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The German church and the Palestinian call: A church challenged, Part 1
Four years ago I was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first speaking tour in that country. My book had been published in German with the title Fatal Shame: Israel's Politics and the Silence of the Christians. Several church groups eager to bring a message supportive of the Palestinian cause to German audiences had organized my visit. But this was Germany, and they were a bit nervous. On the evening of my first lecture, the local organizer took me aside and made a request: "Don't mention boycotts," he said to me. "You must understand that this is a very sensitive topic for Germans." I agreed to take his request seriously. After all, I was his guest, and I needed to honor his wisdom about what his audience was ready to absorb. I wanted this gutsy thing he was doing to be successful, and I didn't want to throw any bombs.
It didn't go that way. I don't recall the moment that I made the decision, but I realized quickly that this audience was hungry to hear truths about this issue that no one had been allowed to voice. Five minutes into my talk I asked the following question: "How many of you here tonight," I said, "actually confuse the anti-Jewish laws enacted by the Third Reich in the 1930s with the Palestinian call to sanction Israel for its human rights violations?" The jaws dropped and then the nonverbal response was clear: it was relief. What I felt from the audience was – I have no other word for it – gratitude. I realized that Germans, now 65 years after the war, still needed to be liberated from the feelings of guilt and shame that had so profoundly affected their ability to speak and act about the urgent situation of the Palestinians. But it was also my own liberation that I was also seeking. "I will make a deal with you," I continued. "If you as Germans will stop seeing yourselves as the worst criminals the world has ever known, I as a Jew will give up regarding myself the world's worst victim. It's time for all of us to move on."
In my time in Germany for the remainder of that tour, I began to understand the depth and the nature of the German preoccupation with the support for Israel. A Protestant Bishop serving on the Middle East Committee of the German Protestant Church explained to me that the German church had a "special responsibility" to support the State of Israel because of the Nazi genocide, a responsibility that had to put limits on the church's ability to respond to Palestinian suffering. It was therefore the de facto official policy of the church to oppose any word on action on the part of church bodies or church members that could be perceived as unfriendly to Israel. This mirrored official German state policy, which had been famously expressed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, that the welfare and security of the State of Israel is the "Staatsräson" or "reason for being" of the German state itself!
Despite the horrific history of Germany and its Jews in recent history, this phenomenon is by no means limited to Germany. U.S. Presidential candidates try to outdo one another declaring their friendship with the State of Israel and their commitment to its security. The few voices in our Houses of Congress who dare to defy the party line are drowned out by the huge bipartisan consensus of those who either have managed to keep themselves blind to the overwhelming reality of Israel's human rights abuses or who are too intimidated politically to show any political courage. The "thirteenth commandment" of U.S. politics continues very much to be in force: "Thou shalt unconditionally support the State of Israel."
A church challenged
Four years later, I am back in Stuttgart, where I was privileged to speak before a special gathering entitled "Justice brings peace: Breaking the Silence on Palestine and Israel." The setting was the bienniel Kirchentag, or Church Assembly,one of the largest church gatherings of its kind in the world. The four-day event brings together between 120,000 and 150,000 German Protestants and Catholics for four days of lectures, arts, bible study and celebration of the church's mission in the world. Organized in 1949 by clergy and lay members of the Protestant church in Germany, the Kirchentag is devoted to bringing together Christians devoted to the engagement of the church with the broader society. This year, however, frustrated and unhappy with the Kirchentag's rejection of their program submissions, a coalition of lay, clergy, and church-based human rights groups devoted to the struggle for Palestinian human rights organized an "alternative" Kirchentag conference, to be held simultaneously in Stuttgart. At the event speakers addressed a standing-room only audience of Kirchentag attendees hungry to hear the truth about Israeli human rights violations and the Palestinian call for justice, and eager to join the movement to liberate Israelis and Palestinians alike from the evil of apartheid in our time.
It is not a small thing for German Christians to promote such a program. In fact, the growing movement within Germany to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and equality has created a problem for the German church, which has officially declared itself, along with the German government itself, as having a special responsibility to the Jewish people and for the welfare of the State of Israel. Indeed, the German Protestant church is on a collision course with the growing movement at the church grassroots in solidarity with the Palestinian human rights struggle.
Perhaps no other document has lent as much momentum to this growing movement as the 2009 Palestine Kairos Document: "A Moment of Truth: a cry of hope, faith and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering." "A Moment of Truth" is powerful theological document from the churches of Palestine. It describes the worsening situation of land annexation and denial of rights in the occupied territories and the inequalities for Palestinian citizens of Israel, articulates a powerful theology of nonviolent resistance, and appeals to the churches as well as the governments of the world to "help us get our freedom back!"
Institutions resist being jolted out of their comfort zone. The Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed and United regional and denominational churches in Germany. With a membership of over 23 million church-goers, or 29 per cent of the German population, it constitutes one of the largest national Protestant bodies in the world. To its credit, the EKD, through its official "Protestant Middle East Committee," composed a statement in response to the Palestinian "Moment of Truth" within a year of the emergence of the Palestinian document. The church declaration, adopted by the EKD's Church Parliament in 2011, is a careful, measured document that in its opening affirms the Palestinian document as "an expression of the Christian faith that this situation can change and must change." It goes on, however, to present "comments and reservations" about the Palestinian statement that amount nothing less than a betrayal of fundamental Christian principles. Rather than respond actively and clearly to the cry of the oppressed, as would befit the church of Jesus Christ, the document calls for further discussion. Rather than responding with outrage and sadness to the cry of suffering, the authors question why only Palestinian suffering and not Israeli security concerns were cited in the Palestinian document, calling into question how the "terrorism" of some Palestinian groups could be the result of the structural and overt violence visited upon the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. Finally, in response to the Palestinian call for nonviolent resistance through economic boycott, the authors of the church response declare categorically that "we cannot accept such a boycott" because it "reminds the churches in Germany of the Nazi-appeal of 1933 "Do not buy from Jews!"
The EKD's objection to boycott on the basis of the Nazi genocide is a central feature of the church body's attempt to push back on the grassroots demand for a response to Palestinian suffering. The logic and power of this objection depends on a single move: the equation of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and between Judaism and Zionism. This equation has been successfully promoted in German society, as it has throughout the Western world. It continues to be used by Jewish and Christian institutions alike in an attempt to thwart the nonviolent movement to put an end to the colonial dispossession of Palestinian lands and to stifle the voice of the faithful who are responding to the Palestinian call: criticism of the State of Israel exposes lay people, clergy and politicians alike to the real threat of being perceived as anti-Semitic. In fact criticism of the State of Israel has been termed "The new anti-Semitism." The appeal to the history of church persecution of the Jews, and to Christian-Jewish relations today plays a central role in the struggle between the grassroots and institutional church Germany with respect to Israel and Palestine. And as I pointed out earlier, this is by no means limited to Germany. It is being played out throughout the world, as the church at the grassroots wakes up to the theological imperative to "see the signs of the times" and do justice for "the least of these who are members of my family," and the institutional church pushes back. I'll write more about this in forthcoming postings.
I am spending two weeks in Germany, speaking in 10 German cities at the invitation of local church-linked and human rights groups about the struggle for justice for Palestine. In the next postings, I'll report on what the experience of the church in Germany has to teach us in the United States about the responsibility of our own government and religious institutions for the situation in Palestine today. We'll also see how what is going on in Europe and the U.S. is part of a wider global movement – how the church is waking up, as is has in the past, to the fundamental imperative to do love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with God.
Mark Braverman
Stuttgart, Germany
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Wow, it's your 5th lesson already! Here is your new list. As we were discussing, I'm underlining the assignments you should focus on in case you're somewhat behind and don't have time to focus on all those new tricks. But you sure want to try them all at one point!
1. heeling: make the "glued to the leg" exercise more like heeling: still do different kind of turns, but also some normal forward walking in different speeds (slow, normal, fast) to teach them to adjust and keep the right position in every situation
2. figure 8 backward: tell the dog to go into heel position and start spinning as we were doing on the target, then very suddenly stop and step back with the other leg (if the dog is at left side - with right leg), you can also make a gesture with left hand to try to get them to keep circling below the heeling position, eventually all the way around you leg, so that they come backwards between your legs back into front position. If the dog insists on staying in heel position, you can help with the hand a little bit, lure his head out (left for 90 degrees if the dog is on left side) and say back to have them back up in your direction. Step back with the other leg enough to have them back up between your legs. Reward and tell them to heel on the other side (right) and repeat the process. As soon as you get some smoothness with that, stop rewarding for coming in between, always first tell them to come to the other leg and reward at your side in order to avoid having them back up too far - they need to stay very close to your legs all the time.
3. skateboarding: try to find a skateboard (kids department) and reward for making it move with front feet. Don't reward 4on, but 2 or 3, the criteria is they make a skateboard move.
4. cik&cap: find a table leg, dog-food container, traffic cone or similar and shape the dog to go around it - first just a step, then two or three circles, both directions (you can reward both right from the start if you are getting it - if not, start with just one, but then on one session, don't reward that direction anymore but wait for the other)
5. fade the object for side legs: if the dog is already heaving both legs up at the same time, click&reward that before he even touches the object, so that he understands the idea is picking them up, not touching something. At the same time, try changing objects as much as possible. Going to vertical objects shouldn't be too difficult, then go to "empty" objects like a chair that looks like an object, but doesn't really offer much support, so at this point, the dog is already free-standing, the object is just there for mental support. Next step in table leg and then you don't need an object anymore. For free handstand, you go through the same process, only that it takes longer as it's physically more demanding - you can start working on it, but do not rush it, especially not with young puppies!
6. don't forget on recalls and playing, stays with distractions (you can combine it all in a really fun game), try the hug on a plastic bottle or something similar that is light enough for the dog to hold it and have them hold it independently, add more steps to backing up from you, tape the 4in the bowl trick again so that I can see to what size you managed to get: the smaller the better!
And most importantly: have fun!


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Frederick Rickmeyer, our hats are off to you and your note-taking ways.
Shortly after the turn of the last century, Frederick started documenting his wife's recipes on the blank memoranda pages of a cookbook. He included titles like My Wife's Own Original Spanish Bun and comments like "as good as ever," along with the ingredients and dates.
That "as good as ever" rating, included on a December 1914 recipe called My Wife's Jumbles, intrigued his great-granddaughter Laurie Pavlos, of Old Saybrook, Conn. Pavlos inherited the fragile and fading cookbook, along with more of Frederick's notes, from her grandmother. But Pavlos' attempts to re-create her great-grandmother Ethel Rickmeyer's jumbles, or molasses cookies, all failed.
"They were runny and strange, and they smelled good until they started burning," she tells NPR's Melissa Block. Pavlos tried the recipe as drop cookies, resulting in a smoky disaster. She had minor success with them as bar cookies, but knew something was just not right.
So she wrote All Things Considered's Lost Recipes project to ask for help from our kitchen detectives. Fortunately, Nancy Baggett, author of Simply Sensational Cookies, had a clue.
"My great-grandmother, same vintage [as Ethel], would have made exactly this kind of cookie," Baggett tells Block. "They were late 19th century, early 20th century, when we were still using a lot of molasses. The cakey gingerbread people are familiar with is also of the same style, except this is in a drop cookie form."
As for why the recipe won't work, Baggett thinks Frederick may have simply written down the wrong measurements.
"There's too much liquid in the recipe," she says. "Remember, home bakers often really didn't measure things. [Ethel] may have used a coffee cup or a teacup to measure the flour, and just thrown in a little of this and that. [Frederick] could have been a very precise kind of person, but sitting at the table and jotting down what she was saying would have led to a little bit of a problem for someone 100 years later."
Baggett has another quibble with Frederick's notes: "These really aren't jumbles," she says. "The traditional word jumbal actually referred to a really 16th, 17th, 18th century cookie."
It's thought the word comes from the Arabic word for twin, gemel, which makes sense, since the cookie was originally shaped like a pretzel. They were also not particularly sweet.
"Eventually, they evolved into a sugar cookie shaped into a ring," Baggett says, noting that people have also lost the history behind the word jumbal. "They assumed it meant a jumble of ingredients and changed the spelling. Now, a jumble can pretty much be anything you want."
Pavlos says the reworked Rickmeyer recipe yields a good molasses cookie, although they are a bit finicky as they need to be baked for the precise amount of time for the right texture.
Block, who tried the final product, describes the dark, golden brown cookies as "really chewy — not too sweet, which is great. They feel like a vintage cookie to me, but in a good way."
Baggett says taste preferences for this cookie may be a generational thing. "People that did enjoy the old-fashioned, very spicy gingersnaps or drop molasses cookies would probably like it very much," she says of her reworked recipe. "But I don't think my grandkids would like it, because they've never had anything that strongly molasses."
For those little taste buds, Baggett also offers a less molasses-laden recipe, below.
Pavlos says her great-grandmother's jumbles are unlikely to replace the popular sweet molasses cookies her mother used to make, but she does like the leanness of the recipe.
"This is an interesting thing," she says. "It doesn't have egg, it doesn't have dairy. It has very little fat. People who are avoiding those things may find this recipe very interesting."
Recipe: Great-Grandmother Rickmeyer's Molasses Cookies
Cookbook author Nancy Baggett offers this version of the molasses "jumble" cookie recipe drawn from Frederick Rickmeyer's handwritten notes. American home cooks were always exhorted to be frugal, Baggett says, so cookies like these that required no eggs, butter or even salt and made use of leftover sour milk were enormously popular. (The updated version here calls for fresh milk soured with a little cider vinegar.)
2 cups unsifted flour, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons more if needed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) Crisco (upped from original 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
1 teaspoon warm water stirred together with 1 teaspoon baking soda until dissolved
3 1/2 tablespoons whole or low-fat milk, stirred together with 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Place a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Thoroughly stir together 2 cups flour, the cinnamon and the ginger in a bowl. Set aside.
In a heavy, medium-large saucepan, melt the Crisco over medium heat until just melted, stirring. Immediately remove from burner. Vigorously stir in the brown sugar, then the molasses and water-soda mixture until well blended. Gently stir in the flour-spice mixture, then the milk mixture until evenly incorporated. Do not overmix. Let stand to cool and firm up for 5 minutes. If necessary, a tablespoon at a time, stir in up to 3 tablespoons more flour to stiffen the dough just enough that it can be dropped; it should still be slightly fluid, not stiff.
On well-greased baking sheets, drop the dough using a slightly mounded 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, spacing the cookies about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake, center rack, until the edges are nicely brown and the cookies are just barely firm when pressed on top, about 8 to 11 minutes. Let stand to firm up for 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let stand until completely cooled before packing airtight. Makes about 30 cookies, 2 3/4 inches each.
Recipe: Glazed Double-Ginger Molasses Monster Cookies
Nancy Baggett says the strong molasses element in the Rickmeyer recipe may not appeal to modern tastes. She suggests readers try this 21st century version for those who'd like to compare how Americans' tastes have changed over time.
For Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butted, slightly softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup light or dark molasses
1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon, Saigon cinnamon preferred
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
For Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted after measuring
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits
Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Grease several large baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray.
In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown and granulated sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, then the molasses, ginger root, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt, and beat until smoothly incorporated.
Gradually beat in the flour until the dough is smooth and well-blended. If the dough is crumbly, work in up to 3 teaspoons water until it holds together. Let stand for 10 minutes, if needed, to firm up slightly.
Divide the dough in half. Then shape each half into 12 balls. Space them about 3 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. With a palm, press the balls down until evenly thick and 3 inches in diameter.
Bake on the oven's middle rack for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are browned on top and just beginning to firm up when tapped in the center. Be careful not to overbake. Remove the pans from the oven. Let the cookies firm up for several minutes. Using a wide-bladed spatula, transfer the cookies to racks and let cool completely.
For the glaze: In a 1-quart saucepan, stir together the powdered sugar, butter and 3 1/2 tablespoons water until blended. Bring to a boil, stirring, over medium high heat. Boil just until smooth and translucent, 30 to 45 seconds. Stir to recombine the glaze, then use immediately while still hot; it may become grainy or thick if allowed to cool.
Using a pastry brush (or a paper towel) dipped into the glaze, brush evenly over the cookies until all are glazed. Thin glaze with drops of water if needed. Let stand until the glaze sets, at least 30 minutes. It may become sugar and flaky like doughnut glaze; this is normal.
Makes 24 4-inch cookies
Glazed Double-Ginger Molasses Monster Cookies recipe excerpted from Simply Sensational Cookies, by Nancy Baggett. Copyright 2012 by Nancy Baggett. Excerpted by permission of Wiley.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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I have Starcraft 2 installed on my Macbook Pro in OS X. I have Intel i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, nVidea Geforce FT 330M, and a SATA hard drive. In Energy settings I've set it to Higher Performance over battery life. I notice that running it on the recommended High settings, it doesn't run very smoothly when there are many units on the screen.
I have Windows 7 Ultimate also installed via Bootcamp. I'm considering installing Starcraft 2 on that now.
My question is: Does Starcraft run better on Windows 7 than OS X?
Things to consider in comparison:
- Mac OS X default to 32-bit mode, while on Windows can start in 64-bit
- Does nVidia graphics card better support on Windows?


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SN Domain Auctions Ending 6/10/2017
It's time to snap to it with today's randomly selected domain auctions from SnapNames.com.
This randomly selected list of domains focuses primarily on keyword domains in auction.
It's likely I'll mix in random geo domain auction lists from time to time. I wish you the best in bidding.
In addition, please feel free to drop me a comment should you have ideas, questions, thoughts or general comments about the list.
And don't forget to sign up to receive ALL domain auction lists via email (side bar sign up form).
Domain Auctions Ending Today:
As usual, click domains to view their respective auction pricing and details.


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Divine Worship Service
June 27, 2021 @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 8:30 am on Sunday, repeating until June 30, 2022
Our classical or traditional service, incorporating the music of our beautiful pipe organ, and occasionally piano and other orchestral instruments, adult choir, soloists, and hand bells. The liturgy and hymnody are largely taken from the Lutheran Service Book (Concordia Publishing House).
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Please note: this article applies to OpenGL desktop applications, typically targeting NVidia and ATI GPUs. In the mobile/embedded space, it's a very different world, and certain GPUs (cough, cough, PowerVR, cough cough) have some fine print attached to them that might make you reconsider.
Why Triangle Strips Are Good
If you are drawing a bunch of connected triangles, the logic in favor of triangle strips is very simple: the number of vertices in the strip will be almost 66% fewer than the number you'd have if you simply made triangles. The longer the strip, the closer to that savings you get. Since geometry throughput is generally limited by total vertex count, this is a big win.
Ten years ago, that's all you needed to know. Of course, making triangle strips is not so easy - some meshes simply won't form strips. The general idea was to make as many strips as you can, and draw the rest of your triangles as "free triangles" (e.g. GL_TRIANGLES, where each triangle is 3 vertices, and no vertices are shared).
(By the way, to see how to use the tri_stripper library to create triangle strips, look at the function DSFOptimizePrimitives in the X-Plane scenery tools code. Why DSFLib does this will have to be explained in another post, but suffice it to say, there is no hypocrisy here: X-Plane disassembles the triangle strips in the DSF into "free triangles" on load.)
Indexing Is Better
In an indexed mesh, each vertex is stored only once, and the triangles are formed from a set of indices. (In OpenGL this is done by moving from glDrawArrays to glDrawElements.) With an index, you pay more (2 or 4 bytes) per each vertex, but you don't ever have to repeat the geometry of a vertex.
When is it worth it to index? It depends on the size of your indices and vertices, but it is almost always a win. For example, in an X-Plane object our vertices are 32 bytes (XYZ, normal, one UV map, all floating point) and our indices are 4 bytes (unsigned integer indices). Thus a vertex is 8x more expensive than an index. So if we can reduce 1/8th of the geometry via sharing, we will have a win.
Consider a simple 2-d grid: even with triangle strips, each adjacent strip except the edges are going to share a common edge. Thus if we use indexing, our 2-d mesh is going to have a savings that nearly approaches 2x for the geometry! That is way more than enough to pay for the cost of the indices.
So the moral of the story is: any time your geometry has shared vertices, use indexing. Note that this won't always happen. If you have a mesh of GL_POINTS, you will have no sharing, so indexing is a waste. In X-Plane, our "trees" are all individual quads, no sharing, so we turn off indexing because we know the indexing will do no good.
But for most "meshed" art assets (e.g. anything someone built for you in a 3-d modeler) it is extremely likely that indexing will cut down the total amount of data you have to send to the GPU, and that is a good thing.
Triangle Strips Aren't That Cool When We Index
Now in the old school world, a triangle strip cut the amount of geometry down by almost 3x. Awesome! But in the indexed world, a triangle strip only cuts down the size of the index list by 3x. That is...not nearly as impressive. In fact, in X-Plane's case it is only 1/8th as impressive as it would have been for non-indexed geometry.
The take-away thing to observe: once we start indexing (which really makes geometry storage efficient) triangle strips aren't nearly as important as they used to be.
Restarting a Primitive Hurts
So far we've talked about ideal cases, where your triangle strips are very long, so we really approach a 3x savings. Here's the hitch: in real life triangle strips might be very short.
The problem with triangle strips is that we have to tell the card where the triangle strips begin and end, and that can get expensive. You might have to issue a separate glDrawElements call for each strip.
You don't want to make additional CPU calls into the GL to minimize the size of a buffer (the index buffer) that is already held in VRAM. CPU calls are much slower. And this is why X-Plane doesn't use strips internally: it's faster to be able to make one draw call only for mesh, even if it means a slightly bigger element list.
Now if you are a savvy OpenGL developer you are probably screaming one of two things:
- What about glMultiDrawElements? I point you to here, and here. Basically both Apple and NVidia are suggesting that the multi-draw case may not be as ball-bustingly fast as it could be. There is always a risk that the driver decomposes your carefully consolidated strips into individual draw calls, and at that point you lose.
- What about primitive restart? Well, it's nvidia only, so if you use it, you need to case your basic meshing code to handle its not being there. And even if it is there, you pay with an extra index per restart. If you have really good strips, this might be a win, but when the strips get small, you're starting to eat away at the benefit of shrinking down your indices in the first place. (The worst case is a triangle soup with no sharing, so you get no benefit from tri strips and you have to put a "restart" primitive into every 4th slot.)
Index Triangles
Thus the X-Plane solution: any time we have a mesh, we use indexed triangles and we go home happy.
- We always draw every mesh in only one draw call.
- We share vertices as much as possible.
- We are in no way dependent on the driver handling multi-draw or having a restart extension.
- We run at full speed even if the actual mesh doesn't turn to strips very well.
- The code handles only one case.


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Solid, small yet potent! This conditioner will make your hair sleeky, shiny and manageable while nourishing your hair with cocoa butter, proteins and vitamins.
Helps protect against heat and sea/pool water damage.
Usage Instructions: glide the conditioner bar 2-5 times down your wet, cleansed hair, or emulsify it in wet hands and then apply onto hair. Do not apply the conditioner on scalp or roots. This is a concentrate, so only a small amount is needed to coat and condition your hair well.
50 g, replaces about 350 ml of liquid conditioner.
Store in a dry place after use.


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I've just returned from sunny California and VOICE 2014, where, I have to say, there was so much information about the voiceover industry that I'm still trying to digest it all…at least, the parts I actually HEARD, from the sessions I attended. And then there are the other seminars/presentations that I DIDN'T get to attend in person (it being impossible, at least as far as I can tell, to be in two places at the same time). THOSE ones I need to download and listen to, and take MORE notes.
In addition to meeting some pretty awesome industry legends and super talents (Pat Fraley, Mary Lynn Wissner, MJ Lallo, Rodney Saulsberry, Dave Fennoy, just to name a few) AND getting my own personal Morgan Freeman impersonation from Larry Davis (holy WOW is THAT guy AMAZING!) and getting to meet VO Buzz Weekly's Chuck Duran and Stacey J., I also made some fantastic new friends, which was more than the icing on the cake.
Yes, I could wax poetic about what an awesome experience it was, but in keeping in line with my promise to make this blog more of a "pay it forward" type of experience, instead I will try to share some of the awesome advice and tips that were imparted at VOICE 2014.
From Pat Fraley's opening keynote:
— You can't start reading a script coldly by PERFORMING it. Start by just reading it to get the words. This helps you learn what lines are intrinsically funny, so you don't have to overwork them.
— Think about coming up with a "log line" (or synopsis) for every project. It's a synopsis of what the story is all about, and EVERY PROJECT HAS A STORY
— When doing comedy, do it slow at first, to figure it out and find the rhythm, and then you can heighten the tempo
From Mary Lynn Wissner's Self-Direction presentation:
— Your job as a VO actor is to make your audition stand out. Think about ad libbing, changing the punctuation, or jarring it a bit.
— Try 2 takes: one more straightforward, and the second with an add-on emotion
— Figure out what it takes for YOU to get into each particular emotion/direction, and WRITE IT DOWN! (Mary Lynn's self-direction app is a really great tool for looking at the five most common voice directions!)
From Dave Fennoy's Video Games presentation:
— Don't get caught up in your own inner dialogue, and don't let that little voice throw you off your game. You need to immerse yourself totally in your character. What do you like/hate? How big are you? What are you afraid of?
— Video games now are more about interactive drama, so they are more about the player's emotional interaction with the game and the characters. It requires acting and character development!
— Create a scenario. Where are you? What's happening around you, and what's just happened before you begin talking?
From Anne Ganguzza's Social Media presentation:
— You need to get your name out there so people know who you are and why to hire you
— Associate yourself with strategic brands! Make friends with the in crowd!
— Become a marketable product, and give people important and useful content.
From J.Michael Collins' and Kurt Kelly's "Classic Careers" presentation:
— These two talked a bunch about P2P sites, like if you're a 100% voice match, go ahead and submit an audition if they've received less than 70. If you're less than a 100% match, don't bother if there are more than about 35.
— Audition quality matters! So do the first 3-4 words OF the audition
— Best way to get an agent? Bring them a great client!
From Marc Cashman's Master Class:
The 8 major categories/skill sets in VO:
1. Breathing
2. Timing
3. Eye – Brain – Mouth (lifting the words off the page, w/o stumbling, omitting, adding or changing words)
4. Enunciation/Pronunciation
5. Consistency
6. Acting (establishing and maintaining the right attitude and tone)
7. Analysis/Interpretation (find & understand the subtext!)
8. Listening/Taking Direction
All of these amazing people offer coaching services, so if any of these topics really strikes you or is an area you want or need to know more about to get yourself to the next level, contact them! I've been amazed so far in this industry how accessible and helpful everyone has been. I know I plan to reach out to some of these folks, and others, to help get me competing at the top of my game!
Looking forward to learning even more as I listen to the other recordings, and of course, sign me up for VOICE 2016!


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GNU Terry Pratchett
12.03.2018 | Aunion | 0 Comments
It's been three years since the death of Terry Pratchett, and since I wrote my original post about him. Since then his final novel, the Shepherd's Crown has been published, there's been a documentary about him, Back in Black and production is in full swing for both a Good Omens and a Wee Free Men tv series. The Shepherd's Crown gave us a worthy farewell to the Discworld… would I wish there'd still be more? Sure! Would I wish that STP's half finished works hadn't been destroyed (on purpose) by being driven over by a steamroller? Definitely, I'd love to know what those final works would've been even if they had never been finished. Would I like to see Rhianna Pratchett pick up her father's reins and pick up where he left off? More than anything, but I can well understand her reluctance to do so. So, as goodbyes to Discworld go, The Shepherd's Crown was great.


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In this episode of chasejarvisLIVE I sat down with legendary photographer Chris Buck and hosted special musical guest Hey Marseilles. Chris has taken the concept of "celebrity photography" and flipped it upside-down. By applying a playful, twisted fine art mentality to celebrity photography (and his commercial work) Chris has created some of the most interesting work I've seen. He is truly one of my all-time favs. We talked about everything under the sun, including his... read more ›
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How Can We Help You?
Life is a journey. Many times this journey can be difficult and family and friends may not be able to help as much as they have in the past.
At that point you may need a warm, trusted guide to help you overcome the obstacles along the way. It does not necessarily need to take a long time to overcome these obstacles and we will work hard with you to overcome them.
We will utilize your strengths, talents, abilities, and resources to help in overcoming your problems. We also believe that the obstacles and difficulties in your life are the means for making you stronger.
Our Approach
Center for Solutions approach is brief therapy that focuses on solutions, not on problems, pathology, causes of problems, or even how problems are maintained. Our approach facilitates realistic, achievable, specific, and behaviorally defined goals. Brief Therapy utilizes the importance of homework assignments, reframing, humor, and paradoxical tasks as facilitators for client-generated solutions.
Our Mission
Develop a vision and goals for your life as you move forward into the future.
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takes a lot of energy to extract heavy, viscous and valuable bitumen
from Canada's oil sands and refine it into crude oil. Companies mine
some of the sands with multi-story excavators, separate out the bitumen,
and process it further to ease the flow of the crude oil down
pipelines. About 1.8 million barrels of oil per day in 2010 were
produced from the bitumen of the Canadian oil sands—and the production
of those fossil fuels requires the burning of fossil fuels.
the first look at the overall effect of air pollution from the
excavation of oil sands, also called tar sands, in Alberta, Canada,
scientists used satellites to measure nitrogen dioxide and sulfur
dioxide emitted from the industry. In an area 30 km (19 miles) by 50 km
(31 miles) around the mines, they found elevated levels of these
both gasses, the levels are comparable to what satellites see over a
large power plant – or for nitrogen dioxide, comparable to what they see
over some medium-sized cities," said Chris McLinden, a research
scientist with Environment Canada, the country's environmental agency.
"It stands out above what's around it, out in the wilderness, but one
thing we wanted to try to do was put it in context."
independent report on the levels of these airborne pollutants, which
can lead to acid rain if they are in high enough concentrations, is a
part of Environment Canada's efforts to monitor the environmental impact
of the oil sands' surface mines, McLinden said. While some land-based
measurements have been taken at particular points by other researchers,
and a NASA airplane made another set of localized measurements, no one
had calculated the overall extent of the oil sands' air quality impacts
including the giant dump trucks, huge refining facilities where the
bitumen is processed, and more.
do that, McLinden and his colleagues turned to satellite data. Several
satellites orbiting Earth detect sunlight that passes through the
atmosphere and is reflected back up to the space. Based on the patterns
of reflected wavelengths, scientists can calculate the concentration of
certain gasses—in particular nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. It's a
relatively new way to study pollution over small areas, he said.
The study is published this week in Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
scientists found that sulfur dioxide amounts peaked over two of the
largest mining operations in the Alberta oil sands, with a peak of
1.2×1016 molecules per square centimeter. Nitrogen dioxide
concentrations reached about 2.5×1015 molecules per square centimeter.
When researchers looked at the concentrations over the years using older
satellite information, they found that the amount of nitrogen dioxide
increased about 10 percent each year between 2005 and 2010, keeping pace
with the growth of the oil sands industry.
certainly want to keep monitoring that source if it's increasing at
that rate," McLinden said. "There are new mines being put in, they're
pulling out more oil."
important to examine the overall impact of the excavation and
processing from the oil sands, said Isobel Simpson, an atmospheric
chemist with the University of California at Irvine. She was not
involved in this study, but previously participated in the
airplane-based research of air quality over the oil sands.
are so few independent studies of oil sands," Simpson said. The new
study is something scientists haven't been able to do before—to "see the
big picture and the birds-eye view of the impact of emissions from the
oil sands industry," she said. She called for broader, future studies
that would measure additional pollutants and map their extents. With the
oil sands industry expanding, she said, the area needs more monitoring.
Air quality over the Canadian oil sands: A first assessment using satellite observations


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Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk of Death, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily — Older adults who drank coffee — caffeinated or decaffeinated — had a lower risk of death overall than others who did not drink coffee, according a study by researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and AARP.
Coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, although the association was not seen for cancer. These results from a large study of older adults were observed after adjustment for the effects of other risk factors on mortality, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Researchers caution, however, that they can't be sure whether these associations mean that drinking coffee actually makes people live longer. The results of the study were published in the May 17, 2012 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Neal Freedman, Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, and his colleagues examined the association between coffee drinking and risk of death in 400,000 U.S. men and women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Information about coffee intake was collected once by questionnaire at study entry in 1995-1996. The participants were followed until the date they died or Dec. 31, 2008, whichever came first.
The researchers found that the association between coffee and reduction in risk of death increased with the amount of coffee consumed. Relative to men and women who did not drink coffee, those who consumed three or more cups of coffee per day had approximately a 10 percent lower risk of death. Coffee drinking was not associated with cancer mortality among women, but there was a slight and only marginally statistically significant association of heavier coffee intake with increased risk of cancer death among men.
"Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in America, but the association between coffee consumption and risk of death has been unclear. We found coffee consumption to be associated with lower risk of death overall, and of death from a number of different causes," said Freedman. "Although we cannot infer a causal relationship between coffee drinking and lower risk of death, we believe these results do provide some reassurance that coffee drinking does not adversely affect health."
The investigators caution that coffee intake was assessed by self-report at a single time point and therefore might not reflect long-term patterns of intake. Also, information was not available on how the coffee was prepared (espresso, boiled, filtered, etc.); the researchers consider it possible that preparation methods may affect the levels of any protective components in coffee.
"The mechanism by which coffee protects against risk of death — if indeed the finding reflects a causal relationship — is not clear, because coffee contains more than 1,000 compounds that might potentially affect health," said Freedman. "The most studied compound is caffeine, although our findings were similar in those who reported the majority of their coffee intake to be caffeinated or decaffeinated."
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Institutes of Health.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Neal D. Freedman, Yikyung Park, Christian C. Abnet, Albert R. Hollenbeck, Rashmi Sinha. Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 2012; 366 (20): 1891 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1112010


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Members Consultation
18th February
Join us via Zoom for an evening of discussion of all things Little Black Pants.
You will get a chance to have the new collections introduced to your.
Ask Questions and give feedback on the New Website.
Hear our Plans for this year, and take part in small group brainstorming and visioning.
We value your support, your contribution and your ideas. We look forward to a year of deeper engagement and exciting prospects!
Alina Horn
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10 Tips to Reduce Distracted Driving
Whether someone you love has been known to text and drive, or you have found yourself distracted behind the wheel, these tips can help avoid dangerous activity on the road.
- Stow your phone. Turning off the phone and putting it in "do not disturb" mode can help remove the temptation to browse online at a red light or respond right away to a text message.
- Vow not to multi-task. Anything that occupies your mind or vision can be a distraction behind the wheel. Make time at home to eat meals or put on makeup, so you can focus on the road.
- Don't be a distraction. Avoid calling or texting family members and friends when you know they are driving to avoid distracting them.
- Talk to your employer. Responding to texts or taking calls for work while driving can be dangerous. Encourage your employer to have a distracted driving policy that includes waiting to talk with employees until they are safely parked.
- Keep kids and pets safe. Make sure kids are in proper car seats and that pets stay secured in their zone in the back of your vehicle. It can also help reduce distractions if pets are not roaming about the car.
- Set a good example. Parents can model good behavior for their children by demonstrating attentive driving. Avoid texting, eating, grooming or calling someone while behind the wheel.
- Plan your route before you go. Programming your navigation system while you drive can take your eyes off the road. It's better to ask a passenger to do it or to enter your destination before you leave home.
- Speak up. If you see someone texting or otherwise driving while distracted, say something and let them know that you are not comfortable with that behavior. Encourage your children to do the same when they are passengers in a friend's car. It could save a life.
- Set rules of the road. Consider restricting the number of passengers until your teen or new driver gains experience behind the wheel.
- Avoiding reaching. Resist the urge to reach for items if they fall while driving.
Taking your eyes off the road to search for an item can make you more likely to have an accident.
Share these tips to help keep others safe. For more on ways to reduce distracted driving, check out Every Second Matters, Travelers Canada conversation starter on reducing distracted driving risk.
1 Every Second Matters, A Conversation Starter on Reducing Distracted Driving Risk.


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6 Underground will be in select theaters on December 11 and on Netflix December 13
Directed by: Michael Bay
Written by: Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese
Produced by: Ian Bryce, p.g.a., Michael Bay, p.g.a., David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger
Co-Produced by: Michael Kase, JJ Hook, Marco Valerio Pugini
Executive Produced by: Matthew Cohan, Garrett Grant, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Corey Hawkins, Adria Arjona, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Lior Raz, Payman Maadi and Dave Franco
What's the best part of being dead? It isn't escaping your boss, your ex, or even erasing your criminal record. The best part about being dead…is the freedom. The freedom to fight the injustice and evil that lurk in our world without anyone or anything to slow you down or tell you "no." 6 Underground introduces a new kind of action hero. Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skill, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future. The team is brought together by an enigmatic leader (Ryan Reynolds), whose sole mission in life is to ensure that, while he and his fellow operatives will never be remembered, their actions damn sure will.
More information: www.netflix.com/6underground


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I love Dear Colleen. For reals. I have purchased her tea towels in the past to give as gifts for other people. But I bought this Ryan Gosling Tea Towel just for me :)
Really, though, Colleen Pugh is one of the nicest artists that I have had the pleasure of interacting with via the interwebs. I 1st learned of her work years ago when we were both featured in the same Decor8 Etsy Take 5 Tuesday round-up (crazy, eh Colleen)? My work has changed quite a bit since March 2010, but Dear Colleen's brand voice has always been strong and, well, a bit sassy!
In fact, you should hop on over to Decor8 and see Colleen's studio tour that is featured there this week!
So what dishes would you rather be doing this week?


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A set of ad groups (ads, keywords and bids) that share a budget, location targeting and other settings. Campaigns are often used to organise categories of products or services that you offer.
- Your Google Ads account can have one or many ad campaigns running.
- Each campaign consists of one or more ad groups.
- Settings that you can edit at the campaign level include budget, language, location, distribution for the Google Network and more.
- You can create separate ad campaigns to run ads in different locations or using different budgets.
How accounts are structured
Create your first ad campaign
See more articles


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Easy as 1-2-3
Ally creates alternative formats for the pages and files on your site. You can download the alternative formats from any page. Just choose the version that is best for your needs!
1. Find a file
Go to your site and find the content you want.
2. Open the Alternative Formats panel
Select the Alternative Formats download icon on the page and select the format you want.
3. Choose a format
Don't stick to just one format! Use as many formats as you want.
Need help choosing? Jump to Alternative Formats.


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Then, I went and made them better. I threw in some homemade apple cider syrup and it got ridiculous how good they were. It was just plain wrong to keep them to myself.
So I put them on the menu over at Mom in the Mail as a seasonal special, secretly hoping that no one would notice them in the midst of the adorable apple pies.
But maybe, just maybe, I could have kept the lid on 'em.
Until the burnt sugar bits went in and it officially became a crime for these not to be famous. Kind of like when that indy singer who's been playing for years at the bar down the street hooks up with Disclosure and suddenly becomes Sam Smith.
If you make them, you'll have to spread the word, too. They truly deserve their shot at the big time.


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Every week on Monday morning, the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum with short takes on a major issue of the day. This week's question: On this particular Memorial Day, what are your thoughts about the future of our country?
The Razor: I used to believe that everyone had to believe in at least one great fiction in life, and for me that was the Idea of America, and it didn't really matter to me whether it was real or not. I had faith in it. I studied its history, seen its good times and bad and somehow America always made it through, always coming out of the darkness better than it was before it went in.
Now I'm not so sure. For one thing I've lost my faith across the board. I'm not sure whether it's a function of age as I continue the inexorable slide down the second half of my life, whether America has lost its mojo or perhaps never had it in the first place. It's not easy for me to have faith in anything because everything I have had faith in before has been shown wanting. And America is no different.
I could easily respond bitterly and talk about how the future of America is this or that, but the truth as I see it is that America is just going to continue on being what it is completely oblivious and impervious to my petty thoughts about its future. Maybe I need to go back to being an expat to rekindle my love and faith in my country from abroad. Life abroad provides much needed clarity that is so much harder to find while embedded in American life and culture. I've never stopped dreaming about Japan and have never felt like I belonged anywhere, so maybe my future holds a return to expat life – although some place calmer and serene like Ireland rather than the hectic soul-destroying life as a gaijin in Japan.
So in short, it's impossible for me to express the way I feel about America's future because I am so broken and disappointed with it that anything that I say says more about me than my country. Such is the lot of the faithless and those who once believed in something bigger than themselves but no longer do.
JoshuaPundit: Readers of my stuff will know my feelings on this one. The key question we're dealing with now is whether we remain a democratic republic or whether we become Rome. The present course is obviously unsustainable, but America is far too rich and powerful to simply crumble and become a minor part of the 'international community' ala' the various nations of the EU, as our current president and his minions would obviously prefer.
Among other things, unlike the Europeans, there's no superpower out there offering to pick up the slack and defend us while we become a dysfunctional socialist backwater.
As it becomes more apparent (and it's more obvious every day, even to the most low information voter unless they're totally on the dole) that there's a real danger to the country's basic liberties, economy and security, people will demand a solution, and it will either be for a true renewal of our Founding principles or for a secure autocracy with a lot less liberty. It took the Roman Republic 500 years to get to the point where they were ready for a man on a white horse with some solutions, but things move faster nowadays.
The Founders in their wisdom foresaw this, by the way. They were highly educated men well versed in the history of republican government. Our Republic is close to the tipping point where events and the will of the American people will decide whether we keep it or not.
For those of you whom believe, many people have speculated that America has been under G-d's blessing since its inception. I agree, and I also think that events will play out according to the Divine plan and show whether we still merit that blessing.
Rhymes With Right: What are my thoughts about the future of the United States? Overall, very positive in the long run — though less so in the short run.
In the short run, we are stuck with a president who is either so disengaged from the duties of his office and so engaged with seeking to fundamentally change us away from a constitutional republic that I worry what will happen over the next few years. The ongoing scandals involving the IRA, government surveillance and investigation of journalists, and the Benghazi affair make it clear that we have a serious problem before us until after the 2016 election.
That said, I believe in the fundamental resilience of America. When presented with a crisis, patriots arise and act to steer America back to a safe course. Given the grassroots opposition to Obama and ObamaCare, I fully expect to see that patter reassert itself in 2014 and 2016. This detour is bad, but we will ultimately resume a proper course.
The Glittering Eye: Honestly, I'm concerned about the future of the country. Our entire system, a system that has brought unprecedented freedom and prosperity, is based on certain values. Those values include things like individual initiative, responsibility, and independence. I'm concerned that those values are fading and I don't know what will replace them.
In addition, through decades of torpid complacency we have made public commitments I don't think we'll be able to fulfilll. Commitments like public and employer-provided pensions, a system of social insurance most of the elderly are completely dependent upon for support in their old age, and a system of providing healthcare for the elderly that has grown beyond the direst warning made when the plan was first implemented more than forty years ago.
The country I see around me is very different from the one I saw when I was twenty years old and dramatically different from what I thought things would be like all those years ago. It is not a better place. Not all of the changes are economic ones. The worst thing I see is the loss of optimism and confidence in the future. It's really dismaying.
Sara at The Independent Sentinel: I am grateful to live in a country where a person like me, who grew up in poverty, had the opportunity to work hard, go to college, save for a home, and provide my children with a good education.
I have only known an America where people who worked hard could attain their dreams. That is no longer a certainty.
I see the future of our children being frittered away with wasteful spending. Our national security is in the hands of people who refuse to recognize the reality of the dangerous world we are living in. If we continue on the path we are on, the future will be bleak.
We are in the hands of leaders who claim to know nothing and want to know nothing.
I do, however, believe in the American people and that gives me hope.
Well, there you have it.
Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher's Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.
It's a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won't want to miss it.
And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter… 'cause we're cool like that, y'know?


text: The first chapters of Scripture reveal a God who made sexuality core to the human experience—and indeed, the way that Adam and Eve would "fill the earth and subdue it." Song of Solomon celebrates the sexual delight of lovers, while Paul taught that marital union represents the relationship between Christ and his church. Because of this, Christianity remains among the most "sex-positive" religions, even if segments of the church have on one hand, cloaked it in shame or, on the other, given it a mystical power bordering on idolatry. Today's Christians face a culture that, through pornography, media, and advertising, idolizes sexual pleasure while debasing its unitive and procreative power by extracting it out of relationship. In this context, evangelicals struggle to teach and live out a biblical theology of sex that centers on the marital covenant between husband and wife, affirms the playful, non-procreative dimensions of sex, and welcomes the possibility of new life, even without a central teaching on birth control.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Process improvement essentials
You picked the short straw. Now, what?
Book review Process improvement, in the guise of the 'big three' frameworks of ISO 9001, CMMI and Six Sigma on the face of it would seem to have much in common and all aim to produce the same end result – improved quality through established and proven processes. With compliance to one or other of these frameworks increasingly being sought by governments and corporations, it's no surprise that there's a rush of interest in them now.
Unfortunately, reading about ISO 9001, CMMI and Six Sigma is often like wading through mud, only not as interesting. For those tasked with finding out about them, or worse still those being asked to select which one to go for there's somewhere to turn to in the form of James Persse's 'Process Improvement Essentials', published by O'Reilly.
The aim of the book is both to provide an understanding of the motivations behind, and the benefits of adopting, a process improvement policy. In many ways the benefits, (and the costs of achieving those benefits), are independent of which of these frameworks (or indeed of competing frameworks). To this end, the first part of the book looks at putting the case for process improvement, marshalling the arguments which apply generically in terms of improved planning, control and execution of projects and products. It discusses in some detail the process of establishing the process, pointing out both the pit-falls of 'flavour of the month' solutions hoisted on unwilling developers and also the need for executive sponsorship and a high degree of corporate commitment.
The second part of the book then moves on to the specifics of each of the frameworks. It puts each into context, providing the historical background, evolution and current status of each. Issues of ownership are high-lighted as well, pointing out the difference between ISO 9001, which is centrally 'owned' by the ISO, and CMMI and Six Sigma which are closer to open source in terms of ownership, usage and community input. Of course, the core of this section of the book is in describing in some detail the contents of the frameworks, allowing the reader to get a detailed over-view of what makes them different, where the emphasis lies for each of them and where they are most appropriately used.
The book is leavened with war stories, anecdotes, quotes from the great and the good from different industries and so on. But even with the war stories and the personal asides from the author, this is a book that you're still unlikely to read for the hell of it. It's a better source than some, and there's no disputing that the book gets the material across to the reader, but there's still a certain dryness of tone that seems to go with the territory.
However, if you look like you're going to be 'processed improved' or you want to institute one or other of these frameworks than this is a good place to start. The author makes the point a number of times that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. For those wanting to pick and chose from the different approaches, or who are interested as much in cannibalising existing best practices this is also a great place to start.
Process Improvement Essentials
Verdict: A somewhat dry read, but if "process improvement" is going to be done unto you, this may also be a compelling read. It's more accessible than many books on the subject.
Author: James R. Persse.
Publisher: O'Reilly.
Media: Book
List Price: £31.99
Current Reg price: £22.71 inc. VAT (discount 29%)
Buy this book at Register Books at Reg Developer's special discounted price (subject to change)!


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Matte Black & Frost Vein Alpha Dragon Bracelet
$ 11.99
Matte Black & Frost Vein Alpha Dragon Bracelet
Bracelet Meaning:
The Alpha Dragon Bracelets symbolizes Leadership, and confidence. Wearing this bracelets reminds each of us what it takes to be a true leader to others. A leader is someone who sets a good example for themselves, as well as for those around them. Wear this bracelet and be confident, and remember to make daily decisions that not only matter to you, but to the people around you.
- Bracelet Circumference roughly 7 Inches (more or less)
- Elastic (Stretchy) Band made to fit MOST people
- High quality material, and feel
SHIPPING is FREE FOR USA ONLY.
Domestic Shipping (USA): ALL USA Shipping is FREE! Your Item/s will be packaged and shipped the same or next day of that you ordered on. Keep in mind First class mail takes 5-7 Business days (Most of the time closer to 5)
International Shipping: Your Items will be packaged and shipped the same or next day that of you ordered. We do ship worldwide! Sorry but International Shipping is not FREE. Please be patient and note that delivery times will vary depending on your location. Also, customs may charge an extra varying fee upon arrival. Hope this explains what you need to know about Int. Shipping.
DISCLAIMER: Pictures are of the actual bracelets, and size might vary a little.


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Subscribe for 39,77 €/mo.
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Please note that on 2 April, 2024, the 12.3 update of the all-new Adobe Captivate was released. This update included collaborative review and commenting features. Learn more.
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Adobe Captivate Classic is the older generation Adobe Captivate (which was originally released in 2019). It is a legacy tool to create all kinds of engaging and interactive eLearning content.
You do not have to buy Adobe Captivate Classic separately. All subscription plans of Adobe Captivate includes access to both the versions - the all-new Adobe Captivate and Adobe Captivate Classic. You will be able to install, launch and activate both the versions in the same computer.
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Ever wanted to be transformed into a redhead? Have you ever dreamed of having long, flowing curly locks like those of Merida in the Disney Pixar movie, Brave? Princess hair is SO RAD!
Inspired by Newly Crowned Princess Merida, which we actually got to witness IN PERSON at Walt Disney World, during Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. These Disney fans have all gotten a similar makeover. They sure do resemble the red haired fireball, don't they?
To see more Merida makeovers, go to:
Full Disclosure: We were invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Walt Disney World offered a special discounted rate for all attendees and their families. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we are grateful to Disney for allowing us to participate. We'll be sharing unique things seen and heard throughout the Celebration. Please keep in mind these our own personal thoughts and opinions, not those of the Walt Disney Company.