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August 4, 2017 by Derrick Perrin
Small Business Movie Trailer
In June 2017 Corpus Christi opened its newest escape room called, The Great Escape of CC.
We were happy to shoot movie trailers for their two rooms that are live now. Seriously, you should grab your friends and go play.
The Heist: a 60-minute adventure where you trying to recapture a stolen gem.
For this production, we shot in the actual escape room and at the Ritz Theater. The theater is waiting to be restored and makes a great backdrop for a heist film.
If you would like to have a fun experience please call up The Great Escape of Corpus Christi. They would love for you to come and test your skills.
Thanks for watching our small business movie trailers. If you would like to know more about how a movie trailer could help your business please give us a call.


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What Causes Keratosis Pilaris?
Keratosis pilaris is a relatively common skin condition characterised by reddish rough bumps typically found on the outer arms, thighs, hands and buttocks. Often referred to as chicken skin there is said to be no known cure for this condition, although treatments such as ointments and moisturisers can improve the appearance of the skin. It…More info

subset: commoncrawl


text: There have been relatively few comments on this policy on PPML since the text was revised in late January. Although, it seems to have been well supported at the Barbados meeting. ARIN 43 transcript; https://www.arin.net/vault/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_43/ppm1_transcript.html#anchor_9 ARIN 43 Video for presentation; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxfZ128IqMU ARIN 43 Presentation Slide deck; https://www.arin.net/vault/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_43/PDF/PPM/2017_12_intro.pdf https://www.arin.net/vault/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_43/PDF/PPM/2017_12.pdf It is therefore particularly important for anyone who objects to this policy or thinks this policy will create issues for their organization to speak up during this clast call period. Even if you support the policy, comments regarding the proper timeline for implementation are of interest. How long will your organization need to adapt to these changes? All comments are appreciated. Thank you. David Farmer On Mon, Apr 15, 2019 at 1:04 PM ARIN <info at arin.net> wrote: > The ARIN Advisory Council (AC) met on 10 April 2019 and decided to send > the following Recommended Draft Policy to Last Call: > > ARIN-2017-12: POC Notification and Validation Upon Reassignment or > Reallocation > > Feedback is encouraged during the Last Call period. All comments should > be provided to the Public Policy Mailing List. Last Call will expire on > 29 April 2019. > > The Recommended Draft Policy text is below and available at: > https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/drafts/ > > The ARIN Policy Development Process is available at: > https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/pdp/ > > Regards, > > Sean Hopkins > Policy Analyst > American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) > > > > Recommended Draft Policy ARIN-2017-12: POC Notification and Validation > Upon Reassignment or Reallocation > > AC Assessment of Conformance with the Principles of Internet Number > Resource Policy: > > This recommended draft policy: (1) enables fair and impartial number > administration as it ensures that ARIN has the means to communicate with > organizations receiving reallocations or detailed reassignments, and > does so in a clear, complete, concise and unambiguous manner; (2) is > technically sound in that it supports ARIN's ability to maintain the > unique registration of Internet number resources; and (3) has community > support. > > Problem Statement: > > Some ISPs assign individuals to be POCs for reassigned blocks without > consultation of the individual they are inserting into Whois. For > example, during the reassignment/reallocation process, some large ISPs > automatically create POCs from their customer's order form. This process > is automated for many ISPs and therefore the resulting POCs are not > validated prior to being created in the ARIN Whois database. This > creates unknowing POCs that have no idea what Whois is or even who ARIN > is at the time they receive the annual POC validation email. It can also > create multiple POCs per email address causing that same person to > receive a multitude of POC Validation emails each year. > > This policy proposal seeks to prevent the situation where a POC is > unwittingly and unintentionally inserted into Whois. Doing so will > reduce the significant amount of time that ARIN staff spend fielding > phone calls from POCs who have no idea they are in Whois. > > The proposal will improve the overall POC validation situation, by > ensuring that all reallocation or detailed reassignment requests are > related to a pre-existing receiving organization with at least one valid > POC object, and by requesting that any other existing invalid POC > objects are validated. > > Policy statement: > > Insert one new section into NRPM 3: > > 3.7 POC Notification and Validation Upon Reassignment or Reallocation > > When a request for reallocation or detailed reassignment is made to > ARIN, the receiving organization must already be in the ARIN database > and associated with at least one validated POC object. If there are no > validated POC objects associated with the receiving organization, ARIN > shall reject the request. > > In addition to notifying the requester, ARIN will also notify, via > email, all POCs associated with the receiving organization, whether the > request was successful or not, and will request validation of any > invalid POC objects associated with the receiving organization. > > Note: Simple reassignments are made without any linkage to an > organization or POC objects in the ARIN database. > _______________________________________________ > ARIN-PPML > You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to > the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (ARIN-PPML at arin.net). > Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at: > https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml > Please contact info at arin.net if you experience any issues. > -- =============================================== David Farmer Email:farmer at umn.edu Networking & Telecommunication Services Office of Information Technology University of Minnesota 2218 University Ave SE Phone: 612-626-0815 Minneapolis, MN 55414-3029 Cell: 612-812-9952 =============================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://lists.arin.net/pipermail/arin-ppml/attachments/20190422/e99f99c8/attachment-0002.html>


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In the world's eyes, I'm a good Catholic … Why that's not good enough
To be Catholic is to be a hypocrite. Now before I lose you, this is not any sort of rant against the Church, far from it. What I mean, is that, by being Catholic, I accept both the reality of sin in the world and the need to reject it. To be Catholic is to continually reject sin, even from the depths of its own muck.
Original sin is, as G. K. Chesterton put it, "The only part of Christian theology which can really be proved." Its evidence is all around us, from throughout history until this present moment. It is evident not only from the grave and obvious evils of murder and rape, but also in our own heart as well. The scariest part of evil is just how common it is. Lurking in my heart, in your heart, is the capacity for heartlessness. Everyone has a favorite sin, an indulgence in the darkest desires of our nature. If you are honest with yourself, something deep within you harbors the capacity for violence: against yourself, against nature, against your fellow humans, and against God.
Despite this, most of us have an idea of right and wrong, based on principles that are fairly universal and ones we were taught growing up. We shudder and are repulsed by evil, and most of us seek to reject it. How do I, as a Catholic, reconcile this paradox? The reality of sin, and my duty to reject it? From the outside looking in, I am a good Catholic. I go to mass, I pray regularly, I go to confession fairly often. But when I look at myself in the mirror, I am keenly aware of my shortcomings. My sins stare me down, even as I attempt to battle them. I fail more often than I would like to admit.
But this Lent, I am called to confront my hypocrisy. The battle is often too great for my weak and frail will. As much as we like to believe that Lent is about self-control and mastery of the will (although these are important and far too rare), I will hand my sword to those who not only fight evil, but win every time. From now on, it is not by my wavering efforts that I will defeat my sins. It is by trusting Jesus, through his humble Mother, to crush the head of the serpent. My foot is too timid for the job. Ironically enough, the only way to align my will permanently towards the good, is to dispose of it entirely, to be consumed in the fires of the Sacred Heart.


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Written by admin
Double Salmon (8-Aug-11)
After the success of our first salmon of the year, we decided to go again. This time around, the baitfish were easier to catch, but no fish were hitting the live baits. You may remember from the previous post that we had caught a cuttle fish that was hardly touched. We decided to cut it up and use it this time around. Since the cuttle fish has a hard back, it took a bit of undoing, but not long after we threw out a strip, we were on to a small yet dirty fighting salmon! Not long after catching this one, we live baited a yellowtail for a slightly bigger salmon! They measured about the 60cm and 65cm mark.
Two in quick succession and we decided to call it a day.


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OTTAWA – Health Minister Rona Ambrose has penned a sharply-worded letter calling for the provinces and territories to co-operate with the feds to help slash the cost of prescription drugs.
In a note sent to provincial and territorial health ministers and obtained by The Canadian Press, Ambrose says the federal government has "repeatedly expressed interest" in participating in the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance.
The minister's message is designed to apply pressure ahead of the Council of the Federation meeting of premiers set to begin today in St. John's.
"In the lead-up to the Council of the Federation meetings … I urge you to please encourage your premier to accept the federal government's request to join this very successful initiative," Ambrose said.
The Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance was formed by the provinces and territories in 2010 to co-ordinate bulk buying and reduce costs for publicly funded drug programs.
Ambrose said this system been effective, but Canadians continue to pay some of the "highest costs for prescription drugs in the world."
"In fact, I believe that when it comes to the cost of prescription drugs, Canadians are being ripped off," she said.
Ambrose said there would be benefits to bringing the federal government's "buying leverage and expertise" to the bargaining table.
The federal government is one of the biggest buyers of prescription drugs in Canada, as it helps supply medications to the prison population, soldiers and veterans and First Nations.
But the proper government role in prescription-drug programs has often been a source of friction between Ottawa and the provinces.
Provincial health ministers have been applying their own form of pressure on Ottawa to unveil a national pharmacare program.
Ontario Minister of Health Eric Hoskins, a family doctor, held a roundtable on the issue last month with provincial and territorial ministers, along with academics and other pharmacare experts.
The federal government did not accept an invitation to attend.
"I think we have an opportunity given that this is an election year federally, to put and keep this issue on the agenda," Hoskins said at the time.
All countries with universal health insurance systems also provide universal coverage of prescription drugs, with the exception of Canada.
A recent study conducted by UBC researchers published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found public drug coverage would reduce total spending on prescription drugs in Canada by $7.3 billion or 32 per cent.
Steve Morgan, one of the study's authors and a professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, said it is not enough for the federal government to join the existing pharmaceutical alliance.
"The real problem with our system in Canada is that the public programs aren't extensive enough," Morgan said in a phone interview. "I don't mean that every drug needs to be covered by every public program but every Canadian needs to have coverage for essential medicines."
Morgan said having the feds join the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance would simply add to the negotiations underway in the existing drug benefit structure rather than lead to reform.
"We need reform in the structure of those benefits," Morgan said. "Doctors are saying it is time that we fill this prescription, so to speak, because their patients are having difficulty getting the medicines that they feel their patients need."
A new study released today by Angus Reid, which Morgan also contributed to, found a "significant" number of Canadians are unable to pay for medications and they are compensating by skipping doses, splitting pills, or not filling prescriptions at all.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted their research based on an online survey of 1556 Canadian adults from July 2 to 6.
The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.
-with files from Keith Leslie


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Saffron Spice Kitchen
At Saffron Spice Kitchen,its all about eating healthy without compromising the taste. We provide fast and flavorful menu items, such as wraps, salads, soups and kothu-roti. Saffron uses a range of differnet flavors from different cuisines to bring together flavors that is just not aqiuirable anywhere else in Toronto. We provide quick and exceptional service, while meeting the demands for a variety of hearty items that fit your healthy lifestyle. If not already, you will definetly change to keep up with our daily specials like lamb kothu roti. Our passion is food and our promise is simple. Come in and try, you will be back.
Our Favorite - Kothu Roti
Kothu roti originated in Batticaloa, in the Eastern part of Sri Lanka during the early 1970s by the local people. Etymologically the name is from the Tamil language meaning "chopped roti" (chopped wheat roti mixed with curry sauce).
The basic roti is made of Gothamba flour. The name itself is Tamil: Gothamba (a form of Kathamba-meaning a flour made out of a variety of grains-referring to the white flour, and roti). Slowly it has spread worldwide and has caught up and has become extremely popular.
Saffron Spice Kitchen has taken Kothu Roti to the next level by introducing it to the great people of Toronto. Chef Johnny has used his multiple years of experience in the art of cooking Sri-Lankan cuisine and has dished out a spectrum of kothu rotis' for you to enjoy. Try our main selections such as lamb, seafood and egg kothu roti.


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In January of 1975, while on vacation in Colorado with her fiance, Caryn Campbell disappeared. A month later, her naked body was discovered a short distance from a road. The autopsy revealed that she had received several blows to her skull. Over the next few months, five other women disappeared from the same area their skulls crushed, the possible weapon being a crowbar.
Later that year, in August, Bundy aroused Police suspicion when he attempted to evade them during a routine traffic stop. When he was finally stopped, they discovered handcuffs, an ice pick, a crowbar, a pair of panty hose with eye holes cut out, and several other suspicious items. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
After his arrest, Police compared the items found in his car to those that DeRonch had described seeing in her attackers car, the handcuffs being the same brand. Once she picked him out of a lineup, he was arrested for kidnapping. They were now certain that they had the person responsible for the Tri-State murder spree.
In February of 1976, Bundy went on trial for the attempted kidnapping, and after waiving his rights to a jury trial, was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years. Meanwhile, Police continued to investigate the murders in Colorado, and in October, Bundy was charged with the murder of Caryn Campbell.
After being extradited from Utah to Colorado for trial, Bundy decided to serve as his own attorney, which allowed him to appear in court with no restraints. It also allowed him the freedom to move between the court room and the law library unimpeded. This was what he had intended and in June of 1977, during a pre-trial hearing, Bundy escaped by jumping out of a window in the law library. He was captured a week later.
In December of 1977, Bundy escaped again, this time making it to Tallahassee, Florida.There he rented an apartment under an assumed name near the Florida State University. He supported himself by using stolen credit cards.
In January 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled two coeds. He raped one of them, brutally biting her on one buttock and nipple. He also beat two others over the head with a log. Investigators believe that the only reason these two survived was that another roommate returned unexpectedly. Nita Neary came home at approximately 3 a.m. and noticed that the front door to the house was slightly open. Hiding in a doorway, she saw a man wearing a blue cap come down the stairs holding a log and leave the house. She found her roommates upstairs, two dead and two brutally beaten. That same night, another woman was attacked and Police recovered a mask identical to one they would later recover from Bundy's car.
TO BE CONTINUED....... The trial and execution of Ted Bundy


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There are 110,000 sugacane growers
There are 110,000 sugarcane growers and 380,000 workers in the sugar industry, which has been struggling to survive amid increased supply and smuggling.
About 500,000 tons of smuggled sugar cross the border gates each year to Vietnam. The smuggled products are available in all provinces and cities.
Many analysts have voiced their concern about the future of the industry, saying that Vietnamese products cannot compete with Thai goods as Vietnamese manufacturers are slow in renovating technology while their productivity is still low.
The analysts blame the weakness of the sugar industry on the government's policy, which protects domestic production.
The deputy chair of the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association (VSSA), Pham Hong Duong, said that it is unfair to blame domestic production protection. He said Thailand also protects local production, but its sugar industry continues to develop well.
Vietnam has drawn up a plan to develop the sugar industry by 2020, under which unprofitable sugar mills will be dissolved, while Vietnam will accelerate the production of post-sugar products, such as ethanol and electricity.
Vietnam has drawn up a plan to develop the sugar industry by 2020, under which unprofitable sugar mills will be dissolved, while Vietnam will accelerate the production of post-sugar products, such as ethanol and electricity.
Vietnam's processing industry has been thriving thanks to increased income per capita.
The world sugar price has bottomed out and may recover as the global supply in the next crop is predicted to decrease by 2 percent, or 5.4 million tons. The output from Brazil, the biggest sugar producer, is forecast to decrease by 12 percent.
All these factors, according to analysts, will help improve competitiveness of Vietnam's sugar industry in the next fiscal year.
Other regional countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, also want to postpone the implementation of ATIGA's provisions related to sugar. Vietnam's action is within the general trend.
However, analysts said in order to develop in a sustainable way, Vietnam has no other choice but to restructure sugarcane farming, harvesting, processing and consumption.
Under the sugar industry development program, Vietnam will maintain stable sugarcane production on an area of 300,000 hectares and no new sugar mills will be built. Only the mills in the material areas will be expanded.
As of the end of May, sugar inventories had surged to 670,000 tons, according to VSSA, and the local sugar industry once again cries for more support.
Sugar industry panic as sales plunge
Vietnam's sugar industry development strategy in a muddle
Thanh Lich


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Starting a business is no easy task. When you've got a product or service that you are passionate about, your focus is directed on how to offer and promote it to the public. You're likely dealing with rent, utilities, personnel, management, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, furniture, product, branding, advertising, etc, etc… When so many important things require your immediate attention to even get your start-up off the ground, some of the less obvious challenges in running a business tend to be initially overlooked.
One such challenge is how to properly handle business expenses. Let's be honest - did that thought even cross your mind? Chances are that even if it did, it was way in the back. Well, what about at the end of the year when looking over the books? It sure becomes readily apparent that you need a clear system when you're staring down a disorganized mountain of receipts. Instead, start off on the right track with these important tips for handling your small business expenses.
1. Use your accounting system
It all starts here. Unless you're planning to run your operation using quill and ledger like you're in a Charles Dickens novel, there's no reason not to get one of the many available accounting programs to track your finances. Even though it may seem simple enough to just use a spreadsheet at first to track your expenses, you'll soon discover that making heads or tails of everything becomes nigh impossible. To keep all your transactions knit and clear, claim your tax deductions, audit your own finances at any time, and save on hours required to do quarter and year-end reports - start using your accounting system right away.
2. Connect corporate credit and debit cards to the accounting system
It's pretty simple to get the details of any business card transaction into your accounting system as soon as it appears on your statement. Sure, you can do it later - but not all financial institutions will provide you with transactions older than 3 months… and you do not want to lose any information associated with business expenses. By tracking your credit card feeds immediately, you avoid having to figure out months down the road what certain charges are all about.
3. Differentiate between Out-of-Pocket and Company Paid expenses
Surprisingly, one of the most common mistakes a small business makes is mixing up these two types of expenses. The difference is pretty simple. Out-of-pocket expenses are literally paid out of your pocket; you spend your own money (cash, debit, credit) on a business expense, so you need to be reimbursed for it. Company paid expenses are bought with corporate funds (check, petty cash, credit) and need to be recorded as such.
4. Set up expense categories
Did you know that not all expenses are treated and filed the same way? Some may be fully deductible and some only up to 50%. And each of them should be "reasonable" - which is a euphemism for "industry average". That's why it's important to itemize all your expenses into different categories from the very beginning: supplies, meals, transportation, hotel, phone, etc.
5. Manage your receipts
Without proof of purchase, it can be an extremely tough time if your business is ever audited. So along with the credit and debit card transactions, you will be required to keep any and all receipts associated with your business expenses. But even if you manage to hang on to every scrap of paper, over time they will fade, tire, tear and discolor. If you can't even tell what the receipt was for, it's useless. Instead, just take a picture of the receipt and recycle the original. You've got the security of a digital copy and you're even thinking green.
With these few things in mind, you can see how simple it is to start your business's finances off on the right foot. Organization is simple, yet so very important to prevent chaos down the road. Taking those first few steps into the world of entrepreneurship may seem daunting - but with the right game plan and the proper attitude, you'll be off and running in no time. And then there's no telling how far you'll go.Back to Blog


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Mocha Polka Dot
Florence Dress
Delivery & Returns International Delivery
Product Details
The Florence dress flaunts a sweet, structured look that echoes a Fifties college girl frock, infused with the warm, bubbly effect of the Mocha Polka Dot print. White dots are sprinkled over a brown base, presenting a classic vintage look that can be dressed up with authentic accessories or down with trainers and a denim jacket. Its shawl collar, sharp cap sleeves and button front opening leave a nice, neat impression. A soft belt tied to the back cinches the waist and its flared knee length skirt enhances its feminine silhouette, lending a pretty finish to this precise piece. Available in sizes 8-22.
Fabric Composition and Care
97% Cotton / 3% ElastaneWASHING INSTRUCTIONS
Machine washable at 30 degrees (delicate wash). Do not hand wash, do not soak, do not tumble dry.
Customer Reviews
Write Your Own Review
Check out our dresses in action! Don't forget to share your look with #ladyvstyle


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Unbiased Coin Puzzle
Unbiased coin puzzle
A little variation to the Biased coin puzzle.
You and your rival are competing for the same girl, and decide to settle it with a coin toss. Your rival has known the girl longer than you have, so you agree that it is fair for him to have a chance of winning equal to P, where P > 0.5. However, you only have a fair coin.How can you conduct this contest such that the biased probability is manifested? What is the average number of coin flips needed to determine a winner?


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By Stephanie Panigua |Staff Writer|
Chivalry was the topic of a local high school's program seminar in conjunction with a questionnaire panel made up of CSUSB students.
On Oct. 26, San Bernardino High School (SBHS) hosted a day-long seminar for their male high school students titled "Man of Integrity, Man of my World."
Five female CSUSB students from Kappa Delta Sorority volunteered to be a part of a questionnaire panel answering questions and concerns the young men had in relation to being gentlemen.
"I wanted to participate in the seminar because I felt like my input about what women want out of men would be a good influence on these boys and would let them know that the media isn't true," said CSUSB student Miranda Espinoza. "I wanted to let these young men know what is really going on out there," she continued.
The purpose of the seminar was to educate young men on the value of education, the importance of inner strength and confidence, and how necessary it is to never lose hope when obstacles overwhelm them.
"Boys these days are not going to raise their hand in class and ask for help because that isn't considered 'cool'," said Michelle Rogers, Program Specialist for San Bernardino High School and founder of the program. "They are not going to admit that they need help or that they don't understand something. Boys typically need more motivation," she explained.
Teresa Gonzalez, an alumnus of CSUSB and Kappa Delta Sorority, explained that she wanted to participate in the program because she saw what a good influence it had on her younger brothers who also attended SBHS and the seminar during its second year.
"My brothers didn't have many good male role models in their lives and I knew how important that was for them and every other boy at that school," said Gonzalez. "I believe this program helps the students even if they only learn one thing out of the whole day. It shows them that successful people aren't just born into success, but that they work for it every day," she said.
ROTC student Miguel Iniguez of SBHS said that he participated in the program because he wanted to know how women want men to act nowadays.
"In ROTC we are taught how to respect and honor people as opposed to being gentlemen," said Iniguez.
Alex Felise, also a member of ROTC, said that he attended the program to hear the advice the speakers had to give.
The seminar has been a running program within SBHS for five years. Since its installation at SBHS, Gonzalez stated that there has been evidence of a change in attitude among boys who participated in the seminar.
"We do receive comments from teachers and usually it is positive on how they have seen an improvement in their student since attending the program," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez continued by stressing that one of the main aspects of the program is the presence of guest speakers. The speakers make themselves available to students by giving them access to personal phone numbers or emails in order to keep in contact and for any questions the students may have.
Guest speakers included former NFL Football player Mark Seay, Chief of Police Joseph Paulino, Assistant Superintendent of San Bernardino County Unified School District (SBCUSD) Dr. Kennon Mitchell and SBCUSD Youth Services Director Ray Culberson.
Rogers said that expanding the program to other high schools in the Inland Empire is a future possibility.


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MSO Tyrone Miller Trudy Muller
For Ozzy Osbourne EA for Madden NFL 08 For EA Trax
818-380-0400 firstname.lastname@example.com email@example.com
"I Don't Wanna Stop" First Announced Song for
Madden NFL 08 in-game Soundtrack
Los Angeles, Calif., May 22, 2007 – Pop culture icons unite as Ozzy Osbourne's newly released I Don't Wanna Stop single today was revealed to be the first song in the EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 08 in-game soundtrack. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) punctuates the scene every year with the Madden NFL videogame soundtrack and has demonstrated a proven track record in breaking new bands and partnering with music legends innovating with their music. The full Madden NFL 08 soundtrack list will be revealed in the coming weeks.
EA will work with Epic Records on coordinated marketing activities through the release of Ozzy's new album BLACK RAIN, now available, and the release of Madden NFL 08, available on August 14. BLACK RAIN is the highly-anticipated first album of new studio material released by Ozzy Osbourne in six years. Last year's Madden NFL 07 sold over 7 million copies at retail and was the number one selling game in North America in 2006.1
"The anticipation for both Ozzy's album and this year's Madden NFL creates a perfect storm of excitement which made I Don't Want to Stop an ideal lead song for the Madden NFL 08 soundtrack," said Steve Schnur, EA's Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing. "Now, The Prince Of Darkness meets The King Of Videogames and we're enormously proud to have a killer new song from a legendary artist as our first announced track. This is going to be the biggest, wildest and best Madden NFL soundtrack yet."
"I Don't Want to Stop", along with the rest of Ozzy's new album BLACK RAIN, is available on EA's music website at www.ea.com/eatrax. Internal EA research has shown that songs featured in past Madden NFL Football iterations have received more than 1 billion 'spins' each, through typical gameplay of Madden NFL Football.
"Ozzy Osbourne has continued to draw fans both young and old across five decades with his legendary rock voice, so to be able to include "I Don't Wanna Stop", the first single off Black Rain which is currently Ozzy's biggest rock radio single ever within Madden NFL 08 – the biggest selling sports video game in America – is another fantastic addition to the campaign," said Scott Greer, Vice President Marketing of Epic Records.
Coming into its 18th year and with more than 60 million2 copies sold and having generated over $2 billion in retail sales, Madden NFL Football continues to stand out as one of the most popular videogame franchises of all time. Developed in Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon, Madden NFL 08 will be available in August on the Xbox 360™ and Xbox® videogame and entertainment systems from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™, Wii™, PC, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system. For more information check out www.madden08.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
1. Source: The NPD Group, Inc/Retail Tracking Service
2. Source: Internal data
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. John Madden and NFL are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. Microsoft, Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. ™, ®, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS and the Wii are trademarks of Nintendo. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PSP" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
EA SPORTS' MADDEN NFL 08 FANS TO ROCK WITH OZZY OSBOURNE I Don't Wanna Stop" First Announced Song for Madden NFL 08 in-game Soundtrack


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Weld metal microstructures of hardfacing deposits produced by self-shielded flux-cored arc welding
Publication Details
Dumovic, M., Monaghan, B. J., Li, H., Norrish, J. & Dunne, D. P. (2015). Weld metal microstructures of hardfacing deposits produced by self-shielded flux-cored arc welding. Australasian Welding Journal, 60 (1), 40-48.
The molten pool weld produced during self-shielded flux-cored arc welding (SSFCAW) is protected from gas porosity arising from oxygen and nitrogen by reaction ("killing") of these gases by aluminium. However, residual Al can result in mixed microstructures of δ-ferrite, martensite and bainite in hardfacing weld metals produced by SSFCAW and therefore, microstructural control can be an issue for hardfacing weld repair. The effect of the residual Al content on weld metal microstructure has been examined using thermodynamic modeling and dilatometric analysis. It is concluded that the typical Al content of about 1 wt% promotes d-ferrite formation at the expense of austenite and its martensitic/bainitic product phase(s), thereby compromising the wear resistance of the hardfacing deposit. This paper also demonstrates how the development of a Schaeffler-type diagram for predicting the weld metal microstructure can provide guidance on weld filler metal design to produce the optimum microstructure for industrial hardfacing applications.


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Beautiful Holzmaden Fossil Interior Slabs
Holzmaden in southern Germany is one of those paleontological place-names which excites your average fossicking type and paleontologist, conjuring to the mind huge slabs filled with multitudes of crinoid crowns, similar in appearance to the sentinels which attempt to rip apart the Nebuchadnezzar hoover ship. The Mesozoic era sub-species fossils are found swimming against prehistoric oil shales now solid and darkened limestone. Metallic stems which look like thousands of tiny coins stacked one upon the other, up to dozens of feet in length often found attached to golden fossil tree trunks (once the flotsum of the ancient oceans), these crinoidal stems seemingly bow and bend in long forgotten currents of Jurassic seas. Both crowns and stems can often be discovered slightly iridescent from the presence of Iron pyrites, which gleam when the specimen plates are dramatically lit, making them alive again against the very dark almost black oil shales.
However the Holzmaden quarries which produce these dynamic Holzmaden fossil plates not only produce wonderful crinoid fossils like this sub species; Seironcrinus subangularis for the would-be collector or scientist, these fossils which are becoming so scarce that in recent years have also attained high value, so much so that many new types of investors have been enticed to the charms of the enigmatic fossils of the Holzmaden region. The interior decorator has in the last decade found a new string to the tuneful fiddle with these decorative fossil plates from the Holzmaden formations. As the crinoids have become almost unobtainable as a new resource, the mining having ceased, the well as it ran or rapidly running dry. Ammonites plates of the same age and geological location have caught the eye of collectors and paleontologists as much as the investor and decorator. These equally wonderful fossils which were in the recent history of the fossil beds, somewhat overshadowed by the crinoid mass mortality plates, are now enjoying a renaissance period.
Renewed interest is creating a strong market, some record prices at auction have been made and broken selling and buying these ammonite plates, collectors and investors have cottoned onto the fact that these ammonoids are probably as important as other fossil flora and fora in the Holzmaden seams and steadily the ammonites are filling the gap, where crinoids have not come to market. On a scientific and palaeontological footing, the ammonites provide information about the marine environment of the Jurassic period a specific point in time. The iron pyrite which can be unstable if not treated correctly leaves impressions of fossil in great detail in the shales. The umbilicus, the outer shell of the extant cephalopod is pressed into the oil shale in every detail. Scientifically these impressions of prehistoric life can be studied, however, the decorative nature of the fossil is undoubtedly where current popularity has driven market forces to re-evaluate this finite fossil resource and create a demand which seems to be steadily growing.


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The academics union has condemned a plan by the University of Western Sydney to give away 11,000 iPads as part of a $35 million bid to keep its content and teaching relevant to students.
All new students who enrol to study at UWS in 2013 will receive an iPad, and some 1500 academic staff will also receive a tablet device for use in teaching. Existing students will receive a subsidy of $50 to go towards textbook purchases.
The investment is part of a broader initiative that will include more flexible study options and interactive learning.
"It's just common sense to make sure the programs we offer our students are current, and really importantly that we're using all the strategies we can to prepare our students to live and work in a wireless world," said Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, UWS pro vice-chancellor of education.
Professor Krause said the materials developed for use on tablet devices would be as platform agnostic as possible so that students and staff with alternative devices could still access learning materials. However she said a recent survey conducted for the university found only 5% of students owned a tablet device.
However, NTEU NSW Division Secretary, Genevieve Kelly said that the University of Western Sydney should reverse plans to cut Arabic, Italian and Spanish courses instead of offering free iPads.
"Giving every student and staff member a fourth-generation iPad comes at an unacceptable price," she said in a media release issued by the union.
"Technology, however trendy, is nothing without content."
Dr Rosemary Suliman, who taught Arabic, was quoted in the union press release as saying the iPad plan showed contempt.
"Do they think we can be bought off with a few trinkets while important community languages like Arabic, Italian and Spanish are being cast into the dustbin of history?" she said.
However, Dr Phillip Dawson, lecturer in learning and teaching at Monash University said providing iPads to students is an easy, albeit expensive way for UWS to help level the digital divide.
"If I were a potential student choosing between UWS and its competitors, would an iPad change my mind? It's more than a bribe, it's a message to students that this sort of technology will be an integral part of the learning experience at UWS," Dr Dawson said.
However he cautioned that an improvement in learning outcomes could only be expected if a technology introduction was accompanied by a change in the ways academics taught.
"To be successful this will require a positive attitude on the part of teachers, as well as substantial time investment in the curriculum and pedagogy changes necessary to make the most of the iPads. UWS has announced substantial support for teachers, so hopefully this will lead to positive teacher attitudes."
Professor Krause said the university's aim was still to offer the best face-to-face learning, with investment in IT infrastructure designed to complement on-campus learning.
"We're not going fully online. We won't be a fully distance provider, that's not the goal… But whenever students are off campus they will have access to online materials," Professor Krause said.
UWS also expects to participate in the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement in future.
"We've got staff developing their own MOOCs within the curriculum, so it features well and truly on our radar," Professor Krause said.
"Certainly we want to look in-house first to see what we can do…but where relevant and appropriate we'll partner."
For now, Professor Krause said the university would focus on measuring the impact of its current initiative on student learning experiences and outcomes, including measuring the impact on grades.


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Mathematics is beautiful and fundamental. In ancient times it was the realm of mystics and priests, and at the same time, was regarded as a branch of science, in the same category as (and perhaps indistinguishable from) physics and engineering. Today mathematics retains some of this duality: based on logic, it is the most abstract and exact of the exact sciences, providing rigorous foundations for the universal concepts of number, geometry, magnitude, dynamics, etc.
At the same time, to paraphrase the physicist Eugene Wigner, "Mathematics is unreasonably effective in the natural sciences". Mathematics has become the common and essential language of science and technology, with especially close ties to physics, engineering, computer science, cognitive science, statistics, economics and finance.
Our graduates benefit from both worlds: the intellectual depth and broad applicability of mathematics, as well as a variety of career options in the private sector. Some continue to advanced degrees in mathematics or other disciplines, and can be found among the faculty of leading research institutions in Israel and abroad. Others choose careers in the private sector, and are in high demand for positions in a variety of industries, including the computer and technology sector, biological, cognitive and medical research, and in economics and finance industries.


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Next up, I interview the person most like myself on the internet: a person who loves all kinds of games; adores strange games solely for their unique attractions and not to be "cool"; a person who looks at things and asks questions, a person who carries on all kinds of good discussion with everyone. Ladies and gents, I give you my smarter, wittier, more literate, beardier self: Von.
|This is not Von. (Note the lack of beard!)
L: I know you generally run games rather than play them. What draws you to want to GM a game? What sorts of games resonate most with you?
V: Well, there are two main factors that draw me to GM a particular game. The first is 'what I can get players for' - you gotta pick something that people are interested in playing, and there's no point forcing people to play in a game that they're not interested in. The second is 'what I feel like running', and that tends to be influenced by what I've read or seen recently. If I've been researching a particular period for work, for instance, I tend towards games that suit that period. For a few weeks I did a lot of intense reading about Byzantium that got me thinking about long-term historical gaming, hence Dark Ages Vampire. Recently I've been reading a lot about the history of magic and it's putting me in an Ars Magica kind of mood. But if I watch Star Wars after work one day, I'll be hunting out the Rogue Trader books...
L: I'm very curious as to what's popular RPG wise in your area currently. Do you happen to know?
V: Hmm. Pathfinder. Pathfindery Pathfinding where Paths are Found. There's a lot of that about. Seems to mostly be pretty generic whatever-kind-of-fantasy-D&D-
The games that resonate most with me are the ones with context, I suppose - the ones which wear their inspiration on their sleeves and are geared towards a particular kind of game/story/experience/setting.
L: So, do you agree that "Mechanics that get in the way of a group's way to tell a story are inherently awful" ?
V: I try not to bring 'telling stories' into it, to be honest; an RPG isn't a conventional narrative and I think that bringing 'storytelling' into it forces an authority and a teleology onto it that's not suitable for something that belongs to everyone involved. I do plan my games but more in the 'this is what the antagonists would do if the protagonists weren't there' kind of way, the kind of way that's designed to have the players exercise their agency and change things.
For me it's all about the group's way to play a game. Mechanics that bog down play by being obtuse and hard to parse are inherently awful. Mechanics that force a game to be played in a particular way, a way that's faithful to the game's source material and cultural context, are inherently good but limit the game's appeal. Mechanics that allow a game to be played in whatever way the group feels like playing this week are inherently good but can lead to an unfocused potboiler game without any real resonance. It all comes down to what kind of game experience people want. I don't think anyone wants to be sitting there for half an hour trying to work out the rules for triggering an attack of opportunity while initiating a grapple on someone who's in the middle of casting a spell...
Been thinking about this some more and I've worked out what my problem is.
It's not about 'telling' stories. 'Telling' implies that there's someone with the authority to tell and someone else who needs to be told.
It's about _making_ stories.
I know it's a semantic quibble, but semantics are important. The words we wrap around a thing shape and guide our ideas about it, and we're never going to get away from the GM-as-frustrated-novelist view unless we start using a vocabulary that leads us away from it.
You seem to believe in a holistic view of games- that it's a rare thing that a single person or thing is the reason a game isn't working. What's your process of solving problems when things go wrong? Or does it depend on the thing and the game?
I believe in a holistic view of everything. People are too quick to find ONE THING with which to define everything about a situation or person or thing, and I don't think the world works like that - just because we think in terms of lines and centres and stories doesn't mean it's not a rhizome.
The main thing I do is take a lot of feedback, and give a lot - discuss what went wrong and what caused it to go wrong and how it could be stopped from going wrong again. And, sometimes, say "no, I can't talk about it, I'm too cross now, give me an hour for the angry-chemicals to metabolise." Structured conversations - lots of careful going-over things, checking and reformulating.
I get a lot of funny looks, though, from people who are just not used to thinking about things like that, not taking ownership of their game-time. Especially roleplayers, who are all "why do you want to know what we like, we don't want fanservice, you're the GM, it's your game" - and I'm all "yah, but if I run something you hate, you don't play, and I sit on my own in the dark every night." That's basically it. I talk about what people don't like and I try not to inflict that on them, and I'd rather let something fall over and do something else than struggle through something that's supposed to be fun but isn't.
What sorts of things go wrong for you?
Well. With my long-term RPGs, there tends to be One Session, about four or five into a game, where things just grrrriiinnnd and nothing much happens and everyone feels vaguely unfulfilled. It's the transition from the way I start games, which is very "go here do this experience the setting and system and explore your options" to the way I actually like to run them, which is "no, you set the agenda, and the world adapts to what you're doing and where you're going." A lot of the time we end up retconning that session, deciding which bits actually happened and assuming that's all that happened.
What else... well, from my point of view, sometimes I'll realise that an NPC is just boring, boring to play and boring to use and with no role or distinctive voice, but because they're close to a PC I can't just shuffle them off into the background. Fortunately, mine are harsh worlds where NPCs can and frequently do kill each other, often in response to something players did or to spark them off on doing something. So that's less of a problem and more of an opportunity.
Sometimes I can't play because the spaces I have available are shared with people who don't want to play games but don't want to leave games alone to be played. That's something I don't know how to do anything about - I won't throw someone out of a space we both have the right to use, but I really can't stand kibitzers, especially ones who are either passing judgement on the whole game, or playing without playing - giving hints and asking questions but not actually, you know, involving themselves.
In wargames, the only thing that's "wrong" is a non-game where all one person does is push their toys across the table for all of two turns and then lose without really getting to do anything. That's not a game because it's not a challenge - it fails Crawford's dichotomy test before you get near the level of its being a game or not.
What is your greatest success, and your biggest failure in gaming terms?
Umm, biggest success would be Bastille Day, I think. http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/the-musical-method/ The players involved still talk about that one, whole years later. And it started a whole Mage campaign because they didn't want to just leave their characters there, and that campaign turned into one of the best I've ever run.
Biggest failure would be any of those wargaming armies I've had in the last few years that I've bought and ended up hating and selling off within a couple of months. Waste of time, waste of money, a run of disappointments.
Do you believe in villains? Or are your games more "the players vs the world" sorts of affairs?
I don't believe in villains, or in heroes in the same sense that the word's sometimes used - I like it in the classical Greek sense, the hero as extreme, larger-than-life in every way, too big for the world to hold, rather than as necessarily a good person.
There are definitely antagonists to the players but they tend to be player-made... like, in my Dark Ages game (sorry, here I go again), there's one NPC who they've been suspicious of since he showed up, and rightly so - but while he's definitely Not On Their Side, he's not as Not On Their Side as other vampires out there, so I'm playing that up, running him as an unpleasant but not totally moustache-twirlingly-evil type, who might actually be trying to make the best of a bad situation. I don't decide who the enemy is - I let the players make their own enemies, and the 'plot' is always evolving out of what they do to find it out.
You mentioned to me previously that one-shots are your kryptonite. Why is this?
Well. Part of it's the circumstances in which they tend to be run, at parties and conventions and generally for people you don't know. I like being able to put together a group dynamic, knowing that so-and-so plays well with such-and-such and while he doesn't like the same things as her they play off each other well. Can't do that with people you've only just met.
I'm less uncomfortable with them in established groups, but then... the thing is, I run quite an emergent, reactive kind of game, where the world is built with a sort of thematic richness and narrative potential to it but the nitty-gritty details emerge in response to what players want and do. The one-off seems to require that you have more of an idea of what's going on in advance, or risk having a session that sort of ends on a flat note because the plot had only just started taking shape when everyone went home. Mind you, my best sessions ever have been one-offs! I suppose in an ongoing game there's a chance to recover from a bad session, discuss and deal with and salvage it, while a bad one off is just there, irredeemable. A good premade adventure goes a long way, though. We Be Goblins! is ace no matter what, 'cause it's goblins.
You kind of have a man-crush on Zak. What is it about his way of thinking that appeals to you? Who else in the blogging 'verse do you like, and why?
Do I? I suppose I link to his stuff a lot because
a) it's accessible - because he runs for a lot of people who aren't gamers or geeks or grognards but are just there because they're curious, he has to interest people who have never played before, may never play again, and don't have that sort of inherent interest in the genre of games or the kind of conversations had by people who do, and
b) because he's a very visual and very 'whatever works' person who filters everything into D&D, and I'm a very textual and very academic-rigour person who's never really gotten into D&D, so... it's contrast, really. It's a way of playing and thinking about games that wouldn't have sprung to my mind, and I prefer drawing on people who think differently to me than surrounding myself with people who do think like me. Plus we both think life's too short for tedious nerd fights.
Who else... well, if he hasn't quit this week, I really like Kent's stuff (somekingskent.blogspot.com). He's like the anti-Zak - very literary, takes forever to put things together, and makes sure they fit, and I don't think he'd object to being described as elitist (maybe 'meritocratic' is a better fit, actually). And he's a mathematician, so that's another alien way of thinking. I think I'd rather play in his game than Zak's, for what it's worth, just because that high-minded, labour of love, thespianic, twelve-hour-session sort of game isn't something you get to play every week.
Who else... Porky is brilliant, I love his mad thoughts. He's that notion of holistic gameplay taken to its logical extreme. Nothing is specific, everything feeds into everything else and can feed into anything else. Mike Brandt, because he's made NOVA inclusive in the right way - acknowledging that you can't put everyone through the same wringer, but you can put a whole bunch of wringers in the same washroom and have people share their experiences once they've hit the other side, as it were. James S and SinSynn, just for sheer volume of clever comments and interesting questions, and Ratshag, who does Need More Rage, because you can't tell me WoW is a bad thing when you look at some of the fiction he's been putting out and all the times he's had. You and Dave I have a lot of respect for for going out and giving the storeowner's perspective on things, too - I like transparency and honesty and knowing the way things are rather than speculating. I could go on forever with this 'un. I have lots of blog-crushes. Too many for a blogroll, to be honest...
How many miniature games do you own figures for?
Six, at the moment. 40K, WFB, Warmachine (not Hordes though), Malifaux, Mordheim (sort of implicit in WFB really) and Blood Bowl. I want to try a historical at some point, if I can find a decent Fourth Crusade one.
How many MtG decks do you have? Favorite color? Why?
Just two. Favourite colour... black for sure. I'm so cheap for undead - you know how SinSynn is with aliens? That's me and undead. I'm just quieter about it. I like the horde/control/everything's-a-resource playstyle too, although I think if I were taking the game more seriously I don't think I'd play mono-anything.


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Jun 21
Drilling fluid cleaner also means mud cleaner, or drilling mud cleaner, and the cones, hydro-cyclone cones is the main part of the drilling fluid cleaner.
Drilling fluid cleaner (mud cleaner) is a combination of desander, desilter and shale shaker, and the differences of desander and desilter is the dimension of mud cleaner cones, usually the cone diameter is more than 6″is called Desander, and used as the second-control equipment in drilling operation. We commonly used 8 "and 10″ cones desander to separate solid-phase particle size 47-76μm in the drilling fluids. And usually the cone diameter is less than 6″is called Desilter, and used as the third-control equipment in drilling operation. We commonly used 5 "and 4″ cone to separate solid-phase particle size 15-47μm in the drilling fluid. Based on customer requirements and capacity, we can select groups of cone into Desilter.
GN Solids Control's mud cleaner cones is sold to all over the world, Hydrocyclone separator & cones to Great wall drilling company, Mud cleaner desilter cones to Indonesia.
If you have more questions, contact GN Solids Control directly!
One Ping to "Drilling Fluid Cleaner Cones"
Drilling Fluid Desilting Says:
October 8th, 2010 at 12:06 am
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2 Responses to "Drilling Fluid Cleaner Cones"
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Guest Post by Laura Ngan Tian, Senior Consultant for Blackbaud's Financial Management suite
When creating budgets, I am curious which approach really works best?
Is it bottom-up, where individual participation is required to put together the budget? Or top-down, where key executives make the decision and let it trickle down the line?
With this approach, each department can build the budget based on how they want to plan for the year. Budget managers are held accountable to the budget because they are the ones who projected it to begin with and a big variance means that they were unable to plan accordingly.
The problem with bottom-up budgeting is that when the organizational budget is put together, there's often a gap between the divisional and/or departmental budgets and the overall direction of the organization.
With this approach, key executives decide on strategies for the growth and development of an organization. Short-term and long-term goals are always a factor when building the budget and budget managers are often left with "working" within their budget instead of being involved with the whole process. There are sometimes unrealistic goals that are not checked during the process and budget managers are often burdened with having to explain variances.
I think that in a successful organization, a combination of the two methods is at play.
When the executive team has formulated their strategies and built overall budget guidelines, individual budget managers can be the ones bridging the gap and creating their own divisional and/or departmental budgets based on operational requirements.
When there is good collaboration between the visions and the operations, achieving organization goals will come naturally.


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This preset are the perfect tool for everyone who wants to enhance their photos, The presets will edit your pictures with a specific and unique look. In many instances you will be able to get a great result with a single click.However, you can always make adjustments to suit individual photos.
Features : • Takes only a single click. • High-quality result. • Easily editable effects. • Non-destructive Workflow.
Compatibility: • Lightroom (CC) • Adobe Lightroom Mobile • Compatible with both a Mac and PC • Work on RAW and JPEG images • Can be easily adjusted to fit your image • Installation Instructions are included
File type: ZIP File Size: 1.41MBIf the file is broken please report below.


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We are so inspired by the creativity of our DIY customers, that we wanted to share some of their work with you. We have recently received several photos of incredible DIY projects from some very handy customers. We hope you are moved to think outside the box and re-purpose something you already own, or even build something from scratch to make your own custom creation! We can help you customize just about any size top to fit your exact needs. Check out these amazing projects to get your creative DIY juices flowing!
Our DIY customer, Kaleb, designed and created the industrial style coffee table featured above. It is topped with a 4″ thick Maple End Grain Butcher Block. We love his mix of wood and steel, and the industrial style is certainly popular today. After his day job, Kaleb spends time in his workshop designing and building custom industrial style furniture and picture frames. "Making industrial furniture and construction is my release," he says. "When you sit at a desk for 8 hours a day you need some sort of an artistic release…" Kaleb can build just about anything. His picture frames are large statement pieces usually 6 feet long. He uses wire rope, pad eyes, gears, chains, rivets, etc.. to give each piece an industrial feel. Check out this awesome portable island he made for his sister, which is a massive John Boos AA Block supported by the stainless steel frame he fashioned.
Another happy customer, Karen, always wanted a long butcher block island in her kitchen, but could never find one that was long yet narrow enough for her space. She did have an existing console table that fit perfectly in her Savannah kitchen, so she decided to do-it-herself and make her own custom island featuring a Butcher Block Co. Cherry End Grain top 73″L x 18″W. Nicely done, Karen. If you can't find it, DIY!
DIY-er Elise, from Maryland, refinished the base of an old end table, added wheels, and topped it with a hefty 4.5″ thick hand-scraped Beech edge grain butcher block, creating this delightful kitchen island cart. Elise wrote us and shared her DIY story…"We had been using it (the table) as a stand for the printer in our home office before a remodel and it no longer fit with the new built ins. So, I was moving it to the basement for storage when I noticed it was the right width for a kitchen island (we have a strange kitchen and finding just the right thing has been problematic.) So I chalk painted and antiqued it, and added the wheels, and found your wonderful butcher block online. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. It is so nice having the extra workspace. And it looks so lovely. It really finished the room perfectly."
If you have created a custom DIY project with one of our blocks, we would love to see it!
A DIY replacement of a top on something you already own is usually pretty easy, and is a great way to breathe new life into an old piece.
If you are in the market to upgrade some existing furniture or create your own masterpiece, we hope you've been inspired by these truly awesome projects, and we hope to help you along on your creative journey.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out these other DIY posts on our blog:
Custom Butcher Block Projects from Happy Customers
Butcher Block Co. Happy Customer Photos
Live Edge Table Project Featuring Wood Slabs from Created Hardwood Ltd
Reuse Project – Butcher Block Table
Happy Customers – Island Upgrades


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Manufacturing In NJ
About Unionwear:
If your company is looking for a U.S. manufacturer for custom hats, shirts or bags the Newark based Unionwear should be your first call. Founded in 1992 the company is committed to supporting American workers by providing nothing but quality products that are manufactured here. Unionwear has expanded into niches suited for the agile, local, "LEAN" manufacturer: small batch manufacturing and lightning fast product development. A custom "cut and sew" company," Unionwear is able to deliver hats, bags, travel gear, safety products and work wear in four weeks from order placement...far less than overseas manufacturing. Now that exchange rates and shipping headaches have made imported product less appealing, Unionwear's fast turn around makes it a great affordable choice, even for labor-intensive hats and bags. Products made in its shirt and bag factories and its embroidery shops are only available from Unionwear or ASI distributors. When your company needs premiums or uniforms visit www.Unionwear.com or give Colin Greene a call at (973)854-6725 to learn more about the company, its products and to find a distributor.
NJ Congressional District: 8


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What book, that The Friday Morning Bookclub read was later made into a movie starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson?
Anyone is welcomed to answer!
Thank you Joan! The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is the correct answer!
The Secret Life of Bees is set in South Carolina in 1964, and is the story of Lily, a 14 year old girl who lives with her abusive father. Lily's mother had died when she was 4 years old under mysterious circumstances. Lily and her nanny Rosaleen run away to Tiburon, South Carolina,a town that Lily believes holds secrets to her mother's past. Here Lily learns about the world of bees and discovers a new family and love. This was a book club favorite!
Check out the movie trailer! http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thesecretlifeofbees/


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Spend a full academic year in the friendly northern country of Denmark, while attending a local high school and living with a welcoming host family. Explore Denmark's fairy-tale villages, complete with picturesque castles and colourful town markets. Between your time with your host family and at school, you'll get the chance to learn Danish though the Danes are, by and large, excellent English speakers. They'll also be very impressed if you already know a few words in Danish!
High School Year in Denmark
Experience Denmark while studying in High School
Eligibility Requirements
Participants must be between the ages of 15 years 6 months and 18 years old on the day of departure.
What's included in your experience
- Airfare
- Airport Pick-up
- Host Family Placement
- Meals
- School Placement
- Individual Contact Person
- Medical Insurance
- 24/7 Emergency Support
- School Transport
- Assistance with Application Process
- Visa Application Assistance
- Pre-Departure Orientation
- Orientations during your time abroad
- Re-entry Orientation
- Access to Alumni Network
- Continuous Support
- Worldwide Presence
- 70 Years Experience
What you are responsible for
- Vaccinations
- Visa and Passport Fees
- Stipend
- School Uniform


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There has not been too much good news filtering through the ranks of the education sector in recent years – budget cuts, increased pressure, recruitment problems and a retention crisis have all raised alarm bells. However, the burning issue of teacher workload could just receive a boost from the Government and Ofsted.
Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders' annual conference in Birmingham, Education Secretary Damian Hinds admitted that issues needed to be resolved in various areas of the role. He explained, "there can be no great schools without great teachers to motivate children and inspire curiosity. I recognise that recruitment and retention is difficult for schools and that one of the biggest threats to this is workload."
In a joint approach, Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman added, "it really doesn't matter what an inspectorate thinks if we can't attract good people into teaching. The record number of good and outstanding schools won't be sustained if the people, who make them run so well, are burning out and leaving the profession."
The duo announced a three-pronged attack to improve education with a new recruitment and retention strategy, no changes to assessments or the current curriculum and a commitment to work collaboratively with all members of education set to be at the centre of the new approach.
Mr Hinds added, "I want teachers spending their working hours doing what's right for children and to reduce the amount of time spent on unnecessary tasks. I want to work with everyone in education to make that a reality."
Miss Spielman suggested that schools should make changes to their marking policies. "I am committed to tackling workload. With marking, if the impact on pupil progress doesn't match the hours spent then stop doing it."
Sir Kevan Collins of the Education Endowment Fund explained, "we found that when you are doing feedback in a way which is teachers doing more and more work after school that isn't what makes a difference. It is about what they do in the classroom."
What Ofsted inspectors require during an inspection was also outlined and you can find out more information with our handy guide right here.
Do you think your workload will decrease? Will these plans actually be enforced? Let us know by tweeting @Evolve_Impact.


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Remember way back months ago when I mentioned we were painting our bedroom? Well, we did. And finally I took a few pics so I could show you the color! Painting a dark color with white trim color is a painstakingly slow process, so it took a bit longer than I expected for my extremely perfectionistic painter, i.e. my husband, to finish, but I think the result was worth the wait! We absolutely love it.
See the before photos here
Our bedroom still has some finishing touches to install, such as blinds (*check out the bottom of this post for a discount code on window coverings, by the way!), but it is nearly done so I thought today I could at least talk about our paint color.
This room is small (no grand master suite in this house!) but it has become my favorite master bedroom we've ever had. Rather than going with the light vibe of our other rooms in the house we decided to really play up the cozy factor in here with a rather unexpected color for the walls (see our before photos and vision and inspiration for dark bedroom walls in this post).
See how I made the artwork above here!
The paint color we chose is Black Frosted Plum by Glidden. It's like a mix of charcoal and a really pretty but unexpected plum hue that I find just so intriguing. The walls help set a wonderful romantic and moody ambience both day and night, yet it isn't so dark and brooding that the room is not inviting. We also have the benefit of plenty of morning sun coming in the windows, so the room is very cheery in the mornings! The color varies throughout the day and is really dark charcoal at night, but it's always pleasant. The existing white crown molding, ceilings and trim added a nice contrast, too.
Plum is a tricky color that I feared could go so wrong if we didn't find just the right mix of materials to set the mood we wanted. We brought in feminine touches like a mirrored glass nightstand and a sparkly crystal and gold chandelier, but it all mellowed out with a cozy fur throw and our more masculine traditional dark wood sleigh bed. It really is a "his and hers" room!
The duvet is a soft pale gray and white background with charcoal toile details and gold stitching. The reverse is white with sketched feathers. The pattern is a fun quirky twist on a classic romantic toile. It is so pretty, but the description of the bedding on Anthropologie is what sealed the deal for me.
"This delightful bedding features top-hat-clad foxes keeping watch in the foreground of a toile thicket."
How could I not fall head over heels in love with that? I absolutely love the unexpected whimsy it brings to the otherwise more serious room. Since the Anthro bedding and the dark gray Pottery Barn velvet quilt were more of a splurge, the other soft neutral shams and linen drapes from HomeGoods were a more affordable compromise. I'm pretty excited to try mixing in other color options on the bed for summer, too.
While I admit I would never have imagined myself choosing plum walls (or plum anything, to be honest!), I can now say I have never been so in love with a bedroom. The touches of white and charcoal in this room tie in well with the rest of the house and the hallway walls and slate floors that are just outside the bedroom, too.
I love to curl up in this room every night, it is truly our retreat and we both love it!
I'll share more angles and ideas from this room in a future post!
Have a great day!
Sources (links contain affiliates):
Paint color: Black Frosted Plum by Glidden (don't trust your computer screen or the paint swatch in the store, always get a tester and try out the color in your home!)
Bed (similar)
Mirrored Nightstand (similar)
Toile Bedding
Velvet Silk Quilt (flagstone gray)
Faux Fur Throw
Fillable lamps (similar)
Textured gray lampshades
Textured Shams
"I have found the one" pillow
Brass Curtain Rod (similar)
Linen Drapes (similar)
Crystal flushmount or Antique copper crystal flushmount (both similar)
Monogram crest journal
Blue vase, HomeGoods
NOTE: If you place an order for ANY window coverings from Select Blinds, be sure you use my special link HERE for the best possible discount! Plus if also put in my code INSP1RE5 you'll receive an *additional* 5% off the very best price offered anywhere!


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"vendors continue to delude customers by urging continued sales of useless products" and are "sowing confusion and creating much harm." – McAfee co-founder John McAfee
Read this interesting article in it's entirety on CSO Online from IDG:
Are InfoSec vendors 'sowing confusion' and selling 'useless' products?
"These vulnerabilities are as bad as it gets. They don't require any user interaction, they affect the default configuration, and the software runs at the highest privilege levels possible." – Google researcher Tavis Ormand
Read the complete article on CBC News:
Antivirus software is 'increasingly useless' and may make your computer less safe
"The reality is that cybersecurity is a corrupt industry that needs bad guys to stay lucrative."
Read the entire article on TNW:
The cybersecurity industry's billion dollar scam"Infosec is an industry that wastes billions of dollars on firewalls and policing network perimeters, things that "make us feel safe" but don't address real problems." – RSA president Amit Yoran
Read more on SC Magazine:
Cyber-security industry is "fundamentally broken",
"Some security providers may make unjustifiable claims about their products, whereas others may make legitimate claims and simply aren't pursuing state-of-the-art security." Read more in this article on datacenterjournal:
The three least effective enterprise security measures
Password protection, facial recognition and access controls
-an article on helpnetsecurity.com sourced from hackers attending Blackhat USA 2017
The List:
- Password protected documents
- Face recognition
- Access Controls
- Network Firewalls
- Other
- Fingerprint Authentication
Key findings
- The top five data security blind spots are unmanaged devices (61 percent), not-up-to-date systems, applications and programs (55 percent), mobile devices (36 percent), data at rest in the cloud (26 percent), and traditional on-premises security (20 percent)
- Password-protected documents (33 percent) were ranked as the least effective security tool, followed by facial recognition (19 percent)
- Facial recognition was rated as the worst tool six times more often than fingerprint authentication – an interesting insight in light of the new iPhone's shift to face-recognition security
- Almost 60 percent of respondents ranked phishing as the number one method of data exfiltration, followed by malware and ransomware (27 percent)
- More than three quarters (83 percent) of respondents believe that hackers are motivated by the monetary value of stolen data, with ego and entertainment-value playing only a small role.
While most InfoSec products offered aren't inherently useless, some may have little to no benefit in your unique environment. Often a costly "Point Solution" is completely overlapped by already existing technologies. Other times a product may excel at mitigating a particular type of attack, but if that same attack isn't applicable to your organization, the benefit is the same as attempting to protect a desert oasis with a Naval Warship.
2020 InfoSec is dedicated to helping our clients save money through reduced spending on Under-Utilized, Non-Applicable or Overlapping Technologies
Our InfoSec Utilization Audit is developed specifically to identify the level of benefit technologies offer in YOUR unique environment.


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It's never too early to start thinking about spring break! Escape the frigid Minneapolis temperatures this winter with a flight to sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico for just $213-$236 roundtrip, including taxes. This fare cuts nearly $300 off prices on other airlines.
Fare Details
Flights are available on American Airlines for travel February 2 – May 15. If you want to travel before February, limited dates are available as well.
Based on the incredible nature of this deal, we expect it to sell out quickly, so book ASAP! American Airlines offers a free 24-hour hold on all reservations, select this option during check out to reserve your seat if you need time to mull it over.
Click the link below to search for the best dates using Fly.com's Fare Calendar:
Finding the fare on Fly.com is easy, see screenshots below:
For more information about the destination, check out Fly.com User Experience: Puerto Rico on a Budget.
Fly.com Updates
Here are a few ways to stay connected with us:
- Subscribe to the Travelzoo Top 20
- Follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Fly_com)
- Subscribe to the Fly.com blog
- Low Fare Calendars – This tool shows the best deals from the nearest major airport and allows users to create a custom fare calendar for any route (scroll to the bottom for this functionality).
Featured Image: Rusted Tank on Beach at Culebra, Puerto Rico (Shutterstock.com)


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Remember the woman, identified as Tiairah Marie, that was seen catching a severe fade at the hands of Def Jam rapper Lil Reese? Well she took to her Facebook account to comment on the footage that hit the Internets a couple of days ago. Basically, she thinks the Chicago rapper, and any man that puts hands on a woman, is a "pu–y."
In her FB post, Marie (who goes by Self'Made Prodigy) reveals that the incident actually occurred sometime last year (Reese said it happened "years ago"). After confirming that she was simply asked them to "get out my crib," she noted that she was jumped by Reese, another unidentified male and the unidentified male's sister.
According to Marie's Facebook page, she graduated from high school in 2011. However, we'd be doing readers a disservice if we didn't point out the struggle that is Marie's spelling.
Reese hasn't exactly been contrite about the incident. Yesterday, the GBE rapper tweeted, "Dis wat doin betta den da next mf bring small Isht it's nothin time 2 turn Uppp f-ck it…#3hunna."
See a screen capture of Tiairah Marie's comment on her fight with Lil Reese on the next page. Considering that at least one person beefing with Lil Reese and company was murdered (see: Lil JoJo), is may be Tiairah Marie's best interest to chill. Nonetheless, all of this f-ckery needs to get squashed and handled, peacefully.
• **Update: Diddy Injured In Car Crash [PHOTOS]
• 8 Things You Need To Know About T.I.'s Trouble Man
• No Church In The Wild: 10 Hip-Hop Moments That Got Religious Folks All Riled Up [GALLERY]
• Buried Alive: Shyne Sinks Deeper Into The Mad Rapper Abyss [PHOTOS]
• Bangin' Candy: Howard University Student Fantasia [PHOTOS]
• You Are Not Alone: 6 Comedians Who Rode The Crazy Train (Just Like Katt Williams) [PHOTOS]
• Politics As Usual: 10 Rap Songs That Warn Against Trusting The Government
• Coon Affiliated: 10 Rap Songs That Set African-Americans Back As A Race
Photo: Facebook


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Click here for the latest Utah Ski Country Real Estate Comparative Statistics for the past six months, including Number of Units Sold, Median Sales Price, % of Original Listing Price, Median Price Per Square Foot, and Median Days on the Market. This data is organized by ski resort area.
Search for Utah Mountain and Ski Resort Real Estate
Wolf Mountain, one of three ski resorts in Utah's Ogden Valley, has been sold, and a major expansion and development is rumored.
It seems a month rarely goes by without news of impending ski resort development and related real estate options in the lovely, pristine Ogden Valley, home to Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, and Wolf Mountain.
According to an online article January 24th from Ogden's Standard Examiner, a representative of a group of local and European investors confirmed, in a post on a website run by Skyline Mountain Base, that Wolf Mountain ski area is under new ownership. The article, authored by JaNae Francis, quotes the representative, Tessa Harbertson's, post. "As some of you know, I have been extremely busy with a new 'project' for the past six months. All of the long hours and hard work has (finally) come to fruition. Skyline Base investors have purchased Wolf Mountain for development."
As the February post of this blog goes online, efforts to obtain additional information about the development plans at Skyline Mountain (Wolf Mountain) from Skyline management or principals have been unsuccessful. More information will be provided here as soon as it is obtained.
The news about the sale and planned development of Skyline comes on the heels of two other highly important events involving the two other ski resorts in the Ogden Valley. As reported on by this blog over the past year, The Summit Group purchased Powder Mountain and their planned development of a base village, lodging, and residences, while in the early stages, is underway. And Snowbasin received final approvals for their extensive and long-range development plans in November, 2013.
The real estate market in the Ogden Valley is a safe bet to explode when the publicity surrounding these developments reaches critical mass…particularly if Snowbasin breaks ground. Those potential buyers who don't want to miss the appealing part of the curve should think about acting now.


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Don't be put off. This isn't just a film for musicians (although everything about it would probably suggest otherwise). In this documentary, iconic cellist Yo-Yo Ma puts together a gregarious ensemble of musicians gathered from the dusty corners of the globe to explore what it means to make music. Initially, you'd think that this would be all right. After all, music is music right? But with the diverse range of language barriers, cultures and weird instruments that enter "The Silk Road Ensemble", it's clear that Yo-Yo Ma's mission is nothing short of heroic.
But first, if you're not familiar with Yo-Yo Ma already, you could be forgiven for thinking that this guy falls into the stereotype of overachieving-little-Asian-man-that-plays-classical-music-with-impeccable-technique. Hey, I can say this. I'm Asian. I started playing piano at 5. I did the exams. And I'm not alone. But Yo-Yo Ma is a unique breed. As Bobby McFerrin puts it, Ma goes in search of putting "dirt in his bones". His initial attempts are admirable, if not also humorous. The film shares old footage of Ma in the Kalahari Desert trying to play a primitive finger instrument. As the native bushmen look on, Ma wonders aloud, "Where the heck is the F?"
Fortunately, his early fumblings in The Silk Road Project become immediately worth it. The film opens with a breathtaking performance from the ensemble that is unapologetically diverse, full of musicality, creativity and life. Most notably, the ensemble includes pipa player Wu Man, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, Iranian kamencheh player Kayhan Kahlor and the effervescent bagpiper Cristina Pato from Spain. Let the peppering of weird words in that last sentence be a testimony of how tasty this group actually is.
But as Ma clearly states, the Project was not without its critics. Some saw it as a watered-down version of each musician's culture. For others, it was a frivolous pastime at the expense of the greater necessities of life. The difficulties of each individual were further highlighted. Kahlor recalls the persecution he went through as an Iranian who had moved to New York ten days before 9/11. Wu Man observes with sadness the slow death of the arts in China with the mad pursuit of financial security.
Through it all, The Silk Road Project is portrayed as the umbrella of safety that keeps these musicians alive. Yo-Yo Ma recalls that even in the Kalahari Desert, music and creativity was still integral to the people. It was there that he found a treasure of a quip from a wise woman who said that the pursuit of music was really the pursuit of meaning.
This may seem effusive at face value, but the reality of this comes through strongly in the documentary and the music. The ensemble is a fierce delight to listen to. The eye contact and grins shared between each other need no explanation. As soloists, they are technically faultless. As a community, they are a force to be reckoned with – to heck with all the other things that are happening in the world.
By the end of it, it felt like I'd been holding my breath for a long time. I couldn't help but look around the theatre to check out other audience reactions. The smiles said it all. Yes, there's a lot in there about music. But there's even more in there about just being human. It feels hard to put a rating on something this big so I'm just giving it a 10.


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Esther Perel is a world-renowned sex and relationships expert and the bestselling author of Mating In Captivity. Her exclusive mbg class, The Essential Guide To Sparking Your Erotic Intelligence, will help you create the relationship you've always wanted and take your sex life to a whole new level.
We all have a sexual biography. Very early in life, we receive messages and experiences from those around us about our body, about pleasure, nudity and touch. You may view these as innocuous or irrelevant, but they are formative in how we experience and approach relationships and sex as adults. In order to cultivate passion and desire, it's important to ponder what stories you received about gender, sex, and sexuality.
Start a fresh page in a journal and jot down your first thoughts, memories, and associations as you explore these questions:
1. What were the first messages you received about sex?
Scan your memories for anything that was spoken, seen, or enacted during your childhood. Was sex something to be feared or avoided? For instance, many women receive warnings about sex leading to pregnancy. Was sex seen as a predatory act inflicted on you rather than something you might desire (e.g., "Boys will do anything to get in your pants," or "I hope you don't have to do what your father did to me.")?
What is unspoken grows in size and weight: It sits like a hefty elephant in the middle of the room.
Was the body a source of shame (i.e., "That skirt is far too short")? Or was it viewed as part of a loving exchange—for instance when you saw laughter, hand-holding, and glances between your parents? Were you embarrassed by sex? Did you feel uncomfortable talking about it? Or did you simply learn about it as a biological function, a matter of pipes and plumbing that led to procreation? Alternatively, it may have been impressed upon you as a powerful way to connect and experience love, connection, and closeness.
2. What have you done with these messages?
These messages enter the sinews of your skin and lodge inside of you. Fill in the blank on any of these statements if they reverberate within you:
- "Good girls don't…"
- "A real man does…"
- "A real woman would…"
- "I can only orgasm if…"
3. To what extent have these messages opened or closed you?
Emily Nagoski writes about how everyone has accelerators and brakes during sex—things that inhibit or propel us. Accelerators can include smells, visual cues, or a specific type of touch. Brakes can include fear of getting caught, not feeling sexy or attractive, or worrying that we are going to get an STI. What are your accelerators and inhibitors?
4. Was sex central or peripheral in your family life growing up?
I always ask this question of my patients. Frequently people answer that sex was never talked about, that it was taboo, that it was peripheral. But when you dig deeper, a different story emerges. For instance, were you abused or violated or asked to keep a secret that made you feel dirty? Was there infidelity in the family that was hushed up? Was sex never mentioned or actively hidden?
I find that once we catalog all the different ways sex was avoided or negatively emphasized, there are very few left in the room who still believe sex was peripheral. Ironically, what is unspoken grows in size and weight: It sits like a hefty elephant in the middle of the room. Explore this question for yourself and see what you find.
5. Have your sexual experiences reinforced or challenged the messages you received as a child?
Have you encountered a completely different world of sex as an adult or have your childhood beliefs been confirmed? Think back through recent and past experiences and examine how sexual legacies from the past have shaped, intruded upon, or opened you up to possibilities.
And finally, pick ONE sexual message you received that you want to change. What myth would you like to debunk? By identifying what is there—by speaking it, seeing it, and even revealing it to others—you become ready to begin again.
Psychotherapist Esther Perel is recognized as one of the world's most original and insightful voices on personal and professional relationships. She is the bestselling author of Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence, translated into 26 languages. Fluent in nine of them, the Belgian native now brings her inclusive, multicultural pulse to The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity.
In a cover story, The New York Times named Perel the most important game changer on sexuality and relational health since Dr. Ruth. Her two critically acclaimed viral TED talks have reached over 16 million views in under 3 years and she has consulted on the award-winning Showtime drama, The Affair.
In addition to Perel's 34-year private practice in New York City, she is a licensed marriage and family therapist, an AASECT certified sex therapist, a member of the American Family Therapy Academy, and of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research.
Learn more at EstherPerel.com or by following @EstherPerelOffical on Instagram.