text:
The best of photokina 2018
See the biggest highlights from the international photography show in 2018.
Join Canon at the 2018 edition of photokina a world-leading imaging trade fair running from 26 to 29 September in Cologne, Germany. On this page find inspiring ideas, product news and trends from the photographic event of the year.
Be among the first to test and try the latest Canon kit, gain expert photography and video advice, see your heroes speak on the Spotlight stage, enjoy inspirational work, tread the product-packed aisles and more at photokina 2018.
Canon's photokina space can be found in Hall 3.2 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, between 26 and 29 September 2018.
Building on over 30 years of EOS innovation, Canon's full-frame mirrorless system is the future of photography and filmmaking.
31 Aug 2018
See the biggest highlights from the international photography show in 2018.
From the best new kit to inspirational talks and awards, there's something for everyone at photokina 2018.
Meet the Canon EOS R full-frame mirrorless system redefining future frontiers of photography and filmmaking.
Hanging off a cliff on the coast of Ireland, editorial photographer Richard Walch put the EOS R to the test
The Danish videographer and photojournalist Nicolai Brix was the first filmmaker to try shooting video with the Canon EOS R system. Here's what he thinks.
The former photojournalist explains how the smallest professional camera in Canon's range helped to bring her 'Rummage of Flowers' shoot to life.
Photojournalist Daniel Etter photographed dark, archaic conditions in Romanian coal mines using the full-frame mirrorless Canon EOS R system.
From the first Canon lens to use fluorite in 1969 to the latest developments in lens technology, discover the fascinating history of the L-series lens family.
Members get access to CPS Priority Support, both locally and at major events; a priority Fast Track repair service; and — depending on your level of membership — free back-up equipment loans plus return shipping and discounts on maintenance. They can also enjoy exclusive members' offers.
Click here to get inspiring stories and exciting news from Canon Europe Pro


text:
Uncover secrets of your name
Numbers are suppose to hold the key to our inner most personality.
Each letter inside your Christian name has a number equivalent. Everything in life, can be reduced to a number, and each number has a meaning. In numerology, this denotation is converted into a useful tool for understanding our inner most secrets. Read on to learn what Zara means in numerology terms.
Detailed meaning
- Origin: Arabic
- Quick Meaning: Glorious Dawn
- Number of letters: 4, Those 4 letters total to 19
- Gender: Girl
- Hebrew: Female Variant of Sarah: Princess
- French: Female Light
- Arabic: Female Eastern splendor princess
Having the number one as your ultimate symbol is a great omen! Congratulations! Being a number one is a great attribute, your personal expression number is the most important in numerology. You should focus on your own inner thoughts throughout your life. The numerology message of your name implies that you simply came into this particular world with essential leadership skills. These skills are helping you become a superior leader in this world. You're a an individual. Original. You stand out. Your dynamics are charged with unique hopes, you have a desire to make certain that you will embrace life with freedom, and you also need to focus on long term results. You are a brilliant teacher, but unfortunately, from time to time you need to follow other people's advice to become much better at communicating with people. You have great understanding of people, because of your leadership and powerful qualities.
The need for a wide circle of friends or family relations is critical to you. You also have great creative drive! Your personality features the excitement that others long for. Therefore, in terms of business, you can deliver many lucrative strategies. You might be good at obtaining what you desire from your career.
A large number of people who are in the military services hold this number, these consist of generals, corporate executives, and commanders. You must realize that you are on your own and completely unique. The name Zara is separated from all. A one will be the starting place, the initial, and the beginning. As a one, you present extensive attention to peoples feelings. This is traditionally shown in your attitude towards your love affairs, or during a project at work. Some people's expression number that equates to one signifies that they are likely to put their individual stamp on everything they acquire. Your a born leader! Even though those with a numerology sign of one seem so self-confident, the are also vulnerable. The worst thing you can do to a one is laugh at them. People born with the name that equals one find it hard to understand one another, so a one will rarely marry another one.
In terms of employment you have fun with setting up first name new projects. The actual demeanor of the person who's numerical sign falls within the "one" signifies that you'll be from time to time egocentric as opposed to self-reliant, specifically in a person's later years. When it comes to pastimes you enjoy productive things, such as gardening. You may be significantly authentic and hold numerous capabilities, such as being understanding as well as kind hearted. You could be a creator or head of department later in your career. Whatever your occupation, you will work hard to achieve in life. The aim that you have is to be described as a "leader" in relation to everything you do. The energy of your soul can certainly be thoroughly static and can also be expressed with regards to your originality, endurance, contradictions, seriousness, and a drive for perfection.
It is important for you to be unique, in relationships you strive to maintain an unbiased attitude. Being a one signifies your like no other. You seem to be constantly required to keep to your individual thoughts and take responsibilities for your routines. You become bored of things quickly detest incredibly in depth tasks.
Occasionally you may be too dedicated and become overly aggressive to others. You do have wonderful sociable skills. The unfavorable characteristics that you hold include things like being very egocentric as well as strenuous. It is advisable to discover ways to be self reliant in your life. You might possess numerous positive qualities that others envy. Nevertheless, normally, you're deemed a decent and kind person. Most of the time, you've got a pleasant, fine natured character, coupled with having many trustworthy friends.
Falling under the number one means that you will find others fascinating. As you are incredibly sensitive to disapproval you may not take criticism very well.
When you study for something, you often gets good results. It is inside you to aim high and be first in all that you do. The numerical signs of your name nevertheless symbolizes that you will certainly target many careers. You could potentially be unsuccessful at work that needs analytic qualities or financial skills.
When people tell you what to do, this is a difficult time for you personally. If you're not in charge, you are going to grown to be very frustrated when it comes to your career, and you may want your own business - so you can be your own boss. Avoid getting too dominating as well as giving too much advice. As one happens to be a initial number, it is a number of birth, the initial start of the universe. You will have a great life and show strength of will and conviction in everything that you do. It is common that you become forgetful. Lots of people who have a number one as there expression number want to enjoy a good sense of routine. It's also possible that you will be dominated by love, or perhaps the shortage of it.
Positive traits
- Born leader
- Hard worker
- Good at studying for exams
- Sensitive
- Good with people
- Likes peace
- Quite
Negative traits
- Has a big ego
- Does not listen to others
- Always wants to be in charge
By Florance Saul
Sep 22, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


text:
An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM
Historical Materials: Vessel Types
Historical Materials » Vessel Types » Brig
You have navigated to this pages from catalog entry: New York Harbor, 1852 (inv. 345)
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (51) »
In general, brigs were small to medium size merchant vessels, generally ranging between 80 and 120 feet in hull length. Their hull forms ranged from sharp-ended (for greater speed; see Brig "Antelope" in Boston Harbor, 1863 (inv. 43)) to "kettle-bottom" (a contemporary term for full-ended with wide hull bottom for maximum cargo capacity; see Ships in Ice off Ten Pound Island, Gloucester, 1850s (inv. 44) and Boston Harbor, c.1850 (inv. 48)). The former were widely used in the packet trade (coastwise or transoceanic); the latter were bulk-carriers designed for long passages on regular routes. (1) This rig was favored by Gloucester merchants in the Surinam Trade, which led to vessels so-rigged being referred to by recent historians as Surinam brigs (see Brig "Cadet" in Gloucester Harbor, late 1840s (inv. 13) and Gloucester Harbor at Dusk, c.1852 (inv. 563)). (2)
Brigs are two-masted square-rigged vessels which fall into three categories:
Full-rigged brigs—simply called brigs—were fully square-rigged on both masts. A sub-type—called a snow—had a trysail mast on the aft side of the lower main mast, on which the spanker, with its gaff and boom, was set. (3)
Brigantines were square-rigged on the fore mast, but set only square topsails on the main mast. This type was rarely seen in America in Lane's time, but was still used for some naval vessels and European merchant vessels. The term is commonly misapplied to hermaphrodite brigs. (4)
Hermaphrodite brigs—more commonly called half-brigs by American seamen and merchants—were square-rigged only on the fore mast, the main mast being rigged with a spanker and a gaff-topsail. Staysails were often set between the fore and main masts, there being no gaff-rigged sail on the fore mast.
– Erik Ronnberg
1. Howard I. Chapelle, The National Watercraft Collection (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1960), 64–68.
2. Alfred Mansfield Brooks, Gloucester Recollected: A Familiar History (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1974), 62–74. A candid and witty view of Gloucester's Surinam Trade, which employed brigs and barks.
3. R[ichard] H[enry] Dana, Jr., The Seaman's Friend (Boston: Thomas Groom & Co., 1841. 13th ed., 1873), 100 and Plate 4 and captions; and M.H. Parry, et al., Aak to Zumbra: A Dictionary of the World's Watercraft (Newport News, VA: The Mariners' Museum, 2000), 95.
4. Parry, 95, see Definition 1.
Related tables: "Antelope" (Brig) » // "Cadet" (Brig) » // Brig (Hermaphrodite or Half) »
Oil on canvas
17 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Mass., Gift of Isabel Babson Lane, 1946 (1147.a)
Photo: Cape Ann Museum
Detail of brig "Cadet."
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (1) »
Also filed under: "Cadet" (Brig) »
Painting on board
72 x 48 in.
Collection of Erik Ronnberg
Chart showing the voyage of the brig Cadet to Surinam and return, March 10–June 11, 1840.
Also filed under: "Cadet" (Brig) » // Surinam Trade »


text:
USDA issues guidance for Storm Sandy
The USDA is issuing guidance for residents in states that have livestock and pets that might be affected by Hurricane Sandy. The USDA is offering these tips to help residents protect the health of these animals in the event of power outages, flooding and other problems that could be associated with the storm.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is issuing guidance for residents in states that have livestock and pets that might be affected by Hurricane Sandy. The USDA is offering these tips to help residents protect the health of these animals in the event of power outages, flooding and other problems that could be associated with the storm. Follow state or local officials for emergency information, such as your local Emergency Alert System television or radio stations, and fire, police and other local emergency response organizations. Livestock safety Make sure barns and structures where livestock can be sheltered are in good repair. If more space is needed for your stock, make arrangements for the use of other sheltering facilities in close proximity to your facilities. Calculate the feed and water requirements to maintain livestock and poultry during an emergency. Make preparations for protecting feed and water supplies and providing emergency electrical power if necessary. If possible, cover feed and forage stored outdoors with a tarp or plastic sheeting. Routinely cover open water supplies, such as troughs and stock tanks. Pet safety If you have not been ordered to evacuate, make sure you have enough pet food and water on hand to feed your pets during an emergency. If you have been ordered to evacuate by state or local authorities, take your pets with you when you go. If you need assistance, such as persons relying on public transportation or with medical special needs, contact your emergency management agency for instructions. To keep your pets safe during the evacuation, secure them with a collar/harness and leash, or in a pet carrier, to safely transport them. For everyone's safety, you may also wish to bring a muzzle if your pet doesn't react well in stressful situations. An emergency pet shelter might be available near the human emergency shelter. Check with your local emergency management agency to find the nearest emergency pet shelter to you. Do not stay behind with your pet if state or local officials order you to evacuate. If a pet shelter is located near a human shelter, pet owners could be allowed to visit and care for their pets during designated times. At nearby shelters, pet owners may be allowed to care for and walk their pets during designated times. Pet owners should be prepared to provide the following information to pet shelter workers if possible: name; species and breed; sex; color; distinctive markings; age; microchip identification number; vaccination records; health conditions and required medication. More details for pet preparedness is available at www.ready.gov/caring-animals. More details on disaster preparedness is available at www.avma.org/disaster. Additional information and updates about USDA's hurricane relief efforts are posted at www.usda.gov/disaster. And information about the U.S. government's response efforts is available at www.ready.gov. |
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like


text:
The Council
The Council consists of 20 national and regional organisations that bring together directors of social services. They are 'voting' members and they elect the Board of Trustees. The Council is responsible for ESN's overall strategic direction and the approval of the annual accounts. The Council meets twice a year.
The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees are legally responsible for the governance of ESN. They are responsible for overseeing the management, financing and work of the network and the interest of its members.
The Board nominates Chair, Vice Chair, Honorary Treasurer and Legal and Policy Secretary. They may also allocate other responsibilities as needed.
The Trustees meet at least four times a year and are in regular communication throughout the year. Trustees do not receive payment for their work on behalf of ESN.
Meet the current Board here.
The Members
ESN members are at the core of ESN's work. Members participate in ESN's annual conference, seminars, working groups, training programmes, country visits and other projects. Members are encouraged to contribute to discussions, research or collaboration programmes with other member organisations or European stakeholders, to use the network to make new contacts and contribute good practice exchange, online or at various events.
Members meet regularly at our policy meetings; for example, through our policy working groups and once a year at the annual members meeting during the European Social Services Conference. Members also meet every four years to prepare the four-year strategy of the Network. ESN has now 153 member organisations in 34 countries.
For further information about how we work with our members consult our annual review of activities.
The Secretariat
The Secretariat provides strategic, policy, communications, financial and administrative support to the Network of Members. It also manages the Network's relationships with partners, including the European Commission, national governments, and private partners. Meet the Secretariat.


text:
Reviewing the Murder of Susie Casey: Some Observations on Violence Against Women
Neil Websdale addresses the complexities of the life and murder of Susie Casey, a Montana woman who disappeared on April 12, 2008 from Glendive, Montana, only to be found dead three weeks later. The long search for and prosecution of her killer raised many issues that the anti-domestic violence movement confronts in its day-to-day work. The case challenges many of our assumptions about "battered women," who they are, their agency, their resistive maneuverability, and the social structural and biographical pressures they negotiate. It also raises painful questions about what needs to happen for the anti-violence against women movement to progress. His presentation draws upon detailed archival data from police reports, numerous field interviews, court documents, investigative photography, and other sources contributed by Susie's family.


text:
Hi, everyone! We've released Chrome Beta 87 (87.0.4280.13) for iOS: it'll become available on App Store in next few days.
You can see a partial list of the changes in the Git log. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.
Bindu Suvarna
Google Chrome


text:
The Year of Emotive Customer Experience
Business has always been an exchange — people helping people get what they want. But these days, companies seem more focused on outrunning and disrupting each other. The only problem with chasing the next big thing is that you risk losing sight of the first one: your customers.
At NewVoiceMedia, we believe that, in today's Age of the Customer, personal, emotional customer interactions play a critical role in bridging the gap for what disruption and digital innovation alone cannot solve. In fact, Forrester's most recent CX Index survey revealed that emotional experience makes up half of the "CX equation" — far outweighing the variables of efficiency and effectiveness (Can the customer achieve their goal? How easy is it?). A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable on a lifetime basis as highly satisfied customers because they are more likely to repurchase goods and services and recommend the business to others. That research also highlighted key emotional motivators for customers, including the desire to feel a sense of belonging ("that brand really 'gets me'"), and to be thrilled by the shopping experience.
When It comes to creating these types of peak customer experiences, there are no substitutes for people-to-people interactions. We need to move away from tactical interactions, focus on having more human conversations, and find ways of adding value to those conversations. That means front-line contact center teams are the difference-makers on the battlefield to win the hearts and minds of customers. For brands to compete – and win – in CX in 2018 and beyond, inside sales reps must focus on making strong emotional connections with prospects, and they must understand and document the emotions that are likely to drive the prospect to purchase. Service leaders must ensure their teams optimize processes and communication in ways that create positive emotional experiences for customers. However, many businesses struggle with how to operationalize these emotive aspects of sales and service.
That's where we come in. At NewVoiceMedia, we are passionate about providing solutions that bridge distances, devices and departments, bringing the most vital business exchange of all – the conversation – back to the heart of what you do. We help you drive well-orchestrated conversational experiences across all your customer touchpoints, help you stay close to the people you serve, make sure you hear them clearly, and that they always feel heard.
By partnering closely with Salesforce, NVM is helping businesses enable more emotionally satisfying customer experiences by:
Building a personal connection
According to Forrester, while self-service technologies now enable consumers to handle many routine tasks easily, across many devices and channels, there is a sense that "we've cut the soul out of customer interactions by removing the person-to-person connection."
Organizations that are deploying self-service solutions via websites, IVRs and mobile apps should ensure that there is always an option to reach a live agent if the customer becomes frustrated or confused. NVM's ACD/IVR and intelligent call routing allow a caller to be easily routed to an agent with the skills to help them. Our deep integration with Salesforce then gives agents immediate access to important information about the caller, including which products they own, open cases, caller status (VIP) and sentiment, allowing them to personalize the interaction, resolve the caller's problem and leave them with a positive emotional experience.
Understanding the customer's (emotional) journey
Understanding your brand's emotional customer journey is key to establishing more emotive customer interactions. NVM's Conversation Analyzer is a speech analytics solution that enables businesses hone in on potential frustrations across their customer journey and focus on maximizing the moments that truly impact customer experience. Conversation Analyzer turns thousands of hours' worth of contact center calls into structured data that can be mined for a better understanding of customer experience and agent performance. Sales and service managers can automatically review hundreds or thousands of calls for things like quality and compliance. They can also review the quality of the human interaction by evaluating things like the amount of time an agent spends talking versus listening to the callers. Doing these things manually can be complicated and time consuming ultimately proving to be a barrier to the organization's ability to implement a CX program.
Removing the obstacles that create negative experiences
Once an organization has been able to understand the customer journey and uncover the obstacles that confuse and frustrate customers and prospects, the next step is to use that information to make improvements. Forrester's research points out some rules of human emotion that can help guide you in these efforts. Remember the Peak-end Rule, which states that one's memory of a past experience (pleasant or unpleasant) does not correspond to an average level of positive or negative feelings but to the most intense moment and the end of the episode. Also, keep in mind that negative experiences hurt more than positive ones help; and emotions change experiences as they happen.
Conversation Analyzer and our call recording technology enable managers to use these principles to coach agents by showing examples of calls that were handled well and those that could use improvement. Sales and service teams can use these insights to improve their processes and agent communication skills to help customers solve problems more efficiently and ensure that they feel good at the end of each conversation.
Motivate, our gamification software, builds onto that by enabling managers to offer rewards and incentives for agents who implement best practices and ultimately replicate the behavior of top performers. Motivate also encourages a sense of friendly competition that helps to motivate staff. Ultimately, it helps organizations build an army of top performers who are all following a set of business processes that have been optimized to ensure prospects and customers get the support they need and feel positively about the experience. Contact Accelerator also helps sales teams follow best practices. Outbound calls are automatically rescheduled in the NewVoiceMedia dialer at the optimum frequency with automatic geographic number presentation, significantly increasing the chances of a successful connection and conversation.
Another way we help ensure successful conversations is through Global Voice Assurance, our industry-leading global call routing architecture, which has dramatically raised the bar on call quality for sales and service teams. It provides businesses with the ability to manage resources across the globe as a single entity, reducing customer wait times while ensuring effortless, crystal clear conversations and service availability for calls in remote regions.
These are just some of the ways NVM makes connecting with customers as clear, smart and simple as it should be. Having these tools and built-in best practices in place allows you to focus on helping your customers get what they want -- which is why you got into business in the first place. Let this be the year of emotive customer experience, and let NewVoiceMedia be your partner in making every conversation great.
Watch this to learn more about NVM is helping sales teams create more emotive interactions.
How to make every service conversation great from NewVoiceMedia on Vimeo.


text:
[Full disclosure: Workday is a client as are several of her competitors. Also, where I've noted below that something is free, a more precise description (with thanks to Dennis Howlett for suggesting this clarification) would be "included at no additional cost" if you've subscribed HCM.]
It seems like only yesterday that I was writing (we were all writing) about Workday 10. But two years have passed, and those folks have been hard at it, with three major releases each year.
I for one am impressed with Workday's ability to keep up the pace, keep to their long lead time schedules, and have the confidence to schedule an analyst briefing months in advance for a date that's right in the middle of each new release. If that's not an act of faith in their ability to deliver what they promised and when they promised it to their customers, I don't know what is.
Others have written or will soon write about the new functionality, major developments in mobile, graphically stunning analytics which are embedded at the "point of sale" to improve decision-making, and so much more in this very big (but then they always are) release. But I'd like to highlight some things that struck me which may not be covered as much elsewhere.
First, their new onboarding capabilities, which are the kind of functionality that HR leaders ask for, may look on the surface like just a good example of the same. But it's free!* And it can be used not only for employees but also for contingent workers. And it's built in such a way — and this is the power of objects in action — that it lays the groundwork for further releases that will address the analogous processes for internal mobility and offboarding. When you combine the onboarding process with Workday's ability to interact in real-time via its APIs with others systems, you have the foundations for not only the classic elements of onboarding but also the full-scale provisioning and re-provisioning that's a huge part of keeping knowledge workers working productively.
Second, there are lots of enhancements across talent management in this release, and not enough time on the analyst briefing to cover them. But I found it interesting that we saw, through the mobile capabilities, examples of both gamification and feedback-related activity streams, and no one ever mentioned the word social — or at least I didn't hear it. If you own their HCM product, you get all the related mobile capabilities and each release's substantial functional core HR and talent management enhancements for free. And your SLA isn't awash in SKUs that make you feel like you're being sliced and diced when that technique is better applied to "big data."
Third, Workday has enabled, via crowdsourcing across their customers (each of which is a tenant in a multi-tenant instance of Workday), those same customers to contribute effective-dated configurations (e.g. reports, business rules, calculations, whatever), all of which are expressed as metadata in Workday, to the metadata collection which can then be inherited at will by those same customers. See a report you like which was developed by another customer? Inherit that metadata setup, and it's yours. Someone else does an interesting and useful overtime rule and chooses to contribute it for the common good? Every other customer has the opportunity to use it. Crowdsourcing and inheritance are just two of the important business benefits of true multi-tenant SaaS, and this particular use of them is a great example of how a high value (to customers) capability can be delivered at very low cost (to the vendor) because of the underlying architecture. And it's all free. Can you even imagine the difficulty and cost to everyone of doing something like this with contributed (for what release/DBMS/etc.? where would you send it? it's not inherently effective-dated? who would ensure that it wouldn't blow up something else?) PeopleCode?
Fourth, Workday's payroll benchmarks were certainly mentioned in other coverage, but there hasn't been much discussion of their calc engine and it's grid computing approach to handling large payrolls in-memory at a quite decent speed. The benchmark mentioned was a 100,000 person payroll in roughly three hours, but we'd clearly have to dig into the ifs, ands or buts to know what payroll complexity was involved as well as to understand the exact architectural and operational setups. But what's of greater interest to me is that this was achieved not with some souped up classic payroll application but with a true calc engine that's operating on effective-dated metadata for all of its business rules in the same way that a true workflow engine does. Such an engine doesn't know if it's processing a US or Bulgarian payroll; it's all about the metadata. And for all it knows, it could be doing leave accruals or even non-discrimination testing calculations for the relevant comp or benefit plans. Having designed and programmed payroll applications at the beginning of my career, and had my nose into many more over the years, I'm a sucker for metadata-driven calc engines.
Well, that's what I made notes on during the briefing. Here's what some others have had to say about this release:
Dennis Howlett http://www.zdnet.com/blog/howlett/workday-16-delivers-significant-mobile-updates/4062
Doug Henschen http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/232900557
Chris Kanaracus http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/254081/workday_update_pushes_it_deeper_into_oracle_saps_turf.html
Larry Dignan http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/workday-steps-up-its-mobile-game-bets-on-html5/74623
Seth Fineberg http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/Workday-Enhancements-HTML5-62397-1.html


text:
From $10.00 – Chicas Loca Discount (Save 70%)
Regularly priced at $32.95/month, our Chicas Loca discount saves you 70% off the normal price with this deal. If you purchase a 1 month membership you pay just $14.95 which is a savings of 55%. For an even better deal, buy a 12 month membership plan for just $119.95 upfront. At this reduced price you save 70% and pay an average fee of only $10.00/month.
Buy Now


text:
We use cookies (including third-party cookies) to remember your site preferences, to help us understand how visitors use our sites and to make any adverts we show on 3rd party sites more relevant. To learn more, please see our privacy policy and our cookie policy.
To agree to our use of cookies, click 'Accept' or choose 'Options' to set your preferences by cookie type.
Steffen Grosshauser is Senior Operations Executive and Head of German-speaking Market at BullionVault, the worldwide biggest physical gold and silver market for private investors.
Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.
BullionVault Ltd © 2024
We use cookies to remember your site preferences, record your referrer, improve the performance of our site and to make any adverts we show on 3rd party sites more relevant. For more information, see our cookie policy.
Please select an option below and 'Save' your preferences.
You can update your cookie preferences at any time from the 'Cookies' link in the footer.
You have not been active for some time.
For your security you will be logged out in minutes unless you take action.


text:
The flower book
The flower book
A stunning tulip arrangement in a flowers book vase features vibrant hues, with 10 tulips elegantly arranged to create a harmonious display. The book vase adds a touch of literary charm, making it a unique and eye-catching floral centerpiece.
Delivery Policy
Delivery Policy
Ordering During Holidays
Our store and delivery hours may vary for major holidays. To help ensure on-time delivery during the busy holiday season, place your order at least one day prior to the following holidays:
Valentine's Day
Mother's Day
Father's Day
Labor Day
Rosh Hashanah
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
During these times, items will be left at the door, if no one is home. Please call the recipient to make sure they have received their arrangement. Notify the shop if not received.
Same Day Delivery: If you order before 2:00 pm in the recipient's time zone, we can typically deliver the flowers the same day Monday through Friday. For same day service on the weekend please order by 12:00 pm on Saturday.
Specific Times: We are unable to guarantee delivery at a specific time, but we are normally able to deliver within four hours on orders. You may request a time frame in the special instruction box when ordering, and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
Delivery Times: Normal delivery times are 9am-5pm daily for orders going to a business, 6pm for orders to a residence, hotel, or hospital, and 2pm for orders going to a high school. During major holidays such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day we operate extended hours and delivery times are 8am-8pm.
High Schools: High schools do not accept deliveries for students. Please send teacher's gifts to the high school and any student orders to their residence. Orders to high schools should be placed early because they usually must be received by 2pm.
Weekend Delivery Policy: If we are unable to arrange for delivery on Sunday and time permits we will set up for delivery on Saturday, including Birthday and Anniversaries. If Saturday or Sunday is not available, then the order will be scheduled for Monday and we will inform you of the rescheduling (you will be contacted first before rescheduling a Birthday or Anniversary gift for Monday).
P.O. Boxes: We are unable to deliver flowers to a P.O. Box or an A.P.O. addresses.
If No One is Home: Depending on the delivery location, if the recipient is not available at the time of delivery, the delivery person may leave the gift in a safe place for the recipient to retrieve when they return, such as with a neighbor, or leave a message for the recipient to call to arrange for delivery.
Incorrect Addresses: If the recipient's address is incorrect and delivery was attempted to the address, there is a $10 address correction fee. Shanka Flowers is not responsible for deliveries made to incorrect addresses submitted to us by the customer. If such a delivery is made, the customer assumes responsibility for the entire purchase.
Canceling or changing an Order: Same-day orders are processed immediately, and usually cannot be changed. Due to the urgent nature of florist delivered products we are unable to cancel or change orders already in process at the florist, en route or delivered. To cancel or change an order that has not been processed, please call (786) 695-2000.
Recipient May be Contacted: In some cases, the florist may contact the recipient to ensure s/he will be home to accept the delivery.
Request to Leave Item at Door: The customer assumes all liability for requests to leave arrangements. We highly discourage special instructions requesting delivery to a doorstep, porch, yard or any location where the recipient cannot accept the arrangement themselves. Shanka Flowers cannot be held responsible for missing or faulty products due to this special request.
Recipient Refusal of Delivery: If the recipient refuses to accept a delivery, you may be held fully liable for the cost of the gift.
Card Messages: The message that you write in the Card Message field is the message that is sent with the gift. We do not include any billing information with your order.
Substituition Policy
Substituition Policy
Fresh Flowers: At Shanka Flowers we are committed to delivering your important emotional sentiments on time and as fresh and beautiful as possible. Because of the nature, seasonality, and regional availability of flowers it is sometimes necessary to make substitutions of equal or greater value. We will make every effort to maintain the "look and feel" of the arrangement by considering the overall shape, size, style, and color combinations. In single-variety arrangements the variety will take precedence over color. For instance, if an order is for yellow daisies, they will substitute another color of daisies, not another yellow flower. White roses and cream roses may be substituted for each other as well as peach roses and pink roses. Purple and pink orchids may need to be substituted for white orchids and vice versa.
Balloons: Some hospitals do not allow latex balloons with an arrangement. Mylar balloons may need to be substituted for latex balloons on some orders.
Gift Baskets: Substitutions within a basket may be made with items of greater or equal value if necessary to guarantee freshness and timely delivery.
Substitutions for Special Occasions: Due to the importance of delivering orders for special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries, on specific days, we may make a substitution of equal or greater value to ensure timely delivery, if the flowers you requested are not available, and we are not able to contact you via the phone number(s) or email address you provided us.
Prices shown below product images do not include our shipping fees. Many products are available in Regular, Deluxe, and Premium sizes that you can upgrade to.
Pricing for Holidays
Some items increase in price around major holidays. If the price increases for the holiday you will notice the change when you choose a date that is near a major flower holiday. If the price does not go up then the item does not increase in price for the holidays. Prices normally only increase from Feb 3rd until a few days after Valentine's Day.
All Prices Are Listed in USD($) Dollars on Shanka Flowers. So regardless of where you are located or where you are sending your gift, you will only be billed in U.S. Dollars. Additionally, in the chance that you are issued any sort of refund, you will only be refunded in U.S. dollars. We are not responsible for exchange rate fluctuation.
Cancelation Policy
Cancelation Policy
Shanka Flowers will be happy to assist you with a request to cancel your order. Unfortunately, if the order has already shipped or is en route for delivery, we cannot accommodate the cancellation request.
To expedite your request, please call 786-695-2000 to speak with a floral specialist who will be happy to assist you.
Please have your order number available when speaking with a member of our team. The order number can be found on your email receipt (if applicable) or would have been provided by the floral specialist when placing your order by phone.
You can also email us at email@example.com. Please include your order number in your email.
Founded in 2020, Shanka Flowers was created with love and passion. What started off as a hobby has grown into a business dedicated to spreading love and happiness. At Shanka Flowers we use our creativity and artistic skills to design flawless arrangements. Our wide range of arrangements are carefully handcrafted to fulfill every customer's flower dreams. From birthdays, anniversaries, to weddings, Shanka Flowers is there to help celebrate every occasion. Our arrangements are customizable to meet your desired gift. From our hands to your heart, we want to make sure our flowers put a smile on everyone's face. Shanka Flowers is committed to making your floral experience a lovely one, which is why we offer same day delivery at your convenience. We proudly serve Miami Dade County and Broward. Shanka Flowers is here to deliver your loved ones beautiful arrangements that celebrate the most special moments.
Subscribe to our emails
Join our email list for exclusive offers and the latest news.


text:
Arnal Dayaratna, Ph.D., Cloud Computing Today
May 13, 2014
Today, Concurrent announces the release of Cascading 3.0, the latest version of the popular open source framework for developing and managing Big Data applications. Widely recognized as the de facto framework for the development of Big Data applications on platforms such as Apache Hadoop, Cascading simplifies application development by means of an abstraction framework that facilitates the execution and orchestration of jobs and processes. Compatible with all major Hadoop distributions, Cascading sits squarely at the heart of the Big Data revolution by streamlining the operationalization of Big Data applications in conjunction with Driven, a commercial product from Concurrent that provides visibility regarding application performance within a Hadoop cluster.
Today's announcement extends Cascading to platforms and computational frameworks such as local in-memory, Apache MapReduce and Apache Tez. Going forward, Concurrent plans for Cascading 3.0 to ship with support for Apache Spark, Apache Storm and other computational frameworks by means of its customizable query planner, which allows customers to extend the operation of Cascading to compatible computational fabrics as illustrated below:
The breakthrough represented by today's announcement is that it renders Cascading extensible to a variety of computational frameworks and data fabrics and thereby expands the range of use cases and environments in which Cascading can be optimally used. Moreover, the customizable query planner featured in today's release allows customers to configure their Cascading deployment to operate in conjunction with emerging technologies and data fabrics that can now be integrated into a Cascading deployment by means of the functionality represented in Cascading 3.0.
Used by companies such as Twitter, eBay, FourSquare, Etsy and The Climate Corporation, Cascading boasts over 150,000 applications a month, more than 7,000 deployments and 10% month over month growth in downloads. The release of Cascading 3.0 builds on Concurrent's recent partnership with Hortonworks whereby Cascading will be integrated into the Hortonworks Data Platform and Hortonworks will certify and support the delivery of Cascading in conjunction with its Hadoop distribution. Concurrent also recently revealed details of a strategic partnership with Databricks, the principal steward behind the Apache Spark project, that allows it to "operate over Spark…[the] next generation Big Data processing engine that supports batch, interactive and streaming workloads at scale." In an interview with Cloud Computing Today, Concurrent CEO Gary Nakamura confirmed that Concurrent plans to negotiate partnerships analogous to the agreement with Hortonworks with other Hadoop distribution vendors in order to ensure that Cascading consolidates its positioning as the framework of choice for the development of Big Data applications. Overall, the release of Cascading 3.0 represents a critical product enhancement that positions Cascading to operate over a broader pasture of computational frameworks and consequently assert its relevance for Big Data application development in a variety of data and computational frameworks. More importantly, however, the product enhancement in Cascading 3.0, in conjunction with the partnership with Databricks regarding Apache Spark, suggests that Cascading is well on its way to becoming the universal framework of choice for developing and managing applications in a Big Data environment, particularly given its compatibility with a wide range of Hadoop distributions and data and computational frameworks.


text:
Carrier Merchandising and Sustainability Concepts on Display at EuroShop 2014
COLOGNE, Germany -
Carrier's broad range of sustainable refrigeration products and services will be displayed in an environment designed to replicate an authentic retail experience at EuroShop 2014, held tri-annually in Dusseldorf, Germany. Carrier, the world's leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
Carrier's 1,850-square-meter stand (Hall 16, Booth No. A04/B04) will showcase the latest economical, reliable and sustainable refrigeration solutions to preserve freshness, ensure food safety and enhance the appearance of food retail.
"The ultimate purpose of our refrigeration solutions, beyond keeping food fresh in a sustainable way, is to enable customized, effective merchandising opportunities for our customers," said David Appel, president, Carrier Transicold & Refrigeration Systems. "That's why our focus for EuroShop is to show our products in a familiar setting, where our customers can easily see and relate to the benefits of our solutions."
The display will feature a selection of products and solutions from the wider United Technologies Corp. portfolio, including fire and safety equipment, people-moving products from Otis Elevator Company and transport refrigeration solutions from Carrier Transicold.
"Sustainability is a mainstream issue in retail, but significant savings remain untapped as refrigeration tends to be looked at in isolation," said Thierry Jomard, president, Carrier Commercial Refrigeration, Europe. "Visitors to our booth will be able to see the benefits of our more holistic approach, which takes advantage of the significant energy savings potential in the integration of building technology."
Carrier will make a series of significant announcements at EuroShop, including:
Small-store concept – Carrier is addressing the increasing investments of key account customers in small-stores (less than 400 square meters) by launching a modular range of slim cabinets for optimized merchandising. The range covers chiller and freezer applications, which feature harmonized aesthetics and flexible configurations for space or building restrictions.
The new E6 Monaxis® – Carrier will unveil a complete series of remote multidecks covering all meat and dairy options, both in open (Monaxis) and glass door (MonaxEco®) versions. The modern design enables ideal product display for merchandising, delivering a high utilization of floor space, as well as optimized temperature and energy performance.
CO2OLtec® Integral range – Carrier's latest addition to its CO2OLtec Integral range uses the natural refrigerant CO2 to provide a fully integrated approach for refrigeration, space heating and cooling, and ventilation. It achieves up to 30 percent savings on energy costs and a 50 percent reduction in the system's carbon footprint, in comparison with a conventional R404A refrigeration and gas heating system. In addition to the CO2OLtec Integral range, new concepts supporting the value-driven move toward natural refrigerants for small-store and hard-discount formats will be showcased.
To learn more about Carrier, visit www.carrier.com. For an overview of the company's commitment to sustainability, visit www.NaturalLeader.com.
About Carrier
Carrier is the world's leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. Carrier experts provide sustainable solutions, integrating energy efficient products, building controls, and energy services for residential, commercial, retail, transport and food service customers. Founded by the inventor of modern air conditioning, Carrier improves the world around us through engineered innovation and environmental stewardship. Carrier is part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. Visit www.carrier.com for more information or follow the company on Twitter: @CarrierGreen.


text:
September 13 through October 10, 2012
More than 60 visitors attended the opening in Antwerp of the exhibition "Religious Tolerance: Islam in the Sultanate of Oman."
The exhibition was presented in Dutch, the preferred language in the city of Antwerp. It was hosted by the Antwerp faculty of the Department of Comparative Religion, of Free University of Brussels. The faculty maintains a worldwide network for religious dialogue and religious studies.
Opening the exhibition was one of the mayors of the city of Antwerp, who reported that the city of Antwerp's economic success is only because it is has been open to the world since ancient times. The population is multilingual, accepting of different religions and accustomed to dealing with people from many cultures.
Mohammed Al-Mamari, Advisor to the Minister of Religious Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman described the parallels between Belgium and Oman, for example that for many centuries the religiously persecuted of other countries were accepted and assimilated. This is a principle of and basis for religious tolerance.
Religious tolerance and diversity of religions is a major issue both in Antwerp and throughout Belgium. Accordingly, representatives of more than ten religious communities in Antwerp attended the opening including the Catholic Church, which represents the majority of the population in Belgium; Coptic Christians; Jewish rabbis; and representatives of Islamic communities in Antwerp. Representatives of the Catholic Church and of the Ministry of State also spoke at the opening, and the exhibition was even acknowledged by the European Commission, and reviewed by its representatives.
The exhibition in Antwerp was a welcome addition to the development of an interfaith network for religious tolerance, in which the Sultanate of Oman is contributing as one of the Islamic countries.


text:
March shatters monthly sales and new listings records in the Fraser Valley
Fraser Valley real estate hit two historical highs in March, setting records for both sales and new listings processed in one month since the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's (FVREB) inception in 1921.
In March, the FVREB processed 3,329 residential and commercial sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), an increase of 131 per cent compared to March 2020 and 18 per cent more than were processed in February. The previous record of 3,006 sales was set in March of 2016.
Larry Anderson, President of the Board, said of this month's statistics, "This market is uncharted territory for Fraser Valley real estate. The surprising strength of the economy, the influence of the pandemic and a lack of inventory of all property types has created unprecedented demand for housing in our region.
"It is very stressful for buyers. REALTORS® are working hard to guide them through what has become a protracted, powerful seller's market. As we continue to help our clients grapple with escalating prices and multiple offers, March did bring some good news. It set a record for volume of new listings received improving selection," said Anderson.
The Board received 5,087 new listings in March, an increase of 91 per cent compared to March of last year, and 56 per cent more than were processed in February. The previous high for new listings was 4,458 in April 2008. Total active inventory for March was 5,012, a decrease of 18 per cent compared to last year's 6,083 active listings, however 22 per cent higher than February 2021.
Baldev Gill, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, added, "The impact of the pandemic on the market cannot be overstated and as we know from the province's latest announcement, we are in a precarious situation currently. Since the end of the first lockdown in 2020, the real estate profession has led the way on protecting its members and the public.
"Realtors take this extra duty to protect their clients during private, in-person showings very seriously and will continue to remain vigilant until vaccines are rolled out to the greater population," added Gill.
Across Fraser Valley, in March, the average number of days to sell a single-family detached home was 15 and a townhome was 14 days. Apartments took, on average, 31 days to sell.
MLS® HPI Benchmark Price Activity
- Single Family Detached: At $1,237,900, the Benchmark price for an FVREB single-family detached home increased 6.4 per cent compared to February 2021 and increased 25.3 per cent compared to March 2020.
- Townhomes: At $624,500, the Benchmark price for an FVREB townhome increased 4.0 per cent compared to February 2021 and increased 13.7 per cent compared to March 2020.
- Apartments: At $465,400, the Benchmark price for an FVREB apartment/condo increased 3.2 per cent compared to February 2021 and increased 6.5 per cent compared to March 2020.
Find the March Statistics Package here. Find the stats emailer here. Further graphs, reports, and analysis can be found on REALTOR® Link.
If you'd like to make custom graphs and organized data for your clients, don't forget to check out the Stats Centre!
Source: FVREB Communications


text:
Enter a City To Find a Hostel In Spain:
Bull fighting in Spain
Bull fighting is very closely associated with Spain and can trace its origins back to 711 A.D. This is when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It is very popular in Spain with several thousand Spaniards flocking to their local bull-ring each week. It is said that the total number of people watching bullfights in Spain reaches one million every year.
Bullfighting was originally a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback. King Felipe V took exception to the sport however and banned the aristocracy from taking part, believing it to be a bad example to the public. After the ban commoners accepted the sport as their own and, since they could not afford horses, developed the practice of dodging the bulls on foot, unarmed. This transformation occurred around 1724.
So what happens during a bullfight?: Firstly the bull is let into the ring. Then, the top bullfighter called the Matador, watches his chief assistant wave a bright yellow and magenta cape in front of the bull to make it charge. He watches this in order to determine the bull's qualities and mood, before taking over himself.
Then a trumpet is sounded and several fighters called Picadores weaken the bull by placing spears into it. This takes around 10 minutes.
Another trumpet is sounded and the Matador now removes his black winged hat and dedicates the death of the bull to the president or the crowd before beginning his faena.
The faena which is the most beautiful and skillful section of the fight and where the matador must prove his courage and artistry. The faena consists of a running at the Matador carrying a muleta. This is a piece of thick crimson cloth draped over a short stick, which can be held in either the left hand or draped over the espada, the killing sword, which is always held in the right hand. Usually the muleta, in left or right hand, is first held in front of the matador to make the bull charge and is then swung across and away from the matador's body hopefully taking the bull with it.
This is a show, basically a dance with death - one wrong move and the Matador could become impaled on the horns of the bull. It is the Matador's job to make this dance dramatic and enjoyable for the audience.
The faena continues until the Matador has demonstrated his superiority over the bull. Once this is achieved the bull is ready to be killed.
The matador stands some ten feet from the bull, keeping the bull fixated on the muleta and aims the espada between the shoulder blades. The matador attacks pushing the espada over the horns and deep between the shoulder blades. If the sword goes in to the hilt it is an estocada but if it hits bone it is a pinchazo or media-estocada. An estocada usually results in the bull dropping immediately to its knees and dying, but if the bull fails to die the matador may take the descabello (a sword with a short cross piece at the end) which he stabs into the bull's neck severing the spinal cord. The fight is over.
The matador may be awarded trophies by the president, according to his skill in working with the bull, which can be one or two ears from the bull, the tail and the hoof. The crowd will often encourage the president to award the trophies by waving white hankerchiefs, and this waving continues after the trophies have been awarded in an attempt to get the matador to throw his trophies into the crowd. The crowd in return hurls flowers which are collected by the matador's assistants.
Bull Fighting Books
Copyright 1999 - 2003 Spain-Info.com All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Statement


text:
Yep, I am *that* sad. Well, last year on July 7, I stuck a reminder in my phone that today I'd look back at what I was doing this time last year and see where I was.
I'd moved to Spain.
As opportunities go, the chance to move to a different country to work on what was promised to be an exciting project to add to my CV was a tempting one. Despite having spent the previous few months making new friends and getting back into the groove of living in Dublin having spent so long away, I was once again faced with the choice of go and give it a shot or stay and regret not going. I think I made the right choice.
The south of Spain in the summer sunshine is quite a stunning place. I'd moved to the tiny village of Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro, a short trip from Estepona, a few kilometers away from Gibraltar
and a short walk from the top-class resort of Sotogrande, home to millionaires, golfing enthusiasts, yachters and this view, one of my favourites.
It was to be a massive learning curve for me. I'd moved over alone with little idea of the locals, the language or the way of life. "I'll be grand when I get there" was my thought before going. "Sure it's Europe. They'll speak the language. Plus I'll be in an English speaking part". I'd been spoiled by having interviews in English, in flying to Gibraltar (little England in the sun) and by romantic notions that it was going to be easy.
I'd been apprehensive, yes. The night before I left, at his birthday last year, Darren had asked me "Are you sure you want to go?" and it wasn't until the plane touched down in Gibraltar on the afternoon of August 5 that I realised that I had to do this.
I was collected by the company driver to bring me to my new accommodation, a two bed apartment where I could stay rent free for the duration of my probationary period. Was I lucky? I felt blessed.
I soon became used to views of narrow streets, of vibrant flower colours and smells and to the sound of Spain - the second loudest country in the world, apparently. I also fell in love. With a rock. Gibraltar, with its views of Africa, its windy, tourist filled streets and most importantly its English bookstores became a regular destination for me, as I explored the rock, met its inhabitants and sat at pubs in the sunshine thinking how lucky I actually was.
In many ways it was a step into a different life. Things moved at a different pace, to a different beat. The sunshine ruled supreme. We went to a Bootleg Beatles concert where the announcement:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the management have informed us that many of you are using digital cameras and camcroders to record tonight's show without permission. We have to ask you to stop as it's the 1960s tonight and your devices haven't been invented yet".Funny, but also appropriate in many ways. I didn't have internet access (which for a web
Mañana, mañana was the reason, the excuse and the driving force behind everything. If it didn't happen today, so what? The sun is shining, the water's great. Come on down to the beach. Watch the waves. Relax a little.
So that's what I did. One of my fondest memories is the lunchtime Elizabeth and I went for a walk on the beach, just to get our feet wet. Which sounds like a great idea. And was. because playing in the waves at lunchtime is always fun.
Sitting here this morning in D15 and looking out at the waves of traffic heading to the M50, hearing the sounds of this part of Dublin preparing for another day, I can't help but smile. It's been a good year. I'll do the same next September 9.
Where I'll be, what I'll be doing, whether I'll be in front of a keyboard or transmitting this directly to the interweb using the latest in mind-to-web technology, who knows? All I know is that I'll be doing my very best to enjoy it.
Where were you last year?


text:
Our plans are packed with features, included as standard across our entire Cloud Server range.
Virtual Private Cloud to provide a secure, isolated network
100% SSD storage for optimum server performance
Full-disk backup to keep your data safe & secure
External firewall to protect your server
Integrated resource graphs make management a breeze
Performance alerts inform you if your server needs resources
Then speak to this guy, he brings his own cables to work.
Get more from your server


text:
Translation: Popularity in the abstract differs from that in application. Gallup notices a significant decline in Hillary Clinton's favorability, which has dropped from 66% to just above majority level at 54%. Most of that decline has taken place over the past year, and almost half of it since January:
Hillary Clinton's favorability rating has dropped slightly, although a majority of Americans continue to view her in a positive light. As Clinton publicizes her new memoir, "Hard Choices," 54% of Americans view her favorably. This is down from 59% in February, and significantly less than the ratings she received as secretary of state, which were consistently above 60%.
The latest findings come from a Gallup poll conducted June 5-8. Though Clinton has said she will not announce whether she'll run for president until at least later this year, her latest book has been widely framed as a preamble to another presidential bid and a move typical of White House hopefuls. Clinton already has the support of many elected officials and Democratic Party representatives if she chooses to run. Americans have named her their Most Admired Woman 18 times.
Clinton's current favorability rating is the lowest it has been since August 2008 (54%), when she was preparing to deliver a speech at the Democratic National Convention endorsing then-Sen. Barack Obama, who defeated her in a hard-fought primary battle for the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
There's nothing slight about a 12-point drop in favorability, and no coincidence about its relation to her 2008 standing. As Hillary moves farther away from her tenure at State and closer to the presidential campaign for which she's obviously preparing, Americans have to take a closer look at Hillary rather than give a charitable and fuzzy theoretical evaluation. The same dynamic took place between 2006 and 2008, when she went from a theoretical candidate to an actual candidate, and the Clinton team learned the hard way about the difference between the two.
They're learning that lesson this week, too. Hillary had more than a year to prepare for her big reboot as a national figure through the release of her campaign memoir Hard Choices, and yet she looks more and more like a rookie, drifting into terrible sound bites and reminding everyone why she lost the last time she was considered "inevitable." In my column for The Week, I ask whether Democrats are looking at this week and starting to look for a Plan B:
The launch of a political memoir gives a prospective candidate enormous advantages, especially someone with a long public track record like Clinton's. Even on controversial issues, the long format allows an author to craft a narrative that will later serve as the basis of debate, especially in media interviews. The strategy is called "shaping the battlefield," and it helps not only to set the narrative context of questions that come ("On page 225, you write that…"), but also prepares the candidate to handle the topics with at least some easily recalled talking points.
In addition, the book itself stokes interest in the coming campaign, particularly in the case of Hillary Clinton. Any memoir by a retiring or retired Cabinet member that gets published during the tenure of the president she served will grab headlines and attention anyway, and the political tension between Barack Obama and Clinton's ambitions make it even more attractive. It doesn't matter that the book Hard Choices has largely been panned as dull and unrevealing, because its ultimate purpose is to generate interest in and leverage for Hillary Clinton.
At first, it seemed to work. Before the book even hit stores, newspapers and television shows dissected the leaked excerpts that made their way to high-profile outlets. The topics touched on controversies that Clinton had avoided discussing, such as Benghazi and the lack of foreign-policy accomplishments during her tenure as secretary of State, but those topics would have come up anyway, and the Clinton team knows it. Their effort to get in front of those debates and frame them in the narrative context most favorable to Hillary Clinton's political prospects largely paid off.
That strategy fell apart in a hurry this week. The Clinton team chose ABC's Diane Sawyer as their lead interview for Hillary's book rollout, a reporter/anchor with enough news credibility to overcome any sense of getting softballs, but without a track record of having a real killer instinct either. One might have expected that a candidate with as much experience in handling the media could have managed an in-depth interview with Sawyer, but the interview blew up in her face.
It's difficult to recall just when a candidate with this many advantages managed to blow them all and torpedo his or her own strategy. Oh, wait, I do — it was Hillary Clinton in 2007-8.


text:
The Pan package contains a graphical newsreader. This is useful for reading and writing news, threading articles and replying via email.
Download (HTTP): http://pan.rebelbase.com/download/releases/0.14.2/SOURCE/pan-0.14.2.tar.bz2
Download size: 1.8 MB
Estimated Disk space required: 67.8 MB
Estimated build time: 0.72 SBU
Install Pan by running the following commands:
./configure --prefix=/usr &&
make &&
make install
The Pan package contains pan.


text:
Product Features
- Weighs in over 200 grams.
- Historically correct.
- Liner locking mechanism.
- 8.5 inches overall length. - 3.5 inch long handle.
- 4 inch blade length made of 1065 surgical steel.
Product Description
These specialty trench knives are unlike the traditional form of the knife for the simple fact that they fold and are compact. These are knives but double as brass knuckle-like public safety tools when the knife is folded. The blade features a Action technology that is lightning-fast and made for quick access. Each finger hole on the handle has a spike and the tip of each knuckle. As far as scale and overall design, this item is historically correct and sure to astound core fans of the original fixed blade model. |
Prop. 65 Warning for California Residents


text:
happy august!
Sunday, August 03, 2014
I'm a goal setter. Especially when it comes to my knitting. Sometimes I reach those goals. Sometimes not. I fell 2 days short on this project. I'm okay with that.
I started this project at the end of March. Ripped it out in the middle of May and started it again.
Finished it last night. And it is currently blocking.
I'm heading west. I'll be back in a couple of weeks to share with you.


text:
#ThingsToAvoidAtAPublicPool Tweets May Save Your Summer
It's a summer tradition, but one you should approach with caution.
For years, people have been frequenting public pools to catch a break from the heat. Kids do cannonballs in the water, play with their friends and hit the snack bar, while adults catch some rays, dip their toes and lament how tough it is to find parking. It's a pastime that goes back further than the water goes down in the deep end.
Yet for all the fun we have, going to a public pool brings with it plenty of risk.
There's the whole "Baby Ruth in the water mistaken for poop" thing, first popularized by Caddyshack. Then, there's the chance someone may go number one in the water and the possibility something may go wrong, not to mention all the weirdos who seem to show up. It's enough to make you consider staying home and running through the sprinkler -- or at least splurging so you can show off your water slide skills at a plush resort, if not put on an extreme watersliding clinic.
The hashtag #ThingsToAvoidAtAPublicPool was trending on Twitter on Tuesday and it serves as a public service reminder of what can go wrong. There were plenty of poop in the pool jokes, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. See what else the Twittersphere feels we'd all be better off missing


text:
We are happy to announce that we have just released the April update for the On-premises data gateway (version 3000.79.6)
Here are some of the things that we would like to highlight with this month's release:
- Test single sign-on (SSO) configuration
- GA -SSO for Refresh and DirectQuery
- PowerShell enhancements
- Compatible with the April PBI desktop
Test single sign-on (SSO) configuration
Single sign-on capability enables each user precisely see the data for which they have permissions in the underlying data source. We do, however, understand that setting up Single Sign-On (SSO) via the gateways using either Kerberos constrained delegation or Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is complex. With this new feature, you now have the ability to test this configuration.
In the Manage Gateways page in Power BI, where you configure the data source for SSO, under Advanced Settings for the data source, provide a User Principal Name to test.
If either the user cant be impersonated or if the user doesn't have access to the underlying data source, you will see the appropriate error which helps you identify the problem area for a potential fix.
Also refer to our SSO troubleshooting docs for frequent errors and possible causes and additional details.
We hope this feature makes troubleshooting for Single Sign-On via the gateway significantly easier.
General Availability – SSO for Refresh
About a year ago, we released SSO for Refresh for data sources supporting Kerberos constrained delegation in public preview. This feature uses Dataset owner's security context(UPN) for Refresh-based Reports. We are happy to announce that this feature is now in GA.
PowerShell enhancements
We released PowerShell scripts for the automation of gateway installation and management last year. we have made some enhancements to these PowerShell scripts.
- Ability to view a gateway data source using "Get-DataGatewayClusterDatasource".
- Allow adding and removing of Service Principals as Data source users using Add-DataGatewayClusterUser.
- Documentation updates for Add-DataGatewayCluster, Add-DataGatewayClusterUser and Add-DataGatewayClusterDatasourceUser,
Please review our online documentation for additional details.
Compatible with April PBI Desktop
This version of the gateway will ensure that the reports that you publish to the Power BI Service and refresh via the Gateway will go through the same query execution logic/run-time as in the April Power BI Desktop version.
Please continue to send us feedback for what new capabilities you'd like to see in the future.


text:
In a narrow lane near Mumbai's docks, commuters on bicycles weave through the crowd as workers push wooden carts loaded with heavy burlap sacks into warehouses.
Thirty-eight-year-old laborer Mohammad Yaqoob unloads sacks full of marbles from a truck. When he gets tired and thirsty, he walks to an ornate stone structure in the middle of the bustling street. It's a drinking fountain, or pyau (sometimes spelled pyaav), as it's called in the local Hindi and Marathi languages.
"I have a sip of water, rest on the steps for a bit and then get back to work again," says Yaqoob. "This free water is great."
During the British colonial era, wealthy Indian philanthropists — in what was then called Bombay — built these fountains in busy market squares and along Mumbai's tram route as a gift to the community and as memorials for loved ones.
The fountain that Yaqoob says he visits almost every day towers over the street at nearly 30 feet and has an elaborately decorated canopy and pillars. The top of the structure is adorned by an intricate motif of a peacock with its feathers spread out — a symbol of water in Indian culture, says architectRahul Chemburkar as he gives NPR a tour. It's known as theKeshavji Nayak fountain, after the man who built it nearly 150 years ago and whose bust is carved on the structure.
More than a century ago, water coming from city pipes would flow out of the fountains' decorative spouts continuously. But rampant development and an exponential boom in Mumbai's population — it's now home to 18.4 million — put a strain on water resources.
"The reason why these pyaus went into a little neglect in the 1960s-70s is because the scarcity of water led to stopping of the [constantly] flowing water," says Chemburkar. Water was restricted to a few hours each day. Many of the fountains lacked water storage mechanisms and with the erratic water supply, their spouts ran dry.
One was even accidentally demolished during the construction of a monorail, laments Chemburkar.
The water habits of upper and middle-class residents changed too. Municipal water connections started piping water directly into their homes. "Water became a commercial commodity, and plastic bottled water became popular," says Chemburkar. Most people forgot the fountains.
Now, city officials and conservationists are trying to restore them — an effort driven by a desire to preserve forgotten relics of Mumbai's history but one that can also improve access to water for the city's impoverished.
In 2008, Mumbai's municipal corporation (BMC) commissioned Chemburkar's architecture firm,Vaastu Vidhaan, to restore two pyaus. And in 2015, the BMC's heritage unit identified 30 fountains across the city to be revived as part of a pyau circuit or trail.
The community has embraced the revived Keshavji Nayak fountain renovated in 2015, says Chemburkar. There's a breakfast stall right beside it. People sit on the fountain's steps to read their morning newspaper. Chemburkar estimates at least 50 people visit for a drink each hour.
"It's like a cultural oasis," Chemburkar says.
Steps flanked by statues of bulls, commonly found in Hindu temples, lead up to earthen pots filled with water — now sourced from a municipal water connection beside the structure. A volunteer hands out a metal glass full of water to anyone who comes, regardless of caste or religion.
"In wide contrast, all over the country you see a lot of discrimination over the ownership of water," says Chemburkar. Minority Muslims and members of the Dalit community, considered to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy according to India's ancient caste system, are oftenbeaten up for trying to drink water from a public tap or well. But there's an implicit understanding that the pyaus belong to the entire community, says Chemburkar.
Some of the fountains are even open to animals. The original designs included troughs near the base to collect water that gets spilled over.
Restoring pyaus can also help address huge inequalities in access to Mumbai's water supply, says researcher and activistPurva Dewoolkar. She says more than 2 million people in Mumbai are denied legal water access and face severe water uncertainty.
"[In Mumbai] some people have swimming pools in their homes and on the other hand there's no water to drink," says Dewoolkar, who works with Mumbai-based non-governmental organizationPani Haq Samiti, the Committee for the Right to Water.
ANovember 2020 report by Dewoolkar and her colleagues found that the city's lowest-income residents — people living in slums and those who were homeless — were spending more on water during the pandemic than before. They were consuming more water because everyone was home and the informal water supply systems that they relied on — like a government water connection in a neighboring housing society or workplaces or schools — were no longer accessible because of the lockdown. So these Mumbai residents had no option but to pool their money for an expensive private tanker-truck and queue up in tight spaces, risking infection from coronavirus, to fill their jerry cans when it delivered water about once a week.
"Their incomes had gone down and in spite of that they were spending more money on water," says Dewoolkar.
"Even as public service announcements were issued reminding people to wash their hands regularly with soap, at least 2 million people in Mumbai wondered how to follow such recommendations without regular, adequate and affordable water access," the report notes.
One of the report's recommendations to the city was to "invest in installing and maintaining many more pyaus in public spaces." That includes less ornate and more recently built fountains too, says Dewoolkar. She sees them as an important public benefit.
In recent years, the city has also installed dozens of water ATMs — metal coolers that automatically dispense drinking water — at railway stations. While they are less expensive than buying plastic bottled water, they're not free. They're also not very aesthetically pleasing, says Chemburkar. He says pyaus are special because they're inviting.
"[The decorative elements] give a lot of dignity to the simple act of drinking water," he says. "Today we actually miss aesthetics in public architecture."
Four pyaus, including the Keshavji Nayak fountain, are functional but the rest are in varying states of disrepair. Trash is strewn beside one of the non-functioning fountains located in a historic colonial-era market. The fountain is about 15 feet high and has spires and a distinctly European style. There are red stains from people spitting betel leaf or paan and tobacco on it.
"[People have] used it like a dustbin," says Chemburkar as he inspects the damage. "I feel agonized but I see opportunity also."
Chemburkar says Mumbai's pyaus have the potential to become unique cultural attractions — similar toRome's famous waterspouts or nasoni. He says when tourists visit Mumbai, they marvel at its big edifices — grand Gothic architecture with gargoyles and sleek Art Deco buildings — but neglect the small structures that also make the city beautiful.
Chemburkar says pyaus are socio-cultural markers whose architecture is a blend of the many styles found in Mumbai including Victorian and Indo-Saracenic.
The last pyau on Chemburkar's tour is in one of Mumbai's oldest botanical gardens. The fountain is square-shaped with beautiful floral motifs and an arch carved over the spout. A plaque tells visitors it was built in memory of Ardeshir Dadabhoy Dadysett who died in 1912.
Chemburkar says it's next in line to be renovated, with restoration work expected to start within weeks. He says it's scheduled to reopen for thirsty visitors by the end of this year. And when that happens, he has a special way of celebrating.
"I'm going to make it a point that I come here to have that historic water," he says.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text: Manuscripts will be reviewed with due respect for authors' and reviewers' confidentiality. Our editors have been instructed to not disclose information about manuscripts (including their receipt, content, status in the reviewing process, criticism by reviewers, or ultimate fate) to anyone other than the authors and reviewers. Manuscripts sent for review are privileged communications. Therefore, reviewers and members of the editorial staff must respect the authors' rights by not publicly discussing the authors' work or appropriating their ideas before the manuscript is published. Reviewers may not make copies of the manuscript for their files and will not share it with others, except with the editor's permission. Reviewers should return or destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting reviews.


text:
You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
As the chorus crescendoes: "Don't go back to school," I'm fairly happy to sing along.
I mean, I didn't finish high school in the US (was sent to school in the UK instead), dropped out of college (then got pregnant), finished my Bachelors with my baby (then toddler) in my arms, went to grad school (LOL), and proceeded to drop out of a PhD program, two chapters into my dissertation. I owe a fair amount of money in student loans, and now I'm a freelance writer.
So really, I get it. Don't go. Skip college. Ditch grad school. The debt. The depression. The dismal job market.
Despite the dominant cultural narrative that "everyone should go to college" and the attitude among many employers that "everyone should have a degree," I'm still happy to counsel against it. Because it's true: school (in the US at least) is incredibly expensive. School might not be the best place for you to learn. School might not be the best place for you to network. School might not be your best bet for credentialing.
But then again… it might be.
That's the problem with a lot of the "don't go back to school" arguments. They've done some back-of-the-envelope math that demonstrates college is not a good investment. How much you pay in tuition. How much you'll have to borrow. How much you'll earn when you graduate. No doubt, these are calculations anyone looking at pursuing higher education — whether an undergraduate or graduate degree — should make.
But these figures are frequently predicated on a particular socio-economic status as the starting point and value a particular socio-economic status as the outcome. They're really just one way to run the numbers — assessing higher education in terms of income, expenditure, and debt — and as such, just one way to determine if school is "worth it."
They make for a pretty compelling calculation, don't get me wrong. But often the advice — "don't go!" — simply stops there. Or it is accompanied with a fair amount of mocking of those who do, not to mention a fair amount of wand-waving at what's supposed to happen to those who don't.
And this is where the "don't go to school" chorus can be quite tone-deaf. A veritable cottage industry has sprung up to pen the "don't go back to school" books, blog posts, articles, and op-eds. But the advice — "don't go!" — frequently comes with some trite recommendations of what to do in lieu of formal education: "Need a job? Invent it." Or "Want to learn anything? Write a personal learning plan." Or "budget $150 a month" to take smart and interesting people out for coffee. Or "open up 20 or so tabs in your Web browser." "You can learn anything you want on the Internet!" — except, let's be honest, you can't. And even if you could, so what?
The exception to the decidedly unhelpful or unrealistic "don't go!" guides and diatribes might be Kio Stark's recently published Don't Go Back to School, unique not because it offers a diagnosis of what's wrong with formal institutions of learning (there's lots of that out there) or because it offers a solid list of resources of where to go to learn "independently" (her list is a particularly good one though. It includes this blog). What makes Stark's book different are her interviews with 20-some-odd successful professionals — "people who rejected school early on as well as those who loved school and then graduated into passionate learning without it. They'll tell you how they do it and what drives them to learn." The book contains the personal experience narratives of journalists, artists, scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs — their own learning experiences written in their own words. And these stories highlight how varied, how messy, how complicated, how lucky, and — to invoke a cliche — how "lifelong" the process of learning-without-school can be.
Pursuing a four-year degree, in other words, might be a lot simpler.
Indeed I've watched my 19-year-old son struggle since high school graduation. He opted to not go to college, and despite the promise of saving tens of thousands of dollars and debt, the decision has hardly made things easy. "Take a MOOC!" "Learn to code!" "Start a business!" These aren't necessarily helpful or applicable alternatives to college, and when you've just got a high school diploma, "find a job!" can be an extraordinarily difficult challenge.
My son doesn't really see himself as an "autodidact" — although I'd argue that when he's learning about something he's passionate about, he is. Indeed, we all are. But the "don't go to school" narrative doesn't do much to help people get from here to there, particularly when "do what you're passionate about" doesn't pay the bills. Nor does the increasing hype about online learning opportunities help people realize, as Stark points out in her book, that "independent learners are interdependent learners."
But it isn't simply about "learning" to "learn together," either. The "don't go to school" narrative is often quick to brush aside the ways in which gender, race, class, and ability afford privilege and complicate alternatives. Stark does address this in Don't Go Back to School, noting that doing things "by the book" — that is, getting a college degree — may be necessary for those who are "already at a disadvantage in he race for jobs." No doubt, most of us do not live the lives of the "don't go to school" poster-boys (and yes, they are boys) — Gates, Zuckerberg, and the like. In touting the "age of the Internet" as "age of the autodidact," we're quick to overlook the networks (and let's be frank, the K-12 education) that many of these so-called "self-taught" and "self-made" men were already privy to.
These networks are powerful — they can be political, professional, regional, and yes, school-affiliated. They are, I would contend, more powerful than the informal learning networks fostered by the Internet. Perhaps that will change. Perhaps justice and social mobility can be leveraged through them. But as we sing the "don't go to school" song, I wonder how we do best to ensure that there are opportunities for everyone — not just the exceptional or the elite — to learn and grow and live meaningful, productive, and sustainable lives. Because even with all the ills of higher education, just telling folks "don't go to school" hardly feels like a sufficient or responsible response.


text:
Gee, ya think THIS will scale?
Over on the AOL Postmaster blog, a commenter tells a tale of his alternate method of finding a human at AOL to assist with his spam blocking issue:
"Since I felt that this was beginning to rise to the level of something that AOL execs should really be concerned about, I did the only remaining thing I could think of - I bought a share of AOL stock, and contacted AOL Investor Relations with an explanation of how, as a shareholder, I was very concerned with AOL's complete lack of inbound email delivery support and how I felt this would likely adversely impact shareholder value.
Yesterday, I got a response from a nice guy named Lothar their IR department with an offer to provide assistance in resolving our issue. I've forwarded our mail server/IP address info to Lothar, and am awaiting response. As a share of AOL stock is on par with the cost of a month of AOL service at this point, it might represent a cheaper way to get access to some attention/help. I'll post here again when I know how this approach works out."
Uhhhh....really? I have to admit, this gave me a good laugh. But is it likely a winning strategy? I'm doubtful.
Post a Comment