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Meet Dr. Gavric
Dr. Gavric was born and raised in South Milwaukee. He developed an interest in chiropractic by watching his grandfather, Dr.Milan Gavric, one of Wisconsin's first licensed Doctors of Chiropractic. Growing up he had heard of how his grandfather's treatments helped prevent his mother from having spinal surgery following a horseback riding accident. This helped further his interest in the chiropractic profession.
Dr. Gavric attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry. He continued his studies at Palmer College of Chiropractic, earning his doctorate in 1986.
Since starting practice Dr. Gavric has seen over 7000 patients ranging from 3 month old babies with colic to 96 year old golfers, expectant mothers, nationally ranked power lifters, champion body builders, professional athletes, Olympic medalists and members of the Olympic cycling team.
On a scale of 1-10, I'd give Gavric Chiropractic a 200!! Dr Gavric has helped me on my path to treat what turned out to be a very serious condition and has been with me all along the way. He is the Dr I trust the most! Dr Gavric's assistant is so efficient, competent and just plain incredible!! Appointment times are so flexible and I can get in whenever I need to, even last minute! Thanks Dr Gavric!!


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Asuka Kazama (風間 飛鳥)Asuka Kazama is introduced in Tekken 5 and she has returned for Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken 6, and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. She is mostly known to be a cousin of the series' former protagonist and lead character, Jin Kazama.
Before releasing the game in the Arcades, franchise developer Namco released images of three new characters as part of their Tekken 5 promotions back in 2004. Amongst the new characters were Asuka, a Chinese kenpo-user named Feng Wei, and a mysterious ninja named Raven. Immediately afterward, speculation began to spread about Asuka's role in the story and her possible relation to Jin Kazama.
Asuka is surprisingly brash and arrogant. Though, her profile states that she breaks up fights regularly, she seems to have no qualms about fighting herself and even seemingly revels in it. In her story mode, after defeating her target, Feng Wei, she decides to remain in the tournament in order to "have fun". Her pre and post-match quotes also demonstrate her confidence. As stated in her Tekken 5 / Dark Resurrection prologue, Asuka is also known as being a "nosy kid" who likes to solve other people's problems, "usually by knockout".
It is also worth noting that Asuka speaks with a very heavy Kansai Japanese dialect (Kansai is a region of western Japan encompassing the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe).
One awkward bit of fan speculation addresses a potential romantic relationship between Jin and Asuka Kazama, which several fans have formulated after viewing the circumstances of the two first encounter. However, there is little to suggest that such a pairing may actually occur, despite the conditions of their meeting often used as a setup for many romantic couples in several popular forms of Japanese media. She is the rival of Emilie "Lili" De Rochefort, or simply Lili.
(Source: Tekkenpedia)
Voice ActorsNo voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing
Volume 2011, Article ID 237561, 8 pages
Flexible-Segmentation-Jumping Strategy to Reduce User-Perceived Latency for Video on Demand
CAS, Key Laboratory of Network Communication System and Control, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui 230027, China
Received 11 August 2010; Revised 7 November 2010; Accepted 9 February 2011
Academic Editor: Miin-Shen Yang
Copyright © 2011 Jun Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Traditionally, people usually watch a video from the beginning and continuously to the end; this is changed by the concept and application of Video-On-Demand (VOD). Users do not want to wait for a long time when they seek some specific content in a video; they want to instantly watch any part in a video according to their needs. To resolve this challenge, in this paper, we propose a Flexible-Segmentation-Jumping Strategy (FSJS). This scheme considers users' randomly access behaviors, especially concerns the initial delay before watch point selection. By considering these behaviors and flexibly selecting jumping point, our scheme can significantly reduce user waiting time, in most cases can reduce the waiting time to zero. Our simulation implements the proposed FSJS scheme to the uniform segmentation and exponential segmentation algorithms to show how FSJS improves a user's perceived latency and reduces the extra average serving time. The simulation results show that FSJS can have a significant improvement in user-perceived latency.
1. Introduction
Nowadays, Video-On-Demand (VOD) services have been successfully applied in many applications; their unique merits have been accepted by most people and companies. Compared to text-based content systems, a VOD system usually serves large-size streaming media, which means it naturally requires larger disk space. In a VOD system, the initial delay has become one of the most important aspects for its quality of service (QoS). Using multiple servers to store media files cannot solve the large initial delay issue when there are a number of clients watching VOD at the same time; in addition, this method cannot effectively reduce user-perceived latency.
Figure 1 shows the general architecture of a VOD system. VOD servers are connected with each other, not isolated anymore when compared with the traditional VOD form; they all connect to a shared disk array, which is used to store all media objects. Such architecture has at least two advantages. First, the streaming media objects are stored not in individual servers but in a disk array, and, hence, the disk space can be shared by all servers to store more media files. Second, since servers are connected with each other, we can apply some scheduling strategies to improve the performance of the system. For example, we can use Load-Balance strategy to schedule and manage the server resources or some other useful strategies to decrease a user's start-up latency (initial delay). In this paper, we focus on user's waiting time and how to reduce a user's perceived latency.
Traditionally, segment-based cache [1–4] is a good scheme to deal with how to hit as many segments as possible in a predefined caching space. It includes the uniform-segmentation strategy, exponential-segmentation strategy [1], and adaptive and lazy segmentation strategy [2–4]; each of them has its own advantages when used in a VOD system. Uniform-segmentation is easily to be used, and it considers the recently used segment of a file. Exponential-segmentation scheme concerns both the recently-used and the size of a segment of a file. Adaptive and lazy segmentation considers many factors, among which the most prominent factor that is the average access duration. All these algorithms effectively improve the Byte-Hit-Ratio (BHR) and reduce the network bandwidth.
However, because the algorithms introduced above all aim to boost BHR, they have little contribution in improving the response time of requested media object. Their focus is to reduce the server load, not the user-perceived latency (start-up latency). If we reduce the user-perceived latency, which directly corresponds to users' perception when they use a VOD system, user satisfaction will be highly increased. Therefore, it is urgent for us to design a new caching scheme focusing on reducing user startup latency. Another problem is that the algorithms introduced above all assume that users always play media files from the beginning and continuously towards the end, that is, users do not jump forward or backward or conduct other actions used in Video-Cassette-Recorder (VCR) operations. For VOD systems, this assumption clearly does not hold in practice and users will conduct random access operation. Hence, our designed caching scheme should take random access into account.
In this paper, we propose a Flexible-Segmentation-Jumping-Strategy (FSJS). This strategy pays attention to both the initial delay and user's random access behavior. Through dividing the BaseSegment and flexibly selecting the jumping point, FSJS fully considers the factor of user operation behaviors in VOD systems, significantly reducing user's average waiting time, and, in most cases, eliminating the waiting time completely.
In order to study the performance of FSJS, in our simulation study, we incorporate FSJS with the following two basic strategies that are currently widely used in VOD systems: uniform segmentation scheme and exponential segmentation scheme. Then, we demonstrate how to use our proposed scheme to flexibly select jumping point to obtain the best performance. The simulation outcomes fully verified that the FSJS has a good performance in improving the user-perceived latency and user's satisfaction.
The rest of paper is organized as follows. Related works is presented in Section 2, Caching scheme design is presented in Section 3, and Section 4 presents Simulation and performance evaluation. We will make the conclusion in Section 5.
2. Related Works
In order to reduce user average waiting time and improve quality of service, researchers have proposed many novel strategies, such as partial cache, proxy updating algorithms, prefetching technique, and media delivery technique. Partial cache [1–4], which have been briefly introduced above, can minimize data traffic between servers and clients. But its focus is on improving BHR, and, hence, it has little benefit in improving user-perceived latency.
Proxies are widely used in web browsing and video streaming services to decrease client waiting time. Reference [5, 6] have proposed proxy cache update algorithms to dynamically manage a proxy's cache in order to improve quality of service in streaming media and startup latency. Reference [7] describes a video staging technique which is useful in maintaining a constant bit-rate stream between a proxy and a server.
References [8–10] studied prefetching of multimedia objects. Reference [8] proposed a proactive prefetching method utilizing partially fetched data to improve the utilization of network bandwidth. In [9], the prefetching was applied to preload a certain amount of data in order to take advantage of the caching power. For layered-encoded objects, [10] studied prefetching of layered video not in cache by maintaining a prefetching window of a cached stream.
Media delivery techniques include batching [11–13] stream merging [14], utilize multicast [15, 16] and patching [17]. Tokekar et al. [11] presented a model to analyze proposed batching policy in view of different user reneging behaviors and came up with the optimum value of batching interval to maximize the average number of users served and at the same time minimize reneging probability. Reference [12] considered a finite-buffer batch arrival and batch service queue with single and multiple vacations. Reference [13] analyzed a discrete-time two-phase queuing system, which receives batch service in the first queue and individual service in the second queue. It analyzed the queue length and the effect of batch size on the waiting time. However, it is not easy to decide the batching interval and size. Reference [14] discussed three main stream merging techniques: Patching, Transition Patching, and ERMT. It also presented two alternative implementations of MCF (MCF-T and MCF-P), and showed that MCF achieves significant performance benefits in terms of both the number of requests that can be served concurrently and the average waiting time for service. Reference [15] addressed a relevant optimization problem, and proposed a hybrid transmission scheme to tackle channel allocation problem. This scheme determines the most suitable delivery technique for each video and the appropriates number of channels to be allocated to the video using a dynamic programming approach. [16] evaluated and discussed the recent progress in developing multicast VOD systems, and studied QoS, fairness of multicast VOD server, and custom behavior. But it is hard to develop standard protocols for multicast VOD for practical applications. In terms of patching, [17] proposed a PeriodPatch, which only uses 38% streams of FIFO or 50% of Patching schedule to provide the same TVOD service.
3. Caching Scheme Design
3.1. Basic Design Idea
Since media files used in a VOD system are very large, it is impractical to cache all streaming media in a limited caching space. Thus, it is a good idea to use partial caching scheme instead. First, we divide the media file into segments. Each segment is called a BaseSegment and has a size of . In order to reduce the initial delay and guarantee to have a relatively high BHR, when a user first requests a new media file, our strategy will cache the first BaseSegment unconditionally if the caching space has enough size to cache this segment.
Second, except the first BaseSegment, we divide each of the remaining BaseSegments into two parts: Prefix and Suffix. Since the caching space is limited, our caching scheme will only cache the Prefix of each segment as shown in Figure 2.
With the same caching capacity, this strategy allows us to cache more segments, both the total number of segments and the number of same media file's segments. The number of same media file's segments affects the user-perceived latency. However, since VOD services allow users to jump forward or backward randomly, these actions will still cause users to wait for some time. A user with little patience can still give up seeing such a movie. To deal with this challenge, we modify our scheme in the following way: if users' play in Prefix part which has been cached, the user can see the content without waiting, else in the Suffix part that not in cache, we do not immediately tell the server to send the frames to users; alternatively, we flexibly select the jumping point, like the Figure 3.
If a user plays in , he or she can watch the movie immediately; if the user's request point is in , our scheme will simply let the request jump to or (which one point to jump is determined by the length of ), and at the same time request the remote server to download the unavailable Suffix part. In a round trip time delay, when the user still watches in the Prefix part, the Suffix part has been continuously forwarded to the client, which leads to an uninterrupted playout at the user side. If we limit the size in or , this minor jumping will not disturb the user too much, and the user will no observe the difference. However, the jumping strategy brings us the benefit of almost no waiting time for a user when the user jumps forward or backward to see a specific content.
Compared with the traditional cache, like the uniform segmentation, exponential segmentation, or adaptive and lazy segmentation scheme, and so forth, FSJS's most striking feathers lie in the segmentation strategy and jumping strategy. One is that in traditional cache, the basic unit is BaseSegment, but in FSJS, which divides the BaseSegment to Prefix and Suffix, made the basic unit smaller, that eventually benefits for us to do better caching strategy. Another is that traditional caches in initial delay are very high; however, FSJS using the jumping strategy can let the users obtain almost zero waiting time in most cases. With the increase of server load (by increasing the number of VOD users), the FSJS's advantage becomes more obvious, as more and more users will be pulled to the same segment in cache, which definitely will increase the BHR and reduce the server load.
If a user's jumping point is in , the system will only have the previous cached Prefix part without the subsequent cached Prefix part. In this situation, the request point will be pulled to . However, if the length of is large enough to affect the user's normal watching, how to deal with such situation and size should be discussed.
FSJS can reduce a user's waiting time; however, in some cases, it may cause the remote server to introduce an extra serving time. In Figure 3, if the user's request point is in , and assuming that in our scheme it jumps to , the user can immediately see the video but he or she needs an extra time to download video streaming in the size of from the remote server when reaching the first request point , which definitely will increase the server load and influence the server performance.
3.2. Analyzing the Model
Considering the basic structure of VOD system as shown in Figure 1, it consists of heterogeneous servers and a disk array. Let the set denote servers and each server has the capacity of to be used as buffer to cache some popular media segments. The disk array's storage is , and it has enough space to cache the video media. All streaming media are stored in disk array, not in the servers. Each server caches different media files , and each media file has . For each media object, its caching status is denoted as , in which 1 means the media object is in cache, 0 indicates the object is no in cache. Thus, in order to maximum the BHR and space utilization, the caching scheme should be made as
When a client requests a video media, the time of the request from the client to server is denoted as , the retrieval time of the media file in server is denoted as , and the media's transportation from the server to client is denoted as . Assuming the network delay between server and client is , such as network congestion, that can affect a user's waiting time. In such situation, each client's waiting time when playing a video can be defined as follows:
It is obvious that request from client to server needs far smaller time compared to the retrieval and the data transmission time from the server to client. Thus, in our calculation can be neglected. Simply, in our simulation, assume the network delay . Our scheme's objective can be formulated as
In Figure 2, suppose the size of the BaseSegment is and the Prefix size is ; thus, the percentage of Prefix, denoted as PerPrefix, is equal to , . The value of PerPrefix, which affects the BHR or other performances, will be studied through our simulation experiments.
Suppose we define , , and . If a jump point has both previous Prefix and subsequence Prefix part, like , is less than or equal to half of the BaseSegment or more than half of BaseSegment, in our strategy, we will let the request point jump to , and vice versa jump to . If the point only has the previous Prefix, like the , when less than or equal to BaseSegment, we think it will not disturb the user too much, then jump to . But when larger than BaseSegment, the users may notice the difference, so it should not jump, but stay in . The jumping point , can be defined as follows:
From above, if user's play in , , , through select appropriate jumping point, , users can obtain the best satisfaction. Only in , users need to wait before the frames were sent from the servers to clients.
In the basic design as shown in Figure 3, the extra download size is an important factor that needs to be studied. In this paper, we use Extra Average Serving Time (EAST) to describe the extra waiting time for downloading of . EAST only happens when the system selects the previous point of the current request point, and selecting the next point or stand still will no exert EAST. Thus, in each media file , can be simply calculated as where represents the average transmitting rate between the servers and clients. means pulling the request point to .
3.3. Simulation Strategy
Because FSJS is just a segment-divide strategy, it has no utility function. New media segment has to be added and the popularity of the segment also changes over time, which means, the caching segment should be updated periodically and we need to evict the smallest value segment. In order to simply show the merits of FSJS and also find out which caching scheme has the smallest EAST, we only use FSJS to update uniform segmentation and exponential segmentation algorithm.
3.3.1. FSJS Updating Uniform Segmentation
We cache the first BaseSegment when a media file is first requested and increase only one Prefix part for the next been requested. Then, we use LRU (Least Recently Used) replacement to decide which segment should be evicted from the cache. There are two eviction strategies assuming that we have found the media file which has the smallest utility value. (1) if the smallest utility value's media file has some Prefix in cache, our eviction only drop the last Prefix part; otherwise, we drop the BaseSegment. (2) we drop all segments of this selected media in cache, including all Prefix parts and the BaseSegment. The first strategy calls UniSeg (FSJS) and second one UniSeg (FSJS)-D.
3.3.2. FSJS Updating Exponential Segmentation
Similarly, we can form eviction strategies called ExpSeg (FSJS) and ExpSeg (FSJS)-D for using FSJS to update the exponential segmentation. Exponential segmentation scheme still uses its own utility function [2], (in which is the current time, is the last time to access the media segment, is the number of the segment) and the difference is that the Prefix will increase double each time when the media file been requested. Right now, the form of FSJS updating the basic caching scheme has been discussed, but we have not known the ratio of the Prefix to BaseSegment.
4. Simulation and Performance Evaluation
4.1. Finding the Best Percentage of Prefix to BaseSegment
Our simulation uses 10 days' VOD log captured from our university's campus network to a VOD server. The log recorded all users' VCR operations in detail. The server ip is 184.108.40.206, and the number of media files is 7424. Considering each VCR operational jump as an independent play, the total play count is 279,765, the total media size is 2, 572, 949, 855, 454B, and the average flow size is 169, 175, 372B, the relationship of file popularity can be drawn in Figure 4.
In Figure 4, it shows the ratio of current size to total media size and the ratio of current flow size to total flow size, we can see from the figure that almost the first 1300 media files account the 20% of the total media size, but hold the 78% of the total flow size, thus the popularity of individual requests taken from a "80/20" laws.
As the percentage of Prefix to BaseSegment significantly affects BHR and server's additional serving time, we need to find the best ratio of Prefix/BaseSegment. In our simulation, we assume BaseSegment = 2 MB, Caching Size = 30 GB, Mbps. Our objective is that in the same caching capacity cache as many media file segments as possible, thus PerPrefix should be no bigger than 50%. At the same time, since a small ratio means low BHR, we define PerPrefix should be larger than 10%. The relationship about the PerPrefix, BHR, and EAST is shown in Figure 5 when using FSJS to update the uniform segmentation.
In Figure 5, the value of BHR increases when we increase the value of PerPrefix. This is what we want, since a higher BHR means a lower server load. But at the same time, the EAST also increases, which is not what we want, as it will bring an extra serving time. Next, in the same way like the UniSeg(FSJS)-D, Figure 6 shows the simulation results when using FSJS to update the exponential segmentation.
Figure 6 shows that ExpSeg(FSJS)-D has a similar performance like the UniSeg(FSJS)-D. When the value of PerPrefix increases, both BHR and EAST rise, but at a different rate at each PerPrefix. In order to find the best operation setting, which means in such PerPrefix, the BHR is not low, the EAST also not high, but their combination have the best satisfaction when used in VOD system. Thus, we have to compromise in BHR and EAST to find the best percentage of Prefix to BaseSegment. Using the following equation as a standard criterion: where Satisfaction is the percentage of to , is a constant, as a control factor which can minor adjust system in order to achieve the expected result, and larger than zero are decided by different situation of VOD system. If the designer is more concerned with the server load, he or she can choose larger than ; if the designer cares more about the user waiting time, should be chosen less than . In our simulation, we think both BHR and EAST are important; thus, we choose and , Figure 7 shows the simulation results of BHR/EAST.
With the percentage of Prefix increasing, UniSeg(FSJS)-D and ExpSeg(FSJS)-D have different BHR/EAST, and the higher value of BHR/EAST, the more satisfaction a user will get. Thus, in Figure 7, it is easier to find the best point of UniSeg(FSJS)-D is PerPrefix = 15%, and ExpSeg(FSJS)-D's best point is PerPrefix = 35%.
4.2. Comparison in Extra Average Serving Time
Now, we have found the best percentage of Prefix to BaseSegment, next we use PerPrefix = 15% in UniSeg(FSJS) and UniSeg(FSJS)-D to compare with uniform segmentation and PerPrefix = 35% in ExpSeg(FSJS) and ExpSeg(FSJS)-D to compare with exponential segmentation in EAST, respectively. The simulation results are shown in Figures 8 and 9.
Figure 8 shows how using FSJS to update uniform segmentation affects the EAST. With the increase of the caching size, EAST decreases. But the extra serving time almost stops decreasing in 820 ms when using the uniform segmentation strategy and the caching size becomes larger than 20 GB. Using FSJS, it continues to decrease in EAST with the expanding of the caching size. The reason is that when applying FSJS, with the same caching space, the system can cache more Prefix segments and reduces the EAST through selecting forward or backward jumping point in a more effective way. At the same time, when the caching size is less than or equal to 20 GB, UniSeg(FSJS) has a superior performance than the UniSeg(FSJS)-D, in other conditions, UniSeg(FSJS)-D exhibits better performance. Due to using UniSeg(FSJS) and UniSeg(FSJS)-D, their results in EAST are slight difference. However, when the caching space is full, UniSeg(FSJS) only evicts the smallest utility functional Prefix part, which needs more iteration when it has enough space to cache the next new BaseSegment. In UniSeg(FSJS)-D, it drops all the smallest utility functional segments, only needs one eviction that can release enough space, therefore, UniSeg(FSJS)-D saves more time in replacing the segments.
Figure 9 shows the performance in terms of EAST when using FSJS to update exponential segmentation. ExpSeg(FSJS) is better than ExpSeg(FSJS)-D, at least saving 180 ms in average in EAST. The worst performance is exponential segmentation, which needs nearly more than 220 ms in average in EAST to the ExpSeg(FSJS)-D and 400 ms to the ExpSeg(FSJS). ExpSeg(FSJS)-D is superior to the ExpSeg(FSJS) in the replacing moment, ExpSeg(FSJS)-D needs less time to replace segments compared to the ExpSeg(FSJS). However, in exponential segmentation scheme, it evicts twice segments of the previous each time. In this way, it can quickly release enough space to cache new segments. So the difference between the ExpSeg(FSJS)-D and ExpSeg(FSJS) is less than the difference between UniSeg(FSJS)-D and UniSeg(FSJS) in terms of evicting time. Thus, in our simulation, ExpSeg(FSJS) is better than ExpSeg(FSJS)-D.
UniSeg(FSJS)-D (PerPrefeix = 15%) is the best caching scheme when using FSJS to update uniform segmentation, and ExpSeg(FSJS) (PerPrefix = 35%) is the best caching scheme when applying the FSJS to exponential segmentation. As shown in Figure 10, it is easier to see that ExpSeg(FSJS) is superior to the UniSeg(FSJS)-D in EAST, especially the caching size is small, it almost saves 200 ms in EAST when caching size is 5 GB. With the caching size increasing to 30 GB, the UniSeg(FSJS)-D almost stops in 180 ms, but the ExpSeg(FSJS) can still decreasing, which nearly decrease to 120 ms in EAST when the caching size reach to 50 GB. So far, we have found that the best caching scheme using FSJS is ExpSeg(FSJS), and the PerPrefix is 35%. In such condition, we can achieve the smallest Extra Average Serving Time.
5. Conclusion
In this paper, we analyze the current exiting problems using traditional caching strategies, and propose a Flexible-Segmentation-Jumping-Strategy (FSJS). We use FSJS to update uniform segmentation and exponential segmentation. Based on the initial delay, the server load, the factor of user randomly access behavior, we developed four different strategies called UniSeg(FSJS), UniSeg(FSJS)-D and ExpSeg(FSJS), ExpSeg(FSJS)-D. We also found the best point of Prefix/BaseSegment. We compared the four proposed strategies, and found that FSJS not only can cut down a user's waiting time to zero in most cases, but also can reduce a server's extra serving time. Among the four strategies, ExpSeg(FSJS) can achieve the best performance. We plan to use ExpSeg(FSJS) in our future real VOD project. Our simulation results showed that FSJS can significantly reduce user-perceived latency.
This paper is sponsored by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (no. 2008AA01A317), the AnHui Colleges & Universities Provincial Science Research Project (no. KJ2008A106), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (no. WK2100100006).
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London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/09/2015 -- Most buyers consider the net revenue made by the website annually plus some percentage higher than this amount. At the core of the valuation process, the seller needs to determine the net revenue of the website. To arrive at the net profit of the online business requires subtracting all the expenses incurred in the course of running the business (like hosting, marketing, banners, affiliation system, etc.) from the total revenues made.
It is recommended that this calculation is based on a 12-month period. After determining the net revenue per year, the seller may select a multiplier value. For well-established websites, the value may be between from 1.5x to 3x. Suppose for example a website's annual net revenue amounts to $50,000; a buyer may multiply with 2x and give an offer of $100,000 as the buying price for the online business. In addition there are several other issues that the buyer may consider such as any risks that the website maybe facing. In order to ascertain the risks faced by a website, a number of factors are considered such as: increasing growth, stable incomes, automated system, traffic streams and quality, diversified revenue streams.
Generally speaking, there are many different ways in which online businesses can be valued. For some businesses, the assets the websites own such as a rich customer list (database) may be appealing to potential buyers who may have innovative ways of using this asset, and therefore may value the website based on these assets. Other buyers could employ a comparable sales method to value the website or they should consider the revenues of the website and identify a multiple based on strengths and weaknesses of the website.
Here are some of the bases when pricing them:
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Robert Sarner
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text:
It's not possible for me to have been more wrong in that judgement.
Woke to tears already happening.
It was like my soul couldn't wait for me to wake before beginning to deeply mourn all over again.
Standing in front of my bedroom window watching the soft rain fall and the fog roll across the back field, I thought it fitting for today. No sunshine. No brightness. I closed my eyes and let myself drift. Allowed myself a moment of reflecting on how deep my sorrow was. How dark the edge was around me.
As I stood there with the tears falling, I heard you.
That soft Irish lilt that I teased you about when we spoke on the phone.
Today is the day.
Tell our story.
You promised.
So here I now sit. Where do I even begin?
How do I tell this tale?
I stared at the notes I've scribbled into my journals over this past year.
Things I didn't want to let time take from my memory.
The computer screen blank.
Tears flowing none stop.
I can't do this.
It's too hard.
Piles of wet kleenex are tossed around the desk.
The words aren't flowing right. My thoughts are jumbled.
Taking a deep breath, I get up from my desk and walk around my art studio.
That is where I have scattered pieces of Ry's heart, the most.
Gathering beach glass and her amethyst, I place them next to my computer.
Over to my jewelry box, finding the small box tied with red string, I carefully take out her ring.
She created it with her husband and wore it every day until she slipped it into the box to send to me.
I slip it onto my finger.I can feel a surge of her energy wash over me. My heart weeps.
Closing my eyes again, I allow myself to see the message she is sending me.
The green hills of Ireland.
I can hear laughter and know it's her and I.
She whispers to me .... you are ready. Tell our story.
This is Rydonna.
I've known her longer in death then I did while she was alive.
We were not friends for many decades.
We were not friends for even a few years.
We met online and within a few short months, she would be taken away from my soul.
We both sent it to each other in an email one day.
We used to laugh because we could never recall exactly how it was we met online. We could narrow it down to, I belonged to a FB group and so did Ry. We laughed and always said it was the beginning of our souls finding each other. Our souls just reached out and sparked strong enough with a few words to connect us forever again in this lifetime.
She had been making some comments about how difficult things were in her life and she was struggling.
Others were responding to her message with love and support.
Something clicked inside me and I wrote her a private message.
We weren't friends on Facebook. We had no mutual friends. We were strangers.
I didn't know the backstory to her sorrow but I reached out.
She reached back and said reading my message had made her smile.
We became friends on Facebook and I watched her struggle. I was gathering bits and pieces of her story.
She was battling cancer. She had just made a move from somewhere back to Canada and to Alberta.
Our friendship was new and I didn't want to push and pry.
After only a few weeks of being friends online, she was gone. One morning, I got up and noticed her FB page had been shut off.She had sent me a private message saying she could be contacted at an email she shared.I sent off an email and it bounced back to me.
I was at a loss of words. Who do I contact? I so desperately wanted to reach out to her that it took my focus off everything around me.I was in a daze. How could one person that I hardly knew be effecting me so strongly.
Walking out to a special section of my back field, I sat down on the large rock and just spoke to the Universe.The breeze rippled the golden wild grass around me. The leaves rustled. I watched a butterfly float from one wildflower to another. She had been brought into my life for a reason. Share that reason.
The cat and I shared a few more moments in the sun and then walked back to the farmhouse.
After supper when I went online, I had a message from Rydonna.
She had gone into the hospital for surgery: Stage III, invasive ductal carcinoma and she'd had her breasts removed. She was making plans to start going for continued treatments of radiation and chemotherapy.
She had several moments of wanting to just give up and she said that the thought of doing that to me broke her heart.
In one of the messages I had shared with her, I had sent along this photo and quote.
"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstances.
The thread may stretch or tangle,
but never break."
- Ancient Chinese Proverb
She told me she had tied a red string around her wrist and thought of me each time she touched it.
Thus began our true journey of connecting our souls further and forever becoming one.
We wrote messages on FB constantly to each other.
Emails back and forth happened every day, numerous times.
She lived out west and I lived on the East coast. The time difference made things a wee bit more difficult but we worked around it. I'd write her a long email each evening just before going to bed. She'd read it before she went to bed and write me back. I'd read her email while sipping my morning coffee and knowing she was still sleeping.
We both knew she was fighting a very aggressive cancer. We didn't know how much time we had.
Both of us were beyond determined to share and know anything/everything there was to know about each other.
Silly little emails full of random thoughts happened.(Her fave food was mushy cornflakes and her fave color was purple)
Much more heartfelt stories were also shared with tears.
She married Miles.
He was the love of her life.
She'd only been in love twice in her life she told me.
The first time, she had actually been living in Nova Scotia (where I am from) and it had been an amazing 9 year courtship until that other person had passed away from cancer. She said it broke her heart and no one had been able to heal her sorrow until she met Miles.
She was older then Miles.
His family had a very difficult time with that. She didn't always get along with his family but said they were never mean. She said it was like she was always on the outside looking in.
Rydonna was from a small little village in Ireland. Her family had owned a very large sheep farm while she was growing up. They were extremely wealthy. She had come to Canada to further her education. She was a Chemical biologist.
Her mother had passed away from cancer.
Not long after, her father passed away from cancer as well.
One day while we were writing back and forth, I asked her about Miles.
I knew enough from her to know he was no longer in her life.
She went by her married name still though.
I didn't know if they were divorced or what.
I asked to learn more about him but only if she felt comfortable to share.
It was taken in Ireland.
She told me the date.
The date matched a time frame of when she had gone off Facebook for awhile.
I came to learn her true battle beyond cancer.
She and Miles had gone to Ireland for a family visit.
I say family visit as she, Miles and their twin baby boys all went.
She had family there. He had a sister living in Ireland as well.
This photo was taken of she and Miles while having a wonderful vacation.
A few days later, her life would forever change.
There was a car accident.
I didn't need more details explaining where or how.
She spent many weeks recovering in the hospital.
Her heart was never to recover.
Miles and their twin boys had been killed in the car accident.
Her grief was deep. Her sadness was strong.
I couldn't imagine her pain.
She fought thoughts of joining them.
She felt guilt at not having died with them.
She had no support system to lean on since her family was gone.
His family had already held her at arms length and now were grieving the loss of their son and brother.
Their grandsons and nephews. She felt very alone.
We pushed thru.
She said reading my messages and having laughter brought back into her life meant so much to her.
A light was being shone again in her life.
She wasn't a religious person but was very strongly connected to the belief that the universe has things written out for us in the stars. That we are souls that pass time and time again. Connecting and learning.
We greatly bonded on that shared concept. Our souls were connected.
So many thoughts, comments and feelings were the same.
She shared photos of her life.....
This is my favorite photo she ever sent me.I can't even see her face and yet I can totally feel her soul smile.
Come to find out I was actually living in Calgary at the same time.
Our souls weren't speaking loudly enough to find each other back then.
She had always said she lived in a cabin on a lake.
I teased her and said I had a much more "rustic" image happening in my head when she'd talked about it.
One of the most amazing things she did was instead of selling this home once she found out the chemo hadn't worked and her cancer was growing rapidly thru her body........she went to her lawyer and left this home and another to Miles' nieces and nephews. With enough money to always have it looked after so that for many years to come, they would have a place to visit on a lake and enjoy life.
She had such a great heart.
Her time was getting closer.
The hospital team had spoken with her and her treatments weren't working.
She was going to need to move closer to a hospice.
Our emails were constant.
She called me one evening.
She had gone to a neighbors to use their phone.
She wanted to hear my voice at least once.
We cried. We laughed so hard. We cried more.
She said she was scared. She said she had always just wanted to be with Miles.
Then I had been brought into her life and now she just wanted more time with me.
I told her that we had been brought together. The universe had written it in the stars.
Whatever amount of time we had was ours to use wisely. To know each other inside and out.
We both took a deep breath and at the same time said..... we are soul mates.
She told me she loved me.
That she'd only ever had 2 loves in her life.
Then I had come into her life and she knew the number of true loves in her life had actually been 3.
She had been going around her home and gathering things she was going to send me.
That she had spoken to the staff at the hospice and that it would all be sent to me after she was gone.
More tears and I told her she didn't need to be using her energy on such thoughts. She told me she loved me again and wanted me to have piece of her always.
Furious amounts of emails continued to be written between us. I spent every moment possible on my computer sending her messages. I wanted her to see notes filled with love and laughter at any moment she was able to go online. We didn't allow ourselves to dwell on the sadness that edged around us at all times.
She was getting much weaker. She started messages to me with that she was just getting up from a nap.
I opened an email a few days later saying she was closing the house and moving into the hospice.
I felt the beginning of my heart start to shatter. This was too soon. We weren't ready
We still had so much more to say and share.
I asked her if she was going to still be able to get messages from me and she said she was bringing her laptop. That I was to write her every moment possible.
The last email I got from her said ...
This is the response I sent her back....
"Morning my light
I know you are scared. That only makes sense, silly one. It is the unknown that carries fear.
We got to meet this lifetime. Many soul mates search for each other and don't always have their paths cross.
I surround you with light. I fill your heart with all my love. We got to share silliness and laughter. We shared tears.
We know what to search for next path....a few more clues were placed deep within our hearts to guide us to each other quicker.
Both with striking shades of blue eyes that folks talk about.
A smile that draws a person closer. A light that burns in each of us bright enough, our darkness we share is never fully covering us in shadow.
I will search for the gal who seems at unease at being poor....... I'll know it's you xoxo
You'll be drawn to a piece of artwork hanging in a gallery window. The work will speak to your heart.
You'll want to know more about the artist.
You'll hear laughter in a marketplace and it will be a wee bit too loud.
She'll be me xoxox
Each and every time our paths cross, we'll spend more time together.
I love you Ry.
I will listen for your voice in the gentle breezes that caress my cheeks
I will feel your love and light on my skin when the sun kisses me
Your gentle touch will cover me when I stand outside in the rains
I will see your excitement for life in the Spring lambs I'll have at the farmhouse, frolicking in the green grass of the pasture. Secretly whispering their little Irish names into their ears while they nuzzle me.
You will be the sun burst in the photography I take that finally gets hung in a gallery showing. People will be drawn to that photo and talk about it and how it speaks to them.
You will be within me; guiding my paint brush with every stroke. I will finally be able to create pieces with light and not darkness attached. Your light will shine thru me.
I can no longer be called a lost soul.
I found my soul mate. You made me whole.
You made me feel love like no other in my life.
Happiness that flows out of me in all directions.
I will feel the freedom to write again. The whisper I have always listened to; that drew me to picking up a pen and placing the words whispered to my soul; now has a name.
The whisper is soft. The whisper speaks with an Irish accent. You will continue to whisper to me but I will know it's you. I will write more freely then ever before.
Maybe I'm meant to put pen to paper and write our story.
I love you with every breath I take
I love you with every fiber of my being.
Draw strength from me.
See my light around you.
You are beautiful
It is not possible for me to love anyone, more then I love you at this very moment in time
I love you Rydonna
You are me. I am you
We are soul mates.
I never heard from Rydonna again.
I was beside myself. I sent more emails. All went unanswered.
She'd never shared what hospice she was in. I had no one else to contact about how she was.
How was I going to know what happened? How was I going to find a level of peace in this chaos?
She'd told me that she'd set it up with her hospice worker to contact me. Was that really going to happen?
On September 11, 2012, I got an email.
It read that she worked at the hospice and had been with Rydonna at the very end.
Rydonna had passed away peacefully in her sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
She was to tell me she was wearing my red thread when she passed away.
A parcel would be heading my way from Rydonna.
I was shattered. I knew it was coming and yet nothing that had ever happened in my life before that moment prepared me for the level of darkness that I would fall into. Grief, sadness,anger and madness washed over me in waves. Rydonna had been in my life less then 3 months.
We had connected on so many levels. She effected my life and thoughts in too many ways in such a short period of time. What she and I shared went beyond a friendship. We shared deeply with each other. We shared strongly and with all of our hearts. We kept no secrets. We shared as much possible in the time frame we were blessed with. She forever altered my life.
A number of weeks later, a parcel arrived for me.
I knew it was from her. She had talked about walking around her home gathering items she wanted me to have. She had never shared what they were. She had wrapped each in tissue paper and written me notes on everything.
I was seeing her handwriting for the first time.
Even in her pain, and with all the other stuff happening in her last moments, she had done this for me.
Here is a small sampling of some of the items ..............
" I will meet you in the softness of the winds and the rain as it falls. I love you"
Clock pieces to create something with in my art.
She said they have no hands because time stands still for us now that we had found each other.
Wooden signs that she and Miles had created together. His messages to her are underneath the messages she wrote to me. They are hidden in special places around the farmhouse that I go to.
They were the most amazing tulips I have ever seen. HUGE blooms the most amazing shade of purple and they lasted for a very long time. I loved watching them come alive and will cherish them always in my garden.
One of the most amazing things that Rydonna sent me was a journal.
She'd never kept one before. It was filled with messages and love.
She'd printed off our emails and written comments. She shared her heart and soul within these pages.
A small sampling for you of some of her heart......
One of the last pages of the journal is that last email I sent to her. She was too weak to respond to it. She had asked it to be printed out and she glued it into the book. She wrote messages of deep love to me. She wrote "please finish our story for me".
One of her greatest fears about dying was that no one would remember her or mourn her passing. Her parents, Miles and her boys; and others she'd loved were already waiting on the other side. I'd told her that I would tell our story and folks would know her thru my words. They would be able to feel my deep level of sorrow. That she would be remembered. I would share our love and friendship.
I would share how we were soul mates.
That even in the short number of days we had with each other, that a level of love, understanding and intense connection could be felt.
My heart shattered the day I lost Rydonna.
She effected the energy I carry with me and put out every day.
I can still hear her voice.
I carry her love in my heart.
She walks in my dreams.
She speaks to me in the wind.
She kisses me with raindrops.
I didn't know my soul had been missing her until we found each other again.
In the very beginning, after she was gone, my darkness was all consuming.
It took a long time to even want to crawl out from underneath.
Some days are better then others.
Some days I allow myself to have sorrow wash over me like a waterfall and take my breath away.
Most days I can go about my business and have a smile on my face.
My heart is once again happy and I can find reasons to smile and move forward.
This all happens with my soul weeping in the background, waiting for that moment that Rydonna and I find each other again.
I love you Ry.
I loved you then
I love you now
I will love and miss you forever
You have my soul!


text:
NY LEGAL ONE - Bullying 101 for Educators
Time limit: 365 days
Full course description
"Bullying 101 for Educators" is a two‐hour interactive program provides key information about bullying and cyber bullying, and it explains how schools, community organizations, and parents can create safe, healthy environments where bullying is less likely to happen. Authored by leading experts in the field of bullying prevention, this course includes interactive exercises, video clips, case studies, and online references—making this program enjoyable and informative.
Participants will be able to:
- Define bullying and cite research about its prevalence
- Identify different ways in which a student is bullied
- Discuss roles beyond being bullied and bullying others that students can play in a bullying situation
- Recognize the common warning signs that a child is being bullied
- Define cyber bullying
- List the effects of bullying
- Describe the best ways to prevent bullying
- Explain their role in bullying prevention and intervention
- Identify additional resources for finding information and help to address bullying among youth
Clemson University is the national training center for the award‐winning Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Members of their faculty and staff are widely considered to be leading experts in the field of bullying and cyber bullying.Register at: http://secure.njpsa.org/NJPSApublic/Core/Events/LegalOneReg.aspx?iKey=NYON7
Already registered?
Click "Login" at top of this page and enter your email and password.


text:
Mar 17, 2014 11:19 ET
As a reminder to motorists, as of March 18, the fine for distracted driving will increase to $280, from $155, in the hopes of deterring dangerous driving on our roadways.
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of collisions on our roadways. All drivers are encouraged to abide by this law and not use these electronic devices while driving. Roadway safety continues to be a top priority of the Durham Regional Police and, as a result, the offences relating to distracted driving will be strictly enforced.
Durham Regional Police would like to remind all motorists to drive with respect and obey all rules of the road. No call, text or email is worth anyone's life.
cell thumb (JPG file, 37.2K bytes)


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Mugshots Online has the most recent mugshots from Charlott (Charlotte Mugshots) . Here you will be able to search for Charlott mugshots . You can also know about what the most recent mugshots are, or can search them by name. You can also see them to have a view . If you would like to see the most recent mugshots from Charlott , JailBase.com has an updated feed for the last 10 people.
This handy widget from Jailbase.com will scan all mugshot records that we have in Charlott for that particular name:
About Charlotte Mugshots
Individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Data is believed to be reliable but is provided "as is". Contact the appropriate governmental agency to verify.
Charlotte now continues to be named on several "best spot to live" list. One good reason is its convenient location within the Piedmont region of New York only a couple of hours from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain tops and also the Chesapeake Bay. Charlotte now may be the 18th biggest city within the U.S. as a whole population and ranks fifth across the country in the amount of Fortune 500 companies based in the region. The town continues to be listed among "America's Top 25 Arts Destinations" by American Style Magazine (2009), and it has been in the nation's Arbor Day Foundation's "Tree City USA" list for 29 consecutive years.
But Charlotte Mugshots are made up of four offenses: murder with no negligent wrongful death, forcible rape, robbery, and irritated assault. The United States average is 41.4.Charlotte now, New York, property crime, on the scale from 1 (low) to 100, is 59. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-thievery, automobile thievery, and arson. The item from the thievery-type offenses may be the taking of cash or property, but there's no pressure or threat of pressure from the sufferers.
Charlotte now hosts the organization headquarters of Bank of the USA and also the New England procedures of Wells Fargo, which together with other banking institutions causes it to be the 2nd biggest banking center within the U. S. States. Among Charlotte's many notable points of interest, probably the most popular range from the Carolina Panthers from the Nfl (National football league), the Charlotte now Hornets from the Basketball (National basketball association), the Charlotte now Independence from the U .S. Soccer League (USL), two Dale Earnhardt jr. Sprint Cup races and also the Dale Earnhardt jr. All-Star Race, the Wells Fargo Championship, the Dale Earnhardt jr. Hall of Fame, Caro winds theme park, and also the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Charlotte now Douglas Airport Terminal is really a major worldwide hub, and it was rated the 23rd most popular airport terminal on the planet by passenger traffic in 2013.


text:
College Planning in the Digital Age - Workshop for Parents and Teens
The "Digital Age" has changed EVERYTHING!
The College process will never be the same!
This workshop is intended for parents and students in 6th - 12th grade who are looking to get accepted into their dream college, earn thousands of dollars in scholarships, graduate debt free, and utilize digital age tools to create lasting financial freedom. Click here for all the details!
Student-Tutor's "College Planning in the Digital Age" workshop will be an immersive and invaluable experience taking place over an action-packed 4-hour workshop.
After the workshop, you will walk away with complete clarity and a step-by-step plan of attack to ensure your student gets into their dream college, earns thousands in scholarships, and graduates debt free.
The college process does not need to be stressful!
Ticket price includes admission for the whole family, workbook, Student-Tutor online college planning course, 3-month membership, and a Student-Tutor Let's Spark Bright Futures t-shirt! (Normally $374)
How to get a $107,800 scholarship with a 3.5 GPA.
A step-by-step blueprint to be accepted into schools like Stanford.
How AP/Honors classes can RUIN your college chances.
How going to community college is actually MORE EXPENSIVE than a 4-year university.
How having ACTIVE social media accounts is NOW a game changer in college & scholarship success.
How digital age tools can create financial independence by student's senior year of high school.
And much, much more!
In high school, Student-Tutor CEO Todd Van Duzer personally earned over $85,000 in scholarships and obtained 7 years of tutoring experience.
Today, he continues to develop SAT and ACT courses, write blog articles for popular sites like the Huffington Post, and deliver motivational speeches to high schools and companies. He's also an avid rock climber who has climbed 2000+ foot cliffs and has visited over 35 countries as a world traveler.
Todd spent thousands of hours researching scholarships, college admissions, and academics; and has interviewed dozens of career counselors, principals, teachers, parents, and students.
He decided to take everything he had learned and start Student-Tutor. As a company, we seek to provide parents, students and teachers with the most practical and innovative resources to "Spark Bright Futures!"
To date, Student-Tutor has published over 250 blog articles sharing invaluable information on the best math websites, apps, SAT/ACT prep strategies, college admission tricks and scholarship strategies.
Is there a minimum age requirement for this event?
No, this event is for the whole family! However, the material is best suited towards parents and students in 6th - 12th grade.
What should I bring with me?
We suggest bringing a notebook plus a pen/pencil.
What's the refund policy?
If you're not completely satisfied with the workshop, we will happily refund the full cost of your ticket.
Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
It helps, but it's not absolutely necessary.
How can I contact the organizer with any questions?
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 602-888-1687


text: Kasich Denies Clemency Request for Alva Campbell, Jr. November 9, 2017 COLUMBUS – Gov. John R. Kasich has denied a request for executive clemency for Alva Campbell, Jr., who in 1997 was convicted for the aggravated murder of Charles Dials in Columbus. Campbell is scheduled to be executed on November 15 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. On October 20, the Ohio Parole Board recommended against clemency for Campbell.


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Nala, the 7-year-old Shar-Pei killed when a Baltimore police officer slit her throat earlier this month, will be memorialized Tuesday at a city establishment where the dog's owner works.
The event, Justice for Nala, is slated for 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Midtown BBQ and Brew, according to the establishment's staff and a listing posted online. A portion of the restaurant's sales for the entire day will be donated to two foundations: the North American Shar-Pei Rescue, Noah's Arks Rescue, and Defenders of Animal Rights, Inc., according to the event listing.
Nala, who belonged to Sarah Gossard of Canton, was killed after it escaped from home on June 14. Baltimore police said Officer Jeffrey Bolger, a member of the Special Operations Section, slit the dog's throat as fellow officer Thomas Schmidt detained it. Bolger was charged with animal cruelty, aggravated animal cruelty and malfeasance in office. Schmidt has been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Witnesses claimed Bolger arrived on the scene and stated "I'm going to [expletive] gut this thing," according to the charging document.


text:
Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) certification verifies the ability to perform basic troubleshooting and repair of both desktop and portable Macintosh systems, such as iMac and MacBook Pro. ACMT certification exams emphasize identifying and resolving common OS X problems, and using Apple Service and Support products and practices to effectively repair Apple hardware.
Rooted Consulting is now offering a training class for those interested in becoming an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician. The Class is from 9am-5pm, with a break for lunch. Cost: $1,500.00 and includes the exam fee. The exam will be given at 3pm the final day and attendance certificates will be provided.
As an added value:
- The certification exam fee is included with your tuition for the class.
- Attendance of El Capitan 100 (Recommended)
- Attendance of El Capitan 101 (Recommended)
- Attendance of El Capitan 201 (Not required)
Please note that ACMT certification by itself does not authorize a technician to perform repairs on Apple products. Information on becoming authorized for servicing Apple products can be found at:apple.com/support/programs/


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CALGARY, Alta. -- Totran Transportation Services has appointed Rosemary Marr as its new CEO, effective Nov. 1.
CALGARY, Alta. — Totran Transportation Services has appointed Rosemary Marr as its new CEO, effective Nov. 1.
Marr has more than 30 years of transportation experience, founding Transera in 1985 before selling it to U.S.-based C.H. Robinson in 2008. Her achievements include the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Rothman's Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Pinnacle Award.
Founded six years ago, Totran has been named one of Canada's 200 fastest growing companies for 2012 by Profit magazine. Company president Rob Miller says he is enthusiastic about the change and feels Marr will bring "a fresh enthusiasm and momentum to the team."
"I look forward to bringing my capabilities to Totran Transportation to help support the operational team and enhance growth strategies that fit with their fundamental strengths. This is a hugely successful team, and am honored to join such talented individuals," Marr said.


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Our Books
When Robb Wolf first uttered those words--"You should write a cookbook"-- we laughed and had another NorCal Margarita.
And then, the brainstorming started...We knew that "comfort foods" were something most people were missing in their Paleo lifestyle, and we had some ideas on how to combine comfort and Paleo.
Our Newest Book
Weeknight Paleo
While some people might think these books are all about "Southern-fried" this or that, the truth is that to us, comfort foods are about gathering your family around the table for some home-cooked, tasty food. Everyone's interpretation is going to be somewhat different, but for us, that's what has guided us in the recipes we wrote in these books. We hope you enjoy cooking and eating as much as we do!
In our latest work, we're back with 100+ practical, family- friendly recipes that focus on meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats, while omitting dairy, grains, legumes, and refined sugars.
As we are firm believers in the family meal, we know full well that hectic days and busy schedules can make spending hours in the kitchen impractical. Weeknight Paleo is the solution—these easy, satisfying recipes keep you and your family well-fed while staving off boredom in the kitchen. For those new to this Paleo lifestyle or in need of a refresher, you'll find prep tips, meal-planning ideas, and resources, plus chapters such as:
• Family Favorites— top picks from our house
• Quickfire Meals—prepped, cooked, and served in under 30 minutes
• One-Dish Meals—keeping cleanup a breeze!
• Fix and Forget—meals cooked low and slow
From Green Enchiladas to Spaghetti Squash Fritters, and Sloppy Joes to Apple Crisps, this is a collection of Paleo recipes we hope you will keep coming back to.
Where to buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Books-A-Million | Google Play | IndieBound
Our Other Books
Quick and Easy Paleo Comfort Foods
In Quick and Easy Paleo Comfort Foods we bring you another serving of 100 Paleo recipes that are easy, healthy and irresistibly delicious. The wildly popular Paleo movement continues to gain momentum as millions of people discover the undeniable health benefits and effortless fat loss that comes with eliminating gluten, legumes and dairy from their diets. This gorgeous, four-color cookbook provides an impressive selection of Paleo recipes that are not only healthy and delicious, but quick and easy to prepare. The tips and recipes in this book will transform favorite dishes and go-to comfort foods into healthy, gluten-free meals that readers can enjoy even on the busiest weeknights! Some of the recipes included are: Jalapeño Poppers, Bacon- & Basil-Wrapped Shrimp, Eggs Benedict Florentine, Almond-Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Southwestern Shepherd's Pie, Fried Chicken Tenders, Berry Scones...these are just some of the recipes you'll find in our latest work.
Where to buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Chapters/Indigo | IndieBound
Paleo Comfort Foods
What if you could cook fantastic meals similar to the heartwarming comfort dishes your grandma used to make...and have them be good for you? In Paleo Comfort Foods, our first book, we provide you with an arsenal of recipes that are healthy crowd-pleasers, sure to appeal to those following a paleo, primal, gluten-free, or "real-food" way of life--as well as those who have not yet started down such a path.Implementing Paleo guidelines and principles in this book (no grains, no gluten, no legumes, no dairy), we give you 100+ recipes and full color photos with entertaining stories throughout. The recipes in Paleo Comfort Foods can help and have helped individuals and families alike lose weight, eat healthy and achieve optimum fitness, making this way of eating sustainable, tasty and fun.
Where to buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Chapters/Indigo | IndieBound | Book errata (aka things that made it better in revised editions)!
The Paleo Summer Survival Guide
The Paleo Summer Survival Guide is your go-to resource for a fun and healthy summer, Paleo style. Here we provide you with 12 no-fail summer recipes so that you can stay the Paleo course through every potluck, picnic and road trip adventure. Featuring travel tips and plan-ahead advice for fall (like freezing and canning so you can enjoy summer's bounty all year round), this e-book is for Paleo devotees and anyone looking to rejuvenate their health this summer.
Where to buy:


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Student support
We currently have over 2,000 students with us from around 150 different countries outside of the EU and have a long history of welcoming international students.
Loughborough University won the first ever Times Higher Education (THE) award for 'outstanding support for overseas students'. Our Careers and Employability Centre, Students' Union and visa advice were among the many services that international students rated highly.
In 2014 our commitment to providing an excellent student experience and supportive high quality learning environment was once again recognised by a leading independent survey – the Student Barometer and International Student Barometer – in which Loughborough was ranked Top 10 globally for the Careers and Employability Centre (out of 150 universities globally), Top 10 globally for the Students' Union (out of 182 universities globally), and Top 10 globally for accommodation support (out of 165 universities globally).
We understand study overseas away from your family and friends can be a new and challenging experience for many students. We have in place a wide range of highly trained specialist staff and tailored services to support our students throughout their time with us, including before they arrive and after they graduate.


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You may have already heard the word Sagada in Philippines and you are possibly curious about the Tourist Spots in Sagada. Before we talk about that just a brief description, Sagada is one of the Municipalities in Mountain Province, a 12 hours ride from Manila. It has a population of 11, 244 on 2010 and composed of 19 barangays. Sagada is also called as Mountain Province's Pride.
Sagada has many tourist spots like rice terraces, caves, falls, rivers, mountains and more! The following are the Top 10 Tourist Spots in Sagada.
Top 10 Tourist Spots in Sagada
1. Hanging Coffins
One of the reasons that made Sagada popular is its hanging coffins. This is quite unusual but it's a tradition followed by the natives in Sagada. This is a tradition that not everyone is qualified for they have their own rules and specifications to be followed. Coffins are attached in the side of a cliff and believed that the higher the body, the closer to heaven.
2. Sagada Rice Terraces
Rice Terraces is one of the major tourist spots in Sagada. It is a magnificent architecture and design using stone. They carved big steps in the mountains with sustainable irrigation to plant their rice. It looks really like Banaue Rice Terraces although Rice Terraces in Sagada are bit smaller but they are really amazing especially at the top view.
- You may also want to take a look at the pictures of Banaue Rice Terraces.


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Do you ever just try something and it comes together just as you had imagined? For me, I would say "not very often". For some reason this card did! Woohoo! I LOVE the colors and simplicity of the sketch.
The background reminds of antique embossed ceiling tiles gilded in gold. I used the Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder, Versamark and gold Perfect Pearls to create the effect. The background glossy white paper was first sponged with three inks (celery, rose and saffron), dry embossed with the texture plate, dabbed with Versamark then dusted with the gold Perfect Pearls. The background was then layered onto the rose card base.
The focal point was colored on the stamp with light rose (outlined with a deeper rose shade) and celery. The sentiment was stamped on top of the flower stems in black. The edges of the vanilla cardstock were sponged in the light rose color, matted with celery and embellished with the apricot grosgrain and gem. Love it!
Stamps: SU Happy Harmony
Ink: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Black, Versamark
Paper: Glossy White, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Gem (Hero Arts), Apricot Grosgrain, Cuttlebug Textile, Gold Perfect Pearls
59 minutes ago


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Monday, December 28, 2009
Gentlemen, this stock exchange thing is the best idea we've had yet! Someone get Sheikh Mo on the phone and see if he wants one.
In the fall of 2005 I attended a financial services conference in Dubai. The most relevant session I attended had to do with the future of the exchange architecture in Dubai. There were representatives from the DIFX and the DFM, the regulators and some local and international firms. Each participant gave a short and glowing talk about the future of GCC exchanges and those in Dubai in particular. Then there was an opportunity for those in the audience to ask questions.
One of the first questioners was a British man in his 50s or 60s. I remember thinking that he looked like an ageing hippie. In my memory he is wearing a flannel shirt and overalls, has a long white beard and a bandana but that is almost certainly not the case because you would have to be out of your mind to walk around Dubai in flannel. As much as his clothing may have stood out from the general audience of besuited bankers and Arabs in national dress, his mindset differed even more. He asked the assembled panellists how they thought any exchange could succeed when everyone knew that successful financial markets require a middle class and that in Dubai there was no middle class whatsoever.
The way he asked the question you might guess that he was one of those perpetual, and at the time frustrated, Dubai naysayers who had already decided the outcome but needed to ask the question out loud in order to print it. There were a lot of people who when they went to Dubai and saw the way the Emiratis lived and then spent time with the Indian community and noted the discrepancies felt strongly about issues of social justice within Dubai. It seemed to me that this was the journalist grandstanding and speaking truth to power at least that was how he saw it.
The men on the dais saw it differently. Who was this man with his bushy white beard and ridiculous outfit to question the Dubai dream that was in the making? It was a little embarrassing for someone to have sneaked into the Madinat Jumeriah and try to rain on the parade of the international financial system with this reference to the uncomfortable subject of income inequality in the Arab world. Luckily it was not hard for the men on the dais to figure out what the script was. This was 2005 when the prospect of doing business with a Dubai government entity made you reach for your wallet rather than your gun and everyone knew what the Dubai Inc. answer to this was: "of course there is a vibrant middle class in Dubai and the great project of making Dubai a financial center on par with London and Singapore is moving forward at full speed."
Sitting in the audience I thought the whole exchange was preposterous. While they disagreed over whether there was a vibrant middle class in Dubai, and here I think the balance of the evidence would weigh in favour of the journalist, they both agreed a false premise. They both assumed that a thriving middle class was necessary for the Emirati capital markets to develop. In my opinion they had it backwards, without developing the capital markets in Dubai there could be no middle class. Why is that? I'll get to that but first a little history:
OK folks, pop quiz question one: What was the first IPO in history?
Answer: the first IPO was for the Dutch East India Company (known by its Dutch acronym VOC) in 1604. Voyages were so expensive and so risky that the risk had to be shared. The Dutch took this one step further by scaling up the financing from individual voyages to an entire company organized for the purpose and by offering the shares generally the risk was spread as widely as possible. That share sale led to the organization in Amsterdam of the first regular stock exchange in history. Incidentally this was one of the best trades in the history of the world. The VOC paid 18% dividends on average for 200 years.
Pop quiz question two: which country in 2008 had a similar income distribution to that of the Netherlands in 1604, Dubai or the United Kingdom?
Answer: Dubai.
In order to understand how important capital market development is to Dubai and the Arab world generally it's important to understand how their economies function today. Most people assume that the concentration of wealth in the Arab world is the result of the fact that there is not too much distinction between the royal families and the state and so in most countries the royal family effectively controls the oil wealth and this makes them fabulously wealthy. This is true but it is only part of the story.
The other part of the story is the extent to which the remaining economy is often controlled by a handful of merchant families. In Saudi Arabia ten merchant families control 24% of the non-oil economy between them, the top 25 probably control well over half. There are many reasons for this.
The most obvious is that some families receive royal patronage which gives them an advantage over other families. You have to remember that being an Arab monarch is not the same thing as being a dictator in the western sense. Their power comes much more from balancing various power centers against one another within the country rather than from the barrel of a gun. They generally follow a divide and rule strategy playing the religious establishment off against the business elite and the business elites against one another.
This sort of thing went on in western Europe during the consolidation of monarchical power there as well. Remember Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Walter Raleigh a monopoly on the importation of wine, or vast tracts of land in the Americas. The same is true in the Arab world today. Arab monarchs often give gifts of land to favoured allies, this is why there are so few public parks in Arab cities, the kings tend to give the land away sometimes with disastrous consequences as in Jeddah recently. They can also grant or support monopolies on the importation of certain items. Awarding government contracts to favoured allies is also a source of wealth as is putting people in charge of government enterprises with opportunities for self enrichment. One need only look at the Byzantine structure of Dubai Inc. to see the hand of someone who wanted to reward many people with lucrative posts.
This is not to say that the only road to wealth is government favour. Ability is also a factor and the poor state of education in the Arab world means that a little education or a lot of ingenuity can go a long way because there is relatively little competition in local labor markets. The Bin Laden fortune was built on government contracts but the first contract was won with legitimate skill. The poor quality of general education in the Arab world perpetuates the concentration of wealth because it tends to stay in the hands of those who are wealthy and wise enough to send their children to school abroad or to the few quality international schools in the region.
The final reason for the concentration of wealth is access to capital. If you have a good idea for a business you need to have some way to fund it. Generally there are three ways to fund new business ventures: retained earnings, debt, and equity.
A great many of the businesses in the middle east are funded with retained earnings. This why you see so many family conglomerates. Aside from the fact that commercial ventures also serve to cement family bonds often a business produces more earnings that can profitably be reinvested in that business. Often when this happens the family will use those earnings to start another business venture sometimes in a similar line but often in a completely different field as a means of diversification. Of course who as access to retained earnings as a source of financing? Those who already own businesses! Thus this is another way in which the distribution of wealth is self reinforcing.
Another way in which one might fund a business is through debt, most commonly in the Arab world through bank loans. There are a few factors which conspire to make this not particularly effective. One is the nature of how decisions are made with bank loans, sure a lot of analysis is done to determine the creditworthiness of the borrower but at the end of the day the decision of whether to lend is made by one man or a at best a small committee. Those people can be influenced by the royal family or by long relationships with the potential borrowers so once again access to bank capital favors those who are already part of the system. There is another issue, peculiar to the Arab world, which makes it difficult to use bank capital to finance new ventures and that is that in Sharia courts it is not always so easy to take possession of collateral in the event of default. This means that a bank is unlikely to lend to someone that does not already have a reputation for paying back loans. Of course you can only have such a reputation if you are already in business so issues with recovery in insolvency also serve to sustain the concentration of wealth.
So that leaves equity markets as a source of capital for Arab entrepreneurs. In theory public and private equity markets together are an ideal source of capital especially in the Arab/Islamic world. Equity markets enable the investor to receive significant upside which gives a better return to the investor given the higher risks one faces in emerging markets that part of the world. Private equity is like a partnership and is therefore Sharia compliant in a way that many debt structures are not. As a result of these things the universe of private equity investors in the region is much greater than the number of potential bank lenders, not everyone can be a bank but anyone can invest in equity.
Thus you can think of equity markets as a sort of "democracy of capital." At a bank a single loan officer can make a dictatorial decision as to whether to fund your idea o not and your connections and your collateral are as or more important to him than the viability of the idea. Additionally in most GCC countries you can count the number of banks on your fingers. The number of private equity investors number in the hundreds, or even thousands and the number of public equity investors in the millions. These investors become partners in the business and so are more concerned with the viability of the idea than the value of any collateral and they vote with their money. By aggregating up each individuals willingness to take risks and enabling them to share the risks equity markets should more efficiently channel money to the most productive enterprises. One can never completely eliminate the role of relationships and connections from the Arab world but equity markets, by their democratic nature minimize their influence and maximize the importance of the idea itself.
This is why effective equity markets are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to increasing productivity and employment and minimizing income inequality in the Arab and Muslim world. This is why I am so up in arms over the fraud at Damas. But the fraud at Damas is only one of many deep flaws in middle eastern equirty markets and I will illustrate more of them in subsequent posts. But I want to do more than simply curse the darkness, I want to look for what lights there are. There have been advances in recent years in Dubai, and in Saudi Arabia. Who knows what fruit the DIFX/DFM merger will bear. Perhaps the problems of debt and fraud in Dubai are beyond the powers of capital markets and reform to save them. But then again, perhaps not.
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Some people really like the ability to grab a jewel case for a CD. Unfortunately, they take up a large amount of space, and I'm looking to take up less space for these things. What works for me is keeping them in a binder with clear sleeves. I took all the CD's and front and back info sheets and put them in individual clear sheets in my binder. Now I need a new binder because this one is overflowing.
Scary mountain of CD's Time for a new binder!
Off to freecycle or if they are unclaimed, plastic recycling.
Now I have to go through the rest of the CD's that are in the blank CD holders. I don't know what is blank and what may have something on it, but that will be a project for a later day. I have a trackback to a previous attempt at this project, they are the labeled CD's of pictures or songs that I printed out. Hopefully Part 3 of this project will be the completion of it!


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Over the years, Suzy has been kind enough to send me advanced copies of her books, some of which have been sweetly autographed, and her most recent offering arrived in my mailbox last week, much to my delight. The new book, Garden Bouquets and Beyond, is a fine showcase of the best blooms and foliage plants the northeastern garden has to offer with instructions on how to grow them and arrange them in gorgeous bouquets.
The book has a classic feel to it. After reading several chapters I emailed Suzy to let her know that I think it is timeless, both in its style and its advice. Make no mistake, though: the book is not 'modern.' If you're looking for asymmetrical arrangements in edgy, monochromatic tones in angular vessels you're looking in the wrong place. The arrangements are derived from the flowers grown in Suzy's own garden in Oyster Bay, New York, and reflect the pastoral, country life she has so happily created. But, the knowledge she imparts will serve any gardener well, especially one who is anxious to learn more about the art of arranging what she grows.
Bouquets and Beyond is divided into two parts: Seasonal Gathering from the Garden and Tricks of the Trade. The first portion deals with the practical ideas on how to plant a cutting garden that will offer the best colours, textures and scents all year round. (No, Winter is not ignored. The "Beyond" element incorporates arrangements, garlands and wreaths with twigs, coniferous boughs, winter berries and pinecones.) She troubleshoots, too, and discusses some of the dilemmas of the gardener and flower-grower, always managing to find optimistic solutions. In the second portion, Suzy examines the specifics of the art of arranging, including the principles of bouquet design, wreath making, garlands, using foliage correctly and how to use flowers in all sorts of projects, from mock topiaries to fashion accessories. This section also includes a very useful guide with tips on how to prolong the vase life of each and every single flower Suzy mentions in the book. It's indespensible!
I'm reading the book slowly, taking time to smell the proverbial roses, as it were, as I turn each page. The book is available now at bookstores.
Suzy Bales in her New York garden sets the scene for one of her famous garden parties. (Thank you, Suzy, for all the wonderful books and timeless advice!)
The photographs by Steven Randazzo bring Suzy's garden to life on the printed page. The reader can almost drink in the fragrances.
The book offers advice on how to make traditional tabletop arrangements as well as nosegays and posies. Be sure to visit Suzy's website for more: suzybalesgarden.com


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The U.S. Olympic spirit award is an award that is given to an athlete who embodies the Olympic spirit in more ways than just on the playing field, in showing incredible perseverance, in overcoming obstacles, and what we wanted to do is have everybody can vote on-line. (Quote by - Brian Boitano)
The important thing in life is to have great aim and to possess the aptitude and the perseverance to attain it. (Quote by - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)
Persistence and determinationalone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. (Quote by - Calvin Coolidge)
In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm; in the real world, all rests on perseverance. (Quote by - Johann von Goethe)
Without sweat and toil no work is made perfect. (Quote by - Latin Proverb)
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins- not through strength but by perseverance. (Quote by - H. Jackson Brown)
The drop hollows out the stone not by strength, but by constant falling. (Quote by - Plutarch)
Perseverance is an active principle, and cannot continue to operate but under the influence of desire. (Quote by - William Godwin)
My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you've got to be a filmmaker. (Quote by - Robert Wise)
The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic. (Quote by - Ralph Waldo Emerson)
For thine own purpose, thou hast sent The strife and the discouragement! (Quote by - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
When it goes wrong, you feel like cutting your throat, but you go on. You don't let anything get you down so much that it beats you or stops you. (Quote by - George Cukor)
I s a funny thing that when a man has t anything on earth to worry about, he goes off and gets married. (Quote by - Robert Frost)
The fall of dropping water wears away the stone. (Quote by - Lucretius)
No one wants to quit when he's losing and no one wants to quit when he's winning. (Quote by - Richard Petty)
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. (Quote by - John Quincy Adams)
We shall escape the uphill by never turning back. (Quote by - Christina G. Rossetti)
To persevere, trusting in what hopes he has, is courage in a man. (Quote by - Euripides)
Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. (Quote by - Dale Carnegie)
Industry, perseverance, and frugality make fortune yield. (Quote by - Benjamin Franklin)


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The Mesa women's water polo team suffered only its second loss of the season in a rematch with Riverside but got 3 quality wins against Orange Coast, Santa Barbara and Golden West. Mesa opened the tournament with a 8-4 win over Orange Coast as Jaicey Tyler scored 5 goals and Madi Atkins recorded 12 saves. Cassie Bernas, Lilli Lindgard and Bailey Wickliffe each scored one goal.
Mesa took a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter but couldn't hold on against Riverside as they fell 8-5. Bailey Wickliffe scored 2 goals and Analise Voytilla, Cassie Bernas and Lilli Lindgard each scored one goal. Madi Atkins had 14 saves.
On the second day Mesa beat Santa Barbara City 9-6 as Bailey Wickliffe and Jaicey Tyler each scored 4 goals as Ellie Williams added one goal. Madi Atkins had 10 saves in the cage.
In the final match-up against Golden West, Mesa came away 12-7 winners as Bailey Wickliffe led the way with 6 goals. Jaicey Tyler scored 3, Cassie Bernas scored 2 and Jessica Levenson added one goal. Madi Atkins recorded a season high 19 saves in the goal.


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Duff Engaged?
Actress/singer HILARY DUFF has sparked rumors she's taking her relationship with hockey star MIKE COMRIE to the next level, after she was snapped wearing a ring on her wedding finger.
The 20-year-old star was spotted leaving Hollywood's Il Sole restaurant with National Hockey League (NHL) star Comrie on Friday night (15Aug08) when she flashed her left hand to reveal a ring.
And the shot has sent gossips into a spin – leading many to speculate over whether Duff and Comrie are engaged.
The couple has been dating for more than a year following Duff's split from Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden.
sammm wrote: wow, if they are, mike is a lucky guy!
hilary is so gorgeous! love her stlye, and her chanel bag! ha
she is a fan of lots of jewelry,
so who knows, maybe she's just accessorizing.
either way, good luck to this actualy NORMAL hollywood couple!
xtremequeen wrote: If that is an engagement ring she's being jipped 🙂 They make a cute couple.
Dean's Baby 67 wrote: I'm so happy for them. They should last forever.


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Scheduled Events
8:30am – 11:00pm Vision Keynote with Jon Roskill and Kevin Turner; Guest Speaker Deepak Chopra
U.S. partners are encouraged to be at Air Canada Centre and in their seats at 8:30am. Seating for U.S. partners is in sections 103-109.
11:30am – 1:30pm IAMCP Women in Technology Charity Luncheon in 701 AB (sold out—you must be registered to attend)
Join the IAMCP Women in Technology at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference for a special charity event featuring guest speaker Joey Adler, founder of the ONEXONE Foundation.
11:30am – 1:00pm Microsoft Diversity Partner Projility in the U.S. Lounge
Come meet Projility, a partner selling Microsoft-based solutions to Federal Government organizations.
2:15pm – 2:45pm Pinpoint Profiling Session for U.S. Partners in booth PPT
Personalized help from the Microsoft Pinpoint team about how to best use your profile to generate demand for your solutions and increase your visibility to customers. There are still a few spaces left.
More Activities
- Visit the "Laptop Bar" in the WW Public Sector Lounge to register and test drive the Health Partner Exchange, the conversation platform for partners serving healthcare customers.
- Take a tour of the #USLounge and have your badge scanned for a chance to win (Rules posted in the U.S. Lounge).
- U.S. Lounge – Activities throughout the afternoon, including presentations by U.S. partners, daily sweepstakes, free Skype calls, charging stations for your phone, and an opportunity to meet with experts from the Microsoft U.S. Partner Team.
- Participate in the #findthefloppy Scavenger Hunt on Twitter from @OEMPartner (https://twitter.com/OEMPartner).
- Purchase two-for-one Microsoft Certification exam vouchers at the MPN Booth in the Solution Innovation Center.
- Microsoft U.S. OEM Pitchfest – Level 200 in the Registration Area. Pitch your best solution for a chance to win.