text:
A fossil book
We're proud to announce the latest book from Agile Libre. Woot!
I can't take a lot of credit for this book... The idea came from 52 Things stalwart Alex Cullum, a biostratigrapher I met at Statoil in Stavanger in my first proper job. A fellow Brit, he has a profound enthusiasm for all things outside, and for writing and publishing. With able help from Allard Martinius, also a Statoil scientist and a 52 Things author from the Geology book, Alex generously undertook the task of inviting dozens of awesome palaeontologists, biostratigraphers, palynologists, and palaeobotanists from all over the world, and keeping in touch as the essays came in. Kara and I took care of the fiddly bits, and now it's all nearly done. It is super-exciting. Just check out some of the titles:
A trace fossil primer by Dirk Knaust
Bioastronomy by Simon Conway Morris
Ichnology and the minor phyla by S George Pemberton
A walk through time by Felix Gradstein
Can you catch criminals with pollen? by Julia Webb
Quantitative palaeontology by Ben Sloan
It's a pretty mouthwatering selection, even for someone like me who mostly thinks about seismic these days. There are another 46 like this. I can't wait to read them, and I've read them twice already.
Help a micropalaeontologist
The words in these books are a gift from the authors — 48 of them in this book! — to the community. We cherish the privilege of reading them before anyone else, and of putting them out into the world. We hope they reach far and have impact, inspiring people and starting conversations. But we want these books to give back to the community in other ways too, so from each sale we are again donating to a charity. This time it's the Educational Trust of The Micropalaeontological Society. I read about this initiative in a great piece for Geoscientist by Haydon Bailey, one of our authors: Micropalaeontology under threat!. They need our community's support and I'm excited about donating to them.
The book is in the late stages of preparation, and will appear in the flesh in about the middle of November. To make sure you get yours as soon as it's ready, you can pre-order it now.
Pre-order now from Amazon.com
Save almost 25% off the cover price!
It's $14.58 today, but Amazon sets the final price...
Update on 2014-10-15 13:05 by Matt Hall
I just found out that it's National Fossil Day in the US today. How's that for a coincidence? Sorry, I mean, how's that for a finely tuned marketing orchestration?
You can follow the NFD action on Twitter.
Books, News
52 Things, collaboration, knowledge sharing, palaeontology, publishing
Relentlessly practical
March 06, 2014 / Matt Hall
This is one of my favourite knowledge sharing stories.
A farmer in my community had a problem with one of his cows — it was seriously unwell. He asked one of the old local farmers about the symptoms, and was told, "Oh yes, one of my herd had the same thing last summer. I gave her a cup of brandy and four aspirins every night for a week." The young farmer went off and did this, but the poor cow got steadily worse and died. When he saw the old farmer next he told him, more than a little accusingly, "I did what you said, and the cow died anyway." The old geezer looked into the distance and just said, "Yep, so did mine."
Incomplete information can be less useful than no information. Yet incomplete information has somehow become our specialty in applied geoscience. How often do we share methods, results, or case studies without the critical details that would make it useful information? That is, not just marketing, or resumé padding. Inded, I heard this week that one large US operator will not approve a publication that does include these critical details! And we call ourselves scientists...
Completeness mandatory
Thankfully, Last month The Leading Edge — the magazine of the SEG — started a new tutorial column, edited by me. Well, I say 'edited', I'm just the person that pesters prospective authors until they give in and send me a manuscript. Tad Smith, Don Herron, and Jenny Kucera are the people that make it actually happen. But I get to take all the credit.
When I was asked about it, I suggested two things:
Make each tutorial reproducible by publishing the code that makes the figures.
Make the words, the data, and the code completely open and shareable.
To my delight and, I admit, slight surprise, they said 'Sure!'. So the words are published under an open license (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, the same license for re-use that most of Wikipedia has), the tutorials use open data for everything, and the code is openly available and free to re-use. Complete transparency.
There's another interesting aspect to how the column is turning out. The first two episodes tell part of the story in IPython Notebook, a truly amazing executable writing environment that we've written about before. This enables you to seamlessly stich together text, code, and plots (left). If you know a bit of Python, or want to start learning it right now this second, go give wakari.io a try. It's pretty great. (If you really like it, come and learn more with us!).
Read the first tutorial: Hall, M. (2014). Smoothing surfaces and attributes. The Leading Edge, 33(2), 128–129. doi: 10.1190/tle33020128.1. A version of it is also on SEG Wiki, and you can read the IPython Notebook at nbviewer.org.
Do you fancy authoring something for this column? Wonderful — please do! Here are the author instructions. If you have an idea for something, please drop me a line, let's talk about how to make it relentlessly practical.
March 06, 2014 / Matt Hall/ 6 Comments
Science, Teaching
open data, open source, openness, publishing, tutorial
Save the samples
A long while ago I wrote about how to choose an image format, and then followed that up with a look at vector vs raster graphics. Today I wanted to revisit rasters (you might think of them as bitmaps, images, or photographs). Because a question that seems to come up a lot is 'what resolution should my images be?'
Forget DPI
When writing for print, it is common to be asked for a certain number of dots per inch, or dpi (or, equivalently, pixels per inch or ppi). For example, I've been asked by journal editors for images 'at least 200 dpi'. However, image files do not have an inherent resolution — they only have pixels. The resolution depends on the reproduction size you choose. So, if your image is 800 pixels wide, and will be reproduced in a 2-inch-wide column of print, then the final image is 400 dpi, and adequate for any purpose. The same image, however, will look horrible at 4 dpi on a 16-foot-wide projection screen.
Rule of thumb: for an ordinary computer screen or projector, aim for enough pixels to give about 100 pixels per display inch. For print purposes, or for hi-res mobile devices, aim for about 300 ppi. If it really matters, or your printer is especially good, you are safer with 600 ppi.
The effect of reducing the number of pixels in an image is more obvious in images with a lot of edges. It's clear in the example that downsampling a sharp image (a to c) is much more obvious than downsampling the same image after smoothing it with a 25-pixel Gaussian filter (b to d). In this example, the top images have 512 × 512 samples, and the downsampled ones underneath have only 1% of the information, at 51 × 51 samples (downsampling is a type of lossy compression).
Careful with those screenshots
The other conundrum is how to get an image of, say, a seismic section or a map.
What could be easier than a quick grab of your window? Well, often it just doesn't cut it, especially for data. Remember that you're only grabbing the pixels on the screen — if your monitor is small (or perhaps you're using a non-HD projector), or the window is small, then there aren't many pixels to grab. If you can, try to avoid a screengrab by exporting an image from one of the application's menus.
For seismic data, you'd like to capture sample as a pixel. This is not possible for very long or deep lines, because they don't fit on your screen. Since CGM files are the devil's work, I've used SEGY2ASCII (USGS Open File 2005–1311) with good results, converting the result to a PGM file and loading into Gimp.
Large seismic lines are hard to capture without decimating the data. Rockall Basin. Image: BGS + Virtual Seismic Atlas.If you have no choice, make the image as large as possible. For example, if you're grabbing a view from your browser, maximize the window, turn off the bookmarks and other junk, and get as many pixels as you can. If you're really stuck, grab two or more views and stitch them together in Gimp or Inkscape.
When you've got the view you want, crop the window junk that no-one wants to see (frames, icons, menus, etc.) and save as a PNG. Then bring the image into a vector graphics editor, and add scales, colourbars, labels, annotation, and other details. My advice is to do this right away, before you forget. The number of times I've had to go and grab a screenshot again because I forgot the colourbar...
The Lenna image is from Hall, M (2006). Resolution and uncertainty in spectral decomposition. First Break 24, December 2006, p 43-47.
January 23, 2014 / Matt Hall/ 1 Comment
image processing, publishing, tips
52 Things... About Geology
Welcome to the new book from Agile Libre! The newest, friendliest, awesomest book about petroleum geoscience.
The book will be out later in November, pending review of the proof, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon.com at their crazy offer price of only $13.54. When it comes out, the book will hit Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, and other online booksellers.
63 weeks to mature
It's truly a privilege to publish these essays. When an author hands over a manuscript, they are trusting the publisher and editors to do justice not just to the words, but to the thoughts inside. And since it's impossible to pay dozens of authors, they did it all for nothing. To recognize their contributions to the community, we're donating $2 from every book sale to the AAPG Foundation. Perhaps the students that benefit from the Foundation will go on to share what they know.
This book took a little stamina, compared to 52 Things... Geophysics. We started inviting authors on 1 July 2012, and it took 442 days to get all the essays. As before, the first one came almost immediately; this time it was from George Pemberton, maintaining the tradition of amazing people being great champions for these projects. Indeed, Tony Doré — another star contributor — was a big reason the book got finished.
To whet your appetite, here are the first few chapters from the table of contents:
Advice for a prospective geologist — Mark Myers, 14th Director of the USGS
As easy as 1D, 2D, 3D — Nicholas Holgate, Aruna Mannie, and Chris Jackson
Computational geology — Mark Dahl, exploration geologist at ConocoPhillips
Coping with uncertainty — Duncan Irving at TeraData
Geochemical alchemy — Richard Hardman, exploration legend
Geological inversion — Evan Bianco of Agile
Get a helicopter not a hammer — Alex Cullum of Statoil
Even this short list samples some of the breadth of topics, and the range of experience of the contributors. Nichlas and Aruna are PhD students of Chris Jackson at Imperial College London, and Richard Hardman is a legend on the UK exploration scene, with over 50 years of experience. Between them, the 42 authors have notched up over 850 career-years — the book is a small window into this epic span of geological thinking.
We're checking the proofs right now. The book should be out in about 2 weeks, just in time for St Barbara's day!
Save more than 25% off the cover price!
It's $13.54 today, but Amazon sets the final price... I don't know how long the offer will last.
52 Things, experiment, geology, publishing
What is Creative Commons?
Not a comprehensive answer either, but much more brilliantI just found myself typing a long email in reply to the question, "What is a Creative Commons license and how do I use it?" Instead, I thought I'd post it here. Note: I am not a lawyer, and this is not a comprehensive answer.
Creative Commons depends on copyright
There is no relinquishment of copyright. This is important. In the case of 52 Things, Agile Geoscience is the copyright holder. In the case of an article, it's the authors themselves, unless the publisher gets them to sign a form relinquishing it. Copyright is an automatic, moral right (under the Berne Convention), and boils down to the right to be identified as the authors of the work ('attribution').
Most copyright holders grant licenses to re-use their work. For instance, you can pay hundreds of dollars to reproduce a couple of pages from an SPE manual for a classroom of students (if you are insane). You can reprint material from a book or journal article — again, usually for a fee. These licenses are usually non-exclusive, non-transferable, and use-specific. And the licensee must (a) ask and (b) pay the licensor (that is, the copyright holder). This is 'the traditional model'.
Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy
Some copyright holders are even more awesome. They recognize that (a) it's a hassle to always have to ask, and (b) they'd rather have the work spread than charge for it and stop it spreading. They wish to publish 'open' content. It's exactly like open source software. Creative Commons is one, very widespread, license you can apply to your work that means (a) they don't have to ask to re-use it, and (b) they don't have to pay. You can impose various restrictions if you must.
Creative Commons licenses are everywhere. You can apply Creative Commons licenses at will, to anything you like. For example, you can CC-license your YouTube videos or Flickr photos. We CC-license our blog posts. Almost everything in Wikipedia is CC-licensed. You could CC-license a single article in a magazine (in fact, I somewhat sneakily did this last February). You could even CC-license a scientific journal (imagine!). Just look at all the open content in the world!
Creative Commons licenses are easy to use. Using the license is very easy: you just tell people. There is no cost or process. Look at the footer of this very page, for example. In print, you might just add the line This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. You may re-use this work without permission. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ for details. (If you choose another license, you'd use different wording.)
I recommend CC-BY licenses. There are lots of open licenses, but CC-BY strikes a good balance between being well-documented and trusted, and being truly open (though it is not recognized as such, on a technicality, by copyfree.org). The main point is that they are very open, allowing anyone to use the work in any way, provided they attribute it to the author and copyright holder — it's just like scientific citation, in a way.
Do you openly license your work? Or do you wish more people did? Do you notice open licenses?
Creative Commons graphic by Flickr user Michael Porter. The cartoon is from Nerdson, and licensed CC-BY. 'Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy' is paraphrased from a quote by Tim O'Reilly, publishing 2.0 legend.
Creative Commons, copyright, knowledge sharing, openness, publishing
September 28, 2012 / News
Our more-or-less regular news round-up is here again. News tips?
Geophysics giant
On Monday the French geophysics company CGGVeritas announced a deal to buy most of Fugro's Geoscience division for €1.2 billion (a little over $1.5 billion). What's more, the two companies will enter into a joint venture in seabed acquisition. Fugro, based in the Netherlands, will pay CGGVeritas €225 million for the privilege. CGGVeritas also pick up commercial rights to Fugro's data library, which they will retain. Over 2500 people are involved in the deal — and CGGVeritas are now officially Really Big.
Big open data?
As Evan mentioned in his reports from the SEG IQ Earth Forum, Statoil is releasing some of their Gullfaks dataset through the SEG. This dataset is already 'out there' as the Petrel demo data, though there has not yet been an announcement of exactly what's in the package. We hope it includes gathers, production data, core photos, and so on. The industry needs more open data! What legacy dataset could your company release to kickstart innovation?
Journal innovation
Again, as Evan reported recently, SEG is launching a new peer-reviewed, quarterly journal — Interpretation. The first articles will appear in early 2013. The journal will be open access... but only till the end of 2013. Perhaps they will reconsider if they get hundreds of emails asking for it to remain open access! Imagine the impact on the reach and relevance of the SEG that would have. Why not email the editorial team?
In another dabble with openness, The Leading Edge has opened up its latest issue on reserves estimation, so you don't need to be an SEG member to read it. Why not forward it to your local geologist and reservoir engineer?
Updating a standard
It's all about SEG this month! The SEG is appealing for help revising the SEG-Y standard, for its revision 2. If you've ever whined about the lack of standardness in the existing standard, now's your chance to help fix it. If you haven't whined about SEG-Y, then I envy you, because you've obviously never had to load seismic data. This is a welcome step, though I wonder if the real problems are not in the standard itself, but in education and adoption.
The SEG-Y meeting is at the Annual Meeting, which is coming up in November. The technical program is now online, a fact which made me wonder why on earth I paid $15 for a flash drive with the abstracts on it.
Log analysis in OpendTect
We've written before about CLAS, a new OpendTect plug-in for well logs and petrophysics. It's now called CLAS Lite, and is advertised as being 'by Sitfal', though it was previously 'by Geoinfo'. We haven't tried it yet, but the screenshots look very promising.
This regular news feature is for information only. We aren't connected with any of these organizations, and don't necessarily endorse their products or services. Except OpendTect, which we definitely do endorse.
September 28, 2012 / News/ 1 Comment
openness, petrophysics, publishing


text:
Lasioglossum sutepellum is een vliesvleugelig insect uit de familie Halictidae. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1937 door Cockerell.

sutepellum

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Disney Infinity's Boba Fett is one versatile character
A bit of the emo Kylo Ren shows in Adam Driver's SNL promos
Most anticipated Nintendo games for 2016
Suicide Squad review: What was Warner Bros. thinking?
Game Cafe Ep. 15 (Part 4): Xbox
TI5 main event: day four
Day four of the main event demonstrated that every team at Seattle is capable of challenging for the title. There are no easy games at this stage of the tournament, and day four saw two huge elimination matches between Secret and Virtus Pro as well as MVP Phoenix and Vici Gaming.
The first series of the day was Team Secret facing off against Virtus Pro. With Secret being favourites to win the tournament, it was expected that they would be able to see off VP. However VP were able to tie the series 1-1. The final game was a tense affair, but VP looked dominant throughout and were eventually able to push down Secret's defenses with a Drow Visage combo. Expectations will be raised immensely after such a performance from Virtus Pro.
On top of this major upset from VP, Vici were able to 2-0 MVP Phoenix. Phoenix qualified for TI5 through the wildcard, but unfortunately have not been able to progress past the top eight. This victory means that Vici continue their unbeaten streak through the main event. After all was said and done with the brackets, it was time for the All-Stars match, which surprisingly did not disappoint. Valve decided to include ten random audience members to take part in the game alongside the ten pros in a 10 v 10 match.
DOTA 2TI5valve

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It's a cut-throat galaxy out there and every cargo hold is yours for the taking. Let the enemy know you mean business with this Federal Dropship Pirate faction paint job.
The Core Dynamics Federal Dropship is the Federation Navy's workhorse ship for tactical and special forces deployments.
This is a well armoured and well armed ship capable of carrying large loads. Its versatile nature means that it is well suited to tackling even the most hostile environment.
When docked in your Dropship bring up the Starport Services Menu. Navigate to the Outfitting menu and select 'Paint Jobs'. Any paint jobs you have purchased will be available to be applied to your ship.
This paint job is for use with the Federal Dropship ONLY.


text:
Govt Working to Make India an Automobile Manufacturing Hub in Next 5 Years: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways & MSME, today said that Government aims at creating core global competencies in India by facilitating seamless integration of the automotive industry with the world. Government is trying to create an ecosystem to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles in the country.Addressing a virtual conference '9th Edition of Auto Serve 2020'Electric Mobility Conference 2020-Seizing Opportunities in New Normal, Shri Gadkari asked the auto industry to come together to work jointly towards achieving broader national agenda of reducing pollution.
He elaborated a number of steps that Government has taken to promote electric vehicles which include reduction in GST to 5%, allowing delinking of battery cost of 2-3 swheelers from vehicle cost as it accounts for nearly 30% of the cost etc. Battery charging ecosystem is very important, as such he said Government is planning set up at least one electric vehicle charging kiosk at around 69 thousand Petrol Pumpsacross the country to induce people to go for electric mobility.
Shri Gadkari also said, "Government is also working towards making India a global automobile manufacturing hub in next five years.' This is my dream, he stressed. This will also contribute in fulfilling the Prime Minister's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
He stressed that India is poised to become global automobile manufacturing hub in next 5 years. This, he felt, is possible as our auto industry has made significant strides in terms of development of different designs and models, robust R&D, huge market, stable government frame-work and bright & young engineering minds. He added India already is the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world.
Considering the huge potential of the sector Government has earmarked over Rs51000 crore for this sector under Production Linked Incentive(PLI), the highest amongst the 10 champion sectors.He also stated that there is a huge requirement of about 25 million skilled jobs in the automobile sector in near future. This very significant as this industry is going to create maximum jobs and growth, he added.
Shri Gadkari further called upon the automobile industry to push for manufacturing flex engines which has versatility to use petrol or ethonal/CNG as fuels. He stressed that the Indian auto industry need to follow the example of Brazil and US Auto sectors in this regard. He exuded confidence that our industry would utilise the opportunity being thrown up by the alternative and less polluting fuels like CNG, hydrogen, electricity.
Shri Gadkari also said that the government is working towards making e-Highway on Delhi and Mumbai Expressway. He added that auto sector should look at making different variants including double decker busses to cater to the market needs.
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Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates the LNG truck-loading unit of Shell India at Hazira
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Enter this giveaway for a chance to win a Kindle Fire 7, a $10 Amazon gift card and a Secret Garden - Magic pillow, tote bag and mug set designed by Evie Bookish. Good luck!
I would probably have to say Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I read that book so many times as a child and though I haven't read it in years, I have so many fond memories of that book. I just loved all of the magic in it and the little twists and turns that the story took.
"What's your favorite magical story and why?" Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, because the Arabian Nights stories are full of atmospheric adventures!
Harry Potter because it's imaginative and enchanting.
I have several, but Tiger's Curse is one of my favorites.
There's so many. I was introduced to The Hobbit. Then, came The Twilight Saga. Afterwards, I hunted indie Authors with similar plots/characters!
I enjoyed The Faraway Tree when I was little - the thought of a magical world above the clouds was amazing!
Congrats on the views. LOTR Trilogy. Love it.
My all-time fave is actually a book from my childhood I absolutely adored "My Bedtime Book of Magic Carpet Stories From Many Lands" by Patricia Taylor. It sparked my love for reading & travelling too!
I'm not sure I've read any. But I would love to have a flying carpet!
Harry potter as all of the books were fantastic and kept me totally gripped.
My favorite Magical Story is Harry Potter!
Favorite magical story would be the Chronicles of Narnia because it takes me back to childhood.
Hmm, magical well that would have to be Harry Potter, what an amazing story that is. So captivating, imaginative and thrilling.
Peter Pan was magical I loved that he didn't grow up.
HARRY POTTER is my favourite. All the books have such wonderful characters and magical beasts. Love the idea that the owls bring the mail, wish our postman did that instead. The casting in the films was spot on for me to, and loved Alan Rickman as Snape, it was as if the character was written with him in mind.
Cinderella, because it is a true classic.
It would have to be Lord of The Rings!!
The Harry Potter stories are my favourite. So different and magical!
Harry Potter and The Lord of the Ring.
I guess it has to be Harry Potter. I love the whole world thats been created, the characters and the different relationships.
La Belle et la Bête, Harry Potter !!!!
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series is mine.
The Faraway Tree Stories - they are so cute!
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was my favourite magical book as a child. What's not to love about it! There's a magical wardrobe and when you go through there's a beautiful snowy land full of excitement.
Harry Potter! Because it got me started on reading more magical books.
The ACOTAR and Harry Potter series because there's magic in them but their stories are beautiful and magical themselves and make us believe that there's more to life.
Definitely Harry Potter. I grew up on those stories.
Beauty and the Beast. It teaches you that beauty is more than on the surface. Thanks for the chance!
the bone gap by laura ruby!
I love Ariel the Little Mermaid, because it is just a sweet, amazing story. Beauty and the Beast would definitely be my second favorite!
I wouldn't say it's my favourite but I think Robin D. Owens' Celta series is really underrated. It's about magical settlers (humans) on another planet and I really like it.
I love fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen and The Little Witch by Otfried Preußler because they would magically send me to the magical world. The stories were easy to follow, and i love the usually beautiful or cute illustrations in the books which make the stories even more magical.
I love the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I loved reading it when I was a teenager. I loved reading it to my kids as well.
My favorite is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I remember reading the book years ago and feeling the magical feeling of being swept away.
Alice in Wonderland - it was the first book I owned as a child!
Harry potter definetly! I always wished I could go away to wizard school!
Alice in Wonderland - it's a classic!
I really enjoy Juliet Blackwell's magic stories. Her Witchcraft Mystery series is one of my favorites. I especially enjoyed A Magical Match.
The Lord of the Rings because it was my first good fantasy that I read.
I would probably say Cinderella, as I love a good romance!
It would have to be Lord of the rings.
I can't get past Harry Potter. The way that JK Rowling describes the world and the way the books all link together is superb.
Mine are the Chronicles of Narnia— I could just get lost in them forever!
Harry Potter because I so would have wanted to go to that school when I was a kid.
the lion the witch and the wardrobe -- who wouldnt want a wardrobe that transports you to another place?
I love Lord of the Rings as Tolkien builds such a rich world, it feels so real to me!
I would have to say Harry Potter. I have just finished watching the films can't believe I left it all this time later after they came out to watch them all. I could watch them over and over.


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Xotels' RM and yield experts will be incorporated in your BnB's & Vacation Rental Apartments management structure and operate as a part of your team taking on the responsibilities and duties of revenue management and business development. Working besides your executive management, we will be implementing best practices, proven techniques and the latest travel distribution developments. We will help you outperform your competition and become a leader in your local market.
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Ok, now that I have made the curriculum choices, and made my spreadsheet, now what?
I have been thinking about this since last spring, trying to figure out a way to make Skylar more independent in her work. Last year we would do one subject at a time, I would go do laundry, she would finish her math, and wander off to find her brother playing cars, then I would return, she would be gone, & I'd have to beg, threaten, yell to get her back to the table to do her English. What a mess!
One thing she said at some point was that she would like a schedule of what was required each day or each week. This was a bit frustrating to me, because I didn't have an easy way to give her this. I had resorted to writing the schedules in a datebook in pencil, so I could easily change things, but it didn't enable me to give her the assignments very easily. I knew the plan, but she didn't.
So, I started small and began with her math schedule. I just wrote each week's work on a small post-it note, and put it directly into her math book. She then knew she had do to exercises 14-19 this week, and 20-24 next week. I put down suggested days, but this allowed her to work ahead if she wanted. It was a simple change but one that made a BIG difference. Once we began this, if I was off doing chores, and she finished her work, she could open her math and see what came next. A super simple solution!
I then began using this for her copywork as well, and again, success! We were copying Genesis 104 for the most part last year, about a verse or half a verse each day. Why she couldn't just do the next verse each day on her own without a sticky note, I don't know, but me writing it down made it more concrete to her. And the work got done much easier!
This simple discovery did not happen until quite late in the year, so I did not really implement it into her other subjects. This year, I am building on that simple idea with the new PLAN!
Here it is! I am going to share it in recipe format, because it seems easier to explain that way to me.
1. Divide the 31 dividers into the 2 large binders (1-17), (18-31) My Christmas break should fall after unit 17, so that is why I split it there. These represent the units/weeks of the year. Yes, there are 34 units, but close enough, IMO. If you need, buy another set of 8 dividers to finish off the weeks. These are the teacher's main binders. This is Skylar's set.
2. Put the set of 8 dividers into the 1" binder. This will be the student's weekly binder. Let them pick a cute fun binder or decorate a plain one. Allow them to take ownership of this, as it will become very important! Label each divider by subject. Her tabs are: Circle Time (Hymns/Bible/Poetry/Logic), History, English, PE, Math, Science, State Study, iread. If you plan to have a set schedule of subjects each day, I'd put them in that order in the binder as well.
4. Print a copy of each subject's assignments (from the spreadsheet) and put into the tab area for each subject. I printed these in 4 unit sections, so a month of assignments for History, History coloring, and text reading assignments are on one page, along with check boxes for each day's work. The Reading sheet has extension readers, read-alouds and independent reading on one sheet with checkboxes for reading and discussion/work for each day. You can see I separated them by unit, but didn't put the actual date on them. I'll put the dates on as we complete the work. Check a box off when read, then when discussed. (Actually I did put dates on these pages because I want to have these units complete BEFORE we go on our trip to Williamsburg in September. ) But for the most part I just have the approximate month we should be hitting these units.
5. At the start of each week, place the copies into the proper places in the subject binder. At this point, put the individual copies in the proper subject areas, in the proper order for the week, using the assignment sheets. I will probably do this on Friday or Sunday, or whatever day we end up finishing a unit.
6. As you go through the week, the student can look at their assignments for each subject, pull out the proper worksheet, poem, directions, or book and (hopefully) begin on their own when needed. Since the binder dividers are in the daily order, she can just flip to the next subject in the book.
7. As each assignment is finished, they can return it to their binder, or put it into the other 1" binder in the proper unit section. This binder is the "to be checked" binder. Then I can grade at leisure, and once graded, return it to the original unit binder when completed. If the student doesn't put it into a second smaller binder daily, they can put the week's worth of work into the main binder at the end of the week. I plan to use the 2nd binder daily, because I tend to lose papers needing to be checked, and that way I know what has been checked and what still needs correction. And I can check as the week goes on, to see what she is not completing, not understanding fully, or what is too easy for her.
Another thing I do as I grade, especially the math exercises or worksheets, is to put achievement stickers on if she does well. She is only in 3rd grade after all, and stickers are still fun! This lets me know later that I have graded the page. I put the number incorrect on the top of the page as well. If I find she missed a lot of one topic, I go over her errors with her, so we are sure she understands the concept.
I am optimistic that this system will work, if we are disciplined and make it happen. It will take a bit of prep on my part each week, but if all my copies are made NOW, then that prep will be minimal. My daughter loves to do worksheets so I believe this plan will work well for her. I have yet to determine if my son will like them as much as she does, but I plan to do a similar binder system for him.
We're almost there, if I can only keep my printer running for a few more days. It's been glitchy this morning, and I am afraid it is dying from overuse!


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A quick word of warning before we get into the review, this book will have you checking over your shoulder and may or may not turn you into a paranoid wreck – if that sounds like something you'd be into, carry on reading!
We Are Here follows two couples who seem to encounter the same surreal and supernatural "people". We're firstly introduced to David who, after a trip to New York to confirm a new publishing deal, he bumps into a strange looking man who proceeds to follow him. His face is unidentifiable and before David can do anything, the man hurries past and whispers "remember me".
Then we are introduced to John and Kristina who are trying to help an acquaintance. She believes that she's being stalked by an ex-lover. As they start to feel uneasy and frightened, it soon becomes clear that all of these characters are being watched and tormented by the things that lurk in the shadows. They are the forgotten ones but that was all about to change.
The reader is given both David's and John's point of view and due to the shift in perspectives and storytelling style, you're often slightly confused about what's happening. However, this creates so much suspense that it's often hard to put the book down. There's no doubt that Michael's a great writer. There were times that I'd have to reread passages as they were so beautifully written, but every now there were times when the plot seemed to stall. A few tweaks such as shortening certain scenes and minimising irrelevant internal monologues would have made this story a much more thrilling read.
A great tool that Michael employs is the element of mystery. Various characters with their own intentions and motives are introduced, however it takes the reader a lot of time and guess work to successfully piece them all together. You begin to mistrust every character and pick apart the familiar in order to find clues.
The supernatural elements are fantastical but rarely goes outside the realm of possibility. Most people would be able to relate to the uneasy feeling of being followed or that items had somehow been rearranged or misplaced without explanation. We Are Here takes that uncomfortable feeling and blows it up until you're feeling paranoid and on-edge, but in the best way possible.


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Závažná Poruba (węg. Németporuba) – wieś (obec) na Słowacji w kraju żylińskim, w powiecie Liptowski Mikułasz.

Pierwsze wzmianki o miejscowości pochodzą z 1263 roku.

Według danych z dnia 31 grudnia 2016, wieś zamieszkiwało 1281 osób, w tym 646 kobiet i 635 mężczyzn.

W 2001 roku rozkład populacji względem narodowości i przynależności etnicznej wyglądał następująco:
 Słowacy – 98,88%
 Węgrzy – 0,08%
 Czesi – 0,72%
 pozostali/nie podano – 0,32%,
natomiast w 2011 roku przedstawiał się on tak:
 Słowacy – 97,65%
 Czesi – 0,73%
 Polacy – 0,08%
 Rosjanie – 0,08%
 Morawianie – 0,40%
 pozostali – 0,16%
 nie podano – 0,89%

Ze względu na wyznawaną religię struktura mieszkańców kształtowała się w 2001 roku następująco:
 Katolicy rzymscy – 13,76%
 Ateiści – 20,24%
 Kalwiniści – 0,08%
 Husyci – 0,08%
 Grekokatolicy – 0,08%
 Luteranie – 62,64%
 Metodyści – 0,16%
 Świadkowie Jehowy – 0,96%
 zbory chrześcijańskie – 0,08%
 pozostali – 0,16%
 nie podano – 1,76%,
natomiast w 2011 roku prezentowała się tak:
 Katolicy rzymscy – 15,53%
 Ateiści – 27,35%
 Prawosławni – 0,24%
 Grekokatolicy – 0,32%
 Luteranie – 51,62%
 Metodyści – 0,40%
 Świadkowie Jehowy – 0,40%
 Adwentyści Dnia Siódmego – 0,08%
 Bahaici – 0,08%
 pozostali – 0,89%
 nie podano – 3,07%

Do wsi dojeżdża miejska komunikacja autobusowa z Liptowskiego Mikułasza.

Na południe od obszaru zabudowy wsi, na północnych stokach masywu Południcy, znajduje się niewielki ośrodek narciarski Opalisko ze schroniskiem o tej samej nazwie (Chata Opalisko), obejmujący dwa wyciągi narciarskie, trzy trasy zjazdowe oraz trasy dla narciarzy biegowych, w części z oświetleniem.

W miejscowości urodził się poeta Milan Rúfus, który został tu także pochowany.

Przypisy

Linki zewnętrzne
 Oficjalna strona internetowa

Miejscowości w powiecie Liptowski Mikułasz


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Big Bad Wolves (2013)
Written and Directed by: Aharon Keshales abd Navot Papushado
Starring: Lior Ashkenazi, Rotem Keinan, Tzahi Grad
Reviewed by: Brett Gallman (@brettgallman)
Some men are created evil.
At what point does nihilism become so bleak that you can't help but laugh at it? Where do you draw that line? Big Bad Wolves approaches that line, dragging its audience every step of the way before forcing them to confront it: this is a fucked up premise to begin with and even more so when it dares to find a wry humor in a father's vigilante quest to exact revenge for his young daughter's murder. It's hard to imagine a situation less amusing than this, and the film's almost sociopathic approach to it only compounds how disturbing it is.
Set in a small Israeli town, the film circles around three men in the wake of a horrific murder: a cop desperate to solve the case (Lior Ashkenazi), the schoolteacher implicated in the crime (Rotem Keinan), and the dead schoolgirl's father, Gidi (Doval'e Glickman). High-strung cop Micki is so desperate that he abducts his suspect and abuses him to force a confession; unfortunately for him, a kid oversees and records these illegal tactics, much to the dismay of the chief of police. Micki is promptly suspended but given an under-the-table, wink-wink mandate from his boss: he might be a normal citizen, but that doesn't preclude him from continuing his investigation.
And this is where things go south in a hurry. In the first of many sly twists and turns, Micki's second abduction attempt is interrupted by the father, who is eager to exact revenge and learn the location of the girl's severed head so she can have a proper burial. A tense stand-off emerges between the three men when Gidi winds up abducting the other two men to a secret rural farmhouse he recently purchased for the express purpose of torturing the suspected schoolteacher. A suspected schoolteacher that might be innocent, by the way—in one of the film's more brilliant moves, the screenplay withholds this information, leading the audience to suspect that this might be even screwier than it already is. Has this father's thirst for vengeance blinded him to the possibility that he might have an innocent man strapped down to a chair in his basement?
You can be forgiven for thinking this doesn't exactly sound like a barrel of laughs. Did I also mention that the film starkly captures the crime scene, where a little girl's headless body rests in a chair with her underwear down around her ankles? How about an intense scene where Gidi recounts exactly what the killer has done to his various victims during his killing spree? Even if directors [ ] don't explicitly show it, they linger on the deranged father's face as he describes what happened to his daughter: first, she was seduced with the promise of a sedative-laden cake, then raped "in every hole" before finally being tortured to death. In return, Gidi will turn the tables in that exact same order on the suspected schoolteacher until he spills the location of his daughter's head.
But then something kind of offbeat happens: the cop—who has since become Gidi's accomplice—coyly asks if he really wants to do everything in return to the suspect, including the whole bit about violating each hole. Visibly and humorously flustered, the man doesn't quite know how to respond; nor, I suspect, do most audiences suddenly asked to find the comedy in this bleak situation. Little does anyone know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the film's bizarre sense of humor is just kicking in. Before he can even get down to business, Gidi receives a frantic call from his mother, who is worried sick about his recent behavior, leading to the first of many interruptions. The humorous nature of these exchanges is just as off-putting as the sickening implications of violence—just what in the hell is going on here?
Keshales and Papushado refuse to back down from it, too. If anything, they lean even more into the absurd attempt at dark humor, as the exchanges become and developments become more outrageous and unbelievable. A visit from Gidi's blissfully unaware but finicky father proves to be one of many unexpected wrinkles in what eventually degenerates into a misanthropic comedy of errors, one that presumes that the worst in everyone is lurking just below their charming exteriors. None of the characters are paragons of virtue—hell, one of them even takes the time to compliment a stranger's nice new iPhone, a hilarious bit of levity that's followed up with an absolute sucker punch.
That's the kind of movie Big Bad Wolves is: almost totally unassuming and disarming in its humor before baring its teeth and tearing your throat out. Each performance is so wonderfully nuanced that you want to believe the best about these men: that the schoolteacher is innocent, that Gidi is simply consumed by heartbreak, that Micki simply wants justice. You sense that these men—including Gidi's father—could be good men twisted into horrible creatures by circumstance. The truth proves to be much more uncomfortable: just when Keshales and Papushado consider the possibility of hope (dangling precariously from Keinan's slippery, affecting turn), they yank it away with a queasy turn of events. Stomaching the explicit violence—which includes everything from blowtorched flesh to ripped nails to broken fingers—is one thing; stomaching the moral abyss that Big Bad Wolves peers into is another thing altogether.
Confined to more or less one location for most of the film, Keshales and Papushado nonetheless weave an intense, compelling tale for 110 increasingly savage minutes. Their ability to draw the audience directly into this warped world almost exclusively through a set of performances is admirable. It's rare that a film goes beyond making audiences uncomfortable via sheer violence—while the duo exploits that, they go several steps further by crafting a genuine investment in these characters that makes the twisting plot and violent outbursts all the more impactful.
Daring to go one step further and coax laughter suggests an almost anarchic outlook not too far removed from debut feature Rabies. However, this is a much more polished, assured effort moored to actual drama, whereas that film carried itself much more glibly. If that film was an Israeli Bay of Blood, then this one is more in the vein of Blue Ruin or Prisoners in its attempt to mediate on the destructiveness of revenge. By their own admission, it's a reflection of Israel's "existential anxiety," something I typically wouldn't bother to note but feel compelled to acknowledge because I don't want to presume about a region I have little experience with. Obviously, it's one of the world's most tumultuous areas, and Big Bad Wolves holds up a mirror to all of its uncertainty, resulting in a topsy-turvy tale where nothing is quite certain. (It's worth noting that the lone Palestinian here is pointedly a helpful farmer, suggesting that boogeyman outsiders aren't to blame for Israel's own self-destructiveness.)
Eventually, all Big Bad Wolves can do is gaze into that mirror and find the gall to admit that, ultimately, maybe we have to laugh to keep from crying.
Average members rating (out of 10) : Not yet rated


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Zach Parise tries to battle on after father stops chemo for lung cancer
By Ryan DadounJan 5, 2015, 8:52 AM EST
When he's been healthy enough to do so, Zach Parise has participated in every one of the Minnesota Wild's games this season. That couldn't have been easy for him while his father and retired NHL all-star J.P. battled Stage 4 lung cancer. J.P. decided that he would discontinue his chemotherapy and his condition has worsened over the past few weeks.
"It's the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life," Zach Parise told the Star Tribune. "You try and find that separation, you try to come here and be around the guys and not think about it, and Yeozie [coach Mike Yeo] has been really good and the team's been really good giving me the day off [Thursday], saying basically, 'Just show up for games.'
"They've been really supportive about it, but the hard part about it is you try to go to the rink and forget about stuff, but the hard part is … this was kind of our thing."
Hockey was something shared between the two of them. J.P. Parise would come to his son's games and they would talk after the contest.
"That's not there anymore. So, so … it's been tough," Zach said.
He tries to cope with seeing what his father is going through and what it's doing to his mother, but he doesn't feel like he's succeeding.
"He doesn't deserve it," he said of his father.
Amid all of this, the Wild have been struggling and Parise has recently beaten himself up over his performance despite the fact that he has a team-leading 30 points in 32 contests. Yeo doesn't agree with Parise's harsh assessment of his own play and the coach hopes the Wild will be able to turn their season around soon so that the team's play can be a positive in Parise's life during a time when he needs them.
Follow @RyanDadoun


The continuing hiatus seems to be due in no small part to the protracted negotiations undertaken as part of the residual estate transfer to the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister).
Alternatively, a fractional-share-of-residue formula calculates a fractional portion of the residual estate.
He devised 60% of his residual estate, which included valuable stock, to his son, Franklin M.
Most choose to name the WHA as a direct beneficiary in a bequest, but some may name the WHA as a residual estate beneficiary or as a contingency beneficiary, after other specific desires are provided for.
Your planned giving for the WHA: how do I include the WHA in my estate planning?
For example, if the total estate is 275 zuz, after Wife A withdraws with 50 zuz, the residual estate is 225.
Instead of funding the family trust with only the maximum allowable estate tax credit ($2 million in 2007), the will provides that any residual estate assets above the estate tax exemption goes to the family trust, too.
If they want to maintain control, either complete or partial, and provide a residual estate until they reach the end of their life expectancy but hedge their longevity risk, the cost is approximately $30 to $50 in reduced monthly income during the first 20 years of retirement.
The school has been left 75% of Mr Jones's widow's residual estate.
Trusted to distribute a series of small bequests, Peter Sanders allegedly began to milk the residual estate which should have benefited a close friend of Mr John Sutcliffe after probate was granted.
Alice Gloster, a native of Moneygall in Co Tipperary, left a third of her residual estate to the Friends of Nenagh Hospital group.
Early distributions from the residual estate can also help to shift IRD and other income to lower-bracket beneficiaries.


Every two years, the Donate Life Transplant Games brings together organ, eye, tissue and bone marrow recipients; living donors; donor families; and donation and transplant professionals to celebrate the success of transplantation; honor the legacy of donors; provide hope to those who continue to wait; and promote donor registration.
The 2018 Transplant Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah from August 2-7.
Congratulations to Team Buffalo for joining in the Transplant Games! Several of our athletes won medals and all helped to raise awareness of donation and transplantation!


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Home / Blog Tour / Giveaway / Blog Tour. Top Tens and Giveaway--> Aredyrah Series by Tracy A. Akers
Blog Tour. Top Tens and Giveaway--> Aredyrah Series by Tracy A. Akers
Njkinny 5:00 PM 0
Indie Hoopla Gala (5/5) | Mary's Cup of Tea (5/6)
Siren's Dreamscape (5/7)
Njkinny's World of Books & Stuff (5/8) | Carpe Diem (5/8)
My Twisted and Kinky World (5/9) | Indie Author How-to (5/9)
Saintz Realm Spotlightz (5/12)
Fated Dimensions (5/13) | My Inner Muse (5/13)
A Saintz Dream (5/14) | The Blood Flow (5/14)
My Fae-void Demon (5/15)
Laki Loves Indies (5/16) | Hell Fyre Risen (5/16)
Series: Souls of Aredyrah
Game of Thrones meets Narnia in this epic tale of two boys whose chance meeting leads them to a disturbing discovery: Not only are they bound by blood and prophecy, but their opposing beliefs are founded on similar lies. With adventure and romance, mysticism and cultural conflicts, this coming-of-age tales asks: What would you do if you learned everything you've been raised to believe is false—and those in power will do anything to stop the truth?
In the world of Aredyrah, things are not what they seem. An ancient Purge has plunged the island into darkness, isolating its cultures by superstition and fear. Dayn lives in the northernmost region of Kirador and knows nothing of the great city-state of Tearia far to the south. All he knows is the Kiradyns are the only survivors of a god's fiery wrath, and he looks nothing like them. Meanwhile Ruairi, a prince destined for greatness, resents his Tearian obligations, longing for a life he can never hope to have. But when tragedy takes his beauty as well as his name, he finds himself exiled by the very beliefs he once held dear. Both boys long for acceptance in societies that cling to religious ideals, but when fate throws them together, Dayn and Ruairi discover some unwelcome truths: not only are they bound by blood and prophecy, but the teachings they have been raised on are nothing more than lies. Will they reveal what they have learned, risking their lives and the security of those they love? Or will they keep silent, denying their destinies and the future enlightenment of their world?
Buy Book #1: The Fire and the Light
Ebooks: Kindle | Smashwords | Nook | Sony
Paperback: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
The Prophecy has come to life in Tearia, and the Temple wants nothing more than to see it dead. Whispers say the Unnamed One walks amongst them, and there is little doubt as to who that person is. Reiv is oblivious to the hopes turning in his direction, just as he is ignorant of a plot being waged against him. He has no time for rumors or innuendos; he is too busy trying to build a new life for himself. But the life he longs for will have to wait. A rebel movement is growing, and Reiv's cousin Dayn has joined the insurgents in their cause.
Angered by Dayn's involvement, Reiv reverts to his old self-serving behaviors. He wants nothing to do with prophecies or rebellions, and isn't sure he wants anything to do with Dayn either. But when tragedy throws Reiv into new turmoil, he finds himself facing a dangerous choice. Someone he loves is dying, and there is only one chance to save him.
Will Reiv choose to be a Transcendor, fated to sacrifice his life for another? Or is he truly the Unnamed One, a hero destined for glory? One will save the life of an individual, the other that of an entire kingdom.
Buy Book #2: The Search for the Unnamed One
Amazon | Smashwords | BN | Kobo
The saga of Aredyrah continues as Dayn and Alicine return to Kirador to find things very different from when they left. Their house has been ransacked, their parents missing, and evidence of spell work has put a price on Dayn's head. Frightened, they go to the nearest place they know of: the homestead of Haskel, a man who has never been accepting of Dayn's differences, and even less so of his own son's.
Back in Tearia, Reiv has settled into the quiet life of a Shell Seeker. But while the rhythm of his routine is calm, the longings of his heart are not. He turns to Cora, an eye-catching girl who has also drawn the attentions of Lyal, a man whose hatred of Reiv goes far beyond jealously. But romance is the least of Reiv's worries. A terrible plague is spreading, and Reiv's brother, the King, is determined to burn it from the land—even if it means killing innocents along the way.
While Reiv risks annihilation by Tearia's increasingly brutal king, Dayn suffers challenges of his own. His disappearance from Kirador months before not only ended the existence he once knew, but started a witch hunt that threatens his safety and the survival of his clan.
Both Dayn and Reiv find themselves facing a difficult choice: Leave their homelands in order to save themselves and those they love, or stay and fight an evil they cannot hope to defeat.
Buy Book #3: The Taking of the Dawn
In this final installment of the award-winning Souls of Aredyrah series, Dayn and Reiv find themselves facing an old foe and falling into the trap of a new one. Struggling to make their way home through a bitter landscape, they soon discover they are not alone. A tribe known as the Taubastets has captured them in a life-or-death scenario, and the tribe's chief is determined that one of them must be sacrificed. When a young warrior named Tyym vows to see them home, they face decisions that will not only affect their survival, but the spiritual salvation of their world.
While Reiv, Dayn, and Tyym navigate a web of conspiracy and doubt, Dayn's sister Alicine struggles with loss and the impending threat of invasion. The king of Tearia has not abandoned his quest to slay them, and his seemingly unstoppable army is nearly through the pass. But when Tyym enters the scene, hope is rekindled. Even Alicine cannot deny the charisma of the mysterious warrior who has wormed his way into their lives, and into her heart.
The game is in play. A traitor is in their midst. Can the souls of Aredyrah hope to defeat a monster disguised as a king? Or will they succumb to a darkness beyond their understanding?
Buy Book #4: The Shifting of the Stars
Tracy A. Akers is a former language arts teacher and an award-winning author. She grew up in Arlington, Texas, but currently lives in Florida with her husband, three naughty pugs, and a feisty chihuahua. She graduated with honors from the University of South Florida with a degree in Education, and has taught in both public and private schools. She currently divides her time between writing, lecturing, spending time with her family, and costuming at fantasy and science fiction conventions.
Ms. Akers has won numerous awards for her Souls of Aredyrah fantasy series for young adults. As a Florida Book Awards winner, she was acknowledged for her contribution to YA literature by the Governor of Florida during the 2008 Florida Heritage Month Awards Ceremony. Books One and Two of the Aredyrah Series are included in the Florida Department of Education's 2008 Just Read Families Recommended Summer Reading List. In addition, Ms. Akers has been an invited guest author at major book events and writers' conferences, a panelist at fantasy and science fiction conventions, and was on the steering committee for Celebration of the Story, a literary event held at Saint Leo University.
The Souls of Aredyrah Series is Ms. Akers' first series of novels for young adults.
Top Tens List:
Ten things no one know about me (the first five were recently posted in a previous blog, so are no longer a "secret", but the last five are new confessions!):
1. The only class I ever failed was high school French. I am not proud.
2. I'm terrified of spiders, but have "pet" spiders on my front porch.
3. I collect pug figurines. I really do need to stop.
4. I think Charlie Hunnam is the handsomest actor on the planet.
5. I have a fear of dialing wrong numbers. (Not sure what that's called. It's so weird, there probably isn't even a name for it.)
6. I believe in reincarnation, but I don't like the idea of it. (Seriously, who wants to repeat middle school?!)
7. I watch at least one episode of The Big Bang Theory every day. I can't help myself.
8. I get my news from a newspaper (yes, one that is delivered to my door.)
9. My favorite flower is a red tulip. My grandmother bought me one for my birthday when I was a little girl, and they have given me the "warm fuzzies" ever since.
10. I hate Valentines Day, and I do not use the word lightly. When I got married, I informed my husband that he was to never (ever) get me anything for Valentines Day. We have been happily married for 34 years.
$25 Amazon.com or BN.com Gift Card giveaway Ends 31/05/2014. Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com or BN.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kisha from Indie Hoopla Services & Promotions, http://indiehoopla.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW
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text:
Nicolas Josef Eugene Holl (10 December 1855 in Provins – c. 1919) was a French entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Nicolas Holl was a military engineer. Holl collected extensively in Algiers and Blida. His collections were sold to Walter Rothschild. He was a Member of the Société entomologique de France.

Works
partial list
Holl, 1909 Sur deux variétés de coloration du Thestor Ballus F. [Lep. Lycaenidae] Bull. Soc. ent. Fr. 1909 : 228-229
Holl, 1910 Description d'une variété nouvelle de Thais rumina L. [Lep. Papilionidae] Bull. Soc. ent. Fr. 1910 : 164

References
Oberthür, C. 1916 Lepidopterists Études de lépidoptérologie comparée, impr. Oberthür 11
Rothschild, W. 1925 Critical List of the collection of Algerian Lepidoptera of the late Captain N. J. E. Holl. Novitates Zoologicae. 32 : 195-229 online

French lepidopterists
1855 births
1919 deaths


Attending all the family gatherings and events this time of year can be extremely difficult for those with injuries, chronic illnesses, and brain injuries or dysfunction. Here are a few tips that are helpful to get through these events and yet enjoy the people who are present. It exhausts those dealing with the above-mentioned issues, so planning and organization is the key.
These skills may be extremely difficult or impossible to manage early after injury so hopefully someone will help you with these. Things that seem so simple to the average person, is not to those dealing with these medical issues.
This key will help not only the person involved, but the loved-ones who surround this individual on a regular basis. Help these people make the most out of life and help yourself. Not everyone has the ability to figure out what works best for them.
Here is a basic guideline that may be helpful. Every day is a gift and for these challenged individuals they know how precious their energy and time are to them. They also do not deliberately make others feel uncomfortable. Everyone wants to enjoy other people and events.
Here are a few ideas to help your loved one and yourself attend events. It's all about thinking ahead and planning. Rushing is the last thing you want to do. Disorganization also increases anxiety and overwhelming feelings for all involved.
Plan to wear layers of clothing. It's easier to take off and put on to meet the temperature of the environment.
Wear flat non-skid bottom shoes, it's best to keep your balance than fall. And you don't want to be slipping either.
Is this an outside event? Do you have a special outdoor collapsible chair that is your favorite and most comfortable? Will you need a light weight blanket or covering? A cushion for a bench seat? A foldable seat with a back for bench seats?
Take a pen, paper, or something that could help distract you if you feel overwhelmed and cannot leave because you are with other family members.
Find the quiet spot around to avoid excessive stimuli.
Engage in conversation when you can. Remove yourself when you feel you can't handle the situation any longer.
Say nothing…instead of outbursts of how you really feel. It might save a relationship or two…at least for the meantime.
Bake or make whatever food items you are taking to the party. Never do this on the day of the party. It will exhaust you and you won't have energy to either attend or enjoy others.
This is for the best outcome. It's the ideal, but you might find it's the only option you have to make it to an event and leave without incident.
Take a long bath or shower and relax…you need to relax all your muscles.
Rest until attending…practice deep breathing, take a healthy walk, do simple exercises to keep yourself healthy.
Do not write…writing can take a toll and deplete brain energy so hold off till the next day!
Do not text message…this can get you involved in other emotional issues, put that off until the next day.
Do not take telephone calls…it's not time to take in other issues or solve other problems.
Do not listen to music…it can also drain your emotional energy, unless you are listening to soft and relaxing music. The only exception is soft and relaxing music.
Do not watch television…it drains your emotional energy!
Do not waste your energy on anything…conserve your energy!
Get familiar with the environment: know where the restrooms are located; know where the trash cans are located; know where the food is at; remember where you parked.
Looking for decreased stimuli and still attend the commencements, graduation parties, weddings and all those events that require your attendance? Overwhelming information floods the brains and minds of traumatic brain injured survivors. With these overwhelming feelings brings great discord to those who you are surrounded with and love you the most.
Pick an item your friend, sister, etc are getting. Don't try to pick off a very complicated menu such as in a restaurant. Think about what you want to eat before you arrive to a restaurant.
Use a cane or whatever so you can visibly be seen, instead of shoved in crowds. When people see assistive devices they rarely push, and will walk around you. Prevent injuries at all cost.
Wear flat shoes, your balance is off you can easily fall. Avoid falls.
Dress in attire that you are comfortable. Wear layers so you can easily take off a jacket or sweater to be cooler, or put back on to be warmer.
If it's a bad day for you, don't make excuses just STAY HOME! You can't please everyone, but you need to take care of yourself.
Excellent, helpful. Edie, you can help TBI sufferers and others too. I just found this so helpful myself, in approaching life as a senior.
Edie, this is kind of a sweet benefit of a difficult time. You'll be steps ahead of us!!
Your detailed suggestions about getting ready for/attending an event are wonderful ~ especially from the standpoint of us who don't have TBI but might invite a friend/family member with it! WE need to be more sensitive to their needs and aware of them. Also…. I know soft music helps people relax, but contemporary Christian music pumps my adrenalin, such as the songs played on KLOVE Christian radio…so if people with TBI need a energy boost, would that help?
Thank you for your comment. I think music can be powerful for energy and healing. Every one recovers differently. Any sort of stimuli can drain the mental abilities and become exhaustive. I think it's very individualized. In my situation I do not ride or drive in a car with music, and I'm just getting to play very small amounts weekly…not even daily and that's two decades later. But I also believe it depends on how one is using their brain. I think if they keep trying to learn, the music might be more limited because it also causes distractions and mental fatigue.
Thank you for what you do best, educating those of us who don't have TBI. I never realized music could cause mental fatigue, but it makes sense.
OK I love this post and all the suggestions. I am getting totally overwhelmed with the kids graduation and pre high school stuff. SO many events and transitions and TOO much to do.
I read this several times and will take your advice on much of this. I may bow out of a potluck tomorrow and just be alone in a quiet house. I know I need it, I also don't want to miss the transitions and the goodbyes.
I have a serious question for you: I am looking at 'what is next?' now that the kid is getting older. I am looking forward to returning to the work force. I have been blessed to be able to stay home with him AND I miss grown up work. some one close to me said to me recently, "you will never be self sufficient again." I was floored. It was perhaps the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me. I KNOW my limitations I GET it and I want to return to work. I was a community organizer for special interest groups on the left and specialized in electoral politics. I KNOW I am not going back to that: the stress is insane. What can I do? What DO people with a TBI do for money?
I am up late so upset about this; I know there is some truth in the mean statement. But it is not all true is it?
What do you know about this? Any ideas? I know I need to NOT multitask, work insane hours, be in a noisy place, that DOES cut out a lot of my options given my skill set.
I am so sad and frustrated right now and I came here because YOU are wise and know only to well what this is like.
Jen, First Do not listen to any put-down or demeaning comments. I know you heard the negative comments and will continue to simply because people are rude, judgement and ignorant lacking education in specific areas! Hearing comments and listening to it is two different things. Don't play it over in your mind. You heard it, but don't listen to it! Does that make any sense? Consider the source, it's their problem for failing to understand and communicate effectively. However, I do know how hurtful these comments are and it just crushes ones confidence…but only briefly and TEMPORARILY! Is this someone you sincerely care about and helps you on a daily basis? If not, that person absolutely does not know you or what you deal with.
You are an over-achieving and type-A personality and there is a place in the workforce for you. You've come a long way with your experiences and have a great deal to offer! Remember to take a little time for yourself after your son's graduation. Congratulations Mom as your son Graduates! He got there because of you! That's the hardest job in the world, so any other career path you choose will be a breeze providing you accommodate for your limitations.
I need time to think through some ideas, but wanted to reply for now. I did include a few thoughts, but you don't need to make up your mind today! Just know there is plenty for you to remain independent, and you are employable. I'm thinking that returning to work part-time off-shifts where stimuli is less when that is possible would be a route to begin thinking of. What I would suggest for TBI survivors and others with challenges of any sort would be things such as working at Hospice Centers, Home Health, Community Service areas, etc.
I definitely would not mention any limitation to any employers, simply because of discrimination…it happens even with the American Disability Act (ADA). They do not hire. Even after being hired do not disclose any personal information EVER, because it will be held against you as though you've done something wrong…and as unfair as that is it happens all the time. And it happened to me! This is something very common in nursing, and in nursing schools.
What most TBI survivors and others with similar conditions have in common that the general population doesn't is this: You have learned to compensate for many different things and that is a plus in today's society! Most people just go about their lives without such mishap, but the slightest things will throw them off course and they have a catastrophic reaction for simple things. Now survivors are strong in so many ways … and assets to every company that hires these individuals! Make a plan ahead of time how you would handle certain crisis in the workplace. I will write a post on this in the future. If you think it through ahead of time and have a plan and rehearse it (and don't forget it!lol)…you will always be successful!
I'm concerned about how you are doing. Let me know. You are not alone, and that is why I am here. Step aside and take care of Jen! Hope this helps a little. Stay Safe.


text:
Q: Failed to spawn ngrok in bot framework Emulator in window 11 Ngrok status viewer no any response. Emulator version: 4.14.1
Error as below:
Failed to spawn ngrok. Please go to the Ngrok Status Viewer and download the log file for a more detailed view of the error.{"error_code":102,"status_code":400,"msg":"invalid tunnel configuration","details":{"err":"yaml: unmarshal errors:\n line 1: field region not found in type config.HTTPv2Tunnel\n line 1: field path not found in type config.HTTPv2Tunnel"}}

A: This is a known issue caused by breaking changes in Ngrok v3.x. There is already an open PR to update Emulator to support Ngrok v3.x. Until a new version of Emulator is released, you can work around this issue by using Ngrok v2.x.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Safety Coordination Services trains you and your employees about workplace health and safety. We teach leadership, communication, crisis management and prevention. In order to carry out these activities, you also need the materials to do so. To continue the trend of anticipating your needs, we also sell safety supplies. Our loyal customers always get the best prices at SCS.


text:
Give It Up for the 81-Year-Old Grandmother Who Crushed a Beer Mile
"If it was scotch we were drinking instead of beer, I would have run a lot faster."
Thomas Freeman
Here's a woman who can handle her booze.
A 81-year-old grandmother crushed the competition at the 2015 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships in Austin, Texas. Zipping across the finish line like a bat out of hell, Elvira "Vera" Montes finished the race in just 20 minutes and 24 seconds, downing four lagers in the scurry.
Even better, Montes beat her 47-year-old daughter at her own game, crossing the finish line a full minute earlier. "My daughter Renee told me about. I told her I didn't think I could do it but she encouraged me to," the El Paso native told the El Paso Times. Montes even managed to emasculate her weak-kneed son-in-law, who was unable to finish the marathon.
For those of you unfamiliar with the arcana of speed drinking, beer miles marry good old-fashioned track and field with the alcoholic gymnastics of the frat house. Runners kick off the race by chugging a 12-ounce beer. After every quarter mile, participants must chug another, which adds up to an additional three times. They aren't recommended for the elderly. [Editor's note:Only one Maxim.com has ever succesfully completed a beer mile, which is embarrasing]
However, the ordeal barely rattled the gray-haired beer-guzzler. "It was just like drinking water," she told The Washington Post.
As it turns out, she has had some practice. Montes is an avid runner who, reportedly, can finish a 5K with no trouble. As for her alcohol endurance, Montes isn't actually much of a beer drinker. She prefers the hard stuff.
"I'm really a scotch drinker, Chivas if it's available," She told the El Paso Times, "If it was scotch we were drinking instead of beer, I would have run a lot faster."
Give it up to the oldest finisher of the 2015 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships. We know she'd kill that scotch mile if she got the chance.
Photos by @WomensRunning on Twitter
Drinking GamesBeer MilesportsEntertainmentGive It Upbeer


Food, Comedy and Rock & Roll!
I am pretty much obsessed with the Food Network and most recently with the Cooking Channel; whenever I watch TV I often focus on those channels. A few months ago a new show started on the Cooking Channel called Bitchin' Kitchen and from the first episode I was hooked!
The show features Nadia Giosia, a spunky Italian gal who whips up unexpected, yet delicious concoctions as well as hysterical tips for your daily life (from impressing your in-laws, rockstar recipes to break up meals.) Nadia along with her crew: Panos, Hans & Spice Agent entertain millions of households in Canada & the United States. The Bitchin' Kitchen concept started as a web series and slowly but surely broke mainstream and the show's fan base grows every day.
I had the opportunity to sit-down with Nadia during her recent visit to San Francisco where she participated in the ZAP Festival. She took the time from her busy agenda to talk to me about everything, from how she got started, her love of fashion & music and she even answered questions that fans tweeted to me before the interview. If you tweeted a question, listen to the interview to catch Nadia's answer.


text:
import sys
sys.path.append('../py')

from iroha import *
from iroha.iroha import *

d = IDesign()
mod = IModule(d, "mod")

tab = ITable(mod)
st0 = IState(tab)
tab.initialSt = st0
st1 = IState(tab)
st2 = IState(tab)
st3 = IState(tab)
tab.states.append(st0)
tab.states.append(st1)
tab.states.append(st2)
tab.states.append(st3)
design_tool.AddNextState(st0, st1)
design_tool.AddNextState(st1, st2)
design_tool.AddNextState(st2, st3)

# task table.
task_tab = ITable(mod)
task_st0 = IState(task_tab)
task_tab.initialSt = task_st0
task_tab.states.append(task_st0)
task = design_tool.CreateTask(task_tab)
task_entry = IInsn(task)
task_st0.insns.append(task_entry)

# insns in main table.
ext_input = design_tool.CreateExtInput(tab, "data_in", 0)
in_insn = IInsn(ext_input)
in_r = IRegister(tab, "r")
in_r.isWire = True
in_r.valueType = IValueType(False, 0)
in_insn.outputs.append(in_r)
tab.states[0].insns.append(in_insn)
df_in = design_tool.GetResource(tab, "dataflow-in")
df_insn = IInsn(df_in)
df_insn.inputs.append(in_r)
tab.states[0].insns.append(df_insn)
# task call
caller = design_tool.CreateTaskCall(tab, task_tab)
call_insn = IInsn(caller)
st2.insns.append(call_insn)

design_tool.ValidateIds(d)
DesignWriter(d).Write()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Benzoin (Styrax benzoin) is native to Asia and also botanically known as Styrax tonkinensis. It comes from the family Styracaceae. The resin and essential oil are obtained from the bark.
Benzoin essential oil smells like warm, creamy vanilla with balsamic undertones.
This is a tropical tree that can grow to over 65 feet in height, up to as high as 115 feet. It has citrus-like pale green leaves that are almost white on the underside. There are white fragrant flowers on the tree, as well as fruit which is hard-shelled, flattish in shape, and only about the size of a nutmeg.
In tropical Asia, "Sumatra" benzoin comes from the Sumatra and Malaysian regions. "Siam" benzoin comes from Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Siam benzoin (S. tonkinensis) is not used medicinally, so make sure you are getting Styrax benzoin.  You may see the oil listed as onycha essential oil.
Benzoin is formed when there is an injury to the trunk of the tree. It "bleeds" a balsamic resin. This resin, upon being exposed to the light and air, hardens, and is then collected.
The crude benzoin goes through a solvent process that usually uses alcohol and benzene to create benzoin resinoid or resin absolute. While there is a "true" absolute that is made in small quantities, the benzoin on the market is often dissolved in a solvent like ethyl glycol.
Benzoin blends well with black pepper (Piper nigrum), copaiba balsam (Copaifera officinalis), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), juniper (Juniperus communis), lemon (Citrus limon), may chang (Litsea cubeba), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), patchouli (Pogostemon cablin), and more.
Anyone with highly sensitive skin or those prone to reactions should perform a skin patch test prior to using.
Benzoin should not be used in ultrasonic diffusers or any that clog easily. It is very viscous and is best suited to being mixed with other oils in candle warmer type diffusers.
It has been burned as incense in religious ceremonies for thousands of years.
The French burned it to inhale it in order to ease respiratory issues.
Southern Asians used it to mend circumcisions.
Today, benzoin is used commercially for fragrancing perfumes, toiletries, cosmetics, and more. It is helpful as a fixative in these as well and can extend their shelf life. You can find it on the labels of many skin protectors, too.
The food and beverage industry use benzoin as a flavoring.
While it may seem daunting, making your own perfumes and colognes can be quite fun. It is not as hard as you might think, and you could end up with your perfect scent that is unique to you; no one else in the world would have it.
Benzoin is a base in scenting and used as a fixative. Try top notes of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), orange (Citrus sinensis), and juniper (Juniperus communis), add middle notes of clary sage (Salvia sclarea), and round the base off with Peru balsam (Myroxylon balsamum).
When you are blending, always start with the base, then add the middle, then the top. Start with very little; you can always add more. If you do, only add one drop at a time. Often letting the scent sit for a couple days to mesh is all it takes, so don't rush the process!
In the winter, there is nothing like a hot bath with some essential oils to take your mind off of your worries and the swirling bitter winds outside.
Add the oils to a cup of Epsom salts or a teaspoon of aloe vera, then swirl into your bath water.
With all of these benefits, you can imagine that benzoin can provide a wealth of benefits for you and your family at home.
Whether you only get bouts of dry skin in the winter cold or battle year-round alligator skin, benzoin can help provide relief.
Benzoin combined with myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) and geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) in equal amounts to a quality scentless lanolin cream will work wonders! Be sure to follow the rules of dilution.
When you think of oils to reach for in cases of respiratory illness like bronchitis, tonsillitis, and the like, you probably think of mints or any of the eucalypti varieties.
However, benzoin can help as well. Use two drops each of benzoin, hyssop (H. officinalis var. decumbens), and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) in a bowl of steaming water. Breathe in the vapors with a towel over your head for five minutes.
There are not many studies on the medicinal efficacy of benzoin; however, there were a few to be found.
A study in a 2018 e-publication of Planta Medica, researchers wanted to determine what essential oils would be best used to cover up embarrassing foot odor (bromodosis).
Benzoin oil, in conjunction with the herbs aloe, tolu balsam, and storax, works well as a skin protector. Together, they are called "compound benzoin tincture."
Benzoin has been used throughout history for rituals, in religious ceremonies, and as medicine.
While it is not technically an essential oil, the same rules apply. Find a supplier you can trust. Make sure the product you purchase has the name, botanical name, and country of origin.
There should be no other ingredients listed, and it should be supplied in a dark bottle. Use it sparingly and be sure only to use it in diffusers that it won't get clogged, like candle-warming types.


text:
Items In N.Y. Hunting Cabin Linked To Escaped Killers, Police Say
By Krishnadev Calamur
Published June 22, 2015 at 2:43 PM PDT
Items recovered from a hunting cabin in rural New York could be linked to the two convicted killers who escaped from prison more than two weeks ago, police said Monday.
"We have recovered specific items from that cabin," State Police Maj. Charles Guess said at a news conference. "We have forwarded them to the appropriate laboratories and reached conclusive determination but are not prepared to release that evidence at this time."
The New York Times quoted an official briefed on the investigation as saying that DNA matching that of Richard Matt and David Sweat was found in the cabin in Mountain View, N.Y. The cabin is 15 miles from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora from which Matt and Sweat escaped June 6. Here's more from The Times:
"The forensic evidence indicated that the men had been there within the last 48 hours, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the search and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"A pair of prison-issued underwear was also found in the cabin, the official said."
As NPR's Scott Neuman reported at the time of their escape, Matt was convicted of beating a man to death in 1997; Sweat murdered a sheriff in 2002. Their spectacular escape has prompted a massive manhunt; authorities charged a prison worker with "providing material assistance" to the two convicted killers.
Krishnadev Calamur
Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.
See stories by Krishnadev Calamur


This company is a social enterprise trading as a Community Interest Company and was established in 2007. We are unusual in that our Governance insists that 100% of our Board are people who identify as Disabled.
We were founded on the concept of Community Solutions, having disabled people as our experts by experience. We believe in social justice and the rights of disabled people. We want people to be treated as Equal Value Partners. From this we have developed several models of supporting people to live lifestyles of choice in their own communities. TLS took over the majority of Thurrock Council's disability services on the 1st of February, 2013 and in 2015 were listed as number one for the Eastern region Nat West SE100 index. Finalists in the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2017 in the Health & Social Care category.
"A world where disabled people live with no barriers and have a positive community experience, their individual aspirations are met and they have total choice and control."