text:
Active payload management helps African gold mine realize an expected $49M in additional annual revenue
Payload management and reporting accuracy can prove challenging on mine sites. Many sites still determine their payload volumes manually, often considering a truck's total capacity for each load rather than the actual payload volume. The challenge is further complicated by differences in OEMs; some OEMs include payload counters in their truck beds, while others don't.
By implementing a payload management system, like the optional Payload module from the DISPATCH® FMS, mines can tighten their payload distributions to significantly improve payload management, reporting, and overall site production.
Republic of Guinea, West Africa
Increase payload accuracy and overall production
46% increase in ore production, representing US$49M in expected annual revenue
After several years of feed grade reductions and increases in cash costs, the mine reached out to Modular Mining's Performance Assurance (PA) team to help optimize their truck loading efficiencies and improve productivity. Prior to Modular Mining's involvement, the mine managed their payload manually throughout each shift cycle, which created issues around data accuracy and consistency.
During Modular Mining's on-site visit, the PA team compared the surveyed payload volume to the actual production volume reported by the DISPATCH FMS, which varied significantly. As a result, the site's trucks were being underloaded by an average of 20%, limiting the operation's productivity.
Furthermore, the manual payload process made it difficult for the mine to proactively monitor and manage their payload efficiencies.
Since the mine already leveraged the DISPATCH FMS to manage its equipment assignments in real time, the PA team suggested implementing the DISPATCH system's optional Payload Management (PLM) module, which captures real-time payload information from the VIMS systems on the mine's fleet of Caterpillar trucks.
The module transmits the payload data to loading equipment operators in real time, increasing their visibility and awareness of their actual payload volume. It also facilitates storage of all collected payload data for detailed analysis and reporting.
The PA group worked directly with the mine's leadership and technical team, as well as OEM support personnel, to collect data that would help improve calibration and identify potential equipment issues, before implementing the PLM module across their truck fleet.
After enabling the module, the PA team tracked the mine's payload for a month to generate a baseline.
Using the data from the VIMS interface, they then worked with the mine's Business Improvement team to develop operator scorecards for each operator to track their own loading efficiency. The scorecards are also helpful in understanding specific operator performance and identifying training opportunities for operators who need it.
Bi-weekly review meetings with key stakeholders helped continually improve system calibration, while also highlighting loading efficiency improvements.
By the end of the 6-month period, the variance between the mine's target and actual payloads had improved significantly.
After implementation, the mine has:
Increased truck loading efficiencies by 20%, from an average of 61t per truck to an average of 77t per truck (figure 1)
Increased monthly ore production throughput by 46%, or approximately 199kT, representing a potential annual increase of roughly US$49M, based on a commodity price of US$1,887.90 per oz (figure 2)
Figure 1. After implementing the DISPATCH PLM module, the mine has seen a 20% increase in loading accuracy.
Figure 2. Monthly ore production improved by nearly 46% after implementing the DISPATCH Payload module.
Through collaboration with Modular Mining's PA team, site leadership, the mine's corporate Business Improvement team, and OEM support personnel, the mine's total production has improved significantly. Their payload distribution is now much tighter than when they manually calculated it, which will allow the mine to target a more aggressive payload without risk of overloading their trucks.
By replacing their manual, inaccurate payload tracking process with the DISPATCH system's automated calculations, the mine dramatically improved their operator practices and overall production; they will also benefit from simplified reporting and can now start proactively monitoring and managing their payload efforts.


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Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond
Ringing and recovery activities within & beyond the Braydon Forest
Warbler Ringing Recoveries
Other Migrant Recoveries
Resident Recoveries
About the Braydon Forest & Beyond Team
Raptor / Owl Recoveries
Wader Recoveries
Back In Business: Lower Moor Farm; Thursday, 1st August 2019
In my previous blog I wrote about our rather disappointing session at the Firs on Wednesday of last week. I chose not to write about an equally dispiriting session at Ravensroost Woods on the following Saturday. Both woods were remarkably quiet, the only birds to be heard were a few Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. In sessions where we would have expected to catch 30 to 50 birds in each, we only caught 15 and 14 birds respectively. That equates approximately to 1.5 birds per net in a five hour session.
With our Constant Effort Site (CES) sessions running ahead of last year's sessions I was concerned as to what impact this recent weather has had on the birds at Lower Moor Farm. It didn't help that the originally scheduled date of 31st July proved impossible: with winds blowing at 20 mph and gusting to 30 mph. Fortunately, Thursday was a much better day and, although we could not double last year's 66 birds the catch was still higher. I am sure this weather has had an adverse effect and it will be interesting to see what impact it has on the numbers of birds caught on passage, given how much worse the weather has been further north.
I was joined by Andrew, Henny and David for the session. It started well and we had regular catches throughout the morning. Because we had moved the session from Wednesday to Thursday it coincided with a Milestones session run by Rachel Bush of the Wildlife Trust. The Milestones project aims to connect vulnerable and marginalised young people aged 11-24 to their local, natural environment by offering opportunities to participate in practical activities and widen their knowledge and appreciation of local green spaces and nature reserves. This meant that we had a couple of audiences of young school children during the course of the morning. I show them the birds, explain about ringing and, if any are interested / brave enough, we will show them how to, and allow them to, hold and release a bird. The bird is only held briefly and not passed around: one child, one bird. We did have a Blue Tit for the first group. One young lad was very insistent that he should be the one to hold and release it. I warned him that they peck, and that they are very feisty, but he insisted – and was then shocked when it pecked him several times. He was a little upset – but the bird was fine!
The catch for the day was: Jay 1; Treecreeper [1](1); Blue Tit 1[6](4); Great Tit [1](1); Long-tailed Tit (1); Wren [7](3); Dunnock (1); Robin [1](1); Song Thrush [1]; Blackbird 1[5]; Cetti's Warbler (1); Reed Warbler [1]; Blackcap 1[11](3); Garden Warbler [2](2); Whitethroat [1]; Lesser Whitethroat [1](1); Chiffchaff [7]; Willow Warbler 2; Bullfinch 2[2](1). Totals 8 adults ringed from 6 species; 47 juveniles ringed from 14 species; 20 birds recaptured from 12 species, making 75 birds processed from 19 species. Of the 20 recaptured birds 13 were juveniles ringed in previous CES sessions.
Whilst putting up the nets alongside Mallard Lake we heard Reed Warblers churring away in the lakeside vegetation. In the event, the only one we caught was in the furthest ride from the lake. It was a juvenile Reed Warbler and was our first at Lower Moor Farm this year.
Bullfinches are a regular catch at Lower Moor Farm and we caught another couple of juveniles this morning:
Our last catch of the morning was a Jay: always a lovely bird to look at and can be a nightmare to handle. They have a very sharp beak and a strong, blood-drawing peck plus extremely sharp claws on strong feet. The trick is to keep the claws busy (I put a pencil between its feet) and stay away from the beak. This was a female undergoing her post-breeding moult and was surprisingly docile:
Author westwiltsringinggroupPosted on August 1, 2019 August 1, 2019
The Firs: Wednesday, 24th July 2019
Tuesday night was quite astonishing in this part of north Wiltshire. The lightning show started before midnight and continued at least until 2:00 a.m., which was when the thunder started rolling in and when I last saw the sky for the night. When I left the house at 4:45 a.m. I couldn't believe just how much rain must have fallen in the 2 and a bit hours that had subsequently elapsed. It had stopped but there was debris, tree branches and leaves, mud and stones, all over the roads between Purton and my destination, the Firs. I mention this because we had our worst ringing session for some considerable time Wednesday morning, and I am wondering just what impact the previous night's weather had on the local birds.
We caught a measly 15 birds: 13 ringed from 5 species and 2 recaptures from 2 species. All of the newly ringed birds were juveniles, and both of the recaptures were adults. The list was: Great Tit [2]; Marsh Tit [1](1); Wren [4]; Robin [4](1); Blackcap [2]. Naturally, I had a big team out with me: Andrew, Ellie and David.
This is not to say the catch was without interest: a new, juvenile Marsh Tit, our focused project species, is always a highlight. An adult Marsh Tit of at least 4 years of age is also rewarding. One of the two juvenile Blackcaps was identifiable as a male: it had virtually completed its post-fledging moult.
Whilst the ringing was not the best we have had recently, it gave us a significant opportunity to have a good look at the insect life in the wood, which was plentiful. When I first started ringing in the Firs, back in 2012, it was a dark, wet wood with a close canopy and very little light. Since then the Trust and their volunteers have opened up the central glade, dug a couple of ponds and thinned the woodland. The result has been spectacular, not just for birds. Most striking of the insect life around were the butterflies. There were dozens of them: excellent numbers of Silver-washed Fritillary, several Small White, Peacock, Comma and Gatekeeper and the obligatory horde of Meadow Brown. However, my insect highlight, and my most difficult extraction of the day, was a superb (what I think is a) Southern Hawker dragonfly:
Having extracted it, instead of just flying off it flew down and landed on my leg, where it sat for a few minutes whilst it revved up its flight muscles, before flying off strongly.
At 7:00 we were joined by a reporter for BBC Radio Wiltshire. She arrived to interview Ellie, as the Wildlife Trust's Northern Reserves Manager, about Ash die-back. This is one of the latest diseases to attack our native flora due to the incredibly lax laws we have about importing foreign plants and timber. With the diseases imported that are killing Oak, Larch and Horse Chestnut trees, following in the footsteps of Dutch Elm disease, and now Ash trees (the disease imported in from the continent because garden centres and arboriculturalists couldn't source just about the commonest and most readily available, and disease-free, tree species in the country) you would think that a government might do something to prevent future occurrences cf New Zealand and Australia. Anyway, having done three interviews with Ellie, she then asked if she could interview me about bird ringing whilst I processed the juvenile male Blackcap. I have no idea when (or if) it will go out on the radio – apparently there is a wildlife spot on the weekend breakfast show.
We strung it out for as long as possible and packed up at 11:30.
Author westwiltsringinggroupPosted on July 25, 2019 July 25, 2019
Lower Moor Farm: Sunday, 21st July 2019
After a couple of days of rain we managed to get CES 8 done this morning. It was calm and overcast for most of the session: almost perfect ringing weather. I was joined for the session by Jonny, David and Henny. The catch in the equivalent session last year was 45 birds and, as we have been doubling last year's catch in every session to date, I was hoping for 90 birds. Unfortunately, we only had a 50% increase and ended up with a catch of 69 birds
What is really noticeable is just how many juvenile birds we are catching this year. Comparing with 2018 shows a stark contrast:
There is a significant increase in the commonest resident species at Lower Moor Farm: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren and Robin. This is almost certainly due to the much drier and warmer Spring we had this year, enabling the adults to get in better breeding condition, and then providing enough food for the youngsters in the nest. There have also been significant increases in LMF's commonest Summer visitors: Blackcap and Chiffchaff, with better showings for all of our other summer migrants. One other potential helpful factor: 3 years ago the Wildlife Trust started what has become a trend for Wildlife Trusts across the country. It is called scalloping. What has been done is that where there are wooded and hedged rides they cut out flattened semi-ovoid edges at intervals along the edges. This opens the area up to be cultivated by flowering plants, encouraging more insects into the area. It has taken a couple of years, but the scallops are now full of flowers and the sheer volume of insects was unbelievable. Our ringing station was inundated with thousands of tiny black flies: they didn't bite but they seemed impervious to deet and were a bit of a nuisance – but great food for insectivorous birds.
Particularly encouraging is the huge improvement in the fortunes of the one resident warbler species at LMF: the Cetti's Warbler. Last year we recaptured a couple of adult birds, but there was no sign of successful breeding. This year we have caught 9 juveniles at different times and plumage development stages at the site. It is pretty convincing evidence of three successful broods for the first time since we started working there.
Our catch for the session was: Blue Tit [1](1); Great Tit 1[5](1); Wren [4](1); Dunnock [1]; Robin [4](2); Blackbird 3; Cetti's Warbler [2](2); Reed Warbler 1; Blackcap 2[15](3); Garden Warbler [2](1); Whitethroat [1]; Lesser Whitethroat [3](1); Chiffchaff 1[9]; Willow Warbler (2). Totals: 8 adults ringed from 5 species; 47 juveniles ringed from 11 species; 14 birds recaptured from 9 species, making 69 birds processed from 14 species. Significantly, most of the recaptured birds were also juveniles ringed in previous sessions, so juveniles made up 55 of the 69 birds in the catch.
The session was full of highlights: the juvenile Cetti's – evidence of a third brood fledging this year, a clear highlight, given that this is the best ever breeding season for them evidenced at LMF. However, one of my favourite birds is the Lesser Whitethroat so catching 3 new juveniles and recapturing another juvenile we ringed earlier in the season was very pleasing:
One of the problems with doing a formal project, as this is, we have to keep the nets open for a fixed period of time: even when the birds have all decided to push off elsewhere, as happened here. We stopped catching any number of birds at just gone 10:00 but had to look at empty nets until 11:30 when we could pack up. It's not all fun.
Author westwiltsringinggroupPosted on July 22, 2019
A Couple of Firsts at Tedworth House: Wednesday, 17th July 2019
I have been carrying out my monthly sessions at Tedworth House since September 2013. Over the years the site has been improved by opening up the beech woodland to allow the floor to develop better under-storey. They are never my biggest catches but they so often contain an unusual catch.
Today was one of those days. Over the last 10 years I have caught 12 Green Woodpeckers, and today I caught my first at Tedworth House:
This was an adult male. Fabulous though this was, my morning started with a real high when I got the opportunity to ring my first ever brood of Dunnock nestlings. Whilst I do the catching and ringing of the adult birds at the site, my friend, the wonderfully named Jack Daw, is a nest finding specialist and he manages the ringing of nestlings at Tedworth. It helps that he works there and can spend his break times checking on them. Anyway, a female Sparrowhawk has been making a meal of some of the Crows that frequent the grounds. Apparently they have been coming to the ornamental pool to drink and the Sparrowhawk has been ambushing them there. My plan was to set a net across the flight-path she has been taking. Jack suggested that I didn't, because there was a Dunnock nest immediately adjacent to where I was planning to set the net. He then asked if I would like to ring them as he had planned to do it Thursday but one day either way is neither here nor there. Actually, it is quite important to me: I have a licence to ring nest box and hole-nesting birds plus Swallows and Crows but not open nest small Passerines. It is something I hope to add to my existing licence quite soon, with Jack's on-going help. So, this morning I ringed the brood.
The rest of the catch was largely juvenile, including 5 Blackbirds all caught in the same net, 4 in one catch, the fifth in the next. We are pretty convinced that they were brood mates, given the proximity and the remarkable similarity in their plumage.
The list for the day was: Green Woodpecker 1; Blue Tit 1[2]; Great Tit [2](1); Dunnock {4}[3](1); Robin [1]; Blackbird 1[5]; Blackcap 1. Totals: 4 adults ringed from 4 species; 4 pulli ringed from 1 species; 13 fledged juveniles ringed from 5 species and 2 birds recaptured from 2 species, making a total of 23 birds processed from 7 species.
My ringing station is set up in the top corner of the visitors' car park. Immediately adjacent to my station was a huge Horse Chestnut tree. It was being devastated by the larvae (caterpillars, but you never see them) of a leaf miner moth:
Brown's Farm: Saturday, 13th July 2019
Brown's Farm sits at the top of Postern Hill, south of Marlborough. It is the least sheltered of my sites and can only be ringed when the weather is expected to be more or less flat calm. The forecast was for it to become breezy as the morning wore on but I decided to take a risk on a session, as the results from my two Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) visits have been very encouraging, The wind was forecast to come from the north, with nothing to block or mitigate its passage over the Marlborough Downs, so net positioning was important. One of the key things about Brown's Farm is the fantastic hedgerows they have surrounding the fields. These hedgerows are primarily hawthorn and blackthorn kept trimmed to just above head height and threaded throughout with dog rose, bramble and many other species of wild plant. As well as that, there are plenty of weedy, seedy edges to the fields, as you can see from the photograph below.
This enabled us to set some nets which were a little sheltered from the breeze. I was joined by Jonny Cooper and Henny Lowth (my latest volunteer and, yes, that is spelt as she spells it). The wind did get up earlier than I was expecting and we did have to pack up early, as the wind became untenable at about 9:30. By then we had already caught over 50 birds from a decent selection of species.
It was a good diverse catch: Blue Tit 1[8]; Dunnock 2[3]; Blackbird [1]; Blackcap [1]; Garden Warbler [1]; Whitethroat [1]; Chiffchaff [3]; Chaffinch 2; Linnet 4; House Sparrow 6[12](1); Yellowhammer 3[3](1). 18 adults ringed from 6 species, 33 juveniles ringed from 9 species and 2 retraps from 2 species, making 53 birds processed from 11 species. The only disappointments were that we didn't catch any juvenile Linnet or Chaffinch, and that there was no sign of the Yellow Wagtail seen on my last BBS visit.]
However, it was lovely to get our first juvenile Yellowhammers of the year:
The surprise catch of the morning was a juvenile Garden Warbler. We catch them regularly at Lower Moor Farm and the Ravensroost complex but this is miles away from what I think of as their normal habitat: scrub and woodland edges. Instead it was on an arable farm with fields full of wheat, barley, oats, oil-seed rape and maize, a couple of horse paddocks and the aforementioned fabulous treeless blackthorn / hawthorn hedgerows with weedy seedy edges to the fields. It was a juvenile so I expect that it was dispersing from more suitable habitat: perhaps the water meadows along the river Kennet running through Marlborough.
All in all a very satisfying session. Henny, on only her second outing with us, has already shown that she can extract birds with enough care to bode well for her future as a bird ringer.
Cetti's Bonanza: Lower Moor Farm; Wednesday, 10th July 2019
This was session 7 of our Constant Effort Site activity for 2019. We had a good sized team out this morning: Jonny Cooper and Andrew Bray, with David Williams joining us at 8:00. Also, we were joined by Henrietta Lowth (Henny) for the first time. She has some limited ringing experience, working with Blue Tits and Flycatchers. The former and their aggressive behaviour in the hand clearly hasn't put her off. To date Henny hadn't done any work with mist nets so, after a couple of hours watching the extraction techniques, she got to extract her first bird. I was kind, it was a Blackcap: one of the nicest birds to handle, and certainly one of the best to start someone's training on extracting birds from mist nets. That she is prepared to drive from near Bath to work with us is very flattering: especially as we are starting at 4:30 in the morning at the moment.
Last year in the equivalent session (7th July 2018) we caught 36 birds from 16 species (26 ringed, 10 recaptures). After the first two rounds I was convinced that we would be exceeding that total. The catch was pretty solid between 5:00 and 8:00, and then tailed off, until we had an unexpected highlight at 9:15. It tailed off again subsequently. The hotter it gets the less the birds move around.
Since I started the CES at Lower Moor Farm in 2015, and prior to the start of this year's CES sessions, we had ringed a total of 11 Cetti's Warblers (including one in March of this year). Before today's session we had ringed another 3, 2 of which were juveniles fledged this year. Our first round delivered up another Cetti's juvenile, which was pleasing. However, our 9:15 round provided another 4 youngsters. They were all in the same net, at the same height, three were evenly dispersed and one was a little further away. They were so young that we thought that they might have been flushed from the nest by a potential predator. For the absence of doubt: nothing to do with us. The net they were caught in was at least 10m from the nearest potential nest site, and we do not flush birds from nests: it is illegal to do so. We processed them and returned them to the place from which they were extracted and where we could hear, what we presume was, an adult Cetti's contact calling. They all flew off strongly and safely in that direction. So this year has definitely been our best ever for Cetti's at the site: a total of 9 ringed, all bar two are juvenile birds fledged this summer and we have had 3 other birds recaptured several times.
The rest of the catch was also extremely satisfying. It was: Treecreeper [1]; Blue Tit 1[3](1); Great Tit [2]; Long-tailed Tit (2); Wren [10](4); Robin [3](1); Song Thrush 1(1); Blackbird 1; Cetti's Warbler [5](2); Blackcap [19](5); Garden Warbler [2]; Whitethroat 1[1]; Lesser Whitethroat [2]; Chiffchaff 1[14](2); Willow Warbler 1. Totals: 6 adults ringed from 6 species; 62 juveniles ringed from 11 species and 18 birds recaptured from 8 species, making 86 birds processed from 15 species.
Wrens are having the most astonishing breeding season: in the last month we have caught 37 newly-fledged juveniles, with 10 in this session being the icing on the cake.
All of the summer visitor warblers are showing signs of a successful breeding season, with a fine catch of juveniles from both Blackcap (78) and Chiffchaff (53), and smaller but significant catches of Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler, all caught in the last month. As this is just the start of the fledging period, and many of these will already have gone on to have a second brood, and might even stretch to a third, this could be a bumper year for them.
Over the course of the morning we had quite a few visitors: a member of teh Care Farm staff taking one of her young charges for a walk; a grandma taking her grandson out to enjoy the sunshine; a photographer looking out for dragonflies, who was lucky enough to be with us when we made the catch of the Cetti's family, and a large group of infants and their parents doing forest school with staff from the Trust, who turned up when we didn't have any birds to show: but I took them around the nets and did manage to show them a superb Brown Hawker dragonfly (Google it) that had become trapped in the net. I successfully extracted it without damage, and was able to show him off to the children before releasing him to hunt for smaller insects for food.
We closed the nets at about 11:20 and took down and were away from site by 12:15. A cracking, good session.
Garden Ringing: Monday, 8th July 2019
I haven't done a garden session for nearly a year but sitting in on Steph's first session prompted me to set up the nets and have a go. I had my moth trap out in the garden last night, and thought it would be good to do a bit of ringing whilst checking what I had managed to attract to the light. What I didn't expect was that in a three-hour stint with 4 short nets set up I would trap more birds from more species than I did in Red Lodge on Saturday, from 4 times as much net and over a period of 6 hours.
Red Lodge is usually a very reliable site but, for whatever reason, Saturday was a very disappointing session. There were lots of birds around but, unfortunately, they were around the tree-tops. I heard plenty of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and Long-tailed Tit, but caught none of them. The list for the session was: Blue Tit 1[4]; Great Tit [3]; Coal Tit [1]; Wren [5]; Robin [3]; Song Thrush 1; Blackbird 2[1]; Blackcap [1]; Chiffchaff 1[2]. Totals: 5 adults ringed from 4 species and 20 juveniles ringed from 8 species, making 25 birds processed from 9 species.
The only species that the garden catch had in common with Red Lodge were Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Blackbird. Of course, catching a Coal Tit in my garden is rather more unusual than it is catching them in Red Lodge. However, the absolute highlight of my catch was a true first for my garden: a Whitethroat. I have been studying the birds that come into my garden for nearly 11 years now and I have never seen a Whitethroat in the garden, let alone catch and ring one:
In addition, a newly fledged Goldcrest was good catch. I have seen and caught Goldcrest in the garden before, but this was the first juvenile. The list for the session was: Blue Tit 2[8]; Coal Tit 1; Long-tailed Tit [2]; Dunnock 1[3]; Robin 1[2]; Blackbird [1]; Whitethroat [1]; Goldcrest [1]; Goldfinch 1[2]; Greenfinch 1[5]. Totals: 7 adults ringed from 6 species and 25 juveniles from 9 species, making 32 birds processed from 10 species. It would have been 11 species but a Woodpigeon managed to extricate itself just before I got to it.
Anyway, as a different footnote, here are a few of the moths I caught last night:
Poplar Hawk Moth
Privet Hawk Moth:
Yes – it is that big. Finally: a Sharp-angled Peacock:
Author westwiltsringinggroupPosted on July 8, 2019
Meadow Farm: Friday, 5th July 2019
This is a post by Jonny Cooper:
It generally takes a year or two after you start ringing at a site to understand how the site works and the best places to put nets to catch the birds using the site. Over the past few months I have been ringing regularly at Meadow Farm, near Sutton Benger, to monitor the bird species using the site and to locate and develop new net rides. So far the catches have reflected this effort with good numbers of birds being caught; for this session the extra effort put in to develop the site really paid off.
The forecast for the day was to be almost flat calm with temperatures rising to the low 20's by lunchtime; good weather for ringing. Nets were set the night before and I arrived on site to start the session at 5:00 am. Whilst opening the nets 12 birds were caught, this was very much a sign of things to come. The first round proper delivered 58 birds, after extracting the birds I closed the nets to allow me to focus on processing them safely and to ensure that no birds were caught during this time. Once they had been processed I reopened the nets and caught a pretty regular 20 birds per round over the next few hours. The catch was as follows:
Blackbird 1[1]; Blackcap 8[6]; Blue Tit [19](1); Bullfinch 1; Chaffinch 1[2]; Chiffchaff [5]; Dunnock [2]; Goldfinch 3[1](1); Great Spotted Woodpecker [1](2); Great Tit [40](9); Greenfinch 1[2](1); Kingfisher [2]; Reed Warbler 5[3](3); Robin 1[1](1); Sedge Warbler [3](1); Song Thrush (1); Whitethroat 1(1); Wren [3](2). Totals: 22 adults and 91 juveniles ringed from 17 species with 23 birds retrapped from 11 species; making 136 birds from 18 species.
Catching 2 Kingfishers is the obvious highlight, but catching juveniles of both Reed & Sedge Warblers was fantastic; I have caught adults of both species on site previously but to get proof of breeding was excellent. Other highlights were the number of Blackcaps and the Whitethroats. Most of these birds were caught in the new nets rides.
Overall it was a great, but busy session, the temperature started to rise late morning and the birds stopped moving. I closed the nets at 11, took down and went home for a well-earned rest.
Going Solo: Down Ampney, Thursday & Friday, 4th & 5th July 2019
When people start bird ringing the first thing they have to do is to find a trainer. Anybody who wants to become a qualified ringer must have a permit issued by the British Trust for Ornithology who administer the scheme on behalf of (eventually) DEFRA. Trainees start on a T-permit. They are only allowed to ring if accompanied by their trainer, or another ringer with a permit endorsement allowing them to train. The next step is called a C-permit. This allows trainee ringers to work unsupervised, but they are still responsible to their trainer for their activities, who are, in turn, responsible to the BTO. This is an important step for any trainee, as they start to work solo.
My trainee, Steph, has been working with me for 2.5 years and is a truly competent ringer. When she became pregnant she was concerned that she would not be able to get out ringing for a long time. However, I knew she was skilled and reliable enough for me to recommend her for her C-permit, which was duly granted by the BTO. This enables her to ring in her garden.
The garden backs onto fields along the long edge, with scrub running along between the field and the garden. There are a few small trees along either side of the garden and plentiful bird feeders.
If you have a good garden then garden ringing is the best of all worlds: all the amenities on tap, birds to ring and you can keep an eye on baby. Thursday was Steph's first go in her garden. I popped over to support for the first couple of hours, but she had already caught her first birds, and processed them, by the time I arrived.
Over the course of the morning she caught Dunnock 2; Robin 1; Blackbird 1; Chaffinch 1; House Sparrow 12. All were new birds, as you would expect, the Robin, one of the Dunnocks and two of the House Sparrows were juveniles. This morning she caught two Blue Tits: one a juvenile.
So a nice, quiet start to Steph's solo ringing career: here's to many more!
What no Titmice? Somerford Common: Wednesday, 3rd July 2019
Okay, a sightly misleading title, but only just. To run a session in the Braydon Forest at any time of year and not catch a single Blue or Great Tit is remarkable. Given that we have been catching extremely good numbers all over the Forest and at Lower Moor Farm, particularly juvenile birds, this was really surprising. We did ring our sixth Marsh Tit of the year, a juvenile, which bodes well for this species this year. Our catch tends to be one third in the first six months of the year, two thirds in the remaining six months, so hopefully we will get close to the 19 we ringed in 2017, our best year to date. There was also a Long-tailed Tit, but they are not really titmice, being a completely different bird family. (Titmice belong to the family Paridae; Long-tailed Tits belong to the family Aegithalidae or Bushtits.)
I was joined by Jonny Cooper for the session. It wasn't the busiest we have ever been but the weather was fine and the birds came in quite regularly. We were surprised to catch a flock of 6 adult Goldfinches. They were all together in one net: 4 males and 2 females. Two of them (one each of the males and females) were already ringed. One of them, the female, had a ring number that I didn't recognise but which sparked off something in Jonny's consciousness: that it might have been one of the birds he had ringed at one of his sites near Chippenham. The data recording system now in use at the BTO is a browser-based on-line system and so, if you can get a signal on a smart phone, you can check the database. The signal for both of us (two different providers) was awful but eventually I managed to get a signal and check the number. The bird had been ringed by Jonny in February if this year at a site near Sutton Benger, about 11 miles south west of where we caught it today. We know that Goldfinches, for a resident species, are wide ranging: the furthest journey we have trapped through ringing was a bird ringed near Hungerford in Berkshire, recaptured in Webb's Wood, a distance of 25 miles or so. What surprised me, though, was why there was a flock of Goldfinch together at this time of the year. We expect them in the winter, when foraging for food, but fully expected them to be paired up and breeding at this time of year. All of them were in breeding condition: perhaps they were between broods, as Goldfinches will have 2, sometimes 3, broods in a year. Mind, according to BTO Bird Facts the latest a first brood has been started is the 19th July, so perhaps they are still just working out who is going to pair with whom.
The catch for the morning was: Marsh Tit [1]; Long-tailed Tit [1]; Wren 1[1]; Dunnock 1[1](2); Robin [4](1); Song Thrush 2; Blackbird 3; Blackcap 1[2]; Garden Warbler [1]; Chiffchaff 1[5](3); Willow Warbler 1(1); Goldfinch 4(2); Bullfinch 2. Totals: 16 adults ringed from 9 species; 16 juveniles ringed from 8 species and 9 birds recaptured from 5 species, making 41 birds processed from 13 species.
As you can see, when comparing this to recent catches, the proportion of juveniles is much lower: which comes back to the original title of this blog post. We could hear them in the woodlands around us but they just did not come into the nets.
There was some pretty spectacular other wildlife around: fabulous butterflies, from the commonplace Meadow Brown, to large numbers of Ringlet, a couple of Comma and Small Tortoiseshell and two stunning White Admiral and a Silver-washed Fritillary. However, the absolutely stunning invertebrate was a dragonfly: a Brown Hawker. It was sunning itself against one of our net poles. Needless to say, it posed for as long as it took me to get my phone out and enable camera mode before flying off. Always the way!
We had a nice chat with a couple of dog walkers who were interested in what we were doing but, unfortunately for them, they arrived during our quietest round of the morning, when we had no birds and, therefore, nothing to show them. As the birds had stopped moving around by 11:00 we took down and headed home.
Author westwiltsringinggroupPosted on July 3, 2019 July 4, 2019
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond Blog at WordPress.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Culture, cultural tourism and experience economy are very common cited terms in the current literature. However these expressions are in close connection with each other, have own meanings and specialties, as well. Furthermore the promotion and selling the culture or cultural tourism are also popular activities and increasingly number of promotion tools appeared in the last decade. The objectives of this chapter are on the one hand to define the complex relations between culture, heritage, geography, tourism, economy and experience economy, on the other hand to get familiar the readers with the newest forms and trends in cultural tourism and experience economy furthermore to give an overview about the current promotion tools of cultural tourism.
Enacted culture (e.g.: festivals, carnivals, traditional events).


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Once You're Here
School Communication Support
Primary School Checklists
The Dutch System
Daycare/Preschool
International schools in the Netherlands
Partner Network: Guide2NL
Hard lockdown until January 19
Update 15 December, 5:30 pm:
Breaking (very sad) news!
Yesterday evening at 7pm, prime minister Rutte has made an important announcement about the new corona measures.
From this morning we are in a hard lockdown. This means that all non-essential stores are closed, as well as the 'contact professions' like hairdressers, nail studios and massage saloons. Also all theaters, museums, zoos, casinos. and indoor sports facilities and gyms are closed.
Restaurants, bars, and clubs will remain closed.
Shops that sell mainly food, chemists, pharmacies, opticians, hearing specialists, and stores that carry out repairs and maintenance may remain open.
Both primary and secondary schools, schools for secondary vocation education (MBO) and higher education institutions (universities and HBO) will close as of this Wednesday, and will have to teach online.
Also the preschools and daycares will be closed.
There will be exceptions for students sitting exams this academic year, as well as for practical training, and to support vulnerable pupils and students.
Primary schools and childcare centres will remain open for children whose parents work in critical sectors. This group includes parents who work in medical professions, for the police, fire brigade, in the food chain, etc. You can find a complete list here.
The number of visitors at people's homes has also been reduced. You may not receive more than two visitors aged 13 at your house per day. Because of Christmas, on 24, 25 and 26 December you may receive three visitors aged 13 or over at home.
Children aged 17 and under may take part in team sports, including matches with teams within their own club, but only outdoors.
When you arrive in the Netherlands from outside of the EU, you'll have to show a negative Covid test.
So far, it sounds like there won't be a curfew.
This will all last until January 19th. With the current measures, the government had hoped to reach a maximum of 3,600 positive tests per day, but now we have reached almost 10,000. The pressure on the health care system is getting too high again and the situation is not sustainable anymore. I had wished so much to prevent all this….
More info (also in English) on the website of the government (Rijksoverheid)
A good source of information in English about the corona measurements you can also find here: www.facebook.com/NOSinEnglish.
#COVID19 #lockdown #badnews
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Anna Lindemann
Motion Design and Animation | Storrs
Email: anna.lindemann@uconn.edu
Website: www.annalindemann.com
Education: MFA in Integrated Electronic Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2011
BS in Biology, Yale University, 2009
Areas of Research/Artistic Focus: Evo Devo Art, ArtScience, scientific visualization, generative art and music, animation with live performance, narrative forms integrating fiction and scientific research
As both an artist and educator, Anna Lindemann is devoted to integrating art and science. She graduated magna cum laude with honors from Yale with a BS in Biology and received an MFA in Integrated Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she was awarded the DeWitt Wallace Fellowship, the Ellis and Karin Chingos '37 Graduate Fellowship, and the Rensselaer Graduate Fellowship.
Professor Lindemann's work combines animation, music, video, and performance to explore the emerging field of Evo Devo (Evolutionary Developmental Biology). Her work as an Evo Devo Artist includes the animated short, BEETLE BLUFFS, and the art-science and animation-infused performance THEORY OF FLIGHT. These and other works have been featured nationally and internationally at the Imagine Science Film Festival, New York, NY; ISEA, Vancouver, Canada; KLI Institute for Theoretical Biology, Klosterneuburg, Austria; Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Troy, NY; the Entertaining Science Series at Cornelia Street Café, New York, NY; Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; MATA Festival, New York, NY; Ho Tung Planetarium and Visualization Lab, Colgate University; Franke Program in the Science and Humanities, Yale University; Bio:Fiction Science, Art & Film Festival, Vienna, Austria; Museum of the Earth, Ithaca, New York; Cantor Film Center, New York, NY.
Recent Research Achievements: Ongoing: Co-director of the three-year UConn Academic Plan Proposal "AntU: How army ants and their guests can inspire synergy across science, fine arts, and the humanities," awarded more than $250,000 in funding to carry out 16 interdisciplinary initiatives. Animation work includes commissions from the USS Constitution Museum and Boston Cyberarts.


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Earn Your Diploma
Online INDIVIDUAL COURSE Terms & Conditions
For students registered from October 27th, 2022 - Present
For students registered from May 16th 2022 - October 26th, 2022
For students registered from December 6th 2021 - May 15th 2022
For students registered between July 23rd - December 5th 2021
For students registered between October 30th 2020 - July 22nd 2021
For students registered from June 12th - October 29th 2020
For students registered between May 18th - June 11th 2020
For students registered between January 1st - May 17th 2020
For a complete explanation of Student and CHS obligations, please see Student-Parent Handbook here.
Citizens High School is offering the payment plan listed below:
Enrollment Dates Beginning October 27th, 2022 thru Current
Amount paid per month.
Maximum number of months payment will be deducted.
4 months*
The amount you will have paid when you have made all scheduled payments
$379.20^
* The expected course completion time is 16 weeks. Accelerated course completion may reduce the number of monthly payments. Course extension elections may increase the number of monthly payments.
^ Calculation based on total program cost of $379.20 (1 Individual Course at $79 per month x 4 months + $63.20 Non-Refundable Registration Fee). Accelerated course completion may reduce the total program cost. Course extension elections may increase the total program cost.
By checking the "I Agree" box at the time of enrollment, you are signing this Agreement electronically. You agree your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of your manual/handwritten signature on this Agreement. By selecting "I Agree" using any device, means or action, you consent to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You further agree that your signature on this document is as valid as if you signed the document in writing. You are also confirming that you are the student (18 years of age or older) or the legal guardian of the student (under the age of 18) authorized to enter into this Agreement. Lastly, you agree that you have read the CHS Student and Parent Handbook and attest that you are proficient in English as described there.
One payment per month, per course, of $79.00 for a regular online individual course, for no more than 4 months after the date signing of this agreement.
LATE PAYMENTS
CHS does not charge late fees for tuition payments.
The length of this agreement is for 4 months. If the student requires more than 16 weeks to complete a course, the student may request an extension, defined in the CHS CHS Student and Parent Handbook.
Citizens High School is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. For further information call 202-234-5100 or visit www.deac.org.
Citizens High School is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. For further information visit www.msa-cess.org
Citizens High School is confident you will be happy with your program. In the unlikely event, you should wish to discontinue, Citizens High School will refund your tuition according to the following refund policy which meets the refund policy published by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. You may request cancellation in any manner, but written request is recommended.
Refund Policy based on Per Course Price of $258 for a 16-week term for Online College or Career
Refund Policy based on Per Course Price of $198 for a 16-week term for Offline College or Career
Registration Fees are not refundable to students unless students withdraw during first 5 days after submission of the Enrollment Agreement.
CHS will refund 100% of any tuition received for any course not started by student (for online students, started means student accessed online course and there was faculty/student interaction; for Offline started means mailed CHS any module to be graded)
CHS will refund 100% of all monies received from a student during the first 5 days after submission of the Enrollment Agreement (including registration fee)
Total tuition will vary by student based on credits transferred in and the pace for completing courses.
CHS's Total Tuition Charged is capped by the number of courses each student needs to take with CHS to graduate.
Maximum Tuition Cost per course is $316. If a student finishes the course faster than the 16-week window, CHS will only collect the payments for which the student has paid at time of completion or withdrawal.
For example, see the Total Tuition / Total Program Cost chart below which is in the CHS Student and Parent Handbook, Enrollment Agreement, and CHS's Terms and Conditions for this respective program track:
*If course extensions are elected CHS limits the total months enrolled to 10 months (per course) with a maximum total cost of $853.20 (per course).
Online Individual Course, One-time, $63.20, non-refundable registration fee due to CHS with submission of Enrollment Agreement. Installments of $79 per month/per course, Up to 16 weeks per Course from start date of the course, Cancel anytime, CHS will refund based on 16 week time based DEAC refund policy while not charging any additional monthly tuition charges past the month of withdrawal, students can extend any 16 week period by 4 weeks for an additional monthly $79 tuition charge and if still not finished after 4 weeks of extension, students will be put on Student Academic Progress (SAP) hold and must request in writing why any further extensions would be warranted, at which time CHS will evaluate on a case by case basis.
Note to Students: Initial Enrollment Dates of 29th, 30th or 31st of any month will generate subsequent monthly billing dates of the 28th.
CHS will refund the student based on Total Tuition and Registration Fees (Total Program Cost) from the Chart above (which is provided to students prior to enrollment and after transfer credits are accepted) and the start date of the respective courses at time of the withdrawal request.
CHS's Refund Worksheet is completed with all refund requests. Most students will owe CHS a month's tuition, which CHS reserves the right to collect or waive at time of withdrawal, because student monthly installments are in arrears of month of service. Most cases of CHS owing and issue refunds stem from the students that withdraws within the first 5 days or the students that have paid ahead. All refunds are mailed within 30 days. It is important to note that CHS follows the DEAC time-based refund policy percentages published for 16 weeks for full credit courses and 8 weeks for ½ credit courses.
Any questions or problems not satisfactorily answered by the Student Services Department at Citizens High School (904-276-1700) should be directed to (a)Office of Independent Education, FL Department of Education, 325 W. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399; phone: 800-447-1636; website address: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/private-schools/parent-info.stml or(b) the Distance Education Accrediting Commission website: http://www.deac.org; phone: 202-234-5100
CITIZENS HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Just as soon as we receive this enrollment agreement and the initial monthly payment, we will immediately give the student access to their first course materials and instructions. After enrollment acceptance and the evaluation of official transcripts, if any, from previous high school(s) the student will be notified in writing of the required coursework he or she must complete for a Citizens High School diploma. Student is responsible for transcript request fees. Twenty-five percent (25%) or less of student's program courses will utilize curriculum that comes from 3rd-party vendors. This curriculum has been reviewed by CHS faculty and is taught by CHS faculty as well. Upon the completion of the Citizens High School diploma program, and payment in full of all financial obligations to the school, the student will be awarded an accredited high school diploma. Citizens High School will not release student records or status over the phone in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
ADMINISTRATIVE WITHDRAW POLICY
The student will be charged every month using our auto payment system and will charge the card that is placed on file by the student. If the system is unable to successfully process the credit card on file, the student's account will be placed on Blocked status after five (5) days of unsuccessful attempts to charge the card on file. When a student is on Blocked status, they will be unable to access their courses, but will have full access to the Student Information System to make a payment, update the credit card on file, and view student academic information. At 60 days after the last successful payment and after the school's outreach to the student have been unsuccessful, and the student will be administratively withdrawn in accordance with the Refund Policy.
Academic Dismissal Policy
A student can be Academically Blocked or Dismissed if progress is unsatisfactory as defined under the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy in the CHS Student and Parent Handbook.
STUDENT'S RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND OBLIGATIONS
Student rights and responsibilities are set forth in writing in order to give students general notice of some of their rights and responsibilities as students at Citizens High School. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that is civil and reflects openness to educational experiences. Students have a right to expect Citizens High School to deliver "a quality high school diploma through distance education with a well-rounded academic foundation, leading to social and economic mobility." Students have a right to function in their daily activities within a safe and caring learning environment. Citizens High School is committed to principles of honor and ethical conduct and expects the same from its students as outlined in the below Oath of Academic Integrity. It is the responsibility of students to act honorably and to understand student rights and responsibilities as well as procedures and consequences when their behaviors do not conform to school rules. Citizens High School is a community of learning that supports the freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, freedom from discrimination, and freedom of expression.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE POLICY
A leave of absence is a period of time during which a student is not taking part in the required educational program at Citizens High School. In most cases, a leave of absence is granted for a maximum of ninety (90) days. Students may request a leave of absence via the Office of Student Services. Upon the initiation of a leave of absence, a designation of Incomplete (I) is awarded to enrolled course(s). The student will be required to complete the course(s) at the time of re-entry. Any student wishing to request an extension to his/her leave must submit a new request form to the Office of Student Services at least 7 days in advance of the original date of return. Students may be required to produce documentation to qualify for an extension of leave. If the extension is not granted the student will have the option to return or withdraw. The student will be permitted to re-enroll at a later time. If the student chooses to withdraw from the program, Incomplete (I) grades will be changed to Withdrawal (W).
Oath of Academic Integrity
I understand that CHS expects all students to maintain a high sense of personal honor and integrity in the completion of all their academic work and that all work submitted for grading be the student's own and to be truthful as defined in the CHS Student and Parent Handbook. I hereby promise and certify that I will adhere to this commitment to academic honesty.
The information and chart below are provided in compliance with TILA disclosure requirements. The Citizens High School tuition payment plan does not include finance charges or interest. Students pay per month based on the tuition payment plan listed above.
By signing the terms and conditions of the enrollment agreement, I acknowledge the receipt of the Truth in Lending Disclosure:
PREPAYMENT – Prepayment may be made in whole or in part at any time without penalty. No prepayment shall be credited as a future payment or affect the obligation to make installments thereafter coming due. Payments will never be called in full prior to the arranged payment schedule above.
APPROVAL DISCLOSURE – This notice contains the terms specific to your approved loan. The borrower has up to 30 calendar days to accept this offer. By signing the enrollment agreement, the signee agrees to the terms of the loans and agrees to follow the repayment schedule.
FINAL DISCLOSURE – This disclosure is made 5 business days before the loan is disbursed. The loan will not be disbursed until the 5 business days have elapsed. The borrower may cancel the loan within this 5-day period
The amount of credit provided to you.
Finance Charge
The dollar amount the credit will cost you.
The cost of your credit as a yearly rate.
Total Sale Price
Total Sale Price is the total of your purchase on credit.
Enrollment Dates Beginning May 16th, 2022 thru October 26th, 2022
Citizens High School is offering the deferred tuition payment plan listed below:
The amount paid per course, per month.
The amount you will have paid when you have made all scheduled payments.
* The expected course completion time is 16 weeks. Accelerated course completion may reduce the number of monthly payments.
^ Calculation based on total program cost of $395.00 (1 Individual Course at $79 per month x 4 months + $79 Non-Refundable Registration Fee). Accelerated course completion may reduce the total program cost.
ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE – By checking the "I Agree" box at the time of enrollment, you are signing this Agreement electronically. You agree your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of your manual/handwritten signature on this Agreement. By selecting "I Agree" using any device, means or action, you consent to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You further agree that your signature on this document is as valid as if you signed the document in writing. You are also confirming that you are the student (18 years of age or older) or the legal guardian of the student (under the age of 18) authorized to enter into this Agreement. Lastly, you agree that you have read the CHS Student and Parent Handbook and attest that you are proficient in English as described there.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE – One payment per month, per course, of $79.00 for a regular online individual course, for no more than 4 months after the date signing of this agreement.
LATE PAYMENTS – Citizens High School does not charge late fees for tuition payments.
EXTENSION – The length of this agreement is for 4 months. If the student requires more than 16 weeks to complete a course, the student may request an extension, paying $79 per month for each month the student remains enrolled as defined in the CHS Student and Parent Handbook.
Citizens High School is confident you will be happy with your program. In the unlikely event, you should wish to discontinue, Citizens High School will refund your tuition according to the following refund policy which meets the refund policy published by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. You may request cancellation in any manner, but written request is recommended
Refund Policy based on Per Course Price of $395 for a 16-week term for Online Individual Courses
Online Individual Course, One-time, $79, non-refundable registration fee due to CHS with submission of Enrollment Agreement. Installments of $79 per month/per course, Up to 16 weeks per Course from start date of the course, Cancel anytime, CHS will refund based on 16 week time based DEAC refund policy while not charging any additional monthly tuition charges past the month of withdrawal, students can extend any 16 week period by 4 weeks for an additional monthly $79 tuition charge and if still not finished after 4 weeks of extension, students will be put on Student Academic Progress (SAP) hold and must request in writing why any further extensions would be warranted, at which time CHS will evaluate on a case by case basis.
Any questions or problems not satisfactorily answered by the Student Services Department at Citizens High School (904-276-1700) should be directed to (a)Office of Independent Education, FL Department of Education, 325 W. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399; phone: 800-447-1636; website address: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/private-schools/parent-info.stml or (b) the Distance Education Accrediting Commission website: http://www.deac.org; phone: 202-234-5100.
I understand that CHS expects all students to maintain a high sense of personal honor and integrity in the completion of all their academic work and that all work submitted for grading be the student's own. I hereby promise and certify that I will adhere to this commitment to academic honesty.
FINAL DISCLOSURE – This disclosure is made 5 business days before the loan is disbursed. The loan will not be disbursed until the 5 business days have elapsed. The borrower may cancel the loan within this 5-day period.
Amount Finance
The total of your purchase on credit.
Enrollment Dates Beginning December 6, 2021 thru May 15th, 2022
*The average individual course completion time is 16 weeks or less. Accelerated course completion may reduce the number of monthly payments.
^Calculation based on total tuition of $474 (1 Individual Course at $79 per month x 6 months).Accelerated course completion and/or transfer credits may reduce the total payment cost.
ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE – By checking the "I Agree" box at the time of enrollment, you are signing this Agreement electronically. You agree your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of your manual/handwritten signature on this Agreement. By selecting "I Agree" using any device, means or action, you consent to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You further agree that your signature on this document is as valid as if you signed the document in writing. You are also confirming that you are the student (18 years of age or older) or the legal guardian of the student (under the age of 18) authorized to enter into this Agreement.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE – One payment per month of $79.00, for no more than 12 months after the date of signing this agreement.
EXTENSION – The length of this agreement is for 6 months. If the student requires more time, the student may extend this contract for up to 6 months past the agreement end date, paying $70 per month for each month the student remains enrolled.
Citizens High School is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC). For further information call 202-234-5100 or visit www.deac.org.
Citizens High School is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools. For further information visit www.msa-cess.org
Citizens High School is confident you will be happy with your program. In the unlikely event, you should wish to discontinue, Citizens High School will refund your tuition according to the following refund policy which meets the refund policy published by the Distance Education Accreditation Commission. You may request cancellation in any manner, but written request is recommended.
Withdraw… Owe…
1-5 Days after enrolling with CHS
If enrollment cancellations is requested within five (5) days from midnight of the day on which the enrollment is signed, the school will issue a full refund. $0.00 (100% Refund)
6 Days or more after enrolling with CHS
If enrollment cancellation is requested after five (5) days from midnight of the day on which the enrollment agreement is signed it will be considered a withdraw.
Citizens' is entitled to a registration fee of 20% of the total tuition or $200.00, whichever is less, and any administrative fees applied.
As part of the Student Protection Plan, Citizens' will waive the registration fee of 20% of the total tuition or $200.00.
The student will not be responsible for any tuition after the date of the withdraw.
A student enrolled in the individual course program has one (1) year from the original date of acceptance to complete courses taken individually. This contract will cease to be in effect after one year from the original date of acceptance. No requests for refunds after that date.
Tuition is paid by the student on a month by month basis. During each month the student will be enrolled in two courses and actively participating in the course.
Just as soon as we receive this enrollment agreement and the down payment, we will immediately send out the first course materials and instructions. After enrollment acceptance and the evaluation of official transcripts, if any, from previous high schools the student will be notified in writing of the required coursework he or she must complete for a Citizens High School diploma. Student is responsible for transcript request fees. Twenty-five percent (25%) or less of student's program courses will utilize curriculum that comes from 3rd-party vendors. This curriculum has been reviewed by CHS faculty and is taught by CHS faculty as well. Upon the completion of the Citizens' High School diploma program, and payment in full of all financial obligations to the school, the student will be awarded an accredited high school diploma. If unable to complete in the three-year time frame, the student may submit a written one-time extension request, see school policies in the CHS Bulletin for complete explanations of rights and duties of the school and student. Citizens' High School will not release student records, status, or records over the phone in accordance to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The student will be charged every 30 days using our auto payment system and will charge the card that is placed on file by the student. If the system is unable to successfully process the credit card on file, the student's account will be placed on Blocked status after five (5) days of unsuccessful attempts to charge the card on file. When a student is on Blocked status they will be unable to access their courses, but will have full access to the Student Information System to make a payment, update the credit card on file, and view student academic information. At 60 days after the last successful payment, the system will attempt to charge the card for the normal monthly tuition amount. The system will continue to attempt to charge the card for another five (5) days if unsuccessful after the first attempt. If attempts to charge the card and the school's outreach to the student have been unsuccessful the student will be administratively withdrawn, and the account balance will be adjusted to $0.
For Academic Purposes: If a student has submitted no assignments for any course(s) for 35 days, the student will be Academically Blocked. If the student, after several attempts to outreach using various methods, has not submitted an assignment for 65 days they will be Administrative Withdrawn.
Enrollment Dates Beginning July 23, 2021 thru December 5, 2021
Enrollment Dates Beginning October 30, 2020 thru July 22, 2021
$49.00* or $65.00^
$588.00* or $780^
*Calculation based on total tuition of $588 (1 Individual Course at $49 per month x 12 months)
^Calculation based on total tuition of $780.00 (1 Premium Individual Course at $65 per month x 12 months)
PAYMENT SCHEDULE – One payment per month, per course, of $49.00 for a regular online individual course or $65 for a premium online individual course, for no more than 12 months after the date signing of this agreement.
EXTENSION – The length of this agreement is for 12 months. If the student requires more time, the student may extend this contract for up to 6 months past the agreement end date, paying $49 per month, per course, for each month or $65 per month, per course for a premium online individual course in which the student remains enrolled.
$588.00 or $780
Enrollment Dates Beginning June 12, 2020 thru October 29, 2020
$354.00*
*Calculation based on total tuition of $354 (1 Individual Course at $59 per month x 6 months)
PAYMENT SCHEDULE – One payment per month, per course, of $59.00, for no more than 6 months after the date signing of this agreement.
EXTENSION – The length of this agreement is for 6 months. If the student requires more time, the student may extend this contract for up to 6 months past the agreement end date, paying $59 per month, per course, for each month the student remains enrolled.
Provisional Conditions of Admission
"Provisional" admission means that your admission with CHS will be official only after you have completed the following requirements within 30 days of enrollment: 1. Complete Orientation course; 2. Complete at least one assignment in each regularly enrolled course.
Your admission to CHS is subject to cancellation if the requirements listed above are not met after 60 days.
Enrollment Dates Beginning May 18, 2020 thru June 11, 2020
EXTENSION – The length of this agreement is for 12 months. If the student requires more time, the student may extend this contract for up to 6 months past the agreement end date, paying $39 per month for each month the student remains enrolled.
Enrollment Dates Beginning January 1, 2020 thru May 17, 2020
The mission of Citizens High School is to provide students a quality high school diploma through distance education with a well rounded academic foundation, leading to social and economic mobility.
Diploma for College
Diploma for Career
Offline Diploma Program
Young Parents
About Citizens
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text:
30-Second Weather
See Quarto Explores Blogs
Follow Quarto Explores on:
The 50 most significant phenomena and events, each explained in half a minute
Author: Adam Scaife
Format: Paperback / softback, 160 Pages
Publisher: Ivy Press
Series: 30 Second
Buy from an Online Retailer
We do not sell books through our website in the UK.
Please use the links below to buy from online retailers
AU:
If you only have 30 seconds, there is time – using this book – to make sense of the science behind the seeming vagaries of the weather, the controversies, predictions and forecasts for climate change that shape our day-to-day experiences of the great outdoors. Ever since Aristotle first tried to explain the forces that seem to fall from the heavens, meteorology has opened up the study of weather, and caused disputes over the reasons why seasons change, where precipitation falls, why winds blow and when the sun shines. From halcyon days to hurricanes, supercells to silver linings, global warming to giant hailstones, here is the ultimate guide to a near-universal preoccupation: what's the weather like?
Professor Adam Scaife is head of Monthly to Decadal Prediction at the UK Met Office and honorary visiting Professor at Exeter University. He investigates mechanisms and predictability of weather and climate and has over 20 years experience in modelling the atmosphere with computer models. He has published around 100 scientific papers in leading journals and his recent studies include exciting new evidence for long range predictability of winter weather. His work has helped understand how the freezing European winters of the 1960s gave way to the mild, wet winters of the 1990s and how other effects like El Niño and solar variability affect our climate. Professor Scaife was recently awarded the Lloyd's of London Science of Risk Research Prize for Climate Change research and the L.G. Groves prize for Meteorology. He regularly communicates the latest meteorological science to the public via television, newspapers and other media.
Size: 6.024 in x 7.677 in / 153 mm x 195 mm
30-Second Medicine
30-Second Anatomy
30-Second Shakespeare
30-Second Genetics
Lifestyle | 1 March 2018
Womanskills for Friendship
Erin La Rosa's book, Womanskills, is packed with helpful techniques and tips for cooking, money matters, style, relationships, home improvement, and more. This excerpt from the book will give you tips on making new friends and how to end a toxic friendship. Enter to win a copy of Womanskills below! Make New Friends It's a truth universally ...
Womanskills at Work
Erin La Rosa'a Womanskills is packed with helpful techniques and tips for cooking, money matters, style, relationships, home improvement, and more. Be a boss at work with these six tips from the book! Enter to win a copy of Womanskills below! ACE A JOB INTERVIEW There are plenty of candidate fish in the sea. So ...
History | 1 March 2018
An Inside Look at I Know a Woman
Kate Hodges graduated from the University of Westminster with a BA in Print Journalism. She has over 20 years writing experience on magazines, having been a staffer on publications including The Face, Bizarre, Just Seventeen, Smash Hits and Sky, and written for many more, including The Guardian, Kerrang! and NME. Her new book, I Know a Woman, details the extraordinary achievements, relationships and ...


Chitralahari, a movie which is gearing up for a grand release this month, is one of the most awaited movies of this season. This movie features Sai Dharam Tej, Sunil, Nivetha Pethuraj and Kalyani Priyadarshan. The impressive promotions, teaser and trailer of Chitralahari created enough intrigue and interest in me and I started thinking about all the aspects which drew me to the movie in the first place.
To start off, Sai Dharam Tej is sporting a new look and trying a different body language in Chitralahari. With drooped shoulders, a neatly trimmed beard and formal wear, Sai Dharam Tej's new look definitely had my attention as the actor never appeared in such a different avatar before.
The teaser and trailer of Chitralahari: Bar And Restaurant made it very clear from the beginning, the story is of a loser and not the journey of a winner. Vijay is a guy who is down on his luck and even after multiple attempts to gain recognition and fame, success seems elusive and like a distant dream to him. Now, it is easy to tell the story of a man who paved his way to success, but to narrate the story of a man who experienced numerous failures and that too in an entertaining manner, it needs some real creative streak and energy.
The actor was in a soup for quite some time now and even though most of his movies were decent runners at the box office, none of them carried the Megastar legacy. The actor tried numerous ways to live up to the family legacy by including songs of Chiranjeevi's past movies or bringing up Chiranjeevi's dialogues as a subtle reminder to the audience. However, this time, Chitralahari seems very real and genuinely reflects Sai Dharam Tej's hard work, which is what arrested my attention in the first place.
Chitralahari: Bar and Restaurant features Nivetha Pethuraj and Kalyani Priyadarshan in the female lead roles. Both the actresses' characterizations in this movie are extremely different and poles apart. While Nivetha Pethuraj is a strong independent business woman who speaks her mind, Kalyani plays the role of a shy and timid girl who is careful while she expresses her feelings.
Sai Dharam Tej is paired opposite Kalyani Priyadarshan, the actress who made her debut with Hello. Though pretty new to the Telugu film industry, the Chennai born girl is creating quite the buzz all over the Telugu film industry with her fantastic performance. Her chemistry with Sai Dharam Tej is palpable, fresh and subtle, all at the same time. Her timidness, Vijay's (Sai Dharam Tej) confidence, her soft nature and Vijay's rough look create quite an impression on the audience.
Now, apart from all the above reasons, another major reason to watch Chitralahari: Bar and Restaurant is the director. Kishore Tirumala, the director of the movie Nenu Sailaja, is known for turning the tables on bad luck. He gave a blockbuster to Ram Pothineni, who was waiting for a blockbuster with Nenu Sailaja. Now, he intends to do the same for Sai Dharam Tej as well, with Chitralahari: Bar and Restaurant.
Mythri Movie Makers, a production house known for backing up some of the biggest projects in the Telugu film industry, is bankrolling this project, while Devi Sri Prasad is composing the music for this upcoming movie.
Chitralahari: Bar and Restaurant is gearing up for a grand release on the 12th of April, 2019. With such interesting additions and a completely new look of Tej, I can't wait to watch this entertainer in theatres.


text:
Q: Java Math.random not random in while loop I am running the following code to get random (x, y) coordinate pairs. However, I only get the same pair over and over again.
int counter=0;
while(counter<20){
    x3=(int)Math.random()*831+50;
    y3=(int)Math.random()*381+50;
    canvas.setColor(Color.white);
    canvas.drawString("*", x3, y3);
    counter++;
    }

I am very new to Java, so please tell me a simple way I could fix this. Thank you!

A: Math.random() returns a value between 0.0 and 1.0 exclusive. Java evaluates from left to right causing (int)Math.random() to be evaluated first truncating the value to 0 so x3 and y3 are evaluated as
x3 = 0 + 50;
y3 = 0 + 50;

Surround the first term of the assignment in parenthesis
int x3 = (int) (Math.random() * 831) + 50;
int y3 = (int) (Math.random() * 381) + 50;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The earrings feature pear-shaped diamonds weighing a total of approximately 2.90 carats, enhanced by marquise-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 5.35 carats, accented by baguette and tapered baguette-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 0.40 carat, set in 18k white gold. Total diamond weight is approximately 8.70 carats. Gross weight 14.00 grams.
25% on the first $100,000 (minimum $14), plus 20% of any amount between $100,000 and $1,000,000, plus 12% of any amount over $1,000,000 per lot.


I always thought that, for some reason, that I was using a Mk IV but checking today it is a Mk V Avon, bit of a panic but checked in my Olivers catalogue for 1973/74 and he did make a Mk V with a 1lb test curve priced at £20.00 finished rod and £11.00 for the kit.
I think Ted was of the opinion that reducing a taper by a tenth all round created a very different rod to the original Mk.IV and that therefore it should have another name. He isn't the only maker to list the Avon as a Mk.V so maybe he had a point.
Chapmans found the rod so different they actually changed the taper( though cost might have figured in their thinking too) and got rid of the compound taper to make a straight tapered rod in their 500.
Thanks Nobby , very interesting, been using it with traditional perch bobber float, lovely action throughout.


text:
Q: How can I return a dictionary of multiple features, from a tf.data.Dataset, created from generator? I have an example dataset like below:
feature_1    feature_2    label
4            5            1
4            3            1
4            6            2
...

I have created a tf.feature_column.embedding_column for each feature (feature_1 and feature_2), so I have to return from my train_input_fn a dictionary of features, where the keys have the same name with the features. My input function is given below:
def train_input_fn(features, labels, output_types, output_shapes, batch_size, feature_names):
    """
    Provides the data pipeline for the training process.
    :param features: (numpy.array) A numpy array that holds the training features.
    :param labels: (numpy.array) A numpy array that holds the target variable.
    :param output_types: (tuple(tensorflow.DType)) A tuple containing the data type of each component yielded.
    :param output_shapes: (tuple(tensorflow.TensorShape)) A tuple containing the shape of each component yielded.
    :param batch_size: (int) The size of every batch.
    :return: (dict, int) A dictionary of key -> value for every feature and the target label.
    """
    def gen():
        for f, l in zip(features, labels):
            yield f, l

    ds = tf.data.Dataset.from_generator(gen, output_types, output_shapes)
    # If we do repeat without any argument we actually create and infinite loop.
    # That is preferred, we can now control the iterations via epochs.
    ds = ds.repeat().batch(batch_size)
    feature, label = ds.make_one_shot_iterator().get_next()

    return {'feature': feature}, label

How can I return something like:
{'feature_1': x_1, 'feature_2': x_2}

A: This small couple of changes should do it:
def train_input_fn(features, labels, output_types, output_shapes, batch_size, feature_names):
    """
    Provides the data pipeline for the training process.
    :param features: (numpy.array) A numpy array that holds the training features.
    :param labels: (numpy.array) A numpy array that holds the target variable.
    :param output_types: (tuple(tensorflow.DType)) A tuple containing the data type of each component yielded.
    :param output_shapes: (tuple(tensorflow.TensorShape)) A tuple containing the shape of each component yielded.
    :param batch_size: (int) The size of every batch.
    :return: (dict, int) A dictionary of key -> value for every feature and the target label.
    """
    def gen():
        for f, l in zip(features, labels):
            yield f, l

    ds = tf.data.Dataset.from_generator(gen, output_types, output_shapes)
    # If we do repeat without any argument we actually create and infinite loop.
    # That is preferred, we can now control the iterations via epochs.
    ds = ds.repeat().batch(batch_size)
    feature, label = ds.make_one_shot_iterator().get_next()

    return {'feature_1': feature[:, 0], 'feature_2': feature[:, 1]}, label


Public cloud costs among AWS, Azure and Google are essentially a wash, so companies should manage AWS resources to get the most bang for their buck.
With public cloud price wars essentially over, the focus has now shifted to managing AWS resources. The problem here is that it's easier to spin up cloud resources than it is to keep track of them.
"Part of the challenge is that end users treat the cloud as if it's a data center, where it's perfectly fine to have hardware not running," said Eric Valenzuela, director of business development at Full360, a data warehouse provider.
"There has to be a shift in the way people think. A CTO will buy $100,000 worth of equipment, digest and forget it and pay no attention to ongoing costs," he added.
So what's the best way to get what you pay for in AWS? Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to economically run AWS resources.
Many AWS developers figure they'll architect later, noted Goran Kimovski, principal cloud architect at TriNimbus, a cloud management company. "The problem is, later never comes. And with so many services in AWS, it's easy to become overwhelmed and piecemeal your efforts. That's a recipe for disaster," he continued.
It's also helpful to keep track of everything, including Reserved Instances, which need their own strategies or they can get out of hand, warned Ilja Summala, CTO of cloud automation provider Nordcloud. Most Reserved Instances money is spent on large databases (Relational Database Service or large virtual machines), so companies need to closely watch their spending in this area.
"In addition, many companies have sporadic projects they want to run in the cloud at some point. Once developers know about such projects, they can take advantage of AWS T2 instances," Summala advised. T2 instances are available in three sizes and allow a user to quickly spin up AWS resources and then turn them off just as easily, making them a cost-effective choice for occasional or one-off projects.
It's also critical to size the environment correctly. "When trying to size up your machine environment, we suggest you go bigger," Valenzuela said. "And then you can roll back and fine-tune."
However, to make that work, customers must pay attention. To get a good idea of where to cut of shift services, Valenzuela suggests developers look at usage and capacity reports to monitor the behavior of certain AWS resources..
It's also vital to map business patterns to cloud resources. If a company is running financials in the cloud, then June and July will likely be heavy-use months, with other months seeing lighter use. "Get to the point where you know when to shut down what you're not using," Valenzuela said.
CloudWatch is an AWS tool that helps consumers track usage. And while CloudWatch doesn't offer detailed analytics for values such as the number of users logged in at different times of the day, it's a start. But if no one at the company looks at CloudWatch more than a couple of times a month, it's useless, according one AWS channel partner that works exclusively with the government sector and requested anonymity.
"You need to think of AWS as a utility and have somebody looking every minute at the thresholds and alerts," the partner added. "CloudWatch is a start but you can't expect AWS to do it for you. At the end of the month, you should know what your bill is going to be."
AWS also allows customers to receive billing alerts, though many customers don't know this is available. Billing alerts help companies better manage AWS costs.
Another AWS offering, CloudTrail, records API calls. When trying to track use patterns and scale appropriately, companies should use this service.
And with regard to security, companies also must manage their API keys as if they were the corporate credit card. It can also be helpful to minimize developer access to API keys.
A relatively new AWS product called Cost Explorer lets users see what they've been spending on the platform in an easy-to-read format. But to get the most out of this tool, don't put just one person in charge of it. The more people who know what the company is spending on cloud, the more likely they are to take ownership.
"To maximize value for their money, customers must be diligent in tagging resources based on use," said Peter Roosakos, principal and co-founder of Foghorn Consulting. Tagging also makes AWS' Cost Explorer easier to use. Once IT teams tag resources and it becomes clear what is underutilized, it's then time to create a disposal plan. Tools such as the open source Janitor Monkey from Netflix can look for unused resources to clean up and remove them.
How do you keep costs low in AWS?
One of the things we do to keep costs low(er) in AWS is to make extensive use of elastic IPs. We do a fair amount of load testing using SOASTA, which involved spinning up machines for load generators and monitors. hen we do this for some content delivery networks we have to provide a list of IPs at least a week in advance. Using elastic IPs allows us to provide those IPs without keeping the machines running, so that we can spin them up and assign them the IPs, then shut them down until we need them for the test. Rather than spinning them up and leaving them running but idle for a week before the test is to be conducted.
Like Michael, we use AWS for our CI and testing apparatus. The benefit is that we can spin up fifty environments at one time and run our tests in parallel, but we also focus on shutting down those machines as soon as those tests are completed. The biggest money drain is setting up environments, performing tests, and then leaving those machines running. Sometimes, we do have to keep a machine running for an extended period (security scans, etc.) but we try to keep those to one-offs.


text:
Fans urge Holly Madison to adopt a puppy, not a baby
by Lauren Kelly
Hugh Hefner's ex, Holly Madison, announced that she's trading in her Playmates for play dates, but fans urge her to reconsider, worried that she's not ready to be a mom.
Since the news of Holly Madison's adoption hit the web, fans have reacted with an overwhelming amount of concern, rather than support, saying that if Madison doesn't have time to be pregnant, she's not going to have time to be a good mom.
It all started after Madison said, "I love performing in the theater, and you can't really do that when you're pregnant." Some saw nothing wrong with the statement, while others thought it was a horrible reason to adopt. One woman tweeted, "Holly Madison is adopting a child because she's too busy to have one, but she's not too busy to neglect one," while another posted on E! Entertainment's article, "Why doesn't she get a puppy instead. Terrible! I hope she changes her mind before the baby is born."
While the majority of comments have been less than supportive, some fans are sticking by her side and defending the reality star's decision to adopt, saying that she's not buying a baby, she's giving one a home.
Madison, Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriend, initially told In Touch Weekly that she began the adoption process and is working with Hold My Hand, an adoption mentoring service, to secure a child from either Africa or South Korea, saying "I really want to be a mommy."
What do you think of Holly Madison's reason for adopting?
Photo courtesy of DJDM/WENN.com
Check out other celebrity adoptions…
Patti Stanger reveals big secret: "I want to adopt!"
Celebrities who became parents through adoption
How Katherine Heigl overcame adopted daughter's rejection
Girls Next Door holly madison Hugh Hefner


text:
Home » Politics » U.S. Explains Limits of Iraq's Fictional Sovereignty
U.S. Explains Limits of Iraq's Fictional Sovereignty
by Brendan|Published June 24, 2004
[ Michael Moore was right: the Iraq war was based on a fiction. And now it's all the more clear that it's being followed by fictional sovereignty! Could it be that only a "sovereign" nation can enter into binding oil contracts and mass-privatization deals that commit Iraq to exporting its wealth? If so, this fiction is an important fiction. –BL ]
Iraq ministers told only US can impose martial law
by Nicolas Pelham in Baghdad
22 June 2004 | Financial Times
The US-led occupation authority in Baghdad has warned Iraq's interim government not to carry out its threat of declaring martial law, insisting that only the US-led coalition has the right to adopt emergency powers after the June 30 handover of sovereignty.
Senior American officials say Iraq's authorities are bound by human rights clauses in the interim constitution, known as the Transitional Administrative Law, prohibiting administrative detention.
But they say the recent United Nations Security Council resolution 1546 sanctions the use by foreign forces in Iraq of "all necessary measures" to provide security.
A senior coalition official in Baghdad said: "Under the UN resolution, the multinational force will have the power to take all actions traditionally associated with martial law." He said they had raised their legal objections with Iyad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister.
Mr Allawi on Tuesday appeared to back away from remarks made on Sunday that the government would assume emergency powers after the handover.
"No, I didn't specifically say martial law meaning martial law," he said, adding that the government was developing a "public safety law" which would allow it to implement curfews, searches, and "apprehend the enemies of Iraq".
The coalition's warning highlights growing tension between the US-led multinational force and Iraq's appointed government over how to handle counter-insurgency after the handover.
US advisers are concerned about the security powers sought by Mr Allawi, a one-time Baath party member, and are struggling to check the ambitions of his ministers to rebuild and re-arm Iraq's forces.
"Iraq will have a lightly-armed standing army and no heavy field artillery," says Jacinta Caroll, director of defence policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority. If tanks and attack aircraft were needed, Iraq would have to rely on US-led forces, she said.
Frustrated Iraqi officials say reliance on US-led forces will undermine public confidence in the restoration of sovereignty and re-ignite claims that they are lackeys of the occupying forces.
To curb Iraq's access to heavy weapons, observers say the occupation authorities have signed a $259m contract with US company Anham Joint Venture to be sole supplier of arms to Iraq's armed forces for the next two years.
Alarmed that the deal could leave Iraq's forces outgunned by an enemy with mortars and rockets, Mr Allawi this week vowed to refurbish the old Iraq army's arsenal, and appealed to neighbouring states to provide military hardware.
All but 20 per cent of the defence ministry's 2004 $1.5bn budget stems from US funds, say coalition officials, and Iraq's share is earmarked for the payment of salaries, not equipment. In addition, the coalition has impounded Iraq's remaining heavy weapons and is hampering the issue of end-user certificates for fresh supplies, say western security experts.
An American defence adviser in Baghdad this week said that Iraq also remained under "a partial UN weapons embargo".
A revolution without dancing? Pfft.
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Martina Zalig founded Isla Clay while living in Scotland for a decade. In September 2017 she moved back to Slovenia, her home-country. She holds a degree in Translation Studies and had worked as a Literary Translator until she fell head over heels in love with clay a few years ago. Since then she has been on an adventure of exploring this wonderful material through books, videos and lots of hand-on exploring. She loves the endless possibilities and techniques that working with clay brings.
Her designs explore the relationship between colour, image, and form. Each piece is designed and handcrafted by Martina in her studio. Bright and bold colours, black carved geometric patterns and abstract or classic yet organic-looking shapes translate every piece of her ceramic jewellery into wearable art; perfect for young and youthful women with vibrant hearts.
Martina has always liked creating with hands; in fact, it is her first memories of drawing flowers and animals with her dear Gran as a four-year-old. She can still clearly remember the day when she first felt she wanted to work with clay. It was on a sunny summer day when she was lying on a small hill on Berneray, an island in the Outer Hebrides. It took a few years before she actually ordered a kiln and bought her first chunk of clay, but that feeling never left her.
In Martina's mind ceramics is strongly connected to her life in Scotland and becoming a part of that country for a decade, so she wanted to choose a Scottish name for her brand, and that is where Isla Clay came from.
She works with galleries and gift shops throughout the UK and internationally.
Leeds Craft and Design Centre (Feb - Apr 2019) upcoming.
MADE, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Aug – Oct 2018).
The Great Exhibition of the North, The Biscuit Factory (June -Sept 2018).
Etsy Berlin Christmas showroom 2016.
The Geometric Exhibition at the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester (Sept – Nov 2015).
Etsy Paris Christmas showroom 2015.
Etsy Christmas in July 2015.
Etsy House London Dec 2014.


Do you ever wonder about your friends, how you ended up with this particular group of friends, how much they mean to you, if you can really trust all of them?
or well, last couple of months I do.
Nothing major happened, but I spent to much time with a friend and I began to notice that I didn't like being around that person as much as I thought I would. And when I started thinking about our friendship I didn't feel like I wanted to be around that person for a bigger part of my life, not at all.
It's strange, how friends can change us, and manipulate, in some cases without having the intention to do so. Sometimes you just don't fit well enough to be that close.
I think you can count your real friends on just one hand. Think about it, and think about who your real friends are. The ones who will be their for you during the storms, not only in the sunshine. The ones who are worth it for you to be with. The ones you would do (almost) anything for.
I think you can be lucky if you have four of those left. I counted, I got 4.


text:
/*\
title: $:/core/modules/filters/title.js
type: application/javascript
module-type: filteroperator

Filter operator for comparing title fields for equality

\*/
(function(){

/*jslint node: true, browser: true */
/*global $tw: false */
"use strict";

/*
Export our filter function
*/
exports.title = function(source,operator,options) {
	var results = [];
	if(operator.prefix === "!") {
		source(function(tiddler,title) {
			if(tiddler && tiddler.fields.title !== operator.operand) {
				results.push(title);
			}
		});
	} else {
		results.push(operator.operand);
	}
	return results;
};

})();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub