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Selecting the right circuit breakers is very important for ensuring code compliance and electrical safety. The following should be considered to aide in selecting the appropriate circuit breaker for an application:
- UL Listing
- Current Rating
- Current Interrupting Rating
- Breaker Type and Trip Curve
- Accessories
In this brief overview of circuit breaker selection, we will discuss the important specifications of circuit breakers, review the various options that exist, and discuss the pros and cons of these options.
UL Listing
An important consideration to take into account when selecting circuit breakers is the UL rating of the circuit breaker. To meet UL 508A standard, the circuit breakers installed in the panel must be UL rated. There are two basic types of UL rated circuit breakers, and the designer must select the appropriate breaker for the application:
UL 1077 Supplementary Circuit Breaker
Supplementary protectors are not intended as a substitute for branch-circuit overcurrent devices. As the name implies, their purpose is supplementary, or additional, protection to the branch-circuit overcurrent device. Supplementary protectors are intended for installation within an appliance or other electrical equipment. As such, this precludes using these devices as branch circuit overcurrent protective devices in distribution equipment, such as a panelboard or switchboard.
A UL 1077 breaker is different from a UL 489 breaker in that it does not require a manual means of circuit disconnect, and the testing requirements for UL listing are much low. Therefore, it should only be used as supplementary protection in conjunction with a UL 489 breaker. For most applications in Industrial Control Panels, UL 1077 breakers should be avoided. UL 1077 breakers are less expensive than UL 489 breakers, so if cost is a concern, UL 1077 breakers can be used for the limited applications they are approved for.
UL 489 Circuit Breaker
The UL 489 standard covers molded-case circuit breakers, circuit breaker and ground-fault circuit-interrupters, fused circuit breakers, high-fault protectors, and high-fault modules. These circuit breakers are specifically intended to provide service entrance, feeder, and branch circuit protection. This standard also covers instantaneous-trip circuit breakers (circuit interrupters) specifically intended for use as part of a combination motor controller.
The panel builder should ensure that all selected circuit breakers are UL 489 rated, except for the limited cases where a UL 1077 breaker is used in conjunction with a UL 489 breaker that meets the UL requirements.
Current Rating
Circuit breakers must be sized according to the National Electrical Code (NEC). The code generally requires that the circuit breakers are rated to trip at a current lower than the rating of the conductors and equipment on the load side of the breaker. The sizing of the conductors will depend on the type of load, and whether the load is continuous or non-continuous. There are many exceptions and special cases to consider, which include a number of tap rules and exceptions, a provision allowing the use of the next available size breaker, and rules for calculating main breakers with multiple loads. There are many NEC code rules to follow when sizing a breaker, and a panel designer should refer to the NEC for all rules when sizing circuit breakers.
Current Interrupting Rating
Interrupting rating is the maximum short-circuit current an overcurrent protective device can safely interrupt under standard test conditions. This rating is important in the role it plays in an assembly (or control panel's) Short-Circuit Current Rating (SCCR). The SCCR of a panel typically cannot be greater than the lowest interrupting rating of any fuse or circuit breaker, or the lowest short-circuit current rating of all other components in the enclosure. The SCCR rating that is required is determined by the available short-circuit current. A panel cannot be installed in a location where it's SCCR rating does not exceed the available short-circuit current. A panel designer must select a breaker with the appropriate current interrupt rating, along with all panel components, to ensure the SCCR of the panel is sufficient for the application.
Breaker Type and Trip Curve
A panel designer must determine the type of breaker (thermal-magnetic or magnetic only), and ensure the trip curve is appropriate for the load being protected.
Thermal Magnetic
Thermal magnetic breakers are the most commonly used, general purpose circuit breakers. These breakers use both a thermal trip unit and a magnetic trip unit in conjunction to protect against both short-circuit and overcurrent events. The thermal trip unit is designed to trip relatively slowly at currents just above the trip rating of the breaker. This helps prevent damage from overcurrent events. The magnetic trip unit is designed to trip very quickly, but only at multiples (generally about 7-11 times) of the trip rating of the breaker. The magnetic trip is important for quick disconnection of the circuit during a short-circuit event. The time vs. current trip curve of a circuit breaker will show the combined tripping characteristics of both the thermal and magnetic trip unit. It is important to select a trip curve to match the characteristics of the protected load, accounting for inrush current. Selecting an appropriate trip curve is also important for electrical coordination, which essentially matches trip curves of all breakers in a distribution system, to prevent breakers upstream from tripping before breakers closer to the load they are protecting. Thermal magnetic breakers should generally be used in all conditions, except where a dedicated overload unit is used.
Magnetic Trip Only
Magnetic only trip circuit breakers only use a magnetic tripping element, and only protects against a short circuit event. By itself, a magnetic trip breaker does not protect against overcurrent conditions. A magnetic trip breaker should only be used where a dedicated overload module is used to protect the same load such as a motor starter with an overload module.
Shunt Trip
Adding a shunt trip, which is an option for some circuit breakers, allows the circuit breaker to be tripped electronically. This allows remote tripping of the breaker, or allows certain safety or process conditions to trigger the tripping of the breaker.
Position Contacts
Many circuit breakers will allow an option for adding circuit breaker position contacts. These can either give fully opened/tripped, or closed position of the breaker, and can be used as feedback to a control system or indicators.
Selecting the right circuit breakers requires careful consideration of the application, understanding of applicable codes and standards, and a thorough review of all tradeoffs associated with each option.
The above outline was compiled to highlight important options to consider, but it is only a primer that scratches the surface of circuit breaker selection. It is important to research product options, know the applicable standards, and take the specific application into account when selecting circuit breakers.
Joseph A. Guagno, P.E., C.E.M. President
Thomas E. Vaughan, P.E., LEED AP D+C, Project Engineer
Eric Schmauk, M.S.
Instrumentation, Control & Energy Engineering, LLC
P.O. Box 551
Skippack, PA 19474


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The photos you capture are much more useful if they can be shared with the rest of the staff or other teams (owner, architect, subs, etc.)
However, sometimes you just want users to quickly see a certain subset of photos (milestones as opposed to progress), or only certain drawings (and not the entire project). That's where exporting hyperlinked PDFs can come in handy!
An alternative to adding users to a project is to export a hyperlinked PDF that contains all of the 360/standard photos captured, that will link back to StructionSite when clicked. These links that are added are public encrypted links, which do not require a login. The PDFs can be viewed in any browser or PDF viewer like BlueBeam or Adobe Reader.
Benefits to StructionSite's PDF export:
Lightweight PDF - Rather than attaching photos directly to a PDF, which will cause huge file-sizes/slowdowns when viewed in a PDF viewer like BlueBeam, you can export a lightweight PDF that only adds a few kilobytes of data to the file, which can easily be sent in an email.
Public Encrypted Hyperlinks - The links added to the PDF will take the user to the photo within StructionSite, but not require any login. This will allow for a very low barrier to entry for others to access the photos.
To get started:
- On the web app, go to the drawing you'd like to export
- Leverage the "filter" button (if desired) to isolate just the photos you want to share (based on phase, date range, type, etc.)
- Click on the "Export" button on the top right of the drawing on the web app
4. A PDF file will then be generated and downloaded
5. Share the PDF with others
Note: If you'd prefer a more "self-serve" method where a user can view photos on any drawing, consider adding them to the team instead (as a collaborator or view-only user).

subset: commoncrawl


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Our goal is to ensure that all of your Real Estate needs are met, while offering the very best possible relationship to each of our clients. The Missouri Real Estate Team uses a great amount of technology and resources to make the selling and buying process go smoothly.
MO Real Estate Team
1514 Parkway West Dr
Festus, MO 63028 United States
636-524-6199 (Main)


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Anunț ebay
Bună !
Aș avea nevoie de un mic ajutor, am găsit pe EBay un anunț in care se pot cumpara iPhone 6 si 6 plus la prețuri foarte bune, vânzătorul are feedback 100% pozitiv, este membru din 2011, următorul răspuns am primit de la el :
Before we go any further i would like to give you more info about my phones:
- They are all Genuine/Authentic Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Brand new, factory unlocked in original sealed boxes with original standard accessories. Colors: Space Gray / Silver / Gold.
- I have UK, EU, US GSM versions with 128GB, 64GB and 16GB memory. Available versions: 6 (A1549, A1586) and 6 Plus (A1522 , A1524). You can use them anywhere with any sim card.
- 2 Years "Apple Care Plus" international warranty. You will receive a receipt for each phone. Phones are bought from Apple manufacturer Foxconn, hence such low prices.
- Items will be sent to your location using: Deutsche Post, DHL, FedEx, UPS or your preferred shipping company. The items are located at my warehouse in Germany.
- Free shipping including customs. The items will be sent in such way that they will avoid any customs charges. No customs in United States, Canada and European Union. Delivery maximum time is 6 days with tracking number.
- I have buyers asking for ESN/IMEI before placing an order. These codes are often use to clone phones with bad ESN/IMEI. I`ll provide them only after payment confirmation from eBay in order to prevent any cloning.
Pe scurt telefoanele sunt direct de la Foxcon cu factura cu Apple care plus, ce m-a pune pe gânduri este ca nu oferă detalii in legătura cu unei sau alte date despre telefoane, întrebarea mea ar fi, dacă aceste telefoane se pot activa ? Merita cumparate sau mai bine caut alte oferte ? Eventual dacă cineva a cumpărat telefoane de la vânzători de acest gen ?
Mulțumesc de ajutor.
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Shark Tank is one of my favorite shows, it appeals to my inner entrepreneur. Recently ABC created a spin off show, Beyond the Tank, where they follow some of the companies after they make their pitch. To me this is more valuable to watch than the Shark Tank pitches because you see what it takes to run the real business. OK, well at least you get a made for TV taste of what it takes to run a TV show, but it allows you to see behind the normal walls.
Episode 2 follows Red Dress Boutique, a company Mark Cuban invested and has a very positive history and future. The owners want to create a new web site to replace their existing site. They have identified various issues holding them back based on customer feedback and administrative issues.
Cuban on the other hand does not support a completely new web site, but instead stay focused on maintaining the legacy site. The owners decide to press forward with the new application, which is still in the works. So I thought I would do some analysis, similar to what I do for my clients. Today I am going to review various aspects affecting their performance using my favorite tool, WebPageTest. Maybe you can glean some knowledge from this evaluation and make your application better.
Overall the red Dress home page renders within 2 seconds, which is admirable, but they could achieve sub 500ms render times with some simple changes. The product detail pages seem to take much longer to load, in this WebPageTest run it took 13.5 seconds. At 10 seconds everyone has most likely given up and left. So there are many things Red Dress Boutique can do to speed up their site.
I am going to focus on the product page for two reasons, home pages tend to get more performance love and product pages are more critical to sales. So lets break down some things in the WebPageTest audit.
Speed Index - 10818
Speed index is a metric created by WebPageTest's creator, Patrick Meean. This is a way to measure the average time at which visible page parts are rendered. The goal is to be under 1000 or 1 second. A score of 10818 indicates the average page component took 10 seconds to render.
A review of the filmstrip view shows the page rendering. Since nothing on the page renders till 6 seconds the speed index has a hard time recovering.
What can Red Dress do to improve the page load time? Let's look at the waterfall to for more insights.
Time To First Byte
The initial request takes 1.3 seconds to return. To put this in perspective my SPA applications typically render completely in this much time over broadband. I often encounter slow time to first byte situations. They are typically created by a poorly optimized web server. This can typically be corrected in 2 ways, proper caching and optimizing database interactions.
When the server takes more than a few milliseconds to return the markup it means caching, like ASP.NET OutPut Caching is not enabled. Most server-side web platform offer some sort of caching mechanism.
When the web server can cache a result, be it markup or JSON, it means it does not need to run through the logic needed to render the result. Instead it calls the finished product from memory, which is more or less instant. When it does not have a cached instance the server much hit the disk for the file and more often than not execute a call to the database to get the data. Then it much render the data with the markup to get the finished markup to return to the client.
ASP.NET's Output Cache is pretty sophisticated because it allows you configure it by headers, parameters and for a controlled amount of time. Express, the popular NodeJS web server, offers a very simple caching mechanism. Unfortunately it cannot be configured. So check with the web platform you have for opportunities to cache your results.
In my experience Red Dress should be able to shave about a second from their load time by utilizing server-side caching.
Not Bundling & Minifying
It has been nearly a decade since Steve Souders' Yahoo team published their YSlow rules. The fewer HTTP requests a page needs to make the faster it typically renders. Unfortunately I might be the only developer that understands this rule because no one seems to utilize bundling and minification. This is where you combine individual CSS files together and JavaScript files together. Next you minimize them by removing white space. Not only are there fewer requests, but they overall data footprint is about half the size. The effect is faster load and render times.
When High Performance Web Sites was published bundling and minification was still sort of a dark art. Today we have the benefit of task runners like Grunt and Gulp to manage this important build step. Because modern task runners are free and easy to use there is no excuse for developers and devops teams to not bundle and minify their application's assets. My rule of thumb, a single CSS file and no more than 3 JavaScript files. And the only reason it is not a single JavaScript file is many sites need a 3rd party analytics script.
CSS in the Head, Script at the Bottom
Again another fundamental web development rule. You always want your CSS references in the document's HEAD. This is because the way the browser composes the page to render. When the CSS is referenced in the Body or at the end of the DOM the browser must back up and re-render everything. While this is not a problem, as far as I can tell, on Red Dress it is something to avoid.
Remember the Red Dress product page takes over 6 seconds to start rendering, this can be directly correlated to their JavaScripts loading and being evaluated. In particular you can see it takes nearly 3 seconds to load the Amazon payments widget. I have not done enough research into how Amazon payments works, but there has to be a better way to implement Amazon payments.
Since there are no Ajax requests the Red Dress product page could start rendering in about 1.5 seconds (assuming the slow time to first byte has not been fixed).
Normally when I perform an audit for a client the report is 50-60 pages, but I don't want to get into that sort of detail on the Blog. These items are things I can pick up with a quick glance through the report. They are also what I call low hanging fruit, or things that are very easy to correct. I could easily product one of my 50+ page reports for the site and still have more to say. To be fair, I am very critical of my own applications.
The items I identified here, Output Caching, Bundling & Minification and proper script references could easily cut the 13.5 seconds needed to fully render a Red Dress Boutique product page to well under 3 seconds. These are typically things I can fix in ASP.NET sites in less than 2 hours and often a single hour. Red Dress is currently in PHP and uses the Magento e-commerce platform, both of which I have no tangible experience. But I am sure I could figure it out fairly quickly and you can too. I hate to keep pressing the same items here I have identified in the past, but it seems no one applies these valuable techniques.
So do the Red Dress Boutique owners need to build a new web site? Yes probably. Not because you could not make the site perform better within their current platform, but rather at their scale they need to own everything about their application. So I think I agree with the owners, but I also understand Mark Cuban's perspective. But $300,000 is way too much to spend on something like a basic e-commerce platform, so hopefully they will get some better advice before they waste a lot of money. I know because I have built many e-commerce sites, by myself and at the traffic levels they have.
We know performance affects sales. Customers do not like to wait to check out in a retail store and they have even less patience for slow web sites. E-commerce is particularly sensitive to performance issues, even when the site starts rendering at 2 seconds. Search engine optimization, bounce rates and company perceptions are all tied to perceived performance. I know if Red Dress applies some of the advice here they will be able to increase sales, customer satisfaction and lower their overhead. You can too, no matter your site or application's size.


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Need For Cloud Infrastructure In Government Services
While the government has made great strides in technology to ensure faster processing of applications, things are still not always user-friendly. The recent confusion and queuing up at physical centers for the mandatory PAN-Aadhaar linking is proof of that. People face a lot of inconveniences since official websites hang up or return strange results even after applicants have entered the required data and filled all the spaces in the online forms, forcing them to gather at physical centers, but even there the systems aren't able to handle the load.
Server Issues on Income Tax Site Hassle the Public
A lot of that can be blamed on server issues faced by the various government websites. Server issues have struck important websites such as IRCTC, which is the Indian Railways website, and the income tax (IT) department website. In fact, the government was forced to extend the last date for income tax returns (ITR) for the 2017-2018 assessment period from July 31, 2017, to August 5, 2017, as a result of its servers being unable to accommodate the load of traffic and applications.
The Deccan Chronicle reports that technical glitches in the government website have also affected the mandatory PAN card–Aadhaar linking. As a result, people are queuing up at physical Aadhaar centers for linking, and even that seems to be fraught with glitches. The deadline for the linking has been extended to August 31.
The income tax website keeps facing server issues now and then. Even apart from the extension of the last date to file income tax returns, the IT website has been having problems periodically. In May, the Times of India reported that the IT department's e-portal service did not launch smoothly in Bengaluru's taxpayers' lounge. The issue was blamed on a system upgrade for protecting the computers from the WannaCry ransomware. Other parts of the country also faced this problem since the system upgrade was being carried out centrally in New Delhi.
Deadline Extensions Inevitable
Traders in Tumkur, Karnataka could not carry out online filing of their VAT (value added tax) returns since the server couldn't connect. With May 20 being the initial deadline to file VAT returns, it sent the traders into panic mode. If the tax amount exceeds Rs. 10,000, it must be paid online, but each time the traders tried paying online the transaction would fail. It was clear that the government needed to extend the deadline since traders could be penalized for not filing tax returns by the 20th of each month. In this case, it isn't the traders' fault at all.
Private Tax Return Online Platforms
In fact, private tax return filing platforms registered with the government's IT departments have made it easier for salaried individuals to file their returns. These are more user-friendly than the government site since you're given guidelines on how to fill in your details. All you need to do is:
Upload Form 16
Enter your personal information including details of any tax paid
Review the information that's filled out for you by the portal
E-file your return
Then look for the ITR-V acknowledgment on your email from the IT department, and
E-verify the information on the income tax website
So why are these registered private IT filing websites more user-friendly? They do charge a fee for their services because they don't leave the user to handle everything singlehandedly, unlike the income tax online portal. They also use a cloud-based user interface without the user having to download any software. There are reputable cloud service providers which government websites could employ for better server management and more efficient functioning.
Indian Railways has employed the RailCloud virtual server featuring a security system built in to ensure faster connectivity. It employs cloud computing and is developed by the RailTel public sector undertaking for around Rs. 53 crores. It is expected to optimize server management and resources. It can deploy server resources faster, which reduces the operating costs. But with cloud services such as AWS, companies don't need to make such massive initial investment.
AWS – Amazon Web Services
When you think of world class cloud services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) immediately springs to mind. It's got a suite of services which governmental organizations and companies would do well to make use of. It offers management tools, application services, developer tools, analytics, application services, etc. It also offers efficient database migration solutions.
How a Cloud Services Platform Helps
A cloud services platform offers many advantages:
For starters, cloud computing helps client organizations to access, maintain and manage their servers and databases, and
Access a range application services through the Internet.
The cloud services platform maintains all the required hardware for this. Companies only need to manage and use all the data through a web application. Databases can be accessed and forms can be processed faster since the data and resources needed are just a click away. The organization becomes more agile and responsive. The time taken is significantly reduced. Cloud computing companies have the infrastructure and experience to maintain the required hardware and carry out the transfer of data efficiently.
There's also massive savings in cost! Agencies, organizations, and companies don't need to maintain data centers. With cloud computing, the service providers maintain all the required hardware. Clients can focus their resources on other aspects of their business and not worry about the infrastructure. Cloud service providers such as AWS attain higher economies of scale since they have a large number of customers aggregated in the cloud. So the price for using these cloud services is competitive, and there's no massive upfront investment involved.
Security Measures
With a reliable cloud services provider such as AWS, security is ensured too. Advanced security measures are employed since there is so much important data to deal with for governmental organizations. Data in the cloud is secured, and AWS offers security tools such as:
AWS Identity & Access Management for managing encryption keys and user access
Amazon Inspector for application security
AWS Shield for DDOS protection
AWS WAF for filtering malicious web traffic
AWS Certificate Manager for security certificates
AWS Organizations for managing multiple AWS accounts, and other solutions
Government agencies and organizations in India can significantly benefit from cloud computing, which ultimately reduces hassles for the public. With solutions such as AWS, the possibilities are greater.


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Microsoft has released nine updates to address vulnerabilities in Microsoft software. Exploitation of one of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to take control of an affected system.
Users and administrators are encouraged to review Microsoft Security Bulletins MS16-095 through MS16-103 and apply the necessary updates.
This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.


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GAO introduces tag for wooden pallets
Canada's GAO RFID has launched an RFID tag designed specifically for use in tracking wooden pallets, one of the main transit platforms around the world. The passive Gen 2 tags offer several attributes which fit their intended application well, including cost-efficiency and a long read range in harsh conditions.
The 865-928 MHz tag integrates the NXP XM chip, EPC memory and additional memory enabling users to encode ample specific information. The tags have tested at a reliable read range of four meters in a variety of harsh environments.
The tags are also suitable for other wood-oriented tracking applications, from timber and lumber to finished wooden structures.


text: Data Analysis in Python Data Management Data Analysis & BI This course is an introduction to Data Analysis in Python. The course is focused on providing students with great tools in order to create compelling narratives when creating data analysis. Código: 10130 30 horas 510 € Python , Big Data , Pandas , Jupyter , Data Analysis , Curso Nuevo


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Colombia 2010: análisis de las elecciones presidenciales y legislativas
Mónica Pachón y Gary Hoskin
Es profesora asociada del Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de los Andes. Es doctora en Ciencia Política de la Universidad de California, San Diego.
Fue profesor asociado, hoy jubilado, del Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de los Andes. Es doctor en Ciencia Política de la Universidad de Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Los resultados de las elecciones de Congreso y presidente del 2010 en Colombia muestran la consolidación del multipartidismo en el cual las coaliciones postelectorales se han convertido en una constante desde el colapso del sistema bipartidista a finales de los años noventa. El propósito del artículo es discutir los resultados electorales, con especial atención a la forma en que la propuesta del referendo para reelegir a Alvaro Uribe Vélez impactó la dinámica electoral. Primero, analiza el contexto de las elecciones, posteriormente los resultados electorales y finalmente cómo este nuevo panorama consolida un sistema multipartidista en el nivel nacional después de la reforma del 2003.
Palabras clave
elecciones sistema de partidos Álvaro Uribe Vélez Juan Manuel Santos Antanas Mockus Colombia
The 2010 Colombian elections clearly moved the country toward a more multiparty system, characterized by the practice of post-electoral coalitions. These tendencies had been emerging since the collapse of the two-party system in the 1990s. The purpose of this article is to discuss the 2010 electoral results, with particular attention to the manner in which the referendum proposal to re-elect President Alvaro Uribe Vélez impacted the elections. We discuss the context of the elections, the electoral returns for the congressional and presidential elections, and how the results validate the hypothesis of party system transformation after the 2003 Reform.
elections party system Álvaro Uribe Vélez Juan Manuel Santos Antanas Mockus Colombia
Recibido el 12 de julio de 2011, aceptado el 23 de julio de 2011 y modificado el 3 de noviembre de 2011.
Until very recently, Colombia was an excellent example of an electoral system that revolved around candidate reputation and formation of post-electoral coalitions (Carey and Shugart 1995; Pachón and Shugart 2010). However, despite the extreme political party fragmentation and especially after the implementation of the 1991 Constitution, newly elected congressmen continued to form traditional party alliances that allowed presidents to form majorities and to govern. Therefore, Colombia's legislative arena held the oldest party system in the region that was based upon an electoral system with arguably the highest degree of intraparty competition in the world.
The political reform legislation passed in 2003 (Hoskin and García 2006) produced significant modifications in the political party system, reducing the degree of fragmentation and promoting pre-electoral coalitions between candidates. These two factors were previously not characteristic of the electoral system. By the 2002 elections, before the political reform, the National Electoral Council extended legal recognition to 78 political parties, 45 of which had representation in the legislature. In 2006 the number of parties competing was significantly reduced to 16, as a result of the reform and the higher electoral threshold. 1 In 2010, only ten parties were represented in the Senate and eleven in the House of Representatives. 2 This provides evidence to the clear emergence of a nation-encompassing multiparty system.
However, despite the structural transformations in the party system, the logic associated with legislative elections did not apply to presidential elections (nor to gubernatorial or mayor elections), largely because of the possibility for independent candidates to run. As a result, there were few incentives to the coalition formation, at least during the first round of balloting. 3 Thus the large number of candidates in the first round of the 2010 Colombian presidential election resulted in some unexpected post-electoral coalitions, a situation that resembled Brazil's presidential elections before the unification of the electoral calendar in 1994. he results suggest that despite the fragmentation seen in presidential elections, the electoral forces that supported President Alvaro Uribe for two presidential terms were able to finally solve the absence of Uribe as a candidate and maximize their results. On the other hand, independent forces played a decisive role in the race, but failed to create an electoral strategy that would amass a significant number of votes in the second round of balloting.]]> In order to discuss relevant aspects of the 2010 legislative and presidential elections, the article is divided into four parts. Te next section focuses upon the context of the legislative and presidential elections, with a brief discussion of the presidential campaign and President Uribe's key role therein. he subsequent part analyzes the results for the two rounds of presidential voting. Te fourth section analyzes the legislative elections, and the conclusion discusses the nationalization of parties, and how these elections corresponded to the re-organization of the party system as a result of the 2003 electoral reform.
Never before in the history of public opinion polling in Colombia, had a president attained such high levels of popular support as President Uribe (See Figure 1). He was the first to be elected in the first round of balloting, with 53.05% of the popular vote, and the first in breaking the monopoly of the Conservative and Liberal parties' hold on that office. Despite having developed a political career closely associated with the Liberal Party, his electoral strategy for the 2002 election was to distance himself from the traditional political machines. Shortly after assuming office, he threatened Congress by calling for a constitutional referendum in 2003 that did not pass (fell short by 1% of the required number of votes) which included most of his policy proposals and other provisions that would have curtailed congressional powers. As a result of his style and early results confronting illegal groups with his security policy - Seguridad Democrática - , President Uribe's popularity in the polls mounted. He also consolidated a strong congressional coalition that approved most of his policy initiatives, and later promoted a constitutional reform that enabled him to seek a second term. He was reelected in 2006 with 62.35% of the vote.
During Uribe's second term the legislative agenda moved slowly and major scandals unfolded as more than 80 congressmen and several government associates were linked to illegal paramilitary groups (Botero 2007; Pachón 2009; Congreso Visible 2009). Politics became increasingly polarized as a result of the President's confrontational style, his persistent clashes with the opposition and the Supreme Court due to the ongoing investigations of members of his government, and his vacillating relationship with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.
Nonetheless, the government's persistent and rather successful armed clashes with the farc immunized President Uribe from harsh opposition criticism, generally increasing his popularity in the polls. Numerous military victories occurred during his second term. In a highly controversial bombing raid on a guerrilla stronghold in Ecuador in March, 2007, Raul Reyes, a member of farc's Secretariat, was killed. Another renowned farc leader, Iván Ríos, was assassinated by his own men after the Colombian military encircled the group and severed its supply lines.
In a national poll in early June 2008, 66% of Colombians stated that they favored a third term for President Uribe. Further increasing the wave of farc defeats, in mid-June an 'Operation Jaque' liberated 15 kidnapped persons, Ingrid Betancourt and three North American contractors among them, in a highly successful intelligence operation that did not result in a single death. With these victories over the farc, the committee promoting the reelection referendum attained its greatest momentum. Toward the end of August, this committee presented the National Electoral Council with five million signatures, of which three million were certified as valid, enabling the beginning of a required legislative process in September. Nonetheless, doubts about possible campaign finance violations for the referendum prevented the Electoral Council from lending its approval of the process. After lengthy debates about the merits of the project and the threats it entailed to the viability of Colombian democracy, Congress finally approved the referendum in March 2009. 4 President Uribe's silence about whether he would stand for reelection produced changes in the governing coalition: a massive wave of congressmen belonging to the governing coalition supported Uribe's reelection, while parties like Cambio Radical declared their opposition to the referendum and left the coalition (Congreso Visible, 2009).
As a result, Radical Change (Cambio Radical) candidate Germán Vargas Lleras launched his campaign in June 2009. Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellín, devoted all of 2009 collecting the necessary signatures to run as an independent candidate, and parties in the opposition decided to hold primaries to select their candidates. The Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático) and the Liberal Party were the first to nominate candidates in October 2009. Other independent candidates (three former Bogotá mayors Enrique Peñalosa, Luis Eduardo Garzón and Antanas Mockus), decided to join forces under the Green Party's endorsement. Their primary was also set on the date of congressional elections. This strategy provided the candidates with more visibility and better chances for legislative success.
On the governing coalition side, the Conservative Party, which had scheduled its primary (consulta) on the same date as the Democratic Pole and the Liberal Party, decided to postpone it to include Noemí Sanín's candidacy in order to compete against Andrés Felipe Arias, President Uribe's former Agriculture Minister. While other parties needed to move fast in order to choose their own candidates or fulfill the necessary legal requirements, Juan Manuel Santo's U Party (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional) patiently waited for events to unfold. Even before the March legislative elections and the defeat of the referendum, Juan Manuel Santos' popularity in the polls began to rise, despite the fact that he had not formally declared his candidacy.
The process of constitutional revision began in January 2010, only five months before the first round of presidential elections, and on February 26th the Constitutional Court declared the referendum unconstitutional because of procedural irregularities and substantial legal contradictions with the Constitution. The 2010 elections were characterized by a high level of uncertainty, mainly due to the referendum proposal and President Uribe's muteness about his intentions. Although the presidential campaign had begun before the Constitutional Court's ruling, it gained momentum in March, which partly explains the large number of candidates.]]> Figure 2 reveals the tendencies that emerged from the beginning of the surveys in October 2009. A factor that stands out is the positioning of Sergio Fajardo, an independent candidate who was a former mayor of Medellín. He enjoyed a high degree of recognition and popularity in the polls during 2009, but the poor performance of his congressional candidates noticeably undermined his presidential bid. Also scoring high in the polls was Juan Manuel Santos, who still had not launched his campaign awaiting the results of the referendum and Uribe's decision as to whether he would run again, even though Santos expressed an interest in becoming the U Party's candidate, of which he was a founder. The other candidates included Noemí Sanín of the Conservative Party, Gustavo Petro of the Democratic Pole, and German Vargas of Radical Change. They each began to appear in the surveys without noticeably increasing their popularity. Sergio Fajardo remained in the field for the first round, but his popularity declined throughout the campaign.
At the beginning of March, candidate rankings in the surveys began to change: the Green Party candidate, Antanas Mockus, began to register a rapid increase in popularity. The March polls showed Santos held between 34 and 36% of the vote intention, Sanín between 17 and 23%, and Mockus around 10%. By the end of April, Mockus registered between 32 and 38%, Santos between 29 and 34%, and Sanín's had diminished to 16%. By the third week of May, just before the first round of balloting, Santos regained a 2% lead over Mockus' 36%. This sudden surge and steady increase in Mockus' popularity was named "La Ola Verde"- The Green Wave- by the media, as it ignited large citizen mobilization and support, especially from young voters and students in Bogotá and other cities in the country (Leal 2010, 12).
Despite the large number of debates centered on the continuity or rupture of the Uribe government's legacy, the cleavage between the government and the opposition failed to differentiate clearly between candidates who were against or in favor of Uribe. Moreover, the campaign debates failed to increase the popularity of opposition parties. Although the Democratic Pole approached the Liberal Party and its candidate, Rafael Pardo, about forming a coalition, nothing ever came of the negotiations. Moreover, the government coalition and its multiple candidates, especially within the Conservative Party, complicated the translation of Uribe's popularity to his coalition associates. As revealed in Figure 2, Noemí Sanín, the Conservative candidate, positioned herself in third place in the race, although her popularity declined rapidly, placing her alongside the remaining opposition candidates.
The 'Green Wave' intensified. Its campaign sought to compete within a different dimension of 'new-traditional' politics, with the slogan No todo vale -not everything is acceptable. This of course was very appealing to the public, as members and agencies of the national government were being investigated on corruption charges and government intervention in politics. However, it became evident during the televised debates that the Green Party candidate, Mockus, lacked concrete programs and clear stances on major public policy themes. Part of the campaign's dilemma was precisely its velocity. The Green Party lacked the political trajectories of other parties that had been conducting national campaigns for years.
Despite their efforts to build very concrete proposals, other candidates were behind in the polls and were not able to gain momentum. Although the Liberal Party candidate, Rafael Pardo, was one of the most qualified candidates, he failed to captivate a large audience. The Liberal Party's reputation as one of the traditional parties in crisis, coupled with the candidate's lack of charisma and low media exposure in the recent past, also contributed to his poor showing. Gustavo Petro, the Democratic Pole's candidate, skillfully managed to position himself on key issues of the national agenda, and became at some point the third most popular candidate on the Atlantic coast while maintaining his national popularity. This changed as the race continued and the Conservatives aligned themselves behind a single candidate. 5
Voters considered Juan Manuel Santos of the U Party as the natural successor to President Uribe. Santos was an outstanding Minister of Defense during the latter part of Uribe's government, and oversaw what were considered highly successful operations against the farc. He had never been elected to popular office, and his political trajectory was limited to the executive branch, which gave him an edge over other candidates lacking such experience. Moreover, Colombians were very familiar with the name Santos; a family recognized as part of the national elite as a result of its ownership of the most important Colombian daily newspaper, El Tiempo. Thus the campaign revolved around two candidates: a technocrat belonging to a privileged Colombian family, who had inherited the political capital of one of Colombia's most popular and controversial presidents, and a coalition of independent politicians of the Green Party, whose popularity stemmed from their administrative successes at the local level and an electoral tradition of political independence from traditional parties.
As shown in Figure 2, national opinion surveys suggested a tight race between Mockus and Santos. Consequently, each strategically selected a running mate to optimize his chances. Juan Manuel Santos named a former governor of Valle del Cauca Department, Angelino Garzón, who was a politician formed in the labor movement and the political left; his nomination signaled ideological moderation. Antanas Mockus selected Sergio Fajardo as his vice-presidential candidate. Because of his distance from the traditional political establishment, Fajardo's place on the ticket aimed at mobilizing independent voters.
The first round of voting for the presidency was held on May 30, two and a half months after the congressional elections (March 14th, 2010). The election unfolded in an atmosphere of relative tranquility with respect to public security. Despite poll predictions of a tight race, the final vote margin between the two candidates was a whopping 25% advantage for Santos. Another surprise was Vargas Lleras' third place finish with approximately 10% of the vote. Table 1 shows the results. Santos regained momentum as Mockus' candidacy floundered. 6]]> For the second round of voting, Gustavo Petro and Rafael Pardo explored the possibility of forming an alliance with the Greens, but Antanas Mockus blocked these efforts, believing that any negotiated coalitions would not be optimal for his campaign. Mockus had declared on multiple occasions his reluctance to forge a relationship with opposition candidates. He entered the second phase of the campaign without the formal support of other parties or candidates.
Santos's strategy was completely different. After a calculated change in the campaign on the eve of the first round in which he resumed his association with the U Party and President Uribe (his early campaign had downplayed these relations in favor of Santos's own image), Santos decided to seek additional allies, resulting in what later became the National Unity Government (Gobierno de Unidad Nacional). The Conservative Party was the first to adhere to Santos' campaign. After Noemí Sanín's first round defeat, the Party sought to maintain its place in Uribe's coalition, thereby hoping to assume key positions in the new government. Germán Vargas Lleras of Radical Change and Rafael Pardo of the Liberal Party joined the coalition in mid June. These two alliances were especially important because both parties were more ideologically and programmatically structured than the U Party.
The formidable expectations generated by Mockus' candidacy evaporated quickly between the two electoral rounds, in part as consequence of his shaky debate performances and his unwillingness to invite other political forces into his campaign to counteract the strength of the Uribe coalition. The challenge confronting Mockus from the beginning may well have been insurmountable because he was challenging the formidable clout of Colombia's entire clase política.
The second round was held a month later, and the results showed a difference of 41.6% between the candidates. Although the participation rate was less than the first round1,900,000 fewer votesthe outcome revealed the importance of votes deposited by the Conservative, Radical Change and Liberal Party stalwarts, supporting the Program of National Unity formed at the beginning of the second round. Although Mockus' final tally increased by some 400,000 votes over the first round, his go it alone strategy failed miserably. Juan Manuel Santos registered a tremendous electoral victory that subsequently enabled him to construct a legislative coalition that subsequently facilitated passage of his programs in Congress.
Because legislative elections are held before the presidential races and because of the personalist nature of the candidacies, different rules apply for congressional contests. Even though political parties play a more important role in campaigns after the 2003 electoral reforms, the outcome of those races depends primarily upon the efforts and financing of individual candidates, not their partisan affiliations. The 2010 congressional elections were impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the presidential campaign, which provided an advantage for the majority coalition in Congress. In both the Senate and Chamber of Representatives the winners were primarily members of the Uribe coalition, which substantially increased its congressional representation.
The Liberal Party, in the opposition during President Uribe's two terms in office, managed to retain a significant number of seats (17 in the Senate and 35 in the Chamber of Representatives), making it the biggest winner among former opposition parties. The other major opposition parties, Radical Change and Democratic Pole, lost seats in both houses of Congress (See Tables 3 and 4).
'New' parties (those formed by the fusion of small movements that were represented in Congress but were disenfranchised because of their ties to paramilitary groups), like the Party of National Integration (pin), surprised pundits with their unexpectedly large vote. However, Tables 3 and 4 show that parties such as Convergencia Ciudadana, Alas Equipo Colombia, Colombia Democrática, o Colombia Viva held 17 Senate seats and 17 House seats in 2006, yet the umbrella-like pin obtained fewer seats than its regionally based predecessors, nine in the Senate and twelve in the House. Some elected pin congressmen are allegedly associated with paramilitary scandals and other forms of corruption, but despite these accusations their electoral performance was noteworthy.]]>
Among the non-traditional parties, the Green Party represents the most successful case. Three former Bogotá mayors decided to unite their forces and compete in congressional races. Their reputation, together with the fact that the party primary to choose its presidential candidate was held the same day, attracted enough attention to elect four first-time senators and three first-time representatives, as well as a regional leader who was reelected to the senate.
Finally, Sergio Fajardo's legislative campaign was a major disaster. With a decrease in the number of political parties and the subsequent transformation of the Colombian electoral arena, Fajardo's electoral strategy was unrealistic. Since he did not want any party attachments, he registered as an "independent", collecting more than 700,000 signatures. To promote his candidates for the legislature, he decided to make an alliance and introduce joint lists with the Indigenous Social Alliance (asi). 7 Nonetheless, despite his efforts to make it public, voters were not able to make the connection between Fajardo and the asi, resulting in a very poor performance. Fajardo's lists were not even able to achieve the legal threshold (umbral) for representation.
In sum, the 2010 congressional elections resulted in an increase in the number of parties that lost their legal standing, thereby reflecting the impact of the 2003 Political Reform Act, which was designed to strengthen political parties and promote a better coordination between politicians. A few regional movements survived in the lower house, reflecting the decentralized character of Colombian politics, but these groups are becoming less significant in terms of their representation in Congress (Escobar-Lemmon and Moreno 2008).
After a long history of bipartisan consocionalism (Hartlyn, 1988), drafters of the 1991 Constitution decided to reduce drastically the requirements for participating in the political system, producing what became the most fragmented party system in the Americas; in 2002, the National Electoral Council recognized 72 parties of which 45 had representation in Congress. 8This complicated the task for voters to identify parties and their programs at the national level. Furthermore, the possibility for parties to present multiple lists further complicated the situation. For example, in the Department of Atlántico, the Liberal Party presented 19 of the 49 lists for seven seats in which 26 parties or movements participated in the election. In Putumayo, which has two seats in the lower house of Congress, only the Liberal and Conservative Parties presented lists, the first with three and the latter with one.
After several failed attempts to reform the Colombian electoral system, classified as the most candidate-based in the world (Shugart and Carey 1995), a constitutional reform in 2003 (Legislative Act No. 1 of 2003) changed the rules that promoted excessive levels of party fragmentation (Pachón and Shugart, 2010). The reform introduced a minimum threshold of 2% of the votes (umbral) at the national level; parties were restricted to presenting a single open or closed list (as list openness remained optional); and the introduction of the D'Hondt system generated incentives to the formation of electoral coalitions, thereby effectively reducing the number of parties participating in elections.
As shown in Tables 3 and 4, the number of parties with seats in the legislature became significantly lower in 2006, and continued to shrink in the 2010 elections. After the reform, a change in the pattern emerged. As shown by Pachón and Shugart (2010), as the size of the district in the 2002 election increased, the effective number of parties (ENP) followed suit. In Bogotá, for example, the enp vote measure was greater than 20 despite the fact that the number of seats was 18. This relationship changed in the 2006 elections, and in 2010 there is hardly any variation in the enp measured in votes or seats according to district size. Additionally, in 2006 and 2010 the number of parties increased in small districts, because most introduced lists in all districts to have a better chance of passing the threshold, irrespective of the district's size. Consequently, there is evidence that parties competing in elections are more "nationalized", although there are still a number of regional parties winning seats - especially in the Chamber of Representatives due to a lower representation threshold.
While elections constitute the bedrock of representative democracy, they are often unpredictable and volatile, especially in countries that are undergoing rapid transformations in their political party systems. Colombia fits this mold as a consequence of the decomposition of a hegemonic bipartisan party system in the 1990s and the eight-year presidency of Álvaro Uribe Vélez, which tended to undermine some of Colombia's democratic institutions as a consequence of his micro-managing style and a significant emphasis of his own coalition and his irreplaceable role therein. President Uribe dominated Colombian politics during his two terms of office, and the impact of his legacy upon the country's democratic institutions remains unclear.]]> The 2010 presidential elections were characterized by short campaigns, largely because Congress approved a bill calling for a referendum enabling President Uribe to seek a third consecutive term, and the Constitutional Court's late decision regarding the bill's constitutionality generated uncertainty and significantly affected candidate and party strategies. This abbreviated time period, coupled with President Uribe's pronounced popularity, dictated the logic of the presidential campaign. Juan Manuel Santos inherited Uribe's political capital, and mounted a highly professional campaign that resulted in an overwhelming victory over an extensive field of first round candidates and over Antanas Mockus in the second round. Despite the 'Green Wave' that propelled Mockus ahead of Santos in the polls at one point, Mockus' ill-structured campaign produced a dismal result that was probably doomed from the start because he was running against the bulk of Colombia's political class.
The congressional elections were characterized by campaigns in which candidates were primarily responsible for their own elections (most party lists were open, thereby enabling voters to cast their ballots for specific individuals). The U Party, for example, has a very loose ideological and programmatic structure, and is mainly composed of regional political leaders who have their own organizations and votes. Of the 16 lists competing in the Senate, only one was closed. From the 282 lists for the House of Representatives, 68 were closed but most of these were in two-member districts (Registraduria Nacional 2010). The Uribe coalition won an overwhelming number of seats in Congress, providing the future president with an absolute majority in both houses of Congress. However, President Santos subsequently expanded the Uribe coalition to include the Liberal and Radical Change parties and excluded the National Integration Party (PIN) from the coalition because of their alleged ties to paramilitary groups.
The electoral returns in 2006 and 2010 testify to the impact of the 2003 Electoral Reform Law in reducing the number of political parties at the national level, 9 but uncertainty remains as to whether current parties and the party system will become institutionalized in the medium or long term as the role of individual candidates is still significant and party-switching continues to be a common practice across all party elites.
We want to thank the Congreso Visible team at the Department of Political Science, Universidad de los Andes for their assistance, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments.
1 The following parties were recognized by the National Electoral Council in 2006:
Partido Liberal, Partido Conservador, Partido Apertura Liberal, Movimiento Alas Equipo Colombia, Partido Convergencia Ciudadana, Partido Colombia Democrática, Movimiento Colombia Viva, Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, Partido Cambio Radical, Partido Opción Centro, Movimiento Autoridades Indígenas de Colombia "Aico", Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena, Movimiento "Mira", Partido Polo Democrático Alternativo, Movimiento Político "Afrounincca", Alianza Social Afrocolombiana "Asa". Resolution from the Consejo Nacional Electoral, No. 1057, July 13 2006. http://www.elabedul.net/Documentos/Temas/Elecciones/Partidos_politicos_2006.pdf
2 The parties with current legal recognition are: Partido Liberal, Partido Conservador, Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, Partido Cambio Radical, Partido de Integración Nacional, Partido Verde, Movimiento Autoridades Indígenas de Colombia "Aico", Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena, Movimiento "Mira", Partido Polo Democrático Alternativo, Movimiento Afrovides - La Esperanza de un Pueblo, Movimiento de Inclusión y Oportunidad "Mio". Resolution from the Consejo Nacional Electoral No. 1959, August 26, 2010. http://www.registraduria.gov.co/Informacion/part_movi_poli.htm
3 Additionally, the uncertainty generated by the prolonged wait for the Constitutional Court's decision about the constitutionality of a referendum that would have permitted President Uribe to seek a third term prohibited a rapid definition of the candidate field further inhibited the political elite coordination.]]> 4 "Cronología de un referendo reeleccionista", in Votebien.com, published in February 26, 2010: http://www.terra.com.co/elecciones_2010/votebien/html/vbn537-vida-pasion-y-muerte-de-un-referendo-reeleccionista.htm [Last accessed: April 1st, 2010].
5 "Gran Encuesta de los Medios", March, 2010.
6 Why were the poll predictions so erroneous? Two plausible explanations emerged in the media after the first round of balloting: (1) Most polls underrepresent rural voters, who tend to be more supportive of traditional parties and President Uribe; and (2) During the week previous to the elections, no polling was permitted, which signified that the latest poll projections failed to account for the campaign dynamics during this crucial period. For further details, see: http://www.analitica.com/va/internacionales/opinion/3521742.asp, http://historico.elpais.com.co/historico/jun012010/NAL/2encuestas.html
7 "Fajardo completo firmas para lanzar su candidatura presidencial", in Vanguardia Liberal, published in October27, 2009. :http://www.vanguardia.com/historico/43833-fajardo-completo-firmas-para-lanzar-su-candidatura-presidencialampquicktab-s30ampquicktabs12ampquicktabs23, [Last accessed: April 1st, 2011].
8 The 1991 Constitution permitted the formation of political parties and movements with the presentation of only 50,000 valid signatures. In addition, it created the possibility for citizens to belong to more than one political party. Those factors, plus a Hare electoral system with the highest residuals and the possibility for parties to present an unlimited number of lists, generated a highly fragmented party system.
9 While the 2003 Electoral Reform Law produced a reduction in the number of political parties at the national level, this apparently was not the case in the 2007 departmental and municipal elections where the number of parties remained the same or even increased in number. See Forero, Mario. 2010. El impacto de la reforma electoral del año 2003 en el sistema de partidos a nivel municipal. Unpublished manuscript.
Botero, Felipe. 2007. Colombia: ¿Paracracia, democracia o simplemente desgracia? Revista de Ciencia Política 27 (1): 97-111. [ Links ]
Carey, John and Matthew Soberg Shugart. 1995. Incentives to Cultivate a Personal Vote. Electoral Studies 14 (4): 417-439. [ Links ]
Congreso Visible. 2009. Boletín de Congreso Visible 15 (July- December). Available at: http://issuu.com/congresovisible/docs/congreso_visible_15_julio-diciembre_2009 [Last accessed: April 1st, 2011]. [ Links ]
Escobar-Lemmon, Maria and Erika Moreno. 2008. Mejor Solo Que Mal Acompañado: Political Entrepreneurs and List Proliferation in Colombia. En Pathways to Power: Political Recruitment and Candidate Selection in Latin America, edited by Peter Siavelis and Scott Morgenstern. Penn State University Press. [ Links ]
Hartlyn, Jonathan. 1988. The Politics of Coalition Rule in Colombia. London: Cambridge University Press. [ Links ]
Hoskin, Gary and Miguel García, eds. 2006. La Reforma Política de 2003: ¿Salvación de los partidos políticos colombianos? Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes. [ Links ]
Leal, Francisco. 2010. Colombia: elecciones atípicas y perspectivas inciertas, Nueva Sociedad 229, 12. [ Links ]
Pachón, Mónica. 2009. Colombia 2008: Éxitos, peligros y desaciertos de la Política de Seguridad Democrática de la administración Uribe. Revista de Ciencia Política 29 (2): 327-353. [ Links ]
Pachón, Mónica and Matthew Soberg Shugart. 2010. Electoral Reform and the Mirror Image of Inter-Party and Intra-Party Competition: The Adoption of Party Lists in Colombia. Electoral Studies 29 (4): 648-660. [ Links ] ]]>


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Seeking the Best Accommodation Services in Sydney
Hotel services in the modern era have become a good business opportunity. As a result, many hotels have sprouted in this industry and resulted in stiff competition as well. A number of companies have invested heavily in the business with an aim of providing quality services. The modern way of life and conducting activities has also steered the business. Delegates who attend international conferences or seminars make the largest clients to this business. We shall look at some aspects of this business and how best to select the best hotel accommodation services.
The first thing to look at is the employees in any hotel accommodation facility. All the workers have to be properly trained about the hotel management industry. There are a number of institutions devoted to teaching their students these skills. Hotels should also employ qualified people only to work under them. Even after employment, the workers should be educated about the emerging trends in the business. Finally, this industry requires high standards of conduct from all employees at all times.
It is necessary for the leadership of any hotel to make the appropriate decisions at all times. It is also their responsibility to listen to complaints from their junior staff and act accordingly. They are also supposed to respond to their clients issues whenever they are raised in the form of a compliment, complaint or a suggestion. They make decisions about the running of the company, its positioning and the financial matters as well.
Tourism sector in any country also depends heavily on the hotel accommodation sector. Tourist visiting any country consider the hotels they are to spend time in. Issues of security, congestion and quality services are considered. Tourist normally revisit the hotels that they like the services and even tell others about the hotel hence contributing to advertisement and marketing. Any hotel should therefore offer them the best services at any moment.
For any hotel to survive the competition in this industry it has to adopt to modern methods of operation. The most important thing is to use websites to run its operations. Most hotels in Sydney have made use of this initiative. The websites are used to advertise the hotel's facilities, services and the prices for these services. The clients are requested to go through the services and book any that they wish to utilise. Through this platform, clients can book a hotel in Sydney when they are anywhere in the world. This trait as made Savoy hotel very famous. There is also a section the comment section where they leave comments regarding the quality of service offered in any company. The hotels are ranked according to the comments.
Overwhelmed by the Complexity of Resorts? This May Help


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Introduction: Antique Banjo Restoration.
I'll apologize up front for not documenting all the processes in this project to my normal level of detail but I think you'll get the idea of how I did things from what I did document.
A friend from work brought me a 140 year old George Dobson banjo that she inherited. It was in rough shape, over the years the machine heads had been replaced with some odd ducks. The fret inlays had been obscured and lost. The head stock had seen some horrific attempts at restoration to say the least. Some one had thought it was a good idea to paint the fret board. What I did see was enough good things to warrant a complete restoration.
Thanks in advance for viewing and please consider this Instructable for the Shop Bot challenge, I could really use it to bring my inlay work up to the next level.
Step 1: Assessing What Needs to Be Done.
Before any major restoration project you first need to determine if: 1) is it worth it?, 2) what is the scope of the job?, 3) do you have the skills to do it?, and 4) will the client be willing to pay?
For this job I answered these questions with yes, it is a quality instrument with lots of good years left in it. The majority of the work will be on the neck. I was confident it my skill set to take on the task, and yes she was willing to pay the price. So lets look at what needs to happen.
Step 2: The Tear Down.
Time to remove the neck from the body, take the machines off and pull the fret wire.
Step 3: Leveling the Fret Board.
This step in the process is, in my mind, the most difficult. I say that because keeping a true surface is super critical and the job was done totally by hand. Hand sanding is a slow and laborious task and the temptation to reach for a power tool is great, don't do it, I don't care how skilled you are with a power sander, one slip and you are done.
Step 4: Filling the Void.
During the sanding process I knew that I would need to do some surface filling so when I got to the point where I was producing pure ebony dust I was careful to save some. This becomes the coloring and thickening agent for the epoxy. I discovered ebony dust produces a better black than commercial dyes. Who knew?
Step 5: Rebuilding the Head Stock.
I had some issues with the head of the banjo, the holes for the pegs had been drilled out very large at some point and left no bearing surface for the new ones. The ebony veneer had been subjected to what I can only surmise was a heat gun or torch which left charring scars that were ugly as hell. The inlays were shot and the cuts were too deep to sand out. I decided to put a new surface on it that would clean up the look and provide a solid bearing surface for the new and proper machines. For this job I'll use purple heart wood for it's beauty and strength.
Step 6: Stripping the Neck and Fretting.
Ok, here is where I got slack on my documentation, I took no pictures of how I carved and made the new fret markers nor how I re cut the fret slots for the new wire. I made the inlays using a method you can see in my electric guitar Instructable, using a slurry of epoxy and crushed stone. I made star shaped carvings at the fret locations using an exacto knife and filled them with the slurry. Then I simply filed and sanded them flat. You can also see fret wire installation on the electric guitar build or the strum stick build.
Step 7: Dealing With the Frame.
There isn't much to show here. The frame was in excellent shape, just very very dirty. At first I thought it was not original to the neck but upon closer inspection I feel the casting was actually all original. It is very heavy cast iron, and quite rough in places. Either way it was in good shape.
Step 8: And We Are Done.
Again, I didn't document how I made the new bone nut or installed the tuners, you can see examples of both of these processes in my other Instructables on building an electric guitar or strum stick. I was more interested in showing you the restoration process.
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hey, don't know whether or not you still fancy the site. just wanted to say one hell of a restoration good sir.
i actually think the head looks kinda cool with the tuner knobs like that
No, no it doesn't. hahahaha
Ha ha ha... i wish i could play banjo, but ima guitarist
Same here, I do know this thing has an amazing amount of volume.
hmmm, all of the banjos that i have heard were really quiet... so quiet that i had to stop using a pick...


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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to a treatment for patients whose cancers have a specific genetic feature (biomarker). This is the first time the agency has approved a cancer treatment based on a common biomarker rather than the location in the body where the tumor originated.
Mary Crowley Cancer Research has opened a new Phase I clinical trial for advanced Type 1 Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer affecting children, adolescents, and young adults. The first patient has received the investigational therapy and is currently undergoing a response evaluation. Patients with rapidly recurrent Ewing sarcoma have less than a 10% chance of surviving more than five years, and yet no new treatments have been developed in decades. Read Full Story Here.
Pushing Hope: Annual Marine Industry Charity Tournament Raises Over $180,000 for Mary Crowley Cancer Research!
Pushing Hope Marine Industry Charity Events raised over $180k for Mary Crowley Cancer Research through a series of charity events August 18-20 in the greater St. Louis area. Read Full Story Here.
The 17th Annual Southwest Airlines Technology Classic Car Show has raised $21k for Mary Crowley Cancer Research. Read Full Story Here.
The physicians, staff, and patients at Mary Crowley Cancer Research are proud to have collaborated with BioVex to help develop and lead the pivotal Phase II trial of the first-of-its-kind cancer-specific, immune-enhancing herpes virus for patients with melanoma, which was just approved by the FDA. Read Full Story Here.


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Hey sorry but I don't have hardware to test on mac, I tried few tricks to make it works but it fails.
Creator of
Recent community posts
Hello, Actually I fixed all these bugs in mobile version but didn't updated on itch as no one is downloading or the game. After sometime I got busy making another game which I will release in few days most preferably tomorrow. Anyways I will update this version after few days :)
Hello, I requested payouts for my game(True Game Tycoon) approximately 3
months ago via paypal. But I had some issues with paypal so my account
became limited. This issue gets resolved on June 21st but my payout is still in review. Can you please tell me time required to get payments.Thanks.
Hello sorry for late reply, Well sorry but I cant release game right now on mac as I dont have hardware>If you want to play the game then you can also play it on playstore.Thanks
Hi folks,I am offering my game free on itch.io.Few hours ago I got email from itch.io that my paypal id is invalid
Is this is scam email or genuine email?
Hey , When I am designing the game-UI I targeted mobile as a main platform also I want minimum icons to be appear on screen so I made one main menu icon. But I am still improving the game thanks for the feedback:)
Hello guys below is the list of improvement in 2.7. This version is mainly focused on solving bugs and ui improvement.Also performance is optimized.Research points are new addition in the game , Now you need to generate research point before searching for any new technology.
->Huge performance boost.
->Optimize performance.
->Added research point to research new technologies.
->Added Back button.
->Improved Ui.
->Office cost optimize.
->Fixed ui text issues.
->Employee bug fixed.
->Added Game Data.
Hello sorry for the delay new update is available for windows user.
With this update focus points are added in sliders mechanics. For each game you get 60 points to invest in sliders. With addition of focus points you need to carefully distribute slider points.
Goals system will be added in next update also animated tutorial will be added Thanks.
Hey, Actually my pc is not booting up (issues with faulty gpu ) so I am not able to work on the game for few past days.
Hey, Thanks for your suggestions. I will update linux build in 1-2 days to address this issues.
Strange game doesn't require GPU extensively. Has any of the graphics quality options on the launch menu had any effect on lowering the GPU heat? Please send me your output_log on firstname.lastname@example.com
Hello ,In case you want to give game another try then, change the resolution with window then you will see building icon.
Hello True Game Tycoon is now available for linux , but this is experimental version .If you face any issues please post here.Thanks
Hey , Mac version was planned to released yesterday but unfortunately gets skipped for few days .It can be out by tomorrow or will take few more days but In case it gets delayed,I will extend the sale.
Hello ,Right now game have few issues like ui overlapping,missing some texts in newspaper column,better documentation etc.I will fixed them in next updates, Also following things will be added in next update which out tomorrow.
-> Better documentation for sliders.
-> More detailed review.
-> Showing more info about Ai games which affect your game sells.
-> Detail Info about Ai working.
Can you please elaborate bit on the term "bad gameplay" . It will helps me to improve the game
Game is in active development .Ui and interface is not quite good but I am still lookin to improve it . Thanks for testing the game.
Hello,I am an solo developer who has been working on True Game Tycoon for a more than year. I'm super excited to finally make my game available for others to play, and look forward to any feedback.If you loved gamebiz series or gamedev tycoon then You will definitely enjoy the game.
If you have any question about the game or any feature request please post here(:
Hello,I am an solo developer who has been working on True Game Tycoon for a more than year. I'm super excited to finally make my game available for others to play, and look forward to any feedback.If you loved gamebiz series or gamedevtycoon then You will definitely enjoy the game
• Free to play game with mixture of strategic planning and simulation.
• Take on the challenge and discover the best game development strategy and earn as much profit as possible!
• Start your game development studio.
• Expand your gaming empire and Open multiple game studios worldwide !
• Tests your time and resource management skills to manage up to 7 cool video game studios.
• Tonnes of replay value - Random world generated in each play through!
• keep your business strategies updated to compete for your studio against 5 AI studios.
• AI-competition: Ai will compete with the user for supremacy.
• Unique Share market simulator: In share market, company share depends on its performance. Play with strategy and make a profit from a smart investment to push your economy.
•New consoles will generate with time.
• New Research feature will be available with time.
• Stay competitive by investing in research and development of new and better technologies to implement in your games, to achieve high customer ratings and sell more units.
•Read monthly newspaper to decide your strategy according to simulation events.
• More than 80 topics with 25 Sub-genre and 7 Main Genre to make video games.
• Create Expansion packs, DLC or Remaster your old video game.
•Realistic contract bidding system competes against rival companies.
• Investor Simulation: Investors may offer you high-interest loan or percentage of the company it depends on recent company products and reputation.
• Unique fan simulation. Fans are the most valuable asset to any company.
• Analyze various charts and graphs to determine what you should make and decide when to release your games.
• Show your creation at the convention to attract fans and generate hype.
• Train your employee's to help improve their performance and forge the best development team.
• A video game simulator with strategy element.
• Appropriate for all ages


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Scrabble & Words with Friends Word Unscrambler
Definition of Ijtihad
1 Definition of Ijtihad
The definition of ijtihad, the meaning of word Ijtihad
Is ijtihad a scrabble word? Yes!
- n.- the endeavor of a Moslem scholar to derive a rule of divine law from the Koran and Hadith without relying on the views of other scholars; by the end of the 10th century theologians decided that debate on such matters would be closed and Muslim theology and law were frozen
0 Synonym of Ijtihad
Ijtihad is worth 18 points in Words with Friends
There are 7 letters in ijtihad: A D H I I J T


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watch 01:50
The Loop (Games)
Do you like this video?
The scan bolt is an unlockable ammo type for the XBOW.
Battlefield 3Edit
"Scan bolt fires a sonic sound on impact spotting enemies within a 10 meter radius."
— Battlelog description
The Scan Bolt is tipped with a radio emitter that scans for enemies in a 10m radius. Scanned enemies are automatically spotted with a special flashing icon. The radio head inflicts minimal damage, least among the bolt types. Infantry that have been spotted by the bolt can hear a distinctive trill upon its impact. The Scan Bolt is unlocked after completing the assignment It Is Ok To Thank Me.
- The scan bolt is mainly comprised of a T-UGS sensor without its tripod.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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This year, e-Commerce website are set to earn $434 billion in the United States alone. By 2022 it is expected to earn $638 billion. A lot of consumers are going online for their shopping needs, and even more are on their mobiles browsing through the catalogue on their seller's apps.
Indeed, e-Commerce has become the hottest industry now and there are no signs that it will slow down. We can pinpoint exactly when e-Commerce became a profitable business: the rise of mobile devices. Now that anyone can access the Internet on their smartphones and tablets, people can start shopping in the convenience of their homes. And because mobile devices keep improving and adapting to consumer needs, so should your e-Commerce efforts evolve with it.
So here is how you can start your online business and succeed.
Keep consumers interested and engaged
Making a good first impression is vital, especially since there a lot of e-Commerce sites all vying for the customer's attention. One slip up, like a bad domain name or a clunky design, might mean poor conversion rates. This is why you need to be as creative as possible with your website.
First, come up with a domain name that can be remembered easily, maybe limit it to a maximum of two words only. You can also find a domain name in the WHOIS lookup database. Especially if your chosen name has already been taken, you can check when it expires and the contact details of the website owner so you can bid for it.
Next, make sure your website is not cluttered. Navigating your website must be intuitive, meaning customers can understand immediately where they need to go and what button they need to click. Do not be afraid of whitespace, when done right, it will make your website look sophisticated.
Create a mobile-friendly website
Now that your website follows an intuitive and simple layout, it can now be modified even further to a more mobile-friendly template. Most users access the internet through their smartphones, so this is more of a requirement rather than an option.
Optimise content for search engines
There are two main factors involved in optimising your e-Commerce website: content and images.
When writing your product descriptions, make sure these are enticing. Do not just limit yourself to describing what the product is, but explain what makes it different and the benefits from using it. Persuade them to purchase now through different strategies like fear of missing out (FOMO) or exclusivity.
As for images, customers must get a complete picture of what the product looks like and how it is used. So while you have high quality shots of the product from all views, consider posting pictures with models on them. Better yet, you can also add a very short demo reel showing how the product is used in everyday life.
Provide amazing customer experience
According to a study made by Walker Info, good customer experience trumps price and product quality. This means that on all steps in your funnel, the customer must get the best buying experience. You can do this by adding a FAQ page, reduce the loading times by optimising your images (e.g. reducing size), and putting social proof.
Of course, all of these efforts are pointless if the product you are offering does not fulfill what you have promised the customers. Make sure that what you are selling is top-notch, and then execute these strategies for e-Commerce success.


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What makes our dentistry different?
Predictable Fees
Simple, straightforward and no surprises. We make dentistry affordable without ever sacrificing quality.
All-Female Team
There is a different vibe here. Care and compassion guide everything we do and how we do it.
Families Welcome
Kids love it here. And, we make it easy for the entire family to go to the same dentist.
1-stop Convenience
We strive to eliminate the need for referrals by offering a wide array of services in our high-tech office.
Meet Dr. Paige Prather
As a mom, wife and small business owner, I get it. You are busy. At the same time, you want what is best for your family. That is exactly why I left the hustle and bustle of Nashville to create my "perfect" practice here in Franklin. We do not want to be the biggest. We just want to be the best at providing exceptional dentistry in a welcoming, honest environment. I have hand-picked every member of our team. And, my goal is simple. I want us to offer an experience that you can't wait to tell others.
What Our Patients Are Saying
I had a wonderful experience getting my wisdom teeth removed. Dr. Prather and staff were extremely calm and confident which made me feel the same. I'm glad I chose this practice. My husband was so impressed, he made an appointment for himself. I highly recommend this dentist!
Everyone at the office was fantastic. We have had two tongue tie releases done with Dr. Prather. She, as well as the rest of the staff, explained everything and calmed my nerves. I recommend Dr. Prather to everyone I know who is having any difficulty due to a lip or tongue tie.
Dr. Prather and her office staff were absolutely incredible! We took our son to her for tongue and lip ties and we were blown away by our experience. We were taken to our room right away, they were so thorough in their exam and explained what was going to happen in detail. I was a little anxious about the procedure that morning but I was completely comfortable when it was time to hand over my baby for the surgery. They showed us how to do the stretches and made sure we felt prepared to care for him at home. We could not say enough wonderful things about Paige Prather Smile, we would recommend %110!
Top Services
Your Trusted Lip & Tongue Tie Specialist
As a mother of two children—both of whom were born with tethered oral tissue—Dr. Paige gets it. Her ability to add comfort and to provide solutions that change lives is immensely rewarding. It is your story that matters. And, it is your situation that motivates her to constantly look for ways to improve. She knows what it feels like to be in a spot where no one seems to be listening, and she wants to help you move forward. Watch her and Jaxson's story and click the button below to learn more.
The Latest, Greatest Technology
Without a doubt, our team makes your dental experience different. At the same time, it is nice to know each visit incorporates the most advanced dental technology. From our CEREC system that allows us to deliver dental crowns in a single visit to our 3D imaging that allows safer more accurate implant placement, we utilize technology to save you time and money while meeting the highest clinical standards.
We Make Dentistry Affordable
Part of our different approach to dentistry is how we handle our fees. We have done the homework for you by surveying the other practices in Franklin. We know what they charge, and we have set our prices just below the average and we are confident no one offers more value. More importantly, we eliminate the guesswork by providing a list of services and fees before you start treatment. Together, we choose what is best for your smile, and you know exactly what it will cost before we begin. No surprises.


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Mathematical modeling
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A mathematical model is an abstract representation in mathematical language to describe the behavior of real devices and objects (or a system). It can help us to explain and predict the behavior of complex systems, and provide a better strategy to control the development of certain phenomenon. Mathematical models are used particularly in the natural sciences and engineering, but also in the social sciences. Mathematical modeling is indispensable in many applications. It has become widespread especially due to the increasing computation power of digital computer andcomputing methods.
We invite submissions of original articles, opinion papers, or review articles that shed light on new advances on mathematical modeling and/or its application to solve practical problems.
Instruction for Authors:http://www.aimspress.com/news/204.html
Online submission system: http://oeps.aimspress.com/aimsmath/ch/author/login.aspx


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Artist in Residence 2017
APPLICATION DEADLINE March 1st
Seanse – Art Center works to rise the quality in art for children and youth, and for the development of arts program in kindergartens, schools and other social institutions.
Since 2004 SEANSE has accommodated more than 180 art productions and hosted more than 460 artists in residency.
Are you an artist that would like to attend Seanses Art Residency in Volda to work on your art production?
We offer:
Professional Mentors with artistic background and experience with children and youth as target group
Financial support (will cover travel and accommodation)
Fees during stay
Access to equipment (light/sound etc.)
Beneficial facilities to work in, available around the clock
We welcome projects in all stages of development, from concept to post-production. Most common is 1 week, but this year a few projects will get a chance to stay for two weeks.
The collaboration with Volda University College provides SEANSE – Art Center access to excellent competence and facilities for artistic work.
Week 23: June 6-10 (5 days, Monday to Saturday due to holiday)
Week 23 & 24: June 6-16 (10 days)
Week 42: October 16-20 (5 days)
Week 42 & 43: October 16-26 (10 days)
You are welcome to apply, and will find the form here: ApplicationENGLISHSeanse2017
The application can be e-mailed to firstname.lastname@example.com
Questions? Please contact Rita Slotterøy email@example.com (70075414)


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It's already mid-September, and writing about the ubiquitous ultimate Korean coping method against the perennial summer heat, i.e. patbingsu aka shaved ice with stuffs on top (which I had written a lot about) seems like a proper act of trolling. Well, I'm all for trolling, so here we go again.
Let's chat for a bit. If you are a moderately long time resident in this fine city, you would notice that sometimes a food/drink chain would pop outta nowhere. All of a sudden, all over the city, you see that same chain store. Summer is the particular season for that kind of culinary outbreak. I could name a few names here, but let's just stick to patbingsu. Last year we had 옥루몽–that traditional-looking chain resto with wooden decor serving traditional-styled patbingsu with humble red beans and tteok. 옥루몽 was seriously everywhere last summer. Everyone seemed to eat at 옥루몽. I mean, a touch of tradition amid all those fancy twisted patbingsu with strawberries and tiramisu seemed like a recipe for success at the time. Too bad, this summer, 옥루몽 is so last year (and it actually is). The new buzz of da city is the bigger, sleeker 설빙 (sulbing) http://sulbing.com
Okay so patbingsu is basically shaved ice, but the ice here at 설빙 is not really shaved ice. Rather, it is the ice similar to that at 옥루몽 and 호밀밭 (see reviews of them both here). 호밀밭 was the first place in Seoul imho that came up with the idea of fine-like-snow-ice. This kind of exquisite ice, I believe, is more like shaved milk mixed with sweet condensed milk. Anyway, whatever, it tastes great on its own with that mild sweetness and melt-in-your-mouth quality. So, you get the point, the ice at 설빙 is good, on the same par with those two excellent predecessors.
What 설빙 does better, though, is its toppings, ranging from the traditional stuff which is ubiquitous and tastes just okay (7000 KRW)
to the fancier version of black sesame, which leaves your teeth dotted with those fine black substance. Eat at your own risk (8000 KRW, I think)
to the pricier stuff of (frozen) berry patbingsu (9000 KRW)
The menu is basically very, very extensive as they serve not only patbingsu but also porridge, toasts, Korean tea and coffee. For full menu you can check here.
All in all, what I have tried at 설빙 so far are nice and it is one of the places I have no problem coming back. The red bean is finely minced and had the right amount of sweetness. The tteok (my least favorite part of patbingsu) actually is quite addictive with that chewy texture. They also give you a tiny pot of sweet milk to pour over the bingsu. My only gripe is that the patbingsu here are pricier than elsewhere. The size, though, makes up for the price. Two people can share a bowl of bingsu and leave the place full. Personally I think that 3 people sharing the same portion is perfectly fine.
I have been to the 설빙 in Edae and Sinchon. The ice at the Edae branch is a bit watery, while the Sinchon stuff is perfect everytime. Plus, Sinchon brand is located inside a multi story building and 설빙 takes up 3 floors. The decor is nice and relaxing, and the view is quite nice. Recommended.
And of course Korean English always delights me:
설빙 is seriously everywhere in Seoul. I always see a store somewhere. If you hang out at Hongdae, Edae, Sinchon, Myeongdong, Anam, Dongdaemun, Jonggak, Chungmuro, Apgujeong etc. (meaning all the places with a sufficient amount of people) you should see 설빙.
5 thoughts on "[eat] Patbingsu at 설빙 (Sulbing)"
i just chanced upon your blog! gorgeous travel photography – esp those you posted about lisbon! cant wait to check out sulbing on my upcoming seoul trip cos have been seeing it on all the food blogs lately. in your opinion, would a portion of bingsoo be too much for one pax? or is it better suited for sharing? thanks!