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Jumia Nigeria Gifts Free IrokoTV to Prime Members
Jumia Nigeria, a leading e-commerce platform in Africa has signed a partnership deal with IrokoTV, a foremost digital entertainment provider, to allow Jumia Prime members enjoy free digital TV subscription.
Jumia Prime, launched in June 2019, is a membership programme that gives access to a range of digital services and offers from Jumia.
Designed for the frequent shoppers, Jumia Prime eliminates shipping fees, so, members make savings every time they place an order. It comes in 3-month, 6-month and 12-month membership plans and is currently available in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan.
"The free IrokoTV subscription we have just added to the set of incentives for Jumia Prime subscribers is another way of making shopping on our platform fun and exciting for new and existing customers, who can now enjoy limitless access to Nollywood films and TV Series available on the IrokoTV platform.
"We are particularly excited about this offer because while we partner with a Nigerian start-up, it also helps to provide free digital entertainment for Nigerians who are currently spending more time at home as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown," Mr Massimiliano Spalazzi, Jumia Nigeria CEO said.
Speaking on the development, Mr Jason Njoku, CEO of IrokoTV, said, "Our partnership with Jumia gives us the opportunity to provide our exclusive Nollywood movies and series to Jumia Prime members.
"Members would also be able to download and watch from our libraries of Korean, Telenovelas, Bollywood, and Kiddies content. We believe this partnership would be the first of many other collaborations with Jumia across Africa."
In a similar development, as a way of upholding the tenets of its mission which is to provide the most value to African shoppers, Jumia has teamed up with global fintech giant, Mastercard, to offer a whopping 25 percent cashback exclusively to all Mastercard holders who purchase the 12-month Jumia Prime membership.
Other benefits Jumia Prime members can enjoy include free shipping on Jumia Express items, free delivery on Jumia Food orders, an IrokoTV package, Boomplay Premium Unlimited Listening, and many others.
FG Launches Central Database for Stolen Asset Tracing
Federal government has launched a Central Database under the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations (ARTM), 2019 and the Central Criminal Justice Information System (CCJIS) under the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) 2017 – 2011 to assist in the fight against corruption.
Mr Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of Justice, at the launch in Abuja, said the database will ensure uniformity of process, access and information feeding to deepen transparency and accountability in the management of recovered assets.
To ensure compliance, he said his office is developing legislation for the full implementation and operation of the CCJIS.
"We will work together to establish and re-enact transparency and accountability in governance and management of our resources which we have committed to do by way of strengthening International Cooperation of our membership of Open Government Partnership," he said.
In his speech, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives, represented by Mrs Ugonna Ozurigbo, chairman, House Committee on Justice, said the regulation on Asset Tracing, Recovery and proper management of proceeds of crime was signed on October 24, 2019, and took effect from November 1, 2019, replaced the proceeds of Crime Regulation of 2012.
The new regulation titled Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations 2019 empowers the AGF to take charge of the custody and management of all final forfeited assets, approval and appointment of asset managers and operating and maintaining a database for the records of all recovered assets within and outside Nigeria.
He said, the AGF's office, under the new regulation, is also required to coordinate inter-agency investigations into recovery matters within and outside Nigeria from all law enforcement agencies whose law empowers them to undertake recoveries and maintaining a depository for all forfeiture orders issued by the Nigeria courts and courts outside Nigeria.
Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management, according to the Speaker, is a core value of good governance and its effective management will serve as a deterrent to would-be fraudulent minded individuals who may find themselves in public offices.
According to him, states resources must not be allowed to be stolen but if that happened by fraudulent individuals, efforts must be taken to trace the proceed, recover same and manage for the interest of the generality of the people.
"When the proceeds of crime are traced and recovered but again looted by government officials, I dare to say such act amounts to the crime of tertiary capacity and must be avoided.
"Assets not accounted for are assets lost; loss of assets undervalues the economic potential of a country and will negatively impact on the net worth of a country. Accordingly, Asset Tracing Recovery and Management is a panacea to rekindling of the value system of a nation," the Speaker noted.
Konga Bulk Debuts Monday
Konga, Nigeria's foremost ethical and innovative composite e-Commerce brand is set to unveil a revolutionary new solution – Konga Bulk – which the company says will represent the new normal for forward-thinking businesses and consumers in the Nigerian corporate space.
Equally important, Konga Bulk, the latest innovation from the e-Commerce giant, is set to go live on Monday, September 21, 2020.
Through this initiative, Konga is rolling out a mega platform which has been touted a potential game-changer, offering manufacturers, distributors, resellers as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity to take advantage of Konga's world class assets including its secure regional warehouses, smart offices, cutting-edge technology, advanced logistics capabilities through an internally-owned subsidiary, Kxpress and its Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed payment platform known as KongaPay.
This is in addition to leveraging Konga's e-Commerce engine and extensive marketing expertise in bringing their products and services to the consciousness of millions of Nigerians nationwide.
In other words, Konga is taking a huge burden off the shoulders of manufacturers and other business owners in Nigeria through this ambitious project.
By allocating physical office and warehouse spaces to partner businesses and placing its many other cutting-edge assets at their disposal, Konga is ushering many into the new normal by bringing succour to corporate entities, many of whom have been encumbered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, Konga Bulk will play a very important role, bridging the gap to genuine products and services between manufacturers, distributors, resellers, bulk buyers and consumers.
Resellers and other bulk buyers can also take advantage of best prices available for genuine products exclusively through Konga Bulk.
Kalu Johnson, vice president, Strategic Business, said businesses who sign up on Konga Bulk have a lot to gain.
''Konga Bulk is a very ambitious project which we have positioned as the new normal.
"It is a unique opportunity for manufacturers to take advantage of the huge assets and real estate, both physical and virtual, available at Konga.
''We have invested significantly and strategically in various areas of our operations.
"Today, Konga owns arguably the largest single warehouse space in Lagos in addition to other similar massive infrastructure in other parts of the country such as Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Abuja, Owerri and other locations.
''As a manufacturer, distributor or business owner signed up on Konga Bulk, you no longer have to worry about owning your own office or warehouse space. Nor do you have to bother about the heavy investment in logistics, delivery, payment solution, technology, marketing or activations.
"You can rely on Konga's world class competencies and assets in these areas.
''Businesses must find a way to rebound from the difficulties occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Konga Bulk, which is focused on ushering in the new normal, is one of the innovations we have come up with to provide a way out,'' he concluded.
Konga Bulk goes live online at www.konga.com and offline in every Konga retail store nationwide on Monday, September 21, 2020.
Access Bank Reaffirms Support for An Innovative, Smart Lagos State
Mr. Herbert Wigwe, managing director and chief executive officer of Access Bank Plc, has said that Access Bank Plc will not relent in supporting innovative programmes aimed at transforming Lagos into a 21st century State driven by technology innovations.
Wigwe spoke yesterday during the finals of the Lagos State Smart Meter Hackathon design held at the Bank's Corporate Headquarters in Lagos.
An initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Hackathon is aimed at providing affordable electricity meters to the populace by facilitating the design and production of meters that will accelerate efforts towards achieving improvement in energy distribution, monitoring and prevention of revenue leakage.
Wigwe who was represented by Mr Ade Bajomo, executive director, IT & Operations at Access Bank, said that supporting the Hackathon once more reinforces the Bank's commitment to leveraging technology for the betterment of the society.
"Having Hackathon and innovative programmes like this, has always been part and parcel of our DNA in Access Bank. We are forever looking for new things to do to solve real problems in Africa and beyond; new things that would move the life of our people forward.
"We are always looking forward to doing things that would make more people financially independent, driving and enhancing the well-being of the entire society," he said.
He noted that now the world is witnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and there are Africans working with the rest of the world and using technology to solve the problems of the people.
Wigwe stressed that Access Bank does not exclude the rest of the world when it comes to using technology innovations to address the problems of the people.
"That is why this Hackathon is very important because it's our people solving our problems and leveraging global solutions to finding our answers to our own problems.
"And that is why at the Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF), which Access Bank is promoting, we want to have more innovators and innovations that will help in transforming our society for the better," he said.
The Access Bank boss stated that to see this Hackathon come to light shows the commitment of the Lagos State Government to not only the project, but to the actualization of a smart Lagos, where electricity is accessible and affordable.
He pledged Access Bank's continued support to the Lagos State Government's efforts at building a smart state.
Mr. Olalere Odusote, convener of the Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon and the State's Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, said that there were very many talented people who applied for the Hackathon, noting that there were 65 submissions in all, out of which its panel of experts reduced the number to the five finalists that participated at the finals of the Hackathon.
"We had the hardware yesterday and we were very impressed with what we saw. We are expecting no less from the software side. We are going to get engaged, look at what they have to offer and then integrate it into our future.
"We are trying to solve our own problems by ourselves. This is just the start; it is not a one-off project. At the end of the event, we will take the product to our prototype mode; we will take the product to a commercial development process," he said.
The Commissioner said they were not just doing the Hackathon for the sake of it but are looking for solutions that will contribute to making Lagos a 21st Century economy.
He thanked Access Bank for its generosity, support and partnership with the State government. He also thanked other partners for joining in the journey of making Lagos a great state.
Five contenders each emerged from both categories of the competition, and the two winners are expected to share the prize money of seven million naira.
Finalists were shortlisted after a transparent, rigorous and competitive process.
The Hackathon attracted 274 registrations or entries, 127 of which bid in hardware category, while 147 competed in software group.
The five software finalists for the Hackathon on Thursday were Magnitronics, Vectorians, Zeena Platform, Chosen Soft Tech and Gideon.
It would be recall that during the launch of the programme on July 30th, 2020, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu noted that the Smart Metre Hackathon Initiative marked a significant milestone in the implementation of the State Government's plan towards improving access to electricity.
He said it aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the United Nations, targeted at achieving universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.
The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon 2020 was convened by the Lagos State Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, curated by Eko Innovation Centre, and sponsored by Access Bank Plc, Egbin Power, and Ikeja Electric Distribution Company.
Other sponsors include Mojec International, Eko Electric Distribution Company, MOMAS Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company, ElSewedy Electric, Royal Power & Energy, Venture Garden Group, InfraCredit, and Axxela Limited.
They were supported by the Lagos State Office of Innovation and Technology, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF), Oracle, IBM, General Electric, Business Day and Accelerate TV.
The Grand Finale of the Hackathon holds on Friday, September 18, 2020 at Eko Innovation Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.
FG Makes u-Turn on Bank Account Re-Registration
FG Bans Emirates Airlines from Operating in Nigeria
Satellite Operators Push New Signal across Africa, Indian Ocean Regions
Facebook to Open Office in Lagos
ipNX, USTDA Ink Partnership Deal to Develop Nigeria's ICT Infrastructure
Senate Alleges Multi-Billion Naira Fraud in NTA, Startimes Deal
New Regulatory Agency Coming for Nigeria Postal Sector
Pantami Excited as ICT's Contribution to Nigeria's GDP Increases to 17.83%
Chinese Phones with Built-in Malware Sold in Africa
NFVCB Blacklists Illegal Film Producers, Distributors
- Telecom3 days ago
Anambra Indicates Interest to Host NITDA's South-East Zonal Office
- Uncategorized3 days ago
NCC Threatens Illegal Users of GSM Boosters with Arrest, Prosecution
- Telecom3 days ago
NCC Holds First Virtual Bi-Annual Meeting with Telcos
- Telecom3 days ago
NITDA Mulls Partnership with Army to Establish Simulation Centre
- Telecom2 days ago
Manfa, ANSICTA Boss Pledges to Collaborate with NITDA for Establishment of Zonal Office in Anambra State
- E-Business3 days ago
Konga Bulk Debuts Monday
- E-Business3 days ago
FG Launches Central Database for Stolen Asset Tracing
- News2 days ago
Facebook to Open Office in Lagos


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Everyone loves free, right? There's good reasons for that, of course. The use of free genealogy programs can save a lot of money.
The free programs generally are not as powerful or full-featured as the programs that cost $25 to as much as $100; but, for many of us, the free programs are more than "good enough." A free genealogy program also is very appealing to a genealogy newcomer who is not yet sure if he or she wants to invest money in what may turn out to be a passing interest. Of course, the newcomer can always later convert to a more expensive product with more features and use a GEDCOM file transfer to copy the information from the old program to a new program. See my GEDCOM Explained article at https://blog.eogn.com/2014/05/24/gedcom-explained for details. One free genealogy program will also synchronize its data with a cloud-based genealogy service on the World Wide Web. (That is my preferred solution.)
Dozens of small genealogy programs and utilities are available free of charge. Many of them are not full featured programs that will record almost everything about an individual, provide all sort of printouts, and include multimedia libraries. The following is a list in alphabetical order of the better (in my opinion) and more full-featured free genealogy programs available today for Windows, Macintosh, and one program for Linux.
A side-by-side comparison chart of many of the available features in these programs is included at the end of this article.
Family Tree Builder for Windows and Macintosh
Family Tree Builder for Windows and Macintosh from MyHeritage is a surprisingly powerful and full featured genealogy program that is available free of charge. It is not an entry-level program that is restricted in any manner. There is no upgrade to a paid version; everything is available in the free version. Family Tree Builder is free forever and is used by millions of people worldwide. The program helps you research your family history, build your family tree, and add photos, historical records, and more.
NOTE: MyHeritage is the sponsor of this newsletter. One of the reasons why I am delighted to have the company as a sponsor is because the company offers a number of free and reasonably-priced products and services.
Family Tree Builder allows anyone to build a family tree visually and to even add thousands of people quickly. Not all free genealogy programs can store large databases. However, Family Tree Builder can handle an unlimited number of facts, notes, sources, photos, and multimedia items to each person and family. It also easily handles same sex marriages and other non-traditional families.
I am impressed with the capabilities of this powerful free program. You can enter information about ancestors from the keyboard, one at a time, or by importing a GEDCOM file that you have created from another genealogy program, or by automatically matching your tree to millions of others online at the MyHeritage web site. The program will also export a GEDCOM file if you wish to transfer data to another program or to a cloud-based genealogy site.
I love Family Tree Builder's capability to synchronize data with MyHeritage's web site and to find matching records on that site. I believe it is the only free genealogy program that will synchronize data with a major genealogy web site. Family Tree Builder also takes advantage of MyHeritage's Smart Matching feature, which searches the MyHeritage database looking for family tree profiles that match. Smart Matches check not only the name, but also the birth date, and parents of the entries in the database, and when it finds similar tree profiles, tells the user who may then confirm the match or not. This allows people to share their family trees and genealogy research with the entire MyHeritage community.
In my experience, MyHeritage's "Smart Matches" have accurately identified relatives almost all the time, unlike some other online matching services. The accuracy appears to be the best in the industry. However, each person found by the automated software is presented as a POSSIBLE relative; the user can decide the actions to be taken for each identified potential relative: add to the database, reject the person, or save for future research without adding to the Family Tree Builder database at this time.
The free Family Tree Builder program allows you to add an unlimited number of people to your database. It will also synchronize data with the MyHeritage.com web site. However, free accounts on the web site are limited to 250 people in the web site's database. While that is a limitation of the web site, it does not affect Family Tree Builder which always works well as a free-standing genealogy program. Again, the free Family Tree Builder program allows you to add an unlimited number of people to your database.
Family Tree Builder will create, customize, and print beautiful charts, timelines, and reports, including some gorgeous all-in-one charts. It also displays impressive maps showing where your ancestors lived and traveled. Migration paths become obvious when displayed on these maps. The program allows you to load your own discoveries back to the MyHeritage.com web site, where you can either share the information with everyone or else keep it in a private web site that only you can see.
Family Tree Builder also shares information easily with Android and Apple phones and tablets if you earlier synchrinized data with MyHeritage.com. The free apps are available from the Google Play Store and the iPhone and iPad App Stores. These apps access data you synschronized on MyHeritage.com, not directly with the desktop or laptop Family Tree Builder programs. The result is that you have your data everywhere you want it: in your desktop computer's hard drive, in the laptop's hard drive, in your phone, in your tablet computer, and online at MyHeritage.com in your choice of a private or public database. Family Tree Builder is a powerful solution.
Not bad for a free program! There is no "plus version" or anything else that requires payment. It bears repeating: the free version includes everything.
You can learn more about Family Tree Builder and also download the free program at: https://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder. Information about the free Android and Apple iOS apps for handheld devices may be found at https://www.myheritage.com/mobile.
Family Tree Builder is now my preferred free genealogy program.
GRAMPS for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh
GRAMPS (an abbreviation for Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Programming System) is a free, open source genealogy software product available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh. It was originally developed for Linux and then was ported to Windows, Macintosh, and even to BSD UNIX and to Solaris. GRAMPS is available without restriction, free of charge although donations are accepted. There is no "plus version" or anything else that requires payment. The free version includes everything.
GRAMPS includes all sorts of lists of people, places, and events. It also stores source citations, repositories, and notes, and it handles photos, videos, maps, and other media.
Installing GRAMPS on most of today's Linux systems is simple. Ubuntu, Mint, RedHat, Debian, Fedora, and other Linux distributions usually include a built-in, simple-to-use application that will download and install Linux software automatically. With most Linux systems, you simply open the installation program (it may have various names, depending upon which version of Linux you are using), click on GRAMPS, and wait a few seconds for the program to download and automatically install itself. When completed, GRAMPS will be ready for use. That is simpler than installing most programs on Windows and is nearly as easy to use as installing programs from the Macintosh App Store.
There is one word of caution for Windows and Macintosh users however. While GRAMPS has been ported to Windows and Macintosh, installation on those computers may be a bit more complex than it is on Linux. Full details may be found at https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=Download.
Full documentation for GRAMPS may be found at https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_page if you would like to read about it before you try it.
You can learn more about GRAMPS by starting at https://gramps-project.org.
Legacy Family Tree Standard Edition for Windows
Legacy Family Tree is available in two versions: a free "Standard Edition" and a "Deluxe Edition" that sells for $29.95. (Watch for sales to see it discounted occasionally.) The free version is a powerful program all by itself. I suspect that many users of the free Standard Edition never find a need to upgrade to the extra features found in the Deluxe Edition. It is that good.
Legacy Family Tree is one of the more popular genealogy programs available for the Windows operating system. Its popularity is caused by three major factors: it is powerful, it is easy to use, and it contains most all the features that serious genealogists demand. However, it also works well for genealogy newcomers.
Legacy Family Tree is available in two versions: Legacy Family Tree Standard is a FREE genealogy program that includes all the basic functionality but omits some tools, reports, and advanced features of the full-featured Legacy Family Tree Deluxe program. You can use the free Legacy Family Tree Standard for as long as you like, and the program does meet the needs of many genealogists. However, should you decide to later upgrade to the full-featured version, your previously-entered data will be available immediately after upgrading. There is no need to re-enter all the information again.
Legacy Family Tree has a long list of features, including unlimited people in the database; unlimited alternate given and surnames; unlimited events; GEDCOM import and export as well as importing from Legacy, PAF 2.31 or 3.0, or Ancestral File; ability to specify individuals and information to be exported; onscreen views that include pedigree view, descendants view, and more; view up to six family/pedigree view windows simultaneously so that you can view different parts of the same file at one time; multimedia support for pictures, video, maps, and more; picture editing; slideshow capability; open two different family files simultaneously to compare and copy information from one to the other, including drag-and-drop feature to copy people from one file to another; source citation system; maps that plot important locations in ancestors' lives; pre-written interview questions and memory triggers for interviewing family members; notes for general, research, and medical information; support for multiple marriages including adoptive lines, polygamous and sequential marriages, and incestuous relationships (Same sex couples are not supported either as parents or marriage.); individual and marriage tags; to-do list; up to 200 bookmarks for quick return to specific individuals; history list of the last 200 individuals displayed; a pop-up calendar containing a month and year calendar ranging from 1700 to 2099; date calculator; support for LDS-specific fields; and alternate names.
While there is no native Macintosh version of Legacy Family Tree, the Windows version reportedly runs well on Macintosh and Linux machines with a Windows virtual computer such as Parallels, VMWare or VirtualBox. VirtualBox is available free of charge at https://www.virtualbox.org while Parallels and VMWare Fusion are commercial products that cost money. All three of these products also will require a legal copy of Microsoft Windows so none of them can be considered "free" unless you already have one of them installed for other reasons and simply want to add Legacy Family Tree to the programs you are already using in the Windows virtual computer.
A video tour of the many features in Legacy Family Tree Standard Edition is available at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/WhatsNew8.asp.
You can learn more about Legacy Family Tree Standard Edition by starting at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com. (Information about both the free Standard Edition and the $29.95 Legacy Family Tree Deluxe Edition is available on that page.)
Personal Ancestry Writer II (PAWriter II) for Macintosh
Macintosh users may be interested in Personal Ancestry Writer II. That program's name is often abbreviated to PAWriter II. It is a native Macintosh program, not a Windows program that has been "ported" to Macintosh. PAWriter II is a rather basic program and does not have all the "bells and whistles" of the other Macintosh programs. However, it certainly has a good price tag: free!
Personal Ancestry Writer II is also super easy to use and is based upon the now obsolete LDS Personal Ancestral File program (PAF) for the Macintosh. The Personal Ancestry Writer II has all new code, but its "look and feel" strongly resembles the old PAF for Macintosh. If you used and liked PAF for the Macintosh, you probably will like PAWriter II. Don't look here for automated uploads to cloud-based services, searches on the web, or multimedia tools. While PAWriter II will produce a number of printed reports, there aren't as many reports as found in other Macintosh genealogy programs.
You can learn more about Personal Ancestry Writer II by starting at http://www.lanopalera.net/Genealogy/AboutPAWriter.html.
RootsMagic Essentials for Windows and Macintosh
RootsMagic Essentials is a free Windows and Macintosh genealogy program that contains many core features from the commercial RootsMagic family tree software. A list of features comparing the two can be found at http://rootsmagic.com/RootsMagic/Features.aspx. RootsMagic Essentials is absolutely free forever although the program will occasionally invite the user to upgrade to the $29.95 version. The program has friendly screens and menus to allow even the most inexperienced computer novice to get up and running quickly. It also produces a wide variety of printed reports although not as many as can be produced with the commercial version. RootsMagic Essentials makes it easy to track multiple relationships such as adoptions, foster parents, and more.
Not all free genealogy programs can store large databases. However, RootsMagic Essentials can handle an unlimited number of facts, notes, sources, and multimedia items to each person and family. The user can add photographs, sound bites, and video clips to bring your family history to life. RootsMagic Essentials will also include your photographs in your printed reports.
RootsMagic Essentials also has an excellent SourceWizard that writes and manages sources and citations for you. Built-in templates based on Evidence Explained make citing your sources as easy as "filling in the blanks". Even the free program includes multimedia support for photographs, sound bites, and video clips.
Not only can RootsMagic Essentials import GEDCOM files, it also can directly import databases from Family Tree Maker, PAF, Legacy, The Master Genealogist, and Family Origins without using GEDCOM. Direct imports generally provide better results than do the (imperfect) GEDCOM imports. RootsMagic Essentials will also export GEDCOM files. LDS users will appreciate that RootsMagic is also certified to reserve and request LDS temple ordinances. You can find, reserve, and track needed ordinances from the comfort of your own home.
Again, not bad for a free program! You can learn more about RootsMagic Essentials at http://www.rootsmagic.com/essentials.
As I write these words, the full commercial version of RootsMagic is available as part of a a special for Family Tree maker users who would like to switch to RootsMagic. Details may be found at http://www.FTMUpgrade.com. I have no idea how long this "special" will last.
If you are looking for a free genealogy program to run in your computer, you have choices for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux! All of the programs listed above are capable of storing unlimited numbers of people in their databases. They all have a variety of printed reports. As I wrote earlier, the free programs generally are not as powerful or full-featured as the programs that cost $25 to as much as $100 but, for many of us, the free programs are more than "good enough."
Here is a comparison chart of many of the features available in these free genealogy programs:
|Family Tree Builder
|RootsMagic Essentials
|Legacy Family Tree Standard Edition
|Personal Ancestry Writer II
|Available for Windows
|Available for Macintosh
|Unlimited people in the database
|Unlimited events
|GEDCOM import and export
|Can import from other genealogy programs without GEDCOM
Yes: Family Tree Legends (.FTL), Family Tree Maker files (.FTM/*.FTW/*.FTMB) prior to the 2014 edition, Personal Ancestral File (.PAF), and Legacy (.FDB)
|Yes: Legacy, PAF 2.31 or 3.0, or Ancestral
|PAF only
|Onscreen views that include pedigree view, descendants view, and
|Multimedia support for pictures, video, maps, and more; picture
|Source citation system
|Maps that plot important locations in ancestors' lives
|Notes for general, research, and medical information
|Support for multiple marriages including adoptive lines,
polygamous and sequential marriages, and incestuous relationships
|Same sex marriages supported
|Automatically eliminates or merges duplicate records
|Support for LDS-specific fields
|Not yet available but planned for a future release
|Automatically search online and for records that match your people
|Automatically finds records in FamilySearch and MyHeritage
that may match a person in your file
|MyHeritage.com plus FamilySearch.org's tree
|MyHeritage.com plus FamilySearch.org's tree
In addition, two of the listed genealogy programs also provide their own side-by-side comparison charts:
Legacy Family Tree: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Compare.asp
RootsMagic: http://www.rootsmagic.com/rootsmagic/features.aspx
Finally, Wikipedia has a side-by-side comparison chart of both free and paid genealogy programs at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_genealogy_software. However, many of the programs listed have been obsolete and unavailable for years. It also does not list Personal Ancestry Writer II at all.

subset: commoncrawl


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This post is all about offal. If offal makes you squeamish, you may want to skip this one!
Did anyone do any Melbourne Food and Wine Festival events? I only ended up doing one thing – Animal Farm at Baba. Details from the program:
"a seven course menu exploring the flavours of Turkey and the Middle East, matched with wines from Spain and Italy. Featuring bone marrow, heart, brains, tripe, liver and kidney mezze, claypots and kebabs, with Turkish delight, gelato and Turkish coffee to finish, this is a culinary feast not for the weak at heart – but for those who eat it."
Only Bro and I went to this dinner – Alastair stayed home and had a "safe" dinner of curry. :)
A long table was set up in the middle of the restaurant, with tables for normal diners around the edges of the dining area. We were told that the food would be served communally, but as not every seat was filled there was space between groups and each group received their own dishes.
The first course was a rich and smooth chicken liver parfait with middle eastern melbas and cornichons. A rather safe dish to start off with and good smeared on the crispy bread.
Next was roast bone marrow with smoked lemon, caper and parsley salad and Turkish bread. Little dishes of pink salt from Tibet were placed on the table. To eat the bone marrow, we scraped it out of the bone, spread it on the toast, sprinkled with a bit of salt and then topped it with some of the parsley salad. Mhmmmm it was buttery and soft, plus mildly meaty with the salt and parsley helping to balance out the richness.
The third course was Libyan baked lambs brains in gadaffi pastry and harissa. GAK. The brains felt sooooo greasy and just seemed to coat my mouth in fat. It was the fattiest thing I've ever eaten (more than the bone marrow)! Looking around the table at other diners, many seemed to share my distaste. The brains weren't a very popular course!
Happily, the next course was tripe soup with cumin, currants and coriander. The soup was lovely – very strongly cuminy, and the tripe was cooked until very, very tender (I may be strange, but I thought it looked very pretty in the soup). Every now and again I would get little bits of currant and crunch down on cumin seed (one of my favourite spices).
The fifth course came out in three separate dishes. Oh boy, things were getting heavy!
First we had sweetbreads with basil and tomato. I don't think I've had sweetbreads before, but I really liked them. They had a kind of firm, bouncy texture and reminded me of chicken nuggets.
Then there was a sumac seared ox liver with a glazed onion and chickpea salad. The ox liver was good too – rather rich, but the zingy sourness from the sumac and chickpea salad helped cut through the richness.
And last for this course was a za'atar grilled lamb kidney kebab. It was bought out to the table last, and we were already eating the sweetbreads and liver by the time it arrived. As soon as it was set down, all I could smell was that awful kidney scent. I ate a kidney, and while it tasted fine I couldn't get over that smell. Even if my stomach hadn't been approaching full I wouldn't have been able to eat the whole kebab.
The last savoury course was an East Brunswick bunny boil-up. In the boil up was rabbit kafta dumplings, chicken hearts, lamb sweetbreads and peas. We also received a small dish of pilaf. The pilaf was really good, lovely and buttery, but unfortunately after so much offal we could only eat a couple of bites. The dumplings, hearts and sweetbreads in the light broth were all fine and good, but even the most hardened offal lover would have been a bit weary by this stage (and we were a bit.... weary....).
And finally, to finish, there was Turkish delight gelato, served in cones with a lump of Turkish delight on top. Thank goodness dessert didn't follow the offal theme! The faintly rosewater flavoured gelato was a good way to end the meal and I loved the cones.
We didn't stay for coffee – we had been sitting there for about four hours and we were desperate to get out of the wooden seats. The seats would've been fine for a normal dinner but four hours called for a cushion! Food wise, it obviously wasn't the most balanced dinner (did you notice the distinct lack of any green stuff?) but we knew what we were getting into. In the whole we thoroughly enjoyed it, with only the brains and kidneys kinda defeating us. It was definitely a meal for the brave..... or for the ones with cast iron stomachs!
Baba Levantine Trading Company
80 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Phone: 9380 8534


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Nederland/Eldora, CO Real Estate
Known for Eldora Ski Mountain, Frozen Dead Guy Days, and its small mountain town atmosphere, Nederland is a popular place for tourists and small, local businesses. Its name means "Low Land," which a casual observer can't help but find ironic as it's located at 8,240 feet above sea level.
Its picturesque Barker Meadow Reservoir and mountain views make this town a beautiful place to hike, bike and of course, ski. Its close proximity to Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park and Roosevelt National forest make it a favorite for outdoor enthusiasts.
- Square Miles1.48
- Population1,541
- Per Capita Income$33,107
- Median Household Income$53,125
- Housing Units780
- Median Home Price$346,300
Nederland/Eldora, CO Homes for Sale
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Located in a gorgeous flat valley just west of Boulder, Nederland was an ideal settling place for Native Americans and, later, trappers and hunters. Homesteaders arrived in the mid-1800's and by 1871 the town, known by then as "Middle Boulder," opened its first post office after the Boulder Canyon Road was constructed. In 1873, the Caribou Silver Mine was sold to a Dutch mining company called Nederland. The town was founded in 1874, upon which the community decided on the name Nederland. When the silver deposits were depleted just a few short years later, Nederland was little more than a mountain ghost town.
Nederland experienced another boom in mining in the early 1900s when tungsten was discovered surrounding Nederland. Tungsten is used to make steel. The town grew tremendously, then experienced another deflation as tungsten demand fell and the mountains became more accessible with the rise of personal automobiles.
In the 1960's, Nederland became a hotspot for hippies and in the 1990's the town began to grow again as people chose to enjoy the sleepy mountain town as a home and commute to jobs along the Front Range. The town is now a popular tourist location and is home to many thriving local businesses.
James Peak Brewery and Smokehouse
Craft beer, handmade cocktails, and house smoked BBQ- including vegetarian options.Website
New Moon Bakery & Café
A family run mountain bakery that roasts its own coffee and specializes in gluten free baked...Website
Very Nice Brewing Company
A selection of homebrewed ales and IPAs with seasonal and local surprises.Website
Eldora Mountain Ski Resort
Just minutes from Nederland, Eldora covers 680 acres of terrain and runs 11 lifts over the ski...Website
Nathan Lazarus Skate Park
Skateboarders and inline skaters delight in the bowls, obstacles and ramps at Nathan Lazarus...Website
Outdoor Ice Rink and Tennis Park
This Olympic-sized ice rink opens to the public in the winter months and transforms into a...Website
Backdoor Theatre
First run movies and community entertainment are featured in this nonprofit and locally owned...Website
Carousel of Happiness
For just $1, take a ride on one of the 56 animals that turn to traditional organ music on a...Website
Nederland Mining Museum
Get a glimpse into the world of hard rock mining days with displays of equipment, historic...Website
Blue Owl Books
A used bookstore, coffee house, and music venue with unique events happening weekly.Website
Nature's Own
A science and nature store with a wide selection of gems, minerals, and jewelry.Website
Dead Guy Days
A Nederland original, this festival pays tribute to Grandpa Bredo Morstoel, a cryogenically...Website
High Peaks Art Festival
A free, family-friendly festival that celebrates art by hosting art shows, live music, workshops...Website
Miner's Days
A celebration of Nederland's mining history! Includes a parade, local food and vendors, mining...Website
Ned Fest
One of Colorado's biggest music festivals, Ned Fest is an annual three-day celebration...Website
Wild Bear Nature Center
A nonprofit nature center for all ages, promoting love and appreciation of nature through...Website


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2012-02-06: Information Station Column
Keeping in Touch…
The average person spends 41 minutes per day on Facebook. (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/cyber.2011.0324) And that is exactly why we felt Facebook was a necessary means of communication for our library! This page is set up to keep you informed with all library news – including current displays, upcoming programs, technology trends and much more. In fact, right now, you can visit our page now and take a poll on how we will continue to handle DVD checkouts. It's a way to get your voice heard and be a part of exciting things here at the library. If you want to be a part of this growing community – "like" our page at www.facebook.com/siouxcenterlib. We do not just "like" Facebook, we also give fair time to our Twitter followers. (Since we are told that in 2011, Twitter usage was up 700 percent from the previous year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/twitter-usage-at-work-jumped-700-percent-last-year-study-says/2012/01/17/gIQAHHlB6P_story.html ) Our twitter feed will keep you "in the loop" as well. It broadcasts the same feed as our Facebook page, but it covers those users that are not on Facebook. To Follow us on Twitter our name is Twitter.com/@SiouxCenterLib . These really are great ways to stay current with what is going on at the library – so for those patrons that feel they may be missing signs or announcements – never be out of the loop again – come and tweet with us or be our friends on Facebook – in social media, the more the merrier!
Book Review
The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen is one of the best books I've read in a while! Milly and Twiss are twin sisters that have stuck together from birth – and I do mean that. They have been there for each other and even grow old together. I love their relationship and it only helps to strengthen them for all they've been through. The girls do not lead a simple, easy life. They struggle through many issues with their family – their father AND their mother, and their cousin, Bett, who comes to stay with them for a summer – a summer that will truly leave them forever changed.
The characters are well-developed – the story is one that draws you in and keeps you there. Although it is a series of flashbacks and current life – it is not hard to follow. I am anxiously waiting a new novel from Rasmussen. IF you read it – I'd love to hear your thoughts – you can always send us a tweet!


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I love cut steel pieces. This example was made circa 1800. It is GeorgianJewellery made in the Georgian era (1714-1830).. Each piece of cut steel is separately riveted. It must have taken hours of patience!
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How do I find out what's wrong with a uPVC window where the handle turns but it doesn't open?
It seems like one of the hidden latches along the edge isn't undoing because one side of the window moves out a couple of mm when you lean on it but the other side doesn't. It's a horizontal window with the handle at the bottom.
The bottom left moves a bit, the bottom right doesn't:
Is it worth taking the glazing out and / or removing the handle, and how do you do it?


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The Good Steward
By Tina Erwin
Edgar Cayce was considered one of the most remarkable psychics of the 20th Century. His readings are so numerous (14,000+) that they are housed in the Edgar Cayce Foundation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This center has a metaphysical library that is so large that only the metaphysical library at the Vatican is larger. What makes this so remarkable is that the very foundation of this library is the massive collection of Edgar Cayce readings that cover topics ranging from healing the body to what happened in Atlantis.
When you study the life of Edgar Cayce, what you find is a man who had an astounding ability to tap into the spirit world when asked a specific question, and then to share that information with the rest of us. These readings offered glimpses of the future of the world as well as how to diagnose someone at a distance. Mr. Cayce didn't just heal someone–he gave them the tools to heal themselves. Those tools gave information on everything from essential oils, electronic devices, and therapeutic massage to meditation, which can be found in the A.R.E. Library in Virginia Beach, on the Web site, and on the Official Edgar Cayce Readings DVD.
Perhaps the most important element of all the Cayce work is the integrity with which he used his ability to work with the spiritual world. Edgar Cayce was a man with tremendous psychic ability. This ability was not a gift. A gift is something unexpected that you receive on a holiday or your birthday.
Psychic ability is a very specific skill that you earn–life after life after life. You don't just wake up one morning and you are suddenly psychic. Perhaps if you are hit by lightning, then you may find you have a sudden ability, but that ability is never a gift, because it carries with it a huge level of karma both positive and negative, based on how you choose to use that skill. Psychic ability is a responsibility. The greater a person's ability, the more significant the responsibility, and the heavier the karmic burden. Abuse that ability by hurting another person with it, and the karmic price tag for that abuse is very high. It is costly because you earn your ability life after life by what you sought to learn each life. Perhaps you wanted to learn how to do hands-on healing or become a medical intuitive. Maybe you wanted to be able to see into the future and prevent disaster. Possibly you actively sought to see the dead, or auras, or the "stacks" (layers) of time. All of that is fine. But once you acquired this ability, what did you do with it? How did you use it?
Karma attaches, because once you have an ability you are karmically expected to share what you have earned and learned with the utmost integrity. The more you use your ability, the higher the ante is raised. This means that you are earning more intense positive karma with each wonderful, generous, and (above all) wise action you perform. The reverse is also true. People who participate in fostering psychic addiction by taking advantage of other people, such as fortune tellers, cult gurus, or energy vampires, know what they are doing and they energetically steal on a conscious level.
Edgar Cayce used his powerful psychic ability from a place of the utmost integrity. He is one of the finest examples any of us can study in just exactly how to use any spiritual ability and hold ourselves up to the highest karmic/spiritual standards. He did not promise what he could not deliver. Cayce was honest in what he could and could not do for someone, and he realized that he could not heal everyone. No one could do that, not even the Christ, because not even Christ could randomly remove the karma of another person.
Edgar Cayce was truly the finest steward of the psychic and spiritual ability that he had. He was a humble man with a deep and powerful love of Christ, the Divine, and the spirit world. Cayce also loved all people of all religions so much that he would often sacrifice himself to help a person in great need. In the crazy world we live in, perhaps now and then it is a good practice to study those more spiritually advanced souls who walked among us, and follow their example of outstanding spiritual stewardship.
TINA D. ERWIN, CDR, USN, Ret. has studied metaphysics all her life to enable her to understand her own psychic abilities. These intense studies were further enhanced by the experiences of a dynamic 20-year career in the Navy, working for the U.S. Submarine Force, retiring at the Commander level. Erwin is the author of the A.R.E. Press book, The Lightworker's Guide to Healing Grief.


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Behind the Iron Mask
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
As a boy I wanted above all other professions to be a musketeer. After Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers, read to me by my father, I carried on myself with the sequels, Twenty Years After, The Man in the Iron Mask. They were, though I didn't want to admit it, a bit disappointing: somehow the verve of d'Artagnan and his companions had grown old and gone darker. Then someone gave me the same writer's The Count of Monte Cristo. It was the longest book I had ever held in my hands. It filled the whole of a summer, in one of those reading experiences best described by Proust, where the fictional became a screen between self and reality, a bright mist that made the ordinary both trivial and tolerable. Some of its 1,500 pages eluded me—various slow-acting poisons and exotic narcotics were hard to follow over the many chapters it took them to work their mischief. But the nightmare imprisonment of Edmond Dantès in the Château d'If in Marseilles harbor, his escape self-sewn into the shroud prepared for his companion the Abbé Faria, then his return in multiple disguises to wreak vengeance on his persecutors were, and remain, unforgettable.
Alexandre Dumas, who lived from 1802 to 1870, stands alongside Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac as one of the most extravagantly fertile narrative producers of all time. The three of them make of the first half of the French nineteenth century an extraordinary moment for fabulation. It is of course easier to grant the classic status of Balzac, who has endured and prevailed despite the distaste of classically minded critics for his often inflated prose. And if Victor Hugo has fallen out of fashion, Les Misérables finds continuing reincarnations (his other novels are very much worth reading too, especially his last, Ninety-Three, on the French Revolution).
Dumas is a somewhat different case. Even more than Balzac, he stands as an example of what the midcentury arbiter of literary taste Sainte-Beuve called "industrial literature": cliff-hanger novels produced for serialization in the daily newspapers, work paid by the line and thus favoring great length (Dumas's complete works run to over 100,000 pages). Dumas notoriously created a writing "factory," parceling out parts of the production process to collaborators. In the case of The Count of Monte Cristo, it was especially Auguste Maquet, his long-suffering assistant, who did the plot outlines and researched locales and details of dress and manner. Dumas, though, seems to have done the writing himself. Maquet yearned for recognition by posterity, but it is Dumas alone who was solemnly entombed in the Panthéon, in 2002.
"Prodigious" is the word that best seems to describe Dumas's output, whether in his novels or in the dramas that had an important part in the evolution of French theater. And the term applies as well to the…
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text:
Hey Jimmy, whatare you up to ?
Oh, hey Eric.
I was just trying towrite some new jokes
for my comedyr-r-routine.
Yeah well, you wannado something ?
I wanted to hang outwith Stan and Kyle
but they're all pissed offat me for something
so I have tohang out with you.
Sorry, Eric, but I reallyneed to work, very much.
I haven't writtena good joke in over a week.
Alright, well maybeI can help you.
You know, we can totallywrite some stuff together.
Oh well sure,
I've never really triedworking with a partner
but let's give ita sh-sho-
Let's see...I was working on this-
Why does a squirrelswim on its back ?
To keep hisn-nuts dry...
Nah, that'snot that funny.
Let's trysomething else.
Uh... A firemanand a P-p-pollack
are eatingmarshmallows, when-
No- No Pollacks aren'tthat funny, dude.
Try something else.
So the pope says
"What are you,a stinking evolutionist ?"
Here's some fruit, boys.
Better for you thanpotato chips.
Ooh, Jimmy look out,there's a black widow !
Wow, thanks mom !
You might'asaved my life !
Dude, if I'm trying to becreative I can't eat fruit -
Doesn't your mom have somethingmore substantial to eat ?
You can checkthe freezer.
There might be some frozenfishsticks or something.
If you likefishsticks...
Yeah, I like fishsticks.
Wait a minute...fish sticks.
Fish... dicks...
Oh my God,it's so obvious !
How did I neverthink of it before ?
Dude, you gotsomething ?
Alright just run with meon this, Eric.
Say Eric, do youlike fishsticks ?
You like puttingfish dicks in your mouth ?
Well what areyou, Eric...
A gay fish ?
Fish dicks !
Oh dude that'sfunny as shit !
I think we're reallyonto something here !
Let's try it outon the guys !
A Shotsgarrooski
Fishsticks s13e05
Cartman and Jimmy go fishing for the perfect joke.


text:
[Peyton] Manning's attack angle of his elbow allows his wrist to come through tighter . . . . That coupled with the accelerating torque of the turn, he gets power and accuracy on a more consistent basis [than most other quarterbacks].
Warner and Romo, can be very similar in their approaches. [T]he one who extends better than the other more consistently will overcome the[ir] flat[] release[s]. It still goes back to discipline, no matter how you slice.
The biggest difference [between these quarterbacks] is that Manning has a bigger margin of error with his throwing motion. This means that he can fail at some part of his move and he will still have more room to recover in [his] extension -- simply because the "around" stress put on his elbow is reduced because his elbow location is better. This allow[s] arm extension to occur easier.
The other thing to note, is Romo's increasingly curled wrist. [T]his weaker wrist position makes it much more difficult, if not impossible at times, [for him] to extend. You just cannot physically extend a curled wrist.
So, the bottom line. Kurt [Warner] and Tony [Romo], due to their lower elbow positions, have less room to make mistake in their moves even though their elbows are still forward of the shoulders. This can result in greater failure [rates] if they do not maintain discipline in extension.
Peyton has a much greater probability of success due to the reduced stress on his elbow, his better positioned tricep for extension, and his more vertical attack angle. Any pressure applied [by, for example, a pass rusher] may reduce some of Peyton's advantage, but everyone does less than they should under pressure, so the consistency, accuracy, and velocity advantage remains with Peyton.
But hey, who is in the SuperBowl? So much for coaching, right?
Now, the mistake here [for a young quarterback] would be to say, well, just get your elbow higher. That isn't the answer by itself. Peyton's elbow is not only higher, but more forward of his shoulder -- and that is where the rubber hits the road for muscular function . . . and that is why we teach differently than the common approach. To understand and apply [it] is to control the feel and self correction of flight. Why? because when you fail to get to zero [or the original position], no matter who you are, the resulting failure is consistent for everyone -- automatically, no matter what age, regardless of professional status, or skill. . . .
Just one final thought, the magic formula to all of this isn't rote visual copycat, it is understanding the timing and acceleration of the elbow, and how the feet and body support that. If you can crack the code on this, you will begin to appreciate the incredible difference you will see in your kids. . . .
These guys are pros, so they just get it done. Our kids are not, but they need this understanding all the more, and dare I say it, so do many coaches.
Slack knows what he's talking about. Some of his ideas are quite novel, while others are merely the best of what has been consistently taught in the past. The reason it works so well is that he has developed a language and teaching method to improve quarterbacks. I talk a lot on here about schemes, but you have to have a guy who can throw the ball accurately. If you have a John Elway, fine, but most quarterbacks are very poorly taught. And at the high school level, it is on the coaching to turn a guy who is a non-QB and turn him into one, to improve the mediocre quarterback, and to make the good ones great. I agree to a small degree with the "leave well enough alone," but that is also no excuse to abdicate duties. No one says about a lineman, "Hey, he's a natural. Don't tinker with him too much." But they say it all the time with quarterbacks.
2. Whither A-11? These are only rumors, but the rumor-mill is that the high school football federation rules -- which govern most but not all states (the others use NCAA-like rules) -- have settled on changing the rule governing the "scrimmage kick exception" to conform with NCAA rules. No big deal right? Well, if true (the results of the January meeting won't be public for a few weeks) it would mean that the A-11 offense, as currently used with extra eligible jersey wearing players lined up behind the line who then step up onto the line before the snap to disguise who is and who is not eligible, would be illegal in nearly every state and every level of football.
The word further is that this has not made the A-11's creators, Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries, very happy. Their proposal so far has been to encourage individual schools who want to run the A-11 to break off from their state football leagues (making them ineligible for state playoffs) and form a kind of national, A-11 compatible league. The details of such a proposal are manifold, but teams from different states often play each other, but they agree on the rules in advance (for example, cut blocking is illegal in many states but legal in Texas and some others). But these are usually exhibition style games, and it is a heavy price if a team is willing to secede and forego their own state playoff opportunities simply to run a particular type of offense. It's unclear how different the rules there would be, too. (If a new league, why not require only four ineligible guys and and another receiver truly eligible? You could run a five wide offense with a quarterback and a runningback.) I really have no news other than the rumor-mill (hey, what are blogs for?), but it will be interesting to see how this develops.
3. NFL Overtime, Continued. Slate's "Undercover Economist" Tim Hartford has proposed that the team who gets the ball (and where) should be determined by auction. For example, the referee could start naming off yard lines. He'd start at the one and keep moving up. When one of the coaches was willing to take the ball on offense at that yard-line, he throws a flag or makes a signal. For example, one coach might think the twenty was acceptable, another might prefer to take it as far back as the fifteen.
The Sabermetric site notes that this might actually get boring, because a consensus would emerge about what the yard line was. But I'm not entirely sure: wouldn't say, the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals have different thought processes going into such an auction? One being defensive minded (and not likely to want to drive the entire field, but happy to pin the other team back), and the other likely to want the ball one way or another. But I could be wrong.
Partially because as much as I enjoy these proposals they are unlikely to persuade the folks that need persuasion (the NFL Commissioner and his staff and the owners), so I support settling overtime by making the winner the first team to score six points. That would up the drama on those quick field goals, but also retains the penalty if the other team scores a touchdown on you.


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Mancos officials have initiated a 12-question online survey to collect the community's thoughts on future commercial development.
"We're hoping to get a better idea of what citizens want," said Mancos Town Administrator Andrea Phillips. "We're looking for their opinions."
Phillips said the survey specifically seeks the public's thoughts on all future commercial development of medium and big box businesses.
"The survey isn't targeted just for Family Dollar," she said.
Survey questions include whether or not residents favor or oppose commercial ventures, possible pros and cons of such businesses, zoning restrictions, and the length of time people have called Mancos home. Available via a link at mancoscolorado.com, the deadline to respond to the survey is July 19.
In April, Mancos residents voiced their concerns of allowing a Family Dollar chain store to invade their town, prompting town officials to place a six-month moratorium on commercial businesses more than 5,000 square feet.
Opponents of the business worried that a discount retailer would dilute both Mancos' support for local businesses and its cherished Western heritage charm. Proponents argue the town needs a place to purchase basic necessities, which would generate more revenues for town coffers.
Based in Utah, T & N Properties is a regional developer for Family Dollar. The firm had scheduled an open house last month to share information, present site plans and artist renderings and answer any questions from community members, but the event was cancelled at the last minute.
"We have not heard back from the developers about rescheduling an open house," Phillips said.
The proposed Family Dollar Store site is located at the northwest intersection of U.S. highways 160 and 184.


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I'm a strong advocate of real amulets and a firm believer of one. In fact, a lot of times amulets has become my 'security blanket', something that I really need to be able to help me go through my day or week. In fact, last 2016 I greatly relied on amulets to protect myself from bad the effects of the bad stars.
But the question is whether do we really need amulets and why are real amulets so pricey?
Allow me to answer the first question first. Do we really need amulets?
To answer that question allows me to share you the story of somebody who may be familiar already to my readers. BM is a reader who became a friend. She is successful and regardless of what happens she seems always at peace. She may get frazzled a little but it doesn't really last long. I have featured BM on this blog several times and it would be nice if you read some of the articles that I have written about her.
BM is successful, rich, businesswoman and sure enough she has the Vajrapani Ruel(1), the Surangama Mantra Amulet(1), the Illness Suppression Amulet(1), the Traditional Sutra Amulets(1) and a whole lot more. But truth be told, if you were to ask me what are the causes of her success, I wouldn't put the use of amulets and Feng Shui as top.
So what do I think are the causes of her success?
First, her spirituality. I will not describe her as religious. At least, not in the sense of the word on how we describe it. She goes to church everyday, she hear mass everyday, she prays the rosary and do novenas everyday. In fact, she prays the rosary more than once everyday. And yes to some extent she can be described as religious, but she is really more than that. She is spiritual. Religion for her goes much more deeper that the essence of the word. And you know what is really fascinating about her? She never or seldom prays for herself. Her prayers are always for other people. With or without problems she goes to church and says her prayers, maybe even more so when everything is good. This is I think is the first ingredient of her success.
Second, she has a good heart and is very compassionate. She is compassionate; many times she has shared with me whether directly or indirectly how it is to be truly compassionate. And she really has a good heart. I know she gives to charity only because there are times that it is unavoidable for her to share it with me, which is done in the process of sharing with me some lessons. A truly compassionate person will always be blessed.
Third, she works really hard. She is intelligent, but more than that she works really hard. When I went to see her, one of her staff told me that her boss, BM, is really hardworking. In fact, she rarely goes home before sunset.
I think those are the main ingredients of her success. But more than her success she has a good family life also and I can see her husband is still 'madly' in love with her. I haven't really had a long interaction with her children, but they seem to be respectful children. Mind you, they should already be in their rebellious stage.
The amulets for her are simply just an added protection or enhancer, and it is not the main ingredient of her good life. In a way, the amulets are simply an added sugar.
Note: Remember that Feng Shui consists of Heaven's Luck, Man's Luck and Earth's Luck!
Allow me to share something else with you. The Buddhist monks or nuns rarely carry with them any amulets, aside from the powerful protective symbol Kalachakra. While I know that the Dalai Lama, and the Karmapa, while escaping the Chinese government did carry an amulet they seldom carry one all the time. The Dalai Lama carried an unknown amulet, and the Karmapa is said to have carried a Vajrapani Ruel(2) with him. But other than that, Buddhist monks and nuns don't carry amulets with them, or if they do it is limited to one piece only. But, of course, most of them do meditations and chanting of mantras and reciting of sutras and do various rituals more than half of their day, everyday!
So to answer the question whether does we really need amulets, my response would be NO. It helps. It helps a lot. For some people and in some circumstances it may be essential, but if we get to the bottom of it, if we have a strong relationship with the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, or Taoist Gods, or for Christians to your Lord, or for Islam's to Allah then my answer is no. There is no denying that amulets like the Vajrapani Ruel(3) has helped a lot of people, but there are people who have survive without it. At the end of the day, have a strong faith, be truly compassionate, and work hard both for your career and for your relationships, and you'll find things will be going smoothly.
Now, then the second question is why are real amulets really pricey?
First, take note of the keyword real. Real powerful amulets are seldom massed produce. Sure they can make more than 1,000 pieces per batch, it is seldom made out of a machine. They are always made by hand. A real amulet is made several days and will be mostly likely involves being made inside a temple, in front of Buddha or a Bodhisattva and should include some relics has part of the ingredient (like the Vajrapani Ruel4) or at the very least being consecrated in front of a relic. It is definitely made by a trained Buddhist Monk and cannot be made by ordinary practitioner. Sometimes, it will include some rituals outside the temple, but will definitely include a process being done inside the temple.
The Jatukam involves some rituals by the sea and mountains. And has a relic from the temple being included in the process. They make several thousand pieces by the batch and sometime take awhile before they can make the next batch. The Vajrapani Ruel(5) involves a relic of a high lama, and can never be made without it, so the last time it was made was a little more than half – a – century ago. This batch that we have now has about a little more than 1,000 pieces but it is considered limited because we don't know when it is going to be made again. And it can only be made in certain places in Tibet.
The Illness Suppression Amulet(2), and the others are not as difficult to make, but still they are made or consecrated only by a lama that is recognized to have the capabilities of invoking the energies of the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas to make the amulet holy and become an extension of the Buddha or Bodhisattva whose essence is being invoked.
Furthermore, while making it is customary to offer a fruits, vegetables, flowers, incense, and oil lamps. So when acquiring an amulet, this is what you pay for. But that's not what makes it pricey.
It is also customary to give a 'donation' to the monk who made it. But this is a misnomer because in truth the money doesn't go to the one who made the amulet but rather it goes to the temple, for the building of additional temples or halls, for images of the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas or for feeding the monks.
In the case, of the Vajrapani Ruel(6), Illness Suppression Amulet(3), the Avatamsaka Amulets(1) the Traditional Sutra Amulets(2) and other amulets, the money goes to the offerings of fruits, incense, vegetables, flowers, oil lamps, etc. But more than that it goes to acquiring of the image of a Buddha or Bodhisattva that goes to a hall in a temple that is being built in India (for the Vajrapani Ruel(7) a big chunk of the money goes back to Tibet in helping the people there who are oppressed by the Chinese government) and it becomes a perpetual offering of the person who acquired the amulet.
These are the things that make a real amulet quite pricey.
But again strictly speaking the amulets are not for sale. To understand this better please read my post called: THE EVOLUTION OF ACQUIRING AN AMULET.
You may also want to read my other posts about BM.
- Devastating Feng Shui Blunder Didn't Affect the People Living in the Said House: A Story Of A Good Person With Good Karma!
- Unexpected High Sales Attributed to the Surangama Mantra Amulet.
- What's Even More Powerful or Important than Feng Shui or an Amulet?
- Be Grateful for Miracles No Matter How Small.
- Is There Winning in Losing?
- Do Not Worry Too Much…Be Positive…Be Good.
- The Dreadful and Strong Five Yellow Star: Other Ways to Curb It (2) – Give Until It Hurts!
- Another Lesson from My Reader BM!
- Forget What I Wrote About People Under The Year of the Ox Having The Worst Luck This 2016: A Lesson From the Simple Life of BM.
- The Lesson That BM Unintentionally Shared!
- Be An Inspiration to Do Good: Another Unintentional Lesson From BM!
For questions, comments, and suggestions please email firstname.lastname@example.com


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The Best Things Christian Women Told Me About Sex This Year
Sex and evangelical American religion have a lot in common: Both are weird and personal; both inspire prescriptive, reductive public dialogue; and both are used as conduits for ecstasy, punishment, comfort, self-satisfaction, and pain that can turn into pleasure. When I was a teenager going to music festivals for the first time, I'd watch crowds of people throwing their hands up and feel like I was back in the mega-church where I grew up, a congregation in the tens of thousands that boasted a decent house band and a massive worship center I called the Repentagon. Recently, I disturbed myself by realizing that the name I've said more than any other during sex is probably "Jesus."
Because we rarely see sex and religion intersecting in non-troubling ways, and because it's unfortunate that "virgin" is a social punch line in a country where Plan B isn't available over the counter, I called up a half-dozen Christian women this year and talked to them about sex.
"He pursued us, and now we belong to Him."
There's something Byronic about the way that some churches present the idea of God to young Christians, particularly women. A divine creator romancing fallen humanity through a display of sacrificial devotion far more intense and visceral than anything you'd find in a rom-com — once desired like this, how can we not live in obedient submission? "We are Christ's bride," one woman told me, fairly breathlessly. "He came and pursued us to be with him, and now we belong to Him, and I think that's really beautiful."
One woman I interviewed talked about a Bible study she'd gone to in high school: "It was called Sacred Romance. God was the Great Romancer. I was in the middle of a breakup and I just kept telling myself, 'Don't ever forget that He loves you more than your ex-boyfriend ever did.'"
As for me, I remember a girls-only Bible study session at a middle school church retreat, during which a chirpy blonde woman with glossy pink lips put wedding veils on all our heads, turned on Moulin Rouge, and fast-forwarded to the "Roxanne" scene, the slow grimy drag of that tango. "Remember this feeling," she told us. "This is what you have to look forward to on your wedding day."
"There had been fondling, you know, I'm human."
It was hard to find someone who'd actually waited until marriage to lose her virginity. I only talked to one woman who did it by the book; to alleviate wedding-night pressure, she and her husband had waited not just until after the wedding but until the morning after. She told me, "I felt so liberated by the fact that I'd never had sex before, not even oral sex. There had been fondling, you know, I'm human. But I felt so protected in that moment, with all expectations stripped away. It was so freeing, so exhilarating."
In many of the stories that felt more familiar, there was still a religious component; one woman had lost her virginity at 14, to a boy she'd met as her mom was dying. "We were just young kids trying to process this thing," she said. "We cried together almost every day. We were going to church together. We were spiritually close, and it felt right to be physically close. So we started to have sex, a lot of it, all the time."
Another woman had simply compartmentalized the anti-sex parts of Christianity and decided to trust her instincts: "I have my body image issues — I don't like sitting in my swimsuit next to someone skinny, stuff like that — but with a guy, naked, I feel really comfortable. I've always just known what to do."
For most of these women, their physical convictions were just as important as their spiritual convictions; if the two came into alignment, all the better. One woman, mentally flirting with the idea of sex, experienced clarity one night in Vegas.
"I met this hot cop," she told me, "like an actual cop who was hot, not a Chippendale. We started making out in the casino — really going at it, it was amazing — and he persuaded me to come up to his room, where we fell onto his bed. He pulled up my dress and got naked all of a sudden and asked, 'Can I put it in?' I was totally horrified. I said absolutely not. Then he just sort of put it on top of me. I pretended I heard my phone ringing and basically ran away."
"It's a rule to protect you."
I asked these women the same question over and over. Why is sex before marriage considered wrong? Essentially, everyone answered the same way: "I believe in the Bible, and the Bible says so." Most added, "But I'm not going to judge anyone who does it." Most, of course, were also doing it.
"It has more to do with your identity as a Christian," one woman said. "How you see yourself, how you want to feel, how you want to be treated. This is hard for me to articulate, but I think that any sin that we commit comes from an internal issue that we have with ourselves — something we're born with, like pride or greed. With sex, it could maybe be a problem with self-control, or wanting to receive a certain type of attention or feel a certain way."
"I think it's a rule to protect you," another woman said. "To keep you from opening yourself up emotionally to the wrong people, to heartbreak and hurt."
I remember when I came home from school in fourth grade wearing my very first purity ring. I waved my hand in the air proudly. "Oh Lord," said my mom, who is an evangelical Christian. "Take it off, take it off now."
"I was never acting out of an urge that was pure."
Guilt, bargaining, and confusion all played at least minor roles in each woman's story. One talked about a high school boyfriend, saying, "I believed that God wanted the two of us to be together, but that we'd cursed our relationship forever because we'd had sex. There was an inner voice just screaming at me about what I'd done, much louder than the voices that told me not to lie and cheat and steal. I would read books and identify with characters who were prostitutes, that's how low I felt."
Another brought up middle-school masturbation: "I knew what I was doing, even though I didn't know the word for it, and I knew it was sinful. I knew even then that I wasn't taking care of my body in a holy way. I wasn't acting out of an urge that was pure."
My friend Maya, after her assault: "I was furious at God. I couldn't understand how I was the only one of our friends who made the decision to stay a virgin, and I loved the decision and defended it, and then He let this happen."
Purity, this tightly conditioned idea, with so much more to give! In my own life, the times I've felt the purest have involved another trinity — sex, drugs, etc. — and the God that I came to know as a kid, that vague metaphysical presence, was always there in my bones to bless me.
"I have a huge sex drive — it's how God made me."
All the women I talked to readily admitted that the evangelical church doesn't handle sexuality well. From the woman who'd waited until marriage: "It's a big institutional and doctrinal flaw, this idea that sex is bad, sex is wrong. When you're told that your whole life, how are you supposed to just flip that switch when you finally get around to doing it?"
I asked her how long it took to hit her stride with her husband, to feel comfortable having sex. "A while!" she said. "Two or three months, because he was studying for the bar nonstop and we could only really try on weekends. We laughed about it, like, thank goodness we didn't have anyone else to compare this to." She added, "But now it's wonderful. And you know, sex is all over the Bible. God commands us to have communion with each other."
They all told me that they hoped there would be a generational change in the church, a shifting of priorities. "It's not our job to grade," one woman said forcefully. "The emphasis we put on sin is out of proportion. That's the biggest problem I have with the church."
Another said, "We should change the conversation. It should be understood that sex is beautiful. It should be more about what you might want to protect yourself against, and how. It should be more about not doing things that could harm you."
"If I'm truly a Christian, I should be able to understand what grace is. And feeling terrible is not grace," said another woman, who'd described herself as having "a huge sex drive — it's how God made me."
She added, "I went to a bachelorette party where they were asking all the married girls for sex advice for the bride-to-be. I just sat there, listening to them talk about fussy lingerie and complicated games and weird sex menus, and I didn't say anything, even though I wanted to be like, 'Girl, just buy a vibrator.' You know, I have a lot of friends that are waiting, or have waited, and it was great for them. But that's just not how it's going to be for me."
Previously: Interviews With Virgins.
Jia Tolentino is a writer in Michigan.