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By Mathew K Jallow, Madison, Wisconsin
Yahya Jammeh once insulted the African Union. Now he frequently insults the ECOWAS; once, even threatening to unilaterally pull the Gambia out of the West African bloc. Insulting the US and UK are his favourite pastimes. But, recently, the one thing he relishes most is disparaging the EU, once telling the European body to "go to hell."
If Yahya Jammeh views neighbouring Senegal as his bogeyman, it is because, to a large degree, he sees President Macky Sall as his kryptonite. Yahya Jammeh can no longer control Guinea-Bissau's political affairs, order assassinations of political nemeses, exploit the resources of that country, causing that country's decade of political unrest, due of President Sall.
On the surface, his acts of lunacy may not seem much, but put together, they tell a story of his consistent exposure of a touch of insanity, and a tinge of reptilian insensitivity. Yahya Jammeh displays a disturbing pattern of behavior that is borderline megalomaniac in nature and cowardly in disposition. As bad his actions are, they don't exemplify the worst of Yahya Jammeh's display of pure political madness. That has to be the six instances of executions;, ranging from as few as six innocent military officers, to as many as forty-four West African s mostly Ghanaian nationals captured at Amdalaye border post with Senegal, travelling to the Canary Islands as illegal immigrants.
Since 1994, the political killings have exceeded several hundred, as Gambians have lost count, but this does not include the hundred who died in prisons, the thousands who fled to Senegal, West Africa, across Europe, and the dozens who have disappeared after their arrests by National Intelligence Agency, since 1995. The World Bank also estimates 65% of the Gambia's university graduates have left the country; second only to the Cape Verde Islands. But, it is Yahya Jammeh's child sacrifice killings that most defy explanation, and characterizing the practice as cruel, barbaric and animalistic, is an understatement that doesn't do justice to a ritual practice, which is a throwback to the Cro-Magnon era.
It is hard to determine whether Yahya Jammeh is more motivated by lust for power, material greed or both. For a man who had less than ten dollars in his bank account in 1994, Yahya Jammeh is easily the wealthiest head of state in West Africa and with properties around the Greater Banjul, Guinea-Conakry, Morocco, the crown jewel, Washington, DC, mansion in the heart of the priciest real estate in America, all from Africa's poorest country, that says something.
Yahya Jammeh is truly a composition of multiple personalities, none of them congenial, and all of them repulsive to the extreme. This is not merely my opinion; ask any Gambian. There is another angle to Yahya Jammeh few people know; he has turned the Gambia as a transhipment point for illegal South American drugs bound for the United States and Europe. And Yahya Jammeh's wife makes frequent forays to Washington and Paris, which some believe are Imelda Marcus type wasteful shopping sprees, but others see the trips as nothing more than diplomatic cover to transport illegal drugs to the US. Be that as it may, one thing is clear, there is only one country on the African continent where the Darwinian theory of the survival of the fittest is flaunted with mindless indifference to the sensibilities of its victims; Gambia's majority tribes. Yahya Jammeh's muscular tribalism is a catalyst in the decision to free the Gambia from his scathing ignorance, in order to rebuild the relations that bound our citizens together, without regard to tribe or regional origin.
Despite Yahya Jammeh's best efforts in creating divisions of tribe among the Gambian people, at the individual and community levels, his colossal failure is routinely celebrated as an example of common sense human values. Gambians of every hue have determined that the government level is where Yahya Jammeh has the most impact in tribal discrimination in hiring, business, educational and promotional opportunities.
And despite every energy wasted in creating tribal rifts, his divisive efforts are superseded by generations of cultural and bloodline bonds, which Gambians value far more than the hatred he is implanting in Gambians' midst. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that Yahya Jammeh's departure from the canons of moral rectitude have had a devastating impact on Gambia's marginalized tribes, who consist 95% of the population. The Gambia is, today, a perfect case study of the tyranny of the minority; Yahya Jammeh's life worth, but it is also his undoing. In so many ways, Yahya Jammeh is a counterfeit replica of some bad men of history; his mentor Col. Mumar Ghadaffi, Idi Amin Dada, and Sekou Toure, copying their greed, savagery, perhaps, more importantly, copying their indifference to reason. After twenty-two years, the Gambia has reached an inflection point, and political change, to conform to the rest of the civilized world, and the ever shifting political paradigms of our time, is the goal of their nation, and the reason Gambians voted for political change.
Ideologically and temperamentally, Yahya Jammeh is stuck to the past; a world of archetypal dictators, tyrants and military rulers, who graduated into believing their indispensability and supreme right to not be accountable to justice and the laws of their land. But, the political world is changing rapidly, leaving these rulers far behind in the filth dustbin of history.
Yahya Jammeh needs this truism driven in his empty skull. And as the political impasse in the Gambia draws further on, Yahya Jammeh is faced by mounting challenges, as several dozen institutions and agencies submit to the will of the Gambians people, and allegiance to the Coalition. The state-sanctioned killings, forced disappearances, tortures, mass incarceration, fleeing of Gambians in search of safety in other lands, may be emblematic of Yahya Jammeh's military dictatorship, but the recent resignation from the Gambia's Foreign Service, the ambassadors to Senegal, United Kingdom, United States and China, among a dozen others, is singularly Yahya Jammeh's worst storyline since losing the elections last month.
These mass resignations from the diplomatic corps and the continuing defection of members of the military and security forces, have increasingly left deplorable Yahya Jammeh more and more isolated; if not completely abandoned by the core of his civilian defence, and , therefore, his frivolous claim to legitimacy. From every corner of the globe, Gambians have sent bruising condemnation to Yahya Jammeh and his sickening regime; and speaking the common language of reason, made impassioned pleas for Yahya Jammeh to defer to the will of the Gambian people, and condemned him for his insistence of staying in power. After twenty-two years, winning four elections, Gambians are baffled by Yahya Jammeh's claim to power after his loss.
The common thread that runs through their logic is best summed up by an angry Gambia; by the hundreds, Gambians lost their lives, fled the Gambia by the thousands, scared and threatened by their government, incarcerated by the thousands, lost billions of dollars to state looting, and still Yahya Jammeh wants to drain every last drop of our blood. Yahya Jammeh's strange fixation with power, will, this year, be met by a steely determination for political change and gymnastic contortion and artful dodging will only exacerbate his haemorrhaging of goodwill from former supporters. Yahya Jammeh's delusion is that ECOWAS will magically stop demanding his resignation, but Gambian's got news for him; ECOWAS will side with the people, not a criminal like himself. The saving grace for him and his ragtag army is to step down and allow the Constitution and the laws to work. After all, Gambians, after two decades of death and destruction, still wait to be free; finally.


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Poconos Attractions
Find great things to see and do in the Poconos: You'll find lots of fun stuff to see while you're in the Poconos - indoors and out. Enjoy a day at the fair and see what the local farmers and 4H groups have been busy with.
How 'bout a balloon festival where you can soar into the heavens effortlessly and quietly.
The Poconos features a treasure trove of small museums that are a great way to spend a few hours and learn about the heritage of our county and how this region developed. Did you know the US Forest Service got it's start right here?
Need something a bit more exciting? Try your hand at mini-golf or slide down a refreshing chute of water at one of the water parks.
Poconos Attractions Guide
Attractions Guide to the Poconos
In addition to the natural beauty of the Poconos, there's lots to see and enjoy.
Fairs and Festivals
See our current list of upcoming fairs and festivals: Poconos Film Festival, Find Fairs and Festivals in the Poconos, Film Festivals, Balloon, Country Fairs, Agricultural, Crafts and many other types listed here
Fun Centers
Listing all of the Fun Centers in the Poconos - featuring rides, amusements and activities, o-carts, batting cages, mini-golf, driving ranges. Some even have elaborate water park activities - plan a birthday party!.
Historic SItes
This catalog of historic sites located with the boundaries of the Pocono Mountains includes important French-Indian War, Revolutionary War and Civil War sites and artifacts. A number of important sites relating to early America life from Native American I
Mini Golf
View various mini golf parks in the Poconos
The Poconos is rich in American Heritage and History. Many of the local historical societies maintain an impressive collection of museums - where a picture of our past is preserved for all generations.
Water Parks
The Poconos is home to several major water parks and have made a splash with many that rival the best. Choose from summertime favorites for the outdoors, or several indoor water parks you can enjoy all year long.
Zoo and Animal Parks
See the Bear and Tiger who are best friends, Feed the llamas, View local native animals who are being nursed back to health.

subset: commoncrawl


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doeanddoe was formed to enable a collaborative thinking space for non-traditional approaches. If you would like to work with a nimble team of hybrid thinkers, please get in touch.
Send us a hello [at] doeanddoe.com or alternatively use the form below to book in for a visit.


text: On 23. Oct 2007, at 19:32, Kai Schaetzl wrote: > Have you tried renaming libmysqlclient.so.10? Also, are you sure > that it > is libmysqlclient.so.10 that is getting used and not the client coming > with PHP? If I remember correctly PHP (at least before 5) links > against a > client library that comes with it's source by default. So, if you are > building without specifying an external library it should use it's > own for > linking. Yes, pretty sure: $ ldd /usr/lib/php4/mysql.so libmysqlclient.so.10 => /usr/lib/libmysqlclient.so.10 (0x00f72000) I tried compiling PHP with '--with-mysql', '--with-mysql-dir=/usr' and without explicitly specifying it, always the same outcome. I'm kinda surprised that even the built-in mysqlclient libs don't work as I expect them to. I was thinking about either renaming .so.10 or symlinking it to .so. 15, but I'd really prefer to not mess with these kind of things by hand and rather have everything updated correctly with the correct procedure of RPMming/compiling. Chrs, Dav


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The Forgotten Prisoner A Tale of Extraordinary Renditions and Double-Standards
German Islamic extremist Mohammed Haydar Zammar has been locked in a dungeon in Damascus for the past four years as part of Washington's post-9/11 "extraordinary renditions" program. By placing the man with suspected ties to the Hamburg al-Qaida cell in Syrian hands, the United States is allowing Damascus to commit torture so that it doesn't have to.
Syria's Far-Filastin prison is like an iceberg. The most treacherous part lies hidden beneath the surface.
Its visible part is a white, two-story building in the drab style of socialist prefab construction, about as plain-looking as the former Berlin headquarters of the East German secret police, the Stasi. This unassuming-looking building in the Massa section of the Syrian capital, a five-minute drive from downtown Damascus, is the Syrian military intelligence agency's nerve center.
German officials flew to Damascus to interrogate a prisoner they knew was being tortured.
Shortly before 5 p.m., dozens of military intelligence employees ending their day shifts pass through the facility's cast iron, five-meter gate. They include guards like Ahmed, who was suspended five years ago for his brutal interrogation tactics that often led to prisoners' deaths, but who is nonetheless back on the job. Two intelligence officers sit in a battered, white Peugeot parked at the corner, watching and waiting. The sun is about to dip the neighborhood in the mild glow of early evening, and the muezzin is about to call out the end of the day's fast. But the scene is lost on the prisoners in their dark, underground cells, where they can only hear the muezzin.
The dungeons of Far-Filastin, which means "Palestinian Division" in Arabic, were once reserved for Palestinian fedayeen fighters. Nowadays the underground cells house followers, real or suspected, of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Mohammed Haydar Zammar, 44, is one of the latter.
Zammar's cell, cell 13, is reached by taking a left turn at the end of a long corridor. It's the third door after the bathroom. He's been held here for almost four years.
At least one thing is certain: he's alive. This was confirmed when the Red Cross received a call from Walid al-Muallim, Syria's deputy foreign minister. The message -- that the prisoner would be allowed to send and receive mail -- was a small miracle by Syrian standards. The Red Cross then forwarded a short note from Zammar's wife, who lives in Hamburg, to Zammar, and the prisoner was permitted to write a few sentences in response. Zammar's letter, including the salutation (Dear wife, dear children), amounts to all of 43 words on 7 lines. In handwriting as clumsy and crooked as that of a second-grader (after all, Zammar hasn't written anything in a long time), he writes: "I am healthy and I ask you to pray for me and forgive me. Your Haydar. Al-Salam alaikum."
The letter was the first official sign of life from Mohammed Haydar Zammar, a German citizen, since he was abducted weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was dated June 8, 2005 and marked Palestine Division, Damascus.
The news is good and bad. Zammar is alive. That's the good news. But whether his family will even see him again is as uncertain as ever. The correspondence shines light on a case that epitomizes the post-9/11 world, one in which it's difficult to tell who is and who isn't a villain -- and even if someone is, just how much of a villain he is. The Zammar case typifies the "war on terror," in which the US government seems to believe that almost any means are justified, even torture in a country like Syria, a country that, ironically, the Americans have branded a "rogue state." The case is also symbolic, raising, as it does, the issue of just how far a state governed by the rule of law can go, especially when the division between right and wrong is so murky.
Zammar's abduction also raises questions about the role of the German government. It has no exact knowledge -- officially, that is -- about the fate of its citizen, but it also wanted its share of the action when it came time for Zammar to confess, and so it sent a delegation of German officials to Damascus. For the Germans, the information this prisoner could potentially provide, in the days following 9/11, seemed far too important to ignore.
At the time, investigators believed that Zammar was a key figure who could help clear up the worst crime in the modern history of terrorism. Zammar, nicknamed "Fratello Mohammed" in Italy and "Bruder Haydar" (Brother Haydar) in Germany, was a known entity in Islamist circles. He was an enormous man, weighing in at 145 kg (320 lbs.), with arms the size of small tree trunks. His appearance alone -- he was thickly bearded and wore a flowing blue caftan and a Palestinian kaffiyeh -- made him a dead ringer for a dedicated servant of Allah.
Mohammed Haydar Zammars: The adopted father of the Hamburg 9/11 terror cell
When confronted with the bin Laden pamphlet, Zammar told authorities it was "a declaration of war on the USA. I photocopied it to distribute to Muslims." His friends say that Brother Haydar had always been a bit naïve, but the reality is that he was anything but an overgrown child.
More than anything else he was unreasonable. When he was taken to a court in Hamburg six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Zammar told the judge that, as a Muslim, he was only bound by the word of God. "The law that obligates me to testify here," he said, "is not Islamic law. And that's why I don't feel bound by that law." A short time later, the Federal Public Prosecutor launched an investigation against Zammar -- under file number 2 BJs 81/01-5 -- on the suspicion that he had supported a terrorist organization -- the group of Sept. 11 pilots. The investigation is still pending.
Zammar moved to Hamburg from Aleppo, Syria in 1971, but in a sense he never really arrived in Germany. After dropping out of high school, he was trained as an automobile mechanic at Daimler, but soon became unemployed. He renounced his Syrian citizenship on March 17, 1982 and became a German citizen. Despite living from welfare and child assistance payments totaling about 1,400 a month, he felt justified in claiming that Muslims had "always been treated poorly" in Germany.
After living in Germany for 30 years, Zammar decided to leave the land of the infidel and move to a Muslim country, Morocco or perhaps Mauritania. He applied for a new passport in Hamburg and booked a flight to Casablanca via Amsterdam. That was on Oct. 27, 2001.
Zammar's wife and six children never saw him again.


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White Sand, Blue Sea: A St. Barts Love Story by Anita Hughes
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Olivia Miller is vacationing with her mother and step father in their villa in St. Barts where they plan on celebrating Olivia's twenty fifth birthday. When a man shows up at the door Olivia thinks it's someone her mother has invited to the party and welcomes him in but is shocked to find out it's her biological father, Sebastian, that she hasn't seen in twenty years.
A globe trotting artist Sebastian claims to have come to celebrate Olivia's big day and since she is excited to finally know her father everyone tries to be welcoming. However things heat up when Sebastian tries to invite Olivia to travel with him thus spoiling her boyfriend's surprise engagement and wedding plans.
When picking up White Sand, Blue Sea I was quite under the impression that this was supposed to be a romance read however the one thing the book is seriously lacking is any sort of romance to the story. This is really where my rating of 2.5 stars comes into play with this one, the story is all a rich family drama and really more of the problems brought by the runaway father's return.
The small bit of relationship involvement comes when Olivia and her boyfriend have a bit of a fight over her returning father and then a bit with Olivia's mother and her relationship. In my opionion though the author dropped the ball with not letting readers even know what was going on with Olivia's mother and stepfather until the very end so I wasn't even engaged in something there either.
Overall, 2.5 stars for this one. It had a beautiful setting being in St. Barts but that was the only saving grace for me as far as the story went, would have been much nicer to have a romantic story in this setting.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Categories: Uncategorized


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Sally Spiegel found her calling as a home renovator 10 years ago, when she was a nanny with her own child-care firm stretching across four states. In addition to taking care of their children, the parents she worked for hired her to run errands from architect to engineer, deliver hinges to the builder, and take calls from the contractor for their massive renovations. And she loved it.
Sally dove into renovating full-time after an electrician told her, "You're the real deal. Your gift is having conversations with people and walking them through the renovation."
That gift for communication has translated into a decade in the renovating business, during which time Sally has assisted owners with Asheville-area houses ranging from a historic 1919 house in the Grove Park neighborhood to an early '90s traditional house in Fairview.
"The most important conversation that I have with a client is helping them define their intentions," Sally says. "An intentional renovation is very, very different from a renovation that's simply a whim. That's really what I help people get clear about." To do that, she has private conversations with both sides of a relationship. Sally's example: A husband says he has to have a glass block wall in the bathroom, and he's driving his wife crazy. "So I ask, 'What are you willing to die in the ditch for?' I have talked people out of two-sink bathrooms with 10-foot vanities for 10 years," Sally says. "If y'all need two sinks, you need an attorney."
The single, 45-year-old mother of two teenage children is sending 2 a.m. emails to subcontractors and general contractors. The cook she is working with on a renovation wants a built-in chopping block that is able to withstand a cleaver butchering up to 75 pounds of meat — on a lift, no less. Fortunately, Sally knows someone who can do the job.
"A house comes with a story, and you've got to figure out how to make it work."
In the end, Sally's relationship with a client is more important than the project. More important than the six-panel wall made of solid fir, or the rolling sidewalk that enables you to pull the grill indoors at night so bears won't maul it.
"My ideal client is someone who appreciates the existing property," Sally says. She likes "rescuing things," and the complexity of renovating rather than building. Renovation, she says, is "like dating someone with baggage. A house comes with a story, and you've got to figure out how to make it work." The statement illustrates the other thing clients love about Sally: her candor. She's willing to tell people that what they want either can't be done, or they can't afford it.
Sally readily admits, "I'm a luxury item. You need a shirt and underwear and pants. I'm jewelry. Knowing that you're dispensable makes you behave a little differently." Then she adds: "'This renovation brought us closer,' said no one ever."
Many of her clients are in transitions — to empty nesting, to retirement, from one lifestyle to a different one. Sally can help them navigate decisions because she's been in their shoes. As a child — with a grandfather who was a Presbyterian minister and a father who was an Episcopal priest — she moved 22 times. While attending boarding school in Raleigh, she visited the homes of friends in Manteo, Hickory, and New Bern. As a nanny, she chased toddlers through other people's houses.
Then she moved to Asheville. "People come to Asheville because they feel called here, pulled here. It's a magnet," Sally says.
She sighs. Not that she's tired, nope. She wants to show me the zebrawood veneer that's going in the previously bank-owned minimalist house with the maximum view, but we're too far up a mountain to get Internet service for her iPad. No matter. She has 17 other projects going on, and needs to get her son to a traveling soccer game in Charlotte. Onward, then, to the magnet that is Asheville.
Learn more at sallyspiegel.net.


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Friday, November 18, 2011
Day 17: Sweet as Candy Shop
The day 17 glitter challenge mani is, quite unintentionally, my version of the Deborah Lippmann's Candy shop.
face name?) Circus Confetti on the store shelf, my first thought was "Glitter Sandwich!" and the second was "Franken!" I had thought I'd use some of the Texas collection jellies for sandwiching, but somehow I went for the candy floss pink.
Posted by Eugenia at 5:43 PM
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text: I'm using Wing on a large Python app which requires that a script be run to set up a bunch of environment variables, etc., before the app is launched. Is it possible to tell Wing to automatically run the script when the Wing project for the app is opened? Roger House Software Developer


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Performances and interviews to air live from Coachella on SiriusXM's Coachella Radio + watch Coachella live exclusively on YouTube
SiriusXM announced today that it will be the exclusive radio broadcaster of live performances and interviews from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
In advance of Coachella, SiriusXM will launch Coachella Radio on April 11. The limited-run channel will feature music by artists who will be performing at Coachella 2016 leading up to the festival. Coachella Radio will then provide continuous coverage of the festival both weekends with live performances, artist interviews and reports from backstage and the festival grounds as well as exclusive Coachella news and happenings. Select performances will also air on other SiriusXM channels including Electric Area, Alt Nation, The Spectrum and more. SiriusXM was the first radio broadcaster to broadcast Coachella live in 2015.
"Broadcasting the live performances and interviews from Coachella will give SiriusXM listeners, no matter where they are, the feeling of being somehow magically transported to this seminal live music event," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. "We are thrilled to again be the exclusive radio broadcaster of this influential festival as Coachella Radio offers listeners unique access to performances, backstage interviews and more."
SiriusXM's Coachella Radio will launch on channel 18 on Monday, April 11 at 5:00 pm ET and will air through Thursday, April 28. The channel will also be available through the SiriusXM App on smartphones and other connected devices, as well as online at siriusxm.com. Select performances will also air on other channels including Electric Area, Alt Nation, The Spectrum and more.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival's 2016 lineup will include LCD Soundsytem, Ellie Goulding, Sufjan Stevens, Jack U, M83, Underworld, The Kills, Guns N' Roses, Ice Cube, Discolsure, Zedd, A$AP Rocky, CHVRCHES, Halsey, James Bay, Calvin Harris, Sia, Major Lazer, Flume, Beach House and many more.
For more details about broadcast times go to SiriusXM.com/coachella.
For more information on SiriusXM, please visit www.siriusxm.com.
Cure festival FOMO and watch Coachella live exclusively on YouTube – tune in to watch select live performances on April 15-17. Live stream embed codes below.
Un-leashed by T-Mobile, music fans around the world can tune into Coachella's YouTube channel on April 15-17 to catch performances of both emerging artists and the biggest acts on the lineup. The live stream will also be available on the YouTube Music app, and on any screen where you can watch YouTube.
You can further enhance your experience with several new features on Coachella's YouTube channel for this year's festival:
You'll have the freedom to choose from three live stream channels and a video-on-demand hub to see highlights and performance footage throughout the weekend. You can also find this on mobile at CoachellaLive.com.
An interactive personalized schedule to customize your live viewing experience. The live stream channel will change automatically based on the artists & bands you select + the Coachella YouTube Channel social feed will incorporate new exclusive highlights and top moments from the festival.
Stay tuned in here to find out which artists will be in the live stream and subscribe to Coachella's YouTube channel to watch the latest videos and even relive past performances.
Google Play Music Heads to Coachella with 2016 Festival Season Stations – Listen To: Headliners | Hip Hop / R&B | Dance


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I wanted to nail art for a long time, finally I tried it last week. This is a very simple nail art. I have used Lotus nail enamel Gold Mist, maybelline color show Blackout and ELLE 18 top coat.
DIY manicure in 6steps HERE
To get this look first apply any gold color nail polish, then make random polka dots with black color nail polish using tooth pick or bobby pin. As soon as the polish is dry apply top coat.
This is my first nail art I know that it has not come out perfectly, hope I will do a better job next time.
DIY manicure in 6steps HERE


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Choose from 100s of holidays and short breaks at fantastic prices.
Whether you want to take a river cruise, visit a capital city or take to the lakes and mountains of Austria, Switzerland or Italy, we have many fabulous European coach holidays to suit you ranging from 3 to 15 days. There are also plenty of breaks for families like Disneyland Paris and Special events and sports breaks, such as the European F1 Grand Prixs throughout the year.
Coach travel throughout, overnight hotel accommodation and an inclusive itinerary are features of all our European short breaks and holidays.
Choose from a range of departure points across the North East of England, Yorkshire and North West England.
Request, view or download the National Holidays brochure now for a great value European coach holiday or short break.


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T.I. to Star in New Cop Procedural from Jerry Bruckheimer
Jun 20, 2017 4:33 PM EDT
T.I. is upping his TV creds by landing the starring role in a cop procedural from blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Tip "T.I." Harris and Bruckheimer are teaming up for Atlanta's Most Wanted, one of Fox's first drama pilot order for the 2018 T… Read more


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Every time there is a Supreme Court vacancy under a Republican president, the Left panics, at least since 1973, when Roe v. Wade was erroneously decided, inventing a supposed right to abortion that is nowhere in the Constitution. With the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the pattern continues. We all know that this panic stems from the fact that the Left, when they control the courts, uses their power to push their progressive agenda on society when they can't win at the ballot box, so they are afraid that our side will also use the courts to push our conservative agenda in just as underhanded a way as they do. There is one critical difference, however. Conservatives do not make things up. We adhere to the Constitution so any societal change that comes from a conservative SCOTUS is actually bringing society back in line with the Constitution, not some made up progressive vision of what society ought to be.
The disingenuous tactic most often used by the Left is the concept of stare decisis, which is Latin for "to stand by that which is decided." Practically speaking, the Left considers it to mean "Thou shalt not overturn Roe v. Wade." And in all the sound and fury about stare decisis, they often point out that this constitutional abomination is some kind of "super precedent" that absolutely must be upheld because it has been on the books for over 45 years. You can bet that their argument that Obergefell v. Hodges (the gay "marriage" decision) can't be overturned will be because it was just decided and SCOTUS can't overrule itself that quickly. Convenient that two completely opposing arguments can be made for the same rule, "SCOTUS shall not overturn any decision that we like." It's the same tactic they use about
global warming climate change, but I digress.
It turns out that Obergefell itself overturned Baker v. Nelson, which was decided in 1972, a year before Roe, so it should have been at least as strong a precedent as Roe. And Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, which was decided 58 years previously (1896). Just for fun, let's take a look at Trump v. Hawaii, the "travel ban" case that was just decided this term. Aside from making liberal heads explode by ruling in favor of President Trump, the decision also overturned Korematsu v. United States (1944), the Japanese internment decision from 74 years previously. Presumably the Left agrees with everyone else that Korematsu should have been overturned.
Actually, the controlling precedent on abortion is Planned Parenthood v. Casey, from 1992. As I've written before, this decision should be overturned if for no other reason than to strike the execrable "Sweet Mystery of Life" passage from the American legal lexicon (don't let the door hit you on your way out, Justice Kennedy). But is 27 years enough time to make Casey a supposed "super precedent"?
Here's what it comes down to: The Left can use "emanations" and "penumbras" to make up constitutional rights out of whole cloth and then hide behind stare decisis, effectively claiming a ratchet effect towards their progressive vision for our country. We on the right can use the actual text of the Constitution to bring things back to where they should be. With President Trump replacing Anthony Kennedy with Brett Kavanaugh, we have an opportunity to make that happen. I'm not wishing ill on any other member of the Court, but there is a chance we will be in even better position to do so in the coming years. Let's hope that President Trump will continue to nominate strong conservatives and that the Justices have the courage to make it happen.


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With Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, developers have an easy-to-deploy solution for local data. Ranging from caching reference data to full offline scenarios, developers can use a single engine for their Windows Mobile-powered devices, or their full desktop clients–benefiting from the power of SQL Server in a compact footprint. Using Visual Studio 2008, we show how SQL Server Compact can be transparently deployed with unique features including updatable result sets and a custom document format, and how to manage the creation and maintenance of your local data. This session is packed with demonstrations that can get you started today. Check the webcast page here to know the same !!!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 02:32 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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The title of this post should be Finding My Way Back to Me as a Stay at Home Mom of Triplets...but that would have been way to long. Its been a little over a year and half since I quit my job and Tommy and I moved the kids to Virginia. Tommy took a new job and I did not. It was a rare opportunity for me stay at home with kids. When they were getting out of the hospital, I was already going back to work. It had been three months and my maternity leave was over. Experiencing the loss of my father and almost the loss of my babies in such a short time, in addition to spending every day in the hospital with them for three straight months made me start to ask myself questions like, what am I doing? I got to know the nurses that cared for babies and I spent every day learning about how to take care of sick babies like mine. I knew code words and what all the beeps on the machines meant. I watched them save my babes life on more than one occasion. And then I went back to work. I had people coming into my office complaining about who they sat next to at work, how big the break room was, and what kind of prizes we gave away at the company holiday party. I thought, what am I doing, am I really making a difference? A few weeks later when I had to terminate someone (for good cause), I still felt like a terrible human being. I thought about the nurses and what they did every day and just was not completely satisfied anymore with how I was spending my time away from my new babies, who still had health problems of their own. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the company I worked for and the people I worked beside, but something was suddenly missing. Still, I pushed my feelings aside and kept doing what I knew I did best, and my ambition and drive propelled me forward. We had an excellent nanny stay and take care of the babies and she sent me pictures of their milestones and I secretly hated that I wasn't their to witness them myself.
Flash forward two years and Tommy is offered a position in Virginia where I could be home with them. It was a tough decision. I had a good chance of moving up in the company and advancing my career if I stayed, but I wouldn't be able to pursue some of the other things I had always "just thought about", but never had time for, and I would likely have less time with my children. So, we moved. It was exciting and the most stressful thing I have ever done. Here we were in this beautiful snow covered place and Tommy was gone ALL THE TIME. I knew no one. I had never been by myself with the babies, hardly ever, let alone 24 hours a day for multiple days at a time. The babies were just reaching that ever so wonderful phase of the terrible twos and threes. I quickly sank into depression and started trying to find ways to dig myself back to the smart, confidant, and capable women, mother and wife I knew I was. I volunteered at the hospital, my heart was there with those babies and families, who were enduring the roller coaster that we did. The sleepless nights, the questions, whys, hows, life and death?
I made some friends, thankfully, that helped keep me sane for brief periods of time. I became passionate about essential oils and started an at home business that I still have and love but struggle with it because its outside my comfort zone (marketing) and so different from Human Resources Management which I could do with my eyes shut.
Then in April, the stress of three, 3 year old triplets, frequent trips away for Tommy and long hours, the loss of my professional identity and missing my family came crashing down. I was a different person. I was not the mom I wanted to be, I was not the wife I wanted to be either, I was overwhelmed and not me at all. In fact, I didn't know who me was at all anymore, outside of "the triplets mom". A title I will always proudly wear and I am lucky enough to be their mom, but the adjustment from working full time and living close to family and friends I had known my whole life to not working and having to form new friendships and support systems was no joke. Its like starting all over from scratch. No matter how beautiful and wonderful a place is, there are certain things and people that just cannot be replaced. Instead of being able to do the soul searching I was hoping for when we moved, I was simply trying to make it through the day and keep the kids and I in one piece.
BUT, I'm coming back to life. We found a small church that we love and we are getting involved in a way that I have always wanted to in the church. My faith has kept me going through some pretty difficult times, and I still go there to find my peace. But better yet, Tommy is coming with me and we are going and doing it as a family. I've started running, and I've even started a running club? So hard to believe as I have never been an runner, but its been a great outlet for me and I physically feel the best I have in a long time. All the while, I have been applying to HR jobs and going on interviews only to get nowhere, which has been a huge blow to my self esteem. But maybe there is reason why that's not meant to work out. Maybe, even though I was great at HR, I could be even better at something else and I could help people more than I have ever been able to. Maybe I could be one of those nurses helping those babies? Maybe I should go back to school.
I got so lost after the move here with the adjustment of such a new and different life that I forgot one of the reasons we did it. I was supposed to explore other options and decide what I wanted to do, instead I panicked and said "I need to go back to work" because that sounded easy but maybe the right thing to do, even though its scary is go back to school. I suddenly remembered what I realized when I went back to work after having my babies and losing my dad, that life is so, so fragile. And if we are going to spend all that time away from the people we love the most, make it count. And as much as I loved my co workers, my boss and those employees, and those people mattered, my job there did not hold the same value for me that it once did.
Now, I am not depressed. I feel I am becoming the mom I always imagined I would be (of course I have my moments). I am not afraid all the time, I don't feel alone all day, I have hope again. My main purpose will always be my children. But someday they will move on and start their own families, and who will I be then? I want to make an imprint on the lives of others. I want to share my hope, and belief in miracles with other families and parents who are struggling. Once again, I feel like I have climbed my way out of a dark space and God has shown me which way I need to go and its always the opposite way of which I thought. We think we are so smart, but sometimes, we just have to keep going until he shows us the way.
Since we moved, I have written less and less, and when I do, my words haven't always been positive but I had to be real. It doesn't mean I don't love my kids or appreciate my blessings, it just means I am human and I am flawed, but I'm figuring it out. And I will still always choose them, for they are my reason for living and what got me through the grief of losing my dad. They are my dream come true and everything I do is an effort to be the best person and the best mom I can be for them. The days I have with Georgia, JoJo and Mickey are easier, their smiles, their laughter, their words fill me up. I'm glad I can enjoy and appreciate all of it and that I'm finding the new me, while staying true to myself. I will never be the same person I was before the kids, just as I will never be the same person I was before I lost my dad and I'm learning its ok to let her go. There are parts of me that will always be there, but there are parts of me that have been gone for awhile. I'm excited to see what the future holds and for this evolving "me" that is always learning, always growing, and always, always a mom before anything else. But at least now, I know who that mom is, again.


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TeamBots is a system for developing and running multi-robot control systems on mobile robots and in simulation. TeamBots is freely distributable, but it is copyrighted by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation. TeamBots was developed at Georgia Tech's Intelligent Systems and Robotics Group by Tucker Balch, Juan Carlos Santamaría and David Huggins.
Download it from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~trb/TeamBots
Instructions are on the main page: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~trb/TeamBots
Unzip and Java 1.2 or newer. You need gmake if you want to (elegantly) revise and recompile.
Probably the best source is the example file in Forage/forage.dsc. It is fairly well documented.
Robots have two components, the physical part and the control system part. Both have takeStep() methods that are called on every cycle.
Use the "timeout" and "trials" keywords in the description file. "timeout 10000" for example, will run the simulation for 10 seconds, then terminate the simulation. If you also add a "trials 100" statement, then your simulation will run 10 seconds 100 times. Note that the trialEnd(), trialInit() and quit() methods of your control system will be called at the appropriate times. This allows you to log data and open and close files as the need arises. quit() is only called once at the end of the simulation.
You may also want to run your simulation using TBSimNoGraphics instead of TBSim. This program runs about 10 times as fast but with no graphics.
Yes. Use the TBSimNoGraphics application instead of TBSim. The program runs about 10 times as fast. The command line is
java TBSimNoGraphics description_file
Maybe. There is a working version of TMSim designed to run as an applet (TBSimApplet). The reason for the uncertainty is that TeamBots requires Java 1.2 support and under Linux (where TeamBots is developed), Netscape does not seem to fully support the 1.2 AWT, so it can't be tested.
Testing and debugging this feature is definitely on the ``to do'' list for the next release.
Some researchers are concerned that Java is too slow to support real time robot control. Our experience contradicts this conclusion. As an example, in simulation (without graphics) our Java coded behavior-based control systems run at up to 30 KHz rates on conventional 200 MHz Pentium machines.
The primary bottleneck to runtime efficiency on real robots is sensor and control I/O. On Nomad 150 robots for instance, we are limited to 10Hz control rates because this is the maximum rate control commands can be transmitted to the robot (control programs written in C cannot run any faster).
The benefits of Java (portability, correctness, ease of use, rapid development) far outweigh the negligible runtime overhead.
Finally, Java compilers that offer runtime speeds as fast as C++ are already available (take a look at the compiler by Tower for instance).


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Mixed Media Heart Canvas
>> Tuesday, January 10, 2012
While looking at Pinterest at this project, I thought I would put my own little spin on and make a canvas using masking. I used a small 6x6 canvas and covered it with small 1x1 inch squares from the Lily Bee Head Over Heels 6x6 Paper Pad.
After I mod-podged them down using glitter mod-podge, I used my Cricut to cut out a large heart. Using removable Glue Dots, I attached it to the canvas and painted over the front with white paint. You can faintly see the squares under the white paint. A really light coat, even slightly watered down, is what I would suggest.
This is what you see when you pull off the heart. I also used bubble wrap and black ink to distress the corners a bit. I did that while the heart mask was still on the canvas.
I didn't like the white edges of the canvas so I used decorative tape (two layers deep) to finish the edges.
I also didn't like that the heart wasn't well-defined, so I put the heart back on and and used a thin black sharpie to outline it. I also doodled a bit on parts of the heart. Finally I added the words and the sticker to finish it off. I mod-podged a few more times to set everything.
From the side
A little close-up action
Products Used:
Lily Bee Head Over Heels 6x6 paper
Lily Bee Head Over Heels Cardstock Stickers
Lily Bee Head ABC Cardstock Stickers


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|Rat Target Sites
|Mouse Target Sites
|TD50 (mg/kg/day)
|no positive
|no positive
|no positive
Key to the Table Above
The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) is a unique and widely used international resource of the results of 6540 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests on 1547 chemicals. The CPDB provides easy access to the bioassay literature, with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published over the past 50 years in the general literature through 2001 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 2004. The CPDB standardizes the diverse literature of cancer bioassays that vary widely in protocol, histopathological examination and nomenclature, and in the published author's choices of what information to provide in their papers. Results are reported in the CPDB for tests in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and nonhuman primates.
For each experiment, information is included on species, strain, and sex of test animal; features of experimental protocol such as route of administration, duration of dosing, dose level(s) in mg/kg body weight/day, and duration of experiment; experimental results are provided on target organ, tumor type, and tumor incidence; carcinogenic potency (TD50) and its statistical significance; shape of the dose-response, author's opinion as to carcinogenicity, and literature citation.
Only tests with dosing for at least ¼ the standard lifespan of the species and experiment length at least ½ the lifespan are included in the CPDB. Only routes of administration with whole body exposure are included. Doses are standardized, average dose rates in mg/kg/day. A description of methods used in the CPDB to standardize the diverse literature of animal cancer tests is presented for: 1) Criteria for inclusion of experiments 2) Standardization of average daily dose levels and 3) TD50 estimation for a standard lifespan. See Methods for other details.
TD50 provides a standardized quantitative measure that can be used for comparisons and analyses of many issues in carcinogenesis. The range of TD50 values across chemicals that are rodent carcinogens is more than 100 million-fold. More than half the chemicals tested are positive in at least one experiment.
A plot of all results on each experiment in the CPDB for this chemical is presented below. These results are the source information for the Cancer Test Summary table above.
Chemical (Synonym) CAS # Species Sex Strain Route Xpo+Xpt PaperNum 0 Dose 1 Dose 2 Dose 3 Dose Literature Reference or NCI/NTP:Site Path Site Path Notes TD50 DR Pval AuOp LoConf UpConf Cntrl 1 Inc 2 Inc 3 Inc Brkly Code
PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONO-t-BUTYL ETHER 57018-52-7 5329 M f b6c inh 24m24 TR515 : 0 131.mg 524.mg 2.10gm liv hpa 1.78gm Z P<.0005 1.02gm 4.38gm 14/50 8/50 10/50 37/50 S liv MXA 1.78gm Z P<.0005 c 974.mg 5.23gm 18/50 14/50 16/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpc. liv MXA 1.78gm Z P<.0005 974.mg 5.23gm 18/50 14/50 16/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. S TBA MXB 8.12gm * P<.7 1.19gm n.s.s. 43/50 50/50 43/50 49/50 liv MXB 1.78gm Z P<.0005 974.mg 5.23gm 18/50 14/50 16/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. lun MXB no dre P=1. 12.8gm n.s.s. 3/50 5/50 3/50 1/50 lun:a/a,a/c. 5330 M m b6c inh 24m24 TR515 : 0 109.mg 436.mg 1.74gm liv hpb 9.32gm * P<.002 c 3.80gm 45.1gm 0/50 0/50 1/50 5/50 liv hpa 1.97gm * P<.02 877.mg n.s.s. 18/50 23/50 26/50 36/50 S liv MXA 1.98gm * P<.03 c 842.mg n.s.s. 25/50 26/50 33/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpc. liv MXA 1.98gm * P<.03 842.mg n.s.s. 25/50 26/50 33/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. S liv MXB 1.98gm * P<.03 842.mg n.s.s. 25/50 26/50 33/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. C TBA MXB 7.93gm * P<.7 971.mg n.s.s. 46/50 50/50 47/50 50/50 liv MXB 1.98gm * P<.03 842.mg n.s.s. 25/50 26/50 33/50 41/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. lun MXB no dre P=1. 5.14gm n.s.s. 17/50 10/50 1/50 10/50 lun:a/a,a/c. 5331 R f f34 inh 24m24 TR515 : 0 31.2mg 125.mg 499.mg TBA MXB no dre P=1. - 347.mg n.s.s. 50/50 49/50 50/50 50/50 liv MXB 10.5gm * P<.3 2.03gm n.s.s. 1/50 0/50 0/50 2/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. 5332 R m f34 inh 24m24 TR515 : 0 21.9mg 87.6mg 350.mg liv hpa 1.45gm * P<.04 e 508.mg n.s.s. 3/50 0/50 2/50 6/50 ski MXA 1.51gm * P<.02 532.mg n.s.s. 0/50 1/50 0/50 4/50 ski:bca,bcc. S ski bca 2.07gm * P<.04 608.mg n.s.s. 0/50 1/50 0/50 3/50 S kid MXA 2.28gm * P<.2 e 574.mg n.s.s. 1/50 1/50 3/50 3/50 kid:rua,ruc. kid rua 4.48gm * P<.5 700.mg n.s.s. 1/50 1/50 3/50 2/50 TBA MXB 683.mg * P<.5 136.mg n.s.s. 50/50 49/50 50/50 50/50 liv MXB 1.45gm * P<.04 508.mg n.s.s. 3/50 0/50 2/50 6/50 liv:hpa,hpb,hpc. 5333 R m f34 inh 24m24 TR515 with step 0 21.9mg 87.6mg 350.mg kid MXA 2.65gm * P<.2 e 826.mg n.s.s. 1/50 2/50 5/50 5/50 kid:rua,ruc. kid rua 3.80gm * P<.3 938.mg n.s.s. 1/50 2/50 5/50 4/50
See full CPDB Summary Table on 1547 chemicals. See Full CPDB for all results on 6540 experiments of 1547 chemicals.
A complete list of CPDB chemicals, which is searchable by name or by CAS number, is available here.
For a compendium of CPDB results organized by target organ, which lists all chemicals in each species that induced tumors in each of 35 organs, see Summary Table by Target Organ.
The CPDB is available in several formats that permit printing and downloading into spreadsheets and statistical databases.
A Supplementary Dataset gives details on dosing and survival for each experiment.
Relatively precise estimates of the lower confidence limit on the TD10 (LTD10) are readily calculated from the TD50 and its lower confidence limit, which are reported in the CPDB. For researchers and regulatory agencies interested in LTD10 values, we provide them in an Excel spreadsheet.
PDF versions of our publications of analyses using the CPDB are available, organized by year and by research topic.


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Hone is polling on a new name for the new Left Maori Party. There are some good suggestions and some classic racist comments - ahhh it's reassuring to have the usual racist rants coming forth - they are easy to ignore and less offensive than subtle fake friend racism.
Go and add your suggestion on Hone's site for a name.
I like the Mana Party.


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Peanut Butter and Banana Porridge
I mean, it had to be done, right?
Though it's recently turned to Spring, Mother Nature is not sending us off to the beach just yet. It is still pretty cold in Melbourne. And on mornings when I fear leaving my bed for surely sudden frostbite, it's a tender bowl of porridge that summons me from the covers.
We have recently moved to the country and are finding it decidedly arctic in our house whenever the sun is asleep. This chill lingers for some time, as the sun is indeed a sleepy fellow who takes his time in giving us his morning kiss of warmth. Thick socks are doing the job of keeping us snug. As are some obscenely puffy jackets purchased in Vietnam a couple of years ago. Though my favourite way to warm up is with porridge for breakfast. The only tough decision is what kind of porridge to make...
Maybe I'll add a spoonful of cacao, or perhaps some spice. Do we have bananas in the fruit bowl? Yes? Oh, perfect. Perfect. I'll have peanut butter and banana porridge.
Three years ago I wrote about my love for this divine, heavenly, food of the Gods combination in sandwich form. Now it is time for it's porridge cousin. Is this a simple recipe? Sure. But, dear friends, it's a super one. Peanut butter and banana porridge trumps cacao and ginger every time (and it's rather smug about it, too).
I certainly knew what I wanted to make for Wednesday Breakfast Club this week, as I had an abundance of bananas at home and, let's be real, an ever-present desire to have a peanut butter party.
Peanut Butter and Banana Porridge
Serves 1
1/3 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Water
1 Banana
1/2 - 1 tablespoon Natural* Peanut Butter (depending on how generous you're feeling)
A sprinkling Sea Salt (I love Maldon)
Butter to grease your pan
* Natural nut butter contains 100% nuts. If your nut butter also contains salt, omit the salt sprinkle in this recipe.
1. Place the oats and milk in a small, heavy-based saucepan. Cut the banana in half. Add half the banana (sliced) to the oats and milk. Stir and leave to soak for 10-15minutes - this helps your oats to become super creamy.
2. Slice the other half of your banana lengthways, so you have two long, thin pieces. Set aside.
3. When it is time to cook your oats add the vanilla and heat over low-medium heat until bubbling. Turn down the heat and stir frequently, adding the water (and more) if required until the oats are cooked and plump (~5 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly grease the pan with butter and then cook the banana slices until golden and caramelised (~2-3 minutes, flipping halfway through and turning down the heat as required to avoid burning the banana).
5. Serve your porridge topped with the peanut butter, grilled banana and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.
Heidi xo


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Welcome to Hazards Escape, Freycinet Tasmania.
Freycinet National Park is located on Tasmania's rugged and beautiful East Coast. The Park is home to world renowned Wineglass Bay and offers a range of walks for every level of fitness. Activities abound both in, and around, the park. Things to do include swimming, kayaking, 4 wheel motor bike tours, a sea cruise, bird watching, fishing, golf and more.
Hazards Escape is set on a quiet, internal block. Just 5 minutes outside the township of Coles Bay. It is a single, free standing unit, adjacent to a private residence. It offers a peaceful retreat regardless of what time of year you are travelling. Coles Bay, gateway to the Freycinet Peninsula, is a 2½ hour drive from Hobart or 2 hours from Launceston.
The unit is clean, new and fresh. It is fully self contained. Comprising of a kitchenette, bathroom, queen bed with electric blanket and living area with TV, DVD and stereo. For more details, please go to our accommodation page, or you can book now.
Owners and managers are Ros and Tim, assisted with diligence, and quite often hilarity, by adorable toddler daughter LJ. Don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook, and you can also check us out on Trip Advisor, we look forward to helping you plan a fabulous Freycinet getaway!


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Writing Success Goal Monday #1
|Picture Courtesy of Pippalou on Morguefile
Setting writing goals and keeping track of progress can be a great way to achieve success. They'll also serve as a reminder to enjoy and celebrate the smaller, short-term accomplishments along the journey. Each week, I'll post my writing goals and invite you all to post yours and update us on your progress. I've seen something like this on another blog where it's a summer feature, and it seems like a great way to encourage each other as a regular feature here.
This week, here are my writing goals;
1. Finish working on the query for RED SKY to get it ready for WriteOnCon 2014 (August 26-27). There's not too much left to do with this one, but I do want to incorporate a hint of romance to show that it is a YA rather than MG fic.
2. Finish edits for MIRRORMASTERS for possible entry into Pitch Wars and for WriteOnCon. This goal is going to take longer, because I'm anticipating at least cutting two characters and focusing a bit more on the main character Leah's story arc--the things she learns and how she grows during the course of the story.
3. Write at least 200 words a day on RED SKY. Maybe it's not such an ambitious goal, but it's an achievable goal with the time I have.
So, that's it for this week! What are your writing goals for the week?


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(left to right) Rabbi Emeritus Hyman Levine, Cantor Victor Wortman, Rabbi Shlomo Blickstein
Rabbi Shlomo Blickstein, Ph.D.
Bay Terrace Jewish Center
1300 209th Street
Bayside, NY 11360-1198
(718) 428-6363
Dear Neighbor,
We are pleased to welcome you as a member of our community and hope that we will be a source of fulfillment for your spiritual, cultural, and social needs. Historically, the synagogue has been the single most important force in the continuation of our people and in the preservation of a glorious 4000 year spiritual heritage that began with Abraham and Sarah. The Bay Terrace Jewish Center is proud to be a part of this great legacy since its founding fifty years ago. We invite Jews of every persuasion, regardless of level of observance or religious background, to be part of this great legacy and affiliate with our synagogue community.
With warmest wishes of Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo Blickstein


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Hot Mix Asphalt
Hot Mix Asphalt has lower construction costs and maintenance requirements than concrete and is smoother to drive on.
Tap Image to View Full Size
What is Hot Mix Asphalt?
If you have ever driven on a road, then you have driven on hot mix asphalt. Hot mix asphalt (HMA) basically consists of two main ingredients. An aggregate, which is composed of 95% crushed stone, sand or gravel, bound together by a binding agent of asphalt cement, an oil based product. This asphalt is produced at a high temperature at an asphalt facility, usually between 150 and 190 degrees celsius. Once the hot mix is made, it is loaded onto trucks and transported to the job site, whether that be your home driveway or your commercial location.
Once it arrives at the asphalt paving project location, it is poured into a holding container on the paving machine. The paving machine then lays down the hot mix asphalt in 2.5″-6″ layers.
These layers can differ to ensure a smooth non-rutted surface. The lower layers act as a support for the upper layers and usually consist of aggregates that help prevent ruts. The upper layer of hot mix asphalt is made to be uniform and smooth. This creates an even surface for your driveway.
The final step of the HMA is to drive a large and very heavy, paving roller over the asphalt which compacts it. Once compact, the hot mix asphalt cools down quickly and can be driven on the same day.
Why should I choose Hot Mix Asphalt over Concrete?
Besides having lower construction costs and maintenance requirements, HMA is also smoother then concrete. Having a smooth driveway or parking lot at your commercial location means it will be better for automobiles, last longer and are quieter when driven on.
Asphalt hot mix should not crack when mixed correctly in the aggregate and binder stage of production. The hot mix Alberta Road Services uses is mixed for the Southern Alberta climate.
With lower maintenance requirements, you won't need asphalt patching for years to come.
Interested in learning more about Hot Mix Asphalt?
Contact Blaine or Dale at Alberta Road Services by filling out the form below and we will be in touch.


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- Home
- Doll Making
- Doll Bases + Beads
- Cotton Pipe Cleaners
Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount
- Buy 6 or above and get 10% off
The natural cotton pipe cleaner or cotton chenille stem is an essential material used in making small pipe cleaner dolls, craft projects and toys. Cotton around a lead-free steel wire core. Approximately 32 in the Standard Pack and 28 in the Jumbo Pack.
Diameter: Standard (3mm) or thick Jumbo (6mm)
Length: 12 inches.
Price range: $3.50 - $4.50
Instructions for pipe cleaner dolls can be found in the following books in the Doll Making Books section: Felt Wee Folk - New Adventures, Feltcraft, Forest Fairy Crafts, Making Flower Children, and Making More Flower Children.
Product Reviews
Perfect for clothespin people arms!
Posted by Cynthia Q Kaiman on 1st Dec 2015
I have been looking for these for years. My father gave me a small package of 6" ones years ago left over from his pipe smoking days. Have a basket full of clothespin people awaiting limbs.
Luxurious Pipe Cleaners
Posted by Karen on 21st Apr 2015
Luxurious is the word I would use for these pipe cleaners. Soft and all natural makes it easy to wrap limbs of fairy dolls. I would tell anyone to try them. I am sold!
Fun addition to the craft box
Posted by Elizabeth on 28th Dec 2014
Excited to find cotton pipe cleaners as I dislike the non natural ones. My little ones love to craft and play with these, and I don't have to worry about what they are made of. My only suggestion, offer them in some fun colors. (A Child's Dream notes they are not available in colors but can be easily dyed with Kool-Aid)
Who knew these even existed!
Posted by Robin P. on 31st Jul 2014
So glad to stumble onto these! I truly thought one could only buy in plastic! I've wanted to use pipe cleaners so many times but the non cotton ones freaked me out! Hooray for cotton!!


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This post was inspired by a post on Lisa Hosokawa's modelmirror blog in which she re-visits her drawings of ballerinas from childhood. Lisa writes about drawing on her blog, shared experiences of drawing, and of teaching others (particularly children) the joy of drawing. Four months ago I gave birth to my first baby, and ever since I have been fascinated with watching his little eyes as they marvel at the big wide world. What might it be like to observe things for the first time? His presence has led me to think about my own experience of childhood. Lisa's Ballerina post addresses where her thinking was when she last created, a period of drawing coinciding with dancing. In some sense my period of studying science and later working as a research scientist was a break in my art-making, and now with the real possibility of not returning to science, I'm looking to my creative work pre-science to help to shed light on the direction my creative path might take moving forward. Lisa's post reminded me of two specific experiences of drawing from primary school which I will share with you.
Unfortunately not many of my drawings have survived from childhood. Having moved through nine rental properties (to date) and four years of art education post-A-level, my early artwork was pared down long ago. Although they would have fascinated me now, the 'failed attempts', less strong and unfinished pieces were likely discarded first, leaving the 'complete' works I would have been most proud of.
I have a clear memory of lying on my stomach on the floor in our loft space and drawing on a large piece of paper. This space hadn't been properly converted into a room, but a large number of boards had been laid down making easy passage through the space as well as reasonable space to play. Furthermore, it was well lit so I would spend a long time up there, hiding away from my parents. This drawing was my first recollection of thinking about the 'edges' of a drawing. At what point do you stop? Why should the edges of the paper define the edges of the drawing? For example, in the drawing of the house above, why not draw the house next door? Why not the layout of the rooms or the plants in the back garden? In this large drawing I was occupied with drawing a small imaginary village, with a road running through as the focal point, a fire station, playground and several houses. Needless to say the drawing doesn't survive – I remember being frustrated at the time that I couldn't contain all the information I imagined in the drawing.
It's interesting that this is a concept I have returned to in more recent work. In '94…' (2004) I attempted to describe the house that I lived in with my family from 5-14 yrs. The memories of events are just as important, if not more important, than the physical layout of the space. As I drew the house I imagined moving through it, and added notes or drawings of particular memories as they came. The drawing therefore doesn't take the form of a recognisable floor plan, or of a view of the house one could take using a camera. This drawing is limited by my stream of memory; my childhood drawing of the small village was bounded by the limits of my imagination.
The second drawing memory is a conversation I had with my teacher in the first or second year of primary school (5-6 yrs old). Again, the drawing itself is long gone but the memory remains very strong. We were each given sheets of newsprint. At the centre of the table were pots of poster paint, presumably mixed up in advance by the teacher or a helper into appropriate colours. We were asked to draw a self-portrait. I'm quite sure we weren't given mirrors to look into, so I suppose we were being asked to draw ourselves how we thought we looked. I began with a large black oval and was just about to add further details when the teacher saw what I'd done and challenged me: "Does your face really have a black line around it?" "No", I replied, and began with a new piece of paper: a white oval. Again, the teacher asked: "A white line?" "No", and on another fresh sheet I painted a flesh-coloured oval. "Is your face really an oval shape?" On a fourth and final piece of paper I drew the darks of my eyes and eyelashes with black paint, and from there I moved on to the blue of my irises. I have the distinct memory that none of the other children were being challenged on their self-portraits, but this was the first time that I felt that I was presented with a problem to solve using creative means. I really had to look at my subject, understand it (my face is not flat and therefore has no edges), and represent this visually. I still remember the exhilaration I felt at solving the problem.


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Conscious Sedation at Bristol Dental Practice
We aim to make procedures at Bristol Dental Practice as comfortable as possible for you. If you are nervous or don't want to know anything about your treatment, then this treatment may be the best option for you. This additional treatment will be discussed with you prior to undergoing any treatment, and will just become part of your treatment plan.
What is conscious sedation?
This procedure can be administered via a number of ways. At Bristol Dental Practice we favour intravenous sedation, this is because it is the most predictable and powerful method. In conscious sedation, we will administer a drug via the back of your hand that will prevent you from being aware of your procedure being carried out. You will typically not remember anything about the treatment, and it will seem to pass very quickly.
Why use conscious sedation?
The following are common reasons why patients opt for sedation:
- If you are very nervous of dentistry or have a fear of dentistry originating from childhood
- If you would prefer to not be aware of what is going on; sedation will allow you to have little to no memory of the procedure
- Some people have a very sensitive gag-reflex or may experience a choking sensation when a dentist is looking inside your mouth; sedation dramatically reduces the sensitivity of the gag-reflex allowing you to have the dental procedure performed in comfort and ease
- We usually recommend conscious sedation to those patients who are having longer procedures, as it has a time-dilation effect, thereby making it seem as if the surgery time passes by much more quickly
- We will perform a thorough medical check prior to treatment to ensure that you are fit and well enough for conscious sedation
How should I prepare for conscious sedation?
Before your visit for conscious sedation you should:
- Bring another adult (chaperone) with you who can be with you for the next 24 hours
- Have a light meal
- Wear flat comfortable shoes
- Wear a short-sleeved shirt or a 'T'-shirt so that we can check your blood pressure and administer the sedative drug in your hand
- Have no nail varnish or false finger-nails on at least two fingers. We use a special finger monitor during conscious sedation to check your heart rate and oxygen saturation levels. The monitor does not work through nail varnish
Will I be awake?
Yes, you will be awake for the whole procedure. This is important to us as you can help us by informing us how you are and whether you are comfortable. However, you will not recall anything about the procedure after the event i.e. amnesia. You will also feel very relaxed and content throughout.
How long is the conscious sedation effective for?
The conscious sedation procedure is most effective in the first 30 minutes. Its effect can be prolonged by providing additional small incremental doses. Although the sedative drug wears off swiftly you may experience drowsiness for up to the next 24 hours. It is therefore important that for the next 24 hours you do not:
- Drive a vehicle
- Operate machinery
- Cook or use a kettle
- Sign any legal documents
Who will administer the sedation?
Your sedation will be administered by our conscious sedation qualified Principle dentist Dr Jonathan Cochrane, who has undertaken a year long training programme at the Eastman Dental Hospital (UCL) in London. You will also be continually carefully monitored by our conscious sedation trained dental nurses who also hold additional qualifications and training in conscious sedation.
Dr Jonathan Cochrane – Principal (GDC No: 228321)
BDS, MFGDP(UK), MFDS RCS, CertConSed, MSc (Dental Implantology), CertImpDent (DGZI)
- Member of two Royal College of Surgeons; Edinburgh and England
- Special interests in Dental Implants, Oral Surgery and Sedation


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The arch of the foot is a unique structure that is like the 'spring in our step'.
It allows the foot to deform and make good surface contact with the ground, and then spring back up again to help push us to push forward off the ground. Our toes grip the surface and help us do this, so toe muscles are very important to supporting our arches.
The arch drop and recoil action allows us to convert potential energy into kinetic or movement energy every time we take a step. A bit like a real spring being stretched and released, truly putting the 'spring in our step'. As a result humans are extremely efficient walkers, using far less energy to move around that most land animals.
What is a fallen arch?
A fallen arch is actually a layman's term – it can mean a lot of things. Pain under the feet, flat feet, or 'pes planus' (feet that flatten too much) can all be called fallen arches. So it is better to break this into four distinct problems:
1. Arch Pain and treating your feet at home
Pain in the arch of your feet is most commonly caused by overstraining your foot's muscles – perhaps during a long walk, or after wearing unsupportive or flatter shoes than normal.
It could be caused by age, because as we get older our soft tissues don't work as efficiently, becoming less elastic than they used to be.
Sometimes the pain is over the top of the arch – this is most commonly caused by arthritis in the middle foot joints. Treatment for this is the same as for flat feet, but also taking Vitamin D can be very helpful for arthritis.
To treat pain in the arch of your foot:
- Wear arch supporting insoles (called orthotic devices or foot orthoses), such as the X-line Standard or X-Line RIF
- Supportive shoes are best, and easier to fit the insole into – learn how to fit your insole and pick a good show
- If you suffer arch pain and wear more fashionable or work shoes, the 9-5 Everyday insole will help your feet
- If you know you're overweight, it will help to lose some
- Finally strapping with the Heelfixkit tape technique can help resolve more acute pains and allow continued activity
2. Anatomical Flat Feet
These are flat feet that have always been flat, also known as Anatomical pes planus.
These feet are more common in certain ethnic groups, such as those with African, South Sea Islander or South Asian blood in them. They can be very strong normally functioning feet. They are usually nothing to worry about unless they start causing pain! If they do cause pain see treatments for Arch Pain above.
3. Over or Hyper-Pronating Feet
These are feet that flatten a lot when standing down but look normal on sitting. The foot often rolls inward too.
The flattening and rolling in making the foot more prone to the ground is called over or hyper-pronation. This can over strain the foot and other structures in the lower limb, pelvis and back.
This type of foot flattening is more common in children, because their ligaments that help the muscles hold the arch together are more flexible. With exercises and a little more age the problem often resolves.
However, sometimes the ligaments are too lax and flexible and remain throughout life. In these cases other joints are usually affected, and the person demonstrates odd movements in joints, this used to be called double-jointed. It often runs in families and can sometimes be a bigger problem, with multiple joint pains.
Over pronating feet can be linked to weakness in our support muscles from the back to the feet, so multiple symptoms can develop from the back to the feet. Usually pain comes on with exercise and with increasing age. The weaker your feet, the more likely pain is.
To treat pain from Over or Hyper-Pronating Feet:
- Wear arch supporting insoles such as the X-line Standard or X-Line RIF
- You might need some advice from a clinician such as a podiatrist or physiotherapist
4. Adult acquired flat feet
These are feet that used to look normal and seem to be getting flatter, also known as Pes Valgo-planus. Usually this is an aging thing as our tissue gets less springy as we get older, and the arch stops springing back to its original height. This is also common after pregnancy can result in the need to increase in shoe size.
The arches changing shape can start in people's 2nd or 3rd decades of life, associated with rolling in at the ankles. The feet can end up looking quite deformed, often with bunions and other toe deformities.
To treat gradual Adult acquired flat feet:
- Wear supportive shoes, such as trainers or other lace ups
- Try the foot strengthening exercises listed for arch pain below
If the changes in your feet are rapid and associated with a lot of pain on the inside of the ankle and shin, it can be a result of a tendon breaking down that supports your arch. Known as Tibialis Posterior Dysfunction, this needs urgent assessment and treatment, by an experienced podiatrist, or other clinician specializing in foot mechanics, as if left this condition can lead to very complicated surgery to the foot and ankle.
To treat sudden Adult acquired flat feet:
- Make a podiatry appointment privately or through your GP on the NHS
- Avoid any exercise until you've had advice
- Try the X-Line TPD insole, putting in your trainers or walking boots straight away. It's specially designed for TPD, and will immediately help
Exercises for fallen arches
If you're suffering from one of the first three problems listed above (pain in the arch of your foot, Anatomical Flat Feet or Over or Hyper-Pronating Feet) certain exercises will help to strengthen your foot to prevent arch pain from worsening.
As mentioned above, don't undertake any exercise if you think you have TPD – it's important to seek medical advise first.


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BMW Manufacturing Gives $250,000 To USC Upstate's George Dean Johnson, Jr. College Of Business and Economics
The George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics at the University of South Carolina Upstate received a recent boost to its fundraising campaign thanks to a $250,000 gift from BMW Manufacturing.
"BMW has a longstanding commitment to advancing educational opportunities and economic development within our footprint. This vision is mutually shared by USC Upstate and we are glad to support this new facility in downtown Spartanburg," said Max Metcalf, Manager of Community Relations for BMW Manufacturing.
USC Upstate Chancellor John Stockwell expressed his tremendous appreciation to BMW Manufacturing for this recent gift and for the company's longstanding supportive relationship with the University.
"BMW Manufacturing has long functioned as a collaborative partner with USC Upstate and is quick to recognize the vital nature of our metropolitan mission," said Stockwell. "The implications of having a prestigious business school in our downtown and it will certainly be far-reaching and will assist in the economic development of the City, the region and the State."
The $30 million facility, which bears the name of the chairman of Johnson Development Associates, is currently under construction on Saint John Street and is expected to be completed in May 2010. The three-story, 60,000-square-foot building is located adjacent to the Chapman Cultural Center.
According to Mike Irvin, vice chancellor of university advancement at USC Upstate, private support for this project has been vital. "To date our generous donors have contributed $13 of our total $14 million fundraising goal. We are pleased to have BMW join a cadre of other businesses and individuals who have contributed greatly to the overall community support for this project."
"One of the guiding visions of moving downtown has been the program impact from having the business programs and events available in the heart of Spartanburg," said Dr. Darrell Parker, dean of the Johnson College of Business and Economics. "The tiered state-of-the-art classroom that BMW has sponsored is critical to that programmatic commitment in that it will provide a venue for events not only for our programs, but also joint activities with other downtown entities such as the arts groups housed at the Chapman Cultural Center. Certainly one of our uses will be additional continuing education and training programs for local businesses."
The George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics at USC Upstate currently enrolls nearly 850 majors and offers programs in business administration with concentrations in accounting, economics, marketing, and management. It is one of 42 institutions worldwide with undergraduate only programs that are fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). Few business schools in the nation with a predominantly undergraduate mission are accredited by this prestigious international association.
Founded in 1967, the University of South Carolina Upstate has spent the last 42 years developing its mission as one of the Southeast's leading metropolitan universities. In addition to building acclaimed and accredited academic programs, the University has recruited a faculty with excellent credentials and experience and a student population of great potential and diversity. USC Upstate is home to 5,000 students from 38 states and 71 nations. More than 17,500 students have earned their degrees with 85 percent of graduates remaining in the Upstate to build their lives and careers.


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Sir Greg Knight has been selected unanimously by the East Yorkshire Conservative group to try to defend his seat in next month's General Election.
He represented Bridlington as an MP since 2001, when he succeeded fellow Tory John Townend,
Sir Greg said: "I am honoured to stand again as the Conservative candidate for one of the most beautiful parts of Britain."
Having voted to leave the EU in last year's referendum, he vowed to help Theresa May make a success of Brexit if elected.
Opposing him on the ballot paper on June 8 will be Hull City councillors Alan Clark and Carl Minns, who have been chosen as the candidates for Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Bridlington hotel owner Tim Norman will be standing on behalf of the Yorkshire Party, after their original candidate, the town's mayor Cllr Liam Dealtry, withdrew because of work and other commitments.
A full list of candidates is expected to be published on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council website later today.
Bridlington residents have been residents are reminded that they need to be on the electoral register if they wish to vote in the General Election.
Anyone who is not on the list needs to complete a registration form before midnight on Monday, May 22.
This can be done at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or by contacting the council's electoral services on 01482 393300 or email@example.com.
The closing date for applications for postal votes is 5pm on Tuesday, May 23. For details, visit www.eastriding.gov.uk/registertovote


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Just how important is your website design? When users were asked to describe why they mistrusted a website, 94 percent of comments were directly related to the site's design. A well-built website generates better customer traffic and an improved user interface leads to increased conversions.
Creativity is important, but there are some basic rules about design and user experience that will help you to grow your website. When creating or redesigning your site, keep the following suggestions in mind.
Gain Trust with a Clean, Engaging Website Design
In recent years, the digital design world has embraced simplicity, moving away from bells and whistles and focusing on the basics. From a user perspective, this has made websites easier to navigate for a more enjoyable experience. Incorporate these eight design rules into your website to better engage your audience.
1 Keep the layout simple.
The simpler your website layout, the better. That doesn't mean it has to be boring, but it does mean it should focus on the essentials. Clean, functional layouts make your site easier to load, navigate, and use on different platforms and devices.
Harry's entire website is only a handful of pages, with the most important information—plans and products—front and center. Makes it easy to engage with the content.
2 Make navigation easy to follow.
If you want visitors to spend time on your site, you need to make it easy for them to get around. You might be tempted to do something unique with your navigation menus design, but again, the simpler, the better. Making your menus standard in appearance is a way to make your readers feel comfortable when they land on your site.
Vogue has descriptive, prominent navigation menus to help you find and engage the content you're looking for.
3 Use clear calls to action.
What is it that you'd like site visitors to do? Buy products? Sign up for an email newsletter? Donate to a cause? Think about your buttons. Design them in a way that makes them "pop" to a visitor scanning your website. And make sure the text on the button is short and direct.
World Wildlife Fund utilizes bright buttons alongside its navigation bar urging visitors to "donate" and "adopt," along with strong calls to action throughout their content.
4 Remember that with content, less is more.
Use what you know about your visitors to minimize their options, and focus their attention on your content, products and ads. Show only the text and visual elements that need to be there––and nothing more.
Websites for mobile apps—like Pocket—tend to do a great job with this, focusing on explaining the app, strong calls to action to install it, and maybe some information about the company and a related blog.
5 Don't be afraid of whitespace.
Whitespace is simply empty space on a page. It doesn't have to actually be white—it just has to contain no text or images. If done well, it can enhance your website design and improve readability. White space can also help direct focus and attention; it provides a way to separate features and ideas so that visitors can discern exactly what you want them to see in a quick glance, rather than having to visually sort through a noisy and cluttered layout.
Google is the ultimate example of utilizing whitespace. It couldn't be cleaner—just a blank page with a logo and a search box.
6 Enhance your website design with eye-catching colors.
Pick a color that will provide the foundation of your entire website design, and then choose a contrasting accent color for important buttons and other interface elements. Learn more about choosing the right color palette for your brand.
Whole Foods Market green for their primary website color, and the little pops of the secondary orange draw the eye toward featured content.
7 Incorporate attractive, easy-to-read fonts.
Also use an attractive type that is both visually balanced and unique in order to make your website text clear and intriguing. Four top trending fonts are Brandon Grotesque, Museo Sans, Railway and Playfair Display.
Belgian children's clothing website Studio Aimee uses Brandon Grotesque for a clean, readable shopping experience.
8 Engage users with video and rich images.
Videos and images are more engaging than content alone—in fact, content with visuals can lead to a 100 percent increase in unique users. So use scalable images (SVGs) to ensure a high quality user experience on both desktop and mobile devices.
Nonprofit charity: water displays video front-and-center on their homepage, making it the first thing you see when you visit their website for maximum impact.
Keep Visitors Engaged with a User-Friendly Website
You can have the most attractive website in the world, but if it's hard to use, your visitors won't convert to customers. These seven rules will ensure your audience has a smooth user experience.
1 Make your website mobile-friendly.
Did you know that 80% of web searches are now done on smartphones? That means there's a good chance that someone visiting your site for the first time is doing it on a mobile platform. And if the mobile experience is negative, you've just lost a customer. Learn why and how to make your website more mobile-friendly.
Everlane's mobile shopping experience is clean, beautiful and easy to use. It includes calls to download the shopping app without making you feel like you're getting a lesser experience on the website.
2 Streamline your navigation.
The more pages someone has to navigate on your website to find what they're looking for, the more likely that customer will leave your site out of frustration. In fact, for an average website, 40 percent of visitors will leave after only seeing one page! Content shouldn't be buried; don't make your visitors hunt around for what they came for. Your navigation should be well-organized and logical from a user perspective. It should also feel familiar, so your users don't have a learning curve.
Tilde Inc. has a simple navigation bar on the top of their website, with the important points linked below with a bit of explanation in the "What We Do" section, making it easy to find what you're looking for.
3 Use calls to action to make things easier to find.
Think about where you can place buttons throughout your site to make the important things easier for visitors to find. If you're an ecommerce site, having buttons that say "Shop Now" will have much more impact than a simple navigation link; if you're a nonprofit, a "Donate" button alongside your navigation bar will make donating a breeze for visitors.
Square has a simple call to action "Start Selling Today" and the button reads "Get Started." It doesn't get much easier than that.
4 Give users robust search capabilities.
Thinking about both how visitors will search your site and how results will be displayed is equally important. The search experience should mirror your navigation experience with how results are organized. Incorporating features like auto-complete will make searching easier from a user perspective as well.
Zappos has a smart searching tool, which is highly accurate and also updates the filters on the left side based on search terms.
5 Break content up with section headers.
When dealing with content-heavy areas on your site, break it up with headers. Whether it's an article or product description, headers give your content structure and make it easy to scan.
Tory Burch blends fashion, shopping and storytelling all in one place, and the content is always readable, broken down into small chunks to make visitors more excited about the products.
6 Talk like a real person.
The more jargon and marketing-speak users have to decipher when they visit your website, the less likely they are to engage with your brand. A friendly, conversational tone will make it easier for visitors to read and understand your content, as well as navigate your site.
Zipcar makes their service easier to understand—and their site easier to navigate—with their easygoing brand voice.
7 Confirm your visitors' actions.
If your visitors purchase a product from you, subscribe to a newsletter, or even share your content, a good practice is to display a confirmation screen that shows them their action went through successfully. It doesn't hurt to use that screen to thank them, either.
TheSkimm congratulates and welcomes you after you sign up for their newsletter, with a prompt to share on social media.
Test Your Website before Launch
When launching—or relaunching—a website, there are always kinks that need to be worked out. It's important to take the time to test your site and elicit feedback before it goes live.
1 Conduct Quality Assurance (QA).
If you have the resources, hire a quality assurance team. Their job is to test your site within an inch of its life (if web sites were alive.) If you can't hire people specifically for the QA role, then have both internal and external individuals test your website prior to launch by clicking all links, filling out all forms and trying all services. Basically, if there's something to do on the website, they should do it. That way, you can fix any bugs prior to launch.
2 Collect user feedback before you push your site live.
This is where your beta testers come in. Invite a select group to provide feedback on items like navigation, design and customer experience. You may not make changes based on all of the feedback you received before launch, but you may want to keep suggestions in mind for changes down the road.
Creating a website from scratch—even if you've enlisted an agency to help—is no small feat. We've created a handy 3 Steps to Creating an Engaging Website (PDF) checklist, so you can make sure you're checking all of the important items off the list as you go.
Last modified: December 15th, 2015


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On the back cover of The Geek Atlas there's quote that says: "A great read for geeks and non-geeks alike!" And it's true.
While writing the book I naturally had people like me in mind, but I also had people like my SO who is the anti-geek. She's not interested in how bits of technology work, and scientific topics bore her.
Yet I've dragged her along to a few places in the book. Anyone in a geek/non-geek couple, or parent with a geek child needs to know that they are not going to be bored by either the book or the places in it.
Rest assured. There's plenty to do for the non-geek at geeky sites, and the non-geek might just have a little bit of science rub off on them.
Take place number 051 in the book: Jodrell Bank. The geeks will go to see the Lovell Telescope, but the non-geeks can enjoy it too. Jodrell Bank is set in a bucolic location with a wonderful arboretum to enjoy. And a scale model of the solar system set into the landscape makes an ideal excuse for a walk in the countryside.
Or take a non-geek to place number 071. It's a pub. Geeks will enjoy it because it's the pub in which Crick and Watson announced that they had unraveled the structure of DNA.
If the geeky half of a couple is spending time in London's Science Museum or Natural History Museum (places 077 and 061) then the non-geek might like to spend time in the nearby Victoria and Albert Museum.
And the Eiffel Tower (place number 018) is a great spot for geeks and non-geeks. It's a landmark, looks beautiful and has lots of science to look at and read about.
Non-geek US visitors aren't forgotten. The Computer History Museum (place number 086) is right next to the San Francisco Bay and the Shoreline Park.
The bunker at The Greenbrier (place number 126) is inside a very classy hotel with a wonderful on site spa and extensive recreation facilities. Geeks can even treat the non-geek to a great meal on the restaurant, or make a weekend of it.
And what could be more romantic than a trip to Fairbanks, AK to see the Aurora Borealis?
And then there's the book itself. Each place in the book has a chapter consisting of two parts: a general introduction and a scientific topic related to the place. Non-geeks can skip the science and concentrate on the place and its history. Even my SO was fascinated by the story of Edison and Tesla battling over electricity.


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