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How To Install OpenERP 6 On Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server - Page 3
Step 11. SSL
In this post I'll describe our current way of providing SSL encrypted access to a shiny new OpenERP server running on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server.
We're using the Apache webserver to act as a proxy and do SSL termination for web client access and for WebDAV/CalDAV access. The GTK client will also be running over an encrypted XMLRPC link directly to the OpenERP Server. Apache is the most widely used webserver in the world and there is oodles of documentation about it so I do not plan to go into any great detail about the configuration choices. One document that is worth pointing out however is the information about how to configure and administer Apache specifically under Debian/Ubuntu. The way Apache is packaged and set up is quite different from most other Linux distributions. A very useful document can be found here /usr/share/doc/apache2.2-common/README.Debian.gz on your server.
NB: For the purposes of this how to, we'll be using self-signed certificates. A discussion of the pros and cons of this choice is beyond the scope of this article.
Step 11.1. Install Apache and required modules
On your server install apache2 by typing
sudo apt-get install apache2
Now we'll tell apache that we want to use a few modules (mod_ssl, mod_proxy, mod_proxy_http, mod_headers and mod_rewrite [optional]) that are not enabled by default:
sudo a2enmod ssl proxy_http headers rewrite
Next, we need to generate a SSL certificate and key.
Step 11.2. Create your cert and key
I create the files in a temporary directory then move them to their final resting place once they have been built (the first cd is just to make sure we are in our home directory to start with):
mkdir temp
cd temp
Then we generate a new key, you will be asked to enter a passphrase and confirm:
openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.pkey 1024
We don't really want to have to enter a passphrase every time the server starts up so we remove the passphrase by doing this:
openssl rsa -in server.pkey -out server.key
Next we need to create a signing request which will hold the data that will be visible in your final certificate:
openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
This will generate a series of prompts like this:
Enter the information as requested:
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated into your certificate request. What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN. There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank For some fields there will be a default value, If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
Country Name (2 letter code) [AU]:
State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:
Locality Name (eg, city) []:
Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:
Common Name (eg, YOUR name) []:
Email Address []:
Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
to be sent with your certificate request
A challenge password []:
An optional company name []: <-- The Client's Company
And finally we self-sign our certificate.
openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
We only need two of the files in the working directory, the key and the certificate. But before we can use them they need to have their ownership and access rights altered:
sudo chown openerp:root server.crt server.key
sudo chmod 640 server.crt server.key
And then we put them in a sensible place:
sudo mkdir /etc/ssl/openerp
sudo chown openerp:root /etc/ssl/openerp
sudo chmod 710 /etc/ssl/openerp
sudo mv server.crt server.key /etc/ssl/openerp/
Now the key and certificate are safely stored away, we can tell Apache where they are:
Step 11.3. Create the Apache site configuration file
We create a new Virtual Host configuration file...
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/openerp-ssl
... with the following content:
<VirtualHost *:443> SSLEngine on SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/openerp/server.crt SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/openerp/server.key ProxyRequests Off <Proxy *> Order deny,allow Allow from all </Proxy> ProxyVia On ProxyPass /webdav/ http://127.0.0.1:8069/webdav/ <Location /webdav/ > ProxyPassReverse /webdav/ <Limit OPTIONS PROPFIND GET REPORT MKACTIVITY PROPPATCH PUT MOVE COPY DELETE LOCK UNLOCK> Order Deny,Allow Allow from all Satisfy Any </Limit> </Location> ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8080/ <location / > ProxyPassReverse / </location> RequestHeader set "X-Forwarded-Proto" "https" # Fix IE problem (httpapache proxy dav error 408/409) SetEnv proxy-nokeepalive 1 </VirtualHost>
Note there are two Proxy configurations. One for /webdav/ and one for /. If you do not intend to use WebDAV or CalDAV then you can remove that section. But essentially, we are telling apache that WebDAV traffic needs to go to the XMLRPC port on the OpenERP server, and normal web traffic needs to go to the web client that is listening on port 8080. The order is also important. If / came before /webdav/ then it wouldn't work.
And then we can enable the new site configuration.
sudo a2ensite openerp-ssl
Optionally, you can use mod_rewrite to redirect any normal (non-encrypted) web browser traffic to the SSL port (443).
To do this, add the following lines (outside of the <directory> config blocks) into the file /etc/apache2/sites-available/default:
RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} ^80$ RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{SERVER_NAME}$1 [L,R]
Step 11.4. Change the OpenERP server and web-client configuration files
The next step is to re-configure the OpenERP server and Web client so that the non-encrypted services are not accessible from the outside world.
In /etc/openerp-server.conf the two non-encrypted services will only listen on localhost, i.e. not from external connections so in effect only traffic from Apache will be accepted. We also tell the XMLRPC-SSL service where to find the necessary key and certificate.
Make the following changes:
sudo nano /etc/openerp-server.conf
xmlrpc = True xmlrpc_interface = 127.0.0.1 xmlrpc_port = 8069 netrpc = True netrpc_interface = 127.0.0.1 netrpc_port = 8070 xmlrpcs = True xmlrpcs_interface = xmlrpcs_port = 8071 secure_pkey_file = /etc/ssl/openerp/server.key secure_cert_file = /etc/ssl/openerp/server.crt
If you want to have WebDAV/CalDAV access add the following at the bottom of the config file.
[webdav] enable = True vdir = webdav
Then in the web client config file /etc/openerp-web.conf make the following changes so that it also only accepts traffic from localhost:
sudo nano /etc/openerp-web.conf
# Some server parameters that you may want to tweak server.socket_host = "127.0.0.1? # Set to True if you are deploying your App behind a proxy # e.g. Apache using mod_proxy tools.proxy.on = True # If your proxy does not add the X-Forwarded-Host header, set # the following to the *public* host url. tools.proxy.base = 'https://your-ip-or-domain' # Set to false to disable CSRF checks tools.csrf.on = False
That's it.
Step 11.5. Try it out
Restart the services to load the new configurations:
sudo service openerp-server restart
sudo service openerp-web restart
sudo service apache2 restart
You should not be able to connect to the web client on port 8080 and the GTK client should not connect on either the NetRPC (8070) or XMLRPC (8069) services. For the web access you just need to visit https://your-ip-or-domain and in the GTK client you will need to use port 8071 and choose the XMLRPC (Secure) protocol.
For CalDAV access the URL to a calendar will be something like this:
I hope that is helpful and obviously we'd love to hear comments and suggestions for improvements.
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11 Comment(s)
great tutorial ..... it works fine for me.
Great tutorial, thanks
what about databeses backup and restore?
You can take a backup from the database trought http://youre.domain.com/openerp/database .
and for the restore you creat a new database throuth the same link and you recreat youre modules and than you can inport youre data from the backup
It worked at first without a single hitch!
Your work is just the best around the planet!
Thanks a lot,
Excellent tutorial. :-) Worked great for me. Your hard work is appreciated!
Great tutorial.
After trying 12 times, i found this tutorial and it worked.
Thank you very much.
Thank you!
This tutorial is great! Good job!
This HowTo is really great!
Thank you very much!
I managed to install openerp up to step 7.
it runs ok
[email protected]:~$ /opt/openerp/server/bin/openerp-server.py --config=/etc/openerp-server.conf
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,746][?] INFO:server:OpenERP version - 6.0.2
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,746][?] INFO:server:addons_path - /opt/openerp/server/bin/addons
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,746][?] INFO:server:database hostname - localhost
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,746][?] INFO:server:database port - 5432
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,746][?] INFO:server:database user - dedenfd
[2012-10-07 11:58:13,747][?] INFO:server:initialising distributed objects services
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,086][?] INFO:web-services:starting HTTP service at 0.0.0.0 port 8069
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,087][?] INFO:web-services:starting HTTPS service at 0.0.0.0 port 8071
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,087][?] INFO:web-services:Registered XML-RPC over HTTP
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,116][?] INFO:web-services:starting NET-RPC service at 0.0.0.0 port 8070
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,116][?] INFO:server:Starting 3 services
[2012-10-07 11:58:15,117][?] INFO:server:OpenERP server is running, waiting for connections...
^C[2012-10-07 11:58:19,754][?] INFO:server:Stopping 3 services
[2012-10-07 11:58:19,755][?] INFO:shutdown:Initiating OpenERP Server shutdown
[2012-10-07 11:58:19,755][?] INFO:shutdown:Hit CTRL-C again or send a second signal to immediately terminate the server...
[2012-10-07 11:58:19,755][?] WARNING:web-services:Netrpc: closing because of exception [Errno 22] Invalid argument
On 8 I got this error . :
[email protected]:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/openerp-server start
/etc/init.d/openerp-server: line 22: /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions: No such file or directory
what is the problem with my openerp?, could you help me find the answer ? Thank you..


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Warrenville police speak to missing girl
Warrenville police said Friday they spoke on the phone with a 16-year-old girl who has been missing for almost two weeks, but they were unsuccessful in persuading her to return home.
The missing juvenile, Darielle Davis, was last seen by her mother at 6:45 a.m. Sept. 17 as she left for school at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Deputy Police Chief Tony Dutkovich said police made contact with the teen at 5 a.m. Friday when they put in a call to her cellphone. On Sept. 19, she was believed to have been in the vicinity of South suburban Dolton, and there's currently information that she may be in Chicago, near Madison Street and Kilpatrick Avenue.
She is described as 5 foot 7 inches tall, weighing 194 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.
Those with information on her whereabouts are asked to contact police at 630-393-2131.

subset: commoncrawl


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We translate pharmaceutical and medical documents from Japanese
We help you prepare journal articles for submission to key international medical journals.
We provide workshops, small group sessions, and one-on-one training.
We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.
Start typing and press Enter to search


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Graduate careers fairs calendar
Our Emerging Talent team will be on the road again soon looking for the next 'expert' to join our business. We have fantastic career opportunities for graduates and summer placements with various roles in engineering, construction, surveying and business.
To find out more, or to apply for our graduate roles, please click here.
Please check back soon for the 2018 calendar of events.


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No surprises here.
The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and EDC has issued a letter calling for Colorado Springs City Council to speed up a study about removing coal-fired Drake Power Plant from downtown.
The Chamber also wants the Council, sitting as the Utilities Board, to study selling off not just the electric utility, but all four utilities that are now owned by ratepayers. Utilities officials and City Council members have often boasted about having low rates because the utility is owned by ratepayers, not stockholders.
The Sept. 10 letter from board chairman Doug Quimby says the Chamber urges "the Utilities Board to consider commencing a process to address larger issues, including whether our utilities should continue to be municipally owned, and, if the city does maintain ownership, whether the governance structure of CSU should be changed."
Then Quimby calls for a process of exploration to be "independent, perceived to be independent, transparent and credible," and likens the prospective process to the lease of Memorial Health System, to which the business community was embarrassingly late. In fact, business representatives completely ignored a 10-month Citizens Commission process and study before elbowing their way in to a city task force that wrote a request for proposal and eventually chose University of Colorado Health to lease Memorial.
That transaction closes Oct. 1 and could bring $259 million to the city in an up-front lump sum, but there might be some major bumps on that path, as you can read tomorrow in the Indy.
The letter gives the Council marching orders on what to include in the Drake study:
• Costs and timelines for possible decommissioning
• Replacement power options
• Impact on customer rates
• Overall economic impact of decommissioning the plant, including remediation of the site and "the accompanying economic development opportunities of the site and surrounding area"
But Quimby and his followers then graciously allow Council to take up what to do about its contractual obligation to Neumann Systems Group, which is installing pollution control technology on Drake to meet Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
"The Chamber and EDC takes no position on that issue, as deciding how to proceed is the responsibility of the Utilities Board," the letter states.
The Chamber's letter was written on the same day that Councilors Angela Dougan, Brandy Williams, Tim Leigh and Val Snider, demanded a special Utilities Board meeting be called for Sept. 26 to revisit the decision to put off such a study of Drake until 2013. Here's the full story about that, which we posted last night at 6:03 p.m.
In closing, Quimby writes: "The wise development and use of our community's utility infrastructure is something this organization takes very seriously, as we know its impact on the economic well-being of our region."
Here's the whole letter:
It's not surprising the Chamber would jump into this issue, considering developer/godfather Steve Schuck already has arranged a private meeting of all the influence-brokers for next Thursday, Sept. 20, to talk about how much the city could get from selling its electric utility. That story, also broken by the Indy, can be found here.
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Water treatment facilities utilize large amounts of acreage around the outskirts of cities and towns - acreage that can easily be utilized to supplement or even replace the electric loading demands on the grid. Whether it is desalination or waste water treatment, PV Trackers has the engineered solutions to reliably power the loads of your facility.
Recently commissioned in Willows, California is a solar array consisting of 58 PV Trackers 7.2DX dual-axis solar trackers providing power for the city's wastewater treatment facility. The PV Trackers system was chosen for this job to maximize kW hour production with fewer solar panels than competitive systems. Working closely with the developer, Solar Power Partners, and with Power Partners for the EPC, PV Trackers technology sits among a strong team in solar energy development. Accessible off the 1-5 corridor, this installation in Willows will provide over 750MW hours of electricity per year.


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SMYRNA, Ga. (PRWEB) January 13, 2014
The adventure continues where it left off in "Element Princess: The Commence" as the element princesses strive to further extend their powers and defeat the underworld group called the Demon Docks. With the help of the spirit being, Kenta Shiroyama, and his friend, also the darkness and death Princess Ayano Matsumoto, the group will train and even battle new foes.
In "Element Princess: Evolution" written by author Jenaia Williams, the journey continues for the brave and beautiful Element Princesses. However, they will learn that their enemies' numbers are not diminishing. Instead, they are evolving. New members of the Demon Docks take matters into their own hands and intend to ruin the princesses and their allies at all costs. Some members team up while others simply go with their instincts.
Each princess goes through their own turmoil as their days pass by. Some tumultuous experiences are more emotional and mental than physical. But they will have to fight these battles on their own, and in some cases, their powers will not assist them. Will they be able to come to terms with more Demon Docks, the news of their titans waking up and the introduction of their weapons, the Zygotes? With the Demon Docks on the move and more obstacles in their way, the princesses must conquer all and face their inner turmoil or else it will be the end of them.
"Element Princess: Evolution" is an exciting, exhilarating and entertaining fiction fantasy read that is sure to take readers at the edge of their seats. With more clashes, battles, challenges and surprises up of its sleeves, this book reveals how everyone must face the struggles in life in order to achieve their ultimate goals.
For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com and http://www.elementprincessproductions.com.
About the Author
Jenaia Williams was born and raised in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb near Atlanta. She is a 2013 graduate of Campbell High School and is attending the University of West Georgia where she is majoring in creative writing. Jenaia penned book one of Element Princess at the age of 17, inspired by her love of Japanese culture. When not studying or promoting her first book, Jenaia works on subsequent books in the series. Jenaia resides with her mother, grandmother, and five dogs in the Atlanta area.
Element Princess: Book Two * by Jenaia Williams
Book Two: Evolution
Publication Date: December 12, 2013
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 283 pages; 978-1-4931-0457-4
Trade Hardback; $29.99; 283 pages; 978-1-4931-0458-1
eBook; $3.99; 978-1-4931-0459-8
Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7879. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (812) 355-4079 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7879.
For more information on self-publishing or marketing with Xlibris, visit http://www.Xlibris.com. To receive a free publishing guide, please call (888) 795-4274.


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The Easy, Super-'90s Way I Keep Grown-Out Bangs out of My Face
Bangs, fringe, breakage — whatever you call it, it'll fit in some butterfly clips.
Mousse packaging has a very specific look that's pretty consistent from brand to brand: it's usually in a tall, metal, aerosol container, topped off with a tall nozzle and a little ledge to press down with your finger to make it emerge.
You can't tell me this doesn't look like mousse.
But it's not! It's ARROJO Whipped Treatment, and it's a deep conditioner, and I'm an idiot.
I let this product sit on my desk for months, assuming it was a mousse and thinking, Well, I already did a mousse roundup a few months ago, so I guess it'll just have to wait.
Never did it occur to me to actually READ THE WORDS ON THE PACKAGING.
Whipped Treatment: Long-lasting, color-saving treatment conditioner to keep the tone of your hue. Preserves shine, fights breakage, luxurious and rich.
Directions: Massage into wet hair. Leave in for 5 minutes. Rinse well.
My parents like to tell people I could spell "apple" before I could say most words, but my superior literacy skills clearly failed me. I'm ashamed of my packaging prejudice, and my hair paid the price.
Well, it's not like my hair suffered without it, but I definitely didn't get to enjoy its benefits, which I finally bestowed upon my head this morning.
Although the dispenser works just like mousse, the product that comes out is rich and creamy--not foamy at all. It has a fresh, intoxicating scent that I want to pretty much rub all over my body, but limited it to my hair, after shampooing.
I did all my face and body washing and scrubbing while I left it on for five minutes or so, letting ingredients like shea butter, olive oil, lanolin and keratin do their thing.
Oh, and there's polyquaternium-37 in it! You may recall from Sable's interview with a cosmetic chemist: "Whenever you look at the back of a conditioner bottle or hair mask or something like that and you see a polyquaternium and a dash and then a number, those are really good for protecting your hair. Those are molecules designed to encase your hair and protect from a lot of damage that may come to it." And because it's a higher number, it's really beneficial for thick hair like mine.
I'm sure the benefits build when using it over time -- ARROJO suggests once a week -- but my initial observations include soft, easy-to-style hair. And because it helps hold on to color, I'll definitely be keeping it in rotation.
It's a bummer that I could've been using this for a while, but now that I know what's really in this deceiving can, I'll try to catch up on the deep-condition-y goodness forthwith.


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TRAIN Awards Luncheon to Recognize Research Administrators
USF research administrators will be recognized at the annual TRAIN awards luncheon Wednesday, Oct. 5 at noon in the Interdisciplinary Research Building (IDR) Galleria.
The awards are given annually by The Research Administration Improvement Network (TRAIN), the Office of Research & Innovation and the Office of the Provost. The awards are designed to recognize those that have significantly contributed to the TRAIN initiative.
TRAIN membership consists of representatives from across all areas of the USF research enterprise. The primary focus of TRAIN is to build the research support infrastructure by enhancing the professional competencies of those who contribute to the research enterprise, implementing training and education, improving business processes and reporting, and enhancing communication within the research community.
ResearchOne is sponsored by Smith & Hopen, P.A., Draper Laboratory, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council and the Embassy Suites Hotel/USF.
For more information contact firstname.lastname@example.com or call 813-97-HELP1.


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- Who We Are
- Topics
- By Subject Area
- dummy
- By Level
- Projects
- Projects Column 1
- Agency by Design
- Aligned Programs for the 21st Century
- Artful Thinking
- Causal Learning Projects
- Children Are Citizens
- Creando Comunidades de Indagación (Creating Communities of Inquiry)
- Creating Communities of Innovation
- Cultures of Thinking
- Digital Dilemmas
- Early Childhood in the Making, an initiative of Agency by Design
- EcoLEARN Projects
- Projects Column 2
- Global Children
- Higher Education in the 21st Century
- Humanities and the Liberal Arts Assessment (HULA)
- Idea Into Action
- Interdisciplinary & Global Studies
- Investigating Impacts of Educational Experiences
- Leading Learning that Matters
- Learning Innovations Laboratory
- Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn
- Making Across the Curriculum, an initiative of Agency by Design
- Making Learning and Thinking Visible in Italian Secondary Schools
- Projects Column 3
- Making Learning Visible
- Multiple Intelligences
- Out of Eden Learn
- Pedagogy of Play
- Signature Pedagogies in Global Education
- Talking With Artists Who Teach
- Teaching for Understanding
- The Family Dinner Project
- The Good Project
- The Studio Thinking Project
- The World in DC
- Visible Thinking
- View All Projects
- Projects Column 1
- Resources
- Professional Development
Visible Thinking
At the core of Visible Thinking are practices that help make thinking visible: Thinking Routines loosely guide learners' thought processes and encourage active processing.
Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based conceptual framework, which aims to integrate the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters.
Visible Thinking began as an initiative to develop a research-based approach to teaching thinking dispositions. The approach emphasized three core practices: thinking routines, the documentation of student thinking, and reflective professional practice. It was originally developed at Lemshaga Akademi in Sweden as part of the Innovating with Intelligence project, and focused on developing students' thinking dispositions in such areas as truth-seeking, understanding, fairness, and imagination. It has since expanded its focus to include an emphasis on thinking through art and the role of cultural forces and has informed the development of other Project Zero Visible Thinking initiatives, including Artful Thinking, and Cultures of Thinking.
Thinking Routines
Patricia Palmer worked as a researcher and project manager on Innovating with Intelligence, the project that launched the Visible Thinking approach to developing thinking dispositions. With Shari Tishman she is the co-developer of Artful Thinking, a program that integrates arts into the curriculum in order to strengthen student thinking and learning. The program is part of the Visible Thinking initiative at Project Zero – a research-based approach to teaching thinking that links an international network of schools and other learning organizations.
Patricia managed the project that produced the study, The Qualities of Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and How to Achieve It. She was a researcher on Teaching in the Visual Arts (Studio Thinking Project) study and the Museum of Modern Art's Visual Thinking Curriculum Project. She assisted on the Art Works for Schools Curriculum.
Patricia is a visual artist and previously taught in New York City independent and public schools. She received her Ed.M. from the Arts in Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is currently the Director of Art Education at Montserrat College of Art.


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Read this: BBC News - 180 degree television for the home?
Summary: Immersive video is a concept that technology companies have experimented with, finding varying levels of success. Philips pushed the idea in 2004 with its Ambilight television sets, which projected light around the television, to suit the mood of the content being played. Microsoft has confirmed it is working on a form of immersive video for gaming, which it calls IllumiRoom - it uses the Kinect camera and a projector to extend graphics beyond the television screen - but there yet is no clear indication of when it might go on sale. - bbc.co.ukRead full article: BBC News - 180 degree television for the…
Lots more recommendations to read at Trends - ukfree.tv.
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CommentsYour comment please


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Meet inFORM Dynamic Shape Display: MIT Team Wants Revolutionize Interactive Design [VIDEO]
The Tangible Media Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wants to change the way humans interact with physical objects by developing materials that can change their form and appearance dynamically based on digital information. Working towards this goal, TMG has developed the inFORM, a "Dynamic Shape Display" that lets users render 3D content with physical objects.
The inFORM system from MIT is built using Microsoft Kinect (the same designed for the Xbox game console), a projector and a collection of pins that react to input. The display allows for real-time user input through direct touch.
It's a concept that's a bit hard to wrap one's head around, so just check out this incredible video TGM posted to Vimeo.
inFORM - Interacting With a Dynamic Shape Display from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.
The MIT team said inFORM can be applied towards geospatial data, such as creating maps and models. Urban plans and architects could use inFORM to better understand, share and discuss ideas in a physical form. inFORM could also be used by engineers and designers to create 3D models without needing a 3D printer.
"Remote participants in a video conference can be displayed physically, allowing for a strong sense of presence and the ability to interact physically at a distance," TGM said on the inFORM website.
TGM is also exploring applications in medical fields, such as physical representations of CT scans and surgical simulations.
It's a step towards the MIT team's vision of "Radical Atoms," the idea of creating new material that transformed and reconfigured with computer data. Changes of the physical material would be reflected in the digital state, and vice versa.
"Radical Atoms is the future material that can transform their shape, conform to constraints, and inform the users of their affordances," TGM said, adding that it wants to look at bits and atoms in new ways to create a new realm of interaction design.
"We no longer think of designing the interface, but rather of the interface itself as material."


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Today is Day 13 of the 15 Days To Freedom Blogging Challenge called out by Natalie Sisson!
The challenge for today is to choose ONE thing that I will do that will help my mind, body or soul. It could take a form of exercise, changing eating habits for the better, learning new things, etc.
I have been working on these aspects of my life for the past year as I decided that from now on my life is going to be different, more meaningful, with a purpose and focus. In April of 2014 I became a vegan, in May I began to practice yoga, in September I finished my first novel and in December I published it.
During that time I have also took numerous courses, online and off, read books, listened to podcasts and webinars on writing, editing, blogging, website design, social media, marketing, taxes and other aspects of business. I love learning new things so I have enjoyed soaking up all that knowledge.
But, because it's just one of me, the end of the year ended up being very busy and stressful and I stopped doing yoga since I was dedicating every minute to my writing and the business side of it.
Now, that the craziness of the book release is over with (almost), I can tell that my body and mind are begging for yoga and meditation. Ever since I started this 15 day blogging challenge, I have also felt a new surge of determination to begin taking care of myself and bring the yoga and meditation back. I renewed my practice yesterday and am determined to stick to it as I enjoy it and can feel the benefits of it almost immediately.


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Webcast: CEU Exam Completion: Pass
Congratulations, you successfully passed the CEU Exam! Thank you for participating in our Webcast and taking the CEU exam. Within 30 days, you will receive a certificate indicating you passed our CEU exam. If you have any questions about the exam, please contact:
Trudy Kelly
Executive Assistant
630-571-4070 x 2205


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This website has been established to provide general information regarding the Pharmacyclics, Inc. ("Pharmacyclics") Shareholder Litigation. The capitalized terms used on this website and not defined herein shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Stipulation of Settlement (the "Stipulation") executed on January 22, 2016.
This case is currently pending before Judge Peter H. Kirwan in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara (the "Court").
Beginning on March 13, 2015, the following class action lawsuits: Evangelista v. Duggan, et al., No. 1-15-CV-278055 (the "Evangelista Action"); Treppel v. Duggan, et al., No. 1-15-CV-278088 (the "Treppel Action"); Wang v. Pharmacyclics, Inc., et al., No. 1-15-CV-278215 (the "Wang Action"); and Wallach v. Pharmacyclics, Inc., et al., No. 1-15-CV-278260 (the "Wallach Action") (collectively, the "Actions"), were filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara. These Actions were brought on behalf of classes of stockholders of Pharmacyclics, Inc. against the Company, the members of its Board of Directors, AbbVie Inc. ("Parent"), Oxford Amherst Corporation, a Delaware corporation and direct wholly owned subsidiary of Parent ("Purchaser"), and Oxford Amherst LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and direct wholly owned subsidiary of Parent ("Merger Sub") (Merger Sub, Parent and Purchaser are collectively referred to as "AbbVie").
The Actions challenge the sale of Pharmacyclics to AbbVie pursuant to which AbbVie has commenced a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Pharmacyclics for $261.25 per share, which was first announced on March 4, 2015 (the "Acquisition").
On or about March 23, 2015, the Company caused to be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") a Solicitation and Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (the "Recommendation Statement"), which included, inter alia, information concerning the financial projections of Pharmacyclics for the calendar years 2015-2028 and how those projections were calculated; the fairness opinion of Centerview Partners LLC, one of the financial advisors to the Pharmacyclics Board of Directors; and the fairness opinion of J.P. Morgan, Pharmacyclics' financial advisor.
On April 1, 2015, Defendants provided to Plaintiffs' Counsel for settlement purposes only certain confidential documents that were prepared in connection with the Acquisition.
On April 3, 2015, counsel for plaintiff Treppel sent a letter on behalf of plaintiffs in all of the Actions to Defendants' Counsel demanding disclosure of allegedly material information contained in confidential documents produced by Defendants (the "Treppel Demand Letter").
On April 9, 2015, Defendants' Counsel sent proposed supplemental disclosures to Plaintiffs' Counsel, and engaged in arm's-length negotiations over the proposed supplemental disclosures thereafter.
Counsel for all parties to the Actions have reached an agreement providing for the settlement of the Actions between and among Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and the Class (as defined in the Amended Notice of Settlement of Class Action), and all Defendants named in each of the Actions ("Defendants"), on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Stipulation.
Plaintiffs' Counsel conducted an extensive investigation regarding Plaintiffs' claims for injunctive and declaratory relief. Plaintiffs' Counsel also reviewed and analyzed the documents produced by Defendants in consultation with their financial expert. Counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendants also engaged in arm's-length negotiations regarding a possible resolution of the Actions. As a result of those negotiations, the parties entered into an agreement-in-principle to resolve the Actions. Thereafter, on April 16, 2015, the parties to the Actions executed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU"). On or about April 17, 2015, in connection with the contemplated settlement of the Actions, Pharmacyclics issued the supplemental disclosures previously negotiated with Plaintiffs on SEC Schedule 14D-9 Amendment No. 1 (the "Supplemental Disclosures").
Prior to entering into the Stipulation, Plaintiffs conducted substantial confirmatory analysis, which included the review of additional documents produced by Defendants, and the depositions of Daniel Faga from Centerview Partners LLC ("Centerview") and Mike Gaito from J.P. Morgan. Centerview and J.P. Morgan each issued fairness opinions in connection with the Acquisition.
The settlement set forth in the Stipulation reflects the results of the parties' negotiations and the terms of the MOU. An agreement-in-principle was reached only after arm's-length negotiations between the parties who were all represented by counsel with extensive experience and expertise in shareholder class action litigation. During the negotiations, all parties had a clear view of the strengths and weaknesses of their respective claims and defenses. Plaintiffs and their counsel have concluded that the additional disclosures provided Pharmacyclics shareholders with material information sufficient to make an informed decision whether to vote their shares in favor of the Acquisition or seek appraisal of their Pharmacyclics shares. As a result, Plaintiffs and their counsel believe that the settlement is in the best interest of the Class.
As a direct result of the prosecution of the Actions and the extensive ongoing negotiations between the Settling Parties, a settlement has been reached under the following terms:
(a) In consideration for the full settlement and release of all Released Claims (as defined in the Stipulation), Defendants disclosed the following information on a Schedule 14D-9, which was filed with the SEC on or about April 17, 2015 (the "Supplemental Disclosures").
(i) the financial projections of Pharmacyclics for calendar years 2015-2028, and how those projections were calculated;
(ii) the fairness opinion of Centerview, one of the financial advisors to the Pharmacyclics Board of Directors, including its Selected Comparable Public Company Analysis, Selected Precedent Transactions Analysis, and Discounted Cash Flow Analysis; and
(iii) the fairness opinion of J.P. Morgan, Pharmacyclics' financial advisor, including its Public Trading Analysis Implied Equity Value for Pharmacyclics, Selected Transaction Analysis, and Discounted Cash Flow Analysis.
(b) Pharmacyclics or its successor(s) has also agreed to pay, or cause to be paid to, Plaintiffs' Counsel $725,000, for their attorneys' fees and expenses, subject to Court approval. This negotiated amount was agreed to after the MOU was executed. The settlement, however, is not conditioned on the Court awarding such an amount, or any particular amount, of attorneys' fees and expenses.
Although the information in this website is intended to assist you, it does not replace the information contained in the Amended Notice of Settlement of Class Action and Stipulation both which can be found and downloaded by clicking on the Case Documents tab above. We recommend that you read the Notice and other relevant case documents carefully.


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TV Ratings Report: Reeling Reality TVMatt Richenthal at . Comments
The first So You Think You Can Dance results show of the season fell a bit last night, dropping two-tenths of a ratings point among 18-49-year olds.
Elsewhere: Extreme Weight Loss fell to a season low, as did Big Brother and America's Got Talent. Indeed, it was a tough night to be a reality TV show...
8 p.m.
So You Think You Can Dance: 4.3 million viewers
NCIS rerun: 8.1 million
Extreme Weight Loss: 3.4 million
Betty White's Off Their Rockers: 3.5 million
Hart of Dixie: 730,000
9 p.m.
America's Got Talent: 9.3 million
Big Brother: 5.6 million
America's Next Top Model rerun: 480,000
10 p.m.
Person of Interest rerun: 4.4 million
Body of Proof rerun: 3 million
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.


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Engagement strategy template
This Engagement Strategy Template is intended to be a starting point for you to use in developing your project engagement strategy. Each section is set up for you to add information that meets your requirements. Prompts and example text is in italicised text and should be removed from your strategy document.
This template is also available as a downloadable Word document (.doc 237kB).
Engagement mandate
Engagement objectives
- Engagement phases
- Principles
- Engagement policy
- Key messages
- Topics open for discussion
- Engagement methods
- Protocols for engagement
[If your project is long term you might also consider providing a strategy snapshot at the start of your document.]
|Critical variables
|Planning the project
|Complete environmental scan
|To understand current awareness
|All New Zealanders who are eligible to vote
|Launching the project
|Close engagement
Project overview
- Project description
- Who is involved
- Project rationale – what is the purpose of the project? – generally, not just engagement.
Key project milestones
[Include milestones for both the engagement and the wider project.]
The key milestones for the project:
|Focused engagement with key stakeholders
|Develop draft strategy/policy, etc
|Engage on draft strategy/policy, etc
|Develop final strategy/policy, etc and summary of engagement
|Present final strategy/policy, etc and summary of engagement back to stakeholders (close the loop)
Status of the project
[Answer questions that provide clarity about the status of the project with respect to the community/stakeholder interests and views, current and past state of the project, e.g.:
- What do the community know, think of the project?
- Is this the first stage of engagement?
- What did previous communications and engagement look like – methods?
- Who has engaged with you on this issue – general description of awareness of issue and representation in discussion to date?
- What did they say about the project?]
Social, technical, economic and political considerations
- Are there any social and economic issues you should be aware of?
- Do you need to take into account literacy, language or cultural considerations?
- Is there any political sensitivity around the topic you are discussing?
- How technical are your stakeholders?
- Will they be able to access the internet and online tools for engagement?
- How can you help them engage?]
|General considerations
|Opportunity for project to have a positive impact
|Potential issues that may require management
|Digital literacy of community and accessibility of internet
How this strategy fits into the broader communications and engagement
|Corporate engagement strategy and tools
|How the strategy will integrate with offline project engagement
|Integration with other online methods:
Engagement mandate
[Describes the purpose and authority to engage.
See the guidance on confirming your mandate.
Also see the example mandates in Appendix A.]
Engagement objectives
[See the guidance on defining your engagement objectives.
Try and make your objectives SMART:
- Specific: target a specific area for improvement, explain why you are engaging
- Measurable: quantify what you hope to get out of the process
- Assignable: specify who will do it
- Realistic: state what results can realistically be achieved within given constraints (available resources, expertise, time, budget, etc)
- Time-related: specify when the result(s) can be achieved.]
The objectives of engagement for this project include:
|Build capability…
|Demonstrate and test…
|Gather input to inform…
[Here is a basic assessment of stakeholders and their interests in the project. See the guidance on stakeholder analysis for further detail.]
|Their interest in the project
|Level of input into the project
|Status of relationship
|Desired outcome
|Agency staff and management
|Regional Authority
|Local Government
|Central Government – agencies
|Industry stakeholders
|Business stakeholders
|Community groups
|Community members
[See the guidance on project resourcing for definitions of roles.
Note: Each person in the project team can take on multiple roles if they have the right skills.]
The project team consists of the following roles:
|Project team
|Contact details
|Senior Responsible Officer
|Project Manager
|Engagement Lead / Online Community Manager
|Subject Matter Expert
|Content Editor
|Technical Support
This team will work closely with:
|Wider team and support
|Contact details
|Web manager
|Privacy advisor
|Information and records manager
[Refer to your agency's financial policy regarding Capital and Operational expenditure.]
The project's estimated budget is:
|Date Due
|Marketing – online and offline
|Engagement tools - selection and configuration; procurement/development and security accreditation
|Strategy development. It is common for project teams to seek advice outside their agency or team to draft or review a strategy.
|Technical service provision, e.g. website development and system integration, and ongoing technical support
|Legal advice
|Forum moderation, online community management and facilitation.
|Content development practitioners
|Requirements gathering, selection and configuration of tools – increasingly from independent
Engagement approach
Engagement phases
[See the guidance on engagement phases.]
|1 Sep – 1 Oct
|Planning the project
Gather input
Listen - Research to identify community and stakeholders, and how they engage with each other and around the topic
Crowd source ideas
|1 Oct – 1 Nov
|Launching the project
|Announce project
Inform interested stakeholders
Encourage participation
|1 Nov – 31 Dec
Collect feedback on, and discuss aspects of, proposed solution
Responsive engagement
Internal process to analyse all information collected during consultation
|31 Dec
|Close engagement
|Ongoing engagement
[Determine what principles fit your overall engagement strategy and consider which ones are specific to certain phases. Recommended principles are:
Build trust through transparency and responsiveness - Be clear and open about the process, and provide a public record of the organisers, sponsors, outcomes, and range of views and ideas expressed. Meaningful and responsive engagement builds trust and confidence in Government's ability to deliver to people's needs.
Encourage collaboration - Support and encourage people, the public sector, community groups and others to work together to improve government.
Encourage openness and learning - Create a safe environment to explore new ideas, learn and apply information in ways that generate options collaboratively and make sure engagement is effective and relevant.
Set clear expectations - Set expectations about the purpose of the engagement and how much influence people will have over the outcomes.
Be inclusive and reflect diversity - Include a wide range of people, voices, ideas, and information to lay the groundwork for results that reflect the views of all stakeholders.
Make engagement standard practice - Promote a culture of engagement as standard practice across the public sector in support of ongoing public participation.
Honour the Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tīrīti O Waitangi - Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tīrīti work together to protect our respective rights and uphold our responsibilities to realise common and distinctive aspirations for increasing and improving fair and active participation.
Plan and prepare carefully - Through adequate and inclusive planning, ensure that engagement serves both a clearly defined purpose and the needs of the participants.]
Engagement policy
[An 'engagement policy' is the standard you apply when engaging. It defines the principles and rules of engagement for you and your stakeholders. It also provides a basis for your engagement strategy and ensures your project mandate and engagement principles are endorsed and implemented.
See the guidance on developing your engagement policy.
Also see the example moderation policy in Appendix B.
Use the statements below to describe your engagement policy at a high level.]
- Online engagement will be used to support delivery of the [project name] stakeholder engagement and communications strategy.
- Feedback will be gathered through [eg website/social media/email address].
- Feedback will be recorded, analysed and reported progressively to the project team by [name of person or group responsible].
- Feedback will be published according to the moderation policy by [name of person or group responsible] on [eg website/social media] within [timeframe] after being received.
- Engagement will be [reactive and/or proactive] with content used both planned and responsive.
- Analytics, interactions and key terms will be monitored [daily/weekly] by [name of person or group responsible] and reported to the project team [daily/weekly].
- [Name of person or group responsible] will be empowered to manage community and online channels in real-time on behalf of [project name] within the terms of the agreed issues escalation policy
- The [organisation or project name] moderation policy will be published on [eg website/social media] (and is attached to this strategy).
Key messages
[Consider what key messages are needed for your engagement strategy. You might want to think about:
- About the project – what is your story?
- Organisations team and role – personalize
- Current understanding of the problem, project rationalization
- Role of engagement and community input in the project
- What the outcomes of the project will be
- Timeframes.]
|Key message
|Supporting details
|Meaningful and responsive engagement builds trust and confidence in Government's ability to deliver to people's needs.
|Transparency International rates New Zealand as the second most trusted country.
Topics open for discussion
|Topic guidelines
|What aspects of the project are open to influence…?
List the key decisions / changes to be made
|Key decisions and changes
What do you want / need to know
|What do you want / need to know?
|About the Community
|About the Stakeholders
|About Potential Impacts
What are your questions?
|To the Local community
|To the Wider stakeholders
|To the Community organisations
Engagement methods
This section includes a general description of methods to be used. For more detail about these methods and how they will be managed see the content strategy and protocols for engagement.
[See the guidance on engagement methods.]
|Inform and invite participation
|For example, methods to:
|Research and collect input
|Crowd source and discuss ideas
|Engage to build capability
|Consultation around strategy
|Responsive engagement methods
|Closing the project
|Ongoing engagement
Protocols for engagement
Relationship management
How and who will contact and manage ongoing liaisons/relationships with stakeholder groups.
|Stakeholder group
|Relationship manager
|Community members
|All communications with community members and stakeholders will be documented in [name of document and location] and shared with [name of person or group].
|Specific community groups
Management of information collected
[See the guidance on managing, responding to and sharing feedback.]
- Consent for the collection and use of [type of information] will be collected at [name of document and location] and a copy of the consent statement will be attached.
- Information and enquiries about the project may be collected through:
- In person – at events, customer service centre
- Phone – we call them or they call us
- Email – contact us page or direct to staff of
- Written correspondence
- Social Media
- Events
- Information will be collated and stored in the following ways:
- Feedback gathered at events – will be recorded and handed over to [name of person or group].
- Social media – discussion about this project on social media will be captured and treated as input if it uses #[hashtag]or @[Twitter handle]. This information will be captured using [name of app or document]
- Submissions – will be formally collected through an online form on the website or through mail to [name of person or group] then shared with [name of person or group].
- Emails – any email related to the project will be [name of person or group].
- Phone – calls will not be recorded. Callers will be encouraged to use online methods to provide input. If this is not possible a summary may be uploaded into [name of document, website or other location] for ongoing issues and relationship management.
- Submissions will be published publicly in accordance to [name of policy] policy.
- All records will be retained in accordance with the [name of organisation or project] Privacy Statement, records management protocols and advice provided by [name of person or group].
- Information collected will be used to develop reports as follows.
- Progressive reporting to community and stakeholders engaged.
- Weekly reports will be provided to [name of project] project team about:
- Level of participation
- Key themes.
- Monthly report will be provided to [list governance body]about x, y, and z.
- At the end of consultation a full consultation report will be provided to [list governance body and other key stakeholders].
- A public consultation report will be published on [name of website or other location]. This document will/will not include personal details of submitters/participants, or other personal information.
Management of online channels
|Responsible person
|Manage online channels – branding decisions, configuration and approval to launch
|Manage access to online tools – login details
|List who will be given access and why
|Process to pre-test online engagement methods
|Describe the process
|Create content
|Review content
|Approve content
|Develop the moderation policy
Check if your organisation already has one you can refer to. Also see the example moderation policy in Appendix B.
|Develop the social media policy
Check if your organisation already has one you can refer to
|Who will you follow?
|Manage the online community
|Provide responsive engagement
|What type of content will you like and share?
Responsive engagement
- To ensure timely response and effective community management staff will:
- Monitor pages and moderate comments – in accordance with the moderation policy
- Respond to enquiries using responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ)
- Acknowledging and encouraging participation by thanking community members for comments and asking for clarification when they do not understand comments made
- Proactively manage issues
- Issues will be managed to:
- Protect the [name of organisation] brand and reputation
- Protect privacy of our stakeholders
- Responses to comments will acknowledge input, answer questions, correct misinformation, encourage and direct ongoing discussion
- Updates on the project – progress updates, photos from events and from team meetings will be used to demonstrate transparency and provide updates on how input is being used and considered (see the content strategy)
- The project team may also wish to ask follow up questions about feedback and/or provide a response to feedback throughout the process.
Handling of enquiries and issues management
- All enquiries will be:
- Responded to within [list expected response time] timeframe as outlined in the response policy
- Responded to using the standard responses with new content added to a central [name of document, website or other location]
- Documented – see management of information from stakeholders
- Any reoccurring requests for information or frequently occurring issues will be responded to through [name of person or group].
- [Name of person or group] has been nominated and empowered to respond on behalf of the team if issues relate to the standard responses
- If a question arises that is outside of the scope of the approved responses the online community manager will draft a response and obtain approval from [name of person or group] via [method eg email, memo]. This response will then be added to the standard response.
- If an issue arises that has the potential to impact on the [name of organisation] reputation or brand, [name of person or group] will [name of person or group] to inform them of the issue and suggest actions to be taken. [Name of person or group] will then advise how best to inform and request involvement of the [name of person title] if required.
- Media enquiries and/or issues will be: referred to [name of person or group].
- Enquiries by Ministers will be referred to [name of person or group].
Content strategy
- Proactive content - a storyboard of content will be created using:
- Evidence/information used to inform draft proposals
- Updates on the finalisation of the [XXXX]
- Promotion of engagement events being held
- Details about related projects and programs
- Videos – [created content], Voxpops from events, advertisements
- Photos – from events, from across [events, groups, promotions], drawing from events, photos from across [name of website or app] (user-generated photos)
- Power points – used at events will be [name and location of source file].
- Responsive content:
- Participation on social media during events
- Progressive informal summaries of feedback provided
- Media releases
- Reports and materials used by the project team to inform draft proposals
- Facts about [name and / or focus of project]
- Articles and updates about [name and / or focus of project] from reputable sources around the world
- Related community events
- Related activities across Government
- Relevant stakeholders, community leaders, networks and groups will be identified, monitored and their participation encouraged
- Recognize and support the efforts of our partners and community groups who are supporting engagement.
Evaluation process
- Evaluation process: [name of person or group] will conduct the evaluation at [expected date or timeframe] date and on a fortnightly basis using the metrics and processes outlined in the evaluation section of this document.
Post – consultation engagement handover
- If the project team is not responsible for ongoing engagement, what is the handover process of systems, relationships and issues outside the scope of the project to [name of person or group] team within your organisation and/or [name of person or group]team outside your organization (taking into account information management requirements).
Implementation plan
|Engagement objective
|1 Sep – 1 Oct
|Planning the project
|1 Oct – 1 Nov
|Launching the project
|1 Nov – 31 Dec
|31 Dec
|Close engagement
|Ongoing engagement
Measures of success
[See the guidance on metrics of success.]
We will know we are successful when we have:
- Reached [number] number of stakeholders
- When [ %]% of the number of stakeholders engaged represent [number] of the population
- Volume of input exceeds [number]
- The quality of input reflects an understanding of [issue, constraints, budget etc]
Process to evaluate
[Name and/or focus of project] will be monitored through [which] measures and reported through [name of report and/or recipients] reports on a [add frequency] basis.
Appendix A: Engagement mandate
Example 1: Mandate template
This example template has been adapted from training materials shared publicly by the Consultation Institute, in the United Kingdom.
We… [Name of person or group responsible for the consultation]
need to hear the views of the... [target stakeholders or community - stakeholder types, demographics, geographic area, those directly or indirectly impacted or interested in the issue.]
about... [Issue you asking the community and stakeholders about]
so that... [Decision-maker who is responsible for making the decision/changes after consultation]
can... [make X decision and do X after consultation]
on/by... [add date] when the [focus of project] action /[focus of project] decision needs to take place
so as to achieve / accomplish... [Corporate or project objectives. Contribute to other objectives]
[Also see the guidance on defining your engagement objectives and metrics of success.]
Example 2: Mandate as a simple statement
We are engaging [stakeholder group 1] and [stakeholder group 2] about X and Y because we want to understand Z so that we can do [focus of project] in a way that ensures [stakeholder group 1] and [stakeholder group 2] are able to maximise opportunities around [objectives of the project].
Engaging [stakeholder groups/types] in this way will help us to make a decision about how to take Z into account when doing [focus of the project].
When we get this right we will have achieved [objectives of the project] with the support of stakeholders [stakeholder group 1] and [stakeholder group 2].
Appendix B: Moderation policy
If you are directly responsible for pre- or post-publication moderation of user content, it is important to provide a moderation policy explaining what form of moderation is being applied, who is responsible and how users can contact them.
A moderation policy should always link back to the discussion rules. Wherever possible, an alternative means by which a user can contact the consulting organisation should also be provided in case of a dispute.
When hosting a discussion on a third-party site, check the terms of use on that site and consider adding any additional rules to the space you are providing moderation for.
An example moderation policy for a discussion forum may look like the following:
Will X consultation/policy team be participating in the discussions?
Yes, relevant team representatives intend to regularly visit the forum discussions and, where appropriate, submit posts to encourage discussion.
What is moderation?
Moderation is the practice of facilitating online interaction to ensure that everyone can take part in discussion, get their views across and that the consultation meets its objectives. It is also about maintaining the flow of the discussion by checking all posts in relation to the terms and conditions of the site.
What is a moderator?
'Moderator' is a term for someone who is responsible for making sure that the forum discussion rules are adhered to. A moderator is similar to a chair of a face-to-face meeting and is there to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and able to participate in the online discussion.
Who are the moderators of this discussion forum?
This forum will be moderated by the X consultation/policy team. The moderators always aim to be fair and objective. Moderators are concerned with the quality of the discussion not the interests of one individual, group or idea over another.
Direct communication between the participants and the moderators can take place via email. The moderators' email address is X.
What form of moderation will be used in this discussion forum?
There are two types of moderation available:
- Pre-publication moderation: where all posts are checked against the terms and conditions before they are published.
- Post-publication moderation: where all participant posts are checked against the terms and conditions after they are published.
This forum will employ a [pre- / post-] moderation strategy. This means that posts will/will not [delete as appropriate] go live instantly. They will be checked regularly [define timeframe] by the moderators.
During the working week, all posts will go live within 24 hours of submission. Posts made during the weekend will go live on the following business day. Forum spaces are readable at all times and you can submit a post at any time.
Send us your feedback
The guidance is a work in progress, so please email us your feedback on how useful you found it, what was missing, how it could be improved.
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Image enhanced to show deliciousness!
Cereal du>"/>
Cereal Philanderer is a weekly feature in which Jason Sheehan talks about cereal more than he probably should.
Image enhanced to show deliciousness!
Cereal du jour: Fruity Pebbles, the cereal of creationists and brand marketers.
History: This week, I'd planned to make up an entire false history of Fruity Pebbles, linking it to creationists and the Christian church, claiming that it existed solely as a guerrilla-marketing experiment and an attempt to subtly sway the opinions of America's children in the direction of their ridiculous (but fun!) anti-science agenda. But then I read a little about the real history of the stuff, and decided that this was one of those moments where the truth really was stranger and more interesting than anything I could make up because Fruity Pebbles actually stands as the first example of multi-platform media branding in breakfast cereals. In Fruity Pebbles is the history of every box of Urkel-O's and Bill & Ted's Excellent Cereal ever sold.
You see, back in 1969, Post Cereals was suffering. For reasons that mystify cereal historians, Post just seemed categorically incapable of selling sugar to children for breakfast. One possible cause might have been the fact that they couldn't name a cereal to save their lives. What would eventually become Fruity Pebbles was originally marketed as "Sugar Rice Krinkles," and that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
Enter Larry Weiss, Post's embattled Product Group Manager. He had this crazy idea that to bump up sales of Sugar Rice Krinkles he would license the use of The Flintstones from Hanna-Barbera and slap images from the popular prime-time cartoon all over the box. Until then, some clever cereal executives had used licensed characters for promotional purposes, but no one had ever thought of building an entire brand around a licensed property. At the time, it seemed crazy. Internally, a lot of cereal executives thought Weiss was crazy--that if he was lucky, he'd get a year out of his cartoony cereal experiment before it fell off the radar and left the Post children's-cereal division in even worse straits.
Then there was also the problem of the name. Obviously, no one was buying Sugar Rice Krinkles. But the tie-in names developed for the newly licensed cereal were Flint Chips (for what would soon become Fruity Pebbles) and Rubble Stones (for Cocoa Pebbles--because, you know, what kid wouldn't love to eat rocks for breakfast?
These names were if possible even worse than Sugar Rice Krinkles, and the task of coming up with a name that someone, somewhere might think was actually appetizing was handed to the creative types in advertising who came up with Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles. Again, these weren't perfect, but they were an improvement. The product inside the box was essentially the same Sugar Rice Krinkles that had been such an abysmal failure, just jacked up with more sugar, brighter colors, and "fruity" flavors, but when the "new and improved" cereal launched on the West Coast in 1969, it was an instant hit. A national roll-out followed. Consumers went crazy for it. And Fruity Pebbles has been among the most consistently best-selling breakfast cereals ever since--a 42-year run that laid the groundwork for every crappy cartoon-based cereal and TV-and-movie tie-in that followed. Mr. T cereal? Wouldn't have existed without Fruity Pebbles, The Flintstones, and Larry Weiss. And if there isn't already, there should be a shrine to Mr. Weiss somewhere in Battle Creek, before which newly minted ad execs and product developers could bow and give thanks.
The Box: Even though most kids (and some adults) eating this cereal have probably never seen the Flintstones anywhere else, every single box of Fruity Pebbles still features Fred and/or Barney and probably a dinosaur or two. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The Product: So sweet, so sugary, so many colors . . . The formula for Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles has remained essentially unchanged for decades. It eats like shards of shattered sugar, tastes like drinking a home chemistry set, and looks like a rainbow exploded in the bowl. Leave the stuff too long, and it will change your milk color to a disgusting purply shade that subconsciously screams "Poison!" But straight from the box, while still crisp, two bowls of this stuff can give you a sugar rush like shotgunning a bottle of high-fructose corn syrup. Despite the fact that I know how bad it is for me, I sometimes can't help but eat it. And no one can eat just one bowl at a time.
Best Feature: It's like eating a hundred back issues of Advertising Age magazine. Also, it tastes like being shot in the mouth with a blunderbuss packed with rock sugar and chemically derived fruit flavinoids.
Worst Feature: If it turns milk that color, imagine what it's doing to your insides. Or better yet, don't.
Is It Better or Worse Than Apple Jacks?: Worse. WAY worse. But still, Fruity Pebbles have their time and place, and when I get a hunger for their particular crunch and over-the-top flavor of polydextrose and blue dye #4, nothing else on the shelves can compare.
Yeah, you know you want more... For all the food news of the day, 140 characters at a time, follow me on Twitter @Jason_Sheehan


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Scott's insights of increased success through accountability are powerful
Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) November 29, 2013
Author Scott Schwab shows readers how they can achieve incredible success using a secret that has been hidden in plain sight for ages, personal responsibility. "Standing Accountable: Increase Your Success by Holding Yourself Responsible" presents readers with a key to success that every great leader has had: accountability. The book is available for purchase at http://www.standingaccountable.com.
"Scott's insights of increased success through accountability are powerful. His true-to-life accounts resonate in a strong and very personal way. Overcoming his own personal adversity to stand accountable, not only have made this author a great man, but make his book a must read." – James Clarke, CEO/Managing Partner at Clarke Capital Partners
Standing Accountable starts with thoughts and intentions and provides stepping stones to increasing personal power through responsibility. Changing your thought processes will allow you to see and seize opportunities as they present themselves. Schwab will show readers how to be the change in their own lives.
"Scott Schwab revels how he learned personal accountability and offers profound advice on its importance to those seeking success in business and in life." – Kay Koplivitz, Founder of USA Network
A true entrepreneur, Schwab has active roles with multiple companies, and consults both individuals and businesses on new and refreshing ways to improve. From working with Fortune 50 companies, Inc. 500 companies, and committing to the decision of being a business owner and creating jobs; the number one concept taught and learned by Schwab is accountability. Through his experiences, Schwab lives with the idea that accountability is the key to success.
Scott Schwab is a husband and father of three children, with another one on the way. The family lives in Utah and enjoy the outdoors, being active and living life with the goal of becoming more, being more and empowering more, through accountability. Accountability is the key to the development, satisfaction and success of everything.


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- This event has passed.
Burn & Brew Group Run
February 7 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 6:00pm on Wednesday, repeating until February 28, 2018
Burn & Brew Weekly Group Run
Stop by Tradition Brewing every Wednesday and join our Burn&Brew running group. Meet the folks from Flat Out Events and Point 2 Running out front by 6PM. All levels are welcome so grab a running buddy, lace up your shoes and come on by. The same quick 3-mile loop around City Center will warm up your taste buds. Afterwards, almost all runners gather inside the tasting room to reward themselves with a nice cold Tradition craft beer off the tap.
This is not a 21+ event, therefore all ages are welcome


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Who can resist a pink box featuring adorable fluffy kitties? NOT ME!
The colour is marvellous and I didn't realize that the soles are made of wood! That makes them even cooler. They're also hand made, which is another plus.
I bought them on Free People and the price was the best around. I also got free shipping. Ahhhh! I am in shoe heaven! Check 'em out here if you're interested!
I hope everyone had a great day! <3


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This is a digital file
Bless Your Heart word art svg and printable design - cut file for cameo and cricut svg, png, dxf, epsYou will receive the following in a ZIP file:1 SVG vector files (compatible with Silhouette Studio Cameo, Cricut, etc.) 1 PNG files Transparent Background - High resolution 300 dpi 1 EPS files, editable with Illustrator and some other design software1 DXF filesPLEASE NOTE: This product is a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. You will not receive a physical product. You will only receive the file via download.Due to the digital nature of this product, all sales are FINAL.Have an idea for a design? Please send me a message and I would be happy to create it for you.By purchasing this product, you are thereby agreeing to the copyright terms. You may not sell this or any other file purchased from Curtis Cuttables. Under no circumstances are you allowed to alter, copy, share or redistribute this design in any manner.Check out more at CurtisCuttables! Thank you for your business!


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The MSR WindBurner Stove System is a camping stove for solo trips into the backcountry. Using the same technology from the Reactor® stove, the radiant burner is wrapped inside a windproof design so you can quickly bring water to a boil for your next meal or morning coffee. The mug can be used to eat or drink from directly thanks to the cozy wrapped around it for safety from heat, just unlock it from the stove base and secure the detachable bowl. The lid features a hole to be used for straining excess liquid as well as drinking out of. When meal time is over, pack everything into the mug and off to bed or your next camp.
So sorry, but only 4 items are allowed for comparison, so we're comparing the first 4. I blame the gnomes and so should you.
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Tours & Transport around Moray and Speyside. Airport transfers to & from Aberdeen or Inverness airports.
Range of tours from bespoke, whisky, food & drink, breweries, golf & local attractions.
Please call or email for more information. Thanks David
David Ross
26 St Andrews Square
Elgin, Moray
Mobile: 07724095739
Web site © Dufftown 2000 Ltd, Speyside, Scotland
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Boat Deck
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017
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Here there are some details about Electronic Art's press conference along with the complete list of announced games. Something that kept coming up during the conference was "Origin", EA's new steam-like service. Origin will be used as the company's main digital distribution service. Also, there are many rumors about the system coming to mobile platforms soon, but let's not focus on that right now. Here's the complete list of games that were announced at the show:
Mass Effect 3: an amazing live demo was shown. The game will be released on March 3rd, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Casey Hudson explained how Mass Effect was originally planned as a trilogy.
Need for Speed: The Run: the game will have AutoLog integration even on the main campaign. Also, and for the first time on a Need for Speed game players will be able to leave the car. The on foot sequences seem really fast-paced and they make use of quick-time events.
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Presented by one of the Bioware doctors (Greg). The demo was in fact a full motion video trailer of the game.
SSX: not at all what I was expecting, especially considering the style of the last teaser trailer shown at the Video Game Awards last year. The video was much more colorful and reminiscent of all SSX games. Peter Moore later on explained how maps from NASA can be used to create the different game's courses. EA definitely wants to reinvent the saga, so now they are offering an open world experience along with three types of gameplay: race it, trick it and survival. The game will be coming out next January.
FIFA 12: graphics were improved and a new physics system is used. Furthermore, EA announced the "Football Club", a new social program for FIFA 12 players.
Madden 12: will be coming out in August 30th, 2011.
The Sims Social for Facebook was announced, the video looked terrible, the idea seems horrible, no further comments…
Reckoning: developed by 38 Studios, the game will be released 2012 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Overstrike: developed by the Insomniac guys the game follows a group of mercenaries called Overstrike 9. The title will be multiplatform and the presentation included another FMV trailer.
Battlefield 3: Finally, the game most people were waiting for. A multiplayer trailer was shown along with a single player demo. Graphics looked amazing and the demos were in fact really long. Also, Battle Log, another social network service was announced allowing players to create platoons and squads much more easily. The open beta will be available really soon and the full retail version of the game will come out in October 25th, 2011.


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Pecan Crusted Trout
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Author Notes: There's something about the natural sweetness of trout that, when combined with pecans and lightly kissed with honey, seems to pull it all together! —LE BEC FIN
Serves: 2
1/2 cup ground pecans
1/2 cup dry unflavored bread crumbs
2 pinches each Kosher salt and pepper
4 3 ounce trout filets, skin on
EVOO or unsalted butter
1-2 Tablespoons mild honey
- Combine the pecans, bread crumbs and Salt and Pepper in a small shallow dish the size of a trout filet. Press the fish side of each filet in the mixture to coat evenly, place on its skin side on a flat surface and chill for 1/2 hour. Sautee the trout filets in a heated- til -hot blend of butter and EVOO., beginning with the nut side down. When browned after 2-3 minutes, turn fish over and finish 1-2 minutes, just til fish is opaque in the center. Plate fish and drizzle lightly with heated honey. (Heated maple syrup can be substituted if you have no honey.)
- * Nice accompanied by winter squash and sauteed greens or green beans, but not cheesy dishes.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe with Honey


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The Higher Education and Workforce Subcommittee in the Florida House of Representatives today unanimously approved HB 137 to rename Edison State College to Florida SouthWestern State College. The bill is sponsored by Representative Matt Hudson, whose District 80 area includes Hendry County and part of Collier County.
"We have already seen the economic benefits gained when we promote our region as a whole to attract new businesses, so changing the name of Edison State College to Florida SouthWestern State College is a natural extension of that," said Representative Matt Hudson. "This new name will only help raise awareness of our region and the opportunities it offers."
"This is a great step forward in the process of a name that will embrace the five counties we serve," said Dr. Jeff Allbritten, President, Edison State College. "Florida SouthWestern State College immediately identifies the region we represent, which spans over 4,700 square miles."
The next step, said Matthew Holliday, Director of Government Relations at Edison State College, is for the bills to continue to be heard in the committee process and they will receive a final vote in the Florida Senate and House during the spring legislative session.


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October 1, 2003ñMarch 31, 2004
Office of the Inspector General
The U.S. Attorneys' Offices
U.S. Attorneys serve as the federal government's principal criminal and civil litigators and conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party. Under the direction of the Attorney General, 93 U.S. Attorneys are stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. More than 11,600 employees work in those offices and in the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA).
Reports Issued
Critical Incident Response Plans
The OIG reviewed the USAOs' implementation of the Crisis Management Coordinator (CMC) Program, which is intended to improve the USAOs' ability to respond quickly and appropriately to critical incidents ranging from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. We examined the training provided to staff, the exercises conducted to respond to critical incidents, and the critical incident response plans the USAOs developed. In addition, we reviewed the administration and support the Criminal Division's Counterterrorism Section and the EOUSA provided to the CMC Program.
We found that although the Counterterrorism Section, the EOUSA, and the USAOs had taken significant steps to improve the prevention of terrorist attacks, the CMC Program had not been implemented adequately to ensure the USAOs are fully prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to critical incidents. We found the USAOs' critical incident response plans were inadequate, few USAOs had conducted exercises to test their plans, and training for CMCs was not sufficient. These deficiencies have existed from the inception of the program in 1996 and still have not been fully addressed. We concluded that the deficiencies leave the Department less prepared than it could be - and should be - to respond if terrorist attacks or other critical incidents occur.
For example, although the Department identified 48 fundamental actions in 1999 that the USAOs should take when responding to a critical incident, the plans most of the USAOs developed did not include guidance to ensure all of those actions would be accomplished. Examples of the actions to be taken in the event of an incident include coordinating and conducting interviews, managing crime scenes, and deploying USAO resources to the FBI's command post. Only 12 of the 76 plans we reviewed addressed at least 24 of the 48 actions, and 3 of them failed to address any of the 48 actions.
We made ten recommendations to help increase the USAOs' overall preparedness to respond to critical incidents, including revising their plans to address the action items identified by the Department and participating in periodic exercises to test the plans. The Criminal Division and the EOUSA concurred with nine of our recommendations and partially concurred with the tenth.
Payments to Vendors
Our audit assessed whether payments the USAOs made to vendors were in accordance with federal regulations and the policies prescribed by the EOUSA. We tested third-party drafts, purchase cards, electronic fund transfers, and Treasury check payments made by the EOUSA and six USAOs. We sampled a total of 1,517 out of 30,422 transactions at the seven locations. The dollar value of our combined sampled transactions was $2,755,123 out of a total of $31,726,084.
Overall, we found that the procurement and payment directives issued by the EOUSA and other authorities established a system that was sufficient to prevent or detect fraud, loss, or error in payments to vendors. We found an overall low error rate in our tests of the procurement and payment system, indicating that the USAOs generally complied with the directives. However, we found that the procurement authorization forms used by the USAOs to request, approve, and document purchases were inconsistently designed, and some forms did not contain important elements required by procurement regulations. As a result, some acquisition requirements were not being met and were not properly documented.
We made seven recommendations for corrective action that included enhancing existing forms and monthly statements used in the acquisition and payment process, expanding the review process, and reviewing current acquisition and payment limits. We also recommended improved documentation of the actions taken by accountable officers. The EOUSA agreed with our recommendations and is taking corrective action to address them.
The following is an example of cases involving USAOs that the OIG investigated during this reporting period:
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The ATF enforces the federal laws on firearms, explosives, and arson and administers the U.S. Criminal Code provisions on alcohol and tobacco smuggling and diversion. It seeks to combat terrorism, conduct fair and effective regulation of the firearms and explosives industries, and provide training and expertise to federal, state, local, and international law enforcement partners. Its nearly 4,700 special agents, inspectors, regulatory specialists, forensic auditors, laboratory technicians, and other personnel work primarily in 23 field divisions across the 50 states and in offices in Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, and France.
The following is an example of cases involving the ATF that the OIG investigated during this reporting period:
Ongoing Work
The Federal Firearms Licensee Inspection Program
The OIG is examining the effectiveness of the ATF's enforcement of federal firearms laws through its federal firearms licensee inspection program. The review is assessing whether the program is effectively ensuring compliance with federal firearms laws and how program violations are identified and corrected.
Implementation of the Safe Explosives Act
The OIG is assessing the ATF's implementation of the Safe Explosives Act, a subsection of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which is intended to prevent explosives accidents and reduce the possibility of the theft of explosives for potential terrorist use.
Enforcement and Referral of Brady Act Violations
The OIG is examining whether the ATF is effectively investigating and referring for prosecution violations of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that are identified through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Specifically, the review is assessing whether the ATF is investigating those cases involving firearms issued to prohibited individuals - and retrieving the weapons - in a timely manner; the extent to which the ATF is investigating other Brady Act violations; and the extent to which Brady Act violations are being prosecuted by the USAOs.


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Buddhist monks
The January 19, 2012 Japan Times story "Matchmaking service gives Buddhist monks a boost in dating market"describes efforts being made by some Buddhist sects here to ensure that all their temples are provided with monks and that there are enough monks to sustain their sects without having to integrate with other Buddhist sects to survive. Usually the leadership of temples passes within families, from monks to their sons. But the convention is under threat by a growing lack of interest in religion, a lack of willingness of women to marry into and live a temple lifestyle and a resulting inability to procreate sufficiently.
I can't help but think that there must be a better word to apply to male Buddhist religious than "monk." If there isn't, then perhaps we ought to make one, because in English "monk" denotes a man living in a separated religious community and abiding by vows - especially of poverty, obedience, chastity, humility - in pursuit of spiritual purification through the self-discipline of asceticism, study, worship and service. Not for his own good but for the good of all mankind. Instead, Japanese Buddhist monks seem to live a life of indulgence which does not earn my respect. Matchmaking for monks, for instance, sounds more than ridiculous. What kind of spiritual self-discipline are they showing me? Publicly enduring a frigid New Year's purification bath ("Spiritual Swim" front page photograph on January 9th) doesn't recommend anything to me. When I first came to Japan I toured temples in Kamakuraand was interested to see the monk's cottage there, with the monk's satellite dish on the roof, his Mercedes Benz out front, and his wife hanging up his laundry out back. I thought, "What kind of monk has a wife, a car and a satellite dish? He doesn't drink alcohol and smoke tobacco too, does he?" Later I learned that they do. I know it's a lingering bit of culture shock, and that maybe I ought to learn a new definition of "monk" to match the culture here. But, instead, so long as we are using that word, then I am still of the opinion that Japanese culture ought to learn a new definition of "monk."
Japanese Buddhist monks live a life of indulgence that does not earn my respect.
The explanation of Buddhist monks' indulging habits, of course, is that Buddhism has a totally different take on the sin and guilt package. It lacks a distinct doctrine of the Depravity of Man due to a Fall from Grace. In other words, we are not irretrievably bad. The world and everything in it is good, and it is good not to mention natural to partake of everything in the world, even to drunken excess. Certainly mankind is depraved in the Buddhist view. But our depravity stems from ego-driven desires that divorce us from a proper spiritual life (recognition of the unity of Brahma) and relationship to the world around us. It does not stem from a flawed design to begin with. Judgment, guilt and punishment are more typically Western hang-ups, hence the emphasis in Western monasticism of asceticismrather than estheticism.


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Go Back: Home
Food Expiration Date Labels Trick People into Wasting Food, Money, and Natural Resources
New NRDC report dissects the problems with "best before" labels
Words such as convoluted, confusing, inconsistent, ineffective, disorienting, ambiguous and dizzying are not terms you want to hear associated with a system you believe is designed to guarantee food safety. Yet those are the adjectives that a new report – "The Dating…
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by: Dana Frasz – September 19, 2013
Food Shift
Making Food Recovery a Valued Service
Imagine going to the grocery store and buying 10 bags full of food. Now imagine throwing four of those bags in the trash. Seems crazy, right? But on a much larger scale, this is what's happening every day in homes, businesses, and institutions throughout the United States. Forty percent of the food produced in the US is wasted every year, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council report. It's happening at all…
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by: Dana Frasz – Spring 2013


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THE GOSPEL TRUTH by Katie Watts
reprinted from The Petaluma Argus-Courier by permission.
Wednesday, October 27,1999
"A new community gospel choir, Wings of Glory, praises the Lord with joyful song"
During the day, Patty Graham works as a medical technologist at Petaluma Valley Hospital. If she hums while she's working, though, it's because her avocation is music.
A singer and oboe player...Graham is the organizer of the new choir on the block, Wings of Glory Community Gospel Choir. "I did it for selfish reasons, " she says. "I wanted a place to sing gospel."
Gospel, she says, is not easy to define because it comes in so many different forms. "Some think of country music or contemporary Christian. We're singing black gospel, from the blues, from jazz, what has evolved over time from the Negro spiritual to become the worship music of the black community."
By definition, Graham continues, "Gospel is religious music. One of the themes you hear all the time in gospel is us telling God he is worthy of our praise."
She became involved in gospel five years ago, when she was invited to a workshop by the Lighthouse Singers, a noted Marin County gospel group. "I knew what gospel was: you see it on TV; I'd seen 'Sister Act', so I was interested and when I went to the workshop, I was hooked.
"It's such a joyful, inclusive kind of music."
She's sung gospel and attended workshops in Marin and Sonoma Counties, where "most of the people in the groups are white, but they have black leadership."
Wings of Glory is, Graham says, "not just my idea, but God's idea." When Graham spoke of her desire for a gospel choir in Petaluma, Lighthouse Singers director Deborah Thompson offered her help "in any way." This evolved into her running an entire Saturday workshop.
"That's where it really started, the workshop and a questionnaire that indicated there was a ground swell of participants who really wanted to do this on a regular basis".
A big problem, Graham says, has been in finding someone who plays the piano the way they do in gospel, first listening to a tape and then improvising. She's been lucky enough to find Tule Zamiat. "She amazes me, how well she plays this [style of] piano, she plays it the way gospel needs to be played."
Graham says Wings of Glory has a core group now of about 30 members. They rehearse at Elim from 7 to 9 p.m. [on Mondays.]
What does it take to be a member of a gospel choir? "A love of music," answers Graham. "That's just about it. Unless you are tone deaf you can sing gospel. If nothing else, you can sing the tune with the sopranos.
"This group sings in four-part harmony. There are people who don't read music, who don't sing in another choir, and don't have any musical training, but because we learn by rote it's easy to catch on.
"A small problem exists in that a lot of us are trained musicians, and we're used to having the music with the notes and rhythm. It took me almost a year not to be a [classical] music snob."
The reason almost all of the music is learned by rote (one person singing the line to the others) is also rooted in the black tradition. Gospel began during a time when few could read, either words or music, and there was no money for music books, so the words and the music were passed from person to person in a hands-on learning method.
The attitude Graham projects at rehearsals - positive, loving and accepting - is reflected back at her by the singers. Although the group is only a few months old, it's clear the singers are there because they love what they're singing and are doing their best to master the very different style gospel requires.
Marleen Smith, who has sung gospel before, sings barefoot, explaining it takes her more deeply into the feeling of the music. "I never wear shoes when I sing.
"When you sing gospel," she demonstrates, swaying, "you never move your feet, it has to be the whole body feeling."
Later in the rehearsal, Graham comments, "You sound great- but you sound like a sweet church choir. You need to sing it in short clips, Like this." And she sings: "God. He keeps. Makin' a way for me. And yes. He keeps. Openin' doors for me!"
She goes on to explain that contrary to classical music, you're encouraged to use "S's". Also, "In gospel you are allowed to clap, you are allowed to hoot and holler and I want to hear it!"
Later, Graham comments about a particular line, "Let's sing it about four times. Sometimes, though, you keep going because it sounds so good you don't want to quit. This is not about technical perfection," she encourages. "It's about joy; about joy and praising God."


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Kensal Green Backpackers
Real Reviews
Real reviews from fellow travellers
These are trusted reviews from guests who have actually stayed here. We hope you find them helpful.
Note: we only give a property a rating once it has received a minimum of 3 reviews.
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- " The hostel has windows facing towards the cemetery, the area looks dodgy. The staff couldn't understand me very well, maybe because of my accent, thought I felt a bit hostile vibes towards me. By the way, I heard people complaining about their things getting stolen there, be aware. "
- 01 Sep 2016 Anonymous Lithuania