In early February, BBC 2 screened the final instalment in their series 'Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century'. In previous instalments, viewers had been asked to vote for the greatest within seven different categories: arts, sport, politics, science, etc. In the final show, the winners in each category were pitted against each other, giving viewers the challenge of judging, say, Ernest Shackleton against David Bowie and Alan Turing.
In the event, Alan Turing won (or perhaps I should say that Chris Packham, who made the case for Turing, won). However, a real confusion arises from the inclusion in the series' title of two distinct ideas: 'greatness' and 'icon'. To assess greatness, we need an expert to recount the achievements of a particular man or woman, and explain why these are outstanding or groundbreaking, and thus worthy of the title 'great'.
Being an icon does not require demonstrable greatness; it must rest upon a person's having been widely enough known, and inspirational enough, to excite widespread admiration. It is hard to see how Shackleton, admirable though his achievements undoubtedly were, could possibly now be regarded as an icon – he just isn't well enough known.
Turing scores well as both great and iconic. His achievements can be said to rest upon a few overly simple labels: 'Codebreaker', 'Helped to win World War 2', and 'Father of the Computer'. Imperfectly understood by most, these labels are enough to convince us of his greatness. In addition, his determination to overcome personal difficulties and challenges, culminating in disgrace and criminal conviction, are truly inspirational and the last fifteen years or so have undoubtedly seen Turing develop the aura of an icon. An apology by the Prime Minister in 2009, worldwide celebrations in 2012 to mark the centenary of his birth, and a Royal Pardon in 2013, are all indicative of the evolution of his iconic status.
He won the contest – a fitting tribute to a clearly great man who continues to provide inspiration to many who do not fit easily into the slots society would force them into, but who battle on. A Great British Icon.
Last week, upon the invitation of blockchain company Verity – Dr Enigma travelled to Slovenia's beautiful capital to present at the 'Original Crypto' evening as well as visit Verity's office and speak to both the Slovene media and Verity staff about the Enigma machine.
Media interest was strong, with two different TV crews doing segments for national stations, and several magazine and newspaper journalists interviewing both Dr Enigma, and Martin Mikeln, Verity co-founder.
The event was an excellent example of how the breaking of the Enigma machine codes still fascinates people and is still relevant to cybersecurity today; especially those in the computer programming community.
Slovenia is a hotspot for blockchain, having been an early adopter of the technology which has led to a strong ecosystem of blockchain companies, and several world-class companies to have come out of the country. This was reflected by the Original Crypto event selling out with over 100 people attending.
With its roots in 'cryptography', today's 'cryptocurrency' and underlying blockchain pioneers are fascinated by the story of hacking Enigma as well as the original machine itself. Ljubljana has a bit of Enigma history of its own; it was Ljubljana (then called 'Laibach') that was where the first pre-Enigma rotor-cipher machine was patented. And as Ljubljana's National Museum of Contemporary History highlighted via a tweet, they have a three rotor machine on display.
How many Enigma machines are there left in the world? This is a question frequently asked at my Enigma presentations. It is impossible to answer this precisely, as nobody knows.
There is no obligation on the owner of an Enigma machine to register it in any way – it's not, after all, a transmitter – but fortunately, the late David Hamer decided years ago to keep records of all the machines he heard about, both those owned privately, and those in museums and other public collections.
Obviously, such a list can't be complete (I know of several Enigma machines which are not listed, and there are almost certainly many more) but it's the nearest thing we have to a worldwide catalogue at present. As more Enigma machines are being discovered, and as it's unlikely that a significant number of the machines listed have subsequently been destroyed, the list understates the number of survivors, rather than the reverse. Nevertheless, analysing the list produces some interesting results.
The most recently available version of the list shows 318 Enigma machines, of which 34 played no part in WW2, leaving 284 machines issued for use by Germany in or before the war.
These can be further subdivided into different types: for example 186 are standard 3-rotor Enigma machines of the sort used by the Germany Army and Air Force, and 63 are 4-rotor naval Enigma machines (adopted on 1 February 1942).
So the list enables us to answer the original question, by saying that, roundly, perhaps around 300 WW2 machines survive, of which about 1 in 5 is a 4-rotor naval machine.
However, as well as identifying the type of each machine, the list also includes the serial numbers of each. Every Enigma machine carries an individual serial number, which is not only stamped into the metal base (inside, and only visible when the rotors are removed), but also engraved into the rotors (including the reflector rotor) and included in the data shown on a metal label mounted centrally in front of the keyboard.
The case itself may also carry a small metal or plastic number plate. The label in front of the keyboard may give additional information about which manufacturer made the machine and when. This data can be used to provide an estimate of how many machines were made, even though the serial numbers are not members of one continuous series of numbers.
The numbers are prefaced by a single upper case letter (there are 6 of these), which can be correlated with the machine type or user. For example, all naval machine numbers, whatever the model, are prefaced by 'M', for 'Kriegsmarine'. Examining the numbers, and making some realistic assumptions, suggests that about 37,000 machines might have been made, of which at least 284 (less than 1%) survive. As noted above, about one fifth of the survivors are 4-rotor naval machines.
These conclusions must necessarily be tentative, but in the absence of original German records, they are the best we can do. They also suggest that published (unsubstantiated) estimates that there were as few as 20,000, or as high as 120,000 machines, are wide of the mark.
Following David Hamer's death last year, other experts have volunteered to maintain and update the list. I'll revisit this subject if any amendments are necessary.
If you'd like to learn more about the fascinating Enigma machine story, and play with one of these iconic machines yourself, you can attend one of my Enigma machine events or book me for your own.
This year marks 100 years since the precursor of the Enigma machine was first patented by Arthur Scherbius.
Although known best as the enciphering machine used by the Nazis during World War Two, the Enigma machine in fact pre-dates the war and was available commercially until the late 1920s, after which the German government swallowed up the company, removed the machines from the open market and upgraded the hardware.
So how could the cracking of coding technology that is a century old still have any relevance to today's cybersecurity world, where ciphers, and the hacking of them, are infinitely more complex?
Well, the story of breaking the Enigma code is a fascinating tale of cat and mouse, which anyone in the cybersecurity space today will appreciate. Essentially, the Poles, Brits and Americans, who each broke Enigma ciphers at different points during the war, were hackers, constantly probing for weaknesses in the Enigma system.
It was a combination of mathematical genius along with exploiting said weaknesses in the hardware, prescribed protocol and just plain user error, that helped Allied forces break Enigma ciphers and allowed them to read many of the messages (though not all by a very long way) and gain advantages which eventually led to Allied victory and the shortening of the war.
"At Dropbox, one of our core company values is being worthy of trust. With over half a billion users and 300,000 companies using our platform, security and privacy are our top priority.
So for us, one of the most riveting elements of the history of the Enigma machine is that, in spite of the machine's technical sophistication, it was human error, procedural flaws, and leaks of key information that helped enable the Bletchley Park team and others to crack the codes.
Indeed, with more ways to set up an Enigma machine than there are atoms in the observable universe, the Nazis were convinced that Enigma ciphers were unbreakable. And indeed they were correct in believing that they were safe from a brute force attack; it would have taken a lifetime to run through each setting at that point in history.
However, clever people approached the problem differently, discovering and exploiting weaknesses with both the machine's hardware, the user protocols set from above, as well as just every day user laziness, to attack and break the ciphers.
As Scott from Dropbox noted, it's a stark reminder that systems are only as secure as their weakest link. It's not just holes in the code which need to be patched; social engineering attacks are nothing new, and the lessons that Alan Turing and the Enigma hackers learned back then, still have much to teach us today.
To learn more about the fascinating Enigma story and its relevance today, book Dr Enigma for an Enigma Machine presentation and hands-on demo with his original Enigma machine.
In late February, I flew to California with my Enigma Machine to deliver presentations on 'The Greatest Hack in History' at the request of a number of major tech companies including FaceBook, PayPal and Dropbox.
I was also invited to speak at the major tech news network CNET, who then wrote an article about my visit (which you can read here: Enigma: Up close with a Nazi cipher machine) and also did a photo shoot.
Interest in the talk and Enigma Machine demo was extremely high and it was a pleasure to be able to speak infront of such enthusiastic audiences at such sucessful and interesting companies. Visit the Gallery to see some pictures of my Silicon Valley Tech Tour, and keep an eye on the events page if you want to come and play with a real Enigma machine.
Bletchley Park – war station for Britain's codebreakers – is nearly 100 miles from where I live, so I don't go there at the drop of a hat. However, I do go quite often, my first visit being over 20 years ago but, because of the distance, I try to combine calling in at Bletchley with some other mission. This often means that I have my Enigma machine with me because I'm en route for a speaking engagement. Do I leave the machine in my car while I call at the shop, visit an exhibition, or meet up with a contact? I do not! When I'm asked why I lug the machine with me, I respond with another question: where is the only place from which an Enigma machine has been stolen recently? Answer: Bletchley Park.
1 April 2000 was a Saturday, and Bletchley was open (it was only open two days per fortnight back in those days). That night, the national news programmes reported that a 'unique code machine had been stolen from Bletchley Park'. I found this both worrying and puzzling, because I didn't think that the Bletchley Park Trust owned a unique Enigma machine. The basic facts soon surfaced: what had been stolen, from a display case in the mansion during opening hours, was an Abwehr Enigma, a rare type with no plugboard, and with four rotors. A much quoted value was £110,000, which I felt to be something of an overestimate at that time. Was the Trust embarrassed? – you bet, because this machine wasn't theirs, it belonged to GCHQ.
The machine, serial number G312, made the front cover of the very next issue of Invaluable, a trade periodical devoted to exploring security measures designed to protect art collections, and to tracking down stolen objects when security has failed. BT, then still co-owner of the site offered a £5,000 reward for information leading to its recovery. The grounds around the mansion were searched, the lake was dragged, but to no avail. Machine and thief had vanished. Speculation was rife; many declared it was an 'inside job', arising out of rivalries between board members of the Bletchley Park Trust, others argued that it must have been stolen to order for a wealthy client.
It was more than five months later that the Trust received a strange letter, from someone purporting to be in possession of the machine, but wishing it to be returned to its rightful owners. The catch? The writer claimed that an (unidentified) person had bought the machine for £10,000, and would like to be re-imbursed for what he had innocently paid out. Words like 'ransom' and 'blackmail' would come into most people's minds at this point.
The Trust and the police worked closely on the case. The ransom wasn't paid, but the blackmailer wasn't traced. He grew more demanding, leaving threatening voice mails for the CEO of Bletchley Park, and raising his price to £25,000. This the Trust finally agreed to pay – but before any payment was made, the blackmailer posted the machine to Jeremy Paxman, who was the presenter of the BBC 2 programme 'Newsnight'. The machine itself was unharmed, but three of its four rotors had been removed. The blackmailer threatened to destroy these if the ransom were not paid in full.
By this time communications with the blackmailer had broadened to include messages published in the personal columns of The Times, and a Times journalist, Nick Fielding, became a go-between, relaying messages of various sorts to police and blackmailer. Finally, in October, an antique dealer, Dennis Yates, was arrested in a telephone box making an incriminating call to Fielding. The rotors were recovered later, undamaged.
Yates was charged with handling stolen goods, and blackmail. His case came to court in September 2001, and he pleaded guilty so readily to the first charge that the second was not proceeded with. He was subsequently sentenced to ten months' imprisonment, but released within three months. The thief has never been identified, but security at Bletchley Park has been stepped up.
On a number of occasions, I have had a trade stand at the National Vintage Communication Fair, and was intrigued to find that Yates was often there as well. We passed the time of day, but I never felt able to raise with him the subject of G312. However, the last time I saw him at one of these fairs, on his stand he had – an Enigma machine!
What a story – theft, blackmail, coded messages, anonymous letters and parcels, and a mysterious buyer – but the complete story has never been told, and now may well be lost for ever, as a Vintage Radio website recently reported that Yates had been found dead in his car earlier this year.
Earlier this year, I was invited to one of the UK's most successful tech companies, Skyscanner, to give a demonstration of my Enigma machine to some of their software engineers. I have found there's a real interest from 'techies' about the Enigma machine story and the Alan Turing connection, and it was a pleasure to be able to share a little about the story, with such lovely people. (BTW if you're a software engineer and live in California then take a look at my forthcoming Enigma Machine Silicon Valley Tech Tour, and get in touch if you'd like me to visit your company or tech-meet up).
As part of my visit, they made a short video of me explaining a few things about the Enigma machine which you can watch below. Thanks to Skyscanner for having me, and especially to Lisa Venter and Łukasz Suliga for creating the video.
A collection of nearly 150 letters to and by Alan Turing has been found in a neglected filing cabinet in a storeroom at Manchester University. Turing worked at the university from May 1948, when he was appointed Deputy Director of the university's Computing Machine Laboratory. There was no Director as such, but the Head of the Mathematics Department was Professor Max Newman, a distinguished mathematician who had been a Bletchley Park codebreaker during the war. Newman's influence on Turing went back to the 1930s, when his lectures at Cambridge had inspired Turing to work on the Entscheidungsproblem, and this led to Turing's seminal 1936 paper 'On Computable Numbers'.
The papers which have just surfaced cover the period from March 1949 to 2 June 1954, and thus run right up to Turing's death on 7 June. I have not yet been to Manchester to see the originals, but I have read the archivist's synopsis of every one. Despite there being numerous items written after Turing's trial and conviction for 'gross indecency' in March 1952, no reference is made to any of the problems he faced at this time: his trial, the verdict, the hormone injections and psychiatric analysis, the loss of his Security Clearance, etc. In fact, they shed little light on Turing the man, although he does make some admissions as to his dislike of the USA, his lack of skill as a reviewer, and the gap between his writing and speaking styles.
The subject matter of many of the letters testifies to his growing success and reputation as a mathematician. He receives many requests to write papers and books, to speak at conferences, to review papers, to advise other academics and students on research, to supply copies of his own papers (we're talking here not just pre-internet days, but pre-photocopier, too), and to permit the Manchester University computer to be used to do work for others. Although none of the letters is outstandingly important, their sheer number and diversity demonstrate clearly that Turing was a highly respected mathematician, right at the forefront of the newly emerging computer revolution, whose views were sought by other eminent mathematicians across the world.
The first Manchester computer, the one Turing used, was called 'The Baby', but it was superseded by a series of 'Atlas' machines, which remained in use into the late 1960s. It is here that I can reveal a connection from my own past. In the 1960s, I was working for a firm of consulting civil engineers, and we wished to design some large asymmetrical suspended road slabs as part of Newcastle's Central Motorway East. Computer analysis was the best way forward, so we commissioned Manchester University to run our analyses overnight (day-times were reserved for in-house use). Now comes the bit that anyone under 50 will find incredible. We sent our inputs to Manchester, as punched paper tapes, on the train – and the stacks of fanfold computer paper with the Atlas results came back by train the next day. This was the highest of high-tech in the 1960s!
Of course, in those days, I knew nothing of Turing. Having been researching his achievements during the last twenty years, I am now often asked to speak about Turing and his work. In August, it was the Turing Fest in Edinburgh, and in October I am contributing to a 2-day study tour about Alan Turing, organised by the New Scientist.


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Portland's mayor admits rioters are "terrorizing families with children," plans to move
Portland's liberal mayor, Ted Wheeler, recently made a rare statement about the riots that have plagued his city nightly since May 28. Although he has shown a shocking degree of denial over the problems the city is facing previously, he finally admitted that rioters are "terrorizing families with children." After saying in no uncertain terms […]
Goodyear tire company declares "zero tolerance" for anyone who supports America, law enforcement or President Trump… but openly endorses BLM terrorism and LGBT child mutilation
The Goodyear tire company, a prominent U.S. manufacturer of tires and industrial products, has declared a "zero tolerance" policy for anyone who supports America, law enforcement or President Trump. At the same time, the company bans "Blue Lives Matter" messaging on shirts or hats, but openly allows "Black Lives Matter" terrorist support and LGBT messaging […]
Former VP Joe Biden has not taken a cognitive test despite earlier claims
Former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, said in an interview that he has not taken a cognitive test and has no plans to do so, a sudden reversal from remarks he made last June stating that he would. "No, I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a […]
Why we should NOT save Portland, Seattle or any other liberal city that's collapsing into anarchy… let them live with the consequences of their own votes
Should the federal government intervene in these democrat-controlled cities that are being pillaged and burned down by left-wing anarchists, or should the President sit back and watch these cities burn? If he does nothing, President Trump runs the risk of being seen as weak, allowing mobs to tear down courthouses, loot commercial districts, and take […]
07/12/2020 / By Michael Alexander
University students brand Lincoln a "White supremacist," demand statue's removal from campus
Students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are now calling for the removal of a statue of Abraham Lincoln on Bascom Hill, purportedly because of its being a symbol of White Supremacy. The 16th president of the United States, Lincoln famously led the country through the American Civil War as well as freed the country's slaves […]
HATE CRIME HOAX: Liberal county commissioner candidate in Oregon sent racist letter to himself to demonize conservatives
Jonathan Lopez, a former candidate for commissioner of Umatilla County, Oregon, recently claimed to have received a racist, hate-filled letter from an anonymous person. After a thorough investigation from the Hermiston Police Department (HDP), it turns out that he wrote the letter to himself. The letter is peppered with racist remarks, such as one stating […]
If left uncontrolled, Black Lives Matter mobs may soon target churches, religious monuments
After toppling, beheading and vandalizing the statues and icons of historical figures said to be associated with colonialism and slavery, rioters affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement and other similar anti-establishment groups such as Antifa have moved on to new targets: churches, religious monuments and statues. This development was first documented in Washington, D.C., […]
Going to national parks is racist, declares ABC News
In the six weeks since a multiracial group of Minnesota cops killed George Floyd, America has learned all sorts of things about what caused the crime. It wasn't just those cops' fault, you see. It wasn't just the responsibility of the city of Minneapolis or even the state of Minnesota. As it turns out, every […]
Academic hypocrisy: Stanford, liberal universities accepted funds from commie Beijing
Despite its strong stance against human rights abuses, Stanford University accepted funds amounting to millions of dollars from Beijing within the past decade, a new report has revealed. Stanford received a total of $58 million USD in the form of gifts and contracts from the Chinese government starting in 2013. For National Association of Scholars […]
Many black-owned businesses in Minneapolis were completely destroyed during George Floyd riots – do black lives really matter to leftists?
Independent journalist Michael Tracey recently traveled to Minneapolis to assess the wreckage left behind by Black Lives Matter (BLM) terrorists, and what he discovered was not pretty. Businesses and daycare centers, mostly minority-owned, are still boarded up or destroyed, many with signs on the front of what is left of their windows begging BLM and […]

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The original story can be found at http://bpnews.net/53634/abortion-continues-to-ebb-the-reasons-why-debated
Abortion continues to ebb, the reasons why debated
by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, September 19, 2019 (4 months ago)
Tags: abortionSanctity of life
WASHINGTON (BP) -- After a record low in the U.S. abortion rate, pro-life advocates and an abortion rights research organization have offered differing explanations.
The Guttmacher Institute announced Wednesday (Sept. 18) the abortion rate was 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 in 2017, the latest year for which it has statistics. That rate marked an 8 percent drop from the previous figure of 14.6 in 2014. Guttmacher was a Planned Parenthood affiliate from 1977 to 2007, when the abortion rights organization began phasing out its financial support.
The abortion rate was 16.3 in 1973, the year the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the procedure in its Roe v. Wade decision. The peak for the abortion rate came in 1980, when it was 29.3.
The number of abortions in 2017 was about 862,320, a 7 percent decrease from the previous total of 926,190 in 2014, according to Guttmacher. The new total is the lowest since Roe other than 1973, when there were a reported 744,610 abortions. The largest yearly total of abortions reported by Guttmacher was 1.61 million in 1990.
Pro-life leaders cited the various efforts of the movement as factors in the trend.
"The falling abortion number is partly due to the ceaseless advocacy and ministry of the pro-life community in neighborhoods around this country," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "For decades, the pro-life movement has advanced by speaking to consciences with the truth of what unborn human life is and matching that call with real ministry to women in crisis.
"While a lower rate is undoubtedly good news," Moore told Baptist Press in written comments, "this horrific injustice … ought to cause us both to lament and to press on in our efforts in standing against the predatory abortion industry."
Though it reported that states enacted nearly 400 abortion restrictions from 2011 to 2017, the Guttmacher Institute -- formerly a special affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) for 30 years -- denied such laws were "the main driver" in the decline. It pointed to its finding that the abortion rate declined in 45 states from 2011 to 2017, though only 28 of those states passed one restriction or more during that time period.
Guttmacher acknowledged, however, state restrictions "played a role in shutting down abortion clinics in some states and thereby reducing abortion access."
The drop in the abortion rate, instead, "appears to be related to declines in births and pregnancies overall," according to a policy review by Guttmacher's Elizabeth Nash and Joerg Dreweke. A possible factor is the increased access to contraceptives made possible by the 2010 health care reform law, which requires most private health insurance plans to provide coverage for birth control, they wrote. They also suggested another contributing factor may be a decrease in sexual activity.
Meanwhile, Chuck Donovan -- president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a pro-life, research organization -- pointed to multiple reasons for the decline, "including factors that Guttmacher does their best to ignore."
"American mothers are increasingly choosing life for their children, as well as choosing to identify themselves with the pro-life cause and pro-life policies," Donovan said in a written statement, adding those policies include state protections for women and children "such as strengthened health and safety standards for abortion facilities, limits on public funding of abortion, parental involvement laws, and increased informed consent."
While abortion numbers are falling, the number and percentage of non-surgical or chemical abortions continue to rise. Of the 862,320 abortions in 2017, 339,640 -- or 39 percent -- were performed by the two-step drug process often referred to as RU-486, according to Guttmacher. In 2014, only 29 percent were chemical abortions. In 2001, it was only five percent.
The increase in chemical abortions "should concern us all as it reveals the abortion industry's increasingly successful effort to cut the overhead costs of surgical abortion while still profiting off the destruction of unborn children and wounding of his or her mother, who is given dangerous abortion drugs and then sent off to pass the body of her aborted child in isolation," Donovan said. "The industry's migration to chemical self-abortion is deeply disturbing as it carries with it the possibility of increasing the overall abortion rate over time and also carries with it a higher rate of injury, about which women are often under-informed or deceived."
Despite Guttmacher's former connection to the country's leading abortion provider, both pro-life and pro-choice organizations cite its statistics as the most reliable. Guttmacher -- which conducts its study about every three years -- collected data this time from 59 percent of all facilities it believes perform abortions and supplemented it with health department information on 19 percent of the clinics. It made estimates for 20 percent, Guttmacher reported.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects yearly information on abortion, but its statistics are incomplete. States are not required to report information on abortion to the CDC, and three -- California, Maryland and New Hampshire -- have not provided data to the CDC for at least eight years.
The CDC reported in November 2018 the total, rate and ratio of abortions in 2015 -- the latest year for which statistics are available -- all declined by 2 percent from 2014. The ratio and rate reached their lowest points since the Roe ruling in 1973, while that year was the only one since the Supreme Court decision with fewer abortions than in 2015, according to the CDC.
As in Guttmacher's new research, the CDC's latest report showed a dramatic increase in the use of non-surgical abortion methods. The use of chemical abortion in the first eight weeks of gestation rose from 11.3 percent in 2006 to 24.2 percent in 2015, according to the CDC.
The fifth annual Evangelicals for Life conference, which will be hosted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, will address abortion and pro-life ministry work Jan. 23-24 at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Tom Strode is the Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.
Michelle Williams credits Golden Globe to 'right to choose'
Two ultrasound machines, hundreds of lives saved
ERLC urges ruling for abortion doctor requirement
Supreme Court upholds Kentucky abortion law
New report shows abortions continue to decline
Pro-lifers decry court win for Planned Parenthood


Today's post is all about social media aka Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I see a lot of questions about whether to open an account with the various companies so I thought I'd write a post on my thoughts with each one.
Let me tell you how I started and what I recommend. When I opened my You Tube Channel I also opened up a Twitter account. In my logic, I had heard that it would be best to register my username on Twitter as I knew it was a fairly new thing (I think Twitter had been around for a year or two at that point.) As it happens I was right to do so as there was another 'LiverpoolLashes' that popped up after me but let's not go there...! That's my first point for those of you with a new business, register yourself on all of the main social networks so at least if you don't use the account for a while then you still are the owner of it for when you do.
The next point is that you should try and get the same username for as much as possible, it's far easier for people to remember. It would be so much more difficult if I was 'Liverpoollashes7' on one thing, 'liverpoollashes' on another and then 'liverpoollashes1' on something else. Try to be consistant where you can, even if it means having a load of windows open at one time on all of the websites and checking the availablity on every one before you proceed.
So with that being said I will get onto the different sites I use, all of which I have an app for on my iPhone which makes it convenient to update wherever I am.
So let's start with Twitter and my honest opinion of it. For a very long time I was gaining followers but no one spoke to me, even when I had a good few hundred followers. Eventually I came to realise that people often scroll but don't reply so I found it difficult to see whether my tweets were actually being read. The biggest downfall to Twitter is the fact that most users (including myself) will often click on the app on their phones and will start scrolling from the last few tweets to the most recent. This means that unless your followers are online at that moment or minutes later, your tweet is lost amongst the 100+ other tweets from the other people they're following. Dont get me wrong, Twitter is a useful tool to still put something up there so I would recommend you use it a secondary social network to the others I'm going to mention.
Instagram is something I finally set up at the tail end of last year. Initially I didn't understand what the fuss was all about. I knew it was sharing photos but that was it. If you've not set up an account yet then in brief, it is the photo equivalent of putting a Facebook status on. Your followers will scroll through their home page and look at all the different photos that have been uploaded. They can like or comment on your photo. For a salon it's a good way of showing your clients your recent work or maybe a new product or brand that you've just introduced to your pricelist. The whole point of social media is to be social and keep being a subtle reminder that your clients can come and book in with you with giving them visuals on your fantastic work.
Facebook is an even more recent source for me. I opened the account in March this year and I truly wish I had done it sooner. I believe that Facebook is the easiest and most popular way of connecting to your audience. No one (that I know anyway!) sits and scrolls for hours on Twitter or Instagram. Of course they may look at them for a little while and 'mooch around' but they don't actually spend the most time on it. Now when it comes to Facebook I know many will spend far too much time on it. People will actually scroll as far as 12 or more hours back to look at what people were saying that morning. This means that you have the maximum amount of chances of your post being seen. Now of course Facebook is a business and they have changed the goalposts and now only show a certain percentage of your followers your posts for free. Of course you can pay a fee if you would like all of them to be shown it. In fairness, the price depending on the amount of followers you have is actually pretty reasonable. To give you an example, my Facebook page shows that it would cost me £3 to send one of my posts to between 6K - 15.8K followers. This means if you had something really important to share and you have less than 6K followers then you can definitely let everyone know which is great.
So there is my thoughts, as I said earlier whichever you decide to do then ensure that you update them at least once a week. There's nothing more off putting than visiting a business account and seeing that they last updated it months ago. It gives the impression that if they can't keep up with their social media, they probably won't be able to keep up with other aspects that require being organised.
I have written a series of posts on advertising, building a client base etc in the main "advice" tab underneath the banner on here for you to check out.


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Fox shares hardships of residential schools
Posted on January 31, 2018 by Taber Times
LEARNING FROM THE PAST: Elder Charlie Fox had the chance to talk to D.A. Ferguson students earlier this month about his life experiences. TIMES PHOTO BY TREVOR BUSCH
By Jared Williams
"Oki" which means hello in Blackfoot started off the presentation from Elder Charlie Fox of the Blood Tribe. Elder Fox was invited to speak to students at D.A. Ferguson about the hardships and experiences that First Nations had and have to go through during their lives.
"You know a lot of us, not just here in Canada but throughout the United States, think it's really important to know where we're from. I was in a place called Wylie Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas, and when they talk about Canada all they say 'well there is a cold front and it's gonna come in from Canada,' it seems like that's the only thing they know about Canada. Anytime it's cold it's from Canada and that's about the existent of what they know about Canada," said Elder Fox. "I was in a restaurant too one time and one of the owners mentioned he had been to Banff, he said it was the most beautiful place he had ever been and his wife was right there to confirm that Canada was a beautiful place. I second that right away, we're lucky to live in this part of the country."
Elder Fox wanted to stress people should try to learn about where they are from and try to appreciate the cultures of the land you live on.
"My father, whose name was Steven Fox, was one of the first ones to get captured and taken from their home to a place called Dumbo, which was 30 miles east of Calgary along the Bow River. Dumbo Industrial School, I believe that was a school that was put up by the Oak Lakes you know. Looking back over the history, the Canadian Government saw fit to educate us you know. A lot of the things we had been through were borrowed from the United States, in some ways it's sad to say that Canada followed suit with the ways of the Americans. They came up with residential schools and when you look at how they ran the residential schools it was designed after the model of the way the prisons were in the United States," said Elder Fox.
"Most of the area in B.C. did not sign treaties with the First Nations who lived there previously but in Alberta they signed a treaty called Treaty 7 in 1877 to offer them some land and support. With around 146 First Nation communities in Canada, there is so much to learn from every chief and council that most of the communities have. With the Blood Tribe, we have our Head Chief and 12 councilors so that's 13 altogether. We're the largest reserve in Canada, our population is approximately 12,000 so it's pretty big," said Elder Fox.
Talking more about going into the residential schools, Elder Fox wanted to give a little insight on what they were like to be in. "My late father they got him, actually they captured my Aunt first and when she arrived at the school they asked her what her name was. Her black foot name was Holy Fox Woman so they called her Emma Fox. A lot of the names were derived from ways like that," said Elder Fox.
"I went to school at the age of seven at another residential school called St. Mary's about five miles north of Cardston. I want to say that prior to me going to school, we grow up in a home but if you think of today's standards, we were very poor. No electricity or running water and we lived in a log home. My father woke us up with praise songs, I got a lot of praise when I was trying to get up in the morning. He would sing a praise song to me and tell me what we need to do today, boy that was a good way to wake up. Those were the happiest days of my life when I look back now," said Elder Fox. "So at the age of seven I went to school. When I went to school boy that was survival of the fittest you know. There were 164 of us in one room which was a lot smaller then this gym and when I say survival for the fittest, if we didn't protect ourselves people would bully you and we had fights every day. We couldn't speak our language, we were punished severely. There were a lot of rules you had to live by and most of that was to probably teach us to respect those people who have authority. Today when I think about that same room I was in, I would say about a quarter of them are alive today. I think what the school did was really kill the spirit inside, a lot of them didn't really finish school to pursue their careers, they resented a lot of authority, and they succumbed to the ways of alcohol and drug abuse. Sad to say that most of us who attended the school ended that way," said Elder Fox.
When Elder Fox was finished with residential schools he got elected to council in 1978. One of his jobs was to interpret for the late Dan Weasel Moccasin which was someone who didn't speak a word of english. Dan was the person who really got Elder Fox into his spiritual ways.
"That was one of the best lessons and some of the greatest experiences I ever had, especially being with the horn society, that's the main spiritual society in our tribe. That meant I really had a good understanding what our ways were all about. The people who transfer their bundles to me automatically became my parents. All our elders are the only ones who showed us how these ceremonies went, everyone used elders. All those special relationships were developed, when you think about the 26 bundles, there is three to every bundle, so all those individuals today are my brothers and sisters. We have a very special relationship. So those were the ways that we had and they're very strong," said Elder Fox.
Prior to 1965 the Canadian government did not give much assistance to the First Nations people. They were not allowed to vote or the freedom to drink alcohol but they got rid of those rules around 1965.
"You tell somebody you can't have this, guess what, they're gonna do it. They're going to go look for it and find out what it's all about, so a lot of people succumbed to alcohol in those early days. Car accidents and stuff like that, so a lot of people died," said Fox. "I'm proud to say that the Blood Tribe held on to our spiritual ways. We never sold our spiritual bundles, we still have our sun dance around the end of July into August. People aren't restricted to come and see this, people think when they see a no trespassing sign and when they come onto the reserve that you're not meant to be there. I welcome everybody to have a chance to look at something that has been with us for thousands of years if you're ever interested in that."


Virgin Holidays have compensated a British dance group forced to sleep on a cockroach-infested floor, after A Spokesman Said took up their case.
The Stourbridge Dance Academy were left stranded in New York because Virgin cancelled their hotel booking months before – without telling them.
In the end, the group of 28 – 16 of them girls aged 13 to 17 – bedded down in a corridor, where they had to dodge cockroaches and broken glass.
Academy head Beverley Rabone racked up a huge mobile bill calling Virgin's emergency number.
A measly £100 compensation per person - for a trip that cost £23,800, or £850 each.
Disgusted with the offer, Katie Hadley-Scott, 26, a teacher at the academy, brought the case to A Spokesman Said.
We featured the group's story and it got picked up in The Sun and Daily Mail.
Virgin quickly upped the offer to £106 per person, plus £22 a-head for breakfast and £244 for Beverley's phone bill.
But we told Virgin we still didn't think this was good enough.
The grand total comes to £7,860.
We're delighted we could help Katie and the group get what they were owed.
If you need help with your holiday nightmare, post on A Spokesman Said – we're in your corner.
"We never want to disappoint our customers and were deeply sorry to hear about the experience of the Stourbridge Dance Academy. The mishap occurred as part of a hotel booking error and we are investigating further to ensure that this doesn't occur again.


Hi everyone! Did you read my Why Celebrate VD? If not, start there and then come back here! I decided I was going to do a full week dedicated to Valentine's Day because I love it and wanted to share a few ideas with you! So today I'm sharing a few items I love for a date night and the best part is they're all UNDER 25€! How mad is that? With no further ado, here are the items all from H&M!
This is a very simple top but the detail of the lace around the chest makes it look so romantic. I love it as a more casual outfit and I would pair it with pants.
I absolutely love this one! I find it beautiful on its own and I don't think you'd need anything else too dressy. Just some formal pants and you're good to go!
I think this one is my favourite! I find it so beautiful and romantic and I love the embroidery!
Now, this one you could go for the whole outfit but I just love the top. It's so feminine and powerful!
I'd go for it if I felt like wearing a dressy skirt or some high-waisted jeans. I imagine wearing this with a top bun on your hair and a long jacket.
I chose this option too because I love it for being so casual. Sometimes, you just don't feel like dressing up as much, so I would pair this with a denim A-line skirt or dressy pants.
This skirt is a very basic one, but I love how different it looks from the front. Also, can we talk about this *oh-em-gee* price?
A denim A-line skirt goes long ways! You can pair this one with a casual yet exaggerated top and you'll create the perfect balance! Not too much and not too *sweaty-pants*.
This is for the romantic ones! This absolutely beautiful skirt would be wonderful with a more simple top. The design and shape are the only thing you want your bae's eyes on!
I am also in love with this long skirt. It feels so romantic (I really cannot find another word to describe these items, ok?) I would wear a simple top like this one.
I found these pants to go along with almost anything I've chosen to wear as a top. They are shiny and cheap.But if you don't like them shiny, have a look on the next pair.
Simple yet dressy. I love this shape and, again, these would look great with almost any top.
I had to choose some of these too! Look at this playsuit! I have no words.
Here's another one, but in black! I feel like some people prefer wearing black on dates, so I chose this one but really, look at the colourful ones! Aren't they as amazing?
I feel like I would go Salsa dancing with this playsuit! It looks so flowery and fresh and exotic. What's not to love?
This last one is more simple but I love this deep blue colour. And the ruffles look perfect for a date! Again, this price!
Of course I had to include some lingerie! Valentine's Day equals lingerie! Well, not necessarily, but in my world, it does! This strappy black lace bra is dying to get in your closet! I feel like you can't go wrong with black!
But I also love red! So I had to include red. And the detail on the back, I mean, it has VD written all over it!
For the ones that love to be more subtle, I chose this baby pink, which I'm also in love with! It's so pure that it gets naughty! – I really am embracing this VD spirit, right?
The pièce de résistance is this beautifully astonishing body. I mean, how much more could this scream VD? I don't know about you, but I gotta have it!
And if your boyfriend is a geek like mine, maybe all you need is this! Honestly, I think this pyjama could be the best VD outfit ever!
And this is it! I've chosen my favourite items from H&M promotions just for you! I mean, how could resist this with these amazing prices? It's difficult not to buy them all! Let me know if you have any other ideas for Valentine's or if you just saw the outfit you must buy here on my list! I have to run now, my cart at H&M is waiting for me!


World Champion release a seriously catchy follow up to Avocado Galaxy.
When you release a song entitled Avocado Galaxy, you'd expect the music industry to usually take notice. Even more so when that track is an absolute gem of what can be best described as psych synth-pop. Heavyweights such as Noisey and Red Bull Studios went mad over the release calling it "zingy, infectious pop at its finest" and "a delicious slice of spacey indie-electronica." To our delight, the pair has now released the second single off their forthcoming Avocado Galaxy EP, Shakes.
Shakes is super catchy, founded on a contagious drum loop intertwined with psych-rock chords and a host of digitalised bleeps. Campion's vocal is dreamy as ever, fluttering effortlessly over that driving beat. This release has a vintage feel, almost like something The Kinks could have put together decades ago. All the while sitting nicely in the 2015 soundscape, with just the right amount of electronic influence.
I know a lot of tunes we write about are labeled the perfect road trip track but this one trumps them all. Imagine speeding along a coastal highway with a salty summer breeze on your face with this spilling out of your car speakers.
Watch: Kill The Noise - Kill It 4 The Kids feat. AWOLNATION & R.CityKill The Noise and friends turn Donald Trump into a play-doh cheeseburger.
Listen: Commandeur - With MePanama's Tim Commandeur proving that he's not just a lord on the drums.
The Adelaide beatsmith promises a new album in 2017.
A mammoth new mix from Australia's golden boy.
The best of the electronic world in the past week, including Banoffee, Kito, Swick and Kota Banks, plus more.
The Australian house label keep up the pulse in their fourth compilation, which this time around, is more diverse and versatile as ever.


Ulrich, B., T. Günther and C. Rücker 2008. Electrical Resistivity Tomography Methods for Archaeological Prospection, in: Posluschny, A., K. Lambers and I. Herzog (eds.), Layers of Perception. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Berlin, Germany, April 2–6, 2007 (Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Vol. 10). Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn, pp. 25 + CD-ROM.


Roeland is a singer-songwriter in almost every rock genre, ranging from soft melancholic acoustic music to grunge to metalcore. Tonight he will play 30 min of his acoustic music in which you will hear his influences. Roeland will appear on stage a second time this night, playing some cover songs selected for the drunk and happy!


How Does Your State Structure Its Individual Income Tax Brackets?
Like the federal income tax, 33 states and the District of Columbia have a graduated-rate state individual income tax, with tax rates that get progressively higher with increases in income. However, significant variation exists among states in both the number of tax brackets and the income threshold at which the top tax rate kicks in.
Seven states have no individual income tax, while 10 states have a single-rate (or "flat") tax. Among states with a graduated-rate system, six have as few as three brackets: Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, and Rhode Island. At the other end of the spectrum, Hawaii has 12 brackets, the most of any state, followed by California and Missouri, each with 10.
On the other hand, there are several states that have a relatively high number of tax brackets but far less progressivity in their bracket widths. This trend is especially prominent in the Southeast, where bracket widths tend to be narrow and less variation exists in effective tax rates across the income spectrum. Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Virginia each has an income tax with multiple brackets but with a relatively low top marginal income threshold compared to other states. For example, Alabama's top rate applies to taxable income $3,000 and above, functioning much like a flat tax since most taxpayers fall into the top income tax bracket. Similarly, Georgia has six narrow brackets, with the state's top rate applying to marginal income $7,000 and above, and Idaho has seven brackets and a top income threshold of $11,043.
As the real purchasing power of a dollar has increased over time, states that do not index their brackets for inflation have seen more taxpayers shift into the top threshold. As a result, the lower marginal income brackets in these states function less to distinguish rates between one taxpayer and another and more to distinguish rates between a taxpayer's first dollar of income and his or her last dollar of income. One option for policymakers to consider is to consolidate brackets while reducing rates overall, which can alleviate the complexity that comes with multiple income tax brackets.
The table below shows states with graduated-rate income taxes, as well as the income threshold at which the top tax rate applies.
Source: Tax Foundation; state tax statutes, forms, and instructions; Bloomberg BNA. Note: (a) 2017 brackets due to data availability. (b) Brackets apply to individuals earning more than $75,000. Two special rate schedules exist for low- and middle-income individuals: one for individuals below $21,000 in income (which has four brackets), and one for those between $21,000 and $75,000 in income (which has six brackets). (c) Bracket levels are adjusted for inflation each year. (d) Arkansas, Connecticut, Nebraska, and New York have "benefit recapture," by which many high-income taxpayers pay their top tax rate on all income, not just on amounts above the bracket threshold.


text:
Regional Youth Summit on Gender Equity
When:	Sep 28, 2021, 4:30 am - 6:30 pm
Where: Virtual
The Rhode Island Historical Society is excited to announce its participation in the National Youth Summit on Gender Equity, an online outreach program organized by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in partnership with Smithsonian Affiliations, from September 21 through October 12 for middle and high school students.
The Rhode Island Historical Society's regional program will include a local panel of experts from RIOT RI (formerly Girls Rock! Rhode Island), Youth Pride, Inc., and Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England and will enable young people from across Rhode Island to participate in the conversation via a live virtual program on Tuesday, September 28 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Regional participants will also have access to an online challenge linking to additional Rhode Island Historical Society and Smithsonian Youth Summit programs, materials, and historical resources. Participants who cannot attend the live regional program are still invited to participate in the online challenge.
The Summit will explore gender equity and gender bias through the lenses of sports, politics, fashion, music, and identity and examine ways this is complicated by race, ethnicity, and class. Guided by history, the Summit will provide a platform for teens nationwide to grapple with the enduring question 'what will the future of gender equity look like?'
Teachers and students who wish to participate register for this regional program by using this form here. More information will be sent to registrants. This program is for middle and high school.
Our local panelists:
Youth Pride, Inc.
Andy Taubman, LCSW, Director of Youth Service
She/Her/They/Them
Andy graduated is a Licenses Clinical Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Rhode College in the Spring of 2019. They have worked in nonprofits for 20+ years and have a particular love and interest in working with youth, especially being around their energy and being part of the process of helping them navigate adolescence and young adulthood. YPI is particularly appealing to Andy as a queer person who loves the opportunity to work directly with the youngest members of the LGBTQ+ community.
In their free time, Andy performs as a drag king performer, producer, mentor, workshop maker and event manager and community builder. They enjoy hiking with their dog (the world's prettiest Soi (street) dog that they rescued in Thailand named Saku!), working out, traveling and exploring new places, and flopping on a couch and binge watching TV shows.
Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England
Pamela J. Hyland, CEO
Pam is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England – a council serving all of Rhode Island, a small region in southern Massachusetts and one community in Connecticut.
Before coming to Rhode Island, Pam served as the first CEO for Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways – a council resulting from the merger of five legacy councils that merged on July, 8, 2009. Prior to that Pam completed an 18-month transitional leadership contract with the Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, Inc. where she, as the former CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Congaree Area, Inc., worked in partnership with the former CEOs of two other Girl Scout councils. In April of 2007, these three councils merged and were among the first ten groupings of councils to merge under the nationwide jurisdictional realignment of Girl Scout councils.
Prior to her nine years with the Girl Scouts in South Carolina, Pam served as the executive director of USA Girl Scouts Overseas for three years in Japan where she managed the Girl Scout operation on 14 military installations in mainland Japan, Okinawa and Korea. Her other Girl Scouting experience includes tenure at councils in the Schenectady New York area and in Virginia.
Pam is most proud of four initiatives that occurred during her tenure with Girl Scouting – the creation of a very successful Camp CEO program; an Image Campaign that featured 16 prominent women through the tagline – "believe in a girl – Be A Woman Who Supports Girl Scouts;" the adoption of the nationally recognized and widely lauded Carver Policy Governance Model that enables strategic leadership by governance boards and maximizes staff productivity and performance; and the involvement of Girl Scouts in the Kepner-Tregoe decision-analysis process that resulted in girls determining the issues around which their annual community service projects were planned.
She holds a bachelor's degree in recreation from the University of Northern Colorado and a master's degree in adult education from Virginia Tech University.
Originally from Torrington, Conn., Pam enjoys walking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and attending theatrical productions.
RIOT RI (formerly Girls Rock! RI)
Rikki Davis, Co-executive Director
Rikki Davis (they/them) is an arts administrator, musician and activist from Providence, RI. They started working at RIOT RI (fka Girls Rock! RI) in 2018, and currently hold the role of co-executive director at the organization. Previously, they held the Program Director position at Pawtucket's Slater Mill museum, cementing their deep interest in critical history. Rikki has been published in a number of peer reviewed journals, most recently as a co-author of "Public History and Collective Transformation: A Case Study of Un/Learning the State" in History: the Journal of the Historical Association, one of Britain's leading peer-reviewed history journals. Rikki is passionate about disrupting hierarchies, promoting community care, demystifying music making, and giving young people the tools they need to thrive. When it's not a literal pandemic, Rikki is a skater with Providence Roller Derby under the alter ego, RetroRocket.
Event, Virtual
Geralyn Ducady
4013318575 ext 345
gducady@rihs.org


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Image credit: Kremlin
'Armageddon' Warning Reflects Biden's Instincts about Putin
Featuring Andrea Kendall-Taylor
Source: The Washington Post
Journalists Karen DeYoung, Paul Sonne, Yasmeen Abutaleb
Biden suggested that the threat was reminiscent of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, when the United States and Soviet Union came close to nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
"My sense is this is clearly weighing really heavily on President Biden, and we can all say intellectually the risk of the use of nuclear weapons is low, but the reality is the risk has gone up," said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
"At a very human level, he now has the potential to be a president who has to manage nuclear use for the first time in 70 years," Kendall-Taylor said. "I maybe would have preferred he didn't use the phrase 'nuclear … Armageddon,' but I think it's useful for the president and the administration to be having a conversation with the public about the risk."
Read the full story and more from The Washington Post.
Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program
Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at CNAS. She works on national security challenges facing the United States and Eur...


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Welcome to my website! This is where you'll find out a lot about my books and a little bit about me. Choose a page. And another page. Go to the blog to find out what's happening at Margi's House of Stories. Here you'll find out about my latest books. I also blog about Mistmantle, and about whatever's happening here at The House of Stories.
By the way, 'Margi' is pronounced with a hard 'g' as in 'Maggie.' You might also like to know that the squirrel is Yo-yo and the little dog is Daniel the Spaniel.


This antibody recognises human CCR5.
CHO cells transfected with human CCR5.
This product should be stored undiluted. Storage in frost-free freezers is not recommended. This product is photosensitive and should be protected from light. Should this product contain a precipitate we recommend microcentrifugation before use.
Our Abpromise guarantee covers the use of ab11466 in the following tested applications.
Flow Cyt: neat - 1/10.
Use 10µl of the suggested working dilution to label 100µl fresh whole blood.
Flow Cytometry - Anti-CCR5 antibody [HEK/1/85a] (FITC) (ab11466)This image is courtesy of an anonymous Abreview.
Naive T cells from healthy donor were Th1 derived. The gating strategy used was for alive cells. ab11466 was used at a 1/100 dilution.
Flow Cytometry - Anti-CCR5 antibody [HEK/1/85a] (FITC) (ab11466)Image courtesy of an anonymous Abreview.
Flow Cytometry analysis of murine splenocytes using ab11466 at a 1/100 dilution.
Immunohistochemistry (Frozen sections) - Anti-CCR5 antibody [HEK/1/85a] (FITC) (ab11466)Image courtesy of an anonymous Abreview.
ab11466 staining CCR5 in murine spleen tissue by Immunohistochemistry (Frozen sections).
Tissue was fixed with acetone, blocked using 5% goat serum for 1 hour at 25°C and then incubated with ab11466 at a 1/100 dilution for 1 hour at 25°C. The secondary used was an Alexa-Fluor 488 conjugated goat anti-rat polyclonal used at a 1/400 dilution.
Publishing research using ab11466? Please let us know so that we can cite the reference in this datasheet.
Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend any of these antibodies to your customer. The immunogen for these antibodies was the full-length CCR5 protein. We can suggest that all of them will recognize an epitope in the extracellular domains since they are all suitable for flow cytometry without the need to fix and permeabilise the cells. But to my knowledge the epitopes have not been mapped and we do not know if they bind to the n-terminal part of CCR5. I am sorry I could not provide you and your customer with a positive answer on this occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions.


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Q: TransformXML in VBA removes Encoding So having got much help of here, which im thoroughly thankful for!
I have worked out how to export and apply XSLT to the exporting file from MS Access,
But now when i transform the file throught this code:
Application.TransformXML "C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\RDStest.xml", _
"C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\RDSTest.xsl", _
"C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\RDStest.xml"
WellFormedXMLOutput = True

The XML that it creates does not have the encoding specified in the XSLT??
Snippet of exported and transformed XML:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<DatabaseData>
<Customers>
<Idx>1</Idx>
<FirstName>David</FirstName>

The XSL Used:
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="xml" version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <DatabaseData>
      <xsl:for-each select="dataroot/Customers">
        <Customers>
          <Idx>
            <xsl:value-of select="Idx"/>
          </Idx>
          <FirstName>
            <xsl:value-of select="FirstName"/>
          </FirstName>
          <LastName>
            <xsl:value-of select="LastName"/>
          </LastName>
          <IconIdx>
            <xsl:value-of select="IconIdx"/>
          </IconIdx>
          <PhoneNumber>
            <xsl:value-of select="PhoneNumber"/>
          </PhoneNumber>
          <Email>
            <xsl:value-of select="Email"/>
          </Email>
          <Street>
            <xsl:value-of select="Street"/>
          </Street>
          <City>
            <xsl:value-of select="City"/>
          </City>
          <State>
            <xsl:value-of select="State"/>
          </State>
          <ZipCode>
            <xsl:value-of select="ZipCode"/>
          </ZipCode>
          <Available>
            <xsl:value-of select="Available"/>
          </Available>
          <SPIndex>
            <xsl:value-of select="SPIndex"/>
          </SPIndex>
        </Customers>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </DatabaseData>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Is there any reason why MS Access would remove the encoding when transforming the XML file??

A: Consider replacing the Application.TransformXML for the transformNodeToObject method. I am finding the former is a little limited in handling xml transformations.
But you have to select the Microsoft XML reference either v3 or v6 under Tools of VBA editor. Possibly, you can also late bind.
Below is corresponding script to align to yours and uses 'Microsoft XML, v3' reference.

Dim xmlfile As New MSXML2.DOMDocument
Dim xslfile As New MSXML2.DOMDocument
Dim newXMLDoc As New MSXML2.DOMDocument

xmlfile.async = False
xmlfile.Load "C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\RDStest.xml"

xslfile.async = False
xslfile.Load "C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\RDSTest.xsl"

xmlfile.transformNodeToObject xslfile, newXMLDoc
newXMLDoc.Save "C:\Users\David PC\Desktop\XML\" & NEWXMLNAME & ".xml"

Set xmlfile = Nothing
Set xslfile = Nothing
Set newXMLDoc = Nothing

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Is child support a great valuable resource for children or is it a charade for redistribution of wealth?
The day I agreed to pay child support, I did so whole heartily with the thought in my mind that I love my children and of course I'll pay. Wow, how does time and experience change one's view. Make no mistake of what I'm about to say for their are parents who should pay child support. Those parents who choose to not be in their children's lives-should pay. Those parents who chose to move far away with limited interaction with their children-should pay. What has changed my view on child support is that I'm like millions of parents out their, I'm involved in every aspect of my children's lives. However, I pay child support and for the life of me I don't understand why.
Most days I'm left scratching my head in bewilderment as to why I pay child support. Child support sounds fair in casual conversation, one party pays child support to the other and the receiving party pays for child care. Sounds fair right? Then look at the simple spreadsheet I put together and it's not so fair. I still have child care expenses, when I can afford it. I still have clothing, toys, entertainment expenses, when I can afford it. I still have to provide room and board, when I can afford it. I realize now that I'm in a system called the Texas Family Code that literally gives me a financial incentive to not see my children. It's expensive enough to pay child support, but then add in all of the day to day child related costs and it's truly cheaper for me to be an uninvolved father. Does this make any sense to you? Why would a state put a system in place that makes it cheaper for me to an uninvolved parent? If I don't pay child support then I'm labeled a dead beat dad, also known as a bad parent by the public. Yet, if I pay all of my child support then I don't get the public dead beat dad label, irregardless as to what quality of parent I actually am. Do I care what the public thinks? Not at all. Do I care immensely about being a positive guiding force in my children's lives? You bet. So many times when I can barely make ends meet and my children and me are eating romen noodles sitting on the floor, I'm just amazed as to the discriminatory nature of our family code. In my opinion my state's family code is not there for the benefit of families or children, but rather it's put in place to punish children and parents for being divorced. I nearly wrote my state's family code is written to destroy children and father's to only elevate moms, but it's not about mom's vs. dad's. It is about families versus the state. Child support in my opinion is more about taking from one family to give to another or more plainly put, it is in fact redistribution of wealth.
How come 50/50 custody is not standard in divorce?
How come child support is the standard and not the exception?
How child support trumps many joint decision clauses in your custody agreement?
How extremist parties influence the Texas Family Code?
Who is on the side of families and influencing the Texas Family Code?
Is the Attorney General your friend if you pay child support?
Where did Child Support come from?
Is Child Support for your children or the other parent?
When did being a parent become punishable by law?
Is the Texas Family Code written to line attorney's pockets?
You are right to question the "code" and to be upset. The system is corrupt as is everything the govn't controls, whether locally or nationally.
I should be the one paying child support, but I don't and I am grateful to my ex for understanding my situation at the time and now. (He really is a good guy). I was unemployed at our separation and working part time at our divorce. He makes about double what I make (or possibly more) so yes...it would've been totally unfair.
BTW....God sees all this and you will be rewarded for everything you do for your kids. When? Only He knows but rest assured, He is watching everything. You're a good father, an excellent example. I'll continue praying for you.
It's up to both parents to take a hard look at their individual situation and make a determination of what's in your children's best interest. It sounds like you and your ex made a deal in the interest of your children and I applaud you both.
I'm seeing more and more couples who are bypassing the family code and working out 50/50 custody with no child support. Go Parents!!


This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Chris Weaver, Rock the South on June 5, 2015 by InTuneAdmin.
The Chris Weaver Band will be joining an all-star cast of country-based acts at 'ROCK THE SOUTH' this month in Cullman, Alabama. The band will grace the stage alongside acts such as Brantley Gilbert, Tyler Farr, and many others. Weaver's award-winning act has received significant acclaim thus far this year and his inclusion at the festival on Friday, June 19, will prove one of the most exciting outings the band has had this year.
'ROCK THE SOUTH' is an outdoor festival that celebrates not only good music, food, and people, but great southern traditions, historical achievements, and heroes. The event raises thousands of dollars for local charities as well, connecting with its roots and the community it champions. Over 35,000 people are expected over the course of the two day festival.
The Chris Weaver Band were recently named the 2015 Music Row Independent Artist of the Year, and Weaver's recent tour in Brazil shined international light on the singer. His ten day tour through the country as support for Sorocaba of Fernando & Sorocaba found Weaver performing for audiences of thousands each evening. His ambitious pursuits include several new singles that have found their way onto the airwaves, too.
The Chris Weaver Band can be found on their website and social media, all of which can be found below along with the festival's main website for further details.


In the latest edition of Heal Yourself and Move, Andrew Field-Pickering brings up the huge influence of J Dilla's Donuts. This is not a new point, but it's still a really good one, especially considering how wide said influence reaches. Dam Mantle, for example, just sent us a bunch of new tracks that sound like a whole symphony of CD players skipping at once. They sound rough, almost unfinished, like dude is just taking tiny pieces of other songs and letting them play for exactly as long as his attention span allows. But it's a testament to his skill as a producer that all these disparate elements come together without sounding like a gross mess.


We've been talking glasses today on The Little Style File. CLICK HERE to see Ellie's new look and CLICK HERE to read all about children's eye exams and how to choose glasses for your kids.
Now lets talk frames. Not what hangs on the walls in your kids' rooms, the other kind of frames. For me, the most overwhelming part about my child getting glasses was picking out the frames.
Not only did I have an almost five year old begging for frames that were hot pink with peace signs, but I was trying to pick one set of glasses to match every outfit. Now that is pressure! Obviously you need to try frames on your child to see what looks best, but here our some of our favorite cool frames for $175 and under.
What do you think? Rubber, plastic, metal - which frames do your kids have?


text:
Q: Merge columns in hive I am new to hive. Please help with my below problem.
I have below table in hive with one column having data with | as delimeter.
C1
1|2|3|4|5|6
7||9|10|11|12

The below one is expected output based on delimeter i want to split it as columns.
C1    C2   C3  C4  C5  C6
1     2    3   4   5   6
7          9   10  11  12

I have tried with locate and substr functions and endup with complex sql query. can you people help me in a simple way to do this.
Thank you!

A: Use split which returns an array of values from which individual elements can be selected as columns.
select split(c1,'\\|')[0] as c1
      ,split(c1,'\\|')[1] as c2
      ,split(c1,'\\|')[2] as c3
      ,split(c1,'\\|')[3] as c4
      ,split(c1,'\\|')[4] as c5
      ,split(c1,'\\|')[5] as c6
from tbl


text:
Third Attempt at Macarons
Posted on 9 February 2010 by christao408
Last May I learned how to make French macarons, the delicate sandwich cookies that are mostly meringue and almond flour. The first attempt, while being a fun party as our friend Pat tried to teach us, didn't turn out all that well. The second attempt was better and I made a funny video in the process. The third attempt this past Sunday finally encountered some success.
This time I used a different recipe, one that does not involve making an Italian meringue and then folding it into the almond flour mixture. This helped a great deal because Italian meringues are a pain in the neck to make.
As you can see from the uncooked macarons on the left, they were much thicker and didn't spread. I attribute this to having left the egg whites in the refrigerator, uncovered, for two days before using them. This allowed more water to evaporate and allowed for a more substantial whipped egg whites. This means that the batter didn't spread and so the cookies were thicker.
The finished macarons, right, have the signature "foot" around the base, caused when they rise. This happened because I turned the air conditioning on well before starting baking, reducing the humidity in my condo. This allowed the batter surface to form a dry skin within an hour so as the cookie baked the solid surface lifted and created the foot.
The other thing that turned out right: I let the cookies cool on the parchment. That way, the bottoms of the cookies, which are very delicate, didn't crush and expose the semi-hollow interior. That's another key step.
They also had a nice sheen to them. I'm not sure what caused that – probably the drying before baking. This is a green tea macaron (no artificial coloring) with a passion fruit buttercream filling (a little artificial coloring). The buttercream didn't end up as thick as I'd like, so there's still one more thing I have to master.
Still, I'm glad I have found a less labor-intensive way to make these and have mastered them.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged baking, cooking, food, macarons by christao408. Bookmark the permalink.
0 thoughts on "Third Attempt at Macarons"
yang1815 on 9 February 2010 at 08:15 said:
That looks awesome!!!
WilldrawsRainbows on 9 February 2010 at 09:13 said:
YUM! xD tho they sound like alot of work.
ungrandvoyage on 9 February 2010 at 10:16 said:
this looks GREAT! i have a couple of recipes on this but have yet to try one out…
arenadi on 9 February 2010 at 10:49 said:
I love it when a "dish" finally comes together after multiple attempts. I think it's the most satisfying thing; far more satisfying than one-shotting dishes. These look good. I think for attempt #4, you'll have nearly perfected it.I'm curious — your oven, is it gas or electric?
TheCheshireGrins on 9 February 2010 at 12:32 said:
Green tea and passion fruit flavored? That sounds amazing!
JacquieCooks on 9 February 2010 at 13:43 said:
I'm scared to make macarons. I'm glad to see that yours turn out great! And I love green tea and passion fruit. =D
murisopsis on 9 February 2010 at 13:44 said:
You are certainly a tenacious perfectionist! I would have said forget it and just paid the extra $ to go buy them. Though these do look tasty!
CurryPuffy on 9 February 2010 at 13:44 said:
Delicious! I love the color of the filling. How about making a batch for Valentine's Day?
christao408 on 9 February 2010 at 14:29 said:
@murisopsis – Oh, that's the same conclusion I've reached but I have a large container of almond flour in the fridge that needs to be used up!@CurryPuffy – Good idea. That is this Saturday, right?@osmundaregalis – Oh, I'm sure you of all people would be fantastic with this!@TheCheshireGrins – It was a good combination.@arenadi – Fourth, fifty, sixth, sevent attempt… LOL Electric from SMEG. For a convection oven it seems to have hot spots.@ungrandvoyage – Give it a shot!@WilldrawsRainbows – This recipe was a lot more user-friendly than ones I've used before.@yang1815 – They were pretty cool.
Roadlesstaken on 9 February 2010 at 16:27 said:
Those sandwich cookies look gooooood right about now.
Cookie_A_Day on 9 February 2010 at 19:32 said:
Good job! I recently learned to make these again. My grandmother taught me when I was barely old enough to remember the recipe, and then I found it the other day when I was looking for a recipe I'm posting tomorrow. My grandmother and a wood stove/oven so I've had to play around with temperatures, trying to match it. Convection ovens have their moments. I was playing with the one at work the other day (I ❤ pastry chefs from France) and we noticed that the cookies in the very middle were toast. Had to make a quick call to the repare guys. :S
TheLatinObserver on 9 February 2010 at 20:05 said:
They look nice … funny enough, today we had Laduree macarroons at work as my boss brought some back from a trip to Paris.
piyapong on 9 February 2010 at 22:55 said:
mum mum. i think i'm going to go for high tea soon. hehe.
bejewel07 on 10 February 2010 at 05:02 said:
They look delicious! You make it seem relatively simple to make macarons. I fear that if I do make them, I will eat them ALL! So I stick to buying only 6 macarons at a time.
Chatamanda on 10 February 2010 at 08:38 said:
I can honestly say I've never seen anything quitelike that here in the UK. What other flavours dothey come in when shop bought ? I don't think Green Tea would be to my liking but I'd try anyfruit variety's.
kunhuo42 on 10 February 2010 at 09:41 said:
wow, those look great! meringues are kind of a pain to work with, so i'm impressed!
iskrak on 10 February 2010 at 14:55 said:
wow they look so nice, and passion fruit butter cream sounds heavenly!! we made macarons at school two weeks ago.. we didn't get to do flavoring though t_t must experiment some time 😀
Wangium on 10 February 2010 at 19:25 said:
It's like a Kwepie doll!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kewpie_doll_%28toy%29
christao408 on 10 February 2010 at 21:58 said:
@Wangium – Yes, or a little like Astro Boy's hair.@iskrak – Did you make an Italian meringue and mix it into the dry ingredients or did you use just regular whipped egg whites?@kunhuo42 – Meringues are tempermental. Tools have to be completely clean and free of any fat or oil residues.@Chatamanda – They come in a zillion flavors and many colors. Check our La Duree's website as they are considered the master of these confections: http://www.laduree.fr/public_fr/produits/macarons_accueil.htm@bejewel07 – Truly, not eating them all at once has been the hardest part. This recipe was pretty easy to make actually. I was surprised. It has many fewer steps than the one I used previously.@piyapong – Hear, hear!@TheLatinObserver – Lucky son of a gun!@Cookie_A_Day@ireallylikefood – Wow, wood stove. I've always wanted to try cooking with one of those. Control of heat must be a challenge!@Roadlesstaken – I'd express some to you but the FedEx guy might get stuck in the snow! LOL
Gma_Joyce on 10 February 2010 at 23:05 said:
Your blog is too dangerous…..my mouth is watering and I want to eat one of those but will get a glass of water instead….and maybe a chocolate.
ElusiveWords on 10 February 2010 at 23:23 said:
I could use a bit of sugar right now… just before bedtime! Seriously, I think it's great that you kept at it. Do you make notes on each attempt so you know what to tweak or change for the next attempt? Or maybe you have a great memory.
@ElusiveWords – Well, I don't make notes. And I don't have a great memory, either. Which makes it quite a wonder that they get better each time. Luck, perhaps.@Gma_Joyce – Good for you – chocolate is full of antioxidants, right?
rudyhou on 11 February 2010 at 03:15 said:
looks yummy, though the color doesn't really match the name. guess LV was too distracting for you to focus on making the first batch right 😉
@rudyhou – Well, the color matches in that it is a pale green. The brownish tint comes from the almond flour and the cooking. I could have added green food coloring I suppose.
Cookie_A_Day on 11 February 2010 at 10:35 said:
@christao408 – oh it was, she had mastered it. After she died, the family bought grandpa a electric stove because he didn't know how to use the wooden one.
Devilzgaysianboi on 15 March 2012 at 05:47 said:
Even though it looks extremely intricate… it also looks delicious and probably more tasty than the only time I had macarons. I'm always jealous at people who are skilled… especially when it comes to food :]
christao408 on 15 March 2012 at 12:01 said:
@Devilzgaysianboi – Oh, no need to be jealous… it is just a matter of trying, trying, and trying again. And then giving up and going out to just buy the damn macarons! =P


Safeguarding is about ensuring that everyone is safe from harm, safe from bullying, safe from people who could abuse, safe from discrimination or harassment and safe from radicalisation.
We have a team of Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) that can be seen on posters around school.
Safeguarding includes child protection, health care plans, health and safety, site security, safety on school trips, anti-bullying work and so much more.
All staff receive regular Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school.
If any members of the school or local community have concerns about the welfare of a child in the school, please pass them on to the School's designated safeguarding leads.
Independent charity Crimestoppers is highlighting that children and young people across Essex are at risk of becoming involved with gangs and the violence and abuse that often follows. Please read their press release below for more details, especially if you are concerned about your children.
For more information regarding MOMO, please click on the link below.


In origin, an enchiridion is literally a small thing for holding in the hand, from Greek enkheiridion, which is made up of the parts en-, within, plus kheir, hand, plus the diminutive suffix -idion. In English, it has become a name for a handbook or concise treatise.
A famous example of a treatise with this name is the one St Augustine wrote around the year AD421, the Enchiridion de Fide Spe et Caritate (a treatise on faith, hope, and charity), in whose title appears the Latin form of the original Greek, the version that English has borrowed. Another example was penned by Erasmus in 1503, Enchiridion Militis Christiani, in English "Handbook of a Christian Knight".
Sharp had remade his reputation by the manipulation of electrons, and Eric Leben had attempted to remake himself from a corpse into a living man by the manipulation of his own genes, and to Sharp it was all part of the same wondrous enchiridion to be found in the sorcerer's bag of twentieth-century science.
Last modified: 4 October 2008.


Please update the Syspeek packages for newer releases of Ubuntu. I have been able to successfully install Syspeek on both 12.04 and 12.10 beta by manually adjusting the repository for the PPA to "oneiric" and have had no issues or ill effects. I rely on this simple indicator quite a bit and would like to see it re-packaged for newer releases, and would *very* much like to see it added to the official Ubuntu repos.
SysPeek very nice and useful, please update repository for newer Ubuntu versions!
Georg Schmidl, feel free to copy these back into your official PPA if you so desire.
@emptythevoid: Could you please contact me? I ported the original syspeek from Python to Vala and would like to talk to you about possibly making this change. The memory footprint is reduced to ~1.9MiB.
Could it be updated for 13.10?


text:
Beautiful books… for beautiful people…
The Bone-Pedlar - Sylvian Hamilton
St. Helens: Ted Smart, 2000, Hardback in Dust Wrapper.
Condition: Very Good — in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Edges of the text block lightly tanned. Pages lightly age-tanned at the margins.
From the cover: "Sir Richard Straccan, ex-crusader, makes his living dealing in these divine body-parts. Being a bone-pedlar, he leads a dangerous but profitable life retrieving stolen relics, negotiating deals and locating new artefacts. But when he is asked by the Prioress of Holystone to help solve a mystery, he takes on a job more dangerous than ever before. A dying man has been brought to the Priory carrying with him a rare and precious icon but nobody knows what it is or where the man was taking it.
Straccan soon becomes embroiled in a web of treason, espionage and evil. His young daughter is kidnapped and following her takes him and his company down a path beset with danger and risk. On their journey they meet monks, lunatics, pilgrims, whores, saints and thieves but it is when they come up against Rainard, Lord Soulis, on the eve of the Summer Solstice, that Straccan must face his biggest challenge yet."
Size: 9½" x 6¼". Burgundy boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 264 pages.
Authors Starting H
Fiction — Historical Books
Published by St. Helens: Ted Smart
medievaljourneysespionagekidnappingknighthoodconditionskillings
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