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Experian Report: Business Performance Improves Q/Q; Down Y/Y
Experian said its Q4 Business Benchmark Report showed general improvement in business performance in most categories quarter over quarter, while metrics remained negative from a year-over-year perspective.
Risk scores remained relatively flat across all industry groups and geographic regions quarter over quarter and year over year. The largest businesses (those with more than 1,000 employees) showed the greatest quarter-over-quarter improvement (2.2%) but the largest decline (14.7%) year over year, Experian said.
Days beyond terms (DBT) appeared to be stabilizing quarter over quarter, across all business sizes, industry groups and geographic regions. However, DBT remained significantly negative year over year, increasing by as much as 13.8%, the report found.
The percentage of dollars delinquent has remained relatively flat quarter over quarter, with the exception of larger businesses (those with 250 or more employees) that have shown significant improvements, reducing their debt by as much as 11%. Performance in this category varies quarter over quarter by industry sector and geographic region. Year over year, the change in percentage of dollars delinquent varies across all business sizes. Notably, midsize businesses (those with 250 to 499 employees) saw the greatest positive change, improving by 35.9%, according to the report.
"The general stabilization and signs of improvement seen in Q4 are encouraging. No matter what the business size, industry or geographic region, having a strong risk score, paying bills on time and reducing delinquent debt are important elements to achieving a positive business profile," said Allen Anderson, president, Experian's Business Information Services. "Building and maintaining positive credit is critical to a business's success, because it helps them obtain more favorable payment terms or interest rates."
For additional Experian Q4 Business Benchmark Report findings, click here.


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Acerca de
I'm Vlad, a qualified graphic designer with close to a decade of experience and a keen entrepreneur, ready to bring a touch of visual magic to your startup, brand or business.
Passionate about art, I love interacting with customers and delivering a brilliant result. A steady stream of 5-star feedback shows just how much my services are valued amongst my happy clientele.
You're only limited by your imagination. Turn dreams into a reality.
It's time to tell your story.
Miembro desde: 28 de septiembre de 2009
"Excellent designer, high quality work."
"Excellent designer, very easy to communicate with and awesome design."
Cliente anónimo
"Interestingly, Vlad's winning design was the very FIRST submission in our contest, and we had over 300 final designs submitted. Impressive, simple design that everyone liked upon first glance. "
"Awesome! Vlad worked over the festive period to get our design looking as we wanted. He understood our brief and developed something we are thrilled with "
Cliente anónimo
"Great designer, very professional!"
Cliente anónimo
"Had such a great experience working with Vlad. Very patient with all the changes we wanted. "
Cliente anónimo
"Vlad follows drafts and ideas very well and responds to feedback/comments very quickly with regular communication. I'm a returning customer and highly recommend him due to quality. He brings visions to life."
"Good stuff!!!! Better than the others! "
Cliente anónimo
"Vlad was an absolute pleasure to work with and was extremely responsive and thorough in his design work."
Cliente anónimo
"Vlad is a fantastic person to work with. He is very good at what he does and he is also extremely patient, understanding and helpful. I would warmly recommend working with him - he is a person you can trust! Thank you so much for everything, Vlad! Tina"
"great comms and speedy response. highly rated!"
"Great design and answered all of our questions quickly. Thanks Vlad!"
Cliente anónimo
"Excellent service and quick turn-around times. Easy to communicate with and very open to feedback and suggestions. A good eye for detail and a good understanding of our overall design goals and desired visual style. Required more detailed instruction..."
Marblecat Software
"Vlad was fantastic. The quality of his work is excellent. His turn around time is extremely quick, and he didn't complain once when I changed my mind countless times. Thanks Vlad - Would be more than happy to work with you again."
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Cliente anónimo
"Estamos muy contentos con el resultado final del trabajo. Hemos trabajado de manera cómoda desde el principio, con todos y cada uno de los diseñadores y especialmente con Vlad Mrz. Muy atento en todo momento y rápido en las correcciones que pedíamos par..."
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"Vlad was great. We love the design, revisions were incredibly fast. Fantastic experience, highly recommended."
"Amazing design, exactly what we wanted from his first entry. Highly recommended."
"Kept us on-track for style and schedule while making sure our vision and input were reflected in the result!"
kate 2v
"Good design and good customer service"
"Great job. Fast and quick service."
Mountain High
"great job , he was always up to any change. "
"Thoughtfully interpreted the design brief and offered a very strong design on first submission. Just minor fine tuning after that. Easy to work with. Very professional."
Cliente anónimo
"m r z was a pleasure to work with. His design choices stood out immediately. I would be happy to work with him again if I had another project."
"MrZ is enthusiastic and has brought forward innovative and energetic designs to our competition-we encourage you consider him closely for yours!"
"A pure designer, just that little bit extra!"
"We instantly liked the overall feel that mrZ's first submission gave and we knew on the first day that he would be a contender on the final day. Why? He read the brief, he understood the brief and put the brief into practice, in a way that we hadn't ant..."
"I am soooo happy with my logo. Everyone loves it. It looks great on all marketing material and the process on the 99 designs website was smooth and easy."
"From the first submission I knew m r z was the winner, enthusiastic and innovative! "
Cliente anónimo
"Working with m r z could not have been better. Had updated each modification as and when I asked, no matter how small. 10/10 Thanks for all your work."
Cliente anónimo

subset: commoncrawl


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The Art of Walking – Lyon (France) – October 10-12, 2013
The Art of Walking: Pedestrian Mobility in Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts from the Eighteenth to the Twenty-First Century
International Conference – École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, October 10-12, 2013
Organizers: Klaus Benesch (LMU Munich) and François Specq (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS LIRE)
Walking is one of man's fundamental modes of relating to the environment, of creating a sense of place and space. In the modern period, this human practice has also become a literary theme, a genre or mode of writing as much as a form of movement in space. Hence it can be said to represent a twofold mediation between man and the world at large: the corporeal movement in space and time, and the reflection of that movement in literature and the arts. It is from this double perspective that we seek to explore how walking has been turned into both an aesthetic project and a form of 'mobile' thinking, from John Gay to Paul Auster, from Wordsworth and Thoreau to Richard Long and Harriet Tarlo, from Rousseau to Rimbaud and André Breton.
We are looking for papers that engage the conceptual, cultural, textual, and visual dimensions of walking. Contributions may deal with how walking has become an aesthetic program, a form of reflection or a complex, frequently ambivalent metaphor; they may also discuss walking in light of its historical, ideological, aesthetic, philosophical, and poetical implications, or investigate two or more of these aspects jointly. Or they may ask how one can delineate the semantic field of 'walking,' which may evoke, among others, the notions of 'rambling,' 'sauntering,' 'roaming,' 'hiking,' or 'perambulating,' but also of the Aristotelian 'peripatetic' and, following Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, of the "flâneur." What are the values attached to these practices? How does walking enhance our knowledge of a specific place or environment? Are there differences between walking in 'nature' and walking in an urban environment? To what extent has walking reinforced or, perhaps, questioned the distinction between the rural and the urban? If major texts in this tradition, such as Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker and Wordsworth's The Excursion, focus on the countryside, walking is not only, nor even primarily, a rural phenomenon, but is also typical of urban modernity. How has walking as a literary genre evolved throughout the modern period, and, how, following its heyday during the Romantic period, has it been redefined in connection to modernist issues? To what extent does the aesthetics of the ordinary and of chance, which seem to be associated with walking, relate to aspects of postmodern nomadology? Is walking gendered?
We also encourage approaches that are not limited to either cultural or literary history, but conjoin poetological, phenomenological, and philosophical aspects of walking. Put another way, while analyzing representations and practices of walking, we are equally interested in studying instances of (inter)textuality and cross-disciplinary fertilization. For example, how is the activity of walking related to literary genres: are aesthetic depictions or representations of walking intrinsically narrative or poetical? The various links between walking and writing or reading, the connection between walking and creativity, or the diverse 'textual transcriptions' of walking might also be considered. Furthermore, the complex temporality of walking, next to its relation to space, is also crucial. This temporality is usually marked by an 'intensified' temporal awareness, which is antithetical to the modern emphasis on speed as a symbol of modernity, and which privileges a sense of place over that of space. One may also think of the connection or analogy between the rhythm of walking and that of a poetic text (as in the notion of 'foot,' traditionally the basic unit of poetic scansion). In all of these different senses, walking encapsulates both the physical and spiritual dimensions of human existence; it thus turns into an important cultural symbol, a site where the outside world meets with the intimate realm of human reflection and creativity.
We encourage submissions from scholars in a variety of fields and disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome.
Proposals for 20-minute papers (title and 200-word summary) should be sent to both Klaus Benesch and François Specq, by email before April 15, 2013.


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I've written before about the animal rights fanatics in this blog. The legislation these groups promote and sucker our lawmakers into creating and/or passing is a never-ending battle. There are several websites with folks much more able to put down their thoughts into a coherent mass for folks to ingest - and I will list them at the end of this post. Some may be repeats of those that I have in the sidebar to this blog.
The video link below will truly express why I never capitalize the "e" in PeTA. The reason - "ethical" is something that this group of fanatical terrorists is NOT.
There are disturbing images. Almost as disturbing as the quotes from the animal rights leaders.
I am still sobbing.
Here are URLs for more information...
Hug your pets tight.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Disturbing Video on the Animal Rights (PeTA) Agenda
I've written before about the animal rights fanatics in this blog. The legislation these groups promote and sucker our lawmakers into creating and/or passing is a never-ending battle. There are several websites with folks much more able to put down their thoughts into a coherent mass for folks to ingest - and I will list them at the end of this post. Some may be repeats of those that I have in the sidebar to this blog.
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Labels: animal rights wackos, peta
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ginger Babies - Week 4 Approaches!
Isn't he the cutest? Just give him a beer and a remote control like any other fella and he will be in absolute heaven!!
The pups will turn 4 weeks old this Saturday - they are a very promising lot and I can't wait for their 8-10 week evaluations as we determine who will stay here to carry on and the others prepare for their new homes. I took several candid pictures of them yesterday and got them edited and uploaded to their online photo album.
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Labels: puppies, silken windhound
Friday, March 21, 2008
Promised Pix
Finally got several sets of pictures uploaded to our online gallery at the Gryffyn's Aeyrie web site!
Photos from our trip to NYC for Westminster, including more from our wild drag dining experience! [ LINK ]
Photos of Ginger's puppies born March 1 [ LINK ]
Photos from our Snow Day! [ LINK ]
There are several other updates to the web site - you can check out a listing HERE.
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
the New Kid
We had a special arrival this past Saturday - little Goth has come to Gryffyn's Aeyrie! Goth is a son of our overachiever and ring show-off Tyler out of Duncan's sister Cinder (Kristull Quite Black). The depth of quality in this litter at Talisman is stellar - I am so pleased with how this pairing turned out! I can't thank Joyce enough for wanting to use our boy - as I think the addition of Goth here will help bring great things to our future in Silkens!
I have been running behind on getting things done - I know I've promised pictures of several things - just haven't been able to get around to getting them edited and uploaded. But at least here's a peek at our silvery sweetheart!
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Labels: goth, puppy, silken windhound
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Spring is in the Air
How quaint - a lovely day with highs in the 60s and a light wind, sunny, and hints of the oncoming spring throughout. So bizarre that just 10 days ago we awoke to a blanket of snow. The peach trees have burst into blossom, and the yard is beginning to shows signs of needing a grooming by the lawnmower. Soon the redbuds will begin to come alive and perhaps the daffodil will appear (and promptly disappear) in a short while.
Ginger's pups are 2 weeks old today. Their eyes are slitted with a promise of opening to the wide world. They have blossomed - feeling good in the hand every time we pick one up for a cuddle. They are quite mobile and I've already caught the dark male and the gold brindle spotted male trucking across the whelping box on all fours. One cannot help but feel content when watching them - they are remarkably soothing. Lined up across the "milk bar" for a meal - tails straight out in the air, quivering as they knead at the nozzle in rhythm. Once their tummies are full, they drop into that contented, full-bore sleep that puppies do, and that I envy. Their noses and paws tinged with a pink glow, an occasional twitch during their slumber.
Now...here's a lil' fella that's super-relaxed!
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Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Brrrrrrrrrrr - Snow in March (in Texas)?!
Not long after I returned home from work last night, it began to snow. With all the barometric wackiness going on, it's no wonder I had (and still have) a throbbing headache. The dogs were coming in from yard time cloaked in fluffy (wet) white - some were enthused with the novelty, some less so. This morning found the ground well covered with snowfall - rapidly melting, of course. The high today was in the 60s, the day before, in the 70s - with snow in between.
I had snapped a few pictures in the evening during the storm, but the clearest ones are from this morning. I had a bit of time since our area was one of the hardest hit, and I was going to await the thawing and for the roads to clear, there being 12 accidents in a short stretch of road on the way to the university. I was not in the mood! The morning news was more traffic reports than news - even showing 3 areas of black ice on the highway.
Sassi's pups thought it was GRAND! Well - J/T and Shugah sure did. Munch seemed a bit less than thrilled after a while (hey! this is cold AND wet!).
I will post the rest of the photos up on our web site's online albums later this week.
Unfortunately, I know what's beneath that seemingly pristine white blanket - a lot of wet mush that's going to get drug through the house for the rest of the week, and make it a real pain getting Lars and Buster ready to show in San Antonio this coming Saturday!
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Good Day at Faith City
It didn't start off that great - next time I make entries for one of the puppies, I will bring them in for the next 2 weeks after making entry! Apparently Pumpkin got to play the part of "bunny" in a rousing game of chase and bruised her left shoulder. She was just off enough that I opted not to show her. A shame since she was doing really well on learning the finer points of being a show prospect. She did accompany us to the show (in Wichita Falls, TX) and I brought her in before and after showing so she could take in the atmosphere. She did very well and met some new friends!
Bugg was in fine form, albeit sullen at being asked to work. She humored me through the class, winning Open Bitch. She did show well and even did a nice stack at the end of her down-and-back and kept it up, coming away not only with Winners Bitch, but taking Best Opposite over 4 bitch specials for a 5-point major under breeder/judge Jan Leikam (Adrienne Borzoi)! This was her second 5-pointer, so we are quite pleased, needless to say! This puts her at 12 points and both majors - I will be entering her in the Fort Worth shows tomorrow, I guess.
As to who she took Best Opp to - Solo! So a very VERY nice outing for us - even though the group judge had failed to find him the day before in breed competition. There was a reason I hadn't entered class dogs the day before!
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Saturday, March 1, 2008
Video Games - Solo
Finally got a chance plug in the FlipVideo cam I got for the Westminster trip and fiddled around with some of the vids and easily made a mash-up of Solo's showing at Westminster. This has been such a super-cool gadget - glad I found it! No need to read a manual and deal with complicated editing programs and it produces a decent video, especially for the web!
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Labels: nyc, solo, video, westminster
Pups are Here!
We're still waiting to see if we have a straggler that's going to be late to the party - but it looks like we have 3 boys and a girl. The girl is a self orangey-gold brindle with a white spot over her nose. The boys are interesting, an extreme white with gold brindle; an extreme white with a few little dark spots on the head and one on the off-side flank; and a self black/tan with brindle (or possibly a dilute - can't really tell yet). About to take Ginger for a little walk to see if that moves anything along as it's been about 2 hours since the last arrival.
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Labels: ginger, puppies, silken windhound


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Protected: Oh, oh, that smell!28 May
A new home…again.16 May
Well, I got tired of my entries disappearing on Blogger. So I decided to move, again. Well, that was just one of the mitigating factors. I really liked how easy Blogger was, and how much more professional it looked (at least compared to dland). One of the things that it didn't have though was stats and an effective way to manage comments. WordPress appears to be much better for that, and there's nothing like laughing at the funny terms that send Googlers to you.
Plus, I missed my old flybynyght moniker. I feel much more complete :) And although I don't feel the need to be anonymous anymore, I did feel weird about so much personal info right on the template, too easy to get without at least having to dig a little!
So here I am, to stay…I think. There are a few things that aren't impressing me about WordPress, but it may just take a little getting used to. If I decide I want to go back to Blogger (which I'm 99.9% I won't – I like actually seeing my entries) I snapped up flybynyght there too.
But the same rules go as at 'quirksandblunders,' I'm not going to dwell on the negative, or bitch and complain. And at the same time, I'm not going to sugar coat my thoughts, feelings or opinions.
I won't pretend that this will be interesting, but it is my life.
Oh, and if you need a refresher, read this


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June 2012 Message
Writing a Garden
by Karen Simmons
As Dan takes a break in the heat of this year's early summer, I thought I might fill in with some thoughts on gardening. Gardening, you say? What does that have to do with writing books? You're not interested in digging, planting, watering and weeding? Well, let me take you down the path that goes around our property and see if there might some boulders to sit on where we can think about this. It's hot out there so bring a hat and some lemonade.
The new house we moved into, almost six years ago now, sat on 1.2 acres of dirt plus a few weeds. It didn't blend into or nestle into the land -- it just sat there, its long horizontals honoring the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright but proffering no honor to the land around it. Could there be a better blank page? Like a novelist facing the symbolic page, the prospects for creation were both overwhelming and energizing. We spent the winter months thinking, researching and kicking around all the ideas that inspired us. Our motto was "Dare to begin!" With the help of a neighbor/landscaper (whose artistry with boulders is unsurpassed), we did dare to begin the creative process of making something out of passion, curiosity and emotion.
Ok, the blank page is an obvious place to start on our analogy. But it is central to how we approached our creation. Research was everything: books on native plants, prairie ecologies, stone, trees, Japanese gardens, meadows and groves; notes from garden lectures; photos from botanic gardens. Inspiration was drawn from gardens such as the meadow garden at the Aspen Music Festival, the Denver Botanic Gardens, garden tours and friends' gardens. The novelist is often asked, 'where do you get your ideas?' The answer: all of the above. And then some.
And then there's that urge to create. Something. Something beautiful and moving and interesting and involving. Something to engage one's curiosities about the living world and one's place in it.
Where to start? We had a few basic considerations that were the foundation. The views of the Front Range of the Rockies -- extending to Pike's Peak over a hundred miles to the south – were to be preserved and enhanced. The sense of place – backing up to a neighborhood common space knoll – was to be honored, as was the historic prairie that defined this part of the Rocky Mountain region.
We wanted to honor the architecture of our home and we wanted to honor the landscaping of our neighbors on each side. That was the outline of our book – I mean, our landscaping project.
And, of course, the path. How could we pull someone in and move them along? How does one move from this "chapter" to the next? The connections to the gardens and the views and the prairie out our back door would be laid down by the paths, the building blocks for our ideas – a maple grove, a Japanese garden, a front patio with a hedge (my homage to my eastern roots), a prairie garden, a montane garden – and a yellow garden and a blue garden for a fun challenge.
As in a novel, there also had to be places to sit, places that would invite us to stop and observe and use all of our senses. To connect to the gardens and the richness of experience that they provide. Some well-placed boulders would suffice.
Once the outline was drawn up, the challenge to make a living, breathing series of gardens that connected us to our place on the high prairie was sometimes daunting but always energizing. Like any creative endeavor, the gravitational pull of rote imitation had to be resisted. Gardens aren't so much designed as they are expressions of the gardener's fascination with process and change in the natural world.
They allow for – in fact, they invite – serendipity, allowing plants to respond, sometimes to the delight and sometimes to the chagrin of the gardener, but always on their own terms. Like characters in a novel, they have to have room to breathe and to be true to themselves.
And as with a novel, gardens thrive on editing and revising! Sometimes the greater pleasure is not in planting but in digging up. Taking out that white centranthus opens up the view and never did look good in the flat blazing sun anyway. And that tall line of goldenrod was clunky and crowded before one was moved to its own space and now leads my eye farther down the path. Like the novel whose seamless reality shows no fingerprints of the author, a naturalistic garden is the hardest to create. And perhaps it also has more to teach the gardener. But like any novel, a garden does express who the gardener is and that is what makes each one unique. A garden connects the gardener to the natural world, to history, to other cultures – and to neighbors and friends. In turn, it is the gardener's response to all that she has learned.
If a love of language propels the novelist, a love of the language of botany can also inspire and inform the gardener. As the commercial world of gardening evolves, we now see nurseries organizing their plants by their botanical names. It may seem like the train has left the station for those who haven't had the chance to learn their Latin, but the Latin names are not only descriptive, they're also universal. And they're also …. well, fun! Who could resist buying a plant called marrubium rotundifolium? It just trips off the tongue. Musical? Try ratibida columnifera. And my new favorite (yes, I bought nine of them) is tanacetum cinerariifolium. And I love them.
If a writer often looks to other writers for insight, be it Keats or Shakespeare or Fowles, then a gardener need look no further than Lauren Springer, renaissance woman of the horticultural world. Her latest book, Plant-Driven Design (written with her husband Scott Ogden, also a fine plantsman), could be considered the bible of all things philosophical and enduring about the way we think about both the natural and the cultivated world. One could sit and ponder a paragraph at a time, but let me offer this one tidbit that connects my world of gardening to Dan's world of writing:
Plants, exceptionally diverse living beings that they are, grant a richness that architecture or artifact cannot. The power to elicit a sensory or an emotional response gives plants presence. Through our senses' interaction with the green world, we connect with nature, with the uniqueness of the place, and with the gardenmaker. In this way, a garden becomes more than a mere snapshop or viewing place. It passes into transcendence.
June 2012
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Someone (I think it was Dick Pieper) once said, "If a horse improves 1% every time we ride him, he will be trained in 100 days and we know we cannot expect that!" What this means is: Training a horse for reining is a long, slow process. Yes, indeed. I have been training reining horses for over thirty years and I have yet to find a way to "finish" a reining horse in a few months. I plan for at least 18 months on my prospects to get them to a three-year-old futurity and I do not usually show my horses one-handed until they are four, although those who compete in the NRHA Futurity must show in a bridle with one hand and so must prepare for that.
A reining horse must be relaxed and confident in the reining pen and only a one-step-at-a-time training program will accomplish that. There is no better way to instill confidence and knowledge into your horse than to teach him the first steps first - the "basics". The basics are a series of exercises that are the foundation for more difficult ones and basic exercises are an essential part of every training program. Not only do they progress the horse from simple to complex, but are also essential tools to fall back on when the horse encounters difficulty with any advanced maneuver. I go through basic exercises every time I ride every horse from two-year-olds to fully trained horses (at the level they are currently at - I expect more finesse from trained horses; for the youngsters, schooling the basic exercises can take up most of the session).
Why are basic exercises important?
1. When the horse is learning:
- Basic exercises stretch and warm a horse's muscles, preparing him physically for riding.
- Basic exercises are the simplest level of training of the step-by-step program that best teaches any horse.
- A horse can only learn a high level maneuver, such as the spin, by first learning the maneuver in its simplest form - a combination of the basics.
2. When the horse is trained:
- Basic exercises supple and stretch the muscles for the more demanding part of the schooling session.
- Starting at the simplest level relaxes the horse mentally and physically.
- Problems at the basic level can be resolved before the rider encounters them at a higher level. Often there won't be a problem at a higher level if it is dealt with at a basic level.
What are the basics?
1. Forward motion.
2. Give to the rein.
3. Give to the leg.
How do I teach basic exercises?
1. Correct rider position.
2. Clear signals, or rider aids.
3. Repetition – the same message the same way every time.
* Training a horse is encouraging a horse to be comfortable - putting him a position where it is easier to do the maneuver than not do it.
I am such a believer in building anything step-by-step that I don't know any other way to write this blog either. I feel I must cover some background before I can deal with specifics so bear with me for a few posts. Also, though Reining Training Tips isn't about starting colts - that could be a whole other blog - many tips can be applied to any horse in any discipline at any level of training.
Next week...rider aids.


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I've already finished reading "PostgreSQL 9 Admin Cookbook":http://link.packtpub.com/zoKTs1, authored by Simon Riggs, Hannu Krosing, and published by Packt Publishing.
This is my first book review, I thought it should be quite easy to write one. So far I've written many different academic papers, many blog articles, almost one full chapter of my new book, but there wasn't any review never before. I like reading, I also like reading technical books, but usually I read fast and only to get the information that I need. This time it was a little bit harder, I had to read every page in the book, but not only for getting the information, but also for gathering some critical remarks about that.
The whole idea for this book is great. First of all it is a cookbook. It means that there are many problems and practical answers to those problem in this book.
Personally I haven't found there any new information that I didn't know earlier, so reading this book was a little bit boring sometimes. I also haven't found any errors or misconceptions there, and I think it is a really great source of information on administering PostgreSQL database. Some topics were not fully covered, but on the other hand I think that it wouldn't be possible to cover each possible topic in such a short book.
This book is titled for PostgreSQL 9, but most of the recipes are suitable for previous versions too. Although sometimes with small changes, but the whole idea of each solution shouldn't stay the same, so I think everyone will be able to find out how to perform all the tasks in earlier PostgreSQL versions. What's more I think that in the future versions they would be valid too.
*Chapters Review*
*Chapter 1*: First Steps. The most simple chapter you could imagine, just basic PostgreSQL installation and connecting.
*Chapter 2*: Exploring the Database. Basic checking database version, locale, size of database files and quite nice way of performing fast count(*).
*Chapter 3*: Configuration. This chapter should be read by every system administrator who wants to make PostgreSQL a little bit more efficient. It also covers more advanced topics such as changing maximum kernel memory per process and installing external modules.
*Chapter 4*: Server Control. This is a must read for every administrator who wants to run sql patches on production database or upgrade PostgreSQL version. Sometimes it is not trivial, as there can be some database connections blocking something, or some scripts try to connect. This chapter will tell you how to start, stop database, disconnect user, run multiple servers on the same system and create a connection pool.
*Chapter 5*: Tables & Data. Interesting chapter about good practices on naming database objects, generating sample data, loading data from files and spreadsheets.
*Chapter 6*: Security. Chapter on granting and revoking access and other rights for database objects, configuring logging and encrypting data and connection.
*Chapter 7*: Database Administration. Fundamentals of DDL operations for creating schemas, tablespaces, and also moving objects between schemas and tablespaces. It also covers two much more advanced topics such as connecting to other databases using dblink and creating updateable views using rules.
*Chapter 8*: Monitoring and Diagnosis. This chapter describes how to monitor queries, check if user is connected, get blocking queries and how to use pgFouine for tracking slow queries.
*Chapter 9*: Regular Maintenance. Chapter on fixing bloat, taking care of vacuuming tables and indexes.
*Chapter 10*: Performance & Concurrency. Great chapter on finding slow queries, speeding them up and using optimistic locking.
*Chapter 11*: Backup & Recovery. Another must read for admins. Chapter on backing up database and restoring from backups. It also covers making differential/incremental and streaming backups.
*Chapter 12*: Replication & Upgrades. I think the best chapter of all, full of replication: slony, pgpool, londsite and hot standby.
*Small Problems*
This book is really great, although I found some errors with listings formatting and confusing pdf index, that made it a little bit harder to read. I'm a little bit freak on typography, so I will write a little bit on that. The overall typography of this book is quite nice, however there are some minor problems.
On page 46 and 60 there are listings that don't fit the page width.
On pages 60-64 there are many results of database queries that are not placed on one page, instead only the header is on the first page, and the rest of data is on another.
On page 141 there is an example of a trigger procedure that is formatted really terribly, due to too long lines.
Page 246: this one is a really big error. Result of explain command is written on the bottom margin. The page number and bottom separator line is also written there. All is quite unreadable
Another repeating error is in index. The index at the beginning of the book is quite OK. I've got pdf version and there is another index, with the list of pages that appears in my pdf reader. The problem is that when there is a two line title, it appears as two separate positions in the index, e.g. page 63: "Which parameters are at non-default settings?". There is one position in index titled: "Which parameters are at non-default", and another one titled "settings?". This is not a big problem, but it was a little bit confusing, as both positions point to the same page 63.
While reading some parts of the book I felt like I'd add there much more information, but later I thought that it would result in a 1k pages book with too much information. I think that everyone who wants to have much detailed information will be able to find it, and this book is a quite good start for that.
In my opinion this is a must-read book for anyone who seriously thinks about administering PostgreSQL, or wants to understand this great database a much better.


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Neil Patrick Harris to Release Memoir in Spring 2014
According to Entertainment Weekly, Broadway favorite Neil Patrick Harris has a memoir in the works. Crown Archetype will release the book, which is currently set to be published in spring 2014.
He told EW: "I'm excited to be writing a book of the observations and stories of my life. I read with great fondness Tina Fey's Bossypants, so my plan is just to reprint those exact stories but change the names to people that I knew. What editor would take issue with that?"
Click here to read the full article.
Equally successful on stage and screen, Neil Patrick Harris continues to demonstrate his creative versatility. He can be seen as the womanizing Barney Stinson in the fifth season of the hit CBS comedy series, "How I Met Your Mother," a role which garnered him a 2009 Golden Globe nomination and three consecutive Emmy Award nominations.
Named one of the "2008 Entertainers of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly, Harris served as host of the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards and the 63rd Annual Tony Awards. He has appeared on Broadway in Childen of Art, Assassins, Cabaret and Proof. He recently guest starred on the hit FOX series GLEE and directed the Hollywood Bowl production of RENT.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.


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Hello, I have changed the Perl script check.pl so that it now runs with Apache 1.3.12 for WinNT4. But " \htdocs\sgml-lib/REC-html401-19991224" is missing in the tar file! Can you provide this directory? Also a link in the script is incorrect at the present time. If you like to know that link, just let me know! BTW feedback is a bit hard don;t you think so? First you get redirected to a newsgroup, but that won't help people that are willing to improve the validator!! Did I do something wrong, or did I missed something? Then I like to know what! If the NT validator version is running 100% I can send you the changed Perl file. Thank You, HJReceived on Monday, 19 February 2001 14:03:33 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 1 March 2016 14:17:28 UTC


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In the few weeks leading to Prince Harry and Megan · Marle 's wedding, I thought that the flowers will be filled with bouquets of flowers offered at the reception. However, there is no more detail than the Markle wedding dress.
So far, she has expressed interest in "classical and simple" design. "Personally, I prefer a strange or subtle romantic bridal dress," she tells Glamor in March 2016 before meeting Harry, and a simple silk gown by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy gave Narciso Rodriguez He had his favorite face. All the time.
And there are rumors that Ralph and Russo might design the dress, but we will probably not confirm until we arrive at St. George's Chapel on Saturday morning. But since Prince Harry's fiance got married, her first wedding dress can give another clue to her marital style. Let's see the dress you wore when you married in 2011 with Trevor Engelson:
Megan Mark One Wedding Dress
This strapless style fits his relaxing party on Jamaica's beach, but Markle expects to see Windsor Castle later this year. If you are married in the royal family, talking about the drama is not important.
But the British version of the cosmopolitan pointed out that the dress with jewelry belt is similar to the dress worn by the Duchess of Kate in 2011 wedding.


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HLA Donor Privacy Policy
Human Life Alliance (HLA) is an independent, nonprofit organization that does not receive funding from the United States of America or any governmental source. Every dollar raised comes through private donations and foundation support.
Contributions from individual donors, organizations and foundations make up 100% of HLA's support. Our relationship with contributors is the highest expression of our mutual commitment to our mission of creating a culture in which all human life, from the process of fertilization to natural death, is respected and cherished.
HLA respects the privacy of its donors and has put in place a Donor Privacy Policy to honor these rights.
DONOR INFORMATION HLA collects and maintains the following types of donor information when it is voluntarily provided:
- Contact information such as name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
- Giving information
- Information on events attended, publications received and special requests for program information
- Information provided by the donor in the form of comments and suggestions
This confidential information is kept on file for IRS purposes. It is also used to analyze overall giving patterns in order to make more accurate budget projections, as well as to understand a donor's interests in our mission and update them on the organization's plans and activities. This information is shared with staff, board members, volunteers and consultants only on a confidential and need-to-know basis.
LIST SHARING Human Life Alliance does not sell, rent, trade or share its donor list with any other organization.
DISCONTINUING CONTACT UPON REQUEST It is the policy of HLA to communicate with donors according to their expressed preferences whenever possible. HLA will discontinue or change the method used to contact any person upon that person's oral or written request directed to the organization or its agents.
HLA shall maintain a record of all requests by persons who indicate that they do not wish to be contacted by or on behalf of Human Life Alliance.
Upon a person's (or a person's authorized representative's) request that HLA discontinue further contacts, the person's name and address will be promptly modified in the donor database to ensure that no further contact is made with the person.
Permanent Record: Human Life Alliance will maintain an electronic record of all requests for discontinuance of contacts, effective with the adoption of this policy by HLA's board of directors.


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Terms and conditions of use
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Recording is Close to be Done
Just a quick update to to inform that we are very close to be done with the recording of our second album. We hope to get starting with the mix as soon as possible. A few video clips from the studio will be up shortly as well. Lars really wants us to have this flute thing on the album. Well.. Maybe..


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Welcome back, Sori!/
The last time we saw Alfonso Soriano in a Yankee uniform was the night of October 25, 2003. Unfortunately for Yankees, it was not a good occasion because that was the night they lost Game 6 of the World Series to Josh Beckett and the then Florida Marlins in Yankee Stadium.
Soriano's last at bat came in the bottom of the eighth inning - he led off the inning off with a single. Sadly, Derek Jeter followed that up with a fly ball out to center and Nick Johnson ended the inning by hitting into a double play.
Nearly ten years later, Soriano has come back home to the Yankees.
During his five years with the Yankees, Soriano batted .284/.322/.502/.824 with 98 home runs and 270 RBI. After the trade to Texas for Alex Rodriguez in early 2004, Soriano played with the Rangers for two seasons, then was traded to the Washington Nationals for Armando Galarraga, Terrmel Sledge and Brad Wilkerson in December 2005.
Following his 2006 season with the Nationals, in which Soriano joined the elusive 40-40-40 (40 home runs, 40 stolen bases and 40 doubles) club, it didn't take long for the then five-time All-Star to ink a mega deal with the Chicago Cubs worth eight years and $136M.
Things haven't exactly worked out the way Soriano or the Cubs had planned. In the years signed he signed his contract, the Cubs have only reached the playoffs twice, losing in the Division series both times and the club is now looking at facing its fifth year without a postseason appearance.
The Yankees, who have had a strange season of their own in 2013, were in need of a right handed bat to ignite its stagnant offense. Soriano, knowing the Cubs were already in sell mode, waived his no-trade clause to make a return to the place that put him on the map.
It has been reported that the only team he was willing to do that for was the New York Yankees.
So far in 2013, Soriano is batting .254/.287/.467/.754 with 17 home runs and 51 RBI. He had eight home runs this month alone while the Yankees only have seven.
Not only is he returning to the Bronx, but Soriano will also be wearing a familiar number. He was assigned #22 earlier today but has since worked out a deal with Vernon Wells to switch numbers so Wells will wear #22 and Soriano will return to wearing #12 like he did the last time he played with the Yankees. In his early days with the team, Soriano wore 58, 53 and 33 before switching to 12 and has ended up wearing it for most of his career - with the Rangers, Nationals and Cubs.
Soriano has now come full circle and is back home with the team he started his MLB career with and hopefully, it will be a happy reunion. And who knows? Maybe the Yankees' right handed home run hitting drought will end sometimes this weekend.


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I've found, particularly this semester, that reading makes for a perfect break from university work, and so I've continued my habit of always keeping a book in my bag and pulling it out to read every so often. I made it through seven books this month, most of them quite short, but nonetheless engaging for the moments of relief they brought.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
It'd been far too long since I'd read a book deemed a classic, and I Capture the Castle refueled all my love of older written language. Though it's not that old - as it was Smith's first novel, it was published in 1948 - it nevertheless evokes the same emotions that a classic would. The characters are written with pure love and the plot is simple and slow yet engaging and even comical. I Capture the Castle reads like the journal of a Cassandra Mortmain, a 17-year-old English girl who lives in an abandoned castle with her family, and whose life is changed dramatically when a wealthy American family moves into their village.
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Having run out of Gaiman's books for adults last month, I turned to several of his children's and illustrated pieces this month. The first of which, Odd and the Frost Giants, was written for World Book Day in 2009 and is a short and inventive take on Norse mythology. Odin, Thor, and Loki find themselves turned into animals and must seek the help of a young Norwegian boy to convince the Frost Giants to return them to their original forms. It's cute but clever, in a way that only Gaiman manages to write.
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
I expected Freakonomics to be much in the vein of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and it was, but not nearly as good. Each chapter tackles a different question aimed at exploring the ordinary to show that economics is a study of incentives, such as why people join crack gangs and how real estate agents sell their clients homes versus their own. While interesting, the author seemed to jump to a lot of conclusions that he couldn't substantiate, and thus I found the book not entirely trustworthy.
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
This beautifully illustrated version of Sleeping Beauty has a twist that seemed quite tame by Gaiman's standards, but nevertheless fun to read. Many thought this would turn out to be a lesbian retelling, only to find out that it was a story of a woman's independence without love. Though quite short with very little to learn from the characters, the illustrations are gorgeous and the tale familiar and entertaining, and I would recommend a hardcover copy over a digital version.
Mirrormask by Neil Gaiman
The last of Gaiman's books I picked up this month, Mirrormask is a graphic novel/novella retelling of a fantasy film Gaiman wrote several years prior. It tells of Helena, a girl who longs for an ordinary life after working for her family's circus, who finds herself mysteriously transported into a magical realm and her real life stolen by alternate version of herself. The inclusion of illustrations keeps the story alive and more interesting than if it had been published as a novella, but even so, I think it's a story that translates better on-screen in its original form.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
As soon as I saw the title I knew I had to read Solnit's famously humourous yet all too real essay, but I was worried she would come across as too unfair or unable to cross the balance to those who really need to read it. To my surprise I found the title essay and subsequent chapters extremely accessible to both men and women; she scathingly relates the issues at hand without alienating her readers, an important but hard to maintain balance with such a hot button topic. Solnit tackles sexism in the workplace, contemporary violence against women, the new balance of marriage equality, and even a little on Virginia Woolf's take on feminism.
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Mbue's debut has been on a number of must read lists for 2016, and I was honestly quite disappointed. Behold the Dreamers tells of a family of Cameroonian immigrants - Jende, Neni, and Liomi - as they struggle to remain legal residents of the US after moving to NYC. Jende works as a chauffeur for a wealthy Wall Street banker and Neni splits her time between being a student and a home health aide, and together they try to weather the perils of the 2008 crisis and the impending threat of deportation. The writing was engaging and I was rooting for Neni the entire time, but I could not sympathise with Jende; he was too stubborn and selfish for me to care much about his side of the problems and I was genuinely angered by the ending. I'm looking forward to more of Mbue's work in the future, but only if her characters are more likeable.
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September 02, 2008
So yet again Sam and I have failed our faithful readership by not blogging in nearly a month or so. Ok, quick and dirty covering the last few weeks...errr...months?
- Everyone is healthy and growing, blah, blah, blah
- Daisy started preschool today. Yes, started preschool.
- Caleb weighs almost as much as Daisy and he is walking. Nuts
- Sam is doing a bang up job in her marketing/communication/advocate role as part of the Governor's Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities. Yes, we are all hoping they get a decent acronym someday!
- Sam and I will be visiting Wisconsin in the next few weeks. Watch out!
- I'm still doing the remote thing for PayPal
- Last, but not least, Halloween is right around the corner! Yeah!
whew. now that was a quick round-up for sure ;)
Posted by paul at September 2, 2008 06:04 PM in Paul rant


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William, Duke of Gloucester, as a child
Image information
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We use a 280gsm fine art paper and premium branded inks to create the perfect reproduction.
Our expertise and use of high-quality materials means that our print colours are independently verified to last between 100 and 200 years.
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We are proud to have produced over 1 million prints for hundreds of thousands of customers.
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We print everything to order so delivery times may vary but all unframed prints are despatched within 2-4 days via courier or recorded mail.
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William, Duke of Gloucester, as a child
William, Duke of Gloucester, as a child, (c1720). Portrait of the duke (1689-1700) sitting on a curtain, wearing plumes on his head and loose dress with a dog at his feet. Hampton Court scenery can be seen in the background.
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Kennedy Roundhouse 25 Mod:
510 threading connection;
Easy to clean thumb tightening switch;
Extremely low voltage drop;
Revolutionary switch design;
24mm Outer Diameter;
Kennedy 25 Style RDA
Dual-post design;
Swappable post;
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Diameter: 25mm;
Larger build deck
Larger air chamber
Deep juice well
Fits most box mods;
510 threading connection;
Stainless Steel construction;
Not for use on mods with a recessed 510 connector
sowhatisnormal.co.uk is a professional electronic cigarette retail, wholesale and dropship shop. We provide new and cool e-cig products at affordable price. We have overseas warehouse for you for fast delivery.
If you find a product to be authentic, then it is not a clone. Kennedy 25 Style Hybrid Mechanical Mod + Kennedy 25 Style RDA Atomizer Kit - Black, Copper, 1 x 18650, 25mm, review, price, shipping
and other questions regarding this product, just contact us. We also encourage you to leave review of e-cig products on sowhatisnormal.co.uk.


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Villa Dalmacija in Split is a special place for two of us cause it was a venue Martina and I had our own wedding reception at, along with the most casual whole-evening party with our closest friends and family. So when Ana and Ivan contacted us only 20 minutes after Ana said "Yes!" in Dubrovnik on that 2016 New Year's Day, asking us not only about our availability that summer but also info about Villa Dalmacija, we were so happy and pleased that it also made such a strong impression on them back at our wedding.
Their wedding plans from the very start included nothing but completely relaxed fun time. Two of them successfully showed all of us what it is all about when it comes to wedding planning. Their most important thing was their wedding ceremony, in a beautiful venue of Ivan Mestrovic Kastelet on the south side of Marjan Hill, conveniently located just next to Villa Dalmacija. The fact everything was walking distance contributed greatly to such a relaxed atmosphere, but the greatest deal of the casual vibe, the whole day long, was coming from bride and groom themselves. Random white flowers for table decoration and bridal bouquet bought that morning at some wholesale greenhouse, beautiful comfy wedding dress and informal groom's suit, wedding cake picked the last minute before the cutting, from all the beautiful cakes their guests brought as gifts, decorated with Lego cake topper made by Ana's niece, the whole decoration done by themselves and their close friends and family, acoustic guitar session in the middle of party to sing along with their favourite people… No wonder we could fit in so easily and that we were free to do whatever we wanted with photography at any point of the whole day. We used it as much as we could and created their story, reminding ourselves of our amazing day along the way.
The cruel winter is on at this very moment here in Europe. We hope that these photos will bring you some warmth, with both beautiful sunny weather shown on them and the feeling of strong connection and loads of love that was so obvious throughout this amazing day.
Ana and Ivan, it was (and it will stay) the great honour to photograph and keep as a memory your incredible wedding day. Once again thank you for that.
Villa Dalmacija Wedding
This great venue is completely owned by City of Split, so there are quite few additional steps to make when in attempt of booking it. There are also some not too scary but still strict rules to follow when it comes to holding your wedding reception here. We successfully went through this process earlier and we'd be happy to share with our clients all the info we have. Contact us to ask any question.


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Part II: Validate Your Business Model
STEVE BLANK: For years we've treated startups like they are just smaller versions of a large company. However, we now know that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Within this definition, a startup can be a new venture or it can be a new division or business unit in an existing company.
If your business model is unknown -- just a set of untested hypotheses -- you are a startup searching for a repeatable business model. Once your business model (market, customers, features, channels, pricing, Get/Keep/Grow strategy, etc.) is known, you will be executing it. Search versus execution is what differentiates a new venture from an existing business unit.
See what other startup mentors have to say about business plans.
The primary objective of a startup is to validate its business model hypotheses (and iterate and pivot until it does.) Then it moves into execution mode. It's at this point the business needs an operating plan, financial forecasts and other well-understood management tools.
Process – Customer and Agile Development
The processes used to organize and implement the search for the business model are Customer Development and Agile Development. A search for a business model can be in any new business – in a brand new startup or in a new division of an existing company.
In search, you want a process designed to be dynamic, so you work with a rough business model description knowing it will change. The model changes because startups use customer development to run experiments to test the hypotheses that make up the model. And most of the time these experiments fail. Search embraces failure as a natural part of the startup process. Unlike existing companies that fire executives when they fail to match a plan, we keep the founders and change the model.
Once a company has found a business model (it knows its market, customers, product/service, channel, pricing, etc.), the organization moves from search to execution.
The product execution process – managing the lifecycle of existing products and the launch of follow-on products – is the job of the product management and engineering organizations. It results in a linear process where you make a plan and refine it into detail.
Organization – Customer Development Teams
Searching for a business model requires a different organization than the one used to execute a plan. Searching requires the company to be organized around a customer development team led by the founders. In contrast, execution, (which follows search) requires the company to be organized by function (product management, sales, marketing, business development, etc.)
The idea of not having a functional organization until the organization has found a proven business model is one of the hardest things for new startups to grasp. There are no sales, marketing or business development departments when you are searching for a business model. If you've organized your startup with those departments, you are not really doing customer development.
--Startups search for business models, large companies execute business models
--A startup is a temporary organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
--Customer and Agile Development are the processes to search and build the model.
--Business plans are the tool existing companies use for execution. They are the wrong tool to search for a business model.
Click here for Part I.
Click here for more from Steve Blank.
Reader Poll: Is It Getting Harder to Raise Series A Funding?


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Rules of the Houseby Representative James E. Clyburn
Posted on 2013-01-03
CLYBURN. I thank the ranking member for yielding me the time.
Madam Speaker, today is a day of great pride for every Member who has just been sworn in, particularly our newly elected Members. It is a great honor to be elected to serve in this body. On Election Day, our constituents went to their polling places and voted for us. We should be thankful for that, particularly so when, for far too many of our constituents, regardless of their political leanings, voting on Election Day was an unnecessarily burdensome, time-consuming, and unpleasant experience.
In my home county in South Carolina, voters reported waiting in line for over 4 hours. One young voter thought ahead of time. He brought an iPad, and watched the entire ``Hunger Games'' movie while in line. Others, understandably, didn't have 3 hours to spare on a workday. In Detroit, Michigan, Gina Porter waited in line for more than 3 hours before giving up. Danielle Wilkins voted after waiting for 4 hours.
In Lee County, Florida, Angela DeFranciesco went to her polling place in the morning with her infant son. Seeing a 3-hour line, she decided to come back later. After finding a babysitter, she returned in the afternoon, at which point the line had grown to 5\1/2\ hours. Unable to be away from her infant son that long, she left without voting.
As President Obama said on election night, ``We have to fix that.'' As we take our places in this Congress that we earned on Election Day, now is the time to fix it. This motion to commit would ensure that no voter has to wait longer than an hour to cast a ballot.
We have a long history of struggle over the right to vote in this country. Yet, time and again, we have reaffirmed the principle that every eligible American has an equal right to cast a ballot without facing discrimination. A 3-hour wait is discrimination against those who have to work, those who have to take care of their kids and those whose health prevents them from [[Page H15]] waiting in line for such a long time. Long lines are the 21st century version of poll taxes and literacy tests, disenfranchising the least advantaged and the most vulnerable citizens. We have an obligation to ensure that every American has an equal opportunity to exercise his constitutional right to vote.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.


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I'm already at my tenth "Random Photo Entry," and to make up for the relatively shorter ones, here's an extra large one.
Above: Lo and behold, training binders. Nobody told me that my job requires lifting ability, but hauling these things is good exercise!
Above: This element of my job requires little lifting -- training evaluations! Now this is what I'm talking about!
Above: My new camera was put to good use here, wasn't it? I have to get to our training hotel as the sun is rising, but on this particular morning, I had to whip out my camera. My sister Tea Time wonders how I ever got a blog readership using my Moto-Razr phone to take pictures. I'm still going to be using both!
Above: Another early-morning shot.
Above: Gummies from the UK that we bought at (Cost Plus) World Market. I am a huge fan of this place, which sells imports of house stuff and food. I always fall victim to candy here, but these were particularly good -- very chewy, and comes in yummy flavors like pear and black currant.
Above: Another procurement from World Market. This dark-chocolate graham cracker with sea salt was shared by "The Ukrainian" and me for dessert last night.
Above: We bought a partially-baked baguette from the local supermarket, and due to my over-adherence to the directions, it came out a little overdone... but still good.
Above: On one of the stormy days this week, I took refuge in front of the fireplace. "The Ukrainian" joined me, and dinner turned out to be a fire-side picnic. Picture courtesy of self-timer!
Above: Ahhh, toasty! Another self-timed picture!
Above: Finally, I told "The Ukrainian" that I could post his unwanted engineering books to sell online if he provided all the critical info. I do this, and most of my books sell... eventually. Anyway, this is a partial screen shot of the appraisal I did. An estimated sell-total is the lower right-hand corner. If even half of this amount is wheeled in, I'm going to demand a fancy dinner... just kidding!
Unfortunately, school starts tomorrow, so my winter break is over. It's not like I actually had a break, as I pretty much worked all possible days at my old job (save 1 day to go to Mammoth, and Christmas/New Years') and have had to make a transition to the new one.


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The Scott Taylor Band is throwing a party! The 1st Annual STB Eat Tail Suck Head Crawfish Fest will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012 from Noon-11:00 p.m. 8 bands will perform throughout the day.
Music Schedule is:
12:00-1:00 The Washers
1:00 - 1:30 Matt Thigpen
1:30 - 2:30 Majestics
3:00 - 4:00 James & Green
4:30 - 5:30 The Pale Horses
6:00 - 7:00 Ron Shumate
7:30 - 8:30 The Eric Page Band
9:00-11:00 Scott Taylor Band
It's going to be a great time. Enjoy a crawfish boil, cold beer, soft drinks, hamburgers, hot dogs & more for sale. Kids are welcome as it is a family friendly event with inflatable jumpers and so much more! The cost is only $10 for an all day admission. Kids 10 and under are free and this event will be rain or shine. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, etc. and enjoy some good music!


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Computer science and software engineering are skills of the 21st century – they develop the kind of thinking that everyone needs to be successful: analytic thinking, creative problem solving, effective teamwork.
We believe that even more important than any single skill set is our ability to use skills effectively to have an impact on our world: to understand what skills are needed when, to identify and understand the needs of communities and clients, and work strategically and creatively to address those needs. Classes pose real-world challenges and challenge students to use their disciplinary knowledge to make real changes to the world we live in.
We believe that teaching is an inherently political act, and we work to foster a community-centered STEAM/Liberal Arts and Design program to introduce students in the Bronx to the fields of computer science and software engineering, in which minorities and girls are vastly underrepresented.


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by Chris Durst Jan. 17, 2017
Concentrix is looking for people who are passionate about gadgets and technology to work as Product Support Advisors.
In this role, you provide great customer service to customers calling in on the phone for help with resolving technical issues. You'll be supporting one of the "largest technology companies in the world!"
Pay starts at $9.50/hour with regular increases. The job listing says "work at home anywhere." However, in the FAQ on its site, Concentrix specifies that it does not hire in CA, VT and AK.
In their words:
What we offer:
Click here for full details and to apply.
PLEASE SHARE this post – turn your friends into Rat Race Rebels!


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Getting Started
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Get assigned to your course in MyMav.
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Your department's administrative assistant will assign any additional teaching staff to your course, including teaching assistants, research assistants, or co-instructors. For assistance with assigning additional staff in MyMav, see Adding TAs or e-mail the Help Desk.
Add Shadow Instructors to your course.
Send a Shadow Instructor Request to add shadow instructors to your course.
Merge additional sections or combine cross-listed sections.
Send a Section Merge Request to combine multiple sections into one shell, or combine cross-listed course sections.
Load new materials or transfer course materials from a previous course.
Upload your Syllabus and other files to your course or My Files directory. Or, you may want to Copy a Previous Course or Master Shell.
Test your course using the Student View tool
Use the Student View tool to test your course from your students' point of view.
Make the course available.
Refer to Making Your Course Available. You may make the course available to students up to one week prior to the official start date of the session.
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The Center for Distance Education will be your main point of contact for faculty support and training: e-mail CDE Support. We offer Blackboard Workshops for you to learn how to take advantage of Blackboard for your courses.
Please direct students with technical performance and login issues to e-mail the Help Desk.


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First the kitten photo of the week: Kittens at 2 weeks. They now have their eyes open, except Cruyff, who has only opened one eye.
...followed swiftly by.... our puppy photo of the week! Yep one of those 10 day old little worms has got our name on it! They are Beagles, so thinking ahead I was thinking of Snoopy. I'd have to get him flying goggles and a leather helmet. Alternatively Gigi, as in Gigi Buffon the goalkeeper of the Italian national team to complete our football team. Susan wants to call him Ben. Any other suggestions out there?
the kiwi leaves are sprouting. Although in previous years they've always made a good start to then slow right down and refuse to flower or give us fruit. Maybe this year?


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When the release of the 'It's My Party' Collection happened I knew I wanted to stretch the potential of this kit even further than just documenting birthdays and special occasions.Now the next logical step is to use the wonderful digital elements from the scrapbook kit and turn them into cards, but I like to think outside the box a little and I think a wonderful way to share a greeting is through an Animated E-Card so that's what I did! I absolutely love how the elements from this collection took form into this cute little E-Card, which can be quickly sen toff into anyone's inbox or shared on their social media! If you'd like to learn how to digitally wish all your loved ones happy birthday, keep reading to see how I made an animated E-card, and how you can too!
Gather your elements. If you'd like to create an E-card similar to mine, all you'll need is the 'It's My Party' Scrapbook Kit from Little Lamm & Co, Photoshop, and a little imagination! I chose to use the four candles, the silver sequin stars, the pink ribbons, the gold beads, and the pink Gerber daisies … oh and don't forget the Happy Birthday sentiment to create my E-Card.
Create your layers. Once you've chosen all the elements that you want to include, you'll need to have a vision of how you want your animation to go. For me, I wanted the candles to appear one by one, and then light one by one, and then the flame would engulf the pag eand reveal a full page spread of all the other birthday goodies (flowers,stars, ribbons). One by one those items would disappear slowly revealing the sentiment below, which will then flash at the end! Now this sounds like a lot,but if you work backwards it's not too difficult to achieve! Start by creating a new file sized 1280x1024 pixels (ideal for web content which is what we'remaking!). 2.1 Create the full-page spread of birthday goodies with sentiment below already in place. This will help when you're taking each piece away to have the sentiment reveal in a fashion that is believable. 2.2 Save the image of the full-page spread in its entirety and then save images step by step as you hide layers (eyeball icon in the layers panel). As you can see in my thumbnails I simply took one or two elements away each time and then saved the image as anew jpeg. You'll also want to save one completely white page as well for the flashing element at the end.
2.3 Create your candle element.This one you'll be starting from a white screen and introducing your elements one by one instead of working backwards like we did before. Start with the left candle and save that image, so on and so forth (follow thumbnails above).Because there isn't a flame included in the kit I simply grabbed my brush too land drew one flame then duplicated it for each candle. To make it engulf the page, I simply gradually enlarged the flame and saved a new image each time,then duplicated the flames until the page was full. To reveal the full-page birthday goodies spread I simply then took away the flame after covering the entire page to reveal the under image. Because you're revealing the birthday goodies spread under the flames, you'll need to have that prepped before creating these image seven though it will come into the animation sequence after the candles. After creating your animation sequences and saving each individual frame as a jpeg, you'll be ready to create your animation. We'll do this by creating a GIF file in Photoshop.
Products Used
Hi! I'm Cecily, an avid scrapbooker + coffee drinker + pursuer of happiness. A fashion designer by trade, I use the knowledge from my art and design background to create unique, artistic keepsakes with an emphasis on color, typography, and texture. I live my New York life to the fullest while curating it into paper keepsakes to share.


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Art Education
"Get an insight about art, the force of life, art education, arts education partnership, aep, art critics, artists,…"
If every child in the world only thinks about scoring in math or science, then who will become a talented musician or painter? There is a world beyond the mathematical equations and scientific principles. A world of arts where only creativity and talent matters. Famous scientist Albert Einstein said, Imagination is more important than knowledge. Imagination gives rise to new ideas that will bring changes in the world. It is believed that most of the advanced technologies of today's world were depicted by the artists of ancient times.
According to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, arts education is considered as a core subject in the academic curriculum. But is it given that much vital importance as stated in the NCLB? Unfortunately the answer would be no. Even though every individual believes that arts education hold a great importance in the academics, the time spent for art classes in schools has decreased.
Since there are no tests conducted for arts subjects like music, dance, painting etc, school authorities are cutting down the timings for those classes. Arts education improves motivation, concentration and inspiration among the students. The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) is such an association which has a long term mission of providing high-quality arts education for every young person in the country.
Study program offered in arts education by the online and campus colleges will open up several career opportunities to the aspiring individuals. In addition to the role of an arts teacher, they can even choose the career as art critics, administrators, etc. Arts education offered in schools require highly passionate teachers, who can motivate the students to express their creative ideas and thoughts. With good communication skills, these teachers must be able to motivate the students to create, perform and achieve success in life. Since the job of a teacher is considered as a noblest profession in the society, selecting it as a career will be a right decision in life.
For more Information on Art Education,


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CARE Final meeting in Rome, March 2017
On the 29th of March 2017, the Final meeting of the CARE Project was held at the INMP headquarters, in Rome, with the participation of representatives of the 15 partners, IOM and Scientific Board members and the presence, via videoconference, of the Project Officer from CHAFEA, Ms. Paola D'Acapito, the... Read more
InfoDay Italia del progetto CARE
On the 14th of March 2017, the Info Day of the "CARE Project: Common approach for refugees and other migrants' health: results achieved and possible future actions" was held at the INMP headquarters, in Rome, with the presence of the Project Officer from CHAFEA, Ms. Paola D'Acapito. The first sessions of the... Read more
CARE project - Increasing Health Literacy of Migrants' / Refugees'
The right to healthcare is enshrined in several human rights instruments, but migrants/refugees, frequently in vulnerable position during their journey, find themselves not necessarily aware of their rights. The CARE project, studied the most effective practices for increasing health literacy of migrants, identified as one of the objectives of Work... Read more
CARE project - Raising awareness to the general public
Socio-cultural issues and most importantly stereotypes and misconceptions of the general public concerning migrants'/refugees' health needed to be addressed, in order to clarify and inform the general public on true and false facts. Towards this direction and as an objective of WP7 of the CARE project, different approaches were compared... Read more
All outs, all in free. Health in prison – Download the multilingual publication
The publication "All outs, all in free. Health in prison" was produced by the NIHMP in the framework of the project "Health without barriers. Healthcare integration of foreign nationals deprived of their personal freedom", financed by the EIF - European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (2011 programme) and... Read more
Impoverishment and Poverty. Life experiences and services in Rome and Turin
Data on impoverishment and poverty are important for describing a situation, but they are more and more perceived as a partial interpretation of that social, psychological, political, cultural and economic precariousness that causes vulnerability.In this publication, service operators looked for what is behind indexes and thresholds and which everyday experiences... Read more
CARE Interim Meeting-Ljubljana,19-20 September
On Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th of September the Interim CARE project meeting took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the Slovenian National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Over 30 representatives from all participating countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Italy) and all partners involved in the project attended the meeting.... Read more
Training – Rome, 6-8 September
Training addressed to Greek and Croatian multidisciplinary staff was held at INMP headquarters The Care project requires a strong and coordinated action to train professionals and target groups who are engaged with migrants' health. Those target groups are health professionals working into the multidisciplinary teams of the hotspots in Italy... Read more
- Date: 29/03/2017
CARE Final meeting in Rome, March 2017 >>>
- Date: 14/03/2017
InfoDay Italia del progetto CARE >>>
- Date: 10/03/2017
CARE project - Increasing Health Literacy of Migrants' / Refugees' >>>
- Date: 10/03/2017
CARE project - Raising awareness to the general public >>>
- Date: 24/11/2016
Training seminar in Catania – Italy, November 2016 >>>
- Date: 20/09/2016
CARE Interim Meeting-Ljubljana,19-20 September >>>
- Date: 08/09/2016
Training – Rome, 6-8 September >>>
- Date: 01/08/2016
Official CARE website online >>>
- Date: 04/12/2010
Renata Polverini, President of the Lazio Region, visits the NIHMP - Photos and Video >>>
- Date: 26/11/2010
"Waiting for the Cancun Conference: with the feet on the Earth": Latin-American cinema at the NIHMP >>>


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Jayne C. Meredith
- Louisville KY
- 502-439-2907
- [email protected]
Objective: To obtain a challenging position within Brown-Forman where my skills and training are utilized to meet the company's objectives, and continued personal development to prepare me for future leadership positions within the company.
Building on the foundational education received at USMA, the courses taken at Sullivan included Accounting I, II, & III, Marketing, Public Speaking, Business Management, Quantitative Methods, and Ethics. Currently taking classes to obtain my bachelor's degree with seven courses remaining for completion. Presently, I have 152.0 credit hours applied to 180.0 credit hours required.
Attended the USMA Preparatory School June 1997 to May 1998 and focused on the subjects of Math and English to prepare for West Point's curriculum.
After completing the Prep School program, I attended USMA in the summer of 1998 beginning with Cadet Basic Training (CBT). Once CBT was completed in August, the academic year began. Academic courses over a two-year time span included Chemistry I & II, Computer Science / Information Technology, Economics, English Composition, Portuguese, History (US & World), International Relations, Law, Leadership, Literature, Calculus I&II, Probability & Statistics, Military History, Philosophy, Physical Geography, Physics I&II, and Political Science.


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a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thursday, February 14, 2013
My Valentine
a Rafflecopter giveaway
8 comments:
These are so cute! Love the colors.ReplyDeleteReplies
Hi Angie. thank you for taking a peak and for the kind comment. Much appreciated.Delete
Hi Leslie!! I love making cards and other things like you :) Happy to have found you! Just followed through the blog hop. I invite you to stop by and link up with my NO RULES Weekend Blog Party which is going on all weekend :)ReplyDelete
Hi Paula. Thank you for following. I will def stop by you blog and follow back. Looking forward to linking up on your weekend blog hop. I also look forward to sharing cards and crafts with you.Delete
Leslie, these layouts are GORGEOUS!!!!! Wow, the colors are so soft and sophisticated!!! LOVE the pictures of you and your hubby!!! You guys look SO happy!!!!! Have a great Valentine's evening!!!! (: *hugs*ReplyDeleteReplies
Aww, Grisel - thank you for all your kind words. This was a fun set to work with. And thanks for the compliment - were were happy and very relaxed on that vacation. Happy Valentine's day to you too. (hugs) xoDelete
How sweet!! Love your layouts!ReplyDelete
The soft colors are beautiful!
Great choice of embellies!! ;)Replies
Thanks Lenny. Glad you like the choices I made for the embellishments. There were so many to choose from. :)Delete


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|Before becoming a princess, every Disney princess is studying at special college. Ariel, Elsa, Belle and Cinderella have met each other in Disney College and become best friends forever. They are spending a lot of time together sharing different secrets and tittle-tattles. In addition, princesses love to discuss the fashion and other princesses? outfits. Spend with Ariel, Elsa, Belle and Cinderella an interesting day at Disney College! Choose best outfits and share the secrets. Have fun!
|Use your mouse to play this Disney Princess game on GirlGames.com!
|Family and Kids Fashion
|princess ariel dress-up dress dressup belle elsa disney cinderella
|3,632 players