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New Perspective
I lived, loved and laughed in gorgeous, fun and hip Eugene, OR, for 20 years. Then…I met this man (music swells.) Well, he lived here in the Tri-Cities and had a great job, so I made the compromise. I moved to a place that I thought would suck my soul dry for so many, many reasons. No green, no culture of cool, no decent artisan bread bakery…OH! the list was endless for this dry, dusty, windy void of a desert. I cried for the first 6 months solid a nd just wanted to wither and die (and pretty much felt like I was going to get my wish.)
I do not remember the moment it came to me, but on one particular day, a little after my morning tears and coffee dried up, I heard myself tell myself: girlfriend, the grace that is to be found in ANY place on earth is the grace you BRING to it. I suddenly felt incredibly selfish and utterly childish. It is true…there are great matches between the personality of a city and the preferences we have for where we live. That was my Eugene experience all the way. But this little epiphany helped me to understand that if you offer your grace to the people and place you are at any moment you begin to be the instrument of change rather than sitting back and expecting it all to be laid out banquet style for the fulfillment of your desires.
I went forth, oh children, and made this place my own. I offered "me" to it, rather than standing with hands on hips reciting the mantra, "What's in it for me??" No, it still can't hold a candle of cool to my beloved Eugene, but it does hold my beloved….and, as I have since discovered, a vast canvas to paint my own vista upon.
May you all bring your grace to your place…
Sent by Lynn McDougal from Kennewick, WA


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« AnteriorContinuar »
Luke xxxi. 32. Chrisl said, I do cures, and cast out devils.—Thus did Christ literally.
Gen. iii. 15. Bruise the serpent's head.
Heb. ii. 14. Destroyed the devil. . 1 John iii. 8. Destroyed the works of the devil.
xii. 31. He cast out the prince of this world.
Luke xi. 22. Being stronger than he.
Col. ii< 15. He spoiled principalities and powers.
Luke xi. 20. By the finger, the power and Spirit of God.
LIII. Christ heats sicknesses. Matt. viii. 13, 14. The servant of a believing centurion. Luke vii. 1. Peter's wife's mother. Mark i. 32. Luke iv. 38.
.ix. 35. Every sickness and disease among the people. Matt. xii. 15.—xiv. 14. Luke ix. 11.
John iv. 50. A noble man's Son. Effect. Ver. 53. The father of the child, and his whole house believed.
Christ cures blindness. Matt. ix. 29. Two blind men, by touching their eyes. Effect. Ver. 31. His fume spread abroad. - Mark viii. 22, 23. A blind man spitting upon his eyes.
x. 46. Cures Bartimeus. Ch. vii. 21. Cures many. Mark x. 46.
John ix. '6, 7. A blind man, by anointing his eyes with clay.
Effect.Xer. 16. 32, 33, 3J. The man said, since the world began was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind, if this man were not of God, he could do nothing. Isa. xxix. 18.—xxxv. 5.
Christ cures detifncss. Matt. vii. 32. A man that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech, by putting his fingers into his ears, and touching his tongue. Effect. Ver. 37. They were beyond measure astonished, saying, he hath done all things well. Matt.xi. 15.
Cures lameness. Luke xiii. 13. Makes straight a woman bowed down with an infirmity. Effect. They glorified God.
xxii. 5 I. Heals a servant's ear that was cut off.
John v. 8. Cures a man, at the pool of Bethesda.
Cures Icfirosy. Matt. viii. 3. A leper by touching him. Mark i. 40.
Effect. They blazed abroad his fameLuke xvii. 14. Ten lepers. Effect. One of them who was a Samaritan glorified God, and returned to Jesus, and gave him thanks.
xix. 2, 3. Cures the dropsv.
Cures the fia/sy. Matt. iv. 24 viii. 6. Mark ii. 3, 5, 10, 12. Lnke
v. 18, 24,'25. Effect. They marvelled and glorified Cod, and his fame spread abroad.
Matt. ix. 22. He cures a bloody issue. Luke viii. 44.
xii. lo. He restores a withered hand. Luke vi. 10.
LIV. Haines the dead to life. Matt. ix. 25. Jairus.s daughter.
Luke vii. 11. A widow's son.
John xi. 39. Lazarus. Effect. \ ev. 45. Ch. xii. 11. Many of the Jews believed on him, because of Lazarus.
LV. He ratms the ivitid and sea. Matt. viii. 26. Mark vi. 51. Luke <iii. ?4. F.fret. They marvelled, saying, what manner of man is this, tliat even the winds and seas obey him.
xiv. 25. lie walked on the sea. John vi. 19.
Matt. xiv. 29. Makes Peter walk upon the water.
Iiffect. Ver. 23. Ch. iii. 2. Many believed on him, seeing the miracles which he did.
xxi. 6. Directs the disciples,' to take a great draught of fishes.
Effect. Luke v. 8. Peter fell down, and said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
John xvii. 27. Directs Peter to find a piece of money in a fish's mouth.
Matt. xxi. 19 He curses the barren fig-tree, which immediately withers.
LVI. Miracles accompanying the death of Christ mere, Matt. xxvii. 45. a supernatural darkness.
Ver. 51. The veil of the temple rent, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, graves opened, many bodies of saints arose.
Effect. Ver. 54. The centurion and those that were with him, seeing these things, said, truly this was the Son of God.
X'xviii. 2. A great earthquake at his resurrection.
LVII. Christ empowers his disciples to -work miracles for propagating the Gospel. '.
Matt. x. 1. He gave them power, against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of diseases.
Ver. 8. He said unto them, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received, freely give. Mark iii. 15—vi. 7.—xvi. 17. Luke ix. 1.—x. 19.—xxiv. 49. 1 Cor. xii.9, 28, 30.
LVI1T. Miracles wrought bu the apostles. Mark vi. 13. They cast out many devils, and anointed with oil, many that were sick, and healed them. Ch. ix. 6.
Luke x. 17. The devils were subject unto them.
Acts ii. 4. Being filled with the Holy Ghost, they spake with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 1 Cor. xiv. 22.
Ver. 41. Three thousand are convened by Peter's sermon.
Ver. 43. Many wonders antNigns were done by the apostle*. Ch. xiv. 3.
iii. 2. 6, 7. Peter and John cured a lame man, at the gate of the temple
v. 13. Many signs and wonders were wrought by the apostles.
Effect. Ver. 14. Believers were the more added to the Lord.
Ver. 15. They brought the sick into the streets.
Ver. 16. There came also a multitude out of the cities round aIwtit, unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one.
viii. 6, 7. Philip did many miracles, casting out unclean spirits, ruring palsies, and the lame.
Acts ix. 4, 11, 17. Paul's conversion. Ch. sxii. 13.—xxvi. 14.
Acts. ix. 34. Peter heals Eneas of the palsy.
Ver. 11. Peter's vision, Ver. 13. A voice to him. Ver. 44. The Holy Ghost falls upon Cornelius, and others that heard Peter preaching the gospel.
v. 5, 10. The death of Ananias and Sapphira.
Ver. 19. The apostles are brought out of prison, by an angel.
vi. 15. Stephen's face seen, as the face of an angel.
vii. 55. Stephen sees Christ. ziii. 11. Elimas struck blind.
xiv. 10. Paul heals a cripple, at Ly»tra. xvi. 18. Paul casts out a spirit of divination. Ver. 26. The apostles in prison, have their bands loosed, an earthquake happens.
xix. 6. The Holy Ghost given, at Paul's laying on his hands. Ver. 11. Paul casts out evil spirits, &c.
Ver. 12. Diseases cured by handkerchiefs, Sec. brought from Paul's body. <
xxviii. 5. Shakes a viper off his hands unhurt.
xxviii. 8. Paul cures the father of Publius of a fever and bloodyflux.
Ver. 9. Others cured of diseases.
Heb. ii. 3. God bearing them witness, with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles by the power of the Spirit of God, Rom. xv. 19.
c H j p. r.
Christ's Olokv.
I. CHRIST'S glory before his incarnation. John xvii. 5. O Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was. See Prov. viii. 22 to ver. 32.—xxx. 4.
II. Christ's glory on earth. Luke ix. 30, 31. At his transfiguration. Ver. 32. Peter and they that were with him saw his glory.
.Ver. 35. There came a voice—this is my beloved Son, hear ye him.
John i. 14. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 2 Pet. i. 16.
ii, 11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus, and manifested forth his glory. Ch. xi. 4.
xii. 41. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory. Isa. liii. 1.
xvii. 22. The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them.
2 Pet. i 17. He received from God the Father, honour and glorywhen there came such a voice, from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Matt. xvii. 5. Heb. iii. o.
III. Christ't glory, qfier his resurrection. Luke xxiv. 26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and enter into his glory r
1 Cor. ii. 8. The Lord of glory. Jam. ii. 1.
I Tim. iii. 16. He was received up into glory.
Heb. i. 3. The brightness of the Father's glory.
1 Pet. i. 21. God received him up, and gave him glory, that your feith and hope might be in God.
Rev. i. 6. To him be glory and dominion for ever. See Mark x. 37. John vii. 39.—xii. 16, 23.—xiii. 31^-xvii. 24. Actsxiii. 3. Gal. i. 5. 8 Pet. iii. 18. See Christ shall judge the world.
Christ's Exaitatioh. . .
IV. Christ's exaltation at God's right hand. Ps. ex. i. The Lor4 said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool. Matt. xxii. 44. Acts ii. 34. 1 Cor. xv. 25.
Isa. Hi. 13. He shall be exalted and extolled.
Mark xvi. 19. The Lord was received up into heaven, and tat on the right hand of God.
Acts yii. 55. Stephen full of the Holy Ghost, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
Eph. i. 20. He set him on his own right hand.
Col. iii. 1. Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Heb. i. 3. Who sat down on the right hand of the Majesty oh high*
viii. 3. We have an high priest, who H set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.
x. 12. He for ever sat down on the right hand of God.
xii. 2. On the right hand of the throne of God.
1 Pet. iii 22. Who is on the right hand of God. Ch. IV. 3:.
Rev. iii. 21. I am set down with my Father in his throne.
V. The same othertvise expressed thus. Ps. viii. 5. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour. Heb. xxvii. 9. Rev. xix. 12.
lxxxix. 19. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. John vi. 62. Ye shall see the son of man, ascend up where he was before.
Acts ii. 33. Jesus being by the right hand of God exalted, hath shed forth this which ye now see, and hear. See Christ's power, also his kingly office, his works.
Acts v. 31. Him hath God exalted with his right hand.
Phil. ii. 9. God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name.
VI. Christ exalted above mankind. Ps. cxviii. 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner. Ver. 23. This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes. Matt. xxi. 42. Acts iv. 11. 1 Pet. ii. 7.
lxxxix. 27. I will make him my first bom higher than the kings of the earth.
Matt. xxiii. 8. One is your master, even Christ.
Rom. viii. 29. That he might be the first bom among many brethren. Heb. i. 2. Appointed heir of all things.
1 Cor. xi. 3. The head of every man is Christ. Eph. iv. 15.'
Eph. i. 23. God gave him to be the head over all things, to the church.
iv, 15. May grow up into him, which is the head, even Christ.
Eph# v. 23. Christ is the head of the church.
XXIV. The church is subject to Christ. Matt. iii. 11. He is greater than John the Baptist.
xii. 6. Greater than the temple.
Vcr. 41. Greater than Jonas.
Ver. 42. Greater than Solomon.
Heb. iii. 3. Worthy of more glory than Moses.
VII- Christ exalted above angels. Ps. viii. 6. Thou liast put all things under his feet. Cor. xv. 27. Eph. i. 22.
Eph. i. 17. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
slory- , .
Ver. 20. Raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand.
Ver. 21. Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
i. 22. And hath put all things under h-is feet.
Phil. ii. 9. God hath given him a name, which is above every name.
Ver. 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth.
Col. ii. 10. Ye are compleat in him, which is the head of all principality and power.
Heb. i. 4. Made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Ver. 5. Unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee i Ps. ii. 7.
Ver. 13. To which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool ? Ps. ex. i.
ii. 5. Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come.
Ver. 8. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all things under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. See Christ worshipped.
I. CHRIST U tlie Son of God. Ps. ii. 7. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Ver. 12. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish.
lxxxix. 27. I will make him my first born, higher than the kings of the earth. »
Isa. ix. 6. Unto us a Son i3 given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.
Matt. iii. 17. A voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased.

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Title: Persistence of Vision
Author: Liesel K. Hill
Release Date: 29th January 2012
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Find on: Amazon, Goodreads
Quick Review: In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.
After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.
In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.
If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...
Detailed Review: I like to think that there are two groups of authors in this world:
a) Authors who can make a fantastic story using the most ordinary circumstances and mythology.
b) Authors who use their imagination to create stories that are just as good as the first group's.
This author certainly lands in group B. Why? This is just totally AMAZING. Let me tell you 5 reasons why:
1. Original. Ah. I feel like I'm sitting and exercising in the park, feeling the cool air on my face.
2. Amazing plot. I must give it to this author. She's is atrociously GOOD. In a good way.
3. Not much romance. Just action.
4. Cool characters. Just cool.
5. Unexpected twists likely to land you in your bed crying or sobbing or gasping. You choose.
The plot? Well, there is a prophecy to fulfill to overthrow a group called the collectives. And the main character Maggie has to fulfill her role as the Executioner. Now don't think too far ahead. It's not executing people. The rest of the roles are Concealer, Protector, Healer, Witness and Deceiver. They're all individuals. And Maggie has had an unexpected memory loss, one year's worth of memories gone. She doesn't remember what happen in that one year.
But she has flashes from her memory. Which is not nice actually.
As for the twists, I'm not telling you.
You've got to read it for more. ;)
Brief Review: This author has been overlooked by many authors. Her debut is something worth reading for me. It was a great reading experience since it was a New Adult book, something new for me.
Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing'
Your Reviewer:


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moores law sustainability=celebrate social solutions worldwide
world greatest inventions systemised by Dr Yunus global social business system
How do you share knowledge of Grameen Curriculum- to be youth's investment bank?
It seems to me that now we have access to massive open technology we didnt have in 1997 when microcreditsummit began, this is a core question that converge those still interested in ending phony economics racing towards poverty museums and investing in youth co-producing millennium goals through mlti-win models and replicable community franchises
Because i first worked on what societies in east wanted most in 1982 I have some reasoning for suggesting this as the first week's cuurriculum but if you have a vastly diferent need from a first week's curriculum it would help to know this before discussions with dhaka's founders of poverty museum race futures in dhaka in march
The Grameen Bank Curriculum
1.1 What Do Parents (and pro-youth economists) learn from Grameen Bank Bangladesh
The number 1 youth development banking franchise in the East's post-empire but pre-www world
One of a cluster of empowering system solutions needed to save lives in the globe's poorest villages (cf schumacher). Integral service solutions needed included:
disaster-relief and family safety/peace
peer to peer health knowhow
literacy knowhow
local market structure for poorest to generate income
1.2 To evaluate direct replicability of Grameen Bank cultural/context bottom-up communal empathy includes:
Meaning of city and village post-empire in eastern hemisphere
What conflicts and broken system histories compounded villages incapable of growing healthy children.
A local and worldwide desire to end exploitation of underclasses (see eg thesis of Manmohan Singh Cambridge 1950s).
What practice histories of human race knows about mediating connections of the inter-generational goals of ending hunger and ending poverty
Yunus' most extraordinary leadership achievement was to inspire thousand of professionals to go and live and provide life-shaping services to young mothers in villages that started 4th quarter of 20th century with both the least infrastructure and the most over-population (lack of land rights)
Given 21st C human livelihood futures depend on being in a post-www world, what can millennium goal networks anticipate regarding what does and does not transfer from understanding the Grameen Bank Franchise:
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Six Organs of Admittance Ascent
Published Aug 21, 2012One assumes that SOOA lynchpin Ben Chasny is often asked when/if there will be a new Comets on Fire album. Chasny's sky scraping psychedelic project with Ethan Miller (of Howlin Rain) and friends has been dormant since 2006, but as Ascent begins its climb, something fuzzy and arch seems to be stirring. The explanation is simple: Comets alumni join Chasny to make this (13th!) SOOA album a volatile mash-up of the best both projects have to offer. "Waswasa" and "Close to the Sky" kick things off with dynamic scree and riffage aimed at the stoned heart of the sun. Appropriately enough "Solar Ascent" is then a blissed-out sun salutation a la Sabbath's "Planet Caravan." Those missing Chasny's delicate and ghostly folk touches are treated to occasional quiet passages between melting rockslides and on "Your Ghost," an interlude that leads to the album's blistering closers. Everything works and there's really nothing more a fan of either Organs or Comets could ask for. (Drag City)


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Asia Earns Bigger Space On McDonald's Development Menu
Rebounding sales here and in China, and led by a focus on long-term, high-growth sales opportunities, is prompting McDonald's to plan 1,250 new restaurants in China over the next five years. The chain already has more than 2,200 outlets there; the expansion would make China its second-largest market after the US. McDonald's also plans to open 250 outlets in Hong Kong and South Korea in the same period. High-growth markets, including Russia, accounted for nearly a quarter of McDonald's total sales in 2015.


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A business demands collateral products not only for its customers but also for its investors, employees, prospective customers and media. A notable characteristic of B2B marketing is that it is hardly ever 'product first' or 'service first'. Not in the Marketing and advertising Division but nonetheless utterly fascinating the Manifesto, glad to have study it! We have compiled more than a half a billion B2B profiles permitting businesses to message to other businesses as granularly or generically as they would like. And from the viewpoint of the practitioner accountable for translating marketing activities into enterprise driving actions. And on the other side you have technical individuals, who are having to understand much more marketing and advertising.
What this indicates is that after you figure it out for your industry/product, the promotion plan nearly writes itself (based on your spending budget) but figuring it out can be a special skill and it requires time to develop up encounter in your certain field. B2B researchers are not just employing mobile when they are out and about, but rather wherever they are. Greg Herbst Employing intent data in ABM is a trend that each and every B2B marketer requirements to be conscious of. While common approaches to ABM have employed purely IP address targeting and demographic data (e.g. job function, and so on.) – this has restricted scale. The reality is that B2B purchaser preferences and behaviors are not as easy as the traditional view would suggest, and recent investigation is beginning to make the nuances visible.
I operate in an agency and sharing this with clientele (some who do not even realize standard marketing and advertising) feels like describing a rainbow to a blind person…but who cares, am gonna run with this manisfesto anyway!!! Couponing-it is one of the oldest sales promotion techniques and sometimes couponing makes the item problematic by cheapening your brand name. Some newer account-based advertising providers are beginning with huge B2B databases and matching them by way of information providers like LiveRamp.
B2B branding is diverse from B2C in some critical techniques, which includes the need to have to closely align corporate brands, divisional brands and product/service brands and to apply your brand requirements to material often considered informal" such as email and other electronic correspondence. One particular of the very best ways to go about getting feedback is to employ a survey procedure into your advertising and marketing methods.
A B2B profession requires marketers to not only have a advertising background, but also a firm understanding of company. B2B choice-makers are making use of mobile devices across all phases of the purchase cycle and throughout the day (which includes at function). A CRM method like or Siebel, can assist store your get in touch with data, plan contact strategies and timing, track activities, track sales pipeline built and track closed sales. For many of our B2B clientele, paid search is their greatest supply of leads and sales!


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I grabbed some photos from the past week and figured I'd share them. The link is for OneDrive. Some people use Microsoft online and some don't, but if there's issues viewing let me know and I can use photobucket or something.
Basically, I crammed space behind a garage from starting too many seeds. It's the first season. I tilled in the grass and put weed barrier down. I started a compost pile that will get added at the end of the season, but here is a general list;
Tomato plants - Red Rose, Kosovo, Black Krim, ISIS Candy, Riestenbaum Cherry (spelling), Better Boy, Dwarf Chocolate, Repunzel.
Cucumbers - Staight Eight
Cauliflower - Purple Hybrid
Lettuce - Yugoslavian Red
Peppers - Cayennes, Aneheims, and a variety of super super hots.
Peas - Oregon variety
Started all plant seeds excluding direct sow peas, under two T5 bulbs and self watering trays. The taller plants are over 6' and it's still July. My first cherry tomatoes are blushing.
https://addictionspecies-my.sharepoint. ... db02&rev=1


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The remaining dates of So Solid Crew's crisis hit UK tour are in doubt this morning (December 3) , with the band themselves unsure if any shows will go ahead.
A statement from the south London collective confirms that the Cardiff, Leicester, Cambridge, Liverpool and London gigs are off. The Sun newspaper also claims this morning that the opening show in Norwich on Wednesday (December 5) has been postponed, though the venue would not confirm this.
So Solid Crew have hit out at the "paranoia and hysteria" surrounding the tour, claiming they are being treated like football hooligans.
The statement reads: "In a climate that harks back to the notorious punk group the Sex Pistols, it seems authorities are determined to make So Solid Crew and [tour partners] Oxide & Neutrino the groups kids aren't allowed to see.
"The bands themselves are shocked at this turn of events," they add. "The incident at the Astoria, where there was a shooting that did not directly involve So Solid Crew and Oxide & Neutrino and they have made it clear that they abhor violence. They feel that they are no more responsible for the actions of a minority in the crowd than the England football team was when troublemakers disrupted games in the past."
A statement on the fate of the rest of the tour is expected later today.


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This is what happens every time I try to conjure up the words to describe my time in the Philippines. The accurate vocabulary flees from my brain so I tell myself I will try again tomorrow. And this is why it's taken me all but 4 months to write my first blog on the Philippines. Fail.
Instead of exhausting your eyeballs by scrolling through 5,342 pictures (your welcome), I will be starting a new blog series – TRIPLE THREAT :: Tanya's Treks and Travels
Every week I'll be featuring secret heroes I've met while traveling (many through the Uh-mazing organization I've worked with :: Unseen Ministries), share personal lessons as well as highlight my treks and ventures along the way. Pictures taken with Henrick (my shiny Canon Mark 3) will obviously be included – else that would be just plain boring.
Get ready. It's going to be exciting.
First up: Destiny's Promise, Philippines
This safe haven provides temporary care and adoption services to children who come from the most severe cases of poverty, neglect, abuse, abandonment or trafficking. Many orphanages in the Philippines only provide care for babies from the ages of 0-2. Destiny's Promise is one of the SOLE providers that serve street children that are deemed as unadoptable or hopeless. The past 3 years, Destiny's Promise has rescued 55 children and found homes for 30 of those children through national and international adoption.
To protect the children at Destiny's Promise, pictures of the children's faces are not allowed online. The neighborhood children gladly accepted the opportunity for a photo op.
A few of the ever so talented team of 10 artists from Oregon, Kentucky and Fargo, North Dakota.
My heart stopped when this moment happened. The older children were coming home from school. When the younger children saw them, they immediately sprinted towards them and ran into their embrace. If I wasn't in photo zone, I would have turned into a big puddle of mushy tears from the beautiful encounter that unfolded before me.
The movers and shaker behind Destiny's Promise :: Manny, Sherry and their 3 girls.
Manny and Sherry have recently been in the states sharing their mission. With Unseen's awareness and media tools, Destiny's Promise is now equipped to empower more people to partner with the incredible work God is doing in the Philippines. How cool is that!
Watch their promo video and learn more about their mission.
Destiny's Promise Promo from Unseen Ministries on Vimeo.If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!


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Iniyavai kooral –tenth chapter of Thirukural
(Telling sweet things)
Translated by
(IN this chapter valluvar pleads with us to talk sweetly. He says that one of the important aspects of Dharma is "Sweet words" and he concludes that , if we use harsh words when sweet words are there , is like robbing unripe fruits from a garden with e ripe fruits.)
1.In cholal eeram alai ippa padiru ilavaam,
Chemporul kandar vai chol.
1.Sweet words would be mixed with love and would be free from deceit ,
And are the words coming from mouth of those who know the truth.
2.Akan amarnthu eethalin nandre mukan amarnthu ,
In cholan aaka perin.
2.If one has the habit of telling sweet words with a pleasant face,
It is better than the habit of giving charity with a pleased mind.
3.Mugathan amarnthu inithu nokki akathaanaam,
In chol inithe aram.
3.Telling sweet words looking sweetly with a happy face,
With words coming from the mind is Dharma.
4.THunpuroom thuvvamai yilaakum yaar maattum,
Inpuroom in chol avarkku
4.Those having capacity to speak sweet words that lead to happiness ,
Wound not undergo poverty leading to sorrow.
5.Panivudayaan incholan aathal oruvarkku ,
Aniyalla mathu pira.
5.Humility and sweet words add s beauty to a person,
All other things do not contribute to his beauty.
6.Allavai theya aram perugum, nallavai ,
Nadi iniya cholin.
6.Suppose a person searches for the good and tells ,
About them sweetly , evil events would get reduced
And Dharma would grow for him,.
7.Nayan eendru nandri payakkum payan eendru,
Panbin thalai piriyar chol.
7,Words which cause good and which are not away from sweetness,
Would cause good to those who hear them ,and good to those who tell.
8.Chirumayul neengiya in chol marumayum,
Immayum inbam tharum.
8.To the person who tells sweet words causing happiness,
And which are not disliked by others ,
Would give him happiness in this world and in the other.
9.in chol initheendral kanpaan , evan kolo,
Van chol vazhanguvathu.
9.Why is it a person enjoying sweet words of others,
Tells harsh words to others.
10.iniya ulavaka innatha kooral,
Kaniyiruppa kai kavarnthattu.
10.Telling harsh words when sweet words are available,
Is like stealing unripe fruits when ripe ones are available.


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Tomorrow! BookBar (4280 Tennyson St, Denver, CO 80212) at 7PM!
I'll be reading from Apocalypse All the Time and Jack C. Buck will be reading from Deer Michigan. You should come out. It'll be a good time. Here's the Facebook event page so you can let us know if you're coming.


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You're on holiday for god's sake.
I truly believe that gluten intolerance does not exist in most of Europe. Every meal starts with bread, then is served with bread and ends with bread and cheese. Side dishes are a beige parade of potatoes, rice and chips (I got served all three one night – DON'T WORRY GUYS, JUST CARB LOADING FROM ALL THE EXCESSIVE PINT LIFTING I'VE BEEN DOING).
Staying in an apartment, we've had the opportunity to cook for ourselves. However, a quick trip to the local supermarket showed us why there may be less greens on offer. Asparagus was €5. €5!! And when a bottle of rosé is €3, who are we to argue with those economics?
The one healthy snack we have been gorging on are almonds from the local market because I don't know what they've done to them but they are like actual crack (no statement has ever made it more obvious that I have never done crack before). When purchasing, the old woman at the stall was wittering on at me in Portuguese but now I know what she was saying. Akin to the old lady who sold Jack the magic beans in Jack and the Beanstalk, she was saying to me 'these aren't just any almonds, these are MAGIC almonds' (the bag says 'tostada' which I imagine means that they're toasted. But that sounds less exciting than MAGIC ALMONDS).
I've always said that I'm not a fan of seafood but I've bloody enjoyed me some 'shrimp' (feel very American saying that) and even some CLAMS even though they look like FULL ON LADY PARTS.
I'll be getting back to the old 'health regime' today but I have massively enjoyed not obsessively logging into myfitnesspal and counting how many minstrels I've eaten. The only thing left to do is weigh myself when I get home. Anything under an increase of 3 pounds and I'll be GREATLY disappointed. Because, surely, that's what holidays are for?!


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Where many artists find the road winding, long and lonesome, Jason Nix finds himself right at home.
His peace is on a bus or van, or behind the wheel of his custom restored 1971 Chevelle on a long stretch of blacktop, with the windows rolled down and the constant lull of a humming engine drowning out the noise around him.
This is the soundtrack to Nix's life and the essence of his artistry.
He's built for the road—a bit of a lone wolf and a real man of the highway, whether it's heading to the next town on tour or cruising with no real destination at all.
Having traveled the country for five years as a lead guitarist for other touring acts, Nix has been through the ropes. He's done the daily grind, packing up shows at 3AM on Nashville's Lower Broadway just to drive all night to the next city for a gig. Radio promo tours, shaking hands, sleeping in vans, playing a show and then loading up and doing it all over again night after night, all from a close distance just far enough to keep him from his rightful place: center stage.
But now, it's his turn to step into the spotlight with a brand of music that could only be his.
Much like that love for classic cars, music is in his blood. Nix was destined to share his proud bluegrass-picking father's passion and talent and to chase down the dream with a fire until he'd not only satisfied his father's legacy, but also began his own.
It's a legacy hard won on never compromising and never giving up; on staying true to yourself and what you feel; of not only acknowledging the hard times and the human condition, but also of celebrating them. This is the very foundation of his earnestly crafted and emotive songs that cut right to the bone.
Like the Chevelle he spends his time off the road restoring, Nix knows life is a glorious work in progress, and perhaps the ability to see the potential in bare bones is his greatest gift as a writer and artist.
"I just want to write things that are real to me and say things that people don't know how to put into words," he said. "What I want more than anything is to give people a way to feel something they didn't know how to feel."
He wants his music to speak the truth.
"The truth doesn't really make money," he wisely observed. But it's needed. And he knows that and refuses to give up on it.
"You can't always make people hear it, but I plan to try."


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About The Area
Hendwr provides the perfect place for a family holiday, a quick getaway or a weekend retreat.
The countryside surrounding the park provides stunning scenery and easily accessible from our farm. We have a range of walks of differing levels which can be started from the park. If you want to burn some real adrenaline we are half way between Coed Llandegla and Coed y Brenin, two of countries the best mountain bike courses and a stones throw from the Welsh white water centre.
Useful Information
Local Shops:
Cynwyd Stores and Post Office: Mon – Saturday 8.00am – 6.00pm shut 1-2pm weekdays
Bargain Booze, Corwen Mon-Sunday -9.00am-9pm.
Chemist & Doctors Surgery: Corwen & Bala
Vets: Corwen, Llandrillo, Bala and Ruthin
Post Office with external Cashpoint – Corwen
Barclays – Bala – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri 10.00 – 16.00
Corwen – Take away food available in Fish & Chip shop, Chinese and Pizza/kebab. There is also an award winning Curry House and a new Portuguese restaurant.
Local watering hole is the Dudley Arms 1 mile walk along the footpath from Hendwr great bar food and ale


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Look for the noodles and sesame oil in the Asian foods section of the supermarket. Save time by using bottled ground ginger instead of fresh.
How to Make It
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushroom, chopped onion, and carrot; sauté 3 minutes. Add ginger; sauté 1 minute. Stir in hoisin and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Add broth and noodles; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until noodles are done, stirring frequently. Place cabbage and turkey in a large bowl. Add noodle mixture to turkey mixture; toss gently to coat. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce and green onions.


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UICollectionView Supplementary Views & Highlighting Behaviour
Not as simple as you'd expect
Maybe we're spoilt by UITableView or maybe we're graced with it, either way UICollectionViews are not as well rounded.
I needed to make the supplementary views in my UICollectionView behave like UITableViewCells do when you touch down on them, i.e. support a background colour and a method call when it happens.
UICollectionViews don't really support this behaviour at all, I had previously added a single UIGestureRecognizer to each supplementary view so I knew when they were tapped but it didn't allow me to do the correct highlighting behaviour.
Here's what I did:
1. Subclass UICollectionView
Given that there's no more convenient way to do it we'll need to override UIResponder's touchesBegan, touchesEnded and touchesCancelled within our UICollectionView subclass:
2. Create a setHighlighted method in your supplementary view
This is what the touches methods are calling to notify your supplementary view it's being touched.
3. Fix any existing CollectionView wide gestures
I had a long press gesture on the whole UICollectionView that I was using for some cell behaviour, I needed to set;
longPressGesture.delaysTouchesBegan = NO;


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You may like to ask a very logical question that why do I need to know "How does subconscious mind work". In answer to this, let me begin by asking you:
- Are you running your life or you let your life make you run?
- Do you control your destiny or you let anybody or everybody control you?
How the Subconscious Mind Works – Amazing Facts and Insights
Now consider these amazing facts about your subconscious mind:
- Whatever information you have received in your entire life via reading, touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, felt has been stored in your subconscious mind.
- A normal human can speak at the speed of 200 to 300 words per minute whereas the subconscious can think at the rate of 1000+ words per minute.
- More amazing than that is the mind can perform millions of operations – much faster than any normal computer.
- Without your actually knowing, your subconscious mind is regulating your breathing, hear beats, maintain blood pressure, regulating body temperature and multiple other body related functions which is made up of about 6 trillion cells.
- The information processing capability of sub conscious mind is mind boggling. It can process 40 Million bits of information per second! Compare it to the almost tiny capability of conscious mind which can process about 40 bits of information per second.
- The Subconscious Mind makes up 88% of the human brain's capacity.
- The Subconscious Mind does not work on any logic, therefore, it believes anything that it is told by the conscious mind.
- It has a perfect memory. The subconscious mind contains your whole lifetime history in detail. It contains all the reasons you do what you do and believe what you believe.
Why it is important to know about the working of subconscious mind
To continue answering the question that why one needs to know – How subconscious mind works, it would be helpful to restructure subconscious processes. There could be a follow-up question that what is the need of restructuring or reprogramming the subconscious mind.
This restructuring is done to improve the positive traits, habits and strengths and to eliminate unwanted habits, fears, phobias and beliefs. The idea is to get the person take right action and to attract desired set of circumstances and manifestations tapping the power of universe.
The set of system stored inside your subconscious mind, collectively forms your belief system. Your belief system is at the foundation of the programming of the subconscious mind dictates how you will behave in a particular situation. Would you respond intelligently or react foolishly!
This means that it is your belief system that runs your life if left to itself. But on the contrary, when you learn to understand the working, the processes of your subconscious mind, you consciously assume the control of your destiny and run your life in the most successful and desired way rather than your life running you.
Decide what you want
You have to ask yourself if you are happy letting your life be on auto pilot or you want to assume control and be more successful.
Why you need to train your subconscious mind
To achieve your target weight or desired figure you may have to reduce your calorie intake and also burn more calories. While the first one may need you to cut down on your favourite junk food the burning is possible through a regular exercise regime. Both the habits require dedication and honesty. If you exercise your will power, may be you will be successful for a few days only and won't go very far with this. This is where the programming of your subconscious mind comes in handy. With the right programming not only you will do what is required to be done but you'll enjoy it too.
While subconscious mind is an amazing, most powerful tool you have, it has certain limitations too. It is an excellent and most obedient servant who cannot decide what is good or bad for you. Similarly it cannot distinguish between real experience and visualisation. Thus if you have accidentally picked up the association of smoking with something being cool, your mind will send chemicals and feelings to your body accordingly – whereas we all know that smoking is injurious to your health.
Similarly, if someone told you that a dark room will invite trouble from ghosts or thieves, if you are alone in a dark room (could be temporary electricity failure in the night) you may find yourself sweating profusely, heart beat high and anxiety level beyond a normal level. While there is no danger to you at all, this extreme physiological condition of yours is the creation of your subconscious mind.
You reacted as if everything were real. So we need to separate the wheat from chaff. You have to consciously check into your belief system, your programming – which we have discussed earlier.
So you need to take control of its working as it has certain limitations too.
What you see, touch, experience is adding to the learning of your subconscious mind. If you watch sad or violence filled movies or don't read very healthy stuff, be sure that it will influence your health, emotions, actions and relationships. Why? Simply because your subconscious mind does not have any filter to let good come in and kick out the bad or unhealthy information.
The Placebo and Nocebo Effects
If subconscious mind can cause negative changes in the body creating the situations which are not real, it is also possible to use this principle to our advantage. The best proof of this comes from the medical world. It has been demonstrated time and again that a harmless non medicinal tablet (may be sugar pill) given to patients who have psychosomatic problem. The patients report improvement of their condition or curing of the problem. This is called the "placebo effect". This is because such persons believe that the medicine is going to work.
There is an opposite procedure or process of the mind, where it contributes to the disease of the body (instead of curing the body). The person reads or learns about the diseases and believes that he is going to have the same disease, thereby developing the symptoms in his body.
In nutshell, whatever belief you hold in your mind, that becomes your reality.
Why and How to communicate with Subconscious Mind
First why to communicate with the subconscious mind. The purpose of reaching out to your subconscious is to re-align your beliefs, emotions and re-program them to become more supportive of the desired behavior pattern. The new set of beliefs and behavior will help you achieve your improved self image and / or do self development.
And now how to communicate?
In order to send the message across to the subconscious mind for the things we desire in life, there needs to be synchronization between the conscious and subconscious minds. One has to use the conscious mind constructively to send 'right' messages to one's subconscious mind. There are quite a few techniques used to impress the subconscious mind. Since the subconscious mind is most active while one is asleep, the best time to impress the subconscious mind is just prior to sleep or to artificially induce sleep like conditions.
There are a number of ways and methods you can use to communicate your 'commands' to the subconscious mind to make it move in the desired direction of action or get the results.
Some of these methods are:
1. Meditation
Meditation is an activity whereby the right brain is connected to while the left brain goes into a state of rest. When the right brain is more engaged and activated the gateway to access our higher consciousness is allowed. From this space, if we communicate our desires and intentions. In other words, we create intentions which we can manifest more effectively. It is the balance of both hemispheres of the brain that empower us.
If money or becoming rich is your goal, then you must read: Powerful Meditation for Manifesting Money
2. Visualization or Pre-defined Day Dreaming
Visualization is an activity which sparks and improves your creativity and gives you the visuals needed to understand and fulfill your desires. You can have a clear idea and better vision of what you want to be. Visualizing allows you to stay focused in the present moment and can help you to achieve your goals. Visualization is helpful for being able to connect with your sub conscious mind.
Visualize frequently. Do not worry about how to do this; to start, just create a strong and detailed vision. Visualizing things can help you to achieve them.
For more information, read: Powerful Visualization Technique to achieve dream goals
3. Hypnotism
Hypnosis is like guided meditation or an induced sleep like state, where one can tap and literally program the subconscious mind.
Done under the directions of a trained hypnotist, this is actually the stage when the subconscious mind takes over the control and the conscious mind is still for a while. You may be hypnotized but still act and behave as per one's ethical and moral values. This is one of the best aspects of how the subconscious mind works because the mind processes information rapidly and you sink into deep imaginations. The vast potential offered by this technique of hypnotism has to be used it constructively. The branch of hypnotism which is used for wellness and health is called hypnotherapy.
4. Sleep / Deep Relaxation for Alpha level, Theta Level Programming
The last few moments when you lie in your bed and just before you are about to enter into your sleep state are the most precious to tell your subconscious mind what you want the latter to carry out for you. For example, tell your subconscious mind that how you feel, deliberately load an interesting and engaging feeling and keep it on my mind as you are falling asleep.
It is one of the smart and useful tricks that you can use to put your subconscious mind to work while you sleep. Your subconscious mind cannot make a distinction between what you are feeling or what you wish ti feel as a result of what you are imagining for yourself as having already transpired. Remember, all this is taking place during precious pre-sleep moments while you are in bed and preparing to doze off to sleep.
When you get up, you would have already made significant progress!
This procedure can be done in other ways also. For example, you it is not your bed time and you want to program your mind. You can still do it. Begin by relaxing muscles of your body from the feet to head or vice versa. The aim is to relax so that your conscious mind loses interest, gives up control, and sinks into the background, and at the same time, to bring up your subconscious mind to the surface.
Once you have lowered your brain frequencies, you are in alpha or theta level. With a relaxed body and sleepy conscious mind, you can connect with your subconscious mind to do the same procedure.
5. NLP (Neuro linguistic programming)
NLP—founded by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in 1970's California Is a method of influencing brain behaviour ("neuro") through the use of language ("linguistic") and other types of communication to enable a person to "recode" the way the brain responds to stimuli (that's the "programming") and manifest new and better behaviours. Some Neuro-Linguistic Program techniques use hypnosis and self-hypnosis to help make the change or do the "programming" for the desired behaviour / response.
Since the conscious mind typically assigns itself to tasks of logic and analysis, it ties itself closely to left brain activity. The subconscious, on the other hand, associates itself with the rich symbol processing of the right brain.
Therefore, communicating with the subconscious typically entails getting the left brain to "step aside" to allow us direct communication with the right brain, which controls most of our behavior..
This way, the conscious mind does not have an opportunity to "edit" or "filter" it.
6. Affirmations
Affirmations are short, positive and sentences which are aimed to influence the conscious and the subconscious mind. The magic lies in composing the phrases which are in affirmation and present tense so that when repeated they involuntarily, bring up related mental images into the mind, which could motivate, inspire and energize. This in turn influences the behavior, habits, actions, responses and reactions.
To know more about affirmations in detail, please refer to All about Affirmations
Also see:
7. Repetition of Statement / Self Talk
The humans are always engaged in self talk – consciously or unconsciously. Whether they know it or not, there is positive self-talk, negative self-talk or something in between the two extremes. It all has an impact on how you behave.
So why not develop helpful self talk which can elicit desired behaviour or the results. What you're saying to yourself each day, can be monitored, improved and made better. It's worth practicing a positive self-talk as it ultimately sends out the messages to the subconscious mind which controls your behaviour and actions.
Typically, self talk is useful in following situations:
- Feeling better about yourself
- Developing self confidence
- Boosting your self-esteem
- Improving self image and making friends
- Feeling in control of habits
Towards the end
The information and knowledge which the scientists and psychologists have about the sub conscious mind, its working, capabilities, processes is amazing. But it is also the fact that they have not even scratched the surface. Our knowledge and the potential powers is as limited as our knowledge about the Space. Despite this, even the full use of tools and techniques of tapping into the powers of sub conscious mind will work nothing short of miracles for humans.
You may also like to read other articles of interest:


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Sales of stone, glass, ceramics and similar from the UK to all destinations across the world from Jul 2016 to Apr 2017 accounted for £0.21 billion, which were carried out in 13,311 shipments.
Trades that were worth less than £1 million accounted for £213.5 million of this total, carried out in 13,209 shipments.
This means that if we exclude the top 0.77% of shipments, the rest had an average value of just £16,160.13. The breakdown of these smaller trades is shown in the chart on the right for the top 15 destinations where you can see how different destinations have different patterns of shipment value.
6,361 shipments went by air (44% of them via London Heathrow) and the other 5,902 went via sea ports.
1.8% of the shipments used customs special procedures (Inward Processing or Outward Processing Relief or Re-exports). Most shipments of goods to most destinations do not use these special procedures.
The top 15 destinations for smaller shipments below £320k and between £320k and £1m are shown below.
Start a plan to find out the documentation, processes and related costs of customs and shipping that are required to export stone, glass, ceramics and similar to your country of choice. Then if you hope to agree a sale with your customer, use Exabler to get it done start to finish!


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Tips for Choosing the Best Courier Services
It is essential to note that choosing the right courier services is essential since it can have an impact on the efficiency and productivity of your business. One thing that is still a challenge to the majority of people is that they don't understand how they can choose the best courier services. By the end of this our discussion you will be in a position to know some of the things that you should consider when looking for courier services.
Immediate availability is one of the factors that you need to consider to find the best courier services. For that matter, it will be essential to engage a courier service that has immediate availability and can pick up a package and have it delivered right away. Before you engage a couriers service company you should confirm if they will be able to offer 24/7 service so that you can rely on their availability. One thing that you should be aware of is that making timely deliveries will make your customers happy and satisfied.
Besides, you should also consider the size and weight limitations. Before you could engage the courier company it is essential that you find out what their weight and size limitations are. There is nothing that is more disappointing like hiring courier services only to realize that they cannot deliver your packages. Like a carrier service that delivers documents will not be able to provide things like furniture.
Apart from that, you should also look for proof of delivery. In this case, you should make sure that the courier services that you want to engage provide evidence that your package has been delivered. This is the only way you will be sure that your package has reached where they are supposed to go at the right time. Apart from that, you should also find out the means they will use to send proof of delivery. You will have to do this since nowadays there are many scammers who can disappear with your package.
Apart from that, it is also essential that you consider the cost to value. You should know that at some point the lower cost might not translate to the value that you needed though a lot of people are obsessed with cheaper services. I can advise you that after you have verified that the courier's service providers offer all the services that you are looking for is when you can decide on the cost.
Last but not least, you should also concentrate on the insurance. You find that with insurance you will have peace of mind knowing that your package is protected in case of any damage or if they get lost.
The 10 Best Resources For Deliveries


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One Piece Anime Sets Record TV Rating of 13.8%
posted on by Egan Loo
On April 11, the 446th episode of the One Piece television anime series recorded a Kantō-area television rating of 13.8% — the highest rating the series has earned since moving to its current Sunday 9:30 a.m. timeslot in Fall of 2006. One Piece's previous high mark in this timeslot was 13.0%, set on March 7.
While other television programs has seen their ratings steadily drop in recent years, the top three anime series (Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, and One Piece) have largely maintained or even increased their ratings. From Fall of 2006 to Spring of 2009, One Piece's ratings largely stayed close to 10.0%. After publicity grew for the 10th One Piece film, television episode #421 earned a record post-move high rating (at the time) of 12.0% on October 11. Throughout last month, One Piece stayed at 11.9% or higher.
The 10th One Piece film, One Piece Film Strong World, earned over 4.7 billion yen (about US$50 million) at the Japanese box office since it opened last December. The 57th and latest volume of Eiichiro Oda's original One Piece manga had a record 3-million-copy first printing, and 2.17 million copies have been sold as of April 4.
Source: Video Research via animeanime.biz


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The objective of Show Us Your Desktop is to learn how computer users use their desktops. The folks behind the study want you to capture an image of your desktop (don't clean it up!) and send it to them. So far, they have received more than 1000 desktop images which they've uploaded to their Flickr set here.
(Thanks urbanimp)


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Proactive management and maintenance of your technology means higher productivity and no unexpected support costs.
Network outages and unexpected downtime are the result of inefficient IT management and maintenance. We keep your IT secure, reliable, and optimized by installing our network discovery tool -- a small app that notifies our technicians of potential problems before they can take hold of your systems.
It allows us to quickly identify problems such as software compatibility issues, low disk space, missing security patches, or failed backups. We then log in and swiftly fix the issue before it affects business operations!
We update your applications and operating systems with the latest security patches
We conduct routine systems maintenance to extend the life of your servers and PCs
Customized inventory and audit reports are available upon request
We track and renew expiring software licenses to save you time and money
One of our certified technicians will remote triage and resolve issues with your systems
Expertise from an outsourced Chief Technology Officer on IT strategy, budgeting, and more
Midwest Data makes it possible for you to focus on what you do best by providing you with IT support tailored to fit your precise business needs.


text: Where to stash short-term college cash: a state 529 plan or bank CDs? The answer isn't clear cut. By Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Editor December 31, 2007 For families who have years to go before the college bills arrive, it's easy to decide where to build a tuition kitty: Use a state-sponsored 529 plan and reap a tax bonanza. Your savings grow tax-deferred and escape taxes altogether if you use the money for qualified college expenses. Plus, more than half the states give you a state-tax deduction or other benefit for your contributions. But suppose your child is headed off to college next fall and fortune smiles on you, in the form of a bonus, an inheritance or some other windfall to help pay the tuition. Is a 529 plan still the way to go, or should you stick with the safety of bank certificates of deposit? Sponsored Content That depends on the state you live in, the investment choices within your 529 plan and the amount you'll need next fall, says Chuck Toth, of the College Savings Foundation, a nonprofit that provides policy support for 529 plans. "There's no black-or-white answer." If you're eligible for a state-tax deduction and your state's plan offers a no-fee, guaranteed-investment option that protects your principal, putting a year's worth of tuition and room and board into the 529 account makes sense, says Gary Carpenter, a certified college financial planner in Syracuse, N.Y. You qualify for all three tax breaks, as long as you use the money to cover college costs. (If you withdraw it for other purposes, you'll owe tax plus a 10% penalty on the income.) Advertisement Keep the rest of your windfall in CDs, laddered to mature as your child progresses through college, advises Carpenter. Redeem a few CDs each academic year and transfer at least enough of the cash to the 529's guaranteed-investment option to take another tax deduction. (Be sure the plan doesn't impose a waiting period on withdrawals.) If your child doesnÕt return to school, you can cash in the CDs without penalty when they mature. If your state doesn't offer a tax deduction for 529 contributions, the question is whether your after-tax yield on CDs beats the tax-free yield on an investment inside a 529. Because your timeline is so short, it may be easier to go with CDs, says Toth. "We look at 529s as a long-term investment tool."


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It's a simple matter to change the background of your page.
Tap on the Inspector when you have nothing highlighted, and you'll see the Page Inspector (or, if you've already tapped the Inspector from another item, you'll see another tab for Page.
You can change the background colour, and since we released version 3.4, you can now add a selection of themed background images.
Want to add your own background image?
You can add your own image by simply adding a photo. Check this guide for making sure you know what size image will fill a page.
For an added measure, when you've added the picture, tap on the Inspector and tap the Move to Back icon (the one on the left) to make sure everything else is layered on top of this image.
From the blog:
>> Looking for an ebook creator? Found It.
>> Photographer publishes ebook to support MS charity
>> Author uses Book Creator to help raise Kickstarter funds for his book


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0.0 - 0 Reviews
UAS7 is a program provider offering 1 abroad program. Programs offered include Study Abroad and Internship abroad programs in 1 country such as Germany.
UAS7 is a strategic alliance of seven leading German Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) committed to excellence in teaching and research and close cooperation with German businesses and industries.
Study Abroad with UAS7
June 6, 2020
UAS7: Germany - UAS7 Study or Internship Program
Berlin School of Economics and Law in Hamburg, Germany: Berlin, Germany: Munster, Germany plus 3 other locations
UAS7 (Seven German Universities of Applied Sciences) invites students who are currently enrolled in Canadian and U.S. colleges to apply for the UAS7 Study Program (SP) or ...
Featured Programs


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Aug 8, 2017
Some initial facts to chew on: population distribution by ethnicity puts caucasians at roughly 60% in the United States, and below 33% globally, according to census data and CIA factbooks between 2010 and the present. That means that by ethnic identification, 40% of Americans and 66% of the world recognizes itself as non-white. Now go to the movie theater, video game shop, comic book rack, or convention center, and see if the math holds true. Something feel a little out of joint?
There have been great strides made in the wide scope of science fiction over the last 50 years with regard to incorporating people of color. Often in step with historic advances in civil rights, political awareness, and a more vocal and interactive global community, the entertainment industry has likewise moved forward to present stories and characters that better represent the diversity of the human race -- both present day, and in the future. So how far have we really come? Who has led, and is still leading, the efforts to progress further towards true representation of all ethnicities in science fiction? And how far are we from where we ought to be?
Joined by writer Tai Gooden, we look at the past, present, and future of diversity in science fiction through all media.


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Confirmation and reminder emails are not sent
Bobclass uses the standard email functionality of your device and therefore needs the system email app together with an active email account. You should test it using the default email app that comes with your device. It is the app with the envelope icon. If you are able to send emails from that app, you will also be able to send emails from Bobclass. If you are not, then you should first check whether you have the Mail app installed on your device. It looks like this:
If you do not find the standard mail app, then this is because someone deleted it. Unlike other built-in apps such as Safari or the Camera app, it is possible to delete the Mail app on your device. To reinstall the Mail app, do the following:
- Go to the App Store
- Search for "Mail" in the search field
- Once you've found the Mail app in the App Store, tap the Cloud button to its right. The Mail app will download and reinstall on your device and you'll be able to use it again.
- At this point you probably also need to create an email account on your device, see instructions here.


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Write for Us
Want to write for Techopedia?
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The 633 Meridian Avenue Alley Club
27 October 2015
By David Arthur Walters SOUTH BEACH HERALD
The City of Miami Beach Police Department has recently responded almost every night to complaints about the loud music, shouting, and fighting behind 633 Meridian Avenue, a building located in the old crackhood known as Seventh Heaven below 7th Street, the butt end of the Flamingo Park Neighborhood and only three blocks off South Beach's famed Ocean Drive.
The apartment building and 7,000 sq. ft. lot on which it sets, appraised together at $1,225,000 by the county assessor, was purchased in 1998 by Candace Partnership LLC, a front for prominent Miami Beach slumlord David Muhlrad and his wife Candace. Mr. Muhlrad, who happens to have been the city's first code compliance chief, owns numerous white with red-trim apartment buildings on South Beach that house the tourist resort's Hispanic proletariat, on the fringes of which are the Lumpen Proletariat, living sometimes within the structures and sometimes without.
The police department, especially the gang suppression unit and narcotics unit, together with the economic downturn dubbed the Great Recession, rid the neighborhood of most of the issues aka problems in the crime-ridden neighborhood, including the noisy all night drinking parties mistakenly associated with ethnicity instead of vulgarity.
The hardened vestiges of those hellish nights along with new arrivals from Central American countries with high crime rates squat in one place or another and roam the alleys on foot and on bicycles probably stolen. Living on the margin, they survive by means of odd jobs and misdemeanors, and numerous pints of Old Milwaukee and Busch beer.
Now they have found a hospitable place to carouse to their hearts content just outside the alley apartment of 633 Meridian Avenue, a building long associated by the city's code enforcement department with noise, over-flowing garbage bins, cockroaches, vermin and bedbugs.
Mind you that the majority of the residents are decent, law-abiding, mostly undocumented immigrants who do not have the means or the credentials to live in a better place, people highly unlikely to complain to the authorities and risk being deported despite President Obama's facially lenient immigration policy.
As residents know all too well, one tenant can create hell for everyone in and around a building. The tenant in this case is not a bad guy at all. Indeed, he is well known as a nice guy, a fellow with a job, a wife, and a child. He excels in hospitality, wherefore the virtual nightclub near his back door, in the common area where women wash their clothes.
Now they dare not wash in the evenings. Indeed, most of the women and many of the men who live on the block take care not enter the alley. Lingerers even as late as 8:30 A.M. were seen last week on a big couch intended as rubbish; three men were "entertaining" a woman on the couch in broad daylight. Others may from time to time be seen sleeping, drinking, and urinating under their host's window even later in the mornings.
Major Mark Causey deployed a special squad last week to roust the revelers when the party got going at 6 PM, but they were back in full force that evening. La misma mierda each night thereafter. Police came and went each night. Rumor has it that some partiers were taken to the airport on occasion. It is difficult obtain reliable information from the illegals because they are afraid of hence extremely hostile towards (expletive deleted) Americanos who do not speak their language.
People in the neighborhood go to work tired and irritable from being awakened by the public nuisance. Some wish that the cops were not so nice, that they were as mean as the ones the Hondurans and Guatemalans are running away from for good reason. One fellow wanted by the police back home actually stabbed his wife several time a couple of years ago as his friend looked on. She survived.
Those days were really bad. People today pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe that the rapes, thefts, robberies, and murders not return along with the noise. Wherever noise and other quality of life offenses are tolerated, serious crimes are encouraged. You see, it is a matter of respect.
Absent a police state, it is a landlord's business to keep the peace on his property with the help of the police if necessary. Neither David Muhlrad nor his son Mark Muhlrad have returned calls made and messages left at their headquarters, the Starlight Hotel on Ocean Drive. Whether the police department has had a word with them is unknown at this time.
The city's code compliance department is responsible for responding to noise complaints during its working hours. Those complaints are handled by police officers after hours. It has been the custom for all complaints to be recorded for public view on the city's web site.
Only six noise complaints currently appear on the city's site, beginning March 2003 and ending November 2012. That figure is absurd considering the number of complaints made to code compliance and the police department during that period, not to mention the nearly night calls recently made. A formerly problematic property across the alley, owned by the father of a county attorney, used to generate numerous calls to the 911 operator, yet the police department neighborhood coordinator said only two calls were made.
The code compliance department has not responded by press time to an inquiry asking whether many complaints may have been unrecorded, or tampered with, or perhaps inadvertently dumped. The city recently alleged that it had created a system whereby only supervisors could make changes to the records, and that those changes were tracked. A previous request, however, for a tracking record, and an inquiry as to whether such a system really existed, was not answered.
The traditional absence of accountability and transparency has led to suspicions of corruption including favoritism. It just so happens in this instance that Mr. Muhlrad is a close relative and business associate of Russell Galbut, one of the most influential real estate developers in the city. They are indeed so-called Old Cronies of Miami Beach, as is the new reform city manager, Jimmy Morales, who answers to Mayor Philip Levine, a de facto strong mayor because he controls a commission majority.
The mayor's right-hand commissioner, Michael Grieco, has said that the commission almost always takes the city manager's recommendations for granted. Many of the city's activists, tired of corruption, desired to have a city manager from out of town instead of an Old Crony, but Mr. Morales was shooed in despite the formal recommendations made by a profession recruiting firm.
Daniel Oates, a chief from out of state, was chosen for the police department to replace Chief Raymond Martinez, who had resolved many issues resulting from a clamor over the latest wave of F.B.I. busts of code enforcement officers.
There have been complaints about the new chief's apparent leniency towards the Lumpen Proletariat except for the beating of a model and a man who came to her defense. Otherwise the police department appears to be up to snuff. Its response to calls is efficient and effective although a more right-wing approach would be appreciated by some stake holders.
A suggested resolution to the disturbances created by alley life has been floated. Mayor Levine plans on converting a huge parking lot behind the convention center into a park. That would be an ideal sanctuary for the city's destitute; the ragamuffins; unemployed or underemployed aliens; vagrants; homeless; or anyone else, for that matter, who cannot afford to drink in the clubs and needs a community center to socialize. The self-policed park could be named Lumpen Proletariat Sanctuary.
Now it is said that every story needs some balance. Not everyone minds the noisome alleys of South Beach. An elegantly dressed lady at the senior center had this to say:
"Isn't it wonderful at night to hear the young people celebrating their lives in the alleys?"
"You mean the sound of music, shouting, breaking bottles, that kind of thing?"
"Yes, I love it. It reminds me of my youth."
# #


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Darkest Dungeon's Harrowing Journey Through Steam Early Access
When Darkest Dungeon initial launched on Steam Early Access in Feb 2015, it was roughly zodiacally beloved. A unique, polished, fleshed-out knowledge on Early Access? It was most unheard of. So it was all happily ever after from there, right? Hardly.
For a few months, things went according to plan. The punishingly formidable dungeon-crawler RPG/trauma simulator soared on wings of regard from critics and masochistic fans alike. As our possess Kirk Hamilton pronounced during a time: "Darkest Dungeon feels remarkably distant along. It's got a lot of levels to play through, a garland of characters, a ton of opposite gameplay elements all woven together and apparently entirely functional. It's deep, chewy, and complex. You can't now play it to completion, nonetheless that doesn't make it feel any reduction complete."
Eventually, though, honeymoon durations end, and some finish nasty. For Darkest Dungeon, a wake-up call came when developer Red Hook Studios combined dual argumentative mechanics in Jul 2015: corpses and heart attacks. Darkest Dungeon's fight is all about positioning, and corpses combined an additional covering of infrequently frustrating complexity to that. Meanwhile, heart attacks could means characters to permanently die when they reached a certain spin of stress, causing some players to protest that a diversion relied too most on randomness rather than authentic difficulty.
Red Hook shielded their pattern decisions, and a response from some players became increasingly vitriolic. "I remember asking, 'Is this a right underline for a game?'" diversion engineer Tyler Sigman pronounced to me in an interview. "And then, 'Even if it is, should we travel it behind since there are adequate people upset? Even if we trust in this underline in a hearts?'"
"We would usually lay on Google Hangouts, me and Tyler, and try to disagree any probable perspective," combined artistic executive Chris Bourassa. "We'd switch camps on any other. We did a lot of essence searching. The prevalent dismay was usually that we'd had such concept accolades that it was a bit of a complement startle for us. We were disturbed that all of that was unexpected gonna go divided since of one change. But aren't we authorised to make changes in Early Access?"
In Aug 2015, things reached a heat pitch. Darkest Dungeon's forums were overshoot with indignant messages, some directed during a game, others doubt a growth team's firmness as people. Some were usually impertinence and yelling. Plenty devolved into written fight between players for and opposite a changes.
Ultimately, Bourassa, Sigman, and co motionless to make a tough nonetheless required alteration to Darkest Dungeon. Acknowledging that heart attacks and corpses weren't tuned to a indicate of being a pulse-pounding, dead-waking facilities they'd envisioned, they gave players a choice to spin them off. It wasn't an ideal situation, nonetheless it was a intelligent approach to understanding with an Early Access change that brought out a pitchforks and torches in droves.
This quieted some of a outrage, nonetheless not all of it. A outspoken fortuitous of indignant players continued banging down Red Hook's doors, to a indicate that they had to hospital a despotic code of conduct for their forums in Oct 2015.
"We separate all a amicable media 50/50, essentially," pronounced Bourassa of a game's Early Access launch. "It was usually insane. The impulse we sole so well, we should've hired a village manager. we consider it was genuine of us to consider we could dump into forums and be judged usually by a content, a work ethic, or whatever it cunning be."
"There was such a high, good ubiquitous feeling around a diversion during first," pronounced Sigman. "It was like, 'Maybe we don't need tons of help.' That was unequivocally a mistake."
As time went on and Darkest Dungeon approached a full 2016 release, it became famous for carrying a tiny nonetheless outspoken organisation of spurned protesters following in a wake, latching onto conversations and voicing their dissatisfaction. Some of them felt like a developers fucked adult a near-perfect diversion by changing pivotal mechanics and creation a diversion too easy or too hard. Others indicted Red Hook of "censoring" their forums of what they viewed to be legitimate and polite criticism.
At one point, they began spamming diversion censor Jim Sterling to get him to go after Red Hook for aged changes (the aforementioned corpses), newer things that arguably finished a diversion easier, and their preference to clamp down on discussions. These things apparently constituted "Early Access corruption." Sterling, famous by some as Steam's central unaccepted boogeyman, flatly refused. He'd taken a long, tough demeanour during Darkest Dungeon after a remains and heart conflict updates, nonetheless he finished adult fondness a game's full recover a lot.
Bourassa and Sigman, though, didn't unequivocally feel like a game's peculiarity was even a concentration of a annoy during that point. It'd turn personal. It's since Red Hook abandoned or close down some of pronounced discussions, notwithstanding a debate doing so caused: they weren't productive.
"For me there's dual kinds [of criticism]," pronounced Bourassa. "There's a clever disastrous reactions formed around a diversion itself and tactile, demonstrable changes that went into a game. But where it gets tough for us—especially when it comes to a summer, last-year-type issue—is that a feedback went from quite about a change to about a motivations, a firmness as people, a cunning as developers, and became hyperbolic in that sense. That's painful."
"We're human," pronounced Sigman, "and we always joked even before that things that it's like being in Darkest Dungeon. One of a hardest collection of a game's growth was still perplexing to review all that feedback. Some of a things that was unequivocally heated or crazy, we'd still review to try and find good feedback. Some people are heated about how they voice things, and there can be a gob in there. But there are some people who are kinda mislaid causes. It's no longer about a game."
Bourassa described it as "a debate to do damage," and while it was tantalizing to try and inhibit those people, efforts to do so eventually valid futile. You could make a box that, early on, Red Hook attempted too tough to greatfully everybody—folks who wanted nails in their cereal instead of marshmallows and people who were anticipating for something reduction brutal. In a end, Red Hook had to collect a trail and hang to it.
On a face, it was an peculiar situation. Red Hook expelled a unequivocally good game, nonetheless they were eventually met with a bile charge that even a nastiest Darkest Dungeon trainer would have difficulty belching out. They didn't do everything perfectly, nonetheless they attempted to give players options when they felt like it wouldn't concede their altogether prophesy of a game. But that's what happens when we disquiet a holy grail, even when we categorically tell people a thing you're creation is not meant to be a holy grail yet.
"Darkest Dungeon must've been within drive of something that they felt would be exemplary," pronounced Bourassa. "But we didn't drive it in accurately those directions in accurately a approach they felt we could've finished it. That can emanate frustration."
The whole conditions is, however, model of a inlet of Early Access. It's a complement that's come to designate actor influence. Thing is, it's easy to mistake change for finish control and major authority, to sire and stomp like an indignant longhorn when control's wrested away. Early Access offers developers opportunities for feedback and income that never would've been probable before, nonetheless it's also essentially altered a review between developers and players. In many cases, it's good and helpful, and players assistance make games better. But infrequently they're wrong, or their suggestions don't filigree with developers' visions for their possess creations. With a formidable and punishing diversion like Darkest Dungeon, a line becomes frighteningly blurry.
"We've always committed to it being a unequivocally tough knowledge with durability consequences that's putting we in an worried preference space," pronounced Sigman. "Sometimes when we give players a collection they want, it will indeed revoke enjoyment."
"It's tough since we unequivocally like a community. We wish everybody could be happy."
You're reading Steamed, Kotaku's page dedicated to all things in and around Valve's extravagantly renouned PC gaming service. Games, culture, village creations, criticism, guides, videos—everything. If you've found anything cool/awful on Steam, send us an email to let us know.
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text: I took my first trip abroad in the year 2003 to Sri Lanka and in those days foreign travel was very complicated and there was no ready Internet access through which one could get any information about the destination. One of the biggest problems that most international travelers faced earlier was about Foreign Exchange. What … Continue reading Forex for Your Abroad Trip


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"I need you to touch me till I feel it baby. I need you to touch me till it hurts." And so the chorus of "Till It Hurts" goes. Native Underground's altogether auspicious debut makes quite the passionate proclamation, but once you've heard those synths, that bass and Javi's voice, it'll all make sense.
The not so German all so super chic Wurst crew are back with this EP of greatness. You can see why these guys are causing a stir with the likes of Todd Terje, Greg Wilson and James Murphy over the past couple of months. Its been a while since we have had a good slice of analogue pop disco, LCD seem to have had to manage this almost single-handedly for the past few years.
With nods to Prelude's finest singalong moments, the brash production of New Order's "Confusion", and a sprinkle of pop magic, Native Underground have arrived.


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Sharing my photographs taken on Sunday, December 6, 2015 of a small portion of the babyland area, Section Number 7, at All Saints Cemetery, Northfield, Summit County, Ohio. It is a Cleveland Catholic Cemeteries Association Cemetery.
Exploring Almost Forgotten Gravesites in the Great State of Ohio
Dedicated to cemetery preservation in the great state of Ohio


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After countless decades of considering myself an elite armchair quarterback, studying the gridiron greats from Jim Brown to Peyton Manning, I now come to learn how much I really know about professional football—nothing. Or so says the ghost in the machine that is Yahoo Fantasy Football.
After two hours of carefully deliberating on every pick in the Daily Dot's fantasy football draft, I was pleased as punch with my choices: a great quarterback (Andrew Luck), powerful running back (Alfred Morris), and an elusive wide receiver (Brandon Marshall). I could almost taste victory in the DDUFL.
Then, the roof caved in. My draft report card, quickly and automatically generated by Yahoo's content partner Automated Insights, was less than impressed with my draft skills. This marvel of transparent technology evaluated my picks, compared them to the others in my league, and pronounced me as someone "who hates winning." I will finish dead last, according to the phantom talent evaluator. I should take up bird watching.
It gets worse. In commenting on my expert assessment of running backs, the stern hand behind my report card proclaimed: "They put together the worst group of RBs in the league, as they added Morris, Stevan Ridley, Darren Sproles, and Bryce Brown to their roster."
The power behind these sharp-witted fantasy football synopses is Automated Insights, a Durham, N.C.-based company that specializes in the art and science of what is commonly referred to as "robot journalism." For fantasy football players, the service is a clever added bonus that keeps people on site longer. It's like having a hometown beat reporter covering your fantasy team: analyzing your draft picks, providing fun recaps of games, and insightful game-day analysis.
But Automated Insights, and contemporaries like Narrative Science, are having a major impact outside the realm of fantasy football. Such prominent news organizations as Associated Press are trialing this technology to churn out data-heavy stories on finance and sports.
The process of turning data into semantic magic has five steps:
1. Data from any number of sources—XML, spreadsheets, APIs (secure remote data connections), etc.—is sent to the Automated Insights Wordsmith platform for interpretation.
2. The data is then analyzed, and Wordsmith looks for patterns and trends and creates a context (general meaning and catalogization) for the content.
3. Next, the data is matched against other data at an aggregate level and benchmarked against other data to create general comparisons, which lead to general observations.
4. Using advanced Natural Language Processing, which derives meaning from language, a narrative or story is built around the key insights from the data analysis. The narratives can be created in any number of forms from short synopses to visualizations or even social media posts.
5. The stories are then published, either directly to a content partner's site or to the partner's content management system.
Providing Yahoo's Fantasy Football combatants with pithy evaluations of their teams is but one manifestation of robot journalism, and a fun one at that. Implementations at large, incumbent news organizations such as Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, and Forbes have received more media attention. The trend has forced the controversial question: Can journalists be replaced with machines—if not entirely, then at least in more data-driven subject areas?
In finance, for example, Associated Press uses the Wordsmith platform in conjunction with data from Zack's Investment Service to create complex, deadline stories for earnings calls. The robot journalism approach would take advantage of being able to evaluate mountains of historical data on a particular company and create a context-rich, narrative-led story mere minutes if not seconds after the earnings calls end.
The same goes for sports stories. Narrative Science works with the Big Ten Network to provide digitally driven in-game summaries, halftime recaps, and post-game stories by analyzing live game feeds and transforming them into digestible narratives that also can be converted into tweets—the kind of short-form posts that have driven the success of sports site Bleacher Report.
With decades of journalism experience under my belt, I can understand the value of using machines to turn out stories that require analyzing dense sets of often difficult-to-understand data. It would take an army of interns to replicate the process employed by Automated Insights—and robots don't miss deadlines.
From the reporter perspective, these sorts of assignments are tedious and offer little chance for creativity. For the publisher, some financial reporting can be dry and void of personality, but it's a boilerplate topic that newspapers feel the need to cover as part of their charter. Employing a more cost-effective way to provide coverage makes business sense in today's competitive marketplace.
Also consider the fact that data is becoming an essential ingredient in creating rich, illustrative narratives. Charts and infographics are vital to young, digitally inclined readers. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), part of the Missouri School of Journalism, has offered training courses to journalists in how to use tools such as mapping and databases to add more context to their work. Journalists armed with both reporting and data skills could make editors and publishers rethink their approaches to machine-delivered content.
As you might expect, industry voices have not yet reached a consensus on the issue of robot journalism. Some see the merit, while others miss the value it brings to the world of media.
Jim Romenesko, a well-known journalist and one of the more strident supports of traditional journalism, gave his take to The Kernel in four simple words: "not ready for primetime." Romenesko pointed to the recent snafu when a computer-generated story that appeared in Game Changer referred to female Little League baseball player Mo'Ne Davis as a "he."
From the other side of the debate, there's Kevin Roose, a writer for New York magazine. "We should be celebrating the rise of machines that can supplement and assist us in our jobs," he wrote in a recent article, "while doing the most banal parts of our workloads for us."
To Roose, I counter with the 10,000-hour rule Malcolm Gladwell spoke of in his book Outliers—the premise that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. As someone who has written more than his share of obits, created TV listing grids, and even gathered Friday night high school football scores, paying your dues has its rewards.
Then again, I can't imagine anyone devoting serious time and energy to reporting on my fantasy football team. And even if someone did, it'd be hard to top this snarky headline I already received:
"With a Projected Finish of 14th, Gonzo Obviously Hates Winning."
We only have 16 teams in our league.
Illustration by J. Longo


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Each of the L.A. Sky Boutique Hotel's 28 rooms is luxuriously appointed with elegant custom-made furnishings, designed with the discerning business or leisure traveler in mind.
Choose from several room types, from Single Queen to Junior Suite to the spacious Executive Suite.
Please contact hotel directly at 310.475.4551 for special extended stay rates.
Room Amenities
- WiFi and Hardwired High Speed Internet
- Flat Panel Television with Cable
- A/C and Heat
- Alarm Clock
- Hair Dryer
- Coffee Maker
- Iron and Ironing Board
- Refrigerator (some rooms)
- ADA Compliant Rooms Available
- 100% Non-smoking


text:
Thank you for subscribing to The Local Steamboat Springs Pirate enewsletter, a new source for global AND local satire. We hope you'll enjoy these emails with the latest articles from The Pirate Web site, but if not, you can opt out below. Also, don't forget to like our Facebook page. DISCLAIMER: THESE STORIES ARE NOT REAL!!!
Written by Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove Monday, 18 February 2013
Last night's Steamboat Springs City Council meeting was interrupted by a classical prank that most councilmembers believe was perpetrated by the local police and fire departments. At approximately 8:13 p.m., City Council President Kart Beforehorski received a text saying an urgent package was awaiting him outside Centennial Hall, where a full meeting of the council was taking place. As Beforehorski went to the door, he was surprised to see a flaming bag on the front entrance.City Council's recent meeting came to a halt for several minutes when a flaming bag of poop was left outside of Centennial Hall. Jilted members of the police and fire departments were considered the prime suspects, but an official police investigation led to no arrests. "We didn't find shit--well, except that big turd bomb," noted Police Chief Haley Joel Osment Rae with a wink.
"I reacted instinctively and began stomping on the bag to put it out, before the building caught on fire," noted Beforehorski. "Of course, it was filled with dog poop. At least I hope it was only dog poop. It got all over my new loafers and my favorite pair of 'Council khakis.'"
Next to the once-flaming bag of poop was a letter created from cutout magazine letters, stating: "This is what will happen if you have to put out your own...
Read more: 'Unappreciated' Fire and Police Departments Suspected of Leaving Poop Bomb Outside City Council Meeting
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I have come across something on the internet and I wanted to make it known to the Catholic online community if they do not already know. The non-Catholics have tapped into an idea that I think is awesome. They are having online virtual homeschooling conferences! The talks are all audio format and can be heard live or downloaded when they are recorded. Here are links to two I have found. I want the Catholics to do this! I wish I had the know-how to attempt it myself. It is such a cool idea.
Maybe you know someone else I could contact. I would love to help with this.
If you're interested in helping set up something like this, email me and I'll get you connected with the writer.


text: It's been a busy couple of months, and I'll soon be able to share photos from a number of northwest Wisconsin lake homes being newly listed by Jean Hedren, my Realtor wife. (Later, you can visit her blog and website here.) For now, here are photos from two of her listings that just closed yesterday and the day before. The first is on Middle Kimball Lake, which is near Minong, Wisconsin. The second is on Upper Eau Claire Lake, which is in Barnes, Wisconsin. I really enjoyed photographing both of them. Both homes overlook beautiful lakes, and both feature some great interior spaces. As a real estate photographer, I feel fortunate to regularly be shooting homes like these. For more, just scroll on down.


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Congressional delegation reacts to Mandela's death
All praise South African leader
Members of Maine's Congressional delegation praised the life and service of Nelson Mandela following the South African leader's death on Thursday.
The former president was 95 years old.
"Nelson Mandela was a visionary statesman who, through remarkable perseverance, overcame the terrible legacy of apartheid. President Mandela will undoubtedly be remembered as the founder of a vibrant democracy who brought justice and freedom to millions," Sen. Susan Collins said in a release.
U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud praised Mandela's perseverance and grace as a leader.
"He was a hero who inspired millions and did so with a manner that was effective and uniquely his own. He will be greatly missed by countless people around the world, and my thoughts and prayers are with his loving family during this difficult time," he said in a release.
U.S. Sen. Angus King called Mandela one of the world's greatest and most revered leaders.
"He was a man of extraordinary character whose courage, compassion, and vision led a deeply divided South Africa out of the age of apartheid and into an age of peace," King said in a release. "His words and deeds not only captured the hearts of his people, but inspired millions more across the world, as they still do today, to stand in abiding solidarity with one another. Indeed, Nelson Mandela embodied the finest and most noble qualities of the human spirit and he shall forever be remembered for it."