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If you were born before the birth of the EU, then you should know every song of this week's playlist. I was 14 when I was listening this songs, dreaming of a future far far away from Italy. Well, I love Italy now, it's too beautiful, but that dream is always there inside my mind.
For the moment I'm happy with this list, as a romantic Hegel (fuck you, Philosophy). You can find it also here on my Spotify.
- Phoenix – If I ever feel better
- Modjo – Lady
- Jamiroquai – You give me something
- Moloko – Sing it back
- The Ones – Flawless
- Fat Boy Slim – Sunset
- Daft Punk – One more time
- Roger Sanchez – Another chance
- The Superman lovers – Starlight
- Groove Armada – My friend
Do you like it? Are you a nostalgic too? Nostalgia is a bad, bad thing.
Have a non-nostalgic weekend!


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by Jeanne Craig | March 4, 2020
Find the Perfect Fishing Spot in Fort Pierce
The action is hot —inshore and off— in Fort Pierce.
It's not uncommon for fishermen to want to save the best fishing spots for themselves, but in Fort Pierce, it's tough to keep the good locations secret. That's because there are so many places from which to cast a line and hook into a game fish.
"Fort Pierce remains one of the best destinations in Florida for recreational fishing," says Charlotte Bireley, director of tourism and marketing for St. Lucie County. "There are a variety of places to fish, a diversity of species and many opportunities for anglers of all skill levels."
Fishing is a big part of the area's DNA. Commercial and recreational fishing in Ft. Pierce date back over a century. In the early 1900s, fishing was a major industry. On the riverfront in Fort Pierce were fish houses and packing plants for the mackerel, mullet and kingfish that were brought in by the boatload and then shipped out by railroad up the East Coast.
Today, recreational fishing is the draw for anglers. They descend on Fort Pierce with rods and reels knowing that the waters can deliver big rewards, including record-breaking catches. The Florida record spotted sea trout, at 17.7 pounds, was captured here, in the Indian River Lagoon.
If you head offshore by boat, you can bottom fish for species like grouper or troll the water's surface for mahi-mahi and sailfish. The area is also known for kingfish; it's home to the national championship tournament hosted by the Southern Kingfish Association.
Don't have a boat? You can cast lines from the jetties that flank the Fort Pierce Inlet. This is a great place to find snook all year long, but especially in summer months.
Beaches are another good place for species ranging from tarpon, blacktip sharks and mackerel to permit and jacks. And there's action throughout the year. The best time, though, is during bait runs, which begin in August and end by November. Two of the most sought-after species for beach fishermen are pompano and whiting, which show up when the water temperatures drop in November.
There's plenty of inshore action, too, particularly in the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile estuary where grass flats are fertile feeding ground for spotted sea trout. Small species are also drawn to roots of Mangrove trees, which in turn attract large predators like snook and redfish. From the high perch of a public dock you can try to lure the flounder and black drum that gather around the pilings.
Anglers love Fort Pierce for its variety of species, but amenities like multiple marinas, free public boat ramps, bait and tackle shops, cleaning stations, charter boats and fishing guides, along with great hotels keep them returning every season. And then there are the friendly locals, who, unlike some sportsmen, are happy to share their favorite fishing spots with visitors (well, maybe not ALL the secret spots!).

subset: commoncrawl


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The judges for the 2017 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature have announced the winners of the three genre categories, which now form the shortlist for the overall prize.
The late Trinidadian Angelo Bissessarsingh's Virtual Glimpses into the Past/A Walk Back in Time: Snapshots of the History of Trinidad and Tobago (Queen Bishop Publishing) was chosen along with Augustown by Jamaican novelist Kei Miller (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) and Cannibal, by Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair (University of Nebraska Press), from a longlist of nine books.
Read more.


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A spectral colour is a colour evoked in normal human vision by a single wavelength of visible light, or by a narrow band of adjacent wavelengths.
- A spectral colour is a hue evoked in normal (trichromatic) human vision by a single wavelength of visible light, or by a narrow band of adjacent wavelengths. This is how we see colour in normal viewing conditions such as sunlight or artificial light.
- Sunshine is a typical case in so far as it contains nearly all spectral hues.
- Sunshine has a very broad spectral power distribution and as light strikes surfaces, some wavelengths are absorbed, and others are reflected. The mix of reflected wavelengths results in the non-spectral colours we see.
Non-spectral colour
- A non-spectral colour is any hue that cannot be produced by light of a single wavelength or that does not occur in the visible spectrum (e.g. Magenta).
- Spectral hues are commonly associated with rainbows, prisms and diagrams showing the colours of the visible spectrum (red to violet). But any medium that reflects or transmits a single wavelength of light produces a spectral colour.
- Spectral colours can be mimicked by RGB colour. This involves mixing coloured lights tuned to the three spectral primaries, red, green and blue. The resulting colours are not spectral colours because of the resulting mix of wavelengths.
- The intensity, which is to say, the brightness, of a spectral hue viewed by an observer may alter considerably depending on the situation. For example, a low-intensity orange-yellow may appear brown, and a low-intensity yellow-green may appear olive-green.
The human eye and spectral colour
- The human eye, and so human perception, is tuned to the visible spectrum and so to all wavelengths that correspond with spectral colours between red and violet.
- The visible spectrum is the range of wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that correspond with all the different colours we see in the world. We do not see colour when exposed to wavelengths of infrared or ultraviolet light.
- A spectral colour is a hue corresponding with a single wavelength of visible light, or with a narrow band of adjacent wavelengths.
- In other situations, spectral hues are called pure hues or monochromatic hues.
- Spectral colours include all the pure hues associated with a rainbow so are sometimes called rainbow colours.
Rainbow colours
- Rainbow colours include red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet but the human eye can distinguish many thousands of other spectral colours between each of these.
- In a continuous spectrum of wavelengths, separate hues are indistinguishable to the human eye.
- The fact that we see the distinct bands of colour in a rainbow is an artefact of human colour vision.
- Spectral colours can be mimicked by RGB colour. This involves mixing coloured lights tuned to the three spectral primaries, red, green and blue.


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Let's start our day with Agile thoughts, conversations, tips and inspirations in the Altamonte Springs/Maitland area.
'Agile in the Morning' is a great place to ask questions and share stories about using Agile and Lean approaches in software development and other industries. We discuss anything that interests the group via a "Lean Coffee" format: You suggest topics, then we prioritize those items democratically. We manage our discussions via a Kanban "board," timeboxes, and a Roman vote (thumbs up/down).
We meet at Boston Coffeehouse the last Friday of every month. Parking is right in front, and it's free. We look forward to seeing you there!
Interested in the Lean Coffee format? This informal, conversational technique is the perfect way for beginners to learn, and for experts to give back to their community.
Learn more at LeanCoffee.org!


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Abstract 5340
A high level of microsatellite instability (MSI-H) is indicative of a tumor deficient in mismatch repair (dMMR). Prior reports suggest that anti-PD-1 antibody therapy provides durable responses in patients (pts) with MSI-H cancers. Here we assessed efficacy of PD-1 blockade using pembrolizumab in pts with dMMR/MSI-H (hereafter termed MSI-H) advanced cancer enrolled in two ongoing, global, multicenter phase 2 studies KEYNOTE (KN)164 and KN158. We report results in 61 pts with MSI-H CRC and 77 pts with MSI-H non-CRC across 20 tumor types.
KN164 enrolled pts with MSI-H colorectal cancer (CRC) and ≥2 prior therapies, whereas the multicohort KN158 study included pts with MSI-H non-CRC and ≥1 prior therapy. MSI-H status was determined locally by IHC or PCR or centrally by PCR. Eligible pts in both studies received pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W. Tumor response was assessed every 9 wk. Primary endpoint was ORR by independent central review per RECIST v1.1. Database cut-off date was Feb 10, 2017 for KN164 (≥54 wk follow-up) and Jan 27, 2017 for KN158 (≥27 wk follow-up).
KN164 enrolled 61 pts with MSI-H CRC (90% with ≥2 prior therapies) and KN158 enrolled 77 pts with MSI-H non-CRC (52% with ≥2 prior therapies), at data cutoff. Tumor types represented in KN158 in at least 2 pts included endometrial (n = 17), gastric (n = 11), small intestinal (n = 10), pancreatic (n = 9), biliary (n = 8), mesothelioma and small cell lung (n = 3 each), adrenocortical, bladder, and thyroid (n = 2 each) cancers. ORR was 27.9% (n = 17 [all confirmed]; 95% CI 17.1%-40.8%) for MSI-H CRC and 37.7% (n = 29 [23 confirmed and 6 unconfirmed]; 95% CI 26.9%-49.4%) for MSI-H non-CRC. Median DOR was not reached for MSI-H CRC (range 2.9+ to 12.5+) or MSI-H non-CRC (range 2.4+ to 9.2+). Median OS was not reached for either MSI-H CRC or MSI-H non-CRC, with 6-mo OS rates of 87% and 73%, respectively.
6-mo PFS rates were 43% for MSI-H CRC and 45% for MSI-H non-CRC. 4 (7%) pts with MSI-H CRC and 7 (9%) with MSI-H non-CRC had serious drug-related AEs. The safety profile was consistent with that previously seen for pembrolizumab.
Pembrolizumab provides robust antitumor activity with durable responses in heavily pretreated pts with MSI-H cancers.
Clinical trial identification
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02460198. MK-3475 164 First received: May 29, 2015 Last updated: February 16, 2017 Last verified: February 2017 AND ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02628067. MK-3475 158 First received: December 9, 2015 Last updated: February 23, 2017 Last verified: February 2017
Legal entity responsible for the study
Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc.
L. Diaz: Travel expenses from Merck & Co., Inc. A. Marabelle: Advisory board for Merck Serono, eTheRNA, Lytix pharma, Kyowa Kirin Pharma, Bayer, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Symphogen, Genmab, Amgen, Biothera, Nektar, GSK, Oncovir, Pfizer, Seattle Genetics, Flexus Bio, Roche-Genentech. Speakers' bureau for MSD. T.W. Kim: Advisory board member for Amgen. Research funding from Taiho, Bayer. R. Geva: RG: Advisory board member for Bayer, MSD & Novartis. Honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly, Medison, Roche, Novartis and Janssen. E. Van Cutsem: Research funding from Amgen, Bayer, Boehringer, Celgene, Ipsen, Lilly, MSD, Merckserono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi and Servier. T. André: Honoraria from Bohrigner Ingenheim, Merck, Serono, Baxter, Bayer and Roche. P.A. Ascierto: Advisory board member for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche-Genentech, MSD, Novartis, Array, Amgen, Merck Serono, and Pierre Fabre. M. Maio: Honoraria, travel expenses and consulting fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, GSK, & Medimmune. R. Guimbaud: Advisory board member for Novartis. Travel expenses, including accommodations from Roche, Ipsen, Lilly and Sanofi. D. Jaeger: Consulting or advisory roles and Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb & Bayer. T. Yoshino, A. Joe, B. Lam, J. Ding, S. Pruitt, S.P. Kang: SPK is employed by Merck & Co., Inc. and may own stock options in the company. D.T. Le: Research grants and honoraria from Merck & Co., Inc. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


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I'm still in an old-time radio mood. So here's a 1941 installment of Fibber McGee and Molly. The show's got great name recognition, if allusions to it on Mystery Science Theater 3000 are any guide. Granted, by that standard, Averell Harriman still has great name recognition.
But it's of historical importance. The show was one of those that created the situation-comedy genre. As often the case with those that create a form it doesn't have the form quite right. The show tends to have very loose plots, to the extent it has plots at all. There's typically just a gimmick for the episode and then riffing around that. The bunch of wacky neighbors and friends come on, usually one at a time, to add their riffs, and then after 25 minutes of this, two musical numbers, and a minute spent praising Johnson's Wax, something ends the situation. It hardly seems like the same sort of entertainment as, say, Arrested Development.
But I think it's of more than just historic importance, at least in some episodes. The one I've picked here, "Leaving for Hollywood" and originally run the 24th of June, 1941, closed out the broadcast season. It's built on the McGees closing up their house and saying goodbye to everyone because they're off to Hollywood for the summer … to make one of the movies based on the Fibber McGee and Molly show. The movie, Look Who's Laughing (mentioned in the show as the Old-Timer worries about the title) featured most of the radio program's cast in a story that intersects with Lucille Ball and Edgar-Bergen-and-Charlie-McCarthy and some story about the town's airstrip.
And there is something almost strikingly modern. We have the fictional conceit that we're listening to the stuff happening to the McGees and their acquaintances. And yes, it breaks the fourth wall a couple times each episode for the needs of commerce or just to let Jim Jordan get in a good side crack. But here's a story all about winding up the "real" affairs of the McGees for long enough to let them make a movie about themselves. It's a weird blending of layers of fiction. I don't think the 1941 audience was confused or blown away by this; it just feels too natural that the listeners are in on the artifice of the show. (Note the biggest laugh of the episode is one that subverts the show's best-remembered joke. And its next-most-famous running gag appears just to be mocked too.) I imagine someone listening to the show for the first time would find nothing surprising about the structure, except maybe for the conceit that perfectly good half-hour radio comedies should be adapted into 80-minute movies with far too much plot and nothing happening. It's only weird if you stop and point it out, which I hope you see now that I have.
Minor note: the second musical number within the show, about 19:30 in, is the Kingsmen singing "The Reluctant Dragon", based on the Disney partly-animated Robert Benchley vehicle and that's fun.
Another Blog, Meanwhile Index
So here we are, trying out reporting just the breakaway alternate Another Blog, Meanwhile Index and that's up two points from where it was yesterday. And I don't want to say anything to the traders who are trying to work out why it is there's been no divergence in the indices since they split off all that while ago. But I will say that based on what I have they're in for a nasty surprise regarding today's mainstream index returns.


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By Michael Lanza
The air temperature feels not much above freezing, pinching our faces as we hit the trail just after 8 a.m. on our second day of backpacking in Glacier National Park. The still, glassy water of Elizabeth Lake captures a razor-sharp, upside-down reflection of the jagged mountains flanking it; only the upper slopes of the peaks above Elizabeth's western shore catch the early sunlight on this September morning. We pause occasionally on the strip of sandy beach along the lakeshore just to gawk at our surroundings.
Then we hear it.


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Hervey Bay in southern Queensland in Australia is a coastal city. It is a popular site to see humpback whales. Tourists enjoy Frasier Island with beaches and a rainforest habitat for dingoes and other wildlife. The calm waters here are great for swimming. You can find all kinds of accommodation in and around Hervey Bay, depending on your preferences.
1. Hervey Bay neighbourhoods
When looking for accommodations, you have many choices as to where to stay. It depends on whether you want to be close to shops or the water. You can find places to stay in Urangan that offer water views or Pialba, which is close to the nearest shopping centre. Other kinds of accommodations in Scarness can provide you with a combination of nearby beaches and water views.
2. Best resorts
Depending on who you're travelling with and if you are with family, you can find many excellent resorts offering the best of Queensland. Some resorts include on-site pools, spas, and ocean views. Some resorts offer views of Fraser Island, and you can laze away your days by the pool. So the best choices are resorts that offer you great views and ways to pamper yourself and those that provide a bit for every family member. If you prefer, you can find accommodation right on Frasier Island with units that overlook the sparkling waters and give fantastic views of the surrounding islands.
3. Accommodations by The Pier
The famous Pier in Urangan is a great place to walk and people-watch during the day and at night for romantic strolls beneath the moon above. People enjoy fishing from the pier, and children enjoy riding their bikes. You can find great accommodations here like a resort and spa and a motor inn.
4. Accommodations on the beach
If you prefer to stay right by the beach, you can find accommodations like motels that offer beach views and are right across the way. Here are also luxury apartments available with pools if you don't want to spend the whole day on the beach.
5. Accommodations with pools
Even though people enjoy spending time on the beach, they also prefer to have a chance to swim in a pool. So when considering where to stay in Hervey Beach, you can also find plenty of accommodations that have beautiful pools. There are landscaped pools, pools with beach views and spa baths to pamper yourself. You can find resort-style pools that are heated and surrounded by palm trees.
6. Cost of a stay at Hervey Beach
You can find Bed & Breakfasts that offer comfortable accommodation but won't break your budget. There are quality motels that range from three to five stars. You can also find Caravan Parks that offer you all the comforts of home. If you wish, you can stay in some of the friendly hostels that are just steps away from all the attractions. If your budget allows for it, you can also choose from many stylish resorts, luxury hotels, and even luxury apartments.
Planning a trip is an all-encompassing job, and you want to be able to make your choices even before your journey begins. Book accommodation in Hervey Bay early so that you can choose the best rooms.


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|Combo meal at McDonalds
|Coke bottle
|Mid range bottle of wine
|Milk (1 liter)
|Chicken breasts at the market
|Gasoline (1 liter)
Puerto Princesa is a city that belongs to the province of Palawan. It is the least populated cities in the Philippines. It has a total land area of 2,381.02 square kilometers making it as the second largest city in the Philippines. The city's advocacy for green and environment protection resulted in declaring the city as cleanest and greenest cities in the whole Philippine's archipelago.
Puerto Princesa is a popular tourist attraction mainly because of its clean beaches and the Underground River. This Underground River was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Palawan offers different travel experience with its white sand beaches and two UNESCO declared World's Heritage sites. This lovely city offers the unique Filipino Culture and hospitality, Nature and daring adventures.
Puerto Princesa is served by local airlines including PAL, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air. Because it is a popular tourist destination, it is easy to book a flight to Puerto Princesa. Different airlines offer huge discount and cheap flights to Puerto Princesa by simply booking in advance. With the recent development undergoing in the city under the strict supervision of the city ( to maintain the city's green and natural advocacy) there are now several five stars hotels in Puerto Princesa providing clean and green accommodations for local and international tourists.
Love to be alone? The Sabang Beach offers you a secluded white sand beach and hideaway from the crowd. The waterfalls inside the beach offer refreshing sights that calm not only the body but as well as the spirit. There's the Ugong Rock for your climbing adventure and the Lions Cave for you to explore and The Kawili and Daylight Cave for your cave adventures and explorations. You can save up by going in a group and pay only 700 pesos for a group of 5.
Exploring Puerto Princesa's underground river in The Subterranean River National Park; you will enjoy the 15 minute boat ride as you paddle your way from the cave' mouth up to the end of the World's largest underground water. You'll have up close experience with the Stalactites, the limestone karst mountain landscape and the breath-taking stalagmites formations.
Puerto Princesa's other tourists attractions are The Tubbataha Reef, The Iwahig Penal farm and Honday Bay. Tours in these attractions are mostly packaged with cheap flights to Puerto Princesa with hotel accommodation and transfer service.


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By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji
Global Markets
- Asian stocks retreat as China's growth slowdown deepens
- Chinese Oct economic indicators miss forecasts
- Hopes for resolution to US-China trade war fade
- Asian stocks drop, Hong Kong falls most
Oil Markets
- Oil rises on decline in US crude stocks, Fed comments on economy
- Brent up 0.3% at $62.54 a barrel (0111GMT)
- WTI up 0.4% at $57.32
Precious metals
- Gold inches down as hawkish Fed weighs on safe-haven demand
- Spot gold down 0.1% at $1,461.50/oz. (0141GMT)
- US gold futures flat at $1,462.40/oz
- Soybeans firms, rebound from more than 1-mth low
- Soybean futures up 0.2% at $9.17 a bushel (0133GMT)
- Corn futures up 0.1% at $3.75-1/2 a bushel
- Wheat futures unchanged at $5.09 a bushel
Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- Nigeria digital economy summit; 14-15 Nov [Alibaba's Jack Ma attending]
- 11th BRICS summit in Brasilia, Ramaphosa attending; 13-14 Nov
- South Africa inequality trends report by Stats SA
- Nigeria inflation Oct-19 [fcst. 11.7% yy, prev. 11.2%]
- South Africa mining production Sep-19 [fcst. -2.2% yy, prev. -3.2%]
- Egypt triple-tranche dollar bond bookbuilding
- International Conference on Population & Development (ICPD) in Nairobi; 12-14 Nov
Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today
[Posted & commented on some headlines below at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- Australia's Fortescue loses bid to develop Guinea iron ore blocks
- Nigeria security agency denies opening fire on supporters of detained activist
- Fire after gas leak in Egypt kills 7, injures 16 – state newspaper
- South Africa's Absa to appoint former c.bank deputy Mminele as CEO – media
- Setback for Tunisia's 'Me Too' movement as new MP gets immunity
- 2 Namibian ministers quit in bribery scandal involving Icelandic fishing firm
- Tunisia's parliament picks moderate Islamist party leader as speaker
- South African rand edges firmer, stocks dip
- IMF revises up Rwanda 2019 growth forecast to 8.5%
- Sudan's bourse maps out expansion plans amid uncertainty
- South Africa's SAA says strike could push airline towards collapse
- US to reevaluate South Sudan ties after unity govt deadline passes
- Ghana's GDP growth to slow, budget deficit to rise in 2020
- Africa Oil – Nigerian light sweet crude offered high but cracks ease
- Malawi receives 17 black rhinos from South Africa
- South African Airways says strike endangers future of airline
- Norway's DNB to investigate allegedly improper Icelandic payments to Namibia
- Tanzania says gunmen kill 6 in ambush near Mozambique border
- Kenya's KCB Group's 9-mth profit rises 6%
- Ghana's govt proposes 21% budget increase for 2020
- Zimbabwe bans new electric water heaters to save energy
- US presses Egypt on alleged torture, mass arrests at UN review
- South Africa's retail sales up 0.2% y/y in September
- Award-winning film 'Atlantics' offers haunting take on life in Senegal
- Kenya's budget update sees higher 2019/20 spending, deficit
- African Development Bank decides not to fund Kenya coal project
- Tunisia's divided parliament attempts to choose a speaker
- Nigeria oil output 1.6-1.7 mln bpd, in line with OPEC cut – NNPC
- Zimbabwe to enforce "use it or lose it" policy for mining assets
- Mozambique GDP growth seen at 5.5% in 2020 – IMF
- Egypt starts marketing triple-tranche dollar bonds
- South Africa's SPAR posts profit rise despite consumer pessimism
- Zimbabwe central bank will not allow miners to keep all forex earnings
- Egypt to auction $1.56 bln 1-yr dollar t-bills on Nov. 18 – cbank
- Zimbabwe to rigorously enforce "use it or lose it" policy on mining claims
- Kenyan shilling firms due to remittances, inflows to stock market
- Kenyan finance ministry asks parliament to hike 2019/20 budget by 86 bln shillings – papers
N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters


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RAMYA KRISHNAMURTHY writes from Bangalore: I was watching the tug-of-war, sparked by Narendra Modi's latest disgrace, on different TV channels last night, when I was struck dumb by one simple fact: our politicians, be they pseudo-secularists or pseudo-nationalists, are the only humans proudly defying the most basic tenets of the human spirit.
A school child wants to score more marks than her best friend. A mother wants to bring up her children better than her neighbour. A father wants to excel in the assignments at his work place. An athlete wants to get stronger than other athletes. An engineer wants to build taller buildings. An industrialist wants to set up a bigger facility.
A singer wants to shine in a concert. An Udupi waiter wants to serve faster. A doctor wants to earn a good name. A shopkeeper wants to serve his customers better and earn more. A sweeper wants to keep his street cleaner and earn the compliments. A journalist wants to do different stories to catch reader's attention.
More. Better. Stronger. Taller. Faster. Bigger. Excel. Shine. Different.
When was the last time you heard those nine words, in any combination, from the mouths of your politician?
As I watched the smug, supercilious lawyers of the BJP and the Congress masquerading as spokesmen splitting hairs deftly last night, I was left with the uncomfortable feeling that our politicians are the only humans who are not aspiring for something better, something different.
They are the only humans in our midst who are trying not to excel or shine. The only brand-managers trying not to put out a better product in the electoral marketplace.
This may seem like a cynical outpouring. It is not. It shows what we are fast losing as a democracy in the midst of the finger-waving and name-calling. Our politicians seem completely contented being what they are. It's as if they have reached the apogee of achievement; nothing higher, nothing larger, nothing nobler guides them any longer.
# If the shameless Congress guy points a finger at Gujarat 2002, the shameless BJP guy won't cringe in shame or embarrassment. What about 1984, he says. And what about Nandigram.
# If the shameless Communist guy says, "Modi said for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction," the shameless BJP won't express regret. "Didn't Buddhadeb say, 'Our boys were paying back with the same coin'. Didn't Rajiv say, 'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes'?"
# And if the shameless Congress and Communist guys say, "Minorities have never felt more vulnerable in Gujarat," the shameless BJP guy won't seek to reassure. "Where were your feelings for the thousands of Pandits who were driven out of Kashmir?"
Be it corruption, communalism, casteism, criminalisation or coalition, our parties have achieved a neat balance of terror. They are proud of it. They are unapologetic about it. And they give a damn to what "We, the People" think of it.
There is no grand, democratic, inclusive, optimistic vision about India i.e. Bharat. It's all about the here and now. They are everything we try not to be, and they seem very happy about it.
Looking at them, you might almost be led to wonder: are they human?


text: Angel figurines are very popular in the art world for what they represent, the value people place on them and their connection to religious historical events. In the 21st century, artists have found various ways to add their flair to what angels should look like or how they should be depicted. Artists have developed a number of ways of depicting angels in all their divinity and in other forms in the art world. Angelic art can be found in various forms, including angelic sculptures, glass pieces, stained glass representations, figurines and paintings have become even more popular today than ever before. You can find a big variety of angel art pieces depending on your preference.


text: Product Description: Streek is brought to you by the good people at Cosmic fog via their new line "Lost Fog Collection." Gaviota strawberries are mixed with creamy Greek yogurt, into a flavor that has been long in development. Guaranteed to compete with your most liked ejuice for all day vape rights.


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Thesis Triumph : Media Tech seniors explain thesis projects
January 24, 2019
For the Media Technology pathway senior thesis, students can create a narrative film or a traditional animation. These are projects that they've done in previous years in groups, Media Tech students creating animations for their Cornerstones, documentaries during junior year and narrative films in senior year.. Usually, students each direct a narrative film instead of traditional animation. In previous years, there have only been two senior to choose to do traditional animation for their senior thesis. This year, it went up with a total of four students.
Traditional animation is an animation technique where you are having to draw each frame by hand, 12 drawings for a single second. Narrative film is a live-action fictional film that you shoot with a Black Magic camera. Traditional animation is more time-consuming than making a narrative film because of how much work is needed to complete one. We interviewed three of the four students that finished a traditional animation about how they came up with their story, what their film is about, and the final product.
The Cheesy Adventures of Space Kid : Isabella Baladez (12)
"The process of coming up with a story didn't take that long as I thought it would. I came up with this story relatively quickly because I was just throwing around ideas. I wanted it to be lighthearted and funny because I knew that the other ones were like going to be more serious and I didn't want to go that route. I made an animation about an astronaut who goes up to space and when going out of his spaceship he gets stranded and has to find a way back to his spaceship. I'm actually really proud of how it turned out, it was a very long time coming, and I couldn't have done it without a lot of help, especially Mr. Soden. I'm really proud of my product and I'm happy with what I'm sending off to UIL."
Wish Delivery : Maddie Irwin (12)
"This project was a lot of researching. Brainstorming was very difficult. I spent half of the summer just trying to come up with an idea, it had started really stupid but then it evolved as I was making it, and even when I was putting it together at the end the ending of the story changed. My animation is about a young girl who spends her time catching fallen stars in the open countryside to send off to kids who live in the midst of cities hazy and polluted skies. A young astronomer who receives one of these finds that her wish to see a starry night comes true. Seeing the final product was very rewarding, because I literally worked for half of the summer and then all of first semester on this project, and it was the hardest project I've ever worked on."
Sundown : Sammie Seamon (12)
"It took me a long time to come up with a story. I remember spending a long time in June just trying out different ideas and typing them out in a Google document. I wasn't super happy with the story and I'm still not, but I just wanted to choose something that was going to be visually appealing. I mostly chose it off aesthetics and not really about how good the story was. My story is about a boy who skates through a town and he gets to the edge of the town and he climbs a hill and he touches a butterfly and then the butterfly flies into the air and turns into a star and then all these butterflies come in and turn into stars. The whole idea is that the boy is like a God that makes the night come about. I'm really proud of finishing it, I'm proud of all the hours I put into it and all the work. I wish I had done some things differently, there's some parts about it that I'm not happy with, but I'm just glad it's done."
Links to animations:
The Cheesy Adventures of Space Kid: https://vimeo.com/310622146
Wish Delivery: https://vimeo.com/310622648
Sundown: https://vimeo.com/310622417


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I'll start, as one always should, with the good news. On Friday, the state of California, acting at the direction of Governor Jerry Brown, has proposed a revised flammability standard for furniture that would require no chemicals!
The new rule, which is undergoing a 45-day comment period before being finalized, will require only that fabrics used in furniture resist a smolder test like that from a cigarette, and will not require that interior foams meet any test. Because furniture can be made to be less flammable through a good choice of fabric, this will allow better manufacturers to drop the use of chemicals altogether.
Because the California rule impacted the national market for furniture, this represents a tremendous step forward for public health. However, it is not a ban on the use of chemical flame retardants, so it does not mean that new furniture will necessarily lack flame retardants (FRs) — at least for a while. Consumers looking to buy new furniture should still ask whether the foam and fabric have been treated, because it takes time for manufacturers to alter their practices and research new foams and fabrics. (There's a few sources here and here if you need 'em for FR-free furniture.)
But it's great news! The Consumer Federation of America is organizing consumer letters for the comment period, here — you should go sign one to let regulators know that you also support flame retardant standards that do not require any chemicals.
Now for a less happy word on why, after my cheerily naive posts last week, it took me two days to catch up to Friday's good news. I was slain by the Norovirus. And by slain, I mean decimated, flat out on the couch, unable to move. While Maya seemed a little under the weather late last week, I had no idea that her body was carrying a insidious viral passenger meant for me. On Sunday, I started to feel woozy, but by Sunday night, I was all chills and fever, in rapid cycling fashion.
On Monday morning, Maya woke me up at a brutally early 6:30 a.m., and I didn't feel right. At all. In fact, my head was so wobbly on my shoulders that I worried that it would pop off and roll down the hallway like in that grisly scene from the first season of Louie. Maya pleaded with me to get up, so I struggled to my feet, making it only as far as the bathroom. I looked down at her, and she said, "Poopy." Her diaper was straggling halfway down her leg, inside her pajamas.
I picked her up, got her up on the changing table atop the dresser, and then lost my grip on everything. It's true what they say about the floor coming up to meet you. I fell backwards, and then passed out cold on the floor. I must have really gone down with a thud because my head hurt for two days despite the thick carpet.
When I came to (How could I have forgotten to put on my glasses?? Another bad sign.), I saw through the blur, and then remembered in real horror, that Maya was four feet off the ground. I struggled to stand up, which took a few tries, and then, in my addled state, somehow thought finishing her diaper and getting her pants on was the next relevant task. I got her dressed, and let her slide down to the floor along my body.
I was sweating like I had just finished a marathon (irony, pure irony), which the doctor later told me is a cortisol reaction to a blackout. I found the phone and discovered that my husband was still at the bus stop. He came right home, and we went to the hospital. After a battery of tests, they pronounced me flu-ridden, dehydrated and exhausted, with a soupcon of pink eye for good measure. They pumped me up with a drip and a pain reliever or two and sent me home with a scrip for the conjunctivitis.
Thus began my week from heck. Take it from me, the Norovirus is like a Dementor that saps your will to live. After laying both Maya and me out flat for several days, it lightened up a bit only to deliver a nasty set of secondary infections that required doctor's visits and drugs. Then I had a very poor reaction to the (overly strong) antibiotic, and was kaputso for another two days.
We'll just call it the Lost Week. Here are the questions I kept pondering in my still-queasy, half-alive state:
1) When you are sick and so is your kid, what in the samhey are you supposed to do? You can't hand them off to someone else for fearing of giving another toddler the Bubonic, and you can't really take care of them and get better yourself. After Monday, my husband had to go back to work and my mom (who did drive out to take care of Maya and stayed all day Monday) retired in fear of joining the germ-fest.
Then, it was just me and little Ms. Fellow Misery, and I'll just say I did not love the company. I could not read to her, really, or play, and so the days were dreary, awful affairs. Needless to say, I violated every principle dear to me: we ordered (non-organic, and fairly gross) pizza; we watched a few videos. I couldn't feed her or properly take care of me, I couldn't see anyone or take her anywhere. It was isolating, and after the blackout, even a little scary.
2) How long will it be before Maya forgets what happened? Although I have never had this kind of fainting episode before, Maya keeps asking whether I will fall down, and before bed every night this week, has said she feels she is falling. She is also giving me lots of hugs and saying she wants to take care of me, which I have to admit is cuddlicious. Still, it's clearly affected her. I know kids are resilient and all that, but it tears at my heart that I obviously scared her and seem less reliable in her eyes.
3) How can I prevent this from happening again? Everyone who has ever spent time alone with a child has feared a moment where they might be somehow, suddenly incapacitated. And this week, when it happened to me, it was just as terrifying as you think it might be. My resolution is to try to take better measure of my limits, and certainly (duh) never to put Maya in high places whenever I don't feel well enough to stand.
But it goes deeper than that: before this happened, I don't think I had really ever grappled before with this new responsibility to Maya that is really, first and foremost, about taking care of me. It's like what they always tell us on planes: we have to get our own oxygen masks secure first.
We were lucky, and I am very grateful, but it could have been so much worse, as I shudder to think. Despite this awful, relentless illness, I think I found out the relatively easy way: when we don't take good care of ourselves as parents, it's our kids that could get hurt.


text: William Fucking Shatner sat in my section on a busy Saturday lunch shift I was so excited! I went above and beyond (without being creepy). Then he left a %5 tip after a huge meal. On the way out said we were shits for not keeping his fans away from him. I said "Sir, that's not my job. But if you wanted privacy, you could have mentioned it. You're in public." His wife looked sorry, and my manager was livid at the way Shat treated us. Entitled cock munch.


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Overcoming the Paradox of Financial Freedom
Author: Kent Thune
Conventional wisdom says that freedom is obtained by financial means. But this is an illusion. In fact, it is the pursuit of money that is among the most enslaving of human endeavors.
Consider this: Hundreds of millions of people are led to believe that one particular financial pursuit, which to accomplish requires the largest financial effort of a lifetime, is necessary to reach the destination of happiness and self-actualization. But this effort is also among the most mentally, physically and emotionally taxing efforts of a lifetime, which has individuals often working in various unsatisfying and stressful jobs and sacrificing meaningful life pursuits for this one financial pursuit; and this effort requires 30, 40 or even 50 years of time, assuming the destination is ever reached—or if it even exists.
This financial pursuit is called financial freedom. The idea of financial freedom is no conspiracy to deceive the masses, but it sure has sold unimaginable amounts of financial products and services. How many books, websites, blogs, magazine articles, media advertisements and financial planning seminars have used the term financial freedom as leverage to sell something (or more accurately, to scare you into buying a service or product you may not need)?
As of this writing, a Google Search for "financial freedom" produces more than 35 million results. What is financial freedom anyway? Who decides the meaning? How can you be free if your idea of freedom is defined by someone else, or not defined at all? Does financial freedom even exist?
In truth, financial freedom is a paradox: The sacrifice required to obtain it is too often the opposite of freedom—it is a kind of imprisonment for a majority of life for the purpose of being free for a minority of life.
For example, the pursuit of financial freedom is embodied in the process of saving for retirement, a destination that can take the majority of a lifetime to reach. However the journey is commonly defined by stressful careers or a combination of jobs that are much more about money than about meaning.
The 19th century existential philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, observed: "It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite."
But do not despair, dear reader: This imperfection, this debilitating human condition, is not necessary! The first step in overcoming the paradox of financial freedom is to distinguish between two types of freedom, which can be described as freedom from and freedom to:
Freedom From: If you seek freedom from something—the freedom from your current life, from the daily grind, or from financial debt, you are engaging in a negative form of freedom, which is commonly described as "escape." This is a negative freedom, because the underlying motivation is based in fear, as relief from anxiety and uncertainty, and it can have the effect of creating an unpleasant today for the hope of reaching a happier tomorrow. In simple terms, a life of seeking freedom from can paradoxically reduce or remove your actual freedom.
Freedom To: This is the healthy form of freedom, because it is where you use your resources, including money, to obtain the capacity to be creative, to act as the authentic self. When you obtain the means to be authentic, you are enabled to reach the highest form of productivity because your actions are purposeful and meaningful; thus the actions are self-feeding and self-actualizing; therefore, you can be happy by virtue of doing, not because of a certain or pre-defined amount of financial capacity. In different words, instead of using money to escape something to be feared, the money is used to acquire something to be loved—a life of meaning and purpose.
So how do you go about achieving this authentic freedom and still be able to pay the bills? The simple answer is to achieve your "freedom to" as quickly as possible. If we return to the idea of retirement, we can insert something that conventional finance does not commonly teach: Being retired can be best defined as "doing what you love." Within this perspective, the goal of retirement can be reached quicker and easier by shifting part of financial planning to something that more resembles career planning.
For example, it is nearly impossible for most people to accomplish financial freedom today without at least $1 million in retirement savings. For some, this number may be closer to $2 million, especially if there are little or no other sources of retirement income, such as Social Security and a pension, to supplement the savings.
Instead of feeling anxiety when a financial planner tells you, "Save 10 percent of your income now or you'll never retire," you can begin planning and preparing for a life of doing something that you love, which is the essence of retirement. If you are currently years away from the conventional, financially accomplished retirement (or you are in retirement now and looking for supplemental income and/or more meaning in life), you can begin the research and education now to find a career or line of work that is rewarding beyond financial means.
When you love what you do, why would you ever want to stop working? But when you accomplish this, you're not really "working," You're giving your life meaning and purpose—you're already "retired!"
Therefore, the "new retirement plan" can be the one that includes more than just the traditional savings vehicles, such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) or the 401(k); it can and must include the goal of doing what you love. Part of this plan is knowing how to qualify or train for this career and how much it will pay. Then you will know how much savings you will need to supplement this income in your retirement.
Some advisors and planners call this "life planning." Can you see how this aligns or realigns the purpose of your money? In essence, this process will have you place meaning before money and purpose before planning.
This is not to say that there is inherently anything wrong with seeking money or material wealth. Money is not the root of evil, but the desire and pursuit of it is the most common means of losing oneself. You cannot be free or happy if you are not being who you are.
If you are not already "free" in this regard, a quick solution is to remind yourself that freedom is a choice, not a financial goal. Consider the wisdom of Viktor Frankl, a psychoanalyst and Holocaust survivor, famous for writing his epic book, Man's Search for Meaning, where he reflects: "Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." If Viktor Frankl can find freedom while suffering horrific conditions inside a concentration camp, any human being on earth can do the same.
To "choose your own way" with regard to money and personal finance, you can choose to begin making your money a tool for life, rather than continuing to make your life a tool for money. You can ask yourself, "What is the purpose of my life?" before asking "What is the purpose of my money?" Once the first question is answered, you have thus answered the second.
You have placed meaning before money and purpose before planning.
To conclude, there is no such thing as financial freedom, at least not in the way conventional wisdom defines the term. Freedom cannot be procured by financial means alone. There are financially wealthy people who are enslaved by money, and there are people in financial poverty that are the masters of their lives. The difference between the slave and the master is a matter of perspective and life choice.
Put simply, life is not about making money; it's quite the opposite: Money is about making a life. It's up to you to decide how to apply this philosophy, this truth, to your own life planning.
Kent Thune is a money manager and the owner of a Hilton Head Island investment advisory firm, Atlantic Capital Investments. He is also a freelance writer and is currently working on a book to be published later this year. You can follow his musings on mind, money and mastery of life at TheFinancialPhilosopher.com or follow him on Twitter @ThinkersQuill.
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A common question with business owners, employees, and independent contractors who drive for business is whether they can deduct commuting expenses on their tax returns. If you're questioning this, too, keep reading to learn what commuting is, which expenses are not deductible, and what may be an exception to the rule.
What Is Commuting?
Commuting is considered getting back and forth from work. Commuting is a daily thing, different from business travel, which may be overnight.
You may drive to work, as many people do. The cost of driving from your home to your main work location or regular place of work is a commuting expense. Commuting also may be done by bus, trolley, subway, taxi, bike, or electric scooter. Ride-sharing services like Uber may also be commuting expenses if you take them to and from work. The costs of taking public transportation, riding a bicycle to work, or parking at your business location are also considered commuting expenses.
Commuting Expenses Are Not Deductible
Just to clarify, commuting expenses are not deductible. The time you spend traveling back and forth between your home and your business is considered commuting, and the expenses associated with commuting (standard mileage or actual expenses) are not deductible as a business expense.
You cannot deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your place of work. Consider it like this: Everyone needs to get to work, employees and business owners alike, so this expense is not part of your specific business.
If you travel for work and your employer doesn't reimburse you for your expenses, you can't get a deduction for those expenses on your tax return either. The miscellaneous deduction that included unreimbursed employee expenses is no longer available as part of Schedule A. See IRS Publication 529 (page 2) for details.
Most Business Expenses While Commuting Aren't Deductible
Even if you use your car for business purposes while you are commuting, you cannot deduct the car expenses for your business. For example:
- If you use your personal car to transport business materials, supplies, or equipment back and forth from home to office, the IRS says this doesn't make the car expenses deductible.
- If you use commuting time to talk on your cell phone about business matters, these commuting costs are still not deductible. Of course, the charge for the cell phone minutes and any additional charges may be deductible, if you are using your phone for business or if your business provides the phone.
- If you have to pay to park your car at your business location, this expense is most likely not deductible, but check with your tax professional about special circumstances.
The IRS has a helpful chart that explains commuting expenses, for businesses that are not operating out of the home.
Commuting Without a Regular Office Location
Some business people work remotely (think: sitting in Starbucks), with no fixed office location. Your home office is the location of your first business contact inside the metropolitan area. Travel to this location is considered commuting, and contact between your last business contact and your home is also considered commuting. But travel in between, as you go from one client location to another, is deductible as a business expense.
Here's an example, assuming your home isn't your principal place of business. You drive from home to meet your first client. That trip is commuting and it isn't deductible. Then you visit four more clients during the day, ending up at client number five. All of these trips are business-related and deductible. Then you head home. This last trip, the "heading home" part of commuting, is not deductible.
Exceptions: These Commuting Expenses May Be Deductible
There are always exceptions. In this case, the courts have allowed commuting expense to be deductions in these circumstances:
Home Office as Principal Place of Business
Expenses for travel between your home and other work locations are deductible if your residence is your principal place of business.
First, you must establish that your home is your principal place of business. This is pretty easy if your home is your only place of business, but if you have other places where you work, you must show that:
- You use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your trade or business, AND
- You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or business.
Whether or not you claim a home office deduction does not have any relationship to the designation of your home as your principal place of business.
Then, if you can establish that your home is your principal place of business, you can deduct travel expenses if you work at other locations. For example, a contractor could deduct travel expenses from his home office to a house where he is doing repairs in order to sell the property for a profit.
Traveling Between Workplaces
If you are traveling between two job sites or work locations, these trips are considered work-related travel, not commuting. For example, if you travel between your day job and a night job, you can claim these expenses as travel, not commuting. Intuit says, "If you work in two places in one day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the cost of going between them."
Temporary Distant Worksite
Expenses for travel from your home and a temporary work site outside the metropolitan area where you live and normally work. The reason for this exception is that it is not reasonable for a business owner to move permanently to a worksite for a job that is only temporary.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made some changes to bicycle commuting expenses for businesses and the taxability of these costs to employees. Effective for 2018 and beyond, bicycle commuting expenses that are reimbursed to employees can be deducted as a business expense. But employers must include these reimbursements in the wages of the employees who are reimbursed.


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Chicago Cubs Sign Catcher Yorvit Torrealba to Minor League Deal
On the day that catcher Jordan Pacheco was claimed on waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks – and, thus, by deduction, passed on by the Chicago Cubs – the Cubs signed veteran catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a minor league deal.
Torrealba signed a minor league deal with the Angels before the season, but he apparently hasn't played, and eventually opted out, back into free agency. The 35-year-old backstop appeared in 61 games for the Rockies last year, hitting .240/.295/.285.
This is a minor league deal in its truest sense. The Cubs need some upper level catching depth, merely to provide themselves some roster-shuffling options (eventually, Welington Castillo is going to return from his rib cage injury, and the Cubs will have to send Eli Whiteside out, and having Torrealba in the minors could provide a backstop (no pun) if Whiteside winds up leaving the organization, and the Cubs don't want to rush up someone like Rafael Lopez).


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PLEASE NOTE the TimewARP 2600 is not compatible with Mac OS Catalina and Big Sur at this time.
Have you ever wanted to hot rod an Arp Solina String Ensemble? Now you can. SONiVOXs Solina Redux virtual instrument adds a sweet sounding virtual analog synthesizer to a classic reproduction of an Arp Solina String Ensemble, then throws in TWO fully programmable 8-step sequencers to boot. Its a match made in heaven and one that produces sonic textures you simply cant get any other way.
The Arp Solina was the preeminent string ensemble in the 1970s, made famous by the Eagles, Elton John, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Joy Division, Tangerine Dream, New Order and many others. Its analog Violin, Viola, Cello, Contra Bass, Trumpet and Horn sounds have a sound that creates rich retro sounding orchestral ensembles, especially with its famous "Ensemble" chorus effect.
Solina Redux gives you access to the original Solina sounds, including a model of the Ensemble chorus effect, but includes a modern virtual analog synthesizer as a sidecar. The combination of these two synthesizers provides a sound palette that is both retro and modern or anything in between at your discretion. Each synth includes a multi-mode filter, amplitude and filter envelopes, LFO modulations and send effects.
To top it off, Solina Redux adds in two fully programmable step sequencers, one for the Solina instrument and one for the analog synthesizer. Play one note and out comes a modern orchestra unlike any youve heard. Each step sequencer gives you per step control over the pitch of each note, the volume of each note, the filter cutoff of each note, and the panning of each note. Other controls include gate time, tempo sync, time division, swing, note order and octave shift.
For nearly 4 decades, the ARP 2600 has helped to provide the backbone for electronic, urban, and popular music. Today, musicians and producers aggressively pursue the limited number of remaining ARP 2600 synthesizers for their distinctive warmth and unmatched fidelity. The TimewARP 2600 delivers the same fat sound with twice the flexibility; at a fraction of the price of the original. This is one synth that you can't afford to be without.
By developing their own proprietary and optimized virtual analog oscillators and filters, WOW brings the most accurate digital reproduction of the 2600's fat analog sound to your desktop. All of the original control features from the ARP 2600 are there, and because you can now save your carefully programmed patches, the TimewARP 2600 is even better than the real thing!
The ARP 2600 synthesizer helped define the music of an era. Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein," The Who's "Who Are You," The Tubes, Jean Michel Jarre, Deep Purple, and on and on. Only 3,000 ARP 2600's were produced between 1970 and 1981, and they've been trading hands among collectors for thousands of dollars ever since.


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Good job! You've made it as a transport mogul, now it's
time to give back to the community with this
1980 Mercedes-Benz 280GE G Wagon in full fire rescue trim
. This pristine example of German utility comes equipped with the original 2.8 V6 mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, fully functional 4x4 drive, and more
style than you can shake an alpine ski at. Available now from our friends at GR Auto Gallery in Grand Rapids,
Michigan (do yourself a solid and peruse their site), the vehicle also features a generator, working sirens, extending
pole floodlights, a winch, tow kit, tire chains, loudspeaker, and medical kit—just about everything you'd need to run a rogue mountain rescue operation.
Except this: Cascade Rescue's top-of-the-line carbon-fiber and titanium rescue toboggan. Each example
is handmade to the user's requirements, but the materials are the same: triaxial weave carbon fiber, titanium, and 6061-T6 aluminum. Altogether, this
marvel of mountain safety weighs a mere 24 lbs. Less weight equals faster rescues. Faster rescues equal more time in the Benz.


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Frequently asked questions
- What is WEEE?
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is the industry term for electrical waste, named after the EU Directive which covers its disposal. Electrical waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is anything with a battery or a plug on it. Fluorescent tubes, low energy light bulbs, and LED lamps are also classified as EEE by the regulations. Old-style filament light bulbs are not covered by the regulations.
When electrical goods (EEE) become waste, they are considered 'WEEE'.
- What is the WEEE Directive?
The WEEE Directive was brought in to reduce increasing amounts of electrical waste (WEEE) going to landfill. The Directive requires electronic goods producers to pay for recycling this equipment when it becomes waste.
- Who pays for WEEE recycling?
Producers (manufacturers and importers) of electronic and electrical goods have to join an authorised 'producer compliance scheme', also known as a WEEE compliance scheme. The producer pays its chosen scheme to collect and recycle WEEE on its behalf.
- Where can you take WEEE for recycling?
Ask your local authority where to dispose of it locally, or visit the page www.ear-system.de to find the nearest collection point for WEEE.
- What are the standard components of a photovaltic (PV) system?
A PV system has several components, including groups of PV cells called 'modules' (also known as 'panels'); at least one battery; a charge regulator or controller for a stand-alone system; an inverter for a utility-grid-connected system or when alternating current (AC) rather than direct current (DC) is required; wiring; and mounting hardware or a support framework.
- Are photovaltics (PVs) subject to the WEEE Directive?
As part of the WEEE Directive, PV module recycling is a legal obligation across Europe. Moreover, the transposition of the WEEE directive into the legislation of member states means that waste PV Module collection and recycling are now subject to producer responsibility.
- What is the EU Batteries Directive?
The EU Batteries Directive compels battery producers to pay for the collection and recycling of spent batteries.
- What is a battery compliance scheme?
Producers must use a battery compliance scheme like ERP to manage recycling on their behalf. All schemes are registered with the competent authority in their country.
- What does "Battery Producer" refer to?
The definition of a battery producer extends beyond battery manufacturers. Any company which manufactures or imports batteries or products which contain batteries is considered a producer. Retailers which import their own brand batteries or batteries within products are also classified as producers.


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What I Should Have Said Was Nothing: Tales From My Secret Public Journal
Released: April 8, 2008 • Available in US & Canada
Product SKU: 826663108088
List Price: $14.98 USD
What I Should Have Said Was Nothing...
A few years ago my therapist suggested I keep a journal of the awkward moments occurring in my life. Around the same time audiences were demanding more material, so I started sending this journal to my mailing list and then telling those stories onstage.
Somehow this turned into a Comedy Central® special, and now it's all contained on this DVD, including material from the "My Secret Public Journal" live CD, the best of two drink Mike, and an exclusive tour documentary.
I have problems. Painful, hilarious problems that I hope you'll enjoy.
Bonus Features
- Bonus Concert Footage
- "Strictly For Fans" Documentary
Cart Summary
Subtotal: $0


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First Lines of an SOP
- Written by UnivAdmitHelp
- Category: Admission Application
- Published on 20 Jan 2016
Getting the opening of your SoP right is the key to your admission.
It determines the lens with which the rest of the application will be adjudged. Remember the "power of first impressions".
There are many ways to start a Statement of Purpose (SoP). Some people prefer to start with a quote, while others prefer a one-line summary. Ideally, it depends on the persona that you are trying to project, and which is reinforced in the rest of the paragraphs. And this persona needs to be close to who you are. (Ideally this persona should be you!)
Remember, most courses have a diversity criteria, and so there is no "one type fits all" for the persona.
There are many ways to find out your personality type, and the internet provides a rich variety of tests that help you identify yours – the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) is quite popular. In a very crude sense, this test helps you figure out if you are an introvert or an extrovert, how do you make decisions, your preferred way to take in information, and your interactions with the external world.
Now, if you have always been an imaginative and spontaneous person, it might help to start with your own two lines of poetry. But if you have been diplomatic and relationship-oriented and that is your biggest strength, it is best to go with a famous quote that encapsulates your thoughts best. The more focused quantitative person should start with a line from the classics, while the structured and detailed oriented person should start with a personal summary.
Blindly copying the start will not help, until and unless you are doing it from a Siamese twin in terms of experiences, achievements and dreams. It is difficult to stay true to a start if subsequent paragraphs of achievements and expectations do not support the first impression. Therefore, craft your personal SoP, and a good beginning is the first and most important step.
Knowing yourself before writing the first word is even more critical.
Other Interesting Blogs
Different Sections of the SOP (1 of 3)
Different Sections of the SOP (Article 2 of 3)
Different Sections of the SOP (3 of 3)
How to Write an SOP with Great Paragraphs


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Weddings in SpainJune 28th, 2015 Posted by Laura Charles Uncategorized 0 thoughts on "Weddings in Spain"
Wow, I have just realised our last post was the beginning of May and what a hugely busy wedding season we have had since then with many fabulous weddings throughout May and June in Marbella, Malaga, Seville and Barcelona.
We cannot wait to start sharing our wonderful weddings with you and here is a sneak peek of the amazing wedding yesterday of Orla and Boju with some beautiful images from Anna Gazda.
Congratulations to Orla and Boju as they start their married life together.


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Dreams speak to us. Through lucid dreaming, we open to conscious interaction with the surroundings, happenings and living beings within the dreamscape. In Dreaming with Polar Bears (Bear & Company, 2014), animal communicator, Dawn Baumann Brunke tells of a lucid dream that triggered the realization that not only was she dreaming of a living polar bear, but also that polar bear was dreaming of her. Brunke reveals techniques she learned to enter shared dreamscapes and form meaningful dream relationships with other species. In the following excerpt from chapter one, the author analyzes her first remembered dream of a white dog in a basement.
The First Dream
The first dream I can remember occurred when I was two years old. Most likely the distinction between dreaming and waking hadn't yet lodged in place, and that's why it didn't seem like a dream at all, but a perfectly real event.
My parents and I go to visit some neighbors, a man and a woman. They don't have children, but the woman tells me that I can go play with the dogs in the basement. As the grown-ups walk into the living room, I climb down the basement stairs, step-by-step, alone.
At the bottom of the stairs is an open room, and in the middle of the room is a big, white dog lying on a pillow bed. She smiles, welcoming me, and I go to lie beside her, my head near her belly. I close my eyes. When I open them, there are two more white dogs, one on either side of me. They are smaller than the first dog, but a bit bigger than me. I snuggle between the three dogs, feeling their soft fur, smelling their warm, doggy skin, and I am very happy.
My parents call to me from halfway down the basement stairs. They tell me it is time to go home. "Or would you rather stay with the dogs?" they ask. I consider this and tell them I will stay, that I would like to live with the dogs in the basement. They laugh, as do the neighbors. Then my mother comes down the stairs, takes my hand, and leads me home.
Several times after this event, I asked my parents if I could visit the big white dogs. I wanted to see them again, to lay with them on the pillow bed. But my parents shook their heads. They did not understand my question. Eventually I stopped asking and the incident was forgotten. Many years later, as a teenager, I remembered the dogs. Curious about this small mystery from my past, I asked my mother about the memory. She could not recall any childless neighbors with big white dogs. Even if there had been, she added, did I really think she would have allowed a two-year-old to go alone into a basement full of dogs? "It must have been a dream."
What Does It Mean?
When I review the history of my dream life, it is the big white dog in the basement that seems the start of everything. She is a forerunner. Since that first dream, she has appeared in different ways, in other situations. Sometimes she wears other furry disguises: a white coyote, a white fox, a white horse, a big white bear. She has also shown up in my waking life, most often assuming the form of a white dog.
Although this dream may not be my first dream, it is my first remembered dream. I have recalled it again and again over the years. In this way, it has become a personal myth—a dream of a dream. It glows softly with a warm patina, a cherished memory from my childhood. And this, too, has become part of the dream.
When I now look at this dream in a symbolic way, I first notice its structure. The child is separated from her parents, sent underground where she interacts with big white animals, and later retrieved by her human family and returned to the world aboveground. The progression of the dream brings to mind the three stages of a rite of passage: separation (a moving away from the world we know), transition or liminality (an adventure in the in-between often marked by ambiguous categories and unusual experiences), and reincorporation (a return to the world, marked by change). This dream holds all three elements.
Leaving home with her parents, the dreamer is separated from them, sent away to a room beneath the surface. She leaves what is known (her home, her parents) for the unknown (the neighbor's home, their basement). Although the idea of playing with dogs is enticing, the dreamer must venture away from her family to reach the underground room, alone.
The descent into the basement marks the beginning of transition. It's classic; down, down the dreamer goes. At the bottom, she meets a big white dog, a welcoming representative of the animal world. Basic distinctions are apparent here: the human family is above, in the "living" room; the dreamer is underground, where the animals dwell. Transitional phases are often marked by ambiguity and the merging of categories. The dog smiles at the child as a human might do; the child lies with the dogs in a heap, cuddling as a pup might do. The blending of boundaries between human and animal communing on the pillow bed seems natural here—so natural that the dreamer wants to stay, to live with the family of dogs.
In the third phase, reincorporation, the dreamer is called to return to her human family. But she is also offered a choice, to stay with the dogs in the basement. When the dreamer chooses to stay, there is laughter. This is telling. There is often something that happens in the liminal phase—a wounding, a mark, a symbolic gesture—that separates before from after. Perhaps the laughter causes the child to feel humiliation; she is laughed at for choosing what cannot be in the "real" world. Perhaps the adults laugh because they are uncomfortable with the child's choice to live with animals rather than humans, something conventional reality will not allow. No matter why, the choice and the laughter signal a change. The dreamer has declared her preference and returns to her parents not the same child who went down the basement stairs. She now carries a secret, a mystery that has yet to unfold. She has seen something—felt something—with the dogs that the grown-ups have not, and has been changed in the process.
The dream guides the dreamer from what is known (family, humans, neighbors) to what is unknown (basement, dogs), and back again. Through the process, the dreamer is transformed. She has been offered a gift that the aboveground people do not understand (or remember).
In some ways, every dream is a potential rite of passage. We move from the world we know while waking to an inner theater of potentiality. Sleep is our transition, our movement into the basement of our being. We even think of it as going down, as in the phrase falling asleep. There, in the inner world, we engage the liminal zone—a place neither here nor there. Not unconsciously asleep, yet not consciously awake, we enter a world of unlimited creation where all things are possible, subject only to the creative rules of the dream. In this sense, dreaming is a liminal state. On waking, we return to where we started: consciously present in our physical body, in a world governed by gravity and other consensual laws, to our unique set of personal circumstances. Whether we allow ourselves to carry the gift (the secret message or meaning) from the dream and open to change is our choice.
Of course, there are many ways to explore a dream, many avenues that offer different windows through which we can appreciate detailed aspects of the dream. For example, we might look at each element within a dream, decoding its symbols and the way it represents something about the dreamer.
When considering the basement, we might begin with the idea that it represents a foundation, the base from which we build the house of our personality or conscious self. The contents of the basement may thus represent our subconscious or unconscious elements, the inner or underworld of the psyche. Everyone's basement is different, and its appearance may change through time. If we dream of a basement that is shadowy or dirty, it tells us one thing. If it's overcrowded or scary, it tells us something else. In this dream, the basement is large and open, perhaps indicating spaciousness or the absence of categories or clutter within the young dreamer's subconscious.
But there is something in the basement, in the middle of the room—a large white dog lying atop a pillow bed. Clearly, it is the dog that is of importance here, the center of it all. That the dog is big conveys it is something sizable, important, substantial.
That the dog is white holds yet another layer of meaning. White is a color of purity, peace, simplicity or innocence, new beginnings, or even the presence of light. White animals are often rare, and almost always significant in mythology and legend. They are linked to the spirit realm—not hard to see as white is also the color of ghosts and spirits. Sometimes white animals are feared—or revered (often because they are feared). In ancient legends, a white animal is often an intermediary or guide, a being who leads humans to their destiny.
As basic dream symbols, dogs may indicate loyalty, protection, friendship, faithfulness. In this dream, the dog is friendly and relaxed, lying upon a pillow bed—suggesting rest, comfort, cushioning support, or even sleep and dreaming. The dog is welcoming and the dreamer freely approaches the dog to lie down with her upon the pillow bed, head near belly.
This placement is specific and reveals how the dreamer views the dog as openhearted, trustworthy. Perhaps the pairing of head to belly suggests the coming together of thought to feeling. Or perhaps it hints at how humans sense primarily with their brain and animals with their gut instinct. If we were so inclined, we could also look at chakras here, or energetic aspects of the body, and ask why one is brought in touch with the other.
The cohesion of symbols about the great white female dog suggests she is a protector, one who both welcomes and guards the foundation of the dreamer's inner world. Indeed, the dreamer feels comfortable enough to close her eyes. When she opens them, there is the sudden appearance of two additional dogs.
What is this bit of magic? Do the two additional dogs appear so as to emphasize "dog" in the dream? Why are they there? As I play with dream symbology, it is at this point I notice the motif of pairings and groupings that has been apparent in the dream all along. And here we have yet another way to explore our dreams—and another reason why it's so helpful to employ a variety of perspectives. As we investigate a dream element by element, we often observe deeper aspects we didn't notice on first reading the dream. Thus we are offered another path, another avenue to explore.
Just for fun, let's look at numbers in this dream since we now notice them. Two, for example, is a significant echo that reflects something about the dreamer, who is aged two and probably just learning her numbers. Returning to the beginning of the dream, we see a trinity: mother, father, child. Three is often a magical number; here it represents a complete family unit. Then we see two parents and two neighbors—a double pair, suggesting partnership, marriage, the duality of male and female. The formation of this double pairing, however, now puts the dreamer alone, the odd one out of this new grouping of five. As the two pairs move into the living room, the "one" is sent away, downward, to the basement. Is she being abased?
Interestingly, it's in the basement that the dreamer encounters another version of one—the dog. But notice how the dog reflects an entirely different aspect of one; not the odd one out but the central figure—the one who commands attention. Here we see how "one" can stand for autonomy and leadership; an older, more mature, confident one; one who is self-contained. If we consider the dream a rite of passage, this image of the self-contained one may foreshadow the dreamer's quest for autonomy.
When the dreamer lies beside the dog, there are two. The dreamer closes her eyes and when she opens them sees another set of two. A second instance of double pairing! But in this case, the pair of dogs are not mates (as with the parents and neighbor adults) but siblings. The two dogs are smaller, younger, more like the dreamer. In this group of four, we have a sense of mother dog and three "pups," or children. The four lie in a warm, comfortable, safe huddle. The dreamer is no longer the odd one out, but part of a family group.
Then the parents call from halfway down the basement stairs. Why halfway down? What has been halved? Have the parents lost some power or ability so they cannot fully descend? Or perhaps the dreamer has increased in some way from her time in the basement—after all, she was one alone on descending and now is part of four.
Four is three dogs plus the dreamer; four is two parents and two neighbors. One group rests in the basement, one group comes partway down. Interesting how the directional focus is no longer about the one being sent away but about the adults coming to the basement. Some subtle power has shifted.
To end, the mother comes down the stairs to take the child home (mother and child form yet another pairing). The newly formed groups dissolve and return to normal: the dogs remain in the basement; the childless neighbors stay in their home; the mother, father, and child go home. The numbers rebalance into their original format.
Many Paths
Again, there are many ways to interpret, many ways to follow threads of meaning in the mystery of a dream. It is up to the dreamer to sense at deeper levels what fits in her life. Further, what the dream speaks to at one time may change in another. A dream remembered is often a dream changed. And a dream remembered from childhood may age along with us, revealing hidden aspects of itself as we mature.
To open a conversation with our dreams, and to keep the conversation alive and relevant, we must be flexible. We must allow for contradiction and paradox. We must welcome a variety of paths to interpretation and multiple levels of meaning. Thus we start to ask ourselves all sorts of wild questions as a means of inviting input from different angles and directions. For example, we might consider another perspective—not from the dreamer but from the dog's point of view. What does the dog want of the child? Why does the big white dog smile at the dreamer and invite her to rest beside her? Why does the dog visit the dream? Who is the big white dog, really?
While writing this book I spent a good amount of time reviewing a large stack of old dream journals. Obviously, I did not record this dream when I was two, but the significance of the dream has stayed with me. I found I had written about it numerous times, in different journals, as if trying to recall it at different stages of my life. One description of the big white dog read, "She has alert black eyes; small, rounded ears atop her head; a long, squarish snout with a large black nose."
The more I tried to recall exactly what the dogs in the basement looked like, the less doglike they seemed. Round black eyes, curved ears atop the head, a long, square snout—could this dog be a forerunner of the great white bear?
I've often felt that bears and dogs share a common resemblance. Their shape, their walk, the compact way they move, the manner in which they sniff the earth and shake water from their bodies. Not all dogs and bears are similar of course, but in my mind there is an energetic link between Bear and Dog.
This observation has some basis in our ancient past. Before any of the eight species of modern bear who now walk our planet, before even the great cave bear from which all of these species evolved, there was Ursavus elmensis, the dawn bear. Short legged and well furred, she was about the size of a terrier, with characteristics that were a blend of modern dog and bear.
When I review the history of my dreams, I notice a recurring pattern in which dogs precede bears. Before the polar bear dreams there was the dog called Little High Top. And only when I remember Little High Top does the professor in the airplane hand me the invitation to dream with polar bears.
As I look back, I see the big white dog in the basement. She is watching, smiling, welcoming me to the pillow bed of dreams. Great white dog and dream guide, she is a forebear—and perhaps instigator—of all that happens next.
Reprinted with permission from Dreaming with Polar Bears: Spirit Journeys with Animal Guides, by Dawn Baumann Brunke and published by Bear and Company, 2014.


text: It can be difficult to write when there's no pressing deadline. I promised myself over a month ago that I would write about this topic. Then life happened, as it does, and I found myself thinking about other (more important) things than my top favorite books of 2015. If this post is going to get written, it must be written now. I've set myself a new deadline: finish this dang thing before I turn 28. I have four days.


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CSO's female trumpet pioneer to be honored at concert
- Speziale became the first female trumpet player in a major orchestra when she joined the Cincinnati Symphony in 1964.
Marie Speziale, former associate principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, will receive the Pioneer Award at the International Women's Brass Conference being held next week at Northern Kentucky University.
The ceremony and opening concert with the Fillmore Wind Band is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Greaves Hall.
Speziale, who lives in Clifton, became the first female trumpet player in a major orchestra when she joined the Cincinnati Symphony in 1964. She retired in 1996 after 32 years with the orchestra. But retirement didn't mean putting away her trumpet. She has made studio recordings for the TV series "Star Trek: Voyager," and performed and led master classes in Europe, Japan and throughout the United States.
Women have come a long way in brass sections since she started her career 50 years ago, she says.
"We're seeing more and more women being hired in professional settings," she says. "It delights me to say, that in St. Louis, the first orchestra that wouldn't let me audition because I was a woman, now has two women in the trumpet section, and one is principal, a former student of mine in the horn section, and a woman is the associate principal of the trombone section. That's a pretty good statement about how far we've come."
Her faculty appointments include CCM (1979-2002) and Indiana University (1999-2002). She served as chair of the brass department and professor of trumpet at Rice University from 2003-13.
Speziale grew up in Ybor City, near Tampa, Fla., where her father played in a band. Hearing Afro-Cuban-style music in after-hour jazz sessions at home influenced her to want to play trumpet at an early age. Her parents, hand-rollers in a cigar factory, couldn't afford lessons or an instrument. But when she was 10, after testing the highest in her elementary school in music, they found an old cornet in the attic.
The trumpet pioneer credits her teacher and high school band director for encouraging her, even though it was unusual to have a female in the brass section. She proved to be a prodigy. At age 16, she performed on "The Today Show," broadcast live in 1958 from Tampa. Dave Garroway was the anchor.
In 1960, Speziale came to Cincinnati to study at the College-Conservatory of Music with Eugene Blee, then principal trumpet of the CSO. When two orchestra trumpeters became ill, she stepped in at age 19 and played two seasons with the orchestra. In 1964, maestro Max Rudolf hired her. The glass ceiling had already been broken for women in brass sections by Betty Glover, a member of the trombone section.
Still, women in orchestras – especially brass players – were a rarity. When she delivered an impromptu solo with jazz legend Duke Ellington during a Music Hall concert, Downbeat Magazine reported her name as Mario Speziale.
With the orchestra, she played in the Symphony Jazz Quintet, which was featured in numerous Pops concerts under Erich Kunzel. Another jazzman, Dave Brubeck, noticed her in 1969, when the CSO went on European tour with Brubeck's oratorio, "Light in the Wilderness." Just before they played Lincoln Center in New York, they won a spot on "The Tonight Show." Brubeck recruited her, as well as drummer Dave Frerichs and bassist Frank Proto, to appear with him and The Tonight Show Band, led by trumpeter Doc Severinsen, a hero.
Next week, several hundred trombonists, trumpeters, hornists, tubists and euphonium players – including brass and percussion performers from the top military bands in Washington, D.C. – will converge on the NKU campus for concerts, competitions and seminars. The organization – which also has men in its membership – attempts to educate about the past, present and future of women brass musicians.
On Thursday, Speziale will conduct her 35-member, all-women Monarch Brass Ensemble in concert in Greaves Hall.
"It thrills me to see this great brass ensemble made up of professional women, and to think that after so many decades, I've been given the opportunity to conduct them. For me, it's going to be pretty emotional," she says.
Nightly concerts, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, are open to the public ($5 admission). For more information, visit myiwbc.org.


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Hardy Process Solutions' Dynamic Checkweighers were able to diagnose and reduce overfill rates through process optimization with filling machines. With integration into the factory control system via Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk, the Hardy Dynamic Checkweigher is saving the manufacturer overfill expenses of approximately US$35K annually.
Machine control, statistics and analytics are managed with an integrated Rockwell Automation CompactLogix PLC while the high performance Hardy HI 4050CW check weigher controller contributes as a co-processer, generating fast, stable and accurate weight data. The resulting high speed check weighing system can process up to 350 pieces per minute and generate a myriad of process data that is easily shared with any other device on The Connected Enterprise Network.
Using Wide Area Networking (WAN) connectivity, the customer was able to:
Hardy provided these capabilities to the customer with standard integrated software. The Hardy Dynamic Checkweigher series is a fully automated system designed to automatically weigh items while in-motion. The Checkweigher controller can
communicate both upstream and downstream across Rockwell Automation's The Connected Enterprise.
Flexible and accurate, the Hardy Dynamic Checkweigher weighs products of virtually any shape or size in containers such as boxes, cans, bottles, rigid shrink-wrapped packages or flexible packages. Items compatible with the system include bagged and boxed sugars, raw meats, fruits, vegetables, chemicals, fertilizers and consumer packaged goods.


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Posts Tagged 'Vampire Season'
Podcast on Fire 109: Vampire Season #4 – Mr. Vampire 1992 & Vampire Vs. Vampire (1989)
Welcome back to Vampire Season and we pick up at a point where the series started go stale as we examine Mr. Vampire (YAAAAYYY!)…1992 (BOOO!) Stoo and Ken handle the first half where Stoo also chimes in with his views on 3D Sex And Zen while Tom and David contribute their thoughts on Lam Ching-ying's directorial debut Vampire Vs. Vampire in the second half. There will be dislikes.
Also remember to check out the Bonus Episode #1 featuring the review of Magic Cop. It's referenced as a Members Only extra in the first half of the show but it'll be the debut of the bonus episode format.
Contact the show via email at podcastonfire at googlemail.com, via our forum (containing EXCLUSIVE content and announcements!), Facebook page , Facebook group (NEW) or Twitter (@podcastonfire, @sogoodreviews) and SUBSCRIBE to our iTunes feed.
Running times:
00m 00s – Intro/Mr. Vampire 1992 review
53m 10s Vampire Vs. Vampire review
Show Links: Read the rest of this entry »
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Podcast on Fire 85: Vampire Season #3 – Mr. Vampire III (1987) & Mr. Vampire Saga 4 (1988)
The 'Vampire Season' is growing legs and so was the Hong Kong vampire genre as you'll find out as Stoo and Ken go in depth on Mr. Vampire III (that took a dark turn) and Mr. Vampire Saga 4 (that took an unexpected casting turn). Note that at the 53 minute 40 second mark there is a stoppage in audio as Ken talks of Loletta Lee and it'll pick up as he speaks about Chin Kar-lok. This is due to a piece of small audio being lost during recording. Sorry about that.
As always, interact with us via Facebook, Twitter and our friendly forum! Get the latest scoop on upcoming shows, sleaze and more!
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Podcast on Fire 81: Vampire Season – Mr. Vampire (1985)
Happy Halloween and we kick off our new series 'Vampire Season' with a perfect movie to discuss (and a perfect one for you to watch during Halloween), Ricky Lau's immortal classic Mr. Vampire. Along with special guest Amber Skowronski, Stoo and Ken take a trip back to first watching the movie, the feelings about the cast and writes another verbal love letter to Lam Ching-ying.
No deleted material but feel free (and it IS FREE) to join our forums to discuss the podcast and subject at hand, http://www.podcastonfire.com/forum/
Links/Plugs: Read the rest of this entry »
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Stress is a condition of human experience and an important factor in the onset of various diseases. There are numerous studies showing how stress can accelerate cell aging, immune senescence and some age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and osteoporosis. However, the effects of stress have different consequences depending on the type, duration or severity and predictability of the stressor applied. Although stress can be beneficial in its acute phase, repeated and severe stressful stimuli produce adverse effects. There are different models of stress depending on the exposure time; acute (when the stressor is applied for a short time, e.g. hours or days, and intensely) or chronic (when the stressor is applied for a long time, e.g. weeks or months, and less intensely. In these cases, the stressor can be repeated each time or different stressors can be used). The latter model is most frequently used to achieve similar conditions to those found in human diseases related to stress. Also, there are several different paradigms depending on the purpose of the study [development of drug therapies or modeling depressive behaviors; for the different paradigms see Dagnino-Subiabre, (2012)]. Here, we describe a 9-day variable-stressor paradigm with repeated and prolonged stimulation and a random daily stressor over days or weeks to minimize its predictability. This protocol has been adapted from other models of variable stress with significant modifications. The absence of predictability of the stressor applied is an important characteristic of this model compared to other models in which repeated stress is used. We avoid the use of a strong stressor, such as foot shock or tail pinch, and describe an easily reproducible new chronic mild stress model. Some models of chronic mild stress have been reported to lead to a wide range of behavioral disturbances and have been proposed as models of depression in animal studies (Cryan et al., 2005).
Keywords: Stress, Rat, Protocol, Chronic
Materials and Reagents
The stressors schedule used in this protocol is listed in Table 1. Application of stress starts at a different time every day to minimize its predictability (from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.).
Table 1. Schedule of stressors used during chronic variant stress treatment
Day Stressor Time
----- ----------------------- ------------
1 Forced swimming 10 min
2 Restraint 3 h
3 Water deprivation 24 h
4 Restrain at 4 °C 90 min
5 Isolation 24 h
6 Food deprivation 24 h
7 Water deprivation 24 h
8 Restrain at 4 °C 2 h
9 Food deprivation 24 h
Day 1: Forced swimming
Representative data
Validation of the stress model: Changes in body and adrenal glands weight, in the blood levels of corticosterone, and in dopamine (DA) and 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels in the prefrontal cortex are typical effect of stress and are used as methods to assess stress models. With this chronic variant stress protocol, the body weight of the animals decreases, whereas adrenal weight and the blood levels of corticosterone increase (Figure 4). It has also been found that increased levels of dopamine and DOPAC in the prefrontal cortex are observed (Table 2).
Notes about reproducibility and variability: Stress perception is very subjective and each animal, just as each person, is stressed to a different degree. Therefore, it is normal that the results present some variability. To avoid this, glucose preference test is recommended (Hu et al., 2010); then, only animals that have been actually stressed must be included in the study.
Table 2. DA and DOPAC amount in brain cortex in control and stressed rats
Animals were killed at different time points after treatment (0, 2, 4, 8, and 10 days respectively), and the prefrontal cortex was harvested and processed for DA and DOPAC quantification by HPLC as described in de Pablos et al. (2006). Numbers are expressed as nanograms per gram of wet tissue and are Mean ± SD of five independent experiments. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, statistical significance (Student's t test) compared with control animals.
Figure 4. A. Body weight gain (g); B. Adrenal glands weight (mg, bars) and ratio between adrenal glands weight and body weight gain (scatter plot and line). C. Serum corticosterone (percentage of control animals). Statistical signification: Student's t test comparing before C and after 10 days of variate stress (S10d); *, p< 0.05; **, p< 0.01; #, p< 0.01 (for the ratio adrenal glands weight/body weight gain). One-way ANOVA followed by the LSD post hoc test for multiple range comparisons, p< 0.01; *, compared with the control; a, compared with the previous time point (S1d to S10d indicate the days subjected to variate stress).
Chronic-variable stress was adapted from other models of variable stress (Gamaro et al., 2003; Konarska et al., 1990; Murua and Molina, 1992; Muscat et al., 1992; Papp et al., 1991; Willner et al., 1987) with significant modifications. This work was supported by grant SAF-2012-39029 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and P10-CTS-6494 (Proyecto de Excelencia of Junta de Andalucia).
If you have any questions/comments about this protocol, you are highly recommended to post here. We will invite the authors of this protocol as well as some of its users to address your questions/comments. To make it easier for them to help you, you are encouraged to post your data including images for the troubleshooting.
If you have any questions/comments about this protocol, you are highly recommended to post here. We will invite the authors of this protocol as well as some of its users to address your questions/comments. To make it easier for them to help you, you are encouraged to post your data including images for the troubleshooting.


text: Researches show that the best time to increase your cardio resistance is the morning. A study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that the body temperature is lowest three hours after you wake up, a fact that improves endurance capacity. When nine cyclists were put on stationary bikes in a hot, humid room they were able to push themselves 5.3 minutes longer at 6.45am than at 6.45pm because that cooler body temperature delays overheating. If you have difficulty to wake up early you can schedule a different cardio activity every morning. Another research found that changing your cardio routine was the best way to increase your motivation because variety gives you a shot of dopamine and elevate your mood.