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This is the obstacle that was set in our path. It just wasn't mean to be. Everything was planned. Platters of sushi on the back patio. Kids running around on the grass. Adults enjoying a glass of wine, a beer, or a shot of sake (if you're into that kind of thing). But no. Mother Nature had to send us rainbows! Two of them mind you...And that dark sky? It was scariest of all! Let me tell you the wind howling of the mountains t our west didn't help matters either. Despite the best laid plans we had to move the shin dig indoors. No time for pretty tables or sparkly lights. Or pictures, except this one. By my hubby's best friend. From his phone no less...
Despite the weather we packed 30 peeps into the house, made a mongo amount of sushi and had a grand ol' time. Everyone was well fed and happy. The kids still ran around, with the dogs in tow. And the adult still enjoyed a beverage. And you know what? Nobody noticed the lack of decorating effort. It was all about the important stuff. Family, friends and good food! I call that a good ending to a not so great week. Even if I did slip on the multi tasking front.
I need to send a special thank you to my top referring sites for last month!
Have a Happy Monday!


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Here's a look at where we are here at the end of April. Remember we are in the Upstate of South Carolina.
We have garlic and onions looking good.
Then we have a bed with beets, carrots, radicchio, radish, and lettuce.
Here we have arugula, spinach, and then mixed in peppers with Zucchini and cumin planted at the rear edge.
The peas are growing well and running a bit late. There are turnips intermixed and we have just planted seed for squash, pumpkins, and
cantaloupe to climb where the peas are now.
And we've decided on a permanent area for tomatoes. On the south facing part of our home we prepared a place for them- 100% Sun for most of the day–
I Welcome your comments- My best to you !

subset: commoncrawl


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The headline is becoming a regular fixture at the end of every year: "Game of Thrones is the 'most pirated' TV show of the year". In no way is it surprising given the show's runaway success, and for the third year in a row, no less, but just how far ahead it is of the competition in terms of downloads boggles the mind. Torrentfreak released some interesting figures in its annual review, estimating that episodes of Game of Thrones were downloaded over 8.1 million times, which when compared to the number of viewers in the U.S. (7.16 million) who (legally) watched it on TV, is rather large.
A distant second and third are The Walking Dead (4.2 million downloads) and The Big Bang Theory (3.6 million downloads), and it also appears that the number of downloaded TV episodes has risen in the past year. Also take into account that this is only torrent-tracked downloads, not including file-hosting services and streaming, and you start to get an idea of just how rampant online piracy is getting. It's rhetoric that almost everybody is used to hearing, yet so little is being done in the regions where piracy is most prevalent, but until there is something done, don't expect these headlines to go anywhere anytime soon.
What do you think about online piracy of TV shows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Torrentfreak via engadget


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For the past five years Leonie Sheedy travelled around Australia urging survivors of childhood sexual abuse in orphanages and foster care to tell their stories to the child abuse royal commission. She was the vocal and visible presence outside the commission's public hearings, confronting politicians and holding placards. She stood in the glaring sun and pouring rain protesting against the leaders and institutions who failed children, demanding stories of abuse be recognised.
But despite imploring survivors of abuse not to take their stories to their grave, it took the 63-year-old until the commission had almost finished its work in December to tell her own harrowing story of being abused while in care at the Sisters of Mercy St Catherine's Children's home in Geelong.
"I'd say I've supported over 100 people to tell their story, and the oldest person I supported at the commission was 93," Sheedy told Guardian Australia, following the tabling of the royal commission's final report in December. "What happened as a result is I recognised I needed to ask for my own private session with the royal commissioners to tell my story."
But each time the commission rang her to say a commissioner was available to hear her, Sheedy put them off. "I'd say: 'Surely there are other people than me you can listen to first that are older and sicker that need to go first'," she says.
Eventually, unable to delay the commission any further, she told her story to its chair, Justice Peter McClellan, in October, just weeks before the commission's work ended. While she believes the process was cathartic for most survivors, she also knows firsthand how hard it was to take that step.
"I said to Peter: 'I'm not going to cry.' And he said: 'Well if you're not going to cry I'm not going to cry either'." It is too difficult for her to repeat what she told McClellan in that session. Sheedy will say only that when she was 14, the son of a holiday host who took her away from the orphanage for a break "got at me", and that she endured horrific physical abuse in the home.
Sheedy became a ward of the state along with two of her sisters when she was just three, and stayed in the orphanage until she was 16. She was one of 6,000 Victorian children in care in any given year in the 1960s, though poor record-keeping means the total number is difficult to calculate. Sheedy was relinquished to care, she realised as an adult, because her parents were poor and neglectful, had too many children, and her father was an abusive alcoholic. She did not understand this as a child though, and grew up thinking she was in care because she was "bad".
Sheedy was the second-youngest of seven siblings. She also has two half brothers. She didn't know many of her siblings growing up – her older siblings had also been put into orphanages before she was born. She was mostly separated from her sisters, who were placed in different sections of the orphanage, and she remembers sobbing as her older sister Pat was driven away in a black car from the home when she turned 14. Sheedy was six, and recalls being told by a nun to "stop blubbering" as she watched her sister leave.
"I knew I also had an older brother, Anthony, because when he left care he began to visit us in the orphanage … and he used to bring us lollies and fruit," Sheedy says.
"Even with his intellectual disability, he still cared about us. We saw him for a couple of years, and then he stopped coming, and I didn't know why."
Her brother was struggling with his own issues including alcoholism, having been abused and raped in care, something Sheedy did not know at the time. It would be more than 40 years until she would see him again and he would finally share his story. In the meantime, Sheedy was forced to scrub floors in the orphanage and was beaten for wetting the bed and other "misbehaviours". Floggings were common.
She left care at 16 years, when she was driven from Geelong to Melbourne, given a suitcase of government-issued clothing, and left to fend for herself. She didn't know how to do practical things, such as budget or read a map, and she often found herself lost in the city.
She married her husband Warren when she was 19, and they had three children. Sheedy credits her husband for much of her strength, saying he has stood steadfast by her side, supporting her as she has done her advocacy work and as she has come to terms with her own abuse.
But it was a newspaper ad in 1992 that would change the course of Sheedy's life and cement her role as an advocate for those abused in orphanages and foster care. Dr Joanna Penglase, a sociologist who also grew up in out-of-home care, published the ad in 150 newspapers which asked: "Did you grow up in a children's home?" and gave people a number to call. She was conducting research in an effort to understand the lives of those who grew up in orphanages, a topic that remains little researched in Australia.
Sheedy's husband urged her to respond to the advertisement, and a friendship with Penglase was born. Eight years later, Sheedy and Penglase co-founded the Care Leavers Australasia Network (Clan), an independent body that represents, supports and advocates for people who were raised in Australian and New Zealand orphanages, children's homes and foster care. Today, it has about 1,000 members. As part of her role with Clan, Sheedy travels throughout the country helping survivors to tell their stories and find their birth and care records, and sometimes, their families.
Sheedy was an expert in the difficulties in chasing records for care leavers because for years she had been trying to track down her own brothers and sisters, calling jails where too many abused people ended up, searching libraries, and requesting government documents with varying success. Her meetings with those siblings she found were not always the happy reunions she had hoped for; they too had their own stories of abuse and memories that were too hard to relive.
In 2005, Sheedy managed to track down her older brother Anthony, who used to visit her in the orphanage with his offerings of lollies and fruit. She had found his address with the help of the Victorian government, but letters to him went unanswered. What Sheedy did not know was that he had difficulty reading and writing, and was unable to respond. Her brother had been living in a Brotherhood of St Laurence flat in Fitzroy, Melbourne, providing free labour like dishwashing for the nuns, and he had few belongings. Eventually, someone helped him to read the letters and he called Sheedy.
"He was living a hobo's existence," Sheedy recalls. "I found his state ward file and I saw that nobody cared about him." That file revealed he had been in nine different orphanages since being placed into care at age two in 1944. He left care at age 19. His file states that as a young child he was tested for the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.
"Had he been looked after properly he could have had a better life," Sheedy says. "When I first met him he used to smoke in bed, he lived in a dive, and he didn't even have a fridge. I bought new sheets that day and I put them on the bed. I bought him a vacuum cleaner and fridge and a table and chairs.
"He said to me: 'Don't ever lose me again.'"
Despite his intellectual disability her brother had a sharp memory. He taught himself to read by buying the Herald Sun, and could recall facts and figures from stories he had read months earlier, especially from crime stories. He began visiting Sheedy where she was living in Sydney, and volunteering at Clan. He had lost most of his teeth and was also a heavy smoker, but Sheedy encouraged him to care for himself.
And then one day, shortly after they reunited, her brother began to tell her about his abuse. He was raped by multiple abusers, including a senior Christian Brother and other boys at St Augustine's boys' home in Geelong. He was also sexually abused by staff at the Bendigo Training Centre. Sheedy sat at her computer and typed his story for him as he spoke, word for word. That document was submitted to the federal government's 2005 inquiry into abuse in institutional care.
"I don't ask for much, because of I am too shy," his story reads, "but I am now coming out of my shell. But when I first meet Leonie I wouldn't tell a soul about my secret for 37 years 'cos I was ashamed to tell anyone, I kept it for myself.
"There still more to tell Leonie … I can't bring myself to tell her because I will break down … There are a lot of gaps missing from my file and I have a lot of questions to ask of the Victorian government and the Australian government."
With her brother's permission, Sheedy got lawyers involved and sought redress for him through the Victorian government and the Catholic church, which ran some of the institutions he was abused in.
As this was going on, she planned her brother's first birthday party after finding out he had never had one. He was due to turn 70 on 28 November 2011, and Sheedy went all out. Her brother was a Frank Sinatra fanatic, and she organised to have Sinatra-themed birthday banner and cake. She invited their friends from Clan, and the Labor MP Richard Marles, for whom her brother sometimes volunteered.
In June 2011, months before his 70th birthday, Sheedy received the letter they had been waiting for: notice from the Victorian government that it had set a date for his compensation settlement to be heard.
Sheedy rushed to her home where her brother was staying but she was greeted by ambulances. He had died of a heart attack, age 69.
"Anthony died on 22 June 2011 without justice and without redress," Sheedy says.
They held his party in November anyway, paying tribute to him and his few happy years with his family. In a tribute recorded in Hansard, Marles described him as "cheeky and fun-loving".
"He loved the Geelong Football Club and loved Frank Sinatra," Marles said. "It was wonderful that he was able to be here on the day of the apology [to care leavers]. Very sadly, within two years of that day, he passed away … Today Leonie keeps fighting for compensation, something which must be given, and for services … Leonie Sheedy is a national treasure. To her, I say: thank you."
Sheedy balks at claims of her being a national treasure, instead highlighting the work of those around her that led to the then prime minister, Julia Gillard, announcing a royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse in 2012. It is the brave people who told their stories of being abused and women like Penglase who deserve credit, she says.
The commission's work is now over but Sheedy says her work is far from done. The commission tabled its final report on 15 December and Sheedy says on the 15th of every month, Clan will be releasing an update of how many of its recommendations have been implemented. Staff at the prime minister's office know Sheedy's voice well, so often does she call demanding answers about redress for abuse survivors and action on the royal commission's 400 recommendations.
"What we're going to do is remind every state and territory government and the federal government, and every church and charity, every month, that we won't allow our stories to be forgotten," she says.
"Older care leavers in particular need redress now to make their later years more comfortable and liveable, they need to be able to pay for their funerals, to get their teeth fixed and have some good things in their life before they die.
"I feel that there is so much work to be done."


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In Small Axe Salon, platform for Caribbean literature and ideas.
Recently gone "live" in online publication, my article The Divided Dutch-Antillean Writer and the Unifying Force of Translation, and English translations I made of three of Curaçaoan poet Frank Martinus Arion's verses from Papiamentu and from Dutch. Other manifestoes in the anthology are from Haitian and Puerto Rican writers on translation and creole languages, in the anthology published online and in print by the Caribbean-studies platform Small Axe.


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The Big Dipper Enhanced
Do you see it?
(Image Credit & Copyright: VegaStar Carpentier)
Explanation: Do you see it? This common question frequently precedes the rediscovery of one of the most commonly recognized configurations of stars on the northern sky: the Big Dipper. This grouping of stars is one of the few things that has likely been seen, and will be seen, by every human generation. In this featured image, however, the stars of the Big Dipper have been digitally enhanced — they do not really appear this much brighter than nearby stars. The image was taken earlier this month from France. The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. Although part of the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), the Big Dipper is an asterism that has been known by different names to different societies. Five of the Big Dipper stars are actually near each other in space and were likely formed at nearly the same time. Relative stellar motions will cause the Big Dipper to slowly change its apparent configuration over the next 100,000 years.
Thanks, as always, to the amazing NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day!
Follow APOD on: Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter


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Over the last year I have been writing and exploring ideas around curating children's digital tools and content. There is now so much media out there for children that parents and educators often struggle to know what tools are most useful for supporting children's learning, educating them while they are entertained and have a level of quality that previously has been curated for us by other professionals.
Increasingly, I am less concerned with the issue of whether digital content is age appropriate (though that is important and there is more than enough focus on that). I am more concerned about how we establish whether content is of good quality for children and students. I believe there are two steps in this process. Firstly, we need to filter the many and various digital tools and apps available. There are several ways we could do this, but a good way would be to focus on the capacity the technology has to engage, to facilitate learning and to improve children's skills and knowledge for the 21st Century. This would obviously not focus on content, but on design. How well does the user interface and the digital space meet the needs and capacity of children and students, given the intended age and development of the tool?
This will allow those with the skills and knowledge to assess the quality of content to have fewer apps to choose from. It presents them with the best designed apps and allows them to begin to develop processes and ways to assess what is quality digital content and what isn't.
We have some great systems and people to draw on to build qualitative analysis, but less in regards to quantitative analysis for filtering. So far, algorithms let us down when it comes to content that is not based on taste. They work well for music, for videos, for pop culture. But, are the crowd and the algorithm enough for topics like health, education and science?
Recently, reading back through the draft statement being developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and Fred Rogers Center's A Statement on the Development of a Framework for Quality Digital Media for Young Children, I was reminded about one of the key points in that document that is so important to consider when developing digital tools to support children's learning and development. That is:
"Quality" and "educational" are not the same thing. Media with educational intent are not necessarily high in production or content quality, and media of high production quality can be intended purely to entertain. Digital media can fulfill different developmental and learning needs for young children at different times, and even media content intended for entertainment has an educational impact.
It is such a strong and intellectually sound statement. We see terms like "educational" or "learning" and we automatically assume that the tool or app we are considering must be of a greater value than an app that is "just a game." This is an incorrect assumption. There is no effective regulation around what makes an app or digital content educational. Anyone can put that label on an app and it does not mean it is well designed to support learning, just that the people involved in the creation of the app believe it is. This does not mean the app doesn't have amazing educational value and can support children to learn, but it is not a given. As parents and educators we have to remember that.
So, who is curating content and where can we go at the moment to try to work our way through the overwhelming amount of digital material and tools out there for our children? I've done my best to come up with what I believe is a reasonable short list.
__1. The Research Organizations
Currently, the best place to go to find objective and well-informed discussions and research into children's digital media is research organizations, particularly the Joan Ganz Cooney Centerand Fred Rogers Center. Together, these two organizations are managing the space between research, information and advocacy. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is engaged in a range of information and research into apps, the "app gap" and how parents can best use mobile technologies and digital technology for children. You canread their catalogue of research papers which are really accessible for interested parents, but also see features on their blog. The Center has also been very supporting of innovative and quality digital development for children supporting awards and helping drive skill development through their fellowship program.
The Fred Rogers Center has been working with NAYEC to engage as many people as possible in the development of A Statement on the Development of a Framework for Quality Digital Media for Young Children. This project is nearing the end of the drafting process, but it has been a very comprehensive and involved development that will be an excellent contribution to developers and producers of children's digital media, but also to teachers, parents and other professionals interested in ensuring children have access to quality tools to support their learning and development in a technology-focused world. The Fred Rogers Center is specifically focused on the early years and has some excellent resources available on their site available through a well developed search engine.
2. The Crowdsourcer
Common Sense Mediacould easily fit within the research organizations category, but they are probably the leaders in crowd-sourced digital media advice for parents. There is a tendency to focus on age appropriateness and what age the content is appropriate for. But, a large number of reviewers and parents also give thoughtful and insightful write ups about the overall value of movies, television, computer games and apps for children. The breadth and ease of use of this site has made it an excellent resource for families. They also are producing some high quality research that looks at children's media consumption and engagement, which helps drive the development of their own resources and educator tools that look at how we can best support children understand and use media and technology in productive ways.
3. App Rating Systems
Kindertown is an app and website and an organization committed to more than just helping parents source the best apps. KinderTown has employed early childhood development professionals and have been advised by educators from the beginning. It is the decision to bring in subject matter experts that puts KinderTown in a strong position when curating around apps for the early years. They specifically only target ages 3 to 6 (which is the area that is saturated with mobile apps) and also provides users with a weekly email that highlights one app, and also provides excellent advice beyond the digital technology and gives parents tips and advice on how to further engage with their children's learning and development. It is this extra role in not just curating but educating parents that makes KinderTown such an exciting service.
Famigo is a family driven system that attempts to identify apps that are best suited for use by families. They have made a conscious decision to focus on things that aren't purely educational; they want our overall process to reward content with educational benefit. When testing apps they look at: Ease of Use, Educational Value, Entertainment Level, Family Friendliness, and Appropriateness for All Ages. The review system weights apps with educational content as having more value for families. The questions within the Educational Value section of the questionnaire focus on: how speech is used to reinforce concepts, how rewards enhance learning, how well the app matches real world experiences, and whether or not the app encourages learning beyond the game itself.
4. Online Video Filter
MeFeedia has developed Kids Videos, a tool that curates online video for safety and age appropriateness. Effectively, they are trying to take the risk out of younger children having access to cutely titled YouTube videos with content meant for much older age groups. Kids Videos is a curated video application that brings a wide variety of safe, fun and educational videos into one easy-to-use application. The app, available for iPad and Kindle Fire tablets, allows for filtering by genre using an on or off switch, and based on view-through rates, automatically discovers and delivers what a viewer would likely be most interested in at that moment. It doesn't help you identify the quality of the video in terms of the content or the video image or audio, but it definitely meets a need for parents who want to access the large amount of free video content online without having to worry as much about what their child will access.
__ 5. The Algorithms __
There are a number of app search engines that use algorithms and the masses of data available on different apps to help you source good educational apps for children. None of them are particularly successful. The best I have found is Yahoo's App Searchoffering. But, others that have received some big VC dollars include Quixey, Chomp and numerous others. This area is definitely still a work-in-progress.
6. The Big Gun
____Finally, it is worth making mention of The Learning Registry. This is so much more than just a way to find quality apps or digital media tool, this registry being funded and driven by the Federal Government. It describes itself as "a new approach to capturing, sharing, and analyzing learning resource data to broaden the usefulness of digital content to benefit educators and learners." But then it proceeds to explain that it isn't a website, a search engine, a clearinghouse or new content. It is probably best understood as a piece of system infrastructure and the aim is to link educators to the best educational content available in digital form. Or as the designers put it:
the Learning Registry is an open source technical system designed to facilitate the exchange of data behind the scenes, and an open community of resource creators, publishers, curators, and consumers who are collaborating to broadly share resources, as well as how those resources are used by educators in diverse learning environments across the Web.
It obviously will take shape over time, but this is the large scale curation work that is required to make best use of all the information and content out there and available to support the learning and development of our children.


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Principal Lawyer
Innovative. Entrepreneurial. Strategic.
Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and Bachelor of Commerce, and Master of Laws degrees specialising in corporations and general commercial law.
Beginning his career with a boutique city commercial firm, he rose to become a partner, heading their property and commercial divisions. Jeremy then moved to a larger commercial firm, as a leading member of their commercial and intellectual property teams.
Jeremy has also been a director of several public and private companies, in a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, construction, consulting, international trade and not-for-profit.
Jeremy's experience gained from his legal and commercial careers enables him to practice across the diverse spectrum of commercial law. This experience also qualifies Jeremy to be our senior Business Legal Counsel™.
Jeremy's clients include financial services groups and financial planners. Jeremy has taken an active role in financial product development, including managed investment schemes and derivatives.
Jeremy also deals with franchising issues, having acted for franchisors ranging in size from 50 to 150 franchisees in a diverse range of industries including food, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism. He also advises clients on trademark, copyright and general intellectual property issues.
Jeremy has acted for property developers, advising on the development of shopping centres, residential developments (both large and small scale) and finance and investment structures associated with property development. He is also experienced in commercial, industrial and residential leasing, and was named the Commercial Property Leasing Lawyer of the Year in Australia by Global Law Experts in both 2014 and 2015.
Jeremy's passion however is giving commonsense commercial legal advice. As his long-standing clients can attest, Jeremy tackles commercial legal concerns with entrepreneurial flair and is focussed on achieving commonsense legal outcomes that encompass the whole picture.


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Practice Areas
Each Ingeniquest practice is comprised of a team of researchers, search consultants and practice leaders that are committed to being market experts in their specific area of specialization. Hiring for performance goes way beyond simply matching skills with job specifications. Our mastery of specific talent markets allows us to help clients to not just fill jobs, but to elevate company performance through the acquisition of differentiated talent. In partnership with our clients, we seek to translate business objectives to hiring objectives and then persist to attract and retain the best talent match and not just the "best available."
Our search consultants seek to become "industry insiders" maintaining an acute perspective on market dynamics and hidden trends. This helps our clients maintain a competitive edge, but also allows us to serve as career consultants to our candidates. The stock and trade of each practice is our commitment to our clients and candidates, expertise, and most importantly integrity.


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We're done with the Golden Globes and the Oscars but an entirely different kind of actor is still lurking around: scammers who pretend to be someone they're not. Sometimes it seems we're afloat in a sea of imposters who are trying to cheat you by pretending to be from legitimate organizations. Imposter scams play on your emotions. The scammers work hard to make you believe that you've won something or you have an unexpected problem. They say that, for a small fee, they'll send you lots of money or make your troubles disappear. They might encourage you to pay them with a reloadable card or they may ask for your personal information. Here are the top ten imposter scams you told us about last year.
- A taxing situation. Internal Revenue Service imposters are the #1 imposter scam in Consumer Sentinel
and they're on the rise. Fake IRS agents may try to scare you into thinking that you
owe back taxes or there's a problem with your return. The real IRS won't initiate
contact by phone or email – instead they'll start with a postal letter.
- Sur-prized? Did the Prize Patrol ring you up to say the only thing between you and a pile of
winnings is a little processing fee? Before you call in the cameras, balloons and
poster-sized check, hold the phone! If you need to send money to collect your prize,
hang up. They're just pretending to be from Publishers Clearinghouse.
- You need professional help. Maybe the con artist tries to persuade you that your computer is on the fritz. In
this twist, scammers try to convince you that your computer has a serious and urgent
technical problem and that you desperately need their help. Oh, puh-leeze.
- Mal-where? Another version goes like this: "I'm calling from Microsoft Technical Support. I'm
looking at your computer and there's dangerous software popping up." In reality –
and you have my "Word" on this – it's a scam. Put down the phone or refuse to click
the pop-up. The fee they demand is usually very low to avoid raising your suspicions.
Sometimes they say they're from billing and you owe money or they need your account
- Fake FBI. In an old twist on the Nigerian email scam, a phony G-man contacts you with supposed
"certification" of the legitimacy of Prince So-and-So from the United Kingdom of Scamnation
or some other official-sounding offer. The Prince supposedly wants you to help him
move a, well, princely, sum of money out of his troubled country. Nope, not a chance.
- Kidnapped computers. You click on a link in an email that seems like it's from a legitimate company. The
window that pops up says a destructive program has locked you out of your files. The
pop-up might tell you to click a link so an "FBI agent" can help you. Or they tell
you to get a prepaid card and pay for a password that will unlock your files. More
often than not, even if you pay the ransom, they don't release your files. Regularly
back up your files to minimize any damage these thieves could cause.
- I'll grant you that… Imagine the caller posing as a government official – could be from the Treasury Department,
Health and Human Services, Homeland Security or a made-up agency name with the word
"federal" in it – with the surprising news that you've won a government grant for
thousands of dollars. They encourage you to seal the deal by forking over hundreds
of dollars in "taxes" or "fees."
- Medicare masquerade. The sham government representative claims to work for Medicare or in connection with
the Affordable Health Care Act or even a made-up agency that sounds a lot like Health
and Human Services. They threaten your medical benefits to get your personal information
or fees from you.
- Fueling fears. Another variation involves a phony Homeland Security caller who threatens immigrants
with deportation notices. They offer, for a charge, to help you certify your immigration
status. They hope scare tactics will get you off guard long enough to part with valuable
information or money.
- Caller ID Don't. An emerging imposter scam involves misusing caller ID. Sometimes they make it seem that the Caller ID number is your telephone number. Others spoof the caller ID with "Mom" to get you to pick up the call.
The complete reference is available here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/grate-pretenders.


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What is Commercial Debt Collection
Commercial Debt Collection also called the business to business debt collection. It's a team of experts who specialize in commercial debt collection. Commercial Debt Collection is not subject to FDCPA which eliminates abuse practices from third parties collectors. Business to business involves in debt payment from one business to another. It should be professional and sophisticated enough to comprehend their own rights and do their own financial duties. That's why commercial debt collection is less controlled.
Debt Collectors Expertise
The debt collectors agencies are highly specialized and they have to balance receiving money from their client's debtors and still remain in good relations with their clients and their customers. That's one of the reasons why commercial debt collection can be extremely complicated. When a collecting a debt finding an experience and high-quality collection firm can be extremely beneficial to you and in your own good.
Choosing The Right Firm
There are great firm collectors that can handle your debt process and the best one are the less expensive firms that get the job done. Also, ones that are not so strenuous for you and that can handle the process from start to finish. So it's really important to have the right firm that can help you and benefit you the way possible and keep your great business relationship with your customers.
Being A Happy Client
You want a firm that gives you the right price with no hidden charges. Also, a firm that is known to have a great track record of happy clients and satisfied clients. Having a consultation to see is the firm is best for you is important. Being able to receive a free consultation will be also great. The goal here is for your business to recover your debt as swiftly and less cost efficient as possible. Commercial debt collection isn't an easy job so the expert is needed if you want it done correctly.


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First RM in new academic season
Lotte Wilms, Steven Claeyssens, Clemens Neudecker (National Library, KB), Hugo Huurdeman (University of Amsterdam, UvA)
Digital Humanities at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek
In the past two decades or so, national libraries have been digitising millions of pages of books, newspapers, magazines and other text based collections. In this digital age, the research landscape is changing rapidly, with scholars able to ask new types of questions and answer them in novel ways by working with a wide variety of materials and in new collaborative modes.
The National Library of the Netherlands (KB) has planned to have digitised and OCRed its entire collection of books, periodicals and newspapers from 1470 onwards by the year 2030. But already in 2013, 10% of this enormous task will be completed, resulting in 73 million digitised pages, either from the KB itself or via public-private partnerships as Google Books and ProQuest. Many are already available via various websites (e.g. kranten.kb.nl, statengeneraaldigitaal.nl, anp.kb.nl, earlydutchbooksonline.nl) and we are working on a single entry point to (re)search all sets simultaneously.
All these changes in the research landscape also ask for a change in the way the library works with the users and researchers of the material. This presentation will deal with the steps the KB has taken to support the requests for the researchers by setting up a Data Services team to simplify the access to our data. The Data Services team also works closely with the Research department, where work is also being done to offer (technical) support to the users and to gather input to better meet the needs of the researchers.
Already curious about our sets? See http://www.kb.nl/en/data-services-apis for more info or go to http://tinyurl.com/KBandDH to leave your feedback.
Steven Claeyssens is the Data Services Coordinator at the National Library of the Netherlands (KB). He has an MA in Germanic Philology from Ghent University and an MA in Book Studies form Leiden University. He has worked at the KB since 2005 as Analytical Bibliographer, Information Specialist and Collection Specialist. He is finishing a PhD on Dutch publishing history.
(Presentation slides)
Lotte Wilms works in the European Projects team of the Research department of the National Library of the Netherlands. She is the KB Project Leader for Europeana Newspapers and coordinates several Digital Humanities efforts from the Research department of the KB. She has a BA in English Language and Culture and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Utrecht. She has worked at the KB since 2008 on various (digitisation) projects.
Clemens Neudecker, M.A., Technical Coordinator for the Research team in the Innovation and Development department of the KB.
Hugo Huurdeman, University of Amsterdam. Researcher in the WebART project (http://www.webarchiving.nl/)
(Presentation slides)


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New Cave Art Discovered in Cuba
New cave art has been found in three locations in Cuba's Imias Wild Reserve in the eastern province of Guantanamo.
Discovered during an expedition by members of the Speleological Society of Cuba and the Cuban Cave Art Research Group of the Institute of Anthropology, the paintings are done in red, a color that so far has only been seen in three other locations on the eastern region of the island.
The new finds highlight the importance of the region for future research and study.
To date, 285 cave art sites have been officially recorded in Cuba.
Three New Cave Art Sites Found in Cuba [cadenagramonte.cu]


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Handy Worker Loses Hand to Negligence
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Santa Ana, CA— November 30, 2013 began like any other day for Mr. Ortega. Ortega was a successful maintenance worker in the Orange County area. At 7:00am, he arrived at the house he was assigned to work on that day. John Doe, his partner, helped him unload some tools from his truck and then left
- Published in Personal Injury, Results


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Student Health Fee
For students in Ithaca
Students on Cornell's Ithaca campus have pre-paid access to services at Cornell Health through either:
- A portion of their student health plan premium
- A Student Health Fee (for students with private insurance plans)
What that means ...
Ithaca students who are not enrolled in a Cornell student health plan (SHP or SHP+) are automatically assessed a Student Health Fee (with some exceptions). Learn more:
- Academic-Year Health Fee ($228 / semester for 2020-2021)
- Summer Health Fee
What you get with the health fee
When visiting Cornell Health, students who pay the Student Health Fee have ...
- A $10 COPAY for most medical and mental health visits (some visits have no charge)
- No additional charges for x-rays, procedures, and lab tests performed at Cornell Health
Please see Cornell Health's Cost for Service page for complete details.
Why a health fee?
University health fees are per-capita administrative fees used to fund on-campus health services. Typically, they are put in place because universities want to provide all students with access to on-campus care, regardless of restrictions of their private insurance plans.
Cornell University implemented a Student Health Fee on its Ithaca campus in 2015 to give students with private insurance plans the same pre-paid access to care at Cornell Health that Student Health Plan members have, increasing access to care for thousands of students. The health fee also helps support campus-wide health initiatives that benefit the whole community.
Health fees are standard practice at universities nation-wide. Among Cornell's Ivy Plus peers, health fees range from $500 to $1,000 a year.


text: Morris Choice is back and better than ever! Morris Choice was created in 2013 when Cramer was apart of Wayne Radio, but now Morris Choice is an independent podcast associated with Hydemi Collective. Aiming to keep you up to date of all things Detroit– ranging from its music scene, events, new businesses, and people doing great things. Our shows will be uploaded onto soundcloud and youtube a few days after they are recorded. Our shows are being recorded at Hybrid Moments located in Corktown, (Detroit) Michigan. Connect with us on our Facebook page and our other social media.


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Botswana, the country you should visit in 2016 if haven't yet
Lonely Planet, best known for large selection of travel guide books, has released its "Best in Travel in 2016" lists. Botswana was named the number one country to be visited. This is a great recognition to Botswana that has steadily improved its popularity among tourists over years.
Botswana businesses and industries, driven by mining, concentrate in southwestern parts of the country. In contrast, major tourist attractions – game parks and Okavango Delta – are mostly located in northern Botswana. Maun is the local tourism capital. It is a relatively small town, without much to do in itself, but is considerably more pleasant than big congested cities in other countries. Another small touristy town is Kasane, in the northeastern corner of the country. Both towns are connected to Johannesburg by direct flights.


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To begin with I would like to apologise for not posting for a VERY long while. I realise that consistency is key and really there is no excuse for my slacker-ish behaviour. However, with school-work dominating almost all free time I have, I haven't had a chance to read, and therefore review all that much.
While I find I fall in love with almost all of the books I read, there are a few that I cannot come to terms with. Recently I found that a lot of the novels I've started to read, I never got around to finishing (maybe I'm in some sort of reading slump?!?) for a variety of reasons. None of these books were bad, rather they just didn't appeal to me. Even so, I still thought they would be worth writing a little about…
- Gemina by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff-
Illuminae was one of my favourite reads from last year and I was counting down the days until the sequel, Gemina, was released. Now though, after trying and trying again to finish the book, it just sits on my shelf, looking sad and unloved. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong for me. The plot and format, something I love from Illuminae, was once again unique and grabbed my attention. However, the characters, Nik in particular, were one of the reasons I stopped reading Gemina. They did not seem realistic and were frankly quite annoying. Added to that, while I may be wrong, I don't think I'll ever meet someone who says "feel me" quite as much as Nik does.
2. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold-
Thank you to Headline for sending me Kids of Appetite through Bookbridgr, in exchange for an honest review. While I haven't yet read Mosquitoland, another novel written by David Arnold, I was compelled to request Kids of Appetite due to the high praise Mosquitoland got. Kids of Appetite is good. I liked the writing and I liked the characters, yet I still didn't finish it. I want to finish it, but I haven't. Maybe I'll try it again in a few weeks?
3. Alienated by Melissa Landers-
I got this book sometime Christmas last year and I still haven't finished it, though not from lack of trying. The blurb caught my attention immediately. I haven't read a book featuring any sort of aliens ever before and Alienated sounded like a good place to start. However now, I don't think i'll be reading any alien books for a while. To be honest, I fell like I've read this book before just with different characters, and as a result I couldn't finish Alienated.
As of today, I am starting The Secret History by Donna Tartt and fingers crossed that I'll be able to finish it, too.


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When two neutron stars or black holes spiral inwards and coalesce, the gravitational waveform which is produced can be accurately modelled using mathematical approximations, or by evolving the system numerically on a computer. Similarly, we can predict the gravitational wave signal from a distorted neutron star. When the waveform shape is known, we can make use of this knowledge to assist our search for gravitational waves. To do this, we employ a technique called matched filtering — where we correlate the known signal against the detector output which contains both signal and noise.
As an example, consider the waveform shown above which is from a coalescing binary system. In the left hand figure below, this signal (shown in red) is buried in the noisy data. However, when we matched filter the data against a template signal of the same shape, there is a clear peak in the signal to noise ratio at the time of the signal as shown by the right hand figure.


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Dear Sir Winston,Winston wrote: ↑December 7th, 2014, 6:42 amWhich trip? It all depends. To save money you use public transportation and stay in hostels and budget hotels and use couchsurfing. Get one of those "country name" on a shoestring guides.Jonny Law wrote:Dear Sir Winston,
How much is it costing you to go on your trip?
For me it costs on average $3,000. Do you have any advice for saving money?
How much did you spend on your last trip to (rough estimate):
1. The Philippines- I agree it is more fun in the Philippines
2. Thailand- I recommend for people of Asian decent (Thanks Thai Racism) and Gays
3. Las Vegas- Great place to hangout with friends and random prostitutes and get high


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Happy and sad, about being sad,
Certain and uncertain, about being glad,
Enraged and composed, on being compared,
Desirous and content, of being ignored.
Anxious and patient, to do nothing,
Hopeful and scared, to learn something,
Curious and nonchalant, to create something,
Hopeless and expectant, to need nothing.
Delighted and bereaving, the ensuing joy,
Unabashed and bashful, on being coy,
Flustered and pleased, for being complacent,
Farther and nearer, to becoming self-distant.
Pained and relieved, on feeling the hurt,
Cheerful and grim, for heeding the heart,
Cleansed and stinking, from the hidden dirt,
Restored and fatigued, from all this effort.
Surprised and humbled, by this sudden success,
Filled and emptied, by a renegade excess,
Stirred and propelled, from an expected failure,
Interested and bored, in the promised cure.
Seen and unseen, all of my actions are known,
Heard and unheard, they converse with the unknown,
Touched and untouched, they want me re-living,
Kindness and neglect, they taught me giving.
Liberated and chained, I live in parole,
Till life and death, get tired of my soul,
Faithful and blasphemous, I shall continue to pray,
For, spoken and unspoken, there's lot more to say.
This one is dedicated to me, to the Jekyll and Hyde within me, so that puts it in Mirror. How often have we felt multiple emotions over a single incident. I don't know about others, but every single incident in my life has always made me think and feel in two or more ways. Sometimes a whole range, starting from shock, moving to horror, then waning into pity before fizzling out into mere sorrow.
I understand that I am one, but my consciousness refuses to believe in it completely, and thus leaves scope for repeated reinterpretations of one single moment. What purpose retrospection serves, to what end is introspection useful, I still know not with conviction. But what I do know is that this is the truth that my life is all about, the feelings that my story is all about, this is my song, my anthem.


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The Affluence Network Evergreen Content
Thank you so much for visiting us in search for "The Affluence Network Evergreen Content" online.
You've probably heard this often times where you generally spread the nice word about crypto. "It is not volatile? What happens if the price failures? " sofar, many POS systems gives free transformation of fiat, improving some matter, but before the volatility cryptocurrencies is addressed, most of the people is going to be unwilling to put up any. We have to discover a way to combat the volatility that's inherent in cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum is an unbelievable cryptocurrency platform, nevertheless, if growth is too fast, there may be some problems. If the platform is adopted immediately, Ethereum requests could increase dramatically, and at a rate that surpasses the rate with which the miners can create new coins. Under such a scenario, the entire stage of Ethereum could become destabilized because of the raising costs of running distributed applications. In turn, this could dampen interest Ethereum stage and ether. Uncertainty of demand for ether can lead to a negative change in the economic parameters of an Ethereum based business which could lead to business being unable to continue to operate or to discontinue operation.
The physical Internet backbone that carries information between the different nodes of the network is now the work of several firms called Internet service providers (ISPs), including firms that offer long-distance pipelines, sometimes at the international level, regional local conduit, which ultimately connects in households and businesses. The physical connection to the Internet can only happen through one of these ISPs, players like degree 3, Cogent, and IBM AT&T. Each ISP manages its own network. Internet service providers Exchange IXPs, owned or private businesses, and sometimes by Authorities, make for each of these networks to be interconnected or to transfer messages across the network. Many ISPs have agreements with suppliers of physical Internet backbone providers to offer Internet service over their networks for "last mile"-consumers and businesses who need to get Internet connectivity. Internet protocols, followed by everyone in the network makes it possible for the info to stream without interruption, in the right area at the perfect time.
While none of these organizations "owns" the Internet collectively these businesses determine how it operates, and recognized rules and standards that everyone remains. Contracts and legal framework that underlies all that is happening to ascertain how things work and what happens if something goes wrong. To get a domain name, for instance, one needs permission from a Registrar, which has a contract with ICANN. To connect to the Internet, your ISP must be physical contracts with providers of Internet backbone services, and suppliers have contracts with IXPs from the Internet backbone to attach to and with her. Concern over security problems? A working group is formed to focus on the problem and the alternative developed and deployed is in the interest of most parties. If the Internet is down, you might have someone to call to get it mended. If the issue is from your ISP, they in turn have contracts set up and service level agreements, which govern the manner in which these problems are worked out.
The advantage of cryptocurrency is that it uses blockchain technology. The network of nodes the make up the blockchain is not governed by any centralized business. No one can tell the miners to upgrade, speed up, slow down, stop or do anything. And that is something that as a dedicated advocate badge of honour, and is identical to the way the Internet functions. But as you understand now, public Internet governance, normalities and rules that govern how it works present inherent problems to the consumer. Blockchain technology has none of that.
For most users of cryptocurrencies it isn't essential to understand how the process works in and of itself, but it's essentially important to understand that there is a procedure for mining to create virtual currency. Unlike currencies as we understand them today where Authorities and banks can simply choose to print unlimited amounts (I 'm not saying they are doing so, only one point), cryptocurrencies to be managed by users using a mining program, which solves the complex algorithms to release blocks of currencies that can enter into circulation.
The Affluence Network Evergreen Content
Since one of the earliest forms of making money is in cash financing, it is a fact that you could do that with cryptocurrency. Most of the lending sites currently focus on Bitcoin, many of these sites you might be required fill in a captcha after a certain time period and are rewarded with a bit of coins for seeing them. It is possible to visit the www.cryptofunds.co site to find some lists of of these sites to tap into the money of your choice. Unlike forex, stocks and options, etc., altcoin markets have quite different dynamics. New ones are always popping up which means they do not have lots of market data and historical outlook for you to backtest against. Most altcoins have somewhat inferior liquidity as well and it is hard to think of a reasonable investment strategy.
Anyone can become a Bitcoin miner running applications with specialized hardware. Mining applications listen for transmission trades on the peer-to-peer network and perform the appropriate tasks to process and support these trades. Bitcoin miners do this because they are able to make transaction fees paid by users for faster transaction processing, and new bitcoins in existence are under denominated formulas. When searching for The Affluence Network evergreen content, there are many things to ponder.
The Affluence Network Evergreen Content
Click here to visit our home page and learn more about The Affluence Network evergreen content.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, LiteCoin, Ether, YOCoin, and many others have already been designed as a non-fiat currency. Quite simply, its backers assert that there's "real" worth, even through there is no physical representation of that worth. The worth grows due to computing power, that is, is the only way to create new coins distributed by allocating CPU electricity via computer programs called miners. Miners create a block after a time frame that is worth an ever declining amount of money or some kind of wages so that you can ensure the shortage. Each coin contains many smaller units. For Bitcoin, each component is called a satoshi. Operations that take place during mining are just to authenticate other trades, such that both creates and authenticates itself, a simple and elegant solution, which is one of the appealing aspects of the coin. The blockchain is where the public record of transactions resides. Most all cryptocurrencies function as Bitcoin does.
The fact that there's little evidence of any increase in the utilization of virtual money as a currency may be the reason there are minimal attempts to regulate it. The reason behind this could be just that the market is too small for cryptocurrencies to justify any regulatory attempt. It truly is also possible that the regulators just don't understand the technology and its implications, expecting any developments to act.
Mining cryptocurrencies is how new coins are put into circulation. Because there is no government control and crypto coins are digital, they cannot be printed or minted to create more. The mining process is what produces more of the coin. It may be useful to think about the mining as joining a lottery group, the pros and cons are the same. Mining crypto coins means you'll get to keep the total rewards of your efforts, but this reduces your chances of being successful. Instead, joining a pool means that, overall, members will have a much higher potential for solving a block, but the reward will be split between all members of the pool, predicated on the number of "shares" won.
If you're thinking of going it alone, it's worth noting that the applications configuration for solo mining can be more complex than with a pool, and beginners would be likely better take the latter course. This alternative also creates a secure stream of revenue, even if each payment is small compared to fully block the reward.
In the event of the fully-functioning cryptocurrency, it could possibly be traded like a product. Advocates of cryptocurrencies proclaim that form of digital cash isn't manipulated by a main bank system and it is not thus susceptible to the vagaries of its inflation. Because there are always a minimal amount of goods, this moneyis benefit is dependant on market forces, allowing entrepreneurs to business over cryptocurrency exchanges.
Here is the coolest thing about cryptocurrencies; they do not physically exist everywhere, not even on a hard drive. When you examine a unique address for a wallet featuring a cryptocurrency, there's no digital information held in it, like in precisely the same manner that a bank could hold dollars in a bank account. It is only a representation of value, but there is absolutely no real tangible sort of that value. Cryptocurrency wallets may not be confiscated or frozen or audited by the banks and the law. They do not have spending limits and withdrawal limitations imposed on them. No one but the owner of the crypto wallet can decide how their wealth will be managed.
If you are looking for The Affluence Network evergreen content, look no further than TAN.
The Affluence Network Evergreen Content
Entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency movement may be wise to research possibilities for making massive ammonts of money with various forms of internet marketing.There could be a rich reward for anyone daring enough to brave the cryptocurrency marketplaces.Bitcoin design provides an informative example of how one might make lots of money in the cryptocurrency marketplaces. Bitcoin is an amazing intellectual and technical accomplishment, and it has created an avalanche of editorial coverage and venture capital investment opportunities. But not many people understand that and lose out on quite lucrative business models made accessible as a result of growing use of blockchain technology.
It should be difficult to get more modest increases (~ 10%) throughout the day. Study how to read these Candlestick charts! And I found these two rules to be true: having little increases is more profitable than trying to fight up to the summit. Most day traders follow Candlestick, so it's better to look at publications than wait for order confirmation when you think the price is going down. Second, there is more volatility and reward in currencies that haven't made it to the profitability of websites like Coinwarz.
You are able to run a search on the web. First learn, then models, indicators and most importantly practice looking at old charts and pick out trends. Anytime you commence to keep a trading diary screenshots and your comment/forecast. Precisely what is the best way to get confident with charts IMHO. Oh certainly, and don't fool yourself into thinking that you acquire the uptrend will never decrease! Always will go down! You will discover that incremental benefits are more reliable and profitable (most times)
The formation of websites has altered many lives, but there's always a concern in regards to the security of websites. There are other people with ill intentions who'll see what you're doing online. They can track your trends with time. Some of the things they are able to check online include seeing your on-line photos, what you post online and even track your financial transitions over time with an intent of stealing from you. Even if there are many options which have been implemented, there's always risk due to third parties. For instance, when buying online using a credit card, you may be giving away a lot of your private information to the third party. There are also trade fees which make online payment expensive.


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Frozen Forest School
February 1, 2015 Leave a comment Go to comments
Kitwell children won't let a little ice and snow get in the way of their learning. Here are some of our Year 3 children enjoying Forest School activities on our frozen grounds!
Click HERE to view our Frozen Forest School photo gallery!
Categories: Kitwell forest school, frozen, frozen grounds, Kitwell Primary School


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Hypertension during pregnancy may impact CV health for life
Women with pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension during their first pregnancy had an increased risk of developing chronic hypertension, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and hypercholesterolaemia than those who were normotensive during pregnancy, according to a study. The risk persisted for several decades later, signalling these hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) as red flags for cardiovascular (CV) health for life.
"Although the 2011 American Heart Association guidelines recommend that clinicians evaluate CVD risk by screening for a history of HDP, few data exist on which risk factors should be screened for as well as the frequency and timing of screening," stated the researchers. [Circulation 2011;123:1243-1262]
The observational cohort study followed 58,671 parous participants (mean age 26.8 years) in the Nurses' Health Study II without CVD or CVD risk factors of interest at baseline for self-reported physician-diagnosed chronic hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, and T2D. Of these, 9.2 percent experienced 9.2 percent experienced HDP during the first pregnancy, 2.9 percent had gestational hypertension, and 6.3 percent had pre-eclampsia. [Ann Intern Med 2018;doi:10.7326/M17-2740]
Compared with normotensive women, those with gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia during the first pregnancy were more than twice as likely to develop chronic hypertension during a mean follow-up of 25–32 years (hazard ratio [HR], 2.79, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.6–3.0 and 2.21, 95 percent CI, 2.1–2.3 for gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia, respectively).
These women also had a more than 60 percent higher risk of developing T2D (HRs, 1.65 and 1.75 for women with gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia, respectively) and a more than 30 percent greater chance of developing hypercholesterolaemia (HRs, 1.36 and 1.31, respectively) than women who were normotensive during pregnancy.
Although the risk of developing the CVD risk factors remained elevated throughout the follow-up period, the relative risk was strongest in the first 5 years after the first delivery, particularly for chronic hypertension.
Furthermore, women with HDP developed the CVD risk factors at a younger age than those who were normotensive during pregnancy (p<0.001).
"This finding is both novel and important because it suggests that women with a history of HDP could benefit from CV risk assessment at an earlier age than those without HDPs," wrote Dr Abigail Fraser of University of Bristol, UK, in an editorial. [Ann Intern Med 2018;doi:10.7326/M18-1443]
Also, recurrent HDP was associated with the highest rates of developing the CVD risk factors mentioned above, with women who had HDP in ≥2 initial pregnancies showing the highest risk for chronic hypertension (HR, 1.3, 95 percent CI, 1.2–1.5) and hypercholesterolaemia (HR, 3.5, 95 percent CI, 3.2–3.9) compared with women without HDP in ≥2 pregnancies.
Unlike previous studies with incomplete adjustment for potential prepregnancy confounders, the current study showed that rates of developing the CVD risk factors remained elevated with presence of HDP after adjusting for multiple potential confounders including age, ethnicity, physical activity, family history of hypertension or T2D, parental education, as well as prepregnancy and post-pregnancy behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and oral contraceptive use.
"It is not yet clear whether HDP unmasks pre-existing CV risk through the 'stress test' of pregnancy or whether it induces endothelial or organ damage that alters a woman's trajectory toward development of CVD risk factors," said the researchers.
"The nature of the relationship between pregnancy complications, such as HDP, and CVD has practical implications. If HDP increase CVD risk independently of prepregnancy CV health (for example, by causing end-organ damage), prevention of such complications has the potential to reduce the burden of CVD in women. If, on the other hand, prepregnancy CV health is key, prevention efforts should be aimed at young women before conception," explained Fraser.


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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
My friend is having a baby boy in a month and for part of her gift I decided to make her some birth announcements. I created 3 different designs. Here is the first. It is a trifold card. The 2nd pic is the inside. I used retired stamp set for the foot print and words. Nursery Necessities is the sailboat and "it's a boy". Used Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip ink and paper as well as Vanilla Paper. Photo corner punch and 1 3/4 circle, 1 1/4 inch and 1 inch circles. I also used the slit punch on the top of the inside as notches to hold the baby photo.
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Programmatic ad buying typically refers to the use of software to purchase digital advertising. The scenario of programmatic advertising seems very complicated. According to Birger Bardowicks and Oliver Busch, programmatic advertising describes the automated serving of digital ads in real time based on individual ad impression opportunities.
Programmatic advertising is built on a digital platform or exchange where automated buying and selling of ad inventories across mobile, desktop, search, display and video allow the demand side (advertisers) and supply side (publishers) to transact in real-time. Put simply, it's a style of advertising that cuts out the middle man. So instead of liaising and negotiating with people, it's all done via machines – or a demand-side platform (DSP) to be precise. It sounds very technical, but a DSP allows you to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts with one platform. Programmatic Advertising is the new digital form of globalization.
With programmatic advertising, digital ad buying is faster, more efficient, and less expensive. Also, advertisers now have more granularity into their advertising campaigns by paying for impressions individually and using a dashboard to strategically manage and target their ad campaigns automated method of buying digital advertising. Whereas with traditional advertising, digital advertising used to be bought and sold manually. Ad networks bought ad impressions ahead of time from a lot of different sites and apps and repackaged them to be sold to advertisers with no transparency. This process involved salespeople, RFPs, and a whole bunch of human error. This process was inefficient and unreliable.
The benefits of programmatic advertising are increasingly relevant in today's content-saturated digital world. Marketers need their ads to be targeted, personalized and engaging whenever and however they're reaching out to consumers; and although a great deal of this targeting takes place via the online tools we have at our fingertips, programmatic advertising takes it to another level.
Benefits of Programmatic Advertising are as follows:
- Programmatic Advertising is Simple, Efficient, Quick, Optimized and Personalized.
- Programmatic Advertising Offers Real-Time Data and Insights.
- Programmatic Advertising Optimizes Ad Budget.
RSquare Media is the 2017 Minority Business of the Year – a highly sought-after peer-reviewed honor received in the company of ConEdison & MTA at a Gala ceremony in New York City. This alone speaks of the Industry recognition of our commitment to adding value to clients, delivering innovative solutions – while adhering to the highest standards of Integrity and professionalism. RSquare Media is also a Certified MWBE with the City of New York.
RSquare Media helps clients Be Seen or Not Be Seen online, and,
Delivers Results @Speed of Thought
If you or someone in your organization has
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Two Lehigh Valley projects were among 10 in the State of Pennsylvania that contributed to the state winning a Silver Shovel Award for Economic Development.
The Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s $96 million distribution center in Bethlehem and a $60 million expansion at East Penn Manufacturing in Lyon Station, Berks County were submitted by the state Department of Economic Development as projects of the year to obtain the award.
The 2013 Gold and Silver Shovel Awards are handed out by Area Development magazine for excellence in U.S. state economic development.
The awards are open to all 50 states to submit information about its top 10 job creation and investment projects. Rankings are based on weighted factors, including combined number of new jobs created, amount of company investments, total number of new projects and diversity of investments. Only those projects that began to materialize in 2013 were considered.
Pennsylvania was one of four states to receive the award in the eight to 15 million population tier.
"The Silver Shovel Award is well-earned recognition of the jobs these 10 outstanding companies have created and the growth they've sparked for Pennsylvania's economy," said Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett.


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64 words for Aung San Suu Kyi
By Jonathan Bartley
May 27, 2009
A coalition of campaign groups has launched a major new campaign to put pressure on the Burmese Junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi before the Burmese elections.
The campaign is launching today because it's the day she was supposed to be released from house arrest. The campaign aims to demonstrate the scale of outrage over her continued detention by encouraging people around the world to write a 64 word (or character if Twittering; image; song etc) message that will be delivered on ASSK's 64th birthday on the 19th June. All of these will be linked to and stored here: www.64forSuu.org
You can also send your own 64 word message to firstname.lastname@example.com
Keywords:Aung San Suu Kyi
Although the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia, the article may reflect Ekklesia's values. If you use Ekklesia's news briefings please consider making a donation to sponsor Ekklesia's work here.


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When Life Loses All Meaning: Coping with a Pointless Life
by Amara
Often, sudden spiritual awakening can be followed by a profound lack of motivation and the feeling that life is meaningless. How do we navigate this?
I've been having an interesting exchange with a reader of MA who has expressed something I've heard many times from different people who have experienced sudden enlightenment. When the belief in the personality-self dissolves and we uncover the inherent emptiness within all things, this can cause serious disorientation, a kind of vertigo. Suddenly, nothing in life seems to have a meaning. You might start to wonder what the point is to this, to life. Without the meanings you ascribed to the various aspects of life—work, relationships, goals and aspirations, even spiritual seeking—you may find you no longer feel motivated to do much of anything. When you are used to being a seeker, you get really good at embodying that perspective. But once you are a finder, the whole universe shifts, and instead of using the skills and acquisitive reflex you employed as a seeker, you have to use a whole new approach and skill set, which is all about integration, expansion and stability. It's different, and for a while, you may really suck at it. Not to worry!
I've experienced a profound lack of motivation, and it still seems to arise and subside. Sometimes it's gone for years and then suddenly it's back. I have to admit that I've never wondered why it comes and goes. Months have passed and I hardly seem to notice. I have no goals, not even modest ones. I have few responsibilities. This is partly because for ten years I've just not taken on new ones. When I was first awakened, I had lots and lots of responsibilities, and dealt with those until they were resolved and I engaged in no new or further commitments.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting here covered in a layer of moss or something. It's not as though I don't clean the house or brush my teeth anymore…but I don't apparently "accomplish" anything for long stretches of time. It's weird, but not unpleasant. And then something changes and my focus is called into some external in-the-world adventure or endeavor.
This lack of motivation and the disorientation can lead one to real, physical depression. It doesn't have to, and doesn't for all people, but many have wandered into this bleak territory. It is one thing to know that there is no point, but it's entirely a different experience when a thousand pounds of pointlessness pins you down and sits on your chest. Frankly, it sucks.
I really don't know how a person can know if they are depressed or not. I don't really know what depression is. We use this word so much, and people seem to use it to describe a variety of unpleasant mind states. My feeling is that some people can get lost in the pointlessness and then they will get depressed. Others feel the pointlessness, but keep moving through it.
All I can offer is my own experience. Let's say I'm being crushed by Pointlessness. I stay curious about it, feel it, feel the dead center of it, the edges of it, all of it. I investigate it. It's not physical pain, it's not like having your arm cut off or stomach cramps or even being homeless and having to sleep rough in some cold place. Pointlessness is purely a mental construct. Your mind is suffering from it. Your mind is feeling disoriented from it. Here are some things I do:
First, I don't try to get rid of it. It is what it is.
I ask: So What? This seems so simple, but often I find that I can't really come up with a reason why it's even important. What if life is pointless? So what? You see the pointlessness, and there it is. The sun comes up, I water my garden, my cat needs to be fed. Even if all these things are pointless, does that change anything?
What if there is a point or purpose, but you just can't grasp what it is at this time?
What if you are sensing that the machinations of human society are pointless (graduate, get a job, get married, have kids, 401k, dinner parties, networking, blah blah)…which they are. But does that mean that all life is pointless?
And…what if life is pointless? Does that mean it has no value? Do things only have a value if they have a point or purpose?
Just feel around and see who is feeling the horrible weight of this pointlessness and meaninglessness. Is it on a soul level? And maybe that is not a good term to use, because what is a soul after all? But I think you know what I mean. Is it the mind feeling painfully disoriented or is it from your core being?
When you realize viscerally in every moment that every meaning you've ever ascribed to your life and all its contents has evaporated or been seen to be false or empty, that can be extremely disorienting. In that disorientation, you can then hyper focus on the feeling of pointlessness or grasp onto it and then, oddly, give the pointlessness a meaning or value, even if it is negative. You feel that life has no meaning, and now you've ascribed a meaning (negative) to the lack of meaning!
Weird but true: life goes on without a purpose perceived by you.
So obviously the whole of life does not hinge on whether you can divine a purpose or meaning in it. We believe that meaning and purpose are important or even crucial, but if you look around, Life doesn't seem to share that opinion. Meaning and purpose do not appear to be the foundation upon which Life is built, so maybe it's just the mind that believes them to be so crucial.
Awakening can be pretty freaky at times, but I promise you that the end of it is not supposed to be you staring out the window for hours on end, unable to rouse yourself to engage with this world in some way. It can feel like being lobotomized at times, but it is not that. Can you imagine a life in which you get through the disorientation and arise to meet the world as it comes to you, fully…even though it is pointless? Can you imagine expressing your ever-evolving true nature moment by moment, not merely acting out the tired empty pantomime of the persona? Can you imagine doing whatever it is you will be doing and feeling whatever you will be feeling, being fully alive and awake…even though there is no point?
I got up before dawn this morning and fed the birds and chipmunks, I fed my cat, I made some tea. I split some firewood, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I did a bunch of admin stuff that needed doing, I cleaned the house and paid some bills and fed the cat again. Even though it is pointless. So what? Even though I can't find a point or purpose to any of it, I am still fully engaged in doing all these things. You can hear my voice speaking through these written words, alive, real and present. That's because, even though I can find no point, I'm no longer looking for a point. If I'm not in thrall to the purpose or non purpose, I can just be and do and express and experience freely. Got Purpose? No? So what?
It's an awkward phase. But as with any phase, you can get stuck in it and retard your understanding, your mastery.
I know the mind is always after answers, but I also know that this morning, before the sun was up, I saw the moon and morning stars and they were amazing. Looking at them, I became them for a moment. I was amazed. And I could feel that full, even though my mind is pretty much empty of answers. Certainly empty of purpose or meaning. You can get there too. Keep moving through this phase and don't let yourself get too fascinated with the problem of not being able to find meaning or purpose.
And if you are getting depressed, however you measure that, then all the normal remedies still apply: eat for mental health, keep regular sleep hours, get enough vitamin D and Bs, get out in nature, take a break from your phone/computer/tv, be physical and get your heart rate up every day, don't take mind altering drugs like alcohol or excessive sugar, do something that inspires you to feel good or joyful that does not need a purpose, like watching a sunset or going to the beach or playing with your dog…there are so many things that are just awesome whether you ascribe a meaning to them or not. I've been in a similar place to where you are now and it is not easy. I know. But it's just a phase, so long as you don't get trapped in it. The mind loves thought loops.
I use the word disorientation a lot.
The word seems mild and benign, and perhaps it is the understatement of all time to apply it to the experiences we are talking about. Oh, your entire universe is turned inside out? Don't worry, you're just disoriented! But disorientation is serious and feels horrendous and overwhelming. A signal goes off that says, "PANIC!" Alarms ring. I also speak of navigation, and how we need to navigate this awakening.
Pilots and sailors will tell you how important it is to stay correctly oriented. The ability to know where you are in relation to the horizon or sun or constellations is a matter of life or death. Having certain anchors, like the aforementioned horizon, are not mere trifles. It's life or death. So when you find your anchors in life are gone or you no longer understand your relation to them, you can see how you will be totally unable to navigate by the usual means. A good part of the whole post-awakening life is finding new ways to understand an unfamiliar or vastly changed terrain and learn once again to navigate.
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Degrees and Certifications:
Ms. Jennifer Halliwell
I am currently in my twelfth year teaching science at Tenafly. I teach Biology, both CPA and CPB levels. Prior to Tenafly, I taught science at a private school for three years. I received my Bachelor's of Science in Biology, Master's of Arts in Education, and teaching certificate in Biological Sciences from Seton Hall University.
Outside of the classroom, I am the Business Manager for Tenafly Publications, and the advisor for the Junior States of America.
The best way to reach me is via email, at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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When I did the explanatory post on single-sex exemptions I briefly mentioned the issue of non-binary people and said that it deserved a post all of its own. Here is that post.
I should start off by reminding everyone that there are more than two genders. Most cultures throughout history have recognised this, and many governments around the world today recognise non-binary people in some way. The list includes, but is not limited to: Australia, New Zealand, parts of the USA and Canada, Germany, India and Pakistan.
Also there are more than two sexes. Biological sex is a social construct which, in theory, is based on a collection of physical characteristics (some of which are fairly recently discovered). While most cisgender people exhibit the full collection of characteristics associated with their gender, many do not. Nor do a large proportion trans people. In practice, biological sex is assigned to babies on the basis of their external genitalia; and assumed in adults on the basis of gender presentation and secondary sex characteristics. Neither of these methods is very scientific.
So non-binary people definitely exist, both socially and medically. But in the UK they do not exist legally. This is a problem, both for them, and for the rest of society. We need to fix this, and we can't do that by pretending that they don't exist.
The argument for providing spaces that cater to non-binary people should be obvious. Just like men and women, they need spaces of their own. In some cases that can be solved by having all-gender facilities, and we do that quite happily with toilets in our homes, and on trains and aircraft. In other cases, non-binary people might want, or need, separate treatment.
There is a particular problem with spaces like rape crisis centres and domestic violence shelters, because currently almost all of the burden for supporting non-binary people is being placed on women's services. Those non-binary people who have more feminine physiology are sent to women's shelters because they are seen as women, and non-binary people who have more masculine physiology, but more feminine presentation, also get sent to women's services because it is assumed they won't be safe in men's services.
Obviously this is a very new thing for such services, and they will need to work out procedures for risk assessment and safeguarding, but at the moment non-binary people are being failed by the social services.
Provision of spaces for non-binary people can also be of assistance to binary-identified trans people early in their transition. Because it can take several years for hormones to work their magic, and to work your way through waiting lists for surgery, almost all binary-identified trans people go through a period of worrying about being accepted. Whether we like it or not, most people make judgements based on appearance. Going into single-sex space when you feel that you don't look right can be a very scary thing. The advantage of non-binary spaces is that there is no stereotypical appearance for being non-binary. So people in the early years of transition may feel safer using non-binary spaces.
Non-binary spaces may also be of help to people who are gender-non-confirming. For example, if you are a butch lesbian you may present in a very masculine style. The current panic over trans women in toilets is causing significant problems for masculine-presenting women. While I think it is outrageous that people who have lived as women all their lives are being thrown out of women's toilets because of a misguided moral panic, it may be that such people will find it safer to use non-binary spaces.
Finally I want to note that legal recognition for a non-binary gender may have potential benefits for intersex babies with ambiguous genitalia. The fashion for "corrective" surgery on such children is rooted in the erroneous belief that there are only two genders, and only two sexes, and that anyone who does not conform to that model is a deviant who much be "fixed". Creating a society in which non-binary gender is recognised should lead us away from such harmful ideas.
Please note that I am not advocating that all gendered spaces become non-binary. While we still have patriarchy, women will always need space spaces to go. Women's toilets in pubs and clubs, for example, are not just used as toilets. They are a safe space where women can go if they feel unsafe. Non-binary people will doubtless need their own such safe spaces.
Looking at the responses to the Scottish Gender Recognition Act Reform Consultation it is clear that almost all of the anti-trans lobby is also anti-non-binary. I'd expect this from the religious right, but it is very disappointing to see the same conservatism from self-identified feminist groups. Which just goes to show that such groups are not really interested in protecting women. What they are interested in is forcing everyone to conform to the gender they were assigned at birth.
So when you fill in your GRA response, which I hope you will all be doing, please encourage the government to start along the path of non-binary recognition. They are reluctant to do this, because sex/gender is deeply ingrained throughout our legal code. But, as other countries have shown, we do not have to change every law at once. We can make a start, and every little helps.


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Anyone can be financially vulnerable to floods. Did you know that homeowners outside of high-risk areas file over 20% of National Flood Insurance Program claims and receive one-third of disaster assistance for flooding?
Although there isn't a failsafe way to predict or guarantee water flood damage won't affect your property, there are precautionary measures you can take to minimize damage and regain control.
Top 3 Best Practices to Prevent Property Water Flood Damage:
Install a French Drain
Installing French drains around your foundation will divert the water away from your home. No matter what other strategies you use, without waterproofing your foundation, your efforts will be ineffective. Water can get trapped against your foundation walls and seep through. Outdated or inefficient drainage systems are the most common source of water flood damage.
Install a Sump Pump
A sump pump is a small pump located in the lowest part of a basement or crawlspace. It is installed in a 'sump pit'. Water flows into the sump pit through drains and/or natural water migration. The sump pump's job is to pump the water out of the pit and away from the home so the basement or crawlspace stays dry. A sump pump is one of the best precautionary measures you can take to prevent a house flood.
Property Grading
Water flood damage happens when excess water begins to pool in areas it naturally shouldn't. The function of lot grading is to direct rain water away from your house: Create a slope away from the outside foundation of your home. Add dirt next to the outside basement wall so that it slopes down two inches for every foot. Create a gentle slope away from your home's foundation. This will prevent water from pooling.
As little as one inch of ground water from a flash flood or heavy rain can cause costly damages to your home. If you see a severe weather warning on the national forecast, consider this:
When it comes to hurricanes, wind speeds do not tell the whole story. Hurricanes produce storm surges, tornadoes, and often the most deadly of all - inland flooding.
- Ed Rappaport, National Hurricane Center
More Info? Find out
How Hurricane Season Can Affect You.
Check out the AdvantaClean Blog for Healthy Home Business Tips.


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Weekly Tips for October 24, 2011
How are you doing in that battle of you vs. Halloween candy? Ironically, it hasn't been that much of a challenge lately for the RockIt Family. We have been busy with family, birthdays and visitors. Energy levels lately seem to be really low, too. Is it the cooler weather? The early sunsets? Crashing sugar levels? Crazy schedules? Here is our new thought for you to repeat when you have low energy:


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BOOST↑UP™ Universal Car Charger with Lightning Cable
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BOOST↑UP™ Universal Car Charger with Lightning Cable
Never suffer from the dreaded low battery again. With the fastest charging capabilities on the market, Belkin BOOST↑UP™ mobile chargers for your car and home are designed for your active, on-the-go lifestyle. The sleek, compact design is easy on the eyes, and you can plug it in virtually anywhere, so a battery boost is always in reach.
- Fastest charging in market
- Sleek, compact design
- Passenger friendly
- Belkin Safety Assurance
Charge your mobile devices faster than ever. 40% faster then 5 watt charging, to be exact.
The Belkin BOOST↑UP™ Car Charger is fast, but it's also small. Plug it into your dash and it seamlessly blends in with your car's interior. And at just .56 ounces, it weighs less than a few quarters in your pocket.
Use the ultra-fast Belkin BOOST↑UP™ Car Charger with your own cable to charge and sync your phone or tablet. It's the best charger for when you or your passengers have a different device that needs a charge.
At A Glance:
- Car Charger with USB 2.0 port
- 17 Watt/3.4 Amp
- Charges 40% faster than 5 Watt charging
- Use any USB cable with charger
- Car Charger with USB 2.0 port
- 17 Watt/3.4 Amp
- Charges 40% faster than 5 Watt charging
- Use any USB cable with charger
- iPad Pro (12.9") 2nd Gen
- iPad Pro (10.5")
- iPad Pro (9.7")
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Air
- iPad (2017)
- iPad 4th gen
- iPad mini 4
- iPad mini 3
- iPad mini 2
- iPad mini
- iPod touch 5th gen
- iPod nano 7th gen
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6
- iPhone SE 1st Gen
- iPhone 5/5s