text:
Kicking your morning off with a cup of joe may provide more than a caffeine boost. A recent study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that older coffee drinkers — even those who swill decaf — have a lower risk of death than those who don't drink coffee.
"Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages, both in the United States and worldwide," the authors of the study write. "Since coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant, coffee drinking is not generally considered to be part of a healthy lifestyle. However, coffee is a rich source of antioxidants and other bioactive compounds."
(MORE: Study: Caffeine May Alter Estrogen Levels in Women)
Previous studies have looked at the link between coffee consumption and major causes of death with varying results. "There has been a concern that drinking coffee might increase risk of death, but I think our findings show evidence against that," says lead researcher Dr. Neal Freedman of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is part of the NIH.
In the study, researchers from the NCI analyzed 229,119 men and 173,141 women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study. The participants filled out a questionnaire about their coffee intake at the beginning of the study in 1995-1996 and were followed until their death or the study's completion in December 2008. The participants were sorted into 10 coffee-consumption-frequency categories ranging from zero to six cups per day. The majority of the participants also indicated whether they were regular or decaf drinkers.
In relation to men and women who did not drink coffee, those who consumed three or more cups per day had approximately a 10% lower risk of death. Men who drank six or more cups of coffee per day had a 10% lower risk of death compared with men who did not drink coffee. Women who drank six or more cups a day had a 15% lower risk.
Overall, coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke cigarettes and consume red meat and alcohol than those who didn't drink coffee. However, when the researchers adjusted for these risk factors, they found that drinking coffee was inversely related to death. Coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes and infections, but there did not seem to be an association with decreased cancer deaths.
(MORE: Can't Get Enough Coffee? It Might Be in Your Genes)
Since the study was observational only, the authors couldn't conclude that coffee drinking actually reduces death risk. The researchers note that coffee intake was recorded in a self-report at a single time point and may not reflect long-term consumption patterns. As a result, more research is needed to see if the trend holds true across varying populations. But the researchers speculate that if the relationship between coffee drinking and decreased death risk is directly associated, it likely has to do with coffee's many compounds. "There are an estimated 1,000 different compounds in coffee that can have a range of effects," says Freedman. "Caffeine is the most studied, but we don't think it has to do with caffeine because the same results were found in decaf drinkers. Coffee also has a lot of antioxidants, and many other compounds are associated with inflammation and insulin resistance."
(MORE: Coffee May Lower Women's Risk of Depression)
Further analysis of coffee's compounds is needed to understand how the mechanisms work. And how you drink your coffee also matters. "How the coffee is prepared is also important," says Freedman. "Some people like espresso, some like French press, and these can change the compounds in the coffee and we were unable to study that."
Coffee abstainers, don't panic: Freedman indicates there's no need to hurry out for a Venti latte. "It's important that we look at these findings cautiously," he says. "The different compounds in coffee can have different effects on health for different people."
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.


text:
Flood Restoration Tips: What to Do After a Storm
For those who live in an area that could be affected by a storm, there is a risk of water damage to the home, especially if it is in a flood zone. Flood restoration can be overwhelming. The following is a guide to help homeowners through the process of cleaning up after a storm.
Make an Insurance Claim
One of the first things to do after safely returning home is to make a claim with the insurance company. They will want a general description of the damage to the property. The insurance company, depending on the level of destruction, should get back in touch within a few days.
Have an Insurance Adjuster Look at the Damage
After making a claim, make sure an adjuster visits the property to evaluate the issues. They will determine if the problems were caused by wind or water. This decision will greatly affect what the agency will cover. For example, if a homeowner does not have flood insurance as part of their policy and the problems were due to water invading the home, you may have to fight for your flood restoration damages to be covered. This is because the insurance company may try to say that the water in the home was a result of flooding rather than flood water.
Document All Damage
Before making any repairs, be sure to document all of the destruction that was done to the property. This includes the destruction of furniture, flooring, walls, ceilings, and so on. Also, if the water rose significantly, be sure to take note so things like the electrical system can be checked as well. Take photographs and video of any structural destruction as well as any contents that were affected.
Take Measures to Prevent Further Damage
Water damage can continue to cause problems as it sits. After making an insurance claim, it is important to make temporary repairs to the home to prevent additional issues. If the roof is compromised, cover the area with a tarp or some type of strong covering. Broken windows and doors should be covered with plywood. If it is too dangerous to make these temporary repairs, hire a service. Be sure to save the receipts for this work as to recoup the costs.
Keep the doors and undamaged windows open as often as possible to ventilate the air and allow the house to dry out. This is crucial in preventing mold growth.
Schedule Permanent Repairs
Once everything has been evaluated, the next step is to begin scheduling the repair work. If the area was heavily affected by a storm, it might be necessary to wait. Also, make sure to work with a reputable contractor. After a crisis like a storm, disingenuous contractors show up and try to take advantage of vulnerable storm victims. This often results in shoddy work that will need to be replaced.
Storm and flood restoration can be significant and overwhelming. Taking everything step-by-step will help ease the process. Be sure to keep in constant contact with the insurer and don't make any permanent repairs until all evaluations have been completed.
garden sheds
#Flood #Restoration #Tips #Storm
Will be pleased to have you visit my pages on social networking .
Facebook page here.
Twitter account is here.
Linkedin account here
Post byBedewy for info askme VISIT GAHZLY

subset: commoncrawl


text:
AT02 kids small inflatable bee tent
Item No.: AT02
Size: custom
- Description
- Inquiry
Product Description
different kinds of kids small inflatable bee tent can be customed according to your requirement . we take every details seriously to make the products more vividly for your advertisement.
Passed SGS, TUV, Intertek no lead and fire retarding certificates, safe design with high wall and protect net.
2.Good quality
Environmental and reinforced PVC material, double stitch and quadruple stitch our entire units
3.Excellent seal
Tests before delivery , and present repair kits bag for accident.
4.OEM and ODM
Professional engineer team can amend the drawing to meed your requirement
5.Best price
We are manufacture and have our own factory , calculate the price base on the cost accurately.
6.Fast delivery
keep closely following the production. and Our factory is about 30min to Huangpu port ,
6.Easy and quickly to blow up
7.Easy to setup and take down


text:
Louise Southerden finds Lizard Island an ideal base from which to explore the Great Barrier Reef's northern waters.
Flying north of Cairns, the reefs below look like jigsaw pieces scattered on a turquoise tablecloth. Or a map of another world, in miniature, made up of coral continents and lagoon oceans. There are islands, too, uninhabited and hemmed on their southern edges by breakers of lace generated by the prevailing winds.
It's a short drive from the gravel airstrip to Lizard Island Resort, where the other new guests and I check in while reclining on cushioned benches, sipping champagne and snacking on fruit, chocolate dipping sauce and smoked salmon rolls. It could be a dream (perhaps I've fallen asleep at my desk, mid-deadline) until a seagull swoops in, grabs one of my salmon rolls, devours it whole and wakes me up.
"Shoo!" says general manager Robyn Pontynen, who has just wandered over to welcome us. It's a quintessential Lizard Island moment, reminding us of the resort's main natural attraction: it's on an island that's a national park surrounded by a marine park on the Great Barrier Reef.
I'm staying in one of the Anchor Bay suites, which seem modest, they could be mistaken for semi-detached beach houses from the outside. Inside, they're all style, space and sea colours. Large glass doors open to a wide timber verandah and a day bed with cushions candy-striped in turquoises and deep-sea blues. Beyond is a sandy track to the beach. There are thoughtful touches, too: a jar of chef-baked biscuits, calming music, an aromatherapy oil burner and a nightly turn-down service that includes a cup of jasmine, lavender and rose-petal T2 tea.
Of course, being an island resort, there's a spa, a pool and excellent meals. But it's the great outdoors, and the numerous ways to enjoy it, that proves irresistible. There is twilight snorkeling, sunset cruises, night dives, star-gazing sessions and six motorised dinghies guests can use to explore the island's 24 beaches (gourmet picnic hampers to take with you are included in your room rate).
On my first morning, the sea is too rough to take a dinghy out, so I join a half-day snorkelling trip to Mermaid Cove and see giant clams, butterfly fish and blue sea stars draped over staghorn coral. Later, I see many of the same creatures on a low-tide reef walk as our guide leads us carefully through a maze of coral, keeping to the sandy bits - much as Captain James Cook did in his ship, the Endeavour, in 1770. It was Cook who named Lizard Island after the monitor lizards he saw when he brought Endeavour into one of the island's protected coves for repairs (it had struck a reef offshore).
The island's highest point now bears his name; on climbing Cook's Look, 359 metres above sea level, he saw an answer to the riddle of coral that had trapped his ship. It's a steep, 2½-hour walk to the summit, but there are less strenuous walks; it's a pleasant change to be on a tropical island you can't circumnavigate in five minutes.
Back at the resort, the guests I encounter seem supremely friendly and relaxed, perhaps because Lizard Island Resort is small (there are only 40 suites and villas), unpretentious (it's less luxury resort, more tranquil retreat) and relatively isolated, which makes you feel as if you are somewhere special.
The island's specialness isn't lost on its other occupant, either, Lizard Island Research Station, which offers tours twice a week for resort guests.
One of the world's leading coral reef research stations, it was set up in 1973 to provide a counterpoint to research being gathered at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef (at Heron Island Research Station, for instance). In those days, researchers stayed in tents, says Dr Lyle Vail, who shows me around. He and his wife, Dr Anne Hoggett, both marine biologists, have lived at the research station for more than 20 years - even raising their son here, who is also a marine biologist - first as researchers, now managing the 350 students and scientists who visit from around the world every year.
What makes the research station so highly regarded is the island's location: at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef, 27 kilometres from the mainland and 19 kilometres (less than an hour by boat) from the outer reefs on the edge of the continental shelf and world-famous dive and snorkelling spots such as the Cod Hole.
To make it even more inviting, the research station's state-of-the-art facilities were upgraded with the completion of a seven-year, $4.75 million refurbishment last year.
A new solar array has already reduced CO2 emissions from power generation by about 65 per cent - which is apt, given that the research station exists to study coral reefs, which are increasingly being degraded by ocean acidification and a steadily warming ocean caused by rising levels of atmospheric CO2.
With the Australian Museum estimating that 10 per cent of the world's reef systems are damaged beyond repair and another 70 per cent are threatened, Lizard Island looks like being a special place for a long time - both in providing data to inform decisions about how our oceans are managed, and as a place to enjoy the increasingly rare wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.
Getting there Lizard Island is 240 kilometres north of Cairns and 27 kilometres off the coast of Queensland. Virgin Australia and Qantas fly daily to Cairns. Hinterland Aviation flies from Cairns to Lizard Island (1hr); return flights cost $590 and can be arranged by Lizard Island Resort. Phone 1300 863 248, see lizardisland.com.au.
Staying there Lizard Island Resort has rooms and suites from $1444 a night, including all meals, wine, cocktails and gourmet picnic hampers. There's a "stay for five, pay for four nights" special for stays until March 31.
More information queenslandholidays.com.au; australianmuseum.net.au/Lizard-Island-Research-Station.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.


text:
Dog Poet Transmitting.......
May your noses always be cold and wet.
This is a very important situation and something Mr. Apocalypse is concerning himself with, as a high priority matter. From this we can see how very obvious it is that a world wide Satanic network has taken control of the governments and religions of the world ...in the larger sense. I am not saying this is total by any means but it is wide spread to say the least. We note the connection that is made between the Dutroux affair in Belgium and the conditions in the Netherlands. It seems clear that demonic mentalities are sacrificing young people in horrible rituals. We know so little ...but we suspect a great deal. How bad is it really? It must be pretty bad and most likely even worse than we think.
Since I first read this article yesterday, it has come to mind repeatedly. It is terrifying to see how deep it runs and how high (low down) it goes. Now it is the most natural thing in the world for me to suspect just about every world leader I hear about, as being engaged in this kind of thing, at least as far as western powers go. I think of Hilarious Clinton, Leon Panneta, the military high command and these compromised and corrupt heads of the various law enforcement bureaus. I think about the overpowering ambitions that drive them and how greatly they are advantaged by entry into the Satanic Schematic. Surely they are courted by peers and superiors. Surely they weigh their options and surely with facile and convoluted consciousnesses, they easily find a way to justify all sorts of things to themselves. Its a Faustian construct and it's been a signal propensity of those in power, to be indifferent to, or unconscious of, the cost of their shit for brains decision, made to advance their interests, in total defiance of their best interests. The long term resolution of their best interests, suggests they should have never gotten into that game in the first place.
I look at the policies and actions of these well educated and intelligent men and women and I find very little that indicates intelligence or useful education. To me it makes no sense whatsoever, to be in these positions and to behave as they do. It's a given, if you serve the dark side in Kali Yuga, then your material interests will be advanced. It's simple physics. We don't even have to call it metaphysics. If you magnetize to the onyx lodestone, the attractive resonance is active in the external theater. The goodie cabinet is unlocked and you can wine and dine your ass, all the way to the front porch of Armageddon Acres.
There are a few basic tenets to Satanism. One is that sort of traveling motto, "Me first, you later, maybe, baby". The idea is that you are like one of the large predators of the veldt, a lion or a leopard perhaps. You kill what you want, when you want and you take your fill and then maybe the carrion feeders step in, according to an established pecking order. One of the main tenets has to do with the despoiling of innocence. In a similarity to wearing upside down crosses, displaying an upside down pentagram, or reciting The Lord's Prayer backwards, it is considered an imperative to engage in all practices that offend Heaven. This creates a reversed polarity that attunes you to the infernal powers. As you engage in ever greater perversity, in the toxic atmosphere of your developing contempt for all things spiritual, you advance in the ranks. Those who rises to the highest position in this order, are not necessarily those of the highest ranks in the temporal order. It's all about ability and the head of the order could be only a shopkeeper or a TV announcer, as might be the case with Jumping Jimmy Savile, 'you go run girl'!
Once you are securely in the embrace of this process; digressing to example a little irony- The Process Church of the Final Judgment. Once you are fully in the embrace of this process, you are compelled to do the bidding of your superiors, or else some very unpleasant things might just happen to you; will happen to you.
Quite often people get into this sort of thing as a thrill; something kinky and novel. Other time people are attracted to it through extremity and appetite. You might be in some kind of deep shit and since you are not getting any help from the divine side of the equation, or haven't even bothered to ask, you go to the other side of the fence. It may be that you have an overpowering desire for certain things and you can sit down and eat your fill or order takeout. Those who recruit new meat can be very convincing in their arguments, handing out some version of, "better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven". You're given the idea that The Devil takes care of his own. Proof is given to you in the lives of other members, who are examples of someone getting away with all kinds of things, for a long period of time. New aspirants will be familiar with the names and positions of members who have been around for awhile. It all looks good on the surface.
As I have pointed out- and which you don't hear anywhere else- The Devil works for God. He is an employee. The reason I mention that you don't hear it anywhere else, is not to seek to attribute any unique singularity to myself but to say that you don't have to believe me. Maybe I'm wrong (I'm not). Maybe I'm wrong, you be the judge ...until the real one comes along. The Devil's job is to suck you into things, give you ideas you might not have had on your own, set up convenient situations and then snare you into an ongoing journey into your own dark id. Meanwhile he gathers evidence against you. He is the repository for the remembrance of all that you do. Then comes the final denouement, when The Devil puts on his prosecutors outfit and walks into the courtroom; "but, but... you promised". "I did but I am a liar. Am I not called The Father of Lies"? Then transforming into an angel of light at the given moment.
To me, this kind of dumbass tradeoff, exchanging the priceless for the worthless; getting yourself a big bowl of worthless pottage, is the kind of thing that might be attractive to a hood ornament but certainly not to anyone with any real intelligence or insight. It's both tragic and amusing how people who think themselves so hip and aware can get themselves into such a world of hurt, never seeing the simple and logical outcome of this kind of thing. Another thing that mystifies me is how they can slavishly support the Synagogue of Satan, to the detriment of their own country and other members of their national and cultural demographic and do it in public with the whole world watching. This treasonous, 'I'm your bitch' behavior is a monstrous thing, in the service of monsters and the world is waking up. All things hidden are about to become known and all of these traitors are to be marked by their words and deeds. When the public sees to what an extent they have been manipulated and abused, there will be Hell to pay.
This is the thing about giving up your independence of thought and the loss of your moral compass in the pursuit of material gain and a temporary position above your fellows You get the idea that it will never end but it has never been anything but for the purpose of demonstration; to show what happens when you carry on in this manner. In former times, whatever judgment attended these follies, often took place out of sight. That will no longer be the case where and when everything is uncovered and seen. I know this may not be apparent to a great many people, whose eyes are occupied with the glittering garbage in the landfill of a doomed culture. You can see it all falling apart. All you need is a little hindsight, by which to make comparisons ...but this gets in the way of what you hope to get out of the whole affair, as you get carrot and sticked down the highway, wishing in one hand and shitting in the other.
It is so clearly the way it is. It is so obvious but, for some reason, it doesn't get through, or it hasn't gotten through until now. Now it is starting to get through and all the suppressed rage and reaction is beginning to boil. It won't be long now. Time remains to change and get with the program. The difference in potential destinies is extreme. There's going to be a lot of regret and recrimination one of these days real soon. I surely do hope the greatest possible number of people catch on before it's too late.
End Transmission.......
The Little Guy Auditions for Hollywood
Visible sings: ♫ Smoke and Mirrors ♫
'Smoke and Mirrors' is track no. 9 of 10 on Visible's 2006 album 'Songwriter'
Lyrics (pops up)
This week's radio broadcast is now up for streaming.


text:
Just like people, companies in today's economy find that their primary source of competitive advantage increasingly lies in the unique proprietary knowledge they possess. Companies and individuals may have equal talent and access to public knowledge, but the special value that comes with unique understanding provides a real edge. The bond trader who is the first to understand an opportunity to arbitrage securities across two different markets can earn extraordinary returns until other traders figure out the secret. A company thoroughly familiar with how to compete in a particular geographic market—China, say—has huge advantages over competitors lacking that familiarity.
Put simply, there is great value in sharing, across a whole company, proprietary insights into customers, competitors, products, production techniques, emerging research, and the like. In practice, of course, companies find it far more difficult than do individuals to take advantage of all this knowledge. An individual's knowledge is self-contained, always available. But in companies—including small ones—it can be hard to exploit the valuable knowledge in the heads of even a few hundred employees, particularly if they are scattered in different locations. In a large, diverse company, the task expands to cover thousands of highly educated professionals and managers spread across a variety of specialties, locations, even countries. But difficult as it may be to profit from this diffused knowledge, the power that such large-scale interaction yields can dwarf what individuals or small teams, however brilliant or effective, can accomplish.
Misguided management
Many companies have long been reasonably proficient at distributing knowledge by using technology no more advanced than the telephone and the fax machine. In the past decade, as advances in communications, software, and computers opened entirely new possibilities for sharing knowledge rapidly and efficiently, many leading companies, academics, and management consultants came to believe that the future belonged to large companies that could manage knowledge. The promise of bringing all of a company's proprietary knowledge to bear on every problem or issue it faces led executives to invest billions of dollars in what came to be called knowledge management.
Of course there was progress. But if the goal was to use a company's best proprietary knowledge to solve every problem it faced, knowledge management, as generally applied, has barely begun to fill the bill. Most companies have tried one of three approaches to managing knowledge, with mixed success. Indeed, many companies have tried all three.
1. Build it—they will use it
Some companies have relied exclusively on big investments in document-management systems, shared servers, and other technology solutions, believing this approach to be enough to let employees unlock knowledge. The result, simply, brings inefficiency. The sheer volume of documents at large companies today is overwhelming, and many such documents are out of date, poorly written, or otherwise difficult to parse. Even a diligent search by a determined knowledge seeker is likely to produce only a few valuable, easy-to-access insights.
2. Take it from the top
Companies with large corporate staffs try to push knowledge to users, often via internal Web sites. The effort can be worthwhile when the idea is, for example, to distribute top-down messages about best-practice approaches or new product features. Still, the limitations of any central-planning approach apply. Do the people writing the documents know what knowledge seekers really want, or are they guessing? Are the content producers the real experts? Do most corporate staffs even know who the experts are? The typical result: knowledge pushed out in this way is not very valuable to most frontline employees and certainly not to those with the best skills and knowledge.
3. Let a thousand Web sites bloom
A third approach has been somewhat more successful, particularly for those companies that accept decentralized technology spending. It is to let organizational units solve their own knowledge problems. What large company doesn't have pockets of a few hundred people with common interests—such as employees working in a particular product group or on a common design problem or sales professionals serving the same industry? The knowledge creators and seekers in these units usually know one another and exchange ideas easily. The units in turn use whatever technology solutions they favor in order to develop small, specialized approaches to managing knowledge. Authors earn peer recognition, motivating them to produce and share more content. Usually, a senior person in the group cares enough about the exchange to invest in the technology and staff needed to build an effective, high-quality internal Web site or portal that gives knowledge seekers easy access.
This decentralized approach works because it facilitates exchange among small groups of workers with common interests. Still, as a solution to the exchange of knowledge across a broad organization, it often produces mixed results. For every example of a small organizational unit with terrific success in sharing specialized knowledge among a narrow group of people, there are usually large numbers of outright, and often expensive, failures. The obvious flaw is that the proliferating approaches and technological tools have few common protocols or standards and typically remain useful only to small groups of workers interested in very specialized topics. For most companies, this approach will provide just a fraction of the potential benefits of exchanging knowledge on a company-wide scale.
A market problem
The truth is that the real value comes less from managing knowledge and more—a lot more—from creating and exchanging it. And the key to achieving this goal is understanding that a company's really valuable knowledge resides largely in the heads of the most talented employees. Moreover, they will be unlikely to exchange their knowledge without a fair return for the time and energy they expend in putting it into a form in which it can be exchanged. Then it must also be worth the price of seeking it.
In short, effectively exchanging knowledge on a company-wide basis is much less a technological problem than an organizational one: encouraging people who do not know each other to work together for their mutual self-interest. There is, of course, a well-known, well-tested solution to making it possible to exchange items of value among parties who don't know each other. We call it a market.
Large public markets for knowledge have long existed, of course, through books and articles and through public services such as libraries. More recently, companies such as Amazon.com, America Online, and Yahoo! have served as external markets for public knowledge. But there are no equivalent internal markets for the valuable proprietary knowledge lodged within a company's own frontline employees.
So how does a company create effective internal markets when the product is something as intangible as the valuable knowledge gained from experience and personal thinking? Working markets need, among other things, valuable objects for trading, prices, exchange mechanisms, and competition among suppliers. Often, there are also standards, protocols and regulations, and market facilitators to make markets work better.
A valuable object to trade
Markets will form only around items valuable enough to justify the time and effort of buyers and sellers. Common knowledge, by definition, hardly needs trading. The opportunity lies in trading distinctive knowledge (see sidebar, "Knowledge or information?").
From a buyer's perspective, the knowledge to be acquired from the market must be more insightful and relevant—as well as easier to find, gain access to, and assimilate—than alternative sources. Usually, knowledge available through most internal knowledge-management systems fails this test.
The trick is motivating authors to produce content that meets this standard. Almost all content produced by most companies—whether short internal memos or documents packed with charts—needs to be backed up with oral discussion. Companies must give the reader, who has no opportunity to talk with the expert, more insightful, more relevant, more accessible knowledge. The answer is a new internal equivalent of a signed article, in which the author is motivated to produce a high-quality document that is easily accessible to any user. Once knowledge is in this form, it can be traded in the market. This "knowledge object" allows a "buyer" of knowledge to understand an author's thinking without the parties having to talk to each other. The bad news for most companies is that documents generally fail to meet this standard.
Pricing knowledge
Defining the item being traded creates the conditions for pricing the exchange. Authors, who are the suppliers to the market, need something that justifies their "costs", or effort, in return for creating the knowledge object. In internal knowledge markets, the price that authors receive is usually the enhancement of their own personal, internal reputation. Providing knowledge that catches the eye of peers and superiors and helps the author build a reputation can provide plenty of incentive. Buyers—those who seek knowledge—will have the motivation to go to the market if they believe that they will find valuable knowledge at a price, in time and effort, that is lower than, say, making numerous phone calls to locate an expert.
An exchange mechanism
The company's role now is to provide an exchange mechanism so that authors and knowledge seekers come to the market out of mutual self-interest. Meeting this goal requires investments in a technology infrastructure and in the staff to maintain it, in order to make the exchange possible.
An internal knowledge market has special characteristics. For starters, the company is the ultimate beneficiary of the effort to form and maintain a knowledge marketplace. Therefore the company, rather than the knowledge-seeking buyer, is responsible for rewarding authors to ensure that they are motivated to produce valuable knowledge objects.
Ensuring that authors are paid appropriately for their knowledge is often the hardest part of this equation. Internal knowledge can provide an employee with a performance advantage over his or her peers. But once that knowledge is codified, others can assimilate it, thereby negating the author's advantage. The trick, therefore, is to provide incentives so that individuals who contribute their distinctive, valuable knowledge enjoy greater internal recognition and success than they would have experienced if they had kept their knowledge to themselves. Thus, the company must create a culture in which smart people are expected to contribute valuable codified knowledge. Part of this culture is a reward structure—recognition, pay, and promotion—in which distinctive performers who contribute knowledge earn more than their noncontributing peers.
This requirement also means that companies must protect individual intellectual-property rights. Those who develop knowledge—not the people they report to or those who borrow the knowledge to make presentations—must be identified and credited as the authors. This provision is important not just for equity's sake but also to provide incentives for the best thinkers, whatever their seniority or position, to produce further high-value content in the future. There is nothing more demotivating to young people seeking recognition than for some senior figure to take credit for their thinking.
Keeping up competition
Inside companies, dialogue is the preferred method for exchanging valuable proprietary knowledge. If knowledge seekers find a willing expert, they can quickly pinpoint and acquire the knowledge they need. Whether meeting with them one-on-one or in a group, the knowledge provider usually has a sense that payment will come in the form of appropriate recognition from peers and superiors.
So why can't companies rely just on dialogue? Often the expert doesn't think through the problem rigorously or convert knowledge into a form that sufficiently helps the knowledge seeker. An even larger problem is that knowledge seekers may not know how to find the right person. But the biggest problem with relying solely on dialogue is that it takes time, particularly on the part of the person with the knowledge. If topics generate great interest, experts in a large company simply don't have the time to both do their jobs and talk to everyone interested in discussions about knowledge. By producing a knowledge object available to everyone, however, an expert is freed from that time burden. A knowledge object can at least provide a basic grounding before higher-level discussions take place.
Dialogue will always be a primary source of the knowledge exchanged in companies. But the promise of the knowledge marketplace lies in its potential to increase vastly the reach of distinctive knowledge, to the benefit of the entire company rather than just a few individuals. Since knowledge buyers can get what they need from several sources, however, a knowledge marketplace will work only if it can deliver a satisfying product. This requirement in turn means keeping authors motivated to produce high-quality content. In practice, that stimulus will take the form of competition among authors for recognition.
All markets, including knowledge markets, thrive on competition. As with any kind of intellectual property, knowledge objects compete for attention at the level of quality and popularity. Experience shows that companies providing recognition for those who produce the highest-quality knowledge objects (as judged by experts and senior management) or the most popular ones (as measured by download volume) ensure that internal authors will be motivated to compete with each other on both dimensions.
A set of standards
The market's transaction costs—the time and effort involved in creating and seeking knowledge—must be bearable. For internal knowledge markets to pass this test, companies need to develop standards, protocols, and regulations to lower costs that act as a deterrent to both buyers and sellers. Standards can include everything from the templates used to define the content that goes into a knowledge object to the taxonomy used to define how documents are categorized so that a search process will turn up relevant content. Protocols include everything from rules determining which kinds of knowledge will be traded in the marketplace to what kind of document qualifies as a knowledge object that can be traded there. Regulations include whatever internal compliance mechanisms are put in place to reinforce these standards and protocols.
Market facilitators
To date, the bulk of corporate investment in knowledge management has gone into providing the staff to build and maintain the technology platform. But that is not enough. In a true knowledge market, people are needed to apply standards and protocols and to exercise judgment in enforcing the regulations. These people become marketplace insiders, like brokers and specialists in a stock exchange, who facilitate the market's operation through familiarity with its mechanics. They don't have to constitute a large bureaucracy; no more than two dozen facilitators are needed to run and regulate an internal knowledge market at, say, a large investment bank. The alternative—relying upon authors and knowledge seekers to follow protocols and standards and to regulate themselves—simply does not work: they lack the familiarity, the interest, or the time.
One group of market facilitators comprises the knowledge-service employees at the center of the marketplace. They can, for example, ensure that each document traded there has an attached tag to provide the information enabling the search process to be effective, as well as enough context to let readers preview a document before they download or read it. It is also helpful to have editors who, through a little dialogue with authors, are efficient at adding text to a set of exhibits in order to convert them into a knowledge object of sufficient quality.
Another group of market facilitators consists of "knowledge-domain owners." In a large company, there can be hundreds of these domains, each representing different subsets of users with common knowledge interests. These are the kinds of decentralized units whose efforts to serve their common interests have produced the limited successes in knowledge sharing discussed earlier. Defining knowledge domains is a way of trying to replicate the conditions that have led to these decentralized successes but through an approach that utilizes the common standards and protocols of a company-wide marketplace. The "owner" of a knowledge domain is usually a senior executive who might make specific workers from the unit responsible for content listed in the knowledge market. They determine what meets the standard as a knowledge object or what if upgraded could meet the standard. They are also responsible for stimulating the creation and codification of new content by experts who have an interest in that knowledge arena. And they usually maintain and remove obsolete content and identify any knowledge gaps that need filling.
Knowledge markets at work
The idea of rigorously applying market principles to knowledge-management activities is relatively new. As a result, there are few examples of companies that have fully adopted the concept. Among those that have, however, the potential appears to be great.
Consider the case of J. M. Huber, a large privately owned US company with three diversified business sectors. In 1995, its top management introduced an "after-action review process" to capture the lessons learned from projects and events and thus to improve its future performance. Lessons may be specific to a particular business sector when they pertain to areas such as manufacturing processes and procedures. Other lessons—for instance, those pertaining to strategy, safety, or marketing—may be useful across all three business sectors. Members of project teams conduct postproject meetings to answer three basic questions: What happened? Why did it happen? What can we do about it? At the end of the meeting, the team emerges with an action plan and a list of lessons learned to improve future performance. These findings are submitted to a common electronic-document library accessible to all employees through a portal.
Today the process has become part of Huber's culture, and the database contains more than 8,000 reports. Why? Because managers can reach knowledge seekers interested in the same subjects while simultaneously building a reputation with colleagues in other divisions and with top management. Once the market formed, the self-interest of the knowledge creators and knowledge seekers took over. Huber's management says that this exchange of knowledge was instrumental in improving company performance.
There is another type of situation that illustrates the appeal of knowledge markets for groups of high-talent professionals whose work is almost completely knowledge based. This type of situation can be found, for example, in the R&D units of pharmaceutical companies, in the exploration and production units of petroleum companies, in investment banks, and in professional-services organizations such as law and accounting firms.
One such firm had long used a system to share knowledge among its professional staff. As the firm undertook a rigorous effort to apply market principles to this system, content was improved and old material culled, knowledge-domain owners were named, market facilitators were introduced, and the technology platform was upgraded. Signs of productivity gains began appearing almost immediately. Within a few months, the average number of monthly downloads of documents per professional more than doubled, from three to seven. The average number of searches per document downloaded, however, dropped from 5 to 1.2, meaning that users were now finding what they wanted with nearly every search.
A large potential
Anecdotal as this account of some of these early efforts may be, the potential for knowledge sharing and productivity gains is plainly there. Some 48 million of the 137 million workers in the United States alone can be classified as knowledge workers; a single company can employ 100,000 or more. Even small companies employing no more than a few hundred knowledge workers have the potential to create company-wide markets to facilitate the creation and exchange of knowledge. Logically, though, the largest opportunities would appear to reside in the largest, most diverse, most geographically far-flung companies that employ significant numbers of professionals who are unlikely ever to meet—let alone to exchange relevant knowledge.
That said, the challenge of creating an effective company-wide knowledge market is daunting. It may take $20 million to $30 million in annual incremental spending to launch an initial-prototype knowledge market in a large company. Most of this sum would go to creating the knowledge-services staff whose members would act as market facilitators. The cost-benefit analysis for this kind of expense would face the same subjective measurement problems that executives have with efforts to assess the impact of IT expenditures. But with US companies spending trillions of dollars annually on the salaries of knowledge workers, not to mention the technology that supports them, anything that would boost their productivity by even 1 percent would justify the investment.
In practical terms, taking the first steps toward building a knowledge market requires the formation of an initial company-wide market in at least one knowledge arena. It could be strategic knowledge about the behavior of competitors, for example, or proprietary functional knowledge concerning marketing or human-resources issues.
Next comes establishing a library that has at least some high-quality knowledge objects. Without that minimum, users will not find it worth their time to go to the knowledge marketplace to search for content. The value of a knowledge marketplace depends primarily on the quantity and quality of the content available to attract demand. Who makes use of a library with only ten poorly written books on the shelf? However, experience indicates that even as few as 750 to 1,000 high-quality documents can attract enough demand to start an effective marketplace. Usually, getting one started will involve a systemic effort to find and upgrade the best existing content in the knowledge arena, plus an effort to supply fresh content that meets the quality standard and shows the potential of scaling up. This endeavor requires top management—through visible recognition, a mandate, or both—to motivate employees with distinctive knowledge and the best communications skills to produce highly valuable showcase content voluntarily. Happily, once a vibrant knowledge market is created, it takes on a life of its own even if it starts small.
The proprietary knowledge that resides in the minds of a company's top professionals is a source of competitive advantage. An effective, efficient, company-wide knowledge market can deliver this power in ways that past efforts at knowledge management have failed to do. By creating a market mechanism for knowledge and a culture that encourages employees to share valuable knowledge with peers, companies can aggregate internal supply and demand from the many small, subscale knowledge-management systems that already exist within them.


text:
This forum is for Islamic Media only. You can access Islamic media files here.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
A Death Without a Body
December 16th, 2019
If you're currently married or you were ever married, I've got news for you: your marriage is insane. I hate to be the one to tell you, but there it is. People you know, people you love, will take stock of your relationship and life choices and say, "They're cuckoo banana-pants. No doubt about it." Luckily, you aren't alone. Everybody's marriage is insane—yes, including mine. From the outside, they're nearly impossible to understand. From the inside? Well, it ain't much easier. Some days you can feel an almost religious degree of closeness to your partner, while during others... Read More


text:
Home » Of Interest » DECODER DVD
I can't recommend it, but we have some because it's historically significant and I know a few of you will be interested. Cult German narrative film from 1984 based on writings by William Burroughs (a kind of non-fun paranoid '80s version of the blaxploitative Space is the Place). Bill himself appears, along with FM Einheit, Christiane F, Genesis P Orridge and Bill Rice. The plot concerns sound experiments, tape- terrorism, multinational companies and street fighting. With English subtitles. Plus: trailer, 46 minute interview with director Klaus Maek, footage of Derk Jarman filming Burroughs, Berlin riot footage (why not?). Music by Soft Cell, The The, Einstuurtzende Neubauten, Dave Ball and Genesis P.
Code: decoderDVD
Price: £17.00


text:
Made for the consummate art lover. Reflect your artistic side with this
beautiful framed print for the perfect solution to that blank wall. Weave it
into a complementary palette or hang it in a clever space for a bold statement
that is uniquely you.
* Beautifully Handcrafted and Ready-To-Hang – digitally printed on 250g/m2 premium paper for gallery standard quality and durability.
* Premium Build – classic elegant European designed frame. The frame includes hanging hardware for easy assembly and hanging.
* Specialized Giclee Printing – our digital fine art printing is produced using anti-fade inks on professional-grade wide format printers for the highest quality in printmaking since 2011.
* 100% Assembled in the USA – for best-in-class production.


text:
Leona Lewis was Walking On Sunshine at the premiere of her debut film.
The former X Factor winner appears in musical film Walking On Sunshine, about a woman getting married in Italy who realises her whirlwind romance is with her sister's former holiday fling.
Leona said: \"Because I'd been to theatre school when I was young, I'd done a bit of acting before, so I wanted to do something like this - specifically I did really want to do a musical and then this came along and it was perfect.\"
The Bleeding Love singer, who wore a glittering black gown and white blazer, said she would love to act again.
\"If an opportunity arises from it and it's the right kind of thing, why not? I'd love to do a musical again because this was so much fun and maybe I'll do something more serious too,\" she said.
The film also stars Greg Wise, Hannah Arterton, Annabel Scholey, Giulio Berruti and Katy Brand, who were all on the red carpet at the Vue cinema in London's Leicester Square.
Greg, who arrived with wife Emma Thompson and their daughter, wore a kilt which he said had been his wedding outfit, and danced along the carpet.
He said: \"I can't actually dance, you saw as I walked in what little dancing I could actually do.\"
The actor added: \"Emma hasn't seen the film yet. My daughter's never seen anything I've been in ever.\"
Hannah said of working with Leona: \"I was starstruck for quite a long time, it took me a couple of days to pluck up the courage to relax around her. She's such an icon.
\"I do most of the lead vocal on this film so I was, 'oh my God it's Leona, how is that going to work?'.\"
Walking On Sunshine is released in cinemas on June 27.


text:
How does a hotel become the most photographed in the world? Many hotels have spectacular architecture, magnificent and dramatic settings... but very few hotel silhouettes define the destination.
Fairmont's Chateau Frontenac is to Quebec City what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. The hotel not only evokes the grace and elegance of the French castles that inspired it. It is literally the high point of this historic, 400 year old city's UNESCO world heritage site. Although it appears to rise from the French Middle Ages, in fact, it dates from the late 19th century, and in 2018 celebrates 125 years of being a can't miss experience of a trip to Quebec City.
Join BestTrip.TV's exploration of the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac's historic character and anniversary multi-million dollar makeover.
Start your Trip!
Copyright BestTrip.TV/Influence Entertainment Group Inc or Rights Holder. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share this material from this page, but it may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Kill It Kid
Feet Fall Heavy
One Little Indian
Bath-based quintet Kill It Kid is many things, but first of all, they're loud. Perhaps since critical response to their eponymous first album pigeon-holed the band in with folk and acoustic neo-rock, the second album does well to break free from these labels.
It's difficult to listen to this record without images of the Black Keys and Beth Ditto in the days before Skins springing to mind. However, unlike other bands that have drawn on similar influences, Kill It Kid has an incredibly distinctive and refreshing sound. Powerful opener You're In My Blood and assault-on-the-ears Pray on Me are offset by lighter ballad Home and the slower-paced Wild and Wasted Waters, but what sets this band apart are the haunting lead vocals. Chris Turpin and Stephanie Ward could be singing anything and you'd still press repeat.
Recorded in 10 short days with 1950s American catalogue guitars, broken 10 watt amplifiers, and a brave use of Alan Lomax field recordings, Kill It Kid's latest offering is a loud, enticing and atmospheric listen. www.killitkid.com
Bethany Rex


text:
No products
To be determined
Check out
Product successfully added to your shopping cart
There are
items in your cart.
There is 1 item in your cart.
Total products
Total shipping
To be determined
Continue shopping
Proceed to checkout
Sign in
Email address
Sign in
Create an account
Facebook Login
Google Login
Terms and conditions of use
Conditions of Use
1. User agreement
By visiting and/or using the true-blue.com.au website, associated services and functionality ("the website") you agree to be bound by this user agreement ("agreement").
This agreement is formed between you and DPAM Operations Pty Ltd (ABN 49 448 911 620) T/A True Blue Underwater Hockey Supplies ("us", "our", "we"). "you", "user", "member" and "visitor" means anyone who visits this website.
If you do not agree to any provisions of this agreement, you must not use the website.
We reserve the right to make changes to this agreement from time to time at our sole discretion. By continuing to use the website, you agree to be bound by the changes. We are not obliged to notify you of any changes but we will endeavour to alert you to any significant changes. Nevertheless, you should check our published agreement and policies from time to time to acquaint yourself with the current version.
2. Registration
In order to make purchases and access some features of the website, you will need to be a registered member.
You may not use another member's account without permission.
When registering to become a member and activate an account, you must provide personal information such as your name and address, and a valid email address. You agree to provide accurate and complete information and to keep this information current.
We recommend not using your real name as your username.
You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you must keep your account password secure.
If you suspect or become aware of any unauthorised use of your account or that your password is no longer secure, you agree to notify us immediately.
3. Legal Capacity
By making an on-line purchase you accept these terms and conditions and acknowledge that you:
are over eighteen (18) years of age, and/or
are entering into a legal contract with us.
Should we suffer any loss or damage, as a result of a transaction entered into by a minor, we reserve the right to take legal action and seek compensation for such losses from the parents or guardians of the minor who caused the order to be placed.
Supply of services to You / Termination
We aim to provide a positive experience for all users and members. Accordingly, we reserve the right to change (ie alter, remove or add functionality) the website at any time. We do not guarantee that you will be able to access the website in the same way or with the same equipment or software you used prior to the change.
We may stop (temporarily or permanently) providing access to the website to you, or to visitors or members generally, at our discretion and without prior notice to you.
We may in our sole discretion terminate your account or restrict your access to the website. If we do this, you may be prevented from accessing all or parts of the website, your account details or other content contained in your account. We will not be liable to you or any third party for doing so.
We will provide services with due care and skill but we do not warrant that our services will be provided without fault or disruption. To the extent allowed by law, we exclude all liability to you or anyone else for loss or damage of any kind (however caused or arising) relating in any way to the website including, but not limited to, loss or damage you might suffer as a result of:
errors, mistakes or inaccuracies on the website;
you acting, or failing to act, on any information contained on or referred to on the website and/or any linked website;
personal injury or property damage of any nature resulting from your access to, and use of, the website;
any unauthorised access to or use of our secure servers and/or personal information and/or financial information stored on those servers;
any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from our website;
any bugs, viruses, Trojan horses or other harmful code or communications which may be transmitted to or through our website by any third party; and/or
the merchantability or fitness for any purpose of any product or service of any linked sites.
We do not warrant, endorse, guarantee or assume responsibility for any product or service advertised or offered by a third party through the website or any linked website or featured in any banner or other advertising. We will not be a party to or in any way responsible for monitoring any transaction between you and third party providers of products and services.
We do not take responsibility for direct or indirect damages, or consequential losses suffered by use of fraudulent or unauthorised web address. The only authorised access point is http://www.true-blue.com.au with no characters before or after "www.true-blue.com.au".
Where any law implies a warranty into this agreement which may not be lawfully excluded then to the extent allowed by law, our liability for breach of the warranty will at our option be limited to:
in the case of goods: the replacement of the goods or the supply of equivalent goods;
the repair of the goods;
the payment of the cost of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent goods; or
the payment of the cost of having the goods repaired; and in the case of services:
the resupply of our services, or
the payment of the cost of resupply of our services.
Use of services by you
You agree to use the website only for purposes that are permitted by:
this agreement;
any applicable law or regulation; and/or
generally accepted practice or guidelines.
You agree not to access (or attempt to access) any part of the Website by any means other than through the interface provided by us.
You agree that you will not engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the website or the servers and networks that host the website.
You agree not to, or attempt to, circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the website or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on the use of the website or the content therein.
You agree not to use, copy, distribute or commercialise content except as permitted by this agreement, by law or with our prior written consent.
You understand and agree that any suspected fraudulent, abusive or illegal activity may be referred to appropriate law enforcement authorities.
Information on this Website
Information about products (ie goods and services) on the website is based on material provided by suppliers and product manufacturers.
You understand and agree that we cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies or errors caused by incorrect information supplied to us or by manufacturers or suppliers changing product specifications without notice to us.
You agree to make your own enquiries to verify information provided and to assess the suitability of products before you purchase.
Products displayed on the website do not constitute an offer to sell. It is an invitation to treat only.
Orders placed by you are offers to purchase particular product under the terms and conditions in this agreement at the price specified (including delivery and other charges).
We reserve the right to accept or reject your offer for any reason (or no reason) including, but not limited to, the unavailability of any product, an error in the price or product description, or an error in your order. In the event that we cancel your order, we will provide a full refund of any payment received.
You may cancel your order only if we have not started processing it. A cancellation and re-stocking fee of 20% or $25 (whichever is lower) applies. Please contact us through the help centre.
The prices of products, delivery and other charges shown are in Australian dollars and include GST where applicable.
Prices are current at time of display but are subject to change.
.All payments must be received in full prior to dispatch. Please read the Payment section of the website for payment options.
If your payment is not received or declined by your bank or credit card issuer, we cannot hold product against your order.
Supply of product
Subject to this agreement, we will supply to you the products shown on your order confirmation.
You understand that we will use our best endeavours to meet stated timeframes for dispatch and delivery, however many factors can affect these timeframes and we cannot guarantee that they will always be met.
Please read the Delivery section of the website for delivery options and details.
We do allow personal pick up Victoria only.
Risk and Title
We retain ownership of goods until payment is received in full.
Risk in goods, such as loss or damage, passes to you upon delivery.
Change of mind returns / Store credit
Your satisfaction is our number one priority however, please choose carefully as we do not refund or exchange simply because you changed your mind or the product was not what you expected.
However, if you wish to return products in their original packaging and in saleable condition we will provide you with a store credit for the purchase price less delivery fee. A restocking fee of 20% or $25 (whichever is lower) will apply.
Please contact us via the FAQ to obtain a Return Authorisation Number as no returns can be accepted without one.
We will provide you with a store credit only when we receive the returned product. Return postage is at your expense.
Store credits must be used within 12 months of issue. Store credits may only be used to purchase from true-blue.com.au and are not redeemable for cash.
Statutory Conditions and Warranty / Refunds
the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CTH) implies into all consumer contracts certain statutory conditions and warranties which cannot be excluded, restricted or modified. These are in addition to any voluntary warranties offered by the manufacturer. Under the statutory warranty:
We will refund, repair or replace if the product you receive - doesn't match the sample or description, doesn't do what it is supposed to do or is not of merchantable quality eg. defective or dead-on-arrival (DOA).
Where a refund, repair or replacement is approved under the terms of this warranty, we will pay for, or reimburse you for, any shipping costs to return the original product to us.
Warranty applies to the original product. Replacement product has the same warranty as the original. You must retain your proof of purchase for any manufacturer warranty claims.
We reserve the right to charge you, at our current hourly rate, for the cost of examining the good if our examination reveals that there has not been a breach of statutory conditions or warranties ie. the good is not DOA, not defective or faulty, or if it does match the sample or description.
Refunds will be issued by direct deposit, cheque or PayPal at our discretion.
In order to obtain these remedies:You must notify us within a reasonable time after you become aware that you wish to make a claim for a breach of condition or warranty in clause 15; generally within 14 days after you have received the product. Please contact us via the contact us page. Once contacted we will advise you of the best way to return any products. We may not accept products returned without a Return Authorisation Number.
In some circumstances, we may refund, replace or repair goods that you find have a defect or fault when you have owned or used it for some time but displays a manufacturing defect or fault within a reasonable time during which it should not have developed that defect or fault. Please contact us via the help centre.
A "reasonable time" is the amount of time that is reasonable to expect, given the cost and quality of the item.
Incorrect or defective goods must be returned to us in the condition received with all original packaging.
Replacement of good or refund and reimbursement of freight costs will not be made until the original good is received by us and your claim verified.
We aim to process refunds and replacements within 28 days of receipt by us of the original product.
We do not refund, repair or replace where in our reasonable opinion the product becomes unmerchantable due to fair wear and tear, misuse, failure to use in accordance with manufacturer's instructions, using it in an abnormal way or failure to take reasonable care.
Products damaged in transit must be reported to us within 24 hours of receipt so that we may make a claim under transit insurance.
Goods that develop a defect after first use may be covered by manufacturer warranty. You may wish to contact the manufacturer regarding returns and repairs.
4. Computer hardware - consequential loss
You understand and acknowledge that:
Storage media (such as hard drives) can fail without warning and if this occurs, programs, data or other information ("software") stored on the media may be at risk of corruption or irrecoverably lost.
If you purchase storage media from us, whether separately or as a part of a larger electronic or computing product, it is your responsibility to guard against loss or damage to software stored on the media and to implement strategies for the safe keeping of software.
We recommend that you regularly back up software stored on the media.M
In the event that storage media purchased from us becomes faulty, fails or otherwise detrimentally affects software stored on it, we will not be liable for any loss or damage, howsoever arising.
If you return media, whether separately or as a part of a larger electronic or computing product, to us for any reason, including replacement or repair, we will not be responsible for any data stored on the media. We make no representation that we will be able to repair any product or make a product exchange without risk to or loss of software.
5. Links to third party websites
The Website may include links to other websites, content or resources. These linked websites, content or resources may be operated by third parties and we may have no responsibility or control over them. The existence of these links does not imply that we endorse the linked website, content or resource. You acknowledge that we have not reviewed any of these third party websites, content or resources and we are not responsible for the material contained therein.
6. Intellectual property
We reserve all intellectual property rights, including but not limited to, copyright in material and/or services provided by us. Nothing in the agreement gives you a right to use any of our marketing material, business names, trademarks, logos, domain names or other distinctive brand features.
Other trade marks used on the website that belong to third parties are used with permission and remain the intellectual property of the third party.
You may not modify or copy the layout or appearance of the website nor any computer software or code contained in the website. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover or access any source code related to the website.
If you correspond or otherwise communicate with us, you automatically grant to us an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide licence to use, copy, display and distribute the content of your correspondence or communication and to prepare derivative works of the content or incorporate the content into other works in order to publish and promote such content. This may include, but is not limited to, publishing testimonials on our website and developing your ideas and suggestions for improved products or services we provide.
7. Transfer and Assignment
In the event that we merge, sell or otherwise change control of our business or this website to a third-party, we reserve the right, without giving notice or seeking consent, to transfer or assign the personal information, content and rights that we have collected from you and any agreements we have made with you.
8. Indemnity
You will at all times indemnify, and keep indemnified, us and our directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any loss (including reasonable legal costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) or liability incurred or suffered by you or by us arising from any claim, demand, suit, action or proceeding by any person against you or us where such loss or liability arose out of, in connection with or in respect of your conduct or breach of this agreement.
9. Force majeure
We shall not be liable for any delay in performing any of our obligations under this agreement if such delay is caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
10. Applicable law
This agreement will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia. You irrevocably submit to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Victoria, Australia.
If any part of this agreement is found to be void, unlawful or unenforceable then that part will be deemed to be severable from the balance of this agreement and the severed part will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
11. Waiver
If we do not exercise or enforce any right or provision under this agreement, it will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver of any provision under this agreement will only be effective if it is in writing and signed by us.
Terms and conditions of use
About us
Our stores
All manufacturers
Wombat 285
A standard size stick suitable for a...
All specials
No supplier


text:
You can't be a (a) football fan, (b) American or (c) human and NOT be rooting for the Saints right now. One win from the Super Bowl, the Saints aren't simply the story of the year in the NFL, but you have to seriously consider where this story ranks among all-time NFL stories. I have a soft spot for the Bears, but I go back to my slogan from early September 2005: "We're all Saints fans."
Meanwhile, the Colts won too. I'm rooting for the Chargers today, but you'd have to be crazy not to want to see Pats at Colts for the AFC title.
Anyway: What was your take on last night's games? Today's games? The implications for next week? Put your analysis in the comments section and get the debate going!
- D.S. (Still filing via Blackberry in Orlando. No I didn't make the trek to Gainesville yesterday for the Gators victory party at The Swamp.)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry


text:
Why an Independent Agent?
With other agencies, you get one company that sells one brand of insurance. With an independent insurance agency like Hettler Insurance Agency, you get choices. Compare quotes from multiple insurance carriers.
Why? Because independent insurance agencies, like Hettler Insurance Agency, represent several different insurance companies, and we can compare coverage and prices to find the best possible value for your individual circumstances. As independent agents, we are members of the Lubbock community, and we're committed to doing business face-to-face and being your advocate in times of need.
Here are a few reasons why Hettler Insurance Agency should be your first and last choice when looking for insurance:
- We are here, serving the needs of Lubbock and the state of Texas.
- We work for you when you have a claim.
- We are not beholden to any one company. This means you don't have to change agencies as your insurance and service needs change.
- We are your consultants, working with you as you determine your needs.
- We are value-hunters who look after your pocketbook in finding the best combination of price, coverage, and service.
- We offer one-stop shopping for a full range of products, including home, renters, auto, business, life, health, and retirement plans.
- We can periodically review your coverage to keep up with your changing insurance needs.
- We are committed to customer satisfaction – it's the key to our livelihood.
- We treat you like a person, not a number.
- We are licensed professionals with strong customer and community ties.
There is a difference. To find out how our independent insurance agency can help you find the right insurance coverage, please contact Hettler Insurance Agency. Give us a call today at 806-798-7800.


text:
Government's Action on Reducing the UK's Carbon Footprint
The UK Government has an ambitious plan to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. With the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has obliged itself to reduce emissions by at least 80 percent over the following decades. To achieve the set goal, the Government is compelling both businesses and households to use resources and energy more responsibly but it is also funding research and innovation as well as financially helping households and businesses in investment in low-carbon technology.
What the UK Government is Doing to Protect the Trees, Forests and Woodland
Trees, forests and woodland play an important role in climate, absorbing air pollutants and releasing oxygen by which they help reduce the greenhouse effect. But they are also of vital importance for biodiversity by providing food and habitat to wildlife. Lastly, forests provide us with wood, timber and other forest products. The UK Government is aware of the importance forests and woodlands, and is taking a series of measures to improve their management and expand woodland areas because forests cover only 12 percent of the UK. For a comparison, other EU countries have about one third of their land area covered by forests and woodland.
UK Biodiversity Protection Policy
The UK Government is helping protect dangerously declining variety of life both in Britain and abroad through a series of laws that protect endangered species and particular habitats. But it is also financially supporting biodiversity protection programmes both nationally and internationally (such as the Darwin Initiative for instance), and is actively working on development and enforcement of laws against wildlife crime.
UK Government Action on Waste Management and Reduction
In addition to encouraging recycling, the UK Government is also promoting waste reduction initiatives by raising public awareness about the benefits of waste minimisation and reuse of items that are no longer wanted. However, since it is impossible to produce zero waste, the UK Government is also supporting the use of waste for energy production such as biogas for example.
Social Policy and Reform in the UK
Economic uncertainty combined with ageing population and public spending deficit forced the UK Government to reconsider it social policy. Cuts in public spending of course also affected social transfers but the Government continues to provide support to those who need it the most, especially troubled families, children from difficult backgrounds and disadvantaged adults.


text: Free Samsung A70 Phone Mockup PSD Template Mockupden - March 14, 2020 0 Version Download 125 File Size 11.11 MB File Count 1 Create Date March 14, 2020 Last Updated September 19, 2020 Download Description Subscribe to Get Our Premium Mockup Absolutely FreeExclusive special Premium Mockup that you won't ever find on our blog·Invalid email address We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions. Don't forget to check Spam or Promotion Folder if you don't see confirmation email in Inbox!


text:
LYON, France – Child sexual abuse material retrieved by police in Denmark and Australia and shared via INTERPOL's victim identification specialists network has contributed to the arrest of a US school volunteer suspected of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl.
As part of efforts to identify an unknown victim, officers in Denmark shared a video with their counterparts worldwide via INTERPOL's International Child Sexual Exploitation database. Investigators in Australia then added other videos of the same victim, and other intelligence, to the INTERPOL platform which led to a school in Washington State being identified as the location of the abuse.
The suspect, 37-year-old David Michael Navarro, was arrested just four days after the original information was shared via INTERPOL.
"Denmark's original decision to share the images they had discovered with INTERPOL's specialist network enabled Australia to provide their input which in turn led to the identification of the suspect in the US," said Robert Shilling, a specialized officer with INTERPOL's Crimes Against Children unit overseeing INTERPOL's international child abuse investigators network.
"The arrest just four days and three continents after the images were first identified is tribute to the dedication of all the officers involved. It is a powerful demonstration of what can be achieved through international police cooperation, which is especially important when we are talking about saving victims of child sexual abuse," concluded Mr Shilling.
INTERPOL's Crimes Against Children unit at the Organization's headquarters in Lyon, France, administers the International Child Sexual Exploitation database (ICSE), dedicated to victim identification investigations and accessed by specialized investigators across the world.
The database contains material relating to several thousands of victims of sexual exploitation, identified by police in 47 countries, and abuse material relating to numerous unidentified victims police around the world are hoping to rescue.


text:
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has created a new "Exchange of Tax Information" [Portal](http://eoi-tax.org/).
The Global Forum conducts peer reviews of its member jurisdictions' ability to co-operate with other tax administrations in accordance with the internationally agreed standard. The standard provides for exchange of information on request where it is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic tax laws of the requesting jurisdiction. Effective exchange of information requires that jurisdictions ensure information is available, that it can be obtained by the tax authorities and that there are mechanisms in place allowing for the exchange of that information. The Global Forum's peer review process examines both the legal and regulatory aspects of exchange (Phase 1 reviews) and the exchange of information in practice (Phase 2).
The EOI Portal will track the development of these peer reviews, including changes that jurisdictions make in response to the Global Forum's recommendations.


text:
click here to see the best indian chat rooms on the net…
Myindiansexcams.com is the most comprehensive as well as genuinely extensive Indian cam chat online.
It is no secret that the World Wide Web, is pretty much filled with all kinds of pornographic content. And while there are plenty of adult images and videos out there, odds are, you are going to be sick and tired of watching and not being able to have some interactions with the girls you see. Thankfully, though there are also more and more sex cam chats appearing on the online market as well. These are specifically designed to provide you with a one of a kind sexual experience when you can easily control what the girls are doing to begin with.
And seeing how there are so many indian xxx chat available out there, chances are, you are also going to have some trouble finding the right one. Well, if that is the case and you are therefore already browsing the World Wide Web, trying to figure out which is the perfect solution that will completely satisfy your needs and sexual passions, we simply cannot help but recommend you to definitely learn much more about one of the most effective Indian cam girls chat out there. That is right, you now have a one of a kind chance to actually benefit from the best Indian cams and the best looking cam girls and models out there. There are dozens and hundreds of Indian webcam models already waiting to help you make the most from your online sexual experience. You can choose any of them and they will always be more than willing and happy to show you what they have and to demonstrate to you what they can do with their bodies. The Indian live chat is a chat that does broaden up the possibilities.
Unlike the vast majority of online web chats with sex cams, Myindiansexcams.com will provide you with the ideal combination of price and quality. And this means that you can watch the girls all you want, but if you wish to see them doing things with their bodies, you will have to pay a small fee and you will be granted access to all the things you like.
About Us:
Myindiansexcams.com is an online resource that is offering you to have a one of a kind online sex experience, a cam to cam intercourse so to say. myindiansexcams.com…
Myindiansexcams.com Will Allow You To Enjoy Sex Cams Like Never Before
Myindiansexcams.com Will Let You Have Fun With Sex Webcams Like Never Before


text:
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Colcannon - An Irish Halloween Tradition
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Colcannon, a traditional Irish dish associated with Halloween, is made with potatoes and savoy cabbage and served with a well of butter in its center. It's simple and delicious and comes with folklore that's sure to please the curious or superstitious. The tale, as told to me, concerns the fate of unmarried women who would put the first and last spoonfuls of Halloween colcannon into a stocking and hang it on their doors. Their shared belief was that the first man who walked through the door would become their husband. Immigration statistics and the birth rate, all those years ago, lead me to believe this didn't work real well. Back then, the ingredients used to make colcannon could be found in any Irish country garden. The second bit of blarney revolved around the selection of a cabbage from that garden by a blindfolded, unmarried woman. The cabbage she selected would be used to make a colcannon into which a ring was hidden. Of course, the person who found the ring would be the next to marry. I must warn you that my recipe for colcannon uses classic ingredients but techniques that my grandmother would frown upon. There are two or three steps to assembling any colcannon. The meat, if used, should be cooked before the potatoes and the cabbage are started. I use a slab of bacon to make mine. Ham can also be used. I simmer it in water for about 45 minutes before dicing it. My potatoes are conventional enough, though I do steam rather than boil them. I prefer to cook my cabbage in a wok. It's the easiest way I know to assure crisp tender greens that aren't water logged. When it all is assembled it looks like a traditional colcannon, but there will be a hint of smoke to play against crisp cabbage. Here's the recipe.
Colcannon ...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
1 pound unsliced slab bacon or ham
3 pounds boiling potatoes
2 sticks + 3 tablespoons butter, divided use
1-1/4 cups light cream or milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium head savory cabbage, cored and shredded
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1) Place bacon or ham in pot. Cover with water by 1-inch. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from water. Allow to cool. Dice. Refrigerate if not to be used immediately.
2) Scrub potatoes and place on a steamer rack. Bring water in steamer to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer potatoes for 30 minutes. Peel and force potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Add 1 stick butter, cut into small dice, into potatoes. Mash to combine. Add salt and pepper to milk. Slowly add hot milk to potato mixture, beating with a spoon. Cover bowl. Keep warm.
3) While potatoes steam, add 3 tablespoons butter to wok. Add cabbage and stir fry over high heat until mixture is crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
4) Add cabbage, bacon and scallions to potatoes. Mix well. Place an equal portion of colcannon in each of six soup bowls.
5) Melt reserved stick of butter in a small pan or in microwave. Form a well in center of each bowl of potatoes. Spoon melted butter into well. Serve hot. Yield: 6 servings.
52 comments :
- Unknown said...
Great to hear about this tradition! And Yum!
- October 8, 2009 at 1:09 AM
- Mary | Deep South Dish said...
Love this dish, and I'm with ya on the bacon, but never heard the tale before! Thanks for sharing.
- October 8, 2009 at 2:01 AM
- KathyB. said...
Your home must always smell delicious.Your picture shows you to be slim, how do you accomplish that with all the very good food?
As you wrote about preparing Colcannon, you talked about your mother's way and the tradition. I share similar ways with making lefse. I know there are other ways of preparing it, but I hold to the way my grandmother taught me and it always turns out..however there are no superstitions attached to my making of lefse. Was your grandmother straight from Ireland?
Seems the Irish have a great many superstitions regarding food, love, and marriage, but then food, love, and marriage pretty much sum up most of our goals in life! - October 8, 2009 at 2:32 AM
- Katy ~ said...
Colcannon, food for the soul! Grew up on this. Love it, love it, love it!
- October 8, 2009 at 5:07 AM
- Martha said...
Those Celts -- they have wonderful stories about everything! I didn't know that Colcannon was a Halloween food --
- October 8, 2009 at 7:20 AM
- P. said...
This looks very good.
Alfazema - October 8, 2009 at 7:30 AM
- Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...
I'm not familiar with Colcannon. If it has potatoes in it, I know I'll love it. What a fun tradition. It will be Halloween before we know it.
Sam - October 8, 2009 at 8:17 AM
- Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...
Loved to hear about the "blarney" associated with this classic dish. I love colcannon, I don't know why I only make it on "St. Paddy's" Day?
- October 8, 2009 at 8:31 AM
- Cathy said...
Interesting background about this very tasty dish. Cream, potatoes and bacon, one can't go wrong with this combo.
- October 8, 2009 at 8:49 AM
- SnoWhite said...
what a unique tradition. These look really good.
- October 8, 2009 at 8:54 AM
- Inspired by eRecipeCards said...
wicked good lookin
And a great story to go with it - October 8, 2009 at 9:28 AM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
KathyB, My Grandmother was born in the United State, but just barely. Family lore insists she was born on board a ship in New York Harbor. She loved the story and never tried to dissuade those who told it. Her family settled in Detroit and she married young, at 16, to a man who was a union organizer. Her life was easier than that of most 1st generation immigrants, but she never forgot her roots.
- October 8, 2009 at 9:54 AM
- George Gaston said...
A bit of blarney contributes to an Irish tale…
So, Mary, dish up more Colcannon, because it sounds like my new comfort food! - October 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM
- Selba said...
I like the picture of this dish, it looks so delicious!
What an interesting tale about the fate of unmarried women and the colcannon dish. Too bad the statistic didn't show it is true if not then probably I would like to give it a try ;) - October 8, 2009 at 10:14 AM
- Coralie Cederna Johnson said...
These looks scrumptious! Love your blog! So happy we discovered each other! Have a lovely day!
- October 8, 2009 at 10:38 AM
- NKP said...
Did you put a ring in there? ;-)
I love the combo of bacon, potatoes and cabbage - and the butter is a little touch of heaven in the center! - October 8, 2009 at 10:56 AM
- Patricia @ ButterYum said...
The Irish in me has been longing for a good Colcannon recipe... I have a feeling this is it!
Take care,
ButterYum - October 8, 2009 at 11:59 AM
- Charlene said...
What a fun Post Mary! Sounds yummy! I tried you Apple Cranberry Crumb only I made it Peach beacuse I had about 7 Peaches that needed using. YUMMMO! I highly recommend the crumb topping with ANY fruit on hand. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!!
- October 8, 2009 at 12:31 PM
- The Fajdich Times said...
Yum these potatoes sound very good. Loved the story. Thanks for sharing:)
- October 8, 2009 at 12:33 PM
- Beverly said...
Mary, I really enjoyed this post. I've always heard of colcannon, but I had never read the stories behind it.
And, this sounds and looks delicious. - October 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
- Toni said...
Awesome! I was just wondering what to do with the cabbage from the garden. That recipe looks so good!
- October 8, 2009 at 12:57 PM
- foodcreate said...
Delicious ! What a wonderful Tradition I will share with my family ...
Have a wonderful Day ~~ - October 8, 2009 at 1:24 PM
- Donetta said...
Well now with our 100* + temps leaving us I will have to come by more often for your awesome inspirations.
Interesting about the pumpkin. - October 8, 2009 at 1:30 PM
- Unknown said...
Never heard of this tradition, but the recipe sounds and looks wonderful. I think I will start this tradition, just for the recipe. THANKS!!! Geri
- October 8, 2009 at 1:30 PM
- Joy Tilton said...
My love for Colcannon is greater than my love for chocolate...
SCARY GOOD! - October 8, 2009 at 1:44 PM
- Wandering Chopsticks said...
I love the story behind this dish. Although, imagine the mess from cleaning colcannon out of a sock. Hmm. Worth the work if it lands me a husband, perhaps? ;)
Wanna add this dish to Weekend Wokking? We're doing cabbage this month. :)
Just noticed the new photos of your grandsons. They are getting so big! And just as cute as ever. - October 8, 2009 at 1:49 PM
- Boo-Bah AKA Iris said...
What an interesting tradition and history behind this recipe. It really sounds delicious and it is one I am going to try.
You are certainly an inspiration. Visiting here always makes me want to try something new and to just cook more than I have been.
Thank you for being so nice and for always visiting my blog. You always leave such nice comments.
Have a wonderful day.
Iris - October 8, 2009 at 1:52 PM
- Heidi said...
What can I say, that sounds delicious. We German girls never say no to potatoes or cabbage!
Yum! I was taught to make a "Farmers Breakfast" with the same ingredients as the Colcannon, only potatoes are sliced - you can't go wrong with those ingredients!! Okay, now I'm hungry.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again soon.
Heidi - Heart and Home - October 8, 2009 at 2:36 PM
- Thistlemoon said...
This looks delicious! I love colcannon, but I have never seen such beautiful photos of it!
- October 8, 2009 at 2:58 PM
- theUngourmet said...
I love reading about folklore. This was fun! I think the recipe sounds wonderful as well especially with all of the yummy butter in the middle. :D
- October 8, 2009 at 3:03 PM
- Pam said...
Anything with a well of butter must be good. This is my kind of comfort food.
- October 8, 2009 at 3:42 PM
- Alyssa said...
Yum! Honestly, if it has mashed potatoes in any form, my husband is happy to try it.
- October 8, 2009 at 3:49 PM
- Donna-FFW said...
This is the most delicious post of food I saw all day. Id LOVE to try this. Everything in it sounds perfect!
- October 8, 2009 at 5:09 PM
- Claudia said...
What a wonderful dish and a wonderful story to accompany it. I love how many foods have tales.
- October 8, 2009 at 6:59 PM
- Jean Stockdale said...
Once again you have managed to make food look so inviting using pictures and words!!Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note. Hope to see you next week. Happy OW.
Blessings. - October 8, 2009 at 8:38 PM
- susan said...
This is a new one for me, but I love foods with legends and tradition. I love potatoes and love cabbage so I can't imagine not liking this!
- October 8, 2009 at 10:17 PM
- La Cuisine d'Helene said...
Oh my bacon and potatoes, so delicious. What a great recipe.
- October 8, 2009 at 10:19 PM
- Amy said...
I love cooking with freah cabbage. Just another great recipe by you to try. Looks yummy.
- October 8, 2009 at 10:21 PM
- fun games for kids said...
Colcannon looks great. Wish I could try it. Anyway, I like the story of Colcannon as well.
- October 8, 2009 at 10:43 PM
- Unknown said...
what a great tale to go along with a great dish I have never heard of it which is weird because im irish thanks for the recipe.
- October 9, 2009 at 12:06 AM
- Maggie said...
I love to make Colcannon and we eat it many times during the winter months,when Savoy cabbages are at their best. I've never added bacon to my dish but will try that next time.
Maggie - October 9, 2009 at 6:26 AM
- Olga said...
Not sure I'm going to hang it outside of my door, but being Russian I grew up with various combinations of cabbage and potatoes: this dish looks great (especially with bacon)
- October 9, 2009 at 9:49 AM
- Carrie said...
This looks really wonderful! Colcannon is on my list of foods to try.
- October 9, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Now these look so delicious and we have a head of cabbage left in the garden to in them. perfect!!
Having a great day
vickie - October 9, 2009 at 12:43 PM
- noble pig said...
This year I swore I would be making colcannon! Yum!
- October 9, 2009 at 2:29 PM
- Little Ms Blogger said...
Bacon, butter and potatoes what could be more heavenly.
Thanks for posting. - October 11, 2009 at 8:21 AM
- Kathy Walker said...
My daughter raves about this dish but I have never tried it. I sent her your link. This looks wonderful (great combo of flavors...) and I am going to make it!
- October 11, 2009 at 10:07 AM
- lk - healthy delicious said...
yummy! I've had colcannon many times before, but never realized it was a Halloween tradtion.
- October 11, 2009 at 5:51 PM
- Lori said...
I have never seen colcannon look so amazing. You have convinced me to give it a go again!
- October 12, 2009 at 9:45 PM
- Tanna said...
colcannon is a new dish to me... but one i'm looking forward to trying out! thank you, Mary! blessings ~ tanna
- March 13, 2011 at 4:23 PM
- The Single Nester said...
Anything with potato I love.
- November 7, 2011 at 4:07 PM
- Kim Simon said...
This blog is great source of information about saint patrick's day which is very useful for me. It very important information about saint patrick's day
Thank you very much for this useful information.
Thanks for this great information.
Best Colcannon Recipe For Saint Patrick's Day. - March 2, 2012 at 4:53 AM