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Easy personal IPFS pinning service with Textile
A quick lesson in spinning up your own personal IPFS pinning service in no time with Textile Cafes
UPDATE: We've discontinued Textile Cafes, but pinning data to the IPFS network has never been easier. Textile Buckets now allow you to publish your website, blog, or data on IPFS easily. Buckets are dynamic folders of pinned content. Data you add to a Bucket is available over IPFS and HTTP gateways and every Bucket has a static URL that will reference your changing data. Read more.
The Interplanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol and network designed to create a content-addressable, peer-to-peer method of storing and sharing hypermedia in a distributed file system. That's quite a mouthful, but it basically it boils down to a re-imagining of the Internet, where everyone participates in the storage and sharing of content. Peers connect and share content or data via protocols designed to ensure the actual location of content on the web is less important than the content itself. We've talked about this before, and it has huge implications for the future of the Internet.
As IPFS continues to gain in popularity, the likelihood that any given bit of content added to IPFS will stick around continues to increase. But, it's important to keep in mind that nodes treat the data they store like a cache, meaning that there is no guarantee that the data will continue to be stored. For important data that we need or want to have around long-term, we can pin it on our local node, telling our IPFS peer that the data is important and shouldn't be thrown away (aka garbage collected). For example, Textile hosts textile.io on IPFS, but since it's pretty important for us that it is available at all times, we make sure it is pinned on our own IPFS server peers!
That's all well and good for things like static sites that don't change frequently, or data stored by an organization or group of developers, but what about my own personal files? Of course I can have an IPFS peer running on my local machine (I do, and I highly recommend IPFS desktop for this), but what if I shutdown my peer? or I go offline? or I need to run an update? You could certainly use an existing payment-based service such as Pinata, Temporal, Eternum, or Constellation (these are awesome if you don't want to host anything yourself!)… But wouldn't it be nice if I could have my own personal pinning service? Something that would pin my files for me, remotely, with minimal fuss and maximum up-time? Sure it would, so let's set one up!
Textile Cafes
Textile provides encrypted, recoverable, schema-based, and cross-application data storage built on IPFS and libp2p. We like to think of it as a decentralized data wallet with built-in protocols for sharing and recovery, or more simply, an open and programmable iCloud. Just like iCloud has its own storage back-end, Textile uses IPFS to store data across a decentralized, open network of peers.
With the most recent release of Textile, we have several tools (learn more about our command-line tools on our wiki) that make setting up your own personal (or public) pinning service a breeze. To do this, you need to run the Textile daemon in Cafe Mode. This means that the node (which wraps an IPFS peer) will be open for you to connect with, relay messages to other connected 'apps', cache larger files (e.g. encrypted images), and even help with peer-to-peer discovery across the network in general. But most importantly, it means you can have your Cafe pin content for you!
The 'manual' (but still pretty easy) way
You can follow these steps to get your Textile command-line tool setup. It should only take a few minutes, depending on network speeds and what tools you already have installed. Once you have that setup, we can setup our Peer to run in Cafe mode. For now, you can run all of these steps on your local machine, but for a better, more permanent solution, you might want to setup a cloud-based machine (check out the easy way 👇 below). For the purposes of this demo, I'll assume you have deployed this on a 'remote' machine, and refer to it as such…
With your remote Textile daemon running, we'll update the config file to enable Cafe mode. You can do this manually if you want (edit ~/.textile/repo/textile directly), but the easiest thing to do is to use the textile config command-line tool. So first, set your Host.Open entry to true:
textile config Cafe.Host.Open true
Next, you'll want to figure out the public IP address for your Cafe node. This will enable you to directly access your Peer when you submit your pin requests. It doesn't really matter how you access this, but if you are running your Peer behind a router or gateway, you might have to setup port forwarding or other 'tricks' to make sure your Peer is accessible (if you're only going to access it over a LAN, you can use its private IP address).
textile config Cafe.Host.PublicIP \"$IP\"
You'll also want to change your default Cafe and Gateway Addresses from localhost to the default route, enable server mode, and, if you'll be providing the Cafe service over HTTPS via a load balancer, you'll also want to specify a public HTTP url (leave this out if that sounds like a lot of extra work!):
textile config Addresses.CafeAPI \"0.0.0.0:40601\"
textile config Addresses.Gateway \"0.0.0.0:5050\"
textile config IsServer true
textile config Cafe.Host.HttpURL \"https://mycafe.io\"
You can also do all of the above config setup when you initialize the Peer in one go using something like the following one-liner (where IP is your exported public IP address and URL is your public url if you're so inclined):
textile init -s $(textile wallet init | tail -n1) \
--server --cafe-open --swarm-ports=4001 \
--cafe-http-url="$URL" \
--cafe-public-ip="$IP" \
--cafe-bind-addr=0.0.0.0:40601 \
The 'automatic' (and definitely easy) way
Want to deploy a Textile Cafe on a publicly accessible cloud machine such as an Amazon EC2 instance? We've got you covered! Here's a script (you also need this companion installer) that will setup the whole thing for you in one go. All you need is your instance's SSH key, its public IP address, and the Textile release you want to deploy (e.g., v1.0.0), and you're good to go (assumes your username is ec2-user so be prepared to edit as needed)! The only other thing to keep in mind is that you have to have your Cafe and Swarm ports open on your remote instance. By default, these are 4001 for the swarm and 40601 for the Cafe:
./init.sh -k key.pem -r 184.108.40.206 -p xx.xxx.x.xxx -u http://xx.xxx.x.xxx:40601
Quick Test
Regardless of method used, once you have your Cafe setup, you can test that it is up and running using a tool such as curl:
curl "http://xx.xxx.xx.xxx:40601/health"
You should get a 204 response if all is well. Wanna update/upgrade your Cafe? We have you covered there as well! Here's the script (and here's the companion installer).
Now that we have our own personal (remote) Textile Cafe setup, its time to register our local 'app' with it. For now, we'll just run a vanilla Textile Peer locally, and connect that way. If you don't already have a local peer set up, you can use the same steps as before, this time on your local machine. We'll refer to this vanilla Textile peer as the 'local' peer, and the above Cafe Peer as the 'remote' Peer from now on.
So if your 'remote' Peer isn't actually remote (i.e., you followed the manual steps above and just ran them on your local machine), then you'll have to create a second separate Peer by specifying an alternative repository location and port for your Peer's command API (you'll also have to add the --api=http://127.0.0.1:41600 flag to the following commands if you're using an alternative API port):
textile init -s $(textile wallet init | tail -n1) --api-bind-addr=http://127.0.0.1:41600 --swarm-ports=4101 --repo-dir=/full/path/to/repo
With your local Peer ready to do, simply register it with the remote Cafe Peer. You'll need the Cafe Peer's ID, which you can get via textile peer (run on your 'remote' machine). Now, register (locally) with:
textile cafes add <cafe-peer-id>
This will return a JSON response containing an access and refresh JSON Web Token (JWT), which you can use when communicating with your remote pinning service. Textile uses JWTs to ensure that you aren't just pinning files willy-nilly for anyone who happens upon your Cafe. JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry standard (RFC 7519) method for representing access tokens that assert some number of claims securely between (two) parties.
You can list your registered Cafes via textile cafes ls, and even extract the specific access token component using a tool such as jq (which we introduced in a previous post):
textile cafes ls | jq '.[].access'
You can register with multiple Cafes, thus ensuring your data is even more accessible and safe. All you need to do is repeat the above steps with a different remote Cafe. You can deploy your own, or use one of Textile's Cafes. Now, with your access token in hand, you could 'manually' connect to your Cafe's REST API and start adding/pinning files… but there's an even easier way!
Adding & Pinning
Once a local peer is registered with a remote Cafe, any files that are added to a Thread will be automagically added and pinned to the remote Cafe. So actually, there's really no additional work required to have a custom remote pinning service setup. Start, Register, Create, Add, Done. And even better still, by adding data to your remote Cafe via Threads, you get the benefit of structured data, encryption tools, sharability, and even recoverability! Those are some nice features. Don't want to structure your Thread data? Just use a simple blob schema and add whatever you want.
To make this magic happen, you need to create a new Thread with a (possibly custom) Schema. This is super easy, and we have a basic guide/demo for this already (plus we've mentioned it here and here as well). For the uninitiated, if you wanted to create a private Thread for storing your photos, you'd do something like this (uses our built-in media Schema):
textile threads add photo-thread --media
This will output some information about your new Thread, including its id. Then it's just a matter of adding your photos one by one, or a whole directory at a time. You can even create photo albums (or albums of any type of data) by using the --group flag:
textile add photos/ --caption="moar pics" --thread=<id> --group
Under the hood, your added files/data will be pushed onto your Cafe's Store Request queue. Which is essentially a queue of requests to… you guessed it, store and pin data. The Cafe will process this queue opportunistically, adding and pinning the data that your local Peer has sent. For heavy traffic applications, this queue can take some time to process (e.g., a large album of photos), but should process the data and notify the local peer once the processing is complete.
Don't want to add data files manually like that? Ok, how about a simple one-liner to watch a folder for new files and then automatically add them to a backup thread (requires fswatch and your thread's id)?
fswatch --event Created --event MovedTo path/to/folder | xargs -I{} textile add {} -t <id>
How cool is that. You've basically just created your own custom Dropbox in less than 15 lines of command-line magic. And with Textile's backup and recovery tools coming down the pipeline, you'll be able to login from any computer and sync your files from your remote Cafes! All using a completely decentralized/federated network of Peers.
So after all that, setting up a custom remote pinning service using Textile really amounts to a few simple steps:
- Setup a remote Peer running in Cafe mode
- Setup a local default Peer
- Register your local peer with your remote Cafe
- Create a Thread, and start adding data
- Relax… your data is now safe and secure on the dweb!
That's it!
Thanks for following along, please let us know what you think?! You can reach out over Twitter or Slack, or pull us aside the next time you see us at a conference or event. We're happy to provide background on this demo/tutorial, and where we're headed next. In the mean time, don't forget to check out our GitHub repos for code and PRs that showcase our latest APIs. We try to make sure all our development happens out in the open, so you can see things as they develop.


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Right before his appearance at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards, legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi took part in a conversation at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, Calif. During part one of the interview, Iommi talks about his early days as a musician, cutting off his fingers in an industrial accident and his road to forming Black Sabbath.
The story of Tony Iommi's missing fingertips has become stuff of heavy metal legend. We even cast Iommi's right hand to create the official 2017 Loudwire Music Awards 'Hand of Doom' trophy. While speaking with interviewer Ryan J. Downey, Iommi recalled the accident in gruesome detail.
"I'd be on a line and they'd pass stuff down to me and I'd weld it, and then it'd go on to somewhere else," Iommi sets up the scene. "One day, the person that would be sending me the thing to weld never turned up, so they put me on this giant, huge press — a guillotine-type press. I don't know what happened, I must have pushed my hand in. Bang! It came down. It just took the ends off [my fingers]. I actually pulled them off. As I pulled my hang back, it sort of pulled them off. It was left with two stalks, the bone was sticking out the top of the finger."
Iommi continues, "I went to the hospital and they cut the bones off and then they said, 'You might as well forget playing.' God, I was just so upset. I wouldn't accept that there wasn't some way around it, that I couldn't be able to play."
Iommi speaks about crafting his own prosthetic fingertips by melting down a soap bottle, but being unable to grip his guitar strings. After gluing various types of cloth to the plastic tips, to no avail, the future Black Sabbath legend had his eureka moment after cutting up an old leather jacket. "It worked, but then I had to persevere for a long, long time to get used to working with them… and it was painful."
The guitarist goes on to talk about the first bands he ever performed with. "The first gig I ever had was just me with a drummer and a piano player and they were about 30 years older than me. It was in a pub and I wasn't even old enough to be in the pub," Iommi recalls. After reminiscing about other pre-Sabbath bands he played in, such as the Rockin' Chevrolets and the Rest — the latter of which featured Bill Ward on drums — Iommi describes wanting to create a "bigger sound" than he had been hearing in rock music.
Having played the final show at the end of The End tour, Tony Iommi sat down with Classic Rock to reveal what he'd learned during Black Sabbath's long career... One of the standout features of Classic Rock 243 is The Gospel According To Tony Iommi, in which the legendary Black Sabbath guitarist looks back over his band's long and storied career, and reveals what he's learned. Here are just five highlights...
Always believe in the impossible --
I lost the tips of two fingers in an accident on the day that I was due to leave my job in a sheet metal factory to turn professional. I was only seventeen years old, and the doctors told me there was no point in trying to continue playing the guitar. But I wouldn't give up and eventually I found a way. All through my life I've had that same attitude. If band members left, then I never gave up. You find somebody else and you carry on. And eventually of course we all came back together.
I've no idea where those riffs come fromI'm just grateful that they do. They come out of the air; I don't sit down and work them out. They just arrive. It's all very strange. I can sit down and two or three different riffs will come along in ten minutes. Some of them will be crap but most are usable. I'm useless at most other things, but if there's one thing I can do in life then it's write riffs.
The last Sabbath show was weird --
The feeling built as we crept towards to the final gig at the Genting Arena, but it didn't really sink in till the day of the show. Looking out at the audience during the last few songs, people were crying. Those people idolise you and love what you do. In a way it felt like we were letting them down. It was a shame.
Sabbath's earliest gigs were crap --
How we got from those days to what the band eventually became, I'm really not sure. We would play places where nobody was interested. Or we'd turn up and people would think that we were playing pop, when of course we weren't. I recall a gig at a place called the Toe Bar in Egremont and this bloke shouted out: "Your singer's crap." That was really embarrassing. Of course, we improved as the years went by, but we certainly had to teach people – and ourselves – about what we were doing, because it was so different. It was a very steep learning curve.
Has anyone got the Black Zeppelin tape?
We were really good mates with Led Zeppelin, especially Robert Plant and John Bonham who came from the Midlands. Zeppelin had wanted us to be on their label, Swan Song, but we couldn't make it work out. During the recording of the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album [1973], Zeppelin came into the studio for a jam. John wanted to play Supernaut but we jammed instead. We were in the middle of recording so it fucked up the session. I know that it wasrecorded, and I'd love to hear it. The tape must be around somewhere.
You can read the full version of this feature in The Gospel According To Tony Iommi, in the latest issue of Classic Rock. Buy it online HERE.
Loudwire.com, Teamrock.com, 15 December 2017

subset: commoncrawl


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The U.S. Air Force is considering transforming all of its C-130 and C-17 cargo planes into cruise missile carriers, according to a Lockheed Martin press release.
In a release late Wednesday, Pentagon's No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp announced that the U.S. Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) Office awarded a $25 million contract to support the next phase of the service's Palletized Munitions Experimentation Campaign.
Under the palletized munition concept, the U.S. Air Force seeks to launch new stand-off precision-guided munitions from its cargo planes, allowing the service to relatively quickly turn them into weapons trucks, as necessary.
As noted by the company, the fourth phase includes a system-level demonstration in 2021 and continues to assess the potential to deliver large volumes of air-launched weapons via airlifters.
"Despite the Palletized Munitions program being relatively new, it's moving very quickly," said Scott Callaway, Lockheed Martin Advanced Strike Systems director. "The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contracting and Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) offices, and Lockheed Martin teams established this new contract in a record time of 30 days, supporting faster prototyping and a shorter timeline to bring this advanced capability to the warfighter in the field."
Initial studies show that airlifters have the potential to deploy large quantities of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) missiles, providing a significant increase in long-range standoff scale and complementing traditional strike and bomber aircrafts. This innovative approach enables warfighters to launch offensive operations from a greater number of airfields and engage a larger number of near-peer adversarial targets.
The overall goal of the experimentation is to develop a modular system to deliver air-launched weapons, leveraging standard airdrop procedures and operations. The system will have the ability to be rolled on and off multiple types of aircraft, including the C-17 and C-130.
Phase I successfully accomplished five high-altitude airdrops from an MC-130J (manufactured by Lockheed Martin) and a C-17 earlier this year using simulated weapons. During this effort, the U.S. Air Force tested the suitability of launching JASSM-ERs from an airlifter. JASSM is a long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for the U.S. and allied forces designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets.


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The word Cruciverbalist proceeding forth from Bill's mouth is defined as:
Cruciverbalist: (Noun) A person skillful in creating or solving crossword puzzles.
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Despite being given the errands of leading Bloemfontein Celtic at the beginning of the season, Botswana international Joel Mogorosi has parted ways with the Free State based side, after the club opted against renewing his stay with the team.
Mogorosi joined Celtic in 2012 following a fruitful stint with Mochudi Centre Chiefs for an undisclosed fee. The player then since turned into a marquee figure of the Siwelele outfit, proving his worth to the club by scooping the 2012/13 Telkom Knockout Player of the Tournament in his debut season.
He immensely helped his side all the way to lifting the cup, and scoring the decisive winner against Mamelodi Sundowns.
Although the fate of seeing Juluka (as Mogorosi is popularly known as in the local football circles) leaving the Phunya Selesele seemed a thing to be discussed in a few more seasons to come, the player now joins the ditched list of Bloemfontein Celtic alongside home-bound country man, Mogogi Gabonamong.
Information reaching Gazette Sport desks states that Mogorosi's woes at the club all began after he was given the responsibilities of captaining the team. According a source close to the player, the Zebras winger tried too hard to prove to Ernest Middendorp, who happened to be the man at the helm of Celtic at that moment, that his selection was no fluke.
"The problem started when he got the armband at Celtic, he then started trying too hard to impress the coach, and he lost it. After Larsen came he felt too comfortable, and then started taking it easy since he felt that Larsen knew him better and he thought he had a good history with the coach. He then thought he would just play," said the source.
The source signed off by in-sighting that the former BMC winger's biggest setback was this season's PSL second top goal scorer Lorato Lamola, who Larsen endlessly preferred ahead of Mogorosi.
"Joel felt too comfortable but little did he know that other players like Lamola were working too hard to get a place in team, and the coach chose the Lamolas of this world," ended the informer.
The coach confirmed the departure of the lanky Zebras captain and the hard tackling Motswana midfielder Mogogi Gabonamong through the club's website last week. "Joel and Mogogi's contracts came to an end and we felt it would be prudent for us to let them go. We value and appreciate their enormous contribution, especially Mogorosi, thinking of his massive display when we won the Telkom Knockout Cup," Celtic coach Clinton Larsen told the club's website last week Monday.
In spite of the most unfortunate instances for Mogorosi, media reports in South Africa have shed that the player is not holding any grudges against his former employees, but instead remains a big Celtic supporter.
"I must concede that donning the green and white jersey was a revelation. Yes, I played for so many teams but the culture of this team is extraordinarily amazing. We failed in our last few games but the support and sheer encouragement we got from the supporters and the management was unbelievable.
"Clinton is an excellent coach with a great tactical acumen and it was great working under him. I have some Siwelele addiction and will remain a Celtic supporter even beyond my playing days. With the bunch of young players left behind, the team has an excellent future," Mogorosi said to one South African soccer publication.
The 31 year old winger cum striker is currently in camp with the national team ahead of this weekend COSAFA CUP fixture against neighbors South Africa. He is currently linked with a move to Supersport United.


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I admit it: I'm a college sports curmudgeon. I hate the way we've turned our colleges and universities into farm systems for the NBA and the NFL. The money involved is obscene; in its annual ranking of most valuable college basketball programs, Forbes says the Tar Heels of North Carolina -- who didn't even make the NCAA tournament this year -- are worth nearly $29 million all by themselves. Forbes also says that office pools and other wagers on the tournament amount to $2.5 billion each year.
How much of this money goes to the "student athletes" themselves? Approximately none of it. The big-money system uses these kids as fuel for its cash machine. A tiny percentage of players become wealthy professional athletes. The rest ostensibly get an education. Of course, lots of kids playing for big-time programs don't graduate. So what they're really getting is valuable experience as cogs in the American Sports/Entertainment Complex.
Don't get me started.
Especially now -- since my alma mater, Butler University, has done the almost unthinkable. The Bulldogs beat Texas-El Paso and Murray State to reach the NCAA tournament's Sweet Sixteen, then beat Syracuse and Kansas State, the one and two seeds, to reach the Final Four.
Which makes me unreasonably happy.
Here in Indiana, we love our plucky basketball underdogs. As Butler has made its improbable run, the talking sports bobbleheads have been quick to remind fans that Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler's home venue, was the setting for the dramatic finale of Hoosiers. But Hoosiers was based on the real-life story of the 1954 Milan Indians, who faced big, bad Muncie Central on that same floor in the finals of the Indiana high school basketball tournament. The real Jimmy Chitwood was Bobby Plump, who made a dramatic last-second shot to win the game and the title for Milan.
(Also: when it was opened in 1927, Hinkle -- then Butler Fieldhouse -- was the largest indoor arena in the world. It's still among the oldest college basketball arenas in use. Plump went on to star at Butler University and after graduation had a nice, brief career in the National Industrial Basketball League.)
Butler's not as big an underdog as you might think. As the number five seed in the West Region, the Bulldogs were thought to be among the 20 best teams in the country. They were probably better than that. The AP poll ranked them at number 11 at the end of the regular season; the ESPN/USA Today poll ranked them number eight. In that light, a five seed was almost an insult.
And now that only four teams remain, don't think Butler's not good enough to win it all. They deserved to win both of their regional games. They dominated Syracuse and Kansas State -- both bigger, stronger, major-conference teams. One or the other was nearly every professional pundit's pick to reach the Final Four.
Butler plays a controlled, careful, fundamentally solid style of basketball. They play smothering man-to-man defense--even against teams such as Syracuse, when the conventional wisdom says you have to play a zone. The last team to score 70 against Butler was Georgetown on December 8. They pass and cut and protect the ball beautifully (although they had 20 turnovers against Kansas State).
And they've won 24 games in a row -- the longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball. You don't win 24 games in a row without figuring out how to win just about any way you can.
But here's the beauty part: Butler's a little private school with 4,500 students. Their players (with the possible exception of sophomore phenom Gordon Hayward) are not going pro, and they know it. The last Butler Bulldog to play in the NBA was Ralph "Buckshot" O'Brien, with the 1952 Baltimore Bullets.
So you know what Butler players do? They graduate. According to a 2008 University of Central Florida study that followed graduation rates for six years, Butler graduates 92 percent of its players. The other Final Four teams fall out thusly: West Virginia, 33 percent; Michigan State, 67 percent; and Duke, 67 percent.
Butler reminds us of what's great about college basketball. When it comes right down to it, it's still a five-on-five game. Five kids with a will to win, playing in a system that rewards unselfishness, still have a shot at beating the big guys. A team made up of kids who weren't on any big college scouts' radar can hang with the big-money, big-noise programs that must, at least, share the blame for so much of what's wrong with college sports today.
It doesn't make the system that uses talented young athletes and throws them away any easier to stomach. But it at least points up the idea that you don't have to have all that money to build a great college basketball program.


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Tel +44 (0) 7764 165300 - Order by Phone / Online
You have ( 0 ) item(s) in your basketCode: JR2001
Date: 1612 (1957)
Cndition: AAA
Colour: Uncooloured
Size: 18.5 x 14.75 inches
Title: 'John Smiths Map of Virginia with a brief account of its history', published for the Jamestown, Virginia 350th anniversary celebration.
A very informative brochure and map reproduction. In very good condition.


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Beef Buzz News
Is Now the Time to Retain Ownership of Cattle at the Feedlot - Dr. Darrell Peel Has the Facts
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:17:55 CDT
Thanks to a volatile futures market right now, feeder and stocker markets are experiencing their own instability. OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Darrell Peel understands the frustration being felt by producers, but assures that things will get better.
"It's midsummer so it's a hard time to put together a stronger market in general for cattle," Peel said. "We're just kind of marking time here. Numbers are slightly bigger and their going to continue to get bigger, so there will be a possibility for erosion of these prices as an underlying trend for many months ahead."
For producers worried about an influx of cattle hitting the market coming into the fall, Dr. Peel says that while that can occasionally happen, causing a supply effect that drops prices, he believes conditions are fair and numbers aren't suggesting that will occur.
Despite all the trouble, Dr. Peel adds that the market may be presenting an opportunity for producers sending cattle to feedlots. With feed prices down, producers should think about cost of gain factors and consider possibly retaining ownership of their cattle at the feedlot. Dr. Peel says in terms of what producers look at, the circumstances for retaining ownership are better than they have been for quite some time.
Listen to Dr. Darrell Peel talk more on feeder/stocker markets during today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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Posted on 01.10.2018 · 4 min read
Should A Freelance Creative
Have A Business Card?
When I first started thinking about the strategy for the promotion and marketing of my work, to be perfectly honest, business cards weren't at the top of my list. There's no doubt that having a strong digital presence and a portfolio website is essential for a freelancer to be able to stay relevant in a world where most companies operate online. So the question you're probably wondering is… why did I still choose to print business cards?
I've asked myself the same exact question. Somehow I felt the need to justify my first ever promotional expense and to prove that I wasn't just doing it because I wanted to. Maybe it was the fact that I mostly produce digital work that compelled me to see my work in a more tangible form?! I don't know. At the time, I definitely overthought the design process to the point I now that I remember it was something needlessly dramatic like the 'business card' scene, from the American Psycho. I laugh every time I watch that scene though. The funny part is that I realized something while watching those wealthy businessmen, trying to one-up each other's asses with something as petty as white pieces of cardboard. All cards LOOK. THE. SAME. In fact, I get why for most people the concept of handing a business card to exchange contact information just seems archaic and quite frankly boring, because most of them truly are. I believe this is not the case for creative people, especially designers and illustrators.
Regardless the promotional choice (whether this is a portfolio website, a blog, through social media posts, stickers, postcards, zines, dummy books, showreels, sourcebooks, stands at trade shows or THE business card itself), it always depends on the type of work you do and what is the best mechanism to reach your audience because all of them are viable options in a particular stage of your career.
To print my first ever business cards I choose Moo. I fell in love with the brand as soon as I've landed on their website. The way they display their options and give us inspiration through their different product photography is just spot-on. I'm still impressed that you're able to order a free sample book, which for me was super important to be able to touch and feel the range of papers and finishes before the commitment. Although I wasn't sure at first, now I think business cards are still something to consider when choosing your promotional piece because:
It shows that you're serious about your business
It always has been and still is a professional way to make a good first impression. If you can justify and invest in printing yours, you will be surprised by the fact that it can be a conversation starter and shows that your designs/illustrations are not a hobby but in fact a business.
It's a showroom for your work and creativity
Take total advantage of the fact that most printers today can print a different design on the back of each card. This is a great way to show your work (like a portfolio in your pocket) in any situation.
You can network without the awkwardness
I know this one might be debatable, but often when I go to trade shows or events I notice I try to make the effort to be present and focus on the person I'm chatting with and end up not using too much my phone. Maybe it's just me, but it feels rude shoving your Instagram feed into another person's face. For me handing one of my cards is a pleasant surprise and a friendly way to say 'by the way if you are interested in seeing more of my work here is my website'.
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Credit Administration Software For QuickBooks
Managing the credit score & collections course of, whereas still retaining the orders coming in, maximizes a enterprise' profit potential, reduces danger, and retains cash flowing. Hokas is an software to your accounting system with automated accounts receivable administration and collections. Making use of financial relations management (FRM) consistent with customer relations management (CRM) and company objectives. An authorized credit management policy can provide assurances to a financing financial institution, which may facilitate financing.
Likewise, collections departments may also have entry to customer credit threat info and can modify their collection methods based mostly on threat. Many corporations select to use Credit2Control together with other Order2Cash options, together with Invoice2Deliver and Accept2Pay to automate their necessary monetary processes and hyperlink them all by a single platform.
The Credit Analysis Basis states: To enhance and clarify their worth, credit score professionals must take a number one position in cost containment, proactive cash management and process improvement. Credit score administration professionals who view the receivable management and collections course of by way of the eyes of a CFO or enterprise owner will shortly see the advantages of outsourcing credit functions.
It instantaneously notifies you which clients are overdue and communicates with them …


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The NYC chapter of the IAMCP (The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners), hosted the event at Microsoft's New York Office in Time Sq. For more information IAMCP please click here
4:30pm – 5:00pm – Networking
5:00pm – 5:15pm – Chapter update and official business
5:15pm – 6.00 pm – Sponsor Presentation – Peter Fidler, President & CEO, WCA Technology As founding Partner of WCA Technologies
Peter have more than 30 years of experience enabling businesses to work smarter and faster by leveraging technology. He is constantly immersing himself in his clients' challenges to understand their needs so that he can properly recommend solutions that are the right fit for their business. He is proud of the long-term relationships that WCA has established with clients and staff built on the company's reputation for integrity and reliability.
6:15pm – 6.45 pm – Understand Microsoft three cloud strategy of Modern Workplace (Office, Windows, Security), Azure and Dynamics. Jamie Fox, Senior Account Technology Strategist, Microsoft
Jaimie Fox has over 20 years of IT experience mostly in consulting and sales, including 11½ years in various positions at Microsoft where he leads customers with technical strategies and helps partners expand their influence and business. He also spent a little over a year at Tableau Software as a technical pre-sales consultant. In addition to co-founding and co-leading the Central NJ SQL Server Users Group, he was recently named to the Advisory Board for Rutgers's Disruptive Innovation program and the event committee for both NY and NJ HIMSS chapters.
6:45pm – 8.00pm – Extended Networking
WHERE: Microsoft Office -New York City
11 Times Sq
New York, New York 10036
United States


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Twenty-two suspects in Maidan shooting probe on wanted list, 13 others to be declared wanted – Ukraine prosecutor
Twenty-two suspects in the criminal inquiry into mass killings in central Kyiv last winter are on a wanted list and 13 others will be declared wanted, said Ukraine's prosecutor general, Vitaliy Yarema.
"We have tracked down the coordinators, who are looking for the suspects. There are 22 suspects on the wanted list and 13 are expected to be declared wanted after investigative actions have been carried through," Yarema said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
Yarema also said that positive results would be achieved soon after the search is over, and that "all those guilty will be prosecuted."
The Prosecutor General's Office, the National Security Service and the Interior Ministry have set up a joint group of 83 investigators, he said.
Reports said earlier that the Prosecutor General's Office was investigating the mass shooting of people in Kyiv on February 18-20. Several suspects have been detained.
According to Yarema, 74 peaceful protesters, 12 policemen, 180 others citizens and more than 180 law enforcement personnel sustained gunshot wounds.
Deputy Prosecutor General and chief of the Main Investigative Department Oleh Zalisko said that 1,167 criminal cases in which 77 people figure as suspects, were under investigation as of November 19. He also said that 67 people were killed with gunfire in central Kyiv on February, 184 sustained gunshot wounds and over 750 suffered bodily injuries.


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My weekly last week was entitled "The Market Disagrees with the Fed on Inflation." I could've used the same headline this week. In fact, I think that's going to be one the main themes of the market for the next several months.
Last Friday's US nonfarm payrolls showed a shockingly few new jobs created in April – only 226k instead of the 1.0mn the market had expected. Then Tuesday's Job Offers and Labor Turnover Survey for March shocked in the opposite direction, with a record 8.1mn job openings, far more than the 7.5mn people were expecting. So if there's a record number of job openings, why aren't more people going back to work? Logic (not research, mind you) says: they must be living on unemployment while holding out for higher wages. That's inflationary.
Then…speaking of inflation…Wednesday's US consumer price index (CPI) came out far above expectations at +4.2% yoy (+3.6% yoy expected, 2.6% previous), the fastest pace of increase since 2008.This was way higher than even the highest estimate on Bloomberg (+3.9% yoy).
As a result, US breakeven inflation rates moved ever-higher, particularly the 5-year rate, which is where attention is focused nowadays.
And bond yields moved higher across the curve, except for the two-year, which remains pegged due to Fed expectations.
Those expectations are subject to change, though. With yields moving higher and inflation expectations becoming increasingly un-anchored from 2%, expectations grew that the Fed might have to start normalizing monetary policy earlier than previously expected.
Thursday's producer price index (PPI), only added fuel to the fire as it exploded higher, leaping to a record +6.2% yoy from an already-high 4.2% (data back to November 2010).
Of course, Fed officials pushed back on this idea. A few comments:
● Fed Vice Chair Clarida (V) said he was surprised by the steep rise in the CPI but nonetheless expected "inflation to return to – or perhaps run somewhat above – our 2% longer-run goal in 2022 and 2023," an outcome that would be "entirely consistent" with the Fed's new flexible average inflation targeting (FAIT) framework.
● Atlanta Fed President Bostic (V) said he was surprised by the figure but that he was "expecting a lot of volatility at least through September" in the inflation data as transitory and base effects gradually work through the data. "Then we will have to see what is happening with the supply chain disruptions and the commodities prices and those sorts of issues."
● Gov. Waller (V) said "the factors putting upward pressure on inflation are temporary." He listed them as: base effects, higher energy costs, fiscal stimulus, spending of accumulated savings, supply bottlenecks, and increased demand for workers, which is driving up wages. He said these will push inflation above the Fed's 2% target this year and next, but it'll return to target after that. "We will not overreact to temporary overshoots of inflation," he said.
The Fed might be patient enough to wait until September, but will the market? I doubt it. There's going to be a real struggle for control of the narrative between the Fed and the market for the next few months.
Coming week: CPIs, retail sales, preliminary PMIs
Not that much excitement next week. In Central Bank World, there are no major central bank meetings, just the minutes of the April FOMC meeting and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) May meeting. The US retail sales and industrial production, usually the features of the third week of the month, slipped into the second week this month. As a result, the main feature will probably be the preliminary May purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) for the major industrial economies, out on Friday. We also get CPI data from the UK, Canada, and Japan, which will be a focus as investors try to gauge whether the rise in inflation in the US is a local or global issue.
We also get retail sales data from China, UK, Australia and Canada, while the UK and Australia release employment data.
Japan has a number of indicators out, including Q1 GDP, trade, machinery orders, and the tertiary sector index, but that often has minimal impact on JPY so you can be forgiven if you decide not to wake up for it.
Purchasing managers' indices: The preliminary PMIs are expected to show small declines on the manufacturing side but continued increases for services. PMIs generally don't go up indefinitely so a slight decline from the current high levels of manufacturing is to be expected and to be welcome. Further increases on the services side, which is the side that's been really battered, would also be welcome, especially in Germany, where the service-sector PMI is expected to poke its nose over the 50 line for the first time since the pandemic began. So, all in all I'd rate these figures good.
Of course, the question nowadays is, is good good? That is, figures suggesting a continued robust expansion could be taken to be further confirmation of the "demand-pull" inflation story, which might be seen as negative for the markets.
Over the last three months, most of the major countries have migrated into the "accelerating expansion" quadrant with regards to both manufacturing and services, indicating that the global economy is on the rebound.
As the graph below shows, most countries are now above the 50 line in both manufacturing (X-axis) and services (Y-axis).
FOMC minutes: The statement following the April meeting of the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) had only a few minor tweaks in it to acknowledge the improvement in the economy. In the press conference, Fed Chair Powell stated unequivocally that, "No. It is not time yet" to talk about tapering and that it would be "some time" until "substantial further progress" is made – comments that we've heard over and over again since then. Powell also highlighted the Committee's view that any increase in inflation would be "largely" transitory – we've heard that one, too.
What further clarity could we get from the minutes? So far, I've only noted one person, Dallas Fed President Kaplan, who's itching to get started talking about tapering. We might get further insights into the discussion on this topic and how the members felt back then. We might also get a feel for the discussion about inflation and why they think it's only transitory, although we've heard from enough members since the meeting to get a good idea of who's where on that argument.
Given the number of Committee members we've heard from on the important points recently, and also given how conditions have changed in the 21 days between the meeting and the minutes' release – the NFP and CPI shocks, specifically – I'm not sure these minutes will be particularly informative.
Japan data: Japan releases the corporate goods price index (Mon), Q1 GDP and tertiary sector index (Tue), trade balance and core machinery orders (Thu), and national CPI (Fri).
The most important one is Q1 GDP. It's expected to show a decline in output, as the government declared a "state of emergency" in various parts of the country during the month.
At that pace, Japan is on schedule to recover to pre-pandemic levels of output by Q4 this year, vs Q2 for the US, Q1 2022 for the EU and Q2 2022 for the UK.
Having said that, there isn't a great long-term correlation between US-Japan growth forecasts and USD/JPY.
My guess is that any such correlation is driven largely by the US side, not the interplay of the two, since US bond yields are much more responsive to growth than Japanese yields and therefore the interest rate gap between the two countries is almost entirely a function of the movement of Treasuries.
As for the Japan national CPI (Fri), it's expected to buck the global trend and move lower (sigh).
Australia's employment (Thu) is expected to rise only modestly, while the unemployment rate is expected to stay at 5.6%. It could be that the recovery in employment is stalling, which would be a negative for AUD as it would mean that the Reserve Bank of Australia would have to keep rates lower for longer.
There are several major UK indicators out during the week.
UK inflation is expected to rise further, into the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)'s 1%-3% area of tolerance. This is both for the CPI and the core CPI (which is why they're only one dot – the forecast for both is +1.4% yoy).
At the last MPC meeting (May 6th), they substantially upgraded their views on the economy and made a subtle shift in their forward guidance toward a more balanced view. The last paragraph, which contains the forward guidance, read:
The MPC will continue to monitor the situation closely and will take whatever action is necessary to achieve its remit….
At the previous meeting, in March, they said:
The MPC will continue to monitor the situation closely. If the outlook for inflation weakens, the Committee stands ready to take whatever additional action is necessary to achieve its remit….
The change implies they're now thinking of the upside risks to their forecasts, too. This was no accident. Gov. Bailey emphasized this point in his press conference. A rise in inflation back into the target zone could accelerate thoughts of Bank of England normalization, which would be positive for the pound.
The second estimate of Eurozone Q1 GDP will be coming out Tuesday, but unlike in many other countries, the Eurozone GDP is usually only revised ±10 bps, if that, so it's no big deal.


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The main goal of hospice care services is to help in improving the quality of life of the patients and their families facing a terminal illness issue. This is the reason why we at Newlight Hospice, Inc. are here to provide high-quality hospice care services to ensure that you and your loved one will receive the right kind of care when you need them the most.
Our compassionate care services provided by our skilled and well-trained professionals include, but are not limited to:
- Physician Services
- Nursing Services
- Spiritual Counseling
- Social Work Services
- Volunteers
- Bereavement Services
- Nurse Aide
- Specialized Therapies
Our hospice care solutions are focused on these levels of care:
To receive a customized hospice care, please contact us today. You can also directly call us at 281-481-5100 or send a message to firstname.lastname@example.com for your concerns. We are looking forward to serving you soon.


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Good news, action researchers! There is a new group called Action Research Connections based on the North Shore campus.
For the uninitiated: action research (sometimes called participatory action research or co-design) is all about creating a positive impact through the research process. Action researchers work with participants in an active partnership, often co-designing the research together for everyone's mutual benefit. This is a way of managing power dynamics and diminishing hierarchies. It is often used where the participants are members of a marginalised community.
If you are using (or interested in) action research methods, you may like to head along to the next meeting of the Action Research Connections group on March 8th from 4-6pm in AE114a.
The group is a mix of staff and postgraduate student researchers, with a focus on providing mentorship and creating connections between researchers with similar interests. There is conversation and often a presentation from an action researcher. Associate Professor Lesley Ferkins will facilitate the March meeting.
Check out the flyer here, or contact PhD student Livvie Baudinet (email@example.com) for more information.


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Kilburn's House Clearance
Kilburn Waste Removal Service
More info on special offers from our unique clearance company in Kilburn will be found on our site.
You may also pre-book home clearance services wherever in NW6 area you live by just calling on 020 3540 8016.
The bonus of booking our services in this manner is that all of our services are listed; which give you the opportunity to choose what you need. Regardless, of whether it is an office clearance of home clearance or maybe even both of these clearing services. Simply select the page relevant to you are and you can get going quickly:
Great Quality Waste Collection Services in Kilburn, NW6
For our other clearance services in Kilburn and all around NW6, such as building waste removals and commercial clearance you will find that these involve much more in-depth clearing than our average domestic clearances.
In truth, although both services are vastly different in nature you will still gain the benefit of having our top qualified house clearance professionals at your disposal.
Nothing is too much for us to handle and our prices are reasonable, as all our clients will assure you.
I am extremely satisfied with the professional and reliable services provided by London House Clearance's junk removal experts.
Paul J.
My experience with this junk removal service was excellent from start to finish. They were highly efficient, and the driver who came for pickup was exceptional in his customer service.
D. Grant
I'd never hired a waste disposal service in NW6 before, had never needed to. If I ever need to again, this company will be the first company I call. After experiencing what they had to offer, thinking about hiring another company would just be crazy.
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London House Clearance really stand out from their competition in NW6. They do excellent waste disposal and the prices are great for Kilburn. Hired them yesterday for a loft clearance job and they made quick and thorough work of it. Thanks!
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There hasn't been a case for me to contact London House Clearance and not be able to benefit from their expert property clearance service in Kilburn, NW6. I just love the fact that they are always available to offer the finest house clearance one can ask for at an ideal price for every budget.
The speedy junk removal service I got from London House Clearance was godly. It was cheap, the junk collectors were nice, they came to Kilburn fast, did the work and left in no time. Great acquisition to NW6!
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Rubbish Removal Company in NW6 with Amazing Offers
A small talk to our competent consultants will introduce you to our world class clearance company, that can do any and every kind of commercial clearance as well as several domestic clearance services across NW6 area.
These exclusive services include options such as building waste clearance, garden clearance, rubbish and junk removals as well as garage clearance.
The list of clearance services throughout Kilburn you will encounter are limitless. All of our work is guaranteed, of course.
Awesome Rubbish Clearance Services in Kilburn, NW6
More information on special offers from the most unique London clearance company in Kilburn can be found when you visit our web site.
You can also book your property clearance services on our site.
The benefit of doing this, is that you will have our full list of services in front of you to pick and choose from; whether you have an office clearance London or home clearance request. Perhaps you even have both? Well, let our experts in NW6 area handle everything for you.
Waste Disposal Companies in Kilburn working only at Budget-friendly Prices
You simply don't need to put off setting up an appointment in Kilburn merely because the task seems too daunting.
Our clearance crews have a proven and methodical method of helping you sort through these mounds and then load each item for removal, generally this is all part of our house clearance services and junk removal.
In cases where there is no attic, the garage is often the place where everything gets stored; ask about our individualized garage clearance options. In fact, we have a perfect clearance solution for all of your property clearance needs in NW6 area.


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The basic options are:
Templates are useful when compressing video streams: e.g., if you specify the template img0[12-01-2].pgm, then pnmtofiasco compresses the images img012.pgm, img010.pgm, ..., img002.pgm.
If name is a relative path, pnmtofiasco searches for the image files in the current directory and in the (colon-separated) list of directories given by the environment variable FIASCO_IMAGES.
If name is a relative path and the environment variable FIASCO_DATA is a (colon-separated) list of directories, then pnmtofiasco writes the output file to the first (writable) directory of this list. Otherwise, pnmtofiasco write it to the current directory.
0: no progress meter
1: RPM style progress bar using 50 hash marks
2: percentage meter
1) Global ressource file /etc/system.fiascorc
2) $HOME/.fiascorc
3) command line
4) --config=name
desc-variance: Tiles with small variances are processed first.
asc-variance: Tiles with large variances are processed first.
desc-spiral: Tiles are process in spiral order starting in the middle.
asc-spiral: Tiles are process in spiral order starting at the border.
I: intra frame, i.e., no motion compensated prediction is used at all.
P: predicted frame, i.e., a previously encoded frame is used for prediction (forward prediction).
B: bidirectional predicted frame, i.e., not only a previously shown frame but also a frame of the future is used for prediction (forward, backward or interpolated prediction).
Ullrich Hafner, Juergen Albert, Stefan Frank, and Michael Unger.
Weighted Finite Automata for Video Compression, IEEE Journal on
Selected Areas In Communications, January 1998
Ullrich Hafner. Low Bit-Rate Image and Video Coding with Weighted
Finite Automata, Ph.D. thesis, Mensch & Buch Verlag, ISBN
3-89820-002-7, October 1999.


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What does one do when a culture of corruption
is so pervasive that graduate students openly cheat and professors give out
answers on exams? According to allegations at the Baruch (Zicklin) School of Business
in the City University of New York, "cheating is their bread and butter."
Those charges were revealed after a Business
School administrator was relieved of his duties for allegedly forging
professors' names on inflated grades so that $45,000 to $75,000 tuition checks
kept flowing to the program. According to reports, the program recruits
mid-level Wall Street executives to the 10- to 22-month programs on the
assumption the knowledge obtained during this period enhances one's
Several graduate students in the Class of
2012 contend they repeatedly complained to administrators about the academic
fraud. "Cheaters would sit next to someone doing well and would look at their
papers. The professors knew," said one student. If the allegations can be
believed, the dishonesty was rampant: test answers were taped to backpacks,
trips were made to restrooms to access crib sheets, and a professor walked
around a classroom informing students of incorrect answers. When these
violations were reported to the president, vice president and provost, inaction
was the response.
It is instructive that the four students who
issued complaints were summarily asked to leave the program without receiving
their master's degrees. Other students have demanded tuition refunds,
contending that grade changing made their sheepskins worthless.
Although it is inappropriate to generalize
from a sample of one, events at Baruch give one pause about the legitimacy
degrees in many institutions of higher learning. Does money do the talking? Are
degrees compromised by the financial demands in colleges and universities? Are
professors sensitive to economic pressures?
In an era when universities are scrambling
for funds due to retrenchment of state budgets and federal mandates that
increase costs, professors might be (euphemism alert!) modifying their standards
to accommodate paying clients. Guarding the integrity of the Academy is an
ongoing task with tremendous implications for the institution and for the
learning process. If what is being alleged about Baruch is true, it will take years
for the City University to recapture its once august reputation.


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Gonzaga student's homework assignment leads to legal battle for new murder trial
A recent homework assignment for a Gonzaga University student to attend a murder trial transformed into a legal fight for a new trial after a judicial assistant accused the student, and her friends, of doing drugs in court and then tried to get them arrested.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno ruled Thursday that she would not grant a new trial to Cheryl L. Sutton, 39, based on a request by the defense that actions by Judicial Assistant Alison Myers prevented Sutton from getting a fair trial because jurors later asked Myers about her interactions with the young people.
"Regardless of the motivations of the judicial assistant … there was not a closure of the courtroom," Moreno said. "I don't see anything that Ms. Myers did that affected the jury. For those reasons, I'm going to deny the motion" for a new trial.
Sutton is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Friday for sentencing. That hearing stems from the jury decision on March 1 to convict Sutton of first-degree murder and leading an organized crime ring in connection to the disappearance of Bret Snow, who went missing in late 2015 and whose body has never been found.
According to court records and testimony, investigators believe that Sutton, Colby Vodder, Ken Stone and Alvaro Guajardo killed and butchered Snow in a garage on Sutton and Stone's property in December 2015.
During Sutton's trial, a female Gonzaga student was assigned to attend court on Feb. 27 and listen to testimony. The assignment came from Superior Court Judge John Cooney, who also teaches at Gonzaga. The student brought two friends.
The two young women and young man arrived after Sutton had already taken the witness stand. They sat in the only open seats available, which happened to be located directly behind Sutton and her defense attorney, Jeremy Schmidt.
The student acknowledged that her female friend was coughing and was somewhat fidgety before they noticed a woman with a Spokane County badge sat down next to them.
During the testimony, the employee, later identified as Myers, told the three observers "to quit talking but we hadn't been talking," the young male said in court records.
About an hour into Sutton's testimony, the group tried to leave because the Gonzaga student's parking meter had expired. But Myers told them they "shouldn't leave yet."
Once Superior Court Judge Raymond Clary called a recess, Myers directed the group to sit on a bench in the hallway outside of the courtroom. Myers then took a cellphone photograph of them and made comments about how they were dressed, they said.
"You could barely sit up in courtroom and your eyes are rolling back," one of the girls quoted Myers as saying. "She told me I came here on drugs and that she had me on camera doing drugs in the courtroom."
Myers "told us we were not allowed in the courtroom or the courthouse," the student's friend continued. Myers "told us that if she saw us come back, she would have us arrested. She told us that when she had the guards standing behind her."
Asked what made her decide that the three visitors had been using drugs in court, Myers said on Thursday that she had no comment.
But she provided a statement to Spokane County prosecutors about her interactions with the student and her friends. Myers confirmed her belief that they had been using drugs or were under the influence of drugs.
"She told them not to come back to the courtroom or any other courtroom if they were going to behave like that," Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Dale Nagy wrote. "The three individuals left before police arrived."
Schmidt, who sought the mistrial, said Myers' actions essentially created a closed courtroom because the three individuals were led to believe they couldn't attend.
"We want young people to take part in this legal system," Schmidt said. "They were treated like criminals. That's troubling. We are creating an actual prejudice to Ms. Sutton."
Schmidt said the only way to fix the problem was to grant Sutton a new trial.
"If we send this to the Court of Appeals, they will send it back," Schmidt said. "Let's fix it now."
Nagy, the prosecutor, had a different take on Myers' actions. He called her actions appropriate even if she been "incorrect in assuming they had been taking drugs at the time."
"If anything, the judicial assistant went to great lengths to preserve a fair trial," Nagy said. "The judicial assistant is within her job description to maintain court decorum. Those actions weren't inappropriate and it didn't lead to a closure."
Moreno said she relies heavily on judicial assistants, who mostly work behind the scenes to schedule hearings and work with attorneys and jurors to keep the court functioning properly.
She noted that a transport officer didn't see anything on that day of Sutton's testimony that caused a disturbance.
"It's difficult," Moreno said. "I don't know what Ms. Myers' motivation would be to harass these individuals."
She then denied the motion for a new trial.
After the hearing, Schmidt said he was disappointed by Moreno's ruling but that he respected it.
"Any exclusion, especially students, is disturbing," Schmidt said. "We don't believe it was appropriate. We believe it violated (Sutton's) right to a public trial."
As for Myers, Superior Court Administrator Ashley Callan said she could not comment as to whether the longtime judicial assistant was disciplined for making what the attorneys described as false drug-use accusations against the three visitors.
"It is unfortunate if these three visitors, in any way, felt unwelcome while observing Ms. Sutton's trial," Callan said. "We have reviewed this situation and will continue to ensure all employees are properly trained on how court observers and participants should be treated."


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Usually our neighbors brand before we ever do…
Johnny has always let the calves grow a little before stressing them with a branding.
When I first arrived on the scene here… our calves were much smaller… and we waited until July to brand them.
Now that we raise Angus… our calves are huge by July!
We brand in May.
Sunday our neighbors requested help for the 50 of their calves still unbranded.
It is August, in case you haven't been paying attention.
When we arrived… we were the branding crew.
Vernon to rope.
Me to vaccinate.
The boys to wrestle.
M. for record keeping.
H. for cutting the bull calves.
G. & D. as owners and therefore branders.
Needless to say, my boys had their work cut out for them.
They had this one down once… almost!
They had to try to do it again…
Finally, they were successful.
I'm very glad I had another job…
The stress, the work, the difficulty was written in my boys' faces throughout the branding.
Once again, my boys made me proud.
Working hard.
Not complaining.
Knowing how to "put their back into it"!
I give them two large "ATTA, BOYS!"
Find me here!


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"The Taking Of Annie Thorne" by C.J. Tudor
When Stephen King gives you a quote for your book cover ("If you like my stuff, you'll like this."), then you know your fiction hits the spot!
"The Taking Of Annie Thorne" by C.J. Tudor is the follow-up — though not a sequel — to her hugely successful debut novel, "The Chalk Man".
In this book, youngster Annie goes missing, only to mysteriously turns up 48 hours later. But she's not quite the same . . . and she won't speak about what happened.
"I didn't want to admit, even to myself, that sometimes I was scared to death of my own little sister."
Fast forward a few years and her brother, who's telling the story, receives a mysterious e-mail telling him:
I know what happened to your sister. It's happening again . . .
This prompts him to return to his hometown and face his own past, as well as a dangerous future.
Unlike Stephen King, C.J. Tudor's books are set in Britain. Anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s will recognise the events, music and goings-on of the times.
"The Taking Of Annie Thorne" is creepy beyond words. If you have a fear of disused mines, it's perhaps best that you give this a miss!
Just like Stephen King, the fact that Tudor's characters are so believable makes the events even creepier.
"The Taking Of Annie Thorne" by C.J. Tudor is available in hardback.
Read more of the team's book reviews here.


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Redmi Note 7 To Go On Sale For The First Time In India
Note 7
February 28, 2019
Rs 9,999 (3GB + 32GB)
Rs 11,999 (4GB + 64GB)
159.21 x 75.21 x 8.1mm
Glass Front
Glass Back
Onyx Black
Sapphire Blue
Ruby Red
6.3 inch
2340 x 1080 px
Gorilla Glass 5
Snapdragon 660
8 x Kryo 260
Adreno 512
Up to 256GB
Android 9 Pie
12MP f/2.2
Steady handheld night photography
AI Portrait mode
Background Blurring
Low Light Enhancement
Video Stabilization (EIS)
1080p @ 60fps
13MP f/2.0
1080p @ 30fps
Dual VoLTE
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0
USB Type-C
Face Unlock
Rear mounted fingerprint sensor
The Redmi Note 7 is all set to go on sale in India for the first time today. The smartphone was launched alongside the Redmi Note 7 Pro on February 28. It is the first phone that Redmi has launched in India after separating from its parent company Xiaomi. The device features a modern design and ambitious specifications with a lucrative price tag.
Redmi Note 7: Where To Buy?
The Redmi Note 7 will be available at a price of Rs 9,999 for the version with 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage has been priced at Rs 11,999. The smartphone will be available to order via flash sales on Flipkart and Mi.com from 12 noon on March 6. It will also be available offline from Mi Home outlets starting today. Reputably, the device also supports memory expansion upto 256 GB via a microSD card.
Click here to buy the Redmi Note 7 on Flipkart
Redmi Note 7: Specifications & Features
To recall, the Redmi Note 7 is a budget offering from the company and features a modern design with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and the rear. The smartphone has a 6.3 inch LCD display with a small waterdrop notch up top. The display panel has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a resolution 2340 x 1080 px and pixel density of 409 ppi. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back of the device and it also supports face unlock technology.
Under the hood, the Redmi Note 7 runs on the Snapdragon 660 SoC which consists of Adreno 512 GPU and an Octa-Core CPU. Out of the eight CPU cores, four Kryo 260 cores are clocked at 1.8 GHz for better battery efficiency and four Kryo 260 cores are clocked at 2.2 GHz for maximum performance. For optics, the smartphone has a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 12MP main sensor with an aperture of f/2.2 and a secondary 2MP depth sensor. The front camera on the device has a 13MP sensor which is housed in the notch on top of the display.
Also Read: Best Portable Power Banks You Can Buy Right Now
The Redmi Note 7 is powered by a 4000mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4. It allows the device to charge with a maximum input of 18W via the bottom mounted USB Type-C port. Connectivity options on the device include 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, and FM Radio. It also has a whole host of sensors which include an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and a compass.


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The conservation contract is provided inside the collection kit.
Bioscience Institute, as owner of the laboratories, offers parents a direct contract, without using any brokerage company.
This means that the company:
The conservation contract is provided inside the collection kit.
Bioscience Institute, as owner of the laboratories, offers parents a direct contract, without using any brokerage company.
This means that the company:
is directly responsible for its work, committing itself never to transfer the rights deriving from the contract to third parties
contractually undertakes to maintain the quality level of the procedures adopted and the structure in which it operates unchanged over time
stands as the sole interlocutor, as the owner of the laboratories where stem cells are physically stored
Bioscience Institute is the company that signs the contract and at the same time provides the service.
This allows you to have a single point of contact, who responds directly for the work performed as it owns and directly manages the laboratories where the stem cells are physically stored.
If the company with which the CONTRACT is signed is free to transfer the rights to third parties, there is a risk of not being adequately protected: the company to which their stem cells have been entrusted could in fact transfer the rights to a company that does not guarantee the same quality standards.
If the contract is signed by an Italian company:
– the Italian company does not own the laboratories but is only an intermediary, because in Italy, by law, private banks for autologous stem cells are prohibited;
– it is an Italian company that buys the service from foreign banks for resale in Italy.
The conservation costs include a contribution to conservation and the payment of an annual fee.
To receive the Collection Kit, only the membership costs must be paid in advance, while the payment of the cryopreservation service will be required only after freezing.
Why does the Bioscience Institute propose a contract that provides for the payment of the annual fee?
The Bioscience Institute proposes a contract that provides for the payment of an annual fee because in the biotechnology sector, quality is obtained and maintained over the years only through investments of high economic value. In biological cryopreservation, ensuring a high standard of quality is the only way to preserve cord blood stem cell samples so that they can be used for a transplant. The payment of an annual fee for the maintenance of biological samples represents the safest method to guarantee, year after year, the coverage of the costs generated by their conservation.
The contract provides for a minimum duration of cryopreservation of 20 years and can be tacitly extended.
On the one hand, the actual potential of stem cell treatments has been known since 1988, the year in which for the first time a child recovered from Fanconi's anemia, owing to a transplant of hematopoietic stem cells obtained from the blood of his younger sister who had just been born. 1.
On the other hand, a more recent scientific publication has documented the success of an autologous transplant, in humans, of hematopoietic stem cells stored for a period of 21 years 2.
The Bioscience Institute offers the option of extending the contract while you continue to pay the annual fee 3.
1. The Italian system of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. Alessandro Nanni Costa, National Transplant Center – ADISCO, 2009
2. Holter J et al. Successful autologous stem-cell transplantation after 21 years of cryopreservation. Transplantation. 2011 Apr 15;91(7):e54-5. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e31820f083c
3. Broxmeyer HE et al. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, and isolation of endothelial progenitors from 21- to 23.5-year cryopreserved cord blood. Blood. 2011 May 5;117(18):4773-7. doi: 10.1182/blood-2011-01-330514
Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord after the baby is born and is a valuable source of stem cells.
Until recently it was treated as "waste" and eliminated with hospital waste along with the placenta and the umbilical cord. It is currently used in the treatment of around 100 serious diseases.


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Leaving is hell, especially on dreary, dismal days, which only rush the hemorrhaging of bleeding hearts and heighten the tension of departure. "The traveler's guilty pleasure is staying home," wrote Paul Theroux, and those words came to me as I stood looking out at the dripping leaves and grey sky of morning. It had been some years since I'd traveled alone, a disquieting thought, but I'd brought it upon myself—asked for it, cleared my schedule, done my work and, as the last act, left my desk orderly in case a combination of steep hills and brake failure finally coincided.
These were dramatic feelings, the kind that flit through the mind on the plank before the jump. Not that I was anywhere dangerous or daring—this was Portugal—but one needn't be to face their death or even the smaller, non-fatal death that is the leaving of loved ones. The last look at the worried faces of kinfolk as they shrink in the rearview mirror can worm its way under the skin of all but the most hardened wanderers, creating an itch so bad the only cure seems to turn back and go straight to bed. The optimism of planning and the anticipation of leaving can easily swing from "Here I go!" to "What have I done?"
The benefit of leaving atop a motorcycle is one of sensitivity. The same rolling tread of departure that curls back the scared-over tissue of previous journeys also exposes the tender nerves underneath, sensitive to the slightest winds, noises, and bumps in the road. Wending my way along the Douro River out of Porto, the world felt fresh and new. There was a tang of smoldering eucalyptus and cheroot in the air, and the road sheened with fresh rain, glistening with every oncoming set of headlights. Rowers skulled in the green-grey river like slender water beetles, cutting vees that were broken by the chop of rabelo boats making their way to the historic banks of the city to collect their daily fare. The narrow crafts once carried barrels of young port wine from vineyards in the upper Douro Valley to warehouses along the river's mouth. Now the river is dammed, the rabelos only carry tourists, and the barrels make the downstream journey by road.
I had decided to make my own journey through Portugal, against the flow of that sweet wine. Whenever I talked about traveling to Portugal, people in Canada said, "Oh, the beaches are lovely," and "Have you tried pastel de nata?" because the very mention of Portugal has become synonymous with quick weekend trips to Lisbon, bronzed sun-goddesses sucking back vinho verde on a strip of Algarve sand, and the football player Ronaldo. It's Spain for people who are weary of Spain; it's Morocco for people who are afraid of Africa.
Only it is not those things. It's a country as deep as it is old—the Romans, Visigoths, and Celts formed it. Later, it was a world-maker, and parts of its culture are present all over the world. The Japanese words tempura and pan, as only a small example, are Nipponized versions of the Portuguese words for seasoning and bread, and the Indian curry vindaloo is a bastardization of Portugal's carne de vinha d'alho. The country is vast, with snow-capped mountains and green valleys, burning agricultural plains, and dry prairie. It is a place of tradition and deep roots, where it is still possible to meet people who have never seen the sea and who cook over smoky fires in slate-roofed houses.
The idea was to take a motorcycle and, riding off-road where I could, roll my way along the Douro Valley into the highlands, then skirt the Spanish border to the southern coast. I wanted to see the hidden country, the land as far away from the airports and beaches as possible. The country was familiar to me, but heading for parts I'd never before visited, I was reminded of Teolinda Gersão, who wrote that "Places we travel to frequently eventually do start to feel familiar, at least superficially, even when, at a deeper level, almost everything about them makes us feel foreign." I wanted to travel the edges of the map and buff away some of that foreign feeling, discovering parts of the country that were new to me. I was also doing my best to integrate myself. I had studied the language and carried books by natives José Saramago, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, and Agustina Bessa-Luís in my saddlebags, along with a sleeping bag, a rain sheet, and enough dried figs to last a week. Even the bike was Portuguese, an AJP PR7. An enduro bike in the truest sense, it had the power to handle the highway speeds, with the stability and fuel range to last all day on the trail.
I wanted to actively avoid the highways. The braided devil's knot of freeway that runs along the Atlantic coast only serves as a reminder that whatever the nation, once on an eight-lane, half the population becomes rampaging executioners behind the wheel. Luckily, Portugal is a country full of backroads and dirt lanes, what in Canada are called turkey trails—paths fit only for the bobbing stubbornness of feral birds. Off-roading in Portugal is nothing strange, and the backroads are full of engines whining like irritating mosquitoes. Every autumn, the Lés a Lés Off-Road rally tears across the country in four days (they also run a summer on-road version). The country has also produced its share of champions: the late Paulo Gonçalves, Henrique Nogueira, Luís Lorenço, and António Pinto, who turned from his riding career to manufacturing with AJP Motorcycles, the country's top off-road bikes.
One needn't be a racer to enjoy the dirt, however. For myself, the pleasure lies in being forced to a slow, almost calculating speed while crunching on gravel and squelching through mud. Crossing a troubling mile thick with weeds and ruts is infinitely more fulfilling than gobbling up a hundred mind-numbing highway ones. The Portuguese portion of the Trans Euro Trail is here for that, spanning the country north-south in some 600 miles of trail over a combination of farming roads, foresting tracks, and trails shared with the Camino de Santiago. In going slowly, there is too the benefit of making small nations like Portugal expand and engulf the entire world. Saramago knew this, writing that "every traveler has the right to invent their own geographies. If you don't, consider yourself a mere travel apprentice, still very attached to the lesson's handwriting and the teacher's hand."
The first day, riding from Bragança to Miranda do Douro gave me a lesson in the true size of Portugal—what could have been done in one hour on the highway took me six off-road. There, the Trans-Euro follows exactly the Portugal-Spain border, what in Portuguese is called a Raia, or the Stripe. The soft-bottomed lumber road, cut through a forest of eucalyptus, hugs the spine of a ridgeback, with Spain on one slope, Portugal on the other. On the top of Serra da Luz, a mountain long and subtle enough to have no defined beginning or ending, two monuments signify the one-time importance of the line: a stone demarcation tower, hidden amongst the eucalyptus, and an abandoned watchtower rusting in the drizzle.
The feeling of isolation can be palpable. Generations have trickled out of Portugal's rural areas for better pay in the coastal cities and elsewhere in Europe. The villages, all granite and slate and looking as though they were hewn from the ground, feel mediaeval and isolated. Signs reading Vende-Se (For Sale) and, more ambitiously, Aluga-Se (For Rent) are common. Pulling out of one, I came across a man. He might have stepped out of an oil painting. He was grizzled, the skin of his jaw loose and grey, and he wore the flat cap and woolen vest seen on almost every man north of the Douro. Hooked over one thin shoulder was an umbrella; on the other, he balanced a mattock, his thick hand resting softly on the smooth wood of the handle. A few hundred yards ahead were a half-dozen honey-coloured cattle, their hides glowing in the afternoon sun.'Buenos dias,' he shouted as I pulled alongside, his voice made smooth as much by his Transmontan accent as his toothless mouth.
'You speak Spanish?' I asked him in Portuguese, confused as to which side of the border I had slipped onto.
'Here, we speak everything,' he said, swiveling his head as a way of giving directions. 'Castilian, Portuguese, French…'
We talked about his cattle and living so close to the border. He had lived nearby, in the town of Paradela, all his life. The town was as antiquated as he looked—there, I'd watched an old woman pitch hay from the loft of a stone barn and passed a man yoking a cart to a donkey. What other countries create theme parks around as homage, Portugal was still living through.
The border was nothing to the cattleman. He had crossed it all his life for his work, even when there had been guards to contend with. In the northern mountains, smuggling was commonplace, and houses along the border housed smugglers and hid contraband in secret alcoves called secretas.
The farmer's herd had walked on ahead, as calm and sedately as though they were flanked by 10 herdsmen, and the dissonant tune of their bells was fading. To slip away, I asked the way to the next town along.
'This,' he said, 'is a rural road. From here, you can go anywhere.'
Anywhere yes, but not all roads lead to the same Rome. Dead reckoning is difficult here. There is no shortage of options—they extend out from towns like snarls of wire—but without a local's knowledge, a confident start can lead to a day of endless gates and retracing of steps. Roads through public land are meant to be open, but many are not, and I still have the barked hands to prove it. After a few hours of carousing through pastures, I was glad for my years of experience with barbed wire, baling twine, and fencing staples on my father's cattle ranch.
I wanted to put the drizzle of Trás-os-Montes behind me and made for the distant line where the grey sheet of cloud broke apart into pieces of white cotton over the bouldered plains of Beira. Here the countryside opens in beautiful splendor. One can proceed slowly along any number of paths, TET and otherwise, following the length of the tumbling Côa river (Saramago traveled this way in 1979 just for the scenery).
I was camping in this open country, and too late, began looking for a place to sleep. Night fell quickly, like a theatre dimming its lights. Dusk anywhere is venomous, but in the cold granite towns of Portugal, it can be tragic. Bumping along a disappearing country road was much more comforting, where throwing down anywhere, although in theory illegal, was possible. Like rural places all over the world, politeness and curiosity in Portugal get you further than the law would ever allow.
Riding along another changeling trail—from moment to moment, it changed from slick rock to spongy moss to flooded over—I encountered a fire. It was small but spread across the path and burned with a flicker that cut through the trees with a primordial orange bluntness. Portugal is a country with a history of devastating wildfires, and encountering a haphazard fire is enough to get anyone's hackles up. Each year, fires burn across the country, chewing through the bone-dry eucalyptus that covers the country. In 2017, the worst year on record, 45,000 hectares burned, and 66 people were killed.
There was no way for me to extinguish the flames myself, so I rode through, pulling into the first farmyard I encountered a short distance away. The farmer hailed me with a large yell as I pulled into his barn and waved me off when I mentioned the fire. He had lit it, he said, as a controlled burn, a preemptive measure that could save his cattle yard.
"I'm watching it," he said, derisively. Countrymen, especially the pyromaniacal ones, despise instructions, so I left it and changed the subject to camping.
"You can stay in my house," he said, lifting my spirits. "You'll have it to yourself."
It was obvious why. The farmer's house was a gimcrack cinderblock building set in the middle of a pasture. Although it was impossible to tell whether it was in the process of construction or destruction, it was, in any case, devoid of anything. There were no windows or doors or furniture; each room was an empty chamber of chalky dust, old leaves, and exposed wires poking from the cement. Before turning in, I walked across the pasture to a stone water tank. The water was still and scuzzy with moss. Boulders dotting the landscape resembled the granite knuckles of giants' hands breaking through the earth. I thought of my Penelope, and of Odysseus fleeing the cyclops Polyphemos who rained down stones such as these upon his ship.
Even in sunny Portugal, there is cold. After the talk of wildfire, I was too cautious to build my own, and so I spent the night shivering inside my sleeping bag, fighting a bone-cracking cold that produced vivid, horrifying dreams and, in the morning, loose teeth and frozen toes. But that too was Homer: "A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time." In the dawn, I awoke to the faintest tolling of a distant bell, so shadowy a sound that it was impossible to tell from which direction it came. It reminded me I wasn't alone.
Each morning in the highlands, the world was inundated with a milky fog that filled the river valleys and borderland plains. Riding through it was like having a grey cheesecloth pressed onto my face. A promise had sent me pointlessly and dangerously onto the main roads up to the mountaintop town of Marvão. From the town's famous hilltop, Saramago noted, "it is possible to see everything," but I saw nothing at all through the opaque cloud.
Aeroplane pilots have a name for the act of flying through a grey murk of clouds without the clarifying benefit of dashboard instruments: "178 seconds to live." With nothing to gauge their relation to the earth or the perspective to the horizon, the concept of level flight becomes distorted, meaning that slightly less than three minutes separate flying over from flying into. Motorcycle riders will know the feeling well—plowing through a cold, clammy fog, there is nothing on a bike to help predict what lies ahead on the road. On the narrow country roads, there was little to risk except running into a cow or a herd of sheep. But on the road, there were bullish cars and demon tail lights that appeared with such little notice my heart stopped faster than my brakes.
I fled back onto the protection of the dirt. South of Portalegre, into the fields of Baixo Alentejo, there is a distinct change in the countryside. Rolling over the golden, sugary roads along the thatch-work of an olive grove, I thought of Agustina Bessa-Luís, for whom a motorcycle was "a buzzing machine, whose chrome flashed like a bright comet set alight by the burning air itself," even if, for the rider, it "offered more in terms of respectability than comfort." The sun was out, and the grandeur of the mountains was gone, replaced with the endless geometry of olive and cork plantations. Snatchable oranges and lemons lined the roads, their branches sagged over fence lines, staining the road with sugary slashes of juice from squished fruit drop.
Alentejo is Portugal's breadbasket and a stronghold of the Portuguese Communist Party since the 1975 post-dictatorial elections. Although the unity amongst these agriculturalists is strong, the young still largely forsake working on farms. The lack of labour has turned the farmers of Alentejo into sponsors. Workers are brought from as far away as Nepal and India to pick blueberries, olives, and grapes on estates. Riding past these itinerant workers, bent and bowed in the shadow of a ruined castle, was like witnessing a living Paul Kuczynski painting, an image of history and the present twisted and turned on its head, so distorted by fate itself, that I could only think "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
There is a myriad of castles and forts all along the border, but they largely sit dormant and silent. Once the ultimate deterrents to invading Moors and Castilians, they now act in direct antithesis to their original purpose and encourage Spaniards and French to run rampant through their keeps and behind the thick, unscalable walls.
In the Algarve, the number of foreigners reaches a fever pitch. Historical relics are largely ditched in favor of soaking up the sun on a crowded beach. Saramago bemoaned about the place as early as the 1970s, calling it "the honeypot that all the ants aim for" and a place where "Portuguese is held in such low esteem" that "she is not spoken." I wanted none of that and kept to the mountains, spending a terrifying day riding through the Serra do Caldeirão on steep roads plied with scree and infested with crazed, snapping dogs. I was nearly outdone by these wild beasts. Portugal is rife with these mongrel curs that lay around blind corners and bite the air with a ferocity that had me thinking, "If I fall, I die." That was not the arrival I had wanted at the end of my journey, but at least it was as far as possible from the cramped campervan parks of the beaches only a few miles to the south. I could be happy with that, dog bitten or not.
On my last night in the wilds, I was once again puttering through the descending dusk looking for a suitable spot in the scrubby, thorny outback that covers the Algarve. Seeing a farmer rolling irrigation tubes beside his alfalfa field, I nerved myself and asked for a place to stay. He swung his arm around to encompass the entire country. "Anywhere," he said.
We talked about his crop, the lack of rain, and wild boars—I had been warned against them by an expatriate Kiwi who had a house nearby. She had lived in the Algarve for 10 years and had only visited half of her sprawling hillside property. "I don't know where you'll find a place to camp," she said, with the acidity émigrés reserve for others traveling through their adopted homeland. "I own all the land around here," she said, thinking, no doubt, "Bugger off, I got here first."
The farmer waived off the warning of the boars. "They're just pigs," he said. "You'll be fine."
"There are a lot of bifes here," I said, using the colloquial Portuguese word for foreigners. He only smiled and continued rolling his tubing. I was windblown and dirty, my bike crusted with a thousand miles of Portuguese dust. I could name a dozen towns in the middle of nowhere. My mind was tired from weeks of translating. None of it was enough to become Portuguese, of course. I still felt foreign but as close to Portugal as ever after five years of visits. Before he left for the night, the farmer extended his hand. I took it, and in a soft voice, he said, "Welcome to Portugal."