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12:06 PM, 27 August 2017
Autopsy of a slow train wreck
At DjangoCon Europe 2017, and again at DjangoCon US 2017, I gave a talk entitled "Autopsy of a slow train wreck: The life and death of a Django startup". After I gave those presentations, a number of people requested that I publish the content in blog form so they could share it with colleagues.
I've been a frequent (almost constant) fixture at DjangoCon events over the last 10 years. And if you met me at one of those DjangoCons in the last 6 years, or seen me speak, I may have introduced myself as the CTO and co-founder of TradesCloud. TradesCloud was a software as a service company for tradespeople - plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the like.
TradesCloud was my startup. I say "was"... beacuse in January of this year, my business partner and I closed the doors on TradesCloud, and shut down the service.
Gold-plated Lamborghinis
As an industry, we're fond of promoting the glossy side of startups. That a plucky bunch of engineers can take an idea and a personal credit card, build a business empire, and drive off into the sunset in a gold-plated Lamborghini.
And yes - those unicorns - and gold plated lamborghinis - do exist. There are even a couple of them in the Django community (the unicorns, not the lamborghinis).
But it's important to remember that those stories are unicorns. They're not the normal startup experience for most people.
The reality...
In the VC-backed startup world, the general expctation is that if a VC firm invests in 20 companies, only 1 of them will actually succeed spectacularly. 4 will have some sort of exit that at least results in a breakeven financially; but 15 will fail outright, with a significant or complete financial loss.
Interestingly, this isn't something unique to tech. Tech does it at a much grander scale, especially when VCs are involved - but open any small business advice book - the sort that is targetted at the plumbers and electricians of the world - and they'll warn you that 50% of businesses fail in their first year.
And yet, despite the fact that failure happens all the time, we don't talk about it. We don't talk about why things fail. And as a result, many of the same lessons have to be learned over and over again. Those that experience failure often feel like they're doing it alone, because of the significant social stigma associated with failure.
So - this is my small attempt to restore the balance. In this talk, I'm going to talk about TradesCloud - my failed business. TradesCloud was a slow train wreck - we survived for 6 years, almost to the day. And we had plenty of optimism that success was just around the corner... but that never quite happened.
What was Tradescloud?
But what was TradesCloud? What prompted me to dedicate 6 years of my life to it?
Well, it started as a problem that thought I could solve. If you find yourself needing a plumber, how do you pick one? Well, 15 years ago, when I first had the idea for what became TradesCloud, the best option was opening the phone book and looking for the brightest, shiniest ad, maybe arranging a bunch of quotes, and pick one basically at random. If you were really lucky, you might be able to use Google - but that's still looking for the shiniest ad. If they turned out to be good... well we won't need a plumber for a while, so that knowledge is useless. And if they turn out to be awful... we can't warn anyone off, either.
"There has to be a better way". And, of course, I did nothing about it. I say nothing - I did start tinkering around with a web framework... you may have heard of it... Django. I originally got involved in Django because I wanted to add aggregation functions to the ORM so I could compute average ratings. And in 2008, I mentored a student - Nicholas Lara - to add aggregation as a Summer of Code project. So... success?
An idea is born...
In late 2010, I met up with a former boss for a drink, and he tells me about his brother. His brother owns a pest control company, he has the same problem - but from a different angle - I'm looking for tradespeople in my area that can be reccomended - he is smaller company that wants to compete with the big players with the shinier ads based on quality of service.
And so, TradesCloud was born. We had an idea. At the time, it wasn't called TradesCloud - it was called CleverPages - because it was going to be a clever Yellow Pages. In my spare time, I started hacking together a proof of concept.
Mistake 1: Validate, then build
That was our first mistake, and the first mistake most tech-oriented people make. As much as Django sells itself as a rapid development framework, any non-trivial project still takes time and effort. And I spent a couple of months of spare time hacking together a proof of concept.
German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke once noted "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy". Or, in non-military terms, Scottish poet Robert Burns said "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley". And so it is with business ideas. All the time I spent working on that prototype could have been eliminated if I'd actually spoken to a plumber first.
Just because we had an idea, and I could implement the idea in software, that didn't mean we had a good business idea. It meant we had a good idea for a hobby project. And the difference is critical. A business is an idea that generates revenue. A hobby project may be fun to work on. It may even be useful for other people. But if you can't sell something, if you can't pay the bills with it - it isn't a business. And conflating the two ideas is a major problem.
What we should have done is validate the idea first, and then build it.
But, we didn't do that - and when I finally had something to show off, my business partner opened the local newspaper, picked a bunch of local plumbers, and called them in an attempt to sell the idea.
He called 10 plumbers. 5 of them suggested he place the idea in an anatomically implausible location. 4 of them had their secretary provide the same advice. One plumber did sound interested, and said he wanted to have a chat.
Mistake 2: If you can't sell it, it's not a business
This was mistake number 2. Or, at the very least, it should have been a warning flag.
At the end of the day, business is about selling something. Selling a physical product. A subscription. Selling services. But whatever you're doing, you're selling something. And in order to sell something, you have to have customers. If all your prospective customers hang up when you call... you have a problem. You don't have a sales channel. It doesn't matter if you've got a machine that turns lead into gold - if you can't get that idea in front of the people who are going to buy your product, you might as well shut up shop right now. The fact that it was very difficult to get plumbers to answer the phone should have been a warning sign that our prospective audience wasn't going to be easy to crack.
But, we persisted, and had a chat with the one plumber who would talk to us. We did our pitch, and he said "Nope. Not interested. But if you can make that pile of paper disappear, I'll give you as much money as you want."
This was a conversation that set the direction of our company for years to come. Was this a mistake or a success? Well, that's a little hard to judge. There's an extent to which we changed direction because it was the only direction that seemed open to us - which was a bad move. But it was a very lucrative direction, so... maybe it's a wash.
What we identified in that conversation was a significant business problem - a business process that was being performed manually, and took three hours a day, and identified a simple and reliable way that it could be automated. We identified a couple of other processes we could automate, and ways to report on some key performance indicators. We identified a path forward that could use mobile tech to improve communication and process management. By the time we were done, we'd worked out how to immediately free up a full time employee, with potential for more. So as long as we charged less than the cost of that employee - about $50k a year - the business owner would be ahead.
Our costs were next to nothing. Our newfound customer told us that these business processes were due to one specific contract that they had - and there were many others on the same contract. So - should have been easy to sell the same software to everyone else on the contract, and... profit! Right? So - lets keep it simple, offer them a 50% saving - and after doing some fancy footwork to reverse engineer a good explanation for why that was what we were charging, and just start making $25k a year per customer, right?
Mistake 3: Humans gonna human
Well, no. That was mistake number 3.
Mistake 3 is that we didn't take into account is the human factor. In theory, charging anything less than $50k per year - rationally - should have been a no-brainer, easy sale. But we were selling to humans. And humans don't ever behave rationally. There's an almost bottomless body of research about how bad humans are at evaluating economic decisions and consequences.
And so, when we walked in the door of a prospective customer, we did our pitch, they were almost universally blown away. And then we told them the price, and they starting describing anatomically implausible locations again. Why?
Humans aren't rational
Firstly, a sale of that size isn't easy. Asking a plumber to spend $100 a month - they know they can afford that. It's probably less than what they spend on coffee in a month. But asking them to spend $2000 a month? That's a lot harder for them to justify. That actually starts to make a dent in their bottom line. So they're going to take some convincing. They're going to want proof that it actually works, that it's actually going to deliver the benefit you promise.
Software is hard to sell to humans
Secondly - we were selling software. While we were completely honorable, and completely truthful, and we were able to deliver everything we promised, and our software made makes birds suddenly appear every time we were near - we weren't the first IT salesperson they've had to deal with. And we - we collectively - are part of an industry that has, for 40 years, systematically over promised and under delivered what software can do for a business. So that is something that needs to be overcome.
No really - Software is hard to sell to humans
Thirdly - we were selling software. Who here is currently holding a phone worth a couple of hundred, maybe even a thousand dollars? Now, how many of give more consideration to whether you should buy a 99c app from the app store than you do the decision to buy the thousand dollar phone?
That's the problem selling software. And multiply it a thousand times when you start dealing with non-tech audiences. We've been conditioned to expect that physical, tangible things are expensive - but software? That should be cheap, or better still free.
As a side note - this is one of the major problems we face with funding open source projects as well - but that's a subject for a different rant, and a rant that I've had before.
Humans are people
Lastly - we were dealing with personal relationships. If we walked into a small plumbing business to speak with the manager, there was an odds-on chance that the bookkeeper, or another significant employee in the business, was the wife of the manager. And you start talking about being able to cut an employee... well, you can guess how well that conversation goes. And even if it wasn't a family member, people don't generally want to fire people.
Mistake 4: Beware favourable patterns
Mistake number 4 happened as the result of an unfortunate coincidence. After closing our first sale, we got that customer to give us an introduction to some other possible customers. And he gave us the best possibilities first. So our first two sales were both $2k a month. Our third was a smaller business - only $500 a month - but that gave us the confidence that we had something that we could sell to medium and small businesses.
We'd closed three sales in rapid succession. We had $4500 a month in revenue, and the sales were really easy to close. We thought we had found a money printing machine.
And then we hit a wall. The next few sales calls we made just went nowhere. Never a hard no... but lots of ums and ahs about price, and "we'll have to think about it"'s...
We confused initial success with a pattern that was going to continue. After three sales in a month, we essentially didn't close a sale for another 8 months. And that's not a good sign.
Arguably, we got bitten by circumstances there - when you have lots of early success, it's easy to think that success will be ongoing. This is a time where you need to be objective. If you can't consistently close sales, if you can't reliably predict your close rate - you have a problem.
Mistake 5: Do the math
Mistake number 5, though, was completely our fault. We completely failed to do basic math.
Our value proposition - the business process that we had optimized - existed because of the processes required by one particular contract. Our pricing scheme was simple - we charged $1 per job completed. Our initial customer - they did about 2000 jobs a month, so we charged them $2000 a month. Which is great, because it also happened to hit our 50% savings target that we originally identified.
What we didn't do was add up how many jobs there actually were in the system. It turns out that if we managed to close every company on that contract, we would have only generated $12k a month in revenue. Which sounds like a lot, especially when your costs are so low... but our costs weren't low. We also had two founders who were full time, and needed to be paid. Our burn rate was closer to $22k per month.
Mistake 6: Pricing is what the customer will pay, not your burn rate
And this led to mistake number 6: We didn't have a serious pricing discussion until it was way too late. Mislead by our initial success, our pricing was really determined by taking our burn rate, and working backwards - not forwards from what the market would bear. My co-founder and I would have regular discussions about pricing - but all of those discussions happened against a background of "how are we going to make payroll this month". Which is the wrong time to be having that discussion - because two important options: drastically reduce the price, and shut down the company - are effectively off the table.
So, we had a product that was too expensive to sell, and a market that wasn't big enough. Now the good news is that the paperwork reduction niche we'd found wasn't unique to that one contract - There were many other simliar contracts with similar paperwork requriements. But we'd found the thousand pound gorilla in the market. Other contracts were smaller, and the paperwork and process requirements were subtlely different.
Mistake 7: Establish your sales channel
And that wouldn't have been a problem - if we hadn't made mistake number 7 - we never established our sales channel.
We got our first sale almost by accident. We bumped into a customer who gave us an opportunity. Subsequent sales came by word of mouth. Word of mouth is an incredible sales channel if you can get it. But as a result, we never cracked the most important problem - how do we sell to someone who hasn't heard of us? How do we get in the door? How do we establish trust? And as a result, our sales were essentially constrained by the personal networks of our existing customers. Perth is a small, geographically isolated city. When we'd exhausted personal networks... we hadn't learned the most important thing - how to sell our product to someone who didn't have a personal introduction.
Joel Spolsky once noted that there's no software product priced between $1000 and $100000. This is because a product that costs less than $1000 can be bought on a credit card. But if software costs more than can be hidden on an expense statement, you need to have salespeople, and that means you have to pay them, and their commissions, and pay for the steak dinners and drinks used to closed the sale. We had a product that was squarely in this dead zone. Too expensive to be a casual purchase, but not expensive enough to support the sales process it needed.
TradesCloud had a serious problem. Once we closed a sale, we had almost zero churn rate. The only customers we ever lost were because they closed down, or they dropped the contract where we offered an advantage.
What we didn't have - and what we never really established - was a good way to prove to new customers that we were, indeed, that good. There wasn't a good way to "trial" TradesCloud. We were managing processes that were at the core of a trades business. Those processes have to work. And they can't be duplicated or doubled up. So - there was no way to "stick your toe in the water" - you had to jump in, or stay out. And since we had a huge price tag, most people were conservative, and said no. If they got a recommendation from someone they knew, it was a little easier - but if that didn't exist, we had a problem.
In order to close a sale, people have to believe - really believe - what you're telling them. It has to be obvious, and undeniable that you will give them benefit - or the cost of trying has to be vastly less than the cost of the software itself. In our case, even if we dropped our price to zero, we didn't have a zero cost, because the cost of institutional process change involved in adopting a new piece of software at the core of business operations is huge.
Our best sales person was completely accidental. He wasn't our employee - he was an employee who changed employers every 6 months. He was in upper management, had a reputation for getting things done and turning companies around, so he kept getting poached. And he'd seen the benefits of TradesCloud with one contract, and so it was easy to get in the door every where else he went. And because he was known around the industry, his word was extremely valuable. When he said "This is good", people believed him. His word was trusted.
Mistake 8: Sales don't stop when you sell
But even when we did make a sale, the mistakes didn't stop. Mistake number 8 - we didn't pay enough attention to onboarding new customers. A sale for a product isn't closed when a contract is signed. It's closed when the person who uses the software has accepted it into their daily lives, because that is what prevents churn. If you've selling a small personal tool, the person who buys and the person who uses is probably the same - but in our case, the purchase decision was rarely made by the person who actually had to use the software. And you have to get those people on board. If anything, they're more important, because they're the ones who are going to make the bosses life hell if the software they buy isn't doing the job - or worse - is doing the job too well.
Over and over again, we saw internal sabotage. People would simply refuse to change processes, and would find any excuse. "Oh, the software didn't work, so I had to go back to doing it manually". And after a month or two, the boss would call us and say "what happened to all the benefits you promised?", and we'd say "well, you only get the benefits if you actually use the software".
What we learned - the hard way - is that you sell to the business owner - but you also have to sell to the users. If you're dealing with software that is part of a key business process, change management is key. You have to show them how your tool does what they currently do by hand. And you have to show them that their jobs aren't at risk. That first employee whose 3 hour/day task was replaced? She wasn't fired - she redeployed inside the business. She went from doing a mindless office task for most of the day, and could start expanding into other parts of the business. About 2 years after we first deployed TradesCloud, she was running accounts and payroll.
But, despite all these mistakes, we were able to stumble along, and were complete self funded for almost 2 years. Now, that meant burning a lot of personal funds, and my co-founder doing a bunch of consulting on the side. But that's just part of the startup experience, right?
Mistake 9: Establish failure criteria
Well, maybe it is. But in retrospect, mistake number 9 was an entirely personal one - I shouldn't have lost as much money on the experience as I did. I knew what I considered success criteria, but I never considered what my failure criteria would be.
After 2 years, I had reached a point where my personal financial runway was running out. TradesCloud either needed to start paying a full wage, or I wasn't going to be able to continue. And this pivoted the business. Fundraising is a full time job. Everything else goes on hold - sales, support, development - everything. We tried to get VC investment, but the VC scene in Australia is pretty bad, and even worse in Perth. Eventually, we managed to secure a $250k cash investment from a colleague of my business partner; and we got some matching funding through an Australian government program. And that gave us another 2 years of runway.
The way we were able to secure that runway was by changing our tactics. Instead of going after individual plumbers, we started going after the head contractors - the multimillion dollar facilities management companies. And we were able to sell them a really great story. These companies are all competitive, and they're looking for any advantage they can get. But they're also technologically laggards, because they're big established companies. They have inertia when it comes to adopting new technology. So we were able to walk in, and promise a mobile-enabled workforce, real-time tracking, enforced health and safety practices - all sorts of things that made them really excited, because they could use those features as differentiators against their competition.
Mistake 10: You are who you are - Don't deny it
But - and here's mistake number 10 - we forgot who we were, and who we were selling to. We were selling to multimillion dollar companies. The reason these companies are technologically laggards? They're conservative. They don't take risks. There's no incentive for individual employees to take risks. And so, they make safe decisions.
And when they adopt new technology, they don't just pick something - they put it out to tender, and get multiple bids, and then they invite bidders into the head office to interrogate them, and eventually, after 6 months, they pick someone - the safe option. We got into a tendering process with almost every major facilities managmeent company in Australia. The tendering process almost always started because we pitched them the idea of providing TradesCloud to all their subcontractors - but what they heard was "provide software to all their subcontractors". And so, at the end of the tendering process, we were told, every time - we prefer your technological solution... but we're going with your competitor, because you're too risky. A 2 person company was too much of a risk for a multimillion dollar company to trust.
So after 2 years of trying this tactic, and being turned down by every facility management company in Australia, the money was running out again, but i'd built up a bit of cash buffer again. But in between failing to sell to multinational companies, we'd found a bit of success selling to smaller facility management companies and large constructions companies. And the good news was that these companies were big enough that when they bought software, they wanted it customized - so as well as the $2k/month, they would pay $40k up front so that everything matches their requirements.
On the back of that change, were got a loan from our investor. Between making more personal sacrifices, and that cash injection, we were able to stumble along for another 18 months.
Mistake 11: Take the hint
This was mistake number 11. We didn't take the hint. Each of those points where we took investment was, potentially, a point that would have been a natural point to shut down the business. And, in retrospect, we should have. The writing was on the wall. The simple truth is if you can't close sales, you don't have a business. And yes - you can stumble along hoping that you're going to find the missing sales ingredient - but that takes resources. It takes money, and it takes emotional capital as well.
One of the reasons the failure of TradesCloud was so personally galling, is that it didn't fail for any reason that I would consider "my fault". From a purely technical perspective, we were significantly more reliable than the multi-national companies we were integrating with. We delivered new features in timeframes that our customers considered inconceivable. When I went in an did demonstrations to the multimillion dollar head contractors, they expressed doubt that we could actually do what we said we were doing... right up until I showed them the code doing it, live.
But none of that mattered. TradesCloud failed, ultimately, because we couldn't sell what we had - or, at least, we couldn't sell it in quantities that allowed us to cover costs. And when you're there giving your all, doing things that are being called magic by prospective customers... and you're still failing... that's hard to internalize. And when you layer on top of that the fact that I'm a husband and a father, and the sole income for the family - that introduces all sorts of guilt and fear into the mix. And then you take all that stress, and add in the long hours and weekend work in the desperate hope that this will be the thing that saves the company...
And when work is all that defines you, you will feel like you're dying when it starts to disappoint.— Alice Goldfuss (@alicegoldfuss) February 2, 2017
... and you start to understand why, 2 years ago, I had a major depressive episode.
Mistake 12: Quitting is always an option
Mistake number 12 - I lost sight of the fact that quitting was always an option - and that quitting didn't mean failure. If, after 2 years, I had taken an honest audit and said "you know what - this isn't working. I'm out". I would have had 4 years of my life back. That's four years I could have sunk into a different project. But I didn't pay attention to any of my signs. I conflated success of the company with my own personal success. I lost sight of the fact that this was a job. And it was meant to provide some income and some intellectual engagement. And if it wasn't doing that - walking away was always an option. But I didn't ever really consider it seriously.
Mistake 13: Partnerships require actual partners
Why not? Well that was mistake number 13, and it was another personal failure - I didn't stand up to my co-founder as much as I should have. And as a result, we wasted a lot of time, and effort, and in some cases, money. Now - I have to be clear - if only because there's a chance he might see this video - i'm not blaming Mark here. Mark is a great guy, and he's extremely talented, and he's got absolutely no shame at fronting up to companies thousands of times bigger than his, and telling them how they should be doing things. He opened a lot of doors that I know I wouldn't have ever even considered knocking on, let alone opening. He was a real asset to the business. The failure was a personal one, and it was mine.
We didn't go into TradesCloud as complete equals. Sure - we were 50/50 partners on paper - but when I met Mark, he was my first boss out of university. I worked for him for 4 years as a very junior subordinate. And a lot of that power dynamic remained. I let him do a lot of things because "well, he must know what he's doing". I caved on decisions because I could see his side, and he was more experienced. And, Mark is a great sales guy. He can make you believe in things. And he made me believe in TradesCloud - but that's a double edged sword. It got me through all sorts of lows - but it also meant I believed even when I probably shouldn't have. I should have putting my foot down and said "no more" a lot more often than I did - both for the benefit of the business, and for my own mental health.
The end
And so, when the money ran out for the third time, neither Mark nor myself had the energy to continue. We had a couple of last minute hail-Mary options that we thought might have saved us... but one by one, they all fell through. In the end, we were able to pay back the loan to our investor; but his equity investment was essentially lost. And in January, we closed the doors for the last time.
And that's the TradesCloud story. I will warn you, though, that the plural of anecdote is not data. This is my story. Many stories are like it, but this one is mine. I don't profess to having any particular business insight - I just know that TradesCloud didn't work. And these are the 13 reasons I can identify why.
In the aftermath, I've had a lot of people - many of them in this room - reach out and give me a virtual hug, or a spoon. And many asked me if I was sad to see TradesCloud go. But frankly, the emotion I had was relief. On January 31 2017, I slept like I hadn't slept for 6 years - because I knew I wasn't going to be woken up by a server alarm. And I knew I could sleep in, because I wasn't going to get a support call at 6AM.
The fact that I wasn't even slightly disappointed by the loss of TradesCloud from my life - that's the biggest sign for me that I waited far too long to step away.
The good news, though, it that the process of running TradesCloud hasn't burned me completely. It was an amazing learning experience. And I landed on my feet - At DjangoCon US last year, I put my name up on the jobs board saying I was looking, and it hadn't been there half a day before my good friend Andrew Pinkham approached me and said.. Uh... are you that Russell Keith-Magee looking for work?
The other silver lining is that the TradesCloud experience drew my attention to problems in the world of mobile development, which has influenced the path that my new toy, BeeWare, has taken. And I've been busy trying to work out how to turn BeeWare into something.
But this time, I'm a little older. A little grayer. Hopefully a little wiser. And I should have a better idea what to look out for. If you want to talk about that... well... get in touch.


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I love beer.
To an unhealthy extreme some might say.
They're probably right, but I don't really care, it really is something to get genuinely excited and passionate about… plus it's something that the British are exceptionally good at.
The ales we produce in these fair isles are pretty much second to none in some categories. There has been a surge in the popularity of microbrewery wares in the last few years, this is probably due to a combination of factors including the skills of the brewers pouring their hearts, souls and bank account contents into their projects and sharing the fruit of the labour with the rest of us. Another big factor believe it or not, has to be attributed to former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Mr Brown introduced a tax break for small breweries in the UK in 2002, the number of microbreweries has proliferated to double the number that year (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2079988/CITY-FOCUS-Raising-glass-micro-breweries.html). Sadly, the number of pubs has been declining due to the harsher financial times we are all experiencing, but the quality certainly has been going in the opposite direction in some towns and cities. This is due to better food on offer, but more importantly a better range of beers with significantly better quality also present at these establishments.
A recent visit across to Brasenose Street in Liverpool to pick up some goodies for Christmas (2 crates of very excellent brews) from the Liverpool Organic Brewery (http://www.liverpoolorganicbrewery.com/) warmed the cockles of my heart. The brewery, who are currently preparing for the Waterloo Beer Festival (http://www.waterloobeerfestival.com/) and increasing the range of the beers they have developed over the last 3 and a half years (since September 2008), has gone from strength to strength and also had a major presence at the National Winter Ales Festival over in Manchester.
The atmosphere at the event was pretty good, there were a few seasoned veterans (you always get the obligatory 'Stetson hat with goggles strapped to the top' type along with several guys who look like they're there for a Gandalf look a like convention) a few less eccentric people and surprisingly a lot more girls aged 20-30 which is something of a shift in the demographic over the last few years for Real Ale/Bitter drinkers. This speaks at length to how the image has changed for these types of beverages down the years.
With regards the drinks that were tried at the Festival, the 1/3rd measure of beer available was immensely helpful for those who wanted to broaden the range of drinks they were able to partake in; especially useful since there were a number of barley wines available (typically higher alcohol contents and much stronger all round). I have a full list of tasting notes and ticks next to all the beers tried at the Festival, but suffice to say the results from the CAMRA judging panel did pick out what I regarded as one the best of what was available by the Saturday session for an award. The full results can be found here: (http://www.camra.org.uk/article.php?group_id=4140).
Unfortunately, I have to caveat that this was not a scientific assessment of the beers available due to many of them simply having been demolished in the previous 3 days of drinking. This is something of a bugbear for me, but running out of a beer at a festival, especially ale that does sound incredible only for you queue for 10 minutes to be told it is all gone. The logistics of a festival are difficult at the best of times and an establishment simply can't store as much ale to double up on what they provide, as such I know I can't complain too much but maybe one day something will be done to ensure exciting sounding offerings such as the Lytham Gold will still be on for the final day of a festival!
Threshold Festival and Liverpool Craft Brewery
Linking into the beer theme, some of you may have noticed there is a recent addition to the current crop of Merseyside brewers in the Liverpool Craft Brewing Company (http://www.liverpoolcraftbeer.com/). They have recently created two new brews to add to the Liverpool Icon, Icon Dark, Viking and Hop Beast in their range. Most recently, Tane Mahuta has been pushed as a result of tinkering with the Hop Beast recipe. Intriguingly, there has been an ale which the guys have specifically brewed to link into the Threshold Festival which takes place in Liverpool (http://www.thresholdfestival.co.uk/).
The Threshold Festival began life as a collaboration between the Contemporary Urban Centre and Under the Influence in order to bring opportunities to push music, live performance, theatre and visual arts in a single setting. It is soon to have unshackled itself and pushed to be held at a multitude of venues to champion the grassroots artists that it prides itself on providing a platform to. The details of the venues and shows on offer are best sought out on the website for the Festival or by contacting the Festival organisers.
Following the success on a maiden voyage and going into its second year, the festival has won many friends and some critical (including journalistic) acclaim in many quarters. Kaya Herstad Carney, ------ said of the collaboration with the Craft Brewing Company: "When Paul approached us and asked if we would be interested in having Liverpool Craft Beers making a special Threshold beer, the answer was indeed easy - Of course! Being able to be part of the process, even from the measuring and mixing to separating vanilla pods just made it perfect for us; DIY with a root in knowing your craft and a big measure of passion: Ingredients."
Rachel Dyer, a Festival Coordinator for the Threshold Festival also commented that: "It was great meeting Liverpool Craft Beer, I've never tasted beer let alone been to a brewery! Paul and Terry introduced us to the whole process and got involved with weighing ingredients, mixing and starting the brewing of the Threshold beer. The beer grain was so tasty I carried on nibbling at my sample! It's clear how passionate they are, and being self-taught independent and innovative, they're exactly the kind of people we want to call friends and work together for Threshold Festival 2012. Can't wait to see the final result!"
The festival takes place between the 10th and 12th February 2012 and tickets for many of the events are available now. Heading along, spreading the Valentine's love and having a look and trying a delicious pint of collaborative ale would be the only sensible thing to be doing!
Threshold Festival 2012 (10th til 12th February 2012, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool). Bigger Better and Baltic Bound! Facebook for Threshold Festival: https://www.facebook.com/undertheinfluencenight?sk=app_134506053246185#!/undertheinfluencenight?sk=info
Follow the festival on Twitter (@thresholdfest), Tumblr (Thresholdfest) and Flickr (Thresholdfest). Buy advanced tickets through Skiddle.
Follow Liverpool Craft Brewing on Twitter (@Craft_Beers)
Follow Liverpool Organic Brewery on Twitter (@LivOrganicBrew)
Catch you all next time dudes!
Pedro x


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Math @ Duke
Math HOME
Papers Published
Abstract:This paper presents a novel framework for simultaneously learning representation and control in continuous Markov decision processes. Our approach builds on the framework of proto-value functions, in which the underlying representation or basis functions are automatically derived from a spectral analysis of the state space manifold. The proto-value functions correspond to the eigenfunctions of the graph Laplacian. We describe an approach to extend the eigenfunctions to novel states using the Nyström extension. A least-squares policy iteration method is used to learn the control policy, where the underlying subspace for approximating the value function is spanned by the learned proto-value functions. A detailed set of experiments is presented using classic benchmark tasks, including the inverted pendulum and the mountain car, showing the sensitivity in performance to various parameters, and including comparisons with a parametric radial basis function method. Copyright © 2006, American Association for Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.
ph: 919.660.2800
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text: North winds, north current and cold weather made for a hot sailfish bite over the weekend. Team Liquid went 19 for 30 in a half day of fishing out of Hillsboro Inlet on Sunday. Team Doing It All/Hard Way released 22 sailfish in the Palm Beach Sailfish Classic over the weekend to take first place in their first tournament of the season. And further to the south, Team Angler Management released 9 out of 10 sailfish on Sunday in a warm up session for the upcoming Operation Sailfish tournament. The report was between 180 and 220 feet of water.


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My sister and my parents were their usual very generous selves this year for Christmas and my sister, who is my hero in all things, suggested that I go buy something frivolous.
So, I bought a new cell phone. Although I'm starting to think I've adopted a surly teenager named Siri.
I loved my iPhone, but it was one of the older models and I have been coveting the new one since it came out because it has the capacity to do something called "Face Time." You can video chat over the phone with other people who also have "Face Time." Both my daughters in New Jersey have that and I was excited to have that ability to be "in their faces" so to speak, more frequently. (I'm not sure if they feel the same way.)
One of the most exciting things about the new iPhone is the introduction of "Siri"…if you haven't seen the commercial, you can talk to your phone and "Siri" will perform tasks for you, like texting, or say what's on your calendar, etc.
Siri hates me.
We got off to a rocky start when I first tried to use it and I asked her for a weather report. All she would say, in her far-from-melodious robot tones was "I don't know where you are." She was in my right hand, in my living room, in Dana Point.
I thought maybe her weather predicting skills were off that day so I then tried to have her make a call for me. I gave her the command "Call So-and-So" (I forget who it actually was) and she said, "I don't know who that is."
Now I was getting really frustrated. It probably would have been a good idea for me to read the directions on how to use this feature, but I didn't even know where they were. So, what else would I do? I asked Siri. "I need the directions for Siri."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Oh, duh. Why would I ever think she'd know?
I did what I should have done in the first place. I went online and booked a workshop at the Apple Store to learn the nuances of the phone nymph. Unfortunately, the first class I could get into was a week out…so I spent that week scolding Siri every time she didn't respond to something or shot back a nasty answer. My kids would have been grounded had they spoken to me the way she did. But how does one punish one's cell phone? Don't charge it? don't clean the screen? I mean, really?
I arrived at the class and was not really surprised to find that almost everyone there was my age or older. I didn't know if I should feel good about that or bad about that. The lovely young lady from the Genius Bar began by going over the basics, all of which I knew, because none of that had really changed from my first iPhone.
The gentleman in front of me asked me how I found the navigation on it (an odd choice of words, I thought, "find" and "navigation" in the same sentence.) Apparently he meant just getting around the screen…which he neglected to mention until I had already gone through how to set up your GPS. Then he asked me, "How do you get the news?" I had a secret "YES!!!!" moment as I realized that there was someone here who actually knew less than I did! I told him you had to download an app for it, like CNN or the local TV stations. I then had a SUPER "YES!!!!" moment when he asked me, "What's an 'app?'"
I kept waiting for someone else to ask how to communicate with Siri, but alas, there was no one there dumber than me about her, not even the guy sitting in front of me. I caught him whispering to Siri at one point and then I heard her pop up with "One minute while I get that for you."
I was positively green with envy.
Towards the end of the class our instructor asked if anyone had any questions. I timidly raised my hand and asked "Why does Siri hate me?"
That got a chuckle from everyone and the woman next to me said "Do you have her turned on?" Now, that question caused me to blush at my own stupidity. She took my phone from me, quickly went to "settings" and moved the button next to "Siri" from "off" to "on." As the light went on next to the function, the light went on in my head. For the several YES!!!! moments I'd had that morning, this was my very first NOOOOOOOO! It wasn't even worthy of just a "DUH!"
Since then Siri and I have been back on the road to mending our relationship. We speak politely to each other at all times. It is a little creepy, however, when I unconciously say "Thank you" to her because I forget she's just a miniature computer and she comes back with "That's nice of you to say!" But you know what's even creepier? She asked me if I knew someone named "Hal" because she was thinking of dating him. Wasn't he the psycho computer in the film 2001 – A Space Odyssey? I thought I was done with screening dates when my three got married. Just what I needed: another teen-ager who not only fits in my pocket, but goes everywhere with me.


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By Jeff Comas
Summer is almost here and many kids are going to have a lot of extra time on their hands. It is a good time to play more music, and many parents at our music academy double up on lessons during the summer. With more time available for music, I thought it would be a good time to start sharing a series of articles I'm working on. They are about getting the most out of practice time, learning to improve faster, and getting more enjoyment from playing music.
This article is related to practicing musical instruments. However, the principles can easily be applied to other activities.
Most of us have had the experience of hearing/seeing a fantastic musician perform and thinking that he or she made it look easy. Chances are that it actually was fairly easy for the performer. Why was it easy? Because the performer had great clarity and a well developed muscle memory.
Almost everyone has the ability to make complex tasks seem easy. Let me give you an example of a complex task that most of us think of as easy: tying your shoes. Most of us can do this task with great ease without even looking and probably without even thinking about it much. It's easy, right?
Well…if you really think about it, the process as a whole is pretty tricky. Imagine trying to explain tying shoelaces in a bow to someone who has never done the procedure. Not so easy. Remember when you first learned? It probably took you months or even years to master. But, over time, you repeated it enough that it became almost completely automatic. You can probably shut your eyes right now and completely imagine the process.
However, what if you tried starting to tie your laces starting with the hand opposite of the one you usually start with. Not so easy. (For the record, I just tried it, and while I could do it, it took me much longer than normal, was a bit sloppy, and I had to really think about it.) The repetitions are not there and so neither is the muscle memory, nor a clear image.
Almost everyone has the ability to make complex tasks seem easy.
But, what if instead of trying to do the complete process we start with just the first step; grab each end of the lace, one in each hand. Simple right? Repeat this part until it is mastered. Then take step two; cross one side of the lace over the other and hold, with the thumb, the lace against the index finger. Pretty simple, right? Repeat steps one and two until they are easy. Continue like this until the whole process is complete. In this manner clarity and muscle memory is developed.
The point here is that music can be learned the same way. In fact this is by far the easiest way to learn music. However, it is often not the way it's done. The student wants to play the whole piece, so they try to plow through the whole thing at once. The problem with this method is that clarity is not developed because too much information is presented; the muscle memory also is slow to develop in this way because the motions are probably not consistent, and there are too many different motions to learn quickly.
So, students (younger students need help from their parents) can typically make big improvements in their learning pace by breaking learning into smaller, easier steps. Repeat the smaller easier steps, and then put the pieces of the puzzle together. I urge you all to try this. I promise it works.
On a side note, I have an interest in Haiku; I love to use them to take larger ideas and whittle them down. Here's one I wrote to summarize this article.
At First Learn Small Parts
Then Put The Parts Together
Let It Be Easy
Hope you have a great summer!
Jeff Comas started playing music at 5 years of age. He is the owner of Allied Music Instructors. He has been a music educator since 1989, and has given over 40,000 music lessons.


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He is a millionaire several times over and claims to represent the forgotten people of his country.
He also wants to root out corruption among its elites.
Sound familiar? You could call Pavel Grudinin Russia's answer to Donald Trump.
After making a fortune out of real estate, Mr Grudinin is now taking on Vladimir Putin in Russia's presidential election.
While everyone has written off his chances, he is adamant he is going to win.
He even compares himself to The Donald.
"There are sceptics everywhere here and in your country," he told a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
"For example, someone said Trump couldn't win. And look what happened."
There are a few glaring differences, however.
Mr Grudinin did not inherit his fortune. He made it himself working from the shop floor then up to management at a privatised state farm.
And he is running as a communist.
He is also accused of being a government puppet - a claim that could never have been levelled at Mr Trump during his election campaign.
For many, Russia's upcoming election is seen as a sham.
Real contenders, like the anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, are not allowed to run.
When I asked Mr Grudinin if he is really just an actor in a play written by the Kremlin, he insisted he is in it to win it.
"Even the most difficult to win battle you can win," he said.
"I am completely sure that if everyone will go to the elections we will win them."
He has quite a mountain to climb. A month to go and his support is still languishing in single figures.
The Russian government controls the media and, to some extent, even the opinion polls.
If Mr Trump was aided and abetted by the Russian president, as is alleged, Mr Grudinin can expect the opposite if he even begins to look like a threat.


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Dr Kaye Gugich BVSc MANZCVS (Small Animal Medicine) MRCVS
Internal Medicine Consultant
Dr Gugich graduated from Massey University, New Zealand, in 1993 and after a grounding in general practice, successfully completed a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine. In 2004, after a spell in academia in New Zealand and Australia, she emigrated to the United Kingdom and has held clinical roles at various referral practices including North Downs Specialist Referrals, Village Referrals and Vets Now Referrals.
Dr Gugich is interested in all aspects of Internal Medicine with a professional focus upon endoscopy. Dr Gugich remains as fascinated and passionate about veterinary science as when she first graduated, and uses her wealth of experience to benefit her patients.
Outside of clinical work she supervises the welfare of animals working in film advertising as well as rescuing Oriental cats up for adoption. In her spare time she trains and competes at Masters Level in Olympic Weightlifting.


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"Roses are red. Violets are blue. I love bacon, but not as much as I love you."
It's the saucy debate you've all been waiting for.
Are you with Beetroot & Balsamic or will Tomato Chutney make condiments great again?
Meet Moe Whitlock. Legends say his mustache was so strong, he could carry his most prized possessions with him at all times.
No leprechauns were harmed in the making of this#StPatricksDay flavour rainbow.
Pass the sauce. #SuperBowl2017 is here.
Some tasteful art in Fred Whitlock's honour.
What happens when you mix our Relish with Jelly Beans? You get Whitlock's 'Relly Beans'. Bodacious, bold and in-store from tomorrow! #aprilfools


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Why Eric Baptista Smashed Up Betting Machines
17 Jan 2018 13:01
According to Bluejay, a player on a one-dollar slot machine will on typical drop $800 in a ten-hour session. This is cash ground away by the machine as winnings are fed back into the machine. The same player more than the same time period will drop only an average of a tenth of that ($79) playing a low-intensity game such as roulette. You nonetheless shed funds at roulette, blackjack and baccarat, but you shed it a lot more gradually so you appreciate a longer night out. Facebook has been accused of producing 'tomorrow's generation of dilemma gamblers' by rolling out true funds casino games. A true roulette powerhouse with plenty of option- live tables, virtual roulette and novelty games are all covered here. Claim an exclusive £600 welcome bonus.According to psychologists the familiar facade, the look and really feel of the fruit machine are what tempt us. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Research at Nottingham Trent University, claims that fruit machines don't trigger addiction but various 'structural characteristics' in their design feed this behaviour in susceptible human beings.This is a Playtech variant that is beautifully developed for desktops and laptops. Even though it doesn't have the identical level of functions and choices as Premier Roulette (Diamond), it's one of the prettiest games about with a smooth wheel action. There is an effortless access racetrack betting area too, if you like playing the more exotic bets like Voisins, Tiers & Orphelins. You can play this 3D variant at Ladbrokes Games.The old physical casino machines with mechanical reels have been replaced by electronic ones with screen displays, some that are even touchscreens. The evolution doesn't cease there. The advent of the web brought on the internet casino games plus numerous other gambling choices, thanks to on the internet casinos Mobile gambling is the way to go these days as the business has been taken more than by the numerous on the web gambling internet sites.Witnesses mentioned the gunman, who had an assault rifle, entered the Resorts Planet Manila casino in Pasay City, Philippines, shortly following midnight on Thursday ahead of opening fire on betting terminals and televisions. If you are currently a player on 888poker just log-in as standard.Card games: In table games with cards, you can also make a wager for the dealer on the subsequent hand. Basically place a low-worth chip toward the dealer, in front of the spot where your personal chip goes. If you win the hand, the dealer will pay each your bet and his bet and then tap his winnings into the tip box. If you lose, the residence gets it all back.'The additional we go, the more representation females get and the far better they get. Also, poker does not seem like such as scuzzy point to do in the way that folks used to think it was. It's a very valid profession decision, which is jani74h92899.wikidot.com excellent. Individuals do not appear at what we do and think "eurgh, terrible!".Initial of all, there's often a wagering requirement that you have to fulfil just before you can withdraw the winnings generated from the bonus. This requirement in most situations is set at 20 to 40 occasions the bonus plus the deposit amount. Additionally, it is essential to take into account the fact that blackjack games don't contribute at one hundred% toward the wagering requirement due to the fact that they have a quite low house edge and give the players excellent winning odds. Generally, the wagering contribution for the game is set anyplace in between 5% and ten%, the greater it is, of course, the greater. Other critical particulars you need to take into account are the validity period of the bonus and the minimum deposit required to claim it.It wouldn't be a holiday with no some further video slots fun, right? Play the point. If the shooter establishes a point, by rolling a 4, five, six, 8, nine, or 10, all bets on the (do not) pass line stay there. In case you adored this informative article along with you desire to be given more info with regards to have a peek at This website (wsmcrystle55.wikidot.com) please click the next website kindly pay a visit to our own website. You don't have to make any added bets to play the point. The dealer will take the button and place it on the quantity which is now the point. The button is now flipped to the ON side.Bet a bunch on purchase-a-pays. Not only is that alliteration, but it is true. If you happen to be on a purchase-a-spend, constantly bet the max. A single coin may buy you the center line, two coins will acquire you a diagonal, and three coins gets you the whole 9 yards. This also performs with symbols. Again, imagine oneself betting a single coin and seeing 7-7-7 come up in a diagonal! If you do choose this machine, it really is greatest to go large or go property.Bet the maximum quantity of income. Insert your coins, cash, or player card into the machine. Press the Bet Max" button to bet the maximum quantity of funds feasible. This is the only way to be eligible for the jackpot or to spin the Wheel of Fortune. four Appear at the indicators and make sure your bet is valid every time you play, that each and every bill and ticket is accepted.
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Chuck's Cantina
Deli sandwiches, schnitzel and food for the soul
Satisfy your hunger with Chuck's delicious range of fresh, deli-style sandwiches or dive into their popular schnitzels, served with a selection of sides including salad, mashed potato, mashed pumpkin and mushy peas.
If you're after a light snack or breakfast on the go, accompany your caffeine fix with a toasted sandwich or muffin.
Located in the Café Court at Brookfield Place, on the southern side of the tower lobby.


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- 452 Searches
- 0 Positive Feedback
- 0 Info Reports
- 0 Warnings
- 0 Danger Reports
Toll Rd. Eastbound @Reston Parkway, 6:45am: The right lane here is undoubtedly a merge lane, & I was attempting to merge toward the Toll Road enjoy I do all day. Now if you're getting off @Wiehle I can understand being in the right lane, however this dumb douchebag not 1 received in the right lane to pass individuals on the right, she SPED UP just to NOT allow me merge - excuse me, however my lane is RUNNING OUT u dumb skank! Merging isn't supposed to be a game of chicken! Bitch, u demand to lay off the drive-thrus & purchase a bicycle - you're the reason the price of food is sky high, because it's pretty obvious that you'll purchase it anyway u giant cow!
Flagged As: Information
- Car Details: Black HONDA Accord
- Last Seen Location: Reston, Virginia, US


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Ed Pittock, CSA
Founder and CEO of HCSB
In 2011 Mr. Pittock started researching the need for a Universal certified mechanism for non-medical home care agencies. Following significant input from professionals in the home care industry, Mr. Pittock concluded that the need existed to recognize home care agencies that were willing to meet stringent standards.These standards include: caregiver education and testing, extensive caregiver background checks, additional criteria, and willing to be monitored monthly with annual onsite audits.
In 1997 Ed Pittock founded the Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA), which grants the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) designation. Mr. Pittock served as President from April 1997 until November 2011 when SCSA was sold to Professional Testing Inc. based in Orlando, Florida. SCSA is the world's largest membership organization educating and certifying professionals who serve seniors. SCSA was founded with the input of geriatricians, elder law attorneys, gerontologists, accountants, financial planners and other experts in the field of aging who believed there was a need for standardized education and a credential for professionals who work with seniors. To remain members of SCSA and continue using the CSA designation CSAs are required to take continuing education that emphasizes ethics and volunteer service to seniors as well as passing an annual disclosure statement along with other requirements.
Prior to founding SCSA Mr. Pittock served as President for four years of the Independent Lifestyle Association, a membership organization for seniors that provided discounts on hearing aids, prescriptions, glasses, hotels, twenty four hour emergency alert plus other benefits.
Mr. Pittock has been active in American Society on Aging, National Council on Aging Gerontological Society of America, Business Forum on Aging, Young Presidents Organization (awarded YPO Distinguished Service award in 1993), and was awarded Speaker of the year 2002-2003 by the National Society of Accountants for his speech, "Thriving in the Senior Market." Mr. Pittock served as Chairman of the National Association of Security Dealers District #3 Business Conduct Committee and President of the Weld County United Way.
Mr. Pittock graduated with a BA from the University of Northern Colorado and was a delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.


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Ministry of corporate affairs came up with the new concept that incorporation of a new company with in one day. It is simplified procedure (SINGLE WINDOW FORM) to incorporate new company with Name reservation, DIN, PAN, TAN & CIN. In global scenario Now, It is easy way to startup business within single day.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide its notification dated 1st October, 2016 has amended the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014 and brought out the Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically (SPICe).
Rule 38 defined that Simplified Proforma for Incorporation of Company Electronically (SPICe) w.e.f. October 02, 2016, with this insertion the below forms are notified by the MCA:
- Incorporation of a Company in eForm SPICe (INC-32),
- e-Memorandum of Association in eForm SPICe MOA (INC-33),
- e-Article of Association in eForm SPICe AOA (INC- 34).
This is the ease of doing business with reduced time and fees. Integration of MCA21 system with Central board of direct tax (CBDT) for allotment of PAN and TAN at the time of certificate of incorporation of new company.
In this new act, it is defined that there is no requirement of minimum paid-up capital, commencement certificate & common seal is optional.
TYPE OF COMPANIES COVERED UNDER eForm SPICe (INC-32)
The company having 7 or less subscribers it is compulsory to incorporate with eform SPICe (INC-32).
i. One Person Company
ii. Private Limited Company
iii. Public Limited Company
iv. Section 8 Company
v. Producer (Private) Company
vi. Nidhi Company
Now there is no need to file INC-1, 7, 8, 10. Therefore, only in one filing, stakeholders can incorporate a company. However, if the incorporation of any company i.e. producer Public companies, unregistered companies and companies being formed with more than 7 subscribers, new version of INC-7 shall be used.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE NOTED IN eForm SPICe (INC-32)
- Maximum details of subscribers are Seven.
- Maximum number of directors cannot be more than 15 in number.
- Directors not having DIN cannot be more than 3 in number.
- Maximum Three directors are allowed for filing application of allotment of DIN while incorporating a Company.
- By affixation of DSC of the subscriber on the INC-33 (e-moa) date of signing will be appear automatically by the form.
- Applying for PAN / TAN will be compulsory for all fresh incorporation applications filed in the new version of the SPICe form.
- Time period for approval of DIN, Name and Incorporation will be altogether generally it takes 1-2 days.
- In case different correspondence address then INC-22, is required to be filed within 30 days of its incorporation, for intimating the registered office address.
- Foreign subscribers having valid DIN can file SPICe(INC-32) with eMoA(INC-33) and eAoA(INC-34) as linked forms. However, in case of foreign individual subscribers without a valid DIN, form INC-7 shall be used with physical MoA and AoA.
- SPICe AoA (INC-34) has facility for adding, modifying, deleting and entrenching Articles.
- DSC is mandatory for all subscribers and witnesses in eMoA(INC-33) and eAoA(INC-34).
- eMoA and eAoA shall be used only where the maximum number of subscribers do not exceed 7.
- In case the number of subscribers are more than 7, INC-7 shall be used and DSC is not mandatory in such cases.
- INC-8 is not required to attached because INC-32 required professional certification. SO, DSC of professional will also affix on the form.
- DSC of Director will be affix on form. (In case of director don't have DIN then mention PAN No. of director at the place of affixing of DSC).
- In case of rejection of form, company can apply for refund of money by refund form.
- Only two resubmission allowed & Size of e-form should not exceed 6 MB.
Attachment in SPICe (inc-32) form:
- INC-9 Affidavit and declaration by first subscriber(s) and director(s)(with stamp paper of Rs. 20)
- Consent to act as Director In Form DIR-2 declaration from first Directors along with Copy of Proof of Identity and residential address.
- NOC for Registered office premises From Owner.
- Proof of Office address (Conveyance/ Lease deed/ Rent Agreement etc. along with rent receipts);
- Copy of the utility bills (electronic, gas, telephone that are not older than two months.)
- Declaration from the director non acceptance of Deposit.
- In case of subscribers/ Director does not have a DIN, it is mandatory to attach:
>Proof of identity and residential address of the subscribers.
- Certified true copy of No objection certificate by way of board resolution / resolution In case any of the director has any interest in the proposed company, then it is mandatory to attach.
- If the director/ Promoters are carrying on any P'ship firm, sole Proprietorship, or unregistered entity then Disclosure required for Interest in other entities.
-eMoA (FORM NO.INC-33)and eAoA (FORM NO.INC-34) have to be uploaded as 'Linked Forms' with SPICe (inc-32) form.
Payment of form fees to Ministry of Corporate Affairs and also Pay Stamp Duty.
- SRN Generated for filling form (INC-32,33,34). NOW, signed and uploaded through Submit application for PAN and TAN. Upload form 49A & form 49B after affixing DSC.
- within two days of filling SPICe (inc-32) form 49A & form 49B Must be uploaded.
If not uploaded within two days will be marked as "not to be taken on record".
Receipt of Certificate of Registration/Incorporation from ROC.
And get PAN and TAN Number.
Ms. Yashree Dixit, a qualified Company Secretary, she can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Balmaise Phoenix, Leven
The Phoenix at Balmaise in Leven was designed by Andy Scott, who also created the horse sculpture on the M8 and the famous Kelpies near Falkirk, among other notable works.
Appropriately, the phoenix was chosen to symbolise a rising new era for housing, services and quality of life on the Broom estate, which had undergone a transformation, starting in the early 1990s.
It had become a deeply unpopular place to live, for many reasons, but the whole community was involved in its revival.
The infamous 'black blocks' of flats were pulled down and new social housing and family homes built and occupied.
Groups such as Glenfield/Glen Housing Association and the Broom Community Forum, and others, liaised with the local authority, with the improvements completed by the early 2000s.
The phoenix was unveiled on May 28, 2003.


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Explore scenic trails and beautiful autumn leaves at Mono Cliff Provincial Park! A guide will be present and transportation and snacks will be provided. This trip includes 3 hours of exploring numerous hiking trails throughout the park. No experience needed. Transportation and snacks are included.
Time: Bus leaves at 9:45am from the Student Centre and returns at 5:00pm.
Cost: $15 for registered UTSC students, $20 for faculty, staff, non-registered UTSC students, and guests of UTSC students*.
Capacity: 45
Code: #38836
Register by November 5th! No refunds allowed after November 1st. Registration can be done online at recreg.utoronto.ca or in person at the TPASC Customer Service Desk.
For your online login information, please contact Candice Pope.
*Guests may register only if they come with a UTSC student.


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Winfield Chen
My Contributions
- Containerized and migrated the Hootsuite Opsboard, our internal service status-checking dashboard, to Kubernetes
- Built Python support into an existing Go and Scala skeleton for our developers in the Amplify team as a hackathon project
- Made changes to our Amazon Web Services infrastructure using Terraform and Hootsuite's newly open-sourced Terraform-Github collaboration tool, Atlantis
- Created a testing suite and replication tool for migrating from Redis to AWS Elasticache.
- Wrote a blog post on Exposing External-Facing Services In Kubernetes.
My ExperienceA job at Hootsuite is a fun, rewarding, and memorable experience. Located close to False Creek and near many restaurants, the neighbourhood is a pleasant place to be before, during, and after your workday. The office environment is innovative, helpful, and welcomes newcomers; you can steer the direction of your learning towards the newest technologies that interest you – in fact, I've seen that some of the new technologies are developed and released right here! My time at Hootsuite, although unfortunately so short, will remain so memorable because of the new skills I have learned and the great support I have received from the Operations team.
I strongly recommend at least one work term at Hootsuite, especially if you are considering the High School Summer Technical Student Program, as I have experienced, because it is so unique for someone in or just graduated out of high school to work in the technology sector – an accomplishment that you will look upon with pride considering the much less inspiring summer jobs that your friends and classmates have. It will definitely be a meaningful addition to your summer and the equivalent of a paid two-course head-start for your university education!


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Please click here to log in with you RCPsych web account details; you will be redirected back to CPD Online.If you have forgotten your College web account details, you will be able to reset them here.
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The following articles relevant to this module are
published in the journal BJPsych Advances:
Eden K, Wylie
K, Watson E (2012)
Gender dysphoria: recognition and assessment. BJPysch
Advances, 18(1):
Hakeem A (2012)
Psychotherapy for gender identity disorders. BJPysch
Advances, 18(1):
Wylie K, Eden K, Watson E (2012) Gender dysphoria: treatment and
outcomes. BJPysch Advances, 18(1):
12–16. [full text]


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28 Mar 2006Blurt - European Tour May 2006
Thu 4 - Rotterdam, Worm
Fri 5 - Amsterdam, OCCI
Sat 6 - Brussels, Recyclart
Sun 7 - Antwerp, Kaaiman
Tue 9 - Paris, Point Ephemere
Wed 10 - Cologne, Blue Shell
Thu 11 - Bremen, Lila Eule
Fri 12 - Hamburg, Westwerk
Sat 13 - Berlin, Supamolly
Tue 16 - Munich, Die Rote Sonne
Wed 17 - Budapest, A38
Thu 18 - Vienna, Rhiz
Fri 19 - Steyr, Roeda
Sat 20 - Murska Sobota, MIKK
Sun 21 - Bern, Rei-alle
Mon 22 - Geneva, Cave 12
Wed 24 - Lyon, Les Nuits Sonores Festival
Fri 26 - Wroclaw, Awangarda Gallery
Sat 27 - Frankfurt, Das Bett
- May 1980 release schedule
- hallowed articles
- FAC 148 letter from Quarry Bank Mill to Tony Wilson
- FAC 81 stationery source materials
- FAC 81 stationery
- 86 Palatine Road Blue Plaque
- Joy Divison USA Tour Itinerary
- Tony Wilson letter to Ralph Steadman re John Dowie
- IKON stationery
- The Factory stationery
- In the City badge
- Peter Saville Associates stationery and bill
- Movement of the 24th January stationery
In the grey days of late 1970s post-punk Manchester, youth culture was a serious affair: every musical performance was measured mostly by the conviction of its delivery. The term 'New Wave' opened up free vistas where acquired skills could once again be exercised after punk's monochrome blur. It could be applied to anything from a James 'Blood' Ulmer record to the latest Throbbing Gristle release, Magazine to Swell Maps. Move outside that terrain into Sun Ra, Parliament, Frank Sinatra and Martin Denny, and your options were suddenly without limit...
Then came Tony Wilson's Factory Club (at the Russell Club in Hulme) offering an open invitation to experiment that was taken up when Ken Hollings, Howard Walmsley, Eddie Sherwood and a few others decided to make some noise to accompany their 16mm silent epic Biting Tongues. A further performance followed a few weeks later, when Colin Seddon and Graham Massey disbanded their Post Natals project and joined up. The film itself, a flashing series of negative images, became a memory; the name remained.
- extract from the LTM Biting Tongues biography
FAC 134 Trouble Hand
FAC 188 Compressor
IKON 26 Wall Of Surf
IKON 31 'Wall of Surf' T-SHIRT
IKON 45 'Wall of Surf' POSTER


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Spraytect Pepper Spray Phone Case – turquoise
Spraytect™ is a protective case for a smartphone a removable pepper spray cartridge attached to the back of the iphone case. It's convenient and readily accessible so you're protected anywhere and anytime.
The pepper spray is a special proprietary blend of peppers, using one of the hottest, habanero peppers, as its main ingredient. This same blend is used by Homeland Security, the US Military, FBI Offices, Police Departments, and Corrections Officers across the U.S.
Since many of us walk, travel or exercise with a phone in hand, Spraytect is readily accessible in a compromised situation.
- Comes with Smartphone case and detachable pepper spray cartridges
- Built-in safety mechanisms
- Cases currently available for iPhone 4 & 4S. Coming soon for other Smartphones
- Spraytect is designed and assembled in the United States.


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I read and reviewed Rachel's other book, How To Be Someone Else, and really enjoyed it. I went into this one expecting a similar, sweet contemporary, but instead found a book that had a lot more hard-hitting issues than HTBSE.
I was completely captivated by the story from the first page, and found myself inhaling almost half of the book in one day, scarcely able to put it down. I loved the imperfect, battered characters who had each suffered greatly, and found myself rooting for them to rise above their pasts. There was an element of mystery pervading that story influenced my need to keep flipping pages, anxious to find out what these deep dark secrets were, tormenting these characters.
My only complaint with this book is that I felt we could have dug deeper into the characters as, although some characters had a past, the story didn't dig deep into the characters as much as it could have. The potential was there for truly exceptional and memorable characters, but the book didn't quite get there for me.
BUT, with that being said, at the end of the book, in the acknowledgments, Rachel alludes to the fact that one character's story isn't over yet -- and I hope this means that there's more coming for this character's story. In that case, I may get my wish to delve deeper into what makes these characters tick!
If you're looking for a contemporary book that is completely unputdownable, with an excellent, captivating story, look no further than Someone in the Way. With each book, Rachel surpasses her previous work, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!
Note: An advanced copy of this book was provided by the author, but all thoughts in this review are my own.
Someone In The Way - Rachel Del
Posted by Melissa at 6:00 AM Labels: adult, contemporary, review
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At this ChampionsGate resort-style home, you will live in luxury in a stylishly decorated and vast open floor plan. The contemporary design is modeled throughout each room of the residence, which also features an outdoor patio, game room, home theater, and fully equipped kitchen. There's no better way to unwind after a long, action-packed day than coming home to spend a leisurely evening at this Florida oasis.
The space
Guests of this ChampionsGate, FL property will enjoy the following amenities:
Private pool and hot tub
Backyard lanai with grill
Game room with pool, air hockey and foosball tables
Movie theater complete with comfortable seating, surround sound, and HD projector
In addition to the onsite amenities, guests will have exclusive access to The Retreat at ChampionsGate community's private Oasis Club facilities.
The Oasis Club is a luxury destination in its own right, with all the quality amenities of a 5 star community. Soak away your stress as you float down the lazy river, sipping on an ice cold drink from the Tiki bar, while the rest of your family zips down the exciting water slides. Take the competition to the courts, or bring it to the machines in the fully-equipped arcade.
The facilities include:
1023ft Lazy River with a 2 story Waterslide Aerobics Room
Quiet Pool & Jacuzzi Tub Locker Rooms
Childrens Splash Zone State-of-the-art Fitness Center
Movie Theater Sand Volleyball Courts
Business Center Golf course


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Gary McDowell
Resources to address challenges for international students and postdocs
All scientific career paths are paved with many obstacles to being successful, and individuals can experience different or additional barriers that are not based on their scientific work, depending on their background. International scientists in the U.S. are one such group, requiring specific visas. Challenges … Read more
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Choosing the right mentor for career success
Mentoring is critical for the development and training of independent scientists but, all too often, not enough emphasis is placed on choosing the right mentor. Mentors not only provide technical and experimental support but should aid in both career development and life guidance. Importantly, mentoring … Read more
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Letting the right ones in: obstacles in graduate admissions
Our previous article discussed admission metrics such as the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), undergraduate GPA (grade point average), previous research experience, recommendation letters, personal statements and in-person interviews, and their relation to graduate student performance. Several studies (Joshua Hall et al., Liane Moneta-Koehler et al., … Read more
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Can we anticipate graduate student success if we can't assess it?
How we choose the next generation of scientists is at the root of a sustainable scientific enterprise. The true value of a PhD may therefore be in training leaders who can advance science, while also gaining the necessary skills to succeed both during and after … Read more
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Effects of the Fair Labor Standards Act Update (or Lack Thereof) on the Postdoctoral Population
On December 1, 2016, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was meant to be updated by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and this update was predicted to have a profound effect on the academic enterprise, including postdoctoral researchers. The situation was greatly complicated when, … Read more
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The first COMPASS writer of the year: Travis J. Bernardo, Ph.D.
In 2016, the ASCB Committee for Postdocs and Students (COMPASS) decided to both incentivize and reward members who were particularly active in the committee throughout the year. This award is given for contributions in writing and editing the highest number of (influential) COMPASS blog posts, … Read more
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Effects of the Fair Labor Standards Act Implementation (or Lack Thereof) on the Postdoctoral Population
FLSA implementation ruling On December 1, 2016, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was meant to be updated by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and this update was predicted to have a profound effect on the academic enterprise, including postdoctoral researchers. In our … Read more
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Strategies for a Successful (Non-Academic) Career Search: an Interview with ASCB Executive Director, Erika Shugart
Introduction Biomedical training for graduate students and postdocs can be enhanced by attending career seminars and professional development workshops, as well as through conversations with research mentors, teachers, laboratory peers, or classmates. In addition to universities, several scientific societies (including ASCB, AAAS, AWIS) and companies … Read more
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Why do we still need an Association for Women in Science? An Interview with Isabel C. Escobar
The need for strong female leaders in STEM According to a 2011 U.S. Department of Commerce report, only one in seven engineers is female. But women are not only grossly underrepresented in engineering, but also in other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This … Read more
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Women in STEM: Still So Few and Far Between
The environment of women in STEM According to a 2014 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, women make up 47 percent of the total U.S. workforce. However, women are underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering. In the sciences, while women comprise 53 percent … Read more


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Angry Birds 2 Mod Apk The second generation of the popular and very beautiful game (Angry Birds 2 Apk) from Rovio Entertainment studio for devices running Android in the hours before released for free on the Play Store! To date, several versions of games such as Seasons "Angry Birds 2 Mod Apk", etc. supplied by the Review in July 2015 and is now in the second generation innovative action game called Angry Birds 2 released to fans once again to bring ecstasy. In the second version of the game with new gameplay, new challenges, new birds and most importantly a truly beautiful environments and stunning HD graphics are! In the second version, as earlier versions, You must lovely and the obstacles that with the launch of Angry Birds to destroy them and leave behind the levels one after another, and hours of yourself entertained! Now we play for the second version of the installation file + 3 normal mode installation file (infinite money and life infinite + Mod Gems / Energy / Unlock, etc.) to put that you can get it free. Please note that Internet is required to run the game.
Download Angry Birds 2 Mod
Some of the features Angry Birds 2 Android game:
* Includes hundreds of different steps to free the birds loved to play
* Previous versions of famous characters + new characters
* A variety of different spells and power for use by players
* Ability to play online with users around the world with multiple challenges
* Play in a variety of locations and environments are varied and different islands
* Angry Birds 2 Mod Apk Download Stunning HD graphics, much better than previous versions
Also check out Previous Application: Dragons: Rise of Berk MOD Apk 1.31.16
One Of The Most Popular Application on our website: Marvel Future Fight MOD Apk
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text: NASDAQ:DWSN - Dawson Geophysical Stock Price, News, & Analysis Sign in or create an account to add this stock to your watchlist. Get Started $3.82 -0.09 (-2.30 %) (As of 02/21/2019 09:00 AM ET)Previous Close$3.91Today's Range$3.76 - $4.0052-Week Range$3.04 - $8.40Volume55,362 shsAverage Volume38,922 shsMarket Capitalization$87.63 millionP/E Ratio-2.79Dividend YieldN/ABeta1.05 ProfileDiscussionAnalyst RatingsChartDividendEarningsFinancialsInsider TradesInstitutional OwnershipHeadlinesOptions ChainSEC FilingsSocial Media Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on StocktwitsPrint this articleShare by Email Dawson Geophysical Company provides onshore seismic data acquisition services in the United States and Canada. The company acquires and processes 2-D, 3-D, and multi-component seismic data for its clients, including oil and gas companies, and independent oil and gas operators, as well as providers of multi-client data libraries. As of December 31, 2017, it operated nine seismic crews consisting of six crews in the United States and three crews in Canada. It operates seismic crews that supply seismic data primarily to companies engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas on land and in land-to-water transition areas. The company also serves the potash mining industry. Dawson Geophysical Company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas with three additional offices in Denison, Houston, and Plano, Texas, as well as in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Denver, Colorado. Receive DWSN News and Ratings via Email Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for DWSN and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Industry, Sector and Symbol Stock Exchange NASDAQ Industry Oil & gas exploration services Sub-IndustryOil & Gas Equipment & Services SectorOils/Energy Current SymbolNASDAQ:DWSN Previous Symbol CUSIP23935910 Webwww.dawson3d.com Phone432-684-3000Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.06 Current Ratio3.46 Quick Ratio3.46Price-To-Earnings Trailing P/E Ratio-2.79 Forward P/E Ratio-5.09 P/E GrowthN/A Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$157.15 million Price / Sales0.56 Cash Flow$0.3411 per share Price / Cash Flow11.20 Book Value$6.19 per share Price / Book0.62Profitability EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)($1.37) Net Income$-31,260,000.00 Net Margins-10.35% Return on Equity-12.60% Return on Assets-10.42%Miscellaneous Employees851 Outstanding Shares22,940,000Market Cap$87.63 million OptionableOptionable Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) Frequently Asked Questions What is Dawson Geophysical's stock symbol? Dawson Geophysical trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "DWSN." How were Dawson Geophysical's earnings last quarter? Dawson Geophysical Co (NASDAQ:DWSN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August, 2nd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters' consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.11. The oil and gas company earned $36.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36 million. Dawson Geophysical had a negative return on equity of 12.60% and a negative net margin of 10.35%. View Dawson Geophysical's Earnings History. When is Dawson Geophysical's next earnings date? Dawson Geophysical is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, March 7th 2019. View Earnings Estimates for Dawson Geophysical. What is the consensus analysts' recommendation for Dawson Geophysical? 1 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Dawson Geophysical in the last year. There are currently 1 buy rating for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Buy." View Analyst Ratings for Dawson Geophysical. Has Dawson Geophysical been receiving favorable news coverage? Headlines about DWSN stock have been trending somewhat negative on Thursday, according to InfoTrie. The research firm ranks the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than six thousand news and blog sources in real-time. The firm ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative five to five, with scores closest to five being the most favorable. Dawson Geophysical earned a daily sentiment score of -1.7 on InfoTrie's scale. They also gave press coverage about the oil and gas company a news buzz of 10.0 out of 10, indicating that recent press coverage is extremely likely to have an impact on the stock's share price in the near term. Who are some of Dawson Geophysical's key competitors? Some companies that are related to Dawson Geophysical include Ion Geophysical (IO), Zion Oil & Gas (ZN), NXT Energy Solutions (NSFDF), SAExploration (SAEX), Pledge Petroleum (PROP), Cardinal Energy Group (CEGX), Saratoga Resources (SARA) and CGG (CGG). Who are Dawson Geophysical's key executives? Dawson Geophysical's management team includes the folowing people: Mr. Stephen C. Jumper, Chairman, Pres & CEO (Age 58)Mr. Wayne A. Whitener, Exec. Vice Chairman (Age 67)Mr. James K. Brata, CFO, Exec. VP, Sec. & Treasurer (Age 64)Mr. C. Ray Tobias, Exec. VP & COO (Age 62)Mr. James Walter Thomas, CTO & Exec. VP (Age 65) Who are Dawson Geophysical's major shareholders? Dawson Geophysical's stock is owned by many different of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include BlackRock Inc. (8.23%), Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (7.61%), Grace & White Inc. NY (5.62%), Beddow Capital Management Inc. (3.94%), First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. (2.35%) and Salem Investment Counselors Inc. (1.59%). View Institutional Ownership Trends for Dawson Geophysical. Which major investors are selling Dawson Geophysical stock? DWSN stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Beddow Capital Management Inc., Boston Partners, Robotti Robert, Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC, First Wilshire Securities Management Inc., Stone Ridge Asset Management LLC and Menta Capital LLC. View Insider Buying and Selling for Dawson Geophysical. Which major investors are buying Dawson Geophysical stock? DWSN stock was acquired by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Salem Investment Counselors Inc., Grace & White Inc. NY, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, Geode Capital Management LLC, Virtu Financial LLC, Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Two Sigma Investments LP. View Insider Buying and Selling for Dawson Geophysical. How do I buy shares of Dawson Geophysical? Shares of DWSN can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab. What is Dawson Geophysical's stock price today? One share of DWSN stock can currently be purchased for approximately $3.82. How big of a company is Dawson Geophysical? Dawson Geophysical has a market capitalization of $87.63 million and generates $157.15 million in revenue each year. The oil and gas company earns $-31,260,000.00 in net income (profit) each year or ($1.37) on an earnings per share basis. Dawson Geophysical employs 851 workers across the globe. What is Dawson Geophysical's official website? The official website for Dawson Geophysical is http://www.dawson3d.com. How can I contact Dawson Geophysical? Dawson Geophysical's mailing address is 508 WEST WALL SUITE 800, MIDLAND TX, 79701. The oil and gas company can be reached via phone at 432-684-3000. MarketBeat Community Rating for Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ DWSN)Community Ranking: 2.1 out of 5 ( )Outperform Votes: 154 (Vote Outperform)Underperform Votes: 208 (Vote Underperform)Total Votes: 362MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Dawson Geophysical and other stocks. Vote "Outperform" if you believe DWSN will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote "Underperform" if you believe DWSN will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. This page was last updated on 2/21/2019 by MarketBeat.com StaffFeatured Article: How does inflation affect different investments?


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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:27 — 39.9MB)
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Join Jeff, Greg and Forrest as they answer some listener questions and comments on this episode of the High Sierra 4×4 Podcast!
Listener Feedback:
Send us your questions and comments!!!


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Now is a perfect time to be looking for buying opportunities in a market that has been rocked on more than one occasion since January.
There is no better place to begin your search than those stocks that have been hammered on fears of a U.S. trade war with China, explains TheStreet's founder Jim Cramer.
Cramer's extensive research, which could be viewed on TheStreet's sister publication RealMoney, has yielded 15 groups and 70 plus stocks that have been largely unaffected by Chinese trade tension. In fact, says Cramer, every time it looks worse in the news, the stocks in these 15 groups look better a few days later.
"These are the new winners in a market that increasingly trades on President Trump's trade policy. And there are some very surprising performers there, indeed," Cramer says.
15 Groups OverviewRead Part 1 and Part 2 of Cramer's research over on RealMoney here. We included the tickers of some of the top names mentioned by sector below.
- Telecom: (T) ; (VZ)
- Mall-based retailers and apparel makers: (VFC) ; (ANF) ; (M) ; (TJX)
- Cloud kings (a term Cramer coined several weeks ago): (ADBE) ; (CRM)
- Cell towers: (AMT) ; (CCI)
- Hospitals and health insurers: (ANTM) ; (HUM)
- U.S. oil companies: (MRO) ; (HES)
- Oil refiners: (MPC) ; (VLO)
- Real estate investment trusts: The entire sector looks attractive
- Utilities: (ED) ; (AED)
- Restaurants: (DRI) ; (MCD) ; (WEN)
- Brokerage firms: (AMTD) ; (MS) ; (GS)
- Cybersecurity: (PANW) ; (FEYE)
- Business services: (ADP) ; (RHI)
- Home-builders: (LEN)
- Defense: (RTH) ; (NOC)
Before You Go
With markets all over the map, you must stayed engaged with your investments like never before. Be sure to listen to Cramer's latest Action Alerts PLUS member call this Thursday. Members will receive Cramer's latest thinking on the markets and the education needed to survive a new stretch of volatility. Learn more here.


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Time for some BIG GIRL glam!
I absolutely loved making this Bride-to-be headband! Soft, blingy and oh so bride-to be"ish" for a friend's upcoming engagement photos.
Yarn is Andes Alpaca in "Pearl" made by Yarn Bee and available at Hobby Lobby. It's a super soft blend of 15% alpaca and 85% acrylic in worsted weight. For the record, I adore working with any alpaca blend because it's so feminine and pretty...just enough fuzziness to make it pretty, durable enough to wash and wear easily.
I combined two different patterns to get just the right look for this headband. Band was made by chaining 60, slip stitch to form large loop, chain 3 and double crochet around for six rows in total. Started with a J (6.00mm) hook to give it a bit more stretch then completed the body with an I (5.50mm) hook. A slip stich was done after row 6 to give it a nice clean edge. Flower is from Sweet Kiwi Crochet on Ravelry here. Add a touch of glitz with a rhinestone button and it's a soft, warm headband for the upcoming Winter.
This bride is ready!


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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is evaluating coffee roasteries around the country for elevated levels of diacetyl, a compound that can be released from unflavored coffee beans, especially when they are roasted and ground. The chemical has been linked to breathing problems. The results from […]
USDA denies big poultry's request to speed up slaughter line
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied a petition by the National Chicken Council to remove the line speed limit on work at some slaughterhouses. Last fall, the council petitioned the USDA to allow plants that operate under the New Poultry Inspection System a waiver that would remove the current limit of 175 birds per […]
Report: New York construction deaths reached 14-year peak in 2016
According to a union-backed study released this week, construction deaths in New York state hit a 14-year high in 2016. According to the report, New York is one of the top 10 states with respect to rate of construction fatalities. Falls remain the leading cause of such deaths. News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Auto parts manufacturer fined $129K following fingertip amputation
Fed-OSHA has fined German auto parts manufacturer HP Pelzer more than $129,000 for hazards cited at its Thomson, Georgia plant following an amputation accident last year. An employee's fingertip was severed in August while the employee was removing a gear box motor from an energized scissor lift. The plant produces molded-resin cotton fiber acoustical insulation […]
Connecticut: New London police station inspected for mold
Recent heavy rain, and a complaint to Conn-OSHA by the city police union, has prompted an inspection of the troubled New London, Connecticut police headquarters for mold. The Day (New London, Conn.)
Fed-OSHA investigating fatal fall at Nebraska worksite
Fed-OSHA is investigating the fatal fall of a Hastings, Nebraska construction worker. The 39-year-old man reportedly fell about 80 feet at a fertilizer plant construction site last week. U.S. News & World Report
Fed-OSHA investigating fatal tire shredder accident
A 26-year-old man died January 19 when he was pulled into a tire-shredder at a tire recycling plant in Sheldon, Texas. Fed-OSHA is investigating. New York Daily News [with video]


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By the time we arrived in Prague, we were starving. After some trouble getting to our hotel, we finally got checked in, got some food and felt good enough to go out walking.
Something most people don't realize is that big trips like this are exhausting. Getting between cities is confusing and tiring since you're carrying all your things with you (and no matter how light you pack that still gets heavy), you don't speak the language and something always goes wrong. So that's why we had to see how we felt before going out that night. Sometimes you need to stay in for a bit and recover your strength to properly enjoy a trip.
So once we were sufficiently recharged, which of course included coffee for Vicky, we went strolling around Old Town. To no one's shock, Prague is still gorgeous. And the weather was excellent for an evening walk. It was a great combination for us.
The next day, we decided to take the royal walk through Old Town up to the castle. Since I've described this in detail before when I lived there, I'll just post some recent pictures of it.
From there, Vicky wanted to see my favorite park in Prague, Divoka Sarka. I was happy to oblige her. A couple hours in the park had us ready for dinner and an evening off of our feet.
The next day, I took her to the far less touristy Vysehrad. The park built on the remains of an ancient fortress was just the quiet, slow trip Vicky needed. Her Achilles tendon was hurting her and extended bouts of fast walking would have been disastrous. From there, we caught a tram to the park with the best view of the city, Letna Park.
After Letna, we spent the afternoon resting up before going out for a night visit to the river. This excellent decision helped Vicky feel better and us to see a small fireworks show.
The third day was a chill day. We had lunch at one of my favorite places in Prague, the Pivovarsky Club. Then we dropped by a laundromat, lest we have no more clean clothes to wear. Sporting better smelling clothes, we picked up dinner and headed for our hotel.
Our fourth and final full day took us out to Kutna Hora. I wanted to visit my old work area and Vicky wanted to see the bone church. Both were accomplished. And yes the bone church is still as cool and creepy as always.
The next morning, we caught an early bus headed for Salzburg and the beauty of the Alps!
Random funny story. As I've explained before, old Czech men often don't bathe. The results are aromatic in the extreme. In plain English, THEY STINK! I had the privilege of sitting next to one of these gentleman on a train and it made me wish for a baby. Why, you ask? So I could hold the baby facing the old man when it spit up due to the smell. Then covered in baby barf, the old troll might have actually had to take a bath involving soap!