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Services: Parties, Golden shower (out), Deep Throat, Fisting anal, Golden shower (in)
Known as the city of seven mountains, Bergen in the West of Norway is a popular location for tourists and business travelers making it a rich ground for escorts to ply their trade. The city is well serviced by a range of women including transsexuals and specialist escorts providing BDSM and fetish services. In Norway, the term prostitute is seen as a very derogatory word and you will find that women who sell themselves for sex prefer to be known as sex workers or gledespike joy girl.
Some women prefer the term hjelpepleier health worker. In this guide, we take a look at the current prostitution laws and give you an idea of the adult services that are available throughout Bergen. Soliciting and advertising sex is illegal in Norway as is procuring the services of a hooker; however, selling sex is not a criminal offence. Aimed at reducing the amount of street prostitution, the Sex Purchase Ban was introduced by the Norwegian parliament in November and was implemented on 1 January Technically, brothels and street prostitution are legal and there are many places in the country where both exist.
The law simply makes it necessary for them to operate more discreetly. The majority of escorts working in Bergen are African, Eastern European or South American with a handful of Norwegian women thrown in to the mix. Rates vary depending on how and where you procure your services plus how long you are booking for and where you engage the services. As you would expect, there are a number of escort agencies in operation, however we cannot link to these or the websites of independent providers due to the strict advertising laws in place.
There are an estimated 3, sex workers operating in Norway with higher densities working in the main cities and towns. The main erotic massage parlour in Bergen is Eden that provides body-to-body, tantric body rubs. However , they explicitly state that no sexual services are performed. A full body rub on offer at Eden. Image via website. The hostesses at the After Dark club are of a high quality. A sophisticated and stylish club, After Dark has a strong reputation for the quality of its shows, relaxed atmosphere and seductive dancers.
Popular with business travelers as well as tourists, the bar has a wide range of drinks and is one of the latest venues to serve alcohol in Bergen. There is no red light district in Bergen and, with the change in law, street prostitutes are rare. The high street chain sex store sells every accessory you can imagine. Image via Google Earth. Open from 10am to 8pm Monday to Friday and until 6pm on Saturday, the Kondomeriet sells a wide range of sex toys, accessories, lingerie and novelty items.


text: Boston Bricks with a Dutch Touch - documentary 11.04.2014 - Publications Fascinating mini-documentary exploring the complex brickwork on display in the project in Boston's Dudley Square, the Dudley Municipal Center (nearing completion). Called "Boston Bricks with a Dutch Touch," this documentary features interviews with everyone involved in the project – from construction workers to architects – and focuses on the difficulty of using brick in this elaborate manner. The project incorporates three existing buildings, the first being the historic Ferdinand Building which dates back to 1895. The historic façade of this large 5 story limestone and terra cotta store will be restored and kept as a landmark, returning life to a building intimately linked to the Dudley community. The facades of the 1888 Curtis building of the Queen Anne style of red brick and the Waterman Building of 1890, built in the Boston Granite style will also be restored. In Boston, Reclaiming the Craft of Brick by Vanessa Quirk, published in Archdaily. Special thanks to: Sasaki Associates City of Boston Grande Masonry Shawmut Construction Share View Project If you would like to discuss a press enquiry reach out to us at firstname.lastname@example.com Links

subset: commoncrawl


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For two seasons now, Alabama has been the savior of Labor Day weekend college football. While the vast majority of FBS schools seek out season-opening chumps, the Crimson Tide have dared to play somebody.
Last year Bama played a neutral-field game in Atlanta against Clemson to start the season. This year it will face Virginia Tech, also in Atlanta.
Taking on ranked nonconference teams right away? That qualifies as a profile in courage these days. But compare it to 30 years ago, and Alabama looks positively soft by its own standards.
In 1978, the Tide opened the season by playing Nebraska in Birmingham, then facing Missouri on the road, then hosting USC. In October they worked in a road game at Washington.
Beyond Clemson and Virginia Tech, Alabama's other six nonconference games of 2008 and '09 are: Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, Florida International, North Texas and Chattanooga. You don't even need to ask whether any of those are road games.
And that pretty well illustrates where scheduling has gone in college football. Into hiding, namely. Everyone at the high end of the sport has taken their ball and their competitiveness and gone home -- to play Directional Tech and count their cash.
Big-time intersectional games have gone the way of the wishbone.
I asked ESPN's estimable Stats & Information group to run some numbers for this story. I wanted to compare the number of nonconference games between ranked teams from 1978, '88, '98 and 2008 -- to confirm or refute the theory that there's been a drop-off in ambitious scheduling.
The results: There were 11 games matching Top 20* teams in 1978, 15 in '88, eight in '98 and just four in '08. In other words: over the past two decades, the number of Top 20 nonconference matchups has decreased by half every 10 years. And the Top 10 matchups have virtually disappeared, going from five in '78 to seven in '88 to two in '98 and one in '08.
(* We used the Top 20 instead of Top 25 for consistency. That was the size of the poll back in 1978 and '88.)
If you go by Phil Steele's 2009 Preview Top 20, we could be looking at five such intersectional matchups this season: Alabama-Virginia Tech, BYU at Oklahoma, Georgia at Oklahoma State, USC at Ohio State and USC at Notre Dame. Not much meat on the nonconference bone.
Even with teams like Penn State, Florida State and Miami joining conferences in the 1990s, that doesn't fully explain this decrease in marquee intersectional games.
Fact is, almost everyone is trying to find the easy way to success -- which, depending on the level of your program, could be bowl eligibility, a BCS bowl or a national championship.
"All schools manage their own schedules by balancing the needs of the fans, season-ticket holders and sponsors with the needs of being competitive within their conference," said Dave Brown, vice president for programming at ESPN and the network's scheduling czar. "Some people don't mind playing more tough ones, and some people, given the demands of their conference, will not."
The number of will-nots has grown over the years. And could continue to grow in the near future, some believe.
"[Scheduling] is the most challenging it's ever been," said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, one guy who still believes in selective blockbuster scheduling. "I'm concerned, because I just don't see the strength-of-schedule philosophy being shared by as many people as we would hope if we're really concerned with the health of college football."
Here's how we got to this position of potential infirmity for what has been a robustly healthy sport:
• The BCS
Shocking that America's least favorite sports computer system would be a factor, isn't it? Even with strength of schedule as part of the BCS formula for selecting two teams to play for a national championship, the system can encourage user-friendly scheduling.
LSU, Florida and Oklahoma all have ridden strength-of-schedule advantages into the BCS National Championship Game the past two years despite losses. The Tigers played seven ranked opponents in 2007, while the Gators played five and the Sooners six in '08. LSU got a boost from playing Virginia Tech out of conference, and Oklahoma squeaked past Texas in part by playing TCU and Cincinnati.
But it's just as true that Texas Tech made a strong push for the title game last year while playing a nonconference schedule of Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and Massachusetts. If the Red Raiders had gone 13-0, they would have played for the national championship despite that travesty of a nonleague schedule.
In 2007, Kansas rose to No. 2 in the polls after opening the season with Central Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana, Toledo and Florida International.
"Everyone should schedule in a way that helps their own school," Castiglione said. "Having said that, there are some things on the horizon that make some of us wonder if it's a disincentive to scheduling harder nonconference games."
Such as?
"The premium on going undefeated."
• Conference expansion
More teams in the major conferences generally produces more league games. As recently as 1987, the Southeastern Conference played only six conference games -- now eight. The ACC played a six-game schedule until 1984. The Big Eight played a seven-game schedule but went to eight games when it became the Big 12.
And the addition of a league championship game is seen by some as one more reason to schedule a cupcake, since the strength-of-schedule hit can be overcome on the back end if the school is good enough to play for a league title.
Conference realignment also switched traditional nonconference games like Oklahoma-Texas and Florida State-Miami to conference games.
• More bowl games, more bowl revenue and more pressure to play in bowl games
What's the easiest way for a traditionally weak program to get to six wins and bowl eligibility? The Bill Snyder way, popularized during his first tenure at Kansas State: find as many beatable opponents as possible.
In 2007, Indiana went to its first bowl game in 14 years, in no small part thanks to a nonconference schedule of Indiana State, Western Michigan, Akron and Ball State. Kentucky has been to three bowls and won 23 games the past three season -- with nine of those victories coming against opponents from the Sun Belt (Louisiana-Monroe, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky) the Mid-American Conference (Central Michigan, Kent State) and FCS (Texas State, Eastern Kentucky, Norfolk State). Rutgers has used a similar formula in its four-year bowl run, with victories over Villanova, Howard, Norfolk State, Morgan State, Army (twice), Navy (thrice) and three opponents from the MAC.
Problem is, the cost of bringing in those opponents for "guarantee" games is skyrocketing. Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said he recently shelled out $975,000 to a school for a guarantee game. Castiglione said he heard of programs paying as much as $1.2 million.
And now smaller programs are turning the guarantee game even more to their advantage. If they signed a contract five years ago to play a powerhouse for, say, $500,000, what's the financial disincentive to pay a penalty and opt out of that deal and sign a new one with another power for twice as much?
"They know [the power programs] need them," Evans said. "They know they're a hot commodity."
• Money
As football has become an ever-bigger meal ticket for athletic departments, the premium on home games has increased. If you're trying to fund volleyball, softball and a new weight room, what better way than to schedule a seventh or eighth home game and rake in that many more millions?
That means one more chance per year to grab that Sun Belt or FCS opponent. And that's why the 12th game was voted into existence -- not to beef up schedules, but to beef up revenue.
Of the 65 teams in the big six leagues, 39 will play at least seven home games this season. Seven of them -- Tennessee, Auburn, Penn State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, NC State and Syracuse -- will play eight.
There aren't many Georgias out there -- schools that are using that 12th game to schedule more aggressively. Last year the previously isolationist Bulldogs played at Arizona State -- their longest regular-season trip west since 1960. This year they open with a trip to Stillwater to play Oklahoma State, and future schedules include home-and-home arrangements with Colorado, Louisville and Oregon.
"I felt we needed to gain more national exposure and recognition," Evans said. "We want to get out there and let people see the Dawgs. [Annual opponent] Georgia Tech is an A-list opponent, but that doesn't get us outside the region."
Admirable of an SEC school to resist the temptation to simply line up a cadaver and fill the seats, as most can any given Saturday. Because nowhere is it more rewarding to schedule cupcakes than the SEC, where demand for tickets is always high. They'll put 80,000 to 110,000 in the stands to see the home team play just about anyone -- including, at Alabama, itself.
It's not quite so easy at some other locales. According to one source knowledgeable in the ways of scheduling, that's why Pac-10 teams are willing to (a) play nine league games and (b) schedule high-caliber nonconference opponents -- because the fan base is a bit more fickle.
"USC will sell tickets," the source said. "A lot of other schools will not unless the game is good."
College football might be the most recession-proof sport in America, but that still doesn't mean it isn't susceptible. Especially if the major programs are continually asking fans to shell out big bucks for the Louisiana-Lafayettes of the world.
"If the steady diet is mismatches, just puffing up the winning side of the column, I'm not so sure how long people are going to acquiesce to that," Castiglione said. "Or how long they'll have the financial inventory."
Even if schools start experiencing fan backlash at the turnstiles, don't expect a return to the days of fearless intersectional scheduling. Alabama won't play a 1978 schedule again, and neither will anyone else.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at email@example.com.


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Help us raise $200,000 to keep the Rail independent, relevant, and free!
Madeline Weisburg
is an artist and writer based in Brooklyn.
On a Universal Serial BusBy Madeline Weisburg
n the age of Dropbox and cloud computing it is not difficult to imagine the USB flash drive's future techno-fossil status. Yet as a presently universal interface, pathway, connector, translator and storehouse, the flash drive is a simple and even obvious way to distribute digital works of art.
Lee Lozano Private Books 1-3By Madeline Weisburg
"Rebellion?" Lee Lozano asks in one of her late 1960s journals. "Ce-rebellion! Cerebellion." The note, an offhand entry jotted out in ballpoint pen, seems a fitting way to describe the artist's particular brand of artistic defiance, synthesizing as it does the tone, form, and ideology of her now-legendary conceptual practice, which manifested itself as a series of private acts of refusal.
In Part:
By Madeline Weisburg
Writings by Julie Ault
Within the universe of Julie Aults workin the dozens of exhibitions staged as a member of the collective Group Material, pages written on her artistic heroes, and histories recorded on alternative and hard-to-categorize creative practiceschronologies and an accompanying interrogation of the structures that guide them are perennial matters of concern.
Iris Müller–Westermann: Hilma af Klint: Notes and MethodsBy Madeline Weisburg
Perhaps the most surprising of the many surprising things about Hilma af Klints retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum is how rational it feels.
Changes: Notes on Choreography and Women's WorkBy Madeline Weisburg
Changes telegraphs the sustained themes of the prominent 20th-century choreographers non-representational dance practice, emphasizing by way of its fragmented form his maverick interests in collaboration, pedagogy, technology, chance-based methods, and ephemeral experiences that occur in relation to the written form. Cutting together extensive notebook entries overlaid with instructions for individual dances, photographs, theater programs, movement charts, and assorted notations by members of his cohort such as his longtime partner John Cage, the project registers as a working example of his methodology, in which sound, visual elements, and movement could be independently and suggestively developed in close proximity on stageor in this case, on the page.
The Art Happens Here: Net Art AnthologyBy Madeline Weisburg
In the visual arts, despite the spate of exhibitions devoted to understanding life in the age of the internet, art practices that happen online and attendant questions surrounding their platforms, networks, and unique mechanics of reading, looking, context, and display are still historically peripheral or misconstrued. This is in part a problem of preservation.


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Utkal Hydrocarbons


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OH man, OH gosh, I remain so very bummed out since the idiot was inaugurated. I suppose my only solace is thinking that he could get impeached. Today, February 15th, a lot of news has come out about how many folks in his administration had/continue to have contact with Russian intelligence agents. To me, that is tantamount to treason.
I sympathize with your feelings. The challenge to every unhappy American lies in discovering means (while out of power) to move the US in the direction each thinks the country should be going in. There is a complex of social goods the nation should be pursuing–to my mind concentrating on those is of paramount importance. I appreciate those in power who are speaking out against Trump–including John McCain and Lindsay Graham–because ultimately curbing the president will depend on the determination of people across the political spectrum. The Democratic party is in too weak a position to accomplish much without combining with Republicans when they can.
I know this is unpalatable but from a political point of view it's true.


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About five years ago a box jewellery, valued at £200, was stolen out of the safe at Mr W. J. Fimister's Wollongong Hotel, and although every search was made, no trace of the missing articles could be found. On Wednesday last, whilst a man named William Wilshire was digging out a drain in the hotel yard, he came across the missing articles buried in the
ground about 18 inches deep. Nearly all the missing articles were in a small tin box, which had completely rusted away. On searching through the dirt two diamond rings, a gold watch, diamond bracelet, and gold brooch were discovered.
– The Shoalhaven News (NSW ) Saturday 18 December 1909.
Categories: NSW hotels


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Workplace bullying requires everyone to be responsible to change the workplace environment. Allowing the unacceptable behavior to continue, it's our fault.
When we advocate this responsibility to someone else to handle, like HR or management or whoever we are bascially saying it's someone else's problem.
For example one day a work, while I was having my lunch in the lunchroom, another co-worker (I'll call him Brad) was swearing using profanity with other co-workers and then gets on the phone with his brother to say "We have to get in the game, even if we have to lie and cheat to do so." I am thinking what kind of morales does this guy have? After the call, he hangs up and says to his buddies that he has a very high IQ brags about how intelligent he is. After about 5 minutes of this, I had, had enough I certainly didn't need to keep listening to his language while trying to enjoy my lunch break.
I turned to him and said, "If you are so intelligent could you please tell your mouth to quit swearing, I don't need to listen to this on my lunch and I am sure no one else is interested either."
Of course, I was the only person willing to speak up. Anyway, he said, "Maybe."
In the days following that event, Brad and his buddies would talk loud and still swear once in a while when I came into the lunch room. I would look at him and shake my head. What is up with that? I guess I embarassed him in front of his buddies or co-workers.
Shortly, thereafter someone must of spoken to him about his language and behavior at work because he is actually pleasant to be around. Do we have conversations? No, it was a calm and peaceful room.
What are you willing to do about bullying or bad behavior in your workplace or community?
Speak up and confront the person or ignore it and hope it goes away? It won't go away, because as long as the person, or persons' think that they can get away with it, they will continue to do it.
I sense some of us will continue to say something to the person/s to confront the bad or not acceptable behavior and the other percentage of people will ignore it, thinking it's going to go away. Here's an interesting first look. (this was in Fast Company March 2007)
A book written by Robert I. Sutton February 2007 wrote a book "The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't."
Sutton is a Stanford Professor who counsels people on surviving jerks at work and taming your own inner jerk. Here's a excerpt for his book: "A company decide that in addition to warnings and training it was time to quantify the incremental costs of Ethan's bad behavior and deduct it from his bonus".. the estimated costs were:
Time spent by Ethans direct manager: 250 hours valued at $25,000
Time spent by HR professionals: 50 hours valued at $5,000
Time spent by senior executives: 15 hours valued at $10,000
Time spent by the company's outside employment counsel: 10 hours valued at $5,000
Cost of recruiting and training a new secretary to support Ethan: $85,000
Overtime costs assoicated with Ethans last-minute demands $25,000
Anger-management training and counseling: $5000
How about this view point or theory: The people around us just show up to show us in how we treat ourselves, whether it is good or bad. Our inner jerk needs to be forgiven.
Have any comments? Need help? Read more about this topic or Make an appointment.


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During last year's campaign, Donald Trump probably became aware of the fact that critics questioned his limited intellect. He didn't handle it especially well, though.
During an MSNBC appearance, Trump was asked about his foreign policy advisers. "I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain," the Republican said. "And I've said a lot of things."
The president said more things this morning on the South Lawn of the White House.
"Well, I think the press makes me more uncivil than I am. You know -- people don't understand -- I went to an Ivy League college. I was a nice student. I did very well. I'm a very intelligent person. You know, the fact is, I think, I really believe, I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person."
At the risk of sounding picky, let's go ahead and note that intelligence and civility are entirely different qualities. Trump is welcome to be proud of his degree from the University of Pennsylvania, but his attendance at the Wharton School has nothing to do with being "uncivil."
One does not learn to be polite by studying at an Ivy League college.
During the same Q&A, Trump continued to push back against Myeshia Johnson, emphasizing how "really nice" he was to the grieving widow, and insisting that he did, in fact, mention Sgt. La David Johnson by name, despite the suggestions to the contrary.
Trump knows this for sure because, as he put it today, he has "one of the great memories of all time." If that sounds familiar, in August 2016, Trump also said, "I have one of the great memories of all time."
So, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may have privately said the president is a "f***ing moron," but Trump wants the public to know how proud he is of his intellectual prowess.
And don't get him started on impressive he considers his I.Q. score.
New York's Jon Chait noted how jarringly common this rhetoric is from the president:
Trump has had to issue this reminder on numerous occasions: "I went to the Wharton School of Business. I'm, like, a really smart person." (July 2015); "I'm, like, a smart person." (December 2016); "Trust me, I'm, like, a smart person." (January 2017); plus, of course, this classic from July 2016:"Look, having nuclear -- my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, okay, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart -- you know, if you're a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world -- it's true! -- but when you're a conservative Republican they try -- oh, do they do a number -- that's why I always start off: went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune -- you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we're a little disadvantaged....."
I've known some brilliant people, and I've known some Ivy League grads, but I've never even heard of someone who feels the need to speak like this, frequently and with great enthusiasm. It's almost as if Trump is trying to persuade himself, not the public, that he has "a very good brain."


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Go 24 hours without spending anything
When was the last time you went 24 hours without going shopping?
And no, we're not talking about last Sunday, when the only reason you didn't make it to the supermarket was that you met a mate for a cheeky afternoon pint and ended up staying there for the rest of the day because it was raining and the sofas were so comfy and, well you know…
We mean 'when was the last time you went a whole day without spending a penny'? Ok, ok. Very funny. We'd probably piss our pants too if we tried that.
Seriously, can you remember a single 24 hour period when you didn't buy a thing from anywhere? Think about it. No mid-morning coffee. No bus ride. No sandwich at lunch. Not even a newspaper. See 24 hours with nothing digital.
Truth is, we're always spending money. Our world revolves around cash. We're non-stop consumers, and we don't even realise it (well, until we check the bank balance.
It's only when you consciously think about not digging into your pocket that it becomes clear that we're all slaves to the plastic in our wallets and purses.
Now we're not saying that money isn't useful. There are things we need in life, and we have to pay for them. But at the same time, it's easy to forget how much we buy that we don't actually need. No one ever died from a lack of latte.
And yet we're pummelled with thousands of ads every day, on TV, on bus stops, online and in magazines. And they're all telling us to spend, spend, spend as if our lives depended on it.
Well, they don't. November 25th is Buy Nothing Day. It's an attempt to remind us there's more to life than shopping, and that the world won't end if we stop spending for a day. For some people, it's a protest against the consumerist message we're constantly blasted with.
For others it's a way of saying that we're harming the world by propping up a culture that encourages us to keep buying unnecessary things. Or it can simply be a way of reminding yourself that you don't need to buy stuff to enjoy yourself. Fun can be free.
The challenge is simple: go for a whole day without spending any money at all. No cash, no cards, nada. And surprisingly, once you set your mind to it, it's not that hard. Need to get somewhere? Walk. Get a lift with a friend.
Or just don't go too far from home. Hungry? Have a look what's in the fridge. Still hungry? Go down the supermarket and ask to taste everything on the deli counter.
Read everything on your bookshelf? Swap with a friend. Want to get pissed? Brew your own hooch and see what happens. Get a few mates round. Get them pissed too. See? Fun can be free. And while you're at it, send us your ideas. There's lots of brownie points on offer for imagination…
The point is you'll find that by using your imagination, you'll manage to make it through the day without starving to death, and probably have a load of fun at the same time.
And if you find that a cash-free life isn't for you, you'll be able to go on a serious spree the next day with all the money you saved.


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It's that time…time to hunt snow geese! With that being said, the first question for concealment, in my opinion, is blinds or no blinds. And if the answer is no blinds, then I'm assuming you're wearing white suits. And if you're wearing white suits, what are you gonna do…lay on the ground??? Heck no, get a hunting layout chair. And if you're going to buy a layout, there are many to consider on the market today. This layout chair review is designed to help guide you with the right unit for your hunting.
Lucky Duck Gear Down Layout Blind
If there was an EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD for a hunting backrest for hunting spring snow geese, it'd be the Gear Down Blind by Lucky Duck. I have 4 of them, and they've held up well the past couple seasons, and I'm pretty hard on gear. It comes in tan camo, which keeps the cost down but to be honest, I don't like the blanket over the top. And to be fair, I don't just hate it on this blind, I hate it on ALL of them. The loops are always too loose in all covers, and when you stubble the blind and move around, it falls off. When I hunt spring snow geese, I wear whites anyways so I literally CUT this blanket off. It's easy to do, takes seconds. When it's done, you're left with a perfect backrest for wearing whites. It has a sturdy, adjustable frame and it's pretty comfortable, and I have a bad back. But I can handle sitting this for a 12 hour day, no problem. It also has a nice headrest that most don't have, which again, helps on the comfort. It folds up flat quickly and stores easily. You're going to love this backrest for the price!
PROS: This hunting layout chair is comfortable, equipped with a headrest, adjustable backrest, and a padding to sit in. It keeps you dry and concealed. I've also had good luck with their customer service, always a plus.
CONS: Not a big fan of the blanket that covers you, so I literally cut it off. I wish they sold it without it, at a reduced cost.
Final Approach Hot Seat Blind Layout Chair Backrest
Now this isn't an actual blind itself, but a heated backrest cover. I don't own one, but I know people who do and they love them. All you really need to do is use a blind bag as a backrest support or something along those lines and you're set. This thing is really comfortable, and isn't too expensive. It claims to be heated without batteries, but I'm not actually sure how it generates heat. Either way, I wouldn't feel it anyways through my bibs so it's kind of a non-issue. Also it's long, so you're butt and the top half of your legs stay dry, which is nice…especially in the spring when you're hunting snow geese in the mud.
PROS: The price is right on this model. It also provides solid support for hunting, and isn't so wide that it sticks out around you.
CONS: No ACTUAL backrest, so you may want to get creative on how you want to use it. A blind bag can and will work for most situations, but when you're sitting all day you want to be comfortable.
Final Approach Up-N-At-Em Blind Chair Seat
The Up and At Em blind seat is interesting as it comes with a good idea in mind. It has a backrest that follows you up as you shoot for support. I've got a buddy that owns one and I've sat in it before and liked it for when I'm sitting up. It has a decent seat for comfort, and comes in a regular and wide model. No frills no thrills hunting layout chair is basically what this is.
PROS: Comfortable seat and has a spring loaded backrest for when you're getting up to pull the trigger.
CONS: I had better luck out of this seat when I was sitting high. But when you're hunting spring snow geese you want to be LOW and I had problems using this properly for hiding.
Beavertail Sniper Deluxe Lay Out Blind
This is another great layout backrest that's great for hunting. It has an adjustable backrest that is great for laying out in the spring and fall. I will be honest though, I'm not a big fan of any of the hunting blankets when wearing whites, so I remove them for my hunting. All I'm really interested in is the backrest, so you're paying for a blanket that may or may not get used. But some may like it, to each their own.
PROS: Great backrest with simple setup. Built well so it should last a long time.
CONS: Not a big fan of blanket style camo covers. Could use a pillow style for a head rest.
ALPS OutdoorZ Weekender Layout Backrest
If you're looking for an affordable hunting backrest, this one may be up your alley. It's really a no frills, no thrills type of chair, with not a lot of bells and whistles. It's adjustable, so you're not sitting upright only like what's featured in the picture. I highly suggest using a blind bag or something to give you a bit of back support if you're really looking to layout awhile. This also folds up small and takes up a minimal amount of room in the truck or trailer. It's perfect for hunting spring snows when wearing whites.
PROS: The price of this backrest makes it affordable for everyone. Adjustable, so you can lay at any angle.
CONS: Lacking the structure/frame of a blind, so you may want to use a blind bag for support. It could also be a tad longer on the bottom, to avoid sitting in the mud if you're a taller guy.
Beard Buster Glassing Hunting Chair
This is a chair that I'm not too familiar with, but as another cheaper alternative I felt it should be included. It's very similar to other adjustable seats on the market, just a different camo pattern (which to me doesn't matter since I'm sitting on it anyways). It's adjustable allowing you to sit and hunt in a variety of angles. It rolls up and is buckled, so it won't take up much room in the trailer.
PROS: It does have a cheaper price tag, which makes it affordable for everyone.
CONS: It's from a brand I'm not familiar with. When researching I'm noticing some complaints of the butt padding being too thin, which is a concern if you're laying on it all day.
There you have it, the hunting chair reviews from the top products on the waterfowl hunting market today. To be honest, there really isn't a ton of options available for those not wanting to use layout blinds. I've also used old school goose chairs, and removed the decoy…which works as a great backrest as well. If you're like me and wearing whites while hunting snow geese, then you're looking for comfort and something LOW profile. Got any other ideas or options that we didn't name? Please comment below and we'll have it added to this review. Also, be sure to check out our snow goose full body decoy review. Good hunting!


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Kaurareg / Ergon Energy Electricity Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
|9 May 2001
|Sub Category:
|Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act)
|Torres Strait
|Click this link to search this location with google maps
|Queensland, Australia
|Click this link to search this location with google maps
|The area covered by the ILUA is the area above the high water mark on: Ngurupai (Horn Island); Murulag (Prince of Wales Island); Zuna (Entrance Island); Damaralag (Dumuralug Islet); Mipa (Pipa Islet and also known as Turtle Island); Tarilag (Packe Island); and Yeta (Port Lihou Island).
|Legal Status:
|Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal
|Legal Reference:
|National Native Title Tribunal File No: QIA2000/01
|Subject Matter:
|Future Act | | Native Title | Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership
|Summary Information:
|The Kaurareg People and Ergon Energy Indigenous Land Use Agreement allows Ergon to conduct future work on existing electricity infrastructure in the area of the determination of native title on Ngurupai (Horn Island); Murulag (Prince of Wales Island); Zuna (Entrance Island); Damaralag (Dumuralug Islet); Mipa (Pipa or Turtle Islet); Tarilag (Packe Island); and Yeta (Port Lihou Island) in the Torres Strait. The determination that native title exists in the area of the Kaurareg People's native title claims was made by the Federal Court on 23 May 2001.
In the agreement:
- Ergon recognised the Kaurareg People as the native title holders of the area;
- The Kaurareg People agreed to assist Ergon Energy in complying with its obligations as an electricity entity under the Electricity Act 1993 (QLD) by providing for the continuation of all aspects of Ergon Energy's operations in the area;
- It was agreed that the existing infrastructure that Ergon has on the islands is protected and can be accessed by Ergon; and
- There is a process that Ergon may be required to follow if they wish to build new infrastructure on the area.
Under the agreement, consent is given for an occupancy interest to be created and for any 'approved future acts' to be done, as defined under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (the NTA), over the area of existing Ergon sites on the islands. Consent is also given for Ergon to access their sites for minor works such as tree-lopping, inspections, maintenance, repairs and work in emergency situations.
The ILUA specifies the way in which any of the future acts are to be done. Ergon is to:
-Give notice to the native title party prior to the work 'if reasonably practicable or required by law';
-Use its 'best endeavors' to avoid 'interference or damage' to the area and rehabilitate any damaged area as quickly as possible;
-Avoid 'interference with the privacy of the native title holders'; and
'perform all works to the standard of skill and safety of a reasonably competent electricity entity under the Electricity Act 1994 (Qld)'. (National Native Title Tribunal extract from the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements for QIA2000/010).
The ILUA states explicitly that consent is not given to access or conduct work in any dwellings in the area.
Related Entries
|National Native Title Tribunal National Native Title Tribunal website
|National Native Title Tribunal (30 September 2010) Registered ILUAs by Name
|Kaurareg / Ergon Energy Electricity Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) Map - ( Image | Thumbnail | PDF)
|Native Title (Australia) | Consent Determination (Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)) (Australia) | Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)) (Australia)
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Rituximab (RTX) as an Alternative to TNF-Alpha Antagonists in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and High Risk of Severe Infections: A Systematic Analysis of the Experience in One Center
P Xanthouli, S Sailer, C Fiehn*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:Year: 2012
Volume: 6
First Page: 286
Last Page: 289
Publisher ID: TORJ-6-286
Article History:Received Date: 13/6/2012
Revision Received Date: 13/7/2012
Acceptance Date: 20/7/2012
Electronic publication date: 7/9/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
The use of TNF-alpha antagonists may be associated with an increased rate of infections in risk populations of patients with RA. Our hypothesis was that in patients with a high risk of infection Rituximab (RTX) could be a safer alternative.
We analyzed the outcome of RA patients who received RTX instead of TNF-alpha antagonist because of a history of serious infections or frequent infectious events. All patients in a given time period were included in the retrospective analysis.
32 patients were identified according to the above criteria and followedup for a mean period of 16 ± 8 months (range 6 – 36) during treatment with RTX. Only one patient was lost to follow-up. Sixteen patients were anti-TNF-naïve and in the remaining patients the TNF-alpha antagonist was stopped due to infectious complications before starting RTX. RTX was combined with a disease modifying drug in 22 (69%) of the cases. Altogether 4 severe infections occurred (9.5/100 patient years), mainly within the first year of treatment with RTX. Two patients suffered from pneumonia, 1 from a postoperative wound infection, 1 from an ear abscess and bacterial bronchitis. None of our patients with a previous history of bacterial infections of soft tissue, bacterial arthritis or osteomyelitis (n=9) developed recurrent infection. No relapse of a previously diagnosed tuberculosis (n=9) was seen.
In this particular high risk population of RA patients, treatment with RTX seems to be an alternative to TNF-alpha-antagonist and has a relatively low rate of recurrent infection.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory ailment which affects joints and several organs. Although non-biologic disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) are still the main treatment modality for these patients, the introduction of TNF-alpha antagonists and other biologics is a major breakthrough in RA therapy. TNF-alpha antagonists potently inhibit inflammation and suppress joint destruction. However, they may also promote infections such as tuberculosis or other bacterial diseases in some of the patients [1]. For patients with a high risk of infectious events, alternative drugs to TNF-alpha antagonists, such as second generation biologic drugs, should therefore be evaluated for safety.
Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric antibody binding to the transmembrane CD20 receptor on the surface of pre- and mature B- lymphocytes [2]. This receptor does not appear on the surface of stem cells, ancestor B- lymphocytes or plasmocytes. Subsequently RTX-therapy depletes B cells in a stage of maturation that it is not only effective for the suppression of the disease, but is also thought not to influence the specific memory response to infectious antigens. Clinical trials with RTX therefore did not show a significant increase in the rates of infection compared to placebo. This was also shown in a large meta-analysis of clinical studies, which was published by van Vollenhoven et al. [3] in 2010 and analyzed the data of 5,013 patients who received at least one course of RTX. In 6 month placebo-phase there was no significantly elevated risk of infection between the placebo and the RTX group with a total rate of serious infections of 1.6% and 1.7% respectively. The overall serious infection rate in the post-observation phase was 4.31/100 patient years which remained stable across 5 courses at 4-6/100 patient years. It is remarkable that these patients suffered from highly active rheumatoid arthritis before the start of RTX therapy with a mean DAS28 of 6.65 and had a high rate of previous treatment with TNF-alpha antagonists and DMARDs. This population therefore had severe and difficult to treat RA.
A large French registry (AIR) was published in 2010 by Gottenberg et al. [4] and described the risk factors for severe infections among 1,303 RA patients who were treated with RTX in "real life". The patients treated with RTX had a particularly long mean disease duration of 15.5 years and 80% were already being treated with at least one TNF-alpha antagonist. Co-morbidity factors including chronic lung disease, cardiac insufficiency, diabetes and higher steroid dosage and low levels of IgG were significant risk factors for severe infections [4]. According to this registry, 5 severe infections/100 patient years can be expected on treatment with RTX. However, this is comparable to what is found for TNF-alpha antagonists [1]. It should be noted that in the majority of RA registries the patients treated with RTX had a more active disease and higher numbers of previous DMARD in comparison to those treated with a second TNF-alpha antagonist. This was reported in the Swedish STURE registry, in which DAS28 was Δ0.7 higher in comparison to the patients put on a second TNF-alpha antagonist, the Spanish MIRAR and the Swiss SCQM registries in which the differences were Δ0.8 and Δ0.9 respectively [5-7]. A high RA disease activity predicts a higher risk of infections. This was shown in registry data from Strangfeld et al. [8]. Therefore, the available data from this registry suggest that RTX is relatively safe even in high risk populations of RA patients.
The purpose of the present analysis was to evaluate the treatment of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and a high risk of infections with RTX as an alternative to a new or second TNF-alpha antagonist. Our hypothesis was that RTX would be a safe alternative to TNF-alpha antagonists in this specific group of patients. The occurrence of severe infections in this population was therefore evaluated.
Patients AND METHODS
We screened the software database of ACURA Center for Rheumatic Diseases in Baden–Baden, Germany from June 2006 to January 2010 (4.5 years) for patients treated with RTX or TNF-alpha antagonists. 185 patients with newly initiated RTX therapy were identified. Thirty two patients were segregated as they were naïve for RTX therapy and had a high risk of infections in their history which was considered a contraindication for instituting therapy with a TNF-alpha antagonist. As a primer therapy, all our patients received two doses of RTX 1.000 mg intravenously within two weeks plus methylprednisololone 50 – 80 mg intravenously each time. After contacting their primary care physicians and analyzing information from their discharge letters and hospital medical records, we analyzed our target parameters and measured the number of severe infections, mortalities, as well as continuation and effectiveness of their RTX therapy. To analyze the rate of severe infections during RTX treatment, the period between the first cycle of RTX treatment and the time point one year after the last infusion or the switch to another biologic drug was determined. The analysis was in conformity with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975.
Patient and Treatment Characteristics
We analyzed 32 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Their mean age was 58 years (range 33 – 86). Nine of these patients were males and 23 were females. The mean disease duration was 13 years. The mean follow–up from the first infusion of RTX until the last observation was 22 months. Only one patient was lost to follow–up 10 months after the first RTX treatment. Sixteen of these patients were already being treated with a TNF-alpha antagonist and discontinued the therapy because of severe infections. Another 16 had no former biologic therapy and were put on RTX because of an increased risk of severe infections concluded from their prior history, mainly in form of previous severe infections or an increased frequency of less severe infectious events. Of the 32 patients, 17 had suffered from severe infections of the upper respiratory system, 9 had past lung, skin or abdominal tuberculosis, 6 had severe infections of the urinary system, 5 had suffered from bacterial septic arthritis, 5 had severe pneumonias, 3 had latent tuberculosis, 2 had bacterial soft tissue infections or bursitis and another 2 had a history of osteomyelitis. These events occurred before the decision was made to administer treatment with RTX (Table 1).
Prior Infectious Events of the 32 Patients
|Patients (n=32)
|Infections Prior to Starting RTX
|Upper respiratory system
|Tuberculosis of: lungs, skin, abdomen
|Urinary system
|Bacterial septic arthritis
|Latent tuberculosis
|Bacterial soft tissue infections, bursitis
Number of Courses of Rituximab
|Rituximab Cycles (2x1g each)
|Number of Patients Attending (N=33)
Severe Infections and Other Events Occurred After the Treatment with Rituximab and the Prior History. The Heart Attack was Considered Unrelated to the RTX Treatment
|Number of Patients
|Infections - Event
|Months After RTX-Course
|Course Number
|History of Infections Before RTX
|Abdominal Tb plus atypical pneumonia
Repeated respiratory infections
|Postoperative wound infection
|Bacterial bronchitis, ear abscess
|Bacterial bronchitis
|Heart attack
|Lung Tuberculosis
Rate of Infections Per 100 Patient Years Under Treatment with RTX in a Population Selected for a High Risk of Serious Infection (I), a Registry (II) and in a Meta-Analysis of Clinical Studies (III)
|Data Source
|Infections/100 Patient Years
|i. ACURA Centre for Rheumatic Diseases 2011
|ii. AIR Registry, Gottenberg et al. 2010 (4)
|iii. Meta-analysis of clinical studies, van Vollenhoven et al. 2010 (3)
Twenty two of these patients (69%) were treated with RTX in a combination with a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug. Of these 22 patients, 16 (50%) received RTX in combination with methotrexate. All patients received 50-80 mg methylprednisolone intravenously together with RTX as protection against hypersensitivity reactions. Moreover, 25 of the 32 patients also had continuous prednisone treatment with a mean 6.2 ±3.5 mg prednisone or prednisolone/day at the time of discharge. The patients with a history of tuberculosis additionally received antibiotic therapy with isoniazid 300mg/d (INH- prophylaxis).
The documented time period of treatment with RTX was 16 ± 8 months with a range of 6 – 36 months (definition see Methods) resulting in an overall follow-up period of 42.3 patient years. Of these patients, 14 received only one cycle of RTX, 7 two cycles, 9 three cycles, 1 patient four cycles and another patient five cycles (2x1g RTX each). (See also Table 2). To estimate the effectiveness of the RTX therapy, the patient files were analyzed. According to the other physicians involved in the management of these patients, the therapy with RTX was classified as effective in 17 of the 33 patients (51%).
Severe Infections and Other Events
Four severe infections were documented during the RTX treatment. Two of the patients had pneumonia. One patient with a history of abdominal tuberculosis and repeated atypical bronchopneumonias developed pneumonia one month after the first RTX course. Another patient developed pneumonia five months after the second course and had a history of repeated respiratory infections. One patient with history of pneumonia suffered a postoperative wound infection 4 months after the second RTX course. Another patient developed bacterial bronchitis together with an abscess of the ear one month after the third RTX course. This patient had a previous history of frequent bronchitis. One patient with a history of lung tuberculosis died of a sudden heart attack eight months after the first RTX cycle which was classified as unrelated to the RTX therapy. Altogether, a rate of 9.5 severe infections per 100 patient years during therapy with RTX was calculated (Table 3).
Subanalysis: Patients with a History of Tuberculosis
The mean follow-up of all 9 patients with a history of tuberculosis was 16.5 ± 9 months with a range of 8-29 months. Five of these received a single course, one received two courses, another received three courses and the last patient 4 courses. During this period no relapse of tuberculosis was noted. However, all of these patients received prophylactic treatment with INH for nine months in accordance for the German guidelines for tuberculosis prophylaxis during treatment with biologic drugs.
Subanalysis: Patients with a History of Osteomyelitis, Soft Tissue Bacterial Infections and Bacterial Arthritis
Eight patients had a history of soft tissue infections, bacterial arthritis or osteomyelitis. These patients were followed up for 18 ± 10 months (range: 9-36). Two of these patients had one course of therapy with RTX, 2 had two cycles and 4 had three cycles. No infections were observed in this subgroup, and in particular there was no relapse of the previously observed bacterial infections.
Patients with RA and a history of serious infections including tuberculosis, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, soft tissue infections, bacterial septic arthritis, osteomyelitis and relapsing urinary tract infections were studied as they are considered to have a high risk profile for further infections during treatment with TNF-alpha antagonists [8]. These patients were treated with DMARDs, approximately half of them concomitantly with TNF-alpha antagonists and all had active RA. We initiated RTX as we considered this drug a safer alternative to TNF-alpha antagonists in this particular population. When we calculated the frequency of infections during the treatment period with RTX, we observed a rate of 9.5 infections/100 patient years among these patients. Treatment with RTX was effective in 17 of 33 (51%) patients.
In comparison to the meta-analysis of clinical studies by van Vollenhoven et al. and the AIR Registry of Gottenberg et al. (see also Table 4), our results showed a higher rate of serious infections. However, this is easily explained by the higher risk of infection in our population prior to the treatment with RTX.
Moreover, it is remarkable that in our group there was no recurrence of bacterial arthritis, soft tissue infections or osteomyelitis in all 8 patients with a history of these infections. Likewise, there were no cases of tuberculosis, even in the patients with a history of any kind of tuberculosis. It should be mentioned, however, that these tuberculosis positive patients had received nine-month INH prophylaxis. It is remarkable that of the total number of infections occurring in our patients during RTX therapy, 75% affected the respiratory tract and only one patient had a postoperative wound infection. The majority of the events occurred during the first 6 months after the first course of RTX, except in one case, and this is correlated with the published results of the registries and meta-analysis.
The rate of 9.5 serious infections per 100 patient years among such a high-risk population of patients is lower than expected in view of the rate of about 5 serious infectious events per 100 patient years among the highly selected RA population included in clinical studies for RTX [4], TNF-alpha antagonists [9] and abatacept [10, 11]. This finding is also consistent with a previous investigation of Toussirot et al. who studied the risk of infectious events in patients at increased risk and also found an only moderate increased risk during RTX treatment [12].
The limitations of our project lie in the limited number of patients and the retrospective design of the investigation. We would emphasize, however, that only serious infections were counted which were well reported in the files of the patients followed up and only one patient was lost to follow-up after 10 months. Moreover, the screening of hospital software guaranteed that all patients who received RTX in the defined time period were followed and included in this analysis, therefore excluding any bias.
Furthermore, AIR registry indicates that the patients with lower levels of IgG prior to RTX therapy are at a higher risk of infections when taking RTX [3]. We did not examine the IgG levels, as this data was not available for all the patients. It is essential to conduct further studies which should also investigate the role of IgG levels in such patients.
In conclusion, we report our experience with RA patients treated with RTX who simultaneously had a high-risk profile for infections. We believe that RTX is a relatively safe alternative treatment particularly for this population in which TNF-alpha inhibitors are contraindicated due to a high risk of infections. Our results indicate that this may be the safest option in patients with a history of tuberculosis as well as bacterial infections of soft tissue, bacterial arthritis or osteomyelitis.
Declared none.
Authors confirm that this article content has no conflict of interest.


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Let the dangerous games begin.
Happenstance would like nothing more than to settle into an uneventful existence in the comfort of the Aerie. But life with Lord Umber is never dull. First, Hap is jolted by a revelation about the past he can't remember. Then, when Umber receives a pair of mysterious messages, he and Happenstance depart for an eventful voyage.
Read the beginning here.
And below, get a glimpse of what lies ahead in this heart-pounding, action-packed adventure:
Three princes. Only one can inherit the throne of the ailing king. Is Loden, the youngest prince, as ambitious and ruthless as Umber thinks? You'll find out soon.
On a lost island inside a ring of volcanic fire dwell the bidmis: thousands of strange knee-high creatures that will do anything their master asks. But beware. Their servitude comes at a terrible price.
An old rival of Umber's has stolen a cache of precious dragon eggs, and delivered them into the hands of the brutal monarch of a distant land. Now the eggs are hatching... and Umber wonders, what will they do with the infant dragons?
The son of that brutal monarch is Magador: a heartless warrior who hates to lose any contest.
Her name is Fay. And she is both a princess and a prisoner.
And what are these crustaceous monsters? Happenstance has the misfortune to discover them... and wishes he didn't.
Her name is Arabell. She may look deadly. But she will help Happenstance more than once during this perilous adventure.
Meanwhile... you may be wondering about the questions that were posed in Happenstance Found. Where did Hap come from? Why is he afraid of water? What happened to Sophie's hand? Who is WN? What happened to Smudge's brother Caspar, Umber's former archivist? In Dragon Games, you'll learn the answers to these mysteries, and more.


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Welcome to Maryland, home of blue crabs, Black Eyed Susans, and bar-b-q.
Wait, what was that? Did he just say BBQ and Maryland in the same sentence?! Why yes I did and no matter how much of a travesty you Carolinians, Kansasites, and Texans may this it is, we do have at least one claim to fame for good BBQ. Welcome to Hempen Hill.
Hempen Hill started as a BBW catering company that moved into the restaurant business. Their place of business is located in a strip mall nestled between a Weis grocery store and King's pizza. It's a pretty unassuming venue for great BBQ. Upon walking into the restaurant you can see it has a minimalistic look with unfinished ceilings and hardwood floors. But an interior designer I am not and I'm pretty sure you're here to hear about the food.
Me and my parents, who were out to lunch with me that day, were quickly greeted and sat at a table by the bar. They have a pretty large selection of craft brews and you're not just stuck with your standard, watered down domestics. This is a plus as the restaurant also doubles as a venue for live bands. Hempen Hill hosts live music every Saturday and occasionally on Fridays. The bands includes everything from blue grass, to rock, to open mic nights and the atmosphere makes it a great place to enjoy live music.
So onto the food! My parents both ordered the NC Pulled Pork sandwich with fries while I ordered the Alamo Melt and Brunswick Stew. The waitress told me that they were out of the sweet & spicy pepper topping, but I still decided that brisket was too good to pass up. We made it there fairly early so the wait for food was very short. I have been in on a busy night with a table of 6-8 people and we ended up waiting a while, which is totally expected when going to a busy restaurant with a large group of people. Just make sure your company doesn't suck, or else the wait will end up being even longer.
First up was the NC Pull Pork sandwiches and fries. My god, those sandwiches were massive. I'm not a fan of coleslaw, but I didn't order it so I had to deal with it. I tried a bite and the pull pork was amazing. It's probably some of the best that I've had and that's saying a lot. I once smoke over 60lbs of pork shoulders one night. The sauce was right on point with being sweet and having a little bite, but not enough to turn off someone that's not into the hot stuff and the pork was just so juicy and tender. Even the fries were good, but I did go to a BBQ restaurant to eat fries.
My Alamo Melt and Brunswick stew:
The Brunswick Stew surprised me. I like soups of almost all kinds except those that are tomato based. I'm not going to say I hate them, but I'm picky about what I eat. If it's too tomato-ey, it'll give me hearth burn and it has an overly acidic flavor. Generally most tomato soups, over-tomatoed chilis, and the like are out for me. Hempen Hill's take on a Brunswick Stew had that look to it at first glance, but fortunately it didn't live up to that reputation. It had a very nice balanced flavor to the base and was filled with veggies, beans, and BBQ meats which appeared to be at least brisket and pulled pork. It was delicious and it's something I wouldn't hesitate to order on my next trip out there.
Now for the coup de grâce of the meal, the Alamo Melt. Mine consisted of obviously smoked brisket with chipotle BBQ sauce and cheddar cheese. It was love at first bite (don't hate the player, hate the cliché). The brisket was super smokey and so tender. It just melted. You could see the smoke rings just under the crust. If I could eat this every day I'd do it, consequences be damned! At once point I discarded the bread and just went straight carnivore. It was good. I don't know how many ways I can say that, but I'd try to do it every single way if we had enough space here.
Hempen Hill defied expectations as the last time I was here I ended up with BBQ chicken, which was an OK meal but nothing that stood out at me. This time, everything I had was just over the top good and worthy of a place in my favorite restaurant books. If you have a chance to visit Hempen Hill you need to do it and you need to indulge in the brisket. I don't care if you don't like beef or you're a vegan, it's worth going against your morals to try it. Just do it. Don't ask question.
And on a more important note, Hempen Hill gives back to the community in the form of donations as well as hosting benefit nights where they donate 15% of the food sales from the people you invite to your organization. Besides serving good food, they support their local community and what can be better than that.
Location: Hempen Hill BBQ


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Organising an event and making it successful is a resilient task. Post the event, all an event planner or the event organiser wants people to keep talking about your event; and if they're doing so, one would curious to know what they are talking about! Is it appreciation or criticism?
Referral Marketing is the key to increasing the number of attendees. Referral marketing can get your attendees to promote your event through all possible channels and spread positive remarks about your event to capture more people behest to them. Imagine random people helping with the process of marketing for your organisation! That would be a phase where you would not have to invest in any other form of marketing.
Below are the FAQ about Referral Marketing
- How to create a successful referral marketing campaign?
A referral marketing campaign revolves around the point that the referrer must be benefited, which means the person performing the marketing for you should be rewarded in some form or the other so that it acts as an impetus for that individual to continue with the process.
- Should the incentives be in the form of cash?
Not necessarily. The speciality of referral marketing is that it has the power to bring back the long lost barter system. Most successful organisations that follow referral marketing do not promise incentives in the form of cash. In turn, they offer coupons, discounts, gifts, and goodies, etc. that are related to the organisation itself.
- What are the examples of referral marketing?
Call taxis like Uber and Ola follow a referral system that allows you to generate a link through their mobile apps, which is unique to you. If you pass on this link to your contacts and if they download the app they get a discount for their first ride, and if they use the ride you get double the discount as a reward for a successful referral.
- Do these discounts or incentives bring any loss to the firm?
The incentives given will be accounted for by the increase in the customer base and the subsequent purchase or subscription to a product or service. It is bound to expand the target market and increase revenue shortly.
- How to implement referral marketing for my event?
- QR codes on registration cards that are unique to an attendee, using which he or she can start hunting for more attendees.
- Online referral program that involves attendee generated unique links; through which their contacts can register for your event.
The implementation of this model must ensure that the referrer is recognised and validated so that he can be rewarded accordingly.
- What form of incentives can I offer my attendees/referrers?
- Discount coupons for your upcoming event
- A lunch pass at your event (free and delicious food is always welcome)
- Free passes to your event for the best referrer (maximum successful referrals)
- A selfie or picture with the celebrity or renowned personality invited for your event
- A marketing job at your event management firm for the best referrers
Referral marketing deliberately encourages your customers to advertise for you. It creates a win-win-win situation unlike a win-win situation for you (the business) and the referrer and the person referred are benefited from this fantastic scheme.


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What is Galentine's Day? Everything to know about the popular Feb. 13 holiday
Many people have a love-hate relationship with Valentine's Day. Some believe the holiday is just a marketing tactic spread by greeting card companies or is only for people who are romantically involved.
Cue the solution to those worries: Galentine's Day.
But what is this unofficial holiday, who can celebrate the occasion, and when is it? Gather your gal pals, and find out the details below.
What is Galentine's Day?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Galentine's Day is a "day for women to celebrate their friendships with their lady friends." Essentially, the meaning of Galentine's Day is Valentine's Day for your gals. (It's right there in the name).
With the last couple of years dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to celebrate community is more amplified than ever.
In fact, search #GalentinesDay on social media platforms, and you'll find over half a million posts of women celebrating other women in honor of the holiday.
Galentine's Day is most popular in Washington D.C., followed by Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and California, according to National Today.
How did Galentine's Day start?
Surprisingly, you can thank actress Amy Poehler for starting this tradition.
We're not kidding, either.
The word "galentine" was first introduced to the world during a Feb. 2010 episode of "Parks and Recreation."
In the hit comedy, Leslie Knope — the fictional deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department — discussed the holiday.
"What's Galentine's Day? Oh, it's only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It's like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas," she said in the episode.
Amy Poehler attends the Paley Center For Media's 2019 PaleyFest LA "Parks And Recreation" 10th Anniversary Reunion held at the Dolby Theater on March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix/Getty Images)
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode "Galentine's Day" garnered nearly 5 million viewers, marking it as an improvement for ratings in the series.
"After that 2010 debut, the word was mentioned in episodes that aired in 2012 and 2014, and by 2016 evidence of the word's appeal was starting to show up in national and international publications, as people everywhere embraced the very idea of a holiday for celebrating friendships," Merriam Webster continued.
What day is Galentine's Day?
While many are quick to shower their significant others with gifts and treats on February 14 — the day prior or the 13th of the month — is designated to celebrate the important friendships in one's life.
Galentine's Day is celebrated on Feb. 13 each year, and this year, it lands on a Monday.
While Galentine's Day is not an official holiday, research from National Today shows searches for Galentine's Day have increased 400% (with Missouri ranking No. 1 in looking it up, followed by Virginia, Louisiana, Colorado and Arizona) since 2015.
RELATED: 27% of consumers in relationships expect Valentine's Day spending may cause them to rack up credit card debt
Who can celebrate Galentine's Day?
Traditionally, Galentine's Day is celebrated with the girls in someone's life — whether it's a sister, mother, or friend.
While "galentine" gives off the impression that only females can celebrate, that doesn't need to be the case.
Many have accepted the holiday as a day to hang out with best friends — regardless of gender. A Galentine's Day celebration can include all genders and all of those that you adore...as long as they enjoy a tasty brunch or dinner!
How to celebrate Galentine's Day
So, what should you do on Galentine's Day?
Major retailers including Walmart and Target stock up on Galentine's Day merchandise, and some people purchase gifts or cards for their "galentines."
Where sales for Valentine's Day specifically are trending downwards, Hallmark found that nearly 2 out of 3 women who were purchasing cards around Valentine's Day were doing so for non-romantic relationships, including friends and family. This prompted the brand to release a line of Galentine's Day cards and others celebrating platonic relationships.
RELATED: A nugget of love: Chick-fil-A brings back Valentine's Day trays
Activity-wise, brunch is the most traditional event on Galentine's Day, due to the "Parks and Recreation" episode. Find a fun brunch or dinner spot for you and your gal-pals, or make a meal at home.
Each year, more and more people are getting creative and choosing other activities to do with their friends.
Some people choose to have movie nights, sleepovers, spa trips, go ice skating, or host cooking lessons. Really, no activity is off-limits.
The only rule of thumb is that you spend your Galentine's Day celebrating your friends: no significant others allowed.
Editor's note: A version of this article was originally published on Feb. 10, 2022.


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Cancer Disparities: How Cancer Affects Different Populations
Updated: February 1, 2021
Anyone can get cancer. However, some populations experience an undue burden of cancer. The adverse impacts cancer has on different populations are known as cancer disparities.
What are cancer disparities?
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cancer disparities are differences in cancer statistics. These include new cases, screening rates, stage at diagnosis, and death. Cancer disparities can also be seen in cancer outcomes—some population groups may be steadily improving, while others are improving at lower rates or falling behind.
What causes these differences?
"Typically, when people think of health disparities, they think of race and ethnicity. But there's more to health disparities than race," said Evelyn González, MA, senior director of community outreach at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
"In addition to biological or genetic predispositions, there are other factors that contribute to disparities. These include socioeconomic factors such as income and education. If a person doesn't have the financial means to afford health insurance or understand the importance of why or when one should screen for cancer you can see how this might contribute to such disparities," González explained. "Depending on where a person lives or works there may be environmental exposures that can increase a person's risk for cancer. Couple these issues with lifestyle choices and high-risk behaviors, such as smoking, excessive alcohol use, not being physically active, being obese or having unprotected sex, and you can see the multiple factors that can influence cancer health disparities beyond race and ethnicity."
What are some common disparities?
According to NCI, these are some common examples of cancer disparities:
- People with lower socioeconomic status are more likely to die of cancer than people with higher status. This is true regardless of race or ethnicity.
- African American women are 40 percent more likely than white women to die of breast cancer.
- Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native women have higher rates of cervical cancer than other groups. However, African American women have the highest death rates from the disease.
- American Indians and Alaska Natives have the poorest 5-year survival rates.
- Colorectal cancer screening rates vary widely between ethnic groups. Spanish-speaking Hispanics are less likely to be screened than white or English-speaking Hispanic people.
- Hispanics have the highest number of cancers associated with infection, like liver, stomach, or cervical cancers.
This data can be disheartening. But education can make an impact.
How does Fox Chase combat disparities?
The Office of Community Outreach at Fox Chase focuses on helping people understand how cancer may affect them and their families, and what they can do to reduce their risk of the disease. It offers many programs for the public, including:
- A bilingual speakers' bureau. Speakers from Fox Chase partner with community-based and faith-based institutions, educational institutions, and other organizations to deliver talks about cancer risks and screenings, and how to stay healthy. Sessions are available in both English and Spanish.
- Monthly education programs that focus on specific cancer-related topics, such as nutrition and coping with lymphedema.
- A Mobile Screening Unit, which travels to locations around the Greater Philadelphia region and screens for breast, and skin cancers. The Office of Community Outreach also provides a number of other free screening days throughout the year at various locations for head and neck cancer.
- Free smoking cessation services through the community Tobacco Treatment Program.
The Office of Community Outreach is also involved in implementing and supporting research efforts at Fox Chase. According to González, only 3 to 5 percent of eligible cancer patients are participating in clinical trials for cancer. And less than 2 percent of racial/ethnic minorities are participating. "Without more minority participation, the science is incomplete," she said. "We are currently in a period where personalized or tailored medicine is what researchers are studying. Helping the public understand the value of research and the process goes a long way to clearing up misconceptions and increasing the likelihood of participation. Currently, we are training a cohort of African American lay community ambassadors that will be deployed to engage their community in such discussions and will promote available studies."
An ongoing effort
The Office of Community Outreach works to inform and empower the community and reduce cancer disparities.
"We reached over 13,000 individuals last year with education, screening, and research," González said. "We're very proud of that, and we're really fortunate to work for an institution that recognizes the value of working with the community that we serve."
Learn more about what services are available for you and your community here or by emailing [email protected].


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The number of people donating their PC's computing power to help develop new drug therapies against the coronavirus has skyrocketed.
Crowdsourcing project Folding@Home specializes in trying to find weaknesses in diseases by simulating them using the public's spare computing resources. The project originally had around 30,000 active users before the coronavirus pandemic started. But in the past two weeks, the figure has shot up to more than 400,000 users.
The 1,200 percent increase in volunteers was mentioned in a Reddit Ask Me Anything the project's leaders held on Thursday. In late February, Folding@Home announced it would start studying the coronavirus strain, COVID-19 in the hopes of creating an accurate model of the disease and its vulnerabilities.
Since then, companies including Nvidia have called on consumers to donate their PC's unused computing resources to the cause. To do so, download and install the Folding@Home app. To contribute to the coronavirus research, click on "any disease" when selecting which illness you want to help fight.
The 400,000-plus volunteers means the Folding@Home project has access to 474 petaflops in computing power. That's over twice the power of the world's fastest supercomputer, Summit, which has also been deployed to aid researchers in studying COVID-19.
But how does simulating a virus actually help? Folding@Home hopes to understand how the disease's viral proteins behave and bind to a victim's lung cell. These proteins are constantly folding into different microscopic structures. As a result, taking static pictures of the coronavirus in action isn't enough to fully dissect the illness. "Proteins actually move, and a lot of the information about that that is not there in static pictures needs to be collected from simulations," Rafal Wiewiora, a researcher with the project, said during the Reddit AMA.
Specifically, the project is focusing on finding holes or pockets in COVID-19's viral proteins that doctors can "squeeze a drug molecule" inside to neutralize the disease, Wiewiora said. The simulations will also calculate how strongly a particular drug molecule binds to a viral protein All the results will be shared with the medical community and pharmaceutical companies to help them refine a drug for market.
Thanks to the surge in volunteers, Folding@Home has been able to run an unprecedented number of protein simulations, and at a faster rate. "Personally, the turnaround speed from setting up a project to getting useful hypotheses from the data and making decisions on what to do next, has improved immensely — I can now run a protein, come back in a week and already know what the next step is, this would take a month to a few months before," Wiewiora said.
"We have been beating records in simulation speed and data amount generated for a long time, but what is happening now is an order of magnitude more — really a milestone in distributed computing," he added.
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Kendall Bouchlas is photographer. She's seventeen years old and has been taking pictures for about a year now. It was a real pleasure for us to take an interview with Kendall Bouchlas and we wish you to enjoy reading and viewing of Kendall Bouchlas photography.
AP: Hi Kendall, we are happy to see you here and thank you for finding the time to give us an interview. Could you please tell me what got you started?
Kendall: I was about 15 when I first became interested in photography. I've always been interested in art because when I was little, my grandmother would take me to art museums or to the theater. She planted the seed and I just grew from that.
AP: Oh, I see, so your grandmother made you fell in love with art. Do you have any formal education in photography or were you self-taught?
Kendall: I am self-taught. I have no idea how to use Photoshop and I still don't know half the buttons on my camera. I basically create what's inside my imagination and then photograph it for everyone else to see.
AP: Imagination plays very important role in art and your pictures are very beautiful and natural. What genre are your photos?
Kendall: My genre is whimsical. I love to take pictures that tell a story. I based the series "Snow White & Co." off of a short story I wrote.
AP: How would you describe your pictures? Can they be characterized as unique or unusual?
Kendall: My work is very unusual. I don't really know what else to say about it except I'm always pleasantly surprised with the finished product.
AP: What kind of equipment and techniques do you use to take your pictures?
Kendall: I use a Nikon D3000 and the only reason I know that is because I read it off my camera. Otherwise, I am sadly in the dark about all the technical aspects of photography.
AP: You have plenty of time to learn. The most important thing is your approach to photography. Which artists do you use for references?
Kendall: I love Kirsty Mitchell's work. I think she is so inspiring especially for photographers, like me, who don't use heavy editing.
AP: Kendall, do you have any dream project? What is it?
Kendall: My dream project would have to be collaborating with Kirsty Mitchell. Sorry to keep bringing her up, but she is the best in my book.
AP: This is great that her works inspire you! What is the formula for success in your activity?
Kendall: I don't really have a formula; I just take pictures and keep finding ways to improve. It would be awesome if people saw my images and loved them just as much as I do, but that doesn't always happen.
AP: We wish your dream to definitely come true. And is there someone who supports you in your creativity?
Kendall: Wow, so many people. I would just like to give a huge thank you to my mom, Wendy Fernsell. You have always supported me in anything I decided to do and I just want to say I love you so much. Also, thank you to my beautiful sister and partner-in-crime, Hadley Bouchlas. She is the model in all of my photographs, the make-up artist, stylist, and moral support. Hadley, without you, there wouldn't be any photographs. Thank you to my other sister and model, Layton Fernsell. I love you cutie, you're the best. Finally, thank you to the rest of my family and friends. The support I've received from you guys has been, just wow.
AP: Tell us three lessons you believe are really important for every photographer?
Kendall: Let's see…three lessons I would say every photographer should learn are:
- Don't quit just because someone doesn't like your art.
- Practice makes perfect, or close to it.
- The answer will always be no unless you ask. Put yourself out there. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Kendall, thank you so much for sharing such exciting story! I'm sure your readers will definitely like it. We would like to wish you brilliant success, continued inspiration and of course amazing ideas, who will inspire other talented people to create art.
To learn more about Kendall Bouchlas photography feel free to visit her Facebook or Flickr page. If you have any comments feel free to leave them in the comments section.
Contact information:
Similar Posts:
- Sasha Kulak Photography: Sweet and Warm Memories
- Spectacular Urban Photography by Iva Kucherenko
- Francis Mathew Photography: Spectacular Natural Light Images
- Diana Debord Photography: Splendid Fine Art Pictures
- Imago Pro Photography (Seun Idowu): Storytelling Pictures of Nigeria


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'Patsy' TopAmsonia Feather
Free shipping and returns on US orders
The 'Patsy' Top creates a relaxed silhouette and is decorated with feather print. Features long, pleated bishop sleeves with dropped shoulders and mandarin collar.
- Mandarin collar
- Drop shoulders
- Long pleated bishop sleeves with button cuffs
- Drop hem
- Button front fastening
- Relaxed fit
- 100% Polyester
- Made in Italy
- Model is 5'10" and is wearing a size 36
- Free shipping and returns on all US orders
- Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery
- For international orders, all applicable taxes and duties are included when you place your order and there are no additional costs due upon delivery
- Styles marked as final sale cannot be returned or exchanged
- Payments are encrypted and secured


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Datadog is an incredibly powerful APM and infrastructure monitoring and alerting tool. Terraform is an incredibly powerful infrastructure automation tool. If you are scripting your infrastructure with Terraform, you'll want to make sure that your monitors and alerts are scripted as well.
You'll need to make sure you have set up a Datadog API Key and App Key before scripting with Terraform. It is common to use variables for your api key and app key when you include your provider.
In a file called variables.tf, declare the following variables:
variable "datadog_api_key" {
default = ""
variable "datadog_app_key" {
default = ""
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
In a file called terraform.tfvars, place your DataDog API and app keys (do not commit this file to source control if you can help it):
datadog_api_key = "************"
datadog_app_key = "************"Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
Now, in a file called main.tf, place your provider and pass your key variables to it:
provider "datadog" {
api_key = "${var.datadog_api_key}"
app_key = "${var.datadog_app_key}"
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
Initialize the Datadog provider from the command line
> terraform init
Now you are ready to create DataDog monitors from Terraform. Let's look at how to setup a simple drive space alert. First, let's go back to variables.tf and add one more variable for our drive space alert thresholds.
variable "c_disk_thresholds" {
type = "map"
default = {
critical = 90
warning = 85
ok = 80
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
The variable above is a map containing default values for 'ok', 'warning', and 'critical' thresholds, and our monitor will be measured by percentage, so we use 80, 85, and 90 respectively.
We are going to add one more variable for the alert footer text. This is where you are going to want to put your recipients.
variable "datadog_alert_footer" {
default = <<EOF
@your-dd-slack-user @firstname.lastname@example.com
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)
Now that we have all our variables in place, we can create our alert. Our goal with this alert is to monitor all Windows agents C drive, warning at 85% capacity, and going critical at 90% capacity. Either create a new .tf file, or just add this right in main.tf.
resource "datadog_monitor" "c_disk_free" {
name = "{{host.name}} C Low Free Space"
query = "avg(last_5m):avg:system.disk.in_use{device:c:} by {host} * 100 > ${var.c_disk_thresholds.critical}"
type = "metric alert"
notify_no_data = false
include_tags = true
thresholds = "${var.c_disk_thresholds}"
message = <<EOM
C Drive Usage is {{value}} percent.
C Drive Usage returned to a safe state, {{value}} percent.
}Code language: PHP (php)
Run terraform plan and apply if there are no issues
> terraform apply
Once your changes are applied, you will see your new alert monitoring all Windows server C drives!


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Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the outfield. It's defined as: "How many feet did he cover in the right direction in the first three seconds after pitch release?"
The Jump leaderboards may be viewed at Baseball Savant here.
In addition, Jump can be broken down into three components.
• Reaction: Feet covered (in any direction) in the first 1.5 seconds. Think of it like a way to measure first step.
• Burst: Feet covered (in any direction) in the second 1.5 seconds. Think of it like a way to measure acceleration.
• Route: Compares feet covered in any direction to feet covered in the correct direction over the full three seconds.
All of them are measured in "raw feet" but reported in "feet above or below Major League average," for context. ("Average" being slightly different for each play, as each type of play has its own slightly different baseline, based on running back or not, near the wall or not, and the length of time the ball is in the air.) (Note that for seasonal leaderboards, only plays with a 90 percent Catch Probability or harder will be considered; on 'easy' plays, there's often no jump or direct route even required.)


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Proximus Group
End-to-End Network Management & Orchestration from on Prem to the Edge
Belgium's largest telecommunication company, Proximus, the leading provider of telephony, internet, television and network-based ICT services selected Cloudify as a part of a multi-vendor team tasked with helping the company implement a next-generation, virtualized cloud network.
Learn Why 70% of NFV and Digital Transformation Projects Fail - And How to Fix ItRead It
Cloudify provides the NFV management and orchestration and assists with the onboarding and deployment of virtualized network functions (VNFs) including F5, Palo Alto, Huawei, Nokia, and multi-cloud with OpenStack and VMware.
Proximus set out on its NFV transformation initiative is to evolve from the company's traditional hardware-centric networks into virtualized, cloud-native, software-driven domains that are simpler to operate and cost less to maintain. With these more agile and efficient networks, Proximus will be able to react rapidly to market trends, deploy new services, enhance network security, and quickly scale services to meet customers' changing needs.
Belgian telco Proximus picks Cloudify to support NFV roll-out
Read why Belgium's largest telecoms operator Proximus selected Cloudify as its cloud-native orchestration platform to support its adoption of NFV services in the business.


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2019 Webinar Resources
The State of the American Traveler: Destination Management Edition
Access the report
View the slide deck
Watch the recording:
Additional Resources
- View US Travel's Destination Overcrowding Executive Summary. The full report is a member-only product and requires a login to view on the US Travel site.
- Read The New York Times op-ed, "What if All That Flying Is Good for the Planet?"
Traveler Sentiment - Fall 2019
View the slide deck


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Microsoft started a rather controversial anti-Google campaign this morning that alleged Google is essentially misleading its users because all of the company's shopping results are now paid. The "Don't Get Scroogled" page is getting quite a bit of attention today, but at the same time, there is also some unease about how Bing organizes its own shopping results.
Bing, after all, recently partnered with eBay's Shopping.com. While Bing previously allowed merchants to submit their own feeds for inclusion, the company now says that it is "not accepting new merchants for this program." Instead, Bing says, merchants should work with Shopping.com. One of the reasons for this according to Bing is that "paid offers will be highlighted throughout Bing Shopping, including search result and product pages."
It's worth noting that Shopping.com describes itself as "an efficient advertising platform offering merchants direct response and targeted advertising solutions across a network of leading publishers." Bing, in this context, is just another publisher in the Shopping.com network.
It's worth putting this into some context, though: the fact that Bing is not taking new merchants into the program right now isn't something unheard of, but a move the company has done before ahead of the holiday season to ensure the service runs smoothly. Overall, Bing works with both the Shopping.com feeds and the merchant feeds, and gets data from its web crawler.
There are legitimate reasons to worry about Google's move towards a fully paid platform for its shopping results and what this means for the company in the long run.
Google, which wouldn't go on the record with a statement about Bing and Shopping.com, would likely say, though, that while Bing accuses it of ranking by price, price is only a signal in its ranking mechanism. Also, because of the Shopping.com relationship with Bing, it's not always clear which results were paid in some form or another and which weren't. On Google, it's clear that all of the results are paid for.
Both Google and Bing argue that they clearly mark any sponsored results. The two companies disagree that their competitor is actually doing so, though.
Of course, we asked both Google and Bing for reactions.
Here is what Stefan Weitz, the senior director of Bing had to say:
Bing includes millions of free listings from merchants and rankings are determined entirely by which products are most relevant to your query. While merchants can pay fees for inclusion on our 3rd party shopping sites and subsequently may appear in Bing Shopping through partnerships we have, we do not rank merchants higher based on who pays us, nor do we let merchants pay to have their product offers placed higher in Bing Shopping's search results.
Here is Google's (rather bland) statement about this controversy:
Google Shopping makes it easier for shoppers to quickly find what they're looking for, compare different products and connect with merchants to make a purchase. With new 360-degree, interactive product images, social shopping lists and a fast growing inventory of more than a billion products worldwide, Google is a great resource for shoppers to find what they need, at great prices for their loved ones this holiday season.


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The NFL tradewinds are swirling as the deadline for making a deal is just hours away. The San Diego Chargers have struggled on both sides of the ball, is there anyone out there that they might want to trade for?
Steve Smith
Word has it that the 1-6 Carolina Panthers are shopping Smith and DeAngelo Williams. The Chargers haven't got much production out of Robert Meachem or Eddie Royal, both of whom are currently hurt, and Vincent Brown is still a ways away from coming back to the team from his injury. Perhaps, instead of signing anyone that is walking past Chargers Park and happens to be over the height of 6'3", A.J. Smith should look to add a Pro Bowl WR that's known for his leadership and toughness.
Jared Cook
Cook, a good receiving Tight End, has requested a trade from the Tennessee Titans. Cook had 49 catches for 759 yards and 3 TDs, and he's well on his way towards similar numbers this season.
If the Chargers were to trade for Cook, it would say a few things. For one, it would make the WR situation less dire because it would be a total shift to "the Patriots way" of having more TEs and less WRs. It would also say that Dante Rosario and Randy McMichael haven't been good enough this season to get those types of opportunities.
Could it help the offense? Sure. Having two Antonio Gates instead of one is always a good thing. Could the trade happen? Probably not.
Team needs
Unfortunately, unlike other professional sports, the NFL mostly disregards the trade deadline. It's rare that you find out which players are actually available and even rarer that impact players, like the ones listed above, are actually traded. That being said, the Chargers should be on the phone looking for offensive line help, a Strong Safety that they actually trust and definitely a Cornerback. According to the rumors, none of those are currently being dangled by any team, but that doesn't mean that offers aren't being made.