text:
College Schools, Departments & Programs
Biotechnology is a program within the Department of Biology. The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biotechnology provides students with fundamental training in basic scientific principles as well as specific concepts, techniques, and applications used in biotechnology. Students who obtain the B.S. in Biotechnology will be prepared to obtain employment in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries; enroll in graduate programs (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Biotechnology or related fields such as Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, and Biochemistry; or pursue advanced professional degrees such as an M.D. (Medicine), M.B.A. (Business), J.D. (Law) with an emphasis on Biotechnology issues. The B.A. major in Biotechnology is designed to prepare students with the knowledge useful for life science businesses. Completing a B.A. in Biotechnology would be advantageous to those who are planning to undertake non-research-oriented business or sales opportunities in the life sciences. Students may combine a major or minor in Biotechnology with degrees in Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry.
Majors, Minors, and Programs
- Major in Biotechnology—B.A.
- Major in Biotechnology—B.S.
- B.S. in Biotechnology/J.D. 3+3 Program
- B.S./M.S. in Biotechnology
- Minor in Biotechnology
- Departmental Honors Program
Contact Information
Department of Biology
Indiana University
Jordan Hall
1001 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 855-9511
btech [at] indiana [dot] edu


text:
|Commissioner King and Chancellor Tisch wait patiently
for their turn to speak as their new Pearson overlord
announces the takeover
The big announcement was made at a press conference attended in person by Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and Education Department Commissioner John King and via satellite by Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino who is based in London.
A proud Scardino confessed, "Pearson has been calling the shots in New York State for quite a while now. So this just makes it official." According to sources in both organizations, Pearson had been slowly and surreptitiously acquiring the NYSED for more than four years.
Both King and Tisch nodded silently but enthusiastically as Scardino laid out Pearson's plan for "fully integrating all aspects of New York State public education into the seamless mission of helping people make more of their lives through learning what is important to corporations."
How did this come to pass?
With the promise of anonymity, a corporate insider disclosed the steps Pearson took to ensure the takeover would be successful. "Getting the politicians on board was easy; it just took some juicy political contributions. But getting the teachers and parents to go along... well that took a good deal of manipulation." He cited the adoption of the common core by almost every state as a game changer. "It made the acquisition fiscally wise."
According to our source, Pearson then set out to become an indispensable resource provider: textbooks to students, professional development to teachers and standardized testing to administrators. "Pearson expects to be greeted as liberators in New York State. After all how can you say 'no' to the corporation that guides your entire educational growth from cradle to grave." Apparently you can't, unless the federal government intervenes.
|One of the first steps in formalizing Pearson's
takeover: new stationary
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was unavailable for comment. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which initially voiced objections to the Pearson-NYSED deal, has backed off since accepting a sizable grant from the Gates Foundation to research successful government/private industry partnerships. Some teachers have even expressed excitement about the takeover. Justin of Pennsylvania tweeted, "Maybe now, as a shareholder, I could have a say in my own profession." Meanwhile education bloggers have been angrily spouting off about the merger using terms like "conflict of interest" and "privatization of public education" but honestly who listens to them?
When asked if Pearson would be acquiring other state education departments, Scardino gave a tight-lipped smile, though John King mumbled something about there being "no place to hide."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ersa Rework - HR 550 product video
Shows all features and the guided operation of the HR 550 Rework System.
Let the HR 550 guide you through your rework task! A combination of instructive pictograms, computer aided placement and effective hybrid heating makes rework of BTC (Bottom Terminated Components) a breeze.


text:
This website uses cookies.
With them, we provide an online service, usage analysis, advertising systems and functionalities that we would not be able to provide without cookies.
By continuing to use the website, you agree to the use of cookies.
Learn more about cookie settings
Piranske soline trademark embraces the alimental program as well as a set of accessories intended for kitchen use. Piranske soline emphasize the primary applicability of salt and connects tradition with quality.
The sea's wealth of organic substances and minerals is offered in the Lepa Vida natural cosmetics range. Nature constantly offers new gifts that fortify the body and establish a balance in the organism. And the true treasure trove of natural ingredients is the sea.
In our Lepa Vida Thalasso Spa in the middle of the salt fields, we offer you the gifts of the sea which have a refreshing impact on the body. You can choose from different treatments with natural products from the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park.


text:
Bayonet v Sword partner drills JUKENDO
© 2013 - SSJS, Sei Do Kan Dojo All rights reserved.
Juken-do incorporates the bayonet or short sword tanken and the rifle with fixed bayonet mokuju.
European 17 th Century muskets, having fired their ball, needed constant re-loading which, on the battle-field, was a nuisance as an enemy could close in while poring powder down the barrel. Also, in close combat, it was of great help to have a sharp and pointed spike attached to the front of the fire-arm, so it could, besides clubbing an enemy to death, used also as a type of spear for attack or defence.
The Japanese WW2 Type 30 bayonet had a blade length of 40 cm and weighted 700 gr., and when fixed on the Type 30 Arisaka rifle (length 1.28m; weight 3.95kg), the total length and weight, including the fixed bayonet would be 1.66m and 4.65kg respectively.
The mokuju (wooden rifle + bayonet) used in juken-do is mostly made of white or red oak with a length of 1.66m and a weight of 1.1kg
Japanese soldiers, highly trained in the military bayonet-fighting art, would often eliminate the enemy with a quick thrust that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Jukendo can be broken down into: fixed bayonet v fixed bayonet; fixed bayonet v sword; fixed bayonet v bayonet; and bayonet v bayonet.
NAKAMURA RYU BATTODO Curriculum


text:
Deadly Opioids Hit Billings
The opioid abuse epidemic, now officially a public health crisis, has not spared Montana, with powerful, deadly drugs now hitting the region. Fentanyl is a synthetic opiod between 50 and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Carfentanil is a fentanyl analogue used to tranquilize large animals like elephants. Carfentanil showed up recently in lab results following an overdose death, according to Billings Police Sgt. Brandon Wooley.


text:
Morgan Hill Restaurant Fined $120K For Serving Tilapia As Petrale Sole
MORGAN HILL (CBS SF) – A high-end Morgan Hill restaurant is under fire after being caught surreptitiously serving customers cheap fish while advertising and charging for a pricier one.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office reached a settlement Wednesday in a case against AS Restaurant Consulting Group LLC, DBA Odeum Restaurant, and owner Salvatore Calisi.
Odeum, a Mediterranean infusion restaurant, advertised petrale sole on their menu but instead served their customers tilapia between October 2014 and March 2016.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng said the District Attorney's office received a complaint in early 2016 claiming the restaurant was serving the imposter fish and conducted a consumer investigation.
Deng said California health and safety codes strictly prohibit restaurants from misbranding or falsely advertising the food they serve.
Petrale sole is a type of flounder and a more expensive cut of fish than tilapia.
Prosecutors said the restaurant must pay $120,000 in civil penalties and restitution along with injunctive provisions prohibiting the restaurant from serving falsely advertised food.
Odeum is offering $30 gift certificates to all individuals who ordered petrale sole during the period in question. Consumers can find the claim forms in the Mercury News, Gilroy Dispatch or Morgan Hill Times newspapers in addition to the restaurant located at 17500 Depot St. .180.
Any leftover restitution money will be provided to the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health, Consumer Protection Division for training, education and enforcement.
Representatives from Odeum were unavailable for comment.
© Copyright 2017 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
for more features.


text:
There are almost as many reasons to walk as there are people who walk. People walk for pleasure, to stay in shape or manage their weight. The more you walk, the more reasons you'll find to make walking part of your daily routine.
Step it up
It's easy to take the first step and to increase the number of steps you take each day.
- Walk partway or all the way home from work or school.
- Walk to the store or on other errands.
- Walk the stairs, instead of using an elevator or escalator.
- Walk a block at break time or lunch.
- Walk a dog (borrow your neighbour's if you don't have one)
- Answer the phone farthest away; at work, use the photocopier on another floor.
Benefits of Walking
- Walking refreshes the mind, reduces fatigue and increases energy.
- More than half the body's muscles are designed for walking; it is natural movement that is virtually injury-free.
- Walking provides an enjoyable time for sharing and socializing with friends or family.
- Regular, brisk walking can reduce elevated blood fats or blood pressure and improve digestion and elimination.
- Walking strengthens bones and helps prevent or control osteoporosis (a condition where bones become brittle and fragile).
- Walking relieves stress and tension.
- Regular walking will help you maintain a healthy weight and a positive body image, especially when combined with healthy eating.
- Brisk Walking trains your heart, lungs and muscles to work more efficiently.
Stepping Out
In planning your walking program consider the following tips:
- A little walking everyday is far better than an occasional weekend bout of frenzied activity. Aim to make brisk short walks a daily even (at least 15 minutes), with longer walks (45 to 60 minutes) every second day.
- Explore a variety of routes and choose ones that are interesting, safe and convenient. Avoid heavy traffic, loose dogs and rough terrain.
- Walking with others can be more motivating than walking alone.
- Walk Safely. Don't wear headphones in downtown traffic. At night, walk with a friend and wear reflective tape on your clothing. Carry identification and a cell phone.
- On summer evenings or in the woods, protect yourself from insect bites by wearing long sleeves and mosquito repellant.
- When it is hot, choose a shaded route and walk a little slower than usual. Avoid the hot noonday sun. Wear a hat and sunscreen.
- When it is cold, avoid icy surfaces. Walk at a local shopping centre in cold weather.
- Dress in loose, comfortable clothing made of soft fabrics.
Getting Started
Warm up and cool down with 5 minutes of medium-paced walking, followed by some stretches for your legs. This will prevent stiffness and increase your flexibility.
- Calf muscles stretch: Stand facing a wall. Position your forward foot approximately 30-40cm from the wall. Stretch your arms forward, elbows straight and lean against the wall. Place your other foot a few inches behind the front foot and slowly paint it flat on the floor. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in your back leg. Hold for 15-30 seconds. Relax and repeat 2 times with alternate legs.
- Hamstring muscles stretch: Sitting on the floor, put one leg straight out and the other leg bent at the knee. Keeping your back straight, lean forward, sliding your hands down the straight leg until you feel a stretch. Hold for 15-30 seconds. Relax and repeat 2 more times with alternate legs.
- Thigh Stretch sitting:Sit on the edge of a chair. Lower your knee toward the floor and press it back under the chair. Hold the stretch for 15-20 seconds. Repeat each leg 2 times.
- Alternate thigh muscles stretch: Stand close to a wall and place one hand on it. With the other hand reach back and hold the same side foot in that hand. When balanced, begin to slowly raise the foot up towards the lower back. Hold for 15-30 seconds. Relax and repeat 2 more times with alternate legs.
- Achilles Stretch: Sitting on a chair, plant one heel on the floor and gently lift your toes up and back as far as you can. Hold for a count of 5 and then relax. Repeat each foot several times.
Walking Shoes
When you walk, your feet hit the ground more than 650 times each km, so comfortable socks and well-designed walking or jogging shoes are a must. Shop for walking shoes at the end of the day, when you feet are larger. Try on both shoes and walk around in the store before buying them.
Count your Steps to Better Health:
How many steps do you take in a day? Most people would have difficulty answering this question. The average sedentary person accumulates about 3500-5000 steps during the course of their day. In general, to improve your health a person should add 2000-3000 more steps to their day than they get from their general activities.
If your total number of steps per day is:
- Under 5,000 you would b considered as having a sedentary lifestyle.
- Between 5,000-7,499 you would be considered as "low active".
- Between 7,500 – 9,999 this would indicate you are getting some exercise or walking and would be considered "somewhat active".
- More than 10,000 steps indicate that you would be considered an "active"
- More than 12,500 steps/day would classify you as being "highly active".
You can accumulate steps throughout the day. It only takes about 5 minutes to get in 500 steps, so doing simple things like parking farther away from a store entrance increases your daily count. Combining this with continuous walking will improve your health and fitness, and help you maintain a healthy weight.
It's as easy as one, two three
If you would like to try step counting, follow these guidelines:
1.Choose your Pedometer and Test it out
A Pedometer is a small battery-powered device that displays on a screen the number of steps you take. They are sold in many sporting goods and department stores. Clip your pedometer onto your waistband or belt. It should be snug on your hip and lined up above your knee. Set the counter to Zero and walk 20 steps. Check to see that it accurately records the number of steps.
If you don't have a pedometer make a commitment to walk a minimum of 30 minutes every day.
2.Set your Daily Step Goal
Recommended daily step goals depend on your age and current level of physical activity. They also depend on how active you want to be. The best way to get there is to gradually increase the number of steps you take each day.
3.Keep a weekly walking log
Use it to record your baseline and your progress over the weeks ahead.
Increasing the Intensity of your Walk
Here are four ways to further increase the intensity of your walking program.
Speed Walking:
Breathe normally and pump your arms vigorously as you speed up your pace. Practice over short distances until you can walk comfortably at the vigorous pace of 7 to 9 km per hour.
Climb Walking:
Climbing hills or stairs is the most vigorous form of walking. Climbing put extra strain on the stomach, buttocks, lower back and leg muscles, so add some exercises for these muscles and additional stretches to your warm-up. Increase your hill work gradually.
Water Walking:
Walking in the water increase the difficulty because you move against the resistance of the water. Water walking is easy on the joints and refreshingly cool in hot weather.
Holiday Walking:
Enjoy a walking on a holiday.


text:
Working for entrepreneurs can be frustrating and fun. Frustrating if they're pulled in too many directions, minimizing the importance of what they don't understand (the technical aspect) at the expense of that which they do know well. And it's fun because you can have -sometimes- learning opportunities you wouldn't otherwise get. By way of example, here's part of a message I received from a pattern maker recently but it's very typical of emails I've received over the past several years:
I have been trying to suggest ways that they can improve their product quality to match their price point, but they have been a bit stubborn unless I physically show them with a sample. They want to stick with the way they have been doing it. [I don't feel their reasons for doing it that way are valid.] I also get frustrated when I feel like I'm not being listened to and the only person around who gets what I'm complaining about is my mom.
You're not alone, this is very typical. It may be helpful to develop a multi-prong approach consisting of:
- Documentation
- Permission to work on projects (samples of improvements).
- Validation
You need formal documentation of what you're doing, what you've been told to do and what you think needs to be done -instead. You need a 3 ring notebook. In it you need a copy of the sketch and paper for note taking. Or maybe you prefer to do it electronically. I prefer to do it manually at the table (which is where I do all my thinking) and then summarize it on the computer if it's something I will be sending the client. For the record, all of these work notes belong to your employer or customer.
Put all your thoughts and recommended changes about a given style (and date), one sheet per style. Be specific about given issues and the problems you think it will cause. Update your notes when you've spoken about it to your boss (date it) and note the decision. Later on when you have a fit meeting, that will give you ammunition for changes. For example, they say an edge is too floppy or whatever and you'll have it in your notes you recommended doing X on X date and that you brought it up with boss who decided to do nothing or something else instead.
I learned the necessity of doing this the hard way. Here is a pdf file of all the notes I took that pertain to this very simple skirt (22601) which ended up being a comedy of errors. The first problem was, I was not given a sketch. The VP (really the head sales guy who had no experience beyond having owned a boutique) described the garment to me. He said the skirt has three "layers" (tiers) and that each layer had pleats sewn into the layer above it. From his description it sounded like a broomstick skirt -which it ended up being. He denied that (never having heard the term) so I made up a very ugly lame skirt (not shown) that had a multitude of tucks sewn into each layer as he requested. It was a disaster. I ended up having to make it contrary to his instructions by sneaking it home (technically stealing, a firing offense) to broomstick it and bring it back. People, if your staff needs to steal your protos to do them at home on their own time to do it right because you won't listen, you have a problem.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it. Based on the width they wanted for the top layer (and the elastic that went into it) along with the shirring proportions that couldn't be modified too much (machine limitation), it made for a very poor marker cutting it on the straight of grain. I said they had two choices. One would be to cut it on the cross grain (not a problem if the whole thing were cut that way) or they needed to break up the seams differently to fill the marker. The production manager said no, she wanted it on the straight of grain with as few pieces as possible. I made note of all of this along with my objections. Come four months later when the cutter got the marker, the production manager accused me of incompetence for making a pattern with such poor utilization. However, I still had the marker I'd drawn (included in the notes pdf) well before I made the pattern and where I'd noted she did not approve my suggested changes. Can you believe she still tried to blame me? She said I should have "made her" listen to me. So, it was after that incident that anytime I had a disagreement with her, I would ask her initial my notes which was the only way I could "make her" listen to me. As a practical matter, she never did sign anything not wanting to be tied to it but ended up actually listening to the content of my objections and we negotiated from there.
But enough about me. You can use one of those input control forms I include in the book to track notes about any given style, adding on sheets as needed. You can get the form in pdf here.
Permission to work on projects
This can be difficult but you need to negotiate for permission to work on projects that your employer may not consider to be real work. These projects should be opportunities to experiment with processes or changes that can result in big savings. Not all of these will pan out but I guarantee that you'll end up using what you learned in future projects. You need to document these exercises in the same way. The goal of course is professional development and continuing education. I can't say that no company invests in this just that I've never worked for a company that did. This is time you'll need to carve out for yourself in the quest for your (and your employer's) professional development. If this only means you get X project to work the way you think it should be done even though they disagree, that is still ideal.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it is entirely possible they have no idea what you're talking about. Pattern makers tend to be visual thinkers, you can see what you mean. Designers tend to be more abstract, they cannot readily form pictures in their heads of what you're describing. Making a sample (the project) to illustrate what you think are necessary changes, is the best way to get their approval which is why I recommend that if you feel strongly about needed changes, they should give you the opportunity to prove why it is to their benefit. Be sure to document all of the advantages of your method much as I did with the marker I drew of 22601. Nail it down by calculating the cost savings per unit. I found the latter to be very effective.
Validation is the last thing. Unfortunately, this is something you have to do for yourself. I realize that pattern makers by nature, are not the sort of people to trumpet their own horns but you must. Any time you run up against resistance, you need to drag out an example from your mental tally of successes at a moment's notice. Mention you recommended X, that it was done and everybody was delighted. Having a track record gets you what you want which is for them to get better.
This is good advice for any employee. I know everybody likes to think their employer is a really awful person who ignores their contributions but seriously, it's hard to remember what people have accomplished when they're actively butting heads with you at that moment so reminding them is a very good thing. It reminds them how smart they were to hire you in the first place. It reminds them of how smart they were to take your advice before which is grounds for taking your advice again this time.
Here is a situation that happened to me, an example of the opposite which conversely makes the point. I used to have an employee named Stephanie. I don't think a day went by that she didn't tell me what a lousy employee she was. And you know what? I believed her. I think it took me two or three years after she stopped working for me to figure out that she was the best employee I ever had. She always came in early to drink a cup of coffee and jumped up with much fan fare at precisely 8:00 (again stressing that being so lousy, she wouldn't want to accidentally put in free work as she wasn't dedicated to helping "the man"). That was the other thing she said, she wasn't dedicated but in retrospect, she really was, very much so. Years later I searched for her everywhere. Her situation was a bit tenuous and I believed I could have helped her. I never did find her and I've always regretted it. In sum, be careful what you tell your employer because for good or ill, they will believe you. Don't expect them to remember your successes, you have to remind them.
It is more typical than not that bosses will usually shoot down every idea you have. They will always say "we've always done it like this," or "I like it this way" with no qualified reasons and in spite of the many problems they have because of it. The only thing that comes to mind is a book I read a long time ago called Getting things done when you are not in charge. I think this is a great book for even entrepreneurs to read because even they -although they own the company- are not in charge. Not if they have customers and not if they've hired talent to do work they can't.
Culture also matters a great deal. If you're working in a place that is very blame centered, there will be a lot of problems. I can only tell you what I did. In this one particular case, any time somebody started chewing on the sample maker or line seamstresses, I stepped in and reminded everyone that these people were highly accomplished, why did they make this mistake? I'd pull the pattern, go over the process and invariably, I found a way I could design the pattern that worked in concert to their process so no mistakes could (theoretically) be made. Maybe you don't want to put yourself in the position of deflecting blame directed at others onto yourself but I just couldn't bear to watch them do that to people I admired. In the end it was a wash. The stitchers were fanatically loyal to me because I never failed to stand up for them so in spite of being a thorn in the side of management, they couldn't fire me. Management was convinced I was lousy but you know what, years later that's all I heard. Any time I talk to my ex boss, that's the first thing she says to me, that I was the best pattern maker they ever had. That VP came around too and tried to hire me for his operation after the company we both worked for went under (largely thanks to him). He gave me the willies so I never returned his calls.


text:
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone unveils Q&A app Jelly
SAN FRANCISCO -- After months of secrecy, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has taken the wraps off Jelly, a new question-and-answer app for iOS and Android.
The app is designed to give people answers from their social networks and will compete with similar services such as Quora. You can download Jelly by going to the company's website.
What distinguishes Jelly: You can ask questions with images.
Jelly is focused on images, which Stone says "add depth and context to any question."
You can crop an image, zoom in on something, even draw on the image to ask your question.
The concept for Jelly was borne of Stone's desire to make the world a more "empathetic" place by connecting people in new and potentially powerful ways.
Stone broke the news Tuesday with a post on the Jelly blog and emails to news outlets. (There's also a video with Stone and co-founder Ben Finkel.)
Stone says Jelly is designed "to search the group mind of your social networks."
"Jelly changes how we find answers because it uses pictures and people in our social networks. It turns out that getting answers from people is very different from retrieving information with algorithms," he said.
Questions on Jelly can also be forwarded to people not using the app. "Maybe your friend, or even your friend's friend doesn't have the answer. However, your friend's friend's friend just might," Stone said.
And why the jellyfish?
"We chose the jellyfish to represent our product because it has a loose network of nerves that act as a 'brain' similar to the way we envision loosely distributed networks of people coordinating via Jelly to help each other," he said.
Twitter shares soar 73% in debut
In San Francisco, Twitter IPO stokes debate over wealth it created
Google, other tech companies to pay to use San Francisco bus stops


text:
During winter I absolutely love burning candles…all day. I think they keep the home cozy and smelling nice while the windows are mainly shut.
However, when I looked at what exactly I was burning and putting into the air I wasn't a fan. I won't go into too much here, but I recommend you research on the toxins in popular brands of candles. (i.e. paraffins, benzene, toluene…)
A excellent alternative is beeswax candles! Beeswax burns clean, help get rid of toxins in the air, and virtually smokeless. They also last a lot longer than typical candles because beeswax has a higher melting point. That means you'll get a much longer burn time per candle.
DIY Beeswax Candles with Essential Oils
These cozy homemade all natural candle are easier to make than you'd think.
Beeswax can be pretty hard to clean up. I recommend using minimal tools. The best way that I have found is when you are done using the bowl to melt the wax, reheat the wax and swipe it out using paper towels while the wax is hot.
- Beeswax
- Coconut Oil (refined)
- Essential Oils
- Candle Wicks
- Container for the candle
- Wick holder or a stick to hold the wicks in place
- Glass bowl / Glass container to melt the beeswax
- 1. Attach the candle wick to the bottom middle of the container of your choice. You can use either the sticky pads that come with many wicks packs or you can use hot glue.
- 2. To keep the wick in an upright position wrap the wick onto a stick and place the stick over the candle.
- 3. Bring about 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot.
- 4. Add one pound of beeswax and 2/3's of a cup of refined coconut oil to a large bowl. 5. Then place the bowl over pot of boiling water. Allow the heat and steam to melt the wax fully. Stir occasionally.
- 6. Once the wax is fully melted in the bowl, stir in1-2 tablespoons of an essential oil of your choice.
- 7. Next carefully pour your wax into the containers, being careful to not pour over the wick.
- 8. Allow the candle to cool for two hours before trying to light the wick. Then cut the wick to about 1/2 inch.
Here are a few of my favorite scents:
Lavender & Chamomile
Sweet Orange
Lemon & Basil
Making candles is a new addiction of mine. I find myself looking around my house and thrift stores for new ideas for vessels for more candles. If you give this a try be sure to tag us and let us know on either facebook, instagram, or in the comments below.
Thank-you so much for taking time out of your day to hang out here!


text:
The story so far:
November 8: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) files a 260-page motion [large pdf — don't attempt to download without broadband] in the District of Columbia Superior Court, in which AIPAC is attempting to fend off a $20 million defamation suit from former employee Steven J Rosen who claims he was wrongfully dismissed. AIPAC ditched him and his colleague Keith Weissman in 2005 when the pro-Israel lobby feared investigation by the FBI.
November 15: Grant Smith highlights much of the politically damaging content of the motion in an Antiwar article, AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit.
November 16: the story is picked up by MJ Rosenberg, The Forward and others.
November 17: the story is gathering steam in the Jewish press, with items in the JTA and Haaretz.
As for the Washington Post, the New York Times and the rest of the US mainstream media, well as of noon Wednesday, it's apparently still nap time — or, a figurative bloodbath at that obscure and uninfluential lobbying organization really isn't news — or, there's no such thing as the Israel lobby and so why should the press pay any attention — or, a bunch of spineless editors, worried about embarrassing their friends at AIPAC, are looking over their shoulders waiting to see which of their competitors is going to break loose first and force them to report on this unseemly turn of events.
And as for why AIPAC and Rosen are both willing to engage in what looks like a self-destructive fight, I suspect that their interests are not actually as far apart as they seem.
Rosen says: "Any embarrassment I suffered as a result of what they filed will be insignificant compared to the embarrassment they'll suffer after we file our motion." This seems to be key: that both sides are engaged in campaigns to embarrass the other and both sides are ultimately served if the conflict can be contained to one of embarrassment.
AIPAC can survive embarrassment. What it cannot survive would be investigation by the FBI. It can get away with looking like a sleazy operation. It can't get away with being exposed as being the instrument of a foreign government.
At the same time, this is also a fight over money. Rosen's devotion to Zionism turns out to have come with an enormous price tag at a time that AIPAC is not as flush with funds as it used to be.
Hard times for the Israel lobby.


text:
Thank You for Art Assistance Request
Thank you for submitting to our Request Free Art Assistance form! Your form submission was successful and has been received.
We appreciate you taking your time to submit to our form, and will get in touch with you within 24-48 hours during our business hours.
For immediate assistance, please do not hesitate to call us during our business hours at +1 (877) 304-1899.


text:
Azure – Configure Azure PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) Through Azure Portal
Hello Friends,
If you missed our following articles on Exam : Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions, Please have a look once here :
Azure – Create a Virtual Machine with Azure Power Shell
Azure – Deploying a Web App to Azure Virtual Machine with Web Deploy method
Azure – Remote debugging on an Azure VM
Azure – Azure Automation State Configuration
Azure – Configure Azure PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) Using PoserShell
Today we will continue with our last blog Concept of Azure Automation State Configuration. As we know, it is possible to configure Azure Automation State Configuration and Azure Powershell Desired State Configuration (DSC) in two different approaches. One is using powershell, which we will cover in our next blog and the other one is through Azure Portal.Today in this blog we will configure Azure powershell DSC using Azure Portal.
Prerequisites :
An Azure Resource Manager VM (not Classic) running Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. For this example we have created one VM "DSCServer" in advance. As we can see in the following figure, we have verified that, currently IIS not installed/available with this VM. Our Azure powershell DSC, will install/configure the IIS on this server/Node for us.
Figure 1: Azure Certification 70-532 – IIS not available on this VM
Configuration :
Now we are ready to start with our first Azure DSC configuration. We will go step by step in little detail with real time figures.
- Connect to your Azure portal dashboard using your subscription account. If you don't have any subscription, in that case you can get trial Azure subscription with one-month of validity. Then you can connect to the azure portal dashboard as in following figure.
Figure 1: Azure Certification 70-532 – portal dashboard
- To proceed with our configuration, first we need an Azure Automation account. So let's create an Azure Automation Run As account. In the Azure portal, click All services. In the list of resources, type Automation. As we begin typing, the list filters based on our input. Select Automation Accounts, as shown in following figure, we need to .
Figure 2: Azure Certification 70-532 – Create Automation Account
- On the Automation Accounts page, Click + Add button to create a Automation Account. Provide all required information and don't forgot to set Yes to Create Azure Run As Account and click Create button to create the new account. While Azure creates the Run As account, we can track the progress under Notifications from the menu, as shown in following figure.
Figure 3: Azure Certification 70-532 – Automation Account
- Now we are ready with our Automation Account. The next step is to create a simple DSC configuration that ensures the presence of the Web-Server Windows Feature (IIS). When we create a DSC configuration, 3 major component comes into the picture. Those are Configuration, Node and Resource. All these need to be declare in the powershell script, as shown in the following figure .
Figure 4: Azure Certification 70-532 – DSC Configuration
- Once we are ready with our Azure DSC configuration file(ManasTestConfig.ps1), Let's Import the configuration into Azure Automation.To Import the configuration, Click on newly created Automation Account and on Automation Account page,select State configuration (DSC) under Configuration Management, as shown in following figure.
Figure 5: Azure Certification 70-532 – Inside Automation Account
- Once we are ready with our Azure DSC configuration file, Let's Import the configuration into Azure Automation.To Import the configuration, Click on newly created Automation Account and on Automation Account page,select State configuration (DSC) under Configuration Management, as shown in following figure.
Figure 6: Azure Certification 70-532 – Configuration List Of Automatic Account
- As shown in above figure, on the State configuration (DSC) page, click the Configurations tab, then click + Add. This will open Import Configuration page.
- On Import Configuration page, browse to our DSC configuration file ManasTestConfig.ps1 on our computer. Provide other required information before importing the DSC configuration file and click Ok to start importing.
Figure 7: Azure Certification 70-532 – Importing Azure DSC Configuration
- After importing the DSC configuration, we can view the configuration, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 8: Azure Certification 70-532 – Post Importing the configuration doc
- Now time comes to Compiling our DSC configuration in Azure Automation. On the State configuration (DSC) page, click the Configurations tab, then click ManasTestConfig (the name of the previously imported configuration).
On the ManasTestConfig Configuration page, click Compile, and then click Yes. This starts a compilation job, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 9: Azure Certification 70-532 – Before Compilation of configuration
Figure 10: Azure Certification 70-532 – After Compilation of configuration
- On boarding an Azure VM for management with Azure Automation State Configuration. Here we need a VM (not Classic) running Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. As shown in the following figure, move to State configuration (DSC) page. On the State configuration (DSC) page, while on the Nodes tab, click + Add.
Figure 11: Azure Certification 70-532 – Add new node to DSC Configuration
- When we click +Add button to adding a Node, it will open Virtual Machines page. On the Virtual Machines page, select our VM and on the Virtual machine detail page, click + Connect to open the Registration section page as shown in the following figure.
Figure 12: Azure Certification 70-532 – On boarding Nodes (VM)
- As shown in the above figure,In the Registration page, select the name of the node configuration we want to apply to the VM in the Node configuration name box. Providing a name at this point is optional. we can change the assigned node configuration after onboarding the node. Check Reboot Node if Needed, then let's click OK. The node configuration we specified are applied to the VM at intervals specified by the Configuration Mode Frequency, and the VM checks for updates to the node configuration at intervals specified by the Refresh Frequency.In the Add Azure VMs blade, click Create.
- Azure starts the process of onboarding the VM. When it is complete, the VM shows up in the Nodes tab of the State configuration (DSC) page in the Automation account., as shown in the following figure
Figure 13: Azure Certification 70-532 – Node onboarded
Figure 14: Azure Certification 70-532 – Configuration Reportd
- After DSC configuration executed for the first time, we verified that, the IIS has been installed successfully on the Node (VM) we have added, as shown in the following figure
Figure 15: Azure Certification 70-532 – IIS installed post DSC run
- Addition to the above, we can achieve the followings.Viewing reports for managed nodes, as shown in above figure 14.
- Reassigning a node to a different node configuration
- Unregistering a node
Hope this blog gives you some information about Azure Automation State Configuration.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Keep reading, share your thoughts, experiences. Feel free to contact us to discuss more. If you have any suggestion / feedback / doubt, you are most welcome.
Stay tuned on Knowledge-Junction, will come up with more such articles.


text:
The era of regulated mixed martial arts within Alabama is proving to have more than its fair share of complications. From a shrinking fighter base to a rash of unforeseen injuries, the newly encountered issues have caused problems for local promoters even forcing the cancellation of one event.
Similar to the recent stretch of bad luck that has affected the Ultimate Fighting Championship of late, Alabama's local scene has fell victim to a high number of sudden injuries from accidents both recreational and during training.
Examples of recent injuries include the unfortunate incident in which David McAfee was severely injured during training and had a hole punched in his trachea while in a chokehold. Not realizing the severity of his injury "D'Mac" continued training and suffered a subsequent shattering of his right eye socket. He had been scheduled to compete at Atlas Fights MMA on July 14 but will now be sidelined for around 12 weeks.
Jack Whitfield was another victim of the injury bug after tearing both his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament over the past week. Whitfield is set to have surgery later this month and will be on the shelf for the next six weeks before being able to return to training.
Making the injuries even more problematic for promoters is the fact that many of the state's eligible fighters are being forced to sign contracts preventing them from competing upon other shows 30-days prior to the scheduled event.
Some have questioned the validity of making amateur fighters sign a contract while others argue it is just good business sense. Ultimately, the practice reduces the fighter pool a promoter can draw from, but other promoters look at it as protecting their interests.
Another reason promoters have found it difficult to keep their rosters stacked is due to the mandatory medical suspensions that are levied against fighters following competition. Every person that fights must serve an involuntary seven-day suspension afterwards, and anyone that lost via knockout or TKO is also subject to a 30, 60, or 90-day suspension as well.
An injured fighter will be placed in the national database as suspended for seven days and will come off automatically after that date. The competitor will not be able to take another fight during that time. Anyone that does participate in mixed martial arts action while suspended will lose their fighter license, could face a lengthy suspension and, would have to present themselves before the commission. Fighters are urged to use protective training gear and tools like those reviewed here – US Combat Sport's Focus Mitts.
Finally, the amount of licensed and eligible fighter pool may be beginning to dwindle from Olympic to kiddie pool due to fighters competing on unsanctioned shows not authorized by the Alabama Athletic Commission. Any fighter that participates in these shows will likely have their license suspended for 60 days. A second violation of this rule could result in a permanent suspension.
No one said that making the sudden change to the regulation era would be a smooth and perfect process. But with proper safety measures, a more legitimate manner in handling injuries, and an education as to what will cause athletes to be suspended, fighters and promoters have the ability to work together in order to create a more harmonious solution to some of the early problems being faced within Alabama's mixed martial arts scene.


text:
Calls for the UK government to cut VAT on tourist attractions and hotels rooms are continuing to fall on deaf ears.
Although the campaign has never gone away since it begin shortly after the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition was formed in 2010, there has been heightened press activity in recent weeks.
Led by Merlin Entertainments and its chief executive Nick Varney, the campaign knows that it is about to lose its window of opportunity.
With the government largely made up members of parliament representing the Conservatives – a party that traditionally gives business the easiest time – Varney will have identified this as the best time to lobby Westminster.
But be it due to the government being a fifth Liberal Democrat, or some other reason, the claims that the VAT cut from 20% to 5% would generate billions of pounds for the economy have continuously been rebuffed.
With the bookmakers predicting the next election producing another hung parliament – where no political party has a majority of MPs – with the biggest party being Labour, Varney and his campaigners know that however hard it might be to convince this government, the next one will likely be an even tougher nut to crack.
The explanation for the resistance may be that the government is simply not convinced by Merlin's claims that over a hundred thousand of new jobs would be created, and billions of pounds more income would be returned to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It may be that it is the Liberal Democrats that are against such a move and are vetoing it.
Another possibility is that the proposal is being hoarded and will be announced in the coming months, tactically close to the General Election which is to be held in May 2015.
The Conservatives and/or other political parties may attempt to pass off the idea as their own and feature it as a key manifesto pledge.
There is also the issue of how much of the savings from such a cut would be passed on to customers.
If VAT were to suddenly be reduced by 15%, would theme park admission prices also be cut by the same amount?
Some might elect to pass on only part of the cut, pocketing the rest – although it should be noted that this website has been told in no uncertain terms by campaigners that the savings would be passed on to customers.
It is not entirely clear how a campaign can speak for the entire tourism and hotel industry, and believing the claims at face value is a large leap of faith to make.
However one thing is clear, if the cut is not at least pledged come what May (literally), then Merlin and its co-campaigners' dream may be gone for generation.


text:
Get Updates
Subscribe to receive press releases and other timely information about Dream Industrial REIT delivered straight to your email inbox, or sign up to receive printed annual and quarterly reports by mail. To join our Email Alert service, please fill in the form below. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
All information provided while subscribing to Dream Industrial REIT's Email Alert service will be used solely to communicate Dream Industrial REIT's corporate information. No information about specific individuals will ever be shared or sold for commercial purposes.
Note: you may remove yourself from our mailing list at any time – we include "unsubscribe" instructions with every e-mail.


text:
Quasar Expeditions' Patagonia adventures incorporate the full spectrum of activities in the region, from hiking to horseback riding, cruising glacial lakes, ice-trekking, sea kayaking and fly fishing. The list of what to pack for such an adventures is varied, as you may imagine, but we have prepared a very thorough packing list for you.
Download our detailed Patagonia Packing List Guide and you'll be well prepared to enjoy all your activities in Patagonia regardless of the weather.
Weather in Patagonia is very unpredictable, as is the case in many mountainous regions with varied terrain. It is not uncommon to experience sunshine, wind, rain and even snow on a single day, even if traveling during the summer months. The only way to experience and enjoy this natural paradise to its fullest, is to come well prepared so that the weather does not affect your daily activities.
The key is to "layer" for cold weather (i.e. on glaciers and in the mountains), or take off "layers" if the day gets warmer or your body temperature rises when hiking. The list below attempts to cover everything that you will need to bring to be comfortable during any of the activities in which you choose to participate.
Important Note: Please be aware that the list below does not include items for camping or for doing any of the trekking circuits in either Torres del Paine or Los Glaciares National Parks. The Packing list below will get you through all types of weather and activities, but it assumes you are staying at a lodge or hotel each evening.
This is perhaps the most important section on your packing list, besides underwear and socks. It is very important that your entire body remains dry during wet conditions, and this includes your legs and your feet. You want to make sure you have a water-proof jacket and pants, with decent breathability, so that your entire body remains dry in case of a light drizzle or under heavier rain. A good pair of waterproof or water-resistant hiking boots is also highly recommended. Please refer to the list below for details of the "outerwear" items we recommend you bring with you.
- Light and warm Jacket or Fleece
- Wind-/water-resistant Soft-shell Jacket
- Rain Jacket or Parka
- Rain Pants
- Goretex-lined Boots or similar water-proof hiking boots
- Gloves (medium thickness, waterproof preferred)
- Beanie and Baseball Cap or Hat
- Buff or scarf
& underwear
Below is a list of the regular clothing items that you should bring to your Patagonia adventure. The list below should be good to last you for 8 or 9 days in Patagonia, although most of the places where you will be staying do offer laundry service. Remember to pack as light as you can, so that you can easily store your bags in your all-terrain vehicles. A good, durable, medium-sized duffle bag is the ideal bag to carry your clothing and gear.
- 6 T-shirts
- 2 synthetic-fiber polo shirts (for quick drying)
- 2 short-sleeve button-down shirts
- 8 pairs of underwear + 8 pairs of socks
- 1 fleece sweater
- 1 wool sweater
- 2 to 3 pairs of hiking pants
- Synthetic-fiber cargo pants
- Synthetic-fiber/organic-cotton hiking pants
- 1 pair of jeans
- 1 pair of Dockers pants or slacks for the evenings
- 1 synthetic-fiber light-weight thermal long-sleeve + pant
Having good gear for your Patagonia adventure will allow you to go through the trails and treks with more comfort and ease. It is especially important that you bring a good technical day-pack that is waterproof, or that it comes with a waterproof cover. If your day pack is not waterproof, you can also store your items inside in a dry-sack, which will keep everything dry in case the entire pack gets wet.
- Technical Day Pack (with waterproof cover)
- Dry sack (Size: 13L or 20L)
- Trekking Poles (provided on our trips)
- Goretex or similar waterproof Gaiters (optional)
- 32oz (1L) Nalgene water bottle (provided on our trips)
- Sunglasses
- Headlamp
and more
Few places on earth offer such incredible sights and landscapes as Patagonia. For this reason, it is essential that you bring with you a good camera, with optional HD video capabilities. You also need to bring some extra items that we detail below that will keep all of your electronics dry, even in very wet conditions.
- Good digital SLR camera
- International outlet converter
- Two or 3 memory cards for your camera
- Extra batteries
- Sturdy camera case
- Dry sack (you can use same one on Gear section)
- Netbook, iPad or small laptop (optional)
- Sport or waterproof sunblock (SPF 15 or higher)
- Insect repellent


text:
A key technique that developers use to increase productivity is to adopt coding paradigms, techniques, and tooling that let you generate code instead of writing it. Or, as the saying goes within the developer world: "Good developers write good code, but great developers write code that writes good code for them."
The Case for Code That Writes Code
In addition to boosting overall productivity while in the saddle, adopting tooling and techniques that generate code instead of making you write it out by hand usually results in better overall code within your application as well.
Typically this is true for one of two reasons. First off, generating code with parameters or via templates is a much better approach than the copy-paste-tweak approach that you were likely going to use anyhow in addressing repetitive coding needs. (Because we all know that copy-paste-tweak is a quick way to get things done—one that always results in a few days of debugging some crazy, indeterminate bug that you just can't track down because you know the code works just perfectly.)
The second reason that generating or using templates to create repetitive code is a better idea is because code that you take the time to template is code that has typically been tackled a metric bazillion times. The code is at the point where it's become an "idiom" in the sense that it's typically robust and coded enough that it is—you hope—better code than something you would just pound out spontaneously. Or, in other words, generated code typically tends to represent "better"' code by nature of the time and energy spent in parameterizing or templating it, making it provide additional benefits than the obvious DRY (don't repeat yourself) benefits that you'd think you'd be getting.
As such, I wanted to take a look at several techniques for boosting productivity that I've been using over the last year or so with great success.
ReSharper and CodeRush
Put simply, you're either a huge fan of JetBrains' ReSharper or of DevExpress's CodeRush. Personally, I don't care which one you use. But if you're a professional developer and don't use one of these solutions, then you're cutting yourself insanely short—and spending way too much time doing stuff you don't have to do.
Personally, I'm a big fan of ReSharper. And while I originally grabbed it for its refactoring support, unit testing augmentations, and its huge amount of other additional UI helps, tweaks, and productivity boosts, one of the things I love the most about ReSharper is its support for templates that make it so much easier for me to quickly code repetitive tasks. In fact, I use ReSharper's templating functionality all the time when creating new repositories and when creating individual methods within those repositories—because ReSharper's support for "surround-with" templates gives me the ability to easily tackle some custom considerations around caching that I leverage pretty heavily in many repository methods.
Of course, it always takes a bit of time and effort to learn how to use something like more advanced templating features (to say nothing of the additional time it takes to acquire the muscle memory needed to commit these approaches to shortcut keys). But I've always found that whenever I take the time to learn a new approach such as extended templating, the tiny bit of pain I incur up front is richly rewarded later on with drastic increases in productivity that pay off over and over again.
CodeSmith Generator
And nothing I've worked with over the past few years illustrates that better than CodeSmith Tools' CodeSmith Generator. Simply put, this solution is powerful. Yet it's pretty simple to wrap your mind around—and if you spend just a bit of time learning how to use it, it can save weeks or even months of time.
As I covered previously, I'm a big fan of PLINQO—which ships as a bound solution or set of templates for CodeSmith Generator as a way to extend and "fix" LINQ to SQL—as it has saved me more lines of code than I can even fathom. In fact, using PLINQO, I've gotten to the point where I can easily pull a few components "off of the shelf," as it were, point it at my databases, and have core data access plumbing in place in a few minutes. And, what I love best about that, is that the code I'm generating is all code that 100 percent meets my own very picky requirements and biases. Which I can then easily whip into shape with repositories that I quickly generate using ReSharper templates.
T-SQL Templates and Red Gate's SQL Prompt
Speaking of templates, it almost seems like a bit of a detour to call this out, but SQL Server provides its own powerful support for templates as well. Yet I'm always surprised how few developers know about these.
I've actually detailed a full walkthrough of how these templates work and ways you can easily leverage them in one of my videos—and I still make very heavy use of them today. In fact, I commonly hand off T-SQL template solutions to my SQL Server Consulting clients as I find that templates provide the perfect amount of flexibility, yet with structure, when it comes to tackling new tasks that users may not be terribly familiar with addressing.
Likewise, another tool I use extensively when working on SQL Server is Red Gate Software's SQL Prompt. Not only does it provide better IntelliSense within SQL Server Management Studio than what you get out of the box, but it also provides a whole slew of snippets that you can use—along with the option to create and define your own snippets—which I use all the time.
Code Snippets
Speaking of snippets, I'm also a huge fan of Visual Studio's native support for snippets, and have been for a few years now. Only, I've never been a big fan of having to go in and manually manage snippet definitions by mucking around with XML files.
Instead, I've long been a fan of Snippet Designer, which is a free solution or plug-in that you can drop right into Visual Studio. With it you can easily define, customize, and design snippets to your heart's desire. Best of all, it's super easy to use Snippet Designer (which works with both Visual Studio 2010 and 2008) to parameterize snippets as needed in order to keep them robust.
Then, once you've created snippets as desired, you just copy them into the appropriate directory (Snippet Designer will help you locate this directory), and the snippets instantly begin working for you in Visual Studio.
For example, one thing I do a lot of when working with ASP.NET MVC applications is to create custom routes. Only, I hate the process of having to add in all the line breaks to keep everything semantically pristine and "conventional" with normal routing layouts as I like them. So, I long ago created a snippet (called add_route) that looks roughly like this:
routes.MapRoute( "$RouteName$", "$RoutePath$", new { controller = "$Controller$", action = "$Action$" } );
With this snippet, creating a new route is almost always just a couple of keystrokes and a few tabs away. And in the rare cases where I need to customize a route above and beyond this set of simple defaults, I'm still way ahead of manually working through the creation of a new route. Likewise, if I were to find that I'm doing this routinely, I'd take a few seconds and pound out a new snippet to address future needs. And, to that end, I've also created similar snippets for roughing-in unit tests, and a host of other considerations.
MVC Templates
Finally, speaking of MVC and templating, a few weeks ago I was complaining about how tedious it is to modify the actual project templates that ship with Visual Studio. Specifically, I was complaining that since these projects are .zip files buried deep within the bowels of the file system, the process of finding, tweaking, and then rezipping those contents (in such a manner that would be pleasing to Visual Studio) is just a bit too much of a pain—to the point where I was lamenting that there isn't something along the lines of Snippet Designer for modifying Visual Studio templates.
Happily, it appears that this is something that the MVC team has also recognized as being a bit too cumbersome as well—because Eilon Lipton responded to my lament with a detailed overview of how you can very easily modify the templates for new content in ASP.NET MVC 3 applications due to the fact that MVC 3 project templates actually use t4 templates.
Even better, Scott Hanselman went ahead and blogged about this issue—even going as far as to include a video presentation he'd done earlier where he touches on this exact issue.
And what I positively love about how MVC 3 projects leverage t4 templates is that you gain not only the ability to change template for all new projects by modifying the "root" t4 templates, but you can also customize this content on a project by project basis by merely copying the necessary t4 template files/folders into your project, then modifying them as needed.
So, in this regard, if I don't like the fact that controllers in MVC projects always default to containing a "using System.Web;" reference when I rarely if ever use that namespace in my controllers, then I can go in and nuke that at "machine" level so that I never have to deal with that again. Likewise, if I know that all my controllers for a given project need a specialized namespace reference or if I always want them to inherit from, say, "SuperController", I can make those changes at the project level. In this way, not only will those changes save me time, but I can include them in source control so that they'll save time for the other members of my team, and so on.
It's All About Productivity
Any way you slice it, using templates can be a great way to save time and boost productivity. I've shared a few ways that I've found to increase my coding productivity. What techniques and tools are you using? Or, what did I miss? Feel free to share your own tips and tricks in the comments.


text:
Saturday, September 4, 2010
More random pix
So I set up one of our oil lamps in the barn in a rustic tableau and took photos throughout the day as the light changed. I was pleased with the results!
(Shortly I hope to tell you the nature of this project, but not yet.)
We had some spiffy clouds last night as the sun went down.
9 comments:
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 9:02 AM
Purdy pix. Last pic in the kerosene lamp photos is my favorite. Also liked the first one, but it lacked contrasting color. And the last photo of the clouds is gorgeous.ReplyDelete
Regarding photography, do you practice the Rule of Thirds? It's very basic and yet adds so much to the appeal of a photo.
Anonymous Patriot
Beautiful pictures! I especially like the doily. :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 2:11 PM
I like the second and third pic of the oil lamp.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 2:15 PM
I love the third photo of the oil lamp. The light coming in the window really shows the roughness of the the wood. It doesn't make any one thing a focal point, but the photo as a whole.ReplyDelete
IMHO (In My Humble Opinion.) :)
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 2:38 PM
Nature needs no help Patrice, but I thought I would make a suggestion for the kerosene lamps. How about a few more props? Maybe a book, ashtray or bottle of booze. I'm sure that is not the best examples. I really doubt that Lincoln needed the latter two things as he self educated. I guess you get what you pay for and this wouldn't earn a dime.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 4:12 PM
I liked #3 in the late afternoon. (Ummm.. are those bicycle tracks on the walls?) the outdoor photos are good also; particularly the sole rain cloud downloading.ReplyDelete
As an aside: A fond memory of my childhood is sitting on the front step (of our Ohio home) and watching two dark rain clouds on an otherwise sunny day. The clouds were at different altitudes and as one passed over the other, they shot each other with lightning bolts! To my young impressionable mind it was a battle beteen two space ships.
It remains one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
Great photos Mrs. Lewis.
Steve Davis
Anchorage, Alaska
Number # is the best of the lamps. The light contrast helps a lot. All the clouds are beautifulReplyDelete
Ok that should be a 3 not a #ReplyDelete
lol ken
I like 3&4 :)ReplyDelete


text:
Friday, May 17, 2013
Having a good time...
19 comments:
Oh Triscuit, are those ladies wearing you out?? Bet you are having great fun meeting all those different peoples. Glad you got to go.ReplyDelete
triscuit...ewe bee a hit !!! hope ewe R enjoyin yur self....hope yur mom haza grate time anda safe trip home N tell her knot ta worree bout stuff bak home...tim haz everee thing knot under control, de wee kittehz R enjoyin de free dom oh de houz...N uz guestz iz havin a grate time heer :)ReplyDelete
Triscuit is just adorable. Glad you are having fun!ReplyDelete
To have both Triscuit AND Odilia at Blogpaws. How lucky for everyone! Triscuit is very photogenic. :)ReplyDelete
Poor Triscuit! We hope you'll get lots of rest at night :)ReplyDelete
Triscuit is just precious!ReplyDelete
So glad you're all having a great time! This is my first time NOT there, and I'm super sad. Hope you can mke the next one-i'd love to meet you!ReplyDelete
We heard that the mom was cheating on us with Triscuit. The nerve!ReplyDelete
My human hasn't met you and Triscuit yet!!!ReplyDelete
I bet I know why that little girl is tired! We've seen her positively Everywhere! She seems quite popular, which is only fitting for how adorable she is!ReplyDelete
Awww! She seems quite content!!ReplyDelete
From what we are seeing, Triscuit is a superstar!ReplyDelete
Awww...she is so sweet, mom is squeeing all over the place, MOL.ReplyDelete
Have fun mom and Triscuit!
Sashas, Sami, & Saku
Triscuit is so cute - no wonder everyone wants pictures with her.ReplyDelete
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
We've seen photos of Triscuit on other blogs. She looks totally exhausted in this photo. We bet she'll be glad to get home after so much attention. Purrs and hugs from the kitties at The Cat on My Head, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista JosetteReplyDelete
Yeeeessssss..... *sigh* ANOTHER kitty mommy was cheating on us with.ReplyDelete
She is in SUCH trubble.
WAAAIT. Mommy never met Andrea there. (Our mom is SUCH a slacker - we send her out to meet ALL our friends in purrson and now we discover THIS - that she missed one, or two or probably a bazillion even. *SIGHHHH*)
We bet Triscuit sleeps ALL next week. MOL!ReplyDelete
Yes we heard swag was dog centric but vendors were generous. Thank you Triscuit for keeping BlogPaws cat friendly! Great to meet your team!ReplyDelete
Triscuit, it was such a treat to meet you and the mom at BlogPaws! :)ReplyDelete


text:
Comment Policy was last updated March 2022.
First and foremost, Balloon Juice is a community, so our commenting policy is a combination of objective standards as well as some more subjective community standards for decency.
So while there will be some very clear lines that cannot be crossed, there will also be some fuzzy areas that we will deal with when we get to them. It's not a black and white world, and this is a liberal blog, so you will just have to deal with some nuance.
To Flag a Comment that Violates the Policy
If you see a comment on Balloon Juice that you believe violates the standards that are set forth below, and you want flag the offending comment for attention, please do both of these things: 1) send email to John Cole and 2) use the Site Feedback form and select Report a Problem. Be sure to include the name of the thread that contained the offensive comment (or a link to the thread) as well as the person's nym and the date and approximate time of the comments.
- First offense: 3-day timeout
- Second offense: 1-week timeout
- Third offense: 1-month timeout
- Beyond that: banned
Things That Will Get You an Immediate Timeout
- Sexism, racism, ageism; homophobic outbursts, targeting of marginalized groups, etc. We're not going to put up with personal attacks beyond a joking nature, nor will we tolerate targeted harassment of commenters. Take your shit somewhere else.
- Explicit calls for violence. Obviously things said in jest such as "guillotines" or nonsense like that are recognized for the hyperbole they are. But direct, actionable threats or calls for violence are out, for obvious reasons.
- Targeted harassment of other commenters or front pagers.
- Intentional disinformation campaigns.
- Posting links to inappropriate websites or sites that compromise a user's security.
- Divulging personal information about a commenter or front pager (real name, address, place of work, etc.)
- Calling for explicit violence or war crimes in Ukraine.
- I am sure you idiots will think of something else so I will just leave this here.
Intentional Disinformation Campaigns, in Detail (#4 above)
Intentional disinformation campaigns include anything that is known to be false with the slightest bit of knowledge and or research. These include, but are not limited to:
- Obama is a Kenyan Muslim.
- Climate change is a hoax.
- Vaccines cause autism.
- The world is flat.
- Nicotine is not addictive.
- Iraq had WMD
- The DNC stole the 2016 election from Bernie
- Chemtrails
- Seth Rich was murdered by the DNC
- Sandy Hook was a false flag operation
- There was no Russian interference in the 2016 election
Take that bullshit to reddit or 8chan or whatever. It will not be tolerated here.
Things You Should Avoid That May Lead to Punishment
- Just generally being a no-life asshole who derails every thread with your own personal hobby horse. Yes, we have the pie filter, but some people don't like to use it. They shouldn't have to suffer because some idiot has come in and posted 75 comments that have nothing to do with the original post.
- Repeated attempts to derail a conversation. Unlike yours truly, we have actual experts here – Adam, David, Tom, and others are good at what they do. We are lucky to have them. When they are trying to have a serious conversation and you are just trolling or being a jerk, you take away from the rest of us. You are stealing a valuable asset: their time and wisdom. It's selfish and irritating, and I don't want to see it.
- Again, left blank here for other things you all will inevitably come up with.
Process for Bans
If you have been flagged for inappropriate behavior, one of the front pagers will spam your comment. Once that has been done, they will email me, give me a link, and I will figure out what to do. I will consult with them, but I will have the final say, so direct your venom and incoherent tweets and emails at me.
My Closing Note
I absolutely hate that I even have to have these policies, but there it is. I don't expect it to be a big problem, because most of the people will self-select out and go somewhere else where their nonsense is appreciated (reddit incel forums? Red State? Who knows? Who cares?)
For the most part, you are free to talk about whatever you want. Obviously there are some things we will not tolerate, like racist, sexist, and otherwise bigoted bullshit. But my overall philosophy has been that you are, within limits, able to post whatever you want, because it only reflects on you. When you say stupid shit, you're the one who is standing out in public with your pants around your ankles looking the fool, not me.
We're not going to delete comments, and we're not going to censor you, unless you commit the offenses listed above. If people don't want to hear your rambling nonsense, well, that's why we have the pie filter (ALL HAIL CLEEK!).
Just don't be a dick. Treat people decently (I'd say treat them the way you want to be treated but I know some of you self-loathing idiots will take advantage of that), and you will find that people will be good to you in return. A lot of us have known each other for a good long while. We want new people to feel welcome.
This is a community. Treat it like one.


text:
MCGIRR, HERBERT M., who died in Nelson, New Zealand, on April 14, aged 73, was one of the most noted all-rounders to appear for Wellington. In a first-class career extending from 1914 to 1932, he scored 3,992 runs, average 28.71, and took 239 wickets with fast-medium bowling for 27.04 runs each. He toured England with T. C. Lowry's team of 1927, hitting 809 runs in all matches at 21.86 per innings and dismissing 69 batsmen for 23.98 runs apiece.
McGirr played for New Zealand in two Tests against A. H. H. Gilligan's England team of 1929-30, scoring 51 in the fourth at Auckland. When he retired from first-class cricket he continued in club matches till, after making 70 at the age of 67, he slipped when taking in the milk the following morning and had to give up the game.


text:
Learn how WISDOM Coaching can help your children own their uniqueness and reach their fullest potential!
Based on Adventures in Wisdom Life Skills Coaching for Kids!
Partnering with kids to guide them to be leaders in their own lives. Workshops are currently online (due to state restrictions and safety of the children and myself). Some advertised local workshops are also available.
W – Wire Your Brain for Happiness and Success
I – Identify "Who" You Want to Be and What You Want for Your Life
S – See Your Inner Superstar and Shine
D – Dream Big, Live with Purpose, and Make it Happen!
O – Overcome Obstacles and Create Courage
M – Manage the Ups and Downs of Growing Up
Will parents hire a life coach? Won't they think that's their job?
People often confuse "life coaching for kids" and parenting.
Life coaching goes beyond the traditional parenting roles of moral and character development, and it goes beyond learning how to treat others and learning how to behave. In fact, what kids learn in this program, most adults haven't learned! When a parent seeks help with their child it doesn't mean that they are an "ineffective parent".
Life coaching for kids is about mindset development — it targets the root of the thought patterns that hold kids back. Coaching empowers kids with a specific set of skills (and wisdom) that they can use throughout their childhood, teen years, and for the rest of their lives.


text:
Leeds United head into their second home game of the week knowing that three points are a must from their clash with Nottingham Forest. United lost 3-2 on Tuesday night at home to Hull City and should Neil Warnock's men fail to gain any points for the third game in a row then alarm bells really will be ringing. Forest gained the millions during the summer via a takeover that is so desired among Leeds fans and will start the match as favourites. Neil Warnock will be encouraging his players to make sure last seasons freak 7-3 result is forgotten but if you take that result away, the Whites actually have a good recent record against their opponents and will be hoping to gain a much needed win.
Team News:
Recent news revealed that Ross McCormack could be sidelined until Christmas which is a bitter blow to Neil Warnock and Leeds United. David Norris and Paul Green continue to be sidelined and Luciano Becchio went off injured during the week and may face a race against time to be fit for the game.
Sam Hutchinson limped out of Forest's last game with Crystal Palace but the visitors are hopeful the Chelsea loanee will shake it off in time to face United. Adlene Guedioura was sent off in that game and will begin his three match suspension.
One To Watch:
My one to watch is Forest's number 10 Lewis McGugan. A product of the Nottingham Forest academy, McGugan is thought to be one of the brightest prospects outside of the top flight and the 23 year old banged in 5 goals last year adding to his tally of 13 the season before. Having already scored two this campaign, McGugan looks set to be nearer to his 2010/11 tally than his 2011/12 one. He can certainly strike a ball, as you can see in the video below and United cannot afford to encourage the midfielder to shoot from long range, otherwise they may regret it.
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich 23/10/10 Lewis McGugan 35 yard goal (HD) (via BloodNecromancer)
My Prediction:
Tuesday night was very frustrating and looking at the players that Neil Warnock has fit, it is hard to back the Whites to win this fixture. I think Forest will win unfortunately, very worrying times seem to lay ahead.
Last Six Meetings:
20th March 2012: Leeds United 3-7 Nottingham Forest
29th November 2011: Nottingham Forest 0-4 Leeds United
2nd April 2011: Leeds United 4-1 Nottingham Forest
15th August 2010: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leeds United
12th February 2008: Leeds United 1-1 Nottingham Forest
25th August 2007: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Leeds United


text:
|juicer reviews and recipes
Acme 5001 Juicer Review
"Your source to find and share reviews and recipes!"
Share |
The Acme 5001 Juicer is a tough juicer that comes with a 5 year motor warranty. It offers professional, commercial quality for your own personal use.
Top Features and Benefits
What you're paying for:
Type of juicer: Centrifugal
Pros Vs. Cons
What You Can Expect to PAY
Conclusion: The 5001 is an excellent model for the price. It has a few inconveniences like the small feed chute but that is a "small" price to pay for a durable and powerful juicing machine.
Based on my research and compared to similar juicer models available, this juicer receives a 4.5 out of 5.
If you decide to purchase this juicer, here is what you can expect to invest:
Average Price: $165.00
Amazon: Acme 5001 Juicer
Already own a juicer or blender?
Want to share your experience and personal opinion about it? Hundreds of visitors stop by my site everyday looking for info to help them decide on the best model. What's your story? It might be exactly what someone is looking for to make their buying decision.
ADD a Review on the juicer or blender you just purchased, or the one you have been using for years. Tell us some of your favorite or least favorite features. Most importantly, would you recommend it?
Thanks for sharing with Juicer Reviews and Recipes visitors and making the web a better place! Click here to ADD a Review to this site.
Newest Posts by You:
More Acme Juicer Reviews:
Return Home from this Acme 5001 Juicer Review
Quick Jump: Select any review then press Go:
Not What You're Looking For? Search My Site
My Newsletter
Compare Models


text:
Partnership based on principles
When your family name is also your brand, the decisions you make, the quality of your craftsmanship and the integrity of your principles affect not only your business, but the security of future generations.
The Thatchers' business reflects this at every level, from the tens of thousands of apple trees, owned and cultivated on the family farm, right through to the production of the finished product. Thatchers is uncompromisingly committed to quality, tradition and family heritage of crafting the very best cider possible.
The challenge, to effectively communicate those deep-rooted principles to a wider regional and national audience, is one we accepted gladly. In five years, we've supported the business in its progression from a small, regional cider maker to a nationally recognised and loved, premium cider brand.
The Partnership
Bray Leino has worked with the Thatcher family to ensure they're able to pass a strong legacy on to the next generation. Working closely with Martin Thatcher and the leadership team, we are proud to be involved in every aspect of the development and execution of brand strategy, packaging design, promotion and media planning.
The 2010 animated Thatchers 'People Who Care About Cider' campaign communicated the central brand values eloquently, followed by the more recent, 'Pure Gold from Somerset', which continued to build on that momentum, backed up by cinema, regional and national outdoor and print activity.
We developed a series of clearly defined strategic steps, demonstrating ROI for each phase, with results influencing implementation of the next. Carefully targeted regional TV placement, progressively rolled in line with developments in the business' distribution capability, enabled a sustainable approach to building the business.
The Results
We've helped Thatchers Gold become one of the UK's fastest-growing cider brands through a long-term, strategic commercial partnership built on a mutual pride in the brand and the product, and belief in the family's ambitions. Since 2011, on and off trade sales have increased by 40%,with Thatchers Gold now the second largest on-trade cider brand.
Managing Director of Thatchers, Martin Thatcher commented: "The expertise we put into our ciders has taken over a century to acquire, so it's very important that Bray Leino understand the values that make Thatchers unique – family, heritage, care and expertise.
"For us, Bray Leino has become more of a business partner than a communications agency. They have the commitment and commercial aptitude to understand and tackle the challenges we face, while helping us stay true to what we believe in."
To talk to someone about how we can help your family brand brow and thrive, contact: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Certain failure modes of the SyncClusterConnection to the config server are safe failures (we are sure nothing has been written) - it is incorrect to fail by aborting mongod here since our state is fully known (the migration failed). Rollback and continue instead.
Original description:
If the config server is offline for a short amount of time during the critical section causing a write error but we're able to reconnect later, we should try to A) verify the write failure on all servers and B) locally rollback the new version, aborting the migration. Currently we fail hard, and rely on the mongod restart for the config reload.
Note this is different from the case when the config servers go down and stay down, since in that case we are unable to read the state of the metadata and so have to terminate.


text:
The superdisintegrants market is characterized by the presence of large as well as small players operating at global and regional levels. The major five players of this market accounted for around 53% share of the global superdisintegrants market in 2015. Most of the key players in this market are based in developed countries across North America and Europe. Some of the leading players in this market include Ashland, Inc. (U.S.), BASF SE (Germany), FMC Corporation (U.S.), JRS Pharma (Germany), DFE Pharma (Germany).
Ashland, Inc. (U.S.) led the superdisintegrants market in 2015. This is majorly attributed to its strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities, which enable it to serve customers in more than 100 countries globally. The company offers crospovidone, which is the largest market for superdisintegrants. In order to gain a competitive edge in this market, the company focuses on organic growth strategies such as expansions. For instance, in September 2014, Ashland opened a new pharmaceutical center of excellence in Wilmington, U.S. The new facility focuses on drug development and bioavailability enhancement of pharmaceutical drugs. It also focuses on business reconstruction to stabilize its financial growth, through focus on individual businesses
BASF SE (Germany) was the second leading company of the superdisintegrants market in 2015. This is majorly attributed to its innovative product portfolio and strong relationships with its customers. By 2020, the company plans to conduct around 25% of its R&D activities in the Asia-Pacific region, to develop innovative solutions to address the region's challenges of resource efficiency, food, and nutrition. The company also focuses on inorganic strategies such as expansions and collaborations in order to grow in this market. For instance, in November 2015, the company established the BASF Innovation Campus Asia Pacific (Shanghai). This establishment enabled the company to boost its research and development activities for the healthcare industry, and enabled it to work in close association with its customers in the APAC region.
Expansion was the key strategy adopted by major players in the superdisintegrants market from 2013 to 2016. Expansions have enabled companies in increasing their customer base, meeting the growing demands of the emerging markets better, and in greater market penetration, ensuring long-term revenue generation.


text:
Children's Ministry Matters for the Church
Christian education does not exist in order to just keep the kids (or adults!) busy or even to create a knowledgeable group of people in the church. Rather, Christian education, with discipleship as its goal, exists to produce spiritual unity, knowledge, and holiness among Christians....Keep Reading


text:
Arm Lift Surgery or Brachioplasty
Arm lift surgery, or brachioplasty, is designed to remove excess skin from the upper arm to improve contour and shape, helping to reveal underlying muscle tone and form. There are several different approaches to an arm lift and this is based upon what type of problems each patient demonstrates in the consultation.
*Individual Results May Vary
Photo Gallery
For many women, excess upper arm skin can be a source of significant self conscious. Some women would go to length as to avoid wearing short sleeve or raising their arms in public. Excess upper arm skin can result from massive weight loss and aging.
Patients must understand that there is a tradeoff with any arm-lift surgery: improved form for a scar. Similarly, the biggest patient concern with this operation procedure is the postoperative scarring. The length of the incision is directly based upon how much skin excess is present and what is required to fully correct the upper arm. I have found that although every patient is concerned with a scar before surgery, nobody wants a partial correction of their problem to save on scar length.


text: Utility Room by Trevor Burrage | Dec 6, 2018 | General | 0 comments A Utility Room needs to be practical, functional and useful, however there is no reason why it cannot be stylish and pleasing. Bespoke carpentry, lovely rich warm blue colours, good lighting and new sanitary ware make this small room so appealing. Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ


text: Grand City Properties S.A. / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement/Real Estate 17.05.2016 07:00 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS GRAND CITY PROPERTIES S.A. ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2016 RESULTS SHOWING CONSIDERABLE OPERATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS - Rental and operating income at EUR101 million, up 54% YOY - EBITDA at EUR122 million, up 30% YOY - Adjusted EBITDA increased by 56% YOY to EUR53 in Q1 2016 - FFO I increased by 50% YOY to EUR38 million - FFO I per share after Hybrid Notes attribution at EUR0.22, up 10% YOY - Net profit increased to EUR90 million, earning per share at EUR0.47 - Equity at EUR2.4 billion, up 11% since year end 2015; Equity ratio at 46% - EPRA NAV increased to EUR2.18 billion, and EUR2.66 billion including perpetual hybrid notes - LTV at 40%, down from 42% as of December 2015 - Sustaining a conservative financial structure with ICR of 5.8x, and DSCR of 4.6x, up from 5.7x and 4.3x respectively in Q1 2015 - Like-for-like occupancy growth at 3.3% p.a., l-f-l in-place rent growth at 2.3% p.a. Luxembourg, May 17, 2016 - Grand City Properties S.A. (the "Company", "GCP") started 2016 with successful portfolio growth and operational improvements. The portfolio increased to 80 thousand units as of May 2016, generating an annualized rental and operating income run rate of EUR423 million and an FFO I run rate of EUR155m. Turnaround efforts bearing fruit, further internal growth complementing the external growth by acquisitions The Company's significant efforts in improving the operational aspects of its assets are materializing continuously in improved occupancy rates and rental income level, supporting strong profitability. Vacancy decreased to below 10% of rentable area as of May 2016, down from 12.3% year-over-year and in-place rent at 5.3 EUR/sqm compared to 5.2 EUR/sqm as of May 2015. The Company's efficient corporate structure allows to maintain its high profitability in parallel to the significant growth. The Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter 2016 amounted to EUR53 million, increasing by 56% compared to Q1 2015, and higher than the 54% increase in rental and operation income over the same period. Strong and well balance capital and debt structure GCP maintains its conservative debt structure and ends the first quarter of 2016 with an LTV of 40% and an equity ratio of 46%, providing substantial financial headroom. Strong operational achievements with low interest expenses result in strong cover ratios as GCP is maintaining a highly diversified financing structure resulting in a lower cost of debt of 1.6%. Christian Windfuhr, CEO of Grand City Properties: "Grand City is in the right path of making 2016 a strong and profitable year, capitalizing on our tremendous growth in 2015 and the steadily unfolding potential in our portfolio." The full Q1 2016 interim report is available on the Company's website: http://grandcityproperties.com/en/downloads.html About the Company: Grand City Properties is a specialist real estate company focused on investing in and managing turnaround opportunities in the real estate property market in Germany, primarily in densely populated areas. The Company's strategy is to improve its properties through targeted modernization and intensive tenant management, and then create value by subsequently raising occupancy and rental levels. Further information: www.grandcityproperties.com Grand City Properties (ISIN: LU0775917882) is a public limited liability company (société anonyme) incorporated under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having its registered office at 24, Avenue Victor Hugo, L 1750 Luxembourg and being registered with the Luxembourg trade and companies register (Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés Luxembourg) under number B 165560. Since May 2012, Grand City Properties is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Contact: Grand City Properties S.A. 24, Avenue Victor Hugo L-1750 Luxemburg T: +352 28 77 87 86 E: [email protected] www.grandcityproperties.com Press Contact: Katrin Petersen Grand City Properties S.A. T: +49 (30) 374 381 5218 E: [email protected] Disclaimer: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES. THE SECURITIES MENTIONED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT"), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED AT AND IS ONLY BEING DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO (I) PERSONS WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE "ORDER"), (II) HIGH NET WORTH ENTITIES, AND OTHER PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49 OF THE ORDER, AND (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS"). THIS COMMUNICATION MUST NOT BE READ, ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA ("EEA"), THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OFFER IF MADE SUBSEQUENTLY IS DIRECTED ONLY AT PERSONS WHO ARE "QUALIFIED INVESTORS" WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC, AS AMENDED (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE") ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"). ANY PERSON IN THE EEA WHO ACQUIRES THE SECURITIES IN ANY OFFER (AN "INVESTOR") OR TO WHOM ANY OFFER OF THE SECURITIES IS MADE WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT IT IS A QUALIFIED INVESTOR. ANY INVESTOR WILL ALSO BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT ANY SECURITIES ACQUIRED BY IT IN THE OFFER HAVE NOT BEEN ACQUIRED ON BEHALF OF PERSONS IN THE EEA OTHER THAN QUALIFIED INVESTORS, NOR HAVE THE SECURITIES BEEN ACQUIRED WITH A VIEW TO THEIR OFFER OR RESALE IN THE EEA TO PERSONS WHERE THIS WOULD RESULT IN A REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLICATION BY THE COMPANY OR ANY OF THE MANAGERS OF A PROSPECTUS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 3 OF THE PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY CONTAIN PROJECTIONS OR ESTIMATES RELATING TO PLANS AND OBJECTIVES RELATING TO OUR FUTURE OPERATIONS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, FUTURE FINANCIAL RESULTS, OR ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING OR RELATING TO ANY SUCH STATEMENTS, EACH OF WHICH CONSTITUTES A FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT SUBJECT TO RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, MANY OF WHICH ARE BEYOND THE CONTROL OF GRAND CITY PROPERTIES S.A. ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY, DEPENDING ON A NUMBER OF FACTORS. 17.05.2016 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


text:
With Aquaman, the DC Extended Universe shows they may finally have their act together. After several years in which Warner Brothers' superhero franchise seemed incapable of cinematic magic when using any character other than Wonder Woman, they've struck gold again, with a visually stunning film about a character whose mythology was once considered un-filmable. There's a reason why there was never an Aquaman movie until now.
It's not easy to stage a superhero movie that's set largely underwater, but director James Wan has managed it. The world-building here is definitely the best of any non-Wonder Woman DCEU film, the action sequences are first-rate, and unlike in Zack Snyder's Superman films, there's actually sunlight.
The film is mostly an origin story for Aquaman (Jason Momoa), who appeared briefly in Justice League a year ago. The son of a human father (Temuera Morrison) and a mermaid-like sea creature mother (an impressively de-aged Nicole Kidman), Arthur Curry becomes a locally known superhero until he's pulled into a multi-faction civil war involving various underwater kingdoms. Don't expect to see cameos by the other DCEU super friends.
It's impressive how much Aquaman gets right. The action sequences are outstanding, and even the finale—almost always a disaster in DCEU movies—is well-staged. The screenplay, credited to David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, with story credit given to Beall, Wan, and DCEU head honcho Geoff Johns, is good at setting things up and paying them off down the line. Even the score, by Rupert Gregson-Williams, is one of the better ones of late.
In addition, the complicated politics and motivations of the different underwater factions are explained without too much confusion. As someone with not a scintilla of knowledge of the comic book source material, I was never lost or confused.
Momoa, a veteran of the early days of Game of Thrones, is charismatic, funny, and in command in the role, and he's also got fantastic chemistry with Amber Heard, an unconventional but successful choice to play the female lead, Mera. Patrick Wilson is a weak link as the main villain—he and Momoa are supposed to be half-brothers—although Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has a more compelling arc as a secondary villain, Black Manta.
Aquaman's also got the right director in James Wan, a versatile filmmaker who's a veteran of the Fast and the Furious universe, and it shows. One standout action sequence, in a seaside Italian village, is so well-blocked and goes in so many different directions that the Fast influence is apparent.
Minus the Afro-futurism, Aquaman's got a bit in common with the year's best superhero film, Marvel's Black Panther: There's a secret, underground, futuristic kingdom, with advanced technology, and the hero is called back there, where becoming king requires winning a physical fight.
While there's never been an official film with the character before, Aquaman was a pretend movie, 15 years ago, on HBO's Entourage, joining next year's Ernesto Ferrari biopic, as well as various films about Pablo Escobar, on the list of fictitious movies from Entourage that have since been produced in real life. Let's just say Momoa has more charisma and talent than the fictional Vinnie Chase ever did.
No one knows exactly what direction the DCEU is going next, especially with uncertainty over who's going to be playing Batman and Superman. Comic book movie competition remains fierce, with Marvel still chugging along, Fox doing good things with Deadpool, and even former also-ran Sony releasing both megahit Venom and one of the most inventive superhero films in memory with Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse. Aquaman shows that there may be hope going forward for DC's movie series after all.