text:
The following data will be logged from AYC IPcts. The program can extract several data fields: Call time, Call type, Direction, CO, Ext, Phone, Acount, Call duration, Call duration (s).
Your telephone system (or PBX, PABX) produces a packet of data (a call record) after every phone call your company or office makes through it. These call records contain important information about each call, including whether it was an incoming call, and outgoing call, or another type, such as an internal (extension to extension) call.
Call log records from AYC IPcts contain information about the caller phone and the dealed phone, as well as extra information such as the call duration, the time of the call, and other information, such as which telephone line (trunk) was used to carry the call.
The usual practice of AYC IPcts call logging involves capturing these call records, parsing it, and storing them in a database, and their subsequent retrieval by way of a reporting interface.
AYC IPcts call logging
Note #2: Products and companies mentioned here are used only for definition and identification purposes and can be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective companies.


text:
Great Product Design is Also About Avoiding Bad User Experiences
This is the story of Willy, a friend of mine who has been looking for a new bicycle for months. While observing his experiences with the buying process, I started to think of the different ways that we need to think about customers.
Willy saw a "Trek fuel EX9 29" on sale on the website thebikeofmydreams.com. The original price of that model was around $4000, but on that day the site was selling it for $3200. He had never bought a product on that website before, but the price was so attractive that he decided to give it a try.
During the purchase process, he struggled at the payment step. He thought it was his fault, that he was doing something wrong. It was unclear to him as to why the payment attempt was not successful. However, he wanted that bike for that price so badly that he decided to repeat the entire purchase process. This time, he successfully completed the purchase. The bad experience was forgotten, and he now very happily awaited the new bike to start racing in competitions.
However, three days later, he checked his credit card balance and found out he was double-charged for that purchase. He was upset and was now regretting buying it online.
Do Not Underestimate the Power of Memory
Feelings of frustration with a product/service can be exaggerated or amplified by the memory of a previous bad experience. Now let's imagine that one week before Willy purchased his new bike, he was wrongly charged on his utility bill (say his mobile) and had to make a claim for a refund via a customer service number. He went through an exhausting process. He was redirected multiple times to different people until someone finally managed to fix his problem. It took an extremely long time for his problem to get sorted out.
Now, back to his current problem. He will have to call customer service to make a claim for a refund on his credit card. He is now stressed and feels anxious. He imagines that he will have to undergo the same time-consuming and tiring process that he went through before. He was only trying to get a good deal, but is now feeling sad and regretful of his decision. All these bad feelings, triggered by the memory of a bad experience, are now associated with the experience of buying a product at thebikeofmydreams.com. He is already inclined to never buy again on this website, even before knowing how the the refund process will turn out.
That is an example, of how a current experience can be amplified by previous bad experiences. Worst case scenario, your service will be associated with the terrible experience and your brand will be put in the same category of other brands that don't take good care of their customers.
How the Back-End Works Has an Impact on End Users
A common mistake I've seen some teams make is to ignore the overall impact of what they do on the end users' experience. This is more common when the team is working on backend services with no direct interface with the end user. In these cases, a common thought is: "our impact on the user experience is little or none, because what we are doing is several layers away from the user interface". That is a wrong assumption to make.
Now let's take a look at the development team that is working on a new backend service for thebikeofmydreams.com.
The team is working on a payment solution to process payments for thebikeofmydreams.com's shopping cart. This service integrates the website with a variety of different payment gateways. It gets purchase orders from the site, and routes the payment requests to the Payment Service Provider (PSP), which will then provide the authorization for each transaction from the acquiring bank. At the end of this process, the completed transaction is communicated to the user through the same communication chain. The payment solution will also provide information to other internal systems of the company, such as revenue accounting and others. In other words, the payment solution being developed has no direct interface with the end user consumer.
The main concern for the team is the one related to the system's performance and scalability, and most of the discussions are from the perspective of third party systems consuming the service. The mindset of the team is: "we are developing a service to be consumed by internal systems, we should not be spending much time talking user experience, as we have no influence on the user interface".
Great Product Design Puts the User at the Heart of Every Decision
The impact on user experience doesn't come just from the interface.
Let us come back to Willy's problem on thebikeofmydreams.com. After Willy submits his credit card information, the acquirer authorizes the payment, and for some reason, the final response shown to him (interface layer) is that the transaction could not be completed. So he makes a new payment.
Let us now look at this from a different perspective. In the backend system, the payment solution considered the transaction to be valid, but due to a problem in the chain of communication, Willy is wrongly informed that the transaction is not successful. Long story short: to the system, his payment is valid, but to him his payment has been denied. Therefore he makes a new payment, which the system also considered valid. So to the system, he has made two purchases, and to him, he has made a single one.
What exactly went wrong? Could the problem be in the final response from the PSP to the payment solution, or in the PSP itself, or maybe even, in the connection between the PSP and the acquiring network (usually banks that authorize credit card transactions) that was failing? To Willy, this is not important. He only wants to buy his new bike and pay for it.
Now the team decides to map a potential user journey and identifies where they can improve the user experience.
At the end of this work, they decide to implement the following improvements:
- Minimize the chain of communication or integration points, thereby significantly reducing the risk of downtime or miscommunication between third party systems. They will also create a contingency plan for the cases when downtime happens in one of the payment providers (example: fallback connection).
- Design a feature that will keep track of inconsistent cases (such as Willy's). With that in place, they will be able to validate the response received from third party systems, and also ensure that the message is displayed to the user before the end of the process. If the pieces of information don't match, the system will trigger an alert to customer service. This will allow them to contact the customer to solve problems proactively.
- Implement a mechanism to automatically retry sending payment confirmation when the last mile of communication flow fails.
Happy Path: When Comparison Pays Off
Now let us imagine how Willy's experience would have been if a user centered solution had already been in place.
Willy sees a nice bicycle on sale on thebikeofmydreams.com. For some reason, when he pays, he is unable to work out why his payment attempt is not successful. However, he wants that bike so badly, he decides to repeat the entire purchase process. This time he successfully completes the purchase. Now, forgetting his earlier bad experience, he is very happy to have his new bike to start using in his competitions. Three days later, he receives a call. It is someone from thebikeofmydreams.com asking him to confirm if he bought two units of the same product on the same day. He reports that he had a problem paying and because of that, he repeated the purchase. The attendant apologizes for the inconvenience and informs him that he will receive a refund for the second transaction mistakenly credited to his credit card. Willy feels pleasantly surprised about how the situation is handled before it became a bigger problem. He hadn't checked his credit card balance yet, but is impressed with the good service. Now he thinks thebikeofmydreams.com is a reliable company for online purchases. He will definitely search for products on thebikeofmydreams.com whenever he feels like buying bicycle parts online.
(*) The thebikeofmydream.com is not a real site and was created with the purpose of illustrating the idea of the post. This post was created in September 2016, and at the time of writing, the site and brand did not exist.
Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Thoughtworks.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Effective tools for educators and others to teach morals utilizing The Way to Happiness precepts have been developed through three decades of experience.
Public service announcements (PSAs) spread the message broadly, and a book-on-film is used widely by teachers, professors, business executives, law enforcement, community leaders, doctors, lawyers, correctional officers and clergy to help others lead happier and more honest lives through application of the precepts of The Way to Happiness.
As L. Ron Hubbard noted when he authored The Way to Happiness, the broad application of these 21 precepts will restore the bonds that unite humankind.


text:
Known for realistic, exquisite reproductions of still life images, it is no coincidence that Javier Mulio is simply known as Javier among his international list of collectors. Hailing from the artistically popular Alcoy (Alicante) Spain, Javier was born December 24, 1957 and was inspired by the artists around him at an early age. He started painting at fourteen and quickly began formal training four years later.
From 1962 to 1971 Javier studied at the Virgen de los Lirios in his home-town and remained there while he received a Fourth Degree Certificate. He also studied at the School of Mila Gómez between 1973 and 1976. His personal style and technique blend his interests in photography with the styles he learned under the Classic Master Zurbarán and instructor Mila Gómez. Javier credits his admiration and study of Salvador Dalí with inspiring him to explore the possibilities of art.
Javier discovered great passion and success in depicting his favorite still life subjects - flowers and fruit. His style lends perception, elegance and simplicity to the objects he portrays. By identifying the beauty and small details of the world around him, a magnificent still life takes form in Javier's paintings.
Upon completing his education, Javier began painting professionally and has since become internationally recognized for the realistic, small details he captures in his still life images. His works are included in private collections throughout Japan, Saudi Arabia, Jakarta, Bahrain, Holland and the United States. Collectors include a Saudi Arabian Prince, and many other important aristocrats and business people throughout the world. Javier's style has met with great success, including international exhibitions at the Galería Sanchez, Granada, Spain in 1982, Galería Aguado, Logroño, Spain in 1995 and Galerie Soria, Chateauroux, France in 1996. In 1997 his work became available in the United States, and he has enjoyed further recognition at national art shows.


text:
Ex Com was asked by email on 7/13/19 to vote on the following. The FSU Executive Committee voted to approve the motion. The motion passed 11 votes in favor, 1 opposed.
If passed by a simple majority of the FSU Executive Committee, the following statement will be sent (within one business day of the majority being achieved) as a freestanding email message to our membership with the subject line "Shared Governance and the Chancellor Search Committee." The Communications Director of the FSU will also forward the message to the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the President of the University of Massachusetts system.
"The Executive Committee of the Faculty-Staff Union would like to commend our colleagues on the Faculty Council Executive Committee for the rigorous work they have done in soliciting and vetting nominations for the Chancellor Search Committee. The Faculty Council's nomination process was careful and transparent and in keeping with best practices recommended by the AAUP. We urge the Chair of the Board of Trustees to respect this work of the Faculty Council Executive Committee and, per their recommendations, appoint Professors Tim Hacsi (CLA), Michael Johnson (MGS), Heike Schotten (CLA), Eduardo Siqueira (SE), and Kiran Verma (CM) to the search committee.
We also want to express our gratitude to the Faculty Council Executive Committee for its reaffirmation of the basic principles of shared governance."


text:
Team B and I want to remind you of our actual challenge, which is an "Anything Goes - Steampunk/Industrial" one as usual.
We would love to see your steampunk or industrial themed mixed media cards, tags, journal pages, canvasses, altered objects and whatever else you can imagine and create for our challenge! And by playing along you also get the chance to be picked as one of our two random prize winners of the prizes sponsored by DecoArt Media and boozybear!
To get your creative juices flowing Team B have prepared another bundle of inspiration for you. So check out their makes (and if you take a sec to leave them a comment on their blogs you will make them very happy!):
Steampunk and Tyvek - a magical connection.
Do you know Tyvek???
If you want to learn more about it,
you are at the right place!
I was inspired by the story of Captain Nemo
and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
to dive deep into the Kraken's lair!
Whirlpool swirls, lots of DecoArt paints, crusty rust, a Kraken...
and I love that Kerstin and I both played with Tyvek this month!
This Steampunk Bee Keeper bracelet started life as a lonely toilet paper roll
and through a creative mind, some leather paper,
and plenty of paints/sprays it was transformed.
Carpe Diem!
Well I have gone for a vintage feel this month using
Deco Art chalky paint and media paste's.
Boozy bear chipboard pieces a la blanche stamp.
A few embellishments to complete the piece
and its completed.
I recently felt the urge to browse and get out all my long hoarded found objects and embellishments and this inspired me to create some assemblage art in a box.
If you haven't seen the makes of Team A at the start of the month, I highly recommend you take a look at those too (by clicking HERE)!
The challenge is open until the end of the month and our Top 5 and prize winners will be announced on a Saturday shortly after the start of our two months long summer special challenge for July and August! In the meantime:
Hugs and happy steampunk craftin'!
Claudia & SASPC Team


text:
NASA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are collaborating on a first-of-its-kind portable radar device to detect the heartbeats and breathing patterns of victims trapped in large piles of rubble resulting from a disaster.
The prototype technology, called Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) can locate individuals buried as deep as 30 feet (about 9 meters) in crushed materials, hidden behind 20 feet (about 6 meters) of solid concrete, and from a distance of 100 feet (about 30 meters) in open spaces.
Developed in conjunction with Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, FINDER is based on remote-sensing radar technology developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., to monitor the location of spacecraft JPL manages for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
"FINDER is bringing NASA technology that explores other planets to the effort to save lives on ours," said Mason Peck, chief technologist for NASA, and principal advisor on technology policy and programs. "This is a prime example of intergovernmental collaboration and expertise that has a direct benefit to the American taxpayer."
The technology was demonstrated to the media Wednesday at the DHS's Virginia Task Force 1 Training Facility in Lorton, Va. Media participated in demonstrations that featured the device locating volunteers hiding under heaps of debris. FINDER also will be tested further by the Federal Emergency Management Agency this year and next.
"The ultimate goal of FINDER is to help emergency responders efficiently rescue victims of disasters," said John Price, program manager for the First Responders Group in Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate in Washington. "The technology has the potential to quickly identify the presence of living victims, allowing rescue workers to more precisely deploy their limited resources."
The technology works by beaming microwave radar signals into the piles of debris and analyzing the patterns of signals that bounce back. NASA's Deep Space Network regularly uses similar radar technology to locate spacecraft. A light wave is sent to a spacecraft, and the time it takes for the signal to get back reveals how far away the spacecraft is. This technique is used for science research, too. For example, the Deep Space Network monitors the location of the Cassini mission's orbit around Saturn to learn about the ringed planet's internal structure.
"Detecting small motions from the victim's heartbeat and breathing from a distance uses the same kind of signal processing as detecting the small changes in motion of spacecraft like Cassini as it orbits Saturn," said James Lux, task manager for FINDER at JPL.
In disaster scenarios, the use of radar signals can be particularly complex. Earthquakes and tornadoes produce twisted and shattered wreckage, such that any radar signals bouncing back from these piles are tangled and hard to decipher. JPL's expertise in data processing helped with this challenge. Advanced algorithms isolate the tiny signals from a person's moving chest by filtering out other signals, such as those from moving trees and animals.
Similar technology has potential applications in NASA's future human missions to space habitats. The astronauts' vital signs could be monitored without the need for wires.
The Deep Space Network, managed by JPL, is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions.
For more information about NASA programs, visit:
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
Whitney Clavin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Elise Rand
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Science and Technology Directorate, Washington


text:
Generic Types in Visual Basic (Visual Basic)
A generic type is a single programming element that adapts to perform the same functionality for a variety of data types. When you define a generic class or procedure, you do not have to define a separate version for each data type for which you might want to perform that functionality.
An analogy is a screwdriver set with removable heads. You inspect the screw you need to turn and select the correct head for that screw (slotted, crossed, starred). Once you insert the correct head in the screwdriver handle, you perform the exact same function with the screwdriver, namely turning the screw.
When you define a generic type, you parameterize it with one or more data types. This allows the using code to tailor the data types to its requirements. Your code can declare several different programming elements from the generic element, each one acting on a different set of data types. But the declared elements all perform the identical logic, no matter what data types they are using.
For example, you might want to create and use a queue class that operates on a specific data type such as String
. You can declare such a class from System.Collections.Generic.Queue<T>, as the following example shows.
Public stringQ As New System.Collections.Generic.Queue(Of String)
You can now use stringQ
to work exclusively with String
values. Because stringQ
is specific for String
instead of being generalized for Object
values, you do not have late binding or type conversion. This saves execution time and reduces run-time errors.
For more information on using a generic type, see How to: Use a Generic Class.
Example of a Generic Class
The following example shows a skeleton definition of a generic class.
Public Class classHolder(Of t)
Public Sub processNewItem(ByVal newItem As t)
Dim tempItem As t
' Insert code that processes an item of data type t.
End Sub
End Class
In the preceding skeleton, t
is a type parameter, that is, a placeholder for a data type that you supply when you declare the class. Elsewhere in your code, you can declare various versions of classHolder
by supplying various data types for t
. The following example shows two such declarations.
Public integerClass As New classHolder(Of Integer)
Friend stringClass As New classHolder(Of String)
The preceding statements declare constructed classes, in which a specific type replaces the type parameter. This replacement is propagated throughout the code within the constructed class. The following example shows what the processNewItem
procedure looks like in integerClass
Public Sub processNewItem(ByVal newItem As Integer)
Dim tempItem As Integer
' Inserted code now processes an Integer item.
End Sub
For a more complete example, see How to: Define a Class That Can Provide Identical Functionality on Different Data Types.
Eligible Programming Elements
You can define and use generic classes, structures, interfaces, procedures, and delegates. Note that the .NET Framework defines several generic classes, structures, and interfaces that represent commonly used generic elements. The System.Collections.Generic namespace provides dictionaries, lists, queues, and stacks. Before defining your own generic element, see if it is already available in System.Collections.Generic.
Procedures are not types, but you can define and use generic procedures. See Generic Procedures in Visual Basic.
Advantages of Generic Types
A generic type serves as a basis for declaring several different programming elements, each of which operates on a specific data type. The alternatives to a generic type are:
A single type operating on the
data type.A set of type-specific versions of the type, each version individually coded and operating on one specific data type such as
, or a user-defined type such ascustomer
A generic type has the following advantages over these alternatives:
Type Safety. Generic types enforce compile-time type checking. Types based on
accept any data type, and you must write code to check whether an input data type is acceptable. With generic types, the compiler can catch type mismatches before run time.Performance. Generic types do not have to box and unbox data, because each one is specialized for one data type. Operations based on
must box input data types to convert them toObject
and unbox data destined for output. Boxing and unboxing reduce performance.Types based on
are also late-bound, which means that accessing their members requires extra code at run time. This also reduces performance.Code Consolidation. The code in a generic type has to be defined only once. A set of type-specific versions of a type must replicate the same code in each version, with the only difference being the specific data type for that version. With generic types, the type-specific versions are all generated from the original generic type.
Code Reuse. Code that does not depend on a particular data type can be reused with various data types if it is generic. You can often reuse it even with a data type that you did not originally predict.
IDE Support. When you use a constructed type declared from a generic type, the integrated development environment (IDE) can give you more support while you are developing your code. For example, IntelliSense can show you the type-specific options for an argument to a constructor or method.
Generic Algorithms. Abstract algorithms that are type-independent are good candidates for generic types. For example, a generic procedure that sorts items using the IComparable interface can be used with any data type that implements IComparable.
Although the code in a generic type definition should be as type-independent as possible, you might need to require a certain capability of any data type supplied to your generic type. For example, if you want to compare two items for the purpose of sorting or collating, their data type must implement the IComparable interface. You can enforce this requirement by adding a constraint to the type parameter.
Example of a Constraint
The following example shows a skeleton definition of a class with a constraint that requires the type argument to implement IComparable.
Public Class itemManager(Of t As IComparable)
' Insert code that defines class members.
End Class
If subsequent code attempts to construct a class from itemManager
supplying a type that does not implement IComparable, the compiler signals an error.
Types of Constraints
Your constraint can specify the following requirements in any combination:
The type argument must implement one or more interfaces
The type argument must be of the type of, or inherit from, at most one class
The type argument must expose a parameterless constructor accessible to the code that creates objects from it
The type argument must be a reference type, or it must be a value type
If you need to impose more than one requirement, you use a comma-separated constraint list inside braces ({ }
). To require an accessible constructor, you include the New Operator keyword in the list. To require a reference type, you include the Class
keyword; to require a value type, you include the Structure
For more information on constraints, see Type List.
Example of Multiple Constraints
The following example shows a skeleton definition of a generic class with a constraint list on the type parameter. In the code that creates an instance of this class, the type argument must implement both the IComparable and IDisposable interfaces, be a reference type, and expose an accessible parameterless constructor.
Public Class thisClass(Of t As {IComparable, IDisposable, Class, New})
' Insert code that defines class members.
End Class
Important Terms
Generic types introduce and use the following terms:
Generic Type. A definition of a class, structure, interface, procedure, or delegate for which you supply at least one data type when you declare it.
Type Parameter. In a generic type definition, a placeholder for a data type you supply when you declare the type.
Type Argument. A specific data type that replaces a type parameter when you declare a constructed type from a generic type.
Constraint. A condition on a type parameter that restricts the type argument you can supply for it. A constraint can require that the type argument must implement a particular interface, be or inherit from a particular class, have an accessible parameterless constructor, or be a reference type or a value type. You can combine these constraints, but you can specify at most one class.
Constructed Type. A class, structure, interface, procedure, or delegate declared from a generic type by supplying type arguments for its type parameters.
See also
Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see:Submit and view feedback for


text: An engine's camshafts must be set at their proper positions relative to the crankshaft in order to maximize horsepower. Pro Series Cam Gears for Honda's B-series and H23A1 engines enable serious tuners to optimize horsepower and torque by being able to adjust camshaft timing +/- 10 degrees, in one-degree increments, allowing them to tailor the power curve appropriately. Thanks to laser-etched timing and directional marks, precise camshaft adjustments can be made quickly and easily. Pro Series Cam Gears feature precision-machined, hard-anodized teeth to reduce premature wear with a signature, six-bolt design that eliminates gear slipping. Skunk2's lightweight design (35 percent lighter than OEM) and CNC-machined, 7075-T6 billet aluminum construction reduces rotational inertia, resulting in increased engine response and acceleration. Skunk2's adjustable cam gears have also been proven on race cars in the most extreme conditions for more than a decade.


text:
"The Jayne Short"- Emerald Garden
"The Jayne Short"
The most cozy lounge shorts you will EVER meet! Our buttery soft and stretchy fabric makes for the perfect fit. The 2" waistband is made for a comfortable wear, high or low waist. The dolphin hem and a little longer in the back give these shorts their beautiful shape. Oh and we couldn't forget the pockets! Mix and match with one of our new crops tops, Treat Yourself!
Model is wearing size- Large
Fabric: 96% Polyester, 4% Spandex
Care Instructions:
Machine Wash Delicate with like colors, Light Tumble Dry or Hang Dry
Garment Made in the USA
We happily accept unworn, unwashed, and unaltered merchandise for return or exchange. For merchandise returned within 30 days of the date of shipment arrival, a refund will be issued to the original form of payment at the original selling price. If returned after 30 days, a merchandise credit will be issued at the original selling price. We cannot accept returns past 90 days. Defective items may still be accepted.
For all items returned using a pre-paid label that has been issued to you, the amount will be deducted from your refund at the time it is processed. If the item is defective, the shipping costs will not apply.
We do not refund the original shipping and handling paid on the order unless the item was defective or an exception was made.


text: Plum tuckered By Byddi Lee April 2, 2020 July 8, 2011 4 Comments on Plum tuckered It's raining plums in our front yard right now. Big, purple, juicy, sweet, delicious plums. The kind that burst when they hit you, leaving a magenta splodge, so you look like you are in the middle of a paintball game. Read More Plum tuckered


text:
The Monster Upstairs
Elle Klass
(Bloodseeker, #2)
Publication date: March 7th 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
A mysterious blinding white light followed by a vision haunts Mandy until something unthinkable happens. She comes home from school to find her mother badly injured. On instinct, through her tears, forces from within her surge through her fingertips into her mother, giving her a second wind. She urges Mandy to take a note and leave but she can't, not yet.
Her hot dark haired, muscle-bound neighbor Joel finds her and drags her crying towards the door. What awaits them on the other side sends them back into the house where she learns Joel isn't who she thought. Her entire life gets turned upside down as her destiny sends her and Joel deep into the world of supernatural creatures and Bloodseekers.
Before she finished her thought he grabbed her hands. Energy excited her molecules and zipped through her body. She recognized the feeling and wasn't shocked when he let go of her hands and they were behind the stadium in the field where she first learned Veronica was a witch.
"It's more private here. We don't need people listening to us. And your friend is on her way," he said with grin."What?" she said before she remembered witches were telepathic. "Never mind," she followed up with.
"I'm Cody."
Within a few minutes Lacey joined them, jumping right into it and getting to the point. "I'm so happy you found us. We could use you on our side."
He smiled. "My parents are powerful witches. As their offspring, I have a collection of all their powers; telekinesis, telepathy, lighting balls and bolts, teleportation, and pretty much anything. Anyone in a witch bloodline has magic, but it has to be practiced."
Lacey stomped her foot and folded her arms over her chest. "You've known about us. You see our glow, so why didn't you come to us sooner?"
He chuckled. "I'm a witch. I know this is new to you, but we don't get involved unless you need us. We created Slayers. One person, every other generation in a witch of the light bloodline, that the spelled amulets call to and who can use the magic inside the amulet."
Alison rolled the idea around in her head. That wasn't news, but she grasped again at the light witch bloodline thing. A thought clung to her brain and manifested. They didn't derive all their power from the amulets. They each had magic inside them that accentuated the magic in the amulet.
Lacey twisted her face. "You can help us?
"I can help you draw on your own magic that makes the magic in the amulets stronger. Don't get me wrong, you won't be able to share each other's magic unless you are connected by touch but you can strengthen the spelled magic in the amulets and do most anything with it," he paused.
"I don't know if you've felt it, but there's disturbance in our energy field. Something big is happening, coming our way. We need to be prepared and ready and you need to tap into powers that other Slayers naturally tap into overtime. You don't have that time," he said, his face and voice grave.
Author Bio:
Elle was born in Redwood City, California and spent her childhood growing in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor's degree in education. For fun she reads, spends time at the beach, travels, and enjoys time with her favorite friends, and family. She is night-owl and gets the majority of her creative writing done during the dark hours.


text:
What is the role of central banks for banking supervision?
Speech by Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB
Introductory remarks at panel discussion at the ZEIT Konferenz 'Finanzplatz: Menschen und Entscheidungen'
Frankfurt am Main, 8 September 2008
The ECB has already expressed its position on the possible role of central bank in financial supervision in 2001. This was triggered in the context in which some countries were in the process of transferring the supervisory function from the central bank to independent authorities.
The main position at that time, which remains valid today, is that there is no optimal arrangement for the organisation of supervision at the national level. All organisational models – sectoral supervision, supervision by objectives, supervision in a single authority – can in principle work well or fail depending on circumstances. However, regardless of the model, it is important that there exists a very close and smooth interplay between the central banking and the supervisory function.
Does the experience of the turmoil bring new elements in this domain? This is certainly the case. In general the turmoil has clearly confirmed the importance of a strong interaction between central banks and banking supervisors as also confirmed by the specific recommendation of the Financial Stability Forum in this field. As a new element the turmoil has somewhat contributed to specifying the relevant areas in which this interplay should be reinforced.
First, in the area of monitoring and assessing risks to financial stability, central banks can benefit from extended access to supervisory information and intelligence to better understand risks and vulnerabilities for the financial system as a whole. At the same, there is clearly the issue, of how to translate the outcome of the financial stability assessment into supervisory action. In principle one cannot but agree that there should be a way through which, if the central bank identifies serious risks to financial stability, the competent supervisor should be able to act. Therefore, communication needs to go both ways: from the central bank to supervisors and vice versa within the respective legal framework.
Second, in the area of liquidity, there is clearly room for a closer interplay between the two authorities. Central banks would benefit from enhanced access to supervisory information and intelligence for its role of maintaining stable money markets. To that end for instance access to information on banks' liquidity contingency planning funds would be useful. At the same time, supervisors would benefit from information available at central banks stemming from their role in the money markets.
Third, in the area of crisis management and resolution, depending on the nature and feature of the crisis, there is a need for close interaction between the two authorities. Provision of Emergency Liquidity Assistance is a clear point in case where central banks need supervisory information for decision-making. In this field, I believe that an important step forward is represented by the recent MoU on financial stability arrangement signed by the EU central banks, supervisors and ministries of finance in June 2008.
Finally, referring more to the supervisory domain but still linked to the central bank interest, the turmoil has evidenced the need for strengthening the macro-prudential dimension of regulation and supervision. This means the regulatory and supervisory requirements should be able to ensure adequate capital and liquidity buffers throughout the economic cycle. In this regard, the actual impact of the new capital adequacy regime under of Basel II will have to be monitored very closely.
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The Tradition concerning the all-male priesthood is about the Blood. This is why a male may stand at the altar, but not a woman. The blood work of Jesus Christ is the work of the dying and rising God. The blood work of Mary is about giving life and humanity to the Son of God. The priesthood originated among archaic peoples who observed the binary distinction of male and female blood work.
Alice C. Linsley
In the Episcopal Church USA, the innovation of women priests has caused great confusion and division. This has spread throughout the whole Anglican Communion. This innovation is contrary to the binary pattern of Holy Scripture whereby the "blood work" of women and of men is distinct and never confused. A female standing as a priest at the altar is as confusing as a male image intended to represent the Virgin Mary.
If the priest is an icon of Jesus Christ, then the priesthood is a Christological matter, and as such, it necessarily touches on soteriology. It cannot be a matter of secondary importance. Anglicans, even bishops, have no authority to change the received tradition concerning Jesus Christ, our Priest who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
Arch-heretic Schori |
C.S. Lewis is correct that when it comes to received Tradition, "We cannot shuffle or tamper so much. With the Church, we are farther in: for there we are dealing with male and female not merely as facts of nature but as the live and awful shadows of realities utterly beyond our control and largely beyond our direct knowledge. Or rather, we are not dealing with them but (as we shall soon learn if we meddle) they are dealing with us." (From Priestesses in the Church?)
Priests or shamans?
It is obvious that women are not strong enough to lift large animals and to restrain them long enough to slit their throats for sacrifice. It is also a fact that there is no anthropological evidence of women priests in the ancient world. The so-called "priestesses" of the pagan shrines such as the Pythia at Delphi, were not priests, but shamans. Priests and shamans represent different worldviews. Themistoclea of Delphi represents the shamanistic approach and Deborah represents an approach in which consultation of spirits and drug-induced trance states is forbidden. Both women were consulted by their people, but their methods and the sources of their information were very different.[1]
The priesthood originated among Abraham's Proto-Saharan ancestors and from the beginning was a sign pointing to the one true Form of Priest, Jesus Christ.[2] Every priest, either living before Christ or after Christ's appearing, stands as a sign pointing to Him and receives the priesthood from Him.
The priesthood is a unique office and it is impossible to change it in any essential way. All attempts to change the priesthood, such as developed out of Protestantism or the ordination of women "priests", corrupt the sign so that it no longer points to the Jesus the true Priest, who is the fulfillment of the Horite expectation of the Divine Seed (Gen. 3:15). The Church has no authority to change the ontological pattern since the priesthood existed before the Church. The priesthood was not established by the Apostles, nor even by Jesus Christ Himself, but is an historical reality with a point of origin among Abraham's Kushite ruler-priest ancestors (Horites/Horim).
The first ruler-priest mentioned in the Bible is Melchizedek who lived during the time of Abraham. It is clear from Genesis 14 that Melchizedek and Abraham were well acquainted. Both belonged to the Horite ruler-priest caste which practiced endogamy. In other words, Abraham and Melchizedek were kinsmen. It is likely that Melchizedek was the brother-in-law of Joktan, Abraham's father-in-law.
The author of Hebrews tells us that Melchizedek points to Jesus as the true Priest: "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:13-20)
Melchizedek represents the Messianic priesthood, but he does not represent the beginning of the priesthood. Cain and Abel acted as priests when they offered sacrifices in Genesis 4. This means that the priesthood was not established by the Apostles, it existed long before them. According to Saint John Chrysostom, a Church Father, the priesthood "is ranked among heavenly ordinances. And this is only right, for no man, no angel, no archangel, no other created power, but the Paraclete himself ordained this succession..."[3]
If the Apostles are not the source of the Christian priesthood, what is the source? It can only be the eternal Christ, who is the eternal Form/Priest. Through Jesus Christ the eternal truth signified by the Priesthood comes into focus. He alone is Priest, fulfilling atonement through His own shed blood. The Priesthood therefore, is necessarily tied to the Blood of Jesus Christ. Where people deny the saving nature of Jesus' Blood there can be no true Priesthood. Any priest who denies the necessity of repentance and trust in Jesus' Blood as the means of forgiveness, is a false priest.
What can we say about the Priesthood?
The priesthood is one of the oldest religious offices in the world, traced back to at least 4000 B.C. It emerged out of the Proto-Saharan and Nilotic context and extended from the Sudan and ancient Nubia through Arabia to the Indus River Valley. According to the Vedic book, the Matsya, the Kushites (Sa-ka) ruled the ancient world for 7000 years. They spread their binary worldview and their religious practices, such a falcon-shaped fire altars dedicated to Horus. The Vedic Priest Manuals (Brahmanas) [4] speak of how the Brahman offered sacrifice at altars which they constructed according to geometry and at the proper seasons which they determined through astronomy. The Vedas also reveal the danger of a priestly order that becomes too powerful and self-serving, as happened also with the ruler-priests of Jesus' time (Sanhedrin). When the True Priest appeared among them, they were unable to recognize Him because their understanding of the office of the Priest had become corrupted.
The priest must be understood against the backdrop of Horite perceptions of blood as the substance of life or the ground of Being. The binary aspect of blood is seen in the belief that it can both purify and pollute. The priest was not to come into contact with blood before his time of service in the temple. Contact with blood or a corpse caused him to be ritually impure. At the same time, spiritual contamination was cleansed by the blood of sacrificed lambs. Purity, holiness and blood are closely related concepts among the Afro-Asiatics, as is evident from linguistic study. The Hebrew thr means "to be pure" and corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm toro, meaning "to be clean." They are related to the Ethiopian Amarigna word anatara, which means "pure" and to the Tamil tiru, which means "holy." There is a relationship to the proto-Dravidian tor, meaning "blood." In some Kushitic languages mtoro means rain and toro refers to God. The Egyptian ntr, meaning deity, is related and also refers to deified Horite rulers.
From the dawn of time humans recognized that life is in the blood. They saw offspring born of water and the blood. They knew that the loss of blood could bring death. Killing animals in the hunt also meant life for the community. They sought ways to ensure that their dead entered life beyond the grave, especially their rulers who could intercede for them before the Deity. This is why peoples around the world covered their dead rulers in red ochre dust as early as 80,000 years ago.[5] This red dust is a sign pointing to the Pleromic Blood of Jesus.[6]
God planted eternity in our hearts so we innately know that Christ's Blood is not only redemptive, but also the source of our life. This is what St. Paul calls "the mystery of Christ". As his second missionary journey, Paul preached that, "in Him [Jesus Christ] we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) He also wrote: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. (Eph. 1:7-10)
These words follow Paul's explanation of the saving work of Jesus Christ in Ephesians: But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For He is peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in His own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single man in Himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the Cross, to unite them both in a single body and reconcile them with God. In His own person He killed the hostility... Through Him, both of us have in one Spirit our way to come to the Father. (Eph. 2:13-14)
Second, we know that the priest functions to mitigate blood guilt. Anthropologists have noted that there is considerable anxiety about shed blood among primitive peoples.[7] Among the Afro-Asiatics, the priesthood served to relieve blood guilt and anxiety and to perform rites of purity. The priest addresses impurities by seeking purification through blood sacrifice. He also addresses anxiety about shed blood through blood sacrifice.
Third, we know that no woman served as a priest in any official capacity. Women did not enter the area of the altar where blood was offered in animal sacrifice. We know this because the Afro-Asiatics, from whom we received the priestly office, believed that the blood shed by men and women were never to mix or even be in the same place. Sacred law prohibited the blood shed in killing (male) and the blood shed in giving life (female) to share the same space. This binary worldview supports clear distinction between life and death. The same distinction of life-taking and life-giving is behind the law that forbids boiling a young goat in its mother's milk (Deut. 14:21).
The innovation of women priests begin in the Episcopal Church USA and has led to the demise of that denomination. Many of the women who were encouraged to become priests were latter inhibited from ministry with TEC's hit list now well beyond 600. Not surprisingly, the Episcopal Church has a seminary president, Katharine Ragsdale, who stated in a sermon that abortion is a blessing:
Let me hear you say it:
Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.
Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.
Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.
When we overthrow the binary distinction between life-giving and life-taking, we are left with darkened minds and barbarity.
The ontological impossibility of women priests
Scripture speaks of numerous women in positions of leadership, but none were priests. Deborah and Huldah were regarded as prophets and their families were in the priestly lines. Daughters of priests, such as Asenath and Zipporah, are remembered as great women as well. However not a single women can be identified as a priest in the Bible or in the history of the Church. It is clear then that women have never been priests and that the nature of the priesthood from the beginning has been such that it pertains only to men.
The biblical worldview is not concerned with subjective opposites such as tall-short, talented-untalented, dark skin-light skin, intelligent-unintelligent, etc. as these are relative and subjective, not absolute and objective. The Bible is concerned about what is ontologically real. It is not a book of superstition or antiquated ideas. It is full of reason and evidence of empirical observation.
The binary distinctions were the basis for law and religious practice in the Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Both law and religion recognized that one of the opposites is always greater in some way. The Sun's light is greater than moonlight. Males are stronger and larger than females. Heaven is more glorious than earth, and life is superior to death. Only in this last category is the feminine greater than the masculine, because the blood of menstruation and childbirth speaks of life, whereas the blood drawn by men in war, hunting and animal sacrifice speaks of death.
Warriors were responsible for the blood they shed in battle. Hunters were responsible for the blood they shed in the hunt, and priests were responsible for the blood of the animals they sacrificed. Midwives, wives and mothers were responsible for the blood of first intercourse, menstrual blood and blood shed in childbirth. The two bloods were never to mix or even to be present in the same space. Women did not participate in war, the hunt, and in ritual sacrifices. Likewise, men were not present at the circumcision of females or in the "mother's house" to which women went during menses and to give birth.
Because the Creator wants the distinction between life and death to be clear at all times to all peoples, He established this distinction between the "blood work" of women and men. This distinction between the two bloods is the basis for the priesthood, an office ontologically exclusive to males, since only men in the priestly lines could fill the office. This is a received tradition and a holy ordinance which no synod or jurisdiction has authority to change. The priesthood speaks of ancient holy tradition [8], not a creed, but rather the person of Jesus Christ.
God has not changed the office of the priesthood. It survives in Christian communities that preserve Holy Tradition received concerning the Son of God. When the priesthood is held high and priests live above contamination, the world is drawn to Jesus Christ. This happens because there is only one Priesthood: the Messianic Priesthood. There is only one Priest: Jesus Christ, and there is only one Blood, Christ's pleromic blood which is the life of the world.
St. Paul expresses it this way: "There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. There is one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, and one God and father of all, over all, through all and within all." (Eph. 4:4-5)
As C.S. Lewis has written: "I have every respect for those who wish women to be priestesses. I think they are sincere and pious and sensible people. Indeed, in a way they are too sensible... I am tempted to say that the proposed arrangement would make us much more rational, but not near so much like a Church." (From Priestesses in the Church?)
Related Reading: The Priesthood is About the Blood; Female Shamans, Not Women Priests; Rethinking "Biblical Equality"; Women Priests by E.L. Mascall; Women Priests; God as Male Priest; Levi-Strauss and Derrida on Binary Oppositions; The Question of Women Priests Must Be Addressed; Women Priests: History and Theology by Patrick Henry Reardon; Water and Blood; Blood and Binary Distinctions
1. To read about the difference between the worldviews of the priest and the shaman, go here.
2. Plato taught that there is but one true Form of all observable entities and this Form exists in eternity (outside of time and space). Species of natural objects observed are reflections of their true Forms. Plato studied for thirteen years at Heliopolis (Biblical On) in Egypt under a Horite priest.
3. St. John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (1977), p. 70.
4. The Brahamas are Vedic texts that provide instruction for Hindu priests. These texts give detailed instructions about sacrifices offered at altars of fire. They also make it evident that the Priest is a close associate of the King and the King relies heavily upon the Priests' services. This is evident in the Priest-King relationship that we find n the Old Testament. For more on this, see Bujor Avari's book India: The Ancient Past, pp. 77-79.
5. Anthropologists have discovered that the wider the dispersion of a culture trait the older the trait.
6. Sophisticated mining operations in the Lebombo Mountains of southern Africa reveal that thousands of workers were extracting red ochre which was ground into powder and used in the burial of nobles in places as distant as Wales, Czechoslovakia and Australia. Anthropologists agree that this red powder symbolized blood and its use in burial represented hope for the renewal of life.
7. This has been discussed in many of the great monographs: Benedict's Patterns of Culture, Lévi-Strauss' The Raw and the Cooked, and Turnbull's The Forest People.
8. For more on Holy Tradition go here and here. Holy Tradition has two categories: kergyma and ecclesiastical order and discipline. The first is non-negotiable and the second accommodates. The "priesting" of women touches on the first category. Women bishops would never have become a divisive issue if Anglicans had held to the received tradition.


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If you're looking to save some money on your holiday travel arrangements, we definitely suggest shopping around and doing your homework, but the folks at The Simple Dollar have another suggestion: pick up the phone and call the hotel manager where you want to stay. Often they have the power to authorize discount rates.
With busy holiday travelers and tons of hotels well booked, I was skeptical that calling a hotel directly would result in anything more than being redirected to a national reservations line, but it's difficult to argue with these results:
Our friends had chosen a hotel online and booked a room, so we decided to just stay at the same hotel for that weekend. However, when I went to book that room online, I was stunned at the price. I didn't want to pay that much.
So, I placed a call to that hotel. I spoke to a receptionist, and then to a manager, about reserving a room for that weekend. I told him that our budget was limited and that we were considering staying at another hotel (presumably their main competition) as well as a bed and breakfast in the area.
The manager almost immediately offered me a rate that was about 40% of what I could find online. I agreed to the rate and placed the reservation, and I received a confirmation email shortly thereafter confirming the rate.
The post explains that this tip works best when you're not traveling to highly populated or popular destinations, so it's more likely to get you a discount if you're looking for a room in the suburbs near your family's house than a hotel on the strip in Las Vegas. You should also include bed and breakfasts in your research, as they're usually more flexible with pricing. The post also notes that you shouldn't be afraid to directly ask for a rate—cut to the chase, ask for what you want, and let them grant or deny it. Obviously, you should still do your homework, but this might shave a few bucks off of your travel plans, giving you more cash to actually enjoy your trip.
For Hotel Rooms, Call the Branch and Negotiate | The Simple Dollar
Photo by trenttsd.


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Packing on the pounds is just as dangerous for your pet as it is for you. Being overweight or obese can lead to many of the same health problems whether you are a human, dog or cat. Luckily, with your help, your furry friend can easily lose that excess weight and enjoy a healthier, happier life with your help.
Read more


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Small business owners have to account for mobile devices within their marketing strategy in 2018. Otherwise, their competition is going to quickly leave them in the dust.
With every passing year, we rely increasingly upon our mobile devices to keep us connected. In 2014, mobile web traffic surpassed desktop traffic. Now, we spend an average of 5 hours a day using our mobile devices!
For business owners, this trend means that if someone is looking at their website, consuming digital content, or looking at an online ad, it is more likely than not occurring on a mobile device. Without awareness of the ways mobile has changed consumer habits, many small business marketing strategies won't just fall flat — they flat out won't work at all.
To help you prepare for a mobile-mad consumer world, make sure you take the following six 2018 small business mobile marketing trends to heart.
People Increasingly Demand Mobile-Centered Website Design
Just over half (51%) of all website visits now come from mobile devices. So, someone who is visiting your mobile website is most likely doing it on a tiny screen.
The first step to accommodating these mobile visitors is to ensure your site uses a reliable responsive design, which automatically scales down and rearranges site elements to look presentable. Most often, the change results in a website that navigates as a single scrolling page.
If you want to see if your website fits responsive design recommendations, you can use Google's mobile friendly test.
Good Mobile Experience Tops SEO Demands
At this point, responsive design is table stakes for all businesses. Your website should therefore not just be responsive, but also intuitive, to navigate on a relatively small touchscreen display.
Having a highly usable site doesn't just encourage more visitors to linger. It also sends signals to search engines that your page is worth visiting, potentially boosting your ranking position above competitors. Conversely, events like someone clicking "Back" after just five seconds on your site can hurt ranking.
Elements that improve usability for mobile users include:
- Simplified site layouts that contain no more than 5 main page categories, reducing needed clicks to navigate
- An always-present navigation menu, most often the classic "hamburger menu" positioned in the top corner, although having a few additional icons helps
- Easily presented information that follows an "inverted pyramid" approach with the most important details shown first
Kimberly de Silva of BiznessApps puts the approach best: "Cut your copy and content down to the bare essentials." She stresses that you will want your design to, "seamlessly guide [visitors] to conversion without any distractions." To improve clarity and directness, you can put non-essential information in side menus or in-text links within content.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Boost Site Speed, UX and SEO
Accelerated Mobile Pages (abbreviated "AMP") is a project from Google and dozens of other tech collaborators intended at reducing page load times for website users. Developers code AMP pages to have as little getting in the way of quick load times as possible.
Fast-loading pages matter to mobile device users. They usually want answers now. Statistics show that people will be 90% more likely to abandon a page that takes five seconds to load compared to one second.
Google also offers a small search engine ranking boost to pages that use AMP guidelines.
Even if you don't have the resources to switch your pages to AMP, you can still reduce your load times and improve user experience (UX) in other ways. Take Google's PageSpeed Insights test for tailored suggestions.
Huge Shift Towards a Video-Centered Content Strategy
Videos are easier to watch on mobile compared to reading text — or even trying to digest colorful infographics. There are many reasons for this: video is passively consumed while text or large images have to be nudged around. Motion is easier to detect on small screens compared to discerning tiny static details.
For whatever reason, people can't get enough of mobile video. A third of online activity is now spent watching video. And video content gets snatched up quicker compared to non-video. For instance, adding a video to your landing page can increase conversions by over 80%. Blogs incorporating a video get three times as many inbound links.
Put simply: if you want more clicks, then try switching more online ads and organic-style content to video. You will accommodate your mobile audience better (who are 50% of your views, anyways), and you will drive improved engagement all around.
Micro-Moment Approach to Content and SEO
Not only is mobile-centered content moving towards video, but it's also moving towards satisfying what Google calls "micro-moments" of need. A micro-moment refers to anytime you pull out your smartphone of tablet to answer an immediate question.
One common example is that people will search for a business name followed by "…near me." So, instead of searching for "guitar store", they might search for "guitar store near me." Search results will display according to the user's last known location. Ranking for "near me" requires a localized search keyword focus, so using "guitar store in Utica, NY" as a keyword emphasis on your website can help improve "near me" search rankings.
Other micro-moments include times people need answers. So, someone might search for "how do I repair a broken peg on my guitar" and expect to find a quick video on the topic. Businesses can capitalize on this need by providing helpful content in addition to keywords mirroring the intended search, like "guitar repair in Utica, NY."
When trying to satisfy micro-moments, there are two additional things to keep in mind: people may be searching for very specific content (long tail) and they may be asking their phone's voice assistants to make the search for them (semantic search).
In response, try to offer a lot of quick, to-the-point articles and emphasize titles that reflect sentence-style questions people may ask. Using a music store example again, a semantic, long-tail search would be "where can I rent a trumpet near me?" compared to someone typing "instrument rental, Utica, NY."
Forming Attribution Strategies and Tracing ROI
As a final note, small business owners must take care to track how their efforts in mobile-centered marketing are doing. Yet, one in four retailers say they have no method for attributing mobile marketing interactions to final purchases.
Using an attribution strategy like having people redeem coupon codes in-person can help connect a mobile ad to a final in-store purchase. Other times, business owners estimate how many percentage of impressions and click-throughs generate to a final sales conversion. So, if 5% of web page visitors are spending an average of $42 in the next week at your store, then each page visit is worth approximately $2.10.
Ensure that, at the very least, you are setting marketing goals for your content and paid ads in the form of hard metrics. By tracing return on investment (ROI), you can optimize the amount you spend and chase better and better results over time.
Use These Small Business Mobile Marketing Trends to Find Success on the Small Screen in 2018!
By letting trends in mobile use and marketing influence your website design, your SEO strategy, and your approach to content marketing, you can improve your chances of success overall. You will also avoid giving up ground to competitors.
So, just remember: if you want to win big in 2018, start by thinking small!


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Current Job Openings
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Position Overview:
The Veterinary Technician supports hospital operations by providing dedicated quality veterinary care and exceptional service to our patients and clients. Responsibilities include providing patient care by determining animal requirements, conducting examinations and diagnostic procedures, assisting during surgery and operations, providing nursing care, assisting with feeding and caring for patients, maintaining medical supplies and equipment, overseeing triage and discharging patients, and maintaining patient medical records.
Essential Position Functions:
- Determine animal requirements by conducting examinations and interviews, reviewing care plans and records, completing laboratory tests and studies, and diagnostic imaging.
- Care for patients by taking vital signs, collecting samples, administering medications, drugs, and vaccines, and bandaging and wrapping wounds.
- Support patient examinations and operations by assembling required supplies and instruments, securing and bringing patients to examination rooms, and restraining patients; aids as directed by the veterinarian.
- Provide excellent pet care by applying full knowledge of anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, specialized equipment usage, and specialized drug administration.
- Obtain and verify medications.
- Ensure that patients have food and water, clean patients' rooms, cages, and equipment; observe patients for clinical signs of disease.
- As directed, fill prescriptions and administer medications, including proper documentation, logging, and security of controlled drugs.
- Maintain a safe, secure, healthy, and humane environment by sterilizing and wrapping instruments, sanitizing and disinfecting holding and operating areas, storing sterile supplies, verifying shelf life, following standards and procedures, and in compliance with applicable legal regulations.
- Maintain medical records by documenting patients' conditions, reactions, and changes; update the database in an accurate and timely manner.
- Communicate with the pet owner about the status of the patient, as directed by the veterinarian.
- Maintain equipment by following operating instructions, troubleshooting breakdowns, maintaining equipment supplies, performing preventive maintenance, and calling for repairs.
- Maintain inventory, place orders for needed supplies, verify, and maintain receipts.
- Update job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities and reading professional journals.
- Release pets to their owners as directed; ensure that every animal released is clean and properly groomed before their release.
- Understand and carry out oral and written directions.
- Perform other duties as assigned by Manager or practice.
Additional Position Functions:
Assignment to the specialty medical areas listed below may require the following additional job functions:
- Perform dental cleanings, polishing, and intraoral radiographs.
- Perform nerve blocks.
- Assist with dental procedures and oral surgery.
- Prepare and administer medications, intravenously, orally, and topically.
- Perform ear cleanings and minor flushes.
- Obtain skin scrapes and tape samples.
- Prepare skin and ear cytology.
- Induce and monitor anesthesia.
- Place intravenous catheters.
- Assist veterinarians with a variety of emergency procedures and critical care situations.
- Monitor vitals, place catheters and take x-rays.
- Clean wounds and apply casts or bandages.
- Give injections and take blood samples.
- May have to be on call in the intensive care unit.
- Assist veterinarians with a variety of diagnostic imaging modalities, including digital radiography, ultrasound, etc.
- Maintain logs of pet diagnoses, treatments, and follow-up results so veterinarians can track responses to integrative care.
Internal Medicine
- Research general wellness and preventative medicine for patients.
- Perform various technical procedures, including anesthesia support and monitoring, intravenous catheter placement, venipuncture, IV injections, wound management, drug administration assistance, bandage care, and surgery support.
- Assist veterinarians with ocular exams.
- Perform and/or assist with diagnostic testing (Schirmer Tear Testing, Tonometry, etc.).
- Assist veterinarians with providing high-quality diagnostic imaging services to in-patient, out-patient, surgical, and emergency pets.
- Provide extensive surgical assistance by preparing pets, scrubbing, shaving, acting as a surgical nurse, and operating specific surgical equipment and supplies.
- Care and Compassion: Displays a desire to build rapport, provide personal assistance, and emotional support.
- Team Orientation: Works cooperatively with the team to address tasks and accomplish goals.
- Dependability: Demonstrates responsibility in completing tasks and accomplishing goals.
- Initiative: Proactively looks for the opportunity to address and follow through on work activities.
- Flexibility and Multi-Tasking: Adapts quickly to changing demands and manages multiple priorities effectively.
- Communication: Uses effective and appropriate methods of interacting with others.
- Customer Services: Displays a desire to provide outstanding service and exceed customer expectations.
- Organization and Attention to Detail: Monitors and reviews information thoroughly and maintains an organized system for all documents.
- Adherence to Rules and Instructions: Consistently follows standard procedures.
- High school diploma or GED.
- Two or more years of experience with veterinary appointments, surgeries, and nursing care for hospitalized and critical patients.
- Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), or the Licensed Veterinary Medical Technician (LVMT) preferred or as required by State.
Position Knowledge and Skill Requirements:
- Overnight shift including weekends. Three 12 hour shifts or four 10 hour shifts per week.
- Knowledge of the preparation, monitoring, and recovery of pets receiving surgery, as well as basic pet nursing.
- Ability to demonstrate and follow correct procedures in catheter placement, phlebotomy, emergency medicine, and digital radiology.
- Understand and limit the potential exposure to bites, scratches, and potential injuries.
- Able to restrain patients according to standard procedures.
- Fill prescriptions and monitor sedation procedures as directed by the veterinarian.
- Ability to work with or around sick animals, potentially hazardous materials, cleaning chemicals, gas anesthetics, zoonotic diseases, and unpleasant odors.
- Display confidence and reassurance when dealing with pets experiencing severe stress, illness, or pain.
- Communicate and approach job duties in a professional and mature manner.
- Must be flexible with scheduling and able to work some weekends and holidays.
- This is a strenuous job that requires a lot of lifting, cleaning, and constant motion.
- Depending on the functional area of assignment, tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation and/or extended periods of time standing and/or walking.
- May include some climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, or crawling.
- Some tasks involve the periodic performance of moderately physically demanding work, usually involving lifting or carrying moderately heavy animals (up to 50 pounds).
- Answer phones and perform other duties as needed by the hospital.
- Other duties and responsibilities as assigned by Manager or practice.
Additional Information:
The list of essential functions and additional functions, as outlined in this job description, is intended to be representative of the tasks performed within this position. The omission of any job function does not preclude management from assigning duties not listed herein if such functions are a required assignment for the position.
PetVet Care Centers, Inc. is one of the nation's leading operators of veterinary hospitals for companion animals. The company operates over 450 hospitals across multiple states and employs over 11,000 people including over 800 veterinarians. Since its inception, PetVet has been structured around a model that is focused on developing a partnership between the hospitals and the company and providing the highest quality medicine and service.
PetVet is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, religion, citizenship, national origin/ancestry, physical/mental disabilities, military status or any other basis prohibited by law. EOE, M/F/D/V
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Why Consider Our Vienna Hospital?
At Hope Advanced Veterinary Center, our team members all share the same passion for making and keeping animals healthy.
Our hospital truly is an excellent place to work, with a highly skilled team focused on 'best in practice' veterinary care.
We are very supportive of individuals looking to grow their veterinary careers and look forward to hearing from you.
We invite you to explore your veterinary career options with Hope Advanced Veterinary Center, where you'll be a respected member of a team that loves animals and values the contributions from every individual on the team.


text:
I've only just remembered today that I am sitting on a vast hoard of newspaperly gems from The Guardian and Observer, including this small vote of confidence from none other than Vita Sackville-West.
Ms. Sackville-West (you may remember) had a bit of a run-in with the poetry committee of the Society of Authors in March, 1946, in the midst of trying to decide who would read at an upcoming poetry recital for the Queen. If she held any ill-will towards Reed she does not show it in her review of A Map of Verona for The Observer on May 5th ("Seething Brain," p. 3), little more than a week before the recital.
Indeed, she reports being 'much taken with the poem called "Lives," which seemed to express so admirably Mr. Reed's sense of the elusiveness as well as the continuity of life':
In addition to Reed's A Map of Verona: Poems (Cape) and Durrell's Cities Plains and People (Faber), Sackville-West also reviews (at length): Dylan Thomas's Deaths and Entrances (Dent); Edwin Muir's The Voyage and Other Poems (Faber); Four Quartets Rehearsed by Raymond Preston (Sheed and Ward); Pushkin's Poems, translated by Walter Morison (Allen and Unwin); Modern Czech Poetry translated by Ewald Osers and J.K. Montgomery (Allen and Unwin); and Joseph Braddock's Swanhild (Chaterson).
As for Vita and Henry, well... the poetry committee didn't pick him, either.