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(by Pete Spotts, The Christian Science Monitor) – NASA's newest spacecraft for carrying humans beyond low-Earth orbit passed its initial flight test…following a spectacular launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday morning.[After] a series of delays Thursday morning that postponed the launch by a day, the Delta IV "heavy" rocket carrying Orion left the pad…at 7:05 a.m. ET.
Nearly 4-1/2 hours later, three enormous parachutes set the capsule into the Pacific Ocean some 275 miles west of Baja California and 630 miles southwest of San Diego – within 1-1/2 miles of the landing spot mission planners had projected prior to launch.
The mission represents the first test flight for Orion, the first craft that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has designed to carry crews to multiple destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, ultimately including Mars. The craft, along with a European-built service module, is in effect the cockpit and crew quarters for NASA's space launch system for deep-space exploration. That system includes a new rocket that when finished will be the most powerful launch vehicle that humans have ever [launched].
The Orion is the first craft designed to carry humans to leave low-Earth orbit since the Apollo program's final trip to the moon in December 1972.
Current plans call for launching a second unmanned Orion capsule, along with the service module, atop the new rocket for a test of the system as a whole in late 2017 or 2018. That would carry the craft beyond the moon and back. A crewed mission would launch in 2021, either to a small asteroid if NASA has snagged one and brought it into lunar orbit by then, or to orbit the moon and return if no asteroid is at hand. …..
During Orion's flight, the craft performed flawlessly, mission controllers reported, with a small handful of minor twitches.
One of the three video cameras aboard Orion returned images that lacked the expected clarity. On splashdown, only two or three of five air bags atop the capsule inflated. The air bags are designed to set the capsule upright in case it splashes down at an odd angle rather than directly on its heat shield. And the recovery crews were able to recover only two of the three main parachutes and none of the drogue or pilot parachutes that preceded deployment of the main 'chutes.
Given the test objectives for the mission, these were minor inconveniences in an otherwise smooth test flight.
"We had a couple of very key test objectives very early in the flight, within the first six minutes," said NASA's program manager for Orion, Mark Geyer, as the mission progressed.
The craft successfully shed protective covers, or fairings, that enshrouded the structure standing in for the craft's service module. And Orion successfully shed its launch-abort system – designed to speed the capsule away from a malfunctioning rocket during launch and ascent.
"Both of those were huge for us," he said, in no small part because the ability to jettison them when no longer needed reduced Orion's weight, making it easier for the Delta rocket's second stage to propel the craft to an altitude of 3,600 miles on its second and final orbit.
After leaving low-Earth orbit and beginning its return, Orion also successfully separated from the service module and the second stage – another crucial test of the system.
In addition to putting the heat shield and the full reentry system through their paces, the mission also aimed to test Orion's resistance to radiation in space as it passed twice through one of two radiation-intense regions known as the Van Allen radiation belts. Earth's magnetic field helps shield craft in low-Earth orbit from cosmic rays or intense bursts or charged particles from the sun. Beyond low-Earth orbit, it's every craft for itself.
The concern: Today's computer chips are so densely crammed with components and connections that they present an easier target for random charged particles flitting through the craft than did older, less densely packed chips. Yet these newer chips rest at the heart of Orion's onboard computers, as well as its navigation and flight-control systems. With a radiation sensor on board, engineers will be able to gauge the level of radiation that reached the craft's interior. And they will be checking to see how extensively radiation affected the craft's electronics – and if it did, how well the on-board systems recovered.
If Orion's performance along the way is any indication, the craft's electronics held up well. Each step of the programmed test process occurred as planned and on schedule, and Orion demonstrated controlled precision in following its planned reentry path to nail its splashdown point.
Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Christian Science Monitor. Visit the website at csmonitor .com.
NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read "Background" under the questions and watch the videos under "Resources."
1. What is Orion?
2. What is significant about Friday's flight?
3. a) What is next for the program?
b) When (and where to) will a manned mission launch?
4. What glitches did the flight encounter?
5. Describe the test objectives that were successful.
6. How would you describe the tone of this news report?
CHALLENGE QUESTION: Sometimes a reporter will include his/her opinion in an otherwise factual news story (subjective comments about objective facts).
a) Identify the sentence which is the reporter's opinion.
b) Do you think reporters should/could always refrain from including personal opinion into a news story? Explain your answer.
After the Apollo mission to the moon ended in 1974, NASA relied on the Space Shuttle to carry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), and occasionally the Hubble space telescope. These missions were the entirety of NASA's crewed space activities. But NASA was always hoping to get back into outer space.
The difference between putting astronauts in low-Earth orbit (where the ISS [International Space Station] is) and deep space (such as the moon or Mars) is akin to the difference between sailing along the coast and crossing the ocean. The ISS orbits just 268 miles above Earth — a bit more than the distance from New York to Washington, DC. The moon is about 239,000 miles away — roughly 10 times around the Earth's equator.
So, in 2004, President Bush announced the Constellation Program: a plan to develop a new spacecraft system to carry astronauts to the moon by 2020 — and perhaps even Mars thereafter. Meanwhile, with the Space Shuttle due to be retired in 2011, NASA would contract with private companies to take over the now-routine ISS missions. (Delays have forced NASA to rely on Russia for these flights, but SpaceX and Boeing both hope to have vehicles ready by 2017.)
The Constellation project, however, quickly fell behind schedule for a few different reasons, including budget cuts. In 2010, President Obama cancelled it, replacing it with a new plan that included the same crewed capsule (Orion) and a single rocket system to launch both astronauts and cargo to new destinations.
After years of development, the Orion capsule is now ready for an initial test flight — albeit atop an older rocket, introduced a decade ago, rather than the new one. The next uncrewed test, currently scheduled for late 2017, will be the first one with the new rocket.
Orion most closely resembles the Apollo spacecraft used for missions to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s: it's a small, cone-shaped capsule launched atop a single-use rocket.
Orion does have some upgrades, however: It's 50 percent larger by volume (so it can carry 4 to 6 people, rather than 3), and contains much more sophisticated computer systems. It's also intended to support astronauts for a much longer-term trip — roughly 21 days, which could be supplemented by an additional module for the 6-12 months it would take to get to Mars.
Visit NASA's Orion page: nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html
Read about Orion's service module at wikipedia.
Watch a CBS News-Miami report:
Watch a USA Today report:
Daily "Answers" emails are provided for Daily News Articles, Tuesday's World Events and Friday's News Quiz.


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These photos are displayed in reverse order.
The second half has no photos, as I left he camera with the family at mile 25. The second half was a great run because of Ryan Carter. We ended up blowing through the power lines as if we wanted more. We didn't want more.
I learn an important lesson during the second half of every race. Actually, it's a lesson that is put into practice during the entire race but the reality of which is not truly realized until later in the race: even though things seem really bad, desperate and impossible, and even though things sometimes get worse than they are presently, the key is to simply keep moving, regardless the speed. Eventually, the mind wins out over the body. The body rejuvenates. A downhill section puts energy back into the stride. An uphill is tackled more quickly than imagined. The mud puddles and streams don't matter anymore. The distance to the end does get smaller. The key is to not stop.
I also ran a little with Aaron from church.
The whole crew met me at the Duluth Zoo, the half-way turn around.
Marty, Zeke in the lap, Grace directly behind me, then Eli, Emma and #63 Levi.
I shed the camera at this point for fear of impending rain. Thus, no photos prior (after) this one. Unlike at Leadville, here I actually recognized everyone and conversed. Marty has made it very clear to me that if she's going to drag everyone to one of my races, I better be able "to acknowledge that they are there." Actually, she used much more descriptive and creative language.
Miles 10 to 22 were awful. I felt sick, weak, and demoralized. This happened at Afton as well. I know why. I'm not training as much this year. As I entered the 25 mile aid station, my only hope was that I would be able to walk out the last 25 miles and make all the cut-offs.
Sat down, drank a full can of Coke, thrust water bottle and bladder to TEAM BUTTON, and took off soggy shoes and soggy, dirt-stained socks in order to remove the tape I had placed on several toes. The tape was actually rubbing the non-tapped toes. The soggy socks and shoes went back on - why change when there was no end of wetness?
This may cause some problems at home. The boys dislike changing their socks. They try to go days without changing them. They sleep in them at nights if we don't catch it. Why? We've given up asking. They noticed that I was putting my soggy, dirty socks back on.
My goal was to be out of this aid station by 5 hours 30 minutes. I was out at 5:30:20.
The view of Lake Superior and the waterway were spectacular. This was taken on the catwalk in Spirit Mountain ski resort.
This course has the best variation of running surfaces I've ever run. Paved roads, miles of single track, rocks, roots, boulders, power line climbing, mud, puddles, dozens of stream crossings, gravel roads. And all the surfaces that I dislike only lasted for a very short distance.
Here, about a half mile of paved road before entering Spirit Mountain.
That's me. Or at least part of me. The sheen is sweat. Salty sweat. The result of nearly 25 salt tablets at this point in the race. For the entire distance: 60 salt tablets. For the last 3 hours one was going down every 10 minutes.
The infamous power lines. I figured that since I'd run at Leadville, these would be easy. I always felt that there are two possible things that could ruin me, one of which is pride. Pride is not good, in fact it's deadly, if one is overzealously wrong. I was wrong. These were very difficult climbs. Short, yes, but very difficult. Leadville is filled with climbs that border on infinity, but are manageable if one puts their head down and just plods. These power line climbs were... well, I'd just say that I've never run/walked a steeper incline in my life.
Yes, that's Steve Quick again. This time he's ahead of me. And yes, this portion of the race did resemble Bogota, Columbia.
That's me again; earlier in the race. Less sheen. Fewer salt tablets at this point. Still a lot of chest hair. Yes, that's a GoLite pack. It's my favorite hydration system so far. Positives: holds a large resevoir, stays relatively cool on the back, doesn't irritate the skin too badly, the side pockets are reachable and roomy, lots of room in back pocket for stuff, very light. Negatives: the bladder sits too low (Camelbak seems to have the best design for this), the chest strap and underarm adjusting straps are limited in how tight they pull by their design.
Start of the race. Marty doesn't get to join me for many of these, so this was a treat. That's a Garmin 305, not the newest, but still nice. The battery went dead on me just 1 mile from the finish. I have a little contraption that I found/created to recharge while running. I used it at FANS and Leadville.
The newest circular Garmin 405 appears to have the same short battery life problem. In fact, it's rated for fewer hours than the older 305. Who does Garmin think uses these watches?
It appears that the Garmin 305XT has a battery life of 20 hours. And yet, for "Sport Watch" it is labeled "No." What does that mean?
Finally, the first photo. Taken on Friday night outside the Cozy Cafe in Carlton. I met the lady in the blue FANS shirt at FANS. She's was 7 miles short of 1000 miles this year at FANS; and that's walking.

subset: commoncrawl


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Effect of vibratory stimulation training on maximal force and flexibility
PainSci summary of Issurin 1994?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible. ★★★☆☆?3-star ratings are for typical studies with no more (or less) than the usual common problems. Ratings are a highly subjective opinion, and subject to revision at any time. If you think this paper has been incorrectly rated, please let me know.
In this 1994 experiment, as described by Sands et al, gymnasts "used a vibrating ring suspended by a cable, in which the foot of the subject was placed while they stretched forward over the raised leg, targeting the hamstrings. The resulting increase in ROM was astonishing. These researchers demonstrated that vibration could enhance flexibility." The results were replicated by Sands et al in 2006, and Kinser et al in 2008.
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
In this study, we investigated a new method of training for maximal strength and flexibility, which included exertion with superimposed vibration (vibratory stimulation, VS) on target muscles. Twenty-eight male athletes were divided into three groups, and trained three times a week for 3 weeks in one of the following conditions: (A) conventional exercises for strength of the arms and VS stretching exercises for the legs; (B) VS strength exercises for the arms and conventional stretching exercises for the legs; (C) irrelevant training (control group). The vibration was applied at 44 Hz while its amplitude was 3 mm. The effect of training was evaluated by means of isotonic maximal force, heel-to-heel length in the two-leg split across, and flex-and-reach test for body flexion. The VS strength training yielded an average increase in isotonic maximal strength of 49.8%, compared with an average gain of 16% with conventional training, while no gain was observed for the control group. The VS flexibility training resulted in an average gain in the legs split of 14.5 cm compared with 4.1 cm for the conventional training and 2 cm for the control groups, respectively. The ANOVA revealed significant pre-post training effects and an interaction between pre-post training and 'treatment' effects (P < 0.001) for the isotonic maximal force and both flexibility tests. It was concluded that superimposed vibrations applied for short periods allow for increased gains in maximal strength and flexibility.
related content
- "Flexibility enhancement with vibration: Acute and long-term," William A Sands, Jeni R McNeal, Michael H Stone, Elizabeth M Russell, and Monem Jemni, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2006.
- "Vibration and stretching effects on flexibility and explosive strength in young gymnasts," Ann M Kinser, Michael W Ramsey, Harold S O'Bryant, Christopher A Ayres, William A Sands, and Michael H Stone, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2008.
- "Effect of vibratory stimulation training on maximal force and flexibility," V B Issurin, D G Liebermann, and G Tenenbaum, Journal of Sports Science, 1994.
These six articles on PainScience.com cite Issurin 1994 as a source:
- Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome — A guide to the unfinished science of muscle pain, with reviews of every theory and self-treatment and therapy option
- Quite a Stretch — Stretching science has shown that this extremely popular form of exercise has almost no measurable benefits
- Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — A complete guide to chronic neck pain and the disturbing sensation of a "crick"
- Frozen Shoulder Guide — An extremely detailed & readable guide to one of the strangest of all common musculoskeletal problems, for both patients and pros
- Vibration Therapy — Whole lotta shakin' going on! An odd rehab option for muscular inhibition (as in some cases of frozen shoulder)
- "Windows of Opportunity" in Rehab — The importance of WOO in recovery from injury and chronic pain (using frozen shoulder as an major example)
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It's like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Effectiveness of customised foot orthoses for Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial. Munteanu 2015 Br J Sports Med.
- A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: the case of felt power. Gronau 2017 Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology.
- The neck and headaches. Bogduk 2014 Neurol Clin.
- Agreement of self-reported items and clinically assessed nerve root involvement (or sciatica) in a primary care setting. Konstantinou 2012 Eur Spine J.
- Effect of NSAIDs on Recovery From Acute Skeletal Muscle Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Morelli 2017 Am J Sports Med.


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by The Daily Progress
What a letdown.
And what an irony.
The Virginia Supreme Court levied damages of just $250 against the nonprofit Energy & Environment Legal Institute in its bid to obtain climate researcher Michael Mann's emails while he was a professor at the University of Virginia…
The institute says that even though it lost the case, the small amount of damages vindicates its contention that the suit was legitimate and not "frivolous" or "pernicious" as critics claimed.
"You don't get frivolous lawsuits that go to the Supreme Court," said Executive Director Craig Richardson…
Considering all the ambiguities inherent in this case — freedom of information versus academic freedom, science versus ideology, a claim of victory by one side versus a claim of victory by the other — perhaps the Supreme Court's ambiguous ruling is perfectly apropos.


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(KORH, ORH) Worcester Regional Airport – Worcester, MA
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Longest Runway: 3,027 feet
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Longest Runway: 3,500 feet
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2,999 feet
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Visit Worcester | Private Jet to Massachusetts
Destinations > United States > Massachusetts
Hire a private plane for a flight to Worcester, a city in Massachusetts that offers private jet travelers a flexible option when flying into New England and the Boston area.
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From trendy downtown hotels and posh contemporary resorts to boutique villas and charming bed and breakfasts, Worcester has a lodging option for just about every occasion. After you check in, stop by Worcester Art Museum, featuring exhibits and collections ranging from cultural and historic to contemporary and curious. The creative mediums on display include paintings, sculptures, clay molds, and just about anything you can think of- and they come from just about every region under the sun.
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- (KBED, BED) Laurence G Hanscom Field – Bedford, MA
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Related Destinations
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Magnuson Hotels is delighted to invite you to Le Bouscat, a commune in southwestern France, close to Bordeaux. The area is known for its port and metropolitan feel. As the world's foremost centre of the wine trade, visitors can look forward to plenty of fantastic food and drink, as well as stunning local architecture.
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The 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (known as the Credit CARD Act) authorized the Federal Reserve to limit credit card fees in various ways including "in the first year during which the account is opened." The Federal Reserve was authorized to issue rules under the Act and initially adopted a rule limiting fees assessed during the first year of the account to 25% of the account's overall credit limit. The Fed later amended the rule to include fees charged before the opening of the account. Under the Dodd-Frank Act,the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is responsible for enforcing the challenged rule.
Two affiliated banks sued the CFPB to enjoin enforcement of the amended rule on the ground that the Credit CARD Act does not authorize regulation of fees before a credit card account is opened. On September 23, the court granted the banks' motion for a preliminary injunction. In a lengthy opinion,the court held that the banks were likely to succeed on the merits and rejected the CFPB's claim that the rule represented the Fed's reasonable interpretation of the statute and was thus entitled to deference:
The Board did not reasonably define an ambiguous term within the statute to reach [the bank's pre-account] fee, which would have been within its power. Instead it arbitrarily chose to extend a definitive period of time established by Congress to reach a type of fee that is not charged to the account balance and not the sort of deceptive practice Congress meant to extinguish.
This decision may be the first addressing the validity of a rule enforced by the CFPB. No doubt there will be many more, as the banks try to extricate themselves from as many CFPB regs as possible. I wonder whether the CFPB will appeal.


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Your Favorite 'TVD' Villain Says A Lot About You
Everyone loves to root for the heroes of a show, but if we're being completely honest, it's the villains that make a series truly interesting and compelling to watch. Take The Vampire Diaries, for instance. Elena, Caroline, and Stefan may be the moral backbone of the show, but they aren't the characters that get your heart racing and your blood pumping. That kind of reaction is left almost entirely to The Vampire Diaries' greatest villains, who always seem to leave us thirsty for more. Maybe it's because they're more layered and complex than everyone else. Or maybe it's because we're just never sure what exactly they're going to do next. Odds are, it's probably a little bit of both, but, whatever the reason might be, these characters have wormed their way into our hearts, whether we wanted them to or not.
Yes, even the most innocent of viewers have found themselves drawn to the dark side at some point. Not just because these characters are dangerous (and therefore, more alluring), but also due to the fact that — despite their many flaws — they're also extremely likable. And, just like with most things in life, everyone usually has one they like the best. But, what does your favorite Vampire Diaries big bad say about you? More than you may have ever realized, actually.
1. Klaus Mikaelson
You let your temper get the best of you at times, but really that's just because you're so passionate about everything you do. You're a born leader, extremely outgoing, and a little bit of a control freak. But, what you lack in patience you totally make up for in charm. Getting to know you may be hard... however, it's well worth the effort.
2. Katherine Pierce
You love being the center of attention and have the ability to work well even while under immense pressure. You can be a little self-involved every so often and have a difficult time expressing your emotions. But, underneath all that sarcasm, lies the heart of a true romantic. And, while you're known for being fiercely independent, you also secretly crave companionship from time to time — though you'd never admit it.
3. Silas
Once you set your mind on something, there's no stopping you. No one has a better work ethic than you, though your ambition doesn't leave much room for much of a social life. You don't just love something, you obsess over it, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. (You practically invented Netflix marathoning.)
4. Kai Parker
You're competitive in almost every aspect of life. Not just because you love to win (which is true), but also because you feel the need to prove yourself to others. You more than likely grew up in a house full of siblings, meaning that it was easy for you to get overlooked. But, it also helped motivate you to raise your potential to extraordinary levels. No one has more determination than you. No one.
5. Qetsiyah
You don't forgive easily (if at all) and have a serious case of trust issues, but that's just because you've been burned by people in the past and don't want history to repeat itself. You're the ultimate organizer — even your back-up plans have back-up plans — and have proven to be extremely resourceful and patient in the past. You cry during sad, romantic movies and have read the Fifty Shades of Grey book series from cover to cover at least twice.
6. Mikael Mikaelson
You may have some unsolved daddy issues lurking beneath the surface. You and Klaus may want to think about starting a support group.
7. Dr. Wes Maxfield
You're extremely career-oriented and are determined to make a difference in the world. Be careful what you wish for, though. With great success, comes great responsibility. (Kind of like the responsibility of forming an attachment to a fictional bad guy. Sigh, The Vampire Diaries gets me every time. And I'm not even mad.)
So yeah, you could say it's OK to be (a little) bad. These guys have certainly proved that.
Images: Tina Rowden/The CW; Giphy (2); its-thevampirediaries/Tumblr; fictionastrology/Tumblr; Wifflegif; dr-wes-maxfield/Tumblr; reign-of-mikaelson/Tumblr


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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Over the past couple days, I've gotten well over twenty phone calls from everybody running for either alderman or school committee in Somerville. Since I don't believe that there are any Republican candidates running (come on, this is Somerville!), I don't know that I can do anything but not vote tonight. This makes me feel dirty and sick, though. What do I do?
3 comments:
- VFW said...
Vote for the best candidate on the ticket. Why concern yourself over whether he or she is on the Democratic or Republican ticket anyway. People are people. Some are qualified and of good character and others are not so qualified and are of bad character. I really wish people would stop partisan voting in this country and stick to learning more about the candidates themselves and then vote accordingly. (Since your elections are over with by now this comment is moot anyway but I just felt I had to rant a bit)
- Be said...
I understand. I don't vote partisan. It's just that *everybody* is a Democrat here, so no real choice. As far as I was concerned, every one of them was equally qualified, and every one of them pissed me off equally by first sending me *tons* of junk mail (Environmentally conscious? I don't think so.) harassing the hell out of me by telephone (over the past week, I think I got something like 60 calls) and then walking up to my house and ringing both my doorbell and my landlord's until someone would come to the door.
What really did me in was, I was on the phone trying to make sure that a friend's house hadn't been blown up, set fire to, whatever the heck's going on over there in Euro-Disney and I got called TWICE by school committee candidate volunteers. After that, a guy from one of the candidate's campaigns came to my door. I'm all for getting the vote out, but this has been just.plain.harassment.
Somerville, NJ?


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YourMembership queries/lists become target groups in Informz. Once saved, these lists are transferred to Informz to become an interest-based target group.
Each YourMembership list has a unique name that you can enter in the YourMembership UI. The name is carried directly to Informz, making it easy to identify these lists. Once in Informz, you can use different folders to reorganize your target groups into areas that make sense for you and your team (having such an organizational structure is a best practice because your target group numbers will likely increase overtime, and having a structure in place allows you to easily manage your target groups).
Target Group List Page
You can view a list of all target groups created in YourMembership on the Informz Target Groups page. To access this page, navigate to the Directory & CRM tab > Email & Newsletters and then click Target Groups.
Administrators can view and manually sync existing target groups from this page. A manual sync will force the system to update any records that may be added to or removed from the target group based on its criteria.
To update an existing target group from this page, click the Sync Data icon (two arrows).
Click OK in the confirmation pop-up window.
A new window opens that shows that your data sync is in progress. You can close this window or login to your Informz account by clicking Continue (this will open the Mailing Designer in a new tab).
Saving and Transferring to Informz
There is one process that saves searches in YourMembership. As above, these searches become target groups in Informz.
Whenever you create a query, YourMembership assigns that query a default name (e.g. "Directory Search") along with a date/time stamp. This name can be replaced, and as a best practice, you'll want to create a name that is easily recognizable in Informz. Note that each name must be unique.
Click Save to send the data to Informz. This opens a pop-up window that indicates the data is processing.
Click Continue to open a new browser tab that takes you directly to the Informz Mailing Designer.
Once the query is fully processed, it appears as an Informz target group that you can use in your mailings.
List Leverage
Taking advantage of the queries and lists in YourMembership is a great way to leverage the data in YourMembership in a very efficient way. A small investment in time learning about target groups is one that will yield high returns for all of your marketing and communications teams!


text: RS7 0 Posted May 9, 2019 Hello. We have been playing here for 4 months. We play with the whole family. Me, my girlfriend and father. All the way, they thought that when we made the 50th level and more, BOTs would not be a problem. But they already pumped up to 50+ levels. And now occupy such locations as Enchanted Valley. We started thinking that it was better to leave the server. Since reports do not change anything. Every day one and the same bots beat the mobs again. This is the best server that we have seen (we have been playing in L2 for 15 years). But bots have already ruined the server economy. And now they continue to do it. Many of my friends are already gone because of this. PLEASE DO ANYTHING. DO NOT IGNORE. Hire a person who will follow this. I agree even to follow it myself. just give me the opportunity. I know how to distinguish a living person from a bot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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CallTower Connect
CallTower Connect simplifies the set-up and management of CallTower services facilitated within one easy to use web or mobile application. Manage Cisco, Microsoft Skype for Business, email and conferencing solutions interchangeably by user based within a location. CallTower Connect is the unifier in
- cloud solutions
- Collaboration
- Customer Experience
- Ucaas
- UCaaS Provisioning
- Unified Communicaitons
- Voice Solutions


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GoodBye to Summer…Hello to Emily!
Goodbye to Summer…Hello to Emily!
Meet the NEW girl @ This Years Model: Emily French! Emily is a 18 year old Canadian babe who answered an ad to model for us. In modern fashion, she sent us selfies of her perfect boobs! And oh it worked. We replied. Then we just had to meet her and see for sure if those boobs were real. After a few squeezy handfuls (hey! respect the process!) we had to have that soft curvy body as all our own! We set her up for her first nude shoot on a dreamy Canadian beach. With a pierced clit and sand in her crack Emily basked in the allure of being our new teen girl! An exhibitionist was born!
Doing the Devils work since 2005
© 2017 This Years Model. All rights reserved.


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Gas prices down 10 cents
PDN talks to residents about island gas prices.
Gas prices for regular unleaded gasoline dropped 10 cents from $4.23 to $4.13.
The price of gas went down 10 cents two weeks ago and the latest drop makes it the fourth time prices have gone down the past few weeks.
After climbing to $4.52 per gallon in October, the price per gallon dropped to $4.43 on Nov. 16, then to $4.33 on Nov. 22 and then to $4.23 on Dec. 3.
Read or Share this story: https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/12/17/gas-prices-down-10-cents/2334322002/


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Glasstress 2017
Glasstress is a project by Adriano Berengo to further his mission of marrying contemporary art and glass. Artists of all disciplines from sculptors to musicians have been invited to collaborate with the maestros in creating art in glass. Since 2009, these works have been exhibited in the historic Palazzo Franchetti, home of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti. Glasstress has always been accredited as an official collateral event of the Venice Biennale of Art. Glasstress, a showcase of this collaboration of craft and creativity, has forged a new trajectory for glass and a new path for contemporary artists.
Glasstress has also been presented in prominent museums and institutions worldwide including the Makslas Muzejs "Rigas Birža" in Riga, Millesgården Museum in Stockholm, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, the Beirut Exhibition Center (BEC) in Beirut, the London College of Fashion and The Wallace Collection in London.
Since 2014, Glasstress has been made possible through the support of Fondazione Berengo and during the 2015 Venice Biennale of Art, Glasstress was a joint project of Fondazione Berengo and The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The 2017 project is curated by
Dimitri Ozerkov
Herwig Kempinger
Adriano Berengo
Clare Phyllis Davies
VENICE, Palazzo Franchetti San Marco 2847 (Campo Santo Stefano)
11 May - 26 November
Open everyday from 10am to 6:30pm
€ 10 - includes entrance fee for both locations, Venice and Murano
MURANO, Campiello della Pescheria
The Unplayed Notes Factory, a solo exhibition by Loris Gréaud, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, a special project of Glasstress 2017
Saturday, Sunday and Monday*: from 1pm to 4pm *Closed on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
€ 5 - only Murano space visit


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The development and growing availability of modern technologies, along with more and more severe environment protection standards which frequently take a form of legal regulations, are the reason why attempts are made to find a quiet and economical propulsion system not only for newly built watercraft units, but also for modernised ones. Correct selection of the propulsion and supply system for a given vessel affects significantly not only the energy efficiency of the propulsions system but also the environment - as this selection is crucial for the noise and exhaust emission levels. The paper presents results of experimental examination of ship power demand performed on a historic passenger ship of 25 m in length. Two variants, referred to as serial and parallel hybrid propulsion systems, were examined with respect to the maximum length of the single-day route covered by the ship. The recorded power demands and environmental impact were compared with those characteristic for the already installed conventional propulsion system. Taking into account a high safety level expected to be ensured on a passenger ship, the serial hybrid system was based on two electric motors working in parallel and supplied from two separate sets of batteries. This solution ensures higher reliability, along with relatively high energy efficiency. The results of the performed examination have revealed that the serial propulsion system is the least harmful to the environment, but its investment cost is the highest. In this context, the optimum solution for the ship owner seems to be a parallel hybrid system of diesel-electric type
1. M. C. Díaz-de-Baldasano, F. J. Mateos, L. R. Núnez-Rivas, and T. J. Leo, "Conceptual design of offshore platform supply vessel based on hybrid diesel generator-fuel cell power plant," Appl. Energy, vol. 116, pp. 91-100, 2014.
2. G. Sattler, "Fuel cells going on-board," J. Power Sources, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 61-67, 2000.
3. A. Psoma and G. Sattler, "Fuel cell systems for submarines: From the first idea to serial production," J. Power Sources, vol. 106, no. 1-2, pp. 381-383, 2002.
4. C. H. Choi et al., "Development and demonstration of PEM fuel-cell-battery hybrid system for propulsion of tourist boat," Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 3591-3599, 2016.
5. Y. M. A. Welaya, M. M. El Gohary, and N. R. Ammar, "A comparison between fuel cells and other alternatives for marine electric power generation," Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 141-149, 2011.
6. N.-C. Shih, B.-J. Weng, J.-Y. Lee, and Y.-C. Hsiao, "Development of a small fuel cell underwater vehicle," Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 25, pp. 11138-11143, 2013.
7. N. C. Shih, B. J. Weng, J. Y. Lee, and Y. C. Hsiao, "Development of a 20 kW generic hybrid fuel cell power system for small ships and underwater vehicles," Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, vol. 39, no. 25, pp. 13894-13901, 2014.
8. C. R. Lashway, A. T. Elsayed, and O. A. Mohammed, "Hybrid energy storage management in ship power systems with multiple pulsed loads," Electr. Power Syst. Res., vol. 141, pp. 50-62, 2016.
9. J. Wilflinger, P. Ortner, R. Johannes, K. Universität, M. Aschaber, and S. Motors, Simulation and control design of hybrid propulsions in boats, vol. 43, no. Ljung. IFAC, 1999.
10. G. Seenumani, H. Peng, and J. Sun, "A reference governorbased hierarchical control for failure mode power management of hybrid power systems for all-electric ships," J. Power Sources, vol. 196, no. 3, pp. 1599-1607, 2011.
11. Dante D'Orazio, "An inside look at the world's largest solarpowered boat," The Verge, vol. 2013, pp. 1-13, 2013.
12. W. Sihn, H. Pascher, K. Ott, S. Stein, A. Schumacher, and G. Mascolo, "A Green and Economic Future of Inland Waterway Shipping," Procedia CIRP, vol. 29, pp. 317-322, 2015.
13. E. K. Dedes, D. A. Hudson, and S. R. Turnock, "Assessing the potential of hybrid energy technology to reduce exhaust emissions from global shipping," Energy Policy, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 204-218, 2012.
14. D. A. Cooper, "Exhaust emissions from high speed passenger ferries," Atmos. Environ., vol. 35, no. 24, pp. 4189-4200, 2001.
15. Y. Shi, "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping: Is it time to consider market-based measures?," Mar. Policy, vol. 64, pp. 123-134, 2016.
16. J. Yuan, S. H. Ng, and W. S. Sou, "Uncertainty quantification of CO2 emission reduction for maritime shipping," Energy Policy, vol. 88, pp. 113-130, 2016.
17. B. Zahedi, L. E. Norum, and K. B. Ludvigsen, "Optimized efficiency of all-electric ships by dc hybrid power systems," J. Power Sources, vol. 255, pp. 341-354, 2014.
18. D. Borelli, T. Gaggero, E. Rizzuto, and C. Schenone, "Analysis of noise on board a ship during navigation and manoeuvres," Ocean Eng., vol. 105, pp. 256-269, 2015.
19. A. Badino, D. Borelli, T. Gaggero, E. Rizzuto, and C. Schenone, "Airborne noise emissions from ships: Experimental characterization of the source and propagation over land," Appl. Acoust., vol. 104, pp. 158- 171, 2016.
20. J. Kowalski, W. Leśniewski, and W. Litwin, "Multi-sourcesupplied parallel hybrid propulsion of the inland passenger ship STA.H. Research work on energy efficiency of a hybrid propulsion system operating in the electric motor drive mode," Polish Marit. Res., vol. 20, pp. 20-27, 2013.
21. I. S. Seddiek and M. M. Elgohary, "Eco-friendly selection of ship emissions reduction strategies with emphasis on SOx and NOx emissions," Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 737-748, 2014.
22. I. S. Seddiek, M. Mosleh, and A. A. Banawan, "Thermoeconomic approach for absorption air condition onboard high-speed crafts," Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng., vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 460-476, 2012.
23. M. Morsy El Gohary and I. S. Seddiek, "Utilization of alternative marine fuels for gas turbine power plant onboard ships," Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 21-32, 2013.
24. M. A. Kalam and H. H. Masjuki, "Emissions and deposit characteristics of a small diesel engine when operated on preheated crude palm oil," Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 289-297, 2004.
25. M. Mikulski, K. Duda, and S. Wierzbicki, "Performance and emissions of a CRDI diesel engine fuelled with swine lard methyl esters-diesel mixture," Fuel, vol. 164, no. x, pp. 206-219, 2016.


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SSL Certificate Generator in Cloud Hosting
We offer SSL certificates in addition to our cloud hosting plans, so if you wish to protect the data your visitors submit, you can get one from the Hepsia Control Panel. Using our SSL wizard, you are able to type in the company/personal details that you wish to be associated with the certificate and our system will create the CSR plus a unique private key. You will receive an email message from our vendor to verify your order and next, the SSL certificate will be installed automatically in case you have selected this feature in the wizard throughout your order. In this way, you won't have to do anything manually as our system will do the required and your new certificate will be active quickly after that. Of course, in case you prefer to use a different SSL service provider, you can still use the CSR that you've generated using your account.
SSL Certificate Generator in Semi-dedicated Servers
Our semi-dedicated server accounts include a Certificate Signing Request generator plus an SSL set up wizard, therefore if you would like to receive a certificate for any site that you host on our servers, you can do it in just a few minutes. Once you log in to the Hepsia website hosting Control Panel, which is supplied with all the semi-dedicated accounts, you will be able to go to the SSL Certificates section and type in your personal and business information. Our system will generate the CSR, so you will have 2 options - if you would like to acquire the certificate from us, you'll be able to process with the order in the very same section and our system will set up your SSL automatically as soon as it was issued, or you could save the CSR on your personal computer and then use it in order to obtain an SSL via an alternative seller.


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My research has focused on contemporary and longer-term changes in labour markets, housing markets and welfare policy, and the implications of these for individual and household well-being as well as for different types of places. A central focus throughout my research is policy relevance and providing evidence which informs and/or challenges policy decision making. This includes an important body of work which critically examines recent changes to the sickness benefits system in the UK.
Dr. Paul Sissons' research interests include labour markets, welfare reform, skills policy and local and regional economic development. His recent work has examined wage inequality in British cities, the links between economic and employment growth and poverty reduction, changing youth labour markets, the experiences of welfare reform for sickness benefit claimants and lone parents, and the relationship between employer demand for skills and low-wage work. This research has been supported by a range of funders including Central Government departments, local authorities, Third Sector organisations and grant funding organisations.
One of Dr. Sissons' key professional achievements is developing research insights which are policy relevant and communicating these to policy audiences. Examples include providing an invited response at the UK launch of the OECD Skills Strategy in 2012; presenting an expert paper on low-wage work to skills policymakers from Scotland; and, being an expert witness at a Scottish Government Inquiry into underemployment. His research has also been cited in a number of Government publications including the Black Review of Sickness Absence and Social Mobility: the next steps.


text: Emerging artists from Mainland China present unique contemporary works of visual arts in Macao 繁體中文 简体中文 Versão Português Date of publication: 17/10/2019 Type: --- The exhibition "The World as Will and Idea – Collective Exhibition of Emerging Artists from Mainland China", organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), will be inaugurated on 21 October, at 6:30pm, at the Macao Contemporary Art Centre - Navy Yard No.1. All are welcome. The exhibition, curated by veteran professional Sun Feng, invited five young contemporary artists from Mainland China, namely Ouyang Sulong, Yuan Song, Liang Manqi, Hu Weiyi and Ying Xinxun, to showcase a total of 26 different types of large-scale artworks, including spatial drawing installations, interactive video installations, 3D printings, photographs, videos and sculptures. By combining different media materials, the artists create works in an innovative and distinctive styles, seeking to convey their unique views on daily life and social issues as well as probing into inner senses and philosophy, and reflecting the aesthetic features of contemporary arts in China. Through their artworks, the artists attempt to interpret spiritual images, taking the audience on a journey of perception and understanding by inspiring them to explore and reflect on themselves and the external world. The exhibition "The World as Will and Idea – Collective Exhibition of Emerging Artists from Mainland China" is held from 22 October 2019 to 23 February 2020 at the Macao Contemporary Art Centre - Navy Yard No.1, located at Rua de S. Tiago Da Barra, and is open from 10am to 7pm, from Tuesdays to Sundays, including on public holidays. Admission is free. For more information about the exhibition, please visit IC's website at www.icm.gov.mo. For enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8988 4000 during office hours.


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Did you miss this episode with Mia Voss on The Dating Advisory Board Best Damn Lunch and Learn Ever show?! I chatted with the brilliant and hilarious Mia Voss about the importance of defining your core values to attract your ideal partner.
Tune in to learn more about:
Mia Voss is a Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Writer, Brand Ambassador, Speaker, and Entrepreneur. Her main superpowers? Storytelling & people connecting. Mia is currently working with brands such as Lexus, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Collette Travel and more.
Please be sure to follow Mia Voss on her social media:
Twitter, FB & Instagram: @miavossonthego
LinkedIn: Mia Voss


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Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Namoo (UE), April 3,
GNA – Ms Alice Ndego, the Bongo District Director of the National Commission
for Civic Education (NCCE), has recommended social auditing as an effective
anti-corruption enhancing mechanism to promote good governance and sustainable
She said social
auditing, which employed the participatory approach, empowers the citizens and
Civil society Organizations to demand accountability in the execution of public
projects and the management of public resources.
This, she stated, would
create community ownership of capital projects, increase their awareness in
local governance, and thereby put duty bearers on their toes to deliver
effectively and ensure transparency.
The District Director
made the disclosure during a community engagement on social auditing organized
by the NCCE at Namoo in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region.
The programme, which
brought together stakeholders and the residents including Persons With
Disabilities as well as traditional leaders, was to educate and sensitize them
on their rights to demand accountability from their leaders to ensure good
The event was on the
theme, "Citizens for transparency and accountability."
The District Director
indicated that the objective for advocating social auditing was to promote good
governance in Ghana by reducing corruption and improving on accountability and
complying with the rule of law.
"It rests on the
premise that when government officials are watched and monitored, they feel
greater pressure to respond to their constituents' demands and have fewer
incentives to abuse their power," she stressed.
"It is based on the
premise that citizens want and have the right to know what the government does,
how it does it, how it impacts on them and that the government has the
obligation to account and be transparent to the citizens."
Mr Andrews Nsobila,
the Assemblyman for the Namoo Electoral Area, lauded the efforts of the NCCE
for deepening democracy in the area and said it was in line with the Local
Governance Act of 2016, Act 936 to bring governance to the doorsteps of the
He said in order for
the social auditing to be an effective tool for development, central government
needed to make a paradigm shift from awarding contracts of project meant for
the communities directly from the top to giving the power to the local
government authorities.
He said this would
ensure that the District Assemblies had the oversight responsibility to
supervise the projects adding that this would make the contractors deliver effectively.
Naba Alagtaaba
Bingpeelom, the Chief of the Namoo Community admonished his subjects to see
social auditing as a tool that should be used for effective development of the
area and not a political tool for partisan gains.
Credit: Source link


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By Monica Vest Wheeler
Retreat & Refresh Stroke Camp Staff Volunteer
One of the many joys of Retreat & Refresh Stroke Camp is the rediscovery of the simplest pleasures in life … which we often take for granted. Just waiting for those moments to happen is what makes me love everything about the Stroke Camp experience.
I'm extremely blessed to have the opportunity to photograph so many of these special memories, and here are just a few of these occasions from the 2015 camp season.
I loved watching Lauren Kramer, our director of operations, inviting one of our survivors to get up and dance at our Montana camp during the Saturday night entertainment. As many of the couples started to hit the floor, some of our staff and volunteers were looking for "singles" who might like the chance to dance. Lauren asked Irene, who is always up for some fun.
And it was so inspiring to witness Irene forget all about any physical challenges and simply move to the music. One of the greatest lessons I've learned about being involved with Stroke Camp is how important it is to just "ask" … ask a survivor or caregiver if they want to dance or sing or play or be part of the group.
If we'd all ask someone if they'd like to participate, so many walls and fears would be erased in this world. Don't just wonder if someone wants to do something, ask them. Sometimes that's all they need to hear to join the fun, to be invited, to be included. Just ask.
Stroke Camp is also all about encouraging our survivors and caregivers to express themselves creatively, and they don't have to be artists to create something truly amazing.
One of our crafts last year was a form of Japanese painting, a unique technique of applying small drops of paint to a special water base and watching them spread into beautiful images. I watched a lot of campers try this art form for the first time, but I was particularly drawn to Wayne at our Chicago-area camp and watching his priceless expression as he discovered that he could create art all by himself.
His face tells the story of the wonder of what the human mind and body can create when given an opportunity and canvas to dabble and design. Yes, you have a creative bone in your body, whether you think so or not, and that "talent" is different in everyone. We just need the right forum to express it, and Stroke Camp is one of the most creative environments in the world because our campers are encouraged to be themselves.
A little nudge, a little encouragement, a little patience, a lot of love … it all goes a long way at Stroke Camp …


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It's hard for us to master self-compassion. We're constantly being told that we're not good enough and that we need to change. Whether we're in line at the grocery store, listening to the radio, browsing around on facebook, snapchat, instagram, or twitter, there are always sources telling us to change. We're bombarded by advertisements telling us the best hair styles, how to lose weight, wear the right clothes, change this, and fix that.
Now think about how many sources tell us we're fine just the way we are? Maybe a few songs, a comment or two from our partners and friends, a few body positivity articles, but it's never enough. Generally speaking, we're left on our own to make ourselves feel good enough. And that can be tough.
Personally, when I think about self-compassion I imagine the Stuart Smalley "daily affirmations" sketch from SNL. I picture myself standing in front of a mirror, stating positive affirmations while a crowd laughs behind me. Truthfully, that crowd is me and it's laughing at how dumb I sound telling myself, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog gone it, people like me!"
That can be a hard thing to deal with. But, I've learned to push through the initial embarrassment. Because, on the other side of that laughter, is a genuine sense of self-compassion.
Self-compassion gives us all a sense of empathy for others. By practicing self-compassion, we start understanding that others are struggling with the same issues as us. We can start spotting the people in crowds who might be acting out of fear, or shame, or embarrassment, and treating them the say way we'd treat ourselves. Self-compassion also makes it harder for others to hurt us, and for us to hurt ourselves. Often, we're our own harshest critics. Practicing self-compassion helps us silence our inner critics. It's a great Mindfulness technique that you can practice daily.
You can make those moments of insight and empathy stronger and brighter through practice too. Take time, multiple times throughout your day, to check in on yourself. Sit down and focus on being compassionate to yourself. Say some nice things that you're doing and find what you did good during the day. When you're in the middle of beating yourself up, stop and take a moment to realize what you're doing. Take a couple of deep breaths and give yourself some compassion. You'll be surprised by how often it can change your mood.
Truthfully, the trick to mastering self-compassion is realizing when we need to stop and focus. Pay attention to how your body reacts when you're feeling down or negative. Use that as a cue for when you need to focus on self-compassion. Maybe when you're down you start talking lower, or slouching more. Recognize that physical trait and spin it into a self-compassion starting point.
By working on our self-compassion we can avoid the classic downward spirals of our thoughts, feelings, and disruptive behaviors. Rather than beating ourselves up and getting further depressed, angry, or upset, we can spin it into a positive. As we learn to be better at being compassionate to ourselves, we can return the favor to others. Making the world a better, more empathetic place.


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Cartoonist Roz Chast appears at the Lowe Art Museum on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 11:30 AM!
Press Release:
In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents.
When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the "crazy closet"―with predictable results―the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed.
While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies―an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades―the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.
An amazing portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant will show the full range of Roz Chast's talent as cartoonist and storyteller.
About the Author:
Roz Chast has loved to draw cartoons since she was a child growing up in Brooklyn. She attended Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Painting because it seemed more artistic. However, soon after graduating, she reverted to type and began drawing cartoons once again.
Her cartoons have also been published in many other magazines besides The New Yorker, including Scientific American, the Harvard Business Review, Redbook, and Mother Jones. Her most recent book is a comprehensive compilation of her favorite cartoons called Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons of Roz Chast, 1978-2006. She also illustrated The Alphabet from A to Y, with Bonus Letter, Z, the best-selling children's book by Steve Martin.
University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum
1245 Dauer Drive, Coral, FL 33416


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STRUYS, JAN JANSZOON, 17th-century Dutch sailor and sail maker, whose account of his various travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, first published in 1676, has been translated into several languages. He was born about 1630 either in Wormer or Durgerdam (Struys, 1676, p. 367) in the Zaan district of the province of North Holland, north of Amsterdam. He was a sail maker by profession, who had received a good elementary education.
His first voyage from December 1647 to September 1651 took him to West Africa, Madagascar, Siam, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Japan. His second voyage, from December 1655 until the end of 1657, was to the Mediterranean, while his third and last voyage began in September 1668 and ended in late 1673. In September 1668, he and seventeen other Dutchmen, led by Captain David Butler, went to Russia to take service with the Czar Alexis I (r. 1645-76). They traveled to Riga, Novgorod, and Moscow, and Struys describes, among other things, the towns he visited, people's drinking and eating habits, their religious customs, and how they entertained themselves. They sailed a newly built ship down the Volga River via Kazan to Astrakhan(Pers. Ḥājji Tarḵān), located near the river delta at the Caspian Sea. At that time a Cossack rebellion had broken out under Stenka Razin, who attacked and sacked the town. The Dutchmen, who met Razin in person, fled during the sack of Astrakhan, which Struys described, and sailed towards Darband (Struys, the two separate letters at the end of the book). Bad weather, however, forced to land on the coast of Daghestan, where they were taken prisoner and enslaved, although some of them escaped.
According to Struys's travel account, he was captured in early June 1670 and taken to Yerevan>, where he was sold on June 12 to a Persian, who took him to Darband. There he was resold to a man called Ḥājji Bayām on 30 June 1670, who took him to Šamāḵi, where he was sold, at his own request, to the Polish ambassador Bogdan Gurdziecki on 29 October 1670. Meanwhile, two Dutchmen who had been able to escape informed the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, Dutch East India Company) staff in Isfahan about the fate of their companions. The director of the VOC in Persia (1670-71), Lucas van der Dusse, reported the situation to the governor-general in September 1671 (Nationaal Archief, VOC 1279, van der Dusse to XVII, 10/9/1671, fol. 746v). The text of the letter implies that the staff of the Dutch East India Company in Isfahan, on learning about the fate of their compatriots, had sent a petition to Shah Solaymān [r. 1666-94] (Nationaal Archief, VOC 1279, Translation of request, fol. 751). Shah Solaymān, in reaction to the petition, sent a royal command "to Boday, governor of Šamḵāl" to release the ten remaining Dutch slave-prisoners (Nationaal Archief, VOC 1274, fol. 752, Translation of Shah's order, Ḏu'l-ḥejja 1081/April-May 1671). This order finally had the desired result, although it took about six months. The reason that Struys and the other Dutchmen remained for such a long time in captivity was that the local governor did not exert himself to execute the shah's order. François de Haze (VOC director in Persia during 1671-73) reported the purchase of their release to the governor-general (Nationaal Archief, VOC 1279, de Haze to XVII [4/3/1672 + 21/3/1672], fol. 904v; Coolhaas, III, p. 775-76).
According to his own account, Struys eventually left Šamāḵi on 10 November 1671 and via Ardabil, Solṭāniya, Qazvin, Sāva, and Kāšān, all of which he described, arrived in Isfahan on 19 January 1672. Here he stayed for one month and described the city, from which he departed on February 17. He arrived in Bandar ʿAbbas on 28 April 1672. From there he sailed to Batavia and then returned to the Netherlands, where he arrived in October 1673. Struys must have started writing his travel account almost immediately, because, on 23 September 1675, he received permission to publish his travel accounts (Reysen), which were published in 1676. He states in his foreword that people urged him to write the narrative of his adventures. He may indeed have been encouraged to write his travel account by Nicolaes Witsen (merchant, scholar, burgomaster of Amsterdam) and Coenraet van Klenck (Dutch envoy to Russia in 1675), because he dedicated his book to them recalling that they had been helpful to him in the past. Struys also asked them for intercession to obtain his unpaid wages from the czar (Struys, 1676; Peters, pp. 109-10).
His Reysen (Travels) were an enormous success and became a bestseller. After the first Dutch edition of 1676, there was one in 1677 (frontispiece), with new editions in 1686, 1705, 1718, 1720, 1742, 1760, and an abridged Dutch version in 1974. Soon after the first Dutch edition in 1676, the first German translation appeared in 1678 and another one in Zurich in 1679, followed by the third one in 1832. The first French translation, published in 1681, was reprinted at least 12 times, the last time in 1838. The English translation of the first voyage was published in 1682, followed by his complete travel account in 1683, which was reprinted in 1684. A Russian translation of the third voyage, only of the part that dealt with Russia, was published in 1935 (see Bibliography).
As far as the value of the translations is concerned, the most faithful rendering of the original Dutch text is the German translation, followed closely by one in the English, although it omits some items that the translator did not consider of interest to the reader. The French translations are less reliable, because parts of the text were not translated, besides translators took liberties with the text by adding material from other books (Floor).
The first Dutch edition was published jointly with the account of the shipwreck of the Terschelling by Frans Janszoon van der Heyden; subsequent Dutch editions do not include this additional shipwreck story until 1742. Both accounts by Struys and van der Heyden appeared together in all French editions. Both works are beautifully illustrated with fine large views of Judia (Siam), Tenedos, Padmos, Astrakhan, Isfahan, Persepolis, Shiraz, Gamron, Masqat, a fine plate with Tartar costumes, etc. The copper engravings were done by Johannes Kip (1653-1722) and C. Decker based on drawings done by Struys. Van der Heyden's account is embellished with beautiful engravings by D. Bosboom. The first German edition also contains the account of the shipwreck of the Terschelling by Frans Janszoon van der Heyden translated from the Dutch version. However, there is also a German edition of 1678 that does not include this Terschelling account. The English edition, which does not have the account of the shipwreck of the Terschelling, is also translated from the Dutch text.
It should be noted, however, that the description of the work in various catalogues is not consistent. For example, the number of plates is variously mentioned as 15, 18, 19, 20, while the original number is 19 plus a map. Some later Dutch editions (e.g., of 1713) contain only the third voyage in an abridged format. Besides the numbering of the chapters is often incorrect (e.g., XI instead XII, XXII instead of XXV), and chapters 28, 32, 33, 34, 35 of the 1676 edition are missing in later abridged editions. Thus, the most reliable versions are the Dutch of 1676, the German of 1678, and the English of 1683.
Struys's travel account, despite its popular success, has been derided by some contemporary and modern authors, notably George Curzon (I, p. 25) and Alfons Gabriel (pp. 114-15), who maintained that the book has no merits whatsoever, because the contents had all been invented. However, none of them has provided any evidence for their opinion beyond referring to the book's inexact map of the Caspian Sea and its illustrations, most of which indeed have nothing to do with the reality in Safavid Persia. One of the more sensational plates shows a woman being flayed alive for infidelity, with her harem-mates being shown the skin as an object lesson. Although flaying did occur in Safavid Persia (e.g., see Qomi, I, p. 270; Fumani, p. 196), this particular story may not be necessarily true. His artistic rendering of Persepolis was in tune, however, with other drawings of these ancient ruins (e.g., Hotz). Philippe Avril (pp. 69-70) had called Struys a liar, because Struys allegedly had written that the distance between the Ararat and the Caspian Sea was 50 miles, which in reality was more than 150 miles. In fact, Struys did not know the distance and, therefore, had left it blank in his travel account. In Armenia, he claimed that he had climbed Mount Ararat, where he healed a hermit, who, in return, gave him what he was told and believed to be a piece of Noah's Ark. Although many expressed their disbelief about this story, Struys went out of his way to state to doubting friends in the strongest possible terms that the story was true (Struys, tr. Mueller, pp. 122-23).
There is no doubt that Struys, to boost the sale of his book, inserted fantastic stories into his accounts, but these are easily identified. For example, he asserted that he saw in Formosa a race of men with tails. However, otherwise the book contains a good deal of data of great interest on Safavid Persia (Struys, tr. Mueller, pp. 128, 130, 148, 154-55, 164, 181. As the English translator John Morrison observed in his Foreword, "I find him more busy in recording the circumstances at his own condition, and what befell him in remote places, than remarking the State and Quality of the Land and People" (tr. Morrison, 1864, Introduction). This is exactly what one would expect from somebody who has a limited level of education. Struys had only an elementary school education, and he had learnt a smattering of various languages, collateral in the life of a seaman who traveled around the world. Struys implies that he had conversational knowledge of Russian, because, when he was a galley slave for some time during his second voyage in the Mediterranean, his neighbor was a Russian and he also spent some time in Russia. Struys's observations in Russia were considered reliable by Jacobus Scheltema, the foremost 19th-century Dutch scholar dealing with Russia. Moreover, for most of his stay in Persia, he was a slave with limited freedom of movement. It is therefore no surprise that he indeed described what he saw and experienced himself rather than providing a description of the government, people, etc. of Persia (Floor).
Despite these limits, Struys was able to acquire more understanding of the town he was living in than a foreigner of his status normally would have learnt. In Šamāḵi, where he spent almost one year, he met some people who knew the city and the country and could speak Dutch. For example, the deputy of the Polish ambassador, having lived in Amsterdam for a number of years, spoke Dutch, as well as one of the wives of Ḥājji Bayrām, whose father was a Dutch. The fact that he had contacts with local people who spoke Dutch, as well as his later contact with VOC staff in Isfahan and Bandar ʿAbbās, facilitated the acquisition of his knowledge about Safavid Persia. His personal observations when traveling in Persia and living in Šamāḵi added to this store of knowledge. Comparing Struys's descriptions with what is learned from other sources, would affirm that his account can certainly be relied upon and is not fictitious at all as asserted by George Curzon and others. Struys's Reysen indeed contains much useful and reliable information, for example, about the ʿĀšurā ceremonies in Šamāḵi, his description of this town and Ardabil as well as his remarks about what he saw en route. Struys's travel account is certainly not the most important source of information on 17th-century Persia, but it contains quite a few interesting data that are not necessarily found elsewhere. The last part of the work is an extract of a letter by David Butler from Astrakhan on 24 September 1669, aboard a Russian vessel, followed by another letter by Butler written in Isfahan dated 6 March 1671, which in outline bears out Struys's account of the events that befell him in Russia and Persia.
Struys was able to enjoy the success of his penmanship, reflected by the translations of his Reysen in three languages with many reprints. He enjoyed the company of many notables and literati in the Netherlands, some of whom called him a friend. He clearly also had good contacts with Nicolaes Witsen, the burgomaster of Amsterdam. Witsen highly appreciated the various observations made by Struys, as, for instance, in his remark "A certain Jan Jansz. Struis claims that he is able to make ships in which no water will penetrate and that only rarely become leaking," (in Struys, tr. Mueller, p. 214) and about which he further provides details. Struys lived toward the end of his life in Ditmars County near Hamburg. He visited Amsterdam for the last time one year before his death, when on 28 May 1693 he went there to see friends. Struys was already old at that time; he returned to Ditmars and died there in 1694.
A. J. van der Aa, Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden X Haarlem, 1874.
Abdolhamid Abolhamd and Nasser Pakdamn, Bibliographie française de la civilisation iranienne, 3 vols., Tehran, 1972-74.
Philippe Avril, Voyage en divers etats d'Europe et d'Asie, Paris, 1692.
Kees Boterbloem, The Fiction and Reality of Jan Struys: A Seventeenth-Century Dutch Globetrotter, New York, 2008.
Willem Philippus Coolhaas et al., Generale missiven van gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan Heren XVII der verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, 9 vols., The Hague, 1960-80.
George Nathaniel Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, 2 vols., London, 1892.
Eyriès, "Struys (Giovanni)," Biografia universale antica e moderna … LV, Venice, 1829, pp. 179-82.
Willem Floor, "Fact or Fiction: The Most Perrilous Journeys of Jan Jansz. Struys," in Jean Calmard, ed., Etudes Safavides, Paris and Tehran, 1994, pp. 57-68.
Mollā ʿAbd-al-Fattāḥ Fumani Gilāni, Tāriḵ-e Gilān, ed<. Manučehr Sotuda, Tehran, 1970
Alfons Gabriel, Die Erforschung Persiens: Die Entwicklung der abendländischen Kenntnis der Geographie Persiens, Vienna, 1952.
A. Hotz, "Over afbeeldingen van Persepolis en Palmyra door Nederlanders …," Oud-Holland 29, 1911, pp. 1-34.
Y. M. Nawabi, A Bibliography of Iran, 3 vols., Tehran, 1969.
Nationaal Archief (Dutch National Archives, The Hague), VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie/Dutch East India Company), 1274 and 1279.
Marion Peters "Nepotisme, Patronage and Boekopdrachten bij Nicolaes Witsen (1641-1717), Burgermeester van Amsterdam," Lias 25/1, 1998, pp. 83-134; available online at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~mhpeters/nep.htm.
Qāżi Aḥmad Qomi, Ḵolāṣat al-tawāriḵ, ed. Eḥsān Ešrāqi, 2 vols., Tehran, 1980.
Jacobus Scheltema, Rusland en de Nederlanden beschouwd in derzelver wederkeerige betrekkingen I, Amsterdam, 1817. W. J. Schiphouwer, "Jan Jansen Struys," De Zaende 6, 1951, pp. 199-205.
Jan Jansz Struys, Reysen (see below).
Pieter Anton Tiele, Mémoire bibliographique sur les journaux des navigateurs néerlandais réimprimés dans les collections de De Bry et de Hulsius, et dans les collections hollandaises du XVII siècle, et sur les anciennes éditions hollandaises des journaux de navigateurs étrangers; la plupart en la possession de Frederik Muller à Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1867. Idem, Nederlandische bibliographie van land- en volkenkunde, Amsterdam, 1884.
Nicolaes Witsen, Architectura navalis et regimen nauticum: Ofde Aaloude en Hedendaagsche Scheeps-Bouw en Bestier, Amsterdam, 1690.
Reysen, editions and translations; a selection.
Dutch editions.
J. J. Struys Drie aanmerkelijke en seer rampspoedige Reysen, Door Italien, Griekenlandt, Lijflandt, Moscovien, Tartarijen, Meden, Persien, Oost-Indien, Japan, en verscheyden andere Gewesten… Aangevangen anno 1647, en voor de Derde, of laaste reys t'huys gekomen 1673…, 19 folding plates, 3 parts in 1, Amsterdam, 1676; with additional engraved titles, Amsterdam, 1677; Amsterdam, 1686; Amsterdam, 1713 (only the third voyage); Haarlem, 1741-42; Amsterdam, 1746 (19 folding plates); Amsterdam, ca. 1760 (with engraved and illustrated title page, only the third voyage); ed. W. van Saerdam, as Jan Jansen Struys: De omzwervingen van een Zaansch zeilmaker, de eerste reis 1648-1651, The Hague, 1929 (only the first voyage); Abridged popular ed. by D. J. Douwes, as De schriklijke reis van Jan Jansz. Struys, 1668-1673, Zaandijk, 1974; Rampspoedige reizen door Rusland en Perzië in de zeventiende eeuw, ed. Kees Botterbloem, Amsterdam, 2014.
German translations.
By Andreas Mueller, as Joh. Jansz: Strauszens Sehr schwere wiederwertige und Denckwürdige Reysen Durch Italien, Griechenland, Lifland, Moscau, Tartarey, Meden, Persien, Türckey, Ost-Indien, Japan, und unterschiedliche andere Länder …, Amsterdam, 1678; as Unglückliche schiffs-leute, oder, Merkwirdige reise zwenzig Holländeren …, Zurich, 1679; as Erzählung der Abentheuer und merkwürdige begebenheiten auf seinen Reisen durch Italien, Griechenland, Russland, Persien und Ostindien, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1797; as Johann Jansen Straussens Reise durch Italien, Griechenland, … Angefangen im Jahr 1647 und beendigt 1673 … mit berichtigenden Anmerkungen aus neuern Reisen versehen, Gotha, 1832.
French translations.
By Monsieur Glanius and Léonard Plaignard, as Les Voyages de Jean Struys, en Moscovie, en Tartarie, en Perse, aux Indes, et en plusieurs autres païs étrangers: Accompagnés de remarques particuliéres sur la qualité, la religion, le gouvernement, les coûtumes et le négoce des lieux qu'il a vus; avec quantité de figures en taille-douce dessinées par lui-même, et deux lettres qui traitent à fond des malheurs d'Astracan, Amsterdam, 1681; in 3 vols., Lyon, 1862 and 1864; 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1704; 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1718, 25 folding plates and a folding map; with table of contents, 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1720; 3 vols., n.p., 1724; Amsterdam, 1730; 2 vols., Paris, 1827 and 1838.
English translations.
By Galinus, as A New Voyage to the East Indies, Containing An Account of Several of Those Rich Countries, and More Particularly of the Kingdom of Bantam, 2nd ed., London, 1682 (tr. of the first voyage from the French version, enlarged with corrections); by John Morrison, as The Perillous and Most Unhappy Voyages of John Struys; through Italy, Greece, … Media, Persia, …, and other places in Europe, Africa and Asia, 3 vols., 1884 I: … Remarks and Observations, the Distinct Qualities, Religion, Politie, Customs, Laws and Properties of the Inhabitants, II: … Description of … Cities, Towns, Forts and Places of Trust, as to their Site and Strength, Fortifications by Nature, or Art, … and, III: An Exact Memorial of the … Calamities which Befell the Author … to Which are Added 2 Narratives … Relating to the Taking in of Astrachan by the Cosacs, illustrated with divers curious Plates and 19 folding plates and a folding map, London, 1683.
Russian Translations.
By J. van Meurs, as Tri puteshestviya, Moscow, 1935; repr. Moscow, 1980.
(Willem Floor)
Cite this article:
Willem Floor, "STRUYS, JAN JANSZOON," Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2016, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/struys-jan (accessed on 28 October 2016).


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LANSING, Kan. — All three seniors from the Kansas men's basketball team made their final appearance as Jayhawks over the weekend.
Devonte' Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk and Clay Young played in the annual Kansas Barnstormer game at Lansing High School against an all-star high school roster.
Young played his high school basketball at Lansing. For him, it certainly meant a lot to be able to come back to play in front of his home crowd.
"It makes you feel really good. To come back and do something for the community, put on an event like this, it's pretty big-time and it's a good feeling just knowing that all these people care so much about KU basketball," Young said. "A lot of these people have supported me ever since I was in high school. So, it's just a good feeling coming back and seeing this many people out here."
Fellow seniors Graham and Mykhailiuk were happy to help bring a piece of KU basketball back to the Lansing community.
"We're out here in the city of Clay," Graham said. "We wanted to come here and do it. And, you know, coming home for Clay, it was nice. You know, his family is here. Everybody is here to just come out and have a good time."
The three seniors played with a group of other college stars from around the state. The team faced the 810 Varsity All-Stars, who were some of the best high school players in the area. Mykhailiuk said he was happy to be a part of something that was great for the community.
"I mean, it's definitely for fun. And, I'm just happy to see a lot of Jayhawks fans here and you know just playing with the high school kids," Mykhailiuk said. "For them, playing with the Kansas players and their team, it's kind of exciting cause, if I was their age, [I'd be excited if] some players from [a college] team come to my high school, and like practicing with us."
Both Mykhailiuk and Graham also talked about their prospects of getting selected in the upcoming NBA Draft on June 21. Both were invited to the NBA Combine which happens in a few weeks from May 16 through May 20. Mykhailiuk received his invitation from the league earlier in the day on Saturday before playing in the game. Graham said he has talked to former Kansas players about the NBA Draft process.
"I haven't talked to Frank [Mason] about it. You know, I talked to Wayne [Seldon]. You know, I was just on Facetime with Wayne this morning. [Utah Jazz player] Donovan Mitchell, I've got the same agent as him. So, I've really been talking to him a lot about it and how he went through [the process]," Graham said.
Mykhailiuk is also getting ready for his chances to go through the NBA Draft process, and staying ready for his chance to play in the league.
"I've been working out every day you know. I took a little bit off, went to D.C. I was working out there. And after [Saturday and Sunday], I'm coming back. I'm still gonna be in [Lawrence] until the draft," Mykhailiuk said. "I'm just focusing on working out and getting ready for the combine."


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It really seems like Ashley Graham has it all.
She has a booming modeling career, her own swimsuit line, a television hosting gig — and a super hot husband to share it all with.
Graham and her successful filmmaker hubby, Justin Ervin, tied the knot in August 2010 back when she was still a newcomer in the modeling industry.
Nearly seven years and several Sports Illustrated Swimsuit spreads later, their bond is still as strong as it was when they first said "I do."
Here are 28 times Graham and Ervin proved they are total #RelationshipGoals:
That time they took a prom-worthy staircase photo.
That time Ervin captured this gorgeous shot of his wife in the doorway at sunset.
Check out Ervin's shadow in the window reflection.
That time they took an adorable airport selfie.
That time they sipped fine red wine at dinner (and took a Polaroid photo for proof).
That time they uploaded a photo of their "hump session" onto the internet.
That time Ervin gave Graham some much-needed support.
"Thank you Maxim for reminding me how supportive my husband is," she cheekily wrote on Instagram.
That time they held hands on their way to date night.
That time they celebrated Ervin's birthday on the beach.
"Happy birthday to my #1!" Graham captioned this Insta pic.
That time they looked sharp AF for a Vogue cocktail hour.
That time they went on a date to the US Open.
That time they fit in a couple's workout before Coachella.
That time Graham gushed over Ervin on their six-year anniversary.
"Six years strong today!" Graham posted on Instagram on August 14. "I love you more now than ever."
That time they fangirled over Will and Jada Pinkett Smith...
"Hot couple alert!" Graham joked on Instagram.
...and Chrissy Teigen and John Legend.
"Such an inspiring couple!" Graham wrote, adding #goals.
That time they took an up-close, face-touching selfie.
That time they went sightseeing.
That time they rang in the new year, side by side.
"Happy New Year to you and yours!" Graham captioned her Snapchat.
That time they got ~fancy~.
That time Ervin helped Graham get the perfect shot.
That time they went on a perfect AF honeymoon.
When they first got engaged in 2010, Graham told People, "We come from different backgrounds, but we have the same viewpoints on religion and family."


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The latest iOS release of Prospeqs allows for private conversations, ride type management and photo upload without a subscription
ST. LOUIS, MO, US, September 10, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ — Available today, Prospeqs Version 1.10 for iOS now allows for commenting on shared rides, free photo upload without a subscription and management of ride types. Riders can now initiate one-to-one conversations on their shared rides, and trainers can ensure those conversations are SafeSport compliant by copying the conversation to another adult by email. Other enhancements in this release include the ability to upload photos without a subscription and the ability to hide ride types on the Add Ride screen.
One-on-one conversations in Prospeqs are designed to support a rider's technical and motivational/social needs. A rider can have a technical conversation with her trainer about a specific ride, and separately have more light-hearted conversations with her friends about that same ride. Unlike social media platforms, which display all comments publicly, comments in Prospeqs are only viewable in the app to the two people involved in the chat.
Prospeqs also supports the SafeSport mandate that "one-on-one interactions between a minor athlete and an Applicable Adult (who is not the minor's legal guardian)" be "observable and interruptible." For any conversation in the app, a user can optionally copy all messages in that conversation to a designed email address of another adult. When this option is enabled, both users in the conversation are notified that the conversation is being shared outside the application.
"Commenting on shared rides has been our most-requested feature," explains Prospeqs founder Catherine Brock. "But we wanted to develop it in a way that supports our core mission — helping riders reach their performance goals — while also addressing SafeSport requirements. We are the first equestrian app to approach digital conversations this way, and I'm thrilled that Prospeqs can play a role in protecting riders and their trainers."
The new iOS release of Prospeqs also adds a much-requested feature for free users: the ability to upload and share photos. Prospeqs users can now upload unlimited photos for rides and for horse profiles — without a paid subscription. Premium subscribers continue to benefit from an ad-free experience, along with the ability to upload unlimited videos, each up to four minutes in length.
Lastly, equestrians can now manage which ride types show up on their Add Ride screen. Hunter/jumper riders, for example, likely won't use the roping and tie-down ride types. These riders can disable those ride types on their Profile page.
Prospeqs was built for equestrians who want a better way to log their riding activities and track their performance. The app is a product of Speak LLC, a tiny web publisher based in St. Louis, Mo. That tiny web publisher is owned and run by an amateur rider who came back to riding after a decades-long hiatus and now can't imagine life without it. Learn more at prospeqsapp.com.
Catherine J Brock
Speak LLC
+1 314-325-8241
email us here
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New Features in Prospeqs v1.10
Source: EIN Presswire