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Catch-2014
BlogPolitics
It's Time Sensible People Stopped Endorsing the Daily Mail
Let's make no bones about it, the Daily Mail is a reactionary mouthpiece, whose target readership comprises the most narrow minded and bigoted in our society. If that seems a little harsh, don't forget that it was the Daily Mail who took an editorial stance in favour of Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, and who also published the now infamous editorial piece "Hurrah for the Blackshirts", praising Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists.
The Daily Mail is staunchly anti-immigration, anti-welfare, anti-human rights, anti LGBT, anti-Europe, anti pretty much anything that doesn't conform to their own particular view of conservatism and so-called "traditional values". It's a paper which preys on people less powerful than them, it's a paper which isn't afraid to make political capital out of tragedy, or to bully ordinary members of the public in order to sell newspapers or push their own right-wing agenda. It's a contemptible publication, and I despise everything about it.
There, I said it. Sometimes it's good to get these things off your chest.
In the last couple of years, the Daily Mail seems to have crept into my field of vision more often than I'd like. That's largely down to the internet – Twitter in particular – and the paper's somewhat reactionary stance towards those who support Scottish independence.
The paper was (quite rightly) condemned by the wider Labour Party last year, after it referred to Ed Miliband's late father as "evil" and a man "who hated Britain". Likewise when they accused Harriet Harman and Patricia Hewitt of supporting a Paedophile ring, The Daily Mail demonstrated the shameful way in which they operate; all the while – never forget – profiting handsomely from it.
There is however, an unsettling hypocrisy here in Scotland with regards attitudes to The Daily Mail, particularly when it comes to the issue of Scottish independence, or more recently the Scottish National Party.
For a couple of years now, the paper has led the charge against online independence campaigners, or "CyberNats" as they would call them. Essentially, they take offensive tweets, or online comments by members of the public (often out of context), and insinuate tacit support (or even coordination) by the SNP. It's dirty tactics, but the Daily Mail has conducted this sort of campaign against countless groups whom they disagree with over the years. It's nothing new.
What is most worrying though, is the extent to which supposedly progressive, liberal individuals – even politicians – are content to give the Mail's gutter journalism a pass, when it suits their own agenda. Scottish Labour Deputy (and current front-runner for leader) Kezia Dugdale even wrote an entire article for The Daily Mail in 2014, as a part of the paper's sinisterly titled campaign "CyberNat watch".
Just this last week, the Daily Mail plumbed greater depths than even I thought possible. Firstly, announcing the tragic death of former Lib-Dem leader Charles Kennedy as: "Tragic Kennedy was found by secret lover". Then, not content with having sensationalised Kennedy's untimely death, they went on to publish stories insinuating that his death was – essentially – caused by supporters of the SNP.
Using a tragic death to make political capital (and, lest we forget, profit) is surely unforgivable? It is one of the most insensitive things I can think of, even by the Daily Mail's standards.
But lo and behold, the story was shared far and wide. People who should have known better, seemed quite happy to overlook the timing, the insensitivity, the political motivation, and the hypocrisy. Why? Because the article supported their own prejudices. That's no crime of course, we're all biased one way or another, but there's no excuse for hypocrisy.
You cannot pick and choose those Daily Mail attack pieces that suit your own agenda whilst disowning the rest of it. Personally, I reject the Daily Mail in its entirety, it is a malicious entity, masquerading as journalism, and the sooner sensible people stop reading it, or sharing it, the world will be a better place.
Obviously the SNP Would Rather a Tory ...
Wake up Labour, Corbyn Could Be The ...
The question is not SHOULD Scotland be an independent country
This has gone on long enough, it's about time we ...
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Scotland Yet
Catch-2014: Why 'Yes' lost the referendum January 31, 2019
Dateline 2018: Dateline with a Vengeance December 20, 2018
Dateline 2018: Episode 12 November 28, 2018
Dateline 2018: Episode 10 November 9, 2018
Jack Foster is a writer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker originally from the Scottish Borders. During the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, he directed the feature-length documentary Scotland Yet and was one of the presenters of the satirical news-spoof Dateline Scotland, later rebooted as Dateline 2018. In 2015, he was a co-creator of the online Scottish Politics radio programme NewsShaft.
With Carolyn Scott, he co-presented the daily current affairs programme World in Focus for Radio Sputnik, and subsequently The World This Week with CommonSpace. He is a regular correspondent for Deutsche Welle's Inside Europe programme, and author of a book about the 2014 Scottish independence referendum: Catch 2014.
In a previous - and occasionally alternate - existence, Jack is a Scottish folk singer and even released an album entitled An Hour Before The Dawn back in 2011. No, really.
Catch-2014: Why 'Yes' lost the referendum
DatelineVideo
Dateline 2018: Dateline with a Vengeance
Dateline 2018: Episode 12
Copyright © Jack Foster 2017


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IGEN Qualifies for T-Mobile Partner Program Bringing First 1000 Vehicle Activations
IGEN Networks Corporation
Dec 17, 2020, 06:00 ET
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif., Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEN Networks Corporation (OTCQB: IGEN) (CSE: IGN), a leading innovator of cloud-based and Internet of Things (IoT) automotive solutions for the protection and management of mobile assets, today announced joining The T-Mobile Partner Program, enabling the sale of IGEN products through T-Mobile's Business Sales Channels.
The T-Mobile Partner Program is a comprehensive program to support T-Mobile's Small Business Channels through a full-service portal, social marketing tools to drive demand, and co-branding material to support the sales and marketing of partner products and services. Facilitated by the Hyperion Partners relationship, IGEN product solutions are now sold over the T-Mobile Network by the T-Mobile Business Sales Force.
https://businesspartners.t-mobile.com/English/
VP & GM Abel Sierra of IGEN Networks Corp stated, "Since establishing our partnership with Hyperion Partners, T-Mobile's Master Agent, we have activated over 1000 new vehicles over the T-Mobile Network with additional inventories of 3000 IoT devices planned for the next 90 days. With the official acceptance of IGEN to T-Mobile's Partnership Program, we anticipate significant growth across our product lines in both Franchise Dealerships and Credit Unions across T-Mobile's coverage area."
About IGEN Networks Corporation
IGEN Networks Corporation provides peace-of-mind to automotive consumers and their families through direct access to Internet-of-Things (IoT) cloud-based services that include Stolen Vehicle Protection, Real-time alerts, and Driver Behavior.
IGEN is a fully reporting company in both Canada and the United States. It is publicly traded on the OTCQB under the symbol IGEN, and listed on the CSE under the symbol IGN. For more information, please visit., www.igennetworks.net
About Hyperion Partners
Hyperion Partners LLC (www.hyperionpartners.net ) is a full-service business development and technology consulting firm specializing in mobility. Founded in 2012, Hyperion brings to bear decades of executive and functional expertise spanning wired and wireless carriers, OEMs, manufacturing, logistics, channel development, sales, marketing, business development and consulting. Hyperion focuses on the generation of revenue for their clients and partners through delivery of customized solutions, the creation of new customers, the formation of strategic relationships and the commercialization of products and services. They offer dedicated care and technical support through the ordering, activation, and implementation processes. Hyperion Partners acts as a consultant to customers and partners to ensure their customer gets the most practical, affordable, and complete solution possible.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities law. The terms and phrases "goal", "commitment", "guidance", "expects", "would", "will", "continuing", "drive", "believes", "indicate", "look forward", "grow", "outlook", "forecasts", "intend", and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by IGEN in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that IGEN believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including but not limited to statements regarding investment liquidity, financing options and long term goals of the Company, general economic conditions, IGEN's expectations regarding its business, customer base, strategy and prospects, and IGEN's confidence in the cash flow generation of its business. Many factors could cause IGEN's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to competition; IGEN's reliance on key personnel; IGEN's ability to maintain and enhance its brand; and difficulties in forecasting IGEN's financial results, particularly over longer periods given the rapid technological changes, competition and short product life cycles that characterize the mobile application industry. These risk factors and others relating to IGEN that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the under the heading "Risk Factors" in IGEN's periodic filings with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov . These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on IGEN's forward-looking statements. IGEN has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neil G. Chan
SOURCE IGEN Networks Corporation
IGEN Networks Corporation secures GSA Multiple Award Schedule...
IGEN's "FamilyShield" Direct-to-Consumer Brand now available on...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Arizona wildfire forces 700 evacuations; winds causing widespread flames
By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News
One of the largest fires in Arizona continues to burn as more than 700 homes have now been evacuated.
The Woodbury Fire began on June 8 in the Tonto National Forest near Roosevelt Lake and has since forced the evacuation of about 700 homes as the human-caused wildfire has grown to more than 100 square miles.
Despite no reports of structure fires and fewer than a dozen people seeking shelter at public facilities, the fire has only been 43 percent contained.
PG&E TO PAY $1 BILLION TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FOR CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES
The latest update released from the Tonto National Forest warned that the fire was beginning to move out of the "Superstition Wilderness and into the corridor along State Highway 188."
Southwest winds of up to 25 mph were causing the flames to spread farther, faster.
The Woodbury Fire began on June 8 in the Tonto National Forest near Roosevelt Lake and has since forced the evacuation of about 700 homes as the human-caused wildfire has grown over 100 square miles. (Arizona Dept. of Transportation)
Mining operations in the main Pinto Creek drainage along Spencer Canyon and West Pinto Creek have also been threatened by the fire moving eastward.
Air quality has also deteriorated as smoke from the Woodbury wildfire drifts across eastern Arizona and the state of New Mexico.
The National Weather Service office in Albuquerque said Friday to expect widespread reductions in visibility across large portions of western and central New Mexico.
Satelite-style maps of the plume show thick smoke wafting across communities including Gallup, Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
Paulina Dedaj is a writer/ reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter @PaulinaDedaj.


Potential work experience as protection against unemployment: does it bring equal benefit to immigrants and native workers?
This article studies the beneficial return from potential work experience in preventing job loss, and seeks to explain whether its capacity for protection is different for immigrants compared with native workers. Logistic regression models are calculated from panel data of the Spanish Labour Force Survey between 2008 and 2010. Results indicate that for some foreign-born groups the inequality with respect to natives grows over time. Whereas for Spaniards increased years in the labour market reduce the risk of becoming unemployed, Africans, Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans with more time in the labour market experience hardly any advantage when compared with their fellow immigrants. Although the ethnic penalty is slightly reduced after taking into account socio-demographic differences, the lower return is mainly explained by employment factors. Foreign-born workers are permanently over-represented in low-skilled and non-standard jobs where potential work experience does not result in more protection. The access through the bottom of a segmented labour market has prevented immigrants becoming upwardly mobile to more stable occupations. These positions would have provided them with protection against unemployment during the economic crisis, in the way that they have done for native workers.


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WSKG (https://wskg.org/tag/screen-time/)
Connect NY: Screens and Teens
Has smart tech and the social media it drives harmed a generation dependent on these tools to perform most functions? A new addiction impacting youth socialization, cognitive development and even mental health is chronicled in a new documentary that's starting the conversation with parents, educators and lawmakers across New York State. As policymakers look to respond, can we institute moderation and parameters or has the technology taken hold and it's too late? FEATURED GUESTS
Bonnie Nobiling, Director of IT Services & District Data Coordinator – Oneonta School District
Dr. Delaney Ruston, President – MyDoc Productions and filmmaker-in-residence at Stony Brook Medicine, NY
Michael Robb, Ph.D., Director of Research – Commonsense Media
Bonnie Russell, Immediate Past President – New York State Parent Teacher Association
Dr. David O'Rourke, District Superintendent – BOCES Erie District
Sean Ryan (D), NYS Assemblymember 149th District
Watch this new episode on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 9:00pm on WSKG TV. Join us as we uncover compelling and unexpected stories throughout New York State and the history and systemic forces influencing current realities.


CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The holiday season offers warm feelings with family, football and of course, food. This festive time of year is usually the start of a few extra pounds that many Americans gain during the holidays (and fight the following year to lose).
Smaller plates and silverware reduce calories consumed by lowering your portions, without you even noticing it, and slowing down your eating. Slower eating also means you will feel more satisfied with less food.
Avoid high calorie drinks. That way, calories can be put towards food instead. Unsweetened beverages, salad, and fruit/vegetable trays are healthy items to consume before you sit down for the meal.
You don't have to skip dessert. Have a few bites or split it with someone. If you are a guest, don't take tempting left overs home with you. If you are hosting, try to send the tempting left overs home with your guests.
Focus on non-food parts of the holiday and the people you love and care about. You could play some games, help prepare/clean up, go for a walk with your friends/family, or just socialize away from the dining table.
For more information on mindful eating tips for the holidays, click here.
Summit Weight Management Services offers support for individuals looking to lose weight and keep it off. For more information on Summit Weight Management Services, including services offered and how to make an appointment, call (717) 267-6427 or click here.


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See you later! The final Humanosphere podcast – for now
A reader responds: Why Humanosphere's hibernation matters
Activists and experts ridicule OECD's tax havens 'blacklist' as a farce
Nikki Haley claims credit for already planned cuts to U.N. peacekeeping budget
Study: Climate change will perpetuate U.S. inequality
News on the Humanosphere: U.S. refugee and travel ban goes into effect
World Bank launches insurance scheme to fund pandemic responses
Cashless economy not happening in India yet but the groundwork is laid
Humanosphere is on hiatus. Many thanks to our web design, development and hosting partner Culture Foundry for keeping the site active while we plan our next move. Culture Foundry builds, evolves and supports next-level websites and applications for clients you know, and you couldn't ask for a better partner to help you thrive in digital. If you're considering an ambitious website design or development project, we encourage you to make them your very first call.
By Reuters 29 June 2017
South Sudan government won't allow aid workers into rebel-held areas
South Sudan's government says it may withhold permission for aid workers to go to some rebel-held areas on security grounds, the president's spokesman said on Thursday, after the U.N. complained aid convoys were being blocked.
By Tom Murphy 26 June 2017
South Sudan prevents famine but world still facing historic hunger threat
The situation for the 20 million people at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria remains dire, warned the U.N.'s chief humanitarian. "Twenty million people remain at risk, and 10 million more could join them without sufficient funding and improved access," U.N. humanitarian coordinator Stephen O'Brien warned.
Global spread of cholera amid famine are symptoms of political collapse
The world is witnessing a resurgence of cholera accompanying several hunger crises that threaten more than 20 million people in four countries. Some 100,000 people are estimated to be sick with the water-borne, often fatal bacterial disease in war-torn Yemen. Cholera outbreaks have also struck Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia in the past year.
By Tom Murphy 24 May 2017
Leading economies need to pay their fair share to stop famine, Oxfam says
The world's leading economies set to meet in Italy need to step up to avert famine in Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia, and address the existing famine in South Sudan, Oxfam officials said.
By Tom Murphy 8 May 2017
Drought and violence taking toll on South Sudan's children
The number of children fleeing violence and famine in South Sudan passed 1 million, two U.N. agencies announced today. Children make up more than 60 percent of the 1.8 million refugees from the world's youngest country. Families face physical harm, psychological trauma, hunger – leaving an entire generation at risk of falling so far behind that they will never be able to catch up.
Attacks on health workers go unpunished in at least 23 countries
Health workers and facilities were under attack in conflicts in at least 23 countries in 2016, and the perpetrators are getting away with it, according to a new report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition.
By Charlie Ensor 20 April 2017
South Sudan: Conflict brings famine as communities are left behind
The famine in South Sudan, unlike those created by drought in other parts of East Africa, is man-made. Anywhere from 100,000 to nearly 300,000 people in the region are believed to be facing starvation due to an ongoing civil war. The conflict has forced them to flee their communities, leaving behind crops or livestock, to hide in areas lacking food, and sometimes even water.
By Joanne Lu 17 April 2017
Japan begins to pull troops from South Sudan peacekeeping mission
Japan began withdrawing peacekeeping troops from South Sudan today, a U.N. official announced, amid escalating violence that some are now describing as genocide. The move is a setback for international support of the South Sudanese government and, symbolically at least, undermines Japan's pledge to be a "proactive contributor to peace."
By Tom Murphy 14 April 2017
U.N. re-ups historic famine warning as funding stagnates
The U.N. again warned that as many as 20 million people are at risk of famine in Nigeria, Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia. Warnings in February were not enough to raise the money needed to prevent a global hunger crisis. So, new attempts are being made to convince donor countries to do more.
By Tom Murphy 6 April 2017
The strengths and weaknesses of humanitarian crisis appeals
The Disasters Emergency Committee said it raised £50 million in three weeks to support humanitarian aid for people in East Africa. While it is good news in the short term, there is concern that the constant cycle of these emergency appeals fails to help address underlying issues.
Visualizing gun deaths: Comparing the U.S. to rest of the world by Katie Leach-Kemon
10 global health issues to follow in 2016 by Margarite Nathe
Map of the Day: Where the Brits never invaded by Tom Murphy
Dambisa Moyo counter-attacks Bill Gates' critique of her work as 'evil' by Tom Murphy
10 global health issues to watch in 2015 by Margarite Nathe
What we mean when we talk about terrorism: A chat with Rebecca Wolfe of Mercy Corps
Inequality rising: A chat with Chuck Collins on what's driving the world crazy
A conversation with Laurie Garrett about the road ahead for the WHO
Getting to zero: Rotary's stubborn campaign to rid the world of polio
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Copyright 2017. All Rights Reserved. Humanosphere.org


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IT vs. ICS
ICS/SCADA Fundamentals
So let's take you into I C s Scott of fundamentals. What is I t vs I. C s.
The learning objectives for this portion of the course is what is I t vs I. C s technology. We're gonna define what a nice ES system actually is. Some of the General I. C s threats and General I CS risks.
So I t vs I see us. How can they be that different? Let me show you.
We define what a nice ES system is. Uh, it's kind of an all encompassing type of definition. So a collection of personnel, hardware, software and policies involved in the operation of the industrial process and that can affect or influence it's safe, secure and reliable operation.
Now I want to stress the words safe, secure and reliable because that's very important. And i t you're not so concerned most of the time with safety in terms of loss of life or limb. But when you're dealing with an I. C s system
that can involve things that can unfortunately cause a lot of harm
we also have a similar problem in the I. C s world that we have in many other worlds where we have a lot of different names for the same types of things. And I'll explain some of these right now a PLC as a programmable logic controller,
uh, I C s industrial control system production, industrial
control, distribution. All of these air kind of wrapped into that. And what you're doing is you are using technology to move things and produce things.
So we're used to your typical I t system, and that's what you're viewing this course on right now. And typically it's confidentiality, integrity
and availability now flippant, upside down and think of availability, integrity and confidentiality. The reason being is when you turn on the faucet to get water out, you want clean water and you want the water to actually come out. That's where availability comes into play
integrity. You want to make sure that any commands that are sent over
and I see s network or production network eyes actually a true command and has not been modified or mangled because it's very important and an O. T. Or I. C s environment see now through new terms that you, um that everything has to be very interoperable when you're dealing with I t networks and systems.
There's air in control, for example, the TCP Protocol.
But there's no real error protection and control for an I. C s protocol. So you have to be very careful. What you do can also be thought of as, um and the I. C s world.
Think of a puzzle that's made out of metal pieces that have to tightly fit in. Exactly. And when you put it together, you can't even see the seams.
And that's a huge difference between I CS and I t.
Now why is I c s important? Well,
think of the different things that I CS runs on. You can have factory production. You can have nuclear power plants, water and everything in between. The medications that we may or may not take are actually produced using control systems
on assembly lines. And so it's quite important that we get the actual medications that were intended.
So, um,
there are certain trends with I. C. S and production systems. And as with all things, money rules the world, there's a lot of business that air driving, ah, lot of decisions which unfortunately can cause security risks.
Now think about some of the security risks. If you outsource part of your security for outsource part of the maintenance of your system, they're not going to have the same vested interest in your organization that your team would. If they actually worked for your organization.
There might be changing regulations, which may make things better or might actually weaken the infrastructure.
Ah, lot of companies are very, very concerned with return on investment. Are they going to put the money into securing these things if they don't actually see a value in it?
Sometimes when you're dealing with third parties that have access to your control systems, they may not be using best practices for security but written in the contract. They may require
something, for example, like a remote management connection so that they can see what's going on in the environment. And they might be using something very weak, like V N. C. And a very old version that doesn't encrypt or doesn't even require log in.
So these are very concerning things, so you can definitely think of it as business first,
safety second and security third
again, one of the major elements with production networks is, these things can actually be dangerous, so you have to think of the safety aspect.
Now, back in the day, the technologies that were used were not well known unless you were a process engineer. Electra electrical engineer, were certain other types of rules and would work in a production environment.
So a lot of folks in the industrial world Hey, nobody really knows about these protocols. So because there's so kind of niche, then they're not really at risk. Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore.
Um, the knowledge. But I see those protocols is now more and more known because it's actually
use much more widespread nowadays.
Now that puts us in a very bad spot, because when these protocols were actually invented and engineered, they didn't think about security. Some of them are very, very, very old,
and this poses a huge problem because it's always easier to secure systems and protocols when you think of security first, versus if you try to both things on top of it.
In addition to that, because some of the risks are not quite understand by operational technology engineers or the entire business itself, there is typically a lot of ah, very limited risk management done to them.
Another issue is because there is a poor auditing due to the legacy devices, the different devices might not be capable of logging anything. So if somebody is trying to log in in an unauthorized manner, there might not be a log ever created. And you might never know
if you're with a security team. That means that you'll never get an alert in your security systems.
And this is very perplexing, because if a system happens to be broken into, you don't have the logs toe audit to see if anything has been done.
There's also a problem with auditors themselves. If they come from the I t world, they might not know how to audit the I. C s world in an appropriate manner.
Now the reason why this is so concerning is because of the threats that are currently facing production networks I CS networks. Now I put down Cyber as a weapon for reason, and in 2014 the German government's secret service, one might say it'd be Andy came out with a report
referencing a German steel mill which had been attacked.
The Attackers showed a very high level of sophistication in the business network and high level of sophistication in the I. C. S production network.
And what happened Waas There was most likely a mistake. It seemed, almost as if most likely a nation state
got into both sides of the network. And there was a pressurization issue in the steel mill steel mills. They're kind of dangerous. And when the over pressurization occurred, the safety systems which were supposed to cool things down and shut things off, no longer functions.
And so that steel mill actually
overpressure rides and blew up it killed at least three people and injured horribly many other people. This is not a good thing.
We also have to deal with hacktivists now. When I used to lecture for something called CP and I, which is a Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure, is part of G. C H Q. In the United Kingdom, I had an opportunity to lecture at all of the English nuclear facilities and the last remaining
coal facilities for energy production.
And at the coal facility, uh, one that I visited last. They had very, very tall offenses, and I asked, why do you have such humongous fences? And they said, Well, it's because of the risk of protesters actually overtaking this plant.
Now it's always nicer if you are, say, activist. Ah, where a person protesting something. It takes a lot of effort to get to a physical location, but if you could do it remotely from anywhere in the world at any time, then hey, that's way easier.
So a lot of these facilities have to worry about the hacktivist threat.
Another issue is because we're connecting a whole bunch of things without understanding that risk without the understanding that we are introducing new technology until legacy systems. Then what happens is there are a lot of people in these environments that are completely untrained
or not trained up as they should for security.
And so when something happens, unfortunately, they just don't know. It happens war. If they do know something happens, it means that usually something has failed and brought the production network down. That's a very bad scenario to be him.
Now there's ever increasing malware that can affect I CS systems. Recently we've seen in the past 10 years something called Stuxnet out of Stuxnet. There was a family with flame.
There was something called Shamoon which I handled myself, which did actually affect to production facilities in Saudi Arabia.
And it's moved on to something a bit more recently called Triton. There's also been issues with three Ukraine where electricity has been shut off using attacks against the I. C s infrastructure, as there have in Israel
and in the country of Georgia, there actually attacks against the satellite infrastructure that belonged to Georgia. These air also control systems, so this is very, very concerning
now. We also have to worry about accidents. Human errors, thes are things that exist everywhere, but how you can react to those are very important before, say, there's an over pressurization as you and a steel mill blows up. That is not the case as you, not the situation that we want to be in.
The reason why availability is so important is because I think, like all of us are all computer systems. We have electricity, we have running water, but having a blackout can be a very serious matter. You need electricity to produce water, you need water to produce electricity.
So in order to have those two major elements of the modern world. We have to make sure that availability is paramount when we're dealing with I. C s systems.
Now, some of the other differences is with an I T network. You can have an occasional failure. It's tolerated.
It might be a bit of a hassle if you can't get to your email, but in an I. C s environment, that could mean a blackout
in 19 network loss of data. Well, that is a pain. You might have to redo a lot of work, but
in the I. C s environment,
we could have a loss of life
in an I T environment. I'm sure everybody's hurt. The words Have you turned it on and off again? You can't really do that with a nuclear power plan, which, by the way, in many cases run Windows systems on the control network. So that's very problematic. And I don't think anyone ever wants to hear the words
Have you turned your nuclear power plant on and off again?
Now, in a 90 network? Ah, when you're a business or regular business, typically, organizations don't have very high security.
Andi in an I. C s environment Because of the criticality. They have typically very tight physical security anywhere near what's called the control room where the engineers and operators are there actually controlling these control environment sees I CS Environments
with the 19 network. We're building faster and faster networks faster and faster Internet.
However, in an I. C s environment, especially older environments, they have very low to modest throughput and that also places limitations on things like an I. D. S or an I. P. S.
What can happen is if too much network traffic is going over an I. C. S network, that could mean that it can flood that network and halt commands that are legitimate being sent over.
Now with a 90 network you can usually test in the field. However, uh, you need to test things out before you put them in an I. C. S environment. That's very important again for availability and the fact that loss of life and safety can be an issue
for 90 network. The big focus is your central server, and that could be something like active directory or S a P to keep the business running.
But because there's a lot of field devices and I CS think of a water pump from your water company. They're not gonna put a water pump in a residential area because it's very loud. Eso Sometimes you've got these edge devices, and you have to be aware of that.
Now, on I I t network again, safety is usually not an issue. Um, in an I. C s environment, you have to think about all the different types of hazards that can come into play if something is modified or tainted or manipulated or halted.
Now, in a 90 network, you usually have a minimal separation between the different Internets, so you might have a printer network. You might have a regular business network and email network, but at the same time, you can't quite do it in that manner with a nice ES network.
What you usually want in an ideal situation but it doesn't always happen,
is that the business network is completely isolated from a nice ES network, and in many times that can also be called an air gap. Although that's not the exact definition of an air gap
in an I T network,
you can have delays and variations and that's okay. But any sort of hide delays in an I. C s network means that that availability and that integrity can be highly altered. You want to get a command from A to B as quickly as possible.
That also means that if you start incorporating encryption
in an I. C. S network many times you'll cause what's called Leighton see and they'll be a delay in those commands. That's one thing you definitely do not want.
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If your church isn't yet using church software to check in children at church, this type of software can be a wonderful option to put in place to ensure the safety of children—both to protect them and to protect your church. Nearly all of the church management software systems offer check-in, and there are many options to consider. As you move through the process of deciding on a system, you'll want to consider the speed of check-in software, self-check-in vs. volunteer manned check-in. Cost is also a factor.
The fingerprint scan is approximately 95% accurate. Some fingers it just won't read properly, so that is a consideration. The finger vein scanners are more accurate but much pricier. Some churches receive feedback that their congregation is uncomfortable with the idea of scanning fingerprints.
Creating a custom key tag for your church members is a great way to check students in. The barcode on the back of the tag will need to be assigned to the family. Then when you scan that barcode it will immediately identify the family that there to check in. We've found this is the fastest and most accurate method for checking in. Typically mom or dad will have their keys handy when they arrive so it's quite fast.
Another option available is the barcode badge. These badges are credit card size tags that can be printed directly from the software. They include the family picture as well as the barcode. The card is scanned and the family is immediately identified for check-in. The card can also be used to release the child on check-out since there is a family picture.
The downside of this badge is that families can forget them at home or will have to dig through a wallet or purse to find them. This can slow your lines down.
Using a touchscreen monitor to allow for self-check-in works quite well. Most folks are used to using touch screens from ATM's to checking in at the airport, so your congregants should be able to easily check themselves in using this method.
The least expensive method for checking in children is to search for the family based on the last name or on the last four digits of the phone number. This method is not as quick as a barcode scan or fingerprint scan because there is one additional step: You'll do the search and then pick the family that is present, whereas the scan immediately identifies the family.
Mobile children's check-in would allow your church to have volunteers with iPad's or smartphones in different locations throughout your church doing the check-in. Then the name tags and parent tags can be printed in a central location. This works really well for bus ministries. The bus driver can have an iPad with 3G, check the kids in when they hop on the bus, then the name tags are ready for them when they arrive at church.
These are six of the most common ways to check in children at church – we hope that one of the methods works for your church to ensure the safety and security of your visitors.


MANSFIELD, Conn. – Katie Burke helped Eastern back from two goals down in the final seven minutes by scoring twice in less than a minute, then won the match with her fourth goal of the game with 1:24 gone in sudden death overtime as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team edged Keene State College, 14-13, Saturday afternoon in a Little East Conference match on Seniors' Day at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Averaging over 14 goals per game, Keene (7-7, 3-1 LEC) was held to three goals as Eastern (8-6, 3-1 LEC) raced to a three-goal halftime lead. The Warriors led by five with 20 minutes left before the Owls charged back, scoring six unanswered goals to move into a 13-11 lead with 8:35 left.
Leading by two, Keene won the ensuing draw but turned it over and Burke cut the gap to one, 13-12, with seven minutes left. Alyssa Powers caused a Keene turnover soon after and Burke forced overtime with a goal on an assist from Tristan Kijak with 6:080 left.
Burke led Eastern with four goals, Kijak adding three goals and two assists and Jenna Glynn three goals. Glynn and Kijak each caused three turnovers and Taylor Behn picked up four ground balls, Burke and Michelina Pinto three each.
Second-year Division I transfer Chelsea Lewis led Keene with six goals and an assist on 15 shots, with Tori Weinstock winning six draws and Tess Masci four. Tara Kilderry forced five turnovers and Morgan Gilman picked up five ground balls. Anna O'Brien stopped 11 shots in net for Keene.
With two LEC regular-season games left, Eastern and Keene share second place, a game behind defending playoff champion Plymouth State University.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in a conference match.


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There is a peculiar form of cognitive dissonance abroad: namely, the webster who at one and the same time glories, praises and lauds the use of empirical evidence and then fails to honor it when repeating his favorite fables.
A recent column in the New York Times summoned these folk like Gnorrs from the woodwork out. The column concerned the latest discovery of the Real Jesus™ as described in vast detail in eight partial lines on a scrap of papyrus modestly entitled by the professor: "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife." It runs thusly:
1 "... [can]not be my [disciple]. My mother gave me life..."
2 ... The disciples said to Jesus, "...
3 ... deny. Mary is not worthy of it...
4 ..." Jesus said to them, "My wife...
5 ... she can be my disciple...
6 ... Let [the] wicked man bring [forth...
7 ... I am with her, so as to...
8 ... an image..."
Whereupon the entire edifice of Western Civilization crumbles...
It's hard to get a meaning from this, let alone a context, especially since (according to Francis Watson) 'The English language differentiates "woman" from "wife", but Coptic does not.' My own impression is that this is a portion of a well-known passage in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (#114) ripped down the page (every line is partial on both ends) and tendentiously translated. Harvard Theological Review has reportedly suspended publication pending the resolution of doubts expressed by Coptic scholars, including a carbon-dating of the ink. Meanwhile, its provenance is unknown. Sounds like another "James ossuary," imho.
But the story per se is not today my topic, but rather some of the comments in the comm box elicited with dreary predictability by the story.
It's still the same old story....
The first is by the monoliteral correspondent "M" from Dallas TX:
Well, considering the Council of Nicea [sic] picked four gospels and burned the rest, I think it's a valid question to ask what's missing from Christian theological books.
But M is simply repeating fables that fundamentalists used in their claim that the Real Church™ had been suppressed by the Vatican at the Council of Nicaea. (Fundamentalists show no apparent awareness of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Assyrian Church of the East and internet atheists share the mindset of their spiritual mentors.)
Any resort to actual documentation will reveal that the four canonical gospels were accepted well before the Nicaean council. Justin Martyr discusses the four gospels two hundred years before Nicaea; Irenaeus and the Muratorian fragment about 150 years before; Tertulian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen ca. 125 years before the council; and Tatian the Assyrian a little later than that. To assert that the four gospels were picked by the Council of Nicaea is tantamount to a claim for miraculous precognition on the part of these Fathers. We know the canons of the council, and none involve selecting the gospels to be used.
Needless to say to those who treasure empirical evidence, there is no evidence that other gospels were burned by the Council (or by anyone else) -- unless M also has precognitive knowledge unknown to scholars. After all, we still have copies of them.
And the second is by one Chris Martin of Alameda CA:
In fact there is ample evidence that early Christians actively persecuted those who held different beliefs, either inside or outside the Christian Traditions. These persecutions extended to the destruction of temples and religious documents.
Despite the evidence being "ample," Mr. Martin fails to mention any of it. The early Church was the persecuted, not the persecutor. They had no standing to order such activities. It is true that following the accession of Constantine, the imperial government did persecute some Christians. Unfortunately for the thesis, the persecution was directed against the Orthodox by the Arian emperors. Julian, the last of the Constantinids, reverted to paganism and forbade all Christians, Arian and Orthodox alike, from teaching and from government service, and turned a blind eye to mob violence against them (starting with the gruesome death of George the Arian at the hands of an Alexandrian mob).
A little-appreciated fact is that among the Romans (and Greeks) religious offices were civil offices, with salaries paid by the State. The Christian notion of separation of Church and State (i.e., of the City of God from the City of Man) had not yet taken hold. Recall that during the Gallic War, Julius Caesar had been elected Pontifex Maximus. All pagan temples were owned and staffed by the Empire and their revenues were a source of income to the State. After the Empire had become de facto Christian, the Emperor saw no reason to continue paying their salaries and upkeep. So the government shut them down or transferred title to the local bishop. The temples were by this time largely abandoned, as for example the Mithraean fane given to George the Arian by Constantius II.(*) Heck, Pliny had written already to Trajan some two hundred years earlier about the problem of empty temples in his province, and lauded the persecution of Christians for having frightened people into returning to the State-owned temples.
I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered [by accusations of being Christian]. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded.
(*) the Mithraean fane. During renovations, George the Arian found an old giant phallus once worshiped by the pagans and paraded it through the town, to the mockery of the Alexandrians, who then in time-honored Egyptian fashion rioted against the Christians. Drawing parallels with Egyptian riots over YouTube mockeries is your own responsibility. Of course, nowadays too, we are back to worshiping the phallus.)
The Serapaeum in Alexandria was famously ordered demolished by the Emperor after it had been used once too often as a fortress by rioting Alexandrian mobs. But there are also reliable stories about unruly bands of monks in Upper Egypt whose Occupy Egypt strategy seized hold of a number of country temples without official authorization.
(The emperors of course did not cease being Roman autocrats just because they got sprinkled. They assumed that the churches and cathedrals would continue being State property and the bishops to be government employees. The Western Church was saved from this by the effective disappearance of the Western government. The Eastern Church had a much harder time shaking the leash.)
Jeo of New York writes:
There's also a certain amount of evidence that Jesus was a magician, in the David Copperfield sense as much as the Merlin sense, though those categories were more mixed together in those days. Entire books have been written, and by serious scholars, presenting evidence that he studied with magicians in the East during the missing years.
The evidence can't be too certain, or Jeo would have mentioned some of it. Just as cartographers once filled the blank spaces on maps with "Here there be dragons," Jeo needs to fill the blank spots in a biography with imaginary trips to the Mysterious and Inscrutable Orient.
gemli of Boston tells us:
Jesus was most likely one of a slew of miracle workers with messianic pretentions [sic] that were a dime a dozen in 1st century Palestine. ...modern-day believers ... want to buy into the part of the story that was added after the fact in order to scare and entice ignorant peasants.
gemli's buy in to the Intelligent Design Conspiracy Theory of History is noted. "Most likely" will do for evidence we suppose; but why does he suppose that peasants are ignorant? A more skeptical and hard-bitten lot would be hard to find. Besides, the old paganism had them plenty scared aleady. They lived in a frightening universe full of powers and dominations. There were dryads in the trees and nymphs in the wells, and the stars were alive, divine, and could control your life. And they all had to be propitiated. When the statue of Serapis was chopped up, the watching pagans gasped in horror, not because an art work was being vandalized -- it was a god, not an art work -- but because they were terrified that it would bring the universe to an end. The appeal of Christianity was precisely the freedom from this worldview. The Christian chroniclers simply commented that the statue of Serapis "was only a block of wood." The single most frequent phrase used by the Jesus of the gospels was "Don't be afraid."
I'm not sure how the prospect of being thrown to wild beasts in the arena was supposed to be enticing.
Besides, the new faith spread first and most rapidly among the cities. "Pagan" is a Latin word meaning "hick" or "peasant." The rural regions were the last holdouts of primitive superstition, which is how "pagan" took on its present-day meaning.
Paul F. Slattery of Rochester, NY reveals in a bout of Too Much Sharing that
a sexually active Jesus certainly has the greater appeal for me.
As mentioned earlier, today we have reverted to worshiping the phallus once more. We had a sexual revolution, and women were the cannon fodder. Nothing must get in the way of men's Happy Time. Hence, a life of male celebacy as practiced by the Essenes is almost literally unimaginable to a Late Modern Western male. Oddly, this has been coupled with a sense of horror at the prospect of children.
This also makes inevitable Mr. Slattery's tired old trope that "It's very unfortunate, but undeniable, that the Church has long had a very negative attitude towards sex in general and women in particular."
Of course it is deniable. Such accusations go hand-in-hand with Late Modern attitudes toward sex and children. Yea to the former; Boo to the latter. Consequently, the Church is accused in every age of being Opposite of Me. Back in the day, in the patriarchal-but-prudish Victorian times, the Church was accused of being too feminine and favoring lots of children (hence, lots of sex). For the role of women in Western Society during the Christian era, Regine Pernoud's book Women in the Days of the Cathedrals is instructive.
Joseph M September 29, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Your evident cheerful patience with the intellectually challenged is a marvel. And your history lessons are always great fun. What would be really fun is if people would listen to them (sigh)!
Well, maybe a starfish or two will get thrown back into the sea.
Foxfier October 1, 2012 at 10:48 PM
We had a sexual revolution, and women were the cannon fodder.
I've got to keep that one in mind....
Over at Ricochet, one guy kept insisting that thinking Jesus not being "sexually active" meant that He "couldn't love." Even after several clarifications, the guy stood his ground on screwing being the end-all of human love.
TheOFloinn October 2, 2012 at 1:18 AM
He must favor bulemia, too, then. Since eating is the end-all of the digestive process.
Ah, well. It's a wonder what we come up with when the satiation of the appetites is all that matters. Alas, neuroscience tells us that this interferes with the establishment of neural patterns associated with rational thought. So, it makes you happy but stoopid.
Bruce Lewis October 2, 2012 at 12:50 PM
Great post. We were sent to live in the wold, not of the world. If salt lose its savor...
PS - Why say "thusly" when one means "thus"?
Thereforely,
TheOFloinn October 2, 2012 at 12:54 PM
I had a boxful of ly's left over and had to use them up before they went stale.
Did you buy your -ly's at Lolly's, Inc.? They can supply all your adverb needs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14fXm4FOMPM
CorkyAgain October 27, 2012 at 2:17 AM
Golly!


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The 1964–65 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1964–65 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Glen Anderson, who was in his sixth season with the Cyclones. They played their home games at the Iowa State Armory in Ames, Iowa.

They finished the season 9–16, 6–8 in Big Eight play to finish in fifth place.

Roster

Schedule and results

|-
!colspan=6 style=""|Regular Season

|-

References

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball seasons
Iowa State
Iowa State Cyc
Iowa State Cyc

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Frontispiece on J.S. Bach's Prelude in G major commissioned by Eric Jacobsen and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Premiere on April 7
On Saturday, April 7, 8pm, at the Bob Carr Theater (401 W Livingston Street, Orlando), the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will premiere my Frontispiece on J.S. Bach's Prelude in G major, a 4+-minute work that features as part of it J.S. Bach's solo cello Prelude in G major. Music director Eric Jacobsen will play the featured cello part himself. The piece presents the prelude in its entirety at the center of it and is fully orchestrated, with countermelodies, and an introduction and closing based on the main Bach motive. The orchestra is the exact same instrumentation as Brahms's Symphony #1: double winds, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings, with the added solo cello. The Bach Prelude exhibits that special magic that he's so famous for amongst composers, particularly the outlining of chord structures and polyphonic lines within the solo cello part. He also, once G major is established, takes a kaleidoscopic detour away from the home key before returning to the spectacularly sunny opening motive. I tried to capture the various tonal worlds and motives that Bach crafts in the original and amplify them with my orchestration.
Click here for tickets.
Also on the program:
Brahms – Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Rimsky-Korsakov – Excerpts from Capriccio Espagnol
De Falla – Master Peter's Puppet Show
Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Awet Andemicael, soprano; Alexander Elliot, baritone, William Ferguson, tenor; Kevork Mourad, visual artist


Warning: This is a tiny, stupid "us" post that Shane and I will go back and read when we're drunk and laugh about till we pass out on the kitchen floor. Proceed with caution.
The day of my job interview was one of the coldest days in Edinburgh since it took place right before the onset of the best from the east, a mini version of which, by the way, has been making it snow this weekend, smack dab in the middle of March. Oh hello, Spring!
By the time I got there, seeing as my hands were visibly shaking like a leaf in the wind, my (now) boss even sat me right across from the space heater. Probably to ascertain that the shaking was in fact caused by the cold and not due to withdrawal so it's a good thing I was well and drunk before the interview!
Anyway, on our way there, I used Shane as a human shield against the ice cold winds on multiple occasions because a) I can hide my entire body behind just one of his arms and b) I assumed that since he was so warm-blooded, maybe the winds wouldn't be that cold by the time they reached me after hitting him first.
A: Wow, it's so cold that even your brown ears are red. I didn't know they could do that!
S: Wow, it's so cold that you're even meaner than usual. I didn't know you could do that either!
A: Seriously, your ears look so weird right now. They need to cool down.
S: You mean warm up.
A: Yeah, sorry, warm down.
A: Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm just getting all the stupid out of my system before I convince them to hire me!
And hire me they did.


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Home/Fitness Tips/Ed Coan – the Greatest Powerlifter of All Time
Ed Coan – the Greatest Powerlifter of All Time
Ben MayzSeptember 7, 2022
Take a look at Ed Coan in his prime and you'd realize why the term 'Genetic Outlier' exists in bodybuilding and sports.
With a diminutive frame weighing only 220 lbs. in his prime, the man smashed records left, right and center. Sometimes lifting enough iron to make goliaths much above his weight class quiver.
71 Official powerlifting records and 30 unofficial ones, including an all-time record total of lifting 2462 lbs. at the USPF world championships in 1998.
That's why Edward Coan hogs a spot in the hall of fame of powerlifting. Today, we will try to decode the enigma that is Eddie Coan, the GOAT.
Ed Coan Daily Life - What Type of Man Was He when He Wasn't Lifting?
As a young kid, Ed Coan participated in football, baseball, and basketball in school. But eventually, Wrestling caught his eye. But much to his dismay, he was in the 98 lbs. weight category, something that he wasn't too proud off.
It's almost a template that's repeated across history. Ed Coan started lifting because he was a scrawny kid who was tired of being bullied in school.
Ed was just 13 at this time. But he set up some iso-kinetic cord machines in his dingy basement and started to train by himself. After a while, one of his buddies called 'Ken Rice' gifted him a Olympic Barbell set and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Education of a Bodybuilder'.
They would do 10 reps of each exercise in the book, training for hours each day. In the book, 'Man, the Myth, and the Method' (learn more about this book here), he mentions that he gained 40 lbs. in the first year of training.
For the longest time, Ed wanted to be Arnie. Who didn't in those days? That's until he bumped into the Austrian oak in Chicago and realized that Arnie was much taller and bigger than most and definitely more so than Ed was, and could ever be.
So Ed started to emulate Franco Columbo, who was much close to Ed in terms of physical attributes. But Franco in those days, was one of the strongest bodybuilders around, often matching Schwarzenegger in numbers and volume. He didnt match the almighty Schwarzenegger's muscle building life story but he damn sure got close in numbers.
This was around the time when he first saw Bill Kazmaier powerlift on TV. It was instant infatuation. Kazmaier was synonymous of everything that Ed yearned for. Stood 6'2 tall and weighed 335 lbs. in his prime, holding the world powerlifting total record for a decade.
A few months later, he joined the Chicago Health Club which coincidentally happened to be the home turf for 'James Rouse', a great powerlifter on his own accord. It was here that Ed learnt the ropes of powerlifting.
Before long, he was impressing his coaches in the gym with his incredible strength and numbers. The day he walked out of the gym, he started to set records.
What Gym Did Ed Coan Train At?
Ed started off at the Chicago Health Club. But soon shifted base to Quad's gym in Chicago. He might have trained in numerous gyms around the world during his travel. But Quad's remained his primary training center, followed by Lance's gym owned by Lance Karabel.
How Tall Is Eddie Coan?
The official statistics mention that Ed Coan is 5'7. Although the buzz is that he is 5'6 which, by most standards, is considered to be quite short. That's what amazes most people who were fortunate enough to witness this man in action. He's a pure freak of nature. Designed for pure brute strength, which seems unimaginable for a man his size.
There are reports that mention how Ed was so short that it was impossible to adjust the height of the squat rack that low. This forced the spotters to unrack the entire bar with all of it's weight and set it on his back during his fist powerlifting meet.
Ed was caught off balance, as expected. But despite this, he posted some impressive numbers for a 16-year old.
Ed Coan Age
Ed Coan was born 'Edward Ignatius Coan' on 24 July 1963, which means he's 58-years now. To give you some context, he achieved a 495 lbs. deadlift when we weighed around 150 lbs. at the Class III novice powerlifting meet in 1980.
What Exactly Made Him One Of, if Not the Greatest Power Lifter of All Time?
The world wants to know the answer to this. What is it about Ed Coan that makes him the GOAT?
Well, there are theories galore. But no definitive way to explain his freakish strength. In an interview, he once said that he never really learnt technique. In fact, most of his training methods would make modern fitness coaches cringe.
Yet, at the age of 21, he was the IPF world champion with a total of 1929 lbs. Someone crunched a lot of numbers and came to the conclusion that at his peak, he was 15% better than any other power lifter, regardless of the weight class. That's just incredible and unprecedented.
He deadlifted 901 lbs. in 1991. Now, there are some fundamental differences in deadlifting in those days vs. deadlifting today, which underlines the importance of Ed's record.
There was no dedicated deadlift bar yet. The bars back then were much stiffer with very little flex as compared to the deadlift bars of today. This means that there was minimal leverage from the bar flexing before the plates are lifted by the lifter.
The weigh-in time was just 2-hours then, unlike the 24-hour weigh-ins of today. So, it's impossible for a lifter to cut drastically before the weigh-in and then rehydrate within the next 24-hours. It would be fair to assume that Ed's bodyweight of 220 was true and there was minimal manipulation.
As expected, a lot of people were quick to brush him off as a genetic freak. But Marty Gallagher, former Olympic and powerlifting champion and coach to many powerlifters, including Coan himself, explains that Ed Coan was a 'thinker and a sophisticate'.
Ed was deeply inspired by Ernie Frantz's training methodologies for strength. Well, Ernie was one of the few guys on this planet who could deadlift 405 lbs. at the age of 78. So, the foundation certainly was as strong as it needed to be.
There are discussions on what could explain Ed's success. Some people opine that the short torso, back-dominant style of squatting, the ability to take the bar really low in the squat rack and the near perfect physique for pulling, are some of the factors.
Well, he's one of the few athletes who's severely underrated for his benching prowess. He once benched 578.7 lbs. raw.
To be fair, Ed's strength and success can be attributed to a mix of genetic potential, dedication to start off from a low ceiling basement gym and seek brute strength over anything else, resilience to continue pursuing the sport despite 3 doping bans, & a tiny bit of luck to tide over injuries which would have been career-ending for most.
Ed Coan's Fav Lifts
Ed Coan has always emphasized that he treated his compound lifts as his primary ones. Think deadlifts, squats, and bench press. The deadlift is hands down, his favorite of them all, followed by the squat and the bent over row.
Few people know that he has a bent over row record of 260 lbs. for two reps. He did it without belts, often picking the bar off the floor and bringing the lats into play when he lifted.
That's roughly his record for the chest press too.
ED Coan Program & Training Routine
Over the years, Ed Coan has developed some amazing training programs and routines which have become the go-to choice for young powerlifters looking to develop strength.
One of these is the Ed Coan Deadlift Routine which he designed for Mark Philippi.
Ed Coan Deadlift Routine
This is a 10-week program designed with one sole aim, to improve your deadlift. Naturally, before you begin, you should have a fair idea of your current 1 rep max and your desired 1 rep max, which ideally should be 30-40 lbs. more than your current one.
You only deadlift once a week. But it's a combination of heavy deadlifts, followed by speed lifts and other accessory exercises for the lower back.
Week 1-4 are all about getting your back ready and will focus heavily (no pun intended) on top sets. Then you will dramatically reduce the weight and shift focus to acceleration.
Weeks 6-10 will be about getting to the peak of your deadlift form. The volume drops greatly while you get more rest in between sets. There will be a fair bit of accessory work involved too on these days, like Underhand Grip Lat Pulldowns, Bent Over Rows & Arched Back Good Mornings.
You can find the complete routine over here.
Ed Coan Powerlifting Program
The second Ed Coan training program that you might bump into, is the 'Ed Coan Powerlifting Training Program'. This is an old school training routine that emphasizes heavily on the compound lifts.
Day 1 – Squat day (Exercises include squat, single leg press, single leg curl, leg extensions, seated calf raises)
Day 2 – Rest
Day 3 – Bench Day (Exercises include paused bench press, paused close grip bench press, incline Press, tricep extensions, ab workout)
Day 4 – Press Day (Exercises include behind the neck press, front dumbbell laterals, seated side laterals)
Day 5 – Deadlift Day (Exercises include deadlifts, stiff leg deadlifts, bent over rows, t-bar rows, chin-ups, pull downs, bent over dumbbell laterals, abs)
Day 6 – Light Bench Day (Exercises include light wide grip bench press, dumbbell flys, weighted dips, tricep extensions, barbell curls)
Ed recommends that you limit the workout durations to 30-60 minutes while exerting maximal power while you are at it. While conventional old school programs tend to overlook the minor muscle groups, this one includes most of them, including ab work thrice a week.
How Do You Do Ed Coan Squats?
Ed Coan is a pioneer in power lifting and Olypmic lifts. A lot of that is honed repeatedly by emphasizing compound exercises like the squats. Here's him squatting 585 lbs. after two hip replacements. So if you want to know the basics of squatting, there's no better coach.
Coan & Dave Tate once trained athletes on how to perfect the squat. Coan emphasized on the importance of perfecting the stance. Conventional wisdom recommends opening up the knees and driving the legs into the ground to move upwards.
But Coan recommends opening your upper groin instead, by breaking his hips open. This minimizes the strain on the knees and reduces the risk of overworking or injury.
Another vital point that he highlights is hand position on the bar. Far too often, we see athletes place their hands far over the bar, which pushes the elbows up too. This can force your shoulders forward making you lean over a tad too much.
The trick is to position the hands under the bar as much as possible. This allows you to lock the entire torso into position, protecting your lower back from the strain, by preventing the unhealthy lean.
What Is Ed Coan up To Nowadays?
After his professional retirement from Power lifting following repeated doping bans, Ed Coan published a series of DVDs and books on powerlifting. His old website was 'Strength INC'. But it is no longer functional.
For a while, he did seminars and podcasts travelling around the country. But WADA banned athletes from attending his seminars citing that it would be a violation of their norms. To the best of our knowledge, he's currently training in 'Counter Violence Martial Arts'
Ed Coan Wife & Daughter
Ed Coan is married to Hege Nielsen who's a powerlifter and was ED's longtime girlfriend. Their daughter Stefi Cohen is a 25x world record holding powerlifter and the only woman to deadlift 4.4 times her own bodyweight.
Stefi currently offers training tutorials and tips on Hybridperformance, a company that she co-found with Elite Powerlifter and strength coach Hayden Bowe. Stefi recently made her boxing debut by KO, when she beat Haydee Zapa of Colombia.
Into the Ring: A Closer Look at The History of Boxing
Should You Squat and Deadlift on the Same Day?
How Much Does a Bench Press Bar Weigh?
One Punch Man Workout – Results and What I Learned!
Small Space Saving Power Racks for Compact Home Gyms – MY Top Choices
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p6b7100/Ed-Coan-training-at-Quads-Gym-in-Chicago-Prepared-exclusively-for/
https://bult-for-life.simplecast.com/episodes/ep011-true-strength-ed-coan-rMZEkGAF
https://www.ironcompany.com/blog/marty-gallagher-raw-resistance-training-greatness-of-ed-coan
https://www.elitefts.com/education/motivation/whatever-happened-toernie-frantz/
https://www.lift.net/workout-routines/ed-coan-deadlift-routine/
https://www.midgardstrength.com/articles/ed-coans-training-program
https://barbend.com/ed-coan-585-lb-squat/
https://www.reddit.com/r/powerlifting/comments/420c40/statement_from_ipf_regarding_ed_coan_seminars/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poriHW0skYQ
https://www.hybridperformancemethod.com/about
Should I Squat and Bench on the Same Day or Should I Do Them on Separate Days?
Best Pre Workouts Without Beta Alanine – No Itch & No Flushing
What Does Cottage Cheese Taste Like? How to Make it Taste Better!
What Happens If You Do 500 Pushups a Day? My Story & Results
Weider Pro 6900 vs 2980
Zwift vs Rouvy: What's the Big Difference and Which One is the Best?
Best Protein Powders and Meal Replacements for Sensitive Stomachs in 2022


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ACCIONA now dubbed a u...
ACCIONA now dubbed a utility on Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
ACCIONA is becoming a regular on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), but with a twist: It has now been slotted into the Electric Utilities industry, as the renewable energy share of ACCIONA's business profile has grown larger in recent years.
The sector switch is a big challenge, because it means changing assessment parameters and factors and tackling new metrics. In this context, being listed on the DJSI World ratifies ACCIONA's ability to ride at the forefront of corporate sustainability policy application.
ACCIONA has made an acknowledged effort to find a balance among the three spheres that define a company's sustainability level, so that its position on the indexes reflects an assessment that is closely aligned in all three dimensions, environmental, economic and social.
In the economic dimension, the company's top scores are in anti-trust policy, code of conduct and management of the risk stemming from energy price changes. In the environmental sphere, ACCIONA's climate change strategy and its reporting of environmental indicators and initiatives performed especially well in assessment. Lastly, in the social dimension, ACCIONA has made progress in attracting and retaining talent and in social reporting.
The 2013/2014 DJSI World will contain a total of 333 securities selected from a total of close to 3,000 companies invited to participate in assessment, and the indexes' new roster will take effect on 23 September.
ACCIONA, a pioneer in the hybridization of solar panels with wind power towers
ACCIONA Infrastructure in NZ attends Uni Career Hub


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Q: How to programmatically get info about storage drives in linux? (C# MONO) I need programmatically get all storage drives available in a linux system with the following fields:

*

*Path

*File System (FAT32, NTFS, etc)

*Containing Physical Disk

It need to support all common storage types: hard disks, Disk-On-Keys, CdRom, Dvd, etc.
How to do this from C# to run well from MONO?

A: It is quite simple.
Read the contents of the folder /dev/disk/by-path.
The files in this directory are symbolic links to device files in /dev.
then you can find some general info about those, using a mono port of gudev - you can get one here.
you also need glib-sharp to use this, it is part of the gtk-sharp2 package (install that using your package manager).
use as in this example:
GLib.GType.Init();
gudev.GUdevClient a=new gudev.GUdevClient(null);
gudev.GUdevDevice dev=a.QueryByDeviceFile("/dev/disk/by-path/--some-file--");
Console.WriteLine (dev.GetProperty("ID_FS_TYPE")); //will output the file system, eg. ntfs
Console.WrtieLine(dev.GetProperty("ID_FS_LABEL")); //will output the label of the disk

to get the mountpoint, you should find the actual device file.
add a reference to the package "Mono.Posix" and use the Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo class to find that file.
for example:
Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo sym=new Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo("/dev/disk/by-path/--some-file--");
Console.WriteLine(sym.ContentsPath); //Will output something like ../../sda1

replace the ../.. with /dev and than read the file /etc/mtab.
the format of the file is something like this:

/dev/file mountpoint stuff-you-don't-care-about

Each device in a new line. so split by /n and split that by space. anything after that is simple and i don't think i need to continue.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Nice to see again. Stayed for about 10 minutes to bathe.
Common Imperial Blue recently emerged. Other photos show ants attending the pupae and caterpillars.
Cathy Powers, Andrew Allen, Lorraine Phelan and 2 others starred this.


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ACCEPTED

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
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#### Original name
Graphis comparilis Nyl.

### Remarks
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Decoupled is an Indian English-language comedy web series for Netflix written by Manu Joseph and directed by Hardik Mehta. The series stars R. Madhavan and Surveen Chawla in the lead roles.

Plot
A misanthropic writer and his startup-founder wife juggle their impending divorce with the absurdities and annoyances of life in their affluent world.

Cast

 R. Madhavan as Arya
 Surveen Chawla as Shruti
 Arista Mehta as Rohini
 Chetan Bhagat as himself
 Atul Kumar as Agni
 Bhavik Kelawala as Jamal Sarif
 Aseem Hattangadi as Mayank
 Mir Afsar Ali as Dr Basu
 Sonia Raathee as Masha
 Darren E. Scott as Jean Lee
 Dilnaz Irani as Reema
 Himanee Bhatia
 Akash Khurana as Surinder Sharma
 Apara Mehta as Madhu Sharma
 Mukesh Bhatt as Ganesh
 Nazneen Madan as Bhumika
 Salim Siddiqui as Salim Bhai
 Srestha Banerjee as Decoupling Party Manager (Goa)

Episodes

Release
The series opened to mixed review from critics, though the performances of the lead pair received praise. The show's creator, Manu Joseph, subsequently noted that 'liberal media' outlets targeted the show.

Within three days of release, the series became the leading Indian series on the platform of the week.

References

External links

2021 Indian television series debuts
Hindi-language Netflix original programming
Hindi-language web series
Indian drama web series
Indian comedy television series
Indian drama television series
Indian comedy web series


Whether it's a stew or soup-like, there is nothing more satisfying than a hearty bowl of Gumbo..
This new kind of gumbo may just be stepping back to the Cajun way - with everyone contributing to the pot for the goodess of the stew.
A good gumbo takes time, a great gumbo takes longer.
So what's the hurry? I learned this lesson first hand from some good Cajun friends who take the better part of a day assembling, cooking and stirring the gumbo pot. Results of this time honored patience is a great ol' time exchanging conversation and stories with friends along with a brat or two and some chilled long necks until the gumbo is served.
Heat a large soup pot to a medium temperature. Add olive oil and chicken and cook on all sides until light brown.
Add sausage and brown. Add butter, melt then add flour and cook for 10 minutes stirring until the roux (flour & butter) is light brown.
Add the onion, and cook until a light golden color, stirring occasionally. Add the green bell pepper, green onion, celery, and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes, chicken or vegetable broth, parsley, hot sauce, thyme, bay leaves, sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Bring the gumbo to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove chicken and reserve until cool. If using bone-in chicken remove meat from chicken bones and chop chicken meat into 1/2 inch pieces and return meat to soup pot. Simmer gently for 2 additional hours.
Remove bay leaves, add okra and simmer ten minutes. Add shrimp five minutes before serving. Mix in the dissolved gumbo file.
Serving suggestion: Serve with a scoop of steamy hot rice, top with additional parsley and chopped green onions.
Note: Gumbo file can be found in the spice section of your supermarket.


Once again the NSW Religious Right faction of the Liberal Party are kicking political goals for Morris Iemma.
The faction, led by a small bunch linked to the Catholic lay order Opus Dei, is putting factional interests before Peter Debnam's push to become the first non-Labor conservative premier since Bob Carr was elected in 1995.
The antics of the faction are becoming more sinister, with its apparatchiks even sidelining not-so-religious conservatives.
Sources from within the faction have informed me that factional heavy Nicholas Campbell has had a severe falling-out with self-proclaimed Opus Dei supporter and NSW Upper House member David Clarke.
Campbell, a seasoned campaigner with substantial experience in campus and mainstream election campaigns, is a former staffer to Howard loyalist Senator Bill Heffernan.
Mr Clarke has, over the years, had a love-hate relationship with Mr Heffernan. Clarke's influence within the NSW Party organisation has almost eclipsed that of Heffernan. The new NSW Young Liberal President (who is automatically granted a place on the NSW State Executive) has close links to Opus Dei. The current Federal Young Liberal President, Alex Hawke, works in Mr Clarke's office.
Clarke and Heffernan have been vying to gain some control of the non-aligned yet largely conservative middle ground votes in the NSW Liberal Party State Council, which consists of delegates from branches and state electorate conferences. State Council delegates vote to elect members of the State Executive, and also are eligible to be drawn out of a hat in preselection ballots.
The broader conservative wing of the NSW Party has tended to be a mixture of religious and more secular conservative elements, together with disgruntled and ambitious former members of the small "l" liberal faction often referred to as "The Group".
The near-takeover of the Right faction by the Christian Right has forced some unusual alliances to take place. Group sources have informed me of secret meetings taking place between non-religious Right Howard-loyalists (including possibly Campbell and Heffernan) and organisers for The Group.
The not-so-religious-Right are concerned that Clarke forces have been trying to stack branches with members of Christian groups and denominations with often conflicting agendas. Particular concern has been expressed over Clarke's attempts to ingratiate some Iraqi denominations whose views on Iraqi national sovereignty represent a departure from Australia's foreign policy.
Clarke's involvement in local Iraqi affairs has been noticed by members of other Iraqi denominations (and therefore presumably by the Iraqi embassy).
Since the bombing of the Shia Muslim shrine on February 22 2006, over 20,000 Iraqis have died in sectarian clashes.
With Australian troops stationed in Iraq, and with extremists on all sides of the sectarian divide seeking scapegoats, it is highly irresponsible for any State MP to ingratiate him or herself with one side whilst pursuing a sectarian agenda in Parliament. Such activity could even pose a risk to Australian troops stationed in Iraq.
Clarke has already managed to stir up feelings from within the Palestinian community as well as with certain Lebanese groups with his praise of the Phalange leadership during at least one speech in the NSW Parliament. Playing Middle East sectarian wedge politics may assist in branch recruitment drives. However, in the long run, such recruitment may come at a long-term political cost.
No doubt Australians of all denominations and nationalities should be welcomed by all major parties. At the same time, the Liberal Party cannot allow itself to be used as a political caravanserai for sectarian crackpots.
Peter Debnam has placed his credibility on the line by accusing the NSW Government of rewarding Lebanese Muslim groups for branch stacking services by going soft on crime. Yet now his own efforts at becoming premier are being undermined by sectarian branch stacking which may put the security of our nation, let alone the state of NSW, at risk.
Debnam would be well advised to rein in the Religious Right now before it is too late.


text:
Trader Joe's coming to the Kalamazoo area
By: Carl Gustin
OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Trader Joe's soon will have two stores in West Michigan.
According to Oshtemo Township Planning Director Julie Johnston, the company plans to open a store near Kalamazoo.
Johnston said that AVB Builders submitted a plan about a year ago for a grocery store as part of the Corner@Drake project. She said AVB Builders was slated to build the shell of the store.
Johnston said that on June 6 the township received interior build-out plans for the location from Trader Joe's.
"At that time, we felt pretty confident that Trader Joe's was coming," Johnston told FOX 17.
Corner@Drake is a 40-acre development located at the northeast corner of U.S. 131 and Stadium Drive. (See the artist's rendition above.)
According to MLive, the structure has been under construction since April and will be about 25,700 square feet, with 13,260 square feet of that space being devoted to Trader Joe's.
Trader Joe's is based in California and sells fresh gourmet, organic and vegetarian food plus imported food, beer, wine, pet food, plants, flowers and other items.
The company currently operates more than 460 stores around America, including its first West Michigan store at 3684 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids, which opened in late 2015.


You will be referred to a third party provider. Neither Warwickshire Financial nor First Complete Ltd is responsible for any advice provided by a third party.
If you are looking for a local mortgage broker or local insurance broker close to Stratford Upon Avon, Leamington Spa or Warwick look no further as we are experts in Mortgages and Protection. With over 15 years of personal experience in financial services, Dan has helped many clients. We are a little company with a big heart and we care about you.
A 'Home Service' is provided 5 days a week and/or at weekends by appointment, where we will visit you at your home or place of work for your convenience and free of charge.
Please call to make an appointment, we can answer any questions you may have and there is never any obligation. We look forward to speaking with you.


text:
McCoole's at the Historic Red Lion Inn Upscale Atmosphere For The Working Person's Wallet
McCoole's Arts & Events Place
"State of the Union" Opens June 4 at McCoole's Arts & Events Place
Crowded Kitchen Players presents the timely 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning comedy, "State of the Union," by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, June 4th to June 20th at McCoole's Arts & Events Place, 10 S. Main St. Quakertown.
Search McCoole's website
Arts & Events Place News (29)
McCoole's Arts & Events Place 10 South Main Street
(p) 215.538.1779
(f) 215.538.1772
(e) jan.hench@mccoolesredlioninn.com
© 2017 McCoole's at the Historic Red Lion Inn. All rights reserved.


Planning a 4x4 trip with children in South Africa? - We did it!
Most families hesitate booking a 4×4 for their family vacation in South Africa. Excuses like "Our kids are too young!", "It's too dangerous." "How should we sleep comfortable in a tent on top of the car?" occur and so most families don't go an a 4×4 trip with children in South Africa.
We tried it with our 3 and 5 year olds. You'll miss the trip of your life if you don't give dirt, tents and animals a try.
If you travel with your family safety is of highest priority. Kids need to have a good car around them so elephants, tigers and normal roads can't harm them. A 4×4 is a massive vehicle with which you won't get stuck in mood or have problems on normal roads with deep potholes.
South Africa is well known for its' stunning nature. The Golden Gate Highlands National Park has colourful mountains, lush bush and zebras around the corner waiting for you to drive by. Picnic places are on every corner, but having a yummy picnic is only possible if you have all the equipment with you. Chairs, table, a fridge and all the household staff are stored in boxes in your 4×4. We had fantastic picnics at breathtaking places in South Africa and Swaziland. It wouldn't have been possible with a normal car.
Some kids still take a nap during the day. Setting up the tents is done in 3 minutes so you can lay down with your baby and nap – no matter where you are. We often had no clue how long we'll be able to drive without moaning kids in the back. As soon as they didn't want to drive anymore we looked for a place to sleep. Once we found a beautiful lodge with lions and were able to camp there for only 100 ZAR (8€).
As a parent it's mostly about raising kids and not about your own fun. We found out that driving through a river on a 4×4 trip with children in South Africa is an experience both parties don't want to miss. The kids loved it and daddy smiled for the next hours. In Kruger National Park some roads are only for 4×4, whereas 80% of all cars are normal ones. The chance to view animals there are much higher than anywhere else.
What an amazing adventure. I can't even imagine doing something like this as a child. They will remember it forever. That final photo of the Rhino's bums is fantastic. haha!
Katie Featherstone recently posted…Friday Fix: Kew gardens (part 1).
Good thing I came across this site. I do love South Africa too. It is marked by several distinct ecosystems, Inland safari destinations and etc. This place is good for the kids. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a lot! I really love South Africa!


text:
Step Outside For Spring
Make the transition to exercising outside again.
By S. Kirk Walsh
After working out with your favourite fitness videos all winter long, you may feel like you have your weekly workout routine down to a science. Little is required of you: load up a clip online or pop in a DVD and follow the motions without even stepping outside the comfortable confines of your home. But with spring finally here, the outdoors beckons — the fresh air, the small buds that decorate the limbs of trees, the slowly warming temperatures — making it a great time to mix up your exercise routine and reinvigorate your workout.
"It's important for people to get outside after they have been staring at the television screen all winter," says Michael Schwartz, a weight and conditioning specialist. "When you're outside, you get more of a sense of what your body can really do." That said, it's important to make a smooth transition to the great outdoors. "People get spring fever, rush outside, and forget about the possibility of getting injured," warns Cedric Bryant, Ph.D., chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. "Most people can't exercise at the same intensity outside as they do inside." Keep the following suggestions in mind as you ease your exercise routine into the exhilarating outdoors:
Inside-out: For starters, take your indoor activities outside. "If you've been working out to a specific video for most of the winter, chances are you know the routine pretty well," says Bryant. "Take some portable music and replicate that routine. You'll get the best of both worlds."
Dress code: Dress in layers, suggests Bryant. Should you get warm while working out, you can peel the layers off.
Hydration: Remember to drink plenty of fluids. Always carry a bottle of water with you when you're working out, suggests Schwartz.
Sun-conscious: If the sun is shining, remember to use sun block (SPF 15 or greater) before heading out for your workout, says Schwartz.
Nature's jungle gym: Explore different outdoor activities, such as hiking, mountain biking, or rock climbing. "These kinds of activities will give your body and mind a new challenge," explains Bryant.
Outdoor circuits: Try out a circuit workout. Most public parks and community areas offer free circuit courses, with workout areas for sit-ups or stretches, says Bryant. You can also create your own workout routine that can be done with common outdoor objects, such as park benches or steps. For example, Schwartz suggests trying bench dips between brief periods of brisk walking: Sit on a bench with your fingers gripping the edge. With a smooth, controlled motion, slide your hips forward and lower yourself down several inches below the height of the bench. Knees are slightly bent, feet on the ground. Start with 2 or 3 repetitions, and work your way toward 10 to 12 repetitions in the space of a minute.


Spotify: Does music-streaming platform need a smart speaker to compete with Apple Music?
Should Spotify Make Its Own Smart Speaker?
Apple Music will soon pass it in subscribers. It could be time for Spotify to move into hardware.
Smart speakers have become one of the hottest markets in consumer tech. Amazon Echos and Google Homes were among the most popular gifts this past holiday season, and that sales bump solidified Amazon as the leader in the space. Apple has since struggled to catch up, with its recently launched HomePod, but other hardware makers have rushed to get in on the hype, integrating Alexa and Google Assistant into their own headphones, wearables, and speakers.
Each of the three big smart-speaker platforms includes its own integrated music player—Amazon Prime Music, Google Play Music, and Apple Music. But for 159 million music lovers, another app is their player of choice: Spotify. With the Echo and Google Home, you need to head into the app's settings, connect your account with Spotify, and then select it as your default music player. Apple's HomePod doesn't even technically support third-party music services—it's designed specifically for Apple Music. Spotify plays second fiddle to these platforms' native music players, but that may not always be the case.
Spotify is testing its own native voice-control technology, TechCrunch confirmed Thursday. According to a video uploaded by one user with access to the beta feature, you can ask aloud for Spotify to do things like, "Play my Discover Weekly," "Show Calvin Harris," or play a particular genre of music. Spotify said that the capability is "just a test for now," but with an IPO looming, the company is undoubtedly looking for ways to expand its brand and presence. Voice control could be an end in itself. Could it also signal something bigger is in the works?
If launched widely in its app, voice commands could prove useful in hands-free environments like the car, a space Spotify has experimented with in the past. It could be especially handy on iOS, where Siri is zero help when it comes to navigating the app by voice. (Google Assistant is more useful.) But with its own native voice-based commands, Spotify frees itself from the restraints of being a software add-on to an existing platform like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. Without needing their respective assistants for voice-based actions, Spotify is free to delve into new territory—a speaker of its own.
This could be an important tactic in battling Spotify's biggest competitor, Apple Music, which is set to eclipse it in subscribers before the year's end at its current growth rate. Taking a cue from Apple, Spotify could build a speaker focused on high-quality music and audio—like Apple's HomePod, but with Spotify as the exclusive music app. Perhaps like an Echo Dot, it could be small or—because it may lack a true virtual assistant—something that could augment other existing smart home speakers in the house.
Spotify already has a small hardware play: It's baked into a handful of speakers and TVs already through Spotify Connect, but that integration has shortcomings. Spotify Connect merely streams the app's audio through another device, freeing up your phone for other uses. However, if you want to change songs or playlists, you still need to go through the app. Spotify's voice-control feature could at least make working with these connected products a smoother experience, but it can do better.
Spotify wouldn't necessarily need to build its own audio equipment from the ground up. The music app could instead partner with an established speaker maker like Bose on such a product. If this were the case, Spotify would have a hardware product where its services are at the forefront instead of an afterthought. Meanwhile, its hardware partner—a company similarly being left out of the smart speaker conversation—would have an additional avenue to compete against products by Amazon, Google, and Apple.
Spotify is one of the most popular music-streaming platforms, and it stands to reason that for those who use—or plan to use—a smart speaker for listening, there could be a market for dedicated Spotify hardware. By breaking out from its digital confines, perhaps the company could see a new level of adoption and brand recognition that could help it best its biggest rival, Apple Music. All the biggest, most trusted companies in the tech world offer a mix of hardware and software services to consumers. If Spotify wants to level up and join those ranks—and combat the threat of newer streaming-music players—it should be considering how hardware could help it do that.


You'll be cool as a cucumber when you bring this one to the table! This Crunchy Cucumber Salad features extra-crispy cukes and bell peppers, making it a light 'n' tasty go-along for any springtime occasion.
In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, salt, and ice water. Cover and chill 1 hour, then drain and return cucumbers to the bowl.
We like to peel the cucumbers for this salad, but you can also use them unpeeled or run a fork across the peels before slicing to give them a ridged look.
Have a whole lot of cucumbers on hand? Why not use some of them to make our Half Sour Dill Pickles?
Cucumbers are so yummy in any salad and I love the many benefits that come from eating them, but would you please tell me why the cucumbers need to be soaked in salty ice water...don't they become waterlogged and limp from doing this, and won't they chill from simply putting them in the fridge after adding the rest of the ingredients?
Hi there! Soaking them ensures the crispness and fresh flavors by soaking them first!
Crunchy cucumber salad is the best tasting I've ever made and the colors are very appetizing. Try it...you'll love it!


Special guest blogger, Jayme Grant, is here with quick tips to be glam and fab for the holidays.
If you can relate to this story, then please allow me to be your guide to getting party ready in 10 minutes.
Sweater necks are key to what element you're bringing to the table.
Last, but not least, you can never go wrong with a classic cardigan. Wear a simple white or black tank under your cardigan and some dainty jewelry – then BAM. You look super cute.
Also a great way to make these sweaters also look trendy is to tuck them in just the front. This adds the chic factor.
Now, let's talk pants. Obviously a black pair of leggings is always a great default to any sweater, but I want to talk about jeans. It is fall, so I tend to stay in the dark wash realm this time of year, but of course, it is completely dealer's choice.
The boyfriend will embody the comfy chic look you're looking for. My best advice is tucking the front of your sweater into the jeans and letting the rest of the sweater hang.
Skinny jeans are forever! You can never go wrong with skinny jeans, especially when they come in different types of material that go from normal denim to nice stretchy rayon. The beauty of skinny jean is that despite the name, they accommodate all body sizes.
Pair this outfit with a neutral or black pair of tall boots, booties, loafers, or flats.
Okay, so what about your hair and makeup?
I got you! We'll make it through this together. My hair go to's for the "comfy chic" look are…. messy buns! Or ballerina buns.
No some quick makeup. I would suggest a very natural skinned, minimal eye makeup, and a bold lip.
And, of course, lipstick. It's fall so reds, browns, and purples are my go-to.
Now, look at you Queen. Looking hella trendy – way to go.
Go answer that doorbell – you look beautiful!
Jayme is a body-positive influencer who knows fashion, makeup, and all things beauty.
Follow her on Instagram for more tips.