In a recent article, I said that education reform begins with people changing their fundamental beliefs about student ability. I said that if you believe students do not have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to help them get through school by bringing school down to their level. If you instead believe, as I do, that these students do have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to use instructional approaches that bring them up to high standards of performance. Here is a true story that may illustrate the problem.
I used to work in a very large school district that, in the days before state-wide assessment, gave students district-wide writing assessments every few years. I was named the department chair in a high school with notoriously poor performance on that assessment – next to last of 22 schools. I worked hard to improve student achievement in writing. Inspired by Garfield High School's celebrated reform efforts, which included eliminating all remedial courses, I pushed for the elimination of our remedial English courses. I met a lot of resistance, particularly from the counseling department. One guidance counselor actually told me that we had a moral obligation to offer courses for students who wanted to graduate without having to do a lot of work.
But I persisted, and in the first year, we got rid of most of the remedial classes. The experiment went well. In the second year, we were down to one 10th grade remedial class, and I assigned it to myself.
After a couple of months of working to get them up a notch and meeting great resistance, I gave them a new assignment. They turned in their usual very poor level of work, and when I told them I was expecting so much more from them, they gave me the familiar whine — I was too hard, and they weren't smart enough to do better. I then handed back another set of papers to about three quarters of them. It was an essay on exactly the same topic, written with five times the skill, and with their name on the top. I had pulled the district writing assessments they had done in the 5th grade from their permanent files, and I had assigned the same topic to them as 10th graders. Every one of them, without exception, had written far better on that topic when they were 5 years younger.
I asked them why they were such better writers in 5th grade than they were in 10th grade. I let the ensuing silence go on for more than 5 minutes. Finally one of them spoke. "You got us," he said. The class then admitted what was obvious. They had learned years ago that if they pretended they were not capable of doing quality work, no one would ask them to do quality work. They would get put into easy classes, and they could skate through school effort-free. Later in the year, with expectations set much higher, that class scored in the upper 50% of all classes on our school-wide writing assessment, surpassing most of the "regular" classes.
When they were seniors, I had an interesting chat with several of them, one of whom had just successfully completed his Composition for the College Bound class. They spelled out all the tricks that are used in remedial classes, besides the typical whining about difficulty and professions of incompetence. For example, if a teacher gave an assignment verbally without any kind of "paper trail," a group would get together and agree to insist the next day that no such assignment had been given. Students who had done the assignment would see what was happening, hide what they had done, and agree that the teacher had never given the assignment. The teacher would invariably assume he or she had forgotten to give the assignment. That worked in remedial classes because they had the numbers to pull it off. They could not use that ruse in the regular classes.
It took about three years for our school to go from nearly last to the very first place in the district writing assessment. In that year when we made it to the top, we did not have a single student — not even a special education student — score in the lowest of the four levels of achievement in that assessment. We took several key steps to make that happen, and eliminating remedial classes was only one of them. All of those steps stemmed from our firm belief that student achievement is directly related to teacher expectations, and the more we expect, the more they will learn. Once we had that belief, we were able to implement the instructional strategies that helped us bring students up to those high expectations.
When I look at reform efforts across the nation, I always remember the experiences I had with these students. I wonder how many people looking to turn schools around really believe they can succeed in bringing students up to their full potential. I wonder how many of these approaches work to help students believe in themselves, believe that they can be what they want to be if they apply themselves. Too often I feel that what we see instead is a system designed to nudge failing students a little higher, with the ultimate belief being that this is all that can really be done.
But it can be done, and it has been done. And we know how to do it. It is just a matter of making it happen.
Even the best students do it. They expect less of themselves than they can give. Our schools must challenge every student. It's not about getting by. It's about reaching our potential. Those who support mediocrity are making us a mediocre nation. How can they say our pledge of allegiance or sing our national anthem and feel no shame.
I say this about the United States because I am ignorant about other nations. Singapore appears to seek greatness. I'd be pleased to hear from others around the world about their approaches to education.
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Serving migrant labour interests in India through data stewardship
By The Data Economy Lab Team
This article is based on a paper by Aditi Ramesh, with research assistance from Preethi Sunderrajan, and has been summarized here by Aapti Institute.
With the bulk of its economic activity centered around metros, India sees millions migrate from its villages to metropolises to earn a living, often in the form of daily wages for manual labour. Part of the unorganised sector, they often work without job security and for exploitative wages. The nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in March this year compounded these systemic issues into an existential threat for this vulnerable group. In this paper, Aapti Institute discusses how the figure of a data steward can direct the value extracted from migrant labourers' data towards the welfare of the group in a rights-respecting manner to aid in resolving potential crises such as these.
This approach envisages a data governance framework where a data steward enables data sharing in an accountable and privacy preserving fashion, bringing together data from silos of civil society, NGOs, government surveys, and private players. This can then be used in humanitarian response in response to a crisis, guiding the deployment of resources for relief. This framework would ideally ensure that the data steward is free of commercial interests, has fiscal independence, and is transparent and accountable to the public. In addition to adhering to data protection principles such as purpose limitation and data minimisation, a data steward in such a framework could also serve the community by acting as an intermediary on their behalf to bargain for collective data rights, ensuring that the power of self-determination remains firmly with data subjects.
We have seen varying approximations of such a model in action internationally. One is the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX), owned by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. On the HDX platform, a group of 250 organisations can share data, while a further refined and select set of organisations has the privilege of uploading data directly onto the platform itself. The data as well as the organisations they come from, are vetted and approved by the HDX. Data must be adequately aggregated and anonymised and must meet HDX's standards of being "humanitarian" data that pertains to a crisis, its context, and the organisations working on said crises. The data can then be used by policy makers, relief organisations, researchers etc. Another example is the International Organisation for Migration's (IOM) Global Migration Data Portal (MDP). Here, the IOM acts as a quasi-data steward in collating data from its 173 member states on 70 migration indicators, checking data for inconsistencies and maintaining confidentiality.
The Indian context, needless to say, would require a specifically tailored response suited to its everyday functional exigencies. For starters, both the quality and quantity of data on Indian migrants is lacking. In the specific case of the pandemic-induced migrant crisis, the federal ministry of labour and employment itself admitted the absence of data "maintained by the government on the number of migrant deaths that occurred due to restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 lockdown." Private sector and civil society responses to the crisis at the time, like Facebook's Data for Good or India Observatory's CoAST India, used limited means and ad hoc data to deliver insights on movement of migrant population, map relief centers, and highlight the need for transport.
At a more general level, existing databases are insufficient for a data-informed response to a crisis. To start with, official estimates on the number of migrant workers in the country range as widely from 2.6 million to 80 million persons. Siloed databases, and varying ways of defining and registering workers have led to such discrepancies. Only 25% of India's unorganised workers are registered under the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 concerns itself with limited sectors of work such as domestic help, construction, sanitation etc, leaving the picture incomplete.
Much of the digital data gathering on migrants in the COVID-19 crisis depended on location data on phones — a commodity one cannot assume the population group to possess across the board. Moreover, there are concerns regarding privacy violations, lack of accountability, and commercial bias with data collected in this manner. Techno-solutionist approaches in this case, have often failed to account for those who do not have access to technologies.
A rights-respecting, transparent and regulated data sharing mechanism between Indian labour unions, NGOs, civil society and government coupled with the standardisation and accountability measures as observed in the international models of the HDX and IOM could help pave the way for an Indian data stewardship model. This would represent migrant labourers' interests and serve their needs, whilst also bringing them to the table to collectively bargain for their interests.
Understanding Intellectual Property Rights issues around Non-Personal Databases
By Deepa Padmar
Health data sharing being set up to fail by a regulatory mashup: roles of the NDHM, PDPB, consent managers and the NHA
By The Data Economy Lab
Comments on the Revised Report by the Committee of Experts on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework
By Soujanya Sridharan & Siddharth Manohar
Developing standards for accountability in data stewardship
By Preethi Sundararajan
Role of data stewards in enhancing accountability
By Preethi Sundarajan
Complications in Data Exchange Layers: Account Aggregators and X-tee
By Siddharth Manohar
The Future of Cities: Data Sharing & Stewardship
By Suha Mohamed
Data & Competition: Reorganising the Distribution of User Data

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Click here to return to the main site.
The Complete Second Season
Starring: Anna Silk, Kris Holden-Ried, Ksenia Solo, Zoie Palmer, Rick Howland and K. C. Collins
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
CDRP17358
Supernatural seductress Bo (Anna Silk), is a succubus who feeds on the sexual energy ("chi") of humans. Growing up with human parents, Bo had no reason to believe she was anything other than the girl next door - until she drained her boyfriend to death in their first sexual encounter. Now she has hit the road alone and afraid. She discovers she is one of the Fae, creatures of legend and folklore, who pass as humans while feeding off them secretly and in different ways, as they have for millennia. Relieved yet horrified to find out this she is not alone, Bo decides to take the middle path between the human and the Fae while embarking on a personal mission to unlock the secrets of her origin...
Unlike last season, where the main drive of the series and ongoing story arc was the slow unveiling of Bo's past as well as her coming to terms with what she really was, season two's main ongoing plot line revolves around a mysterious huge threat that is coming to cause havoc amongst the light and dark fae.
As in the previous season, the main light relief comes in the form of Bo's flatmate Kenzi (played by Ksenia Solo). She provides some much needed comedy into what would otherwise be a rather dry show. That is unless you count the OTT and very amusing episode Original Skin which sees the souls of the main characters switching with their bodies - so Kenzi inhabits the body of Dyson, which allows Kris Holden-Ried to have fun with his character.
This show also pays homage to a number of movies. The most notable being the "I've seen things..." speech from Blade Runner which makes an appearance in the episode Death Didn't Become Him and a visual homage to the velociraptors in the kitchen in Jurassic Park in the episode The Girl Who Fae'd with Fire.
Oddly enough there isn't a single extra in this collection, but then there weren't any extras on the DVD release of the show's first season either.
It's another interesting season. The only slight downside is that there's nothing here (and I do mean nothing) that hasn't been explored and done better in numerous other sci-fi shows.
Each of the store links below opens in a new window, allowing you to compare the price of this product from various online stores.
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iTunes GB


Essential oils are not only useful for their enticing scents, many of them also can be used as natural alternatives to chemical disinfectants. Some common culinary herbs have constituents that are anti-bacterial or anti-fungal. Using essential oils to clean your home or disinfect wounds is usually safer for your family and the environment.
A study published in 2006 in the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that some essential oils were able to inhibit bacteria such as staph, pneumonia and E. coli. The most effective oils studied included cinnamon oil, clove oil and rosemary oil. A study published in 2001 in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy found that cinnamon oil and thyme oil vapors were effective against E.coli, staph, strep and influenza bacteria.
Cinnamon oil is derived from the bark of the cinnamon tree, which is native to Sri Lanka and tropical regions of India. The oil is derived from a steam distillation process. Undiluted, it is much too strong to swallow or use on skin. Diluted cinnamon oil on food not only adds flavor, it can help destroy food-borne pathogens that make you sick. You can use cinnamon oil to clean minor wounds and scrapes. It also works as a household disinfectant for cleaning bathroom and kitchen surfaces.
Most commonly known as a spice and home remedy for toothaches, clove oil is a powerful disinfectant. Clove oil is steam distilled from the buds of the evergreen clove tree, native to Asia. You can use clove oil to clean minor cuts and soothe insect bites. As an anti-fungal, it can be used on topical infections like athlete's foot and scabies. Like most essential oils, clove oil should be diluted before applying it to skin.
Rosemary oil is another culinary herb that can inhibit food-borne pathogens on food, in addition to adding flavor. The essential oil is steam distilled from the leaves of the plant, which is native to the Mediterranean and now grown all over the world. Although you shouldn't use undiluted rosemary essential oil directly on your skin, you can mix a couple drops with a vegetable oil such as olive oil and use it to clean minor wounds. You can add rosemary oil to a hot tub or sauna stones to disinfect the water, and rosemary oil works as a household cleanser to disinfect surfaces and freshen the air.
Thyme has been used for centuries as a traditional method of warding off germs. Also native to the Mediterranean, the essential oil is steam distilled from the leaves. According to the Washington Post, thyme oil is the active ingredient in Benefect, one of the few eco-friendly disinfectants and household cleaners available as of 2010. Because it's also effective against food-borne pathogens like salmonella, you can add thyme oil to your washing water when you clean cutting boards and kitchen utensils that have come into contact with raw eggs and meat.
Washington Post: How Far Should You Go to Kill Germs?


text:
package db

import "github.com/cfstras/cfmedias/core"

//TODO cache these

func (d *DB) initStats(c core.Core) {
	c.RegisterCommand(core.Command{
		[]string{"stats"},
		"Prints some statistics about the database",
		map[string]string{},
		core.AuthUser,
		func(_ core.CommandContext) core.Result {
			res := map[string]interface{}{
				"items_total":      d.TitlesTotal(),
				"folders_total":    d.FoldersTotal(),
				"items_per_folder": d.AvgFilesPerFolder(),
			}
			//TODO more stats
			//TODO stats per user level
			return core.Result{Status: core.StatusOK, Result: res}
		}})
}

func (d *DB) TitlesTotal() (num int64) {
	d.db.Table(ItemTable).Count(&num)
	return
}

func (d *DB) FoldersTotal() (num int64) {
	d.db.Table(FolderTable).Count(&num)
	return
}

func (d *DB) AvgFilesPerFolder() float32 {
	return float32(d.TitlesTotal()) / float32(d.FoldersTotal())
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Square Joins Twitter In Allowing Employees To Work From Home IndefinitelyEmployees at mobile payments company Square will be allowed to work from home indefinitely, even after restrictions related to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic are lifted.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Sets Aside $1B For Charity, Initial Focus On Coronavirus Relief EffortsTwitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey says he's dedicating more than a quarter of his wealth to a new fund for charitable causes, with the immediate focus on coronavirus relief efforts.
Some New Point-of-Sale Systems May Not Comply With 18-Year-Old State LawThey used to be called cash registers. Now, they're known as point-of-sale systems.
Visa Buys Nearly 10 Percent Stake In SquareVisa is now a major shareholder in Square, the Bay Area-based mobile payment services company co-founded and led by Jack Dorsey.
Michigan Panhandler Uses Credit Card Reader To Collect MoneyA homeless panhandler in Michigan is turning to technology produced by a San Francisco company to expand the people he asks for money by taking credit cards.
Square Stock Soars 45 Percent In 1st Day Of TradingSquare bounced back in its stock market debut Thursday after the once-hot mobile payments service slashed the price of its initial public offering to get the deal done.
Square Discounts Stock To $9 A Share To Complete IPOMobile payments processor Square had to sell its stock at a deep discount to complete its initial public offering, a concession signaling that investors are becoming wary of once-hot startups that haven't proven they can make money.
Square Boosts Expected IPO Value By 47 Percent In Rocky MarketSquare, the six-year-old company known for its white, cube-shaped credit and debit card readers that plug into smartphones, is boosting its planned initial public offering value by 47 percent in what has become a tough market for new companies trying to raise cash.
Square Boosts Expected IPO Value Up 47% In Dicey MarketSquare, the six-year-old company known for its white, cube-shaped card readers that plug into smartphones, is boosting its planned initial public offering value by 47 percent in what has become a very dicey market for new companies trying to raise cash.
Twitter Going Back To The Future For New CEO? Founder, Execs Buy Up Big StakeTwitter may be keeping interim-CEO Jack Dorsey on permanently
Silicon Valley's Biggest Names Pull Out Rainbow Flags After Marriage Equality RulingThis weekend's big Pride Parade may be in San Francisco, but that didn't stop Silicon Valley leaders from (digitally) waiving the rainbow flag in support of Friday's Supreme Court ruling ending bans on same-sex marriage.
SF Ferry Building Developers Sign On To Bring Waterfront Public Market To Jack London SquareThe hope is that Water Street Market will rival the Ferry Building and Oxbow Market in Napa, but with an East Bay feel.
Be Prepared To Pay $888 Before Eating At San Francisco's Most Expensive RestaurantSaison, San Francisco's most expensive restaurant, is now on the growing list of Bay Area venues requiring guests to pay for dinner in full before ever stepping foot inside.
Just How Much Do Bay Area Coding Internships Pay?Across the board, employees are taking in high salaries, but one group in particular within tech is making almost unbelievable amounts of money—coding interns.
Larry Magid: Square Purchases Bay-Area Startup—Caviar; Enters Food Delivery Business San Francisco mobile-payment company, Square, has bought a Bay Area startup that delivers meals from restaurants called, Caviar. Our technology analyst says our options on food delivery are on the rise.


In the deep wintertime – on the eve of a colossal snowstorm – you would not imagine half a dozen artists creating work based on nature in the middle of the Bronx. Yet six artists – Manuel Acevedo, Zachary Fabri, Asuka Hishiki, Maria Hupfield, Paloma McGregor and Linda Stillman – are facing the dormant winter landscape at Wave Hill, a twenty-eight-acre public garden and cultural center in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and initiating works inspired by their surroundings as part of a six week Winter Workshop Program.
Generations removed from Earth Works and Land Art, these artists' objects are smaller in scale and less globally political and theoretical than the exploration in the vast terrain of the American landscape that occupied Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt, Robert Smithson and Walter de Maria in the 1960s and 1970s. Instead, mirroring a preoccupation by some artists today whose work dwells in memories and personal experience, the Wave Hill group looks inward and uses keen observation as a source in their work. If the artists find materials such as branches, dried flowers, or holly leaves on the Wave Hill grounds and in its greenhouse, some have also trolled the surrounding neighborhoods to locate tossed soda bottles or other urban castoffs. Either way, they use these materials to summon intimate, individual history.
Linda Stillman, Daily Drawings: Wave Hill winter, 2013, flower stains on paper, each 6" x 6", installation dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Every day, Linda Stillman receives a small collection of colorful dropped flower heads from the Wave Hill greenhouse gardeners. Stillman rubs the blossoms to make stains for works on paper. The Flower Diary becomes a colloquial recording of this regular exchange between a horticulturist and an artist. Stillman has created diaries before – gardens that she planted and cultivated in upstate New York in 2001 formed a calendar grid to mark the monthly growth and the ultimate degradation of annuals and herbs. The August garden was at the height of ripeness and intense color while, by November, the site was overgrown and bleak. The artist said that her investigation of gardens has connected her projects across a decade. "Thematically, they are linked as they both change, fade and die, an important concept in most of my work," according to Stillman.
It is the stages of the progression of nature that have also influenced Asuka Hishiki. The watercolor painter conceived a three-dimensional collage of hundreds of vellum Pink-Tipped Satyr butterflies resting in a two-dimensional tree drawn in graphite for her Wave Hill residency. Butterfly Tree measures 7 feet 5 inches x 3 feet 6 inches, and documents the painstaking recording of a butterfly's movements. Hishiki affixed each butterfly with specimen pins to the paper ground. If the viewer thinks that this work is in homage to a rabble of active butterflies, they may be incorrect. Rather, the red, pink and beige insects are preserved examples of the abundance of a species in anticipation of extinction. "My main theme is the celebration of the beauty of nature," Hishiki wrote in an email. However… many species are facing extinction and, by contrast, a few kinds — including human beings — are increasing. This is always here on my mind." The particular butterfly in Hishiki's work was her "first love," an insect she was fascinated with as a child.
If Hishiki has scoured memories for subject matter in Butterfly Tree, Zachary Fabri has combed the local neighborhoods for different mediums – all with an eye to finding castoff objects he can paint with a white stripe to mimic the arborist practice of whitewashing the bottom of tree trunks. Fabri explained that while walking around the grounds, he was "baffled" to observe the ring of white latex paint circling many trees. It is a practical, protective coat meant to insulate bark against sunscald, insect infestation and small animals. But Fabri found a layer of meaning in this additional, applied skin and he anticipates using this visual cue to make new work. "The painted white ring implies care and consideration for the tree," Fabri stated. "I wondered if I could have a similar relationship with objects – a certain intimacy with their material properties." The artist has now gathered objects on the streets surrounding Wave Hill including latex and work gloves, a kitchen cabinet door, a green umbrella, and a heart-shaped candle to serve as materials for his work. "It is important that the white paint highlight the formal properties while also allowing the urban narrative to remain," he explained.
Zachary Fabri, Forget me not, as my tether is clipped, 2012, video still, transferred from 16 mm film, 14:50 min, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Very thoughtful works reminding us of the inner life that is so rich. With less space to live in many of us respond in like fashion.
Thank you for the review; I love Linda Stillman's work.


We have found that breweries have varying levels of refrigeration based upon the type of beer they produce. Low-temp and mid-temp coolers with refrigeration are wasting a great deal of money year over year on the evaporators running at high speed.
We are able to help reduce the waste in all parts of your facility by implementing our SMART CEW Program. A cold storage facility has a project Payback of 18-36 months, and will save thousands or tens of thousands depending upon the size of the facility over the life of the system.
The purpose of a commercial refrigeration compressor and related equipment is to remove heat from the space, and there's a 95% chance your current system design is completely counterproductive. It's time to save money, reduce noise, and reinvest those dollars back into your business.
What is a SMART Controlled Environment Warehouse? First and foremost, it is efficient in it's minimal use of energy. It is smart because the building systems are controlled to be on, off, or partially on only as required by employees and temperature. A SMART CEW costs less to operate, and is a safer and more enjoyable working environment, benefiting your most valuable asset – the team that makes it all happen!
Click on the Brochure below to learn more about our process and share with your team.
Get a 30 minute in-depth education on best energy practices for your facility.
Fill out the form to request a web conference that details how we can help your business.


Traveling with adrenal fatigue can be a grueling experience. When your default mode is already 'exhaustion', the prospect of a lengthy trip is enough to strike dread into any sane human being.
Traffic delays, sitting for hours in an unnatural, air conditioned environment, exposure to germs from other passengers – the list of stressors is endless. The reality is that there's a lot that's beyond your control when you're faced with a long journey. But, with a little organization, you can arrive at your destination feeling refreshed and ready to go.
Here are some of my top tips for avoiding complete meltdown when traveling with adrenal fatigue.
One of the most stressful parts of any journey isn't just ensuring you arrive at your destination, but that your luggage does too. Your strategies will depend on which mode of transport you intend to use.
For example, if you're traveling by train, try to book tickets that are near to storage holders so you don't have to carry heavy bags any further than is absolutely necessary. Being seated where you can see your bags is also reassuring. There's nothing worse than spending a three hour train journey fretting over whether or not your luggage will arrive damage free, or if it will even be in the rack when it's time to disembark.
When choosing a suitable travel bag, try to avoid bringing anything with complicated straps that will dig into your hands or back, and most of all, be sure that it's relatively light to carry. If you're one of those people that find it impossible to travel light and simply can't leave home without the kitchen sink, opt for a suitcase with wheels. Choose luggage where the wheels go all directions so you can easily maneuver it, and make sure it's a comfortable weight to lift in the event that you have to navigate steps en-route to your destination.
For added security, label all bags clearly so they're distinguishable from those belonging to other travellers. A good tip is to use colourful luggage stickers to avoid mix-ups during the journey. Check out Ebay, Etsy and Amazon for affordable, personalized tags or bright stickers that will make your bags easily recognizable and stand out from the crowd.
A healthy snack to avoid caving in to the over-priced, low nutrient airport / station junk food. Pack some boiled eggs, homemade protein cookies, dry packs of rolled oats with nuts or granola (just add hot water or milk), trail mix, or cheese and chopped vegetables. Make sure you have enough healthy snacks so you aren't tempted by all the junk food or caught out by a possible unpalatable meal on the plane.
Remember to think ahead – for example, will you need spare change for parking?
Long flights are a nightmare for people with adrenal fatigue, not least because travelling through time zones can play havoc with your circadian rhythms.
Before you travel, take a day or two to make sure that you're fully rested. If this means taking a few days off work or breaking your regular routine then so be it. If at all possible, try to book flights that are scheduled to arrive during daylight hours. Studies show that this can help with adjusting to a new routine and can reduce the symptoms of jet-lag.
An ice cold G&T might sound like just the ticket if you're heading off on holidays, or if you just want to steady frayed nerves on a trip. However, any stimulant (including coffee, energy drinks and cigarettes) are a bad idea when travelling, especially if your sleep routine is already disrupted.
It can be hard to stay hydrated while traveling. Wherever possible, opt for water over alcohol so you're not giving your adrenals extra work to do on top of managing the additional stress caused by the journey.
Traveling with a supportive partner can really be a godsend if you want to avoid a full blown adrenal crash. Travelling with a companion means you'll have someone to wait in the check-in line, calm your nerves if you start to feel stressed, and basically help deal with the other million and one possible hiccups that can occur when travelling over longer distances. However, out of consideration for your travel buddy, always be sure that they're aware of your health needs before you leave so they don't feel overwhelmed if you have sudden slumps in energy or need additional support during your trip.
Remember, travelling is stressful for everyone regardless of whether or not they have adrenal fatigue. The key, as always, is preparation. Plan ahead, and don't be too hard on yourself if you find yourself struggling during the journey. Be sure to plan restful activities for when you arrive, a sauna, an early night, a leisurely meal… Allow your body time to adjust and congratulate yourself for not letting adrenal fatigue dictate your routine!


A migraine is a complicated condition with a wide variety of symptoms. It is debilitating characterized by moderate to a severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. This is often accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light or sound. In this video, we are going to talk about how you can eliminate your migraines by avoiding these triggers that are fairly common.
Hormonal imbalances are really common for all those patients suffering from migraines. The hormonal imbalances could be emanating from an issue with the cycle whether that be with menstruation or ovulation. It could be too long of a cycle or too short. There could be spotting as well as a whole host of issues. We actually used a great test in our clinic called the 208 from Biohealth Diagnostics for this. It maps out your entire cycle, so we can pinpoint exactly where the problem is and correct the imbalance. Other issues can be from oral contraceptive use or hormone replacement therapy. The only other thing I want to point out about this is that sometimes when patients that are suffering from migraines go in and talk about hormone imbalances, they are actually given birth control or hormone replacement therapy in an attempt to treat the migraine. That is fine but just keep in mind that often times when this happens, it actually makes the migraines worse.
Click here to schedule a consult with Dr. St Jean to discover how you can eliminate your migraines and get out of pain now!
We were meant to move and we all know that. A lot of patients whom I see when asked them about their physical activity, it is almost none. That is a problem because being active is not just going to help your migraines. It is going to help your overall health. But when it comes to migraines, I am not saying when you are having an attack to go lift weights or go for a run. It is actually prophylactic meaning it is more preventative and helps reduce the number of migraines and the intensity overall. Keep in mind, sometimes, you do not want to go intense as really vigorous intense exercise can actually trigger migraines. So there is a sweet spot and only you know that sweet spot. It really depends on your level of physical activity, endurance levels, and your aerobic capacity. There are so many different variables. Basically, how fit are you and that will determine, where and when and how much you should be exercising.
You always want to make sure that you are asking your prescribing doctor, "Do any of my medications trigger or aggravate or mitigate my migraine headaches?" That is a really important starting place. Now, think about it. Anybody that has migraines or any kind of headache for that matter is going to take medications. They take medications to relieve the headache, but over time the more medication uses the more likely they are to develop something called medication overuse headaches.
Medications that have been specifically linked to triggering migraines include things like pain relievers, ergots, triptans, opioids and combo analgesics. So these are all things you want to consider if you have migraines.
Two really important ones that come to mind are cocaine and marijuana. Cocaine will, in fact, trigger a migraine attack. Not everytime but it will so definitely avoid it. Marijuana does not necessarily trigger the attack but when you are on the substance, it is more difficult to treat the attack. So I know that is not what something you want to hear. You might think that hey you know, my migraine headaches are only responding to marijuana. That is fine but just know that it makes it harder to treat the attack. So keep that in mind, you always want to search for the root cause of migraines.
These are really pervasive mental emotional stressors in our life in our everyday society. So when you encounter something stressful, the model that I would like to live by is, let the emotions flow, experience them and then let them go. Make sure not to internalize. When you internalize those types of stressors and anxious feelings of fear and excitement or whatever it is, it actually creates physiological changes in your heart and in your nervous system that become overtime pathological. So stress and anxiety, those are things that you are going to want to find away to reduce whether that is meditation, counseling, whatever works for you. Reduce your stress and anxiety and you will eliminate your migraine headaches.
You definitely want to dial in your sleep when it comes to avoiding the triggers of migraines now. That could be either too much sleep, or may be you are sleeping way too much or your are not sleeping enough. Either one can be problematic when it comes to migraines. The discussion of sleep in terms of how much you need is a very controversial subject.
I always recommend my patients between 7 and 10 hours depending on the individual. Personally, I tried to get 10 every night. It does not always happen, why? Because life gets in the way just like the rest of us, right? But in general, you want to try to sleep between 10 and 10:30 and then wake up when your body feels rested. It is really important. There is a whole bunch of information on sleep on my other functional medicine website drstjean.com. So feel free to go and read and watch a bunch of videos on that as well. But sleep is something you really need to dial in when it comes to migraines.
In addition to getting your sleep dialed in, consider your computer screens and how much time you are spending in front of them. Computers, iPads, iPhones, all of it. You really want to minimize if you can. If your work surrounds them like mine, then I get anti-glare screens, take breaks, and wear blue glasses.
Blue glasses filter a certain wavelength of light so it calms down the stimulation to a part of your brain called mesencephalon which placed a very important role on migraines. So when it comes to avoiding specific triggers, you really want to figure our what works best with your computer screens. Again, anti-glare screens, take breaks throughout the day, make sure there is proper lighting, and look on my website for those blue glasses.
All too often, these things find their way into our food stuff and we do not even know about them. Things you want to think about are MSG, aspartame, and nitrates. All definitely need to be avoided to help you eliminate migraines.
These are different than allergies. Allergy is things like hypersensitivity reactions. For example, if you have a peanut allergy, you have this really intense reaction to peanuts. Food sensitivities are a completely different category. Some of the top offenders are gluten, dairy, and soy. I am not a gluten zealot by any means. Not every single person is sensitive to this types of foods, but if you are suffering from migraines, you really want to make sure that these are not causing problems in your gut and causing inflammation because that can be triggering your migraines.
Avoid artificial sweeteners. Do not use Splenda. Go for Stevia specifically the sweet leaf Stevia. It does not have the maltodextrin in it. So it is much better for you and it is not going to trigger your migraines.
Caffeine is definitely a trigger for migraines. Whether that is too much caffeine in one sitting or throughout the day or abstaining from caffeine too quickly. So try to find other natural sources of energy boost like exercise, good sleep, and B vitamins. There is a ton of different sources that you can use to boost your energy naturally.
This is found in red wines and certain cheeses like camembert and brie. So you really, if you are suffering from migraines, avoid red wines and these cheeses. Probably take out alcohol and cheese until you can figure out what is actually causing your migraine so you do not have to suffer from it.
You need to make sure you are drinking enough water. We are about 70% water. Meaning, literally, our body is about 70% water so you need a lot of it. As a general rule of thumb, half of your body weight in ounces per day. For example, if I weigh 180, I need to drink on average 90 ounces of water each day to stay hydrated. Now of course, that will go up or go down depending on how many vegetables or fruits or other foods containing water that I am consuming each day. Again, as a general rule of thumb, half of your body in ounces will keep you good and hydrated.
Great! So we covered a plethora of different triggers for your migraine headaches. Definitely avoid these triggers if you are suffering from these types of headaches. Keep in mind however, this does not necessarily guarantee that you are not going to have the headaches. You really want to get to the underlying root cause of your migraine headaches.
To learn more about headaches and migraines, check out our article and video blog. You can search for more information on the top left hand corner of this website. There is a ton of information to help you get started feeling better!


Hookworm - body, causes, What Is Hookworm?, How Do Hookworms Grow?
Hookworm is a parasitic roundworm that burrows through the skin, moves through the bloodstream to the lungs, and finally moves into the intestinal tract.
* parasitic (para-SIT-ik) refers to creatures that live in and feed on the bodies of other organisms.
* hosts are the animals or plants that harbor a parasite.
Hookworm is a type of parasitic * roundworm, known as a nematode (NEM-a-tode), that has hooked mouthparts. The worm uses these mouthparts to fasten itself onto the intestinal walls of various hosts * , including humans. Hookworm larvae (the stage between egg and adult) often enter the body through the skin between the toes in people who go barefoot. Hookworm affects about a quarter of the world's population, most often in warm, moist areas and in places with poor sanitation.
Adult hookworms live inside the small intestine of humans and other animals, where they attach to the intestinal wall and feed on the host's blood. Eggs are passed in the host's stools. The eggs hatch into larvae in 1 to 2 days under warm, moist conditions out of direct sunlight. The larvae grow in the stools and/or soil for 5 to 10 days until they become filariform (fi-LARE-i-form), or threadlike. It is during this stage that hookworm can cause infection.
Charles Stiles started the National Hookworm Eradication Program in the early 1900s. At the time, hookworm was a serious problem in the southern United States because of the warm, moist climate and poor sanitation conditions, combined with the habit of going barefoot. Hookworm was called the "germ of laziness."
In 1914, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller gave Stiles a $1 million grant to target sanitation in the public schools. Stiles's program became a model used in hookworm eradication programs worldwide.
Approximately 3.5 billion people world-wide have some form of infection from intestinal parasites, with about 450 million people in rich and poor countries alike experiencing symptoms of illness.
Hookworms, roundworms, and pin-worms are among the most common intestinal parasites and are a major public health problem.
Children living in poor regions with tropical climates are especially at risk for hookworm and roundworm infections.
Hookworm and roundworm infections also occur in countries like the United States, especially from contact with infected pets or their waste or from poor personal hygiene.
Hookworms are responsible for 60,000 deaths annually. The large roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides (which causes ascariasis) is responsible for another 65,000 deaths worldwide each year.
The parasitic hookworm Necator ameri-canus uses its hooked mouthpart to attach to the intestinal wall.
© (A. M. Siegelman/Visuals Unlimited.
to the throat, where they are swallowed. They then pass down the digestive tract to the small intestine. Inside the small intestine, they attach to the intestinal wall, and the cycle begins again.
How Is Hookworm Diagnosed and Treated?
The most common symptom of hookworm is anemia * caused by a loss of iron due to blood loss. Other symptoms include lack of appetite, weight loss, diarrhea * , and vague abdominal pain. When the larvae are in the lungs, there may be a dry cough and a mild fever. When the larvae burrow into the skin, there may be mild itching and a rash. It is not uncommon, however, for mild infections to show no symptoms at all.
An infection is confirmed in the laboratory by observing eggs in stool samples under a microscope. Medications can be prescribed to treat the infection. Anemia is treated with iron supplements.
The most effective method of prevention is limiting direct contact between infected soil and skin. In areas where hookworm is common, people should avoid walking barefoot or touching soil with their bare hands.
* anemia (a-NEE-mee-a) results when people have too few red blood cells and hemoglobin to carry oxygen in the blood.
* diarrhea (di-a-REE-a) refers to large, frequent, watery stools (bowel movements).
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333. CDC has a Division of Parasitic Diseases that posts a fact sheet about hookworm infection at its website.
U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NIAID posts a fact sheet about hookworm and other parasitic round-worm diseases at its website.


Our dispatch office, located just outside of Chicago in St. John, Indiana, allows us to deliver throughout the Midwest and beyond quickly and efficiently. We can reach even the farthest corners of our 48 contiguous states within days.
Our centralized Indiana location provides us easy access throughout the Midwest. At JL Shandy, we continually strengthen our position within the flatbed trucking industry by developing innovative, specialized services that help us provide continuous, on-time deliveries. In addition, our dispatchers have years of experience that allow us to respond quickly and overcome challenges to ensure your delivery gets to its destination in a timely, efficient manner.
At the end of the day, our process results in less paperwork, phone time and time spent with multiple vendors for our customers. It is the strong communication between our experienced team members that has allowed JL Shandy to build our reputation on convenience and dependability. This is what keeps our customers coming back time and time again.


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Vaccine Mandates Spark Protests at American, Southwest Airlines
By Daniel Villarreal On 10/7/21 at 5:04 PM EDT
U.S. Southwest Airlines American Airlines Protests Lawsuits
Workers at several airlines, including AmericanAirlines (AA) and Southwest Airlines (SWA), have started protesting their companies' COVID-19 vaccination mandates for workers.
Both airlines have told workers that they must be vaccinated or else face termination by November 24, before the busy holiday travel season begins. Both airlines allow employees to request religious or medical vaccine exemptions, though it's unclear how many will be granted.
Hundreds of AA workers and allies protested outside the company's Fort Worth, Texas headquarters on Thursday. The protesters told The Dallas Morning News that they are skeptical of the vaccines' effectiveness and their unreported side effects.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hasn't reported any long-term side effects from the approved COVID-19 vaccines.
Workers at several airlines—including American and Southwest—have started protesting the airlines' vaccination mandates for their workers. In this photo, United Airlines pilot Steve Lindland receives a COVID-19 vaccine from RN Sandra Manella at United's onsite clinic at O'Hare International Airport on March 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), a union, has filed a lawsuit against SWA over its vaccine mandate, The Dallas Morning News reported. SWAPA has authorized its members to demonstrate against the mandate and strenuous working conditions during the pandemic. The union has also authorized $1 million in support of those protests, which could begin this fall, SWAPA president Casey Murray said.
A union for SWA mechanics has also issued a statement opposing the mandate on contractual grounds, the publication added.
Both companies put mandates into place to comply with federal requirements instated by Democratic President Joe Biden. Biden said that all federal contractors need to vaccinate their employees by December 4. Both airlines have contracts with the federal government.
JetBlue and Alaska Airlines have also issued recent vaccine mandates for their employees. Delta Airlines is the only major U.S. airline that hasn't yet required vaccines for all its employees.
Current Delta employees who choose not to get vaccinated must pay a $200 monthly penalty starting in November, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. They must also wear face masks and take weekly COVID-19 tests. The company requires new hires to be vaccinated. On Monday, Delta said that 84 percent of its workforce has been vaccinated.
Southwest Pilots Blame 'Poor Planning' for 3,500-Plus Delays, Cancellations
Florida School Board to Allow Cuts to Districts That Require Masks
San Francisco Eases Restrictions as High Vax Rates, Fewer Cases Reported
MA Hospitals Ramp Up Recruitment Efforts Ahead of Firing Unvaxxed Workers
GOP Accuses Biden of Ignoring Chicago Violence as He Heads There
United Airlines was the first major airline to tell its workers to get vaccinated. On Monday, the company said that 99.5 percent of its workforce had been vaccinated.
In September, six United Airlines employees sued the company because the company denied their vaccine exemption requests, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, a group that advises U.S. agencies on contracts, has said that by October 8, it will issue guidance for airlines on granting exemptions, Reuters reported.
Smaller and regional airlines that sometimes fly shorter routes under major airlines' names—like Mesa, Envoy, SkyWest and CommutAir—haven't issued worker vaccine requirements. Representatives from the airlines told CNBC that they're examining the issue.
Several airline worker unions have warned that firing unvaccinated workers may worsen worker shortages and employee burnout, both which have worsened during the ongoing pandemic.
Newsweek contacted AA and SWA for comment.


Why does part of Midland Drive belong to TxDOT?
The Texas Department of Transportation will be performing night work Wednesday through early Thursday morning on Midland Drive between Wadley Avenue and Andrews Highway.
But there's a curiosity: Why TxDOT and not the city of Midland?
When you travel along Midland Drive between Andrews Highway and Loop 250, you might not have noticed road signs indicating this stretch is more formally known as Farm-to-Market Road 868.
TxDOT maintains farm-to-market roads, and FM 868 hasn't been taken over by the city, said Gene Powell, TxDOT Odessa District public information officer.
— FM 868 was designated Nov. 23, 1948. Back then, it ran from State Highway 158 (Andrews Highway) northward to SH 349. It was a distance of 5.9 miles. It's also noted that the road was 4 miles northwest of the city.
— In 1955, FM 868 grew to 10 miles long, when it was extended to U.S. Highway 80, which is now Business 20.
— The road shrank to 5.7 miles in 1956, when it ran from SH 158 to SH 349.
— The road got even smaller in 1984, when it was given a distance of 1.9 miles from Loop 546 (now Business SH 158, or Andrews Highway) to Loop 250.
— Since 2010, the segment is now 1.975 miles.
Today, signs show this segment of Midland Drive is "Farm Road 868"; however, highway designation files indicate it's Urban Road 868, a new designation the state adopted in 1995.
No matter what you call it, TxDOT is informing motorists that fog sealing will occur from 11 p.m. today through 6 a.m. Thursday between Wadley Avenue and Andrews Highway. It's expected to be completed in one evening.
The manual warns that fog seal coats can cause a temporary loss of friction on the roadway surface and that traffic shouldn't be allowed on the seal until it has adequately cured.


"When I realized that, in America, it was necessary to acquire users that would deliberately download the game and enjoy it, rather than relying on a passive influx like ad network, a YouTuber campaign became an alternative."
Since the release of smash hit game app "The Battle Cats" in 2012, PONOS Corp. has gathered as many as 16 million users. On September 17th 2014, the English version was released, anticipating even further expansion to overseas.
In Japan, the game frequently occupies the top ranking positions of both platforms - Google Play/iTunes -, but in the US, it had some difficulties related to cultural differences, falling short of its ROAS (Return On Advertising Spend) target. As a type of game that becomes truly interesting only after some stages are accomplished - not from the beginning -, its persistency rate in cultural spheres that are not very patient was also declining more rapidly than in Japan.
What made you feel like using iCON CAST?
When I realized that, in America, it was necessary to acquire users that would deliberately download the game and enjoy it, rather than relying on a passive influx like ad network, I created expectation over YouTuber campaigns.
We learned that, right after watching a video on YouTube, many users tend to watch other videos, but there is also an extremely high number of viewers who then make a search followed by a download instead. It is believed that the behavior of actively making a search is connected to the high persistency rate (several times higher than that of ad network).
Unlike common publicity campaigns, the video will be permanently stored on YouTube.
PONOS Corp. is a game content company located in Kyoto, whose core business is applications for smartphones. Since its foundation in 1990, it has been delivering quality content in each platform it has shifted from, such as family games, feature phones and smartphones.


If you attended the June 2018 annual COHI Conference, you may remember we announced "The Helen Appelberg Mustard Seed Fund." COHI began as a "mustard seed" in 1994. Planted in fertile soil in many locations, it has put forth large branches throughout the world to support vulnerable and hurting people. This fund will ensure that Helen's legacy lives on by funding new COHI centers around the world.
We also invite you to make your gift in memory or honor of someone who's represented servant leadership in your life. Please click on the DONATE NOW below and then click on the Helen Appelberg Mustard Seed Fund. Note in the additional comments box below the name of the person you wish to honor or memorialize, and also provide contact information if you would like us to notify anyone about your gift. We will not include the donation amount but we'll send them a 3" x 5" card (below).
Donate below with a credit/debit card.
COHI is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization.
donated to Community of Hope International. Need more details? Click HERE.


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Sir Ernest Shackleton – By Endurance, We Conquer
An astonishing lesson in leadership from the Irishman whose attempt to cross the Antarctic by land left him with the immense challenge of leading his 27 crewmen on a godforsaken adventure through the world's most hellish waters and an uncharted mountain range....
Deep-Sea Fishing in County Clare
In 2009, a Swiss financier caught a bluntnose sixgill shark near Carriagaholt, County Clare. It was the largest yet fish caught by a rod and line in Irish or British waters. Turtle headed down a week later to see if he could do any better. He could not. Complete...
Where the Jingle Bells Chime – Christmas in Albany, New York
A Christmas 2021 interview with Elizabeth Stack, executive director of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany, New York. Complete access to all articles on this website for €12 / year...
The Last Minute Mayhem
A Christmas interview with Liz Cairns (née Moore) of Leicestershire, England. Complete access to all articles on this website for €12 / year...
Evelyn Kelly Lambert (1907-2004) – The American Widow who Conquered Europe
In 2001, I was lucky enough to spend a week as a guest of this 93-year-old grande dame, collector, philanthropist at Casa Leon, her wonderful home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Evelyn and her late husband Joe Lambert were icons of Dallas and Venice in the 1960s and 1970s....


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Cyborg Dreams
An Intersection of Media, Japan, and Fandom
Tag Archives: media
by Simeon	Leave a comment
Why are Anime DVDs so Expensive in Japan?
Many of us have had this experience; we are at a convention and we get really excited because we see the Japanese release of our favorite show, and our inner Otaking screams we must have it and rush towards a booth, lift the box with reverence and gaze on our prize, and then almost faint as we see the $75-$90 price tag, and that just for the first 3 episodes.
Yes, I finally have all of Battle Programmer Shirase on Japanese VHS
Perhaps your experience wasn't exactly like that, maybe it was more of an online moment. Perhaps your curiosity was just piqued and you searched for it then quickly closed that browser tab and never looked back.
The fact is that anime DVDs and BDs are expensive in Japan, really expensive. To understand why you have to look at how broadcast television works for anime in Japan as opposed to America. In Japan, late night anime time slots are bought and sold in a way similar to infomercial airtime in America. First, the producer of the show gathers up like-minded people and investors that could benefit from a show and forms a Production Committee (Seisaku Iinkai for those interested in the Japanese term). This group pays the television network for the time slot, basically for the privilege of airing the anime. Some money is made back by some limited sales of ad time during the show, but for most part money is made on the back-end through DVD and BD sales. Longer, more well-known franchises also make money through other merchandise sales such as figures and model kits, but for shows that are only one or two cours (12-14 episodes) in length merchandising is not a viable option. This means that for a short run show, the few thousand copies of DVDs that are sold are the only way the production committee recoups its losses. In essence those few thousand fans pay for the entire production of an anime.
This is wildly different from how American-made television series are bought and sold. Shows are generally paid for and sponsored by the network airing them and the network recoups almost all of its money through ad sales. When the various disc formats are released, those sales are almost pure profit on a show that's already been paid for.
This setup suggests that Japanese creators might have more control of their shows, because the people fronting the money are the creators as well as the investors they have found (the production committee). Whereas in America the creative is essentially hired by a television network to produce a series oftentimes leaving creative issues in the hands of executives, where a creator's vision may be changed because of perceived market trends or even cancelled (Firefly anyone?).
But because of this setup many studios have to "play it safe" by producing an anime of an existing franchise with an established fan base; often times this is a manga, but more recently light novels and video games are being used. Even studios like Gainax and Trigger which are well-known for their original content will produce shows like this in order to "pay the bills" and fund their more ambitious projects.
This entire setup was much of the cause of Bandai pulling out of America in 2012. Americans in general refused to pay the kind of money for discs that the Japanese fans were. This, combined with Bandai refusing to come to terms with online streaming made them decide America was not worth it.
It is important to note that Bandai has since done a 180 on their stance on streaming. There are more Gundam shows available legally and simulcast in America than ever before.
But things finally look like they may be changing in Japan. As of September Netflix has finally arrived on their shores and streaming seems to be the inevitable endpoint for how the world consumes media. There is even anime available; Psycho-Pass 2 season 1 and both episodes of Little Witch Academia. It will be interesting to see how streaming affects the anime industry, but my opinion is that it can only be good for the creators.
For those interested in learning more about anime production, check out Justin Sevakis' article on the Anime News Network. It is from 2012 so it's a bit dated, especially the parts about streaming, but worth the read.
If you want to know more about the "Bandai Incident" check out the Anime World Order podcast, episode 103.
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: animation, anime, japan, media | Permalink.
Why are Anime DVDs so Expensive in Japan? 17/10/2015
AMV Hell What? 10/10/2015
Is Avatar the Last Airbender anime? 06/03/2015
Can You Teach Yourself Japanese? 08/09/2014
Nostalgia is a Drug for Geeks 08/09/2014
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The Lives and Times of Pioneering Women in Physics
Posted on April 27, 2015 by helenthehare
Pioneer of Radioactivity
By Professor Hélèn Langevin-Joliot
(Granddaughter of Marie Curie)
Hélène Langevin-Joliot (born 17 September 1927) is a French nuclear physicist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne_Langevin-Joliot
Madam Curie started out by being just an assistant but became very famous. On the way she had many difficulties to overcome.
"I keep a sort of hope that this will not disappear into nothingness"
Marie Skłodowska-Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie
Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw, in the Russian partition of Poland, on 7 November 1867, as the fifth and youngest child of well-known teachers Bronisława, née Boguska, and Władysław Skłodowski.[8] Maria's older siblings were Zofia (born 1862), Józef (1863), Bronisława (1865) and Helena (1866).
Marie's early life was quite a struggle. The family had lost property and money by being involved in Polish national uprisings and in fact her father was fired from his job for this. To make some money they took in lodgers.
Marie lost her mother to TB when she was ten years old and this is probably why she sent to boarding school. She later went on to attend a gymnasium for girls, from which she graduated on 12 June 1883 with a gold medal as she was a very good student.
After leaving school she began tutoring as she was not allowed to go to university because she was a woman. However she and her sister Bronisława became involved with the clandestine Flying University, a Polish patriotic institution of higher learning that admitted women students.
Marie made a pact with her sister Bronisława, that she would give her financial assistance during Bronisława's medical studies in Paris, in exchange for similar assistance two years later. So she began her working life as a governess, first as a home tutor in Warsaw; then for two years as a governess in Szczuki with a landed family, the Żorawskis, who were relatives of her father.
Władysław Skłodowski with daughters (from left) Maria, Bronisława, Helena, 1890
At the beginning of 1890, Bronisława invited Marie to join her and her husband in Paris but Marie had to decline as she hadn't saved enough money for the university tuition fees. During her years as a governess she continued to educate herself, reading books, exchanging letters, and being tutored herself and she began her practical scientific training (1890–91) in a chemical laboratory at the Museum of Industry and Agriculture at Krakowskie Przedmieście 66, near Warsaw's Old Town.
In late 1891 she left Poland for France. In Paris Marie found she wasn't as prepared as she first though and briefly found shelter with her sister and brother-in-law before renting a garret closer to the university, in the Latin Quarter, and proceeding with her studies of physics, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Paris, where she enrolled in late 1891. She subsisted on her meagre resources, suffering from cold winters and occasionally fainting from hunger.
Marie studied during the day and tutored evenings, barely earning her keep. In 1893 she was awarded a degree in physics and began work in an industrial laboratory of Professor Gabriel Lippmann. Meanwhile she continued studying at the University of Paris, and with the aid of a fellowship she was able to earn a second degree in maths in 1894.
Marie had begun her scientific career in Paris with an investigation of the magnetic properties of various steels, commissioned by the "The Society for the Encouragement of National Industry".
In July 1894 Pierre Curie entered her life; it was their mutual interest in natural sciences that drew them together. It was a decisive encounter and she later described the relationship as "our scientific dream".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Curie
Pierre Curie (15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity
Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials (such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins) in response to applied mechanical stress.
In 1880 Pierre and his brother had published the first in a series of papers about the discovery of piezoelectricity. They then studied the opposite effect, the compression of a piezoelectric crystal by an electric field. In order to measure the very small amounts of electricity involved, the brothers invented a new laboratory instrument: a piezoelectric quartz electrometer, or balance. This device became very useful for electrical researchers and would prove highly valuable to Marie in her studies of radioactivity.
http://biography.yourdictionary.com/pierre-curie
Pierre was an instructor at the School of Physics and Chemistry, the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI). They were introduced by the Polish physicist, Professor Józef Kowalski-Wierusz, who had learned that Marie was looking for a larger laboratory space, something that Kowalski-Wierusz thought Pierre had access to. Though Pierre did not have a large laboratory, he was able to find some space for Marie where she was able to begin work and she helped change his view of women.
Their mutual passion for science brought them increasingly closer, and they began to develop feelings for one another. Eventually Pierre proposed marriage, but at first Marie did not accept as she was still planning to go back to her native country. Pierre, however, declared that he was ready to move with her to Poland, even if meant being reduced to teaching French.
In the summer of 1895 Marie had a holiday in Poland to visit her family, hoping that it might be possible to get a job there in her chosen field, but she was denied a place at Kraków University because she was a woman. A letter from Pierre convinced her to return to Paris to pursue a PhD.
They married on the 26th July 1895. He was promoted to professor at the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris but the most historic part was that Marie was able to work there too.
Pierre and Marie Curie in the laboratory
In 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered the existence of X-rays, though the mechanism behind their production was not yet understood. In 1896 Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium salts emitted rays that resembled X-rays in their penetrating power. He demonstrated that this radiation, unlike phosphorescence, did not depend on an external source of energy but seemed to arise spontaneously from uranium itself. This was very surprising and Marie was influenced by these two important discoveries, and decided to look into uranium rays as a possible field of research for a thesis.
In her research she was able to use the electrometer that had been developed by Pierre and his brother fifteen years earlier. Through her work she discovered that uranium rays caused the air around a sample to conduct electricity. She showed that the activity of the uranium compounds depended only on the quantity of uranium present. She hypothesised that the radiation was not the outcome of some interaction of molecules but must come from the atom itself, i.e. uranic rays were an atomic property. This hypothesis was an important step in disproving the ancient assumption that atoms were indivisible. This led her to search for other elements that emitted radiation, e.g. Thorium.
In 1897 Marie and Pierre had a daughter, Irene and to improve the family finances Marie began teaching at the École Normale Supérieure.
Pierre, Irène, Marie Curie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_Joliot-Curie
The Curies did not have a dedicated laboratory; most of their research was carried out in a converted shed next to the School of Physics and Chemistry. The shed, formerly a medical school dissecting room, was poorly ventilated and not even waterproof, and of course they had no idea how dangerous unprotected work with radioactive substances was. The shed became very badly contaminated.
Marie's systematic studies included two uranium minerals, pitchblende and torbernite (also known as chalcolite). Her electrometer showed that pitchblende was four times as active as uranium itself, and chalcolite twice as active. She concluded that, if her earlier results relating the quantity of uranium to its activity were correct, then these two minerals must contain small quantities of another substance that was far more active than uranium. She began a systematic search for additional substances that emit radiation, and by 1898 she discovered that the element thorium was also radioactive.
This had been all Marie's own work but Pierre was so intrigued by her results that he gave up his own research on crystals to join her. Together they carried out analytical chemistry and activity measurements on samples but she always made it abundantly clear that the research ideas were all her own. Even at this early stage of her career realised that many scientists would find it difficult to believe that a woman could be capable of the original work in which she was involved.
On 14 April 1898 the Curies optimistically weighed out a 100-gram sample of pitchblende and ground it with a pestle and mortar. However, they later realised that what they were searching for was present in such minute quantities that they would eventually have to process tons of the ore.
In July 1898 Curie and her husband published a joint paper announcing the existence of an element which they named "polonium", in honour of her native Poland and celebrated by having a summer holiday with the baby.
On 26 December 1898, the Curies announced the existence of a second element, which they named "radium", from the Latin word for "ray". In the course of their research, they also coined the word "radioactivity".
To prove their discoveries beyond any doubt, the Curies sought to isolate polonium and radium in pure form. To do this they had to separate out the radium salt by differential crystallisation. From a ton of pitchblende, one-tenth of a gram of radium chloride was separated in 1902. In 1910 Marie isolated pure radium metal. She never succeeded in isolating polonium, which has a half-life of only 138 days.
Between 1898 and 1902 the Curies published, jointly or separately, a total of 32 scientific papers, including one that announced that, when exposed to radium, diseased, tumour-forming cells were destroyed faster than healthy cells.
In 1900 Marie became the first woman faculty member at the École Normale Supérieure and in June 1903, having been supervised by Gabriel Lippman, she finally finished her thesis and was awarded her doctorate from the University of Paris. Pierre joined the faculty of the University of Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Lippmann
Jonas Ferdinand Gabriel Lippmann (16 August 1845 – 13 July 1921) was a Franco-Luxembourgish physicist and inventor, and Nobel laureate in physics for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference.
Also in June 1903 Marie and Pierre were invited to the Royal Institution in London to give a speech on radioactivity; however Pierre had to do the speech alone as being a woman, Marie was prevented from speaking.
In December 1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and Henri Becquerel the Nobel Prize in Physics, "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." At first, the Committee intended to honour only Pierre and Becquerel, but one of the committee members and an advocate of woman scientists, Swedish mathematician Magnus Goesta Mittag-Leffler, alerted Pierre to the situation, and after his complaint, Marie's name was added to the nomination. Marie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
The Nobel Prize money allowed them to hire their first laboratory assistant and through numerous complaints they finally got a proper laboratory in 1906.
In December 1904, Curie gave birth to their second daughter, Ève
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve_Curie
Ève, Marie and Irene Curie in 1908
By April 1906 the Curie's had concluded that radioactivity was completely random, that a new kind of energy was involved, that there were many different radio elements and that it was spontaneous transformation of one chemical element into another with emission of radiation.
Disaster struck on 19 April 1906 when Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn vehicle when walking across the Rue Dauphine in heavy rain. Marie was devastated. She was now a widow with two young children.
On 13 May 1906 the physics department of the University of Paris decided to retain the chair that had been created for Pierre and to offer it to Marie. She accepted it hoping to create a world-class laboratory as a tribute to Pierre. She was now the director of her own lab and gave her first lecture on November 5th 1906. She was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.
In 1909 there was an initiative to create the Radium Institute (Institut du radium, now Curie Institute, Institut Curie), by the Pasteur Institute and the University of Paris because Pierre Paul Émile Roux, director of the Pasteur Institute had been disappointed that the University of Paris was not giving Curie a proper laboratory.
In 1910 having succeeded in isolating radium Marie defined an international standard for radioactive emissions that was eventually named for her and Pierre: the curie. There was a setback in 1911, however, in that the French Academy of Sciences did not elect her to be a member by a couple of votes.
International recognition for her work had been growing to new heights, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences honoured her a second time, with the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This award was "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element."
Curie's second Nobel Prize enabled her to persuade the French government into supporting the Radium Institute, which was eventually built in 1914. Here research was conducted in chemistry, physics, and medicine.
During World War I, Curie saw a need for field radiological centres near the front lines to assist battlefield surgeons. After a quick study of radiology, anatomy, and automotive mechanics she procured X-ray equipment, vehicles, auxiliary generators, and developed mobile radiography units, which came to be popularly known as petites Curies ("Little Curies"). She became the director of the Red Cross Radiology Service and set up France's first military radiology centre, operational by late 1914. She later trained nurses how to use the X-ray machines.
Marie in a mobile X-ray vehicle
In 1915 Marie produced hollow needles containing 'radium emanation', a colourless, radioactive gas given off by radium, later identified as radon, to be used for sterilising infected tissue.
In 1920, for the 25th anniversary of the discovery of radium, the French government established a stipend for Marie and in 1921 she was welcomed triumphantly when she toured the United States to raise funds for research on radium. US President Warren G. Harding received her at the White House to present her with 1 gram of radium and Mrs. William Brown Meloney, after interviewing her, created a Marie Curie Radium Fund to raise money to buy radium and to publicise her trip. This fund-raising was necessary as France was ruined after the war. There was no money and radium necessary to investigate gamma radiation had gone missing from the labs.
The French government, recognising her growing fame abroad, and embarrassed by the fact that she had no French official distinctions to wear in public, offered Marie a Legion of Honour award, but she refused. In 1922 she became a fellow of the French Academy of Medicine because of her awareness of how her discoveries could benefit medicine.
In August 1922, Marie Curie became a member of the newly created International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations.
Around this time she became interested in strong radioactive sources and the use of alpha particles to investigate matter.
In 1930, she was elected a member of the International Atomic Weights Committee where she served until her death.
In 1933 she was described as rather a mythical figure. On the 15th January 1934, in a letter to her daughter Eve about the discovery of artificial radioactivity she wrote "I have given a great deal of time to science because I wanted to, because I loved research".
On 4 July 1934, Marie died at the Sancellemoz Sanatorium in Passy, in Haute-Savoie, from aplastic anaemia believed to have been contracted from her long-term exposure to radiation. Professor Langevin-Joliot described her as an affectionate mother and grandmother.


Nowadays, most Android phones are more powerful that they are credited for. You can use your smartphone to type notes, for email, to play games, do some image editing and much more. For all purposes and intents, a smartphone is just like a personal computer. It is arguably as powerful as the computers sitting on the desks in offices around the globe.
The increased flexibility and power of Android phones means that we have reached a stage where they can replace our computers. Moreover, the support for the Bluetooth keyboards means that you can comfortably sit at your desk with your smartphone beside you as its contents clearly displayed on the monitor in a Windows 10 style. You can then type the web or do any computer-based task. The phone will still allow you to answer calls.
It sounds cool, but the Maru OS have a drawback. One of them is that it is only available for the Nexus 5 phone that is codenamed Hammerhead. If you have this handset, try out Maru. It is very impressive. To use the MaruOS, you will need to download an update.zip file if you have installed a custom recovery or download a desktop installer (options for Windows, MacOS, and Linux are available.
If you want to install a new version of Android OS on your smartphone, you are probably using the custom recovery. However, if you prefer using the desktop installer, it is pretty simple and straightforward.
Download the correct version and then connect your Android handset via USB. You need to know that your phone's contents will be wiped, so if you have any files, movies, photos, or songs, you should back these up.
If you are using Windows, activate USB debugging, then download and install Google USB drivers.
Eventually, go to the download the ZIP, unzip and double click to install it.
For MacOS, unzip the desktop install and click install. Then select Open.
After you have installed Maru, you should now maximize the productivity. After you've restarted your handset and connected it to a HDMI, all you need is the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. You can then start using your Android device as a desktop.
Go to the Settings, and finds Desktop. Hit Dashboard and then swipe the switch on the top to B.
Don't have a Nexus 5? Don't worry. There are also other alternatives that work just fine. There are a few Google Play Store applications available on your Android handset. No installers or TWRP recovery are installed here.
Once you have installed this app, you are ready to run with Leena Desktop UI. This is a desktop-oriented launcher. You will also need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Once you have connected everything and you are casting the Leena Desktop UI to your monitor or TV, you are good to go.
This solution is only for Beta. However, you can install it and try it via Google Play Store. The usual Miracast dongle is highly recommended for A HDMI TV along with Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.


I have a little story for ya. A couple of weeks ago, I started teaching a new adult student. She felt that she knew her chords pretty well but didn't know what to do with them when she was playing a song, besides just play them as blocked chords.
While she is continuing to study with me, I realized that if I teach her every week for a one hour of private lesson, this will cost her over $3,000 a year. I cover the same material in the DVD bundle which gives her over 60 different techniques for embellishing chords! And it isn't close to $3,000.
Try $75, the average cost of a one hour lesson (depending on where you live)!
It's an excellent value and, to boot, I am throwing in the Chords To Go CD on me, just in case you need some brushing up on those!
So that's a year's worth of lessons for the price of the DVD Bundle price of $75 PLUS the free Chords to Go CD. Don't put it off any longer. Get your favorite fake book out and start making some beautiful music with my help!


text:
Meteorus versicolor is een insect dat behoort tot de orde vliesvleugeligen (Hymenoptera) en de familie van de schildwespen (Braconidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd door Constantin Wesmael in 1835.

versicolor

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
eBay Taps Wells Fargo for New Credit Payment System
By Mary Hillebrand
eBay, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) announced Wednesday that they have partnered to expand online payment processing company Billpoint, thereby enabling eBay's 10 million users to make payments to one another by credit card. Until now, most buyers at eBay's auction site were forced to mail money orders or checks to sellers when they made a purchase on the popular Internet auction site.
eBay originally bought the Billpoint service in May of 1999, and has had it under development over the last 10 months. Wells Fargo, the seventh-largest bank in the U.S., was brought in to provide back end support and will receive a 35 percent equity interest.
"Partnering with Wells Fargo enhances trading velocity and efficiency of eBay sellers," said Meg Whitman, eBay president and chief executive officer. "eBay and Wells Fargo investors are also well served because we are both able to leverage our respective strengths and scale economies in penetrating this market faster and more efficiently that going it alone."
Aiming for Higher Volume
When eBay users go to complete a transaction, Billpoint will transfer the credit card payment to a checking account set up by the seller. By enabling credit card transactions, eBay hopes to speed up the rate of transactions on its site and convert potential buyers who stop short because of concerns about sending checks or money orders through the mail to unknown sellers.
eBay has been testing Billpoint on a limited basis over the past several weeks, making it available to listers who sell more than $1,000 (US$) a month in goods.
While the service will add convenience to buying on eBay, it will come at the seller's expense. After a 90-day introductory period, Billpoint plans to charge sellers 3.5 percent per transaction, plus 35 cents (US$) for transactions over $10 and just 35 cents for transactions under $10.
Billpoint Jumping into Crowded Field
Billpoint said it also plans to offer its payment services to consumers in general and to other sites. While it will have a virtual monopoly on eBay, it will run into considerable competition in the general area of consumer online bill payments.
Consumer financial software leader Intuit recently reached an agreement with America Online to provide online bill payment services through the View and Pay Bills feature of the Quicken.com Web site. When the deal was made in November 1999, the firms said the capability would be rolled out to AOL's members early in 2000.
Online bill payment leader Checkfree.com also merged recently in a deal valued at $1 billion with Transpoint, which claims such investors as Microsoft, First Data Corp. and Citibank.
More by Mary Hillebrand
One Year Ago: Napster Bites Back with VCR Defense
One Year Ago: Burger Giant To Launch Internet Venture
One Year Ago: U.S. Launches Probe into Airline Supersite
One Year Ago: 'Phantom Congressman' Inspires Net Legislation
One Year Ago: 'Map' of Web Reveals Connectivity Flaws
One Year Ago: Top Graduates Snub Dot-Coms for Consulting Firms
One Year Ago: Fee-Based Music Takes Hold on the Net
One Year Ago: New Federal Site Takes Aim at Cybercrime
One Year Ago: E-Commerce Gets a Voice
One Year Ago: VeriSign To Acquire Network Solutions for $21B


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A Purple Heart
by Craig DeLancey
Artwork © 2011, R.W. Ware
"Patrick McMahon died two months ago, defending his country," Father Cunningham intones. Most of us in the church look over at Patrick, where he sways in the first pew, to see if he reacts. He doesn't.
Patrick has not spoken a word since the two army nurses led him, with a tight grip on each bicep, through our front door and into our living room. "Oh, honey, welcome home," my mother exclaimed. She didn't touch him. The nurses let go and Patrick tottered on the dingy carpet. They explained that he'd only been dead a short while, so his brain damage wasn't as bad as most. They told us he couldn't eat more than a handful of living people's food each day, and they gave us a drum of blue pellets that he should eat instead. They told us to bathe him and walk him. And then they left. Mom fled to the kitchen.
"Hey," I said then. His skin had a gray sheen. I touched him. He was cold. "It's me. Your little bro."
His eyes flickered. His hand twitched. The skin under his nails was dark purple, almost dead black. "Uh," he grunted.
Now Father Cunningham frowns at Patrick. "My friends, we all here loved Patrick. Let us remember him alive and vibrant. Let us celebrate his life."
We tried to celebrate. We had a party. People brought casseroles. Patrick stood, swaying, and looked no one in the eye. Mom forced a smile through the whole thing but when Patrick had his piece of cake he couldn't chew with his mouth closed and gooey bits of frosting mushed off his purple tongue and fell out over his gray lips. It made Mom flee again to the kitchen to weep. I took a party napkin and wiped his cold face. He didn't even blink.
"God asks us to bear our burden," Cunningham continues, "and to take comfort in knowing that He awaits us after death. We must not forget this."
Father Cunningham argued against signing the forms. My mother had been against it too, I think. But after Patrick got his orders, she sat with him at the kitchen table and read the paperwork from the thick folders. Then she handed Patrick a pen to sign the in-case-of-death authorizations: the green sheet for a plastic heart transplant, and the blue for the purple serum that would replace his coagulated dead blood. She understood that, before he went to war, Patrick needed to believe that if he were killed, it wouldn't be permanent.
Father Cunningham smiles sadly at my mother. "What can we say of this son of ours?"
That he had not been a good son. That he had failed at school, never excelled at sports, disobeyed all the best advice, gotten at least one girl pregnant who later had an abortion, and joined the army not for college money but because violent computer games infested him with a desire to become a sniper. Yet my mother had been so proud to see him in uniform, burstingly erect. He seemed another man. Transformed with purpose — even if a purpose not his own.
The Priest nods, and answers his own question. "We can say he was one of us. A child of God. Today we remember him, but let us also remember Christ's sacrifice for us so that we may have a true eternal life."
I think the smell finally pushed my mother beyond endurance. When the dank hint of putrefaction overwhelmed the kitchen and then our bedrooms, she called Father Cunningham and told him he was right: this abomination was not Patrick. This Patrick sat on the couch all day, motionless but for, perhaps once an hour, slowly lifting a blue pellet to his mouth from the bowl mom had set on the table. His eyes were turning black. Only the changing of a TV station could make him blink.
"Amen," Father Cunningham finishes. Music starts. I lead Patrick to the hearse.
At the graveyard, we set the empty coffin in the mud beside the pit and lift the lid. Rain spots the white silk interior. My brother doesn't even grunt. We wait a moment, unsure who should try to lead him. But then, unbidden, Patrick shuffles through mire to the coffin and climbs inside.
His eyes stare wide at the padded cover as it drops over him. Then we slide the coffin onto the bed of straps. The winch lowers him into the muddy hole.
I vow that if he hits the door once, if he just taps on it, I'll leap into the grave and bust him out. Though he could lift the lid himself, if he wanted. But the coffin is silent and still.
The water makes the dirt heavy. It falls into the grave as if thrown. There is no sound but the rain on umbrellas, and the chunk of the shovels, and my mother grieving her son's final end.
When we get home I pour the last of his blue pellets into the trash out behind the garage. Then I lay on my bed and wait for the neighbors to arrive with a second batch of casseroles.
Patrick won't last long. A week, maybe. His purple heart, pushing each day more sluggishly at his congealing blood, starved of oxygen and the warmth of living cells, will eventually stop. That is some comfort to Mom. To know that all the pains and the mess of this uncertain end will be forgotten, and what will remain is what a passerby might take from a veteran's grave stone: here lies a hero.
History will set everything aright, with a story of how many good men fought evil and then died. The kind of story that could only be told after the dead were bound under the heavy Earth that keeps them silent and unseen.
Craig DeLancey is a writer and philosopher. His fiction has appeared in Analog, Cosmos, Nature Physics, The Mississippi Review Online, and other magazines. Craig also writes plays, and his plays have received staged readings and performances in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, and elsewhere. He teaches philosophy at the State University of New York at Oswego.
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More and more these days we see television programmes and books all telling us to use herbs to flavour our food. The horticultural aspects of this subject have been written to teach growing and identifying culinary herbs in a way, which will be relevant to any location. It puts aside regional techniques and tries to teach you principles and concepts, which can be applied to anywhere.
The course in culinary herbs helps us to understand the different types of herbs and how we can best grow them and use them.
Growing in pots, inside or outside in the open ground.


Often, companies create a website and then think that their job is done. But website creation is just the beginning; For a website to be effective, it must be used as a tool to engage the user and turn a user into a customer. For a website to be captivating, six best practices must be followed.
Relevant, original website content is probably the most important aspect of any website. Google says "delivering quality content to your pages, especially your homepage, is the most important thing you need to do." If you do not offer your customers exclusive, helpful information, why should they come to your website? Original content can be provided through a blog, service examples, or company news.
Stagnant information on one page will also harm your search engine ranking. Regular content and information updates should be part of your overall SEO strategy to support your organic ranking.
Enabling your social networking site is also important. Nowadays it's hard to find someone who does not use social media. Leverage your users' social media contacts by creating interesting, original content (as described above) that is easy to share. After a blog post, make sure you have a call to action that's about social media, such as: For example, a button titled "Share on Facebook" or "Tweet."
Not only should you encourage your users to share your content online, but you should also have a presence in social media. In business, you are your best lawyer. Whether you talk about your business on social media, someone is probably different - and that may not always be good. Be part of the conversation about your business online. There are so many benefits to having a social presence on sites like Facebook. Depending on how you manage it, a business Facebook page can give your customers a chance to see your company's personality, interact with you on a more personal level, and share all your information or stories with friends, whatever your customer base dramatically increases potential reach.
Gathering likes on a business Facebook page is equivalent to demographic market research. Use the data on a user page to better target your ads and content.
Search engine optimization (SEO) for your website is crucial. SEO is how to make sure your business is found by potential customers online when you search a search engine like Yahoo! or Google. By carefully selecting keywords, backlinks, and other attributes that increase the natural ranking of your website on a search results page, you can ensure that your site is found by the right people. You have created a great website, and you have a great business; why not do everything to ensure that you are found?
While SEO can get you far, targeted online advertising campaigns are another important way to establish your online presence and find potential customers. Google AdWords and Facebook advertising are both good starting points for online advertising. Find out where potential customers are online and what their interests are, and make sure your ads are there.
You need to know what your website should achieve to see if it succeeds. Keep track of your goals and measurements, and keep track of your content, social media, and advertising. Good goals create a specific, measurable and achievable action, as well as a timetable for implementing those actions.
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