text:
Urban Meyer did not name Dwayne Haskins as his starting quarterback on Monday. But he did say Haskins will get the first crack at it.
Speaking at the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club in Canton, Meyer said, via the Canton Repository:
"This is really the first time I've talked about this since the spring game, but as of now it looks like Dwayne Haskins will get the first opportunity to be the starter. Dwayne is a young guy that came in against our rivals and did a heck of a job. You go back and watch that again, he came in on the first drive and took us down the field and scored on that first drive against that defense. So he's got a great release, he's got good size and he's a mobile-enough quarterback.
"It is going to change how we attack defenses."
The score on this front was all but settled when Joe Burrow announced his plans to graduate transfer last week.
A sophomore from Potomac, Md., Haskins was J.T. Barrett's primary backup in 2017. In eight games, Haskins connected on 40-of-57 throws for 565 yards with four touchdowns against one interception. The then-redshirt freshman proved his mettle by stepping in for an injured Barrett to complete 6-of-7 passes for 94 yards in a 31-20 win at Michigan.
With Burrow gone, redshirt freshman Tate Martell is Haskins's only credible competition for the job.
As Meyer alluded to above, Haskins's expected replacement of Barrett will allow Ryan Day to progress the offense from one triggered by a running quarterback who can throw to a true pass-first quarterback who has the ability to run if the pass isn't there.


text:
Electronic Logging Device Only
The hardware connects directly to the J1939 port and is compatible with virtually all ELD systems. The connector comes in various versions to support your needs, and custom firmware and development API is also available.
- 802.11bgn WiFi interface with embedded antenna
- Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy interface with embedded antenna
- 66-channel high-performance/sensitivity GPS receiver with embedded antenna
- Dual-core 240MHz processor
- 2MB flash memory, good for more than 30 days of ELD data buffering
- Up to 3x CAN bus interfaces allow access to all vehicle data
- 1x J1708 interface
- OEM-grade and certified vehicle interfaces shared with other IOSiX products

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Also found in: Acronyms, Wikipedia.
HPNA gene on chromosome 19q11-q13.2 that encodes a type-II transmembrane serine protease involved in cellular functions, including coagulation, maintenance of cell morphology and growth and progression of certain cancers (e.g., of the prostate).
Home parenteral nutrition (HPN)
Long-term parenteral nutrition, given through a central venous catheter and administered in the patient's home.
Mentioned in: Nutrition through an Intravenous Line


text:
1998 Vintage Chanel Hair Slide
The most desired label in the world. Gold plated statement hair slide. Feature quilted detail and interlocking silver plated CC logo. Stamped with Chanel authenticity mark and dated 1998.
Gold plate, 9 cm x 3 cm
The legendary Coco Chanel was a champion of costume jewellery, mixing fine and costume pieces together. Chanel jewellery, generally bold in design, gold plated with distinctive colouring.
- Free Standard Shipping - Orders of £50 and over
Free UK Next Day Delivery - Orders of £200 and over (place order before 2pm)
Standard Shipping - £4.95
Next Day Delivery - £7.95
Guaranteed Saturday Delivery - £13.95
DHL International Delivery (2-3 working days) - £23.95
We hope you are pleased with your purchase but should you wish to return it you must return to us within 28 days of the date of delivery.Susan Caplan offers a guarantee on each piece of jewellery.
Every item is guaranteed for 12 months from original purchase date (under normal conditions of wear and tear).
Please note that we cannot guarantee items that have not been cared for under our product care instructions.
Found out more info about returns & jewellery care.
- For any product enquiries please email email@example.com .
Please call us on 0207 424 7809 if you would like to speak to one of the team.
Our opening times are between 9.30am to 5.00pm (Monday – Friday).


text:
First comes love, then comes the ring, then comes your first thought after… the dress. The venue + setting of your wedding can affect the style of dress you may choose; however, your personal style should shine through above all. One new trend that we love seeing is a short wedding dress.
Whereas in the past, long, traditional wedding dresses were expected, more and more brides are getting creative with their dress choices and showing off their own personality + style! If you're thinking about going short, our friend Carrie of Carrie's Bridal Collection is here to share five reasons why you should ABSOLUTELY do that!
Photo: Kelly Anne Photography
Comfort. First and foremost, a short wedding dress is going to be an ease to wear. No heavy all-day gown, no train to carry around, no bustle to fasten. Having a short dress helps relieve the stress of making sure all these characteristics of a long dress don't make the bride uncomfortable throughout the night. This style is for the bride who wants to enjoy the day and easily dance the night away.
Ease of Travel. Traveling with your short wedding dress after the wedding or trying to find arrangements to have someone hold onto your dress can be such a hassle. This is often an unexpected inconvenience that many brides do not prepare for prior to the honeymoon. Short dresses are easy to travel with as they can fit into normal luggage or garment bags. They are a breeze when transporting to your venue or destination wedding.
Less Expensive. Shorter gowns will be naturally less expensive than longer gowns. So, this will save money and may allow for more detail! Alterations, under garments, and detailing are small fees that can add up quickly. A less expensive dress will help ensure that there's money in the budget to make sure that all aspects of the dress are perfect for you!
Better Shoes. With a long gown, shoes are rarely seen. Think about the stunning shoes you can pair with your short wedding dress. And with the money you save on the dress itself, your shoes can really pop. This small touch can add so much personality to your wedding + make for some adorable photos!
Versatility + wearability. Short dresses can be worn in a variety of venues. Ranging from Church to City Hall, a beach to a garden. Because short dresses are so versatile, brides can make them as dressy or casual as they want to fit their wedding vision—it's completely up to them! Accessories from shoes to jewelry to headpieces not only add a personal touch, but also help set the tone for the wedding style. When dressed down, they are the perfect dress to wear again. We love the idea of dressing it down with a blazer for an anniversary photo shoot.
There are many decisions you will make on your wedding planning journey. Stay true to yourself and wear something you love! Your dress may be short on length, but it doesn't have to be short on style! We traditionally think that wedding dresses should be long, but some of our style icons of today even wore short wedding dresses and they were fabulous!
Brides, did you wear a short dress for your wedding? We'd love to hear why you chose it!


text:
- Expertise
- Construction Support
- Due Diligence
- Engineering Services
- Insurance Claim Evaluation
- Landfill Services
- Mediation and Litigation Support
- Mining
- Natural Resources
- Regulatory Compliance and Permitting Assistance
- Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies
- Remedial System Design and Operation
- Sediment Services
- Stormwater Compliance, Permitting, and Management
- UST/AST Investigation and Remediation
- Vapor Intrusion Investigation and Mitigation
- Careers
- Public Access
- Contact
Farallon Headquarters Comes Together Under One Roof
June 22, 2017
After several years of planning, our Issaquah office is coming together under one roof. Approximately 45 employees work in the two-story office building that originally housed a printing business and now serves as Farallon headquarters. We initially shared the second floor with another tenant, and space was limited. As the firm expanded, some employees moved to a leased site across the street affectionately dubbed "the Plume."
In March, we acquired the entire second floor and began remodeling the space, uprooting employees in the process. The first signs of progress emerged in April as corridors and stairwells were given fresh paint and new flooring. Construction was completed on May 12, 2017, and employees began moving into their new workspaces.
Our remodel includes various green improvements such as LED and motion-sensing lights, low‑toxicity paint, and recycled and reused materials. Electric lighting in common spaces near windows automatically adjusts based on the amount of natural light present. The contractor recycled all materials generated during the initial teardown and remodel. The resulting Farallon headquarters embodies the firm's unwavering commitment to the enrichment of both the environment and community.
As the dust settles, employees are finding many reasons to celebrate. "I think it's important to have all Issaquah employees working in one building," says Emerald Erickson-Mulanax, Project Geologist. "I feel more connected to the 'mothership,' and no longer have to brave the weather and traffic when I need to visit the main building. As leader of the Washington Green Team, I appreciate that our work space is energy efficient and reflects our vision for a more sustainable future."


text:
Go to the Students section
Go to the Staff section
Go to the Alumni section
Go to the Study here section
Go to the International section
Go to the About section
Go to the Research section
Go to the Business and Employers section
Go to the Support us section
The UK enjoys four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Temperatures and the natural environment change dramatically from season to season.
Located in the South of England, Oxford enjoys some of the best weather in the UK and daytime temperatures can range from a warm 28 degrees Celsius in the summer to -3 Celsius in winter. A range of clothing is useful to match these seasons, with t-shirts and shorts and light trousers useful in the summer and a warm coat, gloves, hat and scarf needed for the winter.
UK weather can also be unpredictable with a warm sunny morning turning into a chilly, rainy, windy afternoon, so a small umbrella is recommended.
A number of festive holidays are celebrated in Oxford and the UK including:
Valentine's Day – on 14 February where lovers and admirers exchange cards and gifts, often anonymously.
Easter – a Christian festival which falls in March or April, and is traditionally celebrated with chocolate Easter eggs.
Halloween – 31 October on All Hallows' Eve, a festival of pumpkin lanterns, witches and wizards where children call at each other's houses 'Trick or Treating'.
Bonfire Night – 5 November with fireworks and bonfires, celebrating the failed attempt of Guy Falkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament
Christmas – 25 December, a Christian festival traditionally celebrated with decorated Christmas trees, gifts from Father Christmas (or Santa Claus), mulled wine, mince pies and a roast turkey dinner.
New Year – 31 December celebrating the end of the old calendar year and the start of the new one, often with a big party.
More information can be found on our preparation and arrival pages.
Our websites use cookies (session, persistent, third party, advertising and performance) so they function correctly, to help us improve them and for targeted advertising. To find out more and learn how to disable these cookies, please see our cookies policy.


text:
With MicroLabBox, dSPACE introduces a fully new system category: an all-in-one development system for the laboratory that combines compact size and low system costs with high performance and versatility.
MicroLabBox Video
MicroLabBox Video
High computation power combined with very low I/O latencies provide great real-time performance. A programmable FPGA gives you a high degree of flexibility and lets you run even extremely fast control loops, as required in applications such as electric motor control or active noise and vibration cancellation.
MicroLabBox is supported by a comprehensive dSPACE software package, including, e.g., Real-Time Interface (RTI) for Simulink® for model-based I/O integration and the experiment software ControlDesk® Next Generation, which provides access to the real-time application during run time by means of graphical instruments.
Two Connector Panel Variants
MicroLabBox is available in two connector panel variants, each offering a different position for the I/O connectors. The top-panel variant provides Sub-D and BNC connectors and allows easy access to the I/O when the MicroLabBox sits on the user's desk. The front-panel variant provides Sub-D connectors, so you can use MicroLabBox when it is stacked with other laboratory equipment, for example. For easy wiring and signal tracing, the pinout information is shown on the units themselves and is referred to in the I/O blockset of RTI.
Real-Time Interface (RTI) Automatic implementation of MATLAB®/Simulink®/Stateflow® models on dSPACE hardware
Compiler The compilers are automatically invoked in the code generation phase
ControlDesk Next Generation Universal experiment software for electronic control unit (ECU) development
RTI CAN Blockset For combining dSPACE systems with CAN communication networks
RTI CAN MultiMessage Blockset For combining dSPACE systems with CAN communication networks
Ethernet Blocksets Integrating FPGA models in dSPACE systems
RTI FPGA Programming Blockset Integrating FPGA models in dSPACE systems
RTI-MP For graphical setup of multiprocessor structures
Platform API Package Application programming interfaces for connecting to dSPACE platforms


text:
This week saw the anniversary of the introduction of new offences of stalking – which we believe are really important in protecting victims of domestic abuse and many others who suffer from stalking – both on and offline. The anniversary was accompanied by a letter from the new DPP, Alison Saunders and ACC Garry Shewan about their plans to ensure that the criminal justice system addresses stalking effectively.
According to press reports this week, figures obtained under a freedom of information request showed that between November 2012, when stalking became a crime, and the end of June this year, 320 people were arrested across 30 police forces. Of those 189 were charged – so far six of those have been jailed and 27 given community disposals.
Compare that to the data that we collect directly from thousands of victims of domestic abuse which shows that 35% of those who disclosed harassment or stalking were suffering severe levels. What do we mean by severe? Our definition includes;
- Constant/obsessive phone calls, texts or emails;
- uninvited visits to home, workplace etc or loitering;
- destroys or vandalises property;
- pursues victim after separation, stalking;
- threats of suicide/homicide to victim and other family members;
- threats of sexual violence;
- involvement of others in the stalking behaviour.
Imagine this happening to you – pretty scary and dangerous stuff.
So, we really welcome the call from both the police and the CPS to:
Prosecute whenever possible rather than use of police information notices (otherwise known as harassment warnings)


text:
teacher login and password info
Login and Password info is mostly the same as for students, but in a few instances there are some differences. The document below gives you all the info you need (it can also be found in the CCI Library Resources folder on the CCIEyes sharepoint site - where it is not password protected).
Ask a teacher-librarian, or check your teacher handbook, for the password needed to open this Word document attached below.
(The document is in Word so that it can be password protected, which unfortunately means that you may not be able to open it using your phone).


text:
Sign up
Log in
The Business of Pharmacy Podcast™
By Mike Koelzer, Pharmacist
An interesting and entertaining weekly discussion on the business of pharmacy.
In addition to hosting the podcast, Mike Koelzer owns an independent pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
When not working, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and 10 children, following the news, and improving his sight-reading at the piano.
Listen on
Where to listen
Grow revenue by building people | Travis Wolff, PharmD, PharmFurther
The Business of Pharmacy Podcast™
By Mike Koelzer, Pharmacist
Jul 13
Grow revenue by building people | Travis Wolff, PharmD, PharmFurther
The Business of Pharmacy Podcast™
By Mike Koelzer, Pharmacist
Jul 13
Starting in undefined…
Go to next audio
Go to next audio
Go to prev audio
Go to prev audio
How one person can make a political impact | Chris Schiller, PharmD, president-elect OPhA
Chris Schiller, PharmD, owns four pharmacies in Oklahoma. He is now president-elect of the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association--with his sights set even beyond that. This is his story. economypharmacy.com
August 3, 2020
From death to life: Skippack Pharmacy | Mayank Amin, PharmD, MBA
Mayank Amin, PharmD, MBA, brought a deserted pharmacy back to life, with many twists and turns along the way. This is that story.
July 27, 2020
Scripting your personal brand | Adam Martin, PharmD, 'The Fit Pharmacist'
Adam Martin, PharmD, created The Fit Pharmacist brand around his loves, now he teaches others to do the same with their own personal brand. www.thefitpharmacist.com
July 20, 2020
Grow revenue by building people | Travis Wolff, PharmD, PharmFurther
Travis Wolff, PharmD, helps pharmacy owners and employees work better together in order to grow revenue. PharmFuther.com
July 13, 2020
The joy of problem solving | Joe Williams, PharmD, Indy RX Consulting
Joe Williams owns three pharmacies. He loves solving problems and has turned that into a business helping other independent pharmacies with their operations. https://indyrxconsulting.com/
July 6, 2020
Counterpunching the PBMs | Benjamin Jolley, PharmD
DIR expert, Benjamin Jolley, PharmD, discusses effective counterpunches that can be used against the pharmacy benefit managers
June 29, 2020
From problem to new product | Megan Jolley Milne, PharmD, 'The Prednisone Pharmacist'
Dr. Megan Jolley Milne built Nutranize's 'Zone Dietary Supplement' to solve a problem faced by all prednisone patients. Here is how she did it. https://nutranize.com/
June 20, 2020
Multi-level marketing: a no-holds-barred discussion | Melissa Henault, PharmD
Melissa Henault, PharmD, successful corporate clinical leader turned entrepreneur. Listen as Melissa and host, Mike Koelzer, have a no-holds-barred discussion on the topic of multi-level marketing. www.livethefreelife.co
June 11, 2020
Amazon versus traditional healthcare systems | "Innovating for Wellness" author Robert Longyear
Robert Longyear is the author of "Innovating for Wellness: Bridging the Gap between Health System and Patient"
June 4, 2020
Connecting physicians to pharmacies | Nandita Koodie, PharmD., Telehealth Network Liaison
Dr. Nandita Koodie, founder of Perfect Balance Healthcare, connects physicians to pharmacies with her influencing skills. www.pbh.life
May 30, 2020
Inspire others from where you are | Dr. Maria Glukhovsky, PharmD, Author
Dr. Maria Glukhovsky is pharmacist who uses her PharmD degree and ingenuity to inspire not only those around her but also the seemingly unreachable. www.panicandanxiety.org
May 23, 2020
Narrow your niche | Brian Bisher, PharmD, founder of EmpowerRx Health Solutions
Brian Bisher is a pharmacist and the founder of EmpowerRx Health Solutions, which helps new pharmacist dads get physically and mentally fit for life. https://www.fast2fitlife.com/
May 14, 2020
Prepare for exigencies | Dr. Richard Harris M.D., Pharm.D, MBA
Dr. Richard Harris is a medical doctor, a doctor of pharmacy, and has his masters in business administration. From early in life, he was taught that the more safety nets you prepare for yourself in business and in life, the farther you can jump. https://www.theghwellness.com/
May 7, 2020
Paperless medication guides | Richard Waithe, PharmD, VUCA Health President
Richard Waithe, PharmD, is the president of VUCA Health. VUCA Health has created the largest and most robust medication video library in the world to address low health literacy.
May 4, 2020
Building a successful service business | Entrepreneur Leslie Hodge, PharmD
Pharmacist Leslie Hodge shares how she has built two successful service businesses. https://www.scriptsandbeyond.com/drhodge
April 23, 2020
Juggling three pharmacies and balancing life | Pharmacist and entrepreneur Ghada Abdallah
Pharmacist Ghada Abdallah, founded, operated, and sold three pharmacies. This is her entrepreneurial story.
April 16, 2020
The power of offline networking | Chara Reid, PharmD, Founder of Pharmacist Women Networking Association, Inc
Chara Reid PharmD is the founder of Pharmacist Women Networking Association, Inc. Listen as she shares her 'offline networking' expertise.
April 12, 2020
Improv comedy as a life philosophy | Cory Jenks, PharmD, Founder of ImprovRx
Cory Jenks is a pharmacist and improv comedian who teaches people how to deal with the unexpected. https://www.improvrx.com/
April 5, 2020
Behind-the-scenes of 'Pharmapreneur Academy' | Founder Blair Thielemier, PharmD
Blair Thielemier, PharmD, equips pharmacists to create successful consulting services. https://pharmapreneuracademy.com/
March 29, 2020
Bridging the gap between school and the real world | Brooke Griffin, PharmD of '21st Century PharmD'
Brooke Griffin, PharmD is the founder of 21st Century PharmD, a virtual space preparing students for pharmacy practice in the 21st Century. She is a professor and vice chair of pharmacy practice at Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy. https://www.21stcenturypharmd.com/
March 22, 2020
Behind-the-scenes of The Burnout Doctor | Jessica Louie, PharmD
Dr. Jessica Louie, PharmD, APh, BCCCP is a Burnout Coach, Declutter Coach/Certified KonMari Consultant, and host of The Burnout Doctor Podcast. She helps burned out pharmacists and healthcare professionals get out of overwhelm and live with less clutter and more energy. https://drjessicalouie.com/
March 15, 2020
Behind-the-scenes of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency | Scott Newman, President of PUTT
Scott Newman takes us behind-the-scenes of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency, and what make them, and him, tick. https://www.truthrx.org/
March 9, 2020
A more beautiful life | Dr. Danielle Perrodin, personal style and image coach
Danielle Perrodin, PharmD helps women style their mind and body. https://www.danielleperrodin.biz/
February 29, 2020
Kick PBMs to the curb | Howard Danzig, CEO The ECCHIC Group
Howard Danzig is CEO of The ECCHIC Group, a pro-active health insurance management team saving small- and medium-sized business on their health care costs by using insurance, pharmacy, and medical resources the same way large employers do. www.ecchic.com
February 20, 2020
A 'pharmacist's lawyer' discusses state and federal law | Linda Clark, Partner at Barclay Damon
Linda Clark is an attorney. She specializes is helping pharmacists and pharmacies. Email email@example.com to sign up for her free newsletter.
February 13, 2020
How to become a pharmacy media darling | Michelle Burdo
Michelle Burdo, owner and founder of Burdo Media Group, teaches pharmacists how to look good/sound good on camera so they can confidently connect with their audience and compel them to act. firstname.lastname@example.com
February 7, 2020
Understand and gain control over insurance contracts | Benjamin Jolley, PharmD
Benjamin Jolley, PharmD is an independent pharmacist helping pharmacy owners understand and gain control over current contracting, especially DIR & GER. www.calendly.com/dir-fees
January 30, 2020
Pharmacies as health hubs | Tripp Logan, PharmD, COO of ESPhA
How can your pharmacy become the health hub of a community? Listen in as Dr. Tripp Logan, PharmD, COO of ESPhA discusses the possibilities. https://www.espha.net/staff/tripp-logan/
January 24, 2020
Behind-the-scenes of 'The Happy PharmD' | Founder Alex Barker, PharmD
Alex Barker helps pharmacists create fulfilling careers and lives. When he started pharmacy, he quickly burned out. But now Alex shifted his career to help pharmacists find new jobs and start businesses. Alongside 'The Happy PharmD' team, they create content, classes and conferences to help pharmacists. When he isn't working, he dates his wife, helps raise two beautiful daughters, plays a Mario game and reads comics. www.TheHappyPharmD.com Indispensable: The prescription for a fulfilling pharmacy career
January 17, 2020
How do you be a pharmacy and not fill prescriptions? | Dr. Kathy Campbell, PharmD
How do you be a pharmacy and not fill prescriptions? Listen as Dr. Kathy Campbell discusses her ongoing quest. Dr. Kathy Campbell has been a pharmacist in Owasso, Oklahoma since 1992. In 2001, she opened Medicap Pharmacy Owasso. Dr. Kathy has served her community for 25 years and has owned her own pharmacy for 15 years. Now, in her own words, Dr. Kathy has dedicated the rest of her career to promoting long-lasting wellness: "I focus on keeping patients from needing a pharmaceutical. If you are to need one, I'm going to maximize and ensure the best outcome with the medication. We are heavily focused on prevention, lifestyle medicine, food choices, and nutrition. We address foundational issues that optimize the effects of medicine and work to prevent the need for medication entirely." www.drkathysays.com #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #toppharmacypodcasts
January 10, 2020
Behind-the-scenes of 'Pharmacist Moms' | Founder Suzy Soliman, PharmD
Go behind-the-scenes of 'Pharmacist Moms' with founder Suzy Soliman. Why she founded the group, what makes her tick, how the group works behind-the-scenes, and what plans lie ahead. https://www.pharmacistmomsgroup.com/ #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #pharmacistmoms #toppharmacypodcasts
January 3, 2020
The man responsible for the global recall of ranitidine | David Light, Valisure founder and CEO
David is a biotech scientist and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Valisure. Founders Adam Clark-Joseph and David Light reconnected after Adam suffered serious complications caused by batch variability of his anticonvulsant medication. Upon further research, they began to grasp the magnitude and pervasiveness of the problem throughout the pharmaceutical industry. Adam and David brought together a team of like-minded scientists and pharmacy experts to develop and deploy a solution. The result was Valisure, a company dedicated to preventing anyone from suffering adverse effects from low quality medications. www.valisure.com
December 26, 2019
Learning to tell your pharmacy story | Neal Smoller, PharmD - founder of 'Supplement School'
Neal Smoller, PharmD is a sarcastic, slightly unprofessional healthcare professional. He calls himself a holistic pharmacist, which he admits is a made up term, because he wants people to only use medicine when absolutely appropriate, and instead use lifestyle choices and yes, supplements to prevent and manage diseases. He's launching Supplement School, an online education program to teach people how to build a sustainable wellness practice with their expertise at the center. www.drnealsmoller.com
December 19, 2019
A healthcare app startup | Robert Longyear of Montuno's Dosecast
Montuno Software is an innovative digital technology company that has solutions for mobile care management, pharmacy management, medication adherence, and home health. The flagship consumer product, Dosecast, is a mobile medication adherence app that helps patients with chronic illness manage large medication lists. Robert Longyear is Director of Product Management at Montuno Software. #business #pharmacy #podcast #medicalapp #pharmacyapp
December 14, 2019
Flip the Pharmacy | Pharmacists Tim Mitchell & Paula Boettler
Tim Mitchell and Paula Boettler are community pharmacists at Mitchell's Drug Stores in Neosho, Missouri. They have been providing enhanced pharmacy services for the last 15 years. Their pharmacies are part of CPESN Missouri and were recently awarded a Flip the Pharmacy grant through the Community Pharmacy Foundation and CPESN-USA.
December 5, 2019
Behind-the-scenes of 'ReTell Pharmacy' podcast | Mitch Lee, PharmD
Our guest this week is Mitch Lee, PharmD, retail pharmacist and host of the ReTell Pharmacy podcast. #business #pharmacy #podcast #retellpharmacy
December 1, 2019
Growing stronger brands & companies | Tim Koelzer of Equibrand Consulting
Tim Koelzer is the president of Equibrand Consulting. Tim brings deep professional experience in helping companies establish and extend brands through marketing, branding, and new product development. Tim is also the author of the upcoming book 'Upstream Marketing: Using Insight, Identity and Innovation to Drive Growth" You can reach Tim at email@example.com http://www.equibrandconsulting.com http://www.upstreammarketing.com #business #pharmacy #podcast #upstreammarketing #koelzer #branding
November 21, 2019
How three brothers grew their Rx merger & acquisition business | Jared, Justin, & Joel Rhoads
The Rhoads Brothers (Jared, Justin, and Joel) currently own Triavo Health, a healthcare merger & acquisition consultancy firm based in Arizona and Illinois. The three of them bring over 60 years of pharmacy experience, which includes pharmacy operations/corporate experience as well as independent pharmacy ownership. They have worked with pharmacy owners and buyers across the United States, which includes independent owners, large and small pharmacy chains, and private equity groups. Both Jared and Justin graduated from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. You can find more information at www.triavohealth.com on the organization, as well as the background of the Rhoads brothers #business #pharmacy #podcast #sellingpharmacy
November 16, 2019
'Functional medicine pharmacist' business strategy | Abbi Linde, PharmD
Dr. Abbi Linde is a functional medicine pharmacist working to transform her pharmacy into a wellness center. Utilizing the framework of CPESN, nutrient depletion, weight loss, and functional medicine, Abbi is trying to build a diverse pharmacy business focusing on food as medicine and keeping patients off medications. #business #pharmacy #podcast #CPESN #functionalmedicine #foodasmedicine #medsync
November 8, 2019
Pharmacy marketing done right! | Kyle Palmer of Parker's Pharmacy
Kyle Palmer is the executive director of marketing at Parker's Pharmacy of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His expertise in the field of marketing has propelled the startup from zero patients to 5000+ patients and nearly 17,000 followers on social media, all in the matter of 16 months of the opening of the pharmacy. Follow along on @parkerspharmacy on Instagram and Facebook to witness phase 2 of their marketing plan. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #socialmedia #marketing
November 1, 2019
Pharmacy industry had me at hello | Anne Arvizu, PharmD, FASCP, PCC
Anne Arvizu, PharmD, FASCP, PCC, is a global consultant and to fortune 500 biotech companies, and a successful entrepreneur in Miami, FL. The companies she builds & affiliations she keeps all share a common focus of promoting productivity, health & life balance in the lives of entrepreneurial women executives. In 2002, Anne founded RxER Communications Corp., a management consulting firm partnering with biotech companies that require operational capabilities build within Medical Affairs. Anne is a premier Medical Information expert and sought after keynote speaker that brings 22 years of pharmaceutical medical affairs and operations globalization expertise to the table. For more information visit our site. www.rxercommunications.com In 2018 RxER launched its proprietary executive coaching model and business framework, Corecentryx®, and the Corepreneur® podcast concept was born. Anne also gives back to her community, currently serving as Chair of the YMCA Board of Directors in her local area.
October 25, 2019
Behind-the-scenes of 'tl;dr pharmacy' | Brandon Dyson, PharmD
Brandon Dyson, PharmD is the founder of the pharmacy education website, tl;dr pharmacy ( https://www.tldrpharmacy.com ). He has practice experience in both the inpatient and outpatient settings, with well-rounded experiences in oncology,anticoagulation, and Infectious disease. Currently he is the pharmacy manager of a 50-chair outpatient oncology infusion center. He is board certified in oncology and pharmacotherapy. He has several years of experience in teaching a graduate-level online pharmacology course to nurse practitioners. Brandon graduated from Howard University College of Pharmacy. 💲 Special Offer: Right now, Brandon Dyson and tl;dr pharmacy have teamed up with the 3 Tims at Your Financial Pharmacist to put together the Ultimate Residency Prep Giveaway. If you're looking into a residency this year, this package will help get you there. 5 winners will receive over $300 worth of goodies to improve their CV, Cover Letter, Interview Skills, and more. Plus, they'll even pay for your $110 PhORCAS fee. To find out more, check out https://yourfinancialpharmacist.lpages.co/2019-residency-giveaway/ #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast
October 19, 2019
Community pharmacy at a crossroad | Adam King, CPhT, RPhT, PRS
Adam King is the pharmacy savings program manager for Health Plan Advocate which represents self-funded insurance plans. His role is to identify opportunities that save health plans and their members money. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast
October 13, 2019
The pharmacy conscience dilemma | Cristina Alarcon, BPharm, MBE
Cristina was born in Madrid, Spain and came to Canada with her parents at the age of 7. The second of six children, she grew up in Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver. In 1990, Cristina graduated from pharmacy school at the University of Montreal, and after spending 7 years working in the hospital setting in Montreal and Toronto, she moved out West and discovered her love for the preventive side of medicine. Early in her pharmacy career, Cristina realized that her vision for excellent and ethical healthcare would conflict with the growing anti-life and anti-Catholic sentiments prevalent in society. This lead her to seek support from Pharmacists for Life as a student, later acting for several years as coordinator for Western Canada. Cristina went on to serve briefly on several prolife Boards, most recently finishing a 6- year term with COLF (Catholic Organization for Life and Family). However, her greatest passion lies in seeking to imbue the professional world with upright principles and fighting for conscience rights, so as to safeguard healthcare's intrinsic life-giving mission. In the year 2000, Cristina's refusal to dispense abortifacient drugs brought her head-to-head with her professional licensing College. With the help of like minded professionals, she lobbied the College for change, raising awareness by putting out press releases under the auspices of "Pharmacists for Conscience". In 2007 Cristina equipped herself with a masters in Bioethics from the University of Navarre in Spain. Her thesis examined the Codes of Ethics of Pharmacy Licensing bodies across Canada, bringing to light the lacks of tolerance towards religious believers and conscientious objectors. A summary was published in 2009 in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy under the title "The Hijacking of Moral Conscience from Pharmacy Practice: A Canadian Perspective", and can be accessed at the Protection of Conscience Project website. http://www.consciencelaws.org/ethics/ethics094.aspx Thankfully, Cristina's lengthy battle with her licencing College over the importance of respect for conscience and religion has not prevented her from enjoying a successful and rewarding pharmacy career. She worked at the same community pharmacy from April 2000, managing its services since 2012, until it was sold to a Corporation in December of 2018. She sat on the Ethics Advisory Committee of the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia for many years, and sits on the Ethics Committee of Vancouver Coastal Health. She is a clinical pharmacy instructor for the University of British Columbia, and thoroughly enjoys mentoring students. Cristina writes regularly on a variety of topics for the Canadian Healthcare Network in her Blog "From Pill to Till", and has been published in various newspapers and ethics blogs over the years.
October 6, 2019
Behind-the-scenes of 'Your Financial Pharmacist' | Tim Ulbrich, PharmD
Tim Ulbrich is a clinical professor of pharmacy and program director for the Master's in Health-System Pharmacy Administration at The Ohio State University. He graduated from Ohio Northern University with his Doctor of Pharmacy and completed residency training in community/ambulatory care at Ohio State. After paying off more than $200,000 in non-mortgage debt, Tim is working to empower pharmacists and pharmacy students to take control of their financial future. He is the founder of the Your Financial Pharmacist blog, co-host of Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast and co-author of Seven Figure Pharmacist: How to Maximize Your Income, Eliminate Debt and Create Wealth. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast
September 29, 2019
How passion ignites growth | Jerrica Dodd, PharmD
Dr. Jerrica Dodd is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, coach and leader. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, a Master of Science in Pharmacy Administration from The Ohio State University, and a Master of Science with a focus in Applied Pharmacoeconomics from the University of Florida. She completed her pharmacy practice and administration residency at The Ohio State University Medical Center. Dr. Dodd has been a pharmacist for 21 years and transitioned into full time entrepreneurship after a 17-year career in the pharmaceutical industry in multiple roles in Medical Affairs. She has also managed a hospital pharmacy, and has experience in retail pharmacy. Her recent educational pursuits have been completion of a Nutrition Health Coaching Certificate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Currently, she is enrolled in the Institute of Functional Medicine and aiming to introduce a functional medicine perspective to the pharmaceutical management of member patients of Your Pharmacy Advocate, LLC where she is the founder and CEO. Dr. Dodd has been requested to serve as a speaker for numerous and diverse professional and community events. Her experience also includes speaking to diverse audiences including health care providers. Jerrica's most recent speaking engagements were as a speaker and panelist at entrepreneurial events at the 2019 Essence Festival in New Orleans, LA. She is a co-author of the recently published book, I Survived and has been featured on MizCEO, Glambitious and UpWords magazine covers in 2019. Dr. Dodd enjoys traveling, reading, teaching Zumba, cooking, and attending cultural events. With her background in pharmacy, leadership training and her passion for people, Dr. Dodd enjoys encouraging people to be their best and to get the most out of every opportunity that life presents. Her favorite scripture is Luke 12:48..."to whom much is given, much is required" and Dr. Dodd endeavors to live life giving back from the abundant ways in which she has been blessed. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast
September 22, 2019
Turning an idea into a successful product | Ranger Ready Repellent
The story behind the success of Ranger Ready Repellent. Chris Fuentes is the Founder and CEO of Ranger Ready Repellents, and Evan Kesten is Ranger Ready's director of sales for Travel, Health, and Wellness. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #rangerready
September 16, 2019
How pharmacy works in the UK | Paul Lowndes
Paul Lowndes is the co-founder of Mediapharm, the world's #1 pharmacy training platform that up-skills, empowers and motivates pharmacy teams. Mediapharm helps pharmacy businesses grow by instituting higher standards through regular and consistent training. They have helped pharmacy chains and independents for over 20 years to increase sales by improving their training processes and automating delivery. #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #UK
September 9, 2019
Reverse engineering your life | Kevin Yee, PharmD
Dr. Kevin Yee is the founder of Refugee Hustle, a YouTuber, a Jiu Jitsu addict, a Korean BBQ and a cold brew connoisseur. He helps healthcare professionals transition into entrepreneurship. #business #pharmacy #podcast #JiuJitsu #refugee #hustle
September 2, 2019
Starting a business as a technician | Bridget Hanna
Bridget Hanna is the owner of Independent Edge Consulting. She is a certified compounding pharmacy technician (CPhT) with over 10 years in Pharmacy. She is passionate about pharmacy compounding and helping all Independent pharmacies grow their retail and compounding practice and thrive in their community. Her background and experience in pharmacy marketing and compounding gives her extra insight into how to help each pharmacy overcome the struggles faced by implementing consistent and effective marketing practices while running an Independent pharmacy. www.independentedgeconsulting.com #business #pharmacy #podcast #pharmacypodcast #pharmacytechnician #CPhT #compounding
August 26, 2019
Dealing with your anxiety in the pharmacy | Molly Koelzer
Join Molly Koelzer and her dad, Mike, as they discuss such topics as dealing with anxiety in the workplace, career decisions, and personal branding. You can find Molly on Instagram at mollykoelzer
August 23, 2019
Standing out in a busy pharmacy marketplace | Ashlee Klevens Hayes, PharmD, of Rx Ashlee
Ashlee Klevens Hayes, PharmD/MHA, is the founder of RX Ashlee, a career development company that focuses on teaching professionals on how to stand out in a busy marketplace. Ashlee has been in the nontraditional healthcare arena for over 16 years and rose to the level of Director of Clinical Operations, in a pharmacy software company, before moving to her current role in career strategizing and consulting. She is the Career Strategist at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy where she teaches students and alumni tools for career success.
August 21, 2019
Success is often about timing | CEO Chad Halvorson of When I Work
An in-depth discussion with Chad Halvorson, CEO & Founder of When I Work (the easiest way to schedule, communicate and track time with your employees). PS An exclusive free offer for Business on Pharmacy Podcast listeners: Get your first two months of When I Work free, with access to every feature at www.wheniwork.com/bop PSS Here is the "famous" WIW commercial Chad and Mike discussed :) https://youtu.be/a5qDAu-gv58
August 20, 2019
Taking back your pharmacy | Terry and Angela Forshee
Terry Forshee has been an independent pharmacist for 42 years. He has done pretty much everything one can do in pharmacy. He has owned five stores, two DME companies, two home infusion pharmacies, and an LTC pharmacy. Terry and Angela started the TakeChargeRx program for pharmacists in 2005 and developed it for independent pharmacists. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com For Mike Koelzer Consulting™ please visit www.mikekoelzer.com
August 16, 2019
Reinventing yourself | Christina Tarantola, PharmD
Christina Tarantola is a pharmacist turned transformation coach who helps women reinvent themselves - releasing struggle and overwhelm and embracing their power. She blends hypnosis and energetic work as well as intuitive coaching to help them achieve those goals. Contact her at www.enlightenedwellnessPa.com
August 12, 2019
How to win at podcasting | Hillary Blackburn, PharmD
Dr. Hillary Blackburn is a clinically trained pharmacist licensed in 11 states who has been practicing for almost a decade in a variety of healthcare settings. Dr. Blackburn is currently serving as the Director of Pharmaceutical Services at Dispensary of Hope, where she provides consulting to pharmacies and clinics across the country on methods in establishing successful medication access programs. As the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Dr. Blackburn oversees the formulary development, leads research initiatives, and manages the volunteer network of strategic advisors on the Dispensary of Hope's Pharmacy Advisory Council. She also precepts Belmont student pharmacists and serves on the Dean's External Advisory Committee. Dr. Blackburn is also the founder of Pharmacy Advisory Group which provides pharmacy expertise in consulting and education. Her popular podcast, Talk to Your Pharmacist, has nearly 100 episodes promoting stories of successful pharmacy leaders and sharing about current healthcare trends. She is founder/CEO of the Natural Products Resource Center (NPRC) which provides education on medical cannabis for pharmacists. Additionally, she currently serves as Co-Chair for the Advocacy Committee for APhA's Care of the Underserved Special Interest Group and as a member on the membership engagement and legislative and policy committees for the Tennessee Pharmacist Association. Dr. Blackburn is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. www.pharmacyadvisory.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook @HillBlackburn Twitter
August 8, 2019
How to change careers | Adam Baillio
After a successful career in theater, Adam Baillio decided he needed a career with more consistent work. Pharmacy was his choice. Never one to relax in his pursuits, he knew that even as a student, networking with current pharmacy professionals would get him a continual leg up on the competition. Listen as Adam discusses how he uses not only social media, but his own podcast to build his brand. To be a guest on the show, please contact email@example.com
August 6, 2019
Business startup coach | Asha Pai Bohannon, PharmD
Dr. Asha Pai Bohannon helps other pharmacist entrepreneurs bring their dreams and passions to life and launch a business on their own terms.
August 5, 2019
Find your purpose and passion | Erin Albert, PharmD
Erin Albert is an edutainer who helps pharmacists get to their best state. Find Dr. Albert on Twitter at @ErinLAlbert
August 5, 2019
Growing a CBD startup | Esan Forde, PharmD
Dr. Esan Forde, Pharm.D, R.Ph, C.Ph, M.S, is a partner of a hemp farm. His website is www.rightcoasthemp.com.
August 3, 2019
Importance of liking your career | Scott Braden
Pharmacist Scott Braden helps his patients lose weight. Join him on facebook, email him at firstname.lastname@example.com , or call him at 1-740-509-0248.
August 2, 2019
Behind-the-scenes of 'Rx Radio' | Richard Waithe, PharmD
Listen as Richard discusses how extending his workday was the key to his successful launch, and continued success of Rx Radio. In addition to being the founder of Rx Radio, Richard is also the president of VUCA Health.
July 31, 2019
Think like a pharmacy owner | Tony Guerra, PharmD
Tony Guerra is a pharmacist who teaches full-time as a chemistry and pharmacology instructor. He's written 15 audiobooks and hosts the Pharmacy Residency Podcast. He lives with his wife and triplet 8-year-old daughters in Ankeny Iowa. The best way to reach Tony is at tonypharmd1 on Facebook.
July 31, 2019
A new idea for helping independents | Omar Hassad of Rxeed
Omar Hassad is the founder of www.Rxeed.com
July 10, 2019
PharmacyProud.com | Dave Ruth
Dave Ruth is a pharmacy owner in Kentucky. He is the founder of PharmacyProud.com
July 9, 2019


text:
Center for Computational Genetics and Genomics
A new research center within the Department of Biology, the goal of the Center for Computational Genetics and Genomics is to foster research and education on the use of computing technologies for the study of scientific questions in genetics and genomics.
Genetics is the study of the transmission and expression of genetic information, and genomics is the study of these same processes as they are occur across the entire genome. At its core the field of genetics/genomics is highly conceptual and it is very often the case that research questions are accessible from a mathematical standpoint. And as mathematical models are increasingly being used to understand genetic/genomic data from the real world, the field has seen tremendous growth in computational research.
Jody Hey
Director and Professor, Department of Biology
Bio-Life Building room 336
1900 North 12th Street Philadelphia, PA 19122


text:
My long deceased ancestor, Aggie Smeeton may possess some remarkable talents, not least the ability to speak from beyond the grave, but her knowledge of herbal lore and attempts at self medication beg the question that the cure is often worse than the affliction!
Here's what she has to say about irregular menstruation and teenage acne!
… that 'ole book I 'ad from that Joe Dancer, it didn't just 'ave charms and such in it. Theer were cures fer nigh on owt you could think on. Good 'uns too. Tek them snow flowers, fer instance. They be more'n the pretty maids o' February … they be moon flowers and is powerful stuff fer treating the wayward courses o' women.
'course you 'ad to know what you were adoing … mek it too strong and you'd a turn up yer toes in an eyes blink and 'owl the 'ouse down doin' it!
'an another thing, yer dinna want to bring 'em in the 'ouse if you could 'elp it and certainly not afore the fust chicks hatched else you'd be ill-wished the year on.
Then there were lilac, which we 'ad a growing in our garden both purple and white. It be blossom thar knows so you don't 'ev to pick it, 'cept at dawn when it be warm and then you 'ad to know the right words, but Joe, he done it and used to mek a tonic out on it which he'd selled fer tuppence a bottle. 'e said it would cure face palsy, but I never saw much evidence on it. Aunt Maud took a slug or two once when she were bound up thinking it might clear 'er out and it did that right enough! 'ardly out o' the privy fer two days!
It were good fer skin though and we dabbed a bit on our Georgie's spots when he were growing into a man, but that only happened the once, said it made 'im look a right Mary Jane! Got rid of 'is spots fer a bit though!


text:
Three thoughts on the Revolution's draw with Vancouver
Jose Goncalves back- For the foreseeable future. Revolution General Manager Mike Burns took time to speak with media prior to kick-off about the Goncalves situation. He said that Goncalves and the club had had discussions and that the reigning league Defender of the Year is happy in New England and has put past disputes behind him. Goncalves reportedly had a good week of training with his teammates. On Saturday afternoon, he re-took the starting lineup and wore the captain's armband, holding off a talented core of Whitecaps attacking midfielders and teaming up well with A.J. Soares in central defense. Whether past disagreements resurface remains to be seen. But Burns' statements-- plus Goncalves play against Vancouver-- seem to suggest that he's focused on what's ahead.
Jay Heaps dealt well with Vancouver's substitutions- Vancouver coach Carl Robinson had plenty of weapons on the bench to throw at the Revolution. Bringing on Pedro Morales added some creativity and skill that was absent from Vancouver's play in the first half. Adding Kekuta Manneh mid-way through the second half gave Andrew Farrell and the Revolution defense a speedster to deal with on the left flank. The back line held up and Heaps was able to keep his squad focused. It was obvious that everyone on the back line was fit and ready for the athletic and dynamic play of Vancouver's depth.
Outlook- A 0-0 draw in the home opener is definitely two points lost, not one point gained. But given that this is the first point of the Revolution's season, there is reason to believe that this result can act as a cushion or potential momentum builder going forward. For one, the defense remained solid and can rejoice in the fact that Jose Goncalves had a Defender of the Year-worthy performance. And despite not scoring, the Revolution's offense didn't look too bad, either. No, there were no goals to show for their efforts. But at least three of the Revolution's chances barely trickled wide of goal. One tally will be enough to get the floodgates going, much like in 2013.
If you want to reach Julian email him at email@example.com and follow him on twitter @juliancardillo
The author is solely responsible for the content.
Translate this page
Loading menu...
To our readers,
We've added a translation feature to the Corner Kicks blog to assist readers who may be more comfortable reading another language.
Google Translate is not perfect -- we're aware of that -- but it is quite good at getting the main points of the story across. We've successfully used it on The Big Picture, Boston.com's extremely popular world photography site. I'd be eager to hear your feedback on its use in Corner Kicks, in whatever language.
David Beard, Editor, Boston.com


text:
BY Invitation and Members only
Please contact Dawn at email@example.com before purchasing a ticket. The event is sold out to members only. thank you
The AACC is a not for Profit 501(c) 6 Chamber organization. Fed ID Number 94-2796034
Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com
PO Box 471285 San Francisco CA 94147


text:
Indonesia - Sowing 10,000 pineapple plants is not everyone's idea of a good time.
But for Meri Andayani and her friends, the opportunity to grow, harvest and sell their own produce is a dream come true. And that dream includes greater prosperity for their families and for their community as these women work to restore and revive a piece of Indonesia's peatlands that is their home, their livelihoods and their culture.
Those peatlands are also critical to the global fight against climate change.
"We planted those 10,000 plants in five days. We planted the pineapples together with friends, and we're happy," Andayani says, her face shaded by a wide-brimmed straw hat identical to those worn by other women in her local farmers' group. "In the future, we can continue to plant pineapples….we will carry on."
Adds her colleague Norwati: "Our hope is that we plant pineapples successfully and harvest a lot….I think that we will get a lot of benefits from this later."
The women's work, on one of seven large "action arenas", is part of a project led by Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) aptly titled Community-Based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, it's being implemented around the village of Dompas in Indonesia's Riau Province, on the central eastern coast of Sumatra.
The project was conceived in the aftermath of Indonesia's devastating 2015 wildfires, which in addition to destroying vast tracts of tropical rainforest, is believed to be the cause of 100,000 premature deaths. Having drawn up action arenas – each about three to four-square hectares in size – the community restores the landscapes to produce a variety of crops, liberica coffee, rubber, coconuts, fish, as well as pineapple.
"We are mothers with low incomes, but if possible our incomes can increase"
Tree-planting, including the relatively rare agarwood, has resumed as well.
Although growing crops and livelihoods is important, at the core of the entire project is raising awareness of the value – for the communities and the global environment – of fire-free peatlands restoration work.
Key activities in these action arenas include training local farmers to prepare the land for planting without fire, constructing fencing, applying fertilizers and learning how to monitor moisture and water levels in peatland and trees to better understand agroforest conditions to avoid accidental fires. The training will ensure that these activities can continue long after the experts have gone, says project leader and CIFOR scientist Herry Purnomo.
"This is a real experience of what happens when you don't burn, and also when you work on peatland restoration and on understanding the market situation and improving the community's livelihoods," adds Purnomo, whose project partners include the University of Riau. The intention is to scale-up the project to regional and national levels, supported by guidelines this project will help to establish.
Burning to clear land has been a traditional practice in parts of Indonesia, but efforts to end the practice have been stepped up since 2015's massive, uncontrolled and deadly forest and land fires in Indonesia that destroyed more than 2.6 million hectares of land and created losses totalling over $16 billion USD, according to the World Bank.
People remember very well the devastation caused by those fires and are adamant they don't want a recurrence, says Nurma, another member of the women's pineapple producers' group. Memories of those fires causes a great deal of stress, she says, and some who had previously tried tree planting but lost all during the fires have become discouraged, "they don't want to plant any more".
But now, thanks to the CIFOR-led project, land that had become idle and derelict is being restored, she said. That's important for sustainability of the entire area, which has a history of recurring fires. As a result, a significant element of the work involves training sessions on rewetting the peatland by blocking a small canal and creating a perigi – a locally engineered, multifunctional small pond. Rewetting aims to hydrologically rehabilitate peatland to its nearly natural state.
The implications of Indonesia's 2015 fires were felt worldwide. Though only three percent of the world's land area is covered by peatlands, these areas hold 30 percent to 40 percent of global carbon. And because some of the world's largest peatlands are found in Indonesia, its peatland management decision has a significant impact on the global environment as well as in-country markets and livelihoods.
Nurma is counting on a successful pineapple harvest to help support her family, "We are mothers with low incomes, but if possible our incomes can increase."
Adds Purnomo: "[It's also a chance for them] to prove to their husbands that women also can plant pineapple and sell it!"
Local farm groups, community organizations and the local Fire Care Community – a kind of volunteer fire patrol – gave essential input to the project planning, says Purnomo, whose team applied a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to fostering effective, successful, and workable community-based restoration planning.
Villagers came back with some interesting ideas.
"One local community wanted to try producing hybrid coconuts, and another wanted to try a fish pond as a good way to improve their livelihoods, so we thought 'why not try it?'," says Purnomo. Finding new products and new markets to boost their livelihoods also contributed to convincing at least some villagers to reject fire as a land-clearing option.
"We are on the ground, trying to demonstrate that there is a way to prepare the land without burning and that there are other sources of income. With cash crops and perhaps trees and pineapple, this will compensate for the costs of land preparation," without fire, says Purnomo.
Fire is often perceived as an inexpensive and fast way to clear land, with positive impacts including reducing peat acidity, improving nutrient availability, minimizing risks from pests and disease and controlling weeds. But the dangers and costs are also high – a fact emphasized when the 2015 fires burned out of control, spreading toxic smoke and destroying property.
That realization, as well as stricter government enforcement of no-fire regulations post-2015, has helped Purnomo's team promote a participatory approach to fire prevention. Dompas and five other 'satellite' villages were chosen for the project due to their proximity to forests, their history of fire risks, but their active local organizations and farmers group.
And the project's impact is already being felt, as villagers are seeing for themselves how their lives and livelihoods can improve without restoring to fire. The change in attitudes was reflected in community surveys by the project that have found perceptions of fire held by villagers who are participating in the project was significantly different from those who had not been involved.
The first group said that they realized fire caused many problems and that they no longer see fire-related practices to be important for their livelihood. In contrast, villagers who did not participate said burning was still a valid choice.
Purnomo says the project will wrap up before year-end and a guidance report for other projects can be finalized. The emphasis will be broader than the biophysical results, he says.
"There is also the social and economic lives of the people who are living there; the people whose lives are connected to the land."
This research was supported by Temasek Foundation and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise
Copyright policy:
We want you to share Forests News content, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This means you are free to redistribute our material for non-commercial purposes. All we ask is that you give Forests News appropriate credit and link to the original Forests News content, indicate if changes were made, and distribute your contributions under the same Creative Commons license. You must notify Forests News if you repost, reprint or reuse our materials by contacting email@example.com.
We want you to share Forests News content, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This means you are free to redistribute our material for non-commercial purposes. All we ask is that you give Forests News appropriate credit and link to the original Forests News content, indicate if changes were made, and distribute your contributions under the same Creative Commons license. You must notify Forests News if you repost, reprint or reuse our materials by contacting email@example.com.


text:
The importance of gratitude in the midst of pain
2 years ago Triangle 0
Written by: Samantha Burgess, assistant editor
It's not fair. My job is miserable and overwhelming, I have way too many assignments and extracurriculars, my parents are struggling. How am I supposed to deal with this, God?
This was my attitude up until a few weeks ago. I was overwhelmed and, admittedly, ungrateful. But as Christians, I realized that we are called in Psalm 136:1 to "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever." So, how, as a Christian who is hurting, do you learn to show God gratitude?
It's not easy. But, I have recently been learning through my own trials what it means to be grateful before the Lord. This semester has been both the worst and the best of my college experience. In a few short months my grandfather went into a nursing home, contracted Alzheimer's and then passed away. During this time, I was juggling a heavy school load and a part time job. I wasn't able to put the effort I need into my assignments and I went many nights without enough sleep. My parents worried about whether or not we would finally be able to buy a new house and sell the one we'd lived in for twenty years. It was hard for my family and me not to be anxious and overwhelmed. It grew to the point where I had to quit my job because I was slipping up in school and overwhelmed in my personal life.
However, looking at the life of the Apostle Paul, my temporary struggles pale in comparison to the Apostle's own tribulations.
Evangelist Billy Graham said of Paul, "Separated from friends, unjustly accused, brutally treated—if ever a person had a right to complain, it was this man, languishing almost forgotten in a harsh Roman prison. But instead of complaints, his lips rang with words of praise and thanksgiving!"
We see many accounts in 1 Corinthians where Paul is stoned, starved and sleepless. He is wrongly imprisoned and abandoned by his friends (2 Timothy 1:15). During his imprisonment in Rome, Paul writes in Ephesians 5:19-20 to make music in your heart and give thanks to the Lord in everything.
Paul also writes in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."
There are countless times in which the Apostle despairs for his life and wishes to be with Christ, yet Paul still found it within himself to give praise to God because he knew Him to be good.
My grandfather's passing was an end to one stage of life, but it soon turned into a new beginning for my parents and I. In one fell sweep, God aligned the circumstances of our life for the better. Papaw had left us with his house and a lump sum of money. Of course, we still grieved Papaw's loss, but we know that, as a believer, he's in heaven now. And I learned once again that God provides. It is because of this provision that I was able to have hope and gratitude.
Looking back on this season of my life, I realize all I have and had to be grateful for. This semester I was able to grow closer to old friends and make new ones. I finally feel as if I have a strong support system on campus, something that I can be grateful for. I can be thankful for the fact that my grandfather is no longer in pain, and instead sits with God in Heaven, where I will join him one day. I can find gratitude in my parents, who are loving and supportive enough to tell me to take a break from work so that I can focus on school. I can be thankful that we have come across financial support and a new house. Most importantly, I can give this gratitude to God, because he is the provider of all of these things. He is the God who sent his son to die for our sins and who loves us without conditions. He is the one who we serve and therefore, ultimately owe our thanks to. Even when we are hurting, we should find security and gratitude in knowing God is with us forever. I hope that in the next trial I face, I am able to face it with the steadfast faith and gratitude that the Apostle Paul exhibited.
Samantha Burgess is a Junior majoring in communication with an emphasis in digital media and is an assistant editor for the Triangle. Burgess loves her Creator and the Arts.


text:
The Social Network interactive trailer
The Social Network isn't a film that's getting a new trailer right now, but it is getting an interactive trailer, that's one of those trailers where you're invited to select the screen during different scenes and you get further information and links about the film.
With The Social Network this is a welcome thing, and there's a lot of information to be had. However you do just end up watching the film and whenever the cursor changes you select, pause, read, select a further link, read, and return. Plenty of information but not that interactive.
What would really have been good is if parts of the trailer were selectable, and there was something more to do than just wait for the cursor to change and click, or however your interface device works.
As I said though, there's a lot to learn from the new The Social Network trailer and it's helping build the back story to the film. Here it is through Collider.


text:
I promised something somewhat controversial in an upcoming post. And here it. . . . .isn't. Yet. But this is an important aspect of it to provide context and background. This will probably be split into two posts as there is a lot of material here. I don't know what WordPress's limits on post length is, so we'll have to see.
What I'm going to present to you is an overview of the work I did in Egypt this season. To summarize for those who haven't been following, I was charged with clearing out the 'Grand Roman Bath' at Karanis, on the NE end of the Fayum Depression.
The Bath itself is probably 3-5th century AD in date — more about that later — and was first cleared and studied in 1975 by a team from Cairo University. They published their work through the BIFAO (link); unfortunately (for me anyway) it was nearly all in French, so I spent quite a bit of time working with my meager French and Google Translate (link) to go through that and learn all I could about its construction and use, from what the French/Egyptian team found.
Happily, they also published a lot of plan drawings and photographs so we have a pretty good idea of what the Bath looked like when they uncovered it in 1975. Since it has been left largely open to the elements — and tourists — ever since, it gives us a valuable opportunity to see just what sorts of changes have occurred to the structure in the 40-odd years since it was first uncovered. The 1975 photos and descriptions are a baseline, if you will, that allows us to judge how well the structure has fared over the years, what parts are most subject to damage and decay, and from that develop a plan to preserve it as best we can while still allowing some kind of visitor access to this important (and very popular) building.
There was also some fairly extensive restoration work done by the Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2001. They plastered around the remaining ancient plaster to help protect it (covering the edges with modern plaster helps keep it from peeling away), and extensively reconstructed the half-dome above the cold water bath tub. In addition, they covered the tops of all walls with a simple mud plaster, which is surprisingly effective. They also seem to have cleared out the sand in the interior. Other than that, it's largely been left as-is since 1975.
Besides simply examining the structure for problems, we took the old photographs and examined each part of the structure in detail, comparing what is in the photo with what is there now. What the remainder of this post consists of is a series of photographs, usually in pairs: First I'll post the old 1975 photograph, and then a recreation of it as best we could arrange it. We weren't able to exactly reproduce every photo from the correct angle and lighting for a number of reasons, principle among them that in many cases the CU team used very tall ladders and were able to stand on neighboring structures that are now too fragile (or gone) to stand on. So they're not perfect replicas.
One thing we did that's novel, however, is use a 3D reconstruction of a mosaic of photographs taken by our photographer. It's really quite neat and enables one to zoom in from virtually any angle. Theoretically, I could have simply used that tool to pretty much exactly recreate each photo; trouble is, the quality isn't the greatest. Instead, I've used the 3D model in a couple of cases where the angle was too difficult to get within the time frame we had to work with, but otherwise used something close enough to get the gist of what it looks like from a particular angle today.
First up, here's what we had to work with initially:
This shows the depth of sand that covered the Bath at the start of work. Not especially the depth in the room closest to us, the semicircular niche in the outside wall in the center, and also that in about the top center of the photo, where there is something of a white rectangle.
Here it is after we cleared it completely:
This slide is from the 3D model. In the back, you can see the white rectangle is actually a bench about 50 cm high. The room in the center (now center-right) now has a low wall visible, and the niche has a substantial portion uncovered. There is actually still sand under the niche; we hadn't reached the bottom of the wall there. Otherwise, the floors are all now visible. The depths of sand were variable, generally deeper in some of the corners where the wind could swirl around and deposit more sand. In the first room, it was 106 cm deep in the southeast corner. Otherwise, it probably averaged around 30-50 cm deep. Outside of the structure (not seen above), it was even deeper, a couple of meters; we'll see more of that later.
These next two are an example of the matching up of the old and the new; this new one is also from the 3D model:
I'm not going to say too much about these two since we'll be getting to more details of the various areas coming up. What you should be looking for is differences between the old and new, most having to do with the states of the walls and roofs. I'll note that we did not do a complete clearing of all sand, as Cairo University did; a lot of it was in very bad shape and in some places we left sand in place because removing it would cause damage to things like the plaster it was covering or sometimes the paving stones on the floor, many of which had become rather friable.
First up, we'll look at the south wall of Room 1, the apodyterium:
The first thing that leaps out is, obviously, the profound lack of a wall remaining. This is probably the most damaged wall in the whole place. The reasons mostly boil down to two: First, it was structurally deficient in the first place, being pierced with three niches, the two smaller outer one and the big central one, so it was unstable to begin with. Second, once the sand had built up in the entrance (off to the right side), people began to use this wall as the entrance, stepping on both the wall and the bench below it to get in. And it not only eroded down; it's basically two sets of courses, an inner set and an outer set and the inner set has almost completely gone. So it's really a third its height and half its thickness today. Much of the center and and right part of the bench is almost all gone as well, due to foot traffic. Over to the right you can see a pair of shelves, one of a long piece of stone; those are gone.
These next two are a bit of humor, but they also make a serious point:
Such a beautiful nice, completely gone and all we have left is a grainy black and white photo of it. Chew on that a while before moving on.
These next two are the west wall of Room 1, the apodyterium:
Again, note the bench over to the left. There is also a plaster section of the floor that is now considerably fractured, and the one large fractured stone in the center is gone except for one corner of it. The bench along the wall is also very eroded, and the right side of it was rebuilt and plastered over by the SCA in 2001, which is really probably the only reason it's still there and largely intact. The wall behind it is much degraded, although the SCA rebuilt a good chunk of it as well. You can make out the new, much squarer and differently-colored bricks making up the upper right corner and the right side, and various other portions. Viewed from the side, this wall hasn't lost a lot of height, but especially near the top it's much thinner indicating it's slowly been eroding away due to gravity and rainfall: it's ud brick so whenever it rains it essentially melts a little. And also note that we didn't clear all the sand off of the floor: it was fairly friable and had we really gone after the ground-in sand and dirt, it would have damaged the stones. But we cleared away the edges enough to see the outlines of each stone.
This next view is also taken from the 3D model and shows the apodyterium (foreground), the frigidarium (cold water bath, center right), and the tepidarium (warm air room, center right).
Things to note here: First, the roof over the frigidarium tub has been extensively rebuilt. Probably only 1/2 to 1/3 of it remained in 1975 and the SCA built most of it out to its original half-dome shape. Judging by the roof of the tepidarium — which is now no longer there — this was probably a smart move. Perhaps they'd seen the tepidarium one had fallen and decided to save the other one.
Second, note how much plaster is remaining. It's kind of hard to pick it out, but for the most part, most of what you see here is modern plaster; there are patches of the original remaining, but probably 70-80% of the original is now gone. This is typical of the rest of the walls as well. The plaster simply wasn't made to be outside and exposed to the elements; it was interior plaster. It was never meant to last 2000 years either, obviously, although you can see from the old photo that quite a bit of it had.
Staying within the frigidarium, here is the architrave of the half-dome of the bath (the front rounded portion):
This was a nice little wave decoration that presumably went the entire distance around the architrave; it's now completely gone. We don't know whether it was removed and saved by the SCA or whether it had simply fallen off and then was plastered over. But most of what was painted in the interior of the tub (on the ceiling) is now gone. Probably 40% of the original was there in 1975 and now maybe 30% of that is still around:
There are no old photos of this next one but I include it because it's kind of neat:
That's a tri-lobed drain set in the floor at the entrance to the tepidarium. It was probably intended as the main drain for the structure with the water from both the cold and hot baths emptying into it — supposedly the water from the caladium tub at the far end of the building would have just drained through the structure to here, but there is another drain farther along that was probably added later. This one was built right into the structure of the building. Interestingly, the lobe on the upper left has a round stone in it — maybe sort of a strainer? — although I don't know if it's recent or ancient, and the upper right one is plastered shut, presumably in ancient times.
Next we'll take a closer look at the tepidarium ceiling:
This is probably the most dramatic example of deterioration, along with the south wall of the apodyterium. You can see that maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the roof of this room was there in 1975. Hard to tell whether it fell in before or after the SCA work. All we do know is that it collapsed shortly after the floor of the room was cleared because the roof bricks fell right on bare or nearly bare floor:
These next two are taken from inside the next room in the sequence, the laconicum or steam/sauna room:
The main thing to jump out at you (probably) is the lack of an arch above the doorway. This was apparently a purely decorative arch, as the part above the doorway is now gone and we see that the doorway is actually supported by a stone lintel. There are actually two of these lintels making it sort of a double-thickness door. It's also very narrow and short: the CU team measured it as 141 cm (the top of the arch hits the bottom of the stone lintel) and now it is still only 150 cm. This is probably not strictly a reflection on the stature of the ancient inhabitants (though they were shorter than today), but I think it's probably more to keep heat in.
This room probably didn't have any water facility, just heated air coming in from four hot-air vents connected directly to the boiler room. It also has the under-floor heating (forced air) called a hypocaust — we'll see more of that later.
But apart from the doorway, note how much plaster has disappeared. Most of the niche to the left has been reconstructed and not much of the original plaster remains. The niche itself is interesting, as it has a limestone floor. The CU team noted that the inside of it has soot or dirt staining on it, so it may well have housed a brazier of some sort to create additional heat for the room. This is also the only room with a vaulted ceiling; the others have domed roofs. There is some evidence that the laconicum in Roman baths was the most decorative room in the whole bath, which is somewhat the case here with the large niche, vaulted ceiling, and other little touches.
To the left and right in that photo you can see two of the hot air vents, the one on the left seemingly very intact. The one on the right might be extensible rebuilt, and the bricks filling it were put there by us to get the bricks off of the floor and help stabilize the vent structure somewhat.
These next two are the west wall of the tepidarium opposite the doorway:
There's kind of a good bit of plaster remaining, but it's also been extensively plastered recently as well. Note the lowest parts of the vaulted roof on the upper parts of the sides there. Missing, of course, is the occults at the top, but otherwise this wall doesn't seem to have lost much of its height. In the upper right corner you can also make out a piece of pottery, which is the top of the hot air vent there. Not sure if that was just a piece of another vessel that was plopped in there, or if it were specially made for that duty; it's gone now.
These next two are the floor of the laconicum:
A few things to see here: First, the stones here are all of the same material (unusual for this bath) but are still very irregular. Also, the fractured one in the center has broken away and only a portion remains. Second, in the first photo you see an empty space in the left foreground; this is the open area under the floor where the hypocaust system was, which the excavators presumably dug into to examine. This was filled in and the floor stone not replaced.
Third, there are four brick supports in the old photo, each about 4-5 courses high of two ricks each. These were supports for a couple of benches. Now, of course, only portions of three remain. Note also the plaster around the remaining supports and in the right corner. Many of the corners in all rooms had some plaster in the corners, presumably because more sand piled up here faster. We tried to leave as much of this in place as possible, leaving some sand there and also covering them up at the end of the season.


text:
Southsea Deckchairs make deckchairs, parasols, sauna chairs, folding tables, windbreaks, folding stools, replacement deckchair fabric and so on. They also sell deckchair fabric by the metre, hire deckchairs and make branded deckchairs. They have been making deckchairs for the last 20 years in Portsmouth, England. Their range of resin furniture is imported. When I asked them about their UK manufacture in November 2012 they replied as follows: "Assembly work, finishing, sewing, fittings, QC, is all done in the UK. Some of the work is outsourced". I'm pleased they are honest about their sourcing. Southsea deckchairs are used on the majority of beaches and promenades up and down the UK. They also export. As some work is outsourced and country of origin is not given on their website against individual products, please check where you deckchair or whatever you are interested in from them is made before buying.
Denys & Fielding use the Made in Britain marque and say on their website "where we can, we'll always try and manufacture everything we can in the UK." Their deckchair slings are British made; the deckchairs they sell are foreign made; their cushions, napkins, table runners, aprons, outdoor candles, plant hangers, and trays are British made – https://www.denysandfielding.co.uk
Reefer make their recycled sailcloth and roll-end canvas deckchairs, windbreaks and other great stuff (such as sailcloth and canvas bags, duffle bags, washbags, mobile phone cases, bunting, pet products, keyrings, passport covers, luggage tags, and the like) in England.
Dart Designs produce sailcloth windbreaks that are made in Devon, England. They say on their website that "the windbreaks are made in the UK…" – http://www.dartdesigns.co.uk
For more windbreaks (plus flags, bunting, sunshades, awnings and blinds), click here.
ODD make their garden furniture, in England. All ODD's Fabrics are available by the metre and are printed in England and woven in Scotland. They clothes and bags are made in England., as are their blankets, throws, cushions and pouffes. Their tribal rugs are foreign made – http://www.oddlimited.com
Marmax Products is a UK manufacturer of 100% UK recycled plastic, low maintenance outdoor furniture, planters, fencing and boardwalks. Prices on their website do not include VAT or delivery. They are not the only people who make re-cycled plastic furniture and the like in the UK, I just happened to come across this company first when searching the net. This looks like a really good idea because the products are very durable. It is marketed primarily at institutions,local government and businesses.
Cole Henley make great looking BBQ tables in Hampshire, England. I have not seen these and they do not come cheap.
http://www.worm.co.uk/products/flag-motif-deckchair – Rule Britannia flag deckchair – made in England. Looks nice.
http://www.simbajones.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=352 – Double Deckchair. British made. This company, Simba, have a selection of other products made in Wales and a selection of African products. Looks nice.
http://www.henandhammock.co.uk/products/?0,0,29,0,26 have a range of British made deckchairs.
http://www.furnituredivas.co.uk make and sell deckchairs in the UK.
Dorset Enterprises make deck chairs, directors chairs and so on in Bournemouth, England. Closed down – see https://ukmade.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/dorset-enterprises-deckchairs-uk/
Kew Gardens sell a UK made Kew Gardens map deckchair.
For British made garden tools and lawnmowers please click here. Also please see here for British made plastic items. See here for other garden related products made in Great Britain.
There is more quality British made garden furniture and more gardening related products out there – please let me know if you find some !


text:
Daily Archives: June 11, 2011
The Girl Who I Used To Know
The girl who I gave birth to is missing and was replaced with something I've never seen before–a terrible two toddler.
I knew this day was coming, but somehow I just tried to ignore all the warning signs. You know, the squirming when you try to get a hold of her, the kicking and screaming when she doesn't get her way, even the inability to go anywhere because she refuses to put on her shirt.
Today was just another day towards a full terrible two toddler. She was supposed to take her nap, but she refused to. She was supposed to be tired and exhausted but she was just getting started. One could say it was because of our trip to Ikea, but she handled outings before and still took a nap.
This time, it got so bad that I had to vacate the store by stalking anyone with a yellow shirt to beg them to get me out of the store. If you haven't been to Ikea, then the layout is designed to make you lose your mind and wallet. There is no such thing as an easy exit strategy. You either walk through the whole store just to get back to the beginning, or you hunt someone down and beg.
I'm a beggar. I couldn't think about walking through the whole store frustrated and tired knowing that I couldn't shop and lose myself in the store displays. Instead I had to do the adult thing and tend to my daughter.
Since there was nothing else for me to do while she was sleeping but hold her and watch my husband shop, I just told myself that I'm getting that hour workout that I couldn't get at home–yea, that should cheer me up.
When she woke up, all was well in the world–for about 5 minutes, afterwards no one was allowed touch her (other than me), and she was looking to be helpful the minute her eyes popped open.
I miss the daughter I gave birth to. I could shop, she would nap easily, and there would be no talks about being helpful, which is really not that helpful.
Instead, I'm just look forward to the evening for some adult time: a tall glass of lemonade, and an Ikea catalog and no toddler calling my name. Ahhhhh.


text:
The expectations of bridesmaids can be demanding. And the expectations of one's maid of honour are particularly demanding. It's such a big responsibility these days that one woman went from offering her services as a professional bridesmaid on Craigslist to running a lucrative bridesmaid-for-hire business.
I didn't need a stranger though. I had real friends. But, it turned out, some of them just weren't who I thought they'd be when it came to supporting me before and on my wedding day.
The day before my wedding, my friend from college, Henry*, travelled eight hours on a bus to surprise me. My cousin was with me in spirit all summer, listening to my every wedding-related complaint. My only bridesmaid besides my maid of honour, Cassie, came all the way from Atlanta, even though it meant leaving her sick mother in a hospice. Even my mum, with whom I have a rocky relationship, was there for me on my big day.
In retrospect, I wish I had appreciated these people more, instead of focusing all my attention on my maid of honour, Kaitlin*.
Kaitlin and I had met three years earlier, when she'd been a student in a writing class I taught. She was charismatic and intelligent. I liked her writing and appreciated the comments she made in class discussion. Our friendship solidified during our walks together to the train after class. We bonded over stories about the losers we'd dated in the past, men we blamed for wasting our time. Kaitlin and I were a lot alike.
When I look back now, it's easy to see that she was never that great a friend. Sure, when we'd both been single, we'd related. But after I got together with my now-husband, Andrew, our conversations—when they happened—became dominated by Kaitlin's latest drama. Kaitlin had a warped point of view when it came to relationships. I began to notice the way she always blamed the men involved in her stories when, really, she was clearly at fault. Kaitlin also had a habit of making plans and not showing up. There was always an excuse: She was stuck at work, her car broke down, she wasn't feeling well, something came up...She'd text three hours after she was supposed to have been there, "Babe, are you upset at me? LOL, don't be mad!!"
After Andrew proposed, Kaitlin grew distant. When she and I talked, we avoided discussing the wedding. I felt sorry for her—I was getting exactly what we both wanted, but her life hadn't changed at all. Still, there was no question that Kaitlin would be my maid of honour. After all, she was my best friend—she had been there through my last break up, as well as when Andrew and I first met. She had witnessed the start of our relationship. And she wasn't just my friend, I thought, but Andrew's also.
But as I started planning my wedding, Kaitlin grew increasingly detached. When I asked her to come and decorate cupcakes for the engagement party, she said she was busy. She showed little interest in helping me pick out my dress. It was typical Kaitlin behaviour, but it hurt more now that I needed her. She wasn't just my best friend anymore; she was my maid of honour. With that honour, I thought, came responsibility. I had the unrealistic hope that Kaitlin would eventually step up.
At my engagement party, Kaitlin appeared anxious and out of place. Three-quarters of the way through the night, she disappeared. She snuck off to one of the upstairs bedrooms, where she said she'd been reading a book. That was just a precursor of what was to come.
A day or two before our big day, Andrew and I wrote Kaitlin out of helping with the logistics of the wedding. She still had a part to read during the ceremony, but other than that, we reassigned her responsibilities to others. It wasn't a punishment so much as out of fear she wouldn't show up.
She was there at the wedding—at least for some of it. Throughout the day, Kaitlin disappeared at inopportune moments. When it was time to take pictures or when we sat down to eat, she was nowhere to be found. She wore enormous Beats headphones at the dinner table. I'd never seen this sort of behaviour from her before. It was weird, and somewhat disturbing. But at that point, nothing surprised me. Other people raised eyebrows, but no one wanted to be rude and comment. And she offered no explanation for her behaviour. By then, I didn't have time or energy to ask, I just tried to ignore her and enjoy my day anyway. Near the end of the reception—as my other bridesmaid, Cassie, was making her toast—Kaitlin had the nerve to confront me. "Why was I not asked to make a toast?" she demanded to know. It wasn't worth explaining—not then, not ever. I'd had enough. I told her, "Just let it go."
Sometime after that, as the cake was being cut, Kaitlin left—with my phone and the key to our honeymoon suite in her purse. My husband and I spent the last hour of our wedding trying to track her down. By midnight, when she still hadn't returned any of our calls, I was seriously worried. I was afraid that something terrible had happened; I worried, perhaps irrationally, that she'd hurt herself.
We found out later that Kaitlin had gone back uptown to meet up with one of the guys she was seeing. Cassie—who was staying at her apartment—walked in to find some guy fingering Kaitlin on the couch.
Cassie retrieved my phone for me. Kaitlin dropped the key off to the hotel in the morning. She and I haven't talked since. Two months later, I've thought of reaching out. After all, she had once been my best friend. She's in all my wedding photos! I wanted closure. The whole situation felt so weird and still doesn't sit right.
Then I thought better of it. I hear it's not unusual for brides to lose friends after the wedding—and maybe that's ok. Not all friendships, I've learned, are worth hanging on to.
*Names have been changed
From: Redbook


text:
Bazaarvoice plans to release a product suite Monday that builds out Facebook, Twitter and MySpace social network platforms with custom tools and apps. The SocialConnect Suite gives consumers a voice through rating and review, social sharing, and ability to syndicate content. The tools aim to drive sales, reduce returns, and boost success for search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns.
Bazaarvoice SocialConnect Suite offers a variety of features for Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Among the features offered through the suite of products, marketers can bring the social graph directly into their brand sites through the tool's support for the Facebook "Like" button on product or review pages. It also allows consumers to log into their Facebook, Twitter or MySpace page to immediately see reviews from friends and people with similar interests.
For consumers, it provides tools to research and share information on products and services. For brands, it offers up a way to monitor what's being said and shared. Valerie Hoecke, vice president of digital experience and commerce at Benefit Cosmetics, integrated the Ratings & Reviews module from the SocialConnect Applications suite with the company's Facebook Fan page about a month ago. It gives consumers an easy way to research and read the buzz on Benefit's products. The tool officially launches on July 1, but Fans have already found and really like the tool.
The primary goal isn't to drive purchases through Facebook, but rather to write ratings and reviews and share with friends. Monitoring the percentage of ratings and reviews will enable Benefits to measure the success of earned media impressions, which to Hoecke becomes more valuable than a paid media impression.
Benefit typically reaches new customers through referrals from existing Facebook fans. The physical in-store "conversational relationship" created between Benefit and consumers translates well into social networks. It lets the word-of-mouth advocacy that's natural in the stores continue on the Web. But unlike in retail stores, Facebook doesn't lend itself to being a great platform to take that brand advocacy and convert it into transactions.
"There's no cash register on Facebook," Hoecke says. "Customers generally aren't converting. And even those that integrate shopping in the Fan page -- customers don't tend to be in a transacting mode while in Facebook. They are in the social sharing mode."
On Facebook, consumers tend to advocate brands or products they love, but the mentions get lost in news feeds, slipping down to the bottom and on to the next page, quickly disappearing. Customers give recommendations they post to their 500 friends, but not always at the time friends want to hear them. They may not have interest in the product at that moment, but they might another time.
Recommendations are not easily found in the status update streams. Similar to a Twitter post, once the recommendation scrolls off someone's Facebook wall it's gone. "Stats show all these wonderful brand impressions on Facebook, but people tend not to research products on the site, because there's no structured search for products, only people," Hoecke says.
That unstructured place to post and find information changes with with Bazaarvoice's Ratings & Reviews tool. The feature for Facebook lets people share information, then search and find it days -- sometimes weeks -- later. Hoecke says the ability to search and find ratings and reviews in a structured format becomes the biggest benefit offered by this tool in the suite.
Bazaarvoice SocialConnect Suite includes SocialConnect Sharing, which include three tools Shout It!, Publish It!, and Like It!. The SocialConnect Syndication tool supports Twitter campaigns; SocialConnect Applications, Facebook; and SocialConnect Friends, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The company took a few existing tools -- such as SyndicateVoice, which launched on Google Products earlier this year, along with Shout It! -- to build out the suite.


text:
European satellite operator Eutelsat Communications has secured a multi-year contract with Global Technologies for C-band capacity on its EUTELSAT 10A satellite to provide connectivity and communications for the West Africa Power Pool Project (WAPP)
Established in 1999 by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West Africa States), the WAPP project aims to interconnect the power grids of 14 West African countries.
Global Technologies, a telecommunications and infrastructure company, was awarded the telecommunications part of the project and will use EUTELSAT 10A's dedicated coverage of West Africa to monitor major power distribution sites across the region.
Philippe Oliva, Eutelsat's chief commercial officer, said, "After a successful partnership in Mauritania three years ago, we are delighted to be working alongside Global Technologies once again with assisting WAPP in achieving its ambitious shared energy project in the West African region over the coming months."
Jean-Paul Steinitz, CEO of Global Technologies, added, "To support WAPP in its vision to promote and develop power generation and transmission infrastructures across West Africa, we have teamed up with Eutelsat to leverage the prime capacity available on its EUTELSAT 10A satellite."
"Thanks to Eutelsat's reliable and cost-effective satellite coverage of the region, GLOBAL Technologies will contribute to offer better and cheaper access to power for millions of people by delivering telecom infrastructure to connect the WAPP countries," he concluded.