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Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Call #: TEEN WESTERFELD
Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Series: Uglies, Book 1
Review by Gabriella C.
Uglies is the first book of the Uglies series. It is a dystopian post-apocalypse story that centers around Tally, the main character, who is on the verge of her 16th birthday when she will be able to finally have surgery that will make her "pretty". The operation is basically a full body and face surgery where one can choose what to look like; everyone has the surgery when they turn 16, because who wants to be ugly, right? But then Tally meets Shay, who introduces her to a whole different side of the "pretties" world, which opens her up to new and different ideas that the majority of people haven't gotten the chance to know about.
I really liked the book, because I personally like books that take place in the future or that has completely different societal values and norms than we have. This book is easily relatable to adolescence because it talks about people's physical insecurities and what they do to get over them. In this book's case, surgery or acceptance. I decided to read this book because a friend recommended it to me.
This book was pretty inspiring because even though the majority of the people had the surgery at 16 to become "pretty", there were others that were okay with themselves, or eventually learned to just accept it. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 because it was really entertaining, well-written, and eventful. I have also read all of the other books in the series which I highly recommend to read as well.
(added bonus: Scott Westerfeld has recently announced four new novels in the Uglies universe!)


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You may have received a notice from the New Jersey Superior Court-Hudson County saying," You're Being Sued!" Doesn't feel too good. I have written those complaints and defended against those complaints for years in the New Jersey Superior Court. Some cases include: landlord-tenant security deposit disputes, contractor disputes, loan defaults, breach of contract and other matters. As an attorney in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the city grows, it is only natural that litigation will increase, and it has. While I am an attorney, I am not happy when someone comes into my office sick because they cannot sleep over a lawsuit. I have seen people cry over lawsuits. While I am not happy when someone is sued, they need help, and if they want an attorney, I am the right guy. From that point, I try to explain what is involved concerning the litigation. It is very important for someone to know the strengths and weaknesses of their case, I help clients understand that. Once they understand, I fight for my clients.
If you have been sued for $10,000 or more in New Jersey, contact my legal team today.

subset: commoncrawl


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At Country Hills Dentistry in Kitchener, our Prosthodontist Dr. Tarek Sharkas provides a comprehensive range of prosthodontic treatments for patients with missing teeth and oral structures.
This field of dentistry focuses on the design, construction, and fitting of artificial replacements for teeth and other parts of the mouth.
A Prosthodontist is a dentist who specializes Prosthodontics, one of nine dental specialties recognized by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA).
Using biocompatible substitutes, Dr. Sharkas helps patients with clinical conditions related to missing teeth or other oral structures regain and maintain their oral function, comfort, appearance and health.
This field of dentistry encompasses many different dental services, including cosmetic treatments, restorations, replacements, and treatment for temporomandibular disorders.
Our prosthodontist offers the following services:
A dental crown is a hollow, artificial tooth that is used to cover a tooth that has lost significant structure due to damage or decay. It functions to restore the tooth and protect it from further damage.
Dental implants are tiny titanium rods that are surgically implanted into the jawbone to replace the root of a missing tooth.
The implant is capped with a dental crown, so that it looks and feels much like a natural tooth. The resulting restoration is very strong, and with proper care, can last a lifetime.
In some cases, the dental implants can be placed immediately upon removal of the tooth. In others, especially when a bone graft is required before placement, the implant will only be placed after the mouth has healed from the extraction.
Tooth-supported overdentures are removable dentures that are placed over teeth or tooth roots that remain in the jaw. They can also be placed over dental implants.
Overdentures are a popular treatment modality for elderly patients who still have a few remaining teeth. The presence of the roots helps to preserve the alveolar ridge, provides sensory feedback, and improves the overall stability of the denture.
Traditional extractions are performed by wiggling the tooth back and forth to loosen it enough to remove it. While this method works, it can damage the bone and tissue surrounding the tooth.
In an atraumatic extraction, the dentist first carefully separates tooth from the fibers that attach it to your mouth with a special instrument and then uses vertical force to lift the tooth up and out of the socket.
Dental implant prostheses are tooth replacements that are attached to implants that are surgically placed in the jawbone.
Dental prostheses that can be supported by an implant include overdentures, hybrid fixed detachable dentures, true fixed implant prostheses, dental crowns, and dental bridges.
A dental veneer is a very thin piece of material placed over a tooth to improve its appearance and protect it from damage. Veneers are usually made of either porcelain or composite materials.
Operative dentistry focuses primarily on restoring teeth from dental caries (tooth decay), trauma, and tooth wear. Typically treatment involves dental fillings, inlays and onlays, and results in the restoration of proper form and function of the tooth.
A bone augmentation or bone graft is essentially a bone transplant. Bone material (either artificial, or taken from elsewhere in your body) is grafted onto the jawbone in order to ensure that there is enough bone material present to support a dental implant.
A sinus lift, sometimes called a sinus augmentation, is a type of bone augmentation that grafts bone to your upper jaw in the area of your molars and premolars.
Sinus lifts are often performed in preparation for a dental implant procedure, to ensure that there is enough bone present in the jaw to support the implant.
A full mouth surgical extraction is the extraction of all the remaining teeth in the mouth to prepare it for dentures.
A cleft lip or palate restoration is a surgical procedure that repairs a cleft lip or palate to make it easier for the patient to eat and speak.
A complete denture is a removable dental appliance used when all teeth within a jaw have been lost and need to be prosthetically replaced.
A partial denture is used for patients who are only missing one tooth, or several teeth in a row. It is also removable, unlike a dental bridge.
An impacted third molar removal is a surgical procedure whereby an impacted third molar, more commonly called a wisdom tooth, is extracted from the jaw.
Complex full mouth dental restorations are comprehensive dental treatment plans that include a variety of procedures performed either simultaneously or in compliment to one another.
The full mouth restoration process usually takes place over a period of weeks or months depending on the patient's needs.
Contact Country Hills Dentistry in South West Kitchener today!


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««A child never remains insensitive to the book that is perceived by him as a miracle with such characters which invoke to chat with them, to take a heart, or even to play with them and with such city, house, forest which appeal to go there».».
She was born on April 21, 1976 in Moscow.
In 1994 graduated from Art School in Animation Motion Picture with a specialization in scene painter
In 2005 graduated from MSPU, Department of ATPPD with a specialization in graphic art
Since 1995 collaborated with «Lazur», «Egmont Russia» and «ACT» Publishing Houses, worked with «Soyuzmultfilm» studio
In 1998 took part in Russian and international exhibitions
In 2005 has arranged artist fellowship «Magic Saw»
Since 2007 member of Moscow Artists Union
In 2008 has been awarded with diploma for project «Cat's House» at Russian exhibition «Book Image» with «Art Book» nomination
In 2009 the book «Key Spy Problem» by M. Esenovski became a winner at yearly contest «BOOK OF THE YEAR» with «We are Growing Jointly with Book» nomination (jointly with other books included in series «Patchwork Square» issued by «Egmont» Publishing House) and has been awarded with Diploma at all-Russia contest «Book Art. Heritage and Searching».
Currently collaborates with «Egmont Russia», «Nasha Shkola», «Samokat», «Papa Karlo» Publishing Houses, with «Cucumber» magazine.


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You have no items in your shopping cart.
At WetNDry Boardsports we pride ourselves on being the biggest stockists of Stand Up Paddle Boards, We stock all of the brands that we love to ride ourselves, including Red Paddle Co, Starboard, Naish, JP , Fanatic, Tiki and RRD.
We hold stock for Both Solid and Inflatable Paddle Boards and we are here to help you get the most out of your time on the water. We always aim to stock various shapes and sizes of Paddle Boards and we are more then happy to adivise you on which SUP would suit your needs.
Unsure of which Stand Up Paddle Board is right for you? We are here to help! Call us today on 01268 569988 for friendly, expert advice.


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7-inch Full HD Monitor with Built-in Wireless HD Receiver
3000nit daylight viewable monitor/receiver that's compatible with Teradek Bolt 500, 1000, and 3000 transmitters
Model: MON-703BOLT
Display: 7-inch, 1920×1080, 3000nits
Input: 2x SDI, 1x Wireless
Output: 1x SDI
Untethered Directors Monitor
Equipped with a built-in wireless receiver and cutting edge software tools like real-time 3D LUTs, the 703 Bolt is the ultimate kit for any director (no cage required).
Powerful 1st AC Monitor
With Teradek wireless technology inside, the 703 Bolt can easily be used as an untethered focusing tool. Its display is tack sharp, and software features like peaking, focus assist, and pixel zoom are easily accessible.
Bring the Village to the People
Bring the 703 Bolt to your video village and easily share its built-in wireless feed with another monitor via SDI. Its versatility on set is truly unmatched.


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- Our Products
- Trucks
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- Inventory
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- Contact Us
News & Announcements
Our latest news and information
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New Location in the Northwest Now Open
Southwest Products recently announced the opening of their new sales, parts, and service center in southwest Washington, bringing their lineup of specialty vocational trucks and commercial generators to the Northwest. SWP manufactures customized service trucks, industrial tanks, and generator sets for many applications. The company has experienced the largest area of growth in their customizable lube trucks, and during the past two years production has nearly doubled. No longer just a regional manufacturer focused mainly on customers in Arizona and southern California, SWP is also a newly-named Diamond Distributor…
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Expanding Team for National Growth
Following on the heels of last year's move to their new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, Southwest Products recently announced the addition of a National Truck Equipment Manager in Denver, Colorado. And in response to their tremendous growth in the sales of vocational truck bodies, SWP is also in the process of hiring territory managers in the eastern U.S. and Texas. The expansion is part of SWP's five-year plan to fill capacity at their new 175,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. One of the largest areas of growth for the organization has been their customized lube trucks, and during the past two years production…
About Us
Southwest Products is a leading manufacturer of quality service vehicles, commercial power generation equipment, and leading distributor of high-performance diesel and gas engines for many applications and industries.Read More


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Talent is universal, opportunities aren't. Thankfully of the few places where opportunities reside, Moran Atias had access. The Israeli actress is one of the most dedicated actresses working in the film industry today. She has been able to combine her beauty with hard work and commitment to become one of the formidable actresses working today.
Not only is she just an actress, but Moran Atias is also a producer who has worked on the production of her own ideas. She is also a model, who has worked for iconic fashion designers like Roberto Cavalli. Simply put, for Moran Atias, there is no shortage in the level of interest or dedication she has towards her career.
In this article, we take a deeper look into the life and career of Moran Atias, the spectacular Israeli actress and model.
Moran Atias Biography
Moran Atias was born in Haifa, Israel on the 9th of April, 1981 to Israeli-born parents who are of Moroccan-Jewish descent. Little is known about her educational background or her childhood including details of her parents' profession and schools she attended.
However, as we will come to learn later, Moran Atias began to appear on television at the young age of 15. It is the law for every Israeli to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces but her desire and eagerness to fulfill her civic duty was truncated when she was diagnosed with meningitis at the age of 17. Having lost the chance to serve her fatherland, Moran Atias decided to pursue a career in modeling; hence, moving to Germany and then later to Italy where she worked for the fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli and other brands like D&G and BBG Jewelers.
While she worked on transitioning to acting, she served as the host of an Italian talk show, Kdam Eurovision before she became a full-fledged actress. Over the course of her career as an actress, she has grown to become a rounded filmmaker, producing some of the projects she has appeared in, including Allenby and Third Person.
Outside of acting and modeling, Moran Atias is also a recognized humanitarian worker who has lent her voice and status to various causes. She has worked with the Artists for Peace and Justice and has helped organize charity events. Atias has also worked on volunteer missions to Haiti and Florida, who were affected by environmental disasters. She is also the goodwill ambassador for IsraAid.
Career Achievements
In a world where beautiful women are celebrated as goddesses and often given whatever they want by men and women with the resources to provide them, it is fascinating to see that Moran Atias has lived all her life with the determination to work for her goals.
Although she did not earn her first professional acting credit until the age of 24, she was already appearing on screen since the age of 15. Back in her home country, Israel, she appeared in a youth television program, Out of Focus. Her road to acting started with modeling after she had moved to Germany to pursue a career in the body image profession.
When she decided to pursue a career in acting, her first attempt on screen began in Italy, via the film, Days of Love in 2005, where she played the character, Sigal. In the same year, she got another role as Monica in Gas. In her first appearance in a film, she was nominated for the award of Best Actress at Festival Squardo al Femminile.
Her career as an international actress has seen her appear in several multinational films like Hebrew, Spanish and English Films. Following the great start to her career, she appeared in other films like Mother of Tears, Rachamim and in her first English film appearance, as Eti in the 2008 film, You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Although her career began with several appearances in feature-length films, Moran Atias has made substantial appearances in television shows, beginning with Good and Evil in 2009 where she played the character, Elisabetta. She has gone to further appear in shows like Crash, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, White Collar, The Resident and most recently, The Village where she plays the character, Ava Behzadi.
In addition to her Best Actress award, she has won other awards like the Capri Mediterranean Award and La Femme Filmmaker Award.
See Also: Laia Manzanares – Biography, Age, Family, Facts About The Actress
Moran Atias' Celebrity Facts
1. Although born an Israeli, she became a recognized US citizen in February 2017
2. She has a little sister, Shani Atias who is also an actress.
3. The actress is very tall, standing at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and weighs 65 kg
4. In addition to her black long hair and brown eyes, she has body measurements (bust-waist-hips) of 37-26-37 inches.
5. Moran Atias' net worth is currently pegged at $4 million as of 2019.


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Restaurant Capitol offers you a pleasant and familiar ambience for a rich snack or lunch, an escape from our daily routine to an intimate and comfortable lounge with high quality service!
Restaurant Capitol welcomes you every day with other menus: varied soups, beef, chicken or fish specialties, as well as delicious cakes, all labeled Restaurant HOTEL Capitol.
Restaurant Capitol awaits you weekly from Monday to Friday between 12.00 and 15.00,both with the menu of the day, the Swedish all you can eat buffet and à la carte menus.


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How is Mortdecai? The movie, starring Johnny Depp, is by almost all accounts… absolutely awful!
Audiences are apparently way ahead of movie reviewers when it comes to the perceived awfulness of Depp in Mordecai.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, the movie is expected to only manage a measly $4.6 million in ticket sales during its opening week in theaters.
'American Sniper' again dominates box office; 'Mortdecai' flops. http://t.co/LEMxYUPfYU pic.twitter.com/JYixP8XQ9P
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) January 25, 2015
And with word-of-mouth spreading, it's doubtful that the Johnny Depp-led movie will improve in the coming weeks.
At present, Mortdecai enjoys a painful 12 percent "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, thanks to practically all of the reviewers finding fault with the latest Depp movie.
James Verniere of the Boston Herald declared Johnny Depp's character Mortdecai to be "a poor man's Inspector Clouseau." Emphasis on poor.
This point is driven home in the ScreenRant review of Mortdecai by Sandy Schaefer.
"Based on author Kyril Bonfiglioli's 1973 Charlie Mortdecai novel Don't Point that Thing at Me, [M]ortdecai lacks the wit and charm that would've been necessary for this farcical pastiche to work, resulting in another disappointment from Johnny Depp."
"Mortdecai is an often strange mixture of humor, blending inoffensive comical irreverence that recalls the Steven Martin Pink Panther movies from the 2000s (which are caper throwback similar to Mortdecai) with decidedly more adult gags and raunchy material that tends to be more crass than clever."
In other words, the Johnny Depp movie tries to be more clever than it is and yet as far as most moviegoers and critics are concerned, the efforts largely fell flat.
If it's any consolation to those associated with Mortdecai, not every critic outright hated the film.
Amy Nicholson of L.A. Weekly said Mortdecai would have been a top comedy in 1965.
If 'Mortdecai' Had a Time Machine, It Could Be 1965's Top Comedy http://t.co/f2W7VnQzsX pic.twitter.com/u8BCPqTlkJ
— The Village Voice (@villagevoice) January 25, 2015
As for 2015, Nicholson lamented that there's "no room at the modern multiplex for an homage to kooky classic comedy." She noted that the only exception is when the genre is being mocked, as was the case with the wildly successful Austin Powers.
Of course, Mike Myers is well-versed as a comedic actor in the art of playing various characters. Johnny Depp, on the other hand, seems to be giving his roles the Adam Sandler treatment.
Given the fact that no one expects to laugh at a Sandler movie these days, it's safe to say that Depp may want to back away from these type of roles.
When one makes a series of flops, there is a word that often follows: box office poison.
Why do you think Johnny Depp has started to make so many bad movie decisions?
[Image Credit: MOVIECLIPS Trailers]


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Tears and Cheers!
Welcome to the first full week of school, Warriors!! In St. Johns County, kindergartners do a staggered start, allowing a few students to attend each day for the first few days. Then on Wednesday, all of the class will attend together. This gives new kindergarten students time to adjust to being in the "big school", learn classroom rules, the cafeteria, and so on!
On the first full day when of all kindergarten students are in class together, the PTO will be hosting "Tears and Cheers" - some light refreshments in the cafeteria to celebrate (or commiserate!) that big day when all of our "babies" are not babies anymore, but headed proudly into the Orange House! We hope that you will join us!
Wednesday, August 16, 2017 - Wards Creek Cafeteria at 8:30 AM
[Click here for printable flyer]
Leave a Reply.
About Us
The Wards Creek PTO is made up of parent volunteers and staff members at Wards Creek Elementary in St. Augustine, Florida.
February 2020


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Product Description
The Glock 26 Sneaky Pete Holster has double belt loops which can accommodate a belt up to 1.75" inches wide. The holster is made of high quality soft leather, and when worn on the belt resembles a cell phone case. The advantage of this design is that it allows you to carry your G26 concealed, but with full and easy access. Now it's possible to wear whatever you want, whenever you want to. Don't dress around your gun anymore.
The holster is made inside and out of glove-quality leather, and uses two magnets to stay closed. Each holster is designed for your specific firearm, and the opening is made in such a way that you cannot accidentally place your finger on the trigger during draw. The Kydex insert ensures that a smooth, silent draw occurs every time.
The use of double stitching and steel rivets guarantees that this holster will last for years to come. All available options are listed above, and the holster can be ordered either with the belt loop, or optional belt clip. We design every holster to be as small as possible and still fit your pistol.
Other DetailsPlease contact us for warranty and exchange requests.
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Glock 26 concealed carry holster - belt loop
This is an excellent product. I can now carry all the time. Once you start to wear it you forget its there. If you have any questions you can email them and they will respond QUICKLY!!!!. thanx Sneakypete!!
Sneaky Pete for glock 26
Holster is all I had hoped for thank you Does it's job and doesn't look like a holster
Holster belt loop
Nice no one knows you have it with you
Sneaky Pete Leather Belt Loop Holster
Looks great and is very well built with quality materials.Fits my Glock 26 perfectly!
A well-made holster that works
I purchased this holster for my Glock 26. Contrary to what a lot of people say, I did not find the holster to be too large, and I haven't had anyone ask me what's on my belt.
Glock 26
I feel it's a bit bulky.
This concealment holster is awesome. The holster is secure, well made and unobtrusive. This is the second Sneaky Pete Holster I have purchased.
Seneaky pete holsters
Excellent holsters for consealed carry!
Just purchased my third one.
Valentines gift well received
Thank you so much sneaky Pete's my husband loved his valentines gift you made our Valentines one to remember we've been married for 20 years and this was the perfect Valentines gift again thank you my husband loved it!


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Can't Let Go
A LOVE IN THE BALANCE NOVELLA AN INSTANT SPARK Sadie Howard would never admit there's such a thing as love at first sight, but she can't deny the connection between her and sexy Adonis Aiden Downey. She also can't deny she loves to kiss him-his mouth might be his most precious asset. Despite every promise to herself not to get involved any deeper than a first date, she can't keep from seeing more of Aiden . . . in more ways than one. Aiden Downey had no idea the hot blonde from the club would trigger his protective, gentle nature, but the moment she drops her guard and he sees the real Sadie Howard, he's a goner. When a family crisis puts the brakes on their budding romance, can Aiden find a way to hold on to her? Or will he lose the best thing in his life just as quickly as he found her? 25,000 wordsRead More
Edition: Digital original
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Get Paid For Your Opinions
The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and the most prone to error. In the case of surveys, four major problems arise. Some respondents will not be at home and must be recontacted or replaced. Other respondents will refuse to cooperate. Still others will give biased or dishonest answers. Finally, some interviewers will be biased or dishonest.
Yet data collection methods are rapidly improving thanks to computers and telecommunications. Some research firms interview from a centralized location. Professional interviewers sit in booths and draw telephone numbers at random. When the phone is answered, the interviewer reads a set of questions from a monitor and types the respondents' answers into a computer. This procedure eliminates editing and coding, reduces errors, saves time, and produces all the required statistics. Other research firms have set up interactive terminals in shopping centers. Persons willing to be interviewed sit at a terminal, read the questions from the monitor, and type in their answers. Most respondents enjoy this form of "robot" interviewing.20
Several recent technical advances have permitted marketers to research the sales impact of ads and sales promotion. Information Resources, Inc. recruits a panel of supermarkets equipped with scanners and electronic cash registers. Scanners read the universal product code on each product purchased, recording the brand, size, and price for inventory and ordering purposes. Meanwhile, the firm has recruited a panel of these stores' customers who have agreed to charge their purchases with a special Shopper's Hotline ID card, which holds information about household characteristics, lifestyle, and income. These same customers have also agreed to let their television-viewing habits be monitored by a black box. All consumer panelists receive their programs through cable television, and Information Resources controls the advertising messages being sent to their houses. The firm can then capture through store purchases which ads led to more purchasing and by which cus- Gathering Information tomers.21 and Measuring
Market Demand M113]
marketing researcher's report may seem abstract, complicated, and tentative. Yet in the more progressive companies, marketing researchers are increasingly being included as members of the product management team, and their influence on marketing strategy is growing.
A growing number of organizations are using a marketing decision support system to help their marketing managers make better decisions. Little defines an MDSS as follows:
■ A marketing decision support system (MDSS) is a coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action.22
Table 1.6 describes the major statistical tools, models, and optimization routines that comprise a modern MDSS. Lilien and Rangaswamy recently published Marketing Engineering: Computer-Assisted Marketing Analysis and Planning, which provides a package of widely used modeling software tools.23
The April 13, 1998, issue of Marketing News lists over 100 current marketing and sales software programs that assist in designing marketing research studies, segmenting markets, setting prices and advertising budgets, analyzing media, and planning sales force activity. Here are examples of decision models that have been used by marketing managers:
BRANDAID: A flexible marketing-mix model focused on consumer packaged goods whose elements are a manufacturer, competitors, retailers, consumers, and the general environment. The model contains submodels for advertising, pricing, and competition. The model is calibrated with a creative blending of judgment, historical analysis, tracking, field experimentation, and adaptive control.24
CALLPLAN: A model to help salespeople determine the number of calls to make per period to each prospect and current client. The model takes into account travel time as well as selling time. The model was tested at United Airlines with an experimental group that managed to increase its sales over a matched control group by 8 percentage points.25 DETAILER: A model to help salespeople determine which customers to call on and which products to represent on each call. This model was largely developed for pharmaceutical detail people calling on physicians where they could represent no more than three products on a call. In two applications, the model yielded strong profit improvements.26 GEOLINE: A model for designing sales and service territories that satisfies three principles: the territories equalize sales workloads; each territory consists of adjacent areas; and the territories are compact. Several successful applications were re-
MEDIAC: A model to help an advertiser buy media for a year. The media planning model includes market-segment delineation, sales potential estimation, diminishing marginal returns, forgetting, timing issues, and competitor media schedules.28
Some models now claim to duplicate the way expert marketers normally make their decisions. Some recent expert system models include:
PROMOTER evaluates sales promotions by determining baseline sales (what sales would have been without promotion) and measuring the increase over baseline associated with the promotion.29 ADCAD recommends the type of ad (humorous, slice of life, and so on) to use given the marketing goals, product characteristics, target market, and competitive situation.30
Was this article helpful?
There are people all over the world trying to find ways to make money online. From stay at home moms looking to make a few extra dollars to college students and entrepreneurs, the allure of making your own hours and working from home or from the local coffee shop is very appealing.


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Yearbook deadline extended for final time!
Crescent Heights Families,
Due to continued interest from families, we have extended our Yearbook deadline to this Friday, April 24th. This is your last and final chance to order your 2014/2015 yearbook!
Yearbooks are a great memento of your child's year here at Crescent Heights! We especially want to make sure that our 5th grade students have a copy of the yearbook. Yearbooks will be handed out at the 5th Grade Party in June and we want all students share in the excitement!
Order your yearbook today! http://ybpay.lifetouch.com. Our Yearbook code is 10719915. If you need scholarship information, please reach out to your child's teacher or to Dana Flynn at email@example.com.
Thank you!


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A newbies list of the best things about Sweden
"So, what are you doing in Sweden?" As a Canadian who has been in the country for less than a month, I get asked this by nearly everyone I meet. The trouble is, I don't really have an answer for them!
At first, I moved here to stay with my boyfriend and earn a bit of money. I've been travelling the world ever since graduating university and in the past 6 months I've been in 7 different countries. It's time to settle down and save up. After only 2 weeks I'm starting to realize that the longer I'm in Sweden, the more reasons I can think of to never leave.
And so, without further ado, a Newbies list of the Best Things About Sweden.
Life in Sweden is different in a lot of ways (for one thing, it requires a lot of warm winter clothes) and can take some adjusting to. But these things help make settling in fun and easy.
- FIKA! Fika has to be my all time favourite thing about Sweden. For those of you that don't know yet, fika is a staple of Swedish life. It may seem like just an afternoon coffee and delicious snack (try a Kanelbulle!), but the outing can last for a few hours and is quality bonding time. Put your phones face-down on the table and get to chatting! Fika is the perfect opportunity to catch up with friends, to casually talk business, to get to know a new person or even as a stress-free first date.
- FREDAGSMYS! Literally translated to "Friday's Cosiness", Fredagsmys is family time popular all around Sweden. After a long week of work and school, families come together to eat dinner and watch Swedish Idol or Dancing With the Stars. What's on the menu, you ask? Tacos! Surprising maybe, but true. This mexican food has found a new home in Swedish living rooms around the country.
- CANDLES! Candles are everywhere. I love it. It is the perfect antidote to the chilly evenings as fall turns into winter and the days get shorter. Walk around in the evening and nearly every window you see will be lit up with the glow.
- GYMS! It seems like nearly everyone in Sweden is fit, and after going to the gym here, I can start to see why – it was AMAZING! Never before have I been had a workout that began with a cup of coffee in the lounge area of a gym. Never have I relaxed in a sauna in the changerooms after my workout. The whole exercise experience was designed for comfort and practicality: there were hairdryers in the change rooms for women who had to run out and look good right after their workout. There was even a "play area" for kids so that parents don't have to worry about booking a babysitter.
One of the best things about Sweden is that it makes it easy to be ecologically and environment-conscious. Want to be a more responsible global citizen? It just got easier.
- RECYCLING. When I first arrived I was beyond puzzled: why are there 3 garbage cans?! The Swedes separate their trash into compost, plastics and papers. There are even separate spots to recycle clear glass bottles, coloured glass bottles, cardboard cartons and metal tins. Coming from North America where recycling is an afterthought, not a part of life, this was a huge change! Go Sweden!
- AIR DRYING CLOTHES. What are those funny metal things in everyone's homes, you wonder? They are racks for drying clothes. While most houses have washing machines, few have dryers. As a driers are massive energy-sucking devices, air drying clothes is a great way to cut down on the electricity usage and help out the planet. Plus, it's better for your clothes.
- WATER BOTTLES. More specifically, reusable water bottles. Nearly everywhere you go there are taps or fountains to refill water bottles and there are hardly any disposable plastic ones at all. The less trash, the better!
- EKOLOGISK MAT. Or, in English, "ecological food". You'll see this on labels all over the grocery store, in the meat section in particular, and you can be sure that your food was responsibly produced.
Which brings us to…..
Swedish food
Because one of the best parts about travelling to a new country is always the food!
- KNACKEBRÖD. It's like a big cracker, but better. Usually served for breakfast or a snack, many cafes will have a complimentary basket of knackerbröd to nibble on. Best served with Kalles Kaviar.
- JAM AND CHEESE. I know. Strangest combination ever, right? When I first saw my boyfriend putting cheese on his jam toast, I was disgusted! It turns out, it is actually delicious, and a common Swedish combo.
- LINGONBERRY JAM. Served with all things savoury. The jam is a little bit tart and sour and pairs particularly well with mashed potatoes and roast. It's like cranberry sauce typically eaten at Christmas or Thanksgiving, but served all year round.
- MEATBALLS. Swedish meatballs. They're famous and delicious and need no further explanation. Go try some!
I can't say that moving here has been a completely smooth and stress-free experience. Moving somewhere new never is. But, there are many, many perks to life in Sweden and I cannot wait to stay and discover more.
For more stories about my move to Sweden, check out my blog
Written by: Lily Kaufmann
Hi, I'm Lily! I'm 21 and originally from Canada, although more recently I have been backpacking the world. I was an athlete most of my life and a Diver (or, if translated directly from Swedish, a swim-jumper) for the university I attended in Miami, USA. I'm excited to be in Sweden to settle down and to explore my passions and hobbies which include writing, reading and cooking. I am living in Nykoping with my boyfriend, a native Swede.


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It was great to see a packed Coliseum with 60,000 overwhelmed L.A. Rising music fans!
We missed your aerial ad!
"ALL EYES WILL BE ON YOUR SKY TWEET!" using Tom King Aerial services. call 800-995-5464
Posted in aerial ad reviews, aerial advertising, aerial photography, fan corner, Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, 30th, ad ads, advertising, aerial, aerialadvertising, AGAINST, air, airplane, banner, beer, beverage, billboard, blog, branding, California, Coliseum, commercial, concert, EL GRAN SILENCIO, fan, fans, fast, festival, flying, food, Goldenvoice, IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE, July, KROQ, KTLA, L.A. Rising, Lauryn Hill, live, Live Nation, Los Angeles, marketing, media, Memorial, MS. LAURYN HILL, MUSE, Music, network, night, photography, picture, plan, plane, promotion, radio, Rage Against the Machine, review, RISE, sign, site, sky, stadium, tequila, ticket, tickets, TV, tweetl, venue
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How can we get youth from different backgrounds excited about interacting with eachother?
Hi! I'm Danielle, I'm supporting the Peace First team. I know of Little Friends for Peace and really appreciate what you guys do. Regarding your question, one tactic I've seen is simply getting people from different backgrounds to work together on something. From the Youth Collaboration title, it sounds like you may already be thinking in those terms. Another group I know of that does this is the Interfaith Youth Core. They work mainly on college campuses with students of different faiths, but they may be an interesting model to look at. As well as Seeds of Peace.


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Our art gallery
We regularly display a new selection of work art work from across the school in our gallery. Each year group contributes one piece of art. The gallery is on the ground floor just in from our reception area. We will try to keep this website updated with our latest selction of work from our talented children but you really need to see it up close to appreciate the quality so please pop in and take a look!
Well done to all those who have their work displayed!


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What started off as just a Facebook Page focused on discussing issues that Kenyan women in the United Sates of America face, later changed and became a driving force that has helped many both abroad and back home.
Kenyan Women In The USA (KWITU) recently held their second Grand Reunion in Atlanta. The event, which lasted three days, saw women enjoy empowering and motivational speeches, talks on issues affecting the Kenyan Community in the USA and a well organised team building that brought women living abroad together.
Here are some of the photos:


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Tonight was the much anticipated FNO! I must say , it was well planned out , i could not believe it actually started promptly at 5 O'clock real time and not 5 O'Clock "Jamaican time". I followed my own tips , went early got the essential items and came back home just in time to give you all the highlights :-)
I must say , of all the stores , my favorite was the Victoria Mutual Building Society (V.M.B.S) lounge . It was sooooo cozy. I gave the decor a 10 , and the food 10 , the customer service 10 , security 10 and of course food 10!
Home Unlabelled Highlights from FNO JAMAICA!
Highlights from FNO JAMAICA!
By RANE At September 08, 2011 0
About Author
I am an outgoing tenacious individual . I looove Fashion ...I live for it . I'm a Girly Girl with an Edge . I love magazines , make-up , accessories , handbags ... I just Love Stuff . I am a budding Entrepreneur looking to build an Empire.
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Add versatility and durability to your establishment with a sturdily constructed, heavy-duty platform cart. Move any type of material with ease, with the capacity of up to 2200 lbs, use a commercial platform cart to increase production and accelerate daily tasks with ease. Whether used to unload deliveries, or to move large products, a platform cart is a sturdy, must have transportation accessory for any type and size of establishment or household.
Compare Products: Check up products with checkbox to see a side-by-side comparison
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$349.00 CAD Sale Price $329.00 CAD


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Strip Ripper
A robust strip-till and ripper combination
to target deeper soil compaction layers
400mm working depth
Spring-loaded auto reset tine
1200kg break away point load
Standard Attachments
Strip Former
Wavy coulters can be set to run straight or toe-out to create a trench or a ridge
Curved Tine
Shark fin tip and shin allows for low surface disturbance. Tine can be equipped with optional shatter wings at three different depths.
Residue Management Options
Rear Mounted Row Cleaner
Rear mounted row cleaners with advantages in moist conditions and heavier soils
Front Mounted Row Cleaner
Front mounted row cleaners for heavy residue in lighter soils.
Strip Forming Options
Rolling Basket
Rolling basket finishes a neat seed bed in most conditions
Paddle Wheel
Paddle wheel is more aggressive for heavier clay and cloddy soils.


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Models, Background and Facts You Need to Know About Empowered PhXX
This blog is a crash course on Empowered PhXX and the economic development of women business owners in Arizona. The data is pulled from various sources including the latest census data (Women-Owned-Businesses-Census-Data-Arizona), the Arizona Hispanic Chambers Datos (AZ-Hispanic-Chamber-of-Commerce-Power-of-the-Purse) report and data pulled by Melissa Kovacs of First Eval. The above slide deck shares the latest research and facts on women business owners. It also describes some of the tools we use to frame our discussions. At Empowered PhXX meetings we have various stakeholders from various backgrounds so we have a couple of tools to help us all speak the same language so our meetings can be ACTION focused.
Below is the model we used to understand all the resources and partners in the ecosystem. This model was developed by the National Women's Business Council.
Below is the model we used to describe the life-cycle of a women owned business so we can effectively pass accurate referrals.
Below is the ecosystem model with the challenges that women business owners face outlined next to its relevant resource on the ecosystem. Challenges were developed from the latest national research, feedback from stakeholders at Empowered PhXX meetings and one on one interviews.
Here is a quick video intro on entrepreneurial ecosystem development:
Below are the best research and reports to review (HEAVY NERD ALERT):
Here is a link to a proposal description of our first action initiative, the largest research study ever completed of women business owners in Phoenix:
EmpoweredPhXX-WBOMarketResearchProject 3-17
Similar Research Completed in Other States:
PDF Download of research in St. Lois Watkins Et Al
Finally, our working copy of the resources in Phoenix for female entrepreneurs (feel free to update):
After every meeting we post a meeting summary. Things have changed and evolved but they will give you a more detailed background on the work that has gone into the above material.
The best way to stay up to date is to join our mailing list and if you are really want to get involved, reach out to us and schedule a one on one meeting to discuss more!


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Bruce Norris shares with SDIC FIBI critical insights into the California real estate market in 2016 for California real estate investors. He'll share reasons why investors should stay put, sell, or 1031 exchange into other opportunities.
February 4, 2016 @ 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join Bruce Norris at SDIC FIBI on February 4th as Bruce Norris shares reasons why California real estate investor should consider staying put, cashing in, and/or 1031 exchanging into other inventory here in California.
The Norris Group conducted a survey in late 2015 which showed investors' biggest concern heading into 2016 was whether or not California had hit its peak. Inventory is tight, the competition remains fierce, and investors are left wondering if it's time to run for the hills!


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As the conventional notions of desktop DITA-XML editing are being challenged more and more by social-media ideas of editing content anytime and anywhere, I'm beginning to see a growing wave of web-based and mobile-friendly XML editors. Back in December 2013, the Wikipedia article that compared 28 XML editors found only 2 web-based options: XmlGrid and FontoXML.
But in January 2014, the same article compares 29 XML editors with 3 web-based options: Xeditor, XmlGrid, and FontoXML. To confirm this, I viewed the article's revision history, and verified that Xeditor was indeed added to the list this month in January. Meanwhile, as a fourth option, SyncRO Soft is planning to release its own oXygen web-editing platform sometime later in 2014.
Hi, my name is Jay, and I'm an IBM TRIRIGA information developer at IBM. Building upon my previous posts on killing XML and mobilizing IBM TRIRIGA, I'd like to explore the next evolutionary step for XML editors: SaaS delivery. Or perhaps I should frame it in the form of a question: Will the next evolutionary step for web-mobile XML editors be SaaS delivery?
Why SaaS?
In a previous post on mobilizing IBM TRIRIGA, I admired the dual SaaS-plus-mobile approach.
- Mobilizing IBM TRIRIGA on mobile (30 Nov 2013)
As a subscriber of Netflix SaaS streaming, if you own a computer with a web browser, then you don't have to worry about buying or renting physical DVDs or using DVD players anymore. Also, if you own a tablet or smartphone with the Netflix mobile app, then you don't have to worry about watching solely on a web browser either. Like I mentioned earlier, you can simply sign in, stream the content on either your web browser or mobile app, and enjoy the show.
Similarly, by subscribing to an IBM TRIRIGA SaaS solution, you don't have to worry about installing, implementing, or maintaining the application servers, database software, and other software components on your physical infrastructure anymore. Also, by integrating an IBM TRIRIGA mobile solution, you don't have to worry about performing tasks solely on a web browser either. You can simply sign in, perform your real estate or facilities tasks on either your web browser or mobile app, and sign out…
From my personal perspective, one challenge that I see for IBM is that its business partners are leading the way in providing both IBM TRIRIGA SaaS and mobile solutions. To be clear, SaaS and mobile don't necessarily require each other to address a business need, but when offered together as Netflix has done, the results can be extraordinary. Naturally, I'd like for IBM to release its own IBM TRIRIGA SaaS and mobile solutions, offer them together, and enjoy the same impressive results.
In other words, with the necessary in-house or third-party cloud-hosted resources, a web-based XML editor can take advantage of the SaaS-delivery model, so "you don't have to worry about installing, implementing, or maintaining the application servers, database software, and other software components on your physical infrastructure anymore." But there's a catch.
Why CMS?
Typically, a CMS platform is also necessary to support the full DITA-XML life-cycle beyond the editing process. So not only the XML-editing application or component, but also the CMS platform must be both web-based and cloud-hosted to be integrated or bundled into the overall XML-plus-CMS SaaS-delivery solution. If you're unfamiliar with CMSs, here's some background.
- Wikipedia: Content management system (10 Jan 2014)
A content management system (CMS) is a computer program that allows publishing, editing and modifying content as well as maintenance from a central interface. Such systems of content management provide procedures to manage workflow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual steps or an automated cascade…
The core function and use of content management systems is to present information on websites. CMS features vary widely. Simple systems showcase a handful of features, while other releases, notably enterprise systems, offer more complex and powerful functions. Most CMS include Web-based publishing, format management, revision control (version control), indexing, search, and retrieval… [Consequently,] CMSs can be used for storing, controlling, revising, semantically enriching and publishing documentation.
Both Astoria Software and Componize Software represent two examples of web-based XML-oriented CMS platforms. While Astoria can integrate its SaaS-delivered CMS with the standalone oXygen XML Editor, Componize can integrate its web-based CMS with the web-based oXygen Author Component. Comparing the two oXygen integrations, Astoria is one step ahead in its SaaS delivery.
The partnership of Astoria Software and Syncro Soft combines the world's first Enterprise solution for XML Component Content Management — and the first to deliver both an Enterprise-wide SaaS/On-Demand and an On-Premises approach — with one of the most popular XML editors on the market… A user running an Astoria-integrated editor also gets check-out and check-in functions, along with sixteen additional operations that include operations on any XML element in a file, such as:
- Displaying the XML object's history and properties
- Showing where the XML object is used elsewhere in the CMS
- Presenting user-defined attributes on the XML object
- Searching for similar XML objects with specific properties and attributes
This level of integration is usually possible only in a custom-built editor embedded within an XML CMS. With Astoria, though, each of these operations is available to the desktop oXygen user from an oXygen menu item…
The new Author Component is seamlessly integrated into the Componize interface, allowing customers to take advantage of all that oXygen and Componize DITA CMS have to offer without switching applications. Componize 1.6 with oXygen web integration runs on standard Internet browsers Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer… In particular, the Author Component offers the following features and capabilities:
- Intelligent search — [A]llows any combination of full-text and DITA metadata search…
- Faster insert — Intuitive shortcuts make inserting content simple…
- One work environment — Users work more efficiently without switching applications…
- Easy reviewing — [Includes] extensive editing, highlighting, and commenting…
- Map manager — [T]he information architect can preview the content of the ditamap…
"We're extremely proud of our oXygen integration," says CTO Frank Shipley… "Plus it's a time-saver: our web component loads content even faster than oXygen desktop."
To be fair, both Astoria and Componize already offer SaaS solutions. However, the reason that I say that Astoria is "one step ahead" is that although both platforms offer XML-editing integrations, Astoria is already delivering its own SaaS-based Astoria On-Demand CMS whereas Componize relies on the SaaS-based Alfresco CMS to deliver its non-oXygen Componize for Alfresco solution.
Moreover, when SyncRO Soft releases its coming-soon web-based oXygen XML Editor, Astoria will possess all of the major web-based pieces to deliver a full XML-plus-CMS SaaS-delivery solution. Meanwhile, the new web-based oXygen XML Editor will reduce the advantage that is offered by the web-based oXygen Author Component. But for these 3 XML companies, there's another catch.
Why WordPress CMS?
In another previous post on killing XML, I highlighted the limitations of an XML-oriented CMS.
- Killing XML and IA with social media (23 Dec 2013)
However, in the context of social and mobile media, you can't connect to the cloud to "unlock" the published output online and directly edit the XML source from your remote tablet or smartphone. Instead, looking at the client-based XML editors from a previous post – namely Arbortext, Oxygen, and Flare — you can only edit the source XML topics on your source computer and then republish the entire XML project to generate another published version whether you edited a single topic or a hundred topics…
[Conversely,] you can connect to the cloud to log into your published blog posts or wiki pages and directly edit the source from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you need to simply fix a link in a particular page, then you can revise that single page without republishing a hundred other pages in the entire blog or wiki project. By being freed from the constraints of "compiled" project-level or version-level output, you are given much more flexibility as an author, editor, or architect to react to community feedback and revise your "published" output whenever or wherever you choose…
Once again, it's rather unfortunate that IBM didn't choose to migrate its infocenters to a more-immediate more-social experience like IBM Connections, WordPress, or MediaWiki, where there is a deeper potential for not only community commenting, but also community writing, editing, and architecting. Just as a Wikipedia contributor can add, edit, and reorganize articles, imagine the possibilities of giving registered clients and business partners the power to directly and immediately add, edit, or reorganize wiki-based product documentation from their computers, tablets, or smartphones, instead of asking them to wait for the next published version in 6 or 12 months.
Speaking of WordPress, here are some staggering CMS statistics from 2012 and 2013.
WordPress is strengthening its position as the dominating blogging platform or Content Management System (CMS) used by the world's top 100 blogs. This year, WordPress is used by 52% of the top blogs, up from the 48% we identified in our study in 2012…
But there's also no denying that blogging is not gone. It has, however, changed as has the tools used to publish blogs with. Some, like WordPress, started out as blogging platforms and has taken on more general content management functionality. Others have developed in the opposite direction. Even though we believe it will be increasingly hard to distinguish what is a blogging platform we are certainly interested in following the developments. Therefore, we already look forward to doing the same study next year again.
To understand its popularity, here are two organizations that chose WordPress as their CMS.
[W]e asked two organizations — online magazine Quartz.com and Carleton University — to talk about why they chose WordPress over other open-source options and how well that decision has stood the test of time…
WordPress got its start as a blogging platform in May 2003 and gradually evolved, first into a blogging system that let users add Web pages outside of the blog and then into a full-featured, popular CMS. Of the three most popular open-source CMSs — WordPress, Joomla and Drupal — WordPress is both the most popular and the fastest growing by far, according to Web technology tracker W3Techs…
Unlike Drupal, WordPress has a reputation for being notoriously easy to use — in part because you don't have to download the software from the WordPress.org site and build your own Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP setup if you don't want to. Many less technically savvy people use the WordPress.com hosting service, which makes getting started easy.
This also means that companies using the higher-end WordPress CMS will find that many employees are already familiar with WordPress' administrative interface…
Quartz covers the world
As Atlantic Media set plans in motion to launch Quartz (QZ.com), a digital publication covering global business news, project engineering director Michael Donohoe took stock of the capabilities needed in the content management system that would power the new site — and decided on WordPress…
But the biggest driver was WordPress' ease of use for publishing new content, and the fact that many on the editorial side already had experience with WordPress as a blogging tool. "The editors had been bitten by CMSs in the past," he says. WordPress was both friendly and familiar.
"People hate CMSs, but they love WordPress," says Paul Maiorana, director of platform services at Automattic, which was started by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and operates the WordPress.com hosting service. Automattic was hired to host and support the development of Atlantic Media's new site through WordPress.com VIP, a service designed to host large, enterprise-scale websites.
Overall, however, Donohoe is pleased with WordPress. "It comes with a community, you have full access to the code, it's well-documented and it's easier to hire competent developers than with proprietary systems," he says. "The community has been outstanding in terms of enthusiasm, technical proficiency and well-thought-out code examples. We're very excited," he says…
Carleton University creates over 260 sites
Since adopting WordPress as its blogging platform in 2008, Carleton University — located in Ottawa, Ontario — has expanded its use. The CMS now powers 260-plus websites (80% of the university's websites), including 250 standardized departmental sites and more than a dozen custom sites. "We're so embedded with WordPress here that I've had people ask me if it also does blogging," says Danny Brown, manager of Web services…
The university gradually migrated onto WordPress from the Luminis Content Management Suite (LCMS), which Brown describes as cumbersome and difficult to use. Brown was shocked to find during a visit to the vendor, Sungard, that LCMS had just two developers. "That was an eye-opener for me," he says. WordPress, on the other hand, has a community of thousands of developers…
And, he says, WordPress had another compelling advantage. "The one benefit WordPress really has over Drupal is that it's so much easier to use on the back end," he says. "The user interface for administration is light-years ahead."…
Moving to an open-source system has had another, unexpected benefit. Shortly after making the move to WordPress, Brown received a letter from Sungard stating that it was discontinuing the CMS. "It felt good to know we weren't stuck," he says. "It all comes down to extensibility and community. We feel like we can do anything with the platform."
Because a social-media CMS platform like WordPress is already being delivered as a free-hosted SaaS through WordPress.com, it's easy for organizations to try it, test it, and when they're ready, invest in it as a full-featured CMS solution, whether it's an enterprise-level SaaS like WordPress.com VIP or self-hosted implementation like WordPress.org.
Similarly, if an XML-oriented CMS platform like Astoria and Componize can be delivered as a free-hosted SaaS like WordPress.com and Alfresco.com ("Alfresco in the cloud"), then it'll be easier for organizations to try it, test it, and invest in it as an enterprise-level SaaS solution, whether it's a CMS-only SaaS or full CMS-plus-oXygen SaaS.
Why Acrolinx?
As another major piece in the XML-plus-CMS SaaS-delivery puzzle, Acrolinx content optimization software is also worth mentioning. In fact, the list of Acrolinx partners includes Astoria Software and SyncRO Soft. Acrolinx supports the SaaS-based Astoria CMS and the standalone oXygen XML Editor, so it will very likely support the coming-soon web-based oXygen XML Editor.
Acrolinx 2.10 is now available with new support for the oXygen XML editor, enhanced support for user authentication and terminology contribution, and other new features…
Key details of the release include: Support for oXygen XML Editor 13.2 and 14.0: Acrolinx now integrates with versions 13.2 and 14.0 of the oXygen XML editor, and has been certified to run on Windows…
Astoria Software, a division of TransPerfect, today announced a strategic partnership with Acrolinx to embed Acrolinx's content optimization software into the Astoria Component Content Management solution…
The combination of Astoria and Acrolinx joins together the world's first SaaS platform for building, managing, and publishing XML content across the enterprise with the world's most advanced platform for ensuring content quality. Acrolinx now analyzes Astoria clients' content for spelling, grammar, style, terminology, reuse, search-engine optimization, and simplified English. Acrolinx calculates a quality score for content components that reside in Astoria servers, and that score may be applied during a workflow to automate and unclog bottlenecks in the typical copy-editing operation.
Naturally, since Acrolinx software isn't open source, there aren't any direct Acrolinx plugins for WordPress. However, there might be indirect methods. For example, the Acrolinx plugin for CKEditor can be integrated into most CMS solutions which support CKEditor, the open-source and web-based WYSIWYG text editor. Meanwhile, the CKEditor plugin for WordPress can be integrated into WordPress.org installations. Although it's doubtful that Acrolinx also supports the CKEditor plugin for WordPress, the available parts point to a feasible SaaS-customized integration.
What are my final thoughts?
Let's go back to my original question: Will the next evolutionary step for web-mobile XML editors be SaaS delivery? I think the answer is pretty clear. After sifting through the major XML-oriented, CMS-supported, and web-based pieces, it's difficult to ignore the global momentum toward free-hosted and enterprise-level SaaS solutions. But it's also difficult to ignore the growing impact of WordPress as an enterprise CMS and enterprise SaaS. Another intriguing realization is that Astoria, Componize, and Alfresco are all Java-based CMSs, while WordPress is a PHP-based CMS.
Whether or not its PHP-based platform contributes to WordPress's popularity, I can't say for certain. But it certainly hasn't hurt it. However, if Java-based platforms are required to run XML-oriented CMSs like Astoria and Componize, then XML-oriented integrations like oXygen Author Component and Componize for Alfresco will forever be incompatible with PHP-based CMSs like WordPress. As the WordPress community continues to expand and evolve, this XML incompatibility poses another question: Will the next evolutionary step for XML-oriented CMSs be extinction? Time will tell.
Related articles
- XML Content Management System (www.bluestream.com)
- Noel Tock and Joe Hoyle: WordPress As SaaS (www.wordpress.tv)
- Astoria Software And Acrolinx Set New Standard (www.tmaldous.com)
- WordPress or MediaWiki: Choose Your Shooting Mark (www.cms2cms.com)
- WordPress increases its domination of the top 100 blogs (royal.pingdom.com)
- Choosing Between a Java and PHP Framework for your CMS (lanterncms.com.au)


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Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa urges California to donate for their favorite Mason Team in support of Masonsformitts.
Online PR News – 15-July-2014 – Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa is a California native and has spent most of his life there. As a long time San Francisco Giants fan, Roger knows that some of the best times to go to the ballpark are when there is a special event. These special events often donate money to local charities and are great educational experiences for the whole family.
One of the upcoming events that Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa is excited about is Masons night at the AT&T Park on Wednesday, September 10. The game is a fun time for all and at the game the Mason's will present a check that will go to help pay for baseball mitts for California kids. The Masons understand that Baseball is a great way for children to spend their time when they are not in school. The junior Giants program works to bring Americas past time to children who would not otherwise be able to participate.
With more than 20,00 kids between the ages of 5 and 18, the Junior Giants program serves many California children. The program currently operates 85 leagues in 175 Californian cities. Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa also knows that about 40% of the Junior Giants do not have their own gloves. Masons night, in its sixth year and so far has raised $275,000 for the Junior Giants and are looking to go even bigger.
The California Masons have divided their lodges up into six regions, and they are competing to see which region can raise the most money for mitts. The winning team will join the California Grandmaster on September 10 before the first pitch to award the check to the Junior Giants.
The six different teams are the North Bay Bees, San Francisco Sluggers, the South Bay Bombers, the East Bay Aces, the Delta Dogs and the Sacramento Cyclones. Currently, the Sacramento Cyclones are running away with the title this year. With more than 700 mitts funded. The other teams have quite a bit of work to do to catch up, with just under 2 moths left.
As a father and little league coach, Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa knows how important it is to get kids the equipment they need to take part in these healthy after school activities. He is also happy to see the group his father is a long time member of, the Masons, take such an active part in the community and supporting the growth of one of his favorite sports. While Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa is not a Mason, he has for many years seen some of the good works they take part in and has always been intrigued with the history of the Masonic societies.
The Masons of California currently have 10,000 members, and these members are very active in helping their community. The Masons have a long and storied history, which some people love to debate and research. One thing however is abundantly clear; the Masons of California are committed to helping California Youth.
Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa encourages you to take part in this six-year tradition, help buy a kid a mitt, and come down to the game on September 10th. Time is running short so hurry and make your donation today.
About: Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa is a father, Baseball fan, and little league coach who understands the value of Kids playing baseball.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Roger Cardona of Santa Rosa Supports Masons for Mitts
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There are ongoing debates about the impact of technology on today's children. With adamant advocates on both sides, it is difficult to discern whether technology has a negative or positive influence on education and the classroom. Fortunately, several scholars have thoroughly researched and approached this topic to identify benefits to both students and teachers. Ultimately, a moderate balance of technology in the classroom has been shown to enhance the classroom experience for most students. (Ferrell, 2002).
Benefits to the Students
1. Attention Keeper for Students. Contrary to common belief, technology has not negatively impacted the attention span of today's students. It has altered it to be sure, but not necessarily in a negative way. Many students today are members of the Net Generation, those who grew up in the digital age and with technology and the Internet since birth. These students are "by practice multitaskers," capable of splitting their attention between multiple inputs at any given time and deriving important information from each input. As a result, technology in the classroom keeps students attention because it is, after all, the primary input source to which students are accustom. If you have resisted the incorporation of technology and find your students lack attention, try introducing technology into your classroom and see if the attention span of your students improves. You may just be surprised. (Hicks, 2011).
2. More Efficient Response to Technology. Because Net Genners have grown up with technology and digital devices, this has fostered an educational environment where students are primed to have a more efficient response to technology as a learning tool. Hicks found that based on neurological research, "consistent technology use rewires the brain to respond more efficiently to technology." (2011). For better retention and increased engagement with students, technology may not only be beneficial but crucial as a result of the environment in which students were raised.
3. Better Engagement for Students with Disabilities. Students with developmental and learning disabilities are equally able to reap the benefits of technology in the classroom. In fact, "technology has provided students with severe disabilities many rehabilitative tools that aid them in gaining cognitive and physical skills and abilities." (Hicks, 2011). Many of these students already rely on technology for quality of life and are comfortable with the use of technology. A wonderful example of technological benefits for students with special needs is augmentative and alternative communication which assists autistic students by providing enhanced or alternative means of communication. (austimspeaks.org).
Although this is a relatively short list of benefits, it is certainly not intended to be exclusive. Instead, it exemplifies a few of the many ways technology has served to benefit students in the classroom. Even with examples of how technology benefits students, some teachers remain resistant to implementing the technology. Clearly, there are times when technology may not be the most effective means of teaching, such as when teaching Calculus. A PowerPoint slideshow would not be the go-to choice for most teachers. However, teachers have a variety of reasons for resisting technology, including the technological learning curve and potential disruption digital devices bring when they are not in working order. Nonetheless, there are significant benefits technology offers teachers as well.
Benefits to the Teachers
1. Save Time, Reduce Workload, and Increase Efficiency. For tech-savvy teachers, leveraging technology can be amazing time management and saving tool. Whether it is developing a lesson plan, administering an exam, entering grades, or communicating with parents, technology offers teachers tools to balance their work and personal lives while maintaining contact with students and integrity in teaching. (Hicks, 2011)
2. Ability to Involve Students in an Interactive Way. Since students are often more engaged when technology is balanced in classroom instruction, technology offers teachers a way to involve students in the learning process. When students have a more interactive learning experience, they tend to retain more information and demonstrate a higher interest in overall learning. Integrating technology with a purpose and understanding, teachers can elevate the classroom experience for all students. (Hicks, 2011).
3. Save Resources and Add to the Bottom Line. One practical way in which technology benefits teachers is by saving resources, which adds to the bottom line and, hopefully, frees up funding for additional uses. The reduction of reliance on paper tests, for example, cut resource costs in schools making technological integration very appealing for teachers and administrators alike.
The classroom scene has evolved with technology and will continue to do so. By developing a balanced integration of technology into the classroom, students and teachers can enjoy the benefits and put technology into positive use.
Additionally, technology is aiding in creating new ways to approach old problems, such as field trip planning, adequately preparing substitutes for classroom instruction, and volunteer pool management. These are just three of the many technological resources App-Garden has developed. With App-Garden's education and academic history and know-how, schools receive well thought out, cloud-based solutions for previously dreaded administrative tasks. If you are looking to save resources, increase efficiency and give yourself some time back in your day, contact App-Garden to learn how its software products can benefit you.
Tiffany Miller
Tiffany is known for her proficiency in copywriting, product messaging, legal writing, and executive writing. In her free time, she continues to work on a self-help book for military spouses.
Hicks, Stephanie Diamond. Technology in Today's Classroom: Are you a Tech-Savvy Teacher? Clearing House. Sep2011, Vol. 84 Issue 5, p188-191. 4p. DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2011.557406.
D'Angelo, Jill M., Wooley, Sherry Anny. Technology in the Classroom: Friend or Foe., Education. Summer2007, Vol 127, Issue 4.
Autism Speaks, https://www.autismspeaks.org/technology-and-autism


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A new study has crowned Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela the lightning capital of Earth. This bay, connected to the Gulf of Venezuela, receives approximately 233 lightning flashes per square kilometre per year, outranking the Congo Basin.
Using 16 years worth of observations from NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor, the team could identify and rank the hotspots for lightning activity.
The study found that Africa remains the continent with the most lightning hotspots, followed by Asian and South America. It also found that thunderstorms over the ocean tend to occur in the evenings, with continental thunderstorms occurring mostly in the late afternoon.
Source: NASA


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Have you ever listened to a song and loved it, only to find out it's by an artist you can't stand? Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot will explore the concept of great songs by horrible artists and share a few of their favorites. Plus they'll review Ghosteen from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and pay tribute to drummer Ginger Baker and The Muffs' Kim Shattuck.
Songs We Love By Bands We Dislike
By Sound Opinions • Oct 10, 2019


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Venue: The Olympic Room, Aylesbury Vale District Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF
Contact: Craig Saunders; Email: email@example.com;
External Auditors
The Chairman welcomed Andrew Brittain and Susan Gill from Ernst and Young to their first meeting of the Audit Committee.
To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 October, 2018, copy attached as an appendix.
Members commented on the Minutes as follows:-
· Minute 2 (paragraph 4, dot point 4) – that the reason for the difference in the Pension Liability Valuation had been primarily down to a timing issue. AVDC had to estimate a Pension Liability Valuation in year based on the best available information at that time. However, by the time the external auditors considered the financial statements for 2017/18 an actual value for the Pension Liability had been calculated by the actuary, which differed to the estimated value.
· Minute 5 (first sentence) – that the Council meeting on the Aylesbury Vale Broadband Review had been held on 28 June 2018, not 11 June 2018.
That, subject to the above clarification, the minutes of the meeting held on 8 October, 2018, be approved as a correct record.
Certification of Claims and Returns Annual Report 2017/18 PDF 65 KB
To receive the attached report.
Contact Officer: Nuala Donnelly (01296) 585164
Additional documents:
The Committee received a report from the External Auditors on their work associated with the certification of grant claims for 2017/18 submitted by AVDC.
From 1 April 2015, the duty to make arrangements for the certification of relevant claims and returns and to prescribe scales of fees for this work had been delegated to the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA) by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
For 2017-18, these arrangements required only the certification of the housing benefits subsidy claim. In certifying this the external auditors had followed a methodology determined by the Department for Work and Pensions and had not undertaken an audit of the claim. Instead, the work involved executing prescribed tests which were designed to give reasonable assurance that claims and returns were fairly stated and in accordance with specified terms and conditions. Where initial testing errors in the calculation of benefit or compilation of the claim were found, the certification guidance required the auditors to complete more extensive '40+' or extended testing. Extended testing for 2017/18 had identified errors which had impacted on the claim and, as such, had issued a qualification letter in line with the guidance. The total extrapolated value of the errors identified and detailed below which had not been amended was £7,541.
The external auditors reported that they had checked and certified the housing benefits subsidy claim with a total value of £44,030,312. This had allowed them to meet the submission deadline. A qualification letter had been issued, details of which were included in section 1 of the report.
The certification work had found errors which the Council had corrected, having a marginal effect on the grant fee, and also identified some extrapolated errors, as reported in the qualification letter. The main findings in 2017-18 had related to:-
· Non-HRA rebate cases: 2 errors had been identified in the initial testing. The one impacting the claim had related to the calculation of earned income. The claim had been adjusted with an overall effect on the value by £34.
· Rent allowance cases: 4 errors had been identified in the initial testing in the areas of earned income, self-employed earning and rent. Two more failures had been identified in rent but not further failures had been found in the other areas.
One error had been identified in the initial population of 20 cases which had resulted in an underpayment of benefit. However, as the issue had been reported in the 2016/17 Qualification Letter and the nature of the error was such that either an underpayment or overpayment might arise, the external auditors had tested an additional random sample of 40 cases selected from a sub population of claims containing earnings. This had identified the following errors:
o Earned Income – 1 underpayment and 2 overpayment. These were similar to errors reported in the Qualification letter in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
o Self Employed Earnings – 1 error in the initial random sample of 20 cases which had resulted in an overpayment ... view the full minutes text for item 3.
External Audit Plan and Fee Letter PDF 117 KB
To consider the attached report.
Contact Officer: Nuala Donnelly (01296) 585164
Additional documents:
The Committee received a report and External Audit Plan which summarised the proposed approach and scope of work to be undertaken by the external auditors for the 2018/19 audit in accordance with statutory requirements and to ensure it was aligned with the Committee's service expectations.
The Audit Plan had been prepared having regard to several key inputs including:-
· Strategic, operational and financial risks relevant to the financial statements.
· Developments in financial reporting and auditing standards.
· The quality of systems and processes.
· Changes in the business and regulatory environment.
· Management's views on all the above mentioned issues.
As well as the financial statement risks and value for money risks, the auditors had to perform other procedures as required by auditing, ethical and independence standards, the Code and other regulations.
The auditors had assessed the key risks which would drive the development of an effective audit and the planned audit strategy in response to those risks and had identified four significant risks to the opinion of the financial statements. These were misstatements due to fraud or error, the risk of fraud in revenue and expenditure recognition (incorrect classification of capital), property valuations (land and buildings), pension asset valuation and the impact of new accounting standards (IFRS 9: Financial Instruments and IFRS 15: Revenue from contracts with customers) and whether they had been appropriately implemented by the Council.
The Audit Plan restated, as in previous years, that management had the primary responsibility to prevent and detect fraud. The Plan detailed how the auditors planned to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole were free of material misstatements whether caused by error or fraud. Work would also be undertaken to consider whether the Council had in place 'proper arrangements' for securing financial resilience at the Council, and to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness on its use of resources, which would include an assessment against the requirements of the CIPFA/SOLACE framework for local government. In due course this would be reported to the Committee through documents such as the Annual Governance Statement.
The risk assessment had also identified one potential significant risk as a result of the 1 November 2018 announcement by CLG that a unitary authority for Buckinghamshire will be instituted from 1 April 2020. It was possible that there might be an impact on the Council's capacity to manage its operations as well as planning a smooth transition; also on managing strategic risks and medium-term financial planning.
An update on the results of the audit work in these areas would be reported back to the Committee in October 2019.
As in previous years, the Internal Audit plans and resulting work would be reviewed. The findings of audit reports, together with any other work completed in the year, would help to inform detailed external audit work, including on issues raised that had an impact on the year-end financial statements.
The indicative fee scale for the audit work was £43,724, although it was possible that this fee could increase in due ... view the full minutes text for item 4.
Internal Audit Progress Report PDF 840 KB
To consider the attached report and appendices.
Contact Officer: Kate Mulhearn (01296) 585724
Additional documents:
The Committee received a progress report on activity undertaken against the 2018/19 Assurance Plan that had been approved by the Committee in June 2018. The following matters were highlighted:-
Final Reports issued since the previous Committee Meeting
The following reviews had been completed since the last Committee meeting:-
· Commercial Waste (High risk) – the review had identified one high risk, 3 medium risk and 2 low risk findings. The audit had been performed during September-October 2018 and Members were informed that significant work had taken place since then to address the risks identified, as outlined in the comments from management. The current and ongoing level of risk had been reduced, and this would be validated by internal audit through the follow-up process over the coming months.
· Comments, Compliments and Complaints (Low Risk) – the review had identified one medium and one low risk finding. A sample of 25 had been tested from a total of 50 comments, 60 compliments and 510 complaints received during the period April-November 2018. The medium risk related to delays in responding to Stage 1 complaints with a further delay where the complaint had escalated to Stage 2. Action had already taken place to improve the monitoring of response times and plans were in place to address other weaknesses.
The full review reports were attached as Appendix 3 to the Committee report.
2018/19 Internal Audit Plan Work in Progress
The Committee was informed that a number of reviews were in progress and would be reported to the Audit Committee in March 2019. These included:-
· Section 106 Agreements.
· Housing Benefits.
· Parking Services.
· Company Governance (Aylesbury Vale Estates).
· Connected Knowledge.
Implementation of Agreed Audit Actions
The implementation of actions and recommendations raised by internal audit reviews were monitored to ensure that the control weaknesses identified had been satisfactorily addressed. Actions arising from low risk audit findings were followed up by management and reviewed, but not validated, by internal audit.
A detailed listing of all internal audit actions, together with a status update was included at Appendix 4. In total, 40 actions were followed up for the January 2019 Committee – that included an update on all actions due for completion by 31 December 2018. 12 out of the 40 actions (30%) had been completed, compared to a 55% completion rate reported in October 2018.
Members sought further information and were informed:-
· that good progress had been made against the most significant finding from the Commercial Waste review regarding completing site risk assessments for all commercial waste customers. It was anticipated that all assessments would be completed by the end of February 2019.
· that a trade waste meeting had been arranged including all key members of the management team involved with commercial waste, with bi-weekly meetings now being scheduled to discuss all key projects / KPIs and plans concerning commercial (trade) waste.
· that management had tightened the controls, monitoring and reporting of the Comments, Compliments and Complaints process, and these measures would lead to greater accountability.
· that internal audit ... view the full minutes text for item 5.
Aylesbury Vale Broadband - Review Update PDF 1 MB
To consider the attached report.
Contact Officer: Kate Mulhearn (01296) 585724
The Committee received a report detailing the work that the Cross Party Group had done following the review into Aylesbury Vale Broadband.
On 28 June, 2018, Council resolved that a cross party group would be formed to oversee the implementation of the 22 recommendations of the BDO LLP review into AVB. It had also been agreed that in view of concerns about various financial aspects of financial matters reported in the BDO LLP report, a detailed examination of the accounts of AVB would be carried out as a matter of urgency by AVDC's internal audit team and a report of this be delivered to the Audit Committee.
Prior to the Council meeting, the Audit Committee had resolved on 12 June, 2018 that the Council's "Guide to the Creation and Working with Companies in which AVDC has an interest" ( the "Guide") should be updated to reflect the recommendations identified in the BDO report. The Committee had also asked the Democratic Manager to review the Councillors' Code of Conduct taking into account the AVB review recommendations, in particular, the section relating to the divulgence of confidential papers.
The Cross Party Group comprising Councillors Branston (Chairman), B Chapple, A Cole, S Cole, Christensen, Lambert and Cooper had met on 6 December 2018 to consider the progress made on implementation of recommendations arising from the AVB review report. This had included receiving a report of how the recommendations had been incorporated into the Guide together with a draft of the updated Guide. A copy of the updated Guide, with tracked changes highlighting where the recommendations had been incorporated, was included with the Committee report.
In particular, the Group's attention had been drawn to Recommendation 17 (Confidentiality requirements and the Code of Conduct). The new Members' Code of Conduct had been drafted taking into account the Audit Committee's request that about the divulgence of confidential papers. The Chairman of the Audit Committee had been closely involved in this process. An updated Code of Conduct had been agreed by the Standards Committee on 3 December 2018 and would now be submitted to full Council for final approval.
The Group had then considered the AVB Financial Review that had been undertaken by the Corporate Governance Manager. Members were informed that sample testing of income and expenditure incurred by AVB from inception to 31 March 2018 had been performed. Samples had been selected from the AVB Nominal Ledger. The AVB annual accounts had been prepared by external accountants (Tax Assist) on the basis of the information contained in the nominal ledger. A report was presented detailing the testing performed and the results, and which had concluded that no exception had been identified in the sample testing.
On the basis of the documentation reviewed and the financial testing performed no concerns had arisen that would indicate that the financial accounts of AVB were not an accurate record of the affairs of the company. Following consideration of all of the above information, the Group had agreed that the ... view the full minutes text for item 6.
Corporate Risk Register PDF 629 KB
To consider the attached report.
Contact Officer: Kate Mulhearn (01296) 585724
The Audit Committee had a role to monitor the effectiveness of risk management and internal control across the Council. As part of discharging this role the committee was asked to review the Corporate Risk Register (CRR). The CRR provided evidence of a risk aware and risk managed organisation and reflected the risks that were on the current radar for Strategic Board. Some of the risks were not dissimilar to those faced across other local authorities.
Since the last Audit Committee meeting in October 2018, the Secretary of State had announced his decision for a single unitary district council for Buckinghamshire. The CRR had been fully refreshed and updated to reflect the changing context for AVDC risks. The CRR had been reviewed by Strategic Board on 9 January 2019 and by Cabinet on 14 January 2019.
Members were informed that the unitary decision had significantly increased the overall level of risk within the Council. 2 new risks had been added and the ratings of other risks had been increased. This reflected the impact of both the level of uncertainty over the influence of the Shadow Authority and the high likelihood of the loss of key staff, on AVDC's ongoing ability to deliver its objectives and services in line with the current business model.
The background and comments against each risk was included in the report, as well as a summary in relation to residual risk ratings. There were now 23 risks on the Corporate Risk Register. The changing risk profile over time was as follows:-
The extreme risks related to:-
· Unknown impact of the influence of the Shadow Authority on AVDC's ability to deliver strategic goals and priorities in line with agreed objectives and the current business model. Focus on priority projects and planned transformation could diminish with the competing demands of the unitary authority.
· Deterioration in core services delivery due to loss of key staff and the inability to recruit or retain high performing staff. Poor morale, or lack of foreseeable opportunity leads to "the best" seeking alternative employment, or not being willing to join AVDC.
· Lack of clarity and/or political engagement with partners hinders ability to engage in and influence next round of growth including consideration of CaMKOx Corridor, HS2, housing need targets. A Bucks wide plan could result in even more housing growth in the Vale geography.
· Depot transformation Programme failed to deliver commercial, customer, health and safety, and environmental objectives.
The risk relating to failing to deliver the Commercial Property Investment Strategy and achieve the planned return on investment had not yet been fully assessed and rated as the viability and priority of the investment strategy needed to be reviewed in light of the Unitary change.
Members requested information and were informed:-
· that existing ... view the full minutes text for item 7.
To consider the future work programme.
Contact Officer: Kate Mulhearn (01296) 585724
The Committee considered the future Work Programme (Appendix 1) which took account of comments and requests made at previous Committee meetings and particular views expressed at the meeting, and the requirements of the internal and external audit processes.
Members agreed that a formal review of the Audit Committee's Effectiveness would not be performed and therefore it should be removed from the 2018/19 and 2019/20 Work Programmes, ie between now and 1 April 2020.
Members were reminded they could request training at any time. A number of Councillors had recently attended CIPFA Audit Committee training events.
Members commented that the Audit Committee Tracker had not been included with the Work Programme and asked that it be updated and report to the next meeting.
That the future Work Programme as discussed at the meeting be approved.