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Key CSR Programs / Projects/ Activities to be undertaken during financial year 2016-17
In terms of the attached CSR Policy adopted by the Board of Directors of the company (hereinafter referred to as "CCIPL") at their meeting held on June 27, 2016 the CSR Committee of the Board has identified the following CSR Projects/ Activities / Programmes for implementation by the Company during the financial year 2016-17:
CCIPL's contribution in ensuring Environmental Sustainability:
Employment and livelihood enhancing vocation skills for differently abled people: The 'VEER' campaign being undertaken by CCIPL in partnership with CNN IBN and the "Being Human Foundation" along with American India Foundation ("AIF"), aimed at reaching out to the differently abled people across India and giving them a voice and an opportunity to fulfill their own ambition and for enhancement of their livelihood;
Employment enhancing vocation skills: 'Parivartan' training program for retailers: 'Parivartan' training program conducted by CCIPL for retailers (including women retailers), aimed at and focused on enhancing vocation skills.
Promotion of Education: 'Support My School' ("SMS") campaign, aimed at revitalizing schools by providing them with adequate sanitation and basic amenities like toilets and other facilities, especially for the girl child.
Donation under Employee Volunteering Programme and PET re-cycling: The Employee Volunteering Programme is aimed at facilitating, systematization and quantification of engagement of the employees' with CSR and social initiatives both within and outside CCIPL. The PET recycling initiative is aimed at creating awareness about recycling of PET amongst the employees and CCIPL's customers and their employees;
Protection of Flora and Fauna: CCIPL's initiative in supporting the conversion of a dumping ground for waste into a dedicated repository for the original flora and fauna of the Aravalis- the "Aravali Biodiversity Park" in Gurgaon;
Better Waste Management System: "Doh Bin" - aimed at sensitizing residents and increasing their involvement to bring about a better waste management system through the simple act of segregating wet and dry waste in homes, offices, etc.
Lake Rejuvenation Project- Gurgaon: In line with CCIPL's commitment to strengthen community engagement and development around its Corporate Office in Gurgaon, a six month project is being implemented from June 2016 onwards towards water rejuvenation in the Sukhrali Lake in Gurgaon.
Pilot Project to test Reverse Vending Machines: To achieve long term environmental sustainability by educating and encouraging people to be environmentally responsible in the handling of post consumption PET products by rewarding and incentivizing positive behavior.
Multi Stakeholder Project on Water: Owing to the centrality of water to the country and to CCIPL, CCIPL proposes to take a leadership position in the water sector at the national level and contribute to the larger solutions the country is facing on addressing water availability, access, quality and affordability of water.
Multi Stakeholder Programme on Livelihood Enhancement: In line with the emerging importance of PET recycling in the light of the "Swaach Bharat Abhiyan" and "Clean India campaign" launched by the Tourism Ministry, Government of India and the key role that is played by the informal sector in collection of recyclable waste, CCIPL has decided to design a scalable program on waste management.
CSR initiative of CCIPL in the community around its concentrate plant in Pune: CCIPL proposes to initiate a substantial CSR initiative in the immediate community of its concentrate plant at Pune, which is also its Registered Office.
Other Projects /Programmes /Activities: Apart from the above, the CSR Committee will also identify other projects /Programmes /activities which it finds suitable for implementation by CCIPL during the financial year 2016-17.
CCIPL's contributions in ensuring Environmental Sustainability in India:
Coca-Cola India Foundation: CCIPL had set up a `not for profit Company' wholly owned subsidiary under section 25 of Companies Act, 1956 namely;
The Foundation has been implementing projects in various States in India and will continue to undertake new projects to promote replenishment of ground water and rural electrification through solar energy. Apart from implementing projects on its own, out of donations made by CCIPL, the Foundation has simultaneously been facilitating grants from The
The Foundation has been working on a systematic plan under four Mission Objectives:
- Mitigating water stress and promoting water sustainability;
- Propagating the use of new and renewable sources of energy as a means of global climate control;
- Promoting active and healthy lifestyles AND
- Subscribing to general social advance.
Anandana had decided that water sustainability and the empowerment of women through use of innovative programs like the spread of solar energy need to be at the core of its programs and and has been funding projects related thereto. The beneficiaries constitute the marginalized communities in the backward, predominantly rural and in some cases, the tribal areas of the country. The vast majority of the villagers are among the poorest, the neediest and the socially deprived and the action of the Foundation is, therefore, at the most deserving level of social intervention.
Water operations in the communities at large are carried out by the Foundation providing financial support to reputed NGOs working with local villagers and beneficiary groups to create viable water augmentation projects in severely stressed areas. After studying alternatives, the Foundation opted for the watershed conservation and development approach as the most suitable for India's water replenishment needs. The second area of operation of the Foundation is in empowering women through the use and promotion of solar energy. This is the surest means to raise overall social living standards in rural India. There are many parts of India that are bereft or woefully short of electricity or other sources of energy and where the daily life of people ends when the sun goes down.
As part of this program the Foundation has been lighting non- electrified households in the backward districts of India still not connected through grid through solar lanterns and solar systems assembled, maintained and repaired by women specially trained on this job. This helps women earn a decent livelihood, increased time for household and leisure activities, savings from use of kerosene/ other household fuel, reduced indoor air pollution and overall improvement in standards of living. In all such remote places the quality of life of the poor is vastly improved through the provision of energy through solar lanterns and unitary solar systems.
Over the past seven years (since 2009) the Foundation has caused to be executed over INR 600 million worth of projects covering over 550 villages in India and impacting the lives of over 660,000 people. Even for the financial year 2016-17, the Foundation plans to continue to focus on these two areas of priority. Proposals are invited from reputed NGO's and other beneficiary organizations with a good track record of implementation of CSR Projects and are considered only if they meet with the objective criteria of the Foundation. It is extremely difficult for the Foundation at the beginning of each financial year to quantify the amount that will be spent on various projects during the financial year, as proposals are submitted to it by various NGOs on a continuous basis, throughout the financial year. Not all proposals that are received by the Foundation are approved. The Foundation approves only those projects that are technically feasible and meet with its objective criteria. During the current financial year, till date, the Foundation has already approved and funded following three proposals:
- Ground water replenishment cum other infrastructure needs of Dhanora village of Dholpur District, Rajasthan, in partnership with Eco Needs Foundation at a cost of Rs. 50.6 Lakhs to benefit around 2,000 people;
- Water conservation project in 5 villages of Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh in partnership with Development Support Centre (DSC) at a cost of Rs. 178.28 Lakhs to benefit more than 5,000 people;
- Water conservation Project in 3 districts of Rajasthan in partnership with PHD Rural Development Foundation at a cost of Rs. 119.25 Lakhs.
Projects that are under immediate consideration before the TCCF Foundation in Atlanta are:
- A proposal to implement a water conservation project in four villages of Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, at a cost of Rs. 158 lakhs to benefit over 10,000 people;
- A proposal to implement a water conservation project in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan , at a cost of Rs. 186.9 lakhs to benefit over 16,000 people;
- A proposal to implement a water conservation project in two villages of Mahisagar district of Gujarat at a cost of Rs. 112.41 lakhs to benefit over 6,000 people.
Proposals received from reputed NGO's are placed before the Board of Directors of the Foundation for approval only after following the process laid down below:
- Successful completion and submission of techno-feasibility study by the NGO;
- Effective review of the Project and a detailed due diligence of the NGO by the Project Managers of the Foundation;
- Detailed technical evaluation and analysis by the Project Screening Committee, which comprises senior executives of CCIPL, with expertise in the CSR field;
On completion of review and due diligence and after considering all aspects of the Project, a decision is taken by the Board of Directors of the Foundation as to which of these projects will be funded by it and which of these will be referred by it to The
'VEER': A Campaign aimed at reaching out to the differently abled people across India and giving them a voice and an opportunity to fulfill their own ambition: In its long term approach of building awareness for the differently abled people and promoting employment opportunities for them, CCIPL had as a part of its CSR initiatives launched the 'VEER' campaign on India's Republic Day; 26th January 2014. CCIPL launched this campaign in partnership with TV 18 Broad Cast Limited and "Being Human Foundation" (which is promoted by Bollywood star, Salman Khan) along with the American India Foundation ("AIF") on CNN IBN.
The 'VEER' campaign is focused on unleashing the potential of differently abled people in India. The campaign 'VEER' shares its core philosophy with CCIPL, which believes that everyone has the potential and we just need to unleash it. There are several such VEERs in India, who have achieved unparalleled success in their endeavor through a combination of hard work and application of their abilities to the best possible extent. These VEERs continue to inspire and motivate all Indians and CCIPL celebrates them by giving them their due recognition. Through this campaign, CCIPL wants to reach out to the differently abled people across India and give them a voice and an opportunity to fulfill their own ambition to the best of their ability.
This initiative VEER is closely aligned to "Skill India", an initiative launched by the present government, whose main goal is to create opportunities, space and scope for the development of the talents of the Indian youth. On May 20, 2015, the "Department of Social Justice and Empowerment" (Government of India) at a public event of VEER joined this mass media campaign and lent its support. This will be a big boost in the quest of the campaign to reach out and do more for the differently able people across India. Through this campaign, which is in three parts, CCIPL aims to achieve the following:
- Work with NGOs to provide training to people with disabilities to make them employable. It will be achieved through direct donation by CCIPL to the NGO American India Foundation towards core funds for training and also through encouraging donations from others into the funds.
- Sensitize corporate to hire differently abled people and this is being accomplished through hosting of workshops across different cities
- Through mass media, celebrate extraordinary stories of successful people with disabilities and inspire others like them to unleash their true potential. We hope that his campaign will help people at large will change their lens in the way they look at differently abled people and realize the huge talent and potential waiting to be unleashed
As with all major changes in society, this campaign requires a sustained multipronged approach. CCIPL believes that "Skill India" is a far reaching initiative that will build foundation for Indian economic growth. As CCIPL embarks on the same, it will be important to also take the differently abled workforce
along as they form a big part of the society. This Campaign, VEER, is working towards ideals outlined by Skill India and in its own unique way of Communicating, not only asking people to change their lens but also through actions on ground making change happen for thousands' of these differently abled.
During the financial year 2016-17, CCIPL is planning to spend a sum of Rs. 136.00 lakhs (same as in the financial year 2015-16) on the campaign. It plans to pay a sum of Rs. 106 lakhs to TV18 Broadcast Limited as "Lead Partner" for the campaign broadcast across CNN-IBN and IBN7 channels. In addition, it is also planning to donate a sum of Rs. 30 lakhs to the American India Foundation towards training of differently abled people.
Vocation skills: 'Parivartan' training program for retailers: This business skills capability program started by CCIPL in 2007 is led by the capability development center of CCIPL, namely;
All training programs are absolutely free of cost to the retailers. Apart from classroom training which is typically conducted in cities, training module is also delivered through CCIPL's customized learning buses in rural and semi-urban areas, which enables CCIPL to reach out to the retailers in far flung areas where classroom facilities may not be available. The 'Mission' of CCIPL through this program is to equip traditional retailers with the skills, tools and techniques to meet consumer expectations created by these demands. The traditional 'mom and pop' shops which constitute around 95 per cent of India's grocery retail market are experiencing challenging times in evolving modern organized retail scenario. As a responsible corporate and a long standing partner to them, CCIPL believes that ensuring their success is as important as the success of modern retail chains. The two hour program is conducted in multiple vernacular languages. In addition to the classroom training, training module is also delivered through CCIPL's customized learning buses in rural and semi-urban areas, which enables CCIPL to reach out to retailers in far flung areas where classroom facilities may not be available. Training under this program which was started by CCIPL in 2007 was initially provided to men retailers.
In India, women entrepreneurs face barriers due to lack of business knowledge and access to finance and/or assets. Hence, as part of CCIPL's focus to drive women's empowerment through entrepreneurship for inclusive growth in the year 2011, this Programme was customized and extended to women retailers as well. Enhancing economic opportunities for women will result in increased incomes, enhanced skills in business, increased stature within the community and improved potential for communities. These trainings are led by 'Certified Trainers' of the capability development center of CCIPL,
During the financial year 2016-17 CCIPL targets to train around 50,000 retailers across India at a cost of around Rs. 55 Lakhs. Out of the above, the target for training women retailers is 10,000
Promotion of Education- "Support My School" Programme: Several studies have shown that inadequate sanitation and basic amenities in schools has a huge impact on children. Absenteeism, drop outs are accelerated because of lack of a healthy and active environment, especially amongst girl child. The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, is spearheading a drive to build separate toilets for boys and girls in schools and has called out everyone to join the mission. Prime Minister's laudable vision is now visible through a mass campaign on air with leading Bollywood actress Ms. Vidya Balan encouraging community as a whole to build toilets, especially for women and also the 'Swacch Bharat, Swacch Vidyalaya' initiative on ground.
CCIPL through its 'Support My School' ("SMS") campaign aims to do its bit in promoting the same agenda and backing the Prime Minister's vision. CCIPL in partnership with NDTV had launched a mass media campaign to bring further focus on this issue including finding solutions to the answers. The campaign has showcased issues and impact of healthy and active schools, which have sanitation and access to water across India. The approach has been to identify issues at broader level and solutions at local level to bring about stakeholders on board and debate the same. The SMS Campaign has offered voice and platform to several leaders in this space and helped them communicate their point of view, which is consistent with need and roles for healthy active schools across India. The campaign has also celebrated stakeholders such as principals, NGOs, teachers, students amongst others, who have contributed to the cause. One of the pillars of the campaign is fundraising, which ultimately help in revitalization of schools. In a small yet unique way this campaign has been able to seek support from several hundreds of well-meaning individuals and corporates who have contributed towards access to water and sanitation in schools. Several leading figures including government leaders have lauded the efforts of all those who are associated with this unique campaign. Through the efforts of everyone involved, nearly 597 schools have been revitalized till March 31, 2016 across more than 25 states from the year 2011. The total number of children benefitted positively is 2,40,000. CCIPL's plan is to reach 1000 schools under the campaign. Work in remaining schools is in progress. This mass media campaign has made millions sit up and take notice of the issue and also offered them an opportunity to join.
In order to ensure maintenance and sustainability of the SMS schools revitalized under the campaign a sum of Rs. 71 Lakhs is estimated to be spent for the financial year 2016-17 towards maintenance of a total of 142 schools renovated earlier under the campaign.
Donation made by the Company under the 'Employee Volunteering Policy': CCIPL has promoted an Employee Volunteering Policy ("EV Policy") in alignment with the "ME, WE and WORLD" sustainability framework and the "Refresh 2020" goals through which it encourages its employees to volunteer their time as individuals OR as a department OR as a group (of any size), towards a variety of community involvement initiatives and opportunities offered by CCIPL. CCIPL has tied -up with a reputed NGO to drive CCIPL's initiatives on this front.
The EV Policy facilitates, systematization and quantification of engagement of the employees' with CSR and social initiatives both within and outside CCIPL. There are three ways in which employees may volunteer under the Policy. Under the first one, an employee dedicates one day every calendar quarter for volunteering initiatives. The initiatives will be chosen from amongst several of company's CSR initiatives. Under the second, any employee can choose to volunteer for a cause of his/her choice and CCIPL will support this endeavor through the option of a day's paid leave in a year. Finally, CCIPL has also encouraged donations by employees to charitable organizations. CCIPL will do an equal match to the contributions made by the employees, up to a maximum of Rs. 60,000 per annum, per employee as per the list of beneficiary organizations decided and announced by CCIPL.
The expenditure to be incurred by CCIPL in matching the total contribution to be made by all employees will be treated as a "donation" under the Companies Act, 2013. The Scheme was introduced towards the end of the financial year 2014-15. In the financial year 2015-16, the Board of Directors had approved a donation of Rs. 33 Lakhs subject to an actual equal contribution to be made by the employees. However, the actual donation made by CCIPL in 2015-16 was Rs. 15.13 Lakhs, in matching the contribution made by the employees plus the administrative charges paid to Give India.
CCIPL intends to continue the Programme in the current financial year too on the same lines as mentioned above and has budgeted an amount of Rs. 33 Lakhs for this initiative, as in the previous financial year.
PET re-cycling: In addition, separately, with a view to educate employees on the importance of recycling and also embed the culture of PET recycling, CCIPL proposes to organize an "India Recycles Day" in November 2016. An activation will be conducted along with lines of the MIT (Market Impact Team) initiative of CCIPL, where CCIPL plans to include its customers and their employees to spread awareness in the market. It also plans to place dustbins and help in the picking of PET. CCIPL is proposing to tie up with a recycler to ensure the PET collected is recycled. CCIPL plans to spend a sum of Rs. 50 Lakhs towards this initiative during the financial year 2016-17.
Protection of flora and fauna at the Aravali Bio Diversity Park, Gurgaon: The Aravali Bio-diversity Park in Gurgaon is spread over an area of 350 acres. It was once a dumping ground for waste until an NGO, 'I AM GURGAON' ("IAG") in collaboration with Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon converted this area into a dedicated repository for the original flora and fauna of the Aravalis, and named it "Aravali Bio-diversity Park".
CCIPL has been supporting this initiative since 2011, and the contributions have gone towards the setting up of a nursery of indigenous plant species called 'The
CCIPL's initiative on better waste management system - Doh- Bin : In line with CCIPL's strategic focus on recycling and evincing good models on Waste Management, particularly PET, a three year project will be implemented in Gurgaon City in partnership with GIZ, Tetra Pak and NGO Saahas. The project will also provide insights into how environmental awareness on waste segregation and handling, waste management and recycling could be strategized in partnership with local governments, business establishments, citizens and civil society. Additionally, the segregation and collection of waste at source in Gurgaon is enhanced.
The following outcomes are envisaged:
- 9000 households in 60 selected RWAs segregate wastes at source;
- At least 500 waste pickers in Gurgaon city are equipped to handle the segregated waste;
- Engagement with 50 schools on environmental awareness and waste management;
- Engagement with 50 Commercial Establishments on Waste Segregation and Recycling;
- At least 2 policy recommendations are available for adoption by residential associations and in the municipal plans.
The project will consist of the following 5 components:
Component 1: Enhanced awareness of RWAs and other points of consumption on source segregation;Component 2: Implementation of Source Segregation in RWAs and other points of consumption;Component 3: Strengthened capacities of waste pickers for handling segregated packaging waste and improve recovery; Component 4: Municipal decision makers are enabled to make decisions on the basis of policy recommendations on source segregation and resource recovery; Component 5: A guiding -steering structure will be established for monitoring and evaluation and capture learnings from this project.
The total budgeted contribution from CCIPL will be Rs. 25 Lakhs during the financial year 2016-17.
Sukhrali Lake Rejuvenation Project, Gurgaon: In line with CCIPL's commitment to strengthen community engagement and development around its Corporate Office in Gurgaon, a six month project is being implemented from June 2016 towards water rejuvenation in the Sukhrali Lake in Gurgaon. The lake forms an integral part of the community eco-system in Sakhalin village and has depleted in its recharge potential due to vagaries of unplanned city expansion, weather conditions, and unplanned/unchecked discharge of waste. The project will entail community mobilization and technical activities and benefit approximately 30,000 residents of Sakhalin Village.
The key interventions will include the following:
- Community mobilization and awareness generation towards the preservation and ownership of Sukhrali Lake;
- Technical interventions including clean -up of storm water drain, construction of peripheral drains, prevention of clogging and de silting;
- Engagement of PRI, women and children and hand over of asset to community for maintenance.
The total budget for the project is INR 14. 51 Lakhs all of which will be expended during the financial year 2016-17.
Pilot Project to test "Reverse Vending Machines": With the view that long term environmental sustainability is achieved best by educating and encouraging people to be environmentally responsible in the handling of post consumption PET products by rewarding and incentivizing positive behavior, Segregating PET at source so that is does not end up in landfills and facilitating reuse by recycling of PET products so as to reduce the environmental footprint. To this extent an innovative pilot will be implemented to test the functionality, consumer behavior, user interface and efficacy of placing reverse vending machines in select locations in NCR In partnership with Green Earth Movement ("GEM").
In all, 10 machines will be placed at varied locations like malls, schools, residential societies, temples etc. The RVM machines will be uniquely designed to accept empty PET bottles, which will be crushed inside the machines and the chips collected and transported to a recycling facility for conversion to various recyclable products like T- shirts, Bags, etc. The placement of RVMs will be accompanied by awareness campaigns, small incentives and rewards and a robust MIS system that will monitor the machine operations, logistics and customer feedback. The pilot will be implemented over a 3 month period and will feed into CCIPL's learning process and sections of cost effective engaging models on promoting recycling. Based on the results, CCIPL will explore possibilities of tying this in to the Government's Clean India Campaign for placement in tourist and religious spots. The total budget for the Pilot Project is Rs. 28 Lakhs.
Multi- Stakeholder Project on Water: Owing to the centrality of water to the country and to CCIPL, CCIPL proposes to take a leadership position in the water sector at the national level and contribute to the larger solutions the country is facing on addressing water availability, access, quality and affordability of water. In line with this, a multi stakeholder macro level program with a golden triangle approach is being planned to contribute to solutions in the water Sector in India.
At this stage, strategic discussions are taking place and broad concepts are being reviewed on areas of creating a think tank, center of excellence on water and agriculture, partnerships with local and International civil society organizations to create a long term plan to work on select issues in the water sector. The roll out of the project is envisaged from the fourth quarter of the financial year 2016-17. An amount of Rs. 100 Lakhs is projected towards this multi stakeholder project.
Multi Stakeholder Programme on Livelihood Enhancement: In line with the emerging importance of PET recycling in the light of the Swaach Bharat Abhiyan and Clean India campaign launched by the Tourism Ministry, Government of India and the key role that is played by the informal sector in collection of recyclable waste, CCIPL decided to design a scalable program with a multi stakeholder approach that evinces a model of waste segregation at source, institutional mechanisms that facilitate segregated waste is processed in the right manner including backward and forward linkages with industries that use processed waste, linkages with recyclers and engagement with social enterprises and NGOs that can organize waste pickers and ensure their occupational health, fair payment of services and recognition of their role in the recycling value chain.
Currently a mapping of different models on livelihood Program is being carried out, internal discussions are taking place on the type and scale of partnership in this area. The Program is planned for roll out in the third quarter of the financial year 2016-17. Around Rs.100 Lakhs is the projected expenditure towards this initiative.
CSR initiative of CCIPL in the community around its concentrate plant in Pune: CCIPL proposes to initiate a substantial CSR initiative in the immediate community of its concentrate plant at Pune, which is also its Registered Office, based on a need assessment study of the community needs in and around Pirangut village in Pune district. The projects would be centered on water and recycling aimed at creating a substantial impact in the community. This project is expected to involve an expenditure of Rs. 50 Lakhs.
Other Projects /Programmes /Activities: Apart from the above, the CSR Committee will also identify other projects /Programmes /activities which it finds suitable for implementation by CCIPL during the financial year 2016-17.
Impact of all of the above: The activities listed above are expected to result in a CSR spend of around Rs. 1,476 lakhs during the financial year 2016-17. In addition,
Separately, CCIPL is also planning to arrange direct funding to NGOs of around Rs.1350 Lakhs (USD 2.0 Million) by The


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Red Sox injuries, Team USA losing, Team England losing (my backup), American men besides Andy Roddick falling left and right at Wimbledon…the sports gods were not kind to me this weekend, so if anyone needs some fun links it's me…and probably plenty of you.
I am extremely excited about this film, even though I have absolutely NO idea what it's actually about.
If any of you care about tennis, or sports in general, check out the wiki entry for the John Isner/Nicolas Mahut Wimbledon match. This is something you will never see again in sports.
Current twitter feeds I'm enjoying:
Michael Ian Black, Jason Biggs (yes, the pie effer), Nate Robinson (it's absurd, his whole life is on here)

subset: commoncrawl


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OSGi Best and Worst Practices
Chris Aniszczyk, Jeff McAffer, Martin Lippert (GoPivotal, Inc. ), Paul VanderLei (Band XI International )
Making With Eclipse · Extended (50 mins)
Tags: OSGi DevCon , Runtime
Tuesday, 14:30, 50 minutes | Grand Ballroom
In this session we will present our experiences from building various OSGi-based systems over the past years, extracted in the form of best and worst practices with concrete advice for the attendees. We will talk about success and failure stories and what we learned from them, including POJO-based OSGi programming, dependency management, coupling and cohesion, tooling, APIs and dynamics with OSGi.
Chris Aniszczyk is the co-lead of the Eclipse Plug-in Development Environment (PDE) project and a Senior Software Engineer at EclipseSource. He is the co-author of The Eclipse Rich Client Platform (Addison-Wesley) book. Chris tends to be all over the place inside the Eclipse community by committing on various Eclipse projects. He sits on the Eclipse Architecture Council, Eclipse Planning Council and has the honor to represent the committers on the Eclipse Foundation's Board of Directors. Chris's passions are modularity, blogging, tooling and anything Eclipse. He's always available to discuss opensource or Eclipse over a frosty beverage.
Jeff McAffer co-leads the Eclipse Equinox OSGi and RCP efforts at Eclipse and is CTO and co-founder of EclipseSource. He is one of the architects of the Eclipse Platform and a co-author of The Eclipse Rich Client Platform and OSGi and Equinox (Addison-Wesley). He co-leads the RT PMC and is a member of the Eclipse Project PMC, the Tools Project PMC and the Eclipse Architecture Council and has been elected to the Eclipse Foundation Board of Directors. Jeff is currently interested all aspects of Eclipse components from developing and building bundles to deploying, installing and ultimately running them. Previous lives include being a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM and work in distributed/parallel OO computing as well as expert systems, meta-level architectures and a PhD at the University of Tokyo.
Martin is a consultant and coach at it-agile GmbH, a company located in Germany that is focused on agile software development. He received a master degree in Computer Science from the University of Hamburg and worked as intern as part of the AspectJ team at Xerox PARC back in 1999. While he is helping teams to become more agile he also works with teams on modularity and building flexible OSGi-based architectures for their systems. He also authored several articles on rich client and server-side development with Eclipse and OSGi runtime technology and investigated the combination of aspect and Eclipse technology. He is involved as a committer in the Equinox project working on the Equinox Weaving technology.
Paul VanderLei is a partner at Band XI International. He has more than 25 years of software engineering experience with an emphasis on object-oriented design and agile practices. He is well known for his innovative yet straightforward engineering solutions to complex problems. After earning his MS in computer science from Arizona State University, he joined Object Technology International and worked on a wide range of Smalltalk-based systems. After OTI's acquisition by IBM, Paul developed embedded Java applications and user interfaces for the automotive and medical industries as a founding member of IBM's Embedded Java Enablement Team. He has been using OSGi in commercial applications for over ten years. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife and four children.


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As Wolfestone supports more and more clients with their export expansion, our website localisation and interpreting services helps to open many doors to profitability.
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Is your website localised? Are your marketing material and your technical specifications targeted to this new audience? Having invested time and money perfecting your product and identifying a suitable new market, have you taken that crucial final step to make sure your message is conveyed as effectively as possible?
As with all business development activity, exporting is a balance of risk and reward. But it doesn't have to be a lottery. There are sensible steps you can follow to protect your long term financial future and when it comes to cultural credibility there are reliable partners who can make sure you're always speaking to your target audience in a language they'll understand.
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In our quest to tell the stories of our ancestors, the fruits of our labors do not always produce a pretty picture. On occasion, we are faced with a dilemma; do we publish our findings, or just file them away as not for public viewing. A recent discovery presented me with such a quandary; to share, or not to share. I have chosen to share. This is a disturbing newspaper article I recently found on one of my Toliver ancestors. It is not a pretty story. I wish I knew more about the circumstances surrounding the event. What was Minnie thinking? What happened to drive her to take such drastic action, and involve another young relative in the process? These are questions that will never be answered.
What happened to Minnie and Laura? The article describes Minnie and Laura as sisters. According to the 1880 census, however, Laura was the daughter of Miles Taliaferro/Toliver (my great, great grandfather), and Minnie was his granddaughter. That would make Minnie Laura's niece. I believe Minnie was the daughter of Alex Taliaferro, Laura's brother. I lose track of Minnie after the 1800 census. Laura married Alexander Butler sometime around 1897, and had six children. Laura died sometime after 1930.
[Click on image to enlarge]
"Held On The Rail," The Atlanta Constitution, 29 March 1888, p. 7, col. 1; digital images, Footnote.com( http://www.footnote.com : assessed 14 February 2010), News and Town Records.


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In 1990, several insurance IT executives founded Cooperative Technologies, Inc.
These industry leaders had a common vision of automating insurance and investment
back-office operations with cost-cutting, pre-packaged, and customized software
coupled with superior customer service.
Our professionals combine their intimate insurance industry knowledge with
progressive IT expertise to bring insurance and financial carriers innovative
back-office solutions. In the early 90's, Cooperative Technologies began building
systems that helped companies cut internal overhead costs including asset allocation,
list bill reconciliation and market timer solutions. Since 1998, we have been the premier
provider of 1035 exchange solutions, allowing companies to easily navigate carrier to carrier
exchanges, including XML paperless exchanges.
All of our products keep carriers in control of their funds while cutting overhead costs.
Cooperative Technologies provides government, financial and insurance industries the highest
level IT consulting services. We help our clients with client/server re-engineering, customized software
development, software evaluation and selection, workflow process analysis, imaging solutions and graphical
user interface.


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When I was in college, I worked with a young lady I found to be quite alluring. Sparks flew, emotions ran high, boners formed, and we ended up dating for a month or so. Then I received my walking papers. Problem was, we still worked together. Correction: she worked for me at the university newspaper. What followed was the toughest few months of my life as I tried feebly to separate work and play — the personal equivalent of church and state. The tension was overwhelming; every guy that approached her during the day caused me to suspiciously raise an eyebrow. I invented large plots every time she started hanging out with a new guy, assuming that she was allotting sexual favors only Ron Jeremy could imagine, her virgin status notwithstanding. I started smoking cigarettes for the first time, sweated buckets, and thought about her in the shower as I closed my eyes and let the water coarse over my face.
Knowing firsthand how difficult it is to meld relationships with business, I can only imagine the trials wife and husband Kazu Makino and Amadeo Pace have faced over the years as they maintain Blonde Redhead (their band) and the Makino-Pace union (their relationship), but their tense, despairing music is as good an indication as any. Filled with references to the connection between sex and art, tortured cries of anguish from Makino and Pace, and a general sense of impending consequence, Blonde Redhead validate the axiom "you can't choose whom you love" (Makino hints in interviews that her life would be a lot easier if her husband wasn't in her band) while negating the notion of "two's a company, three's a crowd" (Amadeo's brother Simone is the drummer/third wheel and has been throughout the band's existence).
Somehow, love hasn't torn Blonde Redhead apart; you could even say it keeps them together, as the trio has been a unit for nearly 15 years. Perhaps fueled by their suffocating need to stay together No Matter What, the New York group have released six stellar, consistently of-a-piece albums without losing any of their ambition. A slight shift in direction occurred with the release of the synth-weighted, almost operatic Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons in 2000, and as rumors of a band break-up loomed amid a horseback-riding accident, things didn't look good. But then they reappeared with another tight album, Misery is a Butterfly, and another tour of the states.
With 23 now making its rounds, it appears we can all get ready for the same old schtick: Sonic Youth comparisons, judgments based on Makino's polarizing voice alone, questions of artsiness vs fartsiness; the works. But what people SHOULD be talking about is how truly lucky we are that Blonde Redhead are sticking around, because 23, while a shade below their best work, represents another pleasant shift in dynamic and another reason to tune into their ongoing musical soap opera.
Just be sure to let 23 bloom, shed its legs, and fly around your room a few times before you turn off the light and curl up in bed. This ten-strip of tunes isn't meant to leave you seeing stars and having visions — expecting the instantaneously warm Blonde Redhead of yore will leave you wondering if someone sold you bunk hits. But just as some of the most addicting culinary flavors are comparatively weak upon first taste, some of the best highs are subtle, lukewarm even. The appeal is that ingesting mild stimuli often warrants further exploration, whereas exceedingly strong stimuli can burrow so thoroughly into the brain it wears out relatively quickly. Just think about the last time you stared at a murderously bright fluorescent color for an extended period of time, then think about the long stretches of time you (hopefully) spend looking at the staid, white pages of a standard novel. Get it? There's a reason most literature isn't printed on neon-pink pages.
So when the repetitive rhythms of 23 don't bowl you over like the first synth lines of Melody, allow yourself the opportunity to sit through its entirety. What you'll find is an album that reveals its true personality slowly, surely, and yes, lovingly. The glorious horns pleated in the middle of "SW" just might change your life, but you have to give them the chance to do so. The beautiful purge of "Spring and by Summer Fall," too, takes time to unravel, but when it does, you'll see a new side of a band that has about-face'd enough over the course of their career to both maintain and thoroughly fascinate their core of listeners.
It won't be hard to keep your attention fixed once you dedicate yourself to do so; Blonde Redhead are like that mopey, distant girl who fascinates you more and more even as she edges slowly away, preferring her privacy over your constant company. Their lyrics aren't fodder for instant connections, nor are their shrill vocals easy to cozy up to. Makino and the Pace brothers won't completely baffle you like the noise pioneers they were originally influenced by — DNA and the rest of the no-wavers — but they will challenge you. 23, then, is their latest audio obstacle course, and though it won't lead you by the nose or grab you by the short hairs, it will lure you into its lair while keeping you at arm's length, as only true seductors can.
More about: Blonde Redhead


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Smartphone for the masses or feature phone of the future? Samsung would gladly have it either way. The question rather is, will the Bada OS keep up the pace of its debut device. Weve been following the new smart platform since its first public appearance. Its not a particularly hard one to follow anyway, with a single phone announced so far and potential successors of the Samsung S8500 Wave only a whisper of a rumor.
It will certainly take more and equally convincing devices for Bada to do as well as Samsung want it to. Proper developer support and a fast growing app store will be a must too. So, itll take hard work but theres something to be optimistic about the firstborn is promising. OK, cautiously optimistic is more like it with Android, Windows Phone 7 or Symbian ^3 predators lurking around.
Were about to see what the Samsung S8500 Wave is really capable of. Were getting ready to enjoy it. The S8500 Wave did well in our preview and – fingers crossed – unpleasant surprises are not on todays menu. The OS is trying to combine feature-phone ease of use with the versatility of smartphones. The Super AMOLED touchscreen is the envy of the industry, with image quality that no other phone display could match.
Samsung S8500 Wave official photos
Being the first of a kind has its implications. Some may be willing to forgive a few flaws but a brand new OS needs a flagship capable of facing up to the competition. The S8500 Wave fits the bill. Trademark Samsung exterior and premium build are inviting enough to encourage exploring a wealth of features.
Key features
- 3.3″ 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, WVGA (480 x 800 pixels), multi-touch input support, scratch-resistant glass surface
- Solid 10.9mm-thin metal body
- Bada OS with Samsung Apps
- ARM Cortex A8 based 1GHz CPU
- Quad-band GSM support with dual-band 3.6Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity with WPS support, Wi-Fi tethering app
- Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, digital compass, Samsung Mobile Navigator
- 5 MP autofocus camera with touch focus, geo-tagging, face, smile and blink detection and LED flash
- 720p video recording at 30fps
- 390MB user available memory, 1GB Bada apps storage and 550MB messaging storage
- microSDHC card slot
- Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
- Standard 3.5mm audio jack, TV out
- Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
- Webkit-based Samsung Dolphin Browser 2.0 with full Flash support
- YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration
- DivX/XviD video support
- Impressive audio quality
Main disadvantages
- Limited number of available applications
- No lens cover
- Card slot under the battery
- Inbuilt SatNav software has only a 30-day navigation license
- No ambient light sensor to change screen brightness dynamically
The S8500 Wave tries to give it all and hopes the Samsung app store will eventually catch up. As good as this phone looks and feels, and for all the technology it holds inside, its success or failure hinges on the developer support it will get. The Apple app store took a year to open after the launch of iPhone but look at it now.
Anyway, there just arent enough Bada OS compatible applications yet so theres little difference (beyond hardware) between the Samsung S8500 Wave and a Samsung S8000 Jet. Although it excels in user-friendliness, the Samsung Wave doesnt quite feel like a smartpone just yet due to the limited third-party software.
Samsung S8500 Wave live shots
As for the other features, the S8500 Wave is powered by a Samsung-made 1GHz processor and has a great connectivity package. You get both HSDPA and HSUPA support, as well as Bluetooth v3.0 and Wi-Fi with WPS and Wi-Fi tethering. Theres a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording at 30fps, and an inbuilt GPS receiver.
Update, 28.07.11: We've added an overview of Samsung Dive.
Thats on the inside though. Now, jump to the next page for a closer look at the Waves exterior and ergonomics.


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In a relationship, it often is difficult at first to discern the differences between lust and true love. In some cases, you may think that you love a person, only to figure out in hindsight that what you were experiencing at the time was something else entirely (and significantly less serious). Determine whether you are truly in love with somebody by paying close attention to the signs that are out there.
When you truly love and care for someone, the relationship goes far beyond physical. In fact, emotional aspects may even make up the bulk of the relationship. If you can converse with a person in a natural and easy way (with the time flying by), then it is very likely that you truly love her. Consider the topics you discuss with her, whether your life dreams, favorite foods or biggest anxieties and problems. If conversation with a person makes you laugh, cry, scream and feel comfort, sometimes all at once, then you feel genuine love.
If you constantly miss or feel longing for another person, then you probably are truly in love with him. If you feel a slight (or hard) pang in your heart after saying goodbye to him a mere 15 minutes ago, then you have fallen deeply in love and there may be no turning back.
Other People
One surefire indication that you really love a person is complete loss of interest in meeting other people for possible romance. If you only have eyes for one person and you barely notice anyone else, you feel true love. If someone fulfills all of your needs in a partner, then you likely will not look elsewhere.
Being Yourself
One sign that you are in a truly loving situation is total comfort with yourself. If you are happy being yourself with someone, then you really love her. If you can be around her with zero fear of judgment, then that displays an authentic rapport, kinship and love. This goes both ways. If you love your partner for who she is and don't wish to change her, then your feelings probably are real and serious.
If even imagining a situation where the other person is in love with someone new causes you to feel pain, then true love is what you are feeling. If you feel like you are the only person on Earth suitable for your partner, then perhaps you are (as long as he also feels the same way).
Honesty and trust are the basic foundations upon which relationships are based. With true love comes a strong rapport. If you feel 100 percent free and secure in divulging all your deepest secrets and thoughts to someone (without fear of betrayal), it appears that you are involved in a two-way situation of mutual love, affection, respect and consideration.
With real love comes an element of selflessness. If you begin to care about someone just as much as you care about yourself and start to approach life thinking in terms of "We" instead of "I," you definitely are in love and looking to build a future with this individual.


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Some coding with my daughter
Technically we try and do this the first of the year, but time was not on our side. For one thing, Luba started school this past fall, so we have a lot of stuff to do with that. Also, I've been very busy as well. But, better late then never! This year I decided to introduce her to compiling…(she saw me compiling some server extensions and asked me why it was doing it by itself). So, I've been going back to my youth and playing around with c++ the past week (I am planning on getting back into application development) and so here is a cool little bit of code, daddy/daughter style.\n
{% gist 1678814 %}
If you are not familiar with the C languages, I am making use of a struct….this is essentially the same as a class. It's declared a bit differently, but the end is the same. We created a person template in our structure and called two instances of it, yours and mine. The first time that we compiled, it just asked for name and age. Then we added the method to calculate the difference in the ages. Obviously we need more structure to make sure that if the first person is younger then the second it will still be correct, but for a bit of daddy/daughter time it suffices.
Fun was making mistakes and watching her see the compiler catch them! Damn I love raising a geek..I do not know what I would do if she were interested in stuff like sports…=)


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5 Nutrition Myths You Should Know
By Guest Blogger:
Karrar Khaku
Whether it's the latest magazine article telling you to drink only cucumber water for a week, or the latest Canada Food guide telling you to limit your consumption of eggs, mainstream nutritional information seems to be filled with craziness, contradictions, and confusion. Trends seem to pop up regularly, only to disappear and pop up again a few years later. Ironically, certain unfounded nonsense does the rounds as true fact, and seems to stick as general knowledge, despite scientific advancements to the contrary. Below you'll find five of the latest and greatest nutritional myths that we at Sports Science Strength & Conditioning want you to know about, and help us to debunk the old fashioned way – using good old scientific evidence.
A while ago I briefly wrote an article discussing "The All Natural 'Magic Pill' for Weight Loss" (<--- click the link to be taken to it directly). I targeted how Dr. Oz was selling lies. Not much has changed and he is not the only one doing it. Celebrities are in it too - pause for a sudden, short intake of breath.
The demand to become a thinner and healthier version of yourself is ever growing.
We are all guilty of trying to become a healthier person, but for some of us it may not be an easy feat. So we look for aids.
You may have a magazine that often gives tips to become leaner with some brand new supplement recommended by a bunch of doctors, or you may often refer to television programs that gives tips on how to properly dress to hide those annoying muffin tops.
Somehow we have tried some fad diet or some wacky machine that apparently makes you shed pounds after only three minutes of use a day.
There are so many enticing options that it is hard to choose which method is best for those desired six pack abs or fit into those jeans from your earlier college days.
Not to mention some very popular and trusted characters on television advertising on weight loss aids that are "miracles in a bottle" to get you sucked into the craze of purchasing your way into fat loss (see video below).
(Video by CNN - Youtube)
November 2018


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Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures fell for the second consecutive trading session on Tuesday on forecasts for better U.S. corn planting weather beginning this weekend and on recent rainfall that eased drought concerns and boosted production prospects.
The CBOT new-crop December corn futures contract, the month most sensitive to 2013 U.S. planting and growing weather, fell to a 10-month low, trading down 10-1/4 cents per bushel at $5.22-3/4 (all figures US$).
U.S. corn plantings have been stalled due to wet and cold weather but the rainfall also has added valuable moisture to drought-stricken soils.
"The story has been delayed plantings and now the focus is shifting to the weekend and next week and much better planting weather," said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Illinois-based research and advisory firm Allendale Inc.
Wheat also declined for the second consecutive trading session on prospects for improved crop growing weather soon while nearby or spot May soybeans turned higher, reversing two days of declines, on strong cash soybean and soymeal markets.
CBOT corn for May delivery was down 7-1/4 cents per bushel at $6.38-1/2, May wheat was down 4-3/4 at $6.97-1/2 and soybeans for May delivery were up 2-1/2 at $14.19-3/4.
Showers will linger in the Midwest on Thursday and there will be more rain on Friday and Saturday in the southern Midwest, said Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA Weather Services.
"Conditions will definitely change next week. It will be much warmer and much drier next week," Keeney said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in its weekly crop progress report released late on Monday, said only four per cent of the U.S. corn crop had been planted, up from two per cent a week ago but well behind the 16 per cent five-year average seeding pace.
Thirty-five per cent of the U.S. winter wheat crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down from 36 per cent a week ago and well below the 63 per cent of a year ago.
And, only seven per cent of the U.S. spring wheat crop had been planted, up from six per cent a week ago but well behind the 24 per cent five-year average.
CBOT new-crop November soybeans also were lower, down 6-1/2 cents per bushel at $11.96-1/4 on the improved U.S. crop prospects but the old-crop spot May held to gains trading up 2-1/2 at $14.19-3/4.
"The strong bean basis and meal basis are kind of the last remaining bullish factors here," the trader said.
Soybean spot cash basis bids jumped to the highest levels ever for this time of the year around the U.S. Midwest as the domestic stockpile tightened amid a slow pace of export shipments from South America, dealers said.
"In soybeans we're trading the tight stocks and demand hasn't slowed. The strong cash market is leading the way up," Nelson said.
Additional pressure on the wheat market came from signs of slowing economic growth in China.
"Other than reports of better weather conditions, poor demand from China is also a factor behind both corn and wheat being down," said Ker Chung Yang, commodities analyst at Singapore-based Phillip Futures.
Growth in China's vast factory sector dipped in April as new export orders shrank, a preliminary survey of factory managers showed on Tuesday, suggesting China still faces formidable global economic headwinds into the second quarter.
China is the worlds largest importer of soybeans and is often a big consumer and buyer of other agricultural commodities such as wheat and corn.
— Sam Nelson reports on the CBOT grain and soy futures markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hirtzer in Chicago and Nigel Hunt in London.


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Ready for some more Hits & Misses? (12 more things I've tried so you don't have to.)
If you read just one, make it the first one, OK?
Adjust my side view mirrors according to this 2-minute video.
I have been on a crusade to get people to do this. It eliminates the blind spot we all think is unavoidable. Based on my asking around, and posting about it on FB, I am convinced that MOST people do NOT adjust their side view mirrors this way, and are missing out on the safety and peace of mind that can result from it. Just watch the video! HIT
OMG, this is not new, but it was new to me (several months ago now). How did I not know about this before? It's a tool for stopping annoying robocalls and telemarketers. (The phone still rings once, but then it stops.) The only time (to my knowledge) that I've missed an important call was when my local power company notified us en masse that they would be turning off the power temporarily. (I learned as much from my neighbors.) A small price to pay for election season bliss, if you ask me! HIT
Cook hard-boiled eggs in the dishwasher
Oh, yes I did! Why not try it? It didn't work, though. Not at all. There are plenty of people — they're all on the internet, so it must be true, right? — who claim to have done this successfully. They must have hotter water, or or hotter dishwasher cycles than I do. I don't know. Whatever. No incentive to try it again. MISS
See and hear a 5-minute video of a real person perusing your website or app. This is fun! You can get 3 tests for free each month. The apparent intelligence of your tester will vary, and it can be eye-opening to learn their thought process, which they voice out loud while navigating your website. Try it! HIT
Craft carousel
I have one of these that I use for office supplies. Looks like they're still on sale at Michaels. HIT
Stretch and Fresh
The idea here is that these thin plastic food bowl covers are reusable and will save you (and the landfill) from spending money on disposable plastic wrap. I won't say it doesn't EVER work. But it didn't work enough times, on enough surfaces (glass, metal, ceramic, etc) for me to be able to recommend it. Well, it didn't work for me… which is what matters… MISS
Tape grid for arranging flowers
Create a grid with transparent tape to keep flowers in place in a large vase. This is a good one. I've done it for years! HIT
Kitty treats that double as toys
Someone gave me some Temptations Tumblers. You're supposed to toss them onto the ground and watch as your cat has the time of his life playing with them before eating them. I tossed them onto the ground and George looked at me like, "I don't get it. Why are you throwing my treats onto the ground?" (He didn't play, but he did eat them.) Later, I bought some Friskies Pull 'n Play string treats, fully expecting George to NOT play with them, but eat them. I was right on both counts. But there are cheaper treats. MISS
(Not to be confused with the Legacy Box Collection, sold by APPO, which are nice archival storage boxes for photos and other memorabilia.) This Legacybox is a service where you pay a fee, they send you a box, you fill it with photos, tapes, etc. and send it off to be digitized. I really wanted to try this so I could report back to you. But when it came right down to it, I couldn't. Or at least I haven't. My dilemma is this: Do I send off precious memories and risk having them be lost or damaged? (The alternatives being to do it myself, or do it locally.) Or, do I send off the discards, having weeded out duplicates and mistakes, just to see what happens, which seems like a waste of money? Granted, not using it at all, now that I have it, is also a waste of money. Fortunately I got mine at a deep holiday discount….over a year ago… UNRESOLVED
Watermelon cake
When I first saw this on Pinterest I thought what a cruel joke it would be to cut into a cake and find out it was just a watermelon. But seriously, when you think about it, watermelon + other fruits + whipped cream + slivered almonds = fruit salad! And I love fruit salad! My brother doesn't eat sugar, so I made this (with Stevia in the whipped cream) for his birthday. It was a HIT!
Prevent avocados from browning with cooking spray
Like in this article. No. It really wasn't any better than leaving it out and letting it brown. (I used olive oil spray.) MISS
Plastic Egg Carton as Ice Cube Tray
Well, yes….it works….although it's kinda flimsy. If you were going to routinely need extra ice cubes I would say to just go buy extra ice trays. But if you happened to need more ice cubes in a pinch….and if you happened to have some of these plastic egg cartons on hand….well, that's the problem with a lot of "life hacks", isn't it? There are a lot of "ifs". OK
Have you tried any of these things? Were they Hits for you, or Misses?
What about the things listed in Hits & Misses #1, #2, and #3?
Please share with us in the comments below!
Copyright 2017 by Hazel Thornton, Organized For Life.
Social media links directly to this page are encouraged!
Please contact me for other types of reprint permission.


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If you are interested in computer technology, you might have heard these 3 types of hard disk - SSD, SSHD and HDD. Normally, SSD is the most expensive among these 3 and the speed is also faster. Now we are bringing to you the speed test of the 3 hard disks as below:
Have you ever tried SSD or SSHD?
Source: YouTube


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Overflowing with opportunities for recreation and surrounded by the safety that small-town Groesbeck offers, our dedicated staff delights in leading the residents on short nature walks and local outings for fun and relaxation.
Our close proximity to Lake Limestone and Fort Parker State Park allows us to offer a wide variety of activities that cater to and perfectly meet the level of mobility, ability, and interests of all our residents.
Our diverse array of stimulating activities includes:
- Individual & Group Activities
- Daily Craft Projects
- Exercise Groups
- Holiday & Special Celebrations
- Music Therapy
- Pet Therapy
- Cooking Demos
- Live Entertainment
- Outdoor BBQ's
- Day Trips & Local Outings


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- Political Profile
- Regions & Countries
- Travelling Abroad
- Travelling to Barbados
- Travel documents to visit Barbados
- Visa information for travel to Barbados
- What do I need to know about import permits?
- How can I plan to get married in Barbados?
- Do I need a permit to drive in Barbados?
- Can non-nationals work in Barbados?
- How can I immigrate to Barbados?
- Are there health requirements or vaccines I need to have?
- Treaties
- Foreign Representatives
Foreign Policy
Goal Three: Maintaining and Elevating the Image and Profile of Barbados in the International Arena
The way a country is perceived by the international community is considerably influenced by the image it projects. Between 2000 and 2013, countries that upheld the basic principles of freedom, human rights, rule of law, peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts, good governance and multilateralism; that made a valuable contribution to the peace of the world; that fulfilled their international responsibilities commensurate with their means; and that maintained political and social stability and good relations with all countries have been invested with a positive image.
The attachment of a good image to a country, particularly of the developing group, constituted a "bankable" asset in the international community and enhanced its ability to expand and strengthen its bilateral and multilateral relationships with other members of the global community in a mutually beneficial and more accommodating manner.
Image therefore played an important role in international relations. Barbados' economic fortunes, between 2000 and 2013, were heavily reliant on tourists, foreign investors and foreign financial assistance. Consequently, it needed to maintain a very positive image and profile in the global space - the source of its tourists, investors and finance.
The boundaries of what was considered acceptable behaviour in most of the world between 2000 and 2013 were defined by a consensus on the principal elements of a shared morality – democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the peaceful settlement of interstate differences, religious and cultural tolerance, good governance and stable political behaviour.
Barbados therefore considered it essential to project a principles and rules based foreign policy onto the global stage as a means of enhancing the attraction of its business offerings; generally getting support for its interests while at the same time encouraging reformed behaviour from states with weak brand images. Supporting the sponsorship and pursuit of these moral attributes by the international community; participating in the global conversations and debates on moral issues and the building and deepening of cultural relations were identified as the means of projecting Barbados' image abroad.
Barbados adopted the position between 2000 and 2013 that it would contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in representing and supporting rules, values and principles which promoted respect for the rule of law and human rights and good governance. It also sought to bring to the global table the moderate and balanced views of a small developing state with a firmly established tradition of parliamentary democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Barbados therefore considered it essential to actively and consistently engage in substantive dialogue and consultations on critical social and political issues facing the hemisphere and, indeed, the world. Through such dialogue Barbados hoped to help maintain its reputation and build partnerships that guaranteed its social, economic, political and cultural progress in a dynamic international environment. Barbados also sought to assume membership of a number of multilateral groupings that were emerging in Latin America and elsewhere. Barbados was also determined to defend its good reputation whenever it was challenged.
The understandings were:
- It was necessary for Barbados to develop and sustain relationships with foreign governments and organizations so that it could exert influence on them to accommodate its interests in the decisions they take.
- Multilateralism is in the best interest of small states that generally do not have significant negotiating power when dealing with larger countries.
- The necessity of projecting Barbados as a stable country with strong respect for the rule of law and good governance institutions. the reform and renewal of the global governance architecture should be supported


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According to this article there is proposed legislation in the assembly to legalize marijuana because of the potential $1.4 billion in revenue from legalizing pot that could help with the budget woes. In its current form it will require federal sign-off, which is not going to happen anytime soon… but may possibly be re-written to get around this.
As I have stated before I am in favor of legalization, and I think it would be interesting if tough economic times finally get this ball rolling rather then any of the other arguments for it that have been presented.