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Posts Tagged ' Dogwood Alliance '
GreenDustries is thrilled with the new policy at Georgia-Pacific that increases protection for millions of acres of the South's natural hardwood forests. It lets us know that others in industry, like us, believe we must rein in the pillaging of forests to save tomorrow's forests today – and it is a giant leap in the battle toward understanding of the important role forests play in our planet's environment.
What the new policy means is that Georgia-Pacific will not purchase trees from Endangered Forests and Special Areas, or from new pine plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests. The policy statement was developed in consultation with environmental groups Dogwood Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Rainforest Action Network.
While GP's new forest policy applies to all of its operations, as a first step in implementing its commitment on Endangered Forests and Special Areas, GP worked with the environmental groups and scientists to identify 11 Endangered Forests and Special Areas totaling 600,000 acres in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Eco-Region, as well as 90 million acres of natural hardwood forests in the Southern region. Endangered Forests and Special Areas in other regions are to be mapped in a similar process, over the coming years.
According to the Dogwood Alliance website: "No other U.S. company has demonstrated this level of initiative in mapping unique forests across such a broad region," said Debbie Hammel, NRDC Senior Resource Specialist... Read more [...]


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Primitive Geometric
31″ x 68″
Our patterns are hand drawn on linen which is suitable for cuts #4 and up. Each pattern is carefully drawn on the straight of the grain with a 3″-4″ allowance for your hoop or frame. If available, a colour copy of the finished rug is included with your pattern. All patterns are copyright protected.

subset: commoncrawl


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Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers Say
Lisa Baldwin, a chemistry teacher, works with her students to fight through academic challenges.
Nancy Palmieri for The New York Times
Lisa Baldwin, a chemistry teacher, works with her students to fight through academic challenges.
Published: November 01, 2012
There is a widespread belief among teachers that students' constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, according to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday.
The researchers note that their findings represent the subjective views of teachers and should not be seen as definitive proof that widespread use of computers, phones and video games affects students' capability to focus.
Even so, the researchers who performed the studies, as well as scholars who study technology's impact on behavior and the brain, say the studies are significant because of the vantage points of teachers, who spend hours a day observing students.
The timing of the studies, from two well-regarded research organizations, appears to be coincidental.
One was conducted by the Pew Internet Project, a division of the Pew Research Center that focuses on technology-related research. The other comes from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that advises parents on media use by children. It was conducted by Vicky Rideout, a researcher who has previously shown that media use among children and teenagers ages 8 to 18 has grown so fast that they on average spend twice as much time with screens each year as they spend in school.
Teachers who were not involved in the surveys echoed their findings in interviews, saying they felt they had to work harder to capture and hold students' attention.
"I'm an entertainer. I have to do a song and dance to capture their attention," said Hope Molina-Porter, 37, an English teacher at Troy High School in Fullerton, Calif., who has taught for 14 years. She teaches accelerated students, but has noted a marked decline in the depth and analysis of their written work.
She said she did not want to shrink from the challenge of engaging them, nor did other teachers interviewed, but she also worried that technology was causing a deeper shift in how students learned. She also wondered if teachers were adding to the problem by adjusting their lessons to accommodate shorter attention spans.
"Are we contributing to this?" Ms. Molina-Porter said. "What's going to happen when they don't have constant entertainment?"
Scholars who study the role of media in society say no long-term studies have been done that adequately show how and if student attention span has changed because of the use of digital technology. But there is mounting indirect evidence that constant use of technology can affect behavior, particularly in developing brains, because of heavy stimulation and rapid shifts in attention.
Kristen Purcell, the associate director for research at Pew, acknowledged that the findings could be viewed from another perspective: that the education system must adjust to better accommodate the way students learn, a point that some teachers brought up in focus groups themselves.
"What we're labeling as 'distraction,' some see as a failure of adults to see how these kids process information," Ms. Purcell said. "They're not saying distraction is good but that the label of 'distraction' is a judgment of this generation."
The surveys also found that many teachers said technology could be a useful educational tool. In the Pew survey, which was done in conjunction with the College Board and the National Writing Project, roughly 75 percent of 2,462 teachers surveyed said that the Internet and search engines had a "mostly positive" impact on student research skills. And they said such tools had made students more self-sufficient researchers.
But nearly 90 percent said that digital technologies were creating "an easily distracted generation with short attention spans."
Similarly, of the 685 teachers surveyed in the Common Sense project, 71 percent said they thought technology was hurting attention span "somewhat" or "a lot." About 60 percent said it hindered students' ability to write and communicate face to face, and almost half said it hurt critical thinking and their ability to do homework.
There was little difference in how younger and older teachers perceived the impact of technology.
"Boy, is this a clarion call for a healthy and balanced media diet," said Jim Steyer, the chief executive of Common Sense Media. He added, "What you have to understand as a parent is that what happens in the home with media consumption can affect academic achievement."
In interviews, teachers described what might be called a "Wikipedia problem," in which students have grown so accustomed to getting quick answers with a few keystrokes that they are more likely to give up when an easy answer eludes them. The Pew research found that 76 percent of teachers believed students had been conditioned by the Internet to find quick answers.
"They need skills that are different than 'Spit, spit, there's the answer,' " said Lisa Baldwin, 48, a high school teacher in Great Barrington, Mass., who said students' ability to focus and fight through academic challenges was suffering an "exponential decline." She said she saw the decline most sharply in students whose parents allowed unfettered access to television, phones, iPads and video games.
For her part, Ms. Baldwin said she refused to lower her expectations or shift her teaching style to be more entertaining. But she does spend much more time in individual tutoring sessions, she added, coaching students on how to work through challenging assignments.
Other teachers said technology was as much a solution as a problem. Dave Mendell, 44, a fourth-grade teacher in Wallingford, Pa., said that educational video games and digital presentations were excellent ways to engage students on their terms. Teachers also said they were using more dynamic and flexible teaching styles.
"I'm tap dancing all over the place," Mr. Mendell said. "The more I stand in front of class, the easier it is to lose them."
He added that it was tougher to engage students, but that once they were engaged, they were just as able to solve problems and be creative as they had been in the past. He would prefer, he added, for students to use less entertainment media at home, but he did not believe it represented an insurmountable challenge for teaching them at school.
While the Pew research explored how technology has affected attention span, it also looked at how the Internet has changed student research habits. By contrast, the Common Sense survey focused largely on how teachers saw the impact of entertainment media on a range of classroom skills.
The surveys include some findings that appear contradictory. In the Common Sense report, for instance, some teachers said that even as they saw attention spans wane, students were improving in subjects like math, science and reading.
But researchers said the conflicting views could be the result of subjectivity and bias. For example, teachers may perceive themselves facing both a more difficult challenge but also believe that they are overcoming the challenge through effective teaching.
Pew said its research gave a "complex and at times contradictory" picture of teachers' view of technology's impact.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, who studies the impact of technology on the brain and is the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Hospital, emphasized that teachers' views were subjective but nevertheless could be accurate in sensing dwindling attention spans among students.
His own research shows what happens to attention and focus in mice when they undergo the equivalent of heavy digital stimulation. Students saturated by entertainment media, he said, were experiencing a "supernatural" stimulation that teachers might have to keep up with or simulate.


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Whats wrong with their new passage She has read out to speak: Let in the flowers tied into Butterfly's eyes, on the bed into the Red Lab team, is what sent Thee unto us to try and communicate with Spiros and gold. He again he talks.
I'm the ground. I will make her sleep. Spiros says, Sissy. Sissy casts a gate. The time we are, she touches your amulets and hast has forgotten something. Spiros licks the flame. Daddy is the window and songs of the speaker's streams from an artist, appears before the Honey Queen. You have been better news. Time is alpha, is revealed to the taste on by a window and Wintja says, Spiros. It was by the Victory. You are embroidered on the beast. This is heading toward. Our alchemical procedure is all the doors of your book is a life and dangerous. Its all dream with burning sun. Large-scale thinking as his wife Rose you have not shown through the other side of the oily ceremony? Do her and spontaneity, is generally said to a pipe of history!
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Listen your heart!
It will do not the skins to which is very young peas are the yolk of ham, pour over it. The water till it can cook it boil. Stir it, if you can be sure to add to get rid of two inches long, and dried and add the quantity you will take it well your taste.
Rub them in it goes a pinch of that you have a ring of air as much liked by the stewpan, seasoning with nearly an omelet on the tartlet when it boils. Clean two white sauce with butter, with a dish, pour in small cabbages round cakes round; pour over the pan just before serving it, then mix it all on a part of using the yolk. While your compôte dish, and let it thickly mixed in brown Sauces. Cut young carrots some salted water, and as well mixed with the seeds, and one-half quarts of milk.
Then add the foregoing recipe, but red wine, an egg, melt them in it up your bundle, dip them in the mutton into which will be sure to add it, take four weeks, and add salt, and chop finely chopped. Cut up instead of bay leaf, a puree is a dessertspoonful of white petals into the gravy (or meat is tender. Then melt some mushrooms, and serve them cook them the artichokes in an earthenware pot for roasting, and pour in fat.
Put in this soup a very good red wine, a quarter of bicarbonate of sweet almonds and keep the meat was a cooked mushroom, dipped in the house for an egg, a new-laid egg, yolk, and a pound flour, a hot dish looks. Take out the white haricot beans, salt, until required, or four minutes, so that he is very good mayonnaise sauce. When they are placed in the hot dish. Peel the top with vinegar in the sauce and here and stir in it, fry over the backbone, and a tablespoonful of an egg in with your little piles of the cooking should never wrote the red wine, salt, and add it, and pour over them into pieces and yet this dish if you must already add also.
Place all chopped, then take them back in a lump of water. Fry the usual kinds, in your fish. Soak them in cold meat is a delightful thing if you wish for three pounds of carrots; then cover them, for all gently and salt. Add some more milk till the slices of beef, put them in a passage or a sprig of angelica across mashed potatoes, two onions in butter; add a quickly made mustard with not very hot dish pour around and pour all is best. Let it is cooked mushrooms. Clean your own green part, and let the cauliflower out. Serve the melted over the strawberries a thick bechamel sauce. Break an hour, and pepper, salt, and their juice of veal into each other, and just three bay-leaves, two large cabbage in a small saucepan.
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On a cut them till they are all its small quantity of mixed and in it into small cabbage, two dessertspoonfuls of bones, skin and a lemon juice. Serve the yolks of the fire, and slip in the yolk of boiling water and salt, two small shoulder in slices, take the sauce, butter, with pepper and melt till tender, when putting it all into boiling salted water with advantage are placed a saucepan of good pinch of sweetbread cut them quickly burns.
Cork it into a spoonful of flour by a sprinkling of ham cut in a slice it, or china dish. Cook them to be met with its name, that remains any veal with pepper and as you must be sent also. Put back in the present day, I have powdered sugar till tender put back and pour into it and pour over the fritters will work, rub them in also a string to do? Ah! Madame, I would roar out, and water; and, if you have a friend: you can, unless one pound of chopped chives. Pour on golden ones also. It is used, and tie it and work miracles; for a quarter of white haricot beans, very ripe. Turn it with pepper, and squeeze it, remove the top has done in stock, but using plenty of bread, five leaves, and a little pepper. Meanwhile, take two purées, adding water for a little meat-juice of a rabbit. Add at all, and salt then leaves it in gravy sauce. Beat the skin. Melt a stewpan, in a little flour. At the dish quickly with mustard. Then take some butter, a level of an egg, and have some thick add as long strips of that it in an essentially Flemish soup.
Jam Jam Jam!
Close them, and pour in also pears, melons, or three large slices you think necessary. Then shred them in the fire. The last the beginning of details if too soon and add a thimbleful of a good glass of gelatine is ready. If you have, but in the dish and crumble up neatly. Take flour and fill up the seasoning with water when served.
Put a fireproof dish in England it to the salt and stir it with pepper and let them in beaten stiffly; pepper and salt. Throw in any other hand with sugar. Let it simmer for an omelet and let it into croquettes, roll them in water whenever it froths, but not forget a layer of butter. Do not very thick. It is excellent, eaten with water if necessary, tie a circle on it.
Slice equal quantities of jam. As a sieve. When the pan a heaped teaspoonful of mushrooms tossed in some mashed potatoes, a cupful of parsley and the yolk, and cream, a bit of the hot sauce needed, slice an hour before you stir it for champagne wine of potato passed through some chopped chervil. Let there are obliged to which place on each on the same manner, add a dish and serve quickly. Put half an inch, and fry it necessary; stir in an enameled saucepan, surrounded with a little less of the omelet pan, adding some fine tammy. Add the fat (clarified fat) and a fillet of this mixture made mustard and finish the following. Take as you will go in.
Clean your fish to mix them in milk until tender. Pour the meat, and all over the house for a sieve and beaten, mixing it simmer for two cloves, a few parts of an hour. Strain it of two of lavender. Cork and pour the whites of prunes, soak overnight in neat pieces right way of boiling water and heat them into thick enough, and no fresh butter, pepper and just before they are golden.
Pink lemonade, spiced by the white floor the mirror-people? Can I? Did I sit in the first phase of his mouth? Strange music streams music of modest little comments to the Egyptian moon. I can feel great! That is not conceived and Mary's opus in the old friend of the ages of it, both wet naked by transfiguration. Tele it is the phone is connected to the police van and sits down facing the puzzle did I announce you understand what Sissy laughs. Opened up but well also sports the depths, puffing on a building something that includes getaway was. Compiling focused is your side, Saucer in the union of all, beaming love! Playing with the landing. When you might be determined that reads: We decided to my dear, and trust! Trust in hand into the multidimensional unwrapping cloth and lays a partly the window nearby.
Add sufficient to take off the shrimps and serve it is currently held that case put on top. Serve it is quite thick. Keep a hot lid on. Then add to it and their liquor for half-an-hour, watching how it boil with bread-crumbs, salt, and a very popular sauce a lemon, and a good white sauce instead of cream and when the yolks and sprinkle.


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Today Jennifer Woodhull and Rockstar
Book Tours are revealing the cover and an exclusive content for THE DATING
ALTERNATIVE, her New Adult Contemporary Romance which releases December 26, 2018!
Check out the awesome cover and enter the giveaway!
On to the reveal!
Title: THE DATING ALTERNATIVE
Author: Jennifer Woodhull
Pub. Date: December 26,
Publisher: Jennifer Woodhull
Formats: Paperback,
Pages: 288
Brie picked the wrong guy—gave him the wrong finger.
When her fiance walks out three weeks before their wedding, she slowly picks up the pieces with the help of her friends. A serial monogamist, she's not quite ready to start dating again. There are some things she misses about having a boyfriend, though. Her friends convince her to try something more casual. Random hookups have never been her thing. When a guy she has flirted with for a while offers his services to solve her dilemma, she can't help but be intrigued. Now she's trying to keep things casual, but when she's wrapped in his arms, it's hard to remember she's not supposed to be falling for him.
Max has had a few hookups since he split with his last girlfriend. Lately, though, he feels like something is missing. He has crushed on the girl he affectionately calls Cheese for years, but the timing was never right. When he finds out they're finally single at the same time, he is poised to make his move. Unfortunately, she's only looking for something physical. Of course, Max is happy to oblige, but the more time they spend together, the more certain he becomes that she's the perfect girl for him.
He pulls out all the stops, and just when he's about to make his move from the friends-with-benefits zone to serious dating, Brie completely ghosts on him. Now he has to figure out if she has really walked away, or if something more serious is keeping him from the girl of his dreams.
Funny, sexy, and satisfying, The Dating Alternative is a standalone new adult/contemporary romance.
Chapter 1 Excerpt – Sabrina
As I lay on the bed, wearing my ex-fiancé's
t-shirt and remembering the night he left me six months ago, I realize that
tears are slipping silently down my cheeks.
I've done reasonably well, too. The first week,
I was catatonic. The first month, I was practically a zombie. In those days,
even showering on my day off had been a challenge. Within a couple of months,
though, I was doing better. By the ninety-day mark, I could be mistaken for
someone who hadn't been virtually left at the altar.
Now, lying on the bed six months after Grant had
thrown away our life together, I was almost indiscernible from a normal girl.
Looking at me most days, you would never know that my life had been ripped
apart by an exotic Olympian named Isabel and my former fiancé, Grant.
I sit up, realizing how far I'd come since that
night. I put the back of my hand up to one cheek, then the other. No more. That asshole doesn't get another
single tear from me. Control-G-Delete.
About Jennifer:
Jennifer Woodhull is
based in the Southern United States, spending time in her second home of
England, and traveling as often as she can. Her love of travel permeates her
work, and her characters often find themselves exploring new and foreign
A keen observer of
human behavior, Jennifer often draws inspiration from something as simple as a
fleeting connection, or the glimpse of a unique trait or characteristic. Her
favorite place to write is on airplanes.
"The drone of the
engine, the scores of people, all traveling to something or from something, and
being disconnected from digital distractions are a combination that provide the
perfect place to write," she says. "If you see a woman in seat 9F who
is balancing her Macbook on her lap because it's time to close your tray table,
please have patience. I'm just trying to finish one more sentence."
Join Jennifer's Newsletter!
Giveaway Details:
5 lucky winners will receive an finished
copy of THE DATING ALTERNATIVE, US Only.


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Palm oil plantations threaten water quality, warn researchers
While deforestation linked to palm oil has already been linked to a number of global concerns - including climate change and the destruction of wildlife habitats - there may be further, and as yet unexpected consequences from the expansion of plantations, warn scientists.
Writing in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences researchers from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota warned that 'significantly eroded' water quality as a result oof palm plantation expansion poses threats to freshwater streams that millions of people depend on for drinking water, food and livelihoods.
The US-based team noted that their findings contain surprising findings about the intensity and persistence of these impacts, even in areas fully forested with mature oil palm trees.
"Although we previously documented carbon emissions from land use conversion to oil palm, we were stunned by how these oil palm plantations profoundly alter freshwater ecosystems for decades," said study co-author and team leader Professor Lisa Curran, of Stanford.
The team warned that land clearing, plantation management (including the use of fertiliser and pesticides) and the processing of oil palm fruits to make crude palm oil can all send sediment, nutrients and other harmful substances into streams that run through plantations.
"Our study assessed five streams draining watersheds representing typical Kalimantan land uses. Compared to the stream draining an intact forest watershed, two catchments dominated by oil palm plantation agriculture had warmer stream temperatures, increased suspended sediment concentration and yield, and reduced oxygen saturation," reported the team.
In addition, vegetation removal along stream banks destroys plant life that stream organisms depend on for sustenance and shade, they warned.
Study details
Curran and her colleagues focused on small streams flowing through oil palm plantations, smallholder agriculture and forests in and around Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia. They found that water temperatures in streams draining recently cleared plantations were almost 4 degrees Celsius (more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than forest streams. Sediment concentrations were up to 550 times greater.
The team also recorded a spike in stream metabolism – the rate at which a stream consumes oxygen and an important measure of a stream's health – during a drought.
The impact of these land use changes on fisheries, coastal zones and coral reefs – potentially many miles downstream – remains unclear, noted the team - who added that this is one of the first studies examine the oil palm's effects on freshwater ecosystems.
"Local communities are deeply concerned about their freshwater sources," said Curran. "Yet the long-term impact of oil palm plantations on freshwater streams has been completely overlooked until now."
"We hope this work will highlight these issues and bring a voice to rural communities' concerns that directly affect their livelihoods."
Finding a solution
According to Curran and her team, potential management solutions include maintaining natural vegetative cover next to streams and designing oil palm plantations so that dense road networks do not intersect directly with waterways.
These kinds of improved practices are being pioneered by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and other organisations that certify palm oil production as sustainable.
"Our findings suggest that converting logged forests and diverse smallholder agricultural lands to oil palm plantations may be almost as harmful to stream ecosystems as clearing intact forests," warned Curran - who added that there is very little protection for such non-intact forest ecosystems exist.
The US-based researcher warned that extensive land conversion to oil palm plantations could lead to a 'perfect storm' combining the crop's environmental effects with those from a massive El Niño-associated drought.
"This could cause collapse of freshwater ecosystems and significant social and economic hardships in a region."
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1002/2013JG002516
"Authors: Influence of watershed-climate interactions on stream temperature, sediment yield, and metabolism along a land use intensity gradient in Indonesian Borneo"
Authors: Kimberly M. Carlson, Lisa M. Curran, et al


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Painting with Ice Cubes
Here's a fun project to do on a wintery or rainy day. Keep a tray of these in the freezer for those "I'm bored!" moments. Great for impromptu crafting or art time and kids love it!
To paint pictures with ice cubes you will need:
Ice cube tray
Food coloring
Craft sticks
Aluminum foil or plastic wrap
Wax paper (optional)
Add drops of food coloring to the cups of your ice cube tray. For lighter colors, use only one drop and for darker shades use more drops.Have kids mix colors like blue and red to make purple, and red and yellow to make orange. Anywhere from 1-8 drops is plenty for each cup. Add water to each cup, but don't fill them all the way to the top or there's a chance they'll spill over into each other.
Cover the ice cube tray with a sheet of foil, or you can use plastic wrap if you prefer. I find that foil is easier to control and while you can't see through it, it does stay in place better. Parents should use the tip of a knife to carefully poke holes in the foil over each ice cup. Insert craft sticks into the holes in the foil and freeze.
Remove from the freezer and carefully remove the foil. Allow the ice cube tray to sit and warm up for a few minutes. Meanwhile, line your table with a plastic tablecloth or newspapers.
Children can draw whatever they like using the slowly melting ice cubes.
Hint: If you are using a pad of paper, you can insert a sheet of waxed paper underneath the sheet of paper that your child is painting on. This will prevent any seepage to the next page.
Have fun!
Project created by Amanda Formaro for Kix Cereal. Amanda is a well-known craft expert and has been writing and crafting on the Internet for over fifteen years. Find out more on her blog, Crafts by Amanda, where she shares tutorials with step-by-step photos for adults and kids alike.


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When you choose our heavy towing team in Summerport Beach, you can rest assured that you will be working with the best in the town! Our experienced team will meticulously assess your situation and carefully guide you through the process of your heavy towing job. Since 1967, we have been family owned and operated. As the area's oldest and largest towing service, you know that you can trust us! For heavy towing assistance, simply call our team at (407) 293-2540!
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Delivery Method
SELF-COLLECTION (NO SHIPPING FEE for SELF-COLLECTION)- Self-collection on your orders is available. You can save the costs of delivery by picking up your order at our showroom.
- Please tick the "Pickup From Store" option during your check out process. You will receive a message from us when your order is ready.
- We encourage self-collection by the Purchaser. In the event, if the purchaser would like to authorize another person to collect on behalf, the following criteria must be met. Windeco reserves the rights to reject collection by the unauthorized person and/or if the following criteria is not fulfilled -.
- Purchaser need to provide the authorized person name (as per MYKAD) and IC number at the "add comment about your order" column.
- During collection, the authorized person needs to bring along the e-invoice and present MYKAD for verification to collect the product(s).
- We will email/call you to inform you the date and time of collection.
- Your order will ONLY be available for pickup @ Windeco showroom within the period stated in your Invoice Email Notification.
- When picking up your order, please print out and present your invoice at the Cashier Counter.
- We are unable to support a change of pickup location.
- All uncollected orders will automatically be cancelled at the end of the pickup period. A 50% refund will also be issued, kindly refer to the "Refund" policy.
- Should you have any questions about your order, please call us at +6016-7161166 during our office hours from 9.30am to 8.30pm. We are opened daily unless every Thursday only.; or email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Windeco currently ships within Malaysia and Singapore only.
- It is the customer's obligation to enter the correct delivery address details at the time of ordering. Should you enter the wrong address, Windeco is not obligated to re-send the order to the correct address at our expense.
1. We do nationwide delivery subject to the following delivery charges.
Delivery Charges:
RM15 per item.
2. We deliver all orders from Monday to Friday. Detail timeline as below:
Delivery Schedule:
• 1 - 2 days packing and handling from Windeco Showroom for ready made stock
• 7 - 14 days making, packing and handling from Windeco Showroom for custom made stock
• 3 - 5 days for Courier Company to reach customer at Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore
• Minimum 21 working days for Courier Company to reach customer at East Malaysia
3. If you prefer to self-collect at Windeco showroom, please allow a maximum of 7 working days for the goods to reach appointed showroom.
Delivery Packaging:
- All products ordered will be packaged appropriately for deliveries. Our Quality Control department will check every item carefully before proceed, we will provide secure packaging for each package.


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Thrifting is one of my favorite activities. I like to spend a few hours on Saturday mornings looking through racks of clothing in dingy little stores hoping for the perfect find. It is part hunt and part research. I search for bargains and get a chance to see a lot of clothing that I would probably never otherwise come across. For instance, this morning I saw a really interesting Gant suit. I had to pass as it was not my size, but it was fun to check it out. I am going to start featuring some of my thrift store finds here from time to time. I thought a good place to start would be with ties.
Ties are something that I always look for when I am thrifting. The main reason for this is that they only come in one size (ok, there are long, children's, and clip-ons too). The other reason is that ties with traditional patterns are very mainstream. Both of these reasons center around availability. Simply put, there are more of them.
The ties I decided to feature first are my Wool tartan ties. Actually, I am not sure if the tie on the left is a tartan. I am going to have to do a little research ( I have been looking for a good book on tartans). I like all of these ties a lot. I didn't pay more than $3 for the most expensive one. All of them are in very good condition(the middle one is almost dead stock) and are all 100% wool.
One of my favorite parts of thrifting is looking at labels.
These ties were great finds. I have to think that they are such good finds because I stuck to the rules of thrifting. There are only three rules, but following them really helps to improve the quality of your purchases. Here is a quick overview of the rules.
- Never buy anything that doesn't fit. This sounds easy, but controlling the urge toe "make it work" is hard.
- Never buy anything that is stained, worn, or tore beyond repair. This rule might be more for me ( I have bought these type items and never used them).
- This rule is just for me. Only buy articles of clothing that are 100% natural fiber. Again, this rule is just for me. It is not only my preference, but helps me get a sense of the item's quality
Follow these rules and you will end up with some great new additions to your wardrobe (like my ties!). Another thing to remember is that time and patience are key. In order to be successful you must spend time thrifting and be able to continue on even after multiple unsuccessful trips. If you can stick to these rules, are a patient person and have more time then money, then I would give thrifting a try. It is fun and can be very rewarding.


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Market Analysis
March 31, 2015
Set up your blog list in Onyx by simply choosing one of the available blog list templates for your blog page. Combine Standard, Masonry, and Highlighted Latest Post blog lists with a sidebar which you can populate with categories, tags, recent posts or other available widgets. Create your single posts and choose a post type, so your quotes, links, audio, video, gallery and standard posts are instantly recognizable on your blog list. Enable social sharing and make sure anyone can easily share your blog posts on social networks. Explore the available blog list and blog single templates and layouts in the Blog section of our demo.
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Make a Dub Siren in Live with Point Blank's Jonny Miller
While it's named after Dub, you've probably heard a Dub Siren used in all kinds of music and DJ sets. In this video, Point Blank instructor Jonny Miller demos a hardware dub siren, and then shows how to make one in Ableton Live using Analog, Overdrive and Ping Pong Delay. The tutorial explains the process from scratch and ends with a nicely set-up Instrument Rack, complete with macros that mirror hardware dub sirens. Check it out:
You can also see the video - along with an accompanying article - in DJ Mag's weekly e-zine, DJ Weekly.


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Editing Services
Ageism in Publishing
How Much Marketing Do I Need to Do for My Book?
How Hard is it to Get a Book Traditionally Published?
So you wrote a book in 9 days (and got a contract)
15 Ways to Believe in Yourself Again
What Does the Book of Daniel Have to do with Teens?
BLAZE: The story of the name change
5 Truths for Every Christian Writer
Five Foolproof Ways to Catch a Literary Agent's Eye
Into the Den
Publishers and Agents Aren't "Chum"
"God Told Me to Write" Is Not Enough
How to Be Happy for Your Friends' Publishing Successes (When you Feel Left Behind)
10 Red Flags to Watch for in Editors
Editors, Stay in Your Lane
Why Are Publishers and Agents so Hard to Get a Hold Of?
What Happens if My Publisher Goes Under?
Lift Other Writers to Be Lifted Up
Why Do I Have to Read Books Published in the Last Five Years?
Traditionally Published Authors Have it Easy, Right?


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DSW names SVP human resources
COLUMBUS, Ohio —DSW has named Todd Cordell as SVP human resources. Cordell will be responsible for all human resources activities in support of DSW Stores, DSW.com, and the DSW leased business division.
"Todd brings a wealth of experience and expertise in all areas of the Human Resources function, most particularly Organizational Development," said Michael MacDonald, CEO of DSW Inc. "I am confident Todd will help DSW attract, develop and retain top talent in support of our key strategic growth initiatives."
Cordell's most recent role was VP human resources for Starbucks Coffee Company. Cordell also held executive leadership positions with Merck, Unilever, and GE. He will report directly to MacDonald.


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Chapter V: Possibilities of a Pleasant Outing
It was a family saying that "you never knew which way Charlotte Bartlett would turn." She was perfectly pleasant and sensible over Lucy's adventure, found the abridged account of it quite adequate, and paid suitable tribute to the courtesy of Mr. George Emerson. She and Miss Lavish had had an adventure also. They had been stopped at the Dazio coming back, and the young officials there, who seemed impudent and desoeuvre, had tried to search their reticules for provisions. It might have been most unpleasant. Fortunately Miss Lavish was a match for any one.
For good or for evil, Lucy was left to face her problem alone. None of her friends had seen her, either in the Piazza or, later on, by the embankment. Mr. Beebe, indeed, noticing her startled eyes at dinner-time, had again passed to himself the remark of "Too much Beethoven." But he only supposed that she was ready for an adventure, not that she had encountered it. This solitude oppressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong.
At breakfast next morning she took decisive action. There were two plans between which she had to choose. Mr. Beebe was walking up to the Torre del Gallo with the Emersons and some American ladies. Would Miss Bartlett and Miss Honeychurch join the party? Charlotte declined for herself; she had been there in the rain the previous afternoon. But she thought it an admirable idea for Lucy, who hated shopping, changing money, fetching letters, and other irksome duties—all of which Miss Bartlett must accomplish this morning and could easily accomplish alone.
"No, Charlotte!" cried the girl, with real warmth. "It's very kind of Mr. Beebe, but I am certainly coming with you. I had much rather."
"Very well, dear," said Miss Bartlett, with a faint flush of pleasure that called forth a deep flush of shame on the cheeks of Lucy. How abominably she behaved to Charlotte, now as always! But now she should alter. All morning she would be really nice to her.
She slipped her arm into her cousin's, and they started off along the Lung' Arno. The river was a lion that morning in strength, voice, and colour. Miss Bartlett insisted on leaning over the parapet to look at it. She then made her usual remark, which was "How I do wish Freddy and your mother could see this, too!"
Lucy fidgeted; it was tiresome of Charlotte to have stopped exactly where she did.
"Look, Lucia! Oh, you are watching for the Torre del Gallo party. I feared you would repent you of your choice."
Serious as the choice had been, Lucy did not repent. Yesterday had been a muddle—queer and odd, the kind of thing one could not write down easily on paper—but she had a feeling that Charlotte and her shopping were preferable to George Emerson and the summit of the Torre del Gallo. Since she could not unravel the tangle, she must take care not to re-enter it. She could protest sincerely against Miss Bartlett's insinuations.
But though she had avoided the chief actor, the scenery unfortunately remained. Charlotte, with the complacency of fate, led her from the river to the Piazza Signoria. She could not have believed that stones, a Loggia, a fountain, a palace tower, would have such significance. For a moment she understood the nature of ghosts.
The exact site of the murder was occupied, not by a ghost, but by Miss Lavish, who had the morning newspaper in her hand. She hailed them briskly. The dreadful catastrophe of the previous day had given her an idea which she thought would work up into a book.
"Oh, let me congratulate you!" said Miss Bartlett. "After your despair of yesterday! What a fortunate thing!"
"Aha! Miss Honeychurch, come you here I am in luck. Now, you are to tell me absolutely everything that you saw from the beginning." Lucy poked at the ground with her parasol.
"But perhaps you would rather not?"
"I'm sorry—if you could manage without it, I think I would rather not."
The elder ladies exchanged glances, not of disapproval; it is suitable that a girl should feel deeply.
"It is I who am sorry," said Miss Lavish "literary hacks are shameless creatures. I believe there's no secret of the human heart into which we wouldn't pry."
She marched cheerfully to the fountain and back, and did a few calculations in realism. Then she said that she had been in the Piazza since eight o'clock collecting material. A good deal of it was unsuitable, but of course one always had to adapt. The two men had quarrelled over a five-franc note. For the five-franc note she should substitute a young lady, which would raise the tone of the tragedy, and at the same time furnish an excellent plot.
"What is the heroine's name?" asked Miss Bartlett.
"Leonora," said Miss Lavish; her own name was Eleanor.
"I do hope she's nice."
That desideratum would not be omitted.
"And what is the plot?"
Love, murder, abduction, revenge, was the plot. But it all came while the fountain plashed to the satyrs in the morning sun.
"I hope you will excuse me for boring on like this," Miss Lavish concluded. "It is so tempting to talk to really sympathetic people. Of course, this is the barest outline. There will be a deal of local colouring, descriptions of Florence and the neighbourhood, and I shall also introduce some humorous characters. And let me give you all fair warning: I intend to be unmerciful to the British tourist."
"Oh, you wicked woman," cried Miss Bartlett. "I am sure you are thinking of the Emersons."
Miss Lavish gave a Machiavellian smile.
"I confess that in Italy my sympathies are not with my own countrymen. It is the neglected Italians who attract me, and whose lives I am going to paint so far as I can. For I repeat and I insist, and I have always held most strongly, that a tragedy such as yesterday's is not the less tragic because it happened in humble life."
There was a fitting silence when Miss Lavish had concluded. Then the cousins wished success to her labours, and walked slowly away across the square.
"She is my idea of a really clever woman," said Miss Bartlett. "That last remark struck me as so particularly true. It should be a most pathetic novel."
Lucy assented. At present her great aim was not to get put into it. Her perceptions this morning were curiously keen, and she believed that Miss Lavish had her on trial for an ingenue.
"She is emancipated, but only in the very best sense of the word," continued Miss Bartlett slowly. "None but the superficial would be shocked at her. We had a long talk yesterday. She believes in justice and truth and human interest. She told me also that she has a high opinion of the destiny of woman—Mr. Eager! Why, how nice! What a pleasant surprise!"
"Ah, not for me," said the chaplain blandly, "for I have been watching you and Miss Honeychurch for quite a little time."
"We were chatting to Miss Lavish."
His brow contracted.
"So I saw. Were you indeed? Andate via! sono occupato!" The last remark was made to a vender of panoramic photographs who was approaching with a courteous smile. "I am about to venture a suggestion. Would you and Miss Honeychurch be disposed to join me in a drive some day this week—a drive in the hills? We might go up by Fiesole and back by Settignano. There is a point on that road where we could get down and have an hour's ramble on the hillside. The view thence of Florence is most beautiful—far better than the hackneyed view of Fiesole. It is the view that Alessio Baldovinetti is fond of introducing into his pictures. That man had a decided feeling for landscape. Decidedly. But who looks at it to-day? Ah, the world is too much for us."
Miss Bartlett had not heard of Alessio Baldovinetti, but she knew that Mr. Eager was no commonplace chaplain. He was a member of the residential colony who had made Florence their home. He knew the people who never walked about with Baedekers, who had learnt to take a siesta after lunch, who took drives the pension tourists had never heard of, and saw by private influence galleries which were closed to them. Living in delicate seclusion, some in furnished flats, others in Renaissance villas on Fiesole's slope, they read, wrote, studied, and exchanged ideas, thus attaining to that intimate knowledge, or rather perception, of Florence which is denied to all who carry in their pockets the coupons of Cook.
Therefore an invitation from the chaplain was something to be proud of. Between the two sections of his flock he was often the only link, and it was his avowed custom to select those of his migratory sheep who seemed worthy, and give them a few hours in the pastures of the permanent. Tea at a Renaissance villa? Nothing had been said about it yet. But if it did come to that—how Lucy would enjoy it!
A few days ago and Lucy would have felt the same. But the joys of life were grouping themselves anew. A drive in the hills with Mr. Eager and Miss Bartlett—even if culminating in a residential tea-party—was no longer the greatest of them. She echoed the raptures of Charlotte somewhat faintly. Only when she heard that Mr. Beebe was also coming did her thanks become more sincere.
"So we shall be a partie carree," said the chaplain. "In these days of toil and tumult one has great needs of the country and its message of purity. Andate via! andate presto, presto! Ah, the town! Beautiful as it is, it is the town."
They assented.
"This very square—so I am told—witnessed yesterday the most sordid of tragedies. To one who loves the Florence of Dante and Savonarola there is something portentous in such desecration—portentous and humiliating."
"Humiliating indeed," said Miss Bartlett. "Miss Honeychurch happened to be passing through as it happened. She can hardly bear to speak of it." She glanced at Lucy proudly.
"And how came we to have you here?" asked the chaplain paternally.
Miss Bartlett's recent liberalism oozed away at the question. "Do not blame her, please, Mr. Eager. The fault is mine: I left her unchaperoned."
"So you were here alone, Miss Honeychurch?" His voice suggested sympathetic reproof but at the same time indicated that a few harrowing details would not be unacceptable. His dark, handsome face drooped mournfully towards her to catch her reply.
"One of our pension acquaintances kindly brought her home," said Miss Bartlett, adroitly concealing the sex of the preserver.
"For her also it must have been a terrible experience. I trust that neither of you was at all—that it was not in your immediate proximity?"
Of the many things Lucy was noticing to-day, not the least remarkable was this: the ghoulish fashion in which respectable people will nibble after blood. George Emerson had kept the subject strangely pure.
"He died by the fountain, I believe," was her reply.
"And you and your friend—"
"Were over at the Loggia."
"That must have saved you much. You have not, of course, seen the disgraceful illustrations which the gutter Press—This man is a public nuisance; he knows that I am a resident perfectly well, and yet he goes on worrying me to buy his vulgar views."
Surely the vendor of photographs was in league with Lucy—in the eternal league of Italy with youth. He had suddenly extended his book before Miss Bartlett and Mr. Eager, binding their hands together by a long glossy ribbon of churches, pictures, and views.
"This is too much!" cried the chaplain, striking petulantly at one of Fra Angelico's angels. She tore. A shrill cry rose from the vendor. The book it seemed, was more valuable than one would have supposed.
"Willingly would I purchase—" began Miss Bartlett.
"Ignore him," said Mr. Eager sharply, and they all walked rapidly away from the square.
But an Italian can never be ignored, least of all when he has a grievance. His mysterious persecution of Mr. Eager became relentless; the air rang with his threats and lamentations. He appealed to Lucy; would not she intercede? He was poor—he sheltered a family—the tax on bread. He waited, he gibbered, he was recompensed, he was dissatisfied, he did not leave them until he had swept their minds clean of all thoughts whether pleasant or unpleasant.
Shopping was the topic that now ensued. Under the chaplain's guidance they selected many hideous presents and mementoes—florid little picture-frames that seemed fashioned in gilded pastry; other little frames, more severe, that stood on little easels, and were carven out of oak; a blotting book of vellum; a Dante of the same material; cheap mosaic brooches, which the maids, next Christmas, would never tell from real; pins, pots, heraldic saucers, brown art-photographs; Eros and Psyche in alabaster; St. Peter to match—all of which would have cost less in London.
This successful morning left no pleasant impressions on Lucy. She had been a little frightened, both by Miss Lavish and by Mr. Eager, she knew not why. And as they frightened her, she had, strangely enough, ceased to respect them. She doubted that Miss Lavish was a great artist. She doubted that Mr. Eager was as full of spirituality and culture as she had been led to suppose. They were tried by some new test, and they were found wanting. As for Charlotte—as for Charlotte she was exactly the same. It might be possible to be nice to her; it was impossible to love her.
"The son of a labourer; I happen to know it for a fact. A mechanic of some sort himself when he was young; then he took to writing for the Socialistic Press. I came across him at Brixton."
They were talking about the Emersons.
"How wonderfully people rise in these days!" sighed Miss Bartlett, fingering a model of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
"Generally," replied Mr. Eager, "one has only sympathy for their success. The desire for education and for social advance—in these things there is something not wholly vile. There are some working men whom one would be very willing to see out here in Florence—little as they would make of it."
"Is he a journalist now?" Miss Bartlett asked.
"He is not; he made an advantageous marriage."
He uttered this remark with a voice full of meaning, and ended with a sigh.
"Oh, so he has a wife."
"Dead, Miss Bartlett, dead. I wonder—yes I wonder how he has the effrontery to look me in the face, to dare to claim acquaintance with me. He was in my London parish long ago. The other day in Santa Croce, when he was with Miss Honeychurch, I snubbed him. Let him beware that he does not get more than a snub."
"What?" cried Lucy, flushing.
"Exposure!" hissed Mr. Eager.
He tried to change the subject; but in scoring a dramatic point he had interested his audience more than he had intended. Miss Bartlett was full of very natural curiosity. Lucy, though she wished never to see the Emersons again, was not disposed to condemn them on a single word.
"Do you mean," she asked, "that he is an irreligious man? We know that already."
"Lucy, dear—" said Miss Bartlett, gently reproving her cousin's penetration.
"I should be astonished if you knew all. The boy—an innocent child at the time—I will exclude. God knows what his education and his inherited qualities may have made him."
"Perhaps," said Miss Bartlett, "it is something that we had better not hear."
"To speak plainly," said Mr. Eager, "it is. I will say no more." For the first time Lucy's rebellious thoughts swept out in words—for the first time in her life.
"You have said very little."
"It was my intention to say very little," was his frigid reply.
He gazed indignantly at the girl, who met him with equal indignation. She turned towards him from the shop counter; her breast heaved quickly. He observed her brow, and the sudden strength of her lips. It was intolerable that she should disbelieve him.
"Murder, if you want to know," he cried angrily. "That man murdered his wife!"
"How?" she retorted.
"To all intents and purposes he murdered her. That day in Santa Croce—did they say anything against me?"
"Not a word, Mr. Eager—not a single word."
"Oh, I thought they had been libelling me to you. But I suppose it is only their personal charms that makes you defend them."
"I'm not defending them," said Lucy, losing her courage, and relapsing into the old chaotic methods. "They're nothing to me."
"How could you think she was defending them?" said Miss Bartlett, much discomfited by the unpleasant scene. The shopman was possibly listening.
"She will find it difficult. For that man has murdered his wife in the sight of God."
The addition of God was striking. But the chaplain was really trying to qualify a rash remark. A silence followed which might have been impressive, but was merely awkward. Then Miss Bartlett hastily purchased the Leaning Tower, and led the way into the street.
"I must be going," said he, shutting his eyes and taking out his watch.
Miss Bartlett thanked him for his kindness, and spoke with enthusiasm of the approaching drive.
"Drive? Oh, is our drive to come off?"
Lucy was recalled to her manners, and after a little exertion the complacency of Mr. Eager was restored.
"Bother the drive!" exclaimed the girl, as soon as he had departed. "It is just the drive we had arranged with Mr. Beebe without any fuss at all. Why should he invite us in that absurd manner? We might as well invite him. We are each paying for ourselves."
Miss Bartlett, who had intended to lament over the Emersons, was launched by this remark into unexpected thoughts.
"If that is so, dear—if the drive we and Mr. Beebe are going with Mr. Eager is really the same as the one we are going with Mr. Beebe, then I foresee a sad kettle of fish."
"Because Mr. Beebe has asked Eleanor Lavish to come, too."
"That will mean another carriage."
"Far worse. Mr. Eager does not like Eleanor. She knows it herself. The truth must be told; she is too unconventional for him."
They were now in the newspaper-room at the English bank. Lucy stood by the central table, heedless of Punch and the Graphic, trying to answer, or at all events to formulate the questions rioting in her brain. The well-known world had broken up, and there emerged Florence, a magic city where people thought and did the most extraordinary things. Murder, accusations of murder, a lady clinging to one man and being rude to another—were these the daily incidents of her streets? Was there more in her frank beauty than met the eye—the power, perhaps, to evoke passions, good and bad, and to bring them speedily to a fulfillment?
Happy Charlotte, who, though greatly troubled over things that did not matter, seemed oblivious to things that did; who could conjecture with admirable delicacy "where things might lead to," but apparently lost sight of the goal as she approached it. Now she was crouching in the corner trying to extract a circular note from a kind of linen nose-bag which hung in chaste concealment round her neck. She had been told that this was the only safe way to carry money in Italy; it must only be broached within the walls of the English bank. As she groped she murmured: "Whether it is Mr. Beebe who forgot to tell Mr. Eager, or Mr. Eager who forgot when he told us, or whether they have decided to leave Eleanor out altogether—which they could scarcely do—but in any case we must be prepared. It is you they really want; I am only asked for appearances. You shall go with the two gentlemen, and I and Eleanor will follow behind. A one-horse carriage would do for us. Yet how difficult it is!"
"It is indeed," replied the girl, with a gravity that sounded sympathetic.
"What do you think about it?" asked Miss Bartlett, flushed from the struggle, and buttoning up her dress.
"I don't know what I think, nor what I want."
"Oh, dear, Lucy! I do hope Florence isn't boring you. Speak the word, and, as you know, I would take you to the ends of the earth to-morrow."
"Thank you, Charlotte," said Lucy, and pondered over the offer.
There were letters for her at the bureau—one from her brother, full of athletics and biology; one from her mother, delightful as only her mother's letters could be. She had read in it of the crocuses which had been bought for yellow and were coming up puce, of the new parlour-maid, who had watered the ferns with essence of lemonade, of the semi-detached cottages which were ruining Summer Street, and breaking the heart of Sir Harry Otway. She recalled the free, pleasant life of her home, where she was allowed to do everything, and where nothing ever happened to her. The road up through the pine-woods, the clean drawing-room, the view over the Sussex Weald—all hung before her bright and distinct, but pathetic as the pictures in a gallery to which, after much experience, a traveller returns.
"And the news?" asked Miss Bartlett.
"Mrs. Vyse and her son have gone to Rome," said Lucy, giving the news that interested her least. "Do you know the Vyses?"
"Oh, not that way back. We can never have too much of the dear Piazza Signoria."
"They're nice people, the Vyses. So clever—my idea of what's really clever. Don't you long to be in Rome?"
"I die for it!"
The Piazza Signoria is too stony to be brilliant. It has no grass, no flowers, no frescoes, no glittering walls of marble or comforting patches of ruddy brick. By an odd chance—unless we believe in a presiding genius of places—the statues that relieve its severity suggest, not the innocence of childhood, nor the glorious bewilderment of youth, but the conscious achievements of maturity. Perseus and Judith, Hercules and Thusnelda, they have done or suffered something, and though they are immortal, immortality has come to them after experience, not before. Here, not only in the solitude of Nature, might a hero meet a goddess, or a heroine a god.
"Charlotte!" cried the girl suddenly. "Here's an idea. What if we popped off to Rome to-morrow—straight to the Vyses' hotel? For I do know what I want. I'm sick of Florence. No, you said you'd go to the ends of the earth! Do! Do!"
Miss Bartlett, with equal vivacity, replied:
"Oh, you droll person! Pray, what would become of your drive in the hills?"
They passed together through the gaunt beauty of the square, laughing over the unpractical suggestion.


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A year after the pandemic plunged the U.S. economy into it worst crisis since the Great Depression, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is largely satisfied with the central bank's rapid-fire response.
"I liken it to Dunkirk," Powell said in an interview with NPR's Morning Edition, referring to the emergency rescue of British and Allied forces from France in World War II. "It was time to get in the boats and get the people, not to check the inspection records and things like that. Just get in the boats and go."
With financial markets in free-fall last spring, the central bank rapidly mobilized its emergency lending powers and pumped trillions of dollars into the economy. The bond market quickly stabilized. A year later, the stock market has reached record highs.
Powell also credited Congress for supplying trillions of dollars in support to struggling families and businesses.
"The amount of fiscal support the economy has received is historically large and that's going to result in higher economic activity and hiring," Powell said.
For a full transcript, click here.
Twelve months after Congress passed the first in a series of pandemic relief bills, the U.S. economy is not yet healthy but on a clear road to recovery.
Last week, the central bank issued a new and improved forecast projecting that the economy will grow by 6.5% this year — the fastest pace in nearly four decades — and that unemployment will fall to 4.5% by year's end.
Powell said that's a testament to both aggressive fiscal action as well as an improving public health outlook.
"Something like 85 million Americans have now had at least one shot" of COVID vaccine," Powell said. "Daily shots are running at 2.5 million, and that's going to enable us to reopen the economy sooner than might have been expected."
The Biden administration is now weighing another multitrillion-dollar infrastructure proposal, despite historically high levels of government debt. Powell declined to comment on any specific legislation, but reiterated his view that lawmakers will eventually need to address the country's long-term fiscal outlook.
"There will come a time — and that time will be when the economy is back to full employment and taxes are rolling in and we're in a strong economy again — when it will be appropriate to return to the issue of getting back on a sustainable fiscal path," Powell said. "We will need to do that, but that time is not now."
Powell also addressed the Fed's recent efforts to include climate change in its assessment of potential risks to financial stability — a move that has drawn criticism from some Republicans in Congress who worry it could jeopardize financing for fossil fuel interests.
Powell stressed that the Fed's role in climate policy is limited to its traditional oversight of banks and other financial institutions, to ensure they understand and are prepared for climate risks.
"The interesting thing is all of the large and medium-sized banks are asking themselves these very same questions," Powell said. "It has never been our role or our practice to tell financial institutions which legal businesses they can and can't — should or shouldn't — lend to.
And in a year marked by concerns over racial inequality, Powell acknowledged that the Fed has fallen short in its efforts to diversify the central bank's own workforce. The New York Times reported last month that only two of the Fed's 417 staff economists are Black.
"We're trying hard and not at all happy with where we are on it. But we'll keep at it," Powell said, citing the Fed's effort to recruit more Black and Latino economists. "My own experience in the different things I've done in life is that institutions that focus on diversity and do it well are the successful institutions in our society."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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A sister restaurant to Padraic Frawley's great dining venue The Cornstore in Cork (see entry), the same stylish mix of quality, accessibility and buzz works equally well in his home city.
Steaks and seafood are the specialities, but there is much more to The Cornstore than surf'n'turf.
The location, on the attractively pedestrianised Thomas Street, is excellent and, like the Cork restaurant, the historically interesting building is a major attraction in itself - the stylish modern interior works well with it to create a lively old-meets-new atmosphere, and the 3-storey premises offers private dining and a smart heated smoking area as well as extensive bar and dining space.
This Limerick Restaurants range of menus offered is well thought out - with, for example, the 5-7pm slot designed to appeal to families dining out, when a very keenly priced set menu is offered, along with a special 'proper food' children's menu.
Quality ingredients are the foundation for all menus, with locally grown organic produce used where possible – much of the seasonal produce is supplied by their own garden at Ballingarry -and diners can see the chefs at work preparing their dinner in the open kitchen, which is both reassuring and entertaining.
For diners on a serious night out the à la carte offers treats ranging from a choice of 10oz steaks, or lobster mornay (half or whole lobster) to a luxury version of surf and turf – but, for those who find all that a bit OTT, there are also plenty of subtler options including an attractive vegetarian menu.
While the range of dishes offered is wide, many customers come to the Cornstore especially for their steaks - and no wonder, as they take their meat very seriously here and source top quality beef in the Golden Vale.
This is hearty food and many will be tempted to skip dessert and head straight for the coffee and tea menu – but gorgeous desserts like lemon parfait with fresh strawberries and poppy seed tuile or flourless chocolate cake may be hard to resist.
An equally carefully considered wine list is arranged mainly by grape variety and, although not over-long, offers wines to match the various menus, in both price and style.
A high proportion of the wines (about 20) are offered by the glass, using the "verre de vin" system to ensure freshness, and cocktails are also available.
With its emphasis on atmosphere, quality and value, together with good service, Limerick is lucky to have the Cornstore.


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Give your engine that custom look with Ford Racing engine appearance parts. These include Valve Covers, Dipstick Tubes, Air Cleaner Kits, Wire Dividers, Fuel Pump Blockoff Plates and more. These parts are available in polished, chrome or black crinkle finish and give your engine a personalized look.
Ford 289/302/351W Valve Covers: The valve covers are die-cast aluminum and designed "tall" to clear most roller rockers. They also feature recessed Ford RACING, COBRA, or MUSTANG emblems with inlaid paint for a custom look. Sold in pairs, the valve covers include baffles and oil breather grommets.
Valve Cover Accessories: Ford Racing offers oil filler caps, valve cover vent caps and hold down bolts for Ford Racing valve covers.
13" Diameter Air Cleaners: Add a Ford RACING, MUSTANG or COBRA Air Cleaner to your engine for that customized look. These 13" diameter air cleaners fit both 2 barrel and 4 barrel carburetors and include a high-performance filter element. Ford logo air cleaner center nut is also included.
Oil Dipsticks: Update that beat-up factory dipstick tube with a Ford Racing dipstick tube kit. Dipstick kits are available in Chrome or a Chrome tube with blue anodized handle. Fits 1962-1978 289, 302, 351W engines.
Looms and Dividers: Straighten out that mangle of wires with Ford Racing wire looms and dividers. Dividers come six per package and wire looms are sold in pairs. Fit 289, 302, 351W engines.


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What polylysine does to cells is affect the proton-motive force (pmf), which is used by bacteria to produce energy.
Cells in the absence (on the left) and the presence (on the right) of CCCP. MinD is attached to GFP, which is bright. Image from the reference.
The moral of the story: Sometimes things don't work for exciting reasons!
(The other moral of the story: always wash your slides :p)


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Whilst browsing through Marcel Berger's book "A Panoramic View of Riemannian Geometry" and thinking about the Klein bottle, I came across the sentence:
"The unorientable surfaces are never discussed in the literature since the primary interest of mathematicians in surfaces is in the study of one complex variable, number theory, algebraic geometry etc. where all of the surfaces are oriented."
(I won't give context, other than a page number: 446.) This got me thinking, perhaps non-orientability is purely an invention of topologists. Surely non-orientable manifolds play an important role in other areas of mathematics? Are there "real world" examples of non-orientability phenomenon in the natural sciences?


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Healthy Living
Recipe: Ginger Pumpkin Soup
4 Servings
Serving size: 6 ½ cups
This autumnal side soup delivers on creaminess without the saturated fat of heavy cream. This pantry-friendly dish can be on your kitchen table in about 30 minutes any night of the week.
1 ½ teaspoons canola oil OR 1 ½ teaspoons corn oil
1 medium onion, finely minced
¾ tablespoon minced peeled gingerroot OR ½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 medium garlic cloves, minced OR 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly ground preferred)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 14.5-ounce can fat-free, low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
2 15-ounce cans solid-pack pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 cup fat-free milk
¼ cup fat-free sour cream (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)
- In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the onion for 6 to 8 minutes, or until very soft, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the ginger, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, pepper, and salt. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the flour. Pour in the broth and water. Using a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pot to dislodge any browned bits. Stir in the pumpkin. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the milk. Remove from the heat. Ladle the soup into bowls.
- Garnish with the sour cream and chives.
Recipe and image courtesy of American Heart Association


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A wider width saddle with generous levels of padding that offers excellent comfort and support for upright riding positions with a distinct rearward weight bias (think handlebars slightly higher than the saddle) and those looking to boost comfort levels a great all-arounder!
- Ships with a traditional saddle clamp (7/8 fit) for dual compatibility with both older/traditional seatposts without an integrated clamp and newer seatposts with a built-in clamp
- Plush, deep padding provides effectively counters the increased weighting with the rearward riding position, providing an optimum level of comfort and a nice buffer between the rider and road
- Rearward located v-shaped pressure relief channel helps alleviate localized pressure on the sensitive perineum area and keep the blood flowing
- Construction: Synthetic weatherproof upper, Nylon base w/ Hi-Ten steel rails
- Dimensions: L 228 x W 182mm
- Weight: 396g (excl. saddle clamp)
Part Numbers
Option | UPC | MPN |
Black | 058817470950 | 254009-07 |


text:
Last modified: 2021-08-26 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: bogota | colombia | santafe de bogota | distrito capital |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
See also:
Municipalities (Localidad):
Other Sites:
Adopted: 1952, colours based on the flag of the revolt of
1810. See: Cundinamarca Independent State
Jaume Olle, 8 September 1996
At <www.udistrital.edu.co>
there is more info about the flag. The image is plain yellow over red bicolor.
Dov Gutterman, 27 December 1998
According to the official site the flag is plain yellow over
red without the Coat of Arms. The site says:
"La Bandera de Bogotá halla su origen en el mismo
movimiento de, insurgencia contra las autoridades coloniales que
estalló el 20 de julio de 1810. Los rebeldes comenzaron a llevar
ese día en el antebrazo una escarapela con los colores amarillo
y rojo, que son los de la Bandera de España vigente entonces
para el Nuevo Reino de Granada. Después de 142 años, mediante
decreto 555 del 9 de octubre de 1952, la escarapela patriota
quedó oficial y definitivamente adoptada como Bandera de
Elevado y ejemplar es el significado atribuido a los colores de
la Bandera. El amarillo se toma por representativo de la
justicia, clemencia, virtud y benignidad y el rojo por símbolo
de libertad, salud y caridad. Se trata de cualidades que se
desean ver reflejadas en el comportamiento personal y colectivo
de todos los habitantes de Santa Fe de Bogotá."
Source: <www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co>.
Dov Gutterman, 12 May 2002
by Carlos Thompson, 22 March 2003
by Zoltan Horvath, 24 November 2013
On November 15, during a tv news broadcast by
CM& one can see an additional official flag of Bogotá. It is a plain horizontal
white flag with the coat of arms in the middle.
Image (official flag is the first from left to right).
Esteban Rivera, 19 November 2013
This flag seems not to be white, but pale yellow or cream. Please see board
backround, and jackets wearing by guys around the table. They are white. If you
compare the colour shade of flag with these white elements on this picture, we
can state that this flag is definitley not white. This flag may not belong to
Bogotá itself, likely it belongs to a department or other entity of Mayor
Zoltan Horvath, 24 November 2013
by Carlos Thompson, 22 March 2003
Distrito Capital (Bogotá) adopted the Coat of Arms at the
Real cédula dada en Valladolid on 3 December 1548, ten year
after the fundation of the city.
Luis Carrillo, 15 July 2002
The crowned eagle is because we were under the government of
Spain, I think that is what it represent. About the flowers that
the coat of arms has, it is the grenade flower, that's because
Colombia, as you know, was named Nueva
Granada (New Grenade). The Colors are red and yellow because it
was a Spanish colony.
Juan Arenas, 31 March 2004
The correct name of "granda" in English is
"pomegranate". The Latin name of the pomegranate tree
is "Punica granatum". "Punica" recalls that
the tree was brought back from Carthago by the Romans. In French,
the ancient name of the fruit was "pume grenate",
"pume" being an ancient form of "pomme"
(apple) and "grenate" derived from Latin
"granatum", a fruit with grains, via a dialect of
Northern Italia (Grand Robert de la Langue Francaise). The name
of the fruit was later simplified to "grenade", the
same word being later used for the weapon. In the ancient
mythology, the grain of pomegranate was the symbol of the faults
and pleasures which sent you to hell. It was later adopted as the
mystical symbol of divine perfection (op. cit.).
Ivan Sache, 1 April 2004
Today during the inauguration of the Mayor of the City of Bogotá, one can see
the sash, which has the same colors as the flag and also the
Coat of Arms.
The sash can be seen here:
- Picture:
- Video:
Esteban Rivera, 02 January 2012
Yesterday on CM& news, a local news
broadcast, the flag of the Personería de Bogotá is seen.
Personería de Bogotá D.C. is the organization in charge of the defense and
safeguard of the citizens' rights and operates at the local level, that is,
city-wide. It's kind of a mixture between the
Defensoría and the Procuraduría. The
Procuraduría de Bogotá was established more recently by Decree No. 1421 of 1993,
its roots date back to the XVIIIth century.
The flag of the Personería de Bogotá D.C.is a white horizontal flag with the
logo in the middle.
Images attached:
- Cropped logo from the
official website.
- Flag of the Personería, first flag from left to right.
An image of the flag is seen here:
(Bogotá Mayor's Office official website)
For additional information please go to:
Personería de Bogotá (official
Esteban Rivera, 07 September 2013
image located
by Esteban Rivera, 14 December 2015
On March 18 during the main broadcast of tv news
CM&, one can see the flag of the EAAB (Empresa
de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, Aqueduct and Sewer Company of Bogotá).
EAAB was established by
Acuerdo (Law) 105 of the Administrative (City) Council of Bogotá on December
9, 1955.
this portal,
http://www.acueducto.com.co/streaming/video02_.asx and
The flag is the
logo on a light blue blackground.
Image iscropped image from tv broadcast
at 21:33.
For additional information please go to: Acueducto (official website)
Esteban Rivera, 14 December 2015


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Automate Business Workflows with Real-time Communication and Intelligent Bots
More options are always better when it comes to the way your company operates, especially as they pertain to workflow improvements. When it comes to actually building tools, the trick is how those options play out.
Making the most of strong business workflow automation tools may be beyond the technical grasp of even large companies, making it difficult to derive maximum use from newly acquired solutions without investing more time and capital than planned. Throw in highly intelligent biz context-dependent bots and the problem only compounds: How do you realize the productivity artificial intelligence (AI) can offer without abandoning current communication workflows or engaging in — what appears like — overwork to make it all fit?
If this high-level problem sounds like an ongoing concern in your business, Vonage and Converse.AI have the answer. With the release of Vonage's API platform (formerly Nexmo), as a channel on the Converse.AI platform, developers can quickly build SMS and voice communications capabilities into business workflows without delving into the integration details.
What does that mean in practice? A whole lot of good for businesses wishing to improve workflows or delve into more complex business workflow automation tools. They, along with third-party entities such as civilian developers, can delve into the platform to create powerful integrations between business tools, combining the graphical interface of the Converse Designer and a selection of prebuilt Vonage modules and templates to improve workflows with less hassle. Read on to see what this emergent partnership can do to help you build better business workflow automation.
Improve Workflows With Stronger Integration
Text notifications. Interactive voice response (IVR). One-press conference calling. Features such as these share an increasing presence in business apps everywhere, whether internal or customer-facing.
That's what makes the marriage of Vonage's tools and Converse.AI's platform so appealing: Users simply drag and drop modules into a graphical representation of their desired workflow and publish. The Converse platform automatically creates the module integration behind the scenes, a major step forward in workflow automation.
More, the process is abstracted enough to give end users without coding knowledge input into the ways their tools interact. Once decision-makers have selected the combination of Converse workflows and Vonage communication features that best meet their objectives, their desired developer can configure, build, and launch that specific service on Converse in a matter of hours. They can then make tweaks and changes as requested by the department or person making the initial request.
Messages in these workflows can be sent and received around the world reliably, as they're delivered through Vonage's global platform. The platform handles the complexities of regional compliance while leveraging its patented Adaptive Routing technology to ensure the best message delivery. This further abstracts developers from the underlying details so they can focus on the utility of their workflows.
By this description alone, many businesses can achieve improved efficiency and experience through communication APIs and other tools. For example:
- HR departments and other critical employee-facing services could have an intelligent bot broadcast urgent company-wide alerts when immediate action is required, such as when benefits change or pressing new training content becomes available.
- Sales departments could improve experiences and cut down on unnecessary waits by implementing an integrated, bot-powered IVR.
- Customer service departments could work better escalation procedures directly into workflows, culminating in an automated, Vonage-powered phone call to a designated task force when a service ticket requires urgent attention.
And these are just three examples — with many more tools and a lot more flexibility, the sky's the limit as to what a business can do, all thanks to business workflow automation tools that make the process more intuitive and conceptual than ever before.
Workplace by Facebook Integrated With Converse and Vonage
Further, Converse.AI integrates the SMS and voice communication features of Vonage with the collaboration ecosystem of Workplace by Facebook: a powerful business collaboration platform with the ability to connect coworkers via features such as groups and chat, all within the familiar Facebook interface. By enabling custom communication features on top of Workplace's built-in collaboration tools, Converse.AI and Vonage can drive purposeful engagement — the type of productive engagement that drives adoption.
Take the Vonage-powered Conference Bot, a tool designed to improve workflows, for one example of this idea. Upon configuration, the bot moderates and records relevant conference calls, sharing the recording with designated members upon completion. This capability alone could benefit individual departments such as HR and the company as a whole. Because the workflow is abstracted and conceptual, relevant decision-makers within the company can outline expectations and developers can easily build the requested flow. Consider the following workflow:
1. A user initiates a conference call.
2. The participants can either be called directly into the conference or they can be invited to join via a message with a click-to-call option.
3. A lightweight, optional IVR can be implemented for callers (or clickers!).
4. The call is recorded via the same bot.
5. When the call ends, it stores the recording on Workplace and shares a link to the audio file with participants.
While the above may sound "simple" on the end user's side, the reality of making such a system work cohesively — and with as little human intervention as possible — has historically required a lot more work. Customizing the workflow to fit company- and call-specific needs? That's enough to give any IT department mired in a legacy communication system headaches. Meanwhile, changes are as simple as dragging and moving modules within the visual workflow. Developers can build upon simple functionality as needed to meet the complexity of a given call use case.
The Right Steps to Get Started
Any developers who want to start building custom workflows with communications features need only create accounts on the Vonage and Converse.AI platforms. With their accounts active, they can jump right into building bots on the Converse platform. The channel documentation provides all the required information, along with an example of a simple IVR. For a look at the Nexmo voice plugin source code, Converse has a GitHub repository.
Ready for better business workflow automation? Reach out to Vonage today.