching a height of 18 meters), rising to an elevation of 55 meters. The actual structure rests on a round base, two meter of which is above the ground, and the rest lies as an underground base. The tower was built on such a scientific and mathematical design that at the front of the tower, at an external circle, one can hear one's reflected echo.
Built in 1006 CE upon the orders of the Ziyarid Amir Shams al-Ma'ali Qabus ibn Voshmgir it is located 3 kilometers north of the ancient city of Gorgan, from where the Ziyarid dynasty ruled. Legend has it that the Sultan's body was put in a glass coffin and was suspended from the ceiling of the tower.
A Kufic inscription at the bottom of the tower reads: "This great monument was built for Amir Shams al-Ma'ali, Amir Qabus ibn Voshmgir, by his command, during his life, in the year 397 of the lunar calendar, and year 375 of the solar calendar." The inscription verifies that the tower was built as a tomb for the named Ziyarid ruler.
The tower is artistically designed with ten triangular patterns at regular intervals. Two simple epigraphs in the cuneiform embossment script can be observed on the construction dating to 397 AH. The tower has been constructed of red brick, but this color has changed to a golden yellow, under effect of sun rays. Vaulted arches can be noted at the entrance of the tower and the interiors contain the earliest examples of Mugharnas decorative styles.
Gonbad Kavoos Tower was registered as an Iranian national cultural heritage site in 1931. Today the restoration of the dome is an urgent matter, with humidity threatening many parts of the building. Recently, some restoration work was done in a general cleanup of the tower which included cleaning the area from natural moss and cleaning bird waste off of the walls.
Location:Gonbad-e Kāvus City, Golestan province
Walking path length: -
Days of trip: 2-3 Days from Tehran to Tehran (Without heavy traffic you need about 6-8 hr driving from Tehran to Gonbad-e Qabus)
Attention: In holidays there is heavy traffic in all roads around Tehran.
Best time to visit: No Limit, Spring is the best time.
Daily time visit:
Difficulty level: Easy
Requirements: Guide or GPS track, water, food, warm and waterproof clothes and...
Legal permission need: No
Overall risk: -
Animal risk: No
Lost risk: No
Rescue: Yes, you can call 115
GSM Mobile Antenna: Yes
Hotel: Yes
Village: Located in Gonbad-e Kāvus City
Shop: Yes
Gasoline: Yes
How to get there:
1- Go to east terminal of buses in Tehran (more info)
2- Take a bus to Gorgan (Also you can use train or air palne)
3- Take a taxi to Gonbad-e Kāvus City.Distance from Tehran to Gonbad-e Kāvus is 485 km.
4- Take a taxi to Gonbad-e Qabus
Nearest airport: Gorgan airport
Nearest train station: Gorgan station
Location on map:


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What is an Oahu Master Gardener?
Master Gardeners are adults (18 years and over), who love gardening, want to learn and to share their knowledge with others through volunteer educational services. Master Gardener volunteers are an important Extension resource for expanded outreach into the community. The trained Master Gardener volunteers help Extension to meet the overwhelming demand for research based horticultural and gardening information to the public.
The Oahu Master Gardener program disseminates horticultural information to the gardening client through phone consultation, plant clinics, demonstrations and e-mail. Walk-ins are assisted and always welcomed. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to noon Monday thru Friday (except holidays). Volunteers assist with the KCC and North Shore Farmer's Market, community promotions, the farm fair, and health fairs.
For further information on the Oahu Master Gardener Program, please visit the program Web Site.


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In This Section
If your dog or cat is missing contact Council Officers to file a description as soon as possible; sometimes we are able to match up lost and found animals before impoundment becomes necessary.
Upon impoundment, animals are costly to recover; they must be microchipped and registered (if this is not current) and fees paid before they are released. Impounded animals are kept for 8 days at which time they are assessed by a veterinarian and depending on their adoption suitability, they are either sold or euthanised.
Our Council is located at:
5 Lawrence Street
Phone: 1300 PYRENEES (1300 797 363)
Fax: (03) 5349 2068
Email: email@example.com
We acknowledge the people past and present of the Wadawurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, and Djab Wurrung tribes, whose land forms the Pyrenees Shire. We pay our respect to the customs, traditions and stewardship of the land by the elders and people of these tribes.


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Ladies Gold and crystal watch with matching bracelet
A beautiful and elegant formal set. The dial is clear with gold tone indicators, hands with roman numerals, sealing the deal with the glisten of the mother of pearl. The crystals around the dial have a hypnotic affect. The small, delicate face emphasises the strap on the watch with the crystals. The gold tone strap and bracelet have an elegant fitting. They can be worn together or apart as both draw attention for their unique qualities. Links are adjustable so if you do have a small wrist the watch or/and the bracelet can be placed securely.
Gold Tone Band colour Crystal Stones Water Resistant - Splash Proof 3 Years Warranty
3 year warranty, splash resistant
Ladies formal wear


text: SEXY AND THE CITY: We are jumping out of very used and abused Manolos for the release of "Sex and the City 2." In honor of the New York City divas, the Peace Love World Store on Sunset Drive is hosting an SATC 2 happy hour event. Stop by the store on May 27 and receive a complimentary 10 percent off all goodies in the store, and pick up your limited-edition "I am Sexy" t-shirt created especially for the movie. GET IT: 4-7 P.M., 5826 Sunset Drive, South Miami. 305.661.8940


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Ingestion of creatine (Cr) and glycerol (Gly) has been reported to be an effective method in expanding water compartments within the human body, attenuating the rise in heart rate (HR) and core temperature (Tcore) during exercise in the heat. Despite these positive effects, a substantial water retention could potentially impair endurance performance through increasing body mass (BM) and consequently impacting negatively on running economy (RE). The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of a combined Cr and Gly supplementation on thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses and RE during running for 30 min at speed corresponding to 60% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) in hot and cool conditions. Methods: Cr * H2O (11.4 g), Gly (1 g * kg-1 BM) and Glucose polymer (75 g) were administered twice daily to 15 male endurance runners during a 7-day period. Exercise trials were conducted pre- and post-supplementation at 10 and 35 degreesC and 70% relative humidity. Results: BM and total body water increased by 0.90 +/- 0.40 kg (P < 0.01; mean +/- SD) and 0.71 +/- 0.42 L (P < 0.01), respectively following supplementation. Despite the significant increase in BM, supplementation had no effect on VO2 and therefore RE. Both HR and Tcore were attenuated significantly after supplementation (P < 0.05, for both). Nevertheless, thermal comfort and rating of perceived exertion was not significantly different between pre- and post-supplementation. Similarly, no significant differences were found in sweat loss, serum osmolality, blood lactate and in plasma volume changes between pre- and post-supplementation. Conclusions: Combining Cr and Gly is effective in reducing thermal and cardiovascular strain during exercise in the heat without negatively impacting on RE.
Tag Archive: VO2max
The effects of creatine and glycerol hyperhydration on running economy in well trained endurance runners
PGC-1α-b expression in muscle increases Exercise Capacity and Peak Oxygen Uptake
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)) predicts mortality and is associated with endurance performance. Trained subjects have a high VO(2max) due to a high cardiac output and high metabolic capacity of skeletal muscles. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), a nuclear receptor coactivator, promotes mitochondrial biogenesis, a fiber-type switch to oxidative fibers, and angiogenesis in skeletal muscle. Because exercise training increases PGC-1α in skeletal muscle, PGC-1α-mediated changes may contribute to the improvement of exercise capacity and VO(2max). There are three isoforms of PGC-1α mRNA. PGC-1α-b protein, whose amino terminus is different from PGC-1α-a protein, is a predominant PGC-1α isoform in response to exercise. We investigated whether alterations of skeletal muscle metabolism by overexpression of PGC-1α-b in skeletal muscle, but not heart, would increase VO(2max) and exercise capacity.
Transgenic mice showed overexpression of PGC-1α-b protein in skeletal muscle but not in heart. Overexpression of PGC-1α-b promoted mitochondrial biogenesis 4-fold, increased the expression of fatty acid transporters, enhanced angiogenesis in skeletal muscle 1.4 to 2.7-fold, and promoted exercise capacity (expressed by maximum speed) by 35% and peak oxygen uptake by 20%. Across a broad range of either the absolute exercise intensity, or the same relative exercise intensities, lipid oxidation was always higher in the transgenic mice than wild-type littermates, suggesting that lipid is the predominant fuel source for exercise in the transgenic mice. However, muscle glycogen usage during exercise was absent in the transgenic mice.
Increased mitochondrial biogenesis, capillaries, and fatty acid transporters in skeletal muscles may contribute to improved exercise capacity via an increase in fatty acid utilization. Increases in PGC-1α-b protein or function might be a useful strategy for sedentary subjects to perform exercise efficiently, which would lead to prevention of life-style related diseases and increased lifespan.


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Never with the Flow - Sherlock/John preslash gen omegaverse (fuck yeah)
It's hard for John to say which was a bigger culture shock: getting shot (again) and falling into an alternate dimension instead of dying, or meeting Sherlock Holmes. Probably Sherlock Holmes, although discovering that he has an entirely new sexual orientation had been quite a turn up.
Now he's got to deal with a mad flatmate, a society that treats him like he'll break if someone looks at him the wrong way, and a new case involving kidnapped omegas being forced into prostitution rings.
Oh, and he's apparently going into heat. Lovely.
On LJ | On AO3


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Better management of free time ensures happier retirement
Retirees should be masters of their own destiny, and actively manage and plan their free time to ensure a happy and fulfilling retirement. This is the advice of Wei-Ching Wang of the I-Shou University in Taiwan, leader of a study published in Springer's journal Applied Research in Quality of Life. The study found that the effective management of free time has a far greater impact on a retiree's quality of life than the amount of time the person actually has available for leisure activities.
Wang and his team studied the responses of 454 Taiwanese retirees to understand if there is a link between their management of free time and their overall quality of life. With regard to their free time, the retirees were asked about the goals they set, their general attitude towards it and how they schedule and manage it. The Quality of Life scale of the World Health Organisation was also adapted and used for the purposes of the study.
Free time refers to those periods when people are under no obligation and can decide for themselves what to do. It is usually spent in leisure pursuits in order to relax after experiencing stress, or to improve one's health. Several previous studies have revealed that leisure time is important for older people, and that it has a positive influence on their quality of life, happiness and sense of peace. Other studies have also shown that a lack of planning can create problems such as boredom and an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle.
Compared to studies that focus on the management of work and study time, very little has so far been done on how retirees manage their free time. The current study is therefore of importance, especially in light of an increasingly aging population worldwide due to increased longevity and declining fertility rates. The phenomena of aging, along with an increasingly aging population and longer life expectancy, implies that the overall amount of spare time available to people is increasing. In Taiwan, for instance, nearly 10 percent of its population of 2.44 million people are retired.
"Quality of life is not affected as much by the amount of free time that a retiree has, but on how effectively the person manages this time on hand," says Wang. "Therefore it is important to educate people on how to use their free time more effectively to improve quality of life."
Wang therefore advises that governments, community centers and service organizations should consider the introduction of guidance programs or leisure education that teach people the management techniques that they need to schedule their free time better and to make the most of their retirement life.


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Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2018
- Messages
- 299
- Location
- Bucharest
Congratulations Teresa.
Haha thanks for the shoutout Mr. Gibson. I wish that was all I required to get a leg up on the competition. Alas, it is not.Here's my list of entries that caught my eye and/or tickled my fancy
Bringing Life to a Conversation - @Pedro Del Mar
Special Delvery - @nixie
recens oculi - @Mr Orange
The Transformation House - @Christopher Lee
If these walls could talk... - @Dr_R_Dizzle
And my vote went to...
Served Cold - @The Judge
P.S. Surely Christopher Lee has us all at a disadvantage with this genre?
View attachment 52023View attachment 52024
A succinct and accurate analysis, pH!In the end misery and nihilism as always catches my vote
Thanks for posting Starbeast!Congratulations Teresa Edgerton
And great job @Cat's Cradle & @mosaix
My Story - Due to me remembering November's 85 Challenge (since I was last here), I thought the 75 was now and forever 85 words.
So this serious mistake cost me an entry. Anyway, here is my voided post.
Tenebris Aetate Aedificium
"Your eminence. I've translated the text. There's good news, and bad news."
"Bad news?"
"A 400 foot leviathan, will instinctively be drawn to this building, next month."
"This place was designed to attract it."
"God, help us...."
"The good news is, the monster will accidentally impale itself on this building's spires.
Then humankind enjoys a thousand years of peace.
There'll be singing flowers, Pringles, chocolate, a petting zoo..."
"Give me, that book!" (pluck) "Hmm..........it does say that."
"God is mysterious, but very cool."
And congratulations to Teresa Edgerton, too!Thanks for posting @Starbeast
I can definitely add this to my list of ones that make me smile!!!
Once again, you all blow me away with your clever interpretations on the theme! It is so fun the read everyone's unique angle. And, once again, it was very hard to choose! Below is my list from my second read-through, and I know if I'd kept reading, I would have added more
Thanks Parson and Victoria Silverwolf for your wonderful reviews! And thank you Starbeast and nixie for the mentions! (Starbeast I didn't get to read your story—I hope you can post it after voting!)
@Cat's Cradle From That Room a Ruin
@Victoria Silverwolf A Warning to Wanderers
@Luiglin Whispered sweet nothings
@Mr Orange recens oculi
@Christopher Lee The Transformation House
@Stable It Contains Legions
@chrispenycate The Lair of the Fugue
@Parson Sanctuary
@Culhwch Tyrant's Last Stand
@HareBrain A PREMATURE END
@Teresa Edgerton Voracious
This batch below made me smile
@Pedro Del Mar Bringing Life to a Conversation
@nixie Special Delvery
@dannymcg I would do anything
@elvet The Lady of the Manor.
@LittleStar The Roommate Revival –great BBT reference!
@Alex The G and T Transient Victory
@M. Robert Gibson All's Well That Ends Well
@Ursa major The Saint and Sinner "G"
@Bob Senior At The Flea Market
@The Big Peat Building Up To The Obvious Climax
VOTE: @Hugh "We've All Been There" Love this one, Hugh!
I think I might have a stab at putting a bit of romance into a story.dabble into romance
I'll take thatCongratulations on the win, Teresa.
My apologies for missing the vote this month. Sorry folks. Peter V would have been my choice. Sorry again!
Massive thanks to the Judge for saving my bacon. Almost had a 0-0 entry there!
Romance as next genre @Teresa Edgerton ? @dannymcg and @Peter V are interested.I think I might have a stab at putting a bit of romance into a story.
(It'll prob turn out like really bad chick-lit )
Sorry, I've already decided on something else. Maybe another time, if there is another time.Romance as next genre @Teresa Edgerton ? @dannymcg and @Peter V are interested.
I'll save it for my next win in March 2026.Sorry, I've already decided on something else. Maybe another time, if there is another time.


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Phillip Carson, President of Carson Natural Health, LLC is a Pharmacist who thinks outside the box of traditional medicine. He believes in helping people find natural alternatives and integrative nutritional solutions to their health problems. He is committed to leading people to finding the root cause of their health problems and not just treating the symptoms. Phillip is passionate about encouraging and teaching people how to live more balanced, healthier and vibrant lives. He believes in equipping people with the knowledge to make the right choices for optimal health.
Phillip Carson a Registered Pharmacist, Doctor of Pharmacy with license in MS and TN is a 1985 graduate of the University of MS School of Pharmacy. Since earning his degree in Pharmacy Phillip has been certified as a Compounding Pharmacist, a Diabetes Care Pharmacist and most recently a Consulting Pharmacist. Phillip has also earned certifications in Lipid Management, Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD). He has earned numerous certifications in Natural and Alternative Medicine Therapies for weight loss, fibromyalgia, ADD/ADHD and many other health conditions.
In This Episode You Will Learn
- What a natural pharmacist does
- When traditional drugs are appropriate
- Why he won't dispense ADD or ADHD drugs
- The root cause of ADD and some other common disorders
- The gut/brain connection
- Health Coaching – specialty with diabetics
- He to deal with stress
- Claim FREE stuff at – carsonnatural.com/livefit
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I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope: Exploring Pearl Harbor's present pasts
December 8, 2011
Here's an article I wrote for the Hawaii Independent reflecting on a recent school excursion to Ke Awalau o Pu'uloa / Pearl Harbor, and contemporary meanings of Pearl Harbor as national myth: I...
Teaching Children War
November 16, 2011
Jon Letman describes how militarism has seeped into our society and culture, event the "Scholastic News" that his second grade son brings home from school. He asks profound questions about...
Kulani prison may reopen
August 8, 2011
The Hawaii Tribune Herald reports that the state is considering reopening the Kulani prison, which was closed and converted into a military school. Advocates of prison reform have called for the reopening...
Kulani saved? Possible win for environmental, peace and justice advocates!
June 24, 2011
CORRECTION: I was originally informed that the resolution passed by the Hawai'i State Senate effectively reversed the reset aside of Kulani Prison to the Hawaii National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program. ...
Demilitarization as Rehumanization
April 19, 2011
In an article in Left Turn magazine, Clare Bayard has beautifully reframed the issues for the peace / anti-war movement. Demilitarization is about challenging the infrastructure and ideology that make...
Interim Director of Department of Public Safety wants to reopen Kulani Prison and recind transfer of the facility to the National Guard
January 19, 2011
After a string of murders, rapes and other abuses involving Hawai'i inmates in private prisons in the continental U.S. and a critical audit by the state auditor, Jodie Maesaki-Hirata, interim director...
Before You Enlist (2011)
January 14, 2011
Straight talk from soldiers, veterans and their family members tells what is missing from the sales pitches presented by recruiters and the military's marketing efforts. Read More →
Lingle attempts to "Superferry" the Kulani prison transfer
November 5, 2010
Yesterday Governor Lingle was on hand to dedicate the new Youth ChalleNGe facility at the former Kulani prison site on Hawai'i island. This was reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser and Hawaii...
DREAM or Nightmare?
November 1, 2010
There is a growing movement to oppose the military recruitment provisions of the so-called DREAM Act. Pablo Paredes, a GI war resister who visited Hawai'i and spoke with students, writes a blog A...
Use of former prison draws group's protest
October 11, 2010
Source: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101009_use_of_former_prison_draws_groups_protest.html Use of former prison draws group's protest By Leila Fujimori POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 09, 2010 A...


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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Keynes' Bad Grandchildren
Skidelsky offers a very gloomy interpretation:
Moreover, Keynes did not really confront the problem of what most people would do when they no longer needed to work. He writes: "It is a fearful problem for the ordinary person, with no special talents, to occupy himself, especially if he no longer has roots in the soil or in custom or in the beloved conventions of a traditional economy." But, since most of the rich – "those who have an independent income but no associations or duties or ties" have "failed disastrously" to live the "good life," why should those who are currently poor do any better?
Here I think Keynes comes closest to answering the question of why his "enough" will not, in fact, be enough. The accumulation of wealth, which should be a means to the "good life," becomes an end in itself because it destroys many of the things that make life worth living. Beyond a certain point – which most of the world is still far from having reached – the accumulation of wealth offers only substitute pleasures for the real losses to human relations that it exacts.
Hmmm... My favorite hypothesis on this remains Robert Frank's.
Don't Like International Capital Mobility?
It may seem curious that [IMF Managing Director] Strauss-Kahn's instincts are so off the mark on the matter of capital controls. One might have thought that a socialist, and a French Socialist at that, would be more inclined toward finance skepticism.
But the paradox is more apparent than real. Financial markets in fact owe French Socialists a great debt. Received wisdom holds the United States Treasury and Wall Street responsible for the push to free up global finance. But far more influential may have been the change of heart that took place among French Socialists following the collapse of their experiment in Keynesian reflation in the early 1980's. When capital flight forced François Mitterrand to abort his program in 1983, France's Socialists performed an abrupt volte-face and embraced financial liberalization on a global scale.
According to Harvard Business School's Rawi Abdelal, this was the key event that set in motion the developments that would ultimately enshrine freedom of capital movement as a global norm. The first stop was the European Union in the late 1980's, where two French Socialists – Jacques Delors and Pascal Lamy (the president of the European Commission and his assistant, respectively) – led the way. Then it was the turn of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Eventually, the IMF joined the bandwagon under Michel Camdessus, another Frenchmen who had served as Governor of the Bank of France under Mitterrand.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Unrealism is Not the Problem
There is a general perception today that the financial crisis came about as a result of inefficiencies in the financial markets and economic actors' poor understanding of the nature of risks. Yet mainstream macroeconomic models, as exemplified by the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models, are populated by agents who are maximising their utilities in an intertemporal framework using all available information including the structure of the model – see Smets and Wouters (2003), Woodford (2003), Christiano et al. (2005), and Adjemian, et al. (2007), for example. In other words, agents in these models have incredible cognitive abilities. They are able to understand the complexities of the world, and they can figure out the probability distributions of all the shocks that can hit the economy. These are extraordinary assumptions that leave the outside world perplexed about what macroeconomists have been doing during the last decades.In its place, he advocates the modeling the economy as a "bottom up" system:
Bottom-up systems are very different in nature. These are systems in which no individual understands the whole picture. Each individual understands only a very small part of the whole. These systems function as a result of the application of simple rules by the individuals populating the system.While I do think this is worth exploring (his paper will be on my holiday break reading list), his description of contemporary macroeconomics is not quite fair. The models do not imply that macroeconomists believe people really have all this knowledge (
It is worth recalling that macroeconomics adopted the paradigm of rational expectations and dynamic optimization because simple and apparently realistic assumptions like adaptive expectations led to situations where people could systematically and repeatedly be fooled, and this tendency could be exploited by policymakers. While rational expectations may be unrealistic, in a world where people are learning and updating their beliefs, one would expect tendencies that lead to significantly suboptimal outcomes to be driven out (and in the context of markets, with the help of competition). So, while real people are groping around in the fog trying to figure out a rough idea of how the world works, we would expect them to arrive at behaviors consistent with those of rational forward looking agents just as a billiard player, by trial-and-error, learns to make shots consistent with the laws of physics.
So the "unrealism" of the assumptions is not, by itself, a problem. The trouble arises if that unrealism leads us to incorrect predictions. Macroeconomics may indeed have gone astray in some ways, and the lack of realism in models may indeed vex non-economists, but the assumption of "incredible cognitive abilities" is not inherently a problem.
Update (11/22): I had a chance to a look at DeGrawe's paper (pdf). Although I disagree with his characterization of modern macroeconomics, I do think his paper is interesting, though I suspect it may be vulnerable to some of the same criticisms as adaptive expectations models. (via Mark Thoma's link to the "Whats Wrong with Modern Macroeconomics" conference papers).
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bart and Marge on Grad School
One part of the transition from being a grad student to a professor that I found somewhat disorienting was the change from being treated with such disrespect - though our undergrad students were too polite to make comments like Bart's and Marge's, we knew what they were thinking - to receiving such deferential treatment as a professor. This big change in status felt particularly strange because it came in spite of the fact that there was little change in what I actually did every day - teaching and research - when I went from grad student to professor.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Double-Digits, Yikes!
Not a nice headline number from the BLS today - the unemployment rate hit 10.2% in October. Payroll employment also fell by 190,000. The apparent discrepancy between the relatively modest decline in payrolls and the big jump in the unemployment rate is explained by the fact that the numbers come from two different sources. The unemployment rate is measured using a survey of households, while the payroll figure comes from a survey of firms. In this case, the divergence between the two was wide - according to the household survey, 589,000 jobs were lost. And there is no consolation from labor force participation, which ticked downward slightly.
Nonetheless, I see the folks at FRED have moved us out of the shaded area... presumably on the strength of the recent preliminary estimate of 3.5% GDP growth in the third quarter. Of course if output is growing, and employment is falling, productivity is rising. The BLS indeed reported a stunning 9.5% rate of increase in labor productivity for the third quarter. The accompanying decline in labor costs ought to be a pretty big inducement to hire more workers, but it is not clear that firms are confident that the demand will be there if they increase output.
Meanwhile, Paul Krugman reports the President is pinned down on the beachhead...
Update (11/9): Floyd Norris points out that the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 9.5%, unchanged from last month (and down from a peak of 9.7% in June-July).
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A New Cop on the Imbalances Beat?
Of course its far better, though perhaps less dramatic, that the meetings will deal with the "balance of financial terror" instead of nuclear terror. One element of reducing that terror will be convincing China to relax its de facto Dollar peg (but not too abruptly, please). Simon Johnson suggests an approach to deal with this issue:
Talking in public about big sticks never goes down well in Asia, and the administration should deny any inclination in this direction. But the mainstream consensus is starting to shift toward the idea that the World Trade Organization (W.T.O.), not the I.M.F., should have jurisdiction over exchange rates. The W.T.O. has much more legitimacy, primarily because smaller and poorer countries can bring and win cases against the United States and Western Europe in that forum. It also has agreed upon and proven tools for dealing with violations of acceptable trade practices; tailored trade sanctions are permitted.Hmmm... living in Middletown Connecticut and Oxford Ohio, I'd missed the shift in the "mainstream consensus." Very interesting...
No one wants to take precipitate action in this direction, but extending the W.T.O.'s mandate in the direction of exchange rates would take time — and presumably warrant discussion at the G-20 level. The United States has great influence over the G-20 agenda, and Mr. Obama's staff members should hint, ever so gently, that this is where they see the process going.
The Darkest Hour
Perhaps, says David Leonhardt, who looks back at at the pessimism that prevailed in 1982:
In the fall of 1982, with a long recession ending but the unemployment rate heading toward 10 percent, The New York Times ran an article titled "The Recovery That Won't Start."Or as a classic song of the time put it:
It quoted prominent economists who worried that "the recovery may amount to nothing more than a few quarters of paltry growth — and possibly not even that." The economists, the article noted, had "growing doubts about whether the mechanisms of economic recovery will — or can — operate as they have in other postwar business cycles."
And now you find yourself in '82Of course, now we know that what came next were two years of very strong growth and soon it was "Morning in America:"
The disco hot spots hold no charm for you
You can concern yourself with bigger things
You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings
Perhaps the pessimists were just caught up in the heat of the moment, as Leonhardt suggests:
People tend to become overly pessimistic at the end of a recession, partly because they can see that the forces behind the last boom — housing and mortgage lending, in this case — won't be around for the next one. If anything, the excesses from the last boom seem likely to hold back the economy for years to come. People are left to wonder where future growth will come from.He has hope that we may indeed ride the dragon's wings to recovery:
For years, economists have been saying that China needs to consume more and the United States needs to consume less. Now it's starting to happen.However, Calculated Risk argues (seconded by Krugman) that today's situation compares unfavorably to that of 1982 because financial-crisis recessions generally tend to be longer, and because the Fed is out of room to lower interest rates.
The Chinese government has increased spending in the country's impoverished countryside and made it easier for households to borrow money. Meanwhile, the global recession has caused China's export sector to shrink.
Hmmm... only time will tell.


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LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic – The 2017 Latin America Amateur Championship will be played at Panama City's Club de Golf de Panana, it was announced Thursday.
The tournament, founded by the Masters Tournament, R&A and USGA to develop amateur golf in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, will be held Jan. 12-15.
The inaugural event was held in Buenos Aires. This week's tournament is being staged here at Casa de Campo's Teeth of the Dog course.
The Club de Golf de Panama has hosted the Web.com Tour's Panama Claro Championship since 2004.
The winner of the LAAC receives an invitation to the Masters, and both the champion and the runner-up are exempt into the final stage of qualifying for the U.S. Open and Open Championship.


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Prices: THB2200 per person [Join group]
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Chiang Mai City Center
08.00 – 08.30hrs (please standby)
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Itineraries propose several sporting activities accessible for everyone. Start by driving up north to Mae Tang area where your adventure starts. Cycle a mountain bike through scenic landscape. The ride takes you to local roads for about 8 kms. (depends on your liking, you can rest and sit in the escort van anytime). Then have a fun-filled time with elephant riding through the jungle along Mae Tang riverside.
Lunch at the rafting camp. A briefing on rafting instructions, paddling and river safety is given to prepare you and your friends for the upcoming excitement, then you are off to the best rafting trip on the Mae Tang river. (About 2-hrs. with 14 rapids) agreed by many guests to be one of the best in Southeast Asia.
After some recreation and refresh yourself, visit hilltribe village before returning to Chiang Mai.


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A Doctor Driven to Help People and Solve Hard ProblemsApril 2017
Dr. Sybil Klaus is a pediatric hospitalist who joined MITRE in 2016 to provide the company's researchers with her unique perspective as they develop new technologies and processes to improve healthcare. She also supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through her work with the MITRE- operated CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare, and the Veterans Health Administration.
"I love helping children one at a time. But I'm also driven to make big-picture improvements in healthcare. For me, that means focusing upon innovation, research, investigation, and finding ways to work together better across the many layers of the healthcare system."
Looking back, Dr. Klaus graduated with her pediatric internship and residency program from the University of California, San Diego. From there, she became a pediatric hospitalist, first in Hawaii, and then Florida. She joined Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 2008 as a pediatric hospitalist.
In 2015, she received her master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in public health. Klaus "fell in love with research." Then MITRE's Ellen Sweeney, population health group leader in Baltimore, recommended that Klaus join the company. "I decided MITRE was right for me," Klaus says. "They needed people with both clinical and public health experience. It's an innovative company and I was excited about the chance to do research."
Even though she joined The MITRE Corporation, she still maintains her practice by doing 12-hour shifts at Hopkins each week—and an overnight shift at Kennedy Krieger Institute once a month.
"I love taking care of children with the most complex chronic conditions. They are the most fragile and their parents have gone through so much. I want to do what I can to help. But I also recognize that through MITRE, I have the opportunity to help large numbers of people."
Heading up the MITRE Innovation Healthcare Program
As the head of MITRE's internal research program for healthcare, Klaus shares her real-world clinical and public health knowledge with engineers.
"For example, it's so easy to say, 'Let's add a new alert' to some healthcare solution we have in mind. But I know firsthand the potential unintended consequences of adding distractions to doctors when they are trying to talk with their patients in a hospital setting."
Currently, Klaus oversees nine healthcare research projects. When asked for more detail, she offered two examples.
"Last year the MITRE innovation team developed an evidence-based application to help doctors diagnose sepsis. This year, they are incorporating it with another, related project, which uses a machine- based learning algorithm to predict who might have sepsis.
"So we are starting with prediction, moving to diagnosis, then optimizing treatment based upon evidence-based guidelines. From there, we give point-of-care feedback to the physician." The team is currently working on the application with Johns Hopkins' pediatric critical care unit.
MITRE also collaborated with MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital to develop an inexpensive, field portable system to rapidly screen for mild traumatic brain injury and monitor recovery. "This is really important for physicians working with children and adults who are having sports-related concussions—and it's useful for our soldiers."
Klaus herself was also integral to a recent research project involving better ways to serve the healthcare needs of rural communities.
Healthcare Professionals at MITRE
Klaus encourages other medical professionals to consider joining MITRE.
"It's a flexible and agile place to work. If you're like most clinicians, you became one to help people. At MITRE, you'll do important work on hard medical problems that will ultimately help many, many people."
—by Bill Eidson
Are you a good fit for MITRE, too? Explore our current Job Openings.


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On this week's episode of the The Sacred Page Podcast I speak with Rob Corzine and Derry Connolly.
Rob Corzine is the Vice President of Programs and Development at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He shares his remarkable conversion story to the Catholic Church from a Fundamentalist Baptist background. He also discusses the parish Bible study materials put together by the St. Paul Center. For more on their work, go here for more on parish Bible studies.
Dr. Derry Connolly is the President of John Paul the Great Catholic University. He discusses how he uses the book of Tobit to teach business students.
TSP Podcast 6: Rob Corzine and Derry Connolly [right click to download]
Once again, I'd love to get your comments on the podcast in the comment box!


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High end accessory make MiPow was showing off their latet gadget in Shenzhen last week, the Playbulb is an 3Wall LED light with an integrated 10W speaker. The Playbulb is controlled via an application on your Android or iOS device and it allows you to control the brightness of the light as well as if the music is playing. You can use a knob to turn the intensive of the light up or down or you can use the phones gyroscope and shake the device which is also drop and lower the lights.
For now each bulb is independent and you won't be able to screw them into all of the light fixtures in your room and have invisible surround sound, that will have to wait until round 2. The concept of the Playbulb is around creating a connected home for a single room, start with your living room, dorm room or small apartment and then worry about expanding to other venues in your home. Home automation is expensive and getting started is daunting, Mipows approach of micro automation is simple and should keep the attention of those looking to kit out a single room. This is the firt of many products, so we're keen to see what they've got up their sleeve.


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Legit Short Term Payday Loans: Things You Need to Know
Using payday loans can be convenient, but you should take some precautions to avoid scam artists. Keep in mind that not all states allow payday lenders; the states that do authorize payday lenders to have their own rules and regulations. Here are points to remember when determining if the lender is legitimate.
Bare Minimum Requirements
Legitimate short term lenders hold proper licenses for their states and local jurisdictions; some of the variables controlled by the government include maximum interest rates, fees and loan terms. The lender is considered legitimate if it is operating according to state law, even if the application process occurs online.
Each lender must determine whether or not the applicant has the ability to repay the loan. This decision is based on income, cost of living expenses and debt.
Indicators to Look For
If a lender is legitimate, then there should be evidence to back them up, such as the firm's website. It's important that you visit the website directly instead of clicking an email link, which could be a phishing scam. The contact information on the website should tell you where the company is located. It should also disclose all the fees and charges you can expect to pay throughout the loan term. Another indicator of a legitimate lender is being accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
How a Legitimate Short Term Loan Helps
Once you have researched the lender to make sure they are following state laws, you can benefit in many ways by applying for the loan. As long as you can prove you have a certain income level, you can have access to the cash you need within 24 hours. You don't have to worry about a credit check, nor will it affect your credit score. Payday loans can be the quick solution to the following scenarios:
- unexpected medical bills
- car maintenance
- school tuition and books
- gifts for friends
- weekend vacations
- funds to start a new business
Conclusion Payday loans can be very useful when you want to keep borrowing private. First, you must investigate the lender and then make sure you have a responsible repayment plan.
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I am Sloane Passmore, an illustrator, writer, and editor. I graduated from Columbia College in Chicago with a B.F.A. in Illustration. For the past 7 years I've been an animator and photo editor for websites through my parent's web design company, Ramsey-Passmore Design Inc.
I am currently seeking new work. You can contact me at: email@example.com
Here is my resume:


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You will find below a list of the most popular international and bilingual schools for expats in Guatemala with fee information. It includes nursery schools, primary and secondary (high) schools and you will find the right school to prepare for International Baccalaureate, and other diploma in Guatemala. Some schools will follow the American or British curriculums with English speaking programs while others are regulated under the French education system.
Education in Guatemala
Education in Guatemala is free and compulsory for six years. Guatemala has a 3-tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by secondary school and tertiary education.
The system faces chronic problems with students not continuing their education. It is estimated that only about 30 percent of students who begin primary school complete this level of education. This is especially a problem for children in rural areas, and among the indigenous population. Gender inequality is also common with male literacy and school enrollment rates dominating female rates in all aspects.
International Schools
International schools can be the perfect solution for an expat student (multinational corporation executives, children of diplomats, NGO staff) in Guatemala. There may be some local population, but the schools are usually geared for an international student body. Schools follow a curriculum model from the US, UK, or France. Primary instruction may be any language (and multiple languages are usually taught), but it is usually in English, French, Spanish, German, or Japanese. Schools provide similar standards of schooling around the globe, providing for an easy transition between schools whether they are in France or Vietnam. Schools also provide internationally accepted accreditation such as the international baccalaureate.
Admission and enrollment procedures vary from school to school. Space is often limited and preference may be given to students based on nationality. Tuition tends to be expensive based on local standards, but offers high standards of learning, boast smaller class sizes, first-rate facilities, and extracurricular. Boarding facilities are available at some schools, but most only provide day classes.
Accreditation & Membership
- The CoIS (Council of International Schools) is a non-profit association of international schools and post-secondary institutions which provides educational accreditation, teacher and leadership recruitment services, links to higher education, governance assistance and help with founding new schools.
- New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) is a regional accrediting association which establishes standards for all levels of education, from pre-K to doctoral.
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-CASI) is a regional accreditation agency for US based schools.
- Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is an association of evangelical Protestant Christian schools.
- National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance (NPSAA) is a membership organization in the United States.
Antigua International School
Address: Km 48.5 Carretera a Ciudad Vieja
El Cortijo de las Flores, La Antigua, Guatemala
Tel: 7831-5773
E-mail: email@example.com
Tuition Rates: $470 - 715 per month
Internationally-minded school with admissions open for Kinder through 10th grade. AIS has all students study English and Spanish, with the goal of being fully bilingual by graduation. This means that native English speakers will have SSL (Spanish Second Language) lessons while their Spanish native speaking classmates are in their first language Spanish classes. Spanish will receive 25% of weekly academic time. The Spanish teachers use as their curriculum guide the University entrance requirements for the Universidad del Valle and other top universities in Guatemala (the teachers will also use the Spanish National Curriculum from Spain in designing the AIS native speakers curriculum for first language Spanish studies).
Guatemala City
American School of Guatemala (ASG)
Address: 11 calle 15-79, Zona 15 Vista Hermosa III
Guatemala, C.A.
Tel: (502) 23690791-95
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
The Colegio Americano de Guatemala (CAG) is bilingual (Spanish/English) and offers early childhood to high school classes. The core curriculum includes required studies in all the major academic subjects including Math, Science, Social Studies, English and Spanish Literature/Language Arts, and Physical Education. ASG is fully accredited by the NEACS and is recognized by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education as a Laboratory School.
Colegio Interamericano
Address: Boulevard La Montaña, Finca El Socorro, Zona 16
Guatemala City, 01016 Guatemala, Central América
Tel: 502 2200.2990
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
A pre-primary, elementary, middle school, and high school. A majority of students are Guatemalan, with a minority from around the world. The curriculum is bicultural & bilingual (Spanish/English). The school offers a variety of Advanced Placement and Honor Level Courses. Students obtain both the U.S. High School Diploma and the Guatemalan Bachillerato Diploma. These programs fulfill the requirements of the local Ministry of Education and AdvancED (SACS).
The American International School of Guatemala
Address: KM. 12.5 Carretera a El Salvador
Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala 01051
Tel: (502) 6644-1200
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
Also known as Colegio Maya, the school offers Advanced Placement (AP) exams in 11 different subject areas. The school follows American curriculum in English language and a Spanish program for native and non-native speakers. Colegio Maya is fully accredited by SACS as well as recognized by the Mineduc, the Guatemalan Ministry of Education.
Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG)
Address: Finca Santa Barbara
Zona 8 de Mixco, San Cristobal, Guatemala
Tel: (502) 2245-9090
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
A Biblically based, non-profit, non-denominational, private school whose ministry is to the English speaking, missionary community of Guatemala. Students are K-12, and it is an ACSI member school.
Colegio Decroly American
Address: 11 Calle 6-47 Finca El Naranjo,
Zona 4. de Mixco, Guatemala
Tel: (502) 2380-2380
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
Accredited private school using U.S. curriculum and English and Spanish language. Includes grades 1 through 12.
Equity American School
Address: 15 Avenida A 21-00
Zona 13 Guatemala 01013
Tel: (502) 2390-6800
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
English language school providing US curriculum. It is accredited in the U.S. by AdvancED and NIPSA, and approved by the U.S. Department of State for overseas dependents.
SEK Guatemala International School
Address: Km. 16.5 Carretera a El Salvador
Cruce a Olmeca, Guatemala
Tel: (502)66469999
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
Offers bilingual (Spanish/English) education from pre-school to high school.
Panajachel Colegio Internacional
Address: Panajachel, Solola, 07010
Guatemala, CA
Tel: 7762-2843
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
An English language U.S. curriculum college preparatory school for grades 7-12.
Inter-American School (IAS)
Address: 0 Avenida 1-43 Zona 6
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, C.A
Tel: 011-502-7761-4080
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
The school is an English-immersion private school that provides the California State Standards curriculum for grades K-12. In addition to these standards, teachers also implement a Religion curriculum.
French school in Guatemala
Lycée français Jules-Verne Guatemala
Address: 1 Avenida 2-62 Zona1, Aldea Don Justo
Km. 18.5 a San Jose Pinula, 01062 FRAIJANES
Tel: (502) 6661 - 1800 - 04
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school
This is an approved French language pre-kindergarten to graduation school. Curriculum is approved by the French Ministry of National Education and is subsidized by the AEFE.


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Today I attended a tournament in Albany, CA, with my students and we encountered a former student of mine who is now teaching FMA in the East Bay area, Guro Ramon Espinosa. We were talking about the FMA and how they (mis) treat their empty handed skill, while striving to train "for the street". I believe most FMA Guros mean well; I simultaneously believe that their training and fighting philosophies are failing them. Call me the FMA prophet with a message! I have been repeating this message for years, and only a few people are willing to listen. In fact, they won't listen until my ideas become fashionable through some other means of media. I have no problem with this…. the truth is painful to hear, and the truth is not suitable for everyone. These things I will say are repeated over and over again through my other posts, so don't send me emails about how I am a scratched record, I know! But you need to hear the message again and again until you make a change.
So, here we go!
There was a gentleman there who had a few students I met last year who had created his own style. His guys didn't do too well, but yesterday, they were holding their own against the regulars. Not bad for a brand new art and newcomer to the Bay Area. The schools out here have been around for years and these guys are some of the toughest in America. This was my first time meeting this man, and after talking to him for a few minutes, I was approached by two other teachers who told me, "you know, he made his own art." I answered that all arts were made up at some point, but this guy was "sharpening his blade". Then I went on to explain what this meant in the FMA….
The truth is that most FMA people are busy learning and perfecting drills instead of learning how to fight. There are many lessons to learn from the old school Filipino masters who learned slowly and patiently, and testing themselves out against each other. There are also many lessons to learn from the many other martial artists around the Orient, who have developed very strong fighting styles off of a few basic principles. These principles are universal throughout the martial arts, and they are universal principles that are applicable in almost any other discipline:
- choose a simple set of effective skills in your craft and focus primarily on those skills
- perform these skills an infinite number of repetitions to achieve perfection
- apply these skills in your craft as often as possible
- if available, compare your skills against others in your discipline
- reflect on the results and modify your foundation system or system of practice until you achieve mastery
Regardless of what you do, or what style you do you must adhere to this path to perfection. It is said by many that perfection is never achieved. I disagree. Perfection is never achieved in the mind of the practitioner. But perfection is recognized by others. If you really believe that perfection is impossible, there is no reason to practice! Why do this when you can just spend the rest of your life practicing mediocre martial arts? No, we seek to become the best at what we do so that fighting in any situation become effortless and simple. And this where the streetfight becomes relevant to the martial artist. (We will have to visit perfection and mastery in another post)
Fighting on the street is something that comes once in a lifetime for most of us, and depending on who we are and what we do–a little more than that. But for most martial artists, the streetfight is that one moment we've all been training for. It represents whether our training has been in vain or has paid off. Almost all martial artists fear this thing; regardless of what false bravado they try to put out, the martial artist is living in some sort of fear of fighting. This is not to call them cowards, but it's true. It is like the soldier who finally makes it into combat after years of training. Or the police officer who engages his first shoot-out. Unlike them, the average martial artist will never engage in a real fight and on a rare occasion he will encounter the opportunity to do so (and choose not to…. wisely). However, there are many martial artists who will actually have a fight, and for many of them it is the only fight they will ever encounter.
There is a saying in the Filipino arts, that you must treat the opponent who approaches you as if you will never face him again.
We aren't training that way. No, you are slapping hands with a guy, prolonging your altercation (if you ever had one). You are spending your entire FMA training career developing "attributes" instead of simply learning how to kick someone's ass. You are making excuses why it is unwise to fighting tournaments because they "aren't real enough", yet you do not advocate getting into "real fights". In other words, you are wasting your time training and training others, because you call yourselves "fighters", yet you aren't fighting.
At this tournament, I met some people who had never been to a point Karate tournament before and were amazed at how much slugging was going on. They were told that point fighters were powder-puff matches and people were playing "tag". Instead, what they saw were fighters–old and young, male and female, beginner and Black Belters–blasting each other with head punches and power kicks to the body. There was one memorable match between two 14 year old girls (Orange Belts) who had more firepower and heart than most FMA Guros I know. There were knock downs, injuries, rivalries (between two Filipino-owned dojos) and many very technical chess matches of strategy, style and pure muscle power.
Tournaments aren't the street…. blah, blah, blah…
Why do you think it is that the streetfighter–the thug–is so feared? Do you believe it's because he's really got better techniques? Do you really believe he is stronger, more fit than you? (Keep in mind, we are talking about a guy who lacks the discipline to work out, and probably eats unhealthy, drinks alcohol and uses drugs) Is it because he's been in more fights than you?
The average tournament fighter has hundreds of fights and has very good reflexes and timing, thank you. How many fights do you have?
The streetfighter is feared because he is aggressive. He is willing to hit another man (or woman) he does not know as hard as he can. He will not hesitate to break your nose, to split your head open, to open your skin like a watermelon. You, on the other hand, will apologize profusely if you accidentally punch your training partner in the nose. You have the aggression level of a man in a coma; and even if a guy on the street spit in your face, and punched you in the eye, you will probably still be hesitant to hit him back. The reason is not that you have morals. You're a fighter, right? But you don't fight enough to have built any controllable aggression in you to train the way you need to train to be able to hurt somebody! The only way to get this is to spar strangers, with something on the line that will make you work hard for a victory. Nothing in your teacher's training plan will develop this like a competition. This, my friends, is the missing link to your martial education.
Back to the main idea of this article, in your FMA, you are practicing single stick, double stick, stick and dagger, empty hand drills, empty hand vs knife/stick…. but the one thing you aren't doing that you will need on the stick is trying to see if your empty hand will save your behind in an actual fight against an unarmed opponent. I recommend starting with a few basic attacks and counters to attacks, then sparring with your brothers and sisters, and then getting into some kind of tournaments to fine tune what you've got and to check your progress. Since none of us (I hope) are out there picking fights on the street to test ourselves, we've got to do it somewhere and this really is the best place as well as the safest place to do it. The FMA man is living in his imagination too much, while and entire community of martial artists are honing their fighting skill in our absence. Each generation of students we put out are being left behind in the dust, and getting weaker and weaker. Even the McDojos have students getting practical experience in learning how to use their punching and kicking.
And that gentleman with the made-up style? In three or four years, his boys will enjoy many successes and his art will be accepted and respected by his local community. And if any of them ended up fighting on the street somewhere, they will be a lot better prepared to use what they've got.
Are you?
Thanks for reading my blog. Until next time…


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With so many distractions, it is easy to get scattered. Everyone wants to get more done in less time, and luckily we have technology tacked to our hands. Over the last five years, smartphones and tablets has helped the masses with banking, social networks, grocery shopping, dating, and pretty much anything you can think of. And do you know what? They can also help you get productive.
Here are seven apps that will increase your productivity, help you achieve more, and keep you on track:
1. Wunderlist
Compatibility: Web, iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Wunderlist is an amazing app to manage every area of your life. It is free and extremely easy to use. You can make as many separate lists as you want, and file them according to your ease. The reason why Wunderlist stands out from the crowd is because it allows you to access your lists from any device and anywhere. Once you are signed up, any lists you create are saved in the cloud. You can make a list on your desktop at lunchtime and access it in your phone when you get to the supermarket in the evening. How cool is that?
2. Highrise
Compatibility: Web, iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Highrise is a CRM app that helps you manage your tasks and goals as well as of your team members effectively. This app integrates well with all of your email accounts and calendars, keeping track of all your proposals and leads. The most amazing feature is the ability to link photos to client's profile as well as any Twitter or LinkedIn accounts they may have - it enables quick and easy grouping of contacts. Although, the basic plan is free; there are paid plans which allows you to add more users, extra contacts to your account and increased storage.
3. TickTick
Compatibility: Web, iOS and Android
Cost: Free
TickTick is a cross-platform task management tool that supports repeating tasks, calendar subscription, and shared lists. It provides Gmail integration through which you can easily convert an email into a to-do list with Chrome extension. It allows you to set multi-level priorities for the items in your to-do list and helps you customize notifications so that you can receive reminders to meet deadlines. Another striking feature of TickTick is the knack for sending location-based reminders which can be configured when you leave or arrive at a specific location.
4. Google Keep
Compatibility:Web, iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Google Keep offers a range of tools for taking notes, including lists, text, audio, and images. It enables you to capture quickly what is on your mind and remind you later when required. Through Keep, you can attach photos to your lists, notes and also record a voice memo that gets transcribed. The most interesting feature of Google Keep is the ability to color code the notes enabling you to organize them effectively. Other features are universal device access, the option to turn photos into text through optical character recognition and native integration with other Google devices.
5. Buffer
Compatibility:Web, iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Buffer is a smart social media tool which helps you share and schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn - all from one place. You will get analytics for each update you share: clicks, retweets, likes, shares, repins, mentions and more. Say you found 2 great articles and 5 images you want to share. If you post them in a row, you might flood your followers and friends who are online - and totally miss those who aren't. Instead, add these posts to Buffer and receive great social updates for the next few days. It allows you to customize schedule or 'post now' for specific events or campaigns without worrying about setting a time and date. Just hit "Buffer" and you are all set!
6. RescueTime
Compatibility: Web, iOS, Android
Cost: Free for Lite, Paid for premium
RescueTime is a time-management app that tracks time spent on applications and websites and gives you an accurate picture of your day. While giving accurate automatic time tracking of your mobile apps, it also reports your voice call time. Each week you will receive a detailed data and report based on your activities spent via the Internet. The most interesting feature of RescueTime is that it enables you to set yourself alerts and goals to manage your digital life. If you are taking a premium plan, then you can block certain websites by choosing an amount of time to focus. It also shows you the history productivity reports to see your progress and highlight achievements.
7. Evernote
Compatibility:Web, iOS, Android
Cost: Free for Basic, Paid for premium
Evernote is a to-do list app which helps you stay organized about your personal and professional projects in a daily schedule. It allows you to take notes, create to-do lists, record voice reminders, take pictures, and save things you find online. The coolest feature is the ability to record and take notes at the same time. The app is free, but also has pricing plans. By taking a premium plan, you can have access to more features such as: working offline, added security, creating videos with a full screen layout, and sharing and editing your notes between your team members which makes it easier to work together and collaborate on projects.
Procrastinating is a tough wall to break. To replace this bad habit, here are some hacks that can really help you to boost your productivity:
- Set a timetable for your tasks: Set up all your tools, emails, browser tabs, coffee, internet etc. and yes a small break time.
- Whichever task you are dreading the most is perhaps the one you need to complete at first in the morning. Set a specific time to get the things done in a stipulated time frame.
- Social media platforms occupy a major part in our everyday lives and at the same time create distractions with our work. Just turn off your phone notifications or you can check these in your break time.
- Keep your goals in sight all the time especially when you're working. When you see your goals many times throughout the day, your motivation level will be up to get things done effectively.
- Apply two-minute rule to your life. If any task takes less than two minute, then do it now. This rule gives you a sense of satisfaction as well as fuels your productivity.
- Set deadlines for your tasks as they are one of the best hacks to get the things done. Setting a finish time helps you do the task more effectively and efficiently.
- Take sleep of 7-8 hours and wake up fresh every day.
Technology in itself is a great cause of distraction, but also a great way to combat those distractions. All in all, use these apps and hacks to manage your time, eliminating distractions, and strengthen your mind against the affinity to procrastinate.


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Welcome to the LiftOne industrial products catalog!
Here you will find quality material handling and industrial supplies for all your needs. Every effort has been made to bring you the products you need with great pricing and service to match.
We hope you enjoy browsing our catalog.
If you have any questions, you may click on the Request Consultation button, or you may call our dedicated catalog specialist, Donna Broadway, at 704-587-2076.