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Collection: BODY LOTION
Shea Butter is a skin superfood that nourishes the skin while addressing problems, such as dryness, discoloration, dark spots and blemishes. It can also be great for reducing stretch marks due to its moisturizing properties.
Sunflower Oil is added as an anti-inflammatory ingredient to help with skins redness and roughness. Sunflower Oil is high in Omega-6 acid, which helps with the development of new skin cells.
Coconut Oil is rich in antioxidants, proteins and Vitamin E and K. Some of its benefits include helping protect skin cells from damage over time, removing dirt, unclog pores, and repelling germs. It is a great anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial ingredient in our recipes as it eliminates bacteria on the skin which causes breakouts. Your skin will be left moisturized and nourished.
Directions: Apply the lotion in a circular motion to clean dry skin.
- The color of the product may vary slightly due to the lighting on your device.
- These products are not intended to cure or treat any conditions. None of our statements have been evaluated by the FDA.
- All of our products are made to order in "location" and each batch is tested for safety prior to selling. Please allow up to "number of days" for your order to be made and shipped. For questions about our shipping times, please refer to our shipping policy.
- Please read the ingredient list prior to purchase to make sure that you are not allergic to any of the ingredients. Do a patch test on a small area of your skin and discontinue use if irritation occurs.
- This product is made for external use only.
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Website Tips: Product Pages & Blending In
Hi everyone, Patrick here. So you want your website to stand out from the crowd, what do you do? Stay tuned and I'll give you my thoughts on the wireframe of your website and how it should look to be successful and ultimately to have more sales!
Right, so how do we implement an effective follow up strategy for those who buy on our website?
First if they buy you have to include an offer in the box to get them to buy again. They have bought but they aren't loyal fans yet. So we want to continue to cultivate them for future sales. Remember the old sales saying it's easier to sell to people you've already sold to.
So let us kick it off with what to include in the parcel:
At least a brochure with an offer of some sort and some sort of offer, some enticement to get them to buy from you again.
I once interviewed a guy on my podcast that says he includes all sorts of extra memorabilia he was selling martial arts uniforms and kits to kids. He even puts a note on the outside and gets them to download a link where the karate kid music comes on as they are opening it, he includes confetti, ninja turtle stickers, extra buttons for the uniforms, anything to create a wow factor. Some people include sweets, I don't recommend this in case they leak or mark the items but I've heard that one. It is a question of looking at your market and look to see if there is anything you can to include to create the wow factor!
(Link to Ok Kimonos podcast episode: http://bit.ly/1E3RiCt )
If your including an offer of some sorts it must be time limited. If it lasts 6 months' people will forget but it's more attractive if it's for a limited time say 2 weeks to a month maximum. If they spotted something else on your website, then this might encourage them to take the next step.
Now, if your website is set up properly you can follow up on this offer by seeing who has used what codes if your website, if it is properly designed. Use different codes for different offers so you can see exactly who has used and if the campaign has been a success. You can attach all sorts of rules to the offers, only be used once by one person etc. Be careful and think about the campaigns so you are not going to lose money on them.
In the next video I'll show you the process of the checkout abandonment emails and the importance of this sequence to clinch sales that have been left languishing in baskets and not finished buying.
Then the basics of email marketing you site will have opted them in automatically on the checkout if it's done correctly and they will be opting out rather than in, people don't mind emails and if do, they will unsubscribe, just make it easy for them. If they take the huff and don't shop because you send them email's then you're probably better off without them as they probably will be difficult customers anyways you better off without them.
Make emails them interesting, topical and regular. Some sales books will tell you "People buy when they are ready to buy not when you are ready to sell to them", thus you need to be constantly in their minds so that when they are ready to purchase you come to mind.
Anyways in summary make sure you include some offer in once something is bought to bring them back and become fans:
– Make sure you track the use of the Codes.
– Make sure you have the checkout abandonment email sequences set up.
– Make sure you are in regular email contact with those who have signed up.
Get my recommended resources FREE: http://bit.ly/1NjIvqo
YouTube Subscriber Name: http://bit.ly/1Vlvb7f
Selling Online Today Channel: http://bit.ly/1oP7y9w
Check out my YouTube series on eBay Tips and Tricks: http://bit.ly/1S1EZmm
Learn More About Building your e-Commerce business and selling online at http://bit.ly/1RTAA35
Checkout my Podcast where I interview successful multichannel sellers http://bit.ly/1HHbKgo
Selling Online Today Facebook: http://bit.ly/1YtcxIF
Selling Online Today Twitter: http://bit.ly/1YtcA7k
Check out the Shuphoric Website: http://bit.ly/1Tl0Dlj
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Shuphoric Twitter: http://bit.ly/1oWRh1P

subset: commoncrawl


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Specifies series with metric dimensions and thread sizes from M 10 up to and including M 16; tabulates general dimensions, specifications and reference standards, proof load stresses and screw thread limits for tolerance class 6 AX; gives an example for the designation.
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What's better than older men getting excited by watching recent college graduates run around in what amounts to Man Spanx? This is the product of no football to watch--at least until spring football starts--for another six months. I found myself mesmerized watching in what looked like the same drill run 18 identical times because I do not have the keen eye of the NFL Network's Mike Mayock. I know it is his job, but the sheer number of players (college and pro) he can identify is unreal.
Towards the end of the combine I was finding myself being able to identify "tight hips" more frequently and I knew it was a good thing the week was coming to an end. The 40-yard dash is the sexiest of all the drills and deficiencies in other measurables, like your broad jump and bench press, are more easily to point out, the most ridiculous of them all is "hand size." Why is this measuring not shown? Can't you imagine the grimace and pain quarterbacks put themselves through to prove their hands are bigger than 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. Which leads me to...
- Tyler Wilson- Because of the dismal season last year, Wilson's stock has fallen, but scouts and draft experts have taken a liking to his toughness. Of course, we who endured horrid offensive possession after another know that WIlson is a special kid who will give his all to a team and its city. As for his hands, they are small, and this was one of the big takeaways from the quarterbacks. Measuring in at a 8.75 in, they were the smallest of any quarterback. However, his interviews were raved about, and NFL.com says his league comparison is Brett Favre. Good company. The website also says Wilson will ultimately be a top-15 pick because teams are desperate for quarterbacks.
- Knile Davis- Again, the rest of the nation saw what we have known all along, Davis is a gym rat and will do his best to not be beat in competition in the weightroom. He had the second-best 40-yard dash (4.37) and bench press (31 reps of 225-pounds) of all the running backs. Davis had the best 40 time and bench press combination ever for a back over 220 pounds. He was a freak out there, like he had never missed a beat after the ankle injury which led him to miss a season after being the SEC's second-leading rusher as a sophomore. He was 15th in his shuttle time and this lack of burst showed this season in the form of runs to the outside. If he can improve these numbers some experts have him going as high as the third round. Maybe UA's own Jerry Jones brings him to Dallas with DeMarco Murray struggling.
- Chris Gragg- It sure would have been nice to have him around for the last month of the season. Never was this more evident when the Warren native showcased his athleticism this week. He has hops, as he finished as a top performer in the broad and vertical jumps. Gragg fits the new mold of a tight end; and while he does lack in blocking ability, he makes up for it with his pass-catching skills. Had he had a full season more in a finely tuned Petrino offense, Gragg could be looking at going in the first round. He still may go late second because the tight end position, especially with his big frame, is becoming a premium offensive weapon (i.e. Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham).
- Cobi Hamilton- There are usually winners and losers at the NFL combine and experts today will be happy to tell you which prospects were what today. If there is a tie, then Hamilton fills that role. He did nothing--on tape--that stood out. Because he lacks the speed, though possesses the size, of some of the NFL's top wide receivers, Hamilton has to prove on his pro day that he can move fluidly running routes. He is a projected third to fourth round pick, whose stock has room to rise.
- Alvin Bailey- The only Arkansas junior invited to the combine did not do a whole lot to improve where he will go in April's draft. He, like Hamilton, will need impressive pro days to move up, even more because there is very little tape of the Hogs' offensive line doing good last season. Scouts say he does have the necessary quick jump after the ball is hiked, but lacks a lot of lateral mobility and the ability to move defenders off their feet. In good news, NFL.com said this about him, the best description of any player: "Bailey is blessed with a natural anchor to limit his opposition's momentum."
- Dylan Breeding- The two-time All-SEC Second Team punter was one of six punters invited to participate. NFL.com says he lacks the "average athleticism for the position," he is still more athletic than you and me. He tied for the fastest 40-yard dash with a 4.74 among specialists which means you can tell everyone Arkansas had the fastest special teams player at the combine. Did you know he's from Hoover?
In case you haven't heard, UAPB's Terron Armstead ran a 4.71 40-yard dash, a record for offensive linemen. He weighs a beefy 306-pounds and is faster than 99% of people reading this.
A native of Arkansas now calling the Hogs from yonder in Georgia, you can follow Graham on Twitter @grahamreaves.


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Aaron Siskind has been making photographs for nearly a third of the entire history of the medium, and to a very great degree his contributions as an artist and teacher form an important part of that history.
In the 1930's as a member of the Photo League, Siskind worked with fellow league members, on several social documentary projects including, "Harlem Document,""Dead End: The Bowery," "Portrait of a Tenement" and "St. Joseph's House: The Catholic Workers Movement." Siskind's contribution to these projects was significant and the work was widely published and exhibited. But when he turned his camera to subjects other than the social problems of man, the dominant preoccupation of the Photo League at the time, his new work was denounced by many of the League's members. In 1941 he left the League to pursue this new work which led him to "regard the picture as a new object to be contemplated for its own meaning and its own beauty."
It was this change from documentary to non-objective interpretations that allowed him to explore works symbolically and to "place the power of descriptive illusion at the service of allusion." The first exhibition of this new work at the Egan Gallery in New York in 1947 received practically no acceptance by photographers, but eventually it helped bring photography in step with the 20th century by joining metaphor, structure and form thus providing photography with a means to escape from the limited restraints placed on the medium by its' documentary practitioners.
And now at age 82 Siskind continues to bring to life forms that are as highly personal as any images invented from the imagination, and in fact, all of the photographs in this exhibition were made between 1980-1984. In this new work he continues to abstract the depth of visual poetry present in the objects that surround us by conveying photographically things felt as things seen. This conviction has been the hallmark of Siskind's work for the past 40 years and this contribution will forever allow us to consider the essence of photography's power as more than merely the accurate and faithful recording of visual facts.
Jeffrey Hoone
Syracuse, New York
February, 1986
Train of Thought: Serial Images from the Light Work Collection
Train of Thought presented the work of five photographers from the Light Work Collection, including Hollis Frampton, Arnold Gassan, Peter Max Kandhola, Judy Natal, and Aaron Siskind. Several photographs from each artist were exhibited with the intention of providing viewers, especially students, an opportunity to follow an artist through many different stages and approaches to one idea or subject and the chance to witness and consider their creative process through multiple images.
Through the generosity of Robert and Joyce Menschel, Light Work recently received a donation of 150 photographs, including fifteen silver gelatin prints by preeminent photographer and educator Aaron Siskind (1903–1991). The images by Siskind included in this exhibition are strong examples of his interest in exploring the formal and abstracted views of urban decay—peeling paint, torn signs, and bits of graffiti. Like the other artists in this exhibition Siskind's work documented and ordered the world he encountered around him, with a unique ability to show us the profound beauty of the ordinary. Siskind viewed the photograph as a unique physical object in its own right, in contrast to many images today that exist only virtually. He stated, "When I make a photograph I want it to be an altogether new object, complete and self-contained, whose basic condition is order —(unlike the world of events and actions whose permanent condition is change and disorder)." Train of Thought included a variety of "altogether new objects," as each of the artists included can be said to have uniquely documented and ordered their world.
Artist Judy Natal combined images made over a ten-year period while traveling the world to create her portfolio, The Hermetic Alphabet, a series of twenty-six silver gelatin prints.
Natal used the alphabet as a structure on which she could organize and connect a series of seemingly random, ambiguous images. As the work moves us through the alphabet from A to Z, Natal investigates language, landscape, and travel.
Arnold Gassan, a widely recognized authority on photographic processes as well as the history of photography, created the series Elegy in dedication to his mentor and teacher Minor White. The rich, elegant surfaces and tonal range of Gassan's images are created using the labor-intensive, antiquated process of photogravure. His images show familiar rural scenes of clotheslines, picket fences, landscapes, and portraits of friends and family. The exquisite care he takes in printing points to his belief that, "the photograph often leaves a residue of un-verbalized meaning."
No Birds Do Sing in Blue Sky, a collection of eighteen unique silver gelatin prints by Peter Max Kandhola, continues his exploration of death and grief, an idea he has approached with several different photographic mediums over the years. In this series the artist scratches and distresses his negatives as a visual metaphor. His purpose for manipulating the negative is described in his statement that, "images come and go, they flicker unsolved, and time builds itself around them. We invent explanations which also remain unsolved, but we also retain the meaning of episodes in our past life, a museum of images."
ADSVMVS ABSVMVS is a portfolio of chromogenic prints by Hollis Frampton, an artist and educator who worked in both still photography and the avant-garde film movement known as "New America Cinema," which flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. He used his camera to record and order his unique collection of plant and animal specimens found in his travels, including road kill and delicacies from an Asian grocery. Each color photograph is paired by text of the object's Latin name, history, and mythology. Although his texts borrow the language and model of scientific classification, his version is quirky, personal, and humorous. His array of oddities and the stories of their discovery relay an artist's creative process of trolling his neighborhood for inspiration.
Photographers and artists often seek an underlying structure or pattern in the world around them. As hundreds of students walked through this exhibition, some carrying cameras and a photo assignment, they were able to see how five different artists went fishing for inspiration and made, as Siskind said, "order out of chaos."
Mary Lee Hodgens


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Facebook COO, best-selling author and mother of two, Sheryl Sandberg spoke with National Geographic for their January issue on feminism and how we can all help achieve gender equality.
"From the moment they are born, boys and girls are treated according to stereotypes," Sandberg says. This can happen either consciously or subconsciously, where children are pigeon-holed according to certain behaviours. "We tell little boys, 'Don't cry like a girl' – it's not helpful," she adds.
Sandberg has long been a feminist voice, with her best-seller Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead documenting her own experiences as she rode the technology boom, first with Google, and now as the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. She says that at the beginning of her career, there were as many men as there were women in entry level jobs. However, those numbers shifted as she moved through the higher ranks of a company, with many more men in executive positions. "If you look back at the 1950s, '60s or '70s, of course we've made progress," she says. "But we have not made progress in getting a greater share of the top jobs, in any industry, in the past decade."
In Australia, women comprise roughly 46 per cent of the workforce. However, the number of women on the boards of the ASX top 200 companies is only 18.6%. The gender pay gap is 18.2 per cent, meaning that women earn only 82c out of the dollar their male counterparts earn for the same work. Women are over-represented as part-time workers in low-paid industries and continue to face barriers to employment progression including sexual harassment, discrimination and gender-based caring expectations.
In New Zealand, the situation is slightly better with the gender pay gap between men and women being 12 per cent. However, the number of women on private company boards remains only at 14.75 per cent. Similarly, New Zealand women still face the same barriers as Australian women, including taking on more unpaid caring roles or lower paid part time work.
To help combat this inequality, Sandberg says we need to encourage girls from a young age to take on the same opportunities as their male counterparts. "Raise your hand if you're a girl in class; run for class president. If you're interested in it, be a leader," she encourages. "Don't let the world tell you girls can't lead."
At a time when many women struggle to identify as feminists, and the idea of "feminism" itself being considered a 'dirty word' by many, Sandberg's voice is a powerful tool in championing for women's leadership.


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Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg appointed to the Coronavirus Commission
Hi, Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, associate professor and senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, will participate in the Government's commission evaluating the measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19. What are your thoughts on the work that you and the others on the commission have before you?
"This feels like a very important assignment. Our mission is to independently determine what actually has happened (and what has not happened) and then to evaluate this in light of what we know today. To this end, a central task is to produce data on how the coronavirus epidemic has been handled in Sweden. Ultimately, the commission's work is about learning how to handle future societal crises as well as possible."
Can you already say something about how you will tackle your assignment?
"In addition to the expertise of the commission's members, we will also need to consult with both Swedish and foreign experts. The task before us is extensive. We plan to utilise research from several disciplines and collect information from the societal functions that have been particularly burdened during the pandemic at both the central and local levels. The commission has a secretariat with about 5 staff members, which will collect the data the commission requests, contribute with its expertise, and produce written material."
Can you mention some of the questions you feel the commission should prioritise finding answers to?
"At this initial stage, I am not prepared to make a list of priorities. But I can point out that the Government's directive lists about 70 questions that it wants answers to, and it will be a challenge to answer them all."
Has there been enough time for a fair investigation to be possible?
"It depends on what questions you are looking at. If you are interested in a conclusive answer of what strategy works best, then it is too early. But many of the questions specified in the directive are about things that we can actually evaluate by February 2022. For example, whether the organisation and way of working of Swedish societal institutions are appropriate for times of crisis?"
What do you think it will be like to evaluate something that everyone is impacted by and that most people have strong opinions about?
"That the debate is polarised does not scare me at all. I'm taking this on with an open mind and with a genuine interest in assessing and reassessing our societal functions' organisation and ways of working in the type of crisis we are currently in. The commission has a unique opportunity to seek real answers with new and comprehensive data to questions that are, in many cases, discussed using anecdotal evidence in the general debate."
How does this type of investigation differ from research within academia?
"Many of us on the commissions are active researchers, and we will not work differently than what we are accustomed to as researchers. One difference now is that we aren't the ones formulating the research questions. Instead, the Government has formulated (many) of the questions in consultation with the opposition parties. But how these questions are to be studied and what conclusions are to be drawn are fully the responsibility of the commission. In these crucial aspects, we are independent."
What will your role be? In what ways do you feel you will be able to contribute?
"I will be involved in initiating studies that will help us answer central questions related to how society is organised. I hope to contribute with my expertise on the Swedish administrative model, the relationship between the state and municipalities, what frameworks our current form of government place on crisis management, and insights into the conditions created by the most recent decades' ideas on governance for publicly financed local activities.
Tove Hellkvist
Facts: The Coronavirus Commission
The mission of the Coronavirus Commission is to evaluate the measures taken by the Government, relevant administrative agencies, regions, and municipalities to limit the spread of the virus that causes the illness COVID-19 and the impact of its spread. The commission will also conduct an international comparison with relevant countries of the different measures taken and their effects. The commission will present its results by 28 February 2022.


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Janice Trytten (Sunflower) is a Native Flute player in Cincinnati, OH.
As a reenactor/living historian in the fur-trade era she brings an authenticity to the music, a connection to sounds of the past and a peaceful place in the present. The music is straight from the heart.
This recording will bring to you a quiet place for the end of the day, meditation, yoga, massage, or a signal for the kids that it's time to slow down. Breath Deeply ~ Burn some sage or cedar if you wish ~ Peace.
For more information about her CD, Warm Shelter, the new CD, Welcome Silence Native Flute Music by Sunflower, the Educational Program as "Visitor From the Plains", and live Native Flute Performances, please visit: www.SunflowerTones.net


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The chair Evolution of Plants and Fungi at the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology of the Ruhr-University Bochum is currently vacant. The faculty will fill the chair as soon as possible.
The chair is currently held by Prof. Dr. Christopher Grefen, who can be reached at email@example.com.
We are a German network of 27 research projects that are focused on combining taxonomy using natural history museum specimens with new approaches for discovering and naming biodiversity. We are funded under DFG priority program SPP 1991.
Ruhr-University Bochum
Evolution of plants and fungi
Petra Lerch
Universitätsstraße 150
44801 Bochum
Phone: +49 234 32-24491


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Recently, several Knight fellows visited the offices of Palo Alto, Calif., startup Jaunt, which produces virtual-reality software that is, in a word, pretty awesome.
Jaunt founder Jens Christensen treated fellows to a demo consisting of several virtual reality scenarios, each of which placed the user at the center of dynamic environments (a skate park, a string quartet in a symphony hall, an alien invasion of a spaceship, etc.).
"It opens up a new medium — but it also poses new challenges," Christensen says. For example, whereas traditional video allows producers to focus viewers on a particular speaker or scene, Jaunt's system allows for 360-degree, 3D vision — meaning that producers must think about what's going on everywhere in the scene.
Jaunt's system uses a spherical set of fixed cameras that take video in every direction. The idea, Christensen says, was sparked when one of his co-founders visited Zion National Park, took a bunch of iPhone photos, and found that they "couldn't really capture it at all."
The result is a 360-degree experience that offers a wealth of potential applications: news, sports, gaming, entertainment.
VR and the news
News in particular could be a powerful application for virtual reality, Christensen says, as a means of placing people in a situation.
"We think that's just such a natural application," Christensen says. "[It can] take you to a disaster — a flood, say, or a demonstration. The Ukraine — you can imagine having a camera there now."
Indeed, BSkyB, the British broadcasting company, has recognized that potential: it's one of Jaunt's investors. And virtual reality's broader implications have made recent headlines with Facebook's acquisition of Oculus Rift.
Jaunt's eventual goal, Christensen says, is to offer live streaming of news or cultural events — in short to put cameras "somewhere people don't normally go." Rather than putting one in the audience at a concert, then, they'd place a camera onstage, because "you can't buy a ticket to be onstage."
The company has Stanford roots: Christensen got his Ph.D. here, and the company is housed not far from where the seeds of motion pictures were planted in the 1800s.
Ultimately, Jaunt wants to evoke a "feeling of presence, of being somewhere else," Christensen says. "We'd like Jaunt to be kind of the IMAX of immersive media."
Alexa Schirtzinger is a Knight Fellow working on innovative business models for local journalism, and was editor-in-chief at the Santa Fe Reporter. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter.
This story originally appeared on the blog for the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford.
The John S. Knight Fellowships at Stanford University fosters journalistic innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership. Each year, 20 individuals from around the world get the resources to pursue their ideas for improving journalism.


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Though sometimes taken for granted, designers shouldn't overlook the intricacies of voltage- and current-feedback op amps—integral players in the analog and mixed-signal worlds. Op amps amplify tiny signals from sensors so analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) can digitize them. They also make it possible to craft active filters with better characteristics than filters built of just coils and capacitors. Although an IC op amp's circuitry tends to be subtle and complex, its application principles—at least to a first approximation—are relatively simple.
Defining An Op Amp
An operational amplifier, or op amp, generally comprises a differential-input stage with high input impedance, an intermediate-gain stage, and a push-pull output stage with a low output impedance (no greater than 100 Ω) (Fig. 1).
Open-loop voltage gain runs very high, on the order of 1 million. The differential input stage implies an inverting and a non-inverting input. With dual (positive and negative) power supplies, it can handle input signals that aren't necessarily referenced to ground.
As a practical matter, op amps are always used with negative feedback. That is, the output gets fed back to the inverting input through some impedance. Also, op amps may be optimized for specific applications by emphasizing different performance characteristics (see the table).
Negative Feedback Controls Gain, Frequency-Domain Behavior
The ratio of output impedance to input impedance determines the gain of an op amp that uses negative feedback (Fig. 2). If one of these impedances is reactive (practically speaking, if it's a capacitive feedback impedance) and there's a purely resistive input impedance, gain A is given by:
In this case, the gain characteristic is frequency-dependent. From a frequency-domain standpoint, the circuit represents a low-pass filter. In the time domain, the circuit's output is the integral of the input signal. Also, the apparent capacitance of the circuit is multiplied. By simply varying the input resistance, it becomes easy to build a circuit with an output voltage that's 0.1 or 1 or 10 times the integral of the input voltage.
Input Bias/Offset And Common Mode
Actual input stages may be subject to bias and offset errors (Fig. 3).Input bias currents (on the order of nanoamperes) flow because the input impedance is finite, and they ultimately affect linearity. Op-amp designers may trade off higher bias currents for higher speeds. Offset represents the voltage difference caused by a variation between bias currents on the two inputs.
Real-world op amps also are limited in their maximum allowable input voltages. Such an allowable common-mode swing generally falls below the supply voltages. Some op amps are designed for rail-to-rail (or nearly rail-to-rail) input voltage swings.
Voltage- And Current-Feedback Op Amps
Practical differences exist between voltage and current-feedback op-amp topologies, both in the way they're built and how they're used.
Voltage-feedback (VFB) amps control the output voltage, in effect, by a voltage-gain stage (Fig. 4). The voltage difference between the two inputs is multiplied by a dimensionless gain constant (A). In a VFB amp with negative feedback, the output changes to drive the voltage difference between the inverting and non-inverting input to zero.
An ideal VFB would possess very large open-circuit gain that's independent of input frequency. However, in a real-world VFB, the open loop gain is large at dc, but rolls off at 6 dB/octave (Fig. 5). As open-loop gain decreases, the negative-feedback op amp's gain drops below the ratio RF/RI. When the open-circuit gain equals RF/RI, the circuit's overall gain will be half its dc value. This is called the −3-dB bandwidth.
For most of the frequency range, the product of gain and bandwidth, or gain-bandwidth product (GBP), becomes constant. Consequently, for any given real-world VFB amplifier, it's possible to design a circuit with high gain or high bandwidth, but not both.
From a topological standpoint, two key factors differentiate current-feedback (CFB) amplifiers from their VFB counterparts. First, a unity-gain buffer sits between the non-inverting input and the inverting input (Fig. 6). The buffer typically has very high input impedance and very low output impedance.
The buffer affects the CFB's open-loop characteristics in various ways:
- Very high input impedance on the non-inverting input
- Very low input impedance on the inverting impedance
- Very low output impedance
The second difference is that in a CFB, a transfer function, operating on the current flowing through the buffer between the inputs, basically controls the output voltage. Transfer impedance (Z) multiplies this current.
In a CFB with negative feedback, the signal from the output will attempt to drive the error current to zero. This is otherwise known as "current feedback."
It's important to note that CFB amps don't have the gain-bandwidth limitations of VFB amps. Instead, the CFB amp limits the size of the feedback impedance, which is given as a resistance value in datasheets.
Ideal-case voltage gain in a CFB amp (and in VFB amps) is still set by the ratio of feedback-to-input resistance. But for real-world amplifiers, gain rolls off with increasing frequency. Therefore, the size of the feedback resistor affects frequency response, which ultimately restricts the range of possible RF values.
In practice, CFB amp bandwidth does vary a little with gain, although not as drastically as with VFB op amps. That's mainly due to the non-zero output impedance of the input buffer, whose effect is to alter the loop gain and, hence, the closed-loop dynamics.
Unlike VFB amplifiers, CFB op amps don't experience slew-rate limiting. RF alone will govern CFB transient response, as is the case with frequency response. Likewise, it takes very little time (nanoseconds or less) for a CFB amp's output to settle within 0.1% of its final value.
CFB Limitations
Given their gain-bandwidth advantages, why do engineers continue to design circuits with VFB amplifiers? First, VFBs offer lower noise and better dc performance than CFB op amps. Second, VFB amps can be employed as integrators simply by using a capacitor as the feedback impedance. In contrast, CFB op amps must avoid a direct capacitance between the output and the inverting input. There are workarounds, but they add to the circuit's complexity.
Op-Amp Characteristics
Voltage-feedback op-amp datasheets specify five different gains: open-loop gain or AVOL (which may be 160 dB or higher without negative feedback), closed-loop gain, signal gain, noise gain, and loop gain.
Loop gain is the difference between the open- and closed-loop gains, or the total gain through the amplifier and back to the input via the feedback network. It comprises signal gain and noise gain. Signal gain is the gain experienced by an input signal, while noise gain reflects the input offset voltage and voltage noise of the op amp at the output.
A datasheet will also reveal various distortion measurements. Total harmonic distortion (THD) and THD+N (THD plus noise) are both measurements of distortion generated by a single-tone sine-wave input. Intermodulation distortion (IMD) is a measurement of dynamic range produced by the interaction of two tones. Third-order intercept point (IP3) measures the effects of third-order IMD.
Other specifications include the 1-dB compression point. It represents the level of input signal at which the output signal is compressed by 1 dB from an ideal input/output transfer function. This defines the end of an amp's dynamic range.
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) also defines the dynamic range. It measures (in dB) the maximum signal level to the rms level of the noise floor.
In RF work, noise factor and noise figure are important specs. Noise factor relates the noise generated by the amplifier to the thermal noise of a 50-Ω resistor at room temperature. Noise figure is noise factor expressed in dB; i.e., 10 × log10 (noise factor).
- Jung, Walt, "Op-Amp History."
- Maliniak, David, "Online Design Environment Demystifies Op-Amp Puzzles," Electronic Design, Jan. 19, 2004.


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Larry Coss, the controversial founder and leader of Green Tree Financial in the 1980s and 1990s, has died of cancer at age 75.
Coss gained notoriety as the nation's highest-paid CEO in the mid-1990s. He made about $65 million in 1995 and was paid more than $100 million in cash and stock in 1996. He returned some of the money after his board of directors, under shareholder pressure, altered his bonus formula.
Coss also fought lawsuits over the years pursued by former financial partners, federal regulators and shareholders. One suit, which Green Tree settled with federal regulators for tens of millions in 1992, was brought by the failed Midwest Federal Savings and Loan.
Coss and former Midwest Federal Savings CEO Hal Greenwood created Green Tree in the early 1980s and spun it off as a public company. Midwest was a big lender and investor in Green Tree until the savings and loan got in financial trouble and was seized by federal regulators. The thrift's failure cost taxpayers hundreds of millions to cover federally insured depositors, and Greenwood went to prison.
Federal prosecutors said during the criminal trial that Green Tree simply had gotten the upper hand in business dealings with Midwest Federal and that the taxpayer claims would be resolved in civil court, which they were in 1992.
Coss increasingly turned to Wall Street to finance his loans. Green Tree became a pioneer of the "loan securitization" business that also helped drive the growth of Wall Street but also burned some investors who claimed they were misled about the quality of the loan packages they were buying.
Among them was Conseco Financial, which took over Green Tree in a 1998 buyout. Conseco later went bankrupt and blamed the high delinquency rate of Green Tree's portfolio.
Conseco had to write off about $1.5 billion in Green Tree assets, erasing Green Tree's before-tax profits for 1995 to 1997. Conseco stock dropped 90 percent in value. Coss, who had remained on the company's board, saw his Conseco shares fall in value from $260 million in 1998 to about $25 million in 2000. Conseco filed for bankruptcy in 2002.
Coss, a former car salesmen, was known as a hard-charging executive. However, associates said, he mellowed in retirement.
Brian Short, a former federal magistrate retained to mediate among shareholders, the government and Green Tree in the early 1990s, said he came to admire Coss for his philanthropy.
"He could be a very caring guy," Short said. "He was smart. He understood securitization. He sold Green Tree to Conseco and made the shareholders a bunch of dough. Larry paid off his stock loans after the Conseco stock [crashed in value]. I didn't know him in business. But he was a person of integrity, in my view."
Short, who also was chairman of Catholic Charities, said that after the settlements Coss asked to bring his children to visit several agencies that served impoverished citizens. Short said Coss gave millions to Catholic Charities, Catholic schools for scholarships and to assist people in need.
After the Green Tree sale to Conseco, Coss, a legal resident of South Dakota, split time between his home on Sunfish Lake near St. Paul and his South Dakota ranch.
"We seldom talked business," said Brent Baskfield, a neighbor and friend who served on the Coss Family Foundation. "We'd go pheasant hunting in South Dakota, and I was able to see Larry as a common man with uncommon skills. He was very smart and came up without privilege and built a multibillion-dollar company."
Coss is survived by his wife, Virginia; several children and grandchildren. Visitation will be at O'Halloran & Murphy Funeral Home in St. Paul on Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. Services will be held at the Church of the Assumption in St. Paul on Friday at 10 a.m. followed by interment at St. Peter's Church cemetery in Mendota.


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In Why I Love, PC Gamer writers pick an aspect of PC gaming that they love and write about why it's brilliant. Today, Shaun marvels at the horribly lonely deaths in Elite: Dangerous.
These days I feel nauseous when I pick up a job in Elite: Dangerous. I sit in the cockpit, safely ensconced in my assigned station dock, and fret about the long distance ahead. I'm not afraid of getting shot to pieces by pirates, but I'm afraid of dying alone. That endless black outside—populated sparsely with hurtling unidentified signals and the occasional planet—is too much emptiness to bear.
Death in games is usually just a fail-state. Sometimes you fall into a hole, whimsical music plays and it's mildly frustrating. Sometimes you're punished with a gratuitously violent depiction of your character's death, and it's very funny. In games, death is usually a brief and unceremonious moment between one life and the next. We don't learn about what it might be like to actually die, because that would not be fun.
I dearly love Elite: Dangerous, but I don't think it's very fun. I've been learning to play it for weeks and I still have no idea what I'm doing. I like taking goods from one station to another, but I don't fancy shooting or being shot at. Elite: Dangerous is basically a beautiful interactive screensaver for me. I often play it while I'm doing something else. I set a course and occasionally check on my ship's progress. I'm not playing the game properly, but I'm fine with that. I love the ambience. I love being in space.
The other day I was trying to play Elite: Dangerous properly. I had to pick up some cargo and take it somewhere else for some reason. Navigating the game's galaxy map, I managed to frame shift drive into the right system and set a course for the right station without getting lost. For once I knew what I was doing, and the game sensed this, because it played some dramatic music as I soared towards my destination. It was like the climax to an epic space opera, but instead of saving the galaxy I was delivering crates of junk.
I didn't end up dropping off my junk, though. Distracted by a bright light, and knowing that delivering my junk would mean docking (which I'm terrible at), I decided to investigate the former. Damn it, I'm no space courier anyway. The stars are my destination! How close can I get to them?
Stars and spaceships do not mix, I was soon to learn. Feeling reckless, and knowing no one in the entire galaxy would miss me if I were to die, and having achieved nothing anyway, I activated frame shift drive and set my course stubbornly for the centre of the star. I expected my ship to melt, or explode, and for dramatic music to punctuate the fatal drama, but none of that happened. A big red warning shrieked of my impending doom and then there was a large crushing bang. And then silence.
In real life I'm not particularly afraid of death. I figure it's going to happen to everyone. There's nothing special about me—I won't miraculously be the first person never to die—so I don't dwell on it. But Elite: Dangerous made me scared of death, both in-game and in real life.
The thing about certain deaths in Elite: Dangerous is that they're long, protracted, unceremonious deflations of life. They're not glorious or heroic. They're not dramatic. No one is there to say goodbye. You are whole solar systems away from anyone who might know your name. Your last moment is not the height of a grandiose crescendo: you just die.
Floating thousands of kilometres from the star, my ship was eerily silent: there was no engine sound, only a hum and the occasional beep of some system or alarm. I didn't know what the beeps meant—still don't—but I could see my windows fogging up gradually, and my breath was becoming increasingly laboured.
I was stranded. There was no way to fix the situation. I could either self-destruct or let nature take its course.
Choosing to do the latter, I was exposed to the only traumatic death I've ever experienced in a game. Death in Elite is traumatic because it's long. It took me four minutes to die, my pilot's breath becoming increasingly emphysemic, his hands firmly gripping his controls, and then, as the beeps increased in intensity towards his final seconds of life, a powerful white light engulfed the screen. And that was the end. I felt dreadful, and scared.
Dying in Elite: Dangerous is not much fun. You can run out of fuel and have no recourse. Getting shot to pieces is quick and merciful. The worst deaths in Elite: Dangerous are when your ship is incapacitated and you're just floating lonely in space. It's a horrible, graphic death—more impactful than a slow motion decapitation or ragdoll flourish—and now I play the game in fear of it. I don't want to get stranded. I don't want to stuff it up. I want to live. I won't be bull-rushing stars anymore, because now my simulated life feels precious.


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The one thing which quickly occupies our mind after receiving the wedding invitation is that what gift to give. And choosing an ideal wedding gift can be a tedious task. While selecting the gift one has to consider the likes and dislikes of the about to be a married couple. One particular growing trend is giving personalised wedding gifts. They are a bit tricky to make or choose but they also have a sentimental value to the recipient. Personalised gifts are always special, be it in any form or matter. They are definitely going to please any married couple as they can be really useful. And they will be cherished for years to come.
How to choose
The thing one must consider before selecting a personalised gift is to what exactly you want to express through a gift, which depends on the connection you share with the couple. A close relative can choose a different gift than a gift for an office colleague.
Next, set your budget before selecting a gift. Personalised wedding gifts are almost available for all budget types.
Next thing to consider is the personal likes of the bride and the groom. If you have the information you can surprise them with all the different types of goodies. For example, if the bride and groom love travelling, you can gift them travel related personalised gifts. Maps of different countries on a coffee mug are one such trendy gift, as well as trendy passport covers and pouches to carry with couples name engraved on them.
Another personalised gift to give is a wedding dish plate or mason jars to a cooking enthusiast couple.
Also, the cheese board and knives and tea kettles can be really useful items and can be personalised.
Candles, cushions and key chains are some of the regular items which can be personalized easily. Assorted hampers is another good option to gift as you can personalize many different items such as perfumes, creams as well as chocolates and club them together in a hamper to gift.
What to gift
For closer relatives gifting a customised holiday will be very special for a wedding couple. Day passes for the spa is another cool option to gift. Personalised artwork and metal items also help decorate the new home of a married couple. For Wine lovers, one can also gift personalised wine bottles and openers.
Another such trendy personalised gift is a photo frame. It may sound bit old fashioned but with the courtesy of technology, there are many different types of frames available in the market today. And frames are one of the most long lasting gifts to give. One such special place to find most unique types of frames and many other personalised wedding gifts is Little Gems Online. The frames come with all kinds of customisation and personalization to ensure the perfect wedding gift experience. They are available in all shapes and sizes. They are available at very affordable prices for all budget types. The process is also very simple to ensure swift results. It also comes with free delivery in the UK and you can get the refund if you are not satisfied with the service. One of the most remarkable frames available is a wedding song frame which enables you to put the memorable first wedding dance song in a frame. Also for the quirky couples, there's a Lego wedding frame with full customisation and it comes in all colours. Another favourite is the kissing couple frame which is popular for weddings as well as Valentine's Day gifts. This one allows you to write names of the couple as well as your own personal message for them. Hence it is one of the easiest yet most personal items to gift a married couple.
Personalised gifts are the most delightful gifts because they are specially made for the recipients. Give such gifts to the wedding couple and get their admiration.


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Zuckerberg says Facebook didn't influence the election
According to him, it's engagement with the facts that's the real problem.
If you controlled a media publishing platform that connected to millions of people, it'd make you a pretty powerful individual. Not so, according to Mark Zuckerberg, who has come out against the notion that Facebook helped win it for Trump. TechCrunch reports that the CEO was challenged about his social network's laissez-faire policy towards stopping the flood of fake, bubble-reinforcing propaganda. He thinks that the notion that the torrent of fabricated stories "influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea."
Zuckerberg believes that it's wrong to suggest that the diet of false stories, much of it generated in Macedonia, influenced things. Instead, he said that "voters make decisions based on their lived experience," and that you "don't generally go wrong when you trust that people understand what they care about." In addition, the Zuck says that the company studies fake news and analyzes how it can be improved, and feels that fake stories aren't much of a problem. In the same breath, the company is also pledging to do more to tackle fake news in the future.
The Facebook chief also said that the problem isn't to do with the news feed, or people's social networks at all, but the level of engagement. He added that "the biggest filter in the system is not that the content isn't there," but that "you just tune it out when you see it." That's at odds with what Facebook said last year, too, when it said that if you were only seeing self-reinforcing stories, its because your friend circle wasn't diverse enough.


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- Home
- Government
- Public Notices
- Emergency Notices
Emergency Notices
Storm Season Reminders
The City operates an outside storm siren system throughout the community to alert citizens of severe weather which may be tracking to the Jenks area. These sirens are initially sounded for a three minute period as an initial alert. The wailing may be repeated. Upon hearing a siren warning please access any available news outlet for further information. It is always advisable to have a battery-operated radio and flashlight available.
Current Conditions
Weather Information
Visit the National Weather Service website for current weather information.
Weather Radar
View the National Weather Service's live weather radar to see weather conditions in your area.
Citizen Actions In the Event of a Public Emergency
In the event of a public emergency it may be necessary for individual citizens to take certain actions in order to protect life, limb, and/or property. Your local emergency officials will not ask you to leave your home or location unless there is a valid reason. Do not try and second-guess the validity of their request.
The most effective recovery from a public emergency is working together as a community.
- Public Emergencies
- Prepare in Advance
- Advance Warning
- No Warning
- Public Notification
- Emergency Personnel
- Evacuations
- Tracking Individuals
- Specialized Assistance
Most probable public emergencies might include:
- Explosion
- Failure or interruption of key utility services such as electric power:
- Natural Gas
- Sanitary Services
- Water
- Fire
- Flooding
- Hail
- High Winds
- Tornado
It is the responsibility of each citizen to have an individual plan of action in the event of certain public emergencies to include weather and non-weather related. Take time individually and with other members of a household or business to plan courses of immediate action such as having:
- Access to communication devices such as:
- Battery-powered radio
- Internet
- Telephone
- Television
- Access to a limited amount of food and water
- Access to a minimum supply of medications
- Access to shelter
- Access to transportation
- Identification
Special Requirements
Remember to consider the special requirements of those individuals with limited mobility and to the needs of pets. Every member of the household or business should plan as to how they will remain in contact with each other or how they will notify a party away from the emergency as to whereabouts and needs.
In some cases a public emergency may have some advance warning such as in approaching severe weather or possible flooding conditions. Individuals should listen to local media if such situations appear to be developing.
Warning System
The City maintains an outside siren warning system for such conditions, but such a system is simply to alert individuals outside to take cover and to seek additional information from electronic sources such as radio and television announcements or through the use of telephone communications. Individuals should take appropriate actions based upon those announcements and to act directly in accordance with any such announcements made through this means by directives of local officials.
If no advance warning is received and a public emergency exists, immediately seek electronic information as to conditions and if possible and appropriate implement the personal, individual advance preparation. If none has been made, then seek out those items indicated in the previous Advance Warning tab, if circumstances allow.
Official Announcements
Official announcements regarding the scope of the public emergency and what actions may be necessary will be announced in the name of the Mayor of the City. If common electronic notifications are not possible, local officials will attempt to assess all effected areas of the community as soon as possible to determine the needs of all individuals. These officials will simultaneously give individuals in the assessed areas instructions as to what personal actions may be necessary for the immediate period of time. Please follow such instructions exactly.
Individuals may also be requested to assist fellow citizens if possible by the local officials who will suggest possible actions which might be helpful. Local officials will be prioritizing available resources to be used in the most useful means toward saving life, limb, and property in that order and towards establishing public order that will quickly achieve these purposes.
Emergency personnel will be a variety of people from Police Officers, to Fire Fighters, to Paramedics, and to Public Works staff, to name a few. Depending on the situation any individual from any of these groups may provide a useful service to affected individuals. Please follow their directions as requested. Please remember that an order by a Police Officer must be followed absolutely.
If it should be necessary to evacuate an area of the community, public officials will so indicate through electronic means if they are available. If such means are not available such notice will be given on-site. Individuals should follow these instructions carefully. Such instructions will at a minimum indicate the route(s) of the evacuation, suggest possible destinations, and indicate a manner in which to receive follow-up information as may be required.
Evacuation Tips
Keep a map on hand that will enable you to take a route that may be unfamiliar to you. Plan to take one vehicle per household. This will keep family members together and reduce the number of cars on your particular evacuation route.
Local officials will establish through public notifications channels a Public Information Center for individuals to find out about each other as soon as possible following a public emergency as well as to report particular special needs for assistance. Please give as much identification and contact information as possible upon making such contact to the Public Information Center. If telephone service is operational that number will be 918-299-5883.
Depending upon the nature of a public emergency, some individuals may have specialized equipment or other services that may be useful to local officials. Such offers of assistance also can be made in care of the Public Information Center.


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What do hamburgers and homeowner's insurance policies have in common?
Okay let me set the stage for you. It's Wednesday night and both kids have basketball practice. There is no chance you can cook dinner and make it to practice on time. So to the drive thru window we go! You place your order, pay at the first window and grab your food at the second.
Now you've been burned before. You've pulled away from the restaurant only to find out you're one burger short. Never again! So before you even leave the parking lot you hand the bag to the passenger seat with instructions to "make sure it's all there".
It makes sense. The stakes are pretty low, but you want to make sure you get what you paid for. There's an immediate negative effect felt if your order is wrong. And that's why you pop open the bag before you leave the parking lot.
Now let's raise the stakes.
Let's apply that same theory to your homeowner's insurance policy. Do you check to make sure you're getting what you paid for? I'm betting that's a no. No one reads their policy even though you should. And that's because you don't need it right now. You buy homeowners insurance so that maybe, some day in the distant future you might use it… maybe. Your home policy is more of an abstract promise than a tangible product.
I think we can all agree that your home insurance policy is much more important than your missing burger. It's easy to count how many sandwiches are in the bag, but knowing what's in a homeowner's policy- now that's a tall order.
So how can the average consumer evaluate what is actually covered by their homeowner's policy?
- Don't go it alone. The internet is a magical place where you can buy anything you need. Or don't need. But you should not be buying something as important and complicated as a homeowner's insurance policy over the internet. You need a human person who has your best interest in mind. Just don't do it!
- Do your homework. Fun stuff right? Here's a link that will give you some information in a nice readable format. You don't have to be an expert, but you should have a basic understanding of what you're buying. You need to know enough to understand if the person you do talk to has your best interest in mind.
- Ask the right questions. Okay this one may be a little tricky. What if your insurance agent provided you with a comparison against your current coverage and a list of other coverages you might want to consider? (by the way, that's exactly what we do).
So getting back to the original question now, what do hamburgers and homeowner's policies have in common? I would say, not much. One key similarity is you want to know what you're getting.
I'll leave you with this closing thought. People often call us and ask for the cheapest home insurance policy they can get. I would equate that to walking into a fast food joint and asking for a discount on the one that fell on the floor six months ago. Bon appetite!!


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SEATTLE – January 13, 2022 – Parameter Capital and Consulting (PCC), a boutique capital and consulting firm, is expanding its portfolio by launching myERTCnow.com, a platform aimed at helping businesses affected by COVID-19 mandates maximize the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). This tax credit can represent up to $33,000 per employee for eligible businesses.
myERTCnow.com was created to meet the increasing demand for capital from businesses negatively affected by COVID-19 mandates. myERTCnow allows companies to maximize their employee retention tax credit, with its easy-to-use platform and team of tax experts who facilitate the entire process.
"It became obvious to us that very few businesses even knew this tax credit opportunity existed," said PCC's Managing Partner, Jason Miller. "Everyone heard about the PPP loan, but this tax credit has garnered little to no attention. Educating business owners that this refund exists, and making it easy for them to claim the money is our highest priority. Mr. Miller went on to say, "Our portfolio companies are all about creating disproportionate value for small and medium-sized businesses, so the synergies with this project just made sense."
"This credit can represent a significant amount of money and relief for a struggling business, said Jacob Tully, MTAX, and Chief Financial Officer of myERTCnow.com. "There are multiple considerations for maximizing this tax credit that many accountants and business professionals neglect due to the intricacy of the tax laws. Our platform and professional expertise make claiming this credit incredibly straightforward."
Businesses can find out if they are eligible for this credit by scheduling a consultation with the experts at myERTCnow.com. If eligible, business owners can expect their credit in as little as 12 weeks from filing!
For more information about My ERTC Now and its efforts, visit www.myertcnow.com or follow @myERTCnow on Twitter.
Media Contact
Company Name: My ERTC Now
Contact Person: Jason Miller
Email: Send Email
City: Bellevue
State: Washington
Country: United States
Website: https://www.myertcnow.com/


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For the latest documentary in the KOPPEL ON DISCOVERY series, "Living with Cancer," entertainment and design company Imaginary Forces (IF) created an emotional main title that complements the delicate and personal experiences of the subjects in this special report. Cancer is more common than ever and is an epidemic that will soon pass heart disease as the nation's biggest killer.
Led by IF Art Director Dana Yee, the main titles combine live-action footage, digital stills and animation to weave together the cancer stories of Lance Armstrong, Elizabeth Edwards and Leroy Sievers, Koppel's long-time producer and close friend.
"This was an emotional piece for all of us because most people, in one way or another, have been touched by cancer," explains Dana Yee. "The mood of the piece was that time was limited, but these people were also in a void – living life yet waiting for death. We wanted to capture this emotional fragility by giving it a slight feeling of slow motion."
The design team shot HD footage of black ink seeping through a variety of fabrics to establish a look for the transitional elements within the piece. Animator Lucien Yang then used After Effects to manipulate the footage to create elegant transitions. Much of the body of the sequence was comprised of photographs. IF brought life to these photographs through rotoscoping and 3D treatment. The 3D moves were timed to evoke the feeling of slow motion so central to the idea of the title.
The shots of Lance Armstrong feature a yellow tint for the "Cancer Survivor" color; Elizabeth Edwards was pink to denote "Breast Cancer;" and Leroy Sievers was black-and-white in keeping with his photojournalistic background.
Through sound bytes and animated photographs, IF's main title explores the unique experiences of three very active individuals living with cancer.
About Imaginary Forces
IMAGINARY FORCES (IF) is an entertainment and design company based in Hollywood and New York. Its award-winning work spans the diverse industries of feature film production, entertainment marketing and promotion, corporate branding, architecture, advertising and interactive media. IF's recent work includes identity packages for Lifetime, USA Network, Animal Planet and MTV, as well as effective and compelling broadcast advertising for Nike, Toyota, Pontiac, Smirnoff and Lexus. In entertainment and media marketing, IF created campaigns for such films as National Treasure 2, Transformers, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Stepford Wives, Signs and both Men in Black films. The company also designed and produced main title sequences for The Number 23, Charlotte's Web, The Messengers, Ray, Spider-Man, and Seven, and produced the highly successful Blade trilogy. Combining architecture and media, IF has developed branded experiences for IBM, Morgan Stanley, Airbus Industries and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. The studio is also a principal partner in United Architects (UA), one of six finalists for the re-design of the World Trade Center site at Ground Zero. Combining storytelling, filmmaking and architecture to address the social, emotional, urban, national and international issues, the UA model is now a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. UA recently collaborated on an immersive architectural media exhibit, "Bubbles in the Wine," for the "New York, New York" exhibition in the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The company also designed most of the graphical elements for MTV's "Virtual Laguna Beach," based on the popular reality TV series, and created projections for Director Julie Taymor's operatic production of "Grendel."
Designed & Produced by Imaginary Forces
Art Director: Dana Yee
Designers: Lucien Yang, Dana Yee
Animator: Lucien Yang
Editor: Peter Johnson
Executive Producer: Maribeth Phillips
Producer: Cara McKenney
Coordinator: Michele Watkins


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It's the final week of Hustle Belt Belts. Try and compose yourself.
I felt like Eric Page had a disappointing slow start to the season, expecting all sorts of numbers and runbacks and explosive plays. CONSIDER MY EXPECTATIONS REDEEMED PLUS FIVE POINTS. He pretty much devoured the competition this week as a complete player. A refresher on his afternoon against Central Michigan: five total touchdowns, one passing, two receiving, and two on kickoff returns. Of course, this is for the offensive HB Belt, so we must try to avert our eyes from the special teams domination. So: 12 catches for 127 yards, two touchdowns, and a 28-yard touchdown pass. Hell, that's still better than all get-up. So he'll claim the offensive Belt.
Non-Eric Pages:
Alex Carder, WMU: 23-for-33, 251 yards, 4 TD; 9 rush, 22 yards
Tevin Drake, WMU: 10 rush, 127 yards, TD
Jasmin Hopkins, NIU: 4 rush, 104 yards, TD
Eugene Jarvis, Kent State: 21 rush, 106 yards, TD
Jordan Lynch, NIU: 2 rush, 142 yards, 2 TD
Thomas Merriweather, Miami: 22 rush, 182 yards, TD
Alex Neutz, Buffalo: 5 catch, 88 yards, 2 TD
Patrick Nicely, Akron: 13-for-24, 193 yards, 3 TD
Terrance Owens, Toledo: 24-for-32, 304 yards, 3 TD; 28-yard TD
Eric Page doesn't play defense, so by default it goes to Kent State linebacker Cobrani Mixon, who spoiled OHIO's trek for a MAC East division with that 28-6 drubbing. The senior registered eight tackles (1½ for a loss) including an end-zone sack-fumble that turned into a Luke Batton defensive touchdown. He also recovered another fumble, recorded a QB hurry and broke up two passes. Stellar way to go out for the three-year starter.
Other regular season-finale defensive demons:
Jamail Berry, WMU: 11 tackles, 2 TFL, pass breakup
Jake Coffman, NIU: 5 tackles, 2 TFL, FF
Jake Dooley, Kent State: 7 tackles, 2 sacks, FF
Evan Harris, Miami: 9 tackles, TFL, 2 INT, pass breakup
Dan Hartman, Kent State: 2 tackles, 2 INT
Jason Semmes, Miami: 4 tackles, 2.5 TFL, pass breakup
Brian Wagner, Akron: 14 tackles, 1 sack, FF
Yeah, Eric Page again. Two special teams touchdowns? Everybody else step aside. Page becomes our first ever Double Belter. Look at him, creating new categories on my blog.
Return two kickoffs for touchdowns and we'll talk:
Paul Hershey, OHIO: 3 punts, 46.7 average, long of 61
Kamal Johnson, Temple: blocked FG
Roosevelt Nix, Kent State: blocked FG
Matt Weller, OHIO: 2 FGs (21, 51)
Lorenzo White, CMU: blocked punt return TD
Calvin Wiley, BGSU: blocked punt
Kyle Zelinsky, CMU: blocked punt
Next week, we'll do an All-Hustle Team, giving out awards to all the positions.


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- Excellent lab test scores.
- Accurate malware detection in our own test.
- Browser Safety component blocked most malware-hosting URLs.
- Device Protection whitelists or blacklists specific USB drives.
- Incomplete removal of detected malware.
- Browser Safety works only with Chrome and Firefox.
- Browser-independent Web Protection less effective.
- Administrator can't prevent users from whitelisting unknown USB drives.
Avira Antivirus Pro (2017) Specs
|Behavior-Based Detection:
|Bonus: Vulnerability Scan:
|Malicious URL Blocking:
|On-Access Malware Scan:
|On-Demand Malware Scan:
|OS Compatibility:
|Windows 10
|OS Compatibility:
|Windows 7
|OS Compatibility:
|Windows 8
|Phishing Protection:
|Ransomware Protection:
|Tech Support:
|Free Support + Phone and E-mail contact
|Website Rating:
Purveyors of free antivirus programs serve a noble purpose, but they can't survive unless some users pony up for a paid version. Some sweeten the pot by adding significant security tools to their paid edition. Avira Antivirus Pro, by contrast, doesn't add much beyond what you get with the free product, and not all of the added features work well. The only real reason to pay for it is that the free edition is free only for noncommercial use.
At $44.95 per year, Avira is a little more expensive than the norm for standalone antivirus. The sweet spot seems to be just under $40. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2017$34.99 at Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Norton hit this price point, as do more than a dozen others. F-Secure Anti-Virus 2016 and G Data give you three licenses for that price, while a three-license subscription to Avira costs $64.99. It's not a huge difference, but Avira's pricing is on the high side.
This app's main window is nearly identical to that of Avira's free antivirus. The Pro-only components are enabled, of course, and the window title says Pro. The button that urges you to Upgrade Now in the free edition changes to Renew. That's it for visible differences.
Shared With the Free Edition
Every bit of malware-fighting capability that comes in the free Avira Antivirus is also present in the Pro edition. Click the link and read my review of that product, or keep reading for a summary of my findings.
Lab Test Results Chart Malware Blocking Results Chart Antiphishing Results Chart
Avira's scores with the independent labs are quite good. Four of the five labs I follow include Avira, and its aggregate lab score of 9.3 points ties Bitdefender and beats almost all the competition. My calculation yielded 9.7 points for Norton and a perfect 10 out of 10 for Kaspersky Anti-VirusA$54.99 for 1 Year 1 Device at Kaspersky Lab North America.
In my hands-on malware blocking test, Avira detected 97 percent of the samples, the same as Emsisoft Anti-Malware 11.0, Norton, and Trend Micro. Thorough blocking by Norton and Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security earned them each 9.7 of 10 possible points, but incomplete blocking of detected threats pulled Avira's score down to 8.9 points.
Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus rules this test, with 100 percent detection and a perfect 10 points.
For a different view of protection, I challenge each product with 100 recent malware-hosting URLs, noting whether it keeps the browser from accessing the URL, eliminates the malware payload during download, or totally whiffs detection. Avira's Browser Safety component, which installs in Chrome and Firefox but not Internet Explorer, completely blocked access to 93 percent of the samples; another 2 percent were eliminated at the download stage. With 95 percent total detection, Avira beat out all others except Symantec Norton AntiVirus BasicA$39.99 (First Year) at Norton Australia, which exhibited 98 percent detection.
Avira Pro does include a Web Protection component that's not present in the free edition. I ran my malicious URL blocking test again, using Internet Explorer, so Browser Safety was not involved. The results were disappointing. Altogether, Avira blocked 91 percent of the malware downloads. Web Protection accounted for just half of those, with real-time antivirus wiping out the rest during the download. In most cases, the antivirus launched a mini-scan to make sure the download was entirely wiped out. These multiple mini-scans frequently caused Avira's use of CPU resources to spike at 95 percent or higher.
It's not clear to me why Avira doesn't use the same technology in Web Protection that serves so admirably in Browser Safety.
Browser Safety also serves to fend off phishing sites, fraudulent sites that attempt to steal your passwords. I tested the free and Pro editions of Avira side by side and found that the added help from Web Protection caught precisely one phishing site that Browser Safety didn't. The Pro version's detection rate lagged 27 percentage points behind Norton's, while the free edition came in 28 points behind. On the plus side, both products outperformed the phishing protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
Both free and Pro editions come with a large entourage of associated Avira programs. Avira Connect serves as a launch pad for all the other Avira products, and it helps you connect to the online Avira portal. Phantom VPN protects your privacy on unsecure networks, for up to 1GB of traffic per month on a single device (for $9.99 per month you get unlimited traffic on unlimited devices). Avira Scout is a hardened browser with several security enhancements built in. Avira Software Updater checks for missing security updates, though its scope is seriously limited. And a trial version of Avira System Speedup lets you view the product's features and perform exactly one system optimization.
Other Pro Features
The Pro edition adds Mail Protection, which I thought might be a spam filter. It isn't. Rather, it scans incoming POP3 and IMAP email for malware. You can optionally set it to scan outgoing SMTP messages, though I can't picture how a malicious file could escape the real-time antivirus and then get caught by Mail Protection.
Most malware attacks come via the Internet, but there are a few malware families that spread via USB devices instead of, or in addition to, Web-based avenues. Some high-end security suites include device control, a business-centered feature that lets an administrator ban the use of unknown USB drives, but allow use of specific USBs. This feature works well in G Data Total Security and TrustPort Total Protection.
Avira's Pro-only Device Protection aims for similar control. When you insert a USB drive, it asks whether to allow or block access, with a checkbox to remember the device and whitelist or blacklist it. There's no obvious access to configuration for this feature. It appears nowhere on the main window, or in that window's menu. But if you click to configure PC Protection, you'll find a page for Device Protection that lets you turn the feature on and off and displays the whitelist and blacklist of known devices.
Of course, you need to prevent unauthorized users from just choosing to allow an unknown device. To that end, I enabled password protection for the product's configuration. However, password protection doesn't extend to the Allow/Block popup that appears for new, unknown USB devices. I had no trouble whitelisting an unknown, which defeats the purpose of this feature.
No Need to Pay
All of the best features in Avira Antivirus Pro also come in the free Avira Antivirus. Pro-only Web Protection does extend antiphishing and malicious URL blocking to all browsers, but it's less accurate than the Chrome-and-Firefox-only Browser Safety. And while Device Control aims to let an administrator prevent unauthorized users from mounting unknown USB drives, there's no way to lock it down so they can't.
If you like Avira and want to use it in a noncommercial setting, stick with the free edition. If you need antivirus for your business, pay a little less and choose one of our paid antivirus Editors' Choice products. Specifically, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2017, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic, and Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus cost less, while McAfee AntiVirus Plus seems to cost more, but allows you unlimited licenses.


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So the question is: Can anyone learn to sing? Here at CanAnyoneLearnToSing.com, we want to answer that question with our own questions: Do you want to sing? Do you want to learn how? If so, then answer is simple: Of course you can! Anyone can sing and sound amazing, with some practice.
Sure, some people are born with a natural talent (which is a bummer for everyone else, I know) – However, look at athletes; it could be in someone's genetics to be an awesome sprinter, but if they don't train, they will get beaten by someone with lesser genetics who does train. If you want to sing, then you most certainly will! Everyone can improve if they want to. It just takes training and practice.
If you have a passion for singing, but don't quite know how to get started, then you, my friend, have come to the right doorstep. I'm Sam, and my sister and I have been singing for as long as I can remember. We are members of the Australian Youth Chamber Choir, and have performed with such Australian singing legends as Russell Morris (Real Thing, Wings of an Eagle, Sweet Sweet Love), Judith Durham (Seekers), Darryl Cotton (The Zoot), Bruce Woodley (The Seekers). We've compiled all the things we've learnt into our website, all for you to have so that maybe you could be the next big artist (seriously, it won't be hard to be better than some who are popular right now, *cough*cough*).
We have pages of free tips, E-books, courses and have put together a directory of singing teachers for anyone who lives in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. We will also be reviewing the courses which you can watch on our YouTube videos. All the information you need to know, all on one site and all for free! Make sure to enter your email on the form below to receive our free singing ebooks and newsletter with singing tips.
Can anyone learn to sing? Hell yeah!
Incoming search terms:
- CanAnyoneLearntoSingWell?LearnHow!


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If you are a nightclub or a promoter booking a male revue, we can provide everything you need in order to put on a successful and profitable male revue. Whether you're looking for a group of white guys or black guys; at a hall, country club, or night club, we can accommodate your event. Our goal is to make the process of booking a male revue as simple as possible, so you can focus on promoting your male revue and maximizing ticket sales to make your male revue profitable. The best part about booking an Omen male revue is that we assist you in the promotion as well.
Booking a male revue is a very quick and easy process and should be done at least five weeks in advance to allow plenty of time for promotion. Simply call and provide us with the day, time, location, entertainer preferences, etc. After that you will receive an e-mail with a link to make your deposit which is normally between $100 and $200 per entertainer. You will also receive an e-mail that contains a production agreement which will require an electronic signature. No printing or faxing required here. Three to seven days after we receive your deposit you will receive the optional poster and flyer designs, radio spot, and ticket sale links so you can proceed with marketing your male revue.


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Do you want to learn a new language? Or maybe play a musical instrument like guitar or piano? Or do you want to learn how to cook? Maybe you want to learn another skill, like drawing. Or some professional skill like selling or public speaking.
We live in an age that we have instant access to almost all human knowledge, at our fingertips. There are so many skills we can learn that can learn which can improve our lives in many areas.
But it can be intimidating and uncomfortable to take up the challenge of learning a new skill. Where do you start? How do you make the most progress in the least possible time? Here are several tips to help you master any skill in 90 days or less:
Focus on only one single skill
The power of focus is a great force multiplier. We all have limited time to live, there is no sense in wasting it by dissipating our focus to multiple things. Sunlight that can warm your skin, can burn wood or melt metal if you focus the light on a single point using a lens. The same amount of energy that is in a candlelight, can cut steel if it is focused like a laser beam.
This way you can make great progress in as little as 100 days. You can be fluent in a new language, proficient in playing guitar, impress your friends by your cooking skills at a dinner you host etc… You get the point.
Find mentors, books, courses to guide you in your progress
Once you have chosen a skill to learn in the next 90 days, next thing you do is to find 3-5 pieces sources of information, to guide you along learning your chosen skill set.
This can be anything. It can be a mentor, coach, advisor to guide you personally. It can be books, courses, seminars. It can be groups of people that have the same interest and coming together regularly. It can be online and offline.
However, try not to use this as an excuse to procrastinate. We have all been there. Get 20 books about a topic, think "when I'm done with reading these 20 books, I'll have mastered this skill". But then, it becomes overwhelming, and we put it off forever, and never get around to it.
Instead, use these resources to start fast, and at least get good enough to self-practice and self-correct. And that simply means you can try the skill, realize when you do something wrong, and try something else.
Deconstruct the skill you want to learn
Deconstructing the skill simply means, taking a complex skill, and taking it apart to small pieces, and focusing on a small number, but most frequently used pieces of information first.
There are these things called Zipf's law and Pareto distribution, and they apply to all human knowledge and skill sets. I won't bore with the mathematical details, but in every skill, there is a small subset that has the highest frequency, that is the most useful. For example, the top 100 words in the English language, make up more than %50 of all words used.
Tim Ferris is known for simplifying all the grammar rules of a new language to 12 simple sentences , like "The apple is red." "It is John's Apple." "I give John the Apple" and so on.
And this doesn't only apply to languages. In 2011, Axis of Awesome made a song named 4 chords, to show how many popular songs are based on only four chords. And Josh Kaufman noticed the same thing when he tried to learn how to play Ukulele and test his theory of learning a skill in 20 hours.
Immerse yourself in the skill
Now that you have chosen your skill, have determined 3-5 sources of information to guide you, and have deconstructed your chosen skill, it is time to jump in with both feet.
Put in the time, at least 2 hours or more each day. Commit to at least work on learning your new skill, for at least 20 hours as soon as possible. Most people can do it in a week. Stop wasting time on useless activities, like watching tv or social media. Use the time you normally waste, by listening to audiobooks, like when you are driving to work or doing chores around the house. Put a book in the bathroom, read a few pages every time you use the toilet.
Use every opportunity in your daily life to learn something about your chosen skill.
Use flash cards and spaced repetition
Much of learning is about getting new information into our long-term memory so that whenever we need it, we can recall it easily.
However, the brain is flooded with many pieces of new information every second, and therefore we forget things we get exposed to pretty quickly. And when you need to learn a lot of new information, fast, this is a problem.
The way to overcome this problem is by using spaced repetition. You see, the way that our brains distinguish between what information to commit to long-term memory, and what to ignore and forget quickly is, based on spaced repetition.
Let's say you are exposed to one new word from a new language the first time. Then it is recorded in your short-term memory, and you can recall it for a minute or two. And in a minute, if you need actively recall it, then you can remember it a bit longer, maybe for 10 minutes. And then in 10 minutes if you recall it again, then you can remember the word for an hour. And then in an hour if you recall it again, you can remember the word for a day. And then for 3-4 days, a week, a month, 6 months and so on.
In the old days without computers and the Internet, making use of spaced repetition was a difficult task. First, you needed to make flashcards. Then review those cards regularly, schedule them etc.
Nowadays there are free programs that make using space repetition very easy, like anki . It makes all the hard work of scheduling the flashcards, reviewing them when you need them, etc. And it also supports audios, pictures, and videos, not just text. And you can find shared decks online, about many topics from learning languages, to playing an instrument, to learning scientific topics like mathematics or anatomy.
If you apply all of these simple but powerful steps, you will soon make amazing progress and impress friends and family with your new skills.


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Reopened North Wilkesboro Speedway to host 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race
NASCAR is returning to North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The historic North Carolina track is set to host the 2023 All-Star Race on May 21 after not hosting a NASCAR national series race since 1996. North Wilkesboro's return to the Cup Series schedule comes after a track revitalization project that was funded primarily with money from the American Rescue Plan passed through Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.
"The NASCAR All-Star Race has always been the fans' race and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the fans during NASCAR's 75th anniversary than returning to North Wilkesboro Speedway," Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith said in a statement. "We couldn't have made this happen without tremendous support from so many people including Gov. [Roy] Cooper, our state legislature, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and of course the people of Wilkes County. We've got a lot of work to do but we've got the will to create something special alongside a community and hard-working staff that will get it done."
The 0.625-mile track has hosted 93 Cup Series races since it opened in 1949. But it lost its Cup Series dates in the 1990s as NASCAR and its track owners pushed to make a predominantly Southeastern sports series a national one. Tracks like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham lost Cup races as NASCAR added races in California, Las Vegas, Kansas, Texas and Chicago. North Wilkesboro's race was officially moved to Texas after Speedway Motorsports purchased a share of the track.
After numerous attempts to revitalize the track in the years since it last held a Cup Series race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others cleared the abandoned track of its overgrowth in December of 2019 and scanned and added to the iRacing video game platform. NASCAR held a virtual iRacing race at North Wilkesboro during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
But any efforts to make the track raceable in real life hinged on funding. And that funding came in the form of the ARP that was passed on a party-line vote by Democrats in Congress and signed into law by Biden in 2021. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper allocated $18 million in funds from the ARP from the state budget towards the rehabilitation of North Wilkesboro while Charlotte Motor Speedway and Rockingham also received federal funds.
You asked. We listened. #AllStarRace pic.twitter.com/6DdZ8iDy2S
— North Wilkesboro Speedway (@NWBSpeedway) September 8, 2022
Even as North Wilkesboro was rehabbed, Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith was bearish on the Cup Series returning to the track. He said in early 2022 that he didn't envision NASCAR's top series ever returning to the track.
But something clearly changed in recent months. Perhaps it was the large crowd that showed up in August to watch a late model race that included Earnhardt Jr. Perhaps it was All-Star Race TV rights holder Fox, a network that's been saddled with boring All-Star events for much of the last decade. Or maybe it was a combination of factors.
The All-Star Race has been held at Texas the last two seasons and it's been lackluster to say the least. The racing quality at Texas Motor Speedway has suffered greatly since the track was repaved and reconfigured and it's no stretch to say that many NASCAR fans no longer look forward to Texas race weekends.
It's hard to see fans not looking forward to the return of North Wilkesboro, however. NASCAR desperately needs more short track races in the Cup Series and hosting its All-Star event at a track within driving distance for Cup teams and where drivers will be excited to race is a needed boost for a lagging event. While casual fans may not tune in in droves to an All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, the event is a needed nod to longtime fans who have seen the Cup Series change significantly over the last 30 years.