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Yes. But no single booking engine hosts the huge range of accommodation on offer so to see the choices open to you, enquire first. We will then send you quotes for the best properties available.
You can take advantage of free advice and guidance from our experienced consultants, book resort services, and utilize local currency domestic payment options.
Websites with a 'book now' option are only offering a limited range of accommodation, which gives no peace of mind that you are booking the best place you can.
So enquire now, then book with us online.
Easy to book accommodation and knowledgeable staff
(Limited Time Only)
Booking early is especially important for big groups and those looking to travel over peak dates as availability disappears fast.


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What Army Job Benefits do I get when I leave the Army?
By Brad - Monday 14 Jul 11:03 am
Whether you choose to make a lifelong career in an army job or decide to explore your civilian options, the army supports your decision through programs and guidance to help you succeed.
Some of the programs available are as follows:
Transitioning From Soldier to Civilian
Every army post has an Army Career and Alumni program with counselors to help you choose a civilian career that best utilizes the skills you've learned in your army job, from crafting a resume to networking with potential employers.
Enlisting for Post-Army Career Success
At the time of enlistment, a soldier can opt to take advantage of the Partnership for Youth Success Program which will give him/her priority consideration for jobs at select companies all over the country in his post army job career. Many are Fortune 500 companies.
Earning Professional Training Certificates
In your army job career you will have the opportunity to earn professional and trade certifications that will help you succeed in your civilian career.
Become a Teacher After the Army
The army has a 'Troop to Teacher' program that will help you succeed in your quest to go into the civilian teaching profession from identifying teacher certification requirements to employment opportunities.
Retiree Benefits
Upon retiring from an army job, benefits are available to the soldier to pay for college, buy a home, life insurance, or find a job.
Retirement Savings Plan
As a soldier, you have the option of contributing to a 401-K-type savings and investment plan which is even more attractive and has more benefits than a regular civilian plan. The TSP plan (Thrift Savings Plan) enables you to contribute up to 100% of all your army job pay, including base, incentives and bonuses. The contributions are taken from your pay before taxes are withheld, an option regular savings plans do not have.
The TSP Matching Funds Incentive is an option where the first 5% of your contributions are matched by the army – dollar for dollar on the first 3% and 50 cents on the dollar for the remaining 2%. TSP contributions will be matched by the army for 5-8 years, your entire first term of enlistment.
To find out more about the Thrift Savings Plan or Retirement Savings Plan, contact a recruiter or visit the TSP website at http://www.tsp.gov/
Posted in: Army Jobs

subset: commoncrawl


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Is one of our fellow Shackies celebrating a special day? This is the place to wish them a Happy Birthday!
It didn't show up on the home page but today is Barb Kaszuba's birthday. Happy birthday, Barb.
Sorry, I have been gone all day, we will file this under the better late than never category! I hope you have had a wonderful birthday today, Sally...
Hope you have a great day. Heather
A very Happy Birthday to my buddy, Kimmy. Hope you have had a happy day filled with great things! :183:
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
Thankyou to Kathy (Maxiesmom) and Mary (Sweetpea) for the beautiful birthday cards which have reached me in the past week. I appreciate you making my...
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sarah!!! I hope your having a great birth-month, cause let's face 1 day is just not enough :220::183::220:
I hope Facebook has it right, that is what I am going by. :-) (Isn't everything on there true??? ;) Have a great day!
I see she hasn't popped in since before Christmas but perhaps she will get chance to stop by today. Enjoy your birthday!
Hi Jan, wishing you a wonderful birthday filled with all your favorite things! Hope it's a great day, my friend. :196:
Happy Birthday!
Hope you have a most wonderful day!!
Happy, Happy Birthday! I hope your day is filled with fun plenty of cake with ice cream!
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!:v_SPIN:
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Shelley!! I hope you have a marvelous day!! :220:
Hi Jan, I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I miss seeing your lovely work in the gallery. Come visit us more often, my friend.
I knew Sept. was your birthday and it slipped right by me! Hope you had a lovely day.
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FRF Accident Repair Centre
FRF Accident Repair Centre is the premiere car body repair specialist for Swansea and the surrounding areas. We have established ourselves at the forefront of accident repair by delivering the highest standard of workmanship combined with over thirty years of customer commitment and excellence.
We are backed by all the major insurance groups.
Furthermore to ensure your complete peace of mind we have secure (manned) storage for over 100 vehicles.
Find Us
The motorway provides the easiest route to the FRF accident repair centre, situated just off the M4, at junction 45.
Once you exit the junction, take the FIRST LEFT on to the bypass(4067), follow through underpass and at the roundabout take the FIRST LEFT.
Carry on down the road (Beaufort Road) and we are 500 yards on the right.


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Minipost: Thoughts on Death Knight Tier 12 look
Tier 12 sets: Paladin, Mage, Rogue, Death Knight, Hunter, Priest
Blizzard released the Tier 12 Armor Set Preview this week, for Paladin, Mage, Rogue, Death Knight, Hunter and Priest classes. I think the Paladin set looks amazing (I'm a big fan of the armored dress/surcoat look, and you can never go wrong with HOODS and BADASS MASKS), but I also really like the Hunter set. Horns, a rad eyepatch, and a very nice fiery trim without being garish or gaudy? Sold!
But the Death Knight set...WTF. I'm very unimpressed with it, for a number of reasons.
First of all, the colors. Dear god, what is with those colors?? Every other set (except Rogue) has cool fiery colors, lots of red/orange/yellow mixed with some steel or silver framing. Rogues don't have the fire colors, but they are Rogues after all, and instead get a cool shadowy color scheme with rich browns, which works for me.
But Death Knights? No awesome fiery red etchings or complimentary contrasts for us, nope! Instead we get RUST. Rust, and greenish purple metal that looks like it was found in a junkyard somewhere. Seriously, this color combination makes me want to puke.
This is what I see when I look at the set:
Death Knight 4pc bonus: Transform into an ugly piece of crap (2 min cooldown).
EDIT: Driving back to work today, I spotted something which made me realize another reason I don't like the look!
Now granted, there have been some additional colored sets released that are slightly better and less eye-stabbingly ugly, but the fact that this Rust set EXISTS is a crime against humanity.
Colors aren't my only complaint, though. The DK set is just plain inferior to the other sets when it comes to polish and detail! Look at the Paladin or Mage armor, the detail in the etchings, how crisp and sharp the edges and lines are. In comparison, the DK armor is dull and bland. The contrast is low, the lines are faded and muddy...it just has an unfinished, washed-out feel to it. It feels like a piece of artwork that hasn't had the final inking phase yet. :\
Finally, the design. The design is terrible. Seriously, a giant V shape on the chest is the best they could come up with? I mean, the Mage and Rogue sets aren't terribly creative either, but at least they still look distinctive and interesting. The other sets have so much fine detail - laces on the Priest chest, the spikey looking metal ridges on the Rogue chest, basically everything about the Paladin set - and DKs get stuck with a giant stupid V. Sigh.
There is literally nothing I like about this set. At all.
In conclusion:
• Terrible "Rust" color scheme
• Dull and lacking the polish of the other sets
• Uninspired, boring design lacking in creativity and style
• Ugly as the devil's face
Maybe I'll be making a return to Hunter come Firelands!


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All Hallow's Eve isn't just about dressing up in costume; it's also about dressing up nails in eerie designs you've been eager to try all year. For this one month, bright oranges and neon greens are more than welcome side-by-side in a manicure. Creepy eyes, monster faces, and candy corn also all make their appearances on tips. Check back each day for a new design to inspire you up until October 31st!
See each day's Halloween design!
Day 31: Tears of Blood
Nails by Cindy Ramos.
Day 30: Ghoulish Glitter
Nails by Tricia Baldwin of Studio Salons (Instagram @triciabaldwin).
Day 29: Sugar Skulls
Nails by Brandy Nelson? of NV Salon, Eugene OR? (Instagram @bzwhacks).
Day 28: Confections and Apparitions
Nails by Alecia Mounixay of Euphoria Nail Care in Wilmington, NC (Instagram @thewhitekoi). Also see her work on her site: thewhitekoi.com.
Day 27: Tips and Treats
Nails by Teri Burwell.
Day 26: Fierce Ombre Talons
Nails by Brittney Sampson of Embellish Salon and Spa in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
(Instagram: @nailsbybrittney).
Day 25: Freddy vs. Jason
Nails by Shannon Nieves; 3-D sculpted design using acrylic and then hand painted.
Day 24: The Haunted Hill
Nails by Rebecca Chuang (Instagram @rebeccakazumi) of Secret Chamber Nails.
Day 23: Happy Halloween Faces
Nails by Ashley Craig of ProFiles Salon, Cape Coral, FL.
Day 22: Iron Fist Clothing Inspired Tips
Nails by Tamara Di Lullo of Candy Nail Bar (Instagram @candynailbar).
See more of Candy Nail Bar in our NAILPRO-file article
in Fresno, CA. See her on Facebook (Never A Naked Nail) or follow her blog (neveranakednail.blogspot.com).
Day 2: 3D Graveyard
Nails by Rachael Waggoner of Dazzlin Digits 3D Nails; TheNailArtGirl.com.
Day 1: The Spooky Mansion
Nails by Freeda Latham, winner of multiple nail art competitions, including Nailpro's Season to Win.


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Julianne Buescher is a puppeteer, actor, and voiceover artist who has been working with the Muppets since 1990.
She performed her first Henson character on the TV series Dinosaurs. Since then, she's become a Los Angeles based Henson/Disney regular, performing hundreds of characters in such productions as Muppets Haunted Mansion, Muppets Now, The Muppets Take the Bowl, The Muppets Take the O2, The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, Muppets Toyota and Lipton commercials, Sesame Street, Muppets Tonight, Muppet Classic Theater, Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, and in Creature Shop projects including The Country Bears, George of the Jungle, and Frances (as Gloria and Albert). Non Henson projects include the puppet episode of Community (as Shirley), the "Smile Time" episode of Angel (as Flora) and the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall featuring Buescher as the Angel in the Dracula musical.
Buescher is an original member of Stuffed and Unstrung (aka Puppet Up! Jim Henson's Puppet Improv), in which she performed Piddles the Pug, the Translation Weasel, and many others. She designed and built many of the original puppets created for Puppet Up! including Piddles, Trixie (Pretty Girl), Duck Boy, Claude Bigfoot, Al the Alien, Herman Monster, Yodita, Grandma/the Queen, Leopard Girl, Nerd Girl, Nerd Boy, PTA Mom, Germ 2, and Germ 3. Buescher also redressed the recycled puppets Girleen, Odie, Sylvia, Spiff Mouse, Gopher Tortoise, and the Orangutan (Professor Ape).
She is also one of the few performers to utilize the Henson Digital Performance System, bringing real-time digital puppets to life. "Dawn the Fairy" traveled the globe, introducing this new form of puppetry (also used on The Skrumps). Another HDPS digital puppet on the air is "Coo", a blue cuckoo bird who hosts the Sprout Channel's Morning Block (puppeteered and voiced by Buescher). Henson also used HDPS on the PBS series Sid the Science Kid (2009 Emmy Nominee). Buescher puppeteers/voices the characters "May" and "Grandma" (and "Nunu" in Sid the Science Kid: the Movie).
Buescher is also an award-winning actor, singer, voice-over artist, indie-filmmaker, illustrator, and writer. She appeared on The Patient, Lessons in Chemistry, As We See It, Silicon Valley, The Middle, Criminal Minds, and Desperate Housewives, and in ads for Blue Shield of California and Preen Weed-Killer. Her acting awards include a Drama Logue Award and Ovation Nomination for creating the role of "Inez" in the musical Tight Quarters. Her self-produced short film Resculpting Venus: A Comedy about Breast Cancer is a Best Narrative winner. And the float she designed for the New Years Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade ("Bathtime Friends"/City of Burbank) won the Founders Trophy.
Buescher's voice-over work includes many lead characters in the Elder Scrolls/Skyrim and Reckoning games, and as "The Adjutant" in Starcraft 2 (for which she made the IMDb's list of "Sexiest Female Voices in VO"). Other credits include the voice of Mandy the Monorail at Disneyland, a singing vampire and reporter in Scooby-Doo Music of the Vampire, a young singing bride in Disney's Mulan, and a character singer on the Dinosaurs album Big Songs. She also voice-matches many stars, looping Daisy Ridley in Star Wars, Tilda Swinton in Dr. Strange, Michelle Yeoh in Crazy Rich Asians, Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Julie Andrews AND Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins, Kate Beckinsale in Click, Joan Cusack in Chicken Little, Halle Berry in Catwoman, Jennifer Lopez in Shall We Dance, Naomie Harris in the Pirates of the Caribbean games, and many others.
She was asked to join the Broadway cast of Avenue Q but turned it down, choosing to travel with "Puppet Up!" to Edinburgh, Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand's South Island, Tokyo, Aspen, Vegas, and back to New York (as Stuffed & Unstrung at the Union Square Theater). Buescher also appeared as Piddles the Pug with Cee Lo Green on the 2011 Grammy Awards.
Muppet Credits[]
for a complete character gallery, see Julianne Buescher characters
- Sesame Street (seasons 23-26): Sherry Netherland, Betty Lou's Mommy, and others...
- Muppet Meeting Films: Shirley, Denise, Diana, and others
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Grover (puppet only)
- Muppet Classic Theater: Yolanda Rat and others
- "Kokomo" music video: Winkie Bunny, others
- Muppet Sing Alongs: It's Not Easy Being Green
- A New Baby in My House: Queen Quinella
- Muppets on Wheels: Bertha, Dog Truck Driver, Train Engineer
- Things That Fly: Rhonda, Flight Attendant
- Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree: Beverly Mouse (also cameo as a dancer)
- Muppets Tonight (episodes 203 and 209)
- Elmopalooza
- Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola: Bambalona and Weasel in the Animal Band
- Family Feud: Sweetums (eyes)
- The Muppet Show Live: Scooter (puppet), Sheep, others
- Pizza Hut commercials
- The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon: Snowth (2001 telethon), Sal Minella (right hand, legs) (2004 telethon)
- The Muppets' Wizard of Oz: The Wizard as Green Lady/Chicken (face/voices)
- Toyota Big Game commercials
- Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ("The Weight")
- Lipton Tea commercials
- Muppets Most Wanted
- The Muppets (2015): Denise, Yolanda Rat, Debbie
- Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival: Floyd's arms
- The Muppets Take the Bowl: Yolanda Rat, Wanda, Hair, Bunny, Chloe the Clam, Siri Voice, Ghost, Green Frackle, assistant for Floyd Pepper, on-screen cameo as tourist
- The Muppets Take the O2: Yolanda Rat, Wanda, Hair, Bunny, Ghost, Green Frackle, Londoner dog (singing only), Sheep, assistant for Floyd Pepper
- Facebook Portal commercials
- Muppets Now: Beverly Plume, Margaret, Rosie, Yolanda Rat, Beak-R, Priscilla, Brie, Elena, Some Bunny, La Cabra, Esther, Mary
- Muppets Haunted Mansion: Yolanda, Beverly Plume, Wanda, Screaming Goat, and others
- The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (season two music videos)
- Holey Moley: Supporting Muppet Performer
Henson Company/Creature Shop[]
for a complete character gallery, see Julianne Buescher characters
- Dinosaurs: Robbie Sinclair (eyes), Roy Hess (arms), Baby Sinclair (arms; Season 4), Ansel (face), Aubrey Molehill (face), Crazy Lou (face), Elder No. 3 (face), Ethyl (occasional, face), Katie (face), Mindy (face), Monica deVertebrae (face), Shopper (puppet/voice), Sitcom Wife (puppet/voice), many other hand puppets and characters
- Nissin Cup Noodles commercials: Mama Caveman (face); Clio Award Winner
- The Indian in the Cupboard: Rat
- George of the Jungle: Mama Ape (face), various animals
- Various special events worldwide: Dawn the Fairy (face/voice), one of the first real-time digital puppets (also a version in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz) and Nalu the Mermaid
- The Country Bears: Tennessee O'Neal (face/original track voice) (also cameo as waitress at Swarmin Hive)
- The Country Bears Live: Live Stage Show at El Capitan in Hollywood
- Frances: Gloria (puppet/face/voice), Albert (face/voice)
- Puppet Up!: Original Cast Member (characters include Piddles the Pug, Pretty Girl, Translation Weasel, and others)
- Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del: Louisa Cappellini
- The Skrumps: Raisins (face/voice)
- Livin' It Up with the Bratz: Yasmin, Sasha (faces/voices)
- TJ Bearytales: Alison (face/voice)
- Musical Mornings with Coo (Sprout block): Coo (face/neck/voice)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Angel in Dracula Musical
- Sid the Science Kid: May and Grandma (faces/voices)
- Stuffed and Unstrung: Original Cast Member
- The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards: Piddles the Pug
- Sid the Science Kid: The Movie: May, Grandma, and Nunu (faces/voices)
- L.A. Times film career trailer for "Puppeteers": Cowgirl (puppet/voice), Tiger teammember
Non-Henson Puppeteering[]
- Community: Shirley (puppeteer/original track voice)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live (Sesame Shore): Mr. Pickle
- Angel: "Smile Time" - Flora (puppet/voice)
- The Mr. Potato Head Show: Potato Bug (puppeteer/voice/singing), and others (cameos as Bond Girl and Flower Lady)
- Geo-Kids: 1st season series, Bobby the Bushbaby (original puppeteer/voice)
- Riders in the Sky TV series: Annie Oak (puppeteer only), Teachers Pet (puppeteer/voice), Mother Burp, Sexy Cactus, and others
- Cousin Skeeter: Nicole (puppeteer/original track voice)
- Crank Yankers: MTV Awards
- McDonald's commercials: for "Dinosaurs"
- Venus on the Harddrive (Fox Pilot): Venus (face)
On-Camera Acting[]
- As We See It: Aunt Birdy
- The Patient: Gale
- Lessons in Chemistry: Secretary
- American Crime Story: Mary Anne Wirth
- The Connors: Jill
- Silicon Valley: Debbie
- The Middle: "The Cheerleader" - Woman Customer
- Criminal Minds: "Hopeless" - Meg
- Desperate Housewives: Salon Patron
Voiceover Acting[]
- Blue Beetle (Trailer): Voice of the Blue Beetle Suit
- Disneyland: BlackSpire Outpost voices of Mom, Weru, Chuta, Koopla Nanuk
- Star Trek Into Darkness: Enterprise Computer/other voices
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Linus, Sally Struthers, Hillary Clinton, & other voice matches
- The Tonight Show: Gisele Bündchen Voice Match
- Reckoning: Multiple Characters
- Elder Scrolls/Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online: Multiple Characters
- Starcraft 2: The Adjutant
- Disneyland: Mandy Monorail ride voice, Turtle Talk with Crush show announcer
- 24: Amy Price-Francis Voice Match
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Naomi Harris Voice Match
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Angelina Jolie Voice Match
- Chicken Little: Joan Cusack Voice Match
- Shall We Dance, Monster-In-Law, Gigli: Jennifer Lopez Voice Match
- Catwoman: Halle Berry Voice Match
- Flightplan: Jodie Foster Voice Match
- Open Season: Rosie O'Donnell Voice Match
- Robot Chicken: Cameron Diaz Voice Match
- Mulan: Young Bride/Singer
- Naruto: Anko Mitarashi (series regular)
- Ratchet 'n' Clank Going Commando: Help Desk Girl
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance: Aeron Azzameen
- Star Wars: Lethal Alliance: Rianna
- Doc McStuffins: Bella
- While recording on Catwoman as Halle Berry's voice match, Buescher learned that Halle's mother and her own mother were rival cheerleaders at opposing high schools in her hometown.
See also[]
External links[]
- Julianne Buescher on the Henson Alternative Wiki
- Julianne Buescher on the Henson Digital Puppetry Wiki
- Official Site
- Resumé and VO demos
- Internet Movie Database
- Below The Frame with Matt Vogel Interview
- Game Rant Muppets article
- Hollywood Reporter Muppets article
- Muppet Musings interview
- ToughPigs.com interview
- Under the Puppet interview
- Muppet Newsflash interview


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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan apologized Thursday for how his agency managed changes to the PLUS loan program that resulted in thousands of families being denied those loans.
"I am not satisfied with the way we handled the updating and changes to the PLUS loan program," he told a group of historically black college leaders gathered here for the Education Department's annual HBCU Week conference.
"Communication internally and externally was poor," Duncan continued. "I apologize for that, and for the real impact it has had."
Historically black colleges and universities were particularly hard hit by the department's policy change, which tightened the eligibility requirements for PLUS loans in October 2011. Leaders at those institutions and other colleges said they were blindsided by the change that resulted in a wave of loan denials.
Black college presidents and leaders at other colleges that serve large numbers of low-income students sharply criticized the Obama administration for the restrictive new standards, which they said forced some students, without access to other forms of credit, to withdraw from their institutions.
As of earlier this year, 400,000 parents had been denied a PLUS loan since the new standards went into effect.
Under pressure from black college leaders and several members of Congress, the department last month said it would consider appeals from parents who were originally denied the loans.
At the HBCU conference Thursday, an Education Department official told college financial aid officers that the department had reversed the denials in more than 98 percent of the appeals that had been filed so far.
The Education Department plans to review its creditworthiness standards for the PLUS loan program during a negotiated rule making session set to begin next year.


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Britain Should Stop Trying to Pretend That Its Empire Was Benevolent
Dear friends,
I came across this article which I found would be educational.
Tsem Rinpoche
Britain Should Stop Trying to Pretend That its Empire Was Benevolent
Alan Lester
May 13, 2016 | 6.42pm AEST
The recent debacle of David Cameron's filmed condemnation of Nigerian and Afghan corruption and the Queen's remark on Chinese officials' rudeness 1 highlights the persistence of imperial thinking in Britain. There seems to be a continuing assumption within the British establishment that it sets an example for others to follow and that the British are owed deference by others.
Ever since evangelical antislavery activists campaigned for Britain to abolish the transatlantic slave trade, Britons have assured themselves that imperial overrule is compatible with the "benign tutelage 2" of other races and nations. Unlike the other European empires, Britons tell themselves, theirs was an empire founded on humanitarian compassion for colonised subjects.
The argument runs like this: while the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Belgians and Germans exploited and abused, the British empire brought ideas of protection for lesser races and fostered their incremental development. With British tutelage colonised peoples could become, eventually, as competent, as knowledgeable, as "civilised" as Britain itself. These platitudes have been repeated time and again – they are still at the heart of most popular representations of the British Empire.
Even when we are encouraged to pay attention to empire's costs as well as its benefits, these costs are imagined solely in terms of specific incidents of violence such as the Amritsar Massacre in India 3 or the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion 4 in Kenya. Britain has excused itself from that most structural injustice of empire – the slave trade itself – by the fact that it was Britain that pioneered its abolition.
Acknowledgement that cities such as Bristol, Liverpool and London were enriched by Britain's dominance of the trade, that many stately homes were built on its wealth and that the compensation money paid to owners upon emancipation – rather than the enslaved – helped drive the industrial revolution and the growth of the City of London, tends to be confined to more critical quarters 5.
By contrast, runs the same argument, the benefits that empire brought to the world are universal. Everyone – Nigerians, Afghans and Chinese included – should be grateful for the rule of law, the English language, modern education, railways and free trade, all things that Britain provided in order to usher in the modern age.
Selective Memory
But to remember empire in this way is an act of incredible selectivity, if not wilful forgetting. Far from being of universal benefit, these features of British rule were designed in the first instance to benefit British settlers, producers and traders. The partial inclusion of colonised peoples themselves in their benefits had to be hard won by those peoples in the face of racist laws and customs.
Black people generally weren't allowed to travel on the railways on the same terms as white people. Gandhi's political awakening 6 came when he was thrown out of a whites only carriage on a South African railway. Government-run education systems 7 varied hugely in time and place but were generally not extended to "natives". Their education was left to mission societies able to reach only a tiny proportion of them. The Indian Residential Schools of Canada 8 and many of the institutions into which Aboriginal and so-called "half-caste" children were forced in Australia 9 were notoriously neglectful and abusive.
One of the first things that some indigenous elites did with their education was challenge white peoples' entitlement to rule their countries. The colonial "rule of law" generally worked in favour of white settlers, elites and men. Even where explicitly racist legislation was avoided, proxies for race such as English language tests were used. These either imposed different standards on "native" populations or kept Asian people out of settler colonies unless their labour was required.
The wider adoption of English certainly facilitated more global conversations and business transactions among male elites. But it only served to heighten the exclusion of most non-English speaking subjects and women from access to the credit and political capital that flowed through Anglophone global networks.
Much the same could be said for free trade, which tended to enrich the colonial masters rather than their imperial subjects – let's not forget it was the argument for free trade which was used to force China to continue accepting opium imports against its will, starting China's "Century of Humiliation 10".
Imperialism Was No Gift
Democracy was not actually a concept with which British elites were comfortable – or with which colonised peoples were familiar throughout most of the era of Britain's imperial rule. Rather, it was something hard won, largely once the British had left.
Those under the "benevolent" rule of empire did not necessarily experience British imperialism as a gift. For many around the world, the costs of empire were not restricted to the occasional episode of violent repression, nor even to structural injustices such as the slave trade. Rather, these were systematic, everyday costs. These costs included exclusion – from power and privilege in their own lands – coupled with humiliation at being made to pay deference to white people who assumed the right to govern them.
Before condemning the corruption and rudeness of others perhaps we should remember the act of imperialism itself may be seen as self-interested, arrogant rudeness on a global scale.
1. Queen's remark on Chinese officials' rudeness
2. Benign tutelage
3. Amritsar Massacre in India
4. Suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion
5. Confined to more critical quarters
6. Gandhi's political awakening
This Won't End Well – U.S. Just Sent an Entire Carrier Strike Group to Confront China
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team


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Venus Legacy
The Naked Truth
No matter your body shape, skin tone, diet or exercise plan, over time our skin looses elasticity, collagen weakens and it becomes harder to loose certain pockets of fat. We also develop wrinkles, fine lines and have a genetic predisposition to cellulite, which becomes a common concern. Do you want a comfortable, affordable treatment that provides superior results with no downtime?
The Bare Solution
Venus Legacy featuring LiftFX™ & SculptFX™ Finally, there is a non-invasive and pain free solution for you! These two revolutionary treatments use Radio Frequency, Magnetic Pulse Therapy and VariPulse™ technology, to treat all of your concerns in one program. Look inside and see what we can do.
All About LiftFX™ & SculptFX™
What is LiftFX & SculptFX?
These treatments deliver Multipolar Radio Frequency and Magnetic Pulse Therapy to the skin to produce a dense and uniform heat matrix. This causes collagen synthesis and contraction, fibroblast proliferation, neo-vascularity and lypolysis.
How many treatments will I need?
The number of treatments required will vary patient to patient. Please consult your medical practitioner to determine the right package for you.
Are the treatments safe?
YES! Radio Frequency and Magnetic Pulse Therapy have been used in medicine for many years and are proven, safe and effective technologies. Your treatment provider will review your medical history and your aesthetic goals to see if the the LiftFX™ and SculptFX™ treatments are right for you.
Is there any downtime?
Absolutely no downtime. A treatment to one area takes less than 30 minutes, and has no adverse side effects. You are able to have a treatment on your lunch break and return to work right away.


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Netflix is a service that allows you to watch an unlimited number of movies, series, and documentaries on your TV, mobile devices, and game consoles. It is updated with new releases almost every day.
Netflix is originally an American company, and is now available to over 50 million subscribers in over 40 countries. In addition to the existing offer, Netflix develops its own series called Netflix Originals, such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Hemlock Grove.
Once you have subscribed to Netflix, you can instantly view its full content on your TV, tablet, or computer. Using your keyboard or remote, you can browse through the offer with a wide range of categories. Additionally, Netflix will make suggestions based on your viewing habits. For instance, if you primarily watch action movies, Netflix will give you suggestions from that genre.
Switching devices while watching a movie is simple. For instance, you could start watching a movie on your TV, pause it at any point, and continue watching from that point on your iPad in bed.
What if your partner wants to watch something else? No problem, the standard subscription allows for watching different movies on up to two separate devices simultaneously.
In addition to your (Smart)TV, PC, or MAC, you can also view all of Netflix's content on PlayStation, XBox, Wii, iPad, and Android devices.
The regular subscription fee is currently 8.99 Euro per month. If HD quality is not a requirement for you, there is also a cheaper SD subscription available. If simultaneous streaming on two devices is not enough for the whole family to enjoy Netflix, a more expensive subscription that allows for using Netflix on up to 4 devices is also available.
Receive a weekly e-mail with all the new movies and series that Netflix released that week.
Click here to register for free.
Register for FREE to:


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Download Windows 8 Codecs 1.5.5 - Latest Version
Windows 8 Codecs is an audio and video codec package for Windows 8. The installer will automatically remove most other popular codec releases from your computer before installing this concise yet comprehensive package. You won't need to make any adjustments or tweaks to enjoy your media content immediately. Windows Media Player and Media Center will instantly recognize all your files as playable.
It does not contain a media player and it does not associate file-types. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players' capabilities, to play all movies and video clips. Streaming video is supported in several formats in all popular web browsers. Users of the Windows 8 Codecs have the ability to choose what is installed and where to install it using the public redistributable. After installation you can select to remove specific portions without removing the entire package. You can also re-add the removed items at any time.
Download Details
Promotion Links
Directly Promotion Link :
Promotion Forums Link :


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Social Media and Online Safety
The internet is part of everyday life and has many positive benefits including keeping in touch with family and friends. However, it is important that the internet is used safely.
At Maltby Redwood Academy we feel the following are important for students:
For self and others online. It is important to consider what you say and what images you share; once something has been sent it becomes public and can last for ever. Sexting, or the possession and sharing of indecent images of children and young people who are under 18 is illegal.
It is important to only give personal contact information to trusted friends and family. It is equally important to know how to use privacy settings, how to block someone who is behaving badly, and how to keep records of offending messages, pictures and conversations. Secure passwords should be used for sites that are visited regularly and accounts deactivated when they are no longer used – this reduces the risk of hacking.
People that you meet online are still strangers. Young people should only meet them with the knowledge of their parent/carer who should accompany them on a first meeting. Young people should not arrange to meet them in the company of their friends as they could be put at risk too. The other person should be taking the same precautions so a young person doesn't need to worry about offending them.
Young people should tell someone if they have been victim of unsafe activity on the internet or have come across suspicious behaviour. They should tell an adult – this could be a parent/carer or someone in school – or make a report to CEOP, and the social network provider. If they are worried they can ring ChildLine on 0800 1111
Create a positive footprint. Young people should share positive posts, vlogs and tweets, and celebrate the good things they have done.
Police Digital Security Centre (PDSC)
Online abuse is a major area of concern and cyber-enabled abuse and bullying is inescapable. The PDSC takes safeguarding very seriously and much of the advice they offer can be applied to keeping individuals, and their children, safe online. They partner with ChildSafeVPN and have several advice and infographics.
Click here for resources and advice guides.
As a parent or carer it can be difficult to keep track of new social media platforms and new online technology. The following websites are designed to help parents to keep in touch with changes and manage their child's online activity:


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It was not until late last year, while working on plans for a very cool mobile application, that I was reminded about PhoneGap by one of my colleagues. After a brief evaluation of their benefits vs. the other multiplatform options, we decided to use PhoneGap on this particular project. We have made some amazing progress with using PhoneGap for mobile development since then, and I thought I would share a few of the lessons learned.
First of all, a quick explanation of how PhoneGap works. Jesse MacFadyen, one of the programmers at Nitobi, the primary developers of PhoneGap, has a good blog post where he breaks down how the PhoneGap framework works on iPhone. Here is my much condensed take on what he is saying.
But don't make the mistake of thinking you should just slap together some web pages formatted for mobile. Rather, you can and must think of it as an application that is written in the form of a single web page with a bunch of JavaScript. To access server data, you will need to write some AJAX code to access the remote resources, then update your UI accordingly. The good news is you can use familiar JavaScript libraries such as jQuery to do so. We chose jqTouch to get a very iPhone-like UI.
The PhoneGap framework is under very active development. New code is being committed to their github repo frequently. As such, you really do need to have git installed, and some working knowledge of how to use it, to get things setup.
In fact, the device specific functionality for each platform is contained within the main PhoneGap git repository as a series of git submodules such as phonegap-iphone, phonegap-android, etc. This makes it all but impossible to install the latest and greatest without git. Being a git user myself, this does not pose any problem, and if you are not gitmotized yet, this is an ideal time to become so.
Here are the series of steps I followed to create my own PhoneGap project...
- Install iPhone SDK (yes, you must join the iPhone developer program)
- Install Android SDK (http://www.talkandroid.com/android-sdk-install-guide/ has some good instructions. I am not using Eclipse, so I skipped all that)
- Install Apache Ant (sudo port install apache-ant)
Install PhoneGap
- Get latest PhoneGap (git clone git://github.com/phonegap/phonegap.git)
- Get submodules for iPhone & Android (cd phonegap && git submodule update)
- Build iPhone Lib and install
- Build Android libs
Setting Up A New Multiplatform PhoneGap Project
- Create a new iPhone project using the phonegap-iphone template. The www directory in the new project will be becoming the shared part of your project, with all your UI and application logic
- Create the Android project using the phonegap-android build script. Use the www directory from the iphone project as the www-dir param. You will be replacing this with a reference to the git submodule
- Create a new git repo in the www directory in the iPhone project, and commit all the files in the www directory
- Change directories to the parent of where you want to put the directory for the shared git repo, then clone the repo located at /path/to/iphoneproj/www to /path/to/sharedrepo. You may also want to create a remote branch at this point for the new shared repo
- Remove the www directory from the iPhone project
- Create a new git repo in the iphone project directory, then commit all files. You may also want to create a remote branch at this point
- Put the shared code into the iPhone project by using "git submodule add" to put a reference to the shared repo into /path/to/iphoneproj/www
- Create a new git repo in the Android project directory, then commit all files. You may also want to create a remote branch at this point, as you probably did for the iPhone project files
- Remove the /path/to/androidproj/assets/www directory from the Android project, and use "git submodule add" to put a reference to the shared repo at /path/to/androidproj/assets/www
You now should have 3 git repos, with the shared code, the iPhone specific project code, and the Android specific project code, each in their respective places. Much easier and nicer to work on.
Anyhow, I hope this info is useful to any PhoneGap developers that want to get things setup cleanly for multi-platform mobile programming. Please let me know any feedback or improvements that people out there come up with, for this neat open source framework for doing JavaScript-based mobile development.


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Movies & TV
The Walking DeadRecap: Save the Last One (Season 2, Episode 3)
The opening of last night's episode of "The Walking Dead" fed us a familiar trope. Travis Bickle. Britney Spears, pre-umbrella-incident. Shane dragging an electric razor over his cranium while steam wafts around his muscular nakedness. Someone shaving his head with that kind of frightening intensity is not someone we want to befriend – or in whose hands we want to put our lives. By the end of the episode, we know this for certain.
With Sophia still missing , poor Carl still on the edge of death with a gunshot wound, our band of survivors split in two, and Rick weakened by giving up his own lifeblood to save his son, our protagonists are unraveling at the seams. At the end of the last episode, Shane and Otis were trapped inside a high school with hordes of the dead pounding at the gates. As the two of them struggle to get out with the respirator that could well save Carl's life, Shane makes a decision that seems to put him over an invisible edge…and rightly so. To say the least, Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince, who's one of my favorite character actors) was not supposed to meet that kind of end. AMC is still deviating from the books here, and something tells me they're doing it to ensure they have a good reason to off the one who's really going nuts. Greg Nicotero and the effects crew did a bang-up job with the gore, though; we aren't getting so much zombie nastiness this season, but this scene is one that'll live on in your dreams (and your belly) for awhile.
Glenn and T-Dog find their way to Hershel's farm just in time to sew up T-Dog's ragged, poisoned gash, and for Glenn to meet and bond with Maggie (Lauren Cohan). Andrea and Daryl can't take Carol's forlorn weeping any longer, so they retreat to the woods to continue the search for Sophia. Here they find a grotesque message: a walker hanging from a tree, the bottoms of his legs eaten away, still moaning and reaching for them. "The world's gone to shit," says his hastily written limerick. Well, that's true. The question is, is that a good enough reason to end it all?
The main theme of the episode seems to be the choices we make – and how they affect everyone around us. This strung-up walker is perhaps the first this season that makes both the protagonists and we as viewers contemplate our own choices. Andrea is still suffering intense resentment toward Dale for refusing to allow her to kill herself. Daryl asks her if she still wants to die, forcing her to see the walker, who was at one time just like her, as a former human. Dale struggles to calm her fury by giving her a gun and a sincere apology…but he knows perfectly well he's giving a suicidal person a means to an end. Meanwhile, Lori struggles with another horrid decision: is this world meant for children? Should Carl be saved, only to spend the rest of his short life crazy and terrified all the time? These are the kinds of questions the director wants us to contemplate: would you take the easy way out? Would you let your child die? If this was the reality of your life, what would you do? Despite ravenous readings of the Zombie Survival Guide, most of us can't tell you one way or another until it happens. (And I happen to be of the opinion that this probably is how the world will end, thanks.)
In the midst of his contemplation, Dale (whom we've never seen smoke before) pulls out a ragged pack of Morley cigarettes. Savvy viewers probably remember another TV character puffing on Morleys: The X-Files' Cigarette Smoking Man. Well done, AMC. After Daryl pulled out a bag of Heisenberg meth (oh yes, I think Walter White would survive the zombie apocalypse with no problem whatsoever), this is another nod to great TV.
I wouldn't recommend watching the middle of the episode while gorging on candy this evening (leave some for the trick or treaters!), but it's certainly packed full of important turns of events. Carl seems to be slipping out of danger; the raggedy pack of survivors have found a decent place to stay in Hershel's farm; Shane seems to finally be walking off the deep end. If the remainder of the season keeps up at this pace, we're looking at another winner for AMC.
Happy Halloween from all of us at CLR and The Fourth Wall!
Julia Rhodes graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Communication and Culture. She's always been passionate about movies and media, and is particularly fond of horror and feminist film theory, but has a soft spot for teen romances and black comedies. She also loves animals and vegetarian cooking; who says horror geeks aren't compassionate and gentle? Bank Routing Numbers
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Cirque De Zale
You are Alexander Zale. Occupation: The circus poop boy.
This review and interview originally appeared in The Inventory 14 & 15. The Inventory is the Internet's only online, downloadable adventure magazine and is translated into seven different languages. You can download past issues of The Inventory from Just Adventure.
Rebecca Clements. Keep this name in mind. She is the developer of one of the best adventures made with the AGS engine. Our choice for review of the month will probably be a bit controversial, since this very same month we review Syberia 2 as well, but after having played both, Cirque De Zale (and actually many more fan-made adventures) are way much more entertaining than the dull sequel ofMicroids.
But what does this little Cirque De Zale adventure have so much to offer, coming out of nowhere to stealSyberia 2's position as review of the month? It is a point and click 3rd person adventure that has a funny story, unique characters and an entertaining gameplay. Let's see each part of the game under close scrutiny.
Story: You are Alexander Zale. Occupation: The circus poop boy. Never seen that before in a CV? Well you see it now in Cirque De Zale. One day when Alexander does his work and cleans the elephant pooh out of the circus, he decides that he's cleaned way too much crap in his life and he has had enough of being slapped around by his ringmaster, Astoundo. He therefore decides to pull a prank on his ringmaster and fills his magic hat with elephant crap. Astoundo gets humiliated in front of his audience and in return he sends Alexander to another dimension using magic.
Alexander now finds himself in the middle of a quite weird town, and decides to head for the palace where he finds the king of this land. The… double-headed king tells Alexander about how according to an old prophecy, he is the one person that has been chosen to save this land from the tyran who has kidnapped the king's daughter. Alexander of course doesn't give a rat's ass about prophecies and kingdoms. All this guy wants is to be the ringmaster of his own circus. Therefore he ignores the king's requests and starts looking for a circus … to steal and circus employees to recruit. Fortunately for him this dimension is full of people who could work in a circus. On his unusual quest, Alexander, will meet a whole bunch of unique and funny characters. The humor of the game is its no 1 strength. It is quite mean-spirited, so if you have a problem with this sort of humor, it might not be your cup of tea. If you do not mind some strong language here and there however, then this game is going to keep you laughing until the very end. It also contains the best knock-knock joke. I've ever heard … and which is also making its way around my university campus as we speak. But don't expect me to tell it to you over here, play the game and get to read it over there. Generally speaking, the dialogues of the game are top-notch.
Some of the unusual characters Alexander gets to meet, include some… hanging children, an impolite fisherman, some cricket players, a lousy comedian, a blind xylophone tuner, a giant bird and Welk among others. Who's Welk you ask? A gullible creature that you'll have to meet, trick and fool in order to complete your mission. Alexander himself is obnoxious, meanspirited, arrogant and cares only for himself but hey, if you worked as a poop boy I'd bet you wouldn't be much better yourself now, would you? The length of the game is also satisfactory. It took me roughly speaking 3 to 4 hours to finish it. I was disappointed when the game was finished, not because it was really short, but because it was really fun to play and I craved for more.
Graphics: Well if you've played Monkey Island 1 or 2, you get the idea. The characters look excellent and if you are a pixel-fan who longs for Sierra/Lucasarts kind of games like myself you'll feel right at home with this one. The backgrounds range from great looking to they could have been given a bit more detail here and there.
I think that Cirque De Zale is the closest any adventure made with AGS has reached to the original games of the former Lucasarts … with the possible exception of Indiana Jones Fountain of Youth, but this one is not ready yet. Rebecca Clements also went the extra mile and designed a new image for the GUI of the game, based on the Lucasarts interface but adapted for the theme of Cirque De Zale.
Sound: Probably the only part where the game feels incomplete is its audio. The game has only a few music tracks here and there, and these of course are not the best you've ever heard, but taking into consideration that this whole game was made by one woman alone and that it is being distributed for free, it feels even unnecessary to complain. There is no speech throughout the game, but from the choices poor voice acting and no voice acting at all, the no voice acting at all is definitely the way to go.
Gameplay: The gameplay and the story is where Cirque De Zale (excuse our language) kicks ass. Especially after completing the move-these-levers-around-with-noclues-whatsoever-Syberia 2, Cirque De Zale felt like an oasis among the desert. It seems like all the money you are paying for when you buy a commercial adventure game, goes to the graphics artists and the musicians behind a game. But this little complaint of mine apart, let's go back to Cirque De Zale.
First of all the tasks of the game are logical (within the context of the story) and also very fun to complete. You always know what you have to do next since the goals of the main character are always clear from what he says himself.
The non playable characters will mostly need a favour from you in order to give you something back or join your circus and if you forget what each character wanted you can always go back and ask them again. Overall, the feedback that the player receives from the game is always adequate and the player usually does not have to resort to trial and error or guessing.
But even if you get stuck at some point there is so much different fun actions to try that you never get bored by playing it. The pace of gameplay becomes therefore very smooth and you won't find yourself stuck looking at a still picture. The interface of the game is the well-known and successful interface used in the older Lucasarts games. Rebecca Clements also made sure to use the right mouse button for default choice of command, something that sometimes AGS developers don't pay much attention to. Although it is a small detail, it makes the game much more comfortable to play. You can save and load games by pressing the F5 key from your keyboard. You are offered 99 save game slots which should be more than enough and this large save slot availability is definitely more than welcome, especially for those who like to replay certain parts of their favourite adventure games.
I encountered two minor bugs while playing the game. The first one is that if you try to press escape or F5 during the very beginning of the second part of the introduction (just when Alexander is transported to the other dimension) the game crushes. The second one occurs in a couple of locations when you try to enter a door, Alexander will walk to the center of the room instead – but he will still enter the next room, so in essence none of them is a big deal and none of them detract from the overall experience.
In a few words… Since the King's Quest 2 remake this is the most entertaining adventure (and I include both commercial and non-commercial adventures) I have played. It is a must play for Monkey Island fans and fans of Lucasarts adventures in general.
I hope and wish that Rebecca Clements plans to release more adventures in the near future, whether they are sequels to Cirque De Zale or totally new adventures. She has the knowledge and expertise of story-telling and game design that many developers lack nowadays.
The only advice we could give to Rebecca is maybe a bit more detail to the backgrounds and we hope that some people with music and voice acting talents could support this woman's fantastic talent in game development. Other than that, we hope that she will keep up the excellent work.
Final Grade: B+


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You don't have to start a fire to check whether the smoke detectors in your house are doing their job. You just press the test button for a quick verification. Now you can test your antivirus protection in much the same way. The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) today announced the release of five tools to help users verify that their antivirus protection is working.
Dr. Richard Ford, President and CEO of AMTSO, stated, "Whether you are a consumer or business, understanding if your endpoint anti-malware security product is configured correctly, detecting then blocking different types of attacks, is an essential element to giving the user or administrator the knowledge and comfort that their security solution is working on multiple levels to protect their valuable digital assets."
Vendor Participation
The way these tests work is really quite simple. Participating antivirus vendors just agree that they will configure their product to detect specific harmless files or Web pages the same way they would a malicious file. Fifteen major vendors have signed on so far, though not all of them support all of the feature checks. Tony Anscombe, AMTSO's VP of Marketing, explained that "AMTSO expect more vendors will add detection of these tools to their solutions in the future."
Each test page lists the vendors that definitely support the particular test. If your vendor is listed but your antivirus fails the test, you've got a problem... and a solution. Text on the test pages says, "click on the name of the vendor for instructions explaining how to enable the feature in your product." At present it looks like these links just go to the vendor's main page, not to specific instructions. I assume this will be corrected before long.
What Can You Check?
Years ago the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (now called simply EICAR) proposed that all antivirus vendors agree to detect a specific, tiny, non-malicious file, thereby making it possible to verify that antivirus protection is working without actually using malware. The vast majority of antivirus products support the EICAR test file, typically detecting it with a name like "EICAR_Test_File_Not_A_Virus."
Two of AMTSO's feature check pages make use of this venerable file. One verifies that your antivirus catches it as a simple download. That's something you could do just by visiting EICAR, of course. However, the other page checks to make sure your antivirus also catches the EICAR file when delivered through a drive-by download.
Some programs that don't do serious harm to your system or your privacy can still cause trouble by, for example, plastering unwanted ads on your screen. Most antivirus programs include the option to detect these "Potentially Unwanted Applications," though this feature isn't always turned on by default. You can use AMTSO's feature check page to verify whether your antivirus supports this type of detection and check whether it's properly configured to do so.
Many antivirus products include phishing detection, but often it isn't very effective. A phishing Web page looks exactly like the login page for a secure site, perhaps your bank. If you enter your username and password, you've just handed your bank account to a hacker. In my own tests, I'm frequently unsure whether the feature is working at all. AMTSO's phishing test page will be a huge help in those situations.
Cloud-based malware detection has many benefits, among them the fact that malware signatures exist on the server, not on every client, and any updates take place immediately. AMTSO's new CloudCar file works just like the EICAR file, except that participating vendors configure their products so only cloud-based analysis detects it. This is a particularly tough feature to check without some kind of help, since many products don't distinguish between local and cloud-based detection.
The New, Active AMTSO
The AMTSO was formed in 2008, and its members spent a number of years codifying best practices for testing anti-malware products. Holding several yearly meetings under the leadership of a Board of Directors served the group well during this phase.
Last year, the group restructured its leadership, adding a full set of executive officers. The set of antivirus feature check pages is the first visible success from the new leadership, and it's most impressive. Look for more AMTSO news in the coming months. And right now, go to the AMTSO website and make sure your antivirus is working!
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QuARRy Home
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Windshield Survey Assignment
Windshield Survey Assignment
Sacramento State University
Michelle Dang and Lyndsay Anderson, Instructors from Sacramento State University, adapted an assignment for an online course using Flipgrid to have students present their community assessments from the lens of a public health nurse.
Prompt and Rubric Reflective Writing Assignment
Prompt and Rubric Reflective Writing Assignment
California State University, Fullerton
Krista Henderson, an Instructor from CSU Fullerton, shares a detailed writing assignment where students describe the scope of their previous sexual education and describe what the "ideal" sex ed program is. The instructor provides 6 question prompts and a detailed rubric which provides 5 criteria for evaluating the essay.
Lab Assignment Connecting Students to Their Community
Lab Assignment Connecting Students to Their Community
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Weimin Li, an Instructor from Cal Poly Pomona, developed a module lab assignment. This lab assignment includes includes an activity with students exploring the hardware and software that they will use in a GIS lab. The activity has students using a database from LA county to apply mapping skills.
Fashion Analysis
Fashion Analysis
California State University, Fresno
Lizhu Davis, an Instructor at Fresno State, created an assignment which includes; 1) the purpose and learning objectives of the assignment, 2) streamlined the guideline to give students a clearer instruction, and 3) a well developed grading rubric. Students are also given choice around how they want to approach the assignment.


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Hello Kalena
I saw your recent post about how SEO freelancers can generate new business for themselves and I wondered if you could answer a related question please.
I am currently the in-house SEO for a real estate chain, but I am quite keen to start my own consulting business part time. The major reason I haven't done so already is that I wouldn't know what to tell clients to expect when it comes to the projected results of my optimization efforts. I mean I know how long it took me to optimize these sites for my boss and it was many weeks before they even started to show up in the first few pages of Google.
But isn't every site different? Doesn't it depend entirely on what Google thinks of each site and the indexed content? How can I get potential SEO clients interested in my services if I don't know what type of results they can expect and when? How do you handle this type of situation and what advice can you give me?
Thanks so much Kalena
Hi Kelly
Thanks for reaching out – and your question is a good one. Search engine optimization is a unique service in that you rarely see the results of your efforts right away. It can take days, weeks or even months for Google and the other search engines to index and re-rank your newly optimized pages. It's vital that you explain this to your clients up front. Most of your clients will be expecting results quickly and it's your job to extinguish that myth.
The key to managing client expectations is to be as transparent as possible about your process and educate them in the process. [My Udemy course – How to Earn a Full Time Income as a Part Time SEO Consultant – can give you more tips about this]
It always astounds me when I hear about SEO companies who don't actually explain to clients what they do. Some SEOs don't even inform the clients what changes they are going to make to their web sites! Sometimes I'll take on a new client who has worked with another SEO in the past and when I ask them "what changes did the SEO make to your site? What SEO tasks did they perform?" they will have NO CLUE. Or they've been told that the process is "secret" or "proprietory". What a load of bollocks. How can a client possibly understand the value of what you do if you don't explain to them what you actually do?
You want to know why some SEOs refuse to reveal their process to clients? Because they don't actually know how to optimize a web site. It's true. Many of the large so called *SEO* firms you see advertising and cold calling these days claim to be selling SEO services, but they DON'T PERFORM ANY SEO WHATSOEVER. What they are actually selling is Google AdWords. They make grand claims to help customers get their sites ranking high in Google using *proprietory SEO methods*, when what they're actually doing is buying up masses of cheap keywords on AdWords via bulk accounts and displaying ads pointing to their customer sites. Yes, the ads might appear above the organic search results from time to time and deliver traffic, but the click costs usually increase month on month. As soon as that customer stops paying, the traffic stops coming. And what are the clients left with? The same unoptimized site they started with, no more traffic and the opinion that SEO simply doesn't work.
No wonder SEO has such a bad name!
Some SEOs I've talked to are afraid that the client will take that knowledge and use it to perform their own SEO or to train staff in-house to take over the SEO process, putting them out of a job. You know what I say to that? Fantastic. The best SEOs work themselves out of a role, in my opinion.
If you can educate your client to the point where they understand the importance of SEO and the value to their business, you have done the very best job possible and I guarantee you they will be singing your praises for life. Because you will have turned them from a customer into a fan, you will probably get more business from an ex-client you've educated than you would have from that same client if you had kept them as a long term customer. How? Via referrals and word of mouth. A passionate testimonial from a happy customer can win many, many clients. You can use that testimonial on your web site, business cards and marketing material. You can use that client as a verbal referee if future clients want to talk to a previous customer.
So don't be afraid to educate your clients during every single step of the SEO process. Make sure they track their own progress via Google Analytics. Show them what you're doing and manage their expectations by explaining to them that you don't know exactly when their site rankings and traffic will start to climb and you may have to tweak things along the way.
Simply be honest with them and they will ultimately respect you more and thank you for it.
Like to learn how to earn a full time income as a part time SEO consultant? Check out my Udemy course on the subject.


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Antwerp Towage NV was established in 2008 as a joint-venture between leading towage and salvage service providers Fairplay and Multraship. It provides ship owners and operators with competitive harbour towage services at all river terminals and locks along the River Scheldt in the port of Antwerp, co-ordinating its state-of-the-art operations from a dedicated office on Tavernierkaai.
FAIRPLAY TOWAGE was established in Hamburg more than a hundred and ten years ago by Mr. Richard Borchardt. Today it comprises a group of companies mainly engaged in the towage industry with dedicated offices in Hamburg, Rotterdam, Rostock, Swinoujscie, Szczcecin and Gdynia. In addition to harbour towage, it is involved in deep-sea towage, offshore support and salvage works and, via group companies, in shipbuilding and repair as well as real estate management. Fairplay Towage >
MULTRASHIP TOWAGE & SALVAGE is a division of the Muller Maritime Group. Its core activities include harbour towage, salvage, deep-sea towage and support to the offshore energy and dredging industries. Run by the Muller family of Terneuzen, it draws on more than a hundred years of experience in the River Scheldt area. The company operates a large modern fleet of tugs, salvage craft and support vessels. Other participations of the Muller Maritime Group include Bourgas Tug Service, Verenigde Bootlieden, Montis Mooring, Scheldt Maritime Services and CTOW. Multraship >


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Problem Solvers Zinger
The first kit to convert SRAM XD driver-equipped wheels for singlespeed use! Problem Solver's has a disproportionately large percentage of singlespeed enthusiasts in their ranks, so it's only natural that when SRAM introduced a new freehub body in order to accommodate a larger number of gears, they started thinking about how to convert it to one gear. The Zinger provides chainline adjustability and a broad range of cog sizes for whatever type of bike you're lookin' to simplify.
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals, including lead, known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
Part Numbers
Option | UPC | MPN |
Silver/Black / 18/20T | 708752177574 | HU0952 |


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Available as
a 1000x1500 pixel JPEG
. The
original PhotoCD file
may be available.
Head of the Charles Regatta, Sunday, October 18, 1998. From the footbridge to Harvard Business School
Canon EOS-5, 70-200/2.8L (usually with 1.4X teleconverter), Fuji Superia ISO 400 color negative film
copyright 1998 email@example.com
Note: you can personalize this site. If you want to change the default image size that you get after clicking on a thumbnail, then
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School Voucher Program is Challenged in Louisiana
School Voucher Program Is Challenged in Louisiana
By Melinda Deslatte
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – School voucher program is challenged in Louisiana and continues to be a major issue on how to protect equal access to quality education for minorities and the poor.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has asked President Barack Obama to check out Louisiana's voucher program firsthand, saying the visit would make him scrap an administration lawsuit against the program.
Jindal sent a letter Monday to the White House inviting Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to a private school that accepts voucher students, whose education is paid with state tax dollars.
"I am sure you would agree that it is critical to sit down with parents and students who are enrolled in the program to discuss their experiences at the new schools and how it compares to the experiences at their previous failing schools," the Republican governor says in the letter, a copy of which was first obtained by The Associated Press. "I believe if you and the Attorney General are able to hear firsthand from parents about the experiences their children are having in the program, then you will reconsider the suit," Jindal wrote.
The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit in August seeking to bar Louisiana from awarding future school vouchers to students who otherwise would attend public schools under federal desegregation orders – until getting clearance from a federal court. Louisiana has 34 school districts under federal desegregation orders, and vouchers have been given to students in at least 22 of those districts, according to the Justice Department lawsuit.
The Obama administration argues that vouchers can impede desegregation efforts, skewing racial demographics of schools.
Jindal calls the lawsuit an attempt to force low-income, mostly minority children back into failing schools to appease teacher unions that oppose vouchers as siphoning money from public schools. "I think it is only right that you and Attorney General Holder join me and come visit a scholarship school in Louisiana to look into the faces of the parents and kids and try to explain to them why you want to force them back into failing schools," the governor wrote to the president.
The lawsuit has been an attention-grabbing case for Jindal, considered a possible 2016 presidential candidate. He has appeared on national TV talk shows, the Republican speech circuit and editorial pages of newspapers in several states to criticize the Justice Department effort.
The Justice Department claimed it had reached a "breakthrough" in the dispute, saying the state agreed to provide additional data on voucher students the department had sought. Jindal called that announcement a "PR stunt," saying no resolution had been reached.
Taxpayer-financed tuition through Louisiana's voucher program, called the Louisiana Scholarship Program, is available to students from low- to moderate-income families who otherwise would attend public schools graded C, D or F in the state's performance rating system. About 8,000 students are attending private or parochial schools in the current school year through the voucher program, costing the state an estimated $45 million this budget year.
In his letter, Jindal describes the voucher program as part of a package of education reforms he's worked to put in place to improve the quality of public schools. "However, it takes time to fix some of our failing public schools that have been in disrepair for far too long – time that our children do not have. Our children only grow up once and every single child, no matter race or income level, deserves an equal opportunity to get a great education," he writes.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.


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AV & Presentation | InfoComm 2013 News
Advances in display technology are on parade at InfoComm 2013 in Orlando June 12-14, including a number of touchscreen devices, wall displays, new LED monitors, and related AV gear.
Mitsubishi Electric has developed a new LED Upgrade, which upgrades the company's older lamp-based 20-, 21- and 50-Series display wall cubes. According to the company, the technology makes the display walls more energy efficient and brighter without having to be replaced. The LED Upgrade is scheduled to start shipping in the fourth quarter of this year. Versions will be available for XGA and SXGA+ displays.
Mitsubishi also has come out with a new line of super-narrow bezel monitors designed for digital signage and other light-use video wall applications. When placed in an array, the gap between displays can be as thin as 5.3 millimeters, the company reported. Monitors can be mounted in vertical or horizontal arrangements. Among the key features: built-in DVI-D daisy chaining, which allows up to four displays to be coordinated without additional gear; a digital gradation circuit to make brightness uniform across an array of monitors; two built-in 10W speakers to eliminate the need for external speakers; and AMX and Crestron compatibility to simplify integration and installation. Models include the 55-inch LM55S1 (shipping in July 2013), the 55-inch LM55P1 (shipping in August), and the 46-inch LM46P1 (shipping in September).
Mitsubishi has also developed a line of display wall controllers and software to manage its monitors. The VC-TPXX series of display wall controllers are Windows-based workstations configured specifically for running Mitsubishi D-Wall software. They come in three sizes and can allow the user to manage between four and 56 cubes. The D-Wall software provides the display wall management, such as the abilities to:
The company has teamed up with Shuttle Computer Group to create a "digital signage in a box" hardware bundle for plug-and-play digital signage. The package includes one or two 42-inch or 46-inch commercial-grade Mitsubishi LCD flat panel displays, a Shuttle digital media player, and cables. The kit also comes with a 90-day free trial of Shuttle's content management software and service.
Ideum has released two new multitouch tables, the Platform 46 full-sized table and the Platform 46 coffee table. Both integrate the high-performance 3M Multi-Touch Display 46-inch C4667PW with support for 60 touch points. They're built for public space use, such as in a school, museum, or research space. According to the company, the displays have chemically strengthened glass tops and the pedestals are constructed with aircraft-grade aluminum.
Each model has a bezel-free, high-definition 1080-pixel LCD display with 12ms touch response time. The computer powering the new tables is a desktop Intel i7 3.1 GHz Hyper-threaded Quad Core Processor with 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB Hard Drive; that can be upgraded with a dedicated graphical processing unit, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 SSD for storage. The tables can also be purchased without the computer. The tables ship with Windows 8 Professional 64-bit and include gestureworks' GestureKey, a utility that adds Windows 8 multitouch gestures to legacy Windows applications.
Legrand has announced an in-wall device box to provide power, communications, and audio and video connectivity for wall-mounted flat screen monitors. The Wiremold Evolution Series Flat Screen Wall Box, expected by the end of the summer, installs in steel or wood stud walls and features removable device modules to support changes to service without requiring that they be entirely disconnected or reconnected. A four-gang box holds two device modules; a two-gang version has one module with storage space for active A/V components. All modules have a removable divider for separation of power and low-voltage service.
Middle Atlantic Products has engineered a mobile cart system for large displays. The VTC Series Mobile Videoconferencing & Presentation Cart System can support single screens up to 80 inches or dual large screens up to 70 inches and is built to handle up to 250 pounds of screen weight or up to 550 pounds of equipment weight. The carts have from seven to 15 rackspaces and features rackmount space for heavier components, such as UPS systems.
InFocus is showing off two new displays: the 70-inch Mondopad touchscreen collaboration display with a five-point multi-touch feature and four optical sensors; and the BigTouch, a Windows 8 Professional-based 55-inch 1080-pixel display. The MondoPad integrates a Windows PC with an interactive whiteboard, video conferencing, and Microsoft Office. The BigTouch allows users to run Windows applications--even older ones--in touch mode and includes a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Scalable Display Technologies, Electric Picture, and Digital Projection International used InfoComm to announce completion of an upgrade to the STAR Center training simulator. The center, located in Dania Beach, FL, provides marine simulation, training, assessment, and research for the maritime community. The 16-foot, 360 degree immersive, ship bridge training display was upgraded to increase resolution, color, and vertical field of view, and improve ease of maintenance by reducing the number of projectors required, the companies said in a joint statement. The new projection system features nine Digital Projection HIGHlite 660 WUXGA projectors. Software from Scalable Display Manager calibrates the warp and blend for the display. Electric Picture provided the system integration services.
In other Scalable news, three companies--Sony Electronics, BOI Solutions, and Scalable--have banded together at the conference to build a "big data" display. The 32 megapixel display features ultra-high resolution and interactive multi-touch across externally connected PCs. The system encompasses four Sony GT-100 4K projectors. The display is calibrated using Scalable's camera based calibration software ScalableDesktop. The screen is made of a composition from Stewart Filmscreen. BOI handled the integration of the system.
Draper has been demonstrating its "semi-rigid" acrylic screens, which provide options for curved projection systems. According to the company, the screens are simpler to deliver and install than rigid projection screens; they can be rolled for transportation and fit through a standard door. The new screens are available for front or rear projection.
ChyTV introduced a new addition to the ChyTV digital signage line. The ChyTV HD-250 enables real-time 1080i and 720-pixel high definition input in a user-defined window or in the full screen with graphic overlay and can provide real-time data and clip playout in landscape or portrait mode. The display uses ChyTV's Tools utility to manage content and to deliver text and effects, including 3D animated objects. The HD-250 integrates with other devices such as bar-code scanners, motion and proximity detectors, and scent and lighting systems.
Sharp is showing off its 90-inch LED display at the conference. The professional grade PN-R903 can be mounted either horizontally or vertically. The company is also exhibiting smaller form displays, including the PN-K321, an LED 31.5-inch monitor that provides four-times the pixel resolution of conventional 1080 pixel for situations where detailed picture clarity is essential. The monitor is 35mm at its thickest point.
Also new, Sharp's upcoming PN-U display series, which features slim design, LED backlighting, and a number of input choices, including a "DisplayPort" connector for quick computer integration. The displays will be available in the fall in 55-inch, 47-inch, and 42-inch models.
Elo Touch Solutions, whose founders developed touchscreen overlay technology, has announced the launch of new digital signage platforms in a smaller size than its current 70-inch display. The 3201L 32-inch and 4201L 42-inch screens enable up to six simultaneous touches for multi-user interaction. Both offer "strengthened" clear glass and use EloView remote management software for control via Web browser or mobile device. The company said both products would be available worldwide in July. Pricing starts at $1,795 for the 3201L and $2,795 for the 4201L.
Elo also said it would be releasing a software-as-a-service application to provide management of touch applications. EloView monitors the health and controls the configuration of Elo touch technologies through a cloud-based server. Devices that can be managed include those running on Elo hardware and EloView mobile apps for Apple iOS and Google Android. The new suite will be available for download for beta use starting in September 2013.
Texas Instruments shared new technology that allows a user to turn any surface into an interactive touchscreen for multiple users. With multitouch interactivity, the company said, the new addition to its DLP product roster will create a platform that could allow teams of students to collaborate on activities on a wall-sized screen and replace traditional chalk or whiteboard instruction. The company said manufacturers such as Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, and Ricoh have been adding DLP technology to their existing product lines. DLP chips feature an array of up to eight million microscopic mirrors able to switch on or off at ultra-high speeds.
LG Electronics has demonstrated an 84-inch ultra-high-definition digital signage display. The 84WS70MS-B has a pixel resolution of 3840 x 2160, four times higher than standard high-def displays. It features a multi-touch option perfect for commercial applications. LG's LED models, including this one, incorporate the company's "in plane switching," a panel technology to optimize accurate color saturation and contrast at wide-angle viewing; the resulting quality, the company said, allows for the display to be installed at virtually any angle or height.
dnp denmark has introduced the fourth generation of its Supernova Flex motorized screen, which comes with a new controller, motor, and mechanical improvements, the company said. The Supernova screen works especially well in environments with high ambient light, such as spaces with walls of windows. According to dnp, the screens reflect projected light from above while absorbing and filtering out ambient room light. A special neutral black tint has been added to the screen material to produce deeper blacks, maintain color intensity, and reproduce neutral grays in highly lit rooms. The screens come in ceiling and wall mount configurations.
The company has also launched a front projection screen that exploits the Fresnel lens structure, an optical technology used in lighthouses that focuses projected light. The dnp Supernova STS works well, dnp said, in compressed spaces where the projector is mounted directly on the back wall and projects onto the screen from a steep angle, such as in a classroom or small conference room. The STS Screen comes in a standard size of 100-inches with a 16:9 format; custom sizes are available on request. A hard-coat front and aluminum back plate make the screen suitable for use in touch and interactive applications.
dnp also showed off InvisiBezel, an optical front cover that can be mounted on top of standard "super narrow-bezel" LCD panels. The company said the edges consist of prisms that optically stretch the pixels at the edge of the LCD panel in such a way as to conceal the bezel. The result is a near-seamless viewing experience. InvisiBezel works with LCD displays from LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Panasonic, and NEC.
Crestron unveiled a group of touchscreens in InfoComm. The new lineup includes three models: the TSW-1050 with a 10-inch screen for video conferencing use, the TSW-750 with a seven-inch screen, and the TSW-550 with a five-inch display, both appropriate for use on a wall or in a lectern or tabletop. All sport H.264 streaming video, edge-to-edge glass, power-over-Ethernet connectivity, and backbox mounting for simplified installation. The proprietary "Smart Graphics" recognizes gesture navigation and swiping and provides for kinetic controls such as knobs, sliders, gauges, and scrolling lists. The TSW line also has five soft-touch buttons for provide quick access to commonly used functions.
The devices' interfaces can be programmed with the use of Crestron's VisionTools Pro-e, SIMPL, or newly released Studio software.


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Chapter 5 deals with Medieval India. The best part was the weaving craft, although the two stories were pretty interesting, too. The kids learned the word "dynasty." New vocabulary is always fun and it is one of the reasons why I chose to do history with them in grades 1-4.
Sometimes it does seem like too much when so many people simply focus on the 3 Rs, but I really think there is something to exposure to vocabulary, true stories, geography and historical figures.
They liked coloring the map and the man riding on an elephant, which was the coloring sheet provided for this chapter in the Activity Book. I can already tell the Activity Book has more projects and on a higher level than last year. I can see a progression of difficulty level.
The kids were really excited about weaving. They used the nail to poke holes and my son even made a pun when he said, "I nailed it!" My daughter got discouraged with the weaving process and I had to encourage her to continue and to persevere. "This is only your first time trying weaving, so give yourself some room to make mistakes," I said, or something to that effect.
She really enjoyed coloring the elephant. I know she needed to do something more familiar after all that weaving, so she threw herself at coloring with all her might.