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The aim is to evaluate the effects of intensive home rehabilitation regarding multidimensional health perceptions and other quality of life domains, physical ability and capacity among older people (65+). The design is a randomized controlled study of a reablement intervention with controls receiving traditional home care. The intervention is goal- and user oriented, home-based, time limited (3 months), and organized by an interprofessional team consisting of the professions nurse, enrolled nurses, physiotherapists, social worker, and occupational therapists. The effects of the intervention are measured by self-reported health and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L, HACT) including psychological well-being (GP-CORE), physical capacity (SPPB, hand dynamometer test), activity performance (COPM), and home care hours needed. Data are collected at inclusion (T1; applying for home care), after the three months intervention (T2), and at six months (T3). Primary outcome analyses will be performed according to intention to treat; 2 x 3 mixed design (group x time) ANCOVA with each dependent variable at T1 as covariate. Based on a medium effect size in favour of the intervention in the pilot study, and a dropout of 20%, the power calculation indicated that 240 persons should be included. The project will contribute with evidence of the effects of interprofessional home rehabilitation for reablement, and consequences for older persons' bio-psycho-social health. The project is ongoing with more than 120 persons included. The intervention may result in reduced costs for care, but especially individual gains in relation to reduced care needs, maintained independence and good health.
The number of older people (aged 65+) will more than double by 2050 in Sweden. The ageing population is an increasing concern due to rising health-care costs and a shortage of health professionals. Older people generally prefer ageing in place, as long as they feel confident and comfortable. However, preventive and supportive measures are needed to maintain older people's independence and active participation in society. The aim of this study is to explore the prerequisites for a healthy and independent life among older people in Sweden. A Delphi study was conducted in three rounds. In round 1, seven focus group interviews were performed with older persons aged 65–79, older persons aged ⩾80, next of kin of older persons, health professionals in primary and home health care, assistant nurses in home care, care managers and local politicians. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, resulting in 35 statements of the prerequisites needed for a healthy and independent life. These statements were sent to the participants from round 1, who were asked to evaluate the degree to which they agreed with each statement in round 2, and again in round 3. There was an agreement of at least 80 per cent for 31 of the 35 statements. When asked to identify the three prerequisites of most importance for a healthy and independent life, most participants stated: to have a social life, to have freedom of choice and power over one's own situation, and to have the possibility to choose independently one's type of housing. There was an overall high group agreement on the prerequisites needed for a healthy and independent life among older people. The main areas of importance were to have a social life, several dimensions of feeling safe and to retain one's personal control.
The increased number of older adults who experience longevity requires increased investment in healthcare services. Short-term goal-directed reablement is expected to strengthen the functional capacity and quality of life of older adults, while homecare hours, and thus municipal expenditures, decrease. Facilitation of successful interprofessional collaboration includes not only enhancing coordination structurally, but also establishing a commitment regarding culture that overcomes professionally differentiated attitudes. Nurses have an obvious role in these multi-professional teams and the study explores some aspects' of working in this type of collaboration. The aim was to illuminate the meaning of working with short-term goal-directed reablement of older adults as experienced by an interprofessional team. Data were collected after an intervention with goal-directed time-limited reablement of older people. Written narratives from an interprofessional team were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Findings identified four major thematic structures that characterized the meaning: 1) Reliable relationship; including the aspects 'Confidence between the older adult and staff', 'A sense of security' and 'Continuity', 2) Empowered participation, including the following aspects: 'Listen to the older adult's desires' and 'Put the person in control', 3) Team with a negotiated approach, including the aspects: 'Closeness', 'Same direction and overarching goal', 'Learning from interprofessional dialogue', 4) Time for growth with the aspects 'Creating harmony' and 'Building the older adult's self-confidence'. The process of reablement seemed strengthened by the collaborative approach of different professions and their combined efforts. The present study argues that teamwork gives confidence both in terms of general knowledge of reablement but also specific confidence in one's profession.
This paper reports a study conducted to illuminate older adults' perceptions of multiproffesional team's caring skills as success factors for health support in short-term goal-directed reablement. The fact that older adults are given perquisites to live in their own homes puts great demands on the professional care given them at home. An option offered could be short-term goal-directed reablement delivered by an interprofessional team. This means after periods in hospitals to strengthen their multidimensional health, older adults' reablement processes are supported to return to their daily life as soon as possible. Crucial in making these intentions a reality seems to be identifying the professional's approach that works as success factors for health support in the reablement process. A descriptive qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach based on interviews with 23 older persons who had received short-term goal-directed reablement at home after a period at hospital was used. The study was approved by an ethical board. The analysis revealed four major referential aspects of multiproffesional team's caring skills as success factors for health-support in short-term goal-directed reablement: a motivating caregiver, a positive atmosphere-creating caregiver, a human fellowship-oriented caregiver and a caregiver that goes beyond the expected. In this study, all caring skills in the continuum are perceived as positively loaded necessities in different situations during the reablement process. Caring skills as success factors are initially shown at a practical level, such as how the professional caregivers encourage and motivate the older persons in different training situations. At a deeper level, the caregivers open their hearts and have the capacity to go beyond the expected in the professional caregiver–patient relationship. The multiproffesional team's best fit caring skills during the home reablement process need to be addressed as evidence base in the area of elderly home care.
The purpose of this study was to develop an interview guide for use by primaryhealthcare professionals to support them in identifying the rehabilitation needs of forcedresettled women from the Middle East living with chronic pain. Previous findings togetherwith the existing literature were used as the basis for developing the interview guide in threesteps: item generation, cognitive interviews, and a pilot study. The study resulted in a16-item interview guide focusing on patients' concerns and expectations, with considerationof pre-migration, migration, and post-migration factors that might affect their health. Withthe help of the guide, patients were also invited to identify difficulties in their daily activitiesand to take part in setting goals and planning their rehabilitation. The current interview guideprovides professional guidance to caretakers, taking a person-centered participative point ofdeparture when meeting and planning care, for and together, with representatives from dispersed ethnic populations in Sweden. It can be used together with the patient by all staffmembers working in primary healthcare, with the aim of contributing to continuity of careand multi-professional collaboration.
Meeting patients from other countries constitutes a challenge forhealth care. The purpose of this study was to increase knowledgeabout tacit understandings of treatment in practice by determiningthe perceptions of chronic pain and rehabilitation directed toresettled women from the Middle East, from a variety of health careprofessionals within primary care. Based on the results, we find aneed to support and increase knowledge among health care professionalsto involve the patient and consider her beliefs, expectations,background, current life situation, and spirituality, and to involvefamily in rehabilitation.
Purpose: To conduct a systematic review of existing methods to evaluate the individual aspects of welfare technology from the perspectives of independence, safety, activity, and participation. Furthermore, the study aimed to describe outcomes that have been the focus of previous research to evaluate individual aspects of welfare technology in older persons living in ordinary housing. Materials and methods: A systematic literature review in PubMed, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Studies selected were those that explored the use of assistive and welfare technology devices from older persons' perspectives, and which considered the concepts of independence, safety, activity and participation, and quality of life. Results: A broad spectrum of instruments was applied in the studies. For independence, three questionnaires were used in the identified studies. For safety, one instrument was used in two versions. To study activity and participation as well as quality of life, several scales were used. Additionally, several studies included qualitative approaches for evaluation, such as interviews, or posed one or more questions regarding the effects of welfare technology. Conclusions: The integration of digital assistive and welfare technology should be based on the needs of older persons, and those needs must be assessed using reliable and relevant instruments. The heterogeneity of the target group, i.e., older persons, together with the fact that assessments must give consideration to identifying goals, obstacles, and risks as well as users' preferences, implies a person-centred approach.
Background: As dispersed ethnic populations in Swedish society expand, the healthcare system need to adapt rehabilitationservices according to their needs. The experiences of trauma and forced resettlement have a continuing impact on healthand musculoskeletal pain, as well as the intersecting structures that prerequisite the possibilities in the new country. Tounderstand the specific needs of women from the Iraqi diaspora in Sweden, there is a need to elucidate the effects of painon their everyday life. Aims: To elucidate everyday life with chronic pain from the perspective of women from the Iraqidiaspora in Sweden. Methods: Qualitative interview study according to Glaser's grounded theory. Results: The results from11 interviews suggest that pain was associated with dependency on society as well as on family. It resulted in a strugglefor sense of control, framed by faith in God, influenced by the healthcare system, and with support from family. Thewomen's testimony of lack of continuity of care, resulting in recollection of lived traumas in every visit, is a vital sign of theunconscious power relations within health care and how representatives from health care, instead of being the ones whohelp the women forward, become the ones who hold them back.Conclusions: The results show the importance ofchallenging the normative assumptions embedded in health care and treatment for patients with chronic painand of including the voice of "others".
This is a follow-up study of intensive home-based rehabilitation from older people's perspectives. The aim was to explore older adults' descriptions of interactional needs related to autonomy in life. The purpose was also to explore the importance of significant others in the reablement process.
Method: The sample consisted of 23 women aged 72–92 who were included consecutively in the first project year. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews that were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative latent content analysis.
Results: Regaining autonomy through reablement was achieved by the interviewees although not always to the same extent as before. Three themes related to interactional needs were identified: (1) Transitional relations, referring to encounters with staff in time-limited relations. (2) More stable relations with significant others without limitation of time. (3) The acceptance of growing older and of death as a "natural departure". Transitional relations with professionals, and more stable relations with significant others, are important parts of the reablement process according to older adults.
In conclusion: Professionals within gerontology need to recognize the social and historical context including the symbolic meanings each older person gives to life's necessaries. Older adults appreciate reablement which includes rehabilitation goals related to the person's stable relationships and larger life context.


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Custom writing is a specialized job. Anybody cannot bring down the idea and vision of a third person in the words of a third person. Custom writing has to follow the instructions of the teacher. It has to incorporate the vision of the student. It must also be unique. This means that the written paper must not look like a copy paste affair of some previous writing. When one takes the responsibility of custom writing then he has to be careful about nativity of the student. Institutes from countries following UK or US English in particular want their students to submit papers in their respective English.
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subset: commoncrawl


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This brand new purpurite and sterling silver pendant is eye-catching. The purpurite stone is polished smooth and is brown with streaks of light purple. The inside of the bail (loop for chain) is stamped with "925" so you can rest assured that all metal in the pendant is genuine .925 sterling silver. The bail is large, allowing it to easily fit onto most chains or cords (not included).
Including the bail, this purpurite pendant measures approximately 1.45″ long. The pendant measures approximately 1″ wide. Please note that the dime is not included but is shown to help you gauge the size of the pendant.
This handmade pendant would make a great gift for anyone interested in unique stone jewelry. This pendant would also be great for anyone who appreciates purpurite jewelry, brown jewelry, or handmade sterling silver jewelry. This pendant comes with our original store tags and gift box, great for giving or storage for years to come.


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The ladybug in the last photo is a two-spot ladybird (Adalia bipunctata), the one in the first and third photos a seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), and the one in the second photo an eye-spotted lady beetle (Anatis mali). They looked as though they had a yellow, powdery disease. A parasite came out of one of the ladybugs.
Newfoundland Nature
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Anatomy: The Integumentary System
This program provides a creative and engaging description of the integumentary system
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This program provides a creative and engaging description of the integumentary system. It discusses each layer of the skin, describing its anatomy and physiology, as well as accessory structures such as hair, glands, and nails. Art and animation enhance the material presented.
Program Objectives:
1. Name four accessory structures related to the integumentary system.
2. Describe the five layers of the epidermis.
3. Discuss the mechanism by which the skin surface forms.
4. Name the two layers of the dermis.
5. Describe the roles of collagen and elastin.
6. Explain the skin's role in maintaining body temperature.
7. Differentiate between the two types of glands located within the integumentary system.
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This Versatile Indicator Helps Spot Turning Points
Momentum in its simplest form is the Rate of Change (ROC), the percentage change in price over a specified time frame. Many other momentum measures have been developed but all modify this basic calculation in some way.
To calculate the ROC, you divide the current price by an earlier price, subtract 1 from that value and multiply by 100 to convert to a percentage:
Rate of Change (ROC) = [P/P(t)] -1 x 100, where P(t) is an older price point
For example, the current price could be divided by the closing price six months ago to find the 6-month ROC. This calculation can be applied to any type of data series, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds or even economic data. In fact, the widely followed Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a 12-month ROC calculation of price change.
How Traders Use It
ROC can be used by itself as a complete trading strategy. Traders could buy when the ROC is positive and sell when it falls below zero. This is illustrated in the chart below where two large gains would have been attained while a large loss would have been avoided.
Some traders add a moving average to the ROC and trade based only on that. Buy signals would occur when the ROC crosses above the moving average and sell signals would be taken when the ROC falls below its moving average. Any time period could be used for the indicator or the average, and a 26-week ROC with a13-week moving average are common settings.
Bull and bear markets can be identified by the value of ROC. Bull markets will have a positive value and downturns will be accompanied by a negative ROC.
Why It Matters To Traders
A number of studies have shown that high-momentum stocks tend to outperform over the next three to twelve months. Traders can screen for the stocks with the highest ROC and buy them. ROC will often turn lower and fall below its moving average ahead of a price decline, offering a timely sell signal. It is also helpful to see when ROC turns negative since that is often a signal that more price declines are ahead.
#-ad_banner-#ROC can be used to spot possible bubbles. Before it collapsed, the price of iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI), shown in the example, had doubled in only six months and the ROC was above 100%. Price advances like this are generally unsustainable, and by following ROC, potential crashes can be avoided. Whenever the 6-month ROC is above 50%, for example, the advance is unlikely to continue.
Traders could also add Bollinger Bands to the ROC to help spot turning points. When ROC is above the upper Bollinger Band it is more than 2 standard deviations above average, something that is expected to happen less than 2.5% of the time. This is a warning that prices have advanced quickly and a reversal could be near. An upward move in prices would be expected when ROC falls below the lower Bollinger Band, which is also expected to occur only 2.5% of the time.
By setting the Bollinger Bands to be 3 or more standard deviations from the average, something that is easily done with almost any trading software, you can spot even rarer market extremes. Only 1% of all ROC readings should be more than 3 standard deviations from the average. These rare opportunities will generally represent low-risk entry points for trades.
ROC is a versatile indicator that can be used for trading or bubble spotting.
(This article originally appeared on ProfitableTrading.com.)
P.S. If you're tired of not knowing what to buy, or when to buy and sell, then you should check this out… We've found a way to legally "hack" the market for gains of 135%, 181%, 242% and more using this system. Even better, it's steers you away from the market when it hits rough waters. Read this report to learn more. It just might be the best investment decision you make all year.


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Fully Escorted Day Trip- Simply Paris
Fully guided day trip to Paris via Eurostar from London. Visit all of the most famous sights and attractions in the worlds most romantic city in a single day.
Free London Hotel Transfers- Please wait by the concierge desk at 4:45am for your optional FREE transfer to and from St. Pancras International station. (This service is applicable to clients staying in central London hotels only and must be pre-booked).
Journey to Paris- Check-in at 5.30am for your departureto Paris: Meet both your guide and Golden Tours representative at the group welcome desk at St. Pancras International Station. Our tour guide will travel with you onboard the Eurostar and throughout the day, ensuring your tour is memorable for all the right reasons!
The Golden Tours representative will issue you your welcome pack in exchange for your voucher and just 2hrs 15mins and you'll be in Paris passing through the 31 mile-long Channel Tunnel along the way!
Tour of Paris- On arrival at Paris Gare du Nord station, the splendour of this exiting city awaits! Enjoy a whistle stop tour of Paris and marvel at its magical monuments from the comfort of your seat! Take in the Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe and Trocadero, to name just a few of the gems that this panoramic tour provides.
Eiffel Tower- The trademark monument of Paris and one of the worlds most recognisable landmarks! Enjoy breathtaking views of the city from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.
River Cruise- Take to the water on a luxury cruise along the river Seine and enjoy panoramic views of Parisian magical monuments. The cruises lasts an hour and an audio tour is provided.
Free Entry Louvre Museum- Enjoy a guided walking tour around the famous Louvre Art Museum. Why not admire its splendour at your leisure with your free entry ticket! (On Tuesdays the Louvre Museum is closed, you will be given an entry ticket to Musee d'Orsay instead).
Return Journey- Your tour guide will escort you back to the Gare du Nord. Your Eurostar departure time from Paris is 8:13pm, arriving back in London at 9:40pm local time.
Train Departure Times:
Monday to Friday: trains will depart from St Pancras Int. at 6:55am arriving in Paris at 10:17am
Saturday: will depart from St Pancras Int. at 6:22am arriving in Paris at 9:47am
Monday to Saturday: return trains will depart from Paris at 8:13pm arriving in London at 9:40pm
NB. Passports will be required. Please check visa requirement
100% cancellation charges apply to this tour - once booked it cannot be cancelled.


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Evangelical churches in France: facts, figures & home truths (D. Buick)
According to a CNEF report published earlier this year, there are 1,600 more Evangelical churches in France than in 1970, according to the document, for a current total of over 2,000.
The CNEF survey also details progress in national coverage: 87 per cent of the country is now said to be within half an hour's drive of an evangelical congregation. Pastor David Buick's paper emphasizes the fact that there's a growing open-mindedness, too: many evangelical churches that aren't CNEF affiliates are included in the statistics.
To know more, read the rest of David Buick's paper here, written through pastor's lenses (link).
French Evangelicals through an American lens (GetReligion)
In our last post, we just highlighted the paper published by the Christian Science Monitor on French Evangelicals. A few days after, the GetReligion website (worth a visit!) released a critical review of this paper, written by George Conger.
Although it may be a little bit severe, it is inspiring (read also the comments).
French Evangelicals screened by the Christian Science Monitor
"For years, intellectuals proclaimed the end of Christianity in France, swallowed by the tides of modernity, science, and reason."
Not so sure! To know more, read this month the Christian Science Monitor, one of the most US respected magazine on christian news.
Robert Marquand, CS's Staff writer, authored a must-read study on French Evangelicals in the July 2012 issue. With facts, analysis, and comparative view (France/America). Link here
French pastor André Thobois (1924-2012) remembered
Often nicknamed "pastors' pastor" ("le pasteur des pasteurs"), French Evangelical leader André Thobois (1924-2012) passed away on the 26th of March, 2012.
A memorial service was held on the 31th of March, 2012, in the Avenue du Maine Baptist Church (Paris, France).
Christians from all denominations came to express their thanksgiving for what they considered to be such a lasting and fruitful ministry.
Publié dans Evangelicals Charismatics Pentecostals, France: religion and culture | Lien permanent | Commentaires (1) | Tags : france, andré thobois, andre thobois, european baptist federation, french baptist federation, french protestant federation, billy graham evangelistic association, french evangelicals | Facebook | |
Death of a megachurch leader in France: Selvaraj Rajiah (1952-2011)
Megachurches are not just a US (or Nigerian, Korean...) phenomenon.
Even Secular France has got some, including Paris Christian Center in La Courneuve (North of Paris), attracting more than 4,000 regular attenders every week.
This is why the sudden and unexpected death of Selvaraj Rajiah, senior pastor of PCC, is a major event in the French protestant news.
Publié dans Evangelicals Charismatics Pentecostals, France: religion and culture | Lien permanent | Commentaires (1) | Tags : france, french evangelicals, india, evangelicals, selvaraj rajiah, megachurch, french megachurch, paris christian center, paris centre chrétien, morris cerullo, madras | Facebook | |
Now in bookstores and on Amazon: La nouvelle France protestante
An IFOP national Survey in 2010 reveals a brand new Protestant map in France.
While many speak openly about the collapse of organized Christianity in contemporary France, the heirs of French Reformers (including French-born John Calvin) are currently growing.
Although this is unexpected, it can't be denied. This process goes along with the spread of Evangelical new communities. A third of all current French protestants are Evangelicals, while 60% remain attached to the presbyterian and lutheran traditions. This new landscape draws questions and requires analysis.
Publié dans About this blog, France: religion and culture | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Tags : sébastien fath, jean-paul willaime, ifop, france, french protestants, evangelicals, french evangelicals, labor et fides | Facebook | |
French Evangelical News: a new portal
Under the umbrella of an Evangelical network whose main ambition is to support Christian witness in France, let's highlight this website: http://www.scoop.it/t/french-evangelical-news.
This new portal puts together news from many different origins (including this blog), and appears to be a valuable ressource in order to document French Evangelicals' contemporary life.
Immigration impact on an old Parisian congregation: a case study
As migrants flow in increasing numbers in "old Europe", changing forever social and cultural landscapes, more and more studies are currently undergone about new multicultural and immigrant churches.
Although all Christian traditions are impacted by immigration, Evangelicalism is at the frontline, as warm, grassroot and zealous Evangelical congregations appear more attractive to migrants than other more traditional religious forms.
Publié dans Evangelicals Charismatics Pentecostals, France: religion and culture | Lien permanent | Commentaires (2) | Tags : france, french evangelicals, richard gelin, eddy nisus, evangelicalism, sarah demart, immigrant churches, baptists, french baptists, avenue du maine baptist church, paris | Facebook | |
Lorraine Winston (1922-2011)
Strange, while highlighting the Faculté de Vaux-sur-Seine's impact on the French Evangelical field, I mentioned a few days ago John Winston and Lorraine Winston's legacy. In their own ways, both of them impacted French contemporary Protestant history.
I just learned that Lorraine Winston passed away. The service will be held on the 24th of October, 2011.
A rare insight on a French Evangelical "hub"
In demographic terms, Evangelicalism in France amounts to a third of all French Protestants.
In terms of practicing Protestants, however, the rate is very different. Around two thirds (if not three quarters) of practicing Protestants in contemporary France are Evangelicals.
But lots of research still needs to be done in order to know better these French born-again citizens.
The rise of French Evangelicals: an article from the Guardian
Lizzy Davies, a journalist from the Guardian, called me a few days ago to ask me some questions about French Evangelicals.
Unfortunatly, I was not in my home and I did not have the opportunity to answer in due time.
Publié dans Evangelicals Charismatics Pentecostals, France: religion and culture | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Tags : french evangelicals, the guardian, lizzy davies, france | Facebook | |


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Recent LISNews Stats
A few numbers for your enjoyment. Here's the stats from the last quarter of 2008:
Total Sessions 1,023,253
Total Pageviews 5,758,171
Total Hits 11,636,252
Total Bytes Transferred 172,674,015,089
Average Sessions Per Day 11,122.32
Average Pageviews Per Day 62,588.82
Average Hits Per Day 126,481.00
Average Bytes Transferred Per Day 1,876,891,468
Average Pageviews Per Session 5.63
Average Hits Per Session 11.37
Average Bytes Per Session 168750
Average Length of Session 599
Are you able to exclude MP3 content from those totals?
Stephen Michael Kellat, Host, LISTen
PGP KeyID: 899C131F
Not really a stat question, but...
Is there any way to display who is writing the blog posts, like with the Recent comments area? I find I don't really read blog posts any more because I always seem to click on the posts of people that I don't like to read, but then only come across the ones I do by chance. Rather than clicking on more blog headlines I find myself not clicking on any. (Which I guess *would* help bump up the stats if more people were reading the blog entries.)
It's a small point, but one I miss from the old design.


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And, now, it's time to go.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Packing Assistant, Please? Anyone?
This Marriott Renaissance room is a mess.
And it's a two-room suite! (Which happens sometimes, thank God, when the hotel screws up your original king regular room reservation at the pre-appointed rate so then when they make amends they give you a two room suite at the same pre-appointed rate, which in my eyes, had to be the divine intervention of Jesus.
Man that was a long run-on-sentence. But, I digress. Again.)
This room is a mess.
We've been in Oklahoma City for 5 days for this AADE National Tech Conference. Great conference. Great people. Great information. Great fun/work trip!
As I look around, I realize we never unpacked our suitcases into the drawers. We grabbed clothes out of the closet and our suitcases. Meetings here. Dinners there. Breakfasts, over there. People. Places. Things.
And, now, it's time to go.
Last night, I started making piles.
A pile of clothes to go to the cleaners in the next town.
A pile of clothes to go into the washer in the next town.
A pile of ThatManILove's used workout clothes which absolutely positively will not be mixed with the regular clothes.
The guy can exude some sweat when he's working out, and seriously dresses just for that purpose. Weirdness.
I have some major work to do just to get us packed.
And I'd best get to it.
We have some miles to log before we're
home close to home okay dang it at our next hotel.
Y'all have a good day.
And I promise, after next Wednesday, I hopefully will be where I can get back to a more regular life for three weeks or so anyway and go visit your blogs and comment. Thanks for being faithful to come by!!
And, now, it's time to go.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Laaaaaaammmmmmmmmb What?
Cattleman's Steak House - Oklahoma City, OK.
I'm telling you, people, good eating.
Yup...Lamb…ummmm….yeah. Too funny!!!!
Good stuff.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Winter Storm Rocky
I spent most of the day yesterday in a National American Association of Drilling Engineers Board Meeting, where I serve as the secretary on the national board.
I am taking minutes for said meeting. My phone is blowing up.
Winter storm Rocky is messing with all the students heading to this conference, and they are all freaking out...some are presenting papers at this conference. Some are just attending. No matter what, I have 50 students from two different colleges that need to get into OKC and Storm Rocky is jacking with their travel plans.
Thank God that Raegan, Jenaya and Trey are with me, visiting the same board meeting, so they can answer my phone for me and deal with these students, their appointed bus companies, and all the drama that ensued.
I woke up this morning thinking, "We have 300 college students trying to get here for the conference."
I bet my phone wasn't the only one blowing up yesterday.
And this morning, in Oklahoma City, site of the AADE National Tech Conference?
It's raining. Not a blizzard. And certainly not 11" of snow that was predicted for Oklahoma City.
Either Winter Storm Rocky hasn't hit yet, or it's going elsewhere.
Monday, February 25, 2013
We had both been working hard all day, at our jobs, and for this AADE conference.
And this note from sweet, beautiful Rae? Stuck on my computer monitor?
In eight words.
And Raegan? I love you, girlfriend. You are one of the reasons I do what I do...
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Silent Sunday - I Guess He Thinks He's Hiding
Saturday, February 23, 2013
You Can Pay Me Your Taxes, Okay?
Today, I went to our mailbox.
But it's wrong.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Dude. You SO Have Bad Breath.
Have you viewed a YouTube video lately?
I have.
And I have to say, I'm sick of the Orapup commercial. You know, the one that comes on prior to every video.
Oh, yes, I am.
But I might just buy some of those Orapup brushes for my friends…dogs, that is.
Yeah, my friends
' dogs.
I have.
And I have to say, I'm sick of the Orapup commercial. You know, the one that comes on prior to every video.
Oh, yes, I am.
But I might just buy some of those Orapup brushes for my friends…dogs, that is.
Yeah, my friends
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Help Me Make It Through the Day!!
Today, I have to:
- Go get my allergy shots
- Meet with my boss
- Update the Permian Basin Oilfield Calendar
- Finish my expenses
- Update my ECRM Sales Force tool
- Finish what's needed for the National AADE Board Meeting
- Teach Trey how to do the AADE Chapter Report
- Go to the cleaners and the bank
- Make a reservation and go to dinner at 5 so we can get to the REO Speedwagon Concert in a timely fashion
But here's what I feel like doing, and it's not even 7 a.m…
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Home. Sweet, Sweet Home.
Ahhhh. Night two in our
my own bed.
I should be asleep, but no. Wide awake. Sooooo wide awake, I think I'm going to the gym in about 45 minutes.
With my husband.
This is a new trek for us, both of us going to the gym at the same time, utilizing the same trainer. At this point in time, ThatManILove is more into it than me. And he's still dropping weight like crazy. It's awesome.
The Wonderdogs are home, and glad to be so.
Because of a committee meeting, I didn't get home until 8 p.m. tonight, but ThatManILove said Zanna the Wonderdog was trash talking him, in his face, barking. I imagine she was jumping his butt, telling him no way shoul she have to go to the kennel when we are out of town.
Zack just laid down in the living room and waited on us to come surround him with love and hugs. He's so laid back Joe Cool.
It's good to be home.
It's good to be home.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Home, Home on the Range…(links provided)
I'm a little late posting yesterday and today…but I'm here!
So glad to be home…for four short days.
The Wonderdogs will be home shortly for a short respite from the boarder.
My list of stuff to accomplish in those four days to get ready for a National AADE Board Meeting (housed within a three-day National AADE Technical Conference) is a little overwhelming, but I think I've might have it drilled down to manageable. (no pun intended)
I just finished my Pathways WALK. I'm really excited about the next phase of my training, and I have some homework to do.
AND Friday night, we get to see REO Speedwagon at our local Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center! I "heard it from a friend"!!!
And until then, I'll keep on loving you!!
Check out REO Speedwagon here!
So glad to be home…for four short days.
The Wonderdogs will be home shortly for a short respite from the boarder.
My list of stuff to accomplish in those four days to get ready for a National AADE Board Meeting (housed within a three-day National AADE Technical Conference) is a little overwhelming, but I think I've might have it drilled down to manageable. (no pun intended)
I just finished my Pathways WALK. I'm really excited about the next phase of my training, and I have some homework to do.
AND Friday night, we get to see REO Speedwagon at our local Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center! I "heard it from a friend"!!!
And until then, I'll keep on loving you!!
Check out REO Speedwagon here!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Our Favorite Spot…Vamos Por La Casa, Senor
Talk about comfort…this is our first stop towards home.
We stop here, every time, en route from DFW to home.
God bless you, you people of Starbucks in Weatherford, Tx.
God bless you. Your coffee. Your clean bathrooms.
We stop here, every time, en route from DFW to home.
God bless you, you people of Starbucks in Weatherford, Tx.
God bless you. Your coffee. Your clean bathrooms.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Boots and Must Have Accessories - Part 2
I promised you in yesterday's post that there was a part two to the must-have Boot Accessories.
Well, peeps, here it is.
My very favorite boot accessory.
The Boot Shaper, by Austin Abbott.
I snagged these on Amazon for a mere ~$14 each, including shipping. Just search "boot shaper"…you'll find them. I ordered a couple of cases of them and gave them to some of my friends. I'm all for functional (and cheap!!) gift giving!
These things are the freaking Bomb.com.
They keep your boots upright, no matter how many miles you've walked.
They even have a hanger in them, if you're blessed to have empty clothes rods.
They are amazing, and help me keep my closets, well, if not totally organized, better organized!
Thought you'd love to see them.
They work on men's cowboy boots, men's knee high boots, okay, I'm gonna stop there. And they definitely work on women's boots!
Here's a good representation of
, ummmm, yeah, part of the boots in my closet. Some, more worn than others, but there ya go!
Go get ya some! And...Save Your BOOTS!!
|Why Are You Looking Into My Boots? STOP IT!!!
Go get ya some! And...Save Your BOOTS!!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Boots and Must Have Accessories - Part 1
Who, seriously, doesn't love boots? Men, women, who cares, we all LOVE boots!
It looks wicked, doesn't it? I saw this little tool one day at Merry Marketplace, where one of the vendors was putting it to use on a pair of $800 boots. I was all in her business, asking her about that tool. I decided right there and then I was going to get not one, but two. TWO boot stretchers.
You wet the inside of the boot with a spray bottle (I used RO water).
You insert the tool into the leather boot. (Make sure you loosen any buckles.) The spreader has two parts - one, to spread the ankle, and one to spread the upper part of the boot.
And you turn it to the right. The spreader stretches the leather.
Takes about 5 minutes a boot.
And voila, they fit...just right!
(Stay tuned for part 2…it will be worth it!)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
I Need To Video These Wonderdogs
So. Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all!
And speaking of Valentines….
Who promptly walked quietly up to ThatManILove's favorite chair, and stepped up into it, and curled up.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Fruitfly Wonderdogs
One Sunday afternoon, I decided to sit on the back porch to blog and write in my journal.
I pad back to my chair. Wrap all back up in my blankie. Computer on my lap. Get all set.
I look left of my chair, where I am so wonderfully ensconced.
Zack is drooling, Zanna looking all expectant. Again. What part of this did they not get? Grrrrrrrr.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
And I Do Not Lie...
I get these spam post comments all the time.
And sometimes, I get the religious stalker spam comments.
When I opened up my email, and looked down and saw this, I laughed out loud. Really, I did. Not just the "lol". But the real, honest to goodness, laugh out loud deal that real people really used to do.
Because, peeps, I've already got this one faded.
The Bigger Butts part, anyway.
Not only faded, but straining at the seams.
That is all.
Have a good day.
That is all.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Snoozebuckets Galore - Janie Down
I didn't feel good at all this weekend.
And ThatManILove decided to show you a shot of his life from his perspective. Snoozy Saturday morning. These allergies, and the accompanying meds,
are kicking my butt.
I didn't feel good at all this weekend.
And ThatManILove decided to show you a shot of his life from his perspective. Snoozy Saturday morning. These allergies, and the accompanying meds,
are kicking my butt.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The Little Horse That Would Not & Happy Birthday To My Son
Today is my oldest son's 32nd birthday. I was going back and looking at his pictures, trying to figure out how best to commemorate his birthday.
And I found this story from 2009, on my old blog. It's funny enough, I'm going to share it again.
So, Happy Birthday, son. Thanks for all the laughter! You're one of the funniest people I know. I love you!!
This morning, my phone rang. It was Elder Son, though I could barely understand him.
ES: Mom.
Me: Yeah, babe?
ES: Mom, I had to ...call you. (He's hesitating, sounds like he's crying.)
Me: What's up? Is SOMETHING WRONG????
(I can hear all this snuffling, and scuffing around, and some type of weird guttural noise.)
ES: Jason and I are having to load these little...(more snuffling, weird sounds) miniature horses that Jason's granddad bought for Jason's kids at the livestock auction, and...and...(mumbles off into nowhere, and I can hear him laughing and trying to catch his breath.)
(I can hear Jason laughing out loud.)
Me: What? What's going on?
ES: Well, Mom, it's just that.....(fades into laughter again. He finally composes himself)...we got all the horses loaded except for...(and off he goes again) except for this (Jason laughing his butt off in the background)
Me: (I start laughing, too.) Tell me! Finish your sentence!
Now, I ask you, how stupid is that, that I start laughing? I can't even see them, I don't even know what's happening. But I can imagine. Jason isn't a tall guy, but Elder Son tops out well over 6' - he's one tall lean bean. And a miniature horse, much less 7-8 of them? Just the visuals are funny!
Me: Elder Son! Finish, please?
ES: Mom....I can't....it's just that, I'm really trying...okay, give me a second....okay....we've been trying...trying to...(and he dissolves into man giggles again.)
I just sit there, grinning like a cheshire cat. I don't know what it is, but I know it's going to be good. It's gonna be one of those worth the wait ones. I wait.
He finally calms down a little bit.
ES: Mom, we've got all these teeny horses loaded in this honking huge trailer, ( and they're laughing again, they're losing their voices)...(they finally catch their breath and ES resumes) except for (bustin' gut laughs now) the little stallion. (And he cracks up again.)
Me: The what?
ES: The stud miniature horse, Mom. He's a stubborn little &*O(^)%(&.
Me: Oh, Lordy me (I really started laughing now)!
ES: Oh, Mom, we are so frustrated. We tried to herd him up with the rest of the horses. He'd get halfway up the ramp, which is really short to the ground, then fall off. He'd just tip over. He's really fat. We'd start again - he'd back down the ramp. He did not want to go. Then, we tried to lead him up. No go. Then, I led and Jase pushed. That didn't work. So, Jase led, and I pushed. (Laughter. Then escalating laughter.)That didn't work, either.
And now, Mom, the horse is mad. He's snorting at us and pawing at us - it is so funny, the little thing!(Uncontrollable laughing from both he and Jase.)
(By now, tears are running down my face and I'm having trouble breathing!)
And then, Mom....(giggles)....I finally got so frustrated I tried to pick the little b*st*rd up and throw him in the trailer. (huge laughter.)
Me: What? You tried to pick him up?
ES: Yessssssssss...(fades into sputters and they're off again, laughing hard!.)
Me: Did it work?
ES: Hell, no, Mom, it didn't work (and they crack up into laughter again), he weighs 400 pounds and he was thrashing around and trying to get away!
Me: Oh, Lordy.
ES: I gotta go, Mom, we gotta figure this out, I just had to call you.
And he hangs up laughing.
I talked to him this morning. They finally got the little stud horse loaded into the trailer. Elder Son and Jason physically picked up the horse, together, and stuffed him in the trailer.
Elder Son is still laughing.
Me, too!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
I Hope You're Having A Great Day…..ACHOOOO!!!
Allergies are kicking my butt.
I'm having to do a sinus cleanse morning and evening.
And then, nose spray.
And allergy shots, twice a week, my arms feel like pincushions sometimes.
I'm working hard to follow doctor's orders.
I'm ready for the "system" to kick in and start working.
Meanwhile? I'm gonna buy stock in Puffs Tissue.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Sherlock - aka ThatManILove - And The Wonderdogs
The dogs were rather destructive today. Well, for 10 minutes of the day, anyway.
ThatManILove promised me he'd get to the bottom of the mystery.
Just call him Sherlock. (Video here)
I will tell you who Thurber is in another story.
ThatManILove promised me he'd get to the bottom of the mystery.
Just call him Sherlock. (Video here)
I will tell you who Thurber is in another story.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
We learned in our training this weekend that hugs are important.
I love Hagen's cartoons!!
So, go! Hug somebody!!
Eminent US family therapist, Virginia Satir, regularly made a startling claim:
"We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth."
Well, I told ThatManILove that every statement, and every day, we're trying to give/get 12 hugs from each other.
Day 1? We rocked the casbah. Laughed every time.
Day 2? We got all 12 in, again.
Day 3? I think we had hugged twice, so far, by evening. Our day, yesterday, went kind of crazy. He got up with me at 4:30 a.m., and went to the gym with me. It had been a rough day on each of us, individually. Lots of meetings, etc., super different schedules. So, again, by 7:30 p.m., two hugs - not even enough for survival, according to Satir. We had a bunch of catching up to do, and ended up making a concerted effort to get all of our hugs in for the day! And...it helped us have a really good healthy conversation, too, about some stuff we needed to resolve. I'm liking this hugging stuff!
But really, it's kind of become a game. We've hugged good morning, we've hugged good night. We've even hugged in the middle of a conflict. I may have to invent a meter for measuring hugs. Think that will work?
So...today is Day 4. As soon as we get home from the gym, I'm going to try to snag four or five hugs...so we can get a head start on the hug-o-meter for the day.
I love Hagen's cartoons!!
So, go! Hug somebody!!
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text:
As you gain experience in SEO, you will start to understand how a few minor tweaks can cause some seriously positive changes. If you want to know more about SEO and how it works, then you are in the right place.
When you use SEO, you should make sure you site is properly coded. If you are using a messy Javascript code for content, you may find your site getting much less traffic, because the spiders are incapable of indexing things from your site. If you have Flash content without coding, they will not index it at all.
It's best to have lots of short articles than a few long ones. Having multiple small article helps boost your site better than one large one. Visitors are also not likely to read an article in its entirety if it is overly long.
Including keywords as well as their common misspellings can help optimize your search engine results. Search engine bots will find analyze these meta tags and including this information will increase your visibility. For example, if you have a website about Maine Coon cats, then use "Maine Coon" as well as "Main Coon" and "Mainecoon."
Just because you advertise more does not mean that your rank will improve. You can always advertise, though this isn't the way to boost site rankings.
Instead of writing AP styles for SEO, try writing SEO. In other words, use the keywords as often as you can without ruining the readability of the article. As search engines work partly by locating keywords and evaluating their density, this should improve your search engine rankings.
Relevant Results
Retaining the visitors you get from search engines will not only increase your profits, but also your search engine rank. There is more and more evidence available suggesting that how long a visitor stays on a site affects their PageRank, according to Quantcast scores. This information comes from metrics such as Quantcast scores. When customers can chat, discuss, and interact with each other on your site, they are more likely to stay longer.
There are many different strategies to optimize your site for search engines. Tweaking the search capabilities of your site returns faster, more relevant results. Having the most relevant results leads to an enhanced user experience.
A key to search engine optimization is to include a site map. Site maps make it significantly easier for search engine crawlers and spiders to access every webpage on your website. You may need to include a few site maps, if you have a big website. You should delegate, at most, 100 links per map.
Pay-per-click models can be a lucrative strategy in affiliate marketing. This is the simplest affiliate program to implement, so the pay for each click may not be high, but the total pay can add up quickly.
Include your chosen key phrases in your page title and throughout your site. Make your title relevant and intelligent, because it is the first impression search engine users will get of your site. This will cause your site to be clicked on because it best fits what the search engine user typed in.
You should make sure that you are using SEO style writing, so that you will be improving your ranking in the search engines. A part of this switch involves learning to populate your articles with keywords while maintaining a good flow. This will help people bring up more links to your site while searching online.
Utilize a descriptive and unique title tag as a way to ensure that different search engines will be able to comprehend the content on your website. When writing tags, keep in mind that the majority of search engines only show up to 60 characters of content. Tags generally carry less weight past that point anyway.
Select a keyword specific domain name. After all, you want people to find your website easily. Keep in mind that people will find your website via multiple methods like search engines or backlinks, not just from advertisements.
You want to be sure you provide a focused effort to each page of your site. It really is a mistake to try to cram in each of your services or products into just one posting. Your customer will just be confused and not want to stay. A page that only focuses on one thing is best.
Look at the source code on the sites of your competitors. This can show you how they use SEO on their site and which keywords they use. You may not want to be like them, but it will give you ideas.
Begin by doing ample keyword research. Learn which particular keywords should be utilized as you build your site's content and titles. You should research what people are looking for when looking for products in your market and select your keywords from what are being used to search. You can then use those terms to increase your rankings through search engine optimization.
The creation of robots will do this for you. txt file and incorporating it into your main directory. This will prevent any search engine from being able to gain access to particular files on your site.
If you add keywords on comments you will be better recognized. Instead, focus on the content that is within your site.
Search Engine
The easier your website is to read, the more likely people are to return time and time again. Include features on your site such as larger font size options and always make sure your site is clear and concise. This will help it rank higher in search results. You should find a balance to appeal to readers and to search engines.
Add meta descriptions to each page on your site to improve your search engine placement. These tags are useful because they'll show up in search results and give people a reason to click your site. Make the meta tag content valuable and concise. This will help in getting visitors to your site, even over sites that might rank higher than you in the search engine results.
You need to go through your site for errors, some forget to do this. Your website should be very clear and easy to read by your readers, as well as the search engines. Search engine algorithms look for a bad site copy and penalize it when ranking sites.
Talk with an education or non-profit website to see if they will provide a link on their site to content on your site. Your site will receive more favorable treatment when search engines see that your site has received good quality links. Use high-quality content to attract reliable sources that may want to feature you. Write useful articles that these types of organizations don't have on their own sites.
When you are working on SEO, it is essential that you create content for the human reader. Of course, you want the search engines to pick up on keywords, but keep in mind that bots will not be buying anything from you. The average Internet user must be able to understand your writing. If it can't be read, it will fail.
Search Engines
The parameters and indexing traits sought out by search engine algorithms have a specific purpose in the indexing of websites. You should strive to have your search engine find results that are the most relevant when you are creating a search engine.
A site map will assist search engines to index your pages. Site maps, or navigation bars, let search engines quickly and effectively index your whole site. Even a smaller website can have a higher search engine ranking with a good site map.
Don't ever publish identical articles on different pages. Google believes this to be a form of cheating, which can cause your ranking to decline. Also, link to different pages with the same information will lower you page rank.
Your website should be easy to read. If you design a website which is easy to navigate and read, including accessibility options like making the font size larger, you'll find that your site ranks higher on search engines. It is important to make sure your site is both user-friendly and search engine ready.
Search engines are very smart; if they see you are trying to manipulate your site fraudulently, they will suppress your pages. Major search engines will ban companies without a second thought for egregious offenses! This is why remaining ethical in your SEO practices is essential.
Proofreading is something that is often forgotten, but it is a very important part of running a quality website. Make sure your website is readable by both man and machine. If your website or keywords have bad grammatical or spelling errors, then search engines may rank your site lower than you'd like.
Ask your old host if they will forward the page to the new domain. This means that users can tap into old bookmarks to get your new site. You may also choose to use redirect pages and these will bring users automatically to the new site.
Video Sitemap
Your page ranks go up when visitors stay on your website for extended periods. Keeping people on your website is key in getting repeat visitors, so have great content worth sticking around for!
Use videos along with a video sitemap for increasing your SEO. Videos can serve as an introduction to you or your employees, or for product demonstrations. Post them on your site and label them with the proper keywords. Build a video sitemap and submit it. Then, post the videos on Metacafe, YouTube, Yahoo and various other video websites. Then, you can just wait for customers to get into touch with you.
URL's on your server should be case sensitive, and it pays to check that they are. If this doesn't happen, your site could be respidered in lower case letter, which splits up the link juice.
Procuring distinct, original content is vital to getting your website to appear high on the search engine results pages. If you simply provide the same information that visitors can find on many other websites, there is no real incentive for them to come to your website. Consumers will stick around and come back for more if they see unique content on your page.
Based upon your resources, you may be able to fully optimize your site for only one or two of the major search engines. Keyword-rich content may work well for some search engines. , Ask. Many of the large sites publish SEO guidelines for you to follow.
If you have a shared server, make sure that none of the other sites on the server have been banned. If a banned site shares a proxy with you, it could negatively affect search engine exposure for your site.
Putting your keywords and your keyword phrases into every place possible on your website will help to optimize your search engine ratings. Links, ALT tags, and URLs are great places for keywords. Your site should always trace back to whatever keyword you are aiming to be found through.
Implement email marketing properly. Your emails should include your SEO keywords and include social bookmarking tools. Make things easier for your readers by making it so that they can easily forward your emails to their friends, too.
When you are working on SEO for your website, there are key aspects that help in making your website friendly to search engines. Keep in mind that you must design sites that appeal to both people and search engine crawlers. Make your test readable: use standard size font, nothing that is difficult to interpret, and your font color should not cause eye strain. These are the basic rules, but they are very important.
One tool that you must have is Google Analytics. This helps you monitor your traffic. This tool helps you recognize which keywords are the most effective when driving traffic to your site. You can then make changes accordingly.
Use keywords in file names, but not those which are part of your template. You can use your business' name in your site's banner, but don't bother putting a keyword in the background graphic. It would not be relevant.
Use obvious keywords in your link titles, whether they are on your site or someone else's. "as anchor text. This will help the search engines see your links and additional keywords as being relevant, which will get you higher search rankings. You should make sure that your site includes internal links that use keyword links.
To maximize the efficiency of your search engine optimization, take the time to check on your server headers. Failure to ensure that your server headers have been set up properly can make it difficult to meet your goals. For instance, if you need to redirect traffic to another location, the server headers need to have a status of "200 Ok" or "301 moved permanently."
Using link directories is a good way to get links to your website, though you need to make sure to have links that are high in quality and placed on legitimate sites. It's common for directories of low quality to be filled with derelict or badly done websites. You need to be aware of who you get involved with.
When getting your strategy together for search engine optimization, remember that content is king. While it should be a good length and keyword focused, you should also make sure that it is unique and well written. There should not be any grammatical errors. Quality content goes very far in the SEO world.
Hitting page one of Google or other search engines with your site, in it's niche as well, is a site owner's dream achievement. This can be a very competitive market to break into.


text:
Slavery is a sad fact of our national history but it is as much a part of our history as D-Day and the Gettysburg Address. America was built by the labor of slaves and immigrant workers who were often treated worse than slaves. To erase all memory of it is dangerous for it erases an evil which should keep us humble and vigilant as citizens of a free country.
Taking down every Confederate battle flag will not change what was. And I can assure you that no man who fought under that flag would have condoned the craven massacre of grandmothers and other devout people gathered to study the Holy Bible in a house of worship. Here is what the Sons of the Confederacy have to say on the matter:
On the night of June 17, 2015, an attempt was made to break the spirit of all South Carolinians.Share
The deranged mind of a horrendous individual, entered Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, and took the lives of nine admirable individuals. This historic House of God became the scene of a brutal massacre beyond understanding. We all contemplate, why did this happen?
Perhaps this is a question that cannot be answered. What kind of a world are we leaving behind for our children, when you can't go into God's House without the threat of being gunned down? This is, in fact a crime of hate and an act of terrorism. It is reported that the culprit's craving was to bring about "civil" war and division between Black and White citizens of the Palmetto State. This did not happen. We will not allow it to happen. South Carolinians will stand together hand in hand regardless of race, creed, or skin color to prevent it from happening. South Carolina will not cower to the evil deeds of one hateful being.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans extends our heartfelt sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. We stand with the citizens of Charleston as they come together to mourn the loss of these beloved individuals. We pray that God will grant them comfort and peace during this time of despair. Emanuel Church proclaims compassion, peace, and justice throughout the historic Grand City of the South. This congregation stands for what is right and is a force against evil. Hatred has reared its ugly face in our country masquerading as political correctness. What God has ordained as righteous and just will always be righteous and just. What God has ordained as evil will always be evil. No man, government, or principality has authority to change the will of God.
Hatred is evil. Recent acts in Charleston are just plain evil. South Carolinians have chosen to defeat evil by offering love and support of each other, rather than disobedience, distrust and destruction. Disobedience and destruction only breeds yet more hatred and evil.
Historical fact shows there were Black Confederate soldiers. These brave men fought in the trenches beside their White brothers, all under the Confederate Battle Flag. This same Flag stands as a memorial to these soldiers on the grounds of the SC Statehouse today. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, a historical honor society, does not delineate which Confederate soldier we will remember or honor. We cherish and revere the memory of all Confederate veterans. None of them, Black or White, shall be forgotten.
The SC Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans has a stringently enforced Hate Policy. We will remove any member who expresses racist hatred sentiments. Anyone with ties to racist organizations will not be granted membership. The perpetrator of the vile act in Charleston has never been a member or associated with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Unfortunately some other subversive organizations distort Confederate symbols in an attempt to make them stand for hatred and disillusion. The SCV vehemently opposes the ideals and actions of such organizations.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans has both Black and White members. In our eyes there is no difference. Our membership is made up of descendants of Native-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Christians and Jewish who took a stand for the Cause they believed was right. The love and defense of the South's symbols, culture, and heritage is not hate. It is knowing and understanding of the truth.
Not knowing your heritage is ignorance. (Read more.)


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In 2010, State of the Art, Inc. will release its NIH-funded program, Just add SPICE: a recipe for happy, healthy kids 3-6. This learning resource of video and print materials follows four families as they attempt to instill healthy habits in their kids by using a set of proven positive parenting skills represented by the acronym SPICE. The DVD will be distributed by PBS Home Video.
In the series, Roni Leiderman, PhD, an author and leading parenting expert, works with four families to focus their use of the SPICE parenting skills on several goals that experts say are key to preventing overweight and obesity in children: eating more fruits and vegetables, getting more physical activity, reducing screen time - that is, time spent in front of TV, movies, computer and video games - and making mealtime family time.
"I think Dr. Leiderman is exceptional. It is reassuring, as a pediatrician, to know that the program I am referring a patient to is saying things that I would love to teach my patients but have no time." - Howard Taras, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at University of California San Diego and Chief Medical Officer for the San Diego Unified School District.
The program was recently focus group-tested with parents and caregivers of children 3-6. The parents were almost universal in their praise of the materials. The final program is being quantitatively evaluated in a national study of parents to determine its effects on their ability to adopt healthy lifestyles with their children. Results of this study will be released in late 2010.
"Every parent wants their children to grow up to be happy and healthy. That doesnt mean its always easy to achieve that goal. The SPICE parenting program gives parents the ideas and the tools they need to accomplish that goal." - Roni Leiderman, PhD, Dean of the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies at Nova Southeastern University.
Production and research on this project were funded by an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Click here to watch an introductory video clip.


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SummaryStena recognised an opportunity to upgrade their current Web Content Management System (WCMS) for four of their business units' public-facing websites to SharePoint 2010. ClearPeople had already delivered a SharePoint Document Management solution to Stena and because of our extensive experience with WCMS solutions and specialisation with SharePoint, ClearPeople was an ideal partner for this project.
Business ProblemEach of Stena's internal business units have a public facing website run by marketing teams within each department. A cross-organisational problem was that often the existing web solution required intervention from IT to make any changes. This prevented the timely and efficient management of content. Stena needed to select a solution that would solve the shortterm challenge of making content easier to manage. Stena also needed to support future requirements such as adding social media features to make their sites more engaging.
Why SharePoint For Internet SitesSharePoint was selected after a like-for-like comparison where it came out as the best value-for money over the competition. The marketing team selected SharePoint for its consistent user experience and ribbon feature, which now means that little training is required and the sites can be updated more quickly and efficiently. For the IT team, using SharePoint for both Stena's intranet and public facing websites, has meant that they have less platforms to support. SharePoint is also a strong platform for running multiple web sites and has strong integration capabilities. ClearPeople redeveloped the existing design and functionality for four of Stenas'
ChallengeThe main challenge for ClearPeople, was to migrate the websites, detailed below, from Microsoft CMS 2002 to SharePoint 2010. The goal was to ensure that the transition onto a new platform would be seamless for both web visitors and Stena's internal team. Furthermore, ClearPeople has extensive experience implementing websites in multiple languages and so were able to leverage this skill set to deliver one of the few SharePoint 2010 sites with multilingual capabilities. The web sites are:
- www.stena.com (English & Swedish)
- www.stenasessan.se (Swedish)
- www.stenarealty.com (English only)
- www.stenateknik.com (English & Swedish)
SolutionThe following deliverables were provided:
- Implementation of four SharePoint 2010 websites
- Development of custom features
- Project management and consultancy services
- Content migration for all four sites
- Onsite hand over
BenefitsStena's content editors report that transitioning to SharePoint's ribbon based content management system was a welcomed changed. They are now able to update content without the assistance of IT, which makes their websites more relevant and useful for their intended audience. The design and existing content was migrated without issue, and the multilingual capabilities between Swedish and English enabled. Based on the success of migrating these four websites, Stena has plans to carry over other websites in the upcoming year. Business Benefits:
- Efficiency - ability to change and manage the sites without relying on IT
- Agility - able to extend and update sites to respond to evolving customers needs
- Flexibility - to make the sites more interesting and engaging
- Affordability - fit within the budget for existing and upcoming projects, as well as be able to add more sites effectively and at a lower cost


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Programming API for the Mail Database, Personal Address Book and Domino Directory
Jens Winkelmann485 - 08 2008 / (0)
I wish we have a programming API to access and edit the mail database, the
personal address book and the Domino Directory
The API must support LotusScript and Java.
It is not professional to create a document with field and than find ...
Publish API to work with calendar items, tasks and contacts
Jan Schulz4949 - 13 2009 / (0)
To programmaticaly add a todo item, a calendar item or contact is a big challange, even if you know the scriptlibs in the mailfile. Please add a api (either as a build in or as a template to inherit in my app) to work with calendar items, task and contacts, ...
New classes for Appointments and other mail/calendar entries
Michael Falstrup788 - 05 2011 / (0)
I would very much like to see some new Classes or API's if you like, that makes it easier to create Appointments, Memo's and other Mail/Calendar entries, without having to remember all the speciel fields, that have to be set. Then we could create AppointMent and memos as objects and ...
Work on the interface (XPages) - very good, but would like to not forget about the improvement of Domino API.
I beg to add the ability to search in collection of documents using @formulas, by analogy to Database.search(). The FtSearch method is inconvenient for programming and not as flexible.
It ...
Lotus Domino/Notes VCL for Delphi, C++ Builder, etc
Jeremy Hodge1359 - 14 2008 / (0)
Ok, so here is a "reverse" idea .... I'm looking for some feedback. We, as a company, purchased the rights to DNotes a few years ago. If you aren't familiar with it, its a Delphi Native VCL ... its got both visual and non-visual components, and its built upon the ...
Keep the C++ API alive
Robert Ibsen Voith4057 - 30 2008 / (1)
During Lotusphere 2008 I heard that IBM "discourages new users from using the C++ API" according to George L, probably meaning that the C++ API will die not so far from now. If you feel that the C++ API has been a valuable API alongside the C API, please promote!


text:
Created for: The Sims 3
This is a Set with 17 Creations - Click here to show all
A Bathroom Inspired by Ikea in the typical fashion of simplicity only Ikea can do. This bathroom has a bath-shower combo that is meant to fit in an indent in the bathroom wall with a working shower curtain. The plant in the water on the window has moving water and included is a 3 tile window with slots. You can find the collection file below.
Creator Notes
Collection File : http://www.mediafire.com/file/k3pil9bkkob5rcg/coll_RicciNumberIkeaInspiredBravikenBath.package
Short URL: http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1159417
ItemID: 1159417
Filesize: 4 MB kB
This Creation requires what's listed below in order to work properly.
Note that those downloads are not required for the Creation to work!
The TSR Creations below were used in this Creation.
The EA Creations below were used in this Creation.
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text:
The humble housefly has been blessed with supervision.
RELATED: How to catch a single mosquito
In an article published on The Conversation, Cameron Webb, Clinical Lecturer and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney, and Bryan Lessard, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO, said: "The secret to this impressive evasiveness isn't some kind of mind-reading trick of the fly. It's their superior vision."
"Flies have up to 6,000 ommatidia, or mini lenses, in each eye and can see us approach in "slow motion". They may not have the highest resolution vision, but they've got some of the "fastest" vision on earth – giving them the time to quickly react and escape," they explain.
A fly will be able to detect the threat of your hand or swatter quicker than you can move.
"When a fly spots a predator, or person waving their arms about, it freezes, repositions itself, and commences a choreographed dance, perfectly co-ordinating its legs and wings to lift and buzz off in the opposite direction to the incoming threat," the article says.
"Flies can do this so quickly that our eyes can't even follow their pre-flight manoeuvring or predict the path of their elegant escape. A split-second to us could be lifesaving for a fly."


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I'm going to divide this post into backlist books I want to read, rereads, and new releases. Let's talk about the new releases first.
New Releases
Alex, Approximately by Jenn BennettJenn Bennett is one of my auto-buy authors so I was already going to buy this book. But I was completely sold as soon as I was told that this book is a YA You've Got Mail. Doesn't that sound amazing!?! I can't wait to read this one!
Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
I'm a huge fan of Staveley's debut trilogy, Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, so I'm super excited to get my hands on this standalone spinoff about our favorite assassin and priestess. This book is all about Pyrre's backstory and her journey to pass her trial to become a priestess of the God of Death. *grabby hands*
Hunted by Meagan Spooner
I actually don't know much about this one aside from that it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling that has been compared with the genius that is Robin McKinley's Beauty which is my favorite retellings of this classic tale. And of course, it's one of those books that it seems like everyone in my corner of the online book community is loving right now. I was sold on the McKinley comparison alone.
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
A Cinderella retelling that takes place at a comic convention? YES! GIVE IT TO ME NOW! I'm so excited to read this book. It's getting a ton of good buzz in the blogging community and some of my trusted book friends have done nothing but rave about it. I'm so ready for it!
Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
This book has been one of those books I've been waiting YEARS for. Seven to be exact. I completely adore this series and I've wanted this next book ever since I finished A Conspiracy of Kings in 2010. I NEED MAY TO GET HERE FASTER! I need this book in my hand ASAP!
Backlist Books
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
I'm going to be honest. I went and saw the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie and now I want to read all of the retellings I have on my shelf and Kindle. I actually can't remember what this one is about besides it being a retelling. I've had it on my bookshelf for a long time. Hopefully I'll get to it soon!
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I had forgotten about this book until it got a new cover for the paperback release. It makes me want to read it so much! It's so cool, right?!? Also, I need more Hogwarts-like fiction and boys falling in love in my life .
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
I got this book for Christmas and I'm so excited to read it! The animated adaptation of this book is my all-time favorite Miyazaki film and I can't wait to read it! In my opinion, we all need more Howl in our lives.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
This book is being adapted into a film and I want to read it! The only things I know about it is that there's something about Oreos and boys falling in love with boys. There is SO much hype around this book in the online book community and I'm really excited to get to it!
Winter by Marissa Meyer
I have no idea why I haven't read this yet. It's going to happen this year though! I started my audiobook reread of the previous books this week and I'm so happy to be back in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
This series quickly catapulted itself into the top five on my favorite series of all-time list. I can't get it out of my head and I haven't stopped reading fanfic since I finished the last book. I NEED MORE OF BLUE AND HER RAVEN BOYS IN MY LIFE! Also, I need to kill time until Stiefvater finishes the Ronan trilogy she's working on. My plan is to reread the series via audio after I finish my Lunar Chronicles reread.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
My excitement over the next book has made me realize it's been awhile since I've reread this series. I've missed Eugenides and his shenanigans and I can't wait to revisit this world!
Beauty by Robin McKinley
I mentioned that the new Beauty and the Beast movie has made me want to read all the retellings, right? It's been a few years since I reread this one and its been tempting me to pick it up ever since I got out of the theater last week. I'm going to have to make room in my reading schedule for it. :)
Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Timekeeper was one of my favorite books last year and I can't get it out of my head. I keep thinking of the mythology and the characters. Especially a certain clock spirit. :) I've been hearing good things about the audiobook that just released so maybe I should add it to my list of books to reread on audio.
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
I'm moving next month and I just finished packing my bookshelves. My friend who was helping me asked me what this book was about which lead to me gushing for the next half hour about how good it was. I had the hardest time trying to put it in a box after that because now I want to reread it. I need a timeturner so I can read all of the books I want to this year.
What books are you wanting to read this spring?


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(this was a request by a terrible friend who wants me to fail [and get arrested]:
I want a poem about chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear
terrorism – all of the above if possible. Here are some good terms to
choose from to help get you started:
Chemical : cyanide, arsenic, sarin, mustard, gas, phosgene, hydrogen
cyanide, toxic industrial chemical or TIC (tick)
Biological: ricin, anthrax, toxin, bacillus anthracis, botulinum, plague
Radiological: dirty bomb, cesium, cobalt-60
Nuclear: plutonium, highly enriched uranium or HEU, improvised
nuclear device or IND)
Terrorists use, with alarming aplomb,
Plutonium and the so-called "dirty bomb."
Chemical terror includes lots of TIC*
And of course biological makes us all sick.
Nuclear: uranium, Chemical: gas
Biological also can feature anthrax.
And mustard gas, arsenic, H. cyanide,
But I better stop 'fore I get FBI'd.**
*toxic industrial chemicals
**I am not a terrorist. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.


text:
Monday, 28 December 2009
Christmas Day doesn't need to be stressful...
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
love peace joy for Christmas 2009
love peace joy, originally uploaded by Adriana Glackin.
Here we are in the Christmas week, so I'm taking this opportunity to wish all who come across my blog, a very Merry Christmas. May you have the opportunity to spend it with those you love and cherish. I think there is no nicer place to be on Christmas day than with those we love and care for.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and wishing you love peace and joy for 2010.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Scream Aim fire Cover
My Teen loves his music fast and loud, and not just listening to it either. For weeks now we've been hearing his riffs as he enjoys his new Marshall amp, and a couple of weeks ago he posted his first Youtube cover. Take a listen - I hope you enjoy it!
Saturday, 12 December 2009
How Time Flies when you're having fun
The month of December always leaves me feeling a little teary and emotional. There's more that 101 reasons why this is so. The recurring theme seems to be, however, the passing of time. How fast did this year pass, how fast have the past 5 years been, is it possible that such-and-such happened 14 years ago, is it really that many years since I finished school, I've been married for how long? – and on and on it goes. I question dates when events occurred, do the math and realise that in fact so much more time has passed than I thought. And of course, another sure sign of the passing of time is to see policemen and doctors, who were always so much older, are now in fact considerably younger – how and when did that happen? Aren't they a little young to be fully trained?
The other sure sign of the passing of time is to see your children come to the end of another school year, and for those of us in Australia that coincides with the middle of December. If that isn't a reminder that time flies by, add to that the milestone of reaching the end of compulsory education and you start to truly wonder where the time has gone. Our Teen has completed his compulsory education and will go on to complete his final two years of schooling. Schools celebrate this milestone with a dinner dance/formal where the students dress up and celebrate the event. For our family, that took place this past week and of course I'm being very proud and extremely biased when I say that I think our Teen looked very handsome and so grown up. Seeing him with his peers, many of those known since they were all in kindergarten together, was a truly surreal moment. They were all so grown up, handsome, well groomed, tall and – gasp – no longer babies... I can vividly remember his first day of school – and as corny as it sounds, it does feel as though it was yesterday...sigh... Is it really possible that 11 years have passed in the blink of an eye?
If the passing of time isn't enough to make you realise it's a fact of life that cannot be controlled or stopped, there's the looming New Year's Eve to contend with, now mere days away. I've given up writing out my list of New Year's Resolutions. Instead, knowing that time passes so quickly and indiscriminately, I simply try and embrace the year ahead and all the adventures and wrinkles that come along with it.
If you're a regular read of this blog, you'll know that I like to share images that I come across in my interwebs journey. This time, I share with you a portrait of my Teen getting ready for his School Formal. I'm also sharing two links to some beautiful writing that depicts the essence of the passing of time. Written by two RedBubble members, I encourage you to click on the links and read their prose. If you're a RedBubble member, please feel free to comment on their work.
youth's passing by Jordan Busson


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UPDATED -- Izod IndyCar Series driver E. J. Viso was released from Methodist Hospital late Tuesday evening as X-rays showed no broken bones in his back after a nasty crash in turn one during practice.
Viso, 25, hit with the rear of the car after losing control on entry. He complained of back pain, but no fractures were found.
Back injuries have been one of the Indy Racing League's most common injuries in recent years.
The Venezuelan driver still must be cleared by the series' medical staff before he can return to action, but his KV Racing Technology team is preparing his backup car.
Practice is set for noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying is Saturday, and warmer temperatures are in the forecast. The high on Wednesday is expected to be 68 degrees.
Indianapolis 500 practice ended on Tuesday when Viso crashed.
Dixon leads Tuesday practice
Scott Dixon led the five-hour practice session with a lap of 226.549 mph, with the top five being comprised of five different teams. None of the drivers are from the Team Penske stable. Mario Moraes (KV) was second, Marco Andretti (Andretti) third, Alex Tagliani (Fazzt) fourth and Dan Wheldon (Panther) fifth. The Penske cars spent most of the day practicing together in race setup.
Rookie Simona De Silvestro jumped from 33rd to 10th in the final minutes before Viso's crash ended the session.
Thirty-six car-and-driver combinations were on the track, running 1,590 laps. Bruno Junqueira's deal with Fazzt still hasn't come together. The team is trying to secure funding for the No. 33 car.
Moraes had the day's other incident. He spun on the warm-up lane getting up to speed. He blamed himself. "I was too aggressive," he said.
It's also worth noting who the slowest three drivers of the day were, since at the moment that's how many drivers won't make the 33-car field. They were, in order, rookie Mario Romancini, rookie Sebastian Saavedra and Milka Duno.


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Unknown item found: Law of Averages (10325, 514916402)
10325 Law of Averages 514916402 sheet.gif usable 0
# Item Law of Averages: Averages you out
No idea if it's implemented yet as it costs 1k Swagger & the season literally just started (going on recent experience, I wouldn't hold my breath).
[EDIT] /pvp says it's actually Average Season. I can't edit the title but if anyone cares feel free to update if you have the powers.


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Rustic gluten-free cinnamon buns that are vegan, oil-free, sugar-free, nut-free, and no yeast! Lovingly made right in a cast iron skillet for extra flavor and charm. A breakfast or brunch recipe that will leave you feeling warm and cozy!
You are in for a cinnamon treat! These beauties were made Christmas Day 2015. The day I received my Majestic Beauty! (i.e. The stand mixer!) And the picture below was my loving work and creativity at play in all it's messy glory!Read More


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How to pitch your startup is often the starting point for the startups of today. They go to Google and search for the definitive guide to fund-raising, but in principle, there isn't one. However, there are tactics one can follow to make their idea more attractive for investors.
Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon-Valley based author, speaker, entrepreneur, and evangelist, says that people are going to make an instant decision about your pitch. "They're not going to want to see your entire background, they're not going to want to get to know you, they don't want to be your friend,'' he says. His recommendation is to be interesting and be quick about it.
Below we're going to enlist a collection of 8 important tactics that you can follow to make your pitch your startup in a better way to possible investors.
1. Research your audience
To have a great pitch, you need to understand who you're talking to. Today there are tools like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other where you can research your audience and understand more about them. This means that you can find points of interest to talk about, including facts about who their favorite football team or the last time they visited New York. But make sure to find out about stuff that is relevant.
2. Stay focused
When you achieve the meeting of having the chance to pitch your startup to investors, remember that you won't have an hour or half an hour. Available time might be even less than that. Make sure to prepare upfront about what your investors might want to hear. Do they want to know more about the technology or the market? Or about competitors? Sometimes you might not know that, but be prepared. Sometimes they will ask directly, and you make sure to answer what they're looking for.
3. Your pitch, your story
It's not rare that start-ups go to a pitch meeting and do their story in a geeky / tech-talk way. Try to avoid that and try to avoid as much of patent-pending, scalable product or service, disruption, etc. You'll sound like everyone else. You want to be different and convince the investors to invest in your product/idea. You can achieve that by telling them a story. Every startup should have a story that articulates the motivation behind the business and the problem it's trying to solve. VC's are not bankers and they want to do business with people who believe in what they're doing.
4. The 10/20/30 Rule
There are various pitch decks recommended by various resources on the internet. One of the most recommended ones is the 10/20/30 model, created by Guy Kawasaki. The optimal number of slides is 10, the talk should be 20 minutes long and the font size should be 30 points. An additional tip by Kawasaki is related to the background of the slides. "Dark says seriousness. Dark says gravitas. Dark says I'm not (so dumb) that all I did was boot up PowerPoint, got a white open new document, inserted a new text box, and started typing," Kawasaki says. "Black is the new black."
5. One person does the talking
The CEO of the company should be the one that does the talking and he should be the person that knows how to present the market, the technology, the product, the financials and the team. Don't try and pitch your startup with everyone talking various pieces of the pitch deck. It's difficult, it doesn't work and you're gonna lose the attention of your audience.
6. Practice, Practice, Practice
The more you practice your pitch the better you become. A saying that applies here is that you need to practice it so much that you're completely smooth with it. Even when you're woken up in the middle of the night, you should be able to pitch it smoothly.
7. Don't forget the product
Everything can be fine about your pitch and story and team, but don't forget to show a demo of your product. You can't convince investors to write you a check if you can't show what you actually have built with your team. Make sure to dedicate a spot in your pitch deck to present your product and demo it to the investors.
8. Take notes and Follow-up
This is one of the most common cases. There is a great number of people that don't follow-up and there's always the case when the investors are providing feedback and no notes are taken. If you're asked about some information that you can't provide at the moment, take notes and provide follow-up.
There's nothing more unconvincing to an investor than a founder that doesn't bother to listen and take notes while he's asking some important business questions that might lead to a check and more than that. Remember that if you say you're going to send some follow-up information, do that the moment you get back to the office or garage where your startup is. Don't wait for next week to provide that follow-up informaiton. As the saying goes, keep up the momentum.