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We set out to assess the processes by which a personal empowerment-oriented intervention based on learning spaces and the Rahyab problem-solving model can help newly married women in Iran to gain more control over their life situations. Learning to use the problem-solving model independently was an important component of this seven months' educational program. A descriptive field study design based on qualitative methods was employed for data collection and analysis. The analysis of these processes showed how, through group and individual interventions, these women could influence their intimate relationships by altering their thoughts, their management of emotions, and their overt behavior. We invite more research on how empowerment-oriented interventions can be used to support newly married women as a part of family educational programs.
Since 2000, a problem-solving model has been taught to the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child, and teachers and students of social work in two universities in Iran. Since 2006, with the initiation of UNICEF, social workers, psychologists and even some psychiatrists in Iran have been learning this model. In 2008, a group of researchers created an empowerment-oriented psycho-social group and private intervention project to assess whether a group of Iranian single mothers could use this model, which was traditionally used by professionals only, to effectively and independently meet challenges in their own lives. Our results show that all women used the model effectively and, consequently, made more deliberate decisions to improve their life situations. Some of the women succeeded in finding a job and many improved their family relationships. This study suggests that empowerment-oriented social work can help many clients to achieve their goals, and that this psycho-social intervention project can be a useful model for social work in Iran and many other societies.
"Human behavior and social environment: Models, metaphors, and maps for applying theoretical perspectives to practice".640 pages, Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2007, by James A. Forte
Despite the willingness of youth to be part of the solution for social problems, there is no purposeful and systematic school program to invest in and develop this precious quality in youth. This is the first of a series of reports about a chain of intervention research subprojects started in 2009 and still going on in some schools in Sweden. The aim is to design a program for social problem-solving literacy. This new literacy is focused on how pupils can learn social problem-solving and be prepared for ameliorative preadaptation to the world. According to the Child Convention, pupils have the right to learn not only literacy and numeracy but also basic skills to make well-balanced decisions; to resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner; and to develop good social relationships and responsibility, critical thinking, and other abilities which give children and youths the tools needed to pursue their options in life.
This study set out to construct a conceptual framework for social work with women in Iran, where women are limited in their access to resources, which negatively affects their decision-making capacity. We used a qualitative secondary analysis of data from two intervention projects among Iranian women (n = 25). Each intervention spanned 7 months and included individual and group sessions as well as learning Rahyab, an empowerment-oriented problem-solving model. Practical lessons from the Iranian projects highlight a process of change with regard to thinking, feeling and acting among women during and after the intervention. It is hoped that the conceptual framework and the empowerment-oriented problem-solving model used in these projects can be used in similar societies.


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Shola - Afghanistan Doll
Changing the world, one heart at a time! Hearts for Hearts Dolls represent real girls from real places. Shola stands 14" tall and is dressed in authentic-yet-modern style. $1 from each sale goes to World Vision to help improve the lives of girls around the world. Collect them all!
Recommended for ages 6+
Mpa Sales

subset: commoncrawl


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Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
One winter afternoon, my husband's grandmother tried to teach me how to knit, but it was obvious after about 10 minutes that the timing wasn't right.
"Just watch. You'll get it," she replied when I complained I was confused. But, her fingers held 70-plus years of experience and moved automatically. She didn't need to concentrate or to whisper "over, under, through" in order to complete each stitch. And then, there were my three children. They sat at my feet, watching. They wanted to hold the yarn; they wanted a turn with the needles; they wanted me to be done.
A few years later, my church started a prayer shawl ministry, and the knitters offered to teach anyone who wanted to learn. I decided that this time, no matter what, I was going to learn.
"We'll start with this scrap yarn before we go to the good stuff," my teacher, Ethel, said. "OK, now watch. Under the loop, around the needle, and back through the loop. Under, around, and back through. Under, around, through. Here, you try."
I grasped the yarn and attempted to weave it around my fingers, but the yarn snagged and the needles dropped to my lap. I picked them up and tried again. And again. And again. For an hour, Ethel sat next to me, guiding the needles when my fingers got in the way and encouraging me to keep at it. Gradually my clumsiness disappeared, and I completed 20 stitches. Then, two rows.
Ethel and I talked several times during the following weeks, while I continued to practice. Finally, I felt confident enough to use the good yarn.
The prayer shawl was a bigger project than I expected. I stitched while I waited for kids after school and in between conversations at their Saturday morning basketball games. I worked on it, snuggled between children and husband, during our Friday night movies. My family teased me with silly songs they made up that combined the hard-k sound of my name with the soft-k sound of "knit," but I kept going.
And then: Six months after casting on my first stitch, I bound off my last. With three skeins of yarn, I'd created a fringed piece that was five feet long and 22 inches wide. I knew it wasn't perfect, but Ethel was full of compliments.
"I can't believe how nice it looks," she gushed. "Whoever gets it won't notice that you added a few stitches here and there. They'll appreciate your effort."
My kids were proud, too: "Wow," said one.
"Cool," said another.
And then, the praise that pleased me the most: "Can you make one for me?"
Journal Entry: What new project have you attempted since becoming a mom? Write about the challenges and the rewards of learning a new skill while your family watches.


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Welcome to FreeGames.net, the leading online games site, where you can play a huge range of free online games including; Action Games Car Games Puzzle Games Sports Games Games for Girls flash games and many more.
Description: Explore and escape a mutant infested lab in this retro 3D shooter. Collect weapons, health and armor upgrades and fight and try to survive the onslaught!. Lab is a Shooting Games.
Instructions: W.A.S.D or Arrow keys to move.
Y or Z to shoot, 1-6 to change weapons..
Category: Shooting Games


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In the West
While sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts is traditional in the UK, Valentine's Day has various regional customs. In Norfolk, a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats, many children were scared of this mystical person. In Wales, many people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St Dwynwen's Day) on January 25 instead of (or as well as) Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers. In France, a traditionally Catholic country, Valentine's Day is known simply as "Saint Valentin", and is celebrated in much the same way as other western countries. In Spain Valentine's Day is known as "San Valentín" and is celebrated the same way as in the UK, although in Catalonia it is largely superseded by similar festivities of rose and/or book giving on La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day). In Portugal it is more commonly referred to as "Dia dos Namorados" (Lover's Day / Day of those that are in love with each other).
In Denmark and Norway, although February 14 is known as Valentinsdag, it is not celebrated to a large extent, but is largely imported from American culture, and some people take time to eat a romantic dinner with their partner, to send a card to a secret love or give a red rose to their loved one. The cut-flower industry in particular is still working on promoting the holiday. In Sweden it is called Alla hjärtans dag ("All Hearts' Day") and was launched in the 1960s by the flower industry's commercial interests, and due to the influence of American culture. It is not an official holiday, but its celebration is recognized and sales of cosmetics and flowers for this holiday are only exceeded by those for Mother's Day.
In Finland Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's Day". As the name indicates, this day is more about remembering all your friends, not only your loved ones. In Estonia Valentine's Day is called Sõbrapäev, which has the same meaning.
In Slovenia, St Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims. A proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots". Plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Another proverb says "Valentin – prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — the first spring saint"), as in some places (especially White Carniola), Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring. Valentine's Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love was traditionally March 12, the Saint Gregory's day, or February 22, Saint Vincent's Day. The patron of love was Saint Anthony, whose day has been celebrated on 13 June.
In Romania, the traditional holiday for lovers is Dragobete, which is celebrated on February 24. It is named after a character from Romanian folklore who was supposed to be the son of Baba Dochia. Part of his name is the word drag ("dear"), which can also be found in the word dragoste ("love"). In recent years, Romania has also started celebrating Valentine's Day, despite already having Dragobete as a traditional holiday. This has drawn backlash from several groups, institutions and nationalist organizations like Noua Dreaptǎ, who condemn Valentine's Day for being superficial, commercialist and imported Western kitsch.
Valentine's Day is called Ημέρα του Αγίου Βαλεντίνου in Greece and Cyprus, which translates into "St Valentines day". In the Orthodox church there is another Saint to protect people who are in love, but for Greeks Valentine's Day is more popular.
Latin America
In some Latin American countries Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" (Day of Love and Friendship). For example Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, as well as others. It is also common to see people perform "acts of appreciation" for their friends.
In Guatemala it is known as the "Día del Cariño" (Affection Day).
In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados (lit. "Lovers' Day", or "Boyfriends'/Girlfriends' Day") is celebrated on June 12, probably because it is the day before Saint Anthony's day, known there as the marriage saint, when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals, called simpatias, in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. Couples exchange gifts, chocolates, cards and flower bouquets. The February 14's Valentine's Day is not celebrated at all because it usually falls too little before or after the Brazilian Carnival — that can fall anywhere from early February to early March and lasts almost a week. Because of the absence of Valentine's Day and the celebrations of the Carnivals, Brazil is a popular tourist spot during February for Western singles to get away from the holiday.
In Venezuela, in 2009, President Hugo Chávez said in a meeting to his supporters for the upcoming referendum vote on February 15, that "since on the 14th, there will be no time of doing nothing, nothing or next to nothing … maybe a little kiss or something very superficial", he recommended people to celebrate a week of love after the referendum vote
In most of Latin America the Día del amor y la amistad and the Amigo secreto ("Secret friend") are quite popular and usually celebrated together on the 14 of February (one exception is Colombia, where it is celebrated every third Saturday of September). The latter consists of randomly assigning to each participant a recipient who is to be given an anonymous gift (similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa).
East Asia
Due to a concentrated marketing effort, Valentine's Day is celebrated in some Asian countries with Singaporeans, Chinese and South Koreans spending the most money on Valentine's gifts.
In South Korea, similar to Japan, women give chocolate to men on February 14, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14 (White Day). On April 14 (Black Day), those who did not receive anything on 14 February or March go to a Korean restaurant to eat black noodles (자장면 jajangmyeon) and "mourn" their single life. Koreans also celebrate Pepero Day on November 11, when young couples give each other Pepero cookies. The date '11/11′ is intended to resemble the long shape of the cookie. The 14th of every month marks a love-related day in Korea, although most of them are obscure. From January to December: Candle Day, Valentine's Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day. Korean women give a much higher amount of chocolate than Japanese women.
In China, the common situation is the man gives chocolate, flowers or both to the woman that he loves. In Chinese, Valentine's Day is called (simplified Chinese: 情人节; traditional Chinese: 情人節; pinyin: qíng rén jié). The so-called "Chinese Valentine's Day" is the Qixi Festival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. It commemorates a day on which a legendary cowherder and weaving maid are allowed to be together. Valentine's Day on February 14 is not celebrated because it is often too close to Chinese New Year, which usually falls on a February or January.
In Taiwan the situation is the reverse of Japan's. Men give gifts to women on Valentine's Day, and women return them on White Day.
In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is called "Araw ng mga Puso" or "Hearts Day". It is usually marked by a steep increase in the prices of flowers.
In Japan, Morozoff Ltd. introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later in 1953 it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958 the Isetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.
The custom that only women give chocolates to men appears to have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns. In particular, office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards, candies, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon, and most of the activity about the gifts is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person. Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.
Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the day falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as giri-choko (義理チョコ), from giri ("obligation") and choko, ("chocolate"), with unpopular co-workers receiving only "ultra-obligatory" chō-giri choko cheap chocolate. This contrasts with honmei-choko (本命チョコ, favorite chocolate), chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko (友チョコ); from tomo meaning "friend".
In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a "reply day", where men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.
Men are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine's Day. Not returning the gift is perceived as the man placing himself in a position of superiority, even if excuses are given. Returning a present of equal value is considered as a way to say that you are cutting the relationship. Originally only chocolate was given, but now the gifts of jewelry, accessories, clothing and lingerie are usual. According to the official website of White Day, the color white was chosen because it's the color of purity, evoking "pure, sweet teen love", and because it's also the color of sugar. The initial name was "Ai ni Kotaeru White Day" (Answer Love on White Day).
In Japan, the romantic "date night" associated to Valentine's Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve.
In a 2006 survey of people between 10 and 49 years of age in Japan, Oricon Style found the 1986 Sayuri Kokushō single, Valentine Kiss, to be the most popular Valentine's Day song, even though it sold only 317,000 copies. The singles it beat in the ranking were number one selling Love Love Love from Dreams Come True (2,488,630 copies) and Valentine's Radio from Yumi Matsutoya (1,606,780 copies). The final song in the top five was My Funny Valentine by Miles Davis.
Similar Asian traditions
In Chinese culture, there is an older observance related to lovers, called "The Night of Sevens" (Chinese: 七夕; pinyin: Qi Xi). According to the legend, the Cowherd star and the Weaver Maid star are normally separated by the Milky Way (silvery river) but are allowed to meet by crossing it on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.
In Japan, a slightly different version of 七夕 called Tanabata has been celebrated for centuries, on July 7 (Gregorian calendar). It has been considered by Westerners as similar to St. Valentine's Day, but it's not related to it, and its origins are completely different.
In India, in the antiquity, there was a tradition of adoring Kamadeva, the lord of love; exemplificated by the erotic carvings in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and by the writing of the Kamasutra treaty of lovemaking. This tradition was lost around the Middle Ages, when Kamadeva was no longer celebrated, and public displays of sexual affections became frowned upon. The festival of Rasa (Rasa Utsav), a celebration of Radha and Krishna's legendary love affair; once popular in the Eastern part of the subcontinent (Bengal and Odisha) is also noteworthy in this context; though at present times this is observed by a small number of people. In the state of West Bengal, Saraswati Puja, a festival observed in early spring where Saraswati, the goddess of learning is worshiped; has often been seen as a Bengali version of Valentine's day; especially among the urban middle class youth. Around 1992, Valentine's Day celebrations started catching up in India, with special TV and radio programs, and even love letter competitions. The economic liberalization also helped the Valentine card industry.
In modern times, Hindu and Islamic traditionalists consider the holiday to be cultural contamination from the West, result of the globalization in India. Shiv Sena and the Sangh Parivar have asked their followers to shun the holiday and the "public admission of love" because of them being "alien to Indian culture".
Although these protests are organized by political elites, the protesters themselves are middle-class Hindu men who fear that the globalization will destroy the traditions in their society: arranged marriages, Hindu joint families, full-time mothers, etc.
Despite these obstacles, Valentine's Day is becoming increasingly popular in India.
However, Valentine's Day has been strongly criticized from a postcolonial perspective by intellectuals from the Indian left. The holiday is regarded as a front for Western imperialism, neocolonialism, and the exploitation of working classes through commercialism by multinational corporations. Studies have shown that Valentine's Day promotes and exacerbates income inequality in India, and aids in the creation of a pseudo-westernized middle class. As a result, the working classes and rural poor become more disconnected socially, politically, and geographically from the hegemonic capitalist power structure. They also criticize mainstream media attacks on Indians opposed to Valentine's Day as a form of demonization that is designed and derived to further the Valentine's Day agenda. Right wing Hindu nationalists are also hostile. In February 2012 Subash Chouhan of the Bajrang Dal warned couples that "They cannot kiss or hug in public places. Our activists will beat them up". He said "We are not against love, but we criticize vulgar exhibition of love at public places".
Guru Asaram Bapu says the modern holiday corrupts young people and breaks the nation's backbone. He says that young people look at each other with lust before they are married. He says that the dissipation of their sexual energy weakens their eyesight, intellect and their future. He calls for celebrating instead a "Love Day", and sublimated those feelings into honouring our parents. Bapu states that "Those who celebrate Valentine's Day' are only degrading Saint Valentine, as by sending the valentine's card they try to develop a licentious relationship with their beloveds even before marriage. Had this been agreeable to Valentine, he would not have arranged for the marriages."
Middle East
In Iran, the Sepandarmazgan, or Esfandegan, is a festival where people express love towards their mothers and wives, and also a celebration of earth in ancient Persian culture. It has nothing in common with the Saint Valentine celebration, except for a superficial similarity in giving affection and gifts to loved ones, and its origins and motivations are completely unrelated. It has been progressively forgotten in favor of the Western celebration of Valentine's Day. The Association of Iran's Cultural and Natural Phenomena has been trying since 2006 to make Sepandarmazgan a national holiday on 17 February, in order to replace the Western holiday.
In Israel, the Jewish tradition of Tu B'Av has been revived and transformed into the Jewish equivalent of Valentine's Day. It's celebrated in 15th day of the month of Av (usually late August). In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards, where the boys would be waiting for them (Mishna Taanith end of Chapter 4). Today, this is celebrated as a second holiday of love by secular people (besides Saint Valentine's Day), and shares many of the customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day in western societies. In modern Israeli culture this is a popular day to pronounce love, propose marriage and give gifts like cards or flowers.
Conflict with Islamic countries and political parties
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, in 2002 and 2011, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, as the day is considered a Christian holiday. In 2008 this ban created a black market of roses and wrapping paper.
The concept of Valentine's Day was introduced in Pakistan during the late 1990s with special TV and radio programs. The Jamaat-e-Islami political party has called for the banning of Valentine's Day celebration. Despite this, the celebration is becoming popular among urban youth and the florists expect to sell great amount of flowers, especially red roses. Same is the case with card publishers. However, public at large still consider Valentine's Day as opposed to Pakistani culture and Islamic teachings.
In the first part of the 21st century, the celebration of Valentine's Day in Iran has been harshly criticized by Islamic Teachers who see the celebrations as opposed to Islamic culture. In 2011, the Iranian printing works owners' union issued a directive banning the printing and distribution of any goods promoting the holiday, including cards, gifts and teddy bears. "Printing and producing any goods related to this day including posters, boxes and cards emblazoned with hearts or half-hearts, red roses and any activities promoting this day are banned… Outlets that violate this will be legally dealt with", the union warned.
Islamic officials in Malaysia warned Muslims against celebrating Valentine's Day, linking it with vice activities. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the celebration of romantic love was "not suitable" for Muslims. Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which oversees the country's Islamic policies said a fatwa (ruling) issued by the country's top clerics in 2005 noted the day 'is associated with elements of Christianity,' and 'we just cannot get involved with other religion's worshipping rituals.' Jakim officials planned to carry out a nationwide campaign called "Awas Jerat Valentine's Day" ("Mind the Valentine's Day Trap"), aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day on 14 February 2011. Activities include conducting raids in hotels to stop young couples from having unlawful sex and distributing leaflets to Muslim university students warning them against the day.
On Valentine's Day 2011, Malaysian religious authorities arrested more than 100 Muslim couples concerning the celebration ban. Some of them would be charged in the Shariah Court for defying the department's ban against the celebration of Valentine's Day.
hey ladies n gents, check out dis lovely funny music video by handsome brown, titled: i don hammer @www.naijamusicmovement.com
make a nice comment after watching….cheers
Welcome to Naija Music Movement


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By Matt Wickstrom
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington bluegrass troupe The Wooks have announced that the band will be parting ways with Arthur Hancock following the band's March 2 show at The Burl.
The band made the announcement in a Feb. 15 Facebook post, which you can read below.
As the post says, Hancock has been battling tendinitis in his hands for the last handful of years after overcoming back issues prior to that. In recent months the band has brought in Will Parsons and briefly Aaron Bibelhauser on banjo, with Hancock singing and playing rhythm guitar.
Despite those challenges The Wooks have thrived as a band, releasing two full-length albums – 2016's "Little Circles" and 2018's follow-up "Glory Bound" – won a band competition at RockyGrass and made the final four in another at the iconic Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and most importantly travelled the country doing what they love – playing their music to packed crowds of adoring fans.
For more information on The Wooks visit WookOutAmerica.com.
- Tyler Childers leads final wave of artists announced for Mountain Music Festival
- The Wooks, Leftover Salmon, The Motet and others join FloydFest lineup
- Nominees announced for 5th annual Lexington Music Awards
- The Wooks get the call for Hogs for the Cause and Blue Ox Music Festival
- Wick's Picks: Ep. 40 – 10/15/18 (w/ The Wooks and ivyrye)
- Wick's Picks: Ep. 23 – 6/6/18 (Festival of the Bluegrass Edition)
- Wick's Picks: Ep. 10 – 3/7/18 (w/Arthur Hancock and CJ Cain of The Wooks)
- Listen to The Wooks new cut "Me and the Stars" feat. Michael Cleveland
- The Wooks to celebrate New Year's Eve at home, welcome new band member
- Lexington's Wook-A-Ween celebrates the season and raises money in support of the CAN'd Aid Foundation
- Wookin' Ahead
- The Wooks make final four at Telluride Bluegrass Fest
- The Wooks clean up at Lexington Music Awards
- Listen: The Wooks "Little Circles"
- Wooks make waves with debut 'Little Circles'
- The Wooks bring plethora of covers to Green Lantern debut
- Banjo-picking Wooks hit Green Lantern on Thursday


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EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - 26-year-old Republican Tim O'Brien has announced his candidacy for Evansville City Council, representing Ward 1.
Independent Councilman Dan McGinn is currently serving Ward 1, but announced he will not run for reelection.
O'Brien is a Real Estate Broker with F.C. Tucker Emge REALTORS. We're told he is set to serve as Southwest Indiana Association of Realtors President-Elect next year. O'Brien is also involved through Southwest Indiana's Young Professional Network, serving as the 2018 chairman.
O'Brien's formal announcement will take place on Tuesday evening, December 11, at 5:30 at Thai Papaya Cuisine in Evansville.
We contacted Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke about O'Brien's plan to run as a Republican in the First Ward.
"I am very excited about Tim's candidacy and hope he has no primary opponent. He's a bright young professional with a great deal of potential," Republican Mayor Winnecke said.
Copyright 2018 WFIE. All rights reserved.


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All about ICELAND Insider info to adventuring in Iceland
Inga is one of our guides at Arctic Adventures. The Icelandic highlands and glaciers hold a special place in her heart along with her canine (and human) friends, the midnight sun and skiing. A passioned lover of Iceland, Inga is here to share with you some of her tips, tricks and stories.
Most recent blogs by Inga
Arctic Adventures take care of a lot of the planning for you, but there are some simple things that you can do to make your family trips that little bit easier. Here is the guide to traveling around Iceland with kids.
Driving the Golden Circle is a great opportunity to explore local food and other activities along the way. Here are some of my favorite foodie stops along the famous route. Make sure you don't miss out!
What are the pros and cons to traveling to Iceland during summer? What is there to see, to know and to do? Inga takes on the Icelandic summer in an excellent way.


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The Fox News Channel is only too happy to have the Midas ratings touch that Glenn Beck has been providing, but the golden words he may pour into the ears of his audience have raised questions at the news network.
Most of those have concerned whether Mr. Beck, who often hails the virtue of buying gold on his Fox show (as a hedge against a coming economic collapse), had been identified as a "paid spokesman" for a company named Goldline International, which sells gold coins.
Joel Cheatwood, the senior vice president of development for Fox News, said the network's legal department had recently sent a letter to Mr. Beck's representatives "seeking clarification" about his work for Goldline.
"They sent back word that he is not a paid spokesman," Mr. Cheatwood said, adding that it would be "problematic without question" if Mr. Beck did have a position as a paid spokesman for a product.
Fox News released a statement outlining its official policy about such issues: "Fox News prohibits any on-air talent from endorsing products or serving as a product spokesperson."
Fox News stressed that it was not aware that Mr. Beck was listed on the Internet as a paid spokesman. But he definitely was, until very recently. On cached editions of the Goldline Web site over the last week to 10 days, a photograph of Mr. Beck was accompanied by an asterisk which led to a line at the bottom of the site that read: "paid spokesman."
That ad (which is also linked to from Mr. Beck's personal site, glennbeck.com) was changed, so that the words "paid spokesman" were replaced with "radio sponsor."
It may have been the letter from Fox News — or maybe a stinging piece last week about Mr. Beck's gold associations on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" — that led to the change in the "paid spokesman" designation.
Mark Albarian, the president of Goldline, said in an interview that the company had been a longtime advertiser for Mr. Beck, beginning on his syndicated radio show and continuing on television. Part of the radio sponsorship, he said, involves being able to use a host's face on the company site.
"We used the term 'paid spokesman' because we felt it was important to tell people that there is a payment going to somebody," Mr. Albarian said. But he said there was a misunderstanding about that designation because Goldline did not specifically pay Mr. Beck on an individual basis to speak on its behalf.
Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Mr. Beck, said the host should never have been listed as a "paid spokesman" because he did not receive separate fees beyond the sponsorship for that or any other work he did for the company.
Before he moved onto Fox News, however, Mr. Beck appeared in a video on the Goldline Web site extolling the virtues of gold. And Mr. Beck routinely reads Goldline ads on the radio, a practice Fox said was acceptable under its guidelines.
Goldline was also listed as the exclusive sponsor of Mr. Beck's comedy tour last summer. Mr. Albarian said the company was represented in advertising signs around the venues during the tour, in the same way that sponsors of any tour would be.
Mr. Beck has also interviewed Mr. Albarian on his radio show, although never on Fox News. He made a disclosure before a Nov. 12 interview, saying, "I want you to understand clearly going into this that this is a sponsor of my program."
While he said he was aware of the skewering of Mr. Beck by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," Mr. Cheatwood said that segment was broadcast after the letter about Mr. Beck's association with Goldline had been sent, and had nothing to do with Fox's actions.
Goldline's Web site includes endorsements from a number of conservative radio hosts, including Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller and Mark Levin. All of them, along with Mr. Beck, had read commercials for Goldline on the radio, Mr. Albarian said.
But he said the only other radio host besides Mr. Beck who read Goldline commercials and also appeared as a host or anchor on a television news channel was Lou Dobbs, the former CNN anchor.
"We like to use people who have a passion for gold," Mr. Albarian said. "Glenn has a passion for gold."


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First came e-commerce, followed by m-commerce, and now social commerce (aka s-commerce) has hit the scene…big time. Retailers of all sizes as well as resellers are figuring out how to increase sales by selling directly through social media to consumers; for example, at any given time Pinterest has 60 million buyable pins. To get an idea of how large social commerce has become, look at the increase in consumers using Facebook's Marketplace since the platform launched last year: in August 2017 there were over 550 million users; in February 2018 that jumped to 700 million; and the latest numbers from May 2018 report 800 million consumers are shopping on Facebook Marketplace.
Recently, Instagram introduced a frictionless sales tool built directly within its app. This tool provides a seamless transaction platform where the consumer only needs a couple clicks to complete a purchase while never leaving the app; making the sale quick and easy. Here's how it works: you're scrolling through Instagram and in between pictures of cute dogs and the latest meme, you see an ad for a product that catches your eye, like sunglasses, watches, wallets, suitcases, you get the drill. If you tap one of these ads, you'll see options to purchase. BOOM. Suddenly you made an impulse purchase while scrolling Instagram. You are now a social commerce consumer!
For now, it's mostly early adapters, such as start ups and smaller known niche brands that are selling through social commerce, but it probably won't be long before the major players start jumping on the bandwagon. Look for this trend to further increase as more and more social platforms provide easier tools to quickly implement this new trend of selling product online.
And don't forget, as online sales increase, so do returns. It's important to have a recovery program in place to handle returned and overstock items.


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Top 15 Business Spreadsheets Free For Lecture Tasks
Business Spreadsheets Free – The easiest way of interpreting a worksheet is that it's a mono spreadsheet that is present into the package overed by Microsoft. It composes of several rows and columns that spread out within the page or make for space that assist people fill data. A worksheet starts with the column or the row. The combination between column also row called cell, the first cell are A1. This helps in keeping track of all the data on the screen.
The cell could fill number, text, or formula. The block of cells named range. It also has the capacity of referencing the same numeric of cell in the same worksheet, moreover in the case of a different workbook or the same one. It assist to place information at a single location and then discover it without any issues. Another way of interpreting this package is that a worksheet is a single entity serve within the workbook. More than one worksheets collectively make a workbook and then support in creating the system more reliable.
Another catching thing to know is that people get to have several worksheets within one workbook and even on a single worksheet they get the possibility of around 1 million rows or 1.6 million columns. Most of the times one spreadsheet is sufficient for a corporate to manage all their data, a workbook is enough to keep all the information into a department, and a worksheet is ample to have a particular project and its information at one place relying on the needs.


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The Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology 2018 (ASIST 2018) takes place this week in Vancouver, Canada. Representing the Centre for Social Informatics at the conference is PhD student Lyndsey Middleton. Lyndsey took part in the conference doctoral colloquium on Sunday, and tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10:30 Vancouver time (18:30 in the UK) she will be presenting a full paper as a contribution to the main conference programme. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Robert Raeside
Congratulations Dr John Mowbray!
Congratulations to Dr John Mowbray, who was awarded his PhD at the Edinburgh Napier University graduation ceremony at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh yesterday. I was John's Director of Studies, his second supervisor was Professor Robert Raeside, and third supervisor Pete Robertson.
John's PhD was funded by an ESRC Skills Development Scotland Collaborative studentship. We won the grant for the award through a competitive process administered by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science in spring 2014, and John came to us later in the October of that year having applied for the PhD studentship that we advertised in June 2014. Continue reading
Contributions from the Centre for Social Informatics to #ISIC2018
Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) 2018 takes place in Kraków, Poland, this coming week from 9th to 11th October 2018. Representing Edinburgh Napier University's Centre for Social Informatics at the conference will be third year PhD students Alicja Pawluczuk and Lyndsey Middleton (née Jenkins). Continue reading
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science #i3rgu 2017 special issue published
The September 2018 issue of the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (50(3)) has just been published. This is a special issue that brings together ten expanded versions of conference papers that were presented at Information: interactions and impact (i3) 2017 in June last year (2017).
Amongst this collection are two articles by Edinburgh Napier University colleagues: Continue reading
Workforce Mapping Project report now available for download
The full output of the Workforce Mapping Project that I led in 2014/15 as commissioned research for the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the Archives and Records Association (ARA) has been released. This is now available as a download from CILIP and from ARA (free of charge for members, £40 for others). Continue reading
Successful submissions to #isic2018 for the Centre for Social Informatics
Congratulations to Alicja Pawluczuk and Lyndsey Middleton (née Jenkins) on the recent news that the conference submissions that they made in March this year to Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) 2018 have been accepted. The conference takes place in Kraków, Poland, 9-11 October 2018. Continue reading
UK public library roles and value: paper available on OnlineFirst
The third of the seven articles that I recently co-authored for the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JoLIS) has now been published as an OnlineFirst paper. The article is entitled 'UK public library roles and value: a focus group analysis'. Part-time PhD student, and award-winning practitioner-researcher, Leo Appleton is the first author of this article. Continue reading


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Add a touch of nature to your living and bedroom spaces with our Loulu Square Pillowcase. Originally designed to compliment our Ho'o Hiamoe Bed Set, this pillowcase has all of the style and sophistication to shine on its own.
Print Description:
The Loulu pattern showcases the natural beauty of Hawai`i's only indigenous fan fern, the Loulu palm tree. This native plant is distinguished by its fanlike shape and rigid, pleated leaves, realized in its namesake print. Noho Home plays upon Hawai`i's seamless approach to indoor/outdoor decor with Loulu, adapting it from its literal state into a bold, stylized graphic to bring strong visual elements of nature into the home.
Dimensions, Usage & Care:
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We remove your old heels and replace them with high quality Red Dainite Heels.
If you are not sure whether your shoes can be repaired, please click HERE to email us at firstname.lastname@example.com with photos of your damaged shoes before ordering the repair service.
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Report: Cyber-Risk and Resilience
From terrorist attacks to major cyberbreaches, the world suddenly seems to be more dangerous and unpredictable than it has been in the last half century. These alarming events come against a background of political and economic instability
Social media has transformed the reporting of serious incidents – now companies are using it to get a head start in crisis management.
Social media's role in corporate security is just one of the topics covered in Raconteur's Cyber-Risk and Resilience issue. Additional content includes:
- How chatbots are undermining commerce
- Phishing emails: Hackers' main weapon in cyberspace
- 5 ways quantum computing will change cybersecurity
Fill out the form below to download the full issue of Cyber-Risk and Resilience.


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Chalet CharlieMorzine
A premium, 12-bed alpine chalet, sitting high up over Morzine with quick access to the biking and walking trails of Le Pleney which are located a stone's throw from the front door. Enjoy impressive valley views and a welcoming hot tub at the end of the day…It's an easy 10-15 minute walk into town, or a few minutes cycle. Luckily, we include a free bike hire upgrade all week - so getting around is not only fun, but easy too!
At A Glance
- Premium alpine chalet (Wi-Fi)
- Sleeps 12: 6 rooms (ensuite)
- Morzine centre: 5 min cycle
- Bars & shops: 850m
- Pleney lifts: 3-4 min cycle
- Bike/walking trails: on doorstep
- Outdoor hot tub, sun deck
- Secure bike store, Jet wash
Your Holiday Includes
- 7 or 14 Nights Premium Chalet
- Direct Flights (unless self-drive)
- Direct Transfers (1Hr 10 min)
- Daily breakfast
- Afternoon Tea & Cakes (6 days)
- 3 Course Dinners & Wine (6 nights)
- Active Reps to plan your week
- Your FREE Active Pack!
Activities Included
- Mountain bike hire (free upgrade*)
- White Water Rafting session
- Walking lift pass, 25 lifts (6 day)
- Professionally Guided Walk
- Aquatic leisure centre (6 day)
- Kayaking / Paddleboarding session
- Kids Club: 5 half days (4-17yr) run from main hotels, nearby
- 6-day Multi Activity Pass
Your home for the week
The Charlie is a modern, bright and spacious chalet with lots of light and wonderful views. Inside is six en-suite bedrooms, an open plan dining and living area which leads onto a sunny aspect balcony and beautiful views of the Morzine valley. There's a hot tub on the sun deck which polishes off this fantastic alpine retreat.
A great mountain location
We love the Charlie for its tranquil position (away from the bustle of town) and its uninterrupted views of the valley which is laid out below, best viewed from the hot tub! But most of all we love its great biking location - a stone's throw from the Pleney trails (<70m away). From the trails you can bike down to the Pleney cable car and Morzine centre in a matter of minutes.
If you want to go into town then it's about 850 metres or a 10-15 minute walk.
It's less than 5 mins to cycle to the centre and we even offer a free bike hire upgrade, so you get your own bike for 6 days. It'll make getting around resort easy. And more fun too!
Eat, drink and be active
The only thing we enjoy as much as fresh mountain air is freshly-cooked food at the end of a day of energising activity. You can expect the very best from our highly-trained hosts and chefs, because we know that eating and drinking well are essential parts of any active holiday.
- Continental breakfast (7 days) with hot options (4 days)
- Afternoon tea, coffee & hot chocolate with freshly baked cakes (6 days)
- Three course dinners with wine (6 nights)
Each morning you'll enjoy our very own Breakfast of Champions. A freshly-cooked Full English or other cooked breakfast options to set you up for the day; or mouth-watering continental options if you'd prefer, with a slap-up continental breakfast brought in on staff days off.
Nothing beats a freshly-baked cake and afternoon tea when you get back in from the hills and lakes, which you'll be able to tuck into on six days of your stay. Each of our chalets has its own Nespresso machine supplying fresh coffee on tap to help you stay suitably caffeinated throughout your holiday.
In the evenings we'll tease your taste buds with a delicious three-course menu, accompanied by free-flowing wines until dessert. All this is served on six nights of your stay, leaving you free to explore the local restaurants on staff's night off.
All Included
You're not just staying with us for the week (or two) - you're part of our alpine club, and we like to make things great! That's why so many activities, whether they're on dry land or in the water (for you or the children) are included in your holiday.
We put together our inclusive Active Packs so that you've more than enough activities to sink your teeth into on your week with us. We include a free guided walk with a professional guide and a free lift pass for hikers and walkers to explore the mountains. You can pay a little extra for a biking lift pass to use the high-altitude trails if the resort trails simply aren't enough!
We also offer complimentary use of our top-notch Specialized mountain bikes during your stay, to help you explore. We'll even help you get wet with a free session of stand-up paddle boarding and white water rafting. Nothing breaks the ice with your fellow chalet guests like heading down a river at high speed on an inflatable raft, right?
If you've children who want to blow off some steam then our inclusive Active Kids Club is located at our main hotels so you can drop your kids off and get some well deserved 'me-time' to enjoy the activities.
Once you're ready to head out (with or without the kids!) our activity team are there to hook you up with all the fun and adventure you can handle, setting you up for high-altitude, high-adrenaline high adventure.
Our free Active Packs will keep you busy enough, but if you've got any spare time, the area is renowned for its Via Ferrata and its Canyoning and its horse riding, Parapenting and much more.


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This library has 11 classes.
ECF: xml-db.ecf
Status: No longer maintained
A simple XML database based on VTD-XML xpath and XML parsing library. Supports transactions and encryption. Any list conforming to LIST [EL_STORABLE_XML_ELEMENT] can be turned into a database. This library has now been superceded by Eco-DB.ecf which is faster, more powerful and uses a binary format.
Encryptable storable xml element
Encryptable storable xml element list
Encryptable xml element list editions
Createable from xpath node context
Extension edition
Removal edition
Replacement edition
Object to record to disk any editions made to current list of XML storable objects. If the list is reloaded the editions can be reapplied restoring the state of the previous application session.
The benefits are twofold:
1. A large list need not be saved each time the application exits as the most recent editions are recorded to disk. 2. If the application crashes unexpectedly, no data is lost.
Storable xml element
Xml element edition
Xml element list editions


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Updated 2015-05-23
The black-faced spoonbill's main habitats and protected areas are located in the reclaimed land at the northern bank of the Zengwen River. The local bird ecology is highly diverse. If you would like to know more about black-faced spoonbills, their behaviour, and their habitat, you can participate in some of the conservation activities held for them or visit the Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall in the protection area. The Center contains an information desk, a multimedia room, and an exhibition area, along with displays of the black-faced spoonbill's life history, wetland ecology, and rare spoonbill specimens. An outdoor observation deck brings you closer to beautiful views of Cigu. Every winter when black-faced spoonbills arrive in the protection area, the Center sets up a video display to allow a closer view and a better introduction to these beautiful birds.
No.119, Jiucheng, Beimen Dist., Tainan City 72742, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Opening Hours:08:30~17:30
No.200, Beimen, Beimen Dist., Tainan City 727, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Opening Hours:09:00~17:30
No.163, Guangming Rd., Kouhu Township, Yunlin County 653, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
No.102-8, Yancheng, Qigu Dist., Tainan City 724, Taiwan(R.O.C.)
Government Website Open Information Announcement
Privacy Policy
Information Security Policy
Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved
Recommended browser: Chrome, Firefox, IE10.0 or above


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Proudly celebrating 4 years of supplying quality B-Vitamin Injections
The Covid virus is disrupting all parts of our lives, so we are recommending stocking up on vitamin B12 and B-Complex injections now.
Shortages or shipping issues may be possible in the near future, but at this time we are still shipping normally.
Click here for special Discounts and Offers for Vitamin B12 injections, B Complex, B vitamin ampoules and other Vitamin B products
3 Items


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Winter is coming and that means it's coat weather! Coats and jackets serve the very obvious function of keeping you warm in the cold, but that doesn't mean they can't be statement pieces on their own.
Like many other pieces of clothing, coats come in a variety of lengths and styles now. Some are long, while some are short; some are textured, while others are bright colours. Unlike many other pieces of clothing, coats are often an investment piece. We wear the same few coats more often than other clothes, so it's important to find one (or two) that you really love because you'll probably be wearing it a lot in the winter.
So have a look through this collection of coats and get some ideas!
the layered coat
The layered coat, like its name suggests, comes in layers. It isn't straight cut and features some layering of fabric in the front that makes it more interesting. Lots of layers also provides for some added warmth, since you can just pile on the extra pieces on top of one another to keep your chest warm without adding a scarf.
the dressy long coat
This is a coat that is rare, but oh so fabulous! It's a floor-length coat that is fancier than other coats, simply because of its length and because it looks like a long dress. This is a coat that is becoming increasingly popular, especially for women who choose to dress up as it completely covers you up from top to bottom, without any of your beautiful clothes gets splashed or ruined.
It also makes a perfect coat for women who like to cover up since it's in a dress style, and can be worn on top of abayas and maxi dresses. Its fit is classic and modest. What's not to love?
the printed or textured coat
This is another coat that is quickly becoming more popular. If you want a coat that's a little bit different, why not try a textured or printed coat? Going for a texture can be fun, since it can highlight your quirky personality. Lace is another texture that would look beautiful in a coat. But be careful with the pattern you end up picking for your coat; you can quickly become tired of it.
the statement coat
Black is a pretty standard coat colour, and so is camel, grey, and anything dark. But if you really want to make a statement, why not pick a bold colour? White is a popular colour, since it looks so clean and classy especially in the winter time! But it's also a colour that easily looks dirty and any stain will show up right away so it's one you have to be careful with. But there's so many other colours like mustard, red, royal blue, and others that you can choose from to break away from the standard colours and to make a statement. So no matter what you're wearing underneath, your coat will just make your outfit look so much more chic.
the poncho coat
This is more of a Fall appropriate coat, but it also makes appearances in Winter. The poncho coat is more of a loose structured coat and wraps around your body in different ways. It doesn't always have the buttons and straight edges like a typical coat, and it often doesn't have sleeves. This is another style that's different and can be used to change things up. It's more casual, so it's perfect for laid-back days and for when the weather's not too cold.
Coats obviously serve a purpose in keeping us warm, but now they're able to do so much more than that: they can make a statement! There's so many different styles you can choose from, whether it's leather sleeves, no sleeves, a hood, a belt, military style buttons, pleats, bold colours, or lace, you'll be spoilt for choice.
So bundle up and get ready for the cold Winter months!
Hope you found this useful.
With love.


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We Help People Like You Everyday
Whatever The Situation The Claim Shop Can Help.
top article We at The Claim Shop process all types of claims.
chloroquine harga Ranging from Medical Negligence, Personal Injury, Miss sold Mortgages, UK and Spain, Time Share Claims, Off Plan Property, not been built or finished, PPI Claims, the list is endless, contact us and simply ask! If we cant help then no one can.


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Integrative or Integrated Medicine is a system of medicine is that incorporates a combinations of traditional knowledge, wisdom, alternative methods, allopathic medicine, modern science and technology to enable us to understand patients and their illnesses comprehensively and holistically. The aim of this system and rationale is to aid the clinician to obtain a better overall understanding of patient's health status in order to provide the best possible Integrative treatment and care.
Unfortunately this system can be difficult to implement let alone master, as traditional methods are not always supported by allopathic medical practitioners and /or modern science. This is often due to lack of understanding and of the individual therapies and their interaction with allopathic medicine therefore they are often dismissed by unaware conservative practitioners.
There is however a possibility for both (allopathic and traditional medicine to coexist and work together in order to provide the best possible treatments and prognosis for our patients… For this to happen there must be acceptance and understanding by the physician of how each individual modality fits into an integrative treatment. He or she must have the necessary training or have an awareness of the positives and the limitations of each individual healing system. The physician must also respect each individual modality and be able to explain to the patient the pros and cons of each therapy based on research and their own individual clinical practice.
The term Integrative Medicine was coined due to the re-emergence of the complementary or alternative medicine to describe a practice of combining both orthodox medical practices and complementary medicine for healthcare; I guess you could say it is applying the best of both worlds in order to give the best possible treatment for the patient at hand. Even though the term Integrative Medicine seems relatively new, the practice and concept of Integrative Medicine dates back to early healers such as the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates. and BJ Palmer, the father of Chiropractic who incorporated integrative thinking and medicine in the practices . Integration occurred to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. I guess you could say this is a sign of a true healer, one who continues in search to better their practices in order to help their patients with the most appropriate non invasive, safest treatment possible.
An Integrative Medicine Practitioner is a lateral thinker and always has best possible treatment protocols in mind for their patients. Often the best of Orthodox and Complementary medicine is incorporated whether it be by cross referral, or by direct application. Usually this kind of Practitioner has been exposed to many modalities and understands the benefits, application and limitations of these practices.


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Source Audio Effects
Without a doubt, the crown jewel in Source Audio's lineup is the Hot Hand 3 Universal Wireless Effects Controller. If you want your tone to literally react to your physical performance, this is the device to do it. The simple explanation of Hot Hand is that it translates movement into an expression pedal signal. You can put the sensor on your hand, foot or even on the instrument itself, so you've got no shortage of options to blur the line between motion and sound. Of course, if you'd rather go the traditional route, Source Audio offers a classic dual expression pedal as well!
As far as stompboxes go, when you'd like top-quality effects, you don't need to look any further than Source Audio's Soundblox series. These run all the way from tried-and-true effects like wah-wah and distortion to more advanced units like the Orbital Modulator and OFD microModeler Bass Effects Pedal. You'll also notice that in many cases, such as the Bass Envelope Filter, Source Audio gives you the choice between standard and "Pro" versions. The differences between these depend on the pedal in question, but you can sum it up pretty easily by saying the Pro units give you more. That is to say: more options, more customizability, and simply more control over your tone than even the already-impressive base versions. You can't go wrong one way or the other - it's all about choosing the level that suits you best.
When effects unit makers get an adventurous streak, we all win. In light of that, Source Audio effects can certainly be called a victory for every artist with discerning tastes in their pedals. Whether you opt for classics like filters, flangers, phasers and reverb or get a little more daring with the Hot Hand 3, the first thing you can count on is being impressed when you take these units for a test jam.


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What Is Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a condition of high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Lay people often refer to this condition like diabetes or sugar disease amazon. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is able to produce adequate insulin, however, the cells of the body can't utilize the hormone of insulin efficiently to


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What's shocking is the hype. Essentially, the team created some amino acids and "Some researchers believe these could combine (like Legos) and create further complex molecules which could then be a precursor to life."
Tag: NASA
NASA is investing more in pre-biotic chemistry
Georgia Tech biochemist Loren Williams was recently named co-leader of NASA's new consortium to tackle origin of life: Did life on Earth originate in Darwin's warm little pond, on a sunbaked shore, or where hot waters vent into the deep ocean? And could a similar emergence have played out on other bodies in our solar Read More…


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You are here
Signs of cheer for property, but don't break out the bubbly yet
DESPITE signs that the property market is on an upward trend, it is still too soon to indicate that the market is finally recovering, said Augustine Tan, president of the Real Estate Developers' Association (Redas) on Friday.
At a property market seminar organised by Redas, Mr Tan highlighted the tweaking of cooling measures in March, and active participation by developers in Government Land Sales (GLS) tenders with record high prices as signs that the property market could be on the road to recovery.
However, he said: "While these are signs that hint at the property market trending up, it is still too soon to indicate that the market has finally turned positive and recovery has kicked in."
This is because of other wider macroeconomic factors weighing on the economy. "Our macroeconomic fundamentals are still not strong. The global economic growth continues to be anaemic amid geopolitical risks and rising US interest rates."
Mr Tan said there was a supply glut in the inventory of private residential units. "The inventory of private residential units will remain high with a supply overhang of about 37,000 uncompleted units as at Q1 2017, of which nearly 16,000 units or 43 per cent are still unsold.
"At the current new private residential transaction volume of approximately 8,000 units in 2016, it will take around two years to absorb the existing stock, barring unforeseen circumstances."
He also said the government has released a further potential supply of 8,125 private residential units for H2 2017 through its GLS programme, and that in the collective sales market there are about 25 potential sites comprising about 5,300 units, further adding to supply.
Mr Tan said: "Our concern is if the prevailing 'bullish' appetite for residential land persists amid pending rising interest rates and weak employment prospects, demand will weaken over time and hasten the compounding effects of increasing supply and high vacancy."
Other analysts, however, were more sanguine in their outlook. Hospitality Strategies Asia Pacific managing director Donald Han said Singapore's residential market is bottoming out, and he anticipates a rise in economic activity in the next six to eight months, barring any unforeseen shocks.
He believes that rapid price rises are unlikely as the government will use GLS tenders as a tool to meet the strong demand from developers as long as current cooling measures do not change.
However, despite the higher land prices, he said developers needed to price project launches competitively - at the expense of profit margins - as the market remains price sensitive.
For the whole of 2017, he expects developers to sell between 10,500 and 11,500 units (excluding EC units).
Mr Tan said that as at Q1 2017, the vacancy rate of completed private residential units improved marginally from 8.4 per cent to 8.1 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
In the industrial sector, Lee Nai Jia, head of South-east Asia research at Edmund Tie & Co, said the sector has generally "not moved since (this time) last year".
He said the net supply of multiple-user factories increased from 970,000 sq ft in Q4 2016 to 980,000 sq ft in Q1 2017. The net demand for multiple-user factory space as measured by change in occupied stock increased from 797,000 sq ft in Q4 2016 to 883,000 sq ft in Q1 2017. The occupancy rate has remained stable at 86.9 per cent in Q1 2017 quarter-on-quarter.
For business parks, Dr Lee said there were no completions or terminations in Q1 2017, compared to 32,000 sq ft of net completions in Q4 2016. The net demand reduced from 474,000 sq ft in Q4 2016 to 237,000 sq ft in Q1 2017. The occupancy rate increased by 1.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 82.5 per cent in Q1 2017.
Office prices and rentals have declined 4 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively in Q1 2017 compared to the previous quarter, said Mr Tan. Office vacancy rates also rose to a high of 11.6 per cent islandwide in the same period.
He also said the islandwide retail sector vacancy rate rose from 7.5 per cent to 7.7 per cent, and industrial sector prices and rentals fell 12.3 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively in the same quarter.
Mr Tan added: "Against this backdrop, business and consumer confidence could be weakened, further dampening investment and consumption."


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Archive for August 2003
The winners of US media-based reputation…
Apologies that postings have continued to be slow. The continuing volume of virus e-mails has put a lot of strain on working on the road, so things should return to normal on Monday.
Earlier in the week, Marc Snyder was in touch regarding Delahaye's Media Reputation Index.
The latest research (April-June) shows that Disney has overtaken Microsoft as the company with the best media reputation.
Media Reputation Index – Top Ten Companies
1. The Walt Disney Company
2. Microsoft
3. Intel
4. Wal-Mart
5. General Motors
7. Home Depot
8. Coca-Cola
9. Bank of America
10. AOL Time Warner
Read more details here.
Are you talking to me?
Lou Hoffman, founder of the Hoffman Agency and a regular writer on matters PR, has written a great feature on those phrases which freeze the blood of the most hardened agency practitioner.
I'm sure you've all heard many of them in the course of your professional life, but it's an enjoyable rant.
Watching them watching us, watching them…
Postings have been a little sparse of late as I am currently travelling to a range of interesting places and meeting a range of interesting people.
However, back to business.
It's interesting to see how the media percieve PR people and the UK Guardian (whom the rumor mill has suggested are looking at launching a US version of the newspaper to follow up on the popularity of their Gulf War II coverage) has a piece by Paul Carr, the editor of UK site, The Friday Thing, about how music companies don't really get the online medium. It's a rather sad account of "viral marketing" actually.
I was also interested to see that the spate of corporate crises over the past twenty four months is encouraging journalists to adopt some of the same PR tactics that we recommend in a crisis. Bill Breen in this month's Fast Company pens a mea culpa in follow up to a glowing review of EDS a couple of years ago that has turned out rather differently.
Like any good PR pro, Bill gets all the bad news out on his own terms. It reads very well.
"Our rather optimistic account elicited a sharp observation from my dad. As EDS's stock swooned, my father joked that he was going to start shorting my articles. That once really hurt."
The flame war that isn't…
As you might have read in the comments to my earlier posting, about his anti-PR rant on the I-Blog discussion list, Rick Bruner has posted a long and detailed rebuttal.
He's expecting a flame war, but I can't give him one. Here's why.
I still think his posting to the I-Blog list was insulting. He calls it "irony" I don't. I also have a major problem with Rick's use of rash generalizations to carry his argument, e.g.:
"Sure, a handful of PR visionaries are blogging to date, but so far as I can see, they're all blogging about PR. They're not actually blogging for PR. IDC is using RSS to syndicate its press releases. But beyond that? "
There are loads of companies delivering news feeds over RSS, IDC is only a recent example and there are also a large number of examples of PR driven weblogs. I don't do a lot of self-promotion on this blog, but Cape Clear for example, has had exactly this kind of blog for over a year.
However, Rick's posting is well written and well reasoned and how ever much I wanted to disagree with it, I found myself nodding in agreement with much of what he wrote.
I agree that we are behind the ball on the Internet in general and blogging in particular.
What his writing does not recognize is that PR people are stepping into the breech. I agree it's not fast enough, I agree we should own the web, be experts on search engine optimization etc. etc. You can't argue with any of that. Fair play.
I just wish he'd stop kicking the poor old dog. In the words of my compatriot Oscar Wilde:
"If they have not opened the eyes of the blind, they have at least given great encouragement to the short-sighted, and while their leaders may have all the inexperience of old age, their young men are far too wise to be ever sensible."
PS: Rick also correctly points out I referenced the wrong Cow in my earlier post, it is of course the Raging Cow, not the Purple Cow. Seth Godin wouldn't be a happy camper. But I am sticking to my guns that the Raging Cow incident sucked.
A salutory tale for any foreign media visiting the United States
Thanks for Niamh who forwarded me this story from Australia's The Age newspaper about the trials and tribulations of an Australian computer journalist attending a computer conference in Denver.
To sum up, if you're a journalist attending an event in the United States, make sure you've applied for an I-visa.
Why Viruses are a good thing
Well I'm sure if you use e-mail you have been inundated with the latest Virus attack. I think this is the worst one since the "I love you" Virus one a couple of years back.
But there is an upside to these Viruses. I've had e-mail this week (albeit Virus delivered) from friends and colleagues I haven't talked to in a long long time. Going through all the Virus e-mail was like a trip down memory lane.
Furthermore, it's always interesting to see who has you in their address book, very interesting.
I don't want to sound like a broken record (too late!) but I am amazed at the proportion of these Virus e-mails coming from PR people. I'd say thirty percent of the Virus e-mail I've had is from people in PR.
This means that even though e-mail communication is key to our business, we're still not updating our Virus checkers and more importantly, we're still keeping our contacts in programs like Outlook where the Virus knows how to find them.
I suggest you all check your Virus software is up to date!
PR People have room temperature IQs…
Up2Speed's Rick Bruner links to an interesting article in the LA Times about how new technologies such as SMS and Instant Messaging are having a significant (and in many cases uncontrollable) affect on movie revenues.
On related matter, in the latest issue of Up2Speed's I-Blog newsletter, Rick has yet another cut at "PR people". Now it's a pity because Rick has some good solid advice for PR people pitching blogs, but it's lost in his insulting rash generalizations.
How about this beauty:
"With the exception of all my friends who are PR people, I have to say most folks in that profession seem to have room temperature IQs, particularly where it comes to leveraging the opportunities of the Internet to advance their mission."
Now I haven't been slow to address the perceived tardiness of our profession to adopt blogs into the PR plan, but I think Rick has stepped a little over the mark here.
I take exception to his comments.
What, only his friends are clever? Please, spare me.
I was going to respond on the I-Blog list and then decided the better of it. But here are some thoughts for you on his post:
- With any new media there are going to be slip-ups, particularly a media where there are no formal rules. Every blogger is different, some like pitches, some don't. It's not simple and those bloggers who don't like PR will publicly chastise PR practitioners who try to brief them – we've covered this before.
- There are already a large number of PR people successfully working with blogs, look at Laura Goldberg as just one recent example
- Our profession isn't exactly leading the charge, but then again what profession is? Marketing? Please.
- Let's not lose sight of the fact that the single largest blogging mistake, namely the "Purple Cow" episode wasn't PR-driven, in fact it was marketers or viral marketers to be more precise.
- Blogging is still in its infancy, PR people should be investigating and engaging with bloggers, however, insulting people isn't going to help anyone
All marketing professions need to get up to speed ('scuse the pun) on blogging. A growing number of PR people are doing some great work in the blogosphere, the rest will follow in their own time. I think that time is now, many don't agree.
By the way, I have to say most folks in that (PR) profession (that I know) seem to have (very high) temperature IQs…


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Our king suites/kitchenettes are furnished with 1 king size bed along with a sofa-bed, as well as a recliner chair, dining table and chairs, work desk with chair, large dresser with mirror, microwave, full size refrigerator, a/c, night stand, alarm clock, flat screen TV with cable, and private bathroom with toiletries. All 7 suites are corner units at each end of the building, 3 of which are on the ground level and then 4 up on the second level.
Room Features
- Large Refrigerator
- Kitchenette with Microwave
- 42″ LCD Television with Remote Control
- Free Cable TV
- Living Room Area
- Full Recliner and Sofa/Sleeper
- King Bed
Room Amenities
- Work Desk
- Dining Table
- Air-Conditioned Room
- Free WiFi Internet Access
- Accommodates Up To 3 People
- Adjoining Rooms Available
- Pets Allowed ($15.00 extra per day/per pet)


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How Property Landscape Maintenance Can Keep Your Customers Safer
A common challenge many businesses face is how to provide the best possible customer experience so customers will be more likely to return and bring others with them. Unfortunately, issues on your commercial property can sometimes overshadow great experiences and top-notch service. For example, if your restaurant customer raves about their meal and service, but then smacks their head in the parking lot on an overgrown tree branch, they might be less likely to return.Read More


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Position: WaiterDepartment: F&BPurpose: service of clients
The waiter is obliged:
1. To provide quick and effective service, to create friendly atmosphere. Is permanently ready to help the guests, does all duties with smile.2. To welcome warmly the guests near the restaurant entrance, to greet them politely, accompanies to the table and gives Menu.3. To prepare the restaurant/room service/ banquet rooms for starting of work, serves the guests, and to put the restaurant/banquet area in order at the end of working day.4. To prepare necessary cutlery and dishes before and during working hours of the restaurant, bar, for banquet service, as well as for the next shift.5. To laid tables according to the standards for necessary quantity of covers.6. To observe the rules of service Etiquette.7. To control the presentation of ordered dishes. To observe the sequence of orders' execution.8. To perfectly know Menu9. To suggest the best order in the restaurant, to help to choose wines and aperitifs. To inform guests about the way of cooking and composition of dishes.10. An experienced staff to can take orders for dishes and beverages according to the instructions, posting orders into Micros, makes bills and follows prepayment.11. To keep the tables, room service trolleys, offices, coffee break areas clean, and to check if the guests are satisfied.12. To control the condition of crockery and furniture.13. To pick the crockery and to clean the restaurant /banquet area according to the instruction.14. To follow all administrative norms of service and information.15. To keep the regulations of hygiene and safety.16. To can do his/her duties in each department (outlet) of F&B due to production necessity.17. To keep in permanent official contact with cashiers, kitchen and all F&B staff.18. An experienced staff to can deputize senior waiter in case of his/her absence.19. To set up room service trays, to trolley and organize before the peak period of the day.20. To must have knowledge of daily specials and their method of preparation.21. To communicate with Guests, when appropriate, answers all their questions in a professional manner, promoting hotel facilities.23. To promote the establishment and the maintenance of atmosphere of understanding and mutual aid among the staff and works in a team.24. To take part in creation of Hotel image. To show polite and attentive to the guests & colleagues.25. To work according to requirements of rules, norms of the safety precautions and industrial sanitary.26. To take part in the instructing on the labor safety.27. To organize first aid to the victim at any accident, which has occurred and informs about the occurred accident to the head of department.28. To follow strictly the staff appearance and hygiene rules and undergoes the regular medical examinations in time.
Experience in the hotel field for at least a year• Good English, Fluent Azerbaijan and Russian language is desirable• Ability to analyze and manage multiple tasks
Working Conditions:
• 5 working days schedule (40 hours per week)• Lunch provided in the workplace • Uniform provided by the workplace Salary: 400 AZN NET
Please send you CV
Kindly note that only e-mails with indicated Job Title in the subject line (Waiter) of shortlisted candidates will be reviewed email@example.com


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21 Mar Sell That Inherited House in Enfield: 8 Helpful Hints for How to Get Rid of Sentimental Clutter Quickly
If you've recently inherited a home, you probably also inherited a house full of stuff.
Some might call this stuff "heirlooms." Others might consider it sentimental clutter. Unless your parents or relative was proactive in de-cluttering their home before it became yours, you might have a bunch of inherited items you never wanted.
Whatever your feelings are about these items that are now yours, you'll need to get rid of the clutter to sell the home.
It's not as easy as clearing away trash or things without value. It can be tough to get rid of things with sentimental value.
We understand that challenge. Here is our best insight into how to get rid of sentimental clutter from your Enfield home.
1. Make a List
One of the hardest tasks is cataloguing everything that's left behind in your inherited home.
As you make your list of sentimental items, group them into categories. You might find it helpful to pre-label some boxes. Put items into the box labelled with the category that matches each item.
Start with labels like:
- Music
- Childhood School Papers
- Photos
- Toys
- Games
- Clothing
- Music
- Sell
- Donate
- Trash
Ease into making hard decisions with this first exercise. You'll feel more organised with everything placed in a category.
2. Work With Your Siblings
If you don't have siblings, your sentimental decluttering job isn't necessarily easier. One one hand, you get to make all of the decisions about what to keep or what to trash.
On the other hand, you're the only one making a lot of emotional decisions about things you never wanted to handle.
If you do have siblings, enlist their help. Your brothers and sisters can claim the items they gave to your parents. They can also help you decide which items are truly "sentimental" enough to keep versus what should go.
3. Take Out the Trash
Remember that box of items in the "trash" box? Throw it out.
Don't leave it sitting around. You'll second-guess some of your decisions on items that you don't need to keep and won't sell.
Do the same thing with your "donate" box. These items aren't helping anyone else to stay in the house. Put the donated items to good use by taking them to an organisation that can use them.
Stay strong! Avoid taking anything out of the Trash or Donate boxes once you've put it in those boxes.
4. Take Breaks
After you've tossed or donated the easier decisions, keep working on the more difficult boxes of items.
Work in short timeframes to keep from getting overwhelmed by emotions or fatigue. But work a little bit each day or each weekend. Don't let the work pile up.
It's a big job to empty a house of sentimental clutter. Be patient with yourself throughout the process.
Plan to go through a box per day. Then tackle the furniture in each room.
Give yourself a deadline to clear the house so you can get it on the market quickly. But don't force yourself to plough through everything too quickly.
5. Give Yourself Permission to Let Go
If you're struggling about keeping or letting go of an item, ask yourself why you need to keep it.
If your answer has anything to do with what your parents or loved ones would want, it's okay to consider letting the item go.
Don't hang on to a sentimental item unless you really want it or can use it. It's hard to think of selling or giving away anything if you base your decision on anything but what's best for you.
Your job is to purge the clutter. Keep it if it means something to you. Give yourself the "okay" to part with an item that means more to others than it does to you.
6. Take a Picture
Memories are often triggered by images. If you decide not to keep an item, take a picture to help hang on to the memory of it.
If you're feeling crafty, create a memory photo album of the most sentimental items in the house.
You won't be able to keep everything–and you shouldn't try to keep it all. Document the process and the most sentimental items with photos, then give them a new home.
7. Be Selective
If your grandmother left behind her famous thimble collection, you don't have to keep every piece to honour her memory.
Choose a few of your favourites. Ask your siblings or cousins to choose any pieces that they love.
Sell or give away the remaining thimbles. Your grandmother never intended to burden you with her thimble-collecting hobby. It's okay to keep the ones who remind you of her the most–then part with the rest of them.
8. Let Others Take Things Off of Your Hands
After you've catalogued the house, chosen what you want to keep, and you've given other items away, it's time for a sale.
For anything left in the house, consider an estate sale. It's an ideal option for a one-and-done sale.
Choose an estate sale company to make it easy on yourself. Most companies offer online options for pre-sale to make sure every item sells during the sale.
Or, you can do the estate sale yourself. Price the items, then open the doors and let the public take away the remaining clutter.
Make sure you remove anything you are keeping before the sale. Don't risk accidentally selling the sentimental items you've decided to keep.
Know How to Get Rid of Sentimental Clutter Before Selling the Home
It's a tough process to know what you "should" keep versus what you really "want" to keep when inheriting sentimental items. But it's important to know how to get rid of sentimental clutter first.
After you de-clutter the house you've inherited, it's time to sell the house. You don't have to go through extensive renovations for an inherited Enfield property when you're ready to sell it.
Property Sauce purchases the toughest-to-sell properties. We love properties that require a lot of work. If you're ready to sell an inherited property that needs work, contact us for a no-obligation offer.


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Imagine your reader's inbox. It is probably a mess. It's filled with all sorts of emails from all sorts of bloggers. Each and every blogger wants that reader's attention. They want them to click. To buy. To support them in some way.
It might look something like this:
Tell me: What separates your email from the sea of other emails?
Smart bloggers design effective emails that stand out from the pack. Smart bloggers do something different. Write differently. They customize their emails and make them a pleasure to read. Entertaining, even.
Yeah, imagine that!
The more that your email stands out, the more likely the reader will click, read and perform some action (like buy your product or click an affiliate link). Right?
Right. Most of us know this. But, we all don't know how to make it happen.
Three ways to make your emails stand out
1. Personalize the email with a story
We all get bad emails. In fact, I'd wager that stale, impersonal emails are common in our inbox. They are emails written to appeal to a mass audience. They are salesy. They are uninteresting. We can't possibly click the 'Delete' button fast enough.
Let's face it: they just suck.
But, most of us have read emails that are the exact opposite, too. These are emails that connect with us. They make us keep reading. We're interested in what's coming next – almost like a story. Story-telling is hugely influential.
It's also one of the best ways to personalize your emails. When we talk to one another, we tend to tell stories. We recall life experiences. We also talk using plain ol' English. One and two syllable words. Sometimes, three.
And, we often address those whom we are talking to by name. We greet them.
Be a good storyteller and your conversion rates will explode.
Check out this email from investing blog Minafi.com. Begin reading and you'll quickly realize that this email is just…different. In a good way!
A few things to note:
- It's primarily text-based, which you know I love.
- The email begins with a personalized greeting ("Hey Steve!").
- Next, it mentions a recent holiday (Thanksgiving) and the natural tendency to overeat (and drink). This makes the email come across as more honest. Personal. And, way more enjoyable to read.
- The email is a story, and we are lead down a particular path until we get to the end (I only included a small portion of the larger email in this snippet). Good stories keep us invested and interested. They keep us reading.
Though I think this email could be written so it's more easily scannable (more bold / italicized text, smaller paragraphs, etc), it's definitely an example of how personalization and storytelling separate our emails from the pack.
2. Target the email
One of the nicest features of most email marketing providers is the ability to use tags and segments to send targeted emails just to those people who are most likely to care. By "care", we're talking about a willingness to open the email and read.
If the subscriber cares about your message, they are more likely to open the email, read it and take action. In fact, subscribers are at least 14% more likely to open your email if they were properly segmented. They're probably interested in the email.
Okay, you get it. Segmenting works. It helps bloggers send the right emails to the right people. Now, let me anticipate your next question.
How can bloggers segment their email list?
There are several ways to segment your email list:
- Ask subscribers to choose interest categories when they sign up (this will require a modification to your opt-in forms). Tag the subscriber with those interests, then design emails that specifically address those topics.
ConvertKit's form builder makes this process a synch:
- Re-engage users who signed up for an opt-in incentive. For example, if a subscriber signed up for a PDF download about how to boost their salary at work, they are probably also interested in wealth-building topics.
- Record clicks. ConvertKit allows bloggers to record each click by using link triggers. Tag these users based on the general topic of the link and use those tags to send those subscribers emails with related information.
Link triggers are easy to set up in ConvertKit:
- Build a survey using Google Forms, embed it on your page, and send an email asking your subscribers to take a couple of minutes to fill it out. This will give you a broad overview of what your subscribers most likely want to see.
3. Write, don't automate
This one is huge, so don't ignore it. I know instantly whether the email I just got came from an automatic RSS to email system. It's boxy and dry. The email robotically spits out the post title and the first couple of paragraphs for me to read.
No introduction. No "Hey, Steve!". No personalization at all.
I can click over to read the rest, but unless that sucker really captures my interest, I don't click. In fact, I almost never click on an automated RSS to email message. Most of the time, I'll unsubscribe from the email list, too.
Because they blogger didn't take the time to write ME a message to introduce their latest post. They set up their email provider to look for their latest post and throw it out to their entire email list in some one-size-fits-all fashion.
This isn't smart blogging. It's not smart digital marketing.
Sorry, but that's not why I sign up for email lists. If all I wanted was a notification of the blogger's latest content, I'd use a service like Feedly and save myself the trouble of deleting the emails.
For the record, most email marketing services support creating the RSS to email automation, but I do not recommend using it.
Custom-written emails that sound like a one-on-one conversation perform the best, every time. Bloggers should greet each subscriber by using their name, then introduce their latest content (through a thoughtful story).
The idea is the same: get pageviews. But, the difference is by writing a personalized message to the subscriber, you're separating your email apart from the other junk in their email box. It doesn't sound like everybody else's.
Instead, it reads like the blogger put more effort into writing the email specifically to you rather than automating a mass email to their entire list.
For example, here's an email I wrote for another blog's email list:
- Yup, it's all text-based
- I included a customized greeting
- The email includes short, easy-to-read paragraphs
- Important text is bold to improve scannability
- The blue call to action at the bottom is easy to access and click
And best of all, it includes a personalized message. I didn't just copy the first few paragraphs of the post and slap it into the email. Instead, I wrote a thoughtful message that I hope will resonate with the subscriber.
This will set your email apart from the pack – every time.
4. Talk to your reader
When emails come across as "professionally"-written, buzzword-filled globs of text, I instantly tune out. Instinctively, I feel like I'm being sold something.
I don't like that, and I bet you don't either.
Tell me, what's the difference between these two lines of text:
- "Hello, how are you today? May I ask you a quick question?"
- "Hey, what's up Steve? I have a question for you."
#1 is robotic. Almost mechanical. It feels like the person is writing to a mass audience rather than talking specifically to me. It's not a personal greeting.
#2 feels much more conversational. I envision standing next to the person, chatting.
Also, the second line is personalized with the use of my name.
Write like you talk. Use everyday conversational language. It is okay to use slang (if that's what your readers expect). I've even used light obscenities in my emails to help reinforce the fact that I'm talking to them, not just writing.
Of course, you'll be the ultimate judge about whether slang and obscenities are right for your email list. The larger point is to remove yourself from English class.
We aren't writing a term paper, here. This isn't a dissertation.
We are writing emails with the intent to grab and retain the interest of our subscribers through honesty and transparency.
Fundamentally, that's it.
Bonus: Timing is everything
Consider off-peak email campaigns so you aren't competing with everybody else who sends emails at almost the exact same time.
Pretend you're in a shopping mall the weekend before Christmas. The stores are packed. People are scurrying around with bags of gifts. It's loud. Kids are everywhere.
How likely are you to focus on just one company's advertised offer?
Now, let's say you waited until after Christmas. The stores are dead. You can actually breathe as you walk around, taking note of sales to get rid of excess Christmas merchandise. Now, how likely are you to notice offers?
Hit up your subscribers when they aren't overrun with distractions.
For example, Black Friday. It seems like every company in the world sends emails on Black Friday advertising their deals and promotions.
As a result, your email on Black Friday is competing against every other company or blogger's email as well, making it all the more important to stand out. But, what if we make it easy on ourselves by sneaking our email in there well before, or way after, the special day?
Tell your subscribers that you're offering a "Pre-Black Friday" sale, or if you're sending an email after the fact, just say that you purposely waited until the fury died down a bit. Or heck, maybe you just forgot to send it (yeah, right!).
The opportunities to send email off-peak are endless.
Steve Adcock is an early retiree who writes about mental toughness, financial independence and how to get the most out of your life and career. As a regular contributor to The Ladders, CBS MarketWatch and CNBC, Adcock maintains a rare and exclusive voice as a career expert, consistently offering actionable counseling to thousands of readers who want to level-up their lives, careers and freedom. Adcock's main areas of coverage include money, personal finance, lifestyle, and digital nomad advice. Steve lives in a 100% off-grid solar home in the middle of the Arizona desert and writes on his own website at SteveAdcock.us.


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Do Large Companies Require HSMs to Stay Secure?
Do Large Companies Require HSMs? KeyNexus Aims to Help You Answer this Question
In a previous blog post, we discussed Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). As we pointed out, there are a number of pros and cons involved in using HSMs, as well as in using cloud-based or hybrid alternatives. This week, we want to turn to discussing one of many possible use cases involving the same question: when do large companies require HSMs? In particular, we want to think about HSMs in the context of large-scale enterprises, including government agencies. For these types of organizations, data security and key management is a major concern, as they often hold particularly sensitive data, such as personal or payment information, and are therefore the targets of cyber attacks.
Let's take a hypothetical large government agency (LGA) in the United States. LGA has new encryption guidelines, which require them to encrypt every document stored in their file system. It has key personal and financial information for approximately 100 million people. Given the volume of information they hold, there are potentially billions of encryption keys involved. LGA also must ensure that the key management system they choose meets the strictest government standards, including FIPS 140-2. In meeting these new encryption requirements, LGA faces several problems: cost, logistics and simplicity of use. In this case, if they choose a traditional HSM vendor, they could require thousands of HSMs. This will come at a significant cost, including the initial purchase, setup and maintenance. With various other factors – including client growth, changes in encryption guidelines, etc. – they will also potentially face costs related to scaling in the future. With all of these inconveniences, LGA should ask themselves: do large companies require HSMs at all?
By using KeyNexus, LGA would gain the type of flexibility, scalability and performance that HSMs can't offer, while also avoiding the overhead that comes with thousands of HSMs. At the same time, where LGA may want or need to keep their HSMs to maintain trust, KeyNexus has the capacity to integrate with existing or new HSMs, offering a hybrid approach. With either option, our Unified Key Manager would be able to create, store and manage encryption keys for their encrypted data. This would include the ability to store billions of keys, and to easily scale to LGA's needs as it faced client growth or an increase in the volume of personal information that they processed and stored. Set up and deployment would be cost-efficient and easy: as a software platform, LGA would simply need to download and install our UKM in their deployment environment of choice. Any necessary software upgrades would also be quick and easy: with a request, KeyNexus could provide LGA with upgrades in a fraction of the time required to upgrade an HSM. With a flexible architecture, LGA would have the option to distribute workloads in the Cloud to streamline functionality. Finally, KeyNexus would provide LGA with compliant encryption key management. At the most basic level, our UKM conforms to FIPS 140-2 Level 1 standards and provides the separation of encryption and key management roles. If LGA requires a higher level of protection, we offer FIPS 140-2 Level 3 standards via a microHSM, produced in conjunction with our partner CSPi. KeyNexus UKM also complies with various regulations that LGA might be facing, including healthcare (HIPAA and HiTech) and financial services (PCI-DSS and GLBA). With our UKM's logging and auditing options, LGA would also be able to keep up with any regulatory changes they might face in the future.
Ultimately, KeyNexus offers a flexible, scalable, easy to use, cost-efficient, and compliant alternative to traditional HSMs. If you find yourself asking "Do large companies require HSMs?", consider turning to KeyNexus for our bevy of solutions and expertise. For more information on how KeyNexus can provide you with alternatives to traditional HSMs, contact us or request a demo.