All eyes of the international snowsports world are on New Zealand right now with some of the world's best flying south for the 2013 World Heli Challenge.
Exide Batteries powers the World Heli Challenge.
It is an elite heli-accessed ski and snowboard event attracting athletes from around the world to challenge themselves in the backcountry terrain surrounding Wanaka. As we know, this part of NZ is where only the strong (Batteries) survive.
Southern Lakes Heli fly the competitors on two competition days - a Freestyle Day and Extreme Day. Athletes are judged on their overall performance across both days, their abilities to showcase their freeriding skills in steep and challenging terrain and to deliver a smooth, strong and consistent line.
This year's World Heli Challenge event kicks off on Friday, 26 July with the first-ever Junior World Heli Challenge for 12-16 year old athletes.
The elite level ski and snowboard event will then take place from 4 to 22 August this year with a strong local line up including 2012 winner Will Jackways and Wanaka legends Sam Smoothy and Fraser McDougall. International athletes are also flying down for a piece of the action including snowboarder Antti Autti from Finland.
Exide Batteries is delighted to deliver the historic "Ascari Ferrari" to Melbourne on the 60th anniversary of the 1952 Grand Prix World Championship as a tribute to this car's legacy.
The Ascari Ferrari, the 1952 Ferrari 500 Chassis No. 5, was driven by Alberto Ascari to claim Ferrari its first two World Championship titles in 1952 and 1953. It became the single most successful chassis in Grand Prix history. This Ferrari has a very fond place in Australia's motorsport history, having also been raced by Tony Gaze DFC OAM, the first Australian to compete in a Grand Prix, and Lex Davison, who claimed two Australian Grand Prix wins with the car.
After five decades, the car that won Ferrari its first two World Championships, and ultimately became the most successful chassis in Grand Prix history, returns to Australian shores and is reunited with Australian legend, Tony Gaze DFC OAM – Australia's first Grand Prix driver.
Tony Gaze bought the car from Ferrari after the 1953 Championship and had considerable success in it, never finishing worse than third in all but one race when he spun on someone else's oil.
Tony Gaze, now 92 years young, has an incredible life story. He is Australia's first Formula 1 driver and greatest living World War Two pilot. A Spitfire fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force during World War II, he escaped occupied France, he was the only Australian to destroy two jet aircraft, and he became the first Australian to fly jet aircraft internationally. He is a three-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross for acts of valour and courage. Tony established the Lex Davison Society, assisting young racing drivers breaking into Formula One racing. For services to motor sport, he received the Medal of the Order of Australia.
The 60th Anniversary program runs throughout March and includes showcasing the 1952 Ferrari Tipo 500 Chassis No.5 at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport (March 9-11) and at the 2012 Formula 1 Australia Grand Prix (March 5-18).
Exide is proud to support this testimonial to a great man and wonderful machine.
Exide Batteries have teamed up with Micah Adams to showcase our technically advanced range of Marine and Deep Cycle batteries available through Exide. Micah Adams uses our Exide batteries in his extreme conditions and so should you.
Series 3 of Adventure Angler Adventure Angler aires on Fox Sports 2 from Feb 2nd, Thursday 6.30pm EST .
Exide is pleased to announce the launch of its new motorcycle and power sport battery range.
Exide Maintenance Free AGM range deliver high performance power, multi-positional fitment and fully sealed after plug installation delivering a leak-proof, spill-proof powerhouse. Suitable for the weather extremes of Australia and New Zealand, the AGM construction (immobilised acid in cells) and AGM (Glass mat) separator is the optimal choice for reliable performance in motorcycles, personal water craft and a range of leisure product.
So when you're cruising the open road and looking for the very best in performance and reliability, Exide Bike batteries will get you on the road faster and keep you there longer.
Ask your nearest Exide stockist about this new range.
Exide batteries has just been awarded the prestigious "Toyota President's Award for Design and Development" at the annual Toyota Supplier Conference held in April 2011. The award recognizes excellence in design and development where application of leading battery technologies in close consultation with Toyota has resulted in a battery with superior performance for Camry and Aurion.
Five years of design and development by dedicated Exide technicians and staff has been recognised by Toyota with vehicle customers and battery purchasers being the ultimate beneficiaries of Exide's commitment to deliver the best batteries in the world.
Exide Technologies is one of the largest battery suppliers to vehicle manufacturers based in Australia. Ongoing exchange of technologies with vehicle manufacturers enables Exide to remain at the forefront of meeting the needs of new vehicles. This, in turn, is supported by Exide's global connections with vehicle manufacturers around the world to ensure the latest technologies are employed to power the vehicles of the future.
Exide Technologies manufactures batteries designed and built for Australia's extreme conditions at their TS16949 and ISO14001 accredited manufacturing facility located in Elizabeth, South Australia. Exide also operates a battery recycling facility in Wellington, New Zealand where around 1 million spent batteries are recycled every year contributing to a cleaner environment.
"The award is testament to our Australian Made product and staff. Since 1935 we have been manufacturing world leading products in Australia, specifically designed for Australian conditions. We are proud to manufacture leading automotive product offerings – including the Extreme® and Extra® ranges – in Elizabeth, South Australia and we are delighted to be acknowledged by winning the Toyota President's Award for Design and Development," said John Cowpe – Exide Technologies Managing Director.


Today at his SXSW fireside chat, head of Google+ Vic Gundotra said "I am 100% to blame" for the social network lacking an API seven months after launch. The reason? "Your stream could easily be overwhelmed" if Google allowed third-party apps to post content on users' behalf.
Additionally, Gundotra criticized Facebook's inclusion of ads on photo albums and said that only a "very small number of people have turned off social search".
The problem with allowing third-party apps to contribute content is that "if ranking is not good in the stream", single apps could publish too many posts and push out authentic content from the people you follow. Gundotra said that "When Google opens an API, we want you to know we're not going to revoke access." Moderator Guy Kawasaki quipped that developers are used to rapidly changing APIs from Facebook, but Gundotra snapped back, "We hold ourselves to a higher standard".


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Outgoing Co-Chairs on the GVPDAC
The Greater Victoria Police Diversity Advisory Committee (GVPDAC) was established in 2002 to bring together and build trust and positive relationships among its representatives from the police departments, RCMP detachments and military police in the region along with civilian representatives from many diverse community agencies.
Community representatives are from the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA), Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC), Victoria Immigrant & Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS), Victoria Pride Society, India Canada Cultural Association, African Heritage Association of Vancouver Island (AHAVI), Ismaili Faith Community, Victoria Francophone Society, Rainbow Health Cooperative & the Jewish Federation of Victoria & Vancouver Island.
The community co-chair, Moussa Magassa of the Francophone Society of Victoria, works in the Equity & Human Rights Office at the University of Victoria. The police co-chair, Staff Sergeant Scott Treble, works in the Community Engagement Division at Saanich Police Department. Both have been in their roles since the fall of 2013 and are transitioning out of their involvement with the GVPDAC. The new police co-chair effective April 1st, 2019 will be Constable Michelle Joyce of Central Saanich Police Service and the new community co-chair will be identified later during the spring.
The GVPDAC community engagement highlights report and additional reports, photos and other information on its activities may be found at www.gvpdac.org.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After 2D-PAGE analysis of cells, thousands of spots are observed. Such an observation is frequently impressive, but not very useful. Identification of the polypeptide sequence corresponding to a spot is already undergoing major progress. However, understanding the protein's function(s) remains the final goal of any analysis. It is also relevant to study the expression level, the phosphorylation state, the sub-cellular location, the association with other proteins and the rate of synthesis or degradation of the proteins of interest. Combination of all this information will make possible the study of a functional proteome.


text:
Q: Gerar entidade utilizando uma determinada conexão Considere o seguinte ficheiro de configuração:
config.yml
doctrine:
    dbal:
        default_connection: slqX45
        connections:
            slqX44:
                driver:   pdo_mysql
                host:     "%database_host%"
                port:     "%database_port%"
                dbname:   "%database_name%"
                user:     "%database_user%"
                password: "%database_password%"
                charset:  UTF8
            slqX45:
                driver:   pdo_mysql
                host:     "%database_host_co%"
                port:     "%database_port_co%"
                dbname:   "%database_name_co%"
                user:     "%database_user_co%"
                password: "%database_password_co%"
                charset:  UTF8

Repare que a conexão marcada como default é a sqlX45.
Entretanto tenho algumas entidades que possuam as suas respectivas tabelas na base de dados A e outras na base de dados B, por isso a necessidade de utilizar 2 conexões.
Ao executar os seguintes comandos na console, preciso indicar qual conexão deve ser utilizada e qual a respectiva entidade, por exemplo:
app/console doctrine:generate:entities --entidade="EntidadeA" --conexao="slqX44"
app/console doctrine:schema:update --entidade="EntidadeA" --conexao="slqX44"

Como fazer isso?

A: Quando você cria configurações de conexões do Doctrine dentro de um projeto Symfony, é possível determinar diferentes entity managers para cada conexão. Para cada entity manager, é possível discriminar as entidades (e, consequentemente, tabelas) serão gerenciados.
Dê uma olhada na configuração do Doctrine.
Portanto, acredito que sua configuração ficaria mais ou menos assim:
doctrine:
    dbal:
        default_connection: slqX45
        connections:
            slqX44:
                driver:   pdo_mysql
                host:     "%database_host%"
                port:     "%database_port%"
                dbname:   "%database_name%"
                user:     "%database_user%"
                password: "%database_password%"
                charset:  UTF8
            slqX45:
                driver:   pdo_mysql
                host:     "%database_host_co%"
                port:     "%database_port_co%"
                dbname:   "%database_name_co%"
                user:     "%database_user_co%"
                password: "%database_password_co%"
                charset:  UTF8
    orm:
        entity_managers:
            em_sqlX44:
                connection: slqX44
                mappings: ~ # os mapeamentos que o EM em_sqlX44 gerenciará
            em_sqlX45:
                connection: slqX45
                mappings: ~ # os mapeamentos que o EM em_sqlX45 gerenciará

Depois disso, basta dar uma olhada nos argumentos aceitos por cada um dos comandos. Em geral, eles aceitam que você especifique em qual entity manager aquele comando rodará – logo, com quais entidades o comando irá trabalhar.
O argumento que os comandos usam é --entity-manager=(seu entity manager).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
By Cathy Evans	—	1 week ago
Tara Jaye Frank built a career as an equity strategist and teaching executives to become "waymakers" for workplace equity by listening and observing how people behaved and built relationships. She used that knowledge to become a greeting card writer at Hallmark Cards and used it again and again in multiple executive roles, including vice president of multicultural strategy, corporate culture and as a culture adviser to the president. For over 25 years she's built her own bridge to success by being "really curious about other people and what they see, what they are motivated by, and how they build relationships and engage with others." This has taught her about human nature and leadership, and given her the tools to advise and guide executive management to become "waymakers" for others. Tara says, "And here's the thing of all the black and brown and women, the people who have been left out of the learning loop–everyone I know who's made it to high levels of leadership in corporations have done so not only because of systems change, but because someone made a way for them. Point, blank, period!"
The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence
Tara calls her latest book, The Waymakers, an invitation to leaders "to get off the fence and into the arena." She says that no one gets anywhere without someone removing the barriers to advancement, but she has found that while executives want to do the right thing, they don't know what the right thing is, and more importantly they don't want to make a mistake, offend someone and risk their professional reputation. They lack the "competence and confidence" to make the "bold and intentional" moves needed to truly achieve a more equitable and inclusive workplace. Tara says that she wanted to give them a way to do it, and also to inspire them to move forward.
When Dr. Nancy asked Tara what made this book different than all the others, Tara said that it is truly research-based. She did proprietary research asking employees what makes them feel seen, respected, valued and protected. Then she asked what makes them feel invisible, disrespected, and underappreciated. The answers showed what leaders do and don't do to produce equity and inclusion. Next, she interviewed 30 of the top diversity, equity and inclusion professionals about what really works in their organizations—not theory, but real actions that drive progress. And most of all, Tara worked as an executive for many years and speaks "the language of power and position." From her perspective, Tara says, "I seek to understand how the people around me define success, right? And then I very intentionally, very specifically help them build a bridge from where they are to where they want to be. I ultimately make a way right to that highest aspiration." Her goal is for the book to become a tool for all leaders to become waymakers, and for it to help thousands—maybe millions of people reach their definition of success.
Learn Why Equity Is Taking So Long and Much More
Listen to or watch this conversation for more insights into leadership, how action differs from policy and what will really make a difference in the pursuit of equity. Check out Tara's website for speaking, consulting and other insightful posts at tarajayfrank.com. And pre-order The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence from your favorite bookseller. It will be available in May 2022.
By Cathy Evans	—	3 weeks ago
By Cathy Evans	—	1 month ago
Samantha Karlin is an impassioned leader for social change and has equipped herself with experiences that show how women use power to lead in different ways. She saw her mother behave fiercely and fearlessly when she testified before Congress to get permission for experimental treatment to save her disabled daughter's life. She learned how women are used as pawns in a world "created by and for white, western, property-owning men." And she amassed an education with a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy with a specialization in global gender analysis and conflict resolution from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, became a trained mediator, and immersed herself in global engagement with social entrepreneurs on women's issues around the world.
As founder and CEO of Empower Global, Samantha facilitates training on diversity, equity and inclusion for Fortune 500 companies and oversees a groundbreaking women's leadership challenge for women leaders around the world. She also hosts Samanthropolitics, a cutting-edge talk show about global politics and women's rights, where she interviews Washington heavy-weights and feminist activists about foreign policy.
What Compels People to Work for Social Change?
Samantha describes a scene where 15 women social entrepreneurs from around the world, gathered in Bellagio, Italy for a retreat. The conversation shifted to why people will turn from caring only about money to caring about the environment or some social change that would make the world a better place. They concluded it was emotional. When people engage emotionally with a cause, like Samantha's experience with her handicapped sister, people will move heaven and earth to make change.
In Samantha's case, the next change-experience happened when she met two "amazing men" at an incubator in Washington, D.C., where they were experimenting with virtual reality to create "equal reality" for diversity and inclusion training. They put a headset on Samantha, and she was completely immersed in the experience. When she looked at her arm, she saw a black arm. She says the script that came with it put her "in the shoes of a black woman, or a handicapped person, somebody who's not like you." Really feeling what it was like to be marginalized and treated differently inspired Samantha to do training for them. With her graduate studies in conflict resolution, mediation, gender, and U.S. foreign policy, she saw the potential for how this tool could be used globally on different types of populations. Fortunately, they also needed a trainer.
Women's Leadership Challenge
Samantha began her Women's Leadership Challenge during COVID. Like many of us, she realized how much we needed human connection. She also saw how that could be transformed into creating cohorts of women leaders using the tools she had been using in her corporate workshops on women's leadership, women's empowerment, and storytelling for women. She created a group course with a curriculum based on her knowledge of the international world and how to create change.
Two challenges are being developed now: one in-person in Washington, D.C. and one virtual. Eight to ten women are chosen to be part of each challenge. Samantha says she keeps the groups small so that everyone will participate. Each person in the group gets to know the other women really well, and there is a lot of time built in for discussion. Samantha says that while she teaches the theory that she has developed to create institutional change, she only creates the framework for learning. She expects the participants to add their ideas and expertise and she can also bring in guest speakers to fill in gaps. There have been enough groups now to create a group of 50 women who have continued to connect beyond their challenge experience. She hopes this ripple effect will keep going and create changemakers throughout the world able to lead in empowering ways.
Samanthropolitics and TEDx "The Power of the Powerless" and More
Listen or watch this interview for more of Samantha's personal stories to learn how she became impassioned for making social change at the core, where leaders are created. Samantha says that women can gain power by giving their power away and sharing power, which she calls "power with." In her TEDx talk she explains that this is not inherent, but a learned skill. Giving power away creates more power.
Apply now for the new Women's Leadership Challenge. And check out Empower Global for more information.
Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge Grows Women Leaders
By Cathy Evans	—	2 months ago
Katie Steele Danner is the Executive Director of the Greater Missouri Leadership Foundation, and as a graduate alumnus of the third class of the Leadership Challenge, she has personally experienced how the statewide program grows women leaders in many careers throughout the state. Now in its 32nd year, the Challenge has grown 1,300 alumni that have spread their wings internationally. Katie describes it as a traveling symposium with a class of 30-40 women who meet for a dozen days in four, three-day sessions. Each session does a deep dive into a specific community's issues, often discovering problems needing solutions in that area are relative to the entire state and intersect with what is happening nationally and globally. It focuses on emerging women leaders, educating them about the state of Missouri and helping them realize where their strengths and leadership can make a difference. Katie says that the Foundation hopes their eyes are open to possibility, not only to their own careers, but also how they can be more engaged in their communities.
In Katie's case, she was a young Missouri State Representative when she accepted the challenge. While still in her 20's she ran for office, thinking that she could do a better job than the three men running in her district, and she won. She went on to serve three terms and says that she, "had the opportunity to get to know the state of Missouri in a way that without that experience, I never would have learned the vast diversity of opportunities, and frankly, the challenges of the state of Missouri." However, her experience with the Challenge and the Foundation has introduced her to a vast array of expertise among the women in Missouri, including the woman engineer who runs the Callaway nuclear power plant, who is a Challenge alumnus. She says that the networking is phenomenal when you think about over a thousand women leaders now serving on boards and in leadership positions where their voices are heard, literally around the world. Katie says, "We have many women that are working with large corporate firms that are currently based in Brazil, Germany or England, etc."
How to Apply for The Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge
There are two ways to become an applicant: an alum can refer you, or you can nominate yourself. The referral would introduce the applicant, list her strengths and what she is doing personally and professionally, and describe her as an emerging woman leader who would be successful in the program. To self-nominate, an applicant would say something like, "I'm really interested in learning more about the state of Missouri." Then list her strengths and describe why she thinks of herself as an emerging leader, and how the Challenge would help her hone her leadership skills and grow her leadership into new areas of potential.
Katie says that the awards luncheon event that Dr. Nancy and Women Connect4Good helped sponsor in Springfield, Missouri, this year resulted in a number of women self-nominating from throughout Southwest Missouri. "And that helps us because we want diverse women, not only diverse industries, diverse experience, but diverse in geography and obviously diversity across the entire spectrum." She encourages anyone interested to apply on their website at GreaterMo.org, and she will follow up with them.
More Benefits of the Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge
Katie says that she is amazed at the number of industries she has learned about through her years of being an alum of the Challenge. And she encourages others to step up, because even if you feel you don't know enough, there are women to help you along the way. That's the purpose of the Challenge – to empower each other to lead. She tells the story of a young Challenge alum named Fatima who immigrated from Bosnia as a five-year-old with her parents and is now a US citizen. St. Louis, Missouri, is the largest resettlement area for Bosnian refugees, a fact Katie also wasn't aware of until she worked with Fatima and others volunteering for the International Institute helping resettle the Afghanistan refugees in St. Louis. Fatima's personal story as a Muslim child in a Christian sponsoring family helped with understanding the refugees in the current crisis. Fatima's job is managing staffing for the mayor pro tem of Kansas City where she uses her experience to talk about homelessness and how partnerships with corporate America work to help fill hunger needs in rural Missouri.
Listen or watch this interview to learn more about how Katie sees the fluctuation to more remote work can benefit women and provide opportunities for women to lead in their communities where they are needed most. Stay in touch with their activities and events on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. And go the website for more information about the Greater Missouri Leadership Foundation, a fascinating organization growing more women leaders in Missouri every year.
Creating Systems Change to Lift Women and Girls
Kelly Nevins is currently CEO for the Women's Fund of Rhode Island (WFRI), the job she announced she wanted while getting her master's degree in leadership. Growing up the daughter of a single mom who struggled to support her daughters while facing challenges that working men didn't have made Kelly intimately aware of the workplace inequities between men and women. In fact, she says that when policies are made to help people, if they were not created with a gender lens, "Men and boys would continue to rise to the top, but women and girls would fall through the cracks." Also, less than 2% of foundational funding goes directly to help women and girls. This was true in 2001 when the Women's Fund of Rhode Island was created and is still true today. As a result, Kelly has spent most of her career working to change the systems that cause inequities. She says that means the WFRI works in the spheres of advocacy, training leaders to advocate for change in the community and individuals to advocate for change for themselves.
Achievements for WFRI
Kelly notes that while WFRI is non-partisan and does not back women running for elected office, they do offer training programs to inform women how public service can support their vision for change. One success story she shares is how Gail Golden helped pass one of the first paid leave laws in the United States after attending one of the training programs WFRI offers, called the Women's Policy Institute. Gail then became a senator in Rhode Island's general assembly and now has moved on to be a senior adviser to the Women's Bureau for the federal government.
Another success story is how WFRI helped pass the Fair Pay Act in Rhode Island, which changes the definition of what pay means. Kelly explains that the federal equal pay law was passed decades ago, but the courts have narrowly defined what equal pay means. She says WFRI worked really hard to broaden that so that unless there is a specific difference, like more longevity with the company or more education directly related to your job, people must be paid the same.
Advice for Women Today
Kelly says that right now it's a "buyer's market." With one in three women leaving the workforce, employers are willing to negotiate to get good employees. Now is the time to ask for what you want and negotiate for what you need, including flex time, work from home and salary. There are also a lot of free or low-cost training programs out there. Kelly says to search for your state employment agency and see what they are offering. Some are even providing childcare as a benefit of their training. There are also options for gig employees, which is important since more women are interested in starting their own businesses. Of course, when they do that, there are no benefits. However, Kelly says that policies supporting those options are also being discussed. She points out that the pandemic has revealed that childcare isn't a parenting issue; it's a workforce issue, and "we need to make it accessible, safe and affordable. And she admits that it's complicated and won't be easy to solve, which is why we need women sitting at the table where those decisions are made.
Listen or watch this amazing conversation for more information about women's funds. Kelly says there are hundreds of women's funds throughout the country and the world. The Women's Fund of Rhode Island is the only one in her state because it is so small. To learn more, check out their website (www.wfri.org) or call 401-2-62-5647. Search women's funding for more information or go to womensfundingnetwork.org for a membership list of over 100 women's funds.
If you don't have a women's fund in your area, you can start one. Kelly tells the story of an international fundraiser, Simone Joyaux, who was angry at the gender and racial inequities she saw and discovered a women's fund doing good things in Arizona. She came back to Rhode Island and founded WFRI 20 years ago. Kelly says the volunteers and board members of WFRI are "advising at those tables where resources are being allocated and decisions are being made" and working "on legislative change both locally and nationally to set the stage for creating a better Rhode Island and a better country."
How the Orbital Perspective Views Unity in All of Us
Colonel Ron Garan's orbital perspective began as a small boy on July 20, 1969, when he saw a man walk on the moon. He realized that we are explorers, no longer confined to earth, and set a course to be part of that journey. He became a pilot in the military, then a fighter pilot, and eventually a test pilot. NASA chose him from the ranks of test pilots for space exploration but sent him to the Aquarius Research Station in the ocean as his first mission. Eventually, he went to space on the U.S. space shuttle where he helped build the International Space Station, and finally with the Russians on a Soyus spacecraft for six months to work on the space station. It was seeing earth from space, and his experience working with "the enemy" that transformed his perspective of our relationship with others, how interconnected we are and how we can use that sense of unity to see the big picture and solve problems here that affect everyone. His first book, The Orbital Perspective: Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles, opens a window on what it was like to work with such a diverse group of people in a small isolated environment and the implications that has for how we live and work here at home.
Three Books from the Orbital Perspective
Ron builds on that perspective in all three of his books, after releasing The Orbital Perspective in 2015, he wrote a children's book, Railroad to the Moon, about a little girl who goes to the moon and becomes mayor of a city there. Ron's goal was to show girls and boys they can dream big, and those dreams might come true. Then he released Floating in Darkness: A Journey of Evolution, which is a follow-up to The Orbital Perspective and narrates his perspective of all of his adventures – from fighter pilot to astronaut – and the dichotomy of grappling with mortality in an instant with the infinite sense of seeing all as one that comes from the orbital perspective from space. Most of all he applies those experiences and that perspective to how and why we all need to shift our perspective and accelerate our evolution to address the crises on our spaceship earth.
With Diversity of Perspective We See in 3D
Ron says that he believes most people want to leave the world in a better place than they found it, but if they saw it from "the orbital perspective," they would see what happens to our society over the course of time. Little actions we take every day affects every other action to change the overall direction. He, like many others, thinks of diversity as a strength. He says, "One of the reasons why diversity is a strength is because with diversity comes diversity of perspective. And when
we look at things from two different points of view, we see it in stereoscopic vision. We see in 3-D, and we start to see the depth. And so, the more perspectives we can apply to a challenge or a problem, the deeper our understanding of that challenge will be, the more lasting and effective will be the solutions. And so the very diversity of our perspectives is a source of strength."
The problem with living in these divisive times, is that people in the political and business world go to a default reaction and assume that a difference of opinion is a threat. Ron says that many people fear that if they acknowledge merit from the different viewpoint, they will lose, and the other person/people will gain. He contrasts that with how 15 different countries, with different cultures, languages and religions came together to build the International Space Station, as big as a football field and possibly the most complicated device every built, and they did it in space. Ron says to do something that significant is to find the one thing you agree on and proceed from there. It can't be about who gets credit or who wins and loses. Instead of using what we agree on to force a change of opinion in the other country/person, we must build from that common thread to solve the problem together. He notes that if the Russians hadn't stepped up after the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, we wouldn't have a space program.
Awe and Wonder VS Fear
Listen and watch this amazing conversation to hear more of Ron's "orbital perspective" about how different we behave when we experience awe and wonder instead of fear, his unique perspective on what it means to leave a legacy, the biggest obstacle to organizations wanting to do good in the world, and much more.
Check out all of his books, The Orbital Perspective, Railroad to the Moon and Floating in Darkness, and find out how to expand your mindset, push your boundaries, and elevate your perspective on his website, RonGaran.com. There you can also listen to his "Orbital Perspective Podcast" that features guests who focus on what happens when we zoom out to see from the orbital perspective, observe megatrends happening by the minute and realize how interconnected we all are.
You Have the Power in You
When Dr. Sheila Robinson said, "You have the power in you," she was referring to her upcoming book, Redefining Your D.I.E.T. and Transform How You Look, Feel and Perform, but it pertains to practically everything in this conversation, from her childhood story where her mother taught her to work hard and be happy, to the upcoming theme for the Diversity Woman Media Business Leadership Conference, "Empowered to Lead," and especially how we need to work to fix the broken systems so we can unite and grow stronger together. As Dr. Nancy says early in the conversation, "Happiness is a muscle. You have to work it. You have to believe it. You have to exercise it and you have to use it." Dr. Sheila agrees and she works it every day in her nationally acclaimed publishing company, Diversity Woman Media, through her two magazines: "Diversity Woman" and "Inclusion," her online self-care programs, Wellness Wednesday and her conferences throughout the year, culminating with the 2021 National Diversity Woman Media Business Leadership Conference, November 4-5 (registration is underway).
Empowered to Lead
Dr. Sheila stresses the need for all of us to share our resources. We're all going through something very different. Some of us are home-schooling and may have developed short-cuts or techniques that have helped, so share it with others. Diversity Woman Media is all about that. And Dr. Sheila chose "Empowered to Lead" as the theme for the November 4 conference because by bringing a diverse group of women and men together, they can share resources that empower women to be their best and overcome obstacles and barriers that hold us all back. Sheila is excited about the different virtual ways they've developed to help women connect—simple things like clicking on a link to join a table talking about a topic of interest, building unity and energy by wearing the t-shirts with "Empowering to Lead" on them and sponsors on the back, platforms where participants can see one another like direct Zoom calls, and so on. Sheila says, "Empowered women empower women." Bringing women together for two days of opportunities to learn from and exchange ideas with some of the most extraordinary leaders is an empowering transformational experience.
Self Care is not Selfish
Like many women, Dr. Sheila was brought up to take care of everyone else first. If they were all happy, then she was too. But that meant putting herself last and the pervasive mindset is to feel guilty if we put ourselves first. However, she learned that if she puts self-care first, she is better able to care for everyone else. When she lost 25 pounds she felt 20 years younger; she was more productive and even her mental ability improved. She wasn't on any particular program and says that whatever support you need should work for you because "you have the power within you." Since diet has so many negative connotations, Dr. Sheila chose to make it an acronym for her book title, Redefining Your D.I.E.T. and Transform How you Look Feel and Perform. "D" is for drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks. "I" is for what you ingest. She says you can eat whatever you want, but she ascribes to the 80-20 rule – 80% of what you eat should be to keep you alive and 20% for enjoyment. "E" is for enjoying exercise. There is no sacrifice in self-care. It's all about you. "T" is for your thought process. Dr. Sheila says , "It all starts there. You got to have a compelling reason to be a better you and to believe that you can. And so anything will work you know, it'll work."
Let's Create Some Win-Wins
All of Dr. Sheila's work is about creating win-wins, but she is particularly focused on fixing the broken systems that create obstacles for us to unite. She says that the systems keep us apart and the reason people don't fix them is the fear that they will lose something. The opposite is true when there are winners and losers, we all lose something. She says the have-nots will always turn over the haves. The solution is to create win-wins and be stronger as a country and as individuals.
Listen or watch this conversation for more ideas about empowering ourselves and others through changing our perspective and seizing opportunities to learn, grow and share our resources.
Most of all, register for the National Diversity Woman Media Business Leadership Conference, November 4-5, and look for Dr. Sheila's upcoming book, Redefining Your D.I.E.T. and check out her magazines and other online programs.
The Power of Intentioning to Advance Women's Leadership
Gloria Feldt admits she made up the word "intentioning" to describe what happens when intention becomes an action. While intention is a wonderful word, it's static, and Gloria wanted an active verb. She says that, "intentioning is an active verb because I want women to know that we're talking about not just ambition, not just thinking about it, not hoping, not wishing, not dreaming. We're talking about, hey, we're doing it." And her new book, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take the Lead for (Everyone's) Good details 9 new power tools to tell women how to use the power of intentioning to advance women's leadership, starting with their own.
Leadership Intentioning Tool #1 – Uncover Yourself
Because of her own belated start on her career, Gloria starts with the tool she had to use before she could cross the starting line, "Uncover Yourself." She grew up one of few Jewish people in a small west Texas town. She knew she was different from the moment she was born as the granddaughter of immigrant grandparents with thick accents and very different cultural practices. She didn't want to be different, so she did what every girl did. She got married and had four children to become a mother just like everyone else. However, by the time her youngest was four months old, she started community college and 12 years later, she says she discovered "that I had what I called a CEO brain, and I'm willing to take almost any level of responsibility in order to be able to bring people together, have a vision and make things happen in the world." She uncovered herself, and after serving as CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America for 30 years, Gloria uncovered her passion to advance women's leadership and started on her current career—NY Times bestselling author, motivational speaker, and co-founder and president of Take the Lead Women, which prepares, develops, inspires and propels women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025.
From NO EXCUSES to INTENTIONING
Gloria armed women with nine power tools with her book, NO EXCUSES: Nine Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. She says that when she did the research for the book, she found that women remained stuck in spite of earning more degrees than men and having broken through many glass ceilings, we remained only 18% of top leadership positions across every sector. She says that she became obsessed with why and "realized that women have been socialized differently around power than men. The history books, all written by men express power in terms of wars and fighting. She says, "It's about scarcity that there aren't enough resources, So I have to fight you for mine." However, Gloria says there is no limit to power. She compares it to a hammer. You can build something with it or smash things apart. She educated as many women as she could with the concept of having the "power to" instead of power over. With "the power to, you can make life better for yourself, your family, your community, your country, the world."
Now with INTENTIONING: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take the Lead for (Everyone's) Good, she takes action with nine additional power or "intentioning" tools to help women dream the impossible dream and then live it. Gloria explains that she uses the VCA method and differentiates it from ambition, which is the fuel that makes intentioning happen. You have to start with the vision, then have the courage to put one foot in front of the other and finally, take action. She says, "Ambition is I hope. I wish. I want. Intention is heck, yes, I'm doing it. I see it already. It's happening!"
Watch/Listen for Amazing Ideas
There is so much more to learn from this Smart, Amazing Conversation with Dr. Nancy:
On how Take the Lead's 50 Women Can Change the World Programs really are creating change one industry and profession at a time
The richness of diversity as the secret sauce that makes businesses and organizations soar beyond limited boundaries
The Intersectionality of racism and sexism and how Gloria sees it as "two heads of the same coin."
The opportunity of the disruption we are experiencing as we emerge from our many crises for the past few years.
Learn more about Take the Lead and upcoming programs at https://www.taketheleadwomen.com/. Order Gloria's new book at https://gloriafeldt.com/intentioning/. And follow and engage with her everywhere @GloriaFeldt.
How Activism and Entertainment Can Provide Careers for Women
Terra Renee
Terra Renee was born to a family involved in activism, but entertainment was her own idea for a career. The two drives collided when Terra discovered a thousand other women who looked like her auditioning for a very small part in a TV show. Being young and naïve didn't stop her from instantly realizing that she MUST create jobs for these women. She started writing a screenplay until friends urged her to apply for a grant. She won the grant, which was presented at a luncheon. That luncheon introduced her to another young woman who told Terra that she loved her grant application and wanted to be her publicist. Terra couldn't imagine why she would need a publicist, but went along, and out of that meeting, African American Women in Cinema (AAWIC) was founded to be a one-time event honoring different women of color in cinema. Twenty-three years later, it is a fully functioning organization helping support women of color to take on roles of filmmaking "from soup to nuts" as Terra says.
Ironically, while writing that first screenplay, Terra took courses in film directing the School of Visual Arts as part of her search. She says that she met a Vietnamese man there who offered "to break her into the business." When Terra laughed in disbelief, he introduced her to his friends who were producing short films. Terra worked with them in every capacity getting valuable on the job training, and when one of the friends got funding for a feature length film, Terra was hired as the first woman and woman of color associate producer. And when the director submitted it to the Cannes Film Festival, it won an award. The synchronicity of the work, the grant, and the award happening in conjunction with the founding of AAWIC all happened with such an "ease" that Terra says she knew, "This is what you were called to do, and you finally found it."
YouTube University—A Safe Place to Learn
Terra has talked a lot about the opportunities technology has provided women in past interviews, but in this one, she mentioned how she consults YouTube University on a variety of issues. She says that while some people find it isolating, Terra says, "It's a very singular space, and it does not allow room for anybody else. That makes it a very safe space emotionally." So, if she can't reach a friend on the phone, she types in the subject that is bothering her and says that she finds, "a litany of videos from women who face the same issue." She is puzzled that women have been taught so differently. She says that she doesn't know if they expected us for the next million years to be in the kitchen and raise the children or what. While she thinks there's nothing wrong with that, she adds, "But God gave us so much more. And we have a responsibility to contribute." Terra says that it's also our responsibility to create safe spaces emotionally for one another, reinforce the positive attributes that we have and not focus on the negative. "Balance, in my mind," Terra says, "is the key to life."
Women's Perspectives that Inspire Terra
Terra said that she is encouraged by the women's groups she has attended recently and the willingness to put differences aside and support each other. She mentioned one in which women announced that they were running for office and could use some help. And others replied that they didn't have much but offered three or five dollars. Another example was a group of young women in technology who were reaching out to support one another and listen to each other's issues. And finally, Terra told of being in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when President Biden spoke and how amazed she was to hear women who were born and raised in Tulsa, who had never heard of the Tulsa massacre. What inspires Terra is the new level of visibility for things that have been hidden for so long, and the flame it has sparked. She says it's about understanding one another without prejudice, engaging, and from that dialogue, putting together an action plan. Terra thinks this is all very powerful, and exclaims, "Oh, Dr. Nancy, there's another movement!"
Current Activities Giving Voice to Women in Activism and Entertainment
Terra has expanded her offerings over 23 years. In this conversation, she mentions several:
An educational series the last Friday of each month where various prominent leaders in the industry talk about various careers. This month, a sound recordist who worked on Michelle Obama's, "Becoming" documentary is talking about sound as a career.
On the Clubhouse App, a weekly filmmaker series every Monday at 6:00 pm talking about the process, so new filmmakers won't get discouraged and quit before we can see their talent.
The next film festival will take place online Nov. 4-6, 2021.
Talk with Terra podcast, every Thursday at 7:00 pm on RudyRadio.com.
Listen to this conversation for more of Terra's insights and story and check out AAWIC website and Terra's personal website for more information.
How to Take Control with Mindfulness and Meditation
Retired Navy Seal Commander Jon Macaskill first learned mindfulness and meditation in the Navy where they used breathing drills to take control of their emotions while taking down a target or dealing with explosives. Except, he says, that they didn't call it mindfulness and meditation, and he had a prejudice against it himself when years later, a counselor recommended it to him as a way to deal with stress and survivor's guilt. However, he broke through the stigma and found the practice useful, not only to overcome his depression and anxiety, but also to improve his performance. Now he uses mindfulness and meditation to coach high performing teams to accomplish more and do their best. These tools, and several others, help him break through the clutter of multi-tasking and multi-communicating to help managers take control and achieve the most difficult of results—happy AND productive employees.
Mindfulness and Meditation Is a Game-Changer
Jon says that taking time to listen to a guided meditation or just being quiet and paying attention to your emotions and your physical sensations in the here and now gets easier with practice. The more you do it, the easier it becomes to focus your mind and pay attention. He calls it a game changer because he says when you are present with yourself, you're present with everyone else, including your family and your co-workers. The small investment in self-care has an enormous return in terms of better communication, higher productivity and greater enjoyment of what you do.
He uses two examples in this conversation. When he first started meditating he shares how he reacted to his baby daughter's 3:00 am feedings—first it was stewing about the pressures of the day and returning to bed for a sleepless night. After three months, however, he enjoyed her cooing and appreciated the miracle of her being, then slept until morning refreshed and ready to tackle the day.
With his second example, he shares how multi-tasking reduces the flow produced by mindfulness and actually causes more errors and reduces productivity. In his consulting business, he charts the communication in the organization for quality verses quantity. He says that he is always asked how can we communicate better in this day of hyper-connectivity? So he analyzes their interactions: if they're sending a million e-mails, constantly sending SLACK messages and keeping the channels open while working on other things, a lot of communication is getting lost. Jon advocates "mono-tasking and focusing on one single thing at a time." When people object that they don't have time, he shows them how it creates more time and he points out that "not only are you going to feel better at the end of the day, but you're going to have gotten more done."
The Line Between the Leader and the Boss
Jon differentiates between the leader and the boss in the way they lead. The boss comes in with the heavy hand of a tyrant and objectifies his workers, so they serve as objects. Everyone is working for the bottom line. A leader, by contrast, knows he/she is leading people with lives and concerns about work and families, and enlists those people to work towards goals as part of the organization, not just as the head of the organization. Jon's ideal leader is the "loved leader." This is not a weak leader, but is strong and resilient. He says, "(A loved-leader) is somebody who is compassionate, can see what his or her people need. And if he or she is not the person individually that is able to support their people, then they can leverage their sub leaders, their subordinate leaders, to get their people what they need, so that they can accomplish the mission. I mean, I'm former military, so we're always talking about accomplishing the mission."
Men Talking Mindfulness, Strong Male Ally and Corporate Consultant
Listen or watch this podcast to find out more about Jon's podcast, Men Talking Mindfulness where he and a co-host discuss different aspects of mindfulness, but do not limit their topics to men. Jon welcomes women guests, and they discuss feminine energy, masculine energy and issues and strengths of both. Jon also talks about his wife and mother as strong supportive women in his life that he depends on for support and who provide the foundation for his support of women's equality and equity in the world. Check out his website, Macaskill Consulting to learn about his four pillars that build the foundation for success: grit, resilience, compassion and preparedness. Listen to this conversation for more about his work with Space Force and other organizations to identify blind spots and help them become more resilient with foresight for the challenges ahead.


The shifts in weather have made me realize just how strongly affected I am by the weather, climate & environment. I'm sure we are all ready for some sunshine and blue skies. We got lucky this weekend with some amazing Spring weather in San Francisco that just came out of the blue (no pun intended)! We're at a balmy 22 degrees celsius and I couldn't be more chuffed.
With that being said, let's feast our eyes on a perfect vacation home (or primary home, if you're lucky) by Jamie Bush, located in Malibu, California. Jamie Bush maintains a soothing, cool-toned neutral palette throughout the house, which continues out to the terrace as well. The blue of the ocean is the perfect counterbalance to the home's neutrality. It's hard to decide which is the star and which is the backdrop – the view or the home… or maybe we shouldn't have to decide at all. This is harmony between nature & manmade construction at its best.
Materials such as marble and stone are carefully selected to show off their natural beauty – such as in the marble kitchen island and this cylindrical side table. The marble's strong veining acts like artwork. The bare white walls facilitate the eye being drawn towards them as focal points.
Oftentimes, people default to thinking of dining tables in circular or rectangular forms and neglect to think of more organic shapes such as the one shown here. The irregular shape of the table lends a more casual feel and invites additional people to pull up a chair and join the conversation, as seating space is less defined. The natural wood paired with the large sliding glass doors invite the outside in in an effortless manner.
The slight angle of the sofa is just enclosing enough that the space feels intimate, yet not so severe that the living area feels closed off from the rest of the space. It also enables easy access to the terrace.
This entry bench is another fantastic example of a material being shown off in all its natural glory. It simply doesn't need any ornamentation to look complete (I'd remove that vase/vessel and let the bench stand alone). Sometimes less is more.
Texture is the name of the game in this bathroom – from the cerusing of the wooden vanity cabinet to the raw wood stool. There's something about rougher textures that work magic in coastal locations.
Are these stone sculptures or seating or both? Design is truly celebrated when form and function merge – especially when the pieces are ergonomic like these.
Discover more of Jamie Bush's work here.
It's finally Friday and you deserve a treat. A treat for the eyes – eye candy, if you will.
Leanne Ford strikes just the right balance between industrial-cool (through her use of concrete and metal) and natural warmth (through her use of warm, natural wood). Interior and exterior spaces can very easily look too cold once too many industrial elements are introduced; however, Leanne Ford always manages to create welcoming spaces full of warmth and character, which almost give off a soft glow with the help of some natural daylight.
The pictures below were not all taken from one residence but are in fact a collection of images that I feel best demonstrate the aforesaid balance/equilibrium she manages to achieve.
Click here for more Leanne Ford goodness.
I stumbled upon Yellow Brick Home about a month ago and have been hooked ever since. Kim and Scott are DIY experts – a husband and wife duo from Chicago who have turned their (almost 130-year-old) house into a beautiful home with their own bare hands. They also run The Pet Shop and The Print Shop.
Simple, all-American and timeless, their home is full of hidden treasures and fun little details, topped off with a generous sprinkling of love and adorable dogs for good measure.
(5) the amazing mosaic honeycomb tiles on the bathroom floor (which they also DIY'd themselves!).
If you enjoyed this post and/or enjoy DIY, I highly recommend checking out their Pinterest and Instagram for more!
This spunky, vivacious 1930s California bungalow belongs to clothing stylist and blogger Joan Schubert.
How fun is that flamingo painting? The splash of pink paired with a thin gold/brass frame adds just the right amount of glamour to this otherwise very white room. Pops of colour are incorporated through smaller decorative items such as the pink lamp, orange Celine handbag, and multicoloured books and vases.
Having a neutral backdrop is a clever and practical way of designing a space as it means that if you ever get bored and want to switch things up, the bones of the room can remain neutral while you dress up the space through adding and subtracting the smaller decorative items.
The owner didn't just stop at the walls and furniture – even the blinds are made of a colourful, bold print. There's a fine line between harmonious and unruly when it comes to colour and the owner manages to strike the right balance by keeping to a few key colours: orange, green, yellow and blue (and pink in some other rooms).
The colourway is maintained in the kitchen, from the pink upholstered chairs to the orange-toned wooden cabinets.
Possibly my favourite shot of this home – what a gorgeous vignette. This bedroom ticks the right boxes for me, from the graphic, geometric wallpaper, to the palm print pillows (which are a little ubiquitous these days) and potted palm leaves, to the simple headboard (the clean lines, natural linen and neutral colours of the headboard help to ground and balance out the bold colours and prints seen on the wallpaper, pillows and bedspread).
This bathroom is a perfect demonstration of how a colourful painting can completely elevate the feel of a room – without it, the bathroom would just be a standard, neutral bathroom (and a bit lifeless, to be completely honest); the unexpected splash of colour transforms the bathroom into a fun, vibrant and youthful space. It's a real mood-lifter.
Tribal, geometric and tropical – I don't know about you but this eclectic dining room evokes an adventurous energy and makes me look forward to my next holiday!
Design by Laura Neuman of Pepperjack Interiors. Photo credit to Michelle Drewes.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Studio Piet Boon is all about refined sophistication.
This urban residence in Amsterdam has a certain hotel-like sensibility, with its minimal lines and natural stone materials. Perhaps it's due to the lack of personal belongings in the shots but it's hard to imagine anyone actually living here long-term. The apartment feels more like a luxury vacation rental than anything else. Nonetheless, the architectural feel of the apartment is undeniably a treat for the eyes.
The all-white walls allow natural daylight to take centre stage without detracting from elegant architectural pieces such as the scaled-up kitchen island constructed out of large slabs of natural stone.
The crystal drop pendant light infuses a touch of femininity and glamour to the bright and minimal bedroom.
The levels of concrete leading up to the bathtub create a striking spa-like effect in the bathroom.
More Studio Piet Boon here.
Australian interior design is having a moment in my book (and on my blog, clearly). Griffiths Design Studio, led by Gillianne Griffiths, is based in Melbourne, Australia, and was founded with the philosophy that "simplicity, style and elegance is the signature of the most successful design ideas.".
This apartment in Toorak, Melbourne, evokes a deep sense of calm and serenity with its clean lines and simple monochrome palette.
Highlight: the charcoal coffered wall.
Highlight: the whimsical but structured light fixture.
Visual interest is created by mixing varying tones of grey within the same room.
Whoever said neutrals couldn't be cozy was very wrong. A chunky knitted throw does the trick.
Clean lines keep the space looking airy and fresh.
Check out more of their projects on their official website.
Do kitchens get any fresher than this? I think not. The kitchen equivalent of freshly washed, crisp linen sheets.
I'm about to share with you one of the freshest, brightest and most revitalising kitchens I've ever laid eyes on. Allow me to introduce you to Hecker Guthrie, an interior design studio based in Melbourne, Australia, led by Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie. The Australian design aesthetic is one that I often admire – free and easy, modern, youthful and always with a touch of that carefree Australian vibe.
What is your preferred kitchen style? Would you like to spend your lazy Sunday mornings in this Toorak Residence kitchen?


The Dual Layer Energex Support Foam Mattress Toppers from Lauren Ralph Lauren offer the perfect balance of comfort and support. A double layer of memory & support foam helps absorb heat to keep you cool while conforming to the curves of your body for continuous support all night long. Built-in odor-resisting technology also helps to keep toppers fresh.


DameWare Mini Remote Control is a centralized remote control applications for computers running a variety of operating systems. In short, Mini Remote Control allows you to view and control remote systems and chat with end-users in a single application.
It uses Microsoft Windows API calls to interact with the local and remote machines enabling on-the-fly deployment of the client agent service to remote machines, obviating the need to visit the remote machine to install the software. Giving an administrator the ability to remotely install the client agent service eliminates the need to physically visit the remote machine to install the software. This gives administrators the unique ability to remote control any machine on the LAN or WAN.
Remotely control the computer while sharing the desktop with the end-user.
Quickly connect to remote computers using a variety of connection options and privileges.
Support remote desktop sharing of Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux Systems.
Take screenshots and chat with the end-user to speed up the troubleshooting process.
375130 Per Technician Licence (1 User) + 1 Year Maintenance (ESD) (11500 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11500 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375131 Per Technician Licence (2 to 3 Users) + 1 Year Maintenance (Each) (ESD) (11501 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11501 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375132 Per Technician Licence (4 to 5 Users) + 1 Year Maintenance (Each) (ESD) (11502 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11502 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375133 Per Technician Licence (6 to 9 Users) + 1 Year Maintenance (Each) (ESD) (11503 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11503 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375134 Per Technician Licence (10 to 14 Users) + 1 Year Maintenance (Each) (ESD) (11504 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11504 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375135 Per Technician Licence (15+ Users) + 1 Year Maintenance (Each) (ESD) (11512 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11512 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). Service is provided for 1 year.
375136 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (1 User) + 1 Year Maintenance (ESD) (11534 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11534 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.
375137 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (2 to 3 Users) + 1 Year Maint (Each) (ESD) (11535 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11535 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.
375138 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (4 to 5 Users) + 1 Year Maint (Each) (ESD) (11536 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11536 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.
375139 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (6 to 9 Users) + 1 Year Maint (Each) (ESD) (11537 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11537 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.
375140 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (10 to 14 Users) + 1 Year Maint (Each) (ESD) (11538 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11538 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.
375141 Version Upgrade - Per Technician Licence (15+ Users) + 1 Year Maint (Each) (ESD) (11546 (UK)) Delivery within 5 days.
Publisher's code: 11546 (UK). Manufacturer does not accept returns on this item. Electronic Software Delivery: We manually process this order and then email you download instructions. There is no delivery charge for this item. Normally delivered within 5 working day(s). This is an Upgrade. Your existing Licence number for the product you are upgrading or crossgrading from is required on checkout - please enter it in Special Instructions. Service is provided for 1 year.


Take a Swing at Hunger!
Registration is $110 per person or $440 per team. Partial teams are welcome at signup, so if you are a single, double or triple, don't let that slow you down.
Every $110 registration is equivalent to paying for a month of meals for one of our neighbors in need.


This post discusses evaluating sector performance within individual equity portfolios. It is part of the Flow Analytics Fintech Series .
A sector-based approach to managing the equity portion of a portfolio requires classification of individual equities into a hierarchy of sector and industry groups. Sector and industry exposures are a critical driver of equity market return variability over time. Equity sectors have similar earnings drivers within each sector and industry group and high return dispersion along with low correlation across groups. While sector-based approaches to managing the equity portion of a portfolio have, for the most part, given way to use of style box strategies, this approach is still commonly applied to large allocations of individual equities.
In this post, I'll show how to build an analytical workflow that calculates the total, quarterly, and monthly returns of each sector group within an individual equity portfolio.
What is a data automation workflow?
Before building a workflow, we must first decide what workflow results we wish to create, so let's look at that topic next.
Figure 2 shows these results viewed within the Flow Analytics portal.
Next, let's look at the data we'll use to create these results.
To evaluate the sector performance of our equity portfolio, we'll combine three sets of data: a dataset containing historical account positions for the period under evaluation, daily security pricing data for the same period and, finally, a dataset containing sector classifications for the position data. For purposes of this example, these datasets are meant to be as realistic as possible without being too complicated. We could very easily incorporate other data sources and still achieve the same results.
A brief description of each required dataset follows.
To keep this example simple, I'll use one year of settled account positions and ignore accruals, and other transactions since accounting for this activity would complicate things a bit. There are only three required data points: a security identifier, i.e., ticker or CUSIP, a date, and the number of settled shares held in the portfolio. I've included several other commonly used data points.
To calculate market values, we need a dataset containing daily prices for each portfolio position during the performance evaluation period. The daily pricing data includes a pricing date, security identifiers, i.e., ticker and CUSIP, for and a closing price for each security.
Asset classification schemes vary significantly among wealth management firms so, to keep things flexible, we'll use a set of asset classification data which we will map to our positions. The asset classification data maps a ticker or CUSIP to an asset type, asset class, a sector group, and an industry group.
Finally, we are going to need a list of sector names. I will explain how these are used below.
Figure 6 shows the sector data.
This workflow starts with actions that load and combine the required datasets. It then uses a hypercube to group the positions by day and calculate daily total market values. A for each loop action is used to calculate the daily returns within each sector and, finally, another hypercube is used to compute the total, quarterly, and monthly sector returns.
Figure 7 displays the workflow actions viewed in the CloudConnect application along with working data results created when the workflow runs.
These workflow actions are straightforward, the first four actions load the required datasets, the next two actions join the asset classifications data and price data into the position history.
We need to calculate the daily market values for each sector grouping within the portfolio. To accomplish this, we build a hypercube with two dimensions: sector and date, then we perform a sum of the current position values within each hypercube group to get the total daily market values for each sector. Finally, we filter the hypercube to extract daily values.
Figure 8 displays the daily market values generated by actions 7 to 10.
We need to calculate the daily returns for each sector. To do this, we'll use a loop to extract each sector's daily market values into a temporary dataset called SectorDailyMarketValues then we'll calculate the daily returns within that dataset and pop the results out to a new dataset.
After actions 11 to 16 run, we have a dataset containing the daily market values and daily returns for each of our portfolio's sectors. To calculate the quarterly and monthly returns for each sector, we build a hypercube with dimensions sector, quarter, and month then apply a hypercube expression evaluation action to compute the returns.
Workflow action 19 is a hypercube-data-visualization result action. When this action runs, it builds a drill-down capable data visualization result from a specified hypercube and saves it to the Flow Analytics portal.
Figure 11 shows the data visualization result as viewed in the Flow analytics portal.
This post discussed how to build a data automation workflow to calculate the monthly, quarterly, and total returns within the equity sector groups of a portfolio. It briefly discussed data automation workflows, the importance of specifying workflow results, and data requirements. Finally, it provided a step-by-step overview of the Evaluate Equity Sector Performance workflow.


Placebo are f**king confusing. A hell of a lot's happened since 2006's brilliant Meds, a record which mixed their unique brand of punk-tinged alt-rock with a well-judged softer, poppier side. Their contract with Virgin expired and never got renewed, drummer Steve Hewitt left the band after 11 years due to 'creative and personal issues', and Brian Molko became so engrossed in the recording of Battle For The Sun that he totally forgot to cut his hair for a whole two years. Along with new drummer Steve Forrest and Stefan Olsdal, he also apparently forgot how good Meds was. Instead of taking the torch they lit in 2006 and using it to set the world on fire, their sixth studio album is largely a futile exercise in trying to re-invent the flame.
I hesitate to blame the band's newest member because it's evident that a number of the mis-fires on this album have nothing to do with the rhythm section, but it doesn't help matters that the first 2 and a half tracks here offer practically nothing in terms of enjoyment and very little in the way of originality, either. Alright, there are the handclaps on opener Kitty Litter, between which Molko shouts I need a change of skin, but really it's just a little quirk that people are meant to notice – it doesn't do anything to save the previous three minutes of mediocrity. Thankfully, by mid-way through the title-track and lead single, there's a bit of momentum in the euphoric, jangly refrain and the record picks up from there onwards.
I mentioned the handclaps on the opening track but the experimentation is far more conscious and underlined than that, and miles from the subtle sound-shifts of Meds. Like the casio at the start of Bright Lights which, although sounding nothing like Placebo, is hugely hooky and uplifting, accompanying a sing-along chorus – A heart that hurts / Is a heart that works – and one of Battle For The Sun's obvious standouts. The piano in closer Kings of Medicine is beautiful, and the atmospheric, aquatic tinkle which leads in Happy You're Gone gradually pulls you under its spell. If you've listened to second single For What It's Worth, though, you already know what's wrong with Battle; you just didn't notice because its music video was kind of intriguing and the rest of the song was also fairly epic. It's the f**king Tetris music. About two-thirds of the way through the fourth track, the music cuts out and there's just that irritating melody playing for about 3 seconds. Somehow, it doesn't induce hysteria, but it certainly is reflective of the rest of the record; the ridiculous 80s electronics sound that opens Julien, for example, which actually develops into a cutting and intense track, just sounds out of place. There are trumpets and saxophones just for the hell of it. It's always nice to see a band branching out, but some direction goes a long way, and there's none here whatsoever.
Ashtray Heart was the band's name for a little while back when they first formed in 1994, and the track by that name here is Placebo-by-numbers with an uninspired vocal melody and standard mid/high-tempo guitars. The chorus' gang vocals are a good move, but the song as a whole achieves very little except bringing Placebo's career full-circle in some strange-but-hopefully-not-symbolic manner. The history of the title also calls into question how long Molko's been writing the song, and why it makes sense to include it now, but that's just speculation. It's an accurate representation of the material on offer though, because Battle For The Sun really does sound like it dusts off a career's worth of shelved ideas on the off-chance the group can execute them well with the benefit of experience, and for at least half the time, that's not the case.
But for all the things that are wrong with Battle For The Sun, it's still endearing. Molko is on top form, matching his Meds performance lyrically and vocally and bringing the exclusive atmosphere he's renowned for to so many numbers. On the aforementioned Julien, he's venomous; on Happy You're Gone, he's reminiscent; on Kings of Medicine, he's fragile. There's apparently also a 'thematic unity' here, which the frontman describes as 'choosing to live', and it's fair to say there's a more optimistic feel to the riffs and melodies than there ever has been before. Add to these things the fact that Placebo definitely still know how to write a solid rock song and it's by no means a poor effort, just an odd one which feels in search of a single musical niche and yet still manages to blend together because of an uninspired rhythm performance in the first half of most songs.
That said, there are moments of class that hint Placebo still have something worth mining. These guys are capable of releasing a truly astounding pop-rock album even better than Meds, but this is nowhere close to being that leap forwards. For all its constant drive and captivating drama, Battle For The Sun too often sounds like a band trying to make a collection of songs more exciting by way of injecting arbitrary nuance instead of crafting any particular aesthetic. It's listenable and sometimes brilliant, but the simple facts are these: it's at least ten minutes too long, there are only three or four great songs here, and you'll find yourself playing Meds instead of this every single time.
review dedicated to derekchewie because it's not a 5.
Another Stikey review, and of course its great as always..
I don't like these guys, so probably want look into this.
They could have done something more interesting with the album cover.
Someone's been in a writing mood lately.
Seriously though good reiew man, you're pretty darn consistent these days. Not a huge placebo fan but some of Meds was good so I might check this out as it's streaming.
still listening to your girl Miley?
Oh, I am. You know I left that comment on your last.fm awhile ago for a reason. Mr. Achey Breakey Heart.
yes im a huge fan!
Whoa, whoa. I'm not saying that last.fm is any indication of your Cyrus listening abilities. It hasn't taken account of all the mixtapes you have in your car of her music.
Excellent review. I've got one written for this too but I wont post it yet. I gave it a low 3.5, its probably their weakest yet but I still like it.
Was looking forward to this, but I must say it was quite the let down. I have never really found any of their albums consistent right the way through.
I like the song "Battle for the Sun". The rest reflects Meds.
that's a really weird track to pick out. i mean, loads of people think it's horrible, and i'm not one of them, but i definitely wouldn't call it a stand-out. and i thought this was really disappointing after meds, obv. still not bad though.
Man this album was lame.
Don't even know why people like 'For What It's Worth' this much. It's not this great.


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