text:
Yen Press is spending this weekend at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington, and you all know what that means…
It means anyone NOT in Seattle, NOT attending Sakura-Con is missing out on some seriously awesome giveaways! We've got posters, stickers, bookmarks, postcards, keychains, and more! If you ARE at S-C and you HAVEN'T stopped by the Yen booth(!), be sure to visit BOOTH #529,531 and say hello!
Okay, okay, we know what you're really waiting for: NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM YEN PRESS!
Coming in 2013, an original adaptation of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's bestselling BEAUTIFUL CREATURES! For the past few months, Ethan Wate has been plagued with vivid, terrifying dreams—a mysterious girl cries out for his help, but as he reaches for her, she slips through his fingers and plunges into darkness. The dreams are unsettling, but awake, life in his small Southern town is the same-old news…until the new girl comes to town. And she looks almost…familiar…even though this tiny town has never seen the likes of a girl like Lena Duchannes… Talented newcomer Cassandra Jean will be illustrating this dark romantic fantasy, which will be serializing in YEN PLUS magazine online later this year.
And of course, we have a wealth of new manga licenses comin' your way later this year!
- Thermae Romae by Mari Yamazaki, an award-winning manga series that celebrates the bathhouse culture of ancient Rome and modern Japan, recently adapted as a TV anime and live-action film. Yen Press will be releasing Thermae Romae in a deluxe hardcover omnibus format, with each omnibus containing two volumes of the original series.
- Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something, a standalone collection of short stories and art by Kaoru Mori, author of the critically-acclaimed A Bride's Story and Emma. Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something will be released as an oversized hardcover to match A Bride's Story.
- Umineko When They Cry, a manga adaptation of the mystery visual novel series by Ryukishi07, author of the New York Times bestselling Higurashi When They Cry. This series will be released as an oversized omnibus edition, with each English volume containing two volumes of the original series.
- Blood Lad by Yuuki Kodama, a dark, comedic fantasy about a human girl's efforts to recover her life—with the help(?) of vampire/demon boss Staz—after she stumbles into the demon world.
- Triage X, a fast-paced, full-throttle action series from the artist behind the New York Times bestselling Highschool of the Dead.
- The Misfortune of Kyon & Koizumi, a collection of short story comics by various artists, featuring the boys of the SOS Brigade and based on the internationally-bestselling Haruhi Suzumiya novel series.
- Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit, spun off of the popular game series by QuinRose. In this telling, Alice takes up residence at Hatter Mansion with Mafia boss Blood and his faithful rabbity companion, the March Hare. (The manga adaptation of the original Alice in the Country of Hearts will be released as three omnibus volumes volumes in June 2012.)
So which ones are you guys most excited about? 😀
Thanks again to everyone who came to our panel and who has (or will) stop by our booth!
***While we don't usually make announcements when successive volumes of a series are released, we're making a special exception in this case, since it's been so long since the last volume of…CHOCOLAT! Yen Press will be releasing a HUGE omnibus at the end of this year containing the final three volumes of the series. Thank you to everyone who has patiently waited for this excellent title, and we hope you are looking forward to reading the complete Chocolat at the end of this year!


text:
"recover windows password" Related Articles
Install Ophcrack to USB – Windows Password Cracker
Create a Ophcrack USB Flash Drive: Ophcrack is a free Windows Password Cracker or Windows Login Password Recovery tool that uses rainbow tables to retrieve Windows login passwords from password hashes. The tool is available in two versions (Vista Ophcrack and XP Ophcrack). In the following tutorial, we explain how we created an All In One USB Ophcrack Flash Drive. This bootable flash drive utility can then be used to recover, reveal or crack both Windows XP and Windows Vista login passwords.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Do you think David Cameron's hair is starting to turn gray? Wouldn't it be cool if peoples hair turned sepia instead of gray........
This is a Sepia Saturday post.
Tommy Cheesbits was one of those "characters" who,in retrospect, are remembered by a community."You dont get any characters these days" people say.I'm not so sure if thats true?Maybe we only recognise 'character' in retrospect?
I remember 2 other local characters from my youth in the 60's..70's.....80's...[hey! I had a long youth!].Sadly I dont have any photos of them.One was a guy who dressed up as a Roundhead Soldier..& used to ride around The Pennine Moors on his horse.I know not why.I remember once,driving along Blackstone Edge in thick fog..and suddenly he appeared silently (from shrubs & grassland) like an extra from The Twilight Zone.
Another chap I remember was someone who seemed to spend his life walking up& down The Calder Valley.Dressed as a monk....in bare feet.
.............. he used to go to Butterly Bricks in Elland every night my grandad was kiln man there and my grandad used to let him sleep near kiln where it was warm........[Karl Gledhill]
Ken was telling me recently about another Halifax character I had never heard of ,a certain "Mrs Cheesebits" [no relation] who in the 70's used to sit cross-legged on a pavement all day [often sat immodestly] selling day-old copies of The Halifax Courier.Rumour had it that if she didn't bring home enough money,her son would beat her up in the evening.....that's the way it goes.............
just like millions of other British Public Service Workers , I will be taking part in a Day Of Action on Wednesday 30th November.
Luke Haines :"How To Hate The Working Classes".
A Link via:Danny's blog


text:
Woodwind syllabus from 2018
New scales and sight-reading apply from January 2018 for all countries.
What's changing and when?
Refreshed repertoire, revised sight-reading tests and new scales and arpeggios requirements for all woodwind instruments.
New publications and audio
We are providing a suite of new publications and audio resources to support the new syllabus.
Woodwind videos
See children's reactions to our new woodwind music.
Woodwind Practice Partner apps
Download our practice partner apps for Flute, Clarinet and Saxophone.


text:
Changing authentication types for the Data Collection user results in failed jobs in CLM
Technote (troubleshooting)
Changing the authentication type from LDAP to the internal authentication for the Data Collection User results in the Data Collection Jobs failing in the IBM Collaborative Lifecycle Management Solution (CLM). This issue will occur in IBM Rational Quality Manager (RQM), IBM Rational Team Concert (RTC) and IBM Rational Requirements Composer (RRC).
The two primary symptoms that you might see are:
- When running reports in each application, the reports will not have the most up to data in them
- If you view the Data Collection Job Status page in each application, you will see multiple failures for the various jobs.
For example:
Resolving the problem
In order to resolve this issue, you will need to manually reconfigure the Data Collection User in each application.
- Log in to the Jazz Team Server Administration page using a server admin
- RTC found in /jts/admin
- RTC found in /jts/admin
- Click the Users link on the top of the page
- Open the LDAP user used for the Data Collection Jobs
- Remove Data Collector under Client Access Licenses
- Click Active Users
- Search for Data Collection User.
- If the user exists, assign the Data Collector license to that user.
- If the user does not exist, create a user with the name "Data Collection User", a user ID of "etl_user", and assign the Data Collector license
- Click the Server link on the top of the page
- Click Consumers (Inbound)
- Remove any Authorized Keys that have the name Jazz Reporting
- Register a name Consumer with the name Jazz Reporting
- Enter a password for the new Consumer in the Consumer Secret field
- Mark the Consumer as Trusted
- Click Register
- Find the newly created Authorized Key and copy the Consumer Key value
Note: The key value will look similar to: 40e6eb312e14457586953af7c3185cdf
- Hover over the Actions column for the Jazz Reporting Key and click the Edit Consumer Key icon
- Click Select User in the Functional User ID field
- Search for etl_user, click Add and Close
- Click the Reports link on the top
- Select Data Warehouse Connection under Configuration
- Enter your password in the Data Collection User Password or Consumer Secret field (use the password created in step 11)
- Paste the Consumer Key in the Data Collection User or Consumer Key field
- Type JTS in the XDC Authentication field
- Click the Preview link to review the changes
- Click Save
- Select Data Collection Jobs under Data Collection
- Paste the Consumer Key into the Consumer Key field and enter the password into the Consumer Secret field in each Data Collection Job
- Click Save
- Repeat steps 7 through 27 for each application
- QM found in /qm/admin
- CCM found in /ccm/admin
- RM found in /rm/admin ( from version 5.0 onwards)
The Jazz based products have an active community that can provide you with additional resources. Browse and contribute to the User forums, contribute to the Team Blog and review the Team wiki.
|Software Development
|Rational Team Concert
|AIX, i5/OS, IBM i, Linux, Solaris, Windows, z/OS
|Software Development
|Rational Requirements Composer
|Windows, Linux
Document information
More support for:
Rational Quality Manager
Software version: 18.104.22.168, 184.108.40.206, 18.104.22.168, 188.8.131.52, 4.0, 126.96.36.199, 18.104.22.168, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, 4.0.6, 5.0
Operating system(s): AIX, IBM i, Linux, Solaris, Windows, z/OS
Reference #: 1591743
Modified date: 06 December 2014


text:
The Resident Evil star was approached to take the lead in a reboot of the hugely successful '60 TV series, which starred the Bond legend as a thief.
However, Purefoy decided to snub the part after disagreeing with the direction the update was taking.
He says, "In the end they weren't going to do the kind of Saint I wanted to make. We had a great script that was cool, classy and dead sexy. Now I think it's going to be more like (1980s David Hasselhoff show) Knight Rider - and I didn't want to do that."


text:
Although its record may not reflect it Bunn boys basketball coach Gerald Melton feels his team is in a better place mentally opposed to last year.
FAYETTEVILLE � Although its record may not reflect it Bunn boys basketball coach Gerald Melton feels his team is in a better place mentally opposed to last year.
The Wildcats, winners of 18 of their last 19 games, have matured as the season has progressed and are in a better mental state than they were last season when they lost just twice in the regular season and earned a No. 1 seed for the NCHSAA state 2A playoffs.
This season, Bunn (23-6), a 7-seed that will face top-seeded Kinston (25-2) in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. at the Crown Arena in Fayetteville on Thursday, isn�t as praised as last season�s squad but Melton feels it�s playing a better brand of basketball at the right time of the year.
�In the last couple weeks the maturity level just seemed to grow and things kind of clicked, and we�ve just been playing really well since the conference tournament,� the 13-year veteran coach said during Monday�s Eastern Regionals press conference.
�The determination and want-to towards the end of the season has just been fantastic.�
With a roster heavy on upperclassmen � five seniors and five juniors according one available at Maxpreps.com � the Wildcats decided to schedule tougher competition for their non-conference slate and it has paid off.
Bunn, a small town about 40 miles northeast of Raleigh, began the season by splitting its first 10 games. Among those five losers were to a pair of 4A schools and another pair to 3A schools sandwiched around a defeat by eventual league regular season champion Wendell Corinth Holders.
On Jan. 2, the Wildcats defeated Northern Carolina 2A Conference opponent Warren County soundly, 70-48, and they�ve lost just once since � a 51-48 setback at Warren County on Jan. 29.
�When you schedule tough teams in the non-conference and you play tough conference opponents, it prepares you for times like this,� first-year Kinston coach Perry Tyndall said.
Bunn, making its first trip to the regionals since 2006, is led by 5-foot-11 junior guard DeShawn High, who averages 18.6 points per game. The team also has an athletic forward in 6-3 senior Jonathon Alston, who has signed as a wide receiver to play football at N.C. State and averages 6.2 rebounds per game.
A year ago the Wildcats were heavily favored to get to Fayetteville but missed out when they were upset by eighth-seeded North Brunswick in the second round.
This year, as a 7-seed, Bunn is back.
�We kind of started off slow. We played a tough non-conference schedule, and had a couple guys who played football (that) took a while to get going,� Melton said. �Towards the end we just really started coming together.�
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.


text:
Paris - Roubaix 2011
April 10, 2011, France, Road - HIS (Historical Calendar)
Paris-Roubaix 2011
Paris-Roubaix is known as the Queen of the Classics and no other one day race showcases the best features of cycling, with a thrilling combination of strength, a brutal course, iconic scenery and a history of mammoth battles.
The 2011 Paris-Roubaix looks set to be another cracker, with a tougher course, more cobbles and plenty of teams and riders coming into the race with a point to prove.
Paris-Roubaix preview | Paris-Roubaix 2010 | Race History | Spring Classics
Paris - Roubaix 2011 News


text:
Mary Marr "Polly" Platt was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis she was , 72 ..
Early lifePlatt was born Mary Marr Platt in Fort Sheridan, Illinois on January 29, 1939, later using the name Polly.[1][2] Her father John was a colonel in the army while her mother Vivian worked in advertising; she has a brother, John.[1] She moved to Germany at the age of six as her father presided over the Dachau Trials.[1] Platt later returned to the US and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology.[1][2]
CareerPlatt worked in summer stock theatre as a costume designer in New York and there met Peter Bogdanovich, whom she would later marry.[1][2] She co-wrote with Bogdanovich his first movie Targets (1968), conceiving the plot outline of a "Vietnam veteran-turned-sniper" and served as the production designer on the film.[2] She was also production designer on his film The Last Picture Show (1971), recommending Cybill Sheppard for her first film role,[3] and despite the breakdown of their marriage, had the same role on What's Up Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973).[1][2] Platt had suggested Bogdanovich make Larry McMurtry's novel The Last Picture Show into a film.[2] Bogdanovich commented that: "She worked on important pictures and made major contributions. She was unique. There weren't many women doing that kind of work at that time, particularly not one as well versed as she was. She knew all the departments, on a workmanlike basis, as opposed to most producers who just know things in theory."[1] Platt was the first female member of the Art Directors Guild.[1] She was also production designer on A Star Is Born (1976).[2]
She wrote the screenplays for Pretty Baby (1978), on which she was also an associate producer,[2] as well as Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979), and A Map of the World (1999).[4] She wrote the screenplay for the 1995 Academy Award-winning short film, Lieberman in Love, which was based on a short story by W. P. Kinsella.
Platt worked extensively with James L. Brooks throughout her career. She was the executive vice president of his production company Gracie Films from 1985 to 1995.[1][2] Platt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Brooks' film Terms of Endearment (1983).[1] She also co-produced many of the films he worked on, which Gracie made, including Broadcast News (1987), The War of the Roses (1989) and Bottle Rocket (1996), as well as producing Say Anything... (1989).[1][2] Platt gave Brooks the nine-panel Life in Hell cartoon "The Los Angeles Way of Death" by cartoonist Matt Groening. She suggested that the two meet and that Brooks produce an animated TV version of Groening's characters; the meeting spawned a series of short cartoons about the Simpson family, which aired as part of The Tracey Ullman Show and later became The Simpsons.[1][2][5][6]
In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.[7] Brooks said that Platt "couldn't walk into a gas station and get gas without mentoring somebody. Movies are a team sport, and she made teams function. She would assume a maternal role in terms of really being there. The film was everything, and ego just didn't exist."[1]
In 2003, she appeared in the BBC documentary film Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Platt was working on a documentary about the filmmaker Roger Corman at the time of her death.[1]
[edit] Personal lifePlatt was married to Philip Klein until his death in a car accident in the 1960s, eight months after they married.[2] Platt was married to director Peter Bogdanovich from 1962 to 1971.[2] They divorced after Bogdanovich left her during the filming of The Last Picture Show for its lead actress Cybill Shepherd.[1][2] Platt and Bogdanovich had two children: Antonia and Sashy.[1] Platt later married prop maker Tony Wade; they remained married until his death in 1985. She was stepmother to his children Kelly and Jon.[1][2]
The 1984 film Irreconcilable Differences, starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and Drew Barrymore, was reportedly loosely based on her marriage to Bogdanovich, and their divorce.[8]
Platt died aged 72 on July 27, 2011 in New York, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.[1]


text:
Where Is The Voting Button In Email Composed In Outlook
Earlier today I was sent an email by a client asking me to click a vote button if I approved of the technical documentation they had composed. After reading the documentation I went to click what I assumed would be some form of approved button however I couldn't find it. After looking over every inch of the email window I decided to go ahead and compose my own test to see if I could first add voting buttons to an email composed in Outlook and second if I could use those actual voting buttons once I received the email to another email account. Below I show the location of the voting buttons in Outlook as well as how to compose an email to others and add a voting button.


text:
Customize your deal categories and receive only deals alert that will interest you.
BigSALE is the Malaysia's No.1 promotions platform which help people save money and time, and connects the consumers with brands and retailers. We recommend the best daily deals, promotions, warehouse sales and coupons from hundred of e-commerce stores and offline retailers, and deliver it to the users based on the preferences they have expressed to us.
Be the first to know the Top daily deals in your city.
We will not sell your email address or share it with anyone.
You can unsubscribe anytime. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details.


text:
In what has become somewhat of a tradition in the first full day of baseball's winter meetings — both for the Orioles and the league as a whole — plenty of rumors swirled around the massive hallways and lobbies of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel on Monday but little news surfaced.
The first, and perhaps most interesting news conference Monday, was held by New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who announced that lightning rod third baseman Alex Rodriguez will undergo hip surgery and will miss a chunk of the 2013 season.
As for the Orioles, the runners-up to the Yankees in the American League East last year, they didn't get close to making an announcement at the ballroom podium Monday. But club executive vice president Dan Duquette believes he is continuing to lay the groundwork for landing a power hitter.
"Today we met with about four teams about trade discussions and trying to move that ball down the road. We met with three or four agents to see if we could address our needs that way, just by signing a player," Duquette said. "We're still working on a couple of trade options if we can develop them to a point where we can make a trade. But we're not quite there yet. It's still a process."
Duquette, as is his policy, would not name specific targets in either the trade or free agent market. And he wouldn't predict when a deal would or could get done.
"I don't know what the timing of the deals will be, but we are finding out what teams we are compatible with and we are narrowing our options," he said.
Seemingly every hour Monday afternoon there was another rumor involving the Orioles' potential interest in a player, whether it was free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche, free agent pitcher Brett Myers, or possible trade targets such as Washington's Michael Morse, Kansas City's Billy Butler or Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones. Ultimately, the involvement with each seemed to be overplayed as the day progressed.
LaRoche is the most intriguing name, a Gold Glove first baseman that hit 33 homers and drove in 100 runs for the NL East champion Nationals last year. The Orioles aggressively pursued LaRoche in the winter of 2010, but didn't want to offer three guaranteed years. It's unlikely the Orioles would offer three this time around — which LaRoche apparently is seeking — with the lefty now 33 years old.
The Orioles maintain some interest in LaRoche, but they are not expected to make a hefty investment in one player, preferring to acquire a hitter through a trade while purchasing complementary players through free agency.
The common belief is that LaRoche eventually will re-sign with the Nationals, which would then make Morse expendable. He is another intriguing hitter who can play first base, but the Orioles interest is seemingly preliminary — similar to any tire-kicking involving Jones.
Butler, 26, would perhaps be the best fit for the Orioles, a slugging 26-year-old designated hitter and first baseman who made the AL All Star team in 2012. At least one club source, however, believes the Orioles don't have what it would take — an established top-end starter — to pry the popular Butler from the Royals.
Duquette again stressed the club's current strength is pitching depth but is not ruling out the eventual acquisition of more arms.
"We're kind of focused on filling out our lineup … We think we have accumulated some solid pitching depth and there's a surplus of starting pitching and also a surplus of relievers on the roster, so that's not an immediate need, but we do need to fill out our ball club," he said. "We've had discussions with a number of agents that represent pitchers, but most of our work today was on the trade market and signing position players."
As of mid-day Monday, the Orioles had made no plans to speak to the representatives of the 32-year-old Myers, who pitched in 70 games in relief last year for the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, but is looking to return to his more familiar starting role.
The Orioles, according to Duquette, also did not have discussions Monday with the representatives of left-hander Joe Saunders or outfielder Nate McLouth, both of whom the Orioles would like to retain.
Saunders, according to one source, is seeking a deal of at least three or four years, which could put him out of the Orioles' plans.
When things settle, Duquette believes that the Orioles will be able to fill their holes and improve on the 2012 roster. Until then, there likely will be plenty of rumors involving his club.
"The feedback we are getting is that players are interested in Baltimore, they are interested in what we did this past year so we have players that are interested in the opportunity when it comes up, which I think is a good thing," he said.
"As far as the number of rumors, I couldn't comment on that. It's that time of year, right?"


text:
Ciara feels she was destined to become Revlon's new celebrity spokeswoman.
The 30-year-old singer, model and actress is adding yet another string to her bow by becoming the beauty giant's latest brand ambassador, following in the footsteps of stars such as Emma Stone and Halle Berry, who jointly represent its Professional hair care range. And the new role seems to be the perfect fit for Ciara, whose name actually derives from Revlon's 1973 perfume.
"My dad bought her the fragrance - the Ciara fragrance by Revlon - from the commissary at the military base," Ciara, whose father served in the military, told WWD. "They were in Texas, he bought her the fragrance and not only did he love this fragrance but the name also really resonated with her and she ditched all the other names and Ciara became my name.
"I think my mom was putting it into the universe. 'Your name will be Ciara and one day you will have a Revlon campaign.'"
In return, Revlon chief marketing officer Benjamin Karsch believes the star is the perfect example of an "empowered" woman who follows her dreams. The brand will certainly benefit from her mass following, as Ciara brings with her almost 14 million fans on Instagram - which Benjamin hopes to utilize through her ambassador role.
"We will likely use both social influencers as well as broad brand ambassadors, but Ciara is someone who is really both," he added. "By partnering with a celebrity like Ciara, who has such tremendous reach and visibility, we gain access to her fan base and specifically with Ciara on Instagram alone, she's got more than 13 million followers."
The Goodies singer acknowledges her responsibilities in her position of power, and promises to remain humble during her new journey, using social media as a platform to "make a difference".


text:
CELINE EYELETS POCKET EVENING CLUTCH ON CHAINfashion Other Brands
We know that Celine is all about making minimalistic things, but here's one bag that's not following this traditional code. Meet the Celine Eyelets Pocket Evening Clutch On Chain for the Winter 2017 Collection. It's basically a small-sized handbag that can be transformed into a clutch bag or vica versa.
The Pocket Evening Clutch On Chain is not a new bag, it's also available without the eyelets but it usually comes in tri-colors. This bag is also called the Pocket Large Flap On Chain.
The Design
It's a rectangle small bag with an enveloped-shaped flap. This bag is perfect to carry from Spring to Winter and it matches perfectly with any casual chic outfit in your wardrobe. The latest edition is adorned with eyelets around the edges of the flap, which is designed to boost it's urban-chic'nes. Now this beauty can be carried with simple tees and jeans and you will still look fabulous.
Made from smooth calfskin, which a durable leather that requires low maintenance. The chains are long enough to carry cross body and it can be removed anytime to convert into a clutch bag. The logo has been embellished on the bottom front in small lettering that reads: 'CELINE PARIS'.
And there is more, the front also features a outer flat pocket. Now let's dive into the interior:
The Interior
The Pocket Evening Clutch opens with a snap button. Inside you will find one gusset compartment and one zipped pocket. The interior fits all of your basic essentials or evening necessities.
The Sizes And Prices
The removable shoulder chain is 20′ inches long and the bag measures 11' x 7' inches, priced at $1650 USD, €1100 euro, £1000 GBP, $12500 HKD, $2100 SGD, ¥12000 CNY, ¥170000 JPY via Celine boutiques.


text:
All the winners of The Bobs 2014
After two days of passionate discussions and debate, our international jury selected the winners of The Bobs 2014 Jury Awards.
But the jury weren't the only ones hard at work. Internet users from around the world have spent the last four weeks voting for their favorites among the 154 finalists in 20 categories. Over 70,000 votes were cast and the winners of the People's Choice Awards have been decided.
Our congratulations go out to all the winners of The Bobs – Best of Online Activism!
The Jury Award winners are
Best Blog
The photo blog by Egyptian Mosa'ab Elshamy won the Best Blog prize. His impressive photos and photo essays on current events in Cairo won over jurors, as did his work to present a view of modern cultural life in Egypt. He recently accompanied young Mahraganat musicians through the underground clubs of the Egyptian capital. During the Egyptian revolution, his work also appeared on the cover of "Time" and among the magazine's list of top 10 pictures of the year in 2013. "Mosa'ab Elshamy illustrates in a very impressive way the rifts that exist in Egyptian society," jury member Tarek Amr said. Fellow jury member Renata Avila added: "Although we do not all speak Arabic, we can all understand the power of his images."
Best Social Activism
The website Visualizing Palestine won Jury Award in the Best Social Activism category. The team behind the site creates and presents fact-based infographics illustrating the circumstances Palestinians and Palestinian refugees face on a daily basis. While many of the graphics address issues dealing with relations to Israel, Visualizing Palestine also confronts environmental issues, social topics and education. "The issue of the Palestinians is an extremely emotional and polarizing one," said jury member Georgia Popplewell, the managing director of Global Voices Online. "Visualizing Palestine brings facts to that discussion without sacrificing emotion."
Most Creative & Original
The winner of The Bobs award in the Most Creative and Original category takes micro-blogging to the extreme. As millions of ultra-short, 140-character or less messages careen around the Internet, the artist behind weicombo gets his point across using just one Chinese character. While he does not provide his name for safety reasons, weicombo's creator comments on current events by slightly altering the character to lend his posts a touch of irony and satire. His posts present readers with a daily guessing game of inferring the point he is looking to get across. Word games and puzzles have a long tradition in China, according to The Bobs jury member Tienchi Martin-Liao. "Weicombo has found a very creative and clever way to get around censorship in China," she said. "His posts are not only political but also entertaining and his readers love him for that."
Global Media Forum Award
"From Information to Participation" is the theme of the 2014 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum as well as for The Bobs special Global Media Forum award, which was won by "Khabar Lahariya." The weekly, local language newspaper has been written, published and delivered by a community of women across rural parts of India for the past 12 years. It connects with thousands of people in parts of the country's north and northeast that seldom get the attention of national media. "The newspaper is a shining example that a functioning democracy is dependent on access to information for all people," said jury member and blogger Rohini Lakshane.
Best Innovation
The BanglaBraille project enables the production of school textbooks to be printed in braille for visually impaired students in Bangladesh. The project's organizers also create audio versions of the textbooks that students download and listen to. There are currently more than 50,000 visually impaired students in Bangladesh without access to educational materials. The BanglaBraille team assembled a network of volunteers who digitize the books and conduct fundraising for the project. "BanglaBraille has fundamentally improved the lives of many students in Bangladesh and is fighting against a problem that authorities in our country have criminally neglected," said jury member Shahidul Alam of Bangladesh.
Reporters Without Borders Award
The Bobs special award, presented in conjunction with the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, went to the Ukrainian project YanukovychLeaks. The site presents the work of a group of Ukrainian journalists who worked to salvage and report on records which former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his supporters threw into a pool at a huge presidential estate while fleeing the country after the Maidan revolution. YanukovychLeaks aims to digitize and catalogue the records and make them available to the public. "It is especially important during times of crisis to support independent journalists," said Christian Mihr, head of Reporters Without Borders' German branch and a member of The Bobs jury. The project was also praised by jury member Renata Avila of Guatemala for providing access to the complete documents. "You can use the files to support different opinions," she said. "But citizens can see all the information for themselves and decide for themselves how important it is, and what it means."
Congratulations to the winners of The Bobs' Jury and People's Choice Awards
Winners of this year's Jury Awards will be invited to receive their prize as part of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum on June 30, in Bonn, Germany.


text: If you or someone you know is HIV+ and seeking others in a similar situation, you have just found the two most unique communities in the New York City area. The reason we say the two most unique communities is that one community is geared toward HIV+ heterosexuals, and the other is geared toward HIV+ gay men. Each community is organized by empowered HIV+ members of that community, each has its own set of social activities, and each is very diverse in its membership. All social activities are interesting and done in good taste. If you would like to contact either of these communities, they can be reached by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com (heterosexual), or email@example.com (gay men). Or you can call or write to Guys and Girls or Nothing But Guys at 212-462-9009, P.O. Box 251, New York, NY 10014. All inquiries and responses are handled with the greatest discretion.


text:
Watch GoCentral Website Builder and Online Store videos
These videos will help you build and manage your GoCentral website or online store. Don't see a video about what you need? Check out our Dive in: Browse all-articles list.
This mobile-friendly website builder is so easy to use you don't even need a laptop or desktop computer. You can create and manage your website right on your phone. For more information, visit GoCentral Help.
How SSL certificates work to secure your GoCentral website
Website security is important. GoCentral websites come with a built-in SSL certificate to protect you and your customers. For more information, see Publish my website.
Change the theme on your GoCentral Website
GoCentral themes give you a fast, easy way to apply a font-color combination to your website. This video shows how to change your site's theme. For more information about using the Themes feature or changing your site's color or font, see Set up my site.
Add a photo in your GoCentral website
Photos on your website grab visitors' attention and encourage them to explore your content. Learn how to add photos in your GoCentral site. For more information, see Add or replace photo.
Add sections to your GoCentral website
GoCentral sites can handle all the information you want to share. See how easy it is to add sections to any page. For more information, see Add a section.
Meet GoCentral Online Store
A GoCentral online store has the same features and functionality as a GoCentral website plus all the features and tools you need to sell online, including payments methods, shipping options, sales tax, inventory tracking, and email marketing. For more information, visit GoCentral Help..
Set up your GoCentral online store
Ready to get your GoCentral online store set up and open for business? Learn how to get started using your store's built-in tools. For more information, see Get my store published.
Add products to your GoCentral online store
It's easy to add products or services to your online store. This video takes you step-by-step through the process. For more information, see Add physical products.
Set up shipping in your GoCentral online store
When you first get your GoCentral online store, free shipping is set up by default. This video shows you how you can change and customize shipping methods on your site. For more information, see Change shipping method.
More info
Check out these articles to learn more about GoCentral Website Builder and Online Store.


text:
Northeastern University faculty are available to provide expertise, analysis and commentary on a wide variety of news and research topics. Contact us for more information, and follow us on Twitter to get a first look at our experts.
Showing faculty with an expertise in antitrust law. View all Experts
Roger I. AbramsRichardson Professor of Law
- Expertise
- Contact
- email@example.com
- 617.373.2068


text:
A few days ago my wife and me put up the Christmas decorations in our home. It would be different this year, as it was just the two of us in our home.
Our six children, now grown and living in different places, are beginning to establish their own experiences and traditions for the holiday. At first, I really didn't care whether there was a tree, ornaments or a baby Jesus and manger scene on the piano. Who was going to be there to enjoy it with us? All I was seeing was the emptiness and the home void of our traditional December activities in preparing for Christmas morning.
Much like the first time I held my oldest daughter following her birth, not knowing how to be a father, I didn't know how to be alone.
Begrudging, with a bah humbug cloud to my demeanor, I retrieved the boxes full of decorations from storage with the intent of getting it over as quickly as possible.
First we moved the sofa to make room for the tree. Next we pulled our artificial scotch pine from its box, connected the parts, strung the lights and prepared for hanging the ornaments. In years past, my official decorating participation would end here, and the children would take over with hanging the ornaments and dressing the home with Christmas decorations gathered during the previous 35 years as a family. This year we split the duties between my wife and me. My wife setup the manger scene and holiday knickknacks, and I hung the ornaments.
The ornaments were consolidated into two small boxes and had been carefully packed from last season. As I opened the boxes, I quickly placed the first few ornaments on the tree. The next ornament I handled was one I had made for my mother when I was a boy. And an unexpected transformation began. I felt like a child whisked away, rediscovering Christmases I had all but forgotten.
My first experience was the Christmas mornings in Las Vegas during the '60s and '70s. My mother was a single mom, raising three children without much help from my dad. She worked the graveyard shift as a waitress at the Horseshoe Club. Every Christmas was usually split between going over to my dad's for Christmas Eve for our first Christmas and then being brought home Christmas morning for our second Christmas with mom.
I think it was the Christmas when I was 12 I remember most. As my dad dropped us off at our home, unlike previous Christmases, we brought our presents received from dad, to my mom's home. And oh what a Christmas it was, more toys and things than a child could wish for.
Inside the home, we laid new gifts on the couch and excitedly dove in to discovering and unwrapping our second Christmas with mom. Within just a few minutes, the few presents mom was able to secure on her limited income were unwrapped. I had received everything I had asked for. Christmas couldn't have been better. Then I turned to mom as she sat on the couch to thank her for what I thought was a wonderful Christmas. She was alone, no presents to open and tears streaming from her eyes, and said, "Barry, I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
How do you respond as a child? I simply replied, "Mom, my Christmas is perfect. Thank you."
I understood for the first time the sacrifice and love my mother was offering for her children. When I looked at the things my father had purchased, they lost all value to me because they had not been given in love but despitefully, to hurt my mom.
Next, came four ornaments from my last Christmas in Germany as a missionary, in a little city called Hof. They were the wooden soldiers and the bird house. That was the year my companion burned down our tree.
In Germany there is a tradition to light candles on the tree. Our tree was about five feet tall, very much like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, scrawny and very dry. In addition to a few wooden ornaments, we had placed a few candles on the tree as decoration. While I was in the kitchen preparing our Christmas Eve feast, my companion shouted, "Help! Help! Fire! Fire!" I went into the room and our tree was in flames.
My companion, against my warning, decided he wanted to light the candles. We got the fire out; however, we were unable to save the tree. It was black with no needles. The apartment smelled of smoldering fire. We did everything we could to clean up the mess, which took until 2 or 3 a.m. In order to get the smell out of the apartment, we left the window open all night. It was one of the coldest nights I can remember. The next morning for Christmas, we rehung the ornaments on the tree and opened our presents. It's a Christmas memory that literally burned a special place in my heart and will always bring a smile.
One by one, as I uncovered each of the ornaments, memory after memory of Christmases past were brought into view. One of my most favorite memories was the 1992 Christmas in West Jordan. That was the year we began what would become our family tradition I will refer to as a Christmas Treasure Hunt.
That year rather than having all the presents under the tree on Christmas morning, each of the children was presented with a Christmas paper-wrapped container filled with candy and a letter from Santa. Oh, what a shock the children had when to their amazement there was only one gift for each of them under the tree. One by one they opened their present and read aloud their letter from Santa, "Merry Christmas from Santa. It's time to start your Christmas adventure. Solve one riddle at a time. Search out and find one gift at a time. Once you have found your present, return to let the next person in line begin their quest."
Each letter was filled with Christmas riddles and clues. Solve the riddle in order to find your present. The gifts were hidden throughout the home under tables, in closets, under beds and even inside the washing machine. In the years that followed, each and every member of the family has eagerly awaited finding his letter from Santa under the tree to begin the Christmas Treasure Hunt quest.
Now as our children are starting their families, we are seeing them continue the tradition and create their own versions of the Christmas Treasure Hunt.
Within a couple of hours, my wife and me had decorated our home. This year the decorations had more meaning than in past years because I took time to remember and wrote down those memories so they will not be forgotten. It's a new chapter for my wife and me, but it was a very important time for us as we remembered Christmases past, we still have many more Christmases present and future to share together alone and with our children and grandchildren. I look forward to the memories that will be created.


text:
Collison Between Car, Tractor Leaves Huron Man Dead
According to reports, a man has died following a crash involving a vehicle and a tractor on Highway 34 east of Forestburg on Wednesday.
Roland J. Glaser, 70, was westbound driving a 1991 Ford Escort when he collided with back of a Ford tractor towing a hay-stack mover, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. Glaser was dead at the scene.
Tracy Gene Burkel, 39, of Woonsocket was driving the tractor. He wasn't injured
Police are continuing their investigation.


text:
Under the Joint Drug Agreement, a player's successful challenge to a suspension normally would not have been made public. The parties have agreed, given the particulars of this case, that an announcement is appropriate.
Copyright ©
Major League Baseball Players Association trademarks and copyrights are the property of the MLBPA.
Contact the Major League Baseball Players Association for more information.
Use of the Website signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.


text:
Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0 Linux Download
Download Unigine Valley Benchmark for Linux. Shortly after releasing the Heaven benchmark Unigine Valley is now released. Valley is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX operating systems, 32bit and 64bit respectively.
Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark. The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird's-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal. This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.
- Extreme hardware stability testing
- Per-frame GPU temperature and clock monitoring
- Multi-platform: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
- Advanced visual technologies: dynamic sky, volumetric clouds, sun shafts, DOF, ambient occlusion
- Multi-Platform support for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X
- 64 000 000 square meters of extremely detailed, seamless terrain
- Procedural object placement of vegetation and rocks
- The entire valley is free to be explored in interactive fly-by or hike-through modes
- User-controlled dynamic weather
- Support for stereo 3D and multi-monitor configurations
- Benchmarking presets
- Command line automation support
- Highly customizable reports in CSV format
System Requirements
- ATI Radeon HD 4xxx and higher
- NVIDIA GeForce 8xxx and higher
- Intel HD 3000 and higher
- Video memory: 512 Mb
- Disk space: 1.5 Gb
Operating system:
- MS Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
- Linux (proprietary video drivers required)
- Mac OS X 10.8+ (Mountain Lion)
Offering a rare chance to experience a breath of untapped, crystal clear air, Valley Benchmark allows you to encounter a morning high up in the mountains when the snow-capped peaks are just barely glittering in the rising sun. Be it flying over the vast green expanses or hiking along rocky slopes, this journey continues as long you wish. Unique in every corner, this open-space world provides a wonderfully relaxing experience under the tranquil music and sounds of nature.
3 pages 1 2 3
Posts: 15616
Joined: 2010-09-12
I'm getting really bad stuttering on this.
Senior Member
Posts: 22112
Joined: 2005-12-10
313.96 is what I`m using, works fine
Posts: 15616
Joined: 2010-09-12
Check out my usage. I even went into NVCP and set it to prefer max performance.
Senior Member
Posts: 22112
Joined: 2005-12-10
is your 7200 ram stable? that usage is all over the place. I`m at 95-98 in sli and single
Posts: 15616
Joined: 2010-09-12
I looped Heaven 4.0 on extreme for almost 4 hours while I was running errands earlier today. It was still running when I came back. So I assumed everything was fine. I'll drop it back a couple hundred MHz or so and see if it still does it.
Posts: 15616
Joined: 2010-09-12
Strange. I dropped it back to 7000 and it's running fine. Wonder why the other bench ran perfect with 7200 but this one is acting up.
Senior Member
Posts: 22112
Joined: 2005-12-10
heaven is a very good indicator of stability, when I change my clocks I run it overnight all the way to 4pm next day around 20 hrs. I go to work and when I come home if its running its good to go
maybe try 7100 thats over 1ghz oc anyways
Posts: 15616
Joined: 2010-09-12
Yea i'm gonna loop it at 7100 before I go to bed.
Senior Member
Posts: 22112
Joined: 2005-12-10
I am going to loop this overnight as well, heaven 4.0 is fine at my clocks
Posts: 81
Joined: 2009-09-16
Score: 1747
Extreme HD 1080p
Stock GTX 670 FTW
Man this does look really nice, and runs a lot better than I thought it would.
Senior Member
Posts: 6600
Joined: 2004-05-13
Works just fine here, and I'm on Windows 8 Pro.
Junior Member
Posts: 16
Joined: 2010-01-22
I got almost 2000. But i have to run it att 2700x1600, eyefinity
On DX11, Quality: Ultra, AA:8x and full screen. But i noticed i only got 70% usage from my 3x7970. Hoping for better performance with better optimized driver. Running cards att only 1250/1600, cpu 3930K @4,5Ghz
I hope i can push it more this weekend. Installing 3rd water block on the gpu's
Senior Member
Posts: 1308
Joined: 2009-09-02
I've been waiting for this bench, once i get home imma download and check this out. Sounds like it looks great and performs really well too? that's almost unheard of haha.
Senior Member
Posts: 20962
Joined: 2008-07-14
It does look great. I think there's some bugs in it though. It reports my GPU clock at 1330mhz....which isn't accurate....
Don Altobello
Posts: 11380
Joined: 2007-07-29
So your happy to play console ported ****? Where only a 680 can handle it on full specs? No wonder PC games are dying! Idiots who want to pay more for something that's not worth paying for!
$20 Wow, I will leave you with the hours of fun watching a demo! LOL!
No need to get angry. A different opinion does not make someone an idiot. Sit this topic out from now on, your input is no longer required.
Don Altobello
Posts: 97
Joined: 2013-02-07
1440p, 8x AA, Ultra - 2257 score.
Senior Member
Posts: 7075
Joined: 2005-08-10
This is way more beautiful than the latest Heaven Benchmark 4.0, runs much better too.
Senior Member
Posts: 289
Joined: 2011-02-09
Absolutely amazing. Does anyone know how to turn off the HUD? I just love walking around valley but the HUD takes away from the immersion. Also turning off the music but keeping the environment sounds would be nice.
Junior Member
Posts: 19
Joined: 2009-11-21
Senior Member
Posts: 4706
Joined: 2008-12-09
Unigine... allowing the nerd to go outside, without going outside!
My score (which was pretty darn sad):
Score 1087
Min FPS: 13.0
Max FPS: 47.8
1920x1200, 2XAA
Senior Member
Posts: 1781
Joined: 2001-06-09
Its ok.
But not quite sure why the extreme settings other then aa.
You can flyby, walk around or go where you want.
But go close to a rock, or any other surface. Not that much detail tbh.
I expected more.
Games out already look better then this.
BF3,all crysis games, facrcry 3 and many more.
I expected something alittle more forward looking etc.
Oh well, PS4 reveal on 20th.
8core, 4-8gb ram, decent gpu. No dx overheads to deal with. Just pure gaming and graphics. looking forward to see new things being pushed.
Senior Member
Posts: 97
Joined: 2013-02-07
But not quite sure why the extreme settings other then aa.
You can flyby, walk around or go where you want.
But go close to a rock, or any other surface. Not that much detail tbh.
I expected more.
Games out already look better then this.
BF3,all crysis games, facrcry 3 and many more.
I expected something alittle more forward looking etc.
Oh well, PS4 reveal on 20th.
8core, 4-8gb ram, decent gpu. No dx overheads to deal with. Just pure gaming and graphics. looking forward to see new things being pushed.
I agree that this doesnt look amazing if you take it away from cinematic...
Still, on cinematic, it looks stunning...
I uploaded a vid of my computer running it:
Senior Member
Posts: 1781
Joined: 2001-06-09
Yeah it sounds like i'm knocking it to much without the positives
I like the lighting, the sound, the weather fx.
It's still very nice in many respects, I just expect more with benchmarks.
I just want to see more
Senior Member
Posts: 6174
Joined: 2006-02-01
what a joke of benchmark, everything looks old tech..I guess you guys haven't played much AC3 see there valleys and woods..
Senior Member
Posts: 4266
Joined: 2007-05-27
Well I think it looks amazing. That's all that counts.
3 pages 1 2 3


text:
By Erika Nelson
Can we start by hearing the story of how you found out that you were positive?
I tested HIV positive in 2002. I was 16. The reason why I went for an HIV test was because my ex-boyfriend at that time had gotten sick in the past few months, and then he died. No one would tell me why he died. No one would tell me what he had. I felt it was my responsibility to actually find out for myself if he did have HIV or AIDS. The only thing to do, was for me to go for an HIV test.
You didn't know for sure that he died of an AIDS-related illness?
I didn't know for sure, but when I saw him when he was sick I could see the symptoms. At school they used to tell us that if a person is sick, if he has HIV, you could see the symptoms when the immune system is very weak. The person would lose hair; the person would get so thin. He had some of the symptoms, but I was not sure because I was not very well-informed about HIV.
What happened when you went to get tested?
It was scary, because of my being healthy and looking healthy, yet suspecting that I might be HIV positive. It didn't seem real. Also, because I wanted to prevent so many things: I didn't want to die, I didn't want to get sick, and I didn't want people to know. It was a matter of going and finding out for myself and keeping it to myself.
When I was told that I was HIV positive, I could not believe them. I kept on asking them, "Why do I have HIV? Why do I still look healthy? Why am I not thin? Why am I not sick? Why am I not feeling sick? I feel normal and I look normal. Why do I have HIV?"
It was very hard for me to accept, but the reality was there. It was either accept it and take responsibility, or ignore the fact that I had HIV.
When you went to get tested, did you go all alone?
Yes. I went alone. It was not planned. I didn't plan it. I was just curious, because at that time in Khayelitsha it was 2002 and they just opened a loveLife youth center. I wanted a reason to go inside, but I didn't want people to see me. Because if people saw me go into loveLife, they would think that I'm having sex.
It was very hard for me to go there. Since I was alone, I thought, "Why don't I just sneak into loveLife?" So, I was sneaking around in there and just taking a tour. It was too much for me, because I could see condoms. I was like, "Oh man, condoms -- in front of these people? There are old people here."
I felt like maybe people here understand. I thought, "Let me ask if they can do an HIV test." Lucky for me, I met someone that I knew who has HIV and he was a counselor.
I asked him if I could have an HIV test. He asked, "Why do you want to have an HIV test?" I said, "At school they tell us that if you ever, ever, ever have sex, you must have an HIV test. So I thought, why not?" [Laughs.] But I was covering the whole thing up!
loveLife is a clinic or a center? What is it like?
loveLife is a youth center. It does many different things: you go for birth control; you go for checkups for STDs [sexually transmitted diseases]; you go for HIV tests and they then refer you to the nearest clinic; you go there for counseling; and you go there for sex education.
What happened when you got the news? Who told you and what happened?
The counselor told me. He first explained the procedure and everything. I was just sitting there, just rolling my eyes and thinking, "Well, you can say whatever. I don't look sick, so I'm not."
So poof! The news was "You are HIV positive." I argued with him for 10 minutes. I argued with that guy. I mean, I argued with that guy. I really wanted an explanation. I ended up believing, no, I'm not sick. These people are just trying to scare me. What the hell? I don't look sick. These people are just trying to scare me.
But as soon as I got out of the center, I was starting to hit reality. I was facing people, and I felt like everyone could see that I was HIV positive. I felt like I was losing weight at that moment. I felt like I was going to die tomorrow. Everything just came so quickly. It was like an earthquake!
I panicked. In my panic, I felt I had to tell someone. [Laughs.] Sometimes I think back and I'm like, I did a stupid thing: I have just gotten tested and I'm confused, and then, poof, I go and tell my boyfriend. But I thought he was in danger. I thought, "If I really am HIV positive and my ex-boyfriend didn't tell me he had HIV, and now I have HIV, what about Melikhaya? I owe it to him. I have to go and warn him. I have to go and tell him. He must go for an HIV test to see what's going on."
There I was. I went to him. Lucky for me, we met on the way. I said, "I'm coming from loveLife."
He was like, "loveLife? What are you doing in loveLife?" Because people who go to loveLife are people who have STDs and who go for birth control.
I said, "No, I just went for an HIV test."
"And?" he asked me.
"They say I'm positive."
Then he laughed it off. He said, "Come on. You don't look sick. You know what a person who has HIV looks like. You are not that sick, I mean come on. They are wrong, you know? They're just trying to scare you!"
That was it. I felt like it's not a big deal. Why should I make it a big deal? I just went home. I must put it behind me. I must forget about it. I went home and I didn't tell anyone up until I returned to Melikhaya's place to find out that he had told everyone in the house. He just turned over and was like, "Did she just tell me that she has HIV? I mean, HIV causes AIDS. Oh my God! She's going to die and I'm going to die!"
There he was telling his mother that both of us are going to die because I tested HIV positive. It was a drama of the year! It was a drama. They all wanted to kill me, if I can say so, because at that time no one understood. I also didn't understand. I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it. I was just defending myself. I'm not going to die. I'm going to go to the clinic. I'm going to get something. There must be something that can be done. But I was only saying those words just to stop them from saying all those things about me.
Did Melikhaya go and get tested at that point?
After this drama with me being HIV positive, his family actually called me and they separated us. They said we must break up. We broke off, but I said to him, "I don't mind our relationship ending, because I also have a choice. If I wanted to date someone that has AIDS and I don't have AIDS, I would also think twice. But you don't even know whether you are HIV positive. The only thing that you can do for yourself, and for me as a favor, is to go and have an HIV test."
I don't care about our relationship. We can break up because HIV is not going away from me. We broke off and he went for an HIV test. Luckily, he tested HIV negative. He later came to the support group and I was so pissed because the support group is for people that have HIV. He was coming from school and he came with all these pamphlets. I didn't know what he was doing there, because he probably didn't have HIV and yet there he was. I thought that maybe he had come here to rub it in.
He comes, and he's like, "Thembi, I just went for an HIV test and I tested HIV negative. I'm sorry I didn't understand at first. I panicked. I've read about HIV. I went to counseling and I understand that you are not going to die."
I had all this information that he was picking up the whole week at the libraries and putting one and one together. He asked for me back and I was like, okay. But I said, "You know, you're negative and I'm positive. It's not going to work, but let's try." [Laughs.] So we tried. But he told me that he was in the window period. They say that he's HIV negative, but he must go back again to see because the virus sometimes gets into your blood and hides.
He went again after three months and he was HIV positive. His family said, "You were HIV negative and you went back to her! You went back to her to take the virus! You come back, and now look at you, you are sick!" No one understood. But we understood because we know how HIV works. We understood that he had HIV maybe before I even met him.
You can never tell, you know. You never know who has it and who hasn't. You never even know how long you have had it up until you go for an HIV test. It was a matter of, "I don't blame you, Thembi. I don't blame myself, because I was in a relationship before you. It's not like just because you tested HIV positive before me that I'm going to blame you. It's not like that."
Ever since then, we tried to convince our families and educate them. My family didn't have a problem at all. My mother is Christian. It's interesting, because my mother is Christian and my grandmother is a traditional healer. I come from a really interesting family., and I am strictly science. I'm strictly science, yet my background is half religious and half pseudo science.
My family was very supportive. My grandmother didn't try anything, she just said, "You know what? HIV/AIDS doesn't have a cure, but you can take your treatment. I'm not going to do any remedies for you because you must not take them. The only thing that you have to do is to go to the clinic."
My grandmother also said, "You have to pray to God. That's the only thing you have to do. You have to pray to God that everything will be all right."
I had support from my family and I took Melikhaya under my wing. We tried to convince his family, tried to educate his mother. At the end of the day, we couldn't fight [about this anymore] and now we are one big, strong family. We have Onwabo and everyone is happy. [Onwabo is Thembi's 3-year-old daughter.]
That's right! You got pregnant after you tested positive.
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
That is also one of the decisions that sometimes you think, "Maybe I shouldn't have done it. But anyway, it happened."
Just before I tested HIV positive, just like any young woman, I always wanted to have a family. There was a break point where I first [said,] "This HIV has taken everything from me. I won't be able to get married. Who would marry me?"
All these questions were popping up until Melikhaya and I got through some talking and were like, I want to have a kid, because everyone was screaming this stupid stuff in my head, like, "The kid is going to get sick. The kid is going to get infected. You're going to die and the kid is going to be an orphan. Maybe the kid will be a strange kid because you won't be there and the father won't be there. Maybe the family won't treat the bride when you are not there."
All of these things were coming to me, and they made me feel like I'm useless. This HIV thing really does kill you, kill your love, or kill your dreams. The only thing I have to do now is sit like this and wait to die. Just wait until I die.
There was a moment when I felt like, you know what, since I was going to a support group the support group really helped me. I realized no one can be me. I'm only me. I can only make decisions for myself. If I choose that this HIV is going to an obstacle in my life, that's what it's going to be. But if I choose, I'm going to fight it. I'm going to live my life the way I wanted to live it before I had HIV. It's just going to get along with that. That's how it's going to happen.
I was like, okay, I'm going to push it. I'm still young. I don't want to die. I don't want to just be forgotten: "Thembi died of AIDS." That's all I had. Nothing behind, you know.
I didn't do it for a selfish reason, to have a baby to love me, or something like a legacy to leave behind. I did it because I wanted someone to love for myself. I wanted to love him. I wanted to give him everything. I wanted her to love me back. I don't know how to put it. That's all I wanted to do.
There was a chance, I was told, that the baby might be HIV-positive. I prayed to God that the baby -- I know I didn't do anything wrong. The baby won't be HIV-positive. God will not punish me like that. I had to believe. I said, Melikhaya, I believe. Even if the baby is HIV-positive, there is hope out there. The baby might be HIV-positive, but who knows? The cure can come out anyway, anytime. It's not like it's the end of the world and we have to wait and say, "I'm going to have a baby when the cure comes." That's not going to happen. This is life. This is reality. This is about me. It's not about HIV. It's all about me, what I want in life, and what I believe in.
We talked to my doctor. Lucky for my daughter, he was very understanding. He took me through the procedure and explained to me what exactly is going to happen when I get pregnant. He should check my CD4 count, check my viral load, check my CD4 count, check my viral load.
Everything just meshed there and then. It meshed. Everything just meshed. I was put on nevirapine (Viramune); I was taken off efavirenz (Sustiva, Stocrin). I was put on another medication. [inaudible] CD4 count was [inaudible] too high. It was perfectly in health and I was also perfectly in health.
I said I'm not going to breastfeed. There are likely chances -- I got on nevirapine and my baby got AZT. I knew when I give birth, on that day, before they could even come back with the results, I already told my family, no, Onwabo is going to come out negative. I knew it.
The second test, everyone was like, "Oh my God, Thembi, we hope that you didn't breastfeed him. We hope that you were not careless with him." I said, no, don't worry.
Onwabo was HIV-negative, and now she's crazy! [Laughs.]
She's three, right? So --
Yes. She is so crazy now! She's crazy. But I'm happy. I wouldn't say that I wish -- of course I wish I didn't have HIV, but I love my life now. I wish I didn't have it. If they would say, what's the one thing that you want? I would say, you know what? I want to live a positive, normal life as long as I can.
"I feel lucky. I know that everything happens for a reason. God put me in this situation."
I wouldn't say I want to be negative, because I know that's not going to happen. But if I would still have a chance to go back and change, I would change everything.
I feel lucky. I know that everything happens for a reason. God put me in this situation. I'm in this situation for a reason, but a lot of people died just in front of me. I'm still here. Why? I ask myself. Yes, I'm taking medication. A lot of people die while taking medication. But I'm still here. Why? I'm here for a reason.
What is that reason?
I'm here to inspire people. I feel like I'm here to inspire people because with me being here, with me struggling, getting sick, going through some of the crises, going through a relationship, having a baby, and still coming out and talking to people and say, "I'm here, I'm a woman, I'm HIV positive, and I'm living my life normally." It can happen! It can happen. But I always say that prevention is better than a cure. Prevention is better than a cure.
If I was someone now, if I was ten, I would not stop to have sex, I'm telling you. I would think twice or I would be well-informed. I would actually know the consequences. Not only the consequences of getting pregnant, HIV, emotional stress, depression, all that kind of stuff. That strains a person. That kills a person more than HIV. I would really get myself educated if I would be in that point now.
I feel like anyone as I feel like it also in my situation.
How do you think you and Melikhaya got through your diagnoses together? It's kind of a miraculous and unusual story.
It is. It's amazing, you know. I think it's all God's work because a lot of people were like, even in my family, they were telling Melikhaya, "Why are you still here? She's going to die, can't you see?" I was sick, totally. I was crying. I was begging [him] to leave me alone. I was begging [him] not to come and see me because I was so sick and I thought I was going to die, but he said, "I'm not going to go anywhere."
This was before you started treatment?
Yes. This was before I started treatment. He would beg me, because at first I didn't want to start ARVs [antiretrovirals]. I didn't want it at first. I said, "No, I'm not going to take them." Because there were all these myths surrounding us, telling us that if you take them, you miss one day, you're going to die. If you take them, you're going to deform into this. You're going to get big breasts, big boobs, and all that stuff. You're going to be out of shape. You have to swallow [them] and they're going to make you nauseous the whole time.
I was like, I'm not ready for that responsibility, but Melikhaya was there for me all the way. He said, "Thembi, the only thing that's going to help you is to take your ARVs." When I didn't want to go to the clinic -- it's actually amazing. He was not even ashamed of me, but I was ashamed of myself. The only way I could go was to cover myself with a blanket. He would just take me on his back with my mother, and they would take me straight to the hospital.
I think it all goes well, because everyone thought that maybe he was crazy or something. Everyone kept on asking, "What kind of love is that?" Even his family. My family was, even my family, my grandmother was asking, "Why are you still around? You are young and you should be out there enjoying yourself. She's going to die, can't you see?"
We got through it and here we are. We're still going strong here.
How did your Christian faith help you get through all of this?
It helped me a lot because I believed. Actually, it helped me to believe. It gave me hope. It helped me to believe, to actually say I believe. I put everything in God's hands. The only thing I have to do now is to take my medication, take my treatment, and just put my health first and everything else I leave to God.
It was up to him. I just had my faith in him. My Christianity really helps because there were times when I wouldn't want to take the pills. I would cry, cry, cry, cry, cry, and then I would cry, and then I would pray and I would think.
I'm still here. Why hasn't God taken me? This is my opportunity. I still have time. I can take this pill. I still have time. Even if it's one second, I still have time. Why hasn't he done anything? It's because he doesn't want to. Because he doesn't want to, so why should I say, "I beg him and say I'm going to wait up until God, up until I die, because I'm going to die"? How can I say that? I still have that one second, that moment, to take those pills and be alive.
I had faith and my [inaudible] although there was a time when she thought I was going to be [inaudible].
It's a really sad story, but now sometimes I look back and I laugh at it. I can't believe that I was sick. Even when they tease me, they're like, "Oh, when you were sick! Oh, you were crying! Now you're fat! [Laughs.] You're telling us whatever you want!"
It's kind of, you know, the sad part that I've got. It was different, because all those years I was doing all that stuff, I have not disclosed to my father, which was a no, no, no. Remember, before I started to do the diary I wanted to do the diary and the diary really helped me as the way of coming out. It was a way for me to actually come out. I really wanted to do it. It was really helping me, talking to the diary, recording alone. I was talking to it and just pouring my heart to it and what I really liked was that the diary was not talking back. The diary was not judging me. It was just there when I needed it.
The only thing that was in front of that was the fact that I have not disclosed to my father.
This was the audio diary that you did for NPR for year where you recorded your thoughts and they put it on the radio and on the Internet.
Yes. That's the diary.
How did that all start?
[Laughs.] I think that was the time when I got a break, actually. It was a breakthrough for me. It all started when I joined the support group and Joe Richman, who's the producer of Radio Diaries, was living in South Africa for five years. He was doing this documentary about youth and HIV. We met in Khayelitsha. He came to our support group. We were 20 and he interviewed us because he wanted to do this story.
I was telling the guys there, "You know what, guys, I'm going to give this story only if we can go there privately, one by one, because I'm not going to pour my heart in front of you guys, I'm sorry! [Laughs.] But that guy I don't know and that guy's from America! [Laughs.] I live in South Africa, so I'm safe.
That's when I started to do the diary. Joe interviewed me and he gave me a tape recorder. He's like, "You know, I'm going to give you a tape recorder. You must just play with it." I was excited, thinking that I was going to get a tape recorder like this, a fancy, smart, sexy tape recorder, only to find out he just gave me a huge, ugly, black, old tape recorder with a huge mic and huge earphones. Imagine carrying that for a year and a half! Winding around Khayelitsha, everyone thinking I was going crazy!
This is Khayelitsha. This is outside Capetown, is that right?
Yes. It's a township. It's the biggest township in Capetown.
I recorded for a year and a half and it was difficult. I was not programmed to record anything. I just recorded and then Joe would cut and take what he wants and cut whatever he doesn't want.
I was told to record important things like the highlights, like going to the clinic, disclosing to my father, taking treatment, having a discussion with Melikhaya, talking to my mother about how I came to decide to have a baby, and just my thoughts about the future and how I am handling being a mother and what do I wish for Onwabo in the future, and all that stuff. That's what I actually recorded.
All of this was going on and you had told a lot of other people, but your Dad still didn't know?
Yes. It was quite difficult. My Dad didn't know, but before I could even finish the diary, the diary was going to be out. Any time soon, he was going to know. I was like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to go and disclose to him and it's going to be on tape. I want people to actually see the reaction of how people really react when you disclose. Because either he's going to accept me or he's going to reject me. Whatever he does, it's going to go on tape. People are going to see that.
Sometimes it's not about disclosing. It's about accepting yourself and being ready before you disclose, not making the mistake of, "I have HIV. I'm going to go and disclose just because Thembi did so." You might lose a lot of things. For me, it was a matter of losing my Dad, but at the end of the day he'll still be my Dad. He's going to understand, rather than not doing what I actually want to do. It was either I'm going to lose him, but he'll always be my Dad. At the end of the day he's going to come around. Rather than me not doing what I feel is right for me. This is me I'm talking about. I have to put my feelings first.
I went and disclosed to him and it was all on tape. I was nervous. I went there three times and I didn't do anything. But the fourth time, I was like, "You know what, I'm just going to go and do it."
My mother was like, "You have to. If you really want to help people, you have to start within your family. Whatever the reaction, we are here to support you."
I went and I disclosed to him and, if you could hear the radio, you could hear his speech on the radio. He was shocked. Because, at first, I just asked him, "What do you think about HIV/AIDS?" He could not even let me finish. He was like, "I get angry about this disease because you grow up [with] your kids now and tomorrow your kid is dead."
He was so angry before I could even tell him. But when I actually told him, "Okay, I'm going to tell you. There's no going back."
He was shocked. He was like, "No, man, no, no, no. Really?!" I said, yes. I told him it's been many years. Everyone else knew, but no one could have told him except for me. He was very supportive and we're still close, although he is too much sometimes.
Why did you wait so long to tell him in particular?
I think because I grew up on both sides of the family, but I grew up mostly -- in my teenage years, I was actually staying with my father and my grandmother. Imagine that, being a girl staying with your grandmother, with your grandfather, and your father. It was weird! I was staying with them in my teenage life and it was actually not comfortable. It was not a comfortable situation for me.
In order for me to have boyfriends, to go out and do all that crazy stuff that I did, was for me to go to my mother's side. When I found out this whole thing about HIV, I actually was ashamed and I was scared to tell them. I had questions like, what the hell could I ask? You were living here. You mean you were living with another and you were having sex? You know, all those kinds of questions. You took it like a young girl and you were doing all this stuff. I thought that was what he was going to say. I thought, no, no, no, no, on my mother's side it's better because those are women; they understand. But for him, I didn't think he was going to understand.
How is all of your family at this point? You talked about Melikhaya's family at first being really upset. Do you feel like you have your family's support?
I have 100% of my family's support. My grandmother, my mother, my crazy brothers, my crazy sisters. I have Onwabo. I have everyone. I still have my grandmother. My grandfather is very, very old. He's 92. He's too old. I still have him. I'm blessed. I have my family very tight together.
What do you think gives you the courage to speak out when so many people don't?
I think it's because it helps me. I think I saw the impact it has on me. That's why I think it's like this every time I talk. I get healed. Because every time I talk about it, it feels like a new wound. I speak about it all the time, so I'm used to it. It's like every time I start to talk about it, it feels like it's a new wound. I'm opening up old sores. To talk, it heals me again. Every time I talk it heals me again and again. That's the courage.
What's it like being a positive Mom? Are you able to talk to your daughter at this point? She's still very young, but --
She's still very young, but I know that God is going to give me much more time, up until she gets a little bit bigger, so that I can explain everything. At this point, she's young but she knows that I go and talk, but she actually doesn't know what I'm talking about. But I have everything fixed up for her. I have the [inaudible] copies. I have all the work that I have done. I have pictures. I put them in a box.
When she's old enough to understand and ready enough to see, whether I'm here or not, I know she's going to be part of me. Everything is going to be fine.
What's it like being out in your community? You're sort of out to the whole universe. Do you experience stigma at all in the township where you live?
Yes. Stigma in every community is going to take a long time before we actually break the stigma, especially in Khayelitsha, because of how people's minds act. People are still stereotyped. There are a lot of cultural beliefs and there are a lot of myths going around.
Sometimes there's too much stigma and sometimes some people say I'm doing the right thing, and you get those people who are like, "What's up with you going around talking about your status? It's something confidential. You should hide it. You don't have to tell the world about it." Some people think I'm exploiting myself, something like that.
Other people are too jealous. I help people. I've had comments like, "You know what, even if you can go and tell the world, the fact is you're going to die anyway." It's not going to go away just because you go and tell it, so you can enjoy it while it lasts. You get comments like that, but who cares? It's not like everyone's going to be here up until the universe explodes. We're all going to die!
I can say I'm bulletproof. People say whatever they feel like saying. All I'm doing is focusing on what I'm doing. I don't care about all the comments, whether they are good or whether they are bad. I do what I feel is right for me and now I have a responsibility. I have Onwabo. I can manage to [inaudible] and take everything seriously.
Can you tell me a little bit about your community and about the township, just about your home?
My home is in Khayelitsha. It's a big township. All the houses are mostly in shacks, but thank God now the government has started to build up, so we have brick houses. My grandmother has a big brick house and my mother has a house. I stay with Melikhaya in our own house, but we are also in Khayelitsha. All of our family members are in Khayelitsha, but Khayelitsha is so big.
How many people live there?
I don't know. A lot! [Laughs.] Imagine if you talk about shacks, you're talking about three houses in a small spot. Imagine how many of those -- there a lot of problems. The highest rate of people in Khayelitsha are mostly HIV-positive. I think that's why the MSF [Médecins Sans Frontiéres] clinic is based there. That's why the [inaudible] are all out of ARVs in Khayelitsha.
I'm sorry, can you describe that?
Khayelitsha is so big that most of the people in Khayelitsha are HIV-positive, so that's why MSF is there. It was the first township to receive ARVs. They're all out of ARVs. I was lucky to be in that township. Imagine if I was not living in Khayelitsha! I would have struggled like anyone else did.
I'm sorry, so it's the MSF there? What is that?
It's Doctors Without Borders.
In Khayelitsha, there's pretty good antiretroviral access?
Yes. It's pretty good. We get them for free and we get access to everything we need, and the medication, and you get it for free.
It's not like that in the rest of the country?
No, it's not like that in the rest of the country. There are parts of South Africa where you struggle to get ARVs, where there is no [inaudible] or where people have to walk miles to get them. They have no access at all or they have a limited access.
What treatment do you take now?
I am now on nevirapine, d4T (Zerit, stavudine), and 3TC (Epivir, lamivudine).
How has your health been since you started treatment?
Before I started, my CD4 count was 120. Now my CD4 count has gone up pretty much, although I still struggle to be back on my normal weight. My normal weight is 45kg [99 lbs], but now I'm only 43kg [95 lbs], so I've struggled. I'm not actually reaching that. I also don't want to be fat, excuse me!
[Laughs.] You're very tiny!
But, excuse me, I do not want to be fat! Imagine being tiny and short and being fat, it's not good.
My weight is fine now and my health is good. The weirdest thing is that I've never had any -- I've had opportunistic infections, like TB [tuberculosis]. I had it twice. I've never had an STD [sexually transmitted disease]; that is weird. The only thing that I had was TB. I had it twice and I treated it, so my health is fine. Onwabo's health is fine. I take her to the doctor even if she has a runny nose because she likes to play outside! [Laughs.] Melikhaya is still doing well.
Melikhaya hasn't started treatment yet?
No, he has not started. I think they're going to start him, because his CD4 count is 500 and he has experienced pains in the chest, but it's not TB. I think it has something to do with the heart or something. He's still looking into it.
What's your CD4 and viral load now?
My viral load now is undetectable. Imagine how many years I've been taking ARVs! My CD4 count is seven [hundred] something.
That's fantastic!
From one to seven is [phew!].
What was your count when you were first diagnosed?
It was 167 when I was diagnosed and they said, "You should start ARVs." I was like, no, no, no! All those stories. Then it dropped down to 120 and I'm like, okay! Please, please, please, please just give me this one chance. I'm going to do it right.
Switching gears a little bit, can you tell me how the audio journal has launched you into this world of international activism?
Man, it has done a lot! If I think back, doing that diary made me sick most of the time. I was like, I don't want to do this. I don't want to spend my whole year recording something about AIDS. What are people going to say about me? This is crazy!
But now, it has formed me into a very mature woman, and responsible. It has shown me the world. It has really made me -- even if I was going to lose hope, now I can never lose hope because I've got all these people looking up to me. That gives me the strength.
It's all because of the diary. That's the only reason I'm here. It's because of the diary. Every time I see Joe Richman, I'm like, thank God you came to Khayelitsha and found me in those [inaudible] Who knows? I might be dead by now.
So your life has changed a lot! You've been a UNICEF ambassador; you won an award for your audio journal. What is this new life like?
It's nice, although I have to talk about the same thing. [Laughs.] It's nice, but the [bad] part is that I have to talk about the same thing. For me, every time I start to talk -- I don't talk to one people, I talk to different audiences. It's a different vibe and every time I talk, I talk about it. It comes fresh.
I know that I'm doing a good thing. I know that. People appreciate what I'm doing and even if I don't help -- I'm not going to save the world -- but at least there's going to be just that one person that is going to take something back.
It's a really nice world. It's fine when you are here, but when you go back to Khayelitsha, it's the same old thing! It's the same old thing.
How do you think HIV has changed you?
It has changed me for the better, because I think if I really didn't have the test, I wouldn't be who I am today. I would still be the ignorant whoever I was, whatever I was then. I would still think low of people that have HIV. I wouldn't be involved in any HIV work. Imagine! Imagine not knowing your status and being involved in HIV work, that's crazy! [inaudible] I would be one of those people who say, "Oh, well, it can never happen to me. It's not like I'm sleeping around." I use a condom once, sometimes, it's not like, you know, you know what I mean, I would be one of those people, I wouldn't take anything seriously. It has transformed me into this place, and that is actual. I'm taking things more seriously and it has made me grow so quickly.
Thembi, thank you so much for talking with me. Is there anything else you want to share with our readers?
I think that, as people, we should actually acknowledge that HIV is here and we need to do something about it. We should stop blaming people and blaming each other. We should work around it. Work around the stigma and discrimination, work around everything that's surrounding it. Because at the end of the day, the children are going to suffer and we are also going to suffer. Since I'm a mother, I really don't want Onwabo to grow up in a world like this. I really don't want her, in the future, sitting like this and thinking, "Oh my God, I tested HIV-positive." I mean, come on! As if we didn't have the courage to do anything about it. We do have it! It's just that we don't want to or we don't see it, I don't know. But it's up to an individual. You have to push yourself.
Thank you.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Thembisa Ngubane died of drug-resistant tuberculosis on June 4, 2009. Read more about her death and legacy.
This podcast is a part of the series This Positive Life. To subscribe to this series, click here.
About Thembi
Age: 23
Home: South Africa
Diagnosed: 2002
When she tested HIV positive in 2002 at the age of 16, Thembi Ngubane of South Africa scarcely had an idea what HIV meant. Now 23, she is one of the foremost HIV activists on the planet. She received worldwide recognition in 2006, when National Public Radio featured a stunning audio diary she kept in 2004 and 2005. Here at the XVII International AIDS Conference, she has been a near-ubiquitous presence, giving speeches and even co-chairing a major session on the state of the HIV pandemic. And did we mention that she has a 3-year-old, HIV-negative daughter? We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to sit down with Thembi and hear her incredible story.


text:
|MLBPA/MLB News Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Major League Baseball players presented $150,000 in grants from the Major League Baseball Players Trust to five Volunteers of America programs that further the organization's mission to strengthen communities and build better lives for those in need. More than $1.3 million has been provided by the Players Trust to 70 Volunteers of America programs since the first grants were presented by Major Leaguers in 2003.
Additionally, the players contributed $36,750 to local affiliates in recognition of their efforts to help grow and improve the Action Team national youth volunteer program, which was created by the Players Trust and Volunteers of America in 2003 to train and inspire the next generation of volunteers.
Volunteers of America national president Mike King said, "It's great to see the many accomplishments Volunteers of America and the Major League Baseball Players Trust have achieved over the years. Thousands of people have benefited from the Trust's generosity and we look forward to building on the good work of this partnership for years to come."
"Major League baseball players are honored to provide funding in support of various programs administered by Volunteers of America local offices to address the needs of underserved populations across the United States," said Players Trust director Melissa Persaud. "For more than 10 years, Major Leaguers, through the Players Trust, have found the perfect partner in Volunteers of America -- an organization which shares the players' passion for helping our neighbors in need, while inspiring others to do the same."
This year's winning programs received Players Trust grants ranging in size from $9,650 to $50,000, which were presented on June 17 at Volunteers of America's national conference in Washington, D.C. The five programs serve thousands of people in all regions of the United States:
Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania, All of Us Care Computer Center:
The grant will provide technology upgrades in the All of Us Care computer center that serves children and at-risk youth ages 7-18 in the Pittsburgh area. The computer center has become a steady support system to keep youth off the streets and in a safe and supervised environment outside of school. This grant gives the local office the ability to custom-build new workstations and allows the computer center to better meet demand from participating youth.
Volunteers of America of Western New York, Children's Center Dental Clinic:
The Players Trust funding will enable the local office to open a dental clinic onsite at their Children's Center in Rochester, N.Y. The Children's Center provides child care, early-childhood development programs and after-school programs for at-risk children who live in one of the most destitute sections of the city. Through this funding, Western New York, in partnership with the Rochester General Hospital Department of Dentistry, will ensure that nearly 300 impoverished children ages 3-5 receive access to dental care as a vital part of their overall health and quality of life.
Volunteers of America of Alaska, Life Skills Training Program:
This grant will facilitate the implementation of a Life Skills Training program for students in grades 5-12. The long term goal of the Life Skills Training program is to prevent underage drinking, enhance self-esteem, increase the number of adult mentors in children's lives and foster healthy life choices made by youth in the community. The overall objective is for all Anchorage, Alaska, youth to develop the skills needed to make healthy decisions that guide them into adulthood.
Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles, Women's Care Cottage:
Grant funds will be used to create an exercise center and backyard park-like setting at the Women's Care Cottage, a transitional housing and supportive services program for women ages 18-21 who have been emancipated from foster care and are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The environment that will result from this funding will translate into healthy physical activity for young women, and the sense of accomplishment that brings, as well as a space where they can feel at home, appreciated and at peace.
Volunteers of America of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, Alexandria's House:
Funding will assist in the purchase of a new home for 16 moms and their babies. Alexandria's House, in operation for 22 years, is the longest-running licensed maternity home for teen moms in Spokane County, Wash. The current Alexandria's House program has limited common areas and restrooms to accommodate the residents. The new site will double the living space; provide increased storage, a classroom, six bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms. This home purchase will significantly increase the quality of life for the mothers, their babies, staff and volunteers.
Volunteers of America has partnered with the Major League Baseball Players Trust since 2002. The centerpiece of this relationship is the Action Team program, which encourages young people throughout the United States to volunteer in their communities. Action Teams, consisting of Major League Baseball players and Team Captains from area high schools, work together in cities nationwide to encourage young people to get involved in their communities by volunteering. To date, Action Teams across the country have inspired more than 64,000 high school students to help over 204,000 people in need by volunteering in their communities.


text:
Be sure to tune in Sunday, where last season's matchup of 10-6 Philadelphia and Green Bay will apparently be happening again. (Depending on where you live, Baltimore may be facing Kansas City, too!)
[h/t to Walter B]
Edit: It seems many of you think this screencap is from last year. If you look at what channel is on, it's NBC Sports Network, which did not exist until two days ago.


text:
Hotel Savoia Debili Reviews
Flight from Manchester good, breakfast onboard. Turin airport reasonably efficient, reps on hand and helpful. Short coach transfer to resort. Taxing walk up the hill to hotel from coach drop off point, arrived around noon. Hotel not ready for us until 13.30 so dropped bags off and went to hire shop and for walk around town. Welcome meeting informative and helpful. Arranged private lessons with friendly local school Ski Instructor 'Davide'. Hotel ideally located for Clotes lift, ski hire shop, mini supermarket and town centre. Hotel staff very friendly. Accommodation very basic but efficient, retro 70s style. Food in hotel plentiful but sometimes a bit plain for evening meal. Breakfast was basic DIY buffet. Fresh cappuccino's made by friendly waitress excellent. Very friendly helpful young English barman. Location possibly a bit noisy late at night if you are a light sleeper or sleep with windows open like us. Neilson welcome meeting informative and helpful. Arranged private lessons with friendly local school Ski Instructor 'Davide'. Ski runs and snow conditions throughout week were excellent, 2 days of spring skiing, two days of partial whiteout and brilliant powder, last two days fabulous sun and great snow. Sauze very good, Sansicario also v good, Sestriere busy - advanced skiers must do the drag lift up to the top of the Olympic black. 3 days of private Ski lessons excellent and with very good communication, in English - well worth it. Only concern is the chair lifts and attendants nowhere near as efficient or safety conscious as in Austria or even France - watch those beginners and children! Mountain huts and restaurants all very good quality food, good value and friendly staff. Apres ski in town pubs and bars friendly and lively. Good restaurants especially spaghetti house in old town area. All in all great week enjoyed by me and my partner. Would definitely do it again.
Apres Ski: 5/5
Accommodation & Value: 5/5
Andrew Owen
0 of 0 people found this review useful.
Did you find this review useful? Please Login to vote.
Resort - Brilliant. Pretty village, cheap food and drink. Only one board-specific shop but it was good - 360. Conditions - Outstanding. Some of best snow & powder we've ever had. Slopes - Great. Lots of tree runs, big area if you made the effort to travel but a lot of the best runs were near Sauze anyway. Hotel - Decent. Good sized rooms, modern en suite bathroom. Very close to lifts - 1-2 mins walk. Food - Decent. Not the best we've had in Italy but still way better than you get in Austria etc.
Apres Ski: 4/5
1 of 1 people found this review useful.
Did you find this review useful? Please Login to vote.


text: Welcome to Yovana's Smoothie Challenge App! The official app from popular health and fitness inspiration, Yovana Mendoza. Are you looking for a more convenient way to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet? Yovana's Smoothie Challenge gives you a simple smoothie recipe, every day for 30 days. These recipes incorporate common grocery store produce that anybody with a blender can make. This app designed to invite folks from all dietary lifestyles that are looking to add a daily nutritional boost. ---- Some of the features that will help you throughout the challenge include: DAILY ALERTS Get customized daily alerts to remind you when to drink a smoothie. APPLE HEALTH APP Add Calories, Carbs, Protein, and Fat to the Apple Health App. SHOPPING LIST + APPLE WATCH Know exactly what to buy at the grocery store. Add individual smoothie recipes or add them in 5-day bunches. Got some other items you need to shop for? Add your own custom ingredients as well. Check off ingredients as you shop. Integrated with Apple Watch, so you can also glance over at your wrist to see the shopping list. TRACK YOUR SUCCESS Mark the recipes you complete and view your progress. ---- EXAMPLE SMOOTHIES: • Alkalizing Breakfast Smoothie • Fat Burning Smoothie • Piña Colada • Mega Vitamin C Smoothie • Post Workout Smoothie • Ginger Immunity Smoothie OTHER FEATURES INCLUDE: • Optimized for iPhone X, iPhone 8, and Apple Watch! • Guides with blender recommendations, and answers to frequently asked questions. • Email recipes and shopping list. • Favorites Page • Available in English and Spanish ---- We'd Love to Hear From You! - Please share your thoughts in a review! Your experience matters to us. - Need tech support? Contact us at email@example.com - Check us out on Facebook! facebook.com/touchzenmedia - Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @TouchZenMedia