It's only been roughly two weeks since we headed to Japan for the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, but here we are sitting in our office chairs, eagerly anticipating the next one already.
How can we not? Most of this year's event revolved around what's in store for the automotive industry's immediate future. We're talking electric cars, driverless technology, and a ton of drool-worthy concepts waiting to make in onto the production line. This year's theme was "Beyond the Motor," and boy did the event live up to it.
Some of the highlights included Honda's retro electric sports car, the Mazda Kai Concept, the Mitsubishi e-Evolution Concept, the Nissan IMx crossover concept, and a bunch of new Toyota Gazoo Racing creations. There was definitely something for everyone at this year's show. Plenty of what we saw is expected to move forward just in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so it should give you guys somewhat of an idea of what to expect when the next Tokyo Motor Show takes place in 2019.
To give you a better idea of what we're talking about, we produced a short round-up video featuring each writer to talk about what each of their assigned manufacturers were up to during the event. Just press play on the video embedded above and do share your thoughts in the comments.


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Find your Domain
Why .sydney?
Who's Using It?
Solace Hair Sydney
solacehair.sydney
Solace Hair is one of Sydney's premier hair salons. Offering a full suite of cutting, styling and colouring services, Solace Hair has built a reputation as a prestigious and professional salon, adept at meeting the needs of a discerning clientele. That recognition, however, came only after years of hard work and some clever marketing decisions, including the move to a .sydney domain name. Part of the new wave of top-level domains (TLDs), .sydney offers more flexibility and a greater sense of local identity to website owners. For a small, local business like Solace Hair, moving to a .sydney domain offered clear and significant benefits.
In a competitive industry that rewards close attention to brand image, Solace Hair had to be diligent about revamping its marketing strategy. The salon decided to undertake a complete transformation of its online marketing efforts, stepping up its customer outreach through Facebook marketing and working on its search engine optimisation (SEO). Initially, the salon focused on boosting 10 key phrases. While the site was seeing increased online traffic after several months, Sydney-based keywords still weren't hitting the mark. To remedy this, Solace Hair moved from its existing .com.au address to a .sydney domain. This change proved to be significant, as Solace Hair saw improvements on many of the keywords that had plateaued or stalled, including ultra-high value keywords such as "best hairdresser sydney cbd," which moved onto page one after the shift.
But why was a .sydney domain the silver bullet to Solace Hair's ranking problems? Since 2014, Google has placed more emphasis on providing consumers with listings for businesses that are physically located nearby As Google sculpts its user experience towards delivering content that's locally-based, it makes sense that businesses switching to a geoTLD will see rankings improve against relevant keywords. The benefits extend beyond ranking factors. While the value of a country-code top-level domain such as .au for signalling to local customers has been known for decades, a .sydney allows you to achieve the same end result, while differentiating yourself from the competition. For example, as of April 2018, the other websites ranking with Solace Hair on page one for 'best hairdresser sydney cbd' carry generic .com or .com.au addresses, making Solace Hair eye-catching on a deeper level and more likely to get a click. Choosing a .sydney domain name also provides more precise targeting. Just as a plumber in the North Shore would target "sydney" keywords instead of "Australia" keywords, choosing .sydney allows you to better target your audience and reach the people most relevant to your business. In fact, in the 18 months since Solace Hair launched their .sydney domain, their organic traffic has increased by nearly a third.
Success by the numbers
Switching to a geoTLD can have significant financial benefits for a business. For a small monthly SEO spend, Solace Hair has been able to grow their organisation significantly. The increase in traffic and conversions has allowed them to hire additional staff, helping them to meet surging demand and further cement themselves as a premier boutique hair salon for Sydney.
The interest in their business has also allowed them to pursue entirely new markets — the owners are currently looking at expanding the retail section of their site, allowing them to immediately capitalise on web traffic by providing a wide range of hair care product. If your site is looking to increase its search rankings and reach more relevant customers, it might be time to switch to a .sydney domain name.
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Charmouth Beach In Dorset
People enjoying the seaside searching for fossils on the beach at Charmouth, Dorset, England, United Kingdom. Charmouth is a village and civil parish at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England and is part of the Jurassic Coast. The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast. The site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
20170807_charmouth beach_002.jpg
Dorset English England Britain British UK United Kingdom People tourism tourists seaside beach Charmouth West Dorset Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site English Channel coast geology coastal rock formations Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous


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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/PickUpThePhoneBoothAndAisle
Video Game / Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle
Create New - Create New - Analysis Characters FanficRecs FanWorks Fridge Haiku Headscratchers ImageLinks Laconic PlayingWith Quotes Recap ReferencedBy Synopsis Timeline Trivia WMG
The Town Square
You are standing in the middle of a pretty town square in the center of a nondescript New England town. Like most any other nondescript New England town, there's not much to see or do here, but maybe you'll find something amusing and enjoyable to do.
A shiny metal phone booth sits in the center of the square.
Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle is a spinoff of the minimalist Interactive Fiction Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die and the differently minimalist Aisle. Just as in the latter, you can only make one move, and then the game ends. You have a host of other commands to choose from, and each one leads to hundreds of possible endings, each one sillier than the last.
The game can be downloaded here , or played online here.
It has also been "ported" to Uncyclopedia.
PUTPBAA uses the following tropes:
All Just a Dream: Mocked with "wake me" and "wake booth".
Anticlimax:
"Yay." *** You jumped ***
Typing in "lose" will simply result in *** You lose *** with no further ending.
And the Adventure Continues: Many endings don't have a concrete resolution.
The Bad Guy Wins: "Unlock booth".
Becoming the Genie: Try to "bunk in" the phone booth and see what happens.
Bittersweet Ending: Several.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Try "wave".
Call-Back: In Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die, the way to win is to push the booth over. The same applies here, and the game points out your good memory.
Cargo Ship: Invoked. Several endings imply romantic involvement between you and the booth. Others aren't so subtle.
Cataclysm Climax: Well let's see... among the "Game Overs" include death by meteor, death by the wrath of God, death by "ICE STOOOOOOORM", death by Cosmic Horror...
Creator Cameo: Type "credits".
Cry into Chest: "Squeeze booth".
Cutting the Knot: Type in "win". "Okay." *** You win *** Or so it seems...
Developer's Foresight: The whole point. If you can think of a verb, it probably does something here. There are over 200 endings to the game, most of which are documented in the ending archive .
Remember how typing "inventory" causes your pants to explode? Try typing "disarm pants", "disleg pants", "throw pants", "remove pants", "eat pants", "wave pants", and then "deactivate pants".
If you try to perform an action with a direction, you get creative bug responses. "Waltz with (direction)", for example, gets you the response, "Your new name is Waltzes with Bugs."
If you try to waltz without specifying "with", the text parser itself gets offended to think the player wouldn't try to elaborate past a two-word entry.
Diabolus ex Machina: "Cook booth" ends with a safe falling on the protagonist. "Burn booth" ends with God smiting you with lightning.
Die, Chair, Die!: "Fight", "smash", "destroy", and other similar words cause the protagonist to try to destroy the booth. It ends badly, unsurprisingly.
Digging to China: "Dig".
The Dog Bites Back: There are a number of ways to kill the phone booth. Unfortunately, there are even MORE ways it can kill you instead.
Downer Ending: Most endings end badly for the protagonist.
Everybody Lives: Many of the "happy" endings are like this.
Exact Words: Some of the endings like to misinterpret commands such as "tie booth". This can be confusing to those who try synonyms like "fix booth".
Gainax Ending: "Eat booth" results in a mishmash of references to Aisle and So Far (bizarre enough that even the parser feels obliged to comment); "kick booth" seems like a utter non-sequitur unless you've played Losing Your Grip.
Grand Finale: Parodied with "close".
Happily Ever After: Occasionally, though usually in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Have a Nice Death: Each ending, regardless of whether you die or not, has a unique parser message that ends the game.
Interface Screw: After using "undo" as a verb, no matter what keys you press the game will type out, one letter per keypress, "drive" and execute that command, to much confusion if it was an accident. Even more confusing since "drive" is not one of the recognized commands in the game proper. This is a shout-out to Adam Cadre's Shrapnel, which pulls the same trick.
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: If you try to "waylay booth", you get a flashback to your 15 years of training in the Terran Galactic Defense Force, where you were apparently motivated by constant threats of kitten-pulverization.
In Spite of a Nail: "Deactivate pants" results in a time travel-induced alternate timeline where William McKinley survived his presidential term, Hitler slipped in the bathtub and knocked some sense into himself, Cracker Jacks were invented but don't come with a prize, and your parents married different people, abandoning you and leaving you with a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite this, you're still around, but your pants still explode and kill you.
It's a Wonderful Failure: Most of the endings result in the game berating you, and none give any points.
The Hero Dies: A LOT.
The Last Straw: Watch what happens when you type "fill self".
Layman's Terms: Type "brief", then "superbrief".
Logic Bomb: Type in "enter self".
Love Hurts: Choosing to "love booth" causes the phone booth to give you a big hug. Did I say big hug? I mean it falls on you and crushes you.
Medium-Shift Gag: "Dance with booth" briefly switches the game's format from prose into a Script Fic.
Mind Screw: Kick the phone booth.
Also, look southeast. Could possibly be a reference to the IF game Shade.
Try to undo without performing an action first.
Typing "eat" will end with something so nonsensical the game itself will say "What the hell was that about?"
Also try "waltz with me".
Multiple Endings: The entire point of the game.
Never Heard That One Before: Try entering "xyzzy", and a disembodied voice will complain about being summoned every time someone decides to make this reference.
Non-Standard Game Over: Many times, you don't exactly die, but the game ends anyway.
Noodle Incident: Type in "walk" and the phone booth somehow impregnates you. And you end up in the Gobi desert.
Noodle Implements: Typing in "undo" without having previously done anything.
Oh God, with the Verbing!: Type "open booth".
Overly-Long Gag: "Look in pants" and "hold".
Reticulating Splines: "Smock my knickers" gives you this phrase.
Running Gag: Pants, especially the exploding variety. Also, several endings end with the message "You have a wacky pratfall."
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Type "verbose".
Shout-Out: To lots of other Text Adventures. And pop culture. And all sorts of other stuff. Many endings outright describe the plot of movies or books.
Schrödinger's Gun: Depending on the ending, you may end up being a MIT student, Maxwell Smart, or even Superman. The player's gender can vary between endings, too.
Sexy Discretion Shot: "Touch booth".
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: In "Examine booth", David Morgan-Mar appears to be this for the player character.
So Once Again, the Day Is Saved: Two endings cast you as Superman of all people!
Stuff Blowing Up: Type "blow up booth", "esplode booth", "blow up self", or "esplode self".
Take That!:
Sort of. Typing "sleep" prompts this response:
"Looks like another cold night coming. Your best bet seems to be the phone booth. Huddled inside, you catch some winks as best as you can before the cops move you on. The half bottle of cooking sherry you stole seems to help. Next day, the struggle begins again."
*** You were the CEO of pets.com ***
Typing "yes" results in this:
"You send in your vote of affirmation... but it doesn't get counted."
*** New England? I meant Florida ***
Title Drop: Do it! You'll win! Really!
The Many Deaths of You: Again, the whole point of the game.
Turbine Blender: If you try to "fly", in a paragraph-long reference to Photopia.
Twist Ending:
"Wait".
Then there's the above Take That!, where a depressing paragraph about you, a poor man trying to sleep, actually having been the CEO of dot-com bubble company pets.com.
Wall of Text: You get one by typing "about".
Weddings for Everyone: One of the endings ("booth, yes") involves a wedding. In it, you marry the phone booth.
A Winner Is You: The "winning" endings, such as "pick up the phone booth and aisle" and "push booth".
You Can't Get Ye Flask:
Most verbs (such as "get" or "kiss") resolve differently depending on the target you specify, either "phone booth" or "me". A few also have different endings depending on if you specify a target at all (such as "love" or "listen").
There are different responses for the cardinal directions (and up and down) depending on if you type "walk" or "look".
Typing "sit on" with a subject results in the same response as "walk", for some reason. (For instance, "sit on floor" parses to "walk down".)
A few actions, such as "hug" or "set", don't result in an ending but instead a snarky comment.
This is also lampshaded if you type "waltz (subject)" rather than "waltz WITH (subject)".
Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die
Parodius
Comedy Video Games
The Mystery of the Druids
Adventure Game
Pleurghburg: Dark Ages
Operation Flashpoint
Video Games of the 2000s
Pikmin


please test the topic of the lesson (your subject matter must be geared closer to newbie freshmen not professionals or advanced novices.)?? 1___ your preferred principle or theorist in your field of study.?? 2_x__ a fundamental concept or skill from a first-year direction to your area. ?? 3___ your preferred teaching approach (no powerpoint on this lesson). Lesson identify: fundamental components of an animal mobile (biology).
Three key idea earlier than the lesson all through after write down the objectives the tactics for each level of the lesson plan. Assist to make sure we deliberate the maximum logical sequence to enable us to attain those objectives. At some point of help us to test timing(the time we plan for each degree) test the lesson is following the collection we decided . Three. Remind us what to do next. After hold plan as record( what happened, changes, display the lesson different from plan) be aware to help plan the next lesson. Then i'm able to assign each scholar a component for him/her to argue approximately which element is greater vital for the cell. They will need to shield themselves from others that suppose their thing is more crucial. The point of interest of this hobby is to spotlight the maximum crucial features and cell dependence on that factor.
I am going to play a funny video approximately the additives of a cell, where the singer describes every component thru a totally attractive tune at the same time as presenting the element in a diagram. ?V=rabkb5as2zg&characteristic=related (link to the video) learner engagement and participation. 7 timing manner stage ambitions aids and substances interplay pattern 5 mins students speak about their own family warmerlead-in : to get pupil speaking and introduce the topic family snap shots delivered in with the aid of students pairwork 10 minutes college students pick out suitable adjective to complete descriptions of own family members in transcripts of mini-dialogues to creation new vocabulary in depth listening brief gapped transcripts recorded dialogues cd participant character paintings→ trainer→ entire magnificence students change records approximately their circle of relatives participants to provide college students fluency practice: pairwork (instructor monitors) instructor gives remarks on language used to focus on need for brand spanking new language to introduce new language to consciousness on accuracy teacher's notes whiteboard worksheet instructor→complete class students repeat own family description project to offer an opportunity for college students to enhance their spoken overall performance pairwork (new companions).


Getting blog traffic can be time consuming. Naturally, everyone wants their blog to have a lot of traffic, but not everyone knows how to go about achieving this goal. Hopefully, after reading this, you'll have a better understanding of how to cultivate more traffic for your blog.
I've been blogging for years now, and things have changed a lot. Social sharing is down, and it's more important than ever to have a smart plan in place to get your blog posts out there. You don't have to live with shrinking blog traffic. My new favorite tool for my blog is CoSchedule. I want to share a few ways that CoSchedule provides helpful tools to really get your blog to flourish, and you'll be more efficient.
If we think about a single blog post like a plant, then your blog as a whole is the ground it's sprouting from. There a whole lot of other factors that go into helping a plant grow, right? It needs plenty of sunshine, water, and sometimes extra nutrients to help it develop.
When promoting your blog posts, similar to watering plants, it's important to do so regularly, but you want to be careful of 'overwatering.' Too many promotional posts about your blog might turn people off to it if you over saturate their news feeds with post after post about your blog. That being said, too few posts, and your blog could wither up and die like that office plant you forgot to water. CoSchedule has a built-in feature, called "Best Time Scheduling." It works like this, after you create a social post promoting your blog, simply schedule the day you'd like it to be published, and CoSchedule automatically chooses the best possible time, where the most people will see it on that given day. So instead of sending out multiple posts in one day, maximize your efforts by getting the most potential out of each post.
Fertilizer or compost can be an essential part of a healthy garden, and your blog garden is no different. "Composting" your content can be an effective way to get the most out of your top performing social messages. After you have created a few posts, you might notice some have outperformed the others. Rather than merely re-creating each post, you can schedule unique posts with CoSchedule's ReQueue. ReQueue allows you to set up a regular time, where posts will be recycled at regular intervals, allowing you to save time, but still be providing your blog with the nutrients it needs to survive.
As your blog grows, you'll most likely find yourself utilizing many different services available to you online. You wouldn't hinder a plant's roots from spreading, so too should you allow the roots of your blog to flourish. Within CoSchedule, there is an integration function that will enable you to link your CoSchedule account with several other services, including but not limited to, Trello, Google Docs, WordPress, Google Analytics, and MailChimp to name a few. There is even a Chrome extension to help you curate content easier. Don't limit yourself to one resource, allow your roots to grow unhindered, and use everything available to you.
Let CoSchedule help keep your garden green, and provide you with what you need to succeed!
Keeping your blog fresh and growing is a daunting task. CoSchedule aims to make it easier, by providing you the framework you need to reach your goals. From helping you schedule to maintaining momentum, and encouraging growth, CoSchedule can make the difference between yielding nothing, and a bountiful harvest.
The difference between CoSchedule and other social management tools is that CoSchedule focuses on creating an editorial calendar for your blog and makes it easier to schedule out a solid blog campaign with different images and messages for each social platform. You can batch process all the social messages once you're done with editing your article.
If you're interested, grab this exclusive thirty-day trial and give CoSchedule a spin. I know you're going to love it!
Getting time back is a tough thing to do but using CoSchedule has really improved my whole blog post promotion activities from streamlining it to hyper-focused sharing with great visuals.
I think you'll find your blog traffic will grow and you won't have to stress about it.
Give CoSchedule a try here.
Thanks for the great read, Peg. Promoting my blog posts is definitely a weakness. But it's true, you spend so much time creating it, you might as well spend some time promoting it.
It's essential to spend time promoting your blog posts after you create them. Good luck with your blog.
Creating a content for blog is not enough, we need to focus on it's promotion too. Here, great to know about the importance of "CoSchedule" tool for content promotion and how it works effectively. Here, I learned a lot about content promotion.


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August 7, 2021 | FDD's Long War Journal
Taliban takes second provincial capital
Bill Roggio
Senior Fellow and Editor of FDD's Long War Journal
The Taliban took control of its second provincial capital today. Shibirghan, the capital of the northern province of Jawzjan and the home of warlord Marshall Abdul Rashid Dostum, fell to the Taliban.
Dostum and his followers abandoned Shibirghan today and fled to the district of Khwaja Dako, TOLONews reported. Khwaja Dako hosts the city's airport, and is the only district in Jawzjan under government control. The other 10 districts in Jawzjan are under Taliban control, according to an ongoing assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan by FDD's Long War Journal.
The Taliban pressed its offensive on Shibirghan several days from districts it controlled that surrounded the city. The Afghan military sent reinforcements, but they were unable to hold off the Taliban assault on the city.
Shibirghan is the second city to fall under Taliban control in the past two days. Yesterday, the Taliban took control of Zaranj in the western province of Nimroz after former governor and warlord Abdul Karim Barawi abandoned the city without a fight.
The Afghan government is in danger of losing control of the strategic north. Without control of the north, important Afghan politicians, warlords, and government officials will be deprived of their base of power. Without the north, the Afghan government has little chance of surviving the Taliban onslaught.
The Afghan government is battling the Taliban battling for control of multiple provincial capitals throughout the country. Government forces are currently clinging to a cluster of buildings in the center of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, as the Taliban controls the rest of the city. The Taliban began launching suicide bombers at government forces holed up in Lashkar Gah. The Taliban is in control of neighborhoods in Kandahar and Herat cities, and is launching frequent assaults in other capitals, such as Taluqan, Kunduz City, Ghazni City, Mitharlam, and Shiberghan.
Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of The Long War Journal. Follow Bill on Twitter @billroggio. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.
Read in FDD's Long War Journal
Afghanistan Jihadism Military and Political Power The Long War U.S. Defense Policy and Strategy


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Destinations To Visit Near Mhaismal
written by Editor's Desk March 28, 2017
While Mhaismal is an enthralling tourist destination in itself which could fill up your days even weeks with its spectacular nature, and the remains of old monuments. There are some places around that you should visit if you're in . If you are in love with traveling, then one can never leave without visiting these places. You will always want to just pack your bags and leave for an adventurous journey.
Image Source- Wikimedia
Located at a distance of 360 km from Mhaismal, Mumbai, the 'Dream City,' 'the fulcrum of everything to to with films and Bollywood' is the largest city in India. It is that, no matter how many times you visit this place, it never ceases to amaze you. The places of interest include Haji Ali Dargah, The Gateway of India, Chowpatis and beaches and much more. It attracts tourists and travellers from all corners and was the most visited by the domestic tourists in the year 2014.
Khuldabad
A taluka, Khultabad is located in Aurangabad. The famous places of interest include Aurangzeb's Tomb, Bani Begum's Makbara, Malik Akbar's Tomb and many more. It serves to be an excellent tourist destination for a person with interest in history and ancient remains.
Known as the educational center of India, Pune, the cultural capital of the state of Maharashtra, has forts of the seventeenth century as Sinhagad, Purandar, Shaniwar Wada and Lal Mahal and residence of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Pune also has several educational reputed institutes as Fergusson College, a 200-year-old college by the British.
It lies in the central part of Maharashtra and is famous among the visitors and tourists for its natural beauty. The Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, on the periphery of Aurangabad, are well-known and renowned for convoluted carvings. Other famous places of interest include Bibi Ka Maqbara which is the 'Taj Mahal of Deccan', Daulatabad Fort, Panchakki, Sunheri Mahal and much more.
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Healthy, sustainably managed forests provide clean air and water, a habitat for plants and wildlife, and employment opportunities for nearby communities. Sustainable forestry plays an integral role in the health of our planet.
Independent forest certification systems help give you confidence that the wood you use comes from sustainable, well-managed forests—so you can be sure that water, air, soil and wildlife habitat resources will be conserved, and sites will be replanted with native species.
Internal links within this website are funded and maintained by the Wood, Naturally campaign. All other outgoing links are to websites maintained by third parties and are not funded by the softwood lumber check-off.


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Sandra Bullock Mtv
Sandra Bullock is one of the most precious actresses in Hollywood. With a career covering more than 30 years, she has actually become a household name and a symbol of strength and strength. In this article, we will take a better look at her life and career, and explore what makes her such an enduring and cherished figure in the show business.
Sandra Bullock was born on July 26, 1964, in Arlington, Virginia. She was raised in a military family and spent her childhood exploring the world. Her father, John Bullock, was a U.S. Army worker and her mother, Helga Bullock, was an opera singer and voice teacher. She has one older sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado.
Bullock began her career as a suffering actress in the late 1980s, appearing in various stage productions and small television parts. It was not till the 1990s that she began to gain recognition for her talent and versatility. Her breakout moment was available in 1994 when she played opposite Keanu Reeves in the smash hit film, Speed. The film was a substantial success, earning over $350 million worldwide and cementing Bullock's status as a leading lady.
Over the next couple of years, Bullock continued to prove her adaptability as an starlet, starring in a large range of movies such as While You Were Sleeping, The Net, and Hope Floats. She also starred in the hit romantic comedy Miss Congeniality, which helped to establish her as a leading actress in Hollywood.
In the 2000s, Bullock continued to have a successful career, starring in a variety of popular films such as Two Weeks Notice, Crash, and The Proposal. She also produced numerous of her own films, consisting of Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and All About Steve.
In addition to her acting profession, Bullock is likewise known for her philanthropy and activism. She is a strong supporter of education and kids's charities, and has actually been included with different organizations such as the World Association of Children's Friends and the American Red Cross.
Bullock has actually likewise been acknowledged for her work, getting various awards and honors throughout her career. She has been chosen for an Academy Award two times, winning the award for her role in the 2009 movie The Blind Side. She also won a Golden Globe award for her performance in the film.
In the last few years, Bullock has continued to work in Hollywood, appearing in movies such as Gravity and Our Brand is Crisis. She has actually likewise produced and starred in the Netflix series, Bird Box.
Regardless of the ups and downs of her career, Bullock has actually stayed a precious figure in Hollywood and continues to be an motivation to many. With her talents, resilience, and devotion, she has actually shown herself to be one of the most gifted and accomplished starlets of her generation.
In her individual life, Bullock has actually had her share of heartbreaks and obstacles. She had remained in a relationship with star Tate Donovan in the early 90s, but the couple separated amicably in 1995. She then married motorcycle builder and Beast Garage host Jesse James in 2005, but the couple separated in 2010. She then embraced her very first kid, Louis Bardo Bullock, as a single mother in 2010 and then her second kid, Laila Bullock in 2015.
Bullock is also recognized for her personal and low-key lifestyle, choosing to keep her personal life out of the spotlight. She has stated that she values her personal privacy and wishes to safeguard her children from the glare of the media.
In conclusion, Sandra Bullock is one of the most accomplished starlets of her generation. With her talent, versatility, and commitment, she has actually become a beloved figure in Hollywood and an influence to many. Her career has been marked by a string of critically famous performances, and she has actually shown herself to be a skilled and flexible actress. Bullock has also revealed a exceptional ability to get better from setbacks and challenges, both in her professional and personal life.
Off-screen, Bullock is known for her philanthropy and advocacy, and her commitment to education and children's charities. She is also a devoted mom to her 2 kids, whom she adopted as a single mom. Regardless of the ups and downs of her career and personal life, Bullock has actually remained a down-to-earth and relatable figure, and her fans continue to adore her for her talent, her generosity, and her humbleness.
Sandra Bullock is really a amazing woman, and her legacy will continue to be celebrated for years to come. She continues to prove herself to be an starlet of fantastic skill and versatility, and a good example for people all over. So, it's not an exaggeration to state that, Sandra Bullock is among the most accomplished and appreciated starlets of our time.


I AM SCOTT. I MAKE PHOTOGRAPHS » Viva Cambodia!!
This past December I was commissioned by The Daily Telegraph to photograph 'Homage to the New Cambodia' , a glimpse at Indochina's newest rising star, for the Spring 2012 edition of Ultratravel magazine.
I joined Johnny Morris, Ultratravel's creative director, at the beautiful Villa Romonea in the seaside town of Kep. As Johnny describes, "[d]esigned by Lu Ban Happ, a key figure in the Le Corbusier-inspired New Khmer Architecture movement, [Villa Romonea] is one of the few intact private mansions of Kep's golden era in the 1960s. Fully renovated by its current owners, it is a shining example of how to mix Sixties interior design and contemporary furnishing within a striking modernist mansion. Its bold white zigzags and organically curved atrium help make it surprisingly optimistic architecture."
We enjoyed ice cold Kingdom Beers by the villa's saltwater infinity pool as the sun set over the Bay of Kampot and then we ventured into town, accompanied by an American couple also staying at the villa, for cocktails at The Sailing Club by Knai Bang Chatt, followed by fresh crab and green Kampot pepper at Kimly's, "a classic example of the 'keep it local, keep it simple' destination restaurant that we all crave on our travels."
nestled 15 miles off the coast in the Koh Rong Archipelago. Johnny and I lunched overlooking the Gulf of Thailand with the owner, Rory Hunter, and his senior team before being whisked away on a tour of the two beautiful islands and the exclusive all-villa resort.
The final stop on my adventure with Johnny was Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, a few hours' drive from Sihanoukville. As Johnny poetically recounts in the article, "Phnom Penh is [a] full-on live show with plenty of swagger and edgy improvisation...[a] million stories and a stream of colour from tuk-tuk and scooter lights."
This December assignment with Johnny and Ultratravel was my third shoot in Cambodia in as many months. And next week I'll be returning to Phnom Penh to shoot a feature for a German-based magazine, followed shortly thereafter by another assignment that will start in Siem Reap and take me more than 600km around Cambodia in the back of a tuk-tuk. Indeed, it's a beautiful country whose future looks bright, and I am privileged to be able to witness and document so much of this growth and change.
Read the full 'Homage to the New Cambodia' article online, browse my earlier Ultratravel work, 'Singapore Swings' and see more of my lifestyle and travel photography on my website.
1 Comment on Viva Cambodia!!
This is colorful and awesome !!!
You have a great adventure.


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Zayn Malik and the pains of being a Muslim pop star
Either Bill Maher is comparing him to the Boston bomber, or conservative clergy are criticising him for not being devout enough. Only One Direction fans seem to realise that it's possible to be both Muslim and a pop star
Safa Samiezade'-Yazd
Tue 7 Apr 2015 11.39 EDT Last modified on Wed 31 May 2017 12.06 EDT
Shot on both sides: Zayn Malik on the Today Show in the US. Photograph: REX
Bill Maher's rants against Islam are nothing new. But in the case of his latest smear campaign, the reaction is. The unwitting target this time was not an entire 1.6 billion population, but rather one person: former One Direction member Zayn Malik – a British pop star who just happens to be Muslim.
But, like Maher's smear campaign against Islam, there is nothing new about the scrutiny that targets Malik. In 2012, rightwing American blogger Debbie Schlussel accused him of "boyband jihad" and "pimping Islam," claiming that the only reason why he was chosen to join One Direction was because "Islam sells in Britain", making him the "Islamic face" of the band. That same year, internet trolls and racially abusive messages led him to temporarily disable his Twitter account. In 2013, American rapper Rucka Rucka Ali released the track Zayn Did 9/11, with art that superimposed Malik's silhouette over an image of the burning Twin Towers, and lyrics that blamed him for the September 11 attacks. Yet perhaps the worst outlash against him occurred last year, when he was singled out with death threats for tweeting #FreePalestine.
It's not quite a halal fest on the far opposite end of the spectrum either either, where there has been criticism among conservative clergy over the supposed piousness of his lifestyle choices since appearing on the X Factor. He doesn't eat pork, but what about his smoking, his designer jackets, and those tattoos and ear piercings? Or more pertinently, does the Qur'an say it's OK to be a pop star? For the more orthodox critics, the answer is no, which would make Malik a major sinner. Some reject his Muslim identity all together. "@zaynmalik needs to join jihad," @ISILCats tweeted last June, "not be another dumb sissy celebrity."
Out of no doing of his own, this is dichotomous terrain that has come to define much of how the mainstream perceives and accepts Zayn Malik. His most newsworthy attribute for some is not his music, but his faith – and whether or not he properly represents it. None of the other members of One Direction have been subjected to the endless media surveillance that follows him. And none of them have been propped up against their own will as a singular representative of an entire global community.
The scrutiny directed at him is about more than just his lifestyle choices — it's about religion and whether Muslim identity can reconcile with mainstream pop culture. The obsessive discussion around Malik's religious identity highlights how the media continues to simplify and stereotype Muslim identity. These normative views – predicated by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike – force Malik into a box he never asked to be placed in. Most media seem to only understand him within those constraints, so that anything he does in public, any stance he takes, any music he performs, any beard he decides to grow, will always be portrayed as a direct result of not his personal choices, but his degree of Muslim-ness.
Yet the reality of Malik's life is starkly different from what his religious identity is stereotyped to be – and this is one reason why despite his critics, he carries such a massive and loyal fanbase of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Almost 5,000 have signed a petition demanding an apology from Maher. On Twitter, #RespectforZayn became a trending hashtag. This is because Malik's following keenly understands what polemics on both sides fail to grasp – that there is no dichotomy between being a pop superstar and identifying as a Muslim. You can be someone inspired by beliefs, but not constrained by the limits we impose on religious language, or the jokes we pull out of simplified views of those we choose not to understand. Religious identity is far more nuanced and individualized than anti-Islam critics like Bill Maher like to make it out to be.


Springfield Armory IMBEL SAR 4800 5.56mm SA-SR 144x Sporter. Rare – very few imported in the 5.56mm caliber (.223), receiver is also marked 1005-SA-48-Match made by Imbel Brazil under FN contract, imported by Springfield Armory, 1-30rd mag,. The rifle has been updated with some US made green furniture and parts for the preban look, also included is a Israeli FAL 5.56mm calibrated SUITE scope and dust cover mount – which is a really rare find.


University of Florida Gators defensive back Shawn Davis and University of Florida Gators cornerback Marco Wilson combine for a tackle during the second half in which the Gators lost 38-22 to the Florida State Seminoles at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. November 25th, 2017. Gator Country photo by David Bowie.


A brief history of attempts to use radio in the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.
In 1894 Percival Lowell with his 450mm refractor telescope near Flagstaff Arizona described a network of canals which he believed he could see and which he felt was a clear sign of intelligent life on the planet Mars. And with H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds published shortly after it was easy for the general population to believe that an intelligent and possibly even hostile alien civilization existed on the relatively near by red planet.
By the mid twentieth century while there was still optimistic hope that there may be some kind of life on Mars, as Mars is the most Earth like planet in the Solar System it was clearly not a highly developed life and not an extraterrestrial civilization!
If there is no other intelligent life on Mars and by extension within our Solar System perhaps with there being somewhere between 200 to 400 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone and perhaps with a large percentage of these stars having planetary systems and with the possibility of even a very small percentage of these planets harbouring life, it is easy to imagine the possibility of thousands of highly developed civilizations out there.
It was clear from the start that we or they would find it near to technically impossible to physically travel the enormous distance too or from even the nearest stars. With nearest star to earth being the faint Proxima Centauri at a distance of 4.3 light-years and a light-year translating into about 9,460,000,000,000 kilometres, we will without some fundamental break through in technology never traverse these distances physically.
The obvious choice was not to go there personally, but instead send or listen for a message from the distant civilizations. With the refinements in radio technology in particular sensitive VHF and microwave technology developed for radar during World War II we had a method.
Astronomer Frank Drake penned an equation in 1960 as part of his preparation for what was known as the Green Bank meeting: that established SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The equation aimed to get handle on the odd of there being extraterrestrial civilizations within our galaxy and to create some order to the issues that needed to be discussed at the conference. The equation has since taken on a life of its own and is quoted in most books and web sites on the subject and is the corner stone of much scientific discussion within SETI.
is the number of civilizations in our galaxy that may be capable of contact.
is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy.
is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point.
is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life.
is the length of time such a civilization emits detectable signals into space.
There is obviously great debate over what values should be place in the equation as perhaps only and can be estimated on the bases of real scientific observational data.
The galaxy is still big place and most or all of the 10 may still be well out of radio range. The bottom line is that most of the numbers are little more than a guess and you can get all sorts of results from less than 1 to thousands subject to what you think the values could be. We are certain that the number should be at least one!
The most recent guestimation has produced a result of two. Them and us would you believe!
The radio spectrum is enormous if you are aiming to detect a very weak and very narrow band signal. Nature has determined that a band of frequencies from just above 1000MHz to about 10,000MHz is galatically quiet and that atmospheric absorption is low, this is the terrestrial microwave window. This is also still a large amount of spectrum that is also increasing be used for all sorts of human communications from mobile phones to wireless broadband etc.
A frequency known as the hydrogen line at 1420.40575 MHz has been chosen as it is a frequency or call channel that is universal and would be known by any technically advanced civilization. It is for this reason that the frequency range from 1400.00MHz to 1427.00MHz have been assigned exclusively to radio astronomy and no other activity is allowed.
In April 1960 astronomer Frank Drake performed one of the first modern experiments named "Project Ozma" used a 25-meter-diameter radio telescope at Green Bank, West Virginia , to examine a small number of stars near the 1.420 gigahertz marker frequency. A 400 kilohertz band pass was scanned around the marker frequency, using a single-channel receiver with a bandwidth of 100 hertz. The information was stored on tape for off-line analysis. He found nothing of interest.
A few years later during 1967 a large radio telescope was conducting experimental observation at 81MHz of the effects of the Sun's solar wind on distant Quasar radio sources. An odd radio signal was identified and when plotted on a chart recorder revealing a continuous series of pulses spaced perfectly every 1.337 seconds. The signal was confirmed as coming from deep space, but nothing like this had been seen before. It had to be seriously considered as a message or perhaps an extraterrestrial beacon. The signal was labeled LGM1 which stood for "Little Green Men" first contact.
Evidence including the fact that there was no Doppler shift that would have be expected if the signal was coming from a planet of satellite orbiting a distant star. The source was in fact coming from a star its self, a rapidly rotating neutron star. A neutron star is the remnant core of supernova, an exploding giant star. As the star explodes throwing of massive amounts of material the core is driven inward along with the collapse of the remaining star material. A super dense object only several tens of km in diameter remains. As a result the object spins up and can be rotating as much 50 times a second. The highly compressed magnetic fields produced by the neutron star channels light and radio waves like a rotating search light. These object tuned out not to be an extraterrestrial radio beacon, but rather the discovery of one of natures strangest objects, the Pulsar. Over a thousand Pulsars have now been identified.
On 15 August 1977 Dr Jerry Ehman a project volunteer for the Ohio State University SETI project witnessed a startlingly strong signal from the radio telescope. He circled the characters on the printout and scribbled "Wow" in the margin. This lone signal is considered by some as the most likely detection of an extraterrestrial signal ever received, but has not been detected again.
The circled character code on the print 6EQUJ5 represents the amplitude variation of the signal. A space denotes amplitudes of between 0 and 0.999; the number 1 denotes the amplitude between 1 and 1.999, 2 represents 2 - 2.999 and so on. 10 and above are represented by letters, 10 - 10.999 is displayed as A, 11 - 11.999 is displayed B etc. The value of 'U' representing an intensity of between 30.0 and 30.999 and was the highest value recorded. The intensity is a representation of the signal to general background noise.
The columns in the print out correspond to 10kHz-wide channels starting with channel 1 to the left and channel 2 with the signal of interest. The general frequency is around 1420.405MHz known as the hydrogen line.
I have plotted the values on the below graph to give a clearer view of the rise and fall of the signal.
Ohio State University's radio telescope known as Big Ear was a fixed antenna and used the Earths rotation to scan the sky. The beam width of the antenna and the rotation of the Earth meant that the Big Ear could observe a given point in the sky for only 72 seconds. An extraterrestrial signal would therefore be expected last for exactly 72 seconds and peak after 36 seconds as the signal past over the antenna's window and would then decay over the remaining 36 seconds.
While the WOW signal may have been an Earth-bound signal that simply got reflected off a piece of space junk the duration and shape of the signal and the fact that it was narrow band corresponds to what would be expected of a signal of extraterrestrial origin.
The case for the WOW signal being real!
The 1420.405MHz channel falls within the 1400-1427MHz protected allocation for radio astronomy and should therefore be free of transmissions.
Unless it was a fairly high orbiting piece of space junk the WOW signal should have had a different duration. Longer if the piece of space junk was tracking with the rotation of the earth or shorter if it were tracking in most other directions with relation to the rotation of the earth.
I have not been able to find any reports of checks for known space junk orbits, however as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) actively tracks tens of thousands of these objects I would have assumed that this would have been a relatively easy task.
It all hangs on this; the signal duration implies that it came from space well beyond earth. The signal was very narrow band implying that it was artificial. That's it!
The case for doubt for the WOW signal!
The two issues that cast serious doubt on the WOW signal are first that despite being relatively strong it has never been heard of again.
Second and perhaps more serious is this; the Ohio State radio telescope uses two focal points, situated side by side. Any cosmic radio source would be seen first by one for 72 seconds and then about three minutes later by the other for a period of 72 seconds.
The WOW signal produced a whopping 60 Jansky signal level on the first antenna, but was not detected by the second. While it is possible that the signal simply went off the air within the 3 minute period, this would have to seem bloody unlucky to say the least, but it is possible.
Incredibly the WOW signal is after nearly 50 years of listening, the most tantalizingly possible signal heard thus far.
Every hour of every day for more than half a century human civilization has been accidentally sending highly visible radio signals into space. From the viewpoint of a distant extraterrestrial observer the rotating Earth radiates bright pulses of electromagnetic energy across the radio spectrum. The flashes of radio emissions are a result of the rising and setting of hundreds of powerful radio stations, television transmitters, microwave links etc peppered around the globe. Although these transmitters generally radiate parallel to the surface of the Earth as these signals pass beyond the horizon they ultimately radiate out into the cosmos. In fact so much radiation is now leaking of into space that the Earth is near as an intense a radio source as the Sun.
Therefore if anyone is listening for as far as 50 light-years from us, they already know what we're up to.
The big question is will our new space friends interpret Big Brother as a sign of intelligent life?
A more conscious effort was made in the 1970s with the launched four probes by the United States to survey the outer planets of the Solar System with a trajectory that has destined them to leave the Solar System and sail out amongst the stars for the rest of eternity. More an act of faith and symbolism the spacecraft have plaques that if found would communicate something about us to the finder. There was at the time some controversy about the information contained in the plaques as it depicted were we are, the fear was that if found something, possibly hostile would be able to locate us.
The probes Pioneer 10 and 11 probes launched in 1972 and 1973 carried a plaque depicting the location of the Earth and solar system within the galaxy and the form of the human body.
The Voyager 1 and 2 probes launched in 1977 carry two gold records that depict again the human form, our solar system and its location and also included are recordings of pictures and sounds from Earth.
Something to ponder is this; long after the human race is gone and the Earth its self is dead and lifeless these probes could be the longest lived indication that we ever existed.
As every amateur knows, if every one is just listing potentially good DX contacts will go unrealized, therefore in 1974 the Arecibo radio telescope, the largest radio telescopes in the world transmitted a series of messages in the form of digital images.
The Arecibo message was a 1679 pixel image with 73 rows and 23 columns. It shows the numbers one through ten, the atomic numbers of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus, a figure of a human being and its height, the population of Earth, our solar system, and an image of the Arecibo telescope with its diameter.
At present the SETI Institute a now privately funded organization has been focusing on a joint project with University of California Berkeley to building a SETI-dedicated array of telescopes that will equal a 100-meter radio telescope, the Allen Telescope Array. It is the forerunner of other larger radio astronomy arrays planned for later in the decade. It is possible that as the telescope and SETI technology advances we may be able to detect intelligence not by directed message but by the same kind of 'noise' we accidentally broadcast to the cosmos via radio, television and radar signals.
It is likely that SETI and the like is a waist of money and effort as the current best technology at our disposal requires that the signal be in cosmic terms very close, say 100 light-years at a stretch. This is only covering about 0.1% of our Milky Way galaxy. Remember the Drake equation that estimates between two and ten possible extraterrestrial civilizations within our entire galaxy. The odds are really stacked against success.
However the implications of an extraterrestrial contact on human culture and the way we see ourselve would be profound. Imagine if we were able to establish ongo radio contact with an extraterrestrial civilization 20 light-years away. Think about it, it would change everything!