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Treaty (noun, adjective)
A treaty, as it is generally understood, constitutes an agreement between nations which is binding no matter what the circumstances, but in reinsurance the irrevocableness of the deal is now somewhat less equitable. Treaty reinsurance describes a contractual agreement between cedant and reinsurer from which the latter cannot escape, but from which the former can usually now withdraw if a rating agency declares its diminished confidence in the reinsurer's ability to retain its franchise, thereby uttering a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Treaty reinsurance is akin to dentistry. First, both are preventative in the main. Like a scrape-and-polish, treaty cover is purchased based on perceived need, rather than desire, driven by the filling versus root canal factor: the feared worst-case scenario makes some minor up-front pain tolerable. Likewise, both treaty reinsurance and dentistry allow the buyer to bite off more than otherwise he could chew.
In the same way that dentists offer a handful of appealing services such as whitening, reinsurers sometimes offer treaties which insurers really do want. Consider a simple expense ratio deal to help an insurer reporting under US GAAP. A treaty, technically priced, might require a rate on line of 5% to cover the risk transfer. The insurer, concerned about his expense ratio, may agree to pay 8%, but with a commission payable by the reinsurer of 37.5% of ceded premium. The insurer's net premium income falls; so too do net expenses, since commission under GAAP is merely a negative expense. That forces expense ratios dramatically downward (hopefully allowing the cedant to meet a corporate objective and be rewarded with a tidy bonus). It is just one way that creative treaty underwriting can perform a magical makeover for cedants which is as dramatic as dental bleaching.
It is not the norm. Most treaty insurances and dental treatments seem punitively expensive unless they are triggered or essential. Meanwhile, treaty reinsurers have something in common with dentists. No school child grows up wanting to be a reinsurer, nor is dentistry a common aspiration among the imaginative young. It is chance and the pursuit of significant earnings which sometimes push otherwise creative individuals into the extraction room or the treaty office. However, when reinsurance capacity falls short, new reinsurers appear much faster than the dentist factory can manufacture new polish-and-drill men.
Proportional or excess?
Just as dentists provide both maintenance services and emergency work, treaty reinsurance comes in two basic types: proportional and excess of loss (the latter occasionally but aptly misunderstood as 'excessive' loss). Both sorts of treaty require the reinsurer to accept risk related to multiple individual insurance policies, possibly tens of thousands of them. However, in the case of proportional business the reinsurer accepts the risk at a price specified by the original insurer. For better or worse, the reinsurer typically has little recourse to interfere with the price charged.
The situation is different with excess of loss covers, where the reinsurer accepts only a specific layer of risk arising from a specified portfolio, usually a specific amount 'excess of' another amount. In theory the underwriter has complete pricing control, but that supremacy is nowadays delegated to risk modelling software. These fancy programmes determine a likely loss to a specific treaty if a theoretical event occurs, thereby helping reinsurers to find the otherwise elusive 'right price' (or at least the minimum). Then, when real losses happen, the modellers redevelop their software to reflect new experiences, hoping that future outputs will better reflect the real potential losses. This practice (V point X-ing) is like insurers deciding how much treaty reinsurance they need based on their largest historical loss, then revising their opinion when something burns through it.
Reinsurance lexicographers happily discuss the origins of the word treaty for hours. Some say it was first used in Lloyd's, when an enterprising trader wrote an arbitrage deal so sweet he whistled and declared, "she's a real treat." Others say that the wordings which typically accompany the contract (or, in practice, follow an average of 127.4 days after conclusion) are so lengthy that each is considered a 'treatise'.
Still others say the usage relates to the arcane English legal concept of 'invitations to treat'. These are the non-binding prices which shopkeepers display, inviting consumers to treat themselves, by buying the goods. (The same concept allows internet retailers to advertise £3 televisions but wriggle out of the deal later on.) The relationship between 'invitation to treat' and 'treaty' is said to arise from the treaty capacity once granted by eager marine reinsurers. So large and cheap was their treaty product that it was viewed as an 'invitation to invite to treat'. The treaties allowed hull underwriters to offer uneconomic prices and still report profits. It is just one of the possibilities that treaty reinsurance buyers love to sink their teeth into, but like the dentist's drill should be treated with care indeed.


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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) -- A water main break was brought to the attention of Dublin Park directors early Sunday Morning. The Park was forced to shut off the water supply because plumbing crews were not able to work on repairs due to implement weather Sunday.
The leak not only meant a muddy mess but no running water in any of the indoor park facilities. Directors decided to shut down the park Sunday afternoon.
Crews had no trouble with the repairs, they actually finished more quickly than expected. The Dublin Park pool, all indoor facilities and ball fields reopened to the public Monday afternoon at 1:30.

subset: commoncrawl


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When designing your bathroom, you may want to think about opting for a pottery vessel sink rather than a traditional sink. These sinks, which often are handcrafted, have a certain amount of charm and character that is lacking in standard bathroom sinks. They can transform your space from boring to beautiful, creating a one-of-a-kind bathroom that really reflects your personal style.
These sinks come in many different styles and designs. Some are designed to look rustic, with roughly shaped edges and earth tone glazes. Sinks like this work well in cabins or in Tuscan-inspired decorating schemes.
Other pottery sinks are a bit more whimsical in nature. Some are even sculpted to incorporate animals like octopi or starfish. One of these creatively-styled sinks can add an artistic element to your bathroom, creating a focal point that all of your guests are sure to love.
Pottery sinks also can incorporate intricate glazing. For instance, Mexican-inspired sinks often feature highly-detailed painted designs that have been glazed onto the surface of the pottery. These beautifully crafted sinks are like works of art in and of themselves, making them a fantastic addition to any bathroom space.
When choosing a pottery sink for your bathroom, you need to think about both its appearance and the way that it functions. Vessel sinks, in particular, have to be fitted correctly to make sure that they will work with your faucet and that there is enough countertop space to accommodate them.
Take careful measurements before you start shopping so that you can be sure that the sink will fit in your existing space. If you are designing your bathroom from scratch, on the other hand, you can choose your sink first and then design the rest of your bathroom around it, choosing a faucet that will work well with it. You will also need to make sure that your vanity is large enough to accommodate it.
Along with the size of the sink, you also need to think about its overall aesthetic. The style of the sink should fit well with the overall decorating scheme in your bathroom. Make sure that it matches the faucet and fixtures so that you can create a cohesive, attractive look throughout the space.
Choosing a pottery vessel sink is a great alternative to going with a traditional sink in your bathroom. These beautifully designed sinks are ideal for adding an artistic touch to your space.


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If you've been stopping by my blog this month - this is the 4th Guest Designer Layout I've completed for the Lasting Memories blog, and I have to say, it has been lots of FUN!
Come join us and "show us your plaid!! Here is mine:
I've had this really cool "Starbucks" Washi tape that I ordered on-line from the Washi Kingdom website, and thought it would work great with the plaids I found, and the "Starbucks Selfie" photo that I wanted to use! I hope my layout inspires you to play along!
|I punched a hole on the side so I could add some paper yarn as a pull. I created a "pocket" behind the photo with 3M 3-D foam tape, so I could slip the journaling card in there.
Of course I had to add some more Starbucks Washi Tape to the top of my journaling card too!!
I used a cardboard coffee cup sleeve that I had in my stash as an embellishment too - and I love these little plastic Starbucks embellishments I picked up at a Scrapbook Expo Show last year! You can also see a close up of the super cool washi tapes here too!!
I used Tonic Studio's Nuvo Mousse - in Citrus Green both around the edges of the dark green base page - and also used it in a Tim Holtz stencil too. I LOVE the shimmer and dimension! Oh and that little iPhone brad and the Selfie circle brad at the bottom of the photo are so much fun too!
Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you play along with us at the Lasting Memories Scrapbook Challenge blog too!
((HUGS)) ~ Sherri


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Pre-Order Policy
Pre-Order Policy
Q: What is a Pre-Order?
A: Pre-orders allow you to place advance orders for items that have not yet been released. When you place the pre-order, we then order the item in advance from our suppliers.
The pictures and item description for the Pre-Order are for explanation purpose, the color and shapes for the final product may vary.
Release dates are set by the manufacturers and are subject to change. We are not liable for any changes to a pre-release date advertised by us, but we will keep you informed of any potential changes
Q: How do I get charged for a Pre-order?
A: We offer two options for Pre-orders. Deposit payment option and Full payment option, the funds will be charged immediately based on the payment option you choose.
Deposit payment: By paying a small amount of deposit, you can secure the product for certain period, the payment of a deposit is taken as a part of the full price.
Full payment: If the price is reduced when the items officially released, the difference will be refunded to you, while if the price is increased at that time, you don't need to add any payment. As a result, the price is reduced instead of increased if you choose full payment for the pre-orders.
When Supplier reduces the product's supply, Full Payment will be sent out priority.
Q: What happens if the price of my pre-order item changes?
A: 1)For full payment method
If an item you have already pre-ordered is dropped when it is released, and you have already been charged for the Full payment, we will refund you the price difference via your original payment method.
If the price of your pre-ordered item increases, you don't need to pay for the price difference. Which means the final price you pay is less or equal to the actual release price, and this is only for Full payment Pre-orders.
2)For deposit payment method
The total price you need to pay is the same with the actual official released price. You should pay the balance as per the price when the items officially released. A balance payment notification will be sent to your account email address when the product is due in stock, you can click the "Balance" button to make the balance payment.
Of course, you can also cancel the deposit Pre-order if you are not satisfied with the actual total price. The pre-order service contract will be canceled if the balance is not been paid off after 14 calendar days of receipt of balance payment request notification and the product is in stock.
Q: When could I cancel the Pre-order?
A: Most times, the pre-order quantity depends on the order we received.If you need to cancel the order, please send the message to us before this item shipped out by the manufacturer.
Q: How do I cancel a Pre-order?
A: PayPal reversal will be provided with a request by email. Any money received from you will be refunded via your original payment method. If you decide to cancel your order, please email us at email@example.com


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Consultants / Specifiers
Whether you are a Lift Contractor, Consultant, Specifier or End User, we hope you find what you are looking for.
We offer an extensive range of design and supply services to the lift industry.
Through our philosophy of offering all round solutions to our Customers we demonstrate cost effective, innovative equipment supply to accommodate standard and bespoke applications.
From quotation, design, supply and after sales ongoing support, Global Lift Equipment offer an all round solution for complete lifts & modernisation.
We would welcome the opportunity to show some of our successful projects and discuss your individual requirements.
If you have a particular application you would like us to evaluate with you, we would be pleased to put forward our scheme.


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Different Roles
Each of the different types of white blood cells have a special role in the immune system, and many are able to transform themselves in different ways. The following descriptions help to understand the roles of the different cells.
- Neutrophils are by far the most common form of white blood cells that you have in your body. Your bone marrow produces trillions of them every day and releases them into the bloodstream, but their life span is short -- generally less than a day. Once in the bloodstream neutrophils can move through capillary walls into tissue. Neutorphils are attracted to foreign material, inflammation and bacteria. If you get a splinter or a cut, neutrophils will be attracted by a process called chemotaxis. Many single-celled organisms use this same process -- chemotaxis lets motile cells move toward higher concentrations of a chemical. Once a neutrophil finds a foreign particle or a bacteria it will engulf it, releasing enzymes, hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals from its granules to kill the bacteria. In a site of serious infection (where lots of bacteria have reproduced in the area), pus will form. Pus is simply dead neutrophils and other cellular debris.
- Eosinophils and basophils are far less common than neutrophils. Eosinophils seem focused on parasites in the skin and the lungs, while Basophils carry histamine and therefore important (along with mast cells) to causing inflammation. From the immune system's standpoint inflammation is a good thing. It brings in more blood and it dilates capillary walls so that more immune system cells can get to the site of infection.
- Of all blood cells, macrophages are the biggest (hence the name "macro"). Monocytes are released by the bone marrow, float in the bloodstream, enter tissue and turn into macrophages. Most boundary tissue has its own devoted macrophages. For example, alveolar macrophages live in the lungs and keep the lungs clean (by ingesting foreign particles like smoke and dust) and disease free (by ingesting bacteria and microbes). Macrophages are called langerhans cells when they live in the skin. Macrophages also swim freely. One of their jobs is to clean up dead neutrophils -- macropghages clean up pus, for example, as part of the healing process.
- The lymphocytes handle most of the bacterial and viral infections that we get. Lymphocytes start in the bone marrow. Those destined to become B cells develop in the marrow before entering the bloodstream. T cells start in the marrow but migrate through the bloodstream to the thymus and mature there. T cells and B cells are often found in the bloodstream but tend to concentrate in lymph tissue such as the lymph nodes, the thymus and the spleen. There is also quite a bit of lymph tissue in the digestive system. B cells and T cells have different functions.
- B cells, when stimulated, mature into plasma cells -- these are the cells that produce antibodies. A specific B cell is tuned to a specific germ, and when the germ is present in the body the B cell clones itself and produces millions of antibodies designed to eliminate the germ.
- T cells, on the other hand, actually bump up against cells and kill them. T cells known as Killer T cells can detect cells in your body that are harboring viruses, and when it detects such a cell it kills it. Two other types of T cells, known as Helper and Suppressor T cells, help sensitize killer T cells and control the immune response.


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Two kinds of GIF files exist. One is animated while the other is not. When looking at the icon for a GIF file, you cannot tell the difference between the two. The difference is noticeable when the file is opened in a media player. Animated GIFs are animated picture files and animate when opened. A non-animated GIF displays just a picture. Animated GIF files commonly range from two to five megabytes in size. Many people like to send humorous animated GIFs to each other because their size is much smaller than a video file. While animated GIFs do not have any sound, they load up much faster than videos as a result. Usually, animated GIFs run only for a few seconds. In a Windows operating system, Windows Media Player plays animated GIFs by default.
Step 1
Open the folder containing the animated GIF file.
Step 2
Locate the animated GIF file inside the folder.
Step 3
Set Windows Media Player as the default media player for animated GIFs. Right-click the animated GIF and click "Properties." Click the "Change" button beside "Open with." A screen appears with a list of programs inside of it. Click on "Windows Media Player" under "Recommended Programs." Check the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" box, then click "OK" at the bottom of the screen to return to the Properties menu. Click "Apply," then "OK." Now, all animated GIFs open in Windows Media Player by default.
Step 4
Double-click the animated GIF file. Windows Media Player opens and displays the animated GIF. Press the square "Stop" button to stop the animated GIF. Close Windows Media Player when finished by clicking the "X" in the top-right corner of the screen.


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Play a Fragment
Caution, 2005, video, PAL, 09:06 min, color, sound
Caution responds to performance art. Here, the man reappears on the prestigious oval lawn in front of the library, where students walk by to go to classes. A normal day on an American campus. The tiny figure walking the middle of the path opposite the high viewing point, strikes as slightly out of place: the gap is put in place, visually. It is also put in place in the performance, as he walks faster than others, as if he had a purpose. He begins to unroll red-and-white European caution tape, routinely used to block of areas that represent a danger for the public. He knots the end of that tape to a tree. With fierce determination – or is it resigned repetition? – he screens off an area. First, between trees, so as to block off the busiest path that leads to the center of campus. Repetition, constituting a dense sculptural wall of bright colors, establishes the hallmark of the series as video installation. Then, he begins a somewhat longer walk over the lawn to the other side of the oval. He attached the tape to a tree there, then returns.


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Jori Stern
Leaman Team
Senior Loan Officer
Documents Needed For Mortgages
- Provide a clear copy of your Social Security card. If you do not have this, please provide a copy of your Passport or other State issued ID.
- Provide a clear copy of your Driver's License. If you are a permanent resident, please provide a copy of your permanent resident card front and back.
- Two most recently monthly asset statements to be used for this loan (checking, savings, 401k, IRA, stocks/bonds, etc.) Please be sure to include ALL PAGES, EVEN IF BLANK. If statements are quarterly, please provide most recent quarterly statement, all pages. NOTE: Online statement printouts must show: bank name, account number, borrower name and borrower address to be accepted.
- Most recent Pay Stubs covering a FULL ONE MONTH PERIOD for all borrowers.
- Provide Copies of your 2 most recent W-2's.
- Provide copies of your last 2 years Federal Tax Returns (all schedules), all pages. If you have not completed your most recent year's Taxes, please provide a copy of the extension form.
- If Self Employed, please provide your most recent Business Licenses and all corporate returns with all schedules. If Business License is not available, please provide a CPA letter.
- If you currently own any property or hold additional mortgages (including Equity lines of Credit), ALL OF THE FOLLOWING must be provided for ALL properties owned: Current Mortgage Statements, Homeowners Insurance Declarations Page, current Tax Bill. If there is an HOA, please provide amount of HOA monthly dues.
- Letter of explanation for any deposit that exceeds normal payroll.
Paper trail of any money transfers with supporting documentation.
Copy of cancelled earnest money check.
- Letter of explanation if moving to another primary residence. Explain disposition of current home and the motivation for occupying the new residence (i.e. bigger home, school districts, closer to work, medical reasons, size of lot, etc.)
- Signed disclosure packet of all pages.
- Appraisal credit card authorization form signed.
You can reach me at my office at (512) 582-8952 or directly at (954) 465-8231.
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To celebrate Independence Day, I am pleased to announce that, along with my dedicated classmates and following in the footsteps of nutrition activists like J Morris Hicks, I've achieved Dr T Colin Campbell's Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition!
Declare your own independence from drugs and chronic disease today!
The benefits of a healthy lifestyle are undeniable. The public is largely unaware of the preponderance of evidence supporting the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. Controversy, misunderstanding, and degenerative diseases are rampant. Campbell's eight principles provide a simple framework for understanding the complex processes underlying human health and nutrition.
Write a forty-five- to fifty-second dialogue for a public radio announcement that clearly and effectively communicates an important aspect of this message to the public.
Health news is confusing and scary - another chemical causes cancer or a gene makes mice fat or thin. One of every two people gets heart disease. Are we doomed to disease?
No! You are in control. Multiple studies show that the food you eat outweighs all of these health factors: genes, toxic chemicals, even exercise. Many doctors, for example Dr T Colin Campbell, want you to know this: Good health comes from whole plant foods like wholegrains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Disease comes from animal foods like meat, eggs, and milk, and refined foods like white flour and sugar.
What happens when you eat a plant-based diet, with too many healthy nutrients to even count? A cancer cell can't grow into a tumour, and tumours shrink. Weight loss comes easily. All your blood vessels stay clear and strong. Even risky genes don't cause disease. Study after study show these results.
The list goes on. With disease, your body is only begging you to clean up your fuel - go plant-strong today and get healthy!
Brought to you by the T Colin Campbell Foundation.


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Sleep. Once it is lost, it can never be reclaimed. Speaking of which, I need to start getting more sleep.
This aspect of sleep is similar to time. Once I pass up on an opportunity, I can never get it back. Luckily though, time is a bit easier to negotiate with. I can wait it out and continue to actively seek similar opportunities elsewhere. However, there will always be regret when great opportunities are lost. I think regret serves as a teacher in such cases. Regret is a great teacher. That goes without any exaggeration.
I wouldn't want to repeat a class with her. It would be too heart-wrenching.


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When asked about the Summer Jam incident involving Slowbucks, who was robbed and assaulted during 50 Cent's performance at the annual music festival, Atlanta rapper Lil Scrappy called the G-Unit helmsman "a wealthy ass goon" and cosigned the rapper being the last of his kind.
Lil Scrappy, who was signed to G-Unit Records at one point in his career, also credited 50 for being both a "smart" and "intelligent" goon, during his interview with Vlad TV.
"I don't even know if it's beef or what," Lil Scrappy said. "That nigga 50 get money, cuz. You know what I'm saying? That big dog get money. That's what cuz about. He talked to me a little game. So, I know cuz he get that money. You feel me? So, I don't know. But I tell you one thing, that nigga 50 is a wealthy ass goon. Like for real. Just me knowing that nigga. That nigga a wealthy ass goon. I fuck with that nigga hard though. That's a real nigga. Every now and then I holler. Every now and then I catch up with him…You know how they be like 'They gave the wrong nigga money?' That nigga is a smart ass, intelligent goon."
Prior to referring to 50 Cent as "a wealthy ass goon," Scrappy expressed his shock at there being any beef between 50 and Slowbucks. He says the Summer Jam incident was "crazy" and recalled the two men being homies.
"Yeah, I was signed to G-Unit at one point," he said. "It was a great experience fuckin with the big dog…That's crazy cause them two used to be homies. Like for real. Slowbucks and 50 used to be homies, so that shit kinda [throwed] me…I don't know what they into. You know what I'm saying? I don't get all into their junk cause I'm down South. I'm in The A. I don't really—I pay attention to my own shit. That shit just crazy, cuz."
RELATED: Lil Scrappy Released From Drug Rehab, To Begin Mentoring Teens


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Later, 2015
Ah, New Year's Eve. The day when you can not escape the retrospective "Best of" and "Worst of" lists. In fact, the only thing that outnumbers those lists are all the resolutions people are making. While I can't promise to avoid a 2015 recap, I do promise that you're not going to get a list… Continue reading Later, 2015


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PrintersThe following list shows the model of the printer at each location and who is responsible for paper and toner. These building maps show the location of all printers in the D-INFK buildings.
Printer ModelsThe primary differences between the two models is that the MP C3003SP can print on A3 paper and is faster and bigger than the MP C305SP.
Pull PrintingJobs printed to the pull printing printer
card-ethz can be released on any of the printers above.


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While some manufacturers have forward 'vault' features to provide a secure space on handsets ( Ex.Samsung), Anyway,stock Android Device hasn't allowed very good at dealing with the need to selectively show files and folders by default, and from what we've seen of Nougat so far, it hasn't made great leaps in this area just yet.Aim of this article is explaining the Secure Folder App as well as explaining the how to use secure folder on Smasung Galaxy Devices.
Secure Folder Apps For Android
We can find so many secure Folder Apps for android are most popular and most effective tool among android users.I do not explain about this apps.All are most awesome.Other important fact is you can set your device to save your data to save automatically using this Apps.You can find every detail from the Google PlayStore easily.They are as below,
Hide Photos,Video Hide Pro
If you keep sensitive data on your Galaxy Note 8 device, I am sure that you will find this tutorial more than useful. You can keep the files you want away from others. All the important data can be stored in that special Secure folder including photos, bank details, apps, login details, just to name a few, so you must learn how to manually move files to Android Device's Secure Folder.This features can use easily with Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Android Device.So i take this valuable Smart Phone as an Example to explain properly.
Sensitive data on your Android device is most important facts to your life.They may be bank details,your special photos,Apps,Login details,special phone numbers,your certificates details and etc.Don't worry can keep your valuable data away from others easily.You can store such details in Special Secure Folder which it support to store any valuable files safely and productively.It is similar to the digital library so you can use stored data productively as your wish but other persons can't use data why they can't access to this most secured Folder can manage and control only yourself.
Let me assure you that you can move and install entire apps like Google Drive into this encrypted space, so that the content you create with these apps will also be protected from the start.
Other important fact is you have the chance to make your folder invisible from your apps screen.So never other persons but you will know the folder even exists.
How to Manually move files to Galaxy Note 8 Secure Folder
- To begin the procedure, you can open the Secure Folder app on your app drawer of the android device. You can do that by tapping the suitable icon you have seen.
- Then, you can login with the method which you have chosen when you set things up
- You can simply choose the file you want to be placed in the Secure Folder storage area
- Feel free to add any file to Secure Folder by selecting the My Files button. This will immediately open the file browser and from there you should make a choice or more;
- You have to chance also filter for just pictures, music, documents and videos by using the shortcuts when you tap the Add files button;
- Even more, let you add that you can move or copy files from the regular storage to the Secure Folder. If you choose to copy the files, then you'll still have the original that is available through any app within your permmission. If your wish is just to move them, then should remember that you will only be able to access them through Secure Folder.
I think this helps will be securing your data productively. If you have any doubt, please,just let me know in the comments area below.


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[Editor's Note: The following is by TDV's Mexico-based education correspondent, Jorge Gato]
It is time once again to give yet 15 more reasons for escaping from the United Soviet States of Amerika (USSA). The following are utterly absurd happenings in the Empire of which I muse upon from the comfort of a warm climate and peaceable surroundings abroad.
1) Police officers, who once were dignified upholders of the law, shoot people's pets for fun.
2) The government will take away your newborn baby if you eat a poppy seed bagel, while they at the same time illegally and unethically cultivate 90% of the world's supply of poppy seed-opium-heroin in Afghanistan.
3) The government will accidentally shoot you for holding a cell phone.
4) The government will imprison you for drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.
5) The government will, like a giant vampire squid, forcibly suck your blood.
6) The government will extort citizens by setting up fake checkpoints.
7) The government will imprison you for sarcasm.
8) The government will imprison you for wearing a t-shirt.
9) The government will chase you out of a convenience store for purchasing sparkling water, smash your car as you flee in trepidation and in lieu of honing up to their pathetic ineptitude and evil, put you in jail.
10) The government will incarcerate you for wearing too much perfume.
11) The government will classify you "terrorist" for complaining about them poisoning your water.
12) The government will record your whole life (i.e. Prism, Bonesaw, etc.).
13) The government will assassinate its own citizens and journalists for just doing their job (i.e. Michael Hastings).
14) The government will blow up a passenger plane filled with innocent civilians just for the heck of it (i.e. TWA 800).
15) The government will arm Islamic radicals who cut off the heads of Christians.
I was disturbed by the state of society upon my latest incursion into the USSA. When the average citizen forgets the meaning of Memorial Day and does not know why they celebrate Independence Day, I become nauseated and am at a total loss for words.
A new documentary called Captivated sums up a great deal wrong with American society. Additonally, a new study has come out detailing the threat of "digital dementia". Both demonstrate the unhealthy obsession with television, computers and cell phone media, and how it is essentially dumbing down the average person and neutering the American male. Back in the USSA, I was fidgeting with someone's home television setup and being that I don't own a television, I inevitably screwed something up and they threw a fit and nearly had a heart attack.
I recently attended a wedding in the USSA and Americans were watching sports during the banquet instead of giving the event the attention it properly deserved. Some told me of their plans to Escape from Amerika. Others applauded with admiration my successful exile. Still others rambled incoherently.
Events surrounding the Fourth of July celebration in Boston ultimately sum everything up with a large dose of irony, so I don't have to. The government has instilled the public with fear and prohibited them from freely celebrating freedom. Why even bother? The goose is cooked and the frog is boiled. Cryptohippie's Paul Rosenberg recently gave a few great reasons to stop caring about politics: it's time consuming and doesn't change much.
Whether deciding to stay or flee, Americans can learn much from the lesson of the fig tree, which Jesus used as a parable to forecast his second coming. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates."
-Jorge Gato
I read the part on smartphone addiction with the pursed mouth and raised eyebrows of badly feigned innocence. There isn't a more internet-addicted soul than I, good reader. And I just upgraded from my buggy, twitchy, unreliable Android to the new Galaxy S4. I feel a purer love for this wonderful device than I do for most of the humans in my personal life.
So I immediately did a quick spin around the internet for a dissenting opinion on digital dementia and found this from TGDaily.com:
It is extremely plausible that people should worry about their memories, or that doctors should find teenagers uncooperative, forgetful and inattentive. The key question is whether our memories, or teenagers' cognitive skills, are worse than they ever have been – and if smart phones are to blame for this. The context for this story is a recurring moral panic about young people, new forms of technology and social organisation.
For a long time it was TV, before that it was compulsory schooling ("taking kids out of their natural environment"). When the newspaper became common people complained about the death of conversation. Plato even complained that writing augured the death of memory and understanding). The story also draws on the old left brain-right brain myth, which – despite being demonstrably wrong – will probably never die.
Of course, it is possible that smartphones (or the internet, or TV, or newspapers, or writing) could damage our thinking abilities. But all the evidence suggest the opposite, with year by year and generation-by-generation rises found in IQ scores. One of the few revealing pieces of research in this area showed that people really are more forgetful of information they know can be easily retrieved, but actually better able to remember where to find that information again.
This isn't dementia, but a completely normally [sic] process of relying on our environment to store information for us. You can see the moral panic driving these stories reflected in the use of that quote about teenagers not being able to remember phone numbers. So what! I can't remember phone numbers any more – because I don't need to.
Aside from this quibbling defense of my internet and smartphone addiction (and as an unschooling advocate I would argue with the author of the quibble that compulsory schooling is both immoral and damaging), I have to concur with everything else Jorge wrote. The USSA…sucks.
I happened to call my good ol' statist dad this morning to ask him about getting citizenship in our native Caribbean nation of St. Vincent. Last my dad had heard, getting Vincentian citizenship for a woman is as easy as marrying a Vincentian man (American ancap ladies looking for a really cheap and rapid path to a second passport, take note…and send us your photos). Things are a little mor complicated for non-Vincentian men marrying Vincentian women, with a little more paperwork involved, but it's still relatively easy.
In any case, as usually happens in conversations with my father, we talked about whether or not the US was still the premier destination for economic and political freedom. Dear old Dad is from another time…when the US was the place to go, especially for productive people from African and Caribbean nations afflicted with blatantly oppressive kleptocracies. He just cannot for the life of him see the shift that has taken place in the US he has always thought of a shining light among the nation-states. The total surveillance state just doesn't strike any fear into his heart. The imperialism…the militarized police force…the assassination of American citizens…drones proliferating in American skies…PRISM…the persecution of whistleblowers…no sweat! Dad insists that Amerika is stil lthe best of all possible tax farms.
Those of you reading this know better. Edward Snowden is finding all this out the hard way right now. He is currently looking for temporary asylum in Russia until he can fly to one of the Latin American nations that have offered him more permanent asylum. Don't wait till you're in Snowden's situation. Prep your escape while the getting's good. TDV has been recommending Asia and Latin America for years to those who are looking to beat the rush and get some distance and safety from the USSA empire.
I can haz temporary asylum?
And more than recommending, TDV has been facillitating the acquisition of second citizenships and passports to help people eventually divorce themselves from the USSA forever. You can click here to learn more about that.
Gary Gibson Editor, The Dollar Vigilante


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My fiance and I did a custom ring and we very pleased. He did exactly what I wanted, and told me what would work and what would not. He gave us a quote and the quote was the same after the ring was done. I brought in the center stone and he created the ring around it as well as a matching wedding band.
Chelsea M. – June 2015
We have brought several pieces of jewelry for repair to Arman's. The quality of work is outstanding and the service excellent. You cannot even tell where the repair was done – the jewelry comes back in the same condition as new. In addition, they really care about their customers and advise in their customers best interest. We have also had a piece redone and the design suggested by Arman's transformed an ordinary piece into something spectacular, bringing out the quality and sparkle of the jewels that had not been obvious in the original design. I cannot recommend Arman's Jewellers enough!
Maria van Santen – June 2015
I have had a wonderful experience purchasing my engagement ring at Arman's Jewellers! I provided them with a design and they made it exactly as I wanted!The price was also much better than at the other places I looked at!I certainly recommend them to anyone! Thank you so much!
Johhny C. – April 2015
Arman's designed a gorgeous, perfect engagement ring for me! They were very patient during the design process and explained things well. The quality of the workmanship in the ring is excellent. I have other jewellery where the small accent diamonds all look a bit different upon close inspection, but the ones in my ring are perfectly matched. It is so well made that I am still noticing new things about the excellent craftsmanship a month later… and loving it even more!
I chose Arman's to design my ring because of the service I received while getting a chain repaired (a few times – my nephew keeps grabbing it and breaking it!). They are always friendly and they repaired my chain onsite within minutes. One time they were busy, so I left it with them and it was ready for me the next day. It is nice to be able to have jewellery repaired without wondering about where it is being sent off to … and what might happen while it is gone.
I am very pleased with my experience at Arman's and recommend them to my friends and family.
Elizabeth L. – March 2015
Thank you Arman's Jewellers for making our 40th wedding anniversary so memorable. My wife's new engagement ring is beautiful and the work you did on our other pieces of jewelry was exceptional… What impressed us the most was your professionalism and experience as well as the prices you charge for your merchandise and services. Out of several jewelry stores we visited we are so happy we chose you and we look forward to doing business with you again.
Kern P. – February 2015
I strongly recommend this place. I bought a custom engagement ring here at the recommendation of a friend and I have not regretted it for one second. They were very friendly and helpful as I described what I wanted and they gave me an incredibly good price in the end. My fiancée loves the ring and regularly receives complements about it. Honestly, I don't think there is much else that can be said. This should be your first stop if you are looking to buy jewellery.
Dave A. – January 2015
I have been looking for a jeweller to complete some repairs on a 22K gold ring and chain. Initially I had the repair done in Mississauga however the work significantly over priced and of very poor quality such that it needed repairs again after only a month! After calling and visiting local jewellers with goldsmiths on site, I choose to use Arman's Jewellers and I am so glad I did. The work was significantly greater than what was previously done to the extent that you could not even tell the ring had any damage! I am still in awe at how great both pieces look. They took the time to explain various repair options with me as well as gave me their opinions on what they felt would be best – all of this without pressuring me to make a decision on the spot unlike other places I had visited. I would recommend Arman's Jewellers to anyone looking for superior and quality workmanship with very affordable pricing. Thank you!
Vik J. – January 2015
I have discovered Arman's Jewellers 2 years ago via a local advertisement pamphlet. I would like to recommend their excellent services to any customer, who expects courtesy, good advise, fine craftsmanship, great expertise and fast delivery. I have used Arman's Jewellers for repairs and jewellery cleaning, but as I observed, he carries a very fine and unique jewellery line in his store, which would please many customers.
Eva H. – December 2014
I have a custom engagement and wedding ring set, designed by my husband and built by a jeweler in Toronto. The engagement ring has a piece of granite cut and polished as the stone, and the wedding band was made to fit in beside it perfectly. (The granite was taken from the mountain where Ian proposed) All of this is great, except for my rings haven't fit in years, and I have been to scared to let someone else touch them.
I went in for a consult and found Arman's to be both reassuring and highly competent. I decided to go for it, and left my rings with them (I know, it's a nauseating feeling to walk away from them!) My rings look perfect, fit perfectly and I got them back really quickly (pretty sure he knew how scared I was to leave them!!) You truly can't tell where the rings were cut to add the extra gold and make them larger. He protected my stone (which is literally priceless and could never be replaced) and made sure the rings nestle in beside each other as perfectly as before.
I'm thrilled with the work done, and would highly recommend Arman's Jewellers (especially if you are as attached to your rings as I am to mine!).
Meghan M. – December 2014
Awesome people who take the time to explain and answer your questions. The work done on my rings was top quality, at a great price, and completed in a couple of days. I highly recommend their friendly, knowledgable services.
Steve U. – November 2014
These guys are terrific! I am so thankful I came across Arman's. After a great deal of research, I ran a search of Kitchener jewelers and immediately noticed the excellent reviews Arman's had received. I decided to pay them a visit and very quickly became convinced that this was the place. The entire family was wonderful, very friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming. They truly made the entire experience a delight. Dikran exceeded my expectations and created a beautiful product that my fiance and I are both thrilled with. Don't waste your time anywhere else, this is the place.
Joshua W. – October 2014
Absolutely fantastic. I couldn't find the ring I wanted anywhere else, and Arman's Jewellers made it happen, within my budget, and with a great deal of professionalism. The end result looks great, and I couldn't be happier.
William M. – October 2014
Wonderful staff that was very helpful and turn around time was super quick! A lot more affordable than the place I was going before. Thank you!
Carol O. – September 2014
The Best Jewellers in the KW region! Thank you for the beautiful custom work on the rings – they look brand new! I wear my newly repaired engagement ring all the time and it looks as good as the day I received it over 30 years ago. Excellent customer service too! Thank you Arman's.
Emily C. – August 2014
What an AMAZING experience! I had my fiancee's engagement ring made at Arman's Jewellers and I am SO happy I did. I started out really not knowing much about the different quality of diamonds or the ring creation process and by the end of it, I can confidently say I know I got the best ring, at the best price created uniquely for future wife. The entire process was a pleasure, from dealing with Dikran and his family, to seeing our ring come to life, to the handshake and thanks that accompanied my purchase. I truly felt cared about and involved in the ring creation. I cannot recommend any other jeweller in town with anywhere near the confidence I have in Arman's Jewellers, skill, knowledge, trustworthiness and price. I have friends who purchased far inferior rings, at much higher prices, and at 'supposed' discount or wholesale jewellers. Guys, please dont make this once in a lifetime purchase, or any jeweller purchase without checking out Arman's and you will see the difference. I looked at multiple jewellery stores in KW, and even online (just dont do it!) and I know I got an amazing ring at an unbeatable price. The ring is phenomenal, and the story of being involved in all the fine details always melts my girl's heart. Ive already referred family and co-workers there and will continue to do so. THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH ARMAN'S JEWELLERS!
Tim M. – July 2014
Arman's was incredibly efficient when it came to resizing my ring – and the best price out of the 3 I called. My ring looks wonderful.
Claire B. – July 2014
I can't say enough about the exceptional service and hospitality at Arman's Jewellers. They were incredibly supportive through the process of re-designing my engagement ring. They answered my questions, showed patience and care throughout any hesitation, and have ensured I am 100% satisfied with my new ring. After visiting many jeweller's, I can confidently recommend them as the best place to go for any jewellery needs. The pricing was fair, and any follow-up service has been exceptional.
Amanda L. – June 2014
Arman's Jewellers was very friendly and approachable throughout the whole process of finding my engagement ring. Truly a family business (no middle man). He sourced a great diamond at a great price. He put the ring together quickly and with a high degree of accuracy. They even role-played, pretending they didn't know me while my girlfriend had her fingered sized. Now I'm forced to convince my new fiancé to part with the ring for one day so I can get it appraised. Overall, a wonderful experience.
John J. – May 2014
Arman's Jewellers has provided superior customers service and support from the very first time I walked in! I was impressed with their knowledge and support I received when I recently looked for a perfect engagement ring. I went to every jewellery store in Kitchener-Waterloo area in search for that perfect ring! It was only at Arman's Jewellers that I was able to fully trust that I'd be getting the ring design and the quality that I was looking for. The products are classy and unique. I was fully guided through a selection before landing on "the one" – jaw-dropping gorgeous ring. I would not hesitate a second in recommending this place to those that want to buy that perfect and unique piece of jewellery!!
Thank you for all your help & support!
Dajana D. – May 2014
I originally went to Arman's to get a watch battery replaced because it is easy to get to and close to my workplace. A quick chat with the friendly owners let me know that they create custom jewelry and they could use my own gold. So I asked them to create a wedding band to match mine, but sized for my husband in order to replace the one he lost a year and a half ago. It is gorgeous! And it was affordable and done quickly, too!
Leslie C. – February 2014
I went in to Arman's Jewellers on the recommendation of my brother-in-law since he got a custom ring made there, a few years back. I must say I am extremely happy that I did! The process was simple and I felt supported the entire way – In fact, they went out of their way to insure that I was well informed and happy throughout the process.
The goldsmith did an awesome job at not only perfectly making the ring to be exactly like the picture I provided but made it SO much better by adding more detail. I can honestly say that Arman's Jewellers not only met, but greatly exceeded my expectations and I could not be happier!
I have recommended them to all of my friends and family, and have heard back nothing but positive things!
Dan P. – January 2014
Best goldsmith in Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge area. Went to Arman's also by recommendation and I know now why. Extremely happy with the whole process from A to Z. I was very well informed and the end product was a work of art. I will and I am recommending Arman's to everyone I know. Integrity and professionalism is two words I will use to describe dealing with Arman's jewelry. Looking forward to go back again soon for more great work.
Thanks again for everything.
Chris E. – January 2014
The service at Arman's Jewellers was excellent. I found them online, their store is near my work and I liked that it's a family operation instead of a big box type place. I needed a new ring made and the storeowner provided me with an accurate quote. I looked through the rings at his store and online to decide what I liked and then he designed it using computer software. He emailed me pictures of the design within a couple of days, and was very professional and knowledgeable regarding my questions about materials and detailing. The finished ring is beautiful! The whole process took only two weeks as well, I still can't really believe that since I always thought that to have a custom ring would take a much longer time. I have my own beautiful custom ring, the price was reasonable, and all in just two weeks!
Andrea M. – January 2014
Excellent customer service and beautiful repair work – makes my rings look like new. I also had them re-design a single earring into a pendant and it turned out beautifully. And, not to mention a great place to pick up some new jewellery. Thank you for the great work. I highly recommend Arman's!
Emily B. – January 2014
The Gem of Kitchener! Exceedingly happy. Arman's Jewellers not only does an excellent job at answering all inquiries, they also deliver quality work. Having shopped in New York City's diamond district, Arman's is the place that satisfied what I was looking after most. I have recommended Arman's to others and they agree…this is the place to check out if you are interested in obtaining precious jewellery. Thank you for doing a wonderful job on the ring I have presented to my wife 5 years ago. I will be coming back to you for any jewellery needs in the future.
Alex D. – January 2014


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Experience-Driven Commerce- Realizing the Power to Fuel Growth on Magento E-store
An experience-driven commerce can be easily understood as maximizing your Magento eStore's conversions while focusing on your customers more instead of your own products and marketing. If you succeed in delivering a great customer experience within areal-time and multi channel shopping environment, you are ensuring maximum of sales. In this writing, I have come up […] More


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Hand Held Umbrellas
Hand Held Umbrellas
Hand held umbrellas protect individual guests at your event from blazing sun and heavy rain.
Instant Marquees carry a range of heavy duty large "Golf" umbrellas available in black and white.
You can either pick them up from our Moorabbin warehouse or choose to get it delivered at your doorstep.
You can also hire a neat storage rack with storage capacity of up to 36 umbrellas.
Number of Umbrellas hired
1 – 36 $8.50 each 37 – 72 $8 each 73 – 108 $7.50 each Storage rack (for 36 umbrellas) $12 each


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By Nicole D. Prysby, J.D.
Because an FTC cease and desist order contained no prohibitions, but merely commanded a company to overhaul and replace its data-security program to meet an unstated standard of reasonableness, the order was unenforceable, held the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Following a data security breach of consumer personal information, the FTC brought an enforcement action against LabMD, alleging that its failure to implement reasonable security practices was an unfair act or practice under FTC Act Section 5(a). In the resulting cease and desist order, the FTC required LabMD to implement a data security program that met the FTC's standard of reasonableness. LabMD argued that the order did not direct it to cease committing an unfair act or practice within the meaning of Section 5(a). The court agreed, finding that because the order did not enjoin a specific act or practice, it had no specific standard that would allow a court to determine whether LabMD had violated the order. Therefore, the order was unenforceable (LabMD, Inc. v. FTC, June 6, 2018, Tjoflat, G.).
Background. Sometimes in 2005, an employee of LabMD installed a peer-to-peer file sharing application on her work computer, in violation of LabMD's security policy. A data security company was able to use the peer-to-peer software to download other files from the employee's machine, including a file with the personal information of more than 9,000 consumers. The data security company offered its services to LabMD. LabMD declined and removed the peer-to-peer software from the employee's computer. In 2009, the data security company delivered the file with consumer data to the FTC. The FTC issued a complaint against LabMD, but the complaint did not allege practices LabMD had engaged in, rather, data security measure that it had failed to perform. LabMD asserted that the FTC had no authority to regulate how it handled personal information stored on its network.
Following a trial in front of an administrative law judge, in which the ALJ found that the FTC failed to prove that LabMD had committed unfair acts or practices, the FTC appealed to the full Commission, which reversed the ALJ's decision. The FTC issued a cease and desist order to LabMD, directing LabMD to create and implement a variety of broad protective data security measures. LabMD petitioned the court to vacate the order, arguing that the cease and desist order was unenforceable because it did not direct the company to cease committing an unfair act or practice within the meaning of Section 5(a).
Unfair act or practice. The court first considered whether LabMD's failure to design and implement a reasonable data security program was an unfair act or practice under Section 5(a). The FTC argued that it was, because the failure caused substantial injury to consumers' right of privacy. Although the FTC did not cite the source of the unfairness, the court determined that the FTC had based its decision using the common law of negligence as the established policy creating a standard for unfairness. In other words, the law of negligence is a source that provides a standard for determining whether an act or practice is unfair. Therefore, a corporation that negligently infringes the consumer interest against unintentional invasion may be held accountable under Section 5(a). The court declined to decide the issue, but assumed it to be true so that it could address LabMD's second argument regarding whether the cease and desist order was enforceable.
Enforceability of cease and desist order. The court reviewed the FTC's options for litigating an unfair act or practice. The FTC may choose to litigate the issue in front of an ALJ (resulting in a cease and desist order) or before a federal district judge (resulting in an injunction). If a cease and desist order is violated, the FTC would bring a civil penalty action in federal district court. If an injunction is violated, the FTC may invoke the district court's civil contempt power. But while the FTC Act does not address what content must go into a cease and desist order, the prohibitions in such an order would need to be clear and precise for a district court to impose civil penalties for violation. Similarly, specificity would be required in an injunction.
The court found that the cease and desist order contained no prohibitions, it merely commanded LabMD to overhaul and replace its data-security program to meet an unstated standard of reasonableness. That command is unenforceable, because it would be unenforceable if the FTC sought enforcement of the order by a district court. Because the order did not enjoin a specific act or practice, but required LabMD to implement a "reasonably-designed" security program, it had no specific standard that would allow a court to determine whether LabMD had violated the order. And to find a violation, the court would need to modify the cease and desist order to include the implementation of specific practices, effectively managing the company's overhaul of its data security program. Because the order would be unenforceable under a district court's contempt power, and the standards governing the coercive enforcement of injunctions and cease and desist orders are the same, the order was unenforceable.
The case is No. 16-16270.
Attorneys: Douglas Harlan Meal (Ropes & Gray, LLP) for LabMD, Inc. Matthew Michael Hoffman for the FTC.
Companies: LabMD, Inc.
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The University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning presents Raoul Wallenberg Lecture: Eyal Weizman
Eyal Weizman is an architect, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures, and Director of Forensic Architecture. He is a founding member of the architectural collective DAAR in Beit Sahour/Palestine. His books include Forensic Architecture: Violence at the Threshold of Detectability (2017), The Conflict Shoreline (with Fazal Sheikh, 2015), FORENSIS (with Anselm Franke, 2014), Mengele's Skull (with Thomas Keenan at Sterenberg Press, 2012), Forensic Architecture (dOCUMENTA13 notebook, 2012), The Least of All Possible Evils (Verso 2011), Hollow Land (Verso, 2007), A Civilian Occupation (Verso, 2003), the series Territories 1, 2 and 3, Yellow Rhythms and many articles in journals, magazines, and edited books. He has worked with a variety of NGOs worldwide and was a member of the B'Tselem board of directors.


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Collaboration with the European Data Science & AI awards
BDVA has signed a MoU with The European DatSci & AI Awards, which promotes and demonstrates the power of Data Science and AI in different sectors in Europe.
The European DatSci & AI Awards are giving the opportunity to the most talented Data Scientists across Europe and their teams to showcase their achievements in 10 different categories, which range from Best use of Data Science & AI for customer experience, health & wellbeing, to achieve social impact, for industry 4.0 and much more. The Awards are not only giving recognition to the best applications and professionals in Data Science & AI, but also create a space for opportunity to share ideas and best practices.
The European DatSci & AI Awards is a full day event that will take place on September 5th, 2019 in Dublin, Ireland. Keep an eye on the upcoming dates to be announced regarding the applications and other information.
Sign up to the Awards mailing list here.


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Polar Bear Summer
Polar Bear Summer
First Prize – "Town of Sondrio" Award and Students' Jury Award 2016
by Klaus Scheurich – Produced by: Marco Polo Film AG – Broadcaster: Smithsonian Networks, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) - Germany 2015 – Running time: 52 min. – Featured area: Southwestern area of Western Bay, Canada
Polar bears are the monarchs of the Arctic. They are adapted to life on ice and snow. Yet there is one place where they are marooned on land for several months every summer. How do they survive in an environment that is foreign to them? In a warming world, can their fate here give us hope for the species in general?


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Less than six kilometers before river Bidasoa, near the French-Spanish border, empties into the Atlantic Ocean, there lies a small river island called Pheasant. It was here, in 1659, that representatives from France and Spain met and signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees, officially ending the Thirty Years War. The treaty also drew a new border that runs along the Pyrenees mountains, and then follows the Bidasoa river to the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic Ocean, forming a natural border between France and Spain. As is usually the case with borders that follow the course of a river, the French-Spanish border was fixed along the center of the river. Ideally, the border should have cut right through Pheasant Island splitting the 1.6 acre island into two halves, with France and Spain controlling their respective sides. But the Treaty of the Pyrenees agreed upon a different kind of arrangement, by which Pheasant Island became a condominium.
Pheasant Island (Isla de los Faisanes, in Spanish, and Île des Faisans, in French, as seen from the Spanish side. Photo credit: Zarateman/WikimediaRead more »
© Amusing Planet, 2016.


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In the past few years I've been shooting cars and trucks for a variety of clients including Ferrari, AMG-Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus and UD Trucks. I generally shoot on location but the two shoots I did for Lexus were shot in the studio and some of the stuff for UD was shot indoors too.
This gallery is a bit of a carry-over from the older design of my site, containing a range of car shots I've shot over the past few years. By browsing the 'Cars' category, you'll find other articles that have a specific focus; either by client or by type of assignment.
If you have an automotive project in Japan or overseas and want to enquire about commissioning me to shoot for you, please use the contact form. Thanks for visiting.


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Hello again, people. Right now I'm listening to Goldfrapp's new album (quite good, I need to get back on my game where 2010 reviews are concerned) and not studying. What a great time to write about music! I still don't know how to make WordPress do what I want it to as far a layout of this entry is concerned, so again we will be lacking in album cover images. If you REALLY cared, I'm sure you could look them up ;). Tonight, I thought I'd share amusing anecdotes about each of the albums (if I have one of course) instead of trying to force a review that might just not be coming. Join me?
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2000s 2009 2010 albums 2012 2012 Albums Album Review Arcade Fire Bat For Lashes best albums of 2009 Best Albums of 2012 Best of 2009 Best of 2012 Best of the Decade Black Eyed Peas bloc party Bob Dylan bowling for soup brokencyde bruce springsteen Charli XCX concert Crowded House Dave Matthews band david bowie Dirty Projectors fun. green day Grizzly Bear Jessie Ware Kanye West Katy Perry Ke$ha Lady Gaga live music Lollapalooza Lollapalooza 2010 Lollapalooza Line-up metal metric miley cyrus muse music New Zealand music One Hit Wonders Orphaned Land our lady peace passion pit Phoenix pop Porcupine Tree Purity Ring Reggo review Rihanna rock Roger Waters Soundtrack Taylor Swift the cure The Incident the killers The Mountain Goats The National The Next Day The Who The XX tom petty Top albums top albums of 2009 Top Albums of 2012 Top albums of the decade u2 welcome yeah yeah yeahs Yo La Tengo


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#33a And brought to you by...By The Archives
#33a And brought to you by...By The Archives
Commercials can be annoying. Jingles get in your head and won't leave. Images of just what you're trying to avoid flash across the screen and in an instant your diet is undone or the children are enchanted with the proverbial bells and whistles. And this could be for your own inner child as well. Like it or not, commercials work.
The mission this week involves tapping into this power to compel, a skill we all use in varying ways every day, whether it's to compel ourselves, each other, or even the kitty to come out of hiding. The task can sometimes be daunting, overwhelming even. But sometimes it can be very, very easy.
This seatbelt commercial is one of the most powerful, touching commercials I've ever seen. As you can see, it's all very simple. As you find yourself this week thinking about the mission and what Mission Amy KR means to you, don't forget what you've been told before, that sometimes things are much simpler than you think. I find this especially so when I'm dealing with something I care about. After re-reading every mission, every post, and even some of your blogs, I was overwhelmed with material for the poster. It is very clear how much you all care; your words, photos, and videos are a testimony to just a bit of wonderful happening in this corner of the interweb.
Most Sincerely,
Corey Mission Specialist


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We weren't taking the RV to Europe, so what to do with it while we were gone? A very welcome answer appeared in the persons of John and Shirley Nesbitt. John is the brother of Mike Nesbitt, for whom Bill Bouchard had previously worked, and for whom Bill had done a whole series of fixes on Mike's huge camping bus. As a consequence of this relationship, Mike asked John if we could park our RVs on his spacious property in Hood River, OR. John not only said yes, but he insisted on taking us to Seattle for our flight.
We spent several days getting our RVs settled in, during which John took us to several interesting venues. The Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum has one of the largest collections of still-flying antique aeroplanes and still-driving antique automobiles in the country. The airplane collection is mainly focused on aircraft in the period 1903–1941, but also includes light World War II Army, Army Air Corps, and naval aircraft. The antique cars were built between 1909 and the 1960s, and are still in running condition. There are over 175 autos on display. Most are from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The oldest car on display is an 1909 Franklin Model D.
The second experience that John gave us began with a trip south of Hood River to a community called Dee. Specifically, to an area which had in the past been the site of a lumber mill. Most of the buildings are now gone with the exception of one huge structure, constructed in 1958. That structure had been most recently employed for storage, but much of the roof had collapsed in Feb. 2017 from too much weight of snow. The contents? Parts of carousels.
But let me back up a bit.
Carol Jackson Perron graduated from Coeur d'Alene High School in 1954. As a youngster, she often visited Playland Pier, Coeur d'Alene's waterfront amusement park. Later, Jackson spent summers working there.
When she married Duane Perron, she began urging that they do something to save the nation's historic carousels. Starting with the restoration and operation of a 1914 carousel in Portland, Oregon in 1978, they have restored and placed into operation seven antique carousels at various locations around America, including the Playland Pier carousel, which they bought at an auction in Puyallup, Washington. For a time it resided in a shopping mall in Reading, PA. Some years later they were able to see it placed back at Coeur d'Alene.
They opened a carousel museum in Portland in 1983, but moved it to up the Columbia Gorge to Hood River in 1999. In a newspaper interview that I found on the web, Perron said "We bought a bank (building), put it there, and became almost too successful. We were part of the Gray Line tour, but we were located in the middle of downtown. If you had three or four buses trying to drop off passengers, you jammed up the whole town." The city, he said, banned buses from parking downtown. Gray Line dropped the museum from its tour. And so, in late 2010, the International Museum of Carousel Art closed. The collection went back into storage. However, the passion for carousels lived on.
The Perrons are now in their eighties, and Carol is in ill health. But their son Brad has continued the effort, operating nine historic carousels across the country, owning the Dee building and pushing forward with plans for the Dee area. The Perron collection now has about 1,100 carved carousel horses and 21 working carousel mechanisms, seven in pristine condition, taking up two large buildings. Well, it was two, until the roof collapsed in Dee. When we visited, construction of a new roof was underway, and lots of carousel parts were covered with tarps. Other parts and been removed to be stored and dried elsewhere. John explained that the Perrons' plan was to eventually turn the building into a new museum that would contain six operating carousels as well as a display of the collection. And if that doesn't seem ambitious enough, the Perrons consider the museum to be a mere amenity to go along with a DeeTour hotel and concert venue to be built adjacently.
When we left the Dee building we went to the second large storage building on the elder Perrons' farm, where we took the pictures that appear below. As we left the second building, John showed us the site of an intended additional storage building, presumably to house the surplus after the Dee building is used as a museum.
The magnitude of the collection and of the effort to save the carousel tradition left us dumbstruck. And heartsick, because we had learned of the ill health of Carol and of the age of Duane. It was only while doing web research about their efforts that I learned about the existence and important role son Brad now plays. We hope to, one day not too distant in the future, be able to visit a thriving center at Dee, Oregon.


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An NSWNA member went to China on an assignment to train nurses about aged care for Australian nursing homes. She came back deeply concerned about the integrity of the project.
Earlier this year the Age newspaper exposed a Melbourne-based agency, NurseBank, that was sending Chinese nurses to work in Victorian nursing homes and hospitals for up to 50 hours a week, including Christmas day, for a flat $300 a week.
The Howard government had approved s.442 trainee visas for the nurses. These visas allow work if it is part of an approved training program.
Now, a NSW nurse has spoken out about the type of candidates recruited by Nurse Bank in China and the quality of their training.
Lara* was hired by Nurse Bank to train Chinese nurses in aged care to a level suitable for employment in Australian nursing homes.
Immediately on arrival at Nantong, a day's drive north-west of Shanghai, she realised all was not as it was supposed to be.
'I thought I'd be training to levels Cert III or Cert IV in nursing. I thought I'd be teaching them systems, about caring, about an understanding of aged care.
'I found it a bit strange. There were about 50 girls. They weren't RNs. Only one of them was a nurse,' she said.
Lara says the teaching facilities were extremely basic and the resources scant.
'I was given some books by Nurse Bank. The students were given answer books. I was to write the answers on the board and they copied them.
'The only other resources I had were some DVDs from Nurse Bank that I brought with me.'
But even these meagre resources proved to be useless with the students' almost non-existent levels of English.
'Basically I had to teach them English. I had to draw a body on the board and teach them the names of the parts of the body.
'These students were paying thousands of dollars for the tuition. Many had borrowed money to do the course. Many had travelled to Nantong from the countryside. They were promised they would get a certificate. They were promised they could then go to Australia to work,' she said.
The course was meant to last for eight weeks but after five weeks Lara confronted one of the owners of Nurse Bank, Alan Hickling, about the problems and the inadequacy of the course.
'I was pressured to sign the certificates. I couldn't do it. It was a threat to my registration. They flew me out straight away after I refused,' she said.
Lara said she was quite shocked by the experience and feels for both the Chinese women she met in Nantong and the Australian patients they would eventually care for.
It was an eye-opener and it's sad for Australia to let it happen. It's about standards and we don't want to bring them down. Patients deserve holistic care. It frightened me that they wouldn't be getting that care.
'It's also about exploitation. The women I taught in China would also be badly affected.'
*Not her real name. Lara is too afraid to reveal her identity in The Lamp.
s.442 visa: A licence to exploit?
You'll automatically become a member of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation


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The Evaluation of Social Interaction (ESI) is a relatively new occupational therapy assessment tool that assesses the quality of social interaction in people from 2 years of age.
In almost everything we do in a day, other people are involved. Work, leisure, school, at home — in all of these areas we exchange information, we express our wishes, make arrangements, follow instructions, ask for assistance, etc. In short, engage in many different social interactions with many different social partners, in a large variety of settings.
It seems so obvious and easy: interacting with others. But when the quality of a person"s social interaction is ineffective, we become aware that something is wrong. We are wondering about the reasons why this child can"t play with others, why applying for a job always goes wrong, why there are constant conflicts with co-workers, why does a person not attend meetings at work, why does this person avoid shopping.
If a person"s quality of social interaction is less polite, respectful, well-timed, and mature, this can have a major influence on his or her participation in many of life"s expected activities. For many people, ineffective social interaction skills have a greater impact on living a satisfying life than ineffective ADL motor or ADL process skills.
A person"s strengths and problems with task performances that involve social interaction can now be clearly identified by administering the ESIBecome certified in this innovative assessment that will expand your practice by providing you with a standardized method to assess a person"s social interaction.
ESI course
To be able to administer the ESI you must follow a three day course at the ErgoAcademie.
The content of the course contains the theoretical background of the ESI and the accountability and embedding of the instrument in the occupational therapist's work process.
The practical part of the course consists of observing social interaction skills in a standardized manner. The course makes use of DVD recordings from various persons in various social interactions, and a live case.
To be able to administer the ESI reliably, the strictness of the occupational therapist's score is determined. When analyzing the client data, the computer program adjusts for this severity. The ESI measure is then not dependent on a strict or mild occupational therapist.
Within 3 months of the course, the occupational therapist must observe 10 people from his Occupational Therapy Practice or from his / her own environment and submit this data for analysis. If the data analysis, which is based on Rasch analysis, shows that the occupational therapist is applying the ESI reliably, an individualized calibration code will be granted for use with the OTAP software. This allows the occupational therapist to use the full ESI OTAP computer program.
The course is taught in English by Mette Sondergaard from Denmark. It is important that the student can understand / read English. The live case is in Dutch as well as part of the manual.
Course date and location:
For course date see the Dutch version
Accreditation is requested.
Costs of this course:
Member of EN: € 945,-
If not: € 995,-
These prices are including tax, catering on course-days, excit ticket for P+R Papendorp, English manual, Dutch manual, OTAP software -> license of 3 years and calibration after 3 months.
Participants recieve a certification after concluding the course.
Course Conditions
De cursus conditions can be downloaded here.
Sign in


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Don't Marry A Woman Who…
I get asked a lot of questions. I don't mind at all. My email is pretty public and I actually think it's good that people are asking questions, questions are good. I can't say and I won't say that my answers are always correct, they're my opininos, and like I keep saying on this blog, you have a mind, use it.
I get asked a lot about "my type". Looking back at the females I've been attracted to, I can't say I have a single type but I think what I want is being refined.
At the moment, "my type", what I want, is peace and quiet when I get home so I can work, read, study, paint, or do one of the many amazing things a person can do with his or her life instead of wondering about who will complete their life.
But because you keep asking, and because I haven't finished my other post on what kind of lady is wife material, I'm making a list of MY don'ts. I want to make it clear that these are MY don'ts, not the thoughts of any of the institutions I'm connected with.
If my opinion offends you, the good news is, again, you have a mind – your own – so use it instead of relying on mine or anyone else's. Learn from others, yes. But think for yourself.
Anyway, here we go. David, don't marry a woman who…
You don't love and don't trust.
And don't marry someone who doesn't love and trust you.
What? That's it?
So many articles out there on what kind of person to marry, on compatibility and incompatibility, on criteria, on so many things but these two essentials.
To love someone is to be patient, kind, gentle, not be envious, not be boastful, not be proud, not be rude, not be self-seeking, not be easily angered, and because we're all journeying (hopefully) towards this ideal not keep a record of wrongs, not to delight in evil, to rejoice in the truth, and to TRUST, hope, and persevere.
I don't believe that everyone understands this. I don't believe everyone is interested in committing to this. (Obviously, I'm not at the moment.) Too many people are enamoured with the minor and don't invest in the major (that's my next post by the way). That's why we need to choose well.
I was talking to a friend who wanted to propose but told me he didn't have enough money to give her something special, I told him, "You're promising her your life and your love. If that's not enough for her, you should leave her. You don't want to be married to someone like that."
I don't want to be married to someone who needs a rock (like diamonds), or a piece of metal (like watches), or fabric (like clothes), to be convinced of my love. If I do get married, I want someone who's happy to have me in her life. Period. Because she understands the life, my life, is way more precious than any rock, metal, fabric, or trip.
I like giving gifts anyway. But these should be extras not fundamental proof of love. Isn't marketing great?
Marry someone you love and trust and marry someone who trusts and loves you.
When I read some of the questions I wonder how our thinking became so weird (which I should know given my opinions actually sound weird to most people), but underneath the inquiries is a very plain fear that's needing assurance from, of all people, the most credible ones, bloggers like me.
HAHA! I'm being completely sarcastic.
We only share our opinions – you need to develop your own mind.
I'm surprised at how many "experts" think relationships can be built without trust as a foundation and love as motivation. I'm a known non-expert and I understand this. What happened to the so-called-experts? So much emphasis on techniques and "pa-cute" when the most basic is absent. Just as strengthening the beams of building won't stop it from crumbling when things shake, a relationship without trust and love won't last – no matter what anyone says.
The start of love is a miracle. The sustaining of love is a personal discipline. I don't believe that miracles cannot be lost. Yes they can. When we fail to value the miracles in our life, and fail to protect them with personal discipline, we lose them.
Since you keep asking, here are some suggestions on how to attract an amazing partner. Given that I'm the one writing and not known for actually succeeding in this department, I suggest asking future questions of this nature to my brothers, Joseph or Joshua, who actually have the credibility.
My basic thought is: don't spend too much time on the minor things but develop the major areas such as your mind, your soul, your spirit, and your body as well. Here are some ways:
1. Don't waste your time trying to attract people – most people don't think. So if you try to attract people who don't think, you'll end up doing thoughtless things. Instead, really look inside you at what God has placed in your heart to do, which I hope is WAY BIGGER than God's perfect choice. Sometimes people forget that God actually has equipped us with a special tool to know what's right, it's called the mind. So sharpen it. Don't just use it for storage. Make it a weapon. Your parents told you this when they said to get good at listening and learning. Time to listen. Time to learn.
If you're trying to attract people because you need validation, then you're going to be a Venus Fly Trap. You're going to be bad for them. How can you say you love someone when you're only going to use them? When being near you means ruining their life?
Attractiveness should be an outcome of a life well-lived, NOT simply the manipulations of Facebook profile photos taken in good light, press releases, and deliberate "cool" actions.
2. Ask a lot of questions. Ask the right questions. Ask the right people. Make your own conclusions – when I read many of the articles of successful people, I always notice the variety of ways people have taken to succeed. God has so richly designed life that every path, no matter how unique, can be a path of fulfilment and joy. Discovery is really an important part of every person's journey. So ask a lot of questions, and go deeper by asking the right questions and asking the right people.
Sometimes I find we ask the wrong questions so we get unsatisfactory answers. For example, "is she the one?" the better question is "Do I love her?" and follow this up with "Do I trust her?"Asking the right questions frames our mind to identify the factors that are priority. Asking, "Do I love her?" gets us thinking about the commitment 1 Corinthians 13 asks us to make. "Do I trust her?" gets us thinking about whether we actually want to wrap our lives.
One super dumb question is this "Do you think she's the one for me?" If you need someone else to figure this out for you, you shouldn't go forward. You're going to feed this girl and take care of her. You're going to cultivate her and put up with her crap – figurative and literal. You better know, know for yourself, that you love and trust this girl.
Better yet ask people about their experiences, keeping in mind that every experience is unique but can be gleaned from. Ask, "How do you know you love someone?" or "How did you know that you loved your wife?" or "What are good areas to look at that reveal trustworthiness?"
And, my opinion, don't marry a girl who needs to ask her "leader" if she loves you.
I'm sure you'll find what I found. All the best love stories have this in common – they're all different.
You'll also find another similarity, they all concluded, for themselves, that they would love and trust each other.
3. Be yourself and be the best version of yourself. It's the only way to sustain credibility – helping others become the best version of themselves is one of my life's passions. Life's just too short to waste in mediocrity. The time spent bumming around and pining away could have been used to developing one's self into an amazing person.
Let me give you an example, if you memorized one poem a week, which isn't hard, you would have memorized 52 poems at the end of 1 year. 52 poems! If you did the same thing with a verse, you would have memorized 52 verses as well. If you keep doing this for 10 years, you would have memorized 520 verses plus 520 poems. If you start when you're 18, you'll only be 28 and younger than me by a year. how many 28 year olds do you know memorize 520 poems and verses?
People ask me how I'm able to read and learn and do so much, and the simple answer is I choose a target, break it down, and pursue it in increments.
When we realize that amazing things are built in increments and deliberately and incrementally pursue our personal development we find ourselves growing in the areas we spend time on. Instead of wasting your time away, grow yourself incrementally.
Being yourself doesn't mean doing whatever you want. I hear people always say "I'm just being myself" to excuse their mediocrity. NO. You're not JUST being yourself, you're being like most everyone else. And guess what? Being like everyone else means you don't stand out. You're supposed to be unique. You are unique. But being self-centered and selfish doesn't make you unique. It makes you self-centered and selfish – like most people – so you ruin your uniqueness. I once told someone, "You should put an RT in front of your name because there's nothing original about you." Everything she did, everything she seemed interested in, seemed like a retweet of some tastemaker.
If you're just as foolish as everyone else, or as religious as everyone else, or just copy what everyone else thinks is cool or trendy or fashionable, then you're just like everyone else. If everyone else is really so amazing, then why does "cool" keep changing? Why change something amazing? It's not as amazing as we think, that's why we look for the new. Don't ever think that just because something is new it's amazing. It could be just new.
If you really want to stand out and sustain credibility be the best version of yourself.
4. Get good at creating value – make your life count by spending your days making the lives of others better. Be the type of person who infects others with passion and excellence, who makes people feel welcome, who inspires them to reach higher than they've ever thought possible. Actually help people make more money, learn more about good habits, discover more about God, make others laugh, advice them on their careers. There are so many examples but the point is simple: be a person who brings value to the lives of others. A value is simply something of worth, to bring value to the lives of others means to bring meaningful things to their lives.
Let's get practical. Start at home. Before you go out making pa-cute, bring real value to your parents, siblings, and household. Honor your father and mother, and serve them. Bring value to their lives. Even if you don't get along with them you can serve them. Pray for your parents and your siblings, do the same for your maids. Serve your maids and drivers.
Serve my maids and drivers??
Yes. That's practice. That's how you get good at creating value – when you can create value for the people others think are lower because you understand they're just as valuable as you. When you treat people as valuable, you will offer them something valuable as well.
Those are a few things you can do to attract the opposite gender. I know it's not like a bunch of the blogs out there that tell you "how to act" or "what kind of person to marry". I disagree with most of those ideas anyway. They fail to include the complexity and diversity of life. Not everyone will grow up with the luxuries that religious idealism preaches. And that's ok. Because everyone, from whatever starting point they're coming from can journey towards their best version of themselves.
Maybe, as you offer the world your best, as you honor God with your best, you'll meet someone who is offering the world her best as well. You'll be lucky to have someone who's been developing herself and she'll be lucky to have you. It will be undeniable.
And if not, if you live the rest of your life like my current state, that's not bad at all. Humanity is better off that you're single anyway because humanity gets all of the best version of you.


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Acqualina Resort
17875 Collins Avenue
Sunny Isles Beach, FL. 33160
(305) 918-8000
The Acqualina Resort & Spa is a AAA 5 Diamond rated hotel which means it'll be pricey but the dazzling beach-front resort offers a marine biology-based program for kids between 5 – 12 years old, a children's center, kids' night out, arts and crafts and private lessons.
Loews Miami Beach
1601 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 604-1601
The Loews is a truly kid-friendly hotel, with a variety of unique kids' programs, kids' menus, and a lending library of toys, games, and DVDs. There are also poolside Kidbanas, supervised recreational programs and supervised childcare.
Doral Golf Resort & Spa
4400 N.W. 87th Avenue
Miami, FL. 33178
(305) 592-2000
This resort is not on the beach, but it does offer family-friendly golfing, a fun kids' camp, several pools, a waterslide, and special prices on family packages.
Newport Beachside Resort
16701 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33160
(305) 949-1300
Kids rule at this casual beach-front resort. They offer supervised kids' activities during the day and night, an arcade, beach playground, kids' menus and more.
Trump International Beach Resort
18001 Collins Ave
Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
(305) 692-5600
All of the comfort and luxuries you expect from the Trump name, a free kids club during the day, and activities for a fee at night. The Planet Kids Program is a high-energy "Club" with an eco-friendly focus for children ages 5 – 12.


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31 August 2011
A Goodbye to Our Roundtable Rankings
The central idea to HBG has always been that the Knights of the Beer Roundtable would gather to meet and rate beer. This will not change. But one thing we'd like to reconsidered are the beer rankings in the right hand column of the site.
The list is lengthy - and while some of us enjoy the quick reference provided, we now know that the scale is ridiculous, the standards inconsistent, our knowledge ever-increasing. Yes, some beers are better than others. But context is everything. Our top rated beer may have been perfect at our first anniversary party, but it can't possibly be every time after. Some of us refuse to give any beer a perfect score, so the philosophy behind the entire ranking system has changed.
We've come to realize that beers need not be ranked, only rated in the moment. While we'll always love a great beer, we've learned that the real magic happens when friends get together. You can't put that in a table.
As a result, we've removed the roundtable ranking list from the site. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
4 comments:
Considering how much and how often my own palate and preferences seem to change, I've always thought of rating as futile. They can change by the day and by the situation and by what I feel like drinking - could be the greatest porter in the world, but if I'm sitting outside on a summer day, it's the wrong beer for the wrong situation and it's rating would likely suffer as a consequence. Though I've referenced reviews on Beer Advocate for years and been a member of the site for quite a while as well, I've never ticked for that reason too. It's a nice way to keep track of what you've had and how your tastes have changed or developed, but I feel there are way too many variables and biases in place for anything to be critically accurate. The only way to do it is to rate to style alone, which shouldn't even take "liking" it into consideration. And then what's the point?ReplyDelete
Based on my view of your site, you could fit one more page along the top menu bar. I would suggest an "Indiana Beer" page to replace the right column below the recent comments on the right sidebar. When it is a single post on a page, you end up with about 2 full pages of nearly empty screen.ReplyDelete
Personally, I hate the double column sidebar in general, so this would kill two birds with one stone.
I liked the list...no so much because of the rankings, but because it just became this out-of-control monster list of beers you guys had rated!ReplyDelete
I think in removing the list, you are closing a chapter...no, more like a volume...of the hoosierbeergeek story. Are you prepared for that? Is that part of the master plan, or more a result of a hasty decision?
Either way, it's okay to make changes and move on.
Well it's not like we're not going to rate beers anymore, it's just that we're not going to have this list where we say "this is now the best beer". I'm prepared for that. It'll be nice to not have a crutch where we're out drinking and I go "this porter is pretty good, but do I like it as much as Founder's Porter?" or stuff like that.ReplyDelete
It shouldn't matter how much I liked Founder's Porter. It's not a contest, and I'm not going to stop buying whatever strikes me when I'm at the bar.
At least that's what I think I'm going to do..