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Payment for Ecosystem Services to foster innovative agribusiness
Payment for Ecosystem Services to foster innovative agribusiness
Indonesia has been working towards improving the standard of living, promoting gender equality, eliminating hunger, and achieving food security in recent years. Despite the progresses made on increasing the quality of life, the irresponsible exploitation of natural resources, on the other hand has taken its toll on the environment leading to rapid land degradation and deforestation.
Driven by the high demand of timber for domestic consumption and the international market, more than 70 million hectares of primary forest areas have been logged in the country since the 1970s. Large areas of forest that have been transformed into industrial plantations, while smallholder farmers resort to uncontrolled slash and burn techniques to expand their farms, further contributing to the loss of forest areas. Eventually these actions have not only decreased Indonesia's primary forest area, it has also made the country the third largest carbon emitter in the world, behind China and the United States.
One of the heavily deforested regions in the country is the province of Jambi which is located on the eastern coast of the island of Sumatra. Jambi is unique from an environmental and ecological point of view because it is home to four national parks which are rich in biodiversity. These national parks are also home to indigenous forest communities known as the Anak Dalam tribe that have dwelled and depended on the forest to sustain their livelihoods for generations.
However, the inconvenient truth enshrouding the province which has a total area size of 53,435.72 square kilometers, is the alarming rate of deforestation. Studies on deforestation trends and patterns in the region conducted by environmental organizations in the last five years indicated that at least one million hectares of primary forest area has been destroyed or transformed into farms and plantations. One study that surfaced in 2016 even indicated that forest areas the size of football fields are being cleared every day.
While the loss of primary forest areas in Jambi is a setback to environmental and conservation efforts, the underlying causes of deforestation linked to agricultural activities is a development dilemma. The agriculture sector alone contributes to 53 percent of Jambi's provincial income and creates employment opportunities for around 45 percent of its three million inhabitants. In the case of smallholder farmers, as the need for higher yields becomes increasingly important, more forests are encroached to open up new farmlands. As the remaining primary forests in Jambi are located in areas surrounding national parks, increased farmland expansion is slowly creeping the last bastions of biodiversity in the province.
In hindsight, deforestation linked to smallholder farmers in Jambi closely resembles Garreth Hardin's "the tragedy of the commons" theory. Actions by individual farmers in opening new lands from forest areas might not present a significant threat to the environment, however when done collectively the results can be destructive.
To avoid this "tragedy", simply telling farmers to stop cutting down forest is not enough. Developing good agricultural practices to increase productivity without expanding the area of farmlands combined with promoting alternative sustainable livelihoods are approaches that could answer the development dilemma in Jambi. Most importantly, commodities produced by smallholder farmers that contribute to preserving the environment must be recognized by providing incentives that would decrease their need to carve out more land from the forest.
Payment for Ecosystem Services
Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is the fundamental starting point of the implementation of Rikolto in Indonesia's Green Economies programme. PES is a cost-effective means to compensate indigenous communities, landowners, and/or farmers for their environmental maintenance and provision of ecosystem services. Many smallholder farmers contribute significantly to sustainable practices without being paid for their ecosystem services. For instance, a farmer who looks after agroforestry systems on a mountain range helps to diminish the potential of natural disasters such as forest fire, landslides or soil erosion. Therefore, PES emerges as the best agricultural payment method by identifying commodity chain actors, donors, and government partners who are willing to reward these services so that positive impacts such as river system restoration, wildlife protection, and sustainable agriculture practices as well as inclusive and sustainable business can be attained.
Considering Rikolto's long-standing presence in Indonesia, there is a crucial requirement to implement a conservation initiative to ensure the sustainable source of agricultural commodities. In collaboration with farmer organisations such as Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative, Tanai Sakti Alam Kerinci (TAKTIK), Rikolto carried out the initial PES programme in Kerinci Seblat National Park in Jambi, on April 2017. Specifically, the development of a cinnamon chain in Kerinci district, and coffee chain in Kerinci and Merangin districts are priority commodity chains to ensure sustainable agriculture and inclusive business.
Our Strategies
- Encouraging sustainable agricultural practices and intercropping;
- Strengthening farmers' business skills through business-based farmer organisations in protected forest landscapes and watershed corridors (GAP, ICS, organisational management, marketing, business, information, network management);
- Promoting the PES model through collaboration with existing partners focusing on green economy within protected forest areas while building complementary partnerships with private sector/institutions as compensation for farmers who practice sustainable agriculture;
- Promoting access to finance schemes for smallholder farmers; and
- Supporting national commodity platforms to facilitate/mediate all commodity stakeholders to develop innovative, inclusive and profitable business model.
What we have achieved so far
In 2018, we continued to promote the PES model (restoration of watershed and wildlife corridors) to various key actors, such as the Plantation Department of Kerinci and Merangin Districts, Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes), NGOs, FO and buyers. As a result:
Provincial government of Jambi supported and endorsed our work in the area
Our partner, Barokah, gave 25,000 shade tree seedlings to 250 coffee farmers. Planting shade trees around coffee trees has several benefits, including pest-control, soil improvement and water retention
We collaborated with private sectors and local government to revive TAKTIK. Government agreed to pay the organic certification costs, while two buyers showed commitment to buy 150 tons of organic cinnamon from TAKTIK.


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Despite its image of rapid technological change, progress under capitalism has stalled. Spinning ever faster is not the same as going somewhere. Contemporary Accelerationism wants to take off the brakes, and it is enlisting art's help to do so.
Taking its name (like every good movement) from one of its critics - Benjamin Noys claims credit for naming the historical tendency in 2008 - contemporary Accelerationism has both a philosophical and a political form with the latter only weakly related to the former. What Epistemic (philosophical) and Left (political) Accelerationism have in common is an attitude of "prometheanism", of amplifying our capabilities, of rationally overcoming intellectual and material limits. Of hacking the systems of philosophical and political thought to find the exploits that will allow us to increase our knowledge of them, our control of them, our reach through them. Hopefully this will work out better than it did for the original Prometheus of Greek myth (or for Ridley Scott).
Contemporary Accelerationism may seem heretical compared to the "folk politics" and philosophy that it contrasts itself with but it is not (however some people may start essays) the capital-intensifying Accelerationism of 1970s continental philosophy or its killer-robot-welcoming successor in 1990s cyberculture. From the point of view of the former it is too immediately critical of capitalism and from the point of view of the latter it is an off-ramp on the road to the singularity. It is also not the pure speed of Paul Virilio's dromology, or the experience of lack of time of the overworked neoliberal subject.
Cybersyn Control Room (1973)
Accelerationism is a progressive attitude towards the liberation of reason and production - and therefore selectively technology - rather than the fetishisation of them. The "real" accelerationists in these senses aren't working at Google, although they might in time exploit technology developed there. Chile's early 1970s Cybersyn project provides an informative precedent. It sought to accelerate transition to a socialist economy using limited and almost obsolete mainframe and teleprinter technology. Its Accelerationism lay in the attempt to rationally analyse and spur growth in industry to increase the rate at which it developed, not in technofetishism.
Epistemic Acceleration
Philosophical Accelerationism is "Epistemic Accelerationism", represented in the writing of Ray Brassier, Reza Negarestani, Peter Wolfendale and others. This is a neo-rationalist philosophy, a programme of "maximizing rational capacity" and the ability to reason about or navigate our knowledge of the world. This is a self-revising, non-monotonic, socially situated reason very different from the logicism of 20th century rationalism and its detractors (although logics have advanced considerably as well).
"After Us" magazine cover
Two new journals are taking an Epistemic Accelerationist approach to art and culture. In the UK, "After Us" shares a designer with former CCRU member Kode9's Hyperdub record label. In France, "Glass Bead" takes its name from Herman Hesse's imaginary game of knowledge described in his novel of the same name. Both are haunted by the legacy of C. P. Snow's 1950s "Two Cultures" of science and the humanities, with "After Us" explicitly invoking the need to reconcile them. This isn't the first time such a move has been called for, and previous attempts make clear that scientists tend to make as bad artists as artists make scientists. The contemporary artworld is also not under-populated by transversal and interdisciplinary research and its aesthetics. Regardless, both provide thought-provoking cultural insights and resources. And the first issue of Glass Bead features, among other articles and interviews, Colombean mathematician Fernando Zalamea, whose accessible promotion of contemporary mathematics and production of a synthetic philosophy based on it deserves much wider attention.
"On the Necessity of Art"s Exit from Contemporary Art " cover (2016)
Escaping the radial velocity of asset-class zombie formalism is the focus of Suhail Malik's "On the Necessity of Art's Exit from Contemporary Art" (I'll be reviewing the book for Furtherfield). Malik describes Contemporary Art's self-image of escape (from society and art's own limitations into a space of freedom) that disguises an inescapable and complicit recuperation of novelty. To move beyond this he proposes a strategy of exit (which contrasts interestingly with designer Benedict Singleton's discussion of traps). This is not a seasteading-style fantasy of libertarian secession, rather it is an attempt to identify the next move in the game of art after a long impasse and to return art to a more grounded and constructive role in society.
"Final Machine" installation view, Amanda Beech (2013)
A group centred around The New Centre For Research (whose events and video archives I cannot recommend highly enough) are seeking to apply neo-rationalism to art in order to effect just such an escape from the outsideless beige singularity of Contemporary Art. This would be an art intentionally constructed to make the rules of contemporary art and of its own construction explicit, allowing artists to reason about this and to thereby come to understand how to escape the seemingly irresistible aesthetic and political cage of contemporary art. Amanda Beech's "Final Machine" (2013) prefigures this kind of analysis of the structure of images and their situatedness in the networks of power that produce contemporary art. Diann Bauer's collaboration on the art and finance R&D project "Real Flow" is another good example. Bauer has also produced videos for Laboria Cuboniks (see below) and for accelerationism-related events. Beech, Bauer and others have held a series of discussion panels on the subject of "Art and Reason" (one) (two).
"Artificial Cinema" installation view (2016).
Curator and critic Mohammad Salemy has curated a series of art shows with Epistemic Accelerationist themes - "Encyclonospace Iranica" in Vancouver, "For Machine Use Only" in Vienna, and most recently "Artificial Cinema" in Prague. Each of these has created an artistic critical context for networked systems of perception and knowledge, engaging with the political possibility of their being repurposed to more emancipatory ends in the future.
"Index: Incident In The Museum", Art & Language (1986)
A self-aware, critical, politically committed art aware of its institutional context that is nonetheless still recognisable as art may sound like a stretch but there are precedents in the work of veteran conceptual art collective Art & Language, most obviously in their early "Index" installations and in their later "Incident In The Museum" paintings. There is another way in which Art & Language provide a precedent for the New Centre group - a decade ago they theorised genre as a means of interrupting the frictionless misrepresentations of Contemporary Art, similarly to Malik's (and, as we shall see, Beech's) emphasis on recategorisation.
Left Acceleration
Contemporary political Accelerationism is "Left Accelerationism", exemplified by the writing of Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams. Initiated by the "Manifesto For An Accelerationist Politics" and fleshed out in the book "Inventing The Future", Left Accelerationism claims that some of the technologies created by capitalism can be repurposed and even intensified to enable an achievable socialist future and unleash the creative forces in society that they currently repress. As Srnicek and Williams make clear in "Inventing The Future", this is not in opposition to other struggles but rather a means of materially supporting them.
As a group that often struggles with basic material support, the Left Accelerationist project can hold some appeal for artists. Universal Basic Income (pursued as Srnicek and Williams propose - within rather than as a reason to dismantle the rest of the Welfare State) for example would benefit artists (and musicians, actors and other creatives) in much the same way as earlier welfare state provisions. Artists can support this, rather than having to make the specific moral case for artworld subsidies, as an effective means of solidarity.
"The Promise Of Total Automation" installation view (2016)
Full automation, another of Srnicek and Williams' proposals, is the theme of the show at Kunsthalle Wien. The diverse work included drives home that art and curation needn't be propagandistic, uncritical or overly serious to promote or engage with Accelerationist themes.
In their essay in the book "Speculative Aesthetics" (2014), Nick Srnicek proposes an Accelerationist aesthetics of transforming a "data sublime" into forms comprehendible by human beings, an aesthetic of user interface-style efficiency and transparency rather than beauty. The example Snicek gives is of transforming a complex economic model into a tool for the manipulation of economies. In the same volume, Amanda Beech (again) argues that rather than "asking what images mean, or if it is possible to mean what we say" we should produce an art that leaves behind the category of the uncategorisable in order to unravel the political project that contemporary art is subject to.
Likewise Alex Williams' consideration of Accelerationist aesthetics in the article "Escape Velocities" (2013) emphasises aesthetics as a means of presentation of conceptual spaces, rendering them tractable to the human imagination, as well as explicitly discussing interface aesthetics with reference to Cybersyn. They also mention the concept of Hyperstition, which we will return to below.
Xenofeminism GIF, Diann Bauer (2015)
Laboria Cuboniks are a pseudonymous collective who have produced the "Xenofeminism" accelerated feminist manifesto. It's a strikingly designed production (the website was designed by artist Patricia Reed) that is already inspiring artistic production. The "3rdspace" show describes itself as "a response to XF and an exploration into the potentials of technology to escape modern structures of control", building on Promethean themes.
Additivist Manifesto (2015)
Morehshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke have produced the Additivist Manifesto for art in the Anthropocene (the video for it features the "Urinal" 3D printable model I commissioned from Chris Webber). They "...call for you to accelerate the 3D printer and other technologies to their absolute limits and beyond into the realm of the speculative, the provocative and the weird". This is the kind of acceleration through (and into) art that works as both epistemic and left accelerationism without merely illustrating the program of or being instrumentalised by either. It is accelerated critical theory.
Holly Herndon's album "Platform" (2015)
And beyond the visual arts, musician Holly Herndon's most recent album was described by collaborator Mat Dryhurst as being designed to support Left Accelerationism.
While contemporary accelerationism is at pains to signal how far removed it is from CCRU-era Nick Land (let alone their contemporary work), the CCRU's instrumentalised mythological theory-fiction has resources that are of interest. The slippery concept of "hyperstition", essentially self-creating science fictional or mythical entities, is key. Cyberspace is hyperstitional, as was the writing of H. P. Lovecraft, as was Neoliberalism, and the music of Hyperdub. They are all unreal entities that bootstrapped themselves into reality via the human imagination. Hyperstition is an example of rational irrationality, or at least rationalised irrationality.
"Hyperstition" movie still (2015)
Seeking to harness hyperstition for a moral or political programme has something of the air of trying to summon Cthulhu for social justice, or to turn Skynet into a phone tree, but Williams' "Escape Velocity" mention of Hyperstition as a means of creating visions of a better future as something that will have been possible is compelling. Hyperstition should be more (mis-)used in art than it currently is, and its creation all but demands activity outside the existing artworld.
"Hybridized" video sleeve, Orphan Drift (1999)
International art collective (and CCRU collaborators) Orphan Drift's autopoietic mythologies realised in glitch art videos, installations and writing provide a historical point of reference here.
"Cyclonopedia" cover (2008).
The earlier work of Reza Negarestani serves as a bridge between the CCRU era and the present. His novel of theory-fiction "Cyclonopedia", 2008, evokes hyperstitional entities from the layers of trauma present in the politics and geology of oil and the Middle East.
In art, reason and rationality may inspire memories of dry conceptualism or stern Soviet abstraction but contemporary art's hidden and totalising rules are no less binding and are in desperate need of exposure and critique. The task of uncovering and overcoming them presents a challenge to perception and representation that meeting will amount to much more than "art about art". Perhaps we can use Deep Learning and neural nets to pull the ghosts of genre and medium specificity out of contemporary art then intensify them rather than make puppyslug kitsch... but that's another story.
Left Accelerationism's design tasks and the hyperstitional making of its future seem to have always been possible provide more challenging alternative projects to the manufacturing of yet more zombie formalism, and as "The Promise Of Total Automation" demonstrates this needn't take the form of uncritical propaganda.
In contrast to these approaches, I feel it's worth asking what a direct equivalent to Left Accelerationism for Contemporary Art would look like. Which aspects of the contemporary artworld would be worth intensifying, appropriating and pushing further to create an alternative? And what would the vanishing point for such an art be in order to avoid recuperation into the generic space of Contemporary Art?
Accelerationist art is working out how to climb over the event horizon of contemporary art, helping to make a better future seem possible, analysing and transforming technocapital, and ironically intensifying the trajectories of new technology to critical excess. As the logic of neoliberalism colonizes personal space, time and identity, suggesting that we need to move faster in any way may seem perverse or complicit. Accelerationist art is part of a project to grab the wheel rather than slam on the brakes and to thereby move beyond the exhausted constraints and artistic apologetics of the logic that is eating the world.
(Updated 2016-05-18 to include more examples.)
Accelerationist Art by Rob Myers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

subset: commoncrawl


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Are you getting bored of your current job? Then don't wait and try these below options and enjoy being a product tester. The article speaks about 5 very interesting product tester jobs that might make you love them.
If you love playing around with products and understand how things work, this article is just for you.People who are Product testers are hired by huge marketing firms for the new product launches for their products.
They want to hire people who can test the products for them and provide them feedback before they are actually launched to the target audience. The fun with this kind of job is that you get many chances to try out on new products before they are used by the common man. Though many firms give the products as payment but some of them offer an extra amount of testing too.
1. Cosmetics Product Tester
For some of the girls, it will definitely be a dream job. If you are put up somewhere near to your favorite lipstick brand, make sure you visit their headquarters. Nowadays a lot of brands target people to test products and in return, they give the same products as a hamper.
Many beauty and fashion magazines ask for details for contests. Once you fill out your details you get the sample at your door step. You are also at times expected to be a reader tester. With cosmetics like any other product has various factors to judge about. Is the durability good? Is the look coming out perfect? How long can it be there? And much more. All these answers will be answered on testing each of the products. Are you still thinking or ready to give a shot?
2. Consumer Taste Tester
Companies either contact their customer base or set up a taste panel. If you are a tastemaker at home, you can log in to their site and provide the opinion about any food. In this way, Taste testers help companies and firms to fine tune their products and then launch them in the market. If the feedback is really bad then they have a chance to save their brand image and reputation which is very important for the taste servers!
3. Luxury Car Test Driver
This is yet another full day job but people who are in love with cars and also have an urge to get that royal pleasure are a perfect fit for this job. The luxury car test driver takes the car off track into a private course and drives it to understand if it can be driven on the field or not. Of course, you need to understand the technical aspects for which you can get yourself trained! What can be better than driving a BMW, Ferrari or Porsche and also getting paid for it?
4. Professional Beer Taster
This is an actual job and the responsibility of the Beer tester is to travel to the supposedly bars and pubs and check if the beer has not changed its taste.
It means that ensuring that the beer is stored in the right vessels, kept at right temperatures and served correctly. It's not just the taste but the presentation too. Due to all these factors, the task can be a full day hectic job. People who are beer testers check the aroma, taste, clarity etc. before the first serve is done.
5. Video Game Tester
The product testers can perform the tests on the products at their own home or visit the nearest headquarters. A lot of companies have come with the idea of making the test suites run by the audiences to get the real responses. Only some companies hire people in permanent jobs to do the task. Microsoft often posts invites to such events where they ask the general public to use the software and if your answers to the questions are approved, you can take home the software. Isn't that cool?


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Actually, Ed what some of us watching your video are thinking is this:
"I can't believe you are doing this! You're a pastor, who communicates to people. The head of Fellowship Church…"
"Who cares if a lot of young leaders are using words like "sucks, and screwed and hell and damn." What some of us think is that this little rant of yours is just an attempt to "be cool" - the same motivation you accuse them of with their filthy language."
Yes, we do have the opportunity to communicate the joy, the mystery of the Gospel of Christ, but it sure isn't rules about what words you can and can't say, or do you have an approved list somewhere on your blog?
You say we aren't taking the time to think through how we need to communicate? How about not using enough common sense to shoot a video while driving your car? You don't want to offend me with your language? You've offended me with your video.
Sticks and stones may break bones, words may inflict wounds, and your inattentive driving may kill people.
Be careful, that's what I'm saying. Be wise as a serpent, Ed, and harmless as a dove.
3 comments:
- Jon Reid said...
My favorite part is when he uses both hands to make "quotes" in the air.
- June 3, 2009 at 2:39 PM
And bringing a tank on stage during a Sunday morning worship service...that didn't have anything to do with trying to be cool right?
- June 4, 2009 at 12:40 PM
- Brad Gartman said...
pot calling kettle black
- September 9, 2009 at 6:40 AM
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Author : Kaitlyn Ross.
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If you're having low back pain the question you should ask is "what is generating the pain"?
When you come to our office,we will do orthopedic and neurologic tests that will try to narrow in on exactly where the pain is coming from. many times the pain generator can be determined by doing these tests. Sometimes x-rays or an MRI is needed to further evaluate your lower back.
Why live in pain? Call our office at 309 663-2423 and let's get started getting rid of your pain.
Go ahead and take a look at the categories below for more information for common back problems.


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About Us
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Kelly Sweeney McShane
June 26, 2013
Successful Mergers: Two CEOs Talk Shop
For many years, and especially since the economic downturn reduced their grant making budgets, funders have been urging nonprofits to merge. Proponents of merger often cite duplication of effort among grantees and the presumed economic efficiencies that can be gained from having larger organizations.
Read more
Community of Hope
N Street Village
Karen FitzGerald
Kelly Sweeney McShane
Schroeder Stribling
June 08, 2010
Meyer Celebrates Five Superhero Executive Directors
The superhuman efforts of nonprofit leaders were the focus of the Meyer Foundation's 2009 Exponent Awardscelebration, held on Monday, June 7 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Northwest Washington.
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Exponent Awards
Lindsey Buss
Ana Lopez
Kelly Sweeney McShane
Jonathan Smith
David Andrew Snider
Martha's Table
Community Bridges
Community of Hope
Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Young Playwrights' Theater
Julie Rogers
Barbara Krumsiek
October 05, 2009
Foundation Honors Nonprofit Execs For Visionary Leadership
The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, a private foundation serving the Greater D.C., region, announces the recipients of its 2009 Exponent Award. The award recognizes outstanding nonprofit leadership in the Greater Washington, DC region and includes $100,000 for the recipient's organization.
Read more
Exponent Awards
Lindsey Buss
Martha's Table
Ana Lopez
Community Bridges
Kelly Sweeney McShane
Community of Hope
Jonathan M. Smith
Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
David Andrew Snider
Young Playwrights' Theater
Julie Rogers
Daring to Lead


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I know you didn't get a blog post from me for the last couple off days but what I've posted so far this month should be enough Hip Hop History to keep you going for a while.
But I ain't done yet! Today I want to shine the spot light on the Universal Zulu Nation. Its the 40th Anniversary of this powerful, global Hip Hop organization. It's main outlook is simple: Peace, Love, Unity, and safely Having Fun!
Big shouts out to Afrika Bambaataa and the other Hip Hop pioneers who formed the Zulu Nation.
The Atlantis (Atlanta) Chapter of the Zulu Nation is having its annual celebration coming up this Sunday. Check out the flyer below:
Let's Make It Happen!!!
Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist


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A woman has reportedly thrown her pet cat out on the streets for being gay.
In a bizarre tale which has gripped the town of Lafia, a seven-year-old moggy named Bull has been cast out for apparently having homosexual tendencies.
The middle-aged woman claims that Bull has engaged in 'unnatural sexual behaviour' and has been making advances to other male cats in the house even though there are female cats present.
The unnamed woman told Nigerian newspaper Leadership she finds the behaviour 'disturbing and a contradiction of the laws of nature'.
Having publicly declared the cat as gay, she added: 'Anybody interested in this gay cat can have it because I have no further use of it.'


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We've met the rigorous membership standards of The Giving Institute, the nation's research and thought leader on philanthropy. Our consultants hold leadership positions in organizations promoting philanthropy and are invited to speak at local, regional and national nonprofit events on nonprofit fundraising and trends. Let us put our experience to work for you.
Get to know our team. Talk to our clients. Become our next success story. We look forward to helping you meet your fundraising goals.


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Tourist in your Own Town # 8 - The Manhattan Bridge
Tourist In Your Own Town # 8 - The Manhattan Bridge from New York Landmarks Conservancy on Vimeo.
We are very pleased to present the eighth installment of our video series encouraging New Yorkers and visitors alike to discover the rich abundance of remarkable New York City landmarks that surround us each and every day.
This month we celebrate New York City Bridges by visiting the landmark Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade on Canal Street. But why stop there? You can walk or bike across the Manhattan Bridge using one of its two pathways. It offers amazing views of Lower Manhattan and the East River. You can enter off Canal Street in Chinatown or in DUMBO on the Brooklyn side.
More ways to watch: Our videos are now on Vimeo, in addition to YouTube and Facebook. Stay tuned for our next Tourist In Your Own Town video coming in April!
Through our financial and technical programs and our advocacy, the Conservancy works to preserve New York's exceptional architectural legacy – the iconic buildings and historic neighborhoods – that define this vibrant and extraordinary City.


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This specialty residency is a 12 month postgraduate program offered by the USC School of Pharmacy and the affiliated practice of Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. This program is designed to give the resident a broad range of experiences in infectious diseases pharmacotherapy, research, and teaching. The LAC+USC Medical Center is a 600-bed academic teaching hospital, Level-One Trauma Center, with a diverse range of critical care units. It primarily serves a medically underserved population, including a large immigrant population, thus the resident will be exposed to a diverse variety of cases including common and unique infectious diseases.
Upon completion of the program, the resident should be able to pursue an infectious diseases clinical pharmacist position.
Clinical Practice
The resident will be an active participant in Infectious Diseases related clinical services to the institution including providing patient care and administrative services. Patient care services include: Infectious Diseases Consult service, Antimicrobial Stewardship service, and other elective rotations, including critical care or internal medicine. During each rotation, the resident will be attending daily rounds with the physician teams, critically assessing clinical and therapeutic management of patients, and attending grand rounds or case conferences.
The resident will also participate in institutional administrative meetings for Antibiotic Subcommittee and Infection Control/Epidemiology. At the meetings, the resident will present data on antimicrobial use within the institution, recommendations for formulary changes of anti-infectives, antibiogram trends, and policies or protocols developed to improve effective antibiotic use within the institution.
Learning Experiences
The resident will receive coursework and seminars in the following areas:
- Teaching methodology culminating with a Teaching Certificate
- Physical assessment
- Advance Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Research methods
- Review of clinical therapeutics
- Professional development and leadership workshop
The resident will lead case conference discussion as part of the Therapeutic modules at the USC School of Pharmacy. Other teaching opportunities include, but are not limited to:
- Didactic lecture at the USC School of Pharmacy in the Infectious Diseases Therapeutics module
- Developing case studies for the Infectious Disease module
- Co-precepting pharmacy students and PGY 1 Pharmacy Practice Residents on clerkship rotations
- Providing regular education or inservices to the housestaff
The resident will be involved with all aspects of conducting research, including development of study design, IRB submission, data collection and analysis, manuscript submission for publications, and abstract submission for national infectious diseases meetings.
Contact Us
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:
Emi Minejima, PharmD
Infectious Diseases Program Director
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
University of Southern California
School of Pharmacy
1985 Zonal Ave
Los Angeles, California 90089-9121
Telephone: (323)-409-6644
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
William C. Gong, PharmD, FASHP, FCSHP
Director, Residency and Fellowship Programs
Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
University of Southern California
School of Pharmacy
1985 Zonal Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90089-9121
Telephone: (323) 442-2625
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com


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Movie- Geneticist couple Elsa and Clive have successfully spliced together the DNA of different living animal organisms and created a pair of hybrids named Fred and Ginger, a scientific breakthrough that promises to yield great medical benefits. However, they are not satisfied, and wish to create creatures with human genetics. Against the wishes of their employer, they clandestinely create a human hybrid with DNA from all kinds of animals. Elsa treats the creature like a daughter, putting it in dresses, teaching it language, and naming it Dren. As Dren begins to get older (and more aggressive), Elsa and Clive move her to Elsa's abandoned childhood home, a farmhouse and barn with plenty of room to hide Dren. Meanwhile, the Fred and Ginger experiment goes horribly, publicly wrong, with disturbing implications for Dren that earn this movie's R rating.
Dren's character design resides squarely in the uncanny valley, by turns beautiful and ineffably creepy. Without spoiling anything, the relationships among the characters in this film are really twisted and the movie's end is quite graphic. I enjoyed the suspense and quiet build-up of the earlier half of the film more than the series of increasingly unpleasant events that make up the latter half of the film, though I suspect many who typically enjoy films in the horror genre will relish the ending. Splice will appeal to fans of other films with genetic experiments gone wrong, such as Jurassic Park and The Fly.


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Weekend Activities
Complimentary Kayak Hire with Weekend Breaks!
Stay in our cottages in 2017 and enjoy complimentary kayak hire with your rental*.
Fermanagh Lodges are perfectly located in the heart of the Lakelands to spend an activity weekend. A weekend break in one of our cottages starts at £270 and the house sleeps 8 people plus a baby in a cot. This price includes all bed linen, towels, electric, central heating, logs for wood burning stove, complimentary sit on top kayaks, paddles and buoyancy aid's to use from the lake shore and wireless internet connection.
Take your complimentary sit on top kayak which comes with your cottage reservation and spend an afternoon exploring the myriad of islands Upper Lough Erne has to offer. Visit nearby Gad Island with its lookout tower, or the Hari Krishna Island for a cultural experience. Just down the road our cottage is the Share Discovery Village which offers a wide range of land and water based activities.
One weekend won't be long enough!


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CRUSHfanzine is a quarterly, New York and Paris based fanzine that explores the exquisite details of obsessions.
Once someone told them, "You really don't love me, maybe you're just obsessed. Maybe it's just a crush". Even though they shed a quiet tear, they knew it was true.
I've been an intern of Crush Fanzine since 2009. During that time I worked on the production of their issues as well as contributed to the content. Eventually I was hired to redesign the website . Currently I'm developing an online store for the fanzine CF-Lab.


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There are three keys to a genuine weight loss (real fat loss ) plan – diet, exercise, and metabolism correction. All three keys interconnect – one will not work without the other. Your metabolism is the most powerful of all the three keys – it is the 'switch' that controls everything else. In most people this switch is off.
Metabolism problems such as slow thyroid, type 2 diabetes, sluggish liver, hormone imbalances, PCOS, endometriosis, infertility, and digestive problems such as constipation, IBS, and diverticulitis will limit or stop your weight loss, no matter how much dieting or exercise you do. Work on fixing your metabolism problems for amazing results. Combine this with a reasonable diet (under eating is worse than overeating ) and a reasonable amount of exercise (too much exercise is as bad as no exercise ), and you will get the best, the fastest, and the easiest weight loss ever.
The System 10 plan includes:
An analysis of your metabolism, highlighting the weak areas that may be stopping or limiting your weight loss.
Dietician designed highly balanced food plans of normal, natural foods, no pills, bars, or shakes.
An exercise plan — home (walk, jog, or bike ) or gym plan including toning.
Nutritional supplement recommendations to rapidly repair your system.
Private weigh-ins, motivational tips, and support throughout the programme.
System 10 can guarantee that every pound you lose is a pound of fat (you don't lose water or muscle like most plans ). You will lose 2 to 3lb every week, and because this programme is designed to speed up your metabolism, you will keep the weight off when you finish your plan. Programmes available for men and women.
Contact Grace on 087 1727882 for an appointment and information on Galway clinics.


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Intergraph G/Technology Fiber Optic Works is an advanced telecommunications GIS that provides location-based information and capabilities that enhance the complete life cycle of civil infrastructure and fiber network management – from design and construction through maintenance and operations. It supports geospatial infrastructure management needs throughout the enterprise, from back office to the field.
Fiber Optic Works maintains a definitive source of reliable, location-based information describing the facility network and its connectivity that can be shared with users and systems across the business.
Its feature-rich interface helps plan, connect, and deploy fiber networks, supporting full tracing capabilities, fault analysis, and path redundancy. It is able to assess, manage, and track the status of projects, equipment, and connections and coordinate with other systems to model the full engineering life cycle.
The rich telecoms model is ready to use out-of-the-box, maintaining extensive attribution about each fiber device and conductor to track connectivity and supports OSS/NRM integration.


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Frequent Links
Eleven Seven Music
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009)
|Eleven Seven Music
|File:Eleven Seven Music logo.jpg
|Allen Kovac
Universal Music Group
RED Distribution
Warner Music (Latin America/Europe)[1]
Hard rock
Alternative metal
|Country of origin
|United States
|New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California
|Official website
Eleven Seven Music is a record label founded by Allen Kovac, who is the CEO of 10th Street Entertainment.
Eleven Seven Music is a full service physical, digital and mobile independent record label operating with global sales, distribution and marketing capabilities. The label continues to build on its model of research-based marketing strategies targeted directly to the fans and building out from that base. Eleven Seven Music's expanding roster includes Mötley Crüe, Papa Roach, Escape The Fate,[2] Drowning Pool, Sixx:A.M., Vince Neil and Hellyeah. Driven by a core group of thought leaders, the independent mini-major has in-house marketing, promotion, publicity, new media, International, sales, tour marketing, production, video promotion, creative services, business management, web design, advertising, licensing, publishing, development and other services to support every release.
Eleven Seven Music, the cornerstone of the Eleven Seven Music Group, is the rock label of the year 2008 (FMQB) [3] and 2010 (Billboard) and Mediabase's #1 Independent Rock label,[4] taking hold on a good portion of the rock charts since its inception in January 2006. Recent releases include the #1 rock album from Motley Crüe, the Top 10 debut of Sixx:A.M.'s sophomore effort This Is Gonna Hurt, Buckcherry's Platinum and Grammy-nominated 15 and Drowning Pool's self-titled #5 Independent disc. The label also dominated the iTunes 2008 and 2009 Critics and Sales Charts appearing at the top of most of the rock categories
The Eleven Seven Music Group has the alternative/indie sub-label, Five Seven Music, operating under.
Current artist roster
- Apocalyptica[5]
- Art of Dying
- Buckcherry (EX-US Only)
- Drowning Pool
- Escape the Fate
- Five Finger Death Punch (EX-US only)
- From Ashes To New
- Hellyeah
- Mötley Crüe
- My Secret Circus
- Nothing More[6]
- Papa Roach
- Pop Evil (EX-US Only)
- Sixx:A.M.
- Vince Neil
- Deuce
Former artists
- The Blackout (US Only)
- Crossfade
- Cold
- Charm City Devils - active, with The End Records
- Everclear - active, with 429 Records
- Lit (no releases) - active, with Megaforce Records
- Marion Raven - active, with her own record label Blackbird Music
- The Last Vegas - active, with FrostByte Media
- Trapt [7]
See also
- ^ http://www.hardforce.fr/Hard-Force-News-Heavy-Metal.php?categories=Parlophone
- ^ http://hangout.altsounds.com/features/162304-lowdown-walk-talk-craig-mabbitt-escape-fate.html
- ^ Eleven Seven Named FMBQ rock label of the year
- ^ Eleven Seven Named Mediabase's #1 rock label
- ^ http://elevensevenmusic.com/eleven-seven-music-welcomes-apocalyptica/
- ^ http://loudwire.com/nothing-more-sign-eleven-seven-this-is-the-time-ballast-single/
- ^ Trapt Release New Single and Go Independent


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*** Update 16th Sept 2007 – I have now added a new 40D gallery processed with Adobe Lightroom. You can view it here.
*** Update 16th Sept 2007 – I have tested out the 40D's continuous shooting performance with a Sandisk Ultra II CF card and have updated the review. I thought it would be interesting to compare the result from this old relatively "slow" card by by today's standard with one of the fast CF cards widely available nowadays. Please scroll down to read it.
*** Update 15th Sept 2007 – I have tested out the 40D's continuous shooting performance with a fast CF card and have updated the review with a section near the end of the review. Please scroll down to read it.
*** Update 8th Sept 2007 – I have now added a section on "high ISO speed noise reduction test" comparing high ISO crops with noise reduction off and & on. You can scroll down to near the end of the review for this section.
*** Update 5th Sept 2007 – I have added a section for high ISO 100% crops comparison between the 20D and 40D due to many request. please scroll down to see the new section. I will also add more photos to the sample gallery later tonight.
Hong Kong was one of the first places to get the new 40D and I managed to get one soon after it hit the streets. I have previously written some initial impressions and did some test shots. I will leave the comprehensive technical review to publications like dpreview.com. I will be mainly concentrating on the design changes compared to the 20D/30D and new features and improvement in the 40D. After hearing many comments and questions, I hope this review will answer most of them. I will be mainly using my old 20D for comparison purposes. However, the 30D is identical to the 20D in many ways other than a larger LCD and addition of spot metering, most differences between these 2 cameras are very minor. So most of the comparison will apply to the 30D as well.The main changes and improvement with the 40D according to Canon are:-
1. 10.1MP APS-C CMOS sensor, compared to the 8.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor in the 20D/30D.
2. 3 or 6.5fps continuous shooting, compared to 3 or 5 fps in 30D and 5fps in 20D. Canon also claimed 30% greater focusing speed with the 40D.
3. 75 jpeg or 17 RAW burst, compared to 30 jpeg or 11 RAW with 30D and 23 jpeg or 6 RAW with 20D.
4. New AF sensors, 9 sensors, all cross-type, compared to 9 AF sensors only center sensor is cross-type in 20D/30D
5. Digic III image processor, Digic II in 20D /30D
6. 3″ LCD 230,000 pixels, 2.5″ 230,000 pixels LCD in 30D and 1.8″ 118,000 pixels in 20D
7. Live View mode.
8. Automatic sensor cleaning.
9. Increased size in viewfinder view.
10. Interchangeable focusing screen.
External appearance
The 40D is bigger and heavier than the 20D and 30D. You can see the difference in the following photos with the 40D next to the 20D.
The 40D looks even bigger with the battery grip attached
The most obvious difference at the back is of course the huge 3″ LCD of the 40D compared to the tiny 1.8″ LCD of the 20D. The difference of course is smaller compared with the 2.5″ LCD of the 30D. The layout of the buttons is different from 20D and 30D.
The most obvious change in external appearance compared to the 20D (and partially with the 30D) is of course the huge 3″ LCD at the back of the camera.
Changes in features and design
Besides different buttons layout on the back of the 40D compared with the 20D and 30D, there is a new AF-ON button now.
The AF-ON button has many functions.
- in the creative zones (P, Tv, Av, M and A-DEP modes), pressing the AF-ON button will have the same effect as pressing the shutter button halfway
- holding down the AF-ON button in Live View mode will lift the mirror and activate autofocus
The AF-ON button can perform different function depending on custom setting:-
a) during autofocusing, you can press the AF-ON button to stop autofocusing
b) in AI Servo mode, you can press AF-ON button to repeated start and stop AI Servo AF operation
c) press AF-ON button to meter and autofocus, and press the shutter button halfway to attain AE lock
d) you can disable the function of the AF-ON button
There are some obvious changes on the top of the camera too. The top LCD on the 20D and 30D does not permanently display the ISO setting, you need to press the ISO button before you can see the ISO setting. On the 40D, ISO setting is now permanently displayed. the layout of the buttons are slightly different too. ISO is now controlled by the right side button. On the 20D and 30D, ISO is controlled by the middle button.
The most obvious change with the shooting mode dial on the left side of the 40D is the addition of 3 camera user settings.
The hotshoe on the top is now stainless steel rather than black painted. The black paint of the hotshoe of the 20D and 30D would partially wear off. The new stainless steel hotshoe should be more hard wearing.
The 40D is now partially environmentally sealed. You can see the seal around the CF compartment. The material is a kind of "felt" rather than rubber.
The seal around the battery compartment is on the small removable door. The seal material is also made of felt.
You can use the rear 3″ LCD to display settings (as on the top LCD), like in the EOS 400D. Of course the EOS 400D does not have a top LCD to display settings.
Viewfinder improvement
According official Canon literature, the viewfinder view of the 40D is bigger and better than 20D and 30D:-
"The upgraded viewfinder increases optical magnification from 0.90x to 0.95x, expands the viewing angle from 25.1 degrees to 26.4 degrees and raises the eye point from 20mm to 22mm."
Well, I have no way of objectively measuring the size of the viewfinder, but my subjective impression comparing with the 20D is that, the viewfinder view is definitely larger. The following diagram represents my VERY SUBJECTIVE comparison of the sizes of the viewfinder view between the 40D and 20D.
One other major improvement with the viewfinder is that, ISO value is permanently displayed inside the viewfinder just like aperture and shutter speed. I would think this is a pretty low tech feature, but previously, Canon in their infinite wisdom, only kept this feature for their professional 1 series cameras.
Image Playback
There are some changes in image playback in the 40D, compared to the 20D and 30D.
Probably because of the increase to 3″, shutter speed, aperture and folder-file number are displayed even in the most basic review mode, a feature not present on either 20D or 30D
Press the INFO button once and the view include include image recording quality
Press the INFO button again will change the view to shooting information and B&W histogram
Press the INFO button once more, and you will get color and luminance histogram. Color histogram was not available in the 20D. In the 30D, luminance histogram cannot be displayed together with color histogram.
Auto ISO
One the new features in the 40D is the inclusion of auto ISO. I personally do not like using Auto ISO as I always prefer to set ISO myself. But for those who want to use auto ISO, the following will tell you how auto ISO behaves in different shooting mode. I have tested auto ISO in different modes and can confirm they behave as stated by Canon.
In most of the auto shooting modes in the BASIC zone (Full Auto, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait,Flash Off), ISO speed is set automatically within ISO 100-800.
In the Sports shooting mode, ISO is set between 400-800.
In the Portrait shooting mode, ISO is fixed at 100.
In P, Av and A-DEP modes, The ISO will be set between 400-800. If overexposure would result at ISO 400, a lower ISO, as low as ISO 100 will be set.
In Tv mode, normally ISO 400 is set. For very bright or dark scenes, ISO will be set automatically within 100-800.
In M mode, ISO is fixed at 400
With flash, ISO will be set to 400 in all shooting modes. If overexposure would occur, a lower ISO ,as low as ISO 100, will be set.
Automatic Sensor Cleaning
Predictably, Canon has added this feature to the 40D, as it has been already included in the low end 400D since last year.
The automatic sensor cleaning operates every time you turn the camera on and off. You can also activate sensor cleaning at any time in the menu.
If automatic sensor cleaning cannot remove all the dust, you have to option to take a "dust map" and let the software during post-processing to remove the erase the dust spots in the images during post-processing. Unfortunately, this only works with Digital Photo Professional and not with any 3rd party RAW conversion software.
Shutter/Mirror Noise
The 20D has a very loud shutter/mirror noise. The 40D shutter mirror noise is much quieter. The quality of the noise is different too. The 20D noise sounded like a very loud "CLARRK". The 40D sounded like a subdued "claff". As I don't have a sound meter, I can't give you an objective measure, but subjectively, I would say the shutter/mirror noise of the 40D is about 30% volume of the 20D. Overall, a very welcome reduction.
Changes in Menu Structure
The menu structure has changed compared to the 20D/30D. In the 20D/30D, after you press the MENU button to access the camera's menu, all the different choices are arranged in one long list and you turn the large scroll wheel ( Quick control dial) on the back of the camera to find the item you want.
In the 40D, the items are now broken up into different parts, which you can first select and access by either using the Multi-controller at the back of the camera or the Main Dial behind the shutter release button.
Internal Flash Settings
One new and little known or publicized feature of the 40D is that there is a separate menu for flash function settings for the internal flash. You can set curtain sync to 1st or 2nd curtain, use Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) and set different metering mode for ETTL-II. Since there is another menu for external flash, you can now now have different flash function settings for the internal and external flash since there are 2 separate independent menus.
Camera User Settings
The 40D has 3 custom user settings. You can preset a certain set of shooting modes and custom function to one of the three Custom User Setting position (C1, C2, C3 on the shooting mode dial). Say you can set M shooting mode, Long Exposure Noise Reduction and Mirror Lock Up in the custom menu and then register this combination to one of the 3 Custom User Setting position. So for example, you can have one set of setting for shooting long exposure night photography and set it ti C1. Another set of setting for shooting fast action sport and set it to C2 and yet another set of setting for shooting portrait and set it to C3.
My Menu Setting
You can select up to 6 of your most commonly used menus or custom functions and register it to your My Menu setting.
Live View
One of the new features in the 40D is Live View. You will need to first make the appropriate settings in the custom menu before you can use Live View.
To enable autofocus in Live View, you will also have to make enable it in the custom menu.
Once you have made the correct setting in the custom menu, you can activate Live View at any time by simply pressing the SET button.
There is a small rectangle which you can freely move around. This rectangle represents the area which you can magnify by up to 10x to assist with accurate manual focusing.
To use autofocus during Live View, you will need to have set AF to the center focusing point only. Simply press and hold the AF-ON button for a second or so until you hear a "beep", then release the button again. The camera will lower the mirror to get autofocus and raise the mirror again after you release the AF-ON button.
A few words about "Silent Shooting" mode in Live View. Silent in Silent mode does NOT really mean silent as in no sound at all. Silent in silent mode is really just a "quieter" mode or "delayed" noise mode. There are 2 Silent shooting modes.
In mode 1, you can shoot single shoot or continuously for up to 6 shots per second. Since the mirror is up, there is only the shutter noise, which is probably subjectively around 30-40% of the usual shutter+mirror noise. In mode 1, if you shoot continuously, you lose Live View as long as you are shooting.
In mode 2, you can only shoot single shot. When you press on the shutter release button the camera will take the shot with minimal noise. SO long as you keep your finger on the shutter release button, there will not be any shutter noise. The moment you release your finger though, the shutter noise will occur. This maybe the preferred mode to use if you are trying to shoot an insect or animal that may be scared away but the shutter noise. By delaying the shutter noise, you will be able to get your shot before the shutter sound will scare away your subject.
Highlight Tone Priority
This is a new feature in the 40D. As the term suggests, it is supposed to preserve highlight detail better. According to the information in the instruction manual, enabling this feature "Improves the highlight detail. The dynamic range is expanded from the standard 18% gray to bright highlights. The gradation between between the grays and highlights becomes smoother."
To enable this feature, you have to set make the setting in the custom menu.
With Highlight Tone Priority enabled, the ISO setting will be limited to 200-1600. ISO 100 and 3200 will not be available.
I have made some shots to test out this new feature. the following shot was shot with Highlight Tone Priority disabled, the subsequent shot was shot with Highlight Tone Priority enabled.
I can see a subtle increase in detail in the clouds in the second photo. I have taken other test shots for which I could not detect any difference between the photo with this feature enabled and the one without. For the moment, I have to say the effect of Highlight Tone Priority is subtle at best and the effect can quite easily to achieved during post-processing. However, I will reserve judgment until I have time to test out this feature more thoroughly.
Probably due to the fact that all 9 autofocus sensors are cross-type sensors in the 40D, autofocus with the peripheral sensors have much improved over the 20D/30D especially under low-light low or low contrast situation. Previously, with the 20D, it was very difficult to get the focus to lock on with the peripheral sensors under lowlight or low contrast scenes. The focusing would hunt quite a bit before being able to find a focus, sometimes, it would be impossible to focus with the peripheral sensors at all. With the 40D, all the peripheral sensors locked on focus almost instantly even under low light or low contrast scenes.
I have tested out the focus tracking using AI Servo mode and found the focus tracking to be good.
The following are 2 test sequences using AI servo. The first sequence showed tracking of bicycle.
The following sequence showed a car coming towards me. Note that autofocus was not fooled by the barrier on the side and there was a woman crossing the road at the end of the sequence and she did not affect autofocus on the car.
40D vs 20D test photos ISO 100 to 3200
I have gone through most of the important new and updated features of the 40D. In this section, I will post some test shots of 40D at different ISO settings with comparison to similar shots by 20D. In the following sequence, 20D will always be the first shot and 40D will be the subsequent shot.
High ISO 100% crop comparison
Due to many requests for 100% crop comparsion between the 2 cameras at high ISO, I have added this section. I have done 100% crops for ISO 800 to 3200. 20D crops are on the left side and 40D crops are on the right side
High ISO Speed Noise Reduction Test
The 40D has a new custom function that allows you to set noise reduction for high ISO. I have made some test shots comparing shots from ISO 800 to 3200 with noise reduction off and on. The following are 100% crops, the left side crops had noise reduction turned off and right side crops had noise reduction turned on.
New BG-E2N Battery Grip
40D can use and is fully compatible with the old BG-E2 battery grip. However, Canon has replaced the BG-E2 grip now with a new BG-E2N battery grip. This new grip can be used on the 20D, 30D or 40D.
Actually, from what I can see, there is no difference between the new and the old grip other than a provision for environmental seal around the battery compartment. There is no AF-ON on the new BG-E2N grip. The AF-ON button is only available on the new WFT-E3 wireless file transmitter grip. If you are keeping your 20D or 30D with the old grip attached, and you need a new grip for the 40D, then it's fine to buy the new grip to go with the 40D. But if you have a spare BG-E2 grip lying around doing nothing, then you don't really need to buy the new BG-E2N grip.
You can see the new and old grip together in the following shots.
In the old grip, there is no environmental seal around the battery compartment.
You can clearly see the environmental seal around the door of the battery compartment
Continuous Shooting buffer Performance
Canon officially quotes a 6.5fps continuous shooting performance of 75 jpeg or 17 RAW burst.
I have just bought a fast CF card today, a Kingston 8GB 266X Ultimate. I managed to shoot a continuous burst of 22 RAW burst before the buffer was filled and shooting slowed down. When I switched to jpeg, the 40D just continued shooting at 6.5fps without slowing down at all. It just went on and on and way past the official 75 jpeg burst. I decided to lift my finger off the shutter release anyway since I did not want to waste too many shutter counts. When I checked how many I have shot, I found out that I have actually shot 185 jpeg burst! And the buffer actually was not filled yet and I could have continued shooting at 6.5fps if I wanted. My guess is that, if you use a fast CF card, you can probably shoot continuously at 6.5fps until the card is full.
I tried the same test with my old Sandisk Ultra II 4G CF card, a relatively slow card by today's standard. The 40D shot a continuous burst of 20 RAW before the buffer was filled and shooting slowed down, 2 RAW burst less than with the Kingston 8GB 266X Ultimate. Still better than the official specifications quoted by Canon though. When I witched to jpeg, the 40D just continued shooting at 6.5fps without any signs of slowing down. Again even though there was no sign of the buffer filling up, I decided to lift my finger from the shutter release as I did not want to waste too many shutter counts. I found out that I have shot a burst of 181 jpeg burst, and remember that was not the limit as I could have continued shooting.
Overall, I think this is exemplary continuous shooting performance with the 40D.
40D Gallery
I will post some sample shots from the 40D here. They have only been resized and sharpened. No other post-processing was done. I will add to this gallery later when I have time.
You can see additional sample shots at the 40D gallery here.
*** Update – I have now added a new 40D gallery processed with Adobe Lightroom, you can view it here.
Personally, I think Canon has done a good job with the 40D and has upgraded and added many new useful features. Image quality wise, I don't think there is any significant differences between the 40D and 30D/20D. There is little difference in real resolution between a 10MP and 8MP sensor. In my opinion, Canon has managed to maintain the high ISO noise level while increasing the megapixel count. However, there was no major breakthrough in technology and the 40D is not lower in high ISO noise than the 20D or 30D. I have previously done some high ISO test comparing the 40D to 20D. You can see them here if you have not seen them yet:-
Canon 40D vs 20D high ISO test
Canon 40D vs 20D ISO 1600 Comparison
Overall, I think the 40D provide a nice feature upgrade over the 20D and 30D and at an attractive price. Whether it is worthwhile for you to upgrade to the 40D is something only you can decide for yourself. For me, I am really happy with the 40D. However, my 20D is still working fine and can still take great photos. So I will be keeping my 20D as a 2nd and spare body.


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My name is Claudia and I am a Jeni-Fit Warrior! My fitness journey started a little over 2 yrs ago. It was the summertime, I was determined to get a little more exercise in my daily routine. I had just started taking walks around the park with a good friend, who later became my working out "buddy" at Jeni-Fit and a successful Jeni-Fit warrior as well. Well, little did I know that one day I'd be driving on South Ave. and see the sign, Jeni-Fit Studios. What mainly caught my attention was the glass window with a figure on a bike. I had heard about indoor cycling/spinning classes and was curious if spinning was something I could do. I have some back issues and had been letting those issues interfere with getting exercise. I thought, what's so bad about sitting on a bike and pedaling, can't hurt? Truth be told, I was hooked after the first spin class. Those endorphins had broken through after that 45 minute spin class @ Jeni-Fit that summer day in July.
That September my friend and I decided to join Deflate Your Weight (DYW) together. That's really when the new chapter in my life started. The nutritional education, meetings, and support the DYW program had to offer was just what I needed to help me on my fitness journey. Trust me when I tell you, I had tried every type of weight loss program there is out there. But see, the difference between all those other weight loss programs and DYW is DYW teaches you how to eat healthier as a way of life, it's not just a "diet." To me a diet is something you do for a short period of time to lose weight. The DYW program taught me how to be in control of my eating habits, it taught me how to recognize my eating triggers, it taught me how to manage my time so that I can plan my meals ahead in advance, and more importantly DYW gave me the support no other weight loss program had ever done before. In addition, DYW offered the personal training, instructing, and coaching I had never had before using other diet programs & gyms.
I can't say enough about the Jeni-Fit classes. The classes at Jeni-Fit are small enough, so that you get the proper instruction and guidance you need to build your own endurance. The trainers/instructors are so supportive, but at the same time they each have their own individual way of getting you motivated. Whenever I leave any of my favorite Jeni-Fit classes, my endorphins are accelerated and I feel like I've accomplished something for myself.
I'm happy to say, I lost the 40 pounds I set out to lose when I joined Jeni-Fit and have gone down 3 pant sizes. That's not to say I am done on my fitness journey, I have other goals now with my fitness journey. However, my greatest accomplishment since joining Jeni-Fit is I've learned how to eat healthier as a way of life and more importantly, I've shown my son that anything is possible if you put enough effort and determination into something you really care about.
My advice to the future Jeni-Fit Warriors is: Don't Give Up! As I say with my Fit Sistas, there is no "magic pill." The only magic there is, is the magic that you create in your own transformation. "The hardest part is starting" but YOU CAN DO IT!


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Hello, Just Wondering
I'm new here. I would just like to know something, I won the Daler-Rowney iPhone App competition in October(I didn't have an account at the time). They sent me a message asking me to confirm my postal(I never gave them one), how would I do this. I actually created this account with the e-mail address that I used to enter the competition, thinking they might link the two; I gave my postal address to them in the account.
I really want to know because they say I get a paint set, which would be really handy, if you can help I'd really appreciate it.
Here is the link to the entry: http://www.daler-rowney.com/en/iphone-paintings
Dillon Brannick


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Originally published in Wikipedia by User:TheCapn Talk in 2013 and adapted for WWHP by Rome Viharo.
Written by 'The Capn'.
This little narrative is a work of fiction, designed to amuse (mostly myself) and reference WikiPedia issues I care about in a allegorical light. To those who get easily upset at such things, I'm not talking about you and I do not think there are actually murderous conspiracies diabolically plotting against innocent editors. That gives people too much credit.
Tumbleman: Chump or champ?
I pressed the button on the intercom.
"Sinebot," I said into the musty microphone, "could you bring me the files on the Tumbleman case?"
"Again? If you say so, boss," the intercom reluctantly squawked back.
I pushed the Barleybannocks file aside as the door creaked open and Sinebot staggered in carrying an armful of paperwork. She set down the mountainous file on my desk, which groaned in protest. It didn't like to work that hard. Who did?
The well-worn cover sheet informed me in type that it contained the case files for THE TUMBLEMAN. Scrawled under that was a cheerful note in Sinebot's handwriting that said LOST CAUSE.
"It's been years, Cap'n," she said. "You need to let the case go. He was probably guilty, anyway."
"Maybe," I said, "but of what? All anyone remembers now is the charge of sockpuppeting, but that wasn't even what he was b locked for. He was kicked off for competency or trolling issues, though no one was ever able to prove any intent or abuse. Not to mention he was blocked from speaking in his own defense…"
"Boss, this case has been closed for ages. No one cares anymore, why do you?"
"Because this blocking stinks to high heaven," I said, "and people do care. They care enough to use this case as a precedent and excuse to bump off anyone who crosses them. How many accounts need to take a dirt nap before I care? We've seen attacks on Oh Boy Chicken Again, Lou Sander, Iantresman, Shaynekori, Alfonzo Green and now Barleybannocks. All of them complain that something smells about the Sheldrake page, and all of them get stuffing knocked out of them shortly afterward. The ones throwing them out the window claim these folks are either all incompetent trolls or sockpuppets for Tumbleman. The question of whether that's actually accurate doesn't seem to bother anyone. Like I said, it stinks."
"Ever hear of Occam's Razor, boss?"
"Yeah," I said, frowning. "What about it?"
"If you keep turning your head looking for something that's more complicated than necessary, you'll cut your own throat."
"I'm not sure that's how that saying goes…"
"Well," Sinebot said, shrugging, "that's the way it is. There's nothing you can do but plenty you can lose."
With that philosophical finale she went back to the reception desk. I didn't hear her shut my door, but I did hear her words echo in my mind.
"Nothing I can do…" I muttered. My glass miraculously filled itself again, so I shot its contents down to be polite. She was probably right. The wise thing to do would be to shut up, ignore the Sheldrake case and find other work.
I've been called many things, but wise isn't one of them. An hour and eight phone calls later I found myself staring at a desk full of notes. The case was tricky, no doubt about it. The trouble was, Tumbleman hadn't gone down easy. They'd hit him hard, and the evidence on that first job was shaky as a house of cards. But the problem lay in the fact he'd gotten back up after they told him to stay down. I could blame them for that first hit, but it was hard to argue he hadn't defied them by coming back again and again.
Philosophy Fellow, Halfman Halfthing, No more scary monsters, each one a different alias he'd adopted after the previous had been blocked. I didn't see any evidence of him using two at the same time, but there was no denying he didn't accept his blocking lying down. Part of me respected that moxie. The other part counted the innocent editors who had been blocked with the excuse of possibly being another incarnation of Tumbleman. More innocents had fallen than Tumbleman aliases and I seemed to be the only sap who was bothered by the collateral damage. Well, maybe Tumbleman was, but no one was asking him.
I closed the file and sighed. Sinebot was right, it wasn't worth getting involved. Tumbleman had brought about his own demise, there was nothing to be done now, even if there should or could've been once. I had no horse in this race and too much to lose if the skeptical gang took aim at my little operation. I had my dingy office, my nonexistent clients, my surly receptionist…
My phone jangled on my desk, loud and demanding. Like Pavlov's dog, the clanging bell elicited an emotional response. I sure as hell wasn't salivating, though.
Read 'Investigating Dicks: The Wikipedia Noir Chronicles' by 'TheCapn'.


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DAVIS, Calif. - Fresh off the most successful season in program history, the Santa Clara University men's tennis squad is set to make one of its first tournament appearances of the year at the Aggie Invitational hosted by UC Davis. Three Broncos are set to compete in the weekend event.
Reigning West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year, Ilya Osintsev (pictured) is starting off his sophomore campaign with a splash. Ostinsev, ranked No. 103 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national singles rankings, received the No. 1 seed at the tournament. He will begin play today, Friday, Oct. 5, against Saint Mary's Toumas Mannel.
Back for his senior season, Tom Pham will begin fall play with a Friday match against Niranjan Ram of Sacramento State. Pham is coming off a 23-win season as a junior and was an All-WCC Honorable Mention honoree in both singles and doubles.
Eugene Muchynski, who had a breakout campaign as a junior, will begin his senior season with a Friday pairing against Gregory Bayane of Cal.
The Broncos also have a doubles team entered in the tournament. Muchynski and Pham were awarded the No. 2 seed and begin play against Sam Bloore and Thomas Hunt of Saint Mary's. Last season Muchynski and Pham paired together four times - all during dual matches - and posted a 2-2 record together.
The Broncos will compete through the weekend. Please check back for a tournament wrap up!


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Thu, December 5 2019
7 Kislev 5780
All Events
Dec 6BBYO Winter Convention
Friday, Dec 6th (All day)
Dec 6It's Friday Music Class
Friday, Dec 6th 10:00a to 11:00a
Sing and dance with Abe to welcome in Shabbat!
Dec 6
Friday, Dec 6th 6:30p to 9:30p
Lev Tahor blends the singing of the traditional liturgy of the Friday evening service with contemporary English readings and reflections. All are welcome to come as they are, from wherever they are, and enjoy the space created together. Part of the vision behind Lev Tahor involves bringing together different voices from our community to create a joyous, moving Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv experience for all of us. Whether or not you know the words, we hope you will join in. Humming and la, la, la always work as a way to add your voice to the community. There is no "right" way to participate. We are all building this community together. Lev Tahor services, held at 6:30PM on the first Friday night of the month, are followed by a dairy/pareve potluck dinner and program.
Dec 7Havurat Shabbat (Shabbat Hebrew School)
Saturday, Dec 7th 9:30a to 12:30p
Dec 7Family Torah & Shabbat Mishpacha
Saturday, Dec 7th 10:30a to 11:15a
Don't miss out! Join our mailing list.
Select PSJC News to get our weekly newsletter and other news from PSJC.
Thu, December 5 2019 7 Kislev 5780


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On May 11th, 2016 at 7 pm, Dr. Stephen Kane of San Francisco State University will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on: "Finding a New Earth: Exoplanets and the Habitable Zone" in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos, CA.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 16th year.
Over the past two decades, over 1500 new planetary systems have been discovered, many of which include planets quite different from those in our own Solar System. A key step towards finding "Earth 2.0" will be to identify rocky planets that occupy the "Habitable Zone" of their stars. Dr. Kane will describe what the idea of a Habitable Zone means and show examples of known planets that lie in their star's Habitable Zone (even if the star is not like our Sun.) He will show how comparative planetology can be used for determining those properties of alien planets that dominate habitability.
Stephen Kane has been researching planets around other stars for more than 20 years and has discovered and characterized hundreds of exoplanets, including Kepler-186f, which is the smallest planet yet to have been found in the Habitable Zone of a star. After spending many years working at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Kane is now a Professor of Astrophysics at San Francisco State University (SFSU). He is the Chair of the Kepler Mission Habitable Zone Working Group and the Director of the Planetary Research Laboratory at SFSU.
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The SETI Institute
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program.
They get large crowds for these talks, so they ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.
Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures
Posted by: Soderman/SSERVI Staff
Source: A. Fraknoi/Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series


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Myeloma destroys bone, causing pain or the collapse of bones. Symptoms may include:
- Anemia, from having too little iron in the blood
- Fatigue and weakness
- Infections that keep coming back
- Loss of height
- Problems with the kidneys
- Severe bone pain, especially in the back
- Sudden bone fractures, usually in the back, ribs, arms or legs
- Too much calcium in the blood from the breakdown of the bones
- Bleeding problems
- Confusion, vision difficulties and headaches (caused by blood not getting to the skin, fingers, toes and nose)
Causes and Risk Factors
The cause of myeloma is not known.
Slightly more men than women are affected by this condition, and it usually occurs in people 40 or older. It also affects twice as many African Americans as Caucasians.


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John Stanhope
Tesco pre-owned plans go UK-wide
Tesco's told MCV its expanding its used games sales operation to include all its smaller Extra stores.
John Stanhope headlines
Woolworths' ex-game boss John Stanhope signs on with Tesco
EUK's former games bossman John Stanhope has a new job with Tesco as its senior buying manager, says MCV. Stanhope was previously Woolworths' head of the commercial division before the chain went under in November 2008. Entertianment director for Tesco, Rob Salter, said that "John has the respect and trust of the industry and the […]


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"I played the wrong, wrong notes." ~ Thelonious Monk
My Fav Music Store
In the Clouds
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Category Archives: Music Instruments
Romero System Sax and Clarinet, in a Nutshell
Taken from the Woodwind forum mostly because a now deceased friend of mine said he would write this article for me. Instead Pete, one of the admins on the Woodwind forum did. A few days ago, I came across a … Continue reading
Posted in Clarinet, Hobbies, Music Instruments, Saxophone Tagged Romero System, Woodwind Forum Leave a comment
My Conn C Soprano Saxophone
One day, over ten years ago, I purchased a Conn C soprano sax. My intent was to cover an oboe part in a local community band. Shortly after I purchased this instrument, the band found an oboe player. Sarge, the … Continue reading
Posted in Music Instruments, My World, Saxophone Tagged Conn, soprano sax 4 Comments
Summer uke Project ~ Take One
"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…" ~ Susan Polis Schutz Some years ago I was called upon to recommend a ukulele for some cute girls from my sister Deb's in-law side of the family. … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Music Instruments, My World Tagged joe versus the volcano, John Patrick Shanley, susan polis schutz, uke 2 Comments
Brass and Winds ~ A Quinn the Eskimo Company
We rolled out a new web site this month. I blog there periodically and work to get my bestest friends and family as good a deal as I can on their instrument purchases. Check us out and let me know … Continue reading
Posted in Clarinet, Music Instruments, Saxophone Tagged brass & winds, Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns Leave a comment
My Conn Mezzo Soprano Sax in F
"Don't play the saxophone. Let it play you." ~ Charlie Parker It was the mid-naughts and I was flush with money. Those were the days. I purchased a one of a kind Eppelsheim bass sax and a Conn F mezzo … Continue reading
Posted in Music Instruments, Saxophone Tagged Charlie Parker, F sax, mezzo sax, Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns 1 Comment
"We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down." ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jim Schmidt, inventor, musician, and part mad scientist has been working on a very unique sax fingering system that takes linear … Continue reading
Posted in Music Instruments, Saxophone, Theory, YouTube Tagged Jim Schmidt, linear fingering system, neosax 2 Comments


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Fathers Day will soon be upon us and for anyone who hasn't been past a card shop to remind you of the date, this year it is Sunday 18th June. Now that little piece of information has most likely left half of my readers smug in their Daddy day purchases, and then the other half in a blind panic as they've not even thought about it yet. If you're in the former group then well done…..go enjoy a glass of wine and relax.
However if you're like me and usually running around at the last minute trying to find something, then don't worry. I have you covered as I take you through my last minute fathers day gifts which hopefully has something for everyone.
Now just to be clear, I'm not a fan of parenting books. I think every child is different and trying to pigeon hole them into categories is just going to make everyone miserable. Plant Parent by Mark Woods though is more than that. This is a humourous exploration of parenthood across the globe. Packed full of information as to how different cultures tackle topics such as fertility, pregnancy, newborns, food, development and schooling to name but a few. It's both a funny and interesting insight as to how each culture approaches parenthood. You never know, you may pick up some ideas along the way!
Stuck for what to buy because your Dad has everything? Then what about a bit of fun with the illumnibowl? Yep….you read right! As seen on Shark Bowl, the Illumnibowl fits any toilet and lights it up in the colour of your choice (or on a 9 colour cycle). This is a bit of fun for your loo, and has the added bonus for the boys by giving them something to aim for!!
The guys at illumibowl are giving away one illumnibowl to one lucky reader. So feel like jazzing up your loo? Giving the kids a little bit of fun while toilet training? Or just to have a fun talking point at a party? Then scroll down to the end for your chance to enter.
This next one is something a little bit special. Songfinch provide a lovely service which creates the perfect song for your loved on. First of all you share your story. What do you want to say to the person, how do you want them to feel, any specific details you want included. Add them all into your submission and the team works on something built especially for you, ready to be delivered into your inbox within 7 days.
It was hubbys birthday last week so I ordered him a song with the idea of making him realise how special he is to us all and I have to say I love it! Basic in structure, it really works as a sweet simple song. The chorus is so catchy and has actually had me singing along to it. Special shout out to Katie Stump who is the singer / songwriter that worked on our song.
The guys over at Songfinch are offering readers $20 off their own song using promo code TIPPY20 at the checkout.
The Morning Sidekick Journal is a something a little bit different and is a journal which promotes taking control of your day in just 3 minutes every morning – a big ask if you have a life as chaotic as ours. If you're like me though, I love a journal, I love lists and I love planning my day. I juggle home, children and a self-employed business so organisation is key!
I'm going to pass you over to Mikey from the Habit Nest team who will be able to say it better than me.
"A lot of Dads have either fun side projects or personal goals they have for themselves; whether that's tinkering with electronics, working on a home-improvement project, fixing up a car, or even exercising and getting back into shape, most Dads have so much going on during the day that they never get enough time to take care of themselves. One great thing about the Morning Sidekick Journal is it gets you laser-focused on planning out what you're going to work on each and every day. And by getting up early, it becomes a perfect time for Dads to jump into any side-projects they have, uninterrupted."
If your Dad is at a distance, then what about something that can be delivered through the mail? Flowers are always an option…but what about cake? Everything is better with cake! The team from bakerdays offer a personalised cake service delivered straight to your door. If you order by 2pm they are even able to promise next day delivery.
Small enough for the letterbox, these little cakes are super cute and personalised to the Dad in question. They come with a little celebration pack including a card, balloons and a party blower. With a wide variety of designs and the option of vanilla sponge, chocolate, lemon, fruit, gluten & wheat free and dairy free recipes to choose from, this is a great option for when you can't be there in person.
The guys over at bakersdays are offering one lucky tippytupps reader a letterbox gift cake in the recipe and design of their choosing. Scroll down to the end of this post for your chance to enter.
Not your usual Fathers Day gift, but there are Dad's out there that have a lot of style and may be interested in trying out professional haircare brand, STRUCTURE. With a wide range of products which suits any hair type and style ambition, this is a great option for someone who cares about their appearance.
Anyone who read our recent review of the Sock Geeks Sock Subscription will know we are big fans of this product. A monthly subscription for socks that are personally chosen based on your personality, this is a fun, quirky and unique option for when you're stuck for gift ideas. However, it is still something practical for the recipients.
The guys over at Sock Geeks are offering readers a 25% discount from every subsciption by using TIPPYTUPPS at the checkout.
They say that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, but what if that stomach has dietry restrictions? One of the Dad's in our family is vegan so we find that he often has to miss out on the sweet treats at celebrations. Well not anymore as the team from VDelicious offer a great range of cakes, cookies and cupcakes that look and taste amazing. A completely delicious and indulgent treat, this will leave any Dad feeling like they aren't being restricted by anything!
You know the Dad – the one with every gadget going. Well, this one is for him. The Penclic B3 Bluetooth mouse not only looks great, but is designed for those people who suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), carpal tunnel syndrone, or maybe they just enjoy the comfort of a pencil hold. Whatever the reason, this mouse is designed to pick up the smallest movements in your hand and fingers and is a great option for designers and people who spend a lot of time on a computer.
This comes back to that Dad who has everything but who is also a Dad that appreciates something a little different. For them we have Sugru's Rebel Tech Kit. The kit works on the basis that if your tech breaks then you have to fix it, and if it doesn't? Well, there are hacks to make it work even better!!
The kit includes 4 single use packs of mouldable glue that you stick and shape into a desired shape and purpose such as fixing a split charging lead, and within 24 hours it turns into a durable, flexible, silicone rubber. The pack also includes a little booklet containing 14 tech project hacks along with a tin to keep your Sugru in and a remover – in case you change your mind! This is such a great idea for all those Dad's who like to fiddle and make things a little better. Forget flowers, you can say it with Sugru! You can find more details about Sugru on their website.
Finally we have the Dad who likes the outdoors, and for him I have the sweetest little Personalised Camping Enamel Mug from JackSprattBaby. Perfect for tea, coffee, hot chocolate around a campfire or some beer camped out on the living room sofa. This simple design is such a sweet gift for the man who loves to camp and spend his time outside.
THE GIVEAWAY – please note this giveaway is now closed
As you will have seen two of our guests featured on this list are offering readers a chance to win one of their products. Perhaps you have a need for some colour in your loo powered by the illumnibowl or maybe you need some more sugar in your life fuelled by bakerdays. Either way for your chance to win your very own, you just need to enter via the Rafflecopter link below and follow the usual social accounts.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway is open to UK residents only, is powered by Rafflecopter and will close on Sunday 25th June 2017. Two winners will then be chosen at random using the tool. The first will win an illumibowl and the second will win a letterbox gift cake from bakerdays. For full terms and conditions for the giveaway, please visit the Tippytupps terms and conditions page.
DISCLOSURE: Some of these items were provided to me for review as a submission to be chosen as part of this gift guide. As always though, all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Please note this post may include some affiliate links. This has no effect on you but means that should you purchase an item under an affiliate program, I may earn a small commission.


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Scaddows Farm PYO has been a family business for over 30 years. Opening each season come rain or shine we produce exceptional soft fruit including our famous strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrant, redcurrants and gooseberries. Set in the beautiful rolling hills of South Derbyshire, PYO fruit is not only a great activity for all the family but a beautiful spot to come and soak up some sun and scenery. Our seasonal Farm Shop opens in May / June, sourcing high quality products from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and the Mid- lands with the finest possible value, together with a friendly, personal service.
How It works…
You arrive on your chosen day and follow the signs to our ample PYO car parking area. No entry fee is required on arrival.
Containers are available on entry for a small charge. If you bring your own container please show it on entry for it to be weighed before you pick. You will then be directed to the best picking spots of the day! Please note you are not allowed to eat any fruit in the field, all fruit picked must be paid for.
On finishing picking return to the field stall where a staff member will weigh your picked fruit and you will be charged the price base on £ / kg.
Once you have paid for your fruit and container they are yours to keep and enjoy! Please note all fruit picked must be paid for so don't pick more that you want!
- Dogs – No Dogs allowed on site. As a fresh produce site we are unable to allow dogs for obvious health and safety reasons.
- Payment – Cash only in the fruit field.
- Fruit – All fruit picked must be paid for. Visitors are not allowed to eat the fruit as they walk around the fields.
- Picnics – No picnics in the fruit fields.
- Children – Must be supervised at all times. No running or throwing fruit in the field. Please do not allow them to damage our crops.
- Large Groups / Coaches – We are unable to accommodate large group trips and coaches.


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Mouse over image to zoom.
Eternity bracelet
Colour: Sterling Silver
Price £80.00
Sterling silver triple wrap beaded bracelet, featuring a sterling silver ring holding the trio together, with signature sterling silver Bella Jane heart tag. This bracelet is made in a random formation, so no two bracelets will be the same!
This bracelet is hallmarked by The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office in London and is made to a standard length of approximately 18cm.
Your jewellery will come beautifully packaged in the Bella Jane signature satin pouch and gift box.


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String – Pocket green
The String Pocket wall cabinet is the smallest member in the String family. It comes with two side panels and three shelves.
In stock
Free shipping on orders above €70 in NL
Delivery in 1-3 working days in NL
Free 14-day returns in NL
- H50 x W60 x D15 cm
- Available in the colours white, ash/ white , walnut/ black , ash/ black, green.
about the String pocket
How can you describe String the best. It is a flexible, elegant and minimalist shelving system that could be mounted on any wall. It all started with a competition in 1949. The leading Swedish publishing house bonniers realised that people would likely buy more books if they had somewhere to put them. They started a competition to design a affordable and easy installing shelving system. The married couple Nils and Kajsa Strinning entered and won the competition with their ingenious solution.
String furniture is timeless, minimal and modular. Dating back to 1949, designer Nil Strinning entered a Swedish design competition with a closet that is build from just a couple of side panels and shelves. Today, String can be designed however your heart (and home) desires by adding cabinets, drawers, desks in a variety of different types of wood.
The String Pocket wall cabinet is the smallest member of family String. With two side panels and three shelves, it is a bookcase that fits almost anywhere.
When you buy a second set, it becomes really fun. With an extra cabinet you can make the Pocket three times as wide. The Pocket can also be extended in length. In short, a very handy cabinet with many functionalities that can be combined endlessly. For example, hang it in the kitchen to store pots and pans.