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In the market for an iPhone? Here's a breakdown of all the currently shipping iPhones from Apple.
Apple to Give Employees $500 Off Macs and $250 Off iPads
The new discount program starts in June 2012, and can only be used once every 3 years. Employees also need to have been working at Apple for at least 90 days. The discount is reportedly for both corporate and retail employees. The discount is said to exclude the Mac mini.
Apple employees presently are allowed a one-a-year 25% discount on Apple systems. One report even claims that this discount will remain in place alongside the new discounts.
In 2007, shortly after the original iPhone's launch, Apple had announced a similar perk for employees. At that time, Steve Jobs announced that all full time and part time Apple employees would receive an 8GB iPhone.
Top Rated Comments(View all)
Discounted macs?
Bad business idea. Sounds like a return to the bad old days of Apple in the 90's where there were a million different pricing points and special ways to get discounts (educational, business, yada yada yada).
Steve Jobs was right. Have a simple, single price point so that all customers are feeling like they have a similar consistent, and slick appearance.
Providing deep discounted products, even when provided to employees, only degrades the perception among consumers about the value of the product, which is one reason that Apple is capable of maintaining its high margins. Why should I pay full price for an item that is worth only half as much to the people selling it to me? That will be the perception.
For example: "Hey, my nephew worked for apple for one month and bought his iPad 3 for $250. Why the heck should I pay $600 to get one?" Good question.
Are you serious?
I don't think anyone in their right mind would begrudge paying for a product a member of staff is getting at a discount. :confused:
Oh how generous. Such a big deal. Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes, and Porsche pay each of their employers an annual bonus of several thousand Euros, depending on revenue.
Shame on Apple.
My goodness. MacRumour members are on top form today :rolleyes:
Side note, this discount is an *additional* $500 off every three years. They still get the 25% off once a year.
Oh how generous. Such a big deal. Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes, and Porsche pay each of their employers an annual bonus of several thousand Euros, depending on revenue.
Shame on Apple.
You should try to rescue the exploited workers. I suggest carrying them out on your shoulder one-by-one, and bring the media.
I wonder what discounts they give to Foxconn employees #laborlaws
Well they are Foxconn employees, so why would they get an Apple employee discount?
So you'd take a pay drop of a couple of thousand dollars for what amounts to basically 250$ added revenue per year ?
Or maybe your current job doesn't pay more than a janitor job ?
Frankly, this is a nice gesture for employees, but hardly a reason to quit your day job and take a salary cut over. Apply to work for Apple because the position, advantages and salary are what you want, not because you get a discount on a Mac.
With my current job, I can easily afford that 500$ and I doubt Apple has any positions in Quebec that can live-up to my job (and I can't move to the US to fill positions that would).
This wreaks of arrogance. Great for you if you make more then an apple retail employee. Plenty of people don't and the discount for those that work apples lower paying jobs im sure is helpful. I'm amazed at the attitudes I see on this board.
Oh how generous. Such a big deal. Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes, and Porsche pay each of their employers an annual bonus of several thousand Euros, depending on revenue.
Shame on Apple.
You really think their employees don't get cash bonus, this just a cherry on top of that...
Visit the programming and OS X forums once in a while. Especially, look at MC/Space/Expose threads and most programming topics where I reply.
I have plenty of positive stuff to say about Apple and their products. Your selective view is just that : selective. If you don't like my posts, feel free to ignore them instead of jumping down my throat. I'm not 100% Apple, I'm not 0% either. Again, there 99 integer numbers between those 2 values.
And Monkeysee... derailed the conversation of this into a "respect and believe in" thing, I was replying to that comment specifically.
Haha. I derailed the thread????
[ Read All Comments ]


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Open Season for Aerating Your Lawn
Don't Forget to Aerate!
If you're a property owner with your eye on the prize of having a lush, lovely green lawn worthy of the high-gloss pages of a magazine or verdant enough to catch the eye of your neighborhood garden committee, you'll probably be watching the calendar and trying to get a game plan for making those dreams of grass glory a reality. And while the need to water and fertilize is undeniably a part of getting things growing, you'll need to make sure that all those measures actually pay off. Before you go to the trouble of applying your fertilizer, it's important to take the time to open up your yard to reach its full potential by literally opening it up.
Odd as it may sound, "opening" the lawn is more a matter of punching little holes into the soil through a process called aeration. Aeration allows oxygen, water, and vital nutrients to penetrate the surface of the soil and make their way down the root system of the grass. Once the roots have access to all of that goodness, they have everything they need to grown nice and deep, thereby producing a much stronger and far more vibrant lawn.
Access Point
Admittedly, it's not the most convenient thing to do, and it can be time-consuming if you don't use an aerator. But it's not just a time suck that you should easily cast aside as a needless step. The reason that aeration is even necessary is because the soil compaction, built up grass, and lawn thatch that naturally occur over time impede the access your grass's root system has to its life-sustaining sources of air, water, and nutrition. A starved root system leads to certain death, and that barrier will also block any fertilizer you've taken the time in applying.
Autumn Air
Fall is an ideal time to aerate, as it's a time of year when grass is gobbling up everything it needs to go into dormancy with a sufficient store of nutrients to keep it alive and ready to spring back into action next season. If you aerate now, you'll have a lush lawn that reflects your efforts, so put this task at the top of your to-do list as the weather calms down and autumn creeps in.
Plug Away
Aeration is simple enough, so here are a few tips to get you on your way:
- The soil needs to be moist. Plan to aerate the day after it's rained or water the day before.
- If there are areas of the yard that don't need aeration, concentrate your efforts on the areas that are the most compacted and make multiple passes to ensure that everything is well broken up.
- To keep your yard looking tidy, allow the little plugs of soil that you've extracted to dry out and then break them down to blend into the surface. Running the lawn mower over them or pounding them out with the back of a rake will do the trick, so take a few extra minutes and get plugging.
- Once you've aerated, stay on top of your lawn maintenance. Water and continue mowing until it's time to turn off the irrigation and put the mower in park for the season, but use that newly-opened field to fertilize and fortify your lawn in fall.
Unplug your lawn's potential for great greenness! Give the team of outdoor experts at Executive Landscaping, Inc., a call to find out more about our seasonal lawn care services today!

subset: commoncrawl


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Housing Development: Legal
The goal of the legal team is to work with development partners to closing gap financing loans and grants awarded by the OHFA Board in an expedient manner. Before submitting the required documentation for closing, owners must have a fully executed Funding Agreement and/or Commitment Letter from the Office of Planning, Preservation, and Development.
The closing process and timelines are the same for either program.
Closing Checklists for HDAP and HDL Projects
- Project-Specific Closing Conditions (55 KB Adobe PDF File)
- Closing Procedures (80 KB Adobe PDF File)
- HDAP Closing Checklist (78 KB Word File)
- HDL Construction – Permanent Closing Checklist (81 KB Word File)
- HDL Permanent Closing Checklist (78 KB Word File)
NOTE: Legal documents are provided for information only. Unless approved, OHFA will not accept OHFA's legal documents drafted by another entity.
Any questions related to closing an award should be directed to:
Debbie Macioce
Ohio Housing Finance Agency
57 East Main St.
Columbus, OH 43215
Contact Debbie Macioce


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Apex Well Service Inc. was established in June 2008. Our company goal is to run our operation with not only the best equipment, but also the best people. Apex is a proud member of CAODC and is also listed on Complyworks and ISNetworld. We also hold our Alberta Safety Council Certificate of Recognition.
We provide services to the oil and gas industry in Alberta and Western Canada. Our full range of service equipment includes service rigs, rod rigs, hot oilers, pressure pumping and super heaters. Our fleet is well maintained and purpose built to suit your needs. Our staff is experienced, personable and professional.
On your next project, think Apex!


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The TXD3XGGI2x000xxG DWDM XFP multi-rate fiber optic transceivers with digital diagnostics monitoring functionality provide a quick and reliable interface for 40km 10Gbps DWDM applications. The diagnostic functions, alarm and warning features as described in the XFP Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) are provided via standard I2C serial interface. The transceivers are compliant with the XFP Multi-Source Agreement and are designed to support SONET/SDH, 10G Ethernet, and 10G Fiber Channel data rates from 9.95Gb/s to 11.09Gb/s.
Each transceiver utilizes an electro-absorption modulator integrated laser with an operating wavelength in full compliance with 100GHz (0.8nm) spacing per the ITU-grid. The transceivers satisfy Class I Laser Safety requirements in accordance with the U.S. FDA/CDRH and international IEC-60825 standards.
The transceivers connect to standard 30-pad XFP connectors for hot plug capability. This allows the system designer to make configuration changes or maintenance by simply plugging in different types of transceivers without removing the power supply from the host system.
The transmitter and receiver DATA interfaces are AC coupled Current Mode Logic (CML). LV-TTL Transmitter Disable control input and Loss of Signal output interfaces are also provided.
The transceivers operate from +3.3V and +5.0V power supplies over an operating case temperature range of -5°C to +70°C (Commercial), -5°C to +85°C (Extended), or -40°C to +85°C (Industrial).
- Oplink
- Optoelectronics
- XFP 10G IR2, DWDM 40km, TXD3XGGI2xx
|Form Factor:
|Data Rate:
|Ethernet & Fiber Channel
|Max Distance:
- Lead Free Design & Fully RoHS Compliant
- Compliant with XFP MSA
- Compliant with OC-192 / STM-64
- Compliant with ITU-T G.709
- Support DWDM 10G Ethernet Applications
- Support 10G Fiber Channel Applications
- Digital Diagnostics Monitoring
- Temperature-stabilized EML Transmitter
- Low Power Consumption
- Wide Case Operating Temperature Range
- Transmission Distance up to 40km


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Can Oily Skin Types Use Hydrating Beauty Products? Here's What You Need To Know
When it comes to finding beauty products for oily skin, you may think your options are limited. It seems like skincare should always be oil-free, and makeup should always have a powder or matte finish. None of that "glowy," "radiant," or "illuminating" stuff for you. But actually, oily skin types can use hydrating beauty products— as long as you pick the right formula. So to find out a little more about how those of us with oily skin can use products we might have assumed would only work for normal or dry skin-types, I emailed with an expert.
Professional makeup artist, Carola Gonzalez, let me in on what types of hydrating formulas are best for oily skin, and how to use them so skin looks plump and healthy instead of just greasy. Although oily skin can definitely still use oils, if you want to ensure a less shiny appearance during the day or are acne-prone, Gonzalez recommends looking for both skincare and makeup with oil-free formulas. Because she stresses the importance of always moisturizing before applying foundation, she suggests using a gel moisturizer if you have oily skin: "It's like adding water to the skin and will help replenish the skin without adding an excess of oil."
Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Water-Sure Gel, $38, Sephora
After applying your moisturizer, Gonzalez says to wait 10 to 15 minutes before applying foundation. She explains that this will give your skin enough time to absorb the skincare and leave you with a more matte instead of dewy finish. And even though a hydrating foundation can still work with oily skin types, if you're worried it will only enhance your already-radiant complexion, not only should you make sure the foundation is oil-free, but you can also limit where and how you apply it.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint, $15, Neutrogena
For example, if you tend to become especially oily in your T-zone, but know that your cheeks can be a little dry (even if they still look oily), try applying your hydrating foundation everywhere except your T-zone, and use a more mattifying formula (like a powder foundation) on the oilier areas of your face. This will help prevent you from having cakey-looking foundation from using too much powder, and it will also prevent you from turning into a grease-ball. Additionally, try to make sure to apply your foundation with a sponge or brush instead of your fingers, so as to prevent adding any excess oil from your fingers onto your face.
But if you think you're up for it, try wearing only hydrating formulas for a few days, and allow your skin to adjust. Yes, committing to skincare and makeup that seems more suited to other skin-types can be pretty scary. But— and I speak from personal experience— you just might find that your complexion appears even less oily than before because your skin is finally being properly hydrated.
After all, whether from skincare or makeup, even oily skin still needs moisture.
Images: Studio Firma/Stocksy; Courtesy of Brands


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DescriptionPersimmon is a deep orange, waxy fruit which is similar to a tomato in shape. Persimmons which have dark-colored flesh are always sweet and non-astringent and should be eaten before they become too soft. Varieties with light-colored flesh have astringent taste until they soften. The astringent taste is due to the presence of a large amount of tannin, the same substance found in tea. As the fruit ripens and sweetens the tannin disappears. Ripening can take place just as well off the tree as on.
- It is use as a traditional Chinese remedy for hiccups. Take 9 grams of calyx of the persimmon fruit and 3 grams of fresh ginger. Add water and steam for a few minutes and eat.
- Persimmon cake is also used as a traditional remedy for diarrhea, hemorrhoids, lung infections and asthma. To make persimmon cake: the fruit should be plucked when the skin starts turning yellow. Peel and discard the skin and place the fruit in the sun to dry, applying pressure frequently on each fruit to gradually flatten it. Continue drying the flattened fruit in the sun or in the open until a white frosting appears and covers the entire surface.
- Astringent taste of persimmon can help stops diarrhea, reduces sweating, and slows or stops bleeding.
- Persimmons can help prevent cancer because it is high in vitamin A.
- It contain compounds known as shibuol and betulinic acid that are thought to have anti-cancer properties.
- A study conducted in Japan showed that the peel of the persimmon contains phytochemicals known as proanthocyanidins which may protect cells against oxidative damage associated with aging


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According to three different media agencies: Millward Brown, Interbrand and Brand Finance, Apple is the most valuable brand in the world – worth on average $117bn. Here are 9 others that made the list. What happened to Facebook?
About Alex Noudelman
Alex Noudelman is a digital marketing expert at iRISEmedia. He received his Honors B.A. from York University and a Masters in Adolescent Education from D'Youville College.


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Gallery: the best sandwiches in the world
These are the best sandwiches in the world.
Our gallery shows the 10 finalists of the 11th Delifrance Sandwich World Cup which took place in Paris this week.
The top accolade was scooped by Ivalo Acurio of Peru – who wowed a panel of international judges, including British Baker, three star Michelin chef Arnaud Donckele and former World Bread Championship winner, and master baker, Sylvain Herviaux.
The British entry in the competition was from 18-year-old University College Birmingham (UCB) student Nathan Lane. He created 'An English Country Garden, which boasted locally sourced pigeon, beetroot and pear and was served on a Delifrance Heritage Poolish Loaf.
Although, he did not make the top three, Lane said: "I enjoy a challenge and the Delifrance Sandwich World Cup gave me the opportunity to express modern gastronomy in a British Sandwich."
Ian Dobie, Delifrance's UK managing director, added: "Delifrance UK picked Nathan and his recipe to represent the nation after sampling his selection of on trend ingredients and bold flavour combinations."
Delifrance has been running the Sandwich World Cup since 1999 and the UK has won the title in 2005 and 2009.
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Vegan Sushi & Seafood Platter
I found these beautiful Live scallops at the local fish monger.
I cleaned them at my kitchen.
They are enough fresh to eat in raw, then I slightly grilled them with soy sauce & butter.
What a juicy & tender meat!
Absolutely bliss!
Meanwhile I made Sushi Cakes with Seafood Sticks and Vegan Sushi as well.
Sushi with Pickled vegetables & Grilled with sweet soy sauce Sushi.
Soy milk ice cream with Agar Jelly.
During my cooking, this stunning freesia inspired me with amazing sweet smell.
Happy Easter.
Leave a Reply.
January 2019


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|Project by jaykaypur
|posted 03-05-2012 02:05 AM
|1725 views
|1 time favorited
|9 comments
I made this box out of cherry wood for a rabid University of Virginia grad. This is the first time I've tried to make wooden hinges and I'm happy with the way they turned out. I "stenciled" the logo on the top with a ball-point pen and then re-inked it twice…..a long, tedious process I wouldn't want to do again. I applied Howards Feed-n-Wax one time and buffed it up a bit.
Each box I make I learn a little more and that's all a newbie woodworker can ask for. Thanks for looking.
-- Use it up, Wear it out --------------- Make it do, Or do without!
9 comments so far
#1 posted 03-05-2012 02:16 AM
#2 posted 03-05-2012 02:24 AM
That came out really nice!
Glad the ink didn't run or bleed.
-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.
#3 posted 03-05-2012 02:30 AM
Good looking box, I also like the hinges – they came out great.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
#4 posted 03-05-2012 02:48 AM
I love to do stuff that gives me a challenge. Some I do again and others I make the claim you did!! Your box turned out fantastic, however.
-- Dave Haynes, Indiana, http://www.oldaveswoodshop.com
#5 posted 03-05-2012 03:11 AM
Very cool box and the hindges look great one day I am going to have to try and make some.
-- http://www.landwoodworks.com (L an D Woodworks)
#6 posted 03-05-2012 03:17 AM
Nice looking box. Good job on the hinges. I really should get around to trying them.
-- JoeyG ~~~ http://www.facebook.com/JHGWoodWorks
#7 posted 03-05-2012 03:28 AM
-- DaytonHM Dayton Va.
#8 posted 03-05-2012 04:19 AM
Looking great on this project my friend…wow…nice hinges they look awesome. Your really taking new steps with your woodworking journey..great stuff!
Best thoughts,
-- "Always continue to learn, laugh and share!" JJW
#9 posted 03-05-2012 02:13 PM
That box is beautiful and the hinges are awesome!
too bad it was ruined by a logo of dopey scissors. hehehehe.
Have your say...
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text: With "If You Knew Her", London Jazz singer Zara McFarlane publishes her second album in Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label. The songs are transcendent and mystical, at times come with the warmth of 70's Stevie Wonder songs, at times are striped to the bare essentials of a great talented Jazz Singer's voice. Her singing style leaves a lot of room for the melodies to develop and opens space for imagination. And the band supports the voice to develop the ambinet and melancholic spirit of the songs. "If You Knew Her" moves away from the classical jazz singer's genree. It is an album ahead of times. Listen to Zara McFarlane's new album now on contemporaryjazzclub.com


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Adventures in DIY: DIY Snapshots
This month, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite DIY adventures, all of which started as quick fixes for musical problems. Here are four hacks that turned out much better than expected.
Weight Is Enough
By adding adhesive wheel weights, I've given the plasticky keys on my Akai Miniak a satisfying snap and heft. To reach the inside of the black keys, I unscrewed the keyboard and popped out the springs with needle-nose pliers.
Make Your Case
Surplus-store bags add character on the cheap. I use a yellow CD wallet to protect my Korg Kaossilator, a Casio electronic sax bag for my shakuhachi, a Wii Fit bag (Price: 40 cents!) for my Arturia KeyStep, and a beer koozie for my MidiPlus Miniengine.
Click to Mono
The mono checkbox in your computer's Accessibility panel offers a quick way to check the mono compatibility of your mixes. For example, using this trick while reviewing sounds I had designed for an iPhone game, I discovered that a stereo enhancer I'd used made the sound almost disappear in mono.
Top-Shelf Studio
In my home studio, a thick, glass coffee table top makes the ideal top shelf for my Ultimate Support Deltex keyboard stand, revealing the controls on the lower tier. When playing out, I replace the glass top with the metal tray of a music stand.


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Princess Elizabeth Tudor (later Queen Elizabeth I) was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (depicted in this image). The King's portrait, created by Hans Holbein the Younger, shows how Henry appeared circa 1536 (when Elizabeth was about three years old). The portrait of Anne Boleyn is by an unknown artist. Online via Wikimedia Commons.
Even though Henry VIII desperately wanted a son, his new child - with his new queen, Anne Boleyn - was a daughter. Elizabeth was born at London's Greenwich Palace on the 7th of September, 1533. She had her father's coloring: golden-red hair and very fair skin.
Before the little girl was three years old, her mother was beheaded on the Tower Green. Accused of various crimes, Anne's worst offense may have been the birth of a stillborn son.
Princess Elizabeth was strong-willed, even as a child. Initially, her father made the little girl his heir, bypassing his elder daughter Mary.
Then Henry had his longed-for son, Edward, with his newest queen (Jane Seymour). When the King decided to change his succession (designating his son as heir-to-the-throne), Elizabeth was effectively demoted from "princess" to "lady."
On hearing the news, the little girl reportedly told the husband of her governess (Lady Margaret Bryan):
How haps it, Governor, yesterday my Lady Princess, and today but my Lady Elizabeth?
When she was four, the future queen had a new governess: Catherine Champernowne. Kat, as she was known, married Sir John Ashley. An extremely important part of the child's formative years, Kat Ashley was also one of Elizabeth's teachers. The two became so close that when Elizabeth was crowned queen, she made Kat "First Lady of the Bedchamber."
Although her father ultimately had six wives, the last one - Catherine Parr - insisted that her step-daughter needed an excellent education. Elizabeth and Edward both studied with Roger Ascham, one of Britain's most-respected scholars at the time.
Under Ascham's tutelage and strict approach to learning, the already-precocious Elizabeth flourished. Before her late-teen years, she could speak six languages.
Of his famous pupil, Ascham - employing attitudes and using language of the time - wrote:
Her mind has no womanly weakness ... her perseverance is equal to that of a man ... She readeth more Greek every day, than some Prebendary [a church official] of this Church doth read Latin in a whole week.
After their 55-year-old father died, at Whitehall, Elizabeth's nine-year-old half-brother was crowned Edward VI. He'd succeeded his father on the 28th of January, 1547. His short-lived rule, however, ended less than seven years later, in 1553.
Now Elizabeth's half-sister Mary would become queen, and life would become much more difficult for Anne Boleyn's daughter.
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text:
LawnMatters Proudly Serves Lakewood, Ohio
Top Lakewood, OH Green Spaces
The wonderful town of Lakewood, OH definitely has its fair share of outdoor beauty and fun activities to boot, while also including magnificent waterfront scenery along Lake Erie. If you don't explore the beaches and the bowling alleys in the area, there are always beautiful parks full of trees, grass, and wildflowers that also have plenty to keep you busy.
Lakewood Park, just off Belle Ave and Lake Avenue, features over 31 acres of land. Besides the gorgeous landscape that it provides to the area, it also features four tennis courts, two softball fields, an outdoor swimming pool, a skate park, a museum, and a bandshell for children's movies during the summer season. You can walk around and enjoy the scenic landscape or grab hold of a relaxing day under the sun. Madison Park on Madison Avenue hosts a handful of outdoor activities too. Walk around and enjoy the magnificent landscape or hang out for a picnic. The playground gives children time to explore while getting some exercise, and the massive amount of trees and grass create a cozy atmosphere to relax.
You Too Can Have Your Own Outdoor Landscape
Your yard may not be a huge as Lakewood's beautiful parks or have a view of the lake, but it can have a beautiful lawn with beautiful trees and shrubs. LawnMatters has been serving Lakewood customers for over 40 years with quality lawn, tree, shrub, and insect control services.
We can help your yard look its best with dependable services that include:
- Quality lawn care and maintenance
- Complete tree and shrub care
- Mosquito control
- Tree and shrub insect control
Our company will eliminate bare spots, thinned out grass areas, thatches, weeds, poor plant nutrition, weak root structures, mosquitoes, beetles, grubs, and more. Make your yard is comfortable to enjoy and let us keep it that way for the entire season.
Lawn Matters Lakewood, OH Zip Code Coverage Area: 44107, 44116
Dependable, Reliable Lawn Care Services
LawnMatters also offers preventive services to get your yard ready for the colder seasons and to ensure that it stays healthy all year round. We help your yard survive the frigid temperatures and maintain a stronger root system for better growth and strength. Your trees, shrubs, and grass need proper care and maintenance to look their best. LawnMatters ensures that it happens.
Our lawn and insect services can help:
- Maintain plant health and tree fullness through insect control and vitamin injections
- Create a thick, green, and durable lawn through aeration, grass planting
- Eliminate weeds in the yard and around objects
- Eliminate mosquitoes and their breeding grounds
- Maintain tree and shrub appearance with proper pruning and root care
- Eliminate thatches and bare spots in the yard
- And so much more
Picking the right company matters too.
Contact our seasoned professionals to learn more and get you the results you deserve.


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Alternate Titles: Un Monstre a Paris
Bibo BERGERON
EuropaCorp, Bibo Films, France 3 Cinema
KAZANDJIAN, Bibo BERGERON
Adam GOLDBERG, Jay HARRINGTON, Danny HUSTON, Bob BALABAN, Sean LENNON, Vanessa PARADIS, Madeline ZIMA
Paris, 1910. Panic sweeps the city. Floodwaters are rising and a monster is on the loose! Formidable Commissioner Maynott and his men hunt it down day and night with no luck. It could be that in the limelight at The Rare Bird, a Montmartre cabaret, where feisty Lucille is the star attraction, isn't a bad place to hide at all!


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Today I got a very welcome email from Monia, our realtor in Italy. It had attachments. One was a power of attorney so my daughter can sign the deed on our behalf. The other was the new legal description and floor plan that will be registered with the authorities in our name.
I knew this house had been lovingly renovated by one very meticulous builder in his spare time. He'd done it as a hobby, a place for his son to live, but then his son decided to live on the coast. What I didn't know was how long it had taken. The renovation started in 1984, the year my daughter was born. Yea, I know, coincidence, but there have been so many coincidences since we first set eyes on this house. I'm starting to rule out coincidence and think this place was our destiny.
The seller will sign the purchase agreement on Saturday and the following week it will be registered and made official. After that I have to wire the deposit, pay the notary and for the next few weeks I do believe I'll be bleeding Euros….
Parting with money usually makes me anxious, but not so much this time. All I keep thinking about is a kinder, gentler life in Abruzzo. A place I can invite friends and family. A place I can relax and shed the stress of work and the craziness of American Politics.
I'm relaxed just thinking about it.


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Wearing their Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals are Katie Sears - gold, Ron Peterson - silver, and Shauna McNabb - bronze @ the 1st Annual Hillbilly "Limpics" competition sponsored by Sheridan Media and held at Fremont Motors Thursday at 5:30 pm.
Under a beautiful blue Wyoming sky and with full military honors U. S. Senator Malcolm Wallop was laid to rest with his beloved Big Horn Mountains as a back drop. Funeral services were held Thursday morning in St. Peter's Episcopal Church filled with family, friends and government officials who honored the late senator's life.
Broncs lost 8 Sage Valley 18
Pictures taken by Ashley Lecholat
Road & Travel


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Nick Kallinikios and Sam Mohammad discuss new GST withholding measures introduced by Government that may apply from 1 July 2018.
On 7 February 2018, the Government introduced Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 1) Bill containing measures that will require purchasers of new residential premises and potential residential land to withhold up to 1/11th of the contract price (GST withholding) and pay it to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The measures also extend goods and services tax (GST) withholding to long term leases.
The measures have been the subject of public consultation.
If passed into law the measures are intended to apply to contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2018. Contracts entered into before 1 July 2018 which settle before 1 July 2020 will be exempted from the GST withholding. Also exempted from GST withholding measures are business to business (B2B) supplies, supplies of commercial residential premises and supplies of new residential premises created through substantial renovations.
The standard rate of GST withholding is 1/11th. For sales subject to the margin scheme the withholding amount reduces to 7 percent of the contract price. Settlement adjustments will be ignored for this purpose. Any true-up of the amount paid by the purchaser and the amount correctly payable will be made in the vendor's Business Activity Statement (BAS) following settlement.
Vendors will be obliged to give notice to purchasers advising whether the sale is subject to GST withholding and the rate. Failure by a vendor to meet the notification requirements is a strict liability offence attracting penalties of up to $105,000 for a corporation or $21,000 for individuals.
Purchasers will be able to rely on such notice, except where it would not be reasonable to do so. Further in the absence of notice purchasers may elect to withhold, thus discharging their liability.
Payment of the withholding amount by purchasers needs to be made to the ATO and can be done either directly or by providing a cheque drawn payable to the Commissioner of Taxation at the time of settlement. Where payment is made directly to the ATO the plan is for Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) system to allow vendors to access on line the evidence of that payment.
There are specific transitional rules that apply to "property development agreements" aimed at preventing windfall gains resulting from these measures. However, these transitional rules are complex are require detailed analysis to determine if they apply to a particular scenario.
Given the short timeframes, clients need to be prepared to update their processes and templates in order to account for the new withholding measures.
Request for proposal


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DIGITAL - The InterConnected Strategy
If 'interconnected' is the word of the century, than how can we build 'The Interconnected Strategy'?
+ DIGITAL: Inheriting a Complex World
The Digital World is reshaping the way that brands interact with their customers. The rise of social media has laid the groundwork for the world 2.0, creating an environment where consumers can engage with their favorite brands and stay 'connected' from the palm of their hand. Via smartphones and portable devices, the 'consumer,' as they have become known, is becoming a 'prosumer' and beginning to shape the brand in the manifestation of their own desires. And the key enabler is the digital medium.
The implication that this has for brands is immense. The question is, where should an enterprise focus their digital resources?
The initial evolution of Digital Business has focused on two areas: eCommerce and social media.
Corporate titans like Amazon and Facebook have pioneered these digital avenues. Amazon has built an empire through the development of an eCommerce channel, leveraging technology to create supply-chain efficiencies and cut costs. While Web 2.0-giant Facebook has risen to prominence by creating an advertising platforms based around social interactions.
The question is, does generating eCommerce sales and getting a few thousand Likes really shift the customer experience?
In some ways yes, but in many ways no. Because for many they are still focused around the monetization of customer interactions, and not the experience. At the core, brands are facilitators of experiences and act as a proxy between the customer and a specified outcome. The problem for many of today's companies is that they view themselves as the owners of these experiences, and are thus constantly stuck in a mode of trying to sell.
What the digital medium is doing is transforming the dialogue from a one-way message to a two-way conversation. The conversation itself is becoming the centerpiece and reshaping the way brands are perceived. This is the beginning of something big.
Businesses need to wake up to the fact that customers want more. Deliver a great experience, make a positive impact in society, and provide the means to engage – this is the new baseline. In today's world, customers are looking to build a connection rather than simply engage in a transaction.
That's why the Interconnected Strategy is the new strategy for doing digital business.
Rather than trying to build online channels and networks to push products and scale promotions, the focus should be on connecting. While Likes on Facebook or Followers on Twitter can have some significance, that is not where the real focus should be.
What matters is the quality of engagement. The sharing, the participation, the conversation – in the long-term, those are the qualities that will define a brand.
So what does a company need to build the Interconnected Strategy?
Given that it is 2013, pretty much every company at least understands now that a having website is essential. But what should the website have?
That, of course, depends on what type of message and image the company is trying to convey. But there are a few essential points to focus on:
- the site should be responsive – adaptable to any device – so that visitors can comfortably read and engage with the content from mobiles phones, tablets and laptops;
- the site should look active; rather than being a one-way 'look-at-us' website, there should be the feeling of some ongoing conversation – ideas include a blog, special content features, podcasts, or video features;
- the site should focus on communicating and conveying the essence of the brand. There doesn't need to be any digital 'bells and whistles' to show how avant garde the company is, the beauty is in the simplicity and execution of the essentials. Make the site design driven, rather than digitally driven.
Video Networks
A Like, a Follow, a PIN – these are great, but they are passive actions.
The real movement behind a brand happens through word of mouth, people need to be talking to a brand in order for it to build traction.
However, in a world where everybody has a connected device and network connectivity is becoming omnipresent, customers no longer need to be physically present to connect with a brand.
While Skype was the pioneer, new services such as Google Hangouts enable brands to take video chat to a whole new level. Via Google Hangouts, companies can chat with up to ten people simultaneously. And here's the kicker, it's free.
The power of real conversation has not diminished because of 'social media,' if anything it has increased. One expert estimates that only about 7% of word of mouth happens in these social-media channels.
A decade after the Dot-Com Bubble, eCommerce is finally starting to blow up. But it is an area that is very poorly understood by most companies. Why?
Because it is not like traditional retail and there is no instantaneity to it. It requires an investment of time and resources, along with a little experimentation.
But the eCommerce channel is essential to The Interconnected Strategy because a great eCommerce strategy will help hurdle over geographical boundaries and tap into new markets globally.
Earlier this year, we talked about a few companies who are doing this really well in our 'Collaborative Commerce' post.
+ DIGITAL: The Advent of Collaborative Commerce
The key is to build both the eCommerce framework, and the strategy to move customers there. Now that customers are engaging from mobile and tablet devices, the whole process needs to be thought through comprehensively.
It takes thorough research, planning and time, but eCommerce is the essential cornerstone to The Interconnected Strategy because it provides companies with a mechanism to SHIFT their business model and open new market boundaries.
Overall, the world of business is changing rapidly and the digital domain is the new frontier. While entering the fray with a traditional business mindset may bring in a few Likes and eCommerce sales, companies of the future realize that customers want more and that the real power lies in connections and conversations. That's why 'interconnected' is the word of the century.
+ BMBreakdown: ETSY
+ Time For BMi


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Product Description
Two wheel self balance scooters are revolutionizing the game of personal transportation and bringing innovation and technology to a new level. Our hover boards are motorized two-wheeled balance boards that use innovative gyroscopic technology.
The Hover board is currently the most trending item in South Africa. A Hover board is basically a Segway without any handlebars. It is also referred to as a Self Balancing Scooter. This two-wheel device is a self-balancing personal transporter consisting of two motorized wheels connected to a pair of articulated pads on which the rider places their feet.
All Hover Boards have an internal gyro stabilizer and many 3-way sensors to ensure an easy-to-learn riding experience, which makes it great for indoor and outdoor fun.
The rider controls the speed of the Hover Board by leaning forwards or backwards, and direction of travel by twisting the pads.
The smart balance board feature is an auto balance capability, that is switched on and off via the included remote controller (as shown in the video description).
Hover Board – Features & Specifications:
1. Wheel Size: 10 inch
2. Bluetooth: Yes
3. LED Lights: Yes
4. Motor Rating: 2 x 450 Watt
5. Carry Handle: Yes
6. Fog Lights: Yes
7. Dimensions: 61cm x 24cm
8. Weight: 13kg
9. Charge Time: 2 hours
10. Carry Bag Included: Yes
11. Auto Stabilize Feature: Yes
12. Includes remote controller: Yes
13. Puncture proof tires: Yes
Based on 0 reviews
There are no reviews yet.


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Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed by CREB®.
Listing information last updated on January 20th, 2020 at 5:00am MST.


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Benjamin Franklin quotes
Benjamin Franklin about Christmas, Conscience, Change
A good conscience is a continual Christmas. When you're finished changing, you're finished. I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days. Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. Applause waits on success. Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.
Benjamin Franklin about Life, Death, Play of Words
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. You may delay, but time will not. Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin about Debt, Finance, Action
Rather go to bed with out dinner than to rise in debt. Well done is better than well said. Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires. A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
Benjamin Franklin about Envy, Laughter, Vanity
She laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she has fine teeth. The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance. If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles. He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin about Wisdom, Reason, Anger
Benjamin Franklin about Happiness, Work, Laziness
It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man. He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure.
Benjamin Franklin about Inspiration, Wisdom, Advice
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed. Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals. Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.
Benjamin Franklin about Interest, Knowledge, Thanksgiving
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones - with ingratitude. Energy and persistence conquer all things. A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave. The discontented man finds no easy chair.
Benjamin Franklin about Wisdom, Life, Age
Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late. Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion. Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed. Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin about Food, Appearance, Clothes
Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others. If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed. I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning. Lost time is never found again. It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
Benjamin Franklin about Mistakes, Publicity, Inspiration
The first mistake in public business is the going into it. Diligence is the mother of good luck. Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things. Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.
Benjamin Franklin about Law, Justice, Repression
The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice. Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges. Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.
Benjamin Franklin about Inspiration, Law, Justice
A place for everything, everything in its place. A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats. It is the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind I would want, neither fine clothes, fine houses or fine furniture. I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand. Honesty is the best policy.
Benjamin Franklin about Charity, Poverty, Help
I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. God works wonders now and then; Behold a lawyer, an honest man. Marriage is the most natural state of man, and... the state in which you will find solid happiness. At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment. How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.
Benjamin Franklin about Time, Future, Money
Benjamin Franklin about Inspiration, Work, Motivation
Benjamin Franklin about Self-determination, Individuality, Introspection
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self. A penny saved is a penny earned. Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest. Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin about Future, Mistakes, Delusion
Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes. If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality. We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it. To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.
Benjamin Franklin about Advice, Psychology, Introspection
Observe all men, thyself most. Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. Wars are not paid for in wartime, the bill comes later. In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it. He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin about Virtue, Vice, Advice
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. If you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself. If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees. Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
Benjamin Franklin about Wisdom, Money, Greed
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. In my youth, I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.


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Our Mission
- To worship God in the Eucharist
- To Share the good news of Jesus
- To serve others especially those in need
Nuestra Misión
- Adorar a Dios en la Eucaristía
- Compartir las buenas nuevas de Jesús
- Servir a otros especialmente a los necesitados
- We are a nonprofit Catholic Organization whose purpose is to offer virtual reality glasses charitable services to needy members of our community without discrimination as to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, or sex of any person.
- We are entirely operated by volunteers and provide assistance and loving care to individuals and families in emergency need of food, clothing and other necessaries.
Services we provide
- Emergency food
- Clothing
Who is Eligible
- Families in emergency situations
- Low income families
- Homeless
- Unemployed Individuals
Schedule of Service
Tuesday from 9:00am – 12:00pm
We are located at:
6640 Cedros Ave., Van Nuys CA 91405
Under the Direction of Fr. Shinto Sebastian


text:
Freedom to make my own choices
Eric Henry, President of TS Designs
Eric Henry is the owner of TSDesigns, a Burlington, North Carolina based t-shirt company thats been 'printing t-shirts for good' since 1977. Eric started his business out of his dorm room in college and met his business partner, Tom Sineath when he transferred schools. They printed for big names like Nike, Gap, and Polo; had over 100 . . .
Posted in: choiceseric henryfreedomhow i got here
April 04, 2015


text:
2017 was a politically charged year for Turkey. On one hand, the tumult on the Turkish political scene started back in July 2016 after a failed coup attempt to topple the government of President Erdogan; ... read more
Reports that scroll the fundamentals of economies in the Levant and GCC countries. This category offers an insightful analysis of their latest macroeconomic developments.
Home » MENA in a Glimpse


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Topo is a SaaS mobile data platform that enables highly efficient solutions for mobile workers in supply chain businesses. Smart data entry forms can be deployed to a large range of mobile devices and computers to collect and organize information from the field. Topo enables secure collaboration among teams, integration with other systems and data analytics.
Topo is used in a range of industries bringing efficiency and continuous improvement to:
- Quality Control
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- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Product Information Management
- and many more...


text:
The report titled "Global Personal Air Conditioner Market" gives a proper knowledge of Global Personal Air Conditioner industry. Furthermore it also cover-up forecast and analysis for Personal Air Conditioner market on the Global and regional level. The report analyses Personal Air Conditioner market on the basis of its attractiveness and investment feasibility. It also represents a proper description of every aspect and emerging industry trends. This will allow the readers to target Personal Air Conditioner market product specifications, current competitive players in Personal Air Conditioner market and the market revenue with profitability. Global Industry Analyze Personal Air Conditioner Market by its type, competitive players, regions, and applications of Personal Air Conditioner market, forecast up to 2022.
The PDF report will help you understand:
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Get Free PDF Sample Report at: https://market.biz/report/global-personal-air-conditioner-market-sp/113762/#requestforsample
Key Players Featuring in Personal Air Conditioner Market:
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Evapolar Ltd
AMBIENT Therapeutics Inc
Lakeland Ltd
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Handy Cooler
This report analyses the scope of Personal Air Conditioner market. This can be achieved by using Personal Air Conditioner previous historical data, analyzing qualitative insights in detail, provable projections about Global Personal Air Conditioner market size. The projections showed in this Personal Air Conditioner report are taken from previously proved research methodologies and hypothesis. By performing such projections, the Personal Air Conditioner market research report serves as a storehouse of analysis, data, and information for every aspect of the Personal Air Conditioner market.
Regional scope: Personal Air Conditioner market is divided into various regions like North America, Middle-East a and Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Europe.
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For Queries Enquire of a report at: https://market.biz/report/global-personal-air-conditioner-market-sp/113762/#inquiry
Global Personal Air Conditioner Market Report mainly covers 10 Chapters
1. The outlook of the Personal Air Conditioner Industry.
2. Global Competition Landscape.
3. Global Personal Air Conditioner Market share.
4. Supply Chain Analysis.
5. Company Profiles.
6. Globalization & Trade.
7. Distributors and Customers.
8. Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major Countries and regions.
9. Global Personal Air Conditioner Market Forecast through 2022.
10.Key business factors and Market Overview.
Website: E-Markets Europe
Cynthia Barbee's understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies, and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities.


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- Let United Studies know if you have any questions regarding this job placement confirmation. 1-800-869-8585.


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Code [][] - Page 1
Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:05:36 GMT
Tags:dcsb screenshots
I realized I haven't put up ... well, anything lately so here's a small dev update and a couple of screens.
First, my ghetto starting screen. It works - and yes, the player class loads from XML with its own stats and graphic - but that's about all I can say for it. :)
Second, range-finding. The goblin started out far to the left, and the bat started out below. The goblin searches for things nearby to hurl things at, and then doesn't because there are walls in the way. :)
I also revamped skills to allow them to be more atomic. A skill can now modify the amount of times skills are processed without breaking itself, for example. This is useful for creatures with special abilities such as double move, double throw, double spell, or potions of speed that allow any move or skill to be performed an additional time. So yes, stacking items of speed is now effectively in the game ... for NPCs at least. Player skills are another story.
Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:47:46 GMT
So that whole worldbuilding thing ...
Tags:dcsb worldbuilding
Kinda fell by the wayside. I'll attempt to remedy the remaining 23 days (HAHA) into some sort of cohesive entry here. Of most interest to me are Trades (Day 11), for the simplified dungeonkeepering that you'll eventually do, Weapons (14) because well, you know, Politics/Officials (16) to shed a bit of light on why you'll find certain features in the world, Legends (26) for some sort of persistence layer, and that's probably it. I am torn between wanting to spend more time on the creative aspect of the thing and time constraints that say I better focus on the immediately game-affecting components first.
This world is relatively high in magic and low in mechanical invention. As such, you are far more likely to encounter alchemists' workshops and supplies, rune tables and crystal cutters, imbued scrolls and dimensional portals than hacksaws, chisels and anvils. It is rumoured some far off cultures have mastered metals to rival the best enchanted steel, but since the latter is far easier to get a hold of, these weapons are mostly curios. You will find basic weapons and armor - hardly more than slabs of raw metal or strips of leather - easy to come by; from there, you'll apply magical and alchemical processes to them to make them into something more to your liking. Everyone (dungeon inhabitants and questers alike) picks up a bit of this, and you'll be able to improve your skills along the way.
Because of this magic-inclined world, weapons don't really tend to have a lot of variety. Everyone starts off with a set of simple items and then uses this common, easily findable (well, relatively speaking) magic to make something they like. The downside is that you won't be able to use too many more fancy items that you'll find, as they will be tailored to the user and thus unsuitable for you. Again, there will be exceptions to this rule but they will be more curious and oddities - you'll also find lots more raw blanks/crude forms in various shapes and sizes early on that you'll be able to use and commit to for evolution throughout the game.
I wrote a bit about this in the overview, but the world's high magic field means that exerting control over any larger area is nearly impossible. Large amounts of warlords of various alignments and agendas eke out carefully balanced existences in areas close to their powerbases; the wilderness teems with powerful monsters of all sorts that only grudgingly give way to mighty heroes; the balance of power is maintained by the need to defend from all sides and threats. This is also why your adventure changes halfway through, as nature abhors a vacuum and once you get rid of your boss you need to assume new management immediately or face your own crushing. :) Organized warfare as such is nonexistent, as every warlord spends a significant portion of their day just dealing with whatever crisis is on their doorstep and has barely enough left for their own agenda.
Some heroes or warlords (or their minions, natch) grow in stature with time. Their deeds are recorded where they fell (tombstones), where they rose to power (items in their keeps/lairs), or verbally (still working on this one. Random barks here and there? I'm not sure yet). I will definitely try to incorporate larger victories or simply longer-than-standard lives of players into the game in some way. I should create a legends.xml right away, now that I think about it. TODO!
Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:31:51 GMT
Skill refactor!
Tags:dweller makingOf skills
Had a brainstorm on the bike ride home yesterday about the actual implementation of skills. When the pool of skills is small I was thinking small, and each skill was a one-off, called during update as needed.
Thing is, that's not very manageable, not very intuitive. I'd end up with a bunch of these individual calls (one per skill) scattered all over the place, with implementations who knows where. There are already quite a few things going on in a creature's (or player's) turn, and every new added skill would just compound the problem.
So instead I made everything a skill (well, except movement although now that I think about it ... why not?); they're more like "actions" at this point, except some are passive, some active, and some reactive - this part will still take some thought. A creature (and the player) will get those skills loaded up through their XML (now in easy-to-parse, easy-to-tweak comma separated format) on creature generation, and then simply iterate through all of their skills, whatever they may be.
Currently, everyone has the ability 'regen' which is a passive and always happens (unless suppressed somehow), a few creatures have the ability 'throwWeapon', and some have 'summonSelf' which summons another creature of the same type to help. Some of these actions take a turn, some don't, so some will be "blockers" for other actions. What I'm still working on is a sort of weight as to which action a creature should take, for which I think the creature STATUS and STATS will be responsible for.
For example, let's say a creature has 'teleportSelf' and 'castFireball'. If I just give it a percentage chance to occur, the creature will always end up doing one more often than other. However, whether I want the critter to do one or the other depends on what state it's in! If it's wounded, it should probably teleport away; if it's close by it might want to attack in melee instead; and when it's far away, it should throw that fireball. I already have some rudimentary statuses in like ENGAGED, SEEKING_TARGET, SEEKING_ITEM but I suspect these will have to become more verbose. Still, by solidifying the skills into an actual system all of this will be much easier to do.
Oh yes, if anyone else searches for "using a string as function call in as3", this is the way to do it:
var myFunction:String = "castFireball";
I had no idea that was possible. It's tremendously useful for things like this, when you need to call functions that you don't necessarily know the names of.
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:00:49 GMT
Dang. Long break.
Tags:dcsb bugfix
Fixed lack of movement after level 1. Fixed wrong-way throwing. Fixed inability to select 1st class on start screen.
Hopefully the next update will not be so long in coming. Also, I do plan to finish the worldbuilding, but probably in one long entry. I think I have the basics, and the rest is frankly a bit beyond my creative abilities at the moment. Maybe once I have the rest of the basic mechanics in place I can start thinking about what it is evil orcs actually DO eat. :)
Next up, wrapping up ranged combat.
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:42:54 GMT
World Building Day 7: Races and Culture
Tags:dcsb worldbuilding
Well, er.
That's kind of the big one, isn't it. Without some serious imagination engine to engage, I'm afraid I'm stuck with the oldies but goodies. In short, I don't think I can pull off originality well enough and in a captivating enough manner (diggles?) to even attempt it - so the fallback is to maximize player recognition and familiarity with the setting.
Fortunately however, I'm approaching this from the other side of the alignment scale, so there is SOME room for creativity - but it won't be because of the world's inhabitants, just the side that you're on. So:
Militarized, tribal orcs and goblins. Chaotic demons and abyssals. Pack-oriented werewolves and other weres. Mindless skeletons and other mostly subservient undead. Close-knit and xenophobic deep dwarves. On the other side the ever favorite versatile humans, lofty elves, nosy and surefooted halflings and hulking, half-magic eloi. Finally, elusive dragons still haunt some deep places.
A player's corner of the world will be populated by whatever type of overlord settles there. Not only their chosen profession (archmage, warlord, dragon or alchemist) will determine the populace, but also their race.
As to invaders, they will be totally random. There is no restriction on where a quester may hail from in their attempt to overthrow your boss, as mentioned before - despite travel being limited and settlements isolated, questers do get some serious help from Above, so distance is not a problem for them.
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:01:07 GMT
World building day 6: Fauna
Tags:dcsb worldbuilding
IN A WORLD ... where magic runs rampant but people still need to eat, expect the mundane and the fantastic. As mentioned in the previous post, the more wizardly of overlords will probably experiment with plant/animal hybrids, and some experiments will go awry. The more military focused overlords ... well, I hear mutton travels well: expect sheep.
Other than that, you'll see typical forest biodome animals such as wolves, deer, foxes, squirrels and rabbits. Some of these may be NPCs, some of them will just scamper across the floor and vanish into the undergrowth, and some of them you might be able to catch for food. Others will be trying to catch you for food, instead. Closer in to the overlord's lair most of these will probably vanish and kept/cultivated animals will appear more and more.
The dungeons will be home to spiders (of course!), rats (natch) and other assorted creepie crawlies. However, most of the caves within a warlord's domain will be taken over, militarized and defended, so stray fauna will be kept to a minimum. Expect to find your food (if you are a carnivore anyway) some other way - by raiding storage rooms, kitchens and mess halls, which will in turn be much more numerous than in the early parts of the world that you explore.
Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:30:37 GMT
World building day 5: Flora
Tags:dcsb worldbuilding
Tying in to the concept of relatively small zones and warlord types from the previous types, you will find fairly typical flora for any given regions. Forests will yield mushrooms and nuts, camps and towns will be growing efficient crops such as corn, wheat or barley and maintain fruit orchards such as apples, pears and plums. Handily, you can make booze out of most of those, so that will tie in as well.
Magical/alchemist lairs will have less in the way of crops but ample fruit, and there may be some magically enhanced orchards where you will find exotic plants, spell ingredients, and even common use items. There might even be trees growing simple weapons and potions.
In the future when I introduce different zones such as mountains, deserts and swamps I will need to add appropriate crops for those as well. I suppose that means another set of XML files and more art (hello palette swap), which in turn means that the temperate foresty zone will be the only zone for quite some time.
I think I'd rather focus on a single kickass zone than attempt to make palette swaps and spread myself thin. Well, this has been a useful worldbuilding day, apparently! I just eliminated a ton of work for myself! :)
So: DCSB takes place in a temperate zone and a moderately forested area with a possible single mountain (or ubercave) for the head villain's lair. You heard it here first (well yes, where else?).
Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:21:51 GMT
World building day 4: Resources
Tags:worldbuilding dcsb
I have not given this one much thought at all! Really glad to be doing this so I can make a more coherent set of maps (eventually).
Saruman had his Isengard (at least until he tore it down to switch to raid/war footing) to provide him with vittles; Sauron was always raiding or cannibalising (seriously, would anything grow in Mordor? I think not), but it seems like typically your warlords rely on oppressing any local villages for resources; wizards set up on powernodes and just have cadres of peons working on earthly things such as food, drink and sanitation, and mad scientists probably grow their own powershrooms and such. Oh yes, there should be an undead lich type with a mostly undead army that doesn't need any of that at all. And a dragon, while I'm at it; a cross between a wizard (magic users) and warlord (villages to maintain the meat stock).
So! This means that we will need at least one resource use type per archlord type, which actually sounds rather entertaining. You're such a low ranking guy that you don't even know who the head guy is, but it will be revealed in no time by the type of terrain you traverse - I think that sounds rather neat. In practice, this will translate to more villages/outposts for the warlord, more aggressive flora and fauna for the mad alchemist, and more lowbie magic users for the wizard type (they also flock to the node of power). The lich will mostly be dead things (both mobile and not) with some magic users (also undead), and the dragon is part wizardly and part warlord with outposts and such to keep a stock of fat juicy cows. And peasants. Yum.
5 overall archetypes is a good start, and plenty ambitious already (none of this exists, of course!) :)
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:24:22 GMT
World building catch-up day 3: Landmarks
Tags:worldbuilding dcsb
I realized I covered most of this in the previous entry, but for the sense of continuity I'll rephrase; it might even fit better here. I guess I don't really plan on "Geography" as the game occurs within a relatively small radius of a Place of Power - so local landmarks are more important than exactly "where" things occur. The world isn't even connected yet, as the gods (oddly like me!) aren't very interested in watching politics - they just want to play a rousing game of Quester's Quest.
Anyway. Within the PoP will be various defensive structures as well as natural features. In the forests expect giant tree stumps, clearings, witches' circles, streams, ravines or cliffs and brooks from the natural side, as well as various ruins, obelisks, camps, fortifications, walls and outposts on the man(monster)made side. Some levels will have exits leading to the next open patch of forest, and some will have cave openings or structure doors, and the adventure will transition appropriately that way. I also hope to have some premade layouts such as mazes, towns, prisons and combat arenas, eventually.
However, in DCSB this is all visual fluff and will not impact the game in a hugely significant mannter - as such, it is a priority for considerably farther down the line.
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:52:52 GMT
World building catch-up day 2: Geography
Tags:dcsb worldbuilding
Dungeon Contractor Strikes Back does not really take place in the world at-large. For now at least I have no intention of tying any two lair takeover attempts together, nor importing events from one game into another. You might find headstones of previous players but that is it - none of their loot nor their ghost will stick around, Nethack style - and I only decided that right now, so it is of course subject to change to even less (not even headstones). I am 100% certain I do not want to do any more than that though - it is simply not in scope of a single DCSB adventure.
That said, the world is large and warlords/archmages/mad scientists don't really have many prerequisites to building their Lair of Doom except that it be isolated. They don't really like visitors a whole lot and have quite a bit prepared to deter casual interest - primarily distance. So the final lair which may be a tower, cave, fort, temple or castle will be surrounded by significant tracts of land. You, the cheap hired help, will start out at the outer perimeter and slowly work your way in. As can be expected, the distance between you and the center will be filled with other patrolling creatures, fortifications, camps, work sites and other defensive features such as mazes or Black Gates.
Other than manmade (or monstermade) features, you will encounter what you'd expect to encounter in nature in a given region. If the fortress is in a forest, there will be clearings and thickets, gullies and streams. If it's in the desert ... well. Oases, I suppose? If it's in the mountains, expect ravines and rockslides debris. Mind you each "screen" you visit will be a snapshot of the terrain in question and it MUST be passable, so there will not be anything that forces you to backtrack - ultimately you are going to the center to deal justice, and as such become a Quester; the gods themselves (or well, the randomization engine) will find you a way. :)
In the short run, I expect that you will start in a forest and end up in a stone structure - because those are the tiles I have. In the long run, the sky's the limit and I hope to include caves, camps and a smattering of semi-unique features and layouts for starters. In the even longer run, other biodomes will find their way in; the good thing is that since I'm using tiles already, all it takes is a new tileset that conforms to the current engine rules (must have corners, backdrop and doors) to create a new simple biodome.
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Social-networking sites face new privacy battle
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California could force Facebook and other social-networking sites to change their privacy protection policies under a first-of-its-kind proposal at the state Capitol that is opposed by much of the Internet industry.
Under the proposal, SB242, social-networking sites would have to allow users to establish their privacy settings -- like who could view their profile and what information would be public to everyone on the Internet -- when they register to join the site instead of after they join. Sites would also have to set defaults to private so that users would choose which information is public.
Currently, some sites, like Facebook, have default settings that make certain information -- such as photos, biographical information and family information -- available to everyone on the Internet after a user registers, unless the user changes those privacy settings.
And while Facebook itself has not told the Legislature it is opposed to the legislation, the bill's author, Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, said the social-networking giant has worked in "stealth mode" to oppose it.
The legislation would require that privacy controls be explained in "plain language." Willful violations of the law would result in a $10,000 fine for each violation.
"You shouldn't have to sign in and give up your personal information before you get to the part where you say, 'Please don't share my personal information,' " Corbett said.
The bill also would require a social-networking site to remove personally identifying information of a user if requested and by the request of a parent of a user under 18.
But the measure is facing a strong push back from online companies arguing that the bill is unconstitutional and unworkable and that such a measure actually would decrease privacy for people who use social networking. The bill passed through a legislative committee last week and is headed to the Senate floor, where it will face an intense assault from the industry.
Unintended consequences
Tammy Cota, the executive director of the Internet Alliance trade association that includes Google, eHarmony, Match.com, Facebook and other companies, said the law would have myriad unintended consequences.
The bill "would force users to make decisions about privacy and visibility of all information well before they even used the service for the first time, and in such a manner that they are less likely to pay attention and process the information," Cota wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which approved the measure.
Opponents argue that could lead to users setting privacy settings they don't fully understand and making public information they want to keep private.
However, Facebook itself has changed its settings for new users over the past few years, as in 2005 the privacy policy stated, "no personal information ... will be available to any user of the web site who does not belong to at least one of the groups specified by you in your privacy settings," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco organization that has monitored the changes.
The latest privacy policy from April 2010 states, "When you connect with an application or website it will have access to general information about you. The term general information includes you and your friends' names, profile pictures, gender, user IDs, connections, and any content shared using the 'Everyone' privacy setting. ... The default privacy setting for certain types of information you post on Facebook is set to 'Everyone.' "
When a new user signs up for Facebook, the default settings shares with "Everyone" a user's status update, photos and posts, biographical information, favorite quotations and family and relationships that are entered into the site. They are available to everyone on the Internet.
The bill would affect more than just Facebook, as the bill defines a social-networking site as an Internet site where a user can construct a public or partly public profile that connects to other users and that allows for viewing and traversing the user's own list of connections and those of others.
While much of the focus is on the social-networking giant, Cota said the proposal also would have a large effect on dating websites.
But Facebook is facing extra criticism from Corbett, because while the company has not stated it is opposed, a company lobbyist handed talking points opposing the measure to some members of the committee prior to the hearing. Those included calling the legislation a "serious threat" to the company's ability to do business in California.
"It's very strange to have opposition in a stealth position," Corbett said.
Stealth opposition also violates the code of conduct for the Institute of Government Advocates, the association that represents lobbyists and lobbying firms at the state Capitol. The code of conduct states, "A member owes a public officeholder an obligation to inform the officeholder of the member's planned opposition to a proposal by the officeholder prior to the member's active opposition."
Facebook's spokesman Andrew Noyes said, "Any legislative or regulatory proposal must honor users' expectations in the contexts in which they use online services and promote the innovation that fuels the growth of the Internet economy. This legislation is a serious threat both to Facebook's business in California and to meaningful California consumers' choices about use of personal data."
Facebook is currently embroiled in scandal after it was revealed this week that the company had hired a big-time public relations firm to plant negative stories about its archrival Google in the press.
Complicated settings
Privacy settings on sites like Facebook are difficult for the average user to understand and navigate, said Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
She said Corbett's bill "would take the pressure off each individual to understand every setting and what it means to change the setting."
Ozer said people use Facebook and sites like it to engage in social and political activities and are not necessarily posting information because they want to share it with the whole world. She noted that even if information is private to other users, it is not private to Facebook and that it can still be used for marketing and advertising purposes.
But concerns about the impact of the measure, and whether it would drive Internet businesses out of the state, is resulting in opposition among some lawmakers. Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, said a single mid-level manager who willfully violates the provisions for just 1 million users would expose a company to $10 billion in fines.
Facebook has more than 500 million active users worldwide, though the measure would apply only to those users in California. Corbett said her measure would apply to businesses even outside the state, but Blakeslee questions that.
He also said Sacramento is the wrong place to address online privacy.
"I think it is certainly something that should be addressed at the national level. That's the appropriate place to deal with Internet laws," he said.
E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Cube iPlay8 Review--A Cost-Effective Phablet
Cube iPlay 8 Android tablet can not only support for learnning English, math, the 7.85 inch ultra-thin body can also help you to learn at any time.
Cube IPLAY8 is a cost-effective tablet, equipped with a 7.85 inch HD resolution screen, which can bring you exquisite & vivid full view abgle IPS screen, and can hold just with one hand, 178 ° wide visual angle, 4:3 screen ratio is very comfortable to control, and the visual experience is very excellent!
Cube iPlay8 has a 3500mAh capacity battery, pre-installed with Android 6.0 operating system, which is close to native Android, so, in the terms of the power consumption, iPlay 8 is sure to be the most perfect collocation. Moreover, is has 16GB ROM storage, and supports 128GB micro SD card expansion, as a result, you no need to worry about the storage space.
Ceramic white border color makes it more concise. Though it doe snot use the narrow-frame design, it sets aside more space for holding, and also avoid to block your eye sight with the narrow frame holding. 196 * 137 * 9mm fuselage size makes it very easy for one-hand holding, and with the 330g weight, you will not feel tired when holding long time.
This CUBE iPlay 8 tablet adopts MTK8163 processor, with 4 x Coter-A53 core, 1.3GHz main frequency, and matched with Mali T720-MP2 GPU, built in 1GB RAM and 16GB storage. AnnTuTu Benchmark reaches up to 33954 scores. After several performance test, the UX scores it has highest performance, which shows that the user experience is quite high under the common scenarios of daily life.
As a gift for your child, it's natural to install all kinds of little games. The price is relatively cheap, even if the child accidentally falls it bad, you will not very painful!
Objectively speaking, the Cube iPlay 8 is not a very powerful tablet, so if you want to compare the hardware, I feel a little inappropriate, after all, it is jsut less than 60USD price. Cube iPlay8 has its unique advantages as a mild entertainment experience mini tablet, and it is specially suitable for those who does not have too much high requirements for performance.
Cube iPlay 8 7.85 inch phablet is in stock and ready to send now, people interested should not miss it!


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Lyrics Depot is your source of lyrics to Bad Scene And A Basement Show by Less Than Jake. Please check back for more Less Than Jake lyrics.
Bad Scene And A Basement Show Lyrics
Artist: Less Than Jake
Album: Borders And Boundaries
Well the scene here he wants her back
he's trying to use the phone
she's hanging up he's given up
he should've known
looking lost then he wanders off
and tries to sing along to some song he's never heard
but just keeps mouthing all the words
It gets worse before it's all over
I know I'll get through this somehow
and nothing's gonna change her mind for now
Well the scene here he's still alone
another band goes on in this crowded basement
with too much small talk and lame inside jokes
feeling useless out of excuses
he should've known to let it go
she said "it's done"
second chances seem to never come
After all the bad endings and misunderstandings
and all of the late night last hopes and lost time
and all that she left for me was only a memory
all I can say is she don't understand me
Less Than Jake Lyrics
Less Than Jake Borders And Boundaries Lyrics
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Less Than Jake - Help Save The Youth Of America From Exploding Lyrics
Less Than Jake - Is This Thing On? Lyrics
Less Than Jake - Jen Doesn't Like Me Anymore Lyrics
Less Than Jake - Scott Farcas Takes It on the Chin [7" Version] Lyrics
Less Than Jake - Shotgun Lyrics


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In Pakistan, only 8.6 million children are availing ECCE services where under 5 population stands at 22 million. Education, health and nutrition departments in Pakistan work in isolation ignoring the benefits of a holistic approach to early childhood development. Similarly, early child interventions by the private and development sector are also scattered. In conclusion, the early childhood sector in Pakistan remains fragmented and incoherent in its approach towards expanding access, training, curriculum and financing of ECCE based on a national policy. In order to develop an integrated approach to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), The ECD Network of Pakistan (ECDNP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and development partners held the first national conference on early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Pakistan at Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad. Parwaan was actively engaged as one of the partners of the conference where President Parwaan Ms. Mehnaz Akber Aziz highlighted the contributions of Parwaan to the development of ECCE in Pakistan.
The major purpose of the National Conference on early childhood is to bring together local and international experts and practitioners to provide a platform for sharing experiences and highlighting the early childhood needs in Pakistan. The conference will identify and recommend strategies and actions to consolidate and expand ECCE services in the country.
In more specific terms, the national conference aims to achieve the following major objectives:
- To bring all the stakeholders to one forum and instill the sense of networking
- To review the current status of early childhood in Pakistan and chart a future direction for the growth of ECCE
- To create a forum to share and learn best practices and experiences, disseminate research, and promote collaboration
- To create a universal understanding and consensus amongst various stakeholders regarding the practice of early childhood in Pakistan
- To agree on a common definition of ECD/ECCE, which will help bringing children below age 3 into the focus who remain neglected
Around 300 delegates including research scholars, practitioners, teachers, students and dignitaries from the government and development sector attended the conference over the two days. The conference included an inaugural and closing session, plenary, breakout sessions and social events. Concurrent sessions were organized to cover the theme, Envisioning Holistic Early Childhood Care and Education for Pakistan Creating an Equitable, Pluralistic and Sustainable Society' and related sub-themes of the conference. A total of 42 research papers were shared by different researchers across Pakistan which aimed to sensitize the conference participants on significance of integrated approach toward ECCE and also identify areas that require attention.
President Parwaan Ms. Mehnaz Akber Aziz chaired a plenary session on advocacy, awareness-raising and social mobilization for ECCE whereas the Parwaan team displayed a stall showcasing some of the items from Parwaan's school readiness kits including books and various manipulatives.
The plenary discussions resulted in the following recommendations by various ECCE experts and academia:
- Come up with a consensus to formalize one definition of early year's interventions for Pakistan that is Early Childhood Care and Education.
- Revise national curriculum for ECCE.
- Develop syllabus for ECCE in consultation with all relevant organizations.
- Initiate thought process towards intersectoral collaboration and joint efforts for provision of quality early years learning opportunities to children 0-8 year.
- Advocate and share provincial education departments ECE initiatives with national stakeholder.
- Civil society to share their contribution, programmes and models on ECCE for replication.
- AIOU also showed their commitment to organize ECCE conference annually and to establish National Centre of Excellence on ECCE at AIOU.
Parwaan is committed to being a part of an integrated network of ECCE experts; academia, private sector and public sector. Parwaan continues to contribute to holistic development of 3-5 years children through an inclusive approach, sensitize parents on ECCE cross cutting themes through weekly Parwaan Pakistan radio programme and community awareness sessions, and set a trajectory for long-term prosperity of the country by providing ECCE services at community level. In light of the need for an integrated approack to the provision of ECCE services in Pakistan, Parwaan is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional training, Prime Minister's Educations Reform with whom Parwaan is implementing the Parwaan Montessori Programme in Islamabad, and a cohort of ECCE experts and organizations through its Interprovincial Technical Advisory Group (IPTAG). Therefore, the first national conference on ECCE is just the beginning of Parwaan's and Pakistan's efforts to envision and implement an integrated approach for ECCE services in Pakistan.


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This colorful and full of bright flavor Couscous Tabbouleh Salad is the perfect side dish to any lunch or dinner throughout summer.
There's something about colorful salads that just says… "It's summer!"
The past few days have been very very hot! There's no doubt about it — summer is here. Please let me vent. Our apartment has, not one, but two skylights. Super bright, which I love. But during those really hot summer days our home fells like an oven. The AC can't keep up with the heat. I feel like we're chickens being roasted. I feel like I'm going to die. Okay… I'm being super dramatic, but you get the idea, right?
I'm done venting…
The salad!
Salads are my go-to side dishes during summer. They are a great addition to any lunch or dinner. Fill out the plate with color and nourishment. They are also quick and easy, require minimal or no cooking. Plus, they're very customizable since you can add or change the salad ingredients as much as you want.
The possibilities are endless: potato salads, pasta salads, coleslaws, and- drum roll, please – Couscous Tabbouleh Salad!!!
Traditional tabbouleh starts off with some bulgur wheat, but I decided to use couscous this time. I love this flavor combination. It's nutty, herby, and lemony. This salad gets better after a day or so in the fridge, so it's Perfect make-ahead recipe for busy days, if you're headed to a summer potluck or out to the pool or beach. And It's ready in 20 minutes!
Give this delicious Couscous tabbouleh a try and see if it doesn't make your list of top summer salads. I bet it will.
Couscous Tabbouleh SaladPrint Pin Rate
- 1 large English cucumber, washed and cut into small cubes
- 12-15 in cherry tomatoes, washed and cut half
- 2/3 cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups couscous, cooked (I used tricolor couscous)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- In a medium bowl mix the cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, scallions, and couscous. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl mix the lemon juice and garlic. Gradually add the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add dressing to salad and toss to combine. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes before serving.


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American Horror Story Brings Their Version of Frankenstein's Monster to Television in Time For Halloween
FX's American Horror Story always manages to surprise week after week, and this week was no exception. When EP Ryan Murphy announced this summer that Evan Peters would be returning for a third year in a row, fangirls everywhere rejoiced. When his frat boy character got killed in a bus "accident" in the season 3 premiere jaws dropped. Many wondered why the show would waste his talent for a few scenes and were disappointed they wouldn't see more of him in weeks to come. Of course all of that spun on a dime when the episode 302 promo aired showing Peters' return as a Frankenstein Monster. Reanimated corpses of all kinds seem to be a theme this season and I love it! The show may be capitalizing on The Walking Dead's success, but they're doing it in a way that is different enough to make it seem new and fresh. Boy Parts" didn't just show the revival of Even Peters but also of Lily Rabe's necromancer. I should've known a witch with the ability to raise the dead wouldn't stay dead. The second episode offered more thrills, chills and witty dialogue, but also managed to converge all the various stories.
RELATED | American Horror Story: Coven Episode (3×01) Review – "Bitchcraft"
"Bitch, I will eat you!" Emma Roberts continued to make friends and influence people as actress Madison Montgomery. When she wasn't insulting Queenie about how she came to be a member of their coven, Madison was dragging Zoe to the morgue to help her build "the perfect boyfriend." At first things didn't appear to be going to plan. The girls selected the most primo body parts for their new man, performed the black magic that sold their souls to the devil, and yet Evan still laid dead. Side note: If I wasn't so excited last week for the show's return, I might have noticed Evan Peters' character didn't have a name and realized he was going to die. Wonder if he'll ever get one… Anywho, when the plan failed Madison ditched Zoe at the morgue, and the monster finally rose up and killed the morgue attendant newly returned to work. This whole monster mash business was way gross, and at one point I even thought Zoe was about to have sex with the corpse to see if her Final Destination Vagina had a reverse button. Peters' moaning was hilarious, because Zoe appeared to actually believe that sewing a head on a body would actually render the vocal cords useful. (More…)


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