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We Could Car Less: College just a bus ride away
Young people are starting life with crushing levels of debt. If you add to the cost of college the cost of buying, maintaining, insuring and operating an automobile it makes higher education very expensive. Our college students need alternative transportation.
Local institutions of higher learning are trying to address the cost of transportation. Here are my research results on the efforts of three schools: Cal State University Monterey Bay, Hartnell College and Monterey Peninsula College.
• Students attending CSUMB will now have unprecedented easy access to campus. All CSUMB students, faculty and staff ride Monterey-Salinas Transit free. Since Aug. 23, MST has introduced an expansion of bus service around the CSUMB campus — funded by the university. Line 17 (CSUMB - Marina) will now go every 25 minutes instead of every 45 minutes and will run seven days a week. CSUMB is funding additional service on Line 25 (CSUMB-Salinas) on Sunday evenings to enable students living in Salinas to study at the university when the library is open late. See details online at: www.mst.org
Hartnell students have free-fare zone in Salinas. MST bus line 47 travels from the main campus to the Alisal East Campus whenever school is in session. Just present a student card and you also get a one-way transfer for any MST trip, so you can get all the way home.
• Dear Goya: In 2011, when I served as president of the Hartnell college Board of Trustees, Timothy Miquel, then a member of the student senate, met with me to discuss establishing a student free-fare zone for Hartnell students. With the support of college representatives and, ultimately, the board, a pilot free-fare zone program was established with MST in 2011. The college subsidized a portion of the costs associated with this pilot program. The students wanted to keep this service going and voted to subsidize it from their own student fees indefinitely. Thousands of students throughout the Hartnell district can access MST to get to and from campus and to the East Alisal campus. This is a great example of students helping students. For details go online to: www.hartnell.edu/alttrans.
— Erica Padilla-Chavez, Hartnell College board member
• Monterey Peninsula College has a discount bus-pass program. According to Julie Osborne, student activities coordinator, any MPC student (part-time included) can buy a 31-day unlimited MST Gopass for the Peninsulas cities at the student activities center for $25 off; in other words, for $70 instead of $95.
Since the theme of this column is school, I awarded grades: CSUMB gets an A, Hartnell a B, and MPC a C.
• This is my fourth column addressing Alternatives to the Automobile. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. One Salinas reader, Jeff Richman, said that my column on bicyclists as super-heroes inspired him to bike to work that morning instead of driving.
Mari Lynch, local bicycle advocate extraordinaire, enjoyed last week's bike column but found a serious error:
Dear Goya: The 8/25/14 column incorrectly stated, "An adult bicycle is ... not allowed to ride on the sidewalk." California law leaves biking on sidewalks up to local jurisdiction, and in Salinas, sidewalk biking is legal except where otherwise posted. Salinas code requires that any sidewalk biking be done with due caution and reasonable speed. Bicyclists are to yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal before overtaking and passing a pedestrian. Online: BicyclingMonterey.com:http://bit.ly/CABikeLaws Mari Lynch.
My mistake derived from, but is not excused by, my misunderstanding of Cal. Vehicle Code rule 21200 which reads: "Bicycle riders on public roads have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists, and are subject to the same rules and regulations."
If your bicycle is not on the public road, the rules are subject to whatever city you are in. On the Peninsula the cities seem to me to change every few miles.
Be safe.
MacGregor "Goya" Eddy is a longtime Salinas resident and alternative mode traveler. Her "We Could Car Less" column is published and posted online on Monday. Contact her by email at email@example.com or mail to: We Could Car Less, in care of The Salinas Californian, 123 W. Alisal St., Salinas 93901.


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Being mediocre and coasting through life is the easiest thing in the world. But it also means you're going to miss some opportunities and maybe even have some regrets when you get to the end of your days. Here are a handful of ideas about how you can be more intentional about how you spend your time.
Stop checking Facebook
It's a curated, disingenuous portrayal of your friends' lives. If you believe what you read, their marriages are only full of adoration and respect, their children are perpetually high-achieving and beautiful and their holidays always feature amazing vistas and smiles reflecting a good time had by all. Nobody posts photos of their spouse during an argument, their kid acting like a brat, or the annoyances involved with actually getting to and from a vacation destination. And researchers have found that scrolling through all this pretend perfection makes you feel less satisfied with your own imperfect life. In essence, it fosters envy, an emotion which doesn't lead to being the best version of yourself. "I think what social media has done is make everyone accessible for comparison," clinical psychologist Rachel Andrew told The Guardian. "In the past, people might have just envied their neighbours, but now we can compare ourselves with everyone across the world."
Spend time in nature
Studies have found that spending a few days in nature increases creativity by 50 percent, improves one's attention span while reducing hyperactivity and aggression. Being close to the ocean is associated with higher levels of happiness and people who reside in greener neighborhoods live longer. At the same time, hearing traffic noise adds strain to a person's heart.
Develop a habit of being calm
It's actually contagious. Instead of being someone who stresses out, be a rock for the people in your periphery by modeling self-composure and confidence. In the event of a challenging situation, take time to breathe, gather your thoughts and carve a path which is responsive and not reactive. How you handle yourself will affect how the people around you handle themselves. Will getting agitated, angry or upset help the situation? Likely not.
Take the hard road of excellence
Achieving great things doesn't happen by doing things the easy way. Successful people do the difficult work of getting out of bed early, exercising every day, keeping to-do lists, reading and being vigilant about continuous self-improvement. Envision the opposite: sleeping in, sitting around, disorganization, ignorance and a lack of growth. None of that will result in anything worthwhile. In my own case the hard road of excellence has meant going back to school during midlife to earn my second bachelor's degree. This was not fun for even one moment. Yet, as a result of this arduous work, I have secured a career which is golden and one of the occupations predicted to be safe from automation.
Be useful
Blogger Darius Foroux quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." Foroux points out that being useful doesn't need to mean changing the world, but merely making it a tiny bit better than before you existed. Is there someone you can help or something you can create today?

subset: commoncrawl


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There's a slew of ways to prove you're from Queens. Maybe you're a die-hard Mets fan, or you've perfected the art of crossing Queens Blvd., or you recognize the Unisphere from a mile away.
But one thing that won't prove you hail from the borough is the way you speak, insist experts and some notable Queens natives. That, or the Queens English is fast becoming a dead dialect.
"No offense to my brothers and sisters in Queens who feel that there is [a Queens accent], but I really don't think so," said Forest Hills-born actor Hank Azaria.
"I didn't hear it, and I have a pretty sensitive ear," said Azaria, a chameleon of diction who voices several of the characters on "The Simpsons."
But some locals beg to differ.
"I would say I have a Queens accent," said Frank Barone, 62, a cobbler who has lived in Astoria for 44 years. "We all speak New York slang, but there's a slight difference between boroughs."
Despite the fact that proud locals insist their borough has its own dialect - with drawn-out vowels and a distinct nasal sound - it's just a run-of-the-mill New York accent you're hearing on the streets of Queens, said the city's top linguists.
"People claim that there is a difference, but no one has been able to show it," said Michael Newman, a linguist and Queens College professor.
The idea of a Queens-specific accent originates with people like "All in the Family" character Archie Bunker or actress Fran Drescher, he said.
"It's not an accurate description of the way people in Queens talk," Newman said, calling Drescher's distinct nasal twang "the classic New York accent."
Drescher, who grew up in Flushing, disagreed.
Her title character on the hit '90s TV sitcom "The Nanny" also hails from Queens. Drescher called the Queens accent "melodic and mellifluous, with just a hint of nasality."
Life-long Astoria resident Panayiota Pharos said only Queens insiders can detect the borough's signature dialect because it's so subtle.
"It's not so different from a generic New York accent," said Pharos, 30. "Words just take a little longer to come out."
Most linguists said the accent that Queens natives call their own has less to do with location and more to do with other factors.
"It's influenced by ethnic groups, the people in the neighborhood around you and the social group you hang out with," said dialect coach Amy Stoller, who said teaching the Queens accent is one and the same with teaching a New York accent.
"You think you have a Queens accent because you want to believe you have a Queens accent," she said.
This desire has something to do with "positive local identity," said Kara Becker, a doctoral candidate at New York University, who has studied the New York accent on the lower East Side.
"It may be a pride in your borough," she said, adding that people are actually just hearing the different speech patterns of different social classes.
"It makes sense to associate the New York accent with the outer boroughs because there are more working-class people there," Becker said of the accent that has traditionally been associated with white, working-class immigrants.
Andreas Charalambous, 71, said whichever it is - a Queens-specific or a general New York accent - it's disappearing.
"The new generation has less of an accent," said Charalambous, who has lived in Queens for 50 years.
Some experts say the New York accent is shifting to Long Island, and others believe it is just evolving.
"It's not disappearing altogether," said George Jochnowitz, a linguistics professor at the College of Staten Island. For example, he said, fewer people are dropping the "r" at the end of words like "butter" and "father."
"Accents change, that's part of the world," Jochnowitz said.


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Written by Jason Gonulsen.
"Where do you go when you're lonely?" Ryan Adams sang. "Where do you go when you're blue?"
Adams' spectacular, and also hilarious, sunset set carried the last day of the 5th annual Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Paris, France's Phoenix, who closed out the whole darn thing.
Yes, Adams closed with "Come Pick Me Up" and "Shakedown on 9th Street," two songs from his first album, Heartbreaker, both which didn't suffer from sound bleeding from the main Peachtree stage which was being throttled by The Shins for about 30 minutes of Adams' set. Adams soldiered on, despite shouting, "Thank you, we're The Shins!" in jest (I think) before he was done. (He was funny when he asked a fan in the audience what kind of batteries his bright orange hat took.)
As much as this probably frustrates every performer on the festival circuit -- I remember Paul McCartney at Lollapalooza having the same problem when "Blackbird" had to compete with EDM -- how can I say this ... it's always going to be a problem. This year's Shaky Knees Festival was smaller than years past -- only three stages, in a beautiful downtown park -- an Olympic park -- but not a whole lot of room to work with. But, changes were made to respond to feedback from 2016: bigger wasn't better -- the fans, who, let's face it, are the lifeblood of any festival, wanted it smaller, more intimate.
It's great when people listen, especially executives who call the shots.
The more I attend festivals, the more I realize they serve as an escape. From the twenty-somethings, to the family of four, to the hardcore troubadours who start the line and rush to the front, to the girl who decided to re-enact a scene from Titanic (while her dad, in a Grateful Dead t-shirt, sat and smiled) -- these are supposed to be carefree days where adrenaline flows freely for all. Shaky Knees is not Coachella, and that's okay. It's fine just the way it is. Confident and burning bright on a smaller, friendlier, less trendy scale.
"Falling, falling falling..."
That was how Thomas Mars of Phoenix decided to end the weekend, with "1901," out in the middle of the crowd, with his fans who had probably waited there all day. They were rewarded with intimacy, energy, and unique production -- Phoenix performed in front of a giant tilted mirror, and on a video screen. Their crew was the size of a small village. And it really took one to pull it off.
Earlier in the weekend, I met a single mom who was attending with her 10-year-old son. "We're just looking for a few hours of fun, you know?" She told me that while holding a Frisbee in one hand, a large coffee in the other.
I know.
It can't be like this all the time. On one stage you have The Pixies, the next you have Catfish & the Bottlemen, later you have LCD Soundsystem. Even Third Eye Blind made an appearance. The sun rises the next day, and it sets just the same. I always wonder: will it be like this next year?
Will it change? Does it have to?
It probably will.
And so will you.


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More businesses are taking on the corporate social responsibility of promoting initiatives that support the environment. Reusable grocery bags are one of the easiest ways for your business to participate in this movement. Reusable bags are not just for grocery stores anymore. When influential companies hand out reusable bags, they are bolstering an eco-friendly lifestyle. When you have reusable … [Read more...]
How Do Reusable Bags Benefit Your Business?
September 19, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment
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Gorgeous Goldfinch
This beautiful Goldfinch landed outside my door and wasn't moving. I bundled him up and put him in a box….he is a lot more alert now…but still not quite ready to fly away.
UPDATE: He stayed inside most of the day, then started moving around in the box so took it outside, opened it up…he flew of in a flash😊
Dogs of the Wai
This here is my gorgeous pooch Niwa. He is (I think) a ridgeback cross- not too sure really. He is a very delightful dog.
I have just begun the photography for an exhibition called 'Dogs of the Wai' (either Wairarapa- the region where I live, or wai- which is water in Te Reo).
The region is filled with character-filled beautiful dogs. I am capturing some of the joy they get out exploring the whenua (land).
There are about 20 dogs so far (with an ever growing list). Niwa will of course be the star of the show- he is fabulously photogenic- and I spend most time with him. Here are a couple in preview- Niwa in action- in his favourite place (Wairarapa Moana) and with his favourite things- sticks.


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- This Task has been designed for use by all roles. For all roles
As a Mizzou student, you can add a class from UMKC, UMSL or University of Missouri-Science and Technology to your schedule in myZou without having to go through the admissions application process at that school. For additional information on Cross Enrollment, visit the University Registrar's website.
Please note that the billing process is handled by each campus separately.


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Home improvement projects are exciting and fun, but may also be a challenge when you're doing it all yourself. Whether or not you do decide to employ professional services for the home improvement project, there are things to just think about, and you want to make only the best decisions. Read these tips provided to get a smart idea of where to begin and what you may encounter.
When considering home improvements, think green! It's a conventional approach to add cost and in addition to being natural. Putting in a vitality proficient heater or ventilating won't only make your living space more substance, yet additionally spare you cash and keep the earth cleaner longer.
When supplanting your heater channel, recollect that creased electrostatic channels may bring about your heater to run harder than it may with a channel that has greater spaces for air to travel through. If You utilise creased allergen-diminishing channels, verify that you change them frequently, because air can't move through them just when they're obstructed tidy and trash.
In case you're influencing home improvements to help the offer of a home, you do need to focus on style. However, you ought to likewise have a home assessment, if something genuine requires being quite recently done, also. On the off chance that you can introduce another rooftop or heater, it'll demonstrate the purchases that you were over your capacities and will allow you to charge a higher cost.
If you warm with a wood-consuming stove, smoke will make your dividers wind up noticeably dirty, and you should paint more frequently than if you warm with a heater. When you do paint, it is advantageous to wipe the dividers and roof down with a wet wipe to expel as much residue as pragmatic before putting on another lick of paint that is great.
To pivot the air in your home, introduce roof fans in your most-utilised rooms. The fans can decrease your reliance broadcasting live conditioner in the mid-year, and they can push warm air descending in the winter, improving your heater use. Most fans can change bearings to draw air upward or push it descending, contingent upon your requirements.
While choosing who to help with a home improvement venture, you will need to make sense of what sort of help that you require. A tradesperson can help with specific updates like supplanting a heater or moving ventilation work. A contractual strength worker can work in your kitchen or your toilet, however normally not both. A renovator or general contractual worker can cover more than one area.
While home improvement is amusing to do and can be exciting as you can't wait to see the completed project, you've got to know what you're going through in such a project. There are numerous wants and methodologies, and many alternative projects that may be influenced by your budget. These tips and others could be a great type of help when you want a little bit more info.


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Abuse and Violence
Family Violence Products: Posters, Buttons, Bookmarks
- We Treat Woman Abuse Seriously (Lapel Button)
- Family Violence : It really hits home (Poster)
- Family Violence Prevention (Lapel Button)
- Family Violence : It's your business (Poster, Bookmark, Brochure)
Click here to learn how to order a copy of one or more publications.
If you cannot find the topic you are looking for, type a keyword in the search bar above.
Disclaimer: Please note that our website contains general information about the law. This is not a complete statement of the law on particular topics. We try to update our publications often, but laws change frequently so it is important for you to check to make sure the information is up to date. The information in our publications is not a substitute for legal advice. To receive legal advice about your specific situation, you need to speak to a lawyer.


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I am sure as seasoned sales professionals, we are very familiar with the terms "hunter" and "farmer". There is a huge misconception that this two roles are different. Many of us do not realise that in order for one to be a "hunter", you must first be able to "farm".
Canvassing is a form of "farming" and is a viable option for obtaining leads. Canvassing is tough business, that I won't deny. However, it helps to create brand awareness and a strong referral network, allowing you to get a jump on your competitors and get quality leads.
Without leads, there will be no prospect and therefore, no "hunting". I believe each and everyone of us, as sales professional is capable of "farming". It is a matter of preferred form of "farming".
My preferred method is rehash. I mentioned this briefly in one of my last post – "6 Steps to Your Next Close". These are some of the ways that we can optimise rehashing:
- Seek out referral business from existing client.
- Every product or service has a lifespan. Reach out to existing clients for renewal or replacement.
- Constant updates for all contacts on your latest products and services.
- Take on other people's existing client list that they want to get rid of.
- Raising the dead. Contact all old enquiries, the "could have beens".
There are countless different ways to canvass, to generate new business. Once the momentum builds up, you will be able to create something from nothing.
This will have a huge impact on your confidence. Nothing triggers enthusiasm like having plentiful of prospects. Now with all these leads, the "hunter" instincts will automatically kick in and the "hunting" starts.
I reckon now many of us realise that we probably have done some form of "farming" in our career as sales professionals. We are all "farmers" before "hunters".


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Stargate SG-1 Watchathon – 'Brief Candle'
Description: On a mysterious planet, Col. O'Neill is seduced by a beautiful woman named Kynthia. The only problem is that he's now condemned to live a lifespan of only a hundred days. As he turns grey, will his team succeed in their frantic search for a cure?
All signs point to 'Yes!' So now the writers take us to a 'Greek'-like society who seem to live for only a very short time, growing, maturing and aging at a very rapid pace. Of course one of the SG-1 team just happens to become 'infected' with whatever 'infects' the people they find. And of course its O'Neill who just happens to become involved with on the young ladies (but not to worry, she'll be tossed aside after the episode and not seen from again so it's all good).
For a show that isn't Star Trek, SG-1 certainly has a lot of technobabble in it which leads directly to a resolution, and in this case, O'Neill fully recovers from his advanced age with no ill affects at all. I've been re-watching these as we go along, but this one I just don't find interesting enough to watch all the way through again, especially the 'acting' from the non-regulars. So far, the first season contains quite a few clunkers, with the very occasional decent episode, though I will say there are some much better ones coming up.
Best Line:
Jackson: "It's like we just stepped into the citadel at Mycenae."
O'Neill: "I thought you said it was Greek."
Jackson: "Oh um, Mycenae was an ancient city in the southern Peloponnesian region."
O'Neill: "Where's that?"
Jackson: "Greece."
O'Neill: "Why do I do that?"


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Mobile Banking Application
Mobile Banking is a mobile application for banks that lets their clients manage payment cards, monitor and regulate the state of the current accounts, complete electronic payments, and other banking transactions.
One customer, two banks, and three projects: SCAND was asked to promptly suggest an image-building solution for banks and create the website-based hybrid mobile app that extended the list of the site services. Further on, a native mobile app with a reduced set of functions appeared.
The customer's request was to use the bank's website as a basis for the mobile app. The online banking app therefore represents a browser that loads the website. Our mobile development team used WebView, a component that allowed displaying the content from the web directly inside the app and adding a couple of additional functions.
The customer could introduce the hybrid mobile app to the market in the shortest term. Besides, we have soon made a native mobile app that provides a reduced set of mobile banking app features, such as transfer management and payments review. Whether the end user needs to print the check from a mobile device on his/her way, track the expenses, or make quick reports, the native banking app serves as the most convenient option.
Key Features
Mobile Banking opens a bank's website on mobile to manage a user's bank account. Besides the access to all standard functions, the hybrid mobile app users avail themselves of a pack of extra options. Once the Mobile Banking app is installed, the following opportunities are available for its users:
- Keeping informed of a full range of their banking products.
- Operating the payment cards, e.g., ordering new ones, monitoring flows of money, paying the bills, etc.
- Examining electronic transfers of money.
Among the extensions are:
- Scanning the info with a phone camera to automatically add it to the bank account, for example, credit card scanning.
- Printing checks using a WiFi printer.
- Secure caching to keep track of the database and give a user simpler and quicker access to the data required.
Apart from providing the mobile version of the banks' websites, the SCAND mobile team included some additional opportunities into the app. Furthermore, the native Mobile Banking application has been provided to the bank customers to easily access their banking products and engage in major banking operations.


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Camping in a tent with your family can be one of the best experiences you can have. Heading off with the whole crew on a trip, far from the comforts of home, setting up a camp and sleeping in the great outdoors is what makes family camping so special. Of course, there are always ups and downs in everything in life, but that shouldn't scare you. There are many campgrounds around the US that provide epic playgrounds for the whole family.
If you are a nature lover and would like to show your kids an alternative way of vacationing, then take a look at these cool camping spots in America where you can spend the next family holiday.
Outer Banks, North Carolina
This is probably not a surprise at all. Take your kids to any of the four campsites in Cape Hatteras National Seashore and enjoy the 70-mile wild Atlantic shoreline. What makes this area so cool is that it's accessible by SUV, and there are plenty of fishing, surfing, and beach camping opportunities. Cape Hatteras National Seashore is the first among the 10 national seahorses in the US, which makes it even more unique.
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota
Sawbill Campground is the right place to be if you want to have a cool camping vacation with your kids. If some lakeside camping is what you always wanted to do with your family, then Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is the place to head for. Traveling with a canoe is an extremely fun activity for the whole family and your kids will love it. Not to mention the nights spent stargazing that will turn your trip into a magical and unforgettable experience.
Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
There are 13 campgrounds in the park that you can choose from. The place is unique because you get to see three natural stone bridges that look absolutely amazing. You can reach them easily after a short hike that shouldn't be too challenging for your kids. Natural Bridges National Monument was the first designated Night Sky Park in the world.
Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado
Echo Park Campground is the best place to go family camping in the area, and it's 38 miles from the Canyon Visitor Center. The place is super-fun for kids because it's abundant in fossil discoveries that all children love to check out. Spectacular river canyons and the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers are other examples of nature worth seeing while camping in the area. Also, you can go hiking during the day and stargazing during the night.
Red River Gorge, Kentucky
In this area, you can find three different campgrounds where you can take your family for a camping vacation. Right in the middle of Daniel Boone National Forest, there is a stunning gorge where you can take your kids to beginner-level rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, and hiking. If all of these things are not enough for you to think about taking your family to Kentucky, then add the amazing Natural Bridge, a sandstone rock arch that is 65 feet high and 78 feet long and start planning your Red River Gorge tour.
La Push, Washington
Do we need to say more than Olympic National Park? Go for a camping trip at La Push Second Beach where you and your family can surf, fish, and hike. The first inhabitants of La Push are the Quileute people, who have preserved many of their skills and crafts. Olympic National Park protects more than 73 miles of wild Pacific Coast that you will love if you visit during the summer.
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Deep Ellum Brewing Company Boldly Educates With Quality Beer
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – It's noon on a sunbaked Saturday along a semi-secluded industrial block of south Deep Ellum and a couple dozen people are comfortably sipping from 8-ounce glasses. They're in a time warp of a beer garden –– it's quite easy to forget that it's flanked by warehouses and parking lots.
A band offers up Willie Nelson covers from a modest stage tucked in the corner while folks amble to food trucks that abut the fence. And, of course, there's those frequent reprieves to the interior of the attached 3,000-squarefoot brewery –– it's why they're here, after all.
For the past eight Saturdays, Deep Ellum Brewing Company has opened its doors to the public for a tour. Four weeks ago, the nascent microbrewery tapped its first full-season brew, the Farmhouse Wit, a light wheat-styled beer that's brewed without any wheat whatsoever.
But more on that later –– Tait Lifto is cutting through the crowd donning a Deep Ellum shirt and hat, a toothy smile spread across his face. He's come to proselytize.
"I just want people to try the beer," he said. "It's all about the beer. That's what we live and breathe."
Lifto is Deep Ellum's 'Sales and Brand Ninja,' so, in other words, one of his duties is to be overwhelmingly excited about the product he cares so deeply for. Tough job, he assures me.
The 37-year-old joined the force in January, two months after the microbrewery formally launched at the Common Table in Uptown –– which may be the only thing Lifto promotes as enthusiastically as his employer's beer.
At that time, Deep Ellum was Dallas's only microbrewery. Franconia hovers to the north, in McKinney, and Rahr is situated due west in Fort Worth. But Dallas-proper, the state's third most populous city, had nothing to call its own.
"Dallas has needed this for so long," Lifto says. "There's, what, six million people in DFW? It's ridiculous. You go down to Austin and there's, like, 30 (microbreweries)."
Lifto and his colleagues are quite aware that they're carrying the torch, so to speak. In the six months of its existence, Deep Ellum Brewing Company has released nine different beers. The Deep Ellum IPA –– by far their most popular –– Rye Pils and Double Brown Stout will be year round. The rest are varying degrees of seasonal.
Their 10th, a Barley Wine, is aging in rye whiskey barrels and will flow in January 2013.
Deep Ellum's bold brews are poured in 116 different bars and restaurants in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Lifto says.
Just 10 Dallas locations offered the brewery a tap when it launched.
"We're mindful of how sometimes you can't grow too fast, but our big deal is to make a splash and get out there in front of people and say, look, we're here, we're making beer … and be unapologetic about it," Lifto said.
Since Deep Ellum opened last November, another three have, at the very least, announced plans to brew.
Peticolas Brewing Company is operational and calls the Design District home; Lakewood Brewing Company, in Garland, will formally open sometime this summer; and Four Corners Brewing Co. vows to roll out its beers on Labor Day.
It's easy to live in this beer bubble –– the growth is certainly a good sign for craft beer fans. But, according to the U.S. Brewers Association, just 13 percent of the volume of beers consumed in America came from craft breweries in 2011.
However, that's up from 12 percent the year before that.
"The reality is craft beer in Texas lags behind the rest of the country. Five percent of sales in Texas is craft beer," Lifto says, his numbers backed up by the Brewer's Association. "Overall regular domestic beer sales are down two percent from last year, but four or five percent of all of the picture is a hell of a lot less."
And that is why Lifto proselytizes.
Of beer and Dallas
But Lifto came on following years of planning, paperwork and patience.
Deep Ellum's brewer's permit –– submitted to the state in April 2011 and approved at the end of the summer, public records show –– has three names attached to it: Scott Frieling, James Piel and John Reardon.
That wasn't always the case.
Reardon, 32, is a longtime home brewer and former Dallas club owner. And, like many beer lovers with the dedication to brew his own, he had a far-out dream to open a brewery.
After "a bit of research and a bit of planning," Reardon pounced and began filing paperwork.
"Little did I know there was another group of guys doing the same thing in Deep Ellum," Reardon says. "In fact, I filed for a trademark on Deep Ellum Brewing Company two days before they filed Deep Ellum Brewing Company, LLC. with the state. Let's just say some not-so-friendly letters went back and forth."
That other group of guys was Piel and Frieling. Eventually, the three agreed to meet up, fittingly, for a beer.
"After a couple meetings, it was like, 'why not do this together?'," Reardon remembers.
And so they did. In October of 2010, the city of Dallas classified the brewery as a "light industrial" operation. This freed up the choices Reardon, Piel and Frieling had in selecting a location for their brewery.
Shortly after this declaration, Reardon teased in the comment section of a Pegasus News article that they'd settled on somewhere in South Deep Ellum.
"While we agree that it does not make much sense to locate ourselves in the thick of things, we still wish to be close enough to weave our way into the future framework of Deep Ellum," Reardon wrote.
The brewery's future home would be 2821 Saint Louis Street, a small offshoot block of Malcolm X that's visible from the mid-air split of Interstate 30 and U.S. 75 in southern Deep Ellum, just as Reardon teased.
Piel and Frieling, both trial attorneys, aren't actually considered employees. Reardon runs the daily operations while his partners act as, well, partners.
"They help when they can, but they're not involved in the day-to-day," Reardon said. "They'd love to be, but they can't support that just yet."
In January, Drew Huerter moved from St. Louis to Dallas to serve as Deep Ellum's brew master. The 28-year-old previously brewed at the now-defunct Mattingly Brewery, a 1.5-barrel brew house that had Huerter coming up with a new beer each Wednesday.
"I really hate the name, but it was Peak-A-Brew Wednesday," he said, "Lame name, cool concept."
After two years there and 75 different brews, Huerter moved to Schlafly, a much larger 45,000-barrel brew house that, according to the Brewers Association, was the 39th largest craft brewery in the country in 2011.
Deep Ellum, Huerter says, gives him the freedom he had at the tiny nano brewery with a yield and drive similar to Schlafly.
"This is the best of both worlds; I get the freedom I got at that place but with the resources of the Schlafly brewery," Huerter said. "It's nice."
While attempting to achieve "total beer domination" –– Reardon's words –– Huerter's been let loose.
For proof, look at that aforementioned Farmhouse Wit –– it's brewed with triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye. That's rare, Huerter says. The only other brewery he can recall experimenting with it is the unapologetically bold Escondido, Calif.-based Stone Brewery –– a name that Lifto hopes Deep Ellum will be whispered alongside.
"I think we're going to make a huge impact," Lifto says. "I think we'll get national recognition and be on the same playing field of the craft beer community across the nation as Dogfish, as Russian River."
These are bold statements, but so was co-opting the name of what is arguably Dallas's most recognizable neighborhood. This is something they're mindful of.
"Us coming in an area that's already so well defined in terms of its own brand and for us to pick up that name? We had to kind of embody what we already are," Reardon says.
Then he continues with a rapid-fire history lesson of Deep Ellum, his voice and cadence increasing by the word: "From the turn of the century to jazz to the demise back in the 50s and 60s; with the birth of the freeways and the, sort of, hipsters in the 80s, even like the skinheads and the punks and all that shit and the fallout in the 90s; we love every bit of that, we don't shy away from that, but we want to be the next chapter, but still … with remembrance of it all."
Before the DART Green Line zipped travelers into Deep Ellum, there was the Good Latimer tunnel –– a 70-plus-year-old historic structure covered with city-approved graffiti. For many, it was the gateway to the entertainment district; the murals and graffiti that lived along its walls are forever matched with the memories that formed on the other side of the tunnel.
"I remember going to Deep Ellum in the nineties and having some fun partying down there and going into the tunnel," Lifto says. "I remember seeing Nine Inch Nails in '94, '95 at the Bomb Factory. That was something else, man."
Even when recalling that memory nearly two decades later, Lifto walks through the tunnel before he gets to it.
While it was demolished in 2006, it's immortalized in Deep Ellum's slick tasting room. It's a mural consisting of high-resolution photographs taken by area photographer Sean Fitzgerald before the destruction. It's all there: The chubby tiger, the cartoonish DJ, the Elvis Pez dispenser, the defecating Pegasus.
Just as the Deep Ellum crew hopes to educate the public about quality beer, Lifto and Reardon both say they aim to give their city the spotlight, too.
"The Deep Ellum name has a lot of history behind it," Lifto says. "It kind of, just, hits something in people's souls when they think about Deep Ellum."
for more features.


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Clinical Thrombosis Service
Patient AppointmentsTel: +61 3 9076 2828 /2857 /2858
Fax: +61 3 9076 8500
Thrombosis Clinic
(Clinical Haematology)
1st floor South Block
[William Buckland Radiotherapy centre]
Tel: +61 3 9076 2828
Fax: +61 3 9076 8500
Prof Huyen Tran
MBBS (Hons), Master Clin Epi, FRACP, FRCPA
Consultant Haematologists
- Dr Mandy Davis
MBBS (Hons), FRACP, FRCPA
- Dr James McFadyen
MBBS (Hons), FRACP
Haemostasis/Thrombosis Registrar
Cardiologist/Vascular physician
A/Prof Harry Gibbs
The aim of the Clinical Thrombosis Service (CTS) is to provide comprehensive care for patients with venous thrombosis. The CTS is one of the core services of Alfred Health's Department of Haematology, and also undertakes clinical thrombosis research as part of the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University.
Clinical focus & Service Provision
The CTS provides care for all aspects of patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE), starting from the diagnosis, acute treatment, investigation for heritable and acquired tendencies for VTE, management of post thrombotic syndrome among patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and evaluation for duration of anticoagulation.
In addition we provide a consultative service to other specialties and provide leadership in antithrombotic therapy within The Alfred and to community based private practitioners.
Patients are referred to us for treatment from numerous centres within Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Research overview
Venous thromboembolism including DVT and PE represents a significant disease burden and source of morbidity and mortality in Australia and worldwide. The aims of our research on clinical thrombosis are:
- Better define the incidence, natural history and clinical outcome of VTE
- Provide information on the range of therapeutic strategies being employed in the treatment of VTE patients
- Explore factors influencing clinical outcomes
- Better define optimal management of VTE patients
- Inform and inspire future hypothesis driven research in this area
The Team
[Photo to be included]
Research Projects and Opportunities
- Venous thromboembolism cohort study
- Post-thrombotic syndrome and venous ulcer following deep vein thrombosis
- The efficacy and safety of Two Weeks of Low Molecular Weight Heparin or Rivaroxaban for Distal Vein Thrombosis
- Incidence of venous thrombosis among patients with haematological malignancies
- The management and outcome of major bleeding among patients receiving novel oral anticoagulants and warfarin
- Oral vitamin K and warfarin reversal for invasive procedures
Recent publications
McFadyen JD, Tran, H, Kaplan ZS. Factor VIII inhibitor eradication with bortezomib in acquired haemophilia A, British Journal of Haematology, 2016,
Bhave P, McGiffin D, Shaw J, Walsh M K, McCarthy P, Tran H A & Davis A K. A guide to performing cardiac surgery in patients with hereditary bleeding disorders. Journal of Cardiac Surgery. 2015, 30(1): 61-69.
French S, Arthur, J F, Tran HA & Hamilton J R. Approval of the first protease-activated receptor antagonist: rationale, development, significance, and considerations of a novel anti-platelet agent. Blood Reviews. 2015, 29(3): 179-189.
Bouchard J, Ghannoum M, Bernier-Jean A, Williamson DR, Kershaw G, Weatherburn C, Eris JM, Tran HA, Patel JP & Roberts DM. Comparison of intermittent and continuous extracorporeal treatments for the enhanced elimination of dabigatran. Clinical Toxicology, 2015, 53(3) 156-163.
Cohen A, Jeyaindran S, Kim JY, Park K, Sompradeekul S, Tambunan KL, Tran HA, Tsai I-C, Ward C. & Wong R. Treating pulmonary embolism in Pacific Asia with direct oral anticoagulants. Thrombosis Research. 2015, 136(2) 196-207.


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Is that baseball I smell? Or hear? It's Baseball Season
March 2nd, 2013 by Anthony Santiago
The groundhog that claims to know about the weather told the world we still have about another month of winter. However, baseball didn't get that memo and began to report to training camp as early as this week. Full team squads began Monday, and around the country teams are looking to defeat the defending World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants.
Leading up to the start of baseball season, we will look extensively at each division in both conferences.
This week we start with the American League East.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles didn't do much in regards to free agency. Instead, the Orioles seemed to focus on securing the core team that they established when making their run to the World Series. The Orioles did add some help in Alexi Cassilla, Steve Pearce, and Randy Wolfe. They also picked up some minor league contracts to help during Spring Training. Again, by giving extensions to Weiters and Matusz, they secured the core of their young developing team for the future. They did lose some power in Reynolds and some pitching help in Stu Pomeranz but, ultimately, what mattered was keeping the younger core players intact.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays did beaucoup work on revamping their already power-stacked team. They first took a step towards securing a stronger pitching rotation with R.A. Dickey and adding another hard-throwing pitcher from the Cleveland Indians in Esmil Rogers. The Jays then took a step towards adding more power by the likes of Melkey Cabrera and Andy Laroche. The Jays are making a case to finally taking first or second in the A.L East this season. They did not really lose anything but did what they could to get better, and get better is exactly what they did.
New York Yankees
The Yankees are the most frustrating team in the A.L. East. Essentially, New York added a little and lost a lot. They secured Ichiro Suzucki in the outfield but then lost Nick Swisher. They added a player that has diminishing contact but lost power and contact. They then tried to make up for that power with Kevin Youklis but again secured a player that happens to be declining in his career. The Yanks also secured contracts with Gardner, Rivera, and Petite. Essentially, the Yankees did nothing and seem to not be considered with not having a real every-day catcher and a pitching rotation that seems to be declining aside from the work horse, C.C. Sabathia. Keep expectations for the Yanks not quite low, but not high either.
Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa is a very interesting team this year. They, too, added very little, aside from taking a chance on Roberto Hernandez and Yunel Escobar. They did secure players Evan Longoria, James Shields, and Luke Scott. Essentially, there isn't much to say about the Rays but to keep an eye on them and see what happens.
Boston Red Sox
What can you say about the Boston Red Sox? Disaster, perhaps? The Sox did little to nothing to make their team better. Instead, it seemed like they were ready to rebuilt in adding the likes of Dempster for a long term goal in mind. Instead, they add Shane Victorino, a declining and aging outfielder who seems to have lost a bit of pop to his bat. Honestly, the Sox will have a miserable year under new management in John Farrell. Expect misery, Sox fans; it's the only thing that will fill Fenway this summer.


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A captivating aquamarine & diamond ring. Three beautiful sea green oval-cut aquamarine gemstones, which have a combined weight of 1.20ct are securely set in rich 9ct yellow gold. These gemstones are very evenly matched and have excellent clarity, making them bright and vibrant. Aquamarine is March`s birthstone and was believed to be the sailor's gemstone by the Greeks and Romans, ensuring safe passage across stormy seas. In between these aquamarines are four round cut diamond spacers, there is also a round cut diamond on each shoulder. The combined diamond weight is 12 points. The band is made of 9ct yellow gold and is of tapered design. A most fashionable vintage ring.
Ring size: UK size N, US size 6.75, width 6mm, weight 3g, this ring can be re-sized free of charge, upon request.
Period: Mid-Century Jewellery (the 1950s).


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Check capture without limitations
Panini's mI:Deal check scanner is the practical, smart, and secure solution for cost effective and reliable check capture – in a wide range of application options – from the world's most trusted brand for check scanners. Combining innovation and ease-of-use with API-free connectivity to RDC, POS, branch and mobility applications, mI:Deal offers the most reliable and economical capture of checks with comprehensive Check 21 compliance.
The mI:Deal offers exceptional, state-of-the-art flexibility for deployment; easily integrating with a wide variety of physical and virtual environments through wired or wireless connectivity. Panini's mI:Deal enables cost effective and highly efficient check capture in a variety of applications with minimal integration effort.
Adds professional check capture to the POS
Usable for RDC with no need for APIs
Usable in mobility applications
Usable in Branch of the Future applications
Wired or wireless connectivity
MICR, duplex imaging, franking, barcodes
Brochures & Other Documents
- mI:Deal Brochure
- mI:Deal Brochure (français)
- Branch of the Future Brochure
- White Paper on Check21 vs. ACH
- Open Source Software Source Code
Get in Touch
- Horizontal single document feed with auto-alignment mechanism for easy use.
- On-board intelligence for MICR codeline magnetic reading, and real-time delivery of compressed and cropped grayscale or bitonal front and rear images (100, 200 or 300 dpi).
- Optional Barcodes decoding.
- Optional intelligent front side franking capability, based on MICR read and/or image contents.
- 10-document sequential stacking pocket; document may also be returned to feeder.
- USB 2.0, Ethernet (LAN) or Wi-Fi connectivity (both requiring an optional dongle), providing extraordinary application flexibility.
- Interfaces via serial or https protocol (no API) with a variety of hosts with any OS: PCs, MACs, POS terminals, tablets (including virtual POS) and smartphones.
- Security: SSL (https) applied to all types of communications between scanner and host: Wi-Fi, USB and LAN. WPA2 encryption additionally applied to Wi-Fi communications. Images and MICR deleted from the scanner at the end of the transaction. Multilayer authorization on scanner use modes (Wi-Fi, LAN, etc.).


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360fly – The Action Camera that Redefines Shooting a Complete Field of View!
The 360fly is an action camera that looks like a barrel-shaped GoPro and a golf ball. It features spherical lens that points into the air by default and captures everything with a single recording within its 360 degree field of view.
Being a beautiful and innovative gadget, the 360fly has a design that is easy to use and highly unobtrusive. It is also compatible with the mounts and accessories available with GoPro. One can even view the shot videos in virtual reality and share experiences online.
Using 360Fly in the real world
One can just plug the action camera on a bicycle helmet and record the video from all sides and surely give you an experience that cannot be given by any other camera.
Once you capture the video, you can pipe the footage on the phone, view it and check out the varied elements or angles of the 360-degree capture. The device looks great inside a Google Cardboard VR viewer and with the moving head, it can show multiple points of view along with the elusive sense of immersion.
You can share the experience online with the app on the phone where the clips can be edited and published on social media with a few taps. For deeper sharing, one can upload the clips to the site and one can even embed the same on a blog thus scrolling through virtually any point of view of the shot.
There are multiple cool demo videos on the site that explores the camera's capability.
The Design, its Past and its Features
- The action camera has a cool design with a strong and solid construction with an intuitive interface with no cryptic or confusing menus. It has a simple mobile interface that is easy to use.
- 360Fly was born in the Carnegie Mellon University's robotics lab. The company had started 360-degree video shooting with the GoPano Micro that included a 360-degree lens attachment for iPhone.
- The new action camera has one lens that doesn't stitch anything but brings every point of view to the results. The 360Fly camera is smaller than a tennis ball but its lens has an incredible f/2.5 aperture that can record video at 30 fps with 240-degrees of vertical view along with a complete 360-degrees of horizontal view.
- The 1,600 mAh battery is good enough for a continuous two hours of video recording and one can share videos through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 too.
This gadget is perfect to any curious action enthusiast but since it is a first generation camera, it lacks some features. It does not support high-resolution image captures and the field of view is captured by a single lens, thus not resulting in a great VR experience. It cannot capture anything besides or beneath you since it shoots up by default. With the 360Fly, the overhead imagery gives a great sense of place, but that's it. The recorded videos can be edited with the 360fly app.
Relevance of 360Fly and its videos on the social circuit
Every tech company is trying to feature 360-degree video support with "spherical videos" being a new fad. Google's all over the concept and Facebook is introducing it too. The Jump project includes a high-tech rig that uses 16 GoPros and their footage simultaneously.
360-degree videos are fun and part of the video roadmap. Both social sites are depending on many 360-degree videos for pushing virtual reality in the public.
The 360Fly camera will cost just about $399 with its launch in mid-2016. This combined with Google Cardboard can work as a gateway into the world of 360-degree video and VR.
Keval Padia is the founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing mobile app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.


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Kano PC, a company apparently dedicated to building low-cost computing blocks to introduce kids to both hardware and coding, has teamed up with Microsoft to offer a buildable Windows 10 laptop that kids can assemble themselves.
Historically, building a PC was a difficult endeavor. Back when I was a boy, finding a village smith who had the appropriate PCB molds to cast a motherboard was taxing. Once you'd extracted enough copper wire from the Ogre Pit, you had to chip a good clock crystal from the depths of Performance Mountain, and sacrifice a goat to the Three Gods of Peripheral Support: IRQ, DMA, and I/O Range.
If your prayers (and dubious driver code) were accepted, a new peripheral would be added to your tenuous stack of wizardry and circuits. Else, execute function FranticRepair, kicking off an all-night effort to restore the family computer to whatever state it existed in before your parents went to sleep the night before.
*reads incoming Slack message*
Alright, fine Jamie, it wasn't actually quite that bad. But building laptops has always been genuinely difficult. This kind of simplified construction kit isn't going to give you a top-end system, but as a way to introduce kids to the idea of building their own system to carry around the house and inevitably break, it's a great idea.
Tech specs on the Kano PC include:
- Intel Atom x5-Z8350 Quad core 1.44 GHz
- 4GB DDR3L RAM (Unknown clock)
- 64GB of eMMC, upgradeable via microSD slot
- 1x USB 3.0 port
- 1x USB 2.0 port
- Wi-Fi 802.11n dual-band
- Bluetooth 4.2 support
- 11.6″ screen (resolution unknown)
- 1x HDMI port.
- 1x 3.5mm headphone jack.
The device will run Windows 10 S — the locked-down variant that shouldn't be a problem with a device like this — and ships with some Kano-specific included apps, like How Computers Work, Make Art, Kano App, Paint 3D, Kano Projects and, a touch incongruously, Microsoft Teams. (Seriously, it's a listed software feature).
As kits go, though, the idea of building a small laptop as a kid system is an appealing one. The $299 Kano PC won't be available until October, but if it lives up to the appeal, it might be a neat holiday present for a kid interested enough in computers to want to start learning how to build them.
It isn't clear if this version of Windows 10 S can be turned back into a real version of the OS like other machines that run 10 S can. If it can, then this should be an excellent little computer for early hands. Linux and RBP-powered variants are also available (and Kano builds some different kits that are intended for these spaces), so people have options depending on which OS you prefer. Of course, there'd be nothing stopping someone from trying to load Linux into this thing (and I'm sure somebody will try), but the value-added software Kano includes is undoubtedly supposed to be a reason to stick with the Microsoft loadout.
Now Read:
- Everything We Know About the Raspberry Pi 4
- Windows 10 Now Runs on the Raspberry Pi
- Raspberry Pi Opens Its First Official Retail Store


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Some of you know Trevor Loudon, an investigative blogger from New Zealand, who loves America and knows that if the world loses America, we lose the world. (Mr. Loudon attended the MD CAN "Turning the Tides" conference in Annapolis on October 29th, so I hope some of you were able to meet him.)
Just about everything we know about Obama's roots in Communism (get used to using that word!) come from Loudon's research in dusty libraries and obscure archives throughout the West. He is not a man who sits in front of a computer screen all day and researches only what is available on the internet. Loudon travels where he must to gather evidence.
He believes, as we see in his New Year message to readers in which he sums up our losses in 2011, that we are headed into a tough year—a defining year for Western Civilization.
Loudon begins with a 1919 poem by Rudyard Kipling (The Gods of the Copybook Headings) and then warns (emphasis mine):
Welcome to 2012… Buckle up because it will be one hell of a ride as Obama goes for broke and his mask comes off, displaying the full intent of his Marxist agenda. Interesting times indeed.
2011 was a year replete with Progressivism running wild in America and across the globe. A year that freedom slipped away and tyrants gathered collectively in gleeful anticipation of a coalescence of power, wealth and control. The year that many patriots woke up in America and realized they did not recognize their country any more.
And, here are just a few excerpts that I hope will encourage you to read Loudon's entire treatise (and follow the links he provides):
*2011 was the year we lost Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and most of the Middle East. Between pulling out of Iraq prematurely, dancing round the fires of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and utilizing the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, we did a wondrous job of furthering a Caliphate as well as beginning what I believe could very well be World War III. And you can thank Barack Obama, George Soros, Samantha Power and Leon Panetta for all this chaos. They just brought the world closer to their heart's desire.
*Obama will go down as the worst President in American history. He has wreaked more havoc and damage than any other President before and he's not done yet. If he gets four more years, he will finish us off. And you can take that to the Shariah bank.
*This country was founded on Christian principles. I'm sorry if some don't like that fact, but there it is.
That hasn't stopped Liberals from trying to erase and rewrite history. They are all for removing all traces of Christianity from schools and public places. But they insist that Islam should be given free rein. I don't know about you, but I'm sick to death of this crap.
*And so the seeds of revolutionary chaos have been sown by the Progressives in America. Look for the spring and summer of 2012 to be entirely memorable as OWS, Communists, Progressives, etc. set the streets of America on fire in service to bringing America to her knees and stirring the populist pot to engender a deluded call for Obama to end our suffering. Top down, bottom up, inside out… Van Jones will play a pivotal role to be sure.
*As I have said many times before, do not fall for the siren call of Occupy Wall Street. It is a trap with no way out in the end. They will be used and then discarded once they have served their purpose. It is class warfare and a tactic that Sun Tsu would find admirable. Stay away from the protests and the riots. Revolution may come, but this is not the way to fight it. Study and remember how the American Revolution was fought. Don't gather to be slaughtered as sheep in the pen.
*Prepare yourselves and your family.


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The personal learning network for educators
Google Slide Rubric for Linear Systems
One of the newer movements in education is the use of interactive notebooks. Students do foldables, notes, pictures, diagrams, and homework and place them into an actual paper notebook or binder. Using Google Slides as the interactive notebook has essentially the same purpose, but it adds another level of engagement. Teachers can utilize Google Slides to create interactive data notebooks. The students can store these notes in their personal Google Drive for access at any point in their education. Teachers can use these notes as a portfolio of evidence of understanding. Another benefit to the English Learner is that he/she can write the slides in his/her native language and the teacher can grade it with the "Instant Translator" add-on function. With that said, a small modification that is easily completed might need to be made for the English Learner, slow learner, and special education student. The teacher may need to create a template and share it through Google Drive. The teacher can have one of the three standard components completed or fill in the blank sections as well. With that said, it is important to also address the gifted students and those who need enrichment. I would ask those students to seek out and embed videos into their notes. Educators can use these notes daily or have students complete them at the end of each section thus creating a study guide for the test and semester exam. A challenge for the student could be if they are not familiar with Google Slides or if there are move-ins after you have taught how to use Google Slides. I think that pairing students up or simply pulling them for a 1:1 session on work day would also be helpful. Regardless of the students in your classroom, allowing them to personalize their learning takes their engagement and ownership in their learning to higher level thanks to Google Slides.
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Many businesses underestimate the importance of supply chain logistics to their bottom line. Some assume that a supply chain professional with skills and expertise might not make a big impact on operations compared to other factors. Others underestimate the importance of their supply chain professionals, who can remain in the background even as they ensure the business runs profitably and efficiently. But it turns out, almost nothing is more important to a company's bottom-line. There's a strong connection between logistics expertise and profitability - as well as many other KPIs. Learn about all the benefits of hiring a CCLP in the complete guide for employers.
A number of significant research studies with thousands of companies have explored the links between the supply chain and corporate performance.1-3 Sound supply chain logistics management was consistently related to corporate success.
In fact, research by the Richard Ivey School of Business concluded that uninterrupted supply chain operations are more closely linked to a company's overall financial performance than any other operational factor.1 It also found that a significant amount of companies didn't pay attention to risk of supply chain disruptions – despite their tremendous impact - because those companies didn't know the consequences of a disruption, or thought they didn't happen often. So, in light of this research, increased focus on supply chain logistics is an obvious way of positively impacting the bottom line. But what can you do as an employer? Hire or train the right people.
Research conducted by MIT found that supply chain operations are more sensitive to the expertise and skills of people than they are to other, uncontrollable factors such as energy costs. That fact, taken together with the Ivey study gives smart employers a clear message—having logistics expertise is the biggest factor in a resilient, uninterrupted supply chain, and a resilient supply chain is the biggest factor for profitability. While surprising, that's also great news for businesses. That's because, unlike commodity pricing or oil costs, skill set is a factor that employers are in control of and can develop with a program like CITT's. And skill gaps might be more common than employers think, as the MIT research found only 41% of the companies in the study had the mature expertise needed to effectively address incidents. And sector HR research indicates that the already shallow talent pool is set to diminish further, as the majority of supply chain employees are aged 40-59 and are approaching retirement age.4
For both supplier specialists and client-side roles involved in managing or procuring services, CITT's CCLP® program develops the knowledge and skills required to keep supply chain operations stable and profitable. Students gain an operational and managerial understanding of how to assess the financial impact of supply chain strategies on the income statement, balance sheet, and overall corporate profitability.
Plus, CITT's educational program also includes economics of logistics, advanced decision modeling, as well as laws governing transportation and logistics, which covers financial and contractual risk management – all of which can have big implications on a company's bottom line.
To learn more about the CITT program of study and all the abilities-based outcomes, take a look at the CITT Abilities Guide.
1. Hendricks K, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Singhal VR, DuPree College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology. Supply Chain Disruptions & Shareholder Value, 2005.
2. D'Avanzo RL, Starr CE, Von Lewinksi H. "Connecting with the Bottom Line: A Global Study of Supply Chain Leadership and Its Contribution to the High-Performance Business. Summary Results", Outlook Journal, Feb 2004, Accenture, INSEAD and Stanford University
3. Simchi-Levi, D., Kyratzoglou IM., Vassiliadis CG., Supply Chain and Risk Management: Making the Right Decisions to Strengthen Operations Performance, Study by MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation and PwC, 2013.
4. Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council 2012 HR Study Update.


text: Central Bank review of mortgage rules should start now – McGrath Published on: 08 January 2016 Fianna Fáil Finance spokesperson Michael McGrath has called for a planned Central Bank review of mortgage rules to begin immediately to avoid a prolonged period of disruption in the market. He was speaking following an interview with new Central Bank Governor Philip Lane in the Irish Times this morning in which he stated that the current rules would be examined in the summer. Deputy McGrath commented: "Potential first time buyers and those looking to trade up will be disappointed that a review of the rules is not likely to commence for six months. Given the time it takes to assess submissions and implement any revisions decided upon, it is likely to be the end of the year at the earliest before any substantial changes are made. There is a very real risk that this will result in the already sluggish mortgage market grinding to a halt as potential buyers and sellers wait to see the impact of any new regulations. "Now that the Governor has signalled that there is a need for a formal review to take place, it would be far better if this was to commence immediately to avoid a prolonged period of uncertainty. At a time when the economy is recovering and there is a growing housing crisis, such disruption would not be in anyone's interest. "Earlier this week I suggested that, when a review of the rules takes place, it should give consideration to how rent paid by potential buyers is treated. Many young couples are now caught in the vicious circle of not being able to save for a deposit because of the cost of rent. They face the prospect of never being able to buy their own home despite being able to meet the monthly cost of a mortgage. "A survey carried out by Daft.ie last September found that it was cheaper to buy rather than to rent in 43 out of 54 areas covered by the survey. This means that, in up to 80% of the country, individuals and couples would actually be financially better off on a monthly basis paying a mortgage than paying rent for an equivalent property. "Fianna Fáil is suggesting that the Central Bank examines the potential of allowing 25% of the deposit requirement for a first-time buyer be met by taking in to account rent payments over the previous three years. This could potentially open up home ownership to a considerable cohort of people who have proven their ability to meet a monthly mortgage but are effectively shut out of the market at present because of the deposit rules. For example, a deposit requirement of €20,000 under the Central Bank rules could be reduced by €5,000 under our plans. "It is our view that twelve months after the mortgage rules were put in place it is now an appropriate time to examine how they are working in practice. There has certainly been a stabilising of house prices but there also appears to have been unintended consequences in terms of the impact of the rules on potential first time buyers, those looking to trade up and the rental sector. Now is the time to assess all these issues and decide if changes are appropriate." Tags: Cost Of Living , Latest News , Michael McGrath , Housing


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When somebody starts to think about selling their home, one of the most common questions they'll ask their real estate agent is, "When is the best time to put my home on the market?" Traditionally speaking, you'd probably think that the answer would be 'spring,' as most people associate spring market with the top selling season.
However, you might be surprised to hear that it's not as simple as a one-season answer. If not driven by necessity (the need to move elsewhere or the need for immediate funds), here are a couple of questions to consider first before listing a house.


text:
The Utah Jazz have waived veteran center/forward Boris Diaw.
During his lone season in Salt Lake City, the 14-year veteran from France appeared in 73 games (33 starts), averaging 4.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 17.6 minutes per game.
Diaw is a crafty big-man with good passing skills. There's a good chance a team seeking frontcourt depth will offer him a contract for the upcoming season.


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Pakistan: Anti-Terrorism Court Indicts Musharraf in Boloch Murder Case
Aug 26, 2006: "Veteran Baloch nationalist leader and former Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed, along with 37 armed tribals, in a military operation in Chalgri area of Bhamboor hills of Dera Bugti district on Saturday. ... According to the sources, security forces started the operation in Bhambhoor area three days ago using heavy weapons and helicopter gunships. On Saturday, the sources said, more troops were inducted into the operation and helicopter gunships shelled the area throughout the day. The sources said that helicopter gunships targeted the Chalgri area of Bhambhoor mountains and dropped troops who took action in the area. Armed militants of Marri and Bugti tribes resisted the troops and heavy fighting was reported for several hours. 'Nawab Bugti and many others were killed when helicopter gunships dropped bombs at their hideout.' the sources said, adding that troops had arrested over two dozen injured militants."
Dawn.com report, Aug 25, 2014: Tribal leader "Nawab Bugti was killed in security forces' operation in Balochistan's mountainous Kohlu district on August 26th, 2006. His killing sparked violent protests in Quetta and other parts of the province and life remained paralysed for almost a week. ... 'Five years passed, hitherto no accused has been arrested in my father's murder case,' Jamil Bugti said. He said few days ago, a police team from Quetta had approached him with regards to investigation into the murder of Nawab Bugti. 'It is beyond comprehension that instead of arresting the accused, police are questioning me,' Jamil Bugti lamented. ..."
Anti-terrorism court indicts Musharraf in Bugti murder caseJan 14, 2015
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was today indicted by an anti-terrorism court in the murder case of Baloch nationalist leader, who was killed in a military operation.
The court in provincial capital Quetta charge-sheeted the 71-year-old leader and adjourned the hearing till February 4.
The judge said that the case would be heard on a daily basis from February 4 onward.
Bugti, former chief minister of Balochistan and head of his tribe, was killed in 2006 in a military operation ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time.
His killing sparked nationwide protests and further fuelled an armed insurgency that began in 2004 in Balochistan.
Two co-accused - Musharraf's interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao and ex-provincial home minister Shoaib Nusherwan - were also indicted for their alleged role in murder of the Baloch tribal leader.
Musharraf never appeared in the court during the entire legal process which has been in progress since 2009. This led to his indictment.
He was absent when the charge-sheet was read out in the court.
Earlier, Musharraf's counsel submitted a medical report in the court, requesting court to allow the former president exemption from appearance.
He said Musharraf was suffering back pain. The court said the exemption would be granted only after a medical board examine Musharraf and make independent judgment about his health.
Musharraf is already facing murder charges in the case of former premier Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007.
He is on bail in the case. Musharraf is facing a slew of court cases including one for high treason after returning in 2013 from five years of self-exile.


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text:
What should a head of music consider when taking ensembles on music tours?
4,752 words.
Our annual music tours have become the glue that holds my department together. It inspires deep devotion and loyalty from students, and – please forgive any cringy sentimentality – makes us into a big musical family. At any given point during the year, I know my students will be able to tell me how many weeks, or even days, it is until our next tour.
Organising a tour can be a scary prospect, and does require some rock-solid admin strategies. If you ponder the enormity of being ultimately responsible for a group of students around the clock, for a number of consecutive days, possibly in a foreign country, it might put you off entirely. But please be assured that if you do give it a whirl, you will be pleased that you did.


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[prMac.com] Surfers Paradise, Australia – 9T9Cents would like to announce the launch of its February 2013 Mac App bundle. The Bundle includes the following Amazing apps for a staggering $20 – 78% off the regular price, including YummyFTP, CleanGenius, Smaller and Cookie. Introducing the Bundle lineup:
Yummy FTP (regular price: $28)
Yummy FTP is an FTP and SFTP client application for the Apple Macintosh, built as native Mac OS X software from the ground up, with the goal of providing a reliable, powerful, yet easy to use file transfer utility. Since its release, Yummy FTP has gained a reputation for being the fastest, most reliable, and most flexible FTP client available.
CleanGenius (regular price: $29.95)
Enjoy a clean & healthy Mac with a few clicks now! EaseUS CleanGenius is an all-in-one and easy-to-use Mac maintenance utility to make your Mac OS run faster and perform better. It offers multiple ways to free up the disk space overall along with other useful features to maintain your Mac.
Smaller (regular price: $20)
Smaller is a powerful HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript compressor on Mac OS X which also has the ability to combine several files into one. CSS and JavaScript compression is powered by YUI Compressor while for HTML and PHP compression it uses htmlcompressor. It's definitely a must have for every Mac based web developers.
Cookie (regular price: $14.95)
Protect your online privacy! You could be unknowingly giving third parties access to your personal information, browsing history and surfing habits. Cookie, helps you to manage exactly who can access information about your online activities, all in one convenient location.
9T9Cents Background:
9T9Cents is the brainchild of respected Mac app development company "SweetP Productions", and was developed as an alternate distribution channel, as well as a means of promoting and marketing independent Mac developers apps.SweetP Productions
Bundle details
Headquartered in Surfers Paradise, Australia, 9T9Cents is a subsidiary of SweetP Productions which has been providing quality software to the Mac community since 2009. Copyright (C) 2009-2013 SweetP Productions. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
###Russell Gray
Facebook Profile: View


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The lifespan of large, successful companies has never been shorter.
That's according to a new study of turnover in the S&P 500, conducted by the growth strategy consulting firm Innosight.
Here are two of the report's most significant insights:
- In 1965, the average tenure of companies on the S&P 500 was 33 years. By 1990, it was 20 years. It's forecast to shrink to 14 years by 2026.
- About 50 percent of the S&P 500 will be replaced over the next 10 years, if Innosight's forecasted churn rate holds.
In the past seven years alone, many renowned companies have been jettisoned from the S&P list: Eastman Kodak, National Semiconductor, Sprint, US Steel, Dell, and the New York Times. New companies to the list include Facebook, PayPal, Level 3 Communications, Under Armour, Seagate Technology, and Netflix.
In tracking all the comings and goings to the S&P 500 for the last 50 years, the study shows that the duration companies spend on the list fluctuates in cycles mirroring the overall state of the economy and disruption from new technologies, including biotech breakthroughs, social media, and cloud computing.
But the overall trend is that average tenure on the list is sloping downward.
Of course, there are several reasons companies drop off the list. Some file for bankruptcy or lose market share to competition. Others are acquired. That latter reason has been especially significant of late, with 2015 setting records for dealmaking, with more than $5 trillion in mergers and acquisitions taking place.
The world of entrepreneurship is also a factor in the S&P 500 turbulence. The Innosight report notes that startups with multibillion-dollar valuations are likely candidates for forthcoming IPOs and, therefore, S&P 500 eligibility. The report specifically cites unicorns such as Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, Spotify, and Snapchat. Once public, they could become the next wave of companies to sweep out the old guard of the S&P 500. Then there are newer public companies like Tesla Motors. The report says that companies like Tesla "easily meet the valuation threshold for inclusion and will be added to the S&P 500 once they meet certain liquidity benchmarks."
What does all of this mean for leaders and organizational decision makers? First, it's a reminder of a general principle: A company cannot endure in the long term without reinventing itself. Which means leaders have to be vigilant for what the report calls "fault lines"--the weakening foundations in your business model, or the shifting needs of your customer base.
How can you learn more about your fault lines? The report recommends reading a Harvard Business Review article from December, 2015, called "Knowing When to Reinvent." Co-authored by two Innosight senior partners and Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, the article provides a framework for detecting five potential fault lines: Your business model, customer needs, performance metrics, industry position, and internal talent/capabilities. It includes real-world examples from Aetna, Nestle, Adobe, Xerox, and Netflix.
Another important step is to conscientiously avoid getting caught up in present-day obligations. In a survey of executives from 91 companies with revenue greater than $1 billion across more than 20 industries, Innosight asked: "What is your organization's biggest obstacle to transform in response to market change and disruption?" Forty percent of survey respondents blamed "day-to-day decisions" that essentially pay the bill, but undermine our stated strategy to change." It was by far the most prevalent response. The next most popular answer, at 24 percent, was "lack of a coherent vision for the future."
In other words, the survey results highlight how hard it is for leaders to break free of organizational inertia--the existing mindsets and processes in large organizations. Yet that's what has to be done, if you want to build an enduring company.


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Multiple ATM failures at once!
Now when an ATM server goes down, it could take down all of the machines in a small city. So much for driving to the next bank down the street.
Diebold has taken the wraps off a prototype for a bank ATM that uses virtualisation technology. Relying on remote servers instead of in-built computing resources reduces complexity while offering greater reliability and security. Diebold described the prototype as a "game changer" and part of its roadmap to make greater use of …
... that added complexity and dependency on a working network connection actually simplifies and secures things? Inquiring commentards demand to know.
That's foregoing dark mumblings on how "delivering elections" to republicans and a whole raft of interesting inconsistencies and other problems large and small with their electioneering machinery reflects on their trustworthyness with money.
ATMs _already_ require a working network connection (and they always have). You don't think they cough out cash without authorization from the bank each time do you? The new scheme might require more bandwidth (eliminating the possibility of using old-school modems on a dial-up or leased line), but it doesn't introduce a new requirement for a network connection.
Heck no. Special cheques, fixed-amount tokens, batch processing with nightly data transfers have all been used at one time or another, if there aren't any in use still. But of course, the current mindset assumes excellent permanent connectivity, whether it is a reasonable assumption or not.
It isn't just more bandwidth, it's also more cpu power elsewhere. Plenty transaction devices perform dialing-on-demand, and that might become a real problem if all the smarts are moved off elsewhere. Especially if dialin is the only thing available and local calls aren't free, as they aren't in most of the world in fact.
Leaving aside that "the cloud" may or may not imply using the public internet which has implications all of its own. While the move might be a reasonable trade-off, to me the announcement smacks more of buzzword bandwagoneering than anything else.
When ATM's where first introduced to Oz, some banks used to go down frequently, taking all of their ATM's with them.
When they fixed this problem by letting the ATM's continue to run without the central connection, people discovered that they could withdraw cash up to the ATM cash limit at each ATM. Since many marginal people have no idea what their bank balance is, they just try to do withdrawals, and were pleasently surprised when the ATM just gave them whatever they asked for.
I haven't heard much about this recently: I suspect that bank systems are more robust now than they were in the 80's. Certainly some of the worst offenders (like the State Bank of Victoria), have simply collapsed with massive debts and been bought out.
The mechanical features of an ATM (the card reader, keyboard, screen, safe, banknote hoppers, banknote handling kit and the printer will, by and large, remain the same because they have to.
The computing element in an ATM won't change much either. It still has to drive the mechanical bits, handle its end of the comms line to the server and drive the cardreader, keyboard, screen and printer. About all it no longer needs to do is run the finite state machine (FSM) that forms the heart of virtually all ATMs.
There should be little effect on ATM reliability since the servers are generally fault tolerant and have been for almost two decades. The effect of comms line failures and ATM breakdowns should be the same as at present.
AFAICT the only effect of this redesign is to move the FSM from ATM to server. The sole benefit will be that the (fairly infrequent) changes to the sets of screens and actions will be applied to a single local copy of the FSM state table rather than being sent over the lines to every ATM. Against this the volume of data sent between ATM and server, and hence the required bandwidth, will be hugely increased because screen images and keypresses will have to be exchanged for every user action.
I can't see any significant benefit to the ATM operator in this, while Diebold gets to replace whole bank-fulls of ATMs and the server manufacturers may need to upgrade their boxes to support the FSMs.
"This consolidation allows greater control and therefore better security, at least in theory. Far from offering a single point of failure, this approach would also allow faster failure recovery and more rapid software upgrades and services deployment, leading to an overall increase in ATM uptime, according to Diebold...."
When was the last time you saw an ATM that was down? They give pretty much five 9s and this is running off XP.
Yes you could load software onto a VMware image faster, but as the software is trickled down the WAN links and installed slowly over the fleet of ATMs a bank has, it wouldn't make much difference - they're still not going to be upgrading all ATMs at once.
The main problem with ATMs is hardware failure, which they would still be susceptible to.
ATMs are a classic market where you shouldn't be using buzzwords.
Cloud does not apply to ATMs, even if they were running in this configuration it's still no more cloud than any generic VMware server. Virtualised != cloud.
There were a couple times when broken ATMs of different brands popped up with gay abandon, but a single broken ATM usually doesn't make the news; people'll just hop over to another. If it does make the news it's usually large chunks of some ATM network, or as here the unified national-but-commercial (magstrip|chip)+pin transaction network, or an entire bank dropping off that network, or some bank's web-facing banking system having a fit. It tends to stand out if electronic transactions suddenly get stroppy. Sometimes for hours.
Reason why I fetch me monies from the dispenser preferrably a day or two in advance before actually needing to, just to have plenty of time to find a non-broken ATM. They're a bit sparsely seeded around here.
Likewise I'm not overly fond of what I've seen of banking software. Like how solaris implemented a shortcut syscall to check that the seconds-since-the-epoch counter still hasn't yet change since the last time asked to speed up banking software's habit of calling time(3) hundreds of thousands of times per second. You know, they could've just measured how many transactions they can do in a second, batch up one tenth of that amount and tag them by batch with the current timestamp. Especially when the banks running the software like to leave the transactions in limbo for a couple days to steal a little interest on the side. The software is only good enough to quell most complaints of "it doesn't work", but it's by no means all that solid. I've seen better. Heck, I've written better. But then I don't work in banking.
Otherwise I more or less agree with your comment, including the software maintenance bits.
Yep, been a while since I saw a blue-screen on an ATM (and I really did..) but hardware failures seem common.
What seem particularly unreliable at the moment are self-service tills in supermarkets - the one next to me yesterday had a window desktop, a DOS-type window saying "this launches something-or-other", a "terminal" window with "Welcome to ASDA" in it, and a pop-up error message box advising it couldn't communicate with the scanner. Looked terribly bodged-together to me!
"Virtualisation removes the onboard computer from the ATM..."
No, it doesn't. You still need to relay user input, manage the network connection, and relay program output. And since LCD screens aren't made of magic, you'll need a thin-client style computer in there to handle that.
So they've gone from a low-power computer in a box in the bank that talks over the network to other bank computers to perform transactions to a low-power computer in a box in the bank that talks to a *specific* bank computer which then relays the same exact request to the other bank computers.
How is this not just adding a needless layer of potential problems?
Yep, the very same, except Diebold has been in the financial industry a lot longer then the farce they called computerized voting machines.
About the same quality assurance, though...
Personally, I think it's someone trying to complicate something that doesn't *need* complication.
Mines the one with the armored EMP-proof wallet pocket.
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"Banks have historic large estates of ATMs running XP, which do need upgrading to Windows 7."
Umm, you're really going to have to elaborate on that before I take the rest of your post seriously.
This would be some headless embedded form of XP, to which MS have already committed to supporting out to around 2017. It would also have been subjected to extensive testing of its very limited number of use-cases. If you are concerned about proven reliability, moving to Win7 would be nuts.
If, on the other hand, you are simply concerned with being new and sexy, you should be targetting the Win8 beta. (What could possibly go wrong?) Win7 is, well, sooo last year.
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I've never understood why ATM manufacturers insist on using mainstream desktop OSs. There are any god's number of embedded OS that would easily perform all the required functions of an ATM (except maybe the more extreme eye-candy advertising that seems to be becoming more prevalent these days), wouldn't be dependent on the whims of MS, have a much smaller footprint, be more secure and have many, many fewer things to go wrong. It's almost as if their industry is entirely populated by engineers that don't really understand the term "embedded system".
why haven't people realized that VM doesn't improve security or reduce admin load? fussing with hardware is so infrequent.
but obviously diebold is worried about NFC and people having secure and easy ways to buy and/or get cash advances. ATM's are today's buggywhip...
Pennies from heaven.
I suppose this "thin client" stuff could always include a $20 bill printer to be "real thin" as well.
I suspect that all this boils down to having a simple 8 bit micro in the thing and a bunch of memory. It would get all the display images from the "network connection" and send back button pushes back to the server. Then the server will send "dispense (print) bank notes" back to the ATM.
Where do I intercept the connection to flood my paw with nice pieces of green paper with distinguished elder statesmen/crown heads/presidents/bridge icons?
"I suppose this "thin client" stuff could always include a $20 bill printer to be "real thin" as well."
Could do, I suppose. A note printed with a barcode containing some sort of digitally signed authorisation would be at least as secure (and transferable) as the e-cash proposals that have floating about for small transactions.
But have you considered the costs of printer consumables?
If the banks are looking at changing ATMs, perhaps they could change what is potentially a massive flaw in the security of our current banking systems?
The current reliance on PINs.
ATMs have been widely used for nearly 30 years now. Surely someone, somewhere, has come up with a more secure authentication system?
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