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CAA made a lot of money off of a single deal late last year, but it wasn't from landing one of its stars a big role or packaging the next film franchise.
Instead, the agency sold jeans — $300 million worth of them — when it unloaded its stake in J Brand, a high-end denim label the tenpercentery has invested in and helped grow since 2010.
And on May 1, UTA scored some bragging rights of its own, selling teen-targeted YouTube network AwesomenessTV to DreamWorks Animation for $33 million, with the chance of earning $117 million from earnings and performance bonuses. The deal marks the first time an agency has sold a digital channel it incubated internally with a client.
They're unusual businesses to be in for companies that rep the likes of Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Johnny Depp and Will Ferrell. But CAA and UTA not alone, as Hollywood's talent agencies increasingly turn to startups as new sources of revenue.
Nearly every one of the major talent agencies has an investment group focused on backing everything from producers of online videos to health food and fashion brands. That activity has especially picked up over the past three years. The latest entrant is ICM Partners, which hired new-media veteran Keyvan Peymani nine months ago to oversee its mostly digital portfolio.
The aim is to bet on new ventures to replace revenue the agencies have lost since the writers strike, the recession that quickly followed and rounds of cost cutting at studios and TV networks that have reduced release slates, production budgets, overhead and overall fees for clients.
But in venturing into the investment game, agencies are gambling on companies that are far from sure things. Though details on payouts and exits are scarce, insiders say the returns so far have been limited.
An ownership stake represents a fundamental shift from the agencies' traditional percentage-based business. But if they manage to get in on the ground floor of the Next Big Thing, it's a far more lucrative opportunity — one that could even presage a wholesale shift in their business models.
Brent Weinstein, who heads United Talent Agency's investments in startups, isn't under any pressure to play the role as a venture capitalist. "The talent agency business is still a great business," he said. "But it is absolutely inherent in our mandate to look for interesting ways to grow our business and service our clients."
The majority of ventures landing agency coin are the kinds of digital startups Silicon Valley typically embraces — app makers, social networks, online production companies and game creators — driven mostly by the growth of mobile platforms and the rapid rise of YouTube stars.
Even the agents tapped to identify which companies to back are sounding more and more like their tech brethren up north. They are quick to talk up the newbies' entrepreneurial spirit, finding opportunities where they can be "impactful," "add value" and "scale the business." That's not expected to stop anytime soon, especially with WME now partly owned by Silicon Valley-based private equity firm Silver Lake Partners (which also has stakes in Go Daddy, Groupon and Zynga).
"I came out of the startup world," said Peymani, who also worked for Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros.' digital divisions. "That's the universe I cut my teeth in."
To date, the agencies' stakes tend to be fairly small, consisting of a mix of strategic investments, advisory fees and money used to incubate companies inhouse. In lieu of an investment, an agency may receive equity in exchange for its connections. The goal is an exit strategy that involves a sale, an IPO or ongoing revenue from fees or a percentage of sales. All of this activity raises the potential for conflicts of interests — something agency insiders say requires careful consideration.
"We invest enough money to have a meaningful ownership of a company for (its) size and scale, or enough sweat to earn equity," Weinstein says. "There are different ways we can have an equity stake, and it's not always through capital."
Not every investment needs to have an exit, noted Jeremy Zimmer, CEO and founding partner at UTA. "A lot of businesses are successful as operating companies," he said. "You build them to scale, and they create a lot of revenue for their owners."
Like AwesomenessTV. "There's an ongoing earnout from Awesomeness that we'll continue to participate in," Zimmer said. And with the agency continuing to rep producer, Brian Robbins, the Awesomeness creator just became more valuable to UTA.
In most cases, agencies aren't the sole investor in a property; they're not frantically throwing their money at just any idea that sounds like the next Netflix, Instagram or Zynga.
Three years ago, CAA paired with Irving Place Capital to launch Star Avenue Capital as a private equity firm to invest in consumer products and retail companies like J Brand, through a $500 million fund.
With its own half-billion-dollar fund, WME is the largest outside shareholder of investment firm the Raine Group, through which it has backed Vice Media, Jagex Games Studio and Zumba Fitness.
And UTA, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and the University of Southern California, in March, launched the Viterbi Startup Garage, a technology accelerator that will provide financial grants, strategic guidance and mentorship to an initial round of 10 companies, of which the partners will own 4%. CAA and WME have also partnered with Qualcomm, Amazon and Comcast.
It's still too early to tell if the investment biz is a good one for the agencies. There have been some disappointments.
WME stumbled with Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning's video chat network Airtime, which raised $33 million and fizzled quickly despite receiving celebrity endorsements from agency clients Jim Carrey, Olivia Munn and Joel McHale. UTA invested in Double Fusion, a broker of advertising deals in videogames, that closed its doors in 2012, due to shifts in the industry. The agency launched 60Frames as a digital content and distribution studio during the recession of 2008; it also wound up shuttering.
Timing and luck are always keys to success as much as a sound business strategy, agents caution.
"No amount of planning or sophisticated investor could have foreseen the outcome" of those companies, Weinstein said.
Because of that uncertainty, observers have suggested agencies would be better off investing their money in regular cash-bearing financial opportunities like annuities rather than looking for one-time capital pops. After all, agencies don't need to be in the risky investment arena.
But there's always J Brand to turn to as an example why they should. Japan's Fast Retailing Co., parent of the popular chain of Uniqlo clothing stores, paid $290 million for J Brand, as well as another $10 million in advisory fees.
Not bad for a company that isn't tailor-made for the agency world.


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5 questions as Alabama voters head to the polls for the 2018 midterms
Alabamians head to the polls this morning to choose a number of federal and state candidates. Below, five questions on what might happen.
1. Who will come out to vote?
In 2014, roughly 40 percent of Alabama's registered voters cast ballots in that year's midterms. The weak Democratic field produced bigger GOP majorities in the House and Senate and a crushing victory for then-Gov. Robert Bentley, who took almost 64 percent of the vote and managed to win Jefferson County, which tends to vote Democratic.
LIVE RESULTS:Alabama election returns
In 2017, roughly 40 percent of Alabama's registered voters cast ballots in a special election for U.S. Senate. A divisive Republican nominee weakened by allegations of sexual misconduct, combined with an enthusiastic Democratic base, led to a victory for U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the first member of his party to win a U.S. Senate election in Alabama since 1992.
The Alabama Secretary of State's office has estimated turnout in the range of 35 to 40 percent. Whatever the final number the strategies for the parties remain the same: Republicans need to win big in the suburbs and the Wiregrass and hold down Democratic margins in the cities (as happened in 2014). Democrats need to win the state's four major cities and the college counties and get major turnout in the Black Belt to succeed (as happened in 2017).
2. Any races to watch in the Legislature?
In no particular order:
Muscle Shoals: Battles for three seats in the region have proven expensive. In Senate District 6, currently represented by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia. Stutts won the district by 67 votes in 2014, and faces a challenge from Democratic Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, D-Red Bay, that has led to almost $750,000 in combined spending. In House District 3, Republican Andrew Sorrell is trying to flip an open seat to the GOP, but Democratic nominee Chad Young has had some of the best fundraising number of any House Democrat this year. In Senate District 1, Republican incumbent Tim Melson and Democratic challenger Caroline Self have both been spending heavily.
Jefferson County: House Democratic nominees in several suburban areas had strong fundraising early in the year, though Republican incumbents started with large war chests that continued to build in October. The most closely watched race will be in House District 46, where Republican incumbent David Faulkner is trying to hold off Democratic challenger Felicia Stewart. Ivey is scheduled to appear with Faulkner on Tuesday.
Etowah County: Former Democratic House Minority Leader Craig Ford is running as an independent for an open Senate seat that (outside Stutts' race) was the closest campaign of 2014. Ford has raised $323,000 for the race and lent himself $350,000 last month. His opponent, Andrew Jones, has raised about $263,000 to hold the open seat for the Republicans.
Mobile and Baldwin counties: Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, has faced a strong challenge from Republican Michael McNair, who has raised nearly $100,000 for the race to Clarke's $70,000. Across the bay in traditionally-red Baldwin County, Rep. Teddy Faust, R-Fairhope, was outraised for much of the year by Democratic challenger Danielle Mashburn-Myrick, though Faust pulled in almost $65,000 in October.
Pike County: The home of Troy University has seen some close elections in recent years. Probate Judge Wes Allen, a Republican, is trying to defend a House seat for the GOP against Democratic nominee Joel Lee Williams, an attorney who came within 100 votes of taking the seat from the Republican incumbent in 2014.
3. Will fundraising forecast the results?
There have been few if any public polls of the races in Alabama, but the people with money are betting on another four years of GOP control. Republican candidates running for statewide offices or in legislative seats tended to enjoy fundraising advantages through the year.
While Democratic candidates like gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox and attorney general nominee Joe Siegelman were not swamped in the race, Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall both pulled in more money, and Ivey dominated the airwaves over the last month. Democrats tended to have more overall donations and won fundraising in the low-profile state auditor and Public Service Commission races, but their best performance came from Chief Justice nominee Bob Vance, who outraised Republican Tom Parker two-to-one and pulled in Republican endorsements for his candidacy.
The GOP's edge was even more pronounced in races for the Alabama Legislature – the most powerful branch of state government – where the Republican field as a whole regularly doubled or tripled-up Democratic opponents in both fundraising and spending.
4. What do the parties propose to do if they win?
Republican statewide candidates have tended to be quiet about their plans should they get the keys to state government in 2019. Ivey in particular has declined to discuss any new initiatives, trying to focus instead on the state's low unemployment rate and a message of experience. GOP candidates have tended to hit their traditional messages of upholding conservative ideas and working with business.
Democrats have supported a lottery for education (proposed by Maddox) and Medicaid expansion. The Legislature, likely to remain in Republican hands, would need to approve both: GOP leadership has rejected Medicaid expansion and has been at best ambivalent about a lottery.
5. Will down-ballot constitutional amendments bring out voters?
Among the proposals on the ballot are Amendment 1, which would put a right to display the Ten Commandments in the state Constitution (critics say it simply restates federal law on the subject). Amendment 2 would declare Alabama a pro-life state, which supporters call a statement of values but critics say could lead to a total ban on abortion, including in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns or guts Roe v. Wade. Both issues are popular with evangelical voters, and the Ivey campaign in particular has tried to use Amendment 2 against Maddox, who counters that he is concerned that it would not allow exceptions in cases of health or sexual assault.


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Justin Caruso is taking the electronic music world by storm as he continues to put out music and perform in a way that causes his fan base to steadily grow with each individual endeavor.
More recently he announced several performances at some of the best music festivals to take place this season, as well as dropping new tracks and remixes alongside some of the biggest industry professionals. We had the chance to catch up with the artist during Miami Music Week after his set at the Spinnin' Hotel to talk about musical collaborations, touring, and what's next for Justin Caruso.
How are you enjoying Miami Music Week so far?
Loving it! It's one of my favorite weeks. Being here is incredible, just running into friends and playing shows, its great!
What was your favorite part of your set today?
I have fun with Miami shows cause I can switch it up from my regular style. Like today I played a pool party so I was able to do a deep house set which is something I never really get to usually do. I had fun with that, making deep house edits of my own songs and such.
Earlier this month you released a new track with 3LAU, "Better With You." How was it working with 3LAU and what was the creative process like?
It's great working with 3LAU! He's like a brother to me. He honestly gave me my first chance. We toured together 3 years ago and ever since then we just became best friends and working together has always been pretty natural since we were on the road together. As far as the creative process, I had the topline and the idea and I sent it over to him and he loved it. Then we were on tour together in Boston and we were in his hotel room and we just spent a couple of hours working on it and we just kind of knocked it out. It was great to finally have a song out together.
You're gearing up for some big festivals later this year, what are you most excited for with the coming festival season?
I'm playing Chasing Summer, which I'm super excited about. I've always watched their livestreams and their videos so to be a part of it alongside some amazing artists is like a dream come true.
I've been obsessed with your track through Ninjawerks, "If We Stay" featuring Ivy Adara since you released it. What was the experience like working on this project?
That song is great! I've actually had that song in the works for like almost two to three years now. Emily Warren wrote the song and she sent me the idea a long time ago because I was a huge fan of hers. I remixed "Until You Were Gone'" by The Chainsmokers and she sang on it. Ever since then, we kind of stayed connected and she sent me this idea and I loved it. We worked on it but I never really had a chance to put it out so when the whole Ninjawerks project came forward they needed a song pretty quick and I had "If We Stay" like 80% done so I thought that was a perfect opportunity to finish it and get it out.
You recently remixed Two Friends' "With My Homies" and we love it! What made you want to remix this track?
I love those two guys! We actually grew up together. We went to the same school and grew up in the same area. They sent me that song and asked me if I wanted to remix it and I said I was 100% in. I recently did a couple of shows with them as well, it was perfect timing and right after I finished the remix.
You just finished touring with Tiesto at the end of 2018, how was that experience?
That's unreal. I still have to pinch myself. He's the nicest guy I've ever met and so supportive. He always texts me and checks in on me, what I'm working on and how my shows are going. Touring with him was awesome. The crowds were incredible.
Your "Best Day Ever" tribute for Mac Miller that you released earlier this year was so touching and special. As an artist, what made you want to create this tribute?
I listened to Mac Miller growing up–I think most people did–so him passing away was kind of a hit on music and so many different things and I wanted to kind of find a way to pay tribute to his music since I enjoy it so much. I wanted to do a cover of it but I didn't want to do anything too crazy. It's kind of chill, and I just wanted to put it on SoundCloud for people to enjoy. I didn't think it was fair to try to release on Spotify or try to make any money out of it. I wanted to do something special for him.
What are your biggest plans for 2019 with your musical career?
My biggest thing right now is trying to release as much music as possible. I'm finally at a point where I have so many songs done and I want to put them out to the world. I hope to release at least a song every month, maybe more than that. And I'm planning for a big fall tour coming up. I want to line up all my music and be ready for the tour.
I've seen photos of your adorable dog Obi and I have to ask you to tell me a little bit about him!
He's a mini labradoodle. Being away from him is the worst but he's the absolute best. Whenever I get back from tour, he's patiently waiting for me. Having him has definitely changed my life. He comes to the studio with me and once he gets a little older I want to bring him on tour with me as well.
Connect with Justin Caruso: Facebook / Twitter / SoundCloud


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Saturday, 30 June 2012
The Olympic Flame Burns Brightly...
Yes today was Walsall and Wolverhampton's (to name but a few) turn to have the Olympic torch pass through.
And seeing as hubby also has a fun day at work I went in with him.
(It did mean I also got lots of my own work done too, so much for a day off eh!)
The torch was running a little late but we picked a spot and waited, after all I won't get to see it again in my life time I doubt.
Walsall was absolutely packed and had a great feel to it with strangers all having a laugh and a joke together.
(Even sharing cake too)
Eventually the torch arrived and was lit for the waiting runner;
And before you knew it had passed us by;
The streamer cannons were great touch.
After all the excitement I am now off to get ready for a wedding reception of one of my dear friends.
Till tomorrow.
X x
7 comments:
Have a lovely time tonight.ReplyDelete
Enjoy the wedding, I went to one on Thursday, love weddings xReplyDelete
You see, I didn't need to go 'cos your pictures are totally brilliant. xReplyDelete
oooo it's coming to my town on Thursday!!!ReplyDelete
Glad you enjoyed it as much as we did. You got much better photos than me.ReplyDelete
how cool that you got to see it! I don't mind it not coming too close by me now, I feel like you've seen it for me.ReplyDelete
I didn't get to see it but my mums friends son got to carry it through :) Great photosReplyDelete
Tanesha x
Please be kind, remember we are all friends here.
I love getting your messages, they brighten up my day and will answer any questions as quickly as I possibly can.
Love and lipstick.
X x
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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I usually thrive on pressure, at least I did BC (Before Children), but now I am not so sure.
I think maybe I was being optimistic about looking for a part time job, as it seems that mum is not going to get back on her feet so easily this time and it looks as though I am going to have to spend more time looking after her as well as the children.
I think maybe I was being optimistic about looking for a part time job, as it seems that mum is not going to get back on her feet so easily this time and it looks as though I am going to have to spend more time looking after her as well as the children.
What the Consultant has said is that she has permanent lung damage due to smoking and also the latest chest infection and reduced her respiratory ability too. They officially call it Type 2 respiratory failure or COPD. In the olden days it would have been called smokers lung or emphysema. In all honesty I wish they would have called it either of them with mum when she was first diagnosed as it may have spurred her on to quit smoking before now, which is too little too late.
She also has been diagnosed with anemia, which is obviously not helping with her oxygen stats, so has had a number of scans. She will also need a gastroscopy and colonoscopy, but can not undergo the sedation at the moment as her oxygen levels may drop too much (sedation reduced the rate you breath at).
Mum has been staying with us since her discharge from hospital a week ago and now the hard works starts in getting all the help and financial assistance we can.
My mum lives on her own and this will not change until she needs round the clock nursing care, as she will not be looked after in either my brothers or my home (her choice and one that I am relieved immensely by).
We always thought that it would be her rheumatoid arthritis which caused her to be unable to manage the stairs, so last year when an endowment matured she had a downstairs wet room installed, which will be a godsend, however, we still need to arrange to get 2 stair lifts installed.
Why two you ask, well mum lived in an old victorian terrace and the bathroom is set on a landing between two staircases, as it was an add on at the rear of the house along with the kitchen and the levels are different to the bedrooms.
I also need to arrange a wheel chair, as up to now we have always borrowed one when necessary.
Someone to come in and do the cleaning and the ironing in the short term. Once Mini is at school full time in September then I will do this on a daily basis, however, mum is going to need some help and assistance in getting up and dressed for a little while and also in cooking meals etc.
It is so, so hard and makes me really sad. I never thought I would be responsible for looking after my mum at 36 with a nearly 5 year old and a 3 year old to look after as well. In addition to this I am aware that it is important that I continue to work on my relationship with MadDad too.
Yes I am feeling it, the pressure, this is my mum, the woman who brought me up, we may not always see eye to eye, but I love her and can not bear the thought of losing her.
Yes I am under pressure, I want her to live as independant a life as she can, I want her to enjoy her life and I want the grandchildren to have happy memories of their time with her.
Yes I am under pressure, social care teams are woefully understaffed and getting any support is hard.
But I am also under the opinion that you are only given the things you can handle to deal with and as a family we will all get through this. My Brother has been fantastic, visiting every night even though he really needs to be in the club.
MadDad is being a star as always, giving me the space and time I need to blog, be with the children and an ear to moan into and arms to fall into.
I am not looking for sympathy, as you know that is not my thing, but a little understanding now and then, whilst I work at getting the balance right for all involved and yes I may be under pressure, but I do have my mother to celebrate mothers day with this Sunday and at the moment, after the few weeks we have had that is all I could have asked for.
This post was inspired by prommt 5 What is making you feel under pressure right now?


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It was a moment of pride for Kolkata when the city was honoured with the C40 Cities Award last year at an awards ceremony in Mexico City. Kolkata's Solid Waste Management Improvement Project (KSWMIP) was chosen as a winner for "Solid Waste" in the C40 Mayors Summit, where 40 mayors from around the world assembled to create more sustainable cities for their residents.
Over the last few years, the Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project is doing a brilliant job in limiting the risks of climate change that is often aggravated by the unsanitary disposal of waste. KSWMIP, a body under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, has already accomplished 60-80% waste segregation at its source with plans to completely eliminate open dumping and burning of waste to restrict the methane gas concentration at landfill sites.
Overall, the city's beautification agenda is driven by clean and green initiatives like planting trees, building safe pathways, deploying better waste management system, and aesthetically beautifying the Kolkata riverfront – a 10 km stretch along the Hooghly river bank from Baranagar in the north to Garden Reach on the southern fringes. The amount that is being spent by the Bengal government on beautification is just 2% of the state's annual budget, and the money is not being diverted from funds that are already allocated for social sector developments.
Having said that, here are some key initiatives that are underway to make the city cleaner, greener, and more 'liveable'.
Road Dividers, Guard Rails, and Maintenance of City Parks with Corporate Participation
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), to ensure safer mobility of citizens, is erecting road dividers and guardrails around the city. The dividers, with plantation in-between, will create greenery, enhance beauty, and make sure the citizens of Kolkata are safe. KMC is involving the private sector to maintain the median strips dividing the lanes beautified with a variety of saplings. Officials from KMC believe that roping in big corporate houses to adopt the city's open spaces won't be much of a problem since business houses these days are willing to spend a large sum of money on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
Modern Abattoirs at Tangra
The Union Ministry of Food Processing has agreed to partner with Kolkata Municipal Corporation to transform the old slaughterhouses in Tangra. The new abattoirs will include fully automated equipment with adequate facilities to take care of health, hygiene, and cleanliness. The modern abattoirs will comply with international-class food processing standards as well as environmental norms.
Foot Overbridges
KMC, the civic body of Kolkata, has decided to put up eight new foot overbridges in some of the city's most congested traffic intersections. According to a preliminary report, the civic body will start with Esplanade (east), Chittaranjan Avenue- B.B. Ganguli Street intersection, Dorina Crossing, Chittaranjan Avenue- Mahatma Gandhi Road intersection, Bhupen Bose Road, and Chittaranjan Avenue-Ganesh Chandra Avenue crossing before taking up other thoroughfares for the construction of foot overbridges. All these foot overbridges will feature escalators to encourage more pedestrians to use these bridges, which will help avoid accidents and ensure safety.
Refurbishing the Heritage Buildings
Kolkata, once known as the City of Palaces, has come into disrepute as we have not succeeded in refurbishing and maintaining our beautiful architectural wonders and the heritage buildings. It is painful to see some of our heritage buildings is a state of disrepair. There is an urgent need to government and citizens' initiative in this regard.
Landscaping and Plantation
The West Bengal Wasteland Development Corporation Limited (WBWDC) is considering taking up a number of plantation, beautification, and roadside landscaping projects. The proposed plan includes compensatory plantation for trees felled due to various infrastructural projects, the creation of theme gardens, nature walks, and a deer park in the Rajarhat area. The authority is working to build a nature interpretation centre at the Aquatic Hub off EM Bypass and is also planning to amplify the ambiance of Salt Lake's Banabitan by ramping up its amenities.
People from various parts of Bengal have been deployed under the 100-day work scheme by the KMC to take care of the day-to-day conservancy work. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has procured 10 hydraulic ladders for scientific cutting and trimming of trees while the West Bengal fire department is mulling the use of drones to sharpen its edge in fighting a fire. The initiatives will make the city cleaner, greener, and a lot safer.
The refurbishing drive will ensure better waste management and cleanliness, expand green spaces, augment transportation facilities, and perhaps make Kolkata more beautiful and appealing to domestic as well as international tourists.


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Oscar Admin is a popular open source WebApp template for admin dashboards and control admin panels. Oscar is a fully responsive HTML template, based on the CSS framework Bootstrap. It utilizes all of the Bootstrap components in its design and re-styles many commonly used plugins to create a consistent design that can be used as a user interface for backend applications. Oscar Admin is based on a modular design, which allows it to be easily customised and built upon.
7 Different Dashboards
7 Color Skins
Data Table Export to CSV, Excel, PDF, Copy and Print
Range Slider
Light/Dark Sidebar Themes
400+ pages
500+ Ui Components
Lots of widgets
Bootstrap 4 beta
1700+ Fonts Icons
Fully Responsive pages
SCSSbase CSS
Easy to customize
Many Charts Options
Multi File upload
Lots of Table Examples
Validation Forms
Lots of ready to use plugins.
Update Log
1.5.2 - Added Form Validation, fixed issue in mobile sidebar, fixed tooltip problem 1.5.1 - Updated major changes for responsiveness 1.5 - Updated to Bootstrap 4 to latest Beta Version 1.4 - Updated Styling, Fixed Contact Select Issue, Added Chat App 1.3.1 - Fixed a Bug regarding DaterangerPicker 1.3 - Updated to Bootstrap 4 alpha 6


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Four Visuals That Explain the Rise of Undocumented Immigrants to the United States
Immigration has become a hot-button topic this election season, and no wonder. The number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States has more than tripled in the last 25 years, after two decades of steady rise and a more recent plateau:
Undocumented immigrants make up a significant share of America's parents and workers:
That's especially true in the six states with the highest undocumented populations: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. The federal government is the usual legislative body responsible for citizenship issues, but thanks in large part to Congressional gridlock, it has struggled to pass immigration reform. Thus, states have taken matters in their own hands. In the last several years, states have enacted nearly 200 new laws having to do with immigrants every year.
Some of these laws are welcoming, while others are restrictive. Some states even feature a combination of undocumented immigrant-friendly and immigrant-unfriendly laws. Check out this map of how states lean on the issue:
Last year, public policy researchers at the University of California–Riverside theorized that because states have done so much of their own immigrant lawmaking, they can end up creating a kind of "state citizenship" (that's very different from national citizenship) for undocumented immigrants. California, in particular, offers a package of rights to unauthorized immigrants that opens up opportunity for them, and their children, to succeed.


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Michael's Guide to Computer Data Storage
By Michael LoneWolf, www.MKRD.info
rev D 23Feb11
© 2011 Michael LoneWolf, www.MKRD.info. No distribution allowed.
Which Hard Drive to buy?
There's a bewildering number of choices out there for hard drives, too much for the consumer to know what to choose. However, I will share advice which will not only save you money, but protect your data as well, which is ten times as important.
Let us start. Firstly, cost is irrelevant. Any capacity can be purchased for any cost, low or high. The only time cost enters the equation is if you buy from a retail store. Therefore, do not buy from a retail store. You'll pay too much. I will help you find an affordable hard drive for your budget, so that you will be able to afford two hard drives, often for less than one retail hard drive would cost. Why two? You'll find out shortly! To find a cheap hard drive, shop around. Do not try just one website, try other large reputable online resellers as well. Use Google Shopping, to find out how low you can buy that hard drive for, but by only from reputable sources.
Secondly, capacity is irrelevant. For almost the same price you can buy a 500GB hard drive, or a 2TB one. How much storage should you get? As much as possible. Don't ever limit yourself by amount of storage – it will grow very quickly as time passes. I went from 60GB hard drive to 250GB, to 750GB, to 1TB, to several 2TB hard drives. however, there is one factor that increases with increasing capacity – how much data you can lose at a time. Almost noone realizes that while you can buy a 500GB and a 2TB hard drive for almost the same price, losing 2TB data is very different from losing 500GB of data. In general, buy the biggest hard drive you can find on your budget so that you will never have to worry about adding a second one or moving your data to a larger hard drive in the future.
So what does matter when purchasing a hard drive? Surprisingly, it is factors that few people know about, and factors that are often omitted from online descriptions.
Reliability. Most important factor when buying a hard drive, it is nonetheless hard to be calculated.
- Brand can be used somewhat to protect yourself. Take a look at all of these factors that go with a brand:
- Past history – has the company had a history of hard drive failures? For example, many people, myself included, were affected by the Seagate "brick" drive symptom. The company did little to explain or remedy the complete and irreversible failure of the hard drive. Therefore, I will never again buy from Seagate.
- What is the return policy of the manufacturer? This is why buying online from reputable sources with original warranty intact is a must. Both the seller and the manufacturer must have a good warranty policy.
- How new is this hard drive technology?
- How new is the company to market? Is it one of the established manufacturers or a no-name company?
- Where and how are you buying your hard drive? Is it from a no-name website that you do not know where they get their hard drives from? Is it in original manufacturer's packaging? Has it been refurbished? How well will it be packed for shipping? Badly packaged hard drive will either arrive DOA or will fail some time in the future.
- Do not purchase refurbished hard drives, period.
Cache size. This factor is the single biggest one for hard drive performance and reliability. Small cache will significantly slow the transfer rate and decrease reliability and increase power consumption and heating due to hard drive constantly doing random "seek"s. Go with largest cache, currently 64MB.
Transfer rate. If you care at all how fast you can move that huge amount of storage (for secondary storage) or how fast your system is going to be (for primary OS storage), this is another factor you need to find out. Watch out for idiotic rates like "Up to 3000 Mb/sec" or "300 MB/sec" this is the transfer rate of the cable between the hard drive and your computer, irrelevant in affecting the hard drive performance. You need to look for "sustained write" specs or similar. This most likely can only be found from the manufacturer's website, or another (more intelligent) online reseller. This sustained transfer rate will be significantly less than the "300MB/s" rate, and that is how to tell them apart.
Table of recommended hard drives
I have put together the following table of recommended hard drives. In general, most affordable hard drive from each category was chosen (based on capacity). While the exact part numbers may no longer be on sale, or sold at all, a web search by model of the hard drive will bring up equivalent hard drives in each category. Shop around to find the best deal.
|Solid State
|Fast Speed
|High Reliability
|High Capacity
|OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD3-2AGT90G, OCZ OCZSSD3-2VTX90G Vertex 2
|WD VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS
|WD Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS
|WD WD20EARS Caviar Green
|Price / Size
|Transfer rate
|250 MB/s
|126 MB/s
|128 MB/s
|126 MB/s
|110 MB/s
|Low (wears out, 3 year warranty)
|Medium (5 year warranty)
|Medium (testing, 5 year warranty)
|Link1, Link2, Link3
The following are some things to consider while looking at the table:
- First and foremost, the hyped VelociRaptor hard drive has the same transfer rate as just about any other hard drive. As it is so heavily advertised (and understood) by "performance" seeking people to be much faster than other hard drives (not the least due to its 10k RPM speed), that is simply not true. The only things in which this hard drive is better than conventional drives are: seek time (time for HD to find a random file), its built-in heatsink, and higher reliability. However, simply defragmenting your hard drive (with a third-party utility such as UltimateDefrag if necessary) will erase that difference.
- Secondly, for a modest price increase, but a large reliability increase, you can purchase "enterprise class" hard drives from major manufacturers, such as WD RE4 above. This is second best thing (besides bringing the temperature down) that you can do to increase reliability.
- SSD drive gives you twice the transfer rate for four times (or more) the cost. It is up to you whether you want to justify the cost of purchasing a SSD drive.
- There is little sense in buying anything less than several terabytes' worth of storage for a second hard drive as the $100 prices for such drives are simply ridiculous. So buy second one as a backup. Note: Unless you are using an OS such as Windows 7 or similar, you may be unable to use all of the 3TB or 4TB capacity of a single large drive. In my opinion, you should stay away from most recently introduced hard drives for reliability reasons, and stick to 2TB drives with their well known behaviors.
- Note: It is highly recommended to use SSD drives only with Windows 7 and comparable OSes that understand specifics of SSD (such as not doing defrag on an SSD drive)
- The SSD chosen is about the fastest (transfer rate) and cheapest in the industry. I have researched the most affordable SSD storage.
You have just received your hard drive, now what?
Don't plug it in just yet!
If you bought the hard drive from a retail store, mark and save the receipt, and save all packaging.
If you have bought the hard drive online, collect all purchase orders and order confirmations that you have, print them out, and save along with packaging. Inspect packaging for damage. When opening note how well the hard drive was packaged. If it is colder outside than it is inside, allow the hard drive to gradually warm up to house temperature.
If it is an internal hard drive, shut the computer down. If there is a power switch on the power supply itself, turn if off but leave the power cable plugged in (for ESD grounding). Install the hard drive securely. Touch the metal case of the computer often to discharge ESD. Plug in cables securely. Be careful to not unplug other cables, with SATA cables on other hard drives being ridiculously easy to pull out accidentally.
On first power up, you must listen to noises that the drive makes. If there is a single loud click, multiple clicks, or a loud power-up whine, then the hard drive either does not have enough power, or is defect. For USB drives, low power is often the cause. For internal drives, any clicks should make you very suspect.
Do I need additional cooling?
So many sources now sell all kinds of gizmos for your computer, with additional cooling being the most popular. There are heatsinks, fans, and even cooled bays for hard drives. Do you need any of that? You don't – if your intent was not to cram as much power into your computer as possible. Do not install hard drives on top of another. Leave one bay between them empty. If there is airflow from the front of the case over your hard drives, they will do fine.
If you made your mind up on purchasing cooling, avoid cooled bays. These are often crappy at best, with bad thermal transfer between the hard drive and the metal casing, and with an underpowered fan that clogs and whines and breaks and drives you insane. A solid chunk of metal as a radiator over the hard drive is a better cooling method. In general, avoid adding more and more fans to your computer enclosure blowing in random directions.
How many hard drives for my computer?
You will need at least two hard drives for any desktop computer. Why two? Because the Operating System must be separated from your data. Having a single hard drive for both OS and data is bad for many reasons, with some being:
- An OS crash and OS reinstall will likely wipe your data
- You need to have a faster hard drive for OS, and a reliable one for your data
- Most viruses and malware only infect the OS drive
- OS is hard to transfer from one hard drive to another, while you may need to upgrade your storage HD over time. Separating the two will not affect one from the other
- OS hard drive is accessed about every second for memory page writes. This significantly decreases its reliability
- In the future, you may want your storage HD to be hot-swappable or removable, or to be placed in a RAID array
- In case of HD crash (it will happen), you don't want a crash to affect both your ability to use your computer, and to regain access to your data
- Whenever you will cycle power to the computer (ACPI hard restart by holding down the power button, power loss, computer freeze, etc) there will be data loss. If your computer wasn't constantly writing to the secondary storage HD during power loss, the damage will be constrained to your primary HD.
In general, buy a high-performance, high-transfer-rate, low capacity hard drive for your primary (OS) storage, and biggest capacity, reliable, and power conserving hard drive for your secondary (Data) storage. Keep the primary hard drive 120GB or so, bigger only if needed. Only keep your "My Documents" files in there. Files that you access often, constantly, or that need fast access to should be kept on the primary hard drive. Files that are downloaded, or shared, or being accessed all the time should be on your primary hard drive. Like on a desk, you keep everything you need often at arm's length.
Secondary hard drive is your filing cabinet. You need to get up and walk over to access it. It contains a huge amount of data neatly organized. It is physically secure. It is accessed rarely. But data there is relied upon being there, easy to find, whenever you need access to it. Also, go for "green" hard drives for secondary storage. Not for the "save the earth" BS, but because many of them run quieter, cooler, and slow down or turn off when not accessed for some period of time.
How to significantly increase the reliability of your hard drives
How to drastically increase the reliability of your hard drives:
- Use a UPS.
- Do not play games on the computer you use to store large amount of data on. Games crash constantly and increase the case temperature significantly.
- Control northbridge temperature. Lockups where your computer starts responding completely – not even the mouse moves, but no BSOD is displayed are often due to overheating, especially of the northbridge.
- Do not ever shut down your computer by pressing down on your power button for several seconds. If your computer is extremely slow to respond, tell it to shutdown, try to open the task manager, select the option to shutdown from the task manager, and give the computer as long as it needs to very slowly shut down.
- Make absolutely sure your data is separate from your OS hard drive
- Move your page file to another hard drive. This may even be a third hard drive, or a PCI solid state drive with very low capacity. Your OS does page writes several times a second, along with writing to temporary files locations (several of them). This wears down your hard drive significantly, and ensures that at any event of power loss, the hard drive was always writing somewhere. Errors in the page file and temporary files are most often what results after a sudden power loss.
How to significantly increase system speed
To significantly increase system speed and throughput,
- Use two conventional Hard Drives in a striped RAID configuration.
- RAM is always the speed limiting factor. Use the fastest RAM your motherboard will support, and use at least 4GB.
- Defragment your hard drive(s).
Software for your Hard Drive
Often, when you first plug in your hard drive, it needs to be initialized or formatted. This not a process you click "next, next" on. Carefully research what the process will do and what options it takes.
"SMART" software is most often a load of BS as utilized. In theory, it will monitor your hard drive real—time for temperature, error rate, and impending crash. In reality, most SMART software is crap, and gives you a false sense of security. Anything you trust in providing you with reliability must be researched by you as thoroughly as needed. Real SMART software must always run in background, inform you of unsafe temperatures, inform you of disk errors, detect approaching disk failure, warn on physical hard drive errors (seek failure, power up length failure, page write failure, etc), and warn of RAID errors (if implemented). I will present a report on real SMART software in the future.
Backup is a must, not an option. When you buy a hard drive, buy another one with same capacity or larger. The hard drive should be from a different manufacturing method than the primary one you bought (different manufacturer, or different family from same manufacturer, etc). Have the second hard drive as a backup. Most people are only aware that storage these days is ridiculously cheap. They are not aware that losing a ridiculous amount of data has become ridiculously easy. Cost of the hard drive is irrelevant, cost of having a large amount of data in safe-keeping is what is relevant. And you never, never want to have to pay for data recover, as costs of several thousands of dollars are typical. Now do you see why a hundred bucks for a hard drive is not relevant?
Sadly, most backup strategies are one of the following:
- Poorly understood. RAID being an example.
- Not fault—proof. If a power loss corrupted data on one hard drive in your computer, a poorly implemented RAID solution of wiring to two hard drives at the same time most likely damaged the backup as well.
- Have data kept on a primary desktop which gets hard restarts, BSOD, freezes, and people play games on.
- If manual, being time—intensive and being ultimately abandoned.
- Only blindly saving whatever it is on the hard drive being backed up, while you will likely need that hard drive you overwrote, send to recycle, bin, or one you need a previous version of.
- Over—hyped. With purchased software being most typical. Paying for a third—party software very likely gave you a false notion that backup is easy.
Backup is hard, it requires commitment, it requires research and investment. The only time you can trust some software to do the backup for you is when you are absolutely able to do the job yourself manually, but a piece of software will do the same thing you would do, only with also saving you time and being regular about it.
Additionally, no one single method of backup is sufficient. Not RAID, with it being too technical compared to how hard to use it is, not copy paste, with it not being a valid strategy, and certainly not paid third party software, with it being dump and over—hyped.
Hot plugging. We were all told that SATA supports hot—plugging (or hot removal) – when you don't need to turn off your computer to remove or replace a hard drive. Guess what, more BS. There's one program that does this, called HotSwap!
Locked files (files that cannot be deleted or renamed, or that prevent the parent folder from being modified or deleted) are easily remedied with the very useful Unlocker.
Indexing and "desktop search" (searching within files) is best with Copernic Desktop Search. It is the only search program that I know of that searches within Open Source files like Open Office odt, and others. Micro$oft's Desktop Search does not.
Encryption. There are two kinds of encryption – good and inadequate. Most encryption and data protection methods are inadequate. In analogy, they are a padlock. It is visible and impressive, but only lasts as long as a guy with big bolt cutter comes along. And some protection software is a padlock that you can break with your bare hands (built-in Operating System methods being a good example, and anything from Micro$oft). There is good encryption software like TrueCrypt, however if you forget or lose the password, it is physically impossible to recover the data. In this case, the data is so secure not even you will be able to gain access to it. Again, a backup of the password, volume header (for TrueCrypt), and a backup of contents must also be made.
Do not forget utilities to fix shortcuts, eliminate duplicate files (NoClone), to pack and unpack files (WinRAR, and there's a guide to it coming from me in the future), to save a DVD (DVD Decrypter) to hard drive, and CD/DVD emulation (PowerISO, Alcohol 52%).
Additionally, for certain situations you might want to print out the list of files in a directory. This software is called by many names, "file tree printer", "directory listing print" being two of many. I have found that simply running the command from a "cmd" window
tree /F /A >filename.txt
dir /B /S >filename.txt
is sufficient.
Rather than carrying around your private information, or copying it back and forth, research remote access. If you carry around a laptop, or want access to files stored on your home computer from another location, don't copy them and carry them around. Remote access, once researched and set up, is much more intelligent than multiple copies of same files all with different modification dates.
Similarly, if you do have to access same files from more than one device or location, file synchronization needs to be researched and setup. I can only note that most software is insufficient or dumb for the task.
Do not forget to setup remote access to your bookmarks (favorites). Unfortunately, all of the above three tasks I have attempted to research without finding anything of value. Watch out for reports in the future, to be placed on my website, about topics above.
Dealing with data loss. Loss is inevitable in our lives, be it the previous version of the file, file you cannot locate, a single deleted file or directory, overwritten data, or crash of the whole hard drive. It is how you deal with the loss what's important. STOP doing everything. WRITE DOWN what happened prior to loss, and what you have lost. RESEARCH recovery strategies. RECOVER to another hard drive (not to the same one you are recovering data on). PREVENT same from happening ever again.
Other Storage Devices
USB memory sticks – are ridiculously cheap and are too large in capacity. Why? Because carrying around more than 16GB of data on a memory stick just makes it that longer to copy or transfer that data, that much easier to lose the data, that much more private information that can be lost, and that many duplicate files to synchronize. Buy something cheap from a reputable online seller, that is less than 16GB, and synchronize/offload your data often. Also, mark the memory stick as yours on the outside, with a file inside, and include your email and return for reward information. Do not include your name or phone number if you store private data on the device. You can also encrypt data on a memory stick, or run Portable Apps on it.
External Hard Drives – are a good alternative to adding an internal hard drive, however:
- As mentioned before, if they make clicking noises, they either do not have enough power or are about to fail. If it is powered from a power adapter that you plug in the wall, and the hard drive makes either a single loud click or a series of clicks, move your data to another hard drive immediately and return the device.
- Do not turn off an external hard drive by turning off the power switch or unplugging it. Always "safely remove" the drive from Operating System (or shutdown your computer first), and then power the device down.
- 2.5 inch laptop drives that you have lying around, as well as 3.5 inch desktop drives can be easily converted to an external drive by buying a cheap external hard drive enclosure/case.
- For cheap and no—name external devices, cooling and sound insulation is often inadequate. Fans on these units often start to whine or fail outright.
About the Author
Michael LoneWolf is the administrator, designer, and writer for the www.MKRD.info information website, commenting on many different areas, and doing his best to document experience and knowledge he comes across.
Professionally, Michael works in electronics engineering, and website services areas. He specializes in providing services for websites – converting old static html websites to a modern design, rescuing hacked websites, and website administration services.
He can be reached thru the online contact form at http://mkrd.info/contact1.html.


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Argan & Geranium | Beard Wash
Sale price
Regular price
Unit price
Beard Wash (100 ml) - Argan & Germanium
Product contains 100% natural essential oils.
Ingredients : Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Cocamide MEA, Polyquaternium-7, CTAC, Aloe Vera Extract, Aqua, PEG-7, Glycerine, EDTA, Phenoxyethanol & Capryloyl Glycine & Undecylenoyl glycine, Rosemary Oil, Geranium Oil, Frankincense Oil, Juniper Berry Oil, Argan Oil.
If there was such a thing as bling for your beard, this would be it. Moroccan Argan, often called 'liquid gold', is proven to make beard softer, shinier and frizz-free. It is rich in anti-oxidants and moisturising agents, which makes it a key ingredient in hair and beard products. The rejuvenating fragrance of geranium is a relaxant, and its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties ensure healthy hair growth.


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Third Chakra: Solar Plexus
Chole from Sky tantra asked me to join her 'Tantra Blog Relay', OK, that seems interesting, lets talk about Chakra today.
The topic for me today: The third chakra
The third chakra is referred to as the Solar Plexus, his Sanskrit name Manipura.
It is located two inches below the breastbone in the center behind the stomach.
The third chakra is the center of personal power, the place of ego , of passions, impulses, anger and strength. It is also the center for astral travel and astral influences, receptivity of spirit guides and for psychic development. Rules the Mental portion of our consciousness and governs thinking, the power of control that is gained by our minds. The third chakra is the Power Chakra. Due to The projections of our ego and our vital energies are both influenced by this chakra because it rules how well we can maintain our sense of Self when in a power struggle with another. The battle between egos is difficult to win if we are children and our opponent is our parent. Therefore, this chakra holds the secrets of the many power struggles that we fought and lost with our parents, and other authority figures, as a child.
When is out of balance you may feel powerless, lack confidence, be confused, worry about what others think, feel that others are controlling your life. Our sense of powerlessness causes excessive worrying, hypochondriac pain, irritability, and procrastination. We are overly sensitive, cry easily, feel fatigue, and are often anxious and/or depressed.
Our bodies respond to the constant tension by developing ulcers, jaundice, hepatitis, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and gallstones,digestive difficulties, nervous exhaustion, and food allergies.
Symbol of The third chakra
When balanced, we have a strong sense of personal power and self-motivation. you may feel cheerful, outgoing, have self-respect, expressive, enjoy taking on new challenges.
The body parts for this chakra include the stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, and small intestine.
The note for this chakra is D and the mantra is ram or aum.
Astrology sign related to the solar plexus is Leo which is ruled by the sun, the ego system that we embody within this lifetime.
The color of this chakra is yellow to gold which represents intellectual thinking.
The gemstones are Citrine, Topaz, and Yellow Calcite.
Thanks for reading! The next blog in this 'Tantra Blog Relay'(4th Chakra) will pass to Sherry, owner of Extatic Tantric massage.
Just found a good tantra music from youtube:


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Thermocouple-to-Digital Converters achieve ±2.0°C accuracy.
Press Release Summary:
Available in 3 x 4 x 0.75 mm TDFN package, MAX31850/MAX31851 integrate discrete ADC, accurate reference, temperature sensor for cold-junction compensation, and 1-Wire® interface that allows multiple sensor locations to communicate and draw power over single data line. MAX31850 supports K, J, N, T, and E thermocouple types, while MAX31851 is available for R and S thermocouples. Devices identify open or shorted thermocouples that could result in erroneous temperature readings or system faults.
Original Press Release:
Maxim Integrated's 1-Wire Thermocouple-to-Digital Converters Simplify Multisensor Industrial and Medical Designs
Maxim's converters integrate all the functions required for a complete and highly accurate thermocouple-to-digital solution.
SAN JOSE, Calif., -- Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) today announced that it is now sampling the MAX31850/MAX31851 cold-junction-compensated, 1-Wire® thermocouple-to-digital converters. The devices achieve ±2.0°C accuracy (not including sensor nonlinearity) while integrating all of the functions required for a complete thermocouple-to-digital solution. Additionally, the MAX31850/MAX31851's 1-Wire interface allows multiple sensor locations to communicate and draw power over a single data line, greatly simplifying wiring requirements. Designers can use the MAX31850 or MAX31851 instead of multiple discrete components for accurate temperature measurement in medical, industrial, and solar applications.
Because thermocouple output voltages are small and cold-junction compensation is needed to achieve accurate results, the digitization of thermocouple signals can be a challenge. The MAX31850/MAX31851 are the industry's first solution to integrate a discrete analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a highly accurate reference, a temperature sensor for cold-junction compensation, and a 1-Wire bus interface into a single chip. The versatile converters operate with several types of thermocouples, speeding system design, lowering system cost, and reducing the bill of materials (BOM). The MAX31850/MAX31851 also identify open or shorted thermocouples that could result in erroneous temperature readings or system faults. A microcontroller can read the fault status at any time to help ensure uptime and prevent costly repairs.
Key Advantages
-- High integration and accuracy: converters achieve ±2.0°C accuracy while combining multiple discrete component functions into a single chip.
-- Simplified designs: the devices' 1-Wire interface allows for a large number of devices on the same communication bus. Their four dedicated address pins uniquely identify up to 16 sensor locations.
-- Versatility: the MAX31850 is available for K, J, N, T, and E thermocouple types and the MAX31851 is available for R and S thermocouple types.
Industry Commentary
-- "The digitization of thermocouple signals poses a unique design challenge, especially when a large number of thermocouples are involved," said Amy Gebrian, Senior Business Manager of Thermal Management Products at Maxim Integrated. "The MAX31850/MAX31851 greatly ease design effort and minimize system wiring by integrating a complete thermocouple digitizer circuit and a single wire interface into one IC."
-- "Accurate temperature measurement is critical in industrial and medical equipment," said Susie Inouye, Research Director at Databeans. "Products that enable high accuracy temperature sensing will become increasingly important for these industries."
Availability and Pricing
-- Available in a 10-pin, exposed-pad TDFN package (3mm x 4mm x 0.75mm).
-- Specified over the -40°C to +125°C temperature range.
-- Pricing starts at $3.10 (1000-up, FOB USA).
Download a hi-res image of the MAX31850 thermocouple-to-digital converter.
1-Wire is a registered trademark of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About Maxim Integrated
At Maxim Integrated, we put analog together in a way that sets our customers apart. In Fiscal 2012, we reported revenues of $2.4 billion.
Follow Maxim Integrated on Twitter and on Facebook.
Contact: Timery Crawford
(408) 601-5435
Web Site: http://www.maxim-ic.com


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Following last weeks' rumors saying that Apple was planning on updating the white MacBook, today the device is no longer available on the online store. Is this goodbye?
CNet reports that after the announcement that Apple made today regarding the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini, the online Apple store took out the white MacBook, which was available until now at a price of 999 dollars. However, people who are still looking to buy one, can find it in Apple's refurbished market for 849 dollars.
Apple hasn't released any comments about the withdrawal of the product and did not provide CNet with an immediate answer on the matter. The surprise of the silent calling back of the white Macbook comes as last week everyone was speculating of the supposed plans of updating it. 9to5Mac reported that, according to their sources, "part numbers for new Mac Pros are not yet available. Instead, these part numbers are actually for an upgraded white MacBook and new Mac Mini line."
The basic MacBook was first released on May 16, 2006. It had an Intel Core Duo processor, a dispay of 13.3 inches, 667 MHz, 512 MB, a hard drive of 60 GB or 80 GB, and the Mac Os X 10.4.6 operating system included. It weighed 5.2 lb (or 2.4 kg). The White MacBook was first released on October 2008, having a 2.0 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 800MHz, the same 13.3 inch display, double the memory and the hard drive and having the Mac Os X 10.5.4 operating system included.
The most recent model was released on May 18, 2010. It has a 2.13 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 800MHz, the same 13.3 inch display, memory of 2GB, 160 GB hard drive and having the Mac Os X 10.5.6 operating system included.
Earlier today, waving the white MacBook goodbye silently, Apple released the new and improved models of MacBook Air, which are equipped with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors. Their price starts at 999 dollars.


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AKA:.44 Special
Spécial magnum (Canada) (French title) (subtitle) / (France)
Autopsie im College - Feuerstoss (Germany) (DVD title)
Escándalo en la residencia (Spain)
Blazing Magnum (UK) (censored version)
Una magnum Special per Tony Saitta (Italy)
Big Magnum 77 (Japan) (English title) (promotional title)
Strange Shadows in an Empty Room (USA) (video box title)
Tough Tony Saitta (Europe) (English title)
Feuerstoß (West Germany)
Shadows in an Empty Room (World-wide) (English title)
After a long wait, finally available on CD one of the greatest albums from the 70s Beat Records Catalogue, the original soundtrack from the motion Picture Blazing Magnum (Una magnum special per Tony Saitta) composed by M° Armando Trovaioli.
The typical American cop movies sound with a great Orchestra and the orchestration in the style of the 70s will let you dive into the funkyest decade of the history!. A great proof of the genius of the Maestro that gives evidence of his unearthly class.
Since a while out of stock, now available again in a deluxe version, with 12 pages booklet edited by Daniele De Gemini featuring a double cover, mastering by Enrico De Gemini and liner notes by Pollanet Squad!
- Beat Records


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Ramsha Fashion Latest Embroidered dresses 2014 have recently launched for parties and functions. Ramsha fashion projected and launched all the lovely dresses for every type of ladies age. These lovely dresses are embroidered with top quality materials and elaborations. Ramsha 2014 Fashion Embroidered women dresses are trying impressive in their gorgeous styles. Ramsha home is one among the illustrious and leading brands of fashion article of clothing.
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These new Embroidered Frocks Resham Cloths 2014 fashion Embroidered with spectacular fashion designs. Shirts and long dresses with trousers and churidar pajamas are supplemental to the current collection. They're all to wear and cozy in their exotic styles. Now take a look at Ramsha Fashion House Latest Anarkali Frocks Dresses 2014 For Women & Girls,…


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All about
the ASDSA
Furthering the aims of the National Skills Development and other human capital development strategies through participation in education, training and development initiatives.Learn about the ASDSA
Join as a
You can easily become a member with many benefits. You can get professional support structures, a constitution with code of ethics, information sharing, unified voice, lobbying, networking and life-long learning.Learn about Memberships
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Last year's intense fire season led to calls for more "treatment" of federal forests to remove excess fuel that can make for bigger, hotter wildfires. In November, House Republicans — including Oregon's Second District Representative Greg Walden — passed a bill to grease the skids for more work in the woods. The bill now awaits action in the Republican–controlled Senate.
But while there's broad bipartisan agreement that more needs to be done to promote forest health, the opposing sides can have very different pictures of what that looks like on the ground.
Nick Smith says the need for more active management of public forests is great, and urgent. "We have currently over a hundred million acres, according to the Forest Service, of federal forest land that are at some risk of catastrophic wildfire," he says.
Smith is executive director of the industry-affiliated non-profit group Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities. He says decades of fire suppression and unwise logging practices — as well as climate change and drought — have resulted in forests that are dangerously overstocked and fire-prone. And, he says, current federal policies have failed both forest health and local timber-dependent communities. And that, Smith says, is where the Resilient Federal Forests Act comes in. "It's aimed at reducing the cost and time it takes for agencies to implement projects on forests that are at immediate risk of wildfire, insects and disease," he says.
The bill, also known as HR-2936, is co-sponsored by Oregon Second District Rep. Greg Walden. It would streamline the process for green-lighting forest projects in a variety of ways.
From Jefferson Public Radio: http://ijpr.org/post/house-republicans-push-easier-approval-forest-projects-0#stream/0


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Online Fitness Training has emerged a great avenue for the betterment of health and fitness. Hiring an online personal trainer is a good thing, but you're going to have to prepare for it. In order for you to have a successful run in the online Training, you need to undertake a few important preparatory steps. Adhering to them, you will not just witness a good change in your performance in the online training workout, but also experience a pivotal improvement in your overall health and well-being.
Drink Lots of Water
Water is the most important element in the body. So obviously, the key to performing any exercise or workout routine is that your body needs to be well-hydrated. So before you go to the workouts, make sure that you have consumed good quantities of water during the hours prior. Also, while you are working out, take breaks in between and sip some water. It will ensure that your body is hydrated, and will also provide you with a vibe of rejuvenation. Trainers often advise their clients to swear by this one essential pro-tip before making it to class.
Rest is Important
You need to sleep well. If your brain is tired, so is your body. And doing exercise with a fatigued body is never recommended. Regardless of how excited you may be about going to class the next day, make sure not to lose sleep on it. Trainers at boot camp advise the clients to come to class the next day, feeling refreshed – which means sleeping well on the previous night. Sleeping well will ensure that the body is duly energized so that it can give you all the support during the intense workouts in the Dangerously Fit workout APP.
Good Breakfast, No Milk
Breakfast like a king if you really want to have a solid day at the fitness program. It is no secret that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you have had that right, you can be rest assured that you will be active and energized throughout the day.
Exercise and intense training needs good amounts of energy. Energy comes from food. Eating right will ensure that you have the stamina to work out to the fullest. Meanwhile, for breakfast ensure to stick to healthy snacks and cereals. And discard the one glass of milk which you would have daily. Reason? Milk is known to cause stomach-upsets. Now that's not what you want to suffer from in an online fitness program?
Arrive Early
Being punctual is good. Arriving minutes before the scheduled time is even better. Dangerously Fit online weight loss coaching has a system of calling out the roll-call before the class commences. You do not want to be in a situation where your late arrival causes you to feel embarrassed in front of the others. So to be on the safe side, be an early bird and arrive at least 10 minutes before the stipulated time.


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Haiku poems about Butterfly and Butterfly haiku poems. Read and enjoy these haikus! Also, try our sister website's powerful search engine for poems or see our other Butterfly Poems.
Purple butterfly
Bush grows weary with its load
Covered with gold wings
sunset souls seep sighs
our eyes as blue butterflies
leaves...God's love letters
August 2nd 2021
Contest: Haiku
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
5th Place
spring rain overnight
dragging winter's chill...
the butterfly
mourning cloak passing
wing beats of a butterfly
the softest of drums
wings flutter
across my left cheek
a tickling smile
caterpillar dreams
of wings and sweet nectar -
while munching tough leaves
Dew drenched petals.
Butterfly tears fall softly.
Nectar from the gods.
As the butterfly
Hovers near a peach blossom
Its shadow follows
To see a butterfly.
to view a morning sky.
Have the love of a gentle woman,
before I die.
The Auld Yin.
fluttering romance
butterfly flirts with sun set
strokes of a rainbow
Written: Laura Loo
~Date Written: April 26, 2016~
The butterflies dance
Rain breaks softly
The pause to my tango
wings flutter
across my left cheek
a tickling smile
bejeweled wings soar
on a sultry summer day
blossom gently falls
Sponsored by Jamie Pan
Its time for a little haiku contest
Category – nature
Every chrysalis
A butterfly in waiting
To sip buds' nectar
*For Rick's Haiku You challenge
Would I lie to you...
love is like a butterfly
singing in the rain.
© Harry J Horsman 2010
butterfly kisses
wherever sits very soft
offers smile to eyes
Please don't look at me
for I am not what you see
my wings are still wet
luna moth-dancing with starlight on the petal of a winter rose
chrysalis cocoon-butterflies with gilded wings-singing songs in spring
Placed 1st
ku duet
Contest Judged: 1/4/2020
Sponsored by: Silent One
a lime green tree frog
clings tightly to a bare branch --
butterfly kisses
I tried to enter my first poem today.
Sadly, it flew away, like a butterfly.
blooms, bashful maidens
bowing down timid and shy
at first macho touch
Placed First
A Brian Strand Shortie Poetry Contest
a painted lady
from head to toe… wing to wing
human art
sunset explosions
wandering butterfly swarms
windblown rose petals
bird populations
animals of many kinds
autumn leaves swirling
prestorm dark gray clouds
the world assortment of fruits
bouyant rainbow skies
butterfly whispers
following fragrant faeries
one rose at a time
butterflies ferment
like aesthetic Autumn leaves
— sanguine sage's brush
ferment - to be in a state of agitation or intense activity
sanguine - marked by eager hopefulness : confidently optimistic; bloodred
sage - wise through reflection and experience
late summer morning
yellow goldenrod in bloom
monarchs out feeding
Contest: Writing Challenge, October -Butterfly
Sponsor: Dear Heart - Wiishkobi Ode
* A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope.
my butterfly heart
dipped in crisp crimson roses ~
pearl lake breathes with moon
December 7th 2021
summer stirring
colorful flutter of life
the butterfly dance
Submitted on June 29, 2021 for contest A BRIAN STRAND JULY sponsored by BRIAN STRAND
Originally posted on July 12, 2019
butterfly faeries
glistening in my garden
flirting with tulips
butterfly wings
sunlight kisses
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
Posted on April 18, 2019
butterflies and bees
pollinating the flowers
spreading the beauty
dulcet rhythmic breaths
patch of purple baby's breath
tethered butterfly
monarch resting
on the canopy
of queen anne's lace
posted on June 29, 2019
fairy sprite from realm.
I'm butterfly in the air.
on way to Heaven.
Such is their beautydoing their butterfly danceI watch in sheer awe
Indiana Shaw . . .


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|Tribe of Athapascan Indians displaced by early American pioneers and currently residing on reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
(AT-64: dp. 1,270; l. 205'; b. 38'6"; dr. 15'4"; s. 16 k.; cpl. 80; a. 1 3"; cl. Navajo)
The second Navajo (AT-64) was laid down by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Staten Island, N.Y., 12 December 1938; launched 17 August 1939; sponsored by Miss Olive Rasmussen; and commissioned 26 January 1940, Lt. Comdr. M. E. Thomas in command.
Following shakedown and a brief tour on the east coast, Navajo, an ocean going tug, steamed to San Diego, where, in June 1940, she reported for duty in Base Force, later Service Force, Pacific Fleet. Until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor her towing and salvage capabilities kept her busy in the central and eastern Pacific, then, after 7 December 1941, in the Pearl Harbor area. Interrupted only by a resupply and reinforcement run to Johnston Island at the end of December, she remained in the waters off Oahu into the spring of 1942. In late April she sailed to Canton Island where she attempted the salvage of SS President Taylor, then returned to Pearl Harbor whence she got underway for the war zone 12 July. Arriving in the New Hebrides just after the landings on Guadalcanal, she supported operations in the Solomons with repair and salvage work at Espiritu Santo, Noumea, Tongatabu, and Suva, as well as under battle conditions at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and Rennell. Towing assignments during those operations took her throughout the island groups of the south Pacific, and once, in late November-early December 1942, to Sydney, Australia.
In the spring of 1943 Navajo returned to California, underwent overhaul, and in July got underway to return to the south Pacific. Steaming via Pago Pago, she arrived at Bora Bora 21 August and commenced salvage and repair work on Pasig. At the end of the month she sailed for Pago Pago, whence she got underway to tow YOG-42 to Espiritu Santo. While enroute 12 September the ship was rocked by an explosion. Within seconds a heavy starboard list resulted in a submerged starboard side. Navajo began going down, rapidly, by the bow and abandonment commenced. As the ship settled depth charges secured to port and starboard K-gun projectors exploded. An estimated two minutes had passed before she sank, but 17 of her crew accompanied her to the bottom.
Navajo earned 2 battle stars during World War II.


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Ofsted Report
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) conducted their inspection of the school on November 15th 2016.
The inspection team observed 39 lessons taught by 34 teachers, six of which were jointly observed with senior leaders. Inspectors observed the college's work and looked closely at its analysis of students' progress and attainment. Meetings were held with groups of students, the Chair of the Governing Body, staff, community partners and local authority officers.
Superb staff and pupil relationships across the school ensure that the atmosphere is calm and purposeful. Pupils socialise together across all year groups and are very proud of their school. They are routinely polite and courteous and show respect and understanding towards their differing cultures and faiths. Staff encourage pupils to celebrate their differences while learning how to be model citizens and thrive in modern Britain.
Pupils enjoy coming to school and attend regularly. The school actively promotes and encourages healthy eating and lifestyles. Pupils' spiritual, moral and social development is encouraged through activities such as the 'sport and thought therapy' programme and the wide variety of extra-curricular activities on offer. Girls in the sixth form integrate fully into the life of the whole school.
Ofsted 2016


text: Picture source: ThinkStockAfter making watches for years, Titan plans to launch saris to take on ethnic wear retailers such as Fabindia. The Tata Group company that mainly sells watches and jewellery is readying a strategy to introduce premium ethnic wear and accessories under the Tanishq brand, said people familiar with the matter.A Titan company spokesperson did not reply to an e-mailed questionnaire. In an earlier discussion, Titan MD Bhaskar Bhat had told TOI that the company plans to focus on retail for growth. Retail contributes around 90% to Titan's Rs 12,000-crore business. Tanishq is the premium jewellery brand of Titan."It is a seamless brand extension," says brand expert Harish Bijoor. "Titan has invested huge sums to make the Tanishq brand look and feel designer. So, if the company comes up with products such as wedding trousseau in zari and gold, it would be a great fit. The only other brand in that league which comes to my mind is Manyavar that makes sherwanis and wedding wear for men."The sari category in India has no branded names, said Arvind Singhal, founder and chairman of retail consultancy Technopak. "You may find a range in Fabindia or Shoppers Stop. The industry is largely unorganized and is huge in terms of absolute value. The last big sari brand was Vimal," he said.However, new entrants may find it challenging to source products such as saris. "They are produced in different regions of the country. Titan would have to work hard to get the right people to design and source these products. Biba and W are other women-only brands selling ethnic wear that have done well here," he said.Apart from jewellery and watches, Titan also operates in categories such as eyewear and multi-brand watch retail through Titan Eye Plus and its Helios stores respectively. Earlier this month, the company struck a 49:51 retail JV with Montblanc, part of the Swiss luxury jewellery and watch company Richemont Group.Titan, which plans to open around five Montblanc boutiques across the country by March, is also planning to launch Swiss watch brand Favre Leuba, which it acquired for around Rs 14 crore in 2011. "We will introduce the watches soon but it will not be positioned as a luxury brand," said Bhat.Follow and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube


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Partial derivative
This is a Helper Page for:
|Divergence Theorem
|Gradients and Directional Derivatives
A partial derivative is the derivative of a several-variable function with respect to only one variable. This definition means that when we evaluate the partial derivative of a function with respect to a particular variable, all of the other input variables of the function are treated as constants. The partial derivative tells us how much a function is changing in the direction of a particular variable.
The partial derivative of a function f with respect to x is denoted .
- We take the partial derivative of the function with respect to y:
- Note that the terms and are treated as constants since they do not contain a y-factor, so go to zero when differentiated. Only the middle term is not constant with respect to y, so the coefficient of -2 remains after differentiation.
- Another example: We take the partial derivative of the function with respect to x:
- Again, notice that all variables except x are treated as constants.
Graphical Interpretation, in three dimensions
The partial derivative in three dimensions can be thought of as taking a "slice" of a function from and finding the derivative of the curve within this slice. Taking a slice means we take a plane along which one of the input variables is constant, find the curve contained by this plane, then differentiate this curve with respect to the other input variable.


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• A tachometer : is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analog dial, but digital displays are increasingly common.
this part is used in cnc machines and some of the other conventional machines for measuring the speed of the motor and controlling the speed of it in the cnc machines.
• its operation :
it depends on cutting the magntic field induced between coils then it goes to the circuit that transmits the signal into volts then to a reading to a machine
Enchoder : its used to determine the displacement of the axis in the conventional machines and controlling them in the cnc machines.
• Its operation : it has a circular ruler depends on the optic technology
That when the light fall in the space between the ruler and transfere it through the voltage circuit to digital output
figure (4.1 ) enchoder
photo cell working through varying resistance across it according to intensity of light hitting the surface
figure 4.2 photo cell


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30 Jan 2019
When you are at the traing sessions at Jebel Ali Center of Excellence, you can her the buzzing of the drone over the head of the players, and you will se the smiling face of the drone pilot. - We have done this for some years now, tells CEO Claus Steinland, it is something that we learned from Napoli after they beat us heavely in the Europa League in 2015. They was by fare the best team we have ever played. Steinsland tells that it is importent to try to be ahead of your opponents, especially since the biggest rival at the moment has a lot more money. The players are used to it, and it gives everyone a opportunity to see all the moves from above. Wednesday The Danish Champions play Astana from Kasakhstan at 15:30, while the number one in Denmark at the moment, FC Copenhagen, play Örebro at 19:00. It is a rare opportunity to watch the two best sides in Denmark on the same day.
08 Feb 2019
Brasilian star Oscar scored on a spectacular free kick
08 Feb 2019
New York City FC - AIK Fotboll 1-1
08 Feb 2019
Former star player led Pakhtakor to a draw
04 Feb 2019
NYCFC - FC København 0-2
03 Feb 2019
FC Midtjylland -Shanghai SIPG 2-2
03 Feb 2019
Solbakken pleased with the performance
30 Jan 2019
FC Midtjylland came back from 0-2
30 Jan 2019
The Danish Champions use drone
29 Jan 2019
Mikael Uhre scores the winner
28 Jan 2019
Good performance from FCK, beats Astana 4-0.


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Dine In or Carry Out
La Fiesta, a leader in the Mexican dining industry, solicits a loyal clientele with its three locations and delectable menu. La Fiesta serves authentic Mexican cuisine in a pleasing ambiance at a reasonable price.
We are open every day for lunch and dinner and offer an express lunch option for those who are crunched for time. If you are very busy, just call ahead and we will prepare your order for pickup.
We have a large children's menu, healthy salads, complimentary chips and salsa for the table and our legendary Fiesta burritos, chimichangas, queso dip, and guacamole. Invite your coworkers for lunch or happy hour. Enjoy some time away from your desk and a chance to get together in a relaxed, festive atmosphere. Our bar serves cold beer by the pitcher and some of the best top-shelf margaritas in town!
La Fiesta Mexican is a restaurant suitable for the whole family.


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There's not a lot of information out there about Merrylock overlockers/sergers........So I'll tell you a wee bit about this machine........The overlocker is made in Taiwan and it it can do a 4 thread stitch and 3 thread stitch and you can do a rolled hem. It's a built in rolled hem, no change of plate is required (just flick a switch). The Merrylock has differential feed too.......but the tension is manual. To change the overlocker form 4-thread to 3-thread you just take out one needle.
The price of the overlocker is around NZ $350.00.......It comes with an instruction book written in English, fairly easy to follow if you've owned an overlocker before. I still got stuck with the lower lopper but got there in the end (it has a auto-lopper threader, took me awhile to figure this out). The Merrylock 4-thread overlocker comes with the usual basic accessories and a waste tray. The accessory box is built-in, you just pull out to open and everything is there you need.
The Merrylock looks very similar to The Babylock (I think this overlocker is a Babylock Prestige with out the brand name), though some say it is similar to the Elna.......The overlocker comes with a basic plastic cover also, just the same as my Tru-Lock one from all those years ago........
Click here to read about the Merrylock 007 (a Merrylock cover stitch machine not the 4-thread I'm reviewing ). The cover stitch machine looks very good for it's price.......This is a good website to browse and learn about different sewing overlocking machines.......wished I'd found it earlier.
Do I like using it? At first I found it a bit tinny, different from the the heavy Tru-lock. Once I got my threading organized (took me a wee while for first go) and then set the tension it has been very enjoyable overlocker to use. Certainly a good buy for an entry level machine. A good overlocker to use for hobby classes or just as a spare......and it's light to carry about too!
|Merrylock 4-thread
The heart stickers are my instructions on how to
work the machine & regulate tensions
Merrylock uses HAx1 needles......
|Colour co-ordinated hearts.......I go this idea for instruction sticker
from a fellow blogger. Great for learning how your overlocker works!
|Not a bad stitch I quite like it.....(my Elna stitch doesn't
look like this Hmmm!)


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Charles was born March 22, 1870, in Aagarstadt, Denmark to Jorgen and Christena Thomsen Nielsen. Elizabeth was born April 9, 1876, in Cardiffaith, Monmouth, England to William and Martha Cresswell Scott Loveridge (q.v.). They were married July 17, 1895, in Provo, Utah and had six children: Mary January (Jennie), Bertha Elizabeth, Ivy Christena, Gladys Martha, Ervan Charles, and Ruby Ann. It is not known where or when they lived in Highland but the first three children were born here in 1894 - 1897. They then moved to Milburn, Wyoming. Elizabeth died June 11, 1932, in Salt Lake City and Charles died May 18, 1946, in Lehi, Utah.
Source: HIGHLAND HISTORY: A compilation by Charles T Greenland II for the Highland Historical Society
Previous: NelsonNext: NielsonIndex
Highland Historical Society Home PageHighland Historical Society Mission StatementHighland History Chapters (compiled by: Charles T Greenland II):
Highland Family Histories1958 Highland Aerial Map1958 Highland Homes and Families (table with addresses)Homesteaders' MapHighland Censuses (and LDS Ward Membership List)