Why does it makes sense for finance departments to spearhead the digital transformation push?
As the fourth industrial revolution rapidly becomes a reality, Australian businesses are pouring hopes, dreams and billions of dollars into digital transformation.
Like their counterparts around the world, they're driven by the promise of increased efficiency and profitability. There's also the fear that not taking action will render them uncompetitive with more nimble rivals, which are re-engineering their infrastructure and processes for the digital era.
Managing transformation is typically viewed as the remit of the ICT department but there's a case to be made for having the finance and accounting team play a central role in spearheading the drive towards digital.
Digital transformation is likely to add an estimated $45 billion to Australia's GDP by 2021 and will increase the country's growth rate by 0.5 of a percentage point annually, according to 2018 research produced by Microsoft and IDC Asia Pacific.
Benefits cited by businesses include improved profit margins and productivity, reduced costs and increased revenue from new products and services.
The deployment of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, as part of wider digital transformation initiatives is predicted to accelerate growth still further.
Local businesses are getting with the program – or planning to. Seventy-one per cent of Australian organisations said digital transformation was core to their business strategy, according to a survey published by IDC in early 2018.
Of those, four per cent claimed to be already enjoying greater market share and profit margins, courtesy of aggressive expansion. The remainder expected to begin experiencing benefits within two years.
The case for change and the end game are both clear. How best to get there – and how much to outlay in the process – is another matter. Enterprise-wide digital transformation programs can demand seemingly unlimited resources – in late 2017, for example, big four bank NAB announced plans to spend an additional $1.5 billion over three years – without the guarantee of immediate returns.
Amid an environment of uncertainty, the finance and accounting team has much to offer. Why? Because producing detailed, measurable and trustworthy results which can be used to inform business decision making has always been their raison d'etre. Following the adoption of digital technologies within the finance department – end-to-end process automation and robust reporting and analytics tools – data-enabled insights can be delivered in real time, not days and weeks after the information is amassed. Just as importantly, the skills acquired in the process – along with the data manipulation expertise the finance team is likely to already possess – can be put to use elsewhere in the enterprise.
Opportunities abound for financial teams to share vital data and process automation knowledge with other business units. In the operations sphere, for example, the finance team can partner with IT to evaluate the cost of new technologies against performance and risk metrics. The investment in new technology and human resources which digital transformation can call for means these calculations are likely to be critically important.
Upstairs in the C-suite, CFOs can expect to be called on more frequently to lend a data-driven risk management perspective to a gamut of matters, ranging from the planning of new facilities to diversification into new markets.
Marketing initiatives may also benefit from access to the plethora of data, and the assistance to interpret it, which a digitised finance department can deliver.
While awareness of digital transformation has grown enormously in recent years, it is yet to occur in a significant fashion in many Australian organisations. As the movement gathers pace, and data analytics tools and technologies become more advanced, finance teams will find a variety of new ways to use them to help the enterprises they work for optimise their performance.
Professional services consultancy McKinsey recommends CFOs explicitly define the leadership roles they wish to play in 'translating burning business questions into use cases for advanced analytics: whether to optimise pricing, identify customer churn, prevent fraud, manage talent, or explore a host of other applications'.
Being able to demonstrate the success of their own department's digital transformation exercise will see CFOs and their teams well-placed to play a pivotal role in helping the rest of the enterprise exploit the possibilities of the digital era.


text:
The whale and the three-masted ship.
Named collection: Allan Forbes Collection
Object type: etchings
Maker: Hollar, Wenceslaus
Place made: unknown
Date made: 1650
Materials: ink; laid paper; mounting
Measurements: 7 in x 12 1/4 in
Nomenclature: whaling scenes
Classification: whales
Etching depicting a stormy sea. In the foreground is a three-masted ship, which sits perilously within the trough of a wave, tilting to the left. This is an extremely dangerous position, and the artist has captured the anxiety of the moment where at any time the ship might swing over and send its crew down to a watery grave. Five others are visible in the background, all tilted at angles, one coming down the crest of the wave. Further ahead in the trough of the wave the back of a whale is visible; drawn along a diagonal, it leads the eye to the ship in peril. Foreground ship flies what appears to be the Amsterdam flag: three horizontal stripes, with three X in the central stripe; however, the central stripe is white and not black as in the actual flag. No artist name or other lettering.
AF-WG-1088
Hollar, Wenceslaus
Bohemian (preferref) Czech, English, German
Bohemian, 1607 - 1677

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When Cameco announced a new northern Saskatchewan scholarship in March this year, we expected a lot of applications.
With more than seventy bright, young applicants from all across Saskatchewan's north, our expectations were surpassed.
We're delighted to help fifteen students begin their new school year in post-secondary institutions here in Saskatchewan. Their fields of study are as diverse as they are and this year's recipients come from all across the north.
Click on the map markers below for information about each of our 2018 Northern Saskatchewan Scholarship recipients.
Cameco is committed to making a positive, long-term difference in local communities. The Cameco Northern Saskatchewan Scholarship is one of the many ways in which we do so. Based on the goals they've described, it's apparent that many of these students are equally committed to making a positive difference back in their home communities.
Congratulations to each of you; we wish you every success in your studies.


text:
Boston Scientific issues urgent recall of Lotus systems manufactured prior to March 2016.
Boston Scientific has sent a letter to its customers notifying them that it is implementing a "voluntary Field Safety Corrective Action (FSCA)" for its Lotus transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system. In the letter, the company reports that action is to remove units from the field that were manufactured prior to a component-related change made in March 2016. The company adds there is no additional safety issue for patients who previously received a Lotus implant because the issue "only involves the delivery system and is not related to the performance of the implanted valve".
The action is related to release mandrel breaks—the release mandrel is a component of the delivery system that is connected to the release pin that facilitates release of the valve from the delivery system. According to Boston Scientific, there has been a number of release mandrel breaks reported for Lotus systems manufactured prior to the component change (March 2016). It says that the most common outcome was resheathing and removing the device, resulting in procedural prolongation. "However, the most severe outcome was catastrophic vessel trauma associated with patient death, which was reported in three cases," the company adds. Boston Scientific says it has not received any reports of release mandrel breaks for units built after the component change in March 2016. The company is now taking action to remove all units from the field that were manufactured prior to this change.
In the letter, Boston Scientific instructs customers to immediately discontinue use of all affected products and remove all of the affected units from their inventory, regardless of where these units are stored in their facility. Segregate the units in a secure place, pending return to Boston Scientific. They also ask customers to "please pass this notice to any health professional of your organisation that need to be aware and to any organisation where the potentially affected devices have been transferred (If appropriate)."
Boston Scientific states that products manufactured after the implementation of the change in March 2016 are not impacted and, therefore, operators can continue to treat patients with those units.
Transcatheter options for AR open up TAVI to a new patient population
Hospitals without high-level designation more likely to miss strokes following TAVI procedures
US FDA approves use of Navitor TAVI valve in high-risk aortic stenosis patients


text:
Let's Talk About Load Carriage
...What we want is not a light battalion but a light army...such mobility is only to be obtained when the army is formed of sturdy men, well-practiced in peace, well-fed In the field, and carrying as regards all arms a really practical equipment. An army which marches light will also maneuver freely.
Prussian General Helmuth von Moltke
We're digging into the fundamentals of load carriage. I spend a lot of time talking about the art of shooting, selecting your equipment, and advocating for a strong body. Now it's time to tie it together.
First, a disclaimer of sorts. This article on load carriage and equipment focuses on the defense of self, home, hearth, and community. The principles here still very much apply to hunting, especially in the mountains, but the types of loads I'm referencing are distinctly fighting-oriented.
In the last few decades, there's been a huge amount of literature detailing the overburdened nature of the American soldier. That's not really a new phenomenon, though. S.L.A. Marshall wrote about it in the 1950s. Earlier studies in wartime casualties and survivability emphasized the importance of "fighting light."
But finding a balance between the capabilities of a human to carry weight, the distinct advantages of modern equipment, and the desire to protect the individual soldier is difficult.
Thankfully, you and I aren't saddled with that burden. We aren't worried about humping mortars, belt-feds, surveillance gear, and other specialized equipment. We're primarily concerned with the ability to produce decisive victory with small arms and not get shot in the process.
Defining the Situation
By now you know I'm not one to openly pontificate about black helicopters and rebelling against a tyrannical government. Those may be interesting discussion topics, in their own right, but foremost on my mind is protecting my family and immediate community.
I grew up in South Florida. I survived Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and then had a fun back-to-back experience with Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma while in college. Losing power for long stretches of time was just part of the deal. One of the experiences that set me on the path to firearms ownership happened during the aftermath of Wilma, where someone kicked in the door of our duplex-mate and stabbed them 16 times with an ice pick.
It took an hour and a half for police to respond.
I've lived through blizzard conditions in Montana, as well as raging fires. I dealt with out-of-control wildfires in California while stationed there.
Like many, I watched in sadness as the little island of Puerto Rico struggled after a massive hurricane.
And now we've lived through the COVID lockdown and massive civil unrest that followed. Al the while, we've seen law enforcement either unable or unwilling to take decisive action.
The one thing that's remained constant through all of these situations is that you're probably going to be on your own for a while. Even more, you can't do it by yourself. You need to sleep, eat. amd perform other bodily functions at some point. That means you need others you can count on.
Scenario X
Let's set the scene. You live in a suburban neighborhood that's distinctly middle class in nature. You've been hit hard by a "Nasty Nate," a record-breaking weather system that's taken down the electrical infrastructure. Your local government is all but shut down and the state government is far more focused on what's going on in the densely-populated urban areas.
Of course, this storm is just a stand-in for any situation. The virus shutdowns, protests, and riots effectively caused this exact scenario. Ok, back to the setup.
The first few days were no big deal. You had a stash of food on hand, and you kept the family entertained the way you always have in the past.
Then the first week went by without recovery. You still had supplies for another few weeks, but many of your neighbors ran out by Day 4. The local grocery stores were a madhouse, as desperate people picked them clean and attacked others who had what they wanted.
Two weeks in, it's a different story. The shortwave radio you kept stashed in your emergency kit is telling you that the urban areas are overwhelmed. Hospitals are at capacity, and people are starting to succumb to the second-order effects of power loss. No environmental controls in homes, expiring medications, no refrigeration, lack of potable water, it's all adding up.
You also hear that the local criminal elements are taking advantage of the minimal police presence to venture into new territory. The storefronts have long since been looted, and they see suburban neighborhoods unaccustomed to "hard life" as ripe for the picking.
After a month, your neighborhood is a ghost town. Those who were able took off hoping for greener pastures. Others were tied to the area for family reasons or just decided to hunker down. After a group of criminals laid siege to a nearby neighborhood, you've been talking to your remaining neighbors about some kind of community watch and protection plan.
Among your group, you've got a few former military guys, though only one of them was infantry. You have a smattering of small arms, binoculars, medical supplies, and handheld radios.
The stage is set, now let's talk about your other problem.
The Problem With Weight
I once thought that Scenario X sounded like something out of Red Dawn, but it's a useful illustration. There aren't black helicopters, blue-helmeted UN troops representing the Illuminati Global Order, or even jack-booted thugs looking to shoot your dog. It's just a bad situation, and you have a need to provide some safety where others cannot.
And, if we're being honest, it's what nearly all of envisioned "how it could go" if the civil unrest happening in May and June 2020 continues to escalate. But I digress.
In a perfect world, you would be able to carry unlimited ammunition, high powered optics, food, water, communications gear, and wear highly-protective body armor, all while keeping it less than 40 lbs.
Unfortunately, we don't live in that kind of world. Everything has a weight penalty, and weight is your absolute enemy.
Military forces throughout history struggled with balancing weight against capability. You can always increase the capability of a fighter by giving them more protection (armor), equipment, weapons, or supplies. But by doing so, you also decrease their mobility, increase their energy expenditure, and increase the likelihood of injury.
Remarkably, the average amount of weight carried by a soldier, from the Roman Legion to modern light fighters, has remained fairly consistent at 60-80 lbs.
The difference really stem from the amount of stuff carried for that weight.
The Roman Legion
I found a discussion on Stack Exchange about this topic.
There were two types of Roman infantry: light and heavy. The average heavy infantryman had a helmet, a mail coat, greaves, a shield, a spatha(broadsword), five weighted darts, and a javelin (pilum). The pilum was five to six feet long with a tip of iron weighing nine ounces. The total weight of the pilum ranged between five and eleven pounds (the pilum were heavier in the days of the republic than of the empire). The shield could weigh over twenty pounds.
The light infantryman carried much of the same items. However, he rarely wore armor. His shield was smaller and usually made of wood. Instead of using pilum, the light infantrymen carried hastae velitares. They were smaller and lighter than the pilum. Many light infantrymen also carried a gladius as a backup weapon.
In addition to their weapons, each infantryman carried spare clothing, a cloak, three to fourteen days of rations, a wicker basket for moving dirt, rope, a waterskin, and a spade or a pickax. These were attached to a cross-shaped frame, forming a pack. The light infantry usually ended up carrying 70-80 pounds of equipment and the heavy infantry often carried up to 100 pounds of equipment.
Maria Milani, another source focusing on Roman history outlined a similar kit.
They highlight that one group led Gaius Marius, popularly known as "Marius' Mules", carried 35-34kg of equipment. That works out to about 70-100 lbs of equipment. So, it's really not too far off from the same kinds of loads we see today.
British Redcoats, 18th Century
It's easy to assume that the 18th Century soldier carried a lighter burden. After all, there was no armor to worry about, and he didn't have a myriad of weapons and a shield at his disposal. But, again, the assumption is wrong.
Each soldier carried a Brown Bess musket with a bayonet. Depending on the construction, figure about 14 lbs. A twelve-pound cartridge box hung around his waist along with a filled wooden canteen.
A backpack held more kit, including a great-coat, kettle, blanket, leather tools, hatchet, and three days of rations. You would expect that this kit only grew in weight as the war dragged on and losses mounted.
The total weight of the equipment was sixty or more pounds.
The Continental Army, coming from mostly British heritage, was likely similarly equipped. Though I might expect some of the guerilla units like Daniel Morgan's traveled a bit lighter and that mobility increased their success.
WWI British Trooper
From that same discussion on Stack Exchange, I found information about a regular British load during The Great War.
The 1908 Pattern Webbing equipment comprised a wide belt with two ammunition pouches containing 75 rounds each. Soldier's also carried left and right braces, a bayonet, attachment for the entrenching tool handle, entrenching tool head in web cover, water bottle carrier, small haversack, and large pack.
Soldiers attached a covered mess tin to their pack. Inside the haversack were personal items, knife, and daily rations.
The large pack normally carried the soldier's Greatcoat or blanket. The full set of 1908 webbing could weigh over 70 pounds (32 kg). And that's not including an 8.8-pound Lee-Enfield Rifle and a 2.4-pound Webley revolver.
This brings the total to over 80 pounds before we talk about the helmet, gas mask, or the emergence of crew-served weapons and supplies.
You should already start noticing a trend here. The equipment itself keeps getting lighter, so the soldier just carries more of it.
I know I've made the point, but I want to break down one more reference point. The military loves to write about how much weight each soldier carries.
By WWII, the weight started getting excessive. The paratroopers on D-Day jumped with loads between 125 and 150 lbs. To stay mobile, many of them ditched as much as they could as soon as they were on the ground and out of sight from the administrative officers who dictated packing lists.
The Navy published a study in 2007 detailing how the average Marine carried between 97 and 135 lbs. Weapons, communications gear, armor, mission-specific tools, cross-loading, supplies, and everything else "required" continued adding up. Add to that a risk aversion to casualties, and the hope is pretty dim.
During the Korean Conflict in the 1950s, S.L.A. Marshall was adamant that a soldier's load should be kept below 50 lbs. That number kept showing up in the US Army's ORO research, like Project ALCLAD. Being too heavy just had too many consequences to mobility and resulted in more casualties.
Alas, the Navy's own study said the most optimistic reduction in weight would only bring it down to about 68 to 110 lbs.
I see this argument come up a lot in studies, actually. A lot of the old-heads sincerely feel like the average ground fighter is reliant on mechanization to carry excess loads, and we've forgotten how to truly get around only by foot.
Adding it All Up
At the end of the day, some weight is unavoidable. That's why you have to be on top of your fitness. But that doesn't mean you should use the military as a model.
I've mentioned S.L.A. Marshall a few times. He was a veteran of WWI, military historian, and author of Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation. He gets cited a lot, though not always for good reasons. Putting aside any controversy surrounding him as a man and his record, it's a good read. His rule for a fighting load is that it shouldn't exceed about 30% of your body weight.
Now, for this number, I suggest using your lean body mass and not gross body weight as I did in the rucking article for training.
For most adults males in decent shape, that works out to about 50 lbs or less. Repeated studies by the Army and Marines in 1954, 1971, and 2003 repeated this number. But it's deceptively difficult to achieve.
Snip from the Navy's 2007 NRAC Study on Lightening the Load
Luckily for our merry band of survivors in Scenario X, we aren't a military fighting force occupying foreign territory. We, like our light-fighting adversaries in Afghanistan, live on top of our logistics train and don't need to worry about much more than our Assault Load. This is the minimum amount of equipment needed to stay in a fight and survive.
The Assault Load
The Marines break down equipment loads into three major categories: Assault Load, Approach Load, and Existence Load. Similarly, the Army calls these categories Fighting Load, Approach Load, and Sustainment Load. FM 3-21.10 details these if you want to look, but it works out to the same numbers the Marines found.
As stalwart neighborhood defenders, you aren't likely to march 20 miles to the fight, drop excess gear, and get to business. Rather, your goal is to stay light and nimble so you can move with aggressive action, minimize exposure, and keep momentum in your favor.
The short version of this is that the assault/fighting load is your minimum equipment required to fight, communicate, and survive in a combat environment. This means your clothing, weapon(s), ammunition, first aid kit, water, protective gear, and communications (i.e. radios, whistles, air horns, whatever you decide).
This needs to be as light as possible.
After many years of experimentation, training, and learning, I've more or less settled on this configuration here as my "standard."
My go-to "fighting kit" not including clothing or assault pack
This configuration came from MVT's Fight Lite concept. Max came up through the British military, which leans heavily on the traditional belt kit. He used to suggest a more belt-centric load, but now suggests something closer to this for civilians defending their home turf.
I detailed this history of my battle belt over in another post. You can find that here.
So what exactly should be in your assault load for defending your community along with your neighbors? We explore that topic in an entire series of articles focused on load carriage methods and gear suggestions.
Belt Kits vs Chest Rigs
Breaking down the basic pro-con of each load carriage method: belts, chest rigs, and harnesses.
CCW Belts
For when discretion is key.
Tactical Duty Belt
For keeping things minimal but not so discreet
Load Bearing Harness
The classics never go out of style
Battle Belts
An evolution of the harness, but not as light as the duty belt.
Slick, out of the way, but not as cool as photos make you think.
Assault Packs
If you're going to carry stuff, you need a place to put it.
I'm curious about your thoughts so far. Have you considered a scenario like this in the past? Have you thought about what exactly you would be carrying and how much it would weigh?
I look forward to continuing this discussion.
Home » Equipment » Let's Talk About Load Carriage
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Ben Dover
Another excellent article. Luckily for me I have several close aquatintes in the area and we actually discussed this after the whole Ferguson events. I figured a defend the homestead load to be AR with LPVO (trijicon accupower) & Surefire m600; g19 or 17 with Surefire X300U on the belt in a raven concealment holster. Also on the belt, double pistol mag pouch, single AR mag pouch. Keeps the belt light and fairly balanced with 3 mags on one side and pistol on the other. Also on the belt is a map edition dump pouch on the back side to… Read more »
The Marksman(@matt)
Replying to Ben Dover
I don't hear it get talked about as much, but the riots like those in Ferguson really did wake a lot of people up. It shouldn't have taken that long, these kinds of things have been going on for a long time. I suppose people just forget. That sounds like a very reasonable lightweight belt load. I've wavered back and forth between 4 mag and 6 mag configurations for the rifle. I settled on 6 (+1 in the gun) simply because it's the military "standard." I'll have more posts going up specifically about my chosen loads and how I arrived… Read more »
Replying to The Marksman
You guys are very high speed. I am still living in the Alice gear world. Wore it so much in service its like a second skin. It has some PIA to it, like the annoying flop of the mag pouches when running. Yet each time I strap into the web gear it's like putting on an old security blanket. Unfortunately I get no extra credit with the wife when sporting the web gear doing chores, just a WTH are you doing look. The civilian – military mindset are at opposite ends of the imminent threat spectrum, no doubt about that.
Replying to Jerry
Ain't nothing wrong with ol' ALICE.
My wife definitely gives me looks sometimes, but then I justify it by saying it's for a review on the site, lol.
Hi Jerry
I For one am not high speed. I just use the gear I would use in competition and have the luck to be good friends to a number of former army and marine grunts. They all prefer plate carriers for anything beyond their usual ccw needs. If I've learned anything it's use what you've got that you can actually use well. All that cool guy stuff is no good if you can't use it.
Howdy Ben, I was using the term "high speed" to imply that your gear was a little more advanced and dependable then the old web gear. The advances over the years are nothing short of impressive and options aplenty. You are certainly correct with regards to gear familiarity.
I understand Jerry. I look back at old photos from WW2 and I'm at that level of LBE, just more modern materials ( and less ammo) I'd love to get a nice chest rig, but I have no idea what what to get and I hate to waste money in the ammo budget on something that isn't what I need.
I'm going to talk about specifically about chest rigs in an upcoming article. My preference leans towards keeping fairly minimal configuration. Plates are fine if you have them and a carrier, which I don't. 3-4 mags and some misc items are all you should really do. Otherwise, it just gets to be too much bulk.
I would always have a harness on the belt. It makes it easier for a team mate (if you have one) to drag you more easily. And if you hook on something with the belt (vegetation or anything sticking out) you won't have your belt potentially pulled down. It also doesn't require your belt to be tight on you. I prefer it slightly loose.
Replying to Norm
Hey Norm, thanks for commenting! Some kind of drag handle is always a good idea. But you have to be careful whether or not the gear is actually strong enough to support getting dragged. My battle belt, for instance, has four loops for use of a harness, and I used to have one attached to it, but I wasn't very confident in the strength of the loops to actually hold up. On my dedicated belt/h-harness configurations, I'm very confident, though. There's always the handle on the pack, too. That said, using a harness on a loaded down belt is definitely… Read more »
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text:
Oszkár Frey (Budapeste, 22 de abril de 1953) é um ex-canoísta húngaro especialista em provas de velocidade.

Carreira
Foi vencedor das medalhas de bronze em C-2 1000 m e C-2 500 m em Montreal 1976, junto com o seu colega de equipa Tamás Buday.

Canoístas da Hungria
Canoístas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1976
Canoístas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1980
Naturais de Budapeste

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Whether you are applying for a new position, your consultant has requested to review your experience and achievements to date, or a colleague would like to consider you for a committee position, your CV is the key that will unlock your future.
Remember, a good CV should make it easy for the recruiting body to determine whether you have the requisite skills and experience for the post. Ensure that before you submit your CV you match your skills and experience within it to the relevant person specification for the post you are applying for. The person specification is the criterion that will be used to determine who is shortlisted for interview. Your CV is a stepping stone to being invited for interview, where you will have the opportunity to elaborate in more detail on your career to date.
As long as it needs to be—Your CV should give the reader enough information for them to explore relevant points during the interview. As a rule of thumb, a length of three to eight pages is sensible. Quality is much more important than quantity.
Do not waste valuable space—Don't include a cover sheet or index in your CV, as this is a waste of valuable space and will take the reader's attention away from the important experience and skills contained within your CV.
Easy on the eye—Avoid using differing fonts and formatting in each section (such as bold, underlining, and italics) as this will draw attention away from what matters the most in your CV—the content. Use the same font throughout (I recommend using Times New Roman or Arial) and keep formatting to a minimum.
Consistency, consistency, consistency—Ensure that the layout, spacing, and structure of your CV are consistent throughout and do not differ from section to section.
Avoid solid blocks of text—It is better to present your skills and experience in a given section as bullet points rather than paragraph after paragraph of solid text as this can be off-putting and daunting to the reader. The aim of a good CV is to make your experience and achievements leap off the page.
Do not fabricate or embellish any information—Your CV is a statement of fact, and if it is found to include information that is untrue you will at the very least lose out on your application chances and at worst land in serious trouble with the General Medical Council.
Separating your experience and achievements into a logical order of headings makes the life of those cross referencing your information to the person specification a great deal easier. Follow a layout of education and professional qualifications, clinical experience, non-clinical skills, extracurricular activities, and finally referees.
I would recommend that you structure your CV using the following headings.
Personal details—Include your full name and abbreviated qualifications, correspondence address, contact telephone numbers, professional email address, date of birth, nationality, and General Medical Council registration number.
Career statement—A clever way to help your CV stand out immediately is to include a personal profile paragraph on the first page that outlines your experience and skills to date and how they make you suitable for the position in question, along with your short and long term goals.
Education and qualifications—List first qualifications obtained from an educational institution—for example, postgraduate qualifications, medical degrees, and previous degrees. Also include here other postgraduate qualifications such as your membership exams, the Professional Linguistic Assessment Board test, or an advanced life support qualification.
Career history—Give your current position first and then list your previous posts. For each post include the full name of the institution, the dates that you worked, the grade and specialty, and the name of your supervisor.
Clinical skills and experience—There are two differing opinions on how best to present clinical experience. You can either group clinical experience together in a separate section or give your clinical experience after each post listed in your career history section. I think it is more concise and less repetitive if you present your clinical skills and experience in a standalone section. Remember to address any particular person specification requirements in this section.
Management and leadership experience—No matter what level you are at, doctors must show management experience, especially in the light of the Medical Leadership Competency Framework. Experience could include committee responsibilities, organising events, rota management, and supervision of juniors.
Development courses and conferences attended—It is important to show your commitment to personal development. List the courses and conferences you have attended, including the title of the course, the course provider and location, the date attended, and the duration.
Research experience—The importance you place on this relating to your career progression will depend on your chosen specialty. Present your experience as the topic of research, time spent, location, supervisor and source of funding, aims and your role, and final outcome.
Clinical audit—It is important to show your participation in clinical audit. Present your experience as month or year completed, the topic of audit, location or institution, your role, and the guidelines audited against.
Presentations and publications—These may arise from research, clinical audit, and teaching experience. List the date presented or published, title or topic, date, and location or journal.
Teaching experience—This is important and adds strength to any application as the whole medical profession relies on participating in teaching. Detail the audiences you have taught—for example, undergraduate or postgraduate, teaching methods employed, and, if applicable, say that this is an area in which you wish to continue to develop your skills and experience.
Information technology skills—More and more institutions require proficient information technology skills, so give details of any particular competencies you have. These could include statistical packages or research tools.
Personal interests—It is important to show a balanced approach to life. Your extracurricular interests relate to your ethos in life and should paint a picture of a well balanced individual.
Referees—List at least two (preferably three) referees from your current and previous posts. Include the full name, position or grade, full address, telephone number, fax number, and email address.
A well structured, clear, and concise CV will be instrumental in securing you a place at interview. Once you have prepared your CV, proofread, proofread, proofread! Ask your peers to review and provide feedback and amend it where you feel necessary. Ensure that your CV aligns to the person specification and that all the hard work you have invested during your career is presented in the best possible light. Your CV is something that you should be proud of and be ready to present at short notice to secure the opportunities you need to progress your career.
The 10th BMJ Careers Fair takes place from 30 September to 1 October 2011 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.
Whatever your grade and specialty, the BMJ Careers Fair has a lot to offer. As well as courses covering CV writing, interview skills, career planning, and more, delegates can visit the exhibition stands to receive careers advice, find a new job, and identify alternative career pathways.
Competing interests: MG is the editor of the book Preparing the Perfect Medical CV.


The Strip in Coralville is iconic of mid-century American strip retail development. Highway 6, also known as 2nd Street, is a 5-lane arterial street with the highest volume of traffic in the metro area. Buildings are located far from the street edge, and the vast majority of the area is covered with paved parking lots. While 2nd Street's sidewalks are adequately wide and established street trees provide shade and enclosure, there are few crosswalks, creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians crossing the street. The Southeast Commercial District, located at the intersection of 2nd Street and 1st Avenue, is comprised of multi-family residential housing, retail, commercial, and industrial uses. Many of the buildings are functionally obsolete and some parcels exhibit evidence of neglect. Creative planning and design proposals envision alternative futures for the district, but existing conditions present several significant challenges. Towering electrical transmission lines bisect the district, some parcels are known to be contaminated and others potentially contaminated, and all new inhabited structures must be elevated above the FEMA 100-year flood plain to be insurable. At the same time, some conditions present opportunities: The Clear Creek and Iowa River waterfronts are underutilized and two rail lines with public transit potential bookend the district, and with any urban design proposal, there are opportunities for creating a sense of identify and place.
Stitching The Strip: 7 Visions for the Future of Southeast Coralville presents urban design ideas for the Southeast Commercial District in Coralville, Iowa. Twenty-three mid-level landscape architecture graduate students enrolled in an intensive 8-week Community Planning and Design studio completed the work during the summer of 2018. The studio was co-led by Associate Professor Blake Belanger and Associate Professor Howard Hahn. The effort was supported with funding from Kansas State University's Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB), and would not have been possible without support and engagement from Maggie Egbarts, TAB Services Coordinator (EPA Regions 5 and 7). We are also grateful for the support and guidance from Dan Holderness, Coralville City Engineer and Scott Larson, Coralville Assistant City Engineer, as well as our visiting design critic Associate Professor Carl Smith who delivered both exceptional insights and humor.
The idea for the collaboration emerged from discussions at the 2017 National Brownfields Training Conference in Pittsburgh. Goals of the collaborative service-learning studio included providing students with first-hand experience working with a community, generating creative ideas for advancing the dialogue about planning the future of southeast Coralville, engaging residents and stakeholders and responding to their input, and supporting the mission of the project partners. The studio's process included rigorous mapping of various conditions, a community planning workshop, design development through an iterative process, a final presentation to project partners and the Coralville Community Advisory Panel, and a public open house exhibiting posters of student proposals.
In Chapter 1, we introduce Coralville's Southeast Commercial District and present eight influential site and contextual factors identified in our research. We detail the studio's methods and process, and introduce the seven student design proposals. In the following seven chapters, we present specific urban design strategies for establishing a new mixed-use district.
In contrast to a singular master plan, the collection of ideas presented in Stitching The Strip provides a multitude of ideas that can be compared, evaluated, prioritized, and perhaps hybridized. We aspire that Stitching The Strip will contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the future of the Southeast Commercial District, and serve as an enduring legacy project for Coralville.


Come join us this school holidays at Rainbow Hollow Yurt in Roleystone for a fun morning workshop of yoga adventures and mindful button/badge making.
This workshop is for children 5-9 year olds.
We will gather together for a fun and stretchy yoga adventure and after, We will have a relaxation and choose an affirmation from the jar.
We will then chat about what an affirmation is and the benefits.
From here it will be time to create our own affirmation buttons. Drawing and designing, then pressing them into little buttons to keep as reminders of how special they are.
Morning tea will be provided but please bring a drink bottle of water.
Workshop runs for 2 hours and all equipment is provided.
Private Address given on booking.


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East of Center
Homepage » Conflict & Diplomacy, Economy & Business, Featured, Politics, Russia, Society, Uncategorized » Europe: Too Afraid to Fail?
Europe: Too Afraid to Fail?
By S. Adam Cardais + September 6th, 2012
"In Tallinn, we would be marching in the streets," an Estonian EU official told me in Pristina in 2009. The official was referring to the roughly one in two Kosovars who can't find work, the highest unemployment rate in a region of extraordinarily high unemployment. On subsequent trips to the Balkans, I've asked many Kosovars and Macedonians and Albanians why, despite ample reason, they're not in the streets. The answer is usually the same: "We're tired of conflict."
The memory of Yugoslavia's violent breakup, still fresh in the minds of even many young people, helps hold the western Balkans together today. Fear is a powerful force of stability and unity.
I thought of this when reading The Crisis of Europe, historian Timothy Garton Ash's new piece for Foreign Affairs (a steal at $2.95 for a pdf).
"Historians have identified many factors that contributed to the process of European integration, including the vital economic interests of European nations," Ash writes. "Yet the single most important driving force across the continent was the memory of war."
The rare scholar with a journalist's appreciation for anecdote and on-the-scene reporting, Ash takes readers from the 1943 Nazi destruction of the Warsaw ghetto to the soup kitchen queues of contemporary Athens to explain the roots of the EU and its current woes. Again and again, he returns to the enduring role of conflict, memory, and in particular fear.
Ash suggests that fear of repeating past tragedies, as well as Soviet Moscow, united post-war Europe despite lingering animosity and distrust. The euro emerged in the 1990s from France's fear that German leaders would bail on the European project after Germany's reunification, in 1990. Like many observers, Ash frames Europe's current mess as a "crisis foretold" – a currency union between vastly disparate economies was doomed – contained today only by, you guessed it, fear – in this case, of the unknown but certainly catastrophic consequences of a euro collapse.
"Adapting a famous phrase of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, one might almost say that today Europe has nothing to put its hope in but fear itself," Ash writes.
An eyewitness to the 1989 democratic revolutions in communist Europe, Ash famously told Vaclav Havel in a Prague pub that "in Poland it had taken 10 years, in Hungary 10 months, in East Germany 10 weeks; perhaps here it [will] take 10 days." Not surprisingly, then, The Crisis of Europe brims with insider insights and details.
"Do you realize," German Chancellor Helmut Kohl asked Ash after reunification, explaining his commitment to united Europe, "that you are sitting opposite the direct successor to Adolf Hitler?"*
Also unsurprisingly, Ash adds historical perspective to the eurozone crisis. For instance, how did leaders think a currency union could survive without a stronger political union to control public spending? Well, Kohl in fact knew better: "Recent history … teaches us that it is absurd to expect in the long run that you can maintain economic and monetary union without political union," Kohl said at the Bundestag in 1991.
"But," Ash writes, "France was having none of that. The point was for it to gain some control over Germany's currency, not for Germany to gain control of France's budget."
Ash is also incisive on how the crisis is re-dividing Europe more than two decades after the Cold War.
"There is a new dividing line across Europe, not between east and west but between north and south," the historian writes. "Now, and probably for years to come, it will be a very different experience to be a young German or a young Spaniard, a young Pole or a young Greek."
On the ultimate question of whether the euro and the larger European project will survive, Ash returns to fear, which "should not be underestimated as a motivating force in politics." What else moved the struggling Greeks to vote for parties committed to the eurozone, and thus austerity, in June's repeat elections?
But Ash's conclusion again evoked the western Balkans, where memory and fear undergird a sort of stagnant stability. Ash:
The fear of collapse, the Monnet-like logic of necessity, the power of inertia: these may just keep the show on the road, but they will not create a dynamic, outward-looking European Union that enjoys the active support of its citizens. Without some new driving forces, without a positive mobilization among its elites and peoples, the EU, while probably surviving as an origami palace of treaties and institutions, will gradually decline in efficacy and real significance, like the Holy Roman Empire of yore.
*Kohl was the first chancellor of a united Germany since Hitler.
Picture of Warsaw in 1945 from Wikipedia
S. Adam Cardais
S. Adam Cardais is a TOL contributing editor. Email: adam.cardais@tol.org.
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Nikephoros II Phokas
by Neuceu
Medieval illumination representing Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (963-969 CE).
Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished. Original image by Neuceu. Uploaded by Ibolya Horvath, published on 06 July 2018. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Public Domain. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
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Nikephoros II Phokas was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969 CE...
John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes was Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976 CE. Although...
Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I ruled as emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 802...
Nikephoros II Phokas Captures Aleppo
Capture of Aleppo by the Byzantines under Nikephoros Phokas in...
Basil II
Basil II (aka Basilius II) was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire...
The Byzantine Emperor ruled as an absolute monarch in an institution...
Neuceu, . (2018, July 06). Nikephoros II Phokas. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8994/nikephoros-ii-phokas/
Neuceu, . "Nikephoros II Phokas." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified July 06, 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8994/nikephoros-ii-phokas/.
Neuceu, . "Nikephoros II Phokas." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 06 Jul 2018. Web. 26 Jan 2023.


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Mass Shootings Are Contagious
A new analysis shows these incidents occur in clusters
No one knows why mass murderers commit their appalling deeds. But new evidence reinforces the idea that mass shootings, publicized in the media, may have a contagious effect.
Researchers at Arizona State University analyzed news reports of gun-related incidents from 1997 to 2013. They hypothesized that the rampages did not occur randomly over time but instead were clustered in patterns. The investigators applied a mathematical model and found that shootings that resulted in at least four deaths launched a period of contagion, marked by a heightened likelihood of more bloodshed, lasting an average of 13 days. Roughly 20 to 30 percent of all such violence took place in these windows.
Previous studies have shown that suicide can be similarly contagious. In one recent example, researchers found a correlation between celebrity suicides, like that of Robin Williams, and an increase in suicidal thoughts in an online Reddit suicide watch group for people battling depression.
"People are susceptible to information about these events, but the mechanism is less clear," says Andres Gomez-Lievano, a co-author of the mass-shooting study, published in July in PLOS ONE. Where and when the news reports were published could have an effect on incidence, says Dan Romer, director of the Adolescent Communication Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved with the study. It is important to note, he says, that "suicides will trigger others, so it makes sense that people who want to commit suicide while killing others could be influenced in the same way." —Kat Long
Psychological Contagions
Many types of thoughts and behaviors can be socially contagious, according to a growing body of work.
Mass psychogenic illness. When we see someone who is physically ill, we can manifest those symptoms simply by observing the person, leading to what looks like an outbreak.
Emotions. Altruism and happiness can spread within social groups. The flip side is true as well: bad moods, sadness, loneliness and depression can also spread in social groups or among individuals.
Weight changes and disordered eating. A 2007 study found that people are more likely to become obese when friends and relatives in their inner circle have gained a lot of weight. Some studies show that weight loss and disordered eating may be contagious, too. —Victoria Stern
This article was originally published with the title "Mass Shootings Are Contagious" in SA Mind 27, 1, 11 (January 2016)
doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0116-11a
Scientific American Mind Volume 27, Issue 1
Discover new insights into neuroscience, human behavior and mental health with Scientific American Mind.


SINGAPORE - We are happy to announce that Fashion Studio Magazine is the official media partner of "India Within: A Fashion Mantra", a charity fashion show taking place on 13 September 2013 in Singapore.
The show is organized by the students of Raffles College of Higher Education and will showcase a new collection of Indian fashion designer Siddharth Shashankan.
Siddharth Shashankan is a Chennai based designer who graduated from Raffles Design Institute, Singapore in 2007 with a degree in Fashion Design. As the Creative Director and Founder of Hangar Atelier, he believes in building a brand that inspires individualism and experimentation in both traditional and non-traditional ways. His signature style includes intricate detailing and designing techniques in innovative styles with high quality fabrics and finishes.
"I always imagine each creation in black and white, constantly questioning myself, when the lights go out, will this piece still be recognisable as a Hangar Atelier, in the pale moonlight? If the answer is yes, I know, I have done my due. As a designer, that is the most important thing to me - creating clothes that are unique and have a sense of timelessness about them. Hangar Atelier is a fragment of my soul, it is something I have grown up with and is a very strong part of my identity." - says the designer.
Expect to see something you haven't seen before as the designer decided to create an exclusive new collection for this event!
The main purpose of the fashion show is to raise money for Club Rainbow, a charity committed to providing comprehensive help to children who are suffering from a range of chronic and life-threatening illnesses. To find out more about the charity, please click here.
*Tickets will go on sale shortly. Stay tuned for the latest updates!
How can we attend the show? Is there a source to buy tickets?
Thank you for your interest in the show!
In this year, this out fit looks reallyy great and unique, especially for fashionable womens.


Beautiful just like the picture and very fast shipping.
Very good. Amazing, same picture. very beutyfull. I am satisfied with my oder seler send ear ring gift. Thank you so much.
I love this teeka! It even arrived early!!! For the price it's AMAZING!!! I can't wait to wear it to my cousins wedding! It feels and looks so expensive. I never leave feedback for anything but this product made me do it! Will definitely buy more products from this store! Thank you so much!


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Civic Organizing
Stories From the Polls: Poll Working Across the Country
Throughout the pandemic, we have witnessed the resiliency of essential workers across the country, whether they were nurses or supermarket workers. But the 2020 election has proven that essential workers extend to those that fight to keep our democracy alive: poll workers. In the days leading up to the presidential election, we asked poll workers to recount their stories from the polls.
Erika, a grad student in the University of Oklahoma's Masters of Social Work program, decided to become an election official this year over concern about the unprecedented nature of the 2020 election. Outside of this election cycle, Erika is also a freelance writer for the Black Wall Street Times in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and does contract work for the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice. Through her contract work, she provides educational programs on the importance of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging programs.
As a poll worker, Erika serves as the Provisional Voting Officer for a polling station at the Hardesty Library in south Tulsa. Provisional Voting Officers help voters who are unable to cast a standard ballot due to various reasons (like an expired driving license, having been purged from the registry, having moved and never changed residential addresses). Happy to connect with less enfranchised voters in this role, she said, "Voting is already not the most accessible task."
"I would work as a poll worker no matter who was running!" She continued: "I am privileged to have the opportunity to take a day away from work and school, and I want to use it to support and promote civic engagement."
Sachi Hwangbo
Sachi Hwangbo is a poll worker for Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. As a Vote Center Lead, she oversees the staff and voters at her site. She shared that the time she spent in Georgia from 2018 to 2019 was what inspired her to participate in poll working.
"The voting experience I had for the 2018 gubernatorial election was marred by voter suppression. It didn't instill my confidence in their election process. This motivated me to do poll work when we moved back to California because I wanted to be part of a better process."
The most rewarding aspect of the experience was the collaboration and "positive energy when the polls are open." She is also proud to see young people and newly naturalized citizens voting for the first time, as she says: "The final turnout for the Presidential Primary Election in Santa Clara County totaled 495,791 ballots cast, representing 52.12% of registered voters. Now, there are officially one million registered voters in Santa Clara County."
Peter Dykstra
Peter had never considered working at a polling station before receiving an email about opportunities to participate in California's presidential primary election back in March.
"Poll working is important because no matter the circumstances, even amidst technological changes or a global pandemic, there will always be a unique American pride in casting your ballot on Election Day. Countless Americans have been denied the opportunity to vote since the founding of our country. Directly helping individuals who want to engage by voting in-person at the polls is essential to recognize where we've been as a country and where we can go from here," Peter said.
Poll Worker 1
Interested in practicing his Haitian- Creole, he decided working at the polls would provide the perfect opportunity. Introduced to the idea by a friend, he applied and participated in a language proficiency test. Described as a "fun and eye-opening" experience, he was introduced to a large Haitian population in his community and expanded his understanding of civic organizing.
When asked what he would tell people interested in poll-working, he said, "go for it! It's a really rewarding experience because you get to help out your community by making the voting process seamless on their part…. So, to all my young people, get out there, and help contribute [to the process]."
Given the opportunity to work at the polls in two different states, this former poll worker shares that various locations provide different experiences. In New York, he directed people to voting stations, collected ballots, and assisted anyone who needed help. In Atlanta, he provided directional support by holding up signs directing people to the poll site.
Overall, he described working at the poll site as fun and an opportunity to make money on the side. When asked what he would tell people interested in poll-working, he said: "that your experience is based on your location and the people [working there as well]."
Priscilla Swee
Priscilla Swee is the Elections Supervisor for Cross Village township. In this role, she oversees the entire voting process in the township from mail-in and absentee ballots to administering poll sites. In 2020, 232 votes were cast in her township.
"A polling place, a precinct, it's where everything happens. I see it as an opportunity for people to come together, and decide on candidates or proposals for the betterment of the whole community. People talk about births, funerals, graduations, somebody getting horses, or cows, or chicks. It may be the newest craze — and their kids got this or that. It's family. It's like the social units begin with family and it spreads out from there to community," Priscilla said.
She went on to share that, "There would be no America if it wasn't for the small rural town communities (like Cross Village) exercising these rights. This year, our poll workers are being called "essential workers" because we're physically handling ballot after ballot, but that's our job to protect the right to vote, even when it's more difficult."
Accessibility has always been a driving force for the work that we do at The Institute for Civic Organizing (TICO); it is the foundation of each of our programs and products. Through this blog, we dissect and explore topics in relation to academia and activism, and participate in current discourse on such ideas in order to expand our vision of accessibility. If you are interested in contributing to our blog (by sharing your personal experience with organizing, being interviewed about a policy, or any other way) please contact ana@civic-organizing.org.
The UN and TICO: Inspiring Young People to Get Involved
The Power of Design Thinking
© 2021 The Institute for Civic Organizing


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Center Field: Art in the Middle with Bad at Sports.
Center Field | Is Locale Needed? Netart in the Midwest
by Nicholas O'Brien | Nov 23, 2010
Since moving away from Chicago this past summer, I've seen how Chicago and the Midwest have influenced my work, as well as my work ethic. The spirit of experimentation and collaboration run very deep within Chicago's art veins, and I've seen how Midwest hospitality has infiltrated even the toughest skinned "coastal imports." With these in mind, I'm curious how artists working online – in a non-specific spatial setting – have either engaged or adjusted their Midwest sentiments (if any) within a global network.
Dan Sandin at Sandin Image Processor (archival photo)
A good starting point is to gesture toward the rich history of media makers that planted (or nurtured) the powerful seeds that fostered a strong relationship between technology and art. Analog computer wizards like Phil Morton and Dan Sandin drafted The Distribution Religion to provide blueprints and schematics to build a real-time image processor that could manipulate video signals into strange and beautiful psychedelia. Morton and Sandin influenced a whole generation of video makers, and later, digital artists working with experimental media and subversive forms of distribution.
I asked several net artists if their practice has been influenced by living in the Midwest, and I received a wonderful variety of responses. Although working online has "freed" several artists from the limitations of a bloated or overcrowded art market found on the coasts, some argued that this liberation is not unique to the Midwest and that artists internationally are finding ways to create and distribute their work without the cumbersome (and what some would call slow) commercial gallery system.
Bea Fremderman wrote to me:
Unlike most traditional mediums that have a direct conversation with the place they were made in, digital mediums rely on a set of predetermined tools, which are universal in aesthetic regardless of locale. I want to believe locale has little to no effect on my practice since giving creative sensibility to a city seems trite and useless in regards to digital work. But subconsciously, we are in many ways affected by our surroundings because culture affects us all.
As Fremderman concedes, living in the Midwest had some tangential influence in how one works, but most artists I asked explained that the immediate community of other net artists and peers played a larger role in the formation of their work then any over-arching middle-American sentiment.
That being said, I'd argue that there are themes that can be traced through several artists' work, and that these similarities could be attributed to living on the third coast. One common thread is observing how some artists re-imagine/re-investigate art history as an active agent in contemporary digital media. Mark Beasley, Chris Collins, Brian Khek, André and Evan Lenox, and Micah Schippa have all contend with the weight of art history, and all approach this "burden" with an eager playfulness.
Chris Collins, "Infinite Judd," 2010
In several different iterations of Beasley's work, he transcribes post-minimal "instruction set" pieces by artists John Baldessari and Vito Acconci in an attempt to relate these simple executions of commands to similar environments found within computer code. Collins takes the sublime aspects of Donald Judd's shelves and turns them into an infinite browser scroll to suggest how our post-manufacturing culture can readily emulate what was once thought of being unique or potentially overly-precious.
Where Beasley and Collins discuss particular works within the canon, the Lenox borthers, Khek, and Shippa play with a broader index that art history has ingrained in our visual culture. The Lenox brothers, occasionally under their Twincraft moniker, undertake an exploration of ancient Greek and Roman architecture in their piece 17° SOUTH ⊗ 149° WEST to highlight some of the hollow utopian prophesies that have surrounded the space of the web (and likewise gesturing toward the platonic ideas of pure forms). They attest that the influence of the Midwest on their work has "not immediately result[ed] from networking, but rather from face-to-face interaction and discussion. Responding to utopic desktop wallpapers, online advertisement banners, and social interactions all become methods of depicting an attempt to subsist in an idolized state."
Schippa uses the history of Abstract Expressionist painting in his collaborative work with Parker Ito, (former Chicagoan and art-history junkie) Jon Rafman, Tabor Robak, and John Transue, for a digital painting project called PaintFX. Although it's hard to distinguish the distinct "style" of each participant in the project, the prolific content generated is a deliberate defacing of the traditional sole-artist-as-genius model that can dominate the gallery.
Khek's work could almost be observed as a synthesis of the pillars of ancient Rome and the color fields of Rothko. One views these art historical examples along side empty office spaces and 3D renderings of cubicles. The associations made between the everyday architecture and art from history and contemporary culture create a void which Khek fills with textures and geometries that hyperlink desperate sublime spaces or a "scattered topographpy."
Jesse McLean, still from "Somewhere Only We Know," 2009
Although subversion and disruption of art history creates a significant tie between artists in the Midwest, another common bond can be found in the appropriation of popular media's depiction of powerful emotional or phenomenological moments. Jesse McLean, who works more in experimental video, pairs reality television contestants being asked to leave the show (and their emotional breakdown) with a California earthquake captured on live TV (like morning news programs). The tension that McLean creates here is between how we document and exhibit the emotional duress of our media culture — how the availability of experiences filtered through digital platforms (like DVRs in McLean's case) can be both overwhelming and unpredictable.
Fremderman approaches these personal watersheds of emotional development through using a visual vernacular common in popular youth culture. The collages and reconfigurations of what look like high school portrait photography for yearbooks creates a dialogue between different versions of artificial presentation of self through one's formidable teen years. The difference between the controlled area of the posed portrait or landscape and the chaos in punk/zine culture creates a disquieting composition without perpetuating the saturation of image-making found in mass media.
Regardless of content, Fremderman employs a reserved tone that I think is also emblematic of Midwestern art practices. "I think the… general Midwest disposition (low cloud ceilings, long winters) lend to a more introverted/reflexive practice," is how Beasley describes the contemplative nature that many Midwestern net artists employ within their work; this is an interesting paradox when considering the extroverted tendencies found in online social networks. Collins attributes this to lack of involvement his immediate local community has in any art scene:
Very few of my friends in town are artists. None of them make similar work to mine. I have to explain the things I do and why I do them to a lot of different people. Rather than being engrossed in a culture where the value of art is a given, I have to defend it, justify it, and combat indifference. It can be frustrating, but I believe this makes my work stronger, and my choices as an artist more informed.
Some of this indifference that often occurs between those "within" an art circle and those "outside" lies in the acceptance that Chicago and the Midwest are not considered international cultural landmarks. As a result, I think one finds more projects in Chicago that are inherently invested in the idea of community building and DIY participatory events (see projects like Temporary Services and InCUBATE).
Micah Schippa, "Professions," 2010
I'll close with a thought that Micah Schippa offered in his reply to my initial inquiry:
Chicago has long been under the radar, a peripheral player in the art world. Anyone or thing happening here is generally classified as anomalous. In the past, it was simply the lack of access to highly pertinent conversations that were happening in other larger cities (Paris, NY, LA, Berlin, Tokyo, London etc). But the sci-fi-ish amount of access and connectibility we now have has leveled the ground upon which all our idea stand. Geographic borders have not dissipated, they have been augmented, positively enhanced, or rather they have become highly permeable membranes where once were walls. Also, perhaps this is all wrong and the internet has taken the place of the symbol of NY in the art world. Perhaps those unfamiliar with this info-megalopolis will be completely left behind, excluded and ignored… [in other words] will the away-from-keyboard-world [become] the new Midwest?
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spudart says:
This is an interesting topic. I'd like to hear more of what the Chicago net artists had to say.
ParkerIto says:
Don't forget about the BEST COAST dudes! 🙂


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Porcupine Brush – The choice of professional groomers. This brush simply does a better job on a Goldens coat because it has bristles and tips. The bristles on the brush polish the coat as the dog brushed, helping to maintain the coat's natural shine. Porcupine brushes are more expensive than the standard pin brush, but for the owner serious about keeping their Golden beautiful, brushed and groomed, it is well worth the extra money. Return to Porcupine Bristle Brush.
Small Slicker – You may be asking, "Why would I want a small slicker when I have a big dog?" The reason we use the small slicker on a Golden is because it is much easier to get underneath their front and back legs, and to work delicate areas like behind the ears. Return to Small Slicker.
Undercoat Rake - If you own a Golden this is a must. There are several times a year that your Golden will be shedding excessively. This is the tool that can keep the hair in your house under control. This tool is designed to remove the dead undercoat that a regular brush will not. There are a number of undercoat rakes on the market, but this is the one that works well for a Golden. We do not recommend that you use it on their tail or ears. When your dog is shedding so bad that you are finding tuffs of hair all over your house, you know it is time to get out the undercoat rake. Return to Undercoat Rake.
Stripping Knife - Some Goldens get what we refer to as "dead white hair". It is usually located on their shoulders, front & rear legs, and behind their ears. It is impossible to get it out with a regular comb or brush. The stripping knife is designed to remove the dead white hair. Return to Stripping Knife.
Stripping Stone - This is another alternative to remove the dead white hair from a Golden's coat. You simply rub the stone on the dead white hair and it comes off on the stripping stone. The stripping knife will do a little better job, but for a quick touch up or an inexpensive option, this works wonders! Return to Stripping Stone.
46 Tooth Thinning Shears – When grooming a Golden, you simply want to thin certain areas. The more teeth a thinning shear has, the less gap it will leave when cutting. Absolutely Golden offers 3 options of thinning shears - economy, mid-range and professional. Most websites with information on grooming a Golden Retriever will recommend the Millers Forge Gold Line. These shears offer quality cutting at a price less than the Millers Forge Professional shear. What you need to know about the Gold Line shear is that Millers Forge has recently change the design to 37 teeth.
Absolutely Golden also carries professional shears made by the Micro Surgical Company. These shears have become our favorites, offering superb cutting quality at an incredible price.
Freeze Dried Liver Treats – Like we said in the product description, you won't believe what your dog will do for one of these! They are great for obedience training and for just getting your dog to do something that they don't particularly want to do. Had you rather wrestle an 80-pound Golden into the bathtub, or have them eagerly jump in for a treat? Be careful when using these to not give too many in one session. They are expensive, so chances are your won't. Return to Liver Treats.
How to choose the right pet toy.
Toys should be a part of every dog's life. Most dogs are energetic and giving them the appropriate toy can control some of that energy. But you need to choose carefully. Toys can be dangerous to your pet. Balls and other toys that are too small can easily be swallowed or become lodged in a dog's mouth or throat. Discard toys which break into pieces, or have pieces torn off. Discard toys with parts inside, once the inside is exposed. Pay particular attention to your dog's chewing habits and pick toys that are suitable for their level of chewing.
tear toys apart. Parts can be lodged in the mouth or throat, and can even kill a pet, if swallowed. Aggressive chewers should only have durable, hard rubber or nylon toys.
don't tear toys apart, but will chew enough to cause wear on a toy. Semi-aggressive chewers should have canvas, plush, fleece, berber or rope toys. These toys are softer, but will not come apart easily.
Understanding your dog's chewing habits and preferences make it much easier for you to determine what type of toys best suit your dog.
Toys like Kongs and Nylabones are great for more aggressive chewers. They are durable, and some pet toys like Kongs can even have a treat inserted inside which adds to its interest. Sterilized Natural Bones also make good toys for aggressive chewers.
Made with either nylon or cotton rope material, these toys are ideal for semi-aggressive chewers. They're great for dogs that love to play tug-of-war. They also aid in dental care by providing a flossing action when you dog chews.
Theses toys generally suitable for the semi-aggressive chewer and are always a favorite for the dog that likes to carry a toy around. Because of the stuffing inside the toy, they should not be given to an aggressive chewer. Also, they often contain a "squeaker" or "talker" inside. If you notice tears in the toy, discard it and replace it with a new one.
Sporn No-Pull Halter - Sometimes, walking your Golden is not a pleasant experience. Many Goldens are hard to control on a lead, and given their zest for life, pull hard to try and experience all the joys of the outing. There are a couple of really good solutions for this problem. One is spending many hours (and sometimes a lot of money) training your dog to walk on a lead. While this is the best option, some of us just don't have the time. The other option is the Sporn No-Pull Halter. This is by far one of the best products we have found for controlling the hard to control Golden.
"Just wanted to let you know that the Sporn Training Collar has worked very well with Wolfie!! We are able to walk and run with no problems anymore...in fact Wolfie listens much more now while we are running! Thanks!!!"
"Just a quick note to tell that the No-Pull harnesses I purchased from you for my two 14-month old Border Collies are wonderful. Walking them on my Leash-for-Two is now a true pleasure. Endless thanks!"
"I received the Sporn Halter today. Thank you very much for your super quick shipment and excellent service. My golden retriever mix and I both enjoy our walks much more now."
"I got our package and the halter works great!!!! My 8 year old feels like she can walk our 92lb Golden."
Return to the No-Pull Halter.


text:
Development, Multiculturalism and Ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka - Part II
Eezham Tamils' development: myths and realities
[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2008, 23:03 GMT]
A development-oriented analysis originated from the West and often exploited by the Sri Lankan state to justify its ethnic chauvinism is that the Tamils were far advanced in 'development' under the British and the crisis was a result of independent Sri Lanka equalizing development to all people. One can understand Sri Lankan state and its intellectuals harping on the theme. But it is utter ignorance of history, lack of serious research and wrong application of analytical tools in judging development on the part of the intelligentsia outside, in creating a misleading picture of the crisis in Sri Lanka through their 'model-based' approaches, writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi in the second part of the article, 'Development, Multiculturalism and Ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka.'
Opinion Columnist Chivanadi
The 'Tamils who were ahead in development' is obviously a reference to the Jaffna Tamils, especially to the elite among them, who migrated to Colombo and were seen as competitors by the Sinhala elite.
The vast majority of Eezham Tamils in Mannaar, Vanni and in the East have never seen any development. The upcountry Tamils are the least developed community in Sri Lanka.
Even in the case of the Jaffna peninsula, the British period only marked a decline in actual development.
The last occasion when Jaffna attracted people from outside was the Dutch times. For instance, a Dutch census taken in 1790 tells us that out of roughly 45,000 males who paid the poll tax in Jaffna at that time, about 2000 were Malayalis.
The British period only saw people going out of Jaffna, which continued in post-independence times, because there was no region-based development.
Communication, an index of development was neglected in the Tamil areas in the British times. It is an irony that many roads in Jaffna are still found to be called 'Dutch Roads'.
The coastal trunk route traversed until Dutch times between Jaffna and Colombo was abandoned in the times of the British.
The East coast highway, from Point Pedro in Jaffna to Kathirkaamam, which was traditionally used by Eezham Tamils for their social, economic and cultural links until early British times, was never developed by the British and became non-existent in the independent Ceylon.
While railway came to the south of Sri Lanka in 1864, it was only in 1905 Jaffna saw the railway.
The foreign trade of Jaffna through its ports declined under the British.
The ports were also closed for official communication of people with India by 1910, citing spread of epidemics.
This happened when thousands of Jaffna Tamils were using the Kaangkeasanthu'rai - Naakappaddinam - Penang - Singapore sea route for migration, employment and economy.
The tobacco cultivation and trade, which was the lifeline of Jaffna's economy since Portuguese times, declined under the British in the 1930s and no substitute was provided. Textiles, another important source of economy nurtured by the Dutch, collapsed in the early British time itself.
The achievements in the field of education in Jaffna, often cited as a strong case for unequal development, was not essentially a British contribution. It was an initiative of the American missionaries. The British were not happy of their arrival in 1816. It was in a way to obscure them they were sent to Jaffna, a region considered unimportant by the British.
It is of course true that through the American Missionaries Jaffna was benefited tremendously by receiving a modern, non-colonial or post-colonial model of education when many parts of Asia and Africa were at the height of colonialism.
This was a rare and unique privilege for Jaffna at that time. The Jaffna model was more liberal and independent-spirited than the Macaulay model of India that was conceived two decades later.
The result was not only many firsts in Asia in the field of education but was also a strong native revival movement in the island, a forerunner even to that of the Sinhala-Buddhist revival.
The revival had its impact even in Tamil Nadu as the pioneers who brought out the Tamil classics in print were from Jaffna. One may note that this act, which served the emotional foundation of the Dravidian Movement later, was entirely an effort of the native scholars unlike the Orientalist contributions for Sanskrit and Pali.
Conventional analyses may project these achievements as markers of development. But, if one considers the fact that all those who were educated in Jaffna had to end up only in service professions and had to go away to the south of the island or to far away places such as the British Malaya and Singapore, then it could be realized that there was no actual development in Jaffna to make use of their education.
The educational potentiality of Jaffna, which initiated ventures such as the first medical education in the island, never found the logical reward or encouragement from the British by getting any institution of higher learning in Jaffna in their times.
The University College, Medical College and the Ceylon University, started by the British, were all exclusively Colombo-centric. The educational institutions of Jaffna, which thereto were functioning like university colleges, became schools in the British time itself, through a policy of 'government aid'.
Another important marker for development in modern times, the urbanization also never took place in Jaffna despite all its inherent potentialities of having a mercantile social formation.
Colombo was the only city in its true sense developed by the British and all capital accumulation was only around Colombo. Whoever remaining in the aristocracy, if there were any, and the elite of Jaffna were attracted to Colombo and became Colombo Tamils. The Coomaraswamys and Ponnampalams were a typical example.
A census taken in 1911 for the purpose of electing a representative among the Educated Ceylonese shows that half of the educated among Tamils were living in Colombo.
This happened to Batticaloa also as the trade and export of tea, which was initially carried out through Batticaloa, became a monopoly of Colombo.
As pictured by many of the shallow researches, education, government service and petty trade are not indexes of development of a region. Even that small group of Tamil elite was in reality became not a match to the Sinhala elite developed under the British, especially among the Coastal Sinhalese identity known as Karava.
This is a fact acknowledged even by the British of the times. Donoughmore, who headed the commission that drafted the 1931 constitution for Ceylon, says the Coastal Sinhalese were the most progressive of all the communities of Sri Lanka.
Donoughmore dismissed considering suggestions for a federal model either saying that it was not needed for a small country like Ceylon. In fact a federal model would have promoted equal regional development and would have protected the Tamils considerably from the deprivations resulted from the introduction of universal suffrage in the constitution.
The universal adult enfranchisement, introduced for the first time in a colony and was considered a great feat of progress and development at that time, turned out to be the misery of Tamils at the outset itself.
The British policy as early as in those days was not to transfer power to the weakened Tamil bourgeoisie of Colombo but to the Coastal Sinhala aristocracy and elite, which they did in 1948.
One who may wonder at the British policy and development strategies in Ceylon has to understand them against the backdrop of the utmost concern of the British to keep Ceylon separate from the Raj of India ever since they acquired it as a Crown Colony, and to keep it away from the trends of the powerful national movement developing in India.
Development of the Tamil region with a political / economic centre at the North would have served an easy conduit for the Indian National Movement to get into Ceylon through Tamil contacts.
The British also achieved their diplomatic aims through Colombo based Tamil politicians who were prepared to denounce any association with the Indian National Movement as not conducive to Ceylon's interests.
It was only in 1927, the Youth Congress of Jaffna, the first-ever leftist movement originated in Sri Lanka, countered the strategy by inviting Mahatma Gandhi to Jaffna.
The scholars who identify a divide and rule policy of the British in Ceylon should note that the Eezham Tamils were divided on either side: from the Sinhalese as well as from the Tamils of India.
These are for the thoughts of those who still believe the Sinhala nationalist propaganda that the Tamils were the pets of the British and were better developed than the Sinhalese in the colonial times.
(To be continued...)
10.03.10 Third Mu'l'livaaykkaal in the name of 'development..
25.02.10 'Eezham Tamils to act for themselves'
07.12.08 Eezham Tamils' development: myths and realities
06.12.08 The ploy of 'development'


More content for F.E.A.R. is coming in the form of an expansion pack. New levels and guns, as well as a continued storyline are promised.
Tired of the same Battlefield 2 maps? The second booster pack, Battlefield 2 Armoured Fury, is nearly here. We have fresh screenshots, as well as details of this new three-map expansion.


The liquid filter needs to be lowercase 'raw' to work, uppercase 'Raw' did not work for me.
Adding styles to prevent menu item title text to expand if title is too long.
Fixed GraphiQL and Media UI after changing the collapsed admin menu size.
Aligning more properly the collapsible chevron icon vertically.
* Use configured values when creating tenants, including the "Default" one.
* Filter invalid tenant config section.
* Allow to add manually any values in the local config of a tenant.
* Configured Features also used by the ShellDescriptorManager (the one that uses database).
* Add extensibility for settings and config sources.
* "TenantSettings" class wrapping the settings config source, and some renamings.
* Revert some renaming and reduce 2 classes implementations into only one.
* Suggests to lazily create shells. In tenants page uses "_shellHost.GetAllSettings()".
* Renaming tenant => shell.
* Fixes bg service, limit the usage of "ListShellContexts" that now don't create released shells.
Always create the default tenant on statup, other tenants are still lazily created.
* Update modules using IConfiguration => IShellConfiguration.
The TermAdmin display type is used when rendering the terms list.
The ContentPart.TermAdmin fallback template is required.
A web.config is automatically generated during publish.
If users need a custom one they can always create it.
* Update Demo AdminMenu that needs actions to be rendered.
* React to review - AddAsync for another missing signature.
parameters also call the empty constructor.
Gives the user the ability to Hide a field, content type, part or part on content type from the graphql schema.
Changed the options DSL to be more explicit too.
* Revert "Fixing taxonomy recipes (OrchardCMS#3253)"
`crop` is already supported in liquid syntax, just isn't documented. Adding in this documentation.


← Can They Fly Our Kids to School?
Yesterday, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl surprised everyone by announcing that the city would be suing UPMC, challenging the tax exempt status of the county's largest property owner and our region's largest employer. It was a bold move, and one that has been gaining public support. Back in September, the Post-Gazette conducted a special investigation revealing that the healthcare giant could be sending Pittsburgh Public Schools as much as $8.5 million if it agreed to a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, plan. It already does this for the South Fayette school district here in Allegheny County, as well as a school district up in Erie, PA. ["UPMC: Forging a Giant Footprint," September 2012].
In December, I testified before a packed County Council hearing about the impact of UPMC's tax breaks on our schools. [See "UPMC's Fair Share"] I argued then that UPMC calls itself a public charity, while behaving like a big-money, global corporation. I reminded our county representatives that school districts in Pennsylvania are particularly vulnerable to tax-exempt property because our state is extremely stingy when it comes to funding public education. Pennsylvania ranks in the bottom ten out of all fifty states in this country in the proportion of school funding provided at the state level: that pushes responsibility for schools down on our local communities, which have no choice except to raise property taxes. When you have a giant charity, acting as a corporation, coming in and taking more and more of that property off the tax roles, our kids wind up paying the ultimate cost.
I applaud Mayor Ravenstahl's decision to stand up to UPMC. It's time to say no to their tax breaks that are costing us taxpayers millions of dollars. What I can't understand is why the Pittsburgh Public School district is refusing to challenge UPMC as well.
Excuse me? Now I love the Pittsburgh Promise program – we are vocal supporters and donors – but this program is not the Pittsburgh Public School district. It is an entirely separate entity, with its own board, staff, and non-profit status. Since when does the school district enter into a binding agreement with an organization saying that it will never pursue tax revenues from them if that organization pays a nice fat sum to a third party? Sure, Pittsburgh Promise scholarships benefit students – but so does a properly funded, K-12 education, which our district is struggling to provide these days. (Do I really need to run through the long list again of all the things our students have lost these past two years?) How are our students going to be "promise ready" when they are sitting in ever larger classrooms, without access to a full, rich curriculum? Did our school board representatives sign off on this agreement?
Let's take a quick look at the math here. Back in 2007, UPMC had pledged to pay around $10 million per year for 10 years (though these are matching dollars and the Promise program has to raise $1.50 for every $1 UPMC gives – meaning they don't receive the full $10 million if they fall short of the $15 million goal raised from the public in a year). Now County Controller Wager is estimating – conservatively, she says – that UPMC would owe the district $14 million per year if it paid property taxes on its city property. Even my nine year old can do that math in his head: by this reckoning, UPMC owes our schools far more than it's paying out currently. And let's remember, it's not actually paying our school district a dime.
What's more, UPMC's commitment is limited to 10 years. I'm not sure where they are on their payment schedule with the Promise program, but if they started in 2007, then we only have about four years left on their pledge to our city. The thing about taxes is that the obligation doesn't go away. If UPMC is taxed as a corporation, it will have a yearly tax obligation that will support our schools in perpetuity. So someone please explain to me how this deal with the Pittsburgh Promise program is better for our kids – today or in the long-term. Either way, our children seem to be getting the short end of the bargain.
What I particularly resent is the way that UPMC spokesman Paul Wood issued veiled threats aimed at their support for the Pittsburgh Promise. He suggested that UPMC's charity work would cease or diminish, complained that its funding of the Promise program is "often disregarded," and warned that "any sort of new, discriminatory tax scheme would certainly result in less monies for the region." [Post-Gazette, 3-21-13] I'm sorry, how exactly is paying your fair share a "discriminatory tax scheme"? And you really think UPMC isn't getting enough credit for its support of Promise scholarships? Its name is prominently displayed in all Promise publications and in just about every media story related to the program. Who in Pittsburgh doesn't know about UPMC's support for the Promise by now?
Mr. Wood also characterized the city's lawsuit as "politically motivated" and catering to "certain labor unions, certain favored businesses, or particular political constituencies." [Post-Gazette, 3-21-13] I'm not sure how Pittsburgh's 25,000 public school children factor into "labor unions" and "favored businesses," but they certainly ought to be a favored "political constituency." If they were treated as such, we would all agree that UPMC needs to pay its fair share to support our public schools. I can think of a lot of things our district can do with that $14 million every year.
Jessie-as usual you nailed it. I had the very same reaction when I read the article today; the District should never have signed an agreement like this.