text:
levels of fear of crime than their counterparts who did not
(Dowler, 2003). An individual's personal experiences, ethnicity, age, income, influence
whether or not media has an impact on them. Individuals with prior experience
of any involvement in crimes prior to watching crime related television would
not become fearful of them afterwards, whereas an individual who has no prior
experience being involved in crime, would become more fearful after watching
particular news or television dramas (Liska & Baccaglini, 1990). Gerbner et
al (1980) found that "the relationship between the fear of crime and the amount
of television watched was greatest for females and white people"; Gerbner
(1980) also pointed towards 'female, whites and elderly people as more likely
to have a fear of crime'; despite their lower likelihoods in finding themselves
victims of it" (Dowler, 2003).
Only a minor subsection of
the population have first-hand experience of violent crime, in reference to
this, the majority of people whom have not had any direct contact with violent
crime, believe the world is worse than it is; the result of this is major sections
of the population within societies becoming more afraid of getting victimized
than need be (McQuivey 1997). The fear victimization
paradox is founded on one's ability/inability to master involvement in a
violent crime. Fear Victimization paradox exists independently of the
likelihood of involvement in crime, it can happen despite the likelihood an
individual could be very likely become involved in a violent crime; "a truck
driver in the middle of the night at a rest area, its fear of crime might not
be high because it thinks that it has control over such a situation" (Sandman
1993; Sparks and Ogles 1990). Vanderveen (2003) posits that "men usually think
they can handle it. Women feel more vulnerable", in reality however, men are
more likely to become a victim of a crime (Bureau of Statistic and Research
1996). Past undertaken research has suggested that crime information portrayed
in the form of facts and figures, have no influence on said individual's
perception of crime, furthermore, that media influence is just one of many
factors to be taken into account when analysing prevalence to fear of crime,
whether on an individual or societal basis (McQuivey, 1997). Older people have
a greater fear of becoming a victim of crime 'because they believe they are
more vulnerable' than younger members in society (Carcach et. al., 2001). Their
physical fitness and strength has declined leaving them in a weakened state,
and therefore possibly targeting them as easy victims as they are less likely
to be able to defend themselves (Carcach et. al., 2001). Gerbner et
al (1980) confirmed his previous research in that those individuals who watch
more television than average showed a 'higher rate of fear towards their
environment' than those who watched less. More recently Dowler (2003) found
that even when taking into account factors such as race, age, gender, income,
education and marital status, those individuals whom watch more crime shows
tend to exhibit a significantly higher rate of being fearful of crime (Dowler,
2003). Dowler went on to discover that hours of watching television news
programs did not have a significant relationship with higher levels of fear of
crime (Dowler, 2003).
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By the 1970s the crime or police drama
had replaced the western for the most prevalent prime-time television fare
(Doyle, 2006). The boundary between crime entertainment and crime information
has been blurred progressively more in the past years (Dowler, Fleming, &
Muzzatti, 2006). Roughly half of the newspapers and television items people
come into contact with are concerned with crime, justice or deviance (Doyle,
2006). The mass media has been said to have influence over the way people look
at crime; as a result of the images portrayed, the image offered to the public
is one of differing appearance to the one founded on facts and figures, represented
by the government (Doyle, 2006). (Surrette, 2006) goes onto point out that
crime in the media has become formatted in a way that it is camouflaged as to depict
an informative and realistic nature. The research appreciates that images which
people see on television are compared against the world which they see, this
being the foundation for people's lines between crime on the media and real
life becoming distorted.
Flately (2010) also points out that there has
been a steady fall in crime since 1995, but people still tend to believe that
it is increasing. Public belief in rising crime levels, as aforementioned, can
be directly correlated to increasing levels of the media's representation of
crime. Fear of crime is something which can be used as a tool by government in
that a certain level of fear of crime is desirable to inspire problem solving
action and inspire the fearful to take precautions; "exaggerated public perceptions of crime risks
can also lead to serious distortions in government spending priorities and
policy making" (Bureau of Statistic and Research 1996). Functional fear is a tool used by the masses for
the purposes of self-preservation, although this is often taken out of personal
context and, one would


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How Trump Will Get Anything He Wants From Congress
Thursday, 12 January 2017
I believe this is important enough to publish on what is usually an "off day" for Time Goes by.
If you have been following the Republican/Democratic discussion over repealing Obamacare, it has become obvious that it is way too complex to replace the ACA than can be done in a week or two.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday that is what Donald Trump demanded: that Congress repeal Obamacare and replace it "within weeks," as The New York Times reported.
Further from The Times [emphasis is mine]:
"...[Trump] threatened Democrats who might stand in his way, saying he would campaign against them, especially in states that he won in November.
"'I feel that repeal and replace have to be together," said Trump "for very simply, I think that the Democrats should want to fix Obamacare. They cannot live with it, and they have to go together...'
"'It may not get approved the first time, and it may not get approved the second time, but the Democrats who will try not to approve it will be at risk, warning that 'they have 10 people coming up' for re-election in 2018. That alluded to Democratic senators in states he won.
"'I won some of those states by numbers that nobody has seen. I will be out there campaigning,' he said."
That is, campaigning against any Democrat who does not vote in line with Trump.
Is there any precedent for this from a president? Dear god, what have we wrought.

subset: commoncrawl


text: News Want to help WLM support people affected by homelessness, poverty and trauma while you shop online? Want to give back to your local community while you shop? Want to help WLM support more people affected by homelessness, poverty and trauma while you purchase something on Amazon? AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice. Yes, it's true! Every time you shop you can make a small donation towards West London Mission at no extra cost to you. Shop now through Amazon Smile and select West London Mission as your charity of choice. Please visit https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1133739-0 Thank you!


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Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture
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Keenman (Jack K) by Jude
Outgoing and adventurous, the curious type of course,
a speedy, jokey, boaty guy,
an all round awesome force.
Music ringing through your ears,
Hitting 4's all day,
Pulling flips and eating chips,
always having your say.
So that's all for now, but man, there's much, much more.So keep on being awesome, and you'll stay that way for sure.
Burton by Gretel
You really love your Football,
You're good at the game,
you dream about it day and night,
your friends are all the same!
Your favourite animal is a beaver,
you like the colour blue,
you like to play the sport floorball,
so you bought a stick that was new!
You returned a little while ago,
from a trip to Singapore,
we think you really liked it there,
and really wanted more!
Were all moving on this year,
we hope to keep in touch,
and if you have a party,
we'd like that very much!
Chanel by Asha
Chinchilla, dogs, cats,
you have so many pets,
rabbits, turtles, kangaroos,
you're always at the vets!
We know you love ballet,
we know you like to dance,
do you prefer jazz or salsa,
or do you like to prance?
At capoeira you are fantastic,
cartwheels kicks and all that,
maybe it's because of gymnastics,
doing handstands and splits on the mat.
Now it's time to say goodbye,
the beach is where we'll find you,
kayaking, surfing and sunbathing,
that's where you'll find us too!
Tom by Burton
We know you like to protect beetles
of course, not the band
You protest in front of parliament
taking a strong stand
You're really good at football
and running really fast
You shine at athletics
You are never ever last
In the green forest you like beavers
your favourite colour is green
you hate presenting in assembly
the most we've ever seen
Floorball is a talent of yours
We know you love the game
hockey, swimming , cricket
they're not really the same.
We're off to EBIS together
we will have so much fun
Learning happens forever
it's never, ever done!
Milly by Molly
You are my best friend Milly,
you love to laugh and play,
you really are quite silly,
but you are fun everyday.
You really love your sport,
we've played hockey, cricket, soccer,
you're great on the tennis court,
but croquet is just a shocker!
When you're older you might be a swimmer,
and swim heaps of lengths,
and you could almost be a winner,
because of all your strengths.
Sadly you're moving to Wanganui next,
but I'll surely see you there,
I will contact you on email or text,
and Worser Bay gossip I'll share.
Liv by Betty
Your bright orange hair
looks like the evening sky
do not even ask me
I have no clue why.
You say that you're a tomboy
but I don't think so
it doesn't really matter
even that I know.
You really like music
singing, piano
you want to learn guitar
from head to toe.
You say I'm your BFF
you have a temper too
but that makes me think
I should not mess with you.


text:
On average it takes 55 days to fill a software developer job. Time is a recruiter's most precious commodity, and what I found was that small, incremental changes to my process helped me to become a more effective recruiter. Every new tool or tweak toa current process gave me exponential returns, here are 10 tech tools to help save you time.
We've broadly divided the recruitment process into 5 areas which we can save time through using technology:
- Writing the job description
- Sourcing candidates
- Assessing hard skills, soft skills and culture fit
- Interviewing and selecting the best candidate
- Onboarding the new hire
Each of these essential steps can be optimised to save the candidates, managers and recruiters precious time. Let's start at the beginning: writing the job description.
Writing the job description: Textio
Your job post could well be the first interaction you are going to have with the candidate you end up hiring, it pays to get it right. If this isn't up to scratch, it doesn't matter how many people see your job ad, it won't get the right candidates clicking through, and will inevitably hold up your hiring process.
Thankfully, this is where Textio comes in:
By suggesting improvements to your job listing, Textio can help you get more responses to your ads, and attract the best candidates candidates, quicker. By analyzing the hiring outcomes of more than 10 million job posts a month, Textio predicts the performance of your listing and gives you real-time guidance on how to improve it.
Customers such as Twitter, Apple and Slack report a 25% increase in applications, 23% more applicants from women and they fill roles 17% faster. For many recruiters that's two weeks worth of time saved by using the Textio platform.
An example of how Textio can help you choose the right words to attract candidates.
Sourcing candidates: Snap.HR
The best job advert in the world is useless if it isn't put in front of candidates. That's where Snap.hr comes in.
Snap.hr is a hiring platform that is designed exclusively for developers.
It uses machine learning, combined with their specialist in-house team of talent managers to find the best tech talent. The platform has a pool of over 12,000 talented tech specialists signed up and can save a significant amount of time due to their 95% response rate when messaging candidates.
Alternatives: Workshape, Hired
Tracking candidates: Lever
Once you have got candidates to apply to your vacancy, it is imperative to keep track of where each of them are in the hiring process.
Lever's superior analytics allows for companies to see the candidate data visually represented in an insightful way.Lever builds modern recruiting software that interviewers, managers, recruiters, and entire companies love using. Lever Hire, combines applicant tracking system (ATS) and CRM functionality in a single platform to power hiring across the entire organization
Alternatives: Workable, Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters
Assessing Hard Skills: Codility
Once you have the candidates, and know how to process them, you need to see if they actually have the capacity to do the job. For technical roles hard skills are relatively easy to measure, and doubly so with Codility.
Codility helps businesses of all sizes automate and accelerate tech recruiting. Using their software platform, businesses can dynamically test and rank candidates based on their ability to perform tasks and challenges that you set.
Possible alternatives: HackerRank
Assessing Culture Fit: ThriveMap
Once you know the developer is capable of coding in the required languages, you need to know how well they will work with the team. This is where ThriveMap's unique survey comes in. ThriveMap helps companies to hire the best candidates by measuring the way the team like to work, and comparing this to how the candidates like to work, to see how much compatibility there is.
Not only does ThriveMap help companies ensure the new hire will be a fit with the team, it also saves you time by screening out candidates who won't be a good fit at pre-interview stage, ensuring that you only interview the right people.
Assessing Personality: Arctic Shores
Personality tests can be helpful to understand someone on a 1-2-1 level. Rather than ask candidates to go through 100 pain-staking questions, Arctic Shores create games-based psychometrics, a more engaging approach to personality and cognitive assessment.
They combine psychometric methodology with machine-learning and mobile game design to provide deeper candidate insights for better hiring decisions.
Video interviewing: Hirevue
Once you have attracted candidates, processed them, and assessed them, it is time to meet them in person. Or maybe not…
Using video interview software such as HireVue, you won't have to schedule in an hour long meeting, instead get pre-recorded responses to your best interview questions and review each applicant in minutes.
Interview Scheduling: Calendly
This is a bit of a bonus category, as it isn't so much about saving time while hiring tech talent as it is about saving time generally. Calend.ly automatically syncs with your calendar, and allows selected candidates to book an interview time directly, without having to go back and forth trying to find whenever is best for both parties.
Onboarding: Hibob
So you have: written a killer job description, sourced the best candidates, assessed their skills, personality and compatibility with the team, interviewed them and even decided to hire one (or more) of them. Congratulations! But hiring doesn't finish there. Hiring only finishes when the new employee has fully settled into the role.
So there we have it, all the tools you need to supercharge your hiring process. What do you think, what would you have included instead? I would love to hear your comments below.


text:
Search Marketing Shifts: Real-Time SEO and the Shift From Point Solutions to Platforms
Increasing reliance on SEO insights and real-time intelligence signifies a major shift from SEO point solutions to a unified platform
Enterprises realize the importance of SEO and its ability to drive demand and fortify conversion. Marketers are using SEO insights broadly within their organizations. Conducting the work of SEO outside of unified platforms is messy and overly time consuming. Already thusly burdened, SEO professionals and digital marketers struggle to stay up on advancements in search.
Register for this report to gain access to some of the revelations from an exclusive BrightEdge Research study of 295 marketing and SEO professionals.
Download now.


text:
The market wasn't sure what to make of the interest rate cut. Stocks spent the better part of the day just a bit in the red, but when thrown for a look by the Federal Reserve's decision to lower rates to the tune of a quarter of a point, they slumped in a measurable way. By the time the closing bell rang though, the S&P 500 was back to just a hair better than a breakeven.
The broad market might have fared much better were it not for FedEx (NYSE:FDX). Shares of the delivery giant fell nearly 13% after falling short of last quarter's earnings estimates and then dialing back its 2020 outlook. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) was a major drag too though, sliding more than 10% lower as investors unwound their buying spurred earlier this week by news that an attack on oil fields in the Middle East posed a threat to global supply.
Among the winners that helped keep the S&P 500 out of the red was General Electric (NYSE:GE), albeit just barely. Shares of the beleaguered industrial giant mustered a little more than a breakeven on the heels of improving confidence in the company's recovery prospects.
As for stocks worth a closer inspection moving into today's action, take a look at the stock charts of H & R Block (NYSE:HRB), SYSCO (NYSE:SYY) and The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU). Here's why.
Western Union (WU)
Were it just the loss shares of The Western Union Company logged on Wednesday, the matter might be dismissible. In fact, it wouldn't even be interesting to take note of.
Between the shape of yesterday's intraday action though, and the context in which it happened, it's difficult to ignore. While the bigger-picture uptrend is still completely intact, it's nearing a breaking point, and is more vulnerable now than it has been at any point in the past several months.
Click to EnlargeYesterday's start was a firmly bullish one, but over the course of the day, that gain was turned into a decided loss. Such an intraday swing is concerning, even if it has not yet dragged WU below its blue 20-day moving average line.
- The underpinnings for what's quickly turning into a new downtrend, however, is the bar from Sept. 12 (highlighted). After a week and a half of gains leading up and into it, the open and close at the middle of that high/low range. This often occurs at pivot points, in this case out of an uptrend and into a downtrend.
- It's only evident on the weekly chart, but this month's red-hot bullishness has pushed Western Union deep into overbought territory, according to the RSI indicator.
H & R Block (HRB)
Back in late June, H & R Block shares were knocking on the door of a huge technical ceiling. The stock had just pushed up and off of a horizontal floor, and though not yet above a key high, the momentum at the time suggested such a move was likely.
It never happened. In fact, HRB stock fell all the way back to near that familiar floor, where it's still applying pressure. The risk of a breakdown still looms large, and another slightly different support level has since come into play.
Click to EnlargeThe big trading range that has remained intact for nearly two years now is framed with yellow dashed lines on both stock charts, plotted between $24 and $29, give or take.
- In the meantime, a new rising floor has materialized. Plotted in light blue on both stock charts, it connects all the key lows since June of last year, including yesterday's low.
- Although there's bearish momentum in place here, we've seen that before to no avail. A bounce is just as possible given the situation. Either outcome could be tradeworthy though.
Finally, a little more than two months ago, SYSCO was pegged as a good rally candidate. Although at the time it was stalling at the resistance dished out by the 50-day moving average line plotted in purple on both stock charts, the bigger-picture framework boded well.
That prospect has since panned out. Although it took a pretty good pullback and then quite a running start to get SYY shares over their hump, now that they are, there's a ton of room to run.
Click to EnlargeThat last look is marked with a yellow arrow on the daily chart. Shares technically moved above it, but had to come back and kiss the white 200-day moving average line to fully regroup.
- This rebound effort is still all part of a much bigger trading range that put a new rally in motion late last year. The confines of this expanding wedge pattern are marked in blue dashed lines on the weekly chart.
- The same weekly chart suggests SYY stock could climb to $90 or higher before major resistance is met. The broad market, of course, will have to help out for that to happen.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can learn more about him at his website jamesbrumley.com, or follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley.


text:
"These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it."
Leviticus 23:4-8
Please review these options with your family. There will be written sign up sheets by the offering boxes in the Dogwood foyer, but you may also quickly indicate your choice using the webpage link below:


text:
Posted on December 15, 2019
If you guys follow me on social media, you'll know that this week, I posted about going back to therapy and being rediagnosed with OCD…
View this post on Instagram
I'm back at therapy! And this is one of my therapist's dogs who thinks she's small enough to sit in my lap. Anyway. I never deliberately stopped going but our schedules have been very difficult to align for a while, particularly with me starting my Masters, and so it's been a good several months since I've had a session. I almost feel like I've forgotten how to do it, do therapy. But I'm back and hopefully it will help with my anxiety, which has been severe for a while now. And on that note, I've been rediagnosed with OCD! I'm gonna write more about this in a blog post soon but this is really good for me. I have a plan of action. It's gonna be a long road and I am anxious about it but I feel better knowing what the treatment options are, some of which I'm already doing. So despite feeling very unwell, it's been a positive week. It's progress.
A post shared by Lauren Alex Hooper (@laurenalexhooper) on
So, that basically explains what's been going on with therapy (I'll update you on all of that as I continue with therapy) but I wanted to talk a bit more about the OCD diagnosis because that's kind of a big deal.
Back in 2016, I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, social anxiety, OCD, and BPD. And then I was diagnosed with ASD. But in the last year, my psychiatrist reorganised my diagnoses and decided that the symptoms he'd originally seen as OCD fell under some of the other diagnoses, particularly the ASD. But recently, it's become very clear that it really is OCD.
If you remember this post, I talked about having a massive meltdown, which triggered daily, multiple meltdowns. It was awful and one of the most difficult periods of my life, mental health wise and otherwise: dealing with that and trying to manage the beginning of a Masters. It was pretty hellish. I'm not sure when it stopped but it slowly faded and I'm now only having a meltdown every couple of weeks or so – still a bit more than usual but much more manageable.
But that really triggered something in my obsessive diary writing. My diary writing has been pretty compulsive for years: I NEED to write everything down. It's like, if I don't record everything that happens to me, I'll forget who I am. It's a constant battle, but it suddenly went from manageable to completely overwhelming. It takes up all my time or it would if I didn't have all this research to do for my Masters. So these two things are constantly pushing up against each other, which causes me a lot of anxiety. But the diary writing usually wins, which only causes me more anxiety, anxiety that I'm going to do badly in my Masters. And even though I know all of this, I still can't stop writing. And because there's more life than there is time to write, I'm just getting more and more behind. More anxiety. So I'm just a big ball of anxiety. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting bigger and bigger and going faster and faster.
It took forever to get an appointment with my psychiatrist (so the anxiety has gone on a lot longer than was necessary or fair, in my opinion), but eventually I got an appointment. And of course, the time was then changed last minute, the sudden change of plan sent me spiralling into a meltdown. So it took a long time but I finally saw him and we talked about all of this in great detail and he decided to re-diagnose me with OCD. I'm so relieved because now it has edges; it's not some vague, amorphous cloud of stress hanging over me. A diagnosis gives me something to work with.
We talked about the treatment options, medication and therapy. Medication wise, I'm already taking the things he would recommend so that's that avenue covered. I don't know much about the therapy route yet. As far as I know, I'll have to reduce the writing bit by bit, which – in itself – is going to create more anxiety. Hurray. Not. It's the whole 'it's gotta get worse before it gets better.' But now I'm back in therapy and I have an amazing therapist so although I'm terrified of even more anxiety, I know I'll have thoughtful, compassionate guidance. I don't know when we'll start because, as my psychiatrist pointed out, right before a set of assessments isn't necessarily the most productive or helpful time to do this sort of stuff. But even though I'm scared, I need to start working on this soon or every semester is going to be like this one: a daily battle of OCD versus real life. And I really, really don't want that.
Category: animals, diagnosis, medication, meltdowns, mental health, ocd, therapy, treatment, university, writing Tagged: anxiety, asd, autism, autism spectrum disorder, dbt, diagnosis, dialectical behaviour therapy, masters, masters degree, masters degree in songwriting, medication, meltdown, meltdowns, obsessive compulsive disorder, ocd, psychiatrist, therapist, therapy, treatment
Posted on December 24, 2018
Last year, I posted on Christmas Eve about the things I was grateful for (here) and I really liked it as a practice. Since we don't have Thanksgiving in the UK, there's no holiday directly related to being thankful and I think it's important to make time to think and feel these things. And I always feel overwhelmed by how lucky I am at Christmas so this seems like a good time to do it, to do this post.
My family – I am endlessly grateful to my family. They have loved and supported me through some really difficult times this year and even though that's what family should do, I'm so, so grateful to them for doing that. I don't take them for granted. A particular shout out to my Mum for going above and beyond. She's my hero.
My friends – I am also endlessly grateful to my friends. I haven't seen as much of them as I would've liked this year but I've been doing my best to stay in touch. They mean so much to me and I hope they know that. Again, a particular shout out to Richard because he has been incredible this year, supporting me as a friend and a writing partner. I'm more grateful than I can say.
My therapist – I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am so grateful for my therapist. My depression has been brutal this year and there were more than a few moments where I had no idea how I was going to survive (I say that like it's over and I'm not sure whether it's over or not). I absolutely wouldn't have made it through that without her.
Song Suffragettes – If you don't know what Song Suffragettes is, prepare to have your musical life changed. It's an organisation in Nashville that focuses on boosting the up and coming female songwriting talent and they have weekly shows showcasing these awesome women. I was lucky enough to join them on my last trip to Nashville and it was definitely the best day of my year (and one of the best in my life). Everyone involved is so lovely and they are doing such important work. Check them out on Twitter here.
Claire Wineland – I've written about Claire quite a bit (here, here, here, and here if you're interested) but she's been on my mind a lot. I miss her – her presence in my life – more than I know what to do with but I am so grateful to have had her at all. That doesn't make me okay with what happened (not at all) but I am grateful. She was an incredible human being and she's still helping people even though she's no longer here.
Flowers – This is a simple one but having beautiful, colourful flowers around improves my mood and improves my day. In a year that's felt very dark and colourless, having flowers in the house has made a noticeable difference to my day-to-day life.
My bullet journal – Having somewhere to organise my thoughts and my life has been so helpful. Up until now I've never had a system that really worked for me so this is a big deal. I've written more about it here.
Lauren Kaech – I discovered Lauren on YouTube earlier this year and I have found her videos and her attitude really inspiring. I talked about her in my post about social media favourites and she makes videos about her experience of living with an eating disorder. And while that's not an experience I can directly relate to, there are aspects that I can. She talks about facing the things that scare you, the realities of happiness, and a whole host of recovery related topics that apply to anxiety and depression as well as eating disorders. I'm so grateful to have had this in my life this year and at my very worst (in the very worst of my depression), looking forward to her videos got me through the day and kept me going.
Swimming – I've written a whole post about this (here) but I wanted to include it here because I'm so, so grateful for it. Almost every morning, I get up and go to the pool and do something that makes sense. Even if the rest of the day doesn't, that does. I'm also really proud of myself for keeping this up for six months, especially given how bad my depression has been.
Taylor Swift – Miss Swift was on my grateful list last year and the reasons are all still relevant. But this year, I got to see her live (twice!) and that experience was so much fun in the middle of a really dark place. I felt all that weight lift for a couple of hours and that is a big deal. I'm also really grateful to her for voicing her political opinions (breaking her career long silence on the subject) and encouraging young people to vote. In the twenty four hours after she made her Instagram post on the subject, 65,000 people registered to vote, which is just incredible. It made me really proud to be a fan. I don't think I can say more than, as always, I am grateful for Taylor Swift.
So there you have it. I could write more – there are so many things to be grateful for – but I'll stop there. I'm wishing you all a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas and I'll see you in the next post.
Category: diagnosis, favourites, holidays, music, therapy Tagged: blogging, bullet journal, bullet journalling, christmas, christmas eve, claire wineland, concert, dbt, dialectical behaviour therapy, dudebabe, family, flowers, friends, grateful, inspiration, lauren kaech, nashville, ramblings, song suffragettes, swimming, taylor swift, the reputation tour, therapist, therapy, youtube, youtuber
Posted on October 13, 2018
Going to therapy hasn't always been easy. I feel so, so lucky to have such an amazing therapist now but I had a lot of difficult experiences before I started seeing her. So I thought I'd share some of those experiences. Maybe they'll be helpful.
After many, many appointments with my GP, I was finally referred to the local NHS Wellbeing service but the session didn't go well. At this point in time, my anxiety was so bad that I couldn't talk to people I didn't know. I just couldn't. Answers to questions would form in my mind but I couldn't force them up my throat. So I sat there, in tears, while the doctor tried to get my Mum out of the room and told me he 'wouldn't' help me if I didn't talk. I don't want to rant but I WAS STRUGGLING WITH A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM. I wanted desperately to be able to talk about it but I couldn't. I don't remember much about that appointment but I do remember standing in the street afterwards, shaking and crying and screaming and swearing. I couldn't understand why no one was helping me when there was so clearly something wrong.
My second attempt at therapy was a bit better. I started Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with a really lovely therapist. She was very patient and very open to working around the anxiety that kept me from talking. She was also happy to have my Mum in the room: it helped my anxiety and meant she could provide information. Slowly I started to trust her and started answering questions myself. But it was exhausting, bone achingly exhausting. As hard as we worked, I didn't feel like we were making any progress and it was too hard to go through that to make no progress. I really liked her and I could tell that she was a really good therapist but the approach wasn't right for me. I found the format too rigid. In simple terms, CBT is about breaking down your problems and then trying to create change in those areas. I felt, and still do feel, that my problems are too murky for a short stint of CBT. I know now that many of my problems originate from my Autism and the fact that it went undiagnosed for so long but even with that knowledge, the difficult things still feel overwhelmingly huge. I can see CBT being useful for a specific anxiety. For example, we tried to work on my anxiety around making phone calls. But I think the reason it didn't work is that it wasn't an isolated problem; it was a piece in a much bigger puzzle. I don't think you can solve that sort of problem if you don't know what's causing it. Plus, being rational about what you're struggling with in the controlled setting of therapy and being rational when it's overwhelming you are very different things. CBT sort of assumes that you can still apply the skills you've learnt in therapy regardless of how you're feeling, which can feel impossible, especially if you live with really powerful emotions. But maybe that's just my perception.
The next thing we tried was Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), recommended by a family member. In the few months between finishing CBT and starting EMDR, my anxiety had sky rocketed so starting a new therapy was really hard. It was so bad that I actually never spoke to the guy I worked with. But despite that, and my difficulty with eye contact, communicating with him was easier than it had been with previous therapists. He was fantastic. He accepted my difficulty speaking and suggested writing on a whiteboard. I considered that and it felt possible so that's what we did. He asked me questions and I replied, scribbling as fast as I could. It worked. And to take the pressure off, we would spend part of the session on the floor, playing dominoes while he asked me questions. I felt absolutely safe there. It was incredibly strengthening to have someone accept my anxieties as they were, to have someone recognise that I wasn't just being difficult, that I was genuinely struggling with something really hard. And although it didn't turn out to be the right thing for me, the sessions are still really important to me. For several months, we worked hard. We tried. I felt supported. And even though I didn't ever speak, I did once sing for him and he almost cried. That was a pretty big moment.
After that, I didn't go to therapy for a while. There was a lot of life stuff going on and there just wasn't the time to find someone new. But I did start seeing a new psychiatrist. He prescribed me Phenelzine (which I've previously written about) and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was causing my problems. I guess it was a type of therapy. We went through my history and analysed my emotions, trying to find a diagnosis. The medication helped and we managed the side effects but it still took a long time. When my university said that they couldn't help unless I had a diagnosis, I pushed for this and in January 2015, I could finally put names to the issues I was struggling with (apart from the Autism diagnosis which came several months later). My psychiatrist recommended Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) so we started looking for another therapist.
My current therapist is the first one we met. I just knew she was right; me and Mum walked out, looked at each other, and said, 'she's the one.' We did meet another one but my mind was made up. And we were right. She's amazing. I've been seeing her for three years now and I'm so grateful to have that safe place. DBT suits me much better. It's based on CBT but, as the Mind website says, it's "been adapted to help people who experience emotions very intensely." They both help with changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, but DBT also helps you to accept yourself. It's about a balance between acceptance and change. That really makes sense to me and always has.
In the beginning, I needed my Mum in the room with me and she would answer all the questions. We'd always talked about everything so she knew pretty much all the answers. But over time, I felt more comfortable there. I needed Mum there less and less and eventually I started doing the whole session by myself. Three years later and it's really, really important to me. It's a huge part of who I am. It's not easy; it's really hard work and I often come home exhausted, sometimes falling asleep on the sofa afterwards. But it's really satisfying to talk things through, to make connections, to see change happen. I've talked about things that I never, ever thought I would talk about and I've worked through things I never thought I'd let go of. That's so huge that I can't really comprehend it.
So that's my therapy journey. For me, it's DBT that works but I've seen the others help people too. You need to be ready, you need to find the right approach, and you need to find the right person. It's not easy but it is worth it.
Category: animals, anxiety, autism, bpd, depression, diagnosis, emotions, medication, mental health, ocd, therapy, treatment, uncategorized Tagged: actuallyautistic, asd, autism, autism awareness, autism spectrum disorder, autistic, autistic adult, cbt, cognitive behavioural therapy, dbt, dialectical behaviour therapy, emdr, experience, eye movement desensitisation reprocessing, medication, mental health, mental health awareness, mental health treatment, mental illness, mental wellness, nhs, phenelzine, therapist, therapy, therapy experience, therapy journey, treatment
Posted on December 24, 2017
A while back, my social media feeds were flooded with posts about being grateful and appreciative and thankful. Yes, it was Thanksgiving. I live in the UK and I find it a bit of a weird experience seeing so much celebration and festivity in my online world and have none of that reflected in the world around me. But I do think it's important to take the time to feel grateful for what I have and I always feel especially grateful at Christmas so I thought I'd write a short post about some of the things I'm grateful for, some big, some small, and some strange.
My family, my friends, my people – This year has been a particularly difficult year but if it's taught me anything it's how incredible the people in my life are. Time and time again, they've come through for me, supported me, and encouraged me and I couldn't be more grateful. A few years ago, my relationships felt a bit all over the place (especially my friendships: old ones were separated by university and new ones were still tentative) but this year, I feel like I've fallen in love again with all the lovely people in my life, from the people I talk to online to my friends (both from university and from before) to my closest family. And I'm trying my best to make sure they know it.
My therapist – My god, I'm so grateful for my therapist. Not a day goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am to have her. I can't even put it into words. Having someone I can trust with anything and everything is incredible (although it's very scary for me to feel so reliant on a person). I've told her things I never thought I'd tell anyone and she's helped me through things I never thought I'd get through. I can't thank her enough for all she does.
My animals – I've already written about my animals so I won't ramble on too much but they deserve a mention here. They bring me such joy and help me so much with my depression and anxiety. I'm so, so grateful to have them in my life.
My final year at university – My first two years of uni were really, really hard. They were a real struggle. I learnt a lot and I met some great people but the bad stuff going on often overwhelmed the good stuff. But third year was a blast. I loved it. I had a great group, some great tutors, and I wrote some great songs. I also built some great friendships. I think the best way to describe it was that I was finally feeling in sync, with everyone else but also with myself. I was working on all the things I wanted to work on, I was working with some awesome people, and I was getting some really good responses. It felt so right. Leaving was really hard but having such a great last year means I look back on the whole experience positively even though there were some really hard times.
My health – My health is a struggle and it's something I wrestle with daily but I am so grateful that it's not worse. I don't think it's helpful to compare your health situation to others' because someone else's experience doesn't mean you aren't allowed to feel and struggle with your own. I also think it's unhealthy to focus solely on the positive and repress your feelings about the negatives. But I do think that it's important to keep a sense of perspective. I'm grateful for all the things in my body that do work. I'm grateful that I do have days where I can walk the dog, go out with my friends, and stay out late. I'm grateful that my mental functioning seems to be getting better. I'm grateful for how resilient my body is. I need to learn from that.
The benefits I receive – I want to write a more in depth post about benefits and the process of getting them because it really can't be explained sufficiently within this post but I really wanted to include this because I am so very grateful to get the benefits I do. It's something that just removes one layer of anxiety and that's such a big deal. I'm also really grateful for the Christmas bonus. I haven't had a Christmas where I've been on benefits so far and the extra £10 with the recent payment just made me so happy.
Clear skin – My Mum laughed when I told her that I was putting this on the list but I am so, so grateful that, for the majority of the time, I have clear skin. It was something I was so insecure about as a teenager. Looking back at the photos, it doesn't look too bad but I remember so vividly how upset I'd get over it so I'm grateful for every day I look in the mirror and see clear skin. I don't take it for granted.
Redbull – Redbull should sponsor me. Seriously. I'm actually drinking Redbull as I write this. I only discovered it recently (I'd had to avoid caffeine while taking my previous medication) and it's been a very exciting find, especially while I'm struggling so much with low energy levels. It gives me such a boost; it makes me feel like a normal, functional human being, not like one who has to constantly assess her energy levels and emotional state. It's like the fog of fatigue rolls back and I can actually feel all the other emotions, like excitement and joyfulness. I'm aware that I shouldn't drink it too often but while I'm following every other avenue to improve my energy, it's a really good back up plan for when there's something I need to do.
Agents of Shield – Another one that isn't life changing but oh my god, I look forward to every new episode. I love it. It's definitely my favourite TV show. For a long time, I avoided everything superhero-related because it just made me miss my Dad but almost ten years on, it's something that feels really special. I can imagine the conversations we'd have, the debates over how the storylines played out. I can almost hear his voice down the phone, talking me out of a panic attack by saying, "Think of Daisy. What would Daisy Johnson do?" It used to hurt but now that world makes me feel close to him. On a different note, I love it because I find watching it makes me feel empowered. It reminds me that, superpowers or not, doing good – being a hero – is about the choices you make. It's a weekly reminder to try to do better and to be better. Plus Chloe Bennet (who plays Daisy) is just freaking awesome. The whole cast is.
Taylor Swift – Yes, I am grateful for Taylor Swift. People have made fun of me for liking Taylor Swift for as long as I've been a fan but I honestly do not care. She is a fantastic songwriter and I love her music. I'm grateful to have a new album this year but the thing I'm really, really grateful for is who she is as a person. Since announcing the new album, she's met literally hundreds of people who've always wanted to meet her; she's made hundreds of people's dreams come true, not for financial gain, not for the publicity, but because her fans matter to her as much as she matters to her fans. How lovely is that? I think that's amazing. I'm also grateful to her for using her platform to spread awareness about sexual assault, as I am grateful to every person who has done the same. We are not obligated to share our traumas; our only obligation is to ourselves and our healing. Sharing difficult experiences and opening yourself up to the opinions of others is so brave and should never be undervalued. Her level of fame makes any potential fall out worse but it also means she made a huge impact: the RAINN hotline saw a 35% increase in the number of calls they received after she won her trial. She has so much power to affect people's lives and she strives for that impact to be a positive one. So yeah, I'm grateful for Taylor Swift.
I could keep going – there's a lot I'm thankful for – but I'll stop there. I'm wishing you all a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas and I'll see you on the other side.
Category: about me, favourites, holidays, therapy, university Tagged: agents of shield, chloe bennet, christmas, daisy johnson, family, friends, graduate, graduation, grateful, health, pet, pets, redbull, taylor swift, thankful, thanksgiving, therapist, therapy, university
Hi! I'm Lauren Alex Hooper. Welcome to my little blog! I write about living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as several mental health issues. I'm a singersongwriter so I'll probably write a bit about that too.
My first single, 'Invisible,' is now available on iTunes and Spotify, with all proceeds going to Young Minds.
My second single, 'Bad Night,' is also now available on all platforms and is the first track from my new EP, 'Honest.'


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Primary Teacher in Spain, 2020, Spain
Closing date:Expiring soon
Contract type: Full Time
Contract term: Permanent
Suitable for NQTs: No
The Escola Internacional del Camp (EIC) is an international school which opened in 2012 and is in its 8th year.
The school, located in Salou south of Barcelona, has a new building complex with potential to welcome up to 800 students (650 this year), is inclusive and offers a complete education to students aged 1 to 18+. This is the first school to run with the Socrates Educa model, an innovative pedagogical system which will be implemented in other new schools in the future.
It is a popular and happy English / Spanish / Catalan trilingual school, offering Pre-school, Primary, Secondary, National and International Baccalaureate (IB), with an international emphasis and also Chinese as a foreign language. Parents are continuously involved in the life of the school. Our curriculum is based on the local curriculum but is influenced by teachers from around the world and taught mainly in English. Former students are already studying in universities in the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.
We run a wide range of extra-curricular activities, community links and projects as well as educational/cultural events and visits.
We are recruiting for the Primary Section and as the project grows we will need to develop more leaders. All successful candidates should be team players, innovative, creative, able to differentiate in the classroom and motivated by the opportunity to work in a multilingual environment. International experience, experience of working in different continents and with different curriculums would be a plus. Knowledge of Spanish and/or Catalan is very useful. We always aim to recruit some new teachers before the start of the following year, so that could be at any time from January or maybe Easter.
Essential for all candidates:
- English speaker, ability to teach completely in authentic English.
- Can speak Spanish or prepared to learn it.
- Good ICT skills (familiar with Mac/ iPad, knowledge of educational apps)
- PGCE in Primary or QTS with induction year.
- International experience
- Spoken Catalan or Spanish (or both)
Interested candidates should attach a CV to: email@example.com
Contact The Escola Internacional del Camp - Salou (EIC)
Thanks for your interest in this role.
Simply fill in the form below to ask any questions, request a call, or schedule a school visit.
This field is required


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Blain|Southern opened its Berlin gallery on 30 April 2011 with an exhibition by the celebrated British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster.
Monumental both in scale and ambition, Turning the Seventh Corner is a site-specific installation inspired by the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs which has been made in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed architect David Adjaye.
The new gallery, a concrete, steel and glass structure with a floor space of more than 1,300 square metres, was formerly the printing presses of the German Liberal newspaper, Der Tagesspiegel. The publication's motto, 'Rerum cognoscere causas', or 'To know the causes of things', has also inspired the artists.
Tim Noble and Sue Webster are best known for their 'shadow sculptures' in which they use discarded rubbish, animals and other matter that are then illuminated from a single light source creating portraits of themselves. Their work also includes light sculptures which elevate the kitsch of low art forms, such as Las Vegas strip hotels and tattoo parlours, into iconic tropes of pop art.
Turning The Seventh Corner draws on these and other practices. However, the artists' desire for an element of surprise and mystery has led them to hold back on revealing every detail of the work, which they have created as a journey of exploration.
Upon arriving at the doorway on the second floor of the gallery the viewer enters a labyrinth of man-made tunnels, dimly lit with narrowing passages. These ascend and descend in a spiral-like manner and have been designed to disorientate and, in doing so, steer the mind towards a more open and meditative state, one alive to enquiry.
After passing the seven corners, an allusion to the Book of Proverbs, 9:1 - "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars", the viewer enters a tomb-like area where the artwork by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, one of beauty, surprise, wonder and enlightenment, is revealed.
Says Webster: "Since I was a teenager I've been enthralled by the idea of Berlin and by the way it has attracted the creative energies of two of my great heroes David Bowie and Nick Cave - and so following in this great tradition, Tim and I are proud to initiate our most ambitious project to date in this fabulous city."


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If the Pro might be surprised at this great terrarium measurement combination, you should take a closer look at the features of the Lucky Reptile Thermo-Hygrometer Pro. This high-quality combination of thermometer and hygrometer leaves nothing to be desired and the handy and pleasantly flat device combines three functions in the smallest of spaces. Of course, the device itself can be conveniently installed outside the terrarium - the combined remote sensor measures the temperature and humidity absolutely reliably. The remote sensor is also ideal for humid terrarium environments and can be mounted anywhere in the terrarium. The great thing about the Lucky Reptile Thermo-Hygrometer Pro is that the minimum and maximum values for temperature and humidity are continuously stored - automatically and even when you are not even present. So you always have all the necessary information about humidity and temperature in the terrarium at hand and can take quick countermeasures if necessary. Also very successful: The large, bright LCD display is easy to read. The battery required to operate the Lucky Reptile Thermo-Hygrometer Pro is of course also included. So you can start right away and have professional control in your terrarium.
Technical details
Measuring range temperature combination sensor: -5°C to +50°C
resolution: 1°C, 1%
Humidity measuring range: 30% to 90%.
Update rate: 10 seconds
Battery: 1x 3V button cell CR2032


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Coconut Mylk Mango Spinach Lime Watercress Mint Vanilla
A delicious blend of fresh vanilla--coconut mylk and leafy greens with just a hint of tangy mango, Coco Green is a tropical green smoothie that will refresh your body in the morning or afternoon. Coco Green contains medium chain fatty acids that are found in coconut flesh which are easily absorbed for energy. Coco Green contains watercress, which is regarded as the most nutritious of all superfoods. With the combination of mint & watercress in Coco Green, this green smoothie can help stimulate digestion and relieve cramping & bloating.
Coco Green is:
This bottle of Pressed Juices is bursting with nutrients and enzymes in the convenience of a single bottle. It provides all the goodness that fresh fruits, vegetables and spices have to offer.
Each of our juices are made using the freshest ingredients of the season. Because of this, there may be some subtle variations to the flavour, aroma and appearance of each juice as the seasons change.
Our juices are 100% raw and unpasteurised. This means that they may be unsuitable for some people including pregnant women, young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
This product may contain traces of nuts.
Must be consumed immediately after opening or kept unopened and refrigerated below 5C for 3 days and consumed by the use by date.
Coco Green is an excellent ''on the go'' breakfast option with its high fibre and healthy fat content.


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Heart Centred Process to Reduce Anxiety
The heart centred process can reduce anxiety so easily and make you feel calm.
The benefits of this process
This process is very simple and takes less than a minute. It is a terrific way to keep centred throughout your day.
It shifts you from the wired, anxious over thinking mind into the heart centre which is a place of harmony, peace, love and calm.
It switches your body from fight flight into a sense of calmness. It is very effective at bringing you into the moment and into connection with yourself.
How to do The Heart Centred Process
Breathe in and out a few times.
Scan your Physical body – what does it feel like? Heavy, tense, pain anywhere, contracted expanded, light, calm, or relaxed? Just observe without judgement. Breathe
Now Scan your emotional body – How are you feeling? Grief, peaceful, angry, joy, sad, fear, bored, anxious, worry. Observe without judgement or blame. Breathe
Finally scan your mind – What are thoughts are you thinking? What am I having for dinner tonight? I have got so much to do today? How am I going to find time to do it all. Breathe
Place a hand on your heart and think of something that makes you smile, something that you love. It could be a baby, animal, a beautiful place that fills you with peace, or even of something funny that makes you laugh.
Breathe in and out, enjoy that feeling and imagine it expanding from your heart into every cell in your body.
Now just become aware of your body, feelings and thoughts. Do you notice any shifts?
Enjoy this simple yet powerful process that can shift you from your head into your heart within seconds.
When to do this process?
Start this process a few times a day, you will feel the shifts.
It can be done in the shower, on the toilet, on the bus and any time when you have a spare minute. Be gentle and kind with yourself and mostly have fun slowing down you body and mind, it can be such a welcome relief.
Be patient with yourself especially if you already have a monkey mind, it may take a little more time to feel the shifts, but it is definitely worth it. Have fun and play with this process, follow your intuition.
With love and light Amanda
I would like to thank Wendy Kennedy for kindly allowing me to share her Heart Centred Process with you.


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Ethel (Academy Student)
My experience with Stacked Academy was amazing and one of a kind. I never have seen any online training like Stacked Academy. For me what makes them stand out? Are the full support you get, never-ending patience, and they provide us with our first client! We were trained how to talk, what to say, and how to close deals for our business.
The contents are easy to digest and follow. If you get stuck? The Stacked Academy team are always there to help and quick to respond with any issues. I was able to learn how to build a website from start to finish. I learned a lot of tools that I never knew existed before. In addition to great training, we also had mentors that are leaders in the field every week and I was able to immerse myself in learning about marketing, business, and design. Now, that I completed my 12-week course, I have now added web design to my services! I am ecstatic!
I highly recommend Stacked Academy! The course was beneficial to my freelancing and I intend to apply everything I learn in my business. If you are someone like me who want to take her skills to the next level, then this course is for you too! If you want to learn how to build a website but do not know how to code? Then this course is perfect for you. It's easy to ask for help from the team and you do not have to wait 24 hours to get the help you need. I can't emphasize it enough SUPERB SUPPORT! Everything you need to start your web design business is on the 12-week course! It is a worthy investment for myself and I am 100% sure it will be for you too.
Santa (Ethel's Client)
What can I say but WOW I'm one lucky Santa.
Ethel has built for me a web site far better than I imagined. Right from the beginning Ethel was able to grasp the look and feel I wanted to generate with my web site and factor in the future needs this Santa would have.
It became very exiting to watch and get sneak peeks at what was being done as the build progressed. Ethel is so responsive to any changes that I needed done that it made the entire process a great experience.
I have had several web sites built for other businesses I have owned but never has it been so effortless as it has been with Ethel.
All I can say now is thank you Ethel love your work, your definitely on this Santa's nice list.
Ho Ho Ho - Santa G
Jenny Cavanough (graphic designer, turned web designer!)
I can't recommend the 12 week Stacked Academy course enough. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The course is practical and interesting with relevant content. Dave's teaching style is genuine, down to earth and approachable. I gained a lot of gems from the specialist mentoring as well.
Creating a web site for a real client was a great experience. I found it helpful having access to the group chat (channel) where we could not only post our own questions but learn from questions other students were asking. I liked that the zoom video meeting platform meant we could interact with Dave, the mentors and the other students.
The Academy teams passion for web design was evident in the instruction and help provided along the way, encouraging us to explore what the platforms had to offer.
The whole Stacked Academy team are available for support and they really know their stuff. I feel confident to offer web design as a service after completing this course.
Testimonial from Debbie
As a freelance designer specialising in print media, I realise I needed to diversify my skill-set in areas that are a little more specialised in order to offer potential clients a complete configuration of products.
With partial experience building a website from the ground-up and designing the layout I looked into and began and internship with Stacked Design.
This course is a must for freelance designers who want to venture into web-design. The course is structured in such a way that caters for flexibility. Professional tutorials with guest speakers are relaxed whilst delivering the opportunity to question and reflect are provided throughout. Other than the response and support from Dave and the team at Stacked, the single most outstanding feature of this course is the opportunity to work on a project in a practical real-life environment, similarly to any internship. This 'learn-as-you-go' project is invaluable as you are deal with time-constraints, client goals and expectations at the same time delivering an end-product product that is endorsed by the Stacked team prior to hand-over.
Throughout the course you will learn first-hand and in great detail step-by-step procedures you need to act on to ensure your site is properly and professionally built.
Knowing that Stacked have done and continue to support both myself and my colleagues in steering us towards the direction we need to take in order to become effective and successful designers is fantastic. It's extremely heartening to know that we are not left out in the cold or thrown to the wolves to make our own way. We now have the support of our peers as well, which I am sure will continue for many.
Because of this course, I look forward to the opportunity to create and design websites with confidence. The Stacked team have made it clear that we can continue to benefit from their knowledge base should we require any future additional assistance. How can we not feel supported, when the course has so much to offer?
Email from a student July 3 2018
General Comments
Stacked Academy is great, I learned things that I never knew before!
Very addictive... Late nights with no TV. A good thing. Loving it! Huge thanks to Dave up late too.
Super interesting! It's very applied, which is great.
So so exciting! ...to be taken through website building step by step and hopefully be able to deliver a satisfactory service to others!
Amazing first week of the course! The zoom session was very engaging, with a lot of attention placed on every student in the academy.
It doesn't go unnoticed that a lot of time and effort has been invested by the Stacked Academy team to perfect this course and offer quality knowledge. Very eager to see what the next 11 weeks have to offer.
Great, learning a lot. 🙂
It's interesting,especially the Mailchimp part
Very hands on and applied! Looking forward to more mentor sessions!
This week was more of a challenge but Dave was very helpful. Really appreciate the effort, so I'll try to put in as much effort in return.
So nicely structured and everything tech-related is so straightforward and organised! Makes it really easy to find help and I always feel supported.
I am finding the course very inspirational. I will in time know and practise be able to create beautiful sites. Mentor sessions are great and overall I'm very happy, and can't wait to get through it.
Loving the course 🙂
Here's why Stacked Academy is an awesome idea.
Learn from real developers
Our presenters are all experienced web designers and developers with a track record of success. Get the right advice to make your website look professional all by yourself.
Unlimited Staging Sites
Get access to create as many sites as you want. All sites come equipped with thousands of dollars of fully-licensed plugins for you to use.
Email / Document Templates
During the Academy, we give you all the emails and document templates required to run a successful web project. They are yours to keep and re-purpose as you see fit.
Incredible support
We are so hands on it's ridiculous. Get an almost immediate response from a team of mentors through our community slack channel.
First project build
We'll step you through an entire project from start to finish. You'll gain skills in everything from documentation & style guides to optimisation and configuring DNS.
You will be able to offer website design as a service, deliver over and over again with ease, and charge good money with conviction.
Build your Agency Website
Walk away at the end with a high converting web design agency website that is all yours. Including e-commerce capability, a blog, and landing pages to run your marketing campaigns.
Successful Graduates are given monthly leads
One of the toughest things for most web design freelancers is finding new work. As a new business it can take years to build up a client base of reliable referral work. Our graduates are introduced to new Stacked Site website owners so they can help each other.


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Chocochic - Fancy Food Show 2008
by Yael Miller on 07/08/2008 | 1 Minute Read
At the NYC Fancy Food Show last week, I discovered Chocochic - a UK chocolatier with beautiful branding and packaging. The bold and liberal use of vivid aqua blue (even more vivid than the photo shows) make the line striking and unique. The structural designs are also quite good.
Continue reading for more images.
Branding and packaging designed by Pure Equator.


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One of the most significant science equipmentused in laboratories. The Magnetic Stirrer reduces risk of contamination since there is only an inert magnet stir bar that is placed in the sample to stir. ... The clear advantage of the magnetic stir compared to a manual Stirrer is that it is able to perform reproducible mixing or mixing for a long period of time.
Ultraflat compact magnetic stirrer, guaranteed with modern magnet coil technology. Wear-free with no moving parts. To ensure better mixing, the lab disc can reverse the direction of rotation automatically every 30 seconds.
- No moving parts – truly maintenance free
- A low aspect ratio (just 12 mm thick)
- Software-driven gradual acceleration
- Adjustable speed (15 to 1500 RPM) with digital display
- Microprocessor controlled with last run memory feature
- Stirring cap. 800 ml – set up a place of 100 mm
- Pulse mode – reverses the direction every 30 secs for proper mixing
- IP 65 compliant design (Water spill resistant)
- Corrosion resistant SS top surface to fight harsh chemicals
- 2 High-quality stir barsare included to ensure maximum stirring performance.
Specifications MS 800 PLUS Max RPM 1500 RPM Speed Setting 15 to 1500 RPM (at every 50 RPM) Set – up plate material Stainless Steel Speed indicator Yes Permissible ambient temperature [°C] 5 – 40 Permissible relative humidity [%] 80 Voltage [V] 220 – 240 Frequency [Hz] 50 Load capacity (Water) 800 ml Recommended Stir bar length 25 mm Pulse function Yes Sync Mode NO Last run memory Yes Dimensions (W X D X H) 120 x 164 x 12 mm Weight 400 gm Protection Class IP65 compliant design (Water spill resistant)
Package includes:
- 1 Magnetic Stirrer
- 2 stir bars 8 x 25 mm
- 1 Low voltage, double insulated power adapter with 4 interchangeable plugs


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Stock indexes ticked higher on Wednesday, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index flirted with its record high, as the White House unveiled a broad outline of its plan to cut tax rates.
The market has sprinted higher since November, due in large part to expectations that lower taxes and looser regulations for businesses are on the way. White House officials said Wednesday afternoon that they hope to cut the top corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent. The plan still has many specifics to be determined, such as how much it will affect the government's budget deficit, and they will need to be negotiated with Congress.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,393, as of 2:10 p.m. eastern time. Earlier in the day, it climbed a bit above its record closing level of 2,395.96, set early last month. When White House officials began talking about taxes in the early afternoon, it caused only minor ripples in the index's movement.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,036, and the Nasdaq composite rose 5, or 0.1 percent, to 6,030.
THE TAX PLAN: Along with expectations for lighter regulations on business, hopes for lower taxes have been among the main drivers for the 11 percent sprint higher for the S&P 500 since Election Day.
White House officials laid out a broad outline for changing the U.S. tax code, including incentives that they said would encourage multinational companies to repatriate cash parked overseas. The proposed 15 percent rate on corporate taxes may be only a starting point for negotiations, but a tax rate even in the 25 percent range would mean fatter after-tax profits for companies, which could propel their stock prices even further.
Many investors say profits need to climb to justify the big gains that stock prices have made in recent years.
EARNINGS: This is a frenetic week for companies reporting how much they earned during the first three months of the year. More than a third of the businesses in the S&P 500 are slated to go this week.
Reports have been largely better than expected, and analysts expect this to be the strongest quarter of growth in years.
Edwards Lifesciences jumped to one of the largest gains in the S&P 500 Wednesday after it reported stronger revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company also raised its profit forecast for the year. Its stock jumped $9.99, or 10.1 percent, to $108.91.
ANTE UP: Wynn Resorts jumped $7.75, or 6.6 percent, to $125.97 after reporting revenue and profits that topped expectations. The company saw stronger revenue from its Las Vegas casino, as well as its new Macau resort, which opened in August.
FLYING HIGHER: Twitter jumped $1.43, or 9.7 percent, to $16.09 after reporting stronger quarterly results than expected.
ROLLED: U.S. Steel plunged $7.91, or 25.4 percent, to $23.20 after it reported a loss for the first quarter and cut its profit forecast for the year.
FLAT: Dr Pepper Snapple Group dropped $4.09, or 4.2 percent, to $94.32 after its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts' expectations. Its profit nevertheless beat Wall Street's forecast.
HARD FALL: Seagate Technology, a maker of hard drives and other storage products, sank $8.37, or 16.6 percent, to $42.14 after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its profit nevertheless topped expectations.
MARKETS ABROAD: In Europe, the French CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent, the FTSE 100 in London added 0.2 percent and the German DAX was close to flat. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 jumped 1.1 percent, the South Korean Kospi rose 0.5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.5 percent.
COMMODITIES: Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 6 cents to settle at $49.62 a barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 37 cents to $52.20 a barrel.
Natural gas rose 10 cents to $3.14 per 1,000 cubic feet, wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.59 per gallon and heating oil fell 1 cent to $1.54 per gallon.
Gold fell $3 to $1,264.20 per ounce, silver lost 23 cents to $17.36 and copper rose 1 cent to $2.59 per pound.
CURRENCIES: The euro slipped to $1.0901 from $1.0939 late Tuesday, while the dollar rose to 111.30 Japanese yen from 111.09 yen. The British pound rose to $1.2855 from $1.2830.
BONDS: U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.31 percent from 2.34 percent late Tuesday.
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So with the hard drive disconnected it still hung about halfway through the boot process.
Did not get a flashing folder with ? it saw my boot partitions from my Burly. I'll give it one more try after I put SL 10.6 on a drive by itself.
I am assuming bad hard drive - acts like one. Ideas? I think my friend would buy new vs add new hard drive. What is cost and headaches of new drive.


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We've even written a couple articles to help you get started finding your dream home. Check out our Advice Center to learn more!
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Kenya Arnold, NMD
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
REGEN CLINIQ at The SHAW Center
8913 E. Bell Rd
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Dr. Kenya Arnold is a licensed Naturopathic Physician who empowers men and women to look and feel their best and maintain a healthier version of themselves. By using a variety of naturopathic services to assist and prevent the signs of aging, Dr. Arnold optimizes your health both externally and internally- restoring the image of beauty from the inside out.
When Dr. Arnold is not lighting up the clinic, she enjoys Roller Skating, Zumba, serving in Children's Ministry, and spending time with her family & friends.
With a mission to restore the image of beauty from the inside-out, Dr. Arnold uses the following tools to conquer your aesthetic needs:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cosmetic Ozone/Autologous Medical Ozone
- Bio-Fillers
- Collagen Stimulators (Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)/Concentrated Growth Factors (CGF))
- Intravenous (IV) Nutrient Therapy
- Intramuscular (IM) Injections
- Cosmetic Injectables (Botox, Dysport, Juvederm, etc)
- Customized Weight Loss Protocols
- Botanical Medicine (Nutrition/Supplements)
- Oriental Medicine (Cosmetic Acupuncture)
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN- Bachelor of Science, Biology; Minor in Chemistry; Concentration in Microbiology
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Arizona
Primary Care Residency, Lake Oswego, OR
- Ozone Therapy
- Cosmetic Ozone
- Platelet-Rich Plasma
- Cosmetic Injections
- Prolotherapy


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Future Technology Trend
Advanced metering infrastructure Architecture
My presentation at an interview
Google Finally Has a NEST to Hatch Internet of Things
Google Recent Acquisition of NEST which make Thermostat and Smoke detectors.
Very intelligent Decision:
As These are devices/Things which is present in almost every home. Once These are Enabled for Internet of Things (IoT). The Market can be quickly reached compared to new devices to penetrate consumer Homes.
As Other products it can correlate data with Gmail, social network , search and other data stored in data centre. AI/Machine Learning algorithm can be run over it to understand Consumer Behaviour , consumer Psychology.
New inputs room temperature, city temperature, room lights, intensity of lights to Algorithm can Achieve better targeting of advertisements and other meta data understanding.
Then There are IoT using IPV6.
1. https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/internet-of-things-iot-step-by-step-approach/
2. https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/the-owl-in-semantic-web-and-internet-of-things-iot/
This Article is in top most on google Search page on semantic web OWL and Internet of things.
– Ontology can be represented by OWL (Ontology Web Language) which is also refining and defining the agents used to search the personalized behavioural web for you(also called semantic web) Thus these agents understand you behaviour and help to find better recommendations and search List in Semantic space.
– Semantic Web:
– Augmented Reality : is used in Gaming and multimedia application
(read Article link below)
Perceived Reality vs The augmented reality
Augmented reality is fuelled by ontology + perceived reality.
READ: How Augmented Reality transforming gamification of Software (like ERP)
– New age software development
Ontology can integrate many task into a Uniform task which were not possible Early.
Read Discussion On Reality Vs Actuality on Wikki link of Ontology
This Is ongoing Article I going to complete the pieces with example and below topics
– CDI, Customer Data Integration (Single version of truth for a data Like
single person can be An Employee in Peoplesoft ERP, same person can be Customer in SAP CRM, Can be an represented in different way in Oracle Financial. But when we develop reports on some parameters across functional areas then categorisation into a single entity can be achieved through CDI.
How this is linked to Ontology will explain further.
– MDM, Master data Management (Managing data (meta data)about data)
– Federated data management.
several Data Marts leading to a universal single data warehouse one design But in Data Federation the data from various data mart can be integrated virtually to create single view of Data from various disparate sources can also be used.
This relationship would be further expanded its not complete now..
Mathematical Modelling the Sensor Network
1. Go through the Slides about Modelling the Wireless sensor Network and Internet of Things
- 10 PROJECT GOALS 1. Routing algorithm: SPIN,CTP. 2. measure energy consumed 3. Validate PPECEM Model 4. Improve in existing model for efficiency, reliability, availability.
- 2. 10 PROJECT GOALS 5. New Model: ERAECEM Efficiency Reliability Availability Energy consumption Estimation Model. 6. ERAQP BASED on ERAECEM Model for WSN a new energy aware routing algorithm (ERAQP)
- 3. 10 PROJECT GOALS 7. Configurable Routing Algorithm Approach Proposed on WSN motes utilizing user defined QoS parameters 8. Model for WSN: Leader-Follower Model, Directed Diffusion Model
- 4. 10 PROJECT GOALS 9. Fuzzy routing Algorithm 10. Fuzzy Information Neural Network representation of Wireless Sensor Network.
- 7. 1.2 CTP Collection tree protocol
- 8. 2 ENERGY MEASUREMENT Agilent 33522B Waveform Generator was used to measure the Current and voltage graph . The Graph measurement were then converted to numerical power Power= Voltage X current = V X I. The Power consumed during motes routing on SPIN and CTP then taken into is added up to give power consumption and values are applied to PPECEM.
- 10. 3.1COST OF SECURITY Cost of security In WSN can only be estimated by looking at extra burden of secure algorithm and security of Energy Consumption as the Energy is key driver or critical resource in design of WSN. As design is completely dominated by size of battery supplying power to mote.
- 11. 3.2 PPECEM QCPU = PCPU * TCPU = PCPU * (BEnc * TBEnc + BDec * TBDec +BMac * TBMac + TRadioActive) Eq.2)
- 12. 4 ERA Efficiency = Ptr X Prc X Pcry … (Eq.2) Reliability = Rnode1 = FtrX FrcX Fcy Availability= TFNode1 = Ftr+ Frc+Fcry
- 13. 5. IMPROVE EXISTING . ERA = fed Efficiency of Energy Model: QEff=QCPU X Eff (improvement #1 in Zang model)
- 14. ERAECEM Etotal = Average(Eff + R +A)= (E+R+A)/3 Efficiency of Energy Model: QEff=QCPU X Etotal (improvement #1 in Zang model)
- 15. 6 ERAQP Efficiency ,Reliability, Availability QoS prioritized routing Algorithm ERA ranked and routing based Ranking Cost on Dijesktra to find most suitable path
- 16. 7.CONFIG. ROUTING q1, q2, q3 as QoS parameter algorithm rank Motes/nodes based on combined score of these parameters. Based on this we rank we apply Dijesktra algorithm to arrive at least path or elect Cluster head to node. Thus q1, q2, q3 can be added, deleted.
- 17. 8 MATHEMATICAL MODEL Leader Follower EACH node share defined diffusion rate given by slider control on UI which tells quantity it is diffusing with its neighbors.Since it's a directed graph so Node B gives data towards Node A while traffic from A towards B may be non-existent Directed Diffusion Mathematical model represent diffusion of quantity towards a directed network. Helps to understand topology, density and stability of network and a starting point for designing complex , realistic Network Model.
- 18. 9 FUZZY ROUTING Fuzzy set A {MoteA, p(A)) Where, p(A) is probability Of Data Usage Or Percentage Load in Fraction Compared With Global Load
- 19. 10 FUZZY TOPOLOGY Based on this Utilization p(A) nodes can be ranked in ascending order to find most data dwarfed node at the top. Then We can apply Dijkstra's algorithm on the network to find best route based on weight on each node represented by Rank.
2. WSN and BPEL and Internet Of Things (IoT)
3. Internet Of Things (IoT) and effects on other device ecosystem.
The Changing Landscape:
4. How application development changes with IoT, Bigdata, parallel computing, HPC High performance computing.
Architecture Difference between SAP Business Objects and IBM Cognos part1
Lets understand how Cognos product works internally
Most of BI product Architecture are almost similar internally.
BI Bus: Enterprise service Bus which surrounds all the services/servers which tool provide.
Typical ESB from Oracle BEA Aqualogic Stack engulfing many Web services looks like:
Now you can compare this popular ESB with BI internal Architecture.
you can read more about ESB at : http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E13171_01/alsb/docs20/concepts/overview.html
Under 4 tier system: A client connects the Web server (which is protected by firewall) using dispatcher. Dispatcher connects to Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) which surrounds all the application server services (Web services). ESB in case of cognos is Cognos BI Bus surrounds Web services Servers (like Report Server, Job server, Content Management server etc ). Mediation Layer Cognos BI Bus interacts with Non Java , C++ code which could not to converted or purposefully kept in C++ for may be more flexibility and speed
In case of SAP Business Objects (BO) ESB was not properly developed so an intermediate layer was created which works for interfacing between multiple servers like Job server, report server, page server etc. BO XI R2 came in pervius version was more in C++ to C++ to java bridge was created in ESB layer. Since Java was preferred language for coarse grain interoperability provided by web services. Each server was developed using web services.
interaction between web server was routed through BI Bus.
In latest version here u find a pipe connecting all components call Business Objects XI 3.1 Enterprise Infrastructure. Earlier version had different names. here you can see its connecting all server like Crystal report server, IFRS input file repository server( storing template of reports), OFRS Output file repository services, Program Job server(storing all programs which can be published on Portal (Infoview) ). This ESB does mediation between different server and achieves interoperability yet control of different components of products. This is in competitor product Cognos is called Cognos BI Bus.
For latest BO uses in memory product SAP HANA more about its competitors follow:
In Micro-strategy there are two important server Intelligent server which creates cubes
More I will cover in later issues:
Oracle BI Architecture:
Implementation OF BI system is not related to these product Architecture :
A typical BI system under implementation haveing componets of ETL, BI, databases, Web server, app server, production server, test/development server looks like:
More details: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/patterns/bi/product-s390-web.html
Big Data Architecture:
From components perspective of ETL to BI implementation Aspect is little different
Hadoop Architecture layers:
Just like UDDI registry is repository of Web
Internet of things New Paradigm Shift in Computing
Paradigm shift in Computing Industry over period of time:
Mainframe–> Personal Computer, (PC based Application software ) –> Web Computing (Web servers, Internet, web application) –> devices (Mobile/ Mobility )/IP TV , notebook /ipad —>
For next shift there lot of possibility Like surface computing might eliminate Screen requirement or Ipad/laptop requirement, IP TV interacting with human interactions with gesture to camera , and devices projecting screen on any surface. Many devices which are coming in the industry would certainly require Ubiquitous Access. And All devices will have agent to take informed decisions (Like once fridge know milk is empty it could connect to internet and ask your access to credit card or confirmation (workflow software configured) it can order retailer.(So like Internet of Things)
So Internet of things is not only these devices that will interact with other home system, devices but also get data with wired or wireless sensors inside Home.
more about it can be read at : https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/classifying-ubiquitious-data-images-into-emotion-for-target-advertisement-campaign/
Read: https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/ubiquity-the-most-crucial-challenge-in-business-intelligence/
New age application development :
CMS are integrated with SIP servers for PSTN phone to Digital phone and Softphone conversion. More details:
All these will increase focus on the development Internet of Things with sensor network generating huge video,audio, image and text data collected from sensor has to move ubiquitous from one system to another. For this to happen internet infrastructure will be utilized using cluster computing of Hadoop, Hive, HBase. for data analysis and storage. When sensor nodes , devices , Home appliances access and interact with this data ubiquitously at same time interact , under transaction using internet infrastructure Possibility of Internet of things is only conclusion it can derive.
Read more on hadoop: https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/hadoop-its-relation-to-new-architecture-enterprise-datawarehouse/
Relation to cloud here 3V have actually now became 5V variability and value new 2V +addition to existing 3V Volume, variety and velocity being old 3V. Read more: https://sandyclassic.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/data-warehousing-business-intelligence-and-cloud-computing/
External links for reference: http://www.sap.com/index.epx
http://www.oracle.com, http://www.tibco.com/,http://spotfire.tibco.com/,
SAP XI: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/9b/821140d72dc442e10000000a1550b0/content.htm
Oracle Web centre: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/webcenter/suite/overview/index.html
CMS: http://www.joomla.org/,http://www.liferay.com/, http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/us/en/filecontmana/
Hadoop: http://hadoop.apache.org/
Map reduce: http://hadoop.apache.org/docs/stable/mapred_tutorial.html
facebook API: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/apis/
Linkedin API: http://developer.linkedin.com/apis
Twitter API: https://dev.twitter.com/


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AquaBrowserUX Projected Timeline, Workplan & Project Methodology
Posted May 19, 2010on:
The project is organised in the following work packages (WPs):
WP1 Management & Coordination Deliverables:
D1.1 Start Up PM (Project Month) 1: project setup, providing Project Plan (all activities), project website/blogs.
D1.2 Completion PM5: synthesising a summative case study based on the project findings, JISC reporting.
WP2 User Research, Usefulness (Objective 1 and 2):
D2.1 User Research PM1 & 2: undertake contextual inquiry, persona development, field study.
D2.2 Reporting PM3
WP3 Usability Testing (Objective 3):
D3.1 Setup PM3: recruit users and setup test.
D3.2 Testing PM4.
D3.3 Reporting PM4.
See the timetable below for more information.
Project Methodologies Used:
WP2 User Research , Usefulness
Contextual Enquiry
A key methodology used in the project is the user research which involves a field study undertaking contextual inquiry (Cooper, Reimann & Cronin 2007), a form of user centred design. It is related to ethnographic study of users in their natural habitats, involving real-use scenarios.
The method provides broader understandings of how systems fit into working environments and find out the common users behaviours and patterns of use. It also complements other qualitative methods which are also being employed in the project including surveys and interviews.
Details of the approach and methods used in the user research are detailed and updated regularly on the project wiki.
Qualitative Personas with Quantitative Validation (Mulder &Yaar, 2007)
Personas are a realistic character sketch representing one segment of an audience. Each persona is an archetype serving as a surrogate for an entire group of real people. The help to bring research to life while also informing the recruitment of participants for the usability testing in WP3.
Qualitative research will be conducted for the project through interviews initially and users segmented based on the findings. Quantitative research will then be conducted (time permitting) to validate the segments. This is normally done through a survey which is intended to be conducted online. A persona will then be created from each segment.
WP3 Usability Testing
Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it with representative users. In the test, these users will try to complete typical tasks while observers watch, listen and takes notes. The goal is to identify any usability problems, collect quantitative data on participants' performance (e.g., time on task, error rates), and determine participant's satisfaction with the product.
Usability testing of Edinburgh University's AquaBrowser will be conducted with representative users and will focus on the efficacy of the resource discovery user interfaces including the faceted navigation and Discover animated cloud.
Cooper, A., Reimann, R & Cronin, D (2007). About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Wiley Publishing Inc.
Mulder, S., Yaar, Z., (2007). The User Is Always Right, A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web, New Riders
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