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wordpress | He’s just waiting to pour out His peace upon our hearts and minds. What will we choose … even in THIS moment?
Greeting Card Design: WELBK-Sunset – click here to view in the Kat Kreations online katalog (also ENC-Sunset). NOTE: The watermark only appears in the online version of the image in order to aid in protecting copyright. Greeting cards and art prints do not have the watermark.
The photo used on the cover was provided by Kim Childers.
“To keep afloat; support, sustain; to raise the spirits of” – that’s how Webster’s defines the verbal form of “buoy.” One kind of buoy is a “life buoy” or “a ring-shaped life preserver.” Other buoys are used to warn of shallow water or something under the surface that could be dangerous for boats. Buoys support, sustain, guide, warn, and even save or rescue.
We have a Buoy that faithfully carries out all those roles for each of us. Our Heavenly Father assures us, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4 NIV). He supports us and sustains us through the storms and the calm of life’s sea. He guides and warns us as we journey through life. He is more than able to save or rescue us from any peril.
Of course, buoys can be ignored or refused. We are each left with a choice in the matter. May our hearts become so well acquainted with the Ever-sustaining Lifebuoy that we find He is all that we need for this journey.
Greeting Card Design: WELBK-Buoy – click here to view in the Kat Kreations online katalog. NOTE: The watermark only appears in the online version of the image in order to aid in protecting copyright. Greeting cards and art prints do not have the watermark.
As a teen, my place of personal retreat was a woods one quarter mile from our house on land owned by my dad’s employer. Here is just one of the scenes encountered each spring.
I am reminded of the psalmist’s words, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul” (from Psalm 23). What refreshment in the face of our Creator’s beauty!
Greeting Card Design: THINK-TreeCorner – click here to view in the Kat Kreations online katalog. NOTE: The watermark only appears in the online version of the image in order to aid in protecting copyright. Greeting cards and art prints do not have the watermark.
The Lord has said, “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing … I will heal My people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security … I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against Me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.” (Jeremiah 33:6, 8 NIV).
When our Heavenly Father conducts the cleansing procedure of our lives, we could never be in better hands. He knows every detail, sees every speck, and all the while that He’s at work to cleanse us, He showers us with His deep, unending love for us.
He flushes and purges from us the impurities that keep us from reflecting Him to those He puts in our path. Along each step of His procedures with us, He has a goal in mind: that each of us who belongs to Him “will bring Me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things that I do … and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide …” (Jeremiah 33:9 NIV).
As we allow Him to cleanse us, to purify us, our lives make Him smile, make Him known, and have the potential to point nations toward Him, so that they can know Him too!
Greeting Card Design: THINK-Humbird – click here to view in the Kat Kreations online katalog. NOTE: The watermark only appears in the online version of the image in order to aid in protecting copyright. Greeting cards and art prints do not have the watermark. | 2019-04-24T05:52:28Z | https://soyoufoundit.wordpress.com/category/devotionals/lens-looks/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.072361 |
wikipedia | The Rams upset the Giants with quarterback Jim Everett's 30-yard touchdown pass to Flipper Anderson with 1:06 gone in overtime. New York jumped to a 6–0 lead in the first quarter with two field goals by kicker Raul Allegre. With 17 seconds left in the first half, Anderson caught a 20-yard touchdown reception from Everett to take a 7–6 lead. In the third quarter, Giants running back Ottis Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown. But in the fourth period, Los Angeles kicker Mike Lansford made two field goals to tie the game, the second one coming with 3:01 left in regulation.
^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Oct-19.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 22, 2013. | 2019-04-25T14:49:55Z | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_New_York_Giants_season | Porn | Sports | 0.727569 |
wikipedia | Hydra are simple invertebrates, with two layers of body cells. They live in fresh water. Their body is radially symmetric. They have a central cavity through which they take in food and expel waste.
As Cnidaria they have stinging cells on their tentacles. They are hydrozoa, and belong to the same order as other polyps. Most Hydra are microscopic in size. Hydras can be found in almost any unpolluted body of water. Hydras reproduce by budding. In budding, the offspring forms as a lump on the parent and eventually becomes big enough to break off and live by itself. They can move if they need to by a kind of slow somersaulting motion.
Recent research has found they produce an antimicrobial protein hydramacin, which protects their outer layer from bacterial infection.
↑ Jung S. et al 2009. Hydramacin-1, structure and antibacterial activity of a protein from the basal metazoan Hydra. Journal of Biological Chemistry 284 (3): 1896–1905.
This page was last changed on 24 October 2018, at 17:17. | 2019-04-21T02:16:11Z | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(animal) | Porn | Science | 0.911817 |
wordpress | We arrived back at 30 Rock at 10:00pm even though the ticket told us to be there at 10:45. We walked into the lobby to meet 3 very large crowds of people who already had their “real” SNL tickets. It was packed and it seemed like everyone who had a real ticket showed up!
We quickly found our line at the end of the lobby. The NBC pages did a good job getting everyone lined up where they should be. They were very strict about lining up in numerical order.
At around 10:55 they split the stand-by line up dividing the 120 or so people into 2 lines of 60. At this point everyone who had a real ticket was already out of the lobby and in studio 8H! We were so nervous! Around 11 they asked the first 30 in our line, us included, to go ahead and go through security. This made us feel a little better but we were getting close to show time! Then they has us line up outside the elevator to await our fate!
“You are not guaranteed to see the show until you are physically sitting in a seat” we kept hearing from the pages. But everyone knew once you got on the elevator you were in. That’s all we wanted.
With the show starting only minutes away, a lot of activity was going on in the lobby. The electric guitar player for the SNL band walked by and I was able to get a picture with him! Cameron Diaz passed by and went up the elevator to studio 8H. Supposedly she goes to almost every show! I couldn’t tell what was bigger – her mouth or her high heels. Both were very large and very distracting. Olivia Wylde also passed by – she is dating Jason Sudekis. Yes, Olivia Wylde is dating Jason Sudekis. Les and I talked about this for a good 15 minutes…Senator Al Franken of Minnesota walked by – he was a former cast member and writer of the show. Maybe you remember Stuart Smalley?
During all this activity they were slowly letting those in front of us board the elevator. They had us lined up in two rows of 15. Bit by bit they let 2 people on, then 4, then 2 more, then a couple more, then before we knew it, there were only 2 people in front of us! But it was getting close to show time! At 11:25 we heard the phrase, “we can accept the next 4” and just like that, we were swooped up into an elevator and on our way to the show.
Turns out Leslie and I were the last two people they let into the show that night! Only 14 people made it to the live show!
They gave us wristbands and ushered us to our seats – which much to our surprise were right next to each other. Since NBC has no clue who is NOT going to show up, any seat could be available. We were told to prepare to be separated if we got into the studio so we were prepared for the worst.
The show didn’t start for another couple minutes so we had just enough time to catch our breath.
On center stage, Jason Sudekis was doing a little stand-up act to warm up the audience. He gave the people in the “crappy” seats a hard time for not being able to see any stage sets.
Les and I actually had incredible seats – right in front of the musical stage in last row with a bird’s eye view of everything. Absolutely perfect!
After Jason had loosened up the audience, Keenan Thompson came out and sang a song much like that of a “Whats Up With That” gig. Pretty funny and entertaining as well.
For what it’s worth, I thought Josh Brolin did a fantastic job hosting! He looked comfortable, loose, and mingled extremely well with the cast. I gauge a lot about the host by their monologue – you can tell if they are nervous, stiff, scared, excited, good at what they do, etc. Plus I heard hosting SNL is one of the toughest things an actor can do – it’s what separates the men from the boys!
Gotye was incredible! Their hit song, Somebody That I Used To Know, is really hard to sing, and they nailed it. Studio 8H was originally a radio studio so it was built for music. We learned through our studio tour it has perfect acoustics so you can really tell if a band stinks or if a singer is flat. It does not go unnoticed. They are really talented.
Personally, my favorite sketch was the Slow-motion Hallway. It was so clever! The writing for that skit was awesome and the actors nailed it! I thought it was brilliant!
After the show we waited outside 30 Rock for a little while because we heard you can catch some of the actors when they leave for some pictures. We ended up getting pictures with Taran Killam, one of the shows rising starts who continues to impress me, Fred Armisen, who is just as weird in real life as he is on the show, Bobby Moynihan, who along with Taran seemed to be the nicest people in the world, and Vanessa Bayer. Steve Higgins, the announcer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, also walked out. Funny guy Steve is! He is a brilliant writer and producer for SNL who has earned 5 Emmy nominations!
After that we called it a night! A comfy bed never felt so good!
Posted on April 24, 2012, in Life and tagged Al Franken, anniversary, Bobby Moynihan, bucket list, Cameron Diaz, Fred Armisen, funny, Gotye, Improv, Jason Sudekis, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Higgins, Josh Brolin, Keenan Thompson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, les, life, NBC, NBC pages, new york city, NYC, Olivia Wylde, Saturday Night Live, Senator Al Franken, slow motion hallway, SNL, SNL Aug 14 2012, SNL tickets, Stuart Smalley, Taran Killam, vacation, Vanessa Bayer. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
I go to New York every summer and because of the fact that I go during summer I have never been able to attend SNL so I am insanely jealous. Congrats! Still have to tune into that episode…Hulu here I come! | 2019-04-21T00:20:17Z | https://thechaseplace.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/saturday-night-live-live/ | Porn | Reference | 0.594761 |
wordpress | On the 3rd July 2011, The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids – in conjunction with The John Michell Network – will be holding the first event in what will become an annual celebration of the work and life of the influential author John Michell. John loved London and to honour the passion he had for his home city, we thought it apt that the first of these events should centre on one of the hidden sacred sites in the London landscape.
The aim of these events will be to not only celebrate the legacy of an extraordinary man but also to recognise that sacred places can be found in the most unlikely of locations; that any landscape can be enchanted and enchanting, even in the heart of a modern city. With this in mind, it is deeply appropriate that the first event should focus on the Crossbones Graveyard.
South of the River Thames – in the area where London Bridge spans the river at the place known as Bankside and the Borough – resides one of London’s most moving tributes to the Ancestors. In medieval times, this area was outside the old City of London’s boundaries and laws. As you crossed the river in to what was known as the ‘Liberty of the Clink’ you entered the underbelly of city life; here were prisons, drinking houses, gambling and prostitution, bear-baiting and all manner of shady pursuits. In this chaotic, colourful and brutal environment, where living was experienced at its most visceral, the British theatre was born.
‘The Liberty’ came under the ruling of the Bishop of Winchester, the ruins of his palace still visible near Southwark Cathedral. The prostitutes of the Liberty, known as ‘Winchester Geese’, were under the Bishop’s licence for 500 years, but in an act of supreme hypocrisy they were denied burial in consecrated ground. The Crossbones Graveyard was where these unfortunate women ended their lives. In its latter years it became a pauper’s burial site, a place of forgotten souls whose lives had often been brutal and short and whose stories had been ignored.
This might have continued to be so but for a twist of fate. During improvements to the Jubilee Line, London Transport dug upon the wasteland that had once – unknown to most – been the graveyard. Their digging immediately unearthed skulls and bones, resulting in a halt of work, enabling Museum of London archaeologists to investigate further.
At around the same time, the playwright, poet and performer John Constable was making his own surprising discoveries with regard to the Crossbones site. Without knowing of its existence, he was drawn one night to this desolate piece of industrial ground by a poetic ‘voice’ in his head. This poem came in an inspired rush. It soon became apparent that the voice of the poem was that of a Winchester Goose, the ‘spirit’ of a Liberty prostitute who had been laid to rest at ‘Crossbones’. It was as if London Transport’s digging had unearthed not merely the bones of the dead but their unheard voices too.
Constable’s research led him to discover that the Crossbones cemetery had indeed existed and was not merely something his imagination had conjured that first night that ‘The Goose’ had introduced herself. Those earlier poems went on to become part of a larger work of modern mystery plays known as the Southwark Mysteries and since then John has become a champion of those ‘despised and rejected’ souls.
John and the Friends of Crossbones hold monthly ceremonies at the gates of this ‘hidden’ ancient graveyard. The gates themselves have become a shrine covered in ribbons, flowers and tokens. As the identities of those interred here have gradually been rediscovered, John ties ribbons with names written upon them; the gates festooned, transforming this rather bleak place into something beautiful. This act of remembrance is incredibly powerful and moving. John understands Crossbones to be a ‘wound of history’ and that the work that he and others are doing at the site is a way of healing that wound, of acknowledging those, who in their lives and deaths, had been treated with such disdain and indifference. He believes that this work of naming and acknowledging the lost and forgotten not only brings peace and healing to those long dead but has a transformative impact on us too.
John’s approach is very near and dear to that of modern Druids. As Druids we understand the importance of honouring the ancestors. We sense that they are the foundation of our being; their days, lived and shed, are the countless layers of fertile psychic soil that we root ourselves within. In Druidry, we aim to respectfully draw from their wisdom and guidance. In remembering those who have gone before, we acknowledge that all existence counts; that each voice, no matter how lowly, has something valuable to add to the ever deepening and unfolding story of life. The Ancestors can enable us to remember who we truly are and, in caring for them, we also begin to learn to care for our descendants. In acknowledging the forgotten ones, we tie the thread of life – the past, present and future – into a circle, a symbol of death and rebirth that makes us one with each other and all creation.
John Constable and the Friends of Crossbones dedication and care illustrates that when we acknowledge the story of those forgotten lives – the struggles, the degradation and the poverty; the heroism and vision of ordinary people who had the odds unfairly stacked against them – we are also acknowledging our common humanity. It teaches us how to treat each other in the here and now – with kindness, respect and care.
Please join us on Sunday 3rd July 2011 at the George Inn – 1.45pm for a 2pm start -77 Borough High Street, London, SE1, the National Trust’s beautiful and historic medieval coaching inn (mentioned in both Dickens and Shakespeare!). There you will hear John Constable – himself a good friend of John Michell – talk about his work with the Crossbones Graveyard, its history and its future. He will also be performing some extacts from his play The Southwark Mysteries. Later in the afternoon, we will join him at the Crossbones site, where he will lead us in a ceremony to honour the Ancestors. The event will finish at 5pm, but the George is open until 11pm!
Tickets for the event cost £15 (£10 concessions) and you can book by clicking here. Spaces are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment! | 2019-04-22T18:01:15Z | https://philipcarrgomm.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/the-liberty-of-the-clink-a-summer-day-to-remember/ | Porn | Arts | 0.850145 |
wikipedia | Net Promoter or Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm's customer relationships. It serves as an alternative to traditional customer satisfaction research and is claimed to be correlated with revenue growth. NPS has been widely adopted with more than two thirds of Fortune 1000 companies using the metric. The tool aims to measure the loyalty that exists between a provider and a consumer. The provider can be a company, employer or any other entity. The provider is the entity that is asking the questions on the NPS survey. The consumer is the customer, employee, or respondent to an NPS survey. An NPS can be as low as −100 (every respondent is a "detractor") or as high as +100 (every respondent is a "promoter"). NPS scores vary across different industries, but a positive NPS (i.e., one that is higher than zero) is generally deemed good, a NPS of +50 is generally deemed excellent, and anything over +70 is exceptional.
The metric was developed by (and is a registered trademark of) Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company and Satmetrix. It was introduced by Reichheld in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article "One Number You Need to Grow".
The Net Promoter Score is calculated based on responses to a single question: How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? The scoring for this answer is most often based on a 0 to 10 scale.
Those who respond with a score of 9 to 10 are called Promoters, and are considered likely to exhibit value-creating behaviors, such as buying more, remaining customers for longer, and making more positive referrals to other potential customers. Those who respond with a score of 0 to 6 are labeled Detractors, and they are believed to be less likely to exhibit the value-creating behaviors. Responses of 7 and 8 are labeled Passives, and their behavior falls between Promoters and Detractors.:51 The Net Promoter Score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers who are Detractors from the percentage of customers who are Promoters. For purposes of calculating a Net Promoter Score, Passives count toward the total number of respondents, thus decreasing the percentage of detractors and promoters and pushing the net score toward 0.
Companies are encouraged to follow the likely-to-recommend question with an open-ended request for elaboration, soliciting the reasons for a customer's rating of that company or product. These reasons can then be provided to front-line employees and management teams for follow-up action. Local office branch managers at Charles Schwab Corporation, for example, call back customers to engage them in a discussion about the feedback they provided through the NPS survey process, solve problems, and learn more so they can coach account representatives.
Reichheld and Markey say the rating and answers to the "Why?" question provide all that is needed to identify reference customers and improvement opportunities. While this may be the case, the lack of any easy way to automatically analyze the verbatim answers without human bias is problematic. The response of many companies to the problem has been to add additional questions with rating scales.
The primary objective of the Net Promoter Score methodology is to predict customer loyalty (as evidenced by repurchase and referral) to a product, service, brand, or company.:49–51 Reichheld and Markey developed the methodology by comparing the ability of several different questions to predict future purchases and referrals of individual respondents. They chose the likelihood to recommend question based on the observation that it best predicted these customer behaviors in 11 of 14 industries studied.:49–51 They also found that differences in Net Promoter Scores among direct competitors in a market could explain substantial differences in revenue growth rates among competitors in a particular market.:61–65:77–81 Importantly, Markey points out that "competitive benchmark" Net Promoter Scores collected through a carefully constructed double-blind Quantitative marketing research methodology provide the only valid basis for comparing scores.
Net Promoter System also requires a process to close the loop. In closing the loop, the provider actively intervenes to learn more from customers who have provided feedback, and also to change a negative perception, often converting a Detractor into a Promoter.:175–198 The Net Promoter survey will identify customers who need some follow-up, including Detractors, and should automatically alert the provider to contact the consumer and manage the followup and actions from that point.
Proponents of the Net Promoter approach claim the score can be used to motivate an organization to become more focused on improving products and services for consumers.:199–200 The Net Promoter approach has been adopted by several companies, including Australia Post, Siemens, E.ON, Philips,:61–65 GE, Apple Retail, American Express, and Intuit. It has also emerged as a way to measure loyalty for online applications, as well as social game products.
For some kinds of industries, notably software and services, it has been shown that Detractors tend to remain with a company and Passives leave. This appears to be the case where switching barriers are relatively high.
While the Net Promoter Score has gained popularity among business executives, it has also attracted controversy from academic and market research circles.
The lack of a proven causal connection is a feature of all use of statistical correlation and regression techniques. They suggest where to look for causal connections, but do not provide them on their own.
NPS does not add anything to other loyalty-related questions.
Research by Keiningham, Cooil, Andreassen and Aksoy disputes that the Net Promoter metric is the best predictor of company growth. Furthermore, Hayes (2008) claimed there was no scientific evidence that the "likelihood to recommend" question is a better predictor of business growth than other customer-loyalty questions (e.g., overall satisfaction, likelihood to purchase again). Specifically, Hayes stated that the "likelihood to recommend" question does not measure anything different from other conventional loyalty-related questions. The customer metrics included in this study perform equally well in predicting current company performance."
NPS uses a scale that may not increase predictive validity.
While several studies, such as one by Preston and Colman, have shown that there is little statistical difference in reliability, validity, or discriminating power, an unpublished paper by Schneider et al (2008) found a more nuanced pattern. Out of four scales tested in two studies (the original LTR with neutral label, a 7-point version with neutral label, a 7 point fully labeled, and 5 point fully labeled), the 7 -point was a slightly better predictor of stated historical recommendations than the 11-point scale advocated by Reichheld.
Less accurate than composite index of questions.
"A single item question is much less reliable and more volatile than a composite index." "Furthermore, combining CFMs (customer feedback metrics), along with simultaneously investigating multiple dimensions of the customer relationship, improves predictions even further."
Fails to predict loyalty behaviors.
"Recommend intention alone will not suffice as a single predictor of customers' future loyalty behaviors. Use of multiple indicators instead of a single predictor model performs significantly better in predicting customer recommendations and retention." "…given the present state of evidence, it cannot be recommended to use the NPI as a predictor of growth nor financial performance."
^ jennymkaplan, Jennifer Kaplan. "The Inventor of Customer Satisfaction Surveys Is Sick of Them, Too". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ Amaresan, Swetha. "What Is a Good Net Promoter Score?". HubSpot. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
^ a b Reichheld, Frederick F. (December 2003). "One Number You Need to Grow". Harvard Business Review.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Reichheld, Fred; Markey, Rob (2011). The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4221-7335-0.
^ Markey, Rob; Fred Reichheld; Andreas Dullweber (December 2009). "Closing the Customer Feedback Loop". Harvard Business Review.
^ Markey, Rob; Reichheld, Fred. "The Economics of Loyalty". Loyalty Insights. Bain & Company, Inc. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ Markey, Rob. "The Benefits of a Competitive Benchmark Net Promoter® Score". Bain & Company. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
^ "Closing the loop". The Net Promoter System. Bain & Company, Inc. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ "Our performance: Improving our customer experience" (PDF). Australia Post Annual Report 2014. p. 20-21.
^ "Management and Facts - Siemens Global Website". www.siemens.com. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
^ "Becoming our customers' partner of choice". E.ON Sustainability. E.ON. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
^ Colvin, Geoff. "How can American Express help you?". Fortune Magazine. Time Inc. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
^ a b "Would You Recommend Us?" Business Week, 29 January 2006.
^ "Net Promoter Score for Social Gaming," 28 February 2011.
^ "Maurice FitzGerald - Satmetrix". September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
^ Pearl, Judea (2009). "Causal inference in statistics: An overview" (PDF). Statistics Surveys. 3: 96–146. doi:10.1214/09-SS057. ISSN 1935-7516. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
^ Timothy L. Keiningham; Bruce Cooil; Tor Wallin Andreassen; Lerzan Aksoy (July 2007). "A Longitudinal Examination of Net Promoter and Firm Revenue Growth". Journal of Marketing. 71 (3): 39–51. doi:10.1509/jmkg.71.3.39.
^ Hayes (2008), "The True Test of Loyalty," Quality Progress, June 2008, 20–26.
^ Preston, Carolyn C.; Colman, Andrew M. (14 September 1999). "Optimal number of response categories in rating scales: reliability, validity, discriminating power, and respondent preferences" (PDF). Acta Psychologica. 104: 1–15. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^ Schneider, Daniel; Berent, Matt; Thomas, Randall; Krosnick, Jon (June 2008). "Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: Improving the 'Net-Promoter' Score" (PDF). van Haaften. Berlin, Germany: Annual Conference of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR). Retrieved 13 August 2015.
^ Hill, Nigel; Roche, Greg; Allen, Rachel (2007). Customer Satisfaction: The customer experience through the customer's eyes. London, England: Cogent Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-9554161-1-8.
^ Timothy L. Keiningham; Bruce Cooil; Lerzan Aksoy; Tor W. Andreassen; Jay Weiner (2007). "The Value of Different Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Metrics in Predicting Customer Retention, Recommendation, and Share-of-Wallet" (PDF). Managing Service Quality. 17 (4): 361–384. doi:10.1108/09604520710760526.
Reichheld, Fred; Markey, Rob (2011). The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World (Rev. and expanded ed.). Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-7335-0.
Reichheld, Fred (2006). The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth ([Nachdr.]. ed.). Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 978-1-59139-783-0.
Reichheld, Fred (1 December 2003). "One Number You Need to Grow". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
This page was last edited on 18 April 2019, at 14:17 (UTC). | 2019-04-20T20:18:03Z | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter_Score | Porn | Business | 0.930689 |
livejournal | This guy introduces himself with a sob story about poverty and hurricanes and he's got the tears flowing and I'm thinking, this has got to be an act to make up for his lack of talent. Ummm...nope. He's for real and his voice makes my toes curl.
Wow, I hope he gets a record deal out of this!! | 2019-04-19T16:50:35Z | https://cagekitten.livejournal.com/1937798.html | Porn | Arts | 0.499803 |
wordpress | following I wanna show you in great detail some of my most favorite woodcut illustrations, created by LUDWIG RICHTER, 1803 – 1884, probably the most famous illustrator of the german romantic ‘biedermeier’ era. you can find a lot more information about him and his art technique in earlier posts here and here.
Wow… these and the older posts of him are really beautiful illustrations especially in composition and layout. Its amazing to imagine the collaboration between him and the wood engraver to reach to the minute details on wood.
Thanks for sharing them hans! Stay healthy and can’t wait to see new posts in the month! | 2019-04-19T04:30:54Z | https://one1more2time3.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/ludwig-richter-2/ | Porn | Arts | 0.974562 |
wordpress | Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season! This time of year, many of us are working on keeping to our New Year’s resolutions, while giving some thought to how we can make the most of the year ahead of us.
While you’re planning how to utilize those valuable marketing dollars over the year ahead, don’t discount the power of a great direct mail campaign. While it’s vital to have an online presence, print media is still a viable source for generating business. According to some studies, even Millennials (people between the ages of 18 and 34) prefer direct mail over digital marketing messages. When asked whether they would prefer to receive promotions via email or direct mail, 90 percent of people from this age group stated a preference for direct mail.
As the industry struggles with the effects of ad-blockers and consumers’ growing impatience with the messages relayed to them on-screen, could we see a shift back to print?
Print advertising and media may be in decline, but that’s not to say that you shouldn’t consider print as an additional marketing/advertising channel as well. Late last year, ad-blockers went mainstream with 13.2 million people in the U.S. alone using ad blocking software. According to Eyeo, this is a 23 percent increase from the same period a year before. Additionally, skipping those TV ads is increasingly becoming easier thanks to DVRs and new products such as TiVo’s Bolt, a device that allows users to skip entire commercial breaks with the push of a button.
As the industry struggles with the effects of ad-blockers and consumers’ growing impatience with the messages relayed to them on-screen, could we see a shift back to print? Is a better, more focused and influential use print to communicate our marketing and advertising messages on the horizon? I suppose we’ll see: we’re all going to have to get a lot more creative when it comes to relaying messages.
This entry was posted in Design Matters, Industry Insights by William. Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-26T12:40:30Z | https://scottcreative.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/bring-print-back-into-your-marketing-mix-in-2016/ | Porn | Business | 0.93275 |
wordpress | The Jr. High Ministry Intern position focuses on training and preparation with work in early adolescent youth in a church environment, and to assist Youth Ministry in ministering to Jr. High youth.
Definite calling into full-time ministry.
Adhere to Southern Baptist faith and message.
Must have completed first full year in seminary.
Minister and work minimum of 20 hours per week.
Have some experience/understanding of youth/Asian culture.
Internship is a minimum of 1 year and maximum of 2 years.
Work with English-speaking youth, grades 7th-9th.
Assist Minister of Youth in Jr. High Ministry.
Preach in the Youth Service or directly to Jr. High youth.
Attend Youth Ministry Team meetings.
Be prepared to serve in any capacity directed by the Minister of Youth.
Attend Children and Youth Prayer Meetings.
First Chinese Baptist Church is primarily ethnic Chinese in Los Angeles Chinatown with multi-generations, and with three languages: Cantonese, English, and Mandarin.
Compensation is either paid tuition, books, and fees up to $12,000.00 or $1000.00 per month stipend.
If interested, please contact John Ng, 213-687-0814 or email him at this link.
This entry was posted on September 3, 2009 at 9:18 am and is filed under internship, youth ministry. Tagged: Chinese church, internship, Los Angeles, youth ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. | 2019-04-23T16:50:25Z | https://isaacopps.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/jr-high-ministry-intern-first-chinese-baptist-church-los-angeles/ | Porn | Kids | 0.950081 |
typepad | Today I'm sharing a couple of adorable bookmarks created with the Book Worm Stamp Set and coordinating dies, Bookmark It Dies, and Good Reads Stamp Set! These new products work perfectly to create all kinds of awesome projects. These bookmarks are perfect to encourage some summer reading, don't you think?!!!
To create the bookmarks, I die cut each from two tones of cardstock using the Bookmark It Dies, darker for the front and lighter for the back. On each I used tone-on-tone stamping with images from the Book Worm Stamp Set and Good Reads Stamp Set to decorated the front of the bookmark. I masked off the scallop edges before stamping to give it a more polished, finished look.
Images from the Book Worm Stamp Set were stamped on smooth white cardstock with Jet Black Ink, colored in with Copic Markers, and die cut with the coordinating dies.
The images were adhered to the front panel of each book mark using Xyron Sticker Adhesive. I used this to give the back of each die cut full adhesive so it lays perfectly flush against the bookmark and won't catch on the pages!
A thought bubble from the Bookmark It Dies, was die cut from smooth white cardstock and customized with greetings from the Good Reads Stamp Set. The thought bubbles were also run through the Xyron Sticker Maker before being adhered to each bookmark.
The back panel of each bookmark was stamped with a phrase from the Good Reads Stamp Set and then the book mark panels were adhered back to back. Each bookmark was finished with coordinating thread at the top and Glossy Accents on the eyeglasses of each critter. | 2019-04-24T20:15:51Z | https://nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/things_that_really_matter/2018/06/mama-elephant-july-stampede-blog-hop-bookworm-giveaway.html | Porn | Reference | 0.161197 |
google | 2001-01-12 First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=26698573&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=US5562849(A) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The present invention relates to softening compounds; stable, homogeneous, preferably concentrated, aqueous liquid and solid textile treatment compositions; and intermediate compositions and/or processes for making said compositions. The compositions of the present invention contain diester quaternary ammonium compounds wherein the fatty acyl groups have an Iodine Value of from greater than about 5 to less than about 100, a cis/trans isomer weight ratio of greater than about 30/70 when the Iodine Value is less than about 25, the level of unsaturation being less than about 65% by weight, wherein said compounds are capable of forming concentrated aqueous compositions with concentrations greater than about 13% by weight at an Iodine Value of greater than about 10 without viscosity modifiers other than normal polar organic solvents present in the raw material of the compound or added electrolyte.
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/142,739, filed on Oct. 25, 1993, which is a continuation-in-part of our U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/024,541, filed Mar. 1, 1993, having the same title.
The present invention relates to softening compounds; stable, homogeneous, preferably concentrated, aqueous liquid and solid textile treatment compositions; and intermediate compositions and/or processes for making said compositions. In particular, it especially relates to textile softening compounds and compositions for use in the rinse cycle of a textile laundering operation to provide excellent fabric softening/static control benefits, the compositions being characterized by excellent storage and viscosity stability, as well as biodegradability.
The art discloses many problems associated with formulating and preparing stable fabric conditioning formulations. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,533, Neiditch et al. issued Sep. 9, 1975. Japanese Laid Open Publication 1,249,129, filed Oct. 4, 1989, discloses a problem with dispersing fabric softener actives containing two long hydrophobic chains interrupted by ester linkages ("diester quaternary ammonium compounds") and solves it by rapid mixing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,414, Chang, issued Nov. 19, 1991, teaches and claims compositions containing mixtures of quaternary ammonium salts containing at least one ester linkage, nonionic surfactant such as a linear alkoxylated alcohol, and liquid carrier for improved stability and dispersibility. U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,547, Straathof et al., issued Aug. 30, 1988, claims compositions containing either diester, or monoester quaternary ammonium compounds where the nitrogen has either one, two, or three methyl groups, stabilized by maintaining a critical low pH of from 2.5 to 4.2.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,578, Verbruggen, issued Aug. 30, 1983 discloses hydrocarbons, fatty acids, fatty acid esters, and fatty alcohols as viscosity control agents for fabric softeners (the fabric softeners are disclosed as optionally comprising ester linkages in the hydrophobic chains). WO 89/115 22-A (DE 3,818,061-A; EP-346,634-A), with a priority of May 27, 1988, discloses diester quaternary ammonium fabric softener components plus a fatty acid. European Pat. No. 243,735 discloses sorbitan esters plus diester quaternary ammonium compounds to improve dispersions of concentrated softener compositions.
Diester quaternary ammonium compounds with a fatty acid, alkyl sulfate, or alkyl sulfonate anion are disclosed in European Pat. No. 336,267-A with a priority of Apr. 2, 1988. U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,321, Walley, issued Feb. 28, 1989, teaches fabric softener compositions comprising monoester analogs of ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride which are dispersed in a liquid carrier as sub-micron particles through high shear mixing, or particles can optionally be stabilized with emulsifiers such as nonionic C14-18 ethoxylates.
E.P. Appln. 243,735, Nusslein et al., published Nov. 4, 1987, discloses sorbitan ester plus diester quaternary ammonium compounds to improve dispersibility of concentrated dispersions.
E.P. Appln. 409,502, Tandela et al., published Jan. 23, 1991, discloses, e.g., ester quaternary ammonium compounds, and a fatty acid material or its salt.
E.P. Appln. 240,727, Nusslein et al., priority date of Mar. 12, 1986, teaches diester quaternary ammonium compounds with soaps or fatty acids for improved dispersibility in water.
The art also teaches compounds that alter the structure of diester quaternary ammonium compounds by substituting, e.g., a hydroxy ethyl for a methyl group or a polyalkoxy group for the alkoxy group in the two hydrophobic chains. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,867, Kang et al., issued Oct. 28, 1975, discloses the substitution of a hydroxyethyl group for a methyl group. A softener material with specific cis/trans content in the long hydrophobic groups is disclosed in Jap. Pat. Appln. 63-194316, filed Nov. 21, 1988. Jap. Pat. Appln. 4-333,667, published Nov. 20, 1992, teaches liquid softener compositions containing diester quaternary ammonium compounds having a total saturated:unsaturated ratio in the ester alkyl groups of 2:98 to 30:70.
All of the above patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
wherein each Y is --O--(O)C--, or --C(O)--O--; m is 2 or 3; n is 1 to 4; each R is a C1 -C6 alkyl group, benzyl group, or mixtures thereof, each R2 is a C11 -C21 hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl substituent; and X- is any softener-compatible anion; and wherein the compound is derived from C12 -C22 fatty acyl groups having an Iodine Value of from greater than about 20 to less than about 100 for optimum static control, and a level of unsaturation of the fatty acyl groups that is less than about 65% by weight; wherein the composition is unstable without a dispersibility modifier only when the wt % of the fabric softening compound is greater than approximately 4.85+0.838 (Iodine Value)-0.00756 (Iodine Value)2 ; and wherein said dispersibility modifier affects the composition's viscosity, dispersibility, or both.
wherein the total CaCl2 in the composition is from about 2,000 ppm to about 11,000 ppm and wherein the composition does not contain a dispersibility modifier.
(d) the injection rate of Step D is about 200 to about 2,500 ppm per minute over a total of about 2 to about 7 minutes.
wherein the total CaCl2 in the composition is from about 2,000 ppm to about 10,000 ppm.
wherein the water level is less than about 1%, preferably less than about 0.5%, the molten composition preferably being stored under nitrogen and more preferably being stored under conditions where the oxygen level is less than 0.1%.
The molten composition is preferably stored at a storage temperature of from about 120° F. to about 150° F. The molten composition preferably comprises from about 0.01% to about 0.2% reductive agent stabilizer, from about 0.035% to about 0.1% antioxidant stabilizer, or mixtures thereof. The said stabilizer is preferably selected from the group consisting of ascorbic acid, propyl gallate, ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene, tertiary butylhydroquinone, natural tocopherols, butylated hydroxyanisole, sodium borohydride, hypophosphorous acid, isopropyl citrate, C8 -C22 esters of gallic acid, IrganoxR 1010, IrganoxR 1035, IrganoxR B 1171, IrganoxR 1425, IrganoxR 3114, IrganoxR 3125, IrgafosR 168, and mixtures thereof. The molten composition preferably has an alcohol level of from about 12% to about 16%, the alcohol preferably being selected from the group consisting of ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and mixtures thereof.
(B) from about 1,000 ppm to about 15,000 ppm of electrolyte.
In the above process, the electrolyte is preferably selected from compatible inorganic salts of the group consisting of IA and IIA metals of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Also, preferably, said processing aid is added in at least an amount necessary to liquify said organic premix at its temperature prior to forming the dispersion in Step (A). Also, preferably, said composition is substantially free of viscosity or dispersibility modifiers for viscosity, dispersibility modifiers other than C1 -C5 alcohols, electrolytes, and perfume.
The present invention provides biodegradable textile softening compositions and compounds with excellent concentratability, static control, softening, and storage stability of concentrated aqueous compositions. In addition, these compositions provide these benefits under worldwide laundering conditions and minimize the use of extraneous ingredients for stability and static control to decrease environmental chemical load.
The compounds of the present invention are quaternary ammonium compounds wherein the fatty acyl groups have an IV of from greater than about 5 to less than about 100, a cis/trans isomer weight ratio of greater than about 30/70 when the IV is less than about 25, the level of unsaturation being less than about 65% by weight, wherein said compounds are capable of forming concentrated aqueous compositions with concentrations greater than about 13% by weight at an IV of greater than about 10 without viscosity modifiers other than normal polar organic solvents present in the raw material of the compound or added electrolyte, and wherein any fatty acyl groups from tallow must be modified.
The compositions can be aqueous liquids, preferably concentrated, containing from about 5% to about 50%, preferably from about 15% to about 40%, more preferably from about 15% to about 35%, and even more preferably from about 15% to about 32%, of said biodegradable, preferably diester, softening compound, or can be further concentrated to particulate solids, containing from about 50% to about 95%, preferably from about 60% to about 90%, of said softening compound.
Water can be added to the particulate solid compositions to form dilute or concentrated liquid softener compositions with a concentration of said softening compound of from about 5% to about 50%, preferably from about 5% to about 35%, more preferably from about 5% to about 32%. The particulate solid composition can also be used directly in the rinse bath to provide adequate usage concentration (e.g., from about 10 to about 1,000 ppm, preferably from about 50 to about 500 ppm, of total active ingredient). The liquid compositions can be added to the rinse to provide the same usage concentrations. Providing the composition in solid form provides cost savings on shipping the product (less weight) and cost savings on processing the composition (less shear and heat input needed to process the solid form).
The present invention also provides a process for preparation of concentrated aqueous biodegradable textile softener compositions (dispersions) with excellent de-watering of the softener vesicles in said dispersions, involving a two-stage addition of electrolyte which results in more water in the continuous phase and greater fluidity of said concentrated aqueous compositions. This process also involves the addition of perfume at lower than conventional temperatures which retards partitioning of certain perfume components into the softener vesicles, and thereby promotes viscosity stability. In addition, adding perfume to concentrated liquid fabric softeners, at ambient temperature, in a separate mixing vessel minimizes their volatilization and cross-contamination between batches and simplifies the manufacturing operation.
each R2 is a long chain, at least partially unsaturated (IV of greater than about 5 to less than about 100), C11 -C21 hydrocarbyl, or substituted hydrocarbyl substituent and the counterion, X-, can be any softener-compatible anion, for example, chloride, bromide, methylsulfate, formate, sulfate, nitrate and the like.
DEQA compounds prepared with fully saturated acyl groups are rapidly biodegradable and excellent softeners. However, it has now been discovered that compounds prepared with at least partially unsaturated acyl groups have many advantages (i.e., concentratability and good storage viscosity) and are highly acceptable for consumer products when certain conditions are met.
Variables that must be adjusted to obtain the benefits of using unsaturated acyl groups include the Iodine Value (IV) of the fatty acids; the cis/trans isomer weight ratios in the fatty acyl groups; and the odor of fatty acid and/or the DEQA. Any reference to IV values hereinafter refers to IV (Iodine Value) of fatty acyl groups and not to the resulting DEQA compound.
When the IV of the fatty acyl groups is above about 20, the DEQA provides excellent antistatic effect. Antistatic effects are especially important where the fabrics are dried in a tumble dryer, and/or where synthetic materials which generate static are used. Maximum static control occurs with an IV of greater than about 20, preferably greater than about 40. When fully saturated DEQA compositions are used, poor static control results. Also, as discussed hereinafter, concentratability increases as IV increases. The benefits of concentratability include: use of less packaging material; use of less organic solvents, especially volatile organic solvents; use of less concentration aids which may add nothing to performance; etc.
As the IV is raised, there is a potential for odor problems. Surprisingly, some highly desirable, readily available sources of fatty acids such as tallow, possess odors that remain with the compound DEQA despite the chemical and mechanical processing steps which convert the raw tallow to finished DEQA. Such sources must be deodorized, e.g., by absorption, distillation (including stripping such as steam stripping), etc., as is well known in the art. In addition, care must be taken to minimize contact of the resulting fatty acyl groups to oxygen and/or bacteria by adding antioxidants, antibacterial agents, etc. The additional expense and effort associated with the unsaturated fatty acyl groups is justified by the superior concentratability and/or performance which was not heretofore recognized. For example, DEQA containing unsaturated fatty acyl groups can be concentrated above about 13% without the need for additional concentration aids, especially surfactant concentration aids as discussed hereinafter.
DEQA derived from highly unsaturated fatty acyl groups, i.e., fatty acyl groups having a total unsaturation above about 65% by weight, do not provide any additional improvement in antistatic effectiveness. They may, however, able to provide other benefits such as improved water absorbency of the fabrics. In general, an IV range of from about 40 to about 65 is preferred for concentratability, maximization of fatty acyl sources, excellent softness, static control, etc.
Highly concentrated aqueous dispersions of these diester compounds can gel and/or thicken during low (40° F.) temperature storage. Diester compounds made from only unsaturated fatty acids minimizes this problem but additionally is more likely to cause malodor formation. Surprisingly, compositions from these diester compounds made from fatty acids having an IV of from about 5 to about 25, preferably from about 10 to about 25, more preferably from about 15 to about 20, and a cis/trans isomer weight ratio of from greater than about 30/70, preferably greater than about 50/50, more preferably greater than about 70/30, are storage stable at low temperature with minimal odor formation. These cis/trans isomer weight ratios provide optimal concentratability at these IV ranges. In the IV range above about 25, the ratio of cis to trans isomers is less important unless higher concentrations are needed. The relationship between IV and concentratability is described hereinafter. For any IV, the concentration that will be stable in an aqueous composition will depend on the criteria for stability (e.g., stable down to about 5° C.; stable down to 0° C.; doesn't gel; gels but recovers on heating, etc.) and the other ingredients present, but the concentration that is stable can be raised by adding the concentration aids, described hereinafter in more detail, to achieve the desired stability.
Generally, hydrogenation of fatty acids to reduce polyunsaturation and to lower IV to insure good color and improve odor and odor stability leads to a high degree of trans configuration in the molecule. Therefore, diester compounds derived from fatty acyl groups having low IV values can be made by mixing fully hydrogenated fatty acid with touch hydrogenated fatty acid at a ratio which provides an IV of from about 5 to about 25. The polyunsaturation content of the touch hardened fatty acid should be less than about 5%, preferably less than about 1%. During touch hardening the cis/trans isomer weight ratios are controlled by methods known in the art such as by optimal mixing, using specific catalysts, providing high H2 availability, etc. Touch hardened fatty acid with high cis/trans isomer weight ratios is available commercially (i.e., Radiacid 406 from FINA).
It has also been found that for good chemical stability of the diester quaternary compound in molten storage, moisture level in the raw material must be controlled and minimized preferably less than about 1% and more preferably less than about 0.5% water. Storage temperatures should be kept low as possible and still maintain a fluid material, ideally in the range of from about 120° F. to about 150° F. The optimum storage temperature for stability and fluidity depends on the specific IV of the fatty acid used to make the diester quaternary and the level/type of solvent selected. It is important to provide good molten storage stability to provide a commercially feasible raw material that will not degrade noticeably in the normal transportation/storage/handling of the material in manufacturing operations.
II. for liquid compositions: from about 5% to about 50%, preferably from about 15% to about 40%, more preferably from about 15% to about 35%, and even more preferably from about 15% to about 32%.
It will be understood that substituents R and R2 can optionally be substituted with various groups such as alkoxyl or hydroxyl groups. The preferred compounds can be considered to be diester variations of ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride (DTDMAC), which is a widely used fabric softener. At least 80% of the DEQA is in the diester form, and from 0% to about 20%, preferably less than about 10%, more preferably less than about 5%, can be DEQA monoester (e.g., only one --Y--R2 group).
As used herein, when the diester is specified, it will include the monoester that is normally present. For softening, under no/low detergent carry-over laundry conditions the percentage of monoester should be as low as possible, preferably no more than about 2.5%. However, under high detergent carry-over conditions, some monoester is preferred. The overall ratios of diester to monoester are from about 100:1 to about 2:1, preferably from about 50:1 to about 5:1, more preferably from about 13:1 to about 8:1. Under high detergent carry-over conditions, the di/monoester ratio is preferably about 11:1. The level of monoester present can be controlled in the manufacturing of the DEQA.
DEQA compounds prepared with saturated acyl groups, i.e., having an IV of about 5 or less, can be partially substituted for the DEQA compounds of the present invention prepared with unsaturated acyl groups having an IV of greater than about 20. This partial substitution can decrease the odor associated with unsaturated DEQA. The ratio is from about 0.2:1 to about 8:1, preferably from about 0.25:1 to about 4:1, most preferably from about 0.3:1 to about 1.5:1.
Saturated ##STR1## where --C(O)R2 is derived from saturated tallow. Unsaturated ##STR2## where --C(O)R2 is derived from partially hydrogenated tallow or modified tallow having the characteristics set forth herein.
It is especially surprising that careful pH control can noticeably improve product odor stability of compositions using unsaturated DEQA.
In addition, since the foregoing compounds (diesters) are somewhat labile to hydrolysis, they should be handled rather carefully when used to formulate the compositions herein. For example, stable liquid compositions herein are formulated at a pH in the range of from about 2 to about 5, preferably from about 2 to about 4.5, more preferably from about 2 to about 4. For best product odor stability, when the IV is greater that about 25, the pH is from about 2.8 to about 3.5, especially for "unscented" (no perfume) or lightly scented products. This appears to be true for all DEQAs, but is especially true for the preferred DEQA specified herein, i.e., having an IV of greater than about 20, preferably greater than about 40. The limitation is more important as IV increases. The pH can be adjusted by the addition of a Bronsted acid. The pH ranges above are determined without prior dilution of the composition with water.
Examples of suitable Bronsted acids include the inorganic mineral acids, carboxylic acids, in particular the low molecular weight (C1 -C5) carboxylic acids, and alkylsulfonic acids. Suitable inorganic acids include HCl, H2 SO4, HNO3 and H3 PO4. Suitable organic acids include formic, acetic, methylsulfonic and ethylsulfonic acid. Preferred acids are hydrochloric, phosphoric, and citric acids.
N-Methyldiethanolamine (440.9 g, 3.69 mol) and triethylamine (561.2 g, 5.54 mol) are dissolved in CH2 Cl2 (12 L) in a 22 L 3-necked flask equipped with an addition funnel, thermometer, mechanical stirrer, condenser, and an argon sweep. Deodorized, touch hardened, soft tallow fatty acid chloride (2.13 kg, 7.39 mol) is dissolved in 2 L Ch2 Cl2 and added slowly to the amine solution. The amine solution is then heated to 35° C. to keep the talloyl chloride in solution as it is added. The addition of the acid chloride increased the reaction temperature to reflux (40° C.). The acid chloride addition is slow enough to maintain reflux but not so fast as to lose methylene chloride out of the top of the condenser. The addition should take place over 1.5 hours. The solution is heated at reflux an additional 3 hours. The heat is removed and the reaction stirred 2 hours to cool to room temperature. CHCl3 (12 L) is added. This solution is washed with 1 gallon of saturated NaCl and 1 gallon of saturated Ca(OH)2. The organic layer is allowed to set overnight at room temperature. It is then extracted three times with 50% K2 CO3 (2 gal. each). This is followed by 2 saturated NaCl washes (2 gal. each). Any emulsion that formed during these extractions is resolved by addition of CHCl3 and/or saturated salt and heating on a steam bath. The organic layer is then dried with MgSO4, filtered and concentrated down. Yield is 2.266 kg of soft tallow precursor amine diester. TLC silica (75% Et2 O/25% hexane one spot at Rf 0.69).
Soft tallow precursor amine (2.166 kg, 3.47 mol) is heated on a steam bath with CH3 CN (1 gal.) until it becomes fluid. The mixture is then poured into a 10 gal., glass-lined, stirred Pfaudler reactor containing Ch3 CN (4 gal.). CH3 Cl (25 lbs., liquid) was added via a tube and the reaction is heated to 80° C. for 6 hours. The CH3 CN/amine solution is removed from the reactor, filtered and the solid allowed to dry at room temperature over the weekend. The filtrate is roto-evaporated down, allowed to air dry overnight and combined with the other solid. Yield: 2.125 kg white powder.
0.6 mole of diethanol methyl amine is placed in a 3-liter, 3-necked flask equipped with a reflux condenser, argon (or nitrogen) inlet and two addition funnels. In one addition funnel is placed 0.4 moles of triethylamine and in the second addition funnel is placed 1.2 moles of palmitoyl chloride in a 1:1 solution with methylene chloride. Methylene chloride (750 mL) is added to the reaction flask containing the amine and heated to 35° C. (water bath). The triethylamine is added dropwise, and the temperature is raised to 40°-45° C. while stirring over one-half hour. The palmitoyl chloride/methylene chloride solution is added dropwise and allowed to heat at 40°-45° C. under inert atmosphere overnight (12-16 h).
0.5 moles of the methyl diethanol palmitoleate amine from Step A is placed in an autoclave sleeve along with 200-300 mL of acetonitrile (anhydrous). The sample is then inserted into the autoclave and purged three times with N2 (16275 mm Hg/21.4 ATM) and once with CH3 Cl. The reaction is heated to 80° C. under a pressure of 3604 mm Hg/4.7 ATM in CH3 Cl for 24 hours. The autoclave sleeve is then removed from the reaction mixture. The sample is dissolved in chloroform and solvent is removed by rotary evaporation, followed by drying on high vacuum (0.25 mm Hg).
Another process by which the preferred diester quaternary compound can be made commercially is the reaction of fatty acids (e.g., tallow fatty acids) with methyl diethanolamine. Well known reaction methods are used to form the amine diester precursor. The diester quaternary is then formed by reaction with methyl chloride as previously discussed.
The above reaction processes are generally known in the art for the production of diester softening compounds. To achieve the IV, cis/trans ratios, and percentage unsaturation outlined above, usually additional modifications to these processes must be made.
As stated before, relatively concentrated compositions of the unsaturated DEQA can be prepared that are stable without the addition of concentration aids. However, the compositions of the present invention require organic and/or inorganic concentration aids to go to even higher concentrations and/or to meet higher stability standards depending on the other ingredients. These concentration aids which typically can be viscosity modifiers may be needed, or preferred, for ensuring stability under extreme conditions when particular softener active levels in relation to IV are present.
Concentration of Softener Active (Wt. %)=4.85+0.838 (IV)-0.00756 (IV)2 (where R2 =0.99). Above these softener active levels, concentration aids are needed. These numbers are only approximations and if other variables of the formulation change, such as solvent, other ingredients, fatty acids, etc., concentration aids may be required for slightly lower concentrations or not required for slightly higher concentrations. For non-perfume or low level perfume compositions ("unscented" compositions), higher concentrations are possible at given IV levels. If the formulation separates, concentration aids can be added to achieve the desired criteria.
The surfactant concentration aids are typically selected from the group consisting of (1) single long chain alkyl cationic surfactants; (2) nonionic surfactants; (3) amine oxides; (4) fatty acids; or (5) mixtures thereof. The levels of these aids are described below.
II. in liquid compositions are at a level of from 0% to about 15%, preferably from about 0.5% to about 10%, the total single-long-chain cationic surfactant being at least at an effective level.
wherein the R2 group is C10 -C22 hydrocarbon group, preferably C12 -C18 alkyl group or the corresponding ester linkage interrupted group with a short alkylene (C1 -C4) group between the ester linkage and the N, and having a similar hydrocarbon group, e.g., a fatty acid ester of choline, preferably C12 -C14 (coco) choline ester and/or C16 -C18 tallow choline ester at from about 0.1% to about 20% by weight of the softener active. Each R is a C1 -C4 alkyl or substituted (e.g., hydroxy) alkyl, or hydrogen, preferably methyl, and the counterion X- is a softener compatible anion, for example, chloride, bromide, methyl sulfate, etc.
The ranges above represent the amount of the single-long-chain-alkyl cationic surfactant which is added to the composition of the present invention. The ranges do not include the amount of monoester which is already present in component (A), the diester quaternary ammonium compound, the total present being at least at an effective level.
The long chain group R2, of the single-long-chain-alkyl cationic surfactant, typically contains an alkylene group having from about 10 to about 22 carbon atoms, preferably from about 12 to about 16 carbon atoms for solid compositions, and preferably from about 12 to about 18 carbon atoms for liquid compositions. This R2 group can be attached to the cationic nitrogen atom through a group containing one, or more, ester, amide, ether, amine, etc., preferably ester, linking groups which can be desirable for increased hydrophilicity, biodegradability, etc. Such linking groups are preferably within about three carbon atoms of the nitrogen atom. Suitable biodegradable single-long-chain alkyl cationic surfactants containing an ester linkage in the long chain are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,738, Hardy and Walley, issued Jun. 20, 1989, said patent being incorporated herein by reference.
If the corresponding, non-quaternary amines are used, any acid (preferably a mineral or polycarboxylic acid) which is added to keep the ester groups stable will also keep the amine protonated in the compositions and preferably during the rinse so that the amine has a cationic group. The composition is buffered (pH from about 2 to about 5, preferably from about 2 to about 4) to maintain an appropriate, effective charge density in the aqueous liquid concentrate product and upon further dilution e.g., to form a less concentrated product and/or upon addition to the rinse cycle of a laundry process.
It will be understood that the main function of the water-soluble cationic surfactant is to lower the viscosity and/or increase the dispersibility of the diester softener and it is not, therefore, essential that the cationic surfactant itself have substantial softening properties, although this may be the case. Also, surfactants having only a single long alkyl chain, presumably because they have greater solubility in water, can protect the diester softener from interacting with anionic surfactants and/or detergent builders that are carried over into the rinse.
Other cationic materials with ring structures such as alkyl imidazoline, imidazolinium, pyridine, and pyridinium salts having a single C12 -C30 alkyl chain can also be used. Very low pH is required to stabilize, e.g., imidazoline ring structures.
Some alkyl imidazolinium salts useful in the present invention have the general formula: ##STR7## wherein Y2 is --C(O)--O--, --O--(O)--C--, --C(O)--N(R5), or --N(R5)--C(O)--in which R5 is hydrogen or a C1 -C4 alkyl radical; R6 is a C1 -C4 alkyl radical; R7 and R8 are each independently selected from R and R2 as defined hereinbefore for the single-long-chain cationic surfactant with only one being R2.
Some alkyl pyridinium salts useful in the present invention have the general formula: ##STR8## wherein R2 and X- are as defined above. A typical material of this type is cetyl pyridinium chloride.
Suitable nonionic surfactants to serve as the viscosity/dispersibility modifier include addition products of ethylene oxide and, optionally, propylene oxide, with fatty alcohols, fatty acids, fatty amines, etc.
wherein R2 for both solid and liquid compositions is selected from the group consisting of primary, secondary and branched chain alkyl and/or acyl hydrocarbyl groups; primary, secondary and branched chain alkenyl hydrocarbyl groups; and primary, secondary and branched chain alkyl- and alkenyl-substituted phenolic hydrocarbyl groups; said hydrocarbyl groups having a hydrocarbyl chain length of from about 8 to about 20, preferably from about 10 to about 18 carbon atoms. More preferably the hydrocarbyl chain length for liquid compositions is from about 16 to about 18 carbon atoms and for solid compositions from about 10 to about 14 carbon atoms. In the general formula for the ethoxylated nonionic surfactants herein, Y is typically --O--, --C(O)O--, --C(O)N(R)--, or --C(O)N(R)R--, in which R2, and R, when present, have the meanings given hereinbefore, and/or R can be hydrogen, and z is at least about 8, preferably at least about 10-11. Performance and, usually, stability of the softener composition decrease when fewer ethoxylate groups are present.
The nonionic surfactants herein are characterized by an HLB (hydrophilic-lipophilic balance) of from about 7 to about 20, preferably from about 8 to about 15. Of course, by defining R2 and the number of ethoxylate groups, the HLB of the surfactant is, in general, determined. However, it is to be noted that the nonionic ethoxylated surfactants useful herein, for concentrated liquid compositions, contain relatively long chain R2 groups and are relatively highly ethoxylated. While shorter alkyl chain surfactants having short ethoxylated groups may possess the requisite HLB, they are not as effective herein.
Nonionic surfactants as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers are preferred over the other modifiers disclosed herein for compositions with higher levels of perfume.
The deca-, undeca-, dodeca-, tetradeca-, and pentadecaethoxylates of n-hexadecanol, and n-octadecanol having an HLB within the range recited herein are useful viscosity/dispersibility modifiers in the context of this invention. Exemplary ethoxylated primary alcohols useful herein as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of the compositions are n-C18 EO(10); and n-C10 EO(11). The ethoxylates of mixed natural or synthetic alcohols in the "tallow" chain length range are also useful herein. Specific examples of such materials include tallowalcohol-EO(11), tallowalcohol-EO(18), and tallowalcohol -EO(25).
The deca-, undeca-, dodeca-, tetradeca-, pentadeca-, octadeca-, and nonadeca-ethoxylates of 3-hexadecanol, 2-octadecanol, 4-eicosanol, and 5-eicosanol having and HLB within the range recited herein are useful viscosity/dispersibility modifiers in the context of this invention. Exemplary ethoxylated secondary alcohols useful herein as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of the compositions are: 2-C16 EO(11); 2-C20 EO(11); and 2-C16 EO(14).
As in the case of the alcohol alkoxylates, the hexa- through octadeca-ethoxylates of alkylated phenols, particularly monohydric alkylphenols, having an HLB within the range recited herein are useful as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of the instant compositions. The hexa- through octadeca-ethoxylates of p-tridecylphenol, m-pentadecylphenol, and the like, are useful herein. Exemplary ethoxylated alkylphenols useful as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of the mixtures herein are: p-tridecylphenol EO(11) and p-pentadecylphenol EO(18).
The alkenyl alcohols, both primary and secondary, and alkenyl phenols corresponding to those disclosed immediately hereinabove can be ethoxylated to an HLB within the range recited herein and used as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of the instant compositions.
Branched chain primary and secondary alcohols which are available from the well-known "OXO" process can be ethoxylated and employed as the viscosity/dispersibility modifiers of compositions herein.
Suitable amine oxides include those with one alkyl or hydroxyalkyl moiety of about 8 to about 28 carbon atoms, preferably from about 8 to about 16 carbon atoms, and two alkyl moieties selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups and hydroxyalkyl groups with about 1 to about 3 carbon atoms.
II. in liquid compositions are at a level of from 0% to about 5%, preferably from about 0.25% to about 2%, the total amine oxide present at least at an effective level.
Examples include dimethyloctylamine oxide, diethyldecylamine oxide, bis-(2-hydroxyethyl)dodecylamine oxide, dimethyldodecylamine oxide, dipropyltetradecylamine oxide, methylethylhexadecylamine oxide, dimethyl-2-hydroxyoctadecylamine oxide, and coconut fatty alkyl dimethylamine oxide.
Suitable fatty acids include those containing from about 12 to about 25, preferably from about 13 to about 22, more preferably from about 16 to about 20, total carbon atoms, with the fatty moiety containing from about 10 to about 22, preferably from about 10 to about 18, more preferably from about 10 to about 14 (midcut), carbon atoms. The shorter moiety contains from about 1 to about 4, preferably from about 1 to about 2 carbon atoms.
Fatty acids are present at the levels outlined above for amine oxides. Fatty acids are preferred concentration aids for those compositions which require a concentration aid and contain perfume.
Inorganic viscosity control agents which can also act like or augment the effect of the surfactant concentration aids, include water-soluble, ionizable salts which can also optionally be incorporated into the compositions of the present invention. A wide variety of ionizable salts can be used. Examples of suitable salts are the halides of the Group IA and IIA metals of the Periodic Table of the Elements, e.g., calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium bromide, and lithium chloride. The ionizable salts are particularly useful during the process of mixing the ingredients to make the compositions herein, and later to obtain the desired viscosity. The amount of ionizable salts used depends on the amount of active ingredients used in the compositions and can be adjusted according to the desires of the formulator. Typical levels of salts used to control the composition viscosity are from about 20 to about 20,000 parts per million (ppm), preferably from about 20 to about 11,000 ppm, by weight of the composition.
Alkylene polyammonium salts can be incorporated into the composition to give viscosity control in addition to or in place of the water-soluble, ionizable salts above. In addition, these agents can act as scavengers, forming ion pairs with anionic detergent carried over from the main wash, in the rinse, and on the fabrics, and may improve softness performance. These agents may stabilize the viscosity over a broader range of temperature, especially at low temperatures, compared to the inorganic electrolytes.
Specific examples of alkylene polyammonium salts include 1-lysine monohydrochloride and 1,5-diammonium 2-methyl pentane dihydrochloride.
Stabilizers can be present in the compositions of the present invention. The term "stabilizer," as used herein, includes antioxidants and reductive agents. These agents are present at a level of from 0% to about 2%, preferably from about 0.01% to about 0.2%, more preferably from about 0.035% to about 0.1% for antioxidants, and more preferably from about 0.01% to about 0.2% for reductive agents. These assure good odor stability under long term storage conditions for the compositions and compounds stored in molten form. Use of antioxidants and reductive agent stabilizers is especially critical for unscented or low scent products (no or low perfume).
Examples of antioxidants that can be added to the compositions of this invention include a mixture of ascorbic acid, ascorbic palmitate, propyl gallate, available from Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., under the trade names Tenox® PG and Tenox S-1; a mixture of BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), propyl gallate, and citric acid, available from Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., under the trade name Tenox-6; butylated hydroxytoluene, available from UOP Process Division under the trade name Sustane® BHT; tertiary butylhydroquinone, Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., as Tenox TBHQ; natural tocopherols, Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., as Tenox GT-1/GT-2; and butylated hydroxyanisole, Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., as BHA; long chain esters (C8 -C22) of gallic acid, e.g., dodecyl gallate; Irganox® 1010; Irganox® 1035; Irganox® B 1171; Irganox® 1425; Irganox® 3114; Irganox® 3125; and mixtures thereof; preferably Irganox® 3125, Irganox® 1425, Irganox® 3114, and mixtures thereof; more preferably Irganox® 3125 alone or mixed with citric acid and/or other chelators such as isopropyl citrate, Dequest® 2010, available from Monsanto with a chemical name of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acid (etidronic acid), and Tiron®, available from Kodak with a chemical name of 4,5-dihydroxy-m-benzene-sulfonic acid/sodium salt, and DTPA®, available from Aldrich with a chemical name of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. The chemical names and CAS numbers for some of the above stabilizers are listed in Table II below.
Examples of reductive agents include sodium borohydride, hypophosphorous acid, Irgafos® 168, and mixtures thereof.
The liquid carrier employed in the instant compositions is preferably at least primarily water due to its low cost relative availability, safety, and environmental compatibility. The level of water in the liquid carrier is at least about 50%, preferably at least about 60%, by weight of the carrier. The level of liquid carrier is less than about 70, preferably less than about 65, more preferably less than about 50. Mixtures of water and low molecular weight, e.g., <100, organic solvent, e.g., lower alcohol such as ethanol, propanol, isopropanol or butanol are useful as the carrier liquid. Low molecular weight alcohols include monohydric, dihydric (glycol, etc.) trihydric (glycerol, etc.), and higher polyhydric (polyols) alcohols.
Optionally, the compositions herein contain from 0% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 5%, more preferably from about 0.1% to about 2%, of a soil release agent. Preferably, such a soil release agent is a polymer. Polymeric soil release agents useful in the present invention include copolymeric blocks of terephthalate and polyethylene oxide or polypropylene oxide, and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,447, Gosselink/Hardy/Trinh, issued Sep. 11, 1990, discloses specific preferred soil release agents comprising cationic functionalities, said patent being incorporated herein by reference.
A preferred soil release agent is a copolymer having blocks of terephtalate and polyethylene oxide. More specifically, these polymers are comprised of repeating units of ethylene and/or propylene terephthalate and polyethylene oxide terephthalate at a molar ratio of ethylene terephthalate units to polyethylene oxide terephthalate units of from about 25:75 to about 35:65, said polyethylene oxide terephthalate containing polyethylene oxide blocks having molecular weights of from about 300 to about 2000. The molecular weight of this polymeric soil release agent is in the range of from about 5,000 to about 55,000.
Another preferred polymeric soil release agent is a crystallizable polyester with repeat units of ethylene terephthalate units containing from about 10% to about 15% by weight of ethylene terephthalate units together with from about 10% to about 50% by weight of polyoxyethylene terephthalate units, derived from a polyoxyethylene glycol of average molecular weight of from about 300 to about 6,000, and the molar ratio of ethylene terephthalate units to polyoxyethylene terephthalate units in the crystallizable polymeric compound is between 2:1 and 6:1. Examples of this polymer include the commercially available materials Zelcon® 4780 (from Dupont) and Milease® T (from ICI).
Highly preferred soil release agents are polymers of the generic formula (I): ##STR9## in which X can be any suitable capping group, with each X being selected from the group consisting of H, and alkyl or acyl groups containing from about 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, preferably methyl. n is selected for water solubility and generally is from about 6 to about 113, preferably from about 20 to about 50. u is critical to formulation in a liquid composition having a relatively high ionic strength. There should be very little material in which u is greater than 10. Furthermore, there should be at least 20%, preferably at least 40%, of material in which u ranges from about 3 to about 5.
The R1 moieties are essentially 1,4-phenylene moieties. As used herein, the term "the R1 moieties are essentially 1,4-phenylene moieties" refers to compounds where the R1 moieties consist entirely of 1,4-phenylene moieties, or are partially substituted with other arylene or alkarylene moieties, alkylene moieties, alkenylene moieties, or mixtures thereof. Arylene and alkarylene moieties which can be partially substituted for 1,4-phenylene include 1,3-phenylene, 1,2-phenylene, 1,8-naphthylene, 1,4-naphthylene, 2,2-biphenylene, 4,4-biphenylene and mixtures thereof. Alkylene and alkenylene moieties which can be partially substituted include ethylene, 1,2-propylene, 1,4-butylene, 1,5-pentylene, 1,6-hexamethylene, 1,7-heptamethylene, 1,8-octamethylene, 1,4-cyclohexylene, and mixtures thereof.
For the R1 moieties, the degree of partial substitution with moieties other than 1,4-phenylene should be such that the soil release properties of the compound are not adversely affected to any great extent. Generally, the degree of partial substitution which can be tolerated will depend upon the backbone length of the compound, i.e., longer backbones can have greater partial substitution for 1,4-phenylene moieties. Usually, compounds where the R1 comprise from about 50% to about 100% 1,4-phenylene moieties (from 0 to about 50% moieties other than 1,4-phenylene) have adequate soil release activity. For example, polyesters made according to the present invention with a 40:60 mole ratio of isophthalic (1,3-phenylene) to terephthalic (1,4-phenylene) acid have adequate soil release activity. However, because most polyesters used in fiber making comprise ethylene terephthalate units, it is usually desirable to minimize the degree of partial substitution with moieties other than 1,4-phenylene for best soil release activity. Preferably, the R1 moieties consist entirely of (i.e., comprise 100%) 1,4-phenylene moieties, i.e., each R1 moiety is 1,4-phenylene.
For the R2 moieties, suitable ethylene or substituted ethylene moieties include ethylene, 1,2-propylene, 1,2-butylene, 1,2-hexylene, 3-methoxy-1,2-propylene and mixtures thereof. Preferably, the R2 moieties are essentially ethylene moieties, 1,2-propylene moieties or mixture thereof. Inclusion of a greater percentage of ethylene moieties tends to improve the soil release activity of compounds. Inclusion of a greater percentage of 1,2-propylene moieties tends to improve the water solubility of the compounds.
Therefore, the use of 1,2-propylene moieties or a similar branched equivalent is desirable for incorporation of any substantial part of the soil release component in the liquid fabric softener compositions. Preferably, from about 75% to about 100%, more preferably from about 90% to about 100%, of the R2 moieties are 1,2-propylene moieties.
The value for each n is at least about 6, and preferably is at least about 10. The value for each n usually ranges from about 12 to about 113. Typically, the value for each n is in the range of from about 12 to about 43.
A more complete disclosure of these highly preferred soil release agents is contained in European Pat. Application 185,427, Gosselink, published Jun. 25, 1986, incorporated herein by reference.
Examples of bacteriocides that can be used in the compositions of this invention are parabens, especially methyl, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol sold by Inolex Chemicals under the trade name Bronopol®, and a mixture of 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazoline-3-one and 2-methyl-4-isothiazoline-3-one sold by Rohm and Haas Company under the trade name Kathon® CG/ICP. Typical levels of bacteriocides used in the present compositions are from about 1 to about 2,000 ppm by weight of the composition, depending on the type of bacteriocide selected. Methyl paraben is especially effective for mold growth in aqueous fabric softening compositions with under 10% by weight of the diester compound.
The present invention can include other optional components conventionally used in textile treatment compositions, for example, colorants, perfumes, preservatives, optical brighteners, opacifiers, fabric conditioning agents, surfactants, stabilizers such as guar gum and polyethylene glycol, anti-shrinkage agents, anti-wrinkle agents, fabric crisping agents, spotting agents, germicides, fungicides, anti-corrosion agents, antifoam agents, and the like.
An optional additional softening agent of the present invention is a nonionic fabric softener material. Typically, such nonionic fabric softener materials have an HLB of from about 2 to about 9, more typically from about 3 to about 7. Such nonionic fabric softener materials tend to be readily dispersed either by themselves, or when combined with other materials such as single-long-chain alkyl cationic surfactant described in detail hereinbefore. Dispersibility can be improved by using more single-long-chain alkyl cationic surfactant, mixture with other materials as set forth hereinafter, use of hotter water, and/or more agitation. In general, the materials selected should be relatively crystalline, higher melting, (e.g., >˜50° C.) and relatively water-insoluble.
The level of optional nonionic softener in the solid composition is typically from about 10% to about 40%, preferably from about 15% to about 30%, and the ratio of the optional nonionic softener to DEQA is from about 1.6 to about 1:2, preferably from about 1:4 to about 1:2. The level of optional nonionic softener in the liquid composition is typically from about 0.5% to about 10%, preferably from about 1% to about 5%.
Preferred nonionic softeners are fatty acid partial esters of polyhydric alcohols, or anhydrides thereof, wherein the alcohol, or anhydride, contains from 2 to about 18, preferably from 2 to about 8, carbon atoms, and each fatty acid moiety contains from about 12 to about 30, preferably from about 16 to about 20, carbon atoms. Typically, such softeners contain from about one to about 3, preferably about 2 fatty acid groups per molecule.
The fatty acid portion of the ester is normally derived from fatty acids having from about 12 to about 30, preferably from about 16 to about 20, carbon atoms, typical examples of said fatty acids being lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and behenic acid.
Highly preferred optional nonionic softening agents for use in the present invention are the sorbitan esters, which are esterified dehydration products of sorbitol, and the glycerol esters.
The foregoing types of complex mixtures of anhydrides of sorbitol are collectively referred to herein as "sorbitan." It will be recognized that this "sorbitan" mixture will also contain some free, uncyclized sorbitol.
The preferred sorbitan softening agents of the type employed herein can be prepared by esterifying the "sorbitan" mixture with a fatty acyl group in standard fashion, e.g., by reaction with a fatty acid halide or fatty acid. The esterification reaction can occur at any of the available hydroxyl groups, and various mono-, di-, etc., esters can be prepared. In fact, mixtures of mono-, di-, tri-, etc., esters almost always result from such reactions, and the stoichiometric ratios of the reactants can be simply adjusted to favor the desired reaction product.
For commercial production of the sorbitan ester materials, etherification and esterification are generally accomplished in the same processing step by reacting sorbitol directly with fatty acids. Such a method of sorbitan ester preparation is described more fully in MacDonald; "Emulsifiers:" Processing and Quality Control:, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Vol. 45, October 1968.
Certain derivatives of the preferred sorbitan esters herein, especially the "lower" ethoxylates thereof (i.e., mono-, di-, and tri-esters wherein one or more of the unesterified --OH groups contain one to about twenty oxyethylene moieties [Tweens®] are also useful in the composition of the present invention. Therefore, for purposes of the present invention, the term "sorbitan ester" includes such derivatives.
For the purposes of the present invention, it is preferred that a significant amount of di- and tri- sorbitan esters are present in the ester mixture. Ester mixtures having from 20-50% mono-ester, 25-50% di-ester and 10-35% of tri- and tetra-esters are preferred.
Other useful alkyl sorbitan esters for use in the softening compositions herein include sorbitan monolaurate, sorbitan monomyristate, sorbitan monopalmitate, sorbitan monobehenate, sorbitan monooleate, sorbitan dilaurate, sorbitan dimyristate, sorbitan dipalmitate, sorbitan distearate, sorbitan dibehenate, sorbitan dioleate, and mixtures thereof, and mixed tallowalkyl sorbitan mono- and di-esters. Such mixtures are readily prepared by reacting the foregoing hydroxy-substituted sorbitans, particularly the 1,4- and 1,5-sorbitans, with the corresponding acid or acid chloride in a simple esterification reaction. It is to be recognized, of course, that commercial materials prepared in this manner will comprise mixtures usually containing minor proportions of uncyclized sorbitol, fatty acids, polymers, isosorbide structures, and the like. In the present invention, it is preferred that such impurities are present at as low a level as possible.
The preferred sorbitan esters employed herein can contain up to about 15% by weight of esters of the C20 -C26, and higher, fatty acids, as well as minor amounts of C8, and lower, fatty esters.
Glycerol and polyglycerol esters, especially glycerol, diglycerol, triglycerol, and polyglycerol mono- and/or di- esters, preferably mono-, are also preferred herein (e.g., polyglycerol monostearate with a trade name of Radiasurf 7248). Glycerol esters can be prepared from naturally occurring triglycerides by normal extraction, purification and/or interesterification processes or by esterification processes of the type set forth hereinbefore for sorbitan esters. Partial esters of glycerin can also be ethoxylated to form usable derivatives that are included within the term "glycerol esters."
The "glycerol esters" also include the polyglycerol, e.g., diglycerol through octaglycerol esters. The polyglycerol polyols are formed by condensing glycerin or epichlorohydrin together to link the glycerol moieties via ether linkages. The mono- and/or diesters of the polyglycerol polyols are preferred, the fatty acyl groups typically being those described hereinbefore for the sorbitan and glycerol esters.
This invention also includes a preferred process for preparing concentrated aqueous biodegradable quaternary ammonium fabric softener compositions/dispersions having ≧28% of biodegradable fabric softener active, including those described in copending U.S. pat. application Ser. No. 07/881,979, filed May 12, 1992, Baker et al., said application being incorporated herein by reference. A molten organic premix of the fabric softener active and any other organic materials, but preferably not the perfumes, is dispersed into a water seat at about 104° F. The dispersion is then cooled to about 30° F. to about 60° F. above the major thermal transition temperature of the biodegradable fabric softener active. Electrolyte, as described hereinbefore, is then added in a range of from about 400 ppm to about 7,000 ppm, more preferably from about 1,000 ppm to about 5,000 ppm, most preferably from about 2,000 ppm to about 4,000 ppm, at about 30° F.-60° F. above the major thermal transition temperature. High shear milling is conducted at a temperature of from about 50° F. to about 59° F. above the major thermal transition temperature of the biodegradable fabric softener active. The dispersion is then cooled to ambient temperature and the remaining electrolyte is added, typically in an amount of from about 600 ppm to about 8,000 ppm, more preferably from about 2,000 ppm to about 5,000 ppm, most preferably from about 2,000 ppm to about 4,000 ppm at ambient temperature. As a preferred option, perfume is added at ambient temperature before adding the remaining electrolyte.
The said organic premix is, typically, comprised of said biodegradable fabric softener active and, preferably, at least an effective amount of low molecular weight alcohol processing aid, e.g., ethanol or isopropanol, preferably ethanol.
The above described preferred process provides a convenient method for preparing concentrated aqueous biodegradable fabric softener dispersions, as recited herein, when the biodegradable fabric softening composition consists of from about 28% to about 40%, more preferably from about 28% to about 35%, most preferably from about 28% to about 32%, of total biodegradable fabric softener active, and from about 1,000 ppm to about 15,000 ppm, more preferably from about 3,000 ppm to about 10,000 ppm, most preferably from about 4,000 ppm to about 8,000 ppm, of total electrolyte.
In a preferred process for preparing concentrated aqueous biodegradable fabric softener dispersions as described above, the perfume is added at ambient temperature at a concentration of from about 0.1% to about 2%, preferably from abut 0.5% to about 1.5%, most preferably from about 0.8% to about 1.4%, by weight of the total aqueous dispersion.
In the method aspect of this invention, fabrics or fibers are contacted with an effective amount, generally from about 10 ml to about 150 ml (per 3.5 kg of fiber or fabric being treated) of the softener actives (including diester compound) herein in an aqueous bath. Of course, the amount used is based upon the judgment of the user, depending on concentration of the composition, fiber or fabric type, degree of softness desired, and the like. Preferably, the rinse bath contains from about 10 to about 1,000 ppm, preferably from about 50 to about 500 ppm, of the DEQA fabric softening compounds herein.
The granules can be formed by preparing a melt, solidifying it by cooling, and then grinding and sieving to the desired size. It is highly preferred that the primary particles of the granules have a diameter of from about 50 to about 1,000, preferably from about 50 to about 400, more preferably from about 50 to about 200, microns. The granules can comprise smaller and larger particles, but preferably from about 85% to about 95%, more preferably from about 95% to about 100%, are within the indicated ranges. Smaller and larger particles do not provide optimum emulsions/dispersions when added to water. Other methods of preparing the primary particles can be used including spray cooling of the melt. The primary particles can be agglomerated to form a dust-free, non-tacky, free-flowing powder. The agglomeration can take place in a conventional agglomeration unit (i.e., Zig-Zag Blender, Lodige) by means of a water-soluble binder. Examples of water-soluble binders useful in the above agglomeration process include glycerol, polyethylene glycols, polymers such as PVA, polyacrylates, and natural polymers such as sugars.
The flowability of the granules can be improved by treating the surface of the granules with flow improvers such as clay, silica or zeolite particles, water-soluble inorganic salts, starch, etc.
______________________________________EXAMPLES I and IA I IaComponent Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.1 26.0 26.0Hydrochloric Acid 0.018 0.0082Citric Acid -- 0.005Liquitint ® Blue 651 Dye (1%) 0.25 0.25Perfume 1.35 1.35Tenox ® S-1 0.10 --Irganox ® 3125 -- 0.035Kathon ® (1.5%) 0.02 0.02DC-2210 Antifoam (10%) 0.15 0.15CaCl.sub.2 Solution (15%) 4.33 3.33DI Water Balance BalancepH = 2.8-3.5Viscosity = 35-60 cps.______________________________________ .sup.1 Di (soft tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride where the fatty acyl groups are derived from fatty acids with IVs and cis/trans isomer ratios as outlined in Table I. The diester includes monoester at a weight ratio of 11:1 diester to monoester.
2. Add the diester compound premix into the water seat over 5-6 minutes. During the injection, both mix (600-1,000 rpm) and mill (8,000 rpm with an IKA Ultra Turrax T-50 Mill) the batch.
3. Add 500 ppm of CaCl2 at approximately halfway through the injection.
4. Add 2,000 ppm CaCl2 over 2-7 minutes (200-2,500 ppm/minute) with mixing at 800-1,000 rpm after premix injection is complete at about 150°-165° F.
5. Add perfume over 30 seconds at 145°-155° F.
6. Add dye and Kathon and mix for 30-60 seconds. Cool batch to 70°-80° F.
7. Add 2,500 ppm to 4,000 ppm CaCl2 to cooled batch and mix.
The fatty acids in Table I, used to make the diester compounds of Examples I and Ia have the following characteristics. The process of forming the diester compounds is as set forth hereinbefore.
Examples II-VII are diester compounds derived from the fatty acid of Table I, Number 2, with an IV of 53.9 and were stored in molten form. These examples are relative measures of activity and are not absolute values based on HPLC. Examples II, IV, and VI initially contain 15.9% ethanol and 0.21% water. Examples III, V, and VII initially contain 18.8% isopropyl alcohol and 0.2% water.
No degradation is observed over 3 weeks storage at 120° F./49° C. to 150° F./66° C. About 10% relative degradation is observed over 3 weeks at 180° F./82° C.
______________________________________ Wt. % Wt. % Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.1 32 32 32 32Hydrochloric Acid -- -- -- 0.10DC-2210 Antifoam (10%) 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10CaCl.sub.2 Solution (15%) 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0Coco Choline Ester 1.00 -- -- --Tallow Choline Ester -- 1.00 --Coco Fatty Acid -- -- 0.25 --Coco Dimethyl -- -- -- 1.00Amine OxideDI Water 61.65 61.65 62.40 61.55______________________________________ .sup.1 Di(soft tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride where the fatty acyl groups are derived from fatty acids with an IV of 55.
(A) inject the diester compound premix plus fatty acid, having a temperature of from about 130° F. to about 190° F., preferably 140°-160° F., into an acid water seat, plus choline ester or amine oxide (when present) and antifoam (when present), having a temperature of from about 130° F. to about 190° F; preferably 140°-160° F., under agitation over about 3 minutes.
(D) add about 3,750 ppm of CaCl2 solution after the batch is cooled to a temperature of from about 55° F. to about 95° F.
If inclusion of perfume in the composition is desired, the perfume is preferably added either during or after milling step (C), and after the temperature drops to ≦130° F.
______________________________________Solid Particulate Compositions Plus Waterto Form Liquid Compositions 1 2 3Component Wt. % Wt.% Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 8.1 7.74 6.00Ethoxylated Fatty 0.5 0.86 --Alcohol.sup.(2)PGMS.sup.(3) -- -- 1.74Coconut Choline -- -- 0.86Ester ChlorideMinors (Perfume; 0.35 0.35 0.35Antifoam)______________________________________ 4 5 6Component Wt. % Wt.% Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 7.6 7.6 7.6Ethoxylated Fatty 1 1 1Alcohol.sup.(2)______________________________________ 7 8 9Component Wt. % Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 7.6 8.1 23.5Ethoxylated Fatty 1 -- --Alcohol.sup.(2)PGMS.sup.(3)Coconut Choline -- 0.5 2.5Ester ChlorideMinors (Perfume; -- 0.35 1.5Antifoam)Electrolyte -- -- 0.4______________________________________ .sup.(1) Di(soft tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride where the fatty acyl groups are derived from fatty acids with IVs and cis/trans isomer ratios as outlined in Table I. .sup.(2) 1 and 2 are C.sub.16 -C.sub.18 E.sub.18 ; 4 is C.sub.16 -C.sub.1 E.sub.11 ; 5 is C.sub.16 -C.sub.18 E.sub.18 ; 6 is C.sub.16 -C.sub.18 E.sub.50 ; and 7 is C.sub.10 E.sub.ll. .sup.(3) Polyglycerol monostearate having a trade name of Radiasurf 7248.
The above liquid compositions are made from the corresponding solid compositions having the same active material, on a 100% active weight basis, by the procedure given below. This shows the surprising ability of the solid particulate compositions herein to effectively disperse following simple addition to lukewarm water with gentle agitation (e.g., manual shaking). Improved results are obtained by using higher temperatures and/or effective mixing conditions, e.g., high shear mixing, milling, etc. However, even the mild conditions provide acceptable aqueous compositions.
The total active solid is 8.6% (diester plus ethoxylated fatty alcohol). Tap water is heated to 35° C. (95° F.). Antifoam is added to the water. The active powder is mixed with the perfume powder. This mix is sprinkled on the water under continuous agitation (up to 2,000 rpm for 10 minutes). This product is cooled by means of a cooling spiral prior to storage. The fresh product is transferred to a bottle and left standing to cool.
______________________________________Viscosity Stability of Compositions ContainingDiester Compound A BComponent Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 20 20CaCl.sub.2 0.072 0.072HCl 0.07 0.07DI Water Balance Balance______________________________________ .sup.(1) A is a hard di(tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride with a fatty acid IV of <3, virtually all unsaturation being in the trans form B is partly unsaturated di(alkyloxyethyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride with the following approximate distribution: C.sub.14 (4%), C.sub.16 (30%), C.sub.18 (65%). The fatty acid IV is 11.3, containing 12.6% of C.sub.18 single unsaturate. This C.sub.18 unsaturate contains 70% (8.87% total alkyl) cis isomer and 30% trans isomer (3.8% total alkyl).
______________________________________Concentrated Diester Compositions withLow Temperature StabilityComponent Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 22.7PGMS.sup.(2) 3.5Tallow alcohol ethoxylate (25) 1.5Soil Release Polymer.sup.(3) 0.33Silicone Antifoam 0.019CaCl.sub.2 0.29HCl 0.08PEG 4000 0.60Minors 1.00DI Water Balance______________________________________ .sup.(1) Soft di(tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride where the fatty acyl group is derived from fatty acids with an IV of 18 and a cis/trans isomer weight ratio of 70/30. .sup.(2) Polyglycerol monostearate having a trade name of Radiasurf 248. .sup.(3) Copolymer of ethylene oxide and terephthalate with the generic soil release formula (I) wherein each X is methyl, each n is 40, u is 4, each R.sup.1 is essentially 1,4phenylene moieties, each R.sup.2 is essentially ethylene, 1,2propylene moieties, or mixtures thereof.
______________________________________Stable Molten Diester Compounds A B C DComponent Wt. % Wt. % Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.(1) 77.0 76.0 76.5 77.0Monoester Compound 4.0 6.1 7.0 7.0Diesteramine and 3.2 3.0 2.4 2.5Diesteramine HClFatty Acid 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.3Isopropyl Alcohol 14.0 14.0 -- --Ethanol -- -- 13.1 13.6Water 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.1BHT 0.1 0.1 -- --Propyl Gallate -- -- 0.1 --Irganox ® 3125 -- -- -- 0.05Citric Acid 0.10 0.10 0.05 0.005Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0IV of Fatty Acid 18 55 47 56______________________________________ .sup.(1) Di(soft tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride where the fatty acyl groups of A have an IV of 18 and a cis/trans ratio of 70/30. B C and D are derived from fatty acyl groups with IVs and cis/trans isomer ratios as outlined in Table I, Nos. 9 and 8, respectively.
Example XIII is diester compound derived from fatty acid of Table I, No. 1, with an IV of 43 stored in molten form. These are relative measures of active based on HPLC. The initial ethanol level is approximately 12-13% in each sample. The sample containing 0.2% by weight water shows better storage stability at 3 weeks.
______________________________________ Wt. % Wt. % Wt. % Wt. %______________________________________Diester Compound.sup.1 32 32 32 32Hydrochloric Acid 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.01DC-2210 Antifoam (10%) 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10CaCl.sub.2 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.80Coco Fatty Acid 1.5 0.25 0.25 --Ethanol 3.90 4.50 4.90 5.25Perfume 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35DI Water 60.40 61.10 60.70 60.50______________________________________ .sup.1 Di(soft tallowoyloxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride. The above compositions are made by the following process: 1. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat and milling at 70°-75° C.; adding 500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 70° C.; adding 3,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 65° C.; adding perfume at 63° C.; and adding 3,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 25° C. 2. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat and milling at 70°-75° C.; adding 500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 70° C.; adding 3,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 60° C.; adding 3,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 24° C.; and adding perfume at 23° C. 3. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat at 70°-75° C.; adding 500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 70° C.; adding 2,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 40° C.; adding 4,500 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 23° C.; milling at 22° C.; and adding perfume at 22° C. 4. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat at 60° C.; adding 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 40° C.; milling at 30° C.; addin 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 23° C.; and adding perfume at 23.degree C. 5. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat at 60° C.; adding 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 40° C.; adding perfume and milling at 30° C.; and adding 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 23° C. 6. Injecting the premix* into an acid water seat at 60° C.; adding 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 40° C.; milling at 32° C.; addin perfume at 23° C.; and adding 3,750 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 23.degree C. 7. Injecting the premix** into an acid water seat at 65° C.; addin 4,000 ppm of CaCl.sub.2 at 40° C.; milling at 33° C.; addin perfume at 23° C.; and adding 4,000 ppm of CaCl at 23° C. *The premix contains the active plus the ethanol plus coco fatty acid. **The premix contains the active plus ethanol.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the temperature of (A) is from about 155° F. to about 175° F.; the temperature of (E) is from about 145° F. to about 155° F.; the temperature of (F) is from about 65° F. to about 85° F.; the ppm of CaCl2 is from about 500 to about 600 in (C), and from about 2,000 to about 4,000 in (D) and (F).
3. The process of claim 2 wherein the total CaCl2 is from about 6,000 ppm to about 7,500 ppm.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein Step C is carried out at a temperature of from about 150° to about 165° F.
5. The process of claim 4 wherein the temperature of Step D is from about 150° to about 165° F.
6. The process of claim 5 wherein the injection rate of Step D is about 200 to about 2,500 ppm per minute over a total of about 2 to about 7 minutes.
8. The process of claim 7 wherein perfume is added either during or after Step (C) but before Step (D), and while the temperature is ≦130° F.
(C) from about 0% to about 2% of a stabilizer; and less than about 1% water.
10. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 9 wherein the water level is less than about 0.5%.
11. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 10 wherein the composition is stored under nitrogen.
12. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 11 wherein the nitrogen contains oxygen at a level that is less than 0.1%.
13. The fabric softening raw material of claim 12 wherein the storage temperature is from about 120° F. to about 150° F.
14. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 9 comprising from about 0.01% to about 0.2% reductive agent stabilizer, from about 0.035% to about 0.1% antioxidant stabilizer, or mixtures thereof.
15. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 14 wherein the stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of ascorbic acid, propyl gallate, ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene, tertiary butylhydroquinone, natural tocopherols, butylated hydroxyanisole, sodium borohydride, hypophosphorous acid, isopropyl citrate, C8 -C22 esters of gallic acid, and mixtures thereof.
16. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 15 wherein the alcohol level is from about 12% to about 16%.
17. The molten fabric softening raw material of claim 16 wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and mixtures thereof.
X- is any softener-compatible anion.
19. The process of claim 18 further comprising: adding perfume at ambient temperature before adding the remaining electrolyte.
20. The process of claim 19 wherein the perfume is added at a concentration of from about 0.1% to about 2% before adding the electrolyte.
22. The process of claim 21 wherein the electrolyte is selected from inorganic salts of the group consisting of IA and IIA metals of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
23. The process of claim 18 wherein said processing aid is added in at least an amount necessary to liquify said organic premix at its temperature prior to forming the dispersion in Step (A).
24. The process of claim 18 wherein said composition is substantially free of viscosity or dispersibility modifiers other than C1 -C5 alcohols, electrolytes, and perfume.
ZA9901635B (en) * 1998-03-02 1999-09-02 Procter & Gamble Concentrated, stable, translucent or clear, fabric softening compositions.
MX2014008774A (en) 2012-01-18 2014-08-27 Procter & Gamble Perfume systems.
MX2017006246A (en) 2014-11-14 2017-07-31 Procter & Gamble Silicone compounds.
FR2693665B1 (en) † 1992-07-17 1994-09-23 Stepan Europe cationic surfactant compositions, based on mono or polyalkyl ester and / or amido ammonium, and their methods of preparation. | 2019-04-21T04:35:16Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US5562849A/en | Porn | Arts | 0.207395 |
wordpress | There is nothing better than the last days of summer in September when the temps are above 75 and the beaches are deserted. I feel blessed to be able to take advantage of this beautiful time of year, to feel the warmth of the sunshine and the wash of the water over my bare feet. It is these walks that fill my well with creative energy and peaceful meditation. It is these adventures that begin with a fog bank so thick you think it might never lift.
When the temps rise and the fog lifts the excitement of the hunt begins and the sounds of the waves become the mantra that fills my head. Today I am with my partner, my rock, the person that makes my world possible. Today is a good day, one that she is able to accompany me to enjoy this beautiful Maine Beach Day in September.
Being on a beach with no one in site, with the beach to ourselves is an amazing experience, a true gift of life in Maine. I can take the time to connect with all of the beauty of the beach, beyond the stones that I collect, the seaweed, the larger stones within stones all fill my soul with wonder and a peace that is a wonderful meditative process.
One last look at the place I spent my day with the person that means the most and a memory of a perfect day and the excitment of getting home to examine the treasures we have picked to become a part of my work.
When we arrive home it’s time to sort and wash the stones that have been collected with care. Chosen one by one in the hopes that when they are examined closer that they will be great additions to my jewelry. Each stone has the potential to be the focal point of my beach stone & silver jewelry that I will forge in my studio. Sorting by size and washing with the garden hose, on our handmade table on the deck, is the perfect end to a perfect Maine Beach Day. It’s time for a great dinner and listening to the rain outside I have a wonderful feeling of peacefulness washing over me, like the water rushing over the stones today on the beach.
As winter melts away my thoughts turn towards my strong desire to get to the beaches of Maine. I long for the sun and sounds of the water as it breaks on the rocks that are so precious to me. Unlike the sounds of the sand beaches, stone beaches have a far different feel and sound. Smooth stones of all sizes rumble and rub against themselves with each crashing wave, a music to me that is both meditative and full of energy.
As I spend my time surveying the landscape and hand pick each treasured stone, I imagine what beautiful piece of jewelry that I might make from what the earth has provided and what the waves and water have tumbled into a smooth supple stone. I spend hours stooped over and bent to pick up what I am moved by. I could spend days on end in this same position if my body would allow. I am thankful for my flexibility and patience and am fed by the smells, sounds and colors that I see.
As there are changes on the horizon for the place I use as my studio, I realize that everything begins here at the beach. It makes no difference where I create, but where my creative process begins will always remain the same. | 2019-04-19T12:41:37Z | https://circlestonedesigns.wordpress.com/tag/circle-stone-designs/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.50851 |
wordpress | This series of post can probably be ignored by most of my readers unless they are Thordaddy or have been following his voluminous comments and my responses thereto in the comment sections to other blog posts. For just one example of his obsessive comments, please see the comment section of my previous post. You can also review the comments to this blog post as well. You will notice that all his comments revolve around his personal philosophy of white supremacy. In fact, he has a history of transforming the comment section for any blog post I make into a conversation on white supremacy regardless of the original topic.
For a long time, I indulged him primarily because his voluminous comments tended to increase the overall traffic to my blog. I indulged him secondarily because trying to understand and then countering his theories and arguments presented an intellectual challenge. However, this interaction has gone on too long and has become tiresome. The same subjects, arguments and counter arguments have been made ad nauseam (to the fullest extent of that term).
Therefore, I have created this series of posts for two main reasons. First, I want to save some time and effort by putting all of my stock answers to his arguments and accusations in one area which can then be referred to when the subject arises again without having to redundantly re-argue the same topic over and over. Second, because his obsessive commenting tends to turn every comment section of every post on my blog into a “debate” on the subject of white supremacy, I want to confine this business to one area of my blog. This will allow future posts unrelated to white supremacy to remain unpolluted by this dialog. I suspect some training will be required in that I will have to delete his comments to future posts and direct him back to this series. So be it.
Note: I reserve the right to edit any post in this series to address any new arguments that happen to arise. | 2019-04-24T11:54:58Z | https://winstonscrooge.wordpress.com/2019/03/ | Porn | Reference | 0.479967 |
wordpress | Happy Friday, friends! And more importantly, happy almost Fall Season! Soon that fresh, crisp air and pumpkin pie will be here and I can hardly wait.
In the last couple of days, the temperature in SoCal has started to shift, and something about the taste of seasonal change has reinvigorated my crafty spirit! So, with that, I was excited to jump into the projects I’m sharing today, #1 because the September Digital Kit by Ali Edwards is beautiful, and #2 because documenting this last quarter of the year is always my favorite and these projects mark the beginning of that process.
First up I put together this super simple page for my Summer Traveler’s notebook (TN). This was my first time doing a full page photo in my notebook, and now I’m obsessed! I will definitely be using this format over and over in notebooks from now on. Also, just a tip if you’re afraid of the edges of your photo coming up on your notebook: use red line tape. This tape is super strong. You have to be extra careful placing your photo, but once it’s down, it’s down for good!
In case you’re interested in seeing more pages out of my Summer Traveler’s notebook you can click on over to my Instagram to find them there. | 2019-04-23T16:07:17Z | https://sarahzayas.wordpress.com/2017/09/ | Porn | Arts | 0.265125 |
wordpress | We like books. A lot.
Less than two months to finish my book list!
Goodreads Book Summary: In the Seven Kingdoms, people born with an extreme skill, “Grace”, are feared and exploited. Katsa herself despises hers, killing. Her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, commands her to punish and torture his enemies. Prince Po, with combat skills, becomes her friend, and she learns terrible truths about her Grace and a secret hidden far away that could destroy the realm.
This book was quite the switch-up from the Under the Never Sky series. I have to say that Kristin Cashore is an incredibly talented writer. I was pulled into this story, despite it’s zoomed out point of view, and couldn’t put it down. The plot-line is intriguing and complex. I loved not knowing exactly what would happen. The characters are rich and well-thought out and they stay true to themselves, even in their growth.
I would recommend this book to readers ages 15+. There are a few things, violent and sexual, that is inappropriate for younger readers, and it surprises me how much this book is marketed as a children’s book because of that. Well, that and I don’t really see children enjoying it much.
Also, there’s a map, and I love maps in books! LOVE them!
Our main character is quite different from most, she isn’t relatable. She’s hard on herself, but not emotional. She is highly skilled, and it takes a long time for us to see her true character. I like that she changed as the book went along, she grew and matured, but at the same time, she never broke character. She never acted outside herself. She was Katsa, through and through. The adventures she goes through keep you reading from page one through the end.
Oh yeah, and I’m pretty sure you’ll love Po. He’s the kind of male character I find myself drooling over, and then wiping the book clean. Oops.
This book is the first in a trilogy of sorts. It’s thrilling and the world Kristin Cashore creates is believable and real. It kind of reminds me of a middle-earth type world, like something that could possibly be very far in our past, if you let yourself pretend. | 2019-04-18T20:54:30Z | https://readdictedreviewers.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/graceling-by-kristin-cashore-readdicted-review-by-katie/ | Porn | Reference | 0.646722 |
wordpress | Provided psychological counseling and social skills training in both individual and group counseling settings supporting both general and special education students.
Collaborated and consulted with teachers, parents, administrators, and outside agencies to find effective solutions to learning and behavior problems.
Provided support for parents when participating in the IEP process, supplied resources specific to parent concerns, and facilitated home-school collaboration.
Co-facilitated KIDSHARE, trauma focused group sessions for children working on repairing and healing, improving daily functioning, and mental health issues.
Advocated for victims in the civil and criminal court process by providing support, safety planning, and information to understand and navigate the court process.
Conducted several comprehensive psycho-educational assessments using a variety of cognitive and neuropsychological batteries, including background information, reason for referral, observations, intelligence testing, academic achievement, social emotional functioning, memory/learning tests (executive functioning), and recommendations.
Actively observed 504 meetings, Committee on Special Education (CSE) meetings, and Instructional Support Team (IST) meetings.
Served as a 1:1 aide for 2 preschool students with significant communication, fine and gross motor, social, and cognitive skill deficits.
Provided instruction and assistance in several extracurricular activities including art class, craft time, and non-structured play time.
Collaborated with a team of professional therapists, psychologists, nurses, teachers, and aides at a grammar school to promote the development of cognitive, verbal and nonverbal language, self-help, perceptual/motor and physical skills.
Provided specialized training in pre-vocational and community living skills for adolescents, with emphasis on self-help and communication skills development. | 2019-04-23T18:24:50Z | https://michaelweissphd.wordpress.com/about-dr-weis/krista-m-salvioli-ma-cas/resume/ | Porn | Arts | 0.842197 |
wordpress | On Thursday, I went shopping at Orchard Road. Was at Ion Orchard when I spotted a list of newly opened stores, including British jewellery brand Monica Vinader, which I eventually went to check out.
The next day, I noticed that Facebook suggested I like Monica Vinader’s page! H0w on earth did they know I’d been there just the day before?! This brand recently came to our shores a few months ago, and is somehow currently trending, so Facebook’s brilliant algorithm automatically proposed its page to all the people who fit its potential customer profile, and the fact that I had just visited its boutique was just a coincidence…… But still! How scary is the insidious reach of Facebook!
“I have enough jewelleries, I don’t need to go shopping.” Said NO woman ever.
On Saturday evening, I bussed down to the Singapore Expo (which I hadn’t been to since a dinner in late 2006) to check out the John Little Mega Expo Sale. There were a few other sales going on as well, so droves of bargain hunters had descended upon the Expo and there were tons of people crowded both outside and inside.
I turned left instead of right and ended up at the PC Show located at another hall. Decided I might as well go in and take a look. It was a madhouse: it was packed with people everywhere and the noise was simply deafening! After a while, I decided to leave for the John Little sale.
Walked all the way back down to the John Little sale. There were far fewer people, and it was relatively quiet, just like the MPH Book Sale right next door. A complete oasis compared to the chaos at the other end!
I immediately made a beeline for the luggage section. There were only a few brands on sale. Tried a few pieces, and found them somewhat flimsy, especially the retractable handles. Pretty colours, though. Left slightly disappointed.
There was some sort sort of sale at Tangs on Thursday, so I went down to check out their Orchard Road branch, and got something that I’d been eyeing for the longest time…… THIS!!!
So the annual Club 21 Bazaar Sale returned last weekend at the F1 Pit Building. Had read that there were lotsa fabulous buys on offer, and had never been to one of their sales before, so I decided that I had to go. So on Saturday, after a work event, I made my way down to the sale (alone, because nobody else was free or interested).
Took a large transparent plastic shopping bag from a staff at the door, walked in, and realized I had entered a complete war zone!!!
The gigantic room was filled with racks and racks and racks of clothes, shoes and accessories, all organized by label. And there were people and people and more people everywhere, and everyone was grabbing stuff (mostly ‘cheaper’ items from Armani, Calvin Klein and DKNY, etc) like everything was free. (No changing rooms were provided, so shoppers (mainly female) tried on things in the nooks and crannies of the room.) Naturally, it was a madhouse.
Anyway, there was a designer bag sale going on in the same building downstairs, so decided to stop by and take a look before leaving.
When I walked past one of the displays of bags, I thought I spotted someone familiar behind the table. It was a guy with black hair speckled with white. Could it be……? Naturally I turned and went back and approached him.
And he recognized me immediately! It was Meng Yong, my ex-designer! When I joined my company, he was the outsourced designer of my department’s publication. He left his company a few months later. And now he designs for this company which sells designer bags! I had added him on Facebook eons ago, and he reads my blog from time to time, but we had never met personally until today!
Took today off to recover from Saturday’s Convention. Decided to destress via retail therapy. But first, lunch! Decided on Ma Maison in Millenia Walk.
Sauces for my food: a pitcher of wafu dressing for my salad, and rock salt and a lacquer container of thick savoury dark sauce for my meat.
The sale took up two rooms. The outer room was mainly accessories, shoes, bags, and a couple of racks of clothes, and the inner room was just clothes, clothes and more clothes. Only a few customers were there.
Colleague D wanted to get a present for a friend and asked me to go with her after work yesterday. Her friend likes Hello Kitty and has an iPhone, so we ended up in this nook in the toy section on the third floor of Takashimaya, which sold anything and everything related to Hello Kitty. And D picked out a Hello Kitty iPhone cover for her friend.
Then we went for coffee at Starbucks in Wisma Atria. D treated me to coffee cos I accompanied her to shop. Haha.
In my first couple of years in university, I realized that I was spending a pretty penny at Topshop, but somehow never spent enough in a single receipt ($150) to qualify for their membership programme. So I decided to see if anyone was interested in combining purchases. Asked around, and only Poppish Princess responded.
The medical term for the compulsive desire to shop is oniomania.
Yesterday evening I had dinner at Mos Burger in Raffles City. Fish burger, fries and coke! Love the mayonnaise they use in their fish burgers. It’s extremely addictive; I swear they put crack in it.
After that went window shopping. Passed Ode to Art, an art gallery, and saw that it had a few small Dali sculptures in the window, so I went in.
So after visiting the Dali exhibition, Ahgong and I went shopping at Marina Bay Sands! We checked out many of the designer stores. Then Ahgong declared that he wanted to get a watch, so we went into Watch Station International to take a look.
Once inside, Ahgong immediately made a beeline for the Marc by Marc Jacobs (MBMJ) cabinet. Earlier, he had told me that he really liked Marc Jacobs’ designs, and I was !!!!!! because straight guys usually know nothing of designers plus Marc Jacobs isn’t exactly the most prolific one around. | 2019-04-25T15:56:21Z | https://quirkyhill.wordpress.com/category/shopping/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.950441 |
wordpress | A street performer floats in Market Square in Krakow, Poland. There are a lot of performers in this square, and there are some nice restaurants around the perimeter of the square. There are also some nice shopping areas along the surrounding streets, also check out Cloth Hall (in the square) for more shopping options.
is that for real? thatʻs amazing.
I don’t know how it’s done, but I think it’s a trick, I don’t think she’s actually levitating. | 2019-04-24T02:17:33Z | https://happywanderer15.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/floating/ | Porn | Arts | 0.763916 |
wordpress | Assistant professor in spine service at KEM Hospital. Surgeries performed included spinal trauma, infections (tuberculosis) and pediatric scoliosis and deformity. Supervised residents in clinical and surgical work. He taught under-graduate (MBBS), post-graduate (MS), and nursing and physiotherapy students and also organized spine CME courses.
Specialist registrar in the Spine Service. Taught undergraduate, postgraduate and nursing staff Supervised residents in surgical trauma On call orthopedic surgeon in emergency department once a week.
When should the doctor or clinic be contacted after surgery? | 2019-04-25T03:55:18Z | https://kshitijchaudhary.wordpress.com/kshitij-chaudharys-work-history/?share=google-plus-1 | Porn | Health | 0.979478 |
wordpress | Colleagues recently have been speculating on the effectiveness of trying to write/revise/whatever at this time of year where there is so much competition for the daily hours. One says that in the absence of deadlines, it’s not very productive time and should be used to read. Another has produced a manuscript and is pleased with the outcome. Me, I’m somewhere in between.
I didn’t have a deadline but did have some requested revision to do. Although the editor won’t get to the changes until mid Jan, it was a good exercise to do the revisions while the conversation with the editor was still fresh. And there’s been some tweaking on a couple of pb manuscripts. But other writing work? Not happening.
It may be the season, but it may also be the builders and painters, who although commissioned in September-ish are still here. The builder is just gone, but the painter is in and out, fitting in all the ‘urgent’ jobs. His phone rings almost non stop while he’s here and he was astounded yesterday when someone wanted to know if he could fit them in before Christmas… We’ve been playing chess with the furniture for months. Empty this room, fill this one, now empty this one too. Move this lot from one end of the hall to the other, put the bed in the loungeroom. Now the painter has gone off to another urgent job and we’re in limbo. Will he get back? Should we start to put furniture back and empty the next room?
Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. Think we’ll invite the friends to enter via the back gate and feed them barbecue…that way they won’t even see the mess.
Compiled by Jon Bard and with contributors from US, Canada, Australia and more, this new e-book features a collection of 64 children’s authors’ responses to five questions, including ‘The best advice I was ever given…’ and ‘I really need to tell you this…’.
When I first started writing, not only did I not know anything – I didn’t even know what I didn’t know – so I didn’t know what questions to ask. Confused? Writing can be like that.
What this e-book does is ask the questions…64 times. Authors from around the world have answered in a variety of styles, sharing knowledge and wisdom. Some responses are brief, some are less so. Some are philosophical, others more technical. What they all share is the voice of experience. There’s practical advice, humour and honesty. In fact, there’s something for everyone, no matter how they work, or where they are in their writing career. At the very least, this is an entertaining read and an insight into the minds of some well-known authors. At best, it will inspire and help you avoid potholes on the road to writing success.
…or ‘Ensemble c’est tout’ if you prefer the French title. WARNING: Spoiler alert. Don’t read on if you’re planning to see this film.
I was looking forward to seeing ‘Hunting and Gathering’, having enjoyed previous features with the gorgeous Audrey Tautou. And it was pretty – very pretty – with its wonderful French buildings and countryside.Camille (Audrey Tautou) was lovely, Frank (Guilliame Canet) is very easy on the eye. The other two main characters – Phillibert (from an aristocratic family) and Paulette (Frank’s grandmother) were both very interesting. I don’t know if this movie came from a book, but it felt like it might have. While (Audrey’s) Camille’s story was centre-stage, there were several other stories that warranted more exploration, I thought. Back stories for almost all the other characters needed more explanation to really make glorious the resolution. Thinking about the film afterwards, I had lots of questions. If Phillibert’s stuttering came from a troubled and emotionally under-supported childhood, why were his parents at the solo theatrical performance that marked his emergence from their shadow? And just where did his girlfriend come from? Why didn’t they all move into Paulette’s house? Who kept Paulette’s amazing garden and glorious pets in such wonderful condition for so long? What happened to the vacated ‘apartment’? When was the transition from being a temporary invalid in need of some TLC to permanent resident? I had a sense of bits having been cut out rather than never having been explored.
I liked the relationships that evolved in ‘Hunting and Gathering’ and the sense of the power of community in enriching lives, indeed in many senses saving lives. I just wanted a little bit more.
Today I’m host to South Australian children’s writer, Robyn Opie, on Day 2 of her blog tour. We’re talking about her chapter book, ‘The Pony Game’, illustrated by Elise Hurst, published by Hachette, under the Lothian imprint.
1. This was the first title of the series that was previously ‘Start-Ups’. So it was a sort-of relaunch for the series as well as a launch for you. Did that add anything to the pressure to get it right?
Not with me. I was unaware of it being the first title in the series. I only found out after Lothian Books had accepted the story that they were changing the series name to Giggles. So, from my point of view, the work had been done. Unfortunately, they cancelled the Giggles series, not because of poor sales of “The Pony Game” I might add. The sales and reviews have been great. But I always feel pressure to get a story just right – as close to perfect as possible. I was pleased when the editor from Lothian Books made few changes to it.
2. ‘The Pony Game’ is for young readers. How do you ‘get into the head’ of your target readership?
I don’t do anything special. I just write as honestly as I can. All my characters are me to some extent, even the boys, and react how I think I’d react. I guess that’s what I do – put myself in the story, write about me in different situations. I’m a kid at heart. I’m not keen on the “adult” world. I like living in a child’s world. Things seem easier somehow, despite the problems I throw at the characters. I remember a teacher once telling me that I shouldn’t “wish” to grow up too soon, that being a child were the best years of my life. I didn’t believe him at the time. I was eager to grow up. But, when I did “grow up”, I realised that he was right – so very right – and I wanted to be a kid again. I am, through my writing.
3. Do you have a favourite age group to write for? What makes it special?
My favourite age group to write for would be 8 to 12 and in particular boys. I don’t know why but I feel like I relate to boys better. I like writing funny stories with the main characters having humour and attitude, and it seems to work better for me if I write about boys. I think I find them less complicated.
4. Do you have a clear image in your head of how your characters look? Did the illustrator see them differently?
No, not really. I only describe my characters if it is necessary to the plot/story. I know my characters more by the way they sound and act, rather than by the way they look. I guess that’s because they’re all me. I got a shock when I first saw my character “Ben” from my Wings titles published by Era Publications. He’s African American. I’m not racist. It was just a surprise the first time because I automatically “see” my characters as English descendants like me. All my characters are like me – at least the human ones. Lucy from “The Pony Game” is pretty much how I pictured her and that’s nice. I imagined her as a cute little girl – and she is.
5. How did the idea for ‘The Pony Game’ arrive? Was it fully formed, or in pieces?
I’d just finished a non-fiction book “Looking After a Pony” and contacted a local riding club for help with photos. We needed a pony and a child for the photos. Once the book was published, I met with the helpful lady from the riding club and gave her some copies of the book. While she was talking, I started to think about her passion for horses and riding. It was hard not to – her passion for horses is as obvious as my passion for writing. She reminded me of my best friend at primary school, who was horse mad. These memories of my childhood floated around in my head until a fully formed story popped into my mind. That’s the way I like to work because it’s the best way for me. I think of an idea, ponder it a bit, then leave it alone. The idea is still in my head but instead of me consciously thinking about it, my subconscious is running with it and, seemingly out of nowhere, it gives me a fully formed story. Sometimes it feel so easy – like magic. Thanks, subconscious!
6. Were you a pony-loving child? If so, was it a long-time passion, or a passing fancy?
I love animals – all animals. But dogs have always been my favourite. I like horses but I’ve never been a “horsey” person. My best friend at primary school was. Curiously, though, the first two houses I lived in – up to the age of seventeen – had horses living behind them. The first house in Port Pirie had a horse stable behind in the next street. The second house in Adelaide backed onto the banks of the River Torrens, where people kept horses. So, for a long time, I had horses living over my back fence. For a while, I looked after a horse on the River Torrens. It was a cranky thing – kept trying to bite me. It didn’t like being ridden even. As Lucy found out in “The Pony Game” looking after a pony/horse can be hard work and it is definitely a daily commitment. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though. They are beautiful creatures.
Thanks Robyn, enjoy the rest of the tour.
For Day1- Mon 10 Dec – visit Tina Marie Clark’s What is Happening in my Office?
I signed some more books at Mockingbird Bookshop yesterday (they’d not arrived in time for our gig last week) and had morning tea with my folks at Zimt, a wonderful patisserie around the corner. A friend of my parents bought ‘A Nest for Kora’ when it first came out and reads it to her grandchildren (thanks Margaret). She reports that one of her grandchildren loves Kora so much, she can’t visit without taking ‘the chookie book’. Her grandson knows all the words, has given all the chooks names and insists on multiple rereadings.
Books Illustrated, the wonderful children’s bookshop and gallery at Gasworks Park in inner Melbourne is closing. This bookshop, owned by children’s book champions, Ann James and Ann Haddon, has been a wonderful place for all those interested in children’s books. The upstairs gallery has featured wonderful exhibitions of original picture book illustrations and also hosted book launches, industry gatherings, and many other events in its 15 years. It will be missed. But hopefully for Ann and Ann, it will mean time to pursue other interests, other challenges. They have plans for the future and I look forward to that.
A new children’s bookshop has opened in my local area, at Yarraville. I have long been a fan of the Sun Bookshop, a small independent bookshop under the roof of the wonderful, Art Deco Sun Theatre. (I could wax lyrical about the small and large cinemas in this building, but will save that for another time). The Sun Bookshop is stacked to the rafters with all manner of books and includes a substantial children’s book section. Now that has been expanded further with the opening across the road of ‘The Younger Sun’, a dedicated children’s bookshop. To my knowledge, it is the first children’s bookshop in the west of Melbourne. Well overdue and deserving of great attention. Congratulations Deb, I hope it does well.
Judith Rossell and I were at Mockingbird Bookshop in Mont Albert yesterday for a booksigning for’ A Nest for Kora’. Judith illustrated ‘A Nest for Kora’. The bookshop also had copies of some of Jude’s puzzle books and my ‘Ebi’s Boat’.
Jude had brought offcuts of the paper she paints on and was drawing/painting wonderful little animals for children (and a couple of adults) on bookmarks. It’s not quite as easy for a writer to provide something to go home with, but I tried. I wrote some silly limericks based on children’s names and then made some paper boats. We sold some books and had a lovely time. Evelyn Snow, owner of Mockingbird Bookshop and her staff, looked after us royally.
It was memorable…this time in a good way. | 2019-04-26T03:50:58Z | https://clairesaxby.wordpress.com/2007/12/ | Porn | Kids | 0.39875 |
wordpress | Today I picked up my medical forms from the doctor. The nurse and I went over everything to make sure I had all of required forms and any other information. The only thing missing was my uncorrected vision (I think it’s like 20/600 or something equally terrible). I’ll just give my eye doctor a call and ask for that info and then I’m all set. I’m excited to finally have checked off all of the boxes!
All that is left is to mail everything off to the Peace Corps’s headquarters. The funny part is that I’d be better off just hand delivering it – I walk by their office every day on my way to work. | 2019-04-24T04:05:45Z | https://sworthy10.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/medical-forms-received/ | Porn | Health | 0.88697 |
wordpress | ← Nurse Emily to the Rescue!
seeds left behind by Mr. Squirrel.
year once more. A visit.
step again. Why our step?
the seeds left. Another visit.
What will we do next year?
pumpkin lit by a light bulb.
This entry was posted in pumpkin, squirrel tale and tagged customs and traditions, Mother Nature's creatures, plastic pumpkin with light, pumpkin in backyard, pumpkin on front step. Bookmark the permalink.
A wonderful documentary on your special squirrels’ passion for pumpkins, Mary Ann! I never knew until now that they eat pumpkins. Perhaps it’s the seeds they are after.
Thank you, Peter. I loved the play on words with “tail” and “tale.” But the seeds? No . they leave them behind. Scroll down to the photo with an small hole and seeds all over our step. Now that they continue on the pumpkin, they eat the outer rind and go for the inside flesh. One day, I thought a cat was sitting on the pumpkin. When I ran for the iPad, I saw it was the squirrel. It’s funny to observe what is left of the original pumpkin. Enjoy the weekend and Advent season.
Until caught in the act! But I had more fun with the words “tale vs. “tail.” Advent blessings.
Mother Nature and her creatures intrigue and inspire. Thank you, Bette, for your lovely comment about the tail tale. Thank you for the Advent blessings. May you have a great weekend.
eine schöne Geschichte zum Advent über die seltsame Verhaltensweise der Tierwelt .Zum Schmunzeln und zum Nachdenken. Dir und Deiner Familie viel Spass und eine schöne Adventszeit.
lustig. Bavarian dialect is not always easy either. The words are almost tongue twisters/Zungenbrecher.
Thanks for the amusing comment. I agree about the real pumpkin. As soon as they start spitting seeds all over the front step, I’ll move it to the yard where I can observe from our dining room window. Advent peace and joy.
Who knows but me have a pumpkin patch next season? Only time will tell. Mother Nature and her creatures are intriguing. Thank you for the kind comment. | 2019-04-19T14:57:10Z | https://drniemczura.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/a-squirrel-tale/ | Porn | Arts | 0.12895 |
google | Here is a collection of the guides & tutorials I have found or created for Synergy thus far. You can assume that all of the resources are available if you are logged in to your @bonnyeagle.org Google account and are not available unless you are logged in. If you are looking for a user guide on a specific topic and do not see it here, please let me know and I will work on remedying that.
For BEMS teachers, you might opt to attach Kim E's Google Document with the kid friendly version of the Guiding Principles as a web resource for the assignment. She created it for her 6th grade students and was originally shared by Ethel A. on Staff Talk. | 2019-04-22T17:58:40Z | https://sites.google.com/view/simmons-classroom/learn/synergy | Porn | Kids | 0.979726 |
typepad | Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from May 03 to May 07, 2017.
Aimee Mann (from ‘Till Tuesday) is back in the Twin Cities this Wednesday at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul to promote her new album Mental Illness (SuperEgo Records).
She’s brought with her our favorite Jonathan Coulton. We’ve been a fan of Joco since we heard his wonderful cover of Sir Mix A Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back’... which was so good that Glee stole his version (and offered no apologize, credit, or any payments).
We’ve seen Coulton before, and I can say that he has a very large, dedicated fanbase. They love him so much, and they know all of his songs by heart.
Coulton’s new album Solid State came out April 28th.
Laura Marling is back in town! We have love the singer/songwriter since she was 16, and we’ve been following her grow up as an artist all these years. Her sixth studio album Semper Femina came out March 10th.
Los Angeles four-piece Valley Queen will open the show. The band is led by singer/songwriter Natalie Carol and is said to sound like Fleetwood Mac and My Morning Jacket with vocals from Florence Welch. Their first-ever EP Destroyer came out earlier last month.
05/03/17 Lewis Del Mar is back in town, headlining the 7th Street Entry this May 3rd. Del Mar was previously in town on October 2016 when he was touring for his self-titled debut record. Show up early to check out Grammy-Award Winner Anna Wise, playing materials from her second EP The Feminine: Act II. The show is sold out. 7:30pm, $15/Sold Out.
05/03/17-05/04/17 Nashville’s Peter Bradley Adams will be stopping by the Warming House in Minneapolis on Wednesday and Thursday. Adam’s new album On A Face Like Mine came out April 21. All listings are sold out. 6pm/8pm, $20/Sold Out.
05/04/17 Meat Puppets will be at the The Cabooze on Thursday. Also Mike Watt and The Jom & Terry Show and Porcupine will be there. 7pm, $17.
05/05/17 Overcoats is back in Minneapolis (again!) on this Cinco de Mayo, at the 7th Street Entry. Yoke Lore to open. 8pm, $10.
05/07/17 Matthew Logan Vasquez will be headlining the 7th Street Entry on Sunday. Opening will be David Ramirez. 7pm, $13.
05/05/17-05/07/17 Don’t forget that we will be covering Wizard World Minneapolis all weekend long! This is the annual pop culture/comic book convention. This year they have Doctor Who and two of the The Monkees. 12pm, $75 (Three Days). | 2019-04-19T05:21:26Z | https://weheartmusic.typepad.com/blog/david-ramirez/ | Porn | Arts | 0.65218 |
wordpress | We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers a very Happy Easter! Please note that we will be closed for the Bank Holiday weekend on Friday 30th March and will be open as usual from 9am on Tuesday 3rd April.
We had a fantastic time at the Classic Car & Restoration Show which took place at the NEC from Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th March. DMG were located right next to the Workshop in Hall 4 and we hope that many of you were able to attend the event and visit us.
The event was a great success and we had the chance to meet many of our customers and classic car enthusiasts.Thank you to our sales team who did a great job in representing DMG at the event. Here are just some of the many highlights from the show.
It’s almost time for the Classic Car & Restoration Show 2018!
We are busily setting up our stand at the NEC Restoration Show and can’t wait to see lots of you over the weekend! If you’re visiting the show then be sure to stop our stand and say hello – we are situated in Hall 4 next to The Workshop!
WIN two tickets to the Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC!
**COMPETITION TIME** WIN two tickets to the Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC!
All you have to do is send us a photo of your own classic for us to display on our stand at the NEC. This will automatically enter you into a draw to win two tickets to the event on Friday 23rd March!
We will feature every car picture that is sent to us but we will select just one lucky person at random to win the tickets to the show!
Entries must be submitted on or before Tuesday 20th March as the winner will be announced on Wednesday morning.
** To protect your privacy all registration plates will be removed before images are displayed at the event.
Join us at the 2018 Classic Car & Restoration Show!
We will be attending the Classic Car & Restoration Show taking place at the NEC in a couple of weeks. We hope you can join us!
Today we had the pleasure of visiting Thimblemill Library, just down the road from DMG, where David Manners presented the Friends of Thimblemill Library with a cheque to help support the upkeep and running of this integral community.
Celebrating International Women’s Day at DMG!
Today is International Women’s Day! So here at DMG we are celebrating the successes we have seen over the past few years with Kate Manners at the helm as our Managing Director.
“I got the job at DMG because my Dad owned the business but I’ve risen through the ranks because I am good enough to do so and capable of running the Company.
In too many countries I wouldn’t have even been given the opportunity to join a business, family or otherwise, never mind lead one. In our own country the disparity of pay between men and women has become well publicised and this makes us no better than those countries where women aren’t even allowed to get an education. | 2019-04-21T14:09:01Z | https://davidmannersgroup.wordpress.com/2018/03/ | Porn | Business | 0.083364 |
wordpress | Masha’Allah, Great service! May Allah help you in your efforts! This is an amazing job. Please keep up these great academic and intellectual activities!
Jazak Allah Khair ya Shaykh. Please remember us in your prayers. | 2019-04-23T22:46:58Z | https://insideismailism.wordpress.com/downloads/downloads-urdu/ | Porn | Reference | 0.275855 |
wordpress | Advanced technologies and upcoming product launches will boost the market of Cardiac Assist Devices.
Cardiac assist devices (CAD) are mechanical circulatory support devices used to treat end-stage heart failure, refractory angina pectoris, post-cardiopulmonary bypass shock, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, etc. Heart failure is a chronic disease that occurs when degeneration of the heart muscle, causes the heart to become too weak to pump blood at a level sufficient to meet… Continue reading Advanced technologies and upcoming product launches will boost the market of Cardiac Assist Devices.
Technological advancements have improved the quality of radiation therapy, by enabling lesser postoperative complications and faster recovery time.
Radiation therapy is one of the essential factor of the comprehensive cancer treatment and management of most cancers worldwide. The therapy uses high dose of radiations to destroy or damage the cancer cells and stop them from spreading by either damaging DNA directly or by creating charged particles within the cells that can in turn… Continue reading Technological advancements have improved the quality of radiation therapy, by enabling lesser postoperative complications and faster recovery time. | 2019-04-22T11:57:34Z | https://iq4iresearchconsultancy.wordpress.com/2018/03/ | Porn | Health | 0.697334 |
wordpress | O’ people. Every one has to meet what he wishes to avoid by running away. Death is the place to which life is driving. To run away from it means to catch it. How many days did I spend in searching for the secret of this matter, but Allah did not allow save its concealment. Alas! It is a treasured knowledge. As for my last will, it is that concerning Allah, do not believe in a partner for Him, and concerning Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.), do not disregard his Sunnah. Keep these two pillars and burn these two lamps. Till you are not divided, no evil will come to you. Every one of you has to bear his own burden. It has been kept light for the ignorant. Allah is Merciful. Faith is straight. The leader (Prophet) is the holder of knowledge. Yesterday I was with you; today I have become the object of a lesson for you, and tomorrow I shall leave you. Allah may forgive me and you.
If the foot remains firm in this slippery place, well and good. But if the foot slips, this is because we are under the shade of branches, the passing of the winds and the canopy of the clouds whose layers are dispersed in the sky, and whose traces disappeared in the earth. I was your neighbour. My body kept you company for some days and shortly you will find just an empty body of mine which would be stationary after (all its) movement and silent after speech so that my calmness, the closing of my eyes, and the stillness of my limbs may provide you counsel, because it is more of a counsel for those who take a lesson (from it) than eloquent speech and a ready word. I am departing from you like one who is eager to meet (someone). Tomorrow you will look at my days, then my inner side will be disclosed to you and you will understand me after the vacation of my place and its occupation by someone else. | 2019-04-23T18:23:44Z | https://marefatmagazine.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/imam-ali-ass-last-will/?replytocom=1 | Porn | Reference | 0.240763 |
wordpress | 40 Bogotá – the updated print edition of my guide to all things essential Bogotá is now available for purchase on Amazon. Enjoy!
The Updated 40 Bogotá for Kindle Is Now Available on Amazon!
40 Bogotá – the brand new updated edition of my guide to all things essential Bogotá is now available for Kindle on Amazon. Enjoy!
Street Art Bogotá Is Now Available in Paperback on Amazon!
My book Street Art Bogotá is now available as a print paperback on Amazon. Enjoy! | 2019-04-25T20:14:28Z | https://christopherburkecolombia.wordpress.com/category/christopher-burke/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.950509 |
wordpress | As the long, hot summer of love dwindles into a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, the last thing we need to be reminded of is the icy blasts of winter that approach. This humble blog promises to stop the monotonous anti-coalition government whining that it has been guilty of since the election in May. This whining is likely to be replaced, if our loveable and amusing heroes continue on their calamitous trajectory down a hillside in a bath on wheels, by autumnal rants and shrieking, red-faced, invective fuelled tirades by the time foliage and then snow begins to fall.
The dismantling of a carefully grown system to care for the weakest and disadvantaged in society is beyond belief and understanding. Times are, of course, hard and the deficit has to be tackled. But to maliciously punish those of us in need and simultaneously reward the already affluent who were responsible for the mess in the first place is a betrayal only the stereotypical products of wealth and privilege are capable of. This, along with the abandonment of previous principles and prior commitments, not to mention the now torn up election manifestos, must lead us to question what we actually voted for.
30 million of us voted in May, that’s 65 per cent of those on the electoral register including the dead, missing and fictitious so popular with the agents of some politicians. The Conservatives won 49 more seats than Labour with 2 million more votes and 36 per cent of the two-thirds that bothered to turn up. Fair result, first past the post and no need for a stewards inquiry. But this was not a working majority and so the horse-trading began. Posh lefty and Radio 4 panel show fixture, Jeremy Hardy, observed that during the interregnum, the Liberal Democrats had gone within days from being a blushing virgin to a street corner prostitute with her knickers around her ankles. Clegg decided that being Deputy Prime Minister was far more important than promises made to almost 7 million people who voted for his party and, in the name of expedience, binned the party manifesto and grabbed the keys to Dorneywood. Given the number of grass-roots Liberal Democrats leaving the party, no amount of AV, PR or picking sides for a Sunday morning kick about in the park is likely to save that public schoolboy from a sound thrashing next time. For the record, the qualification required to be DPM is 57 seats, 201 less than Labour.
The Tories too have selective manifesto memories. No increase in VAT, they bellowed. Cut the deficit not the NHS, they purred. Well, Health Secretary in this dogs dinner coalition, Andrew Lansley, well and truly let the cat out of the wheelie bin last week by announcing the scrapping of NHS Direct, yet another vital service needed by people who cannot afford BUPA. Committed to education, they pulled BSF and granted a nutters charter through Academy school status. Have you noticed that Michael Gove, along with his brain, is missing? Presumably he has been locked in a cupboard somewhere and is trying to get both feet out of his mouth.
The current leadership have a very tenuous mandate yet seem intent on a wrecking-ball approach to social services that, without being over dramatic, will threaten not just livelihoods, but actual lives. In the bleak mid-winter, when an 80-year-old has to provide an application form for winter fuel allowance signed by both her parents, the frosty wind will indeed make moan. A desperate mother with a sick child in the dead of night will listen patiently to an electronic rendition of Vivaldi as she waits to be connected to an outsourced call centre thousands of miles away. When the food riots break out, there will be no police officers to protect us and our armed forces will be deployed far away in pointless, illegal and unwinable oil wars.
So far, what has gone on is all just talk and the so called man and woman in the street has yet to suffer. But that will change as the slash and burn idiocy takes hold. When the Institute for Fiscal Studies described the first budget perpetrated by Foggy as “regressive”, Clegg said it was a selective report based only on numerical facts. What? When Compo and Clegg were in opposition, they regularly quoted the IFS selectively to have a pop at grumpy Gordon and Darling to prove that the poor were getting poorer and the rich richer. Double standards and double-speak.
This coalition, without a meaningful mandate is in the process of reversing the rights of every citizen other than those who have the good fortune to be well-off. But its leaders, like Blair and Brown and those that went before them, are comfortable in the knowledge that there is a clapped-out sitcom well passed its sell-by date where antiquated character actors can augment their pension plans. It is called the House of Lords.
Perhaps Holmfirth in Yorkshire needs a care centre.
Lower Manhattan in New York City is a long way from Dudley and even further from Vicarage Place in Walsall, but these places are linked by the kind of human nature that none of us can be terribly proud of.
At first glance, the righteous outrage and indignation expressed by the citizens of New York at the proposal to build a mosque on the site of the former World Trade Centre is both predicable and understandable. Angry talk of a victory mosque and a stealth jihad reverberates along Lower Broadway and across Battery Park. According to a recent poll, 72 per cent of Americans are against the building of a mosque at ground zero and most rational people would agree that the idea is, at best, inappropriate. However, the Park51 Cordoba House project is not a mosque and is not sited at ground zero.
Park51 is intended to be a cultural and community centre to promote a wider understanding of Islam in that marvellous, diverse and welcoming city. The design happens to include a space for prayer which is not for the exclusive use of Muslim visitors. The building is two New York blocks north of where thousands died on that terrible day in 2001 and, if supporters of the project are to be believed, the location is significant as the centre wants to commemorate the victims of the outrage. Opponents see this as a deliberate provocation. In another recent poll, 25 per cent of Americans think that Barak Obama is a Muslim and that he talks too much about his “faith”.
Things took a darker turn during a demonstration against the project when a dark skinned man wearing a hat that looked “Arabic” wandered into the crowd who abused, insulted and threatened him. It turns out he is called Kenny and was not a Muslim at all. Worse still, a man just back from Afghanistan wished a taxi driver “As-salaam alaikum”, asked if he was having a good Ramadan and then tried to kill him by cutting his throat.
The issue has more to do with mid-term primaries than the first amendment of the American Constitution and the satirists pin-up, Sarah Palin, weighed in with a call for American Muslims to “refudiate” plans for a “ground zero mosque”. When it was pointed out that “refudiate” is not actually a word, the former beauty queen, rifle woman and Governor of Alaska compared herself to William Shakespeare because he kinda made up words too – like totally awesome.
Pamela Geller, another towering intellect, is the woman organising the “mega-mosque” protests and gets lots of air-time on Rupert Murdoch`s Fox News in the states. Her website has featured fake photographs of Barak Obama urinating on the stars and stripes, his mother naked and a Jewish Supreme Court Judge in a Nazi uniform. She has also claimed that the president had a relationship with a crack-whore and is the secret love-child of Malcolm X. She has strongly defended Slobodan Milosevic and, this is the Black Country bit, expressed support for the English Defence League.
The repellent and retarded EDL descended on Dudley some months back to protest at plans to open a mosque in that fair town. Only a massive police presence prevented major public disorder as the knuckle dragging bone-heads rampaged through the town looking for a fight even after planning permission for the place of worship had been rejected. Undeterred, the pond life turned their moronic gaze towards Walsall after hearing that a new mosque was proposed on Vicarage Place. They quickly abandoned plans for another punch-up when they learned that objectors to the mosque and the defenders of England in Walsall were actually Muslims.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association want a place to meet and pray but other mainstream Muslims consider them heretics and have forcefully objected to the proposal citing “traffic congestion” as the reason. This guy Abraham has an awful lot to answer for.
In a world where a Catholic priest turns out to be an IRA bomber, a crack-whore urinates on a war memorial, Israel gets away with murdering aid workers heading for Gaza and the French government expels Roma people and bans the Burkha, what ever happened to peace, love and understanding? It still exists, with British people in these hard times donating over £35million in aid to the Pakistan flood appeal and “shaming” global governments into action.
What on earth would he make of the situation today in New York, Paris, Tel Aviv, Dudley and Walsall?
If the press coverage of A level and GCSE results is to be believed, the only people capable of achieving A* are blonde, pretty and female. Some papers depicted the occasional dark complexion and even more rarely, a boy, but most hacks and picture editors simply cannot resist an image of clever popsies hugging each other, preferable showing a bit of leg and embonpoint. For those who did not make the grade or the finals of the beauty pageant, help is at hand from our own dear Walsall council.
It seems that our council regard anything less than a C as a qualification to embark on a life of crime as that is the only career opportunity open to the educationally challenged. Accordingly, 10 lucky artful dodgers are being given the chance to “taste” plumbing, building and plastering in an initiative to “keep them out of trouble”. So it’s the building site or prison for you my lad.
Like most councils, Walsall loves acronyms, so the YJS as part of the IYPSS will deliver CSCS status and hopefully C&G Level 1 to NEETs via IAG advisors embedded in the YJS funded by the IPESG. Have you got that, kids?
On paper, this seems to be an excellent idea as one thing Walsall is not short of is young people who have been failed by the education system and lack qualifications, a job and, more importantly, hope or ambition. If successful, the scheme could be expanded to include career opportunities as a librarian, care worker, swimming pool attendant, local government lower grade worker or parking enforcement officer. This would enable disadvantaged young people to compete with the record numbers of A* types in the scramble for non-existent jobs. Sadly, the young criminals who did not achieve anything above C will find the doors of universities firmly closed. But, so will many of the photogenic blonde beauties as there are not enough undergraduate places available. Banking, politics, girl bands and tax-evasion beckons.
This breath-taking, patronising and totally incorrect assumption that a failure to reach an arbitrary and fallacious academic target results in criminality comes from a “leader” determined to cut jobs.
So, work means freedom, or “Arbeit macht frei” as stated about 70 years ago, but where are the jobs in these days of recruitment freezes, redundancy and the cancellation of building projects such as BSF? Perhaps in the YJS, IYPSS or IPESG.
There will be misguided and erroneous claims that the GCSE has been dumbed down to allow government off the hook for allowing education to stagnate and “prove” that standards are rising. Those claims are ridiculous and all credit and congratulations should be directed at the nearly 70% of young people, be they blonde, beautiful or not, who achieved A* to C and the 25% gaining A or A*. There will be those that will attempt to claim credit for this remarkable success, but the results were achieved in spite of and not due to government, councils and the likes of Serco. Imagine what young people could achieve without these obstacles.
Apart from the Birmingham Mail who ran the extraordinary story of four Asian students from Handsworth who gained 64 good GCSEs between them, the printed press have not performed well. Given the unhealthy and disturbing obsession with young girls displayed by certain newspaper editors, perhaps the hacks should return to their natural stereotyped habitat of the building site. There is a course available in Walsall.
According to Mike Bird, the alpha male in the cartload of councillors currently closing down Walsall, Willenhall Leisure Centre was an open sore haemorrhaging money and had to go. Now that he has finally got his way in depriving swimmers, keep fit enthusiasts and pensioners of a valued and needed community facility, the building has suddenly become a valuable “council asset”.
Mike wants to flog it off to the highest bidder and claims that a troop of enthusiastic developers are flocking to his door wishing to transform the place into a cinema, skating rink or concert hall. Trouble is, shrieks Mike, they will not offer any money for it. This can hardly come as a surprise to the primate of all Walsall given the track record of “regeneration” in the borough.
Walsall Housing Group boast of their prestigious new headquarters to be built on prime town centre land acquired from the council for the princely sum of 100 new pence and the cosy, if secretive, relationship between Tesco and the council ensures that the retailer can close markets and dictate transport policy. Fund a mentalist Robert Edmiston was given half of George Rose Park in Darlaston as a condition of the secret deal to allow him to peddle his nonsense and the murky land swap deal surrounding the Norfolk Place depot continues unfettered.
Word travels fast on the jungle telegraph and it is no wonder that the hyenas are circling the clearing looking for some easy meat. Perhaps the most lucrative future for Willenhall Leisure Centre would be to allow a local “businessman” to convert it into a huge cannabis factory. This seems to be the only “growth” evident in Walsall now that the silver backs in Westminster have shut the Walsall Regeneration Company.
Building Schools for the Future – gone.
Children Trust Fund – gone.
The Audit Commission – gone.
The Health Protection Agency – gone.
The Food Standards Agency – gone.
The UK Film Council – gone.
Regional Development Agencies – gone.
Future Jobs Fund – gone.
£1billion in funding to local authorities – gone.
Support for the Libdems – gone.
Free school meals – going.
Milk for under 5`s – going.
Surestart Maternity Grant – going.
Winter fuel allowance – going.
Disability living allowance – going.
The Liberal Democrats – going.
Trident – here to stay.
VAT at 20% – here to stay.
Tax breaks for banks and corporations – here to stay.
Bankers bonuses – here to stay.
PFI contracts to line the pockets of the already wealthy – here to stay.
Home repossessions – here to stay.
Higher unemployment – here to stay.
A rise in bankruptcy – here to stay.
Bounty hunters preying on the needy – here to stay.
And all this “reform” was achieved in just 101 days. The pain and suffering inflicted on the playing fields of Eton College and Westminster School were clearly character building for Messrs Cameron and Clegg.
Well done chaps – enjoy your holiday. | 2019-04-25T03:12:51Z | https://theplastichippo.wordpress.com/2010/08/ | Porn | Health | 0.902613 |
wordpress | Once again, my awesome little sister Maddy is headed to ABS Nationals in Boulder this weekend, along with a bunch of other strong climbers. Unlike last year, Luke and I aren’t going this year. Instead, we’re running a trail race (most like in the rain) at the apparently beautiful Montana de Oro State Park. Also, my chest is only just healing and I would be totally not excited to get sick (like I did after volunteering at Nationals last year) again and start coughing again. So get stoked for the falls, the sends, the upsets, the victories, and all the news that will hit the blogs on Monday.
February has been a crazy month and our three day trip to Boulder was no exception. Lizzy and I flew out of San Diego Friday morning so that we could compete in the Citizens comp at CATS that night. With only carry on baggage and an on time flight we were able to make our bus to Boulder from the Denver airport. One transfer lead us to within a mile of The Spot and CATS, what an amazing transit system! We grabbed lunch and walked with all our stuff to CATS. Snow on the ground was a drastic change and we exchanged flip flops and t-shirts for shoes and a down jacket.
CATS is small and was uncrowded since we arrived there with plenty of time to spare. The climbing section of this gymnastic facility has a lot of very cool angles in a very small amount of space. The walls were freshly painted but the gloss paint provided horrible friction. As well the finish holds were all odd configurations of 2 X 4’s and were not to friendly. The shortcomings in the facility were made up for by the friendliness of the staff and the quality of the problems. The various angles provided a variety of styles and the climbs were set very well. Lizzy and I had fun and her family arrived a bit after we started climbing since they had a later flight.
After tiring ourselves out we got dropped off at the Spot for our judging meeting. Lizzy and I volunteered to judge the qualifiers and the finals for the Youth section of the comp. It gave us something to do and I was happy to be involved in such a high caliber climbing event. We got to see some of the routes set on Friday night and had a lot of exposure to some of the up and coming climbing talent. For our judging duty we got an early start Saturday morning and were at the gym for almost 12 hours including our time watching the open finals. Our judging jobs were easy since the majority of the kids flashed our problems and we got to go to finals for free. Another benefit was getting to watch some of our friends and Lizzy’s sister climb up close.
The open finals were quite packed and it was great to see all the strong climbers. Video can be found at MomentumVM.com shot by Andy Mann and others. Susánica Tam, an LA local who we saw at regionals, also made a great slideshow of the event. Paul Robinson beat out Chris Sharma and the show was spectacular. The routes were more of a challenge this year for the climbers and the 4th final problem remained unsent during the comp. This is much different than last year’s nationals in Maryland. A report can be found at routesetter.com about how the field was much stronger than expected. During open finals four guys and seven girls flashed all of the problems. As well when they set a super finals problem 3 of the 4 guys flashed that as well causing the tie to be broken by the qualifiers. Paul Robinson, this year’s winner, only flashed one of the three problems he completed.
Sunday was the Youth finals and Lizzy and I got moved up a problem in the lineup so that we had more falls and more excitement. Lizzy even had one of her climbers top-out early over an out of bounds line causing the head judge to step in and confirm the ruling. I had the younger kids again, Youth D, and my problem was a bit easy for the field. It saw a majority of flashes with another three or so sends 2nd try. Three or less kids were unable to send the problem.
Boulder was a ton of fun and it was good to meet new people, including the Climbing Narc, and see some old friends. The Spot was very cool and helped expand my mind in terms of what people want in a climbing gym. It was quite small and had only 2 free standing boulders but it featured tall walls with interesting angles. I ended up winning Men’s Advanced at the Citizen’s comp which means I will have to do open next year. I hope to visit boulder again and get on some of the real rock in the area!
ABS Nationals and Red Rocks!
ABS nationals is this weekend and we are flying out to boulder to compete and to help judge the Youth event. Lizzy’s sister is competing and so is Dan Beall, one of my friends from San Diego. We will also be seeing the ClimbingNarc and his team out from Wisconsin. Lizzy and I will be competing at the late Friday session at CATS for the citizen’s comp. It looks to be a small comp but it should be fun regardless and Lizzy is excited since Bobbi Bensman is going to be in our session.
Saturday we will be up early to help out with the Youth qualifiers which will be a new experience. It is just the experience I want since I would like to learn how to run comps and what makes good comps. Saturday night will be Open finals where we will see a crazy showdown of the top men and women from the US! There is extra pressure this year due to the upcoming Bouldeing World Cup in Vail, CO. It is pretty crazy that both Chris Sharma and Lisa Rands are coming back to compete. It will be great to see how the new generation does against these two super stars.
Sunday we will be judging Youth finals and then heading back to San Diego that night. Lizzy will be sticking around since she has the day off even though I have to work. After only two and half days of working we will be off on another trip to Red Rocks. Rebecca, one of my friends from college, will be flying out for an exciting four day multi-pitch extravaganza.
I did a bit of prep for this trip by going to Red Rocks last weekend. Lizzy was playing Frisbee in Vegas so one of her friends, Sean, and I took to the rocks with a vengeance. The gorgeous weather at Red Rocks allowed us to climb all day Friday and Saturday. Friday was moderate climbing with nothing over 5.9+ so we were able to do~ 1800 feet of climbing. We simuled Johnny Vegas to get to the upper tier of solar slab. From here we started with Sundog which was a fun 5 pitches with a funky 5.9+ bolted bulging groove. After rapping the route and resting our feet we decided to try to keep to our goals and climb Sunflower. This climb was a good bit harder and had a great finger crack and a run out crux friction pitch. After many repels, the last 4 in the dark, we got safely back to the ground.
The next day, with sore feet, we decided on the long hike to the Eagle wall. We set our eyes on Eagle’s Dance and were prepared for a bit harder climbing. Taking a more direct approach allowed us to cut 45 mins of the previous time I went to the Eagle wall. With perfect weather it was amazing that we had the wall practically to our selves the whole day. Our only visitor was a Peregrine Falcon that would occasionally dive past us. The climbing on this route was very sustained with only two of the nine pitches below 5.10. With a bunch of linking we were able to cut the route down to five pitches of mainly bolted climbing. The crux came after a short bolt ladder in the form of difficult stemming. The first section, supposedly only 10b was quite tricky and it took me a good while to believe that I should start climbing and leave the belay. After getting to good jams in the crack there was a rest on a slab and another crux section. This part was even more fierce and had amazing palming and laybacking in a slabby groove. I got buzzed by the falcon while I was placing gear and nearly popped off.
This was the last pitch and a relief for Sean who had been suffering from 20+ pitches of climbing in fairly new shoes. You could see the grimaces of pain each time he moved up on this footwork intensive route. We decided to take Sunday off to enjoy the sun and watch our girlfriends play ultimate. It was a great trip and I am really excited to go back!
A few weeks ago I got a tip from SpliterChoss about a 2 for 1 special and picked up a few guidebooks for paces I want to visit. In addition to the good price and they also had a drawing from those that bought books for a new rope. Magically I won!!! So I will be getting a new Sterling rope in addition too two cool guidebooks. I had been looking at Sterling ropes recently and was interested in seeing how they climb.
This has been a great month of climbing and it seems to only be getting better as we approach March and our week long Indian Creek Trip!!
congrats, Maddy, on making it to Nationals!
So my sister, Maddy, competed in the youth ABS regionals in Oregon a couple weeks ago and did well enough to get invited to ABS nationals in Boulder, CO.
Because I’m an awesome sister and love to travel, Luke and I will be joining my parents and one of Maddy’s teammates in Boulder over nationals weekend, Feb 15-17, to cheer, volunteer, compete in the citizen’s comp, and hopefully get lots of free stuff. When I went to nationals last year, I ended up standing on the same chair as Michael Reardon (RIP), so I have high hopes for meeting some more awesome climbers this year.
Anyways, congrats to Maddy and all the others who’ve qualified for youth nationals and we’ll see you there! | 2019-04-23T01:08:29Z | https://dreaminvertical.wordpress.com/tag/abs-nationals/ | Porn | Sports | 0.448116 |
wordpress | One way or another after this weekend’s festivities, your house might have an abundance of leftover candy. You’ve had two whole days to enjoy all the candy you collected so what are you going to do now? Whether you snack on a Snickers in the middle of the night or you pack some for your kid’s lunch, when the chocolate or hard candy is within arms reach you will eventually indulge!
Life Made Simple would like to encourage you to stay healthy and stay away from too much sugar! Here is how….
1) A popular method: take all the candy, dump it in a plastic bag and bring it to your work for many others to enjoy!
3) Send it overseas to US troops as part of a care package . Just remember chocolate doesn’t travel well!
4) Stash some in your car for emergencies. This is a great idea for people who are diabetic and need something sugary, fast! You also never know when you might get stuck in the car for hours and a piece of candy will surely give you a boost.
5) As a joke (wink-wink) 😉 bring it to your dental office as front desk decoration. We can all wonder how many brave souls will take candy in front of their Dentist?
Finally, remember it’s always good to give what you don’t want to someone else rather than waste it. Give it, share it- but don’t indulge in it all by yourself or your dental care budget might skyrocket in the next couple of months!
Living simply has a lot to do with eliminating the unnecessary things in our lives, especially those that aren’t so good for us. Although many of us enjoy eating meat, a lot of the poultry and livestock we consume, aren’t necessarily what we think they are.
When I visited the Philippines, I noticed that the chickens over there could FLY. These are not the chickens that so many of us are used to consuming in the United States. Here, many companies and producers fatten chickens with hormones solely for human consumption; therefore, our chickens don’t fly because they are beyond unhealthy.
When did you become a vegetarian? Why?
I became a vegetarian in 8th grade because my friend kept bombarding me with PETA pictures. I’ve always been an animal lover and those pictures sent me over the edge.
What are some changes you’ve noticed in your body being a vegetarian?
In the beginning, I didn’t eat very healthy at all – I ate a lot of cereal and desserts to fill up the void left by not eating meat. However, once I began investigating in healthier alternatives, I noticed that I had more energy and I didn’t feel as “heavy” after I ate a meal.
What is the best thing about being a vegetarian?
For me, the best thing about being a vegetarian is that I know I am contributing to improving animal welfare, if only in a very small way.
How would you explain a vegetarian diet? Is it always so hard to find food when you’re busy?
My·diet depends on my schedule. When I have free time, I can play around with food items like quinoa and tempeh and make fairly elaborate meals that require as much time as preparing meals with meat. However, when I’m busy, my diet is much simpler – soup, a boca burger, or salad.
A lot of people have the perception that a vegetarian lifestyle is complicated and hard to keep up, what is your take on that?
In order to be a vegetarian, you have to be committed to the reason you became a vegetarian. I know a lot of people who have given up after a week or a month because it was “too hard.” But, you have to be patient. It’s not bad at all once you get used to it.
What is a simple vegetarian dinner you can share with us?
The easiest meal in the world is vegetables and rice. Just cook some rice, unthaw some frozen veggies, add some seasoning, mix everything together and you have yourself a meal.
Would you recommend others to try vegetarianism?
I think that Americans eat way too much meat – to their own detriment and to the detriment of animals. I would highly recommend everyone try being a vegetarian, if only to know that they can survive without huge portions of meat at every meal. It doesn’t have to be permanent, but I think you can learn a lot about yourself and your ability to maintain self-control. However, everyone has different reasons for becoming a vegetarian and in order to remain a vegetarian, you really have to be committed.
When I decided to become a vegetarian, I still loved meat. I still dream about the times that I used to have fried chicken and ribs. However, I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 10 years now and, despite those urges, I’m happy with my decision. I feel healthier – especially after hearing about all the hormones and antibiotics pumped into animals. And, I feel good knowing that I’m not contributing to the horrible treatment of animals that occurs in factory farms. | 2019-04-19T18:15:36Z | https://livesimplechicago.wordpress.com/category/food-and-nutrition/ | Porn | Health | 0.177859 |
wordpress | Posted on December 16, 2013 by Smiling Road Warriors!
A spirited young waiter, wanting very much to show off his skills with the English language, recommended what we should order and proceeded to lavishly demonstrate the process for us. It was delightful.
The Pho 24 chain is what we would consider a fast food chain here in Vietnam, primarily for Pho — similar to Baja-Fresh back home for fresh and good quality Mexican in Portland. Delicious.
One of our biggest surprises in Vietnam to date has been the elaborate Christmas decorations, seen everywhere, and how the Vietnamese celebrate this ‘Christian’ Holiday. Being largely a Buddhist country, it was unexpected. Although, 7 to 8% of the country do consider themselves Catholics. We walked through massive crowds of people taking pictures in front of all the decorations and store windows. So o o o – we got in on the act, and everyone started taking pictures of US in front of the stores and windows!
We understand that it has only been in the last ten years that the Vietnamese began to actively celebrate both Halloween and Christmas. As our Vietnamese guide and friend explained, they just love to party, and these celebrations are good ones for that here in S.E. Asia. Have to admit, never heard one single song that echoed a Christian religious sentiment . . .
The traffic here is unbelievable. That’s probably all I need to say.
We thought it was chaos in Phnom Penh, but in Saigon, with over 8 million people in the central city, most of whom travel by motorcycle/scooter, it was even more frightening (at first) to cross the streets. One learns, and quickly, that the drivers of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and trucks are very aware of each other and you — so you just walk at a slow, reasonable pace across the street and traffic finds its way around you. I would never trust USA drivers to be so considerate.
We have now gotten used to this Asian way of negotiating traffic, and are amazed at how well it works! Neither of us can recall seeing even ONE accident on any of the streets thus far. But, can’t imagine what traffic will be like as Vietnam grows a larger middle class that can afford more and more cars. Witness Beijing . . .
This is a great place to get street food, but in a very hygienic setting. It was such great fun walking around these stalls and then deciding what to order from the over 25+ stations. If Only we could have eaten more–it all looked so good.
Vietnamese food is so healthy: with fresh fish, seafood, oodles of herbs, so many kinds of mint and special chili sauces that make the favors give one’s palate a variety of sensations and favors – – it’s all divine. We are truly eating our way through Vietnam!
The next day we travelled north of Saigon to see a number of sites, the most unusual of which (for us) was a visit to a Cao Đài Temple complex.
Cao Đài is a fairly modern religion established in the city of Tay Ninh in southern Vietnam in the mid 1920’s. 90% of its followers live here in south Vietnam. After the Vietnam war all of its property was confiscated by the communist regime, as the group had been politically active in opposing the war. Their land was returned to them as recently as 1985.
Cao Đài (also known as CaoĐàism or Dao Cao Dai) is a modern, Vietnamese religious tradition with strong nationalistic elements. The term literally means “Kingdom of Heaven.” Figuratively, it is referred to as that ‘highest place where God reigns’.
Graham Greene, in his classic , The Quiet American (which we both read again before we crossed the Pond), described Cao Đài as “Christ and Buddha looking down from the roof of a Cathedral on a Walt Disney fantasia of the East, dragons and snakes in technicolor.” Couldn’t have said it any better myself!
The effort of Cao Đài as I understand it, is to “unite all of humanity through a common vision of the Supreme Being”, whatever the minor differences, to promote world peace and understanding. It doesn’t seem to want to create a universal or pantheistic belief where all religions are the same, only to create a more tolerant place for people to live, where everyone can see each other as equals searching for peace within and without. Not a bad philosophy . . .
I think they’ve got ’em ALL in there!
Gary enlisted as part of the Temple grounds maintenance crew! These brooms are used all over Vietnam to keep the streets and store fronts clean — hard on one’s back. . . | 2019-04-22T15:05:04Z | https://sisutl.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/saigon-vietnam/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.098813 |
wordpress | YES! Spring is finally here and you can almost here Rich Fowler’s voice belting out “Let’s Race!” before the start of another HFP event. To celebrate the arrival of spring and to help you get motivated for the race season we’re offering 15% off the below listed races from now through Sunday, March 24th at Midnight. Don’t delay because just as a spring day in Ohio is quickly gone and replaced with snow flurries so too is this flash sale. Use the code HFP-SPRING-FLASH-SALE when registering for your next HFP Racing event. The code is case sensitive and will not work unless you type it in just as it is written above in ALL CAPS. Discounts are NOT retroactive for events already registered for and can not be combined with other discounts.
Team HFP Racing 2018 Kits Now Available!
COME JOIN THE FUN FAMILY!
Team HFP Racing is an official USA Triathlon sanctioned club and is open to the public. Team HFP will serve as a place where HFP Athletes can encourage and challenge each other on the course, while building friendships off it.
Team uniform ordering is open January 5-30, 2018.
Get your 2018 kit ordered here.
Use the code TEAMHFP2018 to access the store.
2018 LODGING SELL OUT ALERT – Nearly all cabins and rooms at Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center are sold. To get your room reserved contact Jennifer Kurek at customerservice@hfpracing.com.
A triathlon achievement of epic proportions!
Experience 3 consecutive days of racing, gelling together 4 races covering a total of more than 70+ or 140+ miles for the weekend. You will find yourself swimming in the chilly spring-fed lakes, riding the most technically challenging hills in Ohio, and finishing with breathtaking runs along the trail systems climbing and descending those same hillsides.
Welcome to the 2018 American Triple-T!
What IS the American Triple-T? Well, it’s everything you’ve heard it to be, and more. The event is so much more than your typical “triathlon weekend” — it’s a triathlon achievement of epic proportions for all who partake. It is 3 consecutive days of racing, gelling together 4 races covering a total of more than 70 miles (SPRINT ST) or 140 miles (XTREME XT) for the weekend. You will find yourself swimming in the chilly spring-fed lakes, riding the most technically challenging hills in Ohio, and finishing with out-and-back runs along the trail systems climbing and descending those same hillsides.
The American Triple-T is not for the weak or faint of spirit.
It has humbled many triathletes who didn’t take it seriously, and it validates a host of others who test their “tri-mettle” at the “T” every year. Athletes from all 50 states, and 4 continents have all sought the privilege of earning their American Triple-T finisher T-shirt. Competitors, volunteers and spectators all come away with a new appreciation of the sport and of the athletes who train and tame mind and body to complete this legendary event.
You’ll also come away with newfound friendships, and you’ll solidify those bonds every year you come together to face this demon. There are even a special few who turned their initial shared experiences at the American Triple-T into a union of souls, and they came back the next year to compete as husband and wife! While we cannot guarantee that you’ll find your soul mate at the “T”, we will guarantee an incredible, unforgettable experience unique in the triathlon world.
So please, take your time, peruse the website, and check out all of the unique aspects of this amazing weekend event, then reach deep down and find the courage to sign up and join us at the 2018 American Triple-T on June 1-3.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to race in one of the most unique events in triathlon. Register before December 31 at Midnight to avoid a $50.00 price increase for both distances.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for my blog. I thought it was kind of cool and maybe something that might interest some of my readers. Thanks for supporting HFP Racing! Looking forward to seeing you at a race soon.
Team uniform order CLOSES on December 1 – NO EXCEPTIONS.
A team of enthusiastic, dedicated amateurs triathletes and duathletes with day jobs. We like to race locally, regionally and some of us nationally.
We are an inclusive team of individuals of different experiences and abilities. We are not semi-pro. If you believe you are, we’re probably not a good fit.
We race because we love it. We love it because we are competitive and we enjoy testing ourselves. And because we get to race against our friends.
We commit to participate in a minimum of 4 HFP Racing races and / or events a year.
We are the ambassadors of HFP Racing: and of our race team sponsors (ie:Roll).
When we race, we are the heroes! We are not the jerks.
We thank our sponsor for supporting our racing habit, by actively supporting, promoting and reinvesting in our sponsors (Roll) businesses, the brands they carry, and their people in return.
We also commit to support each other. On race days and on the days in between.
10% off any regular bike, clothing or gear purchases in all roll: stores.
Team specific group buys (Pactimo) on consumables at deeper discounts.
TBD discounts at all HFP Racing events. Discounts start at 15% and move up based on your contribution to the team.
10% off service labor at Roll:, as well as priority scheduling before race day.
We understand life gets in the way sometimes, and that make it hard to complete our commitments to the team.
Everyone gets a onetime pass to come back next year at the discretion of the team leadership.
Team members who have met their commitment, that don’t want to return to the team the following year will be heartily thanked for their contributions, and still welcomed under the HFP tent at the races.
Departing team members who have not met their commitments by the end of the year, will be asked to contribution to an HFP Racing charity, equal to the $’s discounts they received from our sponsors during the season.
Always follow USA Triathlon & USA Cycling rules and exhibit the highest of all sportsmanlike conduct.
Purchase a minimum of at least one 2016 tri top & one tri bottom per season.
Race all 2016 events (HFP or others — minus Team USA events) in official 2016 Team HFP apparel.
Race a minimum of 3 HFP Racing events.
Volunteer at a minimum of 1 HFP Racing event per year that you will NOT be racing in during the 2016 season.
Encourage and cheer on finishers after you’re done racing.
All members are encouraged to warm-up and cool down with non team members.
Have a huge impact on the sport by being a great steward of multisport.
Introduce at least 3 people to the sport and get them to an HFP event.
You must be or become a yearly USAT Member before receiving any Team benefits. | 2019-04-25T23:55:14Z | https://hfpracingnews.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.620867 |
cnn | U.S. markets were barely moving early Monday morning following a difficult January when the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by just over 5%.
Looking ahead to data due Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau will release its monthly report on construction spending at 10 a.m. ET. At the same time, the Institute for Supply Management will publish its monthly manufacturing index.
In corporate news, Herbalife (HLF) shares were higher after the company said fourth quarter earnings would top forecasts; the company also raised the amount of its planned share repurchase by $500 million.
Automakers are due to report January sales during the day Monday.
Restaurant operator Yum! Brands (YUM) is set to release quarterly results after the closing bell.
U.S. stocks fell Friday, ending a month of losses. The S&P 500 slipped more than 3% in January, while the Nasdaq shed nearly 2%.
Related: Can stocks shake off January jitters?
European markets were weaker in morning trading as investors ignored reports of stronger manufacturing activity in the eurozone in January.
Many Asian markets were closed for the lunar new year but those trading moved lower, with the Nikkei in Japan declining by 2%. Traders in Asia were cautious after the release of weak official Chinese manufacturing data.
"Despite the weakness being widely expected [in the Chinese numbers], traders were taking no chances and continued to dump emerging market assets," said Ishaq Siddiqi, a market strategist at ETX Capital in London.
Many emerging markets have suffered over the past few weeks as investors have moved money out of riskier markets in favor of relative safe havens. | 2019-04-25T02:05:34Z | https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/03/investing/premarkets/index.html | Porn | Business | 0.765355 |
wordpress | Extraordinary Work and Ordinary Means. Just substitute “mom” or “parent” for “worship-leader” and I think you’ll find this a very encouraging article (at least I did!).
Slow Cooker Greek Gyros. I love Greek food and slow cooker recipes so I was so excited to find this!
Free online biblical womanhood class. I love a good class and this looks intriguing (and it’s free!).
Why I chose to be a stay-at-home-mom. An encouraging read of why one woman is glad for the choice she has made. I love her encouragement to make a list of why you are glad you have made your choice to work, be at home, or combine some of both. | 2019-04-25T09:42:55Z | https://soweremember.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/favorite-finds/ | Porn | Home | 0.927853 |
free | Super Bestial Machine God Dancougar Tribute Page!
Dug Fin's Dragon Half Page!
Dragon Half Anime Movie & Picture Archive! | 2019-04-24T20:03:40Z | http://anifind.free.fr/pageserie/d.htm | Porn | Arts | 0.885815 |
salon | The original "Spider-Man" poster that was pulled after 9/11.
Ten years ago, the first trailer for the hotly anticipated comic-book film "Spider-Man" premiered in theaters. Even though it would be an entire year before Sam Raimi's adaptation would hit the big screen, you have to remember that back then, big-budget superhero movies weren't the summer tent poles they are now. "Superman" was still a trilogy from the '70s, "Batman" was a troubled Joel Schumacher franchise and Tony Stark barely blipped on anyone's radar. With all the new CGI technology and Raimi's patented directorial style ("Army of Darkness"!), getting ready for "Spider-Man" 12 months before audiences could see it didn't seem like a tease; it seemed like a glimpse of the future. Especially since the first trailer featured one of the most iconic uses of the New York architecture in recent cinema history.
According to Sony Pictures, the scene from the trailer was never supposed to be in the film: It was a stand-alone story that was meant to drum up excitement for the film. Which makes sense, given that the trailer didn't really fit into the logic of the film: How was Spider-Man ever going to build a web that large? Peter Parker isn't a giant. And he uses his web-slingers to fly from building to building, not catch helicopters. But the trailer managed to invoke a powerful feeling with that image of the bad guys, suddenly so small and caught in between the twin towers in a gigantic death trap. The trailer was considered one of the most successful pieces of visual marketing since "Terminator 2."
Four months later, Sony was scrambling to yank the trailer out of every theater, along with the original Spider-Man teaser poster that featured the towers reflected in Spidey's eyes. They weren't the only ones: After the attacks on the World Trade Center, soon-to-be-released movies that had been shot in New York before 9/11 underwent a crisis: Should they cut out scenes where you could see the towers, as they did with "Men in Black II and the opening to "Law and Order: Criminal Intent"? Should they digitally erase the World Trade Center's existence with CGI technology as in "Zoolander"? Or should they simply try to work around the footage and attempt to downplay the buildings through editing, like in the romantic comedies "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "Sidewalks of New York"?
As it turned out, many audiences cheered when they saw the towers; it was a reminder that history couldn't be neatly wiped off the screen. And a more recent parallel popped up after Hurricane Katrina, when the Kate Hudson horror film "Skeleton Key" was released. Though the film was universally panned, the images of an intact New Orleans, maybe the last to be caught in a Hollywood film, gave the film an emotional weight that certainly wasn't in the script.
Looking back, erasing the Trade Center from the skyline may seem both excessive and over-cautious, but Sony's heart was in the right place. It's not that hard to remember how scary and uncertain that period of time was, when destroying all the evidence of the nightmare seemed like a safer idea than showing people what they had just lost. | 2019-04-18T23:15:37Z | https://www.salon.com/2011/05/10/10_year_time_capsule_spiderman_wtc/ | Porn | Reference | 0.171292 |
wordpress | July 10, 2018 in Outings.
June 18, 2018 in Places.
March 5, 2018 in Outings.
February 25, 2018 in Places. | 2019-04-20T04:19:23Z | https://kevincollinsblog.wordpress.com/tag/35mm-film/ | Porn | Reference | 0.355662 |
wordpress | Categories: Early intervention, Evidence | Tags: early intervention, LARC, neglect, safeguarding | Permalink.
As the academic year comes to an end for many this week, teachers all around England will be feeling an overwhelming sense of relief and looking forward to a much needed and well-deserved period of rest and relaxation.
Categories: Evidence | Tags: Evidence, Evidence-based practice, Randomised Controlled Trials, RCTs | Permalink. | 2019-04-25T07:44:40Z | https://thenferblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/ | Porn | News | 0.306874 |
wordpress | This entry was posted on 29 junio 2010 at 14:34 and is filed under Uncategorized. 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. | 2019-04-23T16:33:57Z | https://intelib.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/recomendaciones-261/ | Porn | Reference | 0.179685 |
wordpress | Stealing the future is like stealing the soul: I reserve the right to plan my own future and I reserve the right to change my mind as I go along. A lot of people and circumstances change throughout our lifetimes and that is why living in the future is futile. Right about now there are a lot of people who are incredibly inconvenienced by a government that put off fixing a major problem that was pointed out over a decade ago. How many more of these are out there, ignored disasters, waiting to happen because fixing them did not fit the plan du jour?
The planning departments (every department has one) do nothing about solving current issues. SFMTA can’t figure out how to handle traffic work today or even count it, but they claim if we give them 10 or 20 years they will have it all worked out. They can tell you the traffic counts for 20 years from now. Really? Sorry, but I don’t believe the parties who destroyed a functioning traffic and transit system are the ones to fix it. We need a system that works for the residents who are here now. Not a future perfect plan for a future no one can predict and will probably never happen.
A new BART station and thousands of units of housing may transform the area of the Mission District south of Cesar Chavez Street, if a candidate for District Nine supervisor has his way.
Josh Arce, a community liaison for laborers union Local 261 running to replace Supervisor David Campos, laid out plans on Thursday to replace the Safeway and its parking lot at 30th and Mission streets with a new BART station, and to develop dozens of parcels in the area to increase the neighborhood’s housing supply by 2,000 units.
Arce’s plan parallels that of one of his opponents, Hillary Ronen, who is also running for District Nine supervisor and currently serves as chief of staff for Supervisor Campos. Ronen announced in January her intention to build 5,000 affordable housing units in the Mission District in the next decade, saying she would develop empty lots and raise heights to accomplish the feat.
Who needs food when you can BART? Can we find a politician who cares what the residents in the neighborhood want to do, instead of demanding we follow their plans to change our lives? How about if we just slow down the pace of change and allow everyone to catch up before running off on a new tangent? | 2019-04-21T04:10:39Z | https://discoveryink.wordpress.com/tag/displacement/ | Porn | News | 0.783617 |
livejournal | Great post-rock song. It starts out quiet and low-key, then about halfway through switches modes to epic and soaring.
And there's one point that reminds me of ursulav's Biting Pear of Salamanca (perhaps better known by the intartubes as the "LOL WUT" Pear). You'll know it when you see it.
EDIT: Deepest Sender ate the entire contents of my post. I hope it works this time.
Nice. Really stunning stylized 3D there, and the music's not half bad. Thanks for the link. | 2019-04-23T14:42:33Z | https://gwalla.livejournal.com/212011.html?thread=505643 | Porn | Reference | 0.57598 |
wordpress | Rainy Regensburg. And Skewered Sausages.
Last Wednesday, mum and I took a trip to Regensburg, another very old and splendid Bavarian town. Things didn’t look very promising when we set off. According to the weather forecast, Regensburg would live up to its name: “Regen” means “rain” in German. (Regen is also the name of a river that flows through the town, which is how it got its name).
In the end, the weather wasn’t too bad, although you’ll notice a distinct lack of blue sky in the photos.
Time for a food break 🙂 Question: What do you do when you can’t decide which kind of sausage to have..?
Answer: You order them ALL! On a skewer, so they can’t get away.
“Sauerbraten” – Beef (which has been marinated overnight), potato dumplings and red cabbage. It’s a traditional Bavarian dish, and this incarnation was just PERFECT.
Regensburg’s Gothic Cathedral is world famous. You can’t miss the spires poking out from behind the town houses. I didn’t like it much from the inside, far too dark and dingy, although the painted glass windows are amazing, admittedly.
These next few pictures are from the Church of St Emmeram, which looks fairly unassuming from the outside.
Painted wooden ceiling, which came out very dark, so I lightened it and enhanced the colours slightly.
Wait… something’s missing… what could that be…? Oh oh, I remember – CAKE!
This entry was posted in Germany and tagged Bavaria, Beautiful Buildings, Cake, Churches, Food culture, German Towns, Germany on August 17, 2014 by ladyofthecakes.
Yesterday, I posted a bunch of pictures of the beautiful Bavarian city of Landshut (click here if you’ve missed them), so most of you will already be well prepared for what’s coming today: We’re schlepping up the hill to gawp at (and down from) the castle, Burg Trausnitz.
We took a guided tour. Although the rooms were relatively bare (except for the chapel), there were some pretty pieces on show. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but I managed this sneaky shot of the “Narrentreppe” (staircase of fools).
The Martinskirche through a Trausnitz Castle window.
The Martinskirche steeple is Bavaria’s highest church steeple.
This entry was posted in Germany and tagged Bavaria, Beautiful Buildings, Castles, Churches, German Towns, Germany on August 10, 2014 by ladyofthecakes.
On Tuesday, mum and I made another foray into Lower Bavaria. This time our destination was the splendid city of Landshut, 50 minutes east of Munich by train.
Landshut was founded in 1204. It was a seat of government, before Bavaria was eventually united and Munich became the official capital.
Mum had the strawberry cake, and I the Mohnschnecke. I guess you’d call it a poppy seed Danish. BTW, I RESENT having to call this heavenly family of baked goods “Danish(es)”, because they are very much a Central European thing and have nothing whatsoever to do with bloody Denmark!
This entry was posted in Germany and tagged Bavaria, Beautiful Buildings, Cake, Churches, German Towns, Germany on August 9, 2014 by ladyofthecakes.
The Quirky Streets Of Passau. And The Food!
The streets may not be paved with gold, but the dogs certainly make up for it.
How about a touch of the exotic? Taken inside a spice shop.
Or maybe something (im)practical? This giant rucksack will accommodate three four-year-olds stacked on top of each other, plus a kitchen sink.
Statue of writer and poet Emerenz Meier, born 1874 near Passau, died 1928 in Chicago. There was a touching poem on the plaque below, which made the point that, had she not been lumbered with female domestic responsibilities, she would probably have been as famous as Goethe or Schiller.
OK. You’ve made it to this point, so you’ve earned yourself a hearty meal. And CAKE!
Pork in a creamy mushroom sauce with Spätzle.
Some kind of vegetable bake with parmesan shavings. Very tasty, my mother said.
What we’ve all been waiting for: DESSERT!
This entry was posted in Germany and tagged Bavaria, German Towns, Germany on August 3, 2014 by ladyofthecakes. | 2019-04-21T14:03:00Z | https://ladyofthecakes.wordpress.com/tag/german-towns/ | Porn | Arts | 0.491169 |
google | It is known to multiplex speech signals and nonspeech signals over a common communication path. One arrangement uses a portion of the frequency spectrum of the path for speech signals with the remainder for nonspeech signals. Another inserts data signals during gaps in the speech signals. Still another treats a speech signal as a carrier signal and modulates the speech signal with data signals. Unfortunately, users of such known arrangements experience excessive distortion or perceive others as encroaching on the path. These and other problems are mitigated by my improved signal processor (100, 200) for the spread spectrum (de)multiplexing of speech signals and nonspeech signals. In an illustrative embodiment, at a transmitter, a block (110) of speech signals may be converted (140) from a time domain to a frequency domain by a Fourier transformation. A Fourier component may be pseudo-randomly selected (130) from a subset of such components. Responsive to the selected component, a prediction (160) of the component may be substituted therefor, the prediction being thereafter modified (170), e.g., by its amplitude being incremented or decremented to reflect the multiplexing of a logic 1 or a logic 0 nonspeech signal. The modified prediction may be converted (150) back to the time domain for transmission to a receiver. At the receiver, a parallel demultiplexing (200) occurs for extracting (270) speech signals and nonspeech signals from the multiplexed signals.
This invention relates to (de)multiplexing and, more particularly, to a spread spectrum arrangement for multiplexing and demultiplexing speech signals and nonspeech signals.
One arrangement for multiplexing speech signals and nonspeech signals includes apparatus for transmitting speech signals in one portion of the frequency spectrum of a communication path linking a transmitter and a receiver with the remainder of the bandwidth for transmitting nonspeech signals.
Another; disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,372, issued Feb. 14, 1967 and entitled "Voice-Data Multiplexing System for Transmitting Data During Pauses in the Voice Signals"; includes an arrangement for detecting intervals of no speech on the communication path and for inserting a data signal therein. More specifically, at the transmitter, a decision circuit continually monitors an input line. On the one hand, when speech signals are detected on the line, the decision circuit provides a first gating signal to allow passage of the speech signals through a voice gate onto the communication path. On the other hand, when a gap in the speech signals is detected and the gap exceeds a predetermined minimum time duration, the decision circuit provides a second gating signal to allow passage of data signals through a data gate onto the communication path. Between gaps of no speech, data signals are queued for transmission. At the receiver, a first detector monitors signals on the communication path for the appearance of a unique signal which heralds the arrival of speech signals. Also, a second detector monitors signals on the communication path for the appearance of another condition which heralds the arrival of data signals. Thereby the arrangement multiplexes data signals during gaps in voice signals.
Still another; disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,344, issued Oct. 15, 1968 and entitled "Transmission of Low Frequency Signals by Modulation of Voice Carrier"; includes an arrangement wherein speech signals are modulated by low frequency data signals. The modulated speech signals, the speech signals being the carrier signals, are transmitted over the communication path to the receiver. At the receiver, an envelope detector may be used to recover the data signals from the modulated speech signals. Also, the speech signals may be readily reproduced.
Unfortunately, users of known arrangements for (de)multiplexing speech signals and nonspeech signals experience excessive distortion or perceive others as encroaching on the communication path.
These and other problems are mitigated by my improved signal processor for the spread spectrum (de)multiplexing of speech signals and nonspeech signals. According to one aspect of my invention, at a transmitter, a speech signal representation may be converted from a first domain to a second domain. Responsive to a selected component of the second domain representation, a prediction of the component may be substituted for the component and the prediction may be modified for multiplexing nonspeech signals. The modified prediction may be converted from the second domain to the first domain for extension to a receiver. According to another aspect of my invention, at a receiver, the multiplexed signal may be converted from the first domain to the second domain. The component selected at the transmitter may again be selected at the receiver and extended as an input to a second predictor. Responsive to the selected component and to a prediction thereof, the speech signal and the nonspeech signal may be respectively extracted for extension to respective output terminals.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative spread spectrum demultiplexer constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention.
Broadly, referring to the schematic in FIG. 1, at a transmitter, an analog speech signal may be extended through an analog-to-analog converter (not shown), may be processed by signal processor 100 for spread spectrum multiplexing a nonspeech signal therewith, and may be transmitted through a digital-to-analog converter (not shown) over a standard communication path, such as an unconditioned telephone line, to a receiver. Regarding spread spectrum systems, see, for example, R. C. Dixon, Spread Spectrum Systems, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1976, pp. 1-12.
Referring to the schematic in FIG. 2, at the receiver, the received multiplexed analog signal may be extended through an analog-to-digital converter (not shown) and may be processed by signal processor 200 for spread spectrum demultiplexing the received signal by extracting the speech signal and the nonspeech signal therefrom. The extracted speech signal may be extended through a digital-to-analog converter (not shown) as an analog speech signal while the extracted nonspeech signal may be extended to a first output terminal 285.
More particularly, referring to FIG. 1, at the transmitter, an input signal, which may be an analog speech signal that has been quantized to a digital representation by the analog-to-digital converter (not shown), is extended from input terminal 105 of multiplexer 100 to an input of shift register 110. Shift register 110 is for sequentially delaying a block of N such input signals. The block of N delayed signals, or samples, may be extended jointly to a first input of adder 120 and to an input of converter 140. As to converter 140, it is well known that a signal can be described either in the time domain or in the frequency domain and that transforms, or mathematical operators, are available for converting a descriptive function of a signal from one domain to the other and for inverting the conversion. Some well known transforms include the Walsh transform and the Fourier transform. Hence, illustrative converter 140 may be for converting a time domain input signal to a frequency domain signal by way of a Fourier transformation. Regarding Fourier transforms, see, for example, G. D. Bergland, "A Guided Tour of the Fast Fourier Transform," IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 6, No. 7, (July 1969), pp. 41-52 and the references cited therein. A typical discrete Fourier transform of a time domain function is a frequency domain function including a summation of a plurality of components, each component including (1) a coefficient multiplied by (2) to complex function, the complex function being convertable to a sinusoidal function with a sine term and a cosine term, each term having a determinable harmonic frequency. For example, the discrete Fourier transformation X(j) of a sampled time domain signal x(k) can be written as: ##EQU1## where e is the natural logarithmic base, i=√-1 and j=0,1 , . . . ,N-1. Conversely, the inverse Fourier transformation x(k) of a frequency domain signal X(j) can be written as: ##EQU2## where k=0,1, . . . ,N-1.
Continuing as to FIG. 1, responsive to a selecting signal from generator 130, one of the Fourier components is selected for mitigating distortion effects. Illustratively, generator 130 is a pseudo-random generator for pseudo-randomly selecting a component whereby distortion effects may be mitigated by being spread over the frequency spectrum. The selected component is extended from an output of converter 140 to an input of predictor 160. Responsive to the selected component, predictor 160 for predicting its input selected component extends a prediction thereof to a first input of modifier 170. A second input of modifier 170 is extended from input terminal 185 as the nonspeech signal to be multiplexed with the speech signal. Firstly, modifier 170 substitutes the prediction in place of the selected component. Secondly, responsive to the nonspeech signal, modifier 170 modifies the prediction for multiplexing the nonspeech signal. The modified prediction signal is extended from an output of modifier 170 to an input of inverter 150 for converting the frequency domain signal to a time domain signal by way of an inverse Fourier transformation and thence to a second input of adder 120. The multiplexed signal output of adder 120 is thereafter extended to output terminal 125 for extension through the digital-to-analog converter (not shown) over the communication path to the receiver.
Referring to FIG. 2, at the receiver, the received multiplexed analog signal is quantized to a digital representation by the analog-to-digital converter (not shown) and is then extended from input terminal 205 of demultiplexer 200 to an input of shift register 210. Shift register 210 is for sequentially delaying a block of N such multiplexed signals. The block of N delayed samples may be extended jointly to a first input of adder 220 and to an input of converter 240 for converting a time domain signal to a frequency domain signal by way of a Fourier transformation. Responsive to a selecting signal from pseudo-random generator 230, one of the Fourier components is pseudo-randomly selected. Pseudo-random generator 230 may be synchronized with pseudo-random generator 130 for selecting the same Fourier component at the receiver as was selected at the transmitter. The synchronization may occur by timing signals being exchanged between pseudo-random generators 130 and 230 over a time path interconnecting terminals 126 and 206. The selected component is extended from an output of converter 240 jointly to an input of predictor 260 and to a first input of extractor 270. Responsive to the selected component, predictor 260 for predicting the component selected at the transmitter extends a prediction thereof to a second input of extractor 270. Responsive to the selected component and to the prediction, extractor 270 extracts the nonspeech signal from the multiplexed signal and extends the nonspeech signal to first output terminal 285. Also, extractor 270, substitutes the prediction in place of the receiver selected component. In so doing, inasmuch as the prediction is a prediction of the component selected at the transmitter and represents that component before the aforedescribed modifier procedure, distortion effects are further mitigated. Finally, the prediction is extended through inverter 250 for converting the frequency domain signal to a time domain signal by way of an inverse Fourier transformation and thence to a second input of adder 220. The speech signal output of adder 220 is thereafter extended to a second output terminal 225.
Still, more particularly, at the transmitter, one common analog-to-digital converter samples an analog signal on a telephone line at a Nyquist rate of about 8000 samples per second for quantizing the signal according to a μ=255 companding law. Such converters are common in the Bell System T1 carrier system. A digital signal output of the converter is usually an eight bit digital sample representation of the analog signal. Here, the digital representation is extended to an input of shift register 110 for sequentially delaying a block of N such samples.
As to a block size N, for a typical unconditioned telephone line having a bandwidth of about 4000 hertz, experimentation has indicated that the number of Fourier components, and hence N, useful for transmission of a nonspeech signal increases as the block size increases through a block size of (N=) 32 samples. Hence, for my illustrative embodiment, shift register 110 is for delaying 32 eight bit digital samples.
As to pseudo-random generator 130, it is well known that the Fourier transformation of a time domain function is convertable to a sinusoidal function. Accordingly, the Fourier transform complex function of equation (1) is typically convertable for representation as the summation of a trigonometric sine term and a cosine term, each term being multiplied by a Fourier coefficient. For a block size of (N=) 32 samples and for the typical 4000 hertz telephone line when sampled at a Nyquist rate of 8000 samples per second, the harmonic frequencies of the sinusoidal function are multiples of 250 hertz. Experimentation has indicated that a subset of the harmonic frequencies, the subset including the seven frequencies in the band from 1000 hertz to 2500 hertz at increments of 250 hertz, obtains a relatively small amount of inter-component interference and a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio on an unconditioned telephone line. Accordingly, pseudo-random generator 130 extends a selecting signal for pseudo-randomly selecting a Fourier component having one of the seven mentioned frequencies. Also, to mitigate a diverging error in the prediction signal, a Fourier component selected for one block is not selected for the next succeeding block.
As to predictor 160, the selected Fourier component is extended from an output of converter 140 to an input of predictor 160. Experimentation has indicated that, inasmuch as the Nyquist sampling rate is relatively fast, there is usually little deviation from a sample in one block of samples to a corresponding sample in a next succeeding block of samples. Hence, in my illustrative embodiment, although other prediction signals may be used, responsive to the selected Fourier component, predictor 160 extends as a prediction signal the corresponding Fourier coefficient of the immediately prior block of samples. Specifically, the coefficient prediction signal is extended to the first input of modifier 170.
As to modifier 170, as aforedescribed, modifier 170 firstly substitutes the prediction, here the corresponding Fourier coefficient from the immediately prior block, in place of the selected coefficient. Of course, such a substitution may introduce some distortion. However, an in accord with the principles of my invention, the relatively rapid sampling rate coupled with the predictability of a speech signal mitigate the substitutional distortion effects. Secondly, the amplitude of the substituted prediction signal may be modified for multiplexing the nonspeech signal detected at terminal 185. For example, on the one hand and according to a first strategy, in the event the prediction signal exceeds a first prefixed threshold, modifier 170 may modify, for example, by increasing the amplitude of the prediction signal a first predetermined increment responsive to a logic 1 nonspeech signal detected at terminal 185. Conversely, according to a second strategy, modifier 170 may decrease the prediction signal a second predetermined increment responsive to a logic 0 nonspeech signal. On the other hand, in the event the prediction signal does not exceed the first threshold, the prediction signal may be replaced by a second threshold, which second threshold may thereafter be increased or decreased the first strategy or the second strategy predetermined increment, respectively, as aforesaid. Of course, such amplitude modification may introduce some distortion. However, and in accord with the principles of my invention, the amplitudinal distortion effects are spread over the frequency spectrum for mitigating their effects. As a result, the amplitudinal distortion effects may be perceived by a listener as uncorrelated noise. Thereby a pseudo-randomly selected component is advantageously modified for multiplexing a nonspeech signal. And, as aforementioned, the thus modified component is extended through inverter 150 to a second input of adder 120. Thereby a spread spectrum arrangement for multiplexing speech signals and nonspeech signals obtains with my illustrative embodiment.
At the receiver, shift register 210, adder 220, pseudo-random generator 230, converter 240, inverter 250, and predictor 260 are substantially similar to their respective counterparts at the transmitter. Further as to predictor 260, inasmuch as the prediction signal is the Fourier coefficient of the immediately prior block of samples and inasmuch as there is usually little deviation from one block to a next succeeding block, the aforedescribed amplitudinal distortion effects are further mitigated.
As to extractor 270, the receiver selected Fourier component is theoretically equal to the transmitted Fourier component. However, for well known reasons, e.g., phase distortion on the telephone line, the component selected at the receiver may be slightly different in magnitude than the transmitted component. Notwithstanding, responsive to the selected Fourier component, predictor 260 extends the prediction signal to the second input of extractor 270. On the one hand, in the event the prediction signal exceeds the aforementioned first threshold, extractor 270 may decrease the amplitude of the selected Fourier coefficient by an increment equal to the prediction signal. On the other hand, in the event the prediction signal does not exceed the aforesaid first threshold, extractor 270 may decrease the amplitude of the selected Fourier coefficient by an increment equal to the aforesaid second threshold. In either case, the remainder after the decreasing corresponds to the nonspeech signal. That is, a positive remainder implies a logic 1 nonspeech signal while a negative remainder implies a logic 0 nonspeech signal. Thereafter, the thus extracted nonspeech signal may be extended to output terminal 285 while the prediction signal may be extended through inverter 250 to the second input of adder 220.
Although various aspects of my invention have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be understood that the same is not by way of limitation. For example, in my illustrative embodiment, inasmuch as the sampling rate is about 8000 samples per second and inasmuch as one nonspeech data bit is multiplexed for one block of (N=) 32 speech samples, the nonspeech signals may be multiplexed at a rate of up to (8000/32=) 250 bits per second. Clearly, other block sizes, numbers of bits multiplexed per block, and sampling rates can readily give rise to other rates for multiplexing nonspeech signals with speech signals in accord with the principles of my invention. Thus the spirit and scope of my invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
means (120) for extending said delayed speech signal and said modified first domain signal to said output terminal.
means for selecting said component from a subset of the total number of second domain signal components, said subset being determined for mitigating inter-component interference as well as for increasing signal-to-noise ratio.
means for extending a component from a prior block of second domain signals as said prediction, said component corresponding to said selected component.
means responsive to a second state of said nonspeech signal for altering said prediction according to a second strategy.
means for extending said extracted nonspeech second domain signal to said first output terminal. | 2019-04-25T12:27:28Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US4313197A/en | Porn | Reference | 0.25229 |
wordpress | This is love, that stayed….
PS: Teen love sometimes turn out to be passion.
Thank u so much! Glad u like it.
Hmmm ! Yes true love never dies …it remains even if it doesn’t fructify into marriage or relationship .
Hehe… it truely never dies. | 2019-04-24T20:25:13Z | https://howamazingthingsare.wordpress.com/2018/02/25/passion/ | Porn | Reference | 0.78385 |
livejournal | Was that MY Stewart's Key Lime Soda? Cause I know I left some over there, and last time I checked that was all that was in your fridge.
Yeah. Yeah it was. Yours that has been in our fridge for a month and since become communal. | 2019-04-23T02:30:45Z | https://virtuistic.livejournal.com/361932.html | Porn | Shopping | 0.873895 |
wordpress | Have you ever had one of those weeks where time seems to disappear and you just can’t catch up? If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Each night as bedtime approaches, you can barely keep your eyes open. But there’s still one more thing on your to-do list.
Will you be able to achieve all your youngsters’ expectations of a bedtime story, or will you fall asleep between the pages? Never fear! When you need it the most, I have the perfect bedtime book for you to share.
One Minute till Bedtime: 60-Second Poems To Send You Off To Sleep selected by Kenn Nesbitt and illustrated by Christoph Niemann is the go-to book when days aren’t long enough.
This book is chock-full of whimsical, funny, and delightfully appealing poems written by a host of well-known authors. Think Nikki Grimes, Jack Prelutsky, Jon Scieszka, Judith Viorst, Verla Kay, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Jane Yolen, Lemony Snicket, J. Patrick Lewis … I could on and on naming the amazing people who are contributors, but time is of the essence. Once you open this book and begin to read, you won’t want to put it down. In a flash, you and your youngster will be captivated!
This entry was posted on January 12, 2017 at 8:28 AM and is filed under Poetry. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
This book sounds great, love the cover!
You’ll love the poems, too! | 2019-04-19T05:09:47Z | https://cathyso3.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/say-goodnight/ | Porn | Arts | 0.841026 |
livejournal | It was, to say the least, extremely frustrating. Even Fuu, who usually had the patience of an angel and the overall temperment of a saint, was starting to see red. She wasn’t asking for anything outrageous, was she? Just a few minutes with the man she loved!
But there was no more time to think about it. They had a job to do. Three cried words transformed them into three beams of colored light and summoned three legendary beings to join with the Magic Knights to take to the skies and fight on behalf of themselves and their allies.
The monsters in question appeared to be the same as before: big, hulking creatures, dark gray in color, with claws and teeth that looked more at home hanging out of a walrus’ mouth than anywhere else. And so they assumed that this meant another quick battle, as they had beaten these things before. Unless something had changed very dramatically, this was not much of a chore.
But as things tend to do, the three girls were in for a surprise.
And the lumpy gray beasts disappeared, vanishing into wafts of black smoke.
“It looks that way,” Umi said, eyes narrowing. This sudden change in the status quo gave her a very bad feeling, and she was on fullest alert. Something bad was about to happen.
“Fuu, what do you think?” Hikaru asked quietly.
They caught themselves before they hit the ground (though it was still a close call) and steadied themselves in the air. Hikaru was wincing violently, but she managed a weak smile at her teammates. “G-good thing my outfit’s red, huh?” she joked, panting heavily.
This female voice came out of nowhere; it was unfamiliar, and as warm and friendly as the shards of ice that had nearly skewered Hikaru.
The Knight of Rayearth looked up, and found herself face to face with a large gray mashin. She could see the girl inside of it, but was unable to make out any features; she assumed that to be the one who had commented on her joke. The mashin was holding a sword that looked to be chiseled out of diamond; it took Hikaru a moment to piece together that it was probably a sword cast in ice.
Somehow, she doubted it would melt easily.
Hadrian? Hikaru blinked. Is that its name?
She didn’t have much time to ponder the mystery, though, as the mysterious new mashin—Hadrian, she decided it must be called—lifted its sword and attacked. She drew her own sword and just managed to block the assault. Immediately she was on the defensive as the next blow fell. This mashin (and by default, she assumed, his Knight) were strong. Hikaru was in pain, but she had no other options at the moment. She had to fight.
—and Umi let out a yelp of surprise as the earth itself surged and rose up to grab her, catching Selece’s ankle and dragging her down. They crashed into the ground, and found that they were being held by fingers made of the very living dirt and rock. At this rate, they would be buried, and quickly.
It took some effort and an iron-will exercise of her magic, but it turned out that mud did not possess as solid a grip as dirt, and she and Selece broke free to face their own attacker: a large being—a mashin, dark brown in color.
“Damek…” Umi heard Selece’s voice, and that was all before she and Selece counterattacked.
Now the only one of her team unengaged, Fuu was wavering as to who she should assist first, but her attention was drawn away by a streak of lightning that shot through the air in front of her. Strangely enough, it was far enough away from her that she knew it had not been intended to hit her; the one who controlled the storms had hit Umi while she was moving. And as moving targets were far harder to hit, it stood to reason that her opponent-to-be was far too good a shot to have missed her like that when she was a perfectly stationary target.
She looked up, and sure enough, there was a shadow moving above the clouds. And Fuu was willing to lay money that she knew who was up there. “Windam…let’s go,” she whispered, trying to steel herself for whatever was to happen. Together, mashin and Magic Knight surged upwards through the clouds, breaking into the sky and what was undoubtedly to be their battlefield.
The being before her was definitely a mashin, golden yellow in color. To Fuu’s eyes, there was no mistaking it: it was the serpent she had seen before. Which meant that the girl was there as well, probably resting inside the being just as Fuu herself sat inside Windam. A closer look proved her right; she could see the girl’s outline nestled within the heart of her mashin.
Before she could venture a question, the being attacked with lightning, and Fuu defended herself with wind. There were no swords used in their fight, and as a result, their magic roared across the heavens, the vengeance of an angry storm god. They were evenly matched, and neither gained an upper hand.
After a time, both fell back in a momentary respite.
Fuu took advantage of the standstill to call out to her opponent. “Wait! Who are you? Who are you working for?” The words echoed in the space between them, and she wondered if her enemy could even hear her. Or if she heard the words, would she answer?
“As before, I am acting under orders,” Malia said with that same calm.
The rest of Fuu’s questions were lost as they began their fight anew. As before, neither gained the upper hand over the other. They were even matched in power and skill, and it seemed that they could fight like this forever and never choose a victor. The only question Fuu really needed an answer to was who Malia was taking orders from—that person, it seemed, was their true enemy. And these three, along with their mysterious commander, undoubtedly had a strong hand in Kagura’s change of heart.
Immediately, Malia and the mashin called Galen fell back. Fuu was startled enough to do the same. “W-wait!” she called out. “Who are you—“ She stopped when they turned to leave in accordance with the order given by the male voice.
But Fuu was surprised when Malia turned back slightly. She paused, seeming to hesitate, and then said a single word, a name: “Sorilbran.” And with that, she vanished, taking off across the sky as fast as the lightning she had the power to control.
No matter what else happened in this fiasco, Umi would not forget about her friend. And she would not forget her promise and her mission to find out what had happened to Kagura, and save her from whatever dark fate it was that loomed before her. Especially if that fate concerned a mashin and a sword cast of Escudo.
Sorilbran looked up as Nairi stormed in, looking as furious as any of them had ever seen her. She marched right up to him, bobbing her head in a respectful bow before she spoke. “Lord Sorilbran,” she said, tone wavering with restrained anger, “why did you stop us? Why did you not let us fight?” Behind her, Cristal and Malia watched and waited for the reply.
Nairi opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by another female voice.
Nairi’s brown hair swung in a wide arc around her as she whipped around to glare at Kagura, who had appeared in the doorway. She was clad from head to toe in black, including her armor. She looked a bit different than she had before, though. Her eyes were harder, and her smile (more of a smirk, really) lacked any of the friendliness it had held before her meeting with Umi in the corridor.
“Yours?” Nairi said, her tone tight.
Her words managed to dispell some of the tension in the room. Only Nairi still looked ill at ease.
Cristal crossed to Kagura. “Come with me—you must hear of what happened out there.” Amazingly enough, Kagura’s expression lightened, and she and Cristal walked off together, chattering amiably about the fight the others had just returned from. She seemed particularly interested in hearing of Nairi’s attack on Umi, and how the earth threatened to swallow Selece up completely.
Malia hesitated, then ducked her head and followed after them, hurrying down the corridor. She hadn’t gone too far before a voice called her name, and she stopped and turned back to the source of it.
As Malia left, Nairi’s eyes bore a suspicious hole in her back.
As the sun set beyond the garden walls, Hikaru was forced to use a bit of her magic to light the nearby torches, as the palace servants had not yet done so. It wasn’t a big thing, really. It just served to remind her exactly how much time had passed since they had first taken seats out here to read the book Fuu had found in the Royal Library. The book itself was one of legends, encompassing all worlds.
There was something slightly strange about seeing the story of the Magic Knights detailed anywhere other than Cephiro, but Fuu had to chuckle at the descriptions. Wielding swords of fire was definitely a Rayearth trait, not one shared by all three of the Knights.
The story of Light and Dark was outlined there, exactly as it had been told to them by Michiko. The two beasts had fought for supremacy, creating a third being in the process. The third being was neither of the Light nor of the Dark, but bore aspects of both. That third beast calmed the two, and the quarrel was ended. But there would come a time when one would awaken the two, and their battle would resume. That person was refered to as the Promised.
Fuu was holding the book, reading aloud to Hikaru; it was a comfortable, intimate moment between two friends. She read the legend up to that point…but was surprised to find that there was more to the story. While Hikaru mumbled something about the legend as she knew it, Fuu scanned the rest of the tale as outlined in the book.
She was proud, though, that her hands only shook a little bit as she quickly paged through the book, eager to find something else. A page turned beneath her fingers, and she paused as a picture met her eyes. It portrayed a large being, unmistakably a mashin, and one she immediately recognized by its golden yellow color.
“Galen…” she murmured, tilting the book to show Hikaru while her eyes scanned over the caption. How she could read the words, inscribed in what was undoubtedly Aldarban, she did not know or understand, but she was not going to question it. Perhaps it was the same magic by which she could read in Cephirean, or understand the Cephirean tongue despite it being drastically different from her own native Japanese.
“What else does it say?” Hikaru asked.
Hikaru looked like she was about to say something, but her gaze shifted to something above Fuu’s head, and her expression changed to a sizable grin. “You know…I just remembered that I was going to go bother Lantis for a while. Bye, Fuu!” And she was up and running off towards the palace in a hurry.
“What in the world…” Fuu murmured, but turned at the sound of a chuckle behind her. She knew who it was before her eyes fell on him, and she grinned. “Sneaking up on me now, I see?
“I can’t help but think that everything we need to know is buried in the legends,” she said, letting a hint of frustration finally worm its way into her tone. “But the stories are so old! Unless we can find a historian or someone to sift through everything and tell us what’s real and what’s myth, I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to really get it figured out. And this is a world where anything can happen…” She forced herself to stop and take a deep breath.
“Because this is the first uninterrupted conversation we’ve had since we got here, and I’d like to continue it for a while longer,” she said, feeling herself blush.
That was all he said before he drew her to him and kissed her.
Fuu glanced around. She could still hear her name being called, but…one of the reasons she and Hikaru had chosen this spot was because it was private. They could talk without being easily discovered. And as Ferio was now sitting where Hikaru had been, that same cover still existed. In short, if they were quiet, they would not be readily found.
From her viewpoint, Umi smiled as she watched her friends. They had invited her to go with them down to the gardens, but she had offered a plea of weariness and abstained from because she simply wanted to be alone for a while. She knew that she could have said that exactly and been just fine, but she didn’t want them to worry any more than they already had.
Still, she was fairly sure that she hadn’t fooled them. But the ploy had worked in the end. She was safe in her room, alone, and had been for a while, just staring out over the gardens, not really letting herself think about anything. After a while, she decided that maybe she did feel like a bit of company after all, and she started to straighten up with the intention of going down there to join them.
But that plan was shot in the foot when she saw Ferio approach. A moment later, Hikaru made a very quick exit, and despite her idea of going out to the gardens to hang out with them, Umi couldn’t help but chuckle at Hikaru’s perceptiveness. And she also made her exit, turning away from her balcony and moving back into her own room.
It was probably for the best. To be honest, it didn’t seem that Fuu and Ferio were getting a whole lot of time to themselves. Best to leave them be and just continue her little internal monologue. It wasn’t like she would be the best of company after all. Maybe she could go bother Hikaru later.
This tended to happen when something was bothering her: she became a hermit. Last time, that attitude had very nearly killed her when the darkness had crept closer and found her alone and too afraid to seek help. She had become a pawn in one of the most horrifying moments of her life.
Umi flopped over onto the bed—a large, luxurious one, and exceedingly comfortable—and slung one arm across her eyes to block out the light from the fire. The fireplace, when coupled with the lamps hung around the room, did a surprisingly good job of keeping the place lit. The room was as bright as any electric light could have made it.
She was finally hauling herself out of bed to put those lights out with every intention of changing and crawling right back into the bed to sleep when there was a knock at the door. Briefly wondering if it was Hikaru, Umi hurried across the room and answered. But it wasn’t Hikaru.
Now it was Ascot’s turn to smile. “I can listen. As long as you want.” He shifted nervously, and she had the sudden impression that he would have agreed to do just about anything if it meant time together. And she felt guilty again.
After a moment, she felt the mattress depress as a person’s weight lowered onto it. She lifted her head, and couldn’t quite keep herself from chuckling when she saw that Ascot had perched on the very edge of the bed, back ramrod straight. It was like he was afraid that he would somehow break it if he actually sat on it or something.
“…that’s why I’m nervous,” he said in a surprisingly dry voice.
This time she laughed out loud. “Okay, okay, point made. But really, you can relax. I’m not going to bite.” She had to fight the urge, but she managed not to say anything to the effect of ‘unless you want me to.’ That would probably send him running…and when had she started thinking like that?
…probably since that little conversation she’d had with Fuu regarding such a matter?
She was pleased to hear him chuckle slightly.
“If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be this worried about her,” Ascot pointed out.
“…we have been through a lot together…” Umi murmured.
Ascot’s face was as red as Hikaru’s hair. “Y-yes. I’d l-like that…” he swallowed hard. “Well, goodnight!” He turned to leave…and promptly ran into the door. He staggered back immediately, clutching his nose.
It had been bothering Malia ever since that discussion she and the others had had with Kagura. It was nothing that had ever bothered her before, but now it kept niggling at her and worming further into her mind to permeate her thoughts.
…why can’t I remember anything?
She remembered waking up in this place, and finding herself deemed a Magic Knight. It was then that she met Sorilbran, whom she now called her Lord. And she met the others, Nairi and Cristal. They trained together, learning to fight and use their magic. Sorilbran had cared for them and taught them. In return, he demanded loyalty, and that loyalty was given, and given freely and completely.
Her entire world since then had consisted of this place and the few people who resided here. She knew nothing of what had come before that. And that was what bothered her—why couldn’t she remember? What had happened to take those memories from her?
It seemed that she was the only one who wondered about it. Cristal and Kagura had become very fast friends; the two spent a fair amount of time in each other’s company. And Nairi…Nairi, whose loyalty to Sorilbran was by far the strongest, and who was growing jealous of Kagura’s position.
Things were turning into a mess, worse than they had ever been before. There had been bickering before, but nothing like the divide that separated them now. Hadn’t Sorilbran said that bringing Kagura here would not only help her to fulfill her destiny, but it would bring peace to the troubled waters that existed amidst the three of them.
That had not come to pass.
And Malia was having difficulty puzzling this whole mess out.
She glanced down at the stone pool. She had been spending a lot of time here, thinking on these things and many others. On a whim, she touched the water, and an image rippled and solidified before her eyes on the mirrored surface.
It was a moment from the past, but it showed four girls: the Magic Knights of Cephiro, plus Kagura. She knew their names to be Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu. The four of them looked a bit younger than they did now, as this was from perhaps a few years ago. The four were walking along some busy road, surrounded by buildings. They were talking happily with each other, laughing about some comment that the red-haired one—Hikaru, she remembered—had just made.
They looked so happy. Friends.
This is what they had taken Kagura away from. These were the people that Kagura claimed to be her enemies, the ones who had tried to destroy her. And now they would fight to take her back.
And not for the first time, Malia found herself questioning the mission that had been laid before her. But she kept those thoughts to herself. To question was to disobey, and to disobey was to betray, and Sorilbran tolerated nothing less than complete loyalty.
PS. I have a whole mental backstory for most of my original characters. It’s fun that way. So here we are, chapter ten. Not much else to say, except that I am owning summerwrite in the face. Thanks for reading, all! Much love! | 2019-04-24T04:30:55Z | https://candyfics.livejournal.com/190553.html | Porn | News | 0.112744 |
wordpress | Be grateful for the difficult times.
It is easy to be grateful for the good things.
also grateful for the setbacks. | 2019-04-23T08:48:28Z | https://meloholica.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/be-grateful/ | Porn | Reference | 0.425083 |
wordpress | This is waaaay overdue. But I have done much this month. I’ve also decided learning new skills comes under prepping!
Planted something: did a second sowing of pak choi, rocket and lettuce; potted a strawberry runner.
Preserved something: tried to make elderflower cordial but it didn’t really work. Hmph.
Cooked something new: broad beans in various forms, made veggie bean-burgers, used the pea shoots from the veg box.
Managed reserves: Waitrose own-brand pasta was back so we stocked up on that. Using up some of the older dried beans in the cupboard and wondering where to get more from as the supermarket ones all seem old and fall apart.
Prepped something: learned various new things at the Downsizer weekend, including making sausages, using a scythe, gutting a chicken 8) and lots of things about bees. Have been inspired to join the local beekeeping association and learn things from them as a long-term project. Got to the end of one sock, now just got to graft the toe. Also going to the fleece workshop this Saturday!
Worked on local food systems: have given lettuces to two friends and herbs to one – muahahaha. Talked about bees to anyone who will listen. Plugging away with the leaflet too. Also bought some local flour at the independent health food shop, and I could get spices from there (not that they’re local) but they come in plastic bags and Bart ones come in glass jars. Ohh, I hate when it gets all complicated….
Extremely frugal with food. Don’t like meringues.
I have, to the surprise of everyone who knows how terrible I am with numbers and knows my phobia of Excel spreadsheets extends to me having to check all my invoices by hand when I was freelancing, become finance coordinator for FOE. I won’t say I had my arm twisted, I’ll just say that any reasonably public-spirited person could not have just sat there and not volunteered. I don’t really mind: it apparently takes up very little time and involves very little work, and I think it’s very important that people do these things, and not just retired people, so that pretty much entails me being prepared to do these things from time to time, but, oh, WHY oh WHY did it have to be the one with numbers and money?
Planted – another go at tomatilloes (I only had one) and the rest of my potatoes; earthed up some of the first earlies.
Preserved – have vodka, have rhubarb, will make schnapps this evening.
Worked on local food systems – continued badgering FOE about the seminar/film showing plus exhibition-type-thing and am in the process of compiling a directory of local food suppliers (plus other things).
So I made coconut macaroons. And flapjacks for good measure. | 2019-04-20T10:38:15Z | https://sproutingbroccoli.wordpress.com/tag/challenge/ | Porn | News | 0.320923 |
wordpress | Working on improving my digital art skills I have created this Knowledge Is Power illustration. Using the words knowledge is power was inspired by a picturebooking podcast I recently heard. I am hoping to create a series of knowledge is power drawings and paintings.
I have also created a new portfolio website. Please feel free to check it out! | 2019-04-18T16:36:00Z | https://ceramicgraffiti.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/knowledge-is-power-2/ | Porn | Arts | 0.994673 |
wordpress | ანარქისტული კალენდარი წარმოადგენს თბილისის სახელმწიფო სამხატვრო აკადემიის სახვითი ხელოვნების ფაკულტეტის IV კურსის I სემესტრისათვის შესრულებულ ნამუშევარს. განსაკუთრებული მადლობა პედაგოგ ლუიზა ლაფერაძეს.
დღეს, მასობრივად გავრცელებული კალენდარი ადამიანებზე კონტროლის, ყალბი ცნობიერებისა და ფასეულობების თავს მოხვევის გამოვლინების ერთ–ერთი მაგალითია, სადაც ყოველი კვირადღე „დასვენების“ დღედაა გამოცხადებული. ყველამ ვიცით მითი, რომლის მიხედვითაც ღმერთმა სამყაროსა და მათ შორის ადამიანის შექმნას ექვსი დღე მოანდომა, ხოლო მეშვიდე დღეს დაისვენა და თითქოს აქედან ლოგიკურად გამომდინარეობს ფაქტი, რომ ადამიანთა უმრავლესობა მთელი კვირა იძულებით შრომობდეს უმცირესობის გამდიდრებისათვის, ხოლო თვითონ იმდენს იღებდნენ, რომ შიმშილით არ დაიხოცონ და ესეც იმიტომ, რომ შემდგომ უფრო მეტი ქონების შექმნა შეძლონ იმავე მდიდრებისათვის, ხოლო რადგან, ტექნოლოგიის განვითარებისა და სხვა ფაქტორების გავლენით კაპიტალის შექმნისათვის ნაკლები ადამიანებია საჭირო ვიდრე არსებობენ, ისინი მოსახლეობის ზედმეტ ნაწილს ეკუთვნოდნენ.
ადამიანი თავისუფალია, ეს ნიშნავს იმას, რომ ადამიანმა თვითონ უნდა გადწყვიტოს არა მარტო ის, თუ როდის დაისვენოს ან როდის იმუშაოს, არამედ ისიც თუ სად იმუშაოს და როგორ გამოიყენოს თავისუფალი დრო. იმის გაცნობიერებით, რომ ნებისმიერი ინიციატივა კონკრეტული ადამიანისგან მომდინარეობს და რომ პროგრესის მამოძრავებელი ძალა ადამიანის თავისუფალი ნებაა, უნდა გაუქმდეს საერთოდ ყველა სახის შრომის მაიძულებელი ორგანო, უნდა გაუქმდეს დაქირავებული შრომა და ნაწარმოების ღირებულების თეორიით შეფასება (ფული). ეს ყველაფერი უნდა ჩაანაცვლოს კოლექტიურმა წარმოებამ და დოვლათის თანაბარმა განაწილებამ მოთხოვნილებების მიხედვით.
ანარქიის პირობებში ადამიანების რაოდეობის ზრდა და ტექნოლოგიის განვითარება შრომის დროს მინიმუმამდე შეამცირებს და გაზრდის მაქსიმალურად თავისუფალ დროს. ამ შრომაში იგულისხმება ყველა ადამიანისათვის ელემენტარული პირობების უზრუველყოფისთვის საჭირო დრო, მაგრამ ადამიანმა, რომელიც დაინტერესებულია იმით, რასაც აკეთებს, შეიძლება 24 საათი დაუთმოს თავის საქმეს, რადგან ეს არის მისი თავისუფალი ნება – მოახდინოს თვითრეალიზაცია.
ეს კალენდარი წარმოადგენს უბრალოდ ასტრონომიულ ციკლს. შეიძლება თავისუფლების მოპოვების შემდეგ კალენდრის საჭიროებაც არ იყოს, მაგრამ ეს დღე თავისთავად არ დადგება, ის ყოველი ჩვენთაგანის ძალისხმევითაა შესაძლებელი.
Calendar, which is used today, is one of the examples of controlling and brainwashing of humanity. Every Sunday is declared as a day of rest, which is based on the myth that the God created this world in 6 days and had rest on seventh. It doesn’t mean that we, the majority, must work 6 days a week, to enrich the minority – capitalists and get as much payment, as needed to survive, and have a rest on seventh day, just because to be able to work the following 6 days again.
Every human is free – this means that every human must decide not only when to work and when to rest – but where to work and where to spend free time. Realizing that everyone must be his/her own master and the motive power of progress is the free will, we can say that there must be no forced labor, no hiring , and no way of evaluation of products value (it means, that money must be abolished). All these must be replaced with collective production and distribution of wealth according to needs.
In anarchist society, increase of population and technical progress will decrease the amount of work-hours and on the other hand, it will increase free time. This means that in anarchist society, everybody will have time for self-realization, while today almost everybody has to think how to survive. Freedom of self-realization also means, that one can be involved in his work 24 hours a day, if it’s a will of his own.
This calendar is just a representation of astronomic cycle. Maybe there will be no need of calendar in anarchist society, but until then, we must remember that freedom doesn’t come in itself, all we have to fight for it. | 2019-04-21T02:36:48Z | https://vepkhviamania.wordpress.com/tag/academy/ | Porn | Society | 0.149274 |
tripod | Modern Woodmen of America is a leading fraternal life insurance society, made up of more than three-quarters of a million members nationwide.
This is the official site of the Chattanooga office of Modern Woodmen. Here, you can see our upcoming activities and news items in "What's New," or find out more about our office and Modern Woodmen in the other areas of the site.
If you have any questions or comments, send us an e-mail! | 2019-04-20T20:42:54Z | http://tjaguar.tripod.com/modwood/index.htm | Porn | Business | 0.473558 |
wordpress | These are the final statistics for Atlantic Canadians playing college ball.
I have listed the player’s name, hometown, school & the team’s final record on the first line. The second line I included the basic stats for both hitters and pitchers.
Banks had played earlier this year (see previous updates) but his stats have disappeared from the school’s site.
This entry was posted in Atlantic Canadians, College Baseball, Current Events and tagged Final Stats. Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-23T08:11:11Z | https://maritimebaseball.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/final-numbers-for-atlantic-collegiate-ballplayers/ | Porn | Sports | 0.96667 |
yahoo | If you’re going to gift LeBron James a version of his own signature shoe, you better be confident you’ve added something special.
It’s safe to say Dominic Chambrone, AKA “The Shoe Surgeon,” took all necessary steps to ensure that James would appreciate his most recent gift, a pair of Nike LeBron 15s worth over $100,000.
Chambrone, who is one of the most well-known figures in the custom sneaker world, created the sneaker in collaboration with Nike to honor James reaching 30,000 career points back in January.
The shoes are made of “genuine” crocodile skin, coated with 24-karat gold. They’re decked out with solid gold details including Riri zippers with custom zipper pulls made from 14 grams of 18-karat gold, and 2.32 carats of diamond-adorned lace aglets, both 5.8 carats each. There are also custom heel clips, lace loops and diamond-adorned shoelace aglets (the covers over the end of the shoelaces).
Chambrone also included a custom diamond-cut, gold necklace with a lion head pendant hanging from a Franco gold chain. In all, the project features over 238 diamonds.
This wasn’t the first time that Chambrone has customized a shoe for LeBron; he also designed a pair for LeBron’s October 2017 GQ photoshoot. Chambrone apparently understands what shoes are truly fit for a king.
The shoes are reportedly the most expensive Nike Lebron 15s ever – it’s hard to beat the combination of crocodile skin, gold, and diamonds – and they’re likely the most valuable unworn pair ever.
They do fall short of a select few game-worn pairs, including Michael Jordan’s game-worn 1984 Olympic sneakers that sold for $190,373, as well as his “Flu Game” pair, which sold for over $100,000.
If you’re now inspired to don Lebron 15s, the most basic versions of the shoe retail for $140. | 2019-04-25T16:50:43Z | https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/lebron-james-gifted-100k-gold-plated-crocodile-skin-version-signature-shoes-212929763.html | Porn | Shopping | 0.256521 |
wordpress | Our current exhibition, “New Life” by Nina Muys, was recently featured in the Washington Post. Here’s a summary that Nina recently posted to her blog.
I’m very excited to share with you a wonderful review of my current show by Mark Jenkins of the Washington Post. My review is towards the bottom.
This is the last week of the show at the Washington Printmakers Gallery. I will be there personally this weekend March 29th & 30th so please come by and visit.
Whenever I have an art show, the attendees always ask me about my work. “Is it a watercolor? Is it a pastel?” To which I have to give a long explanation how I exactly produce a print. It is a complicated process that involves carborundum, acrylic paint and gesso. Since I am by profession an arts educator, I find it best to walk people through my process by showing them step-by-step on how the plate is done and how I apply the ink.
On Sunday, March 16, from 3-5pm, at Washington Printmakers Gallery, I will demonstrate two methods: carborundum intaglio and monoprints. Both methods use one plate and three colors.
If children are in attendance, I will have them create a Styrofoam print. Children love printmaking because it gives them an element of surprise that they don’t get in a painting. The exhibit in the adjacent gallery of my students’ prints exemplifies their love of this medium.
Seats are limited so please contact the Washington Printmakers Gallery to reserve a spot: info@washingtonprintmakers.com or 301-273-3660.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, WPG hosted an artist reception for the current solo exhibit by Jenny Freestone. Below are some photos taken during the event. This show will run in the gallery through Sunday, September 29. As well, we recently shared news on the blog that Freestone took first place at the Allegany Arts Council’s 2013 Will’s Creek Survey exhibition. | 2019-04-24T03:53:27Z | https://dcimprint.wordpress.com/category/gallery-news/ | Porn | Arts | 0.531315 |
wordpress | Feel free to take a look at some exclusive blog posts below – aiming to provide an insight into what I have to share from the world of blogging. If you like what you see, the Blog button on the menu bar above will transport you to five years worth of posts for you to indulge in!
Summer is here finally! And hence, the annual summer #TBR list is back and better than ever.
It has been a wonderful few years, and I am very glad to be reviewing this particular book to send off. | 2019-04-19T05:01:29Z | https://thesweetreview.wordpress.com/ | Porn | News | 0.144334 |
google | Geek is chic at CPCC’s 10th annual THE Geek Fest! THE Geek Fest, a celebration of innovation and technology, is coming to CPCC’s Levine and Central campuses on Thursday, November 14th, 2013. Interact with exciting new technologies, meet innovative companies, and learn from industry experts. THE Geek Fest is free and the community is invited to attend this unique community event.
This year, THE Geek Fest is hosting BarCamp Charlotte, the region's premiere technology and innovations "unconference" event.
A BarCamp is a community-organized democratic event and typically centers around tech and innovation. Professionals and creatives attend and pitch to speak on emerging trends, technologies and topics that they love. Attendees then vote for the day's agenda. BarCamp Charlotte has hosted seven (7) successful events with over 250 attendees. BarCamp brings out the best and brightest in the tech, arts, startups, tech, media, investing, marketing and computer fields. From freelancers to entrepreneurs,to executives and college students, all are encouraged to participate. | 2019-04-26T06:37:38Z | https://sites.google.com/a/cpcc.edu/tgf/home/thegeekfesthostsbarcampcharlotte8cpcc | Porn | Computers | 0.427142 |
utoronto | We intend to hold an informal working group on the "Dynamics of Numerics" as part of the Fields Institute Thematic Year on Computational Challenges in Science and Engineering. This meeting will explore the use of dynamical systems techniques to study iterative processes. Subject matter is expected to include latest results, techniques, applications and future directions. There will also be free time for participants to interact more informally.
The meeting will be held in Toronto under the auspices of the Fields Institute Thematic Year on Computational Challenges in Science and Engineering, and cuts across all three of the Topics of Concentration in the first part of the Thematic Year (Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations, Numerical Linear Algebra, Numerical Aspects of Dynamical Systems).
As an informal meeting, there will be no registration fee. Note also that the Fields Institute will not be able to offer financial assistance to participants.
Provisional titles would be much appreciated, but abstracts are optional at this stage.
A block of rooms for participants have been arranged the hotels listed below. Please request the Fields Institute rate when booking. Rooms must be reserved before July 7, 2001 to receive the Fields rate.
For additional accommodation resources, please see the Fields Housing page for a listing of local hotels and inexpensive on-campus summer accommodation. | 2019-04-21T02:52:04Z | http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/01-02/numerical/numerics/ | Porn | Science | 0.946793 |
google | Due to some technical difficulties with access to the building and setting up the conference call, the meeting was convened at 11:45 AM.
Pinkston, Carpenter, Arnold were the only nominees respectively for the Chair, Secretary, Academician positions. Cook’s and Lockwood’s first term both expired at the meeting and both had indicated their willingness to serve a second term. Stone moved that everyone be re-elected by acclamation. This was seconded by Lockwood and voting was unanimous in favor.
Gustafson’s and Fennell’s 2nd-term both expired at the Annual Meeting. Nominations for the open position were Dan Jones (nominated by Randy Pinkston), Stephan Lorenz (nominated by Petra Hockey), Chris Runk (nominated by Byron Stone), and Ron Weeks (nominated by Mark Lockwood). Discussions were had about each of the candidates and then the members voted. Dan Jones and Stephan Lorenz received the most votes are were elected to fill the open positions.
16-18 Feb 2013, near Packery Channel, Nueces Co.
With no other formal business on the agenda and no Any Other Business items raised, the meeting was adjourned at 12:15 PM. | 2019-04-23T20:40:16Z | https://sites.google.com/view/tosphotoimages/home/annual-meetings/2015-meeting | Porn | Business | 0.989793 |
wordpress | Artist: Zerozonic. Album: Zerozonic. Album Rating: Meh. Written by: Felix Sale, Jr.
Artist: Billy Boy in Poison. Album: Invoker. Album Rating: Worthless. Written by: Felix Sale, Jr.
Artist: Tankist . Album: Unhuman. Album Rating: Worth The Money. Written by: Felix Sale, Jr.
Artist: Stass. Album: The Darkside. Album Rating: Meh. Written by: Felix Sale, Jr. | 2019-04-21T11:21:17Z | https://realmofasmodeus.wordpress.com/2017/12/ | Porn | Arts | 0.929013 |
wordpress | During August 2016 look for new temporary works by Lisa g. Nielsen and Kyla Mallett, on the streets of Vancouver, as part of the Platforms: Coastal City Series.
September 10, 2016 in Permanent Works, Platforms Series, The Public Art Program.
During August 2016 look for new temporary works by Curtis Grahauer and Krista Schoening & Coley Mixan, on the streets of Vancouver, as part of the Platforms: Coastal City Series.
August 6, 2016 in 25th Anniversay Retrospective Series (2016), Temporary Works, The Public Art Program. | 2019-04-20T02:11:16Z | https://ourcityourart.wordpress.com/tag/terry-fox-plaza/ | Porn | Arts | 0.984483 |
wordpress | It was all smoke and mirrors!! It was all a game to him, you are yelling. Everyone is staring at us as we try to pick the perfect bottle of whiskey for the occasion. You never know what’s the perfect drink to cure a broken heart though. So hold a second as we pile different flavors into the cart.
Watch me forget his name. Watch me erase all memory of him, you scream as the alcohol limits slowly play a game of who’s stronger with your blood. The fact that we’ve had nothing to eat does nothing to help this unfair competition. So i pour the whiskey and you rant. I smoke and you rant some more. I start drinking the moment you start breaking down and hold you as racking sobs have your body shaking. I can’t watch you like this sober. It is not fair to either of us.
It is like watching a child cut himself crawling on broken glass. It hurts me more than it hurts you. You delete the beautiful pictures of you and him on the phone. They are so many you give up after you realize that your hands are too tired and the light is hurting your eyes so you drop the phone into the glass of whiskey. You seem to have come to terms with the reality of the situation so you start smoking, the tears caked up on your face making you look so vulnerable.
I am still holding you and your head is cradled on my shoulder. We are seated on the balcony. It is a Friday night. Life is going on as usual. Most of the neighbors are asleep. The stars look so bright it almost sounds unfair that such a beautiful night could habor such a dark moment to you.
You go over the details leading up to the moment and we analyze it till we decide to give it the middle finger. Surely there’s more to life than moping around. So we go online and book a holiday for the weekend. This was supposed to be your wedding night after all. | 2019-04-18T17:21:21Z | https://pocketknifepoetry.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/summertime-sadness/ | Porn | Recreation | 0.593325 |
cnn | (CNN) -- One week ago, the chief of Pakistan's Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, told graduating cadets in the city of Abbottabad that the "back of terrorism" in Pakistan had been broken, thanks to the sacrifices of Pakistan's soldiers.
Kayani was speaking at the "passing out parade" at the prestigious Kakul military academy in Abbottabad, the West Point of Pakistan. At that very moment, the man who had dragged Pakistan into the "War on Terror" a decade earlier was, it transpires, just a mile or two away, living in apparent comfort behind the high walls of a very private compound. Osama bin Laden, who had declared war on Pakistan, had apparently been living for months in a city that had made its name as a military garrison.
Abbottabad, pronounced AHB-tah-bahd, is some 60 miles by winding mountainous roads north of Pakistan's capital. Surrounded by green hills, it is renowned for its trees and parks. It's a popular retirement place for officers in the Pakistani army, partly because of its military academy, but also because of its agreeable climate. During British rule, the Imperial Gazeteer of India described it as "picturesquely situated," 4,120 feet above sea level.
Abbottabad sits on the Karakoram Highway, an engineering marvel that links Pakistan with China through the Himalayas. Before much of Pakistan became off-limits to most foreign tourists, it was also a popular spot for those on their way to and from the Swat valley and the foothills of the Himalayas.
But despite its military traditions, its hockey fields and golf courses, Abbottabad and neighboring districts are also familiar territory to al Qaeda and other extremist groups.
In January this year, Pakistani security forces stormed a modest house in the city and seized Umar Patek, an Indonesian linked to al Qaeda who had a $1 million bounty on his head under the FBI's Rewards for Justice program. He had allegedly helped build the bombs used in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 200 people.
Patek -- a key leader in the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya -- had rented a room in the house of a retired accountant in Abbottabad after arriving in Pakistan some months earlier on a forged visa. He is now being held (after treatment for gunshot wounds sustained during his arrest) pending a decision on his extradition.
Patek's arrest followed that of a Pakistani in Abbottabad called Tahir Shehzad, an alleged al Qaeda facilitator who had been under surveillance for some time, according to Pakistani media reports. Shehzad had allegedly gone to Lahore to meet two French militants who were planning to travel to North Waziristan with Patek.
So Abbottabad emerges as something of a way station for al Qaeda and associated groups. Geographically, that makes sense. As the crow flies, the city is just over 100 miles from the border with Kunar province in Afghanistan, an area where al Qaeda has kept a foothold since 9/11. Even with poor roads and mountainous terrain in between, the journey can be completed in a day. It is even closer to the restive tribal territories.
In the past two years, the Pakistani army in this area has been preoccupied with reversing the gains of the Pakistani Taliban, rather than chasing down the remnants of al Qaeda or launching the offensive against militants in North Waziristan that Washington has long demanded.
The area to the north of Abbottabad saw a surge in Taliban activity two years ago, as the Taliban sought to extend their influence from the tribal areas that border Afghanistan into what was North West Frontier Province, now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The town of Buner, just 30 miles from Abbottabad and 60 miles from Islamabad, fell to the Taliban early in 2009. They also established a training camp close to the town of Mansehr, a few miles from Abbottabad.
The Pakistani military has since gradually reasserted control over the area, expelling the Taliban from the Swat Valley, but at a bloody cost. Clashes continue sporadically in the area, and an attack on the offices of the charity World Vision last year in Mansehr resulted in six of the non-governmental organization's workers being shot dead.
To the east of Abbottabad is Pakistani Kashmir, its forested hills hosting training camps for several groups committed to "liberating" Indian Kashmir. So it is a city close to the front lines of several of South Asia's insurgencies and terror campaigns.
And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air ..." | 2019-04-24T00:43:31Z | http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/bin.laden.abbottabad/ | Porn | News | 0.590223 |
typepad | Eating: Marinos Chopped salad IM OBSESSED!
and this....I know...I'm 31 BUT this lil hedgie is SO CUTE her tail wiggles!!!
time just needs to slow down!
& called them every single day for this... for $20 this is a steal!
Thinking: I REALLY NEED to start X-MAS shopping!!!!
I'm so indecisive & he helps me with EVERYTHING!
what?! You didn't buy that hedgie?!!!!!!! | 2019-04-23T06:35:50Z | https://ivypink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/11/happy-friday-happy-fall.html | Porn | Shopping | 0.953959 |
wordpress | Here are my newest snapshots below of the 7th annual One Billion Rising event and the Isle of View regions in Second Life for 2019. I enjoyed attending both this week and I recommend everyone to check it out.
I have upgraded to a PRO member on Flickr, see my snapshots here.
Every February, we rise – in hundreds of countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. We rise through dance to express joy and community and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.
Check out the new OBR 2019 dance video choreographed by JenzZa Misfit. The Break the Chain song was chosen for this years special dance video for OBR 2019.
Stay updated on the One Billion Rising website.
The third annual One Billion Rising event will take place on Saturday 14th February 2015 in Second Life according to the official One Billion Rising of SL blog. To mark this occasion there will be a four region stage where around 200 avatars can dance together. There will be live performance acts during the 24 hour period, art exhibits, poetry events and storytelling events.
This event is to raise awareness to end the violence against women and girls around the world. It’s almost time to Rise, Release, Dance and demand Justice. Just to point out this event is not a raise money event.
Change can happen if…WE ACT NOW. AND WE ACT TOGETHER.
There will be a special Press Day on Friday 13th February 2015 before the grand opening. If you a member of the SL press/blogger and would like to get a first preview of the sims then fill out this form to get a Press Pack.
There will be press events held at 10am SLT, 2pm SLT and 4pm SLT.
If you would like to volunteer for the event then fill out this form. Greeters, Stage Managers, Security, Media Liaison and other roles are needed.
ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a call to women, men, and youth around the world to gather safely on 14 February 2014 outside places where they are entitled to justice – court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not.
In 2013, one billion women and men shook the earth through dance to end violence against women and girls. On 14 February 2014 we called on women and men everywhere to harness their power and imagination to rise for justice.
And in 2015, we are calling for a revolution for change.
Imagine, one billion women releasing their stories, dancing, drumming, and speaking out for changes to see an end to violence against women and girls.
On February 14, 2014, men and women in Second Life will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and people across the world to Rise for Revolution as a show of unity, individual strength, and the need for change.
We will be announcing the sponsors for One Billion Rising shortly.
I can’t wait to attend the OBR 2015 event in Second Life. Will you be attending this year ? | 2019-04-18T10:27:56Z | https://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/tag/one-billion-rising-sl/ | Porn | Business | 0.238114 |
wordpress | ISHA is a big and vibrant organisation with a history dating back to 1990. Since then many students have enjoyed the international experience, the academic challenges and the opportunities to improve their academic, organisational and social skills. Everyone who experienced the ISHA spirit at one point of her/his student life, will remember this time as an enriching and fruitful period.
The current ISHA Council did a survey about preferences of ISHA Alumni, about modes of communication amongst themselves and young ISHA members, which has shown that there is a great interest in joint meetings and an organisational structure ensuring the communication between ISHA Alumni and current ISHA members and that is what we are currently working on.
If you are an ISHA Alumni and want to participate in the ISHA Alumni Society, please contact alumni@isha.international or have a look at the Facebook page. Thank you!
Click here to read the ISHA Alumni Survey of 2016! | 2019-04-24T16:30:43Z | https://ishainternational.wordpress.com/alumni-network/ | Porn | Society | 0.910771 |
wordpress | I cannot think of anything else to dedicate to Nina on her birthday except this.
To those of you who don’t know, the Rojas leche flan is legendary. Rich and creamy, no one’s been able to duplicate its even consistency.
This was made guerilla-style in my kitchenette. The leche flan looks deceivingly huge but they were actually molded using cookie cutters with one end wrapped with aluminum foil. I have no llanera you see.
So Nina, here’s a toast to you. We here in the PhoodJournal wish you all the happiness and success in the world!
You’re welcome 🙂 I think I should grab some llanera before I come back to Germany. | 2019-04-20T19:01:53Z | https://phoodjournal.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/happy-birthday-nrlr/ | Porn | Porn | 0.37473 |
wordpress | I always find it interesting to hear how an artist found his inspiration for an album. For Luca Forcucci it was the culmination of a 12-hour flight to San Francisco and sleep deprivation, where upon landing he heard the sound of foghorns; later on he recorded these sounds.
Given the fact I despise a lot of albums based on field recording work, I approached this three-track release with some trepidation. The recordings are clear and Forcucci has been clever enough to tear these apart with vinyl scratches and pulled some other sound sources together to form a rhythm; unfortunately the synopsis come the end of track one conveyed my fears, along with track two being a barrage of pointless noises that make little to no sense.
The one saving grace of this album though comes in the form of epilogue, ‘Winds’. Utilising drones and other ambient sources Luca has at least formulated something more purposeful, but it certainly isn’t the best, nor is it the most competent I have heard within the genre.
I have to admit to being a tad let down. I didn’t expect the best when hitting play, but nor did I expect two thirds of the album to be pointless self-absorbed drivel either.
This entry was posted in Dense Promotion, Sub Rosa. Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-21T02:37:15Z | https://blackaudio.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/luca-forcucci-fog-horns-cd-sub-rosa/ | Porn | Reference | 0.256093 |
google | 2007-03-02 Assigned to AT&T KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P. reassignment AT&T KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BRESLAU, LEE, FENNER, WILLIAM C.
2009-05-19 Assigned to AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P. reassignment AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P. CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: AT&T KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P., SBC KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P.
A method and system for rendering a plurality of multicast trees for presentation on a display. A multicast routing state may be accessed from a plurality of routers in a multicast group. The multicast routing state may include identification of at least one of an upstream router or a downstream router. A plurality of multicast trees may be identified from the multicast routing state of the plurality of routers. Each of the plurality of multicast trees may indicate a plurality of paths for a data packet from an originating router to selected routers among the plurality of routers. At least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be rendered on a display as an overlapping multicast tree. The overlapping multicast tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
This application relates to methods and systems for multicast network communication, and more specifically to systems and methods for presentation of multicast trees.
Internet Protocol (IP) multicasting provides a useful way for a source to transmit a stream of data packets to a group of recipients. A group of receivers subscribe to a particular multicast transmission to receive the data packets from a source. The individual receivers of the group need not physically or geographically be located near one another. Similarly, the data packets can be transmitted to the group from one or more sources located virtually anywhere, as long as they can communicate with the receivers, through a common network of computers, such as the Internet. Rather than transmitting multiple copies of data packets to each receiver, as in unicast, multicast transmits one copy of its data packets to a group address. Multicast group addresses are reserved IP addresses in the range of 224.0.0.0-239.255.255.255.
Within enterprise networks, multicast technology may be used to support applications including audio and video distribution of employee meetings, small group conferencing, software distribution, dissemination of financial market data, and the like. Within service provider networks, multicast technology may be used to support multicast capability within Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. Multicast may also be used in other types of networks and/or to support other applications.
Multicast is a complex system. The set of multicast groups active in a network is dynamic, as are the sets of senders and receivers in each multicast group. Hence, routing state, which is distributed across many routers in the network, is ever changing and difficult to know. In such an environment, knowing whether multicast service is functioning properly is not easy. Data loss in multicasting can result from several occurrences, including congestion in the network and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) improperly conveying multicast data packets.
The distribution of routers in a multicasting session generally has a tree-like configuration with numerous branches. This is generally referred to as a multicast tree. In this configuration, due to the nature of multicast, when data packets are lost in transit, all recipients on downstream branches from that point lose the same packets. When a problem arises, identifying the location of the problem, identifying its cause, and providing a solution are difficult because multiple multicast trees may be involved in distribution of a particular packet.
FIG. 13 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of machine in the example form of a computer system within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed.
Example methods and systems for presentation of a plurality of multicast trees are described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
An overlapping multicast tree may be rendered for presentation on a display from a plurality of multicast trees identified from a multicast routing state accessed from a plurality of routers to support the deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting and debugging of multicast technology on a network. The overlapping multicast tree may be used by an administrator to verify that data packets are being delivered to specified locations. When distribution fails, the overlapping multicast tree may be useful in determining the location and cause of the failure on the network.
FIG. 1 illustrates a method 100 for displaying a plurality of multicast trees according to an example embodiment.
A multicast routing state may be accessed from a plurality of routers in a multicast group at block 102. The multicast routing state of a particular router may be accessed by querying the particular router. In an example embodiment, a multicast group address and an address of at least one sender may be used to access a multicast routing state from a plurality of routers in a multicast group.
The multicast routing state of a particular router may include identification of zero or more upstream routers from which a data packet may be received and/or zero or more downstream routers to which a data packet may be sent. However, the multicast routing state may also include other information. A particular router may use the multicast routing state to decide which data packets to discard or which data packets to forward and how to forward them.
A plurality of multicast trees may be identified from the multicast routing state of the plurality of routers at block 104. A multicast tree may define how the data packets are replicated and forwarded in a network and be characterized as either a source tree or a shared tree. A source tree is a multicast tree that pertains to a single source, while a shared tree is a multicast tree that can pertain to any source. Source trees may be referred to as “(S,G)” trees, and shared trees may be referred to as “(*,G)” trees.
A shared tree may be identified using the multicast group address and at least one source tree may be identified using the address of at least one sender. The routing table entries that collectively determine the multicast tree specify a source (e.g., using the source's IP address), and data packets whose source IP address match that source are forwarded along a plurality of paths from an originating router to selected routers using those routing table entries. Routing table entries for shared trees are used to forward data packets along a path from all sources, except in the case when a source tree exists for a particular source.
Different multicast routing protocols may use different kinds of multicast trees. Some protocols use shared trees exclusively, others use source trees exclusively, and some use a combination of both. For example, PIM Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), uses a combination of source and shared trees.
By way of example, the plurality of multicast trees may be identified (e.g., discovered) at block 104 by using a multicast group address, G, and the addresses of one or more sources, S1, . . . , Sn, currently sending to that multicast group. Each of the multicast trees may be identified in an abstract format which includes the group address, the source address, each of the nodes in the multicast tree, and the plurality of paths connecting nodes in the tree. The abstract tree descriptions may be used for rendering the multicast trees for presentation on a display.
At least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be rendered (e.g., in a single display simultaneously) as an overlapping multicast tree at block 106. In an example embodiment, the overlapping multicast tree may be a simultaneous representation of a plurality of multicast trees sharing at least one router in one or more multicast groups in a tree-like form.
The overlapping multicast tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees. Rendering at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display may include electronically presenting (e.g., displaying) on the display the routers and plurality of paths of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree. The presentation of the at least two multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree on the display may enable the administrator to understand how and where the plurality of multicast trees meets and overlap. An example embodiment of rendering at least two multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree for presentation on a display is described in greater detail below.
By way of example, a packet transmitted by a source with PIM-SM may be forwarded from the source to all receivers entirely on a source tree. However, commonly, a packet will be forwarded along a source tree part of or all of the way to some destinations, and then forwarded along a shared tree to some or all destinations. In this case, the data path followed by a data packet is not on a single source or shared tree. Rather the overlapping multicast tree may consist of the union of the source tree and a subset of the shared tree (as determined by the PIM-SM packet forwarding rules.) The overlapping multicast tree may be used for PIM-SM to present the plurality of paths for data packets.
Upon completion of the operations at block 106, the method 100 may terminate.
In an example embodiment, an information request for a router of the plurality of routers may be received, and information regarding the multicast routing entry of the chosen router may be presented on a display in response to the information request. The information provided may be of additional use to an administrator in trying to diagnosis a problem with a router in multicast group.
The method 100 may be used to display multiple multicast trees for the same multicast group, or to concurrently display multicast trees from multiple multicast groups simultaneously. For example, when two multicast groups are used by the same application, a network administrator may display them concurrently (e.g., to see if they are reaching the same endpoints or to see if they are following the same path through the network).
FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 for rendering an overlapping multicast tree according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the method 200 may be performed at block 106 (see FIG. 1).
At least one turnaround point may be identified on at least two of the plurality of multicast trees at block 202. The at least one turnaround point may include a first router on a first multicast tree on which the data packet is received. The first multicast tree and a second multicast tree may include a path from the first router to the second router. Thus, the turnaround point may be a first router on a multicast group in which a data packet traveled from a first path associated with a first multicast tree to a second router on a second path associated with a second multicast tree.
The path between the first router and the second router on the first multicast tree (or the second multicast tree) may be filtered from the plurality of paths for the at least one turnaround point at block 204, thereby removing a filtered path for rendering (e.g., as the plurality of filtered paths). By way of example, the filtered path may be removed from rendering so that an operator may observe the presentation of the overlapping multicast tree on a display as including a single path between routers that more accurately reflects the travel of a data packet on a path from a first tree to a second tree.
In an example embodiment, a determination may be made as to whether the second router has routing knowledge that the first multicast tree includes a path between the first router and the second router. The path between the first router and the second router on the first multicast tree (or the second multicast tree) for the at least one turnaround point may be filtered from the plurality of paths when the second router does not have the routing knowledge. In an example embodiment, a path of two or more paths between routers may not be filtered if the path is a parallel path between the routers.
The at least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be rendered for presentation on a display as an overlapping multicast tree at block 206. The overlapping multicast tree may include the filtered plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
Upon completion of the operations at block 206, the method 200 may terminate.
FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 for rendering an overlapping multicast tree according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the method 300 may be performed during the operations at block 106 and/or block 206 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).
A first multicast tree (e.g. a shared tree or a source tree) may be rendered as an upside down branching tree at block 302. The upside down branching tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router of the first multicast tree to the selected routers of the first multicast tree, where the originating router is at a top of the display and the plurality of paths branch as the plurality of paths head towards the leaves at the bottom of the display. The plurality of paths of the first multicast tree may be in a first presentation format (e.g., a first color, a solid line, a first style, or other identifier).
A second multicast tree (e.g. a shared tree or a source tree) may be rendered as an intersecting tree at block 304, thereby creating an overlapping multicast tree. The intersecting tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router of the second multicast tree to the selected routers of the second multicast tree. The plurality of paths of the intersecting tree may be in a second presentation format (e.g. a second color, a dashed line, a second style, or other identifier). For example, the second multicast tree may be a different type of multicast tree to the first multicast tree and may be rendered as an intersecting tree to the upside down branching tree of the first tree.
The originating router of the first multicast tree need not be the same originating router of the second multicast tree, and the selected routers of the first multicast tree need not be the same selected routers of the second multicast tree.
By displaying the first multicast tree and the second multicast tree simultaneously on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, an administrator may more quickly diagnose a problem with distributing the data packet from a source in a multicast group. Without the simultaneous display as an overlapping multicast tree, the administrator may not have a full picture of how a data packet arrived at a particular router in a multicast group. For example, the administrator may be able to observe a path of a data packet being distributed on a first multicast tree and then on a second multicast tree.
Upon completion of the operations at block 304, the method 300 may terminate.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example overlapping multicast tree 400 that may be rendered at the block 106, block 206, and/or by the operations of the method 300 (see FIGS. 1-3). The overlapping multicast tree 400 includes a shared tree rendered as an upside branching tree and a source tree rendered as an intersecting tree to the upside down branching tree. A plurality of paths 402 of the shared tree is shown in a first presentation format (e.g. a solid line with an arrow pointing downward), and a plurality of paths 404 of the source tree is shown in a second presentation format (e.g. a dotted line with an arrow pointing upward).
The root of the shared tree is rendered as illustrated in FIG. 4 at the top of the display, so the direction of packet delivery on the shared tree is “down” with respect to the display. The resulting display including the plurality of paths 402, 404 from at least two multicast trees in a multicast group may make evident to the user how data packets travel from any of the sources included in the overlapping multicast tree to all of the receivers. Specifically, it can be seen that data packets travel “up” (with respect to the direction of the display) on the plurality of paths 404 of the source tree, and at which router(s) the source tree intersects with the shared tree such that packets will head “down” (again with respect to the display) on the plurality of paths 402 of the shared tree. This simultaneous representation may facilitate understanding, debugging, verifying and monitoring network state.
The overlapping multicast tree 400 includes a router designated as a Rendezvous Point (RP) router 406 at the root of the shared tree. The RP router 406 is a multicast enabled router that may form a focal point for receipt and redistribution of the data packets that are the multicast transmission for a particular multicast group. Since the data packets from all sources in the multicast group may be re-transmitted from the RP, the notation (*,G) may be used to represent the shared multicast distribution tree from this point. The wildcard notation “*” refers to all sources for the group (G).
The routers of the overlapping multicast tree 400 are each labeled with their respective router names. The overlapping multicast tree 400 includes the source tree represented as the plurality of paths 404 and the routers 406, 414, 416, 428, 430, 432, 440 and the shared tree represented as the plurality of paths 402 and the routers 406-454.
As illustrated, multicast traffic from a source router 430 travels to the RP router 406 through a router 428, a router 416, and a router 414 on a source tree as indicated by dashed lines from the source router 430. Multicast traffic also flows from the source router 430 on a source tree to a router 440 through a router 428 and a router 432. Multicast traffic flows to the remaining routers through a shared tree indicated by solid lines.
A data packet may be provided from the source router 430 to the router 428. The router 428 may then redistribute the data packet to the router 416 and the router 432.
The router 416 may redistribute the data packet to a router 418 and the router 414. The router 418 may redistribute the data packet to a router 420 and a router 424, which then redistribute the data packet to a router 422 and a router 426 respectively. The router 414 may redistribute the data packet to the RP router 406.
The RP router 406 may redistribute the data packet to a router 408. The router 408 may redistribute the data packet to a router 410, which then may redistribute the data packet to a router 412. The RP router 406 may optionally redistribute the data packet to a router 440.
The router 432 may redistribute the data packet to the router 440. The router 440 may redistribute the data packet to a router 442 and a router 446. The router 442 may redistribute the data packet to a router 444.
The router 446 may redistribute the data packet to a router 448, which may then redistribute the data packet to a router 450. The router 450 may redistribute the data packet to a router 452 and a router 454.
While the overlapping multicast tree 400 is illustrated in FIG. 4 to include a shared tree rendered as an upside branching tree and a source tree rendered as an intersecting tree to the upside branching tree, the source tree may also be rendered as the upside branching tree and the shared tree may be rendered as an intersecting tree to the upside branching tree. Other representations involving multiple tree representations may also be used.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example overlapping multicast tree 500 that may be rendered at the block 106, block 206 and/or by the operations of the method 300 (see FIGS. 1-3). The overlapping multicast tree 500 includes a shared tree rendered as an upside branching tree and a source tree rendered as an intersecting tree to the upside branching tree. A plurality of paths 502 of the shared tree is shown in a first presentation format (e.g. a solid line with an arrow pointing downward), and a plurality of paths 504 of the source tree is shown in a second presentation format (e.g. a dotted line with an arrow pointing upward). A plurality of routers 506-554 is similarly included in a multicast group as a plurality of routers 406-554 (see FIG. 4).
The number of the plurality of paths of 504 included in the overlapping multicast tree 500 is greater than a number of the plurality of paths of 404 included in the overlapping multicast tree 400 as parallel paths (e.g., duplicate paths) have not been filtered (e.g., from the operations at block 204) from the overlapping multicast tree 500. By way of example, the overlapping multicast tree 500 is shown to include parallel paths between a router 516 and a router 524, the router 532 and a router 534, a router 550 and a router 552, and the router 550 and a router 546.
While the overlapping multicast tree 400 includes no parallel paths and the overlapping multicast tree 500 includes a maximum number of parallel paths, a different number of parallel paths may be rendered in a particular overlapping multicast tree.
FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for rendering an overlapping multicast tree according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the method 600 may be performed at block 106 (see FIG. 1).
A first plurality of trees may be rendered as a plurality of expanding trees at block 602. The root of each of the plurality of expanding trees may be in a portion (e.g., a middle portion) of the display and the plurality of branches may expand (e.g., branch) out from the portion toward other portions (e.g., edges) of the display. The plurality of expanding trees may each include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router of each of the plurality of expanding trees to the selected routers of each of the plurality of expanding trees. The plurality of paths of each of the plurality of expanding trees may be in a different presentation format.
For example, a plurality of source trees (or shared trees) of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be rendered as a plurality of expanding trees from a middle portion of the display.
One or more intersecting trees may be rendered to the plurality of expanding trees at block 604. The intersecting tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router on the intersecting tree to the selected routers on the intersecting tree. The intersecting tree includes at least one router from the expanding trees. The plurality of paths of the intersecting tree may be in an additional presentation format.
For example, a shared tree (or a source tree) or a plurality of source trees (or shared trees) of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be rendered as an intersecting tree to the plurality of expanding trees.
Upon completion of the operations at block 604, the method 600 may terminate.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example overlapping multicast tree 700 that may be rendered at the block 106, block 206, and/or by the operations of the method 600 (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 6). The overlapping multicast tree 700 includes a single source router 702 and two RP routers 706, 712. A data packet may be distributed on a source tree from the source router 702 to a router 704 and a RP router 712 over a plurality of paths 720. The router 704 may redistribute the data packet to a RP router 706.
The RP routers 706, 712 may distribute the data packet to a router 708, a router 710, and a router 714 on a plurality of shared trees over a plurality of paths 722. The router 714 may redistribute the data packet to a router 716 and a router 718.
FIG. 8 illustrates an example overlapping multicast tree 800 that may be rendered at the block 106, block 206, and/or by the operations of the method 600 (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 6). The overlapping multicast tree 800 includes two source routers 808, 820 and two RP routers 802, 814.
A data packet may be distributed on a first source tree from the source router 808 to a router 806 and a RP router 814 over a plurality of paths 826. The router 806 may redistribute the data packet to a RP router 802. A data packet may be distributed on a second source tree from the source router 820 to a router 816 over a plurality of paths 824. The router 816 may redistribute the data packet to the RP router 814 and a router 812. The router 812 may redistribute the data packet to the RP router 802.
The RP router 802 may distribute the data packet to a router 804, the router 806, and a router 810 over a plurality of paths 822 associated with a first shared tree. The router 806 may redistribute the data packet to the source router 808. The RP router 814 may distribute the data packet to the router 816 over a plurality of paths 828 associated with a second shared tree. The router 816 may distribute the data packet to the source router 820.
FIG. 9 illustrates a method 900 for rendering an overlapping multicast tree according to an example embodiment. The method 900 may be performed at block 106, block 206, block 302, block 304, block 602, and/or block 604 (see FIGS. 1-3 and 6).
At least two of the plurality of multicast trees may be generated as an overlapping multicast tree on a display at block 902. For example, the block 902 may include the operations selected from the method 100, the method 200, the method 300, and/or the method 600 (see FIGS. 1-3 and 6). The generated overlapping multicast tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees but may not yet be presented on a display.
The originating router, the selected routers, and/or the plurality of paths of the overlapping multicast tree may be annotated with status information regarding the overlapping multicast tree at block 904. For example, the annotated status information may be made available directly on the display with the overlapping multicast tree, may be made available by an administrator's selection on the overlapping multicast tree, or may otherwise be made available. The status information may include network health information regarding a multicast tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees or per-group distribution rate of a number of data packets for the overlapping multicast tree. Other status information may also be used. For example, the network health may include status of routers, data transmission rate, and the like.
The annotated overlapping multicast tree may be presented on a display at block 906.
Upon completion of the operations at block 906, the method 900 may terminate.
FIG. 10 illustrates a method 1000 for addressing a problem in a network in accordance with an example embodiment. The method 1000 may use the method 100 for displaying a plurality of multicast trees (see FIG. 1) to resolve a problem on a network.
A notification of a problem may be received regarding a network at block 1002. The network may include a plurality of routers.
At least two of a plurality of multicast trees may be displayed as an overlapping multicast tree at block 1004.
An alteration for the network may be processed at block 1006. The alteration may be capable of at least partially resolving the problem regarding the network. The problem regarding the network may be a router problem with at least one router of the plurality of routers, however other problems regarding the network may also be at least partially resolved.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example administration application 1100 which may perform the methods 100-300, 600, 900 (see FIGS. 1-3, 6, and 9).
An access module 1102 accesses a multicast routing state from a plurality of routers in a multicast group. An identifying module 1104 identifies a plurality of multicast trees from the multicast routing state of the plurality of routers. Each of the plurality of multicast trees may indicate a plurality of paths for a data packet from an originating router to selected routers among the plurality of routers.
A rendering module 1106 renders at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree. The overlapping multicast tree may include the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
A turnaround determination module 1108 identifies at least one turnaround point on at least two of the plurality of multicast trees. A filtering module 1110 filters the path between the first router and the second router on the first multicast tree or the second multicast tree from the plurality of paths for the at least one turnaround point.
The plurality of multicast trees includes at least one source tree and at least one shared tree. The originating router and the selected routers may be all routers of the plurality of routers, or a subset of routers from the plurality of routers. The multicast group may include a plurality of multicast groups to enable display of the plurality of multicast groups simultaneously on the same display. The multicast group used to display the overlapping multicast tree may support services provided in a network such as a VPN service an internet protocol television (IPTV) service, and the like.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example embodiment of an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system 1200 in which multicast signals used to provide content (e.g., IPTV content). The distribution of content in the form of data packets may be observed by an administrator by viewing an overlapping multicast tree as described in greater detail above. An overlapping multicast tree may also be displayed for other systems in which data packets are multicast beyond the system 1200.
As shown, the system 1200 may include a client facing tier 1202, an application tier 1204, an acquisition tier 1206, and an operations and management tier 1208. Each tier 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 is coupled to a private network 1210; to a public network 1222, such as the Internet; or to both the private network 1210 and the public network 1222. For example, the client-facing tier 1202 may be coupled to the private network 1210. Further, the application tier 1204 may be coupled to the private network 1210 and to the public network 1222. The acquisition tier 1206 may also be coupled to the private network 1210 and to the public network 1222. Additionally, the operations and management tier 1208 may be coupled to the public network 1222.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, the various tiers 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 communicate with each other via the private network 1210 and the public network 1222. For instance, the client-facing tier 1202 may communicate with the application tier 1204 and the acquisition tier 1206 via the private network 1210. The application tier 1204 may also communicate with the acquisition tier 1206 via the private network 1210. Further, the application tier 1204 may communicate with the acquisition tier 1206 and the operations and management tier 1208 via the public network 1222. Moreover, the acquisition tier 1206 may communicate with the operations and management tier 1208 via the public network 1222. In a particular embodiment, elements of the application tier 1204, including, but not limited to, a client gateway 1250, may communicate directly with the client-facing tier 1202.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, the client-facing tier 1202 may communicate with user equipment via a private access network 1266, such as an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) access network. In an illustrative embodiment, modems, such as a first modem 1214 and a second modem 1223 may be coupled to the private access network 1266. The client-facing tier 1202 may communicate with a first representative set-top box device 1216 via the first modem 1214 and with a second representative set-top box device 1224 via the second modem 1212. The client-facing tier 1202 may communicate with a large number of set-top boxes, such as the representative set-top boxes 1216, 1224, over a wide geographic area, such as a regional area, a metropolitan area, a viewing area, a designated market area or any other suitable geographic area, market area, or subscriber or customer group that may be supported by networking the client-facing tier 1202 to numerous set-top box devices. In an illustrative embodiment, the client-facing tier, or any portion thereof, may be included at a video head-end office.
In a particular embodiment, the client-facing tier 1202 may be coupled to the modems 1214, 1223 via fiber optic cables. Alternatively, the modems 1214 and 1223 may be digital subscriber line (DSL) modems that are coupled to one or more network nodes via twisted pairs, and the client-facing tier 1202 may be coupled to the network nodes via fiber-optic cables. Each set-top box device 1216, 1224 may process data received via the private access network 1266, via an IPTV software platform, such as Microsoft® TV IPTV Edition. In another embodiment, representative set-top boxes 1216, 1224 may receive data from private access network 1266 through RF and other cable and/or satellite based networks.
Additionally, the first set-top box device 1216 may be coupled to a first external display device, such as a first television monitor 1218, and the second set-top box device 1224 may be coupled to a second external display device, such as a second television monitor 1226. Moreover, the first set-top box device 1216 may communicate with a first remote control 1219, and the second set-top box device may communicate with a second remote control 1228.
In an example, non-limiting embodiment, each set-top box device 1216, 1224 may receive video content, which may include video and audio portions, from the client-facing tier 1202 via the private access network 1266. The set-top boxes 1216, 1224 may transmit the video content to an external display device, such as the television monitors 1218, 1226. Further, the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 may each include a STB processor, such as STB processor 1270, and a STB memory device, such as STB memory 1272, which is accessible to the STB processor 1270. In one embodiment, a computer program, such as the STB computer program 1274, may be embedded within the STB memory device 1272. Each set-top box device 1216, 1224 may also include a video content storage module, such as a digital video recorder (DVR) 1276. In a particular embodiment, the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 may communicate commands received from the remote control devices 1219, 1228 to the client-facing tier 1202 via the private access network 1266.
In an illustrative embodiment, the client-facing tier 1202 may include a client-facing tier (CFT) switch 1230 that manages communication between the client-facing tier 1202 and the private access network 1266 and between the client-facing tier 1202 and the private network 1210. As shown, the CFT switch 1230 is coupled to one or more image and data servers 1232 that store still images associated with programs of various IPTV channels. The image and data servers 1232 may also store data related to various channels, e.g., types of data related to the channels and to programs or video content displayed via the channels. In an illustrative embodiment, the image and data servers 1232 may be a cluster of servers, each of which may store still images, channel and program-related data, or any combination thereof. The CFT switch 1230 may also be coupled to a terminal server 1234 that provides terminal devices with a connection point to the private network 1210. In a particular embodiment, the CFT switch 1230 may also be coupled to one or more video-on-demand (VOD) servers 1236 that store or provide VOD content imported by the IPTV system 1200. In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, the VOD content servers 1280 may include one or more unicast servers.
The client-facing tier 1202 may also include one or more video content servers 1280 that transmit video content requested by viewers via their set-top boxes 1216, 1224. In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, the video content servers 1280 may include one or more multicast servers.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, the application tier 1204 may communicate with both the private network 1210 and the public network 1222. The application tier 1204 may include a first application tier (APP) switch 1238 and a second APP switch 1240. In a particular embodiment, the first APP switch 1238 may be coupled to the second APP switch 1240. The first APP switch 1238 may be coupled to an application server 1242 and to an OSS/BSS gateway 1244. In a particular embodiment, the application server 1242 may provide applications to the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 via the private access network 1266, which enable the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 to provide functions, such as display, messaging, processing of IPTV data and VOD material, etc. In a particular embodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway 1244 includes operation systems and support (OSS) data, as well as billing systems and support (BSS) data. In one embodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway may provide or restrict access to an OSS/BSS server 1264 that stores operations and billing systems data.
Further, the second APP switch 1240 may be coupled to a domain controller 1246 that provides web access, for example, to users via the public network 1222. For example, the domain controller 1246 may provide remote web access to IPTV account information via the public network 1222, which users may access using their personal computers 1268. The second APP switch 1240 may be coupled to a subscriber and system store 1248 that includes account information, such as account information that is associated with users who access the system 1200 via the private network 1210 or the public network 1222. In a particular embodiment, the application tier 1204 may also include a client gateway 1250 that communicates data directly with the client-facing tier 1202. In this embodiment, the client gateway 1250 may be coupled directly to the CFT switch 1230. The client gateway 1250 may provide user access to the private network 1210 and the tiers coupled thereto.
In a particular embodiment, the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 may access the IPTV system 1200 via the private access network 1266, using information received from the client gateway 1250. In this embodiment, the private access network 1266 may provide security for the private network 1210. User devices may access the client gateway 1250 via the private access network 1266, and the client gateway 1250 may allow such devices to access the private network 1210 once the devices are authenticated or verified. Similarly, the client gateway 1250 may prevent unauthorized devices, such as hacker computers or stolen set-top box devices from accessing the private network 1210, by denying access to these devices beyond the private access network 1266.
For example, when the first representative set-top box device 1216 accesses the system 1200 via the private access network 1266, the client gateway 1250 may verify subscriber information by communicating with the subscriber and system store 1248 via the private network 1210, the first APP switch 1238, and the second APP switch 1240. Further, the client gateway 1250 may verify billing information and status by communicating with the OSS/BSS gateway 1244 via the private network 1210 and the first APP switch 1238. In one embodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway 1244 may transmit a query across the first APP switch 1238, to the second APP switch 1240, and the second APP switch 1240 may communicate the query across the public network 1222 to the OSS/BSS server 1264. After the client gateway 1250 confirms subscriber and/or billing information, the client gateway 1250 may allow the set-top box device 1216 access to IPTV content and VOD content. If the client gateway 1250 is unable to verify subscriber information for the set-top box device 1216, e.g., because it is connected to an unauthorized twisted pair, the client gateway 1250 may block transmissions to and from the set-top box device 1216 beyond the private access network 1266.
As indicated in FIG. 12, the acquisition tier 1206 includes an acquisition tier (AQT) switch 1252 that communicates with the private network 1210. The AQT switch 1252 may also communicate with the operations and management tier 1208 via the public network 1222. In a particular embodiment, the AQT switch 1252 may be coupled to a live acquisition server 1254 that receives television or movie content, for example, from content sources 1256 through an encoder 1255. In a particular embodiment during operation of the IPTV system, the live acquisition server 1254 may acquire television or movie content. The live acquisition server 1254 may transmit the television or movie content to the AQT switch 1252 and the AQT switch 1252 may transmit the television or movie content to the CFT switch 1230 via the private network 1210.
Further, the television or movie content may be transmitted to the video content servers 1280, where it may be encoded, formatted, stored, or otherwise manipulated and prepared for communication to the set-top box devices 1216, 1224. The CFT switch 1230 may communicate the television or movie content to the modems 1214, 1223 via the private access network 1266. The set-top box devices 1216, 1224 may receive the television or movie content via the modems 1214, 1213, and may transmit the television or movie content to the television monitors 1218, 1226. In an illustrative embodiment, video or audio portions of the television or movie content may be streamed to the set-top box devices 1216, 1224.
Further, the AQT switch may be coupled to a video-on-demand importer server 1258 that stores television or movie content received at the acquisition tier 1206 and communicates the stored content to the VOD server 1236 at the client-facing tier 1202 via the private network 1210. Additionally, at the acquisition tier 1206, the video-on-demand (VOD) importer server 1258 may receive content from one or more VOD sources outside the IPTV system 1200, such as movie studios and programmers of non-live content. The VOD importer server 1258 may transmit the VOD content to the AQT switch 1252, and the AQT switch 1252, in turn, may communicate the material to the CFT switch 1230 via the private network 1210. The VOD content may be stored at one or more servers, such as the VOD server 1236.
When user issue requests for VOD content via the set-top box devices 1216, 1224, the requests may be transmitted over the private access network 1266 to the VOD server 1236, via the CFT switch 1230. Upon receiving such requests, the VOD server 1236 may retrieve the requested VOD content and transmit the content to the set-top box devices 1216, 1224 across the private access network 1266, via the CFT switch 1230. The set-top box devices 1216, 1224 may transmit the VOD content to the television monitors 1218, 1226. In an illustrative embodiment, video or audio portions of VOD content may be streamed to the set-top box devices 1216, 1224.
FIG. 12 further illustrates that the operations and management tier 1208 may include an operations and management tier (OMT) switch 1260 that conducts communication between the operations and management tier 1208 and the public network 1222. In the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 1, the OMT switch 1260 is coupled to a TV2 server 1262. Additionally, the OMT switch 1260 may be coupled to an OSS/BSS server 1264 and to a simple network management protocol (SNMP) monitor 1270 that monitors network devices within or coupled to the IPTV system 1200. In a particular embodiment, the OMT switch 1260 may communicate with the AQT switch 1252 via the public network 1222.
In an illustrative embodiment, the live acquisition server 1254 may transmit the television or movie content to the AQT switch 1252, and the AQT switch 1252, in turn, may transmit the television or movie content to the OMT switch 1260 via the public network 1222. In this embodiment, the OMT switch 1260 may transmit the television or movie content to the TV2 server 1262 for display to users accessing the user interface at the TV2 server 1262. For example, a user may access the TV2 server 1262 using a personal computer (PC) 1268 coupled to the public network 1222.
FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the example form of a computer system 1300 within which a set of instructions for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
The example computer system 1300 includes a processor 1312 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory 1304 and a static memory 1306, which communicate with each other via a bus 1308. The computer system 1300 may further include a video display unit 1310 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1300 also includes an alphanumeric input device 1312 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UI) navigation device 1314 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1316, a signal generation device 1318 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1320.
The disk drive unit 1316 includes a machine-readable medium 1322 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software 1324) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software 1324 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1304 and/or within the processor 1312 during execution thereof by the computer system 1300, the main memory 1304 and the processor 1312 also constituting machine-readable media.
The software 1324 may further be transmitted or received over a network 1326 via the network interface device 1320 utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP).
While the machine-readable medium 1322 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such a set of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals.
Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
rendering at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
identifying at least one source tree using the address of the at least one sender, the shared tree and the at least one source tree each indicating a plurality of paths for a data packet from an originating router to selected routers among the plurality of routers.
rendering the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the filtered plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
filtering the path between the first router and the second router on the first multicast tree from the plurality of paths for the at least one turnaround point when the second router does not have the routing knowledge.
rendering a source tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the upside down branching tree, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the source tree being in a second presentation format.
rendering a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the source tree, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree being in a second presentation format.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first presentation format is a first color and the second presentation format is a second color.
rendering a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the plurality of expanding trees, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree in an additional presentation format.
rendering a plurality of source trees of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as a plurality of intersecting trees on the plurality of expanding trees, the plurality of intersecting trees each including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of each of the plurality of intersecting trees each being in an additional presentation format.
rendering at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree indicating the plurality of paths of a data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees, each of the plurality of paths of a first multicast tree including a plurality of arrows pointing in an upward facing direction on the display, each of the plurality of paths of a second multicast tree including the plurality of arrows pointing in a downward facing direction on the display.
presenting the annotated overlapping multicast tree on a display.
per-group distribution rate of a number of data packets for the overlapping multicast tree.
presenting information regarding the multicast routing entry of the chosen router on the display in response to the information request.
a rendering module to render at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
a filtering module to filter the path between the first router and the second router on the first multicast tree from the plurality of paths for the at least one turnaround point.
17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of multicast trees includes at least one source tree and at least one shared tree.
18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the originating router and the selected routers are all routers of the plurality of routers.
19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the multicast group is a plurality of multicast groups.
20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the multicast group supports services provided in a network selected from a group of services consisting of a virtual private network (VPN) service and an internet protocol television (IPTV) service.
render at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
render the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees on a display as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the filtered plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
render a source tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the shared tree, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the source tree in a second presentation format.
render a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the source tree, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree in a second presentation format.
render a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the plurality of expanding trees, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree in an additional presentation format.
displaying at least two of a plurality of multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the plurality of paths for a data packet from an originating router to one or more selected routers for each of at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
displaying the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including the filtered plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees.
displaying a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the source tree, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the one or more selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree being in a second presentation format.
displaying a shared tree of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as an intersecting tree to the plurality of expanding trees, the intersecting tree including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the one or more selected routers, the plurality of paths of the intersecting tree in an additional presentation format.
displaying a plurality of source trees of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees as a plurality of intersecting trees on the plurality of expanding trees, the plurality of intersecting trees each including the plurality of paths for the data packet from the originating router to the selected routers, the plurality of paths of each of the plurality of intersecting trees each being in an additional presentation format.
displaying at least two of a plurality of multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree indicating a plurality of paths of a data packet from an originating router to one or more selected routers for each of the at least two of the plurality of multicast trees, each of the plurality of paths of a first multicast tree including a plurality of arrows pointing in an upward facing direction on the display, each of the plurality of paths of a second multicast tree including the plurality of arrows pointing in a downward facing direction on the display.
processing an alteration for the network, the alteration capable of at least partially resolving the problem regarding the network.
displaying at least two of a plurality of multicast trees as an overlapping multicast tree, the overlapping multicast tree including a plurality of paths for a data packet in the network from an originating router to one or more selected routers for each of at least two of the plurality of multicast trees, the overlapping multicast tree including information used to identify the problem within the network.
35. The method of claim 33, wherein the problem regarding a network is a router problem with at least one router of the plurality of routers. | 2019-04-22T18:43:14Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080212584A1/en | Porn | Business | 0.355163 |
wikipedia | ^ 2.0 2.1 Supplemental Information for the Consolidated Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter Ended March 31, 2018 (PDF). Tokyo, Japan: Sony Corporation: 10. 2018-04-27 [2018-05-06].
^ Sony Asks Media to Stop Covering Hacked Emails. Time. December 16, 2014 [December 17, 2014].
^ Weise, Elizabeth. Experts: Sony hackers 'have crossed the line'. USA Today. December 17, 2014 [December 17, 2014]. | 2019-04-22T12:00:24Z | https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%A2%E5%B0%BC%E5%BD%B1%E8%A6%96%E5%A8%9B%E6%A8%82 | Porn | Business | 0.437842 |
wordpress | Many of the shipping companies, FedEx, UPS, USPS and the like offer notification if a package has been delivered. Some of these are timely, some are not.
Wouldn’t it be great if, using the standard home security cameras and the power of Machine Learning YOU could detect a package on your front door step, instead of waiting for others?
Well, today is your day! Microsoft has released “Custom Computer Vision” https://www.customvision.ai/ and with just a little work, we can make that happen.
Change the IP, user id and password to match your settings.
So using the RTSP protocol, we can stream data, but Computer Vision needs images, not a streaming protocol.
This is important, because to ‘train’ our Computer Vision, we need LOTS of pictures. So our first step is to collect LOTS of pictures.
Using the following DOS script (yep, old school) I collected over 10,000 pictures throughout the day, so I can sample day and night images to set a baseline of what my front porch looks like without any packages. The script below samples 100 pictures every 10 minutes. It ran for 24 hours.
So to train the Computer Vision model on what packages looks like, my daughter and I spent several quality minutes taking pictures of packages on my front porch. I simply put a package in the camera view area, and ran the ffmpeg command to collect the image.
Next I logged into: https://www.customvision.ai/ and created a project.
As shown above, there is a 93.1% probability there is a package on my front door step. I have highlighted in red where the actual package is, so we feel good.
Sampling my front door step when there is not a package, the model says there is a 96.5% probability there is no package, as shown below.
If the probability is that there is a package, send a text message / mobile notification / email / (Instagram???) with the picture of the front porch. | 2019-04-23T08:27:51Z | https://kevinsaye.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/using-computer-vision-to-know-if-i-have-a-package-at-home/ | Porn | Computers | 0.810794 |
columbia | Columbia FDI Perspectives is an occasional series of perspectives on important and topical foreign direct investment issues.
The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment seeks to promote a robust and wide ranging exchange of perspectives in the FDI area. Accordingly, the opinions expressed by individual authors through the Columbia FDI Perspectives do not reflect the opinions of CCSI or Columbia University or our partners and supporters.
If you would like to contribute to the Columbia FDI Perspectives, see details here.
China’s Foreign Investment Law reflects substantial changes in China’s foreign investment legal regime. This Perspective discusses two new characteristics of the new generation of Chinese investment treaties: they are based on a balanced paradigm and they are becoming more influential at the domestic level.
Bilateral investment treaties are often thought to impact the behaviors of multinational corporations, though it is not entirely clear that they do. That ambiguity stems partly from FDI data being ill-suited to answering the question. More suitable data sources exist, however, and should be used.
Complex contracts between governments and foreign investors, covering large-scale projects, define the long-term relationship between the parties. Negotiating such contracts is difficult under any circumstances, yet emerging markets negotiating with foreign investors often face an asymmetry of resources. This Perspective discusses how this asymmetry can be reduced through negotiations support. 中文版. Also available in German here.
No. 120: “Which host country government actors are most involved in disputes with foreign investors?,” by Jeremy Caddel and Nathan M. Jensen.
No. 119: “The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A critical perspective,” by Rainer Geiger.
No. 118: “Regional concentration of FDI involves trade-offs in post-reform India,” by Peter Nunnenkamp, Wan-Hsin Liu and Frank Bickenbach.
No. 117: “Multilateral investment disciplines: Don’t forget the GATS!,” by Rudolf Adlung.
No. 116: “The case for a framework agreement on investment,” by Gary Hufbauer and Sherry Stephenson.
No. 115: “The “spaghetti bowl” of IIAs: The end of history?,” by Joachim Karl.
No. 114: “Government-held equity in foreign investment projects: Good for host countries?,” by Louis T. Wells.
No. 113: “Recalibrating interpretive authority,” by Anthea Roberts.
No. 112: “The China-United States BIT negotiations: A Chinese perspective,” by Sheng Zhang.
No. 111: “Minority rules: State ownership and foreign direct investment risk mitigation strategy,” by Barclay E. James and Paul M. Vaaler.
No. 110: “Beware the discretionary choices of arbitrators,” by Gus Van Harten.
No. 109: “Lessons from South Africa’s BITs review,” by Xavier Carim.
No. 108: “Achieving sustainable development objectives in international investment: Could future IIAs impose sustainable development-related obligations on investors?,” by John Gaffney and Janani Sarvanantham.
No. 107: “Go out and manufacture: Policy support for Chinese FDI in Africa,” by Nikia Clarke.
No. 106: “Three challenges for China’s outward FDI policy,” by Karl P. Sauvant.
No. 105: “Are trade-law inspired investment rules desirable?,” by Marino Baldi.
No. 104: “Downstream processing in developing countries: Opportunity or mirage?,” by James Bond.
No. 103: “Toward a multilateral framework for investment,” by Nicolle Graugnard.
No. 102: “The futile debate over a multilateral framework for investment,” by Axel Berger.
No. 101: “The need for an international investment consensus-building process,” by Karl P. Sauvant and Federico Ortino.
No. 100: “Cost allocation in investment arbitration: Back toward diversification,” by Baiju S. Vasani and Anastasiya Ugale.
No. 99: “The global significance of transatlantic investment rules,” by Jonathan (Josh) S. Kallmer.
No. 98: “Do host countries really benefit from inward foreign direct investment?,” by Byungchae Jin, Francisco García and Robert Salomon.
No. 97: “Myopic reliance on natural resources: How African countries can diversify inward FDI,” by Abdoul’ Ganiou Mijiyawa.
No. 96: “Infrastructure for ore: Benefits and costs of a not-so-original idea,” by Louis T. Wells.
No. 95: “How do consumer-focused multinational enterprises affect emerging markets?,” by Terutomo Ozawa.
No. 94: “Common structures of investment law in an age of increasingly complex treaty-making ,” by Stephan Schill and Marc Jacob.
No. 93: “How the private sector is changing Chinese investment in Africa,” by Xiaofang Shen.
No. 92: “Labor provisions in bilateral investment treaties: Does the new US Model BIT provide a template for the future?,” by Vid Prislan and Ruben Zandvliet.
No. 91: “The Arab Awakening, act II: Time to move more boldly on investment,” by Anthony O’Sullivan and Alexander Böhmer.
No. 90: “A business perspective on a China – US bilateral investment treaty,” by Shaun E. Donnelly.
No. 89: “Investor-state dispute settlement: A government’s dilemma,” by Joachim Karl.
No. 88: “The compensatory nature of moral damages in investor-state arbitration,” by Jarrod Wong.
No. 87: “Trying to change the rules for responding to arbitration unilaterally: The proposed new framework for investor-state dispute settlement for the EU,” by Ralph Alexander Lorz.
No. 86: “EU investment agreements and the search for a new balance: A paradigm shift from laissez-faire liberalism toward embedded liberalism?,” by Catharine Titi.
No. 85: “A China – US bilateral investment treaty: A template for a multilateral framework for investment?,” by Karl P. Sauvant and Huiping Chen.
No. 84: “Inward foreign direct investment: Does it enable or constrain domestic technology entrepreneurship?,” by Saurav Pathak, André Laplume and Emanuel Xavier-Oliveira.
No. 83: “Untying the land knot: Turning investment challenges into opportunities for all citizens,” by Xiaofang Shen.
No. 82: “Evaluate Sustainable FDI to Promote Sustainable Development,” by John M. Kline.
No. 81: “Is China’s outward investment in oil a global security concern?,” by Ilan Alon and Aleh Cherp.
No. 80: “State-controlled entities as “investors” under international investment agreements,” by Jo En Low.
No. 79: “Absent from the discussion: The other half of investment promotion,” by Lise Johnson.
No. 78: “Reconciling IMF rules and international investment agreements: An innovative derogation for capital controls,” by Elizabeth L. Broomfield.
No. 77: “A new economic nationalism? Lessons from the PotashCorp decision in Canada,” by Sandy Walker.
No. 76: “A good business reason to support mandatory transparency in extractive industries,” by Perrine Toledano and Julien Topal.
No. 75: “Attracting FDI through BITs and RTAs: Does treaty content matter?,” by Axel Berger, Matthias Busse, Peter Nunnenkamp, and Martin Roy.
No. 74: “Starting anew in international investment law,” by M Sornarajah.
No. 73: “Law at two speeds: Legal frameworks regulating foreign investment in the global South,” by Lorenzo Cotula.
No. 72: “Roll out the red carpet and they will come: Investment promotion and FDI inflows,” by Torfinn Harding and Beata Javorcik.
No. 71: “Much ado about nothing? State-controlled entities and the change in German investment law,” by Thomas Jost.
No. 70: “FDI, catch-up growth stages and stage-focused strategies,” by Terutomo Ozawa.
No. 69: “The times they are a-changin’ — again — in the relationships between governments and multinational enterprises: From control, to liberalization to rebalancing,” by Karl P. Sauvant.
No. 68: “Economic patriotism: Dealing with Chinese direct investment in the United States,” by Sophie Meunier et al..
No. 67: “The Arab Spring: How soon will foreign investors return?,” by Paul Antony Barbour, Persephone Economou, Nathan M. Jensen, and Daniel Villar.
No. 66: “Does it matter who invests in your country?,” by Kalman Kalotay.
No. 65: “The standing of state-controlled entities under the ICSID Convention: Two key considerations,” by Mark Feldman.
No. 64: “State-controlled entities control nearly US$ 2 trillion in foreign assets,” by Karl P. Sauvant and Jonathan Strauss.
No. 63: “Is Chinese FDI pushing Latin America into natural resources?,” by Miguel Pérez Ludeña.
No. 62: “The unbalanced dragon: China’s uneven provincial and regional FDI performance,” by Karl P. Sauvant, Chen Zhao and Xiaoying Huo.
No. 61: “Different investment treaties, different effects,” by Clint Peinhardt and Todd Allee.
No. 60: “National companies or foreign affiliates: Whose contribution to growth is greater?,” by Alice H. Amsden.
No. 59: “The (lack of) women arbitrators in investment treaty arbitration,” by Gus Van Harten.
No. 58: “The public law challenge: Killing or rethinking international investment law?,” by Stephan W. Schill.
No. 57: “Nation states and nationality of MNEs,” by Seev Hirsch.
No. 56: “Towards the successful implementation of the updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises,” by Tadahiro Asami.
No. 55: “FDI stocks are a biased measure of MNE affiliate activity: A response,” by Mira Wilkins.
No. 54: “Investment incentives and the global competition for capital,” by Kenneth P. Thomas.
No. 53: “Knowledge, FDI and catching-up strategies,” by Francisco Sercovich.
No. 52: “FDI in retailing and inflation: The case of India,” by Nandita Dasgupta.
No. 51: “Greek FDI in the Balkans: How is it affected by the crisis in Greece?,” by Persephone Economou and Margo Thomas.
No. 50: “Responsible business conduct: Re-shaping global business,” by John Evans.
No. 49: “Chinese FDI in the United States is taking off: How to maximize its benefits?,” by Thilo Hanemann and Daniel H. Rosen.
No. 48: “The new Dutch sandwich: The issue of treaty abuse ,” by George Kahale, III.
No. 47: “Shaping global business conduct: The 2011 update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises,” by Manfred Schekulin.
No. 46: “Beyond treasuries: A foreign direct investment program for U.S. infrastructure ,” by Geraldine McAllister and Joel H. Moser.
No. 45: “FDI stocks are a biased measure of foreign affiliate activity,” by Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, Jean-François Hennart, Arjen Slangen, and Roger Smeets.
No. 44: “Environmental concerns in international investment agreements: The ‘new era’ has commenced, but harmonization remains far off,” by Kathryn Gordon and Joachim Pohl.
No. 43: “The world economic crisis as a changed circumstance,” by Hermann Ferré and Kabir Duggal.
No. 42: “From the FDI Triad to multiple FDI poles?,” by Persephone Economou and Karl P. Sauvant.
No. 41: “Emerging challengers in knowledge-based industries? The case of Indian pharmaceutical multinationals,” by Gert Bruche.
No. 40: “Why and how least developed countries can receive more FDI to meet their development goals,” by Ken Davies.
No. 39: “The role of multinationals in sparking industrialization: From ‘infant industry protection’ to ‘FDI-led industrial take-off’,” by Terutomo Ozawa.
No. 38: “Responsible agricultural investment: is there a significant role for the law to promote sustainability? ,” by Nicolás Marcelo Perrone.
No. 37: “The coming harmonization of climate change policy and international investment law,” by Daniel M. Firger.
No. 36: “Are resurging state-owned enterprises impeding competition overseas?,” by Nilgün Gökgür.
No. 35: “Is the party-appointed arbitrator a ‘pernicious institution’? A reply to Professor Hans Smit,” by Giorgio Sacerdoti.
No. 34: “The backstory of China and India’s growing investment and trade with Africa: Separating the wheat from the chaff,” by Harry G. Broadman.
No. 33: “The pernicious institution of the party-appointed arbitrator,” by Hans Smit.
No. 32: “State-controlled entities as claimants in international investment arbitration: an early assessment,” by Michael D. Nolan & Frédéric G. Sourgens.
No. 31: “How much do U.S. corporations know (and care) about bilateral investment treaties? Some hints from new survey evidence,” by Jason Webb Yackee.
No. 30: “What will an appreciation of China’s currency do to inward and outward FDI?,” by Karl P. Sauvant and Ken Davies.
No. 29: “Mining for facts: PacRim Cayman LLC v. El Salvador,” by Alexandre de Gramont.
No. 28: “Will China relocate its labor-intensive factories to Africa, flying-geese style?,” by Terutomo Ozawa and Christian Bellak.
No. 27: “Political risk insurance and bilateral investment treaties: a view from below,” by Lauge Skovgaard Poulsen.
No. 26: “FDI incentives pay—politically,” by Nathan M. Jensen and Edmund J. Malesky.
No. 25: “The response to the global crisis and investment protection: evidence,” by Kathryn Gordon and Joachim Pohl.
No. 24: “Foreign direct investment and U.S. national security: CFIUS under the Obama Administration,” by Mark E. Plotkin and David N. Fagan.
No. 23: “Thinking twice about a gold rush: Pacific Rim v El Salvador,” by Gus Van Harten.
No. 22: “How BRIC MNEs deal with international political risk ,” by Premila Nazareth Satyanand.
No. 21: “Is a model EU BIT possible—or even desirable?,” by Armand de Mestral C.M..
No. 20: “It’s time for an EU investment promotion agency,” by José Guimón.
No. 19: “U.S. BITs and financial stability,” by Kevin P. Gallagher.
No. 18: “President Obama’s international tax proposals could go further,” by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah.
No. 17: “International investment law and media disputes: a complement to WTO law,” by Luke Eric Peterson.
No. 16: “Can the U.S. remain an attractive host for FDI in the auto industry? New labor policy and flexible production,” by Terutomo Ozawa.
The author argues that the proposed EFCA, if enacted, would decrease the attractiveness of the United States for FDI in the auto industry. 中文版 This Perspective was also printed in the Shanghai Daily.
No. 15: “The global economic crisis and FDI flows to emerging markets: for the first time ever, emerging markets are this year set to attract more than half of global FDI flows,” by Laza Kekic.
For the first time ever, emerging markets are set to attract more FDI inflows than developed countries in 2009. This Perspective examines this prospect, based on an analysis of the severe downturn of investment flows worldwide this year. 中文版 This Perspective was also printed in the China Daily.
No. 14: “Sovereign wealth funds: much ado about some money,” by Charles Kovacs.
No. 13: “The growth of Brazil’s direct investment abroad and the challenges it faces,” by Luis Afonso Lima and Octavio de Barros.
No. 12: “Outward investment by Trans-Latin enterprises: reasons for optimism,” by Michael Mortimore and Carlos Razo.
No. 11: “Indian FDI falls in global economic crisis: Indian multinationals tread cautiously,” by Jaya Prakash.
No. 10: “National security with a Canadian twist: the Investment Canada Act and the new national security review test,” by Subrata Bhattacharjee.
No. 9: “Are SWFs welcome now?,” by Veljko Fotak and William Megginson.
No. 8: “Land grab or development opportunity? International farmland deals in Africa,” by Lorenzo Cotula.
No. 7: “International investment arbitration: winning, losing and why,” by Susan D. Franck.
No. 6: “Improving infrastructure or lowering taxes to attract foreign direct investment?,” by Christian Bellak and Markus Leibrecht.
No. 5: “While global FDI fails, China’s outward FDI doubles,” by Ken Davies.
This Perspective examines the drivers behind the surge in FDI from China in 2008 and the salient features of this outward investment. Davies also discusses how the global financial crisis is affecting China’s outward FDI. 中文版 A shorter version of this perspective was also printed in the Shanghai Daily.
No. 4: “A new geography of innovation – China and India rising,” by Gert Bruche.
This Perspective explains the factors behind the sudden shift toward China and India for MNE R&D centers and explores how the financial crisis will affect China’s and India’s ability to continue to capture the R&D market. 中文版 A shorter version of this perspective was also printed in the Shanghai Daily.
No. 3: “The global financial crisis: will state emergency measures trigger international investment disputes?,” by Anne van Aaken and Jürgen Kurtz.
This Perspective evaluates the possibility that emergency measures that countries are currently taking to mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis will give rise to liability under international investment law. 中文版 Also reprinted in Chinese in the International Economic Cooperation Journal.
No. 2: “The revised national security review process for FDI in the US,” by Mark E. Plotkin and David N. Fagan.
This Perspective explains the new regulations governing the US government’s national security review process for foreign mergers and acquisitions of US businesses which became effective December 22, 2008. 中文版 A shorter version of this perspective was also printed in the Shanghai Daily.
No. 1: “The FDI recession has begun,” by Karl P. Sauvant.
This first Perspective forecasts an FDI recession in the coming year. 中文版 A shorter version of this perspective was also printed in the Shanghai Daily. | 2019-04-23T17:05:36Z | http://ccsi.columbia.edu/publications/columbia-fdi-perspectives/ | Porn | Society | 0.096115 |
wordpress | Page 2 – LIFE12 ENV/ES/000557 "SOSTENIBLES SOLUTIONS FOR VERY SMALL WATER SUPPLIES"
Abegondo, May 5, 2017. The Council held a day of open doors to other Concellos and Galician administrations to show the result of the project Life Rural Supplies to improve the quality of the water through autonomous solutions. The proposal raised the interest of some thirty institutions.
Participants from nearby municipalities such as A Laracha, Carral, Oza-Cesutas, Paderne, Pontedeume or Sobrado, but also from distant points such as Petin, Limia Xinzo, Caldas de Reis, As Neves or A Rúa, among others. Representatives of Augas de Galicia and Consellería Sanidad were also displaced, from different territorial headquarters. Among them, several mayors, who decided to look first hand at the pilot systems tested in Abegondo.
The day had three points of visit. First, in the Beche reservoir, as an example of the use of surface water in centralized systems.
Then they moved to one of the main examples of the program: the new scheme of A Malata in Vizoño to serve 9 village and 50 households which previously lacked potable water.
And third, the day included a visit to the Cullergondo and Xuanzo sewage treatment plant, based on soft purification technologies to prevent the contamination of aquifers and rivers.
The mayor of Abegondo, José Antonio Santiso is convinced of the “possibility of replication” to help 600,000 Galician people who are supplied through autonomous solutions.
At 10:00 h on Friday, May 5, 2017, a technical conference will be held to disseminate the results of the project and promote replication in other rural municipalities in Galicia.
With this target, the pilot supply and sanitation facilities implemented in Abegondo under the Life program will be visited.
We think that the experience can be useful in solving the problems of providing potable water of the rural Galicia.
Last Saturday, March 25, 2017, the implementation of the control and management of the supply system in the pilot community of A Malata took place.
10:00 Presentation of the basic lines of the control and management program, by Caridad de Santiago Gómez, COXAPO technician.
11:00 Visit to the wells: explanation of the cleaning plan of the catchments.
14:00 End of the event.
The municipality of Abegondo will host next Saturday March 25, 2017 the 1st Galician hydrogeology day Edition. This event aims to bring society to hydrogeology and consists of a guided tour, totally free and open to all types of public.
The day entitled “The autonomous supply systems with groundwater of Abegondo” will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Casa do Concello de Abegondo, from where a bus will go to Vizoño.
Groundwater and its importance in rural Galicia.
Autonomous systems of groundwater as opposed to centralized systems in the provision of water services in the Galician rural environment.
Control networks and techniques for the characterization of aquifers and the study of the status and chemical quality of groundwater.
The event is organized by the CICA Water and Soil Group of the University of A Coruña, the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Council of Abegondo under the coordination of The International Association of Hydrogeologists – Spanish Group (AIH-GE).
On November 30, 2016, 31 students from the 4th ESO moved to Vizoño to learn about the new facilities of the Community of Users of A Malata.
During the visit, they knowed the motivation of the project: to diagnose the water problems of the rural village. In this way, they were able to verify the original state of the fountain of A Freiría discarded by nitrates.
Then, they learnt the best sanitary practices at new wells executed near A Prata’s spring.
Finally, they verified the functioning of the new purification plant.
Once completed the improvement of Community of A Malata, the users have begun to take on the new tasks of managing in order to guarantee the potability of water.
On Friday, November 4, the students moved to Abegondo to learn about the problem of providing water services (supply and sanitation) to the dispersed rural.
The purpose of the visit is a study of alternatives: autonomous vs. centralized.
The day began in the reservoir of Beche, in order to contextualize the huge investments of the centralized infrastructures of supply, and then to show the deficiencies of the current catchments of springs at autonomous schemes.
The piezometer network has made it possible to determine the status (quantitative and chemical) of groundwater as a source of water for human consumption.
Pozos da Prata (wells). The new catchments have been executed as an example of the physical measures that can be implemented to offer an adequate sanitary protection of the water and Minimize damage to the environment.
Sewage treatment plant of Cullergondo – Xuanzo. Regarding the treatment of domestic water, the soft technologies is presented as the best model due the simplicity of the maintenance of this installation would allow the management to be adopted by the Community of Users. | 2019-04-23T14:28:45Z | https://liferuralsuppliesenglish.wordpress.com/page/2/ | Porn | Reference | 0.148604 |
wordpress | Is it really okay to be overwhelmed by your feelings?
Is it, really? To let your emotions overcome everything else.
Is it okay to keep feeling like this days after days, to even forget what it’s like to not be surrounded by heavy water and not be interested by it either?
It feels childish to corner yourself and let one little thing take so much control over yourself.
Am I stupid to smile during my slow drowning, to feel a bit of pleasure in my long agony?
I cut my hair on November, almost December (might be early December) last year (sorry I meant two years ago).
I had like 2 to 3 inches of hair.
I was happy though. I finally got natural, transitioning was starting to get on my nerves and I couldn’t wait to see my natural hair.
It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
I had fun coming up with ways to keep my hair healthy and to procure lots of love to it. I’m actually really in love with my hair.
16″ and 20″, haven’t messaged it in a while) but we’re getting there. Or maybe it felt like if it didn’t I would get it chemically processed again.
Truth is I love long hair. That’s not a goal or a wish.
It’s how things are supposed to be or get.
So maybe unconsciously I’ve been treating my hair to this goal.
I have porous, elastic, medium length black coily hair. As much as I know a lot about these stuffs, it didn’t really help me in my regimen. Knowledge doesn’t hurt though.
So what are my 2016 hair goals?
None. I haven’t prepared anything. I’m just going with the flow. But as much as I love my hair and have been struggling to get it where it is, I won’t hold back on my own desires.
So what are my desires?
For now, it’s just to color my hair grey. Process is in motion but not done yet.
I also want to straighten it so I can really note the length.
I’m thinking about a haircut too, reshaping maybe.
I also want to keep my hair healthy so an intense conditioning, moisturizing and repairing treatment would be added too.
So what is really the challenge?
The challenge is to keep being happy with my hair while keeping it healthy and not letting the visible progress get to my head.
And harmless conversation with someone.
No sarcasm, irony free, no testing intended, no holding back, no overtones, no hidden wickedness or mischief. Just a real direct conversation.
We are too guarded these days. And when we get entirely honest, we lose politeness or respect for the other.
The world’s unspoken words are truly surprising,frightening and dangerous.
You’d never know what one could think of you or would never tell you.
I’m celebrating the love they’ve always surround me with, the feeling to be important and needed.
I’m celebrating our ongoing relationship, our respect and loyalty to the other, our acceptance of each other’s all and our unspoken promise to keep helping the other grow.
I’m celebrating my recognition of who I am, of my contribution even small to this world, I’m celebrating accepting and loving every part of me.
I’m celebrating the greatest love all. The love who pushed Him to die for me.
Where I grew up, there is a big emphasis on the younth.
But today’s grownups are tomorrow’s pops and grannies.
Grey, silver and white hair are just around the corner. Health issues and gradual deterioration of every part of our body and lifestyle is a serious risk with great chance of happening.
I might be too young to start thinking about that.
But those with wrinkles and achiness, senile and moody, pleasing and gentle, all smiles and living life at -1 speed already exist.
Being old is not a punishment or a curse, so why do we tend to forget about them and mistreat them. Our lazy, pleasing and modern lifestyle is due to them, nonetheless we rarely repay them and act as ungrateful spoiled brats. As if we wouldn’t ever get old.
As if we would never get to experience memory loss.
As if we would never get to be so confused that we wouldn’t remember our surroundings.
As if we would never get to cover our lightning hair color.
I got to spend a wonderful day with an old person today.
She had great insight and give me useful advice on life and I was so happy I got to spend time with her. She was also happy to be treated as a normal functional person. Not as a retarded or a burden.
I sympathize. Sure she has health issues. Sure her brain is acting up sometimes. But it doesn’t mean that she has to be locked up somewhere depending on people’s kindness and availability to spend a good time.
It’s sad to think that when I’ll be her age, I’ll get to experience the same thing.
I’ll be locked up somewhere, or in some room, waiting for people to visit me so I can have a good time. No one to challenge my intelligence or emotions. All alone almost begging for attention.
This is sad, how can we treat our elders with so little consideration.
My folks are pretty active and don’t need help anytime soon but if the time comes when they won’t be able to be useful to themselves, there’s no way I’ll treat them as retards with no chance whatsoever to progress.
Can I keep that promise?
My purpose is gone and my motivations got washed away.
I just like smiling at life.
Why would this ever happened to me?
Nothing good never comes out in the end.
I’m desperate, why isn’t my life turning around?
If I ever get my hands on…!
Don’t you have a life of your own!?
Geez, people are so unbearable these day.
Could anything ever go wrong?
😒What have I been writing? | 2019-04-26T08:00:23Z | https://whatsgoingonmymind.wordpress.com/2016/02/page/2/ | Porn | Health | 0.903927 |
wordpress | To make the explanation easy, the paragraphs below will focus on network 10.10.201.0/24.
1. All the debug and monitoring commands described above were not able to give us clearly, which communities values were applied to each network. This information is necessary, when you design a traffic engineering case with redundancy option. In the case of a network, we would like to know which LocalPref value has the ISP transit/upstream apply. For that purpose, we can use the looking glass provided by the ISP. These bgp looking glasses will provide vital information for the inbound traffic on a network advertised to an ISP.
a. Let’s take the example of network 10.10.201.0/24. Its default ingress traffic should be ISP-B Ebgp speaker. As we can see below, since the community value applied to this network is 300:100, when we advertised it to ISP-B, within ISP-B’s network, the LocalPref will be fixed at 100.
c. In the case of ISP-C, the community value applied to this network is 400:70, so we can deduct that the LocalPref will be fixed at 70. However the following input of ISP-C’s looking glass will show that ingress path to reach 10.10.200.0/24 is going to ISP-B (check as-path 400 500 1000) when all links are up. So Localpref will be 90.
2. Now we would like to get information, for the outbound traffic of 10.10.200.0/24. The most reliable way is to make a trace-route from an IP which belongs to 10.10.200.0/24.
The trace-route will give the outbound path, but also specify if there is any additional setup on the next-hop. The following output show that next-hop is untouched, and that best ingress path for 10.10.200.0/24 is ISP-B Ebgp speaker.
Traceroute will provide vital information for the egress traffic of a customer network. | 2019-04-23T14:13:36Z | https://networktalk.wordpress.com/bgp-tutorial-multihoming-practices-cisco/chapter-c-analyze-of-the-bgp-configurations-tests-and-monitoring-results-of-the-multihoming-and-traffic-engineering-setup/c-2-bgp-verification-and-troubleshooting-commands/c-2-f-traceroute-and-looking-glass-information/ | Porn | Reference | 0.542198 |
wordpress | Today I’m reviewing two books together just because they are the first 2 books in a 3 book series and I feel the second cannot be read without the first.
In 1947, after Independence from the British, India was partitioned into India and Pakistan (east and West). East Pakistan was later named as Bangladesh after the 1971 war. Okay, as an Indian, I know all this. But my knowledge about the Bangladesh war of Independence is very limited. Forget about the war but even otherwise I knew very little about Bangladesh in spite of its proximity to India. So when my husband went to Bangladesh for work, I asked him to get me something written by a Bangladeshi author and he got A Golden Age. Honestly I couldn’t have selected a better book.
A Golden Age is about a Muslim woman called Rehana whose husband has expired and her children are forcefully handed over to the relatives as she was deemed unfit to raise her kids all alone. She works hard to get her kids back to Dhaka and succeeds but not without any sacrifices. The story actually begins when her kids are all grown up: Maya is a 17-year-old and Soheil is 19. Soheil and Maya are actively involved in student politics; Soheil is a very charming speaker and can pull crowds. When Pakistan attacks Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), Rehana does not want her children to get involved in the war in any way. She had to fight very hard to get them back from her relatives and she doesn’t want the war taking them away from her.
As the war comes closer to home and her children become involved to the point of leaving their homes and fighting for their country, we see all that Rehana has ever struggled for on the verge of falling to pieces. We also see her strength as a woman and her resolve to protect her children at all costs.
In A Golden Age, we don’t get to know the details of the war, we are always on the fringes. Our state is like Rehana’s, wanting to know what is happening and when it will all end. It is a human story, the story of a mother set against the backdrop of a war. I loved the authors writing, it took me to Bangladesh, to Dhanmondi and that period of struggle. I enjoyed reading this book immensely inspite of the serious topic. It was informative and entertaining. This is one book that I very highly recommend.
The Good Muslim begins 10 years after A Golden Age ends. It felt right to review these 2 books together as the second one is the continuation of the first and without reading the first book it is very difficult to understand the second. The war has ended, a new country, Bangladesh is formed and 10 years have passed. This book is from Maya’s point of view and she is now a women’s doctor in a remote village in Bangladesh, leaving her mother and brother, for reasons unknown at that point. Due to some unfortunate circumstances Maya has to return to Dhaka. She finds that a lot has changed while she was away. Her brother has dedicated himself to Islam and he is no longer close to their mother. Soheil’s wife’s funeral is being held and he also has a son called Zaid who is 4 years old.
Soheil has begun to give religious sermons and has left his sons upbringing to a woman who works with him. She is as strict and religious as Soheil and Zaid is left without any education and anyone to look after him. Maya struggles to settle back in Dhaka and tries to comprehend the changes Soheil has gone through. She takes Zaid under her wing and tries to make his life better.
On the other hand, she also struggles to understand how people can forget how they struggled for Independence only a few years back and have moved on. She doesn’t want to move on. She wants to remember, not only all that happened but also how Soheil was before and during the war. She wants to understand what Soheil has gone through to affect him so much that he has to turn to religion. When Soheil decides to send Zaid to a Madrasa, Maya thinks she has to do something for Zaid.
In The Good Muslim we don’t get to know what’s going on in Rehana’s mind which was weird considering how tuned I was to her feelings in the first book. It felt uncomfortable not knowing what was going on in her mind. Nevertheless, Maya is an interesting character as well. The author has shown all her confusion, anger and frustration very well.
I loved this book equally if not more than A Golden Age. I thought without the war as a backdrop, the book would be boring but it wasn’t. Her writing is very beautiful yet very easy to read and get lost into. She takes you to the remote villages in Bangladesh as well as to the rapidly changing Dhaka with equal ease. Most of all it reminded me of home, of eating puchkas and drinking chai from a street vendor while looking at an ever changing landscape.
Tahmima Aman takes you into the heart of the country and into the heart of the people who reside there. For that reason alone, this book is worth reading.
Note: A Golden Age is from my personal shelf while The Good Muslim is a review copy. | 2019-04-24T22:49:15Z | https://violetcrush.wordpress.com/category/books-set-in/bangladesh/ | Porn | Reference | 0.26019 |
cnn | Attorney Marc Bern, who helps represent victims, believes the settlement will get 95 percent approval.
New York (CNN) -- A U.S. district judge in New York approved a settlement Wednesday that could pay more than $700 million to thousands of 9/11 first responders exposed to toxic dust at ground zero.
Before approving the settlement Judge Alvin Hellerstein listened to testimony from a sampling of some of the 10,000 plaintiffs at Wednesday's hearing about the health battles that have plagued them since working at the World Trade Center site.
"I intend to approve this settlement, and I now do so as a fair, adequate and reasonable settlement reflecting hard work and a concern for fairness by all parties," said Hellerstein.
"It is fair in amount and fair in procedures," he added.
Qualifying plaintiffs will be enrolled in a special insurance policy through MetLife that will pay up to $100,000 for certain blood and respiratory cancers diagnosed during the coverage period.
The amended settlement raises the total compensation for sick first responders from $625 million proposed in the March 11 settlement to $712 million and caps attorney fees to 25 percent of the total settlement.
Additionally, people claiming severe respiratory issues contracted within seven months of exposure at the World Trade Center site or any surrounding areas could receive between $800,000 to $1.05 million. Plaintiffs not suffering from a qualifying injury, but have a legal claim fearing they will become sick can receive $3,250. Claims of death proven to be caused by post 9/11 operations could receive $1.5 million in compensation.
"This settlement provides plaintiffs with closure and certainty, while also reserving some funds for future claims," said Christine LaSala, president and CEO of the WTC Captive organization.
"We believe it is the best path forward for these plaintiffs, as their only other option right now is to proceed to lengthy and costly litigation with an uncertain outcome," LaSala explained.
Ninety-five percent of the plaintiffs have to agree to opt in for the settlement to be finalized. They will have until September 8 to review the settlement and decide if they will participate.
Attorney Marc Bern, who helps represent victims, is confident the settlement will get 95 percent approval.
"Once I have an opportunity to send out letters letting everyone know how much they're getting precisely, I think that we're going to get very close to 100 percent," Bern said.
According to Bern, after the settlement is finalized the first payouts will be made in November. | 2019-04-22T00:37:36Z | http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/23/new.york.wtc.first.responders/index.html | Porn | Health | 0.967651 |
wordpress | Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Meet, Feb’17.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its deliberations today amid widespread expectations of at least 0.25 per cent (25-basis point) cut in the policy rate to cushion the impact of demonetization and a firming up of global oil prices. The policy statement will be released at 2.30 pm on February 08, 2017. Monetary policy deals with issues like repo rate, reverse repo rate, cash reserve ratio, statutory liquidity ratio etc. All these things are directly applied on all the banks. For example, when the RBI increases the repo rate, the cost of borrowing increases for the banks. As a … Continue reading Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Meet, Feb’17.
Prime Minister’s address on New Year Eve.
After 50 days of Demonetization, Our Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi announced a slew measures for farmers, urban poor and small entrepreneur, besides housing loan subsidies for the poor and new incentives for senior citizen. In a much anticipated televised address to the nation, the entire speech was centered on corruption, unaccounted money, counterfeit notes, poverty and upliftment of various classes of society. “The days that followed this Diwali, people of India witnessed a cleansing ritual of historic proportion. This black money cleansing ritual will help the nation”, he began the speech. PEOPLE THANKED– Narendra Modi thanked, the 125 … Continue reading Prime Minister’s address on New Year Eve. | 2019-04-26T07:47:16Z | https://economicsclubdsims.wordpress.com/ | Porn | News | 0.371003 |
wordpress | Photography and art enthusiasts, Alison Milne Design Studio is hosting the photographic works of Anthea Baxter-Page. Her exhibit – INDIA: Life and Lens opens Thursday, April 22nd, 2010.
The exhibition continues through to May 23rd, 2010. Viewing is by appointment Monday thru Friday and from 12-6 pm Saturdays and Sundays. | 2019-04-21T22:40:24Z | https://pullingstrings.wordpress.com/category/photography/ | Porn | Arts | 0.952836 |
wordpress | Here’s a regularly updated list of books that I’ve read that are broadly on the Social in silico theme. Where there are blog posts here that refer to the books, I’ve linked to them.
The Art of Community – Jono Bacon.
Recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about community management.
It’s about urban planning…but also a fascinating read on how communities work (blog post).
It’s complicated – the social lives of networked teens – Danah Boyd.
Much recommended discussion of how teenagers use the internet including topics such as identity, privacy and literacy (blog post).
Collection of essays on the cultural, political and economic effects of the internet. Highlights include the need for forums for online deliberation in digital democracy and studies of how online petitions flourish or fail.
A fascinating and funny discussion of the many logical fallacies presented in arguments. Useful for online discussions!
Compelling read on the many ways our decision making is influenced. Implications for discussions, marketing, how data is presented and more. | 2019-04-20T10:29:37Z | https://socialinsilico.wordpress.com/library/ | Porn | Arts | 0.682429 |
wikipedia | Wikimedia Commons has media related to People of San José, Costa Rica.
The main article for this category is San José, Costa Rica.
Pages in category "People from San José, Costa Rica"
This page was last edited on 2 January 2018, at 03:10 (UTC). | 2019-04-18T14:18:40Z | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_from_San_Jos%C3%A9,_Costa_Rica | Porn | Reference | 0.471116 |
wordpress | Cherry Burton CC pre-season training gets in to full swing with indoor nets at Sirius Academy North, Hall Road, HU6 9BP from 7:30 – 9pm on Monday 11 January until Monday 21 March. As well as the usual batting and bowling practice we will be introducing the BOLA cricket bowling machine as well as additional fielding drills.
This makes use of the state of the art facilities at the school – four nets are available and the cost is just £3 per session.
For 2016 the club has the exciting prospect of new, permanent outdoor nets! For a small village club this represents a huge stride forward and will allow nets to continue throughout the season and provide even better facilities for junior and youth players. | 2019-04-19T05:04:12Z | https://cherryburtoncricketclub.wordpress.com/playing-for-cbcc/pre-season-training/ | Porn | Sports | 0.908049 |
google | Yeoman Report: No minutes were presented.
Purser Report: No report was given but bank balance was stated as $8,564.48 via email.
Commodore David McLamb summarized plans for the coming workday and items to be done such as replacement for water heater and the need to explore alternatives for more efficient hot water power management by timer or switching, or rerouting plumbing. A waterline leak was scheduled for repair by Mike Butts, as was the water heater issue. A schedule of activities for 2013 was distributed. A new member application from Steuart and Sheila Link was approved.
Site and Equipment: Water to be turned on second week of April. | 2019-04-20T10:54:46Z | https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSBzdUGBi0WDAYCNtm5SOK1cipus1WO3PF3M7qDX66dfW1bTWSF3_JXBBx_1SsEOlgeqHvD0ijFlo4T/pub | Porn | Business | 0.855798 |
wordpress | I found myself this week reading a few new blogs I came across written by women who were in the throes of transformation.
And the transformation was exceedingly painful, and the end result mostly unknown. These were women raised, and deeply indoctrinated in fundamentalist faith systems. They had broken out of such systems, and the real struggling began.
Never have I read such painful, heart-wrenching descriptions of soul-searching. My heart literally broke in agony as I read these stories. At first questions, and then more, the searching for evidence, and the final acknowledgement that nothing they had been taught was true.
And that is the issue. The Nothingness. Each expressed in various ways the loss of foundation, the mooring of one’s being in a philosophy that grounded one’s life. The anchor had been removed. As one put it, “there is no right or wrong, no up or down.” These women could see no basis for any moral decision, in fact they could no longer define what was morality.
In some cases they were plagued with fears that the very thoughts they were thinking were the work of Satan, causing them to rethink what they had determined. They were in chaos, swimming in circles, grasping for a lifeline.
It is the faith of fear, threat, and punishment. If you question, you are possessed by the devil and are going to hell. Open that bible, pray. Such people often end up in mental hospitals under sedation. Any psychiatrist will tell you that many a patient is locked in a vicious loop, the perfect catch-22, and some can’t escape.
As I have said many times, fundamentalism causes more atheists than any other single factor.
I left comments on a couple, offering sympathy, and hopefully insight. I offered hope. I offered encouragement. I offered a listening ear.
I, to date, have received no reply. And I was saddened.
And that caused me to think deeply as to why I was so saddened. Why had my overtures been seemingly rejected?
Of course, that is not necessarily the case. My offers of help, of counsel, may have been taken in and treasured deeply for all I know. There is a time for everything as Ecclesiastes tells us.
But I was more concerned over my own feelings.
In Paul’s time, there were indeed factions. Three or four to be certain. Paul represented the most “liberal”. His position was that these new gentile Jesus followers need do nothing than profess Jesus as Lord. Cephas, or Peter, represented a more moderate “Jewish” position. Namely that the new gentile members should follow at least some of the Jewish laws. Presumably Apollos represented another school, perhaps the stricter one that all new gentile converts needed to be circumcised and follow all the laws.
In any case, Paul admonishes them all, claiming that the message is distorted if it’s about who is right on all these particulars. The greatest thing by far, is the message of Jesus. That is what they are all called to preach. Losing sight of the goal is damaging to them all, as well as causing damage to the real point, the preaching to the ends of the earth of the saving power of Christ.
And I was humbled, as I thought about this. For indeed, I had never agonized over my faith in this way. I had never tossed and turned, fearing, and trembling. I had never felt the painful insecurity these women expressed.
My conversion was more intellectual. I made an assessment of arguments both for and against. I truly believe that God brought that to a head for me. And the choice was obvious to me. Still is. But I did not wrestle with the angel as Jacob did. I made a decision. I question it from time to time, I go over the “evidence”, but I don’t cry out and moan in pain.
And in some ways, I guess that means, that these women have a faith hugely bigger than mine. It is a faith fighting a behemoth of misinformation and out right lies, told to them for years. And they are still in the fight. I’m not sure I would be. Many a newly created atheist sure isn’t.
I am awed, and I am humbled. Perhaps I need do a bit more listening and a lot less giving of advice. Perhaps I am the one who needs to learn something about faith.
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We are wont, I believe, when we think of Christ as our King, to think of images of coronation and imperial power that we are historically familiar with.
Certainly we recall Napoleon’s coronation, and many of us recall the grainy black and white film of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. We see pictures in history books of other Empresses, Emperors and Kings. We recall Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus.
When we think of kings, we think of royalty although we are none too clear what that means. We think of palaces, and crowns and precious gemstones, ermine, and purple gowns and trains. We think of sceptres and thrones, and ladies-in-waiting. It all seems quaint and far removed from our daily lives.
So it is natural, when we announce that Christ is King, that we picture him returning in a glory of crown, robes and sceptre, upon a throne of gold and diamond, and millions prostrate before him. In one sense the Church has done little to dissuade us from that image.
Certainly to the people of his day, a king was perhaps thought of somewhat differently. Some may have recognized that courts of various kings existed, but few if any had seen such grandeur. Few had been to the courts of Herod, or Tiberius. There were stories of King Cyrus no doubt, but only stories.
The most important king to the Jews was no doubt King David and King Solomon. Something of the grandeur of both of them remained in the Temple. Yet, both were more renowned for their military exploits and building programs than for ruling their people I dare say. There was little of pomp and ceremony that came to mind regarding them.
But to the degree that these were real kings, stories of which abounded, then it is natural that those in Jerusalem placed Jesus alongside these ancient kings, and what? No doubt they found him wanting. In Luke, at the time of the crucifixion, Jesus is mocked. “Save yourself, King of the Jews!” they snarled. If you are this king, then act like one!
And what are we to make of this? What is this kingdom over which Jesus presides?
It is not a kingdom in any sense that either the Jews or we would expect. It had nothing to do with palaces and thrones, sceptres and robes. It was a kingdom of full interconnection with the very Godhead itself.
Jesus is the way to the kingdom. Not a kingdom of idyllic life free from work or sweat or pain or aging, but a relational connection with God that brings us into full unity with all of creation itself. Paul further describes Jesus as the head and the Church as the body. Together we co-create with God, Father and Son and Spirit, to build a world of justice and love, freedom and compassion.
The harshness of the mocking by the soldiers and others at the cross always strike me with a shuddering audacity. Even the Roman soldiers believed in gods, and surely the Jews who believed Jesus to be no more than a fake, still believed in Yahweh as the only God.
The remind me of some unbelievers today, who are not content to not believe, and make public argument to that effect. They are most free to do that of course, and we need to have that discourse, lest our own faith become thoughtless. But to mock believers, to make fun of Jesus, whose life is well-documented-whatever you believe of his divinity, seems more than thoughtless, it seems stupid.
For no non-believer “knows” the truth. They only in fact “believe” what they profess. There is no way to disprove the existence of a real “invisible” reality. And so when I read the mocking words of those who sought Jesus’ death or who sought to discredit it, the echos I hear are the young men and women of today who taunt and bully, mock and joke, about those who believe and about what they believe.
Believers, on the other hand, need to remember that they “believe” rather than know. They have no business threatening unbelievers with hell and damnation. They do not speak for God.
As Paul shows us that Jesus is the “image of the unseen God,” then it seems to me that what we should be about, simply is imitating Jesus as best we can. If we believe that the kingdom enters into history through him, then our job is to build that kingdom, one step, one person, one heart at a time.
And if we do, perhaps we shall be as lucky as the “good thief” who was promised a vision of paradise THIS very day. | 2019-04-25T16:27:09Z | https://witshadows.wordpress.com/tag/paul/ | Porn | Society | 0.113084 |
wordpress | There is a treasure nestled in the mountains of Banff that brings tranquility, peace and opportunity for reflection and renewal. It attracts poets, dancers, musicians and leaders from all over the world. In operation for over 75 years, the Banff Centre’s mission is to “Inspire Creativity” and this magical location attracts artists and leaders who wish to explore, drive change and share skill. The Banff Centre is an eclectic mix of arts programs, leadership development courses and fine dining. An incredible location to host your next conference, a great place to spend a weekend getaway at the on campus hotel or a fantastic place to catch a fantastic live show.
I had the privilege to attend a two day leadership program. The accommodations in the on campus hotel were pristine; clean, spacious and comfortable. The recreational facility is amazing, boasting indoor running track, pool, hot tub and steam room. The campus itself is located right in the heart of Banff so trails throughout the mountains are nearby and this is truly a place unlike no other on this earth. The invigoration, renewal and clarity that I found on those trails, amongst these giants and in the classroom was truly life altering. The dining options are plentiful and the Vistas Dining Room looks out over the Bourgeau Mountain Range. The food was outstanding and so easy to eat a gluten free vegan diet without compromising choice or taste.
Now you may understand why conferences and artists would congregate in such beautiful surroundings but what on earth are leaders doing there? Banff Centre boasts an amazing new learning facility with hand chosen facilitators and developers that make up an outstanding faculty. | 2019-04-21T21:12:08Z | https://shelleyadventure.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/rediscovering-banff-the-banff-centre/ | Porn | Arts | 0.653298 |
wordpress | Con esta estupenda característica que nuestro querido jj ha añadido al os XL2, podremos controlar nuestro mpc, casi completamente desde el exterior, via midi; fundamental para aquellos que tengan alguna tecla fuera de uso.
OFF It works as NOTE.
F1-F6?AFTER If NOTE ON is received, it works the same as the selected button.
EFFECT?SEQ EDIT?STEP EDIT?GRID?SONG If NOTE ON is received, it will go to the mode selected.
TRACK01-TRACK16 If NOTE ON is received, an active track will change into the selected track.
TRACK01 MUTE-TRACK16 MUTE If NOTE ON is received, it will mute the selected track.
If NOTE OFF is received, it will be unmute.
TRACK01 SOLO-TRACK16 SOLO If NOTE ON is received, the selected track is made into a solo.
DATA WHEEL R If NOTE ON is received, it works the same as turning a DATA wheel to the right.
DATA WHEEL L If NOTE ON is received, it works the same as turning a DATA wheel to the left. | 2019-04-23T02:21:05Z | https://jjchop.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/nota-midi-a-boton-directo-de-la-mpc/ | Porn | Reference | 0.22462 |
wordpress | Last summer I had the honor to be named one of Atlanta’s “Most Eligible Singles” by Jezebel Magazine.
As part of the event, I agreed to auction off a “date”, with the proceeds benefiting the Make a Wish Foundation.
A friend named Michael Orcutt was kind enough to bid on me, and last week we finally went on the date!
Since he owns Dominos Pizza franchises, we decided our evening together should be a pizza party for some of the Make a Wish kids.
The children are such an inspiration.
Thank you to Michael Orcutt, Jezebel Magazine and most of all, Make a Wish!
Check out me and my canine companion, Charley!
This pic was snapped as we strutted our stuff for “Doggies on the Catwalk” Friday night at Grady Highschool.
Charley’s family let me borrow the blond bomshell for the night.
She and I are wearing matching gowns made by Grady Highschool senior, Taylor Fulton.
the evening raised more than two thousand dollars for an organization called Pets Are Loving Support.
Also known as “PALS” the group helps the elderly and people facing critical illness and disability to keep their existing pets, despite medical or financial challenges brought on by the illness.
Watching today’s historic ceremony, I had to smile when I noticed what Michelle Obama’s brother was wearing.
Craig Robinson is the men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University, so when he introduced his sister at the Democratic Convention, he chose a neck tie in the school’s color, orange.
Today he was sporting a scarf, again, supporting OSU in their colors of orange and black.
Made me smile and think of home.
You are currently browsing the The 40 Year Old Mommy blog archives for January, 2009. | 2019-04-21T14:07:04Z | https://the40yearoldmommy.wordpress.com/2009/01/ | Porn | Sports | 0.36013 |
livejournal | I cleaned up the floor, but she won't give me the sheet yet. Maybe tomorrow.
The calico was the first born - on my foot. Two Faced wanted comforting... Since I was already in the bath room, I just dunked my toes before I walked anywhere. Never thought of a "foot" stool quite in that way before.
Splunker came in last night, found the food, buried his face, then HISSED at her when she came in to use the kitty litter. He went back outside! I won't have that in the house. He was horrid to her when she had the last litter, too, but it isn't winter now. | 2019-04-22T18:25:12Z | https://pandemo.livejournal.com/805008.html | Porn | Home | 0.84358 |
wikipedia | This name uises Eastren/Soothren Slavic namin customs; the patronymic is Alexeyevich an the faimily name is Kropotkin.
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (Roushie: Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин; December 9, 1842 – Februar 8, 1921) wis a Roushie activist, scientist, an filosofer, wha advocatit anarchism.
↑ Richard T. Gray, ed. (2005). A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 170. ISBN 9780313303753.
↑ Louis G. Perez, ed. (2013). "Kōtoku Shūsui (1871–1911)". Japan at War: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 190. ISBN 9781598847420. | 2019-04-25T06:13:40Z | https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin | Porn | Reference | 0.979866 |
yahoo | The Zacks Pollution Control industry comprises companies that provide innovative filtration systems, replacement parts, solutions for managing medical wastes, energy recovery devices and other products. Such products are mainly used in commercial, automotive repair, industrial, home healthcare, retail, pharmaceutical and hospitality end markets.
Meanwhile, a few industry players provide solutions for dealing with industrial waste and commercial chemical products as well as technologies to tackle air pollution. Also, there is a company that provides services related to infrastructure, water, resource management, energy and others, to government and commercial clients.
Increased task orders due to higher infrastructure-related work in the United States has been benefiting pollution-control equipment manufacturers of late. Also, rising demand from emerging nations is encouraging. Escalating pollution-related health concerns, need for engineering and assessment services in disaster-related work and stringent government regulations are also building a solid demand environment for pollution control equipment manufacturers.
Recovery in the oil and gas market is helping the spending plans of energy exploration & production companies, in turn, driving demand for pollution-control equipment. Also, the December 2017 tax overhaul, increased government spending and President Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure program are likely to expedite corporate investments in the days ahead.
Profitability of pollution-control equipment manufacturers are at risk from inflationary pressure caused by imposition of tariffs on import of various categories of goods. Shortage of skilled workers as well as higher transit expenses are other woes. Meanwhile, to defy bottom-line stagnation, a few companies are offering products at higher prices which might dent demand.
The Zacks Pollution Control industry is an 11-stock group within the broader Zacks Industrial Products sector. The industry currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #107, which places it at the top 42% of more than 250 Zacks industries.
The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bright near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Our proprietary Heat Map shows that the industry’s rank has remained in the top half of the rank list for majority of the past eight weeks.
The industry’s positioning in the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is a result of positive earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. Looking at the aggregate earnings estimate revisions, it appears that analysts are gradually gaining confidence in this group’s earnings growth potential. In the past month, the industry’s earnings estimate for the current year has been increased by 0.7%.
We will present a few stocks that have the potential to perform better than the market based on a strong earnings outlook. But it’s worth taking a look at the industry’s shareholder returns and current valuation first.
The Zacks Pollution Control industry has outperformed the S&P 500 and its sector in the past year. While stocks in this industry have collectively increased 9.7%, the S&P 500 has gained 2.1% and the Zacks Industrial Products sector has declined 9.5%.
EV/EBITDA ratio is commonly used for valuing pollution control stocks.
The industry’s forward 12-month EV/EBITDA ratio is 6.74. This clearly shows that the industry is trading below the S&P 500’s forward 12-month EV/EBITDA ratio of 9.80 and the sector’s 10.93.
Over the past five years, the industry has traded at the highest level of 8.74x forward 12-month EV/EBITDA ratio and lowest level of 4.91x. The median level, over the same period, was 6.89x.
Increased demand for pollution-control equipment and services (both from commercial and public clients) will likely continue to boost companies in this industry. At present, we present four stocks which investors might be interested in.
Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK): This Pasadena, CA-based company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Over the past year, the stock has gained nearly 20.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fiscal 2019 (ending September 2019) earnings per share has increased 3.1% in the past 60 days.
Sharps Compliance Corp. (SMED): This Houston, TX-based company currently sports a Zacks Rank #2. Over the past month, the stock has gained nearly 16.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2019 (ending June 2019) earnings per share are projected to grow 250% year over year.
Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. (HCCI): The stock of this Elgin, IL-based company has risen 21.3% over the past year. Though stable in the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings per share reflects year-over-year growth of 67.8%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. (ADES): The shares of this Highlands Ranch, CO-based company has gained 35.7% in the past year. The company’s earnings estimates for 2019 have remained stable in the past 60 days but will likely grow 39.7% year over year. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
Airbnb wants to get into streaming media... because why not? | 2019-04-24T22:00:07Z | https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pollution-control-industry-outlook-near-223810912.html | Porn | Business | 0.42961 |
wordpress | What if i had said this or that or just those bad words instead of walking away? what would have happened? would i have felt better?? i mean i am not a coward but why wasn’t i courage enough to exchange words with them? what is wrong with me??
These are thoughts most of us have when you had a fight with someone and instead of talking back or fighting back, you just walk away and leave it all to Karma and well, God to play he’s part in it all. At times we are so overwhelmed with anger and hate and we forget ourselves in the process. It doesn’t mean you are a coward!! just because you did not fight back but it means you are the more than courageous and better than the other person.. Remember that sometimes u have to just say I’m done fighting and walk away, in order to truly be happy It doesn’t mean your a quitter i just means your smart enough to give up!
Though it’s hard sometimes to follow the teaching of the Bible. i agree with the book of Luke. The rewards are great. | 2019-04-24T16:55:28Z | https://pillowsab.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/turning-the-other-cheek/ | Porn | Reference | 0.375063 |
wordpress | Student poets from Miami-Dade County Public Schools took center stage for a free performance at The Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation’s Piano Slam on Tuesday night. The kids competed for the chance to perform their poetry as a part of this unique collaboration among the classical music piano duo Van Veen, local DJ The Brass King and local spoken word artists Deborah Magdalena and Mecca aka Grimo.
Our community’s kids shined bright on the Knight Concert Hall stage as they performed in their own words to a large Adrienne Arsht Center audience that included their peers, teachers, parents and friends. Student poet Daniel Joseph took the prize for Best in Show for his poem “Music,” as his family and friends from Horace Mann Middle School whooped and hollered from the audience chamber.
Jocelyn Lira’s (Brownsville Middle School) poem “Memories from my County” ended dramatically with the final stanza repeated in Spanish, Creole and English: “Songs, dances remind me of my country. I will never forget my country.” The entire ensemble performed the show’s climactic number, “Music Keeps Me Satisfied” by Nesley Ostral (Horace Mann Middle School), while the pianos and The Brass King’s beats kept the audience moving, rocking and riveted on every word. Carlene Sawyer, the Dranoff Foundation’s executive director, enthusiastically thanked the Adrienne Arsht Center for giving these kids the opportunity of a lifetime to perform on the stage of Miami’s own world-class performing arts center. | 2019-04-25T03:56:55Z | https://arshtpov.wordpress.com/category/miami-dade-county-public-schools/ | Porn | Kids | 0.523419 |
wikipedia | The film was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was adapted by Gina Kaus, Albert Maltz, and Philip Dunne from Lloyd C. Douglas' eponymous 1942 novel. The score was composed by Alfred Newman, and the cinematography was by Leon Shamroy.
The film stars Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, and Michael Rennie and co-stars Dean Jagger, Jay Robinson, Richard Boone, and Jeff Morrow. The Robe had a 1954 sequel Demetrius and the Gladiators.
In Ancient Rome, Judaea, Capri, and Galilee (in the time period stretching from 32 to 38 AD.), Diana (Jean Simmons) tells Emperor Caligula that she has not heard from Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) for almost a year, when Marcellus was in Cana of Galilee. At that time, Marcellus was told by Paulus that Caligula had become the emperor.
Marcellus Gallio, son of an important Roman senator (Torin Thatcher), and himself a military tribune, introduces through flashback narration, the might and scope of the Roman empire. Marcellus is notoriously known as a ladies’ man, but is captivated by the reappearance of his childhood sweetheart, Diana, ward of the Emperor Tiberius. Diana is unofficially pledged in marriage to Tiberius's regent, Caligula.
In a slave market Marcellus bids against Caligula for a defiant Greek slave, Demetrius (Victor Mature), and wins. Angrily, Caligula issues orders for Marcellus to receive a military transfer to Jerusalem in Palestine.
Marcellus has Demetrius released and orders him to go on his own to the Gallio home. Marcellus is surprised to find Demetrius waiting for him when he arrives. Unofficially, Marcellus had freed Demetrius, but Demetrius feels honor bound to compensate Marcellus by being his servant. Demetrius accompanies Marcellus to Palestine but, before the galley sails, Diana comes to see Marcellus, pledging her love for him and her intention to intercede on his behalf with Tiberius. Marcellus declares his love for Diana and asks her to make the emperor promise not to give her in marriage to Caligula.
Marcellus rides into Jerusalem with the centurion Paulus (Jeff Morrow) on the same day as Jesus's triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. Demetrius locks eyes with Jesus and feels compelled to follow him.
Jesus is arrested and condemned by Pontius Pilate (Richard Boone), the procurator. Marcellus reports to Pilate, who informs him that the emperor has sent for him. Before Marcellus departs, he is ordered to take charge of the detail of Roman soldiers assigned to crucify Jesus. Marcellus wins the robe worn by Jesus in a dice game and is told it will be a reminder of Marcellus's first crucifixion.
Returning from the crucifixion with Demetrius, Marcellus uses the robe in an attempt to shield himself from a rain squall, but feels a sudden crushing guilt for crucifying Jesus and tears the robe off. In a fit of rage, Demetrius curses Marcellus and the Roman Empire and runs away, taking the robe with him. Marcellus now behaves like a madman haunted by nightmares of the crucifixion. He reports to Emperor Tiberius at Capri, who gives him an imperial commission to find and destroy the robe, while gathering a list of names of Jesus' followers. At Diana's request, Tiberius leaves her free to marry Marcellus, though Tiberius believes Marcellus is mad.
Marcellus travels to Palestine, seeking to ingratiate himself with Justus (Dean Jagger), a weaver in Cana, and the Christian community that he leads. He sees examples of Christian life in Justus's miraculously healed grandson and in the paralytic Miriam.
Marcellus finds Demetrius alone in an inn and demands that he destroy the robe, believing it has cursed him into madness. Demetrius tells him the robe has no real power, that it only reminds Marcellus of what he did, and it is his guilt over the killing of an innocent man that has caused him to become so troubled.
Demetrius gives the robe to Marcellus, who refuses to touch it. He is terrified, but as the robe touches him, he is relieved from the burden and becomes a Christian.
Justus calls the villagers together and begins to introduce Peter, when he is killed by an arrow from a detachment of Roman soldiers. Marcellus intervenes and Paulus informs him that his orders are no longer valid; Tiberius is dead, and Caligula is emperor. Marcellus informs Paulus that an imperial commission is valid until specifically countermanded by the new emperor. Paulus tells Marcellus to make him obey via a sword duel. After a prolonged struggle, Marcellus prevails. Rather than killing Paulus, Marcellus hurls his sword into a tree. Paulus, humiliated by his defeat, orders the soldiers to leave.
Peter invites Marcellus to join Demetrius and him as missionaries. Marcellus hesitates, out of guilt; but when Peter tells him of his own denial of Jesus, Marcellus confesses his role in Jesus' death. Peter points out to him that Jesus forgave him from the cross, and Marcellus pledges his life to Jesus and agrees to go with them. Their missionary journey takes them to Rome, where they must proceed "under cover" as Caligula has proscribed them.
From Rome, Caligula summons Diana from her retreat at the Gallio home, to tell her that Marcellus has become a traitor to Rome by becoming a Christian. He takes her to the guard room where a captured Demetrius is being tortured. Diana runs out of the palace to Marcipor (David Leonard), the Gallio family slave, who is secretly Christian. Diana guesses that he is a Christian and has seen Marcellus, and so she gets Marcipor to take her to see him.
Marcellus and Diana are reunited, and Marcellus tells her the story of the robe and his Christian conversion. Diana helps Marcellus rescue Demetrius.
Peter comes to Gallio, where Demetrius has been taken, and heals him. Caligula issues orders to bring Marcellus to him alive to stand trial by the end of the day.
After witnessing Peter's healing of Demetrius, the physician attending Demetrius goes to denounce them to the authorities. Marcellus' father disowns him as an enemy of Rome. Marcellus flees with Demetrius, but when Marcellus gives himself up so that Demetrius can escape, he is captured and put on trial.
Caligula makes Diana sit next to him for Marcellus's trial. Marcellus admits to being a Christian; however, he denies the charge that Christians are plotting against the state. Marcellus tries to show Caligula his opportunity to accept Christ as he tries to hand the robe to Caligula, but Caligula refuses to touch it, as he considers it to be "bewitched".
Caligula condemns Marcellus to death by the wish of the members of the audience, based on what they have heard. Diana then accepts Christ and seeks to join Marcellus, the man she considers to be her husband, in His Kingdom (Heaven). She also denounces Caligula as an insane, tyrannical monster.
Caligula condemns Diana to die alongside Marcellus. As they depart the audience hall for their execution, Marcellus is acknowledged by his repentant father, and Diana gives the robe to Marcipor.
Despite the careful attention to Roman history and culture displayed in the film, some inaccuracies are included: in reality, the Emperor Tiberius' wife Julia, who had been banished from Rome by her father Augustus years before Tiberius acceded to the imperial throne, was already dead.
The Robe was originally announced for filming by RKO in the 1940s and was set to be directed by Mervyn LeRoy, but the rights were eventually sold to Twentieth Century Fox for $100,000.
Jeff Chandler was originally announced for the role of Demetrius. Victor Mature signed in December 1952 to make both The Robe and a sequel about Demetrius. John Buckmaster tested for the role of Caligula.
Filming finished on 30 April 1953, two weeks ahead of schedule.
The film was advertised as "the modern miracle you see without glasses", a dig at the 3D movies of the day. Since many theaters of the day were not equipped to show a CinemaScope film, two versions of The Robe were made: one in the standard screen ratio of the day, the other in the widescreen process. Setups and some dialogue differ between the versions. The film was usually shown on television using the standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio version that fills a standard television screen rather than the CinemaScope version. American Movie Classics may have been the first to offer telecasts of the widescreen version. Recent DVDs and Blu-ray Discs of the film, however, present the film in the original widescreen format, as well as the multitrack stereophonic soundtrack.
When the original soundtrack album was issued on LP by Decca Records, it used a remix for only monaural sound rather than the stereo sound that was originally recorded.
MCA, which acquired the rights to the American Decca recordings, issued an electronic stereo version of the mono tape.
Charles Gerhardt conducted London's National Philharmonic Chorus.
In 2003, Varèse Sarabande released a two-CD set of the original stereophonic recording on their club label.
The elaborate poster for the film has one glaring flaw. The woman's face is not Jean Simmons. Originally, Jean Peters had been cast as Diana, but became pregnant. Simmons was hired to replace her. But the poster was not changed, and shows the wrong Jean.
The film earned an estimated $17.5 million in North America during its initial theatrical release. Its worldwide rentals were estimated at $32 million.
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "The human drama of this story of Christian conversion occurs amid sumptuous and scenic surroundings and are mighty impressive to see. But the mightiness of surroundings—the spectacle of settings and costumes—is meaningful only in relation to the story that is being told. And the story in this instance is not spectacular, so that the amplitude of its surroundings does not enhance its scope." Variety wrote, "It is a 'big' picture in every sense of the word. One magnificent scene after another, under the anamorphic technique, unveils the splendor that was Rome and the turbulence that was Jerusalem at the time of Christ on Calvary." Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times stated that the film was in "a class that is unique, deeply spiritual and even awe-inspiring." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote, "Partly through the writing, partly through the variety of acting styles, this reverence does not stir the emotions. It is very hard to take seriously a film which presents so petulantly obvious a performance as Jay Robinson's sophomoric Caligula or a script which early observes: 'You have made me the laughing stock of Rome.' These and matters like them are not aspects of fine motion picture making." Harrison's Reports declared, "Excellent! Even if it had been produced in the conventional 2-D form, Lloyd C. Douglas' powerful novel of the birth of Christianity in the days of ancient Rome would have made a great picture, but having been produced in the revolutionary CinemaScope process, it emerges as not only a superior dramatic achievement but also as a spectacle that will electrify audiences with its overpowering scope and magnitude." The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "a routine addition to the numerous Hollywood Biblical films," presenting "a characteristically distorted and simplified view of Imperial Rome, with a ranting Caligula, a doddering Tiberius, and the customary scenes of 'spectacle' in the palace, the market-place and the torture chamber. The performances lack enthusiasm, and Richard Burton in particular seems ill at ease as the morose Marcellus." Basil Wright wrote in Sight & Sound, "As a film on a religious subject, Henry Koster's The Robe has rather fewer lapses in taste than most of its predecessors. If the actual speaking of Christ's cry from the Cross is a major error, it is not multiplied. In general, the subject is treated with reasonable reverence and is a deal better than Quo Vadis, which was a perfect illustration of Aristotle's remark about the ludicrous being merely a sub-division of the ugly."
The film currently holds a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews.
The film had one sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), which featured Victor Mature in the title role.
The Academy Film Archive preserved The Robe in 2008.
The film was first telecast by America's ABC-TV on Easter weekend in 1967, at the relatively early hour of 7:00 P.M., E.S.T, to allow for family viewing. In a highly unusual move, the film was shown with only one commercial break – a luxury not even granted to the then-annual telecasts of The Wizard of Oz.
^ The Robe. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
^ Chrissochoidis, Ilias (ed.). CinemaScope: Selected Documents from the Spyros P. Skouras Archive. Stanford, 2013.
^ "Religion: Celluloid Revival". TIME. April 24, 1944. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
^ "STAGE AND SCREEN". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 1 August 1953. p. 7. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
^ Schallert, Edwin (1 August 1952). "Jeff Chandler Likely for Demetrius; 'Highest Mountain' New Purchase". Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File). Los Angeles, CA. p. B7.
^ Mature About to Sign as Demetrius in 'Robe" Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 19 Dec 1952: B8.
^ Victor Mature to Do 'Story of Demetrius' Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 10 Jan 1953: 14.
^ Art of Dali Will Spur Three-D; Buckmaster Flying In for Caligula Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 05 Feb 1953: A9.
^ FOX COMPLETES 'ROBE': $4,600,000 Film in CinemaScope Was 10 Years in Making Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 01 May 1953: 16.
^ "All Time Domestic Champs". Variety. 6 January 1960. p. 34.
^ "20th's Global C'Scope Jackpot". Daily Variety. 9 November 1955. p. 1.
^ "20th Counts C'Scope Blessing". Variety. November 9, 1955. p. 5. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ Crowther, Bosley (September 27, 1953). "Now Cinemascope! A Look at 'The Robe' and the New System in Which It Is Put On". The New York Times. Section 2, p. 1.
^ "Film Reviews: The Robe". Variety. September 23, 1953. 6.
^ Schallert, Edwin (September 25, 1953). "'The Robe' Hailed as Epochal Film". Los Angeles Times. Part 2, p. 1.
^ Coe, Richard L. (October 2, 1953). "'The Robe' Reveals Cinema Scope". The Washington Post. 55.
^ "'The Robe' with Richard Burton, Victor mature and Jean Simmons". Harrison's Reports. September 19, 1953. 152.
^ "The Robe". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 5. January 1954.
^ "The Robe". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
^ "Oscars.org -- The Robe" Archived 2014-01-10 at Archive.today. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
^ "Television: Mar. 24, 1967". Time. March 24, 1967. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Robe (film). | 2019-04-25T19:47:56Z | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Robe_(film) | Porn | Reference | 0.152109 |
wordpress | Your success depends not just on your efforts and hard work, but on how people appreciate those efforts. Because no matter how good your work/products/service may be, if it isn’t appreciated your results will be limited. You will be wasting so much time and energy only to benefit no one, not even yourself.
In order to be appreciated, your goal must be to not give the kind of service/products/work you think the world should want, but to give that which you are convinced they want. Remember by seeking to please others with your services, you in turn please yourself. Make what you give so valuable that people will want to buy/pay for your services/products without much effort and persuasion from you.
Whatever it is you do, know that it can always be done better, and know that that better can be done by you.
Most of us know the story of Thomas Edison, his inventions and their relevance in our world today, several years after his death.
Did you know he arrived New York from Boston (USA) friendless, and heavily in debt due to his failed experiments in Boston? I stumbled on an old interview of his in which he shared the principles that caused him to succeed in life and business.
So rather than complain about your present state, let it be the fire that you need to drive you to success.
How hard do you work on your dreams and goals? I find that most people lack the ability to spend enough time working on their dreams and goals. Folks working 8am – 4pm or 9am – 5pm will only earn you a living in most cases. If you want to build your business and bringing huge success, you must be willing to work longer than 5pm. | 2019-04-23T22:16:16Z | https://vincentegoroblog.wordpress.com/tag/business/ | Porn | Business | 0.983922 |
wordpress | As a morning person, one of my absolute favorite things in the world is starting off my day with a big cup of coffee. Although it may sound cliché, there’s just something really nice and relaxing about sitting down with my morning coffee while the rest of the world keeps on buzzing around outside.
To me, coffee isn’t just for the morning. I really could drink coffee all day every day. It’s always nice to have a caffeine pick-me-up between classes or while grading student assignments.
This coffee really does have some great hints of chocolate and it smells FABULOUS.
Just opening the bag and smelling this coffee starts my mornings off on the right track.
I usually make my coffee in this trusty 12-cup coffee maker, but Corey gave me a great little French Press for my birthday this year so I’ve been trying to use that more often, too.
In fact, even though it’s mid-afternoon, I’m enjoying a nice cup of Gevalia’s chocolate mocha coffee right now via my French Press.
Now it’s time to get back to some class-prep since school starts back up again next week.
Are you a coffee person? Do you have a go-to type of coffee? Or a particular method that you prefer?
At home I usually brew myself a small pot of Bigelow Earl Grey tea in the morning. The hot tea lets me enjoys something warm without the inevitable buzz I get with coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I love coffee! But i drink it more as a treat since the caffeine usually keeps me up late no matter when I drink it, ha ha ha.
I may have to give that a try a couple times a week to lighten up my caffeine overload. I’m a big tea fan too and usually have decaffeinated tea every evening, but I may have to start giving it a try in the mornings here and there instead of coffee. I’m a big Bigelow fan!
Cool! I have a small Japanese-style teapot that holds about 2 cups of water. I just let 2 bags steep in the full pot for a bit and it keeps the tea nice and warm as I sip at it. Hope you enjoy yourself!
I do love some Chai! Especially in the colder months! | 2019-04-23T19:56:55Z | https://sparklesandspiceandeverythingnice.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/the-day-begins-after-coffee/ | Porn | Home | 0.948462 |
wordpress | It’s Out! You can get it at Routledge: http://bit.ly/2kr9GHl See all my books here…use the code IRK69 for a 10% discount. Amazon will stock it in a few days! | 2019-04-22T12:13:27Z | https://guidedmath.wordpress.com/2017/10/ | Porn | Shopping | 0.987949 |
wordpress | Formative is an online student response system / online formative assessment tool which is made by teachers from across the US and is free for teachers and students. The tool enables a range of responses including multiple choice, numeric, text, drawing and taking pictures. Assessments are shared with students via a quick link or access code and student responses are sent to the teacher in realtime so that early intervention and tracking of student responses can be undertaken.
This video provides a useful overview of the tool.
There is also a useful tutorial video which shows you how to upload and convert a .pdf into a digital formative assessment. This video helps to show you the potential of the tool for setting online assessments as homework or classwork. As student work is completed it can be monitored in realtime.
I really like the potential of this and hope to give it a go with one of my exam classes over the next term. Have any of you had any experience of this already or have any ideas to share? | 2019-04-26T10:19:51Z | https://ictacrossthecurriculum.wordpress.com/tag/online-learning/ | Porn | Kids | 0.402825 |
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