I have been Principal of West Island School HK for 10 years having been VP and Head of English prior to this.
The school has been IB accredited for around 9 years.
I was brought up in the UK and attended Rugby High school for girls before Sheffield University, Nottingham university and Oxford university; the latter for a Master in Education and a focus on Boys achievement. I have a deep interest in the Arts and the place of creativity in the curriculum and beyond.


In support of the action of the United Nations and in the framework of the implementation of the Skhirat Agreement, taking into account the initiatives of the international organizations working on Libya including the African Union, the European Union and the League of Arab States, and underlining the efforts made by Libya's friend countries and partners in recent months, particularly Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Tunisia and Italy.
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, wished to contribute to resolving the Libyan crisis by inviting to La Celle Saint-Cloud on 25 July 2017 the Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, Fayez Al Sarraj, and the commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar.
The solution to the Libya crisis can only be a political one and requires a national reconciliation process involving all Libyans, including the institutional, security and military actors who are prepared to participate peacefully, with the safe return of displaced persons and refugees and the creation of a transitional justice, reparation and national amnesty process as well as the implementation of Article 34 on security arrangements of the Libyan Political Agreement.
We commit to a ceasefire and to refrain from any use of armed force for any purpose that does not strictly constitute counter-terrorism, in compliance with the Libyan Political Agreement and international treaties, and in order to protect Libya's territory and sovereignty and we strongly condemn all that threatens the stability of the territory.
We are committed to building the rule of law in a sovereign, civilian and democratic Libya that ensures the separation and peaceful transfer of powers and respect for human rights, and that has unified national institutions, such as the Central Bank of Libya, the National Oil Corporation and the Libyan Investment Authority. It should guarantee the safety of citizens, the integrity of the territory and the sovereignty of the State and the proper management of natural and financial resources in the interest of all Libyans.
We are determined, supported by the impartial work of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, to make effective the Libyan Political Agreement of 17 December 2015 and to continue political dialogue building on the Abu Dhabi meeting of 3 May 2017.
We will make all efforts to support the consultations and work of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, which need to be the subject of inclusive political dialogue in which the House of Representatives and the High Council of State will play their full role.
We will continue our dialogue beyond La Celle Saint-Cloud meeting, pursuant to this declaration, and we commit to create conditions that are conducive to the work of the House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the High National Election Commission for the preparation of the upcoming elections.
We will make all efforts to integrate fighters who so wish into the regular forces and call for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of the others into civilian life. The Libyan army will be made up of lawful military forces ensuring the defence of the Libyan territory in compliance with Article 33 of the Libyan Political Agreement.
We have decided to work on establishing a roadmap for the security and defence of the Libyan territory against threats and trafficking of all types. We will work so that all security and military forces present adhere to this plan in the framework of the reunification of the military and security institutions in order to coordinate in the fight against terrorism, control migration flows through the Libyan territory, secure and control borders, and combat organized criminal networks that instrumentalize Libya and destabilize the Central Mediterranean.
We solemnly commit to work towards the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible as from 25 July in cooperation with the relevant institutions and with the support and under the supervision of the United Nations.


text:
Coming Up Roses by Rachael Lucas
Amazon USA Amazon UK
Daisy loves being outside and she doesn't regret her decision to retrain as a gardener at all. Unfortunately after a bad relationship she has nowhere to go, so when her parents leave their home to travel the world they allow her to stay in their villa. In exchange she'll take care of the garden. Steeple St John is a beautiful countryside village and Daisy loves being there. She doesn't know anyone yet when she arrives, but that soon changes when she meets Elaine and Jo. They soon become very good friends. Daisy also meets a friendly fellow gardener. Thomas is a pensioner who's worked on many gardens in the village. Daisy can learn a lot from him and Thomas shows her around. Soon the village starts to feel like home. Only village life isn't as quiet as Daisy thought it would be. Handsome men and issues with her parents are making her life pretty difficult...
Coming Up Roses is a wonderful, cozy book. I immediately loved Daisy. She's sweet and generous, a thoroughly good person. Sometimes she's also a little bit naïve, which leads to funny incidents. I love Rachael Lucas's subtle sense of humor. Because of Daisy's kindness the story is warm and comforting. Daisy likes to be outside and she spends a lot of her time with her hands in the earth. She doesn't think her appearance is elegant enough, but it comes with the job. Her friend Elaine is the exact opposite. Only being perfect doesn't automatically mean being happy. Elaine has everything, but she also carries a big secret. I couldn't wait to find out more about her. Then there's Jo who has a great daughter and a good job. She's down to earth and easy to talk to. She has her own problems though. There are some issues of her past that need to be resolved. Together the three friends can deal with a lot and that was amazing to witness.
Coming Up Roses has character. It's sweet and fun, but it also has a serious side. The story is well balanced. Steeple St John is a dream village to live in. It's a lovely romantic place and there are two gorgeous men who are in Daisy's thoughts. The question is if Daisy will find her mister right after all and I really liked the ending. For me the story worked so well because of what Daisy believes in. The people she loves and her passion for gardening are very important. She actively chases the things she wants in life. It's important to make your own dreams come true, which is a fantastic message. Coming Up Roses is a joy to read, it's a heartwarming story with a lot of character.
Labels: Suze's Reviews
SavingsInSeconds July 22, 2016 at 4:30 AM
I'm strongly influenced by book covers, and wouldn't have read this just from looking at it. However, after reading your thoughts, I'd probably like it. I love to garden and would enjoy that story line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


For many years, the addition of copper to horse's bits has been appreciated by experienced riders all over the world. Eldonian "MINOS" is a robust range of nickel-free bits with a copper content of nearly 90% . This added copper helps to create an extremely high level of acceptance by the horse to the bit. It encourages a greater degree of mouthing activity, relaxes the horse and at the same time, increases awareness and improves the contact between the rider's hands and the horse's mouth. Eldonian "MINOS" bits are an essential aid to successful teamwork between horse and rider.


text:
Pound euro exchange rate: GBP steadies as eurozone business sentiment weakens
micheal Buck	April 24, 2019 0
Pound euro exchange rate GBP studies as euro-zone business sentiment, the pound euro exchange rate is holding steady today and is trading around 1.15 three-year-olds at the time of writing. This follows the publication of Germany's ISO business climate figures for April, which fell below 4 299.2 with German business expectations and current assessment figures also disappointing the week. Eurozone data has caused a drag on Market confidence in The single currency today, with concerns continuing to rise about blocks economic health, the eurozone's consumer confidence as well as business confidence, has also fallen in April, causing analysts to forecast a gloomy outlook for the economy in 2019. Meanwhile, the pound has stayed lights against the Euro. Following comments from the Labour party leader, Jeremy corbyn, that Theresa May is being inflexible over her brexit deal and cross-party talks, Mr Corbin said, will continue putting our case, but quite honestly, there's got to be change in the government's approach. They cannot keep on just regurgitating. What has already been emphatic Lee rejected 3 times by Parliament? There'S got to be a change. Tori and peas. Meanwhile, are continuing to push for leadership insta, Theresa May. Further pressure has come in the form of former conservative MP and welcomes return to the political Fray, not as would be expected as a Tory member, but in support of Nigel Fajr has brexit party as a candidate for the European elections in Sweetgum. Sad, I want to reaffirm the supremacy of the will of the people with no consensus on brexit emerging from either major party. This is beginning to drag on Market confidence in Sterling, limiting some of it Games Against The single currency. Today, we'll see the publication of the UK's public sector net borrowing figures for March, although these are not expected to benefit the pound. The pound euro exchange rates will instead likely remains today, although with Mrs May's, diminishing approval ratings and increasing pressure from them, peace to resign. Brexit uncertainty May drag down the exchange rate again again.
THE pound euro exchange rate is holding steady today and is trading around €1.153 at the time of writing.
This follows the publication of Germany's IFO business climate figures for April, which fell below forecast to 99.2 – with German business expectations and current assessment figures also disappointing. The weak eurozone data has caused a drag on market confidence in the single currency today, with concerns continuing to rise about the bloc's economic health. The eurozone's consumer confidence, as well as business confidence, has also fallen in April, causing analysts to forecast a gloomy outlook for the economy in 2019. Meanwhile the pound has stabilised against the euro following comments from the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that Theresa May is being inflexible over her Brexit deal in cross-party talks.
Mr Corbyn said: "We'll continue putting our case but quite honestly there's got to be change in the government's approach."
"They cannot keep on just regurgitating what has already been emphatically rejected three times by Parliament, there's got to be a change."
Tory MPs, meanwhile, are continuing to push for a leadership challenge to Theresa May.
Further pressure has come in the form of former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe's return to the 'political fray' not – as would be expected – as a Tory member, but in support of Nigel Farage's Brexit party as a candidate for the European elections
Ms Widdecombe said: "[I want to re-affirm] the supremacy of the will of the people."
With no consensus on Brexit emerging from either major party, this is beginning to drag on market confidence in Sterling, limiting some of its gains against the single currency.
Today will see the publication of the UK's public sector net borrowing figures for March, although these are not expected to benefit the pound.
The pound euro exchange rate will instead likely remain steady today, although with Mrs May's diminishing approval ratings and increasing pressure from MPs to resign, Brexit uncertainty may drag down the exchange rate again.
NANand is trading around €1.153 at the time of writing., are continuing to push for a leadership challenge to Theresa May, figures for April, Further pressure has come in the form of former Conservative MP, meanwhile, Pound euro exchange rate: GBP steadies as eurozone business sentiment weakens, THE pound euro exchange rate is holding steady today, This follows the publication of Germany's IFO business climate, tory mps, which fell below forecast to 99.2, with German business expectations
Facebook while black: Users say they're censored from talking about racism online
Tiger Woods reveals how Brooks Koepka snubbed his request before The Open
Türkiye Artvin Murgul Damar Off-road 2019 yarışları
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 update: Time for Xbox One and PC Zombies Rising patch


"Where nature and healing embrace"
The charming spa hotel is located in the historic town centre of Sárvár, in the vicinity of the 200-year-old Sárvár Botanical Gardens, so when you're staying at our hotel you can also enjoy the unique atmosphere of one of the best loved towns in Western Hungary and the enchanting green surroundings.
It's also thanks to the excellent Sárvár thermal water and the wide range of wellness services on offer that the town has been admitted to the Association of the Royal Spas of Europe. At our Thermal Hotel you'll be easily charmed by the calm atmosphere of the thermal pools, the salt cave and the spacious sauna, but you should certainly also save some time for exploring the surrounding area, as the flora and fauna of the Royal Gardens and the renovated building of the Nádasdy Castle all ensure a unique and memorable experience.
Whether you choose a wellness weekend in Sárvár or a one-week juice detox programme, you'll love the views from our rooms over the surrounding greenery. Most of our rooms have a balcony, and there are also connecting and air-conditioned rooms available. Booking a hotel room with us is quick and easy, whether online or by phone.
Maximum relaxation, minimum prices! Eager for a short but meaningful break? Book a 2 or 3 night stays at Sárvár and pamper yourself at our spa and sauna while enjoying half-board meals all at a discounted price!
The wellness centre's indoor and outdoor pools are fed with water from our own thermal well. Refresh yourself not only in our Jacuzzis and saunas, but with walks among the centuries-old trees in the 9-hectare Sárvár Botanical Gardens.
The Nádor restaurant offers rich Hungarian and international cuisine, as well as a light wellness menu. In summer, the Átrium café is complemented by a garden bar so that you can also enjoy our selection of coffees and cocktails outdoors.
In addition to facilities like a laundry, gift shop and newsagents, the hotel offers a range of refreshing and health-preserving services. Guests can also play skittles, table tennis, badminton, basketball, outdoor chess and pétanque, and bicycle hire is available.
Close-to-nature relaxation, spiced with adventure.
Most visitors are attracted to the town by its famous spa, but when you're not splashing about it's nice to take a pleasant stroll among the exotic greenery of the arboretum. The town's most famous monument, Nádasdy Castle, is today its cultural centre. Choose from a range of concerts and programmes!
Good: Šikovný a rýchly personál na recepcii.


Jamie Alanzo Coleman, 32, 205 Santa Monica Drive, Houma, failure to appear, writ of habeas corpus.
Darryl Thomas Chauvin, 49, 221 Champion St., Gray, theft less than $300, theft of goods less than $100, entry after being forbidden, two counts contempt of court.
Earl Thomas, 35, 1300 Maple St., Houma, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Randy Paul LeBlanc, 26, 245 Cenac St., Houma, domestic-abuse battery with a 12-year-old present, domestic abuse battery.
Derek Anthony LeBeouf, 22, 718 Mire St., Houma, failure to appear.
Delvin Leo Bourg, 24, 515 Gouaux Ave., Houma, domestic-abuse battery, failure to appear.
Linda Kathy Williams, 28, 3008 Popular Circle, Houma, DWI, improper backing, hit-and-run.
Dennis Lee Mitchell, 50, 205 Southland Circle, Apt. A, Houma, DWI (first offense), speeding, inspection violation.
Alfonso Gomez Eugenio, 27, 1406 Acadian Drive, Apt. 26, Houma, DWI, careless operation, no driver�s license.
Amber Marie Defelice, 25, 121 Hill High Drive, Houma, possession schedule I controlled dangerous substance.
Brady John Barrett, 29, 119 Fallis Road, Lafayette, illegal use of weapon.
Shauntoine Jakarie Hamilton, 17, 310 Stovall St., Houma, obstructing public passages, resisting an officer, obstruction of justice, possession of schedule I drugs with intent to distribute, illegal proceeds from drug transactions, criminal trespassing.
Terry Joseph Guidry, 39, 115 West 218th St., Galliano, parole violation.
Garland Walter Williamson, 41, 137 West Park Ave., Thibodaux, contempt of court, failure to appear.
Carl Ray Miller, 38, 134 Dupre Drive, Houma, fourth-offense DWI, improper lane usage, no driver�s license.
Bradley James Bourg, 30, 307 Swan Ave. Houma, DWI, improper lane usage, improper display of license plate, second offense possession of marijuana, driving under suspension, open alcohol container in vehicle.
Corey Paul Malbrough, 20, 115 Chauvin St., Chauvin, aggravated obstruction of highway, driving under suspension.
Quentin Anthony Mouton, 17, 115 Myra St., Houma, aggravated obstruction of highway.


text:
British war veterans travel to Crimea to visit Black Sea naval port
Igor Rozin
Arctic Convoy sailors in Crimea. Source: Victory day London Foundation
Arctic Convoy sailors pay homage to wartime allies.
Three British Arctic Convoy veterans who visited Russia this month - including a trip to naval bases in Crimea - have been hailed as heroes twice over after they defied "intimidating and misleading guidance" from the British foreign office concerning their trip.
Ernest Davies and Seymour Taylor from London and William Bannerman of Glasgow were part of a delegation of six veterans invited to visit Russia by Eugene Kasevin, a UK-based Russian who runs Victory Day London, a project dedicated to commemorating the heroism and sacrifice of sailors who took part in the wartime convoys.
Kasevin came up with the idea of inviting British veterans to visit Sevastopol's naval base - founded and built by Russian Admiral Ushakov during 70th anniversary Victory Day celebrations in St Petersburg in May this year. The idea for the Crimea trip was prompted by the name of Russia's highest naval award - the Ushakov Medal - with which surviving convoy veterans were recently decorated.
Crimean-born Kasevin said that a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) statement that advises "against all travel to Crimea" was "intimidating and misleading" and could have derailed the group's travel plans.
The FCO advises "British national in Crimea" to "leave now", adding that it "is not able to provide consular services to anyone choosing to remain in Crimea."
"To postpone such a historic trip due to current political quarrels would have risked the veterans missing out on this historic chance for them to complete the circle of remembrance of the fallen during the most tragic war of all times," Kasevin told RBTH.
In the event the trip went ahead smoothly, he said.
The veterans arrived in Moscow October 4 where they were greeted with visits to the Kremlin Palace, the History Museum and the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
The next day, arriving in Simferopol, the British delegation was joined by their long-standing friends from St. Petersburg, members of the Polar Convoy Club, together with the former Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Komoedov. There were also meetings with local veterans, officials and a chance to sample Crimean Tatar cuisine.
On October 6, the group moved to Sevastopol where, during a three day stay, the veterans visited all the main historic monuments, including ancient remains and memorials to the Crimean War of the mid 19th century and the Second World War. Russian veterans of the Arctic Convoys living in Sevastopol also met their British comrades at a reception hosted by the Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyailo, where they enjoyed sharing in lusty renditions of wartime songs.
The group also visited Yalta to see the Vorontsov Palace where Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill stayed in February 1945 during the Yalta Conference, and the conference venue the Livadia Palace.
The group of veterans returned to the UK October 13.
British veterans present Arctic Star medal to WWII museum in Moscow
Russians pay tribute to the 'Iron Lady'
wwii Crimea Russia-UK relations arctic convoy Society WWII Russia-UK relations


I didn't know much about Enslaved before today, but everything I saw of this action partner game impressed me.
Enslaved is set 150 years after most of the humans were destroyed by robots, and the main characters run through a ruined New York City. But before you judge, this post-apocalyptic city isn't brown and grey. It's green and lush as foliage has overgrown the skyscrapers and overpasses of one of the most iconic cities in the world.
The creative team behind Enslaved is impressive. It's developed by Ninja Theory in Cambridge (Heavenly Sword) and the main character, Monkey, is voiced by Andy Serkis, who you might recognize as everyone's favorite One Ring junkie, Gollum. Serkis is also directing the full motion capture, and contributing to the game's script that is primarily written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach). If those credits don't excite you, then I don't know what will.
I was drawn in by the story of Enslaved, which is loosely based on the ancient Chinese story, Journey to the West. Trip, an attractive female, and Monkey are both slaves who had been captured by the robots. Through the technical expertise of Trip, the two are able to escape the slave ship as it crashed in New York, with Monkey doing much of the heavy combat lifting. Monkey goes to sleep, and when he awakes, he has a sort of metal collar on his head. Trip tells him that he must help her get back home, or the headband that she installed will kill him. If he moves away from her or tries to escape, the headband will give him intense pain until he dies.
Monkey is understandably pissed by his enslavement, and the relationship is strained from the onset. You play primarily as Monkey, whose name aptly describes his agility, but Trip is also marginally under your control. You can tell her to run, or to create a distraction as you try to sneak past sentries. Throughout the jungle-fied city streets of New York, old mechs are called to life by your presence and still following orders to eradicate all humans. Trip doesn't beat up these robots like Monkey does, but she can appropriate their tech (see the headband Monkey's now wearing) to serve the pair's purpose of travelling west.
Like most games I play, I was drawn in by the little details. Trip is in awe of the ancient skyscrapers around and says things like, "There must have been hundreds of humans living here." There were a few more than that, honey. Also, there is old graffiti on the walls that says things like, "If you're alive, go to Grand Central," which suggests that there was some kind of organized human resistance. I also got a kick out seeing a building address that read, "XX90 Avenue of the Americas." I used to work right near Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, which is at 1250 Avenue of the Americas; I got a kick out of realizing that Monkey and Trip were walking on the same street corners where I used to grab a burrito for lunch.
Other than that, playing the game felt like your standard action adventure game. Quick attack with X, hard attack with the Y. Press A to jump. Nothing groundbreaking beyond the mech abilities that Trip unlocks through hacking robot technology. But I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere and storytelling that I witnessed from the short time I played with the game.
I'm looking forward to picking up Enslaved when it hits stores this October for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.


Backup quarterback Jason Whieldon for 359 yards and three TDs.
A 10-6 game turns into a rout as USC goes on a 42-0 run.
Six turnovers, poor special teams, 12 penalties erase a 14-7 Warrior lead.
Warriors roar to 24-0 lead, give up 21 in a row, but pull away in fourth quarter.
After building a 16-3 second- quarter lead, the Warriors aren't heard from again.
In its most complete game of season, UH rolls behind Tim Chang's 5 TD passes.
Tim Chang passes for 534 yards, helping Warriors break through on road.
Justin Ayat kicks four field goals and Tim Chang passes for 426 yards.
Game ends — officials were later suspended — with Spartans at UH's 1.
In a game it needs to win, UH falls flat, producing a season-worst 358 yards.
Warriors clinch berth to the Hawai'i Bowl against a team that would go 0-13.
In an inspiring win, UH rallies behind Jason Whieldon, who replaces Tim Chang.
Playing without its top rusher and receiver, Boise State answers every UH challenge.
Of 1,205 who voted in an August survey asking to predict the number of UH regular-season victories, 322 (27 percent) picked UH to win 11 games in 2003. Ten wins (22 percent) followed.


The Cadet learnt these answers by rote. On the day of inspection, he was asked to come to the interview room. The inspecting officer asked him, "How long have you been here?" The cadet just remembering the sequence of the questions said, "22 years" The officer was rather surprised. Then he asked, "What is your age?" The cadet said, "Two years." "What nonsense is this? Are you mad or am I mad," roared the officer. The cadet calmly answered, "Both," as he could only remember just that word because he had by then got scared. It is dangerous to remember things by rote. Students must understand, and then get by heart whatever they desire to memorise to get a firm grasp of what they learn.


In a busy and hectic life we look for every possible opportunity to break free from it even if it is for a short period of time. Road trips are a great way to do so. It may be a recreational break or a long travel for work purposes but you cannot take away the fun and de-stressing element associated with a long road trip. However it takes a lot of pre planning and preparations for a road trip to be without any hindrances. While most people are unaware of these, in this article we decided to shed some light on these, particularly on the things and upgrades you need before a road trip.
It is no secret that for proper functioning of the engine it must be well lubricated. This allows all the pistons and machinery inside to move properly. While it is advised to check the engine oil levels after about 5000 miles, it is advisable to check this well in advance before a road trip. The last thing you want is a malfunctioning engine.
Radiator fluids: Your car would be running very long distances and there is a good chance that your engine will heat up in the process. The radiator has some cooling fluids which you need to replenish from time to time. This will ensure a trouble free long journey where your car engine will not overheat.
Brake and power steering fluids: These are things you must look into before hitting the road. These fluids are essential for the proper functioning and you need to check for any irregularity or contamination in these. Out on the highway your car has to be top notch and you cannot afford a compromise on the controls.
Tire pressure: Mileage is always on your mind before a road trip. For that the tire pressure you maintain is crucial. So make sure that the tire pressure is not lesser than normal as that would lead to underperformance and low mileage. At the same time over inflating them will lead to poor ride quality. Among the many must haves we strongly suggest getting your tire pressure checked and adjusted after every 1000 kilometers.
These are essential components in your car and like most other parts they too need to be changed. So make sure that after about 12000 km you change them so that the engine and also the interiors of the car are protected from all the bugs and dirt on the roads. Before a road trip you can change it to be tension free because not many road trips are going to exceed 12000km.
Strong lights and fog light: Highways are not always as well lit as your city. Apart from that the speed and signals you make to other riders must be clearly visible. To solve this problem get strong lights for your car. Fog lights too are a must because you might be driving in heavy fog with very poor visibility. At high speeds this is not something you should miss out on.
Tighten the seat belts and other interior components. Like we said already, for a long ride the ride quality cannot be compromised and these are going to ensure that things such as safety are paid adequate attention. While you are at it also check the status of your airbags.
Luka LK 9700 Duo Dashcam: This is one of the must haves before you set out for a road trip. The dashcam ensures a continuous footage capture during your ride from both the front and back of the car. This is of great help if you are faced with an accident and you are claiming insurance. For a $330, this is the equipment you should not miss out on.
Scosche Magic Mount XL: You will need to see you phone while on the drive. It can be for directions or for some information but it has to be right there in front. This Magic Mount is one of the best devices you can get your hands on and it has a stronger suction power than many others to hold the smartphone and tablets in place.
Nyrius Songo portable: Long drives often tend to get boring so before you set out on one make sure that the entertainment arrangements are on point. Get this Bluetooth music device for an uninterrupted music system during your long ride.
These things are among the must haves before a road trip and we strongly recommend that you pay attention to such details for a safe and trouble free road trip. Hitting the road can be fun but you do not want to be caught up with a car problem in the middle of nowhere and these tips will ensure that it will not happen.
← Is Tesla's enhanced autopilot feature really worth it?


A man who crashed a car at a convenience store ended up being arrested on multiple charges after he tangled with lawmen.
FORT WALTON BEACH � A man who crashed a car at a convenience store ended up being arrested on multiple charges after he tangled with lawmen.
The saga began April 28 at the Dodges Store at the corner of Eglin Parkway and Hollywood Boulevard. An employee called Fort Walton Beach Police to report a man had driven into the parking lot and over a curb, and that he was possibly drunk.
When officers arrived they found the car, a white Mercury, disabled in the parking lot and leaking coolant. They went inside, retrieved the driver, and escorted him outside. He was identified as 23-year-old Joseph Maurice Cruz of Niceville.
When officers told him he was seen driving the car, he became angry and started yelling cusswords at them, the arresting officer wrote in his report. Cruz refused to calm down and continued to yell and point his finger at the officer.
The officer spun him around and pushed him onto the hood of the car. Cruz allegedly resisted and had to be taken to the ground by both officers. After they put him in a cruiser, Cruz is said to have kicked the car windows. His reward was a Tasing.
Then they called the car owner, who came to the scene. She said Cruz took the car without her permission. Thus, he was charged with grand theft auto.
He�d also eaten a bag of chips in the store without paying for them, resulting in a retail theft charge. The chips were valued at $3.49.
If all that weren�t enough, officers found a bag containing marijuana residue and a pipe in Cruz�s pocket. He was charged with possession of paraphernalia.
They added a resisting arrest without violence charge.
Cruz�s court date is June 11.


SPOT your mobile enterprise opportunities and learn how to optimize your business.
You most likely heard it before, the possibilities of mobile solutions are endless! Does this mean it's applicable to your industry and company too?
Thanks to the introduction of mobile, the window of opportunities for optimizing your business has become huge. But how to get started?
We'd like to invite you to spend 2 hours with us and your opportunities.
Word goes… you will not regret it!
You will get a solid understanding of the impact Enterprise Mobile Development (EMD) has on your sector. After our meeting, we present you with a report that benchmarks you towards the EMD adoption-maturity of your sector.
Sector insights are crucial to make mobile solutions succeed. We offer you a use case based, real life example of a successful EMD deployment in your sector. All lessons learned and further insights are included.
During a facilitated brainstorming session, we project EMD on (one of) your business processes. Not only the result, but the entire process of getting there is crucial knowledge for your enterprise.


early retirement buyout...what is the latest rumor?
Discussion in 'The Archives' started by whispers4me, Nov 28, 2002.
9/02 rumor went by the wayside. 2/03 a possibility?
I don't think an ERO is in the works. There are many retirements already scheduled over the next two years. District and region consolidations may result in some kind of severance being offered to those directly affected. Other than that, UPS needs all the good help we can get. There may be some limited 'dead wood' in some areas, but that tends to stay put when an ERO occurs becuase they are already 'retired.' Increasing the retirement age to 57 or more is a distinct possibility, just based on actuarials.
In 1995 we saw a lot of good management leave. I would bet that UPS learned a lesson from that early retirement.
I really don't see that happening at all. UPS is probably going to face a labour, including management, shortage soon from retiring baby boomers. I am looking forward to it because you all are greedy stinky farts who don't do a very good job and I want your job.
You know Johnny B that's a pretty bold claim to assume that you have smellier farts than the rest of us!
Rumormongers!!!I also heard of an early retirement scenario in California. It started with raising the retirement age from 55 to 57 so the offer would only go to people who are currently> 51 years old-----I am assuming that there would be another side to it like 20 years of service ore something-----but in Sept I heard that it was going to be a Golden 80 buyout.
Should I assume that it is going to be availible to people 51 or over with 29+ years??? I would think that there would be very few that would meet this criteria.........???
Rumors from the land of fruits and nuts!!
I have not heard anything for awhile--but than right after peak I started hearing it again!
I heard that UPS has had hired an investment company to look at a couple of retirement options and is deciding on which one to offer in the near future.Is there a plan to reduce the number of management people---and once they leave they will not be replaced----or if they are it will be by someone who is paid a lot less!!!
I would rather hear about what strategy UPS has to attact and retain the best minds in the Transportation and Logistics area. That said, UPS, like any other organization, should be looking at ways to lower the management/hourly ratio, increase the productivity of specialists (esp corporate and IT), and provide some much needed upward career mobility for high performers.
Surely some one out there has some reliable info on this retirement rumor! I want out!!!!!!!!
The retirement age has been changed to 92. Or you can get out at a combination age/years of service of 101. Feel better now? Good.
The only thing I hear about early retirement for management is that it ain't gonna happen!
UPS is already in the management reduction mode. They are not replacing sups/mgrs that are leaving in some cases.
You kill me man! If we ever meet, we're going drinking and I'm buying!
Yep, I mean some HEAVY drinking!
Jim Casey wanted to retire early but his mother said he had to stay until he got it right!
This has nothing to do with early retirement posting, but this is what the "Seniorist" driver in our center told me.
You know it's time to retire when 30 somethings come up and say, " I remember you delivered to our house when I was 6 years old."
When this guy retires, it will be like the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus". We'll have to rent a gym and have a big send off party.
I have learned much from this "senior" driver. If anyone here is a "young" driver, talk to the "senior" drivers. They have alot of information.
New year with moves in mgt to inspire attrition. No news on retirement pkgs...yet. I guess this doesn't affect the hourly ranks.
You can buy the 1st one. I'll buy the 2nd one and maybe we can get vipergirl to buy the next one. Happy New Year!
I think the enonomy is going into a mild recovery, and companies will spend $$$ on improving supply chains. UPS is in best position to profit and will need all hands to make it go. No ERO, but lots of new fun.
On a private note, One of our delivery sups underwent emergency open heart last week and had a quadruple done. He was in such bad shape that they really wanted to wait, but then got very critical, so they had to go with it. Names Gary (dont know if it is proper to post real last names so...) just turned 50. If you all would be so kind as to remember him in your prayers.
I first had him as a loader. Then nurtured him as a driver for 18 months or so. And lastly worked for/with him as driver sup for about 6 years. IMHO Gary is the best of the best.


text:
Synopsys upgrades signal integrity analysis suite
Posted: 29 Jan 2008 ?? ? Print Version ?
Keywords:PrimeTime suite? static timing? signal integrity analysis?
Synopsys Inc. has announced that the 2007.12 release of its PrimeTime suite has set a new performance standard for both static timing and signal integrity analysis, accelerating turnaround time and design closure for today's nanometer designs.
Broad improvements in design data reading and linking, intelligent disk caching, incremental timing updates and fine tuning of algorithms have resulted in an average 2x runtime improvement and 33 percent memory reduction over the 2006.12 release while maintaining golden signoff accuracy. These out-of-the-box performance improvements have been confirmed on a variety of designs ranging in size from 1 million to 40 million instances from customers such as Advanced Micro Devices, RMI Corp. and several other semiconductor companies.
"As a leading provider of complex SoCs for digital consumer, wireless, networking and security markets, RMI must adhere to very aggressive design schedules to meet our market windows," said Ramon Macias, director of physical design at RMI. "Using the 2007.12 release, the runtime for the PrimeTime SI tool dropped from 3hrs to 1hr. More importantly, the time taken to load the design netlist and parasitics was reduced from 1hr to 5mins, allowing us to use the PrimeTime application interactively rather than reverting to a save session. This productivity boost enables us to analyze multiple engineering changes in the length of time previously required for a single iteration."
"Synopsys continues to provide industry leadership by setting a new standard for performance and capacity in our gold-standard PrimeTime signoff solution," said Robert Hoogenstryd, director of marketing for design analysis and signoff at Synopsys. "These latest enhancements build on the PrimeTime suite's ability to deliver the advanced static timing and signal integrity analysis that is essential to all design flows, while helping today's designers keep pace with Moore's law."
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Firenze Card is an initiative promoted by the Comune di Firenze (Municipality of Florence) and other istitutional bodies. It grants admission to many museums, villas and gardens in the city of Florence.
The Firenze Card lasts 72 hours and costs 72 euros.
Firenzecard includes in its price the ticket for entrance, the ticket for exhibition and the reservation for all the museums of the Firenzecard Circuit, a Firenzecard customized ticket valid for three days on the city public transportation (Ataf, Linea and tram), the Firenze Free Wifi service by City of Florence, the free downloadable Firenzecard app for Android and iOS. With Firenzecard you have the priority access in all the museums of the Circuit.
For the complete details, visit Firenze Card official site.
The following video presentation shows all the benefits of the card. Please notice that the card's price has changed since the video was made and more benefits are included now, for example a three days ATAF bus transport service is included.
This page was last updated on Sunday 15 February 2015.


Abstract: We investigate the behaviour of incidence relations between points and geometric shapes (i.e., geometric set systems). Using recent advances on 'shallow packings', we develop the theory of Mnets. Those are a combinatorial analogue of Macbeath regions in convex geometry. We obtain asymptotically tight bounds on the size of Mnets for common shapes. Our results on Mnets imply all classical bounds on epsilon-nets, a staple of computational geometry.
Abstract: My talk is is going to be focused on semi-supervised training of structured-output neural networks. The problem is of broad interest, because training deep neural networks requires large amounts of annotated data, and producing structured annotations is costly. On the other hand, unannotated input data is often cheap to acquire. I will show that this unannotated data can be used for training structured-output models in a semi-supervised scenario. The idea is inspired by the Generative Adversarial Networks, and consists in generating an error signal for the unlabelled data by means of a discriminator neural network. To be source of a useful error signal, the discriminator needs to capture quality of the structured output. This can be achieved by training the discriminator to differentiate between structured outputs obtained for the labelled training data (qualitatively better) and the outputs obtained for unlabelled data, not used for training (qualitatively worse). Initial experiments suggest that this approach may lead to decreasing the volume of labels required to attain a given precision by a significant factor.
Résumé : La théorie de l'homologie formalise la notion de trou dans un espace. Pour un sous-ensemble de l'espace Euclidien, on définit une séquence de groupes d'homologie, dont leurs rangs sont interprétés comme le nombre de trous de chaque dimension. Ainsi, b0, le rang du groupe d'homologie de dimension zéro, est le nombre de composantes connexes, b1 est le nombre de tunnels ou anses et b2 est le nombre de cavités. Ces groupes sont calculables quand l'espace est décrit d'une façon combinatoire, comme c'est le cas pour les complexes simpliciaux ou cubiques. À partir d'un objet discret (un ensemble de pixels, voxels ou leur analogue en dimension supérieure) nous pouvons construire un complexe cubique et donc calculer ses groupes d'homologie.
Je vais présenter trois approches relatives au calcul de l'homologie sur des objets discrets. En premier lieu, j'introduirai le champ de vecteurs discret homologique, une structure combinatoire généralisant les champs de vecteurs gradients discrets, qui permet de calculer les groupes d'homologie. Cette notion permet de voir la relation entre plusieurs méthodes existantes pour le calcul de l'homologie et révèle également des notions subtiles associés. Je présenterai ensuite un algorithme linéaire pour calculer les nombres de Betti dans un complexe cubique 3D, ce qui peut être utilisé pour les volumes binaires. Enfin, je vais présenter deux mesures (l'épaisseur et la largeur) associées aux trous d'un objet discret, ce qui permet d'obtenir une signature topologique et géométrique plus intéressante que les simples nombres de Betti. Cette approche fournit aussi quelques heuristiques permettant de localiser les trous, d'obtenir des générateurs d'homologie ou de cohomologie minimaux, d'ouvrir et de fermer les trous.
Résumé : Nous proposons une méthode basée sur un espace dual pour reconnaître des courbes polynomiales implicites C(x,y): x^i y^j - B x^k y^l - A = 0 dans des images digitales. Utiliser la pre-image classique (définie dans le cadre de la reconnaissance de droite discrète) amène à intersecter des polygones non-convexes. Pour éviter cela, nous proposons un second espace dual dans lequel nous obtenons des polygones convexes. Nous utilisons ensuite des algorithmes de calcule de ligne transversales et de la programmation linéaire pour résoudre le problème de la reconnaissance.
Le principal avantage de ce travail est que nous transformons le problème de trouver les paramètres A et B de la courbe C(x,y) dont la discrétisation contient l'ensemble de pixel donné en un problème linéaire de calcul de droite transversale à des polygones convexes.
Le modèle discret que nous considérons est le modèle 1-Flake (similaire au modèle Naïf dans la plupart des cas).
Abstract: This presentation deals with the problem of fitting a discrete polynomial curve to 2D data in the presence of outliers. We use a discrete polynomial curve model achieving connectivity in the discrete space. We formulate the fitting as the problem to find parameters of this model maximizing the number of inliers i.e., data points contained in the discrete polynomial curve. We propose a method guaranteeing inclusion-wise maximality of its obtained inlier set.
Abstract:High frequency and continuous electrical stimulation of deep brain structures (DBS) has been demonstrated as an efficient minimally invasive surgical treatment for motor related diseases and recently for severe neuropsychological diseases. The quality of the clinical improvement, as well as the occurrence of motor, neuropsychological or psychiatric side effects strongly depend on the location of the electrodes. However, even though DBS provides excellent clinical results, there is no consensus in the neurosurgical community about the optimal location of the area to be stimulated as well as corresponding electrical parameters. It is also expected that this is different among patients. The choice of the best target is usually based on a combination of patient specific and generic anatomical, functional and clinical information and knowledge. Patient specific data and information are based on multimodal medical images, clinical and electrophysiological data, whereas most of the generic information and knowledge are implicit. To make it explicit, some groups suggested digital atlases; some atlases were computed from population analysis.
In this talk, I will introduce the surgical data science approach we studied, implemented and validated in the context of Deep Brain Stimulation. The main characteristics of our approach include: 1) computation of pre, intra and post-operative patient-specific models from multimodal medical images, clinical and electrophysiological data, 2) analysis of patient population for outlining common patterns and outcome, and 3) computation of generic models from population analysis to help pre, intra and post operative decisions and actions. It aims both at assisting surgical planning, performance and post operative programming and evaluation, as well as better understanding neurological phenomenon for knowledge discovery. Our approach is based on numeric and symbolic surgical data analysis. The clinical motivation is to improve targeting and post operative evaluation for better outcome and reduced side effects.
Abstract: We discuss a paradigm of ant-robotics, based on ideas from ant-colony behavior. Lots of identical agents in interaction can achieve amazing feats due to carefully programmed rules of local interaction. We shall present some of the mathematical methods for analysis of such multi-agent systems.
Abstract: Multimodal registration is a challenging problem in medical imaging due the high variability of tissue appearance under different imaging modalities. The crucial component here is the choice of the right similarity measure. We make a step towards a general learning-based solution that can be adapted to specific situations and present a metric based on a convolutional neural network. Our network can be trained from scratch even from a few aligned image pairs. The metric is validated on intersubject deformable registration on a dataset different from the one used for training, demonstrating good generalization. In this task, we outperform mutual information by a significant margin.
Abstract: We present empty guiding catheter segmentation, a preliminary result in the development of a complete framework of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) procedure modelling (analysis of image stream in term of clinical activities). In number of clinical situations, the guiding catheter, a commonly visible landmark is empty and appears as a low contrasted structure with two parallel and partially disconnected edges. To segment it, we work on the level-set (non-linear) scale-space of image, the min tree, to extract curve blobs. We then propose a novel structural scale-space, a hierarchy built on these curve blobs. The deep connected component, i.e. the cluster of curve blobs on this hierarchy, that maximizes the likelihood to be an empty catheter is retained as final segmentation. We develop a novel structural scale-space to segment out a structured object, the empty catheter in challenging imaging situations where the information content is very sparse.
Abstract: Geometric algebras can be understood as a set of very intuitive tools to represent, construct and manipulate geometric objects. There already exists some methods to represent and compute geometric algebra elements but none of them can handle efficiently high dimensional spaces. During this talk, I will present a method based on binary trees and table to efficiently compute Geometric algebra. The key feature of our approach is to optimize the complexity of the products. In order to achieve this, we exploit the particular structure of geometric algebra products. The resulting implementations are usable for any dimensions, including high dimensions. The tests show that our implementation is faster for high dimensional spaces and at least as fast as for low dimensional spaces.
Abstract: Distributed modeling, which formulates the problem of interest via a sum of energy terms each involving a small subset of variables, is one main methodology for addressing visual perception problems. We have been investigating such a methodology, particularly in the contexts of joint modeling for complementary tasks, 3D shape matching and inference, and developed distributed models for several important 2D, 2.5D, 3D, 2D-3D visual perception problems, including object detection, segmentation, tracking, 3D shape matching, 3D scene/surface inference and illumination estimation, etc. Recently, following the success of deep modeling in related research fields, we have been exploring the deep-learning-based techniques within the distributed modeling methodology for addressing challenging problems like occlusion boundary detection. In this talk, I will present the related research via several representative works.
Abstract: A light source p in the d-dimensional real space illuminates a boundary point b of a convex body K, if the ray emanating from b in the direction pb intersects the interior of K. As is easy to see, the minimum number of light sources needed so that each boundary point is illuminated is the same as the minimum number of translates of the interior of K that cover K.
A famous open problem in discrete geometry is the Boltjanskii-Hadwiger conjecture, according to which, for every convex body, this number is at most 2d. In this introductory talk, we will discuss different approaches to the problem, and its relationship with other questions.
Abstract: During the past two decades, much of the research in image analysis was devoted to image registration, producing a large number of free software solutions. Most applications, mainly in the biomedical domain, require deformable image registration, in which a nonlinear dense transformation is sought (as opposed to a linear or global one) due to the fact that almost all anatomical parts, or organs of the human body are deformable structures. In this talk, a joint deformable registration and diffusion modeling approach will be presented, which aims to improve estimation of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Over the last years, ADC computed from DW-MRI has become an important imaging biomarker for evaluating and managing patients with neoplastic or cerebrovascular disease. Standard methods for the calculation of ADC ignore the presence of noise and motion between successive (in time) DW-MR images acquired by changing the (operator-selected) b-value parameter. In order to accurately quantify the diffusion process during image acquisition, a registration method is introduced that is based on a high-order Markov Random Fields (MRF) formulation. In this formulation, inference is expressed as a (undirected) graph optimization problem acting on a predefined graph structure associated with a discrete number of variables.
Résumé : Depuis plusieurs années, le nombre d'images stockées dans les bases d'images augmente rapidement. Il est aujourd'hui impossible d'effectuer une indexation manuelle de ces images et cela limite fortement l'exploitation de ces bases. Pour indexer et rendre accessible facilement les images, des méthodes d'indexation automatique et d'aide à l'indexation par le contenu se sont développées depuis plusieurs années.
Dans ce séminaire nous nous intéressons aux représentations vectorielles d'image basées sur l'agrégation de descripteurs locaux (HOG, SIFT, SURF, ...) et la réduction de dimension de ces signatures d'images.
La première partie de ce séminaire est consacrée aux signatures d'images et plus particulièrement à la signature VLAT (Vectors of Locally Aggregated Tensors) et ces améliorations permettent de la rendre plus discriminante tout en réduisant sa dimension.
La deuxième partie de ce séminaire est consacrée aux méthodes de réduction de dimension par projection linéaire et plus particulièrement à une méthode non supervisée basée sur la conservation du produit scalaire ainsi qu'une amélioration de cette méthode pour obtenir des projecteurs creux à faible cout.
Les performances de ces signatures sont évaluées en classification (VOC 2007 dataset) et en recherche par similarité (Holidays dataset).
Abstract: Many of the most successful vision algorithms are based on clever heuristics. We study two algorithms and show that, under certain statistical models, they correspond to common statistical decisions. The first is the local variation (LV) algorithm (LV) (Efficient graph-based image segmentation, by Felzenszwalb and Huttenlocher). We show that algorithms similar to LV can be devised by applying different statistical models and decisions, some of which are based on statistics of natural images and on a hypothesis testing decision. We we denote these algorithms probabilistic local variation (pLV). The best pLV algorithm, which relies on censored estimation, yields state-of-the-art results while preserving the computational complexity of the LV algorithm. We then turn to the SIFT matching algorithm (Object recognition from local scale-invariant features, by Lowe). Here we study the ratio criterion and show that this criterion could be a result of using various statistical decisions and, in particular, could correspond to minimizing the conditional probability of a false match. In both cases, the analysis provides further theoretical justification and well-founded explanations for the unexpected high performance of these two algorithms. It also provides statistically based versions of these algorithms that are at least as good as, and sometimes better than, the originals.
Joint work with Michael Baltaxe, Peter Meer, Avi Kaplan, and Tammy Avraham.


History: Founded in 1895, St. Francis has been educating students spiritually & academically for over 120 years.
Grades: TK (Transitional Kindergarten) through 8th grade.
Tuition: 2019-2020 School Year - $6035 3% Discount for Early Payment in Full Discount for siblings.
Financial Aid: Available to registered students based on demonstrated financial need. Financial Aid amounts are subject to funds available.
Accreditation: Dually accredited in 2016 for a full 6 year term from the Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC) & Western Catholic Educational Association (WCEA).
Standardized Testing: Renaissance Learning – STAR Testing every 9 weeks ACT Aspire Grades 3 – 8 Summative Standards Exam administered in April Students in all grades consistently score well above the national & diocesan averages.


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My Year in Lists
My Year in Lists chronicles one blogger's quest to understand why music matters to us and what makes it a lasting aspect of our existence. To facilitate this examination, three music fans have contributed a list of 52 essential albums. Each week this year, one album off of each list will be analyzed in an attempt to understand why some music sticks with us and what it means for our lives.
"Part of her appeal is how she can make hard-to-interpret lyrics so emotionally gripping."-Ned Raggett of Allmusic, on ELizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins
"I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies, I have to admit it."-Kurt Cobain, on the writing of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"No album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation""a nation of teens suddenly turned punk""and such a catastrophic effect on its main creator."-Rolling Stone on Nevermind
As I prepare to travel outside of the country for two weeks, on a trip that will include time at the Edinburgh Film Festival (regular readers can expect some thoughts on that in a different space whence I return), this column has not received the attention it deserves this week. Apologies in advance if there's a dip in quality, but My Year in Lists must soldier on even when its author hasn't the time to give it the attention it deserves. So let's get right to it then.
The earliest incarnation of what would become The Cure formed as The Obelisk at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, Sussex in 1973 with Robert Smith on the piano, Michael "Mick" Dempsey on guitar, Lawrence "Lol" Tolhurst on drums, Mark Ceccagno on lead guitar and Alan Hill on bass. In January of 1977, the group adopted the name Easy Cure, and after a brief flirtation with a record deal that produced no releases, Smith, Tolhurst, and Dempsey reemerged as The Cure. The group released their US debut album (which collected songs from their UK debut Three Imaginary Boys along with five new songs), and Tab's pick this week Boys Don't Cry.
The title track was written by all three members of the band, and tells of a man reeling from heartbreak but hiding his emotions to retain his masculinity. "Boys Don't Cry" is a great song by any measure, but whenever I hear it I am slightly confused by the posturing inherent in its message. The Cure is not generally seen as a hyper-masculine, Gary Cooper type band, and Robert Smith has never seemed to emphasize the need for stoicism (see: much of the rest of the band's discography, including Disintegration, which we discussed a few weeks back, for evidence of this), yet one of the band's most famed and enduring songs basically boils down to "Man up! Don't be a little bitch! You're not a baby, nor are you a girl, so don't cry over your heartbreak!" And all of this prior to a decade in which the band would spend much of its time releasing pop love songs. Nevertheless, "Boys Don't Cry" is tops, so I can't gripe too much over a mixed message. Plus, having not shed a tear in over a decade (not, I assure you, because of my stoic approach toward existence), I can get behind the song's message anyway.
The demo of "10:15 Saturday Night" is the song that caught the attention of Chris Parry, who signed the band to his newly formed record company Fiction. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" is just a great early post-punk track, fun, thoughtful, catchy and quick. But I will always have a soft spot in my heart for "Killing an Arab," if only because as a self-satisfied twelve-year-old I thought the reference to Camus' The Stranger was the coolest thing in the world. Apparently, for past-Jordan, knowing that a post-punk band as cool as The Cure had read and enjoyed the same absurdist existentialist philosopher I was currently obsessed with was just about the best thing since sliced bread (seriously, though, Camus is the man. If you haven't read The Fall or "The Myth of Sisyphus," you should stop reading this right now and do so. I guarantee you'll find his work more enlightening than my smart assery about The Cure).
The Cure has continued to produce excellent music over the three decades since the release of Boys Don't Cry, yet this debut set the stage for an entirely different sound and paved the way for what not just this band, but many others would be doing for years to come.
In the early days of post-punk, surrounded by the sounds of Joy Division, The Birthday Party, Sex Pistols, Kate Bush and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robin Guthrie, Will Heggie, and their brand new vocalist Elizabeth Fraser joined together and formed The Cocteau Twins. Their debut album, and Collin's pick this week, Garlands was released in 1982.
"Wax and Wane" establishes the band's often dreamy style, with Fraser's ethereal voice taking a fairly standard early post-punk melody and imbuing it with an otherworldly feel that gives it power it might otherwise lack. By "Blind Dumb Deaf," though, the melodies have caught up to Fraser's vocals and The Cocteau Twins have transcended their influences and cemented their own sound.
"Shallow then Halo" is a darker song that at parts takes on an almost Lynchian quality (I can easily see Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet slinking across a dance floor to the song). The title track displays a band that has figured out its sound, which is always a plus on a debut album. Overall, Garlands is an assured debut for The Cocteau Twins, a solid album that introduces a revolutionary new sound and then plays around with it until it finds just the right ways to make it shine. The band, along with The Cure and Sonic Youth was instrumental to the formulation of dream pop, and is considered an influence on My Bloody Valentine, Sigur Ros, Asobi Seksu, Broken Social Scene and dozens of others.
Formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, Nirvana is quite possibly the most important band of the last twenty years. To qualify that statement, I am no Nirvana superfan, nor would I say they are my favorite band of the last twenty years. Yet, within their seven years together (prior to Cobain's untimely if not unpredictable suicide) and within the space of just three albums, Nirvana became a phenomenon that shaped music more than any of their contemporaries. Their second album, and Ashley's pick this week, Nevermind launched them into the stratosphere.
Nevermindis also the first album to include drummer Dave Grohl as part of the band's line up. After listening to REM, The Smithereens, and Pixies, Cobain began experimenting with more melodic songs. The band also signed with Geffen Records, based off of the suggestion of their idols Sonic Youth. The opening track "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was Cobain's attempt to write a song in the style of Pixies. Cobain got the title for the song from graffiti a friend spray paintedo n his wall reading "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit." He didn't realize until months after the song's release that Teen Spirit was a brand of deodorant; he thought the term smacked of revolution, and the song he wrote fits that mentality. While the lyrics are often indecipherable, the mood is one of rebellion, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would have to be on any list of the best songs of the '90s. Seething with anger, touched with ambivalence, and catchy as hell, the song is an apex of the band's short career.
"Come As You Are" is a song about the expectations people have for how one another should behave. "Lithium" features shifts from quiet verses to loud choruses, a songwriting trick Cobain had lifted from Pixies. The song is about a person who turns to religion after a heartbreak to save himself from suicide. The song is powerful in the best sense of the word, rollicking, dark, singable and anthemic. In short, it fucking rocks.
Nevermind popularized the Seattle grunge movement and cemented alternative rock into the mainstream of American culture. Where before alternative rock struggled to find commercial success, Nirvana ushered in an era when alternative rock, for a time at least, truly ceased to be an "alternative." Nirvana made their sound the mainstream through sheer craftsmanship and force of will. It's hard to quantify the impact of Nirvana, except to say that they changed the face of music forever, bringing alternative rock into the mainstream and heavily influencing the lives of an entire generation of music lovers. When we speak of the most influential bands of all time, it would be a mistake not to include Nirvana in the discussion.
In lieu of a conclusion tying all of this together (again, time being a concern as I write this installment, apologies to any fans of my overwrought conclusions), I will simply end this week by saying happy listening in the unusually long interim between postings. You can expect Week Twenty Four to be posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, and we'll be back to our regular Friday postings for Week Twenty Five on June 24th. Also, there should be another My Year in Lists: Interlude for your reading pleasure by the end of the month. For any of you playing along with the feature at home, enjoy the long period you'll be able to spend with next week's music. Me, I'll be giving it the attention it deserves and more. I've got a long flight ahead of me. Which reminds me, I've got a plane to catch.
Read more My Year in Lists here
Next on My Year in Lists:
The Buzzcocks are Singles Going Steady, U2 is headed off to War and Red Hot Chili Peppers are cooking up a little recipe involving Blood Sugar Sex Majik.
Want to keep tabs on all of our updates? follow us on twitter @reviewtobenamed (follow us here).
Sam's Top Ten Films of 2014
Jordan's Film Awards Ballot
Jordan's Television Awards Ballot
Darrens Musical Radar (Part 2 - 2014)
Game of Thrones: Season 4, Episode 10
Running with The Doctor
Game of Thrones: Season 4, Episode 9
Recent Articles By Jordan
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 1, Episode 22
Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1, Episode 15
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Breast cancer study could lead to new generation of drugs for the disease
We hope that one day drugs will exist for all 10 forms of breast cancer, so a woman need never be told she has the 'wrong' type
Dr Harpal Kumar
Thu 19 Apr 2012 12.11 EDT First published on Thu 19 Apr 2012 12.11 EDT
The METABRIC study identified a slew of new cancer genes, which will make excellent targets for a new generation of Herceptin-like drugs. Photograph: Getty
Breast cancer is a global problem – 1.4 million women worldwide are diagnosed each year. Almost 50,000 of them live here in the UK. But thanks to improvements in care, it's also a success story. Eight out of 10 women now survive for five years or more following a diagnosis of breast cancer, compared with just five out of 10 a few decades ago.
Scientific research has been at the heart of this progress, and much of this improved survival is due to drugs that have emerged from laboratories worldwide. Hormone drugs like tamoxifen, and targeted treatments like trastuzumab (better known as Herceptin), have saved thousands of lives.
At Cancer Research UK we're proud to have supported the clinical work that refined tamoxifen use, and the laboratory work in the 1980s that ultimately led to the development of Herceptin.
However, these drugs don't work for some women: their tumours lack the molecules that make them susceptible. And others, whose tumours look like they should respond, don't – and we don't know why.
Clearly, our classification of breast cancers as hormone-positive or negative, and Her2-positive or negative, is far too simplistic.
Which brings us to today's landmark announcement. Our researchers, working with colleagues in Canada, have completely redefined breast cancer into 10 entirely new categories. To achieve this, the METABRIC team, led jointly by Prof Carlos Caldas from Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Research Institute and Prof Sam Aparicio from the British Columbia Cancer Centre in Canada, analysed tumours from nearly 2,000 women.
What makes METABRIC such a game changer is that they analysed so many different aspects of the tumours – gene mutations, gene amplifications, gene activity and more – and linked this information to the women's treatment history, and their clinical fates. This is the first study of this level of detail and scale in the world.
What do the results mean?
First, they confirm that our existing "breast cancer map" is outdated – there should be 10 "countries", not four "continents" – and this is now territory we need to urgently explore. For example, one of the newly discovered types consisted of women with apparently aggressive cancers who actually did very well. Closer inspection showed that these women were rescued by their own immune systems. We urgently need to know how.
Second, the study identified a slew of new cancer genes, which will make excellent targets for a new generation of Herceptin-like drugs. We hope that, one day, drugs will exist for all these subgroups, so no woman will ever have to be told she has the "wrong" type of breast cancer.
And finally, the results suggest that some women have such a good prognosis that they could potentially be spared chemotherapy after their surgery.
But all of this needs more research and follow-up so we can be absolutely sure we're giving the best treatment to the right women.
We're already designing trials to test some of these ideas, but it will be several years before they are turned into reality and become part of routine care within the NHS.
Cancer Research UK is immensely proud to have funded this landmark study, and we're hugely grateful to all of the supporters who made it possible.
Dr Harpal Kumar is chief executive of Cancer Research UK. Read more about this research on CRUK's science blog
Breast cancer: how South Asian women are learning to treat it
Once considered to be a very low risk group, growing numbers of South Asian women are now having to confront breast cancer – and one support group is helping to raise awareness
Breast cancer treatment gets boost
The insider's guide to cancer prevention
Breast cancer screening does more harm than good, study claims
Breast and cervical cancer rates rising globally


Yellow-Letter marketing has been proven over the years as one of the most effective marketing methods available. When sending a personalized, handwritten, hand-addressed yellow letter; it is not uncommon for marketers to experience response rates as high as 15%.
As a Real Estate Investor, marketing is what drives your business. A 15% response rate can inundate you with calls so be sure to be prepared. Read on, and I will give you the complete Do-It-Yourself instructions for creating a Real Estate Investor Yellow-Letter Direct-Mail campaign.
You may of course, use any copy you wish. This is just an example of my letter that was used to target homeowners in my farm area. Where you see circles, is where my Mail-Merge fields were to be placed.
Place the white paper with the handwritten marketing copy on a scanner and scan the image into an Image Editing Software. I personally use Adobe Fireworks, but any basic Graphics application will work for this project. You want to use the software to clean-up any smudges or inconsistencies that were scanned in (if necessary). Then save the image as a JPEG file.
Open a word-processing application. I personally use Microsoft Word 2003; however any word-processing software with the Mail-Merge feature will suffice. If you're strapped for cash, you may obtain OpenOffice which contains a free word-processing application that has the Mail-Merge feature. OpenOffice is fairly similar to Microsoft Word.
Open a new document and import the handwritten JPEG into the document. You will do this twice as you need to crop the main JPEG twice to divide the image, so to make room for the mail-merge text fields.
Create a font using your own handwriting. I used the website www.yourfonts.com to create mine. It is very easy to create a font with your own handwriting using their service. I won't detail the instructions for their service here, but after following their simple directions you'll have your handwriting font as an option available in your word-processing application. This takes 20 minutes or less.
For any of you that use a different application and want to know how to use Mail-Merge for it, Google it.
Once you have your Mail-Merge setup, you will have place-holders that show where the Mail-Merge fields are. If you're using MS-Word, those fields will have containers of "<<" and ">>". So for instance, your first field may be "<<Greeting>>". You will need apply your handwriting font to the fields and adjust the font-size to match the size of your actual handwriting which was scanned in.
After scanning in the static handwritten text of your marketing letter and applying your handwritten font to the dynamic Mail-Merge fields, you're ready to go. Load your printer with your loose-leaf, yellow ruled paper and print your campaign.
Looks pretty good right? If, I didn't tell you I doubt you'd be able to identify the mail-merged fields.
Try to keep the envelopes as simple as possible. Only write the destination address on the front and place the return address on the back. Do not include your company name in the return address.
Go with actual adhesive stamps and not any printed-type, the common theme here is personalization. You may have your assistant affix the stamps or you can do that yourself. Then take the envelopes to your nearest mailbox or Post Office and send them out, wait a couple of days for the flood of calls!
I'm a rookie wholesaler that is working exceptionally hard to make it in Real Estate Investing. Through my preparation and hardwork, I plan to accumulate a networth of 7 figures before the age of 30, and I turn 29 in November 2009.
Thanks Justin/Scott for this step by step tutorial on how to do the yellow letter campaign. We are currently in the process of doing the campaign and DIO (did it ourselves). We are saving a considerable amount of money as well. We too hired local assistants to not only write the address on the letter but also on the envelope (and stuff it too). We are finding it is costing us a little under $1.00 per name (but our postage is more in Canada and we aren't using Word mail merge like you are).
Our response rates are hitting 20%++ thus far, but to date, we aren't finding many motivated sellers. How are your's looking?
Always look forward to your comments Dave!
I'm not sure if Justin is still checking for comments on this article, but I will forward your comment to him.
Hey Dave, I'm two months late…but better that than never right? As far as response rate, I experienced about 14%. If you're getting over 20%, maybe you need to be posting an article and not me! But even with my 14%, I didn't reach many motivated sellers (unfortunately we have that in common). Out of about 700 letters, I had 5 solid leads and all fell through. Oh well, I learned alot. And my Realtor got some good listing-leads out of the deal.
Oh I just ran into your blog and this is great that I'm not the only struggling investor! By the way I use a yellow letter company that charges a little less than $.80 per mail (yellow letter, handwritten letter, live stamp): http://www.gofastink.com and they mail out your pieces in 2 days or so.
Thanks for the helpful tip about gofastink.com. I will check it out and compare costs with what I'm doing now.
I mail to my probate leads twice, 1 letter and a follow up postcard. In the future I may start mailing more, but I'm following Ron Meads advice and sticking with the above. For many it's a pain to get the probate leads, I was lucky enough to stumble onto someone who sells them to me. Costly at $100 a month, but I can't make it to the the courthouse during the week so it's my only option.
Do you still have that plug for the guy who sells you the probate leads?
can anyone share the content of your yellow letters?
justin. i saw your youtube video on getting your content to "lined up" correctly on your yellow paper. Can you share how exactly you did this?
I haven't perfected this, however you will need to do alot of adjusting to the image-size and page margins before you can have your letter semi-lined up. You will most likely run through about 20+ test sheets before you get it right.
Where can I find the yellow paper?
Thanks for this info on yellow marketing, Makes perfect sense.
I needed a bit more info on the subject, I believe I'm all caught up now.
I'll start writing my letters.
Love the info! I'm a newbie as well. Got you site lock in as a favorite. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for coming by and reading my blog. Let me know if you ever have any questions.
Thanks for sharing this – really helpful for newbies with not much money to spend.
This recipe sounds simple enough. Unfortunately, we were using the yellow ruled paper and it jammed our printer! Actually it broke our printer. Plus, if you use the #10 envelopes you can see the paper thru the envelope and it really gets people to open it up.
Here is a solution that will NOT break your printer and a VERY limited offer to have it done in a handwriting font for Free!
Sorry to hear about your printer actually breaking because you used yellow lines paper. Each printer can only support a specific minimum paper weight. If you go to thin then your printer will crumple, cram and jam frequently. Take a look at your printer manual and try and match the paper weight to what it says it can handle. Some very cheap paper doesn't list the weight on the packaging, that usually means it's too thin to use.
Thanks for posting your comments!
So I've been following this step-by-step in setting up my own YL direct mail campaign. I'm having trouble getting the color of my handwriting font in MS Word that I'm using in the Mail Merge fields to match exactly with the color of the JPEG image handwritten letter I imported into MS Word. Any suggestions?
That is a tough one, I've been using Black for my font so it's a bit easier to match. I will say if you use an Ink jet printer instead of a laser printer you will get a truer match. Laser printers print flat.
The only think I can say is keep adjusting the color of the font in the letter, although you may be limited by the colors your printer can actually print. You may have to put your signature picture into a program like "paint.net" and adjust the coloring of it to match the printer.
This comes down to Trial and Error, I'm sorry I don't have a quick fix for you Zac.
Thanks for your reply Scott! I'm going to try re-writing the letter in black ink instead of blue for color-matching. I had used a bold blue ink gel pen prior … I may try using a fine black ink gel pen this time around … I think it will match-up better with handwritten font from yourfonts.com a little better. I have to use 20 lb. paper for my laser printer also … do you have any suggestions for a specific 8.5×11 yellow lined paper that works best?
I actually haven't found any actual yellow lined paper that comes in refill type or reams, so I've been using white lined paper refiles that I buy in Stop & Shop. I usually get 150 pages for $1.50 which is the best I've found so far.
This will increase responses, use three or four stamps that add up to the 45 cents postage and then take to the post office take to windo and ask that they use an official round date stamp when they accept the letters.
Here is the great source for the yellow paper !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
where do you buy your paper?
Great tutorial, I really like the creativity, but I don't know if this really works with every printer and every scanner. I have been working with few different scanners and the results were not as perfect as in your example.
However something interesting that you can check is: http://handwrittensolutions.net/. They are providing very interesting services when it comes to handwriting. No fonts are used and the result doesn't look like computer generated at all. We have used their services few times and they are awesome. Such amazing service for such low prices, that is basically for free.
I'm not sure what you are asking?
Everyone I've spoken with in the Houston area has told me that postcards get a much better response rate than letters. What's your experience been in that regard?
The opposite here in NJ. Postcards just don't seem to work. I did a test on a small group of Absentee owners of about 300 people. Sent them 3 Postcards over a 3 month period and my response rate was less then 1%…MUCH LESS. My response rate with yellow letters was about 6%. So I stopped using postcards.
Every region/market is different so you have to test.


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Stringo S2
Stringo 550
A Community that will be Missed
Posted by Stringo - 27 June, 2019
Long relationships are something we value highly here at Stringo. This applies both to customers and our own employees. We will soon be saying goodbye to Tomas 'Häggen' Hägg, who has been working with us since 1987.
Tomas' career in the company began when we were still called Famek. Göran Fahlèn had recently founded the company, which was primarily geared toward contract manufacturing for the sawmill industry and the manufacture of garage doors. Tomas was the fourth person hired by the company. He worked as a welder.
"Yes, it's been some journey," says Tomas. "There's a huge difference between the company today and when I started. We have grown a great deal in last few years, and the company is now structured entirely differently. Plenty of vehicle mover models have also endured through the years and evolved to become world-leading today."
Many of our employees have been here for many years. It produces stability in the business and allows us to optimally maintain and further develop our extensive experience of designing and manufacturing vehicle movers. It has been 32 years since Tomas joined the company, something he does not regret.
"I have enjoyed my time here immensely, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed for so long. The sense of community here has played an important part in that. Even though we are much larger today, it still feels as if we are all part of the team and contribute to the product," says Tomas.
At Stringo we are committed to establishing close relationships with customers as well as employees. Working together to further develop Stringo is an important factor in our success. Tomas began as a welder, but has served in various roles in production over the years. He has worked mostly with goods handling in and out of the company leading up to his forthcoming and well-earned retirement. And Tomas is not worried about having nothing to do. Summer is the peak season for Tomas, who is a Swedish champion in drag racing.
"I won't be sitting at the kitchen table wondering what I'll be doing with all my free time," says Tomas and laughs. "My drag racing will take up a lot of my time: there's maintenance, transportation, and the car itself, not to mention all the travel to and from races. We also have both a house and summer cottage where there's plenty to do. And my daughter has also recently bought a house. So I definitely won't be idle. It's going to be great at first to have free time and not have to wake up so early in the morning. But by autumn I'll be ready to get back to work. It may feel a bit different then."
All of us here at Stringo wish Tomas all the best with his drag racing and hope he enjoys his free time and morning coffee in peace and quiet.
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At the public hearing that began on 22 November 2016, the Commission considered applications for the renewal of television licences held by large French-language ownership groups, and the related interventions. The Commission announced at the hearing that the deadline for parties to submit information in response to undertakings is 2 December 2016.
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