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Special Feature
Read on for the latest installment in UFC.com's weekly series of articles on proper nutrition from the top athletes in the UFC...this week, former world title challenger Dan Hardy
A month after his fights, Dan Hardy walks around north of 200 pounds. After his fight with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, the heavy-handed Brit tipped the scales at a muscular 218.8 pounds! And yet, when it's time to step on the scales for the official weigh-ins, Dan Hardy always makes the weight, and his cardio is always on point. So don't let the punk rocker hairdo and cocky soundbites to the media fool you: Dan Hardy is extremely conscientious and scientific about his profession and what goes into his body. The eight-year veteran has experimented with a wide range of diets and supplements, including weeks training with Shaolin Monks.
Curreri: When you stayed with the Monks, what did you eat?
Hardy: That was the same every day. They have a very consistent diet. In the morning we would have powered milk, hot water, white rice and boiled eggs. That was breakfast every day the whole time I was there. The funny thing is, when you were having breakfast you knew what you would be having for your next meal because you could hear them out back killing it. They would be out there ringing the necks of chickens, or killing a pig, whatever, it was quite an experience.
Lunch and dinner, we would sit around a table, probably eight of us, and there would be a big bowl of rice in the middle. Then there would be six bowls: four of them would vegetable based and two would be meat. Chicken, eggs or pork was popular. They didn't eat beef all that often. All the food steamed, pan-fried stuff, very clean. And it was all grown locally from a nearby village. And you could taste that. The volume of the food was the only issue I had. They were feeding us the amount that the monks were eating. I went out there at 180 and I came back weighing 152 pounds.
Curreri: These days, tell your fans – and some of the haters – about the top secret Dan Hardy Diet.
Hardy: I have a system. Every morning I get all of my supplements out and put them in a little pot. I get two fruit juices – a fruit juice and coconut water – and mix them in a big mug with a scoop of branch chain amino acids and 20 drops of chlorophyll. I stir that up and take my supplements with that. Then I have a vegan protein bar with about 10 grams of protein, just something to get my stomach going.
My supplements: Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex; Green tea, fish oils, probiotics. I don't want my stomach working too hard during training. If your stomach is digesting food during training then it carries nutrients away from your stomach and it makes me feel nauseous when I train.
So I'll take my supplements, my vegan protein bar, then I'll check my emails and watch a fight before heading off to training.
Curreri: What fight videos do you watch each morning?
Hardy: I usually have a fighter whose game I want to study each week. There is something about his style that I want to learn. So I might watch a guy that has something in his grappling game that I want to use. Or a boxer or a Thai boxer. Then I'll do repetitions of whatever that particular fighter did in my mind. Then when I get to training I'll put that into practice.
Curreri: Who and what have most influenced your diet?
Hardy: Different scientists, nutrition experts and other athletes. I went through a stage, around UFC 95 when I fought Rory Markham, I was working with an expert who was very knowledgeable. He took diet to another level, to where it was almost more important than the training. I was soooo overwhelmed, it was like a full-time job. I was taking 72 pills a day. All different kinds of things: Beef liver, L-Carnitine, which was the worse one because it makes your skin smell like fish. It interfered with my training sessions. Funny enough, that was my quickest fight in the UFC, but I think it was circumstantial. I don't think it had to do with the diet because I felt exhausted for that fight and I didn't look right on the scales, either. So after that fight I pulled it back a lot. I really focus a lot on getting nutrients from food instead of supplements.
During training camp I stay away from anything that is acidic, like dairy products.
Curreri: What's on your shopping list?
Hardy: I went shopping yesterday … I buy as much organic as I can. I buy lots of different types of fish, chicken breast, turkey, avocado, lots of free-range, organic eggs. All my meat is cage-free. But when I get close to the fight I rely on a lot more drinks.
Last night I had fish and broccoli. My carbs are very low. I eat sprouted wheat bread as one of my main carbohydrates. Today I'll go home, have a shake and then eat four eggs with two slices of wheatberry sprouted bread. I might have apples, bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe or grapes. Obviously I only eat bananas right after training – I wouldn't eat them at any other time of the day.
I like to get as many fiberous, natural carbs as I can as opposed to complex carbs. Occasionally I'll have brown rice but not often. Quinoa is quite a popular complex carb at the moment.
I'll probably have a couple Sushi rolls once a week – I might have some raw tuna with avocado -- and that is as close to a cheat meal as I get during training camp. Usually Monday and Tuesday are pretty tough days. Wednesday I do a conditioning session in the morning and a technical session in the evening. I know Thursday and Friday will be hellish days as well, so I like to have some extra carbs on Wednesday just to carry me through those sessions.
Curreri: How many of your meals do you prepare yourself?
Hardy: I actually prepare quite a lot of them myself. My girlfriend is very good, too. She used to be vegan so a lot of the dishes she cooks are vegan-conscious, though I like to add a good protein to them as well. Sometimes I'll get home and she has prepared a meal, like, say, turkey meatballs or a vegan gravy that is fantastic. With that I'll have carrots, green beans or asparagus.
Curreri: So many fighters are eating clean, organic, free-range meat, etc..Is it the American fighters that are leading the charge on this or do you think fighters in other countries are becoming much more sophisticated about their diets and relying on organic foods? How much has the American diet influenced your dietary decisions?
Hardy: There definitely is a difference. I'm a lot more conscious about eating organic when I'm in the U.S. – without a doubt. Organic food is easier to get and it's cheaper in Europe. You can consistently go into supermarkets (in Europe) and you can find most of the stuff that you need that has been locally farmed and organically produced. It's good, clean food. There's no craziness in it, no additives, it's not been transported 10,000 miles to get to the U.K. and all that stuff. The food generally in Europe I think is, across the board, of higher standard.
I mean, in the U.S. you can get good food, it just comes at a much higher price tag. So my food costs for a training camp in the U.S. are a bit more expensive, and that's saying something given the (Euro versus the dollar) exchange rate. Over here, if I walk into a regular supermarket chain … I walk around the supermarket in despair, because I cannot face most of the food that's on the shelves. It's just very, very highly processed and it's got a lot of stuff in it that people don't need to be taking in. The meat is very low quality and produced on huge farms with 800,000 cattle just crammed into little fences. It's just not the quality of food that I would like to put into my body. Short-term, being an active athlete, it concerns me. But also long-term it concerns me.
I think a lot of the illnesses in the U.S. are down to the regular food you can get. When I was growing up (in the U.K.) there were a lot of people in their late 50s and early 60s dropping dead of heart attacks and stuff like that. That has dropped off considerably. But those people grew up on a diet of cigarettes and bread and dripping. I don't know whether you have (bread and dripping) over here, but basically it's just highly processed white bread and dripping, which is beef fat. This came from rationing during (World War II) when basically you ate everything you were given because you didn't know when you would be eating again. So when you cooked meat, you would save the fat that came out of it and put it in a little pot and spread it over your bread like it was butter. And that was a regular thing. There was also a lot of "Black Pudding," which was basically fat blood. Basically everything was used during the second World War because of rationing. And later on you could see the effects of it later in peoples' lives as they got older.
In Europe, the food is a better quality because if it's not, it puts a strain on the healthcare system. They don't want more patients, so the food is better quality. Even fast food is healthier! I'll have cheat meals in the U.K. a lot more consistently than I would here. In the U.K. my cheat meal would be fish and chips. The fish are line-caught (as opposed to farm-raised), it's fried in healthy fats and all the potatoes are organically made and it's made in the restaurant. I feel nauseous just seeing (some fast food) commercials on TV. I couldn't eat a meal like that.
Curreri: A month after a fight how heavy are you?
Hardy: 205 is about right. If I try to gain muscle and lift a lot of weights – like I did after the GSP fight – when I weighed 218.8. I find my body functions best around 200 pounds. I do most of my training camp at around 192, 194. And then when we get close to the fight I drop it down more than that. Usually, on the Monday before a fight, I'll be around 186.
I tend to eat very small amounts throughout fight week. I always have a handful of almonds with me for little nuggets of energy. Or I might have a few grapes or blueberries, or an apple occasionally. I avoid any dairy or red meat. I know a lot of people cut water the week of the fight; well I don't. I try to drink as much as I can up until the Thursday night before the weigh-in. I'll stop drinking water about 6 p.m. at night. Then I'll drink green tea, Vitamin C and apple cider vinegar for my natural diuretics. Sometimes I use dandelion root as well. That's a really good supplement when I'm trying to lose water weight.
Friday morning I'll take the Green Tea, Vitamin C and apple cider vinegar and that gets my body going and the weight cut starts.
Curreri: Unlike a lot of top fighters, you don't shun fruit juices.
Hardy: I've always got a bottle of water with me and in the house at all times. Because dehydration can be caused by laziness. I usually drink a gallon and a half a day of water. On top of that I'll have a couple of cartons of coconut water. I do drink fruit juice. I know a lot of athletes don't like that. But I never drink it from concentrate, it's all organic. After training I'll usually have a shake. Today I'll go home and have beet juice, apple juice and carrot juice. Then I'll mix a raw protein – which is pea protein, rice protein, chia seeds, hemp protein I use quite a lot and then a green and red powder mix.
Curreri: Why a vegan protein?
Hardy: The thing I like about vegan protein is – you know they're clean. Because vegans are the most serious about nutrition that I've ever met. To be healthy and vegan, you have to really know what you're doing with your diet. I mean I know a lot of vegans don't eat healthy, but among the upper echelon of vegan athletes they know what they're doing. I'm not a big fan of artificial sweeteners, or a lot of stabilizers and flavorings that are added to foods and drinks. I'd rather have something that tastes disgusting and has a weird texture but feels clean and makes my body work better.
Power Slap


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The IFSC Code or the Indian Financial System Code is an 11 character code that is used by the Reserve Bank of India for identifying all the bank branches which are part of the NEFT system in India. It is used for the electronic payment system applications like the NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer, RTGS and CFMS.
The Code itself is of 11 characters, with the first 4 characters being alphabets. They represent the bank. The 5th code is zero and the last 6 characters represent the branch code.
Use the following methods for getting the IFSC code of a bank's branch:
Most of the time the code is printed on the passbook or the cheque book of the bank. Otherwise you can search for the code on the bank's website or online by proving the bank name, state, district and the branch name. Usually, the location of the bank is the branch name.
Each bank will have its unique IFSC code for each branch. The initial 4 codes will give an idea of the name of the bank itself. These codes are essential for making funds transfers to banks accounts with India. It is required when you have to add a beneficiary for transferring money into their account. Without these codes, it is not possible to carry out online funds transfers.
The IFSC code of a bank's branch can accompanies complete information about the branch. When you lookup for the code, you will also get information about the branch's address and contact info. All the bank branches which participate in inter bank electronic funds transfer will have the lists of IFSC codes of all the banks. Even the Reserve Bank of India provides the list of all the bank branches which participate in the RTGS/NEFT. Every bank is required to print and display their IFSC code on their bank premises and on their cheques/passbooks.
Indian banks are also being integrated with the IBAN system for smoother financial transactions. It is currently under process, and Indian banks will be integrated with the system in the near future. The IFSC code is currently one of the most crucial factors for carrying out financial transactions between bank branches within India.
The IFSC Code is different from the SWIFT Code because the latter is used for carrying out international financial transfers. The IFSC is used only for domestic financial transfers. The IFSC is developed and maintained by the Reserve Bank of India while the SWIFT is created and managed by the International Standard Organization. Besides, the SWIFT can be of 8 or 11 characters, while the IFSC must have 11 characters only. If someone has to carry out payment transfers from beyond the international borders, they will need the SWIFT code and not the IFSC code. A basic difference is that the SWIFT can also be used for exchanging other messages between banks.
Swift Code or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication code is a globally accepted identification system for banks. These codes are mostly used for carrying out international wire transfers and can have 8/11 alphanumeric characters. It was first authorized to be created by the International Organization of Standardization (IOS).
Read MoreThe IFSC Code or the Indian Financial System Code is an 11 character code that is used by the Reserve Bank of India for identifying all the bank branches which are part of the NEFT system in India. It is used for the electronic payment system applications like the NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer, RTGS and CFMS.
Read MoreMICR Code or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition is a character recognition system used mostly by the banking industry for facilitating the processing of cheques. These characters are printed in special unique typefaces with magnetic ink. Iron oxide is the commonly used material and it requires a specially designed machine for reading these characters. These characters are mostly printed on the bottom of the cheque leaf. The code is required by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for identifying the bank and branch and clearing the cheque.
Read MoreWhen it comes to making an international online payment, you will be required to provide a BIC code. It can often leave one confused as to what the Bic Codes refer to. These are the same as SWIFT codes. It is an international banking code for transfer of financial messages. The code is also used for identifying banks all across the world. BIC stands for Bank Identifier Code and SWIFT refers to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
Read MoreThe BSB Codes or Bank State Branch codes are 6-digit codes used for identifying banks and branches in Australia. If you want to transfer payments within Australia, you will need the account number and the BSB code of the recipient. Similarly, you will have to provide your own account number and BSB to the sender. As already mentioned, there are 6 digits in this code. The first 2 or 3 digits are used as bank identifier. This part of the code is used to process both electronic and paper-based transactions. However, it is not used in the case of payment card numbering.
Read MoreSort Codes are numbers assigned to bank branches and they are used mostly for the internal purposes of the bank. These codes will have 6 digits which are separated in sets of two's with hyphens. They are most widely used in the banking systems of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Read MoreRouting Numbers, also known as ABA Numbers or Routing Transfer Numbers are 9 digit numbers used by the banking system in the United States for identifying banks and financial institutions. This number system is used by the US banks for carrying out Automatic Clearing House and wire transfers. This includes various forms of transactions like direct deposits, electronic funds transfers, e-checks, tax payments, and direct payment against bills and much more.
Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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The HP TouchSmart 600-1055 is a desktop PC where, as the name implies, you can touch the screen to manipulate information. It comes with all the stuff you desperately covet with the bonus of being able to pinch, rotate and drag things anywhere you want with your own little fingers. Is that not completely fun?
Windex not included.
However, there are other spiffy features that it does include:
- built-in adjustable webcam, wireless modem, microphone and premium speakers
- wireless keyboard and mouse
- HDMI gaming console so you can play your Playstation, X-box or Wii in HD
- 23" HD 16:9 screen plus HDTV tuner with a remote
- capabilities for viewing Blu-ray discs plus viewing or burning DVDs
- 750 GB hard drive
- TouchSmart Live TV, Windows Media Center and Windows 7 software
It also comes with a bundle of five Microsoft Surface programs that teach you to use the new TouchSmart screen to full potential so you can easily run sites like Twitter, Pandora or Netflix. Gives a new meaning to poking people on Facebook, doesn't it?
So if you think about it, you're not just getting a regular old PC to manage information, you're also getting a command center for your entire entertainment and social media system.
And if this doesn't get you drooling I noticed that on the HP site you can get about $200 worth of extras, including free shipping, a $120 rebate and $60 off one of HP's wireless printers. Good deal.
I'm so excited because HP has generously offered to give one of these snazzy new machines free to one of you just in time for the holidays so read all the directions carefully for your shot at this beauty.
Here's how to win:
Before 12 am, the morning of Saturday November 28th (you get a full week for this one) go to the giveaway entry form on this page and enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names with a random number generator, contact the winner via their email and publish their first name and home town on Tuesday December 1st.
You can only enter once via the form. However, if you share this giveaway or the HP link to the product through Twitter, Facebook, by emailing this post to a friend (see envelope icon at the bottom) or by putting up this button on your site please leave me a comment letting me know that you did so and I will gladly enter your name a second time.

When you click on the entry form link there are even more minute details at the bottom if you have questions. This giveaway is open to all readers so good luck!


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Almost a Circle Vase - Raw Brass, Small Circle, Thin Tube
This vase is made by a.c.v studio, by hand, from brass and silver solder.
It is a unique object, each vase made differently to the others, and nuances of the making process are evident on the surface of the vessel.
The base plate is 2mm thick. This vase is made from a fine brass tube and can bend if not treated gently. It holds only delicate flowers.
The brass used is buffed to a matte finish, and is left untreated so that the warm browns that come from being in contact with water leave a beautiful patination on its surface. This can be easily cleaned following the instructions below.
Brass is made mostly of copper, and during the soldering (making) process some pink from the copper in the brass may rise to the surface and be visible around the join. This is a beautiful marking of the hand-making process and is never the same on any two pieces.
This vase is stamped with its edition number 544, and stands at about 27cm tall.
a.c.v studio is a project by Anna Varendorff hand-making limited edition objects.
Goods will be shipped within 3 business day from purchase unless otherwise communicated.
Please choose carefully, as goods can not be returned unless faulty.
This vessel can be cleaned with brass cleaning products, but we recommend cleaning with tomato sauce and an abrasive kitchen scourer, washing with mild soap afterwards and drying immediately. This is the least toxic cleaner for brass we know of.


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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - A gang of youths on Sunday (July 18) attacked a house church as the congregation worshiped in Xi Thoai village in Phu Yen Province on Vietnam's south central coast, Christian sources said.
The local youths smashed the walls of the home and wreaked havoc within as they railed against evangelist Mang Vuong for being a Christian and for building his home to be a house church, the sources said. The sources noted that on the night of June 10 the same youths, spurred by local authorities, broke into Vuong's home in Xuan Lanh Commune, Dong Xuan district, stole more than $3,000 and destroyed household furnishings, utensils and books.
Since then this same gang of local youths has been harassing and threatening Vuong, sources said. The pastor reported death threats.
Vuong, of the Hroi ethnic minority, is a worker for the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), or ECVN(S), Vietnam's largest government-registered denomination. When the Hroi church at Soi Nga some six kilometers (nearly four miles) away became full, leaders decided to start a congregation in Xi Thoai village where a number of Hroi Christians lived.
In Vietnam, a common approach for church expansion is to build a roomy home for an evangelist to serve also as a meeting place. The evangelist's house in Xi Thoai was nearly completed when it was first attacked last month.
According to a petition the evangelist sent to commune, district and provincial officials on June 12, it was village officials who assembled young people for a meeting on June 9 and plied them with liquor. Very late at night the youths, including several sons of commune officials, attacked the evangelist's house.
The petition blames village Chief La Mo Duc, Deputy Chief Le Minh Dien and others for inciting the young people. These two officials are also the local Communist Party leaders.
The gang stole 60 million dong (US$3,091), which had just been borrowed to pay the house contractor, according to the petition. They burned Christian books and either stole or destroyed everything else in the house, including new building materials and the contractor's tools.
Police from local to provincial levels came to the area several times to "investigate," visits that village Christians said were attempts to identify the Christians in the village. In the next six weeks, sources said, authorities did nothing to address the crime, and local officials did nothing to stop the daylight raid on Sunday (July 18).
"There was no other reason for this – it is religious persecution, pure and simple, incited and allowed by local government officials," said one prominent ECVN(S) leader. "The inaction of higher officials casts into doubt our country's claim to uphold religious freedom."
A provincial ECVN(S) leader, Pastor Vo Thanh Phe, said that for six weeks he had been urging local and provincial officials to take action, without success. Recently a top national leader of the ECVN(S) visited the village to encourage the beleaguered evangelist and Christians. He informed the provincial ECVN(S) leaders that, having personally verified the facts, he would petition the prime minister.
A source said the ECVN(S) leader needed to make the personal visit as it was assumed that the government had tapped the phones of the local Christians.
Christian groups in Vietnam have found that such petitions rarely accomplish anything. Sources said often the petitions are simply referred back down to local officials, who make life harder on those who have complained.
Phu Yen Province has been the site of other recent abuses. Two ethnic minority Ede evangelists, Y Co and Y Du of the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission Church, were arrested in January and remain in Phu Lam Prison without charge or trial. This is contrary to Vietnamese law (see www.compassdirect.org, "Vietnamese Christian, Family Forced into Hiding," April 1).
Their wives reported that officials told them their husbands would be freed if the prisoners renounced their faith.
A government seminar in May on national religion policy in Phu Yen Province has apparently had little effect on some local officials.
U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, visiting Hanoi on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the normalization of US-Vietnam relations, raised the issue of human rights and religious freedom with Vietnam's leaders yesterday (July 22). She had been pressed by human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers to raise the cases of jailed democracy and religious rights activists with Vietnam.
Clinton said the U.S. side wanted to work with Vietnam "to support efforts to pursue reforms and protect basic rights and freedoms," The Associated Press reported yesterday. When the sensitive subject of human rights came up, Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem described it simply as "a difference between Vietnam and the U.S."
"Since Vietnam achieved its goal of obtaining U.S. trade privileges in 2006 and acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2007, it has hardened its treatment of democracy, rights and religious freedom activists," said one long-time observer. "Some keen observers of the Vietnam scene do not foresee any positive changes in Vietnam's human rights record at least until after next January's five-yearly Communist Party Congress. In preparation for the congress, for which all major decisions are made in advance, no party factions can be seen to be weak on perceived threats to the revolution."


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UK Hire Options.
If you are local, you are of course welcome to pop into our Fancy Dress shop 5 days a week for carriage free collection and returns.
We suggest a minimum Hire period of 5 days in order to allow a day at the start and at the end of your hire time for shipping.
For instance a costume booked from say Thursday, will be delivered on Friday, and collected on Monday. If you book from a Monday to Friday your item will be delivered on the Tuesday and collected on the Thursday.
Please use the 3rd day in your 5 day hire, as the day of your event. We will often attempt to delivery earlier in the week if we can, but in these circumstances you will be notified in advance.
Courier charge is set at £15 which is inclusive of both your delivery and collection, up to 5 costumes. Please be aware, Couriers do not run on Saturday or Sunday for Collections.
Saturday deliveries are possible but at an extra cost. Please call 01580 830757 for further information.
All orders are normally processed and dispatched within 2 working days, however during very busy periods it may take longer.
Deliveries are subject to stock availability. If we have a problem with your order such as unavailability of an item we will call you. If you are unavailable we will send you an email telling you what action we are taking. Some of our delivery methods allow full trace of your shipment from dispatch until delivered and signed for by you. We use a number of carriers to safeguard delivery to you. Our charges to you cover all postage, packing and insurance up to the value of the goods you are buying.
All services are based on working days. Weekends, Bank Holidays and other closed days are not counted.
Delivery Zone 1
Standard Service £3.99 NOT GUARANTEED or TRACKED
This is a 1st class service, 1-2 day* for orders placed before 4pm Monday to Thursday
Tracked Service £5.50 GUARANTEED and TRACKED
This is a 1st class service, 1-2 day* guaranteed for orders placed before 2pm Monday to Thursday
Premium Service £6.50 next day GUARANTEED and TRACKED
Your order is sent the same day** you place your order as long as it is placed before 2pm Monday to Thursday. Friday orders received before 2pm will be processed and posted same day but may not arrive until Monday. Your order will be delivered by courier and may require signature.
PRIORITY Service £11.99 next day by 1.00pm GUARANTEED and TRACKED.
Your order is sent the same day** you place your order as long as it is placed before 2pm Monday to Thursday. Friday orders received before 2pm will be processed and posted same day but may not arrive until Monday. Your order will be delivered by courier and may require signature.
* Aims to deliver the next working day including Saturdays, but please note that 1st Class is not a guaranteed next day service.
** Bank Holidays and weekends may vary.
Information on our Overseas delivery here
Mad Hatters Fancy Dress was opened in 2000 and now has over 3000 Costumes and Accessories. Our staff and are knowledgeable and ALWAYS here to help. Your costume is as important to us as it is to you. We want you to look the BEST.
Comment: The womble costume was awesome at the festival this weekend. It has become a bit of a legend xxx Thank you so much 🙂 xxx
Comment: Awesome place for fancy dress, incredibly helpful and a gargantuan range of fancy dress for pretty much anyone for anything. Great range of accessories and all at a cracking good price too.
Comment: Great costumes, excellent quality. Had such fun wearing my Queen of Hearts dress as did my partner the Mad Hatter. Great staff as well, thank you so much.
Comment: We hired an RAF uniform for my husband for the Goodwood Revival and were so pleased with the service (ability to order sizes online) and quality of the uniform hired! My husband really felt and looked the part! Unfortunately we had a very rainy Goodwood Saturday so will have to go again another year, and will certainly use Madhatters again!!
You can read more about what our customers say on our Facebook page
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Android porting
From Openmoko
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NOTE: The Android for FreeRunner development now takes place here. It has it's own wiki as well. |
This page is dedicated to porting the Android OS to the Neo 1973 and Neo FreeRunner handsets. Since the Android OS was publically released on 20081021, work is currently underway to port Android to the Neo 1973 and FreeRunner handsets.
- Systematically introduce patches for ARMv4T in the Android codebase
- Provide Neo1973 and Neo FreeRunner hardware-dependent patches in the Android codebase, leveraging the work already done by the Openmoko developers, without forcing Android-specific changes upstream
- Provide a useable Android filesystem and kernel on the Distributions page that conform to current Openmoko installation routines
Early Attempts
Before the source code was released, kernel trap handlers were implemented to 'emulate' the ARMv5TE ISA. Although the results worked in many cases, trapping is costly and performance suffered as a result. Moreover, without explicitly knowing which conditions were set by various instructions, such as Thumb Mode execution, the result became non deterministic.
Current State
With the release of the Android source code, the Open Source community is no longer limited to dealing with a binary-only product. The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has let their source code become their product for everyone enrich and benefit from. Currently, porting efforts are underway in many circles.
Patches should be submitted via the official Android channels.
To track the status of which parts of the Android source tree contain ARMv5 specific code, I've created a table of where it is contained, and the status of patches. It can be found at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pzDEXnU19gkeTjpD28t-7fw User:Bricode
Google has released their open source version of the Android phone software distribution. In order to use it on the Freerunner, a number of patches need to be applied and a compiler with armv4 java exception support needs to be used to compile the software.
Most of the hardware on Freerunner seems to work on latest Android images, but not always perfectly.
If you want to see details of what is already usable, please have a look at: Android_usage
Compiler suite
Android is a little picky about the version of gcc compiler. It also requires some java exception support that isn't available for armv4 without a minor modification. The following tools are what I use to build Android:
Binutils 2.18
At one time I had some armv5t code that was compiled into Android which would cause the linker to generate these blx instructions which fail on armv4. I'm not sure if this is still necessary, but I still have the following change applied to binutils:
diff -urN binutils-2.18-orig/bfd/elf32-arm.c binutils-2.18/bfd/elf32-arm.c --- binutils-2.18-orig/bfd/elf32-arm.c 2007-08-07 02:59:23.000000000 +0700 +++ binutils-2.18/bfd/elf32-arm.c 2008-03-15 11:30:17.000000000 +0700 @@ -3093,8 +3093,8 @@ static void check_use_blx(struct elf32_arm_link_hash_table *globals) { if (bfd_elf_get_obj_attr_int (globals->obfd, OBJ_ATTR_PROC, - Tag_CPU_arch) > 2) - globals->use_blx = 1; + Tag_CPU_arch) >= TAG_CPU_ARCH_V5T) + globals->use_blx = 0; } bfd_boolean
configure --prefix={devel path}/android/cross --target=arm-eabi
gcc 4.2.4 with gcc41-java-arm4.patch
configure --prefix={devel path}/android/cross --target=arm-eabi --with-arch=armv4t --enable-shared --enable-threads --disable-nls --disable-libmudflap --enable-target-optspace --with-abi=aapcs --enable-multilib --disable-libssp --disable-libstdcxx --enable-languages=c,c++
This is the standard Linux package available for most (all?) distributions.
Coming soon. I've posted a number of them on the devel mailing list so far. Eventually, I expect to provide everything necessary for people to build Android for themselves.
Building the Koolu Android Source
- Configure your machine with the prerequisites documented in the Setting up your machine section of Google's build instructions.
- Install repo and download the source, as documented at http://trac.koolu.org/.
- After the build finishes you can put together a root file system by editing and running Sean McNeil's scripts, which are attached to this message. The first script (cp_android_OS) is used to copy the newly built files into a staging area. The second one (mkjffs2) makes a jffs2 image from the staging area. Be sure to edit the paths in the two files to match your environment. Alternatively, you can use the script below
- The result of the previos step is a file, androidfs.jffs2, which may be flashed to your Freerunner.
sudo apt-get install mtd-tools
Building a jffs2 image
You can use this script:
#!/bin/sh currentdir=`pwd` ANDROID_OUT=out ANDROID_DEVICE=freerunner EXPORT_ROOT=$currentdir/build_jffs2_tmp Usage() { echo "Usage: $0 release|debug jffs2filename" } BuildImage() { if [ -d $1 ] then echo "[INFO] Copying from... $1" sudo rm -rf $EXPORT_ROOT mkdir $EXPORT_ROOT mkdir $EXPORT_ROOT/root # Copy the image... cd $1 tar cf - root | (cd $EXPORT_ROOT; sudo tar xf -) tar cf - system | (cd $EXPORT_ROOT/root; sudo tar xf -) # Change owner and permissions... cd $EXPORT_ROOT sudo chown -R root:root root sudo chmod -R 777 root cd $currentdir # Make the JFFS2 file mkfs.jffs2 --pad=0x700000 -o $2 -e 0x20000 -n -d$EXPORT_ROOT/root/ echo "[INFO] Image written to $2" sudo rm -rf $EXPORT_ROOT else echo "$1 does not exist!" fi } if [ $# != 2 ] then Usage else case $1 in release) BuildImage $ANDROID_OUT/target/product/$ANDROID_DEVICE $2 ;; debug) BuildImage $ANDROID_OUT/debug/target/product/$ANDROID_DEVICE $2 ;; *) Usage esac fi
Android Debug Bridge
To assist in debugging and to gain shell access to the phone with Android, you can use the instructions found here: Android_debug_bridge
Windows Connectivity
It is possible to get Windows to at least recognize the Android "Ethernet Gadget" and charge the FreeRunner using the Android USB Windows driver (http://dl.google.com/android/android_usb_windows.zip) by modifying the android_usb.inf file in that package before attempting to install the driver. The following steps are required:
- connect the device on USB
- take the Hardware IDs provided by the devicemanager for the unknown device and
Add these IDs according following example to the [Google.NTx86] section of the android_usb.inf file:
; Neo FreeRunner %USB\VID_1457&PID_5117.DeviceDescRelease%=androidusb.Dev, USB\VID_1457&PID_5117 %USB\VID_1457&PID_5117&MI_01.DeviceDescRelease%=androidusb.Dev, USB\VID_1457&PID_5117&MI_01
; Neo FreeRunner %USB\VID_1457&PID_5122.DeviceDescRelease% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1457&PID_5122 %USB\VID_1457&PID_5122&REV_0312.DeviceDescRelease% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1457&PID_5122&REV_0312
and add the IDs according following example to the to the [Strings] section of the android_usb.inf file:
USB\VID_1457&PID_5117.DeviceDescRelease="Neo FreeRunner" USB\VID_1457&PID_5117&MI_01.DeviceDescRelease="Neo FreeRunner Composite ADB Interface"
USB\VID_1457&PID_5122.DeviceDescRelease = "Neo FreeRunner" USB\VID_1457&PID_5122&REV_0312.DeviceDescRelease = "Neo FreeRunner Composite ADB Interface"
- point out the installation to the driver directory
- After a successfull installation, the devicemanager shows the new item "Android Phone->Neo FreeRunner Composite ADB Interface"
- Vista and XP create a new folder
If there are any errors, refer the C:\Windows\inf\setupapi.app.log
or, if VisualStudio is installed the C:\Windows\inf\setupapi.dev.log
. Delete the created directory. In some cases you have to generate a new androidwinusb86.cat - file. Refer the MSDN for further details.
The Windows version of adb does not appear to recognize the connected device yet but at least the FreeRunner charges and the device driver indicates that "This device is working properly."
How to Help
You can start by following the instructions to download and build the Android source from scratch. Please see http://source.android.com/download and follow the instructions for your architecture.
Publicize Your Efforts
It's generally a good idea to make your efforts known via wiki systems, public mailing lists, forums, and publically open version control systems.
Always take credit for your work but please don't do it in the form of comments. Some code is already hard enough to read without comments polluting the text. The best thing to do is to create a patch and put a header with your information at the top. Collaboration systems such as git might already do this for you (??).
If you create something new and have the ability to designate the license for it, please consider license compatibility issues.
Porting Strategy
- Analysis and leverage of the existing build system
- buid/core/combo/arm-linux.mk
- -march=armv4t -mcpu=arm920t
- fix various static references to 'armv5'
- buid/core/combo/arm-linux.mk
- Isolating ARMv5TE ISA dependent code
- e.g. grep -n -R -i "${armv5te_isa_pattern}" ~/android
- Abstracting
- Use inlined functions / #ifdef statments to implement functions in a portable manner
- For inlined assembler calls, it's acceptable for now to use generic C code instead, so long as later on we optimize it by hand.
- Proprocessor statements based on ISA / architecture, e.g. #ifdef __ARCH_ARM_5__ ... #endif #ifdef __ARCH_ARM_4__ ... #endif
- It's highly suggested that preprocessor statements should not be nested (i.e. make them mutually exclusive)
- Some people have suggested that we should not do #ifdef's based on ARCH or ISA, but rather based on an AndroidConfig.h which would define macros like PLD(...) #ifdef HAVE_ARM_PLD pld #else ... #endif .
For each ARMv5TE instruction, one could potentially
- Implement the instruction using general registers instead of DSP calls (i.e. eabi / softfloat)
- If that is a) nondeterministic, or b) slow, then sections of code need to be analyzed and hand-optimized for the ARMv4T isa
List of Unsupported Instructions
This is a list of opcodes, extracted from the Android source, that are unsupported for ARMv4T compliant processors (specifically the arm920t). The opcodes represent instructions available for ARMv5, ARMv5T, and ARMv5TE architectures, which are not present in the ARMv4T ISA. The list was obtained by exhaustively editing the recompiling the Android source code until it compiled without error.
Please keep in mind, that in some cases, translating these instructions into a sequence of ARMv4T instructions will be impossible and / or result in nondeterministic execution because of
- the requirement of additional context
- the tendencies of certain opcodes to change condition registers that may or may not be present in the arm920t core
Scanning for Files That Use the ARMv5TE ISA
Using the above list of opcodes, one can scan the Android source code for ARMv4T-incompatible instruction sequences.
#!/bin/sh # $1 is the android directory if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then exit -1 fi cd "${1}" opcodes="blx clz ldrd pld smlabb smlabt smlatt smlal smlawb smlawt smulbb smulbt smultt smulwb smulwt qadd qdadd qdsub qsub strd" for op in ${opcodes}; do echo "* ${op} =====================================" if [ ! -e .files.${op} ]; then files="$(grep -R -i "${op} " * 2>/dev/null)" files="$(echo $files | grep -v "^Binary file" | sed -e 's/:.*//')" files="$(echo $files| grep -v "CREDIT\|README\|^\(kernel/\|.git/\)\|\(\.txt\)$" | sort -u)" echo "${files}" > .files.${op} else files="$(cat .files.${op})" fi for fil in ${files}; do lines="$(grep -n -i "${op} " ${fil} | sed -e 's/:.*//g' )" lines="$(echo $lines | sed -e 's/ /,/g')" echo "** ${fil}: lines {${lines}}" done done |
Source Files in Android that Use the ARMv5TE ISA
The list of files below may or may not be complete. There might also be some assembly code that is generated with a python script (verification?).
The file system/core/libpixelflinger/codeflinger/ARMAssembler.cpp will need special attention. It's responsible for dynamic generation of DSP code.
User:Cfriedt 20081024 I'm not sure how feasible this is, given that the SMedia 3362 is heavily NDA'd. However, since the arm920t lacks a floating-point unit / DSP core, is it possible to use the SMedia chip for general-purpose math? This would help in the Android platform, at least, for things like audio and video codecs. Aside from an OpenGL ES driver, OpenMoko documentation for the SMedia would be highly appreciated.
Important Links
- Android Documentation
- ARM Documentation, (keywords: armv4t, armv5t, armv5te, arm920t, arm926ej-s)
- ARM Assembly Language Programming
- An Introduction to the GNU Assembler
- ARM Procedure Call Standard, ARM Calling Conventions
Instruction Set References
- ARM Architecture Reference Manual, The definitive ISA documentation
- ARM Instruction Set Quick Reference Card
- ARM and Thumb -2 Instruction Set Quick Reference Card
- ARMv4T (See section 1.4.13)
- ARMv5T (See section 4.16)
- ARM DSP Enhanced Instruction Set
- Procedure Call Standard for the ARM Architecture
Hardware Reference
- Android Public Mailing Lists
- Specifically, android-porting
- OpenMoko Mailing Lists
- Specifically, openmoko-kernel
- Android on FreeRunner at KoolU.com
- Openmoko Local Groups
- Community Resources


text:
Last month i did not make a Birthday cake for myself because I celebrated my Birthday in the flight when we returning from Melbourne..But I still think a Birthday must have a Birthday cake..Yesterday I purposely made this Strawberry mousse cake for myself..also i want to practise first because i am planning to make the same cake for my sister's coming Birthday.
These pictures were taken with all decorative items that i bought from Melbourne, a gorgeous Donna Hay cake stand, tea towel from Royal Albert (only able to buy tea towel as the tea set is very pricey) and Pashmak Persian fairy floss 波斯棉花糖 (bought it at Queen Victoria Market).
I like this simple way of making sponge cake disc, don't need to cut and slice !!
I bet my sister will like this cake too !!
Strawberry Mousse Cake
(recipe source :adapted from meishilife cookbook with minor changes)
*makes a 7" round mousse cake
For the strawberry jelly
110g fresh strawberry, sliced
120g water
40g sugar
1/2tsp Grand Marnier, optional
2tsp powdered gelatin
2tbsp water
100g fresh strawberry, for decorating
1. Add 2tbsp water with gelatin, set aside to bloom.
2. Add strawberry slices, water and sugar in a saucepan, cook and simmer till soften.
3. Blend strawberry mixture and strain the puree.
4. Melted gelatin over simmering water, pour into strawberry puree and add Grand Marnier, mix well.
5. Take 6" removable base pan and wrap foil underneath. Pour in strawberry mixture, place in fresh strawberry slices (try to cut the same height as per the liquid) , refrigerated for 1hour or till set.
For the sponge cake
2 egg yolks
20g sugar
60g cake flour
3tbsp milk
2 egg whites
40g sugar
1. Lightly beat egg yolk with sugar, add in cake flour and milk, combine well, set aside.
2. Beat egg white and sugar till soft peak form.
3. Fold in egg white into egg yolk mixture, fold well to combine.
4. Pipe the batter on a pan lined with non-stick baking paper, one with 6" round and another with 7" round.
5. Bake at a pre-heated oven at 210C for 6-8mins.
6. Once done, set aside to cool.
To make mousse
200g heavy cream
40g sugar
100g milk
1 egg yolk
4tsp powdered gelatin
4tbsp water
1. Add water with gelatin, set aside to bloom.
2. Cook egg yolk and milk till combined. Melted gelatin over simmering water, pour into egg yolk mixure and mix well. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Beat cream with sugar till soft peak form (place over a bowl of ice water).
4. Add gelatin mixture into cream and combine well.
To assemble the Strawberry Mousse Cake
25g dried cranberry, to soften by soaked it with Grand Marnier (or water), chopped
1. Remove strawberry jelly and place at the center of a 7" removable base pan.
2. Pour in half of the mousse, and place a piece of 6" sponge cake at the center.
3. Sprinkle cranberry on top of the cake, cover with the balance half of the mouse.
4. Last, place a piece of 7" sponge cake. Refrigerated for 4hours or overnight or till set.
5. Remove cake from the fridge, take a hair dryer to warm the pan for 1-2mins, remove the pan and upside down the cake. Serve cool and enjoy!


text:
The course will explore the tone combinations that humans consider consonant or dissonant, the scales we use, and the emotions music elicits, all of which provide a rich set of data for exploring music and auditory aesthetics in a biological framework. Analyses of speech and musical databases are consistent with the idea that the chromatic scale (the set of tones used by humans to create music), consonance and dissonance, worldwide preferences for a few dozen scales from the billions that are possible, and the emotions elicited by music in different cultures all stem from the relative similarity of musical tonalities and the characteristics of voiced (tonal) speech.
Like the phenomenology of visual perception, these aspects of auditory perception appear to have arisen from the need to contend with sensory stimuli that are inherently unable to specify their physical sources, leading to the evolution of a common strategy to deal with this fundamental challenge.


text:
Apartment company threatens eviction
By Derrick Perkins
An Alexandria General District Court judge dismissed a case involving City Councilwoman Alicia Hughes' alleged failure to pay rent Wednesday, about 24 hours before her scheduled appearance.
She was originally due in court to fight allegations that she owes her landlord, Realty Management Services, about $2,296 in unpaid rent. Neither the management company nor Hughes would comment on the nature of the dismissal.
The company had also asked Alexandria General District Court to award it $52 in fees and $500 in legal costs. Realty Management Services gave Hughes written notice requesting the unpaid rent — with the threat of eviction — for her West End apartment in December, according to court documents.
The Bethesda company's lawyers outlined their complaint in an affidavit filed in civil court that same month.
But in a motion to dismiss the case filed in January, Hughes claims to have not known about the discrepancy until she received a notice from the city sheriff's office. The court sided with Realty Management Services after Hughes missed a hearing earlier this month, documents state.
Hughes fought and reversed the decision several days afterward, despite objections by Realty Management Services, telling officials she had mixed up the date and time of her courthouse appearance.
The city councilwoman and her landlord have a history in court. Records show Realty Management Services filed suits against Hughes several times since she moved into its Yoakum Parkway property in early 2008.
The court ruled in favor of the company later that year, awarding it about $531 and $51 in fees. Months after, the company's legal representatives were back in court and received about $462, plus fees.
In January 2011, a judge also awarded Realty Management Services about $567, plus fees, stemming from a 2010 suit against Hughes.
Hughes declined to discuss the case but she defended her history of legal trouble in a letter to the editor published Wednesday on alextimes.com.
"Yes, I'd rather be sued and settle a debt before giving a usurious payment inconsistent with an agreement entered for representation … I've gotten used to being sued, what I don't appreciate and do well is lose lawsuits. And I won every Democratic attack launched against me," Hughes wrote.
Her current legal battle with Realty Management Services is the latest controversy on Hughes' city council tenure. Residents questioned whether she was eligible to serve on the board after Maryland tax records listing a Baltimore home as her primary residence surfaced not long after her election in 2009, election officials eventually cleared her.
Circuit court records show Holtzman Vogel sued Hughes for $20,000 in unpaid legal fees for counseling her during the controversy. The councilwoman settled out of court with the Warrenton firm in July, according to court documents.
Hughes caught the eye of federal authorities about a year before her settlement with Holtzman Vogel, who investigated whether she violated provisions of the Hatch Act. Dating from 1939, the legislation limits federal employees from political activity, including running for elected office, with an exemption for Alexandria.
Employed by the Patent and Trademark Office at the time, Hughes ran as an Independent — in compliance with the legislation — though with support from Republican organizations. Investigators with the Office of Special Counsel ultimately cleared Hughes of a Hatch Act violation, but said allowing outside partisan groups to campaign for her made the case a "close call."
In her letter, Hughes pinned the blame squarely on partisan politics. She called on residents to examine her record on council, not her personal life, when passing judgment. She also lambasted fellow city council members for not coming to her defense.
"Let them stand on their records rather than sit quietly on the sidelines while partisan hacks railroad another public servant to gain partisan advantage," Hughes stated.


text:
and when Grace was in kindergarten I went in for my first, official, Parent-Teacher Association meeting but I've learned since then and have boycotted PTA ever since. Why?
13. I'm in what is clinically known as "Mini-van Denial" wherein the victim refuses to admit that she is yes, a full-fledged Mom with four kids, a van and a card in her pocket that says, "Proud member of PTA."
12. No time. I think you caught the four kids part and obviously I'm spending way too much time blogging or I wouldn't be typing such a mundane list.
11. I'm leaving it to the big girls. Because Northern Lights is popular and you have to sign your kids up for a lottery to get in (and the waiting list is as big as the school population) there are more than your average number of involved parents. Not enough work to go around anyway, they're always looking for things to do so I'm not exactly missed.
10. My kids don't want me there at school looking over their shoulders. They like a bit of autonomy and are okay with me letting them have the school to themselves.
9. Keeping a low profile ensures I won't be hit up to serve on the PTA board. I'm not a public figure, no thanks, no way. I'd rather spend my time publishing my deepest thoughts for the entire blogosphere to see (do you think the entire blogosphere is listening?)
8. I get to avoid
6. Shock value. It's really kind of fun to hear another mother's reaction to the fact that I don't belong to the PTA. I couldn't get that kind of a gasp if I said I belonged to Al-Quaida.
5. I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to conventional-wisdom and "everyone else is doing it" and since I don't really have the guts to sport a mohawk and a tattoo saying, "Berkeley or Bust" I'll just stick with my tiny little protest against The Man--or maybe The Woman--somehow I feel PTA is distinctly female.
4. I'd rather keep my $5 membership fee. I think it may be up to $10 by now, but $5 is $5 and I'd rather do cheese bread at Moose's Tooth than enroll in PTA.
3. I don't have any more. I can only come up with ten reasons (isn't that enough??) I told you I was a bit of a rebel.
But having said all this, after my post last week about showing television in school, I'm wondering if maybe I should be a bit more involved . . . maybe it's time to change my policies.
More about the Thursday Thirteen meme
Technorati tags: Thursday Thirteen, PTA motherhood school


text:
Beauty, Like A Dial-Hand
When I was growing up, I never thought that I was pretty. I was pretty certain, actually, that being a tall skinny girl with ruddy blond hair and what my mother always called a "distinctive" nose, I was anything but pretty. Nice-looking on a good day, maybe - and, later, "striking," which is just a fancy way of saying "you're kinda nice-looking, but in a weird way" - but not actually pretty. Which was discouraging, because I wanted to be pretty; not to stand out, but to blend in. I wanted to be like one of those characters in novels, the girl who doesn't give a thought to how she looks but whom the reader understands to be quietly, unassumingly lovely; the kind of girl who doesn't draw attention with her beauty, who doesn't attract second glances, who might even seem plain at first sight, but who, upon donning a pretty dress or standing before a lover, is suddenly and unsurprisingly revealed to be beautiful.
I did not believe that I was beautiful. Ah, youth. You never know what you have until it's gone.
I started getting over it sometime in my mid twenties. I settled into my looks, and came to accept them: every time I looked in the mirror I saw a matured version of my younger self - still tall, still skinny, nose still distinctive, blond hair turning prematurely platinum - but in my maturity I was able to look past what I perceived as my particular flaws and see myself as myself, my whole self, and what I saw wasn't all that bad. I could see why my husband found me beautiful; I could see why my mother had always said that I was beautiful. As I got older, I was better able to appreciate my quirks, the little details that made me different. I didn't worry about crow's feet and fine lines and my platinum hair: I could see beauty in the intelligence in my eyes and in the humor in my smile. Also, I got my teeth fixed.
And so I got a little older, and became a mother, and then got a little older still, and - oddly - it became even easier. I could look in the mirror and see a woman, and - assuming that I didn't spend too much time contemplating the rear view, or give too much thought to the muffin top - be pleased with the appearance of that woman. Age was serving me well.
And then yesterday happened.
I was shopping with Amy. I had Jasper strapped to my chest, and we were browsing and chatting and passing the time in idle contemplation of the random crap that fills store shelves during the holidays. We didn't see the saleswoman as she approached; she came at us from behind, exclaiming something about hello and isn't it cold and can I help you find something. I wasn't even listening - didn't even turn to see her - until she addressed me directly: is this your first grandchild?
Is this your first GRANDCHILD?
(I'll let that sink in. Take all the time that you need.)
I turned to face her full-on. No, I said, after some bajillion seconds. He's my second CHILD.
She crumpled. Oh! Of course... I mean, it was just... I didn't really see... your hair! Oh... dear... you do have very light hair! I thought... I didn't see you... I shouldn't have... of course he's not your grandchild!
Amy marched to the door and opened it for me. When we got outside, I said, that? Was AWESOME.
She said, erase it from your memory. ERASE IT. It means nothing.
I know, I know. I just can't decide whether it was disturbing or funny.
It was funny. But forget about it.
Funny, maybe. But also discomfiting. I know that the saleswoman didn't get a good look at me; I know that she saw the pale flash of hair and the glint of eyeglasses and a puffy winter coat and made an immediate association with age. I also know that age doesn't equal unattractiveness. But still: she saw me, and whatever of combination of features she saw were features that said old. And/or frumpy. And/or not young/not fresh/not attractive. Not pretty.
For all that I say that I no longer care so much about my looks, that I'm perfectly comfortable with getting older, that maturity is, that maternity is, beautiful - that hurt. I'm comfortable - even, some days, happy - with how I look, and I know that the little signs of age that begin to creep up on you in your thirties are part of that look, but I don't want to look old. I don't want to be frumpy. I do not - no offense to any grandmothers out there - want to be mistaken for a grandmother, not from any distance. I'm not interested in looking like a twenty-something, either - although, for the record, I wouldn't be writing this post if someone had asked me if I was Jasper's babysitter - I just want to look like who I am. Thirty-something, mother of two, only uses her straight-iron for special occasions, usually forgets to put on lipgloss, hasn't set foot in a gym in years. I don't need to be gorgeous, or even beautiful - I'm long past that - but I would like to look like me, the me of my mind's eye, the me that I've come to love so well.
So today, I'm coloring my hair.
(Or not. Am chickening out. I actually love my platinum hair - but maybe a bit blonder? Thoughts? OH LORD VANITY SHE IS A BITCH.)
Labels: Being Bad


text:
"Must one smash their ears before they learn to listen with their eyes? Must one clatter like kettledrums and preachers of repentance?"
The Texas Senate Finance Committee released its own draft budget yesterday, and according to initial reports it was more generous overall than the starkly sparse House budget. (See the Legislative Budget Board for all the relevant documents.) The Senate draft, like its House counterpart relying mostly on suggestions from agencies, continues to focus most cuts at TDCJ in community supervision instead of suggesting more prison closures (with the exception of the Central Unit, which is slated for elimination in both), but it does restore some of the treatment and diversion funding proposed for deletion in HB 1.
According to a summary provided to Grits by a local probation director, while the House bill would cut 21.7% of state funding for local probation departments (or $122.9 million), the Senate version would "only" cut 12.8% (or $72.7 million). Basic supervision, diversion programs, community corrections, and treatment alternatives to incarceration would all be slashed under the senate draft, but with less severity than what the House proposed. Also suggested for elimination was drug treatment funding for probationers from the Department of State Health Services.
Regular readers know I think even this level of cuts to community supervision is a mistake, particularly when the budget envisions closing just one of the state's 112 prison units, which soak up the vast majority of TDCJ's budget. If Texas is going to close schools and even community colleges (the House draft would close four community colleges; the Senate's kept them funded), TDCJ can damn well suck up and accept more prison closures. That's the only way to safely cut TDCJ's budget by hundreds of millions of dollars, which is the level of savings required under both budgets. And to reduce incarceration safely, the state must both change its policies and increase investment in precisely the programs targeted for cuts. The resultant savings from closing a half dozen prison units or more would be greater, even, than the paltry savings from eliminating probation funding, which is less like rational budget cutting and more like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I'm incredibly frustrated by these first two proposed budget drafts because they set up a false debate regarding criminal justice funding: "Should we cut community supervision programs more, or less?" That's the wrong question because it ignores the third, more sensible option: To save much more money, both in the short and long term, by expanding community supervision funding, emphasizing evidence-based diversion programs and progressive sanctions, and to take all the budget savings out of prison closures, with the added bonus of revenue from land sales in addition to reducing the number of state employees.
To do that, however, would require changes in policy to reduce incarceration levels in addition to lowering TDCJ's budget. In this recent post Grits suggested a number of policy changes that would help them achieve that goal:
- Adjust drug sentences downward by one level
- Adjust theft categories for inflation
- Expand funding for (much less expensive) community-based treatment and diversion programs
- Repeal post-'93 "boutique" enhancements passed on behalf of special interests
- Make medical parole more widely available for geriatric inmates (whose healthcare costs are greatest)
- Parole and deport most illegal immigrant inmates after they've completed their minimum sentences.
- Mandate that the parole board apply good-time and earned-time credits against time served in release decisions for certain offenders
Ironically, this morning I noticed a couple of stories about a delegation from Florida who visited Texas yesterday to learn about our community supervision and diversion programs, hoping to emulate the state's investments to avoid more prison building the Sunshine state cannot afford. Of course, those are precisely the programs the House and Senate budgets place on the chopping block, despite warnings from their own number crunchers that doing so would increase overall incarceration costs.
See related, recent Grits posts:
- Whither Texas prison healthcare with 24% budget cuts?
- Adult probation cuts detailed from just-filed House budget bll
- Texas corrections budget at second glance
- Corrections budget cuts concentrated in community supervision, set TDCJ up to fail
- Sugar Land anxious to get rid of 'unwelcome neighbor'
- Justice solutions offered at TPPF orientation
- Texas budget shortfall dwarfs corrections budgets


text:
Converting a standard shipping container into a sustainable source of energy for remote or disaster-torn regions, a team of Princeton University students took top honors in an 18-month national competition that culminated April 21 and 22 on the Washington, D.C., Mall.
The students, working through a course called "Engineering Projects in Community Service" (EPICS), won a $90,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further develop and implement their project. The students' submission, which was hauled from Princeton to Washington on a flatbed truck, involved a series of solar panels as well as a 40-foot-tall wind turbine that telescopes out of the container. Dubbed by the students "Power in a Box," it is designed to replace diesel-powered generators in areas cut off from other power sources.
The competition, called "P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability," began with 165 teams in the fall of 2010. The students enrolled in EPICS at the time worked through the semester and submitted a design concept to the EPA in December of that year. The team, along with 44 others from around the country, advanced to a second round in which they were awarded $15,000 to develop their concept. After a year of further work, that round culminated in the competition in Washington where 15 teams were awarded the highest prize.
"This was a very ambitious project," said Catherine Peters, professor of civil and environmental engineering and adviser to the EPICS team. One factor in their success, Peters said, was the multidisciplinary nature of the group, which was evenly divided between engineers and students from other areas of the University, including history, art history, sociology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
"I was impressed how they worked together and how each brought unique and valuable skills," Peters said.
EPICS, a course instituted by the University's Keller Center in 2006, engages students of all class years and majors in projects aimed at helping local and global communities. Students receive a half credit per semester and typically enroll for one to three semesters, so about 20 students have been involved since the start of the project. Nine made the trip to Washington for the final competition.
"A lot of us on the team feel very passionate about sustainability," said Alex Landon, a senior majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering who joined EPICS in her junior year. "This was a chance for under- and upperclassmen to work really closely with professors and apply what we're learning in the classroom to something that will have a real impact."
The inspiration for the project came after the earthquakes that devastated Haiti in January 2010 and left many people in need of electrical power and water. Jane Harrison, a former faculty member of the School of Architecture, joined with Peters and other engineering faculty to draw up initial designs for power and water sources that could be transported in standard shipping containers, the 20-foot-long steel boxes that fit on trucks, trains and ships. The group received initial funding from the National Science Foundation to develop the concepts.
In the fall of 2010, Peters and Elie Bou-Zeid, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, focused on the power-generation aspect of the designs and established the EPICS team to work on further developing and implementing the idea. The project attracted additional funding from the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and Princeton's Siebel Energy Grand Challenges internship program. The students also partnered with Princeton Power Systems, a company founded by Princeton engineering alumni. The company let the team use space at its Lawrenceville, N.J., facility to work on the project and provided some expertise on the details of storing and converting the power for practical use.
"We could have used them more, but the students did it by and large themselves, very independently," Bou-Zeid said.
In recent months, the project came down to two critical pieces: developing a new proposal to submit to the EPA describing how the team would use the $90,000 if it won, and actually building the telescoping tower and wind turbine according to their meticulously calculated plans.
For the proposal, freshman Ryan Fauber drew on his experience as a participant in Princeton's Bridge Year Program, which placed him for a year in Ghana and, in turn, led him to an internship with Princeton in Africa. Through those affiliations, he connected the EPICS team with access:energy, a business that is bringing low-cost energy solutions to rural Kenya. The proposal calls for the EPICS team to build a more powerful version of its system and work with access:energy to bring it from village to village demonstrating how Power in a Box could be replicated with local materials.
Wesley Verne, a junior majoring in computer science, said that as he helped model the economic viability of the system he was struck by the tremendous cost savings and environmental benefits compared with diesel generators. "In Haiti or Kenya, it would pay for itself in less than a year," he said.
When it came to actually building the machinery, Larry McIntyre in the engineering school's machine shop put the students in touch with two local expert welders, Jack Mershon and Jason Beskos, who built the components for the telescoping tower, the hand-operated crank and other mechanisms.
The group then had just a couple of weeks to test the device and become proficient at raising and lowering the wind turbine. In Washington, the planning and practice paid off. On the first day of the competition, the weather was sunny and still, so the solar panels were the prime source of power. The next day the weather turned windy and rainy, forcing the other competitors inside and raising doubts among some observers that the Princeton team members could raise their tower, Peters said.
"They were able to put it up with ease and I think that really impressed the judges," Peters said. "It was a testament to their design." In the end, the varied weather showed off the project perfectly because it was able to generate power both days.
The students also flourished under questioning by the panel of judges, a mix of experts from government, industry and academics. "They really grilled the students," Peters said.
Verne attributed that piece of the success to the team's ability to tap the varied backgrounds of the members in addressing the technical, logistical, economic and social dimensions of the project. "The judges would ask us questions they thought were tough, but because we really thought out all the aspects of the project we never failed to come up with a good answer," he said.
In Washington, the students also had the opportunity to demonstrate their project for EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from Princeton in 1986.
The team's work now turns to building a more powerful version of the equipment, capable of generating one to two kilowatts of power, and planning for its tour in Africa. The project also has changed the course of the students themselves. Fauber said the project inspired him to pursue the University's Program in Sustainable Energy and ultimately combine his interests in international development and sustainable energy.
Landon, who graduates in June, will work for Houston-based Clean Line Energy, which develops transmission lines for connecting cities with renewable energy sources, where she interned last summer. She attributes her success in landing those positions with the hands-on experience of the EPICS course. "A lot of people want to work in that industry," she said. "It is important to demonstrate you have the knowledge and experience actually doing the work."


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If the speculation about Gov. Bob McDonnell's (R) White House aspirations hadn't yet reached a fever pitch, they did Friday morning when he endorsed Mitt Romney as his party's top candidate to go head-to-head with President Barack Obama.
McDonnell told CNBC he hoped the endorsement would buoy Romney ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary, where the former Massachusetts governor has struggled in recent days. Once the uncontested GOP frontrunner, Romney has lost some of his luster after two poor debate showings and news he did not, in fact, win the Iowa Caucus. Rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have connected with southern voters in a way Romney seemingly has been unable.
"It's a Southern primary. I'm a Southern governor and I thought I could help the governor by coming out today," McDonnell told CNBC.
McDonnell, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, is largely seen as vying for a spot on Romney's ticket, were he to lock up the GOP nomination.


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Information on this piece:
Time: Modern
Color: Coloured
Edition: Unique
Series: 3D Paintings
Year: 2021
W x H x D: 90,0 x 30,0 x 2.0 cm. screen
Already mounted on wooden frame
Furthermore Acrylic Painting, Original artwork is create by Eka Peradze.
In addition you receive the artwork "Ready to Hang" on a wooden frame.
Moreover this is an one of a kind artwork, create and paint by me. Besides that I sign my work. In addition you receive a certificate of authenticity.
World Wide shipping: takes around 10 days to arrive, depending on it's destination.
Find my Paintings in some Catalogues all over the world for example in some British Vogue Magazine.
Up until now Eka-s artworks are sold in 50 different countries.
All rights reserved – Eka Peradze Paintings – This is an original work of art create by the artist himself and may not be reproduced without written consent of the artist. The artist retains copyright for self-promotion.


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CANDICE CHOI Sunday, 23 June 2013 06:38 PM EDT
Hostess is betting on a sweet comeback for Twinkies when they return to shelves next month.
The company that went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with its unionized workers last year is back up and running under new owners and a leaner structure. It says it plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes back on shelves starting July 15.
Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster return next month for Twinkies and other sugary treats, such as CupCakes and Donettes. The company says the cakes will taste the same but that the boxes will now bare the tag line "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever."
"A lot of impostor products have come to the market while Hostess has been off the shelves," says Daren Metropoulos, a principal of the investment firm Metropoulos & Co., which teamed up with Apollo Global Management to buy a variety of Hostess snacks.
Hostess Brands Inc. was struggling for years before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early 2012. Workers blamed the troubles on years of mismanagement, as well as a failure of executives to invest in brands to keep up with changing tastes. The company said it was weighed down by higher pension and medical costs than its competitors, whose employees weren't unionized.
To steer it through its bankruptcy reorganization, Hostess hired restructuring expert Greg Rayburn as its CEO. But Rayburn ultimately failed to reach a contract agreement with its second largest union. In November, he blamed striking workers for crippling the company's ability to maintain normal production and announced that Hostess would liquidate.
The shuttering triggered a rush on Hostess snack cakes, with stores selling out of the most popular brands within hours.
About 15,000 unionized workers lost their jobs in the aftermath.
In unwinding its business, Hostess sold off its brands in chunks to different buyers. Its major bread brands including Wonder were sold to Flowers Foods, which makes Tastykakes. McKee Foods, which makes Little Debbie snack cakes, snapped up Drake's Cake, which includes Devil Dogs and Yodels.
Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo bought Twinkies and other Hostess cakes for $410 million.
Apollo Global Management, founded by Leon Black, is known for buying troubled brands then selling them for a profit; its investments include fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. Metropoulos & Co., which has revamped then sold off brands including Chef Boyardee and Bumble Bee, also owns Pabst Brewing Co.
That could mean some cross-promotional marketing is in store.
"There is certainly a natural association with the two," Metropoulos said. "There could be some opportunities for them to seen together."
The trimmed-down Hostess Brands LLC has a far less costly operating structure than the predecessor company. Some of the previous workers were hired back, but they're no longer unionized.
Hostess will also now deliver to warehouses that supply retailers, rather than delivering directly to stores, said Rich Seban, the president of Hostess who previously served as chief operating officer. That will greatly expand its reach, letting it deliver to dollar stores and nearly all convenience stores in the U.S.
Previously, he said Hostess was only able to reach about a third of the country's 150,000 convenience stores.
Production was also consolidated, from 11 bakery plants to four — one each in Georgia, Kansas, Illinois and Indiana. The headquarters were moved from Texas to Kansas City, Mo., where Hostess was previously based and still had some accounting offices.
In the months since they vanished from shelves, the cakes have been getting a few touchups as well. For the CupCakes, the company is now using dark cocoa instead of milk chocolate to give them a richer, darker appearance.
Seban stressed that the changes were to improve the cakes, not to cut costs. Prices for the cakes will remain the same; a box of 10 Twinkies will cost $3.99.
Looking ahead, Seban sees Hostess expanding its product lineup. He noted that Hostess cakes are known for three basic textures: the spongy cake, the creamy filling and the thicker icing. But he said different textures — such as crunchy — could be introduced, as well as different flavors.
"We can have some fun with that mixture," he said.
He also said there are many trendy health attributes the company could tap into, such as gluten-free, added fiber, low sugar and low sodium.
During bankruptcy proceedings, Hostess had said that its overall sales had been declining, although the company didn't give a breakout on the performance of individual brands. But Seban is confident Twinkies will have staying power beyond its re-launch.
As for the literal shelf-life, Seban is quick to refute the snack cake's fabled indestructibility.
"Forty-five days — that's it," he said. "They don't last forever."
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Tullamarine Online Bookkeeping Services
Small Business Bookkeepers in Tullamarine
Over 10,000 Hours Bookkeeping for Tullamarine Businesses Across 32 Industries Last Year
Bookkept are small business bookkeepers servicing clients based both in Tullamarine and Australia wide. We are registered tax agents and CPA qualified accountants that provide quality professional accounting and business advisory services to small and medium Tullamarine business clients.
We take care of small business tax compliance, bookkeeping, payroll & ATO issues in Tullamarine. We are specialists in cloud-based accounting software such as Xero/MYOB and work closely with business owners to develop business process and systems to ensure they have the capacity to grow their revenue.
Tullamarine, Victoria
Tullamarine Small Business Bookkeeping Done Right
The level of service and advice we provide is second to none. Our Xero/MYOB based solutions give business owners in Tullamarine the opportunity to take control of their bookkeeping and generate useful financial reports. We specialise in delivering expert-level accounting and bookkeeping services to ensure your tax compliance & business finances are managed from start to finish.
Effective bookkeeping from our professional and experienced team can mean the difference between business failure and success. Regardless of how long you've been in business, our Tullamarine bookkeeping services will assist your enterprise in reaching its full potential.
Our highly qualified team of CPA accountants, tax agents, business advisors and industry experts offer a high-quality, tailored approach to your business' finances. When it comes to finding a bookkeeper Tullamarine businesses can rely on, our bookkeepers and accountants are industry leaders and here to help you.
Our Tullamarine based clients rely on our small business bookkeeping services and we and perform tasks such as; bank and credit card reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, invoicing, payroll, data entry and filing, budgeting and cash flow management and reporting.
Give us a call to book a FREE bookkeeping consultation!
Setting Up Sustainable Bookkeeping System For Your Tullamarine Business
Trying to set up a sophisticated bookkeeping system for your Tullamarine based business may not have been a huge priority, particularly when you first got started. Many owner/operators and fledgeling businesses manage their financial affairs and tax matters using little more than an Excel spreadsheet and a folder for receipts and tax invoices!
Whilst this could have worked reasonably well in the early days, as time has progressed and your business has grown, better systems are needed to ensure your books are accurate and kept up to date to assist in business decision making. A bookkeeper with years of experience can collaborate with you to ensure that the systems you have in place are fit for purpose! If not, they can suggest cost-effective alternatives.
Remember bookkeeping systems don't just have to provide accurate, timely financial information, they also need to be secure, in order to protect your data and that of your customers and suppliers. If appropriate, bookkeepers will get the suitable bookkeeping software (Xero, MYOB etc.) that complies with all relevant data protection requirements to provide you with the best solutions.
Bookkeeping & BAS Services in Tullamarine
We have hourly bookkeeping fees for remote and onsite services and fixed monthly package rates. We tailor our services to your business needs which we access after our initial consult with you to discuss which solutions and service will work best for your business:
A number of factors go into how we calculate our bookkeeping services rates for your accounts:
- The size of your organisation and its books
- The type of business e.g service, retail, medical, property, etc.
- If there is a backlog which needs to be brought to current
- Whether you would like to do some of the jobs yourself for your accounts e.g payroll, cash flow or BAS.
Our bookkeepers in Tullamarine offer reasonable rates and fast service. With many years of combined experience, we have developed many services and procedures that speed up the bookkeeping processes without compromising on the quality of the work being complete.
Contact us so that you can understand how we can deal with your books, take advantage of your free consultation!
Using the Right Cloud Bookkeeping Tools for Your Tullamarine Business For Payroll & PAYG
The technological timesavers incorporated in Cloud Bookkeeping services are also a win for extra free time for small businesses from Australia. There are five main cloud bookkeeping software providers in the Australian market.
They are MYOB, Xero, Intuit with Quickbooks, Saasu and Reckon, the former Australian distributor for Quickbooks that now has its own cloud-based offering. Xero has emerged as the one to watch in cloud accounting and this New Zealand-born company has a subscriber base of close to 1 million customers in Australia and NZ.
Xero also has a vast range of other cloud-based systems (third-party products) that integrate seamlessly with it in order to add functionality. It has a published API which makes it easier to customise and lead to more third-party integration.
Cloud-based bookkeeping applications today make use of the internet to store financial information compared to traditional bookkeeping software that is installed on a dedicated hard drive and accessed through your desktop. Cloud bookkeeping packages can be accessed anywhere and at any time that you have access to the internet.
The main Cloud-based bookkeeping software that our team is working with are Xero, Quickbooks Online and MYOB.
Free, No Obligation Consultation
Let Our Highly Trained Bookkeeping Experts Manage Your SMSF!
You deserve an experienced SMSF specialist that can get the job done! You can rely on us for sound and practical advice. We will look after all your SMSF's accounting, tax and compliance needs. We are an independent provider of SMSF compliance and advisory services. Our paramount aim is to provide quality and flexible services to our clients. We are trusted by trustees and professional advisers as their SMSF specialist. We are always available to help. Becoming a Superannuation Our bookkeeping experts with many years of training will ensure that you and your SMSF are well looked after.
Tullamarine CLOUD ACCOUNTING SPECIALISTS
Xero Bookkeeping Specialists in Tullamarine
Accounting software that makes it easier to get clear on cash flow
We are a progressive firm of bookkeepers who understand how to take the stress out of your business bookkeeping and move you to the most advanced cloud based accounting software available, Xero. Xero is a New Zealand domiciled public technology company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. It is the most popular cloud-based accounting software platform for small and medium-sized businesses in Australia.
MYOB Accounting Advisors in Tullamarine
Know your cashflow, know what's possible
100's of local businesses using MYOB have been helped by our MYOB Certified Bookkeepers. We are MYOB Experts and can help you with any MYOB need you have. Plan for the future with easy online accounting software that's built for small businesses.
You deserve an experienced SMSF specialist that can get the job done! You can rely on us for sound and practical advice. We will look after all your SMSF's accounting, tax and compliance needs. We are an independent provider of SMSF compliance and advisory services. Our paramount aim is to provide quality and flexible services to our clients. We are trusted by trustees and professional advisers as their SMSF specialist. We are always available to help. Becoming a Superannuation Our bookkeeping experts with many years of training will ensure that you and your SMSF are well looked after.
See What People Say About Us
Monthly Package Pricing
We don't believe in a cookie cutter approach when it comes to billing. Our clients prefer certainty so we tailor a monthly package with defined accounting services and agree upfront. Here are some examples of what we do for our clients –
Chris - The Contractor
2 Busines Bank Accounts
No Other Employees
Monthly Profit & Loss Discussions
Quarterly BAS Lodgments
End of Year Tax & Financials Included
Emma - The Takeaway Cafe Owner
3 Business Bank Accounts
5 Staff
Fortnightly Payroll
Monthly Profit & Loss Discussions
Quarterly Cash Budgeting
Quarterly BAS Lodgments
Quarterly Superannuation
End of Year Tax & Financials Included
Mick - The Well-Established Firm
Bills Clients through Xero
Tracks Expenses with Hubdoc
Multiple Business Bank Accounts
10 Employees including timesheets
Fortnightly Payroll
Monthly Cash Flow Reports
Monthly Budget
Monthly Superannuation
Payroll Tax Reconcilliations
End of Year Tax & Financials Included
Switch To One Of The Best Bookkeeper Tullamarine Has To Offer!
Switching accountants doesn't have to be difficult or costly. It can actually be beneficial. We manage the whole process and make it simple for you, and there is no cost involved in switching to us. Often, you will end up saving money on fees and benefit from superior services from an SMSF specialist – technical experts providing you with complete solutions to your questions and full-service accounting and compliance reporting where you can access timely financial information. Our fees are transparent, and we offer you a fixed fee. No surprises.
Our Payroll expertise is your peace of mind! Let us take the pain out of it and start saving you money today. Ensure your employees are paid correctly, Single Touch Payroll lodged to the ATO and your Superannuation paid on time. Using the latest Cloud Technology, we will take care of your payroll headaches!
The main cloud accounting software that our team is working with are Xero, Quickbooks Online and MYOB.


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Family Room & Den Window Treatments
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Family Room & Den Window Treatments
- Reduce heat gain and block UV rays
- Control light and cut down on glare
- Go cordless for increased child and pet safety
- Motorized shades for hard to reach spots
- Cellulars maintain comfortable temperatures
Family rooms are where we spend much of our time relaxing, entertaining, and gathering together to laugh and play. Depending on your light control and privacy needs, there are a variety of family room window treatments that can provide the functionality you need and the look you want. Consider cordless window treatments to keep this family gathering space safe from the dangers of dangling cords. For windows that are very tall or difficult to reach, you may consider a motorized window treatment that can be remote controlled.


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Supplemental Educational Services in Maryland 2012-2013 School Year
In the fall of 2011, the United States Department of Education (USDE) offered States and local school systems the ability to waive some of the mandates of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that was reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The USDE issued an ESEA Flexibility Application that States could use to describe how they will use federal funding to continue to promote high standards and school improvement for students residing in low income communities.
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) applied for the USDE NCLB waiver and was approved. Implementation of Maryland's ESEA Flexibility Plan takes effect beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. As a result of the approval of Maryland's ESEA Flexibility Plan, Supplemental Educational Services (SES) is now an optional program in Title I schools, and no longer a required component of Title I, Part A. The Maryland State Department of Education will no longer require schools to offer SES, and MSDE will no longer oversee the statewide implementation of SES.
Locally operated tutoring programs may be offered by individual school systems in the 2012-2013 school year. To learn whether your local school system will offer tutoring services to students enrolled in Title I schools, please contact your school system's Title I office.
Contact information can be found on the Title I website by clicking on the link below: http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/titleI.
To learn more about Maryland's Approved ESEA Flexibility Plan please click on: http://www.msde.maryland.gov/MSDE/programs/esea_flex.
NOTE: Federally required data on Maryland's local school systems' SES programs will continue to be posted on websites until the start of the 2013-2014 school year.


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Just imagine you can become a professional painter without the pain of learning all the little details of painting, and actually end up with an astonishing masterpiece, our Dolphins Jumping Out Of Water NEW Paint By Numbers kit for adults feature a pre-printed canvas with line art to fill in, and each section is labeled with a small number to show the correct paint color, so beginners and experienced artists can achieve great results. so beginners and experienced artists can achieve great results. You can discover a whole new world of artistic expression and creativity. It's an easy and fun way to get into painting and explore your artistic side without having to worry about the little details.
Why You Should Order A Painting by Numbers Kit :
- Develop your artistic skills: A Paint by numbers kit is an excellent way to explore your creativity and develop your artistic skills, regardless of your level of experience. The numbered sections on the canvas make it easy to follow and fill in with the corresponding paint colors, which takes away the stress and guesswork of traditional painting methods.
- Relax and de-stress: Painting can be a relaxing and therapeutic activity that allows you to unwind and de-stress from the pressures of daily life. When you order a Paint by numbers kit, you have everything you need to start painting right away, making it a convenient and enjoyable hobby that you can do in your own time and at your own pace.
- Bond with friends and family: A Paint By Numbers kit is a great way to bond with friends and family. You can work on your own canvases while enjoying each other's company, and even compare and admire each other's finished masterpieces. It's a fun and engaging activity that can bring people together and create lasting memories.
- Affordable: A Paint By Numbers kit is an affordable way to create a beautiful work of art.
Our Dolphins Jumping Out Of Water NEW Paint By Numbers Kit Contains:
- 1x Numbered acrylic paint set (About 24 different colors, depending on the painting).
- 1x Numbered high-quality linen canvas.
- 1x set of 3 paint brushes (1x small, 1x medium, 1x large).
- Reference paper and a copy of the canvas so you can follow up the numbers easily.
How To Use Paint by numbers kit:
- Lay your canvas out on a well-lit area flat surface.
- Organize your acrylic paint.
- Prepare a small container of water to clean your brushes when changing colors.
Follow the numbers. Match the numbers of paints to the numbered areas on the canvas.
Enjoy your Dolphins Jumping Out Of Water NEW Paint By Numbers kit. Stand proudly back and admire your masterpiece! Posting your Painting by numbers on social media is also recommended.


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Geometry Wars Evolved²
Local Multiplayer 2-4, HD (High Definition). Experience an unbelievable adrenaline rush from playing the latest version of the frenetic retro shooter Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2! Newcomers and pros alike will be blown away by the screen-melting intensity and insane new features, including six action-packed gameplay modes, new enemies, new scoring strategies and a diverse list of exciting achievements! If that's not crazy enough for you, try multiplayer mayhem for up to four players! Use power-ups in versus mode to boost your stats or handicap your opponent. Or team up with others in co-op mode. Play it all in razor-sharp 1080p to new pulse-pounding music! There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.
- 6/23/2010
- Bizarre Creations Ltd
- Activision
- Action & Adventure
- Dolby Digital
- Leaderboards
Get it here. Play it there.
Buy Xbox content on Xbox.com. Your Xbox 360 console will automatically download the content next time you turn it on and connect to Xbox Live.
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We provide concrete cutting services to the BULLEEN SOUTH area for a range of projects; small maintenance jobs and large commercial projects alike. We also specialise in unique projects requiring a high level of innovation and precision. These may be due to creative architectural design, requiring cutting on areas that could not be shaped in the original build, or simply because other factors in the project mean that concrete cutting is the most effective way to achieve the desired result.
Hand Sawing, Ring Sawing and Road Sawing
We have the right tools and the expertise for any concrete cutting project: from domestic driveways to large factories; from simple one off jobs to ongoing civil engineering projects and road works; or from the most basic single line cuts to hole cutting in floors and walls. As are regularly working in the BULLEEN SOUTH area, so this make using Hard Cord a very cost effective alternative to other companies that are not in the BULLEEN SOUTH area.
Simple and complex jobs, large and small require different approaches. We run a range of hand-held and ring saws enabling cut depths of 150mm and 260mm, while our self-propelled road saw cuts to 300mm deep.
Wall Penetration
The back wall of this factory had to be removed in order to make room for a driveway. We cut the wall into panels and then cut holes completely through to allow a forklift to lift the panels out one at a time.
Cutting Recesses into Stairs
This image illustrates the process of cutting recesses into 26 concrete stairs. This was done to enable the installation of 'stair nosing' (grip strips).
The job required precision cutting in a difficult to access area. A requirement of the site was that it be done using a dustless process.
This job was completed using a dust free chasing machine.
Call us today to discuss your concrete cutting project; large or small.
Stairs with Grip Strips Installed