The Angels took Newcomb with the 15th overall selection in the 2014 draft and signed him for $2,158,400 after the southpaw blossomed while pitching in the Northeast. He attended high school in Middleboro, Mass., before moving on to Hartford. A former high school tight end who had several opportunities to play college football, Newcomb struggled to throw strikes as a college freshman before ranking second in NCAA Division I with 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings as a sophomore in 2013. Newcomb shined as a junior, ranking seventh in the nation in ERA at 1.25. After a brief pro debut in the Angels system in 2014, Newcomb climbed from low Class A Burlington to Double-A Arkansas in 2015, his first full season, and was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the offensive-oriented high Class A California League. The Braves made Newcomb the centerpiece of their November 2015 deal with the Angels that sent Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim and also netted Double-A righthander Chris Ellis and veteran big league shortstop Erick Aybar. Newcomb is a potential workhorse, featuring a big, durable frame and a three-pitch repertoire from the left side. He does a good job of working off his lively fastball that sat at 91-94 mph and was clocked as high as 99 mph in 2015. His fastball command can be inconsistent, as evidenced by his walk rate of 5.0 per nine innings, but he throws easy gas with above-average movement and struck out 11.1 batters per nine in his full-season debut. That rate ranked third among qualified minor league starters in 2015. Newcomb has the makings of a plus curveball with its upper-70s velocity, tight spin and swing-and-miss potential. He became infatuated with his breaking ball at times early in 2015 before learning how to set up hitters with his fastball and changeup, while the Angels forced him to throw his solid-average changeup more often. The offering has good armside action, and he made excellent strides with the depth of the changeup while working with high Class A Inland Empire pitching coach Matt Wise. Newcomb displays confidence and possesses excellent mound presence, is not afraid to challenge hitters, and can be intimidating with his high three-quarters arm slot and tall, physical frame. He repeats his clean delivery with consistency due to his solid athleticism. Newcomb does a good job fielding his position, though he had trouble holding runners. The Braves were attracted to his aptitude as well as the low mileage on his arm, and they believe he has a much higher ceiling than the most college pitchers. Atlanta has added impressive pitching depth to the organization over the past 18 months--acquiring first-round talents such as Touki Toussaint and Max Fried via trades and selecting Kolby Allard and Mike Soroka in the first round of the 2015 draft, among other moves--but Newcomb should prove to be the best of the bunch as long as his control progresses. Scouts are mixed on his long-term potential, projecting him to be anywhere from a No. 1 to a No. 3 starter. He could begin 2016 at Double-A Mississippi or Triple-A Gwinnett and make his major league debut during the season.
Drafted: HS--San Clemente, Calif., 2015 (1st round).
A stress reaction in his back caused Allard to miss most of his senior year at San Clemente (Calif.) High and fall to the Braves with the 14th overall pick in 2015. The youngest player on the gold medal-winning USA Baseball 18U national team in 2014, the UCLA recruit appeared on scouts' radars early in his prep career and dominated on a variety of stages. After signing Allard for $3,042,400, Atlanta limited him to three brief starts in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League while easing him back onto the mound before he participated in instructional league without any complications. Allard repeats his smooth and easy mechanics with consistency and generates a hard, sinking fastball that sits in the low 90s and touches 96 mph. He mixes his fastball well with a tight curveball that features a sharp downward break just prior to reaching the plate. Allard showed a feel for the changeup during instructional league, but the pitch needs work after he rarely threw it as an amateur. The Braves love his makeup and competitiveness. He should be ready to go in spring training. While Allard has the overall package to move rapidly through the organization, the Braves will be patient and methodical as he develops into a potential top-of-the-rotation starter.
Albies' development led the Braves to trade second baseman Jose Peraza to the Dodgers in the July 30 deal that netted Hector Olivera. The Rookie-level Appalachian League's top prospect in 2014, Albies enjoyed a strong first full season at low Class A Rome in 2015 before a fractured right thumb cost him the final month of the season. He ranked fourth in the South Atlantic League with a .310 batting average. Albies combines quick-twitch athleticism, plus speed and an unbridled exuberance that makes him an ideal table-setter at the top of the lineup. His superior hand-eye coordination and quick swing generate solid bat speed and consistent contact from both sides of the plate. He sprays hits to all fields and does a good job of keeping the ball out of the air. His strike-zone judgment is advanced, but his aggressiveness cuts into his on-base percentage. Defensively, Albies has soft, steady hands with quick feet and above-average arm strength with a quick release and good accuracy. At 19, Albies will again be one of the youngest players in his league in 2016 when he opens the season at high Class A Carolina. He could be in the major league discussion by the end of 2017.
Drafted: HS--Coral Springs, Fla., 2014 (1st round).
Signed By: Frankie Thon Jr. (D-backs).
The Braves had Toussaint ranked in the top 10 on their 2014 draft board. The Diamondbacks drafted the Florida native, who spent time growing up in Haiti, at No. 16 overall. The Braves acquired Toussaint from Arizona on June 20, the oneyear anniversary of his signing date, by agreeing to take on injured veteran Bronson Arroyo. Thus, the Braves essentially purchased Toussaint for $10 million. Toussaint combines superior athleticism and a three-pitch repertoire with a frame that has excellent projectability. His lightning-quick arm generates a live fastball that tops out at 98 mph. His plus curveball resides in the mid-70s with a hard, late break. Much like his breaking ball, his changeup needs work but has the depth and fade to be a plus pitch. Toussaint has struggled with his control, which led to elevated pitch counts and a walk rate of 4.9 per nine innings at two low Class A stops in 2015. The Braves believe his athleticism will allow him to repeat his delivery more consistently with some fine-tuning. Scouts love Toussaint's potential but realize the raw righthander has work to do. If everything comes together, Toussaint could be a top-of-the-rotation starter. Barring a setback in spring training, he should move up to high Class A Carolina in 2016.
Drafted: HS--Southaven, Miss., 2015 (1st round supplemental).
One of the top two-way players available in the 2015 draft, Riley was deemed more of a pitching prospect throughout most of his high school career. The Braves, however, liked his raw power and took him 41st overall as a position player. Riley proceeded to blitz two Rookie-level leagues and tie for second in the organization with 12 homers despite not playing until late June. Riley possesses above-average bat speed with the ability to lift the ball. He generates impressive raw power to all fields that led to 27 extra-base hits in 60 games. Despite striking out 26 percent of the time in his pro debut, Riley displays a good feel for the strike zone and barrels the ball with consistency. He has good athleticism for a jumbo frame and shows a solid feel for running the bases despite below-average speed. Riley moves well at third base, with good first-step quickness and average range, though he committed 16 errors in 53 games. He has plus arm strength with good accuracy on his throws after sitting around 90 mph on the mound. No player generated more enthusiasm from the Braves' 2015 draft class than Riley. Though his future may be at first base, he could be an impact bat at one of the four corner positions. He should begin the 2016 campaign at low Class A Rome.
The Braves went with a high-risk, high-reward approach when they acquired Fried, the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft, from the Padres as part of the Justin Upton trade prior to the 2015 season. Only Fried's high school teammate Lucas Giolito, now the Nationals' top prospect, offered more promise among the prep arms available in the 2012 draft. He logged just 11 innings in 2014 and then missed all of 2015 after having Tommy John surgery in August 2014. Possessing the potential for at least two plus pitches, Fried has a lean frame that could generate additional velocity as his body matures. When healthy, he does a good job of working off a low-90s fastball that touches 95 mph. His best pitch is an overhand hammer curveball with a 12-to-6 break that generates strikeouts. His changeup needs work, but he has shown a decent feel for it in limited use. Fried struggled with control at low Class A Fort Wayne in 2013, though elbow soreness may have been to blame. Fried has lost nearly two years of development. The signs regarding his rehab are positive, and the Braves are confident he can re-emerge as a potential frontline starter. Fried's return in 2016 is expected to be methodical as he rebuilds his arm strength over the course of the campaign.
Smith was one of four prospects the Braves acquired from the Padres for Justin Upton in December 2014. He led the minors with 88 steals in 2014, then overcame slow starts at both Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2015 to earn organizational minor league player of the year honors, hitting a cumulative .306/.373/.386 with 57 steals in 126 games. Considered to be primarily a speedoriented player upon joining the Braves, Smith made progress in all aspects of his game in 2015. Seen by the Braves as a young version of Michael Bourn, Smith has excellent plate discipline and works counts in order to get a pitch he can handle or get on base via a walk. While he lacks home run power, he makes consistent contact and is adept at playing small ball, including bunting for base hits. A premier basestealer, Smith has excellent range in center field and has improved his routes to balls in the gap. His arm strength is below-average, but he has good accuracy on his throws. The Braves consider Smith to be the team's long-term answer in center field and at the top of the batting order. He will work with Bourn during spring training and should make his big league debut at some point during the 2016 campaign.
Drafted: HS--Calgary, 2015 (1st round).
The Braves nabbed Soroka with the 28th overall selection in 2015 as compensation for the Twins signing Ervin Santana. Soroka helped the Canadian Junior National team finish third in the 2014 COPABE 18U Pan American Games. He also tossed 13 scoreless innings during the team's trip through the Dominican Summer League in May prior to becoming the highest-drafted player ever out of Alberta. Soroka pounds the strike zone aggressively with three pitches and works off his consistent low-90s fastball with solid movement. The solidly built hurler has excellent athleticism, commands his stuff to both sides of the plate and does an excellent job of living in the lower part of the strike zone. Soroka's above-average curveball shows tight spin and a late, sharp downward break. He has shown a good feel for an early-stages changeup. Soroka's cross-body finish created some concerns among scouts, even though he has not had any injury problems. Soroka was limited to 34 innings in his first taste of pro ball. The Braves will be patient with the Canadian's development--he's one of the youngest players in his draft class--though he could open the 2016 season at low Class A Rome.
The 32nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, Davidson had several strong performances on the showcase circuit prior to his senior year of high school, including a three-home run performance in the 2013 USA Baseball Tournament of Stars. He was a first-team prep All-American prior to signing for $1,705,000. Davidson is a disciplined hitter with impressive strike-zone judgment and above-average raw power that has yet to emerge with consistency during games. He led the South Atlantic League and the Braves organization with 84 walks in 2015, but he also struck out 27 percent of the time while getting beat at times on inside pitches. The lefthanded hitter can drive the ball to all fields and possesses the rare combination of true power and patience. Davidson has transformed his still-maturing body as well as his defense since signing. A prep first baseman and occasional center fielder, he has made strong progress while making the move to right field as a pro. His routes to flyballs still need honing, but his arm strength is above-average with solid accuracy. The Braves challenged Davidson last season by having him open the campaign at low Class A as an 18-year-old. He proved strong enough to handle the ups and downs and should be ready to move up a level to high Class A Carolina in 2016.
Drafted 21st overall in 2012 out of a metro Atlanta high school, Sims returned to the high Class A Carolina League to open the 2015 season after being the youngest player on the circuit on Opening Day 2014. Injured in a team bus wreck in early May, the righthander did not return until July and was promoted to Double-A Mississippi shortly thereafter. Sims is one of the most competitive and aggressive pitchers in the organization. An outstanding all-around athlete, the former shortstop repeats his smooth delivery with consistency and generates a plus fastball with armside run that sits in the low 90s and touches 96 mph. He also commands his curveball that resides in the upper 70s and flashes plus with late break. The feel for his changeup has been inconsistent and the main culprit in his high walk rate, but Sims has shown promising fade and depth when he throws the pitch correctly. He has learned to mix his pitches, works both sides of the plate and can overpower hitters at times with his fastball. Sims continues to make steady improvement toward a potential mid-rotation ceiling. If his changeup continues to develop, he could be even better. A 2016 season split between Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett is likely.
Banuelos made his major league debut in 2015, his eighth pro season, but his progress halted after seven outings when the lefthander had bone chips removed from his left elbow. That procedure came on the heels of Banuelos missing nearly two full seasons, in 2012 and 2013, that included Tommy John surgery in August 2012. He made strides in his comeback at three levels of the Yankees system in 2014 and was Triple-A Gwinnett's best pitcher during the first half of 2015 after the Braves acquired him from New York in an offseason trade. Banuelos' fastball sat in the low 90s in 2015, and the Braves believe his velocity could return close to its previous mid-90s level once he fully recovers from his most recent procedure. The sharpness of his solid curveball and changeup should also improve, giving him three above-average pitches as well as a possible fourth if he continues to throw his recently added cutter. Despite his success in Triple-A, Banuelos needs to improve his control and command after averaging 4.3 walks per nine innings at Gwinnett. Banuelos will be 25 in 2016 and still offers hope that he can be a solid contributor to the big league rotation, possibly as a No. 4 starter. He needs to put all the injuries behind him, though.
Ellis transformed from reliever to Southeastern Conference ace as a junior at Mississippi in 2014, finishing third in the country in starts as the workhorse for the Rebels' first College World Series team in 42 years. After signing Ellis for $575,000, the Angels eased him into pro ball before pushing him hard in 2015, when they started him at high Class A Inland Empire and promoted him to Double-A Arkansas for the second half. Los Angeles traded him and lefthander Sean Newcomb to the Braves in the November 2015 Andrelton Simmons deal. Ellis had a solid if unspectacular three-pitch mix as a starter. His fastball has touched 95 mph and sits in the 90-94 range, usually in the lower end of that register, but has solid sink and some angle as well. His slider is more notable for its 82-84 mph power than its consistency, but it has flashed plus at its best, helping his lead the high Class A California League in strikeouts at the time of his promotion. He improved the fade and life on his changeup in the first half, helping the pitch grade solid-average as well. While he's not a pure strike-thrower, he also isn't afraid to challenge hitters with his best stuff. He has a clean arm and held up well over a challenging first-year workload. Ellis has polish to add, such as learning to hold runners, to reach his No. 3 starter's ceiling. With the Braves' newfound depth, he could consolidate last season's gains by opening 2016 near his old college stomping grounds at Double-A Mississippi.
The Braves added one short-term and one possibly long-term piece to their big league rotation when they acquired Shelby Miller and Jenkins from the Cardinals for Jason Heyward shortly after the 2014 season. While Miller had established himself at the game's top level, Jenkins struggled with injuries throughout much of his time with St. Louis, which included shoulder surgery in August 2013. A tremendous athlete who had committed to play quarterback at Baylor, Jenkins blossomed with the Braves in 2015, proving he was healthy and earning the organization's minor league pitcher of the year award. He went 8-9, 3.19 in 25 starts and finished the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. In addition to establishing a career high with 138 innings, Jenkins made impressive strides in learning how to command his two- and four-seam fastballs and the importance of using his secondary offerings. He pitches on a steep downhill plane that produces a low to mid-90s heater with good movement down in the zone. He also throws a hard curveball and a solid changeup and has a workhorse mentality that had not manifested previously due to his injuries. Jenkins has No. 4 starter potential and is on the cusp of pitching in Atlanta, which should happen at some point in 2016.
The Braves obtained Sanchez from the Angels in January 2015 when they sent third baseman Kyle Kubitza and righthander Nate Hyatt to Los Angeles. Sanchez signed with the Angels for $580,000 in July 2013, which came a year after he was the winning pitcher for Venezuela against Cuba in the 15U World Championship. He made his pro debut in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2014 prior to spending the first half of 2015 at low Class A Rome. The athletic Sanchez has a clean-and-easy delivery and the ball tends to jump out of his hand. All of his pitches have excellent movement, including a fastball that sits at 90-91 mph and touches 95. His curveball has a sharp 1-to-7 break, and he has shown a good feel for his changeup. He is willing to work inside but struggled with his control and command throughout his 10 starts in the South Atlantic League, after which the Braves shut him down to monitor his workload. Raw in many respects, Sanchez has significant upside and is working to keep up with his maturing body. Once he gains more consistency with his mechanics, he could develop quickly. He will return to Rome in 2016.
Acquired with fellow righthander Rob Whalen from the Mets for veteran infielders Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson at the 2015 trade deadline, Gant is a late bloomer from the Tampa area who has developed in recent seasons as his body has matured. The righthander made significant strides in 2014, when he ranked fourth in the South Atlantic League in ERA (2.56), third in opponent average (.231) and fifth in strikeout rate (8.3 per nine innings) at low Class A Savannah. Gant, who draws comparisons with veteran reliever Tyler Clippard from scouts, has a killer changeup with plus sinking action and a solid-average fastball with an advanced knowledge of how to set up hitters. His developing curveball with a tight spin has shown signs of becoming his best offering if he can gain more consistency with the pitch. An above-average athlete who uses his 6-foot-5 height to throw on a downhill plane, Gant has solid overall command while using the lower half of the strike zone as well as both sides of the plate. A potential No. 4 starter in the big leagues, he went 4-0, 1.99 with 43 strikeouts in 41 innings at Double-A Mississippi after joining the Braves. He is a candidate to begin 2016 at Triple-A Gwinnett after joining the 40-man roster in the offseason.
Ruiz was part of the haul the Braves received from the Astros when they traded Evan Gattis to Houston in January 2015. A two-sport athlete in high school who played quarterback, Ruiz was headed to Southern California before turning pro for $1.85 million in 2012 as the Astros' fourth-round pick. He developed steadily with Houston after making a mechanical adjustment to his collapsing front side at the plate, and he led the high Class A California League with 37 doubles in 2014. The Braves say Ruiz tried too hard to impress his new organization in 2015, when he hit just .211 with no home runs in the first half at Double-A Mississippi. He rebounded slightly in the second half, hitting .252/.337/.378 in 230 at-bats. Ruiz has a balanced lefthanded swing with good strike-zone judgment and solid-average raw power that has yet to translate into home-run production. He struggled against the best Double-A arms but showed signs of understanding how hurlers were setting him up in the second half. Ruiz has decent hands and an average arm at third base but needs to hone his footwork as well as his throwing accuracy. Ruiz seems destined to open 2016 back at Mississippi.
The Braves addressed a system-wide dearth of catching depth by selecting plus catch-and-throw receiver Herbert with the 54th overall pick in 2015. His impressive amateur resume includes winning a gold medal at the Pan American Championship and leading San Clemente (Calif.) High to the 2015 National High School Invitational title. Herbert has extensive experience in calling games and shows impressive leadership skills behind the plate with his off-the-charts makeup. He possesses plus arm strength with pop times on throws to second base that consistently reside in the range of 1.9 seconds. He moves well behind the plate and does an excellent job of blocking balls while displaying a gritty approach to the game. The righthanded hitter has a simple swing and can drive the ball consistently. He possesses above-average power to his pull side, thanks to his superior physical strength in his hands and wrists. Herbert has the tools to be a starting catcher at the major league level as well as the experience to open 2016 at low Class A Rome.
The Braves acquired Bird from the Dodgers in the 2015 deadline deal that also brought Hector Olivera to Atlanta in exchange for prospect Jose Peraza, lefthander Alex Wood and a host of veteran hurlers. The righthander made progress in his fourth pro season and finished the campaign with three starts at Double-A Mississippi in his hometown of Jackson. Bird works off a low- to mid-90s fastball with good movement that has been clocked as high as 96 mph. His secondary offerings are inconsistent. Bird's slider shows promise with its occasional sharp break, and his overhand curveball and changeup are solid pitches when he executes them correctly. He is a flyball pitcher who has averaged 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings as a pro, but he struggles with his command and control, leading to high walk rates and a career 1.46 WHIP. Bird possesses a 6-foot-4, projectable frame and has had difficulty repeating his mechanics, particularly in the lower half of his body. Scouts also have expressed concern about his stiff-shoulder arm action and the overall effort in his delivery, even though he has above-average athleticism. If Bird's control problems continue, he will move to the bullpen, but for 2016 he will return to Mississippi.
Change has been the lone constant for Peterson since the Padres made him a second-round pick in 2013. A shortstop in high school, he shifted to third base in pro ball and played the position at low Class A Fort Wayne in 2014 before being traded to the Braves as part of the Justin Upton deal prior to the 2015 season. Moved to left field by the Braves, Peterson opened 2015 by hitting .314/.392/.448 at high Class A Carolina before being injured in the team's bus wreck in May and missing three weeks. Still just 21, Peterson has quick hands and a whip-like swing that produces outstanding backspin when he barrels the ball. He has an advanced knowledge of the strike zone and works the count well, but he tends to swing and miss too often. After struggling defensively at the hot corner, Peterson made a solid transition to left field. He has an average arm and his fringe-average speed is not a liability. The Braves not only believe he will develop impact power at higher levels but that he will prove to be a better player than older brother D.J., a Mariners first-rounder in 2013. Though a return to the Carolina League to in 2016 would not be surprising, Peterson should reach Double-A Mississippi at some point during the campaign.
Several scouts believed Hursh's future resided in the bullpen when the Braves drafted him 31st overall out of Oklahoma State in 2013. The righthander missed his sophomore season after having Tommy John surgery, but he rebounding in his final campaign with the Cowboys. After going 2-6, 5.63 and allowing opponents to hit .338 through 15 starts, Hursh moved to the bullpen and recorded a 2.25 ERA and .257 average, including his time at Triple-A Gwinnett. Since moving to the bullpen, his fastball has improved to 94-98 mph with heavy sinking action and some armside run. His hard changeup arrives with split action, and his overhand curveball continues to improve but is not consistent enough to go through a lineup multiple times. Hursh's plus makeup, aggressiveness and ability to work down in the zone to generate groundballs make him a possible candidate to work as a set-up reliever. Refinement of his secondary pitches and command would make Hursh a strong candidate to contribute in the Atlanta bullpen in 2016.
Simmons' 2015 season ended before it began when he had Tommy John surgery in mid-February. Before that he had charted a meteoric rise through the Atlanta system, beginning in 2013 when he saved 24 games in 25 opportunities. He continued to dominate at Double-A Mississippi in 2014 and wound up pitching in the majors before shoulder discomfort shelved him in late July. Simmons' bread and butter is a heavy, sinking fastball that sits at 95-97 mph and reached triple digits prior to his surgery. His slider has the potential to become a plus pitch with excellent tilt, though he has been inconsistent with the offering's command. He also shows an overhand curveball that he uses like a changeup, but he needs to add more depth to the pitch. Simmons has the overall stuff to work as a closer in the big leagues, but the Braves won't know what they have for sure until late 2016 or possibly 2017.
Feigl was not drafted after spending four years at Mount St. Mary's, in part because he lost his junior year due to surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. He proceeded to work as a high school baseball coach in Maryland and gave private pitching lessons before signing with the Braves after throwing on a scout day in the fall of 2013 at his alma mater. Feigl displayed an increase in arm strength, resulting in a low-90s fastball that touched 94 mph along with a decent feel for a changeup and breaking ball. He pitched well enough the following spring to open 2014 at low Class A Rome and receive a promotion to the high Class A Carolina League during the season. That showing earned him an invitation to big league camp in 2015, when he nearly made the major league roster prior to making one relief appearance at Triple-A Gwinnett and having Tommy John surgery in late April. In addition to his solid-average, threepitch arsenal, Feigl pounds the lower third of the zone and does a good job of working both sides of the plate. He is tough on lefthanded batters and could become a situational reliever in the big leagues. The Braves believe he should return by the second half of 2016.
Atlanta selected Winkler from the Rockies during the major league phase of the 2014 Rule 5 draft. Winkler led the minors with 175 strikeouts in 2013, which he finished at Double-A Tulsa. He breezed through the Texas League in 2014, recording a 1.41 ERA in 12 starts, before having Tommy John surgery on July 1. Winkler's strengths are his deception, ability to exploit a hitter's weakness and above-average control of three pitches. He hides the ball well using his low three-quarters arm slot and creates different angles with his unorthodox delivery and inverted elbow that draws comparisons with veteran reliever Pat Neshek. Winkler mixes an 88-90 mph fastball that touches 92 with a cutter and slider with solid movement. While he does a good job of working inside to jam lefthanded batters, he is difficult for righthanders to pick up, which contributed to a .103 opponent average in 2014. Winkler returned from rehab to make two brief relief appearances with Atlanta in September 2015. Despite working as a starter in the minors, he profiles as a reliever in the majors. Winkler must spend 90 days on the Braves' active big league roster (to satisfy the Rule 5 restriction) before he can be optioned to the minors. He accrued about 25 days in 2015, so he will have about two months to prove himself to the big league staff in 2016.
Camargo ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 2013, then finished the 2014 season at high Class A Carolina. He returned to Carolina in 2015 and continued to make steady improvement. A solid all-around player with easy, fluid actions and plus hand-eye coordination, Camargo has a line-drive approach with his smooth swing from both sides of the plate. He demonstrates an excellent feel for the strike zone by working the count, using the entire field and making consistent contact. Camargo continues to add strength and is capable driving the ball in the gaps but has belowaverage power. His knowledge of the game and ability to anticipate plays make him a good baserunner and give him better range than his average speed and quickness would suggest. He also has soft hands, above-average arm strength and solid accuracy on his throws that should allow him to remain at shortstop. Camargo has the intangibles to be a strong utility infielder in the big leagues, with the ability to start if he continues to add strength. He's in line for a promotion to Double-A Mississippi in 2016.
Signed out of Venezuela on July 2, 2014, for $100,000, Acuna opened eyes in his first taste of pro ball. The 17-year-old skipped the Dominican Summer League in 2015 and never looked overmatched in either the Rookie-level Gulf Coast or Appalachian leagues, where he ranked as the Nos. 11 and 14 prospect, respectively. Acuna impressed the Braves in minor league camp with his outstanding feel for the game, which convinced the organization to challenge him against older competition. He showed plus speed in center field and on the bases and should be a stolen-base threat at higher levels. He takes good routes to balls in the gaps and flashed well above-average arm strength with solid accuracy and carry on his throws. Acuna has quick hands and an aggressive swing but has advanced plate discipline. He barrels pitches consistently and showed excellent raw power that should generate solid extra-base production as his body matures. Acuna projects as more of a gap-to-gap hitter and profiles as a table-setter. He could push his way to low Class A Rome in 2016.
Cabrera's development has been slowed by inconsistency, which has been caused in part by forearm discomfort in 2014 that kept him out of action for two months. Despite advancing to Double-A Mississippi toward the end of 2015, he walked a career-worst 6.5 batters per nine innings. Cabrera's strength is an overpowering fastball that sat at 100 mph and topped out at 104 during instructional league. His slider has decent movement when he throws it with conviction, and his changeup needs considerable work. Cabrera returned to the Arizona Fall League for the second straight season in 2015 in hopes of honing his control but he walked seven in 12 innings. How well he progresses in that area will determine how much of a contributor he will be as a reliever with Atlanta. A return to Mississippi appears likely in 2016.
Thurman joined the Braves as part of the Evan Gattis trade with the Astros in January 2015. Since turning pro, he has battled his command and struggled to gain a consistent feel for the most effective velocity on his fastball, which sits in the low 90s but tends to flatten when touching the mid-90s. Thurman was among those injured in high Class A Carolina bus wreck in May 2015 and missed nearly two months. He was promoted to Double-A Mississippi shortly after his return in July and pitched well in instructional league before heading to the Arizona Fall League. Thurman mixes a solid-average changeup with his fastball, and he needs improvement with his curveball and slider. His overall command has been lacking as well, with scouts noting the inconsistencies in his mechanics and hard landing on his front foot. Thurman projects as a reliever in the major leagues unless his secondary pitches make significant strides. Expect him to open 2016 back at Mississippi.
Whalen and John Gant joined the Braves at the 2015 trade deadline, when the Braves sent Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson to the Mets. After joining the Braves in 2015, Whalen made three starts in late July before having knee surgery. The righthander succeeds with plus deception and excellent command of all his pitches. Hitters have difficulty picking up the ball out of his hand, which makes his average fastball with solid sink more effective. He generates a lot of swings and misses with his curveball, which has a tight three-quarters tilt and was considered to be the best bender in the Mets system in 2014. Whalen also shows a good feel for his changeup and slider, with both potential solid-average pitches with improvement. He is expected to open the season at Double-A Mississippi.
Janas has become more effective as his arm strength has gradually returned following Tommy John surgery at Kennesaw State in 2012. He returned from the surgery in 10 months to post an all-Atlantic Sun Conference performance in 2013 and sign with the Braves as a sixth-round pick. Inconsistent at low Class A Rome in 2014, Janas dominated at high Class A Carolina in 2015. Among those injured in the team bus wreck in May, he missed seven weeks on the disabled list but returned to pitch most of the second half at Double-A Mississippi with mixed results. Janas delivers on a steep downhill plane. He generates lots of groundballs with his sinking fastball that sits at 89-91 mph. His slider has a solid, late bite and his changeup has a chance to be an average pitch. Janas has some of the best command in the organization and limits potential damage by walking just 2.1 batters per nine innings in 2015. He should begin 2016 at Double-A Mississippi.


After training and coaching individuals for seven years, he's learned that people need a goal—something to drive them, something they love—to get them to push harder, faster, and remain committed. He spent a lot of time in sports conditioning centres training athletes and in regular box gyms training weekend warriors, and what they both had in common was a goal. Whether it was competing in this year's ultimate tournament or keeping up on the slopes with their kids, they had a goal and they recognized conditioning was an important part. Steven holds certifications with both the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology. He's a ski patroller with the Canadian Ski Patrol and a medical first responder with St. John's Ambulance. With Monvida he's fused the things he loves in life: training, helping people, and adventure sports.
NSCA-CPT, CSEP-CPT, MFR-St. John's Medical First Responder, Advanced First Aid, Canadian Ski Patrol, 3-year Advanced Diploma, Fitness & Lifestyle Management Program (George Brown College), SpiderTech Taping Certification.
Stephanie Cardoso is a Registered Massage Therapist trained in Sport Injury and Rehabilitation and certified in SpiderTech taping. She has been in practice since 2011 and is currently with Athletic Edge Sports Medicine operating out of The Boulevard Club and is a new addition to the Monvida team. Some of her work experience includes working with sports teams such as the Mohawk College women's varsity basketball team, as well as badminton, tennis and soccer teams. Stephanie has also worked in the entertainment sector and was involved with clientele featured in local productions such as Total Recall, Mama and Nikita. Stephanie is passionate about her work and regularly volunteers her time to charitable events such as the Ride to Conquer Cancer and Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope. Stephanie is passionate about health and fitness and enjoys helping athletes of all levels reach their goals through manual therapy and rehabilitation to obtain optimal functionality.


The ULC finalized survey questions and discussed the need to send the survey through the Human Subjects Review Board. The ULC expects to complete this process in April.
The ULC discussed the initiative that has already been started at the University to install six kiosks around campus. The first kiosk was installed in front of the library closest to the clock tower. The ULC likes the existing kiosk but wants to see more unsecured kiosks on campus. The ULC has ideas for a suitable design of a round Parisian style kiosk.
Motion: The University Life Committee and the Faculty Senate encourage the university to install unsecured kiosks in key locations around campus in addition to the bulletin boards already proposed and shown in the December 15, 2010 University Life Committee Minutes. The unsecured kiosks should be installed in the several locations including, but not limited to, both entrances to the University Commons and the northern entrance to CAS.
The ULC briefly discussed the "living conditions" of the freshman dorms with respect to partying, noise, and alcohol use. Jen Stanley, Tony Montefusco, Heidi Hartzel, Kim Hill, and Dean Kathleen McMahan have agreed to attend the April13 ULC Meeting (GHH 300 from 2:00-3:00) to discuss these issues and to see if ULC and the faculty senate can help their efforts. This is a continuation of the ULC's attendance at the Outside the Classroom presentation by Brandon Busteed.


Patnam, Bala Sai Kiran; Pindoriya, Naran M.
This paper develops a detailed and sequential procedure for short term operation of an aggregator to minimize the cost of the consumer and risk of the aggregator, which includes day-ahead (DA) and real-time (RT) operation. DA operation has two stages: consumer load scheduling and risk-based energy procurement. Consumer load scheduling implemented over a radial distribution network by a cost minimization objective function which considers electricity price and solar PV uncertainty, peak-to-average ratio, and phase unbalance. This model is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear program. In the second stage, a risk based energy procurement is formulated, here, the aggregator has choice of energy procurement from wholesale market either in DA market or RT market to meet the scheduled power. In RT operation, the aggregator take a decision on share of RT purchases and battery schedules to minimize the cost of scheduled load power deviations. In order to realize this, a rolling window optimization is implemented which is modeled as mixed integer problem. The framework is demonstrated with a detailed case study of 15 node radial active distribution network consisting of 420 number of residential customers.


text:
How to Play King Cash – Theacks – Arkansasansas Lotto
29 Agustus 2022 29 Agustus 2022 adminTogel
Want to play K Capital Cash? Well, you're in luck, because the Arkansas Lottery has just released its newest game, King Cash. K Capital Cash is the Lottery's newest instant scratch ticket game. Here's how to play the game:
purchased at least $5 worth of playing cards
select the number of coins that you wish to bet on the playcard (can be 1-4 coins)
scratch to reveal the winning symbols
wait to confirm the winning number before the next scratch
repeat the process on the other remaining cards
The great thing about playing K Capital Cash is that you can play up to 8 plays in 1 ticket ($5 can be used on 1 ticket, $10 can be used on 2 tickets, and $20 can be used on all 3 tickets). And, you can win more than just K Capital Cash.
By matching the winning symbol along with the slot number (which is visible when you scratch), you can win the second prize, which is given to the player whenever there is no unmatched combination. If you're fortunate enough to locate and match the winning symbol, you can win the third prize of K Capital Cash. And, you can also win up to 5 times!
The Exchange: The great thing about playing K Capital Cash is that it is an outdoor game. And, much unlike other lottery games, you have the chance to win more than adhere to the odds. Those odds, for instance, would favor a 1 to 10 million odds in the usual lottery game. But in K Capital Cash, you have a 1 to 40 million chance. Whatever the odds, you can hit it big with K Capital Cash. The Exchange offers a prize of $1 for every $1 bet.
Strategy: Though you can scratch off the blotches to reveal the symbols, you can still only win if you match the winning number. Still, there are some ways that you can boost your chances of winning in K Capital Cash. You can match the winning number in the middle of the blotches, but you can also utilize the spaces to the left and right of the winning number, which are usually the last two or three symbols laid down. By doing this, you will distract the opponent to the left and right of the winning number, thereby making it easier for you touthmark the winning number.
Though you may still have the same chances of winning in K Capital Cash, there are things that you need to consider. The first thing that you need to know is the state lotto website, since it offers you the chance to buy your game ticket there. You must pick the state in which you reside and the game you would like to play. Ensure that you select the game in which the price seems to be higher. Buying a ticket in a K Capital Cash Togel88 game, for instance, may cost you $1,000, but you will be able to save almost 20% by buying the game in bulk. You can pay almost 4 times as much as this. Also, you must have toustrative number in the exchange.
Another strategy with K Capital Cash lotto game is to be very selective about the number combinations that you want to scratch off. According to lotto software, there's an optimal pattern for these types of lotto games and, hence, there are guaranteed chances of winning, unlike most lottery games. Most importantly, when you buy the game, you will be entered into the drawing every week.
← How to Get Paid to Play Poker With Poker Sponsorship What is a Lottery Ticket Machine? →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
After a busy couple of weeks, we're back with a lot of stuff. We dive deep into the challenges of Google's Stadia, get way into Sekiro, catch up with The Division 2, and talk about lots of other things!
Billie Ellish - you should see me in a crown
This week we're back and have probably too many games to talk about, including DMC5, Robo Recall, Beatsaber, Ace Combat 7, Baba Is You, Ape Out, Spider-man and a lot, a lot more.
Meg Myers - Running Up That Hill
This week we're all honestly a little burned out on the current generation of games, which is probably why we're so provisionally excited at the prospect of what's to come, which we talk about in depth - including the rumors of Game Pass on Switch, new Xboxes at E3, what GDC could tell us, and a lot more,...


If you have suffered a foot injury due to the negligence of someone else, you may be entitled to compensation.
At The Compensation Experts, we understand that suffering with a serious foot injury can have an effect on your everyday life. Not only can it leave you or a loved one in physical agony, it may result in your financial situation being comprised. You may require rehabilitation, help with medical costs, and support should you be unable to work.
Our team of legal advisors have helped thousands of people who have suffered foot injuries due to slips and trips, falls from height, and accidents at work.


text:
The Age of Anxiety has dawned. While this may be easy to dismiss as a natural corollary of the recent pandemic, when one looks a little closer, it's not hard to see where this phenomenon manifested and where it is sustained.
In 2021, The Lancet published a global survey of responses from 10,000 young people, aged 16–25 years from Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and America.
The survey found that 84 per cent of young people aged between 16-25 were 'moderately to extremely worried' about climate change. More than 50 per cent of respondents reported feeling sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty.
Over 75 per cent said that they think the future is 'frightening'. Climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal.
Yet despite decades of technological and medical advances and the raising of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, the natural question that arises is, where did this anxiety come from?
You need look no further than our education system and what is being taught to students of all ages on a daily basis.
For years the University of Sydney's Environment Institute (SEI) has been at the forefront of Woke ideology and radical climate activism. According to the SEI's worldview, radical climate activism is an antidote to falling education standards and eco-related mental health problems.
Ultimately, activism-driven anxiety is a product of the left-wing vanity project to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050.
It's a dream being fuelled by Australia's oldest and most prestigious sandstone university and its treatment of the climate debate.
Who cares about numeracy and literacy? We have a global apocalypse on our hands! This is the mantra repeated by the Greta Thunbergs of the world and supported by SEI research.
The upshot: schools should be replaced with climate activism camps.
According to SEI Postdoctoral Fellow Blanche Verlie and Melbourne University's Alicia Flynn, 'ecocidal global socio-economic systems' can be blamed for most problems in the modern world.
Verlie and Flynn ask, 'What if education is not the solution, but part of the problem?'
They question whether education has 'young people's best interests at heart' and claim schools constrain 'cultural and political agency and effect'.
'The transformative response is to reorient educational structures, practices, and relations towards those that sustain life on Earth. It is time for education to reckon with its role in the climate crisis and its entanglement within colonial-capitalist extractivism.'
In other words, the likes of Verlie and Flynn believe schools should be turned into centres where future social justice warriors can be trained the transform the 'ecocidal' structures from within.
Verlie and Flynn also remain stubbornly attached to the notion that there is 'insufficient climate change education in schools'.
Perhaps they have not read the latest version of the National Curriculum, which is liberally littered with environmental content, thanks to the presence of ideologically driven cross-curriculum priorities like 'sustainability'.
The criticism doesn't just stop at schools, it extends to universities as well.
'Our ecocidal global socio-economic systems (namely colonial-capitalism) are largely the result of work by people with BAs, BSs, LLBs, MBAs, and PhDs,' Verlie and Flynn claim. 'The transformative response is to reorient educational structures, practices, and relations towards those that sustain life on Earth.'
Well then, out with the old and in with the new!
Such extreme rejection of the Western intellectual tradition also undermines the SEI's role as a department of research, but we cannot be surprised. After all, it was the University of Sydney that promoted the Unlearn campaign encouraging students to 'demolish social norms and rebuild new ones in their place'.
To promote research and innovation, the University of Sydney said that preconceived ideas about 'truth', 'love', 'medicine', and 'criminal' must be questioned. Calling for students to 'unlearn' basic fundamental ideas of knowledge will leave young and impressionable Australians unaware of the basic principles which built our way of knowing and way of life.
Similarly, advising students – terrified that the end of the world is nigh – to attend climate rallies, is a recipe for disaster.
More activism is the last thing that Australian children need at school right now. The most recent report from the OECD Program for International Student Assessment confirmed that Australia has continued its 20-year decline in education standards.
Throwing education out the window entirely and replacing it with more climate activism is not the answer. Neither is it the answer to the growing mental health crisis among younger generations.
The educated SEI elite, living in a world of ideas, rather than reality, must start to present real solutions to the problems they identify.
Obliterating the entire 'ecocidal' system which includes Western literature, culture, education, morals, values, institutions – to make way for a green new world – is a fine example of Einstein's observation of infinite 'human stupidity', not progress.


text:
Apple, Netflix lead early tech retreat
Published: April 30, 2012 at 9:39 a.m. ET
Benjamin Pimentel
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks headed south early Monday led by shares of Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.51% and Netflix Inc. NFLX, +1.25%. Apple's stock was down 1% at the opening bell, while Netflix saw its shares sink by more than 2%. Shares of Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.77% edged up about 0.3%, after the software company unveiled a digital-reader partnership with Barnes & Noble BKS, +1.84%. Shares of Barnes & Noble soared more than 80%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.59% edged down by 0.2% to 3,062. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX, +2.33% was also down a fraction.


Course Objective/Philosophy: The Bible is the absolute truth by which every single area in life should be measured by. God's truth is essential in kindergarten in laying the proper foundation so that Godly principles and wisdom can be built upon.
We begin the year by learning about how Jesus loves the children and wants them to come to Him. We spend several weeks in the book of Genesis studying the creation of the world, sin entering it, Noah's disobedience, and how God destroyed the earth because of sin. After that, we study the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Toward the end of this quarter, we start learning about the journey the Israelites took from Egypt to Canaan. We memorize our alphabet verses from A-H and The Lord's Prayer. The Bible and sin are the focus of our doctrine questions. We learn who wrote the Bible, if it is true, and how God wrote it. We also learn what sin is, who does it, and who the first people were to ever sin.
Our unit about the Israelites journey continues into this quarter. We take a break from our sequential study to learn about the first Thanksgiving and the Christmas story. We pick back up by settling in a while to learn about what Israel in Canaan before the kings. Our verses from I-P are memorized as well as Psalm 100 and the 10 Commandments in song. The doctrine questions teach about God. Students learn who made Him, if He was ever born, had a beginning, or would ever die. The Trinity is taught so that the students learn God is three persons in one, but there are not three different gods. Students learn Jesus was sinless, is God, and took the punishment for our sins. We must ask Him into our hearts to live with Him in heaven forever after we die.
After finishing up our last unit, we go study the kings and prophets and the exile and return. We memorize verses Q-X and Psalm 23. We learn Finish Unit 5: Israel in Canaan: Before the Kings. The doctrine questions will teach about sin, heaven, and assurance. Students will be taught that God hates our sin; yet He still loves us even when we sin and if we ask Jesus into our hearts and trust Him, God will forgive our sins so we can go to heaven when we die. Students will also learn that heaven is a real place and it is a wonderful, safe, happy home where God lives. They will know the truth that God wants everyone to come there and live with Him. They will learn that anyone who has taken Jesus as his Savior will be able to go to heaven and live forever with God, but anyone who has not taken Jesus as his Savior cannot go to heaven but must go to a terrible place of eternal punishment. Students will be assured that when a person trusts in Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes into his heart, he becomes God's child and God's Word says that a person can know for sure that he is going to heaven. They will know that as God's child, one sometimes will do wrong; but he is still God's child and that each person should tell God, as soon as he sins, that he is sorry that he has done wrong.
In this quarter the students will learn about Jesus' Death and Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost, Jesus on Earth, and the Parable s of Jesus. We will end the year with a Heaven Series and some special Missionary Stories. The students will memorize verses Y-Z and some additional verses and lines for our graduation program including Matthew 7:7 and Jeremiah 29:11. The last doctrine questions are about Satan. The students will learn that he does not have horns and a long tail and even though he cannot be seen, he is very real. They will learn he once lived in heaven with God as an angel called Lucifer, but when he became jealous of God and wanted to make himself as great as God, God cast him out of heaven. They will also know that Satan is God's enemy and the enemy of all Christians. He tries to get people not to obey God's will. Satan is strong, but God is stronger and can give us victory over him.
Student Materials: Pencil, Crayons, Paint, Glue, Handouts and Crafts from CSI, God's Wonders 2000.
Teacher Resources for Instruction: CSI, God's Wonders 2000.
The teacher will be able to employ genres of literature to engage students, practice vocabulary and communicate to students the value of Latin/Greek to our English language.
Evaluation: The teacher will use oral evaluations throughout the quarter. A written test will be given at the end of each week to assess knowledge.
Course Objective/Philosophy: The teacher will provide the students with the resources and activities to ensure that every child develops a love for reading. We will explore different types of literature in reading and writing.
1st Quarter/2nd Quarter: Identify main character ("The story is about…" or "The main character is…") and setting. ("The story happens…" or "The setting is…"). While speaking, show that sentences are made of words (gesture to indicate each word, left to right). Ask questions about books. Classify and categorize words that go together into groups ("_____ and ______ are things that are green." "_____ and _____ are things that are small."). Read (recognize) 50 high frequency words. Make connections between texts and life experiences. Make predictions about story content using sentence stems and cloze sentences. Answer questions about plot (beginning, middle, end). Retell a familiar story including character, setting and plot (beginning, middle, end) Concepts about Print: Know that texts tell us things. Locate front cover, back cover, title, name of author, name of illustrator, title page, and table of contents. Inside book find letters, words, and indicate beginnings and endings of sentences. Track left to right and top to bottom when reading. Know letter sounds, capital and lower case. Continue assessing every other week until mastered. Inform parents of progress. Use adjectives to describe objects and events. Copy environmental print legibly and with spaces between words and sentences. Write with sentence stems and cloze sentences. Use spaces, capitals and end marks correctly. Generate legible independent writing .Use correct spacing, capitals and end marks. Listening/Speaking: Follow one and two step directions. Recognize and speak audibly in complete, coherent sentences. Memorize and present rhyme, poem and/or song in front of class individually, and listen while others present.
3rd Quarter: Read 50-75 sight words. Generate rhyming words. Read C-V-C word and blend words of 2 to 6 sounds (ex.: if, sun, help, frog, stands,). Distinguish fantasy from reality in texts. Identify beginning and ending sounds. Read long vowel words with "vowel-blank-e" pattern (hope, cave) (introduce). When presented with 2 or 3 separate phonemes, track/order, count, and compare (same/different) sounds. Manipulate sounds orally by adding, substituting, omitting, shifting, and repeating sounds. Independently ask questions about a text. Independently make predictions about a text. Vocabulary: Classify and categorize science-related words (ex.: "___ and ___ live in the ocean." "___ and ___ can grow." ). Track auditorily each word in a sentence and each syllable in a word. Count the number of sounds in syllables and syllables in words. Read simple one syllable and high frequency words. Understand that as letters of words change, so do the sounds. Retell familiar stories.(assess). Ask and answer questions about essential elements of a text.(assess). Identify characters, settings, and important events.(assess). Generate legible independent writing of 3 to 5 sentences on a single topic and later with sentences that are varied in structure. Deliver an original descriptive oral presentation in front of class. Students will also deliver a brief, individual oral presentation relating an experience or creative story in a logical sequence.
4th Quarter: Kindergartners will explore patriotism and the reasons why we love the United States of America. Selections will inspire feelings of national pride. Particular areas of focus include the American Flag, patriotic parades, citizenship, and some of the country's natural beauty. Students also examine the many ways that people express their patriotism. We will be working on expressing ours by practicing our kindergarten graduation program. Read 50-75 sight words. Read long vowel words with "vowel-blank-e" pattern (here, time). Generate legible independent writing with correct capitalization, punctuation and spacing. On a single topic, write 3 to 5 sentences that are varied in structure and in sequential order.
Course Objective/Philosophy: The students need to make observations using their senses and have as many hands on experiences as possible for their lessons to be effective in physical, earth, and life science. The students will be encouraged to ask questions about nature so they will develop observation skills by using tools such as magnifiers, thermometers, rulers, or balances to gather data. Oral language and drawings will help them communicate their results. Their experiences will be combined with the learning they will do in their science books and using other resources to help new knowledge become concrete and a solid foundation to be built upon. Simple investigations will engage the students and help them become more successful learners.
The students will investigate the different types of weather to learn how we can dress accordingly and take safety precautions when necessary. We will learn how to read a thermometer and keep a log of the temperature and graph the various weather types as well as discuss how different parts of the country has different temperatures. The students will do an experiment to see how water goes back into the air to be reused and learn about God's plan to provide everything we need. We will take a trip around the schoolyard to determine the difference between which trees lose leaves and which ones are evergreens.
In physical science, forces and motion will be covered. The students will compare positions of objects inside and outside using position words. They will be able to give examples of different ways objects and organisms move or fall including. Proper care for animals and their homes will be explored. In life science, the structures and functions of living organisms will be taught. The students will compare characteristics of animals that are alike and different from other animals within a certain type of animal. They will also compare living and nonliving things. Magnetism will be taught in first grade, but may be introduced (optional).
The students will be exploring how to take care of the human body by using their five senses, exercising, cleanliness, resting, proper nutrition, and dental care. The food pyramid will be used and the students will discover where food comes from. During a unit on seeds, the students will have a special show and tell to bring in a labeled seed to share. They will learn about what plants need by doing a planting project at school with an observation journal. The students will understand how objects are described based on their physical properties and how they are used in physical science.
The students will learn how to take care of the earth by conservation, recycling, and pollution. The Duke Energy Team will present a play that teaches the children what energy is and how to conserve it. We will learn about how George Washington Carver discovered how to keep soil rich. A unit on the seashore is optional if time permits. The students will bring in shells and make a labeled class shell display for the school to see. They will show and tell about the shells they brought. They will learn that they were animal homes and make shell magnet crafts for Mother's Day.
Course Objective/Philosophy: The students will be able to understand how a community is run, about their country, and explore the continents realizing that Jesus loves all the different kinds of people in the world He created.
The students are exposed to several community helpers. We have guest speakers come in to talk to the students about their position as community helpers. We invite a pastor, policeman, doctor, and farmer. We are able to tour an ambulance and police car during this study. We also have several field trips that help us see the work that some other community helpers do. We visit our local hospital, a library, a grocery store, a farm, and post office. The fire house comes to our school, so the firemen teach us about fire safety and take us out to experience the fire house and tour the fire trucks.
Thinking back to our community helper unit, we will discuss those people and places closely surrounding us. We have a community mat that has pictures of all of the businesses around us that we will use for review. During this unit the students will learn to read various maps and be introduced to the globe. The History of Thanksgiving will be taught. We will have our annual Thanksgiving feast together with our grandparents and invite them into our classroom to show them what we have learned about the first Thanksgiving. The students will learn the shape of our country's boundary. They will learn cardinal directions with a song and see what a compass looks like. We will say country in our big voice and community in our small voice to help us remember that our country is much bigger than our community. The students will be introduced to Alaska and Hawaii as being two of our fifty states. They will understand the Pledge of Allegiance, what the stars and stripes stand for, and how to show respect for our flag. The students also will learn about the Statue of Liberty and what it stands for.
During this unit, the students will learn the shape of our world and begin learning the continents, oceans, and our neighboring countries. The students will be learning about the life of our first president. We will be seeing about how our rules are important. The students will learn about Lincoln and the importance of honesty.
Each student is assigned a country and given several weeks to choose 5 of 10 ways they would like to present their country to their classmates. The areas they can choose to present about include: geography, landmark, animal, language, weather, craft, food, clothing, game, life. Everyone will recognize and recite the 7 continents and study about countries in all of them. The students will learn about scientist George Washington Carver, how his passion about plants helped farmers, and what he made out of sweet potatoes and peanuts.
Week 1: The year begins with counting to 10 and learning the meaning of a number to 10 by using flashcards and objects. Learn about alike/same and different and pairs of objects. They learn about circles, squares, and patterns during this grading period. Week 2: Completing Patterns, missing numbers in 1-10, top, middle, bottom, above, below, inside, outside, before, after. Smaller, larger, same size, shorter, longer will be taught. The penny is introduced here. Triangle, circle, rectangle, square will be taught. We will be measuring students for the first of three times. They will be doing one-to-one correspondences with objects, recognizing numbers to 19, counting to 20, writing to 7. They will learn several rhymes and songs to help differentiate between their right and left hand. 0 is taught here. The Ones and Teen family is introduced here and ordinal numbers will begin.
Introduce 20-80 Family. Count 1-100 touching numbers.20-100 Flashcard. Formation of 9-10. Construct numbers to 100. Time to the hour. Nickel, dime. Adding 1-4. After numbers. Counting by 10s to 100. Addition word problems. Measuring students.
Ordinal numbers 6th -10th. Spelling one-eight. Introduce one half. Adding 5-7. How many pennies equal one dime. More, fewer, between. Count by 5s to 60. time to the half hour and quarter after.Writing 7. Before numbers. Quarter.
5s to 100. Subtracting 1. 2s to 100. Adding 8-9. Smallest to Largest. Counting nickels and pennies and dimes together with and without using word problems. Use nickels to count by 5s and dimes to count by 10s. Introduce a dollar. Measure the students.
Student Materials: Smart Board, Pencil, Crayons, Counting cubes, Flashcards, Combination Dot Cards, Money, Measuring Tape, Workbook pages from Numbers K, A Beka Publishing, 2008.
Teacher Resources for Instruction: Numbers K Teacher's Edition, A Beka Publishing, 2008.
Objective: Students will develop competent motor skills, behavioral strategies to demonstrate responsibility, respect of self and others, and understand the importance of achieving and maintaining a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 admonishes us to remember that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Use behavioral strategies that are responsible and enhance respect of self and others and value activity.
Apply competent motor skills and movement patterns as needed to perform a variety of physical activities.
Understands concepts, principles, strategies and tactics that apply to the learning and performance of movement.
Understand the importance of achieving and maintaining a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.


In his special remarks after taking the Oath of Office, emphasized working together as key to achieving what they can with Governor Tmeuang. He urged all leadership of Airai State to identify what can be achieved together for Airai State.
The ceremony was witnessed by Speaker Orrukem's family and friends as well as national leaders including Airai State Delegate Vicky Kanai, Governor Frank Kyota, Governor Tmeuang Rengulbai.
Administrating the Oath was Judge Rose Skebong and Mrs. Janet Ebil Orrukem was the bible bearer for the occasion.
Airai Legislator Rechard "Rihart" Rechirei offered closing remarks again encouraging cooperation and closer working relationship between Airai's leadership and citizenry.


Thanks to e.l.f. for Sponsoring this post!
Lovely! So want to try Julep's makeups!
Looks like the essentials I definitely want! Love e.l.f!
I must try that mascara!
love elf hd concealer. great post, dear!
So beautiful! Would make me feel like a glowing princess.
Sounds like a great product! I'll definitely have to look into that, I love a great highlighter.


Years before the phrase "Cloud-based messaging," the SitePM Message system has been providing internet-based messaging, file management and hosting, and registered email to small businesses. What started as a project to offer a solution to using your personal email for everything, or having to maintain multiple aliases, soon became a much larger goal of becoming a cloud-based messaging ISP.
We took a completely new approach. Here is what SitePM does.
Protects email as you would any other type of data. So "email" is no longer just email but becomes a protectable resource.
We did what no other company does. We gave users 100% absolute control over their inbox – We gave the user the freedom to decided who gets their email address. SitePM acts as a buffer between the Internet and your real email address. What this means is that, others can contact you and even send files without having your email address!
The concept is simple. With regular email, anyone can send you a message from anywhere at any time and it gets delivered to the server, then your ISP decides what is legit email and passes it on to your account, where it is again filtered by what your email filters.
Often times, these are pre-set to decide what is spam or bulk, then your email, legit or not, gets filtered out in the process.
The problem is that the security comes AFTER email has been delivered. There is no mechanism between the sender and the server to say, "hey, you're banned so you can't send email to this person." It's similar to a bank letting everyone into a bank vault, then having security guards try to filter out who's supposed to have access by using profiling.
SitePM solves that problem by applying security BEFORE email is delivered, by treating email as data. Today, data protection and security gets better and better, while email is left out in the dark. There is authentication, trust, certificates, user control and more for every kind of data, but email.
1. SitePM provides an extra layer of security by placing incoming messages to the platform, and giving the account owner freedom to accept messages from anywhere, (message me links and buttons on their website, social networks, profiles, etc), WITHOUT actually providing their email address.
When any new messages arrive, the account owner is notified, and can log in to their message center, which has all of the features of regular email and more.
2. We removed the power of ISP's and pre-determined "blacklisting" and gave it to the user with smart security that gets better and more accurate the more you use it. Users have REAL power with the ability to block keywords, ban domain names and IP addresses, ban email address, and even scramble profanity so that it is unreadable.
While at first, anyone can send you messages, (and we understand that it is very annoying), Â our security is unlike any other in that it is the only one in existence to actually block users from sending messages. Instead of passing it on to the server, blocked and banned users get an error message, and their message is not sent, then trashed.
For example, let's say you decided to block all messages with the phrase "free sample." Anytime anyone, from anywhere tries to send you a message with that phrase, the message is not sent.
What's important to remember is that this is BEFORE anyone has your email address! You only give your real email address to people you know and trust.
3. We removed the ability of others to send you files without your permission. We created a "pin" called SecureKey that you create when you create your account. Just like the pin number to your debit card, nobody can send you files without you giving them permission. This has dramatically decreased computer infections.
4. We gave users file management. By far one of the most needed features for people is the ability to send and share files and images, and just like CNET and many other file hosting/sharing companies, you can. Instead of sending files, simply send a link.
There are many more features and unique qualities of SitePM. For more information, please visit http://business.techdex.net today.
Imagine for a moment, never having to surf through junk mail and spam folders again, or never having to worry about downloading viruses and malware from attachments, or putting your identity at risk.
Well? Now you no longer have to imagine… Register today for a free account!


text:
Home » USAID Procurement Announcements » Procurement Information Bulletin
PIB NO: 14.117 To establish and upgrade customer services centers in Pakistan
jtahmas
Last seen: 17 hours 32 min ago
USAID PROCUREMENT INFORMATION BULLETIN
Office of Acquisition Assistance Washington, D.C. 20523
Commodity Division (202) 569-4709
Authority: USAID Prime Contract No: ENERGY II IQC CONTRACT EPP-I-00-03-00006
Source Origin: Geographic Code 937
Purchaser: International Resources Group (IRG)
Contact: William Crain Procurement and Contracts Manager, USAID Power Distribution Program rfp183@pdip.pk
Bid Deadline: 05-00 pm Pakistan Standard Time, October 02, 2014
International Resources Group (IRG), the purchaser, is hereby requesting the proposals under CIS PESCO project which include up gradation and establishment of customer service centers (CSCs) in PESCO Peshawar Circle Peshawar – Pakistan to facilitate PESCO and its consumers.
Qualified and interested firms may obtain an electronic copy of the RFP including Scope of Work and terms & conditions, by downloading from the PDP website <http://www.pdip.pk/rfq>. Telephone requests will not be honored.
The Government of Pakistan and the U.S. Agency for International Development encourage the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of minorities and women both as individuals and as members of contracting or sub-contracting firms. In this respect, it is anticipated that the prime contractor will make every practicable use of such personnel and firms. The participation of small, disadvantaged and women-owned business concerns in this activity as prime contractors or subcontractors are encouraged if they meet the RFP's stated requirements.
Firms providing proposals must be eligible firms/contractors in accordance with the requirements set forth in 22 CFR 228 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Commodities must be eligible in accordance with the requirements set forth in 22 CFR 228 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.
To establish and upgrade customer services centers in Pakistan


text:
extends: base.j2
title: LAB - Projects
description: Portfolio page in the BASIC hyde template
---
{% block css %}
  {{ super() }}
{% endblock css %}
{% block endhead %}

{% endblock endhead %}
{% block parallax_image %}

    {% block loader %}
      {{ super() }}
    {% endblock loader %}

{% endblock parallax_image %}
{% block main %}

All my online work(mostly open-sourced) can be found on my Github Profile

varunmalhotra.xyz

        This is my personal website, HYDE smelted static and responsive HTML site and each blogpost page has been authored in Markdown to avoid hand-authoring HTML. This site uses template language simlar to that of the popular Django framework, implemented through the Jinja2 project for rendering HTML pages into static content. If you look at my weblogs, more than half of the HTML of each page is boilerplate replicated across all entries. A template allows me to express that 50 percent of content only once and have it automatically applied to all the pages.

        HYDE provides me beautiful Syntax Highlighting Plugin to post all my code-snippets in my weblogs according to the language's taste. It not only makes code-snippets more readable but also helps in understanding the main points being highlighted.

        Technologies Implemented: Python, HYDE, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JS, Jinja2, Markdown

Color Schemr

        Generate your always aspiring Color Schemes by simply hitting spacebar (on desktop) or swiping (on mobile).

        Features:

         Generate Palettes - Hit spacebar to generate new palettes.

         Add / Remove Strips - Add to front / last (Upto a maximum of 10 strips), remove any strip.

         Color Range - Get Colors from a specified range of [R, G, B]. Just select your preference.

         Lock / Unlock - Control whether hitting spacebar should update strip's color.

         Color Codes - Each strip color in Hex and RGB code.

         Adjust Opacity - Adjust strip opacity by dragging the slider.

         Random Quote - A color quote with each new palette generation.

         Global Settings - Lock / Unlock / Adjust Color Range for all Strips.

         Disco Mode - Automatic palette generation in a loop.

         Piano Mode - Automatic random strip changes color in a loop.

         Preview Mode - Preview how colors would look on a minimalistic template.

         Gradient Mode - Blend colors to view it as gradient strip (works best with two colors).

         Key bindings - Change particular strip color by pressing number keys (0-9). 1 for first strip...0 for tenth.

         Responsive - Cross platform responsive app.

        Technologies Implemented: AngularJs 2, Materialize framework (MDL), TypeScript, ES6, Webpack, HTML5, CSS3 and FontAwesome

           Featured on ProductHunt

           Live Demo

secure-ls

        Secure LocalStorage data with high level of encryption and data compression.

        Features:

         Secure data with various types of Encryption techniques including AES, DES, Rabbit and RC4 (defaults to Base64 encoding). Secret key, if not provided, is also secured and generated using PBKDF2 password key genration.

         Compress data before storing it to localStorage to save extra bytes (defaults to true).

         Advanced API wrapper over localStorage API, providing other basic utilities.

         Save data in multiple keys inside localStorage and secure-ls will always remember it's creation.

        Technologies Implemented: ES6, Webpack, crypto-js, lz-string for library; HTML5, CSS3 and Materialize framework (MDL) for Landing Page

           Live Demo

Translatr

        It's a cross platform, online translation tool. It helps in translating a text or a short paragraph into different multiple languages.

        Who is this for?
        There's no such free online API which fulfils the desired requirements. Google Translate API is not free and this tool fetches result from it's older API only and parses the data accordingly.

        Features:

         It helps in translating multiple languages at once. The service translates a string one by one and then outputs the desired output once all being done.

         It can be used as an API for multiple languages translation for small personal needs.

         It stores current options(in LocalStorage) thereby speeding usage for later.

         Directly copy the JSON formatted response to your clipboard.

         Select / Unselect `All` countries.

         Filter countries quickly using search-bar.

        Technologies Implemented: AngularJs 1.4, Materialize framework, HTML5, CSS3 Python, Flask, and Google Translate API

           Featured on ProductHunt

           Live Demo

Visualization of ProductHunt Users worldwide

        The primary challenge of this project was figuring out how to get the desired data.

        The secondary challenge of this project was figuring out how to draw several thousand 3D data spikes as quickly and smoothly as possible.

        Script was written in NodeJS to fetch all the PH users data, Twitter API was used over the collected PH data to get the location of all users. Google Maps Geocoding API helped in converting addresses (like "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA") into geographic coordinates (like latitude 37.423021 and longitude -122.083739), which can be used to place markers on a map, or position the map. Data modelling and normalization of data followed after proper screening of Geocodes data.

        Blog:  Data modelling, screening and visualization
        Technologies Implemented: JavaScript, NodeJS, WebGL, HTML5, CSS3

           Featured on ProductHunt

           Live Demo

json2html

        json2html is an open-source project which helps to convert JSON Object to HTML representation.

        Non-technical audience and sometimes even developers too, find it difficult to understand JSON representation when it goes viral in terms of its depthness. This app aids them in learning and better understanding of deploying JSON.
        The final representation can be viewed as HTML tables with just normal looks or glorified with awesome front-end framework, Bootstrap.
        This project has been developed using an open-source technology, a so called python library - FLASK.

        Technologies Implemented: Python, Flask, Bootstrap, HTML, CSS and JSON

           Featured on ProductHunt

           Live Demo

Bridge The Gap

        A simple HTML5 game where a player has to create bridges in order to cross buildings. Here's the video link - https://youtu.be/wBhNJL-zXXM?t=424

        Technologies Implemented: HTML5, CSS3, JS

           Play Online

Simplegist

        Github-Gist Api - python wrapper for GitHub's Gist API.

        Below are some cool features:

          Creating gists returning the url, script and clone link for copy-paste purpose

          Checkout one's gists - Name(s), Description and Content

          Edit and Delete a gist

          Search GitHub user's gist - fork, star and unstar them

          List-all comments of any gist, make/edit a comment on a gist, delete a comment

        Read Full Documention at READTHEDOCS/PYTHONHOSTED

        Technologies Implemented: Python, Github-APi(v3), Requests

Resumizr

        Real time Resume Builder, auto-filling data from connected social networking sites

        Technologies Implemented: Django, Python, Jinja2, HTML5, CSS3, JS, JQuery, Bootstrap, OAuth Integration

PyShare

        PyShare is an open-source client-server model based application.
        It's a local, event-driven and multi-user application which provides asynchronous
        File Sharing. The backend runs over Twisted Networking Engine.

        This project aims to bring down the tedious amount of work to integrate and
        collaborate team;s work. Though it doen't provide any such mechanism to enhance
        collaborativeness, but it let users to know the work status of others, let syncing of work.

        Technologies Implemented: Python, Kivy Framework, Twisted Library and Bash

embed-jsfiddle

        Web Component wrapper for jsFiddle's widgets using Polymer.

        Technologies Implemented: JavaScript

           LIVE DEMO

GistHub

        GistHub is an HTML5 app for managing Github Gists and was designed solely for the purpose of Firefox-OS app. It's a packaged and free app to be downloaded from Firefox Marketplace GistHub.

        Some Features include:

         View all github-gists

         Edit a gist

         Delete a particular gist

         Create numbers of gists

         Search any github users' gists

         Fork, Star, Unstar any number of gists

        Technologies Implemented: HTML, CSS3, JavaScript, JQuery, Twitter-Bootstrap, IndexedDB, AJAX, Github API v3 and JSON

           Firefox Marketplace

Calculator

        A Simple HTML5 based Calculator providing all the basic functionalities. It was developed for Firefox Marketplace.

        Technologies Implemented: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript

             Firefox Marketplace

Melange

          Melange, yeah, most of you might be thinking of Google-Melange, right ?
          But this is totally different and was given this name, actually before I have heard about Google-melange .

          Melange is a webapp providing a very flexible and user-friendly interface for building static websites, that automates real-time website code deployment.
          Moreover, features like Button glorify, HTML text-formatter and crawling of techie words not only provides an efficient and easy wrok-flow to hack on, but also, actually prooves it's ambigious name 'Melange' - a mixture.

          Melange is currently beta version and supports only a few HTML tags. A User can drag and drop various images, can play with some random texts, providing numerous styling options with dynamic re-positioing. Choice of removing the elements can be carried by dragging them onto the trashbox. Custom static pages can be a product out of it in no time.

          Technologies Implemented: HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, JQuery, AJAX, MYSQL and FB-SDK.

Proword

          Proword is a basic Text-Editor, fully Implemented in C/C++ using Borland graphics.
          Proword was my first project with so called Data Structurlly.
          It's dual mode i.e Console mode or general notepad mode provides a soothing
          environment to work on.

          It also empasses the User Authentication feature which allows a user can
          save and reload their work. The usual workflow in writing is thoroughly
          achieved using multi-level link-lists and structures.

          Technologies Implemented: Data-Structures, C/C++

Gold Miner

          Gold Miner is a very basic Game, fully implemented in C/C++ using Borland graphics, and my first ever project with my journey of Computers.

          It's a game in which an excavator tries to find the hidden Gold using his magical stick. The stick can move in any direction with it's flexible length.
          Obstacles in between makes the situation a bit trickier.

          Technologies Implemented: C/C++, Borland Graphics

    {% endblock main %}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Sarah Davis, Policy and Practice Officer, discusses the policy and operational context for housing health and social care.
These are interesting times in terms of the policy and operational context for housing, health and social care; all areas are under pressure financially, and the health and housing sectors face some significant changes to their working landscape and practices. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, there might be a window of opportunity to make some real changes in connecting the services more effectively for older people and those with long term needs.
The long awaited Dilnot report, Fairer Care Funding, has generally been well received – a clever and thoughtful set of proposals that look at how the risks of needing high care interventions can be managed between the individual and the state. But although it made statements about the need for more integration across wider care and support systems, and the potential for extra care housing or telecare advances to support better outcomes, it perhaps missed a trick in trying to drive that forward. For example, the Centre for Social Justice's final report, Age of Opportunity: Transforming the lives of older people in poverty, published in advance of Dilnot's, proposed some interesting ways in which this integration might be made, including the investment in adaptations counting towards a lifetime care contribution.
However, a welcome addition to the debate is the recent report Living Well at Home, the result of the Inquiry of the All Part Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People. It focused squarely on the role of housing, both as a cause of higher care needs but also as a part of the solution – by providing safe, warm, well adapted housing options for people in accessible neighbourhoods.
A recent roundtable discussion on health and wellbeing, with leading national and local experts across health and housing, hosted by Domini Gunn, CIH's Director of Public Health and Vulnerable Communities, crystalised the challenges for the sectors to make better links. In particular there is currently a window of opportunity for housing to attract health interest and investment if it can be ambitious and 'think big' in what it offers to health – currently needing to find unprecedented savings (£20bn by 2014/15) driven through the QIPP (Quality, Innovation, productivity and Prevention) programme.
The challenges are big and there is a risk that all the sectors will draw up their respective drawbridges. However, the challenges are so big that we need to grasp the window of opportunity we have now to make a difference for individuals and communities in the future.


text:
{% extends "base.html" %}
{% load bootstrap3 %}
{% block content %}

  {{ state }}

<form method="post" class="form-horizontal">
{% csrf_token %}

    {% bootstrap_form form layout="horizontal" %}
    {#{{ form.as_p }}#}

    {% buttons submit="Reset" layout="horizontal" %}{% endbuttons %}

</form>

{% endblock %}


text:
Home » Just In » Bliss Balls: A new promise to offer Nepal 'healthy' alternatives to confectionery
Bliss Balls: A new promise to offer Nepal 'healthy' alternatives to confectionery
Bijeesha Budhathoki January 12, 2022
Bliss balls and ingredients. Ohoto: Bliss Balls
Sweet shops in Kathmandu never became few and far between. Yet, when one goes on looking for healthy alternatives to sweets, the options are scarce.
But, recently, two men–Rajiv Joshi and Nirajan Upadhyaya–have opened an enterprise named Bliss Balls, which makes and sells four varieties of handmade round diet balls made up of dried fruits and nuts. Because the balls are made without refined sugar, the company claims they are healthy.
The television trigger
Upadhyaya and Joshi have been friends for almost 17 years since their first meeting at the Patan Multiple Campus. Upadhyaya has been running a travel agency for the past seven years with a long experience in journalism also whereas Joshi is the publisher of a travel magazine, named Image Nepal. However, how they ventured into the business of these tiny balls has an interesting story.
As the lockdown imposed to control the Covid-19 pandemic hit both of their businesses, they thought of "doing something different from what we have been doing all our lives", says Joshi.
Bliss Balls outlet. Photo: Bliss Balls
Both the friends, as food enthusiasts, decided to work on business relating to food. They were constantly discussing many ideas, but failing to make any conclusion.
Meanwhile, one night, Joshi happened to watch a Canadian TV programme called Food Factory, in which he saw a round-shaped food item looking like laddu made from various dry nuts. He learned they were called bliss balls or protein balls in the western countries including the USA, recalls Joshi.
"As we were discussing business ideas, I saw potential in these balls. Therefore, I immediately called Upadhyaya and shared the idea. He was impressed too," says Joshi.
The other day, Joshi made some bliss balls and asked Upadhyaya to try them. It was in August 2020.
Tasting and testing
Rajiv Joshi and Nirajan Upadhyaya, co-founders of Bliss Balls. Photo: Bliss Balls
Then, the duo began to study the nuts and dried fruits, and their nutritional values. "We took some ingredients as a base and started playing on it. We tried to balance the proportion of every ingredient in order to ensure taste as well as health," says Upadhyaya.
"A certain amount of nutrients is medically recommended for leading a healthy life. As per this recommendation, we started experimenting using six to 13 nuts and dried fruits," adds Joshi, "Such balls are made by mixing protein dust, muesli, oats and nuts abroad, however, we tried to give it our own flavours."
They say that they initially bought a kilogram of every dried fruit and nut and began experimenting. The two friends spent about six months studying and testing. They say they had turned the kitchen of one of their house into a confectionery laboratory.
"We used to give it to our family, relatives and friends to try and ask for feedback such as if they liked it, what they didn't like in it. Accordingly, we improved the products," says Joshi, "We worked on our products ourselves until we were confident enough that it was tasty as well as healthy. We used ingredients measuring each gram."
After achieving that, the duo began selling bliss balls creating Facebook and Instagram pages. Bliss Balls, as an enterprise, was officially launched in January 2021 with an aim to provide taste along with health.
Escalating sales
As per Upadhyaya, a 25-gram bliss ball contains 125 to 135 calories. Their enterprise makes them available in four flavours: bliss balls original, choco blaze, pistachio punch and twist, with prices ranging from Rs 690 to Rs 890 per 200 grams (Rs 3,090 to Rs 3,690 per kg).
Joshi says that the response from customers is satisfactory both on products and price.
The duo claim bliss balls can be eaten by people of all ages, from children to the elderly. They also argue they started Bliss Balls as people realised the significance of healthy and immunity-boosting food during the Covid-19 crisis. Hence, they think the pandemic also helped them grow their market.
"In the beginning, we two and sometimes our family members themselves were involved in making, packaging and delivering the bliss balls," says Upadhyay, "As the sales went up, we hired some staff to help in making bliss balls and outsourced packaging and delivery services."
Until recently, they were selling online only, but now have opened an outlet in Naxal of Kathmandu "as the customers were asking if they could visit the store, taste and buy them."
The duo source the raw materials, mainly nuts and dried fruits from the local market. "But, we think it is difficult to get the quality raw materials in the local market. If we can't find the good quality nuts and dried fruits, it will impact the consistency of the taste and health benefits of our products."
In the near future, they want to extend their product range including natural tea, and other confectionery items.
Bijeesha Budhathoki Wednesday January 12, 2022, 9:05 am
Bijeesha Budhathoki
Budhathoki is a correspondent at Onlinekhabar.
More From the Author
Chhath: Make thekuwa on your own this time. Here's an easy-to-follow recipe
10 taste-bud-tantalising treats for Kathmandu's meat lovers this Dashain


This presents new opportunities for Application Service Providers (ASPs) to develop innovative IoT solutions that help Fleet Managers address these evolving challenges and create new efficiencies.
Security requirements: Safeguarding your customers' data, vehicles, cargo, and drivers should be the top consideration. How will your solution secure data traffic at every stage? Will VPN services be needed?
Devices: Are you designing your own connected hardware device to support your application, or will you leverage an existing off-the-shelf device? If building your own device, include plenty of time in your go-to-market schedule to secure the proper device certifications. This process, which can take weeks or even months, is one of the most overlooked factors – it can delay product launches and eat away at ROI.
Roaming requirements: Anticipate your customers' geographies and business models – are they primarily long haul or short haul operators? Do they cross national borders? These questions will dictate your solution's network requirements. If your customer base operates within the EU, you may be able to connect your application with a roaming SIM from a single carrier. If your customer base operates throughout North America, you may require connectivity from multiple carriers.
The impact of network shutdowns: While 2G or 3G connectivity may seem like an easy solution right now, think longer-term and consider your solution's lifecycle. Many carriers have announced sunset dates for 2G/3G networks, so there is a possibility that your device will be obsolete at some point in the coming years. This could leave your end users scrambling to upgrade devices and create a poor customer experience.
With the global IoT fleet management market estimated to reach $15,500 million by 20241, Fleet businesses are demanding advanced management tools now more than ever. For ASPs, this presents a golden opportunity for innovation and market disruption.
Need help bringing your fleet application to life and streamlining the certification process? Learn how KORE can help you get to market quickly.


Apple and Google are now valued higher than the GDP of all but America's two largest cities, according to a new BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research report.
"It could ultimately lead to populist calls for redistribution of the increasingly concentrated wealth of Silicon Valley as the gap between tech capital & human capital grows ever-wider."
What it doesn't mean: Amazon is not, for example, actually more valuable than its home base of Seattle, as metropolitan GDP doesn't account for broader economic or security values (let alone real estate, infrastructure, etc.).