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wordpress | Khandan – Britain announced on Saturday, sending more troops to Iraq to bolster the Iraqi armed forces training mission, which is fighting organization “Daash” terrorist.
He said British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, said 30 British soldiers have extra will be deployed to secure the training of logistics operations and the construction of bridges in addition to a specialist doctor.
He said the British minister “This is the time that we have to intensify the training of Iraqi forces at a time when it is for operations in key cities such as Fallujah or Mosul,” speaking of the “crucial role” played by British forces in the fight against the terrorist organization.
The death brings to 300 the number of British deployed in Iraq as part of a training mission.
It is scheduled to spread thirty British soldiers in training camps in Basmajh and Taji near Baghdad. | 2019-04-22T04:02:58Z | https://search4dinar.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/britain-announces-send-more-troops-to-iraq/ | Porn | News | 0.934619 |
google | A set of content items is identified that is relevant to a topic. The communications provided with a plurality of social networking mediums are processed to identify individual communications that reference content items from the set. A score is determined for each of the one or more content items. The score of each of the one or more content items can be based at least in part on a number of instances in which that content item is referenced by the communications of the social networking mediums. A presentation can be provided that identifies a plurality of content items, as well as the score for each of the plurality of content items.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/950,356, filed Nov. 19, 2010; the aforementioned priority application being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Embodiments described herein relate to a system and method for determining online significance of content items and topics using social media.
Social media services are prevalent in a variety of forms. The communications exchanged in social media environments can be analyzed for purpose of determining insight.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system for determining a significance of online content items using social media, according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 2 illustrates a method for determining an online significance of a content item, according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 3 illustrates a method for processing targeted social media to determine trends amongst topics and content items, according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example presentation for displaying scores and information regarding the online significance of content items, according to one or more examples.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example presentation for graphically displaying scores and other information determined from the social media of targeted sources.
FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment in which social media is collected from comments submitted in connection with another content item, according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system upon which embodiments described herein may be implemented.
Embodiments described herein include a system and method for determining real-time metrics that quantify an online significance of content items (e.g., new story or video clip). The determined online significance can be correlated to how popular the content item is amongst an online population of viewers, as well as to trends in the viewership of the content items. Further, some embodiments correlate the online significance of the content to trends or newsworthy significance in the underlying topic of the content item.
Among other benefits, embodiments such as described herein provide a mechanism to enable content publishers to identify topics of interest amongst the general public in real-time (i.e., as the public interest is happening). For content providers in particular (e.g., online magazine publisher, etc.), embodiments facilitate the determination as to what topics of interest are currently trending in interest or awareness amongst an online population. The content provider can also determine what topics are likely of significant interest in a next day or time period. Still further, embodiments enable content providers to track content items published by other content providers, as well as topics covered by other publishers. Such tracking can enable content providers to maintain awareness of what content from other providers is trending or of interest to the public.
Still further, some embodiments enable determination of significance or trends amongst topics that correlate to content items. For example, the identification of a trend in the sharing or viewership of a news article can be correlated to a trend in interest for the topic of the news article. As a case example, an article pertaining to a new functional feature of a product can correlate to popularity for the product if the article shows relative high presence with social media in a given time period.
Additionally, some embodiments recognize that social media from select individuals can be highly relevant for determining significance of online content items or topics in a particular field. In particular, the individuals can be selected based on their expertise, influence, or declared interest or knowledge for a particular topic. The social media from such individuals can be aggregated and used to determine significance of topics or content items.
In some embodiments, a set of content items are identified that are relevant to a topic. The communications provided with a plurality of social media services are processed to identify items of social media that reference content items from the set. A score is determined for each of the one or more content items. The score of each of the one or more content items can be based at least in part on a number of instances in which that content item is referenced by the social media of the social media services. A presentation can be provided that identifies a plurality of content items, as well as a score for each of the plurality of content items that indicates the significance of the content item amongst the online public.
As used herein, “significance,” in the context of content items or topics, reflects the number of times that a content item is viewed, discussed and/or shared. In some implementations, the significance can indicate a trend or rise in sharing/viewing.
“Social media services” can refer to services provided by social networking services, such as FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, REDDIT, DIGG and GOOGLE PLUS, as well as to content sharing sites such as YOUTUBE. In some variations, the “social media services” can also reflect integration of content items originating from persons with published content from publishers. As an example, “social media services” can reflect commentary provided by users in response to articles or video clips. Such commentary can often be made through social networking services such as FACEBOOK. Thus, the significance assigned to a content item or topic can reflect a determination that is relative to other items or topics.
An “item of social media” can refer to communications from individuals in connection with a social media service. As examples, an item of social media can correspond to a post submission, image or video submission, text content to self-post or media submission, text content provided for submissions of other users, comments provided with or in response to content items, ratings, “likes” (or alternative monikers such as “Diggs”), check-ins, and re-postings (e.g., retweets).
Under some embodiments, a set of individuals are identified who are relevant to a particular topic. A set of terms are also identified for the particular topic, where each term can correspond to one of a product identifier, a brand or a corporate entity. Items of social media can be identified that originate from individuals in the set of individuals in one or more social media outlets. The items of social media are processed to determine individual communications that are relevant to at least one term in the set of terms. From the items of social media, one or more terms in the set of terms are determined that are of significance at a particular interval of time (e.g., over the course of a day or series of days, etc.).
One or more embodiments described herein may be implemented using programmatic modules or components. A programmatic module or component may include a program, a subroutine, a portion of a program, or a software component or a hardware component capable of performing one or more stated tasks or functions. As used herein, a module or component can exist on a hardware component independently of other modules or components. Alternatively, a module or component can be a shared element or process of other modules, programs or machines.
Furthermore, one or more embodiments described herein may be implemented through the use of instructions that are executable by one or more processors. These instructions may be carried on a computer-readable medium. Machines shown or described with figures below provide examples of processing resources and computer-readable mediums on which instructions for implementing embodiments of the invention can be carried and/or executed. In particular, the numerous machines shown with embodiments of the invention include processor(s) and various forms of memory for holding data and instructions. Examples of computer-readable mediums include permanent memory storage devices, such as hard drives on personal computers or servers. Other examples of computer storage mediums include portable storage units, such as CD or DVD units, flash or solid state memory (such as carried on many cell phones and consumer electronic devices) and magnetic memory. Computers, terminals, network enabled devices (e.g., mobile devices such as cell phones) are all examples of machines and devices that utilize processors, memory, and instructions stored on computer-readable mediums. Additionally, embodiments may be implemented in the form of computer-programs, or a computer usable carrier medium capable of carrying such a program.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system for determining a significance of online content items using social media, according to one or more embodiments. The system 100 can include components that are implemented as network side resources (e.g., on a server). In variations, select components can be operated on user machines (e.g., machines of customers, including online editors or content providers who wish to see what content items are trending). For example, functionality provided with at least some of the components of system 100 can be implemented on a customer machine, such as in the way of scripts that run on a client browser, or through installation and operation of a client application. In one implementation, system 100 includes a service, operable to communicate with client terminals (e.g., customer terminals that operate web browsers). Accordingly, implementation of system 100 can include use of one or more servers, or other network-side computing environments, such as provided by peer-to-peer networks, etc. In alternative implementations, some or all of the components of system 100 can be implemented on client machines, such as through applications that operate on desktop terminals. For example, a client application may execute to perform the processes described by the various components of system 100.
According to some embodiments, a system 100 includes components that operate to monitor significance of content items published online, such as news articles, blog entries, videos and other content items. In particular, system 100 includes components that operate to analyze social media in order to determine what content items are trending online in popularity, viewership or commentary. Such determinations can be made for a discrete duration of time, such as over the course of an hour, a portion of a day, or a day. Moreover, the determinations can be made in near-real time.
As an addition or alternative, system 100 includes components that operate to identify social media that originates or includes input from individuals who are deemed influential or relevant to a particular topic. The social media of such individuals can be analyzed in order to determine content items and/or topics that are gaining significance in a particular duration of time (e.g., hour, day).
According to some embodiments, system 100 includes one or more social content retrieval components 102, one or more content interfaces 108, an analysis component 110, one or more filters, and a presentation component 130. The social content retrieval components 102 retrieve social media 103 from various sources of social media 90. In some implementations, the social content retrieval components 102 retrieve social media 103 from various sources in bulk, and use a combination of filters to determine when items of social media 103 reference a specific content item or topic, and/or when the social media originates from a particular person. As an addition or alternative, social content retrieval components 102 can target their retrieval of social media to specific sources (e.g., specific posts, feeds or accounts) of social media. Accordingly, system 100 can include filters corresponding to, for example, a content filter 120 and a source filter 124. Other kinds of filters may also be employed. The content filter 120 processes the social media 103 in order to determine items in the social media 103 which pertain to specific topics, as specified by one or more libraries of system 100. The source filter 124 can process the social media 103 to identify specific posters or authors of social media. In addition to content and source filters 120, 124, other kinds of filters may also be used. For example, geographic filters can be used to filter social media based on geographic regions of the sources (e.g., social network users) for social media.
As described in greater detail, system 100 can also utilize libraries that specify information about content items, publishers of social media, business entities, brands or products. The analysis component 110 can process the items of social media 103 to determine information such as content items or topics referenced in the social media 103, as well as metrics for determining the significance of the content items or topics.
In more detail, the social content retrieval components 102 operate to retrieve social media 103 from various social media sources 90. For example, the social content retrieval components 102 can be programmed to retrieve social media 103 from sources such as FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, and/or YOUTUBE. Embodiments further recognize that social media is increasingly integrated in various online context. For example, websites (e.g., news sites) with content can include social commentary that links to social networking sites or accounts of the user. The social media 103 can include (i) postings (e.g., text content authored from posters), (ii) comments, (iii) non-textual feedbacks such as “Likes” or ratings, (iv) tags, such as provided with pictures, video clips or other postings, and (v) images and/or videos. The social content retrieval components 102 can retrieve social media 103 and identify the source, the authors, and the type of social media. The content filter 120 can be used to filter the social media 103 by topic or for presence of content items 105 (e.g., identifiable through links). The source filters 124 can identify the source of the social media (“targeted social media 113”).
The content interfaces 108 can include, for example, programmatic interfaces, agents and/or retrieval components, to receive or retrieve content items 105 from various sources. The content interfaces 108 can retrieve content items 105 from designated sources 95 and libraries 98, such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds originating form a particular website (e.g., company site), video clips on a particular online channel, or news articles under a particular heading. The interfaces 108 may store data that includes information for enabling subsequent references to the individual content items. The information can include an identifier of the content items, as well data that reproduces a content portion of the content item, or alternatively provides access to the content items. As examples, the individual content items 105 can correspond to news articles, RSS feeds, video clips, social media items (e.g., a TWEET) or blog entries.
In some embodiments, the system 100 includes a content item library 112, an entity store 114, a brand store 116, a product store 117, and a social content publisher store 118. In variations, other types of commercial items or assets can be identified for use in with embodiments. For example, separate stores can be maintained for streaming content (e.g., movies, songs), or downloadable digital resources.
With regard to content items, the content interface 108 can access specified sources of content items 105 (e.g., RSS feed from a specific website), to retrieve information sufficient for determining when subsequent reference is made in social media 103 to the retrieved content items. In one implementation, the data stored in the content library 112 can include a content item identifier, and data that includes or provides access to the content portion. More specifically, the content library 112 can include or correspond to, for example, an identifier of the content item 105, and one or more of (i) a copy of the content items, (ii) portions of content items, and/or (iii) links to content items.
The social content publisher store 118 can include identifiers (e.g., names, online monikers, login names) of persons (“person identifiers 148”) who are deemed to be influential for a particular topic (e.g., technology). Additionally, the social content publisher store 118 can include identifiers for persons who have associated biography information that indicates they are knowledgeable or interested in a topic. In one implementation, a social network component 128 can utilize biography information, such as, for example, the information individuals provide in describing themselves on social networking sites. For example, information individuals provide regarding their hobbies or interests can be scanned and correlated to a particular topic. The source filter 124 can use identifiers from the social content publisher store 118 to filter acquisition of social media in order to identify targeted social media originating from specific individuals. In variations, input from the social content publisher store 118 can be used to target the social content retrieval components 102.
In some embodiments, a correlation component 121 can be implemented to correlate the content items 105 with topics, such as products (e.g., see product store 117), brands (e.g., see brand store 116) business entities (e.g., see entity store 114) or assets such as streaming or downloadable content. For example, the correlation component 121 can correlate a news article, a social media post, or a video clip to a specific product, brand and/or business entity based on (i) a source of the content item 105 (e.g., website or RSS feed), and/or (ii) the presence of key words or terms within the body of the content item (or its associated metadata or tags) that are indicators for a particular product, brand or entity. In this way, the determinations made about the online significance of content items 105 can then be correlated to particular topics, such as products, brands or corporate entities.
The analysis component 110 operates to scan social media 103 for identifiers (“item identifier 152”) to content items 105 stored in the content library 112. In one implementation, the social media 103 is parsed to identify links to articles. The links can be compared to those maintained for content items 105 in the content library 112 to determine matching content items. In some implementations, the content library 112 can maintain links to versions or copies or articles, and reference the insertion of links into social media against the list to determine whether the links correspond to news articles or other content items.
Still further, social media 103 can be parsed for indicators of content items, such as text that can be matched to a title, byline, author or summary of a news article (as an example of a content item). As another variation, the social media 103 can be inspected for reference to tags or other metadata that can serve as an identifier to an article or other content item of the content library 112.
As an addition or variation, the comments accompanying content items can be extracted for posts. In cases where posts are made through social media identifiers of persons, the comments accompanying content items can be parsed through, for example, the source filter 124 to identify whether influencers or other individuals for a particular topic have made comments on the content item. In some variations, the social media 103 can be parsed or scanned for key words that are indicative of a product, brand or business entity. For example, the social media 103 can be topiced to content filters 120 which incorporate input from the entity store 114, brand store 116, or product store 117.
As another addition or alternative, the analysis component 110 scans the social media 103 to determine feedback (e.g., “likes” or ratings) for the content item in the social networking environment. Still further, in some variations, comments to content items can be processed. For example, the commentary provided with video clips can be extracted and analyzed.
In one embodiment, the analysis component 110 determines one or more scores for individual content items 105 that are referenced in the social media 103. The analysis component 110 also includes a metric determination 111 which can implement, for example, weights or algorithms to determine scores for the content items 105, based on metrics such as (i) the number of references a content item has in the social media 103, (ii) the number of comments posted for a content item or reference to a content item, and/or (iii) the feedback or rating (e.g., “likes”) that content items receive in the social media context. The metric determination 111 may also account for a duration of time over which metrics for content items are determined (e.g., same day or past days).
In addition to tracking content items in social media 103, one or more embodiments track social media from specific persons (“targeted social media 113”). In an embodiment, the targeted social media 113 can be passed through content filters 120, which can utilize (i) entity terms 144 from, for example, the entity store 114 (e.g., business entities), (ii) brand terms 146 from the brand store 116, and/or (iii) product terms 147 from the product store 117. Terms from the various content filters 120 can be used to filter the targeted social media 113 for media items that are relevant to specific topics. More specifically, the content filter 120 implements, for example, key word or phrase filters, or other criteria, to determine items of the targeted social media 113 which (i) are deemed relevant to a particular topic, (ii) originate from a particular person, and/or (iii) reference a particular content item.
In addition, some social media can be tracked and analyzed based at least in part on the contents of the social media. In one embodiment, social media can be subjected to content filters for terms of topics. The presence of terms (subject to algorithmic determinations) can enable social media items to be correlated to a specific topic. References in items of social media to specific topics can be aggregated to determine, for example, trends in public interest or discourse for the specific topic.
The analysis component 110 can process the targeted social media 113 to determine metrics that score topics on the significance of the corresponding targeted social media 113. In this way, the targeted social media 113 can be used to determine the online significance (e.g., popularity, online discussion, trends, etc.) for topics identified by specific brands, products, and business entities. As such, the targeted social media 113 can serve as an early predictor as to issues that become more significant to the public discussion. For example, the targeted social media 113 can be used to determine when a product is trending in significance, despite lack of company announcements or news. Such discussion can signify, for example, a design flaw or issue with a product that is the topic of discussion and opinion amongst those that are most knowledgeable on the topic.
The presentation component 130 can display results of the analysis component 110 on social media 103, 113. In one implementation, metrics of the analysis component 110 can be used to present graphs or other output (e.g., subject content social data 132) that enables customers or other users of the service to view the results of the analysis component 110.
FIG. 2 illustrates a method for determining an online significance of a content item, according to one or more embodiments. A method such as described with an embodiment of FIG. 2 can be implemented using computing resources, such as provided through a server or combination of computers, in order to make programmatic determinations as to the contents of social media, as well as to how content items are being communicated or discussed through social media. Accordingly, programmatic components can be configured to access and scan social media from numerous sources in order to make real-time determinations as to the extent to which content items are discussed, viewed, or otherwise trending in public awareness. In some embodiments, a method such as described by FIG. 2 may be implemented using, for example, a system such as described with FIG. 1. Accordingly, reference may be made to elements or components of FIG. 1 for purpose of illustrating a suitable component for performing a step or sub-step being described.
According to an embodiment, content items of interest are identified (210). The identification of content items can be made on a periodic or repeated basis, using programmatic resources, such as web crawlers or interfaces for receiving online content publications. In some implementations, the source of the content items is targeted. For example, specific websites can be programmatically accessed for purpose of receiving RSS feeds, or to retrieve content. For some types of content items, replication or republication of the content item can also take place. For example, the same content item can be made available at multiple websites. Links to the location of the content items, as well as links to known or identified copies, can be determined and stored in the content library 112.
Still further, the content items of interest can be further refined based on, for example, topical designations, such as products (212), business entities (214) and brands (216). In such variations, content retrieval may be parsed or otherwise analyzed in order to determine whether topical designations (e.g., product class, specific product) can be assigned based on the content.
Social media can be accessed and processed in order to identify social media items that reference the individual content items of interest (220). In an embodiment, social media corresponding to posts (e.g., text entries and/or image submissions by persons to their respective social network accounts for communication to social network contacts or friends) are processed to identify links that reference one of the content items of interest (222). In variations, social media is processed for other kinds of identifiers of the content item. These can include the title or byline, author, summary, accompanying tags or metadata, image or other information.
Some variations also provide for use of social media in the form of comments that accompany content items (224). Thus, for example, the content items of interest can be periodically scanned for comments by viewers. The comments by viewers can be topiced to scoring or other analysis that provides indication of the online significance of the content item.
Other forms of social media can also be processed (226). For example, check-ins, status updates, feedback (e.g., “likes” or ratings) can be detected and processed, in connection with content items of interest.
As an alternative or variation, system 100 can include components that request social trending information from social media sources 90 for specific content items, such as those provided on a webpage or server. In some embodiments, for example, the request may be sent to the one or more social media servers using one or more third party application programming interfaces (APIs) to communicate with the one or more social media servers. For example, each social media service may include one or more APIs operative to allow third party services to access information from the social media service. These APIs may include any suitable interface and in some embodiments may comprise open source code.
The content items can be scored based on references to the content items in social media (230). The scoring can also be varied based on the type of social media (e.g., type of social media post, comments to post of another, feedback, etc.). The specific weights or formula used to score the content items can vary based on implementations. In some implementations, the scoring is multi-dimensional, so as to comprise multiple scores or scoring components.
In variations, a service may return an aggregated form of the social media trending information. For example, the social media trending information may include an aggregate number of links, comments, shares, or other social media identifiers associated with the content.
In some variations, an aggregate score is determined for the referencing of a content item in social media (232). The aggregate score can be based on a number of instances in which a content item is referenced or noted in social media. The reference contained within the contents of the social media to the content item can, for purpose of aggregation, be in the form of the contents of postings, comments to the postings, and/or feedback to the postings with the original reference.
As an addition or variations, some facets of scoring can be weighted (234). For example, in the context of a social media post that references a content item of interest and which includes comments and feedback (e.g., “likes”), the feedback can be weighted more significantly than comments, which are not necessarily relevant to the initiating post. Still further, weights can be determined based on factors such as the type of social media, the age of the social media item, the social networking platform where the social media was provided, or the authors or submitters of the social media items.
In some variations, a velocity score is determined that takes into account an aggregation score (e.g., weighted or otherwise) over a recent and discrete duration of time (236). In variations, the velocity score can also be based on a comparison of the aggregation scores for the content item (or similar content items) over a longer duration of time. In this way, the velocity score can provide a real-time snapshot as to what content items are significant at a moment, based on, for example, how that content item was previously scored, or how similar content items normally score. In this way, the velocity score enables a real-time determination of content items that are trending at a current and discrete instance in time.
In variations, the content items can be scored based on social media references to topical designations that are deemed relevant to the content items. For example, if one of the content items of interest is a news story about a specific product, then social media references to that specific product may influence the scoring of the content items.
As another example, the score can be a social metric score formula based on a ration of Aggregatehits/Divisor, where Aggregatehits is a variable that represents total number of actions taken by social network participants (e.g., summation of Diggs, Facebook Likes, Facebook shares, Facebook comments, Tweets, etc.), and the Divisor a time duration measured in, for example, seconds.
A presentation can be provided that shows the scoring of at least some of the content items of interest (240). The scoring can reflect the online significance, or trend (in viewership or interest) of the content item. The presentation can provide a near real-time reflection of the viewership or public interest. FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B provide examples of presentations, in accordance with one or more embodiments.
In some embodiments, the scoring for some content items of interest can be correlated to topics (250), such as brands (252), products (254) or business entities (256). For example, content items can be correlated to topical terms, and the scoring of the content items can then be correlated to the topical designations. In this way, the determination of the online significance of content items can be correlated to rends or interest in topics such as products, brands or companies.
FIG. 3 illustrates a method for processing targeted social media to determine trends amongst topics and content items, according to one or more embodiments. A method such as described with an embodiment of FIG. 3 can be implemented using computing resources, such as provided through a server or combination of computers, in order to retrieve or identify targeted social media, and to determine the applicability of targeted social media to topics or content items. Accordingly, programmatic components can access and scan social media from numerous sources in order to make real-time identification of targeted social media, as well as determinations as to the relevance of items of targeted social media to topics and/or content items. In some embodiments, a method such as described by FIG. 3 may be implemented using, for example, a system such as described with FIG. 1. Accordingly, reference may be made to elements or components of FIG. 1 for purpose of illustrating a suitable component for performing a step or sub-step being described.
According to embodiments, a set of individuals (or entities) are determined that are relevant to a specific topic (310). The topic can be defined by an administrator. In some examples, the topic can reflect a product, product class (e.g., laptops or computers, television shows, entertainment), brand or business entity. The individuals can correspond to influencers (312), such as experts, publishers, or other individuals who are deemed to be highly influential for a specific topic. Such influencers can, for example, be manually identified. For example, for topics relating to gaming, the influencers may correspond to bloggers and/or journalists who specialize in gaming.
In addition to influences, one or more embodiments provide for programmatically identifying individuals relevant to a particular topic using biographical information that is made publicly available through social media (314). For example, in many social networking environments, users publish biographical information, listing hobbies, interests or expertise. The fields for such information can be inspected to identify individuals who have interest or expertise in a particular topic.
A library of terms can be identified for a specific topic (320). For example, in the context of topics relating to “technology” or “computing devices”, the library of terms can identify brands (322), products or product classes (324), or entities (326), such as manufacturers. In the context of gaming, the library of terms can call out titles, manufacturers, gaming platforms, etc.
Subsequently, social media of the identified relevant individuals is processed to determine social media items that reference or pertain to a topic term (330). In one embodiment, a collection of social media is filtered for authorship, comments or feedback that relate to individuals that are deemed relevant to the topic. In variations, social media is targeted to particular sources based on their identification as being a person of relevance to a topic. For example, feeds from specific users of a social networking platform can be targeted in order to obtain their social media communications.
In one embodiment, the social media that is filtered or targeted from the various persons (e.g., sources) is topiced to one or more content filters which serve to identify when the items of social media pertain to a particular term in the set of topic terms. Thus, for example, social media can be filtered for topic terms that identify brands, products or manufacturers.
As an addition or variation, the social media from the relevant individuals can also be filtered for identifiers to content items pertaining to the topic, such as articles or reviews for a particular game or product. The identifiers can correspond to, for example, a link to an article, or a title of an article.
In some embodiments, the significance of topic terms are determined based on social media presence (340). The analysis component 110, for example, may aggregate references to specific products or brands from social media of relevant individuals. For example, social media from the relevant persons can be filtered for topical terms, with results of the filtering process being aggregated or used to determine scores or metrics for the social media. These references can be weighted based on, for example, the information known about the social media poster, the recency of the social media, the platform or type of social media, etc. The determination of significance for the topic terms can be made for a particular duration in time, such as a particular day. As such, the determination may be deemed to be real-time.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example presentation 400 for displaying scores and information regarding the online significance of content items, according to one or more examples. In an embodiment, presentation 400 includes a listing of content items 410, which in the example provided, correspond to online articles, such as news stories or blog entries. Other kinds of content items include media clips, such as video clips provided through platforms that enable sharing and/or commentary (e.g., sharing video clips on FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE). According to some embodiments, the content items 410 can be correlated to a specific topic, such as a brand 414, product, or product class. For example, the content items 410 can be determined to originate from a particular source, such as a content feed or website sponsored with the brand. As an alternative or addition, the content items 410 can be analyzed for text content and/or metadata (e.g., tags) in order to determine the topic of the content item, including, for example, relevant brands or products. Each content can include a time element 415 that indicates when the content item was first published.
In the example of FIG. 4, each content item 410 includes multiple scores 412 that indicate the interest in the article amongst users of various social media service. For example, a first score 412 a indicates a metric for the amount of interest shown to each of the depicted content items amongst a social network such as FACEBOOK. Other scores 412 b, 412 c can be provided for other social networking environments (e.g., such as GOOGLE PLUS or TWITTER). An aggregate score 412 d can also be provided, representing an aggregation of scores (weighted or non-weighted) from multiple social media services. A velocity score 412 e can represent a count (aggregate, weighted, etc.) of the number of references to the content items (e.g., postings, re-postings, comments, feedback, etc.) over a recent (or current) discrete interval of time.
In an example shown by FIG. 4, one or more geographic filters 425 can be employed to filter social media items from specific regions, such as countries. In some variations, social media from specific regions can also be referenced against terms that are specific to the corresponding region.
In an embodiment, a list 420 can be generated based on topical identifiers 422, such as brands, identifying (i) a number 424 of content items that are deemed relevant to the topical identifier, and (ii) a score 426 that indicates the social media references or activity for the content items of the individual topical identifiers. The list 420 can utilize correlations between content items and topical identifiers in order to determine a “buzz” pertaining to the particular topical identifier. The “buzz” can represent, for example, the viewership or awareness of content items pertaining to the particular topical identifier. For example, the release of a new product can generate several news articles that discuss the particular product. The references to the various articles in social media provides a basis for determining the “buzz” for the particular product or product brand.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example presentation 500 for graphically displaying scores and other information determined from the social media of targeted sources. In an embodiment, presentation 500 corresponds to a graph 510 that maps a quantity of social media from a designated set of users that are deemed relevant to a particular topic category or genus (e.g., “technology”). Thus, for example, with reference to FIG. 1, the graph 510 can reflect social media that has been subjected to the source filter 124.
The graph 510 is an example of an aggregation presentation. Other forms of aggregation presentations can be used to reflect, for example, a quantity of social media relevant by source (e.g., person), topic, sub-topic and/or type of social media.
As an addition or alternative, the graph 510 may map a quantity of social media 512 that pertains to or references terms associated with a particular topic over a period of time 514 (e.g., over the course of a day). For example, a term set may be defined for “Technology” and social media that is deemed to be about such terms can be counted or scored.
According to an embodiment, the presentation 500 can be filtered by sub-topics 520. In the example provided, the sub-topics 520 can correspond to, for example, products, companies or people. Each sub-topic is associated with a set of persons who are influencers, or otherwise relevant to the topic. As an alternative or variation, each sub-topic is associated with a set of terms, for use in analyzing social media to determine whether items of social media pertain to a particular sub-topic.
As another addition or variation, the sub-topics can identify types of social media 522 that are to be counted in a particular aggregation display. For example, social media of a particular type (e.g., retweets) can be aggregated for a particular topic or sub-topic, providing another metric of significance for the topic. The retweets, for example, can also be aggregated for sources (e.g., persons who retreat).
In the examples of presentations provided by FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the presentations 400, 500 can be provided through, for example, system 100, as described with FIG. 1. For example, the presentations 400, 500 can be generated as output from the presentation component 130 of system 100. In one implementation, each of the presentations 400, 500 can be provided through, for example, a browser that accesses a website of system 100, or through a web-based application that receives content from a network site. For example, customers (e.g., advertisers, online publishers) can subscribe or register with a service of system 100 to receive near real-time updates as to content items that are of the most interest in a particular topic (e.g., technology).
FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment in which social media is collected from comments submitted in connection with another content item, according to one or more embodiments. A content item 610 of presentation 600 can correspond to, for example, a video clip, article, or image. In some implementations, the type of social media used to determine trends in content items can vary based on the type of media. For example, social media for video clips can be in based on the number of comments that the clip received at social networking sources, as well as video publication sources which allow comments. The content item can be published at a publisher site, separate from social network sites. The publisher can enable the content item 610 to receive comments 612 and feedback from persons. In particular, the feedback can include ratings 614 or “likes” 616.
In some embodiments, the comments 612 provided with the content item 610 serve as a social media feed. For example, with reference to an example of FIG. 1, social content retrieval 102 can be configured to scan the publisher site for content items 610 and their respective comments 612 and feedback. In one implementation, comments and feedback can be subjected to, for example, content filter(s) 120, which can scan for references to terms such as identified by the entity store 114, brand store 116 or product store 117. References to such terms can be tabulated and used to determine, for example, the significance of the content item 610, or of the terms referenced in the comments and feedback. In variations, the comments 612 and feedback can be used to determine the significance of the content item 610 itself. For example, the number of comments that the content item 610 receives can tracked, in a manner such as described with an example of FIG. 4.
Numerous variations are possible, including scanning the comments and feedback for comments from persons who are identified in the social content publisher 118 list. Thus, for example, the comments and feedback can be subjected to source filter 124, and the accumulation of such references can be tabulated such as in a manner described with an example of FIG. 5.
As an alternative to social media services, trending information from social media can include information or referrals generated from web based email clients, such as Hotmail® or Gmail®, for example. The information referrals may comprise, in various embodiments, links to content contained within emails sent using the above-referenced services, or any other type of suitable referral or link.
As another alternative or variation, social media scores can be used to connect brands, products or entities to one another. For example, if social media references two products equally amongst a common population of users, an inference can be made that the two products are connected as being similar products, or products that are connected to one another in social media. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/153,376, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes computer-implemented techniques for arranging assets in a structured ontology thus may provide detailed information about the connections between assets.
In some embodiments, social media can also be analyzed for sentiment (e.g., “good”, “bad” or “neutral”). The sentiment values of the social media items (e.g., postings) can be used to, for example, weight how items are deemed to be trending. For example, content items, products, brands, etc. that are referenced in social media with high sentiment scores can also have their trend scores weighted to reflect greater popularity, as compared to content items, products, brands etc. that are referenced with low sentiment scores. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/098,302, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes computer-implemented uses for determining sentiment from content, as well as the application of sentiment analysis. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/433,168, which is also hereby incorporated by reference, describes computer-implemented uses for determining sentiment from content, as well as the application of sentiment analysis to commercially relevant statements made in context such as with social networking sites.
As an alternative to weighting, for example, sentiment analysis can also be used as a criteria to sort content item or other subjects of trend analysis. For example, a most popular category of content items can reflect those content items that are referenced in social media and which return positive sentiment, while a least popular category of content items can reflect those content items that are referenced in social media and which have negative sentiment.
Still further, some embodiments provide for utilizing sentiment as expressed in social media. For example, sentiment values can be determined for individual items of social media. The sentiment values can reflect a “positive” or “negative” sentiment for a subject of a content item (e.g., Facebook post). A sentiment analysis technique can be implemented in which (i) subjects are identified for a particular domain (e.g., for a product or brand); (ii) a word list is predetermined for the domain, where the word list includes terms and expressions that are typically used to convey sentiment in the particular topic or generated category of the subjects; (iii) a predetermined sentiment score can be associated with each entry of the word list; (iv) text content is parsed and analyzed for sentiment scores in accordance with a set of rules and/or algorithm. By way of example, clausal analysis may be used to indentify sentences and clauses in a user's text content. The identification of sentences/clauses provides a mechanism to determine what expressions of user sentiment relate to, for example a particular brand.
In addition to clausal analysis, certain rules may be implemented to determine the relevance or significance of certain terms. For example, a grammatical rule may correspond to one word sentences that use terms of strong sentiment, such as “Fantastic!”. The presence of such sentences may be predetermined by rule for specific treatment as to relevance and context.
In addition to grammatical analysis, proximity of a sentiment term to the subject (or its category) may also reflect the user's sentiment for the subject (e.g., brand or product content item).
A subject-sentiment scoring algorithm is implemented to determine one or more sentiment values that characterize the user sentiment for the subject, or relevant domain specific categories pertaining to the subject. Specifically, various sentiment values are determined at the level of the domain category, by article and/or by author.
A determined sentiment value may reflect the user's overall sentiment, or the user's sentiment for a particular aspect of the subject. A sentiment valuation algorithm, for example, may utilize various parameters and metrics in determining the sentiment value for the subject or subject's domain category. Individual terms of sentiment may, for the given domain, be associated with a sentiment score that can reflect like/dislike and/or other sentiments. A valuation algorithm may, for example, use summation, weights or other formulations in order to determine the score of the user's sentiment for the subject or the domain category of the subject.
Another parameter for determining sentiment includes word pairing. For example, in social media, the sentiment carried by some terms may better be understood and quantified using word pairing. Word pairings correspond to two or more words that appear together, in the same sentence or sufficiently proximate to one another to assume they can be paired. Requirements may be stored as for spacing terms, depending on the particular word and/or domain. Embodiments recognize that social media can use abbreviated sentences, or phrases that lack proper sentence structure. Accordingly, word pairings can be deemed to carry additional weight as to a particular sentiment (e.g., good, bad or neutral). The presence of word pairings in social media can be used as a marker in the analysis of determining the sentiment of the social media for the subject (e.g., brand).
Still further, the word pairing may verify sentiment value for a particular sentiment, rather than separately scored a sentiment. In variations, word pairing can also be used to determine relevancy of a term of sentiment.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system upon which embodiments described herein may be implemented. For example, in the context of FIG. 1, system 100 may be implemented using one or more computer systems such as described by FIG. 7.
In an embodiment, computer system 700 includes processor 704, memory 706 (including non-transitory memory), storage device 710, and communication interface 718. Computer system 700 includes at least one processor 704 for processing information. Computer system 700 also includes a main memory 706, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 704. Main memory 706 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 704. Computer system 700 may also include a read only memory (ROM) or other static storage device for storing static information and instructions for processor 704. A storage device 710, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided for storing information and instructions. The communication interface 718 may enable the computer system 700 to communicate with one or more networks through use of the network link 720 (wireless or wireline).
Computer system 700 can include display 712, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a LCD monitor, and a television set, for displaying information to a user. An input device 714, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to computer system 700 for communicating information and command selections to processor 704. Other non-limiting, illustrative examples of input device 714 include a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 704 and for controlling cursor movement on display 712. While only one input device 714 is depicted in FIG. 7, embodiments may include any number of input devices 714 coupled to computer system 700.
Embodiments described herein are related to the use of computer system 700 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment, those techniques are performed by computer system 700 in response to processor 704 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 706. Such instructions may be read into main memory 706 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage device 710. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 706 causes processor 704 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement embodiments described herein. Thus, embodiments described are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
(d) providing a presentation that identifies a plurality of content items, and the score for each of the plurality of content items.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that one or more topics are trending in interest amongst a population, based at least in part on the score of each of the one or more content items.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more topics correspond to a brand, a product identifier, or a business entity.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) is based on the number of times that the one or more content items are referenced in the processed items of social media over a recent and defined duration of time.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) includes processing items of social media provided with the plurality of social media services substantially in real-time.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more content items correspond to a news link.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more content items correspond to a video clip.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) includes identifying user comments that are submitted to a particular content item.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein (c) includes incorporating the number of comments that are submitted for each of the one or more content items.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) includes determining a number of times an item social media referencing the one or more content items is commented on or liked, and wherein (c) includes incorporating, as part of the score, the number of times that the communication is commented on or liked.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) includes determining a velocity score that is based on the number of instances in which that content item is referenced by the items of social media over a specified duration of time.
determining, based at least in part on the quantity, that the one or more terms in the set of terms are of significance amongst the set of individuals.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the set of individuals includes processing published biographical information from individuals on the one or more social media outlets.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of terms include a list of one or more of a brand, a product identifier or a business entity.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing a graphical presentation of the quantity of the items of social media for the one or more terms.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the quantity of the items of social media include items of social media from different social media services.
17. The method of claim 12, wherein determining that the one or more terms in the set of terms are of significance includes determining that the one or more terms in the set of terms are trending in use amongst one or more social media services.
19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions for determining that one or more topics are trending in interest amongst a population, based at least in part on the score of each of the one or more content items.
20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more topics correspond to a brand, a product identifier, or an entity. | 2019-04-22T07:22:09Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US20130198204A1/en | Porn | Computers | 0.209511 |
wordpress | Millard Fillmore’s life was shaped by the women he loved. His first wife, Abigail Powers, probably was the chief spur for his drive which took him to the presidency. In the White House, she stood for education and improvement of American culture — she founded the White House Library in 1851. A remarkable woman you should know more about.
Short bio of Abigail Powers Fillmore, and her tragic death, at LynnSpirit. Several other women are profiled — few you’ve heard of, most you should know.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 8:41 pm and is filed under Education, History, Millard Fillmore, White House, Women's rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Between the two of us, with massive assists from other bloggers, we might keep up.
I just stumbled into the date, and the piece on Abigail Fillmore. Dumb luck.
I missed another one! Glad you remembered. | 2019-04-19T04:40:19Z | https://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/abigail-powers-fillmore-womens-history-month/?shared=email&msg=fail | Porn | News | 0.314057 |
wordpress | Song Lyric Sunday : Drink – I came I saw …I am a conker!
I came I saw …I am a conker!
Absolutely love this as it is sheer poetry put to words and the listener is encouraged to join in with a jaunty little ditty until after a while it becomes clear that the story (Squeeze always like to actually tell a story with their lyrics) is actually about a tragic figure shunned by the neighbours who started life full of hope, fell in love and through a series of events which gradually unfurl she becomes a hopeless drunk, alone and with just memories of what could have been.
Hi Darren, Thank you. I am sure I will enjoy meeting everyone. Struggling with a few technical issues but hopefully will get there before the next Song Lyric Sunday comes around!
I’m no wizard with these things Liz but if I can help please shout out.
Great song and welcome aboard!
Great music. I’ve heard this many times but not really listened before. Thanks for telling us the sad tale. Welcome to SLS and WP Liz.
Thank you so much Pete – just getting to grips with this so apologies for delayed response – every time I attempted to log in i apparently did not exsist…. might have just figured out why my teenagers keep ignoring me! | 2019-04-25T02:55:21Z | https://icameisaw540996625.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/song-lyric-sunday-drink/ | Porn | Arts | 0.631358 |
typepad | My own thoughts for solutions to the problems posed by automatic weapons involve two simple elements, implementable tomorrow in one case, in a half-year in the other.
(1) You create a 'no-buy' list something like the no-fly list, which you can end up at the drop of a hat. It;s a simple, one-click database, available to any gun dealer. A psychiatrist's warning, commitment, expulsion from school, dishonorable discharge, felony (of course), accessing suspect websites (Islamic, White supremacy, Black nationalism, etc.) - almost anything gets you on it, accept an anonymous tip - that's too much. If you feel it's unfair, you can have a hearing, a la no-fly. This gets some resistance from the NRA, but not that much, as it is already committed to back-ground checks. The real resistance comes from the Luddite/Snowden admirers, because this does involve utilization of ALL the public information available.
(2) The second is to treat these weapons as potential public nuisances, subject to civil abatement with cause. As with anything dangerous, the State can require a purchaser to take safety classes, pass a test, and so on. Since the NRA would love to conduct such classes, there is a silver lining for it. The requirement forces a buyer to socialize to some extent with other owners; it also requires the owner to meet with someone with authority and background. (Most of these guys are extremely anti-social - forcing them into class draws that out.) If you fail the test or course, you lose your right to own an automatic weapon, and it's confiscated.
Also, buy more than one of these things and the household is subject to a civic inspection for certainty that it is in compliance with all safety requirements - including no members of the household on the 'no buy' list. You may be fine and upright, but if you want to house dangerous weapons in the same residence as your creepy son . . . no way.
This change may seem like a big deal, but it's not. There is such a thing as an administrative warrant, which is what the State uses to insure compliance with building codes, health regulations, and the like. When I installed a heat pump in place of my gas heating, a building inspector showed up to be sure it was in compliance. Had I refused him entrance, he could have obtained a warrant to make the inspection. It's that sort of thing. Society is not required to trust the good faith with respect to the safety of dangerous weapons, to some nutty mother with her malignant autistic son in the same house. You don't have to with poisonous reptiles and you don't have to with arsenals. We can require an arsenal holder to insure that the weapons are safely stored, require inspection to be sure, and abate the nuisance - require removal - if they are not.
Those two measures would ha e prevented EVERY one of these mass killings except one (Las Vegas, where the killer took extraordinary measures to fly under radar). These crimes are all committed by social misfits, loners, outsiders, or morbid kids. They are all committed with spanking new weapons, since none of the perpetrators has the social skills to locate an underground dealer and very rarely the mechanical skills to fix up a second-hand weapon. (Besides, who wants to trust your moment of glory to some schlock piece of weaponry?) Since these are all exercises in self glorification, there is almost always a public expression of hostility, enough to get you on a no-buy list.
The first of my thoughts is a no-brainer. The second would require some politicking, until the analogy to building codes, people who own dangerous pets, and so on is made clear. Throwing the NRA a carrot doesn't hurt. Both accept the on-going sales and legitimacy of assault weapons, which I don't like, but which is another carrot. Both seem to me achievable. Both are in the spirit of Atul Gawande's marvellous book 'Better' - not to look for a complete solution at this time, but simply means and methods of bettering it.
This is what might be accomplished if we talked of the issue in calm voices as a problem with solutions. What we prefer, however, is to damn gun owners as redneck racist cretins, indifferent to mass murder - which inevitably brings counter accusations of gungrabber and cultural elitist. It is amazing to me that people who use these tragedies as opportunities to emphasize their own smug moral superiority do not realize that they are not contributing anything to solving the problem.
In fact, they may be the problem.
It might be useful to step back for a second at the world as it existed in 1776, to realize how important Washington, Jefferson, and the nation they founded are to the entire human race.
On January 1, 1776, slave holding was not a detestable, morally condemned practice. It was universal. The major European colonial powers, Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands all practiced slavery. Great Britain and France both had colonies in the West Indies, the most vicious living conditions on earth. The British practices in India and Australia (aborigines) were an abomination. The great gold and silver mines that had made Spain the most powerful nation in Europe were largely played out, but native Indian slavery persisted. The Dutch don't say too much about it these days, but slavery was practiced in Indonesia for two centuries and involved over a million individuals. There is also South Africa and the first African colonies.
You could lay this off to European racism, but the dark continent of Africa was hardly an island of liberation. It's a historical cliche that most of the slaves brought to the New World were enslaved in Africa - the 'Roots' scenario is an exception if it existed at all. (It's a lot easier to buy anything than take it by force.) There's a real sense in which the class issue that some of us these days think is so much more important than race, was already in play here. Lower class Africans were a commodity that Upper Class Blacks sold to Upper Class Southerners. The common factor is Upper Class. In that sense, though African-Americans clearly have the worst narrative of all, it is the same narrative that Emma Lazarus described - another instance of a poor, tired huddled mass escaping the oppression of traditional rulers. The thought that this nation of slaves, peasants, serfs, and coolies, the refuse of five Continents, has become the most powerful on earth, gives me great pleasure. I wish more intellectual elites saw it that way.
Going further east in Europe, you encounter imperial Russia, where serfdom was still the order of the day and would be for another 90 years. Anyone who wishes to argue that the Tsardom of Catherine the Great was more liberal that Great Britain at the time is welcome to do so. I'm not even going to bother answering.
Dipping South you come to the Ottoman Empire, in steep decline, but still with 150 years of life. I don't know whether the Sultanate was still drowning odalisques, but slavery was still ensconced there and around the shores of the Mediterranean. Thirty years later US Marines would storm the shores of Tripoli to end the practice of kidnap and ransom/or enslavement.
Move further east and you encounter the remnants of the Mongol empires. Slavery was the least of the sickening practices of the most vicious aggressors in the last millennium. Time sentimentalizes everything, and there is now contemporary affection for good ol' Genghis Khan. Maybe in 500 years it'll truly be Springtime for Hitler. But the people of the time thought of fearsome mounted men with whips, casual cruelty and slaughter, and wholesale enslavement of cities and regions.
India, Indonesia, and the like may have suffered from European practices, but they also practiced it themselves.
On to China and Japan and an outlook for coolies and peasants (who could be murdered at the whim of a Samurai) that was as akin to slavery as makes no difference. What serfs, coolies, Asian peasants, and slaves all had in common was that they lived and worked without hope. Their children and grandchildren could expect no better.
In short, slavery was a universal. You either owned slaves or were a slave or participated indirectly in the practice by the goods you bought or sold or the profession you practiced. Slavery was sanctioned in religious texts of every major religion, in ancient poetry (e.g., the Homeric epics), in historical precedent (e.g., Rome, Greece - Israel), and codified into ancient law. There were isolated voices that protested, and certainly some philosophical themes. But they were isolated and not widely heard, certainly not by men and women making a practical way through the world.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were thus not exceptional men who practiced exceptional evil. They were men who lived in the times as they were. If you want to demonize them, you can demonize 99% of the human beings who have ever lived - because the culture of slavery and oppression was the dominant, in fact, the only culture that humankind had managed to create in recorded history. Pretty scary, actually.
I'm 71. I've lived through multiple versions of American history, including a long overdue revisionism of the 'Lost Cause' myth of the Civil War. I lived through the 60's and Amerika. I'm fully aware of the almost toxic cynicism about American purposes that infects the teaching of American history these days. I believe I'm fully rational.
It is thus with absolute cold blood I opine that the Declaration of Independence is the single most important political document ever written - and George Washington the single most important man of the last millennia.
The easy egalitarianism we take for granted today, the freedom that too many human beings believe is the default state of human existence - none of this existed before Jefferson took pen to paper, to insist that a nation could be founded on these principles. Even at that, they are only a statement of lofty ideals, perhaps unworkable in real life, until someone proves that you actually can make a nation work. Washington above all, the Indispensable Man, proved out the practice.
The French Revolution, thirteen years later, produced all sorts of flowery sentiments. But for the next century, beginning with Talleyrand and Metternich, European reactionaries reminded true liberals that all that the energy had produced was Napoleon. That was the rationale for steadfast resistance to popular government. Later the Russian Revolution devolved to the same sort of totalitarianism, and all sorts of greater and lesser social movements in between. Perhaps there is some sort of cultural defect, perhaps a quirk in theory. But mostly . . .
. . . none of them had a personality like Washington, simultaneously a fervent believer in the Jeffersonian principles and basic moderation, who conducted himself in the Revolutionary War and in the initial two Presidential terms with an almost unnatural wisdom. For that reason, Metternich and other monarchists could prate as cynically as they liked about the inevitable decay and destruction of movements headed by the common man. But there was always that nation across the sea, that -despite all its problems and inconsistencies - WAS succeeding on those terms, and indeed expanding them, though not without the cost of a great Civil War. There was always that damned City on the Hill, a counterpoint to European monarchists - and, yes, I think City on the Hill is also a description drenched in ice-cold realism.
No one escapes his own times, and Washington and Jefferson were creatures of those times. They were slaveholders. But they were slaveholders at a time when it was the universal practice of mankind. What matters is not that they were men of their times, but that collectively they changed them. One created the intellectual machinery that transformed the world, the other proved that it was workable.
So, yeah, I think we should leave the statues up. Hell, we might even name the nation's capital after one of them. | 2019-04-25T02:40:19Z | https://grealistink.typepad.com/wordplay_language_politic/2018/02/index.html | Porn | Health | 0.151318 |
tripod | DECK: EARTH-MELD/PSYCHE MULTIPLE RUSH DECK.
This is Philippe Richer's idea, and a VERY clever one in my opinion.
strike combat ends, untap, then Psyche. Do it again. FUN! | 2019-04-21T06:13:31Z | http://legbiter.tripod.com/decks/multi.htm | Porn | Games | 0.938645 |
wordpress | The Troubled Families Programme is one of the coalition government’s highest profile social policies, aiming to ‘turn around’ the lives of 120,000 of the most ‘troubled families’ in England. Recently expanded to include 400,000 more families, the programme has been heralded as a success and as a new way of working which meets both the needs of the families involved and ‘the taxpayer’, keen to see spending on such families reduced.
The first part will explore issues of class and how they intersect with the development of the Troubled Families Programme; the second part will locate the concept of ‘troubled families’ within wider sociological research and analysis, including consideration of structural issues and media representations; the final part of the workshop will allow for discussion, responses and feedback from audience members, with a view to influencing what might happen both at, and following, the final workshop in London in April. | 2019-04-20T12:42:37Z | https://akindoftrouble.wordpress.com/tag/workshop/ | Porn | Society | 0.74805 |
wordpress | maggio | 2014 | .::WoW Skins::.
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Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY EVERYONE!
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wordpress | Just two weeks ago today, we hid behind our sofas, held our hands over our eyes and peeped through our fingers at our television screens in homes all over the UK, as the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony began. We crossed our fingers and toes and hoped that Danny Boyle would enchant us with some improbable magic. Deep down inside, we feared that his enchanting film of 2008, Slumdog Millionaire was an award-winning fluke. As we looked out at our overcrowded public transport, closing down high streets, gridlocked traffic and murky grey skies, we braced ourselves for a cheesy rose-tinted view over our fabled green rolling hills.
Then, something beyond magic happened. A seemingly haphazard montage of utter mayhem exploded into a beautifully lit stadium. The stadium we still hadn’t come to terms with actually finishing on time. We are British, we don’t meet deadlines, we don’t do success, we don’t impress…look at Crossrail et al…However, Mr. Bean, a giant Voldemort, sick children dancing on hospital beds and a parachuting monarch aside (oh, and we invented the WWW what, really?) for many of us who stayed up until the end, the best bit was the finale. No, not Sir Paul silly, I mean the lighting of the Olympic flame!
If there was anything that represented Britain today for me, that was it. Yes, we are known the world over for our history, and we do spend a disproportionate amount of time contemplating the fluff in our navels. But most of us do live day-to-day as though we believe the children are our future.
We may come across as a cynical, grumbling, pessimistic nation but when challenges come, we have grit and we have hope. We try to look for the best in others and foster the potential that we seek out. And we try our best to invite everyone to the party and have fun. We don’t ask them to follow the same groove as long as everyone can dance together somehow. And our favourite national past time is doing our bit to help that person with two left feet find their rhythm.
That’s why I’m glad this first gold rush only lasts about two weeks and we get a break before the paralympics kick off. I’m exhausted! We’re team GB, we don’t do medal hauls. We play fair, do our best and smile gratefully if we get a bronze. We’re the champion of the underdog and we don’t know how to cheer our team onto a win. If you want proof, just look at a few examples here, here and here!
So, there cannot be too much discussion about the legacy of these games. Where will this immensely successful Olympic Games leave us as a nation? How will we deal with all the success after the big party is over? Our Prime Minister has been attracting criticism for talking of reducing the number of hours sport should be taught per week in schools. The debate over public funding continues and the data analysis of which sports are more represented by which social groups, is happening even as the games are being played out. We are reminded that there is so much more that needs to be done.
At least we proved to ourselves that in spite of all this, the old adage continues to ring true: Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Our games volunteers showed us that, our athletes demonstrated it convincingly. Crucially, we need to work as a team. Funding helps, research helps, but let us not forget, we were all team GB – all of us waving our flags, painting our faces, braving the weather, yelling at our screens, reaching for our hankies. We all have the will, it’s a question perhaps of whether or not we know what to do with success and how best to live well with it.
The motto of a school I used to know well was simply: Success through effort and determination. Seems fitting to me. Let’s not forget that Olympic flame and the much discussed legacy, that inspiring of a generation. It can be done, with a healthy dose of cynicism of course.
Categories: LEMONADE, London 2012 Olympics | Tags: #photoadayaug, blogging, inspiration, legacy, London 2012, Olympics, photography, success | Permalink.
Just in case you’re a Brit and you’re dreading the end of the Olympics on Sunday (don’t worry, we still have the Paralympics don’t forget), here’s a link to a little feel good video from the BBC!
Categories: London 2012 Olympics | Tags: athletes, BBC, Gold, inspiration, London 2012, Medals, Olympics, sport, Team GB | Permalink.
So I have decided to take part in something fun myself. Something that requires a tiny bit of discipline: a daily photo challenge. August being a “summer” month, I think I should be a little more relaxed (yes I hear you: “More relaxed than you already have been?” I know I know). I was watching back yesterday’s gymnastics action and browsing through the blogs I follow that I haven’t had time to read for a week, when I came across Make, Do and Spend‘s photo post which led me to Fat Mum Slim’s photo a day challenge. Take a look and let me know if you are going to join in!
Categories: LEMONADE, London 2012 Olympics, WOW Wednesdays | Tags: #photoadayaug, blogging, inspiration, life, London 2012, photography, sport, summer | Permalink.
Olympics Special : Welcome to London!
Olympic Village, what? Here? Uh how did you end up here for the Olympic Village?
Duh, poor tourists encountered a sleepy commuter brain, plenty of those of a morning in London, “Yes, that’s right”, I smile, no longer baffled that there was the prospect the confines of the Olympic Village had been extended overnight. They were on the right platform to get the train to Stratford.
My first direct encounter with a visitor to London who’s here because of the Olympics. I guess it really is going to be happening after all!
Categories: LOL, London 2012 Olympics | Tags: London 2012, Olympic Games, Olympic Village, Stratford, summer, tourism, transport, travel | Permalink. | 2019-04-20T16:18:46Z | https://thisislemonade.wordpress.com/category/london-2012-olympics/ | Porn | Sports | 0.849009 |
wordpress | Thank you to everyone who gave me their opinion on my birthday party and gift dilemmas. I really liked Lisa’s idea of something for Zachary to climb, do you think I could install a climbing wall in his room? Actually I think he will get some kind of remote controlled car/truck. As for the birthday party I am still really leaning towards doing a big party. We are only going to do friend parties every two years so either we start this year or next and while her birthday is only seven weeks before this baby is due, I dont think I will have any more energy next year with a five year old, three year old, and one year old.
So for my birthday Rob and I finally went to see Twilight. I liked the book, it wasnt my favorite book ever but I enjoyed it. Maybe because it is set in Forks, Washington which isnt too far from Silverdale where I lived for awhile. It made it easy to picture the places they went since I too had been to many of them. Anyways I liked the movie, I had been told by a few people that I would like it better the second time so I didnt have very high expectations but I thought it was fine. I was distracted by the ethnically diverse high school cast, ummm I grew up in a small Washington town and there is no way that Forks is that diverse. My other problem with the movie was Edward running up the trees, kinda weird since he didnt do that in the books and I didnt see how it added anything to the movie. I have decided that what I am going to spend my birthday money on is the box set of books so that I can read the last two books, I just wish they were all available in paperback.
First what would you get for Zachary for his birthday? I can always come up with things to get for Olivia but Zachary is hard. I am thinking a remote controlled car like this one Tonka Bounce Back Car but besides that I am stuck! Please help, what do 2 year old boys like?
Second what would you do for a birthday party for Olivia? I just cant decide if we should just do a simple family combined party for both kids again or if I should do a friend party for Olivia, too. If I do a friend party should I do a church friend party, I feel like the right thing to do if we do it this way is to invite all the girl Sunbeams (I hate the idea of leaving some little girl out) and then a few of her younger friends so this would be a group of like 20. Or do I do a party with the little girls of friends of ours both from church and elsewhere, Olivia doesnt know some of them very well but it would be fun for the whole family. Or something else? I guess this is why my mom didnt do parties for us until we were in middle school!
So Monday is my 30th birthday and really I cant wait to be 30, it feels like I am finally a grown-up. I feel like I have done most of the things I would have wanted to get done by the time I was 30. This of course isnt the life I thought I would be living at 20 but then I never imagined that I would be a Latter-Day Saint, which of course changed so many things in my life. I didnt ever get that college degree but hey there is time for that after the kids are grown. This is looking to be a great year with the new baby coming in April and a fun family trip in November to Disneyland, here is to 30! Tonight Rob and I are going on a much needed date while the kids hang out with Grandma Launa, we are going to Red Robin and then to see Twilight. I dont think we have been to the movies together since before Zachary was born so its about time!!
Olivia was overjoyed to finally be able to go to Primary on Sunday. She went right in and sat down with her class (our ward has three Sunbeam classes), she was a little sad she wasnt with some of her friends but had great things to say about Primary when we picked her up and even better her teachers said she was super! Zachary did just fine in Nursery without her so that was super, too!
It’s a new year so its time to make some resolutions!
Good luck to all of you with your goals for the new year!
So this year I tried really hard to not get stressed out by the holidays. Some of the things we did/didn’t do.
Decorate a gingerbread house, this is a fun tradition for us. And this year instead of “helping” the kids to do it my way, I just let them decorate it their way.
Wrap gifts the week before, which was super on Christmas Eve since all I had to do was set the presents out and put stuff in the kids stockings.
We did go see the Christmas lights in the fancy neighborhood in South Jordan on our way home from the Christmas Eve party at Rob’s parents.
Have a wonderful time at Olivia’s preschool Christmas program.
Let the kids help decorate the tree, I did the middle with the ornaments I didnt want the kids to break or touch, Rob did the top with the angels and the really breakable ornaments, and the kids did as high as they could reach on the tree with the fun unbreakable ornaments.
Go to the extended family parties, it was great to see the kids make memories with great-grandparents, cousins, great-aunts and uncles.
Visit Santa (actually three different Santas), Olivia enjoyed the experience but Zachary was not happy with any of the visits. I dont know if we will go out of our way to do this again next year.
Do our advent calendars, one from Olivia’s preschool and our reusable fabric one.
Let the kids help with our neighbor gifts but we did a simple treat for the majority of our neighbors and just brought the cute cookies to the neighbors on our circle.
Go anywhere on Christmas Day, of course it was really snowy so it wouldnt really have been safe to go anywhere but Christmas Day seems to work best for us to just stay home and let those who wish to visit us come on over.
Go to Temple Square to see the lights but we did go to Thanksgiving Point to do their drive -through light display, it was great to not be fighting crowds or freezing ourselves.
Send out Christmas cards or take a new family photo, perhaps we will do a little letter and picture of the family when the new baby comes in April.
Go crazy buying gifts, the kids each got a big gift from us (a stuffed unicorn and a train table), a box with several random toys we had gotten at garage sales and stored until now, and a new fridge toy. Plus their stocking stuffers that I had picked up during the year. Their wonderful grandparents and Aunty Jen gave them some other toys and books.
Decorate the outside of the house very much but I kinda liked the simple look we ended up with.
Put out our nice nativity set, I just couldnt find a spot that I thought would be safe from the kids and since they love their Fisher Price nativity we enjoyed that one instead.
I hope the rest of you enjoyed your holidays! | 2019-04-22T08:04:35Z | https://rhozas.wordpress.com/2009/01/ | Porn | Kids | 0.725508 |
wordpress | It’s Friday, which means I’ve recorded a video for you guys! And just in time: it’s 11:46pm here on the left coast.
This one’s a song by a guy named Paul Baribeau. Hope you like it! Would have written an original again, but my schedule’s been pretty tight. Lots of stress over that big freelance project I keep mentioning in my post and I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to get it done before the guy just gets pissed and fires me. | 2019-04-22T08:01:58Z | https://cyanyears.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/ten-things-a-paul-baribeau-cover/ | Porn | Arts | 0.432897 |
wordpress | This entry was posted on Thursday, January 13th, 2011 at 10:43 am and posted in Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
« The Lucy Art Story So Far…. | 2019-04-25T06:31:33Z | https://lucyartgallery.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/thanks-to-all-our-loyal-customers-for-yo/ | Porn | Arts | 0.412155 |
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wordpress | As far as it is in my power, I do not eat alone. It’s better if I have notebook and pen in hand, but I still look for someone to have at the table with me. However, tonight, I broke personal tradition, and deliberately and literally U-turned into a small new Japanese diner along 1st Avenue, BGC (around the corner from BGC). I’d seen its posters for a while, and it was finally open. I couldn’t resist.
The corn tea of Matsuya BGC. Served hot and free. Delicious!
I had just sat down to look at the menu, when they served me hot tea with the chopsticks balanced on the cup. Free tea! I shrieked in my head, then sipped at its refreshing warmth while going through the menu. It was regular corn tea, but not too strong, and it made me hungrier than ever.
Craving vegetables, I ordered bibimbap, which came within a startling five to seven minutes. The food was not steaming hot, but since it had vegetables in it I appreciated the crunchiness of them. For original bibimbap, without any extra drink, I only paid Php 150. They were generous with the vegetables, and I ate until I was both full and satisfied.
Original bibimbap for only Php 150. Satisfying to the core.
Because of the amount and weight and the general tastiness of the food, I craved something sweet after the meal. However, there is no dessert section of the menu, and they suggested drinks instead. I declined and had ice cream at the neighboring 7/11, but when I go back to Matsuya BGC I’ll order a drink with the meal and see how that goes.
Matsuya BGC is wood and clean yellow lighting.
I fell in love with Matsuya the moment I entered it. They don’t go overboard with the style, keeping the overarching decor wood and adding color that blends with the brown. The lighting is mild enough so you don’t feel like you’re under a spotlight, but bright enough so you canwork or study in it in comfort.
My greatest love was the long bar and its barstools, of course. It made the best and most efficient use of the space, and added uniqueness to this small Japanese diner. However, it is almost a hidden room. Just remember it’s right beside Pup Culture. If you hit the 7/11, you’ve gone too far.
Not so easy to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
It keeps 10am-2am hours, targeting late-night office workers and the BPO industry, I’m guessing. It looks like a good place for meetings, and might even be a good place to order from if they have that option. I will definitely bring family and friends there. Drop by! | 2019-04-26T12:21:59Z | https://disinterestedinterpreter.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/food-trip-my-matsuya-adventure-at-bgc/ | Porn | Reference | 0.215145 |
google | The Game is an unblocked RPG game where you are placed in a funny scenario that gives you a view on real life ideas such as forms of government, ways of life, academics, and more. You can also just simply jump off the near by cliff if you want to see whats next for you in life. While the game is odd and not full of action it is quite funny to see the various lives that you have to can live. If you are looking for more games like The Game then there is no better place than right here on Mills Eagle's Unblocked Games. | 2019-04-22T07:47:41Z | https://sites.google.com/site/millseagles/home/Games/rpg/the-game | Porn | Games | 0.986815 |
wired | Modern dinner-table turkeys are descended from birds first domesticated 2,700 years in Mesoamerica, and bred with sophistication by the Aztecs. But they weren't the only turkey tamers: Indigenous inhabitants of what became the southwestern United States had their own prize breeds, now lost to posterity.
Until now, it was assumed that all domesticated turkeys could be traced to the Aztec-bred lineage. However, a genetic analysis of bones and droppings at 38 archaeological sites in the southwestern U.S. shows that the birds there belonged to a distinctly different subspecies.
According to the findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that single turkey breed prevailed for more than a millennia among the southwest's natives. But even as turkey husbandry reached its height among the Anasazi and Mogollon and Salado, the local birds' doom had already begun.
In the 15th century, Spanish Conquistadors took Aztec turkeys back to Europe. The birds proved popular, and were cross-bred and refined before being reintroduced to North America by colonial settlers in the 17th century. The settlers' birds were carried westward as part of the same historical wave that obliterated native southwestern culture.
The colonial turkeys ultimately became, in highly modified form, the industrial gargantuans of Thanksgiving fame. As for native southwestern turkeys, a handful of genes from a few escapees linger in existing wild birds, but the originals are gone.
"We have no genetic evidence that these breeds survived into the present day," said study co-author Dongya Yang, a Simon Fraser University archaeologist. But historically-inclined foodies may have better luck finding pure-blooded descendants of the Aztec birds. "It is quite likely that the indigenous Mesoamerican turkey breeds still survive in rural Mexico," said Yang. | 2019-04-24T16:50:41Z | https://www.wired.com/2010/02/lost-turkeys/ | Porn | Science | 0.93575 |
wordpress | Epilogue is the latest offering from Fablecroft Publishing, an Australian small speculative fiction press that specialises in themed spec fic anthologies. For this volume, editor Tehani Wessely has chosen a strong cast of notable Australian writers as well as one stray Swede, Kaia Landelius. Originally titled “Apocalypse Hope”, Epilogue asks ‘what happens after the apocalypse?’ Many of the stories herein have an optimistic bent to uplift us from the all-too-dystopian world we live in. Epilogue is professionally presented and features commanding cover art from Amanda Rainey, whose work adorns plenty of Australian spec fic covers these days. With Epilogue, Fablecroft firmly establishes itself alongside Twelfth Planet Press and Ticonderoga Publications at the forefront of Australian speculative fiction publishing.
Thoraiya Dyer’s “Sleeping Beauty” opens proceedings, and it features an apocalypse in progress that our voracious protagonist can survive but not prevent. Rather enigmatic in style, Dyer’s brief tale is nevertheless atmospheric and exceedingly well written. Jo Anderton’s “A Memory Trapped in Light” is rather different but equally impressive in an entirely different way. Isola and Ruby are sisters living in a nightmare future of Legate Drones, Pionic Flares, Shards, imprisoned children, ancient laser cannons and the Crust. Channelling SF films like The Matrix and Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, as well as the classic SF stories that underpin those works, Anderton has constructed an exuberant and positively traditional SF story with strong female central characters, something that rarely featured in the Golden Age imagination. There’s a paucity of genuine science fiction in the Australian spec fic scene currently, but the work of Jo Anderton would appear to be a significant exception.
Lyn Battersby’s “Time and Tide” is an elegant and endearing time travel narrative featuring three characters: a woman, Pauline; her teenage son, Sean; and the mysterious Michael. In a series of brief snapshots, we follow Pauline across different realities and varied occupations. In one she is a prostitute and in another a nun, but in the main narrative she’s a scientist. Something has gone wrong with time, of course, and setting things straight proves rather troublesome. “The Fletcher Test” by Dirk Flinthart pits computer whiz Anneke against a computer virus named Kali. Most of the story is a series of conversations between the simulacra and its would-be executioner, and things spin in an unexpected direction at the end.
Stephanie Gunn’s “Ghosts” is another impressive offering in a now-rarely seen SF subgenre: life in an underground shelter after the bomb. Nadya and Mater are teenagers who have the mixed blessing of being fertile in a world where women give birth to genetic monsters and there are no doctors. Nadya’s father insists that she produce an offspring with Mater, but she has a different goal in mind. Visceral and concrete, like the bunker featured herein, “Ghosts” is among my favourite stories in Epilogue. Lighter in tone but just as well constructed is Kaia Landelius’ “Sleepers”. Inhabiting some strange corner of the well-worn zombie subgenre, Landelius’ tale manages to do something slightly different with familiar material. Much bashing of the ‘sleepers’, with baseball bats and hockey sticks, ensues.
There’s something desolate about the rural Australian landscape that naturally lends itself to post-apocalyptic fiction. Jason Nahrung’s “The Mornington Ride” reminds me a little of the late Paul Haines’ novella “Wives”, and both are fine works. Here our unnamed protagonist is fleeing from his boss, the murderous Johnny Stroud, who insists on killing a family of ‘reffos’ who steal and eat a calf. Interspersed with this backstory is what happens next, as our protagonist trades his rifle and his nag for shelter, and then some medicine for passage to the aptly-named Hopetoun on the train of the story’s title. “The Mornington Ride” is my favourite story in Epilogue and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were to earn an award nomination or two in the year ahead.
In my view, Epilogue as a whole succeeds in achieving its stated aim of finding hope after the apocalypse. It’s a testament to the strength of the Australian speculative fiction field these days that’s there not one weak story in the anthology, even if there were a few I personally didn’t enjoy as much as those described above. The future of our civilisation might appear grim, but I daresay that the immediate future of independent speculative fiction writing and publishing in Australia looks significantly rosier.
You’ve made my night, Guy. Cheers!
It was my pleasure, Jason. I believe that was the first story of yours that I’ve read, so I’ll look out for something else. I think you have a novel (novella?) out from Twelfth Planet soon?
I’m about a third of the way through this collection & am loving it. Such great depth of talent here in Oz spec fiction. | 2019-04-19T07:21:21Z | https://guysalvidge.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/book-review-epilogue-edited-by-tehani-wessely/ | Porn | Computers | 0.207039 |
wordpress | …cermin mengajarkan kebohongan dengan jujur..
did u also remember me?
You are currently browsing the CERMIN | NIMREC weblog archives for December 2008.
CERMIN | NIMREC syndicates its weblog posts and Comments using a technology called RSS (Real Simple Syndication). You can use a service like Bloglines to get notified when there are new posts to this weblog. | 2019-04-20T07:13:29Z | https://panahjagat.wordpress.com/2008/12/ | Porn | Reference | 0.613261 |
uni-koeln | In every interdisciplinary, long-term research project, which focuses on environmental field studies and regional modeling, it is a key issue to collect, store, backup, and exchange data. Therefore, the overall success of such a project depends on a well-organized data management. This has to contain the organization of all project data, the implementation, and the maintenance of a system that also encourages intensive data exchange between all involved project sections. Consequently, the sustainable use of all research results during and also after the end of the project is ensured.
The scientific data management system of the CRC/TR32 (TR32DB) is developed following the guidelines of the DFG. Due to the various disciplines, the TR32DB has to handle a huge amount of various research data from different research fields and scales (laboratory to catchment scale). Besides diverse collected research data (including measured and modelled data), publications, presentations, reports, and pictures provided by the CRC/TR32 participants, also purchased geodata from various institutions are considered.
The TR32DB offers several functionalities. These are for example management, centralized, sustainable storage and backup, visualization, exchange, and provision of CRC/TR32 data for all project participants. Furthermore, the linkage of all project data with adequate and specific metadata depending on the type of data and also related to the CRC/TR32 context is provided. All features are accessible online, e.g. representation and search of data via metadata. Some functions are only available for authorized users like download of data, input and modification of corresponding metadata, application of specific CRC/TR32-DOIs for datasets, download of purchased and processed geodata, as well as visualization of geodata in a Web-GIS due to license constrains. | 2019-04-25T10:10:49Z | http://www.tr32db.uni-koeln.de/site/about.php | Porn | Science | 0.986308 |
wordpress | I LÖVE U MORE…JEJE…CARLITOS MIL BESOS!
Carloss vela is an excellent player and i know that a lot of girls like it, and i´m included because he plays xcellent and he is so pretty, he has everything.
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google | A garment such as a loincloth or the like and a spreader therefor effective to maintain the shape of the garment by preventing transverse collapse or bunching thereof. The loincloth includes a length of material adapted to extend between and upwardly from the leg juncture of one wearing the garment, and such length of material is equipped both along the front and rear of the torso adjacent the hips thereof with transversely oriented spreaders or stiffeners. A hip encircling band is attached to the spreader in one form of the garment to support the same therethrough, and the band is movable transversely with respect to the spreader to enable the garment to accommodate substantial body movements without significant displacement from the position intended therefor.
References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,401,457 6/1946 Bryant 2/224 A 2,085,425 6/1937 Goodwin 2/224 A Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Joseph B. Gardner ABSTRACT A garment such as a loincloth or the like and a spreader therefor effective to maintain the shape of the garment by preventing transverse collapse or bunching thereof. The loincloth includes a length of material adapted to extend between and upwardly from the leg juncture of one wearing the garment, and such length of material is equipped both along the front and rear of the torso adjacent the hips thereof with transversely oriented Spreaders or stiffeners. A hip encircling band is attached to the spreader in one form of the garment to support the same therethrough, and the band is movable transversely with re spect to the spreader to enable the garment to accommodate substantial body movements without significant displacement from the position intended therefor.
FIG-3 LOINCLOTH AND SPREADER THEREFOR This invention relates to wearing apparel and, more particularly, to a garment adapted for use in covering portions of the lower trunk and leg juncture of the human body. In still more particular reference, the present invention is concemedwith an article of clothing in the nature of a loincloth or the like which covers the areas of the torso requiring concealment by present mories or standards of modesty, while leaving adjacent areas exposed; and it further relates to a spreader for such loincloth to maintain the shape thereof.
An object of the invention is to provide an article of clothing of the type described that is aesthetically attractive, comfortable to wear, and is easy to don and remove.
Another object of the invention is in the provision of a loincloth or the like adapted for use in covering at least portions of the lower trunk and leg juncture of the human body, and a spreader or stiffener for the garment enabling it to maintain its shape and contours during use even though the person wearing the same may subject the garment to substantial motion and stress incident thereto.
Still another object is that of providing a loincloth or the like and spreader therefor all of the type described and which loincloth may be used as leisure wear, for sun bathing, and as a swimsuit, if desired, and is effective even when wet and subjected to the extensive body movements characterizing the. act of swimming to maintain its shape and position on the body without causing discomfort to one wearing the garment.
A further object of the invention is to provide a loincloth or the like having a band or belt adapted to encircle the trunk of a person wearing the same adjacent the waist area thereof, and further having a length of material adapted to extend between the wearers legs and upwardly therefrom along both the back and front of the trunk toward the waist thereof and adjacent which the length of material is equipped with spreader and connector structure attaching the same to the band so as to be supported thereby; the connector structure having components located along both the front and rear of the torso, and each such component including a spreader or stiffener effective to resist transverse collapse of the length of material in the vicinity thereof and being attached to the band so as to accommodate transverse movements of the latter with respect thereto and thereby enable the garment to accommodate substantial body movements without significant distortion or displacements from the intended position therefor.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention, especially as concerns particular features and characteristics thereof, will become apparent as the specification continues.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged broken vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 4--4 of FIG. I.
The garment under consideration may take various specific forms, as heretofore suggested, and the particular embodiment shown is that of a loincloth adapted for use in covering at least portions of the lower trunk and leg juncture of the human body and, in still more particular reference, the crotch and immediately adjacent areas of the body, all as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The garment for identification is designated in its entirety with the numeral 10, and it includes a crotch strap or length of material 11 adapted to extend be tween the legs of the body and upwardly'therefrom along the front and rear of the trunk toward the waist thereof. It may be of convenience hereinafter in further describing the length of material 11 to subdivide the same into a crotch area or cover 12, a front cover or area 13, and a rear cover or area 14. In the particular form of the invention being considered, the length of material 111 is unitary or integral throughout the areas 12, 13, and 14 thereof, however, as respects the present invention such length of material may be made from two or more pieces stitched or otherwise interconnected one with another.
Comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 and reference to FIG. 3 makes it evident that the front and rear cover areas 13 and M have different transverse dimensions with the rear area 14 being substantially wider than the front area 13, thereby enabling it to more readily accommodate the contours and characteristics of the human body. Such differences in transverse dimensions or widths may be provided by cutting the length of material 11 to form the requisite shapes, or the front cover 13 and crotch l2 might be appropriately reduced in dimension by folding and stitching material sufficiently wide to accommodate the larger rear cover 14. The length of material 11 may be fabricated from any suitable and usual substance which, for comfort, will ordinarily be soft and compressible as well as flexible. A specific example thereof is clotlh materials such as those made from natural fibers including cotton, wool, and silk, although fabrics made in whole or in part of synthetic fibers such as rayon, nylon, and dacron may be as readily used. As respects the present invention, substantially all fabrics and materials presently used for clothing garments may be employed, and the precise sizes of the garment 10 are not critical so that one of greater or lesser modesty may be provided all in accordance with the tastes of the individual to wear the same.
The garment M) further includes a front flap l5 and a rear flap 16 that respectively extend downwardly, when the garment is being worn, generally along the front and rear areas 13 and 14, as shown in the draw ing. Thus, the front flap 15 generally extends over and conceals the front cover 13, and the flap 16 similarly extends over and generally conceals the rear cover 14. The length and width of each flap l5 and 16 may be varied to suit the tastes of one wearing the garment, and the flaps may be formed integrally with the length of material 1 l, as shown in the drawing, or they may be separate components stitched or otherwise secured to the respectively adjacent areas of the length of material 11. Ordinarily, the length of material 11 may be a plain fabric of appropriate color whereas the flaps 15 and 16 may be decorated or ornamented at least along the exposed outer surfaces thereof so as to make the garment l aesthetic pleasing as well as functionally advantageous. It will be apparent that as respects the decorative effect to be obtained there is substantially no limitation or restriction as to the materials, colors, and other ornamentation provided.
The garment further includes a band 17 adapted to encircle the trunk of one wearing the garment adjacent the waist area, although the band 17 is advantageously located below the exact position of the waist and generally along the hips, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The band 17 is in the nature of a belt and is adapted to be secured to the length of material 11 so as to support the same. The band 17 may be formed from any suitable material and may be either stiff or relatively soft, the latter being preferred for purposes of comfort. In the particular garment 10 being considered, the band 17 is formed from cloth (the same material as the rest of the garment) stitched to provide an elongated hollow tube reinforced along the interior thereof with a stiffening member 18 such as webbing, buckram, plastic, plastic coated fabric, or comparable materials. Although stiffened slightly, the band 17 may be a relatively soft, readily bent or folded component so that it does not cause discomfort to one wearing the garment. The band may be equipped along the length thereof with buckles or other fastener devices (not shown) or it may be a continuous component usually with a piece of elastic therealong and sufficiently large to enable it to be worked over the hips of one wearing the garment and then engage or grip the same so as to hold the garment in place.
The garment 10 further includes connector structure for attaching the length of material 11 to the band 17 so as to be supported thereby. In the form being considered, the connector structure comprises two separate elements respectively associated with the front and rear of the garment and denoted for identification with the numerals 19 and 20. The separate connector structures 19 and 20 are substantially identical as respects the present invention both structurally and functionally, but they need not be identical. Comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 makes it evident that the structures 19 and 20 are of substantially the same length and width although the ends of the structure 19 tapper downwardly and inwardly whereas the corresponding end portions of the structure 20 are generally oriented at right angles with respect to the longitudinal edges thereof.
In each instance, the connector structure 19 and 20 include a stiffener secured to the length of material 18 so as to resist transverse collapse thereof in the vicinity of the stiffener. Thus, in the form shown each of the stiffeners extends substantially from edge-to-edge of the material 11 at the point of attachment of the material thereto. Each stiffener or stiffening member 19,20 in the particular form shown is a tubular component formed from flat stock folded or rolled upon itself and joined by stitching or otherwise along the contiguous longitudinal edges thereof. The stiffener is also attached to the length of material 11 along the joined longitudinal edges either by the same or additional stitching or by other comparable means, as shown by the stitch areas 21 in FIGS. 1 and 4 and 22 in FIG. 2. Otherwise, the stiffeners are essentially free from the material 11, as is best seen in FIG. 4. The stitched areas 21 and 22, it will be observed, are located along the lower edge portions of the respectively associated connector stiffeners 19 and 20 such that the stiffeners extend upwardly therefrom. The covers 13 and 14 respectively extend along the inner surface portions of the connector stiffeners 19 and 20, and the flaps l5 and 16 respectively extend over the stiffeners and then depend therefrom so as to hang freely or loosely in overlying relation with the front and rear covers 13 and 14, as described hereinbefore.
In the embodiment of the invention being considered, the band 17 is attached to the length of material 1 1 through the connector stiffeners or spreaders 19 and 20 and is movable transversely with respect thereto, thereby enabling the garment 10 to accommodate substantial body movements without significant displacements from the primary position intended therefor. As respects such attachment, each stiffener or spreader is of generally hollow, tubular configuration, as previously explained, and defines a passage 23 from end to end thereof (see FIG. 4) through which the band extends. The passage 23 is sufficiently large relative to the band 17 so as to accommodate relative transverse movements of the band and connector spreaders. Each spreader 19,20 may be formed from a variety of materials that have sufficient stiffness to resist transverse collapse of the length of material 11, and specific examples thereof are relatively stiff buckrum, plastic-coated fabric (heavy plastic-type wall covering having a fabric backing, for example), and similar materials. The spreaders 19,20 may vary from the specific configurations illustrated and, by way of example, may comprise a plurality of transversely spaced loops interconnected one with another by stiff transverse members which may be sufficiently bendable or flexible otherwise to conform to the body contours, a fiat transversely extending bar-like component, a transversely extending wire loop, etc.
In use of the garment 10, it is worn as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 so that the length of material 11 extends between the legs and upwardly therefrom along the front and rear of the lower torso. The garment is held in place by the hip-encircling band 17 (the garment shown being of the hip-hugger type) with the front and rear flaps 15 and 16 depending from the band as illustrated in the drawing. The garment is retained in this general configuration, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, until removed, departing little from such configuration irrespective of the type and extent of the body movements to which it is subjected.
Generally, the spreaders or stiffeners l9 and 20 (which are also connector components in the form shown) maintain the initial shape and contours of the garment in conjunction with the band 17, the latter of which constrains the garment against downward slippage, and the form constraining the garment and length of material 11 thereof against transverse collapse or bunching. One wearing the garment may move considerably, articulating the hips and legs or otherwise executing generally violent, erratic or other unusual movements without significantly displacing the garment 10 or altering the appearance thereof. That is to say, the band 17 necessarily rides with or accompanies the hips as they move, whereas the remainder of the garment and particularly the length of material 11 thereof may tend to remain in the position shown because of its being confined between the legs throughout the area 12 and constrained against collapse by the connectorspreaders or stiffening elements 19 and 20. Further, the band 17 is freely movable in transverse directions relative to the length of material 11 and connector structures associated therewith and, in more particular terms, is slidable or otherwise freely clisplaceable through the passages 23 defined by the connector stiffeners 19 and 20. Thus, the garment maintains the desired degree of modesty or body coverage for the person wearing thesame irrespective of the motion to which the lower torso is subjected, and it accomplishes this result without creating discomfort to the wearer while at the same time being aesthetically attractive.
While in the foregoing specification an embodiment of the invention has been set forth in considerable detail for purposes of making an adequate disclosure thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention.
l. A garment adapted for use in covering at least portions of the lower trunk and leg juncture of the human body, comprising: a length of material adapted to extend between such legs and upwardly therefrom along the front and rear of such trunk toward the waist thereof; a spreader structure secured to an upper end of said length of material to resist transverse collapse thereof in the vicinity of said spreader structure; and a waist encircling band being slidably connected with the upper end of said length of material so as to support the same, said band being slidable transversely with respect to said length of material so as to enable said garment to accommodate substantial body movements of said body.
2. The garment of claim 1 in which said spreader structure includes separate hollow components respectively secured to said length of material adjacent the front and rear of such torso, and said band extending through and being slidable in each of said components.
3. The garment of claim 2 and further comprising front and rear flaps respectively secured to said length of material and combined with said length of material to enclose and conceal the front and rear of said spreader components.
4. The garment of claim 2 in which each of said spreader components is tubular and said band extends slidably therethrough to effect the aforesaid attachment therewith.
5. A garment comprising a loincloth or the like of relatively nonform-retaining material formed to extend between such legs and upwardly therefrom along the front and rear of such trunk toward the waist thereof, tubular spreader structures, one at the front and one at the rear upper terminus of the material, and a hip encircling band extending through each of the spreader structures and slidable therein, said spreader structures being composed of material which is relatively stiff along its length so as to prevent transverse collapse and bunching of such length of material, said spreader structure being relatively flexible inwardly and outwardly referenced to such trunk so as to enable accommodation to the contours thereof, said spreader structure also being relatively stifi' in generally vertical directions referenced to such trunk so as to maintain the horizontal line of such garment along the area of atstructure.
1. A garment adapted for use in covering at least portions of the lower trunk and leg juncture of the human body, comprising: a length of material adapted to extend between such legs and upwardly therefrom along the front and rear of such trunk toward the waist thereof; a spreader structure secured to an upper end of said length of material to resist transverse collapse thereof in the vicinity of said spreader structure; and a waist encircling band being slidably connected with the upper end of said length of material so as to support the same, said band being slidable transversely with respect to said length of material so as to enable said garment to accommodate substantial body movements of said body.
5. A garment comprising a loincloth or the like of relatively nonform-retaining material formed to extend between such legs and upwardly therefrom along the front and rear of such trunk toward the waist thereof, tubular spreader structures, one at the front and one at the rear upper terminus of the material, and a hip encircling band extending through each of the spreader structures and slidable therein, said spreader structures being composed of material which is relatively stiff along its length so as to prevent transverse collapse and bunching of such length of material, said spreader structure being relatively flexible inwardly and outwardly referenced to such trunk so as to enable accommodation to the contours thereof, said spreader structure also being relatively stiff in generally vertical directions referenced to such trunk so as to maintain the horizontal line of such garment along the area of attachment of such length of material to said spreader structure. | 2019-04-22T11:30:53Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US3774241A/en | Porn | Reference | 0.20558 |
wordpress | My family, boyfriend and I love Warby Parker. We each have a pair and were able to visit their beautiful location in the city. It looked like a library, but instead of shelves lined with books, it was filled with glasses. I remember visiting WP and loving the fact that I could try on any pair of glasses, no matter the shape or design.
Glasses are not only for vision, but they can also be seen as a fashion accessory. As with any accessory, changing them like you do your shoes or necklace, it’s ideal your glasses go well with your outfit — Glasses are a very personal accessory that can make your look.
If you wear glasses everyday and have the opportunity to switch it up, Why not? The unexpected fun pops of color in any pair of glasses makes them interesting and unique, especially in these Teal Tortoise frames.
I have long black hair and trust me, I love my black sunnies, but for an everyday look, I think thick black frames may look a bit harsh. With my black hair and medium skin, I personally would opt for Amelia in Root Beer or Daisy Narrow in Tea Rose Fade for their pretty color and design, as well as complementing my hair and skin tone.
Pictured above, the Townsend in Polished Silver with Brushed Navy draws attention to the face since the design is mainly up towards the sides of the face. The Brushed Navy hue would give my look that subtle yet interesting pop of color I want. Choosing this design would be the perfect balance of classic and fun.
Which is your favorite pair from the Warby Parker Fall 2018 Collection Launch? I’d love to hear your thoughts! | 2019-04-20T16:53:52Z | https://styledwithjoy.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/warby-parker-fall-2018-collection/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.963975 |
orange | http://www.BalconyTV.com 'Like' us on Facebook - http://on.fb.me/mhECp2 FROM THE MORGAN HOTEL IN TEMPLE BAR ONOFF are a 3 piece rock n roll band from Dublin/Dundalk and are driven by lead singer/songwriter "PAULIE", Bass-Player "GARY" and Drummer extraodinaire "STEVIE 10 BEARS" To this date OnOff have shifted 70,000 copies of their debut European album 'DONT TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT' which put them on the cover of 2 major German music magazines, Stardust magazine and OX Fanzine. The release was supported by 8 Headline tour's of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and France and a summer 2009 European Festival Tour . The album was received unanimously well across the European media with raving reviews right across the board. From excessive touring of europe ONOFF have obtained over 20,000 fans on their Myspace page. In late September 2009, OnOff won the title of "Best Unsigned Irish Band" in a public vote by leading Irish Music Magazine HOTPRESS. The prize for this accolade was an opportuity to open the LIVE STAGE at the HOTPRESS 2009 MUSIC EXPO in The R.D.S Dublin October 3rd alongside established acts such as Imelda May, Director and The Blizzards. This performance proved OnOff have the songs and live stage presence to be up there with the best Ireland has to offer. ONOFF are midway through recording there second (as of yet) untitled album. They have NO MANAGER, NO RECORD LABEL, and NO MONEY but continue to continue........... http://www.myspace.com/onoffband http://www.breakingtunes.com/onoff http://www.reverbnation.com/onoffnews Tune in again tomorrow!!! | 2019-04-20T15:24:34Z | https://musique.orange.fr/videos/all/on-off-balconytv-VID0000000WOQg.html | Porn | News | 0.223936 |
iastate | After six years of hard work, challenges, and unforeseen time delays, AirISU has finally come to the end of the club’s first building project—a two-passenger, light sport aircraft.
The group was established as an Iowa State student organization in 2004 with plans to design and build a plane from scratch. In 2006, the students decided to shift their focus to building a kit plane to improve the club’s understanding of light sport aircraft, so they began constructing a Zodiac 601 XL kit donated from Zenith Aircraft Company in Mexico, Missouri.
Now, with the plane completely assembled, the club is pausing to relish their accomplishments before determining what lies ahead.
Countless students have worked diligently on the project, with more help coming each year as the club’s membership increases. This year, AirISU saw it’s largest group of members, more than 30, comprised mainly of aerospace engineering students. But Brandon Peters (BSAerE’11), former AirISU president, says the club attracted students from several departments on campus, such as mechanical engineering, computer engineering, information technology, industrial technology, and even one curious vet-med student.
The diverse group met weekly in Howe Hall and was split into specialized teams to assemble the airplane’s wings, controls, fuselage, engine, avionics, and electronics. With this setup, students were able to contribute their personal skills and assets to the build process.
“Typical meetings consisted of all of us gathering in the shop to work on the airplane, whether it was riveting, bolting things together, or looking at plans to see what the next step would be,” explains Peters.
Over the years, the club has run into a few challenges that turned their four-year construction plan into a six-year plan. In 2010, Zenith informed the group there was a flutter issue in the wings, causing them to deconstruct the wings and start from scratch with a modification kit. As a result, the students moved their end date back one year, which would eventually be moved back once again to 2012.
AirISU worked consistently throughout the two additional years, while also garnering some support from outside the college. Build adviser Wayne Bausch, a local aviation expert who has years of experience building, flying, and inspecting aircraft, helped oversee the students’ progress and provided insight into building the plane and interpreting plans.
To implement the group’s graphics ideas for the plane, they recruited Justin Scavo, senior in graphic design and aerospace engineering student employee . “We wanted the graphics on our plane to incorporate a Cyclone, which would convey power, speed, ingenuity, and creativity,” explains Peters.
Scavo turned AirISU’s concepts into graphic decals that were later applied by Chase Signs & Graphics.
“With the extra help of Wayne, Justin, and Chase Graphics, we made major progress in a short time,” Peters says. The group completed the plane before the 2012 Veishea parade, where AirISU received third in the non-traditional float category.
Once the plane was assembled, AirISU realized it had outgrown its Howe Hall location, so the team moved the plane to the Ames airport for final touches. Getting it to the airport meant disassembling the wings, which will be added again, along with the fuel lines and control cables, before the group applies for certification.
Following certification, the plane will be ready for its first flight. AirISU plans to create an event or ribbon cutting to showcase years of hard work and the plane’s first flight.
“I imagine Wayne will be the first to fly it, hopefully allowing each student who worked on it to get a ride. We also have one student member who has his pilot’s license, so he and anyone else in AirISU who receives a license between now and the first flight should be able to fly it as well,” explains Peters.
Looking ahead, the group has discussed changing the direction of AirISU, moving away from building kit planes to working on other aerial-related design projects.
While nothing will be officially decided until students return in the fall, one option the group has discussed is to work on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, a direction Peters hopes to see the club pursue.
One thing the group will have to consider is how to fund a new project. “AirISU may have to sell some of the components of the current plane, which may be one of the best ways to quickly get funding,” Peters explains, adding that he hopes the group can keep the plane around for a couple years and show it off.
In the meantime, AirISU wants to take the plane to the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisc., an annual event where aviation enthusiasts showcase their planes—a perfect way to highlight the years of work, and possibly the end the plane’s career.
My final project to obtain my graphic design certificate was to make a model of an airplane and mine looked very similar to your groups project. | 2019-04-19T03:02:42Z | https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2012/05/30/airisu-completes-its-first-plane-looks-ahead-to-next-project-2/ | Porn | Business | 0.197238 |
wordpress | it’s basically already the most wonderful time of the year | you seem nice.
this past weekend was spent in sayhn ayhn-toe-knee-oh (san antonio). that was an attempt at a twang. pretty sure it failed horribly. whatevs.
speaking of. has anyone ever had a puffy taco? i only know of the puffy taco because last time i was in san antonio with my family, we went to a san antonio missions game. their mascots are the puffy taco and ballepeno (like jalapeno). adriana made fun of me because i knew that. i can’t help that i know useless information. i just can’t.
so we had puffy tacos at this place called henry’s puffy tacos. they were pretty good.
you've gotta be kidding me. straight out of a movie/tv show.
reaction after they said they would hold my purse ransom until i took a picture: SERIOUSLY!?!
you still gotta be kidding me. i wasn't as excited as adriana. or jeff for that matter.
those 2 don't joke around. they commit.
these reminded me of those awesomely horrible portraits where it’s just a fuzzy floating head+shoulders with a black background in addition to another portrait in the corner.
do you kinda see what i mean?
doesn't matter what the occasion is, i clearly don't care.
after that, we went to new braunfels to visit her mom.
mom: i got your list. i think it was missing some [items or pages]. it was just books.
i think she was expecting flashy things she’s never heard of unless they’re on the today show as a dangerous trend or something that’s so ridiculous it is a trend. and i know it sounds like my list is super long, but it’s literally less than 10 items.
and for the record, i had more than just books, i mean…there are more books than anything else, but there are some dvd-like things on it, too…and some fancy gadget that i’m thinking would be awesoooome. but whaterr.
look what it can do!
YESTERDAY (11/11) i went to the most anticipated shnazzy flea market of the year.
that’s right, the nutcracker market.
we ran into my grandma first…and i realize how i called attention to her was a little rude/strange.
i saw her walking in the opposite direction, so i naturally stopped walking, pointed at her and said ‘stop that woman.’ um. she looked at me in confusion before recognition set in.
she laughed and said my name like i’d done something wrong. (uh-LIH-suuUUUH. i like spelling things phonetically). we chatted for a few minutes and informed us of the gang wandering around.
from that point on i was on the hunt.
so later on, my mom and i are in this jewelry booth that she likes to visit every year and i had paid for some earrings when i look into the main aisle and i see aunt #1. that was enough for me.
i decided it would be hilarious if i accused aunt #2 of stealing something by approaching them from behind.
now, i see how that could’ve gone wrong.
me: excuse me ma’am, but someone said they saw you steal from our booth.
being in main aisle didn’t help.
it was about a 3 second scream which felt like forever. they were drunk. and were currently drinking bloody marys. my uncle had turned his back to us and walked back a few feet because he said he saw ladies looking at him thinking he had done something to deserve the screams. then he kindly scolded me for my attack.
later today i’ll be a production assistant for the bad girls club casting call with christine!
did anyone know they’re on season 9?
anyway, i’m excited…but also nervous that they’re gonna try and beat me up. or they’ll think i have some sort importance to the show and be super nice to me. doubt it. but it’s an option.
also, did you know it’s like 12 days until thanksgiving!?! ridiculous. and like 4 weeks of school related activities left!?!
i’m ready for the break. and time for crafting. and then christmas break. and more time for crafting. and lack of work. and crafting. until next semester. blah. | 2019-04-20T20:26:11Z | https://youseemnice.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/its-basically-already-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.862078 |
yahoo | 0%80°54°Sunny with a high of 80 °F (26.7 °C). Winds variable at 4 to 11 mph (6.4 to 17.7 kph).Night - Clear. Winds from NNW to NW at 7 to 13 mph (11.3 to 20.9 kph). The overnight low will be 60 °F (15.6 °C).
Tonight - Clear. Winds from NNW to NW at 7 to 13 mph (11.3 to 20.9 kph). The overnight low will be 60 °F (15.6 °C). | 2019-04-23T03:04:28Z | https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather/iraq/al-basrah/umm-qasr-1976259 | Porn | Science | 0.265319 |
wordpress | The human brain sees and recognizes pictures before it recognizes words. It also processes images and words differently. According to Lynell Burmark, an expert on visual literacy, words are processed by short-term or working memory, but images go straight into long-term memory. When you use both words and pictures, you are actively engaging both working and long-term memory.
Similarly, words are processed primarily in the left-frontal lobe, left-temporal lobe, and the pre-frontal cortex. Images, though, are processed primarily in the visual cortex in the occipital lobe. Thus, images in your presentation will steer your message into your audience’s long-term memories and activate multiple areas in their brains.
How do you go about adding visuals to your presentations? Fortunately, that’s an easy question to answer and a degree in graphic design isn’t required. There are many tools available to find or create presentation visuals, including three simple questions to ask yourself to get you started visualizing your message. These questions can spawn creative ideas for images, illustrations, and other visuals to your next presentation.
What’s the one thing I want my audience to remember? Holding your presentation’s core message front and center directs your attention and provides a context for the brainstorming you’re about to do. What is the big idea in your presentation? Is it that the year-end results were better than expected or that option B is better because it aligns with business goals?
Keeping the core message in your mind will steer you to choose visuals that will keep your big idea in their mind. Especially because you’re about to brainstorm, holding your presentation’s big idea front and center will serve as a compass and steer you away from tangents as you hunt for images.
Example: I worked with Ronnie Duncan, president of TimelyText, to refresh a presentation on interviewing skills. The key message of the presentation was that first impressions are especially important in an interview setting.
What does that (the one thing) look like? Asking what the one thing looks like warms up your visualization muscles so they are ready to envision or visualize your big idea. What comes to mind when you think about it?
When I’m designing a presentation, I often ask others what comes to mind when they think about the one thing. I appreciate the different perspectives my colleagues bring, and their ideas broaden my own as I think of ways to envision my presentation’s key message.
Example: When Duncan and I were brainstorming first impressions, we asked each other “What comes to your mind when you think about what makes a bad first impression?” We came up with smoker’s breath, food in your teeth, and a disheveled appearance. | 2019-04-21T12:31:06Z | https://nathansgibson.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/see-your-point/ | Porn | Business | 0.919654 |
wordpress | Posted on August 30, 2011 by Albert G.
Even though I am SO over the heat, humidity and weather identity crisis (and ultra-ready for Fall and beyond)–there is something about a great flower that always reminds you of the good things that come from Summer. The front of this card has a great flower (if I may be so bold as to say to).
The flower on this “get well” themed card was created with one Papertrey Ink’s fantastic steel dies. I have many of the dies they have created and this one, “Bloom Builders #3” (released in the August 2011 collection) is one of my very favorites. The die cuts five layers of petals in one pass through a standard die-cutting machine. Three layers will have the centers removed (to avoid the build-up of paper bulk in the center of a flower) and two will have solid centers. I used Papertrey Ink’s cardstock in “Spring Moss” and cut the five layers twice–for a total of ten layers to create the flower.
As you layer the same size flower to one another, simply rotate the petals to create the maximum effect of as many petals showing as possible. I used a Zig two-way glue pen to adhere my layers together. To add a bit of pop to the flower (and card), I used a Kaiser Craft Sparklets stone (love these!).
For the card base, I used some mica cardstock in an A2 size. The mat is a 4″ x 5″ piece of Papertrey Ink Stamper’s Select White cardstock. I used the Martha Stewart French Scoll corner punch on two corners of the mat. The vine image was stamped twice in reverse directions. It is from a Kaiser Craft clear acrylic stamp set called “Blae & Ivy”. I stamped the image using Tsukineko Brilliance pigment ink in Pearlescent Thyme. The paper for the inside journaling block is from Webster’s Pages.
This entry was posted in 2-way glue pen, acrylic block, adhesive, atg714, bling, cardmaking, cardstock, carl rt-200, clear acrylic stamps, cuttlebug, decorative paper, die-cuts, flowers, inks, kaiser craft, Martha Stewart, mica cardstock, paper piecing, papertrey ink, punches, scor-buddy, stamping, stardream so silk!, steel dies, tsukineko, webster's pages, zig by Albert G.. Bookmark the permalink.
I LOVE this card! I have that die ~ Great minds think alike! Your cards are alwayss so pretty, especially the way you dress up the inside.
Thanks for sharing, Albert. I hope it cools off soon. It has here in Kansas! | 2019-04-18T14:37:05Z | https://agoscraftomonium.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/bloom-builders/ | Porn | Health | 0.328231 |
wordpress | Sometimes the question is asked as to whether it is “necessary” to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits if certain advantages, benefits and comfort levels have already been reached.
Therein lies the problem, of course: that when one has secured one benefit which one relies upon and has depended upon, the necessity of filing for a collateral source in order to allow for future options, seems (at times) to be a remote necessity. But the immediacy of a necessity should never be the primary basis for deciding whether or not to do something; forethought, securing the possibilities for future circumstances, perhaps somewhat unforeseen at the moment, should always be factors in making a decision.
In general, it is best to allow for as many options to remain open in life, and not allow for an option to close merely because the tolling of the Statute of Limitations has passed. Thus, if a person is on SSDI or OWCP, the question will often be presented as to whether or not filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is necessary. The unequivocal answer is, “yes”.
For those on SSDI (already approved), the approval itself from SSDI will have some persuasive authority in getting a FERS Disability Retirement approved. It will not be determinative, but merely persuasive. Further, while there will be an offset between SSDI and FERS Disability Retirement, there are multiple other factors which should convince a Federal or Postal Worker that filing for FERS Disability Retirement is the intelligent thing to do.
As for those on OWCP, while one cannot receive both OWCP and FERS or CSRS Disability Retirement benefits concurrently, the Federal or Postal employee can get it approved, and simply leave it in an inactive statute — for, as no one knows what the future holds, it is good to secure multiple benefits for potential future use. To unnecessarily close out options to the future is never a wise thing to do. | 2019-04-22T17:01:55Z | https://federaldisabilityretirement.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/opm-disability-retirement-the-necessity-of-filing/ | Porn | Reference | 0.172524 |
wordpress | The Witchy Headchains comes in 2 versions and with a HUD to change the gems different colors.
The Never Slumber Pose Set Comes with 4 static poses and lanterns. There is also a HUD to change the skull candle different colors.
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we are the granddaughters of the witches you were never able to burn. | 2019-04-22T20:14:35Z | https://thewillynillywitchblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/27/00521-to-the-passage/ | Porn | Arts | 0.295263 |
wordpress | What is a CSA? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and being a part of a CSA represents a meaningful commitment to eating locally and supporting your neighborhood farmer. Buying a CSA share is like getting a subscription to a magazine; by paying a fee up-front, you get a weekly sack of vegetables based on what is in season at our farms.
Joining a CSA is participating in a tiny local economy. Farming is a labor of love, but to ensure that our farms are financially viable, we rely on the guaranteed income that our CSA provides at the beginning of the season. Your membership fees help cover our springtime costs before the harvests begin.
Your connection to our farms is also a connection to the environment where we all live. Bounties in your share will be based on the growing season that nature provides us. Having a CSA provides a safety net for farmers, in case one of the crops we depend on at market gets damaged or destroyed. Finally (and most importantly!) the CSA model creates community– each week you have the chance to hang out with the people who grow your food, and we get the pleasure of checking in with the people who eat what we grow.
Backyard Farms CSA is an urban CSA. The food we provide to our members is grown right in the Armory and Olnyville neighborhoods. This food is hyper local! As urban farmers, we grow food in very limited space, and this changes the variety of vegetables that we provide for our members. At farms with more acreage, more plants, and more waste, a CSA can be a vehicle for unloading surpluses. Since we don’t have a lot of land, we don’t have significant surpluses! Providing for the weekly CSA share is a big part of our farm plan. We grow food for you. You truly will be a member of a farm community.
Not only will our CSA provide members with a consistent supply of salad greens (the same mix they serve at the fanciest restaurants in town!) and herbs like in past years, but thanks to the addition of Florence and Manton Farm we will be able to offer you more summer favorites like slicing tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.
Why grow veggies in vacant city lots?
Urban farms are an investment in this city.
Urban farms are beautiful. They reclaim abandoned spaces, make our neighborhoods safer through soil remediation projects, and attract bird, bees, and insects.
Urban agriculture also promotes the local economy and creates local jobs. At the farmers markets, in CSAs, and through partnerships with restaurants, urban farms keep our food dollars in Providence.
Urban farms have a low carbon footprint and a commitment to good land stewardship. Our scale makes heavy machinery unnecessary, and we don’t use petroleum-based chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Our food is grown in the neighborhoods where it is sold and we transport it by bicycle. Fewer food miles, fresher food!
Buying into our CSA is buying into a vision of Providence as a fertile, beautiful, creative, and productive city. | 2019-04-20T08:45:24Z | https://backyardfarmscsa.wordpress.com/the-big-idea/ | Porn | Business | 0.415315 |
wordpress | Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog. It’s not much to look at now, but in the coming weeks we’ll be posting regular blogs dedicated to marketing, website design, the design world, social media, and anything fun we come across in our travels around the web. Each and every Monday we’ll post our thoughts on the latest in the marketing world, and Wednesdays are home to commentary and opinion on website design trends, tips, and cautionary tales.
In the meantime, why not check out our twitterstream where we post and interact with likeminded Fraser Valley business people. We’ve also got a Facebook fan page where you can check out our latest work, and interact with other Wink fans.
Expect to see more in this space shortly, and never hesitate to share your thoughts and opinions with us in the comments section. The future of Wink is exciting, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. | 2019-04-24T22:49:10Z | https://winkcreative.wordpress.com/about/ | Porn | Business | 0.978835 |
sfgate | In a nutshell: Instead of another Father's Day tie or tool set, make a donation on Dad's behalf to a cancer research center.
Cool factor: FathersDayFund.org doesn't collect any money, but instead provides links to donate directly to the Stanford Cancer Center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation and four other groups. Executives of San Francisco's Pacific Merchant Shipping Association started the site in 2008 to support a former Port of Oakland colleague who is still battling cancer.
Note: You can also download and print greeting cards that tell your father about your gift. | 2019-04-22T01:06:09Z | https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/FathersDayFund-org-3623530.php | Porn | Health | 0.676123 |
wordpress | For most of us, today has come. So what are we waiting for?
Tomorrow is not promised and yet for some there may not be any real emphasis on making each moment count. Taking each second for granted is something that even I have been guilty of at times. It’s hard to understand just how precious this life is until we come close to losing it. However, it shouldn’t take a tragedy or a near miss to remind us not to put off until tomorrow what we could easily do today. God willing, tomorrow will come for each and every one of us.
But let’s not escape the fact that our time could be up at any given moment. Our future could end at the next exit.
I could die today. If I did, what would I be leaving behind? A trail of destruction or an inspiring legacy that will build into the futures of my children and their children?
Say what you need to say and do what you need to do. Don’t procrastinate over it, just do it. Now!
Nothing is standing in your way apart from you, so what are you waiting for?
If life has taught me anything it’s that time really doesn’t wait for you to catch up. Make the most of every moment. Follow up on every feeling, every emotion and never let a day go by without telling those who matter how much they really mean to you.
If today is your day to meet your maker will those who you care about know just how much of an impact they have made on your life? Will you have done enough to impact the future of the next generation?
Today is about ‘doing’. Because tomorrow might be too late to do anything. | 2019-04-23T23:02:02Z | https://ireneaserie.wordpress.com/tag/future/ | Porn | News | 0.27762 |
wordpress | I solved the mystery of the ribbons. There actually are four ribbons for four winners. They were made by this group to be presented in the art quilt category. I guess people complained about the missing winner information on the quilts because this time the information is now there in all the glass cases.
I was mistaken, there actually were four quilts in the one glass case. These people are the winners of the four specially made ribbons. Robert Harley has won this category the last 8 or 9, maybe 10 years in a row. Personally, I would not want one of those ribbons. Why? Well, since those are not stamped with the official fair logo, how will anyone be convinced these were actually fair winning quilts? Anyone can create an embroidered ribbon these days.
This quilt got two best machine quilt/quilting ribbons.
The stitching was computer guided. No wonder it won two ribbons for best machine quilt/quilting.
The quilt was done by Mary Gilbert.
Now what next? Ok, how about another best execution of the quilting stitch. This one is done by hand.
Very nice work and I like it very much. Lots and lots of hand stitching on that one.
The best of show winner was done by Gwen Receveur. Nice quilt. Machine made and machine quilted.
I feel as if I’d seen this one before. Maybe at another quilt show earlier this year? That’s possible.
That’s all I could get for this trip. Ladybug was anxious to go to other parts of the fair to see the sights and ride the rides. I did lots and lots of walking. 12 hours worth.
This entry was posted on August 23, 2015 by Anita in Contest quilts 2015, QUILTS - CONTESTS and tagged Machine quilting, Quilts, recycle fabric crafts. | 2019-04-20T11:12:30Z | https://anitaestes.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/fair-again/ | Porn | Arts | 0.461701 |
wordpress | This sounds like a treat that only Erin Watt duo can deliver to us. I just can’t wait to get my hands on this book, which I have already ordered and now the waiting starts once more. Today I’m leaving to Latvia for a week, so I hope that One Small Thing will already arrive when I get back home.
Now, I just wanted to wish Happy Book Birthday to Erin Watt duo!
This is a fantastic pick! Her work is just amazing! | 2019-04-25T14:15:55Z | https://journeyinbookland.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/cant-wait-wednesday-one-small-thing-by-erin-watt-june-27-2018/ | Porn | Arts | 0.221549 |
cnn | Paul: Bankrputcy is an option for U.S.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- How should the United States deal with its growing debt problem? Ron Paul thinks declaring "bankruptcy" might be a good idea.
The Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate was discussing Greece's fiscal trouble with Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson on Monday when he was asked, "If bankruptcy is the cure for Greece, is it also the cure for the United States?"
Of course, sovereign nations can't declare bankruptcy the same way a corporation might. Instead, the government would be unable to fulfill its obligations, and would stop making payments on its debt, resulting in a default.
Greece is currently embroiled in a debate over how to pare back its social programs and government spending to secure another bailout for paying its debts.
Paul said social programs -- medical care and other benefits -- have pushed Greece to the edge, and the United States should take note.
"The big message there is the fact that the people who are seeing they are losing their benefits and their free medical care and all, are rioting in the streets," Paul said. "That is the problem, and we are not immune from that."
Paul -- known in Washington for his renegade economic ideas -- wants to convert the U.S. monetary system to one based on the gold standard, and held a hearing last week to grill federal officials about his bill to audit and inventory the nation's gold reserves.
The Texan is no fan of the Federal Reserve either, and suggested Monday the United States should eliminate the Fed as a way to reduce the deficit.
"We owe, like, $1.6 trillion because the Federal Reserve bought that debt, so we have to work hard to pay the interest to the Federal Reserve," Paul said. "We don't, I mean, they're nobody; why do we have to pay them off?
However, the Fed returns the interest earned on those holdings to the federal government. Last year, the Fed sent $79 billion to the Treasury.
On the debt ceiling, Paul said the most likely scenario is that lawmakers pass a series of short-term increases of the nation's borrowing limit. And he said that if the U.S. were to wipe out the debt owed the Fed, investors would gain confidence.
"They'll say 'Hey, they've just reduced the deficit by over a trillion dollars, now they can handle it. They can go back to meeting their other obligations,' " Paul said. "It might give some reassurance to the market." | 2019-04-18T16:57:16Z | https://money.cnn.com/2011/06/28/news/economy/ron_paul_bankruptcy/index.htm | Porn | News | 0.244983 |
wordpress | Since I talked about some things to have on your person at all times lets talk about things to have in your vehicle. When I finally got my first vehicle ( 91 Dodge Caravan) my father handed me a socket set and told me to keep it in my van at all times. You don’t need to be a gear head to be able to work on your vehicle just be able to tighten things up when they come loose or reattach if they come off. I suggest getting a set that also includes hex (alen) keys and a multi-tip screwdriver.
Jumper cables are always a good item to have. I don’t have chronic issues with my battery. It’s to help others than anything else. For the love of peaches buy a good set. Do not buy the cheapos from Wal-Mart. If anything you’ll end up frying both of the vehicles. I am also aware of the charge and go kit, but remember that is essentially a battery itself and will eventually discharge the juice you put in it especially in cold weather. It’s easier to just carry cables and bum a jump off of someone.
I highly recommend a flashlight. Do not get one of the shake and charge flashlights. I have yet to come across a decent one. Throw a small Maglite and a pack of batteries in the glove box and you are good to go. Just remember to check it once in a while. Nothing worse than needing to shed light on something in a hurry and the damn flashlight is deader than Anna Nicole Smith. (Too soon?) There are also small flashlights that can be charged off of the cigarette lighter power adapter.
All vehicles come with some sort of manual jack stand to help change tires in the instance you get a flat. Ditch it and buy something more durable. Every single time I help change a tire those things buckle and give way like someone blowing on a house of cards.
Since were talking about tires there are few things I recommend to keep in your vehicles for your tires. Tire slime does work. Keep a can or two of it in your vehicle. Tire repair patches are always a good thing especially if the puncture isn’t that bad. The next few things are optional depending on funds and space available. Tire pressure gauge, I don’t really trust the ones at the do it yourself air units. Which is why I carry a air pump that runs off the cigarette power adaptor. If you vehicle of choice allows for it and you have the money to do it put a full size tire in place of the space saver spare.
In the instance you do run into vehicle issues and are on the side of the road you’ll want to make yourself visible to other drivers especially at night. If your vehicle still has power put your hazards on. Secondly you should have some sort of reflective hazard signs that you can place about 10 feet behind your vehicle. I really caution against road flares just because of the required fireproof box needed to store them in, but also because the first hazard they pose while in use.
A first aid kit is also a must. Even if you only ever use a band aid from it, it’s worth having.
Finally a container of some kind to keep all of this stuff in. I’m fairly certain you don’t want all of this stuff rolling around in the cargo area of your vehicle. A basic Rubbermaid container will do.
Some of you may say “I don’t need any of the stuff I have OnStar or AAA.” So what if you do. What happens if you are in an area that doesn’t have cell service. Then what? I consider having these items part of being a responsible vehicle owner. | 2019-04-19T11:01:16Z | https://canadotornado.wordpress.com/tag/flashlight/ | Porn | Reference | 0.261005 |
wordpress | Green Giant frozen vegetables are from China and so are most of Europe’s Best.
Never buy the grocery store garlic unless it is clearly marked “from USA” or Canada, the other stuff is grown in people poop (even worse than chicken poop). China is the largest producer of garlic in the world, U.S. is next.
Buy only local honey, much honey is shipped in in huge containers fromChina and re-packed here.
If the country of origin is not clearly marked beware…if produce, ask an employee. Watch out for packages which state “prepared for”, “packed by” or “imported by.” I don’t understand the lack of mandatory labeling. Especially the produce.
Go to the local farmers markets in season and keep a wary eye open the rest of the year.
FOR EXAMPLE THE “OUR FAMILY” BRAND OF THE MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN FROM CHINA. SO FOR A FEW MORE CENTS BUY THE LIBERTY brand.
GOLD BRAND OR THE DOLE IS FROM CAL. Beware, Costco sells canned peaches & pears in a plastic jar that come from China.
ALL “HIGH LINER” AND MOST OTHER FROZEN FISH PRODUCTS COME FROM CHINA OR INDONESIA .. THE PACKAGE MAY SAY “PACIFIC SALMON” ON THE FRONT, BUT LOOK FOR THE SMALL PRINT. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS COME FROM FISH FARMS IN THE ORIENT WHERE THERE ARE NO REGULATIONS ON WHAT IS FED TO THESE FISH.
If you search the internet what the Chinese feed their fish you’ll be alarmed, e.g.. Growth hormones, expired anti-biotic from humans, and never buy any type of fish or shellfish that comes from these countries: Vietnam, China, Philippines.
Also check those little fruit cups. They used to be made in Canada in the Niagara region until about 2 years ago…. They are now packaged in China!
SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF CANADA & U.S.!! | 2019-04-20T04:11:46Z | https://conservativecritic.wordpress.com/food-from-china/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.861792 |
wordpress | I am a 63 year old female and have had trace blood in my urine in the past year. There was no protein found and had a kidney/bladder ultrasound last April which was normal, no issues found. Had bloodwork last week and my Creatinine was 1.04 and eGfr 57. Bun/creatinine ratio was 13 normal. I don’t have high blood pressure or diabetes. Total cholesterol is 204, HDL 57, LDL 128, Glucose 100. BP 124/80. I have been on Prilosec 40 mg daily for several years. I stopped taking it over a week ago. I’ve read where test results should be looked at for 3 consecutive months before a diagnosis of CKD is considered. Should I get retested next month to see if my numbers improve or should I go ahead and see a kidney doctor?
Hello! I’m 48, no major health issues (I am post menopausal, hypothyroidism, but no diabetes, no hypertension). I do have thin basement membrane nephropathy. My GFR has been consistently low for several years 40’s-50’s. Last was 44 and creatinine was 1.3. All other labs have been fine and I’ve just started seeing a nephrologist. 1.) Should I be concerned to where I need to alter my diet or make any other lifestyle changes? I want to do everything I can to not let this get any worse. And 2.) Is this considered stage 3 chronic kidney disease yet all other labs are normal? And last 3.) Could this be a cause of a general feeling of malaise and poor appetite at times? Thank you so very much!!!
Dear Doctor, While in the army in 1987 I had 2 Intravenous Pyelogram (IVP) using iodinated contrast dye. These tests were to look for a hematuria in my kidneys. I donated a unit of blood several times each year and in the fall of 1991 I was rejected as a blood donor because of high blood pressure. My height and weight and physical activity has always been good. I was treated for high blood pressure then for many years. I began to loose kidney function and went into End Stage Renal Disease the Summer of 2007. After 6 months of dialysis, I have now had a successful kidney transplant for nearly 11 years. The question I have is: has there ever been a link to IVP and kidney disease with the dyes used back in 1987? I believe the kidney disease caused my high blood pressure. Thank you.
I believe that I have LPHS. It has been going on for a year and a half. I have been hospitalized numerous times and had test after test. The doctors won’t listen to me. I don’t know what to do. My life is reduced to nothing but pain.
My daugther has had lower left back pain for a month now. She’s had numerous urine and blood tests. She had a renal ultrasound that showed mild pelviclitsis in both kidneys. She’s having off and on pain that goes from her lower back to side with a low grade fever. She’s had blood in her urine via urine tests and urinalysis. We’ve seen a urologist and nephrologist- none of them are taking this seriously. Her pediatrician has now ordered an MRI to rule out a mass. Wouldn’t the renal ultrasound shown a mass or any type of cyst? My daughter has numerous food intolerances – could this have played a role in it? She’s had the mild pelviclisis since September 2017, but just started to have symptoms for the last month.
Do yo know anything about Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome? My son is 27 years old was diagnosed 10 years ago and we still can not find anyone to help him, he also has IGA a mild case. Thank You in advance Ps: all the doctors we have seen or spoke to have no idea what to do and say it’s too complicated they don’t want to see him again.
My son is 27 years old. About 10 years ago he was diagnosed with IGAN and Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome. Within those 10 years we have been unable to find a doctor who wants to help him. We have been to numerous nephrologist and urologist and it seems like none of them want to take an interest in this because they say it is too hard to complicated and they do not want to mess with it . Could you please recommend a doctor for my son to get some help before we lose him because of the frustration of not being able to find a doctor that cares and wants to try to help his pain is on believable and I myself cannot handle this much longer and much less him.
I had a first time appointment with my doctor. She did a full set of labs. All came back OK other than Occult Blood 3+. For years a I’ve had microscopic blood in my urine. I have moved a lot so no further work up has been done. What does this mean exactly? It says negative 3+. How can I tell if it was done by dip stick or microscope? I have a follow up in a few weeks. Other high value was total cholesterol 224 and got D deficient. I also have high blood pressure. I’m in shape 49 years old and female. | 2019-04-23T00:29:54Z | https://kidneyfoundation.wordpress.com/category/hematuria/ | Porn | Health | 0.868342 |
google | Thank you for remembering Cedarville University in your estate plans! We are delighted you have chosen to honor Cedarville in this way. Your estate gift will preserve our ministry of providing an education consistent with Biblical truth. | 2019-04-20T02:45:02Z | https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUf4U6tsNQM9LrTfaQkOTt909zgmaiS2bJobk6TajLoZnNaw/viewform | Porn | Reference | 0.497867 |
american | Jason Garner joined the Kogod Graduate Admissions team in May 2017. Jason oversees the recruitment and admissions for all the on-campus graduate programs here at KSB. Prior to joining American University, Jason served as the Director of MBA Admissions at The George Washington University School of Business. Previously, he also worked in consumer sales and marketing in the private sector. Jason loves food, wine, and travel and has visited over 30 countries. | 2019-04-19T01:01:22Z | https://www.american.edu/profiles/staff/jgarner.cfm | Porn | Business | 0.750405 |
wordpress | African American male non-union needed for successful webseries.
Fake Lil Wayne: 18-25. Black male. 6ft or taller. Lil Wayne complexion. Slim buildfc. Must be able to do Jamaican accent. Excellent comedic timing. Improv skills a plus. Dreads a plus but not necessary.
No pay but copy, trans, credit and food provided.
male actors around the same age with a similar look.
and able to express over-the-top comedic sadness.
struggles to speak but managed to score a young trophy wife.
COUCHWOMAN (female, age 18-30) – Young, attractive, outgoing female.
The trophy wife of COUCHMAN.
we ask is that you are comfortable in woman’s clothes and high heels.
pounds using this amazing product. Must have a fit, energetic look.
Blackhand Ent. is looking for the nest hottest model!!!
their exclusive website set to launch next month.
her photos, bio, resume and management/personal contact information.
Join the ranks of Buffie the Body, Elke the Stallion, Rachel Whitted, Eve Eye Candy, and more as Yo! Raps Eye Candy!!
Please email aundrea@yoraps.com with bios, resumes, myspace url, and 10 – 15 PROFESSIONAL pics to be considered. Please place “Yo! Raps Eyecandy” in the subject line of the email.
http://www.gallicwarsmixtapes.com is seeking models to feature in it’s eyecandy section.
If interested in being featured on this website as “Eyecandy”, please email ghostmodelcasting@gmail.com with bio, resume, 5 – 10 PROFESSIONAL pics, contact info, and url to myspace or other website. Please place “Gallic Eyecandy” in the subject line.
If chosen for a feature, you will receive an email which will contain 5 – 10 questions which must be answered within 48 hours of their receipt to complete the submission process.
http://www.realrapnews.com is seeking models to feature in it’s eyecandy section.
If interested in being featured on this website as “Eyecandy”, please email ghostmodelcasting@gmail.com with bio, resume, 5 – 10 PROFESSIONAL pics, contact info, and url to myspace or other website. Please place “Real Rap Eyecandy” in the subject line of the email.
Kutie of the Week is seeking models nationwide for features.
SUBMISSIONS THAT DO NOT CONTAIN ALL INFO LISTED WILL BE DELETED.
To stay posted on castings for websites, movies, tv, modeling, and other roles see the contents section of http://www.ghostmodel.com and join http://www.thevixendirectory.ning.com to be eligble for private castings and more. | 2019-04-20T07:15:07Z | https://ghostmodel.wordpress.com/tag/web-feature/ | Porn | News | 0.532224 |
wordpress | Warship Watch. No to foreign warships in Halifax Harbour!
Haligonians have a long history of protesting visits by warships. Photo of May 29, 2012 action.
Act of God, the harbour pilot, the navy?
During the Halifax International Security Forum the people of Halifax affirm No Harbour for War!
Activists hold 600-strong rally in Halifax on July 15, 2017 as the statue of Cornwallis is covered with black cloth.
On November 21, 2009 some 200 people gathered in a rally in Cornwallis Park to oppose the inaugural Halifax International Security Forum (HISF), a warmongering agency based in Washington, DC and funded by the Department of National Defence and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. They took the collective decision to rename it Peace and Freedom Park as their very first act, an act carried out in consultation with Mi’kmaq elders such as acclaimed historian Dan Paul. | 2019-04-20T04:46:25Z | https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/tag/no-harbour-for-war-halifax/ | Porn | Society | 0.373075 |
wordpress | Thermae Sylla is truly entitled to its claims as “the only natural spa resort” in Greece, but an even more appropriate characterization would be the continuity of thermal tradition from the time of antiquity. The Thermae Sylla Spa is built on two hot thermal springs, which were already mentioned in the works of Plutarch, Aristotle and Strabon, as the “Herculian Thermae”. It is said that Hercules visited the site when he needed to regain his powers. Today we would say that he was in serious need of revitalization and rejuvenation, all benefits to be expected from a modern spa. The name Sylla was later added and originates from a famous Roman General who decided to build baths for the prominent Roman society of the time.
It is believed that the area in which the spa was built was renowned for its healing powers and this is strikingly evident in the local archaeological findings. Today’s Thermae Sylla Spa was completed in 1897 to serve as a medicinal waters resort. The resort attracted an international and cosmopolitan clientele that included Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Winston Churchill, Omar Sharif and others.
According to current international regulations, Edipsos thermal mineral springs are ranked on the basis of their physiochemical composition, in the saline spa category. They have a temperature of 70 to 84° for the 1st spring (Edipsos Damaria spring) and of 40 to 50 ° for the second (ThermaeSylla Beach spring) and are rich in valuable minerals and trace elements. Indications of bath therapy, always under a doctor’s supervision, has been used for articulation-related problems, back and neck aches, rheumatisms, gynecological and circulatory related problems, endocrinological cycle disorders (due to the revitalizing effect of radon), and lastly, beauty and rejuvenation.
These thermal waters have risen through the rocks from a depth of 3000 meters at a temperature of 75° for the last 20000 years. The fact that the spa is built right over the springs is a challenge in itself as there is a constant need for building maintenance.
According to the spa manager, Thermae Sylla Spa clientele has undergone a shift during the last few years. Originally frequented by elderly persons for an average stay of 3 weeks under doctor’s supervision, the resort now attracts a younger clientele of spa goers, especially in winter, in search of relaxation and the benefits of wellness for shorter, weekend getaways. Customized programs designed by a doctor include bath therapy in the internal or external pools or in individual bathtubs, followed by the famous “fango” application, a thermal mud which helps to eradicate back pain and neck stiffness. The program continues with a collection of traditional Asian massages like Thai massage, Ayurveda, Pantai Luar from Indonesia and Reflexology. Pool treatments such as Aqua bike or Watsu are also sophisticated options that cannot be found everywhere in Greece. Kinisiotherapy and Hydrokinisiotherapy are the more medical based treatments offered by the impressive spa menu.
In conclusion, Thermae Sylla Spa is a rarety in Greece with a long history and tradition, an international reputation based on high quality thermal spring waters and a luxury hotel environment. The resort operates year round and is easily accessible by ferry boat or by car from Chalkida.
With the blogs I’ve visited online, this is the simply post I’ve ever conclude their excellent composing. The quality of the article explains well the actual discussion. I will be glad that this blogger shared this matter for the visitors. I loved how the tumblr plans their writing high quality. It can be known as a successful work. | 2019-04-21T23:06:36Z | https://thermalsprings.wordpress.com/thermal-springs-and-spa-in-greece/edipsos/ | Porn | Health | 0.637849 |
cnn | The military will brief the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday about the investigation into alleged misconduct in Colombia by U.S. military assigned to the president's security detail last week in Colombia.
The Director of the Joint Staff, Vice Adm. William Gortney; Brig. Gen. Richard Gross, legal counsel for the chairman of the Joint Staff; and representatives from the secretary of defense will brief senators, said Rick Osail, a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman.
The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee complained he was "disturbed" that the Senate Armed Services Committee had yet to be given a briefing by the military, while the Secret Service had briefed Congress.
"It's kind of a process of disregard of the Senate Armed Services Committee that is disturbing," Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) told CNN's Ted Barrett.
But the chairman of the committee, Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, was more sanguine.
“We will be briefed and to me that’s the important thing," Levin said on Tuesday.
The military is still determining who will investigate the service member who admitted to some misconduct while working with the White House Communications Agency. The other 11 military members are being investigated by U.S. Southern Command. The individual has been relieved of his WHCA duty and has been reassigned to the Military District of Washington pending the outcome of the investigation, according to Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.
If Obama hadn't directed Geithner's Quantitative Easing – democrats printing monopoly money, which subsequently devalued the dollar – these good men of the Secret Service and Army could've afforded to pay their prostitutes, and none of this would have happened.
Last paragraph, look at the parenthesis. | 2019-04-18T18:52:40Z | http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/24/military-to-brief-congress-this-week-about-cartagena-scandal/ | Porn | News | 0.183794 |
wikipedia | 15 minutes of fame is short-lived media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. The expression was inspired by Andy Warhol's words "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes", which appeared in the program for a 1968 exhibition of his work at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. Photographer Nat Finkelstein claimed credit for the expression, stating that he was photographing Warhol in 1966 for a proposed book. A crowd gathered trying to get into the pictures and Warhol supposedly remarked that everyone wants to be famous, to which Finkelstein replied, "Yeah, for about fifteen minutes, Andy." The phenomenon is often used in reference to figures in the entertainment industry or other areas of popular culture, such as reality television and YouTube.
An older version of the same concept in English is the expression "nine days' wonder", which dates at least as far back as the Elizabethan era.
German art historian Benjamin H. D. Buchloh suggests that the core tenet of Warhol's aesthetic, being "the systematic invalidation of the hierarchies of representational functions and techniques" of art, corresponds directly to the belief that the "hierarchy of subjects worthy to be represented will someday be abolished;" hence, anybody, and therefore "everybody," can be famous once that hierarchy dissipates, "in the future," and by logical extension of that, "in the future, everybody will be famous," and not merely those individuals worthy of fame.
In the song "I Can't Read", released by David Bowie's Tin Machine in their 1989 debut album and re-released by Bowie in 1997 for the soundtrack of the movie The Ice Storm, the phrase is used in direct reference to Andy Warhol: "Andy, where's my 15 minutes?" The age of reality television has seen the comment wryly updated as: "In the future, everyone will be obscure for 15 minutes." The British artist Banksy has made a sculpture of a TV that has, written on its screen, "In the future, everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes," which was later used in the lyrics of Robbie Williams' song "The Actor" from his 2006 album Rudebox.
In 1993, the British techno/industrial music group Sheep on Drugs released a single "15 Minutes of Fame" which reached the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart.
The 2005 heavy metal single, "Determined" from the band Mudvayne's third studio album, Lost and Found had a brief mention of "fifteen minutes of fame" in the lyrics.
The group Queensrÿche uses the words "I guess Warhol wasn't wrong / Fame fifteen Minutes Long" in their 1988 anti-hero telltale album Operation: Mindcrime song as a way of showing the deterioration of society to reach its aim.
After experiencing a boom of recognition in the late 90s, the rock group Sugar Ray made an album entitled "14:59", jesting that their 15 minutes of fame was almost over.
In 2018, the band Shinedown came out with the song "special" which mentions not waiting on 15 minutes of fame. It is on their album Attention Attention.
Musician and actor Tim Minchin refers to the phrase (and to Warhol explicitly) in his song "15 minutes", wherein the phrase "15 minutes of shame" is sung repeatedly to describe the phenomenon of online shaming.
^ Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. (December 1, 2001). "Andy Warhol's One-Dimensional Art: 1956–1966". In Michelson, Annette (ed.). Andy Warhol. The MIT Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-262-63242-3.
^ Bragman, Howard (2005). Where's My Fifteen Minutes?: Get Your Company, Your Cause, or Yourself the Recognition You Deserve. Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-236-1.
^ Stockler, Bruce (2004). I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-312-31529-0.
^ Bryars, Betsy Cromer (1986). The Pinballs. Scholastic. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-590-40728-1.
^ Mamatas, Nick (2003). 3000 MPH In Every Direction At Once: Stories and Essays. Wildside Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-930997-31-8.
^ Frederick Levy, 15 Minutes of Fame: Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution, Penguin Group, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59257-765-1.
^ van de Rijt, A.; Shor, E.; Ward, C.; Skiena, S. (2013). "Only 15 Minutes? The Social Stratification of Fame in Printed Media" (PDF). American Sociological Review. 78: 266–289.
^ Jason, Sybil (2005). My Fifteen Minutes: An Autobiography of a Child Star of the Golden Era of Hollywood. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-023-3.
^ "Yoyo by Bourgeois Tagg".
^ Peltz, Jennifer (March 1, 2004). "Aiken and Clarkson show off Idol mettle". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
^ "DENNIS HOPPER ART COLLECTION AUCTION". October 19, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
^ a b Weinberger, David (July 23, 2005). "Famous to fifteen people". Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2006.
^ Momus (1991). "POP STARS? NEIN DANKE! In the future everyone shall be famous for fifteen people..." Grimsby Fishmarket. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 495. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "15 Minutes by Tim Minchin". YouTube. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
Guinn, Jeff and Douglas Perry (2005). The Sixteenth Minute: Life In the Aftermath of Fame. New York, Jeremy F. Tarcher/Penguin (a member of The Penguin Group). ISBN 9781585423897.
This page was last edited on 20 April 2019, at 04:02 (UTC). | 2019-04-26T09:17:18Z | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_for_15_minutes | Porn | Reference | 0.445492 |
wordpress | This is a story by a young writer from Grade 6 boy named Minaam Ali Akbara, of New Shams School, Bhatkal, Karnataka.
I hope you will find it apt to the world around us. Do share a word about it around or drop a comment so that I can pass it on to the boy and encourage him to keep writing!
Once upon a time there was a writer named Raghu. Raghu used to walk to his office in the morning. Every day he noticed a young boy standing near the fence of the football court.
One day out of curiosity, Raghu walked towards the boy and asked him, “Why do you stand here every morning?” The boy replied, “I like the way these boys play and I love their shoes.” He quietly pointed at the boys playing in the court.
Devraj nodded affirming and said one of his sisters went to school. Raghu asked him about his ambitions. Devraj smiled. “One day I want to play football and wear the shoes those boys are wearing,” he said softly, pointing at the boys in the court.
Raghu felt extremely sad. Devraj seemed to be very guilty of what he did. Raghu was moved by the fact revealed by Devraj, and said, “I pray that one day you will get brand new shoes bought by the money you earn yourself.” Devraj smiled.
Next day in the newspaper, Devraj saw his name and read the article which was written by a man named Raghu. Devraj knew he was the same man whom he had spoken to, the previous day. The article in the newspaper was about how rich kids fail to value things they have, while poor kids crave for them. | 2019-04-25T02:18:39Z | https://umrirainmaker.wordpress.com/colours-of-character/ | Porn | Kids | 0.448895 |
wordpress | I just want to thank my private investigators in New York and Long Island for the effort they put out this week. Under difficult circumstances, they did everything they could to get to the gig. Thank you!
Due to their tenacity, lo and behold, we used up quite a bit of videotape on those 2 days. Great Job!
Posted on February 13, 2010, in Private Investigators and tagged ICORP Investigations, infidelity, investigations, New York private investigators, NYC Private Investigators. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment. | 2019-04-25T21:56:35Z | https://nycprivateinvestigators.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/private-investigator-new-york/ | Porn | Business | 0.959779 |
wordpress | On the Eve: The Jews of Europe Before the Second World War, by Bernard Wasserstein, is a compelling and intense study of the European Jews before their massive obliteration during World War II.
The non-fictional account spans every corner of Jewry, from the basic beggar to the wealthy, from the Orthodox to the non-practicing, from the intermarriages to the pure marriages, and from the varied social structures, both eastern and western. Jews are defined in every aspect, and defined in every location in Europe and Eastern Europe.
Ignorance is presented to be otherwise, according to Wasserstein’s extensive research and documentation. Many Jews did have an inkling as to what was occurring under their noses. They did understand the seriousness of the events unfolding in the social stratum of their lives.
But, understanding and removing one’s self from precarious and dangerous situations are not necessarily possible. Social structures, religious beliefs, family ties, homelands, separations, financial aspects, and the forces imposed on the Jews by the Nazis don’t always allow for escape. The influences were more than immense.
Wasserstein is brilliant in depicting the lives of the Jews, their family ties, friendships, joys, lows, fears, and all of their daily living arrangements. The revelations are intense and filled with sorrow and, yet, a sense of meaningfulness and purpose of life unfolds within the pages.
You may ask “Why”. But, before you do, try to consider the adverse and horrific situations thrust on the Jews. Try to analyze things with an open mind, not rose-colored lenses. It is not as simple as many try to make it. Knowing and leaving are two different issues. Knowing doesn’t necessarily give you the tools to move forward. In fact, knowing can make it more difficult for a person. They might choose to deal with it by suppressing their knowledge, and by trying to live life with what they have and with what is not foreign to them.
No stone is left unturned within the harrowing accounts presented by Wasserstein in On the Eve. It is almost 500 pages long, and not an easy read. Yet, the impressions, presentations and word visuals are told with sensitivity to the situations and even with a bit of humor here and there. He is not harsh toward the Jews in his revelations, but, in my opinion, tries to state the truth, the facts, with clarifying seriousness. He writes with an awareness of others, and his responses reflect prose that demonstrates his insight. The historical factor is incredible, and opened this reader’s eyes to varying degrees on the perspectives focused on.
Wasserstein is brilliant in his prose, his magnificent rendering of the European Jews is masterful in so many aspects. We, who have had ancestors from Europe will gain insight into the mindsets of those who encountered the horrific events of pre World War II and the Holocaust. The book is a work of humaneness and a work of art. It is a work of historical necessity.
I highly recommend On the Eve: The Jews of Europe Before the Second World War, by Bernard Wasserstein to every one. I feel it belongs in every library, whether public, university, high school or personal library. It is a book with extreme historical value.
Oh, my, it has been so long since I have posted. I was in the process of moving, which meant packing, and all it entails.
I was in Washington state, for almost one year, following my daughter and her family there. It was not my cup of tea, after spending 40+ years in California. So, I moved back, last month, and am totally happy with my decision. I am home again, and that, in itself, is defining, and brings me peace. I am emotionally alive, filled a sense of fullness, which speaks volumes in the scheme of things.
I feel at home, at peace, and feel complete with my environment.
I have read her Neopolitan Trilogy, and look forward to her fourth in the series, which comes out in September.
I am in the midst of reading Judy Blume’s latest book-In the Unlikely Event. So far, I am loving it!
I am an avid reader of Aharon Appelfeld’s books. I find them to be a fascinating look into the mindsets of those who seem to have a naive sense of things to come, and/or things that are occurring around them.
Aharon Appelfeld brings the reader illuminating gems within his novels. His stories are told with magnificent prose and word-imagery. The impact is not normally light and airy, but one that is often disturbing, and on the fringes of horrific events to come. He has a point to make within the pages of his novels, and the concepts and depictions resound and echo through the heart of pain and extreme adversity. He beckons the reader to ponder humanity and the human condition.
Last Letters From the Shoah, by Ziwi Bachrach, is a poignant, heart-wrenching and incredible non-fiction work, leaving me stunned after reading it.
This book is intense on so many levels. The letters, thrown from trains, written on walls, secreted out of the very concentration camps they were written in, words written in haste, just before extermination, documents the emotions of Holocaust victims, and describes the atrocities they have witnessed, and are about to succumb to, themselves.
Many of the victims ask for revenge, many seek some form of peace knowing they are about to die, and others, ask for forgiveness from the intended addressees of the letters, still others, try to ease the minds of the persons they are writing to, letting them know that they (the authors of the letters), are facing their ultimate death in peace.
Each and every line, each and every word, is a stark and poignant reminder of the fate of the individuals, who wrote the letters, often written on bits, pieces, and scraps of paper.
Last Letters From the Shoah will ever be a treasured volume on my book shelf. It is first and foremost not just a volume of letters, but a heart-wrenching, poignant and hand-written reminder of the Holocaust, from the pens of Witnesses. Ziwi Bachrach pays tribute to those Witnesses, some exterminated, and some living. | 2019-04-21T13:13:21Z | https://bookdiva.wordpress.com/category/jewish-history-2/ | Porn | Reference | 0.207181 |
google | 1997-03-06 Assigned to BAXTER INTERNATIONAL, INC. reassignment BAXTER INTERNATIONAL, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CHAPMAN, JOHN R., CUFFARO, DANIEL F., LARSON, DALE N., REED, MICHAEL A., STARK, PETER R.H.
2004-10-04 First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=25027014&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=US5922278(A) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Apparatus and methods for treating a biological fluid with light and for inactivating contaminants in biological fluid. The biological fluid is contacted with a light source providing a high intensity light to the biological fluid. The biological fluid may include a quantity of a photochemical agent that when activated by light is operable to cause inactivation of at least some of the contaminants.
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for treating biological fluids such as blood and blood components. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for inactivating contaminants, such as viruses, in such biological fluids.
Human blood includes both cellular and non-cellular components. The cellular components in blood include red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets. Plasma is a non-cellular component of blood and is the liquid medium in which the cellular components are suspended. Plasma also includes various other components such as proteins (e.g. fibrinogens, albumin and globulins), electrolytes and metabolites.
It is well known that viruses, such as hepatitis or HIV virus, may be resident within human blood. The viruses residing in blood may be "intracellular," i.e. contained within one of the cellular components of blood, such as white blood cells, or they may be "extracellular" i.e. freely existing in the plasma. For example, the hepatitis virus is primarily an extracellular virus, the cytomegalovirus (the virus responsible for herpes) is primarily an intracellular virus, and the HIV virus (the virus responsible for AIDS) is found both intracellularly and extracellularly. Regardless of where the virus resides, the presence of the virus in the bloodstream poses the risk of infection and disease not only to the host, but also, if the blood or a blood component is collected and transfused, to a recipient.
Accordingly, the medical community has attempted to reduce the risk of transfusing blood that is tainted with active virus by developing methods and apparatus to remove virus from the blood stream or otherwise inactivate the virus. For example, one such attempt involves the filtration of blood and/or blood components to remove intracellular viruses entrained, for example, in white blood cells, Rawal et al., "Reduction of human immunodeficiency virus-infected cells from donor blood by leukocyte filtration," Transfusion, pp. 460-462 (1989). Although filtration of blood and/or blood components has been somewhat effective in removing the intracellular viruses, it has been generally ineffective in the removal of extracellular viruses because such viruses are typically too small to be captured by currently commercially available filters.
Other methods for inactivating viruses and, in particular, extracellular viruses, in blood, include steam sterilization of blood plasma to inactivate virus. Still, other methods include the use of "detergents" to cleanse the blood and/or the blood component of any viruses, or procedures whereby the blood components are frozen, thawed and washed to remove the virus.
A more recent approach to viral inactivation is the treatment of blood or blood components with a photochemical agent and light. When activated by light of an appropriate wavelength, the photochemical agent either kills the virus directly or indirectly inhibits the ability of the virus to replicate and, thus, in either case "inactivates" the virus. As used herein, the term "inactivate" (and forms thereof) mean the actual destruction, eradication of a contaminant such as a virus, or a direct or indirect effect on the contaminant that inhibits its ability to replicate or otherwise to adversely affect a living recipient.
Several known photochemical agents have been used or disclosed for use in inactivating viruses in blood. They include, for example, psoralens (which have been used in the inactivation of viruses in collected platelets) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,030. Other photochemical agents that have been disclosed for the inactivation of viruses in blood include the family of light activated drugs derived from benzoporphyrin, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,238, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated by reference herein. Still other photochemical agents considered for use in the inactivation of viruses in biological fluids are compounds from the family of phenothiazine dyes, which include, but are not limited to toluidine blue O, azure A, azure B, azure C, thionine methylene blue, and methylene green.
For the photochemical agents to inactivate viruses, the light applied to the photochemical agent must be of a wavelength that can be absorbed by the photochemical agent. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,704, also assigned to the assignee of the present application and incorporated by reference herein, in the case of methylene blue, it is known that methylene blue absorbs light having wavelengths of between about 550 and 700 nm.
As presently understood, a methylene blue molecule that has been activated by light becomes a catalyst for secondary and tertiary reactions that inactivate virus. More specifically, activation of the photochemical agent such as methylene blue is believed to result in the production of singlet oxygen which enhances the secondary and tertiary reactions. A detailed discussion of methylene blue, its photophysics, and photodynamic action on proteins, nucleic acid, viruses and bacteria is set forth in Tuite et al., "Photochemical interactions of methylene blue and analogues with DNA and other biological substrates," J. Photochem, Photobiol. B. Biol., 21, (1993) which is incorporated by reference herein.
In addition to acting as a catalyst for viral inactivation reactions, photochemical agents (when activated by light), such as methylene blue may also result in damage to plasma proteins and, in particular, therapeutic proteins as described in European Patent No. 0196515 which is incorporated by reference. As set forth in European Patent No. 0196515 and as used herein, therapeutic proteins include any biologically active protein which has qualities which make it useful in the treatment of medical disorders. Examples of such proteins include human-blood plasma proteins such as factor VIII, Von Willebrand factor, factor IX, factor X, factor XI, Hageman factor, the activated forms of such factors, prothrombin, anti-thrombin III, fibronectin, plasminogen, immune serum globulin, modified immune globulin, albumin, 1-antitrypsin, and prekallikrein. Prior to the present invention, a system capable of providing maximum viral kill with minimal damage to therapeutic proteins has been considered unattainable because the increased production of singlet oxygen was also believed to be responsible for protein damage.
Various apparatus for using photochemical agents in viral inactivation have also been developed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,019, assigned to the assignee of the present application and also incorporated by reference herein, an apparatus for treating a fluid containing a biological contaminant with a photochemical agent is described. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,019, blood including a contaminant, such as a virus, and a photochemical agent is pumped from a source container through a treatment chamber to a collection container. While in the treatment chamber, the blood is exposed to a light source that activates the photochemical agent as the blood is processed within the treatment chamber. To ensure that the blood is sufficiently and uniformly exposed to the light source, the blood (with contaminants and photochemical agent) is continuously mixed within the treatment chamber. After treatment, the blood is collected in the collection container. The photochemical agent described in that patent is benzoporphyrin.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,704, also incorporated by reference, a single container of blood or a blood component is placed between two facing arrays of light emitting diodes. The container includes a blood component (plasma), a viral contaminant and a quantity of methylene blue. The container is irradiated by the light emitting diodes which produce light having a wavelength of approximately 620-670 nm to activate methylene blue. The container of blood or blood component is subjected to light for a period of approximately five (5) minutes.
While the prior art methods and apparatus represent progress in the inactivation of contaminants, such as viruses, in biological fluids, such as blood or blood components, there is still room for improvements. For example, one of the prime areas of concern is to better assure inactivation of a substantial portion of the contaminant with the goal being 100% inactivation. More specifically, it is desirable that exposure of the biological fluid to a light source provide maximum viral inactivation with minimal damage to the therapeutic proteins. Also, it is desirable that exposure of the biological fluid to a light source be of short duration to increase efficiency of treatment and reduce the cost. It is further desirable that the exposure of the biological fluid to the light source be substantially uniform in its application and preferably without the need to continuously mix the blood and/or blood components. Because biological fluids such as blood or blood components are often collected or stored in plastic containers, it is further desirable to be able to treat more than one unit or container at a time to improve efficiency, but without adverse effect on the viral inactivation.
The present invention generally is embodied in method and apparatus for inactivating contaminants in a biological fluid. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus includes at least one wall defining a chamber and a quantity of biological fluid including one or more contaminants within the chamber. The biological fluid also includes a photochemical agent. The photochemical agent is operable to cause the inactivation of at least some of the contaminants upon exposure to a light source. To increase the inactivation effect of the photochemical agent, the apparatus includes a high intensity light source providing an intensity of at least 30 mW/cm2. At least a portion of the wall of the chamber permits the light emitted by the light source to contact the fluid.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the biological fluid is a component of blood, such as blood plasma, and the photochemical agent is a phenothiazine dye such as methylene blue. The light source may comprise a sodium light, and a control system may operably be connected to the light source and one or more sensors for providing that the light contacting the biological fluid is between about 1 and 100 Joules/cm2.
The chamber may be a flexible plastic container, one or more of which are carried by a carriage relatively rotatable around the light source. To provide more complete and uniform light contact with the fluid, the light source may be elongated to provide light along the length of source, in contrast, for example, to a point source light.
The present invention is also directed to an apparatus for treating a biological fluid with light wherein the apparatus includes a housing defining an interior chamber and a light source disposed within the chamber. The housing includes a reflective interior surface and is adapted to hold a quantity of biological fluid in the chamber between the light source and the reflective interior surface of the housing. Light passes through the fluid directly from the source and upon reflection from the interior surface.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for substantially inactivating contaminants in the biological fluid that includes a photochemical agent and other compounds. The method includes contacting the fluid with light having an intensity operative to activate the photochemical agent and substantially at least about 30 mW/cm2 to inactivate the contaminants. In one aspect of the present invention, the biological fluid includes other compounds which, preferably, are not adversely affected by the light source. In another aspect of the present invention, the amount of light contacting the biological fluid and the time of contact are monitored and, if desired, controlled. This invention finds particular application when the biological fluid is blood plasma and the photochemical agent is methylene blue.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for activating methylene blue by providing a quantity of methylene blue and contacting the methylene blue with light having an intensity of at least 30 mW/cm2. The methylene blue may be disposed within a biological fluid and may be contacted by the light for a period between approximately 0.3 and 30 minutes.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the control system for the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the normalized spectral distribution of high pressure sodium light between 500-700 nm.
Turning now to the drawings, the present invention is generally embodied in apparatus 10 depicted in FIG. 1, sometimes referred to as a light box. As shown in FIG. 1, light box 10 includes a generally cylindrical housing 12 having a top portion or cover 14, a midportion 16, and a bottom portion 18. The midportion may include a control panel 20 for operator control of light box operation. A door 22 in the midportion allows access into the interior of the light box 10. Door 22 may be either hinged or, as shown in FIG. 1 slidable. Light box 10 may also include retractable spill tray (not shown) for collecting spilled liquid from within the light box 10.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the light box 10 and shows its basic component parts. Specifically, the illustrated light box 10 includes a base assembly 23, which supports a centrally located light source 24 and shutter assembly 26. A light transparent tube 28 rests on the base assembly and supports, at its upper end, a carriage assembly 30 for rotation about the transparent tube and light source. The carriage assembly is a generally cylindrical hexagonal framework for holding at least one substantially clear plastic container 32 containing biological fluid to be treated. To protect the user from undue exposure to the light source, the outer housing 12 and particularly the top and mid portions enclose the carriage and light source.
Turning first to the base assembly 23, the base assembly has a lowermost base plate 34 and a raised platform 36 supported above the base plate by rigid vertical support members 38. The space between the base plate and platform permits retraction of the shutter assembly 26, provides room for mounting cooling fans 39a and 39b for cooling different regions of the light box, and contains the mounting socket for the light source 24.
The light source 24 is generally centrally mounted on the base assembly 23 and more specifically on platform 36. The light source includes preferably an elongated tube to provide uniform illumination of the interior of the light box 10. Light source 24 may be any lamp or bulb, preferably capable of emitting a high intensity light.
More specifically, light source 24 may be any lamp or bulb that can provide light with a wavelength and intensity effective (a) to inactivate contaminants in the biological fluid to be treated, or more precisely (b) to activate the photochemical agent (if any) used in treating the biological fluid. For example, if the photochemical agent is methylene blue, the light source should be capable of providing more than 25% of its light in the visible spectrum in a wavelength range of approximately 550-700 nm to provide better efficiency and lower heat generation.
In addition, light source 24 should provide a high intensity light that is capable of providing maximum activation of the photochemical agent without significantly harming other desirable components in the biological fluid. For example, high intensity, as used herein means an intensity of at least 30 mW/cm2 as measured at the biological fluid or container thereof. In the case of methylene blue, for example, the intensity should be at least 30 mW/cm2 and, preferably between 85-130 mw/cm2 measured at the biological fluid (or container thereof) and in a wavelength range from 550-700 nm. Of course, other photochemical agents may be operable at different intensities and wavelengths. Examples of light sources that can be used to activate photochemical agents include high pressure sodium lamps, halogen lamps, sulphur lamps, metal halide lamps or xenon lamps. One such lamp is the high pressure sodium vapor lamp that includes a ceramic arc tube, such as alumina (Al2 O3), in a clear or coated outer bulb with a medium or mogul screwbase for mounting into socket (in base assembly 23). Such a sodium lamp is sold by Phillips Lighting under the tradename Ceramalux, Model No. C1000S52.
To protect the light source and the user, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, light box 10 includes retractable shutter assembly 26 that encloses the light source 24 during, for example, loading and start-up procedures and retracts after loading is complete and the light is fully energized. The shutter assembly 26 comprises a cylindrical tube 41 that, when raised, shields the light source. The tube has an upper radial flange 26a which mounts to the shutter arms 51. Movement of the shutter is effected by shutter drive motor 53 as shown in FIG. 4, in a rack and pinion gear.
As noted above, the top of shutter 26 includes a top flange 26a that, when shutter 26 is retracted covers most of the portion of platform 36 within tube 28. The upper surface of 26a is reflective to further distribute light to the interior of the light box. The flange is preferably coated with a highly reflective material, such as White 91 sold by Alcoa Brite Products.
As set forth above and shown in FIG. 2, light box includes cylindrical tube 28, attached to the top of platform 36 of base assembly 23. As shown in FIG. 6, to prevent undue heating of the fluid being treated, tube 28 separates the interior of light box 10 into a light source region 40 and a fluid treatment region 42 between the tube 28 and the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, tube 28 encloses light source 24 and retractable shutter 26. Tube 28 is made of any material substantially transparent to the light emitted by the light source and should be made of a material that is heat tolerant. Suitable materials with good light transmission and thermal properties include many of the acrylic polymers, although other materials may also be used. In addition, the interior (or exterior) surface of tube 28 may be made of or coated with a material that is translucent to the desired wavelengths but reflective as to undesired wavelengths. For example, the surface of tube 28 may include a material that removes ultraviolet (UV) or other light that is unnecessary for activation of the photochemical agent. Also, the surface of tube 28 may include a material that removes infrared light which would otherwise create undesired heat (that will heat the biological fluid). Such a material includes a film consisting of a PET substrate onto which metallic layers are sputtered. Such a film is marketed by Southwall Technologies under the name Altair ALT-M-20. For mounting and rotating the carriage 30, the top of tube 28 includes a motor and carriage mounting plate 44, as shown in FIG. 2. The mounting plate 44 is largely open to allow heat generated within the light source region 40 to exit out the top of tube 28 (and through a vent in the housing).
As shown in FIG. 2 and 3, drive motor is suspended from the mounting plate 44. The shaft of the drive motor extends through plate 44 and is attached to an upper frame piece of the carriage 30 to rotate the carriage about its central axis 48. Motor 46 is connected to a power supply via connection wires (not shown). Alternatively, motor 46 may be located elsewhere. In another embodiment, motor 46 may be located, for example, between base plate 34 and platform 36 and the carriage may be mounted on a large bearing ring on the platform 36 for rotation about the light source. The motor, in this embodiment, could drive the carriage via gears or drive belts as one skilled in the art would understand.
Regardless of where the motor 46 is located, motor 46 should be of the type that allows for precise control of the motor functions and, more specifically, allows for incremental rotation of carriage assembly 30. One example of such motors are step motors. Step motors are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and available from manufacturers such as Applied Motion Products of Watsonville, Calif.
For holding bags of biological fluid, such as blood plasma, the carriage, generally at 30, is located within housing 12. As shown in FIG. 2-5, carriage 30 includes a top bracket 25a and a bottom bracket 25b and vertical framing 25c therebetween, to form a generally cylindrical framework for supporting bags of biological fluid to be treated. As best seen in FIG. 2, brackets 25a and 25b are hexagonal, providing a hexagonal cylindrical framework, with each side of the hexagon defining a bag receiving area on the framework. Of course, carriage assembly 30 including its top bracket 25a, bottom bracket 25b and vertical framing 25c may form other regular polygonal structures to accommodate a different number of containers. (For example, the cylindrical framework may be triangular, octagonal or other shape).
As best seen in FIGS. 3a-3d and 4-5, the top bracket 25a includes hooks 50 for suspending plastic containers or bags of biological fluid such as blood plasma or other blood components. A hook 50 is located at each of the hexagonal sides of the carriage, allowing flexible plastic containers 32 (shown in FIG. 3--3(a-d) of a biological fluid such as blood plasma to be hung within the bag receiving area. A pair of fixed vertical bars 52 extend between top and bottom brackets 25a and 25b in each bag receiving area to provide inner rests, against which the container 32 of biological fluid may be pressed to distribute the fluid more evenly within the container for treatment. In this regard, each bag receiving area of carriage 30 includes a bag holder 54 for compressing the bag to more evenly distribute fluid for treatment. The bagholder 54 includes a wire frame, hinged to the bottom bracket 25b for opening and closing. The top of each bag receiving area (above hook 50) includes a latch 56 for holding the holder 54 in a closed position.
Thus, as shown in FIGS. 3a-3d, when a plastic container 32 filled with biological fluid is hung from hook 50, and holder 54 is placed over the container and locked into position, horizontal bar 58 of holder 54 presses the fluid (which tends to aggregate in the lower half of container 32 due to gravity) against the inner vertical inner bars, and thus more evenly distributes the biological fluid throughout container 32.
Container 32 is made of any translucent material that is suitable for storing a biological fluid, such as blood or blood components and a photochemical agent. Preferably, the container 32 is made of a plastic such as a polymeric material or a polymeric blend. Containers useful in the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,106, which is incorporated by reference, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/121,820, also incorporated by reference and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/742,572 entitled "Systems and Methods for Removing Viral Agents from Blood" in the name of Robert Herman, John Chapman, Sun Chong-Sun, Jean M. Mathias, Veronique Mayadoun, Serge Degheidere and Daniel Bischof, filed on Oct. 28, 1996 and also incorporated by reference herein.
The specific carriage shown in FIG. 2 can accommodate up to six containers (one container within each compartment) of biological fluid. Of course, it should be understood that carriage 30 can have as many or as few bag receiving areas as possible and/or necessary. In fact, carriage 30 can be removed from platform 36 and replaced with a carriage capable of holding, for example, three larger containers or more (e.g. 8) smaller containers.
As shown in FIGS. 4-6, carriage 30 also includes wedged or V-shaped reflectors 60 along vertical members 25c and spaced between each of the bag receiving areas for reflecting light from light source 24 (and that has been transmitted through containers 32). As best shown in FIG. 6, surfaces 62 of reflectors 60 are angled toward the interior of light box 10 and, more specifically, with the vertex of the wedge aligned toward light source 24. The surface 62 of reflector 60 may be a composite of two or more angles or may be a generally smooth concave surface. Reflectors 60 and, more particularly, surfaces 62 may be coated, covered or made of any highly reflective material that, does not significantly diminish the intensity of the light and/or light energy reflected back onto containers. One such material is known by its tradename Everbrite 95 sold by Alcoa Brite products. Everbrite 95 includes a highly reflective layer of silver sputtered on a layer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. The treated PET film is then bonded to an aluminum or steel substrate.
As described above, carriage assembly 30 is enclosed by housing 12. The interior surface 64 of housing 12 (shown in FIG. 2) is also coated, covered or made of a highly reflective surface similar or identical to the material used for reflectors 60 as described above. Having the interior surface made of a highly reflective surface allows light from light source 24 (and transmitted through container 32) to be reflected back onto the container. The highly reflective nature of the inner surfaces reflects light back at the containers with minimum reduction in its intensity. This helps to provide for substantially uniform exposure of the fluid, as well as uniform illumination from container to a container.
Finally, light box 10 includes fans 39a and 39b. Fan 39b blows cool air through the tube 28 and the into light source region to cool light source 24. Fan 39a blows cool air through fluid treatment region 42 to prevent undue heating of the containers 32, as they are rotated by carriage 30.
A programmable computer-based control system, depicted generally and diagrammatically in FIG. 8, may be used to control the operation of the light box 10. As shown in FIG. 8, the system tests, monitors and controls various aspects of the light box operation such as the start-up, container loading, container treatment and container unloading stages of the light box operation. The various stages may be initiated by the operator through control panel 20 or automatically by the control system. For example, during the "start-up" phase, the control system tests the operation of the light source to determine whether it is functioning properly. As part of the check of the light source 24, control system activates light source 24, raises shutter 26 and, after a warm up period, measures the energy generated by the light source. (Alternatively, the energy generated by the light source may be measured with shutter 26 lowered). If the energy is within a range acceptable for treatment of the biological fluid, light source 24 is turned off and shutter 26 is lowered. (Alternatively, light source may remain on and be covered by shutter 26 until the time of the container treatment phase.) Based on the light energy readings, an estimated treatment time may be calculated by the control system. If the control system determines that the light box components are functioning properly, the operator may instruct the control system (or the control system may do so automatically) to proceed to the "Container Loading" phase of the system operation.
During the Container Loading phase, the control system determines the carriage type and the number of bags to be processed. During loading of the containers, carriage 30 may be automatically advanced to allow for balanced loading of the carriage. For example, if carriage is designed to hold 6 containers, the carriage will advance in such a way as to evenly distribute the containers 32 around the carriage 30. Thus, if for example, only 4 containers are to be treated on a carriage capable of holding six containers, the carriage will allow for placement of the first container in a first position and will then automatically advance to a position directly opposite the first position. The carriage will then allow for loading of the third container and advance to a position directly opposite the third container for loading the fourth container. Balancing the carriage as described above makes it more likely that during the illumination cycle each of the containers will receive a substantially uniform quantity of light and none of the containers will be substantially blocked from the light by adjacent containers. It also reduces undue wear on the motor and bearings due to unbalanced loads.
In addition, during the Container Loading phase, the system may also check and record the particulars of the container and, if the biological fluid is blood or a blood component, check that the blood or blood component is appropriate for treatment (e.g. that the component is blood plasma). For example, the containers may include bar codes or other identifiers that identify the product codes and lot numbers of the container and other specifics about the blood donation (e.g. type of component). If the control system recognizes an invalid code, lot number or other defect, it marks the container and/or alerts the operator.
After the Container Loading phase, the operator may instruct the system to proceed to the next phase, the Container Treatment phase. During the Container treatment phase, the instrument again goes through a sequence of tests to ensure that its component parts, such as the light source, are functioning properly. If the light source has been turned off (after the start-up phase), the light source is activated and allowed to reach its required intensity before shutter 26 is lowered. This prevents containers 32 from being exposed to a light that has not reached its desired intensity and that may be spectrally unstable or undesirable.
Light box 10 includes, as part of its control system, sensors 66 and 68 for monitoring the amount of light being emitted by the light source 24 and the amount of light transmitted through the biological fluid in containers 32. As shown in FIG. 2, sensor 66 may be located on or near cylinder 28 and measures and monitors the amount of light contacting the biological fluid directly from the light source 24. A second sensor 68 may be placed on or near the interior surface of the housing 12 to measure and monitor the amount of light transmitted through the biological fluid for reflection back onto containers 32. Alternatively, the control system may utilize one sensor as the primary sensor and a second sensor as a back up or check. In another embodiment, control system may monitor the treatment of the biological fluid by measuring the amount of time the biological fluid is exposed to the light from the light source and calculating the amount of energy received by the biological fluid. Also, the control system may monitor the treatment of the biological fluid in each container on a container per container basis, or may monitor the entire treatment process and arrive at an average treatment profile for the containers.
The control system may be preprogrammed to determine if the amount of light emitted directly by the light source and transmitted through containers 32 is sufficient to effectively treat the biological fluid. Thus, if the light box is being used to inactivate virus in blood or a blood component with a photochemical agent, the control system may be preprogrammed to determine if the amount of light is within the range required to activate the photochemical agent or, in other words, to inactivate the contaminants.
For example, if the biological fluid is blood plasma and the photochemical agent is methylene blue, the control system may be preprogrammed to determine whether the light energy contacting the container (from both sides) is within the intended exposure range. If sensors 66 and 68 determine that one or more of the containers has not been sufficiently illuminated, the treatment time may be extended to ensure that the deficient container receives additional treatment, but without overexposing the remaining containers that may be within the preferred intensity range. If providing further treatment to the deficient container would result in overexposure of the remaining containers, no further treatment will be provided and the control system will mark the deficient container or otherwise alert the operator that the deficient container has not been sufficiently treated.
Light box 10 described above may be used for treating any fluids with light, but is particularly useful in the treatment of blood or other biological fluids with light and, more specifically, for the viral inactivation of blood and blood components.
Light box 10 allows for multiple containers or units of biological fluid to be treated at the same time. This results in lower cost per unit treated. The ability to treat several containers or units of biological fluid provides a savings to the treatment center, as fewer instruments for treating a given amount of biological fluid will be required. Light box 10 is fairly compact (approximately 32 inches high×30 inches wide by 18 inches) thus, requiring less space and making it more convenient to place in different locations.
Although the operation of the light box 10 will be described in the context of treating blood with light for the purpose of inactivating viruses in the blood, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific example described below, nor is it limited to viral inactivation of blood or blood components.
In accordance with the method of treating a biological fluid with light, containers 32 of biological fluid containing a photochemical agent and contaminants are placed on carriage 30 of the light box 10. As used herein, contaminants refers to any harmful biological material, and particularly includes bacteria, parasites and viruses. As described above, containers 32 may be hung from hooks 50 of carriage 30 and secured by bag holder 54. During placement of containers 32 and during activation of the light source, it is desirable that retractable shutter 26 be in the closed position to shield the operator and the containers 32 from the light source before it has reached its desired intensity. Shielding the containers from the light source as it is being activated and as the containers are placed on the carriage is another way to ensure uniform treatment of the containers by preventing some of the containers from receiving some light before the others have been placed on the carriage. The shutter also shields the containers from a light source that might be spectrally unstable. A spectrally unstable light source may cause erroneous readings in the useful (i.e. energy in the absorption band of the photochemical agent) energy received at the container. Once the light source has reached its desired intensity, the retractable shutter 26 is lowered and the containers 32 are exposed to light.
Carriage 30 is rotated around its central axis 48. for a predetermined period of time. In accordance with the present invention, the typical time of exposure of the biological fluid may be anywhere between 0.3 and 30 minutes or, more preferably 1 to 5 minutes. The time of exposure will depend on the amount of light energy contacting the containers, and the fluid therein. As described above, if the fluid to be treated is blood plasma and the photochemical agent is methylene blue combined in the ratios below, it is desirable that the containers 32 of blood plasma be treated with energy in the range of 17-31 Joules/cm2 of light in the wavelength range corresponding to the absorption band of the photochemical agent (e.g. for methylene blue the corresponding wavelength would be 550-700 nm). If any one container has not been exposed to energy within the desired range, the procedure or treatment may be extended.
Rotation of carriage 30 also provides for uniform treatment of the biological fluid. Rotation of carriage 30 ensures that each container will be exposed to every part of the fluid treatment region 42 for similar duration. Rotation also ensures that the each container is uniformly cooled by, for example, fan 39a.
In accordance with the present invention, it is believed that the use of a high intensity light with a biological fluid such as blood or blood plasma containing a selected amount of methylene blue enhances the virucidal effect of the methylene blue. As compared to a lamp that provides low intensity light to the biological fluid, it is believed that use of the high intensity light to contact the biological fluid increases the number of photons contacting the methylene blue molecule per unit of time and, if those photons are of energies corresponding to the absorption wavelengths (in free space) of methylene blue, increases the production of the singlet oxygen which causes the secondary reactions responsible for inactivating the viruses in, for example, blood plasma. In accordance with the present invention, the preferred ratio of methylene blue to blood plasma is between about 1:20 to 1:35, but may be 1:200 to 1:350. Thus, approximately 1-10 ml of methylene blue may be used when the volume of plasma is generally between 200 and 350 ml. The concentration of methylene blue can be approximately between 1 to 10 μM and, preferably, approximately 1 μM.
As set forth above, methylene blue is activated by light having wavelengths of between approximately 550 and 700 nm with a peak at 663 nm. Absorbance of light in this range is understood to provide for activation of methylene blue without any significant negative effect on plasma or plasma proteins (which absorb light primarily between 300 to 560 nm). In addition, for maximum virucidal effect in a short period of time, the light intensity should be greater than 30 mW/cm2 at the biological fluid or container thereof, and preferably between 85-130 mW/cm2 measured at the biological fluid (or container thereof) and in the wavelength range from 550-700 nm.
In one example, units of fresh frozen plasma spiked with pseudorabies virus (PRV) were processed through a leukoreduction filter and illuminated with a high pressure sodium light in a prototype light box similar in substantial respects to light box 10. In one experiment, a single pack of plasma including 310 ml and plasma spiked with PRV (1:10 spike) and 10 ml of methylene blue was irradiated with a high pressure sodium light having an intensity of approximately 119 mW/cm2 when measured in the absorption range of 550-700 (which corresponds to 137 mW/cm2 when measured across the band of approximately 350-800 nm) for up to eight minutes. Levels of virus were measured at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 minute intervals using the conventional plaque assay. In addition, levels of virus in 5 ml aliquots were also measured at the above time intervals.
In addition to the above, a separate experiment involving one container of spiked PRV plasma and methylene blue (as described above) was treated with five containers of plasma (unspiked) in light box 10. The light intensity applied was 115 mW/cm2 when measured in the absorption range of 550-700 (which corresponds to 133 mW/cm2 when measured across the band of approximately 350-800) and samples were taken at the above time intervals. Levels of virus were measured in accordance with the conventional plague assay and in 5 ml aliquots. The results of these experiments are set forth in Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________Comparison of Methylene Blue viral inactivation of a single container ofmethylene blue plasma with multiple (6) containers ofmethylene blue plasma Virus titer Virus titer (Log PFU/ml) (Log PFU/5 ml) single singleSample Dosage* pack multiple pack pack multiple pack______________________________________process 0 J/cm2 4.9 5.1control0 min 0 J/cm2 4.7 4.80.5 min 4 J/cm2 1.3 2.21 min 8 J/cm2 <0 <0 1 22 min 16 J/cm2 <0 <0 0 04 min 32 J/cm2 <0 <0 0 08 min 64 J/cm2 <0 <0 0 0______________________________________ *as measured in the range of approximately 350-800 nm.
As shown in Table 1, using the conventional plaque assay, a minimal amount of infectious virus was recovered from plasma at one minute of illumination. No recoverable virus was identified in samples exposed to more than 2 minutes of illumination. Thus, it can be said that exposure of blood plasma, contaminated with virus and treated with methylene blue and a high intensity light, results in complete viral inactivation in a short period of time (e.g. approximately 2 minutes). Also, use of more than one container at a time does not significantly affect the level of viral kill.
The apparatus and method of the present invention also provides more effective viral kill as compared to other apparatus or methods that can provide the same or similar amount of energy (often expressed in Joules/cm2 or J/cm2). Energy is the product of light intensity and time. In accordance with the present invention, it has been discovered that increasing the intensity results in a greater biological effect (such as viral kill and/or recovery of therapeutic protein) than does an increase in the time of exposure. Stated differently, a greater biological effect is obtained at an energy level where the intensity has been increased than at substantially the same energy level where the time of exposure has been increased.
For example, units of blood plasma (approximately 300-310 ml per unit) was spiked with pseudorabies virus to achieve an approximate final virus load of 6×105 PFU/ml. The plasma units were filtered to remove intracellular contaminants and collected into treatment containers containing 10 ml of methylene blue in each container. The plasma with methylene blue was illuminated with a high pressure sodium light providing an intensity of approximately 120 mW/cm2 as measured at the container in the absorption range of 550-700 nm (which corresponds to 140 mW/cm2 at the biological fluid or container thereof when measured across the band of approximately 350-800 nm). Using the conventional plaque assay, the amount of remaining virus was measured at different energy levels. The results are shown in Table 2.
Another batch of plasma units (approximately 300-315 ml per unit) were also spiked with pseudorabies virus to achieve an approximate final virus load of 1×106 PFU/ml. These units of plasma were filtered to remove intracellular contaminants and collected into similar treatment containers containing 10 ml of methylene blue in each bag to achieve 1 μM concentration. The plasma units with methylene blue were illuminated with a white fluorescent light providing an intensity of approximately 24 mw/cm2 at the container when measured across the band of 350-800 nm). Using the conventional plaque assay, the amount of remaining virus was measured at different energy levels. The results are shown in Table 2.
As seen in Table 2, the intensities and doses were measured in the range from 350-800 nm. If these intensities and doses were measured over the absorption spectrum of methylene blue (550-700), the intensity for sodium light would be 121 mW/cm2 and the doses would be, from top to bottom of the left hand column, 0, 1.7, 7, 14 and 28. Similarly, for white fluorescent light the intensity would be 12 mW/cm2 and the doses would be, from top to bottom of column 3, 0, 0.5, 2.5, 7.5 and 15.
Thus, as shown in Table 2 with the white fluorescent light at an energy level of approximately 7.5 J/cm2 as measured at the container in the absorption range of 550-700 nm (which corresponds to approximately 15 Joules/cm2 when measured across the band of approximately 350-800 nm), the log reduction of virus was (LRV) was approximately 4.8 as compared to greater than 6.2 logs at an energy level of approximately 14 J/cm2 as measured at the container in the absorption range of 550-700 nm (which corresponds to 16 J/cm2 when measured across the band of approximately 350-800 nm) with the high pressure sodium light.
The apparatus and method of the present invention may also allow for less damage to the therapeutic proteins. For example, samples of approximately 235 ml with approximately 10 ml of methylene blue (to obtain a concentration of approximately 1.1 μM) were prepared. One sample was treated with white fluorescent light providing an intensity at the container of 8.8 mW/cm2 when measured in the absorption range of 550 nm-700 nm, and the other sample was treated with a high pressure sodium light providing an intensity at the container of 121 mW/cm2 when measured in the wavelength range of 550 nm-700 nm. As shown in Table 3, after approximately 2 minutes of exposure to the high pressure sodium light, no recoverable virus was detected and the recovery of fibrinogen was approximately 88%. In contrast, the contacted with white fluorescent light after 30 minutes of exposure did not provide complete viral kill and resulted in approximately 81% fibrinogen recovery.
Various modifications of the embodiments and methods described herein are possible in accordance with the scope of the appended claims.
contacting said combination of said fluid and said agent with a light providing an intensity of at least about 85 mw/cm2 to activate said photochemical agent and to substantially inactivate said contaminants.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said biological fluid includes other compounds and said light source does not substantially adversely affect said other compounds.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising contacting said fluid for a period of less than about nine minutes.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising monitoring the amount of light contacting said biological fluid.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising controlling the amount of time said light contacts said biological fluid.
6. The method of claim 1 including introducing said biological fluid into a container including said photochemical agent.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising cooling said light source and said biological fluid during at least a portion of said step of contacting.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the biological fluid is blood plasma and the photochemical agent is methylene blue.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the volume of blood plasma is between approximately 235 and 310 ml and the volume of methylene blue is approximately 10 ml.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the ratio of methylene blue to plasma is between approximately 1:20 and 1:35 and results in a concentration of methylene blue of approximately between 0.1 to 10 micromolar.
11. The method of claim 1 comprising providing said biological fluid in a plurality of containers.
12. The method of claim 11 comprising providing a light source and disposing said containers around said light source.
13. The method of claim 12 comprising rotating said containers about said light source.
14. The method of claim 13 comprising providing a rotatable carriage and suspending said containers on said carriage.
15. The method of claim 14 comprising substantially evenly distributing said biological fluid within a suspended container.
16. The method of claim 15 comprising compressing said suspended container to substantially evenly distribute said biological fluid within said suspended container.
17. The method of claim 1 comprising contacting said combination with a light having a wavelength of between approximately 550-700 nm.
18. The method of claim 13 comprising combining blood plasma with a phenothiazine dye.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein said phenothiazine dye comprises methylene blue.
20. The method of claim 1 comprising contacting said combination with a light providing an intensity of between approximately 85-130 mw/cm2.
21. The method of claim 17 comprising contacting said combination with a light providing an intensity of between approximately 85-130 mw/cm2.
said fluid treatment region adapted for receiving a quantity of biological fluid.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said light source provides light having an intensity of at least about 85 mw/cm2.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said light source comprises a high pressure sodium lamp.
25. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said light source provides an intensity of between approximately 85-130 mw/cm2.
26. The apparatus of claim 22 comprising a carriage generally annulary disposed around said light source and within said fluid treatment region.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said carriage is adapted for rotation about said light source.
28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said light source comprises a single lamp disposed at the center of rotation of said carriage.
29. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said carriage is to hold a plurality of containers of biological fluid.
30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said carriage is adapted for suspending containers there on.
31. The apparatus of claim 30 comprising a frame for more evenly distributing biological fluid within a container.
32. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said carriage comprises a polygonal cylindrical framework wherein each side of said polygonal cylindrical framework comprises a container receiving area.
33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein each of said container receiving areas comprises an inner rest and frame for compressing biological fluid within a container.
34. The apparatus of claim 32 comprising reflectors disposed between said container receiving areas.
35. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said containers comprise first side and a second opposite side, said apparatus further comprising sensors for monitoring the amount of light applied to both sides of a container.
36. The apparatus of claim 29 comprising a control system for monitoring the amount of light energy received by each of said containers.
37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein said control system is adapted for selectively adjusting the amount of light energy received by at least one of said containers.
38. The apparatus of claim 29 comprising a control system whereby said system determines the sequence of placing and position of said containers on said carriage.
39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said carriage is adapted for incremental rotation.
40. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said wall a cylindrical tube disposed around said light source.
41. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein said wall is of a comprising an acrylic polymer.
42. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said wall comprises a material that is substantially nontranslucent to light of selected wavelengths.
43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said wall comprises a film, said film comprising a material that is substantially nontranslucent to light of a selected wavelength.
44. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said wall comprises a material that is substantially nontranslucent to ultraviolet light.
45. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said wall comprises a material that is substantially nontranslucent to infrared light.
46. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the interior surface of said housing comprises a highly reflective material.
47. The apparatus of claim 22 comprising a retractable shutter for shielding said light source.
48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein said retractable shutter is disposed within said light source region.
49. The apparatus of claim 22 comprising a device for cooling said light source region.
50. The apparatus of claim 22 comprising a device for said fluid treatment region.
51. The apparatus of claim 22 comprising a sensor for monitoring the amount of light being provided by said light source to said biological fluid.
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FI75495C (en) 1988-07-11 Apparat Foer stimulating the biologiska processer related, to the cellulaer Aktivitet. | 2019-04-21T20:59:35Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US5922278A/en | Porn | Science | 0.380967 |
tripod | "Bang yourself in the head with that thing."
if and when Ba'athists reclaimed power.
the basis of his current trial.
since I left that place," he said.
"I don't value this life that much. Every human being has his time to go . . ."
"I am the commander in chief . . . I prefer [death] by firing squad . . ." adding that it was "the right way" to execute a military leader.
"Of course I'm not guilty, but I know they want me dead."
"Threatening me with death doesn't mean anything . . . I couldn't care less. The life of any one Iraqi is no less valuable than mine."
Saddam also praised the insurgency, saying it had prevented US attempts to "formulate a new world". "They tried in Iraq and failed badly, so by standing against Bush we are protecting other countries and regions of the world. Now the US will think a thousand times before daring to attack another country," he said.
"The Iraqi people are patriotic; they cannot accept foreign rule. Any aggression will be resisted to the end. The Americans with their allies will fly out of Iraq very soon, and their puppets will leave even before the Americans," Saddam said. | 2019-04-20T02:37:36Z | http://saddamthemagnificent.tripod.com/id19.html | Porn | Reference | 0.319561 |
wordpress | Thanks for entering and your books are in the mail! I hope you enjoy this new sci-fi series.
And remember every review helps!
As the days pass I find myself getting more and more anxious. My baby is now a big boy, more folks are taking notice of my jewelry and I’m more excited rather than reluctant as I build up my inventory and getting closer to opening a real shop! To sell my stuff will help greatly with my writing and I’m going to enjoy it. Two things I love to do.
Tomorrow the ‘winners’ of the Goodreads giveaway will be announced and I’ll be waiting for the reviews. Good or bad, wont stop me from continuing the sequel. The number of people who put their request in is impressive and makes me giddy. I’m really impressed with all the readers willing to give me a chance! Thanks for the support!
I just saw that I had gotten a 5 star review on my Space Opera on Goodreads ! My first! That made my day! Really glad they liked it!
Been busy creating inventory for my ‘re-opening’. My Etsy shop – Antoinette’s Originals. It’s going pretty well. Been very inspired and productive, hope to get some sales once I post the picks of my pieces.
Music is a big part of my creativity. I love finding new tunes to write to. The past couple of days has proven a big surprise. Mostly because I’ve been doing a lot of leather work instead of writing. And I’ve been drawing again! I’m so excited about that! I don’t get inspired to draw much anymore so when the moment strikes it’s really fantastic and I love the end result. What writing I have been doing hasn’t been on the two stories I feel I NEED to be working on, but on a ‘on again – off again’ creation. All in the name of stress relief. Have to keep that down or depression will get the best of me. Lots of things going on and this is what keeps me somewhat sane. How do you keep stress down?
End of the school year coming for my little one! Now what to do with him? Trying to come up with ways to keep him busy at the same time trying to continue my writing and art. in the last couple of days I have messed up a lot of leather with half ideas. not happy with that at all, but at the same time I’ve produced quite a bit of success as well.
looking forward to seeing how the boy reacts to being enrolled in Tai Kwon Do and/or soccer. As hyper as he is he should have the energy for both.
Now all I have to do is take pics of the work I have done and post them to my ‘Antoinette’s Originals’ page! That’ll be fun. Saving up to get a booth somewhere – that’ll be a new experience. Planning on going in on one with a friend or two or three. I think It’ll be great.
My writing has not slowed down, but my social media posting has. Only because I’ve been busy. Allotting time to post and re post and re post isn’t a priority right now. So there will be the occasional post here and there. After I finish the next book and a good number of leather pieces and I guess when school ends I’ll be back in full force.
Goodreads Giveaway is up and running!
Enter to win a signed ARC of my Space Opera – Mostly Human!
Gonna take a break from writing for a bit. I have ideas for my other hobbies and want to see them through. Maybe even sell them! I think I can do it. My leather working is getting better and more complex.Working on another Facebook page just for my leather hobby and I hope to get some likes for it as I post pictures. Perfect my ability to do special orders and make contact with other really cool folks who are into the same thing. But I think I need a break from ‘social media’ as well. Been neglecting other things with all the posting and checking on other stuff. The last couple of days have been beautiful and i want to get out in it. Go to some markets, fairs, see about getting my own booth! Time to go out and be social. L8erz!
i got the early copies of my Space Opera (I love saying that, it’s so weird). I’m ready to give away two copies for those interested!
You have two ways of getting a signed copy! You can go to GoodReads and put in your entry (Giveaway will be posted in the next few days) or you can Contact me via antoinettehouston.businesscatalyst.com make sure you mention ARC in your message! I’ll choose the lucky recipients by Friday May 15th!
My first Space Opera is out in paperback! Available at Createspace and on Amazon.com! I have a THIRD book out! I’m so proud of myself! not to get started on the sequel to that one! Not a hard thing to do since I have the story mapped out already. But as usual, I have three other projects going at the same time. Still perfecting Wonderlost and saving up to get it edited and still working hard on my Regions’ series. ‘The Amulet’ being the first of three stories from this World I’ve created. I’m also at 20k with the final book for my Red Summer series! I have a feeling that this third book is going to be more than twice as long. But it’s all good! | 2019-04-23T01:55:48Z | https://redsummerajh.wordpress.com/2015/05/ | Porn | Arts | 0.382488 |
livejournal | Phew. I have been reading and reading after the giant freakout the Valleywag post created! (I suppose technically the layoffs are the source of the reason to freak out, but the sensational tone of the post did not help.) I can't see LJ at work any more, as you know, so I had to wait until now.
List of specific layoffs and collection of official and unofficial links.
Hopefully most of you have seen this stuff already and have put the Tums back in the medicine cabinet, or were blissfully ignorant.
Having got that out there, I just want to say that I do not think you can get the comment functionality and security level customization you can get on LJ elsewhere. I would still encourage new users to sign up for LJ today, even though I now maintain a Wordpress blog (that almost no one visits because hello, everyone's on LJ) (to those who do visit: THANK YOU!) and just crosspost. LJ was a pioneer from the beginning and still has a feature set that rocks socks. So, you know, back stuff up, experiment with other stuff, but don't like, leave.
I love my google feed reader but my friends list is like a daily stroll through the neighborhood.
I tried the Wordpress thing myself awhile back, but getting people to use RSS readers is like pulling teeth for some reason. Everyone's just too used to LJ.
I love Wordpress, the interface is great for writing IMO, plus you can customize the hell out of it.. but yeah LJ does have that sense of community for whatever reason.
I am loving RSS and my google reader more and more and more. I hope others join me.
I have been toying with Wordpress, but not to leave LJ - to have a slightly different (and more focused) place for "real" writing. I don't intend to stop long boring weekend rundowns or anything, as they really do function as a memory dump for me. I'm interested in what backup you use for LJ, though.
ljarchive - get the version on sourceforge latest updated.
i pay bluehost to keep my wordpress site - jack wouldn't let me install WP on peril. | 2019-04-25T03:58:02Z | https://snidegrrl.livejournal.com/662391.html | Porn | Reference | 0.215702 |
wordpress | We mustn’t forget He is looking out for us. Thanks for the share as I had missed reading this poem from Syl when it originally published! Have a lovely day, my friend! | 2019-04-25T22:00:45Z | https://goldenpenuk.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/can-you-hear-my-heart/ | Porn | Arts | 0.760364 |
wordpress | Just follow the Yellow brick road . . .
And Movie Stars. . .
“Hi. I am Goldie and I am going to be your server tonight.
Hey everyone. In America we had “President’s Day” yesterday, a National Holiday celebrating Washington, and Lincoln’s birthdays. Anyways fortunately I got the day off school, so I could do all the homework due on my British Literature 8 week online course on the Romantic Era, primarily, Mary Wollstonecraft (Preeminent Feminist), Jane Austen, and Mary’s daughter, Mary Shelley. Doesn’t everyone love Frankenstein, one of the best novels of that genre, and period.
I will share a few excerpts, but if your interested read the entire story at the link.
In the summer of 1816, we visited Switzerland, and became the neighbours of Lord Byron. At first we spent our pleasant hours on the lake, or wandering on its shores; and Lord Byron, who was writing the third canto of Childe Harold, was the only one among us who put his thoughts upon paper. These, as he brought them successively to us, clothed in all the light and harmony of poetry, seemed to stamp as divine the glories of heaven and earth, whose influences we partook with him.
. . . But it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house.Some volumes of ghost stories, translated from the German into French, fell into our hands. There was the History of the Inconstant Lover, who, when he thought to clasp the bride to whom he had pledged his vows, found himself in the arms of the pale ghost of her whom he had deserted. . .
“We will each write a ghost story,” said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to. There were four of us. The noble author began a tale, a fragment of which he printed at the end of his poem of Mazeppa. Shelley, more apt to embody ideas and sentiments in the radiance of brilliant imagery, commenced one founded on the experiences of his early life. . .
I busied myself to think of a story, —a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name. I thought and pondered—vainly. I felt that blank incapability of invention which is the greatest misery of authorship, when dull Nothing replies to our anxious invocations. Have you thought of a story? I was asked each morning, and each morning I was forced to reply with a mortifying negative. . .
Many and long were the conversations between Lord Byron and Shelley, to which I was a devout but nearly silent listener. During one of these, various philosophical doctrines were discussed, and among others the nature of the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of its ever being discovered and communicated. They talked of the experiments of Dr. Darwin. . .
Night waned upon this talk, and even the witching hour had gone by, before we retired to rest. When I placed my head on my pillow, I did not sleep, nor could I be said to think. My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie. I saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental vision, —I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world. His success would terrify the artist; he would rush away from his odious handywork, horror-stricken. . .
I opened mine in terror. The idea so possessed my mind, that a thrill of fear ran through me, and I wished to exchange the ghastly image of my fancy for the realities around. I see them still; the very room, the dark parquet, the closed shutters, with the moonlight struggling through, and the sense I had that the glassy lake and white high Alps were beyond. I could not so easily get rid of my hideous phantom; still it haunted me. I must try to think of something else. I recurred to my ghost story, my tiresome unlucky ghost story! O! if I could only contrive one which would frighten my reader as I myself had been frightened that night!
This piece of writing about the backstory, and Frankenstein’s conception is brilliant. I was talking with my good friend, owner of a renowned cat, hint; Not Grumpy Cat, about a movie made of this, Haunted Summer (1988). I haven’t seen it in 20 years but I recall liking it.
Happy, Blessed, and Joyous, New Year everyone. I heard this message, and loved it. It is brought forth by the messenger, Magenta Pixie. I painstakingly transposed the message here below, but I will also link the video if you prefer listening to her charming voice, and accent. I like what I hear, and it applies to us all, The Year of the Scribe, and Artist. I am Up With That! Enjoy, and much love. Be safe and well all!
As you come to the end of your year of 2015 and you move into a new year of 2016 you passed through a gate where the ending of something and the simultaneous beginning of something new is always a transition a death/rebirth energetic. You passed through many gateways within your accommodation most notably your solar return. That which you know as your birthday. On an individual level the birthday is the most powerful gateway for you, even more so if you are consciously awakened and aware. On a global level gateways present geometric frequencies, astrological alignments, and other moments of focused attention, yet the most significant death rebirth transition when it comes to time, is the end of one cycle, and the simultaneous beginning of another cycle. Your New Year moment is one such significant transition. These transitional gateways are the most aligned time for the personal death rebirth transition to take place. The leaving behind of the old, the unwanted, that which no longer serves, and aligns, and the embracing of the new, the desired, and that which does serve and align.
This knowing of the death rebirth transitional moment is hardwired into your DNA, if you will, and those who do not yet stand as conscious, aware lightworkers still hold activated knowing of these transitions. Although this will be knowing at the most basic level, it is still a conscious awareness. The conscious and aware lightworkers see the multi leveled, multi-dimensional aspects of these transitions. They process the meaning of these transitions and they are aware of how to behave, how to think, and how to feel, and what to do what action to take during these transitions. They are aware of the power of focused intention. rather than resolution, wish, or desire. For wish, and desire often remain unfilled within the realm of the unmanifest, and whilst resolution when coupled with determination is one step closer to manifestation, it is the focused intention that holds a direct line to manifestation. The death rebirth transitional moments are most aligned with focused intention and manifestation. The time of the new year holds much focused attention creating the landing pad, or the perfect match if you will, for focused intention. Ritualizing your intentions in whichever way you personally work magically is the most aligned way for you, for when you hold conscious aware knowing of this transitional moment you naturally move into that energy of focused intention leading to manifestation. You become part of that rebirth matrix of the new year, for you hold far more mass (?) within your own focused attention than those who still sleep. For it is you know where humanity to create these moments of transition and rebirth. If you are not yet familiar with, or practiced with focused intention and manifestation, then using the power of the word is a post aligned tool at this time, especially as you move into your year of 2016 a year we could call, The Year of the Scribe, for creativity coming into fruition is very much the order of the day for 2016, especially for those who hold the “archetype of the scribe,” and the “archetype of the artist.” So writing your intentions holds much power, and magic at this time. Writing your intentions holds power, and magic at all times, especially at the time of the moving through this gateway into 2016, and if you are more inclined towards the “artist eye, the archetype artist, then drawing, painting, or digitally creating through image, creating your intention, is most aligned. The list, the poem, the story, or the vision board will all hold strong as powerful tools for focused intention, and manifestation. Yet also the tool of the magical altar is most aligned, the gathering together of the metaphors that formed in matter that match the intentions you hold. Your own personal metaphors that formed in matter, that match your belief system, or your own personal creations. When they are placed together with a magical placement ready for the midnight bridge upon New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Eve becomes the New Year’s Day, the midnight moment, the midnight bridge is a convergence point. A convergence point of two cycles of time, two sections of time that overlap together to form a Vesica Pisces geometry, a very powerful geometry that can be utilized for your magical intention. The magical altar at that time of convergence shall be fired with light placed upon it. Be sure of your intentions here when using physical objects in this way. With focused intention and magical creation this tool is most powerful, but can manifest in unexpected ways, example the toy car could manifest as a child, rather than a new car. So be clear with your intention and specific with the placement of objects. Feathers, crystals, gems, stones, and other talismans, are most helpful here. Adding the list, the poem, the story, or the vision board to the magical altar can also assist greatly in the directional access of your focused intention, manifesting in alignment with your original intention, and in alignment with your highest desire. So whilst we could be your year 2016, as the year of the scribe, the year of the artists in alignment with this we could also refer to your year 2016 as the year of the crystal activations, the year of gold, or the golden year. For 2016 is set to bring creation to fruition for many. 2016 the year that yet more of that veil is lifted, the year of disclosure, truth seen clearly, nothing hidden, yet in alignment with the writers, and artists, coming forth into the light, as their creations move into fruition. For it is the author’s, poets, painters, digital art creator’s, musician’s, filmmakers, actors, and technical writers that lifts that veil. Disclosure comes not just in the form of the whistleblower who tells all but comes forward in the form of the activated one holding knowing. 2016 is the time for not knowing to be shared exponentially. The books, blogs, writings, novels, poems, paintings, and electronic media hold the information you seek, and when you find what you are seeking, the information becomes the activation, and when the activation is processed and understood, then you become the deliverer of knowledge, the presenter of information, and the conduit of light. You write the book! You paint the painting! 2016 holds much of this information sharing activation, creation, and activity. 2016 is the year of the crystal activation, raising and frequency around March, and culminating in June. All crystals upon your planet beam with this inner light, the photonic light from the Galactic is directed upon every crystal and very crystal moves into transformation alchemy. 2016 is the year of gold, alchemy transformation, the metamorphosis from one thing into another, non activated into activated, stone into crystal, heaviness into light, metal into gold. 2016 the golden year the fullest expression of the Golden Age thus far, due to the conscious creativity within the scribe, artists, and other archetypal creators, such as musicians. The activations of the crystals will be known by those who share their space, and many conscious lightworkers will draw powerful crystal tools into their reality for the first time, crystal wands, crystal animals, jewelry, and indeed the crystal skulls. For the Crystal Skull matrix becomes more accessible within your year 2016, as the crystalline beings move into your consciousness. These are beings of Crystal Light, gracing you with their presence, and bowing in honor to you, and all for you as you allow yourself to be their messengers. Are we saying new conduits of light will come forward? Indeed, we are. Henceforth 2016 is The year of the Scribe, as you write down your communications with these crystalline beings. And the crystals within you, within your DNA, shall activate yet more, and the crystal light body is created, culminating in June 2016. Indeed 2016 is the year of the crystal activations. If the crystal activations, and the heightened creations from the scribe, and the artists, resonates deep within you, then we say to you, place this upon your magical altar, write this upon your list, draw this upon your drawing, find the image within your digital world, and place this upon your digital vision board, or digital altar. For you shall harness this energy, you shall direct this energy naturally when the light of awareness flows through you. Focused attention, and intention, simply direct that flow of light and conduct the electromagnetic frequency needed for the manifestation of your highest desire, which is in alignment with your higher self, that which is for your highest good throughout the quantum field. May you move through this transitional New Year Gateway with joy, and ease, may you embrace creativity, magic crystalline activations, and the golden frequency within your year of 2016.
In honor of Mercury Retrograde, May 18 – June 11, let’s go retro. It is my first week off school, and I am looking forward to some blogging fun this summer. I propose a Retro Blogging Challenge ~ Prompt is “Retro,” so you can reuse, reblog and oldie but goody, and link me, or discuss a retro topic, its a wide open theme. I am not going to set dates, lets do it until June 11. Let’s Rock this Mercury Retrograde and make it work for us. Reassess, reevaluate, redecorate, reorganize, redistribute, reassign, rediscover……..
I am going to rediscover, my Qigong practice. I am going to a Qigong Meetup on Wednesday. I am so excited to rededicate myself to a daily Qigong practice. I love you all. Please join me.
The grass and earth is cool beneath her, a shadow passed over her closed eyelids. This mound in the meadow was a favorite spring spot for Lucy to lay and escape the boredom of her small town existence. In the grass she explored the ruins of the Scottish moors, or pondered the life of a Roman soldier in Britain. Mr. Mink her high school history teacher filled her mind with ancient curiosities. The clear sky had developed some puffy clouds and their passing had caused Lucy to open her eyes. Just at this very moment a monarch of the most vivid orange alights on the tip of her nose. She dare not blink, staring cross eyed at the creature who seemed to be staring at her. The butterfly just flapped its wings but did not move even when she finally had to blink. From her peripheral vision Lucy sees two more monarchs hovering, one on either side. She finds this somehow odd and disturbing so she lets loose a puff of air from her lips. The monarch arises from her nose but only hoovers a foot above still flanked by two others.
Lucy loved butterflies and this was one reason she choose this mound to dream, the wild flowers. Still the three monarch hover in formation above her. Each flap of their wings, each beat of her heart in perfect synchronicity, her eyes open and close in unison. Flap, flap, flap…….
Lucy awakens to darkness, realizing that she must have fallen asleep she sits up and rubs her eyes. “The stars look different somehow” she thinks as she cast her gaze to the woods below the mound. A strange noise startles her from the wood, a sound she has never heard before. Paralyzed she remains still like a deer caught in the headlights of Uncle Bubs truck. “Where is Uncle Bub and his shotgun when you need him” she said silently, still immobile and alert. A pair of eyes stare out from the darkness, and then another, and another. Suddenly a flap of wings is heard over heard and before she can look she is airborne, soaring toward the moon and dark forest. The wind is chill on her cheeks as she manages to look up she sees a flash of orange and remembers the monarchs, yet she is being held by hands. The hands release her and she is falling, falling toward the darkness. “I am dead! That’s it dead, not dreaming.” She falls and falls and lands gently with a bounce in tall yellow stocks of filaments, covered in a yellow powder she sneezes violently. “What is this?” she wonders, looking up through the filaments of a gigantic bloom. Whoosh, she feels air disturbed from the tremendous wings as they maneuver above her and perch on the edge of this dream, nightmare, experience, flower??? Sitting there black skin and green eyes an enormous being with monarch butterfly wings staring down at her. Lucy in her faded blue, floral print dress, and sneakers, her long dirty blond hair matted with grass from the meadow. This creature is looking at her quizzically, tilting its head from one side to the other, its arms wrapped around each other at the wrist its long dark fingers entwined. The eerie sound she heard on the mound repeats and the creature looks towards its origin, and quickly back to her, staring. The strange skies moon is bright but not round it is pear shaped, with a reddish hue. Now the noise becomes like a deafening hum coming from all directions. The creature jumps into the nest grabbing her face her shoves some strange berry into her mouth, she protest but it hold her mouth closed, so that she has no choice but to swallow it. She feels herself overcome and right before she goes completely unconscious, she sees the space above her full of creatures like this one. The moonlight is obscured with butterfly wings.
Happy Halloween Word Press friends. I love you. The above was my short story for my Annual Spooky Writing Challenge. I am planning another non spooky challenge, so any of you writers out there love to have you participate. Be safe and happy. Get a reading or retain my favorite witch Sammi Cox for a candle burning.
I love the magic of a moonlit night, especially this one with storm clouds in the sky, and the wind blowing slightly in a breeze playing my wind chimes to perfection. I stage this night in advance and then just wait for it to happen. Sure enough it does and I am never disappointed. A backyard that when I first laid eyes on, I thought was hideous, is now an enchanted garden full of fairies and magic. This is not fiction it is my mind and imaging yet believing. Sometimes, like tonight I weep. I weep in joy and bliss of the wonders I see and feel. I don’t think that you can put bliss into words? You can try to. I have experienced at least three occasions of prolonged bliss just sitting in my garden, and sometimes in the day as well. I love my bird friends especially a couple of woodpeckers. I love to observe how they call and stay in contact with each other from trees houses away. I watch the hummingbirds chase each other away, so territorial, and adversarial those guys are. I am enchanted by the butterflies, the trees, but my garden by moonlight changes, and it becomes mystical and enchanting. My garden is my communion with nature, with the elementals, the devas, the sprites, and gnomes. Oh my!
I can hear the whisper of my mind in the gentle darkness of the night. It feels like my soul snuggled in a cosmic womb, comfortable and cool, safe, and at peace. Ananda, ananda, ananda…..
I did weep in bliss and I have before. I feel very blessed.
P.S. I accidently reblogged here earlier. I meant it to go to Sindy’s Saturday Satsang, so I cannot reblog it again. I wanted to thank Deep Souldiving, for the introduction to Dustin O’Halloran. See it here.
Also thanks to sweet Aquileana for the award. | 2019-04-23T13:51:50Z | https://bluebutterfliesandme.wordpress.com/tag/writing-2/ | Porn | Arts | 0.869753 |
wordpress | And you never asked why?
everything isn’t what it seems on the cover.
I hope you hear it loud.
I played with you on the clouds.
Became a part of our system.
but I feel like I belong here.
that I should be anywhere but here.
from all the evils of humanity.
at the beauty this world holds.
I would raise high above people’s expectations.
Good afternoon everyone! Hope you’re all having a great day. Today I will be writing about faith and expectations. Let’s get one thing clear, faith can exist without expectation, but expectation can’t exist without faith. So this means that faith comes first.
Having faith in people is a good thing, because faith is something that means complete trust or confidence in someone or something whereas expectations are a strong belief that we come up with that something will happen or be the case. Personally, I feel that expectations spoil the reality of a person and make them into something that we want them to be, not what they want to be. | 2019-04-20T08:40:42Z | https://zovisionsite.wordpress.com/tag/home/ | Porn | Reference | 0.181678 |
wordpress | As I’m sure most of you guessed, the answer to the last time’s Where’s Jaspa? (#15), was the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.
I grew up on the plains of the Serengeti, in the East African country of Tanzania. And, as surprising as it may seem, 11 years ago I’d never even heard of New York (or most other places in the world, for that matter). An unexpected advantage of the relative isolation of my early years, is that I didn’t have to experience the stunned horror and disbelief forced upon the rest of the world on September 11th, 2001.
I learned of the unfathomable acts of 9/11 a couple of years after they took place, like a history lesson, I suppose. And while the events of that day still fill me with dismay and incomprehension, I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t have to live through that raw pain and shock, unlike most of you reading this blog. It makes my heart hurt just thinking about what it must have been like for you all. And as for those people who’s friends and loved ones perished that terrible day… I’m sorry, but words fail me.
My first visit to Ground Zero, as it used to be called, was long after the ruins of the Twin Towers had been cleared away. During another trip to New York (in July 2010), from a boat on the Hudson River, I witnessed the base of the Freedom Tower starting to emerge between the surviving buildings of Lower Manhattan. But last week was my first return to the actual World Trade Center site.
I know that some people were upset that it took so long to design and construct what is now known as the 9/11 Memorial, but I can’t help feel it was worth the wait. The two double waterfalls that mark the footprints of the Twin Towers drop into an infinity of sorrow, while the Freedom Tower soars defiantly into the sky above. Surrounding the waterfalls are the names of the 2977 people who died in the attacks of September 11th, 2001 (and also the six killed in the bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26th, 1993). And you feel compelled to try and read every last name.
Just thinking and writing about the 9/11 Memorial brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. It really is that powerful a place. Which I guess means a job well done by everyone involved in its design and construction.
This entry was posted in History, Jaspa's Journey, Travel, USA and tagged 9/11, 9/11 Memorial, Adventure, Children's books, Children's literature, Freedom Tower. Twin Towers, giraffe, Ground Zero, Hudson River, Jaspa, Jaspa's Journey, Manhattan, New York, photography, September 11th, Serengeti, ses, Tanzania, The Great Migration, The Pride of London, travel, World Trade Center. Bookmark the permalink.
Very moving blog, Jaspa. Well done. | 2019-04-26T14:51:33Z | https://jaspasjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/new-yorks-phoenix/ | Porn | Reference | 0.358359 |
greenend | Remove `--force' from keys.new-keeper; introduce explicit delete command.
+Delete the keeper set named KEEPER.
+checkword "keeper set label" "$keeper"
+ echo >&2 "$quis: unknown keeper set \`$keeper'"
+ echo >&2 "$quis: deleting keeper \`$keeper' would orphan recovery keys:"
@@ -54,22 +53,14 @@ checkword "profile label" "$profile"
- echo >&2 "$quis: keeper set \`$keeper' already exists"
- echo >&2 "$quis: destination \`$keeper' already exists"
+ echo >&2 "$quis: keeper set \`$keeper' already exists"
+ echo >&2 "$quis: destination \`$keeper' already exists"
## Generate the private keys, one per file, and compute the public keys. | 2019-04-26T03:12:50Z | http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~mdw/git/distorted-keys/commitdiff/865fc4a1c4add30fbf1b6ab9569682d82e8da7c9 | Porn | Reference | 0.137423 |
typepad | My friend, Cortez Kennedy, who also attends Calvary Chapel South Orlando played 11 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Cortez was the #3 pick in the NFL draft in 1990 out of the University of Miami. He went on to be one the most dominant interior lineman in the NFL. He was an NFL All Pro for 3 seasons and was elected to 8 NFL Pro Bowls. One of his biggest accomplishments was being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 1992, a season where his team had a record of 2-14. He was inducted in the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2006.
Right now, Cortez, is in the final 15 finalists for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. This Saturday night 4-7 of those 15 finalists will be elected. So would you pray with me for Cortez Kennedy that he would be elected to the Hall of Fame for the glory of God.
Watch this fun video to see just a few of Cortez' great highlights and to see how dominate he was on the defensive line. Specifically listen for how Warren Moon describes Cortez in the video, a great compliment coming from one of the NFL's all-time leading passers. Hope you enjoy it! | 2019-04-23T00:47:22Z | https://charlesnestor.typepad.com/charles_nestor/ | Porn | Sports | 0.898106 |
livejournal | How are you the good one?
Because you're the Huge Dork. Someone has to be the Good One. | 2019-04-19T17:20:01Z | https://mpoetess.livejournal.com/367951.html | Porn | Reference | 0.403117 |
wordpress | I was able to obtain the statistics of how many used passenger* cars have been export from Japan during January to June. The statistics do not include trucks and other commerical/non-passenger type vehicles.
Over three billion (milliard) US Dollars! That’s a whole lot of money for used cars alone.
Russia remains #1 way ahead of everyone as Japan is supplying their used car market rapid expansion. Others continue to remain strong, although old partner New Zealand has slowed down its imports since the new emission regulations have taken affect. Newcomers to the Top 10, Mongolia and Bangladesh, have seen recent sharp rises due to mostly political and somewhat economical changes. They’ve replaced Pakistan (19th) – which has gone through extreme political unrest, and United Kingdom (11th) which has seen reduced demand that is possibly related to economic downturn/unrest.
Together, the top 10 represent roughly 80% of the used passenger vehicles exported from Japan and 78% of the total value of the cars. Thus the top 10 importers hold a landslide majority of sales Japanese used car exporters have made.
Adding the next 10 (Top 20) would make it 90% of car units and 88.5% of total cash amount. Counting the top 50 together will make it roughly 99% of both car units sold and total value.
Note: Car Units and Value data for each country comes from Japan Customs Statistics Office. All other data is calculated by me. Percentages and VPUs are rounded to simplify view.
Mongolia has been recently got more hungry for cars. New Zealand is feeling the restriction. Russia remaining as strong as ever. Chile has recently seen a rise of imports being the gateway to South America. Another hubs, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are keeping steady, if not growing slightly. | 2019-04-26T16:49:14Z | https://japaneseusedcarimporting.wordpress.com/category/singapore/ | Porn | News | 0.469084 |
typepad | a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.
Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
will console us month by month.
Grace us with forgiving spirits.
for an end to wild war music.
heeding their pleas for justice.
and they do not have to fear anymore.
and hours and days and weeks and months.
as followers of Jesus Christ, Amen. | 2019-04-22T09:02:19Z | https://carolpenner.typepad.com/leadinginworship/church-year-new-year/ | Porn | Reference | 0.199364 |
utoronto | Popliteal lymph nodes, lymphatic venules, muscles, arteries and veins of the leg and foot, deep dissection. Lateral and posterior views of the leg, inferior view of the sole of the foot.
Rendered illustration accompanied by key plate #0011. | 2019-04-19T12:19:09Z | https://anatomia.library.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/anatomia%3ARBAI052_0012 | Porn | Science | 0.426529 |
wordpress | When I was 10 my parents made the decision to change churches. We went from attending Mass every Sunday at the a grand Cathedral to a small, scrappy church technically a mile away but actually in a different universe. It was no small decision. The Cathedral was where my parents had been married, where all three of their children had been baptized. It was where my dad had been an alter boy and a lector, and where many of my cousins attended school. It was large and elegant and intimidating.
Our new church was none of those things. The priests were Franciscans. They had nicknames and went barefoot on the alter. Babies were baptized naked. It was all new and exciting. And our new church was a bilingual parish.
My hometown had (and still has) a sizable Hispanic population. This was never something that I had encountered in my day-to-day life. My grandparents had been born in the same town I was. I knew where they had lived, the house my dad had been born into, where the only church that still spoke Slovak was located but somehow not about the huge swath of our town where signs were only in Spanish. Our neighborhood was mostly white. Our family was mostly white. My school was diverse, but the friends I hung out with outside of school were mostly white.
And my parents decided to change that. Soon we were attending bilingual services for feast days. After Mass in the summer we would eat paletas bought from the vender who arrived just as Mass was letting out. In the fall it turned to churros. My dad and I joined a choir and would sing verses alternating in Spanish and English. At church potlucks I happily ate tacos, but refused to eat more when I learned what lengua meant (tongue).
I want to be clear that this does not mean everything was all the sudden happy and easy. There were misunderstandings. There were missteps. I did not often want to go to services that would stretch to 2 hours, and where I only understood every 3 words. But it was good for us, as individuals and as a family.
I cannot, for the life of me, correctly use por and para, but there are hymns I will not sing in English. There is still nothing as good as a paleta in the summer heat. I am filled with gratitude of the humble church where I was raised, where Aaron and I were married, that marched for immigration reform. It was not a wealthy church, but it was a rich one.
I was reminded of all of this last night, as the church I attended celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church I attend here in Minneapolis is a Cathedral. It is large and elegant, but also warm. Last night there was a bilingual service. There was a procession of Aztec dancers. There were the words I have sung, hundreds of times, set to a different tune, but still “Santo, santo, santo, santo el Señor“. And there was a homily of hope in the darkness. About the radical nature of a brown-skinned Mary appearing in Aztec clothing and speaking Nahuatl to Juan Diego, an Aztec peasant. About how God is always with those who are oppressed, no matter when or where.
Gougères do not fit neatly with this story. But feeding people is one of the best ways I know to show love. I like to joke that I only speak culinary French, but the other half of the joke is that I only speak religious Spanish.
When we choose to love people it is not easy. It requires a steely resolve and great patience. It requires radical hope and realism. Love is not easy. But I would rather live actively working on love than live without it. And where I stand right now, love includes gougères .
Gougères freeze well, and can be baked straight from frozen. One great beauty of gougères is that they are so versatile. You could add herbs, spices, or different cheeses to these beauties to make them entirely your own. I’ve been known to bake gougères and eat them straight off the sheet tray. But if you pressed me for the best way to eat them I’d tell you to invite people over, make mulled wine, and serve gougères warm from the oven.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt together the butter, water, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer, making certain that all the butter is mixed, then add in the flour. Use a rubber spatula to stir in the flour, being careful to completely incorporate the flour. Continue stirring on heat, using the spatula to pick up and turn the dough, until the dough looks smooth and even. Turn the dough out into a large bowl.
Stir the dough with a rubber spatula every few minutes until the dough is at room temperature. Once the dough is no longer warm, add in the eggs, one at a time, stirring completely between each addition. It will first look as though the egg will refuse to combine, but continue working and it will cooperate. After the eggs have all combined stir in the shallots and gruyere.
If you are using a piping bag, use a medium sized round tip (or do as I did, and just cut a opening in your bag and don’t use a tip) and fill your bag. Pipe out the gougères onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. I aimed for mine to be an inch and a half in diameter and an inch in height and found that to be a perfect size.
If you are not using a piping bag, use two spoons to scoop the batter onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Aim to use about 2 tablespoons of batter in each gougère. Be careful, regardless of which method you choose, to not let the gougères touch.
Put a tiny bit of water in a shallow dish. Dip your fingers in the water, and then use your fingers to shape the gougères as necessary. If you’ve piped your gougères, flatten out the tail on top. If you’ve spooned your gougères, smooth out any rough lines.
The gougères can now be frozen, or baked off. If you want to freeze your gougères just pop the tray in the freezer, then transfer to a ziplock bag once frozen.
When you are ready to bake your gougères, preheat your oven to 400. Bake the gougères, spaced an inch apart, for 20-30 minutes (20 for fresh, 30 for frozen), rotating the baking tray every 10 minutes. The gougères are ready when they are golden in color, firm to the touch, and light when picked up. Enjoy warm. | 2019-04-21T14:59:58Z | https://consideringtheradish.wordpress.com/tag/appetizers/ | Porn | Home | 0.207996 |
livejournal | Since oops_in_the_apt has her man over I'm watching Doctor Who with ear buds. She's cooking him diner, it's so cute.
Point is when I plug in my ear buds a screen always comes up and I usually X it out. This time I played with it a little bit and adjusted the sound and WOAH. So awesome! It sounds like I'm in a theatre, but in the comfort of my own home eating a pizza w/ whole wheat crust from Papa John's.
So, now on to Midnight which, from what I've seen on the interwebz, it has very little Donna time, a flash of Rose while the Doctor's back is turned, and something scary that people have been saying reminds them of Blink. I don't care what anyone says there is nothing scarier than Blink.
Wait about 45 minutes and if anyone wants to chat about Doctor Who comment here. So, yeah, spoilers will be mentioned.
Rose at 16:34, same thing on TARDIS moniter on previous ep. Just yelling "Doctor" twice w/ no sound.
35:20 From killing her to hugging her? wtf?!?
The end: When he's talking to Donna the place where she repeats him and you can just see it on his face... Intense. This is the first time in any ep that I think I've seen him honestly scared. And that they were going to kill him- just- the couple, they were the worst. | 2019-04-22T08:29:39Z | https://moltobene1925.livejournal.com/222825.html | Porn | Reference | 0.944231 |
wordpress | You can find out more about this type of robotics and view other videos here.
Whenever possible, I always enjoy going to airshows to see various aircraft taking part in various exercises. It’s always a thrilling experience to see, hear and feel the aircraft zooming above and infront of you. Enjoy the collection recently released by Boston.com’s Big Picture.
This has been floating around the office via email today. I see there are a number of posts like this one already but no clear original source – if you know let me know.
12.. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
16. Circumvent , n. An opening in the front of jockey shorts worn by Jewish men.
It’s a topic that’s been in the news for a long time and almost always with negative connotations. Kids playing games with violence in them turning violent and becoming disobedient. But there are positive outcomes too.
I was watching in amazement at my youngest daughter, yesterday, as she was playing Mahjong Solitaire (not to be confused with the actual Mahjong game). But it’s just a pattern-matching game, you might say. Except there are quite a number of various patterns on the tiles, some look similar to others and in various colours, so not always so simple to find the matching tiles.
But it’s not only the fact that she can manage to finish some of the levels on her own but that she has already figured out how to navigate the various menus to start a new game or exit the game and start another one. I think we need to be worried once she figures out how to use Windows Explorer!
Oh, did I mention, she only turned 3 last month? Yup. Think back to when you were a kid at that age. Would we too have been able to so quickly grasp those concepts that some just can’t get. Remember it’s not just the fact that she manages to find the matching pairs but at the same time she’s moving the mouse around which in turn moves the mouse cursor to where she wants it to be as well as clicking the mouse button at the right time.
I’ve been working with computers for the last 24 years and pretty much take the act of using a keyboard without looking at the keys and using a mouse to navigate around a website or application for granted. But take two minutes and just think about all those neurons firing in your brain to be able to make all those connections and make us do the things we do and then think of all of that happening in a three year old’s brain.
Our eldest was also a semi-pro using the computer when she was her sister’s age. Now that she’s in grade 1 and quickly learning to read more and more her computer use is going to get better and most likely more frequent. Good thing I’ve been systematically keeping tabs on the various technologies out there which I will have to implement once the kids start using the computers more regularly. As technology advances I think too our kids are getting smarter and smarter. One of these days we’ll have a generation of toddlers that will be re-programming our VCRs (sheesh giving away my age there), erm, I mean PVRs and understanding what they’re doing not just randomly pressing buttons or hiding jam-sandwiches or keys where they shouldn’t go! | 2019-04-21T06:39:34Z | https://deems.wordpress.com/2009/08/ | Porn | Kids | 0.48543 |
biglobe | This page will be updated!
Our mission is providing resources that enhance Human and Organizational Development. It consists of family counseling, retreat groups, training programs , workshops and outcome of our research. Human Development means enhancing self directive attitude of persons. Organizational Development means building the environment to facilitate persons' self directive attitude. It is compared to a flower of hydrangea. A flower of hydrangea consists of many small flowers. Each small flowers have each own beauty and also a flower of hydrangea has its own beauty. It is wonderful harmony. Small flowers are persons. Big flower is their organization. They are supporting each other.
Our approach is Person Centered Approach (PCA).
It opens to other approaches which help to achieve the mission.
Deep growth experience through small groups: so-called "encounter groups"
changing rapidly. We will organize this center to NPO.
information comes together. Each members can do each activity in their places.
organizational development in families, corporations and other forms of organizations. | 2019-04-21T18:16:01Z | http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamakaz/CHODRenglish.htm | Porn | Reference | 0.335152 |
wordpress | Cathy has been reading The Sickness by Dylan J Morgan.
In the small village of Nash Grahame Harris is woken by noises outside his farmhouse. What he discovers as he goes to investigate is beyond comprehension and is the last thing he ever sees before dying horrifically.
The only reason for James Harris’ continued existence, and going through the ordeal that is his life, is his Goth teenage daughter, Ruth. he normally has her to stay at weekends but she turns up at his house unexpectedly one Thursday, which breaches his custody agreement. He’s more than glad to see her, all the same. When he receives a phone call from his estranged sister, Laura, informing him of the murder of their parents, long-buried and distressing emotions begin to surface. After taking his daughter to school the next morning, James very reluctantly begins his journey to Nash to attend the funeral.
Unbeknownst to James Ruth had skipped school and was even now back at his house. Curious to know why her dad didn’t want company on the trip, or her to be anywhere near the village, and why he never talked about his boyhood, Ruth decides on a course of action that will have repercussions beyond imagining.
“With a sigh she placed the drink carefully on the coffee table and hurried down the corridor, pausing outside his bedroom door. Ruth glanced down, pursed her lips, and wondered if this was such a good idea. She’s never snooped around in her father’s bedroom before, and a twinge of guilt held her at the doorway for a moment. Shaking her head, Ruth tried the handle and her heart picked up rhythm as the lock released and the door moved in the frame.
The horror is evident from the start of the book, beginning as it does with someone raising a corpse from the grave. The depressing and sombre atmosphere of Nash as the backdrop for the story sets the scene for what is to come. The identity of the culprit, and reason for the bringing corpses back to life to take revenge, is the mysterious thread running through the dark and gruesome story.
Facts about James’ traumatic childhood and teenage years are revealed slowly, by degrees, until I couldn’t help but think his parents got their just deserts. I liked James and Ruth very much, their relationship and love for each other is wonderful, so well defined. The rest of the characters, although unsympathetic and impossible to like, are very well drawn and so easy to picture, even if that picture isn’t a very pleasant one. Dylan Morgan is a very descriptive and skilful writer. I love how the suspense builds steadily right up to the intense and completely unexpected ending. Great cover, too.
The story starts at an unmarked grave and a conjuration. James Harris is forced to return to the home town he despises – to attend his parents’ funeral. I will not tell you more about the story than shown in the Goodreads plot description. This would spoil the fun of reading this book yourself.
With The Sickness, Dylan J. Morgan has created an expertly woven plot, a thrilling horror novel. The Sickness comprises authentic characters; James is a very likeable guy, I liked him from the start. You may feel inclined to change your opinion on his daughter Ruth. The more you learn about her, the more you are inclined to really like her. I had a great time reading – this is a very compelling read. I was drawn into the story right away, close to James and relieved to be invisible.
The cover is awesome – perfect for this story.
This is for you if you like some shivers running down your spine, a creepy atmosphere and a mystery that needs to be solved.
A remarkable story to read again.
First of all I have to say what a terrific cover this book has!
James Harris is a divorced, part time dad, living on a run down London estate. He has a warm, close relationship with his wayward, punky daughter, Ruth – which goes a long way to make up for the horror of his childhood and the breakdown of his marriage. But something’s happening in the isolated village of Nash, where he grew up, and a phone call from his sister moves him to return….
This book is subtly rather than in-your-face creepy, at least at first, and the story unfolds at a steady pace, the supernatural element and details about James’s dreadful childhood being released gradually, building up to an explosive end; this is a writer who totally ‘gets’ suspense. The characters are so well drawn, even the minor ones, particularly Ruth’s creepy stepfather. I loved Ruth, she’s a great kid, tough and ballsy but with a sometimes most mature outlook, and James is very likable, too.
Definitely recommended for all lovers of supernatural horror.
An unmarked grave, a ring of salt, and four black candles are my favourite type of opening hook. As a fan of horror, and supernatural novels, I am always happy when the two mix and The Sickness provides this in abundance.
From the opening paragraph, we are shown that some of the characters have returned from the dead. To discover why this has happened, and indeed, how it was possible, we must join James Harris as he re-visits his home town, and a past he has tried so hard to forget.
The story unfolds in the thick of the action and only after we’ve experienced our first evisceration do we get to meet our hero.
I like James, a lot. I also like his teenage daughter, Ruth. Their relationship is beautifully crafted. The bond between them is clearly evident and even though Ruth is a feisty teenager with a strong will and tendencies towards truancy, you feel the love they have for one another flow off the page. I didn’t warm to Kath, who is Ruth’s mother, but I think that was the whole point, as it strengths the readers compassion for that father and daughter attachment.
If you like your supernatural horror to be dark, gruesome and unequivocally gory, then this is the book for you. The author’s ability to describe a brutal murder down to the last laceration is captivating. He paints a vivid and colourful picture of blood and bodily fluids.
The story is set in Nash, an English countryside community. I love Morgan’s style of writing as he sets the scene. His descriptive prose is so crisp that I found myself tugging at my collar to shield from an imaginary storm. Although I don’t believe the British weather is quite as dismal as it is in Nash, Morgan certainly captures the essence of the dark and gloomy horror backdrop, and he uses it to its full potential. I believe George Romero or Wes Craven would have enjoyed developing this story for cinema.
I was expecting horror, but I wasn’t expecting such graphic sexually explicit scenes. They are sprinkled throughout the story, some of them are vital to the plot, but there were others that I felt were unnecessary, this is a purely personal observation that may not be mirrored by other readers.
I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but I must briefly mention the ending. It is explosive, expertly written and riveting. I didn’t blink in case I missed something. The plot is neatly interwoven and carefully planned out, so you don’t see any of the twists coming.
No review would be complete without a shout out for the book cover. The image, colours, and typography fit the horror genre perfectly. It drew me in straight away. I would highly recommend The Sickness if you enjoy horror or/and supernatural novels.
The Sickness serves up a generous helping of suspense and chills, so if you’re feeling the Halloween spirit and looking for something to make you wonder about that scratching noise against the window or the creak on the staircase – this is your book. | 2019-04-21T12:49:27Z | https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/tag/the-sickness/ | Porn | Reference | 0.499905 |
wordpress | Strings and Ink – Vince Friel and Lindsay Harris Friel have a lot of projects.
Seriously? We have to have this discussion again?
Once again, a journalist at a major publication has taken time to write about audio drama as a podcast medium, to basically say, “I don’t enjoy this at all, but these small-minded fools seem to.” Writing for forbes.com, the article “The Audio Verse Awards Celebrates The Best In Audio Drama,” Joshua Dudley, a Forbes contributor, tells us that the quality of independent audio drama podcasts is lacking, with a tone that is condescending at best. This echoes sentiment from other major publications, such as the New York Times, where large-budget work is praised, and small-budget work is ignored or described as boring. Publications with corporate funding have a vested interest in promoting work that shares or follows a similar funding model. If the majority of consumers were to actively start creating, sharing, and consuming their own entertainment, streaming services, cable networks and media companies might lose a tiny bit of market share. Dudley’s message is not specifically capitalist; more notably, he misses his own point, by noting trends within independent audio drama podcasts. He disparages these trends, rather than examining them in order to discover something new.
He name-drops two podcasts that are not eligible for the Audio Verse Awards, saying that it’s sad that they’re left out. One is funded by Marvel. The other has an international star of music, movies and cable television as its lead performer. To say it’s sad that these shows are left out is similar to asking why Krug champagne isn’t included in a small-batch brewing festival. Of course these are good. They have a lot of money making them good. Their creation doesn’t have the same process or support. Their stories may not reflect the same anxieties and experience as people who have to balance creative projects around day jobs. The challenges independent audio drama creators cope with are not something those shows cope with. Don’t put a dog in a cat show, and vice versa. Wasn’t Dudley’s article supposed to be about the Audio Verse Awards?
Dudley’s biggest complaint is the “glut of sameness” that came from listening to the nominees’ episode samples. His complaint is almost fair. “Many of the shows had a fantastical element that featured prominently in the script,” (much like the two big-budget podcasts he mentions earlier) “but only one of them felt so grounded in the reality of the world it created that it made me pay close attention and want to listen more.” Good. It flipped your switch. You liked it. I hope you voted.
Let’s take a look at this. If many of the shows to which you listened have a common element, isn’t it worth it to ask why this common element keeps coming up? First of all, in creating any kind of entertainment, when an artist chooses a medium, the artist has to ask what this medium does best, what can it do that other media can’t. No one expects an oil painting to make noise. Though film, television, live theatre and audio drama are similar means of telling stories, we don’t have the same expectations of their delivery. If audio drama allows the creator to utilize elements that can’t be done in a visual medium, why rely on realism? Secondly, to say that a show seemed not grounded in the reality of its own world, from listening to a small sample of the production, is not a big enough sample. Finally, if there’s a trend of people making audio drama podcasts with a fantastical element, and yet the work feels unfinished, why disparage? Why not say, “this work could have been good, I wanted it to be better, there needs to be more support for work like this?” Again, if there’s a common anxiety being discussed, and a common craft style being used, why not examine them to find some meaning?
Ultimately, Dudley got paid. He pitched a story to Forbes (a publication about making money), talking about an Internet-based awards show, with criteria that has nothing to do with profit. He wrote the article in a tone that congratulates readers for not listening to independently funded entertainment. It was published. Though he ends with a paragraph lauding passion and creativity, Dudley’s overall tone echoes the sentiment of other articles in major publications: isn’t your little hobby cute, too bad you’re not very good at it. Meanwhile people will continue to create media that can be shared easily, and do so without funding sources that can be tracked on the stock market. Ideas will grow without corporate gatekeepers. Journalists can either pay attention, join us, or get out of the way.
Yes, I know, I haven’t been writing here for a very long time, and I need to fix that. Or do I? Let me know. Yes, I’m on Twitter too, as @thislindsay.
There’s a joke that’s been coming back in my mind for a while, now. I can’t remember the details, and it makes me crazy. I don’t know if it’s a joke, or one of those academic urban legends, or both. Here’s what I can remember.
Students in a theology course at a prestigious university spread a rumor amongst themselves. The rumor was that the class was very difficult, requiring a lot of reading and study, but the final exam was easy, provided you had some inside information. It was rumored that the exam was only one question, a long essay, and the question was, “describe and explain the life and times of the Apostle Paul.” This was a lot of information, true. But if you were ready for it, you could narrow down a ton of your studying, and sail through the course.
Finally, one year, the professor who taught the course got wind of the rumor. When the students came in for the exam, they were provided one essay question.
The students stared in disbelief. They hadn’t prepared for anything resembling this. Some of the students walked out immediately. A few tried to scribble out a haphazard answer, before shuffling up to the front of the room and sheepishly putting their papers on the professor’s desk. One student, however, did something different. The student started at the question for a long time, then started writing. The scratching of the student’s pencil was slow at first, but gradually it gained speed, in the way that comes from confidence. The student carefully filled both sides of the paper in small, neat handwriting, using proper paragraph and essay structure.
When the exam time was almost finished, the student brought the paper up to the front desk. By now the room was almost empty. No one was left but the professor and the lone student. The kid’s pencil was chewed down to a nub. The professor had stopped doing other work and had just watched the kid scribbling away, with a bit of amazement. No one else had even hung in there and tried to complete the exam.
The kid said, “Okay,” and skedaddled out of the room as quickly as possible.
The professor looked down at the paper, thinking about how he’d happily put an end to the rumor about his easy exam, and thought maybe this would mean he’d get good students next semester. Good students, like this kid. Right?
The kid ‘s opening paragraph read as follows.
There’s more to it than that, but Nick summed it up pretty well. Lately I’ve been not writing as much. I worked on writing and rewriting Season 2 of Jarnsaxa Rising for about a year, and now we’re in the editing and production stage. I’m feeling a little bit guilty right now for taking time away from doing dialogue assembly. The itch to write gets answered by the demon of doubt, saying, “who would want what you write?” And I worry a lot about writing what people want, as any playwright will tell you. After three or five or seven full-length plays, there’s only so much looking within you can do, without looking outside. With a social media infested world, by the time you get together enough information for a reasonable play idea, it’s become last year’s meme.
But, honestly, if you want to write about The Orville or incentives to recruit volunteer firefighters or Westworld or kitten season, it doesn’t really matter if someone else wrote about it first. As Kerouac said, “it ain’t what you write, it’s the way atcha write it.” Actually, I don’t know if he said that, but a friend of mine had a coffee cup with that quote on it attributed to him, and we both worked at Borders at the time, so it’s not too far-fetched.
So, why can’t I toss out a bunch of pop-culture observations, like R. Eric Thomas, and still write good plays, like R. Eric Thomas? Actually, these days I’m writing audio drama, but the reason for switching is a thorny one, and I’ll save that for another time.
My other point is, I disagree with Joanna Robinson, I don’t think Terminator Dolores and Evil Young William are all that bad, because characters have to start out horrible for their eventual redemption to mean anything. But I like listening to Joanna Robinson.
Really, my point is, we should all be writing with fearlessness, and reading with fearlessness. Tennessee Williams used to write “Avanti!” at the top of the page when he started writing for the day. Onward and upward.
After so many years of putting it off, I decided now would be a good time to do something about my studio (middle bedroom) and its ability to screw up my mixes. I went with a package deal that involved 4 columns and 8 12x 12 squares of fiberglass and cloth to negate any standing waves or other audio anomalies that can make listening and editing a chore. My monitors also had to be adjusted again but I have yet to “tune” the room. But for now, everything sounds fine. Later on, I am planning to get sound blankets for the windows to diminish any outside noise. I wish I had a few grand for a Whisper Room.
Slowly I’m getting my set up as comfortable and efficient as possible. Looking into a more comfortable chair. The one pictured here is an IKEA special and not really designed for long-term sitting.
From 10:30 onward I basically removed furniture and prepared the walls for the metal impaling plates that needed to be screwed into the drywall. There was also a lot of vacuuming as well to keep and dust from getting into anything. A lot of time was spent going back and forth with a pencil and laser level but I managed to get everything done, put back and running by 4:30 pm. I think I know why people put this important step, it’s time-consuming but I would agree with most folks who do podcasts, voice over, or any kind of recording. Invest in some sound treatment and abatement before pouring money into gear. A good sounding room will get you better results the first time around than a plug-in.
I was lucky to keep my blackboard where it was as well as the guitar hook for my headphones. The lava lamps are a nice touch. Patch-bay and cable snakes on the way for ease of plugging in equipment. I like to use my guitar effects pedals for recording and mixing so having the patch bay will make that much easier.
Stil editing dialog and hopefully I can finally get down to creating sound beds, fx, and music cues. Got a three day weekend coming up at the end of the month so I should get a lot of work done in that department. But for now, it’s getting the words in order.
Below we see “Da Gooch” looking very pensive, maybe we should have given her the fancier mic than the stock SM58?
It’s pretty clear that I have run out of anything more interesting to say so I’ll leave it here. Of course, if you do not have a clue about some of the jargon I have used, feel free to drop me a line.
How about that artwork? Pretty snazzy huh? Kessi Rilinki is the artist, check her out and The Audio Drama Production Podcast group on Facebook.
And now onto our story.
After driving from Philadelphia to Minneapolis (with a stop in Fremont, Indiana) we have arrived safe and sound on Tuesday, February 19th. After a rest and some much-needed animal corraling it was time to sift through the audio detritus that will eventually make up season 2 of Jarnsaxa Rising.
It was a shame we couldn’t hang out with the cast during the time that we were there but with the readthroughs and the re-writes, there wasn’t time. We had a narrow window to record in due to conflicting schedules with the cast but we did manage to get everything done in a final 12-hour session.
Tech notes here so if this stuff bores you just skip it. I included links in the event of anyone interested in the product and my experience with it in a real-world situation. I’m not getting compensated for anything.
For recording, I opted for the Zoom F8 field recorder along with the FRC-8 controller to give me more flexibility in mixing and control. I ended up using a CAD TRION 6000, CAD GXL 2200, 2 Aston Origins, Sterling Audio ST151 and the trusty Shure SM58. Except for SM58, all the other mics are condensers. To get more level out of the SM58, I ran that through a Cloudlifter CL-1 via the F8’s phantom power.
For the actors, I decided to have a headphone distribution system set up so they can hear themselves. I went cheap and got the Behringer Powerplay which actually did a pretty good job. I brought with me what I had in headphones (2 pairs of Sony MDR 7506’s, Sennheiser HD280, and a pair of KOSS over the ear type. I also made a quick stop at Twin Town Guitars and grabbed some 1/8″ to 1/4″ adaptors just in case.
A little plug for Sony here, if you are looking for bulletproof, great sounding headphones, get the MDR 7506. I have a pair that is over 20 years old the other is 10 and they are user serviceable so you can replace parts.
The recording space was the second floor (attic?) at the home of the director Carin Bratlie Wethern. We kept any room reverb down by utilizing blankets and pillows. I also tried to keep to the “3 to 1” rule to cut down on bleed. I was somewhat successful in this after listening to playbacks and isolating tracks.
If time permits I will occasionally post again. The work is going to be slow and tedious. Then I have to create SFX beds and music cues for 8 episodes so it may take a few months or more to get a decent product.
I’m pleased to announce that Wide Open Spaces will be read as part of the Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival this summer!
Wide Open Spaces is the play that I wrote about Georgia O’Keeffe, and her personal changes that made her the painter we know today. It has forty-some odd characters played by eight performers, and takes place in one room and all across America over three years, so this is going to be a good experience. I’m really excited about this, and grateful that the festival coordinators see what I’ve seen in this story.
Philadelphia’s never had a theatre festival specializing in work created by women, before this year. Ms Fest at Plays & Players was a huge success, so the energy of supply and demand is high for a women’s theatre festival. Currently, the PWTF is raising funds to make the festival happen, and you can support this project. They have four days left to meet their fundraising goal, and donations are tax-deductible.
I know so many people who complain at being left out of opportunities. There’s so much “they don’t want me because I’m too (x, y, z) for them” that I hear, and I want to be in a culture of saying “yes, and.” This is one of those times where we can step up and build the sandbox in which we want to play.
Speaking of building your own sandbox, progress on Jarnsaxa Rising continues. In addition to the script, I’m working on “meet the artist” posts for the podcast’s blog. Every time I open up my e-mail, see the performers’ headshots and read their bios, I get all warm and giggly inside. This project is going to be Really Good.
And, of course, if science-fiction-fantasy podcasts are your thing, you can join us on the journey.
And last night it rained, finally, so the garden is getting wild again. The red lilies are blooming and doubling and trebling, and the morning glory vine has started to fight with the lavender, but they’re no match for the mint, so I have to get in there and break up some of this battle.
Mint vs. Lavender vs. Morning Glories. QUIEN ES MAS MACHO?
Once upon a time there was a playwright who was really, really bored.
It seemed like a great play idea, with multiple characters and the wind turbines themselves being played by actors who rotated giant rain sticks, as if the gods and humans and everyone were all embodied in the wind turbines. But the story was too unwieldy. It made more sense to break it into episodes and do it as a podcast. So, basically, it’s a science fiction fantasy revenge tragedy that takes place in a dystopian future and the ancient past.
So, I’m writing the script. I’m eight episodes in, with hopefully only two more to go. although two of the episodes may get merged into one. Vince is doing all the sound engineering. Carin is directing, she’s found a cast, and we’re going to Minneapolis to record it in July. We’ll edit the files in August, and launch the podcast in the fall.
I’ve been learning a lot about Indiegogo. This is our campaign, in case you like this and want to help. We’re just over 5% funded, with 41 days to go. I get about two messages a day from people who want me to pay them to retweet the campaign or add it to a directory. which feels like adding my needle to a haystack.
Tonight, I have writer’s block. I know what needs to happen next, everything is outlined. As I write, I feel like I’m stumbling. There’s a lot of new things that I’m learning: writing purely for audio instead of live audio-visual performance, using episodes, using non-linear narrative. some information is missing, and I don’t know what it is, but without it, I can’t confidently move forward. I’ll get it, I just have to find it. I also know that writing doesn’t come from inspiration, inspiration comes from writing.
Fortunately, I have a really good cast, good people who have said, “sure, I’ll climb aboard your wagon.” I just want to make sure I don’t disappoint anyone.
I wanted to go to bed early tonight, so I can get up early tomorrow. It was hot today and it’s supposed to be hot tomorrow, so I’d like to have some of the cool hours of the day at my disposal. I want to get up early, pull weeds and water the flowerbeds before the rest of the world gets moving. The local amateur pyrotechnic aficionados are setting things off, which upsets the dogs. They’re being pretty good about it, but I can hear them shuffling around anxiously.
I think I’m just going to lie down and listen to an audiobook, and hope that settles me down.
Anyway, this is what’s keeping me awake lately. | 2019-04-21T19:06:03Z | https://stringsandink.wordpress.com/ | Porn | Society | 0.075724 |
yahoo | Each week, we'll take a look at how the Eagles' division rivals fared the previous weekend. Up next, the New York Giants.
Each week, we'll take a look at how the Eagles' division rivals fared the previous weekend (SPOILER ALERT: the Eagles are the best) and what they have upcoming. In Week One of the NFL season, Washington's offense was powered by a couple of 2012 Pro Bowlers, Dak Prescott looked like the same guy we knew (and loved) in 2017, and the Giants have a talented running back for the first time since Tiki Barber retired...which still wasn't enough to keep Eli from throwing the game away.
ICYMI: At home in the swamps of Jersey, the Giants were defeated by the immortal Blake Bortles (WOW! 18 completions for 176 yards… a new Bortles record!) despite huge fantasy numbers from rookie Saquon Barkley (5.9 yards per run) and Odell Beckham Jr. (11 catches for 111 yards). The play of the game may have been the jaw-dropping interception Janoris Jenkins had in the first half. It wasn't as jaw-dropping as, say, finding a dead body in your home, but it was impressive nonetheless.
The Giants had a chance to win it, down five with under two minutes to go, but that vaunted Shurmur Offense couldn't get another score and New York ended up turning it over on downs. Technically they had another shot when the Jags went three-and-out, but punt returner Kaelin Clay fumbled the catch and the Jersey crowd went home crying. Him and Tre Sullivan can exchange notes.
Eli Manning, who beat the odds and returned as the Giants starting quarterback this year, went a yawn-inducing 23-of-37 with zero TDs and a back-breaking pick-six. For him, that's essentially on par.
Positive Spin: Saquon Barkley, very good. Odell Beckham Jr., very good. Pat Shurmur's haircut, well… maybe not the sort of thing that gets you on the cover of GQ, but compared to the Ben McAdoo that Giants fans were subjected to last season, this is a definite improvement.
And hey, the Jaguars were in the AFC Championship Game last year! The Pride of London is a legitimate franchise this season. This may be one of those "good losses" we pined for back when the Eagles didn't win Super Bowls.
The Giants have some really exciting offensive playmakers. If that sounds familiar, it's because it's exactly what Cowboys fans were saying just 24-months ago.
Negative Spin: They lost to Blake Bortles. His last name sounds like the noise your shower drain makes when it's clogged with too much hair. The awfulness of Bortles may be a bit exaggerated at this point, but losing to him still involves a snicker… especially when the Jags best offensive weapon, Leonard Fournette, limped off after only a handful of touches.
The problem for the Giants is that Bortles was the best quarterback on the field Sunday. This may come as a shock to some, but Eli Manning still isn't very good. He hasn't been for a very long time. His pick-six was the difference in this game, and for the record it was a stupid, stupid throw.
On top of it all, Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold looked pretty solid against the Lions Monday night. Sure, that sentence comes with a handful of qualifiers (it's only one game, the Jets will ruin him, Matt Patricia suffers from Philly Special PTSD, etc). The fact remains that after Week One of the 2018 season, there's a very visible path to a future where we can all say "The Giants are wasting the best offensive skill players they've ever had because they ran-it-back with Eli Manning rather than invest in the young stud quarterback now employed by the Jets." And that's a future I want to live in.
Oh, and Ereck Flowers is still getting play. Has there not been enough evidence to shut this down already?
What's Next: Lucky for the Giants, they now get to face off against an even worse quarterback (arguably). Week 2 features a trip down to Big D against the hated Dallas Cowboys, guaranteeing that one of the Iggles rivals will still be winless come Carson Wentz' return in Week 3.
More fun this week in the NFC East: The Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. | 2019-04-18T13:20:31Z | https://sports.yahoo.com/around-nfc-east-barkley-beckham-170624282.html?src=rss | Porn | Sports | 0.463709 |
wordpress | Hillary claims that her “economic plan” will create millions of jobs but she has yet to explain how she plans to pay for it. She says “the wealthy will pay their fare share”, whatever that means since the hated 1% currently pay almost 40% of all Federal taxes paid. In fact, the top 25% of Americans pay 86% of all taxes and the bottom 50% pay less than 3%. Hillary’s plan is the same as the one Barack Obama pushed in 2008, a plan dependent on Federal spending of funds the government doesn’t have. One part of her plan is free college tuition – where’s she planning to get the money? Most of Hillary’s money has been given to her, leading her to evidently believe money grows on trees. As Trump pointed out, the nation is already currently $20 trillion in debt. Hillary is planning to spend money she doesn’t have. Not only that, if she is elected, she’s going to be dealing with a House dominated by Republicans and possibly a Republican Senate as well. She must think she’ll be able to obtain the funding from her fairy godmother. She said that helping people get college degrees would boost the economy, but a major problem today is that are already too many people with college degrees and not enough jobs to accommodate them. Consequently, many college graduates with worthless degrees are waiting tables and tending bar while there’s a shortage of skilled laborers. There are too many chiefs and not enough Indians in modern America.
Hillary loves to jab at the wealthy and talk about “income equality,” whatever that is. Since she has never created a job in her life, she doesn’t know that every job in the United States is somehow dependent on the wealthy. The “wealthy” in Clinton’s mind are those who own the corporations that create the high-paying jobs that fund the nation. It is the taxes paid by the wealthy, their employees, those who contract with them, those who sell their products to corporations and those who sell products produced by them that funds the country – taxes paid by government employees and contractors are not increasing the Federal tax pool, they’re merely putting a portion of their income from it back into the pool from whence it came. Hillary’s plan seems to be to create her own distribution of wealth plan to take MORE money from those at the top of the money heap to put in the pool to fund her programs. She refers to Trump’s plan as Trump Down economics but hers is actually Take From the Rich And Give it to Government to Distribute economics. Yes, her plan has been lauded – by fellow Democrats and Hillary supporters such as Paul Krugman, some of whom are stated socialists. Clinton seems not to know how wealth is distributed – it can only be distributed from the top down. Any other attempted means will result in failure and ultimate economic collapse. She and her fellows criticize the theory of “trickle—down economics” but that is exactly how economics works – those who have employ and buy and their money trickles down and fills the pool.
“Income inequality” has been a buzzword for the Democratic Party in recent years. Party wonks whose income is hardly unequal rant about how women make less per dollar than men, without recognizing that men and women don’t perform the same jobs. I worked for two major corporations and know that there are many different jobs in a company and that the pay is not the same for all of them, not to mention that pay is based on seniority and performance. A female accountant in an accounting department is not going to be paid the same as a male engineer in charge of a pipeline project. She’s not going to be paid the same as her female supervisor. Secretaries aren’t paid the same as those to whom they are assigned. Yet Democrats are convincing people that everyone should be paid the same, regardless of the various factors used to determine pay scales. It appears that this is a belief of many Americans who don’t realize that this is a major precept used by Marxists in order to garner power.
Hillary also shocked me when she said how she would “defeat ISIS.” (Never mind that she had a lot to do with the rise of ISIS in the first place and there is evidence she was behind their arming.) There’s no doubt that the debate was watched with interest by Islamic terrorists. Clinton clearly telegraphed her plans so they now know what to inspect if she become commander in chief of the military. She also telegraphed her plans to “provide security” against domestic attacks. She stated she would “increase intelligence”, which is a euphemism for domestic spying, which the NSA already does. Speaking of the NSA, there was discussion of hacking of American Email servers by foreign governments. Now, Clinton knows full well that the NSA, the National Security Agency, is charged with both monitoring communication of foreign governments and detecting revelation of classified information by US military and government officials – which is why Hillary sought a means of communicating outside of official government military channels, which she knows are monitored. Hillary not only revealed classified information in her Emails, she revealed information that should be classified last night. She knows American hackers work overtime hacking foreign government and foreign business servers. That’s what the NSA does.
Hillary is a slick one all right. She knows how to throw out “policy” for the media to lap up like dogs and after three decades in the public eye, she knows how to give the appearance that she’s an expert in things she really isn’t. She knows that her base is made up of those who feel left out and think everything should be handed to them. She’s a deceiver, and if she is elected, the American people are going to suffer for a long, long time. What the heck?
The United States maintains forces that are basically gunrunners for the CIA. They operate clandestinely, either with aircraft and ships provided by the military or with civilian contractors. Their operations are highly classified, not so much to keep the enemy from finding out but rather to provide “plausible deniability” and conceal them fro the American public.
Author semcgowanjrPosted on September 27, 2016 September 27, 2016 Categories Aviation and Airplanes, Current Events, PoliticalTags college, Debate, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economy, Hillary Clinton, ISIS, NSA, trickle-downLeave a comment on What the Heck? | 2019-04-22T04:18:02Z | https://tennesseeflyboy.wordpress.com/category/aviation-and-airplanes/ | Porn | Business | 0.316612 |
sfgate | It’s been three years since Delaware North, the former concessionaire, hijacked the names of several landmark sites at Yosemite National Park. The corporation trademarked the names with the U.S. Patent Office and then claimed ownership of them, meaning the park had to officially change the monikers of historic places like the Ahwahnee Hotel (now dubbed the Majestic Yosemite Hotel).
“Yosemite National Park is hopeful the lawsuit will be resolved soon and the names will be restored,” said Scott Gediman, spokesman for the park.
As Yosemite gears up for its winter season, getting the names back would be one in a series of game changers. With early snow this year, the stage is set for a big rebound from last winter, when warm temperatures and few storms delayed snow-based recreation until a big dump arrived in early March.
A few early-season storms, once common for late November and early December, allowed Aramark, the current concessionaire, to set an opening date for winter operations out of Badger Pass of Friday, Dec. 14. That also means the park will open the gate at Glacier Point Road and plow it clear 5 miles to the parking lot for the ski area and staging area for snow treks.
That means downhill skiing and boarding — at the best beginner hill anywhere — plus other winter sports: tubing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and trekking to the Yosemite Valley rim where you’ll get world-class views of El Capitan, Half Dome and miles of wilderness to the Sierra crest.
At the lower elevations, early-season rains have restored the flows at the waterfalls in the valley. In winter, it can feel dreamlike to go on short hikes to see them. The same waterfall trails are so crowded in summer that the park has paved them.
From December to February, only 9 percent of the park’s 5 million-plus annual visitors show up, according to park visitation statistics. Lodging opportunities open up, and you pretty much have your run of the place.
It can be the trip of a lifetime — if you know your way around.
Highway 140: The best winter route to Yosemite is on Highway 140 through Mariposa to the Arch Rock entrance, where you never climb over 4,000 feet elevation. Chain controls are rare, but to enter the park in winter, you must still carry chains. An option is the YARTS bus, which provides service to Yosemite from several gateway towns, including Mariposa.
Distances to Yosemite Valley: 80 miles from Merced, 156 miles from Dublin, 163 miles from Sacramento, 188 miles from San Francisco.
Road conditions: Caltrans, 800-427-7623, www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi.
Entrance fee: $35 per vehicle, good for a week. Free on Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Yosemite lodging: Reserve at www.travelyosemite.com, then click on lodging (available dates listed for each site) or call 888-413-8869.
Lodging outside the park: Groveland Hotel, 209-962-4000, www.groveland.com; Tenaya Lodge, located near Wawona at Fish Camp; reserve atwww.tenayalodge.com (available dates listed) or 888-514-2167. Other lodging in Mariposa, El Portal, Groveland, Fish Camp at www.yosemite.com.
Park shuttle bus: A free shuttle bus operates from Half Dome Village and other sites in Yosemite Valley, with a route to Badger Pass.
Driving there: From Yosemite Valley, take Northside Drive west to a junction with El Portal Road. Turn left on Southside Drive and drive 0.2 miles to Wawona Road/Highway 41. Turn right on Wawona Road and drive 9.2 miles to Glacier Point Road. Turn left on Glacier Point Road and drive 5 miles to parking on right for Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area at Badger Pass.
Contact: Yosemite weather and road conditions: www.nps.gov/yose or 209-372-0200, ext. 1.
Yosemite Ski & Snowboard is a small operation that is ideal for those learning how to ski or board, or returning to the sport looking to get back on their feet. The vertical drop is only 800 feet, with four short lifts to nine runs. You don’t have to worry about fast, experienced skiers; they never come here. New this year comes a hope of enough snow to build two terrain parks, one for newcomers, and one for acrobats. They will include jumps, rails and boxes. A tubing hill is also planned.
About 95 percent of those on the ice are youngsters and their parents, or occasional teenagers on a date, but no matter your age, this is cheap fun with spectacular views. Everybody skates counterclockwise, with newcomers on the rail or close to it. Prices this winter are $9.75 for adults, $9.25 for children 12 and under, $3.75 for skate rentals, helmets free.
After Yosemite Falls went dry in mid-November, winter storms have recharged its flows, and cold nights often leave a frozen wisp on its edges across the rock. The paved trail that loops near its base is 1.1 miles. On the south side of the valley, the easy walk to the base of Bridalveil Fall is 0.5 mile. From Happy Isles along the Merced River at the foot of the valley, it’s a 1.5-mile hike one way with 500-foot climb to the bridge with the view of Vernal Fall. In winter, it is often encased in ice, with a rushing free fall surging down its center.
If you own your own snowshoes, crampons and ski poles, or cross-country skis, this is your launch point. If you don’t, the Nordic Center rents the gear and also offers guided trips. The best one-day trek with a payoff is the 10-mile round trip to Dewey Point: Venture up Glacier Point Road for 1.4 miles, turn left at the Dewey Meadow Trail for 2.5 miles to the Dewey Point Trail; you then descend a mile to Dewey Point on the south rim overlooking El Capitan and Yosemite Valley. Another option, when the trails are set on Glacier Point Road, is ambitious cross-country ski trips overnight to Ostrander Hut or the 21-mile round trip to Glacier Point and it showpiece-of-the-world overlook across to Half Dome.
Contact: Yosemite National Park, 209-372-0200, www.nps.gov/yose. | 2019-04-18T20:42:27Z | https://m.sfgate.com/travel/article/How-to-take-advantage-of-Yosemite-in-winter-13450141.php?t=c1ce5113c0 | Porn | Recreation | 0.907492 |
typepad | Is it possible to "lunch and learn"? The answer, according to the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua, is a resounding "YES!" "Lunch and Learn" is their name for a food and wine pairing demonstration series they do -- in which I recently participated. In our case, the one-hour event was a demonstration by two women (hurrah) as chef and knowledgeable wine consultant. The chef was Cathy Parsons (bio available here) who I could swear I heard say she has lost 78 pounds. The wine instructor was Cheryl Pitti, a former member of the Air Force; for her bio click here and scroll down! The cost for their expertise: $30 per person. While this seems a bit price-y (and certainly did when I purchased the tickets for 8 of us), the whole shebang turned out to be quite good. The demonstration was informative -- and the lunch tasty.
Here is part of what I learned. First, though I already knew this, I was reminded that an airline chicken breast is one which still has the little drumstick bit of wing attaches. Cute. Then, the chef showed us how to make a deep pocket-like slice into the breast (and reminded us where the chicken "tender" is) into which we could slide a bit of (in this case Lively Run) goat cheese and some sliced strawberries. (Other options include a more Mediterranean idea with sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and some feta -- and frankly, something with blue cheese I cannot quite recall). The chicken breast is then baked -- at 350 I think for about 45 minutes. As I recall she did sear them off -- and did this by really really heating the pan first, then adding a tiny bit of oil. The searing ensures that the baking does not dry out the chicken. The second dish was fresh peas, shelled, blanched, and shocked, combined with bacon that had been cooked til crispy, and pearl onions (yes, these were Birds' Eye frozen onions) in a white sauce made from a roux. The main point she made on roux was: make it way way thicker than you think you are supposed to and cook it so that the floury taste disappears. Also important throughout her presentation: food safety issues around the chicken and also, she pointed out a maxim that is useful -- veggies from below ground (e.g., potatoes) go into water before boiling; veggies from above ground (e.g., peas) go in after the water is boiling. And like every other chef ever, she reminded us not to fool around with things too much; when rendering bacon, for example, do not spend a lot of time with a spatula moving the bacon around.
After the meal, which was quite filling, I did indulge a bit more. Yes, there are beer tastings available in the tasting room and I had a tasting of 6 or so beers from New York State, ranging from Brooklyn to Cooperstown, to. . . well, all over the state -- and across a wide array of styles. Called the Empire Beer Tasting, I paid $5 for a taste of each of the following beers: Middle Ages Swallow Wit (Syracuse), Ommegang Hennepin (Cooperstown), Cooperstown Old Slugger (Cooperstown), Brooklyn Brown Ale (New York City), and Southern Tier IPA (Lakewood). The last was my favorite. One of my compatriots tried the juice tasting and came away with a case of Grower's Cooperative Grape Juice.
All in all, a lunch at which I learned a lot. So, yes, you can lunch and learn. Indeed.
Oh My God(dess) -- I Made Dolmades!
So, I went to the second evening of my class on hors doeuvres at the NYWCC (New York Wine and Culinary Center for those not in the know) -- and I made dolmades. The class was a little short on people, so I did one recipe more or less on my own (with a little bit of rolling done by others). I was speedy and efficient and it still took me the entire 2 hours. I asked for help from the chef, who gave me a rolling lesson (oh so brief) but mainly, it was me, all me. And they turned out beautiful, but not quite perfect. Next time?
That voice of confidence is just what I needed to reclaim -- and came from the gift of these classes and these dolmades. I recommend cooking classes for all and sundry whose work does nto have immediate and obvious products -- and whose work cannot be easily and immediately "assessed" for its failure or success.
What are dolmades? They are grape leaves wrapped around various fillings. You can find pre-made dolmades at the olive bar in Wegmans on occasion. And you can find them in various restaurants -- greek and other mediterranean types. Sometimes vegetarian and sometimes not. Often lemon-y. And always little stuffed bits -- the word, in fact, seems to come from Arabic or Turkish or. . . for "to be stuffed." For loads of details, try clicking here or even here where you can find step by step instructions for making them, even including rolling them -- which could mean skipping what I say below, but why do that when. . . .
How do you make dolmades? No, I did not go out to wineries in the area and pick leaves (nor did anyone at the NYWCC though there was some implication that it was possible). Rather, these were made from those bottles of grape leaves you see here and there and wonder what people do with them. The recipe I had called for blanching and then shocking them; 1 minute in boiling water for the first and then very briefly dropping them into ice water for the second. On the advice of the chef, I ignored that step. What was inside? White rice, toasted pine nuts, currants, lemon juice with salt dissolved in it, rosemary, a bit of olive oil. Mix it. Let it sit. Put a table spoon or so into big leaves; less in smaller ones. And, roll them up. Now, there's the difficulty -- either a) go to the site noted above and check out the pictures; b) go for trial or error; c) wrap from the end which would have attached to the vine and tuck the edges in as you go along.
The chef suggested thinking about other things to include -- cranberries at the holidays (whcih soudns odd to me), alternative spices or herbs beyond rosemary (dill, for example), and meats. Yep, dolmades are flexible and dandy.
A comment on plating and other miscellany? Our chef loved plating -- and apparently teaches a class on plating at the NYWCC. He told us a bit about making infused oils (toast some paprika; add canola oil; let it cool and sit for a bit; drain through a coffee filter; and similarly for basil and other oils) and lardons. (Ok, lardons is high falutin' for bacon.) And, he claimed to be the person who knows how to cook mushrooms -- heat the saute pan first to a very high temperature, then add mushrooms. Most crucially, he said: home cooks are missing patience. And so, I plated carefully -- using parsley for a green border and some red pepper skin to make a sort of twirly confetti in one corner. Happy Holidays.
What else was made that night? Tortellini toothpicks turned out to be wonderful but simple; tortellini, sun dried tomatoes, basil leaves, and toothpicks rendered beautiful. Blini with sour cream and chives. Not so easy it turns out to get those tiny pancakes right. (Yes, you can still buy them in little bags at Wegmans if you are having a caviar evening.) Corn cakes with mango salsa. (Rumor has it the team that made these added honey). Empanadas which turned out to be beautiful little half moons of dough and meat. I look forward to making them all. I certainly tried them all that night that I Made Dolmades!
Wine and Chocolate Pairing: This class took placein the educational theater.It cost $20 and was definitely worth it for a fun and informative hour on a cold Sunday. (Ok, especially whensomeoneelsepays forit and goes with you!) If you are very knowledgeable about wine (or chocolate), this class might be below your dignity, but not for me. The pairings are not set up so that they all work -- which means you learn about your own palate, pairings that workand don't, and possibilities. Here's how the class worked: generous samples of 4 wines (in our class's case Wolffer Reserve Chardonnay The Hamptons 2004, priced at $17.99; Pellegrini Cabernet Franc 2003 N. Fork of Long Island, priced at $17.99; Goose Watch Diamond NV Finger Lakes priced at $8.99; and Johnson Estate Cream Sherry NV Lake Erie priced at $18.99) are lined up in front of you -- and a small dish with 3 triangles of chocolate (one white, one mily, and one dark chocolate). First, we discussed wine regions in NY State, tasting guidelines and then we tasted the wines. After that, we moved to tasting the chocolates. And finally, we tasted them together.
A few things we learned: the New York State appellations are Lake Erie, Niagara Escarpment, Finger Lakes (with particular appellations also for Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake), the Hudson River, and Long Island (with particular appellations for the North Fork and The Hamptons). The youngest appellation in NY State is the Niagara Escarpment (which I know better in the Ontario province of Canada and you may too through wines from Niagara on the Lake). The Finger Lakes appellation is the largest with over 100 vineyards. The Hudson River Region has one of the oldest wineries, originating in 1832; the Brotherhood Winery made it through Prohibition because they (surprise surprise) made sacramental wine. In addition to history and appellations, we discussed six S's of wine tasting (hurrah alliteration) which turn out to be sight, swirl, smell, sip, swallow or spit, and savor. While discussing this I learned that whites get darker with age while reds may fade some. The focus on smell was a bit tough for me; turns out my schnozzer (how do you spell that?) is not all that skilled and I am really lacking in confidence in labeling what I smell. The terminology though is probably familiar -- each of the following being broken down into many others -- fruity, vegetal, floral, spicy, woody, earthy, caramelized, and nutty. Yes, I recognized the words (and their many possibilities) from descriptions of wines. And yes, I could tell the wines smelled very different from one another. Yet, could I label those smells? Not really. On the other hand, I do know how to tell whether I am likely to like a wine by how others use such words. . .
Tasting these wines along with chocolate was a real eye opener. Some of the wines tasted much more sour or much more dry alongside chocolates of all sorts while others made one or more of the chocolates taste awful (chalky even). All in all, I learned that some wines which I truly did not like on their own improved with chocolate -- and some wines made even white chocolate, which I usually do not like all that much, taste swell. Yes, chocolate and wine are very fine. . .
My assessment of the class itself? Overall: the "teacher" might have been more knowledgeable, I suspect. But I had a very nice afternoon and took away a more informed sense of the vast variety of NY State wines.
What else? What happens in this class is that the chefs set out a sign and mis en place for various recipes at stations around the room. Wherever you sit, that's what you make. (Thank goodness I figured this out quickly, because the instructor did not tell us this, and I sat where I wanted to learn about a particular thing. Those who did not get clued in -- or who came late -- had fewer options and less control over what they learned.) What did I make? Palmiers! And what are palmiers? Puff pastry rolls filled with various things --and shaped a bit like pretzels. Tasty little devils which basically involve coating puff pastry with something (the class called for sun dried tomato pesto and we also made basil pesto and added some jalapeno) and then rolling them up -- each side gets rolled up in a cigar-like fashion to meet in the middle. Cool for 20 minutes in the refrigerator, coat with a mix of egg yolk and water, cut into half inch slices, and bake for 10 minutes (or so) in a 400 degree oven. Be sure to grease the baking sheet. One thing I did learn by trial and error: the recipe from the class called for a 6 by 14 inch piece of puff pastry; when we used a smaller piece the palmiers turned out much better. They were crisper and just the right size for a two-bite hors d'oeuvre.
What else did folks make? herbed pita chips (surprisingly good), parmesan and pine nut biscotti with green olives, curry spiced yogurt, cilantro and mango chutney -- and much much more. Perhaps the most interesting thing, though, was hte chrimp mousse the instructor made at the start of the class; raw shrimp, cream, and other items went right into a food processor and emerged to be spread on various things being cooked. But what was truly interesting was what she did with the left overs: wrapped it tightly in plastic wrapped and boiled for a bit. Turned the mousse into a slice-able softish shrimp sausage or pate. Hmmm. Wish I had written down the mouse recipe; but. . . .
Overall: A great social occasion and I learned a bit. If they really want to teach classes rather than get a group together to make hors d'oeuvres, they would should cut down the list of what is made -- make fewer more complicated recipes as a group so the chefs could work with a higher percentage of the participants. But hey, I got to try puff pastry and it actually worked. And I made up a recipe which also worked ( a bit of jalapeno added to some pesto made sans recipe). And now I know what a palmier is.
Next time, who knows! When's next time? The second hors doeuvre class is coming up as I write this! | 2019-04-22T05:00:22Z | https://cookingwithideas.typepad.com/cooking_with_ideas/back_to_the_classroom/ | Porn | Home | 0.118898 |
wordpress | SSD Chair – The perfect chair for everyday life!
Overview: The SSD chair is SIMPLE, STRONG and DURABLE. Easy-to-assemble, long-lasting and made with sustainable high-quality materials. | 2019-04-25T08:10:28Z | https://conceptcus.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/ssd-chair-the-perfect-chair-for-everyday-life/ | Porn | Reference | 0.330904 |
google | 2001-05-04 Assigned to EPM DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS CORPORATION reassignment EPM DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: KAUFMAN, ARTHUR H.
An electronic activity monitor for monitoring the performance of an activity such as an exercise comprises an activity detector responsive to motion associated with the performance of the activity to output a corresponding signal, a processor for receiving the signal and determining a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored, a memory for storing sound data corresponding to a plurality of values associated with the monitored activity, the sound data preferably comprising data representing a voice representation of the values, and a speech generator for generating a naturally-sounding human voice or reproducing a pre-stored version of an actual human voice or other audible indicia in accordance with the sound data stored in the memory. The speech generator is controlled by the processor in response to the activity detector to provide a verbal representation of the user's performance of the activity. Motivational speech may also be generated to encourage correct and continued performance of the activity.
The present application is based on prior U.S. application Ser. No. 08/869,749, filed on Jun. 5, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,939, which is hereby incorporated by reference, and priority thereto for common subject matter is hereby claimed.
The present invention relates generally to an exercise monitoring device and, more particularly, to an audible exercise monitoring device designed for stand-alone use, to be worn on a part of a user's body, for incorporation into an exercise mat or other surface, or as part of a piece of exercise equipment, such as one of the type having a displaceable member adapted to undergo reciprocal (i.e., cyclical) movement in response to a repetitive curling, bending, pushing, pulling, or pressing force of a user. More specifically, the present invention relates to an audible electronic exercise monitoring, coaching and training device which monitors the user's exercise performance and issues audible and optionally visual and textual indicia, such as a verbal count of the rate, distance, number of exercise repetitions, and the like, performed by the user and/or issues audible alarms, verbal instructions, verbal motivation and encouragement and other verbal or textual information and instruction.
A wide variety of different types of equipment is available for exercising different individual muscles and muscle groups of the human body. Free weights, such as dumbbells and barbells, have long been widely used in both commercial and residential settings. Low cost universal-type weight training equipment has more recently become accessible to consumers for residential use, as have sophisticated cardiovascular exercise devices such as electromechanical stationary bicycles, motorized treadmills, hydraulic stair climbers, rowing machines, aerobic riders, aerobic flyers, and the like.
Many different types of cardiovascular exercise equipment are provided with electronic monitoring devices for tracking the user's performance and providing the user with a practical performance target or goal. Even inexpensive stationary bicycles, stair climbers and treadmills are often provided with built-in timers, pulsemeters, calorie counters, speedometers, odometers and/or pedometers. Such devices are relatively inexpensive to produce and are simple in design, relying upon the use of a single programmed microprocessor or application-specific integrated circuit to calculate various information using performance data acquired from standard sensors. For instance, the number of calories expended during an exercise may be determined using a simple calculation based upon the exercise resistance, exercise rate and elapsed time. Pulse rate monitoring devices are also of simple design and low cost. By monitoring the user's pulse, the number of calories expended and the like, the user may be provided with a practical indication of his or her exercise progress and performance.
The use of electronic monitoring instruments in conventional cardiovascular training equipment has had some beneficial fitness results, including a moderate increase in the level of user interest and an increased level of exercise performance. However, the most beneficial results of any exercise are obtained when an individual is given a specific, easily understandable performance target, is informed of his or her exercise progress, and is given verbal motivation, coaching, encouragement and instruction. When this is done, the individual is generally more interested in performing an exercise routine correctly and completely, and the results of the exercise routine are markedly improved.
While pulsemeters, calorie counters, odometers, pedometers, and the like, serve to increase user interest, they do not serve to directly motivate or coach the individual to complete an exercise program. Nor do such devices ensure that an individual is performing an exercise routine correctly or completely, or that the user is following an appropriate dietary regimen. Moreover, electronic monitoring devices of the type described above are of limited utility in connection with non-cardiovascular, strength training exercise equipment such as free weights and isometric exercisers. While such devices are useful for monitoring cardiovascular exercises, information such as pulse rate, elapsed time and calories expended is only of secondary importance in non-cardiovascular exercises, which are generally designed to increase muscle strength. While the primary goal of cardiovascular exercise is to maintain a target elevated pulse rate for a prolonged period of time, the goal of most non-cardiovascular exercises is the targeting of individual muscles for a relatively short period of time to increase strength. Such exercises do not generally result in prolonged heart rate elevation. Thus, even highly sophisticated non-cardiovascular training equipment is not generally provided with electronic monitoring equipment similar to that described above. Users of such equipment are therefore required to perform non-cardiovascular exercises in the presence of fitness professionals or are otherwise relegated to perform boring, strenuous exercise routines alone and to monitor their own performance. Additionally, exercise routines are often accompanied by dietary regimens requiring the intake of certain foods and food supplements at specific times and in specific quantities. Nor do conventional exercise monitoring devices provide the user with any dietary information to assist the user in maintaining a specific exercise and dietary program.
Although they are perhaps the most important part of any weight training exercise routine, the last one or two repetitions are also the most difficult to perform. At the point an individual reaches the last few repetitions of an exercise, the individual is under a great deal of physical stress. Despite the importance of the last few repetitions of such an exercise, these last repetitions are extremely difficult. In the absence of a spotter or personal trainer for providing verbal motivation and encouragement, many individuals have found it difficult to properly complete these last few repetitions of a weight training exercise due to the lack of self-motivation brought on by intense physical stress. Although prior art monitoring devices exist for monitoring the results of an exercise, no previously-available electronic exercise monitoring device has addressed the need for providing an individual with the motivation and encouragement needed to complete an exercise routine.
Another good example of this is situps and pushups. While pushups are a highly beneficial exercise, there are no electronic monitoring or coaching devices available for use in conjunction with pushups. Similarly, situps are generally the most straightforward and useful exercise motion for addressing the entire abdominal structure of the human body. However, they are also strenuous to perform, boring and very difficult to monitor. There are no electronic monitoring devices available for stand-alone use in conjunction with situp or pushup type exercises, and the individual performing such exercises must either rely upon another person to monitor their performance or must somehow keep track of his or her own performance.
Even though several types of exercise devices have been developed for use in exercising the abdominal muscles by augmenting the natural resistive force of gravity against the human body, such devices are not generally provided with any type of electronic monitoring equipment similar to that provided in cardiovascular fitness equipment.
Although there are a virtually unlimited number of different types of mechanical devices designed to replace exercises such as pushups and situps, most of these devices, despite their high cost, provide little or no added benefit over fundamental exercises such as situps and pushups. Nor do any of these devices provide a means for monitoring, motivating, or coaching the user to correctly and completely perform an exercise.
For instance, various types of rotary movement abdominal exercise devices are available that target the abdominal muscles. Some such devices are designed to facilitate curling motion while a person is originally lying in a supine position. Other such devices are designed to facilitate such motion while a person is in a seated position. Such equipment, however, is entirely mechanical in nature and is not generally provided with electronic monitoring devices. In one known abdominal exercise device, for example, the user performs abdominal curling exercises against a resistance provided by the machine. The user is seated in an upright position and performs the curling and uncurling motion against a resistance provided by a bar mounted in a cantilevered manner on an arm which pivots about a fixed point forwardly and rearwardly with the user's curling and uncurling exercise motion. In another well known variation of this device, the bar is adapted to undergo variable resistance throughout the curling and uncurling motion to maximize exercise benefits. There are no electronic monitoring devices provided in this type of equipment for monitoring a user's performance and offering verbal motivation and encouragement. As a result, the individual is required to monitor his or her own performance or to rely upon another person, such as a personal trainer.
Another abdominal exerciser which has recently become popular is designed to support the user's head and neck while performing situp type exercises from a supine position. The device is formed of a tubular frame defining a pair of laterally spaced support rails, a pair of laterally spaced rocker portions, a pair of laterally spaced arm rest portions and a connecting portion for connecting the support rails together. Cushions are disposed on the arm rest portions to receive the elbows of the user when in a lying position. The head and neck of the user are supported on a padded support extending across the connecting portion. In one variation of this device, the rocker portions are curved on a circular arc to match the curvature of the spine when performing the situp type exercises. In another variation of this device, the rocker portions are merely pivot points designed to facilitate rocking motion on a circular arc, also to match the curvature of the spine when performing the situp type exercises. While this basic device is available in various other configurations, with or without arcuate portions, each such variation is designed to support the user's neck and head when performing situps or crunches. For example, in another variation, the connecting portion is disposed proximate the arm rest portions of the device, rather than the head rest portion.
Much like weight training equipment and other types of non-cardiovascular fitness equipment, none of the foregoing types of exercise equipment is provided with an electronic device for providing useful instructions to the user, monitoring the user's performance level, increasing the user's interest level by providing verbal motivation and encouragement, informing the user of an attainable goal, or providing the user with a suitable exercise and dietary regimen. Additionally, there are very few available monitoring devices for use with exercises that are performed without the use of any type of exercise device. As noted above, conventional exercise monitoring devices also do not provide the verbal motivation and encouragement of a personal trainer. Situps, for example, may be performed on an exercise mat or floor without the use of a curling device. Pushups may also be performed on any flat surface. When an exercise is performed without the use of any type of exercise equipment, no electronic monitoring device is generally used. A need therefore exists for an electronic exercise monitor for stand-alone use, to be worn on a part of the user's body, or for at least partial incorporation into a piece of exercise equipment or an exercise surface to monitor an exercise and provide the user with verbal motivation, and optionally to provide the user with useful instructions and information concerning his or her exercise performance, to warn the user of an incorrect or potentially dangerous condition, to provide the user with verbal encouragement and motivation to perform an exercise correctly and completely, and to assist the user in maintaining a desirable diet and exercise routine.
Although there have been previous attempts to provide such instructional information and encouragement through the use of pre-recorded audio and video exercise programs, no such program is capable of monitoring the performance of the user while performing the exercise described and shown on the pre-recorded program.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for use in monitoring the progress and performance of an activity (such as an exercise routine) and for providing a verbal indication of the user's performance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for use in monitoring a user's progress and performance of an exercise routine and for ensuring that the exercise routine is correctly performed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for use in monitoring the progress and performance of an exercise routine, for ensuring that the exercise routine is correctly performed, and for issuing a verbal indication of the monitored exercise progress and performance and verbal encouragement and alarms.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for monitoring at least one function associated with the performance of an exercise and issuing a verbal representation thereof at selected times.
Still another object of the present invention to provide exercise monitoring devices of the aforementioned types for stand-alone use with or without exercise equipment, or for incorporation into a piece of exercise equipment or an exercise surface for monitoring exercises performed by a user.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide exercise monitoring devices of the aforementioned types designed for stand-alone use with or without exercise equipment, or to coact with or for incorporation into various different types of exercise equipment for monitoring an exercise performed by a user while using the exercise equipment, or to provide a verbal indication of one or more monitored exercise functions such as exercise rate, distance, time, pulse rate, calories expended, breathing pattern, heart or muscle strength, and the like.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device capable of monitoring the number of exercise repetitions performed while using a known exercise device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an exercise monitor capable of detecting when exercises are being performed improperly by the user and issuing an audible alarm.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an exercise monitor for monitoring, coaching and training a user, and issuing audible indicia such as a verbal representation of at least one monitored function, audible alarms, instructions, motivation and encouragement, and/or information relating to exercise and diet programs.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an electronic exercise monitor which verbally informs the user of his or her exercise progress and/or which offers the user verbal encouragement and motivation.
These and other objects are achieved by the present invention, which provides an electronic exercise monitoring device for monitoring the performance of an exercise by a user. In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, the exercise monitoring device comprises one or more exercise detection means each for detecting a function associated with the performance of an exercise and outputting a corresponding signal which varies in accordance with the detected function, processing means for receiving the signal output from each of the one or more exercise detection means and determining therefor a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored, a memory for storing sound data associated with the at least one detected exercise function, and a speech generator for generating a voice in accordance with the sound data, the speech generator being controlled by the processing means in response to the one or more exercise detection means to output a verbal representation associated with the one or more detected exercise functions and/or a variable determined in accordance therewith at selected times as a user progressively performs the exercise.
As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the sound data may comprise data for producing a verbal representation of the monitored exercise function, a variable determined by the processing means in accordance therewith, or a motivational phrase selected based upon the monitored exercise function and indicating a relative exercise performance level.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the exercise monitoring device comprises one or more exercise detection means each for detecting a function associated with the performance of an exercise and outputting a corresponding signal which varies in accordance with the detected exercise function, processing means for receiving the signal output from each of the one or more exercise detection means and determining therefor a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored, a memory for storing first sound data associated with the at least one detected exercise function and second sound data representative of a plurality of verbal phrases for encouraging the user to continue to perform the exercise or alarming the user of an incorrect or potentially dangerous condition, and a speech generator for generating a voice in accordance with first and second sound data stored in the memory, the speech generator being controlled by the processing means in response to each exercise detector to output a verbal representation of the one or more detected exercise functions at selected times as a user progressively performs the exercise in accordance with the first sound data, and to output a selected verbal phrase selected from the second sound data based on the value of a detected exercise function so as to inform the user of his or her exercise progress, to motivate the user to continue to perform the exercise correctly, or to provide a verbal alarm to the user.
The detected exercise functions may comprise any functions associated with the performance of an exercise, which may depend upon the particular exercise that is being performed. Such functions include, but are not limited to, time, distance, number of laps, number of repetitions, speed, pulse rate, height, calories expended, applied force, breathing pattern, accuracy, and the like. Any other function associated with the performance of an exercise or other activity may also serve as a detected function in accordance with the present invention, the particular type of function not being limited to those described herein.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the electronic exercise monitor is adapted for stand-alone use to permit use of the device in conjunction with exercises that are performed with or without the use of a piece of exercise equipment, such as walking, jogging, running, situps, pullups, weight training, bicycling, swimming, and the like. The exercise monitor utilizes an exercise motion detector of conventional structure for detecting an exercise function associated with a particular exercise, such as distance traveled (in the case of walking, jogging, running, cycling or treadmill exercises), or, for instance, for detecting a specific motion (in the case of situps, pushups, swimming, and the like), for detecting the repetitive motion associated with the performance of the exercise and for outputting a corresponding signal which varies in accordance with the performance of the exercise. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, the exercise monitor may be provided with a detector for measuring a physiological condition of the user as a function associated with the performance of an exercise, such as a pulse meter for monitoring the user's pulse or a stress gauge for monitoring movements of the user's chest in accordance with the user's breathing pattern. In accordance with this aspect of the present invention, the exercise monitor may be fully or partially housed in a case or package that may be carried or worn by the user on the wrist, ankle, waist, glove, neck, hat, and the like. Alternatively, the exercise monitor may be built into a piece of exercise equipment or an exercise surface such as an exercise mat. The exercise detection means comprise conventionally available detectors having a structure depending upon the particular exercise function being monitored. Examples are noted above. In the case of exercise repetitions, the detector may simply comprise a switch or other input means capable of detecting successive repetitions of a repetitive exercise, such as presses, extensions, pushups or situps, that are being performed by the user.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the exercise monitor is incorporated at least partially into a piece of exercise equipment and the exercise motion detector comprises means for detecting movement of a displaceable member of the exercise equipment, such as a cantilevered arm, a flywheel, a cable, a barbell, or the like, the detecting means being responsive to the repeated motion of the displaceable member, for example, to output a signal which varies in accordance with the cyclical movement (such as rotary, linear, reciprocal, and the like) of the displaceable member in response to performance of an exercise by the user on the exercise equipment. Any means capable of detecting the cyclical performance of an exercise on a piece of exercise equipment may be used as the motion detector. As noted above, the exercise monitor may also be provided with an exercise detector comprising means for monitoring a physiological condition of the user, such as the user's pulse rate, oxygen intake, EEG, and the like, so as to monitor the user's physiological condition as a function of the exercise being performed. In all cases, the physiological condition may be the sole monitored function, or one of a plurality of monitored functions.
In each of the above-described aspects of the present invention, the processing means receives an output signal of the exercise detector, which varies in accordance with the monitored exercise function, and determines therefor at selected times a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored. The memory stores sound data representative of a voice for all or some values of the monitored function(s) so as to provide a verbal representation of a monitored function and/or sound data representative of motivational phrases. In order to generate a voice representation of the one or more monitored functions or a selected motivational phrase, the exercise monitor is further provided with a speech generator for generating a naturally-sounding human voice (or reproducing a pre-stored version of an actual human voice) or other audible indicia in accordance with the sound data stored in the memory. The speech generator is controlled by the processing means in response to the exercise monitor so as to provide, at selected times, a verbal indication of the performance of the exercise by the user and/or verbal motivation. Thus, for example, if the monitored function comprises exercise repetitions, the exercise monitor may progressively count some or all of the sequential exercise repetitions performed by the user and may encourage the user to complete the exercise routine.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention adapted to count successive repetitions of an exercise performed on a piece of exercise equipment, a switch (such as a contact switch or a mercury switch) is provided for monitoring the reciprocal movement of a displaceable member of a piece of exercise equipment. Preferably, the switch has contacts disposed such that each full cycle of motion of the displaceable member causes a single, temporary closure of the switch contacts so as to permit the generation of a single pulse for each repetition and to permit detection of successive exercise repetitions which are to be verbally counted by the exercise monitor. A voice count is generated for all or only for selected ones of the exercise repetitions. In another embodiment, rotary motion of a displaceable member of a bicycle or treadmill is monitored and linear distance and/or speed is calculated based on the rotary motion. A corresponding verbal representation of the distance and/or speed is generated at selected times. In accordance with the present invention, the electronic exercise monitor provides a verbal representation of one or more monitored exercise functions rather than merely a visual indication, such that the user need not be mindful of a visual display and may instead concentrate on the exercise. However, a visual display may also be provided to supplement the verbal representation and, optionally, to provide a continuous indication of the one or more monitored functions in cases where a verbal count is not issued continuously.
In the case of repetitive exercises in which sets of successive exercise repetitions are being monitored, the electronic exercise monitor is preferably provided with input means to enable the user to set a desired exercise rate, a desired number of repetitions per set, and a desired enunciation pattern. To accomplish this, a first selector may be provided for selecting an exercise rate at which human voice patterns will be produced, the selected rate being variable between a predetermined minimum value and a predetermined maximum value (i.e., a tempo), a second selector may be provided for selecting a desired number of repetitions per set (hereinafter referred to as a “repetition number”), and a third selector may be provided for selecting an enunciation pattern at which the human voice will be produced, such as by issuing a verbal count every one repetition, or issuing a verbal count every five repetitions, or issuing a verbal count every ten repetitions, etc. When the first through third selectors are included, the processing means is provided with means responsive to the first through third selectors for setting the rate at which the human voice is read out from the memory, for detecting when to reset the count value so as to count successive sets of an exercise, and for controlling the enunciation pattern in the desired manner.
Alternatively, or additionally, the electronic exercise monitor may be provided with a switch for causing the issuance of a verbal representation of a monitored function or other verbal indicia when activated, thereby providing the user with means for generating a voice representation at random, user selectable times.
In addition or instead of providing a verbal representation of one or more monitored functions associated with the performance of an exercise or activity, such as the time, rate, distance, number of laps, number of repetitions, pulse rate, calories expended, applied force, breathing pattern, accuracy, and the like, the exercise monitor may also be programmed to issue verbal phrases and/or to provide other information to the user depending upon the value of a monitored function (or elapsed time), such as verbal encouragement to motivate the user to continue to perform the exercise correctly, instructions to guide the user in a desired manner, alarms to warn the user of an incorrect or potentially dangerous condition, and information concerning a desirable exercise and dietary routine. In order to accomplish this, the processing means may be programmed to control the speech generator to issue, at selected times, a selected phrase stored in the memory. For instance, the device may be programmed to issue instructions at the commencement of an exercise, or to monitor the user's performance of the exercise and inform the user as to the correct manner to perform the exercise. Audible and preferably verbal alarms may be generated when the user is incorrectly performing the exercise such as by performing it too fast or slow, or, for instance, when a detected physiological condition indicates a potentially dangerous condition. Thus, for instance, if the user's pulse rate is too low for too long, the device may advise the user that he or she has not attained a desired target pulse range. If the user's pulse is exceedingly high or has remained at an elevated rate for too long, an audible alarm may be generated to warn the user of a potential danger, or to simply instruct the user to slow down. Verbal encouragement may be issued at selected times during the performance of an exercise, and is most preferably issued based on the value of a particular monitored function. Thus, for example, a selected motivational phrase can be issued when the user is nearing the end of an exercise, or when the user has slowed down, so as to encourage the user to complete the exercise correctly. As will be appreciated, these types of verbal phrases, which are selected by the processing means dependent upon the value of a monitored function, can be the sole verbal output of the electronic exercise monitor. The user can also be instructed as to the appropriate type and duration of warm up and cool down activities.
In the case of a monitored function which results in the issuance of a verbal representation on a relatively frequent basis, such as number of repetitions, verbal encouragement may be generated between or in the place of one or more successive verbal count numbers and/or sets. Thus, for example, where the verbal encouragement comprises only one or two short words, it may be issued between successive repetition counts. On the other hand, when the available time between successive counts is short and where the verbal encouragement comprises a relatively long phrase, it may be generated to replace one or more verbal repetition counts while the processing means keeps track of the proper count. When the exercise rate is relatively slow, or between successive sets, however, even a long phrase may be inserted between successive repetition counts. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the processing means is programmed to determine the appropriate insertion point for verbal phrases of any given duration.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the switch of the exercise monitor is mounted to a displaceable member of an abdominal exercise device which is constructed of a tubular frame comprising a pair of laterally spaced support rails for resting on a support surface (e.g., a floor), a pair of laterally spaced rocker portions each of which extends forwardly from a respective support rail and a pair of laterally spaced arm rest portions, each of which extends rearwardly from a respective rocker portion to receive an elbow and arm of a person disposed between the support rails in a supine position. The switch is mounted to a portion of the tubular frame which comes into and out of contact with the support surface (the floor) once each exercise repetition. An upstanding arch-shaped portion is connected to and between the support rails to define a space to receive the head of a person disposed between the support rails. A support means is also secured to and across the arch-shaped portion of the skeletal frame for supporting the neck and head of a person disposed between the support rails. During an exercise program, the user repeatedly curls his or her upper body in a forward and rearward rocking motion, which allows the user to strengthen the abdominal muscles.
When in use, the person rests his or her elbows or arms on the arm rest portions while lying down and then repeatedly curls his or her body forwardly and rearwardly while rocking on the rocker portions. The switch of the exercise monitor is mounted to the tubular frame in such a manner that closure of the switch contact members occurs once for each exercise repetition, when the portion of the tubular frame on which the switch is mounted comes into contact with the support surface. When the switch contact members come into contact, a current flows through the switch and is detected by the processing means. When the portion of the tubular frame on which the switch is mounted comes out of contact with the support surface, the switch contact members are opened, and no current flows through the switch. By monitoring the flow of current through the switch, the processing means is capable of monitoring the exercise progress of the user. The user conducts isometric contractions by applying a force through his or her arms to the exercise device which, in turn, causes lifting of the head, neck and upper body of the person when contracting the abdominal muscles. The exercise monitor provides a verbal count of the repeated cyclical forward and rearward curling motions and optionally issues synchronized verbal encouragement to the user in the manner described above and set forth in greater detail hereinafter in connection with the detailed description of the attached drawings.
FIG. 10 is an external view of a watch case worn on a user's wrist, in which an exercise monitor of the present invention may be incorporated and including a pulse detector worn on the user's finger.
As described above, by using appropriate detecting means well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the exercise monitor of the present invention can be configured to monitor one or more functions associated with the performance of an exercise, such as time, rate, distance, repetitions, height, pulse rate, and the like, and provide, at selected times, a verbal representation of a monitored exercise function and/or a variable determined in accordance therewith or a motivational prompt selected based upon a monitored function. Verbal instructions, alarms and other indicia can be generated and textual or visual information relating to exercise performance, exercise instructions and dietary information can also be produced. The device can also provide a combination of one or more of these features so that countless variations are possible, some of which will be described below and all of which are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exercise monitoring apparatus 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, in which the device is configured for monitoring a repetitive exercise by counting the repetitions thereof in sets and providing a verbal representation thereof along with verbal encouragement. As will be appreciated by those ordinarily skilled in the art, the monitor may easily be configured to provide only one of these verbal outputs. Thus, it is within the scope of the invention to provide a device which produces verbal motivation based upon user performance of an activity. While the first embodiment described below monitors exercise repetitions, any other function associated with the performance of an activity may additionally or alternatively be monitored and verbal representations and motivational phrases can be generated in a manner similar to that described below.
As shown, the system has four main control functions, exercise rate, number of repetitions per set, enunciation pattern, and volume, which produce a synthesized speech pattern that is effective to provide the user with a continuous count of his or her exercise repetitions to assist the user in maintaining a desired exercise rate, and to ensure that the user is correctly performing the exercise. As will be understood, one or all of these control functions may be eliminated, if desired, to simplify the design. One or more of these control functions will also be unnecessary in the case of other monitored functions, most notably those which do not depend upon exercise repetitions (such as jogging).
The selection of the desired exercise rate, in repetitions per minute, is made by setting a repetition rate selector 12. Although the repetition rate of the exercise is a function entirely dependent upon the user's performance of successive exercises, the setting of a target repetition rate by use of repetition rate selector 12 provides various advantages, as will be described below. The repetition rate selector 12 preferably comprises a multi-position switch having poles selectively tied, for example, to +5V so as to provide an input level compatible with that of a processing means, such as a microprocessor 14 or a microcontroller. Alternatively, the repetition rate selector 12 may be in the form of a potentiometer control and designed to produce a pulse train at a frequency corresponding to the desired repetition rate. In the latter case, the repetition rate selector 12 would preferably comprise a monostable multivibrator and a potentiometer control for varying the RC time constant of the monostable multivibrator to produce pulses of a time duration which is a function of the RC time constant at a frequency corresponding to the desired repetition rate.
The range of exercise rates provided by a multi-position switch, or the range of frequency of pulses produced by the repetition rate selector 12 is variable between minimum and maximum rates which are set as realistic rates depending upon the particular exercise. Thus, for example, when the exercise is situps, the device would be set to provide a minimum repetition rate of, for example, 20 repetitions per minute and a maximum repetition rate of 200 repetitions per minute. On the other hand, when the exercise is one such as bench presses, a maximum repetition rate of 100 repetitions per minute and a minimum repetition of 5 repetitions per minute may be more realistic. As wide or narrow a range of repetitions as desired can be provided. The output signal of the repetition rate selector 12 is input to the programmed microprocessor 14. The function of the repetition rate selector 12 in the operation of the microprocessor 14 is described below in conjunction with the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 2.
The desired number of repetitions per set (hereinafter referred to as the “repetition number”) and the desired enunciation pattern are selected by setting a repetition number control switch 15 and an enunciation pattern control switch 16, each of which may be a multi-position switch with each pole position corresponding to a desired repetition number and enunciation pattern, respectively. In the preferred embodiment of the invention presently being described, there are four distinct repetition numbers and four distinct enunciation patterns which may be chosen by positioning of repetition number control switch 15 and enunciation pattern control switch 16. As described in greater detail below, the selected repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern are used by the programmed microprocessor 14 to determine the location of a particular address table stored in the microprocessor memory for addressing particular voice data in a speech synthesizer 18. A plurality of separate sets of voice data are stored in the memory of the speech synthesizer 18 and the particular set of voice data chosen for synthesis is determined in accordance with the values of the repetition rate, the repetition number and the enunciation pattern. Thus, the actual human voice pattern which is enunciated for each repetition is set in accordance with the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern.
The reason a plurality of different sets of voice data address tables are preferably used is to enable the device to generate a naturally-sounding voice which varies depending upon the rate at which the exercise repetitions must be counted. The particular address table selected also depends upon the selected enunciation pattern, as described below, since the particular address locations of the table determine which repetitions will be verbally counted, which repetitions will not be verbally counted, which repetitions will be indicated by non-verbal audible indicia such as by a beep, and which count values or other words will be emphasized. The particular address table that is selected also depends upon the selected repetition number since the particular address locations also determine how high the count will proceed until the address is reset (i.e., when the end of a set is reached).
This is illustrated as follows. If the enunciation pattern control switch 16 is set such that a verbal count is not generated for each successive repetition and is only generated for every other repetition, the enunciation of each verbal count number can be slower than if a verbal count is required for each successive exercise repetition. This is particularly noticeable in the case of a relatively high repetition rate. If a verbal count of each repetition were selected for a high repetition rate, the generated speech would generally need to issued at a fast pitch. If a verbal count were generated for only certain repetitions for an exercise performed at the same rate, the generated speech could be much slower. The use of different address tables for different settings of the repetition rate selector 12, repetition number control switch 15 and enunciation pattern control switch 16 enables the device to produce a naturally sounding voice for all available settings of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern.
For instance, where only 20 repetitions per minute are to be performed, one verbal count may be generated every three seconds if the enunciation pattern is set so as to count each repetition. Where 100 repetitions per minute are to be performed, a separate verbal count may be required in intervals of less than one second depending, again, upon the selected enunciation pattern. In the latter case, successive verbal counts will be issued on a much faster rate than in the former case. Therefore, the individual verbal counts should be enunciated faster than in the former case. In the former case, or in the case where the enunciation pattern control switch 16 is set to issue a verbal count only for each five or ten repetitions, for example, a greater amount of time is permitted for each verbal count. In such a case, the individual verbal counts can be enunciated slower. Thus, depending upon the selected repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern, different address tables are used to ensure the generation of a naturally-sounding human voice. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, it is not necessary to provide different address tables corresponding to distinct blocks of sound data. Instead, individual voice count numbers can be generated in the same manner regardless of the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern. The microprocessor can also be programmed to determine an appropriate enunciation pattern depending upon the selected values of the repetition rate and the repetition number. Alternatively, rather than providing means for inputting an exercise rate, the microprocessor 18 can be programmed to monitor the actual exercise rate and determine whether an individual voice count number can be generated depending upon the speed at which the user is performing successive exercise repetitions. As can readily appreciated, there are a countless number of ways the exercise monitor 10 of the present invention can be configured to generate a voice to count successive repetitions of an exercise being performed by a user, and the present invention is not limited to the counting of successive repetitions in any particular manner. As described above, the enunciation of individual count numbers can be constant, or can vary depending on pre-selected values such as repetition rate, repetition number and/or enunciation pattern, or, based on the actual rate at which a user is performing an exercise.
The foregoing considerations are illustrated in the context of repetition counting, but apply equally to the verbal representation of any other monitored function of an activity (such as an exercise), including but not limited to time, distance, speed, number of laps, pulse rate, calories expended, breathing pattern, and the like. In the case of functions other than repetitions, however, it may be preferable for the exercise monitor to issue verbal representations of the monitored function on a less frequent basis. For example, it is not generally desirable to provide a verbal count of every step a user takes while walking, jogging or running. Nor is it generally desirable for the user's pulse to be announced once every heartbeat or every few seconds. For certain monitored functions, it may be preferable to issue a verbal count only at selected intervals, (e.g., each 10 seconds, each 30 seconds, each ¼ mile, etc.). Alternatively or additionally, the exercise monitor can be provided with a switch connected to the microprocessor 18 which is effective to generate a verbal count only when selected by the user. It is also possible to provide a verbal count only when an alarm and/or other verbal information is to be issued, such as when a user's pulse rises too high or the user has completed an exercise routine and the user's performance is given thereafter. The means for providing such functions are readily available in the art.
Accordingly, while the embodiment presently being described includes means for monitoring successive exercise repetitions and utilizes a set of selectors for entering pre-determined values for exercise rate, repetitions per set (repetition number) and enunciation pattern, one or more of these selectors may not be necessary or desired. Where the monitored function is pulse rate, for example, the concept of repetitions per set is not relevant. If a verbal representation is generated only at pre-programmed time intervals, the repetition rate and enunciation pattern would be irrelevant. As noted above, one or more of the selectors can also be eliminated to simplify the design.
As described below, the embodiment presently being described counts the actual exercise repetitions being performed by a user, and does not automatically generate successive counts, such as a metronome (although such can be done in an alternative embodiment). The pre-selected repetition rate set using the repetition rate selector 12 is used by the programmed microprocessor 14 for determining a particular table of addresses so that the enunciation of individual count numbers can be varied depending on the speed at which the exercise is being performed. Thus, while the value specified by the repetition rate selector 12 affects the speed at which individual count numbers are generated, it does not affect the rate at which the exercise monitor 10 generates successive verbal count numbers. However, the pre-set repetition rate value is also useful as an indicator to the device as to when a successive repetition should be expected. Thus, if the user has set the repetition rate selector 12 for 20 repetitions per minute, the microprocessor 14 can be programmed in a known manner to determine whether the user is performing repetitions at this rate. This can be accomplished by causing the microprocessor to poll the input port at which the mechanical switch 22 is connected to monitor the interval between successive repetitions, and to keep a record of successive intervals, if desired. The exercise monitor 10 can generate verbal indica in the manner described below to inform the user that he or she is performing the exercise too fast or too slow depending upon the pre-selected repetition rate value. In that event, the microprocessor 14 can use sound data stored in a memory to generate a verbal phrase to instruct the user to slow down or speed up, for instance, depending upon the monitored results. Sound data can be stored for use in generating one or even a plurality of different phrases to be issued at selected times in a desired manner, such as sequentially, depending upon the user's performance of the exercise.
As used herein, the term “enunciation pattern” refers to the desired voice pattern of the repetition counter. For instance, the user may desire for the device to issue a verbal count for each individual exercise repetition performed by the user. In cases where there are a large number of repetitions per set, for instance, the user may prefer the verbal count to be spaced out such as by being generated only for each two, three, five or ten repetitions. Alternatively, the user may desire a verbal count only upon the completion of each exercise set (the number of repetitions of each set being set using the repetition number control switch 16). In addition, the user may prefer that an audible sound other than a human voice (e.g., a beep) is generated for each one or more exercise repetitions. The combination of a human voice and other audible sound is also possible, such as by generating a human voice for every five or ten repetitions and generating a beep or other non-verbal sounds for each repetition therebetween. In accordance with the present invention, the verbal count numbers can be generated and combined with other audible sounds in countless ways, all of which are well within the capabilities of one of ordinary skill in the art and within the scope of the present invention.
As will also be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, there are a virtually unlimited number of possible enunciation patterns which may be made available. The preferred enunciation patterns discussed above are illustrative only and many different patterns may be used. For example, the enunciation pattern control switch 16 may be provided with settings indicating selectable enunciation patterns of “1”, “½”, “¼”, or “SET”. In this case, the setting “1” means that a verbal count is generated for each exercise repetition. The setting “½” means that a verbal count is generated only halfway through each set. Similarly, the setting “¼” means that a verbal count is generated at each of the four quarters of a given exercise set. When the enunciation pattern control switch 16 is placed in the “SET” position, a verbal count is generated only when each successive set of exercise repetitions is completed by the user.
As will be further appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the use of a different address table for each combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern is exemplary only, and a different address table may not actually be needed for each different combination in order to ensure the generation of a naturally-sounding human voice. For example, the address tables can instead be dependent only upon the different combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern. This would be preferable when a potentiometer control and a monostable multivibrator are used as the repetition rate selector. As discussed later, in that case, the time base of the verbal count numbers can be changed depending upon the frequency of pulses output by the multivibrator so that the numbers are actually pronounced faster or slower depending upon the repetition rate set by the user. On the other hand, the microprocessor 14 can be programmed to monitor for the end of a set and the address tables can be selected based solely upon the enunciation pattern set by the user. This method of operation would be utilized, for example, when the exercise monitor does not include a selector for the setting of one or more of the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern. Even when one or more of the selectors is provided, the address tables, can be eliminated entirely by appropriate programming of the microprocessor 14 to detect, on a step-by-step basis, whether a verbal count number or other audible indicia must be generated for a given repetition, in accordance with a set or pre-programmed enunciation pattern, and by similarly determining whether the end of a set has been reached. The microprocessor program may also include instructions to determine when a verbal count number is to be generated based upon the number of repetitions per set selected by the repetition number control switch 15. These and other similar variations are considered trivial modifications achievable by the user with simple microprocessor programming techniques, and are within the scope of the present invention.
The microprocessor or microcontroller 14 preferably has an internal memory in the form of an electrically eraseable programmable read-only memory (“EEPROM”) that is used to store an internal program and program data including the above-described plurality of address tables for identifying the addresses of the sequence of words stored within the dictionary of words of the speech synthesizer 18 which are to be used to synthesize the human voice pattern for each of the possible combinations of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern selected by the repetition rate selector 12, repetition number control switch 15 and enunciation pattern control switch 16. The internal memory may further comprise a random access memory (“RAM”), if necessary, for the temporary storage of data. As noted above, a record of successive intervals between successive repetitions may be used to determine whether the user is performing the exercise too fast or too slow depending upon the value of the repetition rate set using the repetition rate selector 12. This information could be temporarily stored in RAM. Also, in the case where a verbal representation of a variable such as pulse rate, calories expended, or the like, is determined based upon a calculation, the RAM may be used for temporary storage of data used for performing the calculation. The information content which is stored in the table in the EEPROM is described below.
The speech synthesizer 18 may be a group of integrated circuits which are commercially available and which have either a standard dictionary of words or a special purpose dictionary of words, and may also be a specially ordered or application-specific integrated circuit designed to synthesize speech patterns from a specially programmed dictionary. Alternatively, the speech synthesizer 18 may be a single chip device such as one of the ISD2500 Series single-chip voice record/playback devices produced by Information Storage Devices, Inc. These commercially available single chip voice record/playback devices include an on-board memory for storage of speech samples, and have 60 sec., 75 sec. and 90 sec. durations. The speech samples are stored in the chip using programming equipment made available by the manufacturer. As will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art, the speech synthesizer 18 utilized in the invention may also be of the type that is provided with an internal microcontroller in a single chip construction, such chips being available from Texas Instruments, for example, and briefly described in connection with the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-9. As will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the speech synthesizer may comprise any means capable of generating or playing back pre-recorded or pre-stored speech.
In the FIG. 1 embodiment, the programmed microprocessor 14 controls the synthesis of each word from the speech synthesizer 18 by producing an output on an address bus 20 of the starting address of the word in the dictionary of the speech synthesizer 18. As will be appreciated, the particular manner in which the microprocessor controls the speech generator depends upon the manner of operation of the speech generator, since different commercially-available speech generators are controlled in different ways.
An exercise motion detector 22, such as a mechanical switch, provides an output signal which is input to the microprocessor 14. In order for the exercise monitor to perform as a repetition counter, it is necessary for the microprocessor 14 to detect the successive exercise repetitions being performed by the user. In the embodiment presently being described, this is accomplished by the use of the exercise motion detector 22. Upon each successive repetition, the exercise motion detector 22 outputs a signal to the microprocessor 14 to indicate the occurrence of an exercise repetition. The synthesis of each count by the speech synthesizer 18 is initiated only after the microprocessor detects a signal from the exercise motion detector 22. The microprocessor 14 may also be programmed using a known clock routine to monitor the time duration between successively performed repetitions, and, by comparing this duration with the repetition rate selected on repetition rate selector 12, determine whether the user is proceeding too slowly or quickly. In such cases, alarm indicia such as a beep or verbal warning may be issued. For example, if the exercise is being performed too slowly, the device could be programmed to synthesize the words “pick up the pace”, “you're slowing down,” “you're getting weaker,” “faster”, and the like. For monitored functions other than the counting of successive repetitions, similar commands can be issued, the particular commands used being applicable to the exercises with which the monitor is used. Thus, for instance, when heart rate is being monitored, the user can be motivated to maintain his or her pulse within a target pulse range for a predetermined period of time. Similarly, a dangerous condition can be avoided by alerting the user if his or her pulse rate reaches too high or low a level.
The microprocessor 14 also functions to produce a high level pulse on line 24 to boost the gain on an audio amplifier 26 to provide higher volume emphasis on selected words within the synthesized speech patterns produced by the speech synthesizer 18. The synthesized speech pattern is produced on output line 28 which is coupled to the audio amplifier 26. The audio amplifier 26 has a first amplification stage 30 which has an output coupled to a potentiometric volume control 32. A wiper 40 of the potentiometric volume control 32 is coupled to the input of a second amplification stage 42. The gain of the second amplification stage may be varied by the selective coupling of a feedback loop 46 to the input by the closure of a switch 48 upon the application of a high level signal on line 24 to a control terminal 50.
Certain enunciated repetition patterns may be comprised of a sequence of enunciated numbers which are individually separated by a selected motivational word or motivational words such as “squeeze”, “exhale”, “concentrate”, “almost done”, “looking good”, “toning up”, and the like. These phrases are, of course, merely illustrative and other phrases which may be longer or shorter may be deemed preferable depending upon the particular exercise. In the case of walking or running exercises, the phrase “squeeze” would have little or no value, whereas other phrases having particular meaning in the context of running would be more meaningful. Such motivational voice patterns may be enunciated at the frequency of the selected repetition rate. Rather than being inserted between enunciated count numbers in a sequential repetition count, these or other motivational voice patterns may be used to replace one or more count numbers, in which case the repetition numbers which are not verbally enunciated will have to be accounted for by the microprocessor 14 such that when the verbal count is again commenced, it begins with the correct number. Similar means are required in the case of a monitored function other than repetitions. Whether or not such a voice pattern may be inserted between enunciated count numbers in the sequential count or need to be added to replace one or more numbers depends on the length of the particular motivational word or phrase, the selected (and actual) repetition rate, and the enunciation pattern set by the user via the repetition rate selector 12 and enunciation pattern control switch 16. For example, while it may be possible to insert the word “exhale” between consecutively counted repetitions, it may not be possible to insert the phrase “no pain, no gain”. As will readily be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, since the time duration between successively enunciated repetitions decreases as the rate of the exercise increases, the microprocessor program will need to determine the amount of time needed for insertion of such motivational words. In the case of monitored exercises functions such as distance, time, speed, pulse rate, and the like, a verbal representation of the monitored function is not usually generated as often as in the case of monitoring exercise repetitions, and it is not ordinarily necessary to generate verbal prompts in place of successive voice counts.
The EEPROM of the microprocessor 14 includes a table of groups of addresses in which the number of groups are equal to the number of combinations of repetition rates, repetition numbers and enunciation patterns which may be selected. Each group of addresses comprises a number of addresses within the dictionary of the speech synthesizer 18 which are equal to the total number of enunciated words and sounds within a set of the selected combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern. One or more additional dummy addresses may be included to complete each table to indicate, for example, that the end of a set has been reached or that either no speech is to be generated for a given count value or that an audible sound other than human speech is to be generated. An example of a table of addresses stored in the microprocessor 14 EEPROM for a set having 50 repetitions in which each individual repetition is to be verbally counted is set forth below in Table I.
As noted above, it may also be desired to emphasize certain words or portions of words. For example, it is often desirable to emphasize the last one or last few count numbers in each set of repetitions when repetitions are being counted. In the case of other monitored exercise functions, the attainment of a target range or other meaningful value may be emphasized. It may also be desired to emphasize some or all alarms and/or motivational words or phrases that may consist of or be inserted in the enunciation pattern. For this purpose, the microprocessor 14 may detect, on the basis of a program, count numbers or words which are to receive audio emphasis. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, this may be accomplished in various manners, all of which are within the scope of the present invention. The encoding of such words may be accomplished by the programming of a logical “one” in an unused bit position within the address bit positions which are available for communicating between the programmed microprocessor 14 and the speech synthesizer 18. For example, the detection of a logical “one” in the unused bit position of an address in the table of addresses may be used in the microprocessor program to signal when to produce one of the series of pulses on line 24 which boosts the gain of the audio amplifier 26. The end of a set within each exercise routine is signalled by the detection of the count number which appears at the end of each set. In Table I, which shows addresses for a set of 50 repetitions, the 23rd address position performs this result. The enunciation of a word within a set of any selected combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern is initiated by the microprocessor control program by sequentially outputting the addresses of each word from the microprocessor 14 on the address bus 20 to the speech synthesizer 18 followed by the outputting of a pulse on line 22 which starts the actual synthesis of the word.
As described above, different address tables are used to access different stored sound data according to various combinations of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern. While the use of separately stored data accessed by different address tables dependent upon the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern is one method of achieving a variation in speech patterns, the invention is not so limited. Rather than using different address tables depending upon the repetition rate, the exercise monitor may be designed to count repetitions at a single time base, eliminating selected count values, if necessary, due to timing considerations. Instead, the device may be configured in order to speed up the enunciation of each word within a set by using a repetition rate selector having the potentiometric control and multivibrator as described above. In that case, the speed at which the speech is generated may be increased as the repetition rate is increased for a given combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern. The speed at which the speech is generated can also be varied automatically by the microprocessor based upon detection by the microprocessor of the actual exercise rate.
The simplest form of speech synthesis which is used with the exercise monitor of the present invention has a constant time base for enunciating each particular word independent of the repetition rate. This method is preferable in the case of monitored exercise functions which do not require a frequent voice output, such as pulse rate, distance, speed, and the like. This form of speech synthesis has a disadvantage in the case of monitored functions that necessitate a frequent voice output in that fast repetition rates do not sound natural because the duration of each enunciated word sounds too long for a relatively fast repetition rate. When only one time base duration is used, the upper limit of the rate is reached when the successive words to be enunciated within a set do not have sufficient separation to prevent the words from running together. To produce a voice synthesis which sounds natural for widely varying repetition rates, the use of a multivibrator and potentiometric control for the repetition rate selector permits the use of different time bases for enunciating words which vary with the chosen repetition rate. Instead of one table of addresses for each set, such as that set forth in Table I above, two or more tables of addresses may be used, the first table being assigned to the enunciation of words at the slowest range of exercise rates, and each additional table being used to decrease the enunciation time of the words within the set. The number of tables to be used in the voice synthesis of each set of a given combination of a repetition number and enunciation pattern is purely a matter of choice. For example, when multiple address tables are used, it may be desirable for a given word within a set to be enunciated with half the time base for the highest range of exercise rates rather than the time base used to enunciate the same word at the slowest range of exercise rates.
As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the exercise monitor can be simplified in design by eliminating the ability for the user to define the enunciation rate and by determining the enunciation rate based solely upon a user-defined repetition rate or a repetition rate calculated by the microprocessor based upon the actual exercise repetition rate. As will be further appreciated, the enunciation pattern becomes less problematic when exercise functions other than repetition rate are monitored since a voice count need not generally be provided on such a frequent basis so that the problem of overlapping voice counts is not encountered. Additionally, where a voice count is not generated (or is generated only at selected intervals), or when only motivational phrases are generated, this problem is not encountered.
FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a computer program used by the microprocessor 14 for controlling the voice synthesis of any one of a plurality of combinations of repetition numbers and enunciation patterns at a selected exercise repetition rate. The program starts at point 100 where the power is turned on and all circuits are reset. The program next proceeds to step 102 where the microprocessor, input/output lines, program variables and constants are initialized. The program next proceeds to step 104 where the selected combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern is read from the repetition number control switch 15 and enunciation pattern control switch 16 which have been positioned by the user. The preferred choices of repetition number and enunciation pattern have been described above, but it should be clearly understood that the invention is applicable to any desired group of repetition number and enunciation patterns at any selected exercise repetition rate. The program next proceeds to step 106 where the selected combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern is used to identify the group of addresses within the EEPROM of the microprocessor 14 which are to be used to synthesize the voice pattern of an exercise set, based upon the selected repetition rate and in accordance with the selected combination of the repetition number and enunciation pattern.
The table of addresses discussed above would be used in the case where 50 repetitions per set is selected and a verbal count for each repetition is to be enunciated. It should be clearly understood that a group of addresses for each combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern is read from the EEPROM of the microprocessor 14 for synthesizing that particular combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern. Moreover, when the time base is dependent upon the exercise rate, each selected combination of repetition number and enunciation pattern will have as many tables associated with it as there are time bases.
The program next proceeds to step 108 where the monostable multivibrator within the exercise rate selector 12 is triggered and the time interval during which the monostable multivibrator is in its high state is begun. When a repetition signal is detected due to closure of the mechanical switch 22, the program then proceeds to step 110 where the number of the word within a set which is next to be synthesized is obtained by reading the count of an internal counter within the microprocessor 14. In the case of each combination of exercise rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern, the first word is assigned the count of one and each successive word within a set is assigned a successive number until the set is completed. The count functions as the mechanism for choosing the address within the group of addresses used for synthesizing the next word within a set of the selected combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern to be synthesized by the voice synthesizer 18. The program next proceeds to decision point 112 where a determination is made if the audio gain of the audio amplifier 26 is to be increased for the enunciation of that word by closing the switch 48. As described above, the determination is made by checking an unused address bit to determine if it has been set high. If the next word to be synthesized is not to be emphasized, the program proceeds to block 116 where the switch 48 is reset to insure that the audio gain of the audio amplifier 26 will not emphasize the next word. The program then proceeds to step 118 where the address of the next word to be voice synthesized, which has been obtained from the address table, is output on the bus 20 of the microprocessor 14 to the voice synthesizer 18. The program then proceeds to step 120 where an output signal is placed on line 20 of the microprocessor for the purpose of instructing the speech synthesizer 18 to start the voice synthesis of the desired word.
Subsequently, the program proceeds to decision point 122 where the program loops until one word at the chosen rate is completed. The completion of one word is signalled by the repetition rate selector 12 changing from its high state to a low state. As described above, the duration of the high state of the monostable multivibrator within the repetition rate selector 12 is a function of the RC time constant which is determined by the adjustment of the repetition rate selector 12. The program next proceeds to decision point 124 where a determination is made as to whether the end of a set has been reached. In the case of the repetition number illustrated in Table I above, the 23rd address position within the table signals that the end of a set has been reached. If the answer is yes, the program proceeds to step 126 where the internal counter, which is read at step 110 to obtain the address of the next word to be voice synthesized within the group of addresses for the selected combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern is set to 1 to prepare the voice synthesizer 18 to repeat the enunciation of the set. The program proceeds to decision point 128 where a determination is made as to whether a stop command has been issued.
A stop command may be signalled by turning off the power or the pushing of a stop command control (not shown) which may be provided on the front panel of the housing which contains the exercise monitor. If a stop command has been generated, the program enters a stop phase at step 130. If the answer is no, the program proceeds to decision point 132 where a determination is made as to whether the same repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern are still being specified by the repetition rate selector 12, repetition number control switch 15 and enunciation pattern control switch 16. If there is no change in the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern, the program loops back to step 108 where a new time interval is begun by the exercise rate selection control 112. If there has been a change in the repetition number and enunciation control 16, the program loops to step 106 to obtain the table of a newly selected repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern. If the end of a set has not been detected at decision point 124, the program proceeds to decision point 132 which functions in the manner described above. The program will continue to produce synthesized speech at the selected exercise rate until manually stopped by turning off the power or pushing a stop button. Any adjustment in the selected exercise rate is immediately picked up at block 108 where the time interval is changed by the adjustment of the repetition rate selector 12.
It should be clearly understood that the combination of repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern which have been specifically set forth above is only representative of the potential combinations of repetition rates, repetition numbers and enunciation patterns which may be voice synthesized by the invention. Countless other values and combinations may be used. The invention may also be used for maintaining a desired exercise rate in exercise classes.
The invention has been described in terms of its preferred embodiment. However, it should be clearly understood that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the electronic exercise monitor of the present invention. In this embodiment, the microprocessor and speech synthesizer, which are shown separately in FIG. 1, are combined in a single microcontroller/speech synthesizer chip 100. While the device is provided with a repetition number control DIP switch 102, no selectors are provided for the setting of a repetition rate or enunciation pattern. These values are instead determined by a microprocessor control program stored in the single chip microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100. In addition, amplification of the synthesized speech or audible indicia is performed internally, and is also set by the microprocessor program in a known manner.
More detailed embodiments are shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 4-9. In each of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-9, a single chip microcontroller/speech generator 100 produced by Texas Instruments (model 50C11) is used. This device permits the simple storage of speech and is programmable by means well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to provide the functions described herein. In FIGS. 4-9, elements having the same structure are denoted by the same reference numeral.
FIG. 4 is a detailed schematic diagram of an electronic exercise monitor and repetition counter having a structure similar to that shown in block diagram form in FIG. 3. Circuit block 160 is an audio amplifier circuit and audio speaker for producing synthesized speech corresponding to a repetition count and motivational phrases. Circuit block 162 is an oscillator circuit for driving the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100. Circuit block 164 is a reset switch circuit which initializes the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100. Circuit block 166 is a switch circuit for controlling the exercise monitor. Resistors R3, R4 and R5 are pullup resistors which apply a positive voltage to the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100. Pressing a respective switch “pulls” the voltage applied to a respective input terminal of the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 to +5V. The microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 detects this and responds accordingly based upon the microprocessor control program stored in the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100.
As illustrated in circuit block 166 of FIG. 4, the device is provided with a plurality of input “keys”, including a “program” key, an “enter” key, a “lever” key, an “up” key, a “down” key and a “mute” key. With the exception of “lever”, these keys comprise pushbuttons on the external housing of the device. The “lever” key denotes a mechanical switch similar to the switch discussed in connection with the first embodiment of FIG. 1. As described above, the mechanical switch undergoes a temporary closure for each successive exercise repetition, which is detected by the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 to monitor the user's successive exercise repetitions.
The microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 is programmed by known means to respond to the “program” key by entering a program mode. In the program mode, the number of repetitions (repetition number) can be changed from a default value by operation of the “up” and “down” keys and subsequent pressing of the “enter” key to select a desired value. Thus, for instance, a default value associated with repetition number can be pre-stored in the microcontroller/speech generator. By depressing the “program” key, followed by the “up” or “down” key, the default repetition number can be changed. Preferably, the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 issues a verbal representation of the default value when the “program” key is pressed, and issues a verbal representation each time the repetition number is changed by pressing the “up” or “down” key.
The microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 is programmed to respond to the “lever” key to increment the repetition count and to issue a verbal representation of the repetition count for selected values which are pre-programmed in the microcontroller/speech synthesizer. As described above, by issuing a verbal representation of a repetition count at selected time intervals, the problem of one count number overlapping a subsequent count number is avoided.
In addition, a “mute” key is provided to toggle on/off the verbal output. The microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 is programmed to respond to the “mute” key to deactivate the verbal output of repetition numbers or motivational phrases. Thus, for example, the device can be operated so as to provide either a verbal count of selected repetitions by itself, or a count plus motivational phrases which are issued depending upon the monitored count value, or both a verbal count and motivational phrases.
Circuit block 166 comprises four series-connected batteries for providing power to the unit. Circuit block 170 is a circuit for illuminating a light emitting diode when the power is turned on via reset switch S1. In order to light the diode, the microcontroller/speech generator 100 pulls its connected pin to zero volts. Current flows from Vcc through resistor R6 and diode D5, causing it to emit light.
As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the device illustrated in FIG. 4 is somewhat simplified in design as compared to that illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2(a) and 2(b) since there are no separate means for entering an enunciation pattern and a repetition rate. Accordingly, the device is programmed to issue a verbal output having a single time base and to generate a voice count for only selected repetitions. There is thus no need in this embodiment for providing separate address tables and separate sets of data for each time base. In an alternative embodiment, additional keys can be added and the microprocessor control program can be modified to respond to those keys to provide variable selection means for the enunciation pattern and repetition rate. In such case, a series of LEDs or an audible output can be added to the device to simulate a desired pace based upon the selected repetition rate.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exercise monitor similar to that shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, however, the “lever” key is replaced by four independent input channels CH1-CH4 so that four different functions can be monitored by the use of a mechanical switch of the type described above. Circuit block 172 denotes a switch circuit having key inputs for selecting each of channels CH1-CH4, along with the “program”, “enter”, “up” and “down” keys described above. Light emitting diodes D1-D4 are provided to indicate a selected channel. In this embodiment, four different exercise detectors may be connected to the device through each of channels CH1-CH4. A channel is selected by depressing one of the channel keys CH1-CH4. The microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 is programmed to monitor the selected channel and to provide verbal output in the manner described above. Thus, when a respective channel is selected and a mechanical switch is connected thereto, the device can function as a repetition counter as described above.
As will be readily appreciated, the microprocessor control program can be modified to recognize various types of inputs. Thus, channels CH1-CH4 need not be limited to receiving inputs from a mechanical switch. Other types of exercise detectors may be used to monitor other types of functions. Thus, a conventional pulse monitor output can be used as one input channel, while other input channels can be connected to detectors for monitoring distance, speed, and the like, by modifying the microprocessor control program to detect the outputs of such conventional detectors and to calculate a corresponding value (e.g., pulse rate, calories expended, distance, speed, and the like) using conventional programming techniques well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment connectable to a treadmill or exercise bicycle for monitoring the distance travelled, the user's pulse rate and calories expended. As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, distance is easily calculated based upon an input signal output from a conventional detection means connectable to stationary bicycle or treadmill. Calories expended during an exercise routine may also be easily calculated using well known equations relying upon pulse and demographic data (such as age and weight).
Circuit block 174 is a switch circuit having input keys including “distance”, “time”, “start”, “age”, “level”, “weight”, “belt”, “up”, “down”, “pulse” and “mute”. The “mute”, “up” and “down” keys function in the manner described above. To operate the device, the user selects a distance he or she wishes to walk (or run) on a treadmill or pedal on a stationary bicycle by operating the “distance” key. The “up” and “down” keys are used to vary the distance from a default value in the manner described above. Thus, for instance, when the “distance” key is operated, the microprocessor control program causes the device to produce a verbal representation of a default distance value, which is varied by use of the “up” and “down” keys, with each deviation resulting in a verbal representation. Similarly, a desired exercise “time” can be selected by operating the “time” key along with the “up” and “down” keys. The user enters his or her age and weight using the “age” and “weight” keys. The “belt” key is an input attached to a conventional wheel encoder which engages the belt of a treadmill and outputs a signal indicating movement of the belt. This signal is detected by the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 and the distance travelled is determined therefrom. The user presses the “start” key to start the monitoring process.
Circuit block 176 is a pulse monitor comprising a combination of a photoemitter D10 and a photodetector Q7 for detecting the user's pulse. Circuit block 178 is an operational amplifier circuit that amplifies the signal output by the photodetector Q7 using a unity gain buffer and a voltage amplifier with a gain of 100. The original input voltage controls discharge time of the capacitor C8. The output of the capacitor C8 is input to the microcontroller/speech generator 100 and the microprocessor control program measures the discharge time of the capacitor C8 and, based upon this time, calculates the user's pulse. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, there are many different methods used to calculate pulse and any known method is considered within the scope of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment having four channels CH1-CH4, as in the FIG. 5 embodiment, and also provided with an electronic pulse monitor and calorie counter. The microcontroller/speech generator 100 is programmed to count calories expended during an exercise depending upon the user's age and weight. A determination of calories expended may also be based upon exercise factors relevant to the monitored exercise.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment in which the electronic exercise monitor functions as a pedometer. An output of a conventional pedometer device is connected to the “pedo” key of circuit block 180. The microprocessor control program detects this signal and calculates a distance based upon the value of the user's “stride” as selected by the user. This embodiment also includes a pulse sensor and optional calorie as described above. Circuit block 182 is an audio amplifier circuit which differs from circuit block 160 of FIGS. 4-7 in that headphones having a pair of speakers LS1 and LS2 replace the single speaker of the previous embodiments. In addition, a relay 184 controlled by the microcontroller/speech synthesizer 100 is used to switch between the audio output of the exercise monitor and a radio module 186 under control of the microprocessor control program. Thus, for example, at pre-stored time intervals when it is determined that a verbal output is to be generated, the microcontroller/speech generator 100 issues an output signal on line PA0 to cause the relay 184 to switch the headphones from an audio output of the radio module 186 to the audio output of the exercise monitor so that the user can hear the verbal message generated by the exercise monitor, e.g., distance walked, pulse rate, calories expended, and the like, any of which can be generated at desired intervals in the manner described above. In addition, the reset switch S1 is configured to be operated by the jack of the headphones, such that the device is turned on when the headphone jack is inserted therein.
As noted above, the exercise monitor of the present invention may be used as a stand-alone device for monitoring any type of repetitive exercise activity, or may be incorporated into a piece of exercise equipment of the type having a displaceable member adapted to undergo reciprocal or repetitive movement during an exercise routine. In the former case, for instance, the mechanical switch 22 (exercise motion detector) must be placed in a position in which closure of the switch will occur once for each repetition. For example, when the exercise is situps, the switch may be of appropriate design such that when placed on the floor or on an exercise mat (or mounted within the mat), the switch contacts become temporarily closed once for each situp. The mechanical switch 22 may also be disposed on or in an exercise device such that the contacts become temporarily closed in a similar manner. For instance, if the mechanical switch 22 is disposed in a free weight or bar, the switch must be of an appropriate design so as to undergo temporary closure once each repetition. Of course, the exercise motion detector 22 need not be a mechanical switch, and may constitute any device capable of detecting a desired activity, such as those described above or others within the knowledge of those of ordinary skill in the art.
An embodiment of an electronic repetition counter according to the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), which illustrate the exercise monitor 120 of the present invention as mounted to an abdominal exerciser 122. The abdominal exerciser 122 is formed of a skeletal frame 124, for example, from a single hollow tube of aluminum or other rigid material. The skeletal frame 124 includes a pair of support rails 126, a pair of arcuate rocker portions 128, each of which extends forwardly from a respective support rail 126, a pair of arm rest portions 130, each of which extends from a respective rocker portion 128, and an arch-shaped portion 132 which is connected to and between the support rails 126.
The support rails 126 are laterally spaced from each other to rest on a support surface, such as a floor. Each support rail 126 extends between a rocker portion 128 and the arch-shaped portion 132 and, as illustrated, each support rail 126 includes a straight portion 134 which extends from a rocker portion 128, and an arcuate portion 136 extending from the straight portion 134 .
The two rocker portions 128 are parallel to each other but may also be directed inwardly towards each other at a small angle to accommodate the elbows of the person using the abdominal exerciser device 122. Each arm rest portion 130 extends from a rocker portion 128 and is bent over to form an L-shape. As illustrated, each arm rest portion 130 has a curved portion 140 extending from a rocker portion 128 and a straight free end portion 142. The curved portion 140 forms a right angle bend. In addition, the free end portion 142 has a removable cushion 144 mounted thereon to receive an elbow or arm of the person disposed between the support rails 126.
As shown, a support means 146 is secured to and across the arch-shaped portion 132 for supporting the neck and head of a person disposed between the support rails 126. The support means 146 includes a rigid U-shaped bar 148, for example, of aluminum which is pivotally mounted by suitable means 150 on the straight portions of the arch-shaped portion. In addition, the support means 146 includes a padded head rest 152 which is secured to a horizontal part of the U-shaped bar. The U-shaped bar 148 is freely pivotable relative to the arch-shaped portion so as to be moved from a position as shown in the drawings in which the bar is vertical and rests on a floor or on other support surface.
When the exercise device 122 is in a position of rest, the user may perform an exercise which involves resting one's head on the head rest while grasping the arch-shaped portion and resting one's arms and elbows on the arm rest cushions. At this time, the user may raise his/her legs into a vertical position. The legs may then be lowered while being maintained in a parallel relation.
First, the user positions himself or herself in a supine position within the skeletal frame of the exercise device while placing his or her neck and head on the head rest of the support means.
Next, the user rests his or her elbows on the arm rest portions, that is, on the cushions slidably mounted on the arm rest portions. The user is now ready to begin a curling exercise. At this time, with the user's hands gripping the upstanding arch-shaped portion, the user begins to curl his or her spine forwardly while rocking the frame forwardly on the rocker portions. After reaching a partially flexed or fully flexed position, the user returns to the supine position while rocking the skeletal frame rearwardly on the rocker portions. The curling and uncurling steps are repeated until the exercise program has been completed.
The mechanical switch 22 of the exercise monitor 120 comes into contact with the floor each time the user completes a single repetition. The switch 22 provides a pulse output signal each time a repetition is performed. The pulse is provided as an input to the microprocessor 14 shown in FIG. 1, or as an input to the combined microprocessor/speech synthesizer device 100 illustrated in FIG. 3. Accordingly, when exercise is performed using the abdominal exerciser, the exercise monitor 120 generates a human voice to count the repetitions being performed by the user in accordance with the repetition rate, repetition number and enunciation pattern set by the user. Motivational words are preferably interlaced within the verbal count by the microprocessor program to provide the user with encouragement and motivation which has not heretofore been available.
In a like manner, the exercise monitor may be incorporated into many different types of exercise equipment, such as a barbell, dumbbell, rowing machine, or universal-type equipment such as a chest press machine, a rigid arm lat pull-down machine, a shoulder press machine, a pectoral fly machine, a seated hamstring machine, a leg extension machine, an inner/outer thigh combo machine, or an abdominal crunch machine. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, depending upon the exercise for which the monitor is used or the type of equipment in which it is incorporated, the motivational speech patterns will be different, in each case being relevant to the exercise being performed.
FIG. 10 is an illustration of the exercise monitor of the present invention as incorporated into a watch case 200. As noted above, the exercise motion detector need not be a mechanical switch, but can be a device capable of detecting repetitious motion in a given direction, such as an accelerometer, GPS (global positioning satellite) detector, or the like. Thus, by providing the exercise monitor in a watch case, the device is capable of detecting exercises that involve arm movement, such as walking or running, situps, and the like. Similarly, the device can be provided in a case capable of being worn on a user's waist, neck, ankle, and the like.
Additionally, the device may be programmed to issue not only motivational speech patterns, but also promotional speech patterns to promote one or more commercial products of a given producer or supplier. In that case, such speech patterns are preferably generated as the individual commences or completes a particular set of exercises.
As noted above, one of the functions that may be monitored by the exercise monitor of the present invention is the user's breathing pattern. Thus, for instance, while the user is performing a particular exercise the device can monitor the user's breathing pattern by monitoring the expansion and contraction of the user's chest. Alternatively, the device can monitor the air flow from the user's nose and/or mouth to determine the user's breathing pattern. The device can be programmed in the above-described manner to assist the user in controlling his or her breathing pattern based upon information a such as repetition rate and the like. By comparing the user's breathing pattern with pre-stored or calculated information indicating the correct breathing pattern, the device can issue verbal alarms or instructions to assist the user.
The invention has been described in terms of various preferred embodiments and variations thereof. However, it should be clearly understood that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
1. An exercise monitor for monitoring the repetitive performance of an exercise, comprising: a switch mountable during use of the exercise monitor to a reciprocally displaceable member of an exercise equipment, the switch being responsive to the reciprocal motion of the displaceable member to output a signal for each of a plurality of sequential exercise repetitions performed by the user on the exercise equipment; processing means for receiving the signals and determining for each a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored; a memory for storing sound data for each of the plurality of sequential exercise repetitions, the sound data including data representing a voice count number for each repetition of an exercise; and a speech generator for generating a voice in accordance with the sound data stored in the memory, the speech generator being controlled by the processing means in response to the switch to progressively count sequential exercise repetitions performed by the user.
2. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; wherein the switch has a contact member disposed such that each full cycle of motion of the displaceable member causes a single, temporary closure of the switch contacts so as to permit the generation of a pulse signal and to permit detection of successive exercise repetitions which are to be verbally counted by the exercise monitor.
3. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; wherein the speech generator includes means for generating a voice count for selected ones of the exercise repetitions.
4. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; further comprising display means for providing a visual display of the number of exercise repetitions being performed.
5. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; further comprising a selector for selecting an exercise rate at which voice patterns will be produced, the selected rate being variable between a predetermined minimum value and a predetermined maximum value.
6. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; further comprising a selector for selecting a desired number of repetitions per set.
7. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; further comprising a selector for selecting an enunciation pattern at which the voice will be produced.
8. An exercise monitor according to claim 1; further comprising means for issuing verbal encouragement to motivate the user to continue to perform the exercise correctly; wherein the processing means includes means for issuing the verbal encouragement between or in the place of one or more successive verbal count numbers depending upon the length of the verbal encouragement words, the repetition rate and the enunciation pattern.
ES2216801T3 (en) 2004-11-01 Procedure and portable apparatus for physical training, to optimize physical training. | 2019-04-20T18:01:24Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US6251048B1/en | Porn | Reference | 0.12083 |
dreamhost | I registered a site (canidental.com) with a third party registration company (domainsatcost.ca) and am trying to host the site on DreamHost. I’ve updated the domain information at domainsatcost.ca to reflect third party hosting and updated the nameservers to ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com, and ns3.dreamhost.com.
Unfortunately, I can no longer see the website in my broswer, a whois lookup states the domain is “not available” and the nameservers have yet to update on whois (they still show as dns.domainsatcost.ca).
Did I miss a step related to setting DreamHost as the host? Or does the update of nameservers normally take some time? And is the webpage is normally unavailable during this time?
Thanks for your help. I’m a newbie when it comes to hosting, so any advice would be welcome.
looks like you are just waiting on DNS propagation.
bunch of DNS servers are already point correctly, but a few are not yet. DNS changes take anywhere from a few minutes (best case) to an avg of 8-24 hours normally, but might take 72 hours worldwide. | 2019-04-20T20:29:22Z | https://discussion.dreamhost.com/t/host-site-registered-with-3rd-party-on-dreamhost/60019 | Porn | Reference | 0.146665 |
wordpress | I was feeling down tonight, still suffering from this and grey weather, so on the way back from a 10pm Trader Joe’s run, i had a cigarette in front of my building, holding a bag of strawberries that i hoped would cheer me up.
I didn’t expect the scenery above: the sky was a dark indigo with a tinge of green, and the grey clouds wrapped the nearly full moon—a perfectly white moon, just the way i like it. As the smoke from my mouth tangled with the air, fading into the clouds, the street lamps soaked the white-bloomed tree in amber, and i was happy for a moment.
Maybe a full moon will be waiting for me tomorrow night.
What do you do when he who has hurt you irreparably wants to get back in touch?
What do you do when you can’t forgive him but don’t want to hurt him either?
What do you do when you know that forgiving him would mean hurting your loved ones?
There’s something about New York. It’s amazing and depressing at the same time, and i’m starting to feel more of the depressing part these days. Despite having grown up in urban and suburban areas, i feel like the city is becoming too much for me. All i can think about these days is retreating to nature. I used to love taking aimless walks here, so i went out this weekend to take advantage of the warmer weather, but i didn’t enjoy the walks this time. It was an opportunity to think to myself, but the roads, the cars, the crowds just got to be a bit much.
I know, there’s a prelude and finale, and October has five(!) songs. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. | 2019-04-26T11:48:33Z | https://ontheloo.wordpress.com/category/depression/ | Porn | News | 0.448827 |
typepad | If you were trying to spend last Friday evening catching up on your binge watching (Have you seen the throwback-fabulous ‘Stranger Things’ yet?), tweeting, and doing a bit of online shopping, you may have noticed a slowdown due to the two massive cyberattacks that hit Netflix, Amazon, PayPal, Twitter, and others.
Unfortunately, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and other cybercrimes are growing in frequency, size, and sophistication. Cybersecurity is a major concern for credit unions, who are already increasing their information technology (IT) spending and hiring more personnel to address the heightened risk and vigilance of cyber attackers. NAFCU’s October Economic and CU Monitor survey shows that the percentage of respondents’ overall operating budget devoted to IT/cybersecurity has nearly doubled over the past five years alone. Meanwhile, NCUA has made cybersecurity a supervisory priority since 2013, and the agency recently reminded credit unions that “technological innovation, the expansion of social networking and growing interconnectivity are fueling fundamental change in cybersecurity procedures and processes,” and with that change, credit unions are potentially impacted with “higher mitigation costs and lower consumer confidence, as well as greater financial and legal risks.” Also, yesterday, NCUA warned that credit unions face a dangerous threat to the safety and security of their data and information in the form of ransomware.
To address these growing cybersecurity threats, in June 2015, NCUA and the other members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released a voluntary Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT) to enhance financial institutions’ cybersecurity oversight and management capabilities, and to identify any gaps in an institution’s risk-management practices. According to NAFCU's survey, many credit unions are already using this tool, as well as NAFCU’s user-friendly FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool Workbook, to enhance their cybersecurity preparedness.
“While there are no expected maturity levels for an institution, Inherent Risk levels should be balanced with maturity. If management determines that the institution’s maturity levels are not appropriate in relation to the Inherent Risk Profile, management should consider reducing inherent risk or developing a strategy to improve their levels of maturity.
In other cybersecurity news, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC last week jointly released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) inviting public comment on potential enhanced cybersecurity risk-management and resilience standards that would apply to large ($50 billion or more in assets) and interconnected entities under the supervision of the three federal banking regulators. The standards would also apply to third parties providing services to these entities, but would not apply to community banks and credit unions. The ANPR addresses five categories of cyber standards: cyber risk governance; cyber risk management; internal dependency management; external dependency management; and incident response, cyber resilience, and situational awareness.
Under the proposal being considered, the enhanced standards would be tiered, with more vigorous standards for systems that provide key functionality to the financial sector. For these sector-critical systems, the Fed, FDIC, and OCC are considering a rule to require banks to mitigate the risk of a disruption or failure due to a cyber event. Comments on the ANPR are due January 17, 2017.
While credit unions are not covered by the ANPR, in light of Friday’s DDoS attack and NCUA’s continued supervisory focus on cybersecurity, we can expect that credit unions may face increasing pressures to enhance their own standards to mitigate cyber threats.
NAFCU’s compliance team continues to be onsite in beautiful New Orleans for NAFCU's concurrent Regulatory Compliance and BSA Seminars! We appreciate your continued patience as the team works to answer your compliance questions between giving presentations.
Yesterday we blogged about the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) recently issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding SARs, and FAQs regarding CTRs. Today we'd like to take a closer look at the CTR FAQs. Specifically, a couple of the FAQs which address issues that we have received questions about concerning the filing of the new CTR forms.
"12. What is the timeframe for filing the FinCEN CTR? I have seen both 15 and 25 days referenced.
FinCEN regulations have consistently maintained a regulatory requirement that CTRs be filed within 15 days. The 25-day period was implemented, in connection with receipt of magnetic media files (ended December 2008), to account for physically transporting (shipping) the magnetic media to the processing center in Detroit, Michigan. FinCEN understands that this business practice had continued with respect to batch e-filing, particularly considering previous public guidance referencing the 25-day period.
In light of the comments received and acknowledging that some financial institutions may have needed to change their business processes to become compliant with the rules, FinCEN determined that it would temporarily maintain the 25-day compliance period referenced in its earlier specifications until March 31, 2013, for those filers that needed to update their systems in order to be in compliance with the established regulatory requirements. This temporary extension to the filing requirements was to allow sufficient time for filers to adjust submission schedules to meet established regulatory requirements.
As of April 1, 2013, all FinCEN CTRs must be filed within 15 calendar days of the reported transaction(s)."
15. I am filing the FinCEN CTR on an entity; however, the selections in Item 2a-2c all reference a person. What selection would I choose when filing on an entity?
Under the BSA regulations, the definition of “person” found at 31 CFR 1010.100(mm) is “an individual, a corporation, a partnership, a trust or estate, a joint stock company, an association, a syndicate, joint venture, or other unincorporated organization or group, an Indian Tribe (as that term is defined in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act), and all entities recognizable as legal personalities.” Since an entity cannot physically conduct a transaction, the only selection that would apply is 2c “Person on whose behalf transaction was conducted.” In addition, if filing on an entity, a filer must select the checkbox (Item 4b) for “If entity” in Part I.
When to select Option 2a: In addition to when only Option 2a applies, filers should select Option 2a “Person conducting transaction on own behalf” if 1) Options 2a, 2b, and 2c apply; 2) Options 2a and 2b apply; or 3) Options 2a and 2c apply.
When to select Option 2b: In addition to when only Option 2b applies, filers should select Option 2b “Person conducting transaction for another” if both Options 2b and 2c apply and Option 2a does not apply.
When to select Option 2c: Filers should select Option 2c “Person on whose behalf transaction was conducted” only on the person for whom the transaction is conducted. This person cannot have other roles within the transaction or the options would apply.
When to select Option 2d: In addition to when only Option 2d applies, filers should select “Courier Service (private)” if multiple options that include 2d “Courier service (private)” apply."
As JiJi mentioned yesterday, these FAQ documents are must read materials if you are responsible for BSA compliance at your credit union.
Last Friday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released two sets of frequently asked questions(FAQs): FAQs Regarding SARSs and FAQs Regarding CTRs. The purpose of these questions is to assist financial institutions with the use of FinCEN’s new SAR and CTR forms, which, as of April 1, 2013, are the only acceptable forms for reporting suspicious activity and applicable currency transactions – an item we’ve blogged about on numerous occasions.
“1. What are the expectations for completing the Items with an asterisk (“critical”) and without an asterisk (“non-critical”) found on the FinCEN SAR or any other FinCEN report?
As explained in FinCEN’s March 2012 guidance (FIN-2012-G002), for both critical and non-critical elements, financial institutions should complete those Items for which they have relevant information, regardless of whether or not the individual Items are deemed critical for technical filing purposes.
For critical Items, financial institutions must either provide the requested information or affirmatively check the “Unknown” (Unk.) box that is provided on the FinCEN SAR and FinCEN Currency Transaction Report (CTR) (or any other FinCEN Report).
For non-critical Items, FinCEN expects financial institutions will provide the most complete filing information available within each report consistent with existing regulatory expectations. Based upon feedback from law enforcement officials, such information is important for query purposes. However, the new FinCEN SAR and FinCEN CTR do not create any new obligations to collect data, either manually or through an enterprise-wide IT management system, where such collection is not already required by current statutes and regulations, especially when such collection would be in conflict with the financial institution’s obligations under any other applicable law. Therefore, a financial institution may leave non-critical fields without an asterisk blank when information is not readily available.
2. How do I meet my underlying obligation to submit a complete and accurate report if my filing software does not allow me to include known information for a field without an asterisk?
FinCEN expects financial institutions to have the capability to submit information for any of the data fields in the FinCEN SAR or CTR (or any other FinCEN report). In general, if your financial institution’s filing software does not permit the institution to include information in a field without an asterisk where information has been collected and is pertinent to the report, the financial institution should instead complete a discrete filing for those transactions until the software is updated. If a filing has been submitted in which such information was not included because of such a limitation in the filing software, an amended filing should be completed using either the discrete filing method or an amended batch filing, once the software is updated. Such software updates should be implemented within a reasonable period of time.
Dodd-Frank transferred authority over HMDA and Regulation C to the CFPB. The CFPB has not yet issued rules to implement the changes to HMDA and revise Regulation C, nor did it specifically mention the rule revising Regulation C in its "Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda." However, the CFPB's Agency Rule List indicates that revisions to Regulation C are in the “prerule” stage.
Note: Dodd-Frank did not mandate a deadline for a final rule, but keep this issue on your radar, as we'll see amendments to HMDA at some point in the future.
Free Member Call-In. On Thursday, June 14 at 3:30 p.m. EDT, NAFCU will hold its mid-year Member Call-In. The call is open to all NAFCU members but registration is required. The call will feature NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker and the association's government affairs team discussing latest developments in Washington affecting credit unions, including MBL, overdrafts, interchange, housing finance reform, CFPB, NCUA and more. As always, you will have the ability to ask questions directly to NAFCU staff during the call.
Don't miss out - register now for the June 14th NAFCU Member Call-In. If you can't make the live call, the archived version is usually made available within a short period of time.
My inbox still runneth over. Here are some more items of note.
They released this interim final rule (compliance deadline April 1, 2011), to address appraiser independence and compensation. The rule-making was required under Dodd-Frank.
They released this proposal to close a few loopholes that popped up concerning Reg Z's rules on credit cards.
They also released a final rule that finalizes an interim final rule concerning the compliance date for gift cards.
STS. I guess that's the new acronym for NCUA's short-term, small amount loan regulation. NCUA recently released NCUA Regulatory Alert 10-RA-13, which is a FAQ document that addresses the recent changes. For example, the following question and answer addresses balloon payments in relation to STS loans.
Must the loan be amortized, or can the borrower make a balloon payment at the end of the loan term?
The loan must be amortized in such a way that allows the borrower to repay the loan in the given term. FCUs must structure the payments so that the borrower is paying a portion of the principle and interest in equal or near-equal installments on a periodic basis over the course of the loan. While NCUA is not prescribing specific payment schedules (such as monthly or bi-weekly), FCUs should offer payment schedules that allow borrowers to easily repay the loan within the given term.
FinCEN. FinCEN was a busy beaver recently.
FinCEN will reorganize its rules next year in an effort to make the rules easier to understand. Rules affecting a particular industry will be grouped together, for example. Here's an index of the proposed reorganization. Our rules will be under Part 1020. Keep in mind that this will not change anything of substance. But it will take some time to get used to, and all of our existing BSA citations will be dated once the changes go into affect. Ugh.
FinCEN published a study that looked at SARs which reported identify theft. There is a ton of information in there, and I would forward the study on to your fraud team. Of note, credit card fraud continues to be the most common type reported on SARs. And roughly 27 percent of fraud victims know the alleged suspect.
FTC. Speaking of identity theft, the FTC announced a bundling of consumer-oriented ID theft resources. You may be able to help consumers by pointing them toward these free resources. (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!) In addition, NAFCU does sell a number of security and ID-related statement stuffers.
Welcome back, we hope everyone had a peaceful, long weekend.
It seems appropriate to ease back into the week with a softer blog posting. One of the great aspects about this blog is the ability to store research documents online in one place. Often times, we are able to point NAFCU-members to information that we have already written on the blog. Regulators do the same with frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) documents. | 2019-04-19T03:13:08Z | https://nafcucomplianceblog.typepad.com/nafcu_weblog/faq/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.846544 |
wordpress | I’m smart and experienced. Just look at my glasses and my money.
I’m beyond a greenhorn when it comes to the advertising industry. I have absolutely no experience in the industry. Okay, so technically I was a copywriter last semester in BU Ad Lab. I also helped speed write and edit a book on advertising in three hours.
But I’ve never spent any significant time in an agency. Sure, I’ve had the privilege of going inside great agencies like Hill Holliday, Allen & Gerritsen, McGarryBowen, and OMD. But that’s not the same as working and spending time in an agency.
That’s all changed though. I finally got to spend time this summer as an account planning intern at PJA Advertising + Marketing in Cambridge, MA. PJA is an award-winning, primarily B2B-focused agency.
The Mad Men days of buttoning up are done for. As a more liberal field, advertising has moved away from strict dress codes. Even an agency like PJA, which works in some conservative fields, is mostly jeans and a button down. There’s beer and wine in the fridge too.
I spent all 4 years of my undergraduate career fighting for LGBT rights on a mostly closeted campus. In advertising, I don’t feel like I have anything to fight for. If I tell someone I am gay, it’s basically the equivalent of me telling them I have a thumb. No one cares. It’s an accepting environment where you are free to be you.
The ad professionals I talk to aren’t kidding: advertising is a 24/7 job. It can be quite hard to balance work and play. If you want a job where you can completely separate the two, then advertising is not for you. You have to really love this industry. I’m the type that gets excited about ad placements, so I think I’m in a good place.
Advertising people in general use buzzwords that the average person would never know or use. They speak of things like touch points, native advertising, noise, and brand ethos. It’s interesting that an industry built on effective use of communication would use terms that would make the everyday person scratch their head.
They aren’t rocket scientists, but advertising people tend towards incredible intelligence. I’ve had the honor of meeting people in this business that are so smart and hardworking that it’s frightening. I’ve met scary-smart people like Edward Boches, CIO of Mullen, and Melissa Schulz, SVP, Global Group Account Director at Publicis Kaplan Thaler. The people at PJA have years of experience and are scary-smart in their own right.
6. Where are all the Black People?
It has been all over the news: for the first time minorities make up the majority of babies and toddlers. The minority is now the majority. Advertising doesn’t really reflect this. This might be because most people in advertising have a bachelor’s degree and many minorities lack access to affordable education.
Type breaking into advertising in Google and it will return about 460 million results. That’s more than five times the results that pop-up when you type breaking into acting. It’s definitely tough out there for an ad maven in the making. But don’t give up before you get started. Read what Kasey Fechtor (@kfechtor) has to say about the field first. She’s got some advice that will help you get to ad land.
Kasey is a brand planner at PJA advertising+marketing in Cambridge, MA. She graduated from Columbia with a BA in Creative Writing and started her career at Arnold Worldwide. Photographic evidence suggests that she owns at least one silly mustache.
How did you end up in the advertising/marketing industry?
I got an early start in advertising when I was two; my dad was/is a creative director, and I did a voiceover reciting “This Little Piggy” for an anti-litter campaign in Cleveland (it won a Telly award, and my dad ordered a trophy for me). As a kid, I always loved getting to spend a day at the agency (what kid wouldn’t like a pinball machine, free food, and a big set of fancy markers?), and I was always proud to see his ads on tv. My senior year of high school I interned at an agency, where I took a stab at some copywriting and reverse-engineered some creative briefs. My intern advisor there gave me a copy of “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This,” and that book followed me to college and remains on my bookshelf here in Boston.
What drew you to strategy?
I studied creative writing in college, and I thought I wanted to be a copywriter. But what I loved most about writing was getting into my characters’ heads, and I would purposefully pick characters who I knew nothing about so that I could learn about someone new. A professor once said that the key to a great story is really understanding your character and that, if you ever got stuck, you should go back to the character; he almost always had the answer. Change “story” to “ad” and “character” to “consumer,” and that’s brand planning.
What advice would you give someone trying to break into the advertising field who does not necessarily have a lot of experience?
My advice is to go and seek out advice from as many people as you can. If you know someone in advertising, or if you know someone who knows someone in advertising, chances are they’ll be happy to sit down and talk to you. Advertising is this pay-it-forward industry — almost everyone has been helped by someone else at some point, and that makes everyone more willing to help others.
What are some characteristics of a good strategic planner?
The best planners are curious, observant, and insightful. They have a good balance of right and left brain — the “creative” and the “strategy” of “creative strategy.” In terms of background and education though, a good planner can come from anywhere. I’ve met a great planner who went to Miami Ad School and another who started her career in zoology.
What do you do on your typical day? Is there a typical day?
There is no typical day in advertising, because it’s all client-driven. But depending on the day, you may find me writing a brief, researching competitors, interviewing a consumer or analyst, reading up on my clients’ industries, designing a survey, or going to a conference. Oh, and doing my time sheets. They don’t tell you about time sheets in school. | 2019-04-22T22:16:00Z | https://adsthatdontsuck.wordpress.com/tag/pja/ | Porn | Business | 0.602401 |
yahoo | Well, I mentioned that she needed to realize that short-term investments — say with periods of one to three years — are at risk of losing their principal. After all, in a few days, the stock market can easily lose 10% or more! The good news is that with interest rates increasing, there are more opportunities to snag higher returns from short-term investments — while also minimizing risks. | 2019-04-25T02:39:13Z | https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/vfstx?ltr=1 | Porn | Reference | 0.447398 |
wordpress | Sometimes I just can’t read straight.
Most of the time this is because my glasses are smudgy or not on my face. Often it’s because I’ve stayed up reading past my bedtime and can barely keep my eyes open. Occasionally it’s because I have competing distractions or Big Thoughts that take up more than their share of my headspace. They’re greedy and inconsiderate, and right when I need to distract myself with a good book, the ability to do so escapes me. I lose all focus, which frustrates me even more. It seems like the worst thing in the world at the time but after a few days of replacing reading with Xbox and David Attenborough documentaries, my groove usually comes back of its own accord and normal services recommence along my 12-track mind.
Still, that period when I’m unable to read straight is a mild form of torture. Whatever problem that’s exhausting my mental capacity is made worse by my inability to lean on my favourite pastime. In trying to find a silver lining here, I suppose it reminds me that I have other interests that deserve attention occasionally, and sometimes I have to get a little creative to drag myself out of the funk by reading things I may not otherwise. Call it a useful exercise in diversification.
Trying to remain optimistic, I lowered the bar a little. If I couldn’t handle a book, perhaps a magazine would do the trick. In hindsight I should probably have chosen something a little less demanding than National Geographic, and I was met with exactly the same problem. The pretty pictures did nothing to cheer me up and I burst into tears at the dawning realisation that I was in pain, bed-ridden and unable to read. It was a miserable state of affairs.
For all my shortcomings, I have to say I have exceptional taste in friends, and it was they who came to my rescue. I vaguely remember sobbing about my predicament when friends came to visit, and don’t recall suggesting or asking for a solution, since as far as I could see, I was doomed. But my good friends have passed a rigorous screening process, meaning they are all bookish, empathetic and resourceful. Completely independent of one another, two friends burnt an eclectic selection of audiobooks onto CDs for me, and unearthed discmen that probably hadn’t been of any use since the 90s but were perfect for right now. And their book choices were ever so thoughtful: from one of my favourites, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, because it’s familiar and I love it, to Marian Keyes, because Milan Kundera is hard work even when you don’t have a head injury. And Harry Potter, because obviously.
And then Twitterature. This volume is an orange Popular Penguin full of classics condensed into fragments of 140 characters each, the maximum length of a Tweet. The giver of this gift (as well as discman and CDs) is an English teacher, and I’ve no doubt it pained her to buy it. Under ordinary circumstances, we would both have turned our noses up at such wanton butchery of literature. But they were desperate times, and it wasn’t until months later that I realised just how considerate the gift of this book was. I could still read the classics for which I yearned, and she obviously had a much more accurate grasp on my current abilities. I couldn’t read a book, or a magazine, or even a page, but she got me through those dark days 140 characters at a time. And when that became too much, when all I could do was lie there and wait to be drugged up once more to my swollen little eyes, there was always someone to read me a story.
In time I managed to muster the brainpower for a Sudoku. My mum went out and bought a book of them for me, and while a fair amount of cheating ensued, I got through the whole thing. I read trashy magazines then newspaper articles, poetry then short stories, novellas and then, finally, novels. I now feel like I should have read an encyclopaedia to illustrate some sort of full-circle metaphor, from Twitter to Britannica with everything in between. But I have a smartphone, which really does cover both.
And hey, here’s something neat: I started writing this post because I found myself in exactly the pickle I described at the beginning. Big Thoughts had taken over the reading part of my brain so I decided to start writing. An instance where I would quite literally rather be reading, but it just wasn’t working for me. And now that I’ve done something else for a little while instead, I think I might be able to get back to it. There’s nothing like a reminder of that time I almost died AND couldn’t read to put things in perspective. I’ve also had David Attenborough on in the background and do not wish to discount his contribution. Maybe a few hours of being unable to read isn’t the worst thing in the world after all. It has to be close, and certainly makes a bad situation worse, but I’ll probably survive it.
I think I’d better listen to a Harry Potter audiobook though, just to be safe. It’s just not worth the risk. | 2019-04-22T00:15:50Z | https://ratherbereadingbooksblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/ | Porn | Arts | 0.45694 |
wordpress | In 1984, naïve 17-year-old, Amalia Graeme, can’t wait for college to start to get away from her hometown Brant, Mississippi and her abusive mother. The only person she’ll miss is her father. It’s just too bad that over the years he did little to protect Amalia from her mother’s physical and emotional abuse.
20 years later, in 2004, another girl, Brianna Porter, is exploring a college campus with her best friend, Shanelle. Always feeling smothered by her over-protective mother, the only parent Brianna has ever known, she can’t wait to head off to school in the fall. Her mother wants her to choose a college close to home in New York City, but Brianna has other plans. It’s not that she doesn’t love her mother, but Brianna needs to get away so she can understand herself and figure out what she wants.
I loved this story with all of its surprises. Just when I thought I had it figured out, a new twist turned everything around. It has been a while since a story had me uttering my shock out loud.
Father figure is a well-woven tale of two young women decades apart. Their stories intertwine until you realize they have more in common then wanting to leave home and needing to find who they are. It is well-written with few errors either grammatically or technically. If you enjoy a well-thought out mystery, then you will enjoy this story.
When I Died by Elizabeth Eckert is a unique story. I was intrigued from the start and for the most part, it held my attention. It is written in both first and third person POV. Despite the switching back and forth of voice, it was easy to follow. There were few grammatical errors or typos, and the characters were likeable. There are some great lines in this book, one of my favourites being: With help, time, and peace, he could heal, learn to forgive, and rise above the dirt he’d been buried in.
While I enjoyed the story, there were some aspects of the writing that pulled me away, and the story didn’t stay with me when I wasn’t reading. The main character, Adrianna, has a lot of inner thoughts, all written within brackets, I found that distracting. I also noted instances of redundancies that seemed more like filler and a creative edit would help with the flow of the story. Despite these issues I am interested in seeing what the next book holds.
While honeymooning aboard their boat in Ecuador Private Detective, Seth Halliday witnesses someone falling from an airplane. He and his new wife, Caroline, pull the body of a young teenage girl from the water. They find an envelope taped to her body addressed to a well-known American TV actress. Curious about the envelope they cut it open to find a small cassette tape. Seth decides to hang on to the tape and not let the Ecuadorian authorities know about it until he has answers. Seth Halliday has a mystery to solve. The Long Gray Goodbye is the second book of the Seth Halliday Novels. It is a modern day mystery told in a 40s–50s PI style.
The prologue, A Rainy Farewell, quickly grabbed my attention. The story takes the reader on a journey to a number of locations and one murder suddenly becomes two as this complex mystery unfolds. The story is filled with action, romance, some funny moments, and some tender ones.
The following excerpt was one of my favourite lines in the book: I reached over and took her hand in mine and held it. I said, “Sometimes I sit with beautiful French girls in Paris while they finish their second cigarette, and reflect wistfully on what might have been.” I felt her hand squeeze mine for a moment and then she leaned her head against my shoulder and kept it there for a while.
The only issue I had with the story was with Seth’s “roving eye”. While he adores his wife, Caroline, and I believe he would never hurt her; he spends a little too much time admiring other females around him.
I truly enjoyed reading this story and look forward to more of the Seth Halliday series.
Book Review – Hurry Up Nurse!
Author, Dawn Brookes, leads the reader through her personal journey as she trains to become a nurse in England during the late 1970s to early 1980s.
I usually read fiction; however, I thought I would try something different. And since this book is about becoming a nurse and I am not a nurse nor ever trained to be one, I thought what could be more different than that?
This is a good read with some funny and some not-so-funny times. It was interesting to learn about a nurse trainee’s experiences and perspectives in various areas of nursing such as geriatrics, psychiatry, and paediatrics to name a few.
There were little, if any, grammatical errors or typos. I did think there was a need for an extra space between paragraphs when the story changed from the account of one patient to another. Much like in a fiction novel when there is a scene change within the same chapter.
While this story would probably not be of interest to many it certainly is to anyone who has trained as a nurse no matter what country they are from. And maybe to those who are curious and enjoy learning about new things.
Recently widowed, Agnes Lockwood, returns to her childhood hometown of Tyneside. It has been years since she last visited and she wants to spend time reacquainting herself with the town where she was born. While at the hotel, another guest next to her room has some jewellery stolen. When the police arrive Agnes meets the Chief Inspector, Allan Johnson, who turns out to have been a classmate of hers many years ago. Having a penchant for mysteries, Agnes involves herself in the investigation. But has she gone too far?
I have to say I struggled a bit with rating this story. While I don’t think it deserves three stars, there were also a couple of issues that prevented me from thinking it was a four-star read. I found the voice in the dialogue a miss. If it weren’t for tags, it would be difficult to know who spoke. One particular character was Achmed. It is said that he was a foreigner learning the language, yet his dialogue sounded the same as everyone else’s. The second issue I had was with the character Chief Inspector, Alan Johnson. For a detective, he certainly let Agnes tell him a lot about his case and he allowed her to interfere. I found him weak.
As for the story itself, this is a fun read. Author, Eileen Thornton, has a great way of keeping the reader interested in what will happen next and there are some surprising twists right up until the end. The character of Agnes reminded me of Jessica Fletcher from the TV show Murder, She Wrote.
If you like a nice mystery then you will enjoy this story.
Gaius Caesar (Caligula) is the evil and sadistic emperor of Rome in 41 AD. With the aid of his magician, Okuni, his desire to become immortal will be a reality. And when Caligula dies, he will be reborn immediately; he will always be Caligula and he will always know who he is.
Author Steve Peek takes the reader on an interesting and sometimes harrowing journey in this unique multi-genre story where fact and fiction intertwine.
The characters are well developed and the story is well written. However, it is not a story for the faint of heart as there are some gory and disturbing sexually explicit bits. These scenes are not gratuitous but rather work to show the sadistic mind of Caligula.
I enjoyed this story though I found the ending a little rushed and it left me wondering if there was more to come. | 2019-04-21T18:25:35Z | https://sandrajjackson.wordpress.com/category/book-review/ | Porn | Games | 0.09028 |
wordpress | I was reading an article the other day that talked about hospital staffing. On one level, it mentioned that some hospitals have too much staffing and need to take a better look at how they use their personnel. On another level, they talked about hospitals that, once they start cutting staff, don’t do the proper evaluation and end up cutting staff that’s actually more beneficial to their facility than what they were thinking about.
The worth of business office people is devalued because most of these people don’t have degrees, don’t have certifications, and may never qualify for management level positions. Yet, these are the people who bring in the money to a facility. Just like other positions within a hospital where the people don’t have the advanced degrees, or may not generate revenue, they’re as important to the overall operation of a hospital, if not more at times.
This is how we see it. The radiology department may be able to generate a charge that brings $3,000 worth of revenue to the hospital, but the billing department is the one that collects the money. In a situation like that, having one person to work the claims of one radiologist might be overkill, but it probably takes at least one person to do it. When it’s a big facility like a hospital, quite often these departments are either understaffed or under trained, and thus things don’t go quite as hoped for. If your accounts receivables department already has days in outstanding receivables higher than 70, the last thing they need to be thinking about is cutting staff.
Now, when it comes to hiring staff, maybe their thought process should be to bring in interim staff from a company like Expeditive, someone who you know has the background and training so that they don’t have to wonder if they know what they’re doing. And, since it’s interim staff, they wouldn’t have to worry about payroll or benefits or vacation; they just have to negotiate the rate with the staffing company and that’s that.
It’s always important to evaluate the importance of all staff properly. Without all of them in some legitimate capacity, your facility won’t be allowed to stay open for long. | 2019-04-21T02:35:16Z | https://jyarsinsky.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/evaluating-staffing-properly/ | Porn | Business | 0.988839 |
wikipedia | Last updatit on: Januar 30 2017.
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka ([vaˈvriŋka] va-VREENG-kah; Pols: Stanisław Wawrińka, born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his serve and volley his best shot. He won the Gold medal for Switzerland in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, partnering Roger Federer, by beating Swedish team Simon Aspelin/Thomas Johansson in the final. They were also honoured with the 2008 Swiss Team of the Year Award.
↑ Dirs, Ben (29 June 2009). "Murray v Wawrinka as it happened". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
This page wis last eeditit on 18 Juin 2018, at 14:03. | 2019-04-26T06:10:29Z | https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislas_Wawrinka | Porn | Sports | 0.687595 |
wikipedia | ^ Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists (PDF). Premier League. 4 February 2014: 28 [27 March 2014].
^ First Team Profiles. Liverpoolfc.co.uk. [20 September 2014].
^ Southampton splash £8.5m on promising Lyon defender Lovren. dailymail.co.uk. 2013-06-14 [2013-06-15] （英语）. | 2019-04-20T19:18:06Z | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%B7%E6%89%AC%C2%B7%E6%B4%9B%E5%A4%AB%E4%BC%A6 | Porn | Sports | 0.665483 |
typepad | Grace from Jaq Jaq Bird kindly sent this awesome Damask Chalkmat over a couple weeks ago. As soon as I tore open the box, it was out of my hands within .05 seconds and in the clutches of my overanxious girls. After digging out a few pieces of our personal supply of broken chalk they scribbled away for about an hour - scribbling, wiping, scribbling, wiping. Then, when dinner came, we flipped it over and took advantage of it's placemat side. We don't typically use placemats at the dinner table but this quickly made me wonder why I don't because it made clean-up so much easier! One thing I would suggest is getting the Chalk Pens or Butter Chalk instead of the old-fashioned chalk since I found it to be a little temperamental on the plastic chalkmat surface. Coming up with a few creative eating games for the chalk side and I think I can keep my girls from jumping out of their chairs every 30 seconds! | 2019-04-23T20:36:17Z | https://kidshaus.typepad.com/kidshaus/2009/11/jaq-jaq-bird-chalkmats.html | Porn | Recreation | 0.422326 |
wordpress | One year after receiving his liver transplant at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin in August 2007, he represented his country for the first time at the biennial European Games held in Wurzburg, Germany in 2008. He has taken part in many World Transplant Games and European Championships which take place on alternate years and has accumulated an impressive medals haul in Darts and Petanque. He has held the Euroepan title in darts in his age category since 2008 – he is going for 6 in a row this year!
Charlie is a retired ferryboat skipper and used to work with Marine Transport Services in Cobh and his work included transporting prisoners to and from Spike Island prior to its closure. | 2019-04-22T02:39:32Z | https://transplantteamireland.wordpress.com/athlete-profiles-4/charlie-ryan-cork/ | Porn | Sports | 0.526953 |
wordpress | One of Sandeep’s posts was adapted for a podcast produced by Grammar Girl.
Read it and listen to it here, or download the podcast on iTunes.
“Page you requested could not be found”.
Thanks for the catch – fixed. | 2019-04-19T08:56:10Z | https://thediacritics.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/the-diacritics-on-grammar-girl/ | Porn | Reference | 0.271901 |
wordpress | lark & sparrow was established in 2015 by Linda Sharp and Jody Hill. We are a neighborhood nail boutique offering a host of natural nail services. When you walk into lark & sparrow or petite sparrow you will notice the calming scent of essential oils. This air quality is possible because we do not offer acrylic nail services. Our emphasis in addition to beauty is to focus on wellness. We are committed to using the most natural and organic products when possible with our bespoke creams, scrubs and oils scented with only essential oils and made of the cleanest ingredients possible.
Your health and safety are our top priorities. In addition to the organic products we use, we sanitize and disinfect all tools and equipment after each client. Files and buffers are never reused and are disposed or given to you at the end. We also use stainless steel pedicure bowls that are sanitized and disinfected between each client – no bacteria harboring jetted tubs.
We have the most talented and friendly nail artists anywhere. | 2019-04-23T20:01:48Z | https://larkandsparrownails.wordpress.com/ | Porn | Health | 0.606497 |
wordpress | A place for me to share my love affair with tillandsias (aka ‘air plants’). I first found out about these plants more than 20 years ago but have only recently restarted this hobby (recently being January 2012). I hope you enjoy the pictures, and remember the information I share is based on growing in my location, which is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
I share your love affair with this tillies. I only discovered them 6 weeks ago and I am head over heels in love with them, in Phoenix, Arizona, US.
Thanks for dropping by. Now that you have started it is a long and slippery slope! 🙂 But definitely a fun hobby to indulge in. At least in the US you should have easy access to a wide range of species and hybrids. Happy growing!
I ran into them at a street fair. I ordered more online (I only have 22 so far) but there is a terrific nursery in California I am dying to go to! It will be like Nirvana!
Love your blog! Thank you so much for sharing. I was married in the epiphyte house of the bontanical gardens here in Buffalo, NY USA about 5 months ago. I fell in love with tillandsia while researching epiphytes on line and ordered 5 different species about 3 weeks ago. I’m trying my hand at raising these beauties in this less than ideal climate. My caput-medusae had already developed a green spike when I received it (though much smaller than yours appeared during bloom). It’s blushing beautifully and I can’t wait to see flowers.
Wow, there is an epiphyte house? Now I want to go to Buffalo. I have never been, and live in Phoenix. I would SO love to see pictures of your wedding to see what they did with them. I have 22 so far, and I adore the blooms and I really love taking care of them. We moved (yesterday!) into a new house with so much light and a lot of ceiling fans and I know they will love it here 🙂 I have some of them hanging in necklaces in the window, some hanging on strings from the plantation shutters, and some tucked into the kitchen blinds, and it looks like one of those tillandsia walls. I loved reading your post!
Your home sounds beautiful. Garlands of tillies!!
I’m in a small apartment, but I have an attic storage area that functions like a green house. It gets brutally hot, above 100 degrees in the summer, but I get a wonderful cross breeze. My arids and tropicals seem to thrive.
My medusae has a purple bud emerging as of yesterday. Yay! Approximately how long does the blooming process take in medusae?
Thanks for the temperature tip. We’ve had a mild summer so far, so the temp hasn’t gone above 90. Still have July and August yet though. I’ll move the tills into my cooler living space as temp rises.
Hi Robyn and Heather Jane!
And yes HJ the epiphyte house sounds like a lovely place for a wedding!
I have finally updated my blog with a couple of posts after neglecting it for a while. Hope you will continue to check in every so often.
Hi Minigemm, I discovered the wonderful world of tillandsias just 2 weeks ago and I’m a close neighbour down to the south in Singapore! 🙂 I got 8 little ones last weekend and am hoping that they will do OK. 😀 Thanks for sharing so much info on your blog!
Hey, I have a Tillandsia that looks like a Caput Meduase, however when it flowered, it did not produce a spire (like my other Caput Medusae) and it only produced one flower. Any idea as to what it’s scientific name is?
Without a picture I can’t even try to hazard a guess as to what the plant may be. It could very well still be a caput, sometimes something goes wrong with the flowering process and you get sort of a mini bloom or stunted flowers. This is mainly caused by a shock to the plant, perhaps a change in the growing environment causing the flowering process to be aborted early. I wouldn’t worry too much. As long as you have the growing conditions right the plant should pup and you will be able to enjoy a blooming plant a few months down the line (yes caputs are fast growers and happy bloomers). | 2019-04-20T22:14:05Z | https://tillandsiaaffair.wordpress.com/about/ | Porn | Home | 0.402216 |
wordpress | I’m sure you’ve noticed how often I incorporate animals, both pets and wild animals, into my photography. I do it because I love animals and because their presence in my work gives an extra sense of depth and wonder to my images.
A surprising and unexpected offshoot of that has been that people started asking me to photograph their pets. They want to immortalize their furbabies with the same sense of beauty and grandeur I infuse into my fine art photography. They wanted me to capture their animals like I capture my pets. It wasn’t something I thought of on my own, but my audience asked for it… and I have really enjoyed it, so I want to extend this idea to everyone!
Having pet parents entrust me with capturing their animal’s own natural beauty is an opportunity I take seriously and treasure. As someone with two cats and a dog of her own, who are all like my children, I know how deep the animal-human bond can be.
I’m happy to announce that I am holding a Spring Special on my pet portrait services! This special will give you a discount on my usual rate starting at $2500, now starting at only $2000! This investment gives you completely unique, original art of your furbaby and two museum-quality prints which will last a lifetime and more.
Completely custom art staring your pet and two prints?? It’s an incredible value!
Would you like a portrait of your darling? Or do you want to see your baby featured in my DreamWorld series or another collection? I’m more than happy to discuss details and concepts (and I offer reduced pricing for animals included in a series)!
Interested in setting up a session? Email me at sarah@sarahallegra.com! We can discuss all the different options available! | 2019-04-23T03:07:05Z | https://sarahallegra.wordpress.com/tag/dream/ | Porn | Business | 0.400025 |
wordpress | “Biliran experienced storm signal number four that resulted to the destruction of the Provincial Capitol, Biliran Provincial Hospital, Naval gymnasium, Educational institutions and some establishments. Trees were also uprooted and electric post and wires fell down.
Before leaving Region VIII, nor would Yolanda would not spare the smaller province of Biliran.
High water levels, along with gale-force winds, proved devastating. “There was debris everywhere,” provincial engineer Ventura B. Barbanida. “Trees were uprooted, electric posts were down.” The provincial capitol building, civic centers, local gyms, schools and buildings each sustained extensive damage. | 2019-04-20T06:29:21Z | https://dilgyolanda.wordpress.com/home/biliran/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.675653 |
newgrounds | Loved it, perfect art style and fitting soundtrack.
In your opinion how was Pratt, because it is one of my reach school and I just want to know?
Not gonna lie this animation made me wish this world, this character had a game. It's so beautiful! | 2019-04-23T08:39:48Z | https://www.newgrounds.com/reviews/portal/657600/1/date/10 | Porn | Arts | 0.984991 |
cnn | I eat doggie poop from India. It is actually loaded with vitimin K.
Tastes like chicken LMFAO. I!
Hindoo poop from India is beautiful.
Hi. I'm AZZHOLE MODI RAYPISTS HINDOOS.
Mmmmm Yumy. Moist and salty.
Hi. I'm NoraStar. Cousin of Noodles.
I'm Noodles. Cousin of Chamoona.
I eat Hindu sh it. Love it.
Blue troll went to bed @1:51 a.m.
I just farted. Stinks baaaad. Poopiee smell. Yuky.
I ate some bad beans. Much gas.
I just farted. Real stinker.
Good one. Vive Le Khalistan!!!!
Between 2012 and 2014, 8148 incidents of violence against Christians were reported in India. In 2013, 3424 such incidents were reported. In 2014 there was a further flare up of tensions in Orissa. This was followed by an attack on a 150 year old church in Madhya Pradesh and more attacks in Karnataka. Recall that hundreds of nuns have been raiped in India.
Although related, Hinduism and Hindutva are different. Hinduism is a cult while Hindutva is a fascist political ideology idiolized by majority of Hindus (Hindu Talibans).
Christians in India, often perpetrated by Hindu Nationalists/Hindu Talibans.
The acts of violence include arson of churches, re-conversion of Christians to Hinduism, distribution of threatening literature, burning of Bibles, rayping of nuns, murder of Christian priests and destruction of Christian schools, colleges, and cemeteries.
I eat Hindu poop from India.
I eat Hindu boogers and Hindu poopie Mmmmmmm from India.
After more than a decade of severe persecution, India’s Christian minority is growing increasingly concerned over the mushrooming of newer and deadlier Hindu extremist groups.
Gone are the days when Christians had to watch out only for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, which are closely linked with the most influential Hindu extremist umbrella organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh p(RSS). With voter support faltering for the RSS’s political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), moderate and extremist sections within the Hindu nationalist movement are blaming each other, and militant splinter groups have emerged.
I eat doggie poop from Milwaukee.
Claiming to be breakaway factions of the RSS, new groups with even more extreme ideology are surfacing. The Abhinav Bharat (Pride of India), the Rashtriya Jagran Manch (National Revival Forum), the Sri Ram Sene (Army of god Rama), the Hindu Dharamk Sena (Army for Hindu Religion) and the Sanatan Sanstha (Eternal Organization) have launched numerous violent attacks on Christian and Muslim minorities.
In India, The Sri Ram Sene was one of the most active groups that launched a series of attacks on Christians and their property in and around Mangalore city in the southern state of Karnataka in August-September 2013 according to a report, “The Ugly Face of Sangh Parivar,” published by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL). In Jabalpur city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, suspected extremists from the Abhinav Bharat attacked the Rhema Gospel Church on Sept. 28, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians. They had earlier attacked Pastor Sam Oommen and his family in the same city.
I am going to the church now to pray for christians and for destruction of hindoos and India. | 2019-04-20T18:13:11Z | http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2015/01/22/gps-has-moved/comment-page-194/ | Porn | News | 0.091699 |
wordpress | Our wonderful guests tonight are Paul Burston & Julie Bindel, Naomi Paxton and Tim McArthur.
Author and journalist Paul Burston is busy as ever. Together with fellow journalist Julie Bindel he launched a new magazine called “Gaze – A Modern Review”. The first issue is out as an app on 20th April. It will steer away from the light-weight magazines that are out and look at the world around us more closely and dare longer articles online, especially since many magazines such as Time Out don’t offer in-depth reports anymore. Julie and Paul are the Managing Editors of “Gaze – A Modern Review” and with their often divided opinions the magazine will be an interesting read. For updates check their Twitter feeds @GazeReview.
Actress and comedian Naomi Paxton tells us about “Stage Rights! A Living Literature Walk following the Suffragettes through Theatre Land”. It is based the “Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays”, which Naomi edited and which was published earlier this year. On the tour one can meet Suffragettes played by members of the company Scary Little Girls, who bring texts from the book to life. The tour takes place on 20th and 27th April. Besides these tours, Naomi allows her alter ego Ada Campe perform more tricks at Femmes by the Thames on 9th May at Battersea Barge and will talk about the Suffragette texts at the National Theatre in June.
Comedian, director and The Curtain Up Show host Tim McArthur tells us about “4 Poofs and a Piano”, which he directed and will be at the Charing Cross Theatre on Sunday 14th April. He remembers the fun during rehearsals but also the importance of focusing on the performers voices as their camp act could easily get out of hand. Following Margaret Thatcher’s recent death, Rosie and Tim recall what it meant being gay in the 1980s and the difficult times they had faced.
This entry was posted in Listen again and tagged 4 Poofs and a Piano, Gaze - A Modern Review, Julie Bindel, Naomi Paxton, Paul Burston, Suffrage Plays, Tim McArthur. Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-20T08:49:46Z | https://outinsouthlondon.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/listen-again-9th-april-2013/ | Porn | Arts | 0.949518 |
wordpress | If you have been a follower of the gymnastics sport for a long time, you might have witnessed the dominance of Russia in the sport. At the recently held Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships which took place in Stuttgart Germany from September 9 to 13, two remarkable Russian gymnasts — Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun continued their country’s winning trend that was initially built by Alina Kabayeva, Irina Chashchina and Yevgenia Kanayeva. So, you might wonder, why are Russian gymnasts so successful?
The Russian rhythmic gymnastics team has always been filled with numerous top quality gymnasts, which grants the team’s star the privilege to be “backed-up” by the other gymnasts. One of the most distinguishable example of the aforementioned “backing up” – which is also considered as a healthy competition – took place during the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney Australia. After Alina Kabayeva — a Russian gymnast which was admired by the people for the individual-around gold medal — accidentally dropped her hoop during her routine, which left her with only a bronze medal, another Russian gymnast, Yulia Barsukova, came to the rescue and won the gold medal in the hoop competition.
All of the Russian athletes who were training under Irina Viner, the head coach of the Russian national team and the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation president, is required to learn one rule.
“If an athlete locks herself into her grandeur, her stardom, it is bad for everyone and, above all, for the athlete herself,” head coachViner stated in an interview with Russian daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Russian gymnasts show a great respect for athletes that came from other countries. However, during the competition, they try not to compete with anyone else, and instead attempt to conquer themselves.
Amina Zaripova, a retired rhythmic gymnast and coach, pointed out the significance of self control while commenting on the success of her student Margarita Mamun, who was a gold medalist in the individual all around event, as well as all of the four individual events – hoop, clubs, ball, and ribbon at the 2015 FIG World Cup circuit in Rhythmic Gymnastics held in Kazan earlier this year.
“I loved everything about Margarita’s performance at the World Cup in Kazan, including her mental condition,” Zaripova told the Ves Sport news agency.
Russian athletes have consistently set the bar high. As leaders, they set the pace in the individual and group events regardless of the changes in the lineup of their team. The Russian team who participated at the group event of the 2015 World Championships held in Stuttgart was composed of Anastasia Maximova, Diana Borisova, Darya Kleshcheva, Maria Tolkacheva, Sofia Skomorokh and Anastasia Tatareva.
Tatyana Sergayeva, the new coach of the group explained the reason behind it. “We never go the easy way. The Russian team is the leader, so it’s supposed to be head and shoulders above everyone else. We need to work so hard and later perform so well, that all the contestants should say in the end: ‘Russia is out there, we cannot catch up with them!’” she stated.
Additionally, Margarita Mamun said that it was also made possible thanks to head coach Irina Viner, stating that Viner, without a doubt, knows how to handle the athletes properly.
Have you ever wondered if your child has what it takes to be the next star in the field of gymnastics? Why don’t you enroll your child to a school that can provide him/her the highest quality of training and the most fun way of learning gymnastics for kids? Visit the official website of Bianka Panova Academy to learn more about what the company can offer for you! Want to read the most recent news about gymnastics? Then you should like and visit the official Facebook Page of Bianka Panova Academy to get your daily dose of updates regarding gymnastics. | 2019-04-19T19:10:58Z | https://biankapanovaacademy.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/why-russian-gymnasts-are-always-on-top/ | Porn | Games | 0.090907 |
wikipedia | The Football League Championship is the name of the English second division of football. often called The Championship for short, or the Sky Bet Football League Championship, as it is sponsored by Sky Bet.
This page was last changed on 5 July 2018, at 07:24. | 2019-04-23T17:57:10Z | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Championship | Porn | Sports | 0.936555 |
wordpress | Ultimately, if you are in an area where you still have access to email or phone service, please contact the appropriate staff member(s) at NYU Buenos Aires listed on your Arrival Cheat Sheet to forward your updated itinerary. This is another reason why it is important to have a copy in your carry on.
Should your updated itinerary arrive outside of the provided transportation window, you will be responsible for getting to housing (but don’t worry – the arrival cheat sheet has all the relevant details necessary to do so!).
The staff recognize these occurrences are beyond your control so will work with you to catch up if any material is missed. On behalf of the entire NYU Global Programs team, we wish you safe travels! | 2019-04-26T12:41:16Z | https://nyubuenosairesspring2017.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/what-to-do-if-you-encounter-flight-cancellations-or-delays/ | Porn | Reference | 0.619338 |
wordpress | Check out this NY Times article on Schiphol’s new Airport Library. The library has 1,200 books in different languages, all of which are by Dutch authors or are on subjects relating to the country’s culture and history. Isn’t it a wonderful idea? Instead of spending money on buying something to occupy your time during a layover, you can read a book for free and learn a little bit of the country you’re sitting in. I’m a big fan of libraries so I’ll have to take a shot of it next time I’m in Holland. | 2019-04-26T03:50:42Z | https://karenlac.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/library-at-schiphol-airport/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.501978 |
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