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The Hills is returning to MTV – a sentence that instantly made the teenagers in us fist-pump.
The big announcement was made at the MTV VMAs last year, with a teaser trailer for The Hills: New Beginnings being dropped during the star-studded ceremony.
Natch, some of the OGs from the noughties show gathered for a reunion on the red carpet – drama, drama, drama (as K-Cavallari would have said).
Here's everything we know about the reboot...
The Hills on MTV: When does The Hills: New Beginnings start?
It has been confirmed that The Hills: New Beginnings will premiere on MTV from June 24.
#ICYMI 🚨 We have your first look at #TheHills: New Beginnings, coming June 24th to @MTV: https://t.co/n4K4XQsnAc pic.twitter.com/wRhkRjeB7P- The Hills (@thehills) April 2, 2019
The Hills cast: Who is returning for the MTV reboot?
It didn't take long for some of the fan favourites to start confirming their involvement in the upcoming series, and here's who we have got so far:
Stephanie Pratt
The first to break her silence on the news, Stephanie actually did the voiceover for the initial teaser trailer.
Younger reality TV fans may know her from more recent days on Made in Chelsea, but Steph actually shot to fame on The Hills, having starred in seasons three to six.
Audrina Patridge
A show original, Audrina was one of the first people that Lauren 'LC' Conrad and her best friend (at the time) Heidi Montag met when they arrived in LA in episode one. If she didn't happen to be sunbathing in their apartment complex that day, things could have been a whole lot different...
Audrina's drama was pretty much centred around her on/off relationship with Justin Bobby. But since the show finished filming back in 2010, she rekindled a romance with Corey Bohan (who also appeared in a few episodes) and the pair ended up getting married and having a daughter together. Audrina filed for divorce in 2017.
Justin Bobby
Yes, Audrina's infamous ex is also rejoining the line-up. But no, it's not likely that they'll be getting back together.
In a chat with ET, he revealed that a romance between them is "not gonna happen".
"[That's] old school," he said. "New beginnings – not for that, though."
Truth and time will tell all, JB.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt
It would be hard to see a reboot of the show working without these two, as it was the Pratts who provided most of the drama.
Heidi's relationship with love-him-or-hate-him Spencer is what ultimately destroyed her friendship with Lauren, a fallout which continued to play out in one way or another until LC decided to leave the show at the end of season five.
The Pratts are now happily married, and welcomed their first child in 2017.
Brody Jenner
The other source of conflict for LC (oh, Jen Bunney), Brody has now also revealed that he'll be joining the rest of the originals for The Hills: New Beginnings. But just "don't call it a comeback", he warned.
Brody has been dipping in and out of reality TV for most of his adult life, more recently appearing in episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians alongside some of his other famous Jenner family members.
Whitney Port
Whit' and LC defined work-wife goals in that fashion cupboard, and she was such a hit with fans that she earned herself a solo spin-off show in the form of The City.
We're pleased to say that Whitney will now be filming some scenes for The Hills: New Beginnings. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she said: "I'm excited to show what it's like to be a working mom, working dad, and balance trying to raise a good kid, but also take care of yourself."
Don't get too excited, though; Whitney has said that her husband "doesn't really want to be [in the spotlight]" and so will only be featuring "here and there".
The Hills Lauren Conrad: Is LC making a comeback?
Sadly not. The Girl Who Didn't Go To Paris may have kick-started the whole thing, but she won't be appearing in the reboot of the MTV show.
Lauren's arch-enemy Kristin Cavallari will not be taking part either.
The Hills reboot: Is anyone new joining the line-up?
Of course! Here's who has been confirmed so far:
Mischa Barton
As if the show wasn't enough of a noughties dream, The OC's Mischa Barton (aka Marissa Cooper) is going to be in the mix, too.
Let's just hope they keep her away from any pool furniture...
Kaitlynn Carter
Married to Brody Jenner, it's been revealed that she will be joining him on screen.
The Hills: New Beginnings trailer: Where can I watch it?
The first trailer has arrived. You can watch it here:
Some memories last forever. Now it's time to start all over again.#TheHills: New Beginnings premieres Monday, June 24th on @MTV. ✨ pic.twitter.com/9XN71IyfoF- The Hills (@thehills) April 2, 2019
The Hills airs on MTV.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.
('You Might Also Like',)


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THIRD-EYE CHAKRA or BROW CHAKRA (Ajna) COLOUR: ROYAL BLUE (VERY DARK SOMETIMES WITH REDDISH TINGE), VIOLET LOCATION: The energy center is located at the pineal gland between the two eyebrows on the forehead DESCRIPTION: When the third-eye chakra is active (balanced) you can experience premonitions, a strong imagination, and fearlessness. It links to your imagination,… Continue reading Third-Eye Chakra
Root Chakra
Root Chakra (Muladhara) COLOUR: Red LOCATION: located at the base of the spine. DESCRIPTION: the ability to survive, feel stable and safe. When the root chakra is balanced we have adequate energy, feel grounded, and have a sense of belonging. Think of the root chakra as the base/root of the tree. It begins all the… Continue reading Root Chakra
Sacral Chakra
Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana) COLOUR: Orange LOCATION: located just below the navel. DESCRIPTION: This is your manifestation, intimacy, desires, and creative energy chakra. When balanced you'll be able to express what you want, have innovative ideas, and a healthy sex drive. CRYSTALS: to help with the balance of this chakra use 'orange' crystals, such as tiger's… Continue reading Sacral Chakra
Solar Plexus Chakra
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) COLOUR: Yellow (bright) DESCRIPTION: The solar plexus is connected to your personal power: willpower, optimism, confidence, strong motivation, self-control, sense of humour and the ability to take action. The balanced Solar Plexus helps you become a strong leader. LOCATION: located at the diaphragm, right below where the ribs meet. CRYSTALS: that… Continue reading Solar Plexus Chakra
Heart Chakra
Heart Chakra (Anahata) COLOUR: Green or Pink LOCATION: The heart chakra is the largest electromagnetic field of all the chakras and surrounds the entire chest. DESCRIPTION: The heart chakra is the energy centre for love, including self-love, the ability to forgive and have compassion, as well as your ability to grow. When balanced, you won't… Continue reading Heart Chakra
Throat Chakra
THROAT CHAKRA (Vishuddha) COLOUR: Blue (sky or baby) - the brighter the better LOCATION: The throat chakra is located in and around the throat. DESCRIPTION: The throat chakra is linked to communication. This is your ability to share your ideas, speak clearly, and voice your boundaries. When it's functioning optimally, you'll be able to communicate… Continue reading Throat Chakra
Crown Shakra
CROWN CHAKRA (Sahasrara) COLOUR: ROYAL PURPLE or WHITE LOCATION: At the top of your head and extends upward. ARCHANGEL: Sandlephon DESCRIPTION: The crown chakra is the center for enlightenment and spirituality. It allows you to sense your identity beyond the body and mind. It allows you to sense that you are part of something much… Continue reading Crown Shakra

subset: commoncrawl


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Your Cute Monster Says Your Inner Demon is Sensitivity
You are a giving, open, loving person. You truly want the world to be a better place.
You appreciate what you have in life. You are very content.
You are very sensitive, and your sensitivity can be a double edged sword.
People think you're cute because you're generous. You are easy to love - it's part of your charm.
I just love these kind of tests, the result is usually uplifting and it puts you in a good mood even if it's totally shallow and maybe untrue... But hey, I just thought I'd post a blabbering post since the last two were more literary posts, so yeah!
We had a walk on the beach today, I wish it was something more like "Pull me out on the beach, danced in the water" kind of walk, the weather was so hot, and we were soaked by the time we came back, but it felt very good to go out no matter what the weather is like.
It's Summer time, so feeling care free is part of the whole thing.
Hope everyone's Summer is awesome!!


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Lucidyne Technologies, Inc.
Lucidyne is a world leading manufacturer of scanning technologies for the wood product industry. We focus on final grading solutions for saw mills. We provide solutions that give our customers the competitive edge they need to manage their mills, and even more importantly, to manage their businesses. In today's tough economy, it is those mills dedicated to increasing productivity through automation that have survived and thrived. Since 1985, Lucidyne has dedicated itself to being the industry partner to boost mills' productivity – and their bottom line.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations, manufacturers and our distributors.
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Forestry
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 1985
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
Please, visit the following links for more info:
About Us
We have successfully installed many lineal scanner systems that grade Dimension, Boards, Decking, Timbers, and Shop in 1-6 inch thick sizes of several species. GradeScan is certified for strength grading in the US market and the company recently invented two new sensor technologies for strength and decay applications. Its patented True-Q Lumber Tracking System identifies individual boards using their unique grain patterns to follow lumber between machine centers – no ink or paint is required! With a team of world-class software developers, engineers and scientific staff, we take pride in our ability to provide the most innovative solutions available, including designing and building our own sensors. Headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, Lucidyne is well-known for our innovative products with the flagship GradeScan, the Grade Mark Reader and control systems. You can count on Lucidyne; we have been in business for 30 years with stable ownership and management. We are proud of what we have accomplished, and are looking forward to continuing our partnership with the industry to maximize fiber and value recovery.


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Snug Bug Beanie GreyHDC-199
Snug Bug Beanie Grey
Sold Out
Check Pincode Serviceability
Snug Bug Beanie Light Grey
Cozy it up in this comfy knit beanie. Perfect for those outdoor dates during winter!
Style Tip
You can style this cozy cap with a messy low bun or low pony tails.
Care: Bubble wrap


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The U.S. International Trade Commission has released a comprehensive report on the effects of the proposed United States Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiated to succeed NAFTA which has been in effect for 25 years. The Commission estimates that the USMCA will increase Gross Domestic Product by 0.35 percent and generate 176,000 jobs.
In contrast, the White House Council Of Economic Advisors estimates an additional $34 billion in total investment in the U.S. auto industry and creation of an additional 76,000 jobs in the sector over a five-year period.
The agreement as negotiated but not yet ratified, increases wages for workers in Mexico reducing unfair competition to the U.S. and also mandates increased U.S. automobile content. It is estimated that increases in production cost will passed to consumers and small automobiles will increase in price by close to two percent with a consequential reduction in sales. Alternatives to compliance with new rules will result in increased tariffs which may well be borne by manufacturers.
It is hoped that the divergence between the parties in Congress will soon be resolved since ratification of USMCA is critical to the agricultural sector of our economy. Rescission of Section 232 tariffs should be implemented concurrent with ratification of USMCA.


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The first live episode of Opposite Worlds takes a page from the American Idol results show playbook, stretching a few minutes of content to a full hour. It's not good TV.
If Opposite Worlds doesn't fix its pacing problem, there is no way anyone is going to stick with this program. The first half of Wednesday's episode was spent recapping the events of Tuesday's episode, specifically Charles getting medevac'd from the game due to a bad tackle in the Worldly Challenge. The main event of the episode—the Duel of Destiny—did not enter it's preamble until 33 minutes into the episode. However, we did get up-to-the-minute weather reports from host Luke Tipple, reminding us that the show is live.
Tipple does not improve as host, graduating from the school of The X Factor's Khloe Kardashian Odom by ask everyone "What are you feeling right now?" in the most boring extended tribal council ever. Lissette and JR are summoned, asked how they are feeling, and learn who America voted as the Decider. JR was selected with 90% of the vote. He selected Rachel from Team Chronos and his teammate Angela for the duel.
The duel is a simple obstacle course in a giant pool: up a ramp, down a ramp, under two pillars, run around a pole, then make your way back to the start. Whoever completes the most laps in three minutes wins. If you ever thought gym class would make for good television, I hate to break it to you but that is not the case. I guess Luke's weather reports are relevant in that both women will probably have some form of hypothermia shortly after the episode ends. It isn't much of a contest as Rachel peters out almost instantly.
In the last few minutes of the episode, we learn that JR is America's favorite overall and will get a reward next week. Jeffry is America's least favorite and will be punished. Okay, I guess I'm still on-board. No, wait, two more contestants will be added to the mix. Damnation.


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Ippudo Ramen House coming soon to U of M campus
The ramen trend continues, this time on the U of M campus. Ippudo Ramen House (no affiliation with the famous New York City Ippudo) will serve a (very) comprehensive menu of ramen varieties including Tonkotsu (pork bone broth), Shoyu (soy sauce), Shio (salt), Miso (fermented bean paste), Tantanmen (sesame and chile), Karai Miso (spicy with pork belly), Tori Ton (sweet, sour, spicy fried chicken), and even a seafood ramen and vegetarian option.
Can they possibly do all of these things well? Time will tell.
And ramen will not be all they do. Kara-age style wings, Kaki Furai oysters, BBQ pork buns, and other small plates will also be on offer. But wait, there's more! Other main dishes will include Udon noodles and rice bowls.
Prices will be competitive and remain in that student-friendly realm of $4 to $11. Ippudo Ramen House is scheduled to open in about two weeks.
Ippudo Ramen House
817 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis


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TokenEx Enables Secure Omnichannel Collection of Payment Data
Tokenization Enables Omnichannel Collection of Payment Data in Healthcare and Secures your Data Environment
Healthcare organizations handle multiple levels of sensitive information and it is a highly regulated industry. With Meaningful Use pushing technology in quality, safety, and efficiency; ultimately, privacy and security of patient health information is essential. In addition, those organizations that support healthcare organizations in some form fall under a Business Associate Agreement with increasing levels of security scrutiny. Information Sharing through Health Information Exchanges and Insurance Exchanges present a significant risk to this critical ecosystem. With increased scrutiny, requirements, and auditing the Healthcare Industry is facing new challenges. These challenges address how sensitive data is received, processed internally, and ultimately leave the organization secure and accountable.
How Tokenization Enables Omnichannel, while Lowering Risk
For Healthcare, a Omnichannel payment acceptance capability involves taking payments online, through a Customer Service Representative, in-person transactions, through mail, or through a third party. Tokenization is a technology that enables Omnichannel collection of payment information through various means to a common gateway or processor for centralized management of payment collection. Otherwise, organizations face the challenges of reconciling multiple accounts across diverse systems and multiple payment gateways. Tokenization not only simplifies the process, but introduces an additional security layer that minimizes regulatory impact and enables security.
In the Medical Records Space, tokenization can accomplish similar feats. Similar to the payment system, data is obtained through multiple channels, e.g. SFTP, Disc, Directly, indirectly through third parties. Tokenization allows a Health Information Exchange or Business Associate to validate de-identification through the use of tokenization. Going beyond traditional unique identifiers that do not constitute de-identification to a controlled and verifiable system to de-identify medical information and thereby minimize regulatory impact, and risk associate with handling such information. Furthermore, it allows organizations to validate security of their environment. Moving beyond simply stating, "we use SSL" to being able to prove end-to-end processes and accountability of sensitive information.
What type of cyber security vulnerabilities does Healthcare face?
Earlier this year, the Identity Theft Resource Center produced a survey showing that medical-related identity theft accounted for 43 percent of all identity thefts reported in the United States in 2013. That is a far greater chunk than identity thefts involving banking and finance, the government and the military, or education. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that since it started keeping records in 2009, the medical records of between 27.8 million and 67.7 million people have been breached.
Thieves have used stolen medical information for all sorts of nefarious reasons, according to information collected by World Privacy Forum, a research group that seeks to educate consumers about privacy risks.
- A Massachusetts psychiatrist created false diagnoses of drug addiction and severe depression for people who were not his patients in order to submit medical insurance claims for psychiatric sessions that never occurred. One man discovered the false diagnoses when he applied for a job. He hadn't even been a patient.
- An identity thief in Missouri used the information of actual people to create false driver's licenses in their names. Using one of them, she was able to enter a regional health center, obtain the health records of a woman she was impersonating, and leave with a prescription in the woman's name.
- A Pennsylvania man found that an imposter had used his identity at five different hospitals in order to receive more than $100,000 in treatment. At each spot, the imposter left behind a medical history in his victim's name.
How Tokenization Reduces Risk & Scope
By Tokenizing your data environment, you remove toxic PCI (Payment Card Information), PII (Personally Identifiable Information), and PHI (Protected Health Information) from your environment. The information is tokenized in a Cloud vault, while you still have unlimited flexibility in how you store, access, and secure your data, while remaining processor agnostic. Find out how you can reduce up to 95% of your PCI risk and compliance, while delivering your customers the highest level of data security in the world. Don't be another casualty! Find out more at TokenEx.com. Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn.


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Friday October 19, 2007 - Volume 35 Issue 42
search SGN
Sunday, Jun 07, 2020
Weather Forecast
Cost of the
War in Iraq
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To see more details, click here
Lipstick and Lust
Yet more SHA construction woes, a new lust object and chicks with coffee
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid - SGN A&E Writer
First, let me be the first to say that FOX has a really good hit with the new show 'K-Town', and that under no circumstances should this show be 'let go' if there are 'shows in trouble' (as I read on the Internet today). Please guys, keep this one, I'm begging you. There, that's my plea and I hope you will write FOX and lobby for this show, which is probably the first show FOX has done, that to this writer, really kicks ass.
Second, a little note to Metro, particularly the drivers of the number 10 and 11 buses. Honeys, don't sweat the little crap, as in if a passenger isn't being threatened with bodily harm, or someone's about to kill you or someone else, let it go. I say this after being nearly held hostage on the number 11 bus today (isn't it always that freaking bus that screws up my day?), because the female driver decided to engage in a little 'chest beating contest' with some tool of a guy who put his bicycle on at, apparently the 'wrong' stop. First, isn't it good a person is not polluting the air, by riding a bicycle and a bus, and second, dahling, if the guy isn't holding a gun on anyone, why the freak is it necessary to engage in what amounted to a mini version of the conflict in Iraq over a flippin' bicycle? Once again I say, I'm so glad to be leaving this whack ass town for Tacoma and I hope (and believe, from what I've experienced so far), people are not only nicer there, but on a higher level of sanity. Hope I'm not eating those words some day.
Honestly, between that little encounter and getting to The Digs to find out that those pinheaded workmen (yes, my dears, we have had yet another 'project' foisted upon us, the poor and hapless tenants by SHA's evil 'bottoms' in charge) had 'ratted me out' to management about the 'state of my apartment', this day is indeed an astrological nightmare. Still, I did see a great vampire film (30 Days of Night-look for the review next week!) and I'm seeing the lavish Elizabeth: The Golden Age tonight, so WTF-ever. Also, this one has a new 'lust object', in the tasty intern, Adam, who was the go-to-guy for Janet Wainwright today, at that deliciously scary vamp film. Hmmm, honey I so want to take you home, and play 'Adam and Eve' with you at The Digs sometime very soon. I'll keep you posted on this flirtation, as I'm sitting next to that one tonight and hoping to get at least some warm vibes going. Oh, I so hope so!
And on the down side, yes the ever loveable IRS decided that letting me keep my tax money (which my wonderful editor-in-chief helped me to file for, with the help of our witty and wonderful receptionist/bookeeper) they'd just hijack it for that old student loan I've been owing for some time now. Guess helping the economy wasn't important-'cause you know this one is a major shopper my little panacottis, and would have put that cash right back into this ailing economy-it was more important to suck up that cash. Probably going toward that idiot war, no doubt, and may they be double damned for that little bit of government thievery. Oh, and, just so you know, I'm no deadbeat who believes her loans can go fling it, but hey, when you're as cash challenged as this one has been of late, well, that cash sure would have helped me more than them.
So, what has this little kitty been doing besides trying to scratch up extra cash, lusting after publicists and enduring the invasion of privacy to The Digs by men I'd cross the street to not speak to outside of my apartment (and SHA's foisting them upon yours truly)? Well, I did try the yummiest night moisturizer, 'Wise Woman/Night', which is a perfect pairing to the 'Wise Woman/Day' moisturizer I tried a while back. Both leave your skin looking radiant and believe me, if you moisturize at night, you'll look even tastier by morning, trust me. Also loving the sweet simplicity of 'White Musk', all of these I picked up at The Body Shop in Pacific Place after seeing 'The Darjeeling Limited' (which you simply must see!) along with The Body Shoppe's 'Oceanus Shower Gel'. Makes all of the bad things that might have happened to your little self that day, just melt and go away. And don't we all need a bit of that? Yes, we do.
Oh, and I also hope the shows 'Kid Nation', 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Moonlight' (the new vamp series on Fridays after 'Ghost Whisperer') stay on too. After all, how much bad comedy, with an extreme lack of characters of color or awful 'reality shows' can one stand? Me, I was done when they put on that awful 'Are You Smarter Than A 5rh Grader', even though I do like Mr. Jeff Foxworthy. Get e-mailing and blogging folks and let's see if we can save these shows and maybe even get the execs to bring back 'Masters of Science Fiction', which was a summer 'flash in the pan' this one would love to see more of. Ah, and she would so love to see more of that 'Amica' girl who does the late night ads for the car insurance. Can we say 'hmm, baby', or what? Also, do check out the L&L blog and the new online story, 'Young Blues', which is just zipping along (with no help from SPD's PR officer-guy, call me okay, as I'd really like to make this one helluva story, though it already is), and let me know what ya think, 'kay?
So, that'll do it for now my little Asian pears, and by all means feel free to e-mail me your thoughts to email@example.com. Oh, and my personal 'thank you' to Mr. Craig Ferguson for calling a spade a spade and pointing up the ridiculousness of celebrating someone who is supposed to have 'discovered' America. Hey, you can't 'discover' a place that already has a thriving population folks! So a belated 'happy rape/pillage/European colonialism' day to you too America, and bite me!
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the Seattle Gay Blog
copyright Seattle Gay News -
DigitalTeamWorks 2007


text:
This site hasn't been updated since 2012. You can still peruse who I was back then, but know that much of what I think, feel, write, and do has changed. I still occassionally take on interesting projects/clients, so feel free to reach out if that's what brought you here. — Nishant
If you're a musician, then you've already heard this: Learn the theory, practice it, and then forget it. It's only over time that you truly realize the value of this, particularly if you're someone who likes to improvise (in other words, create music on the fly).
As it turns out, music and software design aren't that different. I wrote a few thoughts that came to me while I was reading about Jay-Z.
The last thing I expected to find in Jay-Z's excellent new book, Decoded, was a profound insight into a topic that's very near and dear to web designers: grid systems.
Read it on MIX Online →


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Neato is well regarded for its robot vacuums and the company showed up with a couple of new ones at IFA 2018 in Berlin this week. It has launched the Botvac D4 Connected and Botvac D6 Connected robot vacuums at the convention in Berlin. The D4 is a replacement for the company's existing D3 model and it comes with an updated look and feel in addition to some other improvements.
The Botvac D4 Connected offers an improved run time of 75 minutes and is compatible with Neato's Quick Boost Charging feature. It enables the robot to ascertain on its own how much power is required to finish a cleaning job. It's priced at $499.
Sporting a brushed metal look, the Botvac D6 Connected offers a 120 minute run time and comes with a Turbo mode which makes the brush rotate faster and increases suction. It has an upgraded brush for better cleaning against pet hair and allergens. It's priced at $699.
Both of the new vacuums come with Neato's LaserSmart mapping technology. It uses the robot's lidar sensors to map the entire floor, allowing for improved navigation and cleaning. The company says that its vacuums can clean a room in 22 minutes on average compared to around the 70 minutes that its rivals take.
The Botvac D4 Connected and Botvac D6 Connected are both immediately available for purchase.


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Lauren Sallata
Lauren Sallata is Chief Marketing Officer at Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service, and R&D operations. She leads the transformation of the corporation's digital, brand, content, advertising, and corporate communications efforts.
In this capacity, Lauren is responsible for the development and orchestration of comprehensive, customer-focused marketing initiatives across North America ensuring alignment to business strategy, brand repositioning efforts, and seamless customer engagement.
With more than 15 years of experience in technology marketing prior to joining Panasonic, Lauren previously served as Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Xerox Corporation and ACS, Inc. She has also held senior marketing, strategy, product, and operations leadership positions at MCI Telecommunications and Verizon Business.


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This is the ninth part of the Dapp Tutorial. We assume you're familiar with the content of the past chapters.
|⟵ 8th Part
|10th Part ⟶
For our penultimate trick, we will introduce the ability to not just use, but also deploy the contract from our fledgling dapp. Deploying a contract is very similar to any other kind of transaction; we use a slightly different API (
bonds.deployContract) in order to conveniently return us with a
Contract object rather than just a transaction receipt as with the standard
bonds.post API.
There is backwards compatibility, so we can use the same
TransactionProgressBadge in order to display the progress of the deployment transaction as it gets signed and confirmed.
Before we can begin in earnest, we will need to refactor some of our existing code. Whereas at the moment, our dapp heads straight into the "voting" mode we actually want to create a new mode of operation where we are deploying the underlying contract. To do this, we will rename the class
App to
Counter (and remove the
export functionality) and introduce a new exported class
The new class
App will, for now, just
render() a
Counter object. However, the one key change we'll make here is to pass in the
Counter contract as a prop named
contract. This has a two repercussions since we're working in React. Firstly, we should move the definitions of
this.prevVote and
this.prevVotes from the constructor into
componentWillReceiveProps and
componentWillMount, so that they respond to changes in the prop value.
Secondly, rather than storing the
Counter contract object in
App's '
this.counter we'll place it in the more correct
this.state.counter, so that should it change (which it will, but not quite yet), it is reflected in the browser through forcing a new
Here's the final code for class
export class App extends React.Component {
constructor () {
this.state = { counter: bonds.makeContract('0x7aC77Cb854E064f22E747F40b90FE6D6Bc1e3197', CounterABI) };
render () {
return (

<Counter contract={this.state.counter} />
render function of the new
Counter class is mostly equivalent to the same function in the original
App class. The only change is to replace the two lines that use
this.counter to instead use
this.props.contract, which is now being passed from
App. The two props lines for the
VoteOption element
votes and
vote now read:
vote={() => this.setState({tx: this.props.contract.vote(i)})}
constructor portion of the new
Counter class is a little different from the
App class. It now reads:
constructor() {
this.state = { tx: null };
componentWillMount () { this.componentWillReceiveProps(this.props); }
componentWillReceiveProps (props) {
this.voted = this.props.contract.hasVoted(bonds.me);
this.prevVote = this.props.contract.Voted({ who: bonds.me });
this.prevVotes = this.props.contract.Voted({ who: bonds.accounts });
See how the bonds' setup have been moved out of the constructor (inert to prop changes) into the React APIs functions which execute along with prop changes.
With these changes, the dapp will remain essentially the same, however the ground is now prepared for introducing the deployment mode.
Counter class is ready for our needs; our efforts can now be concentrated on the
App class, into which we'll add an initial mode for deploying the contract.
One of the first things we need to remove is the hard-coded contract address. Furthermore, when we do deploy the contract, we'll need to track the transaction which is doing it. So we will swap out the state initialiser line in our constructor for one that initialises both the
counter and a deployment
tx to
this.state = { tx: null, counter: null };
We'll also add a
deploy function, whose job it is to sort out the deployment, once the user initiates it. Since we'll need to call it from an event handler, we'll pre-bind it to
this in the constructor:
this.deploy = this.deploy.bind(this);
For the new
deploy() function, we'll use the
deployContract API to create a new transaction. It requires the contract's bytecode (which we'll place in a
const CounterCode next) and the ABI (which we already have in
CounterABI). The function begins thus:
deploy () {
let tx = bonds.deployContract(CounterCode, CounterABI);
We will record this transaction in our state so we can feed it into a progress badge later:
Finally, and crucially, we'll set our state's
counter key once the contract has been deployed. This makes use an API of
Bond that we haven't seen yet:
done. This is somewhat similar to
Bond.then, except that unlike
.then which is called as soon as the
Bond takes a value,
.done is called only once it has taken a value from which it will never again change.
In the context of contract deployment this means it has been finalised. The object value here contains two keys:
confirmed (which is the receipt of the transaction which deployed the contract) and
deployed (which is the final contract object itself). We will record the latter in our state:
tx.done(s => this.setState({ counter: s.deployed }));
This leaves us little to do except render a button if the contract hasn't yet been deployed. Our
render function thus becomes:
return (

? <Counter contract={this.state.counter} />
:

<BButton content='Deploy' onClick={this.deploy}/>
<TransactionProgressLabel value={this.state.tx}/>
To decide whether we have yet deployed a contract, we look at the
counter item in state. If it coerces to
true then we know we can go ahead and display the
Counter component as before. Otherwise, we'll need to deploy the contract and instead display the usual combination of button (with the
onClick handler) and a progress badge (picking up on
One final thing is to include the contract's byte code. You'll need to either get your own byte code from the compiler (as we did when we deployed the contract in the first place), or alternatively, just use this:
const CounterCode = '\
Try it now and you'll see a deploy button waiting:
After clicking, it'll prompt you with a transaction to deploy the contract and eventually show you a blank voting tally, ready for you to cast the first vote!
Since we have the
TransactButton component, we may as well use it.
First, we won't need to maintain the status of the transaction which is deploying the contract. Remove the
tx: null mapping in the constructor, so that line now reads:
this.state = { counter: null };
Next, the
deploy function no longer needs to
setState({tx}) since we're not tracking the transaction; remove that line, too. The deploy function will however need to return the transaction
Bond, since
TransactButton will need it to track; end the function with
return tx, so it now reads:
deploy () {
let tx = bonds.deployContract(CounterCode, CounterABI);
tx.done(s => this.setState({ counter: s.deployed }));
return tx;
You can remove the
BButton and
TransactionProgressLabel tags and replace them by the single tag:
<TransactButton content='Deploy' tx={this.deploy} statusText/>
Notice we're passing
this.deploy in the
tx prop in lieu of a straight transaction; in case you wish to handle the submission of the transaction yourself, you can pass it a function which does that and will be called when the button is clicked. We're also passing the
statusText prop which puts a text string in the progress label rather than just an icon.
Finally, don't forget to import the component:
import {InputBond, HashBond, BButton, TransactionProgressLabel, AccountIcon, TransactButton} from 'parity-reactive-ui';
And that's it!
This is great for now, but when we reload or return to this page, it will have forgotten the contract. We'll use the browser's local storage to ensure that it persists between sessions.
In the
deploy function, change the
tx.done() line to store the contract's address in
tx.done(s => {
this.setState({ tx: null, counter: s.deployed });
window.localStorage.counter = s.deployed.address;
Secondly, in the constructor, change the
this.state = line to ensure that we recreate the contract at preference from any address stored in local storage; for this we'll use our old friend
this.state = { counter: window.localStorage.counter
? bonds.makeContract(window.localStorage.counter, CounterABI)
: null };
The next time you deploy in that browser session, it will be last (at least until you reset it in the next tutorial!).
So this is great for us, but as soon as we want to give it to someone else to vote, we run into an issue; they have no way of arriving at the vote we deployed. Let's also allow the user to enter the address of a vote instead of forcing them to deploy a new one.
First we'll create a basic
Bond in the constructor which will hold the address of the contract that the user entered. This goes right after
this.addr = new Bond;
Next we'll set things up so that the very first value that is placed in it is used (and saved) as our counter contract's address:
this.addr.then(v => {
window.localStorage.counter = v;
let counter = bonds.makeContract(v, CounterABI);
this.setState({ tx: null, counter });
Now we just have to ensure that the
Bond only gets set when the user has entered the full address of a valid instance of the
Counter contract. Luckily the
TextBond component has a
validator function allowing us to exactly this.
Before we can realistically be able to detect counter contract instances, we'll need to know what code the contract has on the chain. This is related to, but not the same as, the byte code with which it was initialised. The code hash for my contract (compiled with solidity 0.4.10 with optimisations) is:
const CounterCodeHash = '0x10d2b44a953ecf30231a87c541df5d640b43a30d8ec9a6ed95e411675d8aff42';
Yours may be different. To figure it out, use the JS line in any bonds-enabled environment where ADDRESS is the address of a pre-deployed counter contract:
Now to the code. First, we need to import the
Api object from
import {Api} from '@parity/parity.js';
After the button in the
render function, we will add the following:
OR
<InputBond bond={this.addr} validator={v => v.startsWith('0x') && v.length == 42 && bonds.code(v).map(_ => parity.api.util.sha3(_) == CounterCodeHash) ? v : null}/>
The first line just splits the button from the text input. The second is our input for counter contract addresses. The
TextBond we have seen before in the very first tutorial about
Bonds. We have introduced a custom
validator prop here, which first makes sure the string form
TextBond is well-formed and then checks to make sure that the hash of the code at that address is what we would expect from a
Counter contract. Only then is it valid and does it get set to
The only thing that is left is to ensure the address of a deployed contract is visible so it can be communicated. Right at the end of the
Counter render's outer
div, you can insert this final element:

Using contract at {this.props.contract.address}.
You can now reload and set your current Counter contract's address like here:
To try it out, first clear your local storage (in Chrome open dev console and head to the '127.0.0.1' frame, then enter
delete localStorage.counter). On reload, you should be presented with the option to deploy or to enter an address.
Once you complete the address, it will change into the voting window. Hurrah!
Next, up we'll alter the contract a little to require a signed statement prior to voting.


text:
Franklin American Mortgage fined $70 million for False Claims Act violations Regions Bank announced this week that it will pay $52.4 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve allegations that the bank violated the False Claims Act by certifying mortgage loans insured by FHA that did not meet the government's requirements.
Implications: New home sales soared in February, defying the nasty winter weather and beating even the most optimistic forecast from any economics group. sales of new homes rose 7.8% to a 539,000 annual rate in February, the fastest pace in seven years. Overall sales are up 24.8% from a year ago, and have clearly been improving as the chart to the right shows.
Looking forward, we estimate Housing Index in the United States to stand at 0.10 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United states house price index mom change is projected to trend around 0.30 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.
Federal mortgage fraud task force subpoenas 11 banks United States Attorney Brady commended the Mortgage Fraud Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Nassida. The Mortgage Fraud Task Force is comprised of investigators from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and others involved in the mortgage industry.Washington Supreme Court: MERS cannot obtain foreclosure power without note · Since MERS did not own the underlying note, it could not transfer the beneficial interest of the Deed of Trust to another. Any attempt to transfer the beneficial interest of a trust deed without ownership of the underlying note is void under California law. In support, the judge cited In Re Vargas (California Bankruptcy Court); Landmark v.
Today's Top 3 Dow Stocks. economic activity is growing slightly faster in March than in February. The FHFA home price index showed that home prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in.
"Moving forward, we expect lower levels of existing-home sales, but tight inventory in many markets will continue to push up home prices in the months ahead.". "Home price growth in the.
Home prices inched forward in January, rising only 0.6% from the previous month but up 5.6% from the previous year, according to the latest monthly house Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance.
Jumbo lending was up 19.4 percent in 2012,Conforming loan – Wikipedia – The Federal housing finance agency (fhfa) publishes annual conforming loan limits that dictates the mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy. The maximum loan amount is set based on the October-to-October changes in median home price, above which a mortgage is.
FHFA: American home-price growth inches forward 0.3% in February April 23, 2019 / in Uncategorized / by lindsay home prices crawled forward in February, rising only 0.3% from the previous month but up 4.9% from 2018, according to the latest monthly House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Executive Overview The firm generated net earnings of $7.48 billion for 2012, compared with $4.44 billion and $8.35 billion for 2011 and 2010, respectively. Our diluted earnings per common share were.
Even tariffs might not slow multifamily construction This could affect the cost of materials used in housing nationwide and, furthermore, it will also impact local and regional markets that may have benefited from domestic producers' optimism about the effects of the tariffs. Those domestic producers may slow expansion or hiring if they do not believe the protection provided by tariffs will last.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage barely budged this week, inching down two points to 4.19 percent, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage followed suit to 3.39 percent. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage also moved down to 3.21 percent.
The new business entity online filing system has been up and running since November 14th. Our office filed formation documents for 941 limited liability companies in the last


text:
+ − Upcoming Hearing
June 1, 2020 at 4:00pm EDT
Committee:Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight
Location:{{hearing.location | strReplace:'\n':'; '}}
Tracked Bills to be Heard:
Tracked Legislators to be in Attendance:
+ − Contact Information
Email Address: email@example.com
Phone: (401) 885-1988
+ − Biography
Senator James C. Sheehan (Democrat - District 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown) was born on January 27, 1966. He is married to Meredith and they have two children, Colin and Liam.
Senator Sheehan, a teacher for the Warwick School Department, graduated from North Kingstown High School in 1984, the University of Rhode Island in 1988 with a B.A., and Catholic University in 1992 with a M.A., and received his Teacher's Certificate from Rhode Island College in 1985.
Senator Sheehan is a member of the North Kingstown Boosters; Smith Castle Historical Association; Co-Chair of the William H. Sheehan Scholarship Fund; Save the Bay; Knights of Columbus; Narrow River Preservation Association; and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
In addition, Senator Sheehan serves on the Quonset Davisville Management Corporation; the State House Security Commission; the North Kingstown Democratic Town Committee; and the Narragansett Democratic Town Committee. He was elected Senator in 2000.
Senator Sheehan can be reached at (401) 885-1988.


text: Play this lovely game named Princesses Open Art Gallery and join in the other girls in helping Rapunzel with her new business! Rapunzel is a great artist and she has decided it is time to open up her own gallery. Jasmine and Aurora are ready to help out! You can give a helping hand as well. You can start by decorating the gallery. Paint the walls, the ceiling and the floor and then hang some of your favorite pictures on the wall. Then Jasmine and Aurora have to get dressed up for the grand opening. Pick for them some chic hairstyles, pretty dresses, colorful tops and fitted skirts, high heels and peep toes, precious earrings and some interesting clutches. Rapunzel will be so grateful for yours and the girls' help! Have a great time playing this game!


text:
Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://goo.gl/Mn6Xx0
Amazon CA: https://goo.gl/dnIhXV
Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/oITVcf
Amazon AU: https://goo.gl/BLZdfO
Barnes & Noble: https://goo.gl/JY2Yym
Kobo: https://goo.gl/smEp74
iTunes: https://itun.es/us/3fM9fb.l
Meet the author
Anna B. Madrise, is a slightly, catty-wampus, fiction author who is a happy "transplant" to the state of Georgia where she lives with her husband and a menagerie of four-legged, furry, little monsters, that include four fluffy dogs and one rock-star kitty-cat. She whole-heartedly embraces southern grits, chicken & waffles, boiled peanuts, and sweet tea.
Anna is author of Tales of Dovewood; an on-going YAfantasy-book series and The Indie Manual; a How-To book for self-pub authors. She is an avid gardener, cook, kayaker, and much like the Hobgoblins she writes about; enjoys all things shiny.
Anna is very active on Twitter helping to support and promote fellow writers and authors that make up the self-pub community and also on Pinterest where she shares boards about Kitchen-Witchery, books, royal jewels, and of course; magic.
Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://bit.ly/tweetmadrise
IG link: http://bit.ly/annabmadriseIG
FB Page Link: http://bit.ly/annabmadriseFB
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14227725.Anna_B_Madrise


text:
He came to consider buying my little recreational vehicle. We chatted a bit, because I like to know people that come to my home. He explained he went to races many times each year and had been taking his van. The more he talked, he revealed that his van was not just a van. It was a shiny thing inside and out — an immaculate gem that he had nurtured. The more he talked, the more he revealed how he kept cars, made them shiny, and invested precious time and money in their condition. My little van was more normal in the engine compartment with a little dust and grime here and there. The more he talked the more he revealed his worship of shiny cars and fast tracks. "Oh," he said, "I am a committed Christian." He explained an incident some time back how he had thrown a few dollars at a need.
It was one of those times when I knew I had witnessed a faded life in Christ. His time, energy, and devotion in other things had made his testimony hollow, and he did not know it. I was not the least bit interested in his buying my little recreational vehicle but very interested in where his life was going as it continued to fade. His cars were getting brighter, his trips were getting more frequent. I am rarely pointed with a stranger, but urged him to change his priorities. His quiet wife spoke softly in the background, "That is exactly what his pastor has been telling him."
Oh, the things we chase after if we do not surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ! God is quite particular in His Book about what is important and what is not. That is quite clear. Where we stand, however, is not always so clear. Our walk reveals out hearts.
Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25


text:
Project Snapshot: Graphic Innovators recently had a customer reach out to them about moving their R&R compensating section from the back of their folder to the front of their folder on one of their 4-high presses. This was required in order to produce a particular job on that press that they otherwise would not have been able to produce. The customer contacted Graphic Innovators on a Thursday and urgently needed production to start rolling on the following Thursday. Graphic Innovators was able to dispatch a rigging and engineering team to their location the following Monday morning. The team of four was able to remove the compensating unit, modify as needed to mount in it's new location, engineer a new control box and have it running free of error in time for the customers schedule.
Summary: Our technicians have the expertise and experience to move any piece of equipment or machine, and we'll manage the project and use our own riggers, mechanical & electrical engineers. Safety is always a priority on every project as well as quality control and compliance to all specifications, budgets, and customers time-frames.


text:
SOPHIA — Join Hospice of Randolph County for Hospice Night at Snyder Farms Restaurant, 2880 Beckerdite Road, Sophia, on Saturday, March 4, from 5-9 p.m.
Enjoy a country-style buffet and a large, fresh salad bar. The cost for adults is $10.25; children, ages 6-12, $6; and children, ages under 6, $2.99.
Pay with cash or check to maximize donations and decrease transaction fees. All proceeds benefit Hospice of Randolph County.


text:
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (WFLA/CNN) – In the midst of a tense election season, one neighborhood in Missouri is coming together to spread positivity.
Instead of political campaign signs, people in Lee's Summit are putting signs of love and happiness on display in their yards.
Jennifer Hunsinger came up with "Project Happiness" a few years ago and started pitching her idea to neighbors.
"Well, there's just too much negativity in the world right now," she told KMBC. "I just want to put something in your yard that will make you smile and will make the people that pass by smile."
Hunsinger and her daughter said they ended up with more requests than messages.
"We had to look them up," Charlotte Hunsinger said. "We just looked up good quotes."
Another neighbor, Renae Riche, decided this year the grassroots movement needed to expand.
"Almost immediately a lady came to my door and gave me $20," Riche said.
The group has now gone from just 50 signs to 100.
"I just hope that they're – they feel inspired," Charlotte said.
The neighbors say the signs in their yards don't have to be red or blue to send a message.
"Just a reminder that the world doesn't have to be negative."
The "Project Happiness" organizers hope to expand even more and would like to see other neighbors join the movement.
Source link


text:
The Hoyle Cards Clear Plastic Playing Cards are more suited for the 21st century, and come in a protective case so you can enjoy this heritage brand anywhere, anytime. The Hoyle Brand has been associated with card games since the 1700s. Designed and constructed for card players of all ages who want durable, waterproof playing cards for their gaming needs. This Hoyle playing cards deck features:
- All-plastic playing cards
- Clear plastic
- Washable, flexible, easy to shuffle, and packaged in a clear reusable plastic case
- Made out of Waterproof and Durable plastic material
- Great for outdoor use


text:
Easton, Bristol 2018
Easton Window Wonderland
Took place on 20 Jan 2018
This event has already taken place.
Window Wanderland is coming to Easton and we need you to help us light up the trail!
We are inviting households and businesses to create displays for their windows, forming a neighbourhood trail that can be enjoyed by the whole community. Your windows could explore family culture, scenes from a favourite film, interests and hobbies or anything you feel passionate about. Keep it simple or go all out: as long as it's family friendly, anything goes!
Thank you to everyone that contributed to our crowdfund campaign including Bristol Waste, Knightstone Housing, Bristol Ageing Better, Thali Cafe, Este Kitchen, Let's Make Art and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation! With your help we successfully raised enough money to run a number of community workshops to help you create your window displays.
We hope you'll join us at one of these events. Everyone is welcome and you don't need to be an artist to get involved!
13 January – Scribble & Sketch
10:30 – 12:30 at Easton Community Centre
Drop-in session for local families to come and have fun making their displays together.
16 January – Workshop for Over 55s
10:00 – 12:00 at Easton Community Centre
Come and get ideas and help making a window display for your own home.
17 January – Drop-in Session
10:00 – 12:30 at J3 Library
Everyone is welcome to come and make a display for their home. Lots of ideas and free materials will be available.
18 January – Intergenerational Workshop
15:00 – 17:00 at Easton Community Centre
We are inviting anyone aged 55+ to come and help create a display for the centre's windows. You will joined by children from Summerhouse Nursery for some intergenerational fun!
19 January – Up Our Street Community Meal and Workshop
17:00- 19:30 at Easton Community Centre for food, creativity and a chance to meet your neighbours. Book your free tickets here:
If you have any questions please feel free to email firstname.lastname@example.com. If you've already signed up there's some info for you here: http://www.bristolartsmonster.com/easton-window-wanderlanders-2018
We can't wait to see you all on the trail!


text:
Whoa. When Scott and I were talking about compiling our lists, I was worried. To be honest, the prospect seemed rough, because the year as a whole has wavered between Meh and Awful for horror.
Luckily, as I perused the back catalogue, it turned out to be not as bad … Read More...
The post Anything Horror Deggsy's Best Films of 2016 appeared first on AnythingHorror.com.
from AnythingHorror.com http://ift.tt/2iO1Rqb
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text:
Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly
St. James's
10 September to 18 October, 2019
Fortnum & Mason are launching their new artistic initiative, produce 'Fortnum's X Zhang Enli' (FxZ), celebrating their collaboration with eminent Chinese artist, Zhang Enli.
This new artistic initiative will play out in the flagship store of Piccadilly, from 10 September – 18 October 2019, continuing Fortnum & Mason's longstanding commitment to the arts, supporting generations of artists and designers through its connections with the Royal College of Art, the Slade School of Art and the Bloomsbury Group.
- 'Fortnum's X Zhang Enli' – will see a vibrant body of large-scale artworks by Zhang Enli, with 19 never-before-seen paintings specially commissioned for Fortnum's. These works include a 6-metre site-specific work which will excite and engage shoppers as they walk through doors.
- The newly-commissioned series is threaded with the artist's impressions of the Scottish countryside and suburban areas surrounding London, as observed during Zhang's travel between the two. The topographical watercolour on paper pieces are reinterpretations of the local cultures that the artist encountered on his journeys and expand Zhang's depiction of natural forms, seen here as if from an aerial viewpoint encased in grid-like structures. The works demonstrate Zhang Enli's mastery of expressive lines and curves, which are influenced by traditional Chinese brush painting.


text:
We and our supply partners are experiencing a high volume of orders on health and safety products and inventories are rapidly changing. Due to this situation, orders are being processed slower than normal. We are working to communicate your order status as it progresses. Thank you again for your business and we appreciate your patience.
Standard Aviation Snips, Cuts Straight and Right, 10 in
Features: Custom heat-treated blades precision machined to last longer, and with 40 serrations per inch for non-scarring grip on material | Drop-forged molybdenum alloy steel cuts cold rolled steel and stainless steel | 8:1 compound action for maximum cutting power with minimal effort | Long lasting double overwind spring | Superior grade 8 pivot bolt
Standard Pack: 5 EA/PK
Country Of Origin: United States


text:
One of the benefits of researching the recent past is that I get to meet some of the people in the events that I write about. Through the course of my research, I've met dozens of people who were (and often are still) involved in the lesbian, gay, and labour movements. Meeting people, either in person, over the phone or on skype, is always a pleasure and one of my favourite of my research. However, sometimes there are also people that you would love to meet and discuss but, for whatever reason, never have the opportunity to meet. Les Dickirson was one of those people.
I've never met Les, but he figures pretty prominently in my research. He was the chair of UAW local 195's human rights committee in the 1970s, and pushed his local to include sexual orientation protection in their collective agreement as early as 1974. He was ahead of his time in that regard.
Local 195 was (and is) a composite local, made up of several different workplaces (Units), each with their own contract. In the 1970s, when Les and UAW 195's Human Rights Committee recommended that sexual orientation protection be included in its contracts, it had about 60 or so different units. This meant convincing 60 separate Units to fight for the same amendment at a time when same-sex sexuality was not only widely misunderstood, but often loathed. Getting each of them to include "sexual orientation" in their no discrimination clauses would be a tough sell, especially considering that a number of them didn't even have anti-discrimination language in the first place. Still, Les and his co-workers were able to make progress, not only in getting a number of the local's Units to include sexual orientation protection, but also in creating a friendlier and less homophobic workplace culture and union. In a letter written to a friend in 1980, he wrote about the progress that they were making in these regards. He wrote: "I'm glad that the subject is now one that we can talk and laugh about in such an open manner. It wasn't that easy a few years ago when I first introduced the subject."
I did try to get in touch with him to see if he would participate in an interview. Another person I interviewed gave me Les' contact information (with Les' permission, of course), so I gave him a call. I was told that he had been in and out of the hospital, so I didn't get my hopes up. When I called, there was no answer. I got the machine and left a message. Unfortunately I never heard back from Les, so I missed out the chance to speak to him. It's a shame that his voice won't be as present in my research as I would have liked, but I guess that his ultimate legacy lies in the results that came out of the work that he did in both his local and in his community.


text:
We rendezvoused with a dear friend Victus at La Palette yesterday evening, for an early tipple.
Seated in the back salon,we listened to stories of Parisian living, for her and the family, since arriving two years ago. We pondered the fate of the nicotine stained ceiling, now that smoking is banned indoors and gleaned information of the best flea markets and auction houses to view.
This former local, for the likes of Paul Cezanne and Georges Braque, oozes fin-de-siecle charm.


text:
Earlier today, I was listening to one of Lindsey Elmore's video where she was saying how she was often criticized for her diet: too vegan, not enough vegan, too many supplements, not enough supplements, same with oils, etc. I loved when she described herself as a flexitarian, which I realized was not really an invented word, but one that seemed widespread on the web:
I am exactly that, a flexitarian! A flexitarian when it comes to my meal choices but also when it comes to my life choices. I believe one has to be a flexitarian to be in the present moment and to truly enjoy what life can offer each of us. For example, I am currently on a 'ReBoot' lifestyle diet but I choose where and when to deviate from it. And, by being flexible in my choices and with myself, I am on a true winning path. Not only have I lost 15 lbs of extra fat, my body and mind feel leaner and free: free of extra fat cells but also free of negative emotions.
Every day I encounter roadblocks that show themselves in all kinds of ways. These days, it is mostly with The Rolling Barber and with my YL business. The Rolling Barber (the non-profit organization that I founded in early 2018 to offer free haircuts for those in need) is running on empty and I can't seem to find a way to find the necessary funds.
On the other hand, as much as I believe in YL products, I find it extremely difficult to share with others and incite them to join my tribe. My network is relatively small and it seems most of my close friends and family have joined YL, love the products themselves but have no wish to share with others. My pay went from $765 to $528 to only $145 last month as my members are not expanding and I cannot for the life of me find additional members. And, since I was hoping to use part of the YL commissions for The Rolling Barber, I'm stuck in a conundrum.
To be flexible is, in my opinion, to be true to yourself and others with your views and values. In this perspective, I need to be honest and say that YL products are expensive. I won't say you are not using them correctly if you find them expensive then explain how very little goes a long way (like many representatives of other products do… Arg!). Actually, as I side note, I loathe when people break down the cost of an expensive product and end up saying, 'so it only costs you pennies a day'. Well no, it doesn't really. You need to make the initial investment which you may choose to put on credit and most of the time, you need to repeat this several months before it actually 'pays out'.
Yes, YL products last a very long time because every single one of them may be diluted and spending a little more for a natural, non-toxic product makes total sense to me. Also, replacing regular products you were using with YL ones doesn't require additional funds, it only diverts them to YL, but you are paying a shipping fee + taxes which you wouldn't otherwise.
I do wonder, I must say, why people seem to so easily accept rhetoric from someone saying their product costs 'pennies a day' or 'the cost of one coffee a day'. But, at the end of the day, I need to be true to myself and I prefer saying that it is an investment. Same goes for The Rolling Barber where I need to accept that not everyone is willing to help out his or her community.
Recently, The Ottawa Mission requested to feature us in their next impact report. They asked me what have we learned in my time with the Mission and what does it mean to us to provide these services to vulnerable members of our community. I responded that our clients from the Mission have taught us humility and the power of appreciating every moment of the present. I also wrote that, for us, a community is the sum of all its constituents. When one of its members struggles, another should be there to help. We hope our bus brings some hope to those in need.
Maybe this will help us raise funds, but in the end, I have decided to accept come what may. I will be flexible in the outcome of The Rolling Barber and in my YL business. Yes, I would love people to join my tribe* and yes, I would love people to freely donate to The Rolling Barber so we may be able to complete our second year of operations, but I have to accept that this may not be in the books and I have to be flexible enough to be ok with it and not to berate myself for it.
I love how my cousin who went through many difficult moments last year puts it. She posted this:
I would say 'Be Flexible with Yourself and Others' and not only will you accept what comes your way, but you will also be more understanding of how you see others.
*my YL business has been put under my company name of The Writing Hummingbird. TWH is my primary business for my editing contracts. NaturOil Woman is the sub-business name which I would have liked to feature on my YL profile, but unfortunately, this couldn't happen since my primary account in under The Writing Hummingbird. Flexibility in point haha


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WIXSTEEL INDUSTRIAL OFFER THE BEST QUALITY Wear Resistance Steel Sheet.
Wear resistant alloy steel plates generally offer good resistance to sliding and impact abrasion. The high carbon content in the alloy increases the hardness and toughness of the steel, making it an ideal material for applications that require high impact or high abrasion resistance. It is possible to get high hardness with a high carbon steel, and the steel will have good resistance to penetration. However, the wear rate will be rapid compared to heat treated alloy plate because high carbon steel is brittle, so particles can be more easily torn from the surface. As a result, high carbon steels are not used for high wear applications.
High carbon steel alloys are especially suited for use in the mining, wood products, and material handling industries. Applications include dump truck bottoms and sides, liners for chutes and dryers, gravel crushers, tree cutter blades, wear plates, and vibrating conveyors.


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Things appear to be looking up for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), despite challenges before the sector credited with the capacity to create jobs, boost production and diversify the economy, writes Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA.
the Director-General/CEO,Nigerian Youth Chamber of Commerce (NYCC), Comrade Peter Ayim, is upbeat that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will soon gather momentum to catalyse industrial growth.
His optimism is hinged on the recent signing of a service agreement between Bank of Industry (BoI) and Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) as well as other strategic initiatives aimed at unlocking the opportunities in the sector, globally acknowledged as the engine of growth. This is because of its capacity to create jobs, boost production and diversify the economy.
BoI had on November 21, last year signed a service agreement with 122 BDSPs. The synergy, seen by industry stakeholders as a revolutionary step in development banking, entailed BDSPs collaborating with the development finance institutions to identify credible SMEs that require funding. They would also develop bankable business plans and proposals for SMEs to facilitate their access to finance. The BDSPs, according to BoI's Managing Director, Rasheed Olaoluwa, would also provide post-finance services, such as mentorship, handholding, advice and inculcation of best practices for SMEs, among others.
A few months after the agreement was consummated, Ayim confirmed to The Nation that the BDSPs have hit the ground running by preparing SME projects for possible financial support by BoI. For instance, NYCC, one of the BDSPs that scaled BoI's rigorous and painstaking selection process, is engaged with about 10 SMEs.
"We have been engaging with 10 SMEs. While some came to us on their own, Skye Bank Plc, one of the SME-friendly banks referred some to us. We are talking to the SMEs," he said.
Comrade Ayim added that as part of the chamber's services to its clients, it has also commenced discussions with Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), to organise a workshop for the SMEs.
"The service agreement was the missing link," he said, noting that the signing of the agreement effectively addressed the gap in the areas of poor packaging of loan requests and non-bankable business plans, which are some of the factors responsible for the low level of financial support to SME operators.
He added that as the umbrella body and voice of youth entrepreneurs, the chamber is proud to be associated with an initiative that is poised to stimulate SMEs. While describing the initiative as an emerging trend, he called on SMEs to take advantage of the window created by BoI to build their capacity to play their role as growth drivers. He said while NYCC and other BDSPs are preparing the enterprise operators by providing them with a range of services, the collaborating banks provide the working capital.
Chairman Managing Consultant, Resort Consult Limited, a BDSP, Mr. Femi Ekundayo, is no less excited over the prospects of SMEs riding on the platform of the agreement to scale up their operations.
"It's a good thing that BoI did", he said, noting that Resort Consult Limited, a financial consultancy firm specialising in financial advisory service, project and manpower development, is appraising two SME projects before forwarding them to BoI.
"We are appraising two projects. We expect that by April after the elections the projects would be completed and approved," he disclosed. Ekundayo, however, said in rendering services to the SME sector, BDSPs are faced with the challenge of the attitude of SME operators, most of who do not want to be persuaded that there is light at the end of the tunnel for them.
"Despite that a lot of interventions made in the sector brightened prospects for SME operators, it takes a lot of persuasion to make them know that there is light at the end of the tunnel for them," he said.
He identified other challenges facing SMEs to include lack of technical capacity to package their feasibility studies and businesses very well; lack of good management structure and accounting system to make them attractive to financial institutions for any form of assistance, as well as harsh economic environment. For instance, most SMEs are weighed down by high operating cost due to lack of basic infrastructure particularly power.
Perhaps, most importantly, with the economic crisis caused by crashing oil prices and, subsequently, the devaluation of the naira, SMEs who depend on high import with the associated foreign exchange risk are unable to compete in the global market. The current lending rate of between 20 and 30 per cent is also considered unfriendly for SMEs, as most of them find it difficult to sustain their businesses at that level.
SME-friendly banks to the rescue
The recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BoI and 10 SME-friendly banks set the tone for a major reversal in the fortunes of the sector with regards to project funding. The 10 commercial banks renowned for their SME-centric activities were carefully chosen to partner with BoI in the financing of their SME customers. The banks include Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, FirstBank, First City Monument Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Bank for Africa.
Essentially, the banks are collaborating with BoI in the provision of long-term loans to qualified SMEs based on BoI's Risk Acceptance Criteria (RAC) and the provision of working capital to the SMEs also based on individual bank's RAC. Olaoluwa explained that the terms of the loans will be in accordance with BoI term loan with a tenor of three to five years. While the moratorium will be 6-12 moths, interest rate is between 9 and 10 per cent per annum. On the other hand, working capital facilities by SME-friendly banks will be on a tenor of 6-12 months.
The BoI MD listed sectors to be financed to include agro-processing, solid minerals and metals, light manufacturing, logistics, etc. identified under the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) launched by the Federal Government recently. While describing the synergy between BoI and the SME-friendly banks as unprecedented, he said it will undoubtedly foster greater access to finance for SMEs, financial inclusion for Nigerians and also engender wealth creation and accelerated job creation for Nigerians.
Banks have since keyed into this aspiration, having seen the synergy as opening up a new vista for them in that sector of the economy.
CBN shows the way
The launch of the N220 billion MSMEs' Development Fund in August 2013 by the CBN was a shot in the arm of MSMEs.
The intervention, which CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, described as an innovative way of improving MSMEs access to finance, was aimed at shoring up the sector's potential for job creation and poverty reduction in the country. One way it hopes to achieve this is by addressing the challenge of high cost of funds that has continued to affect operators' profitability.
This is so because most commercial banks charge as high as between 22 and 25 per cent interest rates. Micro-finance Banks (MFBs) even charge higher, insisting on between 30 and 40 per cent interest rates. The exorbitant interest rate charged by the commercial banks is also believed to be partly responsible for why local industries are uncompetitive.
This was why the CBN in its guidelines said the fund attracts nine per cent interest rate. The fund would also be administered through private or state owned Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs), Finance Houses, and Cooperative Finance Agencies. Such MFIs or micro-finance banks must pass CBN's competency and proficiency tests in order to certify them capable of distributing these funds to MSMEs. State governments will be able to access up to N2 billion each for lending to eligible beneficiaries through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in their states.
In other words, the CBN will not be lending directly to farmers or businesses. What the fund does is a wholesale fund. It provides funding to the PFIs. MFIs or micro-finance banks can also come to the fund. The CBN will assess them; give them the money at low interest rate. The PFIs would undertake that they will lend at low rate of interest to micro-entrepreneurs, the low-income earners, farmers, artisans and the active poor who operate in the informal sector. Also, PFIs can only finance agricultural value chain activities, trade and commerce; cottage industries, artisans, among others.
The apex bank in a bid to ensure that productive sectors of the economy attract more finance necessary for employment creation and diversification of the country's economic base, also said a maximum of 10 per cent of the commercial component of the fund should be channeled to trading and commerce.
The icing on the cake of the intervention for MSMEs perhaps, was the provision that 60 per cent of the fund, representing N132 billion, be earmarked for providing financial services to women-owned businesses. Emefiele said PFIs would be required to submit periodic returns on disbursements as well as an analysis of the social impacts of the fund. He added that the finance sector regulator will also undertake regular on and off site checks to ascertain the veracity of the reports received.
SON, OPS also involved
Rejection of made in Nigeria goods because of poor quality and packaging remains a pain in the neck of most SME operators. To halt the trend, which inflicts losses to operators and by extension, the local economy, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is certifying SMEs in the country to prepare them for export. This is in the hope of stopping the high scrutiny given made-in-Nigeria goods at the global market.
During a visit by the National President, Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar to SON in Lagos, its Director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, said the agency found that apart from challenges of funding and poor management facing SMEs, what makes SMEs fit for export is not just for their products to meet Nigerian standards but also meet international standards. "We intend to work with SMEs going forward to build them to international standards," he said.
Odumodu stated that as part of the agency's emphasis on making made in Nigeria products acceptable all over the world, its accredited laboratory is for a specific competence, which boasts of carrying chemical and biological testing for agricultural products in the country. He said Nigeria has entered a phase, which he called the map for world quality due to its latest accredited laboratory.
While urging SMEs to take advantage of this golden opportunity to push their products to the world, he said SON intends to certify 50 SMEs to International Standard Organisation (ISO) 9001 quality management systems.
SME operators are not folding their arms. Recently, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), part of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) commenced a programme of equipping SMEs with requisite skills needed to make their products competitive.
LCCI President Alhaji Remi Bello, stressed that the Chamber was embarking on the initiative because the sector has been proven by developed economies of the world as a tool to accelerate economic growth and development.
Bello, who spoke through LCCI Director General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, during the graduation of 25 mentees of the chamber's mentoring programme scheme 2, said the mentoring programme is aimed at match-making young business leaders with experienced business owners to share their experiences with the mentees in order to make their products competitive anywhere in the world.
More hurdles to cross
Ordinarily, a combination of these interventions ought to take the SME sector out of the woods. But this has not happened. Although, operators and experts say that there is silver lining on the horizon for SMEs as a result of the increased focus on the sector, they however, contend that there are still a number of hurdles that must be crossed if SMEs must get to the 'Promised Land'.
One of such hurdles, according to Mr. Ekundayo, is the lack of technical/financial management capacity by most SMEs. He also said SMEs lack technical capacity and are constrained by harsh economic environment induced by high operating cost due to lack of basic infrastructure, particularly power.
The poor state of roads also increases the cost of transporting both raw materials and finished goods to and from markets. They are also under constant threats from different organs and tiers of government who collect regressive and multiple taxes and levies.
Most importantly perhaps, the current economic crisis caused by crashing oil prices and subsequently, devaluation of the naira, is taking a huge toll on SMEs who depend on high import. With the associated foreign exchange risk, most SMEs are unable to compete in the global market place. The current lending rate of between 20 and 30 per cent is considered unfriendly for SMEs, as most of them find it different to sustain their businesses at that level.
That is not all. The attitude of some SMEs, according to Ekundayo, is not helping matters. He said despite the fact that a lot of interventions made in the sector have brightened prospects for SME operators, "It takes a lot of persuasions to make them know that there is light at the end of the tunnel."
Ayim noted that although, Nigeria has the required number of active enterprises, with a predominantly youthful population of over 70 million youths, what is required is for government to give them the needed impetus by deliberately creating the enabling environment that will remove all the barriers that impede youth-led micro enterprises.
According to him, this could be done by building a robust and dynamic public/private enterprise development eco system. "This will facilitate diverse direct investment options in youth focused start-ups and micro-enterprises," he told The Nation. While describing government's diverse intervention programmes as 'demonstration of commitment to encourage and support the promotion and development of entrepreneurship and the MSME, he said it is also important for government to explore other credible vistas so that more people can enter and actively participate in the MSME sector.
"In the circumstance, a dynamic mix of micro-leasing, micro-insurance and demand-driven business development services offered within a cluster is a credible option that should be encouraged," he said, adding that using this approach will enable more aspiring entrepreneurs who cannot meet the conditions of accessing available funding options to access appropriate equipment under a micro-leasing arrangement for their businesses while existing entrepreneurs can access equipment to grow and expand their businesses.
Why SMEs hold the ace
President Goodluck Jonathan underscored the critical importance of SMEs to Nigeria's economic growth and development when at the recent inauguration of the MSMEs Council he said: "MSMEs are the innovators, the wealth creators, as well as employment generators. Every MSME today has the potential of growing to the large corporation of tomorrow, and that is why we are now backing the initiative with the creation of this Council."
Latest survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the number of MSMEs in Nigeria at 17.2 million. The enterprises, according to NBS, employ over 32 million people. Citing the survey, Jonathan said, "Over 95 per cent of registered businesses in Nigeria are small businesses. If each of these businesses employs one more person, we would create over 17 million extra jobs, which would indeed be a revolution in Nigeria's job markets. This is the unexplored power of small businesses."
The President also explained how MSMEs' impact on employment, saying that apart from employing people directly, MSMEs promote employment indirectly through creating market opportunities and improving market conditions. They also disperse and diversify economic activities, wealth creation and distribution as well as localize resources, mobilise savings, and stimulate indigenous entrepreneurship and technology especially in developing economies.
The job creation capacity of the sector appears to be the most interesting. For instance, 70 per cent of all new net jobs in the US are created by SMEs, according to National President of Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), the umbrella association for all small scale enterprises and industries in Nigeria, Chief Chuku Wachuku. He however, said that in Nigeria SMEs contribute about 95 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but their only problem is that whereas they contribute this percentage to GDP, the wealth addition stands at only 46 per cent.
He noted that the economy of the emerging nations or even developed nations appreciate that economies must necessarily depend on MSMEs and the informal sector because it's the engine of growth, propelling the economies of those countries by creating the bulk of job opportunities. He said government only creates the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive through unfettered access to credit facility to MSMEs in those countries as well as provide the necessary infrastructure.


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Voices of women are but rarely heard in classical literature. Yes, there is Sappho, of whom just a few poems have survived intact, many fragmented and dozens must have been lost. In her poems she has achieved an unsurpassed quality, but who else do we have? Well, there is Sulpicia of whom 6 elegies have survived in the Corpus Tibullianum, the manuscripts containing the elegies of Tibullus, but also poems from other poets. Little is known about her (see the link below.)
She is quite frank in expressing her erotic feelings, that is to say for a woman of that period. For this reason it has been claimed that behind Sulpicia is a male poet, using the persona of a woman. But why should he use the name of a woman who could easily be identified with an existing person?
From her poems it seems that she had an affair with a certain Cerinthus – almost certainly a pseudonym. I say seems, because it is not certain that these poems reflect a real situation: it could well have been an exercise in writing love elegies within a circle of friends. However, romantic as I am, I am ready to believe it is real.
This poem has some problems: the syntax in 1-2 is constrained, but more problematic are lines 7-8 for which see the notes.
Sulpicia 1 (= Tibullus 4.7 or 3.13 in another arrangement of the books).
Tandem venit amor, qualem texisse pudori
quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis.
Exorata meis illum Cytherea Camenis
adtulit in nostrum deposuitque sinum.
Exsolvit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret,
dicetur siquis non habuisse sua.
Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis,
ne legat ut nemo quam meus ante, velim,
sed peccasse iuvat, vultus conponere famae
taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar.
qualem texisse pudori / quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis. Construct: mihi fama magis pudori sit: for me my reputation would be more till shame = it would be more shameful for my reputation to etc.
tego texi tectum: to cover, hide
nudo: to expose, uncover
exorata meis Camenis: persuaded by my Muses (i.e. (probably) previous poems.)
illum: her lover Cerinthus
Cytherea: Venus
sinus –us (m.): bosom
exsolvo exsolvi exsolitum: to unbind, fulfil
sua (gaudia)
Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis / me legat ut nemo quam meus ante, velim. Another reading is:
Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis, / ne legat id nemo quam meus ante, velim.
This reading is adopted by many editors and translators and will be found on the Perseus and Latin Library sites. However it has problems: non with velim or mandare? Ne nemo as a strong negation (absolutely no one) or are the negations cancelling each other out (everybody). Many go for non with mandare and ne nemo as a strong negation. The meaning is then: `I would wish that I had not to entrust anything to sealed letters (signatis tabellis), so that absolutely no one could read them before my love.' But isn't the point that she wants to cry out her love to the whole world – secret of not? The reading I have adopted (from the Ambrosianus Ms and found in the OCT edition by Postgate) states the opposite: `I won't want to entrust anything to sealed letters, so that no one can read them before my love.' This also would go better with the next lines.
(Could it be that the reading ne legat id nemo was adopted to make Sulpicia more harmless?)
sed peccasse(= peccavisse) iuvat: So Sulpicia is proud of her `sin'.
vultus conponere famae: to put a face on, keep the appearance for the sake of reputation (famae: dative.)
cum digno digna fuisse ferar: I might be said to have been an equal with an equal (In sinning and in love.)
Two renditions of this poem in English:
C.W.Conrad (with me legat ut.)
At last has come a love I'd blush to hide
more than I'd fear the fame of secret bared.
The one I prayed to Venus for in verse
she brought me, laid him down upon my breast.
Venus has done her part; my joys proclaim,
if girl there be that's never had her own!
I'm not for sealing any secret in a note
to let my lover be the first to read!
My sin's my joy! To care what others think
annoys me; let them bruit my grand amour.
Anne Mahoney (with the reading ne legat id nemo.)
At last the love I've waited for has come.
(No shame to say so: more to cover up).
My Camenae called on her in prayer,
and Cytherea brought him to my heart.
5Venus kept her promise: now she can tell
my tale of joy to those who don't believe.
I hardly want to give this letter up
so no one else sees it before he does.
I'm glad I did it — why wear a prudish mask,
as if he wasn't good enough for me!


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In a recent insightful conversation with my wife, among several other interesting things during the discussion, she noted that the CMD program wouldn't be what it is today if Rodney didn't live in Johannesburg. That observation gave me pause and I imagined for a second that if Rodney lived in a Florida retirement community full of 80 and 90 year olds 25 years ago, would the CMD Program resemble anything like what we have today?
Much of what we think and how we carry ourselves on a daily basis is very much influenced by where we live and our exposure to our surroundings. Would you agree with that? It's no surprise that many self-help gurus advocate that we should seek out the company of the people we most wish ourselves to be like, be it successful entrepreneurs, philanthropists, or successful individuals in a particular field. We absorb and become a percentage of who we hang out most with. We start to assimilate. Just as much as our environment shapes us and moulds us to find our balance within the communities we live in. It's not a good or bad thing, it just is but the choice remains ours alone.
If you lived in a low-risk crime community your needs and training focus would be much different than if you lived in a war zone. Our needs would change dramatically based on our daily experiences but the physical aspects of personal safety are just the superficial ones. How about the safety of our families and loved ones? Property security? Identity security? The list goes on. If I lived in a war zone I'd try to get kitted out with a protection vest, helmet and do my best to secure enough supplies to get out of that area as quickly as possible. Dressing fashionably would be low on the priorities under such circumstances. If I lived in a retirement community, my immediate concerns would be securing communication channels and medical care rather than securing military surplus. Survival and safety concerns will need to be adapted to the situation.
Living in a large city with all the big city problems I have to be prepared for many urban issues that come with this privilege. There is public security that help maintain law and order and there are also private security as well as personal security but that comes down to cost, convenience and how much of your personal space you are prepared to sacrifice. Nowadays it's quite common to see individuals walking about with several personal bodyguards in tow. The majority of public and private security is good and effective. Things are generally peaceful and crime-free however when speaking to most people in the city they are more wary of crime and personal security more so than our Singaporean neighbours for example.
This isn't to say that we let our guard down, in fact, even in some of the most peaceful countries like Japan and New Zealand, there are instances of crimes and strong presence of gang culture where violence, serial killers and sexual predators are present. They don't make it to headline news often as tourism generates huge incomes for these countries. No where is really "safe".
I'd wager that the CMD program today would be a lot different if the origins and impetus that helped to shape it during the formative years had a different setting. It seems all the most effective combat arts were derived, developed and refined from necessity; of survival, and over time, influenced by peace time and gentrification, evolved into sport and other forms of preservation of tradition or similar entities.
The point of this is to be able to form some idea of effectiveness and purpose of the martial art that we are currently practice. If the martial art in question was intentionally developed for ritualistic combat (think MMA or similar combat sport) that is one step closer to reality than a martial art practiced with the intention of preserving a certain cultural tradition, i.e. this stuff worked once upon a time so let's keep doing it. Things change, times changes things constantly therefore our actions to constantly find our balance in the community we live in has to change. Being present, mindful and having actionable directions. When it comes to a matter of personal safety there isn't time or place for indecision or second-guessing. You have to know and do what it takes to get you home safely today.
The pedigree and raison d'etre for the CMD is thus purely function first, with a positive philosophy for life. Walking the talk proves the methodology is effective, robust and scalable. The program was born from a place that required it to work well and over the years it has grown into the program as we recognise it today, combining the most effective elements of the mental game, punches, strikes and the grappling elements that will emerge in a defensive situation.
I'm an advocate and trainer of the CMD Program and proud to represent this initiative and method. I support what it stands for and what it's objectives are: to educate and empower people, to help them be better persons, to express these skills via a positive, healthy outlet, to develop and refine the skills that were derived from actual situations of personal defense for a safer and better community. I recognise that the CMD program originated with a sense of purpose and function and with that knowledge it carries a heavy responsibility and requires a healthy mindset. If you would like to learn more please register for a free trial class.
In servitude and openness,
Vince Choo


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If you have been waiting for the least week or so since its launch for your Google Wallet app to update to Android Pay, you can now take matters into your own hands. Google has released the Android Pay app into the Google Play Store for you to download to your NFC compatible devices. The app is free and if you haven't had a chance to check it out, you can read my first look at the app from last week when I got it on my Nexus 6. Essentially this is the replacement for the old Google Wallet app (there is a new one for sending and receiving funds) rebranded with some security improvements and other performance updates. There are a long list of retailers that are already accepting Android Pay because they were accepting Google Wallet prior to the launch. Additional retailers and financial institutions are there now too and many more are in the roadmap to be added in the coming weeks.
Android Pay for Android – Free – Download Now
To use Android Pay you will have to have an Android device that has NFC functionality built into it. At a retailer, simply tap your device to the credit card reader that is Android Pay and NFC compatible and you will pay for your purchase. You don't even have to have the app running. It will simply pop up to confirm you are making the purchase. Once your purchase is complete, you will have a transaction record for that credit card or debit card you used to pay with for your records right within the app.
I used Android Pay yesterday for the first time in earnest since the update and it worked flawlessly for me. In fact it was somewhat anti-climatic although I have to say the app behaves and certainly looks better than the old Google Wallet app.


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Rises in Middle Sydney and falls in Outer Sydney balanced out to see the vacancy rates for Sydney steady overall.
Sydney's residential vacancy rates have remained stable at 1.7 per cent, according to data released by the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.
The March 2016 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw Inner Sydney unchanged at 1.3 per cent. The last time Inner Sydney had a vacancy rate of 1.3 per cent was March 2014.
The market is tight and is expected to remain tight for some time.
Rises in Middle Sydney and falls in Outer Sydney balanced out to see the vacancy rates for Sydney steady overall. Middle Sydney was at up 0.3 per cent to 1.9 per cent, while Outer Sydney was down 0.3 per cent at 1.8 per cent.
In the Hunter region vacancy rates slid 0.3 per cent at 2.6 per cent and in the Illawarra vacancy rates were up 0.1 per cent at 1.3 per cent. Wollongong slipped 0.2 per cent to 1.0 per cent.
Across regional areas, availability in Albury fell 0.1 per cent at 3.6 per cent, New England rose 0.8 per cent at 3.6 per cent and Orana dropped 0.4 per cent to 3.3 per cent. Coffs Harbour fell 0.8 per cent to 1.5 per cent and Northern Rivers rose 0.1 per cent at 1.5 per cent.