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If you're looking to purchase a new high definition TV, LED televisions offer a mix of high quality image at a surprisingly reasonable budget. For our top rated LED TV list, we've scoured the ratings to offer up four very different models, each of which meets specific needs. Which one works for you will really depend on you: your budget, your TV activity (gaming, movies, sports, and so on), and what features you value, including 3D capability, internet readiness, and other factors. Examine our picks, then do your own research and find the model that fits your needs.
Top Rated LED TV – Budget Model: RCA LED42C45RQ
This TV is a pretty good choice for anyone who need basic-featured TV in their living room or bedroom with medium size. The design is sleek with swivel stand to make it more stylish. The price is affordable for 42-inch TV. This lightweight TV is also easy to setup and adjust[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]CONS
But unfortunately, some customers complained about the sound quality. Actually it's not that horrible, it's just not so loud, since the speaker is under the frame. You might need home theater system or additional speaker to make it better. It also doesn't come with some fancy features such as 3D Technology or Internet Apps for more entertainment.[/ezcol_1half_end]
RCA is one of the industry leaders in combining affordable pricing with a high level of image quality. With at manufacturer's suggested retail price of $449.99, this 42 inch model is the least expensive television of the top rated LED TVs on our list, but it still manages to provide rich color from a wide range of viewing angles and full 1080p video, meaning it can play BluRays, HD TV, and current generation video games at full capacity. Don't expect many frills on this model, though. It's not 3D capable or internet-capable – but for a functional television with a beautiful, crisp image, this is one of the best.
Top Rated LED TV – The Fully-Featured: Vizio M551D-A2R
Good picture quality for the price
Good features
Great bang for the buck[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]CONS
Reflective screen
Black levels are only OK[/ezcol_1half_end]
Vizio's M551D-A2R retails for $1,165, but that represents a truly impressive value for this television. It's one of the most fully-featured models on our top rated LED TV list. This 55-inch LED television, which is 3D-capable and comes ready out-of-box to provide 3D television to 8 people. It also provides other features, such as Vizio's Internet Apps Plus, which offers instant access to Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and a number of other services, all easily accessible from your TV remote. It also has a clean, stylish appearance
Top Rated LED TV – The Well-Rounded: Panasonic TC-L55ET60
Display resolution is superb, crisp, clear and amazingly sharp
Built-in subwoofer, it sounds great
Very nice, sleek, pretty design
Tons of apps
TV uses very little energy[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]CONS
TV is very heavy
Power cord is too short, very annoying, about 5′ long.
Remote is horrible all the way around. It is uncomfortable to hold and has an unnatural feel to it[/ezcol_1half_end]
Panasonic has long been a leader in the plasma television technology, but this 55-inch television represents a bold and confident move into the LED television market. With a contrast rate of 13118:1 and a refresh rate of 120Hz, this provides crisp, rich images and very little motion blur after-effects. This is true in both its standard 2D mode and its built-in 3D mode. It also comes with two sets of 3D glasses. If you're planning on using your television to access web apps, this is an ideal model. It's also an impressively fully featured television, with built-in wifi and a range of web apps preloaded, including Netflix and YouTube. $1,600.
Top Rated LED TV – The High-End: Bose VideoWave Entertainment System II (55 inch)
spacious sound output
Sharp image quality. Unique user interface[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]CONS
Lacks network connectivity and Web services
Middling black levels[/ezcol_1half_end]
This is truly the Cadillac of home entertainment and for sure it deserves his place on our top rated LED tv list. It's a massive screen at 55 inches, and the picture doesn't disappoint. With a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and an average contrast ratio of 5532:1, it's one of the sharpest, clearest images out there. And, as you might expect of a home entertainment system made by high-end audio manufacturer Bose, its sixteen speaker subsystems and high-end audio technology provides a powerful, rich sound. However, it's not cheap, with a price tag around $5,000.


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Use green means of transportation to the Gävle Goat Inauguration!
The Gävle Goat Inauguration on the first of Advent is one of Gävle's largest events, and each year, tens of thousands of goat fans are gathered on Castle Square in order to see our grand goat become inaugurated. But what is the best possible way to get to Castle Square?
One way to help out is by using a green alternative when travelling to the inauguration ceremony. Walking and biking are possible options for those who live nearby - that is, if the Swedish December weather allows it - but the famous goat has visitors from all over the world. Hence, buses and trains will be excellent means of transportation. Or why not join a carpool group? https://www.facebook.com/skjutsgruppen/
Gävle strives to become one of Swedens's most eco-friendly municipalities to live in. In 2013, the municipality adopted a strategic programme for sustainability, with designated goals within seven different areas. As a result of this, the Goat Committee and Gävle Municipality are cooperating with the organisation Keep Sweden Tidy in order to make the goat inauguration a certified eco-friendly event, with the Swedish classification Miljömärkt Event. This means that the event needs to fulfill certain conditions regarding e.g. waste handling, transportation and purchases.
For more information regarding the event, availability or sustainability, please contact us at +4626-178000 or send an email to [email protected].

subset: commoncrawl


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John Scofield
This Meets That
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2007, Volume 14, #9
Written by John Metzger
Sun September 16, 2007, 06:00 AM CDT
Playfully referencing his 1977 solo debut East Meets West, John Scofield opted to title his first effort for EmArcy This Meets That. Regardless, it also happens to be a rather fitting title for the collection. Throughout This Meets That, Scofield moves through a wide array of styles, merging them together with the dexterity of a master craftsman. He adds a little bop here and a little soul there, and he does it in a way that the endeavor's moniker clearly was meant to highlight. Although the individual components ought not to fit together, Scofield uses his distinctive guitar playing to weave them into a cohesive tapestry of sound that shifts from songs with slinky grooves to those that exude an air of meditative beauty.
In taking his longstanding trio, which includes drummer Bill Stewart and bass player Steve Swallow, into the studio for the first time since 1996's Quiet, Scofield rediscovered the emotional core that was missing from most of his recordings for Verve. He has referred to Stewart and Swallow as his "A-Team," and over the course of This Meets That, it's easy to hear precisely why his proclamation rings true. Augmented by a quartet of horn players — Roger Rosenberg on baritone sax and bass clarinet, Jim Pugh on trombone, Lawrence Feldman on tenor sax and flute, and John Swana on trumpet and flugelhorn — Scofield's outfit demonstrates its versatility and its virtuosity without ever sounding stuffy or conceited. There undeniably is a well-established, unspoken connection among the musicians, and as a result, the entirety of the endeavor unfolds seemingly without effort as the ideas introduced in one track lead to those expressed in the next.
On opening cut The Low Road, Scofield and his accompanists settle into a supremely funky stew that draws heavily upon Miles Davis' fusion experiments. From there, the group plunges headfirst into Down D as the notes that spring from Scofield's guitar gracefully paint spiraling patterns of liquid color against the gently wavering crimson backdrop supplied by the rhythm section. The mood that is evoked — both here as well as on Shoe Dog — undeniably taps into the same spiritual yearning as the flights that frequently were taken by the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band in the early 1970s. With the New Orleans-inspired Heck of a Job, Scofield slyly pokes fun at the Bush administration, and on Strangeness in the Night, his guitar solos sweep across the terrain in ways that are reminiscent of Miles Davis in his post-bop days. Elsewhere, Scofield's lyrical phrasing on Behind Closed Doors captures all of the country-soul loveliness of Charlie Rich's smash hit; The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction is concisely rendered as a jazzy, R&B-laden gem; and with the help of Bill Frisell, House of the Rising Sun is delivered as a brisk, swinging blues excursion.
To his credit, Scofield doesn't try to weld any new tricks into the DNA of This Meets That. Instead of forcing himself upon the music, he trusts it to lead him and his ensemble wherever it wants to go. In the end, his eclectic approach speaks for itself, and as a result, This Meets That becomes one of the stronger and more consistently engaging outings in his canon.
Of Further Interest...
Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
Richard Thompson - Dream Attic
This Meets That is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box


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Ann Tancio
The guys over at Sumo love to send us chairs to review. So much so that my brother and I both have rooms that look like a Sumo authorized reseller outlet. These chairs are big, comfy, make great dog beds for bassets and great danes, and we love sinking into them. Andrew Milligan over at Sumo sent my brother and I a couple of their brand new Omni reloaded folding chairs. My brother Brian wrote a review of the reloaded. Here's what he had to say: "The Omni Reloded delivers as advertised. I was initially shocked at how light the chair was when I picked up the box to bring it inside. I made some loose assumptions at that moment that maybe the chair would not be able to hold my weight (I'm a big guy). Pleasently, the reloaded has had no issue handling my mighty frame, so that's a huge plus for guys like me. After removing the Omni Reloaded from the box I soon intuitively learned how to lock it into the different configurations. The chair makes an audible click as it's range of motion passes through the various configuration points. In just a few clicks I had it adjusted to my likening and enjoying the comfort. I'm a big fan of things that are simple and intuitive. My 17 month old daughter put the chair through a stress test by immediately standing on it emptying a full sippy cup of water onto the reoloaded's surface. I'm happy to report she found the chair water resistant and impervious to giggle-stomps. She wanted to sit on the chair like daddy and, I can only assume, it was her way of claiming the pink chair as her new throne. After a week of Miranda putting the reloaded through it's paces, nothing more than a quick wipe with a damp paper towel was needed to return it to a like-new condition. As you would expect, the chair is good for a multitude of different activities. Since it's easy to transport and light weight it seems perfect for the pool, beach, outdoor concert venues and camping just to name a few. A few things my 17month old uses it for other than a chair are a climbing gym and a Hot Wheels ramp. All in all I think the Omni-reloaded is a great chair that we will get a lot of use out of in the future. The fact that it folds up and can be easily stored in a closet is icing on the cake. My daughter and I give the Omni-reloaded two thumbs up!" Thanks Bro! You can pick up the Omni reloaded at the Sumolounge site.
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Confession, I bought this book because my sister-in-law is Peruvian, and the author is a Nobel Prize Winner from Peru. Other than that, meh, I wasn't sure what it would have in store for me. We all know my reluctance to read books by Nobel Laureates. Or perhaps you don't. In that case, I generally find books written by Nobel Prize winners to be pretentious and not that great. There are a few exceptions, but this wasn't one of them. In fact, this book has turned me off Peruvian novels for a long, long while.
The book begins in a lonely Andean outpost where one corporal and his deputy are entrusted to keep a mining town safe from the Shining Path. Then people start disappearing and no one wants to talk. Sounds like a great premise, right? Oh, SO disappointing. Llosa likes to tell his stories moving between characters and time periods sometimes in the middle of a paragraph and often without any indication of what has just happened. So basically it is one long drug trip that is confusing. When Llosa sticks with one story, it isn't horrible. Often his imagery is good, but he never sticks with something long enough to get invested. Eventually I was wanting every character to go missing so I could stop reading the book. Sadly, no, not everyone died. I did learn more about certain Andean superstitions that my sister-in-law assured me were accurate, like the guy who sucks fat out of people and they die (what the ?).
I thought perhaps the translation might have been the problem, but after some further research (by research I mean I asked my brother who'd read some Llosa in Spanish) I discovered that even in his native tongue Llosa likes to flit back and forth without warning. In the end I might recommend this book if a person has a deep interest in Peruvian folklore but that is it. Its description of the Shining Path and their activities might have been emotionally impacting, but not necessarily historically accurate.


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Kia Ora Koutou
Welcome back and today I have another card featuring the gorgeous Merry and Bright collection from Heartfelt Creations.
Glistening winter scenes filled with freshly fallen snow, pine boughs draped with shiny holiday ornaments, and prancing reindeer delivering sleighs filled with handpicked gifts for friends and loved ones are delightful imaginings that send our imaginations dancing with delight in the anticipation of the holiday season! Spread a little Christmas joy and happiness featuring these warmhearted inspirations with the new Merry and Bright Collection from Heartfelt Creations! Share cheerful Yuletide greetings and well wishes with a fun and cutesy paper collection overflowing with precious outdoor scenes of cozy snow laden cottages, beautiful birds nestled in delightfully decorated pines, and pleasing decorative holiday arrangements! Brimming with delicate snowflake accents, gorgeous floral clusters, charming polka dots and beautiful brocade patterns all encompassed in a non-traditional color palette of frosty blues, tantalizing teals, magnificent purples and pretty pinks, this paper collection is one that will surely have your holiday projects standing out from all the others received this holiday season! A sweet and desirable assembling of cling stamp sets paired with the coordinating dies culminate a perfect assortment of illustrations including beautiful evergreen groves, rustic snow covered foliage accents, diminutive Christmas baubles and an elegant vase ideal for assembling your own decorative centerpieces! The perfect accents for creating delightful holiday themed dimensional embellishments for all of your Yuletide projects.
Materials Used:
HCD2-7191 Intricate Swirls Frame Die
HCPC-3836 Merry Little Christmas stamp
HCD1-7194 Merry Little Christmas die
HCPC-3838 Merry and Bright Accents stamp
HCD1-7196 Merry and Bright Accents
HCDP1-293 Merry and Bright Paper Collection
RACP412 Ranger Archival Forget-Me-Knot ink
RACP962 Fern Green ink
RACP436 Leaf Green ink
RACP524 Vibrant Fuchsia ink
RACP649 Pink Peony ink
RACP632 Buttercup ink
RACP475 Library Green ink
TSMP900 Memento Tuxedo Black ink
85-glitter Crystal Ultrafine Glitter
PGM15015 Crystal Clear
24174 Vellum
RPE685 Ranger White Embossing Powder
241159 Dove Blender pen
Versamark ink, Stamp Positioner, White Nuvo Drops, Shadow Grey ink
Cut a piece of white cardstock 10" x 5", score at 5" on the long side and fold to create a 5" x 7" base card. Cut the frame from Intricate Swirls Frame die in white cardstock and adhere to the base card. Cut the 6" x 4" panel from the patterned paper and using a stamp positioner stamp the image from the HCPC-3836 Merry Little Christmas stamp in Tuxedo Black ink at the top of the paper. Adhere to the base card.
Stamp the glass image from HCPC-3838 Merry and Bright Accents stamp on vellum with Versamark ink, heat emboss with white embossing powder and die cut with the coordinating die. Cut another piece of vellum to fit the back of the glass and adhere to the glass image. Shape the glass slightly and adhere to the card as shown.
Stamp the pine images in Library Green ink from the HCPC-3838 Merry and Bright Accents stamp on white cardstock. Colour with Leaf Green and Fern Green inks and die cut with the coordinating die. Add Crystal Clear glitter to the leaves with Dries Clear glue on a damp sponge. Shape and adhere around the base of the glass and the glass.
Stamp the bauble image from the HCPC-3838 Merry and Bright Accents stamp in Vibrant Fuchsia, Forget-Me-Knot and Buttercup inks on white cardstock. Colour the pink baubles with Pink Peony ink, the blue baubles with Ultramarine Blue ink and the yellow baubles with Buttercup ink before die cutting with the coordinating die. Using a Dove Blender pen colour the accents on the pink baubles with Forget-Me-Knot ink. Shape lightly with the Deluxe Flower Shaping kit and add Ultrafine Glitter to the baubles with Dries Clear glue and a damp sponge. Add the baubles to the base of the glass over the pine leaves at the base of the glass and on the glass as shown.
Stamp the ball garland from the HCPC-3838 Merry and Bright Accents stamp set in Shadow Grey ink on white cardstock and die cut with the coordinating die. Add Simply White Nuvo Drops to the garland and sprinkle Crystal Ultrafine glitter over while still wet. When set, trim and adhere around the garlands as shown.
For more inspiration please visit the Heartfelt Creations blog here: https://www.heartfeltcreations.us/blog/740/how-to-create-christmas-cards-in-30-minutes-or-less
Happy Crafting
Ka Kite Anu


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Shiatsu massage
I practise traditional Shiatsu, a fusion of japanese massage and traditional chinese medicine.
The benefits
- The aim of shiatsu is to help the flow of Qi (energy) through the body.
- Loosen muscles.
- Relax the intestines and colon.
- Work the tension and spasms out of the muscles.
- Increase blood flow and circulation throughout the body.
- Restores the body's energy.
Thank you Masaaki Komori for the photo.


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I was recently asked to give my opinion/advice on the best method of an online presence for a small business and my response was a Facebook page and Google Business Listing. This was based on what I was told they would be working with as far as financial resources, technical knowledge, and time constraints. As it stands with pretty much everything in my life at this point, I began to ask myself how true my opinion is based on statistical facts…and so an article on my blog was born.
Upon my first search in the Google machine, all sorts of articles came up in the first page results about how a website is a must. But if you know me at all, then you know that I am hard-headed and not easily convinced – or impressed. With that said, I kept digging and composed a list of definite facts to strongly consider if you are the lucky person tasked with making this decision.
Here are some factors to consider:
Social Media Pros:
- Quick and free
- Low-commitment
- Engagement
Social Media Cons:
- Limited design
- Limited reporting tools
- Lack of ownership
Website Pros:
- Credibility
- Full control
- Better marketing options
Website Cons:
- Maintenance intensive
- Increased complexity
- More marketing effort
Take a minute to check out this article for a more in-depth look into these as well as more pros and cons to consider: http://smallbiztrends.com/2014/12/website-vs-social-media-profile-page.html
As for my two cents, we can only do what we can do – with the resources we have at our disposal. In a perfect world I would recommend that every business have a website and an account on every social media avenue available, and a department of well staffed & knowledgeable folks to maintain each of those. But here in the real world, most of us have limited resources – and only 24 hours in each day.
My proposed solution(s)? DIY tutorials for the small businesses, schools, non-profits, etc. that are willing to put in the work outlined to produce their own version of their web presence. The first course is ready for subscriptions at http://that-computer-girl.teachable.com/p/diy-school-web-site and will be ready this Spring 2017. I would love to hear your feedback, suggestions and requests as the design & development continues to be built. Although the initial course is for schools, you can easily adapt it to work for your business or non-profit organization. The main difference will initially be in the look & feel templates and themes provided with your subscription.
Everyone has their own two cents to add on this topic and I invite you to leave your comments/questions/concerns/rants below. If you are ready to get started, keep reading!
The first step is getting your domain name and hosting account setup, and since there are already a LOT of those out there so I won't be clogging up the interwebs with yet another. Instead, here are my top 3 picks for getting started from "ground zero":


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LOS ANGELES — I was on an airplane flying back from Tulsa when I happened upon the phenomenon of mile-high selfies. Wifi is available up high, so why not take a selfie? Flight attendants are filling the skies with hashtags like #crewlife and #airhostess.
Somewhere in that limited air space, I also happened upon a link announcing a new ABC TV comedy show titled, simply, Selfie, which follows the life of a young woman who becomes Instafamous and then has to figure out what her relationships really mean. This seems to be just the tipping point of TV featuring questions that revolve around selfies; perhaps the execs at ABC took a cue from the web series #Hashtag, where there's enough Instadrama to drain an iPhone battery in minutes.
While it's important to remove selfies from their social-networked context to look at their broader cultural relevance, sometimes it's funnier to just keep 'em on the 'net. Wisconsin House Representative and Republican Sean Duffy made a parody of the Chainsmokers' video for their song "#SELFIE" as a way to "connect" with millennial voters. "I think Republicans often don't like to engage in culture because they think it's left-leaning," says Duffy. "We can't do that. We have to lean into this, and talk to people where they're at."
In other political selfie news, the Netherlands recently decided that it's not illegal to take "stemfies" (vote selfies) in the ballot booth. If you do it in South Africa, however, you could end up in jail. South Africans are allowed to take selfies that indicate that they voted. "Voters may take photographs of themselves outside the voting station and of their inked thumbs to show participation," says Electoral Commission of South Africa spokesperson Kate Bapela.
Similar debates around selfie appropriateness are taking place on college campuses. The University of South Florida in Tampa almost banned selfies at graduation; instead they've opted for warning people who take selfies that they could have their degrees withheld. Meanwhile Kent State University in Ohio has created a "selfie zone" with a backdrop, so that selfie shooters can still take pictures without diverting too much attention from the ceremony. We're still working out when and where it's culturally acceptable to take a selfie, and when it's OK to post.
It's definitely acceptable when you're setting a Guinness World Record. Indiana-based blogger Mark E. Miller and his partner, Ethan Hethcote, went to South Beach in Miami and shot the most selfies taken in one hour: 355 of them, all with strangers. This is part of a bigger project called #missionsmile, which Miller told the Miami New Times is about "trying to get people to smile more." It's common knowledge that smiling helps lift one's mood by releasing dopamine and serotonin, but is it necessary to take a selfie in that moment?
If you're sick of the long-arm shot and would rather not hold the camera when taking selfies, but you also don't want to to shell out for a dronie, just hang with the Selfies Bot. Scott Kildall, an artist-in-residence at Autodesk/Instructables Pier 9 Workshop in San Francisco, has created a portable robot sculpture that takes selfies and then tweets them; the text that accompanies each twit pic comes from scraping tweets hashtagged with #selfie.
Art, politics, and pop culture aside, the most important selfie news of this week is about safety. Courtney Ann Sanford, 32, was driving in North Carolina, listening to Pharrell Williams's song "Happy" and feeling so great that she decided to take a selfie. Moments later, she crashed her car into a truck and died. Her gaze was up and away, looking at her reflection in the smartphone rather than straight ahead at the road in front of her.
Here are this week's selfie shooters, who look before they aim.
Heather Johnson
Occupation: Artist
Location: New York City
"I took this selfie because I was told that I am much cuter in person than my photos online. So, I made an effort to see if i could capture my 'real' self in a photograph. Which begs the question: is this more real? As an artist, the making of a selfie is different than taking a self-portrait. A selfie is supposed to convey a sense of casualness … the me at rest .. or the me at play … or the me standing against a wall trying to look like the 'real' me.
"Selfies represent a way of controlling your visage. At once, one becomes the exhibitionist to their own fantasy. In this selfie, I am the one making myself available to be seen. This selfie wants you to stare. There is no male gaze … only mine, doubled, for your pleasure."
Judith G. Levy
Occupation: Artist
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
"I picked this one for a number of reasons. It was taken this evening in my office at home, which is a very small room that I call my crazy room. Here I work on my computer, scheme up ideas, and mess up to my heart's content.
"I have a photo of our dog, Coney (L), and her little pal Tashi (R) taped to a shelf near my desk. Tashi lived next door, and the dogs spent every day for the past six years together, until Tashi died two weeks ago. Coney is experiencing profound grief, and I feel pretty helpless.
"Because life is a hug mix of things, I also wanted to wait to send a selfie today, because I just got a haircut and feel good. I have spent the past few weeks or so holed up in my little room, thinking, researching ideas, trying things out, editing new footage, and working on additions to an ongoing series. I really have been letting myself chase any ideas I have and rejecting things left and right. While my large studio is in downtown Kansas City, I sometimes really need to work in this little space late into the night. And right now, I really can't leave Coney alone."
Scott Vanidestine
Occupation: Artist
Location: Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
"While vacationing with the family over spring break, we walked through a Florida strip mall and came across an old-time photo studio. I was taken by the excitement of playing a character and becoming someone else. While standing outside the shop I caught my reflection in the window and started making connections to selfie culture. I was struck by the notion of the 'idealized self.' Many of the portraits on display portraying the characters of the American West (heroes, villains, whores, heroines) and the characters we associate with that place and time — these characters straddle a place between our romanticism of the past and our projections of imagined selves caught in a time capsule."
Shana Beth Mason
Occupation: Art critic
Location: Brooklyn
"This is an image I took inside the foyer of Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, a small commune in Tuscany. The gallery represents some of the world's most prestigious artists including Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, and Michelangelo Pistoletto (whose Vortex paintings are pictured here). I came to the gallery to review Pistoletto's latest solo exhibition. I was traveling in Italy for 13 days this past October to attend the Venice Biennale and ARTISSIMA in Torino.
"The 'why' is the place itself: San Gimignano isn't accessible by train (a rarity in Italy), and you can only travel within the commune, itself, on foot. Despite this, the medieval village is home to a powerful collection of contemporary art. Italy's most revered living artist, Pistoletto, was showing mirror works that he had been making over the course of 20 years.
"I chose this place for a selfie because: 1) my own appearance is double-reflected (once by the camera, once by the mirror), 2) every movement you make is captured by a mirror opposite, changing what's visible entirely, and 3) I had trudged uphill into the gallery with roughly 60 kg of luggage through the rain … at least I had to prove I'd made it there alive!"
Janet Tyson
Occupation: Artist and art historian
Location: West Michigan, near Grand Rapids
"I shot this almost as soon as I work up late one cold morning, while still off my feet due to recent surgery. I hate pictures of myself, so selfies are not something I do often (maybe 2 or 3 times a year). Although, the older and dumpier I become, the more I've begun thinking of self-portraits as an act of defiance. Anyway, I mentioned that it was cold, because it's winter, our house is not heated overnight, and I slept in my old University of North Texas hoodie, with hood up all night."
* * *
Email Hyperallergic your selfie at selfies [at] hyperallergic.com, along with a brief explanation of why you shot it and what it means to you.


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Joe Biden and American voters decisively defeat Donald Trump by focusing on character and a vision of post-Covid national renewal grounded on pragmatic policies for jobs, growth, and economic security for all people.
With the results now called in several key battleground states, the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris decisively won the 2020 US elections in a clear repudiation of the authoritarian populist era of Donald Trump. Earning the most votes of any candidates in US history (currently near 75 million and rising for a clear national popular vote majority) and a likely 306 vote Electoral College majority, Biden and Harris successfully flipped the old 'Blue Wall' states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin and look on track to turn the Sunbelt states of both Arizona and Georgia. Donald Trump is the first incumbent president to lose his re-election in more than a quarter-century and becomes only the 10th president in US history to fail to gain an additional term.
In an election dominated by Trump's erratic nature and gross incompetence in handling the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic, American voters across the spectrum responded to Joe Biden's call to 'restore the soul of the nation' and 'Build Back Better' with a focus on controlling the twin public health and economic crises facing the country.
Trump ran one of the most divisive and puzzling campaigns in recent cycles, purposefully choosing to antagonise large swaths of Americans and failing to reach out beyond his base to bring in new voters. Now a one-term loser refusing to concede to reality, he disgracefully threatens to overturn the election through the courts with baseless cries about widespread fraud and a "stolen election". The conspiracies and vitriol of Trump and his right-wing media enablers will not go quietly into the night. But thankfully, American democracy weathered the four-year assault on its institutions and norms and now Biden has a clear mandate to repair the damage wrought by Trump and move forward to a stronger position in the future.
While analysts are still dissecting the election results with less than ideal data at this stage, a few things can be said about what happened and why it happened.
Character still matters in American politics. At the start of the Democratic primaries, Biden's rivals dismissed him as a washed-up establishment figure who did not understand the country and its supposed desire for far-reaching structural transformation. Donald Trump nicknamed him "Sleepy Joe" and arrogantly dismissed him as an unworthy rival. Biden came in third in the Iowa caucuses with a meagre 15 percent of the vote and then crashed in New Hampshire and Nevada. Biden's fortunes were resurrected in South Carolina where he won a strong victory with overwhelming support from more moderate and conservative African American voters. From there, Biden rolled to a clear frontrunner position and united his party as the country began to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and Trump's flailed response.
Throughout it all, Biden insisted that character was on the ballot in 2020: the good, decent, empathetic character of the American people who remain capable of working together to make the country stronger versus Trump's immoral, extremist character and his corrupt governance.
The sophisticated pundits called this approach hokey, but it worked. Americans still believe in personal character and rewarded the candidate who best embodied decency, compassion, and a genuine patriotism focused on the common good of all Americans.
Pragmatic progressive policies and values won the day over impractical leftist ones. Biden correctly understood that American voters wanted a clear break from Trump without desiring a full-scale leftist revolution. Biden's approach was smart and more closely aligned with the desires of voters than the ideas of his main primary rivals or Trump.
Biden sought to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and expand health care with a public option without going to a full single-payer model preferred by the left, or worse, attacking the ACA as Trump and Republicans sought to do. Biden proposed ideas to fight climate change with clean energy investments and international action without radical disruptions to the economy set out in the left's Green New Deal or acquiescing to the climate denialism of the president and his party. Biden committed to racial equality in criminal justice, housing, and employment without agreeing to the unpopular 'defund the police' position of left-wing activists or denying that America had any issues with racism as Trump and Republicans argued.
Above all, Biden won by stressing the basics of any smart centre-left politics: jobs, economic security, investments in health care and education, and equal treatment for all people.
A big tent strategy is critical for success but requires constant tending. Preliminary examinations of the data show the basic ingredients of the Biden coalition. To successfully rebuild the Blue Wall and expand into emerging battlegrounds like Arizona and Georgia, Biden was able to considerably cut Democratic margins with Trump's non-college educated white base; solidify Democratic gains among college-educated whites and suburban voters, and ensure a high turnout and strong support rates from black voters (along with bringing out some newer voters in these communities).
Although Biden did not fully rebuild the Obama coalition demographically or geographically, he successfully pulled together combinations of voters from each of these groups state-by-state. But as the overall closeness of the election in the Electoral College shows – plus the relatively poor showing of House and Senate Democrats in the elections and the clear erosion of Hispanic margins in states like Florida and Texas – this is a tenuous coalition.
In the absence of Trump as a unifying foil, and with critical midterms just two-years away and the House majority on the line, Biden and the Democrats will need to be rigorous in promoting ideas and policies that are broadly popular and focus on basic economic needs while avoiding cultural battles and other distractions that easily fracture voting coalitions.
Inclusive nationalism is the way forward for centre-left parties. The overall lesson from the 2020 US elections is instructive for parties in other countries: a vision of inclusive nationalism – focused on the well-being of all people and national economic development coupled with new forms of international cooperation on challenges like pandemics, climate, and inequality – can successfully beat back authoritarian populism and chart a viable path forward for building more stable political coalitions in a world of increasingly divisive and disunited politics.
Joe Biden and the American people have taken a critical first step in saving American democracy by defeating Donald Trump. Now they must focus wisely on the ideas and policies best able to rebuild America's economy and middle class while charting a more cohesive path for global stability in concert with our close democratic allies in Europe and around the world.
Related articles:
The dangers for democracy from America's populist drift, by Vivien A. Schmidt.
Trump is gone and Trumpism is here to stay, by Rick Smith.
Time for Democrats to join forces across the Atlantic, by Knut Dethlefsen.
Trumpism is here to stay, by Dimitris Tsarouhas.
The cultural politics defining the 2020 election, by Michael Kennedy.
Young voters and the 2020 election, by Layla Zaidane. Elections in the United States: their meaning and impact on Latin America, by José Moreno Santos.


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Did you know that you can recycle your used cooking oil and turn it into diesel fuel?
I did but up until now, I'd never knew where and how to recycle used cooking oil. For years I collected it for months in the freezer and eventually built up the gall to toss it (devastating). 🙁
But all that has changed as I've partnered with The Alternative Fuel Foundation to launch 540WMain's Used Cooking Oil Collection Program.
For the first time ever Restaurants, homeowners, and everyone else in between can deliver used cooking oil to 540WMain and it will be transferred to The Alternative Fuel Foundation for bioconversion and recycling. You can also schedule a pickup courtesy
(moi) myself for a small nominal fee. It is really as simple as that. Biofuel produces near zero emissions so every gallon burned offsets carbon that would have been generated from the use of traditional fossil fuels. How cool is that?
I am so happy to continue in my odyssey of making my life and career as sustainably focused as possible and giving back to the community through awareness and education.
I am so happy to continue in my odyssey of making my life and career as sustainably focused as possible
If each of us does just alittle it sure adds up to quite a lot. Click —-> The Alternative Fuel Foundation to learn more about the Foundation and here about biodiesel conversion.
Submit the webform below to schedule a drop off or pickup.
About The Alternative Fuel Foundation
The Alternative Fuel Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization that provides free used cooking oil collection and recycling services throughout the northeast. All of the vegetable oil collected by the foundation is converted into clean burning biofuel, and all of the proceeds are used to fund green education programs.


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Check out these great new products from iKegger!
Nitro coffee is sweeping the world at the moment with even Starbucks getting in on the action...
Want to know why? Basically cold brewed coffee has the same or even more caffine than espresso but a much smoother, less acidic flavour. If you then take that and infuse it with nitrogen gas and pour it through a special tap that froths it up you end up with a coffee that is smooth, easy drinking and has a creamy look and mouthfeel without using any milk or milk alternative products!
PLUS: It makes amazing coffee based cocktails and with this package you can make them up in bulk, no measuring or shaking for each individual drink, just pour from the tap when you want a refill of your glass!
WARNING: Having espresso martini on tap at home could result in an incredibly clean house and serious heart palpitations...
For orders placed before 2pm we try to send them same day, otherwise they will be collected by courier the following work day. Shipping is free anywhere in Australia and usually takes 1-3 business days for east coast and 3-6 week days for the rest of Australia. We ship worldwide but for European orders see www.ikegger.eu for local delivery from our Berlin shop.
You have a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all our products for one year. If you don't love it or have any issue at all with it we will either fix it / replace parts etc free of charge including postage to you or we will refund your purchase and the cost of returning the product to us. That's how confident we are that you will love it. No one has ever returned an order to us for a refund.
In order to keep the cost of our products as low as possible we do not have stores no, we are an online based business with warehouses in Sydney, Auckland and Berlin.
You are however welcome to visit us if you would like (with pre-arrangement as we aren't always here) to see the items and talk to us before purchase. You can also select pick-up as the shipping option if you would like to click and collect your order.
Timo - 1st Jan 2018
"Surprised people with this on Boxing day - went down a treat! Nothing quite Nitro Cocktails to kick off a day.
Arrived next day after ordering (wow). Easy to put together and test, makes cocktails awesome and shows it off big time!
Insulated growler keeps it cold all day (not that they last all day)."
Matthew - 20th Feb 2018
"Using the growler for Nitro Coffee and it does an amazing job of adding loads of crema to the final result."
Kym - 19th Dec 2017
"Currently up to order number 17 with these guys and the service is still fantastic. Pleasure to do business with. I am loving the ease of use and lack of hoses and gas bottles with my current outfit."
We are a small business run by a group of passionate friends. Check our reviews (more than 500 x 5 star!) and you will see that we genuinely care about our customers.
All our payments are processed by either Paypal, Stripe or AfterPay. We have no access to any of your payment details and neither does anyone else.
Always look for https:// in the url and the padlock symbol when shopping online to ensure your transactions are secure.
If you find our product faulty, have a problem with our service or just change your mind within 30 days we will refund your entire order on receiving the products back. This has never happened, you will love them!
We genuinely love what we do, that's why we do it!
If you need to contact Dave or Oner with questions, feedback, testimonial or a suggestion, please send an email to email@example.com. All emails are typically responded to within 24 hours, except weekends and holidays.
You can also contact us via chat on the bottom right corner of the website nearly any time.
For all other correspondence:


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Illinois Makes Driving Relief Available Sooner for First-Time DUI Offenders
There is a good possibility that you know at least one person who has been negative affected by the consequences of driving under the influence, or DUI. Of course, those who suffer only the criminal and administrative penalties are the lucky ones, as DUI contributes to thousands of accidents, injuries, and deaths each year around Illinois and throughout the country. Illinois lawmakers, though, have recognized the importance of allowing first-time offenders to learn from their mistakes rather than focusing on harsh punishments. With this in mind, recent changes to Illinois law provide that first-time DUI offenders may be eligible for certain driving relief programs sooner than ever before.
Statutory Summary Suspensions
The administrative penalties associated with DUI are handled by the Office of the Secretary of State, and directly impact a suspected offender's driving privileges. If you are pulled over and asked by law enforcement to submit to chemical testing for blood-alcohol content (BAC), refusal or failure of such a test will result in the suspension of your driving privileges. For a first offense, failing a BAC test will result in a six-month suspension, while refusing the test results in a one-year suspension. Second or subsequent failures or refusals result in significantly longer suspensions. These penalties apply regardless of whether you are actually convicted of DUI or not, and a conviction will, as you might expect, impose additional consequences.
No More 30-Day Wait
Prior to the change in the law, the first 30 days of a statutory summary suspension were considered "hard time," meaning that there were no programs available that would allow you the ability to drive legally under any circumstances. Beginning in 2016, however, the 30-day hard time provision has been eliminated for first-time offenders. Now, if your driving privileges have been suspended, you can apply for a program immediately that could allow you to get back on the road with certain restrictions.
MDDP and BAIID
The ability to apply is not the same as automatic qualification, but most first-time offenders are approved for participation in the driving relief program. If approved, you will be issued a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP), allowing you to drive vehicles that have a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) installed. A BAIID requires the driver to provide a breath sample at startup and periodically throughout the drive to ensure that he or she is not driving under the influence. You are responsible for having a BAIID installed on your vehicle and unapproved operation of any other vehicle will result in increased penalties and possible disqualification from the relief program.
Reliable DUI-Related Legal Advice
If you have been charged with DUI and are currently facing a statutory summary suspension of your driving privileges, it is important to speak with an experienced Joliet criminal defense lawyer right away. Our knowledgeable team will help you understand your options for driving relief and will remain at your side throughout every step of the process. Call 815-740-4025 to schedule a free initial consultation today.


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Best All-Inclusive Resorts in Aruba
Oyster's team of undercover reviewers slept in the beds, lounged by the pools, ate in the restaurants, and even sampled the nightlife at some of Aruba's most popular hotels, all with an eye toward selecting the most distinguished properties. For travelers that want to simplify their vacation by staying at the property most (or all) of the time and eating at the on-site restaurants, all-inclusive resorts are a great option. Here's a list of our favorite all-inclusive resorts in Aruba.
Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive
Oranjestad, Aruba
The remote, couples-oriented Tamarijn is part of the massive Divi complex. It shares features with the Divi Aruba resort -- a nine-hole golf course, a huge casino, several pools, nine restaurants, five bars, a top-notch fitness center, and an amazing beach. The only difference -- the Tamarijn has more of a family focus, and all rooms face the ocean.
Divi Aruba All Inclusive
Oranjestad, Aruba
The remote, all-inclusive Divi Aruba, part of the massive Divi complex, shares the following features with the Tamarijn: a 9-hole golf course, a huge casino, several pools, 9 restaurants, 5 bars, a top-notch fitness center, and an amazing beach. The only difference -- the Divi's a bit more adult-oriented and closer to the casino.
Hotel Riu Palace Aruba
Palm - Eagle Beach, Aruba
A giant, Arabian-themed castle on the beach, the Riu Palace feels (and smells) less than authentic. Couples-heavy, the resort has two huge pools, a rowdy casino, a 24-hour sports bar, huge buffets, and a bustling beach. But service is scarcely competent, and rooms typically stink of cigarettes (nonsmoking rooms are not an option).


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Tool settings
This topic is intended for administrators and developers with administration access rights in Optimizely.
In admin view, under Config > Tool Settings you can perform miscellaneous functions for the integration and configuration of Optimizely CMS.
Plug-in Manager
Many functions in Optimizely CMS are created as plug-ins, which you can manage from the Plug-in Manager. You can activate and deactivate selected parts. If your organization invested in additional plug-ins, you can find them in the Plug-in Manager also. After choosing a plug-in, choose which parts of it are accessible in the Overview tab.
Rebuild name for web addresses
Rebuild Name for Web Addresses changes addresses in the address field. When a visitor views a page on a website based on Optimizely CMS, a path to the page appears in the address field. The address reflects the page's place in the website structure.
The names in the address field are created automatically from the name an editor specified for the page. If an editor changes the page name, the name in the address field does not change. You can manually change name in the address field by changing the Name in URL field on the Settings tab in edit view.
Some pages have no value in the field for names in web addresses, such as pages imported from other Optimizely solutions. The Rebuild Name for Web Addresses function lets you create all web addresses for the website at the same time. You can also overwrite all existing addresses with new ones.
The Rebuild Name for Web Addresses function can affect links to the website. All internal links are updated automatically. However, if other websites link to a certain page, that link may be broken. The function can also affect visitors' browser favorites (bookmarks).
Creating a rebuilding name for web address
- On the Config tab, select Rebuild Name for Web Addresses.
- Select Rebuild all page names in web addresses (overwriting existing links).
- Click Rebuild Links.
Mirroring duplicates content between websites. Optimizely CMS can mirror selected parts or an entire website, and can run automatically or manually. This is useful if you wish to create sections in a test environment then publish all information at once to the public section.
Mirroring jobs are executed at time intervals that you set, as described in Scheduled jobs.
To enable mirroring, a mirroring application must be installed and running. The application handles data transfer between websites and is run separately to the Optimizely CMS source and target sites. You can configure source and target websites to use separate mirroring applications. You can also install and configure a single mirroring application. See Optimizely World to configure and work with mirroring.
Creating a channel
To set up mirroring between two websites, create channels in the admin view. Channels define the mirroring jobs from one Optimizely CMS to another, or even to an external recipient.
Go to the source site in admin view > Config tab > Tool Settings > Mirroring to create a channel for mirroring as follows:
Click Create and enter the following information:
Setting Description Name Type an unique name for the mirroring channel. Parameters Optional field that can be used by providers. In this version, there is one parameter which can be handled by the provider:
The TransferAction has two options None and ForceCurrentVersion. By default, the value is None, which creates a new version for each published page on the target site. The ForceCurrentVersion option does not create a new version for each published page. Instead, it updates the page on the target site.
Use default URI Select to use the URI defined in the configuration file (web.config) for the mirroring application. When you select this option, the URI field is disabled. URI Enter the URI to the destination mirroring application's target service, for example:
The service for the default provider is:
Start page Select the local root page on the source site to be mirrored. Root page on destination Select the page number on the target site where the pages are mirrored to. Include start page Sets whether the start page is mirrored or if only its children are mirrored. Import as anonymous user Sets whether an anonymous user does the export and import of pages and files when the mirroring job is run. Import content as user Sets whether an identified user does the export and import of pages and files when the mirroring job is run. Enable reporting Select to enable reporting for the mirroring job through email. When you select this option, the E-mail address field becomes editable. E-mail address Enter the email address where the mirroring job report is sent. Continue on Error Select to enable a mirroring job to continue even there is problem on the importing side. If this option is not selected, a mirroring job terminates as soon as an error occurs. Enabled Select to enable the channel as active. If this option is not selected, nothing is mirrored for the channel. Enable validation Select to enable validation before items are mirrored. The mirroring job validates that all page types for pages being mirrored are present in the target site and that the page type has the same number and type of page properties as the source site. By default the mirroring job checks all necessary page types and page definitions, which is included in the start page and its descendants.
- Click Save.
Continue with any of the following options:
Setting Description Reset Channel Select to mirror everything again from the root page of the mirroring channel to the source site next time it is run. To reset the channel, select the name of the mirroring channel and click Continue with Reset. Check System To validate the created channel, click Check System. The result appears under the Messages tab. It checks both the source and target site to see if all necessary parameters are set up correctly; such as URI, Root page at destination, Mirroring Server binding, and Access to DataBase. See the section about synchronizing mirroring in the Developer Guide under Deployment > Mirroring > Installing and Configuring mirroring. Messages The result of a check system appears in the Messages tab. Click the arrow to view the result and other information regarding previous mirroring jobs that were run. Monitoring The status of a mirroring job appears in the Monitoring tab. Target Site Configuration To use a site as a mirroring target, some configuration is required. Mirror Pages to a Target Site Create a target page in the editorial interface on the target site and create a page that acts as the root page for the mirrored pages. You can also use an existing page as the mirroring root page. To publish pages, the mirroring application needs to be installed and configuration needs to be implemented. Mirroring in Other Formats Partners and customers can create mirroring in formats other than Optimizely CMS Import/Export format and plug them in using the provider model.
Configuring A/B testing
You can configure the default settings used when running A/B tests in the admin view under Config > Tool Settings > AB Testing Configuration.
|Test Duration
|Sets the default test duration in days. This can be changed in edit view when setting up an A/B test.
|Participation Percentage
Sets the default number of A/B test participants in percentage. This can be changed in edit view when setting up an A/B test.
If the participation percentage is set to 20, 20 % of the site visitors participate in the A/B test. Half of the test participants are directed to the original version, and half to the variation version; the A/B test then measures which version has the most conversions. Site visitors not participating in the test are directed to the original version.
A higher number means that more visitors participate in the test and data is gathered more quickly, but it also means that a possibly less-effective page, from a conversion point of view, is exposed to more visitors.
|Automatically publish the winner of the test if the results are significant?
Set this to True and an A/B winner is automatically published when the A/B test completes
and the results are statistically significant according to the set confidence level.
The winner is the version that has the higher conversion rate. If the conversion rates are equal, the editor must pick a winner manually.
This setting affects all A/B tests on the site.
The default setting is False.
|Confidence Level
Sets the default confidence level of statistical significance you want from the A/B test results. This can be changed in edit view when setting up an A/B test.
The confidence level determines how likely it is that a winning page is in fact better. That is, that the difference between the winning page and the challenger are not due to coincidence. For example, a 95% confidence level means that 95 identical test cases out of 100 would end with the same result. In other words, the higher the number, the more reliable test result.
|Enable A/B testing
This setting lets you turn on and off the A/B testing feature for the entire site. A/B testing is enabled by default.
If you deselect this check box, the A/B Test Changes option is no longer displayed on the Publish menu. Active tests (and scheduled tests at the scheduled time) will be set as running but no processing of these tests will be done. It is still possible to stop a test or pick a winner. The Enabled/Disabled configuration value is preserved and respected after updates and restarts of the web application.
When the feature has been disabled and is re-enabled, all active tests continue running.
Search configuration
You can configure different search providers depending on the type of content on your website. A search provider searches across the website for pages, blocks, files, categories, forums or page types, or products on an e-commerce website. Search results are available when searching in the Optimizely top menu in edit view.
Enabling search providers
You can decide which search providers you want to enable, and the order in which they appear in the search hit list. To access these settings, go to the admin view and select Config > Tool Settings > Search Configuration.
- Blocks. Search in blocks.
- Files. Search in files.
- Pages. Search in pages.
- Jump to. Jump directly from the search hit list to menu alternatives matching your search criteria.
- Products. Search in products if you have Optimizely Commerce installed.
- Find files, blocks and pages if you have Optimizely Search & Navigation installed.
You can drag and drop the search provider options to change the order between them. This controls the order in which the results are displayed in the hit list. Clearing a check box disables this search provider option.


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Athens Airport (ATH) transfer to/from Farsala
We provide the best quality transfer to/from Farsala at its best and transparent charges in the market, without the discomfort of you waiting much time at the airport, or anywhere else. Discount on return bookings.
Farsala, known in antiquity as Farsalos, is a semi-mountainous town of the Regional Unit of Larissa and is located at the southern end of the prefecture, at the edge of the Thessalian plain and at the northern terminals of Mount Nartaki, 45 km south of Larissa.
It is the administrative, financial and agricultural center of the homonymous province. Residents are engaged in agriculture, mainly cotton cultivation, livestock farming. Many locals also work in agricultural processing plants, such as textiles.
A very famous product throughout Greece and abroad is the local halvas Farsalon (a soapy traditional sweet) that we often find at various festivals. Their legumes are also very famous, and in particular, the famous lentils of Farsala, whose cultivation reached this semi-mountainous area.
The modern city is rather odd because of the catastrophes during World War II and the earthquakes that followed in the 1950s. Its layout is a mixture of the old city of Turkish occupation and the "experiments" of various municipal agents who have failed to succeed.


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This article is sponsored by GoDaddy — all opinions mentioned in this article remain mine.
Early days of my online presence
I'm not sure many people younger than me can say this, but to this day, I still remember the first time we got Internet at my parent's home — it was in the middle of the summer of 2000 and I was just about to start high school in the upcoming months.
Being a very curious kid, I quickly grew an obsession with everything Internet. I understood how important it was to be on the internet.
I tried things and jumped on trends and new networks as soon as they were out. From ICQ to mIRC and MSN Messenger — during the Web 1.0 era — I loved being online and communicating with people from all around the globe.
Years later, when MySpace came out, it suddenly clicked for me: having an online presence was now easier than ever and seemed also very important. I spent hours and hours doing basic HTML to make my profile look somewhat pleasant to the eye.
After the MySpace era faded out, I still needed something to get an online presence. That's when I jumped on the Tumblr train and got my first blog ever in 2007 — back when I was studying architecture in college. Little did I know back then that I'd be blogging for a living 11 years later. That's when I officially started to get a sustained online presence — by putting my student work out there on the world wide web and slowly building my presence online.
This all brings us to today where I can earn a living from clients that found me online — and that is mainly due to the fact I've been building my online presence for years now.
Importance of an online presence
Back in the good old phone book days, everyone — individuals as well as businesses — needed to have their name in it so people could reach them — it also helped businesses get a presence. Nowadays, this presence has turned into having a website, being active on social media and building communities.
Why is it important to have an online presence?
There are many reasons to have an online presence but the main one for me is to showcase yourself to the world by being referenced online. Whether you're a business owner or an individual, it will definitely come handy at some point. Imagine you're looking for a new job and you want to stand out from the email or paper resume crowd — you could build a hub-type of website, showcasing your best work from the past few years and feature your social media links so your potential employer have a better idea of who you are. In many fields now, it's even a basic requirement to have a website.
As a business owner, it's definitely crucial for your business to be successful to have at least a landing page website — where your customers can find basic information. It will drive a new source of potential customers to your services or products.
How to develop a solid internet presence?
The very first thing I did to build my online presence was to buy an URL. This part might be confusing to many. Back 11 years ago, when I bought my first URL, I went to GoDaddy.com to see if it was available and then proceeded to buy http://dezjeff.com — which I still use to this day.
From this day, every time I had to buy an URL, I went back to GoDaddy.com, so when I decided to launch my blog — JeffOnTheRoad.com — I immediately went to GoDaddy and bought the URL.
After you went ahead and bought your URL, it's now time to find a good host — I knew I needed a solid host for my CMS and my many photos — after browsing through the different options, it immediately brought me back to GoDaddy because they had the best value for my money for the options I was looking for — such as rapidity, storage space and more.
When you have your URL and your host, it's now time to develop and maintain your online presence through good SEO, updating regularly and building an online community around your website.
One stop shop
If you're new to all of this, you might have been really confused when I mentioned host, SEO, etc.
That's why many platforms — like GoDaddy — offer a one stop shop kind of deal to build your online presence in the most seamless and easy way.
In under an hour with GoDaddy Website Builder, you'll be ready to go with your own URL, a nice looking website and you won't have to worry about SEO or hosting your website.
Have a look at what you can do on Laurent Duvernay-Tarif's Tourneur des bois website — he used GoDaddy Website Builder to build the entirety of his website to sell his hand-turned wooden bowls online.
Additional ressources
Choosing the right domain name
To verify the overall performance of your website on the world wide web
Where I found the theme for my own blog
The plugin I use to send my photos from Lightroom directly to my blog
This article is sponsored by GoDaddy — all opinions mentioned in this article remain mine.


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Talent Lounge Slurp-ing up POS
By Digital News Asia February 24, 2015
- Slurp Central helps Talent Lounge manage customer orders
- Helps enhance customer experience
TALENT Lounge restaurant located in Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia has selected Silent Mode's cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system.
Slurp Central which is a core POS software installed on an iPad helps Talent Lounge manage customer orders, and, track the check-in and check-out times of wait staff. The restaurant also uses a basic inventory system that comes with Slurp.
Also known as a lifestyle collaborative space for talent development, showcase and launchpad, Talent Lounge replaced its "old-school" cash register with Slurp in September 2014 – making it one of the early adopters of Slurp.
According to Azhani Mastura Yeop Rashid, managing director of Talent Lounge, "The most important thing is that Slurp helps us enhance the customer experience. Our customers can also take advantage of a simple way of ordering food using the Slurp app on their smartphone."
Relevant Stories:
F&B specialist Cuscapi develops customised POS security solution with Symantec
Gamification a promising and untapped market: MDeC
Mitigating security threats on POS systems
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Like us on Facebook.


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In a radical change of pace, I'm taking two weeks off; my vacation started on Monday. It doesn't sound like a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, because it's not, but this is the first time I've taken more than ten consecutive days since college (not counting maternity leaves).
We're not planning to travel, and Tim is still working, so I'm using the extra time to draw, write, hang out with the kids, and just generally do whatever I want. I know the time off is good for me, but it feels almost decadent. It's also really hard to be away from work — to the point where I've had to create a new user account on my computer to avoid getting distracted by email and Slack — which I suppose is a good sign.
In typical me fashion, I'm distracting myself by making a to-do list, which is a very wrong or very right way to spend my time off, depending on how you look at it.
Day trip to Fredericton Go see Guardians of the Galaxy Date night Finish MaddAddam Get my third book to 60k words
- Finish
21 more short fic draft Write five blog posts Finish Hannibal season 2 Draw things! Lots of things! Walks
This week, I'm having way too much fun designing X-Files fan art posters, and working on my fics, and just generally being creative. Vacation doesn't look much different from my regular work day, but the type of work I'm doing is different. It's a welcome, self-enforced artistic retreat.


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Sympathy Puberty and Me
You know how some men experience some of the same symptoms as their pregnant wives? I've heard tales of morning sickness, bloating, even labor pains.
They call this "sympathy pregnancy."
Well, I'm pretty sure I've discovered a similar phenomenon. But it involves me and my adolescent son.
Yes, friends, I'm suffering from sympathy puberty.
Exhibit A: Acne
Why is it that my skin was near flawless when I was a teenager, but once I hit 35, I turned into an oil-plagued pizza face? Remember the zit-turned-seeping-wound that I sported at my 20-year reunion this summer? And just this week, coincidentally right when I had to shoot a video that will be reviewed by certain national TV journalists, out popped some sort of boil-like blemish, smack-dab in the middle of my forehead. Of course I couldn't leave it alone, so by the time I made the video, the blemish had grown twice its original size and was raw and scabbing. Today I went to work with a Band-Aid on my forehead. The gig is in the bag, I'm sure.
Exhibit B: Irrationality
If you've spent much time around tweens or teens, you know that they will argue things that aren't rational or make any sort of sense whatsoever. Lately I find myself jumping to exaggerations and unfounded conclusions. "I forgot to make Boy #3 brush his teeth before school this morning. Great. Now instead of three cavities he's going to have 10 cavities, and they're probably going to have to just pull out all his baby teeth, and then his adult teeth underneath are going to be so rotten that they'll have to just go ahead and pull those too and he'll have to wear dentures. He'll get made fun of at sleepovers when he takes out his teeth to soak them overnight, he'll become extremely self-conscious, and he'll live with us until he's 45."
Exhibit C: Voracious appetite
Like a growing teenage boy, I've been devouring everything in my path lately. Only a tiny fraction of it being actually healthy. Today for lunch I had about 17 Hershey's Miniatures, 2 cups of coffee and a can of Coke. Last weekend I polished off 3/4 of a gallon-sized Ziploc bag full of a dill-flavored snack mix my mom had sent home with me (for the kids, of course).Tomorrow we're going to my in-laws' house to watch the Iowa/Iowa State football game, one of the most exciting football games all season, and all I can think about is the cupcakes with black-and-gold frosting we bought to take with us.
If my voice suddenly drops an octave and I start shaving my legs AND my upper lip in the shower, I'm going to be really worried.


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Image via Unsplash.
When the current song has ended you'll see it here
This is so cosmic it blasts stars out of speakers when played. http://cosmonautgrechko.com/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By- ...read more on Last.fm →
Sounds like: Tourist, Moon Boots, BeatLoaf
Tags: Electronic, experimental, dance
Sounds like: Purity Ring, BeatLoaf, Show Your Shoe
Tags: synth-pop, dance, indietronica
Sounds like: Blue Satellite, BeatLoaf, Show Your Shoe, Starsmith, Social Pipe
Tags: Electronic, synth-pop, dance


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We were thrilled last week when Curbed covered our passion project, an affordable housing complex in Telluride, Colorado. Virginia Placer includes a combination of communal living, tiny homes and apartment units; and was designed for the Telluride residents who are the backbone and soul of the town.
Comprised of 18 apartment units, a 46-bed Boarding House and 3 Tiny Homes, the project accommodates a mix of incomes, individuals and families. According to Charles, it's truly a labor of love. "When a community is stable (i.e. when people can afford to live there, even if it's in subsidized)," explains Charles, "inhabitants on both ends of the financial spectrum benefit and thrive." A balance was struck between affordability and sustainability with passive solar and ventilation, maintenance-free materials, and design in this new neighborhood a short walk from downtown Telluride.
Read the entire article, here.


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The National ALS Registry is more than counting casesPosted on by
CDC/ATSDR recently released a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Mehta, et al., 2018) presenting National ALS Registry findings on ALS prevalence.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive and fatal disease, attacking neurons that control voluntary movement. These neurons die over time. The result is the gradual loss of muscle movement, speech, swallowing, and eventually breathing. Unfortunately, people with ALS usually have a shortened lifespan and may die within a few years of diagnosis.
ALS is most common in whites, males, and people over the age of 60. The estimated prevalence—cases of people living with or diagnosed with ALS in the U.S. was 5.2 per 100,000 people, with a total of 16,853 cases identified. These data were gathered from 2010–2015.
(Similar to many public health reports, the Registry may not reflect conditions in the current year because the process of collecting, analyzing, and certifying data takes time.)
National ALS Registry data are used to better understand patterns of ALS across the country, as they look at how patients might be distributed in the U.S., researchers look for similarities and may ask key questions, such as:
- Where did these patients live?
- What kinds of jobs did they have?
- Were they exposed to any specific pollution in the environment?
- Did their relatives have a history of ALS or other diseases?
The National Registry helps to show patterns of ALS across the country—for example, patients in New Jersey might be similar to those in Iowa. Researchers can then try to identify any similarities among these patients.
Being able to monitor the epidemiology—how the disease is mapped and what characteristics patients may share—is critical to identifying possible causes and improving the treatment and prevention of ALS.
The National Registry doesn't just monitor data; it actively enables research across the country and helps connect patients to clinical trials.
The National ALS Biorepository, an expanded part of the National Registry, uses physical specimens for research: blood, urine, hair, saliva, etc.. These samples can be matched with risk factor surveys from the Registry database, opening up new ways for researchers to discover ALS causes and patterns.
The quest for a better understanding of the causes of this terrible disease motivates both patients and researchers to contribute time and energy to research. One patient recently told the National ALS Registry staff, "I joined the Registry and contributed my information not just for me, but because I really hope that I could help keep someone else from suffering in the future."
The National ALS Registry and Biorepository data are helping to move that needle of hope forward.
Mehta, P., Kaye, W., Raymond, J., Punjami, R., Larson, T., Cohen, J., . . . Horton, K. (2018). Prevalence of Amyotrohphic Lateral Sclerosis–United States, 2015. November, MMWR.
Tweet this: "CDC/ATSDR recently released a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report presenting National ALS Registry findings on ALS prevalence. Read more at https://bit.ly/2Ee1ALl #CDCEHblog via @CDCEnvironment"


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(visited by Rainer Mautz)
25-Sep-2005 -- I started this confluence visit as a bike trip at 6:15 a.m. in my home in London-Hammersmith. This Sunday morning the roads were not busy and cycling was pleasant. While the beeline distance was 77 km, it took me 102 km by road. I passed through Weybridge, Woking, Aldershot, Farnham and Petersfield.
When I had approached the confluence point to just 1 km near the village Langrish I suddenly got very hungry (I hadn't eaten since I left home). Just in that moment there were Blackberry hedges next to the road and I filled my stomach with these sweet fruits until I had totally blue fingers.
The confluence point was easy to find. It is located directly in the village Ramsdean on a cattle farm. After I got permission to access the private land, I just had to walk 50 m on a track until I could 'zero' the coordinates. The point is located directly at the corner of an empty stable. The cows were grazing in the meadow nearby.
Since I didn't look in the documentation from previous visits, I didn't read the discouragement advice. Since the public road is only 50m from the CP, it actually would not have been necessary to enter the farm for a complete visit!
The way back I took small country roads. This was much longer and more exhausting but therefore more pleasant. Exhausted and very hungry but satisfied I reached my home at 6:50 pm with 217 km on my odometer.
CP visit details:
Coordinator's Note: Please note that as previously stated, this is a working farm and further visits are discouraged. As is noted you can "complete" this CP by staying on the road.


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We've known for awhile that Davis Wade Stadium was about to get a facelift and expansion, but now the details are official.
MSU and Athletics Director Scott Stricklin held a press conference at 11 a.m. this morning at the Club Level of DWS to announce details for the new north endzone expansion and various additional upgrades to be made to the existing 55,000 seat stadium. Here's a few pertinent details regarding the expansion, to be completed by State's August 31, 2014 season opening home game with Southern Miss:
- Total project cost: $75,000,000
- Areas effected / improved: North Endzone, West Concourse
- Future capacity: 61,337
- New seating: 8,815
- Net new seating (figuring in subtraction of existing capacity of seating in north endzone bleachers): 6,255
- Grandstand seating increase: 7,076
- Premium seating increase: 1,739
- Scoreboard club: 1,155
- Loge seating: 236
- Suites: (22 new suites) 288
- Field-level suites: 60
(all above info via Marcello's tweet)
Here's the full replay of the press conference, via HailStateTV:
UPDATE (8/15/2012, 5:00 pm) | Take the (digital) tour with Mike Richey and Scott Stricklin, as they introduce us to the new premium seating options, including The Gridiron Club: a field level - club level that fans from all over the stadium can be members of. Really exciting stuff.
Davis Wade Stadium Expansion & Renovation (via mstateathletics)
Catch all the pictures and renderings of the new endzone expansion after the jump....
- Here are the official stadium expansion renderings, as presented by the Bulldog Club.
Also, here's a few pictures tweeted out by Chad Thomas from today's press conference (all pictures courtesy Mississippi State | Chad Thomas)
Here's a view of the new West side concourse
A few views from the new "Loge" seating in the North Endzone
The completed North Endzone view
Some more views from the North Endzone
The outside of the West side concourse, when completed, in 2014
We will continue to add photos, video, and various additional details and tid bits here as they come in. Overall, I think it's safe to say that we're excited about this expansion. Also, really glad to see that they ARE, in fact, going to update the West side of the stadium. I had been told that they were not going to include it to cut costs, but it now is evident the western concourse will receive a facelift, ready in time for the 2014 season.
How far has this university come? Just a few years ago, Doc Foglesong wanted to spend millions of dollars painting all of the concrete on the west and east side Java brown. That is not a joke. Things are moving up in the world of Mississippi State athletics, so I hope you're ready!
P.S.: what do you guys think of the renovation / expansion? Like? Dislike? Let us know your thoughts!


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"For research excellence in all fields involving electronic structure calculations"
Young computational science researchers are invited to put themselves forward for the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award 2018. The finalists will compete at a special session of the joint EPS Condensed Matter Division and German Physical Society (CMD/DPG) Spring Meeting in Berlin, during March 11-16, 2018.
The Volker Heine Award session will be part of the Symposium:
Frontiers of Electronic Structure Theory: Correlated Electron Materials
Purpose: The purpose of the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award is to recognize an individual for her or his outstanding computational work in any type of condensed-matter, materials, or nanoscience research involving electronic structure calculations. In 2018 there will be one award of 2500 Euro and four runner-up prizes of 500 Euro each. The prize is sponsored by npj Computational Materials.
Regulations and Procedure:
1) Applicants may be of any nationality working anywhere in the world.
2) The applicant's PhD certificate must not be dated more than 5 years before the first day of the joint CMD/DPG – EPS Conference (March 11, 2018). Those who have not yet completed a PhD can also apply.
3) Young investigators who wish to compete for the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award 2018 must submit:
- abstract (in the format of the abstracts for the conference)
- two-page description making the case for her/his outstanding scientific contribution
- extended CV (incl. list of publications and talks/posters)
- evidence of satisfying the conditions of regulation (2) above.
These items must be submitted by email, as a pdf attachment, to the chairperson of Psi-k whose address is given below. It must be received not later than December 1, 2017. The abstract must also be submitted as a regular contribution to the CMD/DPG Conference.
4) The candidate must arrange for two confidential support letters to be sent directly by to the Psi-k chairperson (see below). These letters (sent by email) need to be received before December 1, 2017. One of the letters must certify that the candidate meets the requirements of regulations (2) above.
5) The Psi-k Trustees will select five finalists who will get an invitation to present their work at the CMD/DPG Conference (25 min. talk + 5 min. discussion). After these presentations, the award committee will select the award winner.
6) The award winner will receive her or his award of 2500 Euro and the four runner-up their prizes of 500 Euro each, together with a certificate, at a presentation on the Psi-k Scientific Get-Together during the conference.
Award Committee: The award committee will consist of selected invited speakers of the CMD/DPG Conference and three members of the Psi-k Trustees.
Risto Nieminen
Psi-k Chairman
[email protected]


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Report: Del Zotto and Rangers have a tentative two-year agreement (Update: Done deal)
Published January 13, 2013 05:58 AM
Rangers fans can breathe a little easier today as Michael Del Zotto is just about back in the fold.
TSN's Bob McKenzie reports the Rangers and their restricted free agent defenseman have tentatively agreed on a two-year contract. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports the deal is worth around $2.55 million per season.
While the deal is unsigned as of now, Del Zotto is at Rangers camp getting his medicals done. It was only yesterday that Rangers GM Glen Sather said it was imperative to have a deal done by today and to get into camp. It looks like that's just what's happening.
Update (11:35 a.m. ET): The Rangers tweeted confirmation they've signed Del Zotto. McKenzie confirms it's a two-year deal worth $2.55 million per year.


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All content within this section is pure rumor and generally have no factual info outside of what the streets have whispered in our ear. Read on.
I said this once and I said it 300x. Either you want to be here or you dont. There are millions and trillions of ways to spend your time constructively. And there are many sections within the site. Some people just focus on this particular one for destructive reason only. Too bad. Ive let cats have a vocal opinion, but there are enough people complaining from people that there are going to be some changes. Some of these idiots have some nerve calling names. They need to look in a mirror. But I digress:
On to the rumors!
Admittedly, its a lil dry after the weekend. I dont know why, because once upon a time, there would be all sorts of stuff after a weekend like Memorial Day Weekend, but naw
Pause! But Page is back and hes coming back at his former friend Drake. Hes accusing Drake of being a snitch. Drakes not even a street dude so doesnt that make him a citizen.
Apparently, they took it to the next level as well when reps for Page and Drake got into a fight at the Stylus Awards. Jeez.
Drakes artist P. Reign defended the honor of his homie in a freestyle thats pretty good.
Shout out to J-True!
We really dont know exactly when 50 lost the weight, but one of the illseed readers hit me after seeing Mr. Cent in Chicago. They said 50 Cent was diesel as he always is, leading them to believe he may have been photoshopped for those ghastly images of him. I think he really lost it though. He says he ran three hours a day and had a liquid diet to get down to 160 from 214.
I really didnt hear anything too crazy with rappers. But this dude did a lil video for the people. About mid-way, you an see some concert footage with Trina, Rick Ross and some others.
Dude is obsessed with his tattoos.
Watch Toxic America, a special two-night investigative report with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN. I know all these companies are the same, but BP needs to be punished in incredible ways. I know they wont or they will pass any penalty along to us. It may not matter but Ill never get gas from BP again.
Peep what I snagged off thisis50.com:
26-year old MMA fighter, Jarrod Wyatt, ripped his 21-year old friend's still beating heart from his chest as well as his eye after ingesting a hefty dose of what appears to be mushroom tea. Apparently the blood was so immense, that the entire house was made into a crime scene.
The man, Justin Davis, had been there earlier in the day and saw Wyatt (the killer) acting strangely after drinking some kind of mushroom tea, according to the statement. Davis left for Crescent City, but returned later to pick up his dog. Davis arrived to find Wyatt standing in the living room naked and covered with blood, according to the statement. Wyatt told Davis, according to the statement, that he was going to cut out Powell's heart. Davis went to a nearby pay phone to call law enforcement.
A deputy arrived at the residence and reportedly saw Wyatt on the couch with Powell's body, which was covered in blood and had most of its face removed. A large incision in the chest could be seen, and other unspecified body parts had been removed. An eyeball was resting in the middle of the room, according to the statement.
Wyatt allegedly told the deputy that he'd cut Powell's heart out and thrown it into the fire.
Powell's death certificate reads that he died from having his heart removed while he was still alive, causing him to bleed to death. It also lists as significant blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and compression of the neck.
What appeared to be wild mushrooms were in the kitchen, the deputy reported. The deputy also discovered a marijuana garden in the house when he went to search for additional victims, the statement reads.
Just doing my job. Teyana Taylor was dancing all hard and crazy at Club Compound in The A and she had some wardrobe malfunctions. Here is one of them.
My name is Randy Sargent a
community activist from the city of Buffalo, NY. In the summer of 2007, two
young teens Devonte Murray, 15 and Allen Stepney, 16 were brutally gunned down when gunmen wanted
to send a message to rival gang members. The gunmen opened fire
shooting over 100 rounds of ammunition from an assault rifle into a crowded
shopping strip full of teens, leaving Devonte and Alan in a pool of blood
fighting for their lives. I took a stand for these children and for our community
on the very corner Devonte and Allen took their last breath and I starved
myself to keep the crime in the public eye and encouraged the community to come
forth and bring those responsible for the killing of these young kids to
justice. After 18 days with the communities help the shooters involved were
arrested and ultimately convicted and sentenced for the murders of Devonte and
Allen. This story is becoming far too common for the lives of our children in
every community across the United States.
The reason I am writing you is to
inform you that I am continuing my fight for our youth as I am planning a walk
for peace called (Voices of Homicide, memorial walk to D.C) I will be leaving
Buffalo NY in August 2010 and I will walk from City Hall in Buffalo, NY to
Washington D.C. I will carry with me the names of homicide victims to be put on
a national wall of remembrance in Washington, DC. Each step of this walk will
be dedicated to every victim, every mother, every father, every sister and
brother, every daughter and son and anybody that has been personally affected
by homicide.
My ultimate goal is to
draw national attention to the needs of our youth and to hand deliver a long
overdue message to our congress that the violence in our communities needs to
stop. While holding our nations leaders accountable I will ask them
personally to initiate relief efforts and give them a proposed long term plan
of action to reduce the murder rates in our communities across the United
I am asking you to humbly stand with
me in support of this effort to make a change for the lives of our youth. Please help spread the word
by spotlighting this effort by using whatever means you have to inform people
of this walk for peace and encourage them to stand with me. I need your support,
your voice and your involvement. Please consider helping me in any way you feel
would be beneficial to the cause. Let us all speak for the lives that have been
lost to violence and let their deaths not be in vain. Thank you and may God
bless you.
Randy Sargent / Stop Killing Clothing
Below is a link to
an article of the news coverage we received while taking a stance for our youth
as a community. Peace is possible if we work together!!
Speak up for those who cannot speak
for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!
WHAT: Rumors
WHERE: AllHipHop.com, MySpace.com/TheIllseed
HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at email@example.com.


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There are more themed versions of Monopoly than stars in the sky, so isn't it about time for other classic board games to get an upgrade? Vice's music site Noisey site decided it was, and so turned a copy of Guess Who into Guess Wu featuring 25 members of the Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop group.
Illustrated by Dan Evans, the custom version of the game is played the same as the original, with players asking questions like, "is your rapper wearing a baseball cap?," or, "did your rapper appear on GZA's 1999 album Beneath the Surface?" Depending on how your opponent answers your inquiries, you can slowly eliminate members until you figure out the rapper they've chosen.
The only real difference between the original and upgraded version is that in Guess Wu whoever can rap all of C.R.E.A.M. gets to go first—so it's an important skill that's strategic both in this game and in real life. [Noisey via ToyNews]


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About Keenan Packaging
Keenan Packaging Supply is a female owned small business in Omaha, Nebraska. We pride ourselves with selling top quality products to individuals and companies of all sizes at competitive prices.
We have a large showroom open to the public to view our products, as well as a large warehouse housing, bubble wrap, packaging peanuts & peanut dispensers, numerous types of tape & dispensers, Kraft bubble lined mailers, pallet wrap, shrink wrap and applicating equipment, hand film, zipper bags, flat poly bags, poly tubing, heat sealers, heat guns, plastic & steel strapping, carts, equipment, seals and buckles, roll corrugated, corrugated boxes, corrugated pads, Kraft paper, tissue paper, news[print, a variety of dispensers for roll paper, t-shirt thank you bags, janitorial products, trash liners, labels, shipping tags, tag wires, safety products, laminating pouches, film and equipment, Kraft bags, packing list envelopes, mailing tubes, roll foam products, anti-static products, sweat shirt rags, disposable paper wipers and much more.
Our customer base has increased over the past 20+ years with new customers every week. We have our loyal customers to thank for our success!


text: Dr. Risser is a Research Leader at Battelle with a 30+ year career in materials research. His particular area of expertise is developing relations between material composition and performance in devices, and using these relations to guide application-specific materials development. He has applied this expertise across diverse markets such as medical devices, energy storage and harvesting, photovoltaics, optics, and sensors, with the focus on speeding the insertion of new technologies into commercial products. Dr. Risser frequently contributes to research programs as the principal investigator, senior researcher or expert consultant. Dr.Risser is known for his creative problem solving skills and is often involved in proposing or developing innovative technical concepts for challenging technical problems. Dr. Risser's work has earned several R&D100 awards, and resulted in 24 US patents and more than 30 refereed journal publications.