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Farzad Dibachi
In this role, he brings two decades of experience as a technologist, senior executive, serial entrepreneur and investor.
Prior to co-founding Noribachi, Farzad was Founder, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Niku Corporation, an infrastructure productivity software provider that created the first comprehensive suite of enterprise management applications for project and resource intensive organizations. Niku's iNiku application was an early cloud-based software service. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Niku employed over 1,200 personnel at the time Farzad took the company public in 1999 in an IPO led by Goldman Sachs (NASDAQ: NIKU). Computer Associates later acquired the company.
Earlier, Farzad was co-founder, President and CEO of Diba, the first consumer information appliance company, which created Internet enabled TVs, smart phones and consumer devices. Diba was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1997 just prior to going public in an offering led by Lehman Brothers. Diba became the foundation for Sun's Consumer Technologies Group, which worked with consumer electronics companies to provide internet-ready, Java-enabled, TVs, set-top boxes, satellite boxes and smart phones.
Before founding Diba, Farzad worked at the Oracle Corporation where he held a number of senior positions before becoming the Senior Vice President of Oracle's New Media Division. Under his leadership, the 450-person New Media division developed the infrastructure technology and application prototypes for the first large-scale deployment of residential video-on-demand services. In addition, Farzad helped conceptualize Oracle's efforts to create the network computer, a precursor to today's internet-enabled computers that utilize cloud-based software applications. Farzad began his career as an engineer at General Electric. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Computer Science from San Jose State University.
In addition to having served on the Board of Directors for multiple technology startups, Farzad is the co-author of "Just Add Management: Seven Steps to Creating a Productive Workplace and Motivating Your Employees In Challenging Times", published by McGraw-Hill, 2002. He also authored from 1996-1997 the acclaimed "Diary of a Startup," which was published in serial form by Upside Magazine. Farzad and his wife live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As a software engineer with over 30 years of industry and senior executive management experience, Moore continues to strive today to build cutting edge solutions and disrupt the software world. Prior to Noribachi, where Moore helped to form the platform that eventually became the Inxeption, Mark served as Senior Vice President of Products at Recommind and was responsible for Engineering, Product, Support and Cloud Services Delivery team for Recommind's eDiscovery products. While at Recommind, Mark oversaw and consistently grew Recommind's largest revenue division - OnDemand Services. Mark also led the worldwide Engineering and Product teams to advance from waterfall product development to sprint-based processes and eventually becoming a nimble DevOps organization.
Mark also served as Executive VP - Products and Services for Niku Corporation (product Clarity acquired by Computer Associates), a designer of enterprise IT project/portfolio management systems, where he led all product operations including early design, delivery, marketing, professional services and support. He continues to be excited by the large Clarity user community and enthusiastic customer base which has progressed over the years.
Mark was also a founding member of several high growth consumer startups specializing in cloud based video and music devices and services - Diba (information appliances), Listen.com/Rhapsody as well as CEO and the Founder of OneTrueMedia/Spotmixer.
Mark began his career working for a nearly a decade in the Oracle Database Kernel Development team specializing in high scalable and performant data systems, holds patents in Media Servers, Online Video serving and Information Appliance Architectures. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Terry Garnett is an active part of the Inxeption management team and Member of the Board of Directors. Terry has over 30 years of experience in the software industry and most recently served two terms as acting CEO of Actian Software, a hybrid data management company with over $100m in annual revenue. In addition, earlier in his career he was Sr. VP and part of the Executive Management Committee at Oracle Corporation where he ran Worldwide Marketing and Corporate Development. He served as a consultant in the McKinsey & Co. Electronics Practice and held technical manufacturing management roles at Tandem Computers.
Mr. Garnett was a General Partner and Venture Partner at Venrock Associates for 8 years and was an active participant in the founding and launching of leading software companies such as New Era of Networks, Neoforma and Niku and personally invested in Siebel Software and Salesforce.com. He worked closely with his wife, Katrina who founded Crossworlds Software in 1996 which was the leader in creating the EAI category (Enterprise Application Integration) that went public in 2000 and was later acquired by IBM.
Mr. Garnett was the co-founder of Garnett Helfrich Capital, a $350m technology venture buyout firm that successfully built up several market leaders, Blade Network Technologies (acquired by IBM) and Wyse Technologies (acquired by IBM).
Terry holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.S. degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jake Throgmorton
Jacob Throgmorton has always loved building new and exciting applications. Over his 20 years of experience he has designed, built, and maintained software in order to make customers happy.
Jacob was a Principal Engineer at ServiceNow where he helped build and improve key parts of their infrastructure. He also was the Director of Engineering for the Software as a Service team at CA Inc. Here he lead a team that was responsible for an framework that allowed previous on-premise software be SaaS-enabled.
Also, he worked with many internal product teams and was part of multiple software acquisitions as part of this role.
Before the director role, Jacob worked as Architect or Principal Engineer at startups including Niku where he meet Farzad Dibachi, Mark Moore, and Eric Vossbrinck. Jacob holds a Bachelors Degree for Computer Science as well as Mathematical Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Eric Vossbrinck
Eric Vossbrinck has been running design and development teams on the leading edge of developing front-end technologies in the Silicon Valley for the past 25 years.
He currently runs the UX team at Inxeption. Prior to Inxeption, Eric founded and ran the UX Design and Development team at Recommind, Inc. where he and his team redesigned Recommind's large, thick-client UI from the ground-up, turning it into a world-class and modern interface that now sets the standard in the eDiscovery market.
Eric was also a founding member of One True Media (later rebranded SpotMixer), which was one of the very first online, real-time video editing and sharing applications on the web.
Pioneering an entirely new way of interacting with media online, he ran a team that designed and helped develop both web-based and iOS native applications that brought a sophisticated and powerful set of tools to both the consumer and professional markets. This work led to Eric being awarded a patent for Online Video Editing.
Eric first worked with Farzad Dibachi, Mark Moore, and Jake Throgmorton at Niku Corporation, where he ran the Design team and helped successfully drive Niku's robust SRM online product offerings to market.
Eric attended Santa Clara University and is a Silicon Valley native.
Peter Stern joined Inxeption in 2017 as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. He brought with him over 20 years of technology sales, leadership, business development and startup experience. Prior to joining Inxeption, Stern served in roles such as Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Sales at Skedulo, Autopilot, Kenandy, and OpSource.
Early on in his career, he was Vice President of Enterprise Corporate Sales at Salesforce. At Salesforce, he was responsible for the west coast development and growth of a new direct sales division. Stern's first job out of college was at Oracle where he worked for 6 years, and was ultimately responsible for the management of a North American field sales organization evangelizing Oracle's embedded infrastructure technology within the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) community.
Stern attended the University of California, Berkeley where he was a two-time All American on the men's NCAA water polo team. During college, he was a member of the United States Men's Senior National Water Polo Team, and a gold medal winner in the 1997 FINA World Championships.
Stern is an active member of the Bay Area community. Together with his family, he supports several philanthropic causes including the Wender Wiess Foundation for Children, the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, and the PlumpJack Foundation. In December 2010, he was appointed to the San Francisco International Airport Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom and was reappointed in 2014 by Mayor Edwin Lee.
Dave Ward
Dave is responsible for driving all of sales globally for Inxeption with a focus on growing the company's enterprise business. He has more than 25 years as a software and SaaS executive in enterprise markets and industrial verticals. He has a strong track record of building and leading high performing sales organizations both nationally and globally.
Prior to Inxeption, Dave was Vice President of Sales at Oracle leading one of Oracle's largest global business units. Before Oracle, Dave led the Americas group for CA Technologies where he was credited with directing the merger with Niku, which was acquired by CA in 2005. Dave joined Niku in 1999 as VP of Sales and General Manager, reporting to Farzad. Dave began his successful career at Dun & Bradstreet where he managed the Southern region and public sector business unit accounting for $150 million in revenue.
Dave holds a MBA from Jacksonville State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Eckerd College where he played NCAA basketball.
By joining Inxeption, Dave is renewing an 18-year relationship with Farzad Dibachi, Mark Moore, and Terry Garnett.
David Judd has 30 years' experience in developing enterprise solutions for manufacturing and service-based companies. He has worked with most of the Fortune 500 bringing digital transformation in the areas of marketing, sales, and service. As director at Oracle for 12 years he led partner and field sales enablement. He managed sales integration and go-to-market strategy for Oracle acquisitions. He has a PhD in leadership and administration. His dissertation examined online communities in knowledge-based organizations. He has published articles and speaks on the uses of blockchain technology in higher education and industry. In his role at Inxeption, he supports sales operations and leads customer success through growing Gross Revenue.
Board Members
Rhonda Dibachi is an American business executive, entrepreneur, and author. She is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Noribachi, a custom LED lighting manufacturer specializing in industrial and commercial applications. Prior to Noribachi, she co-founded Niku Corporation, a Silicon Valley-based infrastructure productivity software provider, with her husband Farzad Dibachi. Previously, Dibachi worked for Webvan and has been recognized as a leading female entrepreneur.
Dibachi graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in nuclear engineering. Later, she attended Santa Clara University where she received her MBA in 1987.Dibachi began her career as a field engineer for General Electric and later became a manufacturing consultant for Arthur Young, now known as Ernst & Young. From 1989 to 1996, she worked for Oracle Corporation in positions such as architect, development manager and director of testing for Oracle's manufacturing applications.
Dibachi was at Webvan, a technology startup for online grocery business, from 1997 to 1998 when she left to co-found Niku Corporation. By 2000, the software management company had grown to 1,200 employees and had its initial public offering on NASDAQ led by Goldman Sachs in February that year.
In 2007, Dibachi and her husband founded Noribachi, a clean technology LED manufacturing company. She previously served as the company's CFO. Noribachi also created and launched other solar and clean energy technologies such as Qnuru, where Dibachi served as president and CEO.
David Schmaier works as CEO & Founder of Vlocity, a Forbes Cloud 100 company and strategic Salesforce ISV. Vlocity delivers industry-specific cloud and mobile software that embed digital, omnichannel processes for customer-centric industries. Built in partnership with Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, Vlocity is one of Salesforce's fastest growing partners. Vlocity Industry Cloud Apps embed industry-specific functionality, best practices and business processes for the Communications & Media, Energy, Insurance & Financial Services, Health Insurance and Public-Sector industries. Vlocity enables companies to achieve faster business agility and time to value from the cloud across digital and traditional channels.
David worked previously as Executive Vice President at Siebel Systems, a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. David was a member of Siebel's founding executive team and helped grow the company from an idea to 8,000 employees and $2 billion in revenue. David led Siebel's Products organization and was responsible for all CRM and 24 industry-specific applications. Prior to Siebel Systems, David worked at Oracle Corporation and at Braxton Associates (now part of Deloitte Consulting).
David serves on private equity firm Genstar Capital's Strategic Advisory Board and helped found the firm's software practice. He previously served as COO, investor and strategic advisory board member for C3 IoT, another fast-growing Forbes Cloud 100 company that delivers a platform as a service (PaaS) for big data and IoT applications.
David graduated with a Master's in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
George Still Jr.
George J. Still Jr., is Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director at Workday, Inc., having joined the board in 2009. From 1989 to 2013, he was a managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). NVP is a global venture capital firm and has funded over 500 companies since its inception in 1961. George transitioned in 2013 to partner emeritus. George currently manages a small private equity fund, Palo Alto Venture Partners Fund.
Over the last 30 plus years in venture capital, George has directly led investments in 44 companies serving on the board of directors of over 30 public and private companies. He was the sole venture investor in PeopleSoft which grew from a start-up to an S&P 500 listed company and was lead investor in Rackspace, Inc. He helped co-found two companies, Verio, and Web.com Group.
George is a member of the Board of Advisors of Tuck School's Center of Private Equity and Tuck's Board of Overseers. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children's Health, First Tee of San Francisco, and National Venture Capital Association. George also served as an officer on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association.
George received his bachelor of science from Pennsylvania State University and his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.


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Course Structure
Juniors will practice language structures with qualified and experienced teachers in a friendly environment through activities such as singing, games, role plays and group discussions which are sure to make their time studying fun and exciting.
On arrival at English Unlimited, juniors will be greeted, tested for their level of English, and then assigned a teacher.
They will then receive a full orientation to the college and Sydney in a presentation, which parents/guardians are welcome to join. As part of this presentation, juniors will be given the materials appropriate to their level of English according to the results of the test. Based on these tests, the Academic Manager will allocate a level best suited to their English proficiency.
Program Objectives
- To build confidence and develop a passion for learning English.
- To practise all macro skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) including functional grammar, lexis and register.
- To improve communicative skills in general with a focus on the development of speaking skills.
- To learn more about Australian culture and customs.
- To enable learners to feel comfortable studying in a global context.
Sample Timetable
|1st Lesson
|9:00am - 9:55am
|2nd Lesson
|10:05am - 11:00am
|3rd Lesson
|11:10am - 12:05pm
|4th Lesson
|12:15pm - 1:10pm
|Lunch Time
|1:10pm - 1:45pm
|Activities (Combo & Exclusive Packages)
|2 afternoons: 1:45pm - 4:30pm
Friday: 9:00am - 4:30pm
Homework and class tests are set regularly and learners complete an exit examination.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Recreation is important order to ensure that the learners are maintaining a healthy lifestyle and are able to maximise their educational opportunity. There are organised activities such as bowling, bush, rainforest and mountain walking, beach fun and ball games. Social functions such as barbecues and parties are organised specifically for primary school aged learners.
Entry Requirements
- Non-student visa holders only
- Minimum age of entry is 9 years
- A guardian and accommodation inspection is required for under 18 learners in homestay accommodation
APC is a NEAS Quality Endorsed College.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Hobbit Stage Play in Ireland
Ringer Spy Lisa emailed us to say that there's a 'The Hobbit' play in Cork, Ireland this week. The play runs from tuesday 'till saturday in the Cork Opera House. Check it out if you are in the area! [More]Posted in Old Main News on April 21, 2003 by leo


text: The subject of Moises Kirsch is a controversial issue. At first glance Moises Kirsch may seem unenchanting, however its study is a necessity for any one wishing to intellectually advance beyond their childhood. While much has been written on its influence on contemporary living, it is impossible to overestimate its impact on modern thought. Since it was first compared to antidisestablishmentarianism much has been said concerning Moises Kirsch by those most reliant on technology, many of whom fail to comprehend the full scope of Moises Kirsch. Hold onto your hats as we begin a journey into Moises Kirsch.


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Oxides | Minerals | Materials | Recipes | Articles | Glossary | Hazards | Videos | Properties | Schedules | Temperatures | Tests | Troubles
Code: G2931K
Modification Date: 2019-10-15 11:46:28
|Ferro Frit 3195
|Ferro Frit 3134
|Ferro Frit 3249
|Ferro Frit 3110
This recipe improves the popular Worthington Gerstley-Borate-based low fire clear recipe. It targets cone 03 to work best on Zero3 stoneware and porcelain. However many low fire bodies are dramatically stronger when fired to cone 03 with this (or one of its thermal expansion variants L & H). And the vast majority of commercial glaze products will fire easily to this temperature. If you absolutely must fire lower, to cone 06 or 04, then use the G1216Q recipe instead.
Unlike Worthington something this does not become a bucket of jelly, does not crack on drying, does not go on unevenly or the wrong thickness, does not cloud up with boron blue or micro-bubbles when fired (because it has lower CaO) when used on the types of bodies discussed below. The major development work culminated in the Ulexite-fluxed G2931F. This recipe, G2931K, was formulated to have the same chemistry as F but use frits instead. It is crystal clear and super glassy.
Low fire bodies span a wide range of thermal expansions. While Worthington clear (an ancestor of this recipe) melts to a good clear, its thermal expansion was too far toward the low end of the range (it tended to shiver and fracture rather than craze). This recipe, G2931K, raises thermal expansion (by adding Na2O). The thermal expansion of Zero3 stoneware and porcelain are about the middle of the range, and they develop good glaze:glaze interfaces, so this recipe fits them well.
This glaze also works well on other low fire bodies. Low talc bodies (like Plainsman 215) also work well. But this glaze shivers on high-talc bodies and crazes on zero-talc porous ones. That is what we want. Why? As noted, the thermal expansions of low fire bodies span a wide range. And glazes are just not stuck on well to ones that have a porous and softer surface. Thus, GLAZE FIT IS VITAL AT LOW FIRE (to prevent crazing and shivering). Remember this: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT ONE BASE GLAZE CAN FIT THEM ALL. Not even two can span the range! Commercial glazes only fit your clay body by accident. That is why this recipe has three variations, one of higher expansion than this one (G2931H) and one of lower expansion (G2931L). By testing glaze fit (using a thermal shock test like boiling water:ice water) and choosing the best recipe or blend of recipes, you can get the best fit. Make the effort and do that. All three fire crystal clear. And you can make make your own brushing versions (see link below). Keep in mind that adding zircon and stains changes expansion and requires re-testing and possibly changing the proportion of K, H and L to match your body. It is a hassle, but it is not rocket science.
Dipping ware in Zero3 Transparent is just so much easier than trying to paint on commercial, slow-drying clears. It produces a slurry with very nice suspension, fast drying and good application properties (if you tune it right). It naturally gels to a creamy consistency at around 1.53 specific gravity (in our circumstances). However it goes on too thick at that high a value, we have found the best all around performance at 1.43 with enough Epsom Salts to gel it back up to a creamy consistency (a few grams per gallon). Measure the SG by weighing (forget about fiddling with hydrometers). You will think it is too thin and watery, but it isn039;t. The Epsom salts will thicken it and make it thixotropic (which the 1.53 slurry was not). Use a little Darvan if you get it too thick.
As a clear overglaze to finish your decorated ware, this glaze has a number of other advantages over commercial clear glazes:
-It is much less expensive so it is practical to have a large pail of it so that pieces can be easily dip-glazed (using dipping tongs).
-It behaves like stoneware glazes, it suspends well and applies in an even layer that can dry to handling stage is seconds.
-It fires to a better crystal clear than most.
-Since the recipe is known, and contains no toxic materials, you can more confidently assure retailers that it is safe; all underglaze color decoration can be isolated from any contact with food or drink by this.
-It is compatible with most underglaze colors (including pinks).
Pay special attention to the drop-and-hold firing schedule, especially if your clay body is not fine-grained.
To mix up 5 Kg use about 4.5 kg of water to get 6.5 litres of glaze.
To mix up paint-on consistency (1 pint jar):
-113g Laguna Gum Solution (100 grams of gum solution has 6.5g powdered CMC Gum)
-200g water
-Mix in 500g of powdered glaze, adding water if needed to get desired painting consistency (up to 325g total water). It is better to be a little thinner than too thick.
-To make colored versions add stains as needed (if stains cause micro-bubbling or orange peel surface include 2-3% zircopax).
Decorate ware with the underglazes at the leather hard stage, dry and bisque fire it and then dip-glaze in a transparent that you make yourself (and thus control). These mugs are fired at cone 03. All have the same transparent glaze (G2931K), all were decorated with the same underglazes. Notice how bright the colors are compared to middle or high temperature. On the left is a porous talc/stoneware blend (Plainsman L212), rear is a fritted Zero3 stoneware and right is Zero3 fritted porcelain. When mixed properly you can dip ware in this glaze and it covers evenly, does not drip and dries enough to handle in seconds! Follow the Zero3 firing schedule and you will have ware of amazing quality.
This is an all-fritted version of G2931F Zero3 transparent glaze. I formulated this glaze by calculating what mix of frits must be employed to supply the same chemistry of the G2931F recipe. The mug is made from the Zero3 porcelain body (fired at cone 03) with this glaze. This glaze fits both the porcelain and the Zero3 terra cotta stoneware. The clarity, gloss, fit and durability of this glaze are outstanding.
The white engobe was applied by pouring at leather hard stage. The underglazes were also painted on at leather hard. The mugs were then dried, cleaned, bisque fired, dipping in clear glaze and final fired to cone 03. The clay and engobe have frit additions to make them vitrify at low temperatures.
One way to fast-fire is to fire a lot lower. This is Zero3 porcelain made using Dragonite Halloysite (instead of New Zealand Halloysite). It is the L2934C recipe. It was fired to cone 03 and glazed with G2931K clear glaze (which has fired crystal clear and flawless). I fired at 1200F/hr to 1950F, held it for 15 minutes, cooled at 999F/hr to 1850F and held it for 30 minutes, then dropped as fast as the kiln would do. It has some translucency and fires with a purplish hue (the NZ burns blue-white and is more translucent).
Want to make this incredible porcelain and glaze yourself? Read on. The mug on the left is a cone 10R (2350F/1290C) porcelain (#6 Tile kaolin and Nepheline Syenite) with G1947U clear glaze. The other is a fritted cone 03 (1950F or 1065C) porcelain (NZ Kaolin, Ferro Frit 3110) with G2931K clear glaze. We call the body/glaze/firing system "Zero3" (google it or use the links here). The Zero3 porcelain is blue-white instead of grey, the glaze is crystal clear, underglaze colors are so much more vibrant. The Zero3 mug was fired in 3 hours (cold-to-cold). It also withstands thermal shock better, it is as strong or stronger and much more translucent. How is this possible? The magic of the frit, it melts so much better than nepheline. The recipes and method are linked here. It is the most expensive body you will ever make. But from it you will create the highest quality ware you have ever made using the most plastic body you have ever thrown! Follow the instructions carefully.
On the left is G2931J, a zinc alkali fluxed and high Si:Al ratio glaze. Those look like micro-bubbles but they are much more likely to be micro-crystals. High-zinc and high-silica is the mechanism for crystalline glazes, so it appears that is what they are. G2931K on the right has much more boron, double the Al2O3, less SiO2 and is magnesia-alkali instead of zinc-alkali. It is the product of dozens of tests to find an ultra-clear having a glassy smooth surface. This particular chemistry, although having only a 6:1 SiO2:Al2O3 ratio is ultra-gloss. In addition is has low expansion, will fast fire and the boron is not high enough to compromise the hardness.
It runs downward during firing and the thicker sections have micro-bubbles that clouds the otherwise crystal-clear glass.
On Zero3 porcelain. Between 10 and 15% stain with 2-3% zircon added (to prevent bubbling). The firing schedule approached cone 03 (1950F) at 100F/hr for the final 100 degrees, held for 5 minutes, dropped to 1800 and held for 30 minutes.
This is a clear glaze (G2931K) with 10% purple stain (Mason 6385). The mugs are cone 03 porcelain (Zero3). The mug on the left was dipped (at the bisque stage) into a slurry of the glaze (having an appropriate specific gravity and thixotropy). The glaze dried in seconds. The one on the right was painted on (two layers). Like any paint-on glaze, it contains 1% CMC Gum. Each layer required several minutes of application time and fifteen minutes of drying time.
The body is Plainsman L215 (bisque fired at cone 06). The glaze is G2931K. There is good reason to glaze fire to cone 03 instead of 04. Although these commercial underglazes work the same the clay fired at cone 03 is stronger and a deeper red color. But best of all, the glaze is more transparent (because it has fewer micro-bubbles suspended in the glass). Cone 03 is also more tolerant of getting the glaze on too thick, at 04 it will turn completely milky.
These mugs are fired at cone 03. The outside glazes are G2931K transparent with added stain plus 3% Zircopax. The left one contains 10% Mason 6021 red. The right one has 15% Cerdec 297497 red stain. The latter is an older product, obviously not as potent. Encapsulated stains are a revolution in ceramics but test the ones available. You could save money and get better color at the same time.
Glaze fit. The left-most clay mug contains no talc (Plainsman Buffstone), the centre one about 25% talc (L212) and the right one is about 45% talc (L213). Talc raises thermal expansion. The centre glaze is G2931K, it is middle-of-the-road thermal expansion (Insight-live reports it as 7.4) and fits the low-talc bodies (and Zero3 porcelain and stoneware). But it crazes on Buffstone and shivers on L213. The lesson is: Forget about expecting one clear or base glaze to fit all low fire bodies. But there is a solution. I adjusted it to reduce its expansion to work on zero-talc porous bodies and raise it to work on high talc bodies. How? By decreasing and increasing the KNaO (in relation to other fluxes). The three fire crystal clear and work the best in a drop-and-hold firing.
To get the needed chemistry to avoid boron blue clouding (calcium borate crystals). The one on the right clouds, the other does not. Why? Differences in the chemistry (as seen in my account at insight-live.com). G2931K, on the left, has greater Al2O3 (which impedes the growth of crystals), lower CaO (starves their growth) and more boron (for better melting). There is actually no practical way to adjust the recipe on the right (by supplying MgO with talc and fiddling with frit percentages) to achieve this. Frit 3124 lacks Na2O and B2O3. 3134 has excessive CaO and almost zero Al2O3. Talc does not melt well enough. But Frit 3249 supplies the needed MgO and has lots of B2O3 and low CaO. And Frit 3110 has low CaO and supplies the needed Na2O.
When clear-glazing terra cotta ware (Plainsman L215 here) an important issue is glaze thickness. The mug on the left was double-dipped (so suspended bubbles are present in the handle recess, thumb-hold and along its edges). The glaze needs to be thick enough so that it feels glassy smooth but thin enough to avoid the bubbles. Normally, if applied the thickness of the one on the left, it would be completely milky, filled with micro-bubble clouds. Why has it not done so here? Because it is fired at cone 03 (using G2931K glaze and the C03DRH firing schedule). An added benefit is that the body is so much stronger than it would be if fired at cone 06 or 04. And the underglazes work fine.
Out Bound Links
A step-by-step process to put a liner glaze in a mug that meets in a perfect line with the outside glaze at the rim.
A cone 04-02 clear glaze developed from Worthington Clear. The latter was based on Gerstley Borate, this one employs Ulexite as the melter an is easier to use.- 2015-10-19
In Bound Links
Break your addiction to online recipes that don't work. Get control. Learn why glazes fire as they do. Why each material is used. Some chemistry. How to create perfect dipping and drying properties. Be empowered. Adjust recipes with issues rather than sta
It is better to understand and have control of one good base glaze than be at the mercy of dozens of imported recipes that do not work. There is a lot more to being a good glaze than fired appearance.
A cone 04-02 clear glaze developed from Worthington Clear. This employs Ulexite instead of Gerstley Borate and has a lower thermal expansion.- 2016-10-11
A base glaze is one having no opacifiers, variegators or colorants. Thus it should be transparent if glossy and translucent if matte. Developing or adapting a base glaze for your ware is a very important first step in developing a manufacturing process that produces good quality. In fact, from a qua...
A fully transparent glaze is simply one that does not have opacity. But there are degrees of transparency. For example, if a glaze is matte it will show the color of underlying body and decoration, but these will be muted (so it is actually translucent). Completely transparent glazes look like a gla...
How to make strong, durable functional ware from red terra cotta odies based on the traditional of majolica.
The term "Zero3" was coined by Tony Hansen. It refers to recipes he developed at Plainsman Clays that enable a potter to create red burning stoneware and blue-white porcelain at cone 03 (links to recipes at the bottom of this page). He arrived at cone 03 after a long testing program that attempted t...
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<recipe name="Low Fire Fritted Zero3 Transparent Glaze" keywords="A cone 04-02 clear glaze developed from Zero3 which in turn was developed from Worthington Clear. This employs frit instead of Ulexite." id="132" date="2019-04-18" codenum="G2931K">
<recipeline material="Ferro Frit 3195" amount="25.000" unitabbr="KG" added="0"/>
<recipeline material="Ferro Frit 3134" amount="33.000" unitabbr="KG" added="0"/>
<recipeline material="EPK" amount="20.000" unitabbr="KG" added="0"/>
<recipeline material="Ferro Frit 3249" amount="10.000" unitabbr="KG" added="0"/>
<recipeline material="Ferro Frit 3110" amount="7.000" unitabbr="KG" added="0"/>
<url url="https://digitalfire.com/4sight/recipes/low_fire_fritted_zero3_transparent_glaze_132.html" descrip="Recipe page at digitalfire.com"/>
By Tony Hansen


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Looking for the best satellite internet service? Read the ViaSat internet reviews for 2019 to find out whether ViaSat is the fastest satellite internet available to you. ViaSat offers up to 100 Mbps speeds with unlimited data on some plans. Better yet, all plans start with an affordable base price. Customers may now have unmetered access to the internet, no matter where they live. ViaSat offers many different prices and bundles, and it's available in even the most remote locations. The ViaSat internet plans reviews can help you decide which to choose for your lifestyle and internet uses.
Satellite internet used to be slow and expensive. Customers complained in internet reviews about poor connectivity and data caps. Today, ViaSat (Exede) internet reviews rave about the new Viasat internet plans offering the highest speeds yet with unlimited data as a bonus.
ViaSat launched the ViaSat-2 satellite in 2017, offering greater coverage and higher speeds. Customers who are not covered by ViaSat-2 have access to the Liberty plans. Liberty plans have up to 12 Mbps download speeds and are priced by priority data. Customers love the affordability and extra data during the Free Zone from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily. ViaSat Satellite Internet Reviews 2019 are more favorable for Unlimited customers, as streaming video and other content require faster speeds and use more data.
Today, if you're an avid internet user, whether you want to stream videos or play games, it's important to have high-speed internet with a sufficient data allowance. ViaSat Internet Reviews 2019 show that ViaSat offers the fastest satellite internet available with the new Unlimited plans, but satellite internet still is not typically as fast as DSL, cable, or fiber internet. If you live in an area where cable or DSL isn't an option, ViaSat internet service reviews have ViaSat rising above the competition with affordability, speed, and easy installation.
Before ViaSat, there was Exede satellite internet. Exede satellite internet customer reviews demanded higher speeds and more data. ViaSat's satellite technology provided more coverage and better connectivity for customers. ViaSat (Exede) Internet reviews quickly became more positive as customers were able to have faster and more reliable internet, no matter where they lived.
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Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® Server is an easy-to-administer, simple-to-control operating system that can be deployed on physical systems (Self-support, Standard, and Premium subscriptions), in the cloud (Standard and Premium subscriptions), or as a guest on the most widely available hypervisors (Standard and Premium subscriptions). It orchestrates the hardware resources for all your basic computing requirements and includes support for all major hardware platforms and thousands of commercial and custom applications. Standard and Premium subscriptions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host, which can package and run apps as containers.
Support service is provided by Red Hat, Inc. and resold by Open Source Architect.
A Red Hat subscription provides customers with a wealth of resources to help them plan and deploy open source solutions, resolve problems quickly and effectively, and keep their infrastructures operating at peak performance. The Red Hat commitment is demonstrated by taking ownership of every customer problem, even those involving non–Red Hat products. Customers have a variety of ways to access the resources they need as well as engage key groups within Red Hat when necessary.
Premium Subscription (RH00003):
- 24×7 for severity 1 and 2 cases.
- Standard business hours of coverage for severity 3 and 4 cases are either 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (0900-1800) local time for North America or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (0900-1700) for outside North America. Standard business hours do not include weekends or local public holidays.
- Web and phone support channels.
- Unlimited support cases.
Technical Account Management
A Red Hat Technical Account Manager is a designated senior technical resource who works collaboratively with your IT organization to help you realize optimal performance and growth
- Technical Account Manager Scope of Coverage
- Technical Account Manager Service Level Agreement
Management Escalation
Raise a concern to Red Hat Support Management
Production Support
With a Red Hat subscription, your mission-critical work is backed by experience, knowledgeable, and committed support engineers.
- Production Support Scope of Coverage
- Production Support Service Level Agreement
- Severity Definitions
- Technical Support Contact Schedules
Development Support
With a Red Hat Development subscription, you can gain insights on your application development from certified engineers.
- Development Support Scope of Coverage
- Development Support Service Level Agreement
Standard subscription(RH00004):
- For all support cases, standard business hours of coverage are either 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (0900-1800) local time for North America or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (0900-1700) for outside North America. Standard business hours do not include weekends or local public holidays.
- Web and phone support channels.
- Unlimited support cases.
Self-support subscription (RH00005):
- Does not include Red Hat customer support.
- Does not include Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host.
- Can only be deployed on physical systems.
- Cannot be stacked with other subscriptions.
- Is not intended for production environments.


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Create an image
To create a new Photomix, please follow these simple steps:
- Go to the WordPress Admin › Media › Add new Photomix panel
- Choose a template
- Upload images for all Photomix image slots. Below the images you can set up their scale, invert them or delete
- In the left top corner you can find the symbols section to add different stickers to the image
- Set the name for the Photomix in the right top corner and press save to add it to the media library
- Press download to obtain the image file directly
Currently, the plugin offers the following templates:
- one image
- two equal images
- three equal images
- four equal images
- square window
- blurred image
- two slash divided images
- two zigzag divided images
- two lightning divided images
You can add to your new viral image the following stickers:
Settings page
Photomix provides a few settings to adjust final look of created images. The settings are accessible under the WP Admin Panel › Settings › Photmix page.


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SherpaShare - Driver Assistant 17+
Boost Your Driver Earnings
SherpaShare, Inc
- Free
- Offers In-App Purchases
iPhone Screenshots
Do you drive for Uber, Lyft or another platform? Use the ultimate rideshare driver assistant to boost your earnings 30% or more with automatic mileage tracking, expense tracking, and smart driver Pro Tools that help you plan the best routes and get more pings. Start your free 14-day trial today!
- SherpaShare automatically tracks your driving mileage for business and tax purposes using advanced tracking technology. You'll get the tax deduction you deserve with almost no effort. Our users save on average $6,900 per year! Use our web dashboard to manage your finances
and expense in one place.
- SherpaShare Pro Tool set helps you make more money with real time insight about when and where to drive and how to drive.
- SherpaShare provides deep analytics for your work so you can stay top of your job.
- SherpaShare connects you with our large driver community and chat with other drivers. Get real-time info, help, and support.
- SherpaShare gives you exclusive access to huge driver saving on wears and gears.
• Automatically tracks all your mileage using your phone's GPS
• Battery-friendly
• Makes tracking revenue and expenses effortless
• IRS-compliant mileage log
• Securely backed-up in the cloud with all your financial information in one place, and accessible from every device.
• Connects you with a community of other drivers for insights into real-time road conditions, work-related questions, and stories.
• Real-time data intelligence for your ride sharing gig
• Access to more money making opportunities
If you use your personal vehicle for work, every mile you drive is worth 53.5 cents as a tax deduction or mileage reimbursement. Keeping a manual mileage log is time-consuming and a major hassle. With SherpaShare's advanced tracking technology, drivers can log more miles due to the improved accuracy and "always on" nature of our service. SherpaShare also gives you peace of mind while allowing you to focus on maximizing your earnings.
• If you drive 10,000 miles a year, your mileage deduction would be $5,350. That's 10,000 miles x $0.535 (standard mileage rate) = $5,350. That's money you won't need to pay in taxes or money that you get back from your employer as a reimbursement!
• The average SherpaShare customer is logging $6,900 in mileage deductions or reimbursements.
• Integrates seamlessly with sherpashare web dashboard using the same login.
• All your mileage and expenses are securely backed up in one place.
Upgrade to our premium membership to access all of our features for $5.99/month recurring or $59.99/year recurring.
"A 12-mile business drive earns you $6.48 in deductions, more than the cost of SherpaShare premium membership for one month."
" Your SherpaShare subscription can be reimbursed or tax-deducted as a business expense"
If you choose to subscribe, you will be charged a price according to the selected plan. The price will be shown in the app before you complete the payment. Monthly subscriptions renew each month, and annual subscriptions renew each year unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your iTunes account will automatically be charged within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period and you will be charged for one month at a time. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings.
Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. SherpaShare Tracker has been designed to limit iOS GPS usage, so it uses a nominal amount of battery power.
• Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/sherpashare
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sherpashare
• Term: www.sherpashare.com/terms
• Privacy: www.sherpashare.com/privacy
What's New
Version 3.2
Better and faster tracking
Ratings and ReviewsSee All
Automatic & Accurate!
I've been using this app for two weeks after trying out 3 other apps and found this app to be the most accurate and easy to use! I even compared the app's calculations to the trip odometer in my car and they were exactly the same. You don't even have to open the app it just automatic tracks your trip, which you can categorize into work or personal with one tap at the end of the day. The app even sends a push notification once it's trip is complete as a reminder to categorize it, if you like to stay organized throughout the day. You are able to review all of your mileage from day to day and even export all the data into an excel spreadsheet. Try it out for free, you will see for yourself how useful this app is.
Works for Me
As a new driver to Lyft, Uber and Postmates, as well as a shuttle van driver for a property management company, I appreciate the growing number of apps being created to accommodate rideshare drivers. I've used another popular self-employment accounting app for my kettle corn concession biz, which can be adapted to my rideshare driving, but I appreciate that SherpaShare is designed specifically for rideshare drivers utilizing multiple platforms. The UI is friendly and intuitive. Modifications for my particular situation are easy to do. I would like to see more detailed information about each ride's start and stop points (addresses, landmarks, etc.). If I don't keep up with categorizing each ride it can be challenging to remember which one is which. I am evaluating other apps to use either with or independent of my kettle corn business and at this point SherpaShare is in the lead.
Best for ride sharing so far, but needs some polish
SherpaShare does indeed do the work for you at a reasonable cost. If the company remains committed with enhancements and updates, it will own this market.
Taking all automatic approach (even integrating with an Automatic adapter), the app lacks real time trip tagging and manual trip entry. Relying on a server and web portal for the above features removes some of the app's elegance. I would find the ability to relate SherpaShare's trips to individual trips useful in case of an audit; on the other hand, logging trips en masse does mean the cost of picking up a fare is tracked with appropriate mileage deduction.
SherpaShare also focuses on Uber drivers despite allowing tagging of virtually every rideshare service known. The app would be improved if it supported Lyft as thoroughly as it does Uber. Since navigation apps like Waze are integrated with Lyft and Uber's Driver apps, there may be appropriate APIs to deeply enhance SherpaShare.
The premium features, although useful, also focus on Uber more than Lyft. Of exceptional note is the chat feature. If one wishes to enjoy political diatribes, rudeness and obscenity, jump right in! I, however, would encourage policing of user names, behavior and posting by a moderator.
Overall, unless something better comes out, I'll be using SherpaShare.
- Seller
- SherpaShare, Inc
- Size
- Category
- Finance
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
- Languages
- Age Rating
- 17+
- Unrestricted Web Access
- Location
- This app may use your location even when it isn't open, which can decrease battery life.
- Copyright
- © Sherpashare, Inc.
- Price
- Free
- In-App Purchases
- SherpaShare Membership Premium Subscription $5.99
- SherpaShare Membership Premium Subscription $59.99
Family Sharing
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.


text: Philbrook Museum of Art is honored to present this conversation with Sharon Louden, contributing artist Hrag Vartanian (editor and co-founder of Hyperallergic) and artist Wendy Red Star. Through this event, participants will learn about, lend voices to, and be inspired by the vast range of influence that visual artists exert on society – increasing our understanding and valuing of artists as culture producers today. Event is free and open to the public.


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Community health workers vow to lead right to health campaigns
Community health workers who completed the basic health skills training conducted by the Council for Health and Development (CHD) vowed to lead health campaigns and educate, organize and mobilize more people to struggle for their right to health.
At her age of 78, Nanay (mother) Francing should be the one to receive proper health care; instead she has chosen to provide it.
Nanay Francing is one of the those who have completed the basic health skills training conducted by the Council for Health and Development (CHD) last September 8 at barangay San Antonio in Paranaque City, becoming the latest community health workers trained under CHD's right to health program. Third World Health Aid has been CHD's partner in the latter's task to build the capacity of people's organizations to set up people-managed health care system at the community level as part of strengthening the broader movement for social change. The training includes understanding of the root causes of the country's health situation and diagnosis, prevention and treatment of common diseases. The basic health skills training is a prerequisite activity for the formation of a health committee that will take the lead in the right to health campaigns and health services delivery.
Paranaque City is located at the southern part of Metro Manila. Several large-scale reclamation projects are in the offing to convert some of its areas to tourism, entertainment, business and commercial districts. Most of these areas have been home to several urban-poor communities which are now facing threats of demolition. The development projects are in line with the national government's public-private partnership (privatization) program. It is the centerpiece of President Aquino's economic program to solve the most pressing problem of budget deficit by attracting participation of the private sector in infrastructure development. But contrary to its declared purpose, PPP has become the most convenient way for profit-driven big local and foreign corporations to control strategic infastructures such as power generation, water utilities, rail transit and others at the expense of the poor who comprise the majority of the population. In many cases, infrastructure development under PPP has led to dislocation of poor communities affected by the projects.
In a graduation ceremony held at the village daycare center, the participants received certificates to officially recognize their completion of the basic health skills training. Besides performing basic diagnosis and treatment for common diseases as well as making referrals for patients who need higher level of services, they are also tasked to take the lead in educating, organizing and mobilizing people in the campaigns for the right to health and other issues affecting their community.
"I know I cannot perform some functions anymore like getting bp (blood pressure) but I can still help in diagnosing common diseases and treating them with herbal medicines. If they need me, I am always available," said Nay Francing.
Nanay Francing and the rest of the new community health workers have long been active in the struggle for the right to health and proper settlement. They are constant participants in rallies against privatization of government hospitals as well as government policies and projects that threaten their village such as demolitions. But upon completion of the basic health skills training, they have committed to step up to a higher level of service by becoming health activists and leaders for societal change.
"Although I am old, I am always present at rallies. They said I should just stay at home; but as long as my body permits, I will not stop" continued Nay Francing.
Although the village, which is situated beside a creek, is not part of the areas under the current reclamation projects, the residents, nonetheless, face demolition by virtue of the government's no-build zone policy where danger zones like creeks and riverbanks are cleared of structures to reduce risk during typhoons and floodings. Although the intention is seemingly good, the residents are against the policy because the government has no clear relocation program and the so-called clearing of "danger zones" is just being used to drive away the residents to pave the way for the development of the area. In fact, a neighboring village had already been demolished to start the construction of condominium buildings and a commercial complex.
But Nanay Francing need not worry because there are many others who are willing to follow her path. Like June, one of the graduates, who at 18 years of age has pledged to give more of his time in the health campaigns and health service delivery.
"I am willing to learn more so that I can serve more," said June.


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Process Development Engineer
Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Apple is a place where extraordinary people assemble to do their best work. Together we build products and experiences people once couldn't have envisioned - and now can't imagine living without. Are you excited by the idea of making a real impact? Are you prepared to dream big? Then a career with Apple might be your dream job. We would love to hear from you! An extraordinary opportunity to be part of our Process and Test Engineering group, responsible to develop assembly and test processes, equipment and materials for leading edge optical modules!
Key Qualifications
- Ideally, you will have:
- Over 5 years hand-on experience in semiconductor module packaging or test, especially, Camera Module, laser, LED or related Process
- Fluent in English communication, additional language skills a plus
- Experienced working with subcontract manufacturing partners
- Experience in semiconductor module assembly required, with camera module, laser optics, LED and prox modules a plus.
- High volume manufacturing, and production ramp experience
- Knowledgeable in production control processes, machine commissioning, data analysis/interpretation GR&R, Cp/Cpk and correlation analysis, MSA;
In this role, you are to work in a close and collaborative relationship with subcontract manufacturing partners engineering teams to develop the HVM infrastructure required to produce the highest quality hardware. Responsibilities include: - Develop Camera Module manufacturing & Test process / equipments / materials for FOL (Front Of Line) and EOL (End Of Line) - Develop new manufacturing process / equipment / material for Camera module related components; - Provide technical leadership in resolving any process or test related issue; - Responsible for developing DOEs, Statistical Process Analysis, Process specification, D/PFMEA and Process control plan - Responsible for Failure analysis, Corrective actions and Yield improvement
Education & Experience
Degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electronics, Electrical, Physics or equivalent)


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The Vineyard Victims: A Wine Country Mystery
The death of a former presidential candidate in a fiery car crash at her Virginia vineyard has ties to a thirty year-old murder, as well as to Lucie Montgomery's own near fatal accident ten years ago, as she searches for a killer who now may be stalking her.
When Jamison Vaughnbillionaire real estate mogul, Virginia vineyard owner, and unsuccessful U.S. presidential candidatedrives his gold SUV into a stone pillar at the entrance to Montgomery Estate Vineyard, Lucie Montgomery is certain the crash was deliberate. But everyone else in Atoka, Virginia is equally sure that Jamie must have lost control of his car on a rain-slicked country road. In spite of being saddled with massive campaign debts from the recent election, Jamie is seemingly the man with the perfect life. What possible reason could he have for committing suicide . . . or was it murder?
Before long Lucie uncovers a connection between Jamie and some of his old friendsan elite group of academicsand the brutal murder thirty years ago of a brilliant PhD student. Although a handyman is on death row for the crime, Lucie soon suspects someone else is guilty. But the investigation into the two deaths throws Lucie a curve ball when someone from her own past becomes involved, forcing her to confront old demons. Now the race to solve the mystery behind the two deaths becomes intensely personal as Lucie realizes someone wants her silenced . . . for good.
The Vineyard Victims is a nominee for the 2018 Mary Higgins Clark Award.
Product Details
|St. Martin's Press
|Publication date:
|Wine Country Mystery Series , #8
|Sales rank:
|Product dimensions:
|5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
About the Author
ELLEN CROSBY is the author of the Virginia wine country mystery series, which began with The Merlot Murders. She has also written a mystery series featuring international photojournalist Sophie Medina, and Moscow Nights, a standalone. Previously she was a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, Moscow correspondent for ABC News Radio, and an economist at the U.S. Senate.
Read an Excerpt
I could see the car speeding toward me on Atoka Road, a small dark speck that was maybe a mile away but definitely traveling well above the limit on the two-lane country road that ribboned out in front of me. The car disappeared into the trough of a hill and then popped up again, accelerating as it grew closer. A cold, hard rain that had fallen for most of this early spring day had finally abated, leaving large puddles in the usual low spots and wet, slippery asphalt that could be treacherous if you took a turn too fast.
The driver was motoring like he had stolen something, fast and careless, weaving back and forth across the road into my lane. By now the car was close enough that I recognized the gold SUV that belonged to Jamie Vaughn, who six months ago had been a candidate for the office of president of the United States. It looked like Jamie was behind the wheel, alone in the car. Even though it was just past noon, I wondered if he'd been drinking. Like me, Jamie owned a family vineyard, and aftera devastating loss in November, I'd heard rumors about how he was coping — or more like not coping — though I'd never actually seen him drunk.
He hadn't shifted back into his own lane, so I leaned on my horn and waited for him to correct himself, then wondered why he didn't. Maybe he was unwell — a heart attack, a stroke ... something. By now we were both approaching the turn to Sycamore Lane and the entrance to my vineyard, heading directly toward each other like a pair of jousters preparing to do battle. I'd have to cut across the road in front of him to make it into the turnoff before he reached it since I assumed he'd keep barreling right past me — or through me if I didn't get out of the way in time.
One more look at his car and the speed at which he was traveling and I knew I wouldn't make it without being broadsided. I swerved hard onto the opposite shoulder and my Jeep bounced into a deep, rutted puddle, jolting me so hard my teeth rattled in my head. I swore under my breath and fought to hold tight to the steering wheel to avoid crashing through my neighbor's split-rail fence. Jamie was driving like a lunatic.
I heard the screech of his tires before I could turn around to see what happened, followed by what sounded like a car engine accelerating. Then the crash — metal smashing into unyielding stone, so eerily reminiscent of my own accident ten years ago. I cut the engine to the Jeep and looked in my rearview mirror.
He'd hit the same pillar Greg had plowed into, and part of it had collapsed onto the hood of his car. I grabbed my phone from the console and my cane from the backseat, scrambling out of the Jeep. By the time I reached Jamie, I'd called 911. The air smelled of gasoline along with the acrid odor of deployed air bags. The impact and the toppled stone pillar had crushed the frame of the car so Jamie's door was jammed shut, but luckily his window was open. A fine coating of air bag dust had settled over the car interior and on Jamie's navy blazer and khakis. His dark brown hair looked like it had been coated with powdered sugar. Either he'd already unhooked his seat belt or he hadn't been wearing one. I guessed it was the latter. Everyone around here knew he drove without buckling up. He'd even got called out on it during the presidential campaign.
There was blood on his face from a gash in his head, and he was wheezing as if he couldn't catch his breath. His internal injuries were probably worse, maybe a gut punch from the air bag or he'd hit the steering column without the restraining protection of the seat belt.
I reached in and shook him gently. "Jamie, it's Lucie. Lucie Montgomery. Can you move? We need to get you out of here. I smell gasoline and I think your engine is about to catch fire."
He gave me a confused, glassy-eyed look. "No."
I yanked on his door, which budged a little. "Help me," I said, urgency creeping into my voice. "We haven't got much time. Push against the door, will you? I'll keep pulling."
It was the same spot where I'd been trapped inside Greg's Corvette. The exact same spot. That time the fire department needed the Jaws of Life to extract me, but at least the car hadn't caught fire. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Jamie reached through the open window and clutched the sleeve of my jacket. His hand was red and raw, probably from air bag burns.
"I'm sorry," he said, with surprising force. His eyes, now trying to focus on mine, were feverishly bright, and I wondered if he was a bit high, what he'd taken. "Tell him I'm sorry."
I leaned closer and smelled alcohol on his breath. Maybe he'd mixed booze with pills. "What are you talking about? Jamie ... we have to hurry."
Something slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground, landing at my feet. A MedicAlert bracelet. It must have snapped and fallen off his wrist with the impact of the air bag. I picked it up and shoved it in my jacket pocket. When the ambulance arrived, they would need the information on it.
"Tell Rick," he said and coughed up blood. "Do you hear me? Tell Rick I need him to forgive me." He tried to wipe away the blood with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry. So very sorry."
"Sure," I said. Anything to placate him. "I'll tell him. Now come on, you have to help me."
"No," he said again, his voice thick with blood. "S'okay. You promise, right?"
"Jamie —"
"Lemme alone, Lucie. It's too late." He coughed, spitting a spume of blood like a projectile. It sprayed over me, stinging my face and leaving a trail across my jacket, my shirt, and my jeans, as shocking as a hard slap. For an instant I froze, then my brain kicked in again.
Get him out of there. He's choking on his own blood.
"It's not too late. Dammit, Jamie." I was losing him. The heat from the fire that had started under the hood was as hot as if I were standing at the open door to a furnace. I tugged on the car door. "Come on."
I didn't hear the other vehicle until the brakes screeched as someone pulled up behind me. When I turned around, Mick Dunne, my next-door neighbor, was scrambling out of his Land Rover, hollering as he sprinted toward me.
"Lucie, get away from the car. The engine's caught fire."
I glanced at Jamie, who was now unconscious, eyes closed, blood still trickling from one side of his mouth. Black smoke poured from the front of the car and flames appeared through the front driver wheel well and around the edges of the smashed-in hood. The heat burned my skin. My clothes felt like they were becoming congealed to my body.
"I know," I said. "Mick! Hurry!"
"Get out of there," he yelled. "Now!"
"Jamie Vaughn is trapped inside. I can't open the door. Help me!"
Mick reached me and easily scooped me into his arms. He smelled of horses and hay and sweat. "The engine's going to blow up any second. Come on."
"No!" I pummeled his shoulders with my fists. "We can't leave him to die like this. He's still alive. Mick, he's your friend."
Two pops sounded like gunshots and we both flinched. "That's the tires exploding," Mick said in a tense voice. "Lucie, dammit, we can't save him."
The thick smoke, which had morphed into a black funnel cloud, now engulfed us. My eyes stung and my lungs felt like they would explode. Over the roar of the blaze I heard Jamie's agonized scream as the flames spread to the interior of the car, burning it like a funeral pyre.
Mick pulled my head down, jamming my face against his shoulder. "Don't look," he said as we moved away from the fire. "Just don't."
"Put me down. Get away from me." My voice was muffled against the scratchy denim of his jacket. I punched his shoulder with my fist, but this time I knew it was too late. "Let me go."
He obeyed, setting me down as soon as we were out of range of the fire and the vicious smoke. I stumbled away from him and dropped to my knees, gasping as I tried to catch my breath. My cane was somewhere near Jamie's car. I'd dropped it when Mick picked me up.
"Lucie —" Mick was on the ground, too, coughing convulsively. "Lucie —"
"We let him die."
Sirens wailed in the distance. I turned away so Mick wouldn't see my tears. The smoke was now an enormous column that plumed into the sky like a dark, ominous genie. Below it, the fire blazed, turning the car into a charred metal skeleton like the picked-clean bones of an animal devoured by a predator.
Jamie was dead, gone, consumed by the fire.
Mick came over to me, grabbing my arm. "Don't you ever say that again." His mouth was next to my ear and his anger cut through me like a whip. "If we'd stayed to help him, we'd have been immolated just like he was. Do you hear me? I saved your damn life."
He shook my arm hard and dropped it, walking away as the first fire truck roared up Sycamore Lane.
Immolated. Killed or sacrificed by fire.
What a bizarre word choice. Except I was the only person who'd actually witnessed Jamie's car as it crashed into the wall. Or seen most of it. Not only had it seemed deliberate — he'd aimed directly for the stone pillar and hadn't slowed down — but he also didn't help me open the door and free him before the car caught fire.
Everyone knew how devastated he'd been by losing the election in spite of a gracious, upbeat concession speech. His loss had floored everyone — the media, the pollsters, his party ... the country. What made it worse was that he'd won the popular vote but lost massively in the electoral college. Jamie's opponent — now the president — had scooped up the big-prize states, claiming an overwhelming mandate, and even turned a few states the other way for the first time in decades. It had been Jamie's first time in national politics, galvanized by the belief that he could do something to change the ugly polarization and deadlocked status quo that had mired Washington for decades. His charisma, boyish good looks, and personal charm had soon elevated him above the other candidates in his party so that he'd wrapped up the primaries early in the season, swept through the national convention as his party's shining star: an appealing new candidate who was smart and telegenic, and possessed the savvy political instincts of a pro. A successful self-made businessman with a multimillion-dollar empire in international real estate, well known for his generous philanthropy, beloved in our community — one of our own — and a devoted family man. Jamison Vaughn had it all.
What had just happened?
And who was Rick, someone so obviously on Jamie's mind — or his conscience? I realized now his dying request was for me to find him and tell him Jamie was sorry. So sorry, he'd said. Forgive me.
For what?
Something so awful that it had driven him to commit suicide? Surely there had to be another explanation for why he drove into my wall. Not suicide, but a tragic accident. Maybe a lethal combination of drugs and booze.
Jamie's death would be national — no, international — news. As the only witness, there was no way I wanted to tell anyone I suspected it had been suicide and destroy the reputation of a man who had done so much good in his lifetime.
But in my heart of hearts that's exactly what I thought had happened: Jamie Vaughn had deliberately taken his own life in a gruesome and violent way.
And I was the only one who had witnessed what he'd done.
The first fire truck from the Middleburg Fire and Rescue Station roared into Sycamore Lane, lights flashing and sirens blaring, followed by a blur of emergency rescue vehicles, an ambulance, and a brown-and-gold Loudoun County Sheriff's Department cruiser. A moment later the battalion chief's car pulled up. A man suited up in firefighting gear got out of the SUV.
"I'll handle this," Mick said.
Before I could protest, he sprinted over to the battalion chief, pointing to the flames shooting out of Jamie's car and to me. Then he shook his head. I knew why. He was saying we'd arrived on the scene too late to save Jamie.
I wrapped my arms around my waist and watched two firefighters train a hose on the SUV. It didn't take long for the flames to subside and the sooty black smoke to dissolve into a grayish-white mushroom cloud enveloping what remained of the chassis and drifting over nearby rows of my dark brown grapevines on the verge of bud break.
Mick and the battalion chief split up and he joined me again. "You obviously told the nine-one-one dispatcher it was Jamie's car, which is why a battalion chief showed up right away," he said. "I told him what happened."
"Yes, I'm sure you did." I kept my eyes locked on the firefighters who were still dousing the SUV with water.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No." I gave him a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look. "I'm not. You shouldn't be, either, after what just happened."
He blew out a short, angry breath. "Bloody hell, Lucie, we couldn't have saved him." His voice had an edge that I didn't like. "You're not going to say anything different, are you?"
Part of me knew he was right, that we probably couldn't have gotten Jamie out of the car before the fire reached him. What bothered me — actually, haunted me — was that Jamie hadn't wanted to escape and Mick hadn't tried to yank open the car door. He and Jamie had known each other for decades; they'd met their freshman year of college at the University of Virginia, and Mick, who was from London, had practically been adopted by Jamie's family, spending every holiday and school break at the Vaughns' home in Richmond when he didn't return to England. Everyone knew they were as close as brothers. Did Mick know Jamie had some kind of death wish?
Or why?
"I'm not going to lie," I said to Mick, my voice stiff with anger, "if that's what you mean."
There is also some history between Mick Dunne and me: We've slept together. Sex changes the dynamics of everything, especially if it's in the past and the relationship didn't end well. Forever afterward you know each other with an intimacy that leaves you vulnerable and more emotional when you're together, plus there's a hidden subtext in every remark or casual comment you make. At least we'd managed to stay friends — we were, after all, neighbors who owned adjacent vineyards — but the backstory of our tumultuous affair still tripped us up. Like it was doing now.
"Lucie." He reached for my shoulder, but I jerked away and kept my arms folded across my chest.
A female EMT with close-cropped gray hair and wearing a navy jumpsuit walked across Sycamore Lane, striding toward Mick and me. Her medical bag was in one hand and she was looking intently at us like she was on a mission. When she came closer, I realized that her face was young and the gray was probably premature. She pointed to my blood-spattered face and clothes.
"Are you injured?" she asked. "What happened?"
"It's not my blood," I said. "It's Jamie Vaughn's. I got to him before he lost consciousness. He started spitting up blood before he passed out."
"Would you like me to clean your face?"
"Yes, please."
She knelt and opened her kit, pulling on a pair of purple exam gloves. Then she took a couple of gauze pads from a box and sprayed them from a bottle marked "Saline Wound Wash."
Her touch was gentle and I closed my eyes as she wiped the blood off my face. "He probably sustained some pretty severe internal injuries, which caused the vomiting," she said. "More than likely a couple of crushed or broken ribs. There ... all done."
"Thank you." I opened my eyes. "He wasn't wearing a seat belt."
She groaned. "Seat belts save lives. He might still be alive if he'd used his. Did you see the crash?"
"Not exactly," I said. "I had to pull off onto the opposite shoulder to avoid him. He was speeding down Atoka Road, probably doing at least sixty. I heard the impact, then I turned around and saw his car smashed into the pillar."
"Can you stick around?" she asked. "I'll let the deputy from the sheriff's department know you were there when it happened."
"I live here," I said. "I'm not going anywhere. Thank you for ... what you did."
"You're welcome. I'm just sorry we were too late for Jamie Vaughn."
She left and Mick picked up where we'd left off. "It's going to utterly gut Elena and the boys if this goes down as a suicide, Lucie."
I flinched at the word "suicide." "If it wasn't deliberate, then what happened?"
"I don't know. He was taking medication to deal with ... losing the election and that brutal campaign. He'd also been drinking more than he ought to. He could have mixed alcohol and pills and then made an unwise decision to get behind the wheel of a car." He shrugged and gave me a look I didn't understand. "To tell you the truth, it wouldn't surprise me."
Excerpted from "The Vineyard Victims"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Ellen Crosby.
Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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Parisian-born artist Félicia Atkinson's multifaceted work embraces improvisation, science-fiction, composition, chance, noise, abstraction and poetry. Her sound palette draws from the history of electronics, musique concrète, field recordings and improvisation through the use of synthesizers, guitar and piano, abstract distortions, text-sound and infra bass.
Félicia's recent album, Hand in Hand, has generated a great deal of curiosity, excitement and intrigue, with Fact Magazine writing that Atkinson takes «the dying bleat of obsolete technology, the crack and stutter of her own voice, the atonal clatter of intuitively-played instruments – and sculpts them into flawless vignettes that lodge themselves deep in the psyche. Like the dystopian science fiction it references, Hand in Hand is bewitching, intense, meditative and at times, deeply unsettling.»
She also runs the experimental music label Shelter Press with Bartolomé Sanson.
Félicia Atkinson has played in international festivals such as GRM's Presence Electronique (Paris, FR), Rewire Festival (Den Hague, NL), Novas Frequências (Rio de Janeiro, BZ), Sound Of Stockholm (Stockholm, SE), Borderline Festival (Athens, NL). She also performed in many art venues including Lisa Cooley Gallery (New York, USA), Palais de Tokyo (Paris, FR), Kunsthal Charlottenbord (Copenhagen, DK).
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A place for startup entrepreneurs to meet in Pune
January 30, 2015 from 6pm to 7:30pm – SICSR Model Colony CloudStack Pune Meet-up Group When: Jan 30, 2015, 6 pm to 7:30pm IST Where: SICSR Model Colony Pune Event Description: This event is the meet-up for Apache CloudStack enthusiasts, developers, users… Organized by Prashant Kulkarni | Type: technical, meetup
August 10, 2015 from 3:30pm to 6pm – Training Room, Venture Center, 100 NCL Innovation Park, Agri-residues comprise diverse forms of biomass generated during the cropping of food, fruit and other plantation crops as an agrarian activity that remains unutilized and even in some cases unharves… Organized by Soma Chattopadhyay | Type: technical, event
December 12, 2015 to December 13, 2015 – ThoughtWorks Technologies Pvt Ltd 6th Floor, Binarius Building Deepak Complex,National Games Road Shastrinagar, Yerawada,Pune, Maharashtra 411006, Pune The most exciting Tech event coming up in December 2015. This year we will focus on Android, Android Wear, Polymer, Virtual Reality, IoT and much more other topics. Sessions on all new technologies… Organized by Mahaveer | Type: technical, networking
February 3, 2017 from 3:30pm to 6:30pm – Lacture Theatre (1st Floor of 100 NIP Building), Venture Center , 100 NCL Innovation Park, Pashan, Pune 411008 Come lets learn from the experts: Is there a new business opportunity in plastic waste? If so what exactly in it? Is there a new technology development opportunity in plastic waste? If so what exactl… Organized by Soma Chattopadhyay | Type: technical, event
June 24, 2017 from 11am to 5pm – reserved-bit, Office number 337, Amanora Chambers In this workshop we will start with a simple program bug to show how it can be exploited to do something unexpected and then look at various ways in which program bugs can be exploited with a focus o… Organized by Nisha | Type: technical, workshop, hacking, c
July 28, 2017 from 5pm to 7pm – MCCIA Trade Tower - Main Floor. Sumant Moolgaokar Auditorium ICC Complex TechJam is a non-profit initiative that aims at building a community of techies, interested in learning and exploring new technologies. Topic: Algorithms for Physics: From Euclid to AI, and beyond -… Organized by Rohan Asodekar | Type: technical, talk
December 4, 2017 at 10am to December 9, 2017 at 2pm – Viman Nagar Why Everybody Should Learn to Build a Web Site In the past, if you wanted to spread the word about who you are and what your business is all about, you pounded the pavement or placed an ad in the yel… Organized by Mukesh | Type: technical, workshop
March 17, 2018 from 4:30pm to 8pm – Tridal Apartments, 2nd Floor, ITpreneur, J. M. Road, Opposite Hotel Pathik, Pune, · Pune Again following our favorite pattern - unconference. Here, every Blockchain Enthusiast can have a chance to talk on any topic (his product, research, ask query or anything tech). Meetup.com - Event l… Organized by The Enthusiasts | Type: meetup, unconference, technical
March 31, 2018 from 4:30pm to 8pm – UnplugInfinity Office Again following our favorite pattern - unconference. Here, every VR/AR Enthusiast will have a chance to talk on any topic (his product, research, ask query or anything related to VR/AR tech). If you… Organized by The Enthusiasts | Type: meetup, unconference, technical
April 14, 2018 at 9am to April 29, 2018 at 6pm – Supreme Center, ITI Road, Aundh, Pune Learn to build IoT application and get hands on experience with Arduino, RaspberryPI and cloud platforms. Collect, process and analyze data for your IoT applications. Gateway to your IoT learning s… Organized by Rahul Malewar | Type: technical, seminar


text: Leçons de choses it is the universe of Magali Arbib artist and decorator. The children's decor brand offers an attractive retro and contemporary style. It is inspired by vintage fabrics, photos, architecture and urban cultures to create unique collections. The brand offers all kinds of products, including simple and practical backpacks and school binders, all of great quality.


text:
Knock the Grammar Nazis Down and Make Them Think
Yesterday, I was writing.
Ha, I jest. Yesterday I was considering writing while really reading about writing. Because that's pretty much the same thing.
Anyway, while "writing" I came across this article by a screenwriter coach who diplomatically entitled his article, "Why Your Screenplay Sucks," or something equally poetic.
It was a typical blog with the usual hackneyed advice, yet despite the tone of the title, I almost got all the way through it before I found something to complain about—as I am wont to do.
I finally read this passage:
It's all too obvious when I'm entering virgin territory as a reader. If mine are the first eyeballs (other than the writer's) to scan the pages, invariably they're peppered with typos, incorrect usage of apostrophes, wrongly used words, random character names, formatting errors, confusing sentence structure, and all manner of monstrosities that disrupt my engagement with the text and have me wanting to claw my own cheeks off.
Yeah, these are not problems that come from not getting outside feedback, these are problems that come from not doing a second draft.
"Does it matter?" you say. "You're agreeing there's a problem. So what if he's suggesting a symptom of having no one read it? He's not directly saying it's the cause. He's just offering up (in an offhanded manner) a solution," you say.
Blah, blah, blah. Yes, that is exactly the problem, I say.
In physics, the definition of probability means that anything is possible, just to an insignificant degree. Therefore, there is a chance that the molecules in my hands will align with the molecules in my keyboard and I'll fall right through it. If that's possible, then it is certainly possible to make a great first draft. I'm just not saying we should bank on it.
I don't think the theory of "all first drafts suck" is a good one, but on the flip side, I think it just makes sense that nothing bad comes from revisiting your work. In most occasions, there's going to be something an author wants to change, and even if—on the off chance—it is just magically perfect, the writer needs to refresh his memory. A book takes at least several weeks to write, if you are damn fast. For most of us it can be months or years. No one remembers everything they did, and I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten advice I thought was good until I actually reread and reunderstood my work.
What annoys me is not that Screenwriting Coach judges a book by its typos (I do too. And while misspelled words aren't directly correlated the author's inability to satisfy me, it is statistically a good sign that he won't) but that he says it's obvious no one else has read the script because of these typos. To which I say, bunk.
You don't need anyone else to read your script to get rid of typos. And in fact, most of these problems should be solved before we get the beta readers involved.
Here's what happens when you give out a fresh-out-of-the-mind draft of a story.
1) There will be typos.
How many, however, depends on how much you write. My first drafts now have far less than my earlier novels. The more you write, the more you practice writing correctly, and the more you learn about grammar rules, the less you make mistakes the first time out. But they will exist.
2) People will give all their attention to the easiest, most obvious mistakes. Which will be typos, because you have them.
See the case of Mr. Screen Coach par example. He has every right to complain about typos and is correct in suggesting they're distracting. The issue is him insisting that "If mine are the first eyeballs (other than the writer's) to scan the pages, invariably they're peppered with typos."
Nope. Catching typos is easy. It's not fun. It's tedious for many, but it's not a complex issue. Sure, it's inconsistent enough that the computer can't do all the work, but there's a reason we have a spell check and not a break in continuity check on Word.
I assure you not only can an author fix his own typos, he should. If only, at least, in a cursory glance sort of way.
As a Grammar Nazi Card Holder since 1999, and yet the least precise person in the world, I can attest to both sides of being annoyed by poor grammar and being a hypocrite therein. Spelling was not my forte when I started writing, and neither is closely checking to see if the words I think I wrote are the ones I actually wrote.
What I learned from my haphazard turning in English essays without checking them is that you will never get in-depth feedback when there's typos to discuss.
Now, I know that wasn't Mr. Screen Coach's point. But the suggestion to get a second pair of eyes to fix "typos, incorrect usage of apostrophes, wrongly used words, random character names, formatting errors, confusing sentence structure, and all manner of monstrosities that disrupt my engagement with the text," is exactly what some people do. And I think it's a mistake. He's implying that you need outside feedback to make sure you didn't make these cut and dried mistakes, where as I argue these aren't the mistakes your second pair of eyes should even be seeing. It also bypasses the real reasons we want feedback and exactly what I (at least) don't want.
Again, I'm good at knowing the rules, and I'm decent at implementing them as I write them. But I do slip up, and when it comes to mistakes that have already been made, I'm really really terrible at finding them. It's not that I don't want people to point them out for me—that's great. You're sitting there, reading through it, you notice it, it makes my life all kinds of easier—it's that I don't want that to be the focus of your criticism.
I'm not getting a second pair of eyes to tell me about my spelling errors. I believe it's harder to get someone to read your damn manuscript then it is to fix your own typos, no matter how inattentive to detail you (re: I) are. While it'd be stupid to not say something, what I'm looking for is information. More importantly information that I can't get for myself.
I cannot have a first impression of my own work, even if I let it sit for years. I can't strip the knowledge of what I actually meant to say to see what I actually said. I can't see how the order in which I put the information together is confusing, or stop filling in the blanks when I left something out. I don't know what is unique to me (like laughing at menstruation jokes) until you tell me it's not funny to you. I also don't know that most people don't know what "chagrin" means, or know that most people do know what it means, but my one beta reader was especially sheltered.
If I manage to get someone willing to read my book for free the last thing I want from them is a series of impersonal red lines telling me I need a comma. Or that I spelled "coma" wrong.
I want people point out, "I don't know what the hell is going on." Or "I don't like that character." Or "I totally thought the community and the union was the same group."
In my experience, people don't see past the typos. When a writer gives someone a first draft, the feedback is often what he could have seen for himself after a first read through. And if the author's lazy enough or has enough friends, maybe that's what he wants. But getting someone to read the same book once, let alone over and over is difficult.
So, yeah, yeah, ScreenCoach was really saying don't have typos. And he'd probably agree with me in saying you should get rid of as many of them as you can before giving it out. I'm just saying we shouldn't perpetuate that's what second pair of eyes are for.
There are a lot of Grammar Nazis out there with far more interesting opinions rather than not ending a sentence in a preposition. Force the bastards to think for themselves and not allow them to focus on the easy marks, question or otherwise.
I just finished the quilt I will be giving away for the launch of my serial short stories this December.
Here it is:
Edgar and I will set up a raffle in early December. If you are interest in winning this beauty, all you will have to do is find your way back here and confirm you're following me via Twitter, Facebook, or my blog. It's free, and it's a pretty good prize.
If you're interested in keeping updated when I actually start the raffle, I will be announcing it on my social networks.
So bookmark this page, follow this blog, follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook page!
(I do reciprocate.)
(I do reciprocate.)


text:
Download Cafeteria Nipponica (MOD, unlimited money) free on android
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text:
Thursday, 17 October 2013 11:12
"Our only path to liberation is resistance, and saving Jerusalem…We need to take a clear stance, Jerusalem is a Red Line. Jerusalem is the soul of the cause." -Khaled Meshaal, Hamas political bureau chief
The first warning we had concerning the nature of a Red Line came from the Serpent (read Satan) that leered enticingly from Yahweh's Tree of Good and Evil as Eve sauntered near. He knew the nature of G-d's creatures; he knew that if he were to conquer G-d he must open Eve's and Adam's eyes to their true nature, the depraved nature that rules by arrogance, treachery, hubris and power.
He knew that Yahweh had opened the door to that depravity by decree:
"From every tree of the garden you may eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat; for the day you eat of it, you must die." -Genesis 2:16-17
He knew a demand placed in the path of a righteous man raises caution in thought, perception and action; he knew as well as demand placed before a deceitful nature offers promise of conquest and reward, and Satan after all, is the master of Deceit and guides destiny to his end. A proclaimed Red line, an apple dripping with luscious juice, entices the deceitful to act that his ends will be engaged by those who rule lest their hubris be besmirched and ridiculed as weakness by non-action, and once engaged the juice flows with the blood of the vanquished.
Certainly Khaed Meshaal knows this story that has the wisdom that knows of human depravity and its consequences. Even more certain is the knowledge that it has been used by the most deceitful of all our ruthless rulers that govern in the mid-East, the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu.
A year ago this arrogant stood before the nations of the world gathered in their citadel of deliberation in New York City and, with the care of an innocent child presenting a school project before his classmates, lifted a kindergarten poster of a bomb, a bomb drawn in the shape of a bowling ball topped with a circular hole out of which protruded a fuse, and proceeded to instruct the world on how to determine evil and how to eradicate it—and he drew a Red Line across the neck of that bowling ball and dared the world to deny him the right to destroy one of their member states should that line be crossed.
That I put to you is arrogance, treachery, hubris and power, a power inherent in a tiny nation that uses its most trusted friend to serve as its power of ultimate destruction. And he knew his friends in the United States Congress and their lackey President would obey because he knew "a demand placed before a deceitful nature offers promise of conquest and reward."
What he did not present was the truth resulting from his arrogance, the devastation to the people of Iran should that Red Line be crossed; what he did not say was the truth of his arrogance that he alone had the right to determine what is right and the rest of the world must abide by his demands; what he did not illustrate in his poster was the blood that would flow in the mid-East as the dogs of war wetted their appetites for the gold that would flow to their war chests as the bodies of the innocent gathered for the last judgment.
How sad that the world must be subjected to such hypocrisy, and how sad that Khaled would use such an image to represent the rights of the Palestinian people. Knowing it was Netanyahu should have been sufficient; one does not take instruction from an idiot; let him make his tirades before the dogs of war; leave the goodness of the earth to those who value it in peace and fulfillment.
The Red Line of justice already exists, not as a threat, not as a warning to enter battle, not as a strategy to force destruction of one's enemy, but as rights determined in the charter and declarations of the United Nations.
The glory of the United Nations is in its absolute respect for the rights and dignity of every human being in every country on the planet enunciated in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its detailed definition of genocide. All in the world know what should be and what must become the means to justice, the use of the International Courts to ensure the rights of the weak as well as the strong.
The answer is not to pluck the apple of deceit and power, not to follow the enticement of the serpent, but to lure it in the ways of justice for all that it too might reside in a garden of delight surrounded by friends, sharing the wealth of the universe, the riches of the earth, the wisdom of those who care for each other with love and compassion not with deceitfulness and devastation. Would that it were so.
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text:
The five-part video series chronicling Proton's The Transporter adventure in Singapore continues, with part three and four just out. As is already known, Hanis Salleh, who emerged as the winner in The Transporter contest which ended in August, walked away with a 4-day/3-night all expense-paid trip to watch the 2011 Singapore GP at the Marina Bay street circuit, travelling to the republic with no less than Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys!
The first video centred around the prelude to the trip, while the second showcased the quartet's experience at the event with exclusive paddock passes. In the third episode, watch Diana Danielle battle it out with Jojo Struys on the "Batak machine" that F1 drivers train on to test their reflexes and reaction times, at the Proton Motorsports showcase in Clarke Quay.
As for part four, the Proton Transporter doesn't know what he's in for when the three ladies hit Arab Street. Expect the last installment, which presumably wraps things up, to be out soon enough. Shame it all had to end, eh, Hanis? :)


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Publications and Research
Listed below are many of the sites that we enjoy browsing early in the morning with our first cup of coffee. We are confident you may find them useful. If you would like to discuss any of the content, please call us at our Financial and Retirement Planning office in Buffalo NY 716-862-0500 or E. Mail us at email@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com
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When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then and I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.
On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burnt biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
Yet all my dad did was reach for the biscuits, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I do not remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I will never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits".
"Later that night I went to kiss my Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your momma put in a long hard day at work today she is really tired. And besides… A burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!".
You know life is full of imperfect things… and imperfect people. I am not the best at hardly anything and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone. What I have learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other's differences is one of the most important key to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. So please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burnt one will just do fine.
Life is too short to wake up with regrets… love the people who treat you right and have compassion for the ones who do not. Enjoy life now- It is an expiration date!