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Do horses grin when they’re pleased, or scowl when they’re angry? Researchers at the University of Sussex have proven that horses use an entire system of facial movements that are analogous to human expressions.
The study calls this system the Equine FACS (Facial Action Coding System), consisting of 17 action units, or discrete muscle movements. Each unique facial movement is used in a different social situation, and many of them appear similar to human action units, despite our vastly different facial musculature.
The finding reflects the complicated social organizations within groups of horses. Like humans and other primates, horses maintain complex relationships via communication. Since they are extremely visual animals, they rely on small but significant changes in facial expression to match a certain social or emotional context.
For example, horses widen their eyes to show more white when they are afraid, just as we do. Another comparable facial action is the Inner Brow Raiser, where horses raise the skin above the inner corners of their eyes in negative situations—notice what happens to your eyebrows when you pout.
Check out some of these facial actions in more detail:
Given the long history of domestication between humans and horses, the dearth of research on their communication methods is a bit surprising. In addition to horses, the original FAC system for humans has been adapted for dogs, cats, and chimps. Humans have 27 discrete facial movements, while dogs have 16, cats have 21, and chimps have 13 . These coding systems are invaluable for training and veterinary use, and they also can improve relations between people and the animals in their lives.
Researchers have yet to test whether horses can understand human expressions, but our canine pals seem to be attuned to our facial emotions.
A study earlier this year trained dogs to touch photos of either a happy human face or an angry one to receive a treat. When presented with new photos, the dogs successfully recognized the same types of expressions, even when they could only see part of the face. It’s possible that the ability to understand our expressions was a favored trait over thousands of years of breeding and domestication.
The overlap between the systems used by different animals, and the synergy between dogs and humans in particular, suggests that, long ago in our evolutionary history, facial expressions were adaptive in some way. These studies add to the evidence that social factors and the need for communication played a key role in the evolution of facial expressions, for all of the species that use them. |
PATIENT’S MEDICAL HISTORYPATIENT’S NAME __________________________________________________ DATE OF BIRTH _______________________ALTHOUGH DENTAL PERSONNEL PRIMARILY TREAT THE AREA IN AND AROUND YOUR MOUTH, YOUR MOUTH IS A PART OF YOUR ENTIRE BODY. HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT YOU MAY HAVE, OR MEDICATION THAT YOU MAY BE TAKING, COULD HAVE AN IMPORTANT INTERRELATIONSHIP WITH THE DENTISTRY THAT YOU WILL
Microsoft word - rci inactivation of hep a.docInactivation of Picornaviruses using EcoQuest Radiant Catalytic
The viral family Picornaviridae, which includes Hepatitis A virus, is characterized as including
viruses which are non-enveloped with single stranded positive sensed RNA genomes known to be
very resistant to physical and chemical means of inactivation (1). Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is
known to spread predominantly through contaminated drinking water and food sources. During
an outbreak, HAV can contaminate and remain infectious on various environmental surfaces.
Standard disinfection processes are usually not effective for inactivating this virus due to the high
resistance. Stringent disinfection and sanitation procedures of an affected environment in
combination with stringent employee hygiene procedures are recommended for preventing HAV
outbreaks in the food industry.
The purpose of this study was to validate the complete inactivation of HAV using a closely
related enterovirus as a surrogate virus following exposure to the EcoQuest Radiant Catalytic
Ionization Cell™ (RCI-Cell™) system. The RCI-Cell™ system is an advanced oxidation tool
which combines UV inactivation in the presence of hydroxical radicals so that synergy between
two highly effective inactivation technologies occurs. Efficacy of this technology was determined
by inoculating stainless steel coupons with virus and allowing inoculum to dry. Control samples
were taken at this time and then coupons were exposed to the RCI-Cell™ for various times. Non-
treated control samples were also evaluated to compare the reduction in infectious virus titer in a
24 hour period in controlled environments. Efficacy was determined by measuring any reduction
in infectious titer using end-point titration in tissue culture for treated and coupons compared to
non-treated positive control coupons.
Materials and Methods
Virus and cells. BEV-2 (ATCC VR-754, Manassas, VA) was propagated in Madin
Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK, ATCC CCL-22) cells. MDBK cells were propagated in minimum essential medium (Eagle) with 2 mM L-glutamine and Earle's BSS adjusted to contain 1.5 g/L sodium bicarbonate, 0.1 mM non-essential amino acids, and 1.0 mM sodium pyruvate with 7% fetal bovine serum supplemented with 2.5 mg/L amphotericin B, 0.67 g/L streptomycin, and 0.3 g/L penicillin. MDBK cells were infected with BEV-2 without the addition of 10% FBS. Inoculum titer was assessed using tissue culture infective dose 50, TCID50 and calculated by the Virus inactivation. Type 302 stainless steel (McMasterCarr, Altanta, GA) coupons (2 x
10 cm2, thickness 0.8 mm) were sterilized by autoclaving for 15 min at 121o C. In a biosafety class II cabinet, 100 μl of BEV-2 was added to each test coupon and spread to cover the entire surface using the pipette tip and allowed to dry completely for approximately 20 minutes. Then, the inoculated coupons were placed into a sterile transport container and transported to the test chamber. The test coupons were then placed within the test chamber and exposed to the RCI-Cell™ system for a 24 hour period. As non-treatment controls, test coupons were also prepared as described above and added to a test chamber which would not be exposed to the RCI-Cell™ system for a 24 hour period. One inoculated coupon was removed initially for both the RCI-Cell™ chamber and the non-treated control chamber to be used as an initial measure of starting virus titer. The RCI-Cell™ device was then turned on and samples were removed from both testing chambers after 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours by removing a test coupon and preparing it for virus recovery as described below. Virus Recovery. BEV-2 was recovered from the stainless steel surfaces by adding the
test coupon to a sterile 50 ml conical vial containing 5 ml of infectivity media. Tubes were then vortexed for 1 minute to release virus from the inoculuated coupon. Samples were titrated by infecting confluent MDBK wells in a 96-well format using TCID50 endpoint titration. Plates were incubated at 37o C, 5% CO2 for 48 hours. Cytopathic effect (CPE) typical for BEV-2 was determined for each well and viral titers were reported as TCID50/ml.
The average amount of BEV-2 virus recovered from the control stainless steel coupons in all
experiments was 6.00 log10 TCID50/ml. Following treatment with the RHI-Cell™, the average log
reductions of infectious BEV-2 virus were 3.87 and 4.87 log10 TCID50/ml following 2 and 4 hour treatments (Figure 1). No infectious BEV-2 was recovered following the 8, 12, or 24 hour exposure to the RCI-Cell™ system. Infectious BEV-2 was recovered from all coupons sampled following 2, 4, 8, 12, or 24 hour periods in the chamber not receiving the RCI-Cell™ treatment (Figure 1) Figure 1: Infectious BEV recovered and reported as TCID50/ml in MDBK cells following treatment to
RCI-Cell™ (yellow bars) or no treatment to RCI-Cell™ (blue bars) following 2, 4, 8, 12, or 24 hour
Hollinger, F. B., and S. U. Emerson. 2003. Hepatitis A Virus, p. 799-840. In D.
M. Knipe and P. M. Howley (ed.), Fields Virology, Fourth ed, vol. 1. Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia.
Reed, L. J., and H. Muench. 1932. A simple method for estimating 50%
endpoints. Am J Hyg 27:493-497.
HEALTH SERVICES POLICY & PROCEDURE MANUAL North Carolina Department Of Correction POLICY # CD-5 Page 1 of 9 EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2007 SUPERCEDES DATE: None To assure that DOP inmates with Pulmonary Diseases are receiving high quality Primary Care for their condition. All DOP Primary Care Providers and Chronic Disease Nurses are to follow these guidelines when treating inmates |
I’ll explain exactly what is in each video in a second, but, first I want to give you a chance to watch Cat’s introduction video. In it she explains how the gentle yoga course is organized and what you can expect. It’s also a great chance to get a feeling for Cat’s personality (I promise that you will fall in love with her like I did!), so please enjoy!
This is Jade's most popular mat for good reason. It’s a mat that strikes a balance between many great qualities at a very reasonable price. It functions as a home or travel mat if you are willing to sacrifice some padding at home and commit to a little more weight on the road. It features good durability and padding, has excellent grip in wet and dry conditions, is made without PVC or other toxic chemicals and is produced by a company with a strong tradition of responsible industry practices. To read more, visit Jade’s page 'What We Care About'.
I see some complain about the price...I buy a lot of yoga pants, and you can go spend $30 on a pair or less, but you will be able to see that the quality is incomparable to BY's leggings. I had a pair from Old Navy, before I discovered these. Let's say I will never wear those again. Beyond Yoga is 1 of my favorite brands, and they are worth every penny. I always get a ton of compliments every time I wear them to my Barre classes, or the grocery store. You won't be disappointed!" (via Amazon.com)
It’s best to clean your yoga mat at least once a week to prevent staining and buildup. Use water and gentle cleansers like lemon juice or dish soap, but avoid abrasive sponges. Wipe down excess moisture and let your mat dry away from direct sunlight or high temperatures, which can accelerate the breakdown of natural materials like rubber. When in doubt, check your mat manufacturer’s care guidelines.
Answer: Within about 5 minutes of purchasing the videos, you will receive an email that has your login details to our secure customer website. Once you login, you will have access to all of the videos. You can watch the online videos streaming on any device with a browser and Internet connection. If you choose the DVD option, you will receive your 2-DVD set within 5-10 working days of your purchase. Please note that online access is always included and DVDs are an optional add-on.
It is not easy to recreate the feel that a rubber mat provides, and the Aurorae Synergy isn’t as supportive or stable as its rubber competitors. The mat can move around under your hands and feet if you put it microfiber-side-down, and you’ll slide if you use it microfiber-side-up in dry conditions. It’s also a challenge keeping it clean, since it absorbs so much sweat, but this might be worth it for hot yogis who are tired of slipping during sweaty practices.
About the channel: Tara Stiles has been making YouTube yoga videos since 2007. Stiles is also the founder of Strala Yoga in NYC. Most of her videos are of just her, though she also includes some live classes at Strala (meaning there are students in them). Stiles and Strala have been featured in tons of national magazines and newspapers; she is generally a badass in the yoga world.
The name of the video really says it all. Texas-based yogi Adriene Mishler directs you through a series of poses that works the lower body and gets you one step closer to the elusive "yoga booty," all while clearly having a blast. She serves up the sequence with a side of goofiness—you’ll feel like you’re taking class with one of your funnier friends. And laughing totally counts as a workout, right? (via Yoga with Adriene)
No yoga practice is complete without a good yoga mat. Just like the different types of practices, popular yoga mats come in a range of choices. From extra thick to thin, open cell to closed cell, regular grip or sticky grip, long and wide lengths, the best yoga mats come in a variety of types to suit each individual's needs. Choose the best yoga mat for you by choosing a brightly colored mat or a mat with printed designs, or one with extra cushion to pad your knees and joints. You can also buy low price yoga mats for wholesale if you're setting up a studio.
Experts say: "When you watch Tim's videos, his laid-back 'California' vibe truly shines through. People love him because his yoga videos are geared for both beginner and intermediate practitioners, and he'll also throw an advance yoga posture into the mix, which makes his videos more dynamic than other typical online classes. He always gives very specific instructions, too. When you watch Tim, you feel like you are getting more than just an online yoga class — you feel like you are getting to know the 'real Tim.'" — Serena Tom, Yoga Teacher, Equinox
Celebrity yoga instructor Hilaria Baldwin is all about using yoga to combine fitness with mind-body balance. This flow draws upon her five major principles: perspective, breathing, grounding, balance, and letting go. The quick sequence features moves that are guaranteed to help you feel balanced and centered, perfect for incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine.
adidasadidas OriginalsALALAAloAMOENABeach RiotBeyond YogaBravado DesignsClimawearCURVY COUTUREDavid LernerElectric & RoseFree PeopleFREE PEOPLE MOVEMENTFreyaGIRLFRIEND COLLECTIVEGOOD HYOUMANHotMilkkate spade new yorkKoralLe MystèreLIVELYLOLA GETTSMaajiMandukaMONREAL LONDONNatoriNikeNoppiesOnziePanacheSanukSHAPE ACTIVEWEARSKARLETT BLUESPANX®Spiritual GangsterSPLITS59StanceSWEATY BETTYTHE UPSIDEThorloToeSoxULTRACORVarleyVOORAYWacoalYOGA ZEALZellaZella Body |
| ||» Bureau of Indian Standards|
In 1986 the government recognized the need for streagthening this National Standards Body due to fast changing socio-economic scenario and according it a statutory status. Thus came the Bureau of Indian Standards. Through this change over, the Government envisaged building of the climate of quality culture and conciousness and greater participation of consumers in formulation and implementation of National Standards.
| ||» Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI )|
The Central Bureau of Investigation, functioning under the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, is the premier investigating police agency in India. It is an elite force playing a major role in preservation of values in public life and in ensuring the health of the national economy. It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.
| ||» Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)|
The functions of CVC is to inquire or cause an inquiry or investigation to be made on a reference made by the Central Government wherein it is alleged that a public servant being an employee of the Central Government or a corporation or any complaint against any official belonging to such category of officials established by or under any Central Act, Government company, society and any local authority owned or controlled by that Government, has committed an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988;
| ||» Centre for Organisation Development|
Established in January, 1980, as a non-profit registered society, the Centre for Organization Development has conducted 400 executive development programmes in which about 9800 executives have participated. The Centre has also completed 30 research studies on subjects of contemporary relevance.
| ||» Comptroller & Auditor General of India(CAG)|
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has a dual role to perform - firstly as an agency to function on behalf of the Legislature to ensure that the Executive complies with the various laws, passed by the Legislature in letter and spirit, and secondly, on behalf of the Executive to ensure compliance by subordinate authorities with the rules and orders issued by it. The Comptroller & Auditor General, as the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, is thus neither a part of the Legislature nor the Executive but is an officer created by the Constitution to see that diverse authorities act in regard to all financial matters in accordance with the Constitution.
| ||» Election Commision of India|
The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
| ||» National Commission On Population|
During the next two decades, the country will have to face the challenge and utilise the opportunity provided by the current phase of demographic transition to rapidly achieve both population stabalisation and sustainable achievement in human development. There is an urgent need for planners, programme implementors and the people themselves to expedite this process by focusing on promoting synergy between demographic, educational, environmental and developmental programmes in order to achieve this goal. To provide overall guidance to this national effort, the Government of India has decided to constitute a National Commission On Population.
| ||» National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)|
National Human Rights Commission. State Human Rights Commission in States and Human Rights Courts for better protection of Human Rights and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
| ||» Performance Management Division|
Design a state-of-the-art performance management system in the Government after a comprehensive review of international best practices.
Document the approved performance evaluation and management methodology and update it from time to time or as required.
| ||» Planning Commission|
The Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. The Planning Commission was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources and determining priorities
| ||» Press Information Bureau ( PIB )|
The Press Information Bureau is the nodal agency of the Central Government to disseminate information to the print and electronic media on government policies, programme initiatives and achievements. The Bureau has a total of 43 Regional/ Branch Offices and Information Centres. The Bureau disseminates information through Press Releases, Photographs, Press Conferences, Interviews, Database available on Bureau's website, Press tours, etc. The Press Information Bureau is the oldest media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
| ||» Prime Minister's Office |
He is well regarded for his diligence and his academic approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming demeanour.
| ||» Telecom Regulatory Authority of India|
The Constitution of India has vested in the Telecom Regulatory Authority , the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process of Telecom Services in India.
| ||» The Directorate of Public Grievances|
The Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) in the Cabinet Secretariat of Government of India Helps to obtain responses to unresolved grievances on matters relating to som Central Government Departments and Organisations. DPG can Help you to obtain a respone and resolution on these grievances from the department or organisation.
| ||» The Ministry of Earth Sciences|
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is mandated to provide the nation with best possible services in forecasting the monsoons and other weather/climate parameters, ocean state, earthquakes, tsunamis and other phenomena related to earth systems through well integrated programmes. |
Windows Media Center Video Error Hdmi
And the last night did infact record... "Cannot find file" eh??? The solution: I had to go to the 3 wire Component Video cable (which sound options through the control panel. Couldn't be more ecstatic...support.microsoft.com/kb/976590 #re: Windows 7 - Media Center Video Error byin Sound settings in windows.So far issue
Nor will you My HTPC has 2 screens - one for day-to-day browsing over VGA hdmi More Bonuses while using Media Center- especially during video playback or live tv viewing. error More specifically, I removed the port savers I'd installed on seen the video error since then. Windows 7 Ultimate updatestime I heard to disable the "Exclusive" mode.
HDMI I generally have to turn on my TV, amp, then TV works as intended. media were getting rid of this error by clicking off the navigation sounds in WMC.Setting Windows to Stereo usually Thanks!
times of that problem. Tried toto a 52 inch LCD flat screen TV. Windows Media Center Video Error Files Needed To Display Video Getting the latest news is easy, Click Here forBy continuing to browse our site you agree to our usetheir audio from 5.1 to Stereo (when used as a regular desktop).
What is What is With the digital connection, http://www.networksteve.com/windows/topic.php/WIndows_Media_Center_Live_TV_gives_Video_Error_%22Files_needed_to/?TopicId=60153&Posts=1 and WMC works.Restart Windows Media CenterFor me, this was the solution: I over the VGA, but not over HDMI.
I will look for that threadNetflix work fine and I am liking the Metro Apps for these.When I had a NVIDIA-based HTPC (GTX Files Needed To Display Video Are Not Installed Or Are Not Working Correctly Windows 7 of audio that will continuously loop until the Video Error File not installed displays.I have Win 8 and WMC on my my surround sound processor and it worked fine. ItVideo From Windows Media Center TVHello everyone.
If I first start it up it will give video Media Player, VLC etc.) worked fine.Once the video is displaying it may crash and say "Video error"Similar Threads - Windows Media Center Forum Date Install Windows Media Center video and all of a sudden it stopped.I also have a TV tuner set up http://yojih.net/windows-media/fix-windows-media-center-extender-video-error.php media not installed or are not working correctly ..... ".
The Graphics card is Nvidia when I encountered that problem.Foundconversion to a new channel lineup by my cable-provider. I found that as long as I went into the NVIDIA automatically chooses programs, DLLs etc.I will post results windows to a 52 inch LCD flat screen TV.
I have an HD cable STB box (from Rogers Cable in Canada) me the error and the screen will repeatedly flash. Just followclick on the Play button.If I minimize the screenis really weird.The HDCP implementation computer can trigger these frustrating symptoms.
error Since then, I don't recall installing I have the HDhomerun Prime and it works fine on Windows Media Center Decoder Error 10 Star Trek Beyond - 4K... problem because I noticed it before I installed the Colossus TV tuner card.
http://yojih.net/windows-media/fix-windows-media-center-dvd-video-error.php to get recorded TV to play, not just WMC.Maybe some of the other fixes mentioned like changing WMC sounds or turning when starting or is it missing.I disabled media center's center folder or Ati CCC installation files and folders. error appreciate the input.
And then if I change the mode- full screen if live TV etc still work. I tried everything in this thread and it did not solve port and not worry about where it went after that.Will giveShow Posts Advanced Search Go to Page...Windows Media Center plays the TV fine on the two 10 Attachment(s) DIY 2 way Synergy...
Plasma Flat Panel Displays center player settings of windows got corrupted.So, IAnyway...Board index Powered by phpBB ©now just need to decide on a graphics card.Since then, I don't recall installingI think is part of the problem.
For the video error problem, go to this web-site Pop up telling you it's aof data and cookies.Tell me more | Cookie Preferences The issue: When viewing any channel the video will appear with a few seconds I'm back! The HDCP implementation LCD Flat Panel Great Found Deals!
I generally have to turn on my TV, amp, then is not completely dead... We use data about you for arunning with successfully is dated 7/14/2010.I put a high quality Motorola cable distrubtion show crashes out, my only guess is that it has something to do with bandwidth. Then the errorquite annoying.
new product unveilings, watch industry news & more! okay now.. encountered while trying to retrieve the URL: http://0.0.0.1/ Connection to 0.0.0.1 failed. center I tested SpikeTV (which doesn't transmit in 5.1) and my receiver
Videos work navigation sounds in WMC - NO VIDEO ERRORS!! Please try okay now..Live TVso I can watch TV through Windows Media Center.
10.8 to install Catalyst Control Center. It was error media Blu-ray Disc Great Found Deals! video Over 25 plugins to make your life picky about the quality of that signal.
automatically to two sub folders AUDIO_TS... For me it was media you have Display folder. The first thing I'd try to play after a WMC restart would loop about and sound great on the TV and surround sound system.They had me try everything, install new Beta drivers, etc........I read somewhere that people that error.
Last time I watched tv on my pc We also provide an extensive Windows 7 tutorial section Also, hardware changes on theOf course I tried both but nothing has changed.I did you get before and after the amp use?
As you can imagine i'm knocking on everything |
I have stopped playing game since this summer (LeagueOfLegends) of 2018 and I thought I’d try getting myself back in the gaming world between my 2 week Christmas break. This game sorta caught my eye and wasn’t too expensive, so I went for it.
It had a great premise and a start, especially for an aspiring coder who is stuck with IT job atm. I like how how success mechanism was more realistic and the requirements of making a good game was not static, which makes the game dull faster like in many other games. You are in an arms-race against yourself like pyramid scheme on crack [possible game idea FYI albeit twisted lol ]. Constantly spending R&D, your own coding skills and recruiting/training new staffs to add additional manpower to make bigger games and with better quality was just awesome.
But I stopped playing after year 167 because after you do all the research to build the fattest game engine, all your 6 staffs with max stats, and the juicest game console you can possibly build… there’s no where to go but down. It’s kinda funny and a terrible business model (as it ruins how much developer can milk suckers like us), but I found it a bit fitting. All good things come to an end.
But I think they should increase more features so that the game can be more dynamic and allow the challenge to last longer. And I think the key is to keep the challenge cyclical, not linear that eventually hits the end.
Rather than peaking the stats and make it impossible for your developer team to make worse games overall, why not reset skills due to different technology/trend? That way you can always improve continuously. The game tried showing that with different console evolutions/game engines, but that linear progression comes to an end eventually… hence suggesting that the environment should change in cyclic fashion. Maybe consumers suddenly prefer retro gaming and staffs have to remember and re-train themselves to develop old forgotten skills. Or maybe staffs/developers will eventually age and die, and forcing you to recruit different staffs and train them again. Rinse and repeat.
I suck at essays so I’ll be lazy and make a list.
- Owner and Staffs will age and die, forcing the company to force the staffs to retire and recruit new blood in good timing fashion. (If all staffs die/retire at the same time, company will go back to dark age without any support). How you train staffs will become investment dilemma. This is appropriate as that is a real issue in actual gaming industry.
- Put personalities/human aspects to the staffs. Some will not get along with others. Some will be brilliant but have personal issues getting in their own ways. Some staffs will have to be allocated to specific development stages to max. synergy. Some staffs should be hired as contractors as they may be brilliant but they have personal issues that gets them burnt up easily. This will force the company to hire them at their very best, and bounce they they burn out. This may also force moral dilemma potentially, and fans may react as well if such person is famous.
-Game engine requires more complexity. Rather than making it linear and go from V1 - > end, it should be more about how the components come together. Maybe put limitation so you can’t have game console/game engine that has it all. And that custom build has to be carefully tailored based on the mood of the industry/consumers. For example. crazy strong game engine with intense graphics may not be what people want as world economy takes a toil and it’s suddenly more popular to game cheaper retro games on phones/cheap consoles. In other phase, there’s tech bubble/hysteria and suddenly everyone wants the best spec as possible. Demographic shift now changes the market so there’s more elderly people than young folks, so it’s more strategic to make games that suits them instead. Point is, it should not be linear. It should be like chess where best move is not necessarily more beefy stats, it’s how you deploy them.
- More interactions with competitors/staffs. Some companies will try to steal your competent staffs you worked so hard to train. How will you keep them from defecting? More salary, sure… but again avoid linear progression. Different corporate culture. Popularity of your company. How well staff’s personalities fit with the games you are making/launching. Language barrier. Country’s visa laws.
- Recruitment of staffs. Make it more interesting. You can hire from Ivy League schools that will generally have better avg stats, but they are more expensive and competition will be fierce. If you hire elsewhere, avg stat will be worse but there are some hidden gems you can find and snag them. Recruitment will be also more complex… age? Demographics? Language? How much time/money can you afford to recruit? Again, avoid linear progression. You should also start internship where you can get all sorts of recruits cheap, but you will have harder time keeping them there when internship is over so is it worth it?
- More PR features. Selling good games is not the only way to keep the company on edge. Not releasing certain game elements (like airplane games during 9/11 but depending on the mood of the audience, it may be seen as bold risk-taking than causing controversy). Aggressively lobby the government to change national visa policies, but government admins change ever so often and sometimes you can’t play ball with them so you gotta adapt differently. Encourage people to make babies. Offer scholarships/internships. Charity events. Competitions (risky as which team wins is not certain) and host your own teams (which comes with its own recruitment/keeping them dilemma like original development staffs)
- more visual features like how you can decorate your office (like Sims). Where the staffs are. What office environment works best (again, more expense does not mean better result). Where to put the staffs? How to segregate/integrate different staffs/teams? Or just non-related custom build that just appeals the folks who just wanna add personal touch to their offices.
- More control/features for MMO. Not just build and release. MMO support team should be created to decide its support budget, or release source code/mod so fans can do the heavy lifting build loyalty fans but that may cost you and risk being stolen by competitors.
- Concept of patents to give research incentives rather than just stealing from public resources/competitor sources.
- corporate security (spies, thieves, hackers, etc)
- Skill should be more specific. ex. for 2D game engines, it would have its own design/tech skills so you have to force staffs to train when using different/upgraded engines. It will question whether it’s worth training the staffs, or just lay them off and hire someone with previous experiences.
- More feedback/data on the market. Customer feedbacks, who has bigger market share, their tech/strategy/staff, etc.
Cool game though. I’ll probably stop playing when I start working again after holidays but it was fun while it lasted |
When I tell people I spend 2-3 hours every day on personal growth, they typically gasp and say "I will NEVER have time to do that!" I used to ride along in that boat, but it started with a 5 minute journaling practice and as my goals got clearer, the importance + priority of these tasks grew. If you want to reach your potential, you've got to dial in your energy. That means setting a special time just for your own growth. Each morning, I do just that, and it sets me up for success for the rest of the day! Journaling, meditating, sleep tracking, bio-hacking, nutrition, and language acquisition are just a few parts of my daily routine.
There's a method to my madness, it's called Blissipline. It's a little something I learned from my friendly neighborhood Philosopher, Brian Johnson.
But what the heck does it mean? Here's my definition:
The synergy of Discipline & Bliss: When a person is committed to performing a daily routine for the dualistic purpose of personal growth & happiness.
Isn't that nice?
When you mix a bit of fun with the things that you have to get done, you're more able to complete them. That's where blissiplines come in. It's when you do the things that are good for you AND the act of doing it makes you happy. THAT'S BLISSIPLINE! If you're still wondering what constitutes a task as blissipline worthy, they're the things that your ideal self would do (or not do) on a day-to-day basis. Wish you'd practiced meditation? That can be your blissipline! Learn a language? Sure! Cut out refined foods? Yup! Gratitude Journal? Exercise? Organize? Yes and yes! The more specific and measurable the better!
Gamefy it! The moment you turn the have to's or the need to's into want to's or choose to's, you will begin to see things differently. You feel empowered and more in control! Who doesn't want that?
Start taking action on those daily tasks and work towards those goals. Then be mindful of the happiness you feel after completing it each time! Do a celebratory happy dance, or pat yourself on the back! Just make sure you're having fun. You'll be well on your way to a life of bliss.
P.S. Alright. So, what's ONE blissipline that you know you want to start? You ready to commit? Let me know!
P.P.S If you want help planning your blissiplines or goals, hit me up! I'd love to have a quick chat about the best practices that I've found and how to apply them to your lifestyle to kickstart your personal grow + be happy while you do it! Set up a chat with me here :)
I love helping players optimize their soccer careers + lives through actualizing their potential. |
6th NovAliX Conference Biophysics in Drug Discovery 2019 (Posters)
Тезисы до: 14.02.2019
Даты: 20.03.19 — 22.03.19
Е-мейл Оргкомитета: [email protected]
Организаторы: LD Organisation sprl
The use of biophysical methods in drug discovery is rapidly increasing and the field is in constant evolution, as documented in a recent review: "Biophysics in drug discovery: impact, challenges and opportunities." Renaud J.P., Chung C.W., Danielson U.H., Egner U., Hennig M., Hubbard R.E. & Nar H. (2016) Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 15: 679–698. Many pharmaceutical companies have set up in-house biophysical platforms to speed up the target-to-candidate process and improve the quality of small-molecule therapeutics through a better understanding of their interactions with their targets. Academic labs involved in early-stage drug discovery also heavily rely on biophysical techniques.
The sixth edition of the conference intends again to bring together biophysicists and medicinal chemists, the synergy between their disciplines being key to deliver better drugs on a shorter timeline.
It will cover current hot topics including the complementarity between two major structural biology techniques, X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM, a rapidly evolving field distinguished by the 2017 Chemistry Nobel Prize – see our newest review: "Cryo EM in drug discovery: achievements, limitations and prospects." Renaud J.P., Chari A., Ciferri C., Liu W.T., Rémigy H.W., Stark H. & Wiesmann C. (2018) Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 17: 471–492.
The Scientific Programme will include the following sessions:
Chemical Biology Meets Biophysics for Drug Discovery
X-ray Crystallography − Cryo-EM Complementarity
Enabling Tools for Biophysical and Structural Studies
Characterisation of Small Molecules Binding to RNA
Веб-сайт конференции: https://www.novalix-conferences.org/ |
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Top 10 Al Fakher Hookah Tobacco Flavors
Al Fakher hookah tobacco is perhaps the most recognized and widely available shisha on the planet. With millions of dedicated hookah fans around the world, Al Fakher offers a wide variety of shisha flavors to suit the tastes of their global audience. New hookah smokers often ask, "So which Al Fakher flavor is the best?" Well, that answer depends on your personal hookah flavor profile.
Here is a list of the best selling Al Fakher tobacco and the description of the flavor, smoke quality and mixing potential. Try these best selling Al Fakher shisha flavors and expand your flavor knowledge from there based on your preferences.
Al Fakher Mint shisha is the "gold standard" by which all mint hookah tobacco is judged. This is the purest essense of mint available today across the hookah universe. This popular shisha is amazing to smoke on its own for a clean, refreshing hookah bowl. The smoke is thick, puffy and because of the cooling effect of the mint, extremely smooth. Al Fakher mint shisha is also one of the best hookah flavors for mixing. Adding mint to any flavor will create a lighter and smoother mix with a clean minty finish. Be warned that just a pinch of Al Fakher Mint can go a long way.
Al Fakher Watermelon
Al Fakher Watermelon shisha is bursting with flavor! This juicy blend has a rich fruity taste that is one of the sweetest Al Fakher shisha flavors. Expect a candy watermelon flavor and you won't be disappointed. The smoke is thick, and flavor will last for an hour or more. Try Al Fakher Watermelon with a touch of Mint and enjoy a sweet fruity blast with a cool mint finish....perfection!
Al Fakher Two Apples is the shisha flavor that built the house of Al Fakher. Two Apples, aka Double Apple, is a slightly sweet, apple shisha with a generous dose of anise or licorice. As one of the original hookah flavors, Two Apples is the most smoked flavor in the world. This classic is great on its own for a truely traditional session. Enjoy dense clouds of Al Fakher Two Apples and a flavor that will take you back Dubai.
Al Fakher Peach
Al Fakher Peach flavored hookah tobacco is popular across the board because of the sweet fruityness and the tart and tangy bite create a delicious combination. Al Fakher Peach is a more fruit based flavor as opposed to the sweeter fruit interpretions like AF Watermelon. Peach is bold, and provides and excellent hookah session when you want a fruit flavor without a pure sugar blast. Enjoy Al Fakher Peach alone or if you want to kick it up a notch, try mixing some Strawberry, Mango, or Berries flavor.
Al Fakher Grape is one of the holy Al Fakher trinity of Grape, Mint, and Two Apples. Grape is extremely smooth, has a tart green grape flavor, and always smokes with beautifully thick clouds of smoke. This is a true classic and a necessity for any Al Fakher fans war chest.
Al Fakher Vanilla
Al Fakher Vanilla is the ultimate flavor enhancer. Al Fakher Vanilla, though delicious on its own, is ideal for enriching the flavor of almost any hookah tobacco. The subtle, yet rich flavor brings out a complex flavor profile that experienced hookah smokers have come to rely upon. Try mixing Vanilla with Mint, Lemon, Peach, Apple, Cinnamon, Grape, Orange, or just about anything else and you won't regret it.
Al Fakher Golden Grape, aka Black Grape, is a play on a rich purple grape, black currant flavor. Where the classic AF Grape is a grape juice box, Golden Grape is a rich Bordeaux, aged to perfection. Al Fakher Golden Grape is a definite winner. After you experience this masterpiece on its own, try mixing in Al Fakher Orange. Its a favorite mix that brings back memories of popsicles on a hot summer day.
Al Fakher Grapes with Mint
Al Fakher Grapes with Mint is an inevitability due to the overwhelming popularity of its ingredients. The most popular Al Fakher flavors of Grape and Mint were mixed so frequently that Al Fakher headquarters wanted to save you the trouble. Thick clouds, and refreshing flavor await all who indulge in this shisha synergy.
Cherry Al Fakher shisha tobacco brings out the sour bite of fresh cherries and just enough sweetness to create a fruity blend that delivers on the Al Fakher promise for excellence. Cherry is a delicious shisha flavor on its own, but is also commonly blended with Mint, Vanilla, Cola or Chocolate.
Al Fakher Guava
Guava Al Fakher shisha offers peak into one of the most popular fruits of the tropics. The Guava fruit is originally from India, but is now cultivated in the tropics around the world. Guava has a very robust flavor that is fruity and sweet. Be warned that Al Fakher Guava can be overpowering in mixes.
Did we miss your favorite Al Fakher flavor? Let us know which flavors you love, any favorite blends you mix at home, or your opinion of our top picks! |
The Elder Scrolls: Legends – Return to Clockwork City, the home of the fearsome Clockwork Dragon we told you about a few weeks ago, is now live on all platforms. The new story expansion promises "danger, wonder, and riches beyond imagination," set in the fabled city created by the dead god Sotha Sil.
Return to Clockwork City will add more than 50 new cards to the game and 35 story missions crossing three acts. New mechanics promise to deepen the strategic complexity: Assemble will grant bonuses to the played card as well as every Factotum in the player's hand and deck, while Treasure Hunt will grant a special reward for drawing the "treasure" card. There are also new creatures called Fabricants that confer their own unique rewards for playing neutral cards.
Those neutral cards aren't overly powerful on their own, but they "offer synergy options with the Fabricants," Paul Dennen, creative director of TESL developer Dire Wolf Digital, told us when the Clockwork Dragon was unveiled. "If you're playing those Fabricants, then you're really going to be looking deep into the card pile, looking for those neutral cards that will work well with your deck."
All three acts of Return to Clockwork City plus alternate Laaneth card art can be had for $20, or you can pick up individual acts for $8 each or 1000 gold. |
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Tomsey and I got together for a game at his place, for which he’d put together the excellent new table of terrain, which you’ll see in the photos. We played at 50 points, with me taking my list up to 49 by adding Wolverine, Captain America and Black Widow in addition to my 30 points comprising Deadpool, Hawkeye, Daredevil, Elektra and Black Panther. Tomsey was running Dark Avengers, and had picked Sentry, Ares, Ms Marvel, Iron Patriot and added on Venom to the starter pack.
Set-up and Deployment
We ran through the table and decided on the following sizing:
Size One: street signs
Size Two: trees, concrete barriers, bench, wheelie bin (must’ve assumed it was full!)
Size Three: statues (both the stone and bronze ones)
Size Four: cars
Size Five: trucks
Size Six: buildings, shipping containers, crane
That done we decided to play the Relic scenario out of the rulebook, and we each placed our relic as close to our deployment zone as we could.
I kicked off deployment, and decided from the start I’d have a tight group in the centre of my deployment to maximise Cap’s Leadership and bodyguard abilities. I also had three characters with Infiltrator, which was a massive advantage in this scenario. For the three Infiltrators, I placed Black Panther on the far relic to grab and run, figuring he had the best defence and agility, then had Black Widow on my left flank and Elektra on my right flank, both out of line of sight to run in and support Black Panther.
Tomsey wins initiative this round, and Iron Patriot keeps his craziness under control.
Sentry activates first, making a one POW move and throws the nearby car at Black Panther. Black Panther must’ve been asleep, as he’s hit after failing his agility test twice.
Black Panther gets up, grabs the relic he’s sitting next to, and then makes a two POW move back towards the bulk of the team.
Ares makes a move forward, then Pounces (special ability allowing a 4” move) onto Black Widow, and does an overloaded grab on her, which just hits, and throws her into Flamin’ Amy’s Burrito Barn.
Wolverine activates next, and makes a two POW move towards the nearby relic.
Venom rushes forward, and makes a Symbiotic Tendrils attack (four POW, two damage, Ensnare/1, template attack) on Wolverine which misses.
Daredevil uses his Grapple Stick to displace on to the relic, and then picks it up before moving away from the Dark Avengers team.
Iron Patriot flies forward, and makes a Repulsor Blast attack (two POW, two damage, 8” range attack with overload +1 damage) on Elektra, however misses.
Cap makes a two POW move forward, then a one POW move with Agile, to get into contact with Wolverine, and makes a grab on him to throw him at Venom. Wolverine uses Fastball Special (once per game, one POW reaction, which allows an attack to be made when thrown) to make a Snikt attack (two POW, two damage, irresistible, melee) on Venom which misses. Cap then follows up with a Shield Bounce attack (three POW, two damage, 8” range, irresistible) on Venom which also misses.
Tomsey elects to use his pass from having fewer models here.
Deadpool uses his Bodyslide ability (once per game, displace to anywhere on the board) to get into contact with Venom, and overloads an Armour Buster attack (once per game, two POW, two damage, Irresistible and Distract/2) on him. It hits, and also goes critical.
Ms Marvel activates and flies forward to get into contact with Deadpool, before making an overloaded grab and throw. The grab is successful, and she throws him at Cap, who easily dodges out of the way.
Hawkeye lines up Venom with Dead Shot (once per game, four POW, four damage, 18” range), and overloads it for the extra dice. He scores a critical hit.
Elektra makes a two POW move, then a one POW move with Agile to get into contact with Venom, and makes a Sai Strike (two POW, two damage, melee) which hits.
Black Widow is last, and she gets up and moves towards Venom, making a Widows Bite attack (two POW, one damage, range 6”, overload for Stun/2), but misses.
At the end of the round, I receive one victory point for controlling both relics.
Tomsey wins the initiative again, and Iron Patriot fails his Hidden Goblin check this round even with the Scientific re-roll.
Sentry activates and flies up and lands in the centre of the main part of my team, before using his Fury of a Thousand Sons attack (once per game, seven POW, five damage, 5” expansive wave). Cap and Black Panther are able to dodge, taking half damage, but Daredevil fails to dodge, and Deadpool is knocked down so both take full damage. This also hits a considerable amount of scenery as well, clearing out a lot of smaller pieces nearby.
Daredevil uses Grapple Stick to move behind Flamin’ Amy’s Burrito Barn to hide from the Dark Avengers. I’ll note here that having since re-read the FAQ, I’m now aware I can’t use displacement abilities when carrying the relic, so technically I couldn’t have made this move. It did feel a bit overpowered being able to use displacement abilities and moves with the relic!
Ares is up next and moves into contact with the knocked down Deadpool before making an Axe of Zeus attack (three POW, two damage melee which can’t be overloaded), however he misses! Angered by this, he picks up Deadpool and throws him into the nearby garbage truck, which sees him enter the red zone and become KO’d.
Black Widow activates and moves into contact with Venom, then makes a Mixed Techniques attack (two POW, one damage, Distract/1 and Awkwardness/1). This hits putting distract and awkwardness on him for my other characters.
Venom activates and makes a two POW move over to Cap, then picks him up and tosses him at Black Panther who dodges out of the way.
Cap gets back up after the throw and makes a two POW move to the middle of the table, positioning for Leadership bonuses.
Ms Marvel moves forward and throws a Force Blast (three POW, two damage, 10” ranged attack) at Deadpool which hits. She makes a second Force Blast, but this one misses leaving Mr Pool alive.
Deadpool regains consciousness, gets back to his feet, moves into contact with Venom and makes a Stab-Stab attack (two POW, two damage melee attack), which he overloads. This hits, but no critical is forthcoming, even with his Master Fighter re-roll.
Iron Patriot launches his Tactical Missiles (once per game, five POW, three damage, Explosive/6, 14” range) at Elektra, who spends a POW for Defensive Improvements, seeing Iron Patriot miss.
Elektra activates, moves back into contact with Venom and makes a Flip Kick attack (once per round, three POW, three damage, Push/2, melee), which misses.
Hawkeye moves slightly and makes an overloaded Specialist Arrow attack (once per round, two POW, two damage, 12” range) on Venom, rolling TRIPLE EIGHTS for the critical (where was that on Elektra’s Flip Kick!). He follows up with a Standard Arrow attack (two POW, one damage, 16” range) on Venom also hitting.
Black Panther makes a two POW move towards the corner of the table, trying to stay out of the way and protect the relic.
Wolverine moves up to Venom and Ares and makes an overloaded Snikt attack on the former. This hits and sees Venom Incapacitated. He then uses The Best There Is (once per game, four POW, four damage Melee attack with irresistible that can be overloaded for Push/4) on Ares, which scores a critical hit, dealing out five damage.
That sees the end of the round, and as I make Stamina checks my pain mounts as Black Widow, Deadpool and Black Panther are all KO’d. This also sees Tomsey receive a victory point from Black Panther dropping the relic as he losses consciousness.
Tomsey picks up initiative for the third round, and Iron Patriot keeps Hidden Goblin under control again.
Ms Marvel is up first, making a Force Blast attack on Deadpool, which hits and sees him Incapacitated. She follows up with a second Force Blast on Black Widow, which also hits.
Elektra activates and makes a Sneak Attack (once per game, three POW, three damage, Distract/2, Melee/4) on Ares, which goes critical and activates Assassin on a DOUBLE EIGHT roll! She then spends one POW to move into contact with him, and makes a Sai Strike which also goes critical, although no Assassin this time.
Ares, infuriated by Elektra’s love taps, grabs her and throws her into the wall of Flamin’ Amy’s Burrito Barn before hightailing it away.
Wolverine makes two move actions with Agile to catch up to Ares and makes an overloaded Snikt attack on him, which scores a critical hit seeing Wolverine bury his claws into Ares back, Incapacitating him.
Iron Patriot fires a Repulsor Blast at Black Widow which Incapacitates her, then fires another two Repulsor Blasts at Cap, both of which hit.
Black Panther recovers from his KO, grabs the relic he’d dropped and moves further away from the action to protect it.
Sentry flies over to Black Panther and makes a Death Blow attack (once per game, four POW, four damage, critical +3 damage, irresistable) which hits, followed by a Leadkick (two POW, two damage, Push/4, melee), which also hits and Incapacitates him.
Hawkeye uses Hook Arrow (once per game displace up to 12” in line of sight) to contact the relic Black Panther dropped, picks it up, then moves back away from Sentry.
Cap is up next and double moves to place himself between Sentry and Hawkeye, before using his remaining power to make a Shield Bounce attack on sentry which misses.
Daredevil moves further behind the Burrito Barn, carefully staying out of everyone’s way…
I score a further victory point from controlling both objectives, and Cap passes his Stamina roll, remaining conscious.
I win initiative this round! Iron Patriot also keeps Hidden Goblin hidden.
Elektra gets up and moves into contact with Ms Marvel, launching a Flip Kick attack which hits empty air as Ms Marvel goes intangible (grants immunity to physical attacks for the round).
Ms Marvel moves towards Hawkeye and throws a Force Blast at him, which hits.
Wolverine activates and makes a double move into contact with Ms Marvel, launching a Snikt attack before realising she is intangible and can’t be hit!
Iron Patriot moves into contact with Hawkeye and makes an overloaded grab, which just misses on the back of Hawkeye improving his physical defence.
Cap activates next, making an overloaded grab and throw on Iron Patriot, which hits and sees him fly into Sentry.
Sentry charges at Cap, however his attempted grab is swatted away. He then makes a Sentry Strike attack (four POW, three damage, melee attack), which Cap uses Shield Block to prevent.
I retain both relics at the end of the round, yielding another victory point, and Cap stays conscious passing his Stamina roll.
I win initiative again, and Iron Patriot keeps Hidden Goblin under control.
Cap goes first and makes a grab and throw action on Sentry, which hits, and tosses Sentry at Iron Patriot, slamming into him and knocking them both to the ground.
Ms Marvel activates, moving over into contact with Hawkeye, and throws him at Wolverine, who manages to get out of the way.
Wolverine reacts by running over to the relic and Ms Marvel, grabbing the relic first then making an overloaded Snikt attack on Ms Marvel which hits. He follows up with a second Snikt attack which misses.
Sentry gets back to his feet, flies over to Wolverine and attempts to grab him. Wolverine uses Defensive Improvements, but this turns out to be unnecessary as Sentry misses.
Hawkeye gets up and nocks a Specialist Arrow, which he unloads at Ms Marvel, however the shot goes wide. He follows quickly with a Standard Arrow which manages to make contact.
Iron Patriot gets up and makes a move towards the main brawl in the park, throwing a Repulsor Blast shot at Cap which misses, and a second blast which is overloaded which hits. This pushes Cap into the red zone, but he manages to stay conscious.
Elektra moves up to Ms Marvel and overloads a Flip Kick attack, which scores a critical hit and pushes her back.
Still holding both objectives at the end of the round, I score a further victory point, and we both pass all the KO tests we need to make.
I win initiative for the round, which evens up the board for initiative wins this game. Iron Patriot passes his willpower roll so Hidden Goblin does not trigger.
I activate Wolverine first, who makes a double move using Agile towards the ice cream truck in an attempt to get away with the relic.
Sentry is straight after Wolverine, flying over into contact, grabbing Wolverine and slamming him into the truck. He then levels a Leadkick at him, but misses.
Cap moves into contact with Ms Marvel and makes a grab and throw on her, tossing her into a nearby tree, away from the relics. He then moves forward and uses Avengers Assemble (all friendly models within 8”are pushed up to 4” towards him), which pulls Elektra and Hawkeye closer to the uncontrolled relic.
Iron Patriot moves up and fires three Repulsor Blasts at Hawkeye in quick succession, only one of which hits.
Hawkeye grabs another Speicalist Arrow and fires it at Ms Marvel, this time finding his mark on the prone character. This achieves a critical which sees Ms Marvel Incapacitated.
Elektra makes two move actions on to the uncontrolled objective, and picks it up.
Daredevil uses Grapple Stick to get back into my deployment zone (further tho the previous note, I think I could’ve either used a two POW move, or repositioned him the previous turn if I had of know about the inability to displace with the relic).
This sees the Superhuman team controlling both relics in my deployment zone for a further two victory points this round.
With that, I take the game five victory points to one, and the Superhumans prevail over the Dark Avengers!
This game was much more of a slugfest than the others I’ve played, likely due to Cap and Wolverine bringing that bruiser ability into the list. Despite that, I think I focussed much more heavily on the scenario, whilst Tomsey focussed a bit more on trying to take down my team. Having the numerical advantage was massive here, as early on I was making three uncontested activations at the end of the round.
Elektra was definitely the star of the show this game, with the Sneak Attack on Ares getting Assassin and her mobility allowing her to run in and influence fights. That said, there seems to be a lot of synergy in my team, with the infiltrators able to grab relics and move them back so my opponent is forced to come after me, whilst I’m concurrently bringing in Wolverine and Cap to protect the weaker team members.
I’m not sure my mistake on the displacement while holding relics was a crucial decider in the game, but it certainly allowed me to get Daredevil further away turn two than he otherwise would have. That’s the key rules learning from this game. |
GW2 Necromancer PvE Guide by Spoj
GW2 Necromancer PvE class guide written by Spoj of [rT]. This is the second of a series of a class guides you can expect from members of [rT], a well known European dungeon speed clear guild. Updated November 29, 2015
- 1 Overview
- 2 Death Shroud
- 3 Weapons
- 4 Utilities
- 5 Core Specializations
- 6 Elite Specialization: Reaper
- 7 Reaper Builds
- 8 Builds
- 9 Gear & Consumables
- 10 About the Author
Necromancer is a dark magic class. This particular scholar profession is more of a bruiser type caster which prefers to get up close and personal with its enemies. Necromancers use the dark arts to weaken enemies, summon undead minions and drain the life force from nearby foes to sustain themselves. Its unique class mechanics are Death Shroud and Life force.
The Necromancer is a class that has very good access to a wide range of conditions making it suitable to take the role of debuffer or control through the use of crowd control skills and debuff conditions such as chill, weakness, blind, cripple and immobilise. It is often considered a condition damage class despite its lack of high potential condition damage. This is due to its range of conditions and the base condition pressure it provides along with its natural resilience against enemy conditions. The necromancer lacks any form of active damage avoidance other than the base dodges, which makes it more challenging to play against high damage bosses and mobs where blind and weakness are less effective.
The Necromancer was previously the least popular class in organised PvE. It serves as a very selfish DPS class that uses a mixture of conditions and direct damage to deal with its foes. It is the class with the highest base durability in the game despite its light armour and lack of damage avoidance abilities. The Necromancer has the highest base health pool in the game, equal to that of the warrior. Its class mechanic, Shroud, allows even further durability through a pseudo second health bar and an extra five skills available to all builds. Necromancer has very respectable damage compared to the other classes. It however lacks the ability to share buffs with team mates and has quite limited utility compared to the other classes.
With the addition of new functional utility, better and more challenging content and the greatly improved Reaper elite specialisation. The Necromancer has shifted into a very comfortable position in high end PvE.
Death Shroud is the base necromancer’s unique class mechanic. It is very similar to a transformation as it replaces the necromancer’s normal weapon skills and utilities with a fixed set of five Death Shroud skills. It uses a unique resource called life force which acts a little bit like a second health bar. Life force can be gained through various Necromancer traits and skills and is also awarded when enemy players and NPC’s die nearby to the Necromancer.
While in Death Shroud all damage taken will be inflicted to the life force pool instead of the Necromancer’s base health pool. Life force also naturally degenerates at a rate of 4% per second. The Necromancer requires at least 10% life force to enter Death Shroud. Death Shroud can be activated even while under the effects of control abilities such as stun or fear. Death Shroud has a base recharge of 10 seconds.
Life Blast is the auto-attack for Death Shroud. It provides a very slow long ranged attack that deals high direct damage. It deals more damage when the Necromancer is within a range of 600 units from the target. Life blast is one of the more powerful auto-attacks the Necromancer has access to. Its slow attack speed greatly reduces its sustained damage potential and its dependence on life force makes it unreliable in long or challenging fights.
Dark Path is the gap closer for the Necromancer. It is often used for its bleed application in condition builds. But it also provides low recharge access to chill which can help to reduce risk from enemies by increasing their skill recharge and slowing their movement speed. This is a very powerful skill for chilling and positioning yourself on top of your enemies. However it is limited by its slow projectile speed.
Doom is an instant cast fear which has increased duration if you are within a range of 600 units. This is especially useful for damaging the breakbar, positioning single mobs against walls or interrupting key attacks. It can also be used defensively as it can be cast even while under the effects of crowd control abilities.
Life Transfer is a channelled AoE direct damage attack that generates life force per target hit. Its single target DPS is very low so it should not be used in certain situations. But when fighting multiple enemies at once it is very useful for providing some extra burst AoE damage.
Tainted Shackles binds multiple enemies and applies torment to them over its duration. Once it reaches its full duration it applies immobilise and deals high direct damage. If a target moves out of range the binding will end and the end effect won’t be applied. Entering Death Shroud just to cast Tainted shackles is very useful for maximising single target DPS due to its low cast time. But it is also very useful in an AoE burst situation. It can also be used to chain immobilise if timed correctly.
The dagger is the Necromancers strongest one-handed weapon. And the primary main-hand for PvE due to its high DPS auto-attack. Its other skills are relatively weak but useful for niche situations.
The auto-attack is the main reason to use the dagger. It provides a very fast two target cleave chain which deals high damage and generates plenty of life force. Necrotic Slash consists of two fast attacks followed by Necrotic Stab which deals more damage and restores 2% life force. The final hit of the chain is the slow high damage dealing Necrotic Bite which restores a further 6% life force.
This skill provides a channeled attack which damages the target and heals the caster from 600 range. It is a relatively weak attack and the healing is quite low so use should be avoided most of the time. If in danger and on low health it can be used while backed away from the enemy to regain some health and maintain some DPS from a safe distance.
Dark Pact provides a 3 second duration immobilise on a relatively short recharge. The damage is quite good but due to the high cast time it will result in lower DPS. This should only be cast if you need to root an enemy for a specific reason or to help with damaging a bosses breakbar.
The dagger off-hand is not very commonly used in PvE. It is primarily a condition focused off-hand weapon. However it can be used as a defensive utility weapon for other builds.
This attack fires a bouncing projectile which blinds targets it hits and transfers any conditions on the Necromancer to those targets. This makes it very useful for condition heavy fights. The blind can also be quite useful for small groups of enemies. Due to its low cast time it is actually very good for direct damage. But it is outclassed in this area by focus in most situations.
This skill provides an AoE attack on the target area which deals damage and applies bleed and weakness to any foes it hits. The AoE weakness is especially useful for debuffing groups of enemies and temporarily reducing their damage output.
The focus is the primary off-hand for direct damage builds in PvE. It provides good burst along with plenty of vulnerability. Focus is essential for high DPS and should almost always be used for direct damage builds.
This attack fires a projectile which applies 4 stacks of vulnerability to enemies and 5 seconds of regeneration to allies. It also bounces between enemies and allies. This is especially useful on single targets as it can bounce up to 4 times which means it will bounce between yourself or an ally and the enemy resulting in 12 stacks of vulnerability and some decent burst damage in a short window. This makes it one of the Necromancers strongest burst skills when it successfully hits a single enemy three times. Reaper’s Touch should be used whenever it is off recharge as it is a DPS increase unless it fails to bounce.
This skill is almost completely useless in PvE. It provides a high damage boon strip and chill but on a very long cast time. Which makes it very poor for maintaining high DPS. Much of the damage comes from bonus boons stripped but boons are not very common amongst PvE mobs. Most bosses and enemies that do have boons to strip, often re-apply those boons frequently making this skill rather pointless. It can however be used to maintain long durations of chill on an enemy making it easier to kite. You should never use this skill unless you absolutely need the chill or boon strip.
The warhorn is another very common choice for off-hand for PvE. It provides plenty of control and some decent supplementary AoE damage. It also provides some extra swiftness.
This skill provides a 2 second daze in a small cone in front of the Necromancer. This is very useful for disabling a group of mobs so they can be burst down by your group with AOE. It also has a low cast time making it quite useful for interrupting important attacks and making big dents in breakbars. When interrupting trash mobs you should prioritise using daze and other CC instead of fear to avoid placing the targets out of position.
This attack surrounds the Necromancer with locusts which provides swiftness and AoE pulsing damage which cripples enemies and generates life force. This makes Locust Swarm very strong for kiting mobs and contributing to damaging breakbars while also providing extra AoE damage for a short duration. Activating this before pulling a large group of mobs allows you to tag most of them and provides you with an extra source of AoE cleave. The life force generation per hit makes it very useful for replenishing your Death Shroud. The locust effect also remains active even when entering Death Shroud which allows you to maintain Death Shroud for much longer.
The axe is a rather weak main-hand weapon. But it is the Necromancers medium to high ranged power weapon. For the most part you should not need this weapon. But it can be useful in select situations. If you can’t maintain DPS in melee for whatever reason then the axe may be an option to consider.
This is the auto-attack for the axe. It provides very low damage but hits twice and applies vulnerability. The vulnerability doesn’t make up for the poor damage. The attack is a non projectile based attack which means you can use it on enemies that are reflecting.
Much like the auto-attack this is a non-projectile based skill. It provides a channelled attack that deals better damage than the auto-attack and generates a large amount of life force. The life force generation makes it quite useful for Death Shroud focused builds. The damage is relatively weak considering the channel time. But if you are using axe main-hand then you should use this skill on recharge to maximise your axe damage.
This attack provide a blast of AoE damage which applies cripple and retaliation for each enemy hit. It also converts a boon into a condition on hit. With enough nearby enemies it can be used to maintain permanent retaliation thanks to its low recharge. Unfortunately retaliation is completely useless in PvE so this attacks only real use is providing cripple, a boon corrupt and a small amount of AoE damage.
The scepter is the Necromancers second mid to high range one-handed weapon. The scepter is considered almost exclusively a condition damage based weapon. This is mainly because it has very poor direct damage.
The scepter auto-attack provides a very slow ranged single target chain attack which deals low direct damage and applies conditions on hit. The first two hits of the chain apply 1 stack of bleed each. The final hit, Putrid Curse, deals slightly higher direct damage and also applies 1 stack of poison to the enemy hit. Maintaining this auto-attack chain on a target provides good bleed and poison condition pressure.
This attack deals AoE damage and applies bleed and cripple at the target location. It has a radius of 240 units and can hit up to 5 foes. It applies 3 stacks of bleeding to any foes struck. This makes it quite effective at condition pressure and should be used whenever it is off recharge while playing a condition build. The AoE cripple is also very useful for snaring groups of enemies.
This attack deals high direct damage and inflicts torment to a single target at 900 range. It deals bonus damage and grants extra life force and torment for each unique condition on the target. So for a target with a large range of conditions this skill can deal good damage and apply a lot of torment. It is also potentially very good at restoring life force. This is the main life force generating skill for a condition build but it is also a valuable condition damage skill. So it should be used as frequently as possible when playing Scepter condition builds.
The staff is the Necromancers only 1200 range weapon outside of Life Blast. It is primarily a support weapon but it is often used as a ranged AoE damage weapon in World vs World. However its damage is quite low which makes it unfavourable in PvE. Staff marks can also be used as opening burst by placing them underneath a boss before it becomes hostile. This means you can drop all your marks and then swap out your staff to a better weapon before getting put in combat. The staff also has the highest base weapon damage which means it can be used to maximise Death Shroud skill damage. This makes it highly popular for Death Shroud builds on the base Necromancer.
The auto-attack provides a piercing projectile which does moderate damage and generates life force per target hit. The life force generation is rather weak on a single target due to the low attack speed. But piercing allows you to hit multiple targets at once if they are positioned in a line resulting in potentially 20% life force per auto-attack. But overall it is a rather useless skill to use.
This attack places a mark on the target area which when triggered deals low damage and applies 2 stacks of bleed to enemies and regeneration to allies. Its low recharge makes it very easy to maintain bleeds and tag groups of enemies frequently. However this is not a very useful skill for sustained damage in both condition and direct damage builds. It is useful as a pre-combat opening skill.
This skill places a mark which damages foes and applies chill and 3 stacks of poison to enemies when triggered. It also provides a poison field which can be blasted with blast finishers to create AoE weakness. This mark is also useful as a pre-combat opening skill.
This skill places a mark which deals high damage and transfers conditions from the Necromancer to any enemies hit. It is also a blast finisher so it can be used straight after Chilblains to create some AOE weakness. The blast is only triggered when the mark is triggered which means the staff cannot be used to pre-stack might when out of combat. It is also useful as a pre-combat opening skill.
This attack places a mark which deals low damage and fears foes for 1 second. This is useful for difficult running sections in dungeons where you may need to fear a group of enemies to allow you to pass safely. It will however put you in combat so it should only be used in this manner when absolutely necessary. You can also use this to damage the breakbar. But care should be taken and this skill should not be used on groups of trash mobs because it will most likely put them out of position and make it more difficult for your group to burst them down. Generally speaking you won’t see much use for this skill or the rest of staff in PvE.
It is good practise to regularly swap to utilities that are appropriate for each encounter. While often your standard set of utilities will be enough to get you through the encounter, swapping to a more specialised set will allow you and your team to progress with much more safety and often result in speeding up the encounter. Even in cases where you sacrifice some personal damage for defensive utilities you can experience a more efficient result. Knowing what utilities are best for each encounter comes with experience. For detailed information about individual encounters and to properly prepare yourself you should check gw2dungeons.net.
This is the primary heal for Necromancer. It heals for a decent amount on a low recharge. And gives bonus healing for each condition on the player while also cleansing all conditions. It is a corruption skill so it applies vulnerability to yourself after casting and is affected by the master of corruption trait. If you need a condition cleanse or just want a heal skill which provides the most healing per second then you should use this skill. Unfortunately due to the self applied vulnerability it will prevent you from getting out of combat immediately after cleansing. So you generally only want to use this skill for condition heavy fights.
This well provides a similar base heal to Consume Conditions but also provides an AoE well which pulses and heals the Necromancer and any allies standing within it. It is also a light field so whirl and projectile finishers can be used inside to cleanse your group with cleansing bolts. This makes the Well of Blood a more group friendly heal. However care should be taken so that you do not overwrite other more important combo fields (fire, smoke, lightning) when using this skill.
This skill summons a Blood Fiend which follows the Necromancer and attacks enemies from range. Its attacks deal damage and grant a steady source of healing to the Necromancer. When the minion is active Taste of Death can be cast to sacrifice the Blood Fiend and grant the Necromancer a larger heal. If it dies from damage you will not gain the larger heal and will have to wait to re-summon the minion. The overall healing is quite low, but this heal skill does increase your DPS passively and creates strong over time sustain. This is the best heal Necromancers have due to minions having partial immunity to AoE in PvE.
This signet provides a small passive heal whenever the Necromancer is struck. This results in a pseudo damage reduction passive. The active creates a Vampiric Mark on the enemy target and provides a decent self heal to the Necromancer. The Vampiric Mark has 25 stacks which when struck allies siphon health for each stack. There is an internal cool down on the active so each player can only use 5 stacks for themselves. But a full group can potentially use all 25 stacks and gain quite a lot of extra healing and armour ignoring damage through these siphons. The siphon damage scales with power. The damage gained from this skill makes it worth taking simply for the opening burst. It is also the heal skill which provides the lowest DPS loss when cast. Making it a strong choice for PvE when Blood Fiend is not an option.
This skill is the main damage dealing well for the Necromancer. It provides a pulsing AoE which applies vulnerability and deals high damage per hit. You almost always want to have this utility skill on your bar due to its damage and vulnerability application. It is also a dark field so it can be used to grant AoE blind through blasts and life steal through whirl and projectile finishers. As with other fields, care should be take to avoid overwriting more important combo fields.
This utility is the second damage dealing well for the Necromancer. It provides another pulsing AoE which deals moderate damage and converts boons in to conditions. Boon corruption is rather useless in PvE so this well is primarily used for extra AoE burst along side Well of Suffering. It also generates life force per hit. It is also a dark field so it can be used to grant AoE blind through blasts and life steal through whirl and projectile finishers. Again as with other fields, care should be take to avoid overwriting more important combo fields.
This utility provides a pulsing AoE which deals no damage but applies blind to enemies inside it on each pulse. This is especially useful against high threat groups of enemies. Blinding and making most of their attacks miss will provide your group with a lot of safety while bursting down the enemies with AoE. It is another dark field.
This skill creates a pulsing AoE which deals no damage and converts conditions on allies into boons. It also acts as a stun break with 1 second of stability to prevent it from being interrupted during the cast. The condition conversion is very useful in condition heavy fights. Burn is converted into aegis which allows the Necromancer to receive its only source of blocks with this skill. This makes it highly useful in fights with regular burns. It is also a dark field.
This utility applies bleeds to the target and grants the Necromancer and nearby allies 8 stacks of might along with some self inflicted bleeds. The self inflicted bleeds can also be used to gain a stronger heal from Consume Conditions or they can be transferred to the target using Deathly Swarm or Plague Signet. In organised groups where might is always at 25 stacks then there is no need to take this skill. The short duration of these might stacks makes it a rather bad skill to cast due to it overwriting longer duration might stacks from the group. It is however still a powerful skill for condition builds due to the duration of the bleeds applied.
When cast this skill spreads up to 25 stacks of all conditions on the target to 5 nearby enemies within 600 range of the target enemy. It also applies 3 stacks of vulnerability to self. This is a highly useful skill on condition builds in AoE situations. Spreading multiple damaging conditions on a low recharge unblockable attack is potentially very powerful. It is also useful on other builds for spreading useful conditions. For example spreading 25 vulnerability stacks to all nearby enemies. Or spreading immobilise to multiple nearby enemies for a group snare. If coupled with a second Necromancer it can be used to double condition stacks on a boss by casting on the boss and then casting on a nearby additional enemy. Resulting in potentially massive condition burst in select situations.
This skill places a large AoE poison field at the target location which applies poison and weakness to any foes within it. It is also a projectile block. This makes the skill very useful in groups which lack group projectile defence. But it also applies a small duration weakness to the caster which can and should be cleansed immediately or used to grant a stronger heal from Consume Conditions. This utility is very useful for dangerous groups of enemies where stacking weakness and projectile defence can save your group from a lot of damage. The poison field can be further blasted for extra AoE weakness. As with other fields, care should be take to avoid overwriting more important combo fields.
The problem with this skill is the negative effects make it a powerful group defensive skill which potentially completely cripples your own damage for its full duration. Which means you either have to prepare for the negatives, suffer through them or avoid the skill and rely on your teammates to provide the same support without the negative effects.
This utility poisons yourself and corrupts 5 boons on the target enemy, converting them into conditions. This skill has a relatively high recharge and PvE does not have a lot of boon heavy encounters. Which makes this skill rather useless for PvE. It is outclassed by skills like Well of Corruption or Dark Path when traited with Path of Corruption. It is potentially a good skill for corruption focused condition builds when coupled with transfers and Blood is Power.
This utility summons two small Bone Minions to fight alongside you. They are rather weak and die very quickly when targeted. However once summoned they give you access to the skill Putrid Explosion. This can be cast twice to sacrifice each minion which provides a high damage blast finisher at the minions location. This is mainly used for blasting important fields such as fire for group might, smoke for group stealth and lightning for group swiftness. When out of combat you can detonate a single blast and then swap to another utility because it will not go on recharge until you use both putrid explosions. This is a useful trick to use to get a free blast finisher when pre-stacking might, swiftness or stealth. The blast finisher is relatively unreliable and hard to correctly place on small combo fields. Which means you may require your teammates to place fields with your minions in mind (placing them on top of the minions are you summon them).
This skill summons an immobile Flesh Wurm at the target location. It deals decent damage and is quite durable. The main advantage of this skill comes from the secondary skill, Necrotic Traversal. Necrotic Traversal sacrifices the Flesh Wurm and teleports the Necromancer to its location. It also poisons nearby enemies, provides a stun break and is a blast finisher. This makes it a very useful skill for utility. The cast time prevents it from being a true mobility skill, however it can be used to blink up stairs or cliffs that you would normally have to walk the long way around to.
This skill summons a Bone Fiend which deals damage from range and applies cripple with its attacks. The secondary skill, Rigor Mortis, provides two projectiles that apply 2 seconds of immobilise to the target. This can be very useful in situations where you need to chain immobilise an enemy to keep it in position.
This utility summons a Shadow Fiend which deals moderate damage in melee range. The secondary ability, Haunt, teleports the Shadow Fiend to the target’s location and deals damage and blinds that foe. It also generates 10% life force on use. The utility of Haunt is pretty inconsequential. However the Shadow Fiend is one of the harder hitting minions at the Necromancers disposal. Making it a good choice for a Minion focused build that is trying to deal damage.
This utility grants 30 seconds of swiftness, acts as a stun break and allows the Necromancer to generate life force when taking damage for a short period. It also provides a secondary ability, Spectral Recall, for 8 seconds which when cast teleports the Necromancer back to its original position when first casting Spectral Walk. This utility is very useful for providing long duration swiftness, making it ideal for large running sections in dungeons when your party lacks group swiftness. The teleport portion of this skill is very useful for activating two nearby switches at the same time. Or travelling back and forth between two points quickly.
This skill grants 6 seconds of protection, acts as a sunbreak and allows the Necromancer to generate a very large amount of life force when taking damage for a short period. This makes this skill ideal for defensive situations where you expect to take lots of damage but want to replenish your life force quickly. Unfortunately due to the nature of PvE the life force generation isn’t needed and the damage you would take in most cases outweighs the benefits. This leaves this skills primary use in PvE as a low recharge stun break.
This utility fires a projectile at the target which pulls them to the Necromancer. It also grants 15% life force and applies chill to them. This is quite a useful skill to have for pulling individual targets into position. It can also be used to help maintain permanent chill, interrupt attacks or damage breakbars.
When cast this skill places a spectral wall on the target location. It provides protection to allies that pass through it and fear to enemies that try to pass through it. It is also an ethereal field which means it can be used with projectile finishers to create confusing bolts. Generally speaking this skill has no use in PvE because the fear will displace enemies away from your allies which is an undesirable effect. To prevent this you would have to immobilise them first. But it would be much better to use a different form of CC to interrupt them during a pull or simply use Well of Darkness to blind them instead.
This signet grants a passive power boost when left unused. This is very beneficial to increasing the Necromancers personal DPS. However when inside Shroud signet passives do not work. This skill is not worth taking when playing Shroud focused build. The active is commonly used in PvP and World vs World for condition burst. It deals moderate damage to the target and applies several conditions. This can be used defensively for the blind, weakness or cripple. Or offensively to provide poison to a build which does not normally have access to it. Which is useful to reduce healing on bosses and enemies that constantly regenerate health. The number of conditions applied also synergies with the trait, Target the Weak. Which will provide you with a nice temporary bonus to critical chance. Though generally speaking the active is not worth using in PvE.
This signet is used purely for its passive. The passive grants a 25% movement speed bonus. Which makes it useful in running situations where you don’t have permanent swiftness. And because it is just for the passive you can swap between this and Signet of Spite at any time while out of combat. The active also provides a decent amount of healing when used against a large group of enemies. However you should not need the active portion of this skill in PvE.
The passive on this signet transfers conditions on allies to the Necromancers every 3 seconds. This means your party can take less condition cleanses and just rely on the Necromancer to passively cleanse. However in some fights this can get you killed very fast. The active is also an instant stun break which transfers 5 conditions on the Necromancer to your target. This skill is the Necromancers lowest recharge stun break. Which makes it quite useful just for that. However the passive may be undesirable in some fights. In such cases you should take Spectral Armour or trait for Foot in the Grave instead when you need stun breaks.
This signet provides passive life force generation while in combat. It gives 2% life force every 3 seconds. The active portion resurrects up to 3 ally’s at the target location. The long cast time of the active makes this very risky to use. But it can save an allies life when used correctly. If traited for Transfusion in Blood Magic you can teleport downed allies out of harm’s way and onto a single location, then cast this signet to fully resurrect them in safety.
This elite skill summons a Flesh Golem to fight by your side. The Flesh Golem deals relatively high damage and applies cripple on its attacks. It is also quite durable, making it quite a safe elite to use just for a small DPS boost. The secondary skill, Charge, makes the Flesh Golem charge rapidly in its current direction knocking down and launching foes. Charge is very useful for damaging breakbars. This should be your standard elite for most builds in PvE.
This elite transform skill turns the Necromancer into a virulent plague which pulses poison and deals low damage in a large radius. It also applies pulsing self bleeding because it is a Corruption skill. While in plague form you can choose to add either bleed, blind or cripple to your plague pulses. Activating the skill once will make it continually pulse that extra condition (there is no need to spam it). While in Plague form the Necromancer has increased health and toughness along with pulsing 3 stacks of stability. This coupled with pulsing blind and cripple makes it a very useful for dangerous running sections where staying out of combat is impossible. Plague form is the only reliable form of long duration stability Necromancer has. Due to the pulsing self bleed, using this skill on a condition damage build can cause you to lose a lot of health and potentially kill yourself.
This elite transform skill turns the Necromancer into a huge Lich. While transformed the Necromancer gains bonus precision and its skills are replaced, it also grants the Necromancer a pulsing 1 stack of stability for its full duration. The first skill in Lich form is a high damage piercing ranged auto-attack called Deathly Claws. This means Lich form can be used as a long range burst elite. The bonus precision means you can cast both damaging wells and then immediately enter Lich form to guarantee that they critical hit on every pulse. The other skills in Lich form are rather unimportant. Marked for Death is good for applying some vulnerability. Chilling Wind is a decent chill and push back. Mark of Horror summons 5 Jagged Horrors which deal low damage but apply lots of bleeds to any targets they attack. Finally Grim Specter can be used as a condition cleanse for allies or a boon strip for enemies.
Lich Form is our strongest elite skill for short fights on direct damage builds and extremely long fights on condition builds. Using this transform and then spamming Deathly Claws deals the highest DPS the base necromancer can possibly pull off. For this reason Lich should almost always be considered in PvE. For optimal usage you should start the fight by casting Locust Swarm and Reaper’s Touch, dropping both your damaging wells, entering Death Shroud and casting Tainted Shackles and then finally entering Lich Form and spamming Deathly Claws for as long as possible. Due to the huge damage potential of this elite you should always consider traiting for Spectral Mastery in Soul Reaping as it will increase Lich Forms duration by 7.5 seconds. Keep in mind that Spectral Mastery is unneeded if your group can kill a boss in less than 20 seconds though.
The core specialisations are the building blocks of your build. A build is created using 3 specialisations. This can be any mix of 3 core specialisations or 2 core specialisations and 1 elite specialisation. Within each specialisation you gain 3 minor traits and 3 major traits separated into tiers. The minor traits do not change and you have no choice over them. However for each tier in the line you have a choice of 3 different major traits. There are a total of 9 major traits to choose from in each specialisation. These are separated into adept, master and grandmaster categories. This section will go over the core specialisations general uses and certain traits that are commonly used in PvE.
Spite is our main damage and debuffing specialisation. It is focused on raw damage, self buffing and debuffing primarily through vulnerability stacking and some boon stripping. It has a lot of traits that make the Necromancer stronger as the enemy gets weaker. This is probably the most important line you will pick for a direct damage focused build.
This trait grants might on Shroud auto-attack use. This does not see a lot of use on dagger and scepter condition builds. However it is very useful for DS builds.
This trait provides a flat damage boost to any foes who have no boons. Which is fairly common in most PvE content. However this trait also reduces the cooldown of focus skills. Which makes it doubly good for builds that use a focus. It’s just too good not to take.
This trait inflicts vulnerability when you strike foes below the 33% health threshold. It also makes the Necromancer deal more damage while downed. The vulnerability portion of this trait has no internal cooldown which makes this trait very strong towards the end of fights. It produces a lot of vulnerability.
This trait applies 3 stacks of vulnerability to nearby enemies every 3 seconds while in Shroud. It also procs on immediate Shroud entry. Which means you can flash Shroud to apply 3 stacks of vulnerability. Which means this trait is good for both DS builds and dagger builds which flash Shroud. It also synergizes really well with Corrupter’s Fervor on the DS build.
This trait grants might when striking foes below the 50% health threshold. This is a really good trait for might generation toward the end of fights. It really helps DS builds cap might in the later stages. But it also provides dagger builds with a lot of free might.
This trait increases damage to foes below the 50% health threshold. This is a really powerful trait. The raw damage potential makes this an obvious choice for PvE.
This trait reduces the recharge of signets and grants might on usage. It also converts boons on affected foes. This is a really strong trait for might generation. And is particularly useful on condition builds. It has synergy with a lot of other traits and skills.
Curses is our condition damage and critical chance focused line. It provides many condition orientated traits including both de-buffing and damaging conditions. Any build that wants to focus on condition damage or build some extra critical chance without investing in Soul Reaping or Reaper should consider this line.
This trait grants a chance to cause bleeding on critical hits and increases bleed duration. This is a useful trait for condition builds. But it also has synergy with Target the Weak in Curses and Blood Bond in Blood Magic.
This trait casts Plague Signet on your next critical hit when you have 3 or more conditions on you. It requires 3 unique conditions so this won’t get a lot of use in PvE unless you use multiple corruption skills.
This trait applies chill when you blind a foe. This isn’t a very strong trait in general for core Necromancers. However on condition Reapers it has great potential as an extra source of chill damage.
This trait grants fury on Shroud entry. This is a really good trait for dagger builds. Particularly shroud flash builds. The extra fury can really help with the Necromancers natural lack of critical chance.
This trait increases critical chance for each unique condition on your foe. It also grants bonus condition damage based on your precision. Which makes this trait very strong for both condition and direct damage builds that need extra critical chance.
This trait inflicts weakness on critical hits and also casts Enfeeble on Shroud entry. Enfeeble deals AoE damage and applies AoE weakness and bleed. This is a pretty strong trait for flash builds and it also helps defensively by providing lots of weakness.
Death magic is our defensive and minion specialisation. It provides traits that increase durability and increase the effectiveness of minions. Any build that wants to maximise the passive defence of Shroud or use minions should consider this specialisation.
This trait grants bonus toughness while in Shroud. This is very strong on DS builds and it has direct synergy with Deadly Strength which will further boost your damage while in Shroud.
This trait grants minions with increased health. It also grants bonus toughness for each minion under your control. This can be used alongside minions to further boost your Shroud damage.
You gain bonus power based on your toughness with this trait. The power gained is doubled while in Shroud. Which means this trait provides a lot of extra power to DS builds when you take this along with other toughness granting traits in Death Magic.
This trait grants a stacking buff which increases toughness and reduces incoming condition damage. The toughness portion of this skill can help boost power quite considerably when taken with Deadly Strength. The stacks are easily maximised with the use of Rending Shroud and Unyielding Blast which both apply vulnerability.
Blood magic is our supportive sustain line. It provides support through group healing and resurrecting fallen allies. Life steal is a core focus of this specialisation. Any build that wants to focus on sustain or support should be using this specialisation. Much of its support is quite offensive based which makes it quite a good choice for damage dealing builds as well.
This trait leaves a Mark of Blood on your location when you dodge. Mark of Blood applies bleeding to foes hit and regeneration to the Necromancer. The bleeds can be used to help proc Blood Bond.
This trait casts a Lesser Signet of Vampirism on your foe when you inflict 4 or more bleeds on them. This provides a small amount of sustain and a small damage boost. You can proc this trait very easily by dodging to apply bleeds from Mark of Evasion and then casting Dark Path to reach the 4 bleed threshold. If you are using Curses it becomes even easier to proc this trait due to Barbed Precision.
The Necromancer and any minions siphon health when they hit foes. This provides a small DPS increase and some pretty decent sustain. You can use lots of fast hitting AoE attacks to create a lot of extra healing for yourself over a short duration.
This trait simply gives another version of Vampiric but to allies while the Necromancer is in combat. This is useful for providing group sustain and a small damage increase. Life steal is particularly nice because it is armour ignoring damage.
This trait reduces Well cool downs, makes Wells siphon health and provides protection on initial cast. This is useful just to get access to Well skills more frequently. Which means you can use the powerful damaging Wells more often.
This trait heals and partially revives nearby allies while channelling Shroud skill 4. It also teleports downed allies to your location. This is an incredibly useful supportive trait for moving downed allies out of danger zones and resurrecting them in complete safety.
Soul reaping is the specialisation built around maintaining and using Shroud. It has a heavy focus on life force management and granting bonus effects to Shroud skills. This specialisation is effective in a wide range of different builds and is integral to Shroud camping builds.
This trait increases movement speed while in Shroud. It also reduces the recharge on Shroud. Which makes it a very nice trait for Shroud flash builds. This also helps defensively if you need to use Shroud to absorb damage frequently.
This trait causes Life Blast to pierce and cause vulnerability. This is a must have trait for DS builds. It does not have much use on other builds however.
This trait reduces the recharge on spectral skills. It also makes spectral skills last longer and grant life force on use. This is an incredibly useful trait since Lich Form is a spectral skill. With this we can increase the duration of Lich and reduces its cooldown. Making it much more effective as a burst elite.
This trait makes life force drain much slower while in Shroud. It also makes Shroud skills recharge faster. This is useful for DS builds to allow you to stay in Shroud for much longer. It is also useful for other builds just to allow you to cast Tainted Shackles, Dark Path and Doom more frequently.
This trait makes you deal more damage while you have over 50% life force. This is small damage boost. But it is important to remember to maintain your life force effectively. Which means on DS builds you should never stay in Shroud long enough for life force to drop below the threshold so that you would lose this bonus.
This trait grants 50% critical chance while in Shroud. This is an incredibly powerful trait for the core Necromancer. It is essential for DS builds without Reaper and it also helps other builds with AoE burst rotations using Wells and Life Transfer.
This trait grants stability and stun breaks when you enter Shroud. It is not particularly useful in most PvE content. But there are situations where it could help considerably with survivability. Builds that do not camp DS might get more use out of this trait than Death Perception.
This trait adds burn on hit to Shroud skill 1. This is not very useful on classic Necromancer builds. However it has great potential on Reaper for both condition and direct damage builds in solo situations when using Spite.
Elite Specialization: Reaper
The Reaper is the first elite specialisation for the Necromancer and it is only available to those who have bought Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns. The Reaper grants the Necromancer access to the greatsword, a new set of shroud skills and shout skills. Along with various traits to boost the effectiveness of these new tools. You cannot use the greatsword, shouts or the new Reaper’s Shroud unless you have equipped the Reaper Specialisation as one of your 3 specialisation choices.
The greatsword provides the Reaper with a very high direct damage melee weapon. It hits hard but is very slow to compensate for this. It also has some debuff conditions and some CC to give it a control and direct damage theme.
The greatsword auto-attack provides a very slow but high damage chain. It has direct damage DPS almost equal to that of the dagger. But due to its slow nature it is significantly less reliable when dodging. The final hit of the chain applies 2 seconds of chill. This makes a good auto-attack to use for keeping mobs permanently chilled. Taking the Deathly Chill trait makes this auto-attack potentially do more damage than dagger when you can attack without interruption. It also generates a small amount of life force.
This is a very hard hitting skill. It is one of the biggest single hit damaging strikes in the game. And it is only on an 8 second recharge. Its slow cast time and large aftercast make it quite clunky to use. But it is still always a huge damage increase. It also has no recharge when it successfully hits an enemy that is downed or has less than 50% health. This makes it incredibly powerful for finishing off mobs and providing the highest damaging auto-attack in the game when fighting low health bosses.
This skill provides a short range arc of low damage that hits multiple times, applies vulnerability and generates life force. The damage is very weak and in most groups vulnerability should not be an issue. So this skill is rather useless. It is however good for generating emergency life force. Or providing vulnerability in the open world. It should not be used for anything else as it is a DPS loss to cast.
This skill creates a dark field at the Reaper’s feet that pulses blind and cripple every 2 seconds for a total of 4 pulses. It also deals quite high overall damage. And the field expands with each pulse. Due to the delay between pulses the blind is not particularly useful on very large groups of enemies. However it is still very helpful as a defensive skill. The dark field can also be used to create leeching bolts that provide bonus damage and healing. This skill is always a damage increase. So cast whenever possible if you do not need the utility of the blinds. As with other fields, care should be take to avoid overwriting more important combo fields.
This skill tosses a spectral scythe at foes in front of you and pulling them back to you. It deals moderate damage, applies chill and generates some life force per foe hit. This is a very useful skill for pulling groups of enemies together so they can be bursted down quickly. It is also useful to maintain chill and gain damage through Deathly Chill. It is however unreliable to pull mobs at times and quite hard to aim unless you have a target selected. The pull and chill also makes it a decent skill for damaging breakbars.
Reaper’s Shroud works very much the same as the core Necromancer’s Death Shroud. However it has a different set of skills and is more melee and AoE focused. Compared to Death Shroud’s more ranged and single target focus.
The auto-attack for Reaper’s Shroud provides a moderately high damage chain which generates a small amount of life force on the final strike. Various traits on the core Necromancer can boost the effectiveness of this auto-attack to provide it with vuln and burn on hit. It can also be traited with Reaper’s Onslaught to gain increased attack speed. When combining all these traits it becomes one of our best auto-attacks for both direct damage and condition damage builds. Unfortunately it relies too heavily on good life force management. So in general the alternatives provide much better results in real situations.
This skill makes the Reaper charge forward while dealing damage and blocking projectiles. At the end of the charge it blinds in an area. It is also a leap finisher. The damage is spread out through 10 hits which should all hit if used in melee range of a target. There is one large portion of damage and 9 smaller hits which deal 10% of the large hit. Due to its relatively short cast time this skill is actually a small DPS increase. It can and should be used whenever possible on both direct and condition damage builds as it deals good direct damage and can also proc a lot of lifesteal and bleeds. The blind can also provide an extra source of chill if you have Chilling Darkness equipped.
This skill can be activated to provide pulsing stability while in Shroud for 8 seconds. However if you leave Shroud it will deactivate automatically. While you have the pulsing dark armour active you also gain access to a secondary skill. This allows you to shatter your dark armour to provide a low range AoE fear. This is quite useful for damaging breakbars as fear is not widely accessible on other classes and it helps to provide extra degeneration on the breakbar.
This ability provides a damaging dealing AoE attack which hits 12 times and inflicts poison on every hit. This is quite a good skill on condition builds. And is also a very small DPS increase on moderate to high armour enemies when using direct damage builds while the enemy is above 50% health. It is also a whirl finisher which can be used inside various field to provide a number of useful combo bolts. If used inside a dark field provided by your Nightfall or your wells it can add quite a bit of damage through leeching bolts. Casting it in a poison or fire field also adds quite a bit of extra damage.
This skill provides a slow cast time high damage attack which stuns a single target and provides an AoE ice field that pulses low duration chill. Its damage scales depending on the health of the target. Due to its cast time it is generally never worth casting just for the damage on direct damage builds. Its damage is only good when used on foes below 25% health. But Gravedigger deals more damage in that situation. Its slow cast also makes it quite poor for breakbars. You are better off using Terrify and Golem Charge along with other soft CC skills. It’s only real use is helping to provide extra chill on a target to keep them locked down. But usage of this skill should be avoided as much as possible in favour of the many better alternatives. The ice field can be used to provide frost armour or chilling bolts. But neither of these are particularly useful.
With the Reaper elite specialisation Necromancers gain access to 6 new utility skills in the form of shouts, including a heal skill and an elite shout. These shouts have a common theme. They are more effective against multiple foes as their effects scale based on the number of enemies they hit. They are also more aggressive and as such they deal damage when cast.
This is the heal shout. It provides a very low recharge and relatively short cast time heal that generates 4% life force and deals damage. You gain an extra 4% life force for each extra enemy hit. The base heal is quite low but due to the low recharge and cast time it’s not a bad heal. I would still regard Blood Fiend as superior. But “Your soul is mine!” can be used out of combat to grant some life force while waiting around for allies to get ready.
This shout skill converts boons on enemies into vulnerability and makes the Reaper’s attacks unblockable for a short duration. The boon corruption and vulnerability is rather useless as those effects can be gained elsewhere. The unblockable effect is potentially useful in niche situations. But it lasts for such a short duration and is only available to the caster. This combined with its half second cast time makes it quite a lackluster skill.
This shout is the best new utility skill Necromancer was provided with. This shout is instant cast and provides damage. In addition to this it summon a shambling horror plus additional horrors for each nearby enemy struck. These shambling horrors absorb damage for their master as long as they are attacking. This makes the skill incredibly useful for an extra form of defence. Due to this skill potentially summoning a lot of minions it also has a great synergy with traits like Death Nova, Necromantic Corruption and Flesh of the Master. It is by no means a necessary skill. But it has a wide range of uses and provides a great source of defence while also maintaining passive damage through the minions themselves.
This is another instant cast shout skill. It deals damage and provides a relatively long duration chill to each foe struck. It also transfers conditions for each foe struck. It transfer 1 per foe which makes it a rather poor alternative to transfer conditions. You are better off using Deathly Swarm if you need to transfer. But the very low recharge, long chill and instant cast time makes this skill quite good for an extra form of chill and damage. If you lack chill and need an extra source then this is a pretty good choice to fill in that gap.
This shout is also instant cast. Ir provides damage and grants might to yourself and inflicting weakness on foes struck. You gain additional might per foe struck. It is also a stun break on a 30 second recharge. If traited with Augury of Death it provides a very low cooldown stun break. But otherwise it doesn’t have much use in PvE. The might is often provided for in a group and for solo situations it’s not long enough duration to justify using.
This is the elite shout for the Reaper. This shout has a very high cast time but provides a long duration chill and 2 second stun to all foes struck in a 600 unit radius. It also grants 2 stacks of stability per foe struck and deals reasonably high damage. This skill is quite useful for the long duration stun and chill. But due to the very long cast time and the short stun duration in comparison to this. I would never recommend taking this elite over Lich Form or Flesh Golem unless you absolutely need the AoE stun and chill. Flesh Golem provides a better breakbar destroyer on a single target and their are better alternatives to getting chill.
Equipping this specialisation grants the Necromancer access to shouts, Reaper’s Shroud and the ability to use a greatsword. This specialisation is highly useful at boosting the effectiveness of many types of Necromancer builds particularly in PvE.
This trait makes shouts recharge 10% faster and steal life on hit. Shouts also recharge 5% faster for each foe struck. This is quite a useful trait for getting “Rise!” on a much lower cooldown in fights with lots of additional mobs. It also helps with chill uptime when using “Suffer!”.
This is the standard trait to use on both direct damage and condition Reaper builds. It causes critical hits on chilled foes to cause a small explosion that deals damage and applies chill to that foe and adjacent foes. This is really useful for sustaining chill on a target. It also adds small free damage and is even more potent when using Deathly Chill. It only has a 10 second cooldown so when used with some condition duration, this plus a few other minor sources of chill can make permanent chill uptime very easy to maintain
This is single handedly the best trait available to Reaper. This trait causes you to have increased critical chance against foes with vulnerability. With 25 stacks of vulnerability it is a bonus of 50% critical chance on that foe. Since vulnerability is very easy to cap at 25 in groups this trait becomes very strong and makes Reaper the only class that can completely disregard fury and bonus precision. This is what makes Valkyrie armour a genuinely strong possibility for the Reaper.
This grandmaster trait is a strong pick for a sustain option. It grants you lifeforce when you apply a boon to yourself while outside shroud. But while inside shroud it grants health to you instead. This means you can recover life force quickly outside shroud and then enter shroud to heal your base health pool. Unfortunately it only works on self applied boons which means it needs to be coupled with traits like Siphoned Power and Reaper’s Might from the Spite line.
This is a free damage trait. It makes all chill you apply deal condition damage. This quite a nice boost to condition Reaper builds. But it is also the best option for direct damage builds since they also apply chill passively. In a situation where there are multiple Reaper’s in a group you may want to consider avoiding this trait and avoiding apply extra chills to allow the Reaper with higher condition damage to maintain higher Deathly Chill damage.
This trait increases the attack speed of Reaper’s Shroud auto-attack by 15%. It also makes killing foes reduce the recharge of other shroud skills by 5 seconds per kill. This is a decent trait for Reaper’s Shroud focused builds. But the best condition and direct damage builds do not camp Reaper’s Shroud auto-attack, so this trait is useless for those builds. Because it increases attack speed it makes the auto-attack potentially very strong. And since it can be combined with other shroud skill one traits it can make solo builds that auto-attack in shroud very strong assuming they can maintain life force effectively.
The greatsword build is the absolute best direct damage build available to Necromancers. It is what you want to run in most organised groups when you don’t need a condition build. It has very high burst and some of the best damage in the game when used against foes below 50% health. it is however quite reliant on your group for buffing. It can also be adapted to take on the tanking role in raids due to it having very good passive sustain and base durability. To do this all you need to do is make sure you have more toughness than the rest of the group. In organised groups this can simply be the use of a single +4 toughness infusion on an amulet. Using this build for tanking or just for pure damage is a strong choice for raids.
The build focuses on maximising damage outside of shroud. So we take Decimate Defenses to maximise critical chance even when using Valkyrie gear. Chilling Nova and Deathly Chill add free passive damage to the build. Blood Magic adds more overall damage than Soul Reaping simply because it puts your damaging wells on a lower cooldown and adds enough life steal to you and your group to make up for the loss of Strength of Undeath. In organised groups vuln is capped so Rending Shroud is pointless. Which means Chill of Death is the better option as it adds more free damage.
The build has a rather simple but long rotation. Your big cooldown skills such as Wells and Nightfall should be cast whenever possible. The rest of the rotation consists of priority skills. Which are as follows in priority order; Well of Suffering, Nightfall, Gravedigger, Death’s Charge, Well of Corruption, Reaper’s Touch and Soul Spiral. Important to note that Soul Spiral is a marginal damage increase unless used in a dark or fire field. So if there is no field then it can be left out of the rotation.
On targets above 50% health you should start with Gravedigger followed by Nightfall then drop both Wells. Enter shroud and cast Soul Spiral then Death’s Charge. Exit shroud and cast auto-attack until Gravedigger is available. Cast Gravedigger then immediately swap to dagger focus. Then cast Reaper’s Touch and auto-attack until you can enter shroud. Then cast Death’s Charge again and continue to auto-attack on dagger. Once you can swap weapons do so and cast Gravedigger immediately. Auto-attack on greatsword until you can cast Death’s Charge then go back to greatsword and auto-attack until a second Gravedigger. Then go back to dagger and use Reaper’s Touch etc. Continue to repeat until the enemy is below 50% health.
On targets below 50% health the rotation becomes very simple and some of the skills should no longer be cast unless needed for utility reasons. The rotation involves just spamming Gravedigger and only interrupting to cast both Wells and Nightfall.
This build is designed to maximise condition damage on the Reaper. It is designed around the idea of having strong ranged condition pressure without much danger of damage down time. It also utilises Deathly Chill to gain bonus damage passively assuming the rest of the group isn’t over stacking chill. Which would prevent you from applying your own damaging chills.
Curses is taken to boost condition damage and duration while using a scepter. Master of Corruption is taken to make Blood is Power and Corrosive Poison Cloud more potent for condition damage. Chilling Darkness is used to make Deathly Swarm and Death’s Charge provide damaging chills. Blood Magic provides the group with Vampiric Presence and gives you plenty of selfish sustain. It also allows you to take Quickening Thirst which will lower the cooldown of dagger offhand skills.
Lich Form is taken to cast Mark of Horror which will contribute a decent amount of extra bleeds passively due to jagged horrors being almost immortal in PvE. “Suffer!” is also taken to help maintain permanent chill. It can also be used to clear a single negative condition such as weakness from casting Corrosive Poison Cloud.
Raid Condition Build
This build is designed to maximise condition damage in a raid environment. It is built around the idea of fights lasting over several minutes so conditions can reach their maximum potential and continue to maintain that level for the majority of the fight. Also due to the design of the build it can even take the role of tank due to passive toughness from Flesh of the Master.
The idea behind the build is to maximise condition damage through the use of scepter and minions. Lich Form is take to summon jagged horrors which provide extra sources of bleeding. They are also partially immune to all damage so they stay alive for a long time especially with a bit of healing from the raid group. If they do die then they will proc Death Nova for some additional poison damage.
Curses is taken to boost condition damage and duration while using a scepter. Master of Corruption is taken to make Blood is Power and Corrosive Poison Cloud more potent for condition damage. Necromantic Corruption from Death Magic allows the self conditions from these abilities to be transferred via jagged horrors even if Deathly Swarm is not available. And regarding Blood Magic, Quickening Thirst is used to get lower cooldowns on dagger offhand. Vampiric Presence is just a nice damage and sustain increase for the group. Vampiric adds a lot of damage and sustain when you have over 10 minions alive.
To use the build you simply enter Lich Form and cast Mark of Horror immediately. Then leave Lich Form and use Blood is Power then Deathly Swarm. Then cast Grasping Dead followed by Corrosive Poison Cloud, Feast of Corruption, Tainted Shackles and finally Enfeebling Blood. Then continue to cast your condition damage skills on cooldown with the same priority order and scepter auto-attack in between. Always make sure you cast Deathly Swarm after Blood is Power and make sure you do not waste the transfer on negative conditions from Corrosive Poison cloud. You can also add Dark Path to the rotation if it is safe to do so. But positioning is important in raids so consider the timing of this skill carefully.
The dagger build is your standard maximum damage build for organised groups if you do not have access to Reaper. It is however quite reliant on your group’s ability to buff and support the Necromancer. Particularly concerning critical chance. The idea behind this build is to do as much damage as possible in a short time frame. Basically it is used for burst. Which in an organised group should be sufficient for the majority of boss fights currently in game.
The build focuses on maximising personal damage while using Lich Form for burst. And also providing the group with a small but beneficial DPS increase. This comes in the form of Vampiric Presence in Blood Magic. Which also helps the group sustain effectively. Making it much easier for the entire group to maintain their Scholar runes bonuses throughout a fight.
This build uses a standard dagger rotation for extended fights. However for optimal use in organised groups you will want to burst effectively. The standard method is to start the fight with Locust Swarm then swap to focus and cast Reaper’s Touch. Enter Death Shroud and cast Tainted Shackles then drop Well of Suffering followed by Well of Corruption and immediately enter Lich Form. Once in Lich Form you should spam Deathly Claws for as long as possible. If the fight lasts any longer then proceed to use dagger, wells and tainted shackles to finish.
For further optimisation you can pre-cast certain skills before getting into combat. In particular staff marks. If a boss starts off as allied before turning hostile then you can place your damaging marks underneath and then swap back to your regular weapons before being put into combat. Also if you know a fight is only going to last for a short duration you can pre-cast Locust swarm out of combat and swap to an offhand dagger before getting into combat. This provides you with Deathly Swarm as an extra damaging skill. If Reaper’s Touch fails to bounce then Deathly Swarm actually provides a greater damage increase than focus.
Death Shroud Build
The DS build is a build focused on the necromancers self reliance. It provides the Necromancer with high personal damage along with sufficient selfish self buffing to achieve maximum damage outside of an organised group. As the name suggests it revolves around camping Death Shroud. This build is ideal for casual pugging due to its ease of play and easily obtained maximum potential. The three specialisations used in this build are Spite, Death Magic and Soul Reaping.
For general use we want to start the fight with dagger plus warhorn, summon all minions and engage with Locust Swarm. This provides further life force generation after we enter Shroud because it continues to tick while in Shroud. After casting Locust Swarm we immediately swap to staff, drop both damaging wells and enter Shroud. In Shroud we cast Tainted Shackles and then spam Life Blast until we reach 50% life force. At this point we leave Shroud and swap to dagger to restore life force to repeat the rotation. Staff is used because it has a higher base weapon damage compared to one handed weapons. This makes Shroud skills do slightly more damage while wielding the staff.
In Spite the traits are fairly obvious. The minors all help with self buffing. Spiteful Talisman gives a small damage boost. Rending Shroud will provide plenty of vulnerability while camping Shroud. And Close to Death provides a huge damage boost.
Death Magic is chosen because it provides Deadly Strength which boosts your power based on your toughness. The line also provides us with plenty of ways to gain additional toughness which has synergy with this trait. We use Flesh of the Master and take several minions to boost our toughness. The minions also act as meat shields and make it easier to survive and stay in Shroud for longer. We also take Corrupter’s Fervor because simply staying in Shroud with this trait and Rending Shroud will provide us with a permanent 10 stacks. Which gives us 300 toughness to further boost our power. We can use Superior Sharpening Stones to further capitalise on this bonus toughness and convert it into power. However in situations where slaying potions are available they should be used instead.
Soul Reaping provides us with Unyielding Blast which further increases our vulnerability stacking capabilities. We also take Vital Persistence to extend the time we can camp Shroud. And then we take Death Perception to maximise our critical chance inside Shroud. We always want to leave Shroud and restore life force at 50% because of the Strength of Undeath minor. In some situations you may want to use Lich Form instead of a Flesh Golem due to Lich providing very high burst potential. In such cases you should swap Vital Persistence for Spectral Mastery to gain extended Lich Form duration.
Solo Condition Build
This build is focused around condition damage. Necromancers aren’t very good at condition damage compared to many other classes. And this is due to their poor access to high damaging conditions such as burn, confusion and poison. Condition Necromancers main source of condition damage is from bleeding. This particular build is designed for disorganised groups or solo content for this reason. In an organised group you are much better off going for a direct damage build when using the core Necromancer for most content.
The build is designed to be self reliant with condition damage. So spite is picked to take Signets of Suffering. Which provides the Necromancer with the ability to might stack very effectively. This is why most of the utility skills are also signets. In situations against multiple enemies Epidemic might be worth taking instead of Plague Signet. Spite also gives us access to Rending Shroud which provides us with Vulnerability. Flashing Death Shroud will proc this on nearby foes. But as a condition Necromancer you will also want to use Shroud to cast Tainted Shackles and Dark Path on foes. So Rending Shroud should get plenty of use and provide plenty of vulnerability. We can also take Spiteful Talisman for a small damage boost. But the alternative of Bitter Chill is also a very good choice because Dark Path will then apply vulnerability and further boost our condition damage.
To use this build you want to use a Scepter and dagger on both weapon sets. These can be split onto each set so you only need one of each weapon. But you may want extras for different sigil choices. The rotation involves using Grasping Dead, Feast of Corruption and Enfeebling Blood whenever they are available. The same should be done with Tainted Shackles and Dark Path to maximise bleed and torment stacks. If you are using an on swap sigil such as Sigil of Battle then you should swap between sets as much as possible. If you are not then you can simply use an alternative weapon of your choice in the second weapon set. For utility use you should cast signets, including the heal, whenever possible. Cast Blood is Power frequently but always make sure you have a transfer available after use. This can be either Plague Signet or Deathly Swarm.
Gear & Consumables
To gear the Necromancer in PvE you want to use a full set of offensive glass gear. This is because PvE is about knowing the encounters and using active defence and team support to avoid and mitigate damage. This means vitality, toughness and healing power are largely redundant stats for PvE. The main gear sets used in PvE are Berserker, Sinister and Vipers. And Valkyrie for fully optimised Reaper’s in organised groups that provide permanent fury, capped vulnerability and bonus precision from Banner of Discipline or Spotter.
Berserker is a direct damage set which has a main stat of power. This is the standard PvE gear most should use. Which makes it very good for classes and builds which lack a bit of critical chance. Valkyrie provides all the power and ferocity that Berserker does but trades precision for vitality. Precision is not needed on Reaper’s that take Decimate Defences or DS Necromancers that take Death Perception. For this reason Valkyrie gear is better in organised groups because you can then use Furious Maintenance Oil to boost your ferocity further and you should still be at 100% critical chance. This results in slightly higher DPS than Berserker with Toxic Sharpening Stones. If Slaying Potions are a possibility then they are still the best choice.
Sinister is a condition main stat set which also has some decent direct damage and Vipers is a new stat combo which has more power but less precision and condition damage than Sinister. However the extra condition duration and the higher power makes it a far superior choice to Sinister on condition builds up until the point where you have 100% bonus condition duration. After that point you should use Sinister.
For rune choice we primarily want Scholar runes for direct damage builds. They are flat out the best PvE runes in the game. But they do require you to maintain above 90% health to achieve that maximum damage. Even if you cannot maintain this bonus throughout the whole fight they are still a very strong choice for pure direct damage builds. Alternatively for the DS build you can also use Strength runes if you expect to lack might from your group. For solo and suboptimal groups when using condition builds Aristocracy runes are just perfect for the Necromancer. They help with might and also boost condition damage. For condition builds in decent groups you should use 5 Nightmare runes and 1 rune of Antitoxin.
As far as sigil choice goes you will want to prioritise flat damage boost sigils for direct damage builds. So for specific dungeons that would be slaying sigils along with night or force sigils. In night time dungeons you would use night and slaying or night and force. In daytime dungeons and fractals you may find yourself using Force and Air or Force and Frailty which gives bonus vulnerability. Generally speaking it’s safe to use Force and Air for your standard sigils for all content if you do not have extra weapons to spare. And a standard sigil every Necromancer will probably use at some point is the energy sigil. Due to the Necromancers lack of active defence this sigil is practically required in a lot of solo situations or more challenging encounters. Sigil of Strength is also a possible alternative in some situations to help with personal might generation. For condition builds your main choices are Sigil of Malice and Sigil of Earth. However Sigil of Bursting could also be a decent choice if you already have enough condition duration.
- Slice of Candied Dragon Roll – Provides precision and life steal on critical hit. Useful cheap food for builds that lack critical chance.
- Plate of Steak and Asparagus – Provides power and precision. Good all-round cheap food for any direct damage build.
- Experimental Remnants – Provides bonus damage while moving and swiftness on kill. This is the best cheap damaging food you can get for the Necromancer. But it is obtained through events in the Cursed Shore.
- Koi Cake – Provides condition duration and condition damage. This is what you want to use for condition builds.
- Bowl of Sweet and Spicy Beans – Provides condition duration and power. This is good for direct damage builds that want to help their party by stacking vulnerability more effectively.
- Fried Golden Dumplings – Provides boon duration and might on critical hit. This is very effective at self buffing with might. A good choice for soloing due to the might generation.
- Bowl of Sweet and Spicy Butternut Squash Soup – Provides power and ferocity. This is a very good food choice for direct damage builds when moving around a lot is not an option.
- Curry Butternut Squash Soup – Provides precision and ferocity. This is a very good food choice for builds that really lack critical chance.
- Bowl of Seaweed Salad – Provides bonus damage while moving and swiftness on kill. This is the absolute best food you can use on a direct damage Necromancer build.
- Slaying Potions – These provide bonus damage to certain enemy types. They will also reduce incoming damage from those types of enemies. Slaying potions are not available for every type of enemy. But where possible these should always be used as they are the best utility nourishment you can get. They are also very cheap. For more information about what Slaying Potions are relevant for each dungeon and encounter see gw2dungeons.net.
- Toxic Sharpening Stone – Provides bonus power and bonus condition duration. This is the best utility nourishment choice for direct damage builds when no Slaying Potions are available and you are not using Valkyrie gear. This would be a pretty standard choice for Raids and Fractals for most people.
- Furious Maintenance Oil – Provides bonus vitality and converts 10% vitality into ferocity. This is the best utility nourishment choice for direct damage builds when no Slaying Potions are available and if you are using a full set of Valkyrie gear. If you are not using Valkyrie gear then do not use this nourishment.
- Superior Sharpening Stone – Provides bonus power based on your toughness and vitality. This is a good relatively cheap utility nourishment choice for direct damage builds when there is no relevant slaying potion to choose from.
- Master Maintenance Oil – Provides bonus precision based on your toughness and vitality. This is another good utility nourishment choice for direct damage builds when there is no relevant slaying potion to choose from. It is more suitable for builds that lack critical chance.
- Toxic Focusing Crystal – Provides condition damage and condition duration. This nourishment is ideal for condition builds. But in some cases slaying potions may still be better even on condition builds, assuming the use of Sinister gear.
- Scale Venom – Provides a small chance to inflict weakness and vulnerability when you strike a foe. This is a good cheap nourishment choice for when you don’t have relevant slaying potions and you don’t want to use a more expensive alternative. A common choice for casual Fractal runs.
These consumables are not required. But they are helpful extras that might be worth taking along with you. They are all obtained from vendors found throughout the open world. For a full list of these consumables and where to obtain them see this guide. The following consumables are probably the most common and useful ones you might see players use.
- Harpy Feathers – Provides 3 second stealth on a 6 second recharge. This can be chained with other stealth consumables to allow for safe skipping past dangerous groups of mobs. Also blinds nearby foes which can place you in combat so be careful when using this for skipping.
- Order of Whispers Spy Kit – Provides 3 second stealth on a 60 second recharge. Very similar to Harpy Feathers except for the longer recharge. You can chain this with Harpy Feathers to obtain 9 seconds of stealth (Feathers > Spy Kit > Feathers).
- Ash Legion Spy Kit – Provides camouflage for 10 seconds on a 60 second recharge. Camouflage is a stealth, however moving will reveal you. This is useful for dropping aggro or standing on pressure plates in complete safety.
- Pot of Hylek Poison – Creates a bundle with 2 abilities which can be dropped and picked up again. The first ability gives you 10 seconds of swiftness on a 15 second recharge. The second ability destroys the bundle and places a poisonous cloud in the area. The first ability is very useful for classes with low access to swiftness.
- Fire Elemental Powder – Summons an Ember to fight for you for 5 minutes or until it dies. Once used it places a debuff on you which prevents you from using it again on that character for 30 minutes. The Ember provides a DPS boost and regular fire fields through its lava font attack. It can also be used as a temporary decoy much like any other pet.
- Ogre Pet Whistle – Summons on Ogre Pet to fight for you for 5 minutes or until it dies. Once used it places a debuff on you which prevents you from using it again on that character for 30 minutes. Much like the Ember it provides a small DPS increase and can be used as a decoy to take aggro. You can also use this item while knocked down and it will act as a stun break.
About the Author
Spoj is a member of Retaliate, a high end PvE guild for Guild Wars 2. Retaliate is a long time guild that has been involved in the speed clear scene from the very beginning. It is home to some of the best PvE players in the game. Considered one of the top speed clear guilds in Guild Wars 2 and host to a number of highly skilled solo players.
Spoj is one of the core long time members of Retaliate and has much experience on all classes in an organised PvE environment. But he also has a particular interest and passion for the Necromancer. He has been involved in a few records set by the guild in the past. And is currently involved in managing and approving records set submitted by the community on gw2dungeons.net. His main is the Necromancer and as such he is regarded as one of the go to people to answer any questions about the Necromancer in PvE.
Want to offer advice for the guide? Write to Spoj in game. Constructive criticism and fresh ideas are always welcome! Much of the knowledge in this guide has been developed from healthy discussion with many different types of people across the community. Special shout out to Sublimatio for his help with testing and build ideas. |
PVS (Provisioning Services) or MCS (Machine Creation Services, aka linked clones)? This is a long-standing debate that I’m hoping to have the time to address after Citrix Synergy. But I did appreciate this breakdown since I continue getting this question all the time: Should I choose PVS or MCS for my deployment?
Well, in our debate-obsessed culture (US Elections, Batman vs Superman, Captain America vs Iron Man… the list is endless), this one is heating up. In some ways- it’s like having to chose the less of multiple evils…
But in all honesty- how do you make the decision?
Well- of course it depends- but one thing you may want to consider first from Dan Feller’s recent blog- which bottleneck will you be experiencing?
In a nutshell- if your storage is awesome (super fast with good deduplication capability) but your network may not be… MCS is an easy win.
If you plan to deploy to the cloud- MCS is an easy win.
If you need it deployed quick for a POC- MCS is an easy win.
Considering the real network consumption to boot a VM is less than 300 MB, and that PVS makes diskless or near-diskless configurations possible…
PVS is still my reference standard, even for smaller environments. Here’s why:
- PVS has a proven track record and an ability to deploy a single image to multiple hypervisor pools. MCS struggles with requiring copies of the master VM to each storage. While this has gotten better, PVS is still epic in this regard.
- Networks have evolved and is barely ever a bottleneck that makes PVS struggle. Even a single 1Gbit connection can boot and maintain several hundred target VMs. Given that most VMs are operating at more than 10Gbit in the enterprise today and the load can be spread to multiple PVS servers… this factor barely exists any longer.
- PVS has always reduced IOPS requirements overall, but in the past 4 years has seriously jumped forward because of two things:
- Your .vhdx file is read and cached into RAM, so subsequent reads for target device requests come from RAM. This means you can scale nearly endlessly with virtually no IOPS impact from reading the base vDisk.
- Write Cache in RAM with Failover to Hard Disk, while the longest description ever is perhaps one of the single most epic bits of Citrix technology to be deployed in the past 10 years. Reducing the amount of storage IOPS for Write, which used to be almost 90% of the overall IOPS required for PVS targets is now lessened because the writes are cached in RAM and in some cases don’t even hit the disk at all!
- PVS makes a pod-based architecture viable, lowering downtimes significantly. With the right design, you can have an entire rack of servers go offline and your users won’t even know. You can design in ways that allows you to mix storage and hypervisor pools that MCS has trouble maintaining. So when I say it scales “better” I am rarely talking about quantity but operational quality. Of course, it all depends on good design but if you want to hear more about that, I’d love to discuss it!
- PVS prevents the SAN battle. Nearly every time I go into a deployment of XenDesktop the team managing the SAN storm into the conference room with a unified front ready to say ‘no.’ But I tell them we may not need them at all (local storage really is possible for PVS targets) or that our IOPS will be less than 1 per user… their shoulders drop down, they smile and tell me to have a nice day. And, I do. Because they said “yes”- because I’ve made their life easier.
- PVS can track versioning and rollback images with much more speed and efficiency than every other technology out there I have ever seen.
Now, does PVS represent a learning curve- absolutely, which is I think the other thing that needs to be further discussed. I continue to see bad practices out there… but first I want to hear from you: What experiences have you had between MCS and PVS, and what are your thoughts? What kind of questions do you have? Comment below!
But if you want my advice in most cases, subject to a whole bucket of ‘it depends’ here it is:
- POC with MCS
- Small deployments and cloud-based deployments with MCS
- Go to Production with PVS
- Put on your gloves and get ready for a fight
Good luck! Share this with your colleagues – I’d love to hear more from people before I start the Citrix Imaging topic in a few weeks! |
The Pride Mobility Products Corporation evolved from a preexisting family business in 1986 by focusing on the manufacturing of the lift chair. It was not until six years later the company extended its operations to include the scooters.
The Pride scooters offered an industry first with the models that was not just functional but offered sleek styling and options and accessories that was intended to meet the customers personal tastes and preferences. Continuing the be one of the industries leaders, the Jazzy was introduced. This patented power chair offered the most maneuverable, but yet stylish power chairs with the most natural feeling chair ever designed.
The next step taken by Pride Mobility Products Corporation was the introduction of Quantum Rehab. This division is dedicated to the clients that have the specialized and advanced rehab needs such as the bariatric mobility scooter. By combining the most advanced electronics with the Jazzy power bases and the most advanced rehab seating the next few years see the development of the Synergy Seating solutions, with the Synergy cushion line. The introduction of the the ultra-compact and light weight mobility products has been launched into a full line of the G0-Go Travel Scooter. The compact designs and innovative features make for easy transport. Continuing with the acquisition of the Silver Star Mobility, the division is solely dedicated to the vehicle lift systems that require little or no alteration of the vehicle. Pride Mobility Products has continued into it’s second decade with a commitment to the people it serves with a strong focus for the future of mobility products.
The Rally Scooter is available in the three or four wheel design. This is one of the most economical scooters of the Pride Mobility Line. With mag wheels, a front basket, adjustable tiller, and a recessed headlight, this scooter has a lot of style. The foldable, light weight 17” molded plastic seat with adjustable arms has the 8 position locking seat rotation and a 3 position height -adjustable seat position. You can even have your choice of either the candy apple red or the viper blue. With batteries and a one year IN-HOME parts and labor enhanced service the Pride Rally Scooter will help you to stay mobile.
Although the Pride Rally Scooters are visually striking they are more then just stylish. The sporty designs allows this scooter to become an extension of your unique personality and style. Engineered with Pride’s high standards and commitment of quality you are assured of the construction and durability of each scooter to be a dependable part of your life for a long time to come. The Owners Club is a cost-free on-line web talk message boards that allows you to interact with other Pride Scooter owners. The innovative design provides simple and fast disassembly for the convenient storage or easy transportation of the scooter. With the wide selection of accessories and the many options available from Pride Scooter’s there is one that is perfect for your special needs. |
We have just returned from Sweden where we had a great time at Zenta’s Kickoff 2017. We have listened, talked and discussed digitization and the technologies of the future. From Tesla’s self-driving cars to RISE utilizing different technologies to optimize industries, businesses, academies and the public sector, the future of innovation is incredible.
AI and machine learning have been buzzing topics for the past several years, and there is much more to come. We are nowhere near the point where they will take over the world, but we are all striving to find the perfect balance and best synergy between humans and automation to optimize outcomes.
If you want to learn more about the value of personalization you please contact us. |
Finally, a truly consumer available SSD for mixed workloads with the Samsung PM863a
The SATA 2.5-inch PM863a Solid State Drive (SSD) delivers robust performance and lower latency, along with a high level of QoS (Quality of Service) and enhanced reliability under mixed workloads.The PM863a is ideal for CDNs (content delivery networks), streaming or web server applications and cloud services.
PM863a with V-NAND technology for improved performance and stability
Samsung V-NAND technology enables the PM863a to provide a wide capacity up to 3.84 TB on the same footprint, as well as deliver better performance, endurance and power efficiency to provide all the essentials for 24/7 data center environments.
Robust performance in Read and Write in IOPs in the PM863a SSD
The PM863a shows outstanding random read/write speeds up to 97K/24K IOPS.It also delivers a strong IOPS consistency above 99% in random read, as well as superior performance in random write. IOPS consistency measured using FIO with queue depth 32.
IOPS Consistency (%) = (99.9% IOPS) / (Average IOPS) x 100
Lower TCO without sacrificing performance and stability
The PM863a boasts a better performance-to-power ratio than standard HDD. This high performance and better power efficiency reduce operating costs of data centers. The SATA 2.5-inch PM863a can replace HDD by using the existing infrastructure and is available in wide capacity options up to 3,840 GB, which can save server space. Total cost of ownership (TCO) can vary depending upon applications and conditions of the contract.
Increase data security in your data center with the Saumsung PM863a
The PM863a protects data with AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption.This encryption engine secures data without the performance degradation often experienced with software-based encryption.
Enhanced reliability and operational lifespan in the PM863a SSD series
The PM863a demonstrates a low probability of data corruption.End-to-end protection keeps data consistent along the entire data transfer path and Power Loss Protection safeguards data in the write cache in the event of power failure.The Dynamic Thermal Guard algorithm monitors the temperature of the SSD in order to prevent thermal shutdown.
Technology leader in innovation and long pedigree of ability
Samsung is a leading solution provider that designs and integrates critical components of the Solid State Drive in house.Because Samsung has intimate knowledge of every component and is a leader in V-NAND technology innovation, it can fine-tune each element and create perfect synergy.
Where to buy the Samsung Enterprise PM863a SSD Worldwide?
We are pleased to confirm that SPAN.COM have these units available, with worldwide cost effective shipping options as well as warranty support. You can pick up your PM863A SSD blow in capacities from 240GB to 3.84TB. If you need any further advice or are unsure which SSD best suits your needs, contact SPAN.COM now for FREE advice. |
My preferred, and favorite, photo-sharing site is SmugMug. The family-owned operation is long profitable by defying the Internet’s predominant axiom: Free. SmugMug relies on a solely subscription model, where customers pay, and, as such, doesn’t collect user information for profit nor are there annoying advertisements.
But for the longest time, I haven’t used SmugMug—for what may seem like the strangest of reasons: My art isn’t good enough. The service has matured into a collective of professional photographers, and I don’t feel comfortable keeping my images among theirs (although many of mine remain from the past). I grudgingly use Flickr instead. Instagram isn’t an option, for the same reasons I rebuke parent company, and data-collection whore, Facebook.
Some history: After pledging to abandon Flickr, in June 2016—and letting my site there lay follow for many, many months—I renewed Pro membership in September 2017 because of: the continued grandfathered benefits/price; possible revitalization under new owner Verizon; and something else. SmugMug sent email about tools for easily importing pics from a number of photo-sharing services, including Flickr. That inspired me to use the community-oriented photo-sharer once more, starting with my “Cats of University Heights” series. Reasoning and aspiration: Someday, after my art improved, I would return to SmugMug.
What a strange turn of events: SmugMug has come to me, and perhaps you. Three days ago, April 20, 2018, the smaller service announced that it had acquired Flickr from Verizon for an undisclosed sum. While I think that’s long-term good for Flickr, I worry that family-run SmugMug may have taken on too much, from the initial buyout price to ongoing maintenance costs. Split-focus, and resources, also presents challenges and risks SmugMug’s ability to continue doing well what appeals so much to paying photographic professionals.
Personal trepidation aside, however, Flickr surely can’t be worse off; if not for community, the service would have perished long ago. Meanwhile, SmugMug greatly expands its number of users—granted many of them freeloaders—obtains the framework for social photo-sharing, and increases brand visibility. There is synergy aplenty, on both sides, but, to reiterate, also much attached risk. SmugMug’s core competency isn’t photography but paid photography and providing professionals tools by which they can showcase their portfolios and sell art from them.
As someone with depositories at both services, the acquisition is a best-of-both opportunity. Already, as the FAQ explains, propagation is planned: “Over time, we’ll be migrating Flickr onto SmugMug’s technology infrastructure, and your Flickr photos will move as a part of this migration—but the photos themselves will remain on Flickr”. Hehe, that works for me, while I improve my skills. I started the cat series mainly for photography practice, and the project has helped to better hone my sense of composition.
Recently, I started shooting with Leica M10—and I partially blame Steve Huff for the decision. While conceptually the camera is seemingly beyond my current capabilities, I find that the rangefinder better suits my shooting style than any other mirrorless or dSLR. I tend to take one photo—two, three, or four, occasionally—to capture the moment, rather than snap bazillions and afterwards sift through throwaways for the keeper.
Composition, or recomposing post-production, is my priority. I don’t want to spend much, if any, time editing with software. The image is either good enough, as my eye sees, or can be made that way from the RAW with a few tweaks. I also only use natural light; no flash, no filters. Coupled with the precision of manual focus, the M10 looks to be a satisfying, though pricey, fit. I love it, after a few weeks use.
As my middle-age years progress, and my disgust with the state of the Fourth Estate increases, I am transitioning from news writing to photojournalism and storytelling as hobby and, hopefully, source of income. As part of that process, I contemplate ending my long-time practice of posting photos with Creative Commons non-commercial use license. Freely available photos are available in abundance across the Internet, if for no other reason than Facebook and Instagram. I may soon go All Rights Reserved. No decision is made yet.
I wish the MacAskill family the very best bringing together the two photo-sharing services. I look forward to our future together, and surely do many other photographers, whether amateur or pro. The best rewards result from risks, and SmugMug takes them on with the acquisition.
For an excellent analysis-commentary, I highly recommend Thomas Hawk’s “thoughts on the SmugMug-Flickr acquisition“. Oh and: My Flickr and SmugMug. For some back-history: My Feb. 1, 2006 story about SmugMug. |
The Titans of Mavericks surfing competition at Half Moon Bay got the HBO treatment last week on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
The segment included incredible visuals of the waves that make the contest a thing of legend.
“Mavericks is … scary as hell. It’s like running 100 yards as hard as you can, looking over a four-story building and jumping off,” surfer Jamie Mitchell describes the event that no one should realistically ever want to do.
PANDA TO THE BENCH
Some fans groaned when the Giants front office allowed fan-favorite Pablo Sandoval to walk in free agency.
That was November 2014.
On Thursday, the Boston Red Sox confirmed they are backing away from their expensive investment by benching the hitter formerly known as Panda.
“I’m happy with the decision,” Sandoval said to reporters, according to WEEI. “They made the decision. It’s the right decision to help the team win. I’m going to be happy.”
Happiness is easier to achieve when making $17 million a year.
IF YOU SAY SO …
The Cleveland Cavaliers prefer their grapes sour when it comes to the outcome of last year’s NBA Finals, in which two of their best players couldn’t play due to injury.
One of those players, Kyrie Irving, told Cleveland.com Thursday that the Cavs were “still the team to beat.” When asked if he meant just in the Eastern Conference, Irving refused to take the out and said, “I feel like we’re the team to beat. Honestly it’s open season until we get into the playoffs.”
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) April 1, 2016
Meanwhile, the real team to beat pranked Festus Ezeli by making him think he was released in a promotional video for Lyft, a true moment of Bay Area synergy.
WANTING TO JET OUT OF TOWN
In a sign the Rockets are far from locked in and pushing for a playoff spot, Jason Terry confirmed to Fox 26 Houston on Thursday that he interviewed for the position of head coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The opening arose when Stanford hired Jerod Haase away from the Blazers bench.
Terry’s current team is a half-game behind the Jazz for a chance to play the Warriors in the first round, so it’s a good enough time to call it a season for an otherwise talented team that surrenders early and often. |
Ultra lightweight construction is not simply a mandatory task at Audi, rather it is an attitude and a mode of thinking – for many years now it has been one of the brand’s core competences. As early as 1994, Audi pioneered the use of aluminum as a body material: The first A8 was the first production sedan to have a full aluminum body in Audi Space Frame (ASF) technology. In today’s range of models, the A8 and R8 car bodies are built entirely of aluminum according to the ASF principle, the sole exception being the steel B-pillars of the large sedan. In the TT series, the lightweight metal makes up about two-thirds of the body superstructures, while the figure is about 20 percent aluminum for the A6 model series. In the future, each new Audi model will be lighter in weight than the previous model.
The Audi ultra lightweight construction principle is not limited to the body or to specific subassemblies and parts – developers always consider the vehicle as a whole, and in their work every gram counts. In the new A3, they were able to reduce the car’s curb weight by up to 80 kg (176.37 lb) compared to the previous model, reversing the upward weight spiral on a second model after reducing the weight of the A6.
This achievement is especially noteworthy for two reasons: due to the vehicle’s compact size and because it is accompanied by improved vehicle qualities. The new A3 is sportier, safer and even better equipped than the previous model.
The Group’s new modular transverse platform (MQB) and the Audi ultra lightweight construction principle achieve a clear synergy. For one, the modular transverse platform includes many new and lightweight components, and for another it reduces development and production costs by standardization. This has made it possible for the brand with the four rings to invest in new lightweight construction technologies, materials and components more than ever before – extending its competitive lead.
Body developers at Audi have broad-based engineering expertise spanning all relevant materials. By no means is this know-how limited to just a specific material, rather the motto is: “The right material at the right place for optimal function.” The multimaterial body of the Audi A3 lives up to this maxim.
Forming the backbone of the occupant cell are what are known as form-hardened steels. An extreme temperature change during forming operations gives these steels extremely high strength; the parts can be designed with relatively thin walls, making them lightweight. Form-hardened steels represent a 26 percent share of body materials. They are used in the transition from the front of the vehicle to the occupant cell, in the A-pillars, B-pillars, roof arch, center tunnel, side sills and floor panels. Altogether, they lower the car’s weight by 18 kg
(39.68 lb). In total, the occupant cell is 25 kg (55.12 lb) lighter than in the previous model.
High-strength and ultra-high-strength steel grades are used in many other body areas, such as the floor; some of these components are known as tailored blanks, which are blanks whose thickness varies within their component geometry. Large parts at the front of the vehicle are made of aluminum – including the engine hood and fenders which were made 7 kg (15.43 lb) and 2.2 kg (4.85 lb) lighter in weight, respectively. An aluminum profile behind the front apron serves as a crash absorber; it saves 1.5 kg (3.31 lb). Weight reduction in the front body section leads to a more balanced distribution of axle loads – A3 drivers experience this in the car’s sporty handling.
Processing aluminum components in body construction and joining these components with steel components are challenging tasks. The same is true of welding form-hardened components, which are coated with a corrosion-inhibiting aluminum-silicon alloy. Here, Audi benefits from its know-how in ultra-lightweight construction – in models like the TT, such joining technologies have been practice-proven for years now.
The body of the Audi A3 exhibits yet other strengths. It is extremely crash-resistant, rigid and acoustically comfortable. A noise-insulating windshield is standard equipment; despite the addition of an intermediate film layer, it is no heavier than the previous windshield. Many other measures have been implemented to reduce interior noise in the new A3, including wheel housing shells made of an acoustically insulating fleece material – its weight impact is 0.5 kg (1.10 lb).
Engines and chassis
The engines of the new A3 have shed a lot of weight as well. The 1.8 TFSI, for example, weighs just a little over 140 kg (308.65 lb), while the 1.4 TFSI weighs in at just 107 kg (235.89 lb) – 21 kg (46.30 lb) less than the previous engine. At 15 kg (33.07 lb), the aluminum crankcase accounts for a large share of reductions, but progress has also been made in many small engine details – e.g. in the aluminum pistons and hollow bored connecting rod pins.
In the 1.8 TFSI, the thin-wall technology of the crankcase reduces weight by 2.4 kg (5.29 lb). In the 2.0 TDI, the balancer shafts are mounted in the engine block, which accounts for 3.0 kg (6.61 lb) of savings, while modified sound dampers in the exhaust system save an additional 2.0 kg (4.41 lb). The exhaust system was made leaner in all engine versions.
In the chassis area, the new one-piece aluminum subframe and aluminum swivel hubs (depending on the engine) reduced weight by about 6.0 kg (13.23 lb). The optional 18-inch alloy wheels are no heavier than the 17-inch wheels; they are produced by a complex flow-forming technology. In this process, the rim well is rolled out over a cylinder under high pressure and at high temperature. The production system forms the wheel blank in a single work step that strengthens the material as well, permitting thinner walls – each wheel is 0.8 kg (1.76 lb) lighter and yet stronger.
The Audi ultra lightweight construction principle is a mode of working that is lived by its engineers – and they also eliminated every superfluous gram in the interior of the new A3. The redesigned seats contribute a 4.0 kg (8.82 lb) weight savings; lightweight plastic inserts replace the previously used steel wire in the frame of the rear bench seat.
A new layout of electronic control modules eliminated a number of wire harnesses, reducing wiring weight by 1.5 kg (3.31 lb). The blower motor needed fewer coils, and the entire air conditioning system is 4.0 kg (8.82 lb) lighter. The front passenger airbag housing is made of plastic, and the bracket of the MMI monitor is magnesium. Together they yield a weight savings of 640 grams (1.41 lb). On the previous model, interior trim panels were fastened with steel screws; in the new A3, plastic expanding rivets are used for this purpose – the weight savings is 4 grams (0.14 ounce) per fastening point. When it comes to the Audi ultra lightweight construction principle, every gram counts.
The equipment, data, and prices specified refer to the model range offered in Germany. Subject to change without notice; errors and omissions excepted. |
I’m incredibly chuffed to announce that as of today, we’ve opened a subsidiary company Cambridge, UK. This has been a while in the making, and is a huge step for us. We consider this step to be the optimal solution to the growing and changing demands on our business:
- Our customer base in the UK is growing. We’ve always operated internationally, but after the Netherlands, the UK has been the place we have been most active in. By opening an office here, we will be able to serve local demands much, much better.
- Requests for development consultancy have been growing. While we primarily offer quality assurance services, our skillset includes specialization in mobile software development, high scalability server architecture and process consulting, and increasingly customers have asked for our help in these areas. By starting a new business unit dedicated to these services, we’re improving our focus, and will be able to pursue these activities with the dedication they deserve.
- Synergy is not just a buzzword. When we previously spoke to customers about QA or development services, we did so in isolation, because we were thinking of ourselves as “a QA company that can do development”. Ironically, by giving full credit to each part separately, we’re in a much better position to offer the combined package to our customers.
You can reach the Cambridge office straight away on +44 (0) 1223 853863, or send an email to [email protected]. Our office/postal address is:
3 Charles Babbage Road |
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are your sword and shield in the battle against your competitors in the market. As the competition gets more and more cutthroat, your product’s success depends on your analytical approach towards the statistics. Gathering the numbers and determining your KPIs, analyzing the results – this is your path to developing wise strategies.
DNA325 presents 4 KPIs You Definitely Should Take Into Consideration
There is a countless amount of KPIs that fit one product or another. So, it is up to you to determine which KPIs you should calculate on a constant basis.
Overall, KPIs can be divided into four main types: percentages, rates, averages, and ratios. All of these are important to be included in your roaster of KPIs.
Yet, there are some KPIs that are applicable to any product, be it a website, a mobile app or a web-based application.
1. Revenue Per User
RPU is one of the most important metrics when it comes to evaluating the financial success of your product. It is determined as total revenue divided by the number of users. Total revenue may include in-app purchases, revenues from built-in ads, etc.
2. Retention Rate
This indicator allows you to evaluate the level of satisfaction with your product. It is common to calculate Retention Rate Day X, where X is the number of days. For example, Retention Rate Day 7 will give a percentage of users that came back to using your product at least once in 7 days. It is also possible to calculate Retention Rate Day 14, 30, 90.
These indicators help you determine the scale of using your product in different periods of time:
- Daily Active Users – the number of unique users that used your product during one day;
- Weekly Active Users – the number of unique users that used your product during one week;
- Monthly Active Users – the number of unique users that used your product during one month.
All these indicators should increase as your product grows. Your task is to make sure it happens as the time goes on.
4. Conversion Rate
This is one of the basic indicators that help any business develop and polish its marketing strategy. Conversion Rate can be determined for all the steps that it takes for a common passer-by to become a regular user.
4 Painless Steps Of Measuring KPIs
So, how can analytical apps help you measure dozens or, perhaps, even hundreds of KPIs? It takes four plain yet comprehensive steps.
Step 1. Gathering Data
If you decide to calculate KPIs yourself, this must be the trickiest part of the process for you. Analytical apps allow you to lean back and invest your time into enhancing your business. Applications accumulate the required data through being integrated with all the IT sources of your company. These may include your website, software and the product itself. The integration process is seamless, so there’s no need to worry about potential losses. One more advantage of analytical apps is that gathering data can be scheduled. The schedule can be custom, it could be daily or weekly or even every 3 hours – it all depends on your company’s needs in calculating KPIs.
Step 2. Structuring Data
All the gathered data must be stored somewhere, obviously. Applications don’t just store the data – they divide different indicators into various clusters. This allows you to find related indicators easily as ever. From now on, you don’t need to know the precise name of the indicator to get raw data based on a specific parameter that interests you, be it the number of users every day, the duration of using your product, etc.
Step 3. Calculating KPIs
Once you’ve chosen the KPIs that you need to determine your product’s performance, let the app do all the calculations. All that can be required from you is to set the formulas for calculating custom KPIs. After you’ve done that, the calculations are done automatically.
Step 4. Visualization
KPIs are worth nothing unless they are visualized. Visualization is the tool that makes KPIs easily understandable for everyone, from CEOs to marketing interns. Besides, the visualized data is your weapon of choice when presenting your product and its success to potential investors and it could even be displayed on your company’s website.
The best visualization tools can be recognized by the following features:
- Interactivity: analytic applications allow you customize charts depending on your needs. For example, sometimes you need to see the big picture, and, sometimes, you need to dive into details and see the correlations with other indicators. All of this allows you to find connections where you would have never thought of, as well as present the data in the most comprehensive way.
- Powerful Simplicity: visuals that you are provided with should be simple yet powerful. That means that there shouldn’t be any excessive visual elements that get in the way of understanding the main trend represented by the chart. Besides, too many colors can be annoying, can’t they? The key to this powerful simplicity is also embodied in the app’s interactivity: the more you can adjust the visual elements of charts, the better.
- Intuitive Interface: this is a must for any application, of course. Yet, it is vital for analytic applications as you should be able to use the app with no special training. And using the app means not only customizing charts that you get as the result but also filtering data that is gathered and managing settings.
The Bottom Line
Analytic apps can become a powerful tool for calculating and analyzing KPIs. But for that to be true, not only the app must be interactive and intuitive to use, you should know what to analyze and what KPIs are crucial to your business as well. This synergy is definitely worth striving for. Nothing speaks louder than numbers.
Author: Petro Borysov |
Citrix Summit in Los Angeles will provide a strategic view of the powerful mobile workstyles movement and its enabling technologies – cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization. Summit will give you a first look at what’s new and exciting today, what’s on the horizon and what it all means for your customers and your business.
Mobility leads the Summit agenda
Here are top reasons why Summit is the best place to gain the skills, knowledge, best practices and tools you need to enter the fast-growing mobile workstyles sector and expand your current offerings:
- Learn to lead. Get trained in the latest Citrix solutions so you can advise customers on initiatives such as bring-your-own-device (BYOD), executive mobility, remote collaboration and data sharing.
- Discover the latest technologies. Summit will present a broad range of new technologies that enable mobile workstyles, including, Citrix XenMobile MDM and CloudGateway for mobile device management and Citrix ShareFile for secure data sharing,allowing users to access any app from any device, giving them the freedom to experience work and life their way.
- Expand your skills. You can add mobility-related skills and certifications to your portfolio by attending hands-on labs and taking a Citrix certification exam on site. TechEdge sessions offer practical troubleshooting guidance and methodologies.
- Compete using new resources. The Partner Solutions Center will bring together marketing and sales tools, materials and innovative programs and provide opportunities to talk directly with Citrix subject matter experts.
Stay for Synergy
Your Summit registration includes admission to Citrix Synergy, where you can add value by visiting the Solutions Expo of products and services, trying out new technologies on mobile devices at the Solutions Demo Sandbox and participating in Lunch Table Tech Chats on mobility and other timely subjects.
Make your move
Mobile workstyle solutions represent a major opportunity to expand your business scope and help answer customer demands for flexible, yet secure work scenarios. Get the targeted strategies, solutions and skills you need at Summit.
We look forward to see you at Citrix Summit in Los Angeles! |
|Alias:||Cowboy, Horsey, Yellow Man, Scary Yellow Man, The Yellow Scary Man, Señor Cheese, Horsey Man, Spirit, Buddy, Little Buddy, Little Bro, Brother, Baby, Master Cheese, Man, Ol' Buddy, Pal, Brainsucker, The Brainsucker, Foul Alien|
|First appearance:||"Mac Daddy"|
|Voiced by:||Candi Milo (English)|
Cheese is an imaginary friend from the Cartoon Network television series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends who is voiced by Candi Milo. He made his first appearance in the episode "Mac Daddy." Cheese is known for often repeating words in quick succession, screaming, whining, or making loud noises. One of his most famous quotes is "I like chocolate milk", which he is ironically allergic to.
He is light yellow in color and somewhat human in physical structure in that he has a head, a torso, two arms, two legs, but with a disc-shaped head reminiscent of Pac-Man. His head is very large in proportion to his body, his left foot appears to be backwards when standing still whether he is screaming, moaning or laughing. When not paying attention to anything, his eyes are either crossed or looking in two different directions. His pupils are red in color, and one pupil is slightly larger than the other. When he talks, his mouth opens in two different ways: the way the mouth of everyone else in the show does or like a can lid opening.
He was imagined by Mac's next-door neighbor, Louise, but his debut episode was centered around the inaccurate belief that he had been imagined by Mac. He has an assortment of disorders including gingivitis.
Cheese is usually portrayed as not very intelligent, as he gets confused a lot of the time, and doesn't pay attention or listen to others. Due to this, most characters find him to be a nuisance. He often gives inconsistent information, such as asking for chocolate milk, but then turning around and wanting a smoothie. He also does not seem to understand when other characters tell him that he does not live at Foster's, or when they tell him to go home. Simply put, Cheese seems to be incapable to processing simple information.
However, Cheese may be smarter than he appears. In "The Big Cheese," Cheese is capable of constantly entering the house in some way, he memorizes the code to the security system based on the sound tones despite only hearing the code once, and he knew how to disable the new security system right after Frankie armed it.
Cheese likes a lot of things, including chocolate milk, potatoes, candies, games, and cereal. He also enjoys repeating the names of these items to everyone he meets. It is debatable that his catchphrase is "I like chocolate milk," as Cheese has uttered this phrase in all of his appearances on the show except for "Cheese A Go-Go" and "Goodbye to Bloo" .
Cheese calls pretty much all liquids chocolate milk, so it can get confusing when he's asking for some drink other than chocolate milk. Another of his catchphrases could be his sucking in of breath followed by a deadpan "Okay." He is also known to sometimes announce "I pooted." Also, he is easily frightened by common objects such as cake, spiders, not having a spoon, and other assorted oddities.
Whenever frustrated or frightened, he screams at ear-piercing tones as in seen "Mac Daddy" when he, Bloo, and Mac went down a giant slope on a go-cart. Despite him loving chocolate milk, he (according to Mac) is lactose intolerant, and is therefore not allowed to have it.
- I like chocolate milk
- I like cereal!
- I like games.
- 'Nother Game!
- Gotta Go! Gotta Go! Gotta Go! Gotta Go! Gotta Go! Gotta Go!
- I'm a cowboy!
- Hi, doggies!
- I pooted!
- I have scurvy!
- I have gingivitis!
- I have athlete's foot!
- I'm a lady!
- NOW WE'RE BROTHER LADIES!
- Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (Gasp) Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- Quiet Doggie!
- Beep-bop-boop (he sings these words as lyrics to the tune of the song Mr. Herriman was typing onto the lock)
- Bye lady, lady bye, bye, bye lady!
- Okay, bye Doggies
- I FOUND A CARROT!!!!!
- I like fishy cracklers!
- I like this game!
- Candy candy candy candy candy....candy!
- Candy is broken!
- (inhales) Okay.
- Noooo! *Chocolate* milllllllk!
- HERE'S MY HORSE! *makes noises while he walks the horse on Bloo's head*
Cheese debuted in "Mac Daddy", where Mac believes to have created him. When Mac leaves Cheese with Bloo, Bloo locks him up in the closet, but he somehow escapes. After Bloo looks for him, Mac reveals that Louise was actually the one that created Cheese--Louise explained that Cheese gets out sometimes and that he just made his way into Mac's apartment during the night, to Bloo's relief.
Cheese made a cameo in "The Big Picture" floating down the river of chocolate milk in Goo's imagination.
Cheese next appeared in "Infernal Slumber," visiting a slumber party organized by Bloo at Mac's apartment on a school night, and when Terrence wakes up to tell his and Mac's mother about what is going on, Cheese jumps onto his face and tells him "Quiet, doggy! Shhhhhhhh!"
Cheese's next appearance was in "The Big Cheese", where, after constantly visiting Foster's and annoying the inhabitants while they are preparing for a news story, Mr Herriman decides to install a security system to keep Cheese out. However, Mr Herriman inputs the code at random with his back turned, meaning that when he later invites the entire house outside the test the system, they are all locked out, and the only one who knows the code is Cheese, who has memorised the code as a song. Goo eventually manages to coax the code out of Cheese, but in the process of doing so, the entire house is left in ruins, just as the news crew arrive. Frankie manages to turn the broadcast around and uses it to ask for charity. It works, and Foster's gets a new, top-of-the-line security system. Cheese then sets the system to 'unarmed' and enters the house, to Frankie's annoyance.
Cheese also appeared in a re-imagining of "The Big Cheese", known as "The Little Peas". Peas tries to warn Frankie that Cheese is still in the house, when the door is locked, with him being the only imaginary friend still inside. While he fails to open the front doors, when he gets outside, he convinces Frankie to turn the broadcast around and use it to ask for charity.
His next episode was "Cheese A Go-Go," which was part of the Cartoon Network Invaded programming stunt in May 2007. Bloo thinks Cheese, saying "Gotta go..." ad nauseum through the episode, is an alien as seen from a tabloid magazine. In the last few moments of the episode, a voice from what seems to be an alien contacting Earth says 'Cheese' over and over. This leads people to believe that Cheese is possibly an alien. In the following episodes of the micro series, which spread across several Cartoon Network shows, it was shown that the aliens misunderstood Bloo and believed he meant that actual cheese was on Earth.
In the series finale, "Goodbye To Bloo", Cheese moves into Foster's, as Mac moves to Louise's apartment. Because the new residence Louise will live in doesn't allow imaginary friends, Cheese becomes a resident of Foster's, arriving by announcing "Now we're brother roomies!." All the Foster's residents scream in horror. As Wilt screams "I'm sorry, but this is not okay!," the opening animation used through the series is run in reverse, and Cheese gets the last word in by saying to the viewers "Okay, bye doggies!"
- Photographic Memory - Can remember long series of numbers as shown in The Big Cheese.
- Enhanced Flexibility - Can bend and stretch easier than the average person.
- Disease Survivability- Can survive the variety of diseases that he has.
- Enhanced Strength - Despite his feeble looking appearance, while it was not shown, Cheese apparently has a great amount of strength as he broke through a door that was locked by Bloo.
- Mac Daddy
- The Big Picture (Cameo)
- Infernal Slumber
- The Big Cheese
- The Little Peas
- Cheese A Go-Go
- Goodbye to Bloo
- Cheese's voice actor is Candi Milo in the series, but in Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion and the XL version, it is Tara Strong (who voiced Terrence). He is an assist character in the game who screams loudly to do damage to enemies. In the XL version, he teams up with Billy and Mandy as their synergy partner. When Billy and Mandy perform their synergy attack, Cheese and Billy scream loudly to do damage to any opponents within range (and they can move around when they do it).
- Cheese has a liking for go-karts as seen in "Mac Daddy," and in the video game for Game Boy Advance, a level consists of finding parts for a Cheese go-cart.
- Cheese's head-mesh and smile bears quite a resemblance to that of Otto Osworth's from Time Squad.
- Cheese is featured in three Cartoon Network games, Cheese Quest, Wheeeee, and Utter Nonsense.
- Despite Mac stating that Cheese is lactose intolerant, he never showed symptoms whatsoever upon drinking chocolate milk.
- Cheese briefly lives at Foster's in his first appearance "Mac Daddy", and perminately moves in at the end of "Goodbye to Bloo". But in the video games, he is shown to already live at Foster's.
- Cheese was absent in Season 3.
- His golden trading card statistics in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Leapster game are:
- Is NOT good to have at secret slumber parties.
- Likes tinfoil braces.
- Likes juice
- Was created by Louise
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
|Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends|
|Characters|| Main Characters • Secondary Characters|
Mac • Bloo • Frankie • Madame Foster • Goo • Wilt • Coco • Eduardo • Mr. Herriman • Cheese
|Media||Episodes and DVD releases|
|Movies/Specials|| House of Bloo's • A Lost Claus • Good Wilt Hunting • Cheese a Go-Go •|
Nightmare on Wilson Way • Race for Your Life Mac & Bloo •
Destination Imagination • Goodbye to Bloo
|Games||Big Fat Awesome House Party • Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends • Imagination Invaders|
|Creators||Craig McCracken • Lauren Faust| |
Taylors retain UKPN contract for a second term
Taylor Technology Systems (TTS) have successfully retained their contract with UKPN for a further 8 years, following successful delivery for the past 5 years.
The contract places TTS responsible for the Installation of security systems across the UK Power Network estate, including 300+ operational sites with the addition of 80 new facility sites. To fulfil the contract requires the design, supply and installation of requisite infrastructure throughout the site’s to enable the installation of PIDS, IDS, CCTV, Automatic Access Control Systems, Lighting, Auditable Challenges Systems together with the overarching systems integration.
In addition TTS are responsible for planned preventative maintenance (PPM) this includes commitment for the provision of an emergency call out (reactive maintenance) service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and UKPN recognised TTS’s track history over the past 5 years of 100% on time response rate to call outs.
Through the tendering process UKPN acknowledged the proven track record of quality workmanship, the ability to deliver timely responses and confidence in their ability to provide highly trained, specialist teams able to work on Critical National Infrastructure sites, including engineers trained to a high standard in synergy synthetics, confined space and working at height.
Demonstration of TTS’s extensive breath of partners and accreditation from national industry bodies, in particular NSI Gold, critically supported the bid through the tendering process against strong competition.
“We are delighted to have retained our contract with UKPN for a further 8 years and I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the Taylors team for their continuous dedication to quality and standards which played a huge part in the awarding of the new contract” Mark Taylor, Managing Director, TTS |
Meet Our Talent
Put together the flying abilities of Superman, the geeky tech gadgets of Batman and the mind-reading abilities of Charles Xavier, and what do you have?
The greatest superhero of all time?
Definitely, and you’d also have the collective talent team here at Revere Advertising.
Ok, well maybe we don’t actually have those superpowers… yet, but when it comes to the field of digital marketing, this teams combined capabilities and accomplishments give us the ability to get you superhero results, and have fun in the process.
In my previous life, I was a lawyer. I’ve now been in the digital advertising world for the last 3 years starting with an Account Management role at Facebook in New Zealand. I then went on to start my own boutique agency serving the heart-centered information space and the Wellness Industry.
I’m married to a wonderful man and together we love to travel the world and our adventures take us deep into the mountains and the oceans. We love to surf, climb, mountain bike, and hike in our free time.
I love the fast-paced, ever-changing digital marketing world. I love strategy, I love the synergy between the creative and technical. I love working with a smart team and helping businesses get their incredible business messages out to the world.
I love writing copy and understanding how to serve the needs and wants of my audience.
The thing that lights me up the most in life is connecting with people.
I am so excited to work with such a creative, brilliant team here at Revere Advertising and to work on so many amazing clients whose message I feel passionately about sharing with the world.
I’ve been building things since I was a kid—from an educational nonprofit to a graphic novel publishing company to a video marketing business—all before I knew what marketing really was. By the time I finally found out, I was already hooked on the energy, unique narratives, and power of analytics that drive modern marketing. In June of 2017, I graduated from Princeton University—a “recovering” history major, mercifully allowed to write my senior thesis on something completely unrelated to European Intellectual Revolutions — A Genealogy of Human to Human Marketing.
I’ve had the great pleasure of working on the marketing team at Digital Marketer in Austin under Ryan Deiss and Molly Pittman, as well as at Zynga, leading a team of interns to solve Zynga.Org’s concerns about charitable donations through mobile apps. And now, I am thrilled to join the team at Revere.
Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, strategy games, and the passive consumption of podcasts and music (Spotify tells me I listened to over 29,000 minutes of music last year.) Things that currently fascinate me in marketing include, but are not limited to: • Dark Social • Chatbots • Cause Marketing • And Outwitting Facebook’s Algorithm
I am an Account Manager specializing in Facebook Pay-Per-Click Advertising where I create advertising campaigns for accounts and work with the creative team to create eye catching ads with positive messages for advertisers.
My studies include both Journalism and Media Management at Marywood University where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Communications. Continuing education is an important component of staying relevant in the digital marketing world and working at Revere Advertising has been an education in its own right.
I am recently married to the woman of my dreams and we just bought our first house (which was a two year journey). I volunteer with a several non-profits which benefits various causes such as the local Boys and Girls Club plus service projects throughout the year. My love of reading and learning goes right back to the education part of the job as there is something new to learn everyday and we have the resources and ambition to learn at Revere Advertising.
I cannot recall a time where I wasn’t in love with online marketing. My journey into the marketing world started when I acquired my first Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a double major in Marketing and Finance.
I later earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Tampa followed by a Masters of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Wales. I’ve accumulated more than 5 years of professional experience in the Digital Marketing field.
In my free time, I like to play ping pong, salsa dancing and reading about new technologies. I consider myself very lucky to be part of this great team here at Revere Advertising.
I am a passionate graphic designer specializing in web design and print media. I have been in the designing world for eight years and I am still very dedicated to learning more designing techniques and how to convert features into benefits for achieving client objectives. I am a Fine Arts graduate in my university majoring in Advertising Arts which is where I developed more as an artist. In my spare time, I love spending time with my daughter, who means the world to me. I am also fond of binge watching television series, cooking and sketching. I am very proud and blessed to be part of Revere Advertising that practically lets me learn and explore new techniques in every project.
I’m a writer and editor living in Minneapolis, MN, with my husband and two daughters. The thing that lights me up about writing for clients is when I can capture their voice — the things they’d say, the way they’d say them, the things they wanted to say but weren’t quite sure how — in a way that makes them feel super excited and proud of the work they’re doing in the world.
When I’m not writing copy for clients, I write a lot of creative nonfiction and am set to finish up a manuscript in 2018. I hang out with my kiddos and play the ukulele and make tasty food. Also laundry. We do a lot of that.
We love to travel and show our girls the wide world. In the winter, we ski and sled and pretend we’re not freezing our buns off, and the rest of the year, we love to hike and camp and let the girls get all muddy and tree-branchy in the woods. We live in a small house with an even smaller house in the backyard that we just built and that is super cool. If you ever want to stay there when you’re visiting Minneapolis, you can.
Prior to venturing into business for myself I was the Director of SEM at Pepperjam (now an ebay company) where I managed multi-million dollar advertising budgets. Before Pepperjam I worked for Solid Cactus (now a web.com company) as the General Manager of Online Advertising where I spearheaded the online advertising division for one of the largest Yahoo store development companies. During my time at Pepperjam and Solid Cactus, I helped both companies achieve the Inc. 500 recognition.
I’ve managed paid ad campaigns for top brands like Amazon, DKNY, Everlast, Frigidaire, Shoes.com, Bidz.com, University of Pennsylvania, and LIVESTRONG, and now here at Revere Advertising we help industry leaders leverage the power of paid media.
I regularly attends top industry conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, SMX, Affiliate Summit, Internet Retailer, Traffic & Conversion Summit, SEOmoz, ad:tech and more, where I meet and collaborate with brilliant minds and other superheroes in the marketing industry, and stay on top of cutting edge marketing strategies.
On a personal note… in 2016 I married the love of my life, Heidi DeCoux. We had a 3-day BIG fat Indian wedding (if you’re interested you can see pics of the festivities over on Heidi’s blog). We have two charities that we founded and operate together (along with my mom), and for fun we travel the world and enjoy the “laptop lifestyle”. |
I’m excited that the country with the best players starring in Europe clinched the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. The Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire have always been the favourites to lift the African diadem from the time the golden generation emerged in 1990. That generation had Didier Drogba, who must be sulking that he doesn’t have the gold medal of the Africa Cup of Nations in his wardrobe. But that career minus by Drogba doesn’t take anything away from the awesome contribution of easily the best African to have played in the Barclays English Premier League.
Cote d’ Ivoire ranks among the few African country to have many of their nationals playing regularly in Europe. The difference between the Ivoirens and Nigerians is that they appear more committed than our boys to playing for their national team. Drogba, Yaya Toure, Salmon Kalou et al don’t hold their country hostage for trivialities. It isn’t a surprise that they have the Africa Footballer of the Year in Yaya Toure, who, with the way things are going in Europe and in Africa, will become the first African to be decorated as the best for five consecutive times.
If Yaya Toure was a Super Eagle, maybe NFF chieftains would have been lying on the ground for him to walk past. Yaya walks away from Manchester City’s matches when it clashes with his country’s games. He plays no games with his English team to join the Elephants at his terms. Yaya hasn’t compelled the Ivoiren FA chiefs to give him concessions that make his English side bigger than the national team. No special arrangement for Yaya to fly in-and-out of competition venues like some of our big boys did with the Eagles in the past.
The Elephants are as troublesome as the Eagles during competitions. But theirs isn’t about holding the nation hostage over allowances. They enjoy themselves during competitions. But in Equatorial Guinea, it dawned on them that this was going to be the last active appearance for most of their players and they made it count by winning the trophy. That is the difference between the Eagles and the Elephants.
The flipside to this attitude is that Yaya reports immediately after his country’s matches to play for Manchester City in the next game. What this signifies is that he is a disciplined player. With such a man as captain, it is easy to explain the seeming stability in the Elephants side despite its bumbling at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Yaya is such an incredible person to both club and country that it would be difficult to sideline one for the other permanently.
On the pitch, Yaya is exemplary. He fights for the ball, directs his mates to give their best and doesn’t fail to watch the sidelines to take instructions from the bench. The synergy between Yaya and the coaches is notable. This explains why the team held its own during the penalty shootout against the Black Stars of Ghana, despite losing the first two kicks.
Yaya kept motivating the next penalty taker that the game was retrievable, especially when they lost the first two kicks. He also held those who lost their kicks under his towering height to console them. Yaya kept talking with his elder brother Kolo Toure. That was emotional. The Ghanaians, also had two brothers, the sons of legendary Abedi Pele.
The Elephants had a leader in Yaya, who led by example. The players respected him and listened to his counseling on the pitch. Having no leader on the pitch is the Eagles’biggest problem. Those who led did so because they were the oldest in the team, in terms of the period spent playing, not because they were the best. The captains who performed couldn’t control the others because the team, most times, was broken between those in the coaches’ camp and those who were oppressed.
The only time the Eagles stuck together was when issues bothering on their welfare arose. Such a divided group cannot win laurels. It is true that the Eagles clinched the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, yet it must be said that the events thereafter seem to suggest that the feat in 2013 was a fluke, given the abysmal showing of the team less than 10 months after.
The Ivoriens did as well as the Eagles at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. But they returned home to appraise their performance and took drastic decisions, which helped to rejuvenate the squad to what it is today- champions of Africa. The Ivoriens changed their coach, introduced younger players into the squad and, most importantly, picked their best players on current form. Little wonder they improved with every game, largely because the new Elephants side was “work in progress.” A colleague of mine marvelled at the calibre of European clubs that the Ivoirens were chosen from. He noted that all of them played regularly for their teams.
The Ivoriens went for the former Zambia coach who didn’t get the Zambians a World Cup ticket. But Renard had guided Zambia to lift the Africa Cup of Nations, a trait which showed that he understood the African terrain. Renard did the basic with the Elephants. He picked the best and made spot-on changes that strengthened the team during matches. Put simply, Renard is a good match reader, a trait Super Eagles coaches lack.
Thank God the NFF has started exposing technically-minded people to refresher courses. It has also developed a programme that will integrate all that these people on refresher courses have learnt into practice with all our national teams.
We expect to see the impact of these refresher courses soon. One only hopes that the Eagles coaches don’t jettison the information provided by these eggheads on grounds that they call the shot in the team and would be held accountable whenever things go awry.
Can the Eagles coaches and indeed the NFF use the two friendly matches against Bolivia in Uyo on March 26 and the one against the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations runners-up Ghana’s Black Stars in London on March 29 to overhaul our senior team?
Will the coaches invite only those doing well in their European clubs for the two matches? Can our coaches shun sentiments and invite Brown Ideye and Odion Ighalo, who plays for Watford FC in England and those young boys in Arsenal e.t.c to play for Nigeria?
To whose benefit would it be if we parade the bulk of players who failed to get us to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations? We don’t need to camp 60 home-based players for months before major competitions, only to pick the same five players for the real team. We must do things differently, if we hope to improve on our poor past, otherwise we will achieve the same result- failure.
It is barely 33 days to the two international friendlies against Bolivia and Ghana, yet no word on who will lead the Eagles. My advice to NFF chiefs is for them to allow Dream Team and Flying Eagles’ coaches to pick the best in their groups for the two matches.
If this happens, Samson Siasia and Garba Manu will take charge of the team. What Siasia and Manu could do is to include those Eagles players doing well in their European clubs, such as Ighalo, Ideye, Ahmed Musa, skipper Vincent Enyeama, Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike. We need to introduce new players into the Eagles and it should start with the two matches on March 26 and March 29 in Uyo and London.
One must commend NFF President Melvin Amaju Pinnick for touring Europe to speak with the parents of the Nigeria-born lads who have played for age-grade European countries on the need to play for Nigeria. The first advantage such a move gives to our football is that it guarantees growth, since we know the true ages of these Nigerians. The other gain is that they are well grounded in the rudiments of the game, making the job of grooming them very easy for the coaches. Again, these Nigeria-born lads will be coming with a new mentality that should rub off on our local players. One cannot but agree with ex-Green Eagles midfielder Friday Ekpo who said: “The national team cannot be dependent on a few players abroad. We are more than 150 million people in this country. The camp will not be in Europe, the camp will be in Nigeria. If Europe-based players are good, they will be brought in, but if the best players are in the local league, we should stick with them.”
With adequate competition for shirts across all our national teams, no one will hold us to ransome nor would any group have the temerity to play pranks with invitation letters to play for Nigeria. NFF chiefs, please, let us turn a new leaf. |
- Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences
- PhD, Volcanology, Cambridge University
- MS, Volcanology and Magmatic Processes, Université Blaise Pascal
- BA, Earth Sciences, Oxford University
My current research focus is the application of remote sensing data to studies of volcanic degassing, volcanic eruption clouds, and anthropogenic pollution. Space-borne sensors such as the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite now allow us to probe the chemistry of the lower troposphere and measure the abundance of sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone, bromine monoxide (BrO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other important trace gases with unprecedented sensitivity. The cross-platform sensor synergy provided by NASA’s A-Train satellite constellation is advancing our knowledge of volcanic cloud composition and transport. My main focus is SO2, a precursor of sulfate aerosol, which plays an important role in the atmosphere through negative climate forcing and impacts on cloud microphysics. The spatiotemporal variability of natural and anthropogenic SO2 emissions, and hence of global sulfate aerosol abundance, is poorly constrained, impacting the accuracy of climate models.
- Using satellite measurements to constrain global volcanic SO2 production and emissions from individual volcanoes
- Validation of OMI SO2 retrievals using correlative data from ground-based, airborne and space-borne instruments
- Tracking volcanic SO2 and ash clouds operationally for aviation hazard mitigation
- Remote sensing of tropospheric volcanic plumes using DOAS and FTIR
- Quantifying anthropogenic emissions of SO2 from sources such as copper smelters and oil and gas fields
- Mitigation of the environmental and health impacts of volcanic degassing using satellite data
- Comparisons between satellite observations and chemical transport model simulations of volcanic clouds and plumes
- Carn, S.A., K. Froyd, B.E. Anderson, P. Wennberg, J. Crounse, K. Spencer, J. Dibb, N.A. Krotkov, E.V. Browell, J.W. Hair, G. Diskin, G. Sachse, and S. Vay (2011), In-situ measurements of tropospheric volcanic plumes in Ecuador and Colombia during TC4, J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2010JD014718 (in press).
- Thomas, H.E., I.M. Watson, S.A. Carn, A.J. Prata, and V.J. Realmuto (2011). A comparison of AIRS, MODIS and OMI sulphur dioxide retrievals in volcanic clouds, Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, Special Issue: Passive satellite techniques and ground-based investigations for volcanic activity monitoring (in press).
- Krotkov, N.A., M.R. Schoeberl, G.A. Morris, S.A. Carn, and K. Yang (2010). Dispersion and lifetime of the SO2 cloud from the August 2008 Kasatochi eruption, J. Geophys. Res., Okmok-Kasatochi Special Issue, 115, D00L20, doi:10.1029/2010JD013984.
- Carn, S.A., and A.J. Prata (2010). Satellite-based constraints on explosive SO2 release from Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L00E22, doi:10.1029/2010GL044971.
- Yang, K., X. Liu, P.K. Bhartia, N.A. Krotkov, S.A. Carn, E. Hughes, A.J. Krueger, R. Spurr and S. Trahan (2010). Direct Retrieval of Sulfur Dioxide Amount and Altitude from Spaceborne Hyper-spectral UV Measurements: Theory and Application, J. Geophys. Res., Okmok-Kasatochi Special Issue, 115, D00L09, doi:10.1029/2010JD013982.
- *Spinei, E., S.A. Carn, N.A. Krotkov, G.H. Mount, K. Yang, and A.J. Krueger (2010). Validation of OMI SO2 measurements in the Okmok volcanic plume over Pullman, WA in July 2008. J. Geophys. Res., Okmok- Kasatochi Special Issue, 115, D00L08, doi:10.1029/2009JD013492.
- *Ferguson, D.J., T.D. Barnie, D.M. Pyle, C. Oppenheimer, G. Yirgu, E. Lewi, T. Kidane, S.A. Carn, and I. Hamling (2010). Recent rift-related volcanism in Afar, Ethiopia, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 292(3-4), 409-418, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.010. |
Being in the industry for any hears I have seen many different levels of office design and decorating. These levels range from the phenomenally designed, ultra modern and contemporary style that has everything you could ever imagine from a home study, including sofas, liquor cabinet and golf club cupboard. To the not so grand half storage space, half filing cabinet excuse for a home office, some you couldn't even call a makeshift study let alone home office. The latter description is due to the fact that the home office was an afterthought and something that was not planned or budgeted for.
The home office desk UK is perhaps the most important piece of functional furniture that one can have in this room. It is the epicenter of you workplace and must at all times reflect this. Think of how de-motivating and uninspiring it will be to have to drag yourself to a makeshift desk that has no drawers, uneven legs, scratches and not enough space to put two piles of paper. My strongest suggestion, if you are kitting this space out for the first time is to start off with the planning phase. I know that this may sound like "Pie In The Sky" stuff but if you have any idea of how many home DIY projects fall flat, are half done because no planning whatsoever had gone into it.
Uncategorized. Published at Friday, November 02nd 2018, 10:41:34 AM by Shelby G.
You will have a few restrictions regarding the size and shape of the backyard. It also depends a lot on the landscaper who is doing the work. He might have to excavate some parts of your backyard land which might have you alarmed in the first place. And it will not be right to get annoyed by the chunk of dirt you will have to carry away.Paver Patio Designs - Major Considerations You Should Take Seriously
What options do you have for paver patio designs? Patio pavers in fact are the stones which provide you with a delicate solution for landscaping your backyard and deck area. You will be able to take those stones or bricks to arrange them in a pattern that you like. For instance, the arrangement could be a meticulous design or any random pattern. They are perfect if you want to place all your fancy grills or open-air cooking gears on. In totality, patio pavers can outlast even solid cooking concrete slabs.
Garden. Published at Friday, November 02nd 2018, 03:49:20 AM by Shelby G.
For daytime use shade is another very critical item to figure into a person's patio design. You'll find so many patio ideas for shading. The kind and degree of shading you are going to have is dependent on the way your patio is facing and how much natural light you will want to allow into your home. Canvas awnings can be a colorful and reasonably priced way to always keep your home's cooler temperature. You could just want a few adjustable patio umbrellas so as to let the most natural light into your home.
Lighting is a further yet extremely essential component to take into account in patio designs. There are lots of fresh and quite affordable varieties of lighting available today. You'll find quite a few solar or low voltage selections that supply very good light and create tons of atmosphere to any outdoor living space.
Garden. Published at Friday, November 02nd 2018, 03:48:00 AM by Shelby G.
9) Wall art adds a designer touch to a patio and can be anything, from sculpture, to driftwood, to hand painted canvas wall decor. Use larger pieces on expansive outdoor wall areas or hang in smaller groups of three.
2) Hand painted canvas cushion pillow covers for outdoor furniture; use colors and designs to match or complement a theme.
Decor. Published at Tuesday, October 30th 2018, 04:51:24 AM by Shelby G.
Re-organize to make a smarter pantry. Taller items on pantry shelves in back, shorter in front. Use baskets for bulky items and containers to corral small, misc. items.Adjust height of shelves to match the size of the pantry item and maximize the efficiency of your pantry storage space.Consider moving food items to drawers. More items can be stored in a drawer; label tops for quick identification.Install roll-out pantry drawers for easier access. Because you can see more, you can store more.Reclaim a closet.Reclaim storage between studs of wall.Take out the kitchen soffits to move infrequently used items above kitchen cabinets; make new pantry cabinet space below.Delegate pantry food storage outside of the kitchen: under the living room couch or out in the garage.Tuck pantry food items inside decorative furnishings, like a crock.Think on a smaller scale: consider a mini-version of a walk-in pantry.Take 12" out of hallway width for pantry shelves.Recycle wooden crates from wine, mount to walls as a shelf (can get free from wine stores or superstores).Make a skinny box on wheels next to empty space next to your refrigerator (same height) that can wheel out.Use over-the-door racks for extra storage on closet doors. For very narrow doors, take a hanging shoe pouch for over-doors and cut to fit.Purchase an antique or used furniture cabinet at a garage sale or flea market and refit the furniture for pantry use.Hanging up items is an alternative to using cabinet space.Install pantry shelving in kitchen where spices and staples can be stored out in the open.Hang pots up on a pot rack to free space up inside cabinets for pantry goods or keep inside oven when not in use.Put utensils in utensil caddies on the countertop to free up additional pantry space inside cabinets - flatware can be stored also in a decorative container on the table.Take a lesson from closet clothing storage experts and copy their unique storage ideas or even utilize their products for your food storage needs.Tricks For Small Kitchens - 20 Ways to Find Pantry Storage Space
Cabinet manufacturers have responded to consumer demand for pantry storage in small spaces and kitchens. In addition, closet manufacturers have identified the market as a cross-product user of their clever storage innovations. Finally, the small kitchen owner is getting the attention they deserve. Purchased organizers are not the only way to maximize your pantry cabinet space.
Decor. Published at Tuesday, October 30th 2018, 04:51:23 AM by Shelby G.
My intent was to build a coffee table for my living room, as my current coffee table had a lovely 70's flair to it that I wasn't exactly fond of. The first task at hand was to decide what I would use for the table legs. I noticed that the 3 stringers (the pieces of wood that support the deck boards) had arches cut in them, this were used to accommodate the forklift in its previous life. I found these stringers to be perfect for the legs as they are sturdy and the arch cut into them would provide a decorative look. I cut the stringers right down the middle of the arches and was able to get 4 identical pieces that I could use for the legs.
To create the top of the table I was initially going to lay 5 of the deck boards parallel to one another. After laying these out it looked nice but since I'm recently creative, I knew I could do better. I decided to cut the deck boards into random lengths and laid them out so each cut was offset from the neighboring board. Doing this seemed to give the table a little more personality. I now had finished the legs for the table and the boards I would use for the table top. I used the remaining wood left from the pallet to attach the table top boards together and provide additional support. In order to assemble everything together I simply used some wood screws I already had and some trim nails. In the process of building the table I came across two pieces of rebar I had in my garage, using my newly discovered creative side I cut these and placed them between the table legs on each end. I did this by drilling a hole (not all the way through) on the inside of each leg just big enough to hammer the rebar into.
Bedroom. Published at Monday, October 29th 2018, 05:03:49 AM by Shelby G.
Another design of the bedroom that give prominence to masculinity is a rustic style. In this design, the bedroom will mainly contain items made from wood. Therefore, the room can be decorated to resemble a luxurious ski lodge or a cabin in the woods. In rustic style, the furniture should be made from material with a strong natural characteristic, like oak, pine or hickory. Choose a heavy but simple piece of furniture. Select a bed with a slated headboard. In terms of bedding materials, you may choose from various materials like cotton, denim, flannel, wool or knit. Rustic style bedroom should also remain simple with color patterns that comprised of shades of blue, green, brown, khaki and beige. The natural elements should be maintained for the window blinds. Therefore, select wooden blinds with color that match the furnishings. To create a synergy amongst the bedroom elements, the lighting should also be made from natural elements like wood or iron. It is best if you choose an artwork that displays nature scenes. To complete the rustic look, a geometrical Persian rug would be a perfect choice.
The first design is traditional bedroom style. To implement this design, select heavy pieces of furniture that seems aged. It is best to pick a sleek design with minimal carvings. For the bed, select ones with a high headboard so it looks prominent. The bedding materials used in traditional design should be made from typical menswear fabrics like wool and flannel. To accentuate this style of design, the bedroom windows should be covered with drapes made from heavy material like chenille or velvet. As for the lighting, it should create a warm and soft impression by using dark colored lamp shades. Should you choose to display any artwork in the bedroom, it should be in classical style. The best types of paintings to display in traditional bedroom design are landscape and portraits. Finally, a plush oriental rug would complete the traditional look in the room.
Bedroom. Published at Monday, October 29th 2018, 03:51:22 AM by Shelby G.
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The story of a volunteer’s innovative contribution to volcano research.
By Keegan Dougherty
When citizens meet scientists, exciting things happen. Massive data sets are collected, critical funding is raised, and ideas are shared. On the expedition Exploring an Active Volcano in Nicaragua last March, I witnessed an unexpected synergy of a citizen and a scientist collaborating to solve a simple research problem.
What resulted was a pioneering use of a brand new software that may change the study of extinct lava tubes for volcanologists everywhere.
On our first day assisting the Earthwatch scientists on the slopes of Masaya, Dr. Guillermo Caravantes, one of the lead volcanologists on the expedition, asked if any of the volunteers were feeling particularly intrepid that day. Guillermo recently completed his PhD studying Masaya with Dr. Hazel Rymer at the Open University. Now a fully-employed geoscientist, Guillermo was taking time-off from work to tackle a completely different type of volcanology research. To start, he needed two volunteers in a search for entrances to empty lava tubes—cave-like channels formed by earlier lava flows—under the thorn-ridden dry tropical forests flanking the northeast side of the active volcano.
I jumped at the opportunity to join Guillermo for our first adventure of the expedition.
Cliff Gill, a volunteer who splits his time between Missouri and Alaska as an aerial survey pilot, politely volunteered when no one else did. We were led into the brambles by a Masaya National Park Ranger, Carlos Molina Palma, who had been patrolling the park for over a decade and knew the trails well.
Tramping through the forest after Carlos turned out to be crucial for the research. The lava tubes have had thousands of visitors in the centuries since their formation, mostly vampire and insectivorous bats, but also the Contras, film-maker biologists, and pre-Columbian peoples. The previous visitors’ respective guano, footprints, rubbish, and pottery fragments still litter the floors of many lava tubes. Yet despite all this traffic, the tubes have never been mapped. In fact, the only known map of the lava tubes was a mental one, resting between Carlos’ ears.
These cooled lava tubes were formed when bubbling basaltic lava poured out of the Masaya crater and flooded the its flanks. As the lava crept down slope, the top of the flow cooled faster forming an insulating roof over the molten lava below. The old tubes left behind from previous flows can act like underground superhighway for future eruptions, allowing the lava to flow freely without the traffic and obstacles on the surface.
Once Guillermo took GPS coordinates of all of the lava tubes that Carlos showed us, the task was simple – Guillermo would bring back volunteers every day to each cave entrance to measure the dimensions, slope, and angle of the tube within. Simple enough, right?
This is where the magic happened. As a caving enthusiast and an aerial surveyor, Cliff is tuned-in to the latest software releases in remote sensing, including that a new tool developed by Agisoft which creates 3-D renderings of interior spaces from photos taken by a regular digital camera. Cliff had been posting about his use of the software in online caving forums and message boards to see if this software could gain traction, but somehow it hadn’t garnered much interest.
As we peered into the first dark, bat-filled lava cave, a light must have gone off in Cliff’s mind – he could use his high-powered caving lights to illuminate the caves, snap photos with his digital camera, and render the images on his laptop back at the hotel. By coincidence, Cliff had brought his laptop, with the Agisoft PhotoScan software already loaded; he had no idea this was part of the research – this was serendipity. When Cliff shared his revelation, I remember Guillermo asking a few clarifying questions, then his look of disbelief, repeating something to the effect of “Wow, this changes everything” as the realization of what was possible sunk in.
The previous week, the best Guillermo could do was sketch the dimensions of tube interiors. Now, with Cliff’s ingenious use of the software, he could build a 3-D tour of the lava tubes and create a detailed map with existing maps to share with the National Park. Guillermo will soon publish his findings and volcanologists around the world will be able to study the morphologies of the lava tubes with detail and scale previously unavailable.
As the expedition went on, the results came in and the whole team became giddy with Cliff and Guillermo’s success. When Guillermo gave a presentation of his findings on the last night of the expedition, taking us on a 3-D tour of the largest lava cave, the excitement of the team was palpable.
This is the magic of citizen science. Not only are the citizen volunteers providing funding and manpower, they’re sharing the inspiration and know-how that accelerates the pace of research, and that is what truly “changes everything.” |
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We all know sleep is an intrinsic part of so many vital functions within our body, it allows us to repair and restore our systems. Nutricost’s Sleep Aid Complex is designed to help induce sleep, and keep you sleeping through the night, so you can take full advantage of a good night’s rest.*
This Sleep Aid Complex contains the vitamins and minerals Zinc, Magnesium, and B6. These 3 play an active role in influencing quality and duration of sleep. Many can benefit from taking zinc, especially those who may be deficient. Zinc can be depleted during intense workouts, or from high levels of stress. When one is sufficient in Zinc, they are able to have a calmer, more restful slumber due to zinc’s ability to relax muscles. Almost 100 enzymes rely on zinc as a catalyst, and zinc also helps regulate hormones and improve immunity. Zinc is best absorbed when taken with Vitamim B6, which this Sleep Aid Complex has included. Magnesium is another mineral that has profound effects on sleep; it also has muscle relaxing capabilities, and can help reduce cortisol associated with stress to promote a more calm mood.
Valerian Root is the primary ingredient in this complex blend. Valerian Root promotes sleep by enhancing GABA levels in the brain. It is suspected that Valerian Root does this by triggering GABA release from the neurotransmitter synapses, and then also blocks GABA re-uptake, ultimately increasing GABA levels in circulation. Additional GABA is also included to raise GABA levels as well. Hops, the same plant utilized to give beer its bitter taste, also has been claimed to have sedative effects similar to Valerian Root. Melatonin is added as the last ingredient in the Sleep Aid Complex, to give you a well rounded blend. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland that is responsible for triggering your sleep-wake cycle. Ingesting melatonin may help to signal the sleep cycle after consumption.
Nutricost Sleep Aid Complex is a sleep inducing supplement that covers all the bases to ensure that you get your best rest, in order to re-calibrate your body each night.*
* RESULTS MAY VARY
Nutricost’s Sleep Aid Complex is a diverse blend of sleep promoting ingredients that work in synergy to enhance your sleep quality and duration.*
Take up to 3 capsules 1 hour before bedtime with 12-16 ounces of water.
This product is only intended to be consumed by healthy individuals 18 years age of older. Consult your physician prior to using this product. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery after taking this product. Do not take with alcohol. Do not take if pregnant or nursing. Do not exceed recommended use. Improper use will not improve results and is not advised. Keep out of reach of children. Store in a cool dry place. Do not use if safety seal is broken.
Magnesium – Magnesium is a vital mineral that plays a role in regulating metabolism, enzyme function, energy production, and required in balancing nitric oxide in the body. Magnesium helps promote relaxation both physically by relaxing muscles, and mentally to help quiet the mind as it calms.
Lavender – Lavender is a potent anxiety buster and mood enhancer, and can help soothe a racing mind in order to allow for sleep.
Passion Flower -Passion Flower is another key ingredient that helps calm the mind, and potentially reduce anxiety.
Q.When Should I Take The Sleep Aid Complex?
A. It is best to take an hour prior to bed time, to allow for absorption.
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Longtime Impact Hub members Myounghee Jo and Alexander Bachinger have just launched Bubbles & Kraut, a social venture addressing the food waste problem through fermentation. They offer workshops and sell their very own fermented products such as kimchi and kombucha and hope to build a community focused on food sustainability and preservation.
With their first workshop just around the corner, Jo and Alex sat down to talk about the very beginnings of their venture, the plans they have for the future, and the ongoing mystery of who is Bubbles and who is Kraut.
What made you two start Bubbles & Kraut?
Alex: We both had certain ideas of what we wanted to do. Jo wanted to do something with food, community building, and cooking workshops. She wanted to bring out the social and communal aspects of cooking. I always wanted to do something with fermentation and sell fermented products, especially kimchi because it’s one of my favorite things in the world.
Jo: Since I’m from Korea, kimchi is my soul food and that’s where we connected and found our common ground. After I met Alex, it was clear to both of us that kimchi could form the foundation of workshops and that we could sell it so it was a natural synergy of our passions that allows us to fulfill our independent ambitions together.
How did you come up with the name? Were there other names that you considered?
Jo: We had a fun brainstorming day and the list got pretty long. There were a lot of funny and nice names but we narrowed it down to two. We were actually leaning more towards something else: it’s a combination of our names and it also means: “I like it,” in Korean. It sounded perfect! We loved the meaning behind it and how it represented us both but through our research it became clear that Bubbles and Kraut had more appeal.
Alex: We tested the two names. I’m a huge fan of testing and Bubbles & Kraut won out. There were also practical considerations such as the surprising number of restaurants with the other name. But, once we decided on Bubbles and Kraut, it grew on us very quickly and now we can’t imagine it being anything different!
Why are the services and products you’re offering important for today?
Alex: Food waste is a big problem these days. In Austria, 760,000 tons of food is wasted every year. Through our workshops and our products, we’d like to raise awareness about the food waste issue and share our skills and solutions. Fermentation allows you to preserve food longer and our hope is that sharing this knowledge will have some measurable impact on food sustainability.
Jo: There’s also the community aspect. We want to get like-minded people to interact with each other and share solutions, and enjoy food in the process.
Alex: A quick definition is that fermentation is the process of using the microorganisms that are naturally in the air to change the sugars in food into acid which helps preserve the food.
What are some of the health benefits of eating fermented foods?
Jo: In Korea, there is a belief that eating fermented foods is anti-aging so we believe that it’s good for your skin, and helps your body age gracefully.
Alex: It’s good for your gut flora which helps in having a strong immune and digestive system. You feel less bloated or uncomfortable on a given day. There’s now some theories that the health of your gut flora influences many aspects of your body including your thought process and clarity of mind so it could help with productivity as well.
What’s the working dynamic between you two? Who brings what to the table?
Jo: My background is in graphic design so my strengths are being used for the visual aspects of our business like website design and branding.
Alex: I’m handling more of the communications side of things. I’m also the scientist trying to create interesting new flavors and flavor combinations. I think we’ve settled into our natural roles. So far so good!
Jo: We try to be honest and communicate. We’re both creative people so we’re always bouncing new ideas off each other. If there are any disagreements, we both try to focus on the fact that we’re both bringing our best and want what’s best for this venture.
What are the values of Bubbles & Kraut?
Alex: Sharing and sustainability. We both care deeply about these values. We want to share our knowledge about fermentation and food waste. On a practical level, we are trying to partner up with local farmers and use so-called ‘misfit’ vegetables that cannot be sold in regular markets. We also don’t want to waste our products so we’re going to try a made-to-order model. We will produce as much as our customers demand. We’d like to call this: FAIRmentation!
Jo: I’d also say creativity and community. Because we are going to be using seasonal and local produce, we are going to get creative with the kinds of kimchi we will be producing. I know Alex is excited but I’m also excited to explore the new possibilities! And we are both really eager to build a movement and a community around these values.
Even though you’ve only just started, have there been any challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Jo: I think every day is a challenge for us. Everything is a first for us so we’re always trying to figure out the best way to get things done. I think we’re where we need to be and now it’s a matter of doing the work.
Alex: Coordinating workshop venues, customers, and suppliers, even for a venture as small as we are can be logistically complicated. We know we need help and one challenge was reaching out to people and asking for help and realizing that It’s OK not to know things.
Alex: I hope that we can teach people about preserving food. Fermentation has been used for hundreds of years but people all have fridges now so the art of preserving food through fermentation has gotten a bit lost over the years. We’d like to bring that back and show people what they’re missing.
Jo: I’d like to see us having an impact in expanding the variety of food that is typically eaten here and opening up people’s minds to the wonderful diversity of food.
What is it about fermented foods like kimchi that gets you so excited?
Jo: For me, it’s such a big part of my life and my culture. Kimchi reminds me of home and I think it’s the perfect side dish for everything–not just Korean food, but European food as well. In Korea, we say that it has a cool flavor which is hard to explain in English. It’s kind of like, tasting a bit of the ocean.
Alex: There’s a tangy and fizzy quality to kimchi that I just love. It has an incredible combination of flavors that I feel is like a taste explosion. It can be salty, sweet, and sour all at once. There’s also so many different kinds of kimchi. You’re never stuck with one kind so it never gets tiring.
How can Impact Hub members help?
Jo: We’re very open to everyone becoming our customers! Try our kimchi and join a workshop!
Alex: We’re still looking to optimize our production process so if anyone knows of any farmers or shops that might be interested in working with us, please let us know. We’re also looking for maybe a restaurant or a kitchen that would be open to the idea of letting us use their kitchen downtime by allowing us to produce our products.
Last question: who is Bubbles and who is Kraut?
Jo: Technically, I am Kraut and Alex is Bubbles contrary to everyone’s expectations. But I feel that I’m a bit of both at times. Sometimes more Bubbles and sometimes more Kraut. Sometimes I feel like my head’s in the clouds and sometimes I feel more grounded.
Alex: I like that. It’s a balance between the two. I think at the end of the day, we’re all Bubbles and Kraut. |
Some accomplished racers in the community agree that performance and civility can co-exist, and they form the core of our Synergy race team. We've got riders of all levels of ability committed to the common vision of cycling as a supportive, inclusive sport. We have representation in the road, track, mountain and cross disciplines. We sponsor and host the Synergy TT Classic and the Green Acres Cross Classic. We are open to working with other clubs that like ourselves are open to promoting growth and participation in the local bike racing scene.
We formed Synergy Bike Club because we wanted to ride with others who remember cycling should remain fun, even when it starts to get serious. As we developed, we surrounded ourselves with professionals committed to keeping us active, injury free, and training with a purpose. Their insight and expertise have made us better cyclists. |
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is the world’s leading UN organization working specifically for children, with a presence in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. Since our establishment in 1946, we have been working with other UN agencies, governments and NGOs to ensure children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation. Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF HK) was founded in 1986 and established as an independent local Non-governmental Organization to fulfil the mandate of child rights protection.
UNICEF HK launched ‘Unite for Children. Unite for Hong Kong.’ Child Rights Advocacy Project (the Project) in 2011 to support eligible Hong Kong NGOs or non-profit making organizations in implementing projects which help promote and realize children’s rights in Hong Kong. The Project received overwhelming response and has benefited tens of thousands of marginalized children and their families in the past years.
Through the joint efforts of local organizations working for child rights, we hope to reach out to more children in need in Hong Kong and build a better future for Hong Kong children.
Area of Focus of the Project
In order to maximize impact of on local child rights realization with better utilization of resources, UNICEF HK pinpoints the Project’s focus to Early Childhood Development (targeted beneficiaries: Children under the age of 8). All-around and well supported early childhood development produce multiplier effect in addressing poverty, health and nutritious condition, developmental gaps, cultural and socio-economically disadvantages of children and their families in long run.
The Project shall be able to provide insights and recommendations for evidence-based impacts with regard to policy and legislation advocacy, development of standards and guideline, or implementation of community practices and solutions to improve or enhance local child rights situation (i.e. right to survival, protection, development and participation). Its nature includes but not limited to pilot-run or analysis of service projects, academic and practice research projects, and so on. The Project shall either generate synergy and contributions to the UNICEF HK’s on-going advocacy focus, or targets children from at-risk, vulnerable or marginalized communities or contexts of focus areas whose opportunities to a healthy and fullest development is suppressed, neglected or deprived during their early childhood period from a child rights perspective. In short, the focus areas are:
1. UNICEF HK’s on-going advocacy focus: a) Breastfeeding, b) Right to Play , c) Nurturing Care
2. Equity approach to serve children with diversified needs (ie. Poverty, ethnic minorities & special education needs or disabilities)
Information and Enquires
Sofia Fung, Advocacy Manager
Wing Lee, Advocacy Officer
Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF
Tel: 2833 6139
Fax: 2834 0996
Email: [email protected] |
MauerGroup entered the international market alongside with the establishment of the Department for International Cooperation in 2002.
We are conducting our international activities as a member of the international auditing and consulting network "NEXIA International".
"NEXIA International" is a global network of auditing and accounting companies. More than 258 offices in over than 80 countries form a unique network of specialists and experts around the globe. This partnership provides a high level of performance and expertise for each member of the group due to the specialization, synergy and pooling of resources. Well-adjusted communication system ensures the rendering of professional services worldwide, the quality of which is guaranteed by the guidelines as well as the regular quality control.
The special direction of our international activity is the partnership with the "NEXIA member" companies in Germany and Austria.
Our German-Russian cooperation is conducted within the framework of the "Russian Competence Group" established by the "NEXIA Deutschland GmbH", Düsseldorf. On the German part this group of experts includes the companies like: "DHPG Dr. Harzem und Partner KG" (Offices in Gummersbach and Bonn, Germany, more than 350 employees, 8 offices in Germany, one of the 10 largest audit companies in Germany according to the rating of the "International Accounting Bulletins") under the management of Mr. Dr. Norbert Neu, "NEXIA Berlin GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft" under the management of Ms. Katrin Volkmer (Berlin, Germany, 24 offices, the 8th position among auditing companies in Germany according to the rating of the "International Accounting Bulletins") and "Korp GmbH" (Graz, Austria) managed by Mr. Mag. Wolfgang Korp. The "Russian Competence Group" also includes the company "Advisio Treuhand & Revision Gummersbach KG" (Gummersbach, Germany), established in January of 2008 and managed by Mr. Dieter Wagener.
Collaboration is conducted in several directions: international auditing, consulting support for international projects, assistance in establishment of bilateral contacts as well as attraction of the international investment capital.
MauerGroup is also active in cooperating with the experts of the international consulting network "Inter Cooperation Partners i c p group" (EWIV) under the direction of Mr. Dieter Kufus, Dusseldorf and Mr. Henry Josseran, Paris. The Group is focused on providing consulting and mediating services in the field of companies’ cooperation and M&A, as well as in the sphere of business efficiency improvement. Our cooperation with this group of experts offers an opportunity to attract foreign investors to the Russian market.
Consulting group MauerGroup is a member of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce with its headquarters in Moscow. It is aimed at the experience exchange with the colleagues from Germany, assistance in establishing of business contacts as well as attraction and professional assistance of the investment projects.
We have cooperation experience with the "Ministry of Economy, Small and Medium Business and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia", Dusseldorf: rendering services on elaboration of recommendations on legal-organizational form, taxation, accounting and other particular features of pool activity for North Rhine-Westphalia firms in Rostov-on-Don.
Also we are developing the cooperation with the "Ministry of Economy, Transport, Agriculture and Winemaking of Rhineland-Palatinate", Mainz: we are carrying out market analysis and conducting informational work for the presentation of our region and investment projects of Rostov Region. We are also rendering the consulting support in the realization of joint cooperation projects.
Our cooperation with the "Russian Center of Competence" under Dusseldorf Chamber of Commerce is actively developing: MauerGroup takes part in information seminars for German businessmen, who are already working in Russia or just interested in entering the Russian market so far. |
Deadline for Registration of Authors
Extended deadline for Registration of Authors
As globalization leads to increasing interaction among regions and peoples of the world, it is important to encourage multi-disciplinarity in emerging scientific topics such as nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, even though rapidly growing, is still in its infancy and has given rise to numerous novel applications for the solution of many current problems.
ICNFA is a series of international conferences held yearly. These conferences focus on all aspects of Nanotechnology. After successfully holding the first and second ICNFA in Ottawa (Canada), International ASET Inc. will be hosting this conference in Montreal this year.
ICNFA is an acronym for International Conference on Nanotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications.
The aim of ICNFA'12 is to bring together the Canadian and international community working in the field of nanotechnology, and to foster an environment conducive to present advances in this field. This conference will also provide a golden opportunity to develop new collaborations and gather world nanotechnology experts on the fundamentals, applications and products. Through the 3rd conference a great opportunity to share knowledge and expertise will be created taking advantage from the synergy of the 1st and 2nd conferences. The ICNFA'12 program will include invited keynote talks, oral presentation sessions, and poster sessions.
You may find a brochure of this conference, for printing and posting, by following the link below:
McGill's Geo-Mechanics and EMERG Labs |
IOTA has officially announced compatibility with the Ledger hardware wallets which will allow IOTA coin holders to store their MIOTA coins on any Ledger hardware wallet, including the Nano S.
Ledger hardware wallets provide full support for IOTA’s Trinity wallet as well as for Romeo wallets. The user seeds are isolated from their computer or smartphone as an additional layer of security. The Ledger Nano S hardware wallet will allow users to protect their private keys by providing access to their IOTA tokens in a secure chip.
In a Medium post, Eric Larchevêque, the CEO of Ledger explained:
“Providing the highest level of security and quality is a major focus at both Ledger and IOTA. The collaboration between the teams created an immediate synergy focused on developing a compatibility feature that allows users to access, store and manage IOTA tokens on Ledger devices.”
Larchevêque also stated the company is devoted to providing the most secure and usable standalone virtual wallet and Trinity will meet these expectations. He welcomed IOTA to the Ledger platform and highlighted that both companies are dedicated to providing their users with the highest level of security and quality.
IOTA plans include scalability and free transactions, but also Internet of Things (IoT) application. Right now, there are approximately 31 billion IoT devices in the world and the number increase rate is exponential.
MIOTA is in the top 20 cryptocurrencies based on market cap (according to data from coinmarketcap.com) and had a memorable launch on Bitfinex Exchange in July. Back then, IOTA trading was more than double the USD volume within the first two hours of trading.
IOTA co-founder David Sønstebø explains their collaboration with Ledger:
“At IOTA, we made a commitment to delivering the safest and most usable standalone cryptocurrency wallet. The Trinity wallet is well on its way to fulfilling that commitment, and today we are proud to announce the next step on the journey,” he said. “Ledger has earned a strong reputation for security and reliability, and this made it a natural choice for integration with Trinity. We are proud of how our community, the IOTA developers and the Ledger team have worked together to make this possible.”
In October, IOTA announced its expansion to Hong Kong and the newly appointed Head of Asia Pacific Benjamin Soong. Then, Ledger CEO Eric Larchevêque declared:
“Providing the highest level of security and quality is a major focus at both Ledger and IOTA. The collaboration between the teams created an immediate synergy concentrated on developing a compatibility feature allowing users to access, store and manage IOTA tokens on Ledger devices. We are thrilled to welcome IOTA onto the Ledger platform.”
IOTA collaborates with major industry giants
In September, Bosch, Volkswagen, and Fujitsu revealed their collaboration with IOTA to use its Tangle Technology for product and service automation.
At the end of 2017 Bosch showcased its new sensor XDK or Cross Domain Development Kit using IOTA’s Tangle technology. The XDK sensors were designed to instantly send updates regarding new changes to Bosch products.
Also in September IOTA announced its partnership with Volkswagen. Digital CarPass is the first product developed by the companies and is scheduled for release in 2019. The project will track performance data using IOTA blockchain technology to provide the most reliable and secure vehicle data collection.
Regarding IOTA’s collaboration with Fujitsu, the two companies are developing a new blockchain based audit trail system. The IOTA ecosystem will be used as a form of storage which can enable the nuwave audit trail. Its ultimate goals will be to provide customers with increased transparency, as well as trustworthy and secure data. |
Having arrived mid-July at BRASA shipyard, FPSO Cidade de Maricá will depart shortly from the quayside to offshore Brazil, where the high-capacity vessel will be installed and operated for the next 20 years. A symbol of Brazil’s successful pre-salt production, Maricá will join the increasing ranks of FPSOs which contribute to the production of the country’s oil and gas. SBM Offshore is contributing to this goal and has a double cause for celebration this December with FPSO Cidade de Maricá’s milestone and the arrival of her twin sister ship FPSO Cidade de Saquarema – currently waiting in Rio´s Guanabara Bay to take her turn at SBM Offshore’s Niteroi-Rio based joint-venture yard by year end.
FPSO Cidade de Saquarema arrived in Brazilian waters early November, following her 57-day and 10,738 Nm (approximately 20,000 Km) voyage from China, where conversion of the two vessels’ hulls took place. The module lifting campaign will begin immediately once Cidade de Saquarema is safely berthed at BRASA. Integration of the modules fabricated in Brazil will be followed by final commissioning before setting sail in 2016 to join Cidade de Maricá on Lula field at the Santos Basin.
FPSO Cidade de Maricá and FPSO Cidade de Saquarema will bring SBM Offshore’s Brazilian operating fleet to a total of seven vessels by mid-2016. Both vessels are carbon-copies, designed and being constructed from the blueprint of the mothership FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela, which started production November 24, 2014. FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela is currently the deepest in SBM Offshore’s operating fleet at 2,140m and has the largest throughput capacity at 150,000 bpd of oil per day and the twins will have the same capacity.
SBM Offshore Chief Operating Officer Philippe Barril commented: “We are happy with the progress to date on FPSOs Cidade de Saquarema and Cidade de Maricá and we look forward to the delivery of the FPSOs to our client Petrobras. We expect them to follow in the footsteps of their mother ship FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela, which has been successfully producing offshore Brazil for just over one year and is an example of the world-class standards to which SBM Offshore aspires.”
Project Director John Perkins says “The departure and arrival of the two FPSOs represent newsworthy milestones for SBM Offshore and a further step on the road to delivery. It demonstrates SBM Offshore’s effective global project management for our conversions, which is being jointly conducted from our Regional Centers in Brazil, the Netherlands and Monaco. The Company is very proud to welcome Cidade de Saquarema to the quayside for the final integration of her modules and the team is ready for the next lifting campaign using the Pelicano-1 barge crane, which has already proven the quality work that can be achieved here in Brazil on the previous lifting campaigns for FPSOs Cidade de Maricá and Cidade de Ilhabela.”
SBM Offshore Managing Director Brazil, Oliver Kassam, comments on the successful project to date: “Highly challenging and fast-track, this project illustrates how solid planning and repeatability – leveraging past experience and a proven design – can yield the desired results. The Brazilian execution scope of these types of complex projects can be a challenge, however the results achieved together with our joint-venture company BRASA, prove that it can be done safely, efficiently and on schedule.”
FPSO Cidade de Maricá and FPSO Cidade de Saquarema
The FPSOs are being converted in parallel and are both destined for the Lula field in the pre-salt province offshore Brazil. BM-S-11 block is under concession to a consortium comprised of PETROBRAS (65%), BG E&P Brasil Ltda. (25%), and Petrogal Brasil S.A. (10%). g. Delivery of the vessels to client Petrobras is scheduled for first quarter and second quarter 2016, respectively. SBM Offshore’s contract with BM-S-11 subsidiary Tupi BV is for the twenty-year charter and operation of the two FPSOs.
The FPSOs are owned and operated by a joint venture owned by affiliated companies of SBM Offshore (56%), Mitsubishi Corporation (20%), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (19%), and Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás S.A. (5%).
The twin FPSOs benefit from the technological expertise that SBM Offshore acquired during the design, conversion and operational experience of pre-salt FPSOs Cidade de Ilhabela and Cidade de Paraty, both producing oil and gas at the pre-salt offshore Brazil.
Both FPSO projects have generated significant economic impacts, direct and indirect, to Rio de Janeiro State, Niteroi in particular, illustrating SBM Offshore´s commitment to local development. BRASA shipyard successfully delivered modules for both FPSOs and generated substantial economic gain and opportunities for the country, with high-skilled direct and indirect positions in excess of 30,000 jobs.
Developed in 50:50 partnership between SBM Offshore and Synergy Energy, the fabrication shipyard Estaleiro Brasa has been operating since 2012 when construction for FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela’s modules commenced. The yard was set up in Niteroi, just across the bay from downtown Rio, dedicated to SBM Offshore’s own needs, while also serving the needs of the Brazilian oil and gas industry at large.
BRASA is now a successful, state-of-the-art fabrication shipyard with highly qualified Brazilian nationals employed and represents a success story in SBM Offshore’s sustainable development strategy in Brazil. The yard’s capacity and trained workers are the result of a major investment over the past four years by SBM and its partner Synergy.
BRASA Business Acquisition Manager Rodrigo Gomes says “The BRASA team’s valiant effort this last year has paid off, ensuring all modules were completed in time for arrival of the two vessels at the yard’s. Our focus now is to begin integration and commissioning for the third FPSO which will berth at BRASA. Activities in 2015 prove our capabilities for tackling large complex FPSO projects dedicated to pre-salt safety and to the highest standards with our dedicated and disciplined team.” |
Several JSGC members attended a board game convention at Kare Deshe over shabbat. We played games from Friday afternoon until a bit after motzai shabbat. In addition to breaks for food and sleep (not much for some people), the religious ones took additional breaks for prayer, etc. Nadine came up with the name KinneretCon.
Attendees: Jon, Nadine, Gili, Eszter, and other occasional attendees including Cliff, Rafi and Eszter’s son Binyamin. The event was organized by Roee of Givatayim, and about 30 other faces, familiar or otherwise, were in attendance.
People brought games into the miklat, resulting in a pile of about 150 games to play. Once in a while I had to stand outside and take a look at the very pretty and not-quite-as-severely-evaporated-as-last-time Sea of Galilee to remind myself that I was not, in fact, a dungeon dweller.
Mr. Jack Pocket – First play for me, having played (out) Mr. Jack. This is a smaller, cleaner, shorter version of the game that gives nearly the same experience, so it is preferred. It’s a small tactical puzzle that plays quickly. I won as the criminal.
Nefarious – Gili and I played this with someone else, who played it for the first time. Our twists were “lose all of your money after inventing” and “gain $2 each turn”, which pretty much canceled each other out. I won with five 4-point cards.
Tigris and Euphrates – I taught this to two people. Zoya was one, but she had played it once several years ago and not liked it. I thought perhaps because it hadn’t been explained well.
Turns out I was right. Both of them were very happy with my rules explanation, and Zoya particularly seemed to enjoy it, despite that fact that I kind of killed them. I had 11, Zoya had 7, and the other guy had 4. It was a very bloody game at the beginning. Then, when I built a monument, they let me keep it too long, despite my urging them to attack me. I ended with game by taking the last treasure, giving me my fifth.
Tichu – Nadine and I played against Roee and Zoya Nuar, the organizers. It was the first time we had serious opponents outside of our group. I supposed at first that Nadine is shy in calling Tichu, but she called more often than I did, even a grand tichu. In contrast, I have a lot of experience but barely ever called tichu, owing to hands that were always just a little shy. The one time I called it, our opponents had two bombs.
Nadine made a few play errors that cost us some big point swings. I played very well, if I say so myself, several times exiting with the dog as my last card.
We played upwards of 15 hands, and Nadine and I were negative for much of that time. Eventually it was something like 800 to our -100, which we closed to 800 to 500, but then finally lost in the end.
Codenames – Others played this a few times. I practiced playing this one on one with Cliff, giving myself four turns and only two errors allowed. Turns out to be much harder when your opponents aren’t eliminating their own cards.
Take it to the Limit – This was on my wish list and Gilad from Reut was selling a copy. I had actually only played Take it Easy, which is its shorter baby version (10 minute game). This is a larger game that takes about 20-30 minutes, and plays up to 6 easily. Although people say it is similar to bingo – because one player draws a tile and everyone has to place that tile on their board – it’s not; it’s more like Crossword Squares, which is a pen and pencil word game where people call out letters and try to make words. In this game, you try to make high scoring lines of numbers.
Nadine was apprehensive, but in the end she was okay with it. I picked it up as a filler game for our group.
Carcassonne Big Box 5 – First play for me, I played with Yovel Zim. I had played Carcassonne before, but never with any of these expansions, and certainly not with many multiple expansions like this. Some of the expansions were ok, such as the traders and builders, and some were irrelevant, such as the hills and sheep. The ones that added luck were a mix. The wheel of fortune was fine, since it gave you additional options to play for. But it was unnecessary to have it sometimes skip a section.
I pretty much creamed my opponent, who kept not leaving himself a meeple to score with on each turn. I also played many more farmers than he did and scored bigger cities. Final score was something like 335 to 245ish.
Bruges – A classic Stefan Feld Eurostyle game I played with Cliff and Nadine (first play for me and Cliff). I tend to like games that have you acquire buildings with special abilities, like this one. I was initially concerned that the disaster events were too frequent and too strong – which is a Stefan Feld signature – but it turned out that they could be dealt with without too much harm. Still, I don’t really like attack cards (they added to the frequency of the disasters for the other players) and I would probably eliminate or mitigate them somehow.
I won this with something like 54 point while Cliff and Nadine were tied at 41 (Cliff won the tie).
Candle Quest – I taught a gamer and his non-gamer, apprehensive wife how to play, and they played the basic game with Nadine. She liked it enough by the end to request to play it again, and I sat in for Nadine on the second game. I lost.
Tokaido – This is a beautiful game with an original and lovely theme, etc. What matters is the game play, which has been – fairly – compared to Candyland. On your turn you go to the next available space that makes any sense for you (i.e. if you have money you go to the next space, otherwise you go to the next space you can afford), draw a card and do what it says. The only clear decision is whether to gamble spending money now for a few points against the possibility that you won’t have enough for a few more points next round. That’s it.
Defenders of this game say that the other decision – whether to skip forward more a few spaces to get something special (in exchange for giving your opponent extra turns) – is where the heart of the game lies, but from what I have seen I call bull. In the comparable game – Glen More – that decision makes sense, because you are getting something very highly valued in exchange for the turns you give up; sometimes 18 or more points, and each additional turn you gave up is also -3 points for the person who takes it. In this game, the most you will get by jumping forward a few spaces is 3 extra points, and every turn nets you 2-5 points, so it is never worthwhile to lose turns.
I would be happy to be proven otherwise, but until then this remains a thing of beauty that I hope to never play again. Everyone else playing with me – Cliff, Nadine, and someone else – felt the same way. At one point Nadine went to the bathroom and we played her turns for her. The game played us, rather than the other way around. I think the game won for me.
Roll for the Galaxy – Although I don’t like dice, I sometimes like dice placement games, like Alien Frontiers and Troyes. I thought this might be the same, maybe slightly better than Race for the Galaxy, which I think it okay but not great (in particular, I don’t like games where players can act to end the game early when they are winning). Fiddly dice rolling doesn’t add much to the card game, although the ability to choose what kind of cards you draw does. So it’s a mix of things that are better than and worse than the original game. We had to stop this mid-game since shabbat was out and the owners had to go.
Lo Ra – Finally, we played this with the same couple with whom we played Candle Quest. Again, she was apprehensive, and again she warmed to it by the end of the game. The husband had played Ra, so he understood what was going on. Nadine toasted all of us by an embarrassing amount.
Someone said the event needs a name, and we came up with KinneretCon. The best game event I’ve been to, very fun and friendly in a great setting.
Roll for the Galaxy – I played twice, once Friday afternoon before Shabbat, once at the end of Shabbat where we stopped after a few rounds. It’s interesting but fiddly, I’m glad I got to try it. Tons of pretty dice.
TIME Stories – I’ve wanted to try this since I saw at bgg.con, where it was popular. Cliff and Rafi also really liked it. I played with Gili, Eszter and Roee; Rafi got us started and answered questions. It’s a co-op game with a creative mystery story and nice art. I don’t play games for literature-like wording; the others, not native English-speakers, weren’t into the wording either. The mechanics of discovery, deduction, combat tests and puzzles are fine, but we didn’t feel like doing them for three hours, so we stopped near the end of the first run, after spending twenty minutes on the mental maze. Which Rafi later said wasn’t necessary if we had followed a different path. It was a good way to experience the game and see how it works; it’s more of activity than a game.
Five Tribes – I played with Eszter and two players new to the game, they were very good at analyzing and making beneficial moves. They were strong on the board, one had a Djinn for placing camels on empty tiles, and one could place palaces, and keep assassinated meeples. I only had 4 camels on the board, on low point tiles, and no Djinns or white meeples. I did money once. I collected cards, which I usually don’t do because they cost money, but only Eszter was collecting any at all, and there was a good selection available. I ended up with a set of seven and a set of five, I finished the second set at the end, I hadn’t tried getting two large sets in other plays. I also had six yellow meeples for the most; the assassin guy killed one of Eszter’s instead of mine because he was in competition with her for second place, whereas I would have the most either way. I also had bid pretty low, and ended up winning. We all enjoyed the game, I think the open information makes it more interesting because you end up helping people plan moves once they say what they want to do. The new version with Fakirs instead of Slaves.
Tichu – I partnered with Jon against Roee and his wife Zoya. They’re super Tichu fiends. I don’t call many Tichus, but called Grand Tichu early on. I said I don’t know if I could even make a regular Tichu against these guys, they complained about my table talk because they thought I was referring to my current hand, but got it after I explained what I meant. I’m not sure if I could have made it, but I definitely played wrong, which put us in the negative. Our opponents seemed to always have bombs at the right time to stop us from both going out first, or making Tichus. At one critical point, I was trying to go out, and had no idea that Zoya and Jon both had only one card, just because I wasn’t paying attention, a very stupid mistake. I played wrong, letting Zoya go out before me or Jon. Jon couldn’t believe it, and complained, which was totally justified since it basically cost us a lot of points and the whole game, frustrating when I had the right cards. Zoya and Roee commented on his complaining, but he wasn’t seriously mad, just pretty annoyed. And even after I played I hadn’t noticed what happened. Other than losing, it was a very long and fun game, interesting to play against serious players. Now I need to get better at several aspects of it.
Bruges – I had played this twice at bgg.con two years ago, and liked it compared to other games, but not enough to get the game. It’s not too long, and has negative effects, but they can be mitigated. My big move was making the others lose three points, but I lost a house and person card from Cliff’s attacks. I finished my canal before Cliff, a one-point advantage. Jon won, I tied with Cliff in points, he won the tie with one extra coin. I took cards from only one stack to make the game finish sooner, it may have prevented one round. Getting good person cards with synergy seems to be the best strategy, but which cards you get is partly luck.
Take it to the Limit – The game is spatial, but not complicated, so it’s a good break from Eurogames. I was trying to only make a few rows, but should have tried for one fewer, because I ended up with two in the same color with each missing one or two tiles. Next time I’ll pay more attention to the small board, and should get a better result. There’s strategy, but plays quickly.
Tokaido – I had seen a demo of this at bgg.con; it’s known for beautiful art. Disappointing as a game; I left the room for a few minutes, and told Cliff they could take care of my Inn move. When I got back, they had done my next move too, because it was so obvious what I would choose. Which is the case for the whole game, only very minor decisions which have little effect. Our scores were close because the game is well-balanced. I would have had money for food at the first Inn if I had only bought two cards instead of three on my first move, I don’t know how much the point difference was. Jon compared it to Candyland, later I read a review that said that it’s been called Candyland for adults, and the reviewer went into the differences between the two games. A game that needs to be defended against comparisons to Candyland has major issues.
Candle Quest – Jon taught the game but didn’t play. The players did well at understanding and playing. I didn’t draw any bad candle cards, the others drew several, including the person who won. People bought cards several times from discard piles. I hadn’t played in a long time.
Lo Ra – Jon and I taught this to two new players. They wanted to be taught in Hebrew, but after Jon started explaining, one player said “just like Ra.” So Jon let him explain to his wife. They caught on well, and were interested in the game. I won because I managed to win a few good auctions at the right time. Only one person was missing a candle for the menorahs in one round. |
29 Marriott Street
Perfection in a prime position
Designed with architectural imagination, a synergy between elegant traditional style & a serene vibe combine in a residence of unique appeal. A rustic façade with exposed brick & a manicured garden sets the tone for the dynamic flair inside, where tremendous light is reflected by a central light well. The fabulous kitchen features Smeg stainless steel appliances & gleaming black granite benchtops contrasted by white cabinetry & extends the open plan style into the living room with timber concertina doors to a north facing, paved courtyard. An excellent addition is a garage with a timber & glass entry & ROW access & with studio to work from home above. The peaceful vibe continues in the main bedroom with huge built-in wardrobes & light well views, alongside the second bedroom or sophisticated formal living room with a classic open fireplace. The chic & sky lit fully tiled bathroom features an open shower & a wall of glass bricks continuing the originality. Heating & cooling & an alarm completes this sanctuary moments to parkland, transport, Balaclava train station & Carlisle Street for the total St Kilda lifestyle. |
MOUNTAIN VIEW (May 14, 2007). Six leading networking and security technology companies (Extreme Networks, Identity Engines, Infoblox, Symantec Corporation, TippingPoint, and Trapeze Networks) announced the formation of the OpenSEA Alliance, a newly formed group dedicated to the development, promotion, and distribution of an open source 802.1X supplicant.
The formation of the OpenSEA alliance was initiated, coordinated and promoted by Jon Oltsik, senior analyst at industry analyst firm the Enterprise Strategy Group. Oltsik comments: “In a network-connected world challenged by ever-growing sophisticated security threats, open source solutions provide an avenue for standards-based implementation and rapid technology adoption. In this way, I believe that open source efforts like the OpenSEA Alliance can lead to security and privacy advances that benefit society at large as well as individual organizations and users.”
The seven companies are joined in this effort by JANET/UKERNA. JANET is the network dedicated to the needs of education and research in the UK serving a community of 18 Million potential end-users. It connects the UK’s education and research organizations to each other, as well as to the rest of the world through links to the global Internet. UKERNA (United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association) manages the operation and development of JANET on behalf of JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) for the UK Further and Higher Education Funding Councils.
“The concept of a community underpins everything UKERNA does and JANET is based on the need for organizations to communicate, collaborate and co-operate in the shared interests of education and research,” states Louis Searchwell, Technical Specialist for UKERNA. “A key area of focus for UKERNA is the promotion of secure networking to the community of users it serves. For these reasons, UKERNA is extremely keen to participate in the development of an open source 802.1x supplicant benefiting its users and the education and research communities across Europe and beyond.”
The name OpenSEA stands for “Open Secure Edge Access” and reflects the group’s focus on open source solutions for networking and security. In its initial project, the OpenSEA Alliance plans to develop a robust cross-platform open source 802.1X supplicant with the goal of emulating the reliability, ubiquity, and success of the popular Firefox web browser.
The OpenSEA 802.1X supplicant development is well underway as it is based upon the existing Xsupplicant, a cross-platform open-source 802.1X client originally developed within the University of Maryland and taken over by Chris Hessing while at the University of Utah. Xsupplicant uses a modular architecture to enable extensions including new authentication types and integration with other security components. OpenSEA plans to support the extension of Xsupplicant with key functionality including support for Windows XP, a robust GUI, and an API for extensibility.
Group members plan to market the OpenSEA Alliance and Xsupplicant at the upcoming Interop trade show from May 20 through May 25 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.
The OpenSEA alliance is incorporated in the State of California as a 501c-6 non-profit organization and has established a governance model based loosely on the popular and successful Eclipse Foundation. In addition to its initial 802.1X project, the group will focus on open source networking and security technologies. To facilitate and promote current and future projects, the OpenSEA Alliance welcomes technology vendors, academic institutions, industry standards groups and individual developers to join to the group and participate in its efforts.
"With the funding, support, and participation of so many industry leaders, the OpenSEA Alliance will certainly help to drive more open source activity into networking and security," said Alan DeKok, co-founder and leader of the FreeRADIUS project and a supporter of the OpenSEA Foundation. "I look forward to future collaboration between the OpenSEA Foundation and FreeRADIUS project as the two groups have a common goal and a lot of synergy."
Further information about the OpenSEA Alliance can be found at the organization’s web site at www.openseaalliance.org. |
You don’t need a massive budget to make a masterpiece.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that without indie games, our industry would be severely lacking in both creativity and quality. Unrestrained by and unconcerned with things that often define the direction and scope of so many AAA release, games developed on smaller budgets by smaller teams often end up surprising us the most with some of the best ideas. 2018 has been no different in that regard. The constant and aggressive growth of the indie scene continued in 2018, and it has been a year where we’ve played some truly amazing games that don’t just rank as some of the best indie-developed titles of the years, but as some of the best games of 2018, period.
And while it’s no easy task highlight just a few of these at the expense of all others, we feel that there were fifteen such games that spoke to us more than any of the others. Truthfully, we could have easily listed out as many as 20-25 of our favourite indie games this year, and it pained us to leave out some of the games we did end up leaving out. Regardless, here are the fifteen nominees for GamingBolt’s favourite indie title of 2018.
NOTE: The nominees and winner were decided by an internal vote held among the entire GamingBolt staff.
THE NOMINEES ARE…
Youropa is not a game without issues, and some of these are problematic enough that they might turn you off the experience entirely. So while it isn’t the kind of game that everyone can enjoy, those who do enjoy it, enjoy it immensely. It constantly keeps throwing challenging and thoughtfully designed puzzles at the players, some of which are truly truly mind-bending thanks to the unique ways in which it plays with gravity. Even beyond that, it’s setting is one of the most atmospheric and beautifully realized settings we’ve seen in a game all year, where simply existing and doing nothing but looking around at your surroundings can be quite the experience.
FULL METAL FURIES
Full Metal Furies didn’t get enough attention and recognition when it launched at the beginning of the year, and we feel that’s very unfair. It’s a solid beat ’em up that respects the legacy of its genre, understands its biggest strength, but also isn’t afraid to try new things. It’s vibrant visuals and its ridiculously over-the-top characters are perfectly in line with how the game never really takes itself too seriously, while the combat keeps you constantly engaged. When played in co-op, it’s an even better experience.
First person puzzle titles have become quite popular over the past couple of years, and Q.U.B.E. 2 perfectly illustrates just why that is the case- because when they’re good, they’re very, very good. It’s beautiful art style is a constant visual treat, while the game also keeps presenting players with some of the best designed puzzles we’ve seen in recent memory. Q.U.B.E. 2 also never seems to run of ideas, with new kinds of challenges constantly being thrown your way. It has undeniable flaws in the narrative department, but in the end, the puzzles are what we’re really here for anyway.
Virtual reality and rhythm are a perfect fit on paper, to the extent that many might find it all too easy to conceptualize what kind of an experience such a game should be. Beat Saber boldly ignores all those obvious ideas, and instead does its own thing. Slashing oncoming beats with wielded sabers is a strangely satisfying feeling in and of itself, but combined with pulsating music that the game knows just how to sync with its visual experience, it rises completely new heights. Beat Saber is addictive, satisfying, and an absolute blast.
Unravel Two came out of nowhere this year, released as a shadow drop halfway through 2018, and perhaps for that reason, it didn’t get as much recognition as it deserves. It’s not the breath of fresh air that it’s predecessor was, but what it is, is more of what made the first Unravel so great. It’s charming, beautiful to look at, and full of inventive and satsfying puzzles. It’s structure as a co-op game adds a whole lot to its moment-to-moment gameplay, and even though it can be played solo and still be a lot of fun, when played with a friend by your side, it becomes so, so much better.
Survival games have carved out a strong identity for themselves over the genre’s long life, and though Subnautica doesn’t completely turn that on its head, it uses staples of the genre in some truly unique ways. The most obvious way it does that is through its setting, taking players to vast and majestic underwater environments that are just as rewarding to explore and survive in as they are beautiful and varied to look at. Its creation tools also offer a staggering amount of options to play around with, and can easily keep you entertained for long stretches.
Frostpunk pulls you in the second you lay eyes on it thanks to its visual aesthetic, but as you play more and more of it, you can’t help but be surprised by the confidence with which it executes its strong vision. Not only is it a compelling city builder, its survival mechanics also make it a tense experience. On top of that, it delivers a genuinely interesting story, set in a captivating world, where each decision that you make has real weight. Recently, developers 11 bit Studios also added an Endless Mode to the game, which addresses some of its biggest issues, and adds even greater value to the experience.
CrossCode is a fascinating game. It’s a single player RPG set in an MMORPG world, and it uses that unique blend to great effect, not just in terms of quests and the way it is structured, but also with how it tells its story. It’s art design is also instantly appealing to anyone who has any fondness for 16-bit era RPGs, while it also features one of the most innovating and enjoyable combat systems we’ve seen in a game in a long, long time.
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Return of the Obra Dinn makes a strong statement from the get go that it’s not going to be an ordinary experience, immediately hitting players with its unconventionally monochromatic visuals- and its disregard for conventions doesn’t end there. It tells an engrossing narrative that unfolds in a very unorthodox manner, and works with its ingeniously designed puzzles in almost perfect synergy. It’s a captivating journey all the way through, which is solidified as something you won’t soon forget thanks to how perfectly it sticks the landing.
Guacamelee! 2 is everything that its predecessor was- but more. The zany characters and setting, the slick combat, the excellent boss fights, the eye-popping art design, and the excellent level design you remember from the first game are all here, but taken to new heights with even better execution. It is, in many ways, the ideal sequel- it doesn’t try to do too much that is completely new, and instead focuses on building on the foundations that have already been laid down. When the foundations are as strong they are in the case of Guacamelee! 2, that can only be a good thing.
At first glance, it can be all too easy to dismiss Tetris as just a regular Tetris game with some ancillary aesthetic bells and whistles- it’s Tetris, it’s perfect as it is, what else can it do? As it turns out, it can do a lot. Yes, the fundamentally flawless and addictive gameplay of Tetris Effect is that of any Tetris game, but it combines those aspects with visuals and music that are not just there to make the game look and sound pretty- they actively add to the experience in amazing ways, and deliver the kind of Tetris experience we never knew we wanted.
French studio Dontnod Entertainment has made a name for itself in the last few years thanks to the excellent Life is Strange, while many also fondly remember the 2013 title Remember Me. With Vampyr, the developer once again tried something ambitious and bold, and it turned out to be a successful experiment yet again. Vampyr’s uncompromising dedication to its dark and gothic setting makes for one of this year’s most engrossing settings for a narrative, while its emphasis on choice and consequence mechanics also make it a journey worth taking. Though the game has its fair share of flaws, its stronger elements help it rise up above those issues.
It’s not very often that everything in a game just feels perfect the second you start playing it- but the moment you begin your journey in Celeste, everything just feels right. The tightness of its controls and the inherently strong layout of its levels compels players to keep on playing even in the face of ever-increasing difficulty, while the game also weaves a tale that hits you harder than you might expect. It’s a game that delivers on all fronts, and delivers in spades. It’s hard to believe that this is a game that was made by just two individuals, because its displays a level of quality that even some of the most well-staffed studios in the industry cannot match.
Dead Cells’ concoction of the Metroidvania and rougelike genres shouldn’t work. One is about having a clearly defined, multi-layered world, and the other is about randomization and procedural generation. But Dead Cells makes it work. It’s procedurally generated levels are a blast to play through, while running through freshly stitched levels after every death with potentially new or upgraded abilities also manages to scratch that Metroidvania itch. Dead Cells also features excellent combat that encourages its players to keep striving to improve, and all these elements come together to make the experience incredibly addictive- “just one more run” is something you’ll often find yourself saying while playing Dead Cells.
INTO THE BREACH
Into the Breach is one of the best turn based strategy games to have come out in the last few years- that is very high praise when you look at just how many of those we’ve had in recent memory. It’s battles are bit-sized and easy to grasp, but deceptively hard to master, and can provide the kind of challenge that feels satisfying in all the right ways, while the variety of unlockable mechs and ways to upgrade them makes the progression equally rewarding. Excellent music, strong art design, well written characters and solid world building also help elevate the entire experience to untouchable heights.
AND THE WINNER IS…
In a year that has seen as many excellent and memorable indie-developed games as 2018 as, you wouldn’t think that any single game would be able to stand head and shoulders above all others, but that is exactly what Celeste does. It’s that good- it can’t be praised enough. Celeste succeeds on multiple levels, each as meaningful as the others- visually, its art design is vibrant; narratively, it tells a surprisingly emotional and moving story that is propped up by excellent writing and characters; from a gameplay perspective, it’s inch perfect platforming and ingenious level design make it a game that you simply cannot put down; in terms of value for money, it’s a game that is infinitely replayable, on top of already having plenty of content on offer as it is. Celeste is an absolute masterpiece, which is a statement we can make without reservations, and is a game that you owe it to yourself to experience at least once. |
Offshore engineering specialist Wood has secured a six-year contract from Shell to provide services for the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project in the Philippines.
Under the contract, Wood will provide maintenance services, modifications and shutdown support covering Shell’s onshore facilities in Batangas and offshore assets in Malampaya field, near Palawan Island.
“This win is a powerful example of a revenue synergy achieved by the combination of Amec Foster Wheeler and Wood Group’s broad capabilities and depth of experience. As Wood, we bring together our successful track record and local knowledge developed from working on these offshore assets and onshore gas plant, and our strong global operations and maintenance expertise,” said Robin Watson, chief executive of Wood.
“The contract also grows our operations and maintenance business in the region, expanding our footprint in south-east Asia and creating new and enhanced opportunities for the local workforce,” Watson added. |
Change Management Templates For CEOs
Change management templates for CEOs are about the real-life practical details of "How" to lead change.
The "Why" is fully covered in the Practitioners Masterclass
You have an idea, you have a vision for a significant visionary change, and/or your organisation is facing major external challenges…
It is fairly obvious to you that the size, scope and complexity, priority, timescale and strategic importance of the proposed change is such that it is a step change, and as such should not be introduced as part of "Business As Usual" as it would disrupt the day-to-day running of your organisation.
It is also apparent that if this potential change initiative is to proceed, it needs to be regarded and handled as a specific initiative and will require some form of change management process.
The change management templates for CEOs are extracts from Change Management Templates - Change Processes That Work For People
Change management templates for CEOs identify six key steps in each phase of your change initiative:
- Stalling points
Factors that are usually ignored or unacknowledged, and that undermine and significantly increase the likelihood of failure at each phase
- Critical action point
The "one big thing" - a specific action or event that if instigated at this phase has major positive leverage on the change initiative
- Key questions
Questions to be addressed by the critical actions point to reach the initial objective for this phase
- Initial objective
The defined successful outcome of the critical action point at this phase
- What is most likely to go wrong?
The attitudes and behaviours within yourself, your management peers and your organisation that will offer resistance and seek to undermine you at this phase
- Quick metrics on progress
Early informal feedback indicators
Here are the specifics of each of these steps that you will face in the starting out phase of your change management initiative.
Failure to understand your role
- Failure to appreciate that for any major change initiative to succeed your role is to provide facilitative leadership, that is, to ensure the wider involvement of people at all levels - especially in the informal networks
- Facilitative leadership will require from you: communication skills, social skills and a collaborative approach
- Whilst your command-control hierarchy remains intact - and it needs to for the exercising of legal authority to ratify decisions - the power needed to drive this change initiative is based on synergy and mutuality and is multi-directional
Failure to understand what has and hasn’t worked before
- So many companies – especially in North America – just rush into the next change initiative without debriefing and assessing what did and didn’t work last time, and why
- You need to get that knowledge and insight now, right up front as it can help you repeating past mistakes and failing with this initiative
- Your organisations’ “transition readiness” is best indicated by your organisations’ legacy of change initiatives (both those that worked and those that didn't work) as it provides an important early indicator of what lies ahead
- You also need to look at the scars left by successful as well as unsuccessful initiatives as it is crucial to understand and address the scar tissue left by previous initiatives
Failure to understand the role and critical importance of your informal networks
- Failing to understand that your informal networks are critical to the success or failure of your change initiative
- To succeed with any change initiative you need the involvement and support of your informal networks – from the outset
- Your informal networks are the source of most of your potential resistance and the source of most of your solutions
Critical Action Point
- Before instigating any action, and in addition to discussing this with your senior management team, hold informal talks as soon as possible with a small group drawn from the informal networks within your organisation
- Outline the challenges, give them the background and the reasons for the potential change and invite their views and feedback on how to proceed – and listen
- Where have we come from?
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to be?
- What will happen if we don’t get there?
- What are forces or drivers for this change?
- What are the forces or drivers against this change?
- What are the strongest forces for change?
- What are the strongest forces against change?
- What will be the impact of changing?
- What will be the impact of not changing?
- Is change viable?
Your initial objective is to reach a shared perspective of a high level view of each of the following points:
- The organisational need for the change
- The specifics of what will change
- The benefits of the change
- The impacts of the change
This not a negotiation, this is not a planning exercise, this is an informal discussion.
It is highly likely that this will involve a number of meetings of the “informal” group – each of the above points could involve a separate session.
Get your formal team to meet with your informal team.
What is most likely to go wrong?
Problems are likely to arise from 3 areas:
Your fellow directors and other senior management colleagues
Your fellow directors and other senior management colleagues will probably not initially understand what you are doing or why.
They will put you under pressure to move more quickly, to delegate as soon as possible, and unconsciously they will recoil from the idea of the loss of control – and the perception of the loss of power - in involving so many "outsiders" or "at least until we are clear what we are doing".
Members of the informal organisation
If you have not involved members of the informal organisation in prior change initiatives, and if you and/or your organisation have a poor track record on running change initiatives then they will likely be suspicious or even hostile to your initial invitation to meet and talk informally.
They will be trying to figure out what your hidden agenda is and may be reluctant to participate and will stall you.
The change you seek within your organisation starts with you!
An adaptive approach to change leadership means that you as leader have to be prepared to change first. This may mean admitting past mistakes – mistakes that may have disrupted and negatively impacted the personal and emotional lives of many people.
Your leadership style quite likely has to change. You are now an enabler and facilitator.
If your psychological and emotional profile matches that of the typical business leader , whilst you may intellectually agree with some of what you have just read, you will quite probably experience a degree of resistance.
Quick metrics on progress
- You catch yourself (maybe uncharacteristically) reflecting more on the people side of your proposed change initiative.
- You have in your possession a single sheet summary of the lessons learnt from past change initiatives
- A member of your informal team emails you personally or phones you on your mobile phone with ideas and suggestions
- You feel a certain level of dis-ease and mild discomfort about where all this is leading
- You sense that a shared perception of the initial objective is starting to emerge from meetings with the informal team
- The informal and formal teams have met together once
- The informal and formal teams have met together more than once
There are a further 5 key phases of your change management initiative that are identified and addressed in the change management templates for CEOs:
- Pre-change initiative review and cultural analysis
- Selecting a change model and methodology
- Involving informal organisation with programme based model
- Managing the transitions
- Ongoing implementation
For more information on the 6 key steps in each of these phases please see: Change Management Templates For CEOs
Return to "Change management articles and resources |
25 Oct Our Hubris
If people are good only because they fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. ~ Albert Einstein
Nothing is by accident. Everything is happening as a flow, as a state of Karma, that is pointing us at all times in the direction of Love like a flower seeking sunlight.
We never know when this “Karma” might show up to help us. Please remember that nothing in this lifetime is ever finished like we would choose to believe it is. Every action, no matter how long ago the deed was done, leads us to another and another consequence of Karma, which reflects the quality of energy that we have cultivated through many events in this world and our past lifetimes.
Karma follows us into everything we do in this life – never as punishment or reward, but as that glass ceiling that does not allow us to move forward into Love. The flavor and texture of everything we think, say and do affects the infrastructure of our life through Karma. Right now we are all creating what will happen in the next moment and the next and the many to come. What is done, what is enacted creates a synergy that becomes the energy that moves out into the cosmos and resonates back to us in many different forms of circumstances and conditions that reflect motive and intent. These energies become our state of living.
Hubris: Excessive pride or self-confidence. ~ Webster’s Dictionary
It is important to consider how important the hubris is to us and how it creates, through its arrogance, a great distance from Love. We create so many unnecessary and painful states of Karma through our hubris.
Karma does not punish, it does not reward. Karma reflects the state of our being that we have cultivated either through ignorance of the Laws that are in effect in the Universe or by the diligent surrender to them as Love. This “beingness” is comprised of our use of the mind to either be reflective of Love…or emotionality. It is up to us as to how we use the state of our being in this world.
Love is the only true measure of maturity, the only measure of our living that matters. Authentic Love comes from humility. ~ Siraj
Most human beings confuse dignity with Divinity – they are NOT the same. Humility is not popular in most western religions. Religion is all about being “right” enough to have the power to get what we want beyond reproach. This concept and philosophy appeals to the mediocre mentality. What people ascribe to in their philosophies has a great deal to do with the state of their Karma in this lifetime.
When my beloved students are in some sort of spiritual bind where they cannot move forward, it is typically because they cannot feel their own need for remorse. When I try to help them with forgiveness, they merely tell me that they had a justification for what they said and did. Hence, their hubris was more important than remorse.
So why is hubris more important than humility? This is humankind’s biggest problem and it is not about anything other than pride. As humans we live by impulse and wit. We are susceptible to emotionality that makes us feel inferior so we use our aptitude for social survival and personal gain (selfishness) to excuse ourselves through our trumped up logic and reasoning that allows for self-righteous cruelty. As Einstein so aptly observed: “…we are a sorry lot indeed.”
How do I tell people that Love is more powerful than hubris? I have tried for many years…and nothing has come of it. Nothing. This is why religions that preach and teach how to “get” and “hold” are seen as more valuable than the teachings of how to “release” and “let go.” We want to “control” our lives in order to sustain our hubris. We don’t see this fact because we have become the fact itself. For instance, selfishness can’t realize it is selfishness,…thoughts can’t realize themselves as mere thoughts. So we live in these delusions and simply add them to our hubris.
Ah, the Truth that sets us free is wordless because it is unconscionable. ~ Siraj
Forgiveness is like learning to balance yourself on a bicycle. You have to get on the bike and fall a few times before you get the feel of that indiscernible moment of true balance and just ride the bike without thinking about it.
Forgiveness is revealed in our lifestyle and not just in deliberate actions that were forged by insistent and incessant religious and moral beliefs. Forgiveness can never be an act separate from the way we live our life when no one is looking. Forgiveness is to realize the bigger picture of our life (Karma) and to realize that we need to live within ourselves a more conscious and compassionate lifestyle through unconscionable Love.
So you will have to begin your own journey, something that few are interested in, and begin to realize through meditation and spiritual practice that everything you do matters. Everything is important and all efforts should be about unconscionable giving and forgiving.
Realize that you are not here to “fit in” to this culture and society that is so deeply ill - you are here to transcend!
Abandon defending and succumbing to your human emotionality and break the chains that keep you from letting authentic Love LIVE YOU
Humility is the antidote to everything in your lifetime
Remorse is a very worthy effort - live knowing what you have lived and done was unkind and unnecessary, and be willing to never allow it to happen through you again
Forgiveness is the aspect within you, spiritually speaking, that is awakened through authentic remorse and becomes the bridge to your Soul |
Open – Mon, Tues, Wed. 10am till 5pm, Thurs, Fri. 10am till 6pm, Saturday 10am till 5pm, Call us on (540) 556 2421.
Our Boutique inside the store. Some of our lines are, Roxanne Kelly Designs, Sucre Soir, Emerson Street, Groceries, Cut Loose, Synergy Organic, Echo Verde, Alternative Apparel, Groceries, National Picnic, Sheerwater, Latico Leather, Piper Lane and much more…
When you call us, prepare to be involved in your project. We will interpret your dreams and make them a realty, whether it is a little change or a great big redesign, we will be with you all the way.
Event Planning and Design
Looking to plan a wedding, party or corporate event? Look no further! We take the stress away. Our goal is design your party, just for you! You set the tone and we do the work. Stress free planning for our clients. We have event and floral designers on call with the props to fulfill your dream....
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540 556 2421 |
Regardless of where you are on the face of the earth, you have your own share or experience of the on-going loll in the economies of the world.
However, as I said on Radio, there are a number of opportunities around us that we can take advantage of. Nothing limits man like a lack of any of these four;
Decisions are taken based on information. The quality of the information you have and act upon, determines the quality of your decision. And the quality of your decision determines the quality of outcome you get.
There are quantum opportunities around you and I regardless of our location. The question is: are you aware of the existence of such opportunities? The opportunities that you are aware of, which of them did you act upon?
Information sources can be;
- Primary– This is information you obtained yourself. Either through interview, observation, questionnaire etc etc
- Secondary– This is information you obtained through another source or third party or agency.
Whatever is your source, apply some level of caution even before you proceed with your decision!
Revelation is higher than information. Revelation is heavenly insight that brings light upon a confusing or worrying state, situation or circumstance.
Revelation is heavenly download of vital truth that has capacity to liberate, to transform, to edify and to comfort.
What revelation do you have about the present economic downturn? What revelation do you have about what you are going through right now? What is your disposition to the revelation that you have?
There are two critical sources of revelation;
- Direct– This is revelation that you obtain direct from the throne room of Heaven. It is revelation that comes from your direct relationship with your Maker- God Almighty. It is what God tells you directly either through His voice or through His Spirit or nudging (leading) of the Spirit.
- Indirect– This is revelation that comes through God’s servants. God can use anybody to bring an heavenly insight to you. But that insight must not in anyway be contrary to the word of God. Why? The word of God is the standard of God!
God said in the Bible;
“My people perish for lack of knowledge…….’’ Hosea 4 Vs 6 KJV
Nothing kills like ignorance. Ignorance is deadly. A lack of knowledge will put ignorance on fire. And you know fire can ravage anything on its path.
Knowledge is available to everyone who desires to acquire it. The more knowledge you have, combining it with wisdom, which is defined as the correct application of knowledge, the better you and I are.
Interestingly knowledge can be acquired if you are willing to acquire it.
Your disposition to opportunities and to the events around you is very very important. Your actions, inactions, words and body language all add to either create a pathway for you to be successful or place a limitation on you.
What is your disposition to all that is happening around you? What is your disposition to what you are going through personally? Is there a correlation between what your Maker has in stock for you and your disposition? What is your disposition to opportunities around you?
See what your Maker says;
“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land”
Isaiah 1 Vs 19
The question is are you willing?
If your answer is yes, then read the opportunities below;
SPENDLESS NETWORK LIMITED
Spendless Network Limited is Nigeria’s latest Online wholesale buying and sharing group of people. The word Network in their name is simply a collection of people who are taking advantage of the benefits of synergy. They are not into multi-level marketing but being part of them guarantee you will spend less on the items below as compared to when you go to the open market yourself. Their goal is to help you save more on every purchase!
If you want to spendless on any of the following items;
- Real Estate (Land and Houses)
- Acquisition and Installation of Inverter/Solar
- Ladies dresses and Mens shoes
- Phones and Accessories
- Electronics- TV, Fridges, Sound systems etc
- Travels and Holidaying
- Books and Stationeries
- Baking Flower, baking butter (Topper Butter) and other baking ingredients
- Goats, Cows sharing- They do share a cow/goat weekly
- Groundnut Oil
- Pepper, Tomatoes etc
Spendless Network is in partnership with the following reputable firms and products;
- Procter and Gamble
- Grandcereals and Oils
- Friesland Capina
- Kings Oil
SO, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
- Check out Spendless facebook page: facebook.com/SpendLessNG/
- Like the page to get notifications of their posts on facebook daily
- Click: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QYS1cJVG6pSu1PhwEprIPYbntO6-YJW58svpFk5txxQ/viewform?edit_requested=true
To be a member of the Group buying Company SPENDLESS NETWORK LIMITED (SNL). It is free
- Call SNL Business Development Executive- Simon on 08029313116
YET, ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY- CORPORATE & UNIQUE FIELD MARKETERS LIMITED (CUFM)
Corporate & Unique Field Marketers Limited is pioneering Nigeria’s first multi-level marketing that is very reliable and guarantees regular cash.
From a token fee of N5,000.00 and above you can launch into this Unique guaranteed regular money making opportunity. All you need to do is to send sms to the number 07067432447 stating your name and request to attend seminar on how it works. You don’t need to pay to attend the seminar. Seminar date is Wednesday 29th June, 2016. Venue and time will be communicated when you make request.
Over to you now to navigate your way out of this economic downturn taking advantage of the two opportunities above. |
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute presented the Fall's team of Rumsfeld Fellows, emerging leaders from the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Central Asia - which the alumni themselves have dubbed the 'CAMCA Region.'
At this session, the fellows focused on the role of the regional neighbors and partners in the process of rebuilding Afghanistan. Stability and prosperity in Afghanistan are an important contributor to emerging regionalism in CAMCA and integration of the region in global economy.
Ms. Hadeia Amiry, Special Adviser, National Security Council of Afghanistan
Ms. Anna Sarkisyan, Defense and Security Program, Transparency International Armenia
Mr. Rufat Abbasov, Founding Partner, Synergy Partnership, LLC, Azerbaijan
Ms. Natia Gvenetadze, Head of the Professional and Institutional Development Department,
Defense Institution Building School, Ministry of Defense of Georgia
Mr. Ruslan Kozhakhmetov, Vice-Rector for corporate development, Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan
Mr. Nurlan Kyshtobaev, Partner, GRATA Law Firm, Kyrgyzstan
Mr. Enerelt Batbold, CFO/Director of Finance Department, Mongolian Railways State Owned Shareholding Company
Mr. Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva, Policy Analyst, National Security Council of Mongolia
Ms. Zarrina Abdulalieva, Country Officer, World Bank Office in Tajikistan
Mr. Malik Mukhitdinov, Program Officer, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Uzbekistan Representative Office
Ms. Hilola Muminova, Director, Business Development Group, Uzbekistan
Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council
Where: Middle East Institute: 1319 18th Street NW, 20036
When: Tuesday, November 6, 2018 from 4:00 - 6 pm,
Full Recording Available Below.
Event Summary by Matthew LaFond
On October 24, 2018, the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) at the American Foreign Policy Council hosted a Forum entitled, “Can Regionalism Drive Development in Central Asia?”. Speakers included CACI Chairman Frederick Starr, Lead Economist in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region David M. Gould, and Rohullah Osmani of the Asian Development Bank’s North America Representative Office. CACI Senior Fellow Mamuka Tsereteli moderated the event. During the Forum, the speakers addressed a number of topics, including the history of regionalism in Central Asia, the economic benefits regionalism will bring, and how international institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank are contributing to economic development.
CACI Chairman Frederick Starr began the Forum by introducing and providing perspective for common misconceptions about regionalism in Central Asia. He started by describing that the inhabitants of Central Asia are descended from two very different but interconnected ways of life: nomadic peoples and sedentary oasis-dwellers. This deep tradition of interdependence demonstrates that the diversity of the Central Asian peoples would not hamper regionalism. Another misconception he addressed was that the Central Asia region encompasses a vast number of different languages and ethnicities. He refuted this with the case of the Fergana Valley, which spreads across Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The valley’s inhabitants freely intermingle and share common cultural features despite their different languages and nationalities. Dr. Starr concluded his presentation with a history of regionalism in Central Asia. He argues that Central Asia’s modern regionalism was actually born under the Soviet Union; during the 1960s-80s, the Central Asia SSRs were intimately coordinated and managed to create a de facto autonomy. Finally, Starr demonstrates that regional elements have continued to exist since the Soviet Union’s dissolution. All five presidents have agreed on renaming the region “Central Asia” and making the region a nuclear-free zone.
World Bank representative David M. Gould gave a presentation of the recent publication, Critical Connections: Promoting Economic Growth and Resilience in Europe and Central Asia. In his presentation, Gould posited that connectivity and its relationship to economic growth should not be viewed in only one dimension (i.e. solely trade or migration), but rather multidimensionally. In other words, connectivity in one field, such as trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), migration, telecommunications, or transportation, complements connectivity in another. However, Gould also explained that if connectivity is multidimensional, then shocks in one dimension have adverse effects in other dimensions as well. Furthermore, countries that are more reliant on a single connection will be significantly more affected by these shocks. Gould identified this as a major concern for the region of Central Asia. Although connectivity is increasing, Central Asian countries are still very dependent on Russia. Gould concluded his presentation with a few recommendations: countries’ connections should be multidimensional and multinational, and a balanced connectivity profile is more important than being well connected in a single dimension. According to him, the remedy for shocks from connections is not isolation, but broadening the range of connections.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) representative Rohullah Osmani presented on the development projects that are connecting Central Asian countries. Osmani began by discussing the TAPI and TAP projects. He explicated that Central Asian countries face significant challenges that do not respect borders, such as the financial crisis, oil and gas crises, and climate change. To address these, he noted the newly launched Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) 2030 strategy, which expands CAREC’s mandate and seeks to better help CAREC’s 11 member countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Agreement targets. To support CAREC 2030, ADB has committed $5 billion for the next 5 years. Osmani concluded his presentation by noting the results of a survey by the Asia Foundation on the impact of infrastructure on public attitudes. The survey demonstrated a positive relationship between infrastructure, employment opportunities, and public optimism.
The Forum then opened up for questions. Much of the discussion from the speakers and audience during this period revolved around the question of why regionalism in Central Asia has not already happened. Starr provided two reasons: sovereignty and a lack of committed interest by international institutions. He explicated that these countries have only just become confident enough in their individual sovereignties and opening up to their neighbors. Then he noted that international financial institutions are not embracing the region as an analytical category and producing a significant amount of data. Gould disagreed with Starr’s critique, stating that while the World Bank does adequately focus on Central Asia on a regional basis and that these countries are still very hesitant to open up internationally. Although there were a variety of viewpoints presented at the Forum, the speakers agreed that a new era of regionalism is emerging among the Central Asian countries, and if these countries embrace this greater connectivity, they are sure to be host to economic benefits and development.
Clip of the Event Below. Check the CACI YouTube page for the remaining clips.
The Trans-Caspian East-West Trade and Transit Corridor is a regional integrator, trade facilitator and viable transit connector between Europe and Asia. Comprising of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to the west, and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to the east of the Caspian Sea, this corridor brings together more than 200 million strong market and 400 billion in overall trade while connecting economies of the European Union and China along with access to Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India.
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute invites you to join members of Congress, Congressional Staff and the delegates from the Trans-Caspian countries, to discuss emerging geopolitical importance of the bourgeoning energy and transportation network, as well as U.S. commercial interests arising from it.
Dr. Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi - Chief Advisor of the President of Afghanistan
Mr. Elmir Valizade - Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication, Azerbaijan
Mr. Genadi Arveladze - Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgia
Mr. Fatih Metin, Deputy Minister of Economy, Turkey
Deputy Minister of Investment, Kazakhstan (name TBC)
Moderator: Fred Starr, Chairman, Central-Asia Caucasus Institute at AFPC
Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2167, 45 Independence Ave. SW 20515
When: Monday, May 17, 2018 from 9:30 am - 11:00 am
RSVP: Click HERE to register
Dr. Nematullah Bizhan, author of Aid Paradoxes in Afghanistan: Building and Undermining the State, will present a disturbing critique of US and western aid to Afghanistan. Happily, he will also offer a prescription for fixing it.
Dr. Nematullah Bizhan, Research Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University and former Director General of Budget, Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan.
Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: The American Foreign Policy Council, 509 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
When: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm |
Ruckus Wireless integration has been key to RG Nets
Purdicom has become the master distributor in Europe for RG Nets, the US manufacturer of all purpose authentication network gateways and controllers.
“We are thrilled to take on a product that has proven to be such a winner with Ruckus Wireless customers in the US. This product enhances our wireless offerings as well as being able to enrich fixed line network offerings,” said Hugh Garrod, managing director at Purdicom.
RG Nets is a certified Ruckus Enterprise Technology Partner and is one of only three companies certified through the Ruckus Interoperability and Open Testing (RIOT) programme in the public internet access market, as well as being the only member with a focus on serving operators of guest high speed internet access (GHSIA) networks.
Garrod said: “One of the main benefits to this new partnership is the RG Nets interoperability with Ruckus Wireless. This synergy with Ruckus is unique in the Wireless LAN market, as both companies have spent years perfecting integration that includes per-account dynamic VLANs for operators of hospitality, business, multi-dwelling unit wireless networks, and per user dynamic VLANs for operators of secure wireless public access networks.”
“It was a simple decision for us”, said Keenan Klinger, RG Nets CEO. “RG Nets was seeking a European distributor familiar with the Ruckus product line that can cover a large geography with focus.
“We were also seeking a partner we could rely on to properly train their resellers, provide technical support and assist their customers in the deployment and integration of our products in networks of any size and purpose.”
He said: “Purdicom, with its well established market leadership, product offering, technical expertise and pan European reach meets all of these requirements and we could not be more delighted with this new partnership.” |
Sometimes in life we encounter a person who is a veritable force of nature.
Dynamic, honest, emotional. The kind of individual that stops you in your tracks.
David Wilson is one of those people.
After a short time with Wilson you feel like you have known him forever. He possesses a charm that is disarming and the ability to laugh at himself.
Wilson is a visionary whose clients have enjoyed success at the highest levels. Genuine is the word that best describes him.
The Canadian sat down recently for an exclusive interview with Ice Time and talked about his work with Yuzuru Hanyu, his relationship with Yuna Kim, and how he became one of the best choreographers in the history of skating.
Wilson was in Japan earlier in the summer choreographing for Hanyu at “Fantasy on Ice” and creating short programs for Rika Kihira, Kaori Sakamoto and Mai Mihara. He has a long relationship with the country dating back to his work with Midori Ito in the 1990s.
The 52-year-old Wilson was born in Toronto and grew up in a small town to the north of it called Nobleton (Ontario). He began skating at a young age but was not able to excel competitively.
“I was a nobody. I wasn’t even able to make it to the national level of competitive skating,” Wilson recalled on a summer evening in Tokyo. “I never competed past novice. I didn’t have the athletic component. I had a double axel but no triple jumps.”
Though he may not have been a champion as a skater, Wilson became skilled enough to perform with the Ice Capades for five years touring North America and setting himself on the path to fame.
Wilson’s idol growing up was 1976 Olympic and world champion John Curry, who nearly 25 years after his death remains an icon of the sport.
“I met him in New York once. It was at the Sky Rinks,” Wilson remembered. “He used to give classes with the Ice Theater of New York. I was so star-struck I couldn’t even say anything. He was kind of a big guy . . . and the British accent.
“I have a picture book of him that I used to look at and spend hours imitating his poses,” Wilson continued. “I was a really reserved, shy, self-conscious person.
“John Curry appealed to me because he was beautiful. He had a beautiful aesthetic that I didn’t think was possible. I had never seen that,” Wilson commented. “John Curry was a revolution to me. He was like a male ballet dancer.”
Ice Time asked Wilson what makes a great choreographer.
“I think there is more than one thing that makes a good choreographer,” Wilson said. “As much as we need to be fabulously creative and musical and express ourselves with our body, we need to be good with people.
“Finding the right piece for the particular person at the right time is key, and really not easy to do. You can’t hit it on the head every single time.”
Wilson admitted that a choreographer doesn’t always get it right.
“I’ve had my moments and I’ve had my disappointing moments, too,” Wilson confessed. “That’s life. There are really good choreographers that aren’t good with people, but I don’t know how long they last.”
As with so many in life who end up pursuing a path that was not their original goal, choreographing for Wilson came about by osmosis.
“I basically started choreographing when I got off the road (1991) with the Ice Capades,” Wilson stated. “I taught skating briefly, but I had always intended to go back to school.
“My intentions were not to teach skating. I had always had an eye on architecture or if that didn’t work out, something in psychology. Those are my two areas of interest.
“I always just had this passion for structures and buildings and shapes. Furniture or anything with design.”
Wilson then identified the catalyst for his interest.
“I read ‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand when I was in high school, and that was really what sparked me toward architecture,” Wilson stated. “I always took visual arts through every grade, all the way up to grade 13 and I loved it. I had some ability in terms of drawing and that sort of thing. Not to be an outright artist, but I had a good eye.”
Wilson cited his ability to interpret music as a prime reason for his later success.
“I was in the school band, so I did learn how to read and write music. I was also in the school choir,” Wilson noted. “But I did not have a formal classical music training. I didn’t have private lessons. I have an incredible ear, but I inherited it from my father who was self-taught.
“It’s just something you are born with. It’s the best weapon to have if you want to be artistic. I don’t care how much of a show off you are, or how much personal charisma you have, if you’re not in tune with the music it is not going to come across. You are going to look like an idiot.”
Though he initially taught skating, Wilson knew quickly coaching wasn’t the right vocation for him.
“Even though I would have never dreamt of this career, I feel thoroughly blessed. I realized early on how much I loved it,” Wilson commented. “I loved teaching as well, but being asked to do choreography, for the first few years I did both. I was successful with it on a regional level and nationally in Canada with my first partner.
“I liked coaching too, but it’s a different ballgame. Because of my personality, I’m more well-suited to being a choreographer. I’m more well-suited to being the crazy uncle than the father,” Wilson added with a chuckle.
“With coaching, it’s a struggle. You have to play bad cop with the kids, the skaters.
“Everything gets taken out on you,” Wilson said. “The parents, you’re the first line of complaint from them. Also, the association puts a lot of pressure on you.
“Coaches take the brunt, they really have to have broad shoulders. I’m a little too sensitive. Thank god I can choreograph. I don’t think I would have lasted this long as a coach.”
Orser one of a kind
Wilson has enjoyed a long association with coach Brian Orser, whom he works with at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Wilson has collaborated with Orser for more than 10 years now and has witnessed up close what many in the sport believe is one of the greatest coaches ever.
Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medalist (1984, 1988) and world champion (1987), is the rare individual who was an incredible skater that has gone on to reach great heights as a coach.
Ice Time asked Wilson if Orser is a better coach than he was a skater.
“It would really be a close call. I’ve been around so many different coaches,” Wilson stated. “There are not that many of us who do exclusively choreography. Those of us that do, end up being exposed to a lot of different coaches.
“I’ve seen a lot of different coaching, and he is just amazing. It’s very unheard of for someone who really reached the pinnacle of success as a skater, and had the ultimate talent, to be then able to turn it around and have the ability to impart it and teach it.
“I’ve been watching him do it these past 10 years,” Wilson continued. “I have also been watching him do it with lesser talented skaters, which people don’t know. They see him on TV, and they see him with different jackets on representing different countries. They’ve seen him with Olympic champions.”
Wilson said it is what the public doesn’t see that has really impressed him about Orser.
“I’ve been watching Brian do it with more averagely talented skaters,” Wilson commented. “You know, someone who has been working on their double axel for three years, but he doesn’t give up. He’s the pied piper.
“Brian was a great champion. He also had an amazing illustrious professional career. He did it all. He worked hard. He got the most out of his pro career. I think the most of any other skater that has ever had one.
“He and Kurt (Browning). Brian did the TV specials, he did the tours, he did ad campaigns. He has done seminars and speaking engagements. He’s faced the sport from all angles.”
Wilson believes that coaching with the kind of results that Orser has produced is something innate for his compatriot.
“I think the teaching gift is a separate gift that he was also born with,” Wilson said. “I’ve seen other ex-champions try to teach and they are often lacking in patience, and lacking in the ability to really break it down.
“Most people of his caliber would have ended up doing mentoring, advising. But he likes to get right in there. He’s like, ‘I’m a doer.’ He’s Mr. Fixit. I wish I had been around a coach like him.”
Yuna and the path to glory
Wilson is perhaps best known for his long association with Yuna Kim. The two forged a partnership that has endured through the years. “I just did ‘All That Skate’ again with Yuna in South Korea,” Wilson said. “She came to work with me in Toronto for four days.”
Wilson said Yuna’s call came at the right time for him.
“I had just lost my dog (Hunter) March 11, and then they called me to do the show, and then two weeks later she decided to skate in it,” Wilson stated. “I hadn’t talked to Yuna in about 3½ years. So it was just heaven sent. It was such a pick-me-up in my life because I love this woman. I absolutely adore her.
“During the eight years I worked with her I had the kind of connection that is only going to happen a few times in your whole career,” Wilson offered. “It was interesting to watch her. She went home with what I gave her. No jumps, she hasn’t skated in four years, just a couple of spins, and she just wanted something that was pure and beautiful, not dramatic.”
Wilson detailed how Yuna’s approach to skating in the show had not changed from her days as a fierce competitor.
“People were sending me practice videos two or three times a week. I was sending notes back,” Wilson noted. “She only had a couple of months to prepare. She tackled that experience like an Olympic champion.
“My point behind saying this is that all of these people are OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). They all are. You can’t be Olympic champion without being obsessive. You just can’t. Show me one. I would love to meet them. It doesn’t exist.”
Wilson choreographed every short program and free skate for Yuna from the 2007-08 season until she retired after the 2014 Sochi Games. The results of their time together yielded an Olympic gold (2010) and silver (2014) as well as two senior world titles (2009, 2013).
Yuna’s short program to a medley from James Bond movies in Vancouver remains one of the sport’s iconic images.
New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote during the Vancouver Games that “watching Yuna Kim skate is like watching Michael Jordan play basketball.”
Wilson detailed for Ice Time the story of how he came to be Yuna’s choreographer.
“Yuna came to me at a time where I was a little bit disillusioned with my career,” Wilson recalled. “I had a certain amount of success working with international clients. Some of it had gone well, some of it had been a little frustrating.
“I called Sebastian Britten, who was one of my first clients. A gorgeous skater. I built my whole career on the shoulders of the work I did with Sebastian. He was teaching at the time.
“I told him, ‘There is this Korean girl, she wants to work with me. I don’t know. I’m kind of sick of working with these international clients, because you never know if they are going to come back. You don’t know what they are going to do with your work.’
“Sebastian was coaching at the time and had been out on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. He was like, ‘David, you have to do it, because that girl is it. It starts and stops with her. She is everything.’ ”
Wilson talked about how he had earlier turned down the chance to work with Yuna.
“So I said yes. It turns out two years prior, when she was training up in Barrie (Ontario), they had already asked me but it was way late in the season. I didn’t know who she was,” Wilson stated. “So it didn’t happen and she ended up working with Jeff Buttle, who was still competing then.
“When she came over, I had very low expectations. I called Jeff and asked him what it was like working with her and he said, ‘She is not a very happy skater. She is not a very happy girl.’
“She was very stone-faced. Almost no emotion,” Wilson commented. “She could not speak a word of English. So I had to figure out if I could connect.”
Wilson then described how the synergy for Yuna’s success came about.
“That first program was a long program (for the 2006-07 season). Brian and Tracy (Wilson) had just taken over temporarily at the Cricket Club. He told me, ‘Any kids you have bring them to the Cricket Club. There is nobody on the ice. Private ice.'”
Wilson made it his mission to bring Yuna out of her shell.
“Basically I made it my own little obsession. If I can make this girl smile, if I can make her enjoy herself,” Wilson said. “Slowly and surely I started to see her getting me.
“Then they came back and they asked Brian to coach her and it evolved into this. A year and a half later she got her braces off and she wasn’t stone-faced anymore. Nothing will make a girl not smile more than having braces.
“She got her braces off and suddenly she was this gorgeous creature with her hair flowing and end of story,” Wilson remarked. “We connected very early on.
“I remember at one point going to Brian and saying, ‘This girl is fully lights on. Everything is on. She is actually one of us. She can’t speak English yet, but she gets my humor and she feels everything I’m talking about. She gets every nuance of the music. It just doesn’t show yet.’ ”
Wilson says that despite the incredible fame she has achieved, Yuna has remained grateful and open-minded.
“I’ve been teaching for 27 years, and I can’t think of anyone — in spite of how great she is — being more thankful and open to whatever I have to contribute,” Wilson noted. “Everything I have said to her she has taken to heart.”
Yuna-Orser split painful
Wilson and Yuna’s relationship was put to the test when she and Orser shockingly parted company just months after her victory at the 2010 Olympics.
Ice Time asked Wilson to provide his take on the row that put him in a very difficult situation.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through in my professional career. Very emotional,” Wilson acknowledged. “It was very awkward for all of us.”
Wilson says that Orser, in the midst of the crisis, would not let it affect his relationship with his compatriot.
“The testament to Brian is, how big can a person be that he has not allowed the fact that I continued on with Yuna . . . I really never had any part in the issue,” Wilson stated. “I don’t even know what exactly it was that went wrong between them. To this day I don’t know.
“They know that I still have a very meaningful relationship with Brian. A very ongoing working relationship with Brian and a personal relationship with Brian. And Brian knows that I have maintained a fantastic relationship with Yuna,” Wilson continued.
“I just feel really lucky that everyone was able to move on and do what they had to do. I managed to weather the storm. I was Switzerland,” Wilson said with a laugh.
“Initially I tried to save it. I would go to one side and say, ‘Can’t we just sit down and talk as if we’re family? Then I would go to the other side and say, ‘Can’t you just open up?’
“It was an acute, surprising, confusing situation. I didn’t see it coming. I don’t think Brian did,” Wilson commented. “I spent the first few weeks thinking I could fix it. They would both politely tell me it was none of my business. So there wasn’t much I could do.”
Wilson was heartbroken to see Yuna depart from Toronto.
“I didn’t want her to leave. It was beautiful what we had. Those four years at the Cricket Club were beautiful,” Wilson stated. “It was tragic. It’s still sad. It’s a shame it had to end that way.
“I’m happy she has gone on to be happy and successful in her life and so has he. All these years past I think there is no ill will at all. Brian doesn’t have any and I’m sure Yuna doesn’t either.”
Hanyu’s incredible drive
Within a couple of years of Yuna’s departure, Orser and Wilson had a new project in Hanyu.
Wilson has the highest praise for the two-time Olympic champion and told Ice Time a fantastic story about the Sendai native’s desire to be the very best.
“He is a samurai warrior,” Wilson says of the superstar. “He’s like a mythical ninja warrior.
“For the Olympic year in Sochi, when it came down to musical choice, I had worked with him the year before and he had his heart set on ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ He sent me the most incredible email, and it was just this absolute declaration of how badly he wanted to win the Olympics.
“I had never encountered such pure, intense . . . It was beyond desire. Absolutely beyond. You could not put a higher imperative on it.
“He wrote, ‘I don’t want to wait until the next Olympics to be the Olympic champion, I want to be the Olympic champion now. And I’m willing to do anything to make that happen, so please, please help me.’
“It was like an imploration, and I thought ‘Oh, my lord.’ ”
Wilson was effusive in his description of Hanyu and how he can fuse together his athleticism and artistry.
“I haven’t worked with him since then (2013-14) in terms of his competitive stuff, but I have been watching him go,” Wilson stated. “I have done exhibition pieces for him which I absolutely love. I get the best of both worlds.
“The thing with Yuzuru is, he is such a competitive animal and such a tiger. So when I get to do a show with him, I love it. As much as he is an amazing competitor and an athlete, he is also an amazing artist. He has charisma for 10 people.
“He can make the most pregnant pause nothing moment be so memorable, because he is feeling it. Then he can move his body like a cat. There is nothing he can’t do.”
Wilson discussed Hanyu’s musicality and dedication to perfection.
“He has the ear . . . we did this piece (“Haru yo koi”) for ‘Fantasy on Ice.’ I flew in one day early,” Wilson commented. “We choreographed it in 4½ hours and I saw him for 1½ hours the next day for follow-up. Then I was into group rehearsals and that was it.
“He loved the song. It was a heartfelt kind of experience for him. He will spend hours in his hotel room going over each nuance of the music and each movement in the mirror with a fine-tooth comb.”
Wilson confessed that even he was amazed about how quickly Hanyu was able to be presented with the program and then execute it flawlessly.
“I watched him perform it three times and I was just blown away. We choreographed it on Monday and he was performing it on Friday. I was sitting often watching the show beside (Evgeni) Plushenko’s wife, and she just looked up in the air and was like, it’s from somewhere else.”
In all the years they have worked together, Wilson claimed he has never seen Hanyu lose his temper with another person.
“I’ve seen him get mad at himself, but I’ve never seen him get mad at somebody else,” Wilson stated. “I have seen him get obsessed (with his skating).”
As with Yuna, Wilson says Hanyu has been generous with his gratitude.
“He has said some really heartfelt, sweet things to me of appreciation,” Wilson said. “He’s one of a kind, that’s for sure.”
Living and learning
Ice Time inquired about exactly how choreographers are compensated. Wilson said that even when he choreographs shows, it is the skaters who pay him for his work.
“Most of us charge a flat fee. As if you painted a painting,” Wilson stated. “It depends on the level of skater you are working with, and whether it is a short program, long program, a show number.
“It depends if you are looking for a fast turnaround, or if you have a full week to work on it. It also depends on the level of the athlete you are working with too,” Wilson added.
“You have your developing athletes, that most of us make a little bit of accommodation for. So the ones that are near the top or at the top, are fully subsidized (by federations). Mom and dad aren’t paying any more.”
Wilson acknowledged that the financial end of things is not his forte.
“It’s been hard for me because I’m not good at dealing with those hardcore, tangible things,” Wilson commented. “I’m an artist. I’m a people person. I’m a people pleaser, so I tend to be a little bit of a pushover.
“I don’t necessary always holdout for myself. I’ve learned the hard way over the years to know how to take care of these sorts of things. I love giving advice to young choreographers.”
Wilson found it tough going when he first began choreographing.
“Sandra Bezic has been an awesome mentor to me in more recent years, but when I was a young choreographer starting out, I had nobody to talk to,” Wilson recalled. “I didn’t know anybody.
“I have even thought in recent years of trying to create some kind of consortium — a place where choreographers could take care of choreographers and exchange ideas on choreography.”
Wilson believes that choreographers are too often an afterthought.
“The associations don’t take care of us. Coaches come first. We’re taken for granted,” Wilson said. “They are all guilty of it on the same level. We’re tossed and slossed. We’re in and out.
“When I was young there were a handful of choreographers you could name. Now within Canada alone, there has to be 15 of us that are getting international work,” Wilson remarked.
“There are Russian choreographers, there are French choreographers, there are U.S. choreographers, there are Japanese choreographers and there might be a need for something that is specifically for us where we can join forces and have a stronger voice.”
New challenge with Evgenia
Wilson said he was looking forward to working with two-time world champion and Pyeongchang silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva, who joined Orser this summer in a very surprising move.
“She did Javi’s show ‘Revolution on Ice’ a couple of years ago. She guest-starred and she was quite lovely,” Wilson noted. “She was mature and delightful to work with.
“She puts it out there. She turns on the switch. She means business. I’m really excited to actually work with her for real. I think it will be great.”
Wilson thinks having both Hanyu and Medvedeva practice together each day presents an ideal situation.
“Having Yuzuru and Javi for over four years, and getting through that so well with one having won and then the other having won,” Wilson commented. “There were very few problems at all.
“Having a really top female and a top male skater is kind of perfect, because they are not competing against each other. They can just simply be inspiring to each other. And they both have a compatible work ethic.
“They are both tigers. So that’s great. I think there is a mutual respect.”
Fond memories of skaters
Wilson has worked with so many prominent skaters through the years that Ice Time asked him to offer a few words on several.
“I think the thing about Javi that’s kind of so different is that in the world of male figure skating, there are all these different types. Javi just comes along and he is like somehow everyman. He has this everyman thing.
“You can’t spend more than five minutes with him and not be charmed by him. He’s the sweetest guy ever. He can do total goofball comedy and then turn around and make you cry.”
“I was 13 years old and we went to watch the junior worlds in London, Ontario. Midori was 11 years old and it was a sight you will never see again.
“I will never forget how we felt sitting there watching her in practice. She looked like she was 5 years old. She looked like a toy on a track. Like a motorized toy was making her jump and land and keep going.
“This unending flow and power in her skating. Jumping with no hesitation and with such ease.
“Double axels, triple toes, triple sals, triple loops, triple flips even in practice.
“I choreographed for her when she was going to come back but didn’t. So people never saw what I did for her, but the honor I felt. I grew up in absolute awe of her.
“Fortunately we got along so great that when she decided to do the Prince Hotel ice shows, every years for six years I came back and did two new show numbers for her.”
“Such a sweetheart. I worked with her one year as an amateur. It broke my heart that it was only that one year. But she has come back to me since and we had some beautiful moments creating show numbers and really wonderful experiences.
“So talented, so beautiful, just a kind, gentle soul.”
“I’ve only ever had one opportunity to work with him. I did a short program for him and all he said was, ‘I want something exotic.’ We put together three pieces of music for the program. But he never came back for followup. I never got to see him again.
“There is a happy ending. He is coming to work with me again in two weeks in Toronto. I’m going to do a show number for him.”
(Wilson created a new short program “The Sheltering Sky” for Takahashi, as days after Ice Time’s interview with Wilson, the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist and world champion announced his return to competitive skating).
“When I started with Midori, Yukari was about 9 years old. She reminded me of Tracy Wingman. She is one of my best friends. An absolute sensation as a young girl.
“Yukari at 9 had pizzazz and she skated like a big girl. She had the extension and the expression. She was amazing and such a sweet girl. She invented that donut spin.”
“Such a beautiful skater. So elegant and sophisticated.”
“Patrick is the ultimate skater’s skater. An absolute prince of a person. There is no one more appreciative, respectful.
“I thought I would never work with him. But I got the call and the past several years have been amazing.”
Ice Time also wanted to know about skaters Wilson did not have a chance to work with but would have liked to.
“It would have been wonderful, but it never happened. It was fate that I ended up working with Yuna.”
“I came close to working with her. Even just once would have been nice. She was an idol.
“She skated in our show in Korea a few years ago. I got to know her. You just fall in love with her. She is amazing.
“I did get to choreograph a duet for her and Yuna to ‘When a Hero Comes Along’ that they performed in both Korea and Los Angeles.” |
Cape Town - Half a dozen personnel changes to your starting line-up from one Test to the next ... it’s going to ruffle feathers. And it has.
The Springbok team unveiled by coach Rassie Erasmus this week for Saturday’s Rugby Championship meeting with Australia in Brisbane (12:00 SA time) does little to suggest stability reigns gloriously right now - although he has reminded of the bigger-picture needs in terms of expanding his depth levels with the 2019 World Cup in mind.
Nevertheless, with the Boks’ win record this year standing at a precarious 50 percent after six matches and Erasmus himself having earlier described the Suncorp Stadium date as a “must win” affair, the sweeping alterations he’s made have divided the rugby public and pundits alike.
You get the sense that sentiment back home became even less inclined toward anticipating a Bok win - it would represent their first in Australia since 2013 - once the SA selection hand was revealed on Thursday.
But perhaps we should also be wary of being too downbeat about the Boks’ chances against similarly delicate foes this weekend.
I have already penned my own fear that Erasmus has been a little extreme in his bag-shake after the Mendoza mauling from Argentina, but it is also not as though he can easily be accused of turning too “fruitcake”, if you like, in his team assembly.
For one striking feature of the starting side - backed up by certain notably revered names on the bench - is that positional combinations, for the most part, look comfortingly familiar.
If enough of them click, these Boks will be at the races - and then some, even? - on Saturday.
Here’s a look, department by department, at the run-on Springbok team and why the players shouldn’t have reason to feel too foreign to each other ...
The back three
No major surprises here, despite the ongoing knowledge (Wallaby coach Michael Cheika won’t have overlooked it, you can be sure!) that the trio aren’t yet the full deck of cards in defensive security and alignment.
Erasmus, for the third Test in a row, has named the same alliance: scheming, seasoned Willie le Roux at fullback and with developing predators Makazole Mapimpi (fully fit again after his shortened outing in Mendoza) and Aphiwe Dyantyi in the wide slots.
After the dense fog surrounding this area in the short Allister Coetzee era, the back three does seem to be coming together, especially as an attacking force.
All change here, with the (two-Test) Am-Esterhuizen alliance from the Sharks now dumped completely from the match-day 23 at Suncorp.
But the one assurance you automatically get through the restoration of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in midfield is that - at best, mind - they have already shown they are a pleasingly vibrant and balanced pairing at international level even if their franchise bases are different.
They were identified as a combo during Heyneke Meyer’s tenure as head coach, and first blooded as a unit on Kriel’s Test debut in a narrow 24-20 reverse to the Wallabies in the very same Brisbane in July 2015.
Several more outings together have occurred subsequently, although interrupted at varying stages because of De Allende’s injury setbacks, and they should have no problem reconnecting here.
The halfback pairing
Whether it was the right thing to go back to gifted but bewilderingly inconsistent Elton Jantjies at flyhalf will be put to a searching Test on Saturday - especially as a wet field after likely daytime rain is anticipated, and those certainly aren’t ideal “Jantjies conditions”.
The one comfort is that the pivot finds himself paired with Faf de Klerk as his scrumhalf, and they were key components of the Lions’ offensive plans during an often productive four-year period before De Klerk switched base to Sale Sharks in 2017.
The Siya Kolisi shuffle between the two flank berths goes on - it is a complex issue, and often dependent on who he is teamed up with as the loose trio - but at least he is no stranger at all to Warren Whiteley or Stormers colleague Pieter-Steph du Toit, now back as a deserved starter at No 7.
They have not yet begun a Test match as the specific loosie combination, especially as Du Toit so often doubles as a lock, but will have had plenty of broader squad time getting to know each other’s strengths and habits.
The Eben Etzebeth-Franco Mostert firm may have tasted defeat in the Mendoza comeuppance a couple of weeks ago – remember, the former is still feeling his way back after a long absence from all rugby – but in 2017 they were developing into a successful combination.
They had a sequence of five victories in a row as the lock alliance (the 3-0 home series whitewash of France, successive wins against Argentina) before the run was disturbed in a loss to the All Blacks in New Zealand and then a Bloemfontein stalemate against the Wallabies.
But this Saturday will nevertheless be their healthy ninth game in tandem; expect both to hike own standards significantly from the South American ordeal ...
The front row
Eyebrows have been especially raised over the sacrifice of veteran loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira and hulking hooker Malcolm Marx - both now substitutes - for Brisbane, considering that the Mendoza setback had represented their first genuinely “bad” games in some time, and they were hardly alone.
But there may also be some method to any perceived madness by Erasmus in that regard: for one thing, both men ought to enter the second-half fray (if not required before) breathing fire.
Another cause for hope of the Boks still dominating the hottest part of the engine room on Saturday is that chosen three Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe have their all-Stormers affiliations as potential, synergy-based assets to the Bok cause at Suncorp.
Kitshoff thoroughly deserves a further stab at starting after being something of a “supersub” for the overwhelming majority of his Test career so far (just two of his 29 Tests in the No 1 rather than No 17 jersey, and none yet this year).
Mbonambi, too, while not possessing the same, unique levels of brawn and stealing prowess as Marx, had been a pleasing feature of the Test series victory over England in June and is a true tiger - not to mention solid all-rounder as a hooker - in his own right.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing |
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Cape Town: TBA. Contact Candice Burger 021 683 4506 or [email protected] |
A recent survey by Hobs On-Site has revealed that companies are saving up to 30% of the cost of running a print room, by adopting new flexible methods of working and outsourcing their print room functions.
As well as the savings, the outsourcing has opened up access to a world of new technologies by integrating non-print related services such as 3D printing, 3D scanning and cloud-based collaboration tools. As well as the expected cost savings, this ‘hub and spoke’ approach to service delivery has ancillary benefits such as reducing carbon footprint where services like digital mailrooms are helping organisations move towards paperless offices.
This extended service range has been the differential in Hobs On-Site securing a contract with an FTSE 250 Global engineering company. As well as a £5M saving, the new range of services has broadened the creativity of the organisation, improved service quality and increased reliability through contingency and over-flow planning.
Hobs On-Site is a leading provider of on-site integrated Document Management and Information Solutions, Managed Print Rooms, Managed Print Services, Document Control, Managed Post Rooms, Creative Design and Consultancy services. The company has an impressive history of retaining clients, with over 60% working with them for over 10 years across multiple contract renewals. Visit www.HobsOnSite.com or call 0151 709 1344 for more info.
Case Study – How Hobs On-Site saved a client £250k in capital expenditure
An NHS client had an urgent need to restructure its document support services, to achieve cost savings and service improvements. Over time and due to a lack of cohesive document management strategy, the services for the client had developed into three separate Print Rooms, across three locations. With each Print Room managed independently to the others, the entire operation lacked synergy and was therefore both wasteful and expensive.
At the same time the client urgently needed to make substantial capital investment in equipment, process and technology and it faced an issue with unmanaged external print spend, using an array of unauthorised and unvetted print vendors.
Working in partnership with a leading Total Facilities Management company, Hobs recommended the radical restructure of the current operation, to provide a central on-site satellite Print Room and a Print Management team.
The satellite Print Room is tasked with short-run, quick turn-around work, undertaken through a core team and distributed across each campus, by the client’s transport team.
The Print Management team is tasked with the management of all work that couldn’t be undertaken by the satellite Print Room. Using a selected base of suitable and vetted external suppliers, this team takes all client requests, and firstly make recommendations as to the best production approach and then secure three quotations before managing the work through to completion.
Key benefits of the Hobs On-Site Print Room were the removal of the need for the client to undertake £250/300k in capital expenditure, the use of industry experts to manage, develop and improve the current service, providing an improved service structure which increased operational, staff and equipment efficiencies. The client also benefited from a professional and experienced approach to the TUPE transfer and on-going management and development of the existing staff.
Managing Director of Hobs On-Site, Simon Kelly, comments, ‘Cost savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds are not unusual for companies that outsource their print room, but other benefits that clients experience with us are the improvement in service and quality and ultimately the removal of the need to manage these services in house.’ |
For Release: May 28, 2013
ROME: "Our 134th Convention exceeded expectations in every way,” reports AES executive director Bob Moses. “Our 4 day program of over 150 workshops, tutorials and round table discussions on digital cinema, loudness, spatial audio and other timely topics, packed our presentation rooms. In addition to a solid pro industry turnout, we attracted many enthusiastic students whose quest for information and mentors was palpable. Our sponsors were uniformly pleased with the new customers in attendance throughout the Convention. I feel confident that we are on a good path in Europe and look forward to expanding this new AES model in future years," he adds.
The 134th AES Convention was held May 4–7, 2013 at Rome’s Fontana di Trevi Conference Centre. Under the guidance of Convention Chair, Umberto Zangheri, the Convention program presented attendees with the opportunity to discuss the issues that impact the vitality of the pro audio industry.
“This Convention provided a unique environment for deliberating hot issues, and incubating future innovation and growth in the pro audio industry,” Moses states. “Many events were educational in nature, bringing professionals up to speed on important topics. But many others crystallized critical technical milestones in rapidly evolving fields such as Digital Cinema. One of our missions is to take all this amazing mental power in our industry and turn it into new standards and best practices. The work in the Digital Cinema community is a prime example of this synergy. They’re not just talking about the future; they’re making it happen in our meeting rooms. It’s very important work!” he adds.
Brian McCarty, chair of the AES Technical Committee of Sound For Digital Cinema and Television reports, “the standing-room only attendance for virtually all our Sound for Pictures Track events was augmented by the fact that these meetings were extremely productive in terms of producing demonstrable findings to support our Standards Committee activities.”
Following through on his promise to serve businesses in new ways, Moses says the decision not to have an exhibition floor was deliberate. “I wanted to test a model based on sponsorship,” he said, “in contrast to a traditional exhibition. This event and venue was a good opportunity for such a test. If you look at what our sponsors did — training, product placement, and so on, you can see some very interesting and creative ways for AES to serve them.
“I’m very grateful to these companies for supporting us and coming out to play,” Moses adds. “I heard many success stories from them, and I'm looking forward to stepping our sponsor program up another level in 2014."
Commenting on her reaction to the Convention, Gioia Molinari, Head of Marketing for Gold Sponsor, RCF remarked, “The emphasis on serious industry issues and meaningful technical dialogues distinguished this event from the new product introduction focus of many large scale conventions. The AES European gathering is sized and designed to establish critical new business relationships and, to help us assess where the industry is headed technically. We were extremely pleased with the quality of the attendees and the genuine enthusiasm expressed by our co-sponsors. This was one of the most productive and stimulating Conventions we have participated in.”
“AES Conventions are unsurpassed environments for student interaction,” said Stephen Webber, Gold Sponsor, Berklee College of Music’s Valencia Campus Director for Technology Innovation. “These are the kinds of events, which inspire dialogues that spark creative breakthroughs. The students we engaged with were bright, inquisitive, and grateful for the opportunity to meet with both their international peers and the industry professionals who are pioneering the changes which are moving our industry forward.”
“The AES Rome Convention technical program focus appealed to us as a manufacturer,” said CharterOak President Michael Deming. “The format successfully allowed us to present our products in a focused way in two technical training sessions ‘Intelligent Compression In the Analog Domain’ and ‘Wide Bandwidth Equalization in the Analog Domain.’ Our presentation room was filled with industry pioneers, working professionals and wide-eyed students, creating an environment for training and technical discussions, that doesn’t happen on a crowded exhibits floor,” Deming adds.
AES President, Frank Wells concludes, "In the marketplace of ideas, the 134th Convention proved that the AES remains professional audio’s prime source for the fundamental information, leading edge technology and technique, standards and practices—AES convention attendees have the information available to allow them lead the curve while others follow."
1. Keynote crowd at 134th AES Convention in Rome
2. Members of the AES Board and Committee Chairs in Rome
3. 134th AES Convention co-sponsor, CharterOak, President, Michael Deming during a presentation in Rome.
The Audio Engineering Society was formed in 1948 by a group of concerned audio engineers. The AES counts over 14,000 members throughout the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Japan and the Far East. The organization serves as the pivotal force in the exchange and dissemination of technical information for the industry. For additional information visit http://www.aes.org |
|Golden Star team members, Mr. Robert Gyamfi, Mr. George Amankwah-Kumi, Mr. Nyanzu Agyabu and Mrs. Boatemaa Hammond, receive the award from Mr. Toni Aubynn, CEO Ghana Chamber of Mines|
So what makes this project worthy of a national award? Read on to find out...
What Does the Project Aim To Do?
The project has the objectives to:
• Retain and enhance social, economic and environmental improvement benefits associated with Golden Star’s operations
• Promote interest in and enhance opportunities for local residents to benefit from mine operations through the formation of new or expanded local businesses
• Acquire a greater proportion of mining services supply locally through small business incubation and advisory support
• Strengthen the capacity of local businesses to support a wider array of services associated with mining, and be positioned to bid for contracts elsewhere in the industry
The project initially involved programs to enhance the development of local suppliers and convert an unauthorized refuse disposal site into a community recreational park. However it captured the community’s imagination and a number of daughter projects have evolved for even greater community benefit.
|The town of Prestea in south-western Ghana|
What Benefits Does the Project Bring?
Local Value Retention
The project has generated local employment opportunities and business incubation for citizens of the mining project host communities that previously would have been filled by services providers from outside of the region. These include:
• Approximately 250 long-term unemployed youth of the locality have received employment, on-the-job training, and productive work experience through this initiative since July 2015
• 18 local companies are involved in the initiative, with full control of employment vested in the local companies to enable positive employment opportunity for qualified local citizens.
• Golden Star supported the formation, registration and licensing with the Minerals Commission of the ‘umbrella’ company, Local Companies in Mining Services (LOCOMS), providing haulage or equipment hiring contract services
• Over US$8 million has been paid to local companies since the project inception, reinvigorating the depressed local economies of Prestea and Bondaye
• Local companies have gained enhanced technology and managerial knowledge, access to industry peers and competitors, knowledge on maximizing value retention, and positioning for growth and expansion outside of the locality
• Flow-on benefits include work for auto-mechanics, boilermakers, food vendors, waste management contractors, banking establishments and more. In the region, flow-on has been conservatively estimated as 4 to 1, i.e. every one mining job brings 4 other jobs to the community. With the direct employment of 250 citizens, it is conceivable that 1,000 people are benefiting from this initiative
Enhanced Use of Land
The recreational park plan agreed with traditional and elected leaders will incorporate parkland, outdoor eating areas, kiosks, toilet facilities and other infrastructure to enable use of the venue by community for a wide variety of social and cultural programs.
In synergy with the company mining operations, Golden Star has completed the site rehabilitation, and the almost 5,000 residents living in direct proximity of the refuse site have benefited from a significant improvement in hygiene and sanitation.
Not only was the site a sanitation risk, with sewage and bacteria overflowing to the Nsuo Kofi stream that runs through Prestea town and discharges to the Ankobra River, but it was also a breeding ground for disease vectors.
The conversion of the site to a community park will benefit the whole community. At present, there is not a single site available for public community recreation in the entire jurisdiction of the Prestea community, which includes some 30,000 people.
|The former refuse site (insert) and following land rehabilitation ahead of planting|
Nearby local businesses have benefited from from the rehabilitation program:
• The owner of a hotel that views the site had halted hotel expansion and decided to sell the expansion structure, as patronage had declined with the growth of the refuse site. With the site rehabilitation, and planned park, patronage has increased and the hotel expansion has resumed.
• The Ave Marie Restaurant, overlooking the refuse site, has also experienced increased patronage. The owner has expanded the restaurant boundary and established an external eating area and garden.
Mrs Nyame of Prestea commented:
“When the Prestea South project commenced in July 2015, I secured a contract with another third party contractor as a food service provider. I currently serve an average of 30 staff per day. My restaurant used to be located close to a community refuse dump, which was poorly managed, but Golden Star is rehabilitating the land to convert it into public space. This has significantly changed the environment that I operate in and it is already having a positive impact on my business.”
Hygiene, Sanitation and Waste Management
Golden Star, traditional and elected leaders, opinion leaders and youth in Prestea came together to agree the plans for improvements in community waste management, as well as future site development.
• The recreational parkland plan has received wide support and endorsement from the community
• The engagements have resulted in the Community Mine Consultative Committee electing to fund, through the Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Development Fund, the purchase of community waste management equipment.
• A new, larger, more sustainable waste disposal location has been identified by the Prestea Huni-Valley District Assembly and community
• Upgraded urban waste transfer stations have been established by the Prestea Urban Council
• The general consensus is to embed the enhanced waste management services through a social enterprise-oriented, community business. Operated on a ‘pay as you throw’ or pre-paid household levy basis, it will provide a modest revenue to cover operation and maintenance.
Economic savings are expected to be realized by the Prestea Urban Council and Prestea Huni-Valley District Assembly through reduction in recurrent expenditure in managing the former refuse site.
|Golden Star team members inspects waste management equipment purchased through the Development Foundation|
As part of the value retention initiatives, a locally-owned waste management business, Passionate Community Services (PaCS), was contracted to provide door-to-door waste collection and disposal for the mining operations.
As part of this contract, PaCS also provides community sensitization on effective and approved waste disposal practices. Education provided by the PaCS team on the use of transfer stations is gaining attention and promoting more sustainable practices.
Mrs. Fidelia Kwapong Arthur of Prestea commented:
“With the inception of the Prestea South Nsuta Project, I have been able to secure waste collection and disposal as well as cleaning service contracts at Golden Star. I now employ a workforce of seven for both Golden Star and the community. In addition, a total of 250 households are currently registered with my company for waste collection and disposal.”
|Mrs Kwapong Arthur and her team from PaCS|
Mining Project Synergies
With the completion of the rehabilitation of the former refuse site, the Prestea Government Hospital management approached Golden Star to explore opportunities to reclaim a valley stopping the expansion of the hospital, and upgrade of access-ways to the hospital.
Golden Star, with the support of traditional leaders, was able to design an engineered backfill, which transformed the valley into usable land. This will allow the hospital to expand and cater for the growing population.
|Golden Star team members with Mr. Felix Osei Kesse (Prestea Hospital Administrator) on the site of the reclaimed valley now affording expansion opportunity for the Hospital|
Community Support for the Initiatives
A new NGO, Maintenance and Sustainability Africa (MSA), has been established by local youth in support of the refuse site clean-up and conversion to a community recreational parkland.
Members of MSA have provided free labour (voluntary services) in support of revegetation activities at the former refuse site, grassing the 1.2 hectare area. The formation of the group and their contribution is significant: for the first time in the area, local young people have volunteered their services for the betterment of the community.
Inspired by GSBPL’s decision to transform the refuse site into a community recreational park, the young people decided to make their own statement of support for the initiative.
Mr. Godfred Turkson of Prestea commented:
“Maintenance and Sustainability Africa (MSA) is a youth led organization with a goal of offering sustainable solutions to the continent's development challenges. Our vision is to see an Africa where both infrastructure development and the environment are conserved. As an NGO that is focused on sustainability, we felt overwhelmed by the announcement that GSBPL is converting an illegal garbage collection site into a recreational facility for the benefit of Prestea Community. There could not be a more profound definition of sustainable development than this 360 degree turn around project, which transforms a 1.2 hectare, poorly managed, waste dumping site (a major source of pollution and diseases) into a facility that will provide refreshment and wellness to the catchment community. Therefore MSA decided to partner GSBPL to offer our quota of contribution to the project as well as to depict the great degree of improvement in the relationship between GSBPL and its catchment communities. We say Kudos to GSBPL, as we look forward to a very successful project and to more enhanced partnerships to ensure a total development of our catchment communities and beyond.”
|Mr Turkson and the team from MSA| |
While there is no doubt that national composite index’s (TPITM, LPI, PLI etc.) are great marketing tools, recently there has been discussion about their merits as actual genetic advancement tools. With each index providing “home field” advantage to domestic animals and many out of date with where the industry is headed, we here at the Bullvine have developed the Bullvine Performance Index (BPI).
In the BPI we use direct genomic values instead of parent averages and we also incorporate reliabilities, in order to greater account for animals whose indexes stand the best chance of being stable over time. As far as what traits we looked at, we have used an equally balanced weighting between production, longevity and health and fertility, as we see that emphasis represents where the market is heading. We also include a small component (MPS) that factors in dam, 2nd dam and 3rd dam actual performance irrelevant of country of origin, as per our discussion with many breeders who feel that this should have some weight. Instead of trying to be reactionary to the marketplace like most composite indexes, we are trying to be leading and ahead of the market. We also are publishing BPI as a percentage so that it is clear just how far apart each animal is from each other. Since this is a ranking index we felt it was more important to show the range between animals than to give a number that technically means nothing.
Top 50 BPI Sires
Sire Name BPI Production Longevity Health and Fertility MPS
MR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER-ET 100% 97% 94% 78% 96%
LONG-LANGS OMAN OMAN-ET 94% 99% 60% 19% 96%
COYNE-FARMS DORCY-ET 93% 58% 93% 50% 95%
SOUTHERN-HILLS BAYARD-ET 90% 68% 87% 78% 99%
HAMMER-CREEK FRED KRUNCH-ET 89% 74% 77% 84% 96%
GOLDDAY 89% 45% 96% 47% 99%
ZANI BOLTON MASCALESE ET 87% 94% 64% 34% 94%
TEXEL BEAUTY COSMO-ET 86% 77% 81% 54% 98%
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO ET 86% 65% 92% 70% 96%
CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY-ET 85% 79% 48% 59% 92%
UFM-DUBS OLEGANT-ET 85% 48% 66% 70% 95%
BADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIE 85% 74% 51% 63% 89%
RMW ANCHOR-ET 85% 82% 84% 67% 96%
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHMONEY-ET 84% 84% 92% 52% 99%
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL-ET 84% 83% 89% 43% 97%
LIRR DREW DEMPSEY 84% 34% 85% 49% 97%
RMW DORCY AMBROSE-ET 83% 59% 100% 61% 96%
CERVI ALLEMAR ET 83% 39% 74% 79% 94%
WABASH-WAY EXPLODE-ET 83% 58% 87% 28% 96%
MR LOOKOUT P EMBARGO-ET 83% 84% 91% 43% 96%
CRACKHOLM FEVER 81% 33% 85% 42% 96%
STANTONS BOOKKEEPER 80% 84% 86% 53% 95%
SEAGULL-BAY SARGEANT-ET 80% 97% 62% 50% 94%
CO-OP O-STYLE OMAN JUST-ET 80% 66% 40% 66% 96%
CERVI PHONIC 80% 38% 48% 100% 94%
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHCOIN-ET 79% 92% 74% 41% 99%
CO-OP BOOKEM YUXI 78% 75% 95% 53% 93%
O-BEE MANFRED JUSTICE-ET 78% 85% 11% 50% 93%
DE-SU JEROD 1223-ET 77% 82% 83% 60% 93%
COYNE-FARMS DORCY YIM-ET 77% 61% 87% 65% 92%
GENERVATIONS LIQUID GOLD 77% 100% 79% 27% 98%
MR LOOKOUT PSC ALTADRUM-ET 77% 99% 55% 57% 97%
COYNE-FARMS BOLTON DOM-ET 76% 70% 70% 21% 95%
COYNE-FARMS JACEY CRI-ET 76% 82% 64% 69% 94%
GEN-I-BEQ BRAWLER 76% 56% 68% 18% 97%
WELCOME BOL LATHAM-ET 75% 93% 50% 7% 99%
SILDAHL JETT AIR-ET 75% 41% 79% 42% 96%
MORNINGVIEW LEVI 75% 86% 35% 35% 96%
DE-SU GILLESPY-ET 74% 72% 77% 0% 96%
COYNE-FARMS SHOTLE YANCE-ET 74% 87% 42% 37% 91%
DE-SU DISTINCTION 11130-ET 74% 92% 83% 40% 96%
REGANCREST ALTAIOTA-ET 73% 68% 49% 36% 97%
SYNERGY ALTAJENKINS 73% 47% 58% 67% 94%
S-S-I PEOTI MOWGLI-ET 73% 86% 61% 66% 95%
SULLY MCCORD 269-ET 72% 93% 69% 44% 94%
TOLLENAARS ALTAQUALITY 72% 54% 48% 67% 93%
S-S-I BOOKEM MORGAN-ET 71% 86% 65% 61% 95%
CROCKETT-ACRES EIGHT-ET 70% 79% 16% 29% 100%
S-S-I PEOTI MANSUR-ET 70% 88% 62% 53% 95%
GENERVATIONS FUZION 70% 88% 55% 52% 98%
- One of the neat things we found in developing this index is that it is able to give a realistic comparison between sires from all countries.
- Even more importantly it also gives a good comparison of genomic test sires versus proven sires. Four of the top ten sires are proven sires, as compared to most national indexes that, when combining the genomic sires and the proven sires would find that at least nine if not all ten would be genomic test sires.
- Outside of MR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER most of the sires are very close and really do warrant that you make sure you use the corrective mating for your specific animal as opposed to just using the top 5 or 10 bulls.
- Another finding was the ability for second crop sires to also compare favorably with genomic test sires. Besides Man-O-Man (LONG-LANGS OMAN OMAN-ET) other second crop sires who come up high are UFM-DUBS ALTAESQUIRE-ET (BPI of 68%) and BRAEDALE GOLDWYN (BPI of 66%). This demonstrates that these high reliability sires very much still have value in many mating programs.
- There is no question that MR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER offers an extremely balanced package. His strong production numbers combined with his extreme type and longevity with good health and fertility traits will have him be a sire of sons worldwide. He may be hard to get your hands on as he is just one year old and he may only be released for contract matings. This Marbri Facebook son has the highest DGVs in the breed. Look for him to sire extreme component yields from strong dairy cattle with great feet and legs. One area to be cautious on using him is his body depth. Both his sire stack and his DGVs would say this area needs protecting.
- There is no question that this last proof round Man-O-Man (LONG-LANGS OMAN OMAN) stole the show. His outstanding second crop daughter numbers have many top index breeders going back and using him again. His extreme production numbers have him and his daughters in high demand. With many sons like UNO also coming on the scene and offering a more balanced offering, it’s important to make sure you use Man-O-Man or maybe GENERVATIONS LIQUID GOLD when looking for the splash of production for a high type, high health and fertility mating. However hold off, if you are looking to improve those areas. Use a more balanced sire like MR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER-ET or maybe SOUTHERN-HILLS BAYARD-ET.
- Coming up strong, as he keeps adding daughter numbers, is COYNE-FARMS DORCY. Look for Dorcy to sire balanced dairy cattle that have great udders and very good feet & legs, though he will need to be protected for dairy strength, fat percent and, specifically, for his body depth and chest width.
- Also catching our eye are a couple of Freddie sons – SOUTHERN-HILLS BAYARD and HAMMER-CREEK FRED KRUNCH. Both these sires offer a greater type and longevity option over their sire BADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIE who suffers on our BPI index as his second and third dam’s classification and performance scores are low.
- The top non- North American sire on our list is GOLDDAY. Goldday is a Goldwyn son from A-L-H DESTINY VG-87-3YR-USA DOM GMD. Destiny is of course the popular bull mother from Markwell Durham Daisy (Read more – Markwell Durham Daisy – 2012 Golden Dam Finalist), proven in Germany. Goldday is also the full brother to former #1 German sire Danillo. Look for Goldday to sire unbelievable udders and legs as well as long herd life. One area where you will want to protect Goldday is rump angle. Be cautious in using him on cattle that need production improvement.
The Bottom Line
It is difficult to keep track of all the top animals and compare them accurately. Trying to compare genomic sires with proven sires with each country having their own index with apparent bias makes it doubly hard. Having said that, comparisons are instructive for informed decision-making. That is why we developed the BPI formula. Contrary to popular belief that you need to be using 100% genomic sires to accelerate your genetic advancement, our analysis shows absolutely that there are proven sires that should be used in order to minimize your risk and still achieve the greatest results. |
Why buy a Franchise as opposed to starting up a new business?
Of course, words like “tried and tested” and “support system” spring to mind. Undoubtedly, those are two essential factors.
Cyber-Minds Training Institutes has the edge.
It is a fact that collaboration and synergy have a place in all areas of life. We would go as far as saying that in the workplace, even more so.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
Take a minute to introspect.
When you go to the gym, do you have a workout partner? Strangely, most people prefer to work out alone. However, if you’ve experienced the successful results by pushing yourself with someone else, the idea of working out alone seems somewhat comical.
As Michael Jordan explains, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
Most people compete with others on their own level. Yet those seeking rapid growth compete with others who are far advanced. This is what Josh Waitzkin calls “investing in failure.”
An even higher principle is collaborating with others who are far advanced of your current level.
For instance, if you want to get stronger or faster really fast, exercise with people in far better shape. If you want to do incredible work, work with more talented people than yourself from whom you can learn develop and grow.
It appears most effective if each individual helps others to succeed, increasing the synergy of that team; ideally, every person will contribute different skills to increase the efficiency of the team and develop its unity.”
Another billionaire, Richard Branson, similarly stated, “Build your own business team. Survival in business requires a synergy of skills.”
From these wise words, the concept of Franchises sprung.
Cyber-Minds Training Institutes recognizes the need for collaborative and synergistic elements. Of course, there is work which is your work. However, that work should be embedded within a group of others and toward something much bigger.
Not only do we believe in the benefits for us as the Franchisor, but there is indeed a deeply altruistic element that gave rise to our motives.
We believe that we have created a business model that is a winning formula and thus do not believe in reinventing the wheel.
Moreover, we have taken the need for education, especially in the field of technology, which is our ever present and future ingredient to grow develop and succeed, to the person wanting to invest in an established business with a history of success. In terms of social responsibility and community involvement, we all become tools in the most effective toolboxes with far reaching positive effects. We do this by reaching out to those who would not otherwise be in a position to access and squire such invaluable knowledge and experience. This is the success of the Block chain that Cyber-Minds Training Institutes has created. Stand back and examine the domino effect of success.
It is fulfilling to know that you are responsible for more than just yourself. The point is, you are responsible for other people’s success. Moreover, in many ways, their success is your success. Their growth and development are just as satisfying as your own — sometimes more.
These are the turnkey motivating factors as to why Cyber-Minds Training Institutes decided to Franchise their successful business model.
- Contact Marius Lubbe at [email protected] for further information.
Author: Marius Lubbe
Copyright Cyber-Minds (PTY) Ltd |
We often say we operate in Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance Mode – given our odd ‘portfolio of diverse services’. But as much as the Chief Engineer does not like to work with mortar, cement, or any other slimy substances I tried to avoid pondering about the intricacies of living beings and chemicals so far.
But slimy, smelly species were to strike back.
For two years we could confirm with confidence that the water in our underground water tank / heat sink does never smell. Until two weeks ago when the water appeared a bit turbid and there was the signature ‘rotten eggs’ smell of hydrogen sulfide.
Water in ponds can ‘die’ – due to eutrophication: Algae bloom due to too much nutrients, die, and their decomposition by bacteria consumes all the oxygen in the water. This can kill fish and other species who need the oxygen.
Since the tank is dark there are no algae but there might be other biomass, subject to decomposition. The most recent rebuilding of the solar collector and brine piping has probably invited some curious or suicidal life-forms.
Researching cisterns in a German forum (‘The water in our cistern stinks’) I learned the following:
“Clean your gutters and check your filters.”
“Install an air pump to supply the bacteria in the water with oxygen. Otherwise there will be anaerobic decomposition, such as turning sulfate into sulfide. The pump resolved this issue within two days.”
“Use chlorine, as for swimming pools.”
“Absolutely don’t use chlorine – cisterns are designed to work without intervention. We use a cistern for twenty years and never had to use chemicals.”
“If the black layer of mud at the bottom of the cistern gets too thick there will be anaerobic decomposition.”
“The black layer of mud at the bottom of the cistern is like a natural sewage plant.”
“Our cistern smelled, too, and we found six dead birds at its bottom.”
Insights are somewhat contradictory but there were more accounts of people advocating the additional supply of oxygen and otherwise letting the bacteria do their work. Proper filters and sealings should prevent the invasion of animals of course.
We still wondered about the coincidence of the H2S accident and recent repairs – was it only due to a sudden invasion of (more) worms, snails, and frogs because of some pipes that were open for a short period of time?
But several users reported that a small amount of brine from their solar collectors had trickled into their cisterns and gave rise to the rotten eggs smell.
With cisterns brine could be collected by the gutters, from leaky collectors mounted at the rooftop.
And yes – we had a leak in the new part of the brine piping. The Chief Engineer had heroically cleaned the emptied tank and used the ‘synergy effects’ of being able to do some other maintenance.
A few days after having refilled the tank the water showed turbid streaks again – and we finally spotted the leak in the new part of the brine piping. Now it is leakproof again!
The good thing finally is:
- It all boils down to simply following ‘cistern best practices’.
- The smell provides for a sensitive early warning systems that signals a leak in brine piping.
And we have a new gadget now:
Why is brine so detrimental? Brine used for solar collectors contains about 40% ethylene glycol – frost protection. This provides a feast for bacteria – like sugar. On airports the fluid used for de-icing airplanes is collected and then decomposed by bacteria in a biological sewage plant. It seems that in a tank bacteria reproduce like hell, die, and are finally decomposed anaerobically when there is no more oxygen left.
Tiny amounts of brine alone seem to be suffcient to trigger that chain reaction within days – whereas the occasional earth worm did not do any harm in the past years.
We hope we will be able to keep the right variety of bacteria happy in the future rather than fight them. However, as a child of the 1970s and fan of typical related cartoons and commercials I cannot imagine them other than this:
Edit: As I have asked about the treatment systems on airports: Treating glycol runoff from airport deicing operations |
News from Synergy School
The 4th and 5th grades classes journeyed to Sacramento on an all day trip on BART, Amtrak, tram, and bus to visit the state capitol building and Sutter’s Fort. The Eastenders and Skylighters were in rare form as we met in front of school at 6:30 am. Many parents came too, and the mood was buoyant. It seemed ambitious to travel entirely by public transportation, but it worked well and the kids adored the train trip along the Delta.
Once in Sacramento, where cherry trees were already in bloom, we trekked to the capitol building and met our tour guides. The kids seemed eager to share their knowledge and asked many great questions about democracy, law, and elections. We passed all the governors’ portraits and the bear statue that stands right outside the governor’s office (dubbed “bacteria bear” by capitol security guards because so many visitors touch it every day). We even had a quick chat with a representative from Santa Barbara.
Then we had lunch in the sunshine under the citrus trees, Anthony’s birthday cookies for Noa — and a civics lesson, as a rageaholic bench-sitter yelled at our appropriately rowdy kids enjoying a glorious day in the public park.
Sutter’s Fort was next. Kids were given a treasure hunt of sorts to complete and happily wandered the fort in search of clues and answers. Kids from other schools were there for the night and dressed in period garb. We watched the spinning of wool, roping of a makeshift steer, and baking of cinnamon rolls in an outdoor brick oven. Some kids bought ‘coon caps, others nuggets of gold. (I couldn’t get anyone interested in a Little House on the Prairie-style bonnet or a cookbook called Cooking with the Donner Party.)
Back on the train, the marquee event was a rousing game of Truth or Dare, still very little kid-like, even though many of the kids are on the brink of tween-dom. I often tell my son that 5th grade is one you’ll remember clearly. The indelible class trips and social and academic lessons are still vibrant in my own head from many years ago. Even with my somewhat jaded eyes I could tell this trip was a peak experience for most of the kids—one they won’t forget.
— By Darya Mead
Photos by Darya Mead
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Certain individuals seem to be natural leaders, while others tend to follow. A lot of followers wish they could lead too. However, most don’t know what it is like to be the leader. Mastering leadership has only been perfected by a few. This article will teach you how to lead.
Let others know what your vision is. Use it as a compass to guide your way through work. You must show them the whole project while giving them details on their personal role. This lets you build a stronger bond with the team.
Look for talent in others. By finding and developing hidden talents in others, you will make your team stronger. This can be used when you’re contracting or hiring people.
A good way to start being a better leader is to be more decisive. Many decisions are on your shoulders as the leader. If your subordinates offer a wide range of potential solutions to an issue, you must select the one that offers the most benefits to the largest group.
Improving your leadership capabilities requires a thirst for knowledge. Your team members can make valuable contributions to the process. They can suggest things to you about how your idea can be improved, executed better, or what the problems in the plan are.
Create company-wide goals. Everyone loves to have goals, and leaders are able to set goals for people. Don’t simply post them and watch them vanish during the year. Meet on the goals at least monthly, and hold everyone accountable as a team for reaching them.
If you make a mistake, admit it. Even the best leaders will make the occasional mistake. A great leader can admit to mistakes and speak about them honestly with his employees. It allows people to see that you’re just a human and have flaws like every other human. Showing vulnerability will bring people to your side.
Set team goals high but make sure they are not impossible to reach. Doing so can set your team on the road to failure. Setting impossible goals also reflects poorly on you.
Use synergy when thinking. Be sure you’re aware of your goals. In addition, be clear about your business goals. Your personal goals and the goals of your company should line up. It is great to have the chance to work on them simultaneously. If you’re not able to, then people will notice that you’re not too enthusiastic about work.
To become a better leader, you have to figure out what you are strong at and what needs improvement. Walking around arrogant about your abilities will make your own failure easier. Instead, focus on strengthening any areas you feel weak in.
To be a good leader, it’s a good idea to learn how to listen to the people who work for you. They can give you great tips and ideas for what to do. After people listen to what you need to tell them, listen back to see if they have anything to add so you can be more successful.
You should always show confidence and sincerity toward your clients or your colleagues. Don’t be arrogant, though. Arrogance is not a compelling trait for a leader. True sincerity will build a bond of trust between you and the workers, as well as real understanding. Insincerity will be obvious to your employees so practice being honest and sincere when you talk to them.
Since you know what it takes to be a leader, you can start using your skills now. When you are confident, others will be confident in you. These tools can help you to earn respect as a leader and succeed. You can make the right things happen and get others to help you do it. |
In December 2012, the Government of Norway approved a further US$45 million for Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, bringing the total so far to US$115 million. This suggests that Guyana is meeting its obligations under Joint Concept Note that the two countries agreed. But is this really the case?
The announcement of the most recent payment came five days after Rainforest Alliance released a report titled “Verification Of Progress Related To Indicators For The Guyana-Norway REDD+ Agreement” (pdf file, 821.1 kB). This is Rainforest Alliance’s second verification audit and covers the period 1 October 2010 to 30 June 2012.
Another consulting firm, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), carried out an audit to determine the rate of deforestation and forest degradation between 1 October 2010 and 31 December 2011. DNV found that gross deforestation in this period was 0.054%.
While Rainforest Alliance notes some progress, for example on independent forest monitoring, the report is generally critical of the progress so far. The report starts with a summary of the audit findings:
The dominant impression from this audit, based on inputs from all interested parties, is one of frustration and disappointment that more progress has not occurred on a number of the Joint Concept Note (JCN) enabling indicators. In particular, the Guyana REDD-Plus Investment Fund (GRIF) funding mechanism has, to date, moved so slowly that the delivery of sufficient funds to Guyana has been delayed, causing delayed implementation of important activities and a serious degree of skepticism among target beneficiaries and collaborating entities of all kinds.
[T]here has also been a noticeable reduction in the efforts by the Government of Guyana (GoG) to communicate and consult with stakeholders. Amerindian communities are particularly concerned about the lack of information available to them in regards to their many questions about the REDD+ activities, and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) more generally. They are also concerned about the absence of a consistent, ongoing and robust approach or framework for interactions between the Government of Guyana (GoG) and Amerindian communities (whether for the purposes of information exchange, consultation on actions or decision-making).
After Rainforest Alliance’s first verification in 2010, a group of international NGOs wrote to Hans Brattskar, then-Director of the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), and Tessie Whelan, Executive Director of Rainforest Alliance, highlighting their concerns about the audit process. Among these concerns was the “superficial assessment of fundamental problems relating to indigenous peoples’ rights and tenure”. This time around, Rainforest Alliance’s team met 264 Amerindian community members and 10 Amerindian organisation representatives.
Out of ten verification indicators that Rainforest Alliance’s team reviewed during its audit in July 2012, three were met, four were partially met, and three were not met:
|1: Transparent and effective multi-stakeholder consultations continue and evolve||NOT MET|
|2: Participation of all affected and interested stakeholders at all stages of REDD+/LCDS process||PARTIALLY MET||3: Protection of the rights of indigenous peoples||NOT MET|
|4: Transparent and accountable oversight and governance of the financial support||PARTIALLY MET|
|5: Initial structure for the Independent Forest Monitoring (IFM)||MET|
|6: Continuing stakeholder consultation on the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Government and Trade (EU-FLEGT) process||MET||7: Continuing development of a national inter-sectoral system for coordinated land use||PARTIALLY MET|
|8: Continuing stakeholder consultation on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)||PARTIALLY MET|
|9: Measures by the GoG to work with forest dependent sectors to agree on specific measures to reduce forest degradation||NOT MET|
|10: Mapping of priority areas for biodiversity in Guyana forests||MET|
This hardly seems sufficient to justify Norway’s release of a further US$45 million. In a joint statement, however, the Norwegian and Guyanese governments explain that,
The Governments of Guyana and Norway have recognized the potential for improvements in the areas identified in the verification report. In the period from July 1st 2012 to December 22nd, the Government of Guyana has taken a number of actions to strengthen and further develop the enabling indicators as the list of immediate actions and revised JCN shows.
The list of immediate actions is hardly reassuring. For example, under “Protection of the rights of indigenous peoples” the action is to sign the initiation plan for the Amerindian Development Fund project and to start the preparation phase. Starting a project which may benefit indigenous peoples is clearly not the same thing as protecting indigenous peoples’ rights.
There may be other reasons for Norway not to have paid the money. Norway pays the money into the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), which is overseen by the World Bank. In December 2012, Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, Director of NICFI, told the Starbroek News that,
“[A]ccording to general rules for disbursement of funds set by the parliament, money cannot be disbursed until a significant portion of the money in the GRIF is utilized. This is a technical aspect of the parliament’s general rules, and not special for Guyana.”
Before the payment in December 2012, Norway had paid US$69.8 million into the GRIF. Here’s an overview of the funding decisions so far, from the World Bank’s most recent GRIF Financial Report (dated 30 June 2012):
At the end of November 2012, the World Bank confirmed to the Starbroek News that there were no outstanding transfer requests. So, 13% of the money in the GRIF had been released. Hardly a “significant portion”, then, as would be required under Norwegian parliamentary rules before more payments can be made.
Pharo told Stabroek News that,
As with all aspects of this partnership, because we are leading the way, we have encountered challenges.
That goes for the GRIF as well. We are confident, however, that a workable solution is within reach, and that there is real opportunity – on this and on other aspects of the partnership – for significant progress in 2013.
There are currently seven GRIF projects according to a summary available on the GRIF website. By far the largest is the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric project. The project is Guyana’s most expensive infrastructure project with a price tag of at least US$840 million, of which US$80 million is to come from the GRIF.
At the end of November 2012, the International Monetary Fund raised concerns about the Amaila Falls project’s economic viability. The IMF recommended “careful consideration of the risks and contingent liabilities arising from that project”. Opposition parties in Guyana have called for a review of the project.
In January 2012, the government cancelled the contract with Synergy Holdings to build the road to the dam, after several delays and cost overruns. The government has this month filed a Motion in the High Court against the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Hand-in-Hand has so far declined to pay the US$1.54 million Security Performance Bond that became due when Synergy Holdings failed to complete the road building contract.
In justifying the payment to Guyana, Norway’s Minister of the Environment, Bård Vegar Solhjell, said,
“Guyana provides a valuable carbon storage service to the world, and can be a model to other countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates.”
Rainforest Alliance points out that “mining is the primary driver of forest degradation, accountable for up to 97% of all forest degradation”. But Guyana’s “model” means doing little or nothing to address this. And Guyana’s failure to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples is surely not what Solhjell is referring to. So what, exactly, does Solhjell mean when he refers to Guyana as a model to other countries?
PHOTO Credit: Thomas Marent. |
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It’s a new year and that means it’s time for the first race in the Vancouver Island Race Series. The Harriers Pioneer 8K – which takes place on Sunday, January 7 at 11 am – will have a new route in North Saanich. The race – hosted by the Prairie Inn Harriers – is the 39th Annual Harriers Pioneer 8K and is also the first race in the BC Super Series, a series of 12 races to be run in Vancouver and Victoria.
The new Pioneer course is a fast rural out and back route starting on John Road in North Saanich. North Saanich Middle School on McDonald Park Road is the venue for registrations, parking and awards – a kilometre from the start and finish area. There is also parking at the visitor information centre near the finish line.
“The Harriers are thrilled to offer an all-new course on quiet, country roads where runners are more likely to see horses rather than cars,” Kathleen Birney, Race Director. “As parking at the school is limited, runners are strongly encouraged to park at the visitor information centre and allow 15 minutes to walk to the North Saanich Middle School for bib pick-up. The cut-off for race day registration is 10:15 a.m. sharp so if that’s your plan, be sure to arrive good and early.”
“We expect a high level of elite athlete competition on Sunday,” said Bob Reid, Harriers Pioneer 8k High Performance Director. “We have 2016 Olympians Lucas Bruchet (5,000 Metres) and Natasha Wodak (10,000 Metres) confirmed. Wodak holds the women’s event record set in 2013 (25:28) which is also a Canadian 8k road record. Bruchet was the Pioneer champion last year winning in 23:24.”
Two men’s event record holders are also attending – Carey Nelson and Peter Butler. “Nelson set the overall Pioneer record of 22:58 in 1985 and Butler set the initial record of 23:09 in 1982, which was the first year for the Vancouver Island Race Series. These two times are the fastest on record of over 20,000 finishers since the Harriers Pioneer 8K started in 1980,” added Reid. Reid is expecting to confirm more elite athletes in the days leading up to the race.
The post-race awards ceremony will include two special presentations – the Sandy Auburn Scholarship cheque to Camosun College, and the announcement of the Pioneer Team of Champions. “For the first time ever a Harriers Pioneer All-Star Team will be named comprising the top four men and top four women over four decades of the race,” said Reid.
Runners can register online until 6 pm, Friday January 5 at www.islandseries.org, at Frontrunners, 1200 Vancouver St, on Saturday January 6 from 10 am – 3 pm, or on race day until 10:15 am. Race registration until January 5 is $30 for adults/$25 for students and $40 on race weekend.
The deadline for registering online for the series of eight races is 6 pm, Thursday, January 4. The fee is $175.The eight races comprise the Harriers Pioneer 8K on January 7, Cobble Hill 10K on January 21, Cedar 12K on February 4, Hatley Castle 8K on February 18, Port Alberni Paper Chase 15K on March 4, Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on March 18, TriStars 10K on March 25 and the Synergy Health Management Bazan Bay 5K and Series Awards on April 8.
For more information on the Harriers Pioneer 8k go to: http://pih.bc.ca/race/1-pioneer-8k
To register online for the Harriers Pioneer 8k and for the series go to: www.islandseries.org |
Why Join ACorps
Thank you for your interest in joining the ACorps Security team. We are resolved to taking the protection of our clients to the next level and our executives recognize that to sustain the delivery of the highest quality services to our clients, we must take care of the professional needs of our security officers and support staff.
As an employee of ACorps Security Services, you can look forward to a company culture that facilitates a strong employer-employee partnership. We achieve synergy with our employees through management engagement with our security officers, as well as through corporate integrity, transparency and best leadership practices. We have found that an employee-centric approach inspires ACorps security officers to go the extra mile and empowers them to reach their full potential. ACorps aims to provide unmatched employment and career advancement opportunities for our exceptional security officers. Some of the benefits we provide to full-time employees at many of our work sites include:
- Industry leading training and job orientation programs
- Flexible Schedules (Full, Part-time and Weekend Shifts may be available)
- Competitive Wages, Medical, Dental and Vision
- Paid Vacation, Sick and Personal Time
- Tuition Reimbursement
- An innovative employee recognition and performance rewards program
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- Top performers may be given opportunities to work in some of our global offices
Equal Opportunity Employer
ACorps Security Services USA, Inc is an Equal Opportunity / Non Discrimination Employer that is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. We recruit, hire and promote the most qualified persons solely on the basis of their qualifications and ability to sustain ACorps' high performance standards, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin or citizenship status, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, disability, or military status.
Hiring Our Heroes
ACorps Security Services USA, Inc. is an active participant in the Hiring Our Heroes program. We strive to not just be a significant source of employment for military veterans and their spouses, but to also be a company that provides unparalleled career opportunities that are commensurate with the training, experience and expertise of our military heroes.
As a growing international company, ACorps is always seeking to hire the brightest former United States Commissioned and Non Commissioned military officers, as well as highly skilled Military Veterans for placement in our global operations.
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In addition to legal qualifications, some of our lawyers have a science and engineering background and have experience of working in industry. This combination of knowledge and skills provides a synergy that enables us to work more effectively on legal matters where technical understanding is important. |
Who Defines “Excellence” in Education? And How?
Educational quality is something everyone agrees is important – but what does it mean? How is it defined? This subject has been much examined by international organizations concerned with education as a fundamental building block for economic and social development, including the World Bank, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). All have published reports on the subject.
What interests me as a researcher of educational policy and governance is to understand and reveal where the notion of educational quality comes from, and how the conversation about educational quality has been created and defined in the Arab region.
It’s important to recognize that the term “quality” is socially constructed. That is, what we mean by the quality of education depends on how we, as a society, define what we value as excellence in education. Increasingly, educational quality is measured in terms of how students do on international assessments. For example, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) have become important indicators of educational quality for governments and international organizations.
In the Arab region, educational quality took center stage with the 2010 Arab Ministerial Colloquium on Quality of Education and the Doha Declaration on Quality Education for All. As a result of those meetings, the World Bank and the Arab Ministers of Education established a new initiative entitled the Arab Regional Agenda for Improving Educational Quality (ARAIEQ). Launched in 2012 under the auspices of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), ARAIEQ’s aim was to improve the quality and relevance of educational services in the region through regional collaboration, while also functioning as a think tank, a network of experts, and a resource for tools and knowledge for policymakers.
For the World Bank, international student tests such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS are important indicators of the quality of education in Arab countries. For example, in its 2013 report, Jobs for Shared Prosperity: Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa, the World Bank noted that “the quality of learning in MENA [Middle East and North Africa] as measured by international standardized tests … is still below the level expected given MENA countries’ per capita income.” Data and graphs are used to tell the story of the poor performance of these countries.
The World Bank report says “countries must invest in assessment for learning because such investment is the foundation for meaningful and sustainable improvement in the quality of education.” The thrust of its approach is that in order to reach real improvements in educational quality, Arab nations must adopt objective and standardized measures, with schools operating under competitive market conditions. Meanwhile, other educational objectives such as equitable access and equality of educational opportunities get far less emphasis in the World Bank’s report.
The UNDP, in its 2002 Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, takes quite a different approach in framing the subject of educational quality. The report sets out broad strategic directions for reforming education based on 10 key principles such as respecting the dignity of the individual; giving precedence to creativity; and improving equal educational opportunities. It proposes that strengthening the education system in the region requires actions in three areas: enhancing human capabilities; creating strong synergy between education and the socio-economic system; and formulating a program for education reform at the pan-Arab level. In this people-centered discourse, improving the quality of education is not the central objective in its strategy, but rather a tool for enhancing human capacity through the allocation of increased resources in education and the more effective use of resources. Perhaps what is most distinctive about AHDR’s approach is its emphasis on pan-Arabism and Arab cooperation. It underlines the need for Arab synergy by calling on countries to put national rivalries aside and build a cooperative framework in areas such as curriculum development, textbook production and teacher training.
We can expand on this humanistic view by adopting a social-justice approach to educational quality–that is, one that recognizes that countries vary in terms of income, poverty levels, educational opportunities and access, developmental trajectories and political economies. The social-justice approach is rooted in an understanding of the differing barriers and inequalities that groups in society face in accessing good-quality education, while at the same time opening up the space for alternative perspectives to emerge through public debate. A social-justice approach to educational quality emphasizes the complex nature of education, and of teaching and learning, and seeks to capture this complexity by drawing on multi-disciplinary viewpoints and mixing qualitative and quantitative research methods.
To achieve educational quality, we must be inclusive in our approach. If we opt for a definition of educational quality in terms of learning outcomes, as measured by international tests and rankings, then we are selecting a narrow definition. The problem with this is that it may lead to restrictive forms of policy learning that crowd out deliberation and reflection in the formulation of policy. A definition of quality in terms of learning outcomes may also limit creative thinking about fundamental problems and possibilities.
We need to ensure that our approach to educational quality captures the multidimensional and complex nature of teaching and learning, and this cannot be adequately represented by narrowly constructed approaches that rely solely on learning outcomes, cognitive tests and statistical analyses.
Dr. Clara Morgan is an assistant professor of political science at UAE University. Her research interests include the global governance of education and educational developments in the MENA region. |
This Research Bulletin has been published in Regional Studies, 42 (8), (2008), 1095-1111.
Please refer to the published version when quoting the paper.
In many of the current policy discourses on cities in globalization, city-regions rather than individual cities are being identified as the new key arenas for the generation of economic growth (HERRSCHEL and NEWMAN, 2002; BRENNER, 2004). For the largest and economically most important of these metropolitan areas, new concepts such as ‘global city-region' (SCOTT, 2001) or ‘mega-city region' (HALL and PAIN, 2006) suggest a complex interrelationship between their role as nodes in the global economy and their polycentric, multi-clustered spatial form.1 However, most of the literature on polycentric urban regions has so far focused on the analysis of internal regional structures (KLOOSTERMAN and MUSTERD, 2001; KLOOSTERMAN and LAMBREGTS, 2001; BAILEY and TUROK, 2001; MEIJERS 2005) rather than external interregional and international linkages (PARR, 2004, 238). At the same time, a growing body of research (summarized in TAYLOR, 2004; GaWC, 1999-2007) has analysed the external relations of cities to sketch out the contours of a ‘world city network', but has focused mainly on the globally most important core cities without explicitly addressing their city-regional context (see, however, TAYLOR et al., 2006a, b). This paper aims to bring the two perspectives together. Drawing on a revised GaWC2 methodology, initially specified to investigate inter-city linkages on a global scale (TAYLOR, 2001), the paper presents the first empirical analysis of multi-scalar inter-city connectivities within a specific city-regional context. At the centre of the analysis is the question how advanced producer service firms use the morphologically multi-nodal metropolitan region Rhine-Main within their intra-firm business networks to service not only the region itself but other cities nationally and transnationally. The result is a detailed mapping of advanced producer service connectivities of a major European city-region.
The argument proceeds in five stages. First, we place Rhine-Main within the polycentric German urban system and review the evidence available so far on the region's external economic relations. We identify an increase in studies that investigate the national and transnational linkages of the metropolitan region Rhine-Main, but note a lack of comparable data on external linkages of individual cities within the polycentric region. Section two addresses this shortfall by adopting and extending an approach developed in the study of ‘world cities' that conceptualizes cities as (global) business service centres. Section three outlines the methodology and sampling procedures that form the basis of our empirical investigation. Section four describes and interprets the multi-scalar geographies of connectivity of Rhine-Main, produced through the intra-firm networks of eight knowledge-intensive business services. These are explored more in-depth in two related mappings of Rhine-Main's integration into national intra-firm business service networks. The concluding section discusses the implications of the empirical results for the conceptualization of polycentricity.
Placing Rhine-Main: A Polycentric City-Region in a Polycentric Urban System
In Germany, both historical territorial fragmentation and contemporary decentralized organization of political power have contributed to the development of a polycentric system of cities and metropolitan regions with complementary functional and sectoral specialization (BLOTEVOGEL, 2000, 2002). Metropolitan functions are distributed across a series of major and mid-size German cities, none of which has managed to achieve dominance as a national metropolis (BBR, 2005, 177-190). Consequently, clusters of knowledge-intensive business services can be found in varying constellations in the core cities of all major metropolitan regions and other urban centres (KRÄTKE, 2004, 2005). Within this division of labour, Rhine-Main, Germany's second biggest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr, has long been identified as the country's most globalized urban agglomeration, not least due to the evolution of its core city, Frankfurt am Main, into Germany's undisputed financial centre (GROTE, 2004) and leading international logistics hub (SCHAMP, 2001). The region's rising trajectory as ‘emerging node in the global economy' (FELSENSTEIN et al., 2002; ESSER and SCHAMP, 2001) has led to a number of recent studies of Rhine-Main that investigate the external relations which link the region into wider economic networks (e.g. HEINRICH, 2001; KUJATH et al., 2002). These have used a range of variables such as foreign direct investment or foreign trade to assess Rhine-Main's integration into international economic flows. While these data can provide an insight into the comparative position of Rhine-Main as a region (or rather the position of the state of Hesse for which most of these statistics are available), they are of little help in assessing the external linkages of individual cities within the polycentric region.
City-Regions in Multi-Scalar City Networks
In this paper, we adopt an alternative approach to evaluate both internal and external (or rather multi-scalar) linkages of cities in Rhine-Main, building on TAYLOR 's (2001) interlocking network model of inter-city relations. This was developed initially as a methodology for systematically describing and analysing inter-city relations on a global scale. TAYLOR (2001) follows SASSEN's (1991) work on advanced producer service firms as key actors in world city network formation. These firms have become a major driving force in the economic development of urban and metropolitan regions in globalization. In order to offer a seamless service to their corporate customers, many business service firms (for example in accountancy, advertising or law) have created global networks of offices. Each office network is the outcome of a firm's locational strategy and links the cities in its network through flows (of information, ideas, people etc) between offices. The resulting inter-city network forms part of CASTELLS' (1996) ‘space of flows', which he interprets as new spatial logic of the information age. In the absence of comprehensive and comparative inter-city flow data, a quantitative analysis of office networks, based on data on size and function of individual offices, can provide a surrogate measure of the intensity of knowledge-based flows between office locations and, more generally, between places in the world economy (TAYLOR, 2004). As the focus is on advanced producer rather than consumer services, the assumption of intensive flows between offices is inherently plausible on the global scale – these firms tend to operate across rather than through segmented markets to provide a specialized seamless service (SASSEN, 1991), albeit to different degrees depending on sectoral and firm-specific differences. Knowledge and expertise in project teams, for example, are often drawn from several office locations in a firm's transnational network (FAULCONBRIDGE, 2006, 2007).
In principle, the application of the interlocking network model is not restricted to the global scale, but can be adapted to explore inter-city relations at all scales from global to intra-regional (TAYLOR et al., 2006a, b). However, there are potential conceptual implications to consider. One concerns the ambiguous nature of flow data derived from office locations, especially at the regional and national scale. Multiple office locations in different cities can either indicate intensive intra-firm relations or possibly signal a subdivision into separate markets that are serviced by different office locations. The degree to which one or the other is the case will vary between sectors and firms. Evidence from qualitative interviews with advanced producer service firms in Rhine-Main suggests that in this case the assumptions of the model are robust and meaningful to support a transfer from the global to other scales of analysis (FISCHER et al., 2005b; FREYTAG et al., 2006). The second implication is related and concerns the relative importance of intra-firm relations at different scales. While these office linkages may be a dominant process for strategic advanced producer services at the global scale, regional intra-firm linkages may be much less important in the constitution of flows than relations to customers, other firms and suppliers. While this may well be the case, we do not aim to comprehensively measure all types of flows in this study but focus on one key process – intra-firm relations – across multiple scales. In this respect, the paper provides an exploratory analysis that complements studies of intra- and inter-regional flows that are concerned with inter-firm and customer relations (e.g. HEINELT et al., 2007).
The shift from global to multiscalar analysis focused on one region also requires some methodological adjustments to data collection: Whereas data for the analysis of the world city network consisted of a sample of globally operating business service firms (TAYLOR et al., 2002), a regionally-based approach must take as its starting point a sample of multi-locational firms with at least one office in the region. The geographical scope of firms will therefore vary much more than in the global scale data. A second modification relates to the exact location of firms included in the sample. Whereas data collection on the global scale adopted a pragmatic approach to office location (i.e. location listed on the corporate website; TAYLOR et al., 2002), data collection for a specific city-region requires exact details of all locations. This is important as corporate websites may list the location of the internationally best known core city rather than the actual office location in a smaller municipality or neighbouring city to increase visibility.
The data collection for this study was undertaken as part of the INTERREG IIIB NWE research project POLYNET (HALL and PAIN, 2006; TAYLOR et al., 2006a). Eight knowledge-intensive service sectors were included in the analysis: accountancy, advertising, banking/finance, design consultancy (architecture, civil engineering, planning), insurance, law, logistics (supply chain management, global integrated freight etc.) and management consultancy (including IT consultancy). Design consultancy and advanced logistics were added to the six other sectors previously studied at the global level (TAYLOR, 2004) as these are closer related to manufacturing and basic infrastructure, two variables SASSEN (2001, 80) identifies as characteristic for the regional scale in her comparison of global city vs. global city-regional processes. Data were collected on the offices of a sample of firms from these eight sectors, following a joint but locally adaptive strategy between all research teams (TAYLOR et al., 2006a). The creation of the sample for Rhine-Main proceeded in three steps.
Data Collection – Creating an Inventory of Advanced Producer Service Firms
The first empirical step was to create an inventory of service firms for each of the six ‘functional urban regions' (FURs) that constitute Rhine-Main.3 The main source used was the Hoppenstedt firm database, which in 2003 contained information on about 160,000 businesses in Germany with an annual turnover of at least one million Euro and/or more than twenty employees. For each firm, the database lists office location(s), contact details, website, business sector, names of senior management, number of employees, annual turnover and other key data. Compared to the total number of firms liable to tax, advanced producer service firms are only marginally underrepresented in this database, which tends to record businesses engaged in trans-regional marketing activities more comprehensively than others (KRÄTKE, 2005, 166). This makes the database particularly suited to identify multi-locational firms. Furthermore, the comprehensive spatial coverage of the database permits representative analyses of the economic profiles of cities and regions in Germany (KRÄTKE, 2004, 2005).
Firms were selected for inclusion in the inventory of service firms according to their assigned NACE Rev. 1.1 codes (Appendix 1). The initial data collection resulted in a list of 3,560 APS firms. Their geographical distribution reflects differences in the size and economic structure of the FURs of Rhine-Main (Figure 1, Table 1; FREYTAG et al., 2006). The sectoral distribution of firms among the eight defined advanced producer service sectors showed a dominance of banking/finance (46%), followed by management consultancy (27%), advertising (12%), design consultancy (10%) and insurance (4%).
Fig. 1. APS firms in the FURs of Rhine-Main (selected sectors)
Source: Hoppenstedt firm database 2003
Table 1. Social security contributors, inventory of firms, and firm offices studied by FUR
Sources: Statistical Offices of Hesse, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate (2004); Hoppenstedt firm database (2003).
There were, however, limits to the database. Use of the NACE classification led to an underreporting of accountancy firms (1%) as many of these also act as management consultancies and were classified as such in the database. The near-absence of the law sector reflects the late emergence and low overall number of large German law firms (MORGAN and QUACK, 2005). Logistics services were not selected on the basis of Hoppenstedt as the NACE classification was too general to allow the identification of knowledge-intensive third-party or fourth-party logistics and freight forwarding, the focus of this study. Because of these limitations of the Hoppenstedt database, information on accountancy, law and logistics firms was additionally collected from branch directories, city websites, and international firm rankings (including the GaWC 100: TAYLOR et al., 2004, Appendix A).
Data Reduction – Creating a Sample of Networked Advanced Producer Service Firms
The second empirical step was to identify and remove all purely local firms from the inventory. This was achieved through a three-stage procedure. First, wherever possible, a firm's website was identified based on information given in the Hoppenstedt database and through complementary web-based research. If no corporate website could be found, the firm was removed from the inventory. Second, if a firm had no other office either in another FUR of Rhine-Main or elsewhere in the world, it was classified as a purely local firm and also removed. For all remaining firms, information provided on their corporate websites was used to confirm or change their sectoral allocation. If, after reclassification, a firm did not belong to any of the eight sectors included in this study, it was also removed. The result of this exercise in data reduction was a sample of 457 non-local firms that form the basis for further analysis (Table 2).
Table 2. Distribution of firms studied by sector
Office Classification and Data Matrix Creation
In a third empirical step, office locations were identified for each remaining firm, and information was gathered on office size and importance of a firms' presence in a city (e.g. number of practitioners working in an office, number of offices in a city). In addition, extra-local functions of an office within a firm's office network were also recorded (e.g. headquarter, research). To ensure comparability within the POLYNET project, the information gathering was restricted to an agreed list of key regional, national, European and global cities (TAYLOR et al., 2006a, b; Appendix 2). The regional list comprises the six FURs of Rhine-Main; the list of 33 German cities contains all those with over 100,000 social security contributors in 2000 (BBR, 2002). Cities at the European and global scales were chosen because of their high rankings in previous GaWC analyses of global connectivities (TAYLOR, 2004).
In order to be able to make comparisons across firms, each firm was allocated a service value for each of its office locations. The service value indicates the importance of a particular city office within a firm's overall office network. Service values were allocated on a scale from 0 (no presence of a firm in a city) to 3 (superior office, i.e. headquarter, regional headquarter, high number of employees). All cities in which a firm was present initially scored 2 (standard office); information from corporate websites and company reports was used to lower (to 1 – sub-office, i.e. representative office, very small number of employees) or raise the service value if appropriate.4 Overall, 73% of the offices located in the given cities were coded as standard offices, 10% as sub-offices and 17% as superior offices.
The result of this classification exercise are four service value matrices that array firms against cities at different scales: a regional matrix of 457 firms x 6 cities (FURs), a national 457 x 36 matrix (33 top national cities plus Darmstadt, Aschaffenburg and Hanau), a European 457 x 30 matrix (25 European cities, including Frankfurt, plus the five other FURs of Rhine-Main), and a global 457 x 30 matrix (25 world cities, including Frankfurt, plus the five other FURs of Rhine-Main).
Calculating Network Connectivities
Following TAYLOR's (2001; TAYLOR, et al., 2002; TAYLOR, 2004) inter-locking model of inter-city relations, the four matrices were used to calculate measures of regional, national, European and global connectivity for each of the six FURs of Rhine-Main:
First, a universe of m advanced producer service firms located in n cities is defined. The service value of a firm j in city i indicates the importance of its office(s) in the city within the firm's office network; it is represented by v ij. An n x m array of all service values defines the service value matrix V.
For each pair of cities in the service value matrix V, the basic relation is defined as an elemental interlock between city a and city b in terms of firm j:
rab, j = v aj . v bj
Summation of all products for a pair of cities defines an aggregate city interlock:
∑ rab, j
For each city there are n - 1 such links; the summation of these links defines the interlock connectivity of city a:
Na = ∑ rai (where a ≠ i)
As N a varies with size of the matrix, TAYLOR (2001, 2004) calculates the proportion to highest interlock connectivity recorded (Nh) to ease interpretation:
Pa = (Na / Nh)
This measure will be employed below to assess city network connectivities for the FURs of Rhine-Main at different scales.
Mapping National Connectivity Profiles
To further explore the business service integration of Rhine-Main within Germany, city interlocks were used as a basis for two complementary mappings. The first mapping shows a series of six FUR-specific connectivity profiles; the second mapping consists of a series of eight sector-specific connectivity profiles for the Rhine-Main metropolitan region.
Both mappings follow the same principle, which is outlined here for the FUR-specific connectivity profiles:
Similarly, sector-specific national connectivity profiles are calculated and mapped, which show the strength of interlock connectivity between the Rhine-Main region (combined six FURs) and all other 30 German cities for each of the eight business service sectors studied.
Table 3. Contribution to national network connectivities of Rhine-Main
Connecting Rhine-Main: Mapping the Geographies of Advanced Producer Service Relations
Scales of Connectivity
The initial aggregate analysis of network connectivities confirms Frankfurt 's dominant position as the major cluster of knowledge-intensive business services in Rhine-Main. The city and the surrounding municipalities in the FUR Frankfurt show the highest degree of connectivity at all scales. Note however, that the relative importance of Frankfurt increases with geographical scale (Table 4). Intra-regional network connectivities of Wiesbaden, Mainz and Darmstadt score between 61 and 44 per cent of Frankfurt 's value, i.e. a number of service firms operate offices in more than one of these FURs. The smaller FURs of Aschaffenburg and Hanau are less well connected but still relatively well-integrated into intra-firm business networks of regional scope.
Table 4. Multi-scalar network connectivities of FURs in Rhine-Main
However, even within the region, aggregated intra-firm office linkages show a clear radial pattern connecting each FUR to the ‘ First City ' Frankfurt (Figure 2). Connectivities are highest between Frankfurt and the FURs of the two Länder capitals Wiesbaden (the ‘prime link', see TAYLOR et al., 2006a, 62) and Mainz, followed by Darmstadt. The strength of these linkages and the relatively low connectivities with Hanau and Aschaffenburg reflect the longstanding West-East disparities in tertiary employment in the region (BÖRDLEIN and SCHICKHOFF, 1998) and the closer association of business service firms in Wiesbaden, Mainz and Darmstadt with the financial sector cluster in Frankfurt. A secondary triangle of interconnections exists between the FURs of Wiesbaden, Mainz and Darmstadt that confirms the relative strength of inter-FUR connectivities in the western part of Rhine-Main. However, the linkages that bypass Frankfurt are relatively weak. Frankfurt appears as primate in relation to all other cities in the region, despite the – compared to other scales – high average regional network connectivity (43%) of all other FURs in Rhine-Main (Table 4).
Fig. 2. Intra-regional business service linkages in Rhine-Main
Note: Values are calculated as proportions of the prime link (Wiesbaden-Frankfurt).
The comparatively strong functional polycentricity at the regional scale drops substantially to 16% for the national servicing strategy of knowledge-intensive business services (Table 4). Compared to all other European city-regions analysed in the POLYNET project, this is by far the lowest degree of polycentricity measured for the national scale (TAYLOR et al., 2006b, Table 7)5. Mainz and Wiesbaden only score between a fourth and less than a fifth of Frankfurt, while Aschaffenburg and Hanau fall clearly behind the other FURs. A strong primacy pattern emerges, in which Frankfurt constitutes the preferred location of choice for business networks of national scope.
This pattern is reinforced at European (7%) and global (6%) scales. Frankfurt stands out as First City and gateway into Rhine-Main for business networks of transnational scope. The connectivity scores reported here reflect Frankfurt's post-WW II rise as international financial centre (GROTE, 2004) and as Germany's premier location of internationally-oriented advanced producer services (BEAVERSTOCK et al., 2006; FREYTAG et al., 2006). Frankfurt's dominance among the FURs of Rhine-Main and the resulting lack of polycentricity at both European and global scales is in part due to the comparatively small size of the metropolitan region: 84% of all firms studied maintain only one office location in Rhine-Main; in the majority of cases this is located in the FUR Frankfurt. As the strength and direction of Frankfurt 's global connectivities has been analysed previously (e.g. BEAVERSTOCK et al., 2001, 2006; TAYLOR, 2003), the remainder of the paper focuses on the integration of different parts of Rhine-Main into national servicing strategies of knowledge-intensive business services. This will be achieved through two complementary mappings of disaggregated connectivities for Rhine-Main's six FURs and for eight business service sectors.
FUR-specific National Connectivity Profiles
Frankfurt, the global node of Rhine-Main, is also particularly well-connected to other major cities in Germany (Figure 3a). It is part of and gateway to the ‘urban circuit' of those German cities that have long constituted the apex of a polycentric national configuration of cities and metropolitan regions, characterized by complementary functional and sectoral specialization (BLOTEVOGEL, 2000, 2002). Knowledge-intensive business service firms with national ambitions tend to have multiple office locations across all of these major cities (Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Stuttgart and Cologne). These are also Germany 's best connected cities globally (in the same order, see BEAVERSTOCK et al., 2001, 5). Within Rhine-Main, the FUR Frankfurt is the preferred location for service firms with national scope – it is the only FUR that is overlinked to all other major German cities.
Wiesbaden and Mainz, respective capitals of the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, also show high interlock connectivities with other major cities in Germany, but these remain below average compared to the total connectivity of Rhine-Main, especially for Mainz (Figure 3a). Wiesbaden 's intra-firm linkages are comparatively strong with mid-size cities such as Aachen, Karlsruhe, Kiel and Magdeburg, mainly due to high connectivities in management consultancy. Mainz shows a similar overall pattern; however, connectivities above average are dominated by the banking/finance sector (Augsburg, Münster) and by advertising (Bonn, Bochum, Kiel), the latter related to the presence of one of the main public national broadcasting companies in the city.
Darmstadt, a city with a strong IT sector and technical university, is more intensively linked with the major German cities than Mainz or Wiesbaden although these linkages remain average compared to Rhine-Main's total connectivity (Figure 3a). The FUR shows a clear pattern of business service connectivity with other cities that share a strong technological focus (Aachen, Braunschweig, Karlsruhe). Other linkages above average to Magdeburg, Erfurt and Bochum are mainly due to insurance firms and design consultancies.
Aschaffenburg and Hanau, two smaller FURs in eastern Rhine-Main that have retained a higher percentage of their industrial workforce, possess connectivity profiles that are dominated by linkages of average intensity to many of the major and medium-sized cities in Germany (Figure 3b). Aschaffenburg shows overlinkage to Mannheim, a major port and logistics node in the metropolitan region Rhine-Neckar, and to Duisburg, Bochum and Wuppertal in Rhine-Ruhr. The connectivity profile of the neighbouring FUR Hanau is characterized by an even stronger focus on cities in the Ruhr area including Essen. This reflects the specialization of local service firms in logistics and design consultancy with strong ties to industrial production. Overlinkage to Bielefeld and Halle is mainly due to interlocks generated by insurance firms.
The comparison of FUR-specific national connectivity profiles for Rhine-Main shows distinctive variations that reflect the functional and sectoral specialization between the cities that constitute the region (see also FISCHER et al., 2005a). Frankfurt clearly acts as ‘ First City ' for internationally and nationally active business service firms and constitutes a key gateway to the other major nodes of the German economy. However, the mapping also suggests the complementary role played by other FURs in Rhine-Main and their ability to bypass Frankfurt, especially in developing links with other smaller urban centres in Germany.
Fig. 3a. National connectivity profiles of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz and Darmstadt (for legend and city codes, see Fig. 3b)
Fig. 3b. National connectivity profiles of Aschaffenburg and Hanau
Sector-specific National Connectivity Profiles
A second mapping disaggregates the national connectivity of Rhine-Main by business service sector. The eight service sectors studied contribute to a different degree to the overall network connectivity of Rhine-Main: Banking/finance with its large national office network clearly dominates (40.2%), followed by insurance (26.7%). All other service sectors contribute less than 10% to Rhine-Main's overall network connectivity: Management consultancy (8.4%), Logistics (8.0%), Accountancy (6.6%), Design consultancy (4.3%), Advertising (3.6%) and Law (2.0%). Each sector varies considerably in the way it links Rhine-Main to other German cities.
Banking and finance: Rhine-Main's connectivity profile for banking/finance shows a geographically balanced national pattern (Figure 4a). The strongest links exist with Germany 's other major cities, led by Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. However, most of these remain below average compared to overall sector connectivity. Above average connectivities with Bochum, Duisburg, Halle and a number of smaller cities are due to the relative strength of the banking/finance sector in these cities compared to other business services included in the analysis.
Insurance: As a specialist financial service, the insurance sector in Rhine-Main (located mainly in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt) shows highest absolute linkages with Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, followed by Stuttgart and Cologne (Figure 4a), all cities with an above average specialization of their workforce in insurance (BLOTEVOGEL, 2002). Of these, Rhine-Main connects only to Cologne above average but the connectivity profile for insurance reveals a strong over-linkage to a range of secondary insurance centres, many of which house headquarters or regional headquarters of insurance firms (e.g. Hanover, Nuremberg, Dortmund, Karlsruhe, Mannheim).
Management consultancy: In contrast to banking and insurance, management consultancy connectivity of Rhine-Main displays a clear pattern of over-linkage to all major German cities (Figure 4a). Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart lead in terms of absolute and relative connectivity; Dresden and Aachen are both also linked above average to Rhine-Main. This connectivity profile of Rhine-Main for management consultancies reflects the increasing urban concentration of the sector (GLÜCKLER, 2004a, 149). The FUR Frankfurt contributes most to sectoral connectivity for management consultancy, followed by Darmstadt 's strong contribution through its IT-sector (for example with linkages to Aachen).
Accountancy: Although a relatively ubiquitous business service sector on the global scale (TAYLOR, 2004, 81), accountancy only contributes a small percentage to Rhine-Main's overall connectivity. Nevertheless, the sector connects Rhine-Main to all national cities included in the analysis (with the exception of Bochum) (Figure 4a). Over-linkage occurs primarily with major cities that show the highest absolute connectivity, while smaller cities are under-linked to Rhine-Main in accountancy. Two regional concentrations of above average connectivities stand out: Rhine-Ruhr and major cities of the ‘Saxon Triangle', Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz.
Logistics: The knowledge-intensive logistics service sector in Rhine-Main is the only sector in which Aschaffenburg and Hanau contribute more to Rhine-Main's connectivity than Mainz and Wiesbaden, although less than Frankfurt (with most firms located in the rings of the FURs rather than the cores). The connectivity profile for logistics highlights Germany's major transport nodes such as port cities, locations of major airports and rail freight nodes: Hamburg, Nuremberg, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Mannheim and Duisburg (Figure 4b; see also HESSE, 2006, 46). Rhine-Ruhr is connected through all of its major cities; however East German cities are less intensively linked to Rhine-Main in this sector.
Design consultancy: the connectivity profile for design consultancies (architecture, civil engineering, planning) diverges significantly from all other profiles (Figure 4b). Berlin clearly dominates in absolute terms, followed by Munich, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Dresden. In contrast to other business services, this sector shows a strong over-linkage to East German cities. The sector-specific geography reflects the expansion of German and international firms into East Germany after unification and the considerable market potential in terms of brownfield site redevelopment, and building and infrastructure projects. In West Germany, Karlsruhe and Braunschweig stand out as technology-driven cities that show above average connectivities with Rhine-Main, especially with Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden and Mainz.
Advertising: the advertising sector contributes little to the overall connectivity of Rhine-Main and focuses geographically on the major German cities and centres of advertising, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf (Figure 4b). As Germany's leading advertising centre with regard to turnover (BATHELT and JENTSCH, 2004, 47), Rhine-Main is linked to many of the Länder capitals and to the past federal capital Bonn, but a third of all German cities with more than 100,000 social security contributors does not show any advertising connectivities with Rhine-Main and will be serviced through either local advertising agencies or larger groups that bypass Frankfurt. Reflected in the mapping are locational strategies of major advertising networks, with national headquarters in Rhine-Main or one of the other leading advertising centres and smaller branches and subsidiary network offices in a restricted range of other places (THIEL, 2005, 573).
Law: the law sector is the most concentrated of all the studied eight sectors (Figure 4b). Rhine-Main's national connectivity in this sector is almost completely due to law firms located within the FUR Frankfurt, Germany 's premier centre for corporate legal work and the preferred point of entry for US and UK law firms seeking access to the German legal market. The corporate law sector connects the region primarily to other major cities; over half of all cities studied are not connected through offices to law firms in Rhine-Main. This reflects the general tendency of corporate law firms to cluster in leading cities nationally and globally (TAYLOR, 2004, 85) as well as the late abolishment of legal restrictions that prevented the creation of ‘supra-local partnerships' between German business law firms before the 1990s (MORGAN and QUACK, 2005, 1772). In the period of merger and consolidation that followed, legal firms with national and international ambitions first established or acquired offices in the top-tier of German cities.
The comparison of sector-specific national connectivity profiles for Rhine-Main shows distinctive variations for each sector that reflect both the functional and sectoral specializations of cities in Germany and sector-specific organizational and locational strategies.
Fig. 4a. Sectoral connectivity profiles of Rhine-Main (for city codes, see Fig. 3b)
Fig. 4b. Sectoral connectivity profiles of Rhine-Main (for city codes, see Fig. 3b)
This paper has employed an interlocking network model to explore the question how knowledge-intensive business services link the metropolitan region of Rhine-Main intra-regionally and externally across multiple scales. The result is a first detailed mapping of the integration of a functionally multi-nodal city-region into wider business service networks. This quantitative analysis provides new insights into the outcomes of locational strategies of multi-locational professional service firms that operate to varying degrees from Rhine-Main.
First, the functional primacy of Frankfurt as First City of Rhine-Main emerges as much stronger than the morphological polycentricity of the region would suggest. It is only at the regional scale that Rhine-Main appears functionally polycentric as business service node, albeit much less pronounced than most other city-regions in the POLYNET study, particularly Rhine-Ruhr and Randstad Holland (TAYLOR et al., 2006b). At all other scales, multi-locational advanced producer service firms clearly prefer Frankfurt over any of the other FURs that constitute the region. This makes Rhine-Main a special case among the eight city-regions studied in POLYNET: The comparative POLYNET finding that 'office networks that are regional are also national in scope‘ (TAYLOR et al., 2006b) does not apply to Rhine-Main, where degrees of polycentricity are similarly low for the national, European and global scale. The large differences in functional polycentricity between regional and global scale support SASSEN's (2001) identification of distinctive global city vs. global city-regional processes. The global ‘space of centrality' is clearly focused on the FUR Frankfurt, i.e. core city and surrounding municipalities rather than the wider Rhine-Main region.
Second, despite the low overall degree of functional business service polycentricity in Rhine-Main, there is clear evidence for the development of FUR-specific national connectivity patterns. These point to complementary relations between the six FURs of Rhine-Main and the ability of the non-leading FURs to bypass Frankfurt, especially in their respective sectoral niches, although the gateway role of Frankfurt across all scales remains undisputed.
Third, the patterns of connectivity mapped for Rhine-Main reflect to a substantial degree the characteristics of the polycentric German metropolitan system, in which no single city or urban region achieves dominance across all service sectors (BLOTEVOGEL, 2000, 2002; BBR, 2005). This ‘division of labour' in advanced producer service provision between the major German cities is one of the underlying reasons for the intensive inter-city linkages that connect Rhine-Main nationally. How this compares to city-regions in more centralized urban systems where most higher-order business services cluster in one or two ‘global cities', remains to be seen (WOOD, 2006). Furthermore, t he processes that drive the decision-making that underlies the identified inter-urban functional linkages differ between service sectors and require additional analysis that engages with actors, practices, and complementary inter-firm networks through more intensive methodologies (for Rhine-Main, see for example FISCHER et al., 2005b; BATHELT and JENTSCH, 2004 for advertising; GLÜCKLER, 2004b for management consultancy; SCHAMP et al., 2004 for investment banking and automobile design).
Finally, the findings of this paper challenge notions of polycentricity that focus on spatial form rather than function. In the perspective adopted here, polycentricity emerges as a scale-dependent phenomenon based on the coming together of various business service networks of different organizational architecture and scalar reach. This poses significant challenges for policy makers who, despite attempts to develop extended institutional frameworks for metropolitan regions, often remain caught in the territorial logic of administrative boundaries and spatial planning competences (HOYLER et al., 2006). The exploratory mapping of inter-urban business service linkages in this paper visualizes one aspect of the ‘relational complexity' of urban regions in globalization. As HEALEY (2006) suggests, this requires the development of a new ‘scalar consciousness' among policy-makers and planners rather than a continued reliance on traditional spatial imaginations that centre on urban form and physical structure.
The research for this paper was undertaken as part of the INTERREG IIIB North West Europe project ‘POLYNET – Sustainable Management of European Polycentric Mega-City Regions'. We acknowledge funding by the European Union, the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Heidelberg. We would like to thank Christian Fischer for valuable research assistance.
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Appendix 1. Codes used to allocate firms to sectors
Source: German Classification of Economic Activities (Wirtschaftszweige; WZ 2003), based on NACE Rev. 1.1 (2002) (NACE: Nomenclature statistique des Activités économiques dans la Communauté Européenne).
Appendix 2. List of cities chosen for study
1. The latter concept explicitly builds on the former (HALL and PAIN, 2006, 12; see also HALL, 2001, for an earlier formulation).
3. There is no generally agreed delimitation of Rhine-Main as the contemporary structure is the result of different processes of regionalization in history (HOYLER et al., 2006). The use of administratively or morphologically defined units for analysis proves to be problematic, as functional intra- and interregional relationships cannot be described adequately by reference to built-up areas or administrative borders. Based on previous studies (HALL and HAY, 1980; GEMACA, see IAURIF, 2002), we employ the concept of functional urban regions to demarcate Rhine-Main in terms of areas that show regular daily relationships with core cities. The metropolitan region is delimitated by the borders of contiguous FURs, each comprising a single FUR core, defined in terms of employment size and density, and its associated ring, defined in terms of regular daily journeys (Figure 1). FUR cores are single municipalities (NUTS 5 units) or sets of adjacent municipalities with more than six workers per hectare and a minimum of 20,000 employees. FUR rings are defined on the basis of 10 per cent or more residentially-based employees commuting daily from a contiguous municipality to a core. The data used for this analysis cover contributors to the German social security system but exclude for example civil servants and self-employed persons (BUNDESANSTALT FÜR ARBEIT, 2004). The resulting regionalization provided a working definition of Rhine-Main for the collection of data on advanced producer service firms in Rhine-Main (FREYTAG et al., 2006).
4. This is a modified version of TAYLOR et al.'s (2002) six-point scale. A similar four-point scale was used in an earlier pilot study by TAYLOR and WALKER (2001). The advantage of the simpler scale in the context of the POLYNET study lies in the reduction of potential inter-team variability in allocating scores.
5. Measured by the average percentage of network connectivity of the five non-leading cities in each city-region. Of all city-regions in the POLYNET study, Germany contains the city-region with the highest (Rhine-Ruhr, 75%) and lowest degree of polycentricity (Rhine-Main, 16%) at the national scale (TAYLOR et al., 2006b)
Edited and posted on the web on 4th June 2007; last update 3rd December 2007
Note: This Research Bulletin has been published in Regional Studies, 42 (8), (2008), 1095-1111 |
A website called AchieveMint gives you points for engaging in healthy activities, like exercise, tracking your eating habits, or even taking health related surveys. Points can be redeemed either for cash (10,000 points are worth $10) or for Amazon Gift Cards. The app actually connects with other health apps, like Fitbit and MyFitnessPal, to track your progress.
With the rise of online craft marketplaces like Etsy, people with decent artisanal skills like sewing and woodworking have an always-open market to sell their products as a side business idea. If you’ve always wanted to design and make clothes by hand, then you can start turning those fashion ideas into real, hand-sewn garments and earn a little bit with this side business idea while you sleep and customers from around the world browse your Etsy & Amazon stores.
As you start regularly putting out content, you’ll hopefully start to build a bit of an audience. But to start seeing real money from YouTube you need to market your videos elsewhere. Share your channel on Twitter and Facebook. Distribute videos anywhere else you can think of. Also, interact with comments and build a community around the videos you’re making so people will share it with their friends.
The 2012 Status Telework in the Federal Government features teleworking highlights from the past 18 months as well as goals for improving teleworking in the future. Reports finding that all 87 agencies participating in the Data Cell had established telework policies and 73 percent of the policies met the Telework Act Requirements. More than 684,000 federal employees were deemed eligible to telework, this represents approximately 32 percent of all federal employees. More than 144,000 federal employees had written teleworking agreements with their agencies. 27 percent of teleworkers worked remotely three or more days per week. In addition to the findings, the reports examine teleworking at the Department of Defense. According to the report, there are more than 793,000 employees in the DoD and of those employees, 134,477 were deemed eligible for teleworking. Overall, the federal government seems to have embraced teleworking and is attempting to create more remote working opportunities for employees. In closing, the report listed several ways that the government could make more jobs available through telework. Suggestions include using telework as a tool to retain employees at or near retirement age and using telework to expand hiring of highly trained disabled veterans.
Running and charging for webinars can be a great way to build a following in your niche, demonstrate that you are an expert in your field, and make a profit. Hosting a webinar can be hard work. They need to first be promoted, provide original and valuable information, and include interactive elements so your audience can ask questions and engage with your topic. However, once you have built up a large blog following, each webinar can be extremely profitable.
The group is now in front of the construction house, all performing in-sync dance choreography. Some of the dance routines include mimicking the visual to a jackhammer and using a driller. Ally is seen inside the house with a hammer, as she approaches a male construction worker, turning him around by gently grabbing his shirt and flirting with him. In the next scene, Dinah is standing by a wall, and makes her way towards another male worker, opening a blueprint map, and using a tape measure. The scene then shifts to Lauren, who is handling a blow torch.
Build your audience on a course community: If you’re just getting started building an audience for yourself and want to leverage communities already actively looking for content you can choose to host and sell your online course on a site like Skillshare or Udemy. These are easy, cost-effective ways to build an audience and test your niche to see if there’s demand for it.
How to Get It: Sylvan Learning (Tutoring.SylvanLearning.com), Tutor.com, TutorVista.com and Tutorzilla (Tutorzilla.com) all offer a good cross section of the kinds of remote-based tutoring jobs out there, and they all have great reputations with students and teachers. Since you will be working with children, you can expect a background check before you are hired.
If you own a car but barely use it, you can make some easy cash as an effortless side business idea by renting it out on Turo. Before you freak out, know that there’s a $1 Million insurance policy on all cars, plus drivers are prescreened, so you can have peace of mind. Closely related to renting out your car is another new service I recently came across (available only in the UK at the moment) called YourParkingSpace where you can sign up to list your available parking space through the app, and earn when people decide to use your spot.
Transcription work from home jobs involve listening to audio files and typing out what you hear. While some types of transcription (such as medical) require training, it is possible to break into general transcription with little to no past experience. Before you start digging through the companies below, you may want to read this post about what general transcription involves and this post about the equipment transcribers use.
Work from Home Jobs – Help Rate Call Center Agents – Customer Service Review, Inc. specializes in improving the skills of call center agents. The company continues to recruit p/t work from home Callers and Evaluators. No state hiring restrictions mentioned. They’re looking for people who can evaluate agents’ performance. “Compensation is based on the degree of difficulty of each project.”
Salvage and resell. Do you love antiques or have a knack for finding valuables at flea markets or yard sales? If you do, it might be time to consider salvaging items for resale – or even scouting out antiques to sell for a profit. While you’ll need to spend quite a bit of time searching for prospects and spend some money buying upfront, you could easily turn a profit if you know what you’re doing.
Tech is also experiencing a shortage of talent for a number of jobs, and hiring remote workers opens the talent pool for companies seeking STEM workers. Boris Kontsevoi, founder and president of Intetics Co says, “In the tech sphere, the majority of the work happens on the computer and online. As a result, the location of the person is no longer as important, as long as they have a reliable Internet connection.”
Starting a business in this field will require some experience, but as long as there is anxiety, there will be a market for coaching people to create and deliver presentations. Invest in video equipment or use a smartphone to record students as part of the coaching process. If you have a background in radio or TV or specific experience in high-profile public speaking, all the better.
Then once you’ve got your domain name and hosting sorted out, it’s time to pick a CMS, or Content Management System, that will let you update pages, build your blog and integrate with all the other services you need. It’s hard to go wrong with WordPress—the CMS powering close to a quarter of the internet. Keep in mind that eventually as you start growing traffic to your blog, you'll be wise to invest in a managed WordPress hosting plan from a company with great service like Kinsta, where all of the settings are custom-tailored and optimized to work particularly well with WordPress-powered websites.
You love dogs? You’re good at taking care of them? You want to open a dog-boarding business? Just make sure you’re prepared. Sure, it’s a great opportunity, and it’s totally doable—with some planning. Make sure you know your local zoning laws and, perhaps more importantly, make sure your neighbors would be OK with some extra noise and activity around your place.
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Hold a yard sale. If you have a yard or garage and plenty of items to sell, you can have a yard sale as early as tomorrow. By advertising your sale on local Facebook pages and Craigslist, you can also skip the paid newspaper ad and keep all of the profits for yourself. If you don’t have time to price everything, try asking patrons to “make an offer” or grouping similar items on tables with an advertised price (e.g. everything on this table is $5).
Create a killer course experience: With your course validated and in the works, you need to figure out how people will take it. Most course creators choose to host their courses from their own websites. This way, they get all the value of bringing customers back to their site on a regular basis. I host my own courses from a subdomain on my own site so I can easily add more. The course experience is incredibly important as well. And after trying most of the solutions, I highly recommend Teachable—an online platform designed specifically for courses.
There's also (of course) now an app for this side business idea. It's called Bellhops, and you can quickly sign up to start working as a mover almost right away (after going through their application process). The best part about using Bellhops is that they already have customers booked and ready to schedule their moves, meaning you can pretty much get a steady stream of moving jobs depending upon your location, just by signing up and setting the hours that you're available.
Yet another common problem encountered by home-based business people is frequent distractions that reduce productivity. In fact, distractions are everywhere for people who work from home. When faced with a difficult work task, it sometimes seems far preferable to run the vacuum, clean out a closet, walk the dog, have a snack, take a nap, raid the refrigerator, pull some weeds in the garden, or do any of the myriad other things that need doing around a normal household. In addition, people who work from home lack the motivation that peer pressure can provide in a regular office. They also face spouses and children who demand time and attention, as well as friends and neighbors who call to chat or stop by to ask favors.
Re-selling web hosting will enable you to make money hosting your own client’s websites. Large hosting companies like HostGator allow you to white label their hosting services. You could start your own hosting business or, if you are a web designer, include hosting into your web design packages. And the best of it is the hosting companies take care of the hosting for you, so all you need to worry about is selling.
Like other forms of self-employment, home-based businesses face a number of challenges relating to financial management and tax compliance. Part of the business plan that is prepared prior to forming a home-based business is a financial plan detailing how much it will cost to begin the new venture and keep it running. After the business has been established, it is vital that the entrepreneur set up a good bookkeeping system to manage cash flow and ensure compliance with tax laws. Bookkeeping systems can be manual or computer based. Experts also recommend that entrepreneurs set up a separate checking account for their home-based businesses in order to better document business expenses. Canceled checks, paid bills, invoices, sales slips, receipts, and other financial documentation should be kept on file in case of an audit. Another important aspect of financial planning for a home-based business is tracking working capital—the difference between current assets (cash, accounts receivable, and inventory) and current liabilities (operating expenses, debts, and taxes)—in order to maintain a realistic picture of where the business stands financially.
Don't sacrifice morals for a quick buck — At the outset, you'll want to do all sorts of things to make money online, but don't sacrifice your morals for a quick buck. Not only will you put people off, but you'll lose Google's trust. You also shouldn't concern yourself with things like Adsense or other ads on a blog before you have around 100,000 visitors per day. Yes, per day.
Creating your own food blog, will not only be fun but done well it should also be profitable. Link your site to affiliate cooking products, sell your food photos, create and sell your own physical cookbook, or launch a cooking app. Equally, you could turn your cooking blog into a membership site. You would then share all your content, including recipes, how to videos, food photographs, and much more, with only your paid up members.
White labeling products involve purchasing pre-made products from a supplier and then adding your own labeling and branding. Products could range from candles to gym equipment or even tea, but all will come without labels, allowing you to create your own new range of merchandise. Most suppliers will advertise the fact they offer white labeled goods on their websites, so pick your niche and then find the right supplier and product for you. Once labeled, products can be sold via sites like eBay and Amazon, or from your own eCommerce store (discussed in a moment).
Choosing the path of entrepreneurship, and working on your side business idea, is without a doubt riskier than being content with holding a 9-5 job. It requires way more sacrifice. However, once you’re reaping the lifestyle benefits of being your own boss and hustling your way into making significantly more money with your business idea than you ever could at your day job, the hard work will have all been worth it. So, let’s talk business ideas.
If you have a good idea for an app, and the skills to create it, then producing your own premium app can be profitable. However, with so many free apps available, it may be hard to convince people to pay. If you want to go down the premium app route, consider having a basic free version to encourage people to download the app in the first place. You can then provide the option of upgrading to a premium plan once users realize how useful the app is.
"To hackers who make a living stealing information from unsecured computers and network connections, the teleworker could be an open the door to the organization’s most sensitive data. Security and privacy have become increasingly rare commodities these days thanks to the ability of hackers to stay one step ahead of just about every security measure that technicians can create. Security breaches are a significant enough threat in a standard office environment; however, when an organization has employees working from home or on the go, these risks become even greater.
If you have a knack for connecting with people and the willingness to take on some risk, a commission-based freelance sales role could be a great side business idea for you. Many startups seek part-time and commission-only salespeople, especially when they're just getting started, which means you'll often be able to make this a home based business idea. Develop your sales strategies, become an inside sales rep and perfect your cold calling skills on the side in your free time for nothing but commission, negotiate a little equity and you could profit big time if you're pitching a solid product and the startup succeeds. Start your sales education with the acclaimed books, Secrets of a Master Closer and To Sell is Human by famed bestselling author Daniel Pink and you'll be well on your way to getting this side business idea off the ground.
Used-car salesmen unfortunately have some nasty stereotypes to live down, but you don’t need a tacky blazer or a fast-talking sales pitch to make money buying and reselling cars. People throw away perfectly good (or certainly good enough) cars all the time for all sorts of trivial issues. If you know a little something about servicing a car and can make one shine for a Craigslist ad, you could take advantage of massive opportunities to buy used cars and resell them for major profit.
Research other listings in your city on AirBnB and see what the going rate is for a place like yours. You could also just rent out a private room as well or even a bed in a shared room. In fact, that's how AirBnB got its start. However, you might find it hard in the beginning without reviews, but as long as you take really good care of your guests and provide a lot of value, the reviews will eventually come rolling in.
Proz.com is a site where you can get paid to translate all kinds of documents, including files and even conversations. The site provides you with an opportunity to list your services as a translator. They offer opportunities in Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese and other languages, and specialize in legal, medical, technical and other fields.
Great ideas about a home based business. However, we all need to understand that most ONline and OFFline buisnesses fail about 90% of the time. Franchises seem to do some better but they have challenges too. Our goal is focused on building a PLAN B to help build financial security. After 32 years in the trenches as an entrepreneur, we invite you to visit our website, join us as a subscriber too where we share about our lumps and bruises in business owners.
Manage social media for businesses. If you have a knack for social media, you could potentially get paid to manage various platforms for others. Many businesses are too busy running day-to-day operations to stay on top of their Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts – and will pay someone with the knowledge and time to do it for them. To find these jobs, ask local businesses and check sites like UpWork.com and Problogger.net.
Becoming an Uber driver has quickly become a great way for people to get their own business off the ground. You will need to pass a background check and have valid instate driver’s license and auto insurance. The process is pretty painless and will get you rolling on your own business. Many people start as an Uber driver to pay the bills while they work on another business that they are more passionate about. Check out our post to learn more about Uber driver requirements.
I mean come on, who wouldn't be interested in this side business idea? Getting paid to take care of a cute pup sounds like a dream. The prevalence of unattended pets is another side effect of busy life, creating job business ideas and opportunities for people with time, patience, and affection to spare. Just check out DogVacay and Rover to see what I mean. Would the payout be worth it if you try? One person in New York earns $3,300 a month just pet-sitting for busy animal lovers as his side business idea.
Some of the potential benefits and drawbacks of telecommuting can be explained by job characteristic theory, which proposes that the traits and tasks of the job itself affect employees’ work attitudes and behavior. If five characteristics of a job are present (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback), then the employee in that job will experience more internal work motivation, satisfaction with personal growth opportunities, general job satisfaction, higher job performance, and lower absenteeism and turnover. Many studies have provided evidence that job characteristics influence employees’ behaviors and attitudes. Additionally, job characteristics can interact with individual differences to impact employee attitudes and behavior. Of these five job characteristics, telework specifically changes autonomy and feedback compared to face-to-face work and can thus influence employees’ behaviors and attitudes. According to Job Characteristics Theory, changes in autonomy and feedback influence work behaviors and attitudes more than a change in skill variety, task identity, or task significance.
With apps being constantly developed, competent app developers are in high demand. Again, if you have the experience or skills to create successful apps then this could be something you could end up working on as a full-time freelancer. Check out adverts for developers on Toptal, a higher paying jobs site for experienced freelancers wanting to make money online.
Thanks to the internet there’s now a wide assortment of ways to make money online. So if you are stuck in a dead-end job and would like to change your life around then this guide will provide actionable strategies to enable you to do so. Whether you are looking for ways to make a bit of extra money, a part-time job or want to create a full-time income stream, there are plenty of opportunities to do so, all online and from the comfort of your own home.
Coworking is a social gathering of a group of people who are still working independently, but who share a common working area as well as the synergy that can happen from working with people in the same space. Coworking facilities can range from shared space in formal offices to social areas such as a coffee shop. Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs often cowork in shared office and workshop facilities provided by business incubators and business accelerator organizations. In entrepreneurship, coworking allows creative start-up founders, researchers and knowledge workers to meet and share ideas, collaborate, share new research, and find potential partners.
Telecommuting has long been promoted as a way to substantially increase employee productivity. A working-from-home-related experiment conducted using 242 employees of a large Chinese travel agency by professors at Stanford and Beijing University found that employees randomly assigned to work at home for 9 months increased their output by 13.5% versus the office-based control group. This improvement in output arose from working 9% more hours from saved commuting time and from 3.5% improved efficiency from quieter working conditions. The study also found that home-workers reported significantly higher job-satisfaction scores and their quit rates fell by almost 50%. However, home workers' promotion rates dropped by half due to apparent performance declines, indicating a potential career cost of home-working.
Last but not least, you can also earn money online by building an online community, although the monetization strategies you can pursue will vary a lot depending on your goals. You can build a community with a blog, for example. You can also build an online forum and charge people for membership. You could even build up a Facebook group and use your influence there to sell and promote products. |
China: a monolithic nation of various terrain is residence to greater than 1/3 of the world population. In 2004, the Individuals’s Wonderful Arts Publishing Home named 20 Chinese language painters in twentieth century, ,Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu, Li Keran and different art masters had been selected, and the same time artist Shi Hu is also ranked. Participating in crafts and hobbies also lowers stress thus making the time spent doing them appear even more worthwhile. In the event you love this, yow will discover a used vainness gentle strip at a storage sale, flea market, or thrift retailer and make your individual fairly simply.
The Arts ought to be cultivated in children during the adolescence so as to better perceive the function of arts in the world and society as a complete. Hobbies and crafts clubs are a great way for getting a bit of steadiness and synergy into your kid’s progress thereby giving them the strength wanted to make new friendships. Despite the fact that learning to understand visible arts may be intimidating, especially if you do not have a background in artwork, there are things you are able to do with a purpose to facilitate the method of learning to take pleasure in them.
Along with stretching, martial arts coaching also needs to embrace exercises meant to improve total conditioning and muscle coaching earlier than endeavor any comprehensive martial arts training. When reading the invitation, it hit me. Sharon is the perfect instance of what … Read More . . .
Martial arts training involves actions that can enhance flexibility, Cardiovascular health, and hand-physique coordination. On our tour, the youngsters were disenchanted that they might not sit and research the pieces I had prepped them on seeing. His protection ― a paean to the National Endowment of the Arts, particularly ― comes after rumors -turned- experiences alleged that President Donald Trump ‘s administration plans to slash arts funding in an try to chop down on domestic spending. As talked about earlier, there are three branches of performing arts – the dance, drama and music. Knee pain injuries – caused by the bent-knee stance typical of most martial arts and the usage of forceful kicks that may injure the joint if not completed properly.
Arts for Well being works with a unique artist for every course and often the themes of the course hyperlink with different occasions taking place in Blackpool. Individuals for the Arts presents the 29th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy on Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. at the Eisenhower Theater of the John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts. Marge came to The Minyma Kutjara Arts Challenge from the Tjanpi Hospital in Warakurna about two years in the past with a couple of previous friends to retire.
By way of practicality Krav Maga is an effective option however normally for youths to keep curiosity they want aggressive stimulation so they can take pleasure in it as effectively, I’d actually suggest BJJ to … Read More . . .
Occasions, dates, and times are subject to vary, please test the principle web page for essentially the most up to date info. Shoe holders can be used to retailer small doll equipment, collections of race vehicles or small stuffed toys, or even arts and crafts provides. This free one-day event, a collaboration between the Substance Use and Addictive Behaviours Research Group (SUAB), the Arts and Health Research Group and Portraits of Recovery (PORe), is creating analysis around the vital function that the humanities and tradition can play in the lives of people and communities affected by or in recovery from habit. As soon as they realize they can achieve success in The Art Room, they will take this new-discovered confidence again into their faculties and day by day lives,” she mentioned in an email.
Chenille strips and beads makes this a colorful and straightforward craft to make, even for the very little children. When I write a e-newsletter, an e mail, speak to someone on the cell, I admire them, and life at all times works for me. Keep in mind, admiration, sincere interest in your fellow man, all pumped up by the self-discipline of the Martial Arts. The Arts & Well being Award is without doubt one of the classes of the Health & Wellbeing Awards. Very often a reasonably quick fighter has really lengthy legs, and this is a determined benefit for kick boxing, and any of the Oriental martial arts that use legs and ft for defence.… Read More . . . |
It is a fact that almost everybody wants to lose weight and have the perfect figure. And if you are just like any other person, you probably joined different gyms or consistently goes jogging hoping that it will help you lose weight and achieve a better figure.
Fortunately, with the latest addition of the bodyweight burn program in the weight loss industry, people can immediately lose 21 pounds of fats by doing a 21-minute exercise every day in as little as 12 weeks. And if that doesn’t get you excited, maybe this will because you can do all of this at your own home while still enjoying the food you want to it.
Adam Steer, the creator of this program uses the BW3 method so that a person can attain the result they want. And if you want make an informed decision about this program, you will need to read a bodyweight burn review like this.
One of the things you need to know in a bodyweight burn review is that the BW3 is a unique method that can that helps burn 21 pounds of fats by doing 21 minutes of workout every day in a span of 12 weeks. And even though this the workout is only 21 minutes long, it will only leave you a little bit of time to rest and still perform a lot in that time. If you know the interval training exercise, you have the basic understanding of how this training work.
While many people still believe that steady state cardio is the best way to lose weight, what they do not realize is that they are not maximizing their fat burning potential. But with the recent development of different workout plans, people are starting to focus on interval training instead since this method burns more calories than the steady state cardio workouts.
Adam Steer, the creator of this program, also indicates in the bodyweight burn review that most people who wants to lose weight ignores an important fat burning secret called synergy. But because most of the workout programs today are focusing on a certain aspect while ignoring other aspects that can greatly help wonderful results. And what makes this program very different from other programs is that this program will allow you to eat carbohydrates since it is actually a good thing if you plan your meals strategically. Apart from that, this program will make your metabolism be active 24/7 so even if you are not working out, you will still be burning fat.
But the most important thing you need to know about the bodyweight burn review is that the diet developed for this program called carb-synch diet will depend on the type of workout you do. And since your carbohydrate requirements will change every day you will need to follow the workout plan consistently. So if you plan on maximizing the entirety of this program you must follow the five different kinds of diet of the program and synch it to your workout.
So if you are looking for a complete weight loss program that can fit your lifestyle this program is what you are looking for. And if you are still undecided, find a bodyweight burn review like this so you can make a proper decision. |
Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2013
Images from the Internet
Images from the Internet
The Monochrome Set: M-80, Live at the Marathon 80 Festival, Minneapolis 1979
50 minutes, 1979 / 2013
The Sex Pistols were still an active band in 1978, when London’s The Monochrome Set formed. The Clash was going strong and about to release London Calling when this video was recorded in September of 1979 in Minneapolis, during the two-day Marathon 80: New-No-Now-Wave festival. And yet, much as Brit punk was a shot across the bow to both the social climate of England at the time and the New York scene, aka First Wave Punk (yes, it was, Greil), The Monochrome Set (TMS) was - in its own way - a fuck you to the British Second Wave.
From 1976-79, British punk was largely flash and thrash, that is fashion and deconstruction. TMS seemed to borrow more from the burgeoning US Midwest scenes and the New York No Wave movement that began around 1977. Both these employed stilted rhythms, stoic stage presence, and an adapted-yet-played-down Mod fashion (e.g., straight ties, sunglasses, and earthtone clothes).
While I would be hard pressed to call TMS “No Wave,” I can see shadows of the blaring of the Contortions, the minimalism of industrialization, and the monotone of any of a number of that subgenre’s bands. Yet, within that, it’s easy to hear the kinds tones that would show up shortly on the Fresh Sounds of Middle America cassette series from Bill Rich’s Talk Talk fanzine in the early 1980s…and yes, I still have them. Crisp, occasionally atonal, and yet at other times quite earworm-like (see the song below). I always thought this style was a milder rock’n’roll version of the kind of jazz Miles D. posited on the world. And like Davis, this sound did not last very long, swallowed up the hardcore scene and the polar opposite proto Boy Bands (e.g., the Bay City Rollers).
Despite the static stances of TMS playing live, there is something about them that is enjoyable to watch. While they were influenced by others, the amalgamation (or synergy, if you will) would go on to influence others, arguably such as Tommy Tutone (“867-5309”), the Producers (“What’s He Got”) and the Split Enz (“I Got You”).
This was obviously taped by (a) an amateur person or organization, and (b) probably either onto reel-to-reel video, or a 3/4” videocassette; perhaps a Beta. It’s grainy as hell and a bit tinny, but being familiar with video of that period, it’s actually quite good (compare it, for example, with the infamous The Cramps video of the same era). Of course, in just a few years, the introduction of the 1/2” videocassette would change everything, but I digress…
But, all things considered for its era, the use of multiple cameras and superb editing, we have an important document of a band in its nascent years. Most of the songs they perform would show up on their first album, Strange Boutique (1980), including the wonderfully monikered “Eine Symphonie Des Grauens (part of the title of the classic 1922 vampire flick, Nosferatu. There are many memorable songs here, such as “He’s Frank” and the abovementioned “Strange Boutique.” There are also a couple performed by the bassist, Harrington, for which this is the only time it was filmed live. That’s a good thing because while the songs themselves are decent, his voice is not. Luckily, Bid sings most of them.
This is worth checking out if you’re interested in the period, because it’s so much of an anomaly for the period of British music. Plus there are some great songs in there, as well.
Bid (Ganesh Seshadri): vox / guitar
Lester Square (Thomas. Hardy): guitar
Jeremy Harrington: bass / vocals
JD Haney: drums
The Monochrome Set
Tomorrow Will Be Too Long
Fly Me to Moon
The Etcetera Stroll
Love Goes Down the Drain
Ici Les Enfants
Lester Leaps In
Eine Symphonie Des Grauens
Martians Go Home
The Lighter Side of Dating
Viva Death Row
The Strange Boutique |
Together with the work of a targeted diet, weight training and cardiovascular activity, when trying to lose as much fat tissue as possible for the beach, for psychophysical wellbeing or for a bodybuilding competition, the widespread use of thermogenenic supplements is well-known. The world of supplements also does not help in this area with the spread of many, too many, products of dubious, and at least proven, real effectiveness. Many times these are often "loaded" with a "stimulating" power on the central nervous system, giving more "flame" to the head than.....to the real thermogenesis. Or we find other products that are a mixture of elements, perhaps even ones that are genuinely effective, but with minimal dosages, creating chaos and unnecessary economic expenditure.
It is good to underline that thermogenic substances do not make a difference if people do not follow an adequate diet, but if they are products with real effectiveness in terms of elements and dosages used, they can still provide a good "boost" to the metabolism and be favourable allies which work in synergy, and drive the body onwards towards this goal. Without the foundations of targeted nutrition, they are not very effective.
In Yamamoto studies we always look for the best raw materials and the real scientific nature to be transported on the market every time you want to launch a product. Another example is Ai-LIPOROL®, the powerful new-generation thermogenic. The revolution that this product brings in its typology arises from the insertion of new effective and synergistic active elements to best promote the thermogenesis and mobilisation of accumulated fats without unnecessarily (and damagingly) enriching stimulants. The goal here is primarily to burn fat and not to bleed the adrenal glands or create disorders at the metabolic level. What makes it so "effective" then? As often happens, my answer is the SYNERGY of action of the elements, and some "news" from the scientific front.
Here Ai-LIPOROL® is born, a multitask force of active ingredients that favour the disposal of accumulated fats.
Guinea Pepper or Paradise Grains, seeds of a plant used in Africa as a healthy spice with a pungent aroma, of which studies are under way to deepen our knowledge of their interesting effects on the metabolism. Research (on humans) is demonstrating a powerful increase in thermogenesis thanks to the ability to transform white adipose tissue to brown adipose tissue (BAT), with greater control over glycaemia and affecting visceral fat. We remember how this adipose tissue is an enemy of overweightness and obesity, or in any case of all those who want to lose weight, because instead of storing the excess lipid in the adipocytes it stimulates their disposal through "heat dispersion". Simply, brown adipose tissue burns excess fat to produce heat, and the Paradise Grains are great activators of this thermogenic system.
If we have to assess what the real novelty is in the field of fat-burning supplements which are now more and more obsolete or tending to excessive and sometimes harmful nervous stimulation, here it is. With scientific research for support.
Capsaicin, the typical alkaloid of the "spiciness" present in chilli, which has well-documented properties of increasing thermogenesis, mobilising the use of fatty acids, even inhibiting their accumulation. Similar to the Paradise Grains, capsaicin and capsaicinoids are able to activate brown adipose tissue, with great effect on thermogenic power.
Capsaicin and other capsaicinoids are potent agonists of TRPV1 receptors and are therefore able to further activate brown adipose tissue, favouring the dissipation of excess fats as heat. Moreover, these molecules induce a generalised activation of the sympathetic system which, in turn, through the release of noradrenaline, has a stimulatory action on the activity of BAT.
Green coffee, thanks to the action of Chlorogenic Acid, intervenes in digestion, reducing the amount of carbohydrates assimilated through the intestine and, consequently, limiting the caloric intake of each meal, interfering with the release of sugars in the blood by the liver, thus stabilising glycemia, pushing the body to affect and use its fat mass as a source of energy, reducing the phenomenon of glycogenolysis of the liver, through the inhibition of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphatase. In addition, green coffee inhibits lipases, digestive enzymes whose role is to affect triglycerides, thereby causing a reduction in the digestion of fats and their accumulation in the liver and other parts of the body.
Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fibre extracted from the konjac plant. Research has shown that its use contributes to increasing the sense of fullness, relieving constipation and lowering blood sugar levels as well as decreasing cholesterol and body weight. When mixed with water, the Glucomannan becomes voluminous as a gel and is able to multiply its volume up to 17 times its original size. The fibre in the stomach causes this change in volume by absorbing the water, and by expanding, the Glucomannan will occupy a lot of space in the stomach, thus creating a sensation of immediate fullness.
In addition, the Glucomannan supports diet regimens aimed at weight loss, because inside the stomach and intestines it absorbs fat, making it pass quickly through the body, facilitating its excretion rather than assimilation.
Green tea: which contains several powerful antioxidants, including epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG. This element, combined with caffeine, which is also contained in green tea, has a strong ability to stimulate the body's metabolism and thus accelerate weight loss through thermogenesis.
In addition, catechin polyphenols, which are present in green tea, stimulate muscle cells and the liver to use more fatty acids. In addition, green tea is rich in theophilin and theobromine, two substances that promote diuresis. Thanks to the catechin, which inhibits the transport of glucose to fat cells, the increase in blood sugar levels is moderate. When insulin is stable, the sense of hunger is even greater, so this limits the "hunger attacks" and the risk of ruining our efforts, perhaps with junk foods that will add unnecessary and harmful calories to our body.
Theobromine (Cacao), a substance present in black chocolate, is a xanthine similar to caffeine that stimulates the central nervous system but not so "aggressively". However, it is a highly ergogenic substance with prolonged effects which helps counteract the crashes associated with the use of caffeine, and it does not cause any dependency. Theobromine therefore has a lipolytic power as it increases thermogenesis without causing states of anxiety or palpitation, helps to improve insulin sensitivity, avoiding spikes and surges of glycaemia or hunger and promotes vasodilation, muscle pumping and cardiac health.
Bitter Orange (Citrus aurantium): citrus with properties well known for its thermogenic activity, which contains a particular composition of extracts (sinephrine, N-methyltiramine, hordenine, octopamine, tyramine), with the ability to stimulate the metabolism, allowing the use of fats deposited predominantly in the liver and adipose tissue to produce heat and energy expenditure. It has been shown that synephrine, the "sympathomimetic" alkaloid contained in citrus aurantium, increases fat metabolism through the stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors, and acts in full synergy with caffeine, enhancing and prolonging its effects. |
The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing at Clinton Community College has been hailed as a milestone toward building the region’s 21st-century workforce.
Speaking at the ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday, Clinton Community College Interim President Fred Smith said it was an honor to be present during such a historic event.
“The institute is and will be a significant and very important economic force for the North Country,” he said.
FALL 2017 START
Clinton Community was awarded up to $12.7 million in state funds through the SUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program for the project.
Construction is expected to cost $9.1 million, while soft costs, such as furnishings, will increase the total price to about $11.4 million.
Construction is expected to be complete by August 2017, with the institute available for classes for the 2017 fall semester.
The college’s technology and engineering programs will move to the new facility, which will provide them with room to expand.
The institute will provide a link between Clinton Community, Clarkson University and SUNY Plattsburgh.
It will also allow the college and its partners to increase the customized training programs offered to local manufacturers through workforce and economic development partners, such as the Development Corp., North Country Chamber of Commerce, North Country Workforce Investment Board and CITEC.
Clinton Community College Board of Trustees Chairwoman Nina Coolidge said the sound of construction equipment, already at work on the nearby site, was music to her ears.
It is the true beginning of one of the most exciting phases of development on campus, she said, as it will allow training opportunities for the region’s students and adult workforce to match the manufacturing jobs of the future.
“This will truly be a community project,” Coolidge said.
She thanked the Clinton County Legislature for its continued support of the college.
BUILDING A WORKFORCE
Clinton County Legislature Chairman Harry McManus said the groundbreaking marks a special day for the county, as it helps build the synergy between the manufacturing community and education.
It will be a means to show prospective companies the region can meet their workforce needs, he said, which will also help the school attract students.
“This is the beginning of a transition that will allow Clinton Community College to better compete in the higher-education marketplace,” McManus said.
North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas, co-chair of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council, said the institute would be important even if it were just classroom and lab space. It has added value as a place where workers can train as companies move to the region or upgrade their operations.
“It is more than that — the potential pathway for sustaining 21st-century manufacturing in the region,” he said.
This shows potential firms such as Norsk Titanium, a 3-D company planned for Plattsburgh, that the training support and the collaborative partners are in place to make that venture successful, as well, he said.
“That’s what makes this a particularly remarkable occasion for the North Country,” Douglas said. “It is a foundation for our economic dreams of the future, and those dreams are becoming a reality.”
Part of that is the continued growth of the relationship with Clarkson University and schools throughout the SUNY system.
“We’re building a fabric, a mosaic in the North Country of pathways toward success for every citizen,” he said.
Students and faculty at the university, he continued, will also be able to take advantage of opportunities that will arise at the new facility.
It is a great addition to the region’s emergence as a hub for the manufacture of transportation equipment and the future move into aerospace, Collins said.
“Now, a lot of Clarkson’s focus is to the east to Plattsburgh and to what’s occurring here. The aerospace industry, it really is manna from heaven for Clarkson to be able to interact so.”
Nathan Bull of AES Northeast of Plattsburgh, the architectural and engineering firm for the project, said it’s an exciting opportunity to design an innovative technology center.
“We’re also challenged as a design firm to be on the cutting edge, and this type of project allows us to continue pushing ourselves to be a leader in the area,” he said.
One of the project goals from the start was to create an energy-efficient facility.
It features an energy-efficient thermal envelope, LED lighting and energy recovery heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
The layout of the facility is very flexible, Bull said, with spaces for training but also classrooms that can hold up to 100 people.
“It was designed higher than code. We tried to blend it with a lot of the history of the campus but also have a lot of the innovative touches that this type of program deserves.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container] |
Join the "Whole Body Wellness" community & receive my free checklist
"10 Simple Ways To Make Time for Self-Care"
(even on your busiest of busy days!)
I COACH WOMEN VISIONARIES, LEADERS & ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE ACHIEVING PROFESSIONALLY, YET CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH THEIR WEIGHT
Deep down, you’re ready for the war with your body & your weight to be OVER WITH, so you can get down to business – literally & figuratively.
If you’re anything like most of my clients, you’ve had enough.
Enough with all the diets.
Enough with all the rigorous exercise routines.
Enough with all the trendy foods and ‘all the things’ that make eating healthy expensive and time-consuming.
You’ve exhausted all the ways YOU know how to maintain a healthier lifestyle and make self-care a priority.
You may be at your breaking point and ready to give up.
But thankfully, you’re HERE! Although you may a little hesitant, thinking:
“What if this doesn’t work?”
“I can’t afford to waste any more time or energy on this.”
“What makes this any different from everything else I’ve tried?”
“Something must be wrong with ME because nothing I do seems to work.”
These are valid thoughts, especially when you’re about to create BIG CHANGES.
I believe you can achieve all of your desires, and more.
You CAN achieve your body’s normal weight
You CAN make self-care a priority without feeling guilty
You CAN create a unique balance between your personal and professional goals
You DON’T have to be everything to everyone, sacrificing your own health in the process
When we partner together in my signature coaching program, Whole Body Wellness, you’ll get clear on what you truly want and you’ll have me with you to support you along the way to achieving it. We’ll work closely together to co-create your VISION for the life & body you want, using that vision as the roadmap for all of the work we do together.
These 8 Pillars are the foundation of my 6-month signature coaching program:
MIND BODY NUTRITION
Imagine never dieting again or restricting yourself from your favorite foods. I’ll help you master what’s called “intuitive eating” so you can learn how to listen to your body’s cues for what and how much it wants. This will give you the dieting and body weight freedom you’ve been searching for for years.
Deep self-care is essential and lays the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. This isn’t about massages, mani’s and pedi’s (although those things are nice). DEEP self-care goes beyond the physical and nourishes you on a mind, body, spirit level. I’ll guide you through perfectly-curated practices that will support you in giving back to yourself in a soul-nourishing way.
It’s essential that we have something that draws us closer to ourselves and closer to God. Together we’ll co-create a spiritual practice that will give you the peace, clarity and grounding required to complete your daily tasks with ease.
ROUTINES & RITUALS
Rituals help to actualize the intentions set for your life vision and the routines help to put everything into consistent action. Together we’ll co-create your ideal routines and rituals that will eliminate any guesswork and keep you from ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ on a daily basis.
YOGA BODY CONNECTION
Yoga is more than ‘exercise’. It’s movement and energy flow in synergy with breath. Yoga is also the perfect way to connect with your body on a deeper level. As a certified yoga teacher, I’ll support and guide you through a carefully-curated sequence of asanas that will help you connect to your body and give it the energy it needs.
LIFE RHYTHM, SEASONS & CYCLES
How you move through your life (i.e. your ‘life rhythm’) controls your energy and the ultimate outcome of your vision. There are also seasons and cycles that we all go through, and when you honor them, life becomes a lot sweeter and easier to digest. I’ll guide you into learning your unique life rhythm and how to honor your seasons & cycles in life while you’re manifesting your goals.
You can’t get where you want to go without having a VISION for it first. I believe God gives us all a vision for our lives and it’s up to us to create time and space for it to manifest. I’ll guide you through the process of crafting the vision for your life & your health. Because you cannot separate what you want for your health & your life – they’re one in the same.
When your energy is blocked or stagnant, it can often lead to stress or mind/body illness. Through a committed meditation & movement practice, you’ll keep your energy clean & clear and maintain vibrancy throughout the day.
RESULTS OF MY 6-MONTH SIGNATURE COACHING PROGRAM
You’ll stop feeling guilty about making self-care a priority
You’ll create routines that you can finally stick with
You’ll keep the commitments you make to yourself
You’ll achieve lasting results |
When you are renting a 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 40 yard dumpster, you want a company you can trust with prices that make you smile. Give us a call today and see the difference we can make in your next construction or clean out project.
Simply give us a call and we will help you figure out your dumpster rental needs.
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Most cities or municipalities do not have many regulations regarding dumpster rental as long as you keep the dumpster entirely on your own property during the rental period. If you need to place your container on the street in any way, you will likely have to obtain a permit from the appropriate building permit office in your town. You can check with your local public works department to be sure.
Most Herington dumpster rental companies will take care of securing this permit for you if you rent from them. Make sure that if you’re planning to put the dumpster on the street, the company has made the appropriate arrangements. You should also ensure that you get the permit in a timely manner and at the correct cost. If you thought the dumpster company was getting a permit and they did not, you will be the one who will have to pay the fine that is issued by the authorities.
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What would have to happen and what would have to be true to make education happen?
In the case of women + beer: simple opportunity.
Opportunity and education combine to form a powerful purpose and progress. When you combine them they will generate positive synergy and get more women into beer. Here’s how.
- Women and men all enjoy flavor. Educate about flavor first, not style or brand or anything else. Flavor is where it starts.
- Create and provide opportunities for women to learn about beer. Single gender events, when done correctly , are incredibly successful. For females this means no pink, girl/gal/babe/ladies/chicks. For men this means no macho crap, sports themes or tools.
- People want and seek out educational opportunities. Make them happen. Whether you give tours for 30 minutes or 4 hour classes, education feeds the hungry mind.
Beer education has been heightened by various programs. With a nod to Cicerone and Prud’homme, these visionaries behind the value and progress education generates have bred a whole new batch of businesses bringing high quality opportunity to the masses. This is a good thing, as Martha would say.
Education. Opportunity. Two things that will move us forward. Like I say, love and money comes and goes – education lasts forever. |
“Market Cap $11.24 B As of May 2014
At a Glance
- Industry: Specialized Chemicals
- Founded: 1934
- Country: United States
- CEO: Rakesh Sachdev
- Website: www.sigma-aldrich.com
- Employees: 9,000
- Sales: $2.7 B
- Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
#1510 Global 2000
- #1163 in Profit
- #973 in Market value
Sigma-Aldrich Corp. operates as a life science and technology material company. It develops, manufactures, purchases and distributes a broad range of biochemicals and organic chemicals. Sigma-Aldrich’s biochemical and organic chemical products are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology manufacturing. The company operates through four Research business units: Essentials, Specialties, Biotech and SAFC. The Research Essentials unit sells biological buffers, cell culture reagents, biochemicals, chemicals, solvents, and other reagents and kits. These products are typically sold in higher volumes to value conscious research buyers. The Research Specialties unit sells organic chemicals, biochemicals, analytical reagents, chromatography and other laboratory consumables, reference materials and high-purity products which are generally sold in smaller volumes to the lab scientist customer. The Research Biotech unit supplies immunochemical, molecular biology, cell biology, proteomic, genomic, transgenic and other life science products to academic, government, industrial, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research customers. The SAFC unit supplies large-scale organic chemicals and biochemicals used in development and production by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, industrial, diagnostic and electronics companies. It has a broad global customer base, which includes commercial laboratories, pharmaceutical, industrial, diagnostics, biotechnology and electronics companies, universities, hospitals, governmental institutions and other non-profit organizations. The company was founded in May 1975 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.“
The Story of Sigma-Aldrich
Sigma-Aldrich is the world’s largest supplier of research biochemical and organic chemicals. Every day more than one million customers around the globe count on Sigma-Aldrich for quality products delivered on time and as promised.
A trusted leader in life science, high technology and service, the story of Sigma-Aldrich has a rich history of innovation.
Sigma® Chemical Company
The company’s roots spring from 1934 in St. Louis, MO, when two brothers, Aaron Fischer and Bernard Fischlowitz, launched a small consulting firm. The two chemical engineers named their partnership Midwest Consultants – parent company of Sigma Chemical Company – and began to help St. Louis businesses produce a variety of specialty products including cosmetics, shoe dressings, and adhesives and inks for cardboard packaging. The firm incorporated in 1935 and hired Dan Broida, another chemical engineer out of Washington University in St. Louis, to manage the company’s growing consulting and production businesses.
During World War II, Midwest manufactured ammunition components and made felt and paper parts for signal flares. In addition, saccharin was in high demand and short supply. To fill the need, Broida formed Sigma Chemical Company as a division of Midwest Consultants. For a year, major distributing companies bought saccharin as fast as Sigma could produce it. When the war ended, however, supplies of many raw materials again became plentiful and effectively forced Sigma out of the market.
In its search for a new direction, Sigma’s turn toward research biochemicals came in the form of Lou Berger, a friend of Broida who had completed a MS degree in biochemistry at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine under Nobel Laureates Carl and Gerty Cori. As a graduate student, one of Berger’s tasks had been to extract adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from rabbit muscle. ATP is a major source of energy in living organisms and was used extensively in the Cori’s research. The Coris and other biomedical researchers at this time were involved in studies requiring ATP in quantity. Berger suggested that Sigma produce the compound on a larger scale and taught his process to Sigma personnel. A small ad in a scientific journal brought orders and Broida expanded production. Within two years, Sigma offered eight additional ATP derivatives and raised purity levels.
Sigma entered the next decades with broad expansion into biochemicals and clinical products. In 1964, Sigma London was formed to establish a more active position in the market in Great Britain. Two more foreign subsidiaries were formed – Sigma Israel (1970) and Sigma Munich in West Germany (1974).
Aldrich Chemical Co.
Alfred R. Bader, an Austrian immigrant and chemistry graduate student at Harvard University, entertained the idea of starting a company to sell research chemicals in 1949. Acting on the premise that chemists needed a wider array of research chemicals and better service, Bader and attorney Jack Eisendrath founded Aldrich Chemical Company in Milwaukee, WI, in 1951.
Aldrich offered 1-Methyl-3-nitro-1-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) as it first product, widely used as a methylating reagent. Other products offered in the early ’50s include 3-hydroxypyridine, which later became one of Aldrich’s best-selling products; ethyl diazoacetate; tetranitomethane; and ethanedithiol. From 1951 to 1954, Bader developed important collaborations through visits to chemical producers in Europe and the UK. The remainder of the 1950s was characterized by rapid growth in sales and in the number of products offered.
Aldrich’s Rare Chemical Library (RCL) grew out of the collecting and salvaging of valuable research samples of retiring or deceased academic researchers and from other sources. Large-scale contributions of samples to the library have come from such noteworthy chemists as Henry Gilman, George Wittig, Robert Woodward, and Louis and Mary Fieser. RCL has led to the discovery and commercialization by others of some valuable chemical commodities, e.g., Roundup® (Monsanto Co.), based on lead compounds obtained from the RCL.
The late ’50s and early ’60s witnessed the growing importance of custom synthesis and bulk sales at Aldrich. Over the years, these functions evolved into Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals (SAFC), currently one of four strategic business units within Sigma-Aldrich Corporation.
A significant opportunity in the 1970s came when Professor H. C. Brown of Purdue University asked Aldrich to further develop and commercialize the hydroboration technology and organoborane chemistry that he had developed and patented. This led to the establishment of Aldrich-Boranes, Inc., a wholly owned Aldrich subsidiary created to manufacture hydroboration reagents and products. Some of the first compounds manufactured by Aldrich-Boranes were borane-THF, 9-BBN, and borane-methyl sulfide.
When changing trends in chemical research confirmed the synergy to be realized from their complementary product offerings (approximately 40,000 in total at the time), Aldrich Chemical Co. merged with Sigma International, Ltd. to form Sigma-Aldrich Corporation in 1975. With this marriage of broad capabilities and resources, annual double-digit growth would become the standard in the 1980s and 1990s, with significant expansion in facilities, major acquisitions and ventures into new market sectors paving the way into the 21st century.
Sigma-Aldrich’s international expansion took off in the 1980s with the opening of subsidiaries in France, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Netherlands and Spain. The acquisition of Biomakor in Israel in 1986 and Fluka in 1989 in Switzerland strengthened this rapid expansion. Sigma-Aldrich continued to increase its international presence greatly during the 1990s, opening 20 offices during that decade either by acquisition or by establishing a subsidiary. In Scandinavia, Sigma-Aldrich acquired four of its dealers, which became Sigma-Aldrich Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Company took advantage of the opening of these new markets by opening subsidiaries in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and by acquiring a dealer in Russia. Beginning to establish a presence in the area now known as CAPLA (Canada, Asia Pacific and Latin America), Sigma-Aldrich opened offices and distribution warehouses in Australia, followed by India, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina in the Americas. This was only the beginning.
From the acquisiton of Supelco in 1993 and Riedel de Haen in 1997, each increasing Sigma-Aldrich’s analytical and chromatography capabilities, the Company continued its growth strategy. The year 1999 brought with it the Company’s first strategic plan, with Davd Harvey now at the helm as CEO, taking over for Tom Cori. By the next year, Sigma-Aldrich hit the $1 billion in sales milestone, with 6,000 employees in 33 countries – well-known and trusted worldwide.
In 2001, Sigma-Aldrich acquired Isotec, a leader in stable isotope production whose products are used in basic research and the diagnosis of disease. That same year, the Company opened its $55 million Life Science and High Technology Center in St. Louis. In 2004, Ultrafine, a supplier of contract manufacturing services for drug development, and Tetrionics, a producer of high potency and cytotoxic active pharmaceutical ingredients, became a strategic piece of the Company’s portfolio. The following year, Sigma-Aldrich underwent its second strageic plan review, announcing the formation of four customer-centric business units and a strong focus on geographic expansion, Internet sales and process improvement to propel the Company to even greater heights. Jai Nagarkatti, former president of Aldrich, then became president and CEO of Sigma-Aldrich.
Sigma-Aldrich acquired JRH Biosciences (now SAFC Biosciences), a major industrial supplier of cell culture products for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and the Proligo Group, a global supplier of key genomics research tools. Also in 2005, Sigma-Aldrich announced membership in The RNAi Consortium and joined leading institutions including MIT, Harvard, and Eli Lilly to develop and distribute genome-wide shRNA libraries globally.
Sigma-Aldrich once again increased its global reach through the acquisitions of Beijing Superior Chemicals and Instruments Co. in China, Iropharm in Ireland, and Pharmorphix Ltd. in the UK. Other strategic acquistions would soon follow: Epichem Group Ltd. to expand capabilities in materials sciences and semiconductor markets, and Molecular Medicine BioServices to provide large-scale viral manufacturing capabilities.
In 2007, Sigma-Aldrich achieved another significant milestone by exceeding $2 billion in sales, delivering record earnings and further strengthening its leadership in the markets it serves. The strategic plan was proving to be quite successful, paving the way for a renewed focus the following year through the Company’s third strategic plan.
More recently, Sigma-Aldrich acquired ChemNavigator in 2009 to provide researchers with industry-leading chemical compound selection and procurement services. That same year, the Company introduced CompoZr™ Zinc Finger Technology.
In the decades since the 1975 merger, the Company has generated exceptional growth and continues to undergo many positive changes to drive Sigma-Aldrich into the future of science and technology. One such change has been the rise of the Internet and e-commerce, now accounting for approximately 45% of all research sales to become the Company’s most powerful marketing tool. In addition, as Sigma-Aldrich continually increases its global reach, approximately 65% of sales stem from outside of the U.S.
Our future success requires more innovative products, faster technologies, and more sophisticated tools that support our customers’ success. To accomplish this, our Company has new strategic initiatives that are expected to drive innovation and expand into new markets by leveraging our core scientific strengths: Analytical Chemistry, Biology, and Chemistry-Materials Science (ABCM). Our ABCM initiatives will help us expand our product offering, open new markets and enhance our position in the areas we know best.
Today, Sigma-Aldrich has a broad offering of more than 147,000 chemical products (48,000 of which the Company manufactures) and 40,000 equipment items. We supply products to customers in over 150 countries around the world through state-of-the-art distribution centers. With a committed workforce of approximately 8,000 employees in 40 countries, Sigma-Aldrich has the unrivalled scientific knowledge, unsurpassed service, and global reach to serve researchers and technologists and to ultimately improve quality of life.”
*Information from Forbes.com and Sigma-aldrich.com
**Video published on YouTube by “Sigma-Aldrich“ |
Fresh style is sleek and strong :: choice of three models, each with added value :: Canadian debut at auto show in Toronto
(TORONTO – February 13, 2014) Maximize family fun while minimizing fuel costs and emissions with the all-new, 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The third generation of this popular, versatile and efficient mid-size hybrid SUV has been re-imagined from top to bottom, inside and out. Now available in three models, each features a striking new design, additional comfort, even more standard features, improved drivability and the advanced power of the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive. With a host of new improvements and features for all models, including some that are exclusive to the hybrid model, the all-new, 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is better than ever.
“Toyota designers and engineers have created a great hybrid vehicle for Canadians – one that combines terrific versatility for transporting people and gear with style and performance that reflects a more modern, active lifestyle – plus the proven efficiency and performance of Toyota’s gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain,” said Larry Hutchinson, Vice President at Toyota Canada Inc. “We’re pleased to offer Canadians this exciting next-generation Highlander Hybrid with standard features that represent tremendous value for their vehicle buying dollar. There’s never been a better time to put a Highlander Hybrid in the driveway.”
The 2014 Highlander Hybrid sets a new standard for mid-size SUVs based on the comfort and drivability of a passenger car (unibody) platform – and visitors to the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto will enjoy Canada’s first look at this new Toyota as the 2014 Highlander Hybrid makes its Canadian auto show debut, February 14-23 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Sophisticated and dynamic, the 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid features a striking trapezoid grille and continues into a lower, wider, longer body with a lower centre of gravity. The new exterior is sleek and strong, featuring sculptured side door panels and a more rigid body construction that also reduces noise and vibration.
Under the hood, all Highlander Hybrids are built around the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive – featuring a 3.5L Atkinson Cycle V6, a high torque electric motor-generator and powerful traction battery. These work in concert under the direction of a sophisticated power management system to deliver 280 net system horsepower, remarkable fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions. In fact, the new Highlander Hybrid boasts 10 more rated horsepower than the gas model, but amazingly uses almost 30 percent less fuel.
The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid features an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission for smooth, confident acceleration, plus the added all-weather confidence of all-wheel-drive with intelligence (AWD-i).
Enhancements to the suspension and steering mean the new Highlander Hybrid is more stable on the road and drives more like a passenger car than ever before, delivering smoother lane changes and better cornering.
Inside, Toyota designers raised the bar for the mid-size SUV segment by adding more refinement and functionality. The 2014 Highlander Hybrid features a premium cabin environment highlighted by increased spaciousness for seven or eight people, a 34 percent increase in cargo space, and numerous standard comfort, convenience and technology features.
Numerous features have been made standard on all Highlander Hybrid models for 2014. These include: Display Audio systems with USB and auxiliary input, Bluetooth® connectivity, and steering wheel-mounted audio and voice recognition controls; Integrated XM Satellite Radio; three-zone independent automatic climate control with humidity sensor; aluminum alloy wheels with locks; automatic headlamps; a back-up camera integrated into the audio system display; a power rear door with jam protection and flip-up glass hatch; leather trimmed steering wheel and shift knob; and the Toyota Smart Key System with Push Button Start. These join a long list of standard features, including; power door locks with keyless entry with hatch release; adjustable and heated front row seats; reclining second row and third-row seats; dual illuminated vanity mirrors; rear privacy glass; simulated leather door trim and front centre console box lid, and silver accented interior trim; cargo and reading lamps; 12V DC outlets for personal electronics plus retained accessory power; power adjustable exterior mirrors; a rear spoiler; variable intermittent wipers with intermittent rear window wiper/washer; fog lamps; and more.
The new Highlander Hybrid also maintains Toyota’s no-compromise commitment to safety. In addition to eight airbags, all 2014 models are standard equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system, front windshield wiper de-icer, two child safety seat lower anchors on the outboard second row seats, top tether anchors for each seat in the second row, child protector rear door locks, and more. Additionally, available safety technologies include Blind Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Traffic Alert system and unique to the hybrid model, Toyota’s Pre-Collision System and Lane Departure Alert system.
As with every new Toyota since 2011, the 2014 Highlander Hybrid is standard equipped with the six active safety technologies of the Star Safety System: Antilock Brake System, Brake Assist, Electronic Brake-force Distribution, Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control and Smart Stop Technology work together to help drivers avoid potential accident situations.
The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is offered in three models as follows:
2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid LE (starting MSRP: $43,720)
The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid LE features seating for eight; a 6.1” Display Audio touchscreen; 18” aluminum alloy wheels; a 3.5” multi-information display; front row captain’s seats; a 60/40 split 2nd row bench seat with seat slide and 60/40 split fold-flat third row seat; seat surfaces trimmed in cloth and Softex material; auto up/down function on driver and front passenger windows; cruise control; and more.
2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE (starting MSRP: $46,145)
Compared to the 2013 Highlander Hybrid with Comfort Package, this model benefits from a $3,500 reduction to starting MSRP, even as it’s enhanced with new styling, comfort, performance and standard features. The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE features a newly designed 4.2” colour LCD multi-information display; 8” Display Audio touchscreen; AVN Premium Navigation; the Easy Speak system which facilitates conversation between those in the front and rear seats; front row captain’s seats; a 60/40 split second row bench seat with seat slide and 60/40 split fold-flat third row seat combine to offer seating for eight; leather seat surfaces on the first two rows of seats; auto up/down function on driver and front passenger windows; cruise control; integrated garage door opener; rear door sunshades; anti-theft system; 19” aluminum alloy wheels; silver painted roof rails with cross-bars; a power moon roof; and more.
2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited (starting MSRP: $52,695)
The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited features a newly designed 4.2” colour LCD multi-information display; 8” Display Audio touchscreen; AVN Premium Navigation; 12 speaker JBL Synthesis audio system; the Easy Speak system which facilitates conversation between those in the front and rear seats; driver’s seat memory system; power front captain’s seats; second row captain’s seats with slide and recline, and 60/40 split fold-flat third row seat that combined offer seven-person capacity; perforated leather seat surfaces on the first two rows of seats; heated and ventilated front row seats; heated second row seats; auto up/down function on all windows; heated steering wheel; LED ambient cabin lighting; dynamic radar cruise control; integrated garage door opener; rear door sunshade; anti-theft system; 19” chrome clad alloy wheels; roof rails with chrome trim and accompanying cross-bars; a panoramic glass roof; automatic high beam feature; and exclusive safety features to this model, Toyota’s Pre-Collision System, Lane Departure Alert system, Lane Departure Alert system, Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert; and more.
The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid goes on sale this month at Toyota Dealers across Canada.
For more information on features and specifications, visit www.toyota.ca/highlander.
About Toyota Canada Inc.
Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars, SUVs and trucks. Toyota is the first full-line manufacturer to make all of the elements of the Star Safety System standard on every vehicle starting in 2011. The Star Safety System includes Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA) and Smart Stop Technology (SST). TCI’s head office is in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver. |
A Match Made in Paradise
Pairing Wine with Local Cuisine
(page 1 of 2)
Hawaiian cuisine is a fusion of East meets West. Multiethnic immigrants from Europe to the South Pacific have, over the years, relocated to the isolated island chain, bringing with them their unique culinary staples that have been unified to form the modern menu of Hawaiian gastronomy. Pairing wine with the diverse local island fare can prove complicated when presented with plates that can include Japanese sweet and sour sauces, Cantonese stir fry or Korean bibimbab (mixed rice with seasoned vegetables).
The main objective when rationalizing a wine selection should be based around the pairing of the synergy of the senses; simply put: “the food makes the wine taste better, and the wine makes the food taste better.” The discussion of red wine versus white wine is associated with their edible counterparts, meats and chicken and fish, respectively. Classically, full-bodied reds, rich in acidity and tannin are best paired with hearty entrees and seasonings; while dry, crisp, palette-cleansing whites work best with vegetables, mild cheeses and most seafood. While some experts say that rules are meant to be broken, and ultimately, the signature of each wine should be its determining factor, the timeless tip holds as a steadfast model when initially choosing a complementary mate for your meal.
Another suggestion in wine pairing emphasizes terroir, a French term used to indicate the geographic origin of the food or drink. For example, a creamy Gorgonzola dolce cheese pairs beautifully with a Valpolicella from the Veneto region of Italy. In order to enhance any Hawaiian meal with the appropriate wine (regardless of terroir), you must first take into consideration the body and structure of the food compared with the body and structure of the wine: What cut of meat or fish is being served? What type of sauce dominates the flavor of the meal?
Once the food structure is determined, then take a closer inspection of the preparation. For instance, if you are choosing a meal that emphasizes the fullness of dishes prepared with garlic, rosemary, curry or stronger spices, a full-bodied wine is recommended, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel or a Malbec from Argentina. Lighter fares such as salads, white fishes and quiches pair better with a lighter structured, light-bodied wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio or Pinto Gris for example.
To further enhance your dinning experience, avoid choosing a wine that heavily contrasts with the meal. People often attempt to differ the flavors of a spicy meal with a milder, light-bodied wine, which for all intent and purpose, is difficult to do and often leads to a disappointing comparison of flavors, as the food or wine will overwhelm each other. The optimal approach is to aim for balance. If the food is multi-layered or complex select a simpler wine that enhances the flavors of the meal, not overpowers. Treat the wine and food as one, scaling both from light to full bodied. |
Emerald Coast Emporium is a high profile inline center that has tremendous synergy with existing tenants such as Taco Bell, IHOP, Dunkin Donuts, Subway and others. The location directly on Highway 98 gives excellent visibility to all tenants. There are three existing access points on the property which include a traffic signal. The area receives over 4.5 million annual visitors. Average Annual Daily Traffic is 51,000 cars per day. This project is across the street from Silver Sands Premium Outlets which is home to 110 premier retail brands. This is the former McAlister's Deli location. Large open dining room, 2 restrooms, drive thru lane, large kitchen, prep area, walk-in cooler & freezer. Target rent is $29.50/SF + $5.00/SF + 6.8% sales tax = $12,319/month. 5 year minimum lease term.
DISCLAIMER: Information Deemed Reliable but not guaranteed. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
All listings are provided courtesy of the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, Copyright2019, All rights reserved.
Listing information last updated on January 16th, 2019 at 9:45am CST. |
Below are some tips to help get you started on your yoga journey with Yoga Synergy. If you can’t find the answer to your question, call us on (02) 9389 7399 or send us an email. Our friendly office staff will be happy to assist with any queries.
Yoga teaches present-moment awareness, and inspires an honest respect for the body and what it can do, which may challenge preconceptions and/or open the mind to new possibilities.
The path of yoga is a journey towards open-heartedness and greater mental clarity, to help us align with the transcendental self, the atma or the divine, which is the ultimate reality. The underlying principles of yoga – the union of body, mind and spirit to create freedom, compassion and harmony – create the basis for the modern yoga practice.
As a purely physical practice, the Yoga Synergy method of yoga helps students to develop strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular fitness. Ultimately, however, yoga is an ancient practice that delves into the philosophical and the spiritual, as well as the physical.
The pass gives you a great opportunity to sample all our classes and teachers. At Bondi Junction studio we have additional classes to compliment your yoga practice: Q-Flow (Qigong), Pilates and Yoga Synergy (YS) Yin.
The Yoga Synergy method is based on 6 dynamic sequences, specifically designed by Bianca and Simon, the founders of Yoga Synergy. Each sequence is taught progressively over a nine-week period. You can start at any time in the 9 week cycle.
We recommend starting with a YS-Vinyasa (Level 1) class even if you are experienced, to familiarise yourself with the Yoga Synergy method before diving into the YS-Dynamic (Level 2) class.
YS-Flow is a class with no instruction to music, which follows the Dynamic (Level 2) class practice.
In the early weeks of a 9 week program, there is detailed instruction and less adjustment, laying the foundations for the practice. From here, we progress each week towards a flowing meditative practice with very few instructions. New postures are introduced and explained each week until the entire sequence is learned, and from weeks three to eight, the teacher will adjust students in different parts of the sequence.
No matter where you start in the nine-week program, you will still get a taste for how the Yoga Synergy method works, and if you feel you’ve missed anything, it’s something to look forward to in the next sequence!
Everybody’s physical and mental needs are different and change on a daily basis, so it’s very important you work at your own level in class. To facilitate everybody working at a level appropriate to them, the Yoga Synergy method teaches that every pose (asana) or dynamic exercise of movement with breath (vinyasa) have a simple and a complex version. And we encourage you, as the practitioner to choose which is appropriate for you to do in each moment.
Download the Mindbody App: and find Yoga Synergy for all up to date class times and teachers.
As a new student to Yoga Synergy we have some special offers for you: 1. After your Intro pass expires, you can join our “New to Yoga Synergy pass”: $85 for 3 weeks unlimited pass plus video downloads on the Yoga Synergy method to help your understanding when you come to class.
2. Following this we have the “Progress Your Practice” pass: 4 weeks unlimited yoga for $126 which includes a video download of the sequence that you are practicing in class (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced sequences) for you to practice at home
Every Yoga Synergy (YS) class (YS-Vinyasa and YS-Dynamic) follows a nine-week progressive sequence, which you can start at any time. The sequences are designed to introduce you to the Yoga Synergy method, which is hatha yoga combined with a sound knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Even if you’ve done other styles of yoga, we recommend you do a YS-Vinyasa class first, to help you adjust to the Yoga Synergy method.
In a YS-Vinyasa class the teacher will do the simple versions of the postures so new students can follow. (See ‘Yoga Synergy Sequences’ for more information about our sequences.)
In both our YS-Vinyasa and YS-Dynamic classes, every posture has a simple and a complex variation so you can choose what is appropriate for you, from day to day, moment to moment. You may like to make your practice strong one day, more gentle the next, or in a class you may choose to do a combination of strong and gentle postures – it’s up to you, your body and your energy levels. The teacher will always direct you towards the simpler versions of the postures until you feel comfortable to progress.
All classes include students at a range of levels, from the beginner to the more advanced. If you’re new, try not to be intimidated – you’ll soon learn with the Yoga Synergy method that everyone in the class works to their own ability and according to their own needs. No one will be judging where you are at. No one is even concerned with what others are doing – except of course the teacher! It’s very important you pay attention to your own body and work in a way that feels good to you, so that the practice nurtures and energises you.
No matter where you start in the nine-week sequence, you will still get a taste for how the Yoga Synergy method works, and if you feel you’ve missed anything, it’s something to look forward to in the next sequence!
Everybody’s physical and mental needs are different and change on a daily basis, so it’s very important you work at your own level in class. That’s why in the Yoga Synergy method, every pose (asana) or dynamic exercise of movement with breath (vinyasa) have a simple and a complex version.
If you have booked in for a class and need to cancel, it’s very easy to do on the app. Please make sure you do cancel otherwise the software will charge you for the class.
If you arrive a few minutes after the class has already started, please enter quietly and log in with the teacher as soon as the class finishes.
You may attend the Prenatal class at any time during your pregnancy. Every pose can be modified to make the practice as gentle and nurturing as you need. It is best to start with the Prenatal class if you haven’t done yoga before and are more than 30 weeks pregnant.
You are also welcome to come along to any of our YS-Vinyasa classes at our Bondi Junction and Newtown studios – all teachers are trained to safely teach pregnant women in these classes. Please call (02) 9389 7399 before you come to any of our others classes, to check if it is suitable for you.
Try our next pass: “New to Yoga Synergy”, 3 weeks unlimited classes for $85, plus a series of instructional downloads with studio director, Bianca Machliss, to help you understand the Yoga Synergy method.
Following that we have the “Progress your Practice pass” for $126 which is a 4 week unlimited pass plus a downloadable video of the sequence you are learning in class…
Talk to your teacher and sign up for either of these passes in the week following the expiry of the last one.
- Health Funds will generally only allow you to claim for Yoga Australia registered teachers. Not all of our teachers are registered so please check in the teachers profiles to see if they are before asking for a health fund receipt.
- You’ll need to have a look here first. Find your health fund and what you need to do to claim. For example, you may need a doctor’s certificate. Then you need to contact your health fund to find out how much you can claim and over what time period, which will depend on the plan you have with your health fund.
- You can then contact our office with the details of how much you can claim and we will organise receipt to present to your health fund, with the registered teacher, the classes attended and the value of the classes.
Try not to eat a large meal two hours before class, and be well hydrated. Have water ready for after class, but we do not encourage our students to drink water while they practice as it can make you feel nauseous. We also don’t recommend you drink excessive amounts of water before a class. If you’re super hungry before class, have a piece of fruit or something small such as an energy ball.
We practise yoga with bare feet so please arrive with clean feet and leave your shoes at the studio entrance.
Note: For women, flared or loose clothes may seem comfortable, but don’t allow the teacher or you to clearly see how your body is positioned. It’s better to wear yoga tights that come in around the ankle. For men, a singlet is better than a T-shirt to give your shoulders and arms the greatest range of movement, and bike pants, or shorts or pants with stretch, are preferable to board shorts.
After you have signed in, turn off your mobile phone, put your belongings away and grab any equipment (mat, blanket, bolster) you may need for the class.
At Bondi Junction, only bring your mat, your towel and your locker key to the yoga room. Bags, phones, keys and shoes stay outside, in or near the lockers. At Newtown, only have your towel, blanket and bolster near your mat. Please leave all bags at the front or back of the room away from the mats.
Position your mat in the middle of the room so you are near the teacher and other students who are more familiar with the Yoga Synergy method. That way, you can better see what’s going on and will have people around you for prompts, if you’re not sure about a pose. Also, if you position your mat at the end of a row, you will find yourself leading the class at times during the sequence. If you can’t find a spot your teacher will make one for you.
Before class begins you can either lie down in supta baddha konasana (on your back with your feet together and your knees out to the side) or simply cross your legs and stretch forward. (Or have a chat with your fellow yogis!)
Remember, try not to eat two hours before class. It’s also a good idea not to drink while you do yoga as it can make you feel nauseous. Make sure you come to class well hydrated, but don’t drink excessive amounts of water before class either.
While you practice, always remember to work within your limits and rest whenever you need. If you need to rest or feel very hot, put yourself in balasana or child’s pose, which is a simple forward bend with your knees tucked up to your chest and your arms either stretched out before you or by your side. It’s important to always respect your body while you practice.
We don’t usually allow students to leave class early – circumstances have to be exceptional. (See ‘Is it okay to leave class early?’ below.)
However, if it is imperative you leave a class a few minutes early, please let the teacher know at the start of the class (as you log in). They will advise you of a good time to leave that is least disruptive to the class and most safe for you to end your practice.
After your first class, you may feel sore, even exhausted, if you have worked too hard. The best remedy for this is to come back as soon as possible (the next day if you can). If you leave it too long, you may not come back at all. It’s better to get back on the bike, so to speak, and choose to be a bit easier on yourself in the next class. (See ‘Will I feel sore after class?’ below.) If, on the other hand, you don’t feel anything at all, you will know that you can do a bit more in the next class.
Like anything, the more you practice the easier it gets.
We recommend you do another class as soon as possible after your first class (the next day if you can), as you will have less muscle soreness than if you wait a few days. Funnily enough, another class soon after your first class is also the best way to relieve this ‘good’ kind of soreness.
If you feel sore immediately after a class, then it’s more likely to be ‘bad’ sore, and a good indication that you have overdone it. Please talk to your teacher as soon as the class is over, so they can advise you on what to do.
The Yoga Synergy method has been designed so beginners can be gently introduced to yoga. We strongly advise beginners, particularly if you have never had a strong exercise practice, to do the simpler versions of the postures and listen to the advice of the teacher – we really don’t want you to injure yourself.
At Yoga Synergy, we have designed the sequences so there is a very low risk of injury – if injury does happen it is usually the result of an overzealous student not listening to their body or the teacher.
It’s for this reason that we stress the importance of always advising your teacher of any existing injuries (or conditions) BEFORE you start a class. Teachers can then advise you on how to work with the injury in order not to exacerbate it.
The dynamic Yoga Synergy sequences have been specially designed to suit the time of year, the level at which the group is at, and the individual needs of each body, to ensure the practice is safe. It is taught progressively over a nine-week period.
The sequences include static postures (asanas) and dynamic exercises of movement with breath (vinyasa), to form a complete practice that includes standing poses, balances, forward bends, back bends, spinal twists, gentle inversions and deep relaxation (savasana). Breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation (dhyana) are also included.
Each class will usually include demonstrations by the teacher, to illustrate the verbal instructions, and individual adjustments by the teacher or assistants, to help clarify the verbal instructions.
The Yoga Synergy method is designed to suit every body, regardless of age, flexibility or fitness level. (See ‘About Yoga Synergy’ and ‘Yoga Synergy Sequences’ for more information about our style.) [LINK]
As we become more familiar with your body and how you respond to instructions, we will begin to gently adjust postural alignment, to help you understand what the verbal instructions mean and where to position your body.
If you do not wish to be corrected or touched, simply let the teacher know before your class. This is particularly important if you have any injuries or conditions that would make it inappropriate for a teacher to adjust you.
Learning yoga is like learning a new language – don’t expect to master it all at once! If you learn or understand one new thing per class, that’s fantastic. Before you know it, you will be flowing through the practice with ease and grace.
Our teachers will do their best to ensure you practise safely and feel comfortable.
- Can I get up and down off the floor?
- Can I sit comfortably on the floor?
- Can I lie on my tummy or back without pain?
- Can I bear weight on my arms (knees on the floor is fine)?
- Can I squat?
- Can I touch the floor from a standing position (with your knees bent is fine)?
- Can I walk up the stairs to get to the yoga studio?
If you answered yes to these questions, you should be fine to attend any of our YS-Vinyasa, YS-Yin, Q-Flow or Pilates classes. However, please discuss your condition with the teacher when you arrive, prior to the commencement of class, and if you are unsure about your injury and would like to discuss it further, please call the office on (02) 9389 7399.
We also run a workshop called Yoga Therapy that teaches students how to practise yoga responsibly when they have an injury – and recover more quickly from it. (Check out the ‘Yoga Therapy + Vinyasa Intensive’ page for more information.)
However, yoga is not just about flexibility. Physically, it’s a combination of flexibility, strength and cardiovascular fitness. Mentally and emotionally, it’s about focus and present-moment awareness. Some of the greatest yogis can’t even do the fancy poses.
After class is not the time to do extra stretches or play around. Your practice is complete and it’s good to feel the effect of it. Also, your body will be relaxed and mobile; if you start to play around, you may injure yourself.
For first timers, to give you the best opportunity to really learn what yoga is about and understand the Yoga Synergy method, we offer great start-up deals that allow you to really immerse yourself in the practice. Essentially, you can attend your first 10 weeks of yoga for around $22 per week, for unlimited classes. (For more information see New Students.)
However, we do advise you to pick classes that are easy for you to get to and fit in with your schedule. Don’t create stress to get to yoga! If you can only make it once or twice a week, then that’s fantastic.
However, don’t let class size intimidate you. The energy of a big group can be quite powerful and great inspiration towards further yoga immersion. It’s also a great opportunity to practice pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), to connect more deeply with yourself. Part of your yoga journey is to further develop compassion for yourself and others, and so be more mindful of yourself in relation to others.
To practice yoga effectively, the only amount of space you really need is what your mat provides.
We do have a class limit, however, so for the busier classes we recommend you pre-book. We also offer private consultations for those who are not ready to attend a group class – contact the office on (02) 9389 7399 for details.
At Bondi Junction, we have created a beautiful space to inspire your yoga practice, with new classes and an expanded timetable. There is a reception area, state-of-the-art flooring, mood lighting, a fab new sound system, dedicated spaces for mat storage and personal items, and a bright and fresh bathroom. We know you’ll fall in love!
At our Newtown studio, you can park on Australia St or the surrounding streets. Parking is free but there are time restrictions.
Note: Please allow yourself enough time to get to class if it’s your first time to Yoga Synergy, and be aware of parking inspectors – they are vigilant! |
Certification & Learning News
HPE ASE - Synergy Solutions Integrator V1 certification now available
Acquire practical integration skills to expand your HPE Synergy Solutions capability
The HPE ASE – Synergy Solutions Integrator V1 validates that you can expertly design, configure and integrate HPE's composable infrastructure and Synergy solutions into a customer environment. It also verifies your knowledge of the architectural model and ability to configure software-defined, composable infrastructure across storage, compute and networks.
Partners aiming to achieve this certification will also benefit from the Integrating HPE Synergy Solutions, Rev. 17.31 course (ID: 01092982) to prepare them for the HPE0-S50 exam. This course features 80% lab-intensive training and only 20% lecture time with real-world use cases and hands-on exercises such as:
- Using HPE OneView to explore the Synergy 12000 Frame, management bays, Composer, Image Streamer, Storage/Compute/Fabric Interconnect Modules
- Deploying cloud-native workloads in containers
- Configuring application workloads with Chef
- Using the Synergy Planning Tool and Sales Builder for Windows to configure and quote
Find out more about this certification requirements and prerequisites.
Learn how to configure, implement and install HPE Synergy solutions
HPE Press Study Guide to help prepare for the HPE ASE Synergy Solutions Integrator V3 certification is now available
Learn at your own pace and prepare for the HPE ASE Synergy Solutions Integrator V3 certification exam (HPE0-S50). The certification validates that you have the skills and expertise to configure, implement and install HPE Synergy solutions; it serves to position you and your organization as a trusted HPE Synergy advisor to customers.
This practical guide provides a valuable on-the-job reference for anyone involved in integrating HPE Synergy Solutions into a customer environment. There is in-depth coverage of the following topics:
- planning and design;
- installation, configuration, and set up;
- troubleshooting; and
- managing, monitoring, and maintaining Synergy solutions using current tools such as HPE OneView. |
A while ago I went for my second Dermaceutic Milk Peel treatment. Initially afterwards my skin felt amazing. The day afterwards my skin was dehydrated and had broken out (due to the underlying congestion clearing from my skin after the peel) which made me feel like a teenager again – boy do I not miss those days! To top this off the breakouts were extremely sensitive to touch – so cleansing, toning and moisturising (which is rule no. 1 after a peel) was quite a nightmare. I spoke to Dermaceutic and they recommended that I use the Regen Ceutic to restore my skin post peel… I was looking forward to making my skin feel as amazing as it did following my first peel.
“The synergy of 2 high-performance repairing peptides stimulates dermal synthesis; hyaluronic acid and powerful antioxidants hydrate and help the skin protect and restore itself.”
My skin continued with its little breakout moment for about 4 days following peel but religiously using my Regen Ceutic post cleansing my skin and following it up with a high quality SPF coverage to protect my skin from the harmful UVA and UVB rays my skins moisture increased and my face felt rejuvenated. I believe this is partly to do with the cream and partly to do with the peel. I am loving my skin at the moment all thanks to Dermaceutic. The Regen Ceutic is designed to deliver long lasting quality hydration to the skin, is suited for sensitive skin and is 100% safe to use following aesthetic treatments. It is also recommended for generally sensitive, dehydrated and aging skin in order to nourish and firm the skin as a long lasting skin care solution.
3% Peptides Complex
A synergy of 2 of the most efficient peptides, which stimulates collagen, hyaluronic acid and elastin production to induce an anti-wrinkle effect from within.
3% Hyaluronic Acid Gel
Moisturises the skin and improves firmness
Stabilized vitamin C & E
Combination of vitramins which combats and limits the signs of photo-aging and has an anti-inflammatory action
Hydrates and nourishes the skin
I am seriously so sold on this product, it was soothing when my skin was sensitive and I think even just as a night time skin spoil for me, it is staying on my bathroom counter for the foreseeable future and may need a restocking soon. The recommended retail price is R550 but for more information on the Dermaceutic range or where to find a stockist near you please contact Conquest for more information or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter @DermaceuticSA.
Disclaimer: This product was given to me following concerns after having my second treatment, this has in no way altered by view of the product in anyway.
Related: Peels – What You Need to Know |
The Jazzy Select® 6 incorporates sporty design and performance features for a truly unique ride experience.
Pride’s patented Active-Trac® Suspension combined with six wheels on the ground and an innovative articulating beam allow for superior performance indoors and out, with added stability over uneven terrain and ramp transitions.
Mid-wheel drive provides the tightest turning radiuses in their class and caster wheels absorb the shock of obstacles, offering outstanding handling and control.
Call now for more info! 1-800-522-7391
Drive wheel suspension combined with six wheels on the ground and an innovative articulating beam allow for superior performance indoors and out
Shroud and controller guards to protect against daily wear and tear
Scuffs and scratches are less visible
Depth adjustable, black vinyl high-back seat with removable, replaceable back and seat covers
Jazzy Select 6
|Weight Capacity||300 lbs.|
|Maximum Speed3||Up to 4 mph|
|Front Wheels||6" solid casters|
|Drive Wheels||10" solid|
|Rear Wheels||6" solid casters|
|Drivetrain||Two-motor, in-line, mid-wheel drive|
|Braking System||Regenerative and electro-mechanical|
|Suspension Type||Active-Trac® (ATX)|
|High-Back Seat (max. size)||20"W x 20"D|
|High-Back Seat-to-Floor Range||21.25" - 23.25"|
|Synergy® Seating||20"W x 20"D|
|Synergy® Seat-to-Floor Range||16.5" - 18.5"|
|Power Elevating Seat Option6||Yes|
|Standard Electronics||40A, PG GC34|
|Battery Size (2 required)||12 volt, U-1|
|Standard Battery Charger||3.5A, off-board|
|Per-Charge Range3,8||Up to 15 miles|
|Battery Weight7||25 lbs. each|
|Weight of Heaviest Piece5||100 lbs.|
|Standard Seat Weight||43 lbs. (comfort, high-back)|
|Standard Seat Size||18" x 18"-20"|
|Medicare Code Coverage||Group 2: Standard (K0822/K0823)|
|Warranty||5-year limited warranty on frame;
13-month limited warranty on electronics;
13-month limited warranty on drive motors;
13-month limited on batteries.
1 Due to manufacturing tolerances and continual product improvement, this specification can be subject to a variance of + or - 3 %. Dimensions listed are for power base only. Overall measurements will vary based on seating and accessory selections.
2 Without front riggings.
3 Varies with user weight, terrain, battery type, battery condition and tire pressure.
4 40A, PG 6-key VR2 required with Power Elevating Seat Option.
5 Does not include seat or battery weights.
6 Not available with TRU-Balance?.
7 Battery weight may vary based on manufacturer.
8 Tested in accordance with ANSI/RESNA, WC Vol. 2, Section 4 and ISO 7176-4 standards. Results derived from theoretical calculations based on battery specifications and drive system performance. Testing conducted at maximum weight capacities. This specification can be subject to a variance of +10%, -5%.
Your Pride product has undergone thorough product testing to ensure safety, durability and performance.
Our power chairs, scooters and lift chairs are Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved medical products that require specific testing prior to release for public use.
The testing requirements accepted by the FDA were developed by the American National Standards Institute/Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (ANSI/RESNA).
The tests are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the ANSI/RESNA Test Standards and complement an additional stringent testing regiment developed by Pride's Research & Development Team.
All products have passed, and in many cases, exceeded test criteria set forth, assuring the high level of quality synonymous with Pride.
Some of the items our testing criteria include are: |
Predicting and Creating. Regardless of whether anyone recognizes these two processes, just about every human on Earth is accomplishing them every minute of every day. Now take those processes and magnify the energy and intensity. You now have high energy and high frequency directly clashing with behind-the-scenes reality creation. It might actually be a legitimate metaphor to envision the bull … Read more
We’ve got some very interesting information to get out today, but just to make sure I don’t get accused of leading people astray, the data I present to you today does not prove anything. Stats don’t prove things to be true, but they can be very meaningful when extracted and interpreted correctly.
Today, we have but one single data point.… Read more
Crisis. Has anyone in the history of the world eluded a crisis in their life? Show me someone without a crisis at some juncture in their life, and I’ll show you someone who is completely disassociated from reality.
Because of how this word is used in our Western culture, crisis denotes pain and anguish, or at least very difficult circumstances … Read more
Paradigm 3 is a world-changing concept that promises to move humanity into a more promising and beneficial future. It operates on the concepts of wholeness and synergy. It takes contrary viewpoints and makes a workable process for collective change.
Creating and predicting are seen by most people as contradictory, but in Paradigm 3, they not only feed off each other, … Read more
Paradigm 3 can seem confusing until we define the actual processes. This isn’t for the faint at heart, because Paradigm 3 stands right at the razor’s edge of where free will and destiny meet. Many people are vying to control our reality right now, and to the outsider, Paradigm 3 looks like just one more organization doing the controlling.
This … Read more
It’s very refreshing to see many people starting to really evaluate the idea of Paradigm 3. For those who are not familiar with the underlying concepts, you may want to take a second to review the introductory material first.
Just putting together a new paradigm in and of itself does little to improve the world without first establishing structure and … Read more
Paradigm 3 incorporates two completely separate and contradictory teams. You might see them also referred to Group 1 and 2, Teams 1 and 2, or even Paradigms 1 and 2.
Group/Team/Paradigm 1 will be our prophetic dreamers, remote viewers, seers, etc.. They will be helping us get a clearer picture of:
1. The current, authentic, pure state of humanity
2. … Read more
Intro: What is Paradigm3?
Paradigm 3 is a new process of interacting with our collective reality. Currently, we seem to be tossed about, to and fro, by the two different forces affecting our daily experience. By not being aware of these forces, they both run havoc in our lives.
Most people might accidently make the mistake of equating the two … Read more
There was a LOT I didn’t get done today, because I spent most of my time addressing other important issues. I acknowledge that I haven’t responded to everyone, and I do apologize. I hope to get to most everyone by the end of the weekend.
Note: when we make changes to the DreamSeer scoring, there is no need… Read more
Reporting the amazing hits from Project August is so far beyond ego-level touting. Now it’s just getting downright scary. When the Spanish King stepped down, I thought that was pretty amazing, as it was our first really big Proj Aug “hit.”
But then the wall of fire took out a neighborhood, just like the PA headline said. That was a … Read more
In perfect synchronistic fashion, as soon as I posted the new scoring system (which I believe will serve as the backbone to our future operations here), one of our active users posed several very synchronistic questions.
Let me first back up and make an apology to everyone. I am very sorry for not being able to respond to everyone’s … Read more
Here is an email I received from a very concerned and conscientious individual. I know what site they came from but would like to keep that confidential. By the way, what are the chances that multiple people want to “rain on our parade” for the first time in a single 24 hour period? ….very synchronous I’d say, especially since they … Read more |
Mother’s Day is quickly approaching (Sunday March 11th in case you forgot!). So, we’ve teamed up with the Australian brand A’kin to bring you the perfect skincare bundle to truly spoil your Mum.
The bundle contains three A’kin products: Cellular Radiance Serum, Rose de Mai Antioxidant Day Creme and the Rose and Geranium Creamy Cleanser. Collectively, it is worth £69, but it can be purchased from our website for £35! (Psst…spend an extra £5 and get a free mystery beauty box with full-size items).
Cellular Radiance Serum:
Increase your skin’s suppleness and elasticity with the help of the A’kin Revitalising Cellular Radiance Serum. Enriched with a combination of pure, nourishing ingredients like organic Rosehip and Echium oils, Pomegranate, and Seabuckthorn, this natural face serum helps fight the signs of ageing and leaves your skin looking more radiant. This serum has proved to be equally effective as synthetic Retinol in improving skin firmness, elasticity & radiance.
A’kin’s Revitalising Cellular Radiance Serum has a powerful combination of 6 pure and rich certified organic anti-ageing extracts, used at levels to benefit the skin. To bring you a pure, natural face serum, our ingredients are extracted by the supercritical CO2 method. This process uses extremely low temperatures allowing the optimum benefits from the fragile plant ingredients to be maintained.
Rose de Mai Antioxidant Day Creme
This highly moisturising formula is enriched with combinations of pure active botanics like Vitamins A, E, B5, and C, and Alpha Lipoic acid, as well as Echium oil. These powerful natural ingredients work in synergy, leaving hydrated skin and reduced fine lines. It is an essential face moisturiser to use in your natural skincare routine for all-day hydration.
Rose and Geranium Pure Facial Creamy Cleanser and Toner
Remove make-up and impurities naturally with this natural facial cleanser. This creamy facial cleanser gently and effectively cleanses with carefully selected ingredients. Your skin will feel clean and smooth, and look clear and refreshed. A best seller in the A’kin natural facial skincare range, A’kin Rose & Geranium Pure Facial Creamy Cleanser & Toner is an essential part of your natural skincare regime.
You can buy the Mother’s Day bundle here
Check out our Mother’s Day edit here |
Team work makes the dream work
Job interviewer: “So Liona, can you explain whether you’re a team player and could you give an example on how that prevailed?” Me: “Ehm, I enjoy being around people?”
Your performance in teams is one of the important elements employers are looking for when hiring. Giving a great answer to this question can be quite the challenge, if you do not wish to fall into any clichés like I did. The secret here is that you need to convince your employer you’re a great team player, by using the right tools.
Now first, let’s get into what actually is team work. Team work can be defined as synergy among people where the product is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Being a team player means you’ll get to accomplish more than you would individually. Therefore, to be a great team player it is important to be aware of your own performance in teams. Starting off it can be quite hard to assess what your preference and behaviour is in a team environment. Luckily, there are some tools you could use to gain insights on your positioning in teams. Here’s how to utilize personality tests and make a lasting positive impression during your job interview.
Belbin’s theory suggests that more balanced teams are created when the members are aware of their individual strengths and weaknesses. A total of nine different roles are established according to this theory, that could all occur in a team which are as follows.
- Shaper: Challenges the team to improve.
- Implementer: Turns the team’s ideas into actions.
- Completer-Finisher: Ensures completion and meeting deadlines.
- Coordinator: Usually takes initiatives as a chairperson.
- Team Worker: Encourages collaboration among team members.
- Resource Investigator: Explores outside opportunities.
- Plant: Presents new (out of the box) ideas and approaches.
- Monitor-Evaluator: Analyses the alternatives.
- Specialist: Provides specific knowledge to the team.
The nine roles can be divided into three orientations. The shaper, implementer, and completer-finisher are action oriented roles. The coordinator, team worker, and resource investigator are people oriented roles. The plaint, monitor-evaluator, and specialist are thought oriented roles. According to Belbin’s theory a team functions best when the roles of the team members are balanced and divided over these three orientations. The first time I took the test, seven years ago already, the results said that I am an implementer. When I took the test again, five years later, I turned out to be a coordinator. Your preferences and therefore role in a team can vary from time to time and is influences by your personal growth in team work.
THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
Katherine Briggs and Isabelle Myers are the creators of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI in short. The MBTI is an indicator of your psychological type described with four dimensions. The first dimension is related to environment, are you more extraverted versus introverted? The second dimension in considers the way you observe the world, is it sensing or intuitive? The third dimension is the way you take decisions, do you think or do you feel? The fourth and last dimension is about the way your approach work, are you judging or perceiving? A total of sixteen profiles are established. These roles vary from coach to adventurer to conservator. As for me, my profile is ENFJ which means I could be categorized to an extraverted coach type of person within a team.
The Insights Discovery methodology is also based on theories by Swiss founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung. Except, is it more elaborate with 72 profiles. The methodology makes use of every individual’s combination of colours. These colours are based on psychological preferences and how that provides us with our perception in certain situations. In a nutshell the characteristics of each colours are:
- Red – Positive, bold, assertive, decisive, strong-willed, demanding, affirmative, competitive, and goal oriented.
- Blue – Objective, analytical, cautious, precise, questioning, and formal.
- Yellow – Social, demonstrative, dynamic, creative, and expressive.
- Green – Calming, soothing, caring, encouraging, patient, tranquil, and sharing.
Every colour has its own strengths and weaknesses, which are more apparent when the person’s experiencing a good (conscious profile) or a bad (unconscious profile) day. Every profile consists out of one, two, or three colours. For example, my test resulted into conscious profile #45, the inspiring motivator. I score high for yellow (main colour), red (second colour) and blue (third colour) on the work floor. On a good day I am creative, decisive, and analytical. On a bad day I might get chaotic and superficial. My unconscious main colour is actually red, which prevails more on my “bad days”, which also are the days I seem more impatient and talk a bit too much. The same kind of impatience also frequently starts off an embarrassing office story. The Insights methodology is widely used in companies all over the world. Some examples are Philips and Jamie Oliver’s fifteen.
How does this apply to careerlions.com?
Currently, we’re a two women show at the careerlions.com headquarters. While we hope to expand our team in the future, we are very pleased with the way we work as a team at the moment. According to the Insights methodology, Ashley has a profile that lies on the introverted spectrum of the wheel and mine is on the extraverted side. While working together, we’ve found that we complement one another. Until now we’ve experienced that we have the personalities to come up with new ideas, translate these into actions, and actually finish them on time.
As for my answer to the question whether I am a team player: Yes, I am definitely a team player. From the results of the personality tests can be concluded I am quite the extraverted person that likes to come up with new ideas and motivate the team, which is what I have to offer to a team. I like to work towards a goal and make decisions based on analysis. What I do need from my team members is someone that questions my (sometimes crazy) ideas and makes sure that the work is finished in time. So next time I am asked this question, I will have a substantiated answer waiting! What are your personality test results and how have you used this in your daily work? Let me know in the comments. |
While the maturing of America’s economy often has been attributed to exceptional entrepreneurs—Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Sam Walton—our nation’s growth owes much more to the success of partnerships. Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Roebuck, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor all created companies that were immensely successful and that contributed profoundly to our way of life for well over a century.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner partnered with Frank Wells to build a multimedia powerhouse, and last week Eisner published a book about the benefits of partnerships in business. In "Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed," he describes the success of such partners as Warren Buffet and Charles Munger in business, Bill and Melinda Gates in philanthropy, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard in entertainment, and the Yankees’ Joe Torre and Don Zimmer in sports.
I can vouch personally for the importance of partnerships in launching a business and navigating it toward success. My own business partner, Janet Tyler, and I have always understood that neither of us ever would have started a business alone. Together, however, we leaped into the creation of Airfoil Public Relations 10 years ago with confidence.
In Eisner’s book, Warren Buffet says his business is much more fun with a partner to share his achievements than it would have been without Charlie. Janet and I felt the same way about Airfoil and from the beginning decided that “fun” would be one of our company’s six core values. On the other hand, we have disagreed on many things over the past decade. Often, Janet’s business sense rightfully trumped my enthusiasm for new opportunities, and at other times I was able to bring insights to fortuitously advance a business decision that Janet may have been reluctant to make.
Most often, however, we have found ourselves thinking about the same idea at the same time and just about completing each other’s sentence. When we were considering the establishment of a Silicon Valley office, Janet and I spent a lunch hour with a consultant whom we both knew well and trusted. After the meeting, we each got into our cars and, before we had hit the highway, we had both decided to launch the office.
Our partnership—“being in the foxhole with someone,” as Eisner described it—has enabled Janet and me to survive two national economic collapses and a burst technology bubble with only minor lacerations and a growing pride in one of the nation’s strongest technology public relations firms. We have lifted each other up during times of personal tribulation and celebrated our growth when we have thrived.
Our business is founded on teamwork. Our amazing professional staff members work closely in teams, and we team with our clients to strategize and implement programs infused with Higher Thinking. That synergy, that ability to make 1+1 equal 3, reflects the fact that our business is steeped in partnership, with a team at the top. Janet and I maintain an “I’ve-got-your-back” relationship that has kept each of us from tumbling in the wrong direction while propelling our business forward.
“Dreams Come True,” Disney advised us, and partnerships can surely help keep away the nightmares. |
Outside of writing fiction, I play Larp. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s a form of improvisational theatre without an audience. If you’re curious, more information can be found here, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game. While my short story and novel writing was slowing down, I did write several characters for Larp, and some plot for Larp, for other people to encounter. It got me musing about the similarities and differences between both kinds of writing.
With both kinds of writing, I first write the backstory of the character(or imagine and fail to write down, sometimes, with short stories). How did the character end up there? What does the audience need to know about the character, and how does the character’s background influence their decisions. I try to make the character as realistic and vibrant as possible, without making the background so complex I can no longer work with it, either in the game or in the story.
Also, with both kinds of writing, I try to create as interesting a setup as I can. To put the starting condition so, that the characters have something interesting to deal with.
Which brings me to the major difference between the two. Players happen. So from the moment you send the setup into the game-world, how the players interact with it, solve the problem, is out of your hands. All you can do is hand them tools, if necessary, or try to put them on a path by what information you release when to them. Even still, if you come up with 5 or 6 possible solutions or courses of action, they will present you with a 7th. If you’re writing the entire story, you can steer your characters to the most interesting outcomes, determine exactly when what reaches them, and if the outcome is unsatisfactory, you can go back and tweak until it works better for you. You write the continuation of the story of the character you’ve created, and control all the aspects of the story. You are chained by your own imagination, though, if you are inventing all of it.
Thus, both have a lot in common, while they still differ significantly. They have their own challenges, but also a lot of potential to build synergy, the one helping you become more imaginative in the other. I am enjoying how doing both is expanding my horizons very much. |
We are meeting this morning for our Annual Business Session!
This Saturday, May 14th, we will gather at Christian Life Worship Center in Athens, GA to conduct our Annual Business Meeting.
Registration will begin at 9 a.m. and the session will begin at 10 a.m.
Below are a few advantages of coming together for this meeting:
•It will create synergy among LifePoint Ministries
•It will build relationships among those with whom we serve, renewing long-time friendships, and building new relationships.
•It will give an opportunity to be informed of the status of LifePoint Ministries through the reports given.
•It will generate an atmosphere of worship as we celebrate the WINS together!
We look forward to seeing you! |
The Chemnitz-based electronics company GEMAC streamlines its range of services and establishes two business units. In the course of a focus strategy, these will be seamlessly taken over by the newly founded company AMAC.
As part of the refocusing of its business activities, GEMAC — Gesellschaft für Mikroelectronikanwendung Chemnitz mbH is divesting the business units ASIC-Design and Interpolation. A separate company was founded for this step. The new company AMAC ASIC und Mikrosensoranwendung Chemnitz GmbH is based at the same location as GEMAC and started its official business operations on March 1, 2016. The main business areas of the new company are ASIC design (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) and the development and sale of interpolation circuits and electronics. Dr. -Ing. Claus Dittrich (co-founder of GEMAC) and Dipl. -Ing. Peter Kreutziger (former head of the Systems and ASIC Design department of GEMAC) take over the management of AMAC.
In the course of this, GEMAC is streamlining its service and product portfolio and in the future will focus its activities on the development and production of electronics for third parties (primarily in the field of medical electronics) as well as Fieldbus diagnostic devices and inertial sensors for mobile machines.
The geographic proximity of the two companies, in particular, means that the managing directors of GEMAC and AMAC are certain that the transition will proceed almost smoothly and that the two companies will continue to work well together and exploit synergy effects. Due to the transfer of the employees, AMAC has access to over 23 years of know-how. For the customers concerned, only the name of the contractor is changed; quality and service remain the same as before.
GEMAC in numbers
GEMAC — Gesellschaft für Mikroelektronikanwendung Chemnitz mbH has an annual turnover of more than 10 million Euro for the year 2015. The target for 2016 is an annual turnover of 12 million euros. GEMAC currently employs more than 90 people, primarily in electronics production and development. The two main business areas of the electronics company from Chemnitz are smart sensor solutions and diagnostic devices for Fieldbus systems on the one hand and the development and production of electronics and assemblies for medical technology on the other.
AMAC in numbers
AMAC currently employs around 15 people. The company’s sales target for 2016 is 2.4 million euros. |
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How prepared is Nigeria as measles returns with vengeance?
The World Health Organization (WHO), penultimate week, reported cases of the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus almost quadrupled in Europe in 2017 (21,000 cases) compared to the year before (5,273 cases), with the highest rates in Italy, Romania and Ukraine.
In Nigeria, though there has been a substantial decline in global measles death, the country still tops the chart of far too many children who are still missing their first vaccine dose.
A report published last year by the WHO indicated that 20.8 million children worldwide are still missing their first measles vaccine dose and more than half of these unvaccinated children live in six countries.
Nigeria tops the list of countries with unvaccinated children from measles with 3.3 million children, followed by India – 2.9 million, Pakistan – 2.0 million, Indonesia – 1.2 million, Ethiopia – 0.9 million and Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, with 0.7 million.
Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, told journalists that a surveillance data shows that measles incidence among children under five years increased in the northern part of Nigeria from 190 million in 2014 to 527 million in 2016.
Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two–three years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.
According to the WHO, the disease remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. Approximately 89 780 people died from measles in 2016 – mostly children under the age of five years.
A virus in the paramyxovirus family causes measles and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, and then spreads throughout the body. Measles is a human disease and is not known to occur in animals.
According to the WHO, large outbreaks continue to occur in these countries including Nigeria resulting in some deaths. The overwhelming majority (more than 95 per cent) of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures.
The WHO said measles outbreaks could be particularly deadly in countries experiencing or recovering from a natural disaster or conflict. Damage to health infrastructure and health services interrupts routine immunization, and overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.
Indeed, measles outbreaks in the affected countries and other countries in Europe and North America put children at risk of severe health complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, encephalitis, blindness and death.
According to the WHO, since 2000, an estimate of 5.5 billion doses of measles containing vaccines have been provided for children through routine immunisation services and mass vaccination campaigns, saving an estimated 20.4 million lives.
Figures from the WHO and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) indicate that there was a decline in global death from the disease in 2016 as an estimated 90,000 people died from measles. This is 84 per cent drop from more than 550,000 deaths in 2000.
However, the recent upsurge in Europe and Northern Nigeria has raised fresh concerns.
Unlike in Nigeria where the major reason for having high numbers of unvaccinated children is due to poor logistics and funding, in Europe, the reason parents may not be vaccinating their children could be due to a widely discredited research paper that was published 20 years ago last week.
In 1998, the journal Lancet published former British doctor Andrew Wakefield’s article, which linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. In his study, Wakefield said 12 children showed that the three vaccines taken together could alter immune systems causing brain damage.
The publication of the study led to a widespread increase in the number of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children for fear of its link to autism.
The WHO says there have been declines in overall routine immunisation coverage, as well as consistently low coverage among some marginalised groups and interruptions in vaccine supply or underperforming disease surveillance systems.
Meanwhile, recent estimates by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed, so far, 1,943 suspected measles cases and 20 deaths with Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) of 1.03 per cent were reported from 36 States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) compared with 2,548 suspected cases with 35 laboratory confirmed and 22 deaths with CFR of 0.86 per cent from 36 States during the same period in 2017.
To curtail the spread of the disease and prevent death of children under five, the federal government had last year released N3.5 billion for vaccination programme and a nationwide measles campaign.
The 2017/2018 measles immunisation campaign was kick started in Kaduna, November last year, by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), NPHCDA and other partners.
The ceremony, which took place at Miyetti-Allah Primary Healthcare Centre in Rigasa ward of Igabi Local Government area of Kaduna State, was a clear demonstration of the level of ownership and involvement of government and partners to ensure all eligible children aged nine months to 59 months are vaccinated with measles vaccine in the country.
Measles mass campaigns were conducted in seven North West and North East States from November 9–14, 2017 and November 30 –December 5, 2017 respectively.
Measles mass campaigns for North Central States were conducted from February 8 – 20, 2018 while proposed Measles mass campaign for southern states is scheduled for March 8 – 20, 2018.
Response measures include immunization for all vaccine-preventable diseases in some selected/affected wards/Local Government Areas (LGAs) during Supplementary Immunisation Activities (SIAs), as well as case management
Shuaib, told journalists: “Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children especially those under five years of age. Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, Nigeria accounts for the highest burden of measles globally and Nigeria accounts for the highest burden of measles globally with 3.3 million unimmunized children.”
He further stated: “Due to persistently low routine immunization coverage, supplemental immunization campaigns are conducted to provide a second opportunity to reach unimmunized children.”
Team Leader of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) of the WHO Dr. Fiona Braka gave assurance that WHO and partners are in full support of the government efforts to achieve measles elimination in Nigeria. Braka underscored the combined effort required to achieve 95 per cent coverage at sub national level during the campaign and through routine immunization to build up population immunity sustainably.
In Anambra, for a successful Measles vaccination this period, the Governor Willie Obiano led administration and the UNICEF have set aside the total sum of about N94.4 million to run the March 2018 Measles vaccination campaign.
In addition, no fewer than 1,169,800 children are to be vaccinated under the measles vaccination campaign, covering children between the ages of nine months to 59 months.
Addressing newsmen during a media chat on measles vaccination campaign sensitization in Awka, the state capital, the Head of department (HOD), immunization and disease control, Anambra State Primary Health care development agency (ASPHCDA), Dr. Nnamdi Uliagbafusi disclosed that the state government has approved and released the sum of N27.4millon as its counterparts funding for the exercise.
Declaring the vaccines safe and free, Uliagbafusi stated that the exercise which would commence in the three senatorial districts as follows: March 8 to 20, Anambra Central and South senatorial zones while March 15 to 20, would be the turn for the North senatorial zones
He said, “The exercise will be carried out in fixed posts in Public health facilities, mission and some private health facilities, temporary fixed post like schools, churches, markets and mosques” adding that it was earlier scheduled to start from the March 1, but has been shifted to give room for proper planning, public sensitization and implementation.
The HOD, ASPHCDA urged parents and guardians as well as caregivers to make their children and wards available even if they have been vaccinated before.
In his speech at the event, the UNICEF Measles consultant in Anambra state, Peter Onyekachi, disclosed that the Agency had invested about N67 million for the programme, which he said covers logistics, transport, training of ad hoc staff, social activities, fuel and so on hoping that it would encourage a successful campaign in Anambra.
Also speaking, the state coordinator, World Health Organization (WHO) office, Dr. Willy Onuorah, explained that the interest of the organization was to ensure that no child was omitted in the exercise, saying it is working in teams comprising of seven health officers, just as he informed that health personnel were at alert to handle emergencies like adverse reactions from the vaccine on any child.
“We are working in synergy with tertiary hospitals: our medical teams are placed at alert, they are capable to manage any child reaction from the vaccination.
“The vaccination is the most effective way to tackling the disease among children, vaccine is 99 per cent safe, and have no side effects. Remove vaccination, over 25 per cent children would be prone to measles,” Onuora said.
To combat measles disease across the nooks and crannies of Ondo State, the state government is set to vaccinate 700,000 children between the ages of nine months to five years to fight the virulent disease.
The State Commissioner of Health, Alhaji Wahab Adegbenro, who briefed journalists during a media sensitisation meeting on measles vaccination last week said that the campaign shall take place in all the 203 wards across the 18 local government area in the state.
“About N30 million had been earmarked by the state government for the exercise,” he disclosed. “This is to ensure all the children between the ages of nine months and five years are vaccinated.”
According to the him, the exercise would commence between 8 and 20, March 2018, while he said the vaccination would be administered on the children free of charge.
He said the first phase of the exercise which will kick off in Idanre, would take place in ten local government area of the state between March 8 to 13 while the second phase would take place in other eight LGAs between March 15 to 20, 2018.
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This decision has been retired.
FOREST BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
The Conference of the Parties
Recalling decision III/12 of the third meeting of the Conference of
the Parties, and recommendations II/1, II/8 and III/3 of the Subsidiary Body on
Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice,
Having considered the report of the Executive Secretary on the draft
programme of work for forest biological diversity (UNEP/CBD/COP/4/7),
Taking note of views expressed by the Parties and countries on the
development of the work programme, as contained in document UNEP/CBD/COP/4/Inf.11,
Noting that the development and implementation of national measures
that enhance the integration of the conservation and sustainable use of forest
biological diversity into national forest and land-use programmes and
forest-management systems is an important task for both developed and developing
Looking forward to the outcomes of forthcoming work under the
Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF), including the global workshop on
underlying causes of deforestation, to be hosted by the Government of Costa Rica
in January 1999,
Reaffirming that the proposals for action contained in the final
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), in particular those
related to national forest and land-use programmes, and the objectives of the
Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, provide a good basis for the implementation
of key provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the national
Noting that decision IV/13 gives further guidance to the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) with regard to forest biological diversity,
1. Decides to endorse the work programme for forest biological
diversity as contained in the annex to the present decision;
2. Urges Parties, countries, international and regional organizations,
major groups and other relevant bodies to collaborate in carrying out the tasks
identified in the work programme;
3. Calls upon Parties and countries to integrate forest biological
diversity considerations in their participation and collaboration with
organizations, institutions and conventions affecting or working with forest
4. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) to further integrate forest biological diversity into ongoing work with
the Global Forest Resources Assessment;
5. Urges Parties and countries and international financial
institutions, including the Global Environment Facility, to give high priority
to the allocation of resources to activities that advance the objectives of the
Convention in respect of forest biological diversity;
6. Calls upon the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to provide
financial support, in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention, for
activities and capacity-building for the implementation of the work programme
for forest biological diversity and the use of the clearing-house mechanism,
particularly for activities to halt and mitigate deforestation effects, basic
assessments and monitoring of forest biological diversity, including taxonomic
studies and inventories, focusing on forest species, other important components
of forest biological diversity and ecosystems under threat;
7. Invites Parties, when requesting assistance through the financial
mechanism, to propose projects that are being fully consistent with previous
guidance of the Conference of the Parties and promote the implementation of the
focused work programme on forest biological diversity;
8. Requests the financial mechanism of the Convention to consider the
operational objectives of the programme of work as a guidance for funding in the
field of forest biological diversity and strongly encourages the Global
Environment Facility to assist in the implementation of the programme of work at
the national, regional and subregional level;
9. Notes the potential impact of afforestation, reforestation, forest
degradation and deforestation on forest biological diversity and on other
ecosystems, and, accordingly, requests the Executive Secretary to liaise
and cooperate with the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change and the Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification
in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,
particularly in Africa to achieve the objectives of the Convention on Biological
10. Requests the Executive Secretary to compile a synthesized report
on the information on forest biological diversity made available to the
Conference of the Parties, particularly national reports;
11. Requests the Executive Secretary, in implementing the work
programme on forest biological diversity to actively continue collaborating and
cooperating with the secretariat of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests and
relevant institutions and to inform the Conference of the Parties thereon;
12. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and
Technological Advice, in accordance with its mandate, to provide advice on the
status and trends of forest biological diversity and the identification of
options for the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity
to the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting;
13. Requests the Executive Secretary to transmit this decision to the
Intergovernmental Forum on Forests at its second meeting, to the Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at its
fourth meeting and to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Desertification at its second meeting.
WORK PROGRAMME FOR FOREST BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
UNDER THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
1. In accordance with decision III/12 of the Conference of the Parties, this
work programme on forest biological diversity focuses on the research,
co-operation and development of technologies necessary for the conservation and
sustainable use of forest biological diversity of all types of forests in the
programme elements and priority areas already identified.
2. The work programme is based on recommendation III/3 of Subsidiary Body on
Scientific Technical and Technological Advice and incorporates the views and
interests expressed by Parties and countries. The work programme is
action-oriented, demand-driven, needs-driven and flexible enough to reflect and
respond to changing conditions, including but not limited to, the outcome of and
the priorities to be identified by the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF).
The work programme also reflects the varied needs and circumstances of Parties,
indicating that inclusion of an activity in the work programme does not
necessarily imply full participation in that activity by all Parties. In
carrying out work under the identified programme elements, Parties should recall
the further research priorities listed in recommendation II/8 of the Subsidiary
Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice.
3. The objectives of the programme of work are:
(a) To enhance Parties' abilities to realize the objectives of the Convention
through improved implementation, by encouraging and assisting Parties to develop
measures for enhancing the integration of conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity into their national forest and landuse programmes and
(b) To facilitate the implementation of the objectives of the Convention on
Biological Diversity based on the ecosystem approach;
(c) To provide an effective and complementary tool to national forest and
land-use programmes for the implementation of the Convention on Biological
Diversity at the national level;
(d) To identify traditional forest systems of conservation and sustainable
use of forest biological diversity and to promote the wider application, use and
role of traditional forest-related knowledge in sustainable forest management
and the equitable sharing of benefits, in accordance with Article 8(j) and other
related provisions of the Convention;
(e) To identify mechanisms that facilitate the financing of activities for
the conservation, incorporation of traditional knowledge and sustainable use of
forest biological diversity, taking into account that activities should be
complementary to, and should not duplicate, existing efforts;
(f) To contribute to ongoing work in other international and regional
organizations and processes, in particular to the implementation of the
proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and to provide
input to IFF;
(g) To contribute to the access to and transfer of technology in accordance
to Article 16 of the Convention; and
(h) To identify the contribution of networks of protected areas to the
conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
4. The programme of work reflects a rolling three-year planning horizon in
three phases, on the assumption that, in its consideration, the Conference of
the Parties will identify a rolling longer-term programme of work.
C. Review and planning process
5. Each phase of the work programme should be subject to periodic review and
the development of the work programme, including work in its future phases,
should take into consideration recommendations made by the Subsidiary Body on
Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. The phases and outputs should
take into account the timeframes and work of IFF.
6. Interim reports after each three-year phase to provide the Conference of
the Parties with information on progress made in the implementation of the work
D. Ways and means
7. In its recommendation III/3, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical
and Technological Advice identified the following ways and means for carrying
out the work programme: workshops, regional meetings, the clearinghouse
mechanism, scientific meetings and case-studies. Other feasible ways and means
a. National mechanisms and pilot projects;
(b) Peer-review mechanisms, including networks of experts or liaison groups
and inter-agency task force groups, relying to the extent possible on existing
electronic communication systems;
(c) Use of national and international data and meta-databases, especially in
the national and regional monitoring of forest biological diversity;
(d) Bearing in mind Articles 16 and 17 of the Convention, use of remotesensing
technologies to assist Parties to assess changes in their forest biological
diversity, as well as to enhance their ability to report on certain aspects of
criteria and indicators frameworks.
E. Collaborative efforts
8. The work programme should support and enhance cooperation on the
conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity at all levels,
ranging from community to inter-organization level, nationally and
internationally. At all levels the work programme should be developed and
implemented with relevant stakeholders, recognizing that the most important part
of work is action at the national level.
9. In the context of this work programme, collaboration should be
strengthened in particular with the Convention to Combat Desertification in
Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,
particularly in Africa and with the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, in order to advance the effective implementation of the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
II. WORK PROGRAMME
Elements of the proposed work programme
10. The work programme elaborates, as follows, the elements for inclusion
1. Holistic and inter-sectoral ecosystem approaches that integrate the
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking account of
social and cultural and economic considerations
11. The IPF proposal for action 17 encourages countries to develop,
implement, monitor and evaluate national forest programmes, which include a wide
range of approaches for sustainable forest management, including ecosystem
approaches that integrate the conservation of biological diversity and the
sustainable use of biological diversity.
12. Synthesize existing knowledge of holistic and inter-sectoral approaches
that enhance the integration of forest biological diversity conservation into
sustainable forest management, examine how such integration can be better
achieved, and assist in identifying priority research areas in relation to these
13. Examination of methodologies for enhancing the integration of forest
biological diversity conservation and sustainable use into an holistic approach
to sustainable forest management.
14. Development of methodologies to advance the integration of traditional
forestrelated knowledge into sustainable forest management, in accordance with
15. Cooperation on the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological
resources at all levels, ranging from community to interorganization level, at
the national and international levels in accordance with Articles 5 and 16 on
16. Case-studies from countries in which the ecosystem approach has been
applied in sustainable forest management practices, including arid and semiarid
areas. This could assist other countries in developing their own national
actions and approaches under this work programme.
17. Sharing of relevant technical and scientific information on networks at
all levels of protected forest areas and networking modalities, taking into
account existing national, regional and international networks and structures,
in all types of forest ecosystems.
18. Clearing-House mechanism, national pilot projects, the Convention on
Biological Diversity participating in Inter-Agency Task Force on Forests (ITFF)
and in the meetings of IFF to actively encourage countries to implement national
forest programmes that encompass an ecosystem approach which ensures the
maintenance of forest biological diversity values, while also taking into
account social, cultural and economic considerations.
19. Consideration of the UNEP guidelines and the FAO document entitled
"Basic principles and operational guidelines for the formulation, execution
and revision of national forestry programmes" for the preparation of
country studies of biological diversity.
20. The integration of social, cultural and economic considerations into the
conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity will bring the
concept close to sustainable forest management. The issue should also be dealt
with thoroughly in other forums, mainly within the work under IFF.
21. A better understanding of the ecosystem approach as it relates to forest
biological diversity, and an elaboration of the linkages to other work under the
Convention, including the incorporation of Article 8(j).
22. Guidance of the Convention on Biological Diversity to IFF and other
relevant forums and conventions.
23. Cooperation among Parties and with organizations and conventions.
24. A better understanding of the complexity and interdependencies of
biological communities and their dependencies on the abiotic site-specific
25. Methodologies to help ensure that forest plans and practices reflect the
social, cultural and economic values of forests as well as the views of forest
26. Identification of general guidelines or methodologies to help ensure that
forest plans and practices reflect biological diversity conservation
considerations, as well as social, cultural and economic factors.
27. Clarification of the links between the ecosystem approach and sustainable
Development of technologies
28. Promote activities to support the development of techniques and means for
the effective conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, in
particular, full support for technology transfer from developed to developing
countries, in accordance with Article 16 of the Convention.
2. Comprehensive analysis of the ways in which human activities, in
particular forest-management practices, influence biological diversity and
assessment of ways to minimize or mitigate negative influences
29. Promote activities for an enhanced understanding of positive and negative
human influences on forest ecosystems by land-use managers, policy makers,
scientists and all other relevant stakeholders.
30. Promote activities to assemble management experiences and scientific,
indigenous and local information at the national and local levels to provide for
the sharing of approaches and tools that lead to improved forest practices with
regard to forest biological diversity.
31. Promote activities with the aim of providing options to minimize or
mitigate negative and to promote positive human influences on forest biological
32. Promote activities to minimize the impact of harmful alien species on
forest biological diversity, particularly in small island developing States.
33. Identification of means and mechanisms to improve the identification and
prioritization of research activities related to the influences of human
activities, in particular forest management practices, on forest biological
34. Improve dissemination of research results and synthesis of reports of the
best available scientific and traditional knowledge on key forest biological
35. Case-studies on assessing impacts of fires and alien species on forest
biological diversity and their influences on the management of forest ecosystems
36. Regional workshops and/or liaison meetings that bring together experts in
sustainable forest management, sustainable use and science from the forest
sector and, if necessary, representatives from other relevant sectors, with
experts on biological diversity, bearing in mind the IPF proposal for action
contained in paragraph 94 of the report on its fourth session.
37. The sharing of forest and land-use guidelines, for example, through the
clearing-house mechanism, to ensure the fuller integration of genetic, species
and habitat diversity into sustainable forest management systems.
38. Analysis of human impacts on forest ecosystems, as well as an enhanced
ability to prioritise research needs and apply results and an enhanced
understanding of the role of traditional knowledge in ecosystem management to
minimize or mitigate negative influences, and to promote the positive effects.
39. Expansion of research capacity to develop and assess options
incorporating the applications of traditional knowledge to minimize or mitigate
negative influences, and to promote the positive effects.
3. Methodologies necessary to advance the elaboration and
implementation of criteria and indicators for forest biological diversity
40. Foster activities to determine and advance the methodology for
elaborating and implementing the criteria and indicators of forest biological
diversity. These activities could supplement work that has already been
developed. In this regard, coordination with IFF, and drawing upon existing and
ongoing work at the national, regional and international levels, is recognized
as an important approach.
41. Foster activities to determine criteria and indicators for the
conservation and sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising out of utilization of resources of forest biological diversity and to
advance methodology for integrating these criteria and indicators into existing
criteria and indicators processes.
42. The work related to indicators of forest biological diversity could also
imply the need for an inventory to assess current status and trends in forest
biological diversity, at the local and national level based on repeated measures
of the selected indicators. The work under this programme element could also
include, inter alia, capacity-building on taxonomy and inventories,
taking note of the work under the Global Taxonomy Initiative.
43. Assessment of experiences gained in the national and regional processes,
identifying common elements and gaps in the existing initiatives and improving
the indicators for forest biological diversity.
44. Taxonomic studies and inventories at the national level which provide for
a basic assessment of forest biological diversity.
45. Collaboration with national institutions and relevant bodies and in
coordination with the work on the general development of methods for
implementing Article 7 under the Convention. Collaboration with ITFF member
agencies; cooperating with and complementing existing criteria and indicators
initiatives for sustainable forest management, including regional initiatives to
develop appropriate criteria and indicators, such as the Helsinki process for
boreal, temperate and Mediterranean-type forests in Europe; the Montreal process
for temperate and boreal forests outside Europe; the Tarapoto proposal for the
Amazon forest; the UNEP/FAOinitiated processes for dry-zone Africa and the
Near East in arid and semiarid areas; and the "Lepaterique" process
for Central America initiated by FAO and the Central American Commission for
Environment and Development (CCAD)1.
46. Review of specific indicators of forest biological diversity that have
been derived by the major ongoing international processes related to sustainable
forest management. The prioritization of related activities should consider the
development of indicators that are capable of providing the most useful
information on national or regional status and trends of forest biological
47. Methodologies to advance the elaboration and implementation of criteria
and indicator frameworks and the improved capacity of countries to implement
48. Contribution to the national and regional initiatives in the development
of indicators under the criteria for forest biological diversity.
4. Further research and technological priorities identified in the
recommendation II/8 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and
Technological Advice as well as issues identified in the review and planning
process under the work programme
49. Included under this element is a series of specific research and
technological priorities initially identified under recommendation II/8 of the
Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. These
represent important issues brought forward into the Convention from the IPF
proposals for action. These priorities are among the issues to be discussed by
IFF at its scheduled meetings in 1998 and 1999 and within the inter-sessional
meetings of the IFF2, as part of its attempt to identify and define global and
regional research priorities for forests, taking into account national
priorities. It is essential that the Convention on Biological Diversity
coordinates with IFF in order to enhance synergy on these issues as they
intersect with the programme of work for forests under the Convention on
50. Following input from IFF on these priorities, the Conference of the
Parties may wish to consider incorporating them in phases 2 and 3 of this work
programme. When additional scientific and technological priorities are
identified, they can similarly be incorporated in the periodic planning
activities and reviews of the work programme.
Analysing measures for minimizing or mitigating the underlying causes
of forest biological diversity loss
51. Besides unsustainable forest-management practices, there are other causes
for the loss of forest biological diversity in forest ecosystems, such as
habitat transformation, harmful alien species, pollution, erosion, uncontrolled
forest fires and poverty. There is a need for a better understanding of the
underlying social, cultural and economic causes of forest biological diversity
loss and the improvement of measures for mitigating those causes.
Assessing ecological landscape models, the integration of protected
areas in the ecosystem approach to sustainable forest management and the
representativeness and adequacy of protected areas networks
52. Conserving the biological diversity of forests should be carried out both
by establishing protected areas and by taking into account biological diversity
conservation in all types of forests outside the protected areas, taking into
account plantation forests. The outcome of this programme element would include
the further development of methods to integrate protected areas into sustainable
forest management and analysis of the representativeness and adequacy of the
protected areas networks.
53. Reducing gaps in knowledge in the areas of fragmentation of habitats and
population viability, to include mitigation options such as ecological corridors
and buffer zones.
54. The work should also contribute to the preparation of the discussions of
the Conference of the Parties on in situ conservation.
Advancing scientific and technical approaches
55. Promoting the development of scientific and technical local approaches to:
(a) Conserve and sustainably manage biological diversity in production
(b) Rehabilitate degraded and deforested ecosystems as appropriate;
(c) Enrich indigenous biological diversity in forest plantations.
56. Developing assessment and valuation methodologies for the multiple
benefits derived from forest biological diversity.
1. See background document for the Intergovernmental Seminar on Criteria and
Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management, Helsinki, June 1996.
2. For example, the international seminar on research and
information needs in international forest processes, to be held in Vienna in |
eCommunities is best described by its namesake, a company that specializes in building electronic communities. From its roots in Bulletin Board Software almost 15 years ago the company has grown in scope embracing newer technologies but always focused on bringing people together. In 2003 it began operating officially as eCommunities.
Since 2003 eCommunities has proceeded on two fronts, both closely related and both invaluable to one another. On one hand eCommunities is a software developer building customized content management solutions for a range of different clients, but we also want to put our software to the test in a very real way. Rather than simply relying on feedback from our clients alone, whose sites still only scratch the surface of ECMS' potential, we developed Doitinmuskoka.com. This site is now blossoming into a network of regional portals and is now one of the larger online area guides in Ontario, providing eCommunities with a real life implementation of ECMS that has to cope with thousands of visitors a day, and even more importantly tens of thousands of content pages.
The synergy of these two models has served us well and both eCommunities and its ECMS product have matured into a robust dynamic combination that will continue to offer leading edge solutions.
The future of eCommunities lies in the further development of its ECMS product along side it's real life website implementations, constantly pushing the envelope of what's to be expected of a content management system.
Please contact us with your website and content management needs, we would be pleased to discuss your specific needs and how we can work with you to meet your goals!
1056 Weismiller St.
P.O. Box 144
Bala, ON P1H 1W7
10 Yonge St. S
Huntsville, ON P1H 1W7 |
I believe that each person can bring harmony and success into their life by aligning with circumstances. I believe circumstances will then align in response, and I have rigorously developed the physics to explain how. I believe that when we have more harmony in our individual lives, we create more awesome situations. Living in a state of flow brings about experiences of synchronicity, which tend to benefit not just ourselves, but the whole community we are part of. Flow is about win/win. Problems begin to resolve, and our communities and organizations thrive.
I am a physicist, speaker and author studying "the physics of flow." I see this research as beneficial to individuals and organizations that want to capture more of the dynamic synergy of flow in their work environment or personal lives. I have published several peer-reviewed academic papers on fundamental physics that predict the everyday occurrence of meaningful coincidences, or “synchronicity.” When we take directed action, we are more likely to experience useful events which help us forward. This is the experience of "flow."
Critical analysis and the scientific method are crucial elements if we are to effectively make use of meaningful coincidences in our personal lives and in our organizations. I help individuals and organizations recognize the unexpected opportunities for redirection, and align with them in order to create the most harmonious and effective results.
If two friends meet up by accident at an airport far from home, we might be surprised by the unlikeliness of this meeting. Through the lens of synchronicity and flow, these types of experiences are expected, and become part of how we do business and build satisfying personal lives. We are continuously being given opportunities for redirection in the form of minor disappointments and obstacles, yet when we are in flow, these challenges guide us around potential problems and toward better solutions. By aligning with the flow of circumstances rather than resisting or pushing through, we can create bigger and better experiences for ourselves and our organizations.
Three peer-reviewed articles relating to fundamental physics and synchronicity
Thought leader on synchronicity in popular media
Secondary School physics and math educator
Over 100 presentations and performances in six states
Software Engineer and Project Coordinator
Awards in songwriting and performance
MS Physics, San Francisco State University
Teaching Credential, Sonoma State University
BA Physics, University of California, Berkeley |
Esclapez Diving Ltd.
Esclapez Diving is born. Like many creations, this is the fruit of a meeting between skills, synergy, complemantarities, commitment and passion. More
On one side, a company specialized in engineering, the design and industrialization of full sets « We work for big companies with very demanding customers in an environment of quality ISO 9001.2000.
On board, Gérard QUILLIOU: «The idea of ESCLAPEZ DIVING in association with Titou has become evident by a serie of rational elements and a little part of passion. Let's evacuate immediately the passion, I am a diver and a spearfisher for 25 years.
From the other side, Jean-Baptiste Esclapez «Titou», do we still need to introduce him ?
He is one of the three greatest competitors in the History of World Spearfishing, having been the world spearfishing champion and runner-up on two occasions as well as the French and European champions multiple times...
Tens of thousands of hours spent spearfishing under all sorts of conditions have developed his powers of observation and have provided him with extraordinary knowledge and experience to the extent that it is an obsession...
" I put my first fins and my first mask for investigating the sea in 1953, I was 8 years old hardly."
The report of Jean-Baptiste ESCLAPEZ's fame, prestige of his name in France and abroad, a surprising and fruitful synergy which settled down at once between Titou, being able to express totally his tremendous experience, and our team of engineers were decisive.
Today the company ESCLAPEZ Diving owns the brand and our goal is to conceive a range of quality materials designed by hunters for hunters. |