text:
It's safe to say your quarantine is nothing like the D'Amelio sisters's. Charli, 16, and Dixie, 18, have skyrocketed to fame during an unprecedented year, where they've taken over the video-sharing app TikTok, launched their own Gen Z-inspired beauty line, and are now dropping their latest project, a nail polish collection with Orosa Beauty, out today.
And what else? When ELLE.com chats with the sisters on the phone, it's the morning of Dixie's high school graduation. "It's just the students and we have to stand 6 feet apart," Dixie says of the untraditional ceremony. "It's going to be live streamed."
Charli also hit a major milestone earlier this year: Becoming the undisputed Queen of TikTok. With 76.1 million followers and counting, the teen has little time for Netflix binge-watching. "I personally haven't even watched that much," she says. "I've just been working a lot and trying new music."
More From ELLE
"Charli steals all my music!" Dixie blurts out, in the way only a sister can. "I find a lot of my own music and she takes every single song I play and puts it on her playlist right away."
Ahead, the TikTok stars talk their new nail polish collection with Orosa, what they love about Gen Z (sorry, millennials!) and answer the age-old sibling question: Are you a Zack or a Cody?
How did this nail polish collaboration with Orosa come about?
Charli: Orosa sent us a package of their nail polish and I'm always trying new things with my nails, trying to do my nails myself. I was very much in love with their nail polish, because of how quickly it dried, how easy it was to apply because of the brush. We were so excited when they reached out to do a true collaboration with us, and we were able to pick our own colors and customize everything to be exactly how we wanted it.
Dixie: Everything was personalized, and we got to do all the steps of picking, and naming, and we literally went through every single color with our parents and figured out exactly what we wanted. Do our color groups match? Do my colors match with her color? Like, it was a lot but it was super fun.
Who is better at painting their nails?
Dixie: Definitely Charli.
Charli: Yeah, me.
Do you have any tips for at-home manicures?
Charli: Being patient! I feel like the hardest part of at-home manicures is after you're done painting them, just sitting still and letting them dry without going on to do other things, because that's the way I always end up messing up my nails.
What's your go-to nail polish color?
Charli: Mine is definitely pink. That's color that I use the most [from our collection]. Piggy Pink.
Dixie: Mine is my gray color, Rapids.
What about some tips for learning TikTok dances?
Charli: I've heard of the trick of duetting the dance video you want to learn and putting it in slow motion to see all the moves slower. I always find myself doing a dance that I did a few weeks ago just to do it again and see if I can maybe do it better or do it differently. I always enjoy going back to dances that maybe aren't on trend anymore, but are still super fun.
What do you love most about your generation, Gen Z?
Dixie: How we can kind of turn everything into a joke, sometimes. It makes everything a lot easier. Just being able to laugh about things, but also using comedy to share stories. I think that's what TikTok does and I really appreciate that. It's like how people who use comedy as a coping mechanism.
What are your thoughts on millennials?
Charli: I don't know...
Dixie: I honestly don't know the groups. I don't know how old a millennial is compared to Gen Z.
How has it been working with your sister?
Dixie: It's so fun! Being able to have someone who is going through exactly what you're going through, and you guys can have the same pros and cons, and discuss things with each other. It makes life so much easier because no one else really understands except us.
You two are obviously so close, which brings me to the rapid fire part of the interview: Which famous sibling are you? First up is Kendall and Kylie.
Charli: You're more like Kylie. I think I'm more like Kendall.
Dixie: Yeah, I feel more like Kylie.
Zack and Cody.
Dixie: I'm more like Zack, definitely.
Charli: 110%.
Dixie: Charli's more nervous than I am about things. I'm kind of a little reckless sometimes.
They're not sisters, but might as well be: Blair and Serena.
Charli: I actually don't know which show they're from... I know it's from a show! But I don't watch it.
Ross and Monica.
Dixie: I feel like I might be more like Ross. I don't want to say that, but I feel like I am.
Charli: I would say Monica, just because of the way that she acts around her friends. That's a lot like me.
You can shop the duo's Coastal Craze collection today at 11 a.m. PST/ 2 p.m. EST at Orosabeauty.com.
Ariana Yaptangco oversees all #content across ELLE's social media platforms and covers beauty news. When she isn't staring at a screen, you can find her drinking tea, trying new skincare products, or yelling about the New York Mets.


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Gas on the Fire
It is funny and sad all-at-once to see the extent to which some groups of people will go to in order to further a cheap political agenda. Only a half year ago the proposed Muslim cultural center in lower Manhattan (which is now being called the "ground zero mosque") was not so much as a vague wisp of an issue. What a difference six months makes. When there are no issues to distract the people from what really matters, just conjure up a boogie man that the half-witted masses can rally against. Seventy-five years ago the German people had the Jews. Today we have the Muslims. Isn't life wonderful?
It happened the other day at the site of the yet-to-be-opened center: An angry demonstration of FOX Noise viewers from who-knows-where. They were there to show their rootin' tootin' all-Americanism by holding a loud demonstration in favor of religious intolerance. When a black construction worker wearing a white skull cap edged his way through the peripherals of the mob, a few of the protesters confronted him with violent and obscene language. He wasn't really a Muslim , he just looked like one to some of these clowns. The crowd was gearing up for a reflexive lynching. Isn't that nice?
Look Away, Dixieland....
These are the same jerks who believed that Saddam Hussein was behind the attack of September 11, 2001. It was this pathetic mass misconception that gave the Bush/Cheney mob the political cover to invade the sovereign nation of Iraq in March of 2003. Then - as now - these foolish people were tuned into the FOX/Limbaugh dis-information machine for their news - and no other source. The unquenchable thirst that too many Americans have for that sweet 'n' tasty right wing Kool-Aid is the reason our country is in the deplorable shape it's in.
It has always been easy to laugh at these people. Let's face it; the extreme right wing is a satirist's dream. But in the last year-and-a-half their message has gotten too strange to take with a mere grain of salt. Now they're encouraging the citizenry to hate a certain minority based solely on their religion. Tell me, just what the hell does that remind you of?
Deutschland! Deutschland!
Uber Alles!
Ah! The memories!
And that message is resonating, too. On Tuesday evening some genius by the name of Michael Enright hailed a cab on East 24th Street. After a few minutes of amiable conversation he asked the driver if he was a Muslim. When the man answered in the affirmative, Enright produced a knife and proceeded to slash him about the face and shoulders. The victim, who is doing fine by the way, told the press, "This is the first time I felt like I didn't belong in America." The hysteria is palpable.
Some of the madness is beyond comical. Earlier in the week, the assholes on FOX and Friends attempted to portray a Saudi sheik named Alwaleed bin Talal as the sinister financial backer of "Park 51" (the real name of the project). The problem is, they never mentioned him by name - and with damned good reason. Other than Rupert Murdoch, the guy is the largest shareholder of FOX Noise. They needed to make a cheap political point but they couldn't be honest and reveal his very close ties to the network. Watch Jon Stewart's brilliant (and FUNNY) report on the subject.
No Muslims Need Apply
As you are no doubt aware, this hysteria is even being directed toward the president of the United States who, although a professed and proven Christian, has been "accused" of being a Muslim. The Republicans in the House and Senate are perfectly content to keep this "scandal" going. On Meet The Press on Sunday, David Gregory asked Mitch McConnell whether or not he believed that Barack Obama was a Christian. He couldn't bring himself to answer, "Yes, I believe that the President is a Christian." Instead he replied:
"I'll take him at his word."
Recommended Articles
Honestly, if there is a more disgusting piece-of-shit than Mitch McConnell slithering though the halls of Congress, I'd sure as hell would like to know about it. Contact me if you find someone (845-294-5714).
And now former congressman Rick Lazio is jumping onto this mountain of stupidity. Poor old Rick, in case you didn't notice, is running against Andrew Cuomo for governor of New York state. His campaign is far behind and underfunded. Now - finally - people are starting to pay attention to him. Rick has found himself a dynamite issue! He brought his weird act to my home town of Goshen on Wednesday. As he told Steve Israel of the Middletown Times Herald-Record,
Wherever you live, people are concerned about the risk of public safety, as a result of radicalized elements and terrorism."
Rick Lazio (as Rick Lazio often does) is lying his ass off. His new TV spot accuses Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the "mosque" (it's not a mosque), of being a "terrorist sympathizer". He is nothing of the sort. Not only is that accusation a lie, it is one of the most despicable examples of dirty political opportunism in the history of the Empire State. Rauf has demonstrated his religious moderation too many times to count in the past decade, going as far as to work with the FBI, helping them identify possible domestic terrorist plots right here in the good ol' U.S. of A.
Rick Lazio is fanning the flames of an already explosive situation. Like Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, and the rest of these perverts, he doesn't give a flying fuck about the consequences of his irresponsible rhetoric. He needs to get himself elected.
We blew a golden opportunity here. We might have sent the message to our enemies all around the world that, when all is said and done, we are a land where the diversity of religious points of view are not only welcome, they are a blessing. Apparently I was mistaken. It's all a sham. Someone prove me wrong.
Having a Muslim cultural center down the street and around the corner from "ground zero" is not an insult to the victims of 9/11 - no more than the presence of St. Patrick's Cathedral in midtown Manhattan is an insult to the victims of the Spanish Inquisition. Let's get a grip here, folks.
Here is a link to the Daley Show segment mentioned above. As always it is informative and EXTREMELY funny. Isn't it sad that in this day and age we must rely on comedians for fair and balanced information? This is worth the price of the ticket.
It's a scream.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
American Steam merchant
|Steam merchant
|5,868 tons
|1919 - Kawasaki Dockyard Co Ltd, Kobe
|Calmar SS Co Inc, New York
|New York
|Date of attack
|24 Sep 1942
|Nationality: American
|Sunk by U-432 (Heinz-Otto Schultze)
|58° 12'N, 34° 35'W - Grid AK 2721
|62 (2 dead and 60 survivors).
|SC-100 (straggler)
|New York - Halifax - Liverpool
|7500 tons of general cargo, including steel, food and trucks
|Completed in December 1919 as Eastern Ocean for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1923 renamed George Allen for Garland SS Corp, New York. 1927 renamed Pennmar for Calmar SS Co Inc, New York.
|Notes on event
The Pennmar (Master Sigmund Charles Krolikowski) straggled from convoy SC-100 due to mechanical difficulties and proceeded toward Cape Farewell for repairs. On 21 Sep 1942, an armed guard was washed overboard and lost while assisting to hand steer from the emergency steering station on the stern. The steering gear mechanism had been broken when a truck had shifted in the heavy seas and rolled against the gear.
At 18.47 hours on 23 September, U-432 fired a stern torpedo at the Pennmar in 58°25N/32°15W, but it was spotted approaching from the starboard quarter and avoided by a hard left rudder. One hour later they saw the U-boat surfacing on the starboard quarter, which was taken under fire from the 4in stern gun. After four rounds were fired the U-boat submerged. At 01.44 hours on 24 September, U-432 fired a spread of four torpedoes and managed to hit the Pennmar with one torpedo on the port side about 30 feet from the bow near the fore peak oil tank. A second torpedo was seen by a lookout to pass under the ship, probably due to heavy seas. The eight officers 31 crewmen and 22 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in, four 20mm, four .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in one lifeboat and two rafts, while the ship began to settle by the bow rapidly sinking after eleven minutes. One man died after being crushed between a raft and the ship and another drowned near the propeller of the ship. The survivors were picked up the same day by USCGC Bibb (WPG 31) and taken to Reykjavik, arriving on 2 October.
|On board
|We have details of 4 people who were on board.
If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us.


text:
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVer Information Inc. USA, the award-winning provider of education technology and video collaboration solutions, announces the VB130, a 4K video bar with intelligent lighting. Designed for small meeting spaces, huddle rooms, and focus rooms, the VB130 is engineered to provide clear imaging and exceptional audio quality for uninterrupted collaboration. Users can upgrade their meeting experience with the VB130's intelligent built-in lighting for virtual meetings. The VB130's adjustable five-level fill lighting combined with an automatic light sensor provides the perfect amount of light to illuminate your workspace.
"The future of meeting space technology will rely on hardware and cloud-based solutions designed to promote social distancing among meeting participants," said Carl Harvell, Director of Product Marketing for AVer USA. "The VB130 is designed with remote management and extensive interoperability for cloud-based video platforms, providing an easy-to-use video conferencing solution for power users. AVer's SmartFrame technology is designed to count meeting participants and frame participants with a single click."
AVer's VB130 is a versatile, enterprise-grade USB video bar perfect for everyday use by business professionals. The VB130 offers high-quality 4K video and dual fields of view, including 90-degree and 120-degree views, and a privacy shutter for peace of mind. Featuring a compact design, the VB130's sleek composition will fit on top of a 17-inch monitor or can be mounted onto a tripod. The VB130 combines five levels of automatic, intelligent fill-in lighting with exceptional beamforming audio technology with a five-microphone array to ensure resonant sound — creating a dynamic video conferencing solution for power users, huddle rooms, and small conference spaces.
The VB130 promotes contactless meeting technology for safer, more efficient meetings with SmartFrame, contactless AI-triggered viewing-angle adjustments meant to perfectly frame meeting participants, no matter their distance from the lens. It incorporates contactless AI features, including voice tracking, smart framing, audio fencing, and people counting for a seamless video conferencing experience. The VB130 features web-based controls for remote camera control and settings management, as well as easy-to-use group central management software, EZManager 2.
To learn more about the VB130, please visit averusa.com. Keep up with the latest news from AVer on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About AVer Information Inc.
Founded in 2008, AVer is an award-winning provider of education technology and video collaboration camera solutions that improve productivity and enrich learning. From accelerating learning in the classroom to increasing competitive advantage for businesses, AVer solutions leverage the power of technology to help people connect with one another to achieve great things.
AVer's product portfolio includes professional-grade artificial intelligence-enabled auto-tracking cameras, Zoom and Microsoft Teams Certified enterprise-grade USB cameras, document cameras, and mobile device charging solutions. AVer strives to provide industry-leading service and support that exceeds customer expectations. AVer is deeply committed to the community and the environment, and it employs stringent green processes. Learn more at averusa.com, and follow AVer on Twitter at @AVerVC.


text: On 2/24/12 1:36 PM, Jeremy Raymond wrote: > test(noloop) -> > ok; > test(loop) -> > test(loop). % dialyzer warns about this call It is usually worth it to give the version of Erlang/OTP you are using since the dialyzer often changes from version to version. But I can tell you why the dialyzer warns you: We are looking a success typings. A success type says: "f : A -> B under the *assumption* of termination. That is, we look for ways to make the function terminate normally and then we annotate the function with an input type A and an output type B which makes this termination happen. If we pass 'noloop' then we get ok, hence we have the success type as 'noloop' -> 'ok'.. making the function terminate. Now, the recursive call test(loop) will never terminate and we have figured this out. Hence 'loop' as input cannot be in the success type of this function. In other words, the dialyzer just worked as a termination checker on your code. > test(noloop) -> > ok; > test(loop) -> > do_loop(loop). > > do_loop(loop) -> > do_loop(loop). > My guess is that the dialyzer does not in this case look for the discrepancy in the context of a recursive call to loop so it is conservative and finds the success type to be 'noloop' -> 'ok' as well. But unless it knows by some other means that you make a call test(loop) somewhere in your code, this limited success type is not a problem. -- Jesper Louis Andersen Erlang Solutions Ltd., Copenhagen, DK


text:
Volume 2, Number 4—October 1996
News and Notes
Conference on Emerging Foodborne Pathogens
The conference on "Emerging Foodborne Pathogens: Implications and Control," March 24-26, 1997, Radisson Plaza Hotel at Mark Center, Alexandria, Virginia, USA, is organized by the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food Microbiology, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Agriculture, and Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization. The conference will review the lessons learned and knowledge gained concerning the emergence/reemergence and dissemination of food-related microbial threats to health; identify factors that foster emergence/reemergence and dissemination of these hazards; identify scientific and food safety strategies to address emerging foodborne microbial hazards; and identify future research needs. The conference will be of special interest to food protection and public health professionals, including microbiologists, epidemiologists, physicians, and health policy makers; industry, academic, and government researchers; and others interested in microbial food safety hazards.
For program and registration information, contact
Table of Contents – Volume 2, Number 4—October 1996
|EID Search Options
|Advanced Article Search – Search articles by author and/or keyword.
|Articles by Country Search – Search articles by the topic country.
|Article Type Search – Search articles by article type and issue.


text:
is a market leader in SPICE modelling software. The suite of Intusoft products allows designers to run full design verification and validation of their various configurations.
An example of Intusoft's suite of products includes:
- Test Designer – Features the ICAP/4 Professional premiere analog and mixed-signal solution (below), and adds the industry's only full test and fault synthesis for analog and mixed-signal design. Includes automated fault tree and isolation strategies. Also generates detailed test coverage reports. Applicable for all types of system, IC, and board-level design.
- ICAP/4 Professional – Intusoft's foremost analog and mixed-signal solution, including a fully integrated hierarchical and configurable schematic entry system (SpiceNet),complete set of interactive simulation & verification applications
- ICAP/4 Windows – An extensive SPICE toolset for analog and mixed-signal design.
- ICAP/4 Windows RF/Power Deluxe – Combination of the Power and RF ICAP products
- Power Supply Designer – Combines the ICAP/4Windows Power Deluxe tool suite and Magnetics Designer for the design and synthesis of all types of transformers and inductors; and Library Manager parts management system.
Intusoft and Starvoy back all of their products with excellent support and services and are available to assist in any troubleshooting scenarios that may occur.


text:
Wedenesday night, I went to sleep with the news that Hamas and Fatah had signed a make-up-and-have-elections agreement; Thursday morning, I awoke to news that the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Nabil El Araby, is going to visit Gaza and Ramallah next week. Tectonic plates are shifting in the region.
El Araby was appointed on March 6th and has since set to work recalibrating Egypt's relations with its neighbors. He has moved toward normalizing relations with Iran, and declared that Israel should be held to its treaty obligations. ("Why should Egypt be one of only three countries, along with Israel and America, without diplomatic relations in Tehran?" I was asked more than once.) During the revolution, nobody in Tahrir Square talked much about Israel, but in the months since the issue of relations with "them next door" has bubbled up. A couple of weeks ago, when there were several hundred thousand people in the square, a voluble phalanx of demonstrators was waving Palestinian flags and chanting: "To the Embassy! To the Embassy!" And, over the past days, demonstrations have sprouted up at the bottom of the anonymous office-tower block on an urban highway that houses, on an upper floor with no identifying national flag visible from the street, the Israeli Embassy.
Yesterday evening, I had dinner with two Jews who live in Egypt. There are two active synagogues in Cairo and a direct flight (mandated by the Camp David accords) to Tel Aviv, and while many Egyptians make a distinction between individual Jews and the state of Israel, others freely intersperse the two terms. Both my dinner companions carried North American passports, but tended to hide any Israeli connections; one of them was gay—double jeopardy.
We were eating at a Uighur restaurant that serves the small community of Uighur students who come, along with other religious scholars from all over the Muslim world, to study Islam at the venerable Al Azhar University. We sat outside at a lopsided plastic table, with excellent handmade noodles in beef broth with coriander and chili oil and a bright salad of chopped red cabbage and tomato, washed down with bottles of Pepsi. We lamented the Egyptian addiction to carbohydrates (why restrict yourself to just one in a dish, when it turns out that rice and macaroni and lentils and chickpeas all go so well together and you can call it the national dish: koshari?) and talked over the day's news: a masked gang had blown up the gas pipeline to Israel. Apparently the fire at the blown-up pipeline was still burning; Egypt has said it won't pay compensation for the disruption because it happened during "a state of emergency."
The pipeline to Israel was completed in 2008 and now supplies half of Israel's natural-gas needs. The gas is purchased by Israel at a preferential rate and this apparent discount is deeply unpopular with Egyptians and seen as part of the corrupt practices of the Mubarak regime that bent its priorities. For many Egyptians, Mubarak shamed the country by taking American money (Egypt was the second largest recipient of direct U.S. aid after Israel) in return for, as they saw it, deferring to Israel's interests when it came to foreign policy. Earlier this week Sameh Fahmy, the former Energy Minister associated with the deal, was jailed.
Some days there is too much news. I talked to a Syrian friend of mine today—"it's worse than the eighties," he told me, referring to the Hama massacre in 1982 when Hafez al-Assad killed more than twenty thousand people to put down an uprising. I asked after mutual friends and he said they were O.K., but his voice sounded dreadfully worried, traumatized, and frightened.


text:
Editor's Note: We're pleased to introduce this guest post from digital-advertising expert Michael Koral. Michael is the co-founder and COO of needls., a service that helps businesses automate and optimize their online advertising. Today, he's sharing his best tips for making the most of your social media marketing time and budget.
A couple of months ago I had a friend ask me for advice on the best way to promote his business online.
"Where can I get the best bang for my buck and really just get new customers?" he asked.
Instead of an immediate answer, I came back with a whole slew of questions:
- Do you have a website?
- Are you active on social media?
- How do you handle new customer requests? By phone? Email? Live chat?
- What is your marketing budget?
- Do you have stellar ad images and/or ad copy?
- Who and where is your target market?
- What do you know about your customers and potential customers?
- Have you ever advertised online before?
If he'd asked me even a year or two ago, my "answer" wouldn't have been nearly as complex. The advertising landscape has changed. Some things remain the same—Google ads, for instance, are still awesome though potentially expensive.
But outside of the big elephant, there are now many other great ways to promote your product or service online. Think Bing Ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, Tumblr ads, Reddit ads, YouTube ads, Pinterest ads, Instagram ads, Vine ads … the list goes on.
I'm not going to bore you with an explanation of each of these platforms. I'd rather share with you what I discussed with my friend and explain to you exactly which online marketing tactics I feel give a business owner their best bang for their buck.
As one of the cofounders of needls., my job is to help small business owners grow their businesses—specifically using social media. I have helped many business owners gain new customers by driving targeted, intent-based traffic to their websites and landing pages—something that is no easy feat, especially with all of the unique businesses that use our platform.
To put it a little more technically, my company has created a proprietary algorithm that identifies purchase intent within social posts and targets our clients' advertisements to the people who need and want our clients' products or services.
An easy example: someone on Twitter in Toronto tweets:
"Hey, anyone knows a good realtor in the downtown Toronto Area?"
We know this person is looking for a real estate agent in Toronto, and our client, the Toronto real estate agent, has his advertisement delivered automatically to that person on Twitter and any other social network our platform works on (including Facebook and Instagram).
A harder example: someone on Twitter in New York tweets:
"I'm moving to Toronto – See ya Big apple! #moving"
There is no explicit intent in this tweet, but our system knows this person may very well need a real estate agent in Toronto and will show them an advertisement from our Toronto real estate agent automatically.
So why am I telling you this? Not because I want to tout what my company does (it does a lot more than just targeted ad delivery, for one thing), but to give you a look at how drastically things have changed in social media advertising. Here are my 3 key tips for social media marketing that reflect this new reality.
Tip #1: Direct selling is less effective on social. Building trust is more important.
There is a big difference between advertising on social media versus advertising on, say, a Google search results page.
On Google, someone is there for one reason and one reason only: to find something. They search for a keyword or phrase to find what they are looking for. They are not there to see what their friends are up to, read interesting tidbits of the day or laugh at some #TBT pictures. On Google, being direct is much more effective: searchers want to get to the point and so should you.
On social media, however, things are a bit different, and it is somewhat counterintuitive. In fact, people are constantly asking for things on social media (as with my real-estate example above). But one of the most interesting things I've discovered in my work is that an ad with copy that is directly selling people what they are looking for is typically less effective than an ad that makes a softer sale.
Here's an example from when I was looking to promote my own business.
I wanted to find more small businesses to advertise on my platform, so I first thought: Hey, if someone says on social media that they are looking to grow their business, I should deliver an advertisement that speaks directly to that. I decided to share with them an ad with the headline "We can help you grow your business" or "Advertise with us—the best decision you will ever make." I wanted to get in their face right away.
But once I tried it, I realized that this approach was wrong. Social media users didn't want to be sold directly. They much preferred when I shared an advertisement about a free e-book we created that helps small businesses grow.
The e-book ad did not mention anything about advertising. It was not being pushy. It was giving leads away to see if they could trust what I had to offer. They would download the free e-book, they would learn some valuable takeaways, and only then would I come in to directly sell them my service.
Now, this was a small test, but I wanted to share the stats with you:
- We had 9 times more clicks to our website when we promoted our free e-book vs. selling direct.
- We had a 45% lower cost per click when we tried soft selling vs. hard selling.
- We brought on 5 times more clients through promoting our ebook vs. selling directly.
These figures really did surprise me.
If you've been trying hard-sell messaging on social media with little success, I strongly suggest taking some time to rethink what you are promoting. Consider giving away something for free (ideally while collecting an opt-in you can use to contact leads later). Come back and let me know your results!
Tip #2: Don't worry about seeming like an advertising pro. Just keep it natural.
Needls. has clients of all shapes and sizes.
There are real estate agents, affiliate marketers, bakers, bankers, graphic designers … our client list is pretty diverse.
But one common thread among them is this: before coming to us, they really did not know what made a great ad.
And who could blame them? Advertising wasn't their area of expertise, and they usually looked to the professionals for what to do.
They thought their big problem was that they could not afford a big-time agency to produce awesome ad creative for them. They thought they needed a beautifully designed ad in order to be effective.
If you'd asked me a couple of years ago, I probably would have thought the same thing.
But the dirty little secret no ad agency wants you to know is this: you don't need high-end advertising creatives' help to be an effective advertiser.
Sure, big brands want to show off how polished and professional they are, and agencies definitely help with that.
But for the rest of us, keeping it real is where it is at.
Let's look at a couple of examples…
Here are 2 images that appeared in ads on my Facebook newsfeed today:
These are simple pictures of computers. One is real and natural-looking: the background is a little cluttered, and the lighting isn't especially beautiful. The other is clearly the product of quite a bit of work and graphic design expertise.
But does that extra work and expertise actually do anything to draw you into the image and envision yourself using that company's services?
I doubt it.
That's not to say that there's never a time and place for illustrations or animation. Sometimes, it can help you make a point that no photo ever could. But in general, we find that using real and natural images in your ads wins out.
So if you're a real estate agent, use a picture of you in front of a "Sold" sign. Done.
If you're a wedding planner, use a picture of you in conversation with a bride-to-be.
Keep your images real and natural and see the difference it will make to your conversion rate.
Tip #3: Use a landing page. Seriously.
I have to plead guilty here. Initially, my company was against using landing pages.
You read that right. I'm admitting it here on the LeadPages blog: we did not want to use landing pages to promote our business.
We'd spent thousands of dollars building an awesome website. We'd built that site with conversion in mind. So why would we want to drive social media traffic away from that home page and to a landing page? It seemed counterintuitive to us.
Several months ago I spoke with a trusted friend in the industry about this whole website-vs.-landing-page issue. His advice? Give a landing page a shot.
"At least A/B test it," he said.
So, I finally gave in. We created a landing page internally and compared the results. It was a simple page, and far less professional than what Leadpages allows you to create, but it was a landing page nonetheless.
We advertised it on Facebook and Twitter to drive more users onto our platform.
What I am about to show you below are real results comparing our old website to our landing page.
We tracked clicks via a heatmap using VWO—and here's what we found. Our home page is on the left, and our landing page is on the right.
All those red, green, yellow, and blue dots represent clicks on the page. You can clearly see the significant number of additional clicks our landing page received over our home page.
The landing page outperformed our homepage by over 300%. I've been converted ever since.
This is not to say you should not have a website—you should. It is your company's online headquarters. It tells visitors everything they want to know about your company.
But the traffic you get from your social media ads probably doesn't want to know everything about your company. Not right now.
Remember, if you're using social media marketing correctly, you're trying to position yourself as the natural solution to a specific problem social-media users have. You need to come to them, rather than inviting them to come to wander around your headquarters.
So if you're looking to acquire customers furiously and get a high conversion rate from social media marketing, using a landing page is 110% the way to go.
There you have it: my 3 key insights on how to improve your paid social media marketing. If you want to pick my brain, feel free to reach out at firstname.lastname@example.com or ask me a question in the comments. I'm happy to chat!
Inspired to get serious about social media advertising? Download Leadpages' free "Social Media Platforms at a Glance" infographic to help you decide where to start:


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We stand on the verge of some of the most complicated workplace cultures at this point in time. Today, there are three different generations occupying the same workplace, sending what was assumed to be the traditional functioning of a workplace for a toss.
The whole landscape has undergone a diverse change and the rules are now ever-changing,
It is a strong notion that certain aspects of a workplace are hard to quantify but that does not mean that we get off the hook for not even trying. Things like an initiative or strategy are the building blocks of a good efficient workspace. This also points you in the direction of how you can create a more effective process and use the non-measurable aspects in your favor.
As a manager, you have roles and responsibilities that need to be completed for effective work but at the same time you also have the added responsibility of creating a healthy dynamic amongst all your employees.
Today we will be looking at all the different ways in which you can empower employees and all the things that you might want to consider for better office culture.


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"Iron Man 3" usher's in Marvel's "Phase 2"
"Iron Man" has always been a large step for Marvel, starting with the introduction of the Avengers at the end of the first one, which was a great risk for the studio, being that in order for "The Avengers" film to take off, each and every one of the films leading up to it would have to be a success. So it came as no surprise that America's favorite billionaire/playboy/philanthropist would be the first one to show us the aftermath of the events in "The Avengers" in what Marvel is referring to as "Phase 2."
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes) can't sleep, plagued by memories of the alien invasion and his heroism in bringing down Loki, so he does what he does best – build things. When news of terrorist threats and attacks by a man known as "The Mandarin" (Ben Kingsley, Hugo) and one of his friends gets caught in the crosshairs, Tony suits up to bring the man to justice and publically announces his personal vendetta against The Mandarin. With his Post-Traumatic Stress, however, it appears that Iron Man may have bitten off more than he can chew this time.
Marvel took out all the stops with this film and gave us more of what we love most about Tony Stark – the witty banter and amazing action sequences. While the other two "Iron Man" films were great, "Iron Man 3" is a truly excellent display of humor, special effects, and awesome action. This film will have you both laughing hysterically and on the edge of your seat until the very end.
*WARNING* the following paragraph discusses a rumor about the ending. Although no details are given away (I would never spoil the end of a movie, especially one of this caliber), some of the more die-hard film fans might want to skip it just to be on the safe side.
But is this the end of Iron Man? Before seeing this latest enstallment, I had heard many rumor circulating from people who'd already seen the film claiming that this would likely be the last one. I'm here to tell you that those rumors are basically the rantings of paranoid fans. Without giving the ending away, I can say that while the end of this film could be taken as the end of a trilogy, it's still wide open for many more sequels, and I can guarantee that this is definitely not the last we've seen of Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. expressed a decision he's wrestled with a little while back about not wanting to continue making "Iron Man" films because he didn't want to stop loving the role, so the studio likely decided to end this in a way that would be able to seem final without being TOO final.
Of course, there is a scene after the credits, so make sure you stay till the very end!
"Iron Man 3" is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout (gunplay, robot violence, things one would expect in an Iron Man movie. Nothing over the top.) and brief suggestive content (a couple is shown kissing in bed and sex is briefly and discreetly implied).


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Inverted Heart Hairstyle for women are a very sophisticated haircut but yes due to prolonged time you may get bored with it. But not anymore, we are here to tell you how to bring changes in your hairstyle and make it look lively and up to date.
Inverted Heart Hairstyle 2022
Make Inverted Heart Hairstyles for women Retro
The styles may change overtime but the charm of retro look will never fade away. So let us guide you through how to get that retro look. The important thing that you might be missing is that Inverted short bob hairstyles for women are not supposed to be kept straight all the time. You can add curls in it. How to add curls?
If you add curls at back and keep the front hair cut out as straight flicks, it will automatically give the life to the hair and Inverted short bob hairstyles for women that everyone around you will just adore.
Complete curls can also work for you. They are look very decent and at the same time very stunning. So let's make your hair sophisticated and fantastic at the same time.
Inverted Short Bob Hairstyles For women Retro
Braid Them Up:
The braids are also evergreen hairstyle. Make a crown braid or waterfall braid incorporated with Inverted short bob hairstyles for women and Voila! You have the most spell binding hairstyle possible. Moreover, if you add slight loose curls at the ends of your hair with the above two braids, and then you are ready set to go to the party with the rocking beautiful hair.
Bridal Heart Hairstyle for women
Colors That Can Add Life to Inverted Short Bob Hairstyles for women
Colors are considered to be something that really defines the girls, so why not play with them in your hairstyle? In the Inverted short bob hairstyles for girl you can add highlights of the color one or two shade darker or lighter in your hair and it will give the very beautiful up rise to the hairstyle. If you are a rock girl then adding a warm pink or purple streak to your front bang will make it look hi-fi.
Colored Inverted Heart Hairstyle for women
Beautify Inverted Short Bob Hairstyles for Women with the front cut
It is time for you to get the hairstyle revamped with the front cutting. Now you must be thinking what you can do? Let's discuss some of the ideas about the front hair cut that can be incorporated with the short inverted bob hairstyles.
Add the front bangs that cover your forehead and then make them swoop on some side left or right with the hair brush. Get the flicks in the front.
Get the layered cutting in the front hair especially the girls with dead straight hair; it gives the volume to your hair. There are many ways that you can play with Inverted short bob hairstyles for Women, this hairstyle is much more than it seems to the eyes. It is a hairstyle that will never go out of fashion but this season it is the trendiest haircut. It has made its place in every girl's heart.


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Welcome to the official Matty White Training website, with over 20 years of experience in Professional Triathlon, Matty has structured a training system designed on maximising your time constraints to ensure that the time you have is used effectively.
Understanding that most people have work and family commitments based around their sport Matty understands that it is crucial in programming specific sessions in accordance to the individuals needs. Matty has a wealth of experience and currently offers the following packages:
White Gold Package
Personalised Coaching
Fully personalised online Triathlon coaching, catered around your individual abilities and time goals, life and work commmitments as well as race goals. Matty caters entirely for the inidividual with this service and this includes full access to Matty's wealth of experience and vast network as you need. This service is perfect for the athlete who wants exclusive service and guaranteed results. Numbers are limited to ensure exclusivity. With this package option you receive access to the head coach (Matty) as you need. Training is fully monitored and feedback is via email, phone and training peaks.
Monitored progress via Training Peaks.
White Gold Packages start at $300 p/month
The Spartan & The Trojan
12 Week / Pre-Packaged Training
Full 12 week packages for a long or half distance triathlon. Each package contains complete daily training load system with all bases covered.
Packages contain fully comprehensive Diet Plans and Recipe Ideas. All training systems come complete with Instructional Videos from Matty outlining the daily training sessions and the description and goals, as well as a resource section including drills, strength training, streatching, race preperation plus many more.
- 12 week packages designed for beginner/intermediate athletes looking to complete an Ironman or 70.3 event
- Fully Automated with secure login and email notifications for each daily session
- Daily sessions include Video Instructions, Session Description and Full Diet Plan (3 meals a day plus snack options in resource area)
- Ability to scroll forward and back 7 days to plan accordingly
- Full Resource Section with instructional videos
- Sessions based on Matty's 23 year experience in the sport
All recipe ideas supplied by Leah Izzini (Bachelor of Science Degree (BSc), Personal Trainer (Cert IV) and Food Coach)
Intro Video:
The Warrior
6 Week / Pre-Packaged Training
This 6 week program is designed from my years of experience from being a successful Professional Triathlete and Level 1 Triathlon Coach as well as a full time firefighter, its a 30-45minutes per day routine for people who need to get the maximum benefit for the limited time they have.
This session is not just specific for Triathletes or Multi Sport athletes but everyday people who just want to get fit and burn some serious calories. The Program comes complete with a 6 week diet plan and instructional videos outlining all the movements and exercises. There are benchmark sessions in there to achieve and monitor progress throughout.
Fitness Info:
MWT Triathlon Camps
Port Douglas & Wallaroo Training Camps
Currently MWT are conducting Triathlon training camps in the following places, Port Douglas (QLD) and Wallaroo (SA). These camps are designed for everyone from beginners to professionals as we have the knowledge base and staffing to assist every skill level in order to improve from attending our camps.
The camps are a fun way to meet new people and enjoy training and learning with some of the best in the sport. Head Coach Matty has over 20 years experience in the sport most of it racing as a Professional Triathlete with numerous Ironman Podiums and 70.3 wins around the globe.
Port Douglas
25th July 2019 - 29th July 2019
- Accomodation at The Mantra Port Sea Resort with your own room
- Buffet Breakfast every day
- All dinners
- Full Coaching Support/ Clinics/Seminars
- Full access to all coaches throughout camp (Matty White and Tim Van Berkel)
- Transfers to and from Port Douglas from Cairns Airport
- Twilight Cruise/drinks/canapes
- 2 x nights Accomodation at the new Wallaroo Units (Beachfront)
- 2 x Dinners
- All Coaching Support and Seminars
For information on any of these camps and to make a booking:
Swim Technique Analysis
General Training
MWT also offers one on one intensive swim technique analysis from a fully qualified swim instructor through one of our partners at Norwood Swim School, these sessions are exclusive to MWT and they are extremely beneficial in streamlining your swim mechanics by some of the best in the business. This service is only available to local athletes.
Lactate Threshold and Heamatocrit Testing
General Training
This service is essential in planning your training zones and setting your racing zones. This test is completed on a Wattbike to specific power targets at intervals. Using the Lactate Scout Monitor your blood lactate readings are monitored at various points providing the true Lactate Threshold in accordance to your wattage and heart rate data. Upon Completion of this session each client receives a full synopsis of their individual and specific training zones so they can plan a training structure accordingly.
Adelaide Bikefit
General Training
Cyclists in Adelaide know Nashy to give reliable, meticulous bike fitting and servicing. Nashy's rap sheet is above and beyond, being heavily involved in Tour Down Under, Herald Sun Tour, National Road Series, Junior Olympics are just the tip of the iceberg.
You're now training with MWT to improve your athletic performance but have you considered the gains you would get from a Professional Bike Fit?
Adelaide Bike Fit has the newest, most advanced technology combined with Nashy's eye for detail.
Small adjustments to your position will lead to pedalling more efficiently and not only improve Bike splits but Run times as well.
Come see us at ABF and receive 10% off any fitting service we provide.
Adelaide Bikefit Info:


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If you use [bd] Widgets, you can modify the sidebar to include Threadloom results. Simply add the template "threadloom_community_search_results" to the position text box. If you are using other templates in the position text box, add a comma and space between template names.
Example value: "threadloom_community_search_results, thread_view, thread_list"
For additional support with the [bd] Widget Framework add-on, view this thread.


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Opened 6 years ago
Closed 5 years ago
Last modified 5 years ago
#6264 closed enhancement (invalid)
Strange performance results
|Reported by:
|Owned by:
|Blocked By:
|Reproduced by developer:
|Analyzed by developer:
Summary of the bug:
Encoding with VAAPI is much slower if sound is converted. Launching another ffmpeg dedicated to the sound conversion gives much better results.
The test was done with 9th generation Intel HD500 in a Celeron N3350 and a 1080p@24 and 18Mb/s file.
With the example below, I get 60fps so it is 2.42x speed. Removing the acodec copy option, it is converted to vorbis, speed drops to 42fps (1.41x).
The strange point is that launching another simultaneous ffmpeg to drops the video and converts to vorbis, I get normal speed for this CPU : 5.5x and the other ffmpeg keeps at 2.42x.
So it seems using VAAPI along with Vorbis slows down both codecs.
How to reproduce:
% ffmpeg \ -hwaccel vaapi \ -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 \ -i input.mkv \ -vf 'format=nv12,hwupload,scale_vaapi=w=1366:h=768' \ -vcodec h264_vaapi \ -acodec copy \ -qp 23 \ output.mkv ffmpeg version 3.2.4 built on gcc 5.4.0 (Mageia 6 package)
Change History (6)
follow-up: 2 comment:1 by , 6 years ago
|vaapi added
Is this issue reproducible with current FFmpeg git head?
follow-up: 3 comment:2 by , 6 years ago
Replying to cehoyos:
Is this issue reproducible with current FFmpeg git head?
Sorry, I have no easy way to try on git version. But it is version 3.2.4 that I have used, even if it is not avaliable in TRAC menu...
follow-up: 4 comment:3 by , 6 years ago
comment:4 by , 6 years ago
Replying to cehoyos:
Replying to zezinho:
Replying to cehoyos:
Is this issue reproducible with current FFmpeg git head?
Sorry, I have no easy way to try on git version.
Are there no FFmpeg binaries offered for your operating system?
Unfortunately, they have no VAAPI enabled :
ffmpeg version N-83692-gb8a7dcbde2-static http://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/ Copyright (c) 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 5.4.1 (Debian 5.4.1-5) 20170205
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --disable-debug --disable-ffplay --disable-indev=sndio --disable-outdev=sndio --cc=gcc-5 --enable-fontconfig --enable-frei0r --enable-gnutls --enable-gray --enable-libass --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-librtmp --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg
libavutil 55. 47.100 / 55. 47.100
libavcodec 57. 81.100 / 57. 81.100
libavformat 57. 66.102 / 57. 66.102
libavdevice 57. 3.100 / 57. 3.100
libavfilter 6. 74.100 / 6. 74.100
libswscale 4. 3.101 / 4. 3.101
libswresample 2. 4.100 / 2. 4.100
libpostproc 54. 2.100 / 54. 2.100
[AVHWDeviceContext @ 0x4a61ec0] No VA display found for device: /dev/dri/renderD128.
[vaapi @ 0x312f1e0] Failed to create a VAAPI device
comment:5 by , 5 years ago
|→ invalid
|new → closed
This is an expected consequence of the single-threaded nature of the ffmpeg utility combined with synchronous behaviour in the Intel VAAPI driver (it doesn't use the CPU while encoding, but it still blocks the calling thread waiting for it to finish).
comment:6 by , 5 years ago
|3.2.1 → unspecified


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Understanding different aspects of social media could be an intricate task. Considering all the major platforms – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + and others – marketing your brand socially requires a comprehensive approach; much more than just understanding one platform or one metric. Because social media involves a great deal of human interaction in its entire complexity, aggregating results to just one digit would be grossly inaccurate and frankly impossible. That is why many of our customers have already decided to use a dashboard which includes multiple metrics for measuring each of these social networks and different aspects of their performance.
In social, you need to measure different things:
Fan growth, posts from you, your fans interactions (At Socialbakers we refer to this as Engagement), your users' wall posts, and the speed of your response determine your social success. Since all of the above metrics are public, you can and more importantly shoud analyze these metrics for your competitors as well. Social media conversations (and logically marcomms) take place in an open environment, and learning form successes (and failures) of your direct or indirect competition, is something that just works to improve your engagement and fine-tune your social marketing tactics! Additionally, there are metrics that are strictly platforms based, like Facebook Insights, which for example include "reach" or "talking fans".
The best metric for benchmarking: Engagement Rate
We at Socialbakers believe and our clients' successes stand as proof that the best way to compare social performance is to analyze Engagement Rates. The beauty of this calculation is that it can be applied for any social network that uses public data, such as Twitter and Google +! The formulas for average Engagement Rates are:
It's true that Average Post Engagement Rates can range from 0.01% to 1%, but people keep forgetting thats the people interacting, and that its for every post. If 1% of people interact with EVERY one of your posts, that means a majority of your fans have seen it. So it's the exact reason why Engagement Rate is a metric worth monitoring!
[Source: Socialbakers]


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New arrivals are here just in time for the first official day of spring! In the heart of the Marrakech medina (the old city) sits La Mamounia, a palatial hotel that dazzles with hand-cut tiles, ornately carved columns and handmade lanterns.
When we saw La Mamounia, we knew it was the perfect inspiration for our special occasion styles. Bring a little Moroccan magic home with you – the lighthearted prints, intricate embroidery and fresh colors are perfect for all your springtime celebrations.


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So you say your bridge is missing...say what? Someone stole a bridge???
In Lawrence County Pennsylvania someone took apart a 50 foot long bridge worth around $100,000 with a blow torch. A blow torch??
This must be the greatest criminal mastermind after DB Cooper. The bridge went all Keyser Söze, except instead of convincing the world he did exist...it really doesn't.
Source: Lawrence County steel bridge stolen


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The Roscommon County Community Foundation (RCCF) recently awarded a $2,500.00 grant to the County of Roscommon. Funding for this project came from the Roscommon County General Fund ($2,423.00) and the Morley Foundation Fund ($77.00).
The funding assisted with the purchase of Corrections Ballistic Vests for the Roscommon County Sheriff's Department. The dual purpose ballistic/stab vests will be worn while transporting inmates and mental health patients. The vests will also be worn for stab protection while corrections officers are working within the county jail. With these vests the officers will be better protected while transporting inmates and working at the jail.
Inspired? You can support the Roscommon County General Fund or the Morley Foundation Fund by sending your donation to RCCF at P.O. Box 824, Roscommon, MI 48653 or visiting our website at www.MyRCCF.org to make a donation online.
Get connected with causes that matter to you! Contact Suzanne E. Luck, Executive Director, for information on how you can give a gift that supports your community.
Pictured L to R: 1st photo- RCCF Executive Director Suzanne Luck and Roscommon County Jail Administrator Lt. Laurie Beck. 2nd photo RCCF Executive Director Suzanne Luck, Sheriff Ed Stern and Corrections Deputy Gage Richards.


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Check the availability of your domain name employing the search input box you are going to see on the best of any page. Travel enables you to be identified as a travel connected enterprise with out obtaining to dilute your business name and URL. When traveling by auto, you will most likely want to keep your cat safely in her crate although moving. The other significant plus to this fabric is that it stretches, so it's comfortable to put on and when you wash it, it dries quite extremely rapidly, an additional need to for a very good travel wardrobe. Just search for internet sites like Ibiza.travel, ThinkDigital.travel or Colombia.travel to see what we mean. Get all of the latest firm news and service updates for Thames Travel bus routes in Oxfordshire and Reading. Babysling was my ideal buddy when he was smallest.Traveling with him so tiny is a stunning memory and some thing he appears back at with amazement. To acquire the Diamond Club amenities, you need to reserve by way of a Diamond Club agency.
I travel light and my wardrobe is properly organised for the simple purpose that I find suitcases as well large and as well heavy to manage. Enter the e mail address that you utilized to join Travelzoo and we'll send you a hyperlink to reset your password. You can pick these up for below $5, but they are fairly beneficial although traveling… if you are lucky adequate to be traveling with a companion who shares the same taste in music, that is. I'm stunned that not 1 Fodor's reader challenged the poster's misinformation, as the forum is frequented by some very seasoned travelers. Search engines assign a value to thetravel extension because it has which means through its direct connection to travel and tourism, unlikecom.
Formerly the Editor-At-Huge for Travelsquire, Tracy Gavant worked with Spa Magazine, The Discovery Channel and Hachette Filipacchi Media, exactly where she produced an international awards system spanning 23 nations. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel firms, enabling them to have offices in countries other than exactly where their headquarters are situated. I've traveled many sections of this, but we now travel in a motor property and I would like to do the entire trip in it.
Once you are a legal resident of your new state, be certain to change your address with the Social Security Administration, Medicare and your overall health insurance coverage 't neglect your retirement plans and any life insurance organizations, too. If flying, your tickets may possibly even be purchased for you in advance by the travel firm. Get it done at least 2 weeks ahead of travel to keep away from being annoyed by the guys atR Tambo. A group can be formed with extended family members, close friends, colleagues or a group chosen by the organization who is arranging your travel. This may be trivial, but is an essential component of your preparation & check list for travel when pregnant. Book a qualifying cruise with American Express Travel and appreciate a wealth of extra positive aspects and amenities. So how significantly spending budget you have in mind will also matter before finalizing your travel plans.
In early 2013, net education behemoth acquired the rights to stream Strobist's six-DVD lighting course, Lighting in Layers The synergy was such I decided to pitch Lynda with what I deemed to be a wildly ambitious concept: a city-particular, travel photography series, filmed all more than the globe. Arusha Travel Agency Ltd, the Adventure Management Firm, is a properly established firm owned and operated by experienced travel professionals. The competitors is performed by Mango and Positive Travel in association with its advertising and marketing agents.


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Roderick Strong's NXT journey has been a gripping tale, filled with professional determination while a bright light was shined upon his dark past and personal progression. Fans familiar with Strong's work prior to his debut with NXT knew of his in-ring prowess -- he's a former Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla world champion -- but his depth of character has built him up considerably since he joined NXT last October.
The "messiah of the backbreaker" built up his cred with previously unfamiliar fans against the likes of Andrade "Cien" Almas and Eric Young, but it was that two-part mini-documentary series entitled "Who is Roderick Strong?" a couple months ago that really got crowds behind Strong.
His reward? A premier spot in Wednesday night's main event against Bobby Roode, with the NXT championship on the line -- a true rarity in the era of NXT TakeOver specials.
Roode's run as champion, and his entire NXT career, for that matter, has been top-notch across the board. Since his catchy theme song "Glorious Domination" hit and he stepped through the curtain for the first time as an NXT superstar, the allure has been overwhelming. A little more than a year later, and the champ has become the clear-cut face of NXT.
Over the past couple of weeks, Roode has made some disparaging remarks towards Strong, his fiancée (MMA featherweight Marina Shafir, who was in attendance on Wednesday alongside Strong's mother) and their newborn son, heightening the personal nature and tension in their dispute heading into this week's championship match.
What a match it was. Wonderfully executed from beginning to end, it told the story of Strong's determination in attempting to rise above the supreme confidence of the champion.
#NXTChampion @REALBobbyRoode's title defense against @roderickstrong grows more PERSONAL and VICIOUS by the second! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/HzN1OtXtqB
- WWE (@WWE) July 6, 2017
The bout was psychologically effective as well. Strong's offense was backbreaker heavy, so Roode targeted the challenger's left leg as a way to remove the variations of that move from Strong's repertoire.
Strong put forth a valiant comeback and joined a short list of superstars to have kicked out of Roode's Glorious DDT finisher. He even came within inches of scoring a pinfall victory when referee Drake Wuertz completed a three count only to notice Roode's foot under the bottom rope; it got so far as to trigger Strong's entrance theme, and a proclamation from the ring announcer that Strong had won.
But when it was all said and done, Strong could not get the best of Roode, who sealed the deal with a second Glorious DDT on the outside of the ring (in front of Shafir and Strong's mother) and a third in the ring to pick up the pinfall victory.
The "Glorious One" finds himself a little over a month away from a 200-day reign as NXT champion. Only Bo Dallas, Neville and Finn Balor have accomplished that feat to this point, and with TakeOver: Brooklyn III looming about six weeks away, he'll almost certainly hit that point.
Where Strong goes from here remains to be seen, but this mini program with Roode has dramatically improved his stock. The crowd at Full Sail on Wednesday night agreed and gave Strong a standing ovation after he came oh-so-close to winning the title. There were even moments where he garnered more support than the overwhelmingly popular champion.
As far as the NXT championship picture is concerned, Roode needs a new foe going forward. It's likely that, within the next week or two, that Roode's counterpart for Brooklyn will emerge from the pack of ever-growing main event-level contenders.
The slow build to Hideo Itami versus Kassius Ohno continues
The collision course of Hideo Itami and Kassius Ohno has hit peaks and valleys, and things may have finally passed the point of no return Wednesday night as the pair teamed up to take on Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe of SAnitY. This came one week after Dain and Wolfe unexpectedly ambushed the duo after Itami called Ohno out.
Ohno and Itami gained the early advantage and came through with some flurries here and there, but the two weren't on the same page. After Ohno was distracted and couldn't answer Itami's first tag request, Itami refused to tag his partner in for the rest of the match, which led to his demise as the unified force that is Dain and Wolfe proved to be too much. After Itami got Wolfe up for the Go-2-Sleep, Dain got a blind tag; in a nice touch alluding to the screw each of the members of SAnitY has loose, Wolfe willingly took the G2S to his face to allow Dain to finish off Itami with a running cross-body block.
Following the match, a frustrated Ohno looked over the fallen Itami as more fuel was added to the fire. The dispute continued to escalate later on in the night.
Action in the background
We got brief glimpses into two interesting moments likely to play out over the coming weeks in backstage segments at the Performance Center. First, an interview with Billie Kay and Peyton Royce over hurt feelings and birthday presents masked a conflict in the background between Almas and the as-yet-unnamed character portrayed by new WWE signee Thea Trinidad. We also saw a mock-press scrum surrounding Ember Moon, asking her about Asuka and the future, which was interrupted by Ruby Riot as each made a claim to be Asuka's next challenger.


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In this interview, Joye discusses the importance of using professionally designed PowerPoint templates.
Author: NA
Joye Argo spent a number of years in corporate marketing and advertising for the education and healthcare sectors. She was a national account executive for a Fortune 500 firm before starting her own company providing research consulting to large direct marketing firms. Joye is a principal and Vice President of Business Development at Studio F Productions.
Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself and Studio F.
Joye: In 1993, a video production company specializing in cable commercials and a software company that developed and implemented advertising tracking and analysis brought their respective talents together. The new company combined an experienced sales and training staff with a wealth of artistic talent. Studio F began life creating digital graphics collections for its clients to sell under their respective brand names.
In 1999, due to frustration with the tools available for presenters, we began development of the PowerFinish™ brand. As experienced presenters and artists, we knew we could do better than the PowerPoint add-ins that were available. To ensure the very highest quality and originality, we use original design, photos and illustrations created in our own shop…no sublicensing of other content. We set out to create the best PowerPoint templates and backgrounds on the planet. A lofty goal, but 6 years later, our customers agree that we achieved it!
The product line continues to grow and is used in a variety of settings. Over half of the Fortune 1000 use PowerFinish products for their presentations. You can see our designs in sales presentations, trade shows, training seminars, in school computer classes, church services, university lectures, government and military presentations. We also continue to be a major supplier to other PowerPoint template providers.
Geetesh: How do you choose the designs for creating the backgrounds and templates.
Joye: In addition to great creative talent, the designers at Studio F share an important credential that sets them apart from most template designers - every one of them has significant experience actually making presentations.
We may develop a thousand images to create a new volume of only 50 templates. That's because we believe that beautiful design is not enough. Every design included in our products must also pass functional testing…is it easy to read the text you add? does the design look great on a screen and a monitor?
Another standard for our collections is to include a broad range of colors and design styles - from edgy to elegant. We create unique designs - not the same designs in different colors. Most presenters don't just make one presentation over and over. Why would they want a template collection with the same design over and over?
Geetesh: Why is it so important to select the right PowerPoint template or background?
Joye: Most people dread giving presentations. Sure, there are a few natural speakers with incredible charisma who relish the thought of an audience, but most of us don't fall into that category. Public speaking is the most common fear among adults. So we all need every confidence builder we can get. Using professional slide graphics is a confidence builder in two ways. You're more confident because your presentation looks great and your audience has more confidence in you.
When I get up to make a presentation, there's an unspoken agreement - the audience will give me their attention as long as I am credible. And every component of my presentation will contribute to or diminish my credibility. I know my audience will recognize professional design, because we all get constant visual stimulation...from TV advertising and movies to print ads. That's the kind of visual stimulation our audiences are used to. And that's the standard for design we are measured against when we ask for someone's time and attention during a presentation.
Most of us have read or at least heard about the "Dress for Success" book. Think of buying high end graphics for your presentations as an extension of the dress for success concept, but in this case you are dressing your presentation for success.
Presenters may say "content is king" and that's true, but think about the last time you visited your favorite fine restaurant. You went there for food, so why was so much attention paid to the decor, the waitperson's dress and manner, the arrangement of food on the plate, the lighting? It didn't change the actual taste of the food...but great presentation makes the experience memorable.
I would like to ask your readers to do an experiment over the next couple of days. Really pay attention to presentation - on TV, in print ads and at retail stores they visit. Notice the graphic design, use of color, layout and arrangement. I believe they will be amazed at how frequently presentation affects the decisions they make in everyday life.
Geetesh: Why do you feel PowerFinish has been so successful?
Joye: We promise the best, and we deliver it. The desire to be the best weaves throughout our organization from our artists to customer support to shipping. It sounds corny, but it's truthfully the way we do business.
We claim to have "the best PowerPoint templates and backgrounds on the planet". That's a big promise, especially since we offer a money back guarantee. But our customers agree that it's true. We introduced the first volumes of PowerFinish over 5 years ago, and virtually no customers have ever returned a product.
We get a lot of repeat business because people find out the product is even better than it looks on our website and that our support is personal and extensive. So many companies doing business on the internet have little or no customer support, or the hold times are long when they do have a phone number to call. At the end of the day, we want to know that our customers are not just satisfied but amazed by the quality of our products and our support.
Geetesh: Tell us more about your new products, Template Design Sets and Presenters' Choice.
Joye: What we all ideally want is a presentation that looks custom, professional - like a lot of time and thought has gone into it. Your audience sees that effort as a reflection of your respect for them, and that builds your credibility. But realistically, most people don't have the time, budget or skills to create professional custom designs for their presentations. And the people who make presentations range from beginner to expert. One thing they all have in common is they want their presentations to look better. That's why we thought it would be a great idea to give the average presenter easy access to above average design.
Based on our own experience - actually standing in front of an audience - we concluded that a great way to add variety and interest to a PowerPoint presentation is to use more than the standard pair of title and text background designs. So we created a new kind of template. Template Design Sets are PowerPoint templates with more…each template also has 18 coordinated alternate slide designs that can be added to a presentation. It's really easy to insert alternate backgrounds and just a few clicks provide great results.
We all operate on a kind of "auto pilot" level for most of our daily tasks. But our brains are wired to notice change. A visual change alerts our brain to pay attention. So when you use a variety of changing slide backgrounds in a presentation it helps keep your audience actively engaged.
Many presenters create lengthy or complex presentations and they asked for a way to get a custom look without the big bucks. So we created Presenters' Choice, a collection of 100 style sets, each with a huge array of slide design choices. But just having a big collection with a lot of choices isn't enough. Most of us aren't graphic designers, so deciding what goes with what can be confusing. Making professional presentations easy is the basis of our newest products. When you pick a style you like, you can be certain that every one of the designs in that set were created to work together. And you can be certain that each design works...we test with text and charts to ensure that the backgrounds support your ideas, not overwhelm them.
Geetesh: Why does PowerFinish focus on abstract designs rather than conventional photo based templates?
Joye: We think they offer more value to our customers. When you purchase a photo-based collection of templates and backgrounds...ask yourself - how many of these am I really likely to use? You may buy several thousand photo-based templates and find only a half a dozen that fit your needs. You can easily add a photo or illustration to an abstract background, but if a template design is based on a photo of a construction site and you are in clothing sales - you won't ever use it.
By the way, if you are considering licensing a template that includes photos, make certain that the company selling the license has the right to re-license that content. Many large stock image companies do not allow resale of their images. The safest thing to do is to use an image your company owns or to personally license the specific image you need. For limited use - like a presentation - the cost is generally very low. Then you know you don't have any copyright issues.
You get 8 shape types plus lines as part of this Organic Shapes collection. Each of these 8 shape types have 10 variants. So you end up with 80 hand-drawn shape options! Again each of these 80 shapes have 12 brush stroke styles! Plus you get the lines and arrows in 12 brush stroke styles too. Combine all variations to end up with more than 3000 possibilities.
This is the original page. An AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) version of this page is also available for those on mobile platforms, at An Interview with Joye Argo.
Microsoft and the Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.


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proudly hosted by Dewahost!
Watchers are a vastly powerful, ancient extraterrestrial race who untold eons
ago undertook the task of passively observing the phenomena of the universe. Their
homeworld is an unnamed world in an unknown solar system in another galaxy than
the Milky Way which is covered with lush vegetation and bears no artifacts of
habitation. None of the Watchers live on their homeworld anymore, having taken
up permanent residence somewhere within the solar systems they have elected to
observe. On the rare occasions that the Watchers convene on their homeworld, they
use their advanced technology to create temporary dwellings which they disassemble
after use. It is improbable that the planet the Watchers call their homeworld
is their planet of origin. If it were, the age of the race would be relatively
brief, a fraction of the lifespan of a single solar system still in the main sequence
of its existence. Because the Watchers are scattered across the universe, it is
impossible to calculate how many of them there are.
Watcher possesses vast mental, physical, and energy-manipulating powers. Watchers
are telepathic, able to scan the mind of virtually every known form of sentient
life and to project their thoughts into any brain. Watchers can alter their appearance
at will, assuming any guise they so choose. This is apparently a mental/psionic
capacity, and not a physical shape-shifting ability like that of the alien Skrulls.
Watchers can convert their bodies into some form of energy in order to "teleport"
through space at hyper-light speeds. (It is probably that they traverse warp space
to do so.) Watchers can also psionically manipulate energy in the electromagnetic
spectrum. The limits of this capacity are not known: it is probably on the same
basic level as such Earth gods as Odin and Zeus or such alien races as the Elan.
Watchers are seemingly immortal (although degrees of maturity are evident), having
bolstered the limits of their life forces with "delta-rays." Presumably
an explosion that dispersed all of their bodily molecules thousands of miles would
prove fatal. There appear to be no secondary sex differences between male and
female Watchers. Watchers still reproduce sexually, however, and rudimentary family
relationships still provide care and training for their young,
Watchers undertook their mission of passive observation untold eons ago after
an experiment in altruism ended in tragedy. Soon after the Watchers attained virtual
immortality and mastered such disciplines as converting themselves to energy for
interstellar travel through hyperspace, the Watchers' High Tribunal dabated whether
or not their race should share its high technology with the less advanced civilizations
of other worlds. The Watcher named Ikor, stated that it was their race's duty
to help other races, although the Tribunal's leader, Emnu, argued that the Watchers
owed nothing to races that he did not regard as their equals. It was Ikor's son,
Uatu, who finally persuaded the majority of the Tribunal to side with Ikor on
the issue.
delegation of four Watchers, including Uato, set forth from their world and traveled
to the first planet bearing intelligent life that they came upon the planet Prosilicus.
The Watchers offered the Prosilicans knowledge of atomic energy, a rudimentary
science for the Watchers, but one that would advance the Prosilicans' level of
technology considerably. The Prosilicans readily accepted the Watchers' gift and
were tutored for some months by them on its applied uses. Their test mission accomplished,
the four Watchers left the planet.
Prosilicans developed nuclear weaponry, which they first used in wars on their
own planet. They next engaged in all-out war with another alien race, and as a
result, the planet Prosilicus was devastated, and its people brought to the point
of extinction. Years after they had lift, the Watchers returned to Prosilicus
to check on its people's progress, and were horrified to see the results of the
nuclear conflicts. On the basis of this one test, the Watchers decided never again
to interfere in the affairs of any other race. The shame of the Prosilicus experiment
was, in the Watchers' view, so great that they devised a code of ethics of strict
non-interference and passive observation. This code is so strict that if a being
of another race were to be dying at a Watcher's feet, the Watcher would not presume
to disturb the order of the universe by offering the being aid. Rather, the Watcher
would simply record the being's death throes.
after the experiment, the race of Watchers evacuated their homeworld; and relocated
throughout their galaxy and neighboring ones. Each Watcher chose as his or her
new home base a solar system where intelligent life had evolved or was in the
process of doing so. Acutely motivated by the pursuit of knowledge, the Watchers
undertook the observation of the universe (with emphasis on the intelligent races
therein), recording mentally everything they witnessed for the sake of eventually
sharing it with their fellows.
first Watcher ever encountered by inhabitants of Earth
was Uatu, the Watcher posted in our solar system. It is
not known precisely how long Uatu has been observing Earth;
his presence is believed to predate the rise of humankind.
Uatu resides in the Blue City on Earth's moon, an abandoned
settlement with its own atmosphere built by the alien
Kree several million years ago. The Blue Area was also
occupied by the Earth-born Inhumans. The first known encounter
between Uatu and an Earth being occurred when Reed Richards
and the Fantastic Four traveled to the moon to investigate
the Blue Area and found themselves in battle with the
Red Ghost. The Watcher compromised his vow of non-interference
by appearing to the Earth beings and allowing them to
retain their memories of his existence.
once violated the spirit of his peoples' oath, Uatu began
to violate it in deed. For unfathomable reasons, he began
to develop a fondness for the Fantastic Four, and began
warning them of menaces to Earth. At the wedding of Reed
Richards, Uatu even helped the Fantastic Four's leader
attain victory over the horde of enemies who threatened
the occasion. When the world-eater Galactus came to Earth
for the first time, Uatu went so far as to try to hide
the planet from Galactus's surveillance, face him to debate
why the Earth should be spared, and sent one of the Fantastic
Four to Galactus's home base to acquire the weapon that
would defeat him. As Uatu later explained when he was
brought on trial for his numerous violations of his peoples
code of ethics, he had allowed himself to identify with
the action and emotion that he observed, and yearned to
become involved. After his first fateful violation, further
transgressions became easier to justify as he aided his
favorite heroes, the Fantastic Four, and marked important
events in Earth's history. Uatu finally disgraced himself
completely by physically opposing the Kree warrior Captain
Mar-Vell. On trial for his deeds, Uatu was released under
his own cognizance, vowing not to transgress again. Although
he has not committed any overt violations since then,
he has made his presence known in several critical situations,
thereby arguably affecting the incidents' outcomes.
recent years, Uatu has expanded the scope of his observations to include alternate
realities whose events diverge from those of the reality in which he lives. The
precise manner in which Uatu makes these observations, as well as the circumstances
of his discovery of these alternate realities has yet to be learned. The Watcher
uses these glimpses into divergent worlds to give him insights about the "real"
then Uatu, only a few other Watchers are known by name. There is Ecce, the Watcher
who witnessed the incubation and hatching of Galactus, and had the opportunity
to destroy the future world-eater but did not act upon it. There is Ikor, father
of Uatu, the Watcher who proposed the Prosilicus experiment and in penance drafted
what became the Watchers' code of ethics. There is Emnu, leader of the Watchers'
former world council (now called the High Tribunal), who had opposed the Prosilicus
experiment and is now the supreme authority on the rare cases where violations
of the Watchers' oaths are brought to trial. Finally, there is Aron, a young Watcher
who has not yet been assigned a solar system to observe.
Appearance: (of Uatu) FANTASTIC FOUR #13, (of the
Watchers) TALES OF SUSPENSE #53


text:
The best way to learn proper English is to read news report, and watch news on TV. Watching TV shows is a great way to learn casual English, slang words, understand culture reference and humor. If you have already watched these shows then you may recall the words used in the following dialogs.
their ABSENTEE king,
their cowardly king
Meaning and definitions of absentee, translation in Bangla
language for absentee with similar and opposite words. Also find spoken pronunciation of absentee in Bangla and in English language.
What absentee means in Bangla, absentee meaning
in Bangla, absentee
definition, examples and pronunciation
of absentee in Bangla language.


text:
Guanzon-Suzuki Roosevelt 3S Shop Reopens
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The Guanzon-Suzuki 3S Shop located at 253 Roosevelt Avenue, San Antonio, Quezon City was first established in 2005. It is the first Suzuki 3S shop of the Guanzon Group of Companies and was hailed as Suzuki Philippines' Most Outstanding 3S Shop in Luzon in 2018.
The shop was renovated and improved to better serve customers and it was reopened last May 28, 2019. Present for Guanzon at the event were Guanzon Group of Companies' President Guanson Lo with wife Mylene Lo, General Manager Arnold Guillen, Marketing and Promotion Supervisor Marc Jason Ong, Area Manager Emilia Quetua and Branch Manager Liezel Guinto. In attendance for Suzuki Philippines were its President Mr. Akira Utsumi, General Manager for Motorcycle Sales and Marketing Mr. Jun Bulot, National Sales Manager Mr. Mitsunori Shiraishi, Regional Sales Manager for North Luzon Mr. Erick Fernandez, Marketing Head Mr. Monch Bontogon and Dealer Development Group Head Mr. Jose Salavarria.
Measuring 315sqm with an improved overall physical look matching the latest concept of Suzuki 3S Shops, the reopened store has a clean and comfortable space with new modules to accommodate the bigger selection of Suzuki rides. It has a very nice and wide corner for Spare Parts and Apparel as well as a dedicated Service Area with 3 service bays making room for a more efficient servicing of motorcycles. The servicing can be viewed through a CCTV at the Suzuki Information lounge located inside the store.
The shop hosts the latest line-up of Suzuki's fashionable and stylish motorcycles – from Scooters – the new fashion scooter Skydrive Sport, the beauty of speed Skydrive Fi and the global Suzuki scooter – Address, to backbone – the revolutionary GSX-R150, GSX-S150 and Gixxer Fi and the business model GD110 to the well-loved underbones, the Underbone King –the Raider R150 Fi and Carburetor, Shooter 115 Fi and the no.1 selling underbone leisure motorcycle – Smash Stylish Colors. The shop is adorned with the brand's latest campaign – Suzuki, Para sa Lahat ng Trip Mo featuring the country's hottest young icons – Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil.
Guanzon and Suzuki had promos and activities during the reopening of the shop. On top of the existing deals and freebies, Guanzon and Suzuki gave opening treats to their first customers by offering enticing down payment options and a free grocery package for select Suzuki bikes. There was also the Skydrive Sport Dance Contest as well as bingo and fun games.
Guanzon and Suzuki's partnership started in 1975 making Suzuki as one of the former's earliest and longest motorcycle brand partners in the country. There are 3 Suzuki 3S Shops under the banner of Guanzon Group of Companies which all operate through its subsidiary United Excelsior Marketing, Inc. (UEMI). Guanzon was founded in 1945 – they will be celebrating their 75th year in 2020 alongside Suzuki's 100th year anniversary. Part of Guanzon and Suzuki's development plan is to establish more Suzuki 3S Shops to serve their clientele better with concentration in various locations all over Luzon. The Guanzon Group of Companies takes pride in its excellent After Sales Service making them a primary choice of customers looking for their next motorcycles.
Credit: Suzuki Philippines


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Meet Our Team
Allen Starrett
Managing Attorney
I began my legal career as an associate with a small private practice before opening the doors of Starrett Law Firm in January 2009. It was crazy timing. The economy was in the throes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. My wife and I were expecting our first child. So starting a business made complete sense. Well… not exactly, but I truly felt God calling me toward a bigger purpose. Since then, driven by the personal experience of losing my father to a massive stroke, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients better prepare for twists and turns in life and business. My hope is to help many more.
Hometown: Winston-Salem, NC
Favorite thing about Charlotte: its family friendliness
How I spend my free time: camping, country music, people watching, and playing soccer with my kids at Elon Park
If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be: Seoul, Korea
I'm a huge fan of: UNC basketball!
I would never, ever: give up
What I enjoy most about trusts and estates law: impacting the lives and legacies of our clients
J.D. – UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, 2005
B.A. – UNC-Chapel Hill, Economics, 2000
North Carolina
Member, American Bar Association
Member, North Carolina Bar Association
Member, Charlotte Estate Planning Council
Member, Mecklenburg County Bar
Founder & Chair, Ballantyne Ball, 2013-present
Board Member, South Charlotte Partners, 2021-present
Co-Founder, The Park Social, 2013-present
Chair (2015), Charlotte Chamber – Ballantyne Chapter, 2012-2016
Chair, Ballantyne Festival, 2013-2015
Co-Founder, Ballantyne Briefings, 2013-2019
Notable Local
– Ballantyne Magazine, 2020
40 over 40 Award
– Charlotte Ledger, 2020
Readers' Choice Best Attorney Award
– Carolina Weekly, 2016
STANDOUT Charlottean
– Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 2013
Estate Planning 5 Star Service Award
– Charlotte Magazine, 2009-14
Darren Mitchell
Before joining Starrett Law Firm, I ran my own solo practice. I began my legal career focusing on criminal and trial law but quickly transitioned to business law, in which I found much more enjoyment. Helping new and seasoned business owners plan and run their businesses, and assisting in protecting them from legal missteps is where I bring the most value to clients. Counseling, advising, and planning can be underrated aspects of the legal profession but they are of vital importance.
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Favorite thing about Charlotte: the weather
How I spend my free time: working out, reading, studying everything – I love learning and I will stay up half the night reading and learning new things.
If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be: Singapore
I'm a huge fan of: Jiu Jitsu
I would never, ever: accept being uninformed
What I enjoy most about business law: helping clients head off business problems before they begin
J.D. – Campbell, 2008
B.A. – University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Criminal Justice, Political Science, 2004
North Carolina
Member, North Carolina State Bar
Member, North Carolina Bar Association
Member, Mecklenburg County Bar
Hillary Starrett
Legal Assistant
I was born and raised in Charlotte, then attended UNC Chapel Hill where I earned a BS in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School. After I graduated, I met Allen and we were married in August 2004. We have two beautiful daughters.
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Favorite thing about Charlotte: the many sports teams, great weather, and close proximity to both the mountains and the beach
How I spend my free time: fun excursions with my family, exercising, baking
If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be: Fiji
I'm a huge fan of: UNC Tarheels basketball
I would never, ever: root for Duke
What I enjoy most about trusts and estates law: I love being able to help clients gain a peace and a sense of confidence in knowing that a plan is in place to pass on not only their assets, but their legacy as well.


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As a work-at-home employee, I'm constantly using conference calls to stay connected. While I love the tool, I sometimes feel like I'm speaking in the dark. Too often I find myself asking the person I'm meeting with to describe what they're seeing or emailing screen shots back and forth. What a waste of time! With all the time spent trying to figure out who's looking where, I could just share my desktop or the document we're working on.
For 2010, my meetings resolution is to make my meetings more engaging by adding a visual element. For web conferencing, I like our Netspoke product. It's easy to use and available on the fly. By simply sharing a web link with my meeting attendees, I can show Power Point decks, documents or my entire desktop. I can also interact with participants through polling and mood indicators.
With travel becoming increasingly expensive and burdensome, more people are opting for teleconferences to host their meetings. While there are many advantages to conferencing, relying on voice alone can drain the energy out of a meeting. The next time you need a little extra help keeping your attendees interested, try web conferencing.
Check out our free Netspoke web conferencing trial at: http://www.premiereglobal.ie/en/conferencing/web-conferencing/netspoke/demos-and-trials.asp


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Sragi will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Java mill that I visited independently in August 2004. Even
so I arrived at Sragi a year too late! Until 2004 this was one of the few remaining mills to use steam locomotives to bring in
cane from the fields. However this has now finished with all cane brought from the fields by a fleet of lorries. The remaining
steam locomotives are used exclusively to propel rakes of loaded loris from the road delivery yard into the mill, which
somewhat limits photographic opportunities. Once the engines have delivered their wagons they use an 'avoiding line'
through the weighbridge to return to the head of the yard. Lines of empty wagons are also shunted into place ready to be
loaded. One engine alone however made this an unmissable location. Krauss 0-4-2 No.1 had recently been returned to
working order after some years out of use meaning that this remarkable engine, built in 1899, had therefore had an active life
spanning three centuries.
Sragi's remarkable survivor - Krauss
0-4-2T No.1 runs around at the
top end of the road delivery yard
with one of the Hartmann 0-8-0T's
standing in the background
The diminutive size of Sragi No.1
can be clearly gauged as it
carefully negotiates the pointwork
at the top end of the road delivery
yard in August 2004. The
locomotive was not to be seen
during my 2006 visit - for reasons
which can be seen at the foot of
this page
Altogether chunkier was this
Berliner Maschinenbau AG 0-10-0T
No.5 which is seen standing at the
head of a line of other Sragi locos
during my second visit to this mill in
August 2006
The majority of work done by the
locomotives involved pushing long
trains of loaded cane wagons into
the mill - not exactly conducive to
great photography but here No.5
is pulling a short train of empty
loris into the road delivery yard.
No.7 was the second of the working
BMAG 0-10-0T's with a third (No.6)
stored in the mill. All three were
built in 1928 and have consecutive
builders plates. (August 2004)
The same locomotive was still hard
at work on my second visit to Sragi
in August 2006)
Orenstein & Koppel 0-8-0T No.8
backs round from the mill towards
the head of the road delivery yard
at Sragi in August 2006
Possibly the smallest working
locomotive at Sragi was this tiny
Henschel 0-4-0T No.10 (built 1925)
Sragi was remarkable in having
locomotives from no less than nine
different manufacturers. Here
Hartmann 0-8-0T No.12 (built
1912) returns to the delivery yard
having pushed a loaded train into
the mill
An August 2004 shot of No.12
standing in the delivery yard at Sragi
Temporary track being offloaded
from one of the many lorries
working in and around Sragi. This
track is laid into the cane fields to
allow the cane wagons to be
loaded as close to the scene of
cutting as possible. Bullocks are
often used to pull the wagons to
and from the permanent trackway.
Hartmann 0-8-0T No.16 (built
1912) is a sister locomotive to Nos
12 and 13 with all three having
consecutive builders numbers.
No.16 again with the weighbridge
in the background
Jung 0-8-0 No.17 (built 1911)
propels empty loris in the road
delivery yard at Sragi. The numbers
are used to indicate the different
lines within the yard
A more conventional boiler-first shot
of Jung 0-8-0 No.17 as it shunts
wagons at the top end of the yard
Orenstein & Koppel 0-8-0T No.19
crosses the road and is about to
enter the mill at Sragi.
Sister engine to No.19, and with
consecutive builders numbers,
Orenstein & Koppel 0-8-0T No.20
is seen in almost the same location.
During my two visits I saw a total of ten different locomotives at work out of a total of twenty engines believed to be at this
mill or stored at nearby Comal. The sheer variety of engines was a delight as was the friendly attitude of everyone that I
met during my two visits. Since I didn't actually enter the mill it was not necessary to purchase a permit although technically
most of my shots were taken on the property of the mill.
Sometime shortly after my 2004 visit the Krauss 0-4-2T No.1 was purchased by Graham Lee and brought to the United
Kingdom. It was restored at the Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth and re-entered service in 2008. Whilst it is normally
resident at this railway it has made guest appearances at the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway and the Amerton Railway.
Not a sugar cane wagon in sight as
Sragi No.1 hauls a mixed freight
train round the balloon loop at the
Statfold Barn railway in September
(Photo Mr Tim Edmonds)
Tersana Baru
China - Land Of Dragons
ava - Index
Cuba - Steam In Paradise
Adventures In Foreign Lands - Personal trip reports - 1999 - 2008
Zimbabwe - Garratt Heave
Germany - Narrow Gauge
Poland - Coal and
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