text:
Hormones May Not Raise Alzheimer's Risks »
"Oct. 24, 2012 -- Women who take hormones within five years of menopause may have a slightly lower risk of Alzheimer's disease compared to women who don't ever take them, a new study shows.
The study, which is published in the journal"...
Prefest Patient Information including How Should I Take
In this Article
- What is estradiol and norgestimate ?
- What are the possible side effects of estradiol and norgestimate ?
- What is the most important information I should know about estradiol and norgestimate ?
- What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking estradiol and norgestimate ?
- How should I take estradiol and norgestimate ?
- What happens if I miss a dose ?
- What happens if I overdose ?
- What should I avoid while taking estradiol and norgestimate ?
- What other drugs will affect estradiol and norgestimate ?
- Where can I get more information?
What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking estradiol and norgestimate ?
You should not take estradiol and norgestimate if you are allergic to it, or if you have:
- liver disease;
- circulation problems;
- a recent history of heart attack or stroke;
- unusual vaginal bleeding that a doctor has not checked;
- a history of breast, uterine, or hormone-dependent cancer;
- if you have ever had a blood clot (especially in your lung or your lower body); or
- if you are pregnant.
Taking hormones can increase your risk of blood clots, stroke, or heart attack, especially if you have risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or triglycerides, smoking, or being overweight.
To make sure you can safely take this medication, tell your doctor if you have any of these other conditions:
- heart disease, high blood pressure;
- asthma;
- kidney disease;
- epilepsy or other seizure disorder;
- migraines;
- lupus;
- gallbladder disease;
- endometriosis;
- underactive thyroid;
- high levels of calcium in your blood; or
- if you have had your uterus removed (hysterectomy).
Long-term estrogen treatment may increase your risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or uterine cancer. Talk with your doctor about your individual risks before using this medication long-term. Taking progestin while using estradiol may lower your risk of uterine cancer. If your uterus has not been removed, your doctor may prescribe a progestin for you to take while you are using estradiol and norgestimate.
FDA pregnancy category X. This medication can harm an unborn baby or cause birth defects. Do not use estradiol and norgestimate if you are pregnant. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant during treatment.
Estradiol and norgestimate can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Estrogens may also slow breast milk production. You should not breast-feed while you are taking this medication.
Estradiol and norgestimate should not be used to prevent heart disease, stroke, or dementia, because this medication may actually increase your risk of developing these conditions.
How should I take estradiol and norgestimate ?
Take exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not take in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label. Take the medicine at the same time each day.
Estradiol and norgestimate usually comes in a pack of pills that are different colors. In most cases, you will take a pill of one color for three days in a row, followed by taking a pill of the other color for the next three days. This cycle is then repeated throughout your treatment.
Each time you start a new pack, start with the first tablet in the first row of pills. Your medication may come with stickers to mark your weekday schedule on the pack.
Be sure to have a new pack of this medication ready to start on the day after you have finished an entire pill pack.
Have regular physical exams and mammograms, and self-examine your breasts for lumps on a monthly basis while using estradiol and norgestimate. Your doctor should check your progress every 3 to 6 months to determine whether you should continue this treatment.
If you need medical tests or surgery, or if you will be on bed rest, you may need to stop using this medication for a short time. Any doctor or surgeon who treats you should know that you are taking estradiol and norgestimate.
Store at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light.
Prefest Patient Information in Detail
- What is Prefest?
- What are the possible side effects?
- What is the most important information I should know?
- What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking?
- How should I take?
Additional Prefest Information
Prefest - User Reviews
Prefest User Reviews
Now you can gain knowledge and insight about a drug treatment with Patient Discussions.
Here is a collection of user reviews for the medication Prefest sorted by most helpful.
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Women's Health
Find out what women really need.


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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- As potentially dangerous storms head toward Kentucky from the Midwest, officials are warning residents to be prepared.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for western and much of central Kentucky until Wednesday night, adding there was a potential for strong tornadoes. Large hail and damaging winds from the storms were forecast for eastern Kentucky.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a news conference that the threat of storms should have residents on high alert.
Fischer urged residents to sign up for weather-alert text messages because outdoor tornado sirens are not meant to be heard indoors.
In Daviess County in western Kentucky, emergency management officials say they've prepared five church basements for use as storm shelters.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Always follow safety rules: In a home or small building, go to the basement or to an interior room such as a closet or bathroom on the lowest floor possible. Get under a sturdy table or bed or crouch low and cover your head with your hands.
In mobile homes or vehicles, abandon them and go to a sturdy structure. If there is no such shelter nearby, lie flat in a ditch, ravine, culvert or other low spot and shield your head with your hands. Never take shelter under a highway overpass. Overpasses create a deadly wind tunnel effect, which will pull you out from under the bridge.
In large buildings such as schools, factories, hospitals, nursing homes and shopping centers, go to the pre-designated shelter area.
Interior hallways on the lowest floor offer the most protection. Avoid areas with large span roofs as these roofs are weak and prone to failure.
In high rise buildings, go to a small interior room or hallway away from windows. Stay away from windows, do not open or close them. It will not increase or decrease the amount of structural damage and you will waste valuable time and put your life at risk from flying debris. Remember, flying debris is the most dangerous hazard from tornadoes.
Severe thunderstorms can also cause considerable damage from hail or wind and can be deadly. If a severe thunderstorm warning is issued, move to a place of safety...just as you would during a Tornado Warning. Have a weather radio, radio or television nearby to stay alert of any changes to the weather situation. With severe weather expected to impact the region Wednesday afternoon and night.
Now is a good time to double check that your NOAA weather radio is working. Also if your weather radio comes equipped with a battery backup, check that the batteries are working.

subset: commoncrawl


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From Paula's Best Dishes Episode: Butterlicious
5 stars based on 11 Reviews
Servings: about 3 dozen miniature biscuits
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 9 min
Difficulty: Easy
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease miniature muffin pans.
Mix the flour and butter together, add the sour cream, and blend well. Place spoonfuls of the batter in the muffin pans. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen


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This large waxed canvas purse from Nica has a peach tulip design with tan trims. It has fourteen internal card slots and a separate zip compartment.
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Debenhams is happy to exchange or refund your purchase within 28 days providing the goods are in a fully resaleable condition (including tags) and not within the exclusion policy*. This policy does not affect your statutory rights. You can return unwanted items either by visiting your local store (the fastest way to get a refund), by arranging a courier collection or returning by post. Exclusions apply to selected products. For instructions on how to return products and information on Debenhams refund policy visit the returns and refunds section of the website.
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Financing Your Career Change
- Wednesday, October 26, 2011
While getting your finances in order (and learning how to be a business person if you want to be self-employed) aren't exactly "fun" things to do, they are important steps in reinventing your life and will eventually bring you great enjoyment. You can start small in making changes; the important thing is to start! Becoming financially healthy will also have many positive ripple effects in the rest of your life. Living debt-free with a savings cushion and financial spending plan are important elements in freeing yourself to become the person God created you to be and do the things He designed you to do.
© Article copyright by Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck, www.ChristianCareerCenter.com. All rights reserved. The above information is intended for personal use only. No commercial use of this information is authorized without written permission.
Kevin Brennfleck and Kay Marie Brennfleck, National Certified Career Counselors, are the authors of Live Your Calling: A Practical Guide to Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life. Their websites, www.ChristianCareerCenter.com, www.ChurchJobsOnline.com, and www.ChristianJobFair.com, feature hundreds of job listings from churches, ministries, and Christian employers; a resume bank; and many other career/job search resources and articles. They also offer career coaching and testing to help you discover work that fits your God-given design, as well as assistance with writing a powerful resume, interviewing effectively, finding job openings, and other aspects of a successful job search. Learn more about their package, Professional Career Testing for High School/College Students.You can schedule a free consultation session today!
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|By Gerardo Pardo-Castellote
Article Rating:
|November 30, 2007 03:30 PM EST
Service Oriented Architectures are increasingly being used to implement high-performance and real-time systems. Traditional systems operate in "human real-time," where human patience is the limit. Increasingly, however, systems operate in "computer real-time," where the only limits are imposed by the operational speed of the computers and networks.
For example, next-generation Air Traffic Management systems are being developed to accommodate the huge increase in air traffic and link the operational capabilities of agencies such as the Federal Aviation Authority, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These systems require higher information bandwidth (to track more aircraft or more complex "free-flight" trajectories) as well as much lower latencies or delays on the information (to detect flight abnormalities quickly). Similar demands are being made in healthcare, SCADA, network monitoring, energy distribution, transportation, and other critical infrastructure systems.
Best-of-Breed SOA Components
Demanding real-time applications require best-of-breed service-oriented foundational components. There are three kinds of foundational components in a SOA system: A messaging fabric/bus, information transformation/processing engines, and persistence/storage services (see Figure 1). Often these components are integrated into an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) and hosted in a J2EE Application Server.
Of these foundational components, the Messaging Fabric/Bus is the most critical, since it mediates all interactions between components.
Low-performance SOA systems may use HTTP as the "messaging fabric/bus" to exchange messages between components. This approach is only suitable for non-demanding applications: HTTP isn't reliable, has limited bandwidth, introduces very high latencies, and can't buffer and queue messages and deliver them to systems that are either temporarily unavailable or join at a later time.
The solution is to deploy a high-performance messaging middleware such as RTI Data-Distribution Service, IBM WebSphere MQ, TIBCO, or SonicMQ. These middleware platforms have been developed with scalability and performance in mind. However, they each employ a different architecture optimized for different application scenarios.
Why Does Messaging Performance Matter?
The requirements and expectations of computer-speed real-time far exceed traditional human-speed real-time. Whereas in systems with a human in the loop, real-time meant that the information was available anywhere from fractions of a second to few seconds in the computer-to-computer world, real-time means decisions should be made in milliseconds or even microseconds.
Computer real-time puts more stringent requirements on the messaging infrastructure: Each processing and storage component must get hundreds of thousands of messages/events per second with microsecond or at worst millisecond latencies. This means that the messaging middleware must be able to deliver millions of messages a second system-wide.
And the capacity of the messaging fabric must be able to scale with the capacity of the underlying hardware and not impose any limits beyond those of the underlying hardware infrastructure (CPU speed, cores, speed, and bandwidth of the network) itself. As the CPU and network speeds increase those systems able to take advantage of what the hardware provides will deliver a competitive advantage. In an automated trading system, for instance, the critical metric is not the absolute time it takes to make a decision, but rather whether a decision is taken and the trade executed before competitive trades occur. The same is true in a combat management system.
One final aspect of computer real-time SOA systems is their "inverted performance-load utility curve." This means that the ability to respond in a timely manner becomes more important when the system is experiencing a high load. In a normal utility curve, such as in human real-time systems, degraded performance is acceptable under an increased load. This is because human expectations and patience adjust based on the circumstances (e.g., they understand that on a peak holiday period they may endure longer hold times when calling to make a flight reservation). In contrast, computer-speed real-time systems often have the opposite demands. It is precisely at the moments of high load when the "most critical action" is taking place and it is then when it is most critical to deliver top performance (e.g., it is precisely when market action is heavy that trading decisions must be made quickly).
The differences between human-speed real-time systems and computer-speed real-time systems are summarized in Table 1.
Selecting Messaging Middleware in SOA Systems
Messaging middleware is the key enabler of real-time SOA. However, there are many options. How can you choose the best messaging middleware for a particular real-time SOA system? Five areas distinguish messaging middleware: architecture, quality of service (QoS) control and filters, performance-boosting technologies, real-time determinism, and metrics.
The four basic architectures employed by messaging middleware are: centralized (hub-and-spoke), clustered, federated, and peer-to-peer. (see Figure 2)
A centralized (hub-and-spoke) architecture routes every message though a single server that implements the message "service," contains all the message queues, and brokers every message.
A clustered architecture uses a collection of servers and assigns to each responsibility for some of the messages (like ownership of some of the message queues or topics). Each message is relayed by a server but not all messages use the same server.
A federated architecture also uses a collection of servers, but it uses them as a "resource pool" where queues may appear in multiple servers, and messages may be brokered by one or more servers.
A peer-to-peer architecture doesn't employ any brokers in the critical path. Messages are routed directly from the sender to the receiver.
Each has strengths and weaknesses. Centralized is easiest to administer and can provide stronger transactional semantics but suffers from poor performance, reduced tolerance to faults, and doesn't scale. Clustered is more scalable than centralized but also has reduced fault tolerance and can only offer good performance in a grid environment with all the clients co-located close to the grid. Federated is more scalable, but suffers from higher latency and jitter as each message is brokered by at least two servers. P2P offers the best scalability, performance, lowest jitter, and highest resilience, but is difficult for vendors to implement and offers limited transactional support.
As demands become more real-time, the need for performance, predictability, and balance tips the scale towards P2P architecture. That's why, for example, demanding networks like Voice over IP and Video over IP (like Skype) use peer-to-peer designs.
Quality of Service Control & Filters
QoS control is critical to deliver timely data with low latency and high throughput. CPU, memory, and network bandwidth resources must be shared among all the traffic. However, not all traffic requires the same bandwidth or has the same urgency or level or criticality. Without QoS control, the application has no way to differentiate different traffic classes and their corresponding constraints. As a consequence, the middleware can't make intelligent decisions, prioritize traffic, or ultimately meet the application requirements.
|Gerardo Pardo-Castellote 07/20/08 01:57:08 AM EDT
Regarding the previous comment about "TCP not lining up a message on one connection after a file transfer on another connection." and the "information in the article not being correct."
This is true, but in order for this to occur you would need to open a new TCP connection for every message. This is extremely inefficient, requires a handshake involving a round-trip message, and allocates a lot of system resources. This is certainly something you do not want to do in a real-time system.
So in practice anybody developing a real-time system would have to hold the TCP connection open and send successive messages over it (or course one can keep more than one connection open, and round-robin among them but that does not change fundamental problem if the application is writing quickly). Therefore the information in the article IS correct.
|Casual Visitor 06/12/08 03:04:45 PM EDT
TCP does not line up a message on one connection after a file transfer on another connection. Each TCP connection forms its own in-order transfer. If you want to convince people to buy your product, you should avoid putting incorrect information in the article. It is much better to have a good analysis with accurate claims so that people will believe that your product might overcome real problems rather than phantom ones like "messages wait behind file transfers".
|Derek Pavatte 01/25/08 02:03:32 AM EST
If everything is automated, I suppose we will have more time to do things more pleasant things than work as much. These technological advancements sound very progressive. Let us all work towards a competent and ethical work environment.
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Previous research suggests that many people lack the skills needed to calculate expected returns or present discounted values, which may cause them to make suboptimal financial decisions. Previous work by Hastings and Tejeda-Ashton in Mexico showed that the way that returns to a pension program were presented (in pesos versus as an annual percentage) affected price sensitivity. Another explanation offered for sub optimal financial decisions is the present bias of many decision makers, who are impatient and consistently choose immediate gratification instead of a more measured approach that allows for optimal saving for future consumption.
This project makes use of the biannual Encuesta de Protección Social (Social Protection Survey, EPS), a nationally representative panel survey of 17,000 households, to undertake two experiments that seek to better understand the determinants of saving and financial management decisions.
Chile has had a privatized national defined contribution system since 1981, in which participants can select which of five fund managers will handle their retirement accruals. Workers select the fund in which to place their money, and the government provides published statistics on load fees and past returns. In the first experiment, we will provide information on returns net of fees to individuals in one of these randomly-assigned formats: either expected pension account gains or expected pension account costs over a ten year period, and either presented in Chilean pesos or in Annual Percentage Rates. Participants will view the information and be asked to indicate how they would rank the funds. They will then be given the information sheet to keep. Using dministrative data in the Chilean pension system, we will track the impact this information has on the fund people choose.
The second experiment will allow researchers to create a measurement for the participants' ability to delay gratification. We will use this measure to examine how well this ability to forgo current gratification to gain higher returns later explains pension investment decisions, weight and health investments, and propensity to spend on impulse products and carry credit card debt. At the end of each survey, the participant will be asked to participate in an additional survey that will earn them a git certificate to the largest grocery store chain in Chile. They can choose to do the survey now for a set amount reward, or do the survey within the following month, and upon mailing it back receive a higher credit to the card. The difference between immediate payment and future payment will be randomized so that the return on waiting ranges from 20 to 60 percent. Links to both EPS and grocery store data (including store credit cards) will allow us to track future pension and consumption decisions and draw conclusions based on revealed ability to delay gratification.
In many developing countries it is common for street vendors or small-scale entrepreneurs to borrow small amounts of money for their working capital at very high rates of interest. Over time, these interest rate payments can amount to a burdensome proportion of a vendor's take-home profit. But if vendors saved small amounts of money over time, they may be able to build up a buffer of savings large enough to stop the practice of borrowing money from informal lenders. It is unclear, though, whether vendors may persist in borrowing due to lack of information about the benefits of saving and whether a financial literacy invention could benefit these entrepreneurs.
In urban markets in the Philippines, like the large covered market in Cayagan do Oro, street vendors are prevalent and often borrow from informal moneylenders at high rates of interest. Vendors in this study all ran their own businesses, had a history of indebtedness at interest rates of at least 5% per month over the previous 5 years, and had an outstanding debt of less than 5,000 pesos (US$100). Vendors were included in the study only if they met these conditions and operated a business in or near the public market in Cagayan de Oro. Vendors most often used their loans to expand or maintain their current businesses.
Researchers tested two interventions to help break the cycle of debt. After an initial baseline survey to gather information on history of debt, household consumption and financial literacy, 250 vendors were randomly assigned to one of four groups. They either (1) had their outstanding debt paid off, (2) were given financial literacy training, (3) received both, or (4) received nothing (comparison).
For the debt payoff intervention, researchers gave respondents money equal to their previously reported debt and had them payoff their outstanding balances (an average of about $47). For the financial literacy intervention, researchers developed a script modeled after Freedom from Hunger's financial literacy module. Partner staff conducted a single financial literacy session with respondents in small groups of about 16 people that focused on the benefits of savings, the long-term costs of repeated borrowing from moneylenders, the value of planning in advance and saving for large expenses, and the advantages of borrowing from formal lenders (like microfinance institutions or banks) at lower interest rates.
A set of follow-up surveys were administered after 1 month, 2 months and 3 months and an endline survey was administered between 19 and 21 months after the baseline survey. The baseline survey was administered in early July 2007 and the endline survey was administered between February and April 2009.
Results forthcoming. A follow-up study is being conducted to replicate the results, expand the sample, and assess the impact of adding a savings component to the debt forgiveness intervention. This component consists of offering a savings account with no starting fees and initial deposits subsidized by IPA.
See here for a similar study in Chennai, India.
Adolescent girls living in low-income settings may be trapped in a vicious cycle that prevents them from attaining employment and achieving better health outcomes and reproductive autonomy. Researchers will evaluate the impact of a program in Sierra Leone that aims to address this problem by bundling health education, vocational skills training, and micro-credit. They will evaluate the impact of these programs components, together and individually, on girls' economic activity, engagement in sexual and risky behaviors, and future goals.
Adolescent girls in low income countries appear to be trapped in a vicious circle where low skills and poor labor market opportunities make girls turn to (often older) men for financial support; this increases the chances of childbearing that, in turn, further reduces the chances of acquiring useful skills and future labor force participation. In previous research in Uganda, researchers found that a combination of health education and vocational skills training can break the vicious circle. This study aims to assess where the causal chain starts, namely, whether it is the lack of health education, skills, or credit that keeps adolescent girls trapped in the vicious cycle of high fertility and low labor force participation.
In Sierra Leone, teenage pregnancy and early childbearing are pervasive: of all pregnancies, 34 percent occur amongst teenage girls (SLDHS 2008) and 40 percent of maternal deaths occur as a result of teenage pregnancy (MICS 2010). In 2013, the Government of Sierra Leone launched a Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy, which aims to reduce the adolescent fertility rate by 4 percentage points by 2015. As part of this strategy, the government has partnered with UNICEF and BRAC to implement the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program. BRAC is implementing the ELA program in six countries globally. In Africa, the program has already been implemented and evaluated in South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Researchers designed a randomized evaluation, which is being implemented by IPA, to evaluate the impact of the ELA program and its various components on girls' economic activity, engagement in sexual and risky behaviors, and aspirations. In addition, they will assess if the program affected girls who did not participate in the program but have social ties with those who had.
The program operates from adolescent development centers, or "clubs," staffed by BRAC trained mentors, who are older adolescent girls from the same communities. Researchers will evaluate the following three program components, together and individually:
Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following four groups, each consisting of 50 villages and 1,400 adolescent girls:
(1) Health education
(2) Health education, vocational training
(3) Health education, vocational training, microcredit
(4) Comparison group: No program
Results from this replication study will allow for a cross-country comparison of the program's effects and help to build the evidence on the program's impact. In addition, by introducing different treatment groups this evaluation aims to separate the effects of the programs different components, which will provide important information to partners on how the program should be expanded. Moreover, information drawn from individuals about the relationships they have with others in their village, known as social networks data, will reveal how information and skills acquired by program participants spreads to non-participants.
Results forthcoming.
Read more about the ELA Sierra Leone program here.
Read about previous research on the program in Uganda here.
The study is designed as a survey with an embedded experiment and took advantage of Mexico's privatized social security system, which requires workers to choose their retirement investment funds (AFOREs) from an approved list. This research project will collect detailed survey data and implement a series of field experiments in order to further understand the factors that determine workers' investment choices. The survey will collect information on financial planning, financial literacy, and investor perceptions of the privatized social security market.
The survey will also contain two field experiments. The first will examine if survey participants are more likely to switch funds when provided with transparent information on the fees each AFORE charges. The second will test if financial literacy can be taught by providing simplified information on the importance of compounding interest, coupled with information about fees charged by the AFORE. The survey results will allow for estimates of the impact of each piece of information on fund choice and sensitivity to fees. This information can be combined with information on market-level responses by AFOREs, with regard to their fees and total number of investors.
If most people (regardless of income) choose funds to minimize fees, AFOREs will compete on price. But if more people choose based on brand names or convenience, then funds will be less concerned with price and more concerned with brand promotion. Previous research has suggested that more-educated consumers choose funds to minimize fees, while less-educated consumers choose funds based on brand name or convenience. Because lower income individuals are likely to have less education, market outcomes may lead to lower net returns for low-income households.
Since social security is intended to be a safety net that provides income in old age to all citizens, differences in individuals' investment behavior (and firm response) across demographic groups is critically important for understanding the impacts of privatization on income distribution.
Financial products have the potential to help the poor, yet most financial institutions are driven by commercial goals, and their staff may not be incentivized to offer products most suitable to low-income clients. In this study in Peru, participants visited banks and pretended to be shopping for financial products in order to gather information on how bank staff treat different types of clients. Policymakers aim to use the information from this study to improve consumer protection policy and practices for financial products and services in Peru.
Financial institutions, driven by commercial interests, often offer expensive products to clients first, and staff are rarely incentivized to provide information about ways to avoid fees or access cheaper products. Meanwhile, many clients lack the necessary understanding of financial products to engage in sound financial decision-making; it requires a certain level of financial knowledge to avoid paying fees, or to ask if a cheaper product is available, even when it is not offered. Less informed customers may not be able to navigate this territory to find products that best suit their needs.
Indeed, research suggests that lack of transparency and low quality of information provided by financial institutions has negative consequences for low-income consumers. In a related study, for example, staff at financial institutions failed to voluntarily provide much information about avoidable fees, especially to people lacking financial knowledge, and clients were almost never offered the cheapest product.[1]
Many governments around the world have tried to address this problem by introducing legislation to improve customer protection policy and practices related to disclosure and transparency for financial products. This study aims to contribute evidence for such policymaking in Peru and beyond.
Context of the Evaluation:
The World Bank and Peru's banking and insurance supervision agency, Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros, y AFP (SBS), are working to improve consumer protection policy and practices in the Peruvian market for financial products and services. This includes work to improve product disclosure and transparency for credit and savings products. These institutions are therefore seeking high-quality data on existing practices, notably the quality and type of financial information and advice offered to low-income individuals by Peruvian financial institutions that provide savings, individual term credit products, and credit cards. In a broader scope, these institutions aim to improve consumer protection policy and practices in the Peruvian market for financial products and services, particularly by enhancing product disclosure and transparency for credit and savings products.
Details of the intervention:
To evaluate whether financial institutions provide different treatment to clients based on their profile, and if so, what the differences in information are, researchers carried out an audit study of financial institutions in urban areas of the northern, southern and central regions of Peru, specifically in the cities of Lima, Puno, and Piura.
The study had two phases. First, low-income individuals carried out 529 visits to financial institutions where they pretended to be shopping for different financial products. They either requested a savings account, a term credit product, or a credit card. Prior to conducting the shopping exercises, the participants received two days of training on how to act out their assigned consumer profile. They followed scripts that entailed using language and behaviors that signaled high or low levels of financial experience. When they visited the institutions—which included commercial banks, lending institutions and microfinance institutions.
After the exercises, the participants completed questionnaires on what information was presented and in which forms, as wells as on their personal impressions of the quality of information, advice and customer service provided by the institutions.
Mystery shoppers' visits were intended to determine the types of information—verbal, physical and otherwise—institutions provide to low-income financial consumers. The participants act out the different consumer characteristics to enable researchers to examine any differences in how staff treat clients based on perceptions of the clients' financial knowledge.
In the second stage, surveyors carried out interviews with 62 credit officers, at institutions where the exercises had been conducted, to obtain information on the staff members' socio-demographic characteristics, perception of clients, financial knowledge, and salary and incentives structure.
Researchers will merge results from this study with findings from related studies in Mexico and Ghana.
Results and Policy Lessons:
Results forthcoming.
[1]Giné, Xavier, Cristina Martinez Cuellar, and Rafael Keenan Mazer. "Financial (dis-) information: evidence from an audit study in Mexico." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6902 (2014). Available at:
Could financial literacy training for children lay a foundation for good financial decisions and a better quality of life in adulthood? If so, what type of training works best? In this study, IPA partnered with Aflatoun, a Dutch non-governmental organization, to evaluate the impact of two forms of financial education on primary school children across Ghana.
Research on financial knowledge and behavior indicates that individuals in both developed and developing countries around the world lack adequate knowledge to make informed financial decisions. In response to evidence that financial literacy is correlated with well-being, many service providers, donors, and policymakers have begun including financial training and business education as part of their broader anti-poverty strategies. Intuitively, financial education provides useful tools to people of all ages, yet empirical evidence for this impact is meager and often mixed. This project tests two financial education curricula for primary school students. Specifically, it measures the impact of financial education on student behavior attitudes, and outcomes.
Saving and finances are part of daily life for many youth, yet traditional school curricula often overlook the specific issues and challenges students encounter with money. This curricular gap represents a missed opportunity for students and teachers. Aflatoun, a Dutch non-governmental organization providing social and financial education to 540,000 children in 33 countries, operates a voluntary after school club in Ghana for primary and junior high schools. Aflatoun uses a uniquely designed "social and financial education curriculum" to improve children's saving habits as well as financial attitudes and self-esteem. Aflatoun's training on handling money, saving on a regular basis, and spending responsibly aims to teach children, at a young age, lessons and behaviors that they will carry with them throughout their lives.
Aflatoun operates in collaboration with local partners to implement its programs. Two project partners in Ghana - the Women and Development Project (WADEP) and the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) - trained instructors and managed program implementation. SNV Ghana worked with three other implementing partners in two regions to train teachers and monitor the implementation of clubs: Berea Social Foundation (Western Region), Support for Community Mobilization Projects and Programs (Western Region), and Ask Mama Development Organization (Greater Accra Region).
The study included 5,000 primary school students aged 9 - 14 in 135 public schools in semi-urban and rural Ghana, including 30 schools in Greater Accra, 60 in Volta, and 45 in Western District. One-third of the schools in each region were randomly assigned to each of three different groups: the Aflatoun program, Honest Money Box (HMB) intervention, or a comparison group without treatment.
The Aflatoun curriculum includes lessons about planning, budgeting, saving, proper spending, as well as self-esteem building exercises. It uses songs, games, and worksheets, which put children at the center of the learning process. Aflatoun also adapts its messages and activities to the context of the countries in which it operates, focusing on cultural heritage and community in order to foster a collective sense of empowerment among participant children. The HMB intervention, in contrast, is solely focused on financial education and is designed to provide a comparison for Aflatoun's unique social and attitudinal curriculum. IPA developed the HMB intervention as a group savings scheme with a financial literacy curriculum. Some of the topics covered in the curriculum include: What is Money?, Saving and Spending, Planning and Budgeting, and Entrepreneurship, as well as lessons in how to use the Money Box, a lockbox that stores group savings.
To implement the two programs, local partner organizations trained approximately 200 teachers (two teachers in each selected school). Teachers instructed two multi-grade clubs, with an average of 54 students per club, and delivered the assigned curriculum, in addition to providing a secure storage space for the money saved, generally in the teacher's locked office. Clubs met, on average, once a week after school at a time decided by the members. Students saved money from their pocket change and recorded transactions on individual passbooks. IPA and partner organizations monitored the teachers to ensure that implementation met pre-determined standards.
The evaluation was conducted over the course of one school year. Between 20 and 40 children per school were chosen to be surveyed.. The baseline survey was conducted in September 2010 and the endline in August 2011. The surveys collected data on financial well-being of students and their families, cognitive function, and perspectives on savings and time and risk preference. The endline survey captured the same information as the baseline, in addition to a financial education endline assessmentand a psychosocial module to understand students' outlooks and levels of self-control.
The surveys used are available here in .doc format:
Baseline Student Survey
Endline Student Survey
Aptitude Assessment
Shop Games
Presentation from the "Impact and Policy Conference" in Bangkok, September 2012.
Analysis is ongoing, results forthcoming.
Microcredit is often offered in conjunction with client education services, to provide training for clients through the existing infrastructure. Karlan and Valdivia (2008) found that business training for microfinance clients improved business knowledge, practices and revenues for beneficiaries and increased repayment and client retention rates for the institution. Financial literacy is another educational topic that may be effective in improving economic conditions of clients and financial conditions for lenders. By offering financial trainings with credit, microfinance institutions may help clients to better manage their loan repayment and avoid overindebtedness. Microfinance institutions may minimize educational costs and improve outreach of the model by using information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as radio and television.
Arariwa is a NGO based in Cusco, Peru which serves much of Southern Peru. Arariwa offers livelihood trainings, technical skill development, and microfinance products to clients in these areas. To offer microfinance, Arariwa establishes communal banks that participate in group savings, loans, and educational programs. In an effort to improve client success, Arariwa is utilizing its existing infrastructure to provide financial education.
A total of 666 communal banks were randomly assigned to a treatment group, which received a financial education module, or a comparison group which received education on other topics such as health and self-esteem.
The financial literacy program consisted of nine monthly training sessions that used both video and radio components to convey lessons. The sessions, provided during monthly bank meetings, were based off a curriculum adapted from Freedom from Hunger's (FFH) training modules, and also used short videos (5-7 minutes in length), activities, and moments of reflection to reinforce key concepts. Training sessions lasted 45-minutes and covered the following topics: creating financial goals and savings plans, investing in business, calculating loan payments, and avoiding default. After meetings, participants were asked to listen to a 25-minute radio program to reinforce the training content and to complete a set of homework questions. The radio program was broadcast four times a month and presented testimonies from successful Arariwa clients.
Low implementation levels led a discontinuation of the evaluation. After 11 months, only one percent of the communal banks in the treatment group had completed the full training program. Problems faced by the implementer included: little preparation of credit officers to assume facilitation, low attendance levels at training sessions, and delinquency crises requiring credit officers to focus most of the meeting on collecting repayments. ICTs used as complements to the training presented very limited take-up and usage. The video component was often difficult to broadcast during meetings due to challenges in obtaining TV sets and DVD players in rural communities and as a result the median bank only trained with the DVD one time. Less than seven percent of the members in the treatment group listened regularly to the radio program, despite a set of incentives connected to the program.
Many subsistence entrepreneurs in developing countries do not maintain adequate business records which may limit their ability to streamline business operations and increase profits. This exploratory study was designed to explore take up and role of a new mobile application in helping small shopkeepers in Colombia to keep records, create business reports and manage other business tasks. Results show that while the application wasn't widely adopted by the study participants, it was particularly useful for some of the shopkeepers who had good record keeping practices before they were introduced to the application.
Note: This research project is a pilot study designed to provide insights for a potential scale up to a full randomized controlled trial.
For additional information on current SME Initiative projects, click here.
Many entrepreneurs in developing countries who rely on their small businesses to meet basic consumption needs do not maintain records of business expenses or sales. Without a system for managing finances, these small businesses may miss opportunities to increase profits and trim expenses. Providing tools to these micro entrepreneurs to help them manage their finances may be a way to improve their business outcomes and household consumption levels.
Colombia has an estimated 400,000 micro and small stores or "tiendas", which account for 52% of food and retail sales [[1],[2]]. While tienda entrepreneurs sell hundreds of different products and manage relationships with wholesalers, most of them continue to use minimal business administration tools, for example, writing down sales and purchases in notebooks, or don't use any record keeping at all.
To test if a more formal and engaging record keeping system could improve shopkeepers' business records management, IPA partnered with Frogtek, a firm that builds business tools for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Frogtek developed Tiendatek, a smart phone application that allows shopkeepers systematize their business by managing their accounting, inventories, sales, payments to suppliers, expenses and earnings. All data generated by the shopkeeper is uploaded and stored on a mobile phone and a Frogtek web server. The Tiendatek application creates reports on sales, purchases, credit, inventory, and break-even points based on the data uploaded by a shopkeeper.
Tiendatek relies on mobile phone technology, which is widespread and popular in Colombia. The country has among the highest rates of participation in the communication and technology markets, with 92.3 cell phone subscriptions per 100 people and 45.5% of the population using internet [[3]]. Thus, the application is easily accessible for micro and small retailers.
This exploratory study was designed with the goal of understanding take up of Tiendatek application and characteristics of shopkeepers who end up adopting the application. In the case of sufficient take up the study was also designed to explore whether and how the application helped small shopkeepers to better manage their businesses. The study targeted shopkeepers with sales between 1,000 and 2,000 USD a month. Frogtek staff interviewed shopkeepers, assessed their interest, delivered a mobile phone with Tiendatek application installed and provided training in one or two visits. Shopkeepers also received technical assistance from Frogtek staff for 6 months after delivery of the phone. In total, 58 shopkeepers received the phone, training and technical assistance.
Fifty-one shopkeepers were surveyed approximately ten to twenty days after receiving a new phone. A follow up survey was completed eight to ten months after the initial phone delivery with 47 shopkeepers. In addition, all data generated by shopkeepers and uploaded to a Frogtek web server was used as supplemental data for the study.
Tiendatek received positive feedback from shopkeepers who participated in the study, with 96 percent of them indicating that they would recommend it to their colleagues. However, most shopkeepers did not use the application fully; they did not register all business transactions through the application which in turn limited their ability to take advantage of features such as profits and inventory reports. Moreover, of the 40 shopkeepers who answered the question in the follow up survey, only 10 were still using it 10 months after receiving it.
While the application wasn't widely adopted by the study participants, it was more popular with those shopkeepers who were more diligent in their record keeping and accounting practices initially. Out of 32 shopkeepers who reported having some system of recordkeeping in the baseline survey, four adopted Tiendatek, while among the 15 who did not have a formal recordkeeping system initially, six begun using notebooks and none started using Tiendatek. Moreover, shopkeepers who had good record keeping and business practices before they received the phone, for example, keeping written records and making an inventory of products, were more likely to use Tiendatek more frequently and for a longer period of time.
[1]Diaz, Alejandro, Jorge Lacayo, and Luis Salcedo. 2007. "Selling to 'mom-and-pop' stores in emerging markets" The McKinsey Quarterly
[2]De Jacobs, Alicia. "Colombia Retail Food Sector" USDA Foreign Agricultural Services Global Agricultural Information Network Report, October 2010.
[3]United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2010 Information Economy Report
Many argue that increasing financial literacy among poor households would increase usage of financial products, and savings products in particular. However, this theory raises an immediate question: if financial literacy increases take-up of savings products, why don't banks and microfinance institutions include financial literacy materials in their advertising? One explanation for this relative lack of "informational advertising" or use of financial literacy materials is that banks cannot capture all of the increase in savings product use from the advertising (i.e. there are spillovers). The informative advertising may make customers more likely to use savings products in general from any firm, thus the bank conducting the marketing may not benefit. Another method, referred to as "persuasive advertising" that tries to convince the customer that a particular firm is superior may be a more effective means of promoting a particular bank's products. This study assesses the impact of both informative and persuasive advertising to better understand the role of financial literacy in savings product take-up.
This project takes place in Cagayan de Oro City, a sprawling city of more than 550,000 people in Northern Mindanao, Philippines. Study areas are urban or peri-urban, including informal settlements with tenuous land rights and areas that are frequently affected by flooding. The majority of respondents live below the poverty line, and, during the baseline, only half reported having a household member with salaried employment. Common occupations in these areas include construction work, driving jeepneys, tricycles, or pedicabs, and operating small neighborhood stores or eateries. Nearly half of the respondents surveyed reported never having saved with a formal financial institution, though a majority said they have saved at home, and some through informal savings mechanisms. At the time of the project launch, commitment savings accounts were available at both partner banks, Green Bank and First Valley Bank, but few respondents reported using the bank for any purpose. Green Bank offers the SEED Commitment Savings Account, while First Valley Bank offers the Gihandom Savings Account.
This evaluation assesses the impact of two types of advertising campaigns on savings product take-up. First Valley Bank and Green Bank of Caraga hired teams of marketers to implement a new advertising campaign promoting the banks' commitment savings products.
The target sample, households in 12 barangays close to both partner banks (within two regular-priced rides using standard local transportation, 14 pesos or approx. 30 US cents) were given a baseline survey. This survey captured information about basic demographics, work experience and income levels, poverty level (using the PPI), cognitive ability, thoughts on advertising, and previous experience with formal financial institutions and saving. All households were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups or a comparison group.
Marketers from both banks distributed two types of fliers advertising the bank's commitment savings product to households in the treatment groups. Informative fliers contained basic financial literacy information that highlighted the costs of borrowing versus saving, while persuasive fliers emphasized the quality and trustworthiness of a particular bank. Each treatment group received one flier from each bank in a random order: both informative, both persuasive, or mixed (one informative and one persuasive or vice-versa). All fliers were bright and colorful and had a map of the bank's location on the back and noted the four key features of the savings product: 2% interest rate , opening/minimum balance of 100 pesos, free lockbox for savings (paid for by IPA), and goal-setting feature (date or amount restrictions on withdrawal). IPA worked with the banks to refine product terms and conditions and ensure equivalency on a number of key features, terms, and fees so that no significant variation existed between the two banks' products.
A few weeks later, marketers from both banks returned to all households reached in the baseline, including comparison households, and offered to help open savings accounts. To reduce the non-financial barriers to savings that respondents might face, marketers took ID photos for respondents and made copies of other documents required to open accounts. Marketers also worked with respondents to help set a savings goal. At the end of each day, marketers submitted completed application packets and initial deposits for processing by the bank. When accounts had been processed, marketers returned to households to hand over lockboxes and passbooks and answer any additional question the clients may have had about their new accounts. All households were visited by representatives from both banks in a random order to eliminate any first-mover effect.
Results forthcoming.
This project will evaluate the impact of commitment contracts and reminder messaging on savings behaviors among low- and medium-income credit union members in Washington DC. Traditional financial products which dominate the consumer finance market tend to operate under the assumption that consumers act in a rational manner and fail to take into account cognitive biases which can impede the realization of financial goals. Here we test a savings product that includes two features designed to overcome these biases. A built-in commitment contract attempts to encourage consumers to forego present expenditures in lieu of future payoffs. Regular messaging attempts to overcome limited attention, which may result in an inability to stick to a budget or savings plan.
This project will evaluate the effectiveness of financial education and commitment contracts in promoting higher levels of saving, reduced reliance on credit card debt and healthier financial portfolios among low-income individuals in the United States. U.S. households in the bottom quartile of wealth spend, on average, more than they earn, and many low-income consumers lack formal savings accounts. Consumers tend to have time-inconsistent preferences for savings and consumption; they tend to be more impatient in the near-term than in the long-term and thus have a propensity to make purchases that are later regretted. This project will evaluate the impact of commitment devices as a mechanism for mitigating time-inconsistent tendencies in spending, borrowing and saving.
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Muslim vs Arabs
Arab is a race and Muslim is a follower of the religion of Islam
The two words Muslim and Arabs are often understood to be interchangeable, but they are not so. They have some important differences between them. Arabs are not always Muslims and Muslims are not always Arabs.
The most important difference between them is that a Muslim is a person or an individual that embraced the religion of Islam. An Arab is a person or an individual that occupies the Arabian region for dwelling purposes.
The word Muslim is religion based, whereas the word Arab is region based or ethnicity based. It is very important to note that different languages are used by Muslims because of the fact that they reside in different parts of the world. Arabs should necessarily used the Arabic language.
Muslims hail from many parts of the world, whereas Arabs are necessarily from the Middle East regions. Since the Muslims come from different parts of the world they are in large numbers in terms of population. Compared to the number of Muslims in the world, the Arab population is less. This is again because of the fact that the Arabs hail from only a particular region of the world.
It is interesting to note that an Arab citizen might belong to any of the religions such as Christianity, Islam and Jewish. Thus, you come across Muslim Arabs and Christian Arabs. The same is applicable even to those that practice the religion of Islam. You can come across an American Muslim and an Arab Muslim too for that matter. Finally it can be said that Arab is a race and Muslim is a follower of the religion of Islam.
The difference between Muslim and Arabs can thus be summarized as follows:
- A Muslim is an individual that embraces the religion of Islam, whereas an Arab is a person that lives in the Arabian region.
- Muslim is a word that is religion based in usage, whereas Arab is a word that is region based in usage.
- Muslims use different languages, whereas an Arab used only the Arabian language.
- Muslims are from different parts of the world, whereas Arabs are basically from the Arab region.
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Stephen's so adorable, they had to put up railings and take him from town to town to show him off.
A professional photo guy posted a link to these photos some time ago. Credit goes to professional photo guy.
Credit to Stephen for killing us with THE LOOK.
I think of myself as someone who is filled with love, whose only purpose in life was to achieve love. - Stephen Fry


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CICERO, Ill. -- The fight line-up for this Friday's MAS MACHO event, another outstanding evening of world class professional boxing at Cicero Stadium, has been finalized. In the main event electrifying 21 year old Antonio Escalante, amongst the hottest prospects in boxing, returns to Cicero Stadium to battle former world champion Mauricio Pastrana in the main event..
Escalante will be the studio guest on Thursday night on Chicago's highest rated Spanish Newscast, Noticias Univision at 10pm on Channel 66.
MAS MACHO, is presented by Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, TCF Bank and TECATE BEER.
Cicero Stadium is located at 1909 S. Laramie, just minutes from the Eisenhower and Stevenson Expressways. Doors for this event will open at 5:30pm with the first bell at 6:30pm. Tickets, starting at $30, are on sale in advance by calling 312-226-5800.
The weigh-in for this event will take place on Thursday night at 7pm at Las Islas Marias, 6550 W. Fullerton in the Brickyard mall.
The full fight card is as follows:
Antonio Escalante vs. Mauricio Pastrana, super bantamweights, 12 rounds
WBO NABO Super Bantamweight Title
Mike Gonzalez vs. Carlos Madrid, lightweight, eight rounds
Jonas Hernandez vs. Larry Olvera, bantamweights, eight rounds
Oscar De La Cruz vs. Ricardo Benevidas, super featherweights, six rounds
Gustavo Palacios vs. Joshua Rodriguez, welterweights, four rounds
Brooke Dierdorff vs. Mercedes Mercury, super bantamweights, four rounds
Thomas Kurzydlowski vs. Christopher Rogers, cruiserweight, four rounds
The Master of Ceremonies for this event will be the internationally recognized voice of Latino boxing, Lupe Contreras.
8 Count Productions was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1997 and has consistently presented the highest quality professional boxing events in Chicagoland. In 2003, Pesoli along with former featherweight contender Mike Garcia opened JABB Boxing Gym, a 6,000 square foot venue dedicated to the finest Chicagoland boxers of all talent levels.
To view the seating chart and poster for this event or for more information on 8 Count Productions and JABB Boxing Gym, please visit www.8countproductions.com and www.jabbboxinggym.com
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We are looking extremely forward to providing you with your next Affordable & Successful Hunting Adventure with us. Look around our website and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at
(830) 990-9500.
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Our Commitment
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with quality lodging accommodations all year round.
We accommodate single to large group and corporate
lodging for the lowest price in the Hill Country area.


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Found January 16, 2013 on BlackSportsOnline:
PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Lindsey Vonn
These two have been linked together for a while now and it seems more and more that this could be something. In November of 2012 Vonn told the The Denver Post that they were 'just friends". But on his way to play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Woods was seen making a pit stop in Salzburg, Austria (photo above) landing his private Jet on Sunday and leaving on Monday. Lindsey Vonn, an Olympic Gold Medal Skier was also in Salzburg filming a TV interview during that same time period. Could be mere coincidence, but she seems to be Tiger's Style and it won't hurt for us to look at a few pictures of her.
Original Story: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blacks...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Hivetyrant said...
Not only that, but as they have said "Defecting" is different from what Blizzard are implementing, you don't keep your character and change sides, you get a new character of that faction and then a "Similar as possible" stat and gear copy.
It would be stupid and imo very weird (not impossible, but in game terms weird) to have tauren on the alliance, etc.
Schadenfreude said...
"Like many game designers for team-based or multiplayer games, Blizzard believes (correctly) that silhouette is an important factor in telling friend from foe."
See, I don't really buy this. Yes, it's easy to tell a gnome from a tauren silhouette, but can any of you, at a glance, tell a female orc from a night elf from a blood elf from a human from an undead from a troll at a distance? In full armor? While running?
Personally, I look for the red name in PvP, but that may just be me.
That said, I might be okay with the idea of defectors--but they should never be able to raise their reputation with any of the alliance factions above neutral. You've deserted your home faction to join the other side-- well, great! But we'll never really trust you.
onetrueping said...
I can, actually. It's a matter of posture and general shape. With the exception of Blood Elves, most Horde races have a generally hunched posture. And while this doesn't stand for female orcs and trolls, the female orcs have builds similar to male humans (but curvy), while the trolls are tall and gangly. It doesn't take much to identify them, really.
That said, the whole "quest chain for faction change" appears to have been an idea that was kicking around since the First Beta (languages count as skills, after all), but was nixed for a variety of reasons. If they turned it down from the beginning, and are still making you change your race now, I doubt they will ever implement it in the future.


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Friday Funny: Why Don't They Like Our Facebook Page?
… Shock and awe, eh?
Happy Friday!
Image: seanrnicholson via Flickr, CC 2.0
Attenzi – A Social Business Story
Guest Post by Philip Sheldrake
We're at an incredibly exciting point in time.
The Internet is in its 40s, the Web is in its 20s, and social media (in its web manifestation) is in its teens. Most of us have a super computer in our pockets and there's affordable, ubiquitous connectivity to boot.
So what are we doing with it all? Well, polemically you could argue that we're doing what we've always done.
We just do it digitally now.
We had mail, now email. We had folders and a desktop, and now we have digital folders and a digital desktop. It's only after decades that we're beginning to play to digital's unique properties, moving away for example from folders towards search and discovery, and away from email towards enterprise social networking.
Would the Real Holly Dawson Please Stand Up?
Have you ever had that dream, where you walk into a room full of people and realize with horror it contains everyone you have ever known?
All the jostling, incongruous parts of your life flash before you, as your brain speeds through the consequences of this squeamish event – the secrets, deceptions, indiscretions, and embarrassments that will be exposed.
Image: DavidDennisPhotos.com via Flickr, CC 2.0
But then you wake up.
That room, however, does exist. It's called the Internet.


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(WHAS11) Bands are taking the stage at a Fern Creek church Saturday night to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims.
"Wipeout" was just one of the songs played at Hearts of Fire City Church on Bardstown Road.
The event "Hearts for Haiti" is raising money to be forwarded to the Red Cross's Haiti relief efforts.
Don Pedigo, organizer said, "I was watching some of the footage from Haiti, and it really laid heavy on my heart. With my connections in Louisville to put something together with music, I called Bishop Dan Johnson and he was on board immediately, got his crew together, and here we are."
"Hearts for Haiti" lasts until midnight Saturday at the chuch.


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The Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society awarded five plaques to the Pearl River Community College chapter at the organization's recent convention in San Jose, California.
The Beta Tau Gamma chapter at the Forrest County Center was named a "Distinguished Chapter," and one of its advisors, Dr. Terri Smith Ruckel, received the Paragon Award for advisors with less than four years of experience.
Petal native and PRCC student Andy Sims also received a $1,000 Coca-Cola Bronze Scholarship. Beta Tau Gamma is ranked among the top 10 percent of PTK's 1,325 chapters in the United States and abroad.
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n. (slingks) Surreptitious web links to other good sites
• Summer sangria recipes at the LA Times.
• Pig Murder: Serious Eats' Photo of the Day
• Grilled nectarines with blueberry preserves
• Gordon Ramsay admits to faking spearfishing - "...a spearfishing expert set sail beforehand to guarantee Ramsay had something to cook." (via Chow)
6 Comments
I can't $^&&*%&* believe Gordon %^&*(&* Ramsey could be so %&*%%!*%$!!! What a %$%^$%! failure! He should be %^&*% ashamed of himself. Sorry, just saw Hell's Kitchen.
Art, that's too funny. :)
Frankly, I'm surprised that this story has made a splash at all. It's not such a big deal that Mr. Hell's Kitchen didn't actually catch the fish on his own. In fact, the pre-fishing looks to me like the prep work that happens as part of most food/ cooking/ travel shows. Can it be possible that we think TV hosts actually dice their own veggies?
I don't think much of Hell's Kitchen but the show that he's got on BBC where goes to pull failing restaurant's out of the sh&*'s is pretty fun. On BBC they only bleep out about half as many words.
I don't understand why it matters?
If I saw Paula Deen or Giada getting off a boat, I would never assume they caught the whole string of fish. I would assume that they were caught while she was out on the boat, not that she physically reeled them in and lined em up.
Just because Gordon is a guy doesn't mean he's a fisherman deep down somewhere. It just means he won't squeal when he has to bait the hook.
In the UK this is a follow-on story after complaints that the a documentary on the queen was falsely edited to make her entrance into the room appear she had stormed out of an Annie Leibovitz photo session. Also revelations that the BBC and other TV co's fake competitions. Thus it becomes part of an ongoing look at "fakery" in TV. I'm not sure it would have merited such coverage in its own right.
OK, I should have read the whole BBC article first... durr (and read through my own post come to that). "F&@k"
And I don't know anyone who cares whether he caught the fish or not either...


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without your permission.
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Fred Jackson
Patriots Give Bills Blount Force Trauma, Earn First Round Playoff Bye
Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount ran over and through a lot of Buffalo Bills on Sunday, giving New England an important week of rest.
Patriots Look To Finish Undefeated At Home With Win Over Bills
Even though the New England Patriots have already clinched the AFC East title, they need a victory against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday to clinch a first-round bye in the 2013 AFC playoffs.
Dave Richard's Week 13 Fantasy Advice On Toucher & Rich
Fantasy Football guru Dave Richard of CBS Sports called in to Toucher and Rich to provide his expert advice for Week 13. For most leagues, it's the last week before the playoffs so his advice is especially paramount.
Bills Not Happy With Patriots Linebacker Brandon Spikes
Bills running back Fred Jackson is out with a concussion, and there's at least one teammate who's unhappy with how Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes celebrated after delivering the blow.
Gresh & Zo Whiteboard: 'Hammer Time' For Brandon Spikes
Scott Zolak is back for another edition of Gresh & Zo's Whiteboard, as the Patriots get set to face the Bills in Buffalo in a key, early season divisional match up.
Edelman Among 5 Patriots Missing From Practice On Wednesday
Five Patriots did not participate in practice on Wednesday, with wide receiver Julian Edelman among the missing.
Toucher & Rich: Mark Kelso Previews The Buffalo Bills
With training camp getting underway throughout the NFL on Thursday, Toucher and Rich started breaking down the Patriots' competition in the AFC East. Up first: the Buffalo Bills.
Fantasy Football Top 10: Week 9
Each week 98.5 The Sports Hub's Nick Cattles will bring you 10 things he noticed from the week in Fantasy Football, and how it will all help your team.
AFC East: Bills Pick Off Vick 4 Times, Improve To 4-1
Running back Fred Jackson and an opportunistic Buffalo Bills defense combined to defeat the slow-starting, underachieving and turnover-prone Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Fantasy Football Top 10: Week 4
Each week 98.5 The Sports Hub's Nick Cattles will bring you 10 things he noticed from the week in Fantasy Football, and how it will all help your team.


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By TRACEY OŌĆÖNEILL
Special to the Standard
NORTH KINGSTOWNŌĆōThe Town Council unanimously approved the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) design project for construction of a new rotary at the intersection of Routes 2 and 102 in North Kingstown. Deemed a high-hazard intersection under the RIDOT Highway Safety Improvement Program, the intersection was chosen by the state as a priority project.
By LINDSAY OLIVIER
Special to the Standard
A former Narragansett resident who robbed four elderly women in three towns, including North Kingstown, two years ago was sentenced to 35 years, with 20 to serve and the remainder suspended with probation, last week by Superior Court Justice Melanie W. Thunberg.
Holidays in North Kingstown may soon look a little bit different.
Last week, word broke that the tree in Updike Park, long a staple during the town's annual Festival of Lights, may soon be replaced.
In this week's Standard-Times, we bring you the full proposal and tell you how likely it is ŌĆō if at all ŌĆō that Festivalgoers have a new sight to behold this winter.
Decision making can be very difficult for people. There is so much information you need to take into consideration when you know that your choice will be affecting an outcome. That is a lot of power.
We are so very fortunate to have the freedom of choice.
Many years ago I was privileged to be associated with a company that felt it important to work closely with their associates. The idea of partnering together for common goals resonated throughout the business. We were goal orientated, and best of all we were decision makers together.
By TRACEY OŌĆÖNEIL
Special to the Times
NORTH KINGSTOWN ŌĆö The Quonset OfficerŌĆÖs Club was the setting for the start of this yearŌĆÖs annual Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Memorial 5K Run.
Although in its infancy in itŌĆÖs second year in Rhode Island, the race saw some of the areaŌĆÖs top runners come out for a morning run on the fast and flat course through Quonset.
North Kingstown residents, Robert and Michael Wilkinson took the top two spots overall and in age division with times of 17:09 and 17:32 respectively.
By MARTHA SMITH
Special to the Standard
NORTH KINGSTOWN ŌĆō An ex-con, unlicensed tow truck driver suspected of stealing cars. An astonishing high-speed chase through the streets and onto the sidewalks of Providence and North Providence, ending with the fugitive slamming the truck into his own residence and mistakenly trying to hide in the backyard of an off-duty cop who grabbed him and held on.
Five injured law enforcement officers and numerous smashed police vehicles. A flurry of gunfire resulting in the suspectŌĆÖs sister receiving a flesh wound.
By PAUL J. SPETRINI
NORTH KINGSTOWNŌĆöThe Quonset Development Corporation (QDC) has been heralded by local, state and federal officials for years over the way their long-term planning has turned the former military base at Quonset into one of the countryŌĆÖs fastest growing business areas.
Now, however, the QDC is facing criticism over its decision to select a Rhode Island-based company to manage shipping operations in the Port of Davisville.
NORTH KINGSTOWN ŌĆō Last week the stateŌĆÖs Board of Governors for Higher Education voted to approve the federal governmentŌĆÖs gift to URI of a small waterfront parcel on AllenŌĆÖs Harbor, adjacent to the municipal marina.
Although the school has used the 1.8-acre site for 20 years ŌĆō most recently as a base for its Ocean Engineering program ŌĆō and some research vessels employ a dock there, the area has a rundown appearance.
NORTH KINGSTOWN ŌĆō A North Kingstown man was indicted by a Washington County Grand Jury Friday on four counts of first degree child molestation and 11 counts of second degree child molestation.
Robert Eaton, 61, of 50 Yorktown Road, is accused of molesting three children, all under the age of 14, in incidents that allegedly occurred during an 18-year timeframe.
It's been a busy week in North Kingstown and Exeter.
In this week's Standard-Times, we bring you a pair of Quonset-based stories as the University of Rhode Island was recently given a piece of land near Allen's Harbor for marine education and the Quonset Development Corporation found itself defending its vision for the Port of Davisville.
In addition, we bring you all the latest news with both the NK and EWG School Committees and profile a special North Kingstown detective making waves on an elite State Police task force.


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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Did your New Year's resolutions involve losing weight or leading a healthier lifestyle?
Today we're helping you stick to your goals with some tips on how to make 2014 a happy and healthy new year!
Click on the video player above for more.
The New Year is upon us and it's time to renew our commitment to a healthy lifestyle. This year attack the age-old lose weight and eat healthier pledge from a different perspective and make it a family resolution. Every parent knows, teaching children healthy lifestyle habits can be a challenge. But it's not impossible – in fact, the building blocks to a healthy family can be as easy as A-B-C: Aim for Activity, Bring Back Breakfast and Choose Snacks Cautiously.
Aim for Activity
Did you know that one out of three American adolescents is physically unfit? This sets the stage for heart disease later in life. And the reported 7 ½ hours of screen time (TV, computer, video games, etc.) by the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, our children engage in daily doesn't help. To keep kids healthy, we need to keep them moving. The American Heart Association recommends that children get 60 minutes of enjoyable, moderate-intensity physical activity every day.
Make fitness fun and set attainable, not complicated goals. For example, start with a goal of 30 minutes of a family activity a week - playing ball, tag, bike riding, walking the dog, roller skating or house chores– the possibilities are endless.
Fit fitness in everywhere they can. Plan family events such as birthdays around physical activity, such as, softball games at the park or perhaps start the day off with a one-mile fun run benefiting a local charity. Purchase toys and gifts that will get kids off the couch and outside.
Bring Back Breakfast
In the hustle and bustle of the early morning hours many families are skipping the most important meal of the day: Breakfast! Did you know that kids who eat breakfast have better attendance in school, improved test scores, superior nutrition and are less likely to be overweight? This is a meal not to be missed! As a registered dietitian and a mom, I love breakfast because it is an easy way to get nutrient rich foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy into my family before they start the day. Research indicates the quality of foods children eat impacts their cognition. For this reason, it is best to focus on healthier choices during the school week. A balanced breakfast includes 3 of the 5 food groups: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy. Kids can fuel up and still catch the bus with these quick breakfast ideas:
- Whole grain cereal, 1 cup milk and berries
- Scrambled eggs, with red peppers and cheese and orange wedges
- Cheese toast, with low-fat cheddar and whole grain bread and apple slices
- Peanut butter-banana roll-up. Spread a tablespoon of peanut butter on a whole grain tortilla, add banana slices, roll and go.
- Smoothie (see recipe)
Choose Snacks Cautiously
Children (and adults) are snacking more than ever! It is estimated that snacking between meals is the source of nearly 600 calories each day for children. As a nutrition professional, I am not opposed to kids snacking, but I am opposed to what many of them are snacking on. According to research, kids are snacking their way to poor health by munching between meals on processed foods like chips, cookies, and candy. These foods are nutritionally bankrupt! Completely void of the nutrients growing bodies need more of such as calcium, fiber, vitamin D and potassium. Parents can help kids snack smart by stocking the fridge and pantry with nutrient rich foods, such as fruits, veggies, 100 % whole grains, and low-fat dairy. Foods should fuel their growing bodies and give them energy throughout the day, not set the stage for chronic disease. Healthy snacks shouldn't be boring or bland, serve up these kid approved snack ideas and the whole family won't miss the junky stuff.
- Snack kabobs: Skewer cubes of low fat cheese and grapes on pretzel sticks
- Ants on a log: Celery sticks spread with peanut butter and topped with raisins
- Yogurt parfait- Layer yogurt with berries and low fat granola
- Trail Mix (Include cereal, nuts, and dried fruit)
- Pita chips and hummus
Terry Sullivan said it best, "Remember, your child learn from you so you must always set the example. If you are not making time for exercise, and eating right, how can you expect them to? And be consistent and follow through. If you are starting this New Year off differently, do not lose focus and make it a yearlong effort and not just for a few weeks." Don't lose sight of your resolutions purpose, this year just keep your family moving with exercise, breakfast, and smart snacks.
Rebecca Turner MS RD CSSD is a mom, nutrition expert, and runner. Reversing obesity in Mississippi is a marathon, not a sprint. For more information email her at email@example.com or tweet her @myRDrebecca
Banana-Nut Breakfast Smoothie
- 1 large fully-ripened banana, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup puffed rice cereal, such as Quaker Essentials Puffed Rice
- 3/4 cup fat-free milk
- 1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
- 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter (no salt or sugar added)


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- rougewisp
- http://rougewisp.deviantart.com
- Member Since May 20th, 2006
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The best JRPG you haven't played yet {Joystiq}
Oct 29th 2011 3:19AM I'm sort of infamous among my friends for being able to withstand even the wordiest of games, comics, books, and so on. But honestly, LoH:TitS fell flat for me. I was bored out of my mind, the text was just endless and so mindnumbingly average. I actually skipped through text actively, something that as a long time RPG player I never, NEVER do. The main characters (tsundere older sister type and quiet-but-reliable guy with a dark past) were just... ugh, is it too much to ask for characters that aren't stock archetypes in a JRPG?
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For Winter's Veil, I'd like a new bow and a new enchant for my gloves!


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|HAL: hal-00736940, version 1
|arXiv: 1002.0848
|ADS Bibliographic id: 2010AJ....140..804B
|Detailed view
|Export this paper
|Astronomical Journal 140 (2010) 804-816
|The Ages of Type Ia Supernova Progenitors
|T.D. BrandtR. TojeiroE. Aubourg1, 2A. HeavensR. JimenezM.A. Strauss
|For the SDSS-SN collaboration(s)
|Using light curves and host galaxy spectra of 101 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with redshift z <~ 0.3 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Supernova Survey (SDSS-SN), we derive the SN Ia rate as a function of progenitor age (the delay time distribution, DTD). We use the VESPA stellar population synthesis algorithm to analyze the SDSS spectra of all galaxies in the field searched by SDSS-SN, giving us a reference sample of 77,000 galaxies for our SN Ia hosts. Our method does not assume any a priori shape for the DTD and is therefore minimally parametric. We present the DTD in physical units for high-stretch (luminous, slow declining) and low-stretch (subluminous, fast declining) supernovae in three progenitor age bins. We find strong evidence of two progenitor channels: one that produces high-stretch SNe Ia lsim400 Myr after the birth of the progenitor system, and one that produces low-stretch SNe Ia with a delay gsim2.4 Gyr. We find that each channel contributes roughly half of the Type Ia rate in our reference sample. We also construct the average spectra of high-stretch and low-stretch SN Ia host galaxies, and find that the difference of these spectra looks like a main-sequence B star with nebular emission lines indicative of star formation. This supports our finding that there are two populations of SNe Ia, and indicates that the progenitors of high-stretch supernovae are at the least associated with very recent star formation in the last few tens of Myr. Our results provide valuable constraints for models of Type Ia progenitors and may help improve the calibration of SNe Ia as standard candles.
|APC - UMR 7164 - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
|IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (ex DAPNIA)
|APC - Cosmologie et Gravitation
|Sciences of the Universe/Astrophysics/Galactic Astrophysics
Physics/Astrophysics/Galactic Astrophysics
|distance scale – galaxies: stellar content – supernovae: general
|Fulltext link:
|hal-00736940, version 1
|From: Alina Deniau
|Submitted on: Monday, 1 October 2012 00:20:08
|Updated on: Monday, 1 October 2012 00:21:24


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VIDEO: NFL stars and celebrities kick off Super Bowl weekend at Bud Light Hotel
Watch the video and see which players and celelbs were kicking it at the Bud lite Hotel in NYC!
Sheldon Richardson basking in breakout rookie season
In all likelihood, Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson will be a frontrunner for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Fantasy football: Don't give in to championship pressure
Pressure can melt down a fantasy football owner. And now that we're in Super Bowl week, there are a lot of folks out there cracking.
Giants vs. Packers: 3 things to watch
The Giants and Packers engage in a pivotal matchup for both squads, as Big Blue is looking to extend their three-game winning streak.
Fantasy football Week 1 preview: The latest on Montee Ball, RGIII, Eddie Lacy
Fantasy football Week 1 preview: The latest on Montee Ball, RGIII, Eddie Lacy
Avoid these busts-to-be in your fantasy football drafts
Avoid these busts in your NFL fantasy football drafts
NFL Draft: Who are the Jets targeting?
The Jets could select a player at nearly any position in the upcoming NFL Draft and fill a need.


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Need ideas for a small town small business? We have an ebook for you.
20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns is a short ebook detailing 20 different ways you can make a successful business in a small town. It also covers seven ways to generate your own ideas, so you can dream up the small biz idea that best fits you.
And here's the link to download 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns. Enjoy!
If you want to purchase paper copies in bulk, just send me an email.
Want more small town business articles?
Each weekday, get an email with our newest Small Biz Survival article on small town business, entrepreneurship, tourism, marketing, economic development, and even a weekly chance to share your own good news in the Brag Basket.
- 5 Retail Holiday Tips for 2014 - September 15, 2014
- 9 ways to drive engagement and draw a bigger audience on Twitter - September 3, 2014
- Brag Basket goes to the beach - August 29, 2014
- How I found my mission in three kinda-easy steps - August 26, 2014
- Recruiting new residents: help them find out they'll love your town - August 19, 2014
- Should I charge by the hour or by the project? - August 18, 2014
- Finding Mona's Market, a small town business picture-story - August 12, 2014
- 7 Strengths of Small Town Businesses #7: Benefiting the Local Community - August 4, 2014
- Redesign your downtown without breaking the budget - July 29, 2014
- 7 Strengths of Small Town Businesses #6: Innovative - July 28, 2014


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The Senior Contracts Officer plays a key role as the Team Leader for procurement related issues and is responsible for ensuring compliance with Technical, QA and Project requirements while following the rules set forth in the procurement policies and procedures in a Crown Corporations setting.
Responsibilities will include advising and leading a diverse client base in support of all types of contracting needs in the procurement of goods and contracting for services in nuclear safety-related environment with complex requirements, systems and structures, with emphasis in IT project implementations, contracting Resources, Strategic Sourcing, and Managed Services.
They prepare and manage the full tendering process, including: providing input to the client in the drafting of their need; research and preparation of bidders lists / supply sources; Prepare and issue bidding documents; Evaluate bids/proposals, and liaise with Engineering, Quality Assurance, legal etc. to finalize overall evaluation; Negotiate with Suppliers on behalf of Procurement, Engineering and Quality Assurance to arrive at the best overall agreement, including meeting budget and schedule targets; Recommend or select suppliers to senior management. Ensure all requisite approvals are obtained; Complete and execute contracts or purchase orders;
Work with the client groups and project teams to track the project deliverables and expedite where appropriate; Ensure all Clients' necessities are delivered in accordance with the specified requirements; Coordinate flow of materials and information to the client base and monitor the market fluctuations in support of the applicable procurement strategies.
This involves extensive phone contact, e-mail contact and meetings to ensure that requirements arrive as needed at various locations at the required schedule and /or milestone; Ensure all requisite procedure and drawing approvals are obtained, both from the suppliers and from within AECL; Input data to the Procurement Data Base, and/or department records and files, as required. Database tracking and careful documentation of progress on issue resolution is critical; Supervise support staff as required.
The Senior Contracts Officer provides full order administration/expediting on the Purchase Orders that have been placed on the various projects. The Senior Contracts Officer is responsible for the expediting the procurement process and deliverables in a timely manner and the procurement of material and equipment for various project requirements.
AECL has an Employment Equity Program and encourages applications from women, Aboriginal Peoples, visible minorities and persons with disabilities.
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