Building an online store is hands-down one of the best ways to make money online. And this isn't just an arbitrary statement. According to the US Small Business Administration (SBA), online ventures are growing at a much quicker rate than conventional brick and mortar shops. It, therefore, makes sense why DIY craft enthusiasts, local clothing shops, and even book publishers are beginning to sell their goods and merchandise online.
What separates successful online stores from the disasters? Among other things, a well-thought-out plan and the right e-commerce platform can significantly contribute to growth and sustainability for entrepreneurs. Without these, it won't matter if you stock the best products in the world or your prices are low because when visitors get confused navigating your store, reaching a reset goal becomes difficult (if not impossible).
If you're interested in rocking the online store game, but don't know where to start, here's a step-by-step guide you can follow to set up a web shop that makes buying and seeing your offerings a joy.
One of the biggest challenges you'll face during your journey toward creating an online store is an inability to decide what to sell. Many entrepreneurs find themselves in this boat, so there's no reason to worry. The key to picking a niche is to aim for an elusive combination of market fit and high-demand while staying true to the brand you're planning to create.
A first jump-off point for niche search assistance could be Google Trends. Put in some of your prospective items into this tool to get a high-level overview of their popularity with today's consumers as well as their forecasted future demand. However, if the item you've picked isn't something unique, sooner or later you'll have to compete with other businesses for sale.
That said, you can always take time to research competitors' pain points and then come up with a plan to counter them. For doing so, pick a few keywords related to your product and check their performance using Aherfs, SEMrush, or another similar tool. The search should return a few competitors' names, both in paid and organic results. That'll give you a good idea of who you'd be potentially up against when you start selling online, and what you can do differently to gain market share.
When it comes to selling products online, entrepreneurs have two main options: sign up for a marketplace like Amazon or eBay, or create an online store that's all their own. While marketplaces offer a variety of benefits such as automated SEO and access to thousands of buyers, building an e-commerce site gives you greater control over how your brand is presented (people will remember your name, not Amazon's). This is the point where you'd have to choose an e-commerce platform.
Some good options in this regard are Shopify and BigCommerce. Both of these platforms will walk you through the whole store creation process. They don't make it a pre-requisite that people need to know to code. Also, Shopify lets users add a custom domain (e.g. www.shopname.com), and handles the "complicated" backend. Moreover, you can pick from several pre-existing themes for the store's design, with options to customize them to your liking. Lastly, BigCommerce and Shopify process and manage all the payments and orders, letting store owners focus on the business. If you aren't sure what software to choose, you'd be glad to know that most e-commerce platform vendors offer a risk-free trial.
Before you launch an online store, you should create a likable brand for your audience. Get started by building a memorable logo. If you even have the basic graphic design skills, you can create one by yourself. Otherwise, you can recruit a freelancer from Fiverr or PeoplePerHour to make one for you. Not only should the logo establish trust and credibility, but also be easy to remember. The best practice, in this case, is to avoid stock images as generic stores might already be using them for branding purposes. Besides the logo, make it extremely clear that when it comes to your motto and presentation, you've got nothing to pull a curtain on. Essential information such as FAQs and exchange/return policies should be prominently displayed in the header/footer of your site.
Don't neglect the power of having an easy, clear and generous returns policy. Providing free exchanges and returns can help alleviate a majority of that online shopping stress buyers experience and make the shopping process appear risk-free. Once you have a logo and content, use them to introduce your brand. For instance, you can set it up as a profile image on all platforms. Make sure the colors, style, and tone you present your brand in are consistent throughout all platforms. It's a mistake to use different voices when you're implementing a multi-channel branding strategy as it could confuse your audiences. Lastly, everything should present a centric message that your products are unique and best bought directly through the brand (this will prevent people from buying through resellers down the road).
When it comes to presenting your products to potential buyers, images are gold! More than anywhere in an online store, the products it lists should go the extra file to replicate their realistic look and feel. That's why it is essential for e-commerce entrepreneurs to invest in good pictures. If items' images don't come off as appealing, why would consumers show interest in buying a shotty looking good? Hence, use software like Photoshop to implement some touch ups and invest in high-quality product shots. The total investment in product photography can range from a few hundred USD to many thousands. It will depend on the number of products you're planning to showcase and the quality of photography you use. Besides all that, organize the products in a grid that's easy to navigate for first-time visitors.
Moreover, see if your e-commerce platform offers a zoom-in feature to give your visitors a close-up view of your items. If it's not integrated into the main offering, you may have to install a third-party plugin or download an app for your software. For instance, Shopify has a Shopify app marketplace that its users can visit to download a variety of applications that improve the overall functionality of the Shopify software. Other than that, offer detailed descriptions of your product. Because a potential customer can't feel the items, the more details you provide about them, the more shoppers will think that they're holding them in their hands. Some things to include in e-commerce product descriptions are size fits, washing instructions, product dimensions, items used to manufacture the product, and how it's different from other similar things out there in the market.
If you want your online store to be a success, this step is extremely crucial. Marketing can immediately draw internet audiences to your store, but you'll have to figure out what is going to be your hook first. Facebook, perhaps, can be your first choice, as it gets a high quantity of traffic on a monthly basis. However, the visual nature of social networks like Snapchat and Instagram make them a viable choice for products like clothing. If you're going to use social media, the best approach is to experiment with different platforms and see where your target market is most responsive. Aside from social media, you could consider launching a blog that's hosted on your e-commerce website. A blog is a great way to tell your brand's story to potential buyers. Also, it can help you build authority, rank in search engines, and gain PR opportunities.
In addition, email marketing can be an incredibly useful aspect of your marketing plan. From announcing the launch of a new line of items to sending out discounts and special offers, email is one of the best routes to forming relationships with potential, new and existing customers. In terms of email marketing, abandoned cart emails can be quite handy. Because almost 70 percent of carts are abandoned before a transaction completes – one simple email reminder is all you need to notify people about the items left in their cart. Successful implementing of this step requires entrepreneurs to build an email list over time. Most e-commerce platforms can be connected to email marketing services through Zapier and native plugins, which should make automation a breeze.
Now that you know about all the steps you'd have to go through to launch an online store, it's time to muster up that willpower and get started. If you're employed, keep your day job for as long as you can. And make the switch to running your online store as a full-time e-commerce entrepreneur only when you see sizable growth in sales. Additionally, don't lose heart if you don't make a profit within the first few months. The first quarter can be set aside for testing and preparing to scale.


In this gory but dramatically inert vampire schlocker, bodies are sliced like melons, and blood spurts in glistening slo-mo droplets of what looks like digital merlot. Saya (Gianna Jun), a fearless teenage ninja slayer of the undead, offers a good demonstration of why vampire killers should always have a bit of fear: It makes them, you know, interesting. At a U.S. military base in Tokyo, Saya bonds with a general's daughter (Allison Miller) and does battle with an ancient bloodsucker. Blood: The Last Vampire might be described as Kill Bill crossed with Buffy, only that would make it sound like more than the slapdash, thrill-less dud that it is. C?


text:
African Herbsman LP
To Bob Marley's emotionally charged music and lyrics, add the tight riddims and harmonies of the Wailers and then put all of that talent into the ceaselessly creative hands of production wizard Lee "Scratch" Perry. What you get is a 16-track reggae masterpiece capturing what is perhaps some of the best music Bob Marley & the Wailers ever committed to tape. The songs range from beautiful love songs like "Don't Rock the Boat" to cathartic political anthems like "Brain Washing," but even with the broad scope, no tracks miss the mark. They all cut straight to the heart and burn with an urgency rarely felt in music of any genre. So defining are the tracks that Marley himself was to return to the same themes later in his career, reviving such classics as "Lively Up Yourself" on Natty Dread, "Trench Town Rock" on Live!, and "Kaya" on Kaya, among others. While this is a Bob Marley & the Wailers album, Perry's unique production almost steals the show. Perry's bare-bones, heavy sound provides an interesting contrast to the slicker approach taken on Catch a Fire, produced by Bob Marley & the Wailers and Chris Blackwell and also made in 1973. Catch a Fire has an almost rock edge to it, but on African Herbsman, one can hear Perry's swirling mix madness lurking just beneath the surface of each Trench Town-tough track.
-- All music

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: accessExternalDTD property ignoring catalog file When running mvn clean install I get the following error that the external files can't be reached.
schema_reference: Failed to read schema document 'xml.xsd', because 'http' access is not allowed due to restriction set by the accessExternalSchema property.

This behaviour is as intended as I want my resources to be local. But shouldn't the catalog change avoid this error? Or is there something wrong with my config?
Parts of the pom file:
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>jaxb2-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.6</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>xjc</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>xjc</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <configuration>
        <catalog>${project.basedir}/catalog.xml</catalog>
        <schemaDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/resources/</schemaDirectory>
        <outputDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/java</outputDirectory>
        <clearOutputDir>false</clearOutputDir>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>properties-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-alpha-2</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>set-additional-system-properties</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>set-system-properties</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <configuration>
        <properties>
            <property>
                <name>javax.xml.accessExternalSchema</name>
                <value>file</value>
            </property>
            <property>
                <name>javax.xml.accessExternalDTD</name>
                <value>file</value>
            </property>
        </properties>
        <outputFile/>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

Catalog file:
<!DOCTYPE catalog
    PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD Entity Resolution XML Catalog V1.0//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/entity/release/1.0/catalog.dtd">
<catalog xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:entity:xmlns:xml:catalog">
    <rewriteSystem systemIdStartString="http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace" rewritePrefix="www.w3.org"/>
</catalog>

A: After a whole lot of experimenting I found out that mye catalog was wrong. The use of
<property>
    <name>javax.xml.accessExternalSchema</name>
    <value>file</value>
</property>
<property>
    <name>javax.xml.accessExternalDTD</name>
    <value>file</value>
</property>

was dropped and I changed my catalog to catalog.cat file, form catalog.xml, to this:
REWRITE_SYSTEM "http://www.w3.org" "www.w3.org"
REWRITE_SYSTEM "http://docs.oasis-open.org" "docs.oasis-open.org"
REWRITE_URI "http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsn"  "docs.oasis-open.org/wsn"
REWRITE_URI "http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsrf"  "docs.oasis-open.org/wsrf"

The properties mentioned above does work with this catalog, but I droped it since with a working catalog, maven does not fetch any external schemas as long as the path in the catalog is correct. Making the properties obsolete.

A: i had a similar error and i try too many solutions that i found but the only one that works for me was:
Adding this to your pom in plugins tag
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <systemPropertyVariables>
                        <javax.xml.accessExternalSchema>all</javax.xml.accessExternalSchema>
                    </systemPropertyVariables>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

Sorry for my bad english, i hope that this will work for you

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We went to Stonehenge today, and I loved it. It's a funny feeling, getting excited about stones. But just think, those lifeless junks of rock surpassed the ages of history. All the wars, the storms, the crises, all the malice in the world could not push them from where they are stood.
And just think, all the people that come to visit, so desperate for a little bit of mystery, for the proof of magic. And those unmoving stones just keep standing in a circle, casting shadows and marking the sinking of the sun, they are all the proof some of us need.
Just think, maybe the stones are not special at all, maybe people just made them so. Maybe fairy tales exist for those who believe in them and who are willing to look at things as if they really are magical.
Just think, maybe that is the real power of the stones.


text:
Less ice than normal in the Arctic
Both Russian and U.S. meteorologists report about shrinkening ice in the Arctic. Photo: Thomas Nilsen.
The ice covering the Arctic is 5,2 percent less than the normal and also thinner than average, Russian meteorologists report.
Russia to build platform for Arctic research
Arctic ice melting now dramatic, new data show
Russian Arctic research on thin ice
The Hydrometeorological Center of Russia reports that the ice on January 20 covered a 13.80 million km² large area of the Arctic. This is a little more than in 2012, but 759 000 km² or 5,2 percent less than normal.
The ice loss is largest in the western sector of the Arctic – Greenland Sea, Barents Sea and Kara Sea, where there is as much as 15 percent less ice than normal.
On January 20 the thickness of the ice was 15-30 cm less than normal in the Kara Sea, the center reports.
The same trend is registered by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), who earlier this month reported that the Arctic sea ice extent for December 2012 remained far below average, driven by anomalously low ice conditions in the Kara, Barents, and Labrador seas. According to NSIDC's measuring, the average sea ice extent for December 2012 was 12.20 million km². This is 1.16 million km² below the 1979 to 2000 average for the month, and the second-lowest December extent in the satellite record.


text:
Home Latest News Business Icertis strengthens Workday ties
Icertis strengthens Workday ties
Icertis has achieved Workday Certification status for its Icertis Experience for Workday solution. Icertis first partnered with Workday in 2016 integrating its CLM solution with Workday Procurement. This allows data and workflow to pass between the Workday and the Icertis Contract Management platform. In 2018 it became a Workday Solution Partner. This latest announcement is a significant milestone in the relationship.
There are now more than ten joint customers live on both solutions and they are looking to extend the integration. Peter Boit, chief alliances officer, Icertis said: "We believe our leading contract management platform, when combined with Workday's proven solutions, will enable companies to view their valuable data and contract assets across key finance and human resource functions. Through our partnership with Workday, we can help our clients achieve greater savings and accelerate procurement times so they can focus on moving their businesses forward."
The solution now integrates connects Workday Financial Management, including Workday Procurement, and Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) with the Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform. Enterprise Times spoke with Peter Boit about the announcement.
Since 2018 Icertis has added an amendment process. Originally the system passed contract details on creation. If contracts are amended then Icertis can now pass the updated information across to Workday. This is achieved using API's.
Evolving partnership
Peter Boit, chief alliances officer, Icertis
Is there a go-to-market strategy? Boit answered:
"We've done several events together and have been sponsors at that their events. We have also done a number of lead generation activities. We've been in the field with Workday. When they present their whole spend management story, within the CLM capability, we're in every pitch. That is because most clients want to see what are you bringing to the table completely in this solution, just like they would ask the same of other leaders in this space. So they proactively position having a strong CLM offering, and it's through a multi-year certified partner."
What is the next stage for this relationship?
"Going deeper on the understanding of the future capabilities that clients want. Bringing their spend management offering to the table and where they want to have their contract data, whether it's entitlements or obligations, surfaced and readily available to do whatever work process is needed either upstream or downstream. Going deeper into potential joint capabilities within their HCM platform."
It is still early stages for the HCM integration. Boit confirmed that this integration would include such things as
Employee agreements.
NDAs.
Outsourced services agreement.
Boit added: "So a workday customer that uses HCM to also manage contract services can also take advantage of our advanced contract management capabilities. For example, we have the capability to have contract labour use an electronic badge to log in on a particular project on a day and then have that automated data flow all the way back through to Workday and then matched against the actual contracted spend."
This would also be useful in those firms that perform extensive M&A activities as the CLM platform will allow them to better manage those contracts and terms.
One joint customer is Melbourne-based Transurban, a leader in developing, operating and financing urban toll road networks in Australia and North America. Using the joint solution, Transurban is now able to pass supplier information, pricing, payment terms and other contract data to procurement processes in Workday. This eliminates errors, accelerates contract execution and simplifies cost management.
Megan Cavill, procurement operations delivery manager, Transurban noted: "At Transurban, we work to get people where they want to go, as quickly and safely as possible. We research and develop innovative tolling and transport technology that makes travel easier for everyone. The partnership between Icertis and Workday has helped us increase compliance with purchasing policies to reduce maverick contracting and gain visibility into the performance of our suppliers."
This cadence of improving the relationship should mean that more joint customers are likely. New partnerships between vendors are struck every day. Few of them are successful, to the extent that they strengthen and increase business to both over time. ET asked Boit what has made this partnership successful.
"Workday has just been a fantastic partner to work with. One thing that's very important to us and it is core to Icertis values ours are fairness, openness, respect, teamwork and execution. In my almost 60 years of working, they are more and more important every day when it comes to partnerships. Workday has been as value-based, driven and open and great to work with. Fair, in that they tell you exactly the journey you're going to be on through the partnership. So it is a very open process. It is a rigorous process which we appreciate because that ensures quality between both partners that then is the benefit for customers and it makes us both better."
This announcement, while thin on content for customers is important. It demonstrates that the relationship between the two companies is still active and improving after four years. One of the secrets behind this is that Workday is selective in whom it partners with. It also looks to increase the value of the partnerships for both sides, and more importantly its customers. While it is slightly surprising about the low number of joint customers this may change in the next few months. The current crisis is driving companies to automate processes at a faster rate. Contract management is one of those things that benefits from a cloud solution. Also, with the introduction of deeper ties to the Workday HCM platform, this may deliver some significant efficiency savings.
Icertis
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text:
iceland country desserts
Lamb very often features on celebration dinner menus or on Christmas Day. When I first met Sasie and told her that […]. Fill your basket with all your favourite frozen cakes, gateaux and desserts … Read on an... Guide to Iceland | The Story of the Leading Travel Agency of Iceland, 10 Amazing Icelandic Things the Locals Take for Granted, Food in Iceland | An Introduction to Icelandic Cuisine, Sample some of the best food in Iceland on, Familiarise yourself with Icelandic culture by reading about, 200 g Emmenthaler cheese or 200 g Tilsiter cheese, grated. Read on and acquaint yourself with seven top recipes from Iceland. Icelandic Home-made ice cream is offered on our food tasting tour. He's a friend of my friend Sasie, one of Craig's film school classmates. Wandering what to do with your ice cream? You will see it for sale at many gas stations, in most of the cafés, and there are also some amazing specialist ice cream shops around the country. Let us show you the most interesting and the most unique Icelandic foods that you must try when traveling in Iceland. First-timers are advised to pinch their nostrils whilst taking their first bite, the smell is actually much stronger than the taste! Go back t your car and, with the car running, sit in it and eat your ice cream. Viktoria is a restless adventurer with personal experience in all of the outdoor activities that Iceland has to offer. It can either be eaten as a cooked mixture or be molded into little individual balls covered in sprinkles. Eaten in Iceland for over 2 centuries, there are slight variations found in all Nordic countries. Discovering new foods and never-before-encountered flavors will open your eyes and your taste buds to a whole new range of authentic flavors and dishes. 13 Ways French Fries Are Eaten Around The World, I Ate Subway For The First Time In Years And I Was Shocked By How Tasty It Was, I Tested 11 Of New York's Most Popular Ice Cream Spots — Here's The Verdict, The Best McDonald's Dishes Around The World, What People Eat For Lunch Most in 10 Countries, The Most Amazing Starbucks Drinks Around the World, The Craziest McDonald's Locations Around The World. It comes in the "old" style , or "gamla ís" or the "new" style, or "nýi ís" Pumped in large quantities, it is not uncommon to see see entire families leave with one liter-sized tubs each. Then, they put it all together, and they mix it up furiously. For now, here are ours, allong with some suggestions as to where to go and find them around town. Put into crème brulée ramekins and bake in a water bath at 120 °C for 30 minutes. The Icelandic snúður is a soft cinnamon bun, usually with an icing topping. Locals eat it with salted butter while watching a movie. 1 tablespoon potato starch or 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Experience the famous Golden Circle, a stunning glacier lagoon and the spectacular Diamond beach during Iceland's long, bright days in spring, summer and fall. A particular favourite amongst kids, it's easy to make and always greatly appreciated. You will get to try both of them on our Golden Circle food tasting tour. Let's end the week with yogurt. So here it is, 5 must-see things in Reykjavik that should be on your list. The Canadian nanaimo bar gets its name from the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. What are the most delicious Icelandic recipes? Shark meat has been cured with a particular fermenting process, then hung outside to dry for four to five months. How do you sleep during the... Iceland is a country of many amazing waterfalls, but which are the best ones? It is often wrapped around a small scoop of ice cream. Kleina (pastry), Hangikjöt (smoked lamb) and Pancakes offered on our Golden Circle food tasting tour. How long does a sunset or a sunrise last? We may earn commission from the links on this page. Find all the Christmas desserts you could ever need to celebrate deliciously. The cones are worth it, they are handmade on site! How can you recreate the best Icelandic dishes? Tarta de Santiago is Spanish for cake of Saint James. Pick n' mix. If Austria is known for one kind of dessert, it's the Sachertorte, a dense but not overly sweet chocolate cake invented in 1832 by Austrian Franz Sacher. Hiking & trekking in Iceland & Greenland since 1994. Harðfiskur has been part of the Icelandic diet for centuries. Cook over low heat until heated through. What is "nammi"? Each family has their own recipe but traditional Icelandic meat soup is made from lamb shank or shoulder, potatoes, rutabagas (swede) and carrots. Gulab jamun is one of India's most beloved desserts, though it is also eaten throughout Southeast Asia. While the most historical of Iceland's food tends to be the least appealing, this one is quite the exception. It is great with butter, smoked salmon mutton pâté, hangikjöt (smoked lamb), or with pickled herring or cheese.
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iceland country desserts 2020


National and local headlines have trumpeted the recent opening of the beautiful Trump National Golf Course and clubhouse at the far southern end of the city, which hosts celebrity golf events and the annual Concours d'Elegance.
From Point Vicente Lighthouse, to the rocky tidepools of Abalone Cove and Portuguese Bend, you'll find delight in discovering the many facets of living life fully in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Currently under construction along the bluffs at the former site of Marineland of the Pacific is the fabulous new Terranea Resort. This tranquil 102-acre setting will feature an exquisite 400 room hotel, world-class spa, swimming pools, restaurants, and a limited collection of whole-ownership casitas. For more information about this exciting development, please call me directly.


text:
Q: PHP simple date format I have a date that I need to convert using PHP date. I've tried a couple different things with no success.
Date coming in: 2011/10/14
Date I need going out: October 2011
Do I need to convert my incoming date to time, and then from time to date going out? I don't understand.

A: You can use DateTime and its format() method:
$date = new DateTime('2011/10/14');
echo $date->format('F Y');

A: date("F Y", strtotime($date));

A: $date_out = date("F Y", strtotime($date_in));

strtotime converts a string value to a timestamp.
date converts a timestamp into a string representation based on the format provided as the first argument.

A: You can almost certainly accomplish that and pretty much almost problem related to date/time convertion using the DateTime class of PHP core.


text:
Meet Mueller's new spokesman: Rudy Giuliani
As the Russia special counsel keeps mum about his work, President Trump's lawyer keeps speaking on his behalf.
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN
Rudy Giuliani has told the media in recent days that the special counsel has agreed to limit his interview with President Donald Trump to a narrower set of topics. | Don Ammert/Getty Images
Special counsel Robert Mueller has no-commented his way through more than a year of the Russia probe. But he's recently picked up an unwelcome spokesman of sorts: Rudy Giuliani.
For better or worse, Donald Trump's newest personal lawyer has in his first month on the job claimed to relay several key details about Mueller's top-secret investigation.
Giuliani has told the media in recent days that the special counsel has agreed to limit his interview with Trump to a narrower set of topics. He insists that Mueller has concluded that he legally cannot indict a sitting president. And in a weekend interview with The New York Times, he said Mueller told him of plans to wrap up at least part of his Russia probe by Sept. 1 if Trump grants him an interview.
Skeptics are dubious of Giuliani's claims, noting his self-interest in spinning comments relayed by Mueller or his deputies to Trump's legal team. Some note that Giuliani has occasionally mangled his facts about the Russia investigation and Trump's legal woes.
But in an interview Monday, Giuliani said Mueller hasn't objected to any of his statements. "I am relaying things accurately," he said. As is its custom, Mueller's office declined to comment on Giuliani's statements.
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Giuliani has said that part of his strategy in granting media interviews is "to set the agenda." In practice, that often means spelling out details of the Mueller probe that wouldn't otherwise be made public. Legal experts say that, by doling out scoopy nuggets to reporters, Giuliani and other Trump lawyers have the power to create distorted narratives and unrealistic expectations about Mueller's work.
And given Mueller's assiduous refusal to discuss his own work, Giuliani's comments are virtually impossible to fact-check.
"There is some peril in an unrebutted narrative taking root in the public mind," said Randall Samborn, a former senior Justice Department aide on the George W. Bush-era special counsel investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Samborn cited Giuliani's claim to the Times that Mueller had recently told Trump's legal team he might finish the obstruction of justice portion of his probe by Sept. 1 if Trump agrees to an interview with the special counsel.
"By pounding it into the public conversation, Giuliani is able to sort of draw a line in the sand that makes people think it should be done by then, whether it's done by then or not," Samborn said.
Giuliani is striking at an opportune time. It's been three months since Mueller's last major legal move — a Feb. 23 guilty plea from former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates — and the intervening time has created a vacuum that the Trump team has happily exploited.
DOJ, Trump strike murky deal in FBI informant spat
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and KYLE CHENEY
While Mueller's office issues multiple "no comment" statements per week, Giuliani has been on a whirlwind media tour. Last week alone, the former New York mayor made a 45-minute Friday morning CNN appearance and another lengthy hit on Fox News. He also did multiple interviews with print reporters, including the Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times — and two 30-minute interviews with POLITICO.
Giuliani's appearances generate news in a way that outside pundits can't. A mishmash of former federal prosecutors, veterans of past independent counsel investigations and a smattering of congressional Democrats have dominated the cable airwaves and Twitter over the past year in defending Mueller. But none generates sure-fire headlines like Giuliani, a household name since, as New York's mayor, he oversaw the city's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"There's nothing that beats first-hand knowledge, and Rudy claims to have first-hand knowledge," said Matthew Miller, a former Barack Obama Justice Department spokesman and frequent MSNBC contributor. "He's an actor in this drama, and the rest of us are commentators."
Giuliani's statements coincide with intensifying conservative attacks on Mueller, a strategy shift from cooperation to direct hits on the special counsel amid calls to shutter the entire probe. They also come as Trump allies have made clear that the GOP's 2018 midterm strategy depends in part on exciting their base with warnings of a Mueller-fueled, Democrat-led push for Trump's impeachment next year.
"There's the court of law and the court of public opinion," said Kevin Madden, a longtime GOP operative and former George W. Bush Justice Department spokesman. "Giuliani and the legal team are doing what they can to gain an advantage in that court of public opinion by shifting expectations and playing to the instincts of the president's political base."
poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201805/439/1155968404_5782222847001_5781931135001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404"
The attacks seem to be having an effect, according to a POLITICO-Morning Consult poll that has tracked the special counsel's favorability rating among registered voters over the past six months.
Mueller's unfavorable rankings among Republicans hit a 51 percent peak at the end of April, a significant jump from the 28 percent who offered that opinion when contacted in mid-November. Meanwhile, his favorable rating among self-described Democrats hit its high mark at 51 percent last week — a surge from the 37 percent who reported seeing Mueller in a good light in mid-November. Independents remain on the fence, with 39 percent last week still offering no opinion on the special counsel, compared with 29 percent who see him favorably and 23 percent who see him in a negative light.
Giuliani's media appearances have hardly been seen as universal successes. Earlier this month, for example, the White House was forced to do damage control after Giuliani appeared to contradict Trump during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity by revealing the president had reimbursed his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged affair. Last week on CNN, Giuliani slammed anchor Chris Cuomo when he aired a 1998 interview clip in which Giuliani said President Bill Clinton needed to respond to a subpoena — just moments after he argued Trump couldn't be compelled to sit for an interview, even if it was under subpoena.
"Giuliani certainly seems to be trying to box Mueller in, but he has caused too many friendly-fire incidents along the way to be effective," said Ben LaBolt, a former Obama White House spokesman. He added that Giuliani had also "contradicted the other main message from the White House by talking so much about the state of the investigation, while other officials have argued that it is not substantive and should be wrapping."
3 Predictions for What Mueller Will Do Next
By NELSON W. CUNNINGHAM
Giuliani's critics also blame the press for giving him an unadulterated megaphone to get his message out.
"It's clear as day that this is a deliberate strategy by the Trump team, and unfortunately reporters are complicit," said a former Obama administration communications official. "Trump's team knows they can use the press to launder their own talking points and mask it as news.
"It would be like a reporter letting Coke speak for Pepsi," the former Obama aide added. "Even as Rudy has been humiliated in interview after interview, reporters keep taking his comments at face value. He hasn't been able to get his own client's story straight, let alone speaking for the prosecution."
While Trump's legal team and the president's allies relish the political traction that comes with sharing details from their talks with Mueller, several sources said the revelations — true or not — have little relevance to the special counsel.
"At the end of the day, what matters is what the investigation produces," said Miller. He conceded that Trump's lawyers have found a way to control the Russia narrative during interludes when the special counsel probe takes a quiet turn. "But whenever Mueller moves publicly," he said, "it always blows all of that out of the water."
Donald Trump 2020
Trump Russia scandal
South Carolina's Mark Sanford weighing challenge to Trump


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Research in the Netherlands for Flood Defenses
Thoughts on ICOLD Congress, Vienna
Artifical rain showers on levees to prevent flooding
By Marcel Bottema in Flood Defences, Levees
Sprinkler Irrigation (picture by Colette Fatou, Irstea)
While some countries like Japan and some Balkan countries have suffered from severe floods during the spring and early summer of 2018, The Netherlands and England are suffering from severe drought.
In both England and The Netherlands, June 2018 ranks along the 6 warmest and driest June months of the last century and has been record setting in places, with locally just a few millimeters of rain in six weeks' time. In the Netherlands, the precipitation deficit (precipitation minus evaporation) since the 1st of April is now reaching 200 mm, twice the long-term average for mid-July.
The drought has led to a remarkable situation, which has not gone unnoticed amongst the news media: Some of the levee managing organizations in the Netherlands have now started to irrigate their levees. A remarkable situation indeed, because not only too much water turns out to pose a danger for levees, but also a shortage of water. This applies especially to levees consisting of peat. These are quite common for the peaty and low-lying Northwestern half of The Netherlands, and are especially used as embankments for the raised canals that are used to drain the polders in this area. After desiccation, the peat in such levees becomes a very light material which might practically float away (or experience uplift) if too much pressure is exerted on such a levee. This was by and large the reason for a peat levee breach after a similar drought in the hot summer of 2003, near the Dutch village of Wilnis.
After the above levee breach, the Dutch Foundation STOWA (www.stowa.nl) has initiated a fair amount of research on peat levees and other small levees, and has come up with guidance for their management during drought. As a result, there is now a protocol, which recommends that from a certain drought level on, levee managers start spraying or irrigating their peat levees, together with intensified inspections. In this way, the risk of cracks and setting of peat (and clay) levees is significantly reduced, as is the risk of sudden failure like in the 2003 case of Wilnis.
Further information can be found on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_c2qQSI7BU Video with interviews on drought management of levees, and during the last 3 minutes (15-18 min) also images of levees being irrigated. Kindly provided by Mr Bouke Rijneker of Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland
http://www.deltaproof.nl/Publicaties/deltafactIframe/Stabiliteit_veenkade_m_o__klimaatverandering.aspx?rId=19: An extensive summary (unfortunately only in Dutch) of the drought effects and management options for peat levees. The end of the summary also includes a photograph of the Wilnis peat levee breach.
Marcel Bottema


Ultimate Heroes. Ultimate Villains. Ultimate Responsibility.
Spider-Man must lead his team of teen heroes against the greatest assembly of super villains the world has ever seen! Season Two of the hit series ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN continues as Spider-Man and his team travel to the moon to save the son of Spidey's greatest critic – J. Jonah Jameson. But with a bizarre threat waiting for them on the surface, will they be able to make it out in one piece?
Don't miss the next amazing episode of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN debuts this Sunday at 11a/10c inside Marvel Universe on Disney XD.


Roundabout: Creative Chaos will be hosting a live event this April.
We've invited special guest, Joe Bluhm of MOONBOT Studios, to join us for a one-hour live chat on April 28th. Don't miss out on this epic event.
Live chat with Joe Bluhm. Joe is the Art Lead at MOONBOT Studios, a place where outstanding individual talents combine to create extraordinary things like books, films, apps, games and whatever else tickles their fancy.
Joe is an artist from Laceyville, PA. He has traversed to many cities in pursuit of many artistic passions, and currently leads the artistic charge at MOONBOT Studios, an academy-award winning Animation, Book, and Game studio.
Joe has published several books including REJECTS: the extreme art of retail caricature, and has illustrated a New York Times bestselling picture book. He and his pals are passionate about many forms of art and storytelling.
Don't forget to order your copy of Joe's book, REJECTS: the Extreme Art of Retail Caricature on Amazon , today!


A detailed list (external link) of the areas covered can be consulted on the IET website.
Access is provided to the content of abstracts of articles in over 4,000 journals, 2,200 conference proceedings and relevant books, reports and dissertations. The entries are classified by subject area specialists using a thesaurus maintained by the IET. The database contains over 10 million indexed abstracts and covers the period from 1898 onwards.
At the ETH-Bibliothek, the INSPEC database is accessible via the Web of Science (external link) portal, meaning that it can be searched at the same time as other databases.


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Спектар може значити:
 Спектар (физичка хемија)
 Спектар (физика)
 Спектар (боја), или дугине боје

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Biografia
Era la figlia più giovane e settimo figlio di William Henry Vanderbilt, e di sua moglie, Maria Louisa Kissam. Suo nonno era Cornelius Vanderbilt. Ha frequentato la Miss Porter's School a Farmington.

Matrimonio
Sposò, il 20 dicembre 1881 a St. Bartholomew's Church, il dottor William Seward Webb (1851-1926), figlio di James Watson Webb. William era un medico e dirigente della ferrovia che in seguito divenne membro della Camera dei rappresentanti del Vermont e fu fondatore e presidente dei Figli della Rivoluzione Americana. Ebbero quattro figli:

 Frederica Vanderbilt Webb (1882–1949), che sposò Ralph Pulitzer;
 James Watson Webb, Sr. (1884–1960), sposò Electra Havemeyer;
 William Seward Webb, Jr. (1887–1956), sposò Gertrude Emily Gaynor;
 Vanderbilt Webb (1891–1956), sposò Aileen Osborn.

Con il suo $ 10 milioni ricevuti in eredità, comprò e sviluppò Shelburne Farms a Shelburne, nel 1899. Nel 1909 Shelburne Farms, ospitò il presidente William Howard Taft.

Nel 1923, fece costruire una casa sulla Dunbar Road a Palm Beach, in Florida. In seguito, fece costruire un'altra casa a Gulf Stream, in Florida.

Era un'appassionata del golf, giardinaggio, viaggi e lettura. È stata una delle prime donne dell'Everglades Club.

Note

Bibliografia

Collegamenti esterni

Eliza


#1 Dog In Agility for US!! Way To Go Sunny!
Our alumnus, Sunny, is the #1 Rescue Dog in Agility for the entire US! She's also the #1 Shepherd in Agility! Here's a mini video of Sunny in action. Her mommy is so proud of her. This family also has Chelsea from us and Chelsea is also a GREAT competitor!


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The Economic Road Ahead For Team Modi: A Set Of Reforms That Should Be Looked At
by Aniruddha Kekatpure and Aashish Chandorkar - May 28, 2019 05:28 AM
Narendra Modi during an election rally in Dwarka, New Delhi. (Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Modi 1.0 was largely focussed on repairing the stressed banking system and undertaking structural economic resets.
Modi 2.0 should be the rocket that propels the economy, breaking currently weak gravitational barriers.
The 2019 election verdict is a watershed moment – the first time since 1984, a party has been re-elected on its own strength. The vote share of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at 44.6 per cent is amongst the highest vote share ever for a pre-poll block since India became independent from British rule.
The BJP's "Sankalp Patra" envisages the Indian economy reaching $5 trillion by 2025 from $2.8 trillion in 2018. This assumes the economy to compound at 9 per cent over the next decade. Since 2010, the Indian economy compounded at 7 per cent till 2018. A hostile beginning to this decade saw high inflation, high deficits, weakening currency and slowing economic growth, which eventually manifested into a crippling non-performing assets (NPAs) phase for the banking system in the second half of the decade.
Modi 1.0 was largely focused on repairing the stressed banking system and undertaking structural economic resets - Goods and Services Tax, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and Real Estate Regulatory Act among others. Modi 1.0 has laid strong structural foundations which should put India back into strong growth mode over the next decade.
Accordingly, Modi 2.0 has its focus set up on ramping up infrastructure spend and turning around the investment cycle. To sustainably achieve this, there are some major immediate challenges which need to be overcome. We highlight six key issues in the realm of finance and economy, which the new government should look at on priority.
Shoring Liquidity and Credit Uptake - PSB Recapitalisation
Since FY16, the government has infused Rs 2.5 trillion in public sector banks (PSBs) (back loaded Rs 2 trillion over FY18-FY19) to capitalise and resolve the vulnerable PSB balance sheets. These banks have been reeling under unprecedented Non- Performing Assets from the 2004-12 credit cycle. Simultaneously, the game- changing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, has helped PSBs to recover Rs 1.95 trillion from their stressed assets over FY18 and FY19 with Rs 610 billion recoveries from two large steel NPAs round the corner.
While these capital and recovery initiatives have helped the banks heal and stabilise their balance sheets, they remain challenged for growth capital. PSBs being back in growth mode can help credit creation and economic growth, in addition to them playing a constructive role in alleviating pockets of new stress. Submission of the Dr. Jalan Committee report on excess capital of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is expected by June 2019. Estimates suggest that more than Rs 1 trillion can be transferred to the exchequer, which in turn can be used to provide growth capital to the PSBs. Importantly, this transfer will be "fiscal deficit neutral".
Tiding The Crisis of Confidence in Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)
While Modi 1.0 started with the "legacy inheritance" of stressed PSB balance sheets, Modi 2.0 is starting with the stressed condition of NBFCs. While the trigger for this crisis of confidence in NBFCs was the default by IL&FS, the ensuing pain for NBFCs is largely self-inflicted, brought upon by the pursuit of rapid growth over the last few years, especially by Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).
The pursuit of rapid growth by building a loan book of long duration assets financed by short-term liabilities, largely funded by mutual funds and money markets, is unsustainable. Over time, for some players, this has resulted in unsustainable Asset Liability Mismatches. So long as the music was on, and the markets were funding these mismatches, the dancing continued. With the default by IL&FS, the music stopped and the provision of liquidity to the sector has been impaired, except those who have a strong parentage or long vintage in the business. Nonetheless, the cost of capital has increased for everyone.
The impaired liquidity has two parts – Systemic and Entity Specific Solvency. RBI has been on the ball over the systemic part with liquidity infusion and forex swaps. However, it is the Entity Specific liquidity challenge that needs immediate attention. Another default by any large HFC or NBFC has the potential to balloon into a much larger crisis of confidence for the sector, where many entities now have balance sheets in excess of Rs 500 billon. While banks have RBI as the lender of last resort, NBFCs do not have recourse to such systemic arrangements. Hence, driven by fears of insolvency, wild rumours can begin to circulate and liquidity can dry up for many vulnerable players at the same time.
While RBI has ruled out any backstop funding arrangement for NBFCs, as an immediate near-term solution, PSBs can step in and buy out the good portion of the loan portfolios of the stressed entities. This will ensure liquidity for the struggling entities. Simultaneously, the RBI and the NHB should undertake an Asset Quality Review (AQR) of the Systemically Important (SI) NBFCs/HFCs. This will help allay fears over asset quality and solvency, thereby aiding the markets to provide liquidity.
The manifesto of the BJP has eloquently pronounced the intent of the government to reduce the cost of capital to revive the investment cycle. Since November 2016, Consumer Inflation has averaged 3.5 per cent and remained comfortably below the 4 per cent anchor rate of RBI. Importantly, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has remained consistently below the RBI's target ceiling of 6 per cent since September 2014. As a result, the real interest rates in the economy have averaged around 300 bps (a basis point is one hundredth of a percentage) since September 2014 and stand at 425 bps currently.
Graphs indicating CPI trajectory
Another graph on the same lines.
This has kept monetary policy quite restrictive in India. Coupled with stressed PSBs, credit creation and money supply in the economy has remained far below the long-term averages of 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively since 2012.
With important legislative changes such as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and Inflation targeting mandate of RBI decisively in place, it is time the Cost of Capital is substantially lowered to kick-start the animal spirits in the economy and revive the investment cycle. With the slowing of the consumption cycle, in part driven by the stressed NBFCs, and lack of fiscal space to ramp up government expenditure, revival of the private investment cycle becomes all the more important.
The government under pressure to control fiscal deficit, coupled with a tight monetary policy means India is running both and fiscal and monetary policies counter-cyclically in an economy under duress. The Finance Ministry and the RBI have to work together to address this issue.
Agriculture, SME/MSME and Real Estate Support
Two key economic planks of the Opposition over the last couple of years have been agrarian distress and employment opportunities. The competitive populism and politics of loan waivers over the last few years has found traction in state elections largely due to the stress in the farm economy.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the farming community has backed the BJP strongly on the back of its income support scheme. With the income support scheme in addition to hikes in Minimum Support Prices (MSPs), the BJP government seems to have found a right policy plug to balance the near-term income support with longer term initiatives like crop insurance and a National Agricultural Market. However, it will be pertinent to ensure the flow of credit and investments into the farm economy and hence, resolution of the NBFC stress on a war footing is essential since they play an important role in the last-mile delivery of credit in the rural economy.
Likewise, small traders and businesses too have evidently stood firmly behind the BJP government in the Lok Sabha elections. Despite the MUDRA scheme, the flow of credit to this segment of economy could get impaired if NBFC stress lingers. With the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) and GST, the real estate sector is undergoing a structural transformation and given its large multiplier effect on the economy, it is necessary to help the sector by meaningfully reducing interest rates. While larger questions remain on the initiative of the developers to undertake pricing adjustments to clear the historic inventory in key geographies, from the policy angle, it is pertinent to reduce the systemic cost of capital to aid demand propensity.
Due to various reasons, there wasn't much of a movement on labour reforms during Modi 1.0. Various states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan changed their own laws to ease some of the archaic labour laws which India inherited from the British and never amended. However, a systemic action in the early days of Modi 2.0 can really benefit the industry. The government has the requisite political capital and the Opposition does not have steam left for quick galvanising against any government proposals.
The dilemma in labour law reform is that the government will likely get stick from both ends. Any small change will be made to sound draconian by labour bodies and unions. All change will be derided by the business commentators as not ambitious enough. Stuck between rock and a hard place, successive governments have made absolutely no progress on this subject. Modi 2.0 should approach this issue in byte-size increments.
Consolidation of labour laws across various codes, even with minimal changes to actual rules and regulations, can itself help the industry. Today, there is a lot of confusion on basic definitions itself which concern management of human capital. A consolidated set of laws, which shrink the current 44 central laws into four Acts will be a great start. Each Act can deal with codes in specific areas – industrial relations, social security, wages, and workplace safety and wellbeing.
This consolidation – a lot of the work on this has already been done in Modi 1.0, but the codes are yet to reach the Parliament – will help significantly reduce the cost of compliance and cost of judicial action. This itself will be a big gain for the industry.
The more contentious provisions around hiring and firing, creating competition for the costly Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and simplifying employee contracts can be phased over the Modi 2.0 term.
Make-in-India Opportunity
During Modi 1.0, India launched an ambitious Make-in-India programme, which sought to localise parts of the manufacturing process and reduce India's import dependence, at the same time boost export earnings. The progress has been mixed. Some interesting projects have taken off in the defence and auto sectors, and parts of the mobile manufacturing value chains have been Indianised, but there is a lot more to do.
Additionally, the opportunity is bigger now, with the United States of America (USA) and China being in the middle of a trade war. Neither side has shown any intent of backing down from their respective positions. India can make use of this wedge to boost exports to both the USA and China.
India can target specific Chinese manufacturing companies with offers of easier land buys and other facilities to set up shop. The companies, which are facing tariff sanctions by the USA, may want to hedge their bets using India as a secondary base, which may grow over time. Simpler labour laws will play a key part in making this transition a viable proposition. Other structural interventions like providing necessary infrastructure support, tax simplification, and quicker time to production may make the Indian value proposition more attractive.
The government should look at promoting the two defence corridors in Tamil Nadu and in Uttar Pradesh. All offset production and fulfillment can be moved to the two corridors, where the respective states have promised to simplify processes and procedures to attract fresh investment.
The Commerce Ministry should focus on designing export incentives which stay compliant with the World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff norms. In the years to come, USA and other countries will keep challenging India's export incentive programme, which is based on a combination of export value and their destination. Instead, the ministry should design incentives at the production stage, which then doesn't fall askew at the point of export.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ran his first term in a pragmatic fashion, focusing on fixing the plumbing. His non-doctrinaire, do-what-is-needed approach was disliked by his capitalist backers and communist haters alike for different reasons. In the end, common people saw value in his approach to run the economy and voted overwhelmingly for his state as a "catalyst and aggregator worldview".
The second term can be about reducing friction in factor markets which he can influence – labour and capital. This, backed by specific incentivisation of industry can put India firmly on the path of achieving $5 trillion in GDP in quick time.
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Economic reforms
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Will Take-Two Interactive's "Grand Theft Auto V" Deliver Another Blowout Quarter?
"Grand Theft Auto V" has been the driving force behind Take-Two Interactive's market-crushing returns.
Trading near all-time highs and valued at roughly 47 times forward earnings estimates, Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) is priced for stellar performance and will be under the microscope when it reports first-quarter earnings on Aug. 2. Whether the company turns in another blockbuster quarter will mostly hinge on the performance of its hugely successful Grand Theft Auto V.
Strong unit sales and spending on the game's online mode have been at the heart of the publisher's tremendous stock performance over the last three years, and there are questions as to how long the title can continue to defy gravity. Take-Two is guiding for GTA V's sales to slow in the current fiscal year, which is sensible given that the title first launched in September 2013, but there are signs that point to the company's runaway hit once again surpassing expectations and driving another blockbuster earnings period.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2018, Take-Two is targeting revenue between $390 million and $440 million. Hitting the midpoint would represent a roughly 33% year-over-year increase. Net income is expected to be between $74 million and $85 million, equating to earnings per share between $0.65 and $0.75 -- up substantially from a loss of $0.46 in the prior-year period. While the company is targeting for a sales increase, comments indicate that this result will be achieved by improved revenues from NBA 2K and its WWE games offsetting declines for GTA V.
Grand Theft Auto V has outperformed the company's expectations in every quarter since its release, but guiding for declining performance appears to be a responsible move by Take-Two. The Grand Theft Auto series has been a powerhouse since the release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001, but with more than 80 million units shipped and a hugely profitable online mode, GTA V is a success on another level -- and one that has confounded typical sales modeling.
Our guidance assumes that GTA Online will moderate in ... 2018. It did grow significantly in 2017, and we continue to support it. But since it's unlike anything else that we've ever had and we have very little visibility into how long it will continue this trend of growth, we've included it as moderating in this year's guidance.
While the company expects GTA V to slow down, that doesn't seem to be happening quite yet.
So, Grand Theft Auto's chart performance has remained remarkably consistent, while overall North American software sales have slumped due to a steep decline in the May retail month. However, May 2016 was a much bigger month for new software launches than May 2017, with last year's debuts of hit titles including Uncharted 4, Doom, and Overwatch, creating an unfavorable comparison for the month this year.
With that in mind, there's a fair chance that the base Grand Theft Auto V game actually increased year-over-year sales in America last quarter. The title continues to perform well outside the U.S. as well, placing as the third-best-selling game in the U.K. for both April and June and coming in as the territory's fourth-best-selling game in May. That's great news from a retail perspective, but, perhaps more importantly, it suggests that recurrent consumer spending in the game's online mode will see a sizable increase because the installed base is now significantly larger.
With the launch of a content update for Grand Theft Auto Online's Cunning Stunts mode in mid-March, the introduction of both Tiny Racers and Land Grab in April, and the debut of Gun Running in June, there were a range of catalysts for strong spending within GTA Online last quarter.
Looking at data from SteamCharts, which tracks games played on the PC gaming platform Steam, the average number of concurrent GTA V players for April through June increased 57% over the prior-year period. It's worth noting that average player numbers declined roughly 8% compared to the first quarter of the calendar 2017, however this makes sense given that there's some seasonality to video game engagement. That 8% sequential drop is also substantially below the 20% decline in average concurrent players from the first quarter to the second quarter of calendar 2016.
Granted, this only gives us a look at engagement on the PC platform, but it's reasonable to expect that online engagement trends are roughly similar on Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox platforms.
Does this mean that Take-Two will crush earnings?
Based on indicators pointing toward strong performance for Grand Theft Auto V, it seems likely that Take-Two's revenues will come in at the top end of its sales target and it would not be surprising to see sales exceed its guidance range. The net income picture is more difficult to predict, as development expenses for the company's upcoming games, content expansions, and maintenance for its existing catalog could ramp up unexpectedly and come in higher than anticipated. That said, I think there's a good chance that GTA V will once again deliver a better-than-expected performance and help continue Take-Two's streak of beating earnings expectations.


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Q: Searching and comparing various values using VBA I have to create a macro which will:

*

*Get the value from the cell A1 search this value in column C.

*If the value in cell A1 exists in column C, the macro needs to be compare the value in cell B1 with values in column D.

*If the value in cell A1 exists in column C AND the value in cell B1 exists in column D, then the text "Values found" should appear in cell E1.

The above needs to happen for all non empty rows in column A.
I was trying to use the following formula:
=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(A2,$C$2:$C$138,0)),"Load number not found","Load number found")

But it not working as I want. I have limited access to internet so I can't check all web sites. Would you please help me. Thanks a lot.

A: To check if A1 is in column C and if B1 is in column D (in the same row A1 was found in column C), then you need to do the following:
=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(A1,$C:$C,0)),"Load number not found",IF(B1=INDEX($D:$D,MATCH(A1,$C:$C,0),1),"Load number found","Load number not found"))

The first IF checks if A1 is in column C, the second IF checks if B1 is in column D (in the same row A1 was found in column C)
It will return "Load number found" only if both conditions are true. Otherwise it will return "Load number not found".
You can write a macro to do the same thing. But the easier way is to lock the cells in column E only and protect the sheet so that users will not accidentally change any of the formulas.

Update:
Since Column C can have duplicates, need to use the following array formula:
=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(1,(A1=$C:$C)*(B1=$D:$D),0)),"Load number not found","Load number found")

When you paste this formula to E1, make sure to press CTRL + Shift + Enter instead of just pressing the Enter key.

A: If I understand, a conventional solution with formulae is to concatenate your C and D column data and then search that. If you insert a new columnC with:
=D2&E2

copied down to suit you could apply (but say in ColumnF rather than ColumnE) your existing formula with only slight modification:
=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(A1&B1,$C$2:$C$138,0)),"Load number not found","Load number found")

subject to quite what is in which row.


The washing of the hands after a meal prior to reciting Grace After Meals.
Can you abandon a personal chumra if it was based on a misunderstanding of the mitzvah?
Is it necessary to cover the mayim acharonim remains?


Don't Utter A Note by Anton Delmar. Performed 2nd – 7th Feb 2015.
Thanks to The Salvation Army, Market St. Newtown for use of window space for advertising this play.
Copyright © 2016 Newtown Amateur Dramatic Society. All Rights Reserved.
Newtown Amateur Dramatic Society is a registered charity, number 256960, and is based at Powys Theatre, Canal Road, Newtown, Powys.
2005-06-Whose Life Is It Anyway?


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FOLDEMORT: Written by Superfolder Guillermo
William Michael's Diary
5th of September 2015
Hey! I'm William Michaels! I'm so excited to start school today in IGS! I'm just so glad I got accepted. Many people don't make it through the short interview they make you at the beginning. They really prepare you for the final GCSE and A-Level exams in a few year's time. I'm so, so glad. I'll be keeping this notebook or diary to tell you guys about the stuff I'll be doing!
Year seven is just awesome. I signed up for cooking class, science and media studies. I'll be writing soon!
Wow. Literally wow. I can't believe I totally forgot about this diary throughout the year. Now I'm starting year 8!!!
It was kind of hard to find friends at first, so I went scouting from group to group until I found some people.
I first met a really nice girl called Miriam Hazel. She's the best, like, really. She's got a best friend called Mia Green. Mia is an expert in computers. She totally looks like she could hack the entire school's system.
I made some other friendships, like a really small kid named Peter, but he kind of run away after I said hi to him. Weird!
Anyways, see you soon!
Another year is gone, unfortunately. All my good intention with which I start off each year end up being sabotaged by someone or just… taken down by myself.
Every single year I start by saying 'this is gonna be a great year this- this is gonna be a great year that-
But in the end, I always end up the way I usually do: annoyed and tired. I'm just going to try and take thing differently this time, even though it's very difficult with a certain kid: Henry Walker.
Ever since year 7, I've been the best student in the whole school.
I've beat everybody in the midterms, the finals… practically everything. Suddenly, this Henry Walker guy has started getting some really high grades as well. He's not a menace, I mean. I'm the best and that's it… But his character gets on my nerves…
I hate him, I definitely hate him. By the time the year 9 finals came up, he had somehow managed to beat me in two tests. That wasn't the worst part: He won the yearly award to the best student.
It just doesn't fit inside my head. How can a guy who's goofing around all day long with his friend Alastor Bismarck get the best grades?
It's confusing, but I'm going find out this year. Even if I have to play dirty, I'm the one who's going to get the best grades in the end. Nothing will stand in my way.
DARK PATH
By William Michaels
I closed the diary I had kept for four years. It all started with hopeful expectations, but slowly turned into some kind of hatred towards Henry.
At the end of last year, when Cassius DeNogaret was finally taken to Tuckerton Juvenile prison for once and for all. I hated his guts. Everything Cassius did was only to get attention or as he always put it 'freedom of everybody having finger puppets.'
That of course was the beginning, later on I heard that while I was orchestrating my plans to screw up Henry's group by sending Eva to swim in a lake at 3 A.M, Cassius DeNogaret was giving a speech in Trafalgar Square to try to end the school.
The only thing I'm gonna say is that I'll be operating much more quietly than that guy ever did.
Picture this: Henry and his group of troublemakers; Alastor Bismarck, Sirius Black Paper; Kevin Harrington, Remus Lupaper and Peter Chadwick, Peter Pettyfold all getting stuck on the same net, not knowing who to trust or what to do.
I have a plan that will destroy everything they think they know, and when they figure that out, it will already be too late. Henry Walker will not be attending IGS ever again, and I will claim my prize.
By Mia Green
William sat us all down around a square table in his house. He was my friend, so I had seen his house before.
I could see that his house was creepy, though. Creepier than the last time I had been there.
Ilkley had a history with noblemen, from whom the Michaels family inherited the house from.
Around the Industrial Age, when the city of Leeds grew bigger and bigger than ever before, London was the capital that imported every type of material or industrial equipment to Leeds.
As we all know, the rich became richer and the poor, who now worked in factories, with little to no economical benefit but a wide range of health problems, became poorer.
Some rich gentleman, Adam Specter, was in charge of the administration of the imports and gained a wealthy amount of money (or at least that's what William told me when we first met).
Unfortunately for Mr Specter, it wasn't long before he grew ill, and he retired from his life as an industrial manager and headed to a nearby town that was being constructed: Ilkley.
When he realised all the money he had made, he spent the rest of his fortune on three things; the railway from Ilkley to Leeds, a huge mansion for himself and his family, and the construction of a school for the town's newborn; Ilkley Grammar.
When he passed away, his family inherited his house, and had been passed from hand to hand, owner to owner ultil William Michael's parents.
The once happy and fulfilling house I once visited had changed completely now that I had come back after the End of Year trip to the Highlands of Scotland.
I entered his room, illuminated by a bright, green light lamp. The walls were black and there were piles of paper, some folded into blank paper puppets, and some not.
William entered his room and leaned on his wall.
"Welcome back, Mia." He smirked.
"William! I'm happy to see you!" I said, but I really wasn't. It hurt me to look at him. I knew his obsession with getting high grades had gotten to his head.
It had been tearing him apart psychologically. It let him think that no matter how many A's he got he wasn't good enough, and now with Henry…
The obsession was now manifesting itself in his physical appearance. His eyes were swollen and the capillaries in them were flaring red.
He carried big, purple eyebags and they were watery as well.
The growing acne was nothing to brag about, and his canine teeth, which had always been pointy enough, somehow looked sharper and stood out.
"I'm… happy to see you too," He continued his smirk and grabbed one of his folded pieces of paper, "Come now, we're waiting for you."
I nodded and followed him to the dining room, where Miriam Hazel, Thomas Andersen, Holly Kim, Jake Hazel and Alan Rawlins already sat uncomfortably.
"What's Alan doing here?" I asked William. Alan was one of the kids who had defended Eva that camp night.
"He's a friend. He's discovered his true purpose."
Alan smiled from the other side of the room. He looked both annoyed and pleased at the same time.
"Gentlemen, Ladies," William sat down, "We're gathered here today because we've been spotted. Our old plan is in danger."
"But William," Jake Hazel interrupted him, "How did this happen?"
William looked very annoyed.
"For once, let this be the last time you interrupt me, Jake," He bitterly replied, "And four- no, five boys saw us at the camp. It was a bad idea to hang out at nigh."
"Who caught you, again?" Jake asked, and William shot him a menacing look.
"Henry Walker, Kevin Harrington, Peter Chadwick, Alastor Bismarck and I," Alan Rawlins mocked Jake,who wanted to open his mouth to complain, probably to ask again why he was here with us then, "Not that you'd know anything about changing sides, right?"
"Jake, Alan, shut up!" I yelled.
"The plan is simple, yet complicated," William put his hands together, "We frame Henry Walker so he gets expelled from Ilkley Grammar. He will lose the support of his family, friends… girlfriend. He will be defeated, taking the guilt for something he didn't do, and having no way to prove the opposite. He will go to Juvenile prison and I will earn my rightful place in the school's glorious hall of fame."
We were left speechless. I was left speechless. This didn't seems like him at all. He looked nothing like the boy I met in year 7.
"And how will we frame him?" Thomas Andersen, a red haired kid asked. He had been sitting quietly and listening until now.
"Peter C. Can be easily convinced to switch sides. He's unstable. He's scared. You didn't even see his face that night back in the camp. He barely did anything!
"We go to him, and it's easy from then on. We get the info, threaten him, and the rest we have."
He proudly stood up, and this time Alan raised his hand.
"I guess you're acting a bit Voldemort-like. Do we have to wear puppets, too?"
William looked down to his pocket.
"I tried, I really did. But nothing got the essence of what I was hoping, except for…"
He started pulling out a grey stick of his cape. It was impossible to not see who he had turned into.
He was waving Lord Voldemort's squeletical wand.
"Who are we to play around with puppets when we can have the wands?"
"Those are not cheap." Alan remarked.
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."
Two of his maids entered the room with a pile of collector 's wands boxes.
"Ah, here they are! Well, you know what they say. The wand chooses the wizard!"
The maids started giving them out, like, for free right there.
I had been a huge Harry Potter fan when I was little and recognised all the wands. Jake got a Fenrir Greyback wand, the werewolf. Miriam Hazel got Bellatrix Lestrange's distinctive, curvy wand. Thomas Andersen got Lucius Malfoy's. He was excited, because it was one of the most expensive.
Holly Kim got one that looked like a snake. It was one of the newer one's from no character especifically. It was the 'Dark Arts wand'.
"I was told you did well as a snake." William halfway asked her, and she nodded.
Alan got Snape's. He also had his puppet.
And I got the last one… Narcisa Malfoy's. With that weird handle.
"We're all settled!" William laughed, "Let's go hunt Peter."
By Thomas Andersen
I totally got in the role when he gave me the wand. I wasn't very convinced at first, but I have to admit he was very persuasive. How could I say no to a guy who spent 30 bucks on me?
Ilkley is a small town, so William divided us into different areas, so each one had a sector of town. Hopefully we'd see Peter. Since we hadn't started school yet, it was our only hope.
We did find him on his way to the shop after a long and boring conversation with myself.
I quickly got back to the walkie-talkie channel and pushed the button.
"All Death Pleaters. Peter Chadwick has been spotted near the Tesco entrance, I repeat, near the Tesco entrance."
I ran towards him. He didn't see me until I was face to face with him.
"Oh! Hey, Thomas!" He almost dropped his shopping bags.
Should I intimidate him? No, I knew a better way.
"Hey, I really wanted to join your team of friends. The Ori-Marauders, you know?"
"Oh!" He was surprised, "I'm not sure we accept new members right now-"
"Come on! Please. I really want to. Do you know where I could get an interview?"
He thought for a second.
"If I don't recall wrong, Henry Walker is going to the treehouse in Alastor Bismarck's yard to meet Eva next Tuesday at 20:00, that's all I know. Do you know where his house is?"
I did not, but we could send someone for sure to find out. This guy didn't look like he could guide me anyways.
"Yes, of course. Thanks for your help!"
"Anytime!" He smiled.
When I got back to the team, Peter was gone, and I had the info, which I gave to them.
"Perfect, perfect," William looked around at every single one of us, and then settled for Alan, "Alan, you know them best. Do me a favor and follow them, figure out where this treehouse is, and mark the house with a green snake. Can you do that for me?"
Alan nodded, not very convinced.
"I'll do what I can."
A few days later, Alan mentioned he'd picked their trail and found their house, marking it with a snake.
William had never been prouder.
The next Tuesday at 19:00, it was getting dark already when William rounded us all up once more.
"I've been giving it some thought over who it should be."
"Wait," Jake interrupted, "What exactly are we going to do?"
"That is my problem, not yours." William cuttingly replied.
"So, we're not coming with you?" Miriam seemed disappointed.
"It's something I should do myself. It ist be me who ends this annoying fight."
Of course, none of those present knew that that night, William Michaels was going to approach Alastor Bismarck's house, look for the treehouse in the yard, and set fire to the treehouse right when Henry was coming to his meeting with Eva.
Since William ran away and went into hiding, the only information we got about Henry's framing was Henry quickly approached the burning yellow and red treehouse, where he knew Eva was in. William got out from the back door and took some pictures of Henry looking at the house; others of Henry trying to go up the ladder, which he quickly deleted; and some of Henry with the dropped lighter on the ground, which he quickly picked up to figure out what had happened.
But when the fire disappeared, no one was inside the treehouse, there was no sign of Eva until days later at school when we heard she was in a hospital, and Henry's picture holding a lighter in front of the fire was published everywhere.
He was taken to court and sent to Tuckerton Juvenile prison where Cassius DeNogaret was sent after his last failed attempt to destroy the school.
True, this was crazy, I mean, who would have imagined what William was going to do? After we heard he had set fire to the place, the first thing some of us thought was leaving the group of Death Pleaters.
We all disliked Henry, yes. But this was taking it to another level. We weren't killers, no matter what he made us think.
But the team was hanging by a thread. If we left right then, William would throw a fit. We were scared of ever being involved in this, because all it would take would be for William to turn us all in except for himself and then we would be doomed, because who would believe that the perfect William could ever do such a thing?
THE CHOSEN ONE?
By Jake Hazel
Several days later, the school year started all over again, our last school year 2019-2020. After that, we'd graduate and move on. William would earn the highest marks in the school (and probably in the state too).
I thought this was over and done with, but Thomas Andersen bumped into me right on the first day of school.
"What the-."
"I don't have much time, but I just figured something out."
"What?" I asked, perplexed.
"Henry had a little brother."
My eyes widened really fast.
"Wha-. And now you tell me?"
"I didn't know until now. What do we do?"
"Should we tell William?"
"I guess we should. Not it!"
Thomas looked at his watch and looked at me furiously.
"Alright. I'll tell him. I'll also tell him to do something about it himself. Nobody else involved."
"Seems fair. You tell him."
That was a bad call. That was exactly the thing that got him suspended from school for bullying a year 7 student.


text:
Kim Ridealgh
Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics & Head of School, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies
Member, Language and Communication Studies
Member, Area Studies
EmailK.Ridealgh@uea.ac.uk
'Look after him in the Night': Exploring the linguistic manifestation of the father/son relationship dynamic
Ridealgh, K., 2020, Ein Kundiger der in die Gottesworte eingedrugen ist: Festschrift für den Ägyptologen Karl Jansen-Winkeln zum 65 Geburstag. Hsu, S-W., Laisney, V. P-M. & Moje, J. (eds.). Munster: Zaphon, p. 263-272 10 p. (Ägypten und Altes Testament (ÄAT)).
'Without you I am an Orphan': Exploring Emotion and Interpersonal Pragmatics in the Late Ramesside Letters
Ridealgh, K., 2020, The Expression of Emotions in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Hsu, S-W. & Llop, J. (eds.). Brill, p. 126-143 18 p.
Yes Dear! Spousal Dynamics in the Late Ramesside Letters
Ridealgh, K., 2011, Current Research in Egyptology 2010: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Symposium . Horn, M., Kramer, J., Soliman, D., Staring, N., van den Hoven, C. & Weiss, L. (eds.). Oxford: Oxbow, p. 124-130 7 p. (Current Research in Egyptology).
A Brief Analysis of the Representations of Masculinity within a Case Study of Pre-Amarna Eighteenth Dynasty Funeral Art in Ancient Egypt
Ridealgh, K., 2008, Current Research in Egyptology 2008: Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Symposium . Gashe, V. & Finch, J. (eds.). Rutherford Press, p. 119–128


Sundaram Finance Ltd started operations in 1954 with the mission of providing financial services to small truck operators. Sundaram Finance emerged as a leading financier of the transport sector. Devoting its services to the growth of the road transport industry, Sundaram Finance is today synonymous with automotive financing in the country.
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The tree that fell in Photo Editor Mars Vilaubi's yard was destined for something other than the fire pit.
After working on the photos for Stephen Russell's new book, The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms, I was set on growing some of my own mushrooms.
A small tree went down in our yard a couple of weeks ago, so I cut it up and let the logs age. This weekend I drilled holes and inoculated them with Blue Oyster plug spawn. The whole process was fairly quick and easy and hopefully in six months to a year I'll have a nice crop of delicious mushrooms.
Learn to grow your favorite edible mushrooms on a small scale or for market! The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms is available wherever books are sold.