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Ward 21 (now Ward B7) and Ward 22 (now Ward A7), PHDU, and CHOC have moved to new locations in the Waipapa building. All new locations are listed on the Christchurch Hospital page and can be viewed on a map of Waipapa.
Our new Children's wards web pages are currently being updated and we will share them with you soon.
If your child is ill, the Child Health Service is here to make the journey through the health system as easy as possible both on the child and their parent/ guardian and provide the most comfortable, caring environment possible. We have services based on two campuses: Christchurch Hospital Campus and Burwood Hospital Campus.
Our philosophy of care is centred around the rights of the child. Our service aspires to promote and protect the rights of children and young people. If you want more details about the rights of children and young people in healthcare please read the Charter on the rights of children New-Zealand
You can can also find out more about our Child Health Advisory Council.
Children's Outpatients Department
Children's Outreach Nursing Service
Ward 21
Ward 22
|Paediatric High Dependency Unit (PHDU)
|Children's Haematology Oncology Centre (CHOC)
CHOC diagnoses and treats children, with a tumour or blood malignancy, from all over the South Island. Find out more about the CHOC Service
The Activity Room - Hospital Play Specialists
The Neonatal Service
The Neonatal Service provides 24-hour care for newborn babies with a variety of special needs. Find out more about the Neonatal Service
Child Development Service
Child and Family Safety Service
Public Health Nurses
The Public Health Nursing Service offers support to children, young people and their families across all schools in Canterbury with nurses based at some rural facilities.
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programme
If your baby has a hearing loss, finding it early will help their language, learning and social development. The Newborn Hearing Screening Information for Parents aims to identify newborns with hearing loss early so they can access appropriate assistance as soon as possible.
National Screening Unit Information about New Born Hearing Screening
Child & Youth Dental services
Child and Youth Dental Services provide free dental care by dentists who are contracted with the CDHB for all children until their 18th birthday. Find out more about the Community Dental Service
Day Surgery Unit
|Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)
Eye Outpatients (Opthamology)
Eye Outpatients (Ophthalmology)
Find out more about the Ophthalmology Service
|Plastic Surgery Outpatients
|Intensive Care Unit
|Find out more about the Intensive Care Unit
|Children's Development Service
|Genetic Service - National Service
|Find out more about the Genetic Service
The Children's Outpatients Department is located on the Lower Ground Floor of the Riverside Building at Christchurch Hospital. A full hospital campus map is available on the Christchurch Hospital web page.
Map of Lower Ground Floor, Christchurch Hospital
Note: The entrance to the Riverside Building is currently closed due to construction.
Car parking is limited so please leave an extra 20 minutes to find a park.
There is currently NO CAR PARKING at Christchurch Hospital, except for a limited number of disability car parks. Please refer to www.cdhb.health.nz/parking for more information.
There are a number of buses that travel to and from Christchurch Hospital. See our Christchurch Hospital page for a list of bus routes to Christchurch Hospital or visit www.metroinfo.org.nz or call 366 8855 for information on bus timetables and route maps.
Families travelling long distances to Christchurch, may be eligible for accommodation assistance. If living out 100km or more from the city, Ronald McDonald House is available. Arrangements should be made by your referring health professional or a social worker.
If you can answer yes to one or more of the following questions and have been referred by a health specialist, you may be eligible to claim.
For more information about travel assistance call 03 378 6398.
Can be organised at no charge to you, but must be arranged in advance. Ask the hospital staff to arrange this through Customer Services, Christchurch Hospital, phone 03 364 0843.
Māori Health Workers and Chaplains can be available to support you, but should be arranged before your appointment.
Children's Outpatients offer specialist appointments Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Each consultant team has set days to conduct their appointments.
Your child may be seen by a registrar, however your named consultant will still be responsible for your child's care.
If you wish to change or cancel your appointment, please do so as soon as possible. If you wish to change your appointment you will be offered an alternative date and time. This may extend the time your child waits to see the specialist team.
If you don't keep your appointment, we may:
Missed appointments make our waiting lists longer and prevent other children from being seen.
We value your thoughts and suggestions. You can:
Child Haematology & Oncology (CHOC) is one of two specialist treatment centres for childhood cancer, the other being Starship Hospital. We care for infants, children and adolescents with cancer, and their families/whanau.
You can view more information about Child Haematology & Oncology (CHOC) in our health services directory.
The Canterbury Neonatal Service provides a holistic family/whānau oriented model of care. We view the baby/pēpi as being the focus for our planning of care and for this reason, we have incorporated a "Developmentally Supportive Care" philosophy for all our babies/pēpi.
The Neonatal Service provides 24-hour care for newborn babies with a variety of special needs. This includes prematurity, surgery, congenital abnormalities and babies who may have been compromised at birth. Care is provided by a skilled and experienced multi-disciplinary team utilising current evidence based practice.
This visiting policy has been developed to ensure an optimal safe and secure environment for your baby, by minimising infection risk, protecting family's individual privacy, and providing an environment that promotes baby's well-being and development.
We recommend no more than three people per family at any one time. This includes parents. Baby's health and safety can be affected by over-stimulation, particularly if they are early or unwell. By limiting the number of people at the bedside, this reduces noise, activity, infection risk and helps in baby's rest and wellbeing. In the event that the nursery area becomes too noisy or overcrowded, impacting on the babies' wellbeing, a nurse may request that you take your visitors out to the parent lounge. Please do not be offended.
Hands must be washed immediately upon entering the unit. This is to prevent the spread of infections that are carried on the skin; as well as cold and flu viruses, which are carried in the air and on objects such as furniture, hands, baggage, clothing, etc. Sterilising foam is also available at your baby's cot.
Parents are welcome 24 hours per day. For privacy reasons you will be asked to wear headphones provided during the medical ward round and nursing handovers. You will be asked to please respect the privacy of other families: do not look or ask about other babies.
All visitors are to be accompanied by a parent. Visitors are welcome between 11.00am to 1.00pm, and again between 3.00pm to 8.00pm.
Brothers and sisters of all ages are welcome under adult supervision and are included in the 3 per family policy. Other children under 12 years of age are not permitted to visit due to the increased risk of infections in this age group. No visitors will be permitted between 1.00pm to 3.00pm. This enables parents to spend uninterrupted quiet time with their baby.
Any visitor with a cough, cold, cold sores, rashes, other infection, or vomiting and/or diarrhoea should not visit. This is for the protection of your baby. If you as parents are unwell please discuss this with the nursing staff. We may ask you to see your GP to diagnose or confirm illness before you can return.
Non-immunised brothers and sisters of babies should not visit if they have any symptoms of any sort. Any child who has been in contact with other children with Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Mumps or Measles, Chicken Pox or Shingles should not visit and this information needs to be notified to the staff.
Referral to these services is arranged by hospital staff.
Child, Adolescent and Family Services
This service provides specialist community and inpatient mental health services, including assessment, treatment and education for individuals and their families. It also provides consultation and liaison for general practitioners, schools and key allied health and social service agencies. It also provides regional consultation services to the West Coast and South Canterbury.;
Patient Advocacy Service
This service is independent of Canterbury District Health Board. It is a free service and provides:
Information on Health and Disability Consumer Rights.
Assistance to the person to resolve the difficulty.
To raise with the health organisations and promote organisational change on issues which hinder appropriate care.
The service can be contacted by phoning 03 377 7501 (leave a message on the answer phone if the office is unattended).
Southern Regional Health School
The Southern Regional Health School is a state school for students from Years 1 to 13 who are too ill to attend full-time education at their usual school. They teach students anywhere in the South Island.
Māori Health Worker
Paediatric Nutrition Service
Occupational Therapy Service
Physiotherapy Service
Psychological/Counselling Service
Social Work
Speech Language Therapists
Interpreter Service
An Interpreter Service is available for people who are deaf or do not speak English as their first language. Discuss with the nurse in charge. Canterbury DHB's interpreter service is available 24 hours a day and should be used whenever a lack of ability in the English language could restrict understand of a patient's needs, rights and obligations. The interpreter service is provided at no charge to the patient and there are a large number of languages available.
Notify the interpreting service of your admission to hospital
If you wish to notify the interpreting service of your impending admission to hospital please email the service at firstname.lastname@example.com or phone 03 364 0669.
La Leche League NZ
La Leche League have found the kind of information and support they need to breastfeed their babies. The Ministry of Health also has valuable advice for new mothers on its website.
Clown Doctors
The Clown Doctors mission is to bring joy and laughter to children in hospitals and lift the spirits of people in need.
Dunsandel School Student Council organised a mufti day to raise money to purchase some cool toys for the Activity Room toy library.
Staying in hospital can be a stressful time for children and their families. We do everything possible to provide a comfortable environment for you and your child. If your child is scheduled to stay in the hospital you will receive an admission letter from the hospital outlining where you are to go and what time. Please take special note whether your child is allowed to eat or drink prior to arrival. This is what you'll need to bring with you and what amenities are available for your convenience.
Your Surgical Journey (PDF, 1MB) What you need to know and do.
A parent/caregiver is encouraged to stay overnight, you may be provided with a bed or a pull-out chair, and you may share a room or have your own.
Arranged admissions
If arranged admission, go directly to the department/ward which is specified on your admission letter.
Accommodation for out of town families is available, this needs to be arranged prior to admitting at Christchurch Hospital, please ask your Social Worker at your local hospital to arrange this.
Bring pyjamas, comfortable clothing, a favourite toy, game or book (toys, books, games, TV and DVDs are provided by the hospital).
All food for your child is provided. Please notify staff if your child has special dietary needs. If your baby is on a breast milk substitute please bring this with you (the wards only stock one type). If your baby needs to have a breast milk substitute during your time on the ward, your written consent will be required before it can be given.
Breakfast and tea/coffee/water are provided free for parents. Additional food and drinks can be purchased from the Christchurch Hospital facilities or vending machines. Meals are provided on the ward for a mother breastfeeding a patient less than 6 months of age. Hospital meals can be ordered and provided for $5 if you are unable to leave your child. Payment is made to the Ward Clerk.
Showers are available. Remember to wash your hands often to avoid spreading germs to your child or other patients.
Ward 21 has a washing machine and dryer for parents in the children's wards.
Bring valuables at your own risk.
Internet access is free and accessbile from - DHB Public Wi-Fi.
There is a Westpac ATM machine located in the main foyer, Christchurch Hospital.
Smoking is not permitted within any CDHB hospital or on hospital grounds. Quitpacks can be arranged. Please speak to a staff member if you wish to find out further information.
From time to time patients, outside organisations and individuals offer donations or bequests to the benefit of our patients within Child Health services.
Child Health is always grateful for any financial assistance received by way of these donations and bequests as it enables us to purchase additional items of equipment, especially for the benefit of patients.
To make a donation or for further information please telephone the Christchurch Hospital and ask to speak to one of the following staff members:
|Christchurch Hospital
|03 364 0640
|General Manager, Christchurch Hospital
|Ext 80215
|Personal Assistant to General Manager
|Ext 80212
|Service Manager - Child Health
|Ext 81230
|Personal Assistant to Service Manager
|Ext 80742
|Charge Nurse Manager - Neonatal Unit
|Ext 85945
Child Health wishes to thank the following groups/companies for their continuous support:
Buddle Findlay Child Health Foundation
Friends of Children in Hospital
Just like home, there are potential hazards in the hospital environment that we all need to be aware of. It is important that while a child is in hospital that those caring for them, including parents/ caregivers are aware of these hazards.
So check this out for yourself by watching our newest video 'Keeping your child safe in hospital'.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
Coming into hospital can be little bit scary. To help make you less anxious Charlie, Sheena and Gemma from What Now have made some videos to show you what may happen during your stay.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
If you are using an older browser and cannot see the video above, it can be viewed on vimeo.com instead.
Kids Health
What to do when someone has a seizure
Your child's journey to see a hospital dentist
Your child's journey to dental treatment under general anaesthesia
Care of your ankle following a fracture
Care of your wrist following a fracture
Excercise of your arm and hand while in a cast
Fractured supracondylar of the elbow
Lower Limb Strengthening Exercises
Surgical repair of Talipes Equina Varus - club foot
Cautery of Inferior Turbinates
Laser Treatment of Mouth and Nose Lining
Clean Intermittent Catheterisatin for Females
Hernia Hydrocele Orchidectomy Orchidopexy
Back to school after a Head Injury
Your Child After A Head Injury
Discharge Information Following a Burn Injury
Understanding Your Child's Burn Injury
ESBL Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase Producing Organisms
MRS Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus
Why Am I Being Nursed In Isolation
Care and Removal of Stitches or Staples
Epidural Infusion Analgesia for Children
Guide to Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Home Tube Feeding (taking your child home on a Tube Feed)
Obtaining blood samples at home
nCPAP - Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
A parent/caregiver is encouraged to stay with their child overnight.
If you have a health concern please contact either your GP or after hours surgery in the first instance. All other enquiries please contact the main hospital switchboard at Christchurch Hospital on (03) 364 0640, or directly on the Canterbury DHB website.
Child Health
Christchurch Hospital
2 Riccarton Road
New Zealand
Child Health
Christchurch Hospital
Private Bag 4710
New Zealand
The Christchurch Hospital Campus is in the process of many redevelopments, one of which will include a new facility for children. To keep up to date with the progress of the redevelopment, visit the It's All Happening website.
Page last updated: 19 November 2020
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It's been, what — 20 hours since President Obama approached the microphone to deliver the news that Osama bin Laden had been captured and killed? But the internet has not rested. The internet has produced its usual batch of meme videos, including keyboard cat, Taiwanese animation, and of course, the Hitler reaction clip, all for Osama. The "Friday" riff has not yet been published. But, wow, internet. Way to work.
This concludes our half-sports-half-Osama Monday. Goodnight!

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm new to programming so sorry if this question is dumb. I've tried googling it but have not found a solution yet.
I've noticed that on MAC computers setBackground does not work for JButtons. I setOpaque to true but that doesn't really set the background color of the button. Is there any way at all to setBackground for JButtons?
Also on MAC computers the color WHITE does not seem to work at all, even on a black background . Color.WHITE does not work. Is there a way to get it to work?
Thanks for the help


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Over at Medium, physical therapy professor Eric Robertson has written a fascinating piece about "exertional rhabdomyolysis" (a.k.a. "Rhabdo"), a devastating condition that results when physically fit people push their bodies so hard their muscle cells burst, flooding their kidneys with dangerous, or even deadly, levels of protein. Once thought to crop up mainly in elite athletes (and rarely, at that), Robertson observes that Rhabdo has become a troubling trend among CrossFitters.
The piece is loaded with tons of sound advice and clear-cut information not just for CrossFitters, but anyone engaged in a training regimen that pushes their bodies to the absolute physical limit:
So what is rhabdomyolysis exactly? Under extreme conditions your muscles cells explode. They die. They leach protein out into the blood stream, including one form called myoglobin. Ever stalwart, your kidneys take up the job of clearing these dangerous proteins from the blood. Why? It's just what they do. Unfortunately, myoglobin proteins aren't designed to be in the blood in the first place and they can easily overload the kidney. This can produce injury or death to all or part of the kidney in a short amount of time, and is potentially lethal. Locally, the muscles are left damaged and dying. Swelling ensues and weakness occurs as pressure builds around the remaining muscle cells. Your body's systems that normally can assist with this local muscle damage are now offline trying to help you not die. If you get to this stage, you're in serious trouble.
Read more at Medium.


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OpenTable CEO Jeff Jordan Talks About Groupon, Mobile Growth and Why IPOs Aren't That Scary!
It was certainly high time that BoomTown made a reservation–oh, I had to make that pun–to check in with OpenTable (OPEN) CEO Jeff Jordan.
The well-liked and voluble Silicon Valley exec–who had worked in a top job at eBay (EBAY) before moving over to the online restaurant reservation service and taking it public last year–has actually been up to a lot recently.
That includes a discount-coupon program that was just rolled out called Spotlight, which Jordan doesn't even try to pretend is not a copycat move to take advantage of all the excitement around Groupon.
And there has been more, from adding restaurant reviews to a cloud computing offering to, most importantly, a big push for its mobile apps, which have been growing wildly.
Jordan also discussed how leading a public company has been going, especially since many Internet outfits have been avoiding the prospect.
So far, the company's post-IPO life has been going well. OpenTable stock has been performing strongly this year, up 118 percent in the year to date, compared to many more lackluster performances in the sector.
Jordan, who had been in consideration for many big Internet CEO jobs, talks about all this and more in the video interview below:


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Women's Rowing Releases 2009-2010 Schedule
By ODU Athletics
Sept. 28, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's rowing team, heading into its second varsity season, released its 2009-2010 schedule on Monday. The Lady Monarchs will compete in three fall events - Head of the Lafayette, Head of the Hooch, and Rivanna Romp, while the spring portion of the schedule will start up in March with seven events.
In its inaugural season, the Lady Monarchs' Frosh/Novice 8 boat won a gold medal at the Knecht Cup and brought home a silver medal from the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta, while the Varsity 4 captured the Grand Final of the Kerr Cup Regatta, earned a bronze medal at the Knecht Cup, and reached the Dad Vail semifinals.
"I've been asked if we feel like we are under the gun to repeat the extraordinary performance of the freshmen 8 of last year," said head coach Heather Weisel. "Honestly, we don't. We'll always focus on our frosh team but we'll be racing a whole different level of event this year with the Varsity 8. We'll be going up against teams who are far more experienced than us and although we learned a lot last year, this year is a whole new class. So we'll do our best to prepare and stick with the formula that worked for us before: get fit, focus on one practice at a time and one race at a time."
The season kicks off at the end of October in familiar waters. The Lady Monarchs will race on the Lafayette River with the Head of the Lafayette on Saturday, October 25th and follow at the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the Head of the Hooch the weekend of November 7th and 8th.
"We're really looking forward to taking the team to the Head of the Hooch this year for the first time," noted Weisel. "It's a terrific regatta with great competition. We'll see several teams there that we'll see again in the spring. It's a nice insight into what everyone is starting off with."
The Lady Monarchs close out the fall portion of its 2009-10 slate with its second straight appearance at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville on November 15th.
"Rivanna is going to be tough for sure," said Weisel. "Several of the very best schools in the country will be there. We're hoping to race more boats, including some pairs which will be another first for us, so it's going to be an exciting event."
While training throughout the winter, the Lady Monarchs will compete on the water in the spring beginning with its spring training trip to Florida and racing Nova Southeastern. Old Dominion will hold an intrasquad race on "Blue & White Day" on March 28th.
Old Dominion will race against Alabama and Oklahoma on April 3th in Tuscaloosa. After competing against the Crimson Tide and Sooners, the Lady Monarchs will hope to repeat is success at the Knecht Cup in Camden, New Jersey the weekend of April 9th and 10th.
The Lady Monarchs will also participate in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on April 17th and 18th and the CAA Championships in Occoquan, Virginia on April 25th, before closing out the season at the prestigious Dad Vail Championship Regatta May 8th and 8th in Philadelphia.
"The spring race season is going to have us doing a bit more traveling than last year to get us out of our region," mentioned Weisel. "We are intent on racing the fastest teams we can early on to learn everything we can about competing at that level. "


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Bar Mitzvah of Daniel Mazer
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2020
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Chapel, Lewis Family Religious Life Complex
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2020
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Chapel, Lewis Family Religious Life Complex
Temple Beth Am's Online Membership Directory is accessible only to current temple members. Use it with your smartphone too!
Become a part of our Temple Beth Am community. We have so much to offer you and your family, and we are proud to provide our members with an unparalleled variety and depth of programs, spirituality and service to the community. Come join us!
Join our weekly e-newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.
Through this collaborative effort with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, your one legacy gift can benefit Beth Am and other organizations.
Temple Beth Am — The House of the People — is a "full-service" synagogue for all ages, ranging from social to athletic to spiritual... something for everyone!
Temple Beth Am embraces Jewish life through lifelong learning, spiritual growth and community engagement.
© 2020 Temple Beth Am, The Janet z"l and Richard Yulman Campus, 5950 N. Kendall Drive, Pinecrest, FL 33156 • 305.667.6667


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LONDON - Britain has raised its terrorism alert level in response to the rise of Islamic extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, and the belief that British citizens fighting with such groups could bring terror home.
The new British terror threat level is called "severe," which means an attack is "highly likely," but there is no information about a specific terrorist plan.
This is the first time in three years that the level has been so high, just one notch below the top of the scale ['critical']. Prime Minister David Cameron said the decision was made by an independent government commission because the rise of the group in Iraq and Syria once called ISIL or ISIS, which now calls itself the Islamic State, poses a threat to Britain.
"What we're facing in Iraq now with ISIL is a greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before," said Cameron.
Cameron said about 500 British citizens have gone to join the group in Syria and Iraq. Those men can easily re-enter Britain.
The masked terrorist who murdered American journalist James Foley earlier this month spoke with a British accent.
The prime minister is expected to ask Parliament next week to give the government more authority to go after such men, and to prevent them from leaving or re-entering the country.
Cameron characterized the fight against terrorism as a battle of ideologies. He said Britain will take a comprehensive approach to combat what he called the "poisonous narrative" of Islamic extremism.
"We cannot appease this ideology. We have to confront it at home and abroad. To do this, we need a tough, intelligent, patient and comprehensive approach to defeat the terrorist threat at its source," he said.
Cameron said that will include measures to promote moderation here in Britain, and stability and democracy in the Middle East.
He said Britain will also continue humanitarian aid drops in Iraq and intelligence sharing with allies. But he indicated the United States will remain in the lead on military action against Islamic State fighters.
Terrorism expert Raffaello Pantucci of the Royal United Services Institute says the Islamic State is mainly interested in increasing its power in and around the area it controls. But he says it has sometimes taken action farther afield, and the group's leaders, or individual members, could decide to do so again.
"We've certainly seen a number of plots that have taken place in Europe, where it's been clear that the individuals have fought alongside ISIS. It's not clear that these individuals received tasking orders from the group to launch the attacks. It's a large organization with a lot of people who are joining it. And some of them might decide that they should do something which they will see as an advance of the group's aims, but isn't necessarily directed by them," said Pantucci.
A terrorist who had fought for the Islamic State carried out the shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May that left four people dead.
Pantucci says most people will not notice the impact of Britain's higher terrorism alert level, which he says will mainly affect the work of government agencies and security services.


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This quirky cotton print fabric is perfect for quilting, dressmaking and crafting.
Contents: 100% Cotton
Fabric Weight: Lightweight
Width: 44''
Washing Instructions: Wash at 30oc
Please note the price is for 1 Fat Quarter of Robert Kaufman fabric. For 1/2 Metre of fabric, add 2 units to your shopping bag. For 1 Metre of fabric add 4 units etc.
Available to buy in our store
Copyright 2020 Little Miss Sew 'n' Sew
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Designer fabrics, sewing patterns, quilting supplies. Fabrics by Blend, Lewis and Irene, Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Robert Kaufman, Dashwood Studio, Lady McElroy, Windham Fabrics plus many more!
Sewing courses also available, see our workshops.
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Four cited for riding snowmobiles in wilderness
Four snowmobilers were cited for riding in the Mokelumne Wilderness on the Carson Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest.
Three riders were cited on Jan. 21 and one was cited on Jan. 22. All four riders were issued citations, which can result in a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
"This citation is not one to be taken lightly – the minimum fine is $425," said Carson Ranger District Recreation Staff Officer Dan Morris. "Use of snowmobiles and other mechanized equipment is illegal in designated wilderness."
The Wilderness area is located in Alpine County, west of Markleeville. The snowmobilers entered from Hope Valley (Blue Lakes) Sno-park off Highway 88. There are a wide variety of open snowmobiling opportunities accessed from the Sno-park. The wilderness area is posted as closed to motorized use and maps are readily available. Officers patrol this area daily, and while on patrol, they observed the snowmobilers entering the Wilderness area directly next to the closure signs.
"Wilderness areas were designated by Congress to ensure that all land was not developed; as our land is increasingly populated, wilderness becomes more valuable because it contrasts with the highly developed world in which we live," Morris said. "It is the intent of Congress that we preserve and protect wilderness areas in their natural condition."
Understanding which areas are open and closed to snowmobiling is an essential part of planning a snowmobile outing near designated Wilderness areas. Maps are located at the Hope Valley Sno-park, beginning of Burnside Lake road, and Forestdale Road that clearly explain winter recreation opportunities in the area. Free maps are also available at the Carson Ranger District office and on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest website.


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Tim Holtz Up to 50% OFF + FREE GIFT | Details Here.
Oh. My. Goodness. These may be my absolute favorite Thickers ever! The texture is soooo awesome, the color is perfect, and the script is fantastic! In love for sure...
Used in this layout: Life Pictures (SIT #81)
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My grass is greener than I could ever remember—no doubt due to April showers, as we've had a fair amount. Yet green is more than a beautiful lawn—it's everywhere—from green energy efficient products, to the "green" canvas bags being carried into supermarkets and specialty stores to carry out our groceries, to kitchens that are going completely green with "green" materials from floors to counter tops. Yes, we all want to do our part to save the planet and to save ourselves—and one of the best ways is to simply eat local and to eat "green."
The cool green colors of watercress, zucchini and leek combine to create a splendid do-ahead "green" soup. Leafy green artichokes can be enjoyed in a variety of ways—trimmed; cooked whole and presented at table shaped like a flower and served with a piquant dipping sauce; delectably stuffed Italian style. But have you had them braised in a sweet and sour sauce? This recipe with roots in Spain is sure to please.
With warmer days welcoming the spring harvest and local farm stand openings planned, the best is yet to come.
Watercress, Leek and Zucchini Soup
A splendid "green" soup.
Serves 6
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 to 3 leeks, thoroughly washed, about 2 cups
thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds narrow zucchini, peeled and diced
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade or low
sodium canned
Kosher salt to taste and freshly ground pepper
1 bunch watercress, stems removed
1/2 cup of half and half
2 tablespoons minced chives
1. Warm oil with butter in a large saucepan. When butter melts and foam subsides, add the leek and zucchini and stir to mix. Cover with a square of wax paper to sweat the vegetables for 6 to 7 minutes. Uncover, discard paper; pour on stock and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, add watercress, adjust heat and cook at a brisk simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
2. Purée the soup directly in the same pot the soup cooked in with a hand immersion blender or in batches in a blender. Return to rinsed-out saucepan, add half and half. Reheat over low heat, taste for seasonings and serve with chive garnish.
Braised Sweet and Sour Artichokes
This intriguing dish has roots in both Spain and in the South of France. Trim the artichokes carefully as they cook a short time and must be tender enough to eat entirely. Serve as first course.
Serves 4
1 lemon
4 small or 8 baby artichokes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup water
2 tomatoes, preferably on-the-vine, peeled, seeded
and diced
1 bay leaf
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf Italian
1. Fill a bowl with fresh cold water. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one half into the water. Put in the squeezed lemon half as well. Cut the stems of the artichokes to about 1/2 inch from the base. Break off first two rows of leaves from the base and discard, then bend back and remove as many rows as necessary to arrive at the tender inner rows. Cut about 3/8 inch off the artichoke tops and discard. Peel the artichoke bottoms and stems, rubbing the cut surfaces with the remaining lemon half as you work. Cut the artichokes in half to expose the choke. With a metal spoon, remove the inside hair of the choke and drop into the acidulated water as they are done. Drain and pat dry before cooking.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan and put in the onion slices. Sauté, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the drained artichokes in a single layer and toss to coat in the oil. Add about 1/3 cup water and bring to the edge of a simmer. Add the tomato and bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Pour over the lemon juice and white wine vinegar and stir in the sugar. Spoon over the onion and tomatoes and cook, covered, over low heat about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes longer. Check with the tip of a knife to be sure that the artichokes are tender. Remove and discard bay leaf, sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.
Visit Silvia's website at savoringthehamptons.com to read her blogs and more recipes.


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Mormon conference: First prayer by woman offered
The benediction to the first session of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Conference on Saturday didn't even last two minutes, but it made history: Jean A. Stevens became the first woman to offer a public prayer at the worldwide Mormon meeting.
Stevens, first counselor in the LDS Church's Primary general presidency, which oversees instruction of children under age 12 in the global faith, offered simple, unscripted words of gratitude and praise before millions of viewers.
"We are grateful for the restoration of the gospel, and with it the blessings of priesthood power, temple covenants, scriptures, and living apostles and prophets," she prayed. " ... We are so very grateful for the inspiring words and messages we've received, and the beautiful music that has all contributed to what we have felt this day."
Many believers -- including Kristen Hanke Campbell in Indiana -- found it hard to keep their eyes closed during the momentous prayer.
When President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the faith's governing First Presidency, announced that Stevens would offer the session's closing prayer, he did so without fanfare or noting the historic move, which comes 183 years to the day after the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Within minutes, though, social media lit up with the news.
"I cannot stop crying. True tears of joy," St. Louis resident Amber Whiteley, who had pushed for women to pray, posted on her Facebook page. "I am so full of joy and love for a Heavenly Father that answers prayers and inspires change."
Julia Durrant "was not prepared for the intense emotions that flooded me when I heard her speak and give voice to my thoughts," the San Francisco Mormon wrote in an email. "It was truly affirming that God, our Heavenly Parents, love and listen to our prayers."
Amanda Farr-Knickerbocker was thrilled.
"I wanted my children to listen to a woman offer prayers on behalf of the entire church," the San Diego Mormon wrote. "I wanted them to know that the church hears the voices of women, and that God does, too."
Some could hardly contain their emotions.
Utahn Lindsay Hansen Park worried that she threw her arm out "from the fist pumping and jumping up and down."
Mormon women have given prayers in their local congregations for more than 30 years, and have spoken at the twice-a-year churchwide General Conferences for decades. As far as historians can tell, though, no woman has ever before prayed at the general meetings.
When the LDS Church discontinued its annual two-day auxiliary conferences in 1970, "women's voices were completely eliminated from general church meetings," said Kristine Haglund, editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.
"I don't think this was a deliberate part of the process," Haglund wrote in an email, "it was the unintended consequence of the institutional systematization of patriarchy. ... The incorporation of women as speakers in General Conference and the recent emphasis on councils including women as the most important element of church governance can be read as an adjustment and improvement to the system."
Saturday's historic prayer was, she wrote, "a natural step in that process."
It was so seamless that some conferencegoers in downtown Salt Lake City were astonished that it hadn't happened before.
"I was so excited," said Laura Castillo, after the session. "I thought, 'Why not?' "
Though Randy Nicholls, of Auburn, Wash., hadn't heard any discussions of women praying at LDS General Conference, he was startled when he heard on the television who would be praying. He realized instantly that this was different, Nicholls said. "I was pleasantly surprised."
In January, a group of Mormons, including Whiteley, launched an effort called "Let Women Pray in General Conference." The activists urged the faithful to write letters to six high-ranking LDS leaders, including apostle Jeffrey R. Holland and three women who oversee church auxiliaries.
The drive reportedly generated about 1,600 letters from 300 participants, but a church spokesman said prayer assignments predated the "Let Women Pray" campaign.
With Stevens' prayer, Emilee Cluff, of Washington, D.C., said she feels "rescued."
"My struggles with feeling like I didn't belong in a society that promotes worth based on marriage and children -- neither of which I have -- has been lightened," she wrote in an email. "The feeling isn't gone, but [Stevens' prayer] helped it by leaps and bounds."
Natalie Hamilton Kelly, of Seattle, wondered how Stevens was feeling as she approached the podium.
"It is such an emotional moment for so many observers, I can't imagine how she must feel about it," Kelly wrote in an email. "I hope she writes about the experience afterward. I want to celebrate this beautiful moment with her."


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It's a Monday, so what direction are markets moving? Yes, up, but only slightly so far. Below is a 60 minute chart of the DOW on the left, and a 5 minute chart of the S&P on the right:
Both the dollar and bonds are down, oil and gold are up.
There are no economic reports today and it is light on reports most of the week. Consumer Sentiment is released on Friday.
Below is a good article on Greece's hidden debt problem. Think they are the only country with that problem? Think again, and America is no exception. What went on to hide the debt and how American companies helped to hide it is simply disgusting, embarrassing, shameful, and far more importantly, dangerous:
Greece's hidden debt soaring
The Greek debt tragedy currently unfolding -- the country's on-balance-sheet debt is 13 times its gross domestic product -- may be just the tip of the iceberg.
More troubling, according to a report out last week, is the off-balance-sheet debt owed by the country, and its fellow, over-indebted nations Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain, the so-called PIIGS, representing the five-nation acronym.
The off-balance-sheet debt, where countries guarantee the debt of private developments, many of which had gone bust, could multiply the problem many times -- putting further pressure on the euro, the report said.
Gordon Long, founder of a private venture-capital fund, said in an investor note that there is more than $600 trillion in notational value in the global derivative market, with $437 trillion of it tied to interest rate swaps.
"Any credit event could trigger a cascading event," Long wrote in the report. "It does not have to be default; it could be a downgrade in swap contracts that would do the trick for a collateral call. Something is going to cause it to topple, whether it's a situation in Dubai, Greece or New Jersey."
With this as a backdrop, is it any wonder that the US dollar has been on a strong run since last November against the euro and the British pound? Also, gold versus the euro has risen 16 percent in the same time frame.
Major investors also have a record number of future bets that the euro will depreciate against the dollar over the short term.
"The next 12 months could be very dramatic for the Eurozone," said Robert Chapman, publisher of "The International Forecaster."
" I am seeing many sovereign defaults for the PIIGS as well as in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet satellite countries running into 2011," Chapman added.
International finance-industry estimates have Dubai's sovereign debt load, thanks to the off-balance-sheet debt, exploding to nearly four times its originally reported $80 billion, as other government-backed projects have gone bad after Dubai World's default in late November.
If the off-balance-sheet debt continues to come due, expect the euro to continue to fall in value and the US dollar to gain power. That will, in turn, hurt US companies looking to export goods.
How Greece's off-balance-sheet problem grew is a tragedy in itself. For example:
* In 2005, Greece wanted to develop a Mediterranean beachfront location for tourists but didn't want to float infrastructure bonds to pay for the development because its debt load was over the ceiling threshold set by the EU. So it brought in a Wall Street bank, like Goldman Sachs, which suggested it establish a Special Purpose Vehicle.
* This SPV in essence allowed the public development company to finance the infrastructure project with the Greek government guaranteeing the debt. The project moved forward with no impact on Greece's credit rating -- until the housing economy went south and the developer declared bankruptcy. Greece now has to add the debt to its balance sheet.
So when this scenario is played out a thousand times across the Eurozone, the bond ratings of the sovereign countries are lowered, thereby increasing their borrowing costs and eventually leading to a possible default.
This is how the Greek debt has grown 12 times over the initial numbers it had on the books with the European Union. Iceland and Dubai are the test studies for how the Europeans may deal with the idea of socializing private debt through public funding.
Dubai World's default, which had government backing, put the world on notice that sovereign credit-worthiness was a concern.
And just yesterday, Icelanders overwhelmingly voted "no" in a referendum on a $5.3 billion deal to compensate Britain and the Netherlands for deposits lost in a collapsed Icelandic bank. With daily riots in Greece over government tax policy changes, this may end poorly.
PIIG(ing) out
Portugal, Italy, Ireland Greece and Spain are among the European nations suffering under large sovereign debt loads.
* Countries took Wall St.'s advice and backed private construction debt for infrastructure projects.
* After project contractors go bankrupt the debt burden falls to the guarantor, which is the country.
*Country's ability to borrow is constrained by higher loan costs due to increased debt limits.
This shifting of massive undisclosed risk onto sovereign states is nothing but a crime against humanity, plain and simple. The people responsible are no better than gangsters, in fact are worse as they are creating far more damage to others. They are pushers of debt, and again, their damage is far more widespread and destructive than pushers of drugs.
Of course the European Union has provisions against bailing out countries. Was that all show to build confidence in the new Euro? Of course it was. Will the central bankers who created it step in to keep their money machine in tact? Of course they will:
March 8 (Bloomberg) -- European leaders are in talks to establish a lender of last resort and limits on credit-default swaps to bolster the euro area and prevent a repeat of the Greek financial crisis.
Plans for what may become the European Monetary Fund and a German-French push to curb "speculators" using derivatives to bet against Greece's debt are to be ready by June, officials in Berlin and Brussels said today.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble "believes we must learn from the crisis," his spokesman Michael Offer told reporters in Berlin. Greece is "the trigger" for efforts to avoid similar crises in the future, he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her fellow European leaders are shifting from rhetoric in support of Greece to regulation as they seek to defend the euro and rally behind coordinated measures in the wake of the global financial crisis.
"Speculators and the markets should know that solidarity means something and that, if there's a problem, we are there," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris yesterday after talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. "The sooner we say that and the more firmly we say that, the more rapidly we settle the problem."
More and more socialization built upon the back of debt for the profit of a few. Hey, the people of Iceland did the right thing, congratulations! Tell the central bankers to pound sand!
CNN ran a good interview of Jim Chanos talking about China and what is going on over there in real estate. Worth a listen:
Jim Chanos on China:
Let's talk about the markets.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of people jumping the bull market gun. The RUT and the NASDAQ made new highs but yet the DOW, the S&P, the Transports, and the NDX have not. Yes, it possibly changes the outlook if they go onto new highs, BUT, what is happening with some making it and others not making it at the same time is called a divergence! This is exactly the type of divergence that occurs at or near major tops. A healthy market makes new highs together, and they do it on volume.
This market reached EXTREME internal readings on Friday, and I am therefore issuing a warning to anyone who is long the market to be very protective. Here are just a few of the indications – the put/call ratio is at a place normally seen at tops, the VIX dove showing great complacency, the McClelland Oscillator is in extreme high readings normally associated with tops, the Advance/ Decline line is at extreme readings normally associated with tops, and finally, the number of 52 week highs on the NYSE reached 458 on Friday, an extreme reserved only for major tops. For comparison, the top in '07 had 383 new highs, the top in January of this year had 316.
We are close. The valuations are extreme, you have been warned. So, is this now such a "managed" economy that the markets can't lose more than 10%? Is this a "new era?" An era where the vast majority of the market is owned by semi-government entangled entities who own so much of the market that there can be no serious sellers? Because that is what I am hearing, but I can assure you that a one way miracle market has NOT been created. Valuations do matter, the debt pushers' math does not work and their debt backed games are going to unravel.
I'm just sitting back and watching history unfold. Only a fool would go long into the above statistics.
Once again, I must share a passage of my book about the fifth bubble stage according to Hyman Minsky:
Stage Five – Market Reversal/Insider Profit Taking:
Some wise voices will stand up and say that the bubble can no longer continue. They argue that long run fundamentals, the ratios and measurements, defy sound economic practices. In the bubble, these arguments disappear within one over-riding fact – the price is still rising. The voices of the wise are ignored by the greedy who justify the now insane prices with the euphoric claim that the world has fundamentally changed and this new world means higher prices. Then along comes the cruelest lie of them all, "There will most likely be a 'soft' landing!"
Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy


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Tag Archives: Vector
Post ID: 415
Free Dog Paw Vector Resource
We are giving away free vector resources for you to use. This is a paw vector we created which was produced for a client pitch and wasn't used. So we're giving it away! Adobe Illustrator Version: CS5 Please give credit and do not use commercially.
Posted in Free Resources Tags: Dog, Free, Graphic Design, Paw, Resource, Vector 1 Comment
July 10, 2012
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If you're wearing a belt, go ahead and un-cinch it now. You're about to chow down on a feast of deluxe new automotive accessories. Open wide for:
RC Cars—Forget about rubbing elbows with amateur bomb-builders down at the Radio Shack. Now, you can score deluxe RC cars right here at AutoAnything from MaxTech Toys and MJX RC. Here are your options:
Dodge Ram RC Truck by MaxTech Toys
Toyota Tundra RC Truck by MaxTech Toys
Ruff Rider Roadie Dog Harness—9 out of 10 of Teddy's Men agree: these Ruff Rider dog harnesses & seat belts could have played a pivotal role in the taking of San Juan Hill. Nevertheless, they're still bully at keeping your bull terrier safely in his seat.
Go Rhino Step-N-Tow Hitch Step—Somewhere, someone is hatching a plan to turn one of these modestly priced Go Rhino hitch steps into a multi-thousand dollar trucker exercise empire. If you think these receiver hitch steps have what it takes, then that someone could be you.
EchoMaster Navigator 7 Backup Sensor—Now mom can have exactly what she's always said she had with these backup sensors & backup cameras from EchoMaster—eyes in the back of her head.
EchoMaster Navigator Pro Series Front Sensor—Silence is golden, except when you're about to drive into a tree pole. The Front Navigator Pro Series Sensor warbles just in time to save your front bumper from an untimely demise.
VisionMaster License Plate Cameras—If I can see your nose hairs through this license plate camera from EchoMaster, you're driving too close.
VisionMaster Adjustable License Plate Camera—If you can see their nose hairs, this camera allows you to adjust the view to something more flattering, like their cankles.
VisionMaster Bullet Mount Camera—Much more practical than the bullet hole decals your friend just installed on his ride, these mobile electronics mount flush and feed a real-time video stream up to your screen (not included, homes).
VisionMaster LCD Backup Monitor—OMG, this TFT LCD monitor will make you LOL. Wait, WTF is wrong with our writing?
OPTIMA Red Top—These OPTIMA batteries' fiery red heads and steroid-laden bodies make them the Carrot Top of performance batteries.*
*Prop trunk and HGH sold separately.
OPTIMA Yellow Top—Because they're both deep cycle and cranking car batteries, you can bump Zapp & Roger behind the donut shop all afternoon and still start up with these OPTIMA batteries when curfew rolls around.
Not satisfied with serving up just new accessories, we've also got some scrumptious side dishes for you: new departments.
Automotive Logo Gear—The average Ford Taurus is badged as such in up to 10 spots around the car. But for some folks, that just ain't enough.
Sports Logo Gear—If the fitted Starter cap, authentic alternate jersey, team sideline jacket and oversized foam hand aren't already screaming, "Sports fan, here," we've got you covered.
Man Cave—You can take the man out of the cave, but then he'll just build a new one in his den.
Tools & Tool Storage—Or should it be, Men & Man Cave?
Cornucopia image source: Vassil


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Bastien Salabanzi
Bastien Salabanzi is a professional skateboarder with a colorful past and undeniable talent. Making his debut skating competitions and moving to the US, Bastien Salabanzi has also had some notable roles in Flip Skateboards films such as "Sorry" and "Really Sorry". Known for his flawless Caballerial kickflip tricks Bastien Salabanzi has skated for teams like Flip Skateboards, Jart Skateboards, Jart Apparel and more, and is currently sponsored by Theeve Trucks, Dixi Five and more.
From Toulon, France Bastien Salabanzi started skateboarding when he was 8 years old. By the time he was 11 Bastien Salabanzi was already dominating contests and had won his first trip to America to compete in the Vans Warped tour where he came in second place. In his early days as a competitive skateboarder Bastien Salabanzi was winning just about every contest he did, including four wins at the Globe World Championships and a win at the Tampa Pro. By the time Bastien Salabanzi was 15 he starred in a breakout role with sponsor Flip Skateboards in their film "Sorry" followed by Flip Skateboard's "Really Sorry" and Lordz's "They Don't Give A F#&k About Us". In 2004 Bastien Salabanzi placed third at the X Games taking home the bronze medal for street skateboarding. With a rapidly growing career it came as a surprise to all in 2006 when Bastien Salabanzi left his American sponsors and returned home to France, falling off the skateboard grid for a few years.
Several years after leaving America Bastien Salabanzi started to return to skateboarding, participating in competitions in Europe and joining sponsors like Jart Skateboards. In 2012 Bastien Salabanzi was one of 15 European professionals selected to compete in the Selection contest held by Street League where professionals submit footage of them skateboarding at a chance to compete, with the winner voted by fans. Bastien Salabanzi's video was the most popular landing him a spot in the 2012 Street League. Upon returning to the states to compete in the third ever Street League, Bastien Salabanzi took second place in the Kansas City stop, placing 7th overall.
Jart Skateboards,
Jart Apparel,
Type S Wheels,


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GearLaunch: Delivering ecommerce solutions at scale
About GearLaunch
GearLaunch quickly provisions complete ecommerce solutions for online businesses so they can compete with established retailers. Custom storefronts, payment processing, on-demand printing, and other services enable small businesses to sell branded merchandise online without investing in inventory.
As the GearLaunch customer base grows rapidly, its lean engineering team relies on Google Cloud Platform to deliver highly reliable, responsive services.
Google Cloud Results
- Provisions thousands of customers with a small development team
- Achieves near-zero downtime using a NoOps development model
- Scales business to meet seasonal spikes and rapid increases in customer base
Customer base on track to grow 10x over the next year
Competition for online retail shoppers' attention has never been more intense. Small, niche retailers must work ever harder to create online storefronts to attract buyers and close sales. This applies not only to retail ventures like crafters and solo designers, but also to nonprofits and entrepreneurs who may look to online sales to help cover business operating costs or enhance their reach with branded merchandise.
GearLaunch equips these merchants and operations with a customizable storefront, shopping cart functionality, and a way to print merchandise, such as t-shirts and hats, on demand. Small organizations typically can't afford to keep large inventories in stock. By offering a complete catalogue of high-quality, customizable, print-on-demand items, GearLaunch expands opportunities for retailers of all sizes, including the entire Shopify merchant base with a recent partnership with the online storefront giant.
Shopify plans to offer GearLaunch as part of its services portfolio, creating the potential to double the GearLaunch customer base in the next 12 months. "GearLaunch experienced one of the fastest uptakes in Shopify app store history. Given Shopify's massive merchant base, simply tracking to current traffic numbers could push GearLaunch to nearly 10-fold growth in the first year," says Chase Garber, Vice President of Engineering at GearLaunch.
"Demands for ecommerce services can spike at any time based on any number of factors. Google Cloud Platform gives us an elastic infrastructure that automatically scales to meet demands."—Aaron Roller, Software Engineering Lead, GearLaunch
Handling scale fearlessly
"The inherent speed and flexibility of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) gives us confidence we can meet our extremely aggressive growth targets," says Chase. The GearLaunch platform is resource intensive, and Google Cloud Storage has been invaluable in handling its demanding large-scale image storage, which includes more than 10 million images.
"The beauty of a Google infrastructure is that it scales automatically. Demands for ecommerce services can spike at any time based on a number of factors, such during special promotions or year-end holidays," says Aaron Roller, Software Engineering Lead at GearLaunch. "Google Cloud Platform gives us an elastic infrastructure that automatically scales to meet demand."
Another major benefit of the scalability of GCP is the ability to handle extreme seasonal swings in the GearLaunch business. Last year, GearLaunch generated more than 50 % of its annual revenue in the last three months of the year, with most of that figure generated during a single four-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because GCP makes it easy to power down unneeded infrastructure, GearLaunch reduces costs. Those cost savings can be passed on to its customers by downscaling during non-peak periods instead of paying for that capacity all year. "If we had to provision for peak usage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, our costs would be at least twice what they are today," adds Chase.
Maximizing developer resources
GearLaunch has relied on GCP almost since its inception. The organization was born in the cloud and after a brief time using collocated servers, the shift was made to GCP. GearLaunch chose to move to Google because of its reputation for scale and its deep engineering resources. GearLaunch is built on Google Compute Engine and Google App Engine, with Compute Engine to support high-performance services and Cloud Storage to handle the large storage required for all the customer sites. With a small development team and a NoOps philosophy that minimizes developer responsibility for infrastructure, GearLaunch is a lean operation.
"Developers can get a development environment up and running very fast on Google Cloud Platform, giving us the ability to move forward with new features and platform improvements at high speed. This efficiency has allowed us to grow the company quickly with a small team of highly effective engineers."—Chase Garber, Vice President of Engineering, GearLaunch
The GearLaunch IT team appreciates how GCP has minimized setup and maintenance work by abstracting many details into simple UIs and dashboards, removing the need for extra operations staff and allowing developers to focus primarily on programming.
"Developers can get a development environment up and running very quickly on Google Cloud Platform, giving us the ability to move forward with new features and platform improvements at high speed," says Chase. "This efficiency enabled us to grow the company quickly with a small team of highly effective engineers. We recently brought on a new team of five offshore engineers, and they were able to start on their first project in a day and half."
Rapid resolution and better experiences
The GearLaunch platform needs rock-solid performance for both buyers and sellers. Sellers need to be able to complete transactions and get inventory to their customers to build their own brands, while buyers have to access the site not only to order, but also to track order and delivery progress. GearLaunch uses Google Stackdriver and Stackdriver Monitoring to monitor service health and detect issues in real time.
"Google BigQuery is outstanding for giving us the deep analytics we need to understand and resolve customer issues. This capability helps us maintain our reputation as the most reliable platform in this space."—Ritesh Somani, Vice President Product, GearLaunch
When customers experience a problem, errors are usually detected in the browser. Linking them to the source in a specific version of the code is a larger challenge. To identify when a problem started as well as its cause, GearLaunch extracts large volumes of logs from App Engine. It then uses Google BigQuery to provide historical analytics so the GearLaunch support team can drill down to diagnose a problem and fix it.
"Google BigQuery is outstanding for giving us the deep analytics we need to understand and resolve customer issues. This capability helps us maintain our reputation as the most reliable platform in this space," says Ritesh Somani, Vice President Product at GearLaunch.
Collaboration and security in a distributed workplace
GearLaunch is headquartered in San Francisco, with additional sales, development, and support centers in Salt Lake City, Utah. To enhance collaboration worldwide, GearLaunch uses G Suite, including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Calendar, and Sheets, to provide proven communication tools, calendaring with effortless time zone handling, and better account security.
Not only is GCP security able to handle almost any permission model, but the permissions also link to a G Suite account to make it easier for GearLaunch to streamline its onboarding and offboarding procedures. Employees whose corporate Google account is disabled automatically lose access to everything, without changing passwords or manually finding and removing logins for individual servers. "We use Google authentication for Single SignOn (SSO), so when we disable a G Suite account it also disables access to critical third-party services we use in our day-to-day business," says Chase.
Faster innovation through microservices architecture
While the Shopify collaboration is poised to greatly increase GearLaunch's revenue and customer base, GearLaunch continues to evolve technically. GearLaunch currently uses App Engine and has already migrated some of its domains to a microservices architecture using Google Kubernetes Engine. Rearchitecting the rest of its platform to use containers and microservices is a natural next step that will enable GearLaunch developers to innovate faster and support a wide range of programming languages.
GearLaunch initially used Google Cloud Datastore, but as its data grows and diversifies, the company increasingly uses Google Cloud SQL to benefit from the increased ability to understand complex transactional data.
"As we've grown, we have constantly needed to expand our ability to store and process customer data," says Chase. "Google Cloud SQL provides us with a scalable, standards-based platform on which to increase the value we're providing to our customers, without having to worry about the nuts and bolts of managing hardware."
Another planned evolution is to provide GearLaunch customers with improved storefront analytics. GearLaunch currently collects aggregate Google Analytics 360 data on all its stores and has the capability to provide simple conversion funnels. It plans to eventually use Google Analytics as the source for more detailed store-specific metrics and path analysis to provide additional value to sellers.
Behind all this innovation and growth, the core stability of Google resources continues to provide confidence. "Our uptime has been amazing," says Chase. "Our service runs literally without interruption. Google Cloud Platform is a powerhouse."
About GearLaunch
GearLaunch quickly provisions complete ecommerce solutions for online businesses so they can compete with established retailers. Custom storefronts, payment processing, on-demand printing, and other services enable small businesses to sell branded merchandise online without investing in inventory.


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Conservation Department Asks Deer Hunters to Report Harvests
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is asking deer hunters in Barbour County to participate in a new online check-in system for gathering deer harvest data this season. Hunters can now complete a web-based report for each deer harvested during the 2005-06 season. The form is available on the agency's website at www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/deerdata.cfm.
Wildlife biologists developed the system to gather deer harvest data in Barbour County, where a buck harvest restriction is now in effect as part of a five-year study. The Conservation Advisory Board approved the countywide regulation, which is modeled after a similar management philosophy employed the past six years at the Barbour County Wildlife Management Area. The new regulation restricts buck deer harvest in Barbour County to those with a minimum of three or more antler points on one main beam.
Deer hunters outside Barbour County are also welcome to participate by reporting deer harvested in other counties. Hunters completing the online form will be asked to report date of harvest, county of harvest, method of harvest, deer weight and antler measurements. Pop-up windows help the person entering the information to choose the correct data. For instance, information is included on how to measure the antler beams and how to determine the age of the deer.
According to Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Biologist Bill Gray, the online reporting system could provide valuable information. "It's data that the Conservation Department has not had the ability to widely collect in the past, but it can be very useful in determining deer management strategy," he said.
Officials stress that the Internet reporting is voluntary for all hunters, but Barbour County deer hunters are encouraged to participate. "We really want to hear from the hunters," Gray said.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and enjoyment of Alabama's natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Parks, State Lands, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries.


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