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Since horror is so dependent on culturally recursive imagery, often scaring us with things that we know we'll be scared of, it proves itself a fertile ground for namechecking, parody, and homage. None of these intrigue me more than the giallo homage. Despite the fact that Italy's wackiest subgenre is characterized by arrhythmic narrative structure, unpredictable editing, and shot after non-sequitur shot, films attempting to pay their dues to such a singular cinematic phenomenon often employ these techniques too academically. Berberian Sound Studio, arriving three years after staid but enjoyable Amer or Dario Argento's God-awful Giallo, mostly manages to avoid this. Toby Jones plays a sensitive introvert who, having only designed sound for nature documentaries, finds that his new overseas gig producing gory sound effects for an Italian horror movie exacts a high emotional and mental toll. This movie has no aspirations toward true giallodom, instead borrowing giallo's delightfully squishy sound design (what do you think that produce is for?) and baroque low-key lighting to grant style to a mostly conventional narrative. Berberian Sound Studio is a far cry from generic shock horror, though, instead a sinister character piece as portrayed masterfully by Jones and facilitated through a series of increasingly oppressive interpersonal encounters. The problems set in during the final fifteen minutes, when the house of cards finally collapses and our protagonist finds himself in a set of alien circumstances that do little to illuminate what we've already seen of him. Far from the Berberian Sound Studio that wet its hands playing in the blood of giallos past, the ending swings wide and fails both in the typical and atypical realms the rest of the movie bounces between. It has its own intrigue if you're into random things (see also The Lords of Salem), but thrust like a knife into a carefully written screenplay, it makes sadly little sense. B
Kiss of the Damned [Netflix]
And while we're on the topic of homage, let's hop on over to 70s vampire horror, long the province of House Hammer and Sir Christopher Lee and Count Dracula himself. Campy and a bit smutty, six of Hammer's eight takes on Dracula nonetheless retained the distinguished sheen of a Lee performance, giving them a character beyond the workmanlike cheese they usually feel like. This century's non-Twilight vampire movies have rarely achieved the same distinction or success, peaking with Shadow of the Vampire or Let the Right One In; 2013 was as good a year as any for writer/director Xan Cassavetes to breathe life into the floundering bloodsucker. But although she's definitely in the right place at the right time, Kiss of the Damned is blown by a bad lead performance and some shaky writing. Actresses Josephine de la Baume and Roxane Mesquida are exciting, in that it is exciting to watch savagely beautiful women act bitchy toward each other, but protagonist Milo Ventimiglia is blank from start to finish. He exudes zero allure through his striking physical beauty, locked into a flat voice and an inexpressive face no matter the circumstances. In nearly all of its depictions, and especially here, a vampire is a potent erotic and charismatic force, and although Cassavetes lands the eroticism ably neither Ventimiglia nor his more compelling costars have much interesting to say. This threesome flits through beautiful mansions and hobnobs with their vampire brethren, a cadre of elites with unique ideologies and desires, yet they themselves rarely find time for anything meaningful except fucking and fighting and occasionally murdering an innocent. Kiss of the Damned does manage a handful of intrigue with Mesquida's psychotic Mimi. She rails against the boring lives these upper-crust vampires have created for themselves, likening their cloistered blood chastity to "rehab," and kills and exsanguinates humans because that's what vamps were made to do. This deviance corrupts those around her in intriguing ways, and its impact on the main love story adds a bit of dimension to an otherwise uninteresting ending. Unfortunately, these ideas on deviance and forced normalcy are too thin to support a movie with weak dramatic energy, charged only by the intermittently successful yet constant use of overbearing music. Questionable style over disappointing, albeit sexy, substance. C
Warm Bodies
Quite like how Twilight had little to say except "vampires and werewolves are cute and both can be your boyfriends," Warm Bodies is similarly desperate for tweens to contract a case of the young-adult zombie swoons, except in a FUNNY way. This film applies a gloss of self-parody that is meant to justify the uncreative ways it unfurls its gimmick (the above picture, for instance, though partial credit is given for using someone kind of obvious like Fulci instead of someone totally obvious like Romero). Most of the jokes are stale, though, zombies and humans both uttering "bitches, man" and "fuck yeah" and whatever other conversation enders count as punchlines these days. The zombie stuff is even more dire, filled with poorly directed action sequences and ugly CGI. And in an age where undead brutality is a simple change of the channel away for many people, I can't imagine Warm Bodies' PG-13 blood splatters raising too many pulses. The rating spells disaster for a zombie movie, as zombies are monsters that must be presented as both analogue and anathema to humans in order to explore why they are so scary. The best way to do that is to strip them of their humanity and have them inflict grisly violence on their living, screaming counterparts, and this movie doesn't bother with either task. The zombies here, like the vampires and werewolves of Twilight, retain none of the characteristics that made this creature interesting or frightening or worth exploring in the first place. There's at least some acting talent here, though you wouldn't guess it from John Malkovich, who looks embarrassed to even be there and phones it in hard. The young players are earnest and believe wholeheartedly in their material: Nicholas Hoult is cute enough that I almost understand why Teresa Palmer wanted to fuck his shambling corpse, and I'm curiously into Analeigh Tipton (is it the America's Next Top Model association? it must be). I've championed the value of teen-oriented horror before, but Warm Bodies is so tame and so genuflected to YA market trends that it basically washes the whole movie out. If you're in the mood for a supernatural teen romance full of laughs, Twilight schadenfreude remains the place to go, as this horror comedy never manages to become scary or funny. D+
Black Rock
I'm sure that most of you are sick of reading about Kickstarter by now, but I think it's important to keep tabs on this first wave of crowd-sourced film productions, since these things are propped up on our livelihoods. Katie Aselton, she of humblecore mumblecore beginnings, put Black Rock together on 33000 public dollars, and though it isn't the gamechanger that publicly-funded cinema really needs, her training has obviously prepared her for the lean business of making an indie in 2013. You could write it off as an insubstantial thriller, but that isn't entirely fair, as the movie's got a pretty unique stance on female camaraderie. All-female horror tends to divide the base, most famously demonstrated in The Descent, which is an understandable consequence of a psychologically trying situation. Living in a culture that routinely pits women against one another rarely allows us the perspective on extreme adversity that Black Rock offers, though, and that in itself gives Aselton's script value. Plus, having three dishonorably discharged Iraqi War vets as rapin' killin' Deliverance-style antagonists pissed off the fine folks at Breitbart, who are unwilling to content themselves with any less-than-glowing representation of the military, so that's an A-OK in my book. As an actual thriller, this is marginally successful, which is a disappointment. The narrative is catalyzed by an attempted rape and its victim Abby's self-defense, but for whatever reason Abby never gets around to tell her assailant's friends that he, you know, tried to rape her. It may not have done much good, as these men are clearly unhinged; nonetheless, this is the kind of spare character piece where every line counts, and the escalation of the conflict becomes a little difficult to swallow. The dialogue and acting are generally solid, not too sensationalized and essayed through believable characters, but there's a chronic lack of directness to the movie's exposition that frustrates even at 80 minutes. Even the violent conflicts take their time. There are better ways to spend an hour and a half than Black Rock, sure, but it's not bad. It might be a worthy investment if you're curious about rising talents Aselton or Lake Bell (or if you've been wondering where the hell Kate Bosworth is these days, which is all zero of you). Recommended if woman-dominated island cat-and-mouse games appeal to you. C+
What's gotten into Guillermo? His directorial efforts trend toward quality, but as a producer he involves himself with projects that usually don't add up. I can't begrudge him his attempts at keeping horror alive and healthy in the mainstream; there aren't a lot of prominent creative figures in the genre's corner these days. Seeing his name in credits is starting to become a turnoff, though, as in the past five years he's presided over the self-serious The Orphanage, Vincenzo Natali's decent but clumsy Splice, and 2011's beautiful braindead Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. I am starting to wonder when I'll see him attached to something as powerful and complex as The Devil's Backbone again. Mama is simply another check written into the dark, a golden ticket for short film director Andres Muschetti, that never pays for much more than superficial handsomeness. It appears to me that del Toro is easily persuaded by potentially appealing visuals, the unifying thread in each of these horrors, and the first hour of Mama provides in full. There's one early scene in a long, shadowy hall that is exceptional, preying on our unformed knowledge of this lurking ghost and its motives. Between that and a quality performance from Jessica Chastain, the movie had me pretty absorbed and a little frightened for the first hour, but when Mama gets bored of surreptitious prowling and bursts out of the wardrobe with daughter-stealing abandon, I snapped right out of it. Mama looks lame as hell. The IMDB page for the film insists that she's not CGI, just a heavily made-up man with Marfan syndrome, but a) I'm not sure I buy it alongside the film's other egregious uses of CGI and b) computerized or not, a ghost that bends into a croquet-wicket arch and charges at you like an angry toddler is not scary. The friend I was watching with said it best: it's so much easier to induce fear when your audience doesn't know exactly what they're afraid of yet. Mama never recovers from the sham that is its eponymous demon, culminating in a melodramatic mountaintop showdown that is almost embarrassing to watch. I keep thinking of that episode of Doug where Doug runs out of a horror movie screaming before anything actually shows up, and when he finally knuckles down and tries to watch it again, the zipper on the monster's costume is visible. That night I became Doug, slowly wearying of Guillermo del Toro failing to hide the zipper one too many times. Perhaps we are all Doug. C+


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Last week I've chosen to enroll "The Shadow of Black Wings" to Amazon's KDP Select program. Now, there is some controversy among the indie community as to whether this is the right thing to do for an author. It supports Amazon's monopoly, they say. It limits your marketing and distribution opportunities. It doesn't work as well as it used to.
These are all good and valid reasons, but here are my equally compelling reasons to join the program:
1) Other platforms weren't worth the effort.
Over the last two months, all my non-Kindle sales combined amounted to less than 5% of Amazon sales. Now admittedly, I've based most of my marketing efforts on Amazon.com, but that's part of the problem: with all the hard work involved in writing, marketing and social networking, I just couldn't focus on other platforms. Every time I had to change something in the manuscript or product description, I had to do it on several websites. Every time I wanted to advertise, I had to post several links. This might have worked if the sales weren't so poor on those other channels, but the way it was going, it just wasn't worth it.
This might have been a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts: focus on Amazon, and only Amazon will bring profit. But as a fresh starter, I really needed to focus on something. Establishing a reader base is a difficult enough process as it is. Some more experienced authors reported that releasing their books on Kobo was, for them, a worthwhile investment – but they took their already made fan bases to Kobo with them. I don't have that – yet.
2) A part of the series may have a greater chance than a standalone.
Select and free promos may not be working that well anymore for standalone works, but "The Shadow of Black Wings" is just volume one of a greater series. My reasoning is simple: give the first one free, and hope they will come for the rest. It works for everything else, so why not for books? 🙂
This part is the greatest gamble I'm undertaking. Will anyone want to continue reading the series after getting the first book for free, or will the Select promotions just take a huge bite out of my potential readership – and leave me with nothing to show for it? We'll see…
3) It's only three months.
In the end, if nothing works, it's just 90 days – and then I can change my mind. That's not much. The Select enrolment period for Transmission is almost over, and it feels like it's been yesterday that I've reached #1 on UK bestseller list for sci-fi anthologies.
With luck, in three months I may be in a better position than I am now. I may have people actively looking for me on other platforms, disappointed that I'm not there. There may be other opportunities showing up – when I started out in June, Kobo Books was just a rumour; who knows what will happen between now and December?
But until then, "The Shadow of Black Wings" is exclusive to Amazon, and free to loan for all Amazon Prime members. Stay tuned for further announcements 🙂

subset: commoncrawl


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Winter Events Recap
The Winter Membership Mixer/Happy Hour was held on Friday, February 11, at Sierra Pacific Mortgage,
the delightfully renovated historic home of Lucy Buck on Chester Street. We returned to our roots this year and instead of having a program, we simply provided wine and hors d'oeuvres in a cozy setting for our members and their guests to mix and mingle for a few hours before heading off into their weekend.
The evening was a great success! We were packed into the house which provided for lots of opportunity to mix up conversation groups. Eventually the men gravitated to the front porch and the women to the kitchen per usual. Leftover snacks were gratefully accepted by the House of Hope residents and the weather cooperated without any new snow. It was a wonderful event all in all.
We gratefully thank Andi Robinson, FRWRC board member and agent at Weichert Realtors who organized and sponsored the event and Sierra Pacific Mortgage who so generously hosted us.
A Special Presentation by 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Jennifer Pharr Davis
was held on Sunday, February 23 at Samuels Public Library. Co-sponsored by the Friends of Samuels Library, the Appalachian Trail Community and the FRWRC, the event drew a huge crowd that packed the large library meeting space.
Trail thru-hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis entertained with stories from her record-setting hike on the Appalachian Trail.
She wanted to test her limits. With the support of her husband Brew and a dedicated group of volunteers dubbed the "Pit Crew," Jen hiked, stumbled, and sometimes crawled the 2,181 mile Appalachian Trail in 46 days (an average of 47 miles per day), becoming the fastest person to hike the trail and the first woman to ever set the mark. And for that, she's been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR's Talk of the Nation, Guideposts magazine and the CBS Morning Show.
But Jen's story was not about records or numbers; she spoke about the many challenges and lessons that presented themselves along the trail and how she learned about endurance, faith, and most of all, love. The afternoon ended with a slide show from over 12,000 miles of long-distance hiking which she has completed on six different continents. We were honored to help host this world class woman athlete.


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Dear Members of the Safety and Health Codes Board:
I write to you to register my strong opposition to making the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) permanent.
Our business is committed to the safety and welfare of our customers, employees, and community. While the risk of COVID-19 transmission has not yet been eliminated, I harbor serious concerns that the currently enacted emergency measures are overly burdensome and will negatively affect our regional businesses' ability to continue operating if made permanent. Confusing and ambiguous language in the ETS, as well as ever-changing directives from various state and federal health authorities has made running a business in the most challenging of times even harder.
We will continue to make good faith efforts to keep our employees safe and follow public health best practices. Please support your local businesses and reject any extension of the Emergency Temporary Standard.
Alice Webber
Roanoke, VA


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You may never realize that you need an online payday loan until it happens to you: Your kid forgot to tell you about the prepayment for that field trip, or you go to pay a bill only to find you're overdrawn, or you get sick and have to take unpaid time away from work. Whatever the situation is, when you live from one paycheck to the next, just getting by and only wishing you could stash extra money away in a savings account, an online payday loan will eventually be needed.
Here's When You Need an Online Payday Loan
There are a nearly infinite number of situations in which people find themselves getting online to apply for one of our handy payday loans. We can boil it all down to the top three times anyone, including you, could make good use of an online payday loan:
1. You maxed out your credit card/checking account/paycheck. In other words, you've run out of money and there are still bills to be paid, groceries to be bought, and bus fare or gas to get you to work. When you hit these rough patches and still have days to go until you get your next paycheck, an online payday loan can help.
2. You need a loan, but your credit score is holding you back. Our lenders rarely do a credit check. Online payday loans are based on your earnings, not your credit score, so we can get you cash when other lenders turn you away.
3. You have an unexpected expense. Your car broke down, your air conditioning stopped working, your tuition is due sooner than you thought, or your kid got sick and had to go the emergency room. Whatever the unexpected event, a loan can help you cover it.
How You Can Get an Online Payday Loan
Now you're intrigued. Now you know that you really could use an online payday loan. Here's what you need to do: Go online and fill out a short application. Submit the application and wait a minute for a lender. Get approved almost instantly. Wait a day or less to get cash deposited into your account. Repay the loan when you get your next paycheck. Your problems are tricky and complicated. Your solution is not. Get online payday loans when life hits you with an unexpected cost.


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Pure expression of our identity, the face is itself a language.
Rebalance volumes, improve the chin profile, smooth the face: delicate changes to feel fully in sync with yourself.
Lion's wrinkle
Caused by muscular contraction, the lion's wrinkle forms vertically between the eyebrows. It can give the face a stern expression.
Nasolabial folds
Linking the nose with the corner of the mouth, the nasolabial fold tends to accentuate over time, thereby giving the face a stern, less friendly, expression.
Drooping cheekbones
With age, the cheekbones tend to lose their volume, thus accentuating dark circles and ageing.
Facial wrinkles
Be they on the forehead, the chin, or the neck, wrinkles can change the youthful appearance and softness of the face. Some are due to muscular contractions, while others are due to skin slackening.
Lack of volume
With age or following an illness, facial volumes can change. The profile's harmony fades and the contour of the face becomes less smooth.
Age spots
Also called "sun spots", these pigmentation spots are linked to sun exposure. Increasing with age, they can dim facial glow.
Whether the consequence of surgical procedures or an accident, facial scarring can be the source of serious complexes. Acne can also leave distressing scars.
Neck bands
The contour of the neck may be weighed down by bands, sometimes linked to excess fat. This problem alters the neck's smooth and toned appearance and can be ill-proportioned.
Loss of firm facial contours
When the face's contours slacken, jowls appear. The jawline becomes less regular and the face loses balance.


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The South Leitrim Charity Cycle are holding a 50km fancy dress cycle this Saturday August 20, to coincide with the Mohill Festival which is currently taking place.
This year the chosen is Hugh's House in Dublin as our beneficiary. This is a wonderful charity which provides family accommodation 365 days a year for families of sick children attending Temple Street or the Rotunda Hospitals.
It was set up in memory of Baby Hugh by his parents, Ade and Marty, who have selflessly dedicated their time and energy to help other parents who are struggling to keep everything together in the worst possible time they can be faced with.
When we hear of a child with long-term or terminal illness, we naturally think of the emotional stress and strain that a family will be going through. It might not also occur to us that the financial burden the family may be placed under can be extreme.
In many situations one parent has to stop working to be close to their child and the family income is reduced significantly. Now consider that family also need to pay for accommodation close to the hospital, meals, travel costs etc. All of this can add up to several hundred euros per week.
Thank to Hugh's House, many parents have been able to avoid these extra stresses and focus on their family. The thing that stands out for this charity though, is that it is all ran on a voluntary basis.
Local ladies come in to help clean and cook meals from food that has been sponsored by local supermarkets. Handymen and tradesmen donate their time and expertise to tend to any plumbing/ electrical problems that may arise so the costs they have are typical household costs of electricity, gas etc.
The money that we raise is going towards the renovation of a second house nearby the hospitals so that Hugh's House can help even more families. So this is where you can help.
There will be a registration fee of €40 and all of the money raised will go directly to Hugh's House with an exception of a small donation to The Order Of Malta, who will accompany us on the day. There are no administration expenses or hidden costs taken by the South Leitrim Charity Cycle team.
If you would like to take part but don't think you're able to do 50km why not share the journey with a friend and take it in turns to cycle. If any of you do spinning classes, you will be well able to complete the 50k so no excuses
For the experienced cyclists out there, we may need a push going uphill thanks! So grab your friends and spread the word. We promise ye a great days craic and you will meet some really great people. We will take a couple of breaks on the route and will return to a BBQ and some refreshments, normally liquid ones, in Mohill.
As this is a charity associated with children we have decided that Fancy Dress is a must! So put your thinking hats on, grab your tutu or whatever hidden gems you have in the wardrobe and come and join us. We look forward to seeing you Saturday from 10am at St Patricks Church, Mohill.
For further details you can contact Tracy on 0877511743 or see our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/southleitrim80kcycle/
Gardens gift us in so many ways, but one thing's for sure – they require a lot of tender loving care.
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After months of speculation, rumors, and fake posts "revealing" the title of the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII, Disney revealed on Thursday that Episode VII has officially been given a name:
The tweet also announced that the seventh entry in the Star Wars saga also wrapped principal photography.
It's anybody's guess as to what the meaning of "The Force Awakens" is and will likely ignite discussions within the Star Wars fanbase .
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi and features the return of Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Kenny Baker (R2-D2). The film will also feature newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver,Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong'o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Christina Chong, Mitos Yerlemou, Greg Grunberg, and Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok).
The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdin, and will feature music by legendary film composer John Williams. The film releases worldwide on December 18, 2015.
What do you think the new title means? Feel free to post your speculation in the comments section.
Categories: Movie News, Movies


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Back in early 2012 we reviewed one of several books released on movie poster artist Drew Struzan, a useful and interesting resource called The Art of Drew Struzan, reviewed here. It chronicles the best of painted motion picture advertising one-sheets that Struzan created, and even more enlightening, includes commentary by Struzan about his process and the politics and business of his years of leading the craft. The picture he painted wasn't pretty, but despite his own roadblocks he is generally thought of as the best motion picture poster artist of the last 50 years.
Along with Struzan, another poster artist created posters that often could be confused for Struzan's. That was the late poster artist John Alvin. Unfortunately Alvin did not document his own personal account of his creative and professional experiences, but his wife Andrea has put together a book that at least documents his most popular work, released this month by Titan Books as The Art of John Alvin. What we don't know from any of the books we've reviewed on poster artists is how they might have competed for work over the years. Andrea Alvin makes no mention of Struzan, but seems to indicate Alvin was able to keep a nice niche of clients over the years, ranging from the decision-makers behind the movies of Mel Brooks, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, and the renaissance of animated Disney blockbusters.
Alvin's work seems far more commercial compared to the paintings of Struzan, as can be seen in Alvin's posters for Empire of the Sun (1987), Cape Fear (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), and Batman Forever (1995). But that doesn't mean they were any less effective at drawing moviegoers to the theater, the entire point of the poster. The one-sheet for Empire of the Sun is often seen as one of the most memorable images in the history of movie posters.
The power of much of Alvin's posters is the simplicity. In 1982 when the public first learned of a movie called E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, the only thing we knew was a newspaper ad showing a wrinkled alien hand touching the hand of a kid, inspired by Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. His teaser poster was equally as effective—never did these pictures show E.T. himself. Those same images were reproduced on movie posters, cardboard standees, and eventually all over picture books sold via school book orders. Simple images, but lasting images, and what they didn't show was part of the enticement to reel in an audience.


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'Walking Dead' recap: Andrea's big decision
This week's episode of "The Walking Dead" is all about Andrea, as the time comes where she finally needs to make a decision and take a side: Is she going to fight for Woodbury and the Governor or rejoin her original group at the prison?
"I Ain't a Judas" begins as Rick's gang sits inside their cell block, mulling their options after the Governor's attack.
"That truck through the fence thing? That's just him ringing the doorbell," Merle says. "We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers."
Rick has a fit of his typical craziness and begins to march away from the group mid-conversation. Hershel screams at him to come back and, for the first time, directly calls Rick out for acting nuts.
"You're slipping, Rick," he says. "We've all seen in it. We understand why, but now is not the time."
In the emotional conversation that follows, Carl — who has grown up shockingly fast — goes outside to speak with his father.
"Dad, you should stop being the leader," he says.
Back in Woodbury, the Governor is having Milton put together a list of able bodies to fight Rick, including young children.
Andrea bursts in.
"What's this I hear about the prison? You said no retaliation!" she yells.
She poses going to meet with Rick to work out the conflict.
"Andrea, if you go to that prison, you stay there," the Governor says solemnly.
Later, Milton insists to Andrea that he didn't know about the prison attack until after it happened (lies!), so Andrea asks him to cover for her while she slips away to meet Rick.
Of course Milton immediately retreats to the Governor to fill him in. The Governor encourages Milton to help Andrea out, so we know he has something evil up his sleeve.
As Milton is helping Andrea catch a walker that she can drag beside her as a diversion on the way to the prison, the two bump into Tyrese and his group in the woods. Milton invites them back to Woodbury. Uh oh.
Andrea successfully escapes to the prison. It is clearly very uncomfortable for everyone—she is required to be frisked and the group looks her in a completely different way. To make matters worse, she asked where Shane and Lori are. Awkward.
She also finds out that Rick's group did not in fact fire on the Governor first, and the Governor was the aggressor.
"I can't excuse or explain what Phillip has done, but I'm here to bring us together," she says.
Meanwhile, Milton brings Tyrese's group to meet the Governor and it isn't long before they discover they have a mutual friend, so to speak. Rick. The Governor can't hide his glee as he asks Tyrese to describe the prison's layout, realizing he now has an in.
Back at the prison, Andrea speaks with Carol, who suggests that Andrea sleeps with the Governor and kill him when he least expects it. The group equips their former friend with a gun and car, and Rick tells her to be careful. It is unclear whether her visit made any progress.
In the episode's final scene, we see Andrea begin to take Carol's advice, but as she stands over the Governor's sleeping body with a knife, she chickens out and doesn't kill him when she has the PERFECT chance.
As it fades to black, we have to wonder if Andrea will ever side with her own group again, or if the Governor's effect on her is too strong. Either way, she is going to have to make her decision soon because a war is brewing.
"The Walking Dead" airs Sunday night on AMC.


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Dairy farmers received good news when it comes to marketing their products. A crucial agreement has been reached that provides support for protection for the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Protected Designation of Origin in the United States and around the world, while explicitly establishing the free use of the generic term "mozzarella" to indicate a type of cheese.
The agreement, between the Consorzio Tutela Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the Consortium for Common Food Names is of critical importance as it secures the use of common terms on U.S. cheese products, while recognizing the territory of production.
A previous effort by the European Union to take sole ownership of common terms used by consumers (such as Parmesan, Feta, Asiago, and many other cheeses) through the priority of geographical indications (GI's), would force U.S. farmers to utilize unfamiliar names on their cheese products. GI's, intended to protect distinctive products, would in turn impede the competition of U.S. dairy products in global markets and give European food producers a substantial commercial advantage. The negative ripple effect on U.S. economies would be substantial, as consumers would face confusion over unfamiliar terms, and ultimately higher prices and fewer choices.
Effective GI policy has a benefit to consumers and producers throughout North America, including commitments to transparency, which government leaders have long promoted. This agreement proves especially significant as the United States is the largest non-EU export market for Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, making this a noteworthy step towards recognizing both the validity of GI's and the usage of common food names.
The American Dairy Coalition is encouraged by the positive direction this increased dialogue has towards increasing fairness in utilizing common terms, while maintaining the integrity and transparency of dairy products and justly leveling the playing field in global markets.
"It is vital that consumers have transparency and awareness of the quality dairy products available to them," says Laurie Fischer, American Dairy Coalition CEO. "Further, it is of equal importance that U.S. dairy farmers are provided fair access to language to have the opportunity to be competitive in global markets. This agreement is an important step in providing much-needed clarity and definition and sets the precedence for classification of further cheeses."
In addition, a joint letter was sent to the European Commission and to the U.S. and Italian governments requesting that they uphold the agreement and support efforts to guard both the name Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and the free use of the term mozzarella in markets across the globe.


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After Dan's colonoscopy on Friday (which was all clear, Hallelujah!) we picked the kids up from school, grabbed some sandwiches from Subway, and headed over to Bishop McGuinness (the area Catholic high school) for the conference track meet.
6 area Catholic schools were competing in the final track meet of the season to see who could claim the title of conference champion. Our school has lost the last two years to the same school (and maybe even more than that but this is only our third year at the school so I'm not sure about previous years) and our coach really wanted a victory.
And to be honest, so did the entire track team. The school that we keep losing to has over 600 students while ours has only slightly more than 200. We practice twice a week for almost two months to prepare for our two track meets and the final conference championship. This other school practices only twice the entire "season" (not even sure you should call that a season) and they only participate in the conference championship.
We got to the track and began to set up right as the storms rolled in. Everyone huddled under tents trying to stay dry until the storms passed. They finally passed and we got the meet underway.
I was helping to make sure all of our athletes got to their events on time and to make sure that all the runners were in the correct lanes. It was tiring but at least I got to see the start of all the races and could cheer for Peter and Sarah (and the other kids too, of course).
Peter only got to run in one race - the 400 meter relay. Sarah got to run in 4 races - the 400 meter relay, the 50 meter dash, the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash.
My kids raced their hearts out. Actually, our whole team raced their hearts out.
Sarah was running against 3 girls that were a lot taller than her and 2 that were her size. She came in third in her individual events and was so dejected. I tried to tell her that she ran as hard as she could and still got points for our school and that I was proud of her. But she really wanted to win and could not be made to feel better. Her relay team did place 2nd however and that seemed to pep her up a bit.
Peter ran as fast as I have ever seen him run and helped his relay team get a first place. He was excited.
And then more rain came. We were almost done with the 400 meter relay when it started pouring rain again. We still had two more events left to complete and news around the track was that our team was only behind by 20 points (and that didn't include the points for the 400 meter relay - which we were doing really well on). The kids were getting excited that there was a chance that we might actually win this year.
But as the rain started, they called all the coaches and athletic directors to the tent to make a determination on whether or not to call the event or to proceed. Our coach, a fierce competitor, fought to keep going because it wasn't lightening and the rain would most likely pass. The other coaches wanted to call it.
So, they called it and we all went home wet and nnoyed that we didn't get a chance to finish.
And the next morning our coach sent an email saying that after they figured in all the points from the relay, our team lost...
Oh, it was heartbreaking. The coach was upset. My kids were upset.
If only we had a chance to finish the whole meet, we might have won. Or, we might have fallen even further behind. Either way, at least we wouldn't feel like we got cheated.
I'm proud of my kids and I'm proud of the whole team.
And I'm glad track is over for the year because track meets are even more chaotic than swim meet - and that's saying a lot!.
And guess what starts in two short weeks? That's right! Swim season!
Monday, May 12, 2014
4 comments:
- Mari said...
What a hard thing to lose by such a small amount. I love the pictures - they both have such a look of determination on their faces!
- May 12, 2014 at 6:41 PM
- Madeline said...
I am so glad Dan's appointment was all good news! What a shame a little rain kept them from finishing their meet. Luckily 2 points is nothing to scoff at so they can be very proud of themselves. Enjoy your 2 weeks off before swimming starts.
- May 12, 2014 at 9:39 PM
- jennwa said...
Great pics !!!
- May 13, 2014 at 8:13 AM
- Wendy said...
That's terrible that they were only down by two points and they called the meet. How frustrating! The pictures of the kids running are great though!
- May 13, 2014 at 9:22 AM
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Romande Energie opens a Smart Lab on EPFL's campus
With its new Smart Lab, Romande Energie – the leading electricity supplier in French-speaking Switzerland – aims to create a skills center for leveraging data to enhance energy systems. The Lab is the latest step in a longstanding partnership between the power utility and EPFL.
The energy industry is undergoing unprecedented change. Renewable energy sources are transforming the way electricity is being generated and distributed, while the ballooning amount of data being collected – and the new systems for processing it – are creating an array of new opportunities. So it is only logical that power companies are teaming up with research institutes to develop solutions for addressing these challenges. One example is Romande Energie's new Smart Lab at EPFL's Innovation Park. The Lab, which was inaugurated today, is destined to become a major skills center and marks an important milestone in the partnership between the two organizations.
Romande Energie first joined forces with EPFL in 2010 to develop and install colored, translucent solar panels equipped with Grätzel cells on one side of the SwissTech Convention Center. Other ambitious R&D projects followed. In the spring of 2015, Romande Energie unveiled Switzerland's largest urban solar power station with a surface area of 15,500 m2, located at EPFL. In addition to supplying electricity to the campus, the power station also serves as a test bench for researchers studying innovative systems for using renewable energy more efficiently and feeding it into power grids. The solar power station was developed by Romande Energie and EPFL's Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory (DESL) in association with the Canton of Vaud and Li-ion battery manufacturer Leclanché. It can generate and store solar energy and distribute it optimally based on peaks in demand.
A virtual power plant designed for an entire city
The Smart Lab will employ four to six people working on an even more ambitious project for Romande Energie: REel-DEMO, which aims to develop a demonstrator of a power grid in local equilibrium. "We will test a decentralized control system for the grid at Rolle and Onnens. That will require maximizing the use of renewable energy and managing all local power generation and consumption, as well as storage," says Mario Paolone, a professor at DESL. "It's the same 'virtual power plant' concept that we use at EPFL, but with a lot more variables and constraints." The methods and technologies were developed at the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER-Furies) headed by Paolone. The REel-DEMO project has received funding from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy thanks to its innovative nature and potential impact.
For EPFL, the Smart Lab will open the door to research in the promising fields of microgrids and smart grids, as well as smart living – which involves smart systems for managing electricity use and heating in buildings – and smart working, which involves connected objects. Engineers will also develop technology for managing power distribution on demand and leveraging data to enhance energy systems. "Our dream is to have a nationwide power grid fueled entirely by renewable energy," says Paolone.
An incubator for leveraging energy data
Romande Energie will use the Smart Lab as an incubator for all opportunities related to making better use of energy data. The goal is to identify, assess and subsequently demonstrate the value of new business models, with a view to incorporating them into the company's operations. The development work will take place in association with staff at Romande Energie as well as outside experts. "We are reaching a turning point in our industry. The increasing digitization of our business and the growing use of data are changing the scope of our day-to-day operations. We are in an exciting period of rapid development," says Edgar Haldimann, head of the Smart Lab.


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New Designers 2016 survey highlights the importance of design education ahead of EBacc parliamentary debate (July 4)
- 85% of this year's New Designers studied an art or design subject at GCSE
- Half (49%) of these graduates would not be pursuing a career in the creative industries if they had not studied an arts or design subject at GCSE level
- 21% said visiting exhibitions and museums was their biggest influence on their decision to pursue a career in the creative industries
- 98% feel that studying a creative subject has equipped them with transferable skills to work in closely related sectors
A survey conducted for the 31st edition of New Designers which will be opened tomorrow (Wednesday 29 June) by the award-winning illustrator of The Gruffalo, Axel Scheffler, reveals that 85% of this year's crop of design graduates studied an arts or design subject at GCSE level. Of these emerging designers, half (49%) say that they would not still be pursuing a career in the industries, annually worth £84.1bn to the UK economy, if they hadn't had this opportunity.* The results come on the eve of a Parliamentary debate about the exclusion of creative subjects from the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which has been tabled for Monday 4 July.
Almost half of all respondents (46%) credited taking an art or design subject at school as the biggest influence on their choice of career, but the survey also reveals the influence of exhibitions and museums on these choices, with 21% of respondents crediting these cultural experiences as the most important influence on their decision.
New Designers, which has helped to launch the careers of well-known designers including Thomas Heatherwick and Bethan Gray, sees 3,000 of the most talented emerging designers exhibit at the Business Design Centre in London between 29 June-02 July (Part 1) and 06-09 July (Part 2) 2016. Selected from universities and colleges across the UK, this year's exhibitors were polled by New Designers throughout April, May and June 2016 about design education, their employment prospects and the benefits of a design-related degree.
On July 4, between Part 1 and Part 2 of New Designers, MPs will debate the exclusion of arts subjects from the English Baccalaureate after over 100,000 people signed a petition about the issue. The Government is planning for at least 90% of pupils in mainstream secondary schools to be entered for the EBacc which would leave less room for students to pursue creative subjects in schools. Recent official figures have shown a year-on-year decline of 46,000 applications to study creative subjects at GCSE level since the introduction of the EBacc. Design and Technology has been the subject most affected with 19,000 fewer applicants.
Ahead of the parliamentary debate on July 4, New Designers is holding a meeting with tutors and industry to discuss The EBacc and the future of Design Education which will be chaired by Deborah Annetts – Coordinator of the Bacc for the Future Campaign and Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians.
Isobel Dennis, Director of New Designers comments:
"The UK has for decades been a global leader in its art and design education and it is this incredible system that contributes to our Creative Industries which currently represents an impressive £84.1bn to our economy."
"We are a creative nation, so for the Government to actively communicate that creative subjects are not a credible part of the EBacc system would appear very ill-thought through and potentially damaging for our future economy. It is vital for successful businesses to engage with the design thinking, problem-solving, creativity and innovation that these young graduates possess to keep them competitive and leaders within their field"
*UK's Creative Industries are now worth £84.1bn according to Department for Culture, Media & Sport


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By CuriosityStream | in Apps + Software
CuriosityStream is the award-winning streaming and on-demand viewing destination where you can journey through our world and beyond. Its immersive experiences feature experts like David Attenborough, who will teach you about the natural world, Michio Kaku, and Brian Greene, who will broaden your perspective on space, time, and the future with stunning visuals unrivaled storytelling. With thousands of documentaries covering nature, history, science, and more, including exclusive originals, CuriosityStream brings a wealth of knowledge right to your screen, whether you're watching on TV, desktop, mobile, or tablet.
System Requirements
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By KeepSolid | in Apps + Software
Whether you're using a private internet connection or public Wi-Fi, your online privacy and security are far from guaranteed. With top-rated solution VPN Unlimited, you can regain control over your digital life with full security and anonymity online. There are no speed or bandwidth limits, so you'll still enjoy full browsing speeds without the dangers of leaving your data exposed or the geographic restrictions set on certain websites abroad. More than 10 million customers globally have entrusted their online protection to KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, and the reviews speak for themselves. Add it to your cybersecurity toolkit, and enjoy a massive selection of servers worldwide, a wide variety of VPN protocols, and much more to keep hackers out of your sensitive data.
System Requirements
Important Details


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A Victoria Police Protective Services Officer has been charged with child pornography offences.
The charge was made in relation to a continuing investigation into the alleged offences.
The male PSO from the Transit Safety Division was charged on summons with 10 counts to possessing child pornography.
He has been suspended with pay and will appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court December 21.


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Financial advisory services make a big difference in consumer confidence. Unfortunately, many people aren't using them.
New research from Fiserv shows just 33 percent of consumers are using the services of a professional advisor. More specifically, only 54 percent of those with household incomes above $150,000 access advisory services.
Those who partner with a financial advisor are less concerned about investment risk and worry less about having enough money when they retire, according to Expectations & Experiences: Borrowing and Wealth Management, the most recent consumer trends survey from Fiserv. The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll among more than 3,000 consumers.
Yet we often see people reaching out to an advisor only when things go haywire and they feel the need for help managing their finances. In my experience, most people seek professional financial advice five to 10 years later than they should.
What's stopping them? Fiserv found the biggest obstacles to using a financial advisor are lack of funds to invest (34 percent), not wanting to pay fees (31 percent) and lack of knowledge about how to find an advisor or where to start (24 percent).
Financial advisors must work to differentiate their services and prove their worth. Many people, especially those in emerging households, may have questions about how and when to enlist a financial advisor: What can an advisor do for me that I can't do for myself? Are my finances at a point that I need help? Do I have enough money for an advisor to even care?
Typical advisory service packages have changed dramatically in a very short time. The availability of digital advising platforms has made previous value-adds, including asset allocation and security selection, readily available without an advising relationship.
Delivering new value to investors starts with three priorities:
1. Promoting Financial Wellness
Fostering financial health means incorporating all aspects of household finance into comprehensive, easy-to-follow plans for people of all means and backgrounds. Advisors become financial wellness coaches when they help people spend, save, borrow and plan for the future.
Through account aggregation, advisors can see and evaluate spending and track progress toward retirement and other goals. That kind of accountability and access encourages financial discipline and increases awareness of how current spending affects goals.
Personalized advice and insights are important. But the reality is that only 55 percent of consumers think th'y're getting the financial advice they need. Closing the gap means promoting financial health, a relatively new value-add that enables advisors to expand their clientele beyond high-net-worth households looking only for retirement advice.
2. Providing Holistic Advice
A holistic approach to financial planning transcends discussions about retirement to consider every aspect of clients' lives. When do they want to buy a house? Do they expect to have children? What debts do they have? And how do those factors and decisions influence when they can retire?
Effective advising is about helping investors prioritize multiple goals and understand the tradeoffs involved in major purchases – or even discretionary day-to-day spending. When people work with a financial advisor, they can track their progress toward major purchases and see how major financial decisions may postpone other goals, including retirement.
Thirty-one percent of those who invest their own money are saving for something other than retirement, such as travel (40 percent), a new primary residence (25 percent) or college tuition (24 percent). Advisors can keep investors motivated and engaged by helping clients set and achieve smaller financial goals, which may also boost their confidence in the process.
If Amazon can remind consumers when they're running low on paper towels, shouldn't their financial advisors know how close they are to being able to buy a house or a new car?
3. Meeting New Consumer Expectations
Today's consumers – especially younger ones – have high expectations. They want experiences tailored to their specific needs and requirements. If Amazon can remind consumers when they're running low on paper towels, shouldn't their financial advisors know how close they are to being able to buy a house or a new car?
Technology provides an accessible entry point to financial advice for nearly all income brackets and has strong potential for adding value to the advising relationship. Using digital tools and services provided by an advisor, investors can quickly and easily track progress toward their financial goals. That kind of engagement is becoming a primary focus for our industry.
New Opportunities in Wealth Management
People want help with their finances. Fiserv found 78 percent of all consumers say a formal financial plan is important to meeting goals. Among those who don't currently work with an advisor, nearly one in four (22 percent) are interested in doing so.
Technology enables delivery of a scalable yet personalized advising experience. The right advice – through the right technology – can help financial advisors differentiate their services and add value to the investing relationship.
The old models of asset allocation and security selection are giving way to holistic wealth management. That approach not only provides valuable, accessible services to investors but also serves as a catalyst to success for advisory practices, opening new opportunities to meet the needs of the next generation of investors.
How do people plan for life's most important milestones? Insights from our quarterly consumer research


text: Merry Christmas 2021! I Am Very Happy When The Christmas Is Coming With Many Activities. These Ideal Christmas Images Coloring Pages Can Help You Have The Oppotunities To Design: The Merry Christmas Banner For You To Print And Color. The Decoration With The Table At The Conner. This Is The Pictures Which Have Many Patterns For You To Design. People ...Read More »


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Remembering the Revelation at Sinai
Based on a sicha by Harav Aharon Lichtenstein
Summarized by Matan Glidai
Translated by Kaeren Fish
"Only guard yourself and guard your soul greatly lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen and lest they move from your heart all the days of your life; and you will make them known to your children and to your children's children, the day you stood before Hashem your God at Chorev..." (Devarim 4:9-10)
The Ramban counts this as one of the 613 mitzvot: a prohibition against forgetting the Sinaitic experience. Even those authorities who do not count this as a separate mitzva recognize that we are obligated to remember this event.
There are two components to this command: a) teaching Torah to one's children – "And you will make it known to your children and to your children's children;" b) actually remembering the event itself. It is therefore very important to examine and analyze what exactly took place at Sinai and how Am Yisrael received the Torah, especially on this festival commemorating the giving of the Torah.
Upon inspection, the events at Sinai turn out to have been very complex. On the verse, "And you shall ascend, and Aharon with you, and the kohanim and the nation shall not break through to ascend to the Lord" (Shemot 19:24), Rashi comments:
"Lest we understand this as meaning that [Aharon and the kohanim] too should ascend with him, the Torah teaches, 'You (singular) shall ascend.' Thus, the verse means that you may ascend to one boundary, and Aharon to another, and the others to a third; i.e., Moshe could approach nearer than Aharon, and Aharon could approach nearer than the kohanim, and the nation could not [ascend] at all."
Thus, everyone experienced the revelation from a different place, and had a different point of view.
With regard to the duration of the revelation, too, there is some complexity: from the point of view of Am Yisrael it lasted one day, while from Moshe's perspective it lasted forty days. Another difference between Moshe and Am Yisrael arises from a comment of the Ramban (20:6), who explains (in accordance with the Gemara in Makkot 24a) that Am Yisrael heard and comprehended directly from the Holy One only the first two of the Ten Utterances; they heard the rest from the Holy One but did not comprehend, and they understood only after Moshe had translated for them. The Rambam, in fact, draws the logical conclusion of this approach. He explains that the great significance of the revelation at Sinai lies in the verification of Moshe's prophecy and of the possibility of prophecy at all. According to him, the experience of revelation was not necessary to teach specific laws.
If we wish, then, to understand and to remember this experience, we shall need to clarify the manner in which Moshe received the Torah. An examination of the event from the perspective of Am Yisrael can provide only a partial understanding.
One thing we can learn from Moshe is that effort and initiative are needed in order to acquire the Torah. The midrash (Shemot Rabba 28:1) teaches that the verse in Tehillim (68:19), "You ascended on high and captured a captivity," refers to Moshe. He ascended to heaven and captured the Torah by force, after doing battle with the angels. The Gemara (Shabbat 88b-89a) describes this battle and the argument between Moshe and the angels, who refused to give the Torah to a mortal. Moshe therefore needed to approach with force in order to receive the Torah. When Bnei Yisrael reached Mt. Sinai we are immediately told, "And Moshe ascended to God" (Shemot 19:3) – God did not call him; he ascended of his own initiative.
However, this is not the entire story. In parashat Beha'alotekha, we read of how Miriam spoke badly of her brother, Moshe. In the middle of the story we are told, "And the man Moshe was extremely humble, more than any person on the face of the earth" (Bamidbar 12:3). What place does this verse have here? We may say that this explains why Moshe did not answer Miriam's accusations, but it seems more reasonable that this verse explains God's words later on regarding the difference between Moshe and other prophets. Moshe reached such a high level of prophecy thanks to his trait of humility.
Many aggadot and midrashim stress this trait. The Gemara (Chullin 89a) teaches,
"What is said of Moshe and Aharon is greater than what is said of Avraham, for concerning Avraham it says, 'I am dust and ashes' (Bereishit 18:27), while concerning Moshe and Aharon it says, 'And what are we?' (Shemot 16:7)."
Dust and ashes are extremely lowly, but Moshe in effect says that he is nothing – not even dust and ashes. The midrash (Shemot Rabba 41:6) furthermore teaches,
"All forty days that Moshe spent on high, he learned Torah and then forgot. He said, 'Master of the Universe, I have been here for forty days and I know nothing.' What did the Holy One do? Once he had completed forty days, He gave him the Torah as a gift, as it is written, 'And He gave it to Moshe.'"
Moshe's determination to acquire the Torah was not enough; God had to give the Torah to him as a gift. In order to receive the Torah, we must feel humility and self-effacement before God; we must approach as lowly people who are sustained by God's gift of the Torah. The verse from Tehillim quoted above likewise concludes with the words, "You have taken GIFTS for man."
Humility is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, because of how Torah is transferred: Torah moves from a high place to a low place; it can only be accepted as a gift. Secondly, only a humble person who feels himself nullified before the Holy One and recognizes his true place is worthy of receiving the Torah.
So it was at Har Sinai, and so it has always been in the study of Torah throughout the generations. The Gemara (Ta'anit 7a) teaches,
"Why are the words of Torah compared to water, as it is written, 'Ho, all those who are thirsty – go to the water' (Yishayahu 55:1)? To teach you that just as water flows from a high place to a low place, so Torah can exist only in someone who is humble."
The Rambam expands on this idea (Hilkhot Talmud Torah 3:9):
"Just as water cannot collect on a slope, but rather flows from it and gathers on a plateau, so the words of Torah are not to be found in one who is vulgar of spirit nor in the heart of one who is haughty, but rather in the one who is lowly and of humble spirit, who sits at the feet of the sages and removes temporary desires and pleasures from his heart and performs a little labor every day to support himself, and spends the rest of his day and night involved in Torah."
Therefore, if we wish to remember the revelation at Sinai and to follow in the footsteps of Moshe Rabbeinu, we need to remember constantly that although effort, initiative and "conquest" are needed in order to acquire Torah, one also needs self-effacement and humility so that the Torah may be given to one as a gift.
(This sicha was delivered on leil Shavuot 5753 [1993].)
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Been using this for a while and it is really useful for letting people know where you are and how long you are likely to be before you get there. Not had the chance to test it from tyhe recipient side though.
Yes, my apologies. A few people have pointed out that glympse isn't new and has been around for some years. It's only just come to my notice though, no idea how I've missed it until now!
I've been using it for a few days now and it really is very good, much better than services such as Apple's 'Find Friends' and similar.
Darren Griffin - Editor
Me and my mates have been using it for several months now. Beer and curry nights have us using it to see who's nearest and going to buy the 1st pint!!
There's probably a more mature reason to use it, but we are like little kids with it. Or maybe that's not doing kids justice.
Triumph Tbird 1700. And now a Bonnie T100 as well.
Just a it doesn't seem to be avaialable on windows phone in the UK or it could be my device but I doubt it for the moment it seams its a US only for this os
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl
Not sure if this helps, the website offers downloads for Android, iPhone, Winphone 7 and Blackberry.
Maybe don't support the others yet.
edit by me,
also links for winmobo6 , 6.1 and 6.5
Also links for older versions of windows - v5, touch phones and non touch phones
I had thought it could be my hd7 as its a first gen windows phone and was going to try and re download it when my radar arrives in the next couple of weeks. ( I did want the titan but HTC apparently have messed it up and it would work on O2 )
I too have been using Glympse for quite some time. You can find my own (rather more in-depth) review from June last year on my blog. It's great for keeping people up to date on your progress as you travel to meet them, or for helping somebody to find you when they're on their way to you.
One thing to beware of though - when you use the application, it will use the GPS antenna in your phone even when the application is in the background. This is different (on Android, at least) from other GPS-enabled apps, which don't use the GPS in the background. This makes it a real battery killer, so if you're going to use it for any length of time, your phone had better be connected to a charger. It also means that if somebody sends you a Glympse, you're wise to choose to view it using a browser rather than the Application, unless you need to send your position back to them.
Android user and occasional blogger
GPS Shopping


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This solution leverages the flexibility and ease of SimpleCTMS, the cost-effectiveness of a SaaS-based system and the robustness of a validated and compliant environment.
(PRWEB) March 05, 2013
Trial By Fire Solutions, a leading eClinical solution provider specializing in clinical study management applications, today announced that SimpleCTMS has been selected by a global leader specializing in innovative measurement solutions for the life sciences industry.
The client's adoption of SimpleCTMS will utilize core study management features of the platform as well as new workflow and tracking features that facilitate the client's unique study model. Trial By Fire Solutions has expanded their validated platform services in order to deliver validated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in a compliant data center within the client's aggressive schedule.
"We are delighted that the strong yet flexible technical foundation of SimpleCTMS will be extended to assist a best in class global instrument provider with clinical research solutions. This engagement plays directly to our company mission to support innovative medical research and studies that ultimately help save lives," stated Jon Cecchettini, CTO and co-founder. "This solution leverages the flexibility and ease of SimpleCTMS, the cost-effectiveness of a SaaS-based system and the robustness of a validated and compliant environment."
SimpleCTMS will be used by multiple client teams at different locations to collaborate on the study workflows. Document repository features and role-based access restrictions will be utilized in new and innovative ways. Dashboards and visualizations will support clinical study analytics and performance tracking.
If you'd like to find out more information about how SimpleCTMS can improve your clinical trial management efficiencies and expedite your trial times, join us at our next free webinar on March 20th. You may register at http://www.simplectms.com/ctms-webinar-demo. Or please visit http://www.simplectms.com for more information.
About Trial By Fire Solutions
Trial By Fire Solutions is a life sciences focused clinical software company featuring SimpleCTMS, a flexible, intuitive and powerful clinical trial management system (CTMS). With a passion for innovating web-based eClinical technology, Trial By Fire Solutions develops applications to optimize planning, execution, tracking and overall cost of clinical trials. For more information, please visit http://www.simplectms.com.


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If you are a business manager, then you must have handled pressures caused by the lack of proper employee scheduling process. Employee morale is also badly affected if they lack a schedule that serves their skills and requirements. To further complicate the situation, the person who is assigned with the responsibility often has to deal with loads of schedules, timetables and employee requests which he needs to manage manually. Employee scheduling often takes a couple of weeks as a result.
There are numerous schedule-related issues that require the attention of both you and your staff. Here are some ways to make the employee scheduling process easier:-
Be Familiar with your Team
The first thing which you will need to do for effective employee scheduling is to prepare a list of employees who are working in your department. Apart from their name and responsibilities, you will also need to maintain their contact details, certifications, and relevant skills.
Come up with a Staff Availability Process
To create a cooperative work environment, you will need to provide employees with the opportunity to communicate their preferred working hours. If you have a clear idea about staff preferences, then you can put them in a time shift that is convenient to both. Details related to availability can be maintained in the form of a calendar. Employees will have to pick up more than one preferred shift to makeup all business hours.
Ensure that the Schedule is Easily Available
Once the schedule has been developed, you will need to ensure that your employees have easy access to it. Sometimes, your executives can forget to view the schedule if it in a place which is not easily visible. Often, employees misplace hard copies of their individual schedules. If they don't have easy access to the schedule, they might report to work late on a daily basis.
Plan for the Worst Situations
Once the job schedule has been created, you will need to pay attention to the emergency factor. A well-designed job schedule comes with a second plan so that you don't get tensed if an employee is absent or needs to leave due to an emergency. Maintaining an organized availability chart will help you do that effectively.
Schedule a Right Person for a Particular Job
Make judicious use of the staff list for scheduling employees as per their skills and aptitude. Occasionally, managers handling understaffed business processes are compelled to allocate work to staff who are not suited for the jobs they are assigned to. Though they can complete the work, it will lack the perfection that managers are looking for. Scheduling staff members in positions which do not match their skill sets can have a bad effect on their confidence.
Visit: http://visualcron.com


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Health informatics is the behind-the-scenes career of the health industry that focuses on technical aspects and patient data. This career involves the collection, organization, and use of healthcare information in order to foster improved collaboration between a person's many healthcare providers. Health informatics professionals play an understated, uniquely critical role in both medical services as well as health policies and the push for healthcare reform in the United States. As the technical aspects of medicine take on a larger scope, the demand for health informatics professionals is set to increase over the coming years.
Enroll in a health informatics degree online and you'll study information science, medical terminology and technology. Health informatics is an exploding field that requires computer smarts and medical knowledge. Through your studies, you'll learn how how to use computer databases and medical coding to track health records. Organizing, analyzing and using medical records will be a part of your daily work, as will looking for ways to deliver patient information more effectively. This degree offers the ability to work in healthcare but in a more administrative position. While the program could be a natural fit if you're already working in the medical field, it's also quite suitable if you want to start a new career.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are gaining popularity throughout the healthcare industry, which means the demand for qualified professionals who can understand and manage EHR software and data is on the rise. Medical records and health information technicians (HITs) are the professionals who organize and manage health information data to maintain quality, accuracy, and security in physical and digital systems. HITs don't necessarily provide direct patient care, but work very intimately with confidential patient information and other healthcare professionals. Careers in health informatics require a knowledge of the technical aspects of EHRs in addition to an understanding of the medical and privacy practices that you will be working with.
If you are already employed in the IT sector, specializing in health informatics could revitalize your career. Most workers who move from IT into health informatics are already employed as database developers, programmers or administrators. As a nurse seeking to change careers and move into administration, you can enlist your knowledge of patient care, treatment and medical billing to oversee records management and reporting.
As a health informatics degree online graduate, you could find work in an insurance company, doctor's office or hospital. If you have an associate's degree, you could find work as a medical records and health information technician. With a more advanced degree, you could seek a management position and oversee national health record systems for large medical systems.
The DOL mentions that the average pay for HITs is around $37,000 each year, but some health informatics professionals may fall into other categories for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, such as "Computer Information Systems Managers" with a specialty in healthcare. Professionals with these alternative titles may average at more than $100,000 each year.
Professionals who are seeking a career in health informatics must be honest people. The career requires an integrity of professionals to uphold the confidentiality of sensitive information about patients and their health. Health informatics also requires unique technical skills within the medical industry. Professionals must be competent enough to use coding and classifying software as well as EHR systems.
It is most common for health informatics professionals to obtain a postsecondary certificate or associate's degree in the field. Typically, careers in health informatics can be advanced or specialized on with graduate level education. Programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM) may garner more respect but may also come with a higher price tag.
Expect an undergraduate online health informatics degree program to include courses in computer and IT systems, math, computer security, and database administration. You should also learn medical coding and billing, medical terminology, anatomy, and biology. Other common topics include health care law, ethics, and administration. Your program will be a mix of computer science, healthcare, and business classes.
On the other hand, a graduate level education in health informatics focus on the advanced skills needed to develop and manage computerized database and record-keeping systems inside hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical research plants. You will study project management, supervision, and data security in a master's or advanced certificate level.
According to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), certification programs can cost as little as $200. For advanced degrees, programs are be more expensive. Most of the master's programs cost between $20,000 and $30,000.


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A Designed World: Antinori Winery / Archea Association, Nico Saieh, archdaily.com
Antinori Winery / Archea Association
Nico Saieh, archdaily.com
Architects: Archea Associati
Location: Bargino, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Firenze, Italy
Project Team: Laura Andreini, Marco Casamonti, Silvia Fabi, Giovanni Polazzi
Year: 2012
Photographs: Pietro…
This post is shared via our "Life of Art" Flipboard.com Magazine: http://flip.it/lxEcb – The work in this post was not created by QuietYell™ and is copyright its respective creator(s). However, it is work that inspires us and we hope you will be joyfully inspired as well. Please visit the links to see more & support the work and its creators. Learn More About Flipboard on QuietYell


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Penn State and Michigan State can dust off the Land Grant Trophy in three years, when their derailed rivalry returns to the schedule.
After a four-year hiatus, the Lions and Spartans will resume playing each other as part of the Big Ten's 2015-16 schedule cycle. Penn State will visit East Lansing in 2015, with Michigan State returning to State College in 2016.
The two teams had closed the regular season against each other every year from 1993 (when Penn State joined the Big Ten) to 2010. Michigan State won the last meeting 28-22, taking possession of the trophy, which was designed by former Spartans coach George Perles, for what will prove to be five years.
When Nebraska joined the Big Ten, leading to the division format, Penn State and Michigan State were placed in opposite divisions, and the rivalry game was lost.
Though the game returns, it will not mark the finale for either team. Penn State will continue to play its season-ending game on Thanksgiving weekend against Wisconsin. The Lions will visit Wisconsin in 2015 and host the Badgers in 2016.
In addition, Northwestern rolls off the schedule for the next four seasons. For the next two seasons, Penn State's no-plays are Northwestern and Iowa. They're Northwestern and Michigan for 2015-16.
As a result, the Lions and Wolverines will play only twice (in 2013-14) over a six-year period. That certainly dents what had developed into a tense conference rivalry.
If you're planning ahead, here's a look at Penn State's 2015-16 conference schedules. Notice the 2016 finish against Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
A make-or-break run for Bill O'Brien?
Oct. 3: ILLINOIS
Oct. 10: at Ohio State
Oct. 17: BYE
Oct. 24: PURDUE
Oct. 31: at Indiana
Nov. 7: IOWA
Nov. 14: at Michigan State
Nov. 21: NEBRASKA
Nov. 28: at Wisconsin
Oct. 1: at Illinois
Oct. 8: BYE
Oct. 15: INDIANA
Oct. 22: at Purdue
Oct. 29: OHIO STATE
Nov. 5: at Iowa
Nov. 12: MICHIGAN STATE
Nov. 19: at Nebraska
Nov. 26: WISCONSIN


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Look at a globe or photo of Earth from space and you can see our blue planet, with the continents surrounded by ever-circulating, briny waters of the sea. Perhaps no living thing has a better appreciation of the continuity of the seas than the largest animals in them: whales. From continent to continent, they travel between warm waters for birthing their young, then saunter endless miles to frigid polar seas that teem with arthropods and fish. Whales are one of our most amazing co-inhabitants of the planet.
Directly off our coast every spring, gray whales parade past our shores in the longest migration of any mammal, about 10,000 miles round trip. Sometimes we can see them even closer to home when they occasionally enter the Bay, as a cow-calf pair did recently. For several years the grays seemed to be making more stops in the Bay, with fewer sightings in the last few years. The Oceanic Society collected data on them including what they were doing here (feeding, resting, or perhaps getting lost) and how toxins in Bay mud may affect them. They're planning to reinstate their data collection this year and next with the increase of whale visits in the Bay. (See their report at the Oceanic Society website).
Gray whales have made an amazing comeback from the brink of extinction. With international and federal government protection, their population has returned to levels estimated for their pre-hunting numbers. There are many opportunities between now and mid-April to view the gray whale migration for yourself either from a boat or from shore. For great views from shore, check out the Point Reyes National Seashore and other Bay Area shorelines. I had an exciting view of a young gray whale breaching, launching itself out of the water repeatedly, from the Point Reyes lighthouse in early April one year. It really made the climb down and back up those 300 steps worthwhile!
Humpback whales are another species that traverse the vast Pacific, though in much smaller numbers than the gray whales. Humpbacks are an endangered species with both international and federal government protected status. Their population was monitored and mapped in the north Pacific. The study, conducted for four years, found a much more complex population movement and dispersion than scientists had expected. The Hawaiian Islands are largest calving grounds with the shallower seas around Maui designated as the Humpback Whale Sanctuary. You can watch humpback cows teaching their calves the finer points of breaching, fin and tail slapping, and hear male humpbacks singing underwater. Listen to a humpback whale song from the NOAA website.
Food for thought: the majority of humpbacks swim through the Pacific Gyre, an island of floating trash, mostly plastics, trapped by ocean currents and estimated to be the size of Texas. Akin to pushing a baby stroller through a garbage dump, swimming through this area could expose young humpbacks to toxins accumulating in the small plastic pellets - DDT, PCBs, and the like. Some steps we can take closer to home that'll help our ocean wildlife is to reduce the amount of plastics we use. Check out this blogger's account about going 30 days without using plastics and consider where you can cut down on the amount of single-use plastics in your life: Modern Muse: 30 Days without Plastic The whales and ocean wildlife will be better off for it, and so will we!


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Minneapolis-based medical entrepreneur Manny Villafaña and Engineering faculty researcher M. L. Raghavan are showcased in a special news feature published by the University of Iowa Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.
Villafana has deep roots at the university and the college. The New York native and son of Puerto Rican immigrants says his relationship with the UI dates back
"Elizabeth always talked about her father," Villafaña said. "He died about a year before I met her, so I never met him."
Trying to think of a wedding gift for his future bride, Villafaña contacted someone at the UI and asked: "What do you need?"
His contact at the UI said the College of Engineering needed a computer lab, as personal computers were just emerging as important tools for research, design and engineering.
"So we worked out a donation to the UI on the condition the lab be named the Howard J. Elder Computing Lab," Villafaña said.
Villafaña has continued his philanthropic support for the college, and also works with students in the UI 's John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and provides philanthropic support for the UI Department of Biology in the name of his mother.
In May 2014, the UI gave Villafaña an Honorary Doctor of Science degree to recognize his contributions to biomedical device development, biomedical engineering, civic leadership, and student success.
In February, he signed a license with the UI Research Foundation to allow his newest company, Medical 21, to leverage the UI research as an important step toward—he hopes—eventually creating the world's first viable artificial vascular graft for heart bypass.
Raghavan, who runs the BioMechanics of Soft Tissues Lab at the UI Center for Computer Aided Design, said his lab studies the forces and motion of the heart and arteries and how they are affected by diseases (such as aneurysms) as a step toward designing devices to treat those diseases (such as stents, grafts, and prosthetic heart valves).
To read the complete story, go to http://research.uiowa.edu/impact/news/hunt-heart-surgery%E2%80%99s-holy-grail-leads-entrepreneur-iowa.


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From Orlando to Our Nation's Capital, Let's Talk Industry Trends
Co-founder and Chief Medical and Strategy Officer shares insights at upcoming conferences.
Each year, members from Modernizing Medicine travel around the country to showcase our specialty-specific suite of solutions, connecting with current and future clients on what they need in software while learning how we can help.
We're fortunate to have a very talented and experienced staff including the members of our executive leadership team. With two impactful conferences on the horizon, our co-founder and chief medical and strategy officer, Dr. Michael Sherling, will speak at both Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Association of Dermatology Administrators & Managers (ADAM) annual meetings on some of the latest trends in the industry. Here's where you can find him and what to expect.
First Up, HIMSS 2019 in Orlando, Fla.
Every year at arguably the largest health IT conference in the world, HIMSS unites thought leaders and innovative companies that support the transformation of health through the application of information and technology. With over 45,000 professionals from over 90 countries, HIMSS makes a global impact. This year we're fortunate enough for it to take place only a few hours away from our headquarters.
Echoing HIMSS' vision of "better through information and technology," Dr. Sherling will offer his insights during a panel discussion on price transparency.
Dr. Sherling will serve on the panel hosted by Surescripts Vice President, Dr. Andrew Mellin, "Enabling Price Transparency With Actionable Intelligence at the Point of Care," on Tuesday, February 12 at 12:30 p.m. in the interoperability showcase education theater. Dr. Lynne Nowak, Dr. Darla Kincaid and Josh Holzbauer will also serve on the panel.
The discussion will focus on how the healthcare market has achieved a breakthrough in prescription price transparency, benefiting patients and providers with greater efficiency, reduced costs and increased satisfaction and how interoperability gives providers access to patient-specific, accurate and formulary-based price and therapeutic alternative information at the point of care. New data reveals the significant impact of price transparency–in some instances as much as $8,032 on a single prescription and thousands of hours of wait time by eliminating manual prior authorizations.
Both Surescripts (booth 6158) and Modernizing Medicine (booth 5046) will have a presence at the show, so certainly set aside some time to connect with each company's team before or after the panel.
Next Up, ADAM and AAD
At the Association of Dermatology Administrators & Managers (ADAM) leading up to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), Dr. Sherling will present on the topic of impending EHR trends, with the session "How Will EMR Change in 2019?" His session will take place on Thursday, February 28 from 11:10 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Additionally, Dr. Sherling will participate in a roundtable discussion later that day from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Then, during AAD you can find Dr. Sherling and the dermatology team at booth 1237 throughout the conference.
Wondering what to expect during Dr. Sherling's ADAM presentation? He'll discuss potential changes regarding EMR technology in 2019 and beyond. His discussion will outline how HIT trends such as practice consolidation, interoperability and patient engagement will influence dermatology EMR innovation. Additionally, he'll discuss the key changes to the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2019 and where they fit in to shaping the future of dermatology EMRs. You're probably quite familiar with the term artificial intelligence (AI), but what about intelligence amplification (IA)? What's the difference and how is it shaping EHR technology? Dr. Sherling will discuss all this and more during his presentation at ADAM, so mark your calendars.
Not attending HIMSS or ADAM this year? Not to worry as Dr. Sherling and others from the Modernizing Medicine team will make appearances around the country sharing how our suite of health IT solutions can benefit specialty practices.


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Members of the Gortletteragh Ballygar (G&B))Tug of war team, which was founded in Leitrim, are travelling to Wroclaw in Poland to Represent Ireland at the 2017 World Games in the 640KG weight category.
The G&B Tug of War team was formed following an amalgamation of Leitrim's Gortletetteragh and Ballygar of Galway
Participation in the World Games programme remains the most prestigious event in the sport of Tug of War and it only happens every 4 years.
Only the top six countries in the world qualify to compete in each weight category and G&B achieved this qualification by winning a bronze medal at the Tug of War World Championships in Sweden in 2016.
The world games is a multi-sport even containing sports that are not part of the Olympic Games, however these games are used as an important stepping stone to any sport looking to becoming an Olympic Sport.
The team will be competing on Sunday, August 30 at 11am Irish time and further information can be found on the World games website.
The Carrick area swim team that competed so successfully in the Community Games National Finals in Limerick last Saturday.
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BOSTON — In training camp, the Bruins thought they might have hit upon something special with a generation-spanning line that featured a wise-beyond-his-years center flanked by a grizzled veteran with a hall-of-fame resume and talented young rookie.
They were right. They just needed to tweak one ingredient in the recipe.
Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi and Tyler Seguin saw some time together in the preseason, and were briefly reunited earlier this month. But instead of Seguin, Brad Marchand looks like the youngster that line needed to suddenly spark the Bruins' offense.
When Bruins coach Claude Julien was forced to shake up his lines again on Saturday after Nathan Horton was sidelined, he put that trio together. All they've done in the three games since is combine for eight goals, 13 points and a plus-17 rating.
Bergeron has supplied the bulk of that, collecting five goals and seven points in the three games, capped by his first career hat trick in Tuesday's 6-0 win over Ottawa.
"He certainly provided us with some good offense this year and he seems to have good chemistry with Rex [Recchi] and he likes playing with him and they read off each other well," Julien said of Bergeron. "We've had different wingers with them and I think Marsh [Marchand] has stepped in there and done a really good job of adjusting with those guys. He's a hard worker and he's in other teams' faces and he forechecks well and creates some opportunities. There's been a good fit there and I'm really hesitant at wanting to break that trio up because they've been so good for us."
Marchand has been a good fit just about everywhere he's played this season. He helped form an effective energy line for most of the year with Greg Campbell and Shawn Thornton, a unit Thornton christened the "Merlot Line" for their wine-colored practice jerseys.
Marchand's agitating style fits in well with that unit, but he also has the skill to play up on a scoring line.
"We didn't project [Marchand] to be necessarily a fourth-line player, we really projected him to be at least a good third-line player and maybe more depending on how he developed," Julien said. "Again, depending on his production and everything else, we'll see where he fits.
"The one thing he does do is he's one of those guys that every night you're getting the same thing out of him — that's called consistency," he added. "You look for that in players. Not every player has that ability, but he's one of those guys that so far this year he's given us that effort every night that gives the coach a good knowledge of what you're going to get out of him as a player."
Marchand, who had no goals and just one assist in 20 games in his first taste of NHL action last year, has been among the more productive players this year with 8-10-18 totals. Four of those points have come in the three games with Bergeron and Recchi, including a goal and an assist on Tuesday.
"They are two unbelievable players," Marchand said. "It is very easy to play with them. If you just get to the right spot they will get you the puck. Bergie is so strong on the puck down low and Rex gets to the front of the net. It is pretty easy to play with them.
"Sometimes the guys make a little more creative plays," Marchand added, comparing his new linemates to his old energy line cohorts. "For the most part we each just try to get pucks in deep and work it low. That's pretty much what we did on the 'Merlot Line,' just get it low and work hard. I think that is what makes them so good. They're very skilled and they both work hard."
Bergeron's hot streak pre-dated the creation of this line, as he is now 8-9-17 and a plus-10 over the last 13 games, but he has certainly been impressed by Marchand's energy after his first chance to play with the scrappy youngster for an extended period.
"Yeah, it helps a lot," Bergeron said of Marchand's non-stop motor. "He's good, he's always out there, always wants that puck, and I'm the same way. We're clicking right now. It's nice. And Rex, I can't say enough about him, we all know [how good he is]. So far it's been great."


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Red: it represents love, energy, power, strength and passion
Orange: combines the energy of red and the happiness of
yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics
Yellow: the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and
Green: is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and
fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety.
Blue: is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and
stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence and faith.
Purple: combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated
with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
White: is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is
considered to be the color of perfection.
Black: is associated with power, elegance, formality, evil, and mystery.


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Benedict Devlyn
Duke of Creighton
"The Devil Duke"
After the death of his parents, Benedict Devlyn was taken in and raised by his Aunt Agatha, the Dowager Duchess of Durbin. She was strict and insisted on things being done her way. Benedict, however, was a strong-willed child who never liked to do things by the book. And so he came by his nickname, "the Devil Duke" quite honestly by doing exactly whatever pleased him.
A man of rapidly changing tastes, he has had eight different mistresses in the last year, whom he hires as his housekeeper for as long as they can hold his interest.
It should come as no surprise, that he has no intention to marry any time soon. No woman can capture his heart. But his aunt is growing impatient. She will see him married before her time comes, no matter what methods she must employ to see it done. Poor fellow, he won't even know what hit him!


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Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints
Document Type
Open Access Preprint
Anticipated Volume
Anticipated Issue
We present the most comprehensive genetic characterization to date of five Fijian island populations: Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Kadavu, the Lau Islands, and Rotuma, including non-recombinant Y (NRY) chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes and haplogroups. As a whole, Fijians are genetically intermediate between Melanesians and Polynesians, but the individual Fijian island populations exhibit significant genetic structure reflecting different settlement experiences in which the Rotumans and the Lau Islanders were more influenced by Polynesians, and the other Fijian island populations were more influenced by Melanesians. In particular, Rotuman and Lau Islander NRY chromosomal and mtDNA haplogroup frequencies and Rotuman mtDNA hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) region haplotypes more closely resemble those of Polynesians, while genetic markers of the other populations more closely resemble those of the Near Oceanic Melanesians. Our findings provide genetic evidence supportive of modifying regional boundaries relative to Fiji, as has been suggested by others based on a variety of non-genetic evidence. Specifically, for the traditional Melanesia/Polynesia/Micronesia scheme, our findings support moving the Melanesia-Polynesia boundary so as to include Rotuma and the Lau Islands in Polynesia. For the newer Near/Remote Oceania scheme, our findings support keeping Rotuma and the Lau Islands in Remote Oceania and locating the other Fijian island populations in an intermediate or "Central Oceania" region to better reflect the great diversity of Oceania.
Recommended Citation
Shipley, Gerhard P.; Taylor, Diana A.; N'Yeurt, Antoine D. R.; Tyagi, Anand; Tiwari, Geetanjali; and Redd, Alan J., "Genetic Evidence for Modifying Oceanic Boundaries Relative to Fiji" (2017). Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints. 101.