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Bath salts. The name sounds innocent enough, like an old-fashioned cure for tired feet. But these days, "bath salts" are far from what you would find in your local soap aisle at the grocery store or day spa. Bath salts are a new type of drug laced with synthetic stimulants, which people use to get high by swallowing, snorting or injecting them. And…they have just been made illegal.
What Are Bath Salts?
Because these drugs are relatively new and for now unregulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), scientists are not exactly sure of the ingredients in each brand. We do know that the chemicals in these bath salts mimic the effects of amphetamines—stimulants like cocaine or meth—such as racing heart, increased blood pressure and body temperature, and even seizures, which have brought many people to emergency rooms across the country.
According to the head of the Louisiana Poison Center, at least 84 people in that state have been hospitalized after getting high from bath salts. Nationwide, more than 4,000 calls about bath salts have come in to poison centers during the first 7 months of 2011—up from 303 calls in all of 2010.
It's too early to tell what the exact short- and long-term effects from abusing bath salts are, but what little we do know so far is alarming enough. Effects can include extreme paranoia, hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts, as well as chest pains, soaring blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat. A number of deaths were reported in people who took the drug, including at least one possible suicide.
Several states, including Hawaii, Louisiana, and Michigan, have introduced laws to ban bath salts. The DEA just announced it will make selling or possessing these chemicals illegal for a year while they study them further. SBB will keep you posted on what they learn. If anyone offers you bath salts as a way to get high, let them know not only are they taking big risks, they are also doing something illegal.
wow thats not good
why don't you people tell the high's from these drugs...you need to have all the facts
it's just so scary because you don't know what will happen next. you don't know what the dealers will offer to make a quick dollar off some stupid kid. This makes you think about how times have changed; at one point bath salts were made to make your skin smooth and feel good. now they're making it to practically kill.
wow, thats really not good
you know when poeple use bath salts they dont actually realize what they are doing to their body. they are killing all of their organs in thier body. any type of drug poeple use, they are killing brain cells. im pretty sure pople dont want to die from making the wrong decision.
Getting a [commercial link removed, per guidelines] DUI could be bad but getting hooked on Bath Salts is worse. If you are crazy enough to take this terrible drug you will be asking for trouble. Living in Maine i have seen people go crazy on this stuff. By the way it is not the "bath salts" at the store. It's a drug that is a derivative of meth. Bad stuff stay away!
that stinks. I have to read this for health class but i hate reading these things because i get so.... uneasy when I hear about these things. Its like, 'wow does everyone abuse drugs? what kind of a place do we live in?' .... ehhhhh.
I was offered this drug recently at a smoke shop as legal and to mix in my drink. Thinking it was legal, I assumed it was not that bad for me. After blacking out from this drug I was sick for 4 days. DO NOT TRY THIS!!
i youst to use bath salt untell now hahahahahahahah [obscenity removed, per guidelines]
last night I got a call from my daughter( she and my friends son were raised very close together, as we were friends so were they) she called to tell me that he had committed suicide, then went on to tell me that he had been using this stuff they call "BATHTUB SALTS" he hung himself. What an awful way to go!
I have to agree I am a recovering addict and I believe these so called bath salts needs to be banned and made illegal!! Not just to protect our children but to help those of us trying to be clean and drug free!!! Thank u
OMG I had no idea! :( but what if they come from a legal store? I brought body lotion and body gel and it came with bath salts. I looked at the ingredients they are not bad but I am still unsure if I should use bath salts. :( they smelled so good..
@Meg What a great question! The "bath salts" discussed on our blog are not the same type that you typically find in your bath and body aisle. As long as you use your bath salts in your bath water and don't ingest, snort or inject them, you'll be fine. Enjoy your bath!
really they use bath salts for drugs?! what next ketchup?
i have to read this in my health class and it's horrible
Are these "bath salts" something that may be in the scented fizzy bath bombs that I use in the tub? If they gave a woman a flesh eating bacteria through a puncture wound, I don't want to know what could happen to my private parts that sit in the bath water! Hopefully this is a different chemical altogether.
this literately aint no joke it changes people
Makes perfect sense, in an imperfect world, that one can obtain such a dangerous product legally in most states, but marijuana is still illegal! Damn shame that prescription drug companies aren't in the business of bathing, otherwise this stuff would never be legal. Time for my shower. With bar soap.
Fortunately, the DEA has used its "emergency authority" to temporarily control the synthetic stimulants sold as "bath salts" while they study whether these chemicals should be made illegal permanently.
I am a teenager, and i'm ashamed to say i'm very educated with this drug. I used bath salts one time, and didn't stop till 13 days after. I went on a binge, and almost killed myself. I didn't sleep, eat, or [expletive deleted] for 13 days straight.. This drug kills the personality in a person, even after the use. Everyday i gotta live with the memories of being so messed up i let people take advantage of me, (physically & emotionally), i have to think about all the things that happened while being under the influence of this drug. I took this drug so many times in one day, even in one hour, that eventually my voice? had disappeared. People couldn't hear words when i spoke. I broke out and had the worst sores, i weighed at 98 lbs before i started using this drug, and after thirteen days, i lost 19 lbs. The come down (when the drug begins to wear off), was the most terrible feeling of depression, loneliness, and hatred of the self that i have ever experienced. To this day, (i am 9 months sober), everyday i am effected in some way from my decisions by using this drug. I was very lucky to survive, the hospital said they don't know how i was still breathing.. This drug ruins a person. It needs to be banned, from anywhere & everywhere, as soon as possible. I am living proof that this drug is more powerful than cocaine, then meth, crack, anything because i've done it all. & Never again will i touch 'bath salts', unless i want to die. This drug, is the devil.
And i also want to correct all the [deleted, per guidelines] above who are questioning as to why people are using bathsalts to get high.. Because this product is NOT bathsalts. It is nowhere close or even relevant to the good smelly salts you put in your bathtub.. The give this drug the name 'bathsalts' in stores, (gas stations, tobacco outlets & so on) so it will be legal to sell and produce. Exactly the same scenario with synthetic weed, if anyone has heard of that. They sell the stuff as 'incense' in stores, just so it can be legally sold. By law, they have to add a 'not for human consumption' label on every package that is produced, or else it will not make it to the shelves in stores. So once again, these bathsalts that are making their way slowly but surely around our children, friends, family, and workers are NOT bathsalts you put in your tub. It is just a false name, so it can be store legal. If anyone has any questions about this drug, i feel like i have very good resources to information, and my experience with it also helps to educate people. [personally identifying information deleted, per guidelines]
@ Experiencedhell:
Thank you for the information and for sharing your personal experiences. It sounds horrible and I am glad you were strong (lucky) enough to get away from it all.
I am learning about all these drugs for my classes and at my age (45) I find myself being so naive about it all. Again, thank you for being brave enough to leave that behind and for sharing with the rest of us.
Wishing you the best..... Love and Light your way :)
I am an alcohol and drug counselor and have probably heard the worst of everything. I had a client who listed every drug she had ever tried, and there were about 40 drugs listed (some I had never even heard of!) But what she told me is what I want everyone reading this to hear: HER EXPERIENCE WITH BATH SALTS WAS WORSE THAN ANY OTHER DRUG she had tried. And believe me, the list was extensive.
just so you people know, they aren't talking about the bath salts you would find at Bath and Body Works. They are drugs that imitate methamphetamine, amphetamine, and other stimulatants. THEY ARE NOT PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.
so when were bath salts discovered or invented? thanx
"Bath salts" is the common name for any of several different synthetic derivatives of cathinone, a central nervous system stimulant. Mephedrone and 3-4 methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) are two of the chemicals commonly found in "bath salts." Bath Salts are a relatively recent problem. NIDA does not have historical information on when these chemicals were invented, but a quick search of the web suggests that Mepedrone was first synthesized in 1929 and MDPV was developed in 1969. We didn't see widespread use until the early 2000s. For more info, see: http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cathinones-bat... and http://www.justice.gov/dea/pr/multimedia-library/publications/drug_of_ab...
i have resently came across a mix of blue and white granules in a dish in my sons room as he has been useing maryuana i am concerned he may have gone onto some thing else can any one enlighten me as to the chemical name of a drug called ICE what it looks like any information possible thank you
Ice is another term for crystal methamphetamine. Check out www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/methamphetamine for more information.
You may want to call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 24-Hour Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for help with your particular situation. They can answer your questions, provide support and – if needed – give you information on treatment services near you.
Dude! this is horrible. Ive Seen pictures in health class ,how bathsalt kills you or you injury yourself. To answer your questions is that bathsalt isnt what you use on your body, duh like what you just read they inject it or swallow.
I used MDPV (a derivitave of salts) for 6 months. I am 31 and had never used any type of drugs before that. I had a wonderful family, home, job, LIFE before this drug. But because it was "legal", I thought it couldn't be too bad. I got hooked easily. After only 6 months, I lost 2 jobs, 2 homes, my child, my relationship, my money, my health, some of my family, my very SOUL to this stuff. But I have to say this. It's not just this drug that will do it to you. Now that I'm in treatment, I've learned that ANY mind-altering substance will give you the same results. So my suggestion is to stay away from ALL of it. I seriously hope though, that they find out more about this drug just so that I knew more of what long-term effects I, and others, might be facing. One day at a time!


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I saw this article in The Guardian and thought it summed up pretty much why we created the Galway African Film Festival! The article was printed on 3rd November 2011 and was written by Hannah Pool.
"Viva Riva!, the award-winning film by Congolese director Djo Tunda Wa Munga, a 'gloriously trashy, fast-paced gangster flick'.
I'm a big fan of North American cinema, and I think it's important to show their film industry plenty of support. My only problem is that once you've seen one or two North American films, you've pretty much seen them all. As a diaspora African I'd much rather watch other Africans on the big screen.
Sound odd? A tad racist, even? Of course it does, and yet that's how many non-Africans think of African cinema.
How is it that stories produced by Africans, be it film, music, or literature, are still considered niche, worthy, or somehow "less" than art created by non-Africans? At best, African cinema is considered "art house", African art is labelled "craft", and African literature must focus on the big three (famine, war or poverty) to be deemed authentic.
Author Chimamanda Adichie called this the danger of the "single story" of Africa: a story of catastrophe in which there was "no possibility of feelings more complex than pity; no possibility of a connection as human equals". If Africa is only ever viewed through a western prism, how can you expect to have anything other than a deeply unbalanced view of a continent of more than 50 countries and 2,000 languages?
Binyavanga Wainaina, whose satirical Granta essay How to Write about Africa went viral a few years ago, says of western films: "Africa is an object, rather than a subject. We are suffering objects or empowering objects or sustainable objects or some kind of objects but we are objects. We don't have anything to say for ourselves."
Today sees the launch of the Film Africa festival, which features 50 films over 10 days and highlights the significance of Africans telling their own stories, and how important it is for others to consume them. "The festival aims to bring alternative Africas and visions of Africa to audiences, to compel viewers to reflect on their own assumptions about this vast, fascinating continent," says its co-director Lindiwe Dovey.
Last year Unesco finally recognised Nigerian cinema, which produces more than 2,000 films a year, as the world's second largest film industry. "Nollywood", worth about $250m, is not as productive as Bollywood, but is making more movies than Hollywood. Bombay Dreams and Slumdog were both considered "crossover" Indian films: isn't it about time African cinema had its own crossover moment?
One of my favourite films of this year is Viva Riva!, a gloriously trashy, fast-paced gangster flick by Congolese director Djo Tunda Wa Munga. It's great entertainment, and a world away from the stereotype of worthy African cinema. It won six African Movie Academy Awards (including best film and best director) and was named best African movie at the MTV movie awards, so why aren't more cinemas showing it? I had to wait years before I saw the beautiful Ethiopian film 13 Months of Sunshine (about a marriage of convenience that goes wrong), and only saw it then because a friend lent me her cherished DVD.
Film Africa will see the UK premier of Koundi And National Thursday, by Cameroonian director Ariane Astrid Atodji, which won best documentary at the African film festival of Tarifa. It looks at a village's attempt to maintain independence. Contrary to the Hollywood version of Africa, this film is about Africans addressing their own poverty without the help of outsiders.
Why do film distributors never come under fire for failing to adequately distribute African cinema? And why is it assumed that white audiences prefer Africa to come with a thinly veiled colonial backdrop, which usually involves a white hero saving a poor downtrodden country from itself? Blood Diamond, anyone?
Africans are now telling their own stories. It's time the rest of the world started consuming them."

subset: commoncrawl


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This course is designed for experienced equipment operators. After successful completion of the course students will receive an Equipment Competent Operator certification card. This course will build competency in several areas of safe operations for a variety of standard heavy equipment used on construction sites including excavators, backhoes, skid steers, and rough terrain forklifts.
There are currently no classes scheduled for this course. Please check back at a later time or contact Workforce Development to see when the course will be offered again.


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Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
No. 6 is a futuristic/dystopia/utopian sci-fi yarn which delves into some nature vs progress areas all the while focusing a lot on two guys relationship. I guess part of the problem was it was somewhat all over the place for me. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be sci-fi, be a relationship show or be a commentary on society. In the end it somewhat lost what little direction it had, IMO. A shame, because I really enjoyed the first few episodes. And yes Dice you MUST watch Mushi-shi, I simply adore that show, Ginko is the bomb!
Tetsujin 28-gao
5-minute shorts
more Katanagatari
Switching gears, Spring looks fucking epic. Shingeki no Kyojin is a must-see, I've read some of Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko and it's quite good
Finished Mushi-shi, and I loved it from start to finish (so much so I bought it the next day!), such a "relaxing" show,lol. Decided to try Toradora and so far I am very happy with the choice and Little Lady and I are watching Honey and Clover as our bedtime show, so far it's pretty enjoyable.


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A building weighing seven million pounds currently appears to be floating in mid-air in Provo City, Utah. The huge exterior walls of the century-old temple rest on 40-foot-high stilts, which make the building appear to be as light as a paper mock-up. The building was damaged in a 2010 fire, and it's now being restored and converted into a Mormon temple by the LDS church.
Historical treasure and a city landmark, the Provo Tabernacle was originally constructed from 1883 to 1898 and has since been used as a gathering place for community meetings and cultural events.
The most famous event was the performance of Handel's Messiah, sung each year at Christmastime.
After the 2010 fire the Church leaders decided to restore the building and convert it into a Mormon temple.
Large excavated area around and beneath the temple walls make it seem like the building has been elevated although it actually hasn't moved at all.
To preserve the most important parts of the Provo Tabernacle, which was destroyed in a fire two years ago, engineers have gutted the interior of the building and dug down to create space for a two story basement.
A concrete wall was then inserted on the inside of the brick to give it more stability and strength. Stilts were ten installed and the crew excavated the soil 40 feet below the tabernacle, clearing room for the construction site currently in full operation.


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Plot 69
Hawthorn Close, Mill Lane, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, OX39 4GD
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Call: 01844 352742
10am-5pm daily
Floor plans
Site plan
This site plan will show you an overview of available, reserved, sold and coming soon homes. Click on any of the coloured dots to view the individual plot availability.
When viewing the interactive siteplan, swipe left to view all plots within this development.
House specification
• Hacker German-manufactured contemporary fitted kitchens in a range of colours*
• Laminate worktops and up-stands*
• Under-cabinet LED lighting
• Stainless steel one and a half bowl sinks with chrome mixer tap
• Gas hob with stainless steel splashback
• Stainless steel single oven
• Stainless steel extractor hood
• Integrated fridge freezer and dishwasher
• Integrated washer dryer to homes without a utility room
• Soft close doors and drawers
* Choices are offered subject to the stage of construction at the time of reservation.
• High quality white sanitary ware accessorised with stylish chrome mixer taps
• Modern WCs with concealed cisterns and chrome flush plate
• Vanity units below basins and shaver socket
• Showers with chrome/glass screens with square overhead shower and handset
• Showers are fitted over baths (where there is no separate shower within the bathroom) with chrome/glass screens
• A choice of European ceramic floor and wall tiles*, full height around bath where shower over and shower enclosures and half height to all other walls where sanitaryware is fitted, all finished with chrome edge trim (cloakrooms feature splashback tiling to the basin)
• Heated chrome towel rails to bathrooms and en-suites
* Choices are offered subject to the stage of construction at the time of reservation.
• Homes painted throughout in white
• Skirting boards, architraves and staircases are painted in a gloss white
• White painted panelled internal doors come with polished chrome ironmongery
• Fitted wardrobes with sliding glass doors are provided to the master bedroom
- Gas fired central heating throughout with radiators and thermostatic controls
- Seven-day electronic programmer with wall-mounted thermostat to each zone
- LED downlights to kitchen, hall, bathroom and en-suite, with pendant lighting elsewhere
- Light switches and sockets in white (kitchen has a socket with USB port for easy charging)
- TV points and provision for multi-room satellite TV in living room, kitchen/dining and all bedrooms
- BT master point
- Dual voltage shaver socket to bathroom and en-suite
- Mains powered smoke alarm for safety
- Carbon monoxide alarm
- Chrome door bell push and mains powered chime set
- Power and light provided within garages
- Electric car charging point provided to most homes
- PVCu windows
- Front door, with door bell and porch lighting
- Lighting to front and rear in chrome, with external waterproof socket to rear patio area
- External tap
- Landscaping will be in accordance with plans approved by the local authority.
- Gardens are all fully laid to lawn at the rear
Help to buy calculator*For more information about this calculator please visit this website *This calculator is provided for guidance only; Nicholas King Homes does not offer mortgage advice. Subject to full affordability checks, you may qualify for a higher equity loan amount from the government. You should take advice from a suitably qualified adviser before agreeing to a mortgage.
Mortgage calculator*For more information about this calculator please visit this website *This is not a formal quotation or a commitment to lend. All figures provided are for illustrative purposes only. Figures provided will be dependent on your financial situation, property value and the size of your deposit or equity.
Stamp duty calculator*This information is for general information and should be confirmed by a conveyancer/legal advisor.
Contact us
Hawthorn Close, Mill Lane, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, OX39 4GD
Email: email@example.com
Call: 01844 352742
10am-5pm daily


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PECR | Seers Article
PECR stands for Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Its complete title is "The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. It was promulgated by the UK Parliament; they implement European Directive 2002/58/EC, which is also known as "the e-privacy Directive". More-specific privacy rights on electronic communications are settled by the e-privacy Directive. It also complements the General Data Protection Regulation.
It has been observed that broad access to digital mobile networks and the internet have brought umpteen possibilities and opportunities for business and users. At the same time, it has also enlarged the privacy risk and cybercrimes.
PECR has altered been many times in the previous years. In 2018, it changed to ban cold-calling of claims management services and to halt the violation of marketing rules. In 2019, the sole purpose of alteration in e-Privacy was to ban cold-calling of pension schemes in certain circumstances. The latest version of PECR launched on 9 January 2019, to cover up the flaws made by GDPR on 25 May 2018. The current status of PECR is, EU is endeavouring to generate a new-e-privacy regulation to replace the old one to sit alongside the GDPR. But the new Regulation is not yet agreed. Please find the link to overlook the amendments that took place in 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2019 on the 'what we do' section of our website.
PECR encourages marketing through an electronic mechanism such as calls, texts, emails, and faxes. E-privacy also sheaths technologies like cookies and the use of cookies. These technologies track information who have the approach and accessing an electronic service or a website. Public electronic communications services' security also comes under the PECR. Customers' privacy by using communication networks or services known as traffic and location data, itemised billing, line identification services, and directory listings.
There are certain rules of PECR which are applied to specific organisations, especially to those who provide electronic communications network or service. But the terms and conditions get changed if you are not a network.
They both perform their functions; however, there is no way PECR gets replaced by GDPR, but it changes the underlying definition of consent. The rules which exist within PECR are being applied but by the GDPR's standard of approval. It indicates that if you send any use of cookies, electronic marketing or similar technologies from 25 May 2018 onwards, you must comply with both PCR and the GDPR.
They both work for the same means, which is to protect the privacy of a person. If your standards are meeting with GDPR then they must meet standards of PECR. Nevertheless, there are specific differences that need to be followed by both of them. No matter you are processing your data, PECR will still apply to this. For example, companies get protected by multiple rules so as individuals. Whereas, marketing rules apply no matter you identify the person (you are in contact) with or not. Being a service or a network provider, you should know the rules and regulations associated with GDPR and PECR. Article 95 of the GDPR expounds, that GDPR does not apply where the PECR regime already exists. It is to shun duplication/replication, and further indicates that being a service or network provider you have to adhere to PECR rules. These rules will apply on, Security and security breaches, traffic data, location data, itemised billing, and line identification services.
The question that arises here is, are there any exemptions that exist? Some of the rules have built-in exemptions, so yes. Moreover, some other general exemptions can be applied to national security, law enforcement or compliance with other law.
PECR Privacy refers to the privacy laws and regulations under the PECR.
Whereby, the PECR itself stands for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations are the short forms to the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
They are derived from European law. They implement European Directive 2002/58/EC, which is also known as the ' e-privacy Directive'. The PECR Privacy entails privacy provisions for data subjects and the organisations collecting data to enhance the privacy of individuals online through the use of better cookie policies, web banners and more. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations include:
|Allows a better assurance of the privacy of the individuals.
|Does not apply to individuals outside of the EU's jurisdiction
|Helps in the provision for a basic guideline to marketers and businesses on what can and can not be done under the law
|Needs understanding and policy enforcement in each organisation
|Limits the scope of unwanted communication
|Allows restriction of communication that an individual chooses not to adhere to
Does compliance audit help?
If you are facilitating your customers with a service whether it is telecom or internet, conduct an inspection of your current security measures. This conduction of audit will remove doubts within you and your security policies by examining your effective policies and procedures and to what extent you are pursuing them. The audit refers to a general view, plays a vital role for many organisations and lastly enhances their understanding and meets their obligations. Inspections are needed when the level of risk increases. As a service provider, if a company selects you and sends you an invitation for audit. Your immediate response will create a good impression. But if you will not retort or any tardiness will encourage them to have an enforced mandatory examination. And then they will have an off-site inspection of your security procedures, policies, and practices. Later on, you will be given a comprehensive report and executive summary. You will be allowed to ask any questions regarding the audit. If in case you find any incomprehensible action of the team or their recommendation.
PECR and ICO's (information commissioner's office) action of enforcement
When anyone tries to breach PECR, ICO immediately takes effect and rescues PECR from an unauthorised person. Those actions include criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement, and audit. For example, anybody gets caught, in that case, the Information Commissioner will issue a monetary penalty notice. It means enforcing a fine of £500,000, which can be issued against an organisation or its directors.
Electric Communications
PECR does not define "electronic communications"; however, with the help of specific concepts and definitions rules are being applied in different ways. There are rules for everyone and everything, whether it is marketing messages, service providers and at last, communication providers. Every law on each aspect is applied and hence working accordingly. Although, the single concept of electronic communications strengthens the regulation. In other words, it can be said that the sharing of information between particular parties by using a phone line or internet connection, including phone calls, faxes, text messages, video messages, emails, and internet messaging. The general information like the content of web pages or broadcast programming is excluded from this.
Public Electronic communications network
The idea of a public electronic communications network first discussed in the section of 151 of the communication Act 2003. It was defined as "an electronic communications network provided wholly or mainly to make electronic communications services available to members of the public". Whereas, in section 32, it was referred in several points,
In section 122(5) of the Data Protection Act 2018, Direct Marketing refers to, "the communication (by whatever means) of advertising or marketing material which is directed to particular individuals". Direct marketing deals with all the aspects of marketing or promotional material, plus it also promotes the aims of non-profit organisations, such as supporting or funding a political party campaigning or charities. Genuine Marketing research cannot be regarded as direct marketing. But here is a condition, if the survey accumulates the details for future marketing campaigns or any promotional material, then this will be called direct marketing with all rules applied.
Phone, fax, email, or electronic mail of any kind, comes under the category of PECR marketing. On the contrary, there are different rules of live calls, automated calls, faxes, and electronic mail. PECR marketing provisions are not applied to other sorts of marketing, named as mailshots or online advertising. It is crucial for you to meet your standards with the Data Protection Act and GDPR. For instance, you are using cookies or other technologies relevant to that, for advertisement, cookies' provisions can apply.
Several rules of PECR are only exercised with unsolicited marketing messages; however, solicited marketing is not restricted. Solicited messages are highly requested; if a person requires some information, you can pass that information to that individual without fretting about PECR. But you have to inquire that individual, by asking for his identity, contact number or contact address. Unlike solicited messages, unsolicited messages are those who are not requested. Conditionally, if a customer yearns to receive marketing from you, it will be regarded as unsolicited marketing. If a Customer chooses "opt-in", that reflects he is agreed to the future messages not as he is asking for a piece of information. As long as PECR is being complied, unsolicited messages can be sent, which is not unlawful.
Staying alert and responsible is imperative, so no matter someone sends information on your behalf, you both are responsible for complying with PECR. You are accountable in this act because those calls or messages are instigating by you. In case of any adversity, you will be taken into enforcement action, along with a specialist subcontractor for deliberately ignoring the rules. Consequently, there should be a written contract representing your contractor's responsibilities, which you can exhibit in times of need. And your contractor will reimburse you for your loss in PECR breaches. Breaching of PECR means a great deal, for instance, despite being innocent your contractor puts you in enforcement action, through this contract you will be able to seek legal advice regarding such an unethical act. Repayment will not help because this will put your name in danger. Having a written contract with your contractor ties in with your contractual obligations under the GDPR.
Business-to-business marketing contains different rules. Individual marketing including sole traders and partnerships and company marketing encompasses different rules and regulations. However, marketing with companies is not that strict. For international marketing campaigns, you should know that many European countries' laws are mostly like ours, based on PECR directives.
On the other hand, if you are messaging countries located outskirts of the UK, then you must adhere to their laws. Some companies have robust regulations in terms of marketing. For further guidance, you have to look forward to some legal advice if you desire to expand the marketing campaign globally.
You must avoid making unsolicited calls, regulations of 21; 21A and 21B have all the stipulations of live marketing calls. Do not call to less interested customers, or who is reluctant to attend your requests. Don't go for any registered number with TPS or CTPS, until and unless an individual has sanctioned to your calls specifically. TPS (Telephone Preference Service) carries those named individuals who are willing to receive live marketing calls. Similarly, CTPS is corporate TPS, which works for companies and other corporate bodies.
When it comes to pension schemes, the condition demands you to be a trustee, manager of a pension scheme or a firm authorized by the financial conduct authority. And the person should be agreed with your call. The regulation number 19 says all about rules on automated calls. It forbids automated marketing calls, mainly created by an automated dialling system having a recorded message in it. Consented General marketing must cover automated calls.
Regulation 20 states everything about Fax Marketing; according to it, one must not send faxes to individuals, sole traders and some partnerships without their permission. Faxes should not be sent to even a company, a corporate body and a number registered with the FPS if they sound reluctant. Make sure your name, complete contact address, and number are mentioned in the faxes. FPS refers to Fax Preference Service, provided only too keen customers. Faxes should just be sent to those who manifest some interest. In spite of the fact, you are permitted to send a fax to corporate bodies, but here, the condition demands that a particular corporate body's number should not be registered on the FPS or your faxes haven't been objected by them in the past. Display B2B fax lists against the FPS. And do not forget, you have your list of "do not fax" of any businesses, especially those who are not agreed or opt-out and also to screen it against FPS.
Electronic mail marketing regime applies when messaging directly via social media for marketing purpose. PECR sets no separate rules for display or banner ads marketing. On the contrary, Cookies have some specific rules, implemented to profile users and target behavioural advertising. You need to comply with the Data Protection Act and the GDPR if using your data. Moreover, PECR does not promote marketing by post, but in case you are targeting individuals, the Data Protection Act and GDPR should comply.
Other than marketing with electronic means, PECR contains the privacy of communications networks' or services customers but also the provisions related to the security of public electronic communications services. A few rules are applied to service providers. However, others involve more widely. Such as, the directories provision implement only those organizations that desire to compile a telephone, fax or an email directory.
The simple answer to this is that the PECR stands for the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. This is a part of the law under the UK legislation. It was proposed by the UK Parliament and then implemented as the European Directive 2002/58/EC, which is also known as "the e-privacy Directive". The Seers tools are great for compliance with the legislation such as the GDPR, CCPA, PECR.
If you are a member of any EU country or operating in the UK then the PECR applies to you. If your visitors or the data subjects that you collect data on or from are from UK or Europe, then as well the PECR will apply to you.
Under the PECR law, the regulations apply to all business to business or B2B operations, as well as all B2C operations. More importantly, it can be summed that the PECR applies to all marketing communication and activity that is undertaken with a sole trader, partnerships, unincorporated trusts, partnerships and foundations and their staff members. Although businesses may show legitimate interest as their legal basis for electronic marketing when b2b is concerned and in that case, the law will be flexible but not completely banished.
Any work emails are not considered as personal information and neither are they supposed to be treated as confidential. However, every employee is subject to their own privacy in terms of their personal life, contact information, work history and performance. The work correspondence, however, can be reviewed, tested and shared in a court of law and is thus not personal.
The data that can not be used to distinguish the exact person or identify a person is not personal information. Anything that is not connected with the identity of a person will not be considered as personal data. The anonymous data is thus not personal.
Under the GDPR, personally identifiable information, or PII, is the kind of data that could be helpful in any way to identify a particular person. This means that this data is unique and not true for everyone. Your personal contact details, body measurements, blood group, bank details etc will not be the same as your brother and so on. The perfect and concise examples of a PII is a full name, Social Security number, driver's license number, bank account number, passport number, and email address.
The personal information or data may be in a written form, visual form or a video form. For example, a person's name, address, bank details, phone number or email address are all personal information. Similarly, the photograph of a person is also personal information. The video recording of the person, even if it is from a CCTV or phone or any recording of events in a public area are all their personal data.
Tags: communication regulations, communications act 2003 summary, data protection act email marketing, data protection act marketing, data protection and marketing, dcms pecr consultation,


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Flagpole is the 2011 Student Academy Award nominated short film written and directed by Matt Kazman, a heartfelt and hilarious film about the universally awkward experience of growing up. Flagpole begins with what starts out as just a typical day for 13-year old Zack, who's getting taunted by his friends, being ridiculed by girls with whom he's afraid to hook up and constantly thinking about Maddy, his long-time crush from afar. But when Zack fantasizes about Maddy during their English class, it precipitates a series of events that eventually leads to the encounter for which he's long been waiting.
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Online Only. Exclusions Apply.
Online Only. Exclusions Apply.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A major art collection looted by the Nazis is on display for the first time. This exhibition tells the tragic story of a pre-eminent art dealer who died fleeing the Nazis and the successful fight by his heirs to win back the paintings.
The show at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, "Reclaimed: Paintings From the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker," features about 40 of the finest paintings from his collection. It runs through Sept. 7.
Goudstikker was the Netherlands' biggest art dealer in the 1930s, influencing the tastes of collectors and museums while entertaining lavishly in his country home and castle.
"This is a kind of time capsule," said Peter Sutton, the museum's executive director. "He broadened their tastes."
But Goudstikker, who was Jewish, was forced to flee Amsterdam with his wife and young son just ahead of the Nazi invasion in May 1940, leaving behind about 1,400 works of art. He died after falling through a trapdoor on an outbound ship.
After the Nazis invaded, about 800 of the works were seized by Hitler's right-hand man, Hermann Goering.
Several hundred of them, mostly by Dutch artists, were returned to the Dutch government after the war. Others, including pieces by van Gogh, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Goya, Rubens, Brueghel, Titian and Tintoretto, remain lost.
His widow was unable to recover the art.
Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's daughter-in-law who lives in Greenwich, began seeking the recovery of the Dutch works in 1996 on behalf of herself and her daughters, Jacques Goudstikkers' grandchildren. The Dutch government agreed in 2006 to return 200 of the paintings worth an estimated $79 million to $110 million, one of the largest restitutions ever.
"I really think the world felt the wrongs had to be put right," von Saher said. "I really learned what the word perseverance stands for."
Some of the works returned to von Saher were auctioned in New York, London and Amsterdam to pay lawyers' fees, fund the curation of the remaining works, and continue the search for lost paintings.
Von Saher said she hopes her case will inspire others to try to recover looted art.
The exhibition includes the first painting of the New World by European master Jan Mostaert and Jan van der Heyden's View of Nyenrode Castle, the country estate that Goudstikker owned and opened to the public each summer in the 1930s. Another painting is Jan Steen's dramatic Sacrifice of Iphigenia of 1671.
The show, which will move to The Jewish Museum in New York next year, also includes a small black book Goudstikker carried that listed most of his collection and helped his heirs prove the paintings belonged to him.
"That was the crucial piece of evidence," Sutton said.
After the war, some of the paintings were sold. "I just want his name to be well known again, just be respected for what he really was ... a fabulous art connoisseur," von Saher said.


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I'm trying to come up with two icons to represent ascending-descending sort order which would allow the user to sort the members ('bars') of a chart/visualization.
The control will be a toggle allowing the user to select one option or the other. I included a few variations, I'm wonder what you think is the most intuitive/clear:
One note, not sure if this relevant or not,potentially could impact the usability of the icons: often the data has more members than the chart can display - for example a bar chart can only fit 20 bars while we have 200 cities in the data. In this case what happens is the 20 biggest/smallest bars are displayed (based on the sort order) and the rest are just averaged and grouped into an 'others' bar.


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Takoma Park is a small shopping center with a metro station, a bank, and the Nifty Thrifty pawnshop. The streets are lined with brownstone style townhouses to the south and high rise apartment buildings to the north. It also provides the only access point to Takoma Industrial.
It can only be reached through the Vernon East/Takoma Park subway tunnels from the Vernon Square East station.
The area is rife with super mutants as well as super mutant overlords if one has Broken Steel added. It is possible to be attacked by Talon Company either at the derelict home or at Takoma Industrial. A super mutant behemoth can be found here near the auto shop.
Points of interestEdit
- The Nifty Thrifty pawnshop has the Takoma Park Little Leaguer cap.
- Heading east past Nifty Thrifty and up the hill towards point (D) there is a junction bearing off to the right past a Pulowski Preservation shelter, inside the shelter, there is an ammunition box. Past this, a semi-trailer lies upon a mound of rubble which blocks this road. In the trailer can be found 3 ammunition boxes and 2 stimpaks.
- Shortly past this junction, towards point (D), there is a mini-camp from which the second wave of super mutants attacks. In the camp there are two ammunition boxes containing 3 or 4 missiles (with Scrounger perk 8 or 9), one of the boxes is an average (lockpick 50%). Two first aid boxes contain a blood pack, bobby pin (2), Rad-X, purified water and stimpaks (2). There is also a bed that you can sleep in.
- The area provides direct access to Takoma Industrial at the north end of the map, through a derelict home (D).
- Southwest of Takoma Industrial, at Takoma Motor auto shop, is a camp for a super mutant behemoth.
- An artillery strike can be triggered by a switch on top of a trailer next to the water tower (C) that can be helpful fighting the behemoth. The artillery strike will have a short cooldown after use.
- Isabella Proud's camp can be found behind Takoma Industrial (A). The only way to access this area is by entering the factory, going up the stairs that are capped by a wooden plank with a skeleton and barrel on it which leads to a door that exits to the roof. Go down the stairs to the path that runs next to the irradiated canal, and cross the canal via the pipes sticking down into the water (one has a ramp), or via the downed antenna tower. Once on the northern side of the canal, go north through the gap between the buildings north of the tent. After reading through Isabella's computer, her alpha male research subject "Samuel" will attack from behind.
- Near Isabella Proud's camp there is an alleyway where, if you jump over some concrete barriers, you can find a Chinese assault rifle, 2 ammunition boxes, a few beers, Pork n' Beans, and RadAway. A skeleton and a campfire (not lit, made out of a tire) can also be found.
- A small super mutant camp can be found directly behind Takoma Industrial (B).
Notable lootEdit
- Upon the first visit, three super mutants will spawn on the other end of the alley. They will head towards the player character, and one of them will be wielding a missile launcher and shooting at the cars even if they have not spotted them.
- There is a rigged baby carriage sitting atop the green car in the middle of the road near the Nifty Thrifty shop. Depending on how it is approached the carriage may be obscured by a barrel also laying atop the car. Hostiles may set off this trap.
- There is an ignitable gas leak near the oven in the derelict house that must be passed through to access Takoma Industrial.
- After clearing Takoma Industrial of all hostiles, walking back to Takoma Park will result in Talon mercs spawning at the house that is passed through, the tent camp, and the base of the hill road.
- After The Waters of Life, an Enclave vertibird will fly by when the player character is near Nifty Thrifty's.
Takoma Park appears only in Fallout 3.
Behind the scenesEdit
Takoma Park is named after the real life city, Takoma Park, Maryland.
- PC Xbox 360 The "dead" wastelander within the Pulowski Preservation shelter blinks, despite his lifelessness. [verified]
- Playstation 3 Xbox 360 Between the two buildings on the southeastern end of the pond by Isabella Proud's camp, the map may be exited. Once in open ground, one can return by running around the outside of the map to the roof of the bank, then dropping down into the street.


text: In my program I have three JButtons. when I click on one of them it generates an Action Event and a procedure is done, then I select a JCheckBox and an Item Event happens, but what is going to be done now is related to the previous event (which JButtons have been clicked previously). my question is that how I can access to the previous event?


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This video was brought to you by AndroidRoot.org. Click Here to See at AndroidRoot.org
For those of you who want to run your favorite apps in Phone mode or Tablet mode (such as Netflix shown above running in tablet mode with a Galaxy S3), scale fonts, keep screen ON, or even change language on "app basis", you can do it easily on "any" rooted Android smartphone or tablet device running Android 4.0.3 or higher. (ICS and Jelly Bean)
(My Nexus 7 running GMail in Phone Mode (normally is in Tablet Mode).
(My Note 2 running GMail in Tablet Mode.)
(My Nexus 7 with font scaled up)
How is that possible?
There's apps called Xposed Framework Installer and Xposed App Settings, which allow you to make this happen just like if you were doing it with a ParanoidAndroid custom ROM.
So, if this is something you might be interested, (perhaps you want to make the fonts bigger on your GMail because you are farsighted, or run Netflix in tablet mode to see more titles on your phone, or maybe even keep your screen on while viewing non-downloadable flash videos on your browser) read on to follow the step-by-step guide.
– rooted Android smartphone or Tablet with Android ICS or higher. (4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2, 4.2.1)
UPDATE: For Android Lollipop, please follow how to install Xposed Installer on Lollipop instead!
Step 1. You will need to download the two apps, Xposed Framework Installer and Xposed App Settings(if you have trouble downloading as an APK file, download from here instead).
First install the Xposed Installer apk file after downloading. You can use ES File Explorer or your favorite file browser to open the file if you have trouble opening it. (Should be in your Download folder).
Step 2. Open Xposed Installer app and hit "Install/Update".
Step 3. Once installed, you will see "app_process" and "XposedBridge.jar" under the active tab. Go ahead and hit "Reboot" to reboot your Android phone or tablet.
Step 4. Once rebooted, install the other Xposed App Settings apk file.
Step 5. Open Xposed Installer again, hit the "Modules" tab and make sure Xposed App Settings is checked ON. Then reboot one more time.
Step 6. Now you can open up Xposed App Settings app, then find your favorite app you want to modify to run in Phone or Tablet mode.
Step 7. First turn the settings to "ON" then change the DPI and Screen values to get tablet mode. You might have to play with these values to get it working fully in tablet mode. Once done setting, hit the "Save" icon at top right.
Step 8. Next open up your app to see if the changes have been committed.
Step 9. You can also change the font size by changing the Font scale.
Step 10. Now, you can see the titles on your GMail better with Tablet Mode.
Step 11. Also you can change the language by changing the "locale" and keep your screen on continously while you use GMail by checking ON "Screen on".
Step 12. Try it on another app like Netflix. I find Netflix default settings hard to navigate as titles are way too big.
Adjust DPI and Screen settings to get Tablet Mode and see more titles!
I am sure you can find more reasons why Xposed App Settings can be more useful for your life. If you find some good ones, don't forget to leave tips to others in the comments line, thanks! And stay high on Android!
Credits – Big shout out to creator of Xposed Framework rovo89 for the awesome work and also ParanoidAndroid Team for coming up with this idea in the first place.
38 Responses
Got it after using, nice…
I dnt understand before….. <3 <3 <3.
Thanks, nice tut.
Any ideas if these apps after installation, take any resources from the phone as a result from running in the background? Or do they modify system files, close app, and that's all for it?
I can't get the Netflix tablet mode to work on my phone. I changed the resolution and the dpi but it doesn't appear to change Netflix at all.
Yeah, can't get mine to change at all
I used it for chrome tablet mode on my note 2 on liquidsmooth rom 😀
The xposed app setting is a zip file. There's no apk anywhere. How do I go about installing from a zip?
Have you installed the Xposed Installer, first things first? Read the instructions clearly and you should not be getting any mistakes, as I have had success with this guide.
Yes. I did. It's just the second file needed wasn't available at the links provided. The file that WAS located at those links was a zip file. Not APK. Anyways I found the right file with a simple Google search and now I have real multi Windows on my phone yeeee!!!!
Your browser is changing the extension while downloading. Just rename the .zip back to .apk and it will work. You can use Root Explorer or another file manager from the play store to rename it or try downloading again with a different browser.
Doesn't work at all. Changing san saving dpi/res/everything as stated here won't do jack to my GMAIL app.
Fuck this guide.
Awesome Very good
I have an issue I have spent hours trying to resolve and I can't seem to find anything similar on the internet.
I have a brand new Google Nexus 7 and I bought it from Amazon UK. As I am on holiday in France I had it sent to France. When I initialised it, it was in France. I downloaded the Amazon Kindle app for it and when that initialised, it was all in French, including the interface, and only displays French books, even though my selected language is English (UK).
Since then, I have tried everything, including using a UK proxy and deleting the app and installing again, it is still in French. I think the Kindle app must be using the country of first initialisation to work out the language, which seems to me to be a pretty stupid piece of programming. Surely it would make more sense just to use the language selected?
Any ideas on how I can change the Kindle App to use English?
Thanks in advance
why doesnt this work on my note 2? i did all the installations correctly and tried to make my gmail into a tablet ui but didnt work even when i killed the app and rebooted, NOTHING!! and i dont want to use paranoid rom to get it either so please dont suggest that lol but seriously HELLLLP!
Thus app is awesome… Now viewing my phone hone from a new angle… Hahahaha thumbs up…
World this work on a nexus 5?
*Would this work on a nexus 5?
Hey there,
i'm trying to run an app (Link Door Manager) in phone mode on a Galaxy Tab 7.
Tried all resolutions but it still is displayed in tablet mode.
What settings should i put to force the app in the phone mode
I'm looking to install the tablet version of spotify just because it has more features (not just UI) than the phone version. They are 2 separate apps. This wouldn't help with that right? Seems like this method just fools a responsive app into displaying it's tablet layout on a mobile etc.
Sorry i didnt see your comment b4 posting mine below…
Maybe deleting the spotify app and redownloading it from the store with this turned on may net the tablet version.
Any idea if this will fool the spotify app? The tablet version and pc version let you pick any album and play any song.
No it will not, but this will
Links should be changed for the installer and the new version looks entirely different then screens shown here.
I came from Paranoid Android 4,3 to a kitkat resurrection remix rom and I seriously missed the possibility to change dpi so I tried this but without luck. It refused to start the installer after reboot
Went back in the installer and hit install/update second time and then all was fine after reboot
why whatsapp is not getting downloaded with nameless 4.4.4 rom on Tab Gt-p7500 3g
Hi, my chinese tablet installs all apps in phone mode by default. How could I change that in order to it installs app in tablet mode? Regards.
no backup found error
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Sunday, 30 December 2007
Revisiting old favourites with a Christmas twist!
There is very little in the cake world more comforting than a slice of sponge with buttercream. Here's the proof:
Plus, it's a good thing to make over an extended holiday period as it keeps very well.
I made a Genoese sponge with buttercream in the shape of a Christmas tree.
This is exactly the same recipe as I used for my nephew's birthday cake back in September. Follow this link for the recipes.
How can you celebrate without biscuits and dipping sauce? Well, the obvious answer is that you can't. So I made those too. The Christmas twist here is that I used star shape cutters of decreasing size to build a biscuit tree. Try not to look at the tins of Weightwatchers soup in the background - the sad and bleak necessity of worshipping at the altar of cake!
Here's my arty aerial shot in homage to the Esther Williams films of the 1940s and 50s (No, I'm not that old but Channel 4 used to show them in the afternoon before Countdown back in my student days so I often saw the last ten minutes or so.)
The biscuits can be decorated however you please, I used piped icing and M&Ms for the baubles. Follow this link for the recipes
I was quite ambitious this time and managed to get my tree to 30cm in height (that's 12 inches or a foot for those of you still working in old money!). We live in a sceptical age so here is photographic evidence - I removed the soup tins in this one!:
This is a sight that will cheer me in the coming months: the Christmas tea table. The santa bowl contains sweetened cream (double cream lightly whipped and sweetened with icing sugar plus a dash of vanilla) and the dish with the little cupcakes dangling from it contains the magical dipping sauce!
One of your 'five a day'
There are only two ingredients: nice plump strawberries and good quality chocolate. I used milk chocolate as my nephew doesn't like plain; I think plain would actually give a better contrast of bitter against the sweet strawberries but no one complained!
I also wanted to show off my mini cupcake stand. These are easily obtained from US sellers, I find KitchenKrafts particularly good but actually purchased mine through a UK seller on Ebay.
What the Caked Crusader chose to bake to this week (30 Dec 2007)
I feel a bit smug about Peter Cincotti, who is sure to become a major star, as I got in pretty much at the start. He released his first album in 2003 when he was barely 20 years old. I remember seeing him live in 2004 at one of the venues at the Royal Festival Hall and being staggered by what an accomplished, relaxed, witty performer he already was.
The latest album is the first one of original material; the prior two contain cover versions from the Great American Songbook. Like Michael Buble, Cincotti is developing into a fine songwriter and, while some of the Amazon reviews seem to criticise him for daring to record original material, only a couple of listens to East of Angel Town show that to be a good decision.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Gingerbread House
I knew that gingerbread homes must be decorated but I was also aware that my eatership on this one would be at the more 'aged' end of the spectrum so it couldn't be too over-the-top as to turn them off it fearing indigestion, or worse.
It's difficult to be specific really about making a gingerbread house as you can make it any size or shape you want and decorate it pretty much how you wish. What I will provide is the basic gingerbread recipe and the icing recipe that will hold the house together.
More experienced gingerbread builders draw their own templates for house panels. I used a tin that had been pre-marked.
I thought the dough was particularly attractive and glossy (yes, I know, I need to get out more....)
I approached it like an IKEA flat pack project – here are the panels:
Anything that required detailed piping work, I thought best to do while I could still lay the panels flat. I am particularly proud of my piped tree!
Assembling the panels is the tricky bit. Don't be afraid to use mugs or pots to rest the panels against whilst the icing is drying:
I'm not sure you'd get a clean survey on this house – the chimney looks a bit wonky!
And here's the finished house from the other side:
Of course, this is a house for eating and it's a tricky task to break into it. Luckily, my nephew's friend, Merf Gustav Mulpeno (for years we thought he was a raccoon, only to discover recently he's actually a ring-tailed lemur) was on hand to do the necessary:
Unfortunately, he then claimed squatters' rights!
For the gingerbread (this quantity made my whole house):
250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tablespoons golden syrup
600g plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
4 teaspoons ground ginger (I confess to putting a lot more in)
For the icing to hold the house together:
454g icing sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6-8 tablespoons warm water
How to make:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/Gas mark 6
- Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan.
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger and then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. If it won't come together add a tiny amount of water.
- Roll out a portion of the dough, between two sheets of baking paper, to about the thickness of two £1 coins and using your template, tin or cutters cut out the house panels. I recommend rolling only part of the dough at a time as it doesn't re-roll that well. If the dough starts drying out and getting stiff it can be revived by a dash of water.
- Whatever method you use for cutting out the panels you need: two side walls, two roof panels and a front and back wall.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until firm and a little dark at the edges.
- Leave to cool and harden up. It is best to make the gingerbread a day or so before assembling the house as you want the gingerbread to firm up and settle so it doesn't crumble in your hands when building.
- To make the icing which will hold the house together put all the ingredients in a mixer and mix until it holds a stiff peak.
- Assemble the house by using the icing as cement. Pipe around the edges of each panel and stick onto a large board.
- When the construction is complete you can decorate however you wish.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.
Things to do with Mincemeat.....
The first is a large mincemeat tart.
We're going to have it for dessert on Christmas day with some lightly whipped sweetened vanilla cream. By not having a pasty lid it gives centre stage to the mincemeat which, until I made this dish, I hadn't realised how beautiful it looks. By having less pastry, it also makes the texture stickier and richer in your mouth. In other words – this is a good thing!
The second idea is at the other end of the size spectrum: mini mincemeat crumble tarts.
If it's possible for baked items to be cute then these are the cutest little things around! I like cakes or tarts that do more than one thing – these are great because you have the pastry case which houses the mincemeat and then top it off with nutty crumble. Is it a cake or a dessert? Should you have it with a cup of tea or after dinner? Any answer is correct.
Here they are fresh from the oven, still in the baking tray:
They look so cute en masse:
And this is just to show off my mini-muffin tree stand. You'll notice I made some mini jam tarts too, to satisfy the mincemeat haters!
Just a quick note on mincemeat. I'm sure you can buy some very nice quality mincemeat but homemade is always best. Mine is made by The CCM (Caked Crusader's Ma) using Delia Smith's recipe. It keeps beautifully and The CCM makes it every other year. This year I have used the mincemeat she made in 2006 and as long as it is kept airtight and cool it will mature wonderfully. If it looks a little dry stir in a tablespoon of brandy to return it to the required glossy state.
Whenever a dish requires sweet shortcrust pastry, unless there is something interesting about the recipe, I always ignore the pastry ingredients and make the sweet rich shortcrust pastry recipe from my Women's Institute cookbook . This pastry is unbeatable – it never fails to be delicious and could not be easier to make or a nicer consistency to work with. Here's the recipe:
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
For the pastry:
115g plain flour
80g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 egg yolk
How to make:
- Put the flour and butter into a bowl and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs – either using your fingertips, a food processor or, as I discovered to my joy, the beater fitting on the Kitchenaid mixer.
- Add the icing sugar and stir in.
- Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together until it is smooth, glossy and soft.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you need to use it – this relaxes the dough and stops the cooked pastry from shrinking.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Do not eat yet – it's raw!
Mincemeat Tart
Double amount of the shortcrust pastry i.e. 230g plain flour, 160g butter etc
Approx 900g good quality mincemeat
1 egg for glazing
Sprinkle of caster sugar
How to make:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6
- Grease a 30cm loose bottomed flan tin. This is a big tart – if you want to, you can make a smaller one but obviously will have pastry left over from the proportion I have recommended.
- Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper. This gets rid of the need to flour the surface and risk drying the pastry out. Lay the pastry in the tin. Keep any spare pastry to one side.
- Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper and weigh down with baking beans, dried lentils – whatever you use.
- Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes. This is called "blind" baking i.e. cooking the pastry shell so it will be crisp when you bake it again with the filling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing the paper and beans.
- Spoon the mincemeat evenly into the pastry shell.
- Use the pastry leftovers to make decorations to sit on the mincemeat. As it's Christmas I used a Christmas tree cutter but a star or holly leaves would be just as pretty.
- Once you have positioned the pastry decorations on the mincemeat, glaze them with beaten egg and a sprinkle of caster sugar.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Mine took 20 minutes.
- Serve with cream, whipped cream, brandy butter, ice cream – the list goes on!
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.
Mini Mincemeat Crumble Tarts
Single amount of the shortcrust pastry
Approx 200g good quality mincemeat
For the crumble topping:
90g Plain flour
40g chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)
40g soft brown sugar
40g Unsalted butter
How to make:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Grease a mini muffin pan . The proportions above will give approx 14 mini tarts. If you don't have a mini muffin pan, use an ordinary size muffin pan – obviously you will get less.
- Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper. This gets rid of the need to flour the surface and risk drying the pastry out. Using an appropriate size cutter, cut out discs of pastry and place in the mini muffin pan.
- Spoon in enough mincemeat so it is level with the pasty – this gives a nice flat surface for the crumble to sit on.
- To make the crumble rub the butter into the flour (this can be done in a processor or Kitchenaid mixer) and then stir in the sugar and nuts.
- Sprinkle the crumble into nice little domes on top of each tart. It will scatter a bit over the tray but don't worry.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the pasty is golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly in the tin before removing, otherwise you risk smashing the pastry to bits!
- To look pretty, when I took the tarts out of the tray, I sat them in mini muffin cases. This makes them easier to pick up and eat.
- Serve just as they are or with a blob of cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.
What the Caked Crusader chose to bake to this week (22 Dec 2007)
If you've had your fill of the more standard Christmas songs - or to put it another way -anything that has been playing in every shop since about September, then try this album and be refreshed!
Saturday, 22 December 2007
The December 2007 Daring Baker Challenge: Yule Log
Here's the log wrapped up tightly in greaseproof paper ready for the fridge overnight. I made the buttercream on the morning of the day it would be served:
Of course, the proof of the log is in the eating and I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of this slice:
Sources: Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert Serves 12. Cake should be stored in a cool, dry place. Leftovers should be refrigerated.
NB. I made a chocolate buttercream instead. This meant I omitted the coffee and rum and replaced by 200g melted chocolate – I used Green & Blacks milk chocolate and it was delicious!
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Multi-Purpose Fruit Cake
My fruit cake will remain nude this year. No one in my family really likes the marzipan and hard icing so why bother with it? Sure, it looks pretty but why slave over something that everyone is going to discretely pick off and discard on their plate? A paper ruffle and a plastic Santa will suffice!
The great thing about this sort of fruit cake is that you can tailor it to your tastes. For instance, if you loathe glacé cherries, omit them – as long as you maintain the overall weight of fruit in this cake it doesn't matter what you choose to put in or leave out. I left out the glacé apricots simply because I didn't have any and increased the amount of raisins, sultanas and currants accordingly. What pleased me with this recipe was the inclusion of dates and prunes – often overlooked in Christmas cakes; as I have a weakness for both they were a most welcome addition!
Here is the mix waiting to go into the tin:
Here is the finished cake - it was a really gloomy day when I took this photo so I needed electric lighting; it seems to have caused some light reflection on the surface for which I apologise.
As this is for Christmas I cannot show you a cut slice yet - I will add a photo of a slice after Christmas. However, by photographing the side and base of the cake, you will get an idea of what it will look like:
Whenever a recipe requires dried fruits to be soaked in alcohol I recommend soaking for as long as possible; my preferred time is 24 hours in advance. I leave the spoon next to the dish and whenever passing stop and give the mix a stir. This seems to work well. Here is all the fruit freshly soaked in brandy glistening like jewels:
Post Christmas update:
The cake has now been cut and eaten so here are some update photos. This is how I served it - very simple indeed!
Here is a cut slice and the cut cake:
250g sultanas
250g raisins
140g chopped seeded prunes
110g currants
125g chopped glacé apricots
110g chopped seeded dates
60g chopped glacé cherries
125ml brandy
250g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
200g brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
4 eggs
225g plain flour
75g self raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
60ml brandy for brushing on the hot cake
How to make:
- The day before you make the cake, place all the fruit (i.e. the first 7 items on the ingredients list) into a large bowl and pour on the brandy. Cover the bowl and, whenever you think of it, give the fruit a stir so it evenly absorbs the brandy.
- Preheat oven to 150°C/fan oven 130°C/300°F/ Gas mark 2 and line either a 19cm square tin or 23cm round tin with greaseproof paper. As the baking time is so long, use two or three layers of paper and make sure that the paper comes up approximately 5cm above the edge of the tin. This protects the cake from burning.
- Beat the butter, lemon rind and sugar in a bowl until well combined.
- Add the honey and beat until combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. By the time you reach the final egg the mix may start to curdle a little but don't worry – nothing bad will happen!
- Stir in the fruit and then stir in the flours and spice.
- Spoon into the cake tin and even the surface.
- Bake for approximately 3 hours or until a skewer comes out cleanly. I'd recommend checking the cake after 2 ½ hours. If the top is colouring too much, put a sheet of baking paper over it. Mine took exactly 3 hours.
- This is where the recipe differs to other fruit cakes you may have made. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, brush on the extra brandy.
- Wrap the cake, still in the tin, tightly in foil. What this does is make the cake extra moist. Leave to cool completely over night.
- The next day, remove the cake from the tin and wrap in fresh greaseproof paper and foil. Keep in an airtight container until you are ready to use.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.
Apple Custard Teacake
I confess to having a bit of a love affair with apple cakes; sponge and apple is such a heavenly combination. This cake is a substantial country cake and everyone who tries it loves it. Little airy-fairy cakes are all well and good but sometimes you want to have a slice of cake and really know you've eaten something.
The slightly unusual ingredient in the sponge part of the cake is custard powder and it adds a robustness to the mix – this isn't an airy batter, this is a solid dense cake mix. It has to be to support the weight of the custard and the apples.
There is another thing I love about making this cake: when you put the clingfilm over the custard to stop a skin forming as it cools you get an incredible touch sensation – it's the most amazingly silky surface that's impossible to resist stroking! Hard to put into words but when you get to that point in the recipe you will realise exactly what I mean!
For the custard:
2 tablespoons custard powder
55g caster sugar
250ml milk (whole or semi skimmed)
20g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
For the cake:
200g unsalted butter, softened
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
185g self raising flour
40g custard powder
2-3 apples, depending on size (I used three small Gala), peeled, cored and thinly sliced
For the cake topping:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Additional caster sugar to sprinkle on the baked cake. I recommend this as it adds to the look
How to make:
- Start by making the custard: combine the custard powder and sugar in a saucepan then, over a medium heat, add the milk.
- Stir all the time until the custard thickens slightly. Do not leave the pan or stop stirring because if the custard thickens and you're not there you'll end up with something like glue!
- As soon as the custard thickens take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
- Press clingfilm on to the top of the custard to stop a skin forming and try to resist wasting about 10 mins stroking the surface of the newly-covered custard! Leave to cool.
- Preheat oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/ Gas mark 5 and line a 22cm round springform tin with greaseproof paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Don't skimp on this stage as I think it is the foundation of success. Take a tiny piece of the mix and place on your tongue. Press it to the roof of your mouth – if it's gritty the mix needs more beating. When it's smooth you can move to the next stage.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time. The mix shouldn't curdle but don't worry if it does as it will correct itself when you add the flour.
- Stir in the flour and custard powder.
- Building the cake in the tin requires care – this isn't a cake where you simply dump the mix in the tin and put in the over. You'll need a knife and spatula and a light touch!
- Spoon half the cake mix into the cake tin and level it. It is a thick batter and you will worry that you don't have enough mix. You do. You just have to be patient and spread it carefully.
- Remove the clingfilm and spoon the custard onto the cake mix in the tin. Be careful not to spread the custard to the edge as you want the top and bottom layers of cake mix to meet and enclose the custard.
- Now the bit that requires patience and care. Spread the remaining cake mix on top of the custard ensuring that as you spread it you don't disturb the custard. Try to skim the surface with your knife so that you only move the mix. It isn't easy but if you're careful you'll manage. My hint is to spoon the mix around the edge and draw it towards the centre – that way you guarantee the custard will be cased in the cake.
- Peel, core and slice the apples. I cut the apple into quarters, and then each quarter into four i.e. an apple yields 16 slices.
- Arrange the apple slices on top of the cake.
- Brush the apples with the melted butter and then sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake in the oven for approx 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took exactly one hour.
- While the cake cools in the tin, sprinkle additional caster sugar on top.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.
What the Caked Crusader chose to bake to this week (15 Dec 2007)
Every track on it is wonderful but the standout for me is "In These Shoes". Forget that comedienne Catherine Tate swiped it and used it as the theme music for her hilarious TV show (yes – the italics are there to indicate sarcasm). It's a terrific song.
Monday, 10 December 2007
BBC Olive magazine
Sunday, 9 December 2007
Tres Leches Cake (Three Milk)
This is not a 'quick make' as the cake requires time to soak up a mixture of milks and cream (hence the name of the cake). When I started basting the cake with the milk/cream solution I was very concerned that it wouldn't absorb all the liquid. After about two hours less than half the liquid had found its way into the cake. Then, as a last resort, I flipped the cake. Voila! A one way ticket to speedy absorption. Therefore, my top tip is when you put the cake into a large tin to pour the milk/cream solution into it, ensure that you turn the cake upside down to how it was baked i.e. so the flattest surface, which was the bottom when baking, is now the top. This limits how much liquid rolls off the top and gives a much better surface for soaking.
When you take it out the oven, the cake will sink a little and shrivel. It was quite odd to see a plump sponge turn into the cake equivalent of a shar pei dog. But once you start soaking it, it plumps up again so fear not!
Here it is looking shar pei like before I flipped it:
And see how it looks flipped with all the liquid absorbed:
The thinking behind the cake is interesting: make a fat free sponge and then soak it in condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream. This gives a rich and moist finish that is out of this world and worth every minute lavished on it. It takes the idea of a rum baba and makes it more dairy focused (which can't be a bad thing – remember we all need calcium for healthy bones!)
It's very hard to describe the taste and texture – it's dense in texture because of the liquid but not heavy. The best I can do is to say it tastes like vanilla ice cream in cake form. If making the meringue with boiling sugar syrup frightens you, this cake would also work with whipped cream.
Boiling the sugar syrup – the temperature's not quite at the required level yet:
For the cake:
6 eggs, separated
230g caster sugar
125ml milk (whole or semi skimmed)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
290g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
395g tin condensed milk
375g tin evaporated milk
300ml single cream
3 tablespoons rum
For the meringue topping:
290g caster sugar
4 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
How to make:
- Preheat oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/ Gas mark 3 and line a 22cm square tin with greaseproof paper.
- Beat the six egg yolks with all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar (put aside for the egg whites) until pale, thick and creamy. Don't skimp on this stage or try to rush.
- Fold in the milk and one teaspoon of the vanilla extract.
- Fold in the flour and baking powder. Put the bowl to one side.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they appear frothy, then add the cream of tartar.
- Resume whisking until the whites start to peak, then add the sugar.
- Continue whisking until you have stiff glossy peaks.
- Stir a spoon of whites into the cake mix to slacken the mix.
- Carefully fold in the rest of the whites until the mix is just combined.
- Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took 45 minutes.
- Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before removing from the tin and letting cool completely on a wire rack. This is when it will go a bit wrinkly looking!
- When completely cool, stand the cake upside down, so what was the bottom is now the flat top, in a larger tin (I used a plastic tray) and using your cake skewer make lots of deep holes in the cake.
- Mix together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream, remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla and rum.
- Ladle a small amount of the milk mix over the cake and leave to absorb. Continue doing this periodically until all is absorbed. This may take several hours.
- Put the now soggy cake into the fridge overnight to let the liquid settle in the cake and mellow.
- The day you want to serve the cake, make the meringue topping.
- Put the sugar with 80ml water into a small saucepan over a high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Let the sugar syrup boil until it reaches 'softball stage'. What this means is a temperature of 240°F or 120°C. If you don't have a sugar thermometer, boil for about 8 minutes and then take a tiny amount of the syrup and drop into a bowl of cool water. The sugar should form a small soft lump.
- While that's happening, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites and continue whisking while doing so.
- Continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and cool to the touch. This took me at least ten minutes. The hot sugar has cooked the egg white resulting in soft meringue.
- Spread the meringue over the top and sides of the cake with a spatula dipped in hot water. This will increase the ease of spreading.
- Refrigerate the cake uncovered until needed.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.


text:
Crash between motorcycle, car kills 1
Motorists asked to avoid part of Racine Avenue
New Berlin police report one person was killed in a crash Friday morning.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to a collision between a motorcycle and a car on Racine Avenue and Mill Creek Trail just before 7 a.m.
Flight For Life responded to the scene and took the driver of the car to Froedtert Hospital
The driver of the motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene.
Friday afternoon, New Berlin police were still asking motorists to avoid the area of Racine Avenue between Lawnsdale Road and National Avenue because their investigation may continue through rush hour.
A second accident was reported on Interstate 43 north of Racine Avenue. Emergency responders are working along the right shoulder in the southbound lanes of traffic.
No lanes were blocked and crews removed a vehicle from the right shoulder embankment around 8 a.m.
DOT cameras showed heavy fog in the area at the time of the crashes.


text:
Claims that babies can read may be deceptive, according to an FCC investigation.
I'm guessing you've seen those commercials where some chatty eleven month old appears to be sight reading simple words at a mile a minute—ball, dog, car, chair—all thanks to a miraculous breakthrough in baby reading that can be yours for three easy payments of $19.99. It's impressive to watch. It's also unsettling to see an infant tearing through flashcards like Paula Dean through a chicken fried steak while your own offspring dribbles Lucky Charms down her bib in an Umizumi induced stupor.
This is the sort of thing that can make a parent feel inadequate. Surely if you love your child and want her to succeed, you'll reach for the phone and order this DVD set right now (operators are standing by). But it turns out that, at best, these miracle reading claims were wildly overblown and now the company that promised your baby could learn to read is going out of business rather than fight in court (read about the Federal Trade Commission complaint here).
We should have seen this coming, some of you probably did, but thousands of people decided to drop a wad of cash in hopes that doing so would make their little one some kind of superstar (and, by association, make them great parents). Purveyors of all things baby/child know two crucial things about us breeders: 1) we all want to give our children the very best and 2) we have no idea what, exactly, that means. We're easy targets. I've been as guilty as anyone and probably will be again—even though I know that the only result our time spent watching baby Baby Einstein is that I can no longer hear Eine Kleine Nachtmusik without singing "I love balloons, I love, I love balloons!" (and a totally unsurprising study from the University of Washington agrees.)
Maybe the problem is that we are used to having all the answers at our disposal. When the entire collected knowledge of humanity can be accessed on your phone while sitting in traffic, it's reasonable to imagine that there's a quick fix to the relentless and confounding issues we face as parents.
On the one hand, of course, this is a sign that we really want to do right by our children. On a less flattering note, it's also a sign that we're lazy—and not just when it comes to parenting. Year after year, sketchy entrepreneurs get rich selling us ridiculous pills and plans to make us thin, systems and seminars that promise to make us rich, ancient herbal remedies for everything that ails us and—in this case—DVDs and books that promise a better, brighter child. We race to embrace these thing because we're desperate to avoid the monotonous, soul-numbing work that each of these goals otherwise demands.
We should know better. There's no gimmick or trick because parenting, like most things in our lives, is about paying attention on a daily basis, listening and responding to needs, adapting and evolving, relentless self-evaluation, diligence, patience and unconditional love. It's an obvious list but, when we're mired in the day to day grind of raising children, who can blame someone for wanting a shortcut?
I hope that the next time some splashy ad makes unbelievable promises, I'll all remember the lesson of the quick-fix reading-baby-sham. But bet I'll forget and fall for the same thing again. If only I'd taken a little more ginko biloba … .
Read more in Education.
Image credit:


text:
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text:
via press release:
truTV Starts Production on New Episodes of
Hit Series Guinness World Records® Unleashed
Series Hosted by Dan Cortese to Return Later This Year
truTV will go into production on brand new episodes of its hit series Guinness World Records® Unleashed on Wednesday, June 19, at the historic Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. Hosted by Dan Cortese (Veronica's Closet, Surviving Suburbia, MTV Sports), the series features daring and fearless record hopefuls as they attempt to secure their place in history by breaking some truly outrageous world records. All new episodes of Guinness World Records Unleashed are set to launch on truTV later this year.
For years, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS have delighted, astonished and amazed readers with its book of incredible achievements. Now in Guinness World Records Unleashed, the curtain is drawn back to reveal what really goes on when the most unbelievable, jaw-dropping records are attempted. Each attempt is evaluated by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS officials, who have the final say over whether a record is broken.
Since the series premiered in February, a total of 42 amazing record attempts were made, with 20 successes, 21 failures and one tie. Among the successes were new records for the Highest shallow dive, Most drink can lids torn off with the teeth in one minute, Most consecutive backflips on a pogo stick, Highest jump into marshmallows, Most eggs crushed with the head in one minute and Most sausages swallowed in one minute.
New episodes of Guinness World Records Unleashed will tackle such records as the Fastest time running through 10 locked and burning doors, Highest bungee jump ending with a dunk of a donut, Longest moving quad bike jump, Most backflips on a water flyboard and Greatest height achieved after being launched from a cannon.
In addition to host Dan Cortese, Guinness World Records Unleashed will feature Stuart Claxton, the show's primary GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator. Liz Smith, also of GWR, and comedian Zach Selwyn (Greek, Battleship) will provide commentary on the action.
Guinness World Records Unleashed premiered on truTV in February as Guinness World Records Gone Wild! The series averaged more than 1.3 million viewers for its first six episodes and ranked as one of ad-supported cable's Top 3 programs in the Thursday 8 p.m. timeslot with key adult and male demos. It was also cable's #1 unscripted entertainment program in the timeslot with men 18-49 and adults 18-34. In addition, the series scored strong, double-digit growth for its timeslot and yielded a median age of only 34, seven years younger than the same time period last year.
Guinness World Records Unleashed is executive-produced by High Noon Entertainment's Jim Berger, Burt Kearns and Fred Birckhead. For GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, Rob Molloy is executive producer. The one-hour series is being produced for truTV by High Noon Entertainment (Tough Love, Cake Boss, Hurricane Hunters).
About High Noon Entertainment
High Noon Entertainment, one of America's largest unscripted production companies, is currently in production on series and development projects for networks including truTV, VH1, TLC, USA, SyFy, Animal Planet, Travel Channel and Discovery, with a slate that includes: TLC's Cake Boss and Next Great Baker, VH1's Tough Love, SyFy's Collection Intervention and HGTV's White Room Challenge. In 2013 High Noon was acquired by ITV.
About Guinness World Records
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (GWR) is the universally recognized global authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS book has gone on to become one of the biggest-selling copyright titles of all time, selling over 2.7 million copies a year. Since its launch nearly 60 years ago over 130 million copies – including 400,000 ebooks – have been sold in 20 languages, in more than 100 countries. The internationally renowned brand is also available across a number of platforms; GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS global television shows are watched by 750 million viewers annually, over 390,000 users subscribe to GWR's two dedicated YouTube channels, the global website receives 12 million viewers annually, and the brand has 1.25 million fans on Facebook. In 2013, OFFICIALLY AMAZING became the registered trademark of Guinness World Records Limited.
Connect with Guinness World Records
Website: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/guinnessworldrecords
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GWRNews
About truTV
truTV, one of cable's fastest growing brands, offers a wildly entertaining look at the real world through outrageous characters, unpredictable situations and irreverent storytelling. Currently seen in 92 million U.S. households, truTV features such popular original series as Hardcore Pawn, Hardcore Pawn: Chicago, Impractical Jokers, Killer Karaoke, Lizard Lick Towing, Upload with Shaquille O'Neal, Guinness World Records Unleashed, Storage Hunters, Operation Repo, Full Throttle Saloon, South Beach Tow and World's Dumbest, as well as the acquired hit Wipeout. In addition, truTV is a partner in airing the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.