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An Introductory Guide to Chalk Art
Roxanna Coldiron
January 14, 2021, 12:23 PM ·3 min read
snowflake chalk art
Chalk art invokes our imaginations with little more than a piece of chalk and a blank chalkboard. Just ask Chris Carlson, a professional 3-D chalk artist and street painter, who says that he had no prior artistic experience when he first began working with it. "It was really the perfect medium for me," he says, "because chalk is approachable and easy to use. I started doing it and began practicing a lot."
For illustrator, fine artist, and surface designer Melanie Stimmell of WeTalkChalk, chalk art appealed to her because of the interaction with an audience while creating a work of art. "You're outside and what you're working on is larger than life, and people are walking by while you work," she says. "Some will stop and ask about what you are creating. When I first started doing this, it used to be rare to see an artist at work."
For their expertise, we asked both of them how to get started in trying the technique.
Related: How to Draw Snowflakes for a Holiday Chalk-Art Sign
What kind of chalk do artists use? It's not the sidewalk chalk that we used as kids. Both Carlson and Stimmell say to use soft pastel chalk Koss Soft Pastel Chalks ($24.95 for set of 48, amazon.com). "This is a good entry-level brand," says Carlson. "You will want to avoid oil pastel chalk, though. It makes it more difficult for blending and also doesn't wash away easily with water." Soft pastel chalks are the way to go.
Another brand of chalk that Stimmell recommends is from Eternity Arts ($108 for 72 colors, eternityarts.com). "They offer chunky pastel sets," she says, adding that the chunkier chalks may work well when covering a large surface area.
Learning How to Draw
While you do not necessarily need to have previous drawing ability, it does help to get a feel for hand lettering and other flourishes. "You can just jump right in with chalk art, and there's no requirements that you need to fill," Carlson says. "Start by experimenting and having fun. You can always start over if you make a mistake and find a way that works for you. Chalk art is a flexible medium to personalize the process for yourself."
Use a master painting as inspiration: Stimmell recommends finding a photo of a painting, like Rembrandt or Picasso, that you like—and that is also free of copyrights—and print a reference to use for your chalk drawing. Then, make a grid in an art program or get transparent grid over sheets ($17.97, amazon.com) so that you can visualize the painting as one-inch squares. "This helps to guide you as to where each piece should be," Stimmell says. "Make sure that the grid is in inches whatever you are painting in feet. It helps to keep you on track."
Blending, which is going from one color to another in a smooth transition (that looks like a gradient), is a good technique to master for chalk art. You can practice blending on paper before you take it to the board or sidewalk. Another technique is solid fill. "Put hash marks on an area, like if you are drawing, and then use something like a carpet sample or rag to go over the strokes to give a solid color," says Carlson. It will smooth it out and help to create depth for the chalk drawing. "It also helps the tiny chalk particles to get into all of the nooks and crannies of the sidewalk," he adds.
Once you have mastered chalk basics, you can start practicing three-dimensional techniques. "Unlike traditional drawing where you try to dry everything correctly, 3-D is distorted until you stand in the right spot," Stimmell says. "I create my designs with how I want it to look at that right spot." The farther away you need to stand for the 3-D effect, the more distorted the image would need to be. You could even sketch it on a piece of paper first and apply a grid to it as a way to help you visualize it on the ground.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Opening a small-business credit card through a home improvement store can be a great way to start building a credit history for your business that is separate from your own. It can also help you take advantage of sales on frequently used supplies.
You already have one piece of the puzzle — the Employer Identification Number you need to apply for a card. The Internal Revenue Service issues EINs to people who have a principal business located in the United States or U.S. territories, and even lets you apply online.
Both stores' applications for business credit cards require an EIN or, if you don't have an EIN, a Social Security number with a personal guarantee. They each state that this is required under the Patriot Act.
It's not clear from their application forms if, at some later point in the process, you will also need to provide a Social Security number, so you might want to have that information handy, too.
Once you've built up a solid track record of using your home improvement store card, I would recommend that you apply for a general small-business credit card, too. There may be business purchases you need to make at other types of stores. By putting small charges on a small-business card and paying them off on time every month, you will be able to add to your business's credit history.
You mentioned you need help with your business. I'm assuming that you mean you need credit to pay for purchases at Home Depot or Lowe's to improve your cash flow. If you work in construction and need to buy supplies long before customers pay you, using credit at the store can be a smart practice — as long as you pay off the balance when you finally do get paid.
If, instead, you mean you are seeking credit to pay for things you can't currently afford, I would strongly encourage you to hold off on buying them until you can. That is different from using a credit card to improve cash flow — where an owner knows how much money will be arriving from clients in the near future and limits his spending to what he knows he can pay down.
Charging things you can't afford with insufficient income projected to pay it off can lead to financial trouble. It is much better to fund your business purchases out of revenue from the business — even if that means making purchases more slowly than planned.
My email inbox is filled with questions from small-business owners who borrowed on credit cards to pay for business purchases and are now struggling to pay down the balance, years after the business has closed. Often, there are no ways to escape that debt, other than actually paying it, negotiating a settlement or filing for bankruptcy protection. That is a tough situation and you don't want to run the risk of having it happen to you.
I'm not trying to cause you undue fear. Credit can be a great tool to grow a small business, but you have to be conscious of how you use it. Start out slowly with your home improvement store card and you'll end up in good financial shape.


text:
Natakame Ulakam
Source: MOVIEBUZZ
By: By Moviebuzz
Viji Thampy
Mukesh, Vinu Mohan, Saranya Mohan, Sarayu
It has been an age old debate in Malayalam on what has been the impact of mimicry on films here, over the years. Mukesh and Jagadeesh have been known for some of such comic capers in the past and they have tried to repeat the same old tricks in director Viji Thampy?s Natakame Ulakam. But the sad part is that it looks thoroughly jaded and ineffective in a big way.
It?s quite a tough task to remember what the storyline is once you get out of theatres after watching this film and it gives the feeling that the sequences were decided on the set, day after day. Omanakkuttan (Mukesh) is the manager of a bank, headed by his father in law (Jagathy Sreekumar), who hates him. Pappan (Jagadeesh) is a peon there but he, along with Omanakkuttan, spends more time practicing plays. Nandana (Saranya Mohan), who is love with Murali (Vinu Mohan), comes to become the heroine in one of the plays.
Some strange happenings, coincidences and silly scenes later, Suraj Venjarammoodu makes his appearance in the village to direct a film. The shooting starts but after a while Omanakkuttan becomes the film?s hero, scenarist and eventually, the director.
As you keep wondering at the sudden happenings, there is more boring comedy, melodrama and pathetic dialogues coming up. The actors try hard to tickle the funny bone the way they did more than a decade back, but the jokes look too old fashioned. The less said about the script, the better.
Almost every actor, as a result, just sleepwalks through their parts. The actors including Mukesh, Jagadeesh, Jagathy Sreekumar and Suraj Venjarammoodu tries to repeat their trademark antics but the script is tad too weak to challenge them. Vinu Mohan, Saranya Mohan and Sarayu have nothing much to do.
Natakame Ulakam surprises the viewer with its inanity. If you are looking for meaningful cinema, this is not the one for you.
Verdict: Lowbrow comedy


Keeping track of what's hot and what's not in the fashion world is no easy task. Clothing, footwear and accessory trends are constantly evolving – and so too are V-GRASS customers' tastes. To ensure it stays on top of ever-changing demand, V-GRASS needs rapid insight into sales and operations.
After deciding to deploy SAP HANA, V-GRASS wanted to find the best hardware platform to support its real-time data analytics capabilities. The company chose to implement a hardware solution from Lenovo, made up of six Lenovo Converged HX3310 appliances with Nutanix software for its mission-critical SAP application server landscape and two Lenovo System x3950 X6 servers, running as a high-availability cluster for SAP HANA.


Here comes utility infielder Cliff Pennington to pitch. That kind of game for the #BlueJays . He needs to get just one out.
That's it. #BlueJays lose 14-2. Dickey fails to get out of 2nd. Cliff Pennington pitches. Dismal all around. #Jays now trail #Royals 3-1.
#ALCS Game 4 FINAL: Royals 14, @BlueJays 2.
Gibby said Loup, who missed 2 ALDS games for a family matter, "got a call & had to head to the airport & head home," so he wasn't available.
Gibby on Hendriks: "Liam did a heck of a job. But that was his limit, really. It was borderline abuse, anyway, from what he's used to."


text:
Autolytus brevicirrata är en ringmaskart som beskrevs av Winternitz 1936. Autolytus brevicirrata ingår i släktet Autolytus och familjen Syllidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Havsborstmaskar
brevicirrata

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Economy >
SBI denies any laxity on its part in dealing with fugitive Vijay Mallya case
Updated Sep 14, 2018 | 17:54 IST | PTI
SBI had in the first week of March 2016 moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bangalore claiming the first right on the payment by Diageo to Mallya and seeking to impound passport.
SBI denies any laxity on its part in dealing with fugitive Vijay Mallya case (Photo Credit: PTI and BCCL)
New Delhi: India's biggest lender SBI said Friday there was no laxity on its part in dealing with loan default by now defunct Kingfisher Airlines of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The comments by State Bank of India (SBI) came after reports suggested that the bank, which was the lead lender to Kingfisher Airlines, was in February 2016 advised to move the Supreme Court to stop Mallya from fleeing the nation but the lenders moved the apex court only after the tycoon had left the country four days later.
Mallya left the country on March 2, 2016 while 13 banks moved the apex court four days later seeking its intervention to prevent the businessman from leaving the country. "State Bank of India (SBI) denies that there has been any laxity on its part or its officials in dealing with loan default cases, including Kingfisher Airlines. Bank has been taking proactive and strong measures to recover the defaulted amounts," the lead bank said in a statement.
Mallya has been facing legal proceedings for defaulting on loans of more than Rs 9,000 crore from a consortium of 17 banks.
However, Mallya, in an open letter, had defended himself and said the SBI and other banks had lent him money despite knowing about his company's financial situation. He claimed he was being made the ''poster boy'' for bank defaults, though the banks were also culpable.
The Supreme Court had raised some unsavoury questions to the banks that approached. It wondered why loans were given to Mallya when he was already a defaulter and was facing proceedings in the court of law.
It is to be noted that he had already announced his intention to shift to the UK in a statement issued after his deal with Diageo to step down from the chairmanship of United Spirits, a company he sold to the UK major three years back. He was to get Rs 515 crore or USD 75 million from Diageo as severance package.
SBI had in the first week of March 2016 moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bangalore claiming the first right on the payment by Diageo to Mallya and seeking to impound passport. However, the DRT reserved its order and set the next hearing for March 28, 2016, a good 21 days later.
Hyderabad-based infra firm IVRCL booked by CBI for defrauding Rs 4837 Crore
CIC refrains from making details of political donors public
PSU banks drive up move; Nifty stands above 14,000; Broader markets resilient | Buy Now Sell Now
Why is CIC not ready to reveal donor details of electoral bonds? | The Urban Debate
Padma awardee doctor, MP among 1st to get COVID vaccines
Nithari killings: Koli held guilty, Pandher acquitted


This Your Dream Dress Exclusive S5570VL bridal veil is Brand New! The veil is an oval fold over veil with an elegant 1/8″ satin edge. A perfect compliment to your ivory, or light ivory, wedding gown! For your peace of mind, we have a wonderful no risk return policy!


Abstract- Sustainable Development is the way forward for the future. But sustainable development can only be possible at the cost of Sustainable energy. If we use conventional sources to fulfill our energy demand, the day is not far when all of the sources of energy would get exhausted.
This paper attempts to show how non-conventional form of energy can be produced, stored and used using the road transport pressure.The number of vehicles coming on road is increasing exponentially every year. There is possibility of tapping the energy and generating power by making the speed breaker as a power generation unit. The generated power can be used for illuminating the Traffic Lights and the lamps near the speed breakers and would be of great help during night time too. Many efforts in the past have been done on the same and this paper focuses on combining Mechanical units in kinetic energy with piezoelectric generators for efficient energy production.
International Journal of Civil Engineering (ISSN 1694 - 2280) is an open access, blind peer reviewed international journal that emphasizes on innovation, advancement, development, research and dissemination of knowledge in the fields of civil engineering. IJCE is highly-selective journal that covers topics of civil engineering domain that appeal to a broad readership among researchers. At IJCE the performance of research articles are audited using several parameters to assess their impact on readers and their dissemination worldwide. IJCE reviews the submitted papers within approximately 15 days of submission and publishes the accepted articles online immediately upon receiving the final camera ready papers.
Copyright © 2014, IJCE. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Read the Bible in a Year
Bible Reading Plans for Your Spiritual Journey
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Tired of the 9 to 5, 5 days a week work routine? Looking to break out of a rut? In The 4-Hour Work Week, bestselling The New York Times author Timothy Ferriss shows readers how to live more and work less. Tim shows readers how he went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week. You'll learn how to outsource work to virtual assistants, how to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours, how to trade a long term career for short work bursts and "mini-retirements", how to double your income, avoid common sticking points and reinvent yourself. The 4-Hour Workweek is your blueprint, whether you want to escape the rat race, travel the world in style or earn a five-figure monthly income with little to no management.
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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich quantity
Categories: Books, Business and Money, Business Culture Tags: Business, Work
TIMOTHY FERRISS is a serial entrepreneur, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and angel investor/advisor (Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Uber, and 20+ more). Best known for his rapid-learning techniques, Tim's books — The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef — have been published in 30+ languages. The 4-Hour Workweek has spent seven years on The New York Times bestseller list. Tim has been featured by more than 100 media outlets including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, Outside, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and CNN. He has guest lectured in entrepreneurship at Princeton University since 2003. His popular blog www.fourhourblog.com has 1M+ monthly readers, and his Twitter account @tferriss was selected by Mashable as one of only five "Must-Follow" accounts for entrepreneurs. Tim's primetime TV show, The Tim Ferriss Experiment (www.upwave.com/tfx), teaches rapid-learning techniques for helping viewers to produce seemingly superhuman results in minimum time.
Harmony; Expanded, Updated edition (December 15, 2009)
1.2 pounds ()
NIV, Thinline Bible, Large Print, Leathersoft, Black/Gray, Red Letter, Comfort Print
Marriage on the Rock 25th Anniversary: The Comprehensive Guide to a Solid, Healthy and Lasting Marriage (Marriage on the…
On the Anvil
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (Super Value Series)
Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture
The Wiersbe Bible Commentary OT: The Complete Old Testament in One Volume (Wiersbe Bible Commentaries)
Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, Revised and Expanded
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The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) »
Copyright © 2021 Readthebibleinayear.com


text:
select round(max(lat_n), 4)
from station
where lat_n < 137.2345;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The water coming out of Beijing taps later this month may have travelled more than 1,400 kilometers, transported along a series of canals and pipelines that form part of the world's biggest water transfer project.
The $62 billion undertaking – dreamed up by former Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in the 1950s – is designed to supply China's parched and pollution-ridden north, home to more than 300 million people and countless water-intensive businesses, Reuters reported Tuesday.
For global companies that rely on Chinese factories and farms to supply clothing, food, electronics and a host of other products, it's crucial that China gets this right.
Some provinces in Northern China have less freshwater per person than the desert countries of the Middle East. Of the country's total, water-intensive industries such as clothing and electronics manufacturing consume a quarter – a share the think-tank 2030 Water Resources Group expects to grow to a third by 2030.
"There is no doubt that cities (in) the rapidly growing powerhouses of regional economies would be seriously compromised without additional water supplies," said Simon Spooner, a China water expert with consultancy Atkins Global.
The government could keep water flowing into industry by taking it away from agriculture, with crippling consequences for the latter. By transporting water from the south, the government can avoid having to make such a choice, Spooner said.
Securing adequate water is among the biggest issues. Parts of Northeast China endured the worst drought in more than 60 years this summer, damaging crops and forcing factories to close down operations several days a week. The economic cost in one province amounted to 7.3 billion yuan ($1.19 billion), state-run Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying.
The first stage of China's south-to-north transfer brought water to the industry-heavy northeast, but it was barely useable when it reached Tianjin because it picked up pollutants and sediments while flowing north through polluted soil.
That has raised concerns about the latest phase – a decade in the making – bringing water to Beijing and surrounding regions via a different, less polluted route.
Some experts have also voiced concern that the project's extensive tapping of water from the Yangtze River and its tributaries may damage one of China's most important water ways.
At the same time there are fears that sending so much water north will harm the development of the regions from which the water is drawn.
Concerns have even been voiced at the high levels of the central government.


text:
Nelly Celebrates 'Full Circle' BET Hip Hop Award Win 23 Years After First No. 1 Video Drop (Exclusive)
By Mekishana Pierre and Zach Seemayer 7:53 PM PDT, October 5, 2021
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Nelly had a real full-circle moment at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards!
The network honored the 46-year-old rapper with the "I Am Hip Hop" award for his decades-spanning accomplishments in the music industry that includes chart-topping hits such as "Hot in Herre," "Dilemma" feat. Kelly Rowland, "Country Grammar," "Ride Wit Me" and "Cruise" with Florida Georgia Line. A staple in the hip-hop music world, the musician was also recognized for his fashion line, Apple Bottoms, his role in the hit series Real Husbands of Hollywood and his reality show, Nellyville.
When ET spoke with the rapper on the red carpet, he shared how grateful he felt, especially since he was receiving the award a little over two decades after BET premiered his very first music video ever.
"BET has been holding Nelly down since day one and they've always been behind me to this day," Nelly told ET. "You know we're talking 23 years later, it's kinda a full-circle moment. So I'm just honored, man, and I'm thankful. I feel a little old but it's OK."
Nelly accepted the award and shared a message of appreciation as he looked back over his impressive career.
"I never had a cosign. You know what I'm saying? Nobody stood on stage and put their arm around me. Nobody gave me a feature. Nobody put a chain around my neck. I got thrown in the deep end and was told to swim," he said of his early career while accepting the award. "We hear today and I always want to thank bet for allowing Nelly the honor and pleasure of being visual on their platform, all the way from, you know, day one."
As for the "full circle" moment he talked about with ET, Nelly said during his speech that it largely had to do with LL Cool J being in the audience.
"The influence that he put on Nelly was incredible, because all up until L, I thought you had to be one way to be a rapper. You know what I mean? I never looked at rap a certain way until that man -- until that man did his thing," Nelly shared. "Then I was like, 'Whoa, I think I can do that!'"
"So much so that I started jacking a lot of s**t from him," Nelly added with a laugh. "[But] we talked about that. He's forgiven me."
After accepting the award, the show returned from a commercial break with Nelly on stage to deliver a medley of his biggest hits -- including, obviously, "Hot In Here" -- that served as something of a show-closing spectacular.
When speaking to ET, Nelly shared how the performance embodies the spirit of his career, especially his debut album. "The car just symbolizes the first time I drove into BET, you know what I'm saying? It's just the first time I aired on BET, on 106 and Park," he explained. "I had the honor of being the first No. 1 video the day that program aired and it's just a representation of that. The whole montage is just a representation of Country Grammar."
Previously, Nelly told ET that he was incredibly grateful to see how his career has influenced other artists.
"You talk about hip hop as well, and again with your peers, and getting the chance to see how you kinda influenced the music that you're in and how a lot of the people that's in today's music might have took a little bit from me as I did when I sat in the audience and watched other people get the award as well," he shared.
As far as what the rapper wants his legacy to be, that's still undecided. For now, he's just trying to work hard and stay one step ahead of where he thought he wouldn't be.
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "I know some people have a direct clue about it. I just work hard, thankful. I just keep trying to stay one step ahead of where I thought I wouldn't be."
Read on below for everything you need to know on how to watch the BET Hip Hop Awards, as well as nominees, performers and more.
How to Watch the BET Hip Hop Awards 2021 TONIGHT
What's Inside Tyler, the Creator's Suitcase at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards (Exclusive)
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion Lead 2021 BET Hip Hop Award Nomination
The Most Daring Red Carpet Looks of All Time
ET Black Stories


text:
Ó Snodaigh expresses concern for Greyhound worker knocked down by company truck
17 June, 2014 - by Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD
Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central Aengus Ó Snodaigh has expressed his concern for all 'locked-out' Greyhound workers after one of their colleagues was knocked down by a company truck while on the picket line earlier today. The worker was subsequently rushed to hospital.
Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who was at the scene supporting the workers when the incident happened, said:
"This was a deeply distressing incident for all those workers standing on the picket line campaigning for fair pay and conditions.
"It was clear that the person wasn't used to the truck and it struck the worker who was sitting on the footpath.
"He has been rushed to hospital.
Firstly, I want to express my hope that he will be okay. I also want to impress upon the management of the company that as long as they prolong the dispute with workers they need to ensure that workers 'locked out' and other road users are safe."


Discussion in 'File Downloads - Share and Request' started by krHACKen, Dec 24, 2018.
I've uploaded a new CoDec tool a few hours ago. Same download link.
In other words, -cdvdmaninject was not working, and it is fixed now, and tested too.
Nice. But it will be unusable if we don't have the HDD ID that it's bound to .
Also, I believe that my DUMP_IDS tool is too old for running on PS3. The jurassic SBV patches and USB drivers may crash the emulator. Perhaps I need to code a new one. Nobody tried and reported that it's working in the PS3.
My CECHA didn't seem to have problems running it. Not sure if this is how the HDD ID is supposed to look like, but it did work.
Marvelous. So, if the tool didn't somehow fail at collecting the ID, the ID of the virtual HDD is always NULL. The emu just returns the SCEI magic so the HDD is reported genuine by the ATA device driver. I didn't expect that lol.
So among all the stuff that were ever dumped, did you guys ever find any HDD with the firmware-level DRM activated?
Since we're dealing with Sony software, it might be appropriate to note that the PS2 was not designed with modern 2.5" (2005+) HDDs in mind. I have been updating the homebrew PS2SDK to put the HDD in STANDBY state before the HDD unit is shut down (including when the power button is pressed), which is to avoid causing emergency parking by some HDDs. There doesn't seem to be a standard for this, but some manufacturers have recommended putting the HDD in STANDBY state before power is cut, as the method for parking the heads due to power loss is mechnically stressful.
However, older software (including Sony software) will not be aware of this requirement by new 2.5" HDDs. This will explain the louder click sounds that you might get, when the HDD unit is shut down by older software.
The DTL-T10000 itself will always do a hard reset, whenever the reset button is pushed or the reset command is issued. So it's quite unsuitable for working with such HDDs, but the 2.5" fit best in the SCPH-20400 enclosure.
and USB drivers may crash the emulator.
Specifically, it's USBD that mattered.
There were some differences around, but I think it was caused by the logic for acknowledging interrupts being wrong (it did a logical OR of the bit to acknowledge with the mask itself, not just the bit to acknowledge). Somehow, it still worked on the PS2.
AKuHAK, krHACKen and SILENT_Pavel like this.
I might add, this was with Nobunaga's Ambition's title ID (SLPM_651.97). With POLViewer's title ID (SCUS_972.69) it freezes at launch, showing only black screen.
I recently bought a fat PS2 with Network Adapter and an IDE HDD inside.
I don't currently have any PS2 games and the thing doesn't seem to be modded for burned discs, so as it stands right now there's not much I can do with it, but if you are interested I guess I could dump the HDD if you are interested and tell me how it's done.
AKuHAK and krHACKen like this.
And who can put the installed Final Fantasy XI Online?
Connect your HDD to your PC, via IDE or an IDE to USB adapter. Dump it with HDD Raw Copy Tool, as compressed image (.imgc).
For dumping the i.Link ID, the PS2 sadly has to be able to run homebrews. Dumping the i.Link ID can be done with ID Dumper, or ps2Ident.
For dumping the HDD ID, you need a console which can run homebrews too, except that it can be another console. The tool for dumping is the very same ID Dumper.
So yeah, I'm still interested in having your HDD image. But without the IDs, I couldn't hack it to make it bootable. The missing i.Link ID can be forged from the console serial number + the console model number written on the sticker. But as far as I know, the missing piece of the puzzle, the HDD ID, cannot be calculated.
- The PC+X360+PS2 Content ID was revoked, and a new one was created just for the PC version.
- The online world gaming server for the PS2 version is dead.
- The FFXI Online game update server for the PS2 version is dead.
- There's no DNAS server to get the passphrase from, and DNASrep won't help with this.
- Certs probably have expired.
- The FFXI Online installation will be tied to the donor hardware IDs, and since no injection of the IDs is done to FFXI Online, it would fail to decrypt.
In other words, you could probably install it (as well as Dirge of Cerberus and Front Mission Online), or share your original installation dump, but it'll not run. Waste of HDD space. That's why I haven't shared a dump with FFXI Online in it. I'm focussing to bootable stuff that can be preserved, for PS2 history's sake.
i might still have the POL version before the "goodbye" version installed on my IBM/Sony hdd, but i cant provide any ID's as the console(SCPH-10000) is currently dead.
I've used HHD RAW Copy Tool before and my motherboard still has an IDE port, and, also, my ISP just upgraded me to 10mbit upload, so, it shouldn't take an eternity to upload, hopefuly xD.
Would I be given somewhere to upload, or should I find something myself? I don't remember how big the disk was, hopefuly very compressible, but I think it was a 160 GB'er. It was about a year ago I bought it and it's been in storage since after I tested and cleaned it and saw it wasn't modded already. I won't go dig the thing up until it's dumping time.
By the way, it's a PAL model from Spain, and I have no idea what's inside the disk.
Of course all of it make sense only if console has some interesting data on it.
Anyway if you create compressed image with HDD RAW copy tool it will not take much space. The bigest compressed image i see was 7Gb in size.
160 GB and PAL model? Are you sure that you have genuine Sony HDD? That size HDD can be used only in PSX DESR units which are not PAL in any case.
No no, as I said last time, I went to a second hand shop to look arround for interesting stuff and they had a number of pretty cheap fat PS2s. I noticed one had the broadband adapter attatched in the back so I picked that one, especially seeing it wasn't priced higher than those without it. So I do have the console, the BBA and a disk too. Not bad for 33 EUR, I suppose. I think the disk is 160GB, but I could also be wrong. I'll be sure when I dig the console up again. Probably not SONY branded, but I don't remember that.
The problem is that the console is unmodified, so all I could do with it so far was clean it up, navigate the BIOS menus and store it away for later.
Years, during a stock clearance sale, I bought two Memor32 cards for 50cents each (not bad ), because I remembered reading somewhere that they could be used in a softmod somehow and it seemed a good deal, but I don't know how it's done.
I don't have much knowledge about the PS2 as I didn't have one back in the day, much less play it online, so I don't know anything about i.Link IDs or any of that. I can dump the disk, but anything requiring running homebrew on the console would have to wait, I guess. Maybe you can point me in the right direction on this too. Also, I dont currently have an actual PS2 controller, but I do have a few PS1 DSs. I mention this in case an actual DS2 is needed for any of this.
The disk has a small paper label slapped on top of the original Seagate one with a barcode and some numbers. Maybe the thing was sent for repair and it's a replacement disk provided by Sony's tech service?
EDIT2: I connected the HDD and it seems to work. Windows' disk manager says "not initialized" so that's good. It offers me to slap an MBR on to it, to which I politely refuse, of course. I'll try dumping it and see how that goes.
@radorn first of all you can check if you have HDD OSD installed (just go to Browser and you will see HDD icon).
Next: you can post HDD sticker photo here. If HDD is not genuine (probably not genuine as for retail PS2 only 40Gb hdds was released) somebody will tell you about it.
I don't remember for sure, but I did explore the BIOS menus quite a bit when I revised the thing and I don't think I found anything related to the HDD. I guess I can take another look and make sure. Where should that pop up if it exists?
As about HDD icon you can check this video for example.
@AKuHAK Oh... no, the "Browser" screen is all empty unless I plug in a memory card or disc.
There was 1 LBA with a CRC error, but checking the disk throuh a hex editor that and all surrounding sectors are seem to contain just zeros, so, not much of a problem, I suppose.
What can I use to check what's in there?
UPDATE2: Sector 14 of the disk contains the string "HDLoader Setting"... that's for booting ISOs right? Do I assume the disk is all backups?
According to all of this I can say that your HDD is not genuine. Previous owner was used it for keeping game backups in hdloader format. There is no sense for making and sharing dumps, you can remove your dump to free up space on your PC.
If you will be able to launch homebrew from ps2 you can play all his backuped games from OPL, but this is a bit offtopic and is not related to this topic.


text:
BART to build canopies over entrances at San Francisco stations
By KTVU Staff
BART to construct canopies over San Francisco Market Street entrances
The transit agency will spend $71 million to cover the escalators at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell Street, and Civic Center BART stations.
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The BART Board of Directors on Thursday approved a plan to install canopies and gates at entrances at downtown San Francisco stations.
Officials say the canopies will protect escalator from exposure to the weather elements and also provide an added layer of station security and cleanliness.
Construction is set to begin in the Spring and will take about seven years to complete. Work will be done one station at a time to reduce access impacts to stations.


text:
Mariupol city liberated from Ukraine's Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion
by 练伟光 · April 8, 2022
Mariupol, a city in southeastern Ukraine, has been conquered by the Russian Armed Forces and by volunteers from the Donetsk People's Republic. Some of the difficult block-by-block and building-by-building fight was carried out by Chechen special forces. Significantly, the notorious Azov Battalion of Ukraine has been defeated.
The Azov Battalion, more recently known as The Azov Special Operations Detachment, is an openly Neo-Nazi military group, whose emblem is "the Wolfsangel", an ancient German runic symbol that was adopted by certain divisions of Heinrich Himmler's Schutzstaffel during WWII.
The headquarters of the Azov Battalion was situated in the city of Mariupol, which is near the Sea of Azov. A few days ago, that location was stormed by Russia (ref. 1).
#Russian Army and DPR National Militias stormed the HQ of the Nazi Azov Battalion in #Mariupol.
Game over.#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/WGRXcveXfb
— AMERICAN WATCHER ☭ (@joshuamills044) March 28, 2022
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russian marines destroying Nazi Azov pigs in Mariupol. #UkraineWar #RussianArmy #Russia #NaziUkraine #UkraineNazi pic.twitter.com/pmO3tJqHpy
— Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein (@WilhelmOrmstein) March 31, 2022
To celebrate the victory, the flags of the Russian Federation and the Donetsk People's Republic were raised at the site, while Russia's national anthem was played aloud (ref. 2).
❗🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russian troops and DPR forces raise their flags respectively over the Azov HQ in Mariupol.
The Russian National Anthem was played simultaneously. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/0SLL7zNJeQ
— JOHN (@JohnJohn943) March 28, 2022
Behold, as the Bible prophesies, Russia is "conquering"!
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
Just because the rider of the white horse with the bow goes forth conquering and to conquer does not mean he must be the Antichrist. Rather, as I have explained, his crown – in Greek "stephanos", a crown of victory – means he must be for Christ. Those who want the world as it is now to not come to an end are for Satan (ref. 1 John 5:19, Revelation 17:18).
One particular Ukrainian who was there, Vasily Prozorov, a former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine – and remember, Ukraine was quite different before Maidan 2014 – was elated when he took down the signpost of the HQ of the Azov Battalion in Mariupol, saying he has waited eight years for this moment (ref. 3).
#MariupolNow #AzovBattalion #AZOVNAZIS
Video Thread 3/5- AZOV Brigade HQ in Mariupol. Vasily Prozorov, former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine, taking down the sign at the Azov base in Ursuf (a suburb of Mariupol). He says 'I've waited eight years for this!' pic.twitter.com/Ehmxnrtnkb
— ALETHEIA – Goddess of Truth & Wisdom (@dumptheguardian) March 29, 2022
Generally, the residents of Mariupol are glad that the Azov Batallion and another group called the Right Sector have been defeated (ref. 4, 5). They were "madmen", "homicidal maniacs", "death squads", "worst than the fascists (of WWII)". Azov used the people of Mariupol as "human shields". They "seized children and cars", to prevent residents from leaving. They even shot at individuals who did attempt to make a run for it towards Russian lines. They used Ukrainian tanks to blow up and ruin residential buildings, to make it seem as if the Russians were firing indiscriminately, and this happened before the armed forces of Russia and the DPR entered the city. Apparently, the Azov Battalion also fired at elements of the Ukrainian army that attempted to retreat. So, at times in the besieged city, there were "shoot-outs" between these two.
Mariupol residents on how the Nazi Azov Ukraine forces destroyed the city, shot at people and set up positions in schools and kindergartens.
Juan Sinmiedo pic.twitter.com/XGwNH0Pg4W
— gonewest05 (@gonewest05) April 1, 2022
The Azov were such a threat to the civilian population of Mariupol that, as the battle raged on, in certain parts of the city, the Russian Armed Forces had to evacuate and transport civilians including children using armoured vehicles (ref. 6).
From house to house, cellar to cellar
Russian servicemen are evacuating Mariupol civilians in armored vehicles. These kids have been in the basement this whole time.
White bands are targets for Azov and their ilk.❗ pic.twitter.com/uh4eHkHQP7
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) April 7, 2022
Now, notice in the footage some of the children are wearing white armbands.
This is something I brought up the other day when I covered Bucha. Apparently, soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine wear a white armband and a white leg-band. By contrast, Ukrainian soldiers and foreign fighters wear a blue or sometimes yellow armband. Because both sides are in military fatigue, I suppose, the armbands and leg-bands help distinguish one side from the other.
That said, Ukrainian civilians who are pro-Russia also wear white armbands. I suppose they do so to signal or to express solidarity.
This explains why several of the individuals who were shot dead in Bucha had white armbands (ref. 7).
Here, we see photos of bodies wearing white armbands in the alleged massacre in Bucha. Those who have been keeping up with the situation in Ukraine know that white armbands are worn by pro-Russian Ukrainians.
This was not done by Russians. pic.twitter.com/XxVXowQDc0
— Nate Pano (@NatePano) April 4, 2022
The white armbands prove that it was Ukraine rather than Russia that had carried out the massacre of Bucha.
In one clip from a pro-Ukrainian channel, a dead body with a white armband is carried into the view of the camera, and in full view of the foreign press that was invited to gather there on that day by the government of Ukraine. And in that serendipitous moment, the Ukrainian presenter who is rambling on about Russia committing a war crime is suddenly taken aback (ref. 8). He actually stops speaking for a bit, and his facial expression changes, when he notices the white armband.
NATO psyop in Bucha self-debunked: a body with a white armband is carried right before the dozens of foreign journos. Do any of them know what it means? This civilian was wearing a 🇷🇺 identification mark. Lynched as a 🇷🇺 'collaborator'? Wonder, what to appear in the press. pic.twitter.com/50QjBG1xtm
— ParaBellum (@Spoki_83) April 5, 2022
Anyway, with the fighting in central Mariupol over, Russia has started to provide aid to the residents of Mariupol: a hot meal, and drinking water, and bread, and boxes of oats and canned food (ref. 9). The boxes are distinctly marked with Z, which stands for "For Victory" in Russian. The people are thankful, and they even stop to chat. One woman can be seen making the sign of the cross.
NBC on Russian humanitarian aid in Mariupol
Clasping at straws, the government of Ukraine is now describing Mariupol as "a death camp" and "the new Auschwitz" (ref. 10). This is nonsense, because the civilians of Mariupol are largely Russian speakers and pro-Russia.
In desperation, Ukraine has even resorted to reviving the debunked idea that Russia is operating mobile crematoriums in Ukraine (ref. 11). Before, in 2015, these fictitious things were supposedly being used to hide the death toll of Russian soldiers. Now, in the aftermath of Bucha, these fictitious things are supposedly being used to cover up traces of war crimes. France24 fact-checked the claim of mobile crematoriums in February 2022, and pointed out that the footage used by the UK's Telegraph back then, which news.com.au has published again, has absolutely nothing to do with the Russian Armed Forces or with Russia's operation in Ukraine (ref. 12).
At any rate, how is Russia supposed to be the perpetrator of a new Auschwitz when, on the opposing side, the Azov Battalion was filled with actual Neo-Nazis?
The latest about Mariupol is that what remains of Azov has retreated to a steel factory and an industrial zone, Azovstal. There, for some time now, they are being bombarded, day and night, with rockets from Russia's Grad MLRSs and also artillery shells (ref. 13).
MLRS in action against Azov positions in Mariupol#Mariupol#Donbass pic.twitter.com/q8O1XI9Crt
— ILRUSSO🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺 (@ILRUSSO1) April 6, 2022
Remarkably, Kyiv sent a number of helicopters to the factory, several times, either to try to exfiltrate someone who should not be found there such as a covert foreign agent, or else to try to rescue Azov high command from their fate. All of the helicopters were shot down by the Russian Armed Forces (ref. 14). Three helicopters were shot down over the Sea of Azov before reaching the factory. The ones that did land at the factory to gather whomever they were trying to rescue were shot down over land as they tried to fly away. At the crash sites, the bodies of some of Azov command were found mangled and charred. A violent and fiery finish!
A number of Azov fighters are still be holed up in Azovstal, refusing to give up. But surrounded and cut off, their end is inevitable.
So, it is fair to say, the battle for Mariupol is over.
Victory for Russia! Glory to Russia!
You see, as scripture foretells, the rider of the white horse with a crown and a bow went forth conquering and to conquer.
I am sure, from now until the dust settles after the final decisive strike on the day of the LORD, there will be more.
1. @joshuamills044, twitter.com/joshuamills044/status/1508411189856018438
2. @JohnJohn943, twitter.com/JohnJohn943/status/1508350416089927684
3. @dumptheguardian, twitter.com/dumptheguardian/status/1508919461704785928
4. SeekingJustice, bitchute.com/video/K4YABTsHdGaU/
5. @gonewest05, twitter.com/gonewest05/status/1510003819601707021
6. @ivan_8848, twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/1511864206101991424
7. @NatePano, twitter.com/NatePano/status/1510970793391386628
8. @Spoki_83, twitter.com/Spoki_83/status/1511297004193955843
9. "Russian Humanitarian Aid Distributed In Besieged Mariupol", youtube.com/watch?v=G7jbz2yGppc
10. Caitlin McFall and Fox News (7 April 2022), "The new Auschwitz: Ukraine accuses Russia of turning Mariupol into a death camp", news.com.au
11. Jake Lahut, Kayla Epstein, Darren Samuelson (6 April 2022), "Ukraine says Russia is using mobile crematoriums to burn the bodies of civilians in Mariupol and hide evidence of war crimes", businessinsider.com
12. Catalina Marchant de Abreu (28 February 2022), "Is Russia using mobile crematoriums in Ukraine?", france24.com
13. @ILRUSSO1, twitter.com/ILRUSSO1/status/1511706261921927178
14. VT (31 March 2022), "Nazi High Command Dead in Failed Zelensky/CIA Rescue Attempt", veteranstoday.com
Next This year 2022, Good Friday and Passover and Ramadan coincide
Previous "Russia is worse than ISIS", accuses Ukraine after Bucha


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I usually don't post my personal life on Facebook. But I feel that there are people that know Dave that should know what's going on with him and too many people to text individually. Since January 4th Dave has been in the hospital with Liver failure. Currently he is in critical but stable condition. He is likely going to need a liver transplant and now because of the bad liver a kidney transplant. It has been a long road the past 11 days. Everyday seems to bring a different problem and when that is resolved up pops another. He has been in ICU since he was admitted. This is a very hard time for me and my family so if I don't update regularly I'm sorry. I have been with Dave for 26 years and he is my best friend. He gave me 2 wonderful sons and a perfect stepdaughter along with being a caring step dad to my son. So im askiing the Facebook friends to please pray daily for him because I can't lose him our journey together can't be over yet! In the mean time I don't get paid when I'm off work to be with Dave to monitor his medical needs as he isn't cognitive enough to make his own medical decisions. Thank you all! God Bless!


text:
Papa John may refer to:

 John Phillips (19352001), American musician most famous as a member of The Mamas & the Papas
 John Schnatter (born 1961), American businessman and founder of Papa John's Pizza
 Papa John's Pizza, American restaurant chain

See also

 Papajohn, a Greek surname


Okay. Now we can officially start. It's almost 9:00, I'm not going to keep you up much longer.
You all set there, Jeff?
So, welcome to the second year of A Trackless Path. As I said in an email, that quotation comes from altering a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. Emerson was a salesman, so every one of his quotes irritates me because it has this sales quality to it. [Laughter]. So the original quote was, Go where there is no trail and leave a path. Which is fine, but not nearly as interesting as, "Go where there is no trail and leave no path," which is what I'm suggesting here.
Now, all of you here are experienced practitioners. The vast majority of you have done at least one retreat with me. There are three or four people here who this is your first time here, and for a couple people, this is actually your first retreat with me. But you're here because you have a long experience with practice. And the intention that I had in setting this kind of retreat up was to provide an opportunity for people who have a lot of experience with practice to practice in the way that they find is most effective and suitable for them.
Now, for that there are a couple of requisites. You have to know why you are here and you have to know what you're going to practice. And that's going to be largely the subject matter of our interviews tomorrow, in that you can explain to me, one, why you are here, that is what is your intention for this retreat, and two, the forms of practice which you want to pursue. And I asked you to bring specific instruction material or practice supports for that, if you have it. I'm thinking of things like yidam practices or particular practice manuals. It's just very helpful for me to see the source material that you're working from.
One of the principal reasons for that is that translation errors or translation problems abound. And when I see the source material often I can help with some of the translation points.
I'm quite struck by how deeply people's practices are being influenced by problems that are in translation. Unfortunately this is not a new problem.
There's a certain teaching in Christianity called the three persons of God: the person of God the father; the person of Christ the son; and the person of the holy spirit. This is complete speculation on my part, but I'm willing to bet that person in the three persons of God, or the triune God, is a mistranslation of the Sanskrit term kaya. That is, the Sanskrit term kaya, K-A-Y-A, as in dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya. It's quite easy to understand how it could be translated as person. But a very strange thing happens—and this is the kind of thing that happens with translation—when you translate it as person, you introduce something totally different. Do you believe this is a person or not? And by regarding God as a person you actually introduce the possibility of atheism. All kinds of strange things happen with translation, so that's why if you have source material with you, I'm very happy to look at it and see. Because so many problems in practice, I've found, come from not understanding the source material.
Equally important is your intention. You have a lot of time. We have approximately ten hours of practice scheduled a day. That's an extraordinary opportunity given the way that most of us lead our lives. And I hope very much that you'll make the most of this. It takes a lot of time and energy, not only on Claudia's and my part to arrange something like this, but it takes a great deal of time and energy on your part to arrange to be here. Travel is probably one of the less problematic aspects of that. So it's a very valuable opportunity and at the same time a very challenging one.
A number of you may have read Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, in which he talks about how you get to these extraordinary levels of competence and expertise in various disciplines, and the figure 10,000 hours comes up. It's interesting because that figure comes up in several other contexts, not the least of which is the three-year retreat. If you calculate ten hours of practice a day, 10,000 hours actually works out to about three years.
So, you can put in 100 of those hours in the course of this retreat. It may not seem like much, but actually that's a pretty good chunk.
Gladwell's figure is disputed in various ways, but what it points to is that there are certain levels of expertise and familiarity and ability that come when you invest a lot of time in a certain activity, whether it's shooting hoops in basketball or practicing meditation or solving mathematical problems or whatever. This is where you become really, really good at it.
And what we're doing in spiritual practice is becoming really, really good at developing this deep capacity to be able to experience whatever arises because that's what frees us from reactivity. Any way in which you're reactive in your life occurs because something is arising which you can't experience or don't know how to experience or don't want to experience—one of those three. What one is doing in meditation practice essentially is developing the willingness, the know-how or the capacity to be able to experience anything that arises. That makes you free from reaction.
So, this requires an investment of time, but—and this is very important—time alone is not sufficient. One of the quotations that I have up on the website, the rotating quotes, which I really like, (and George put it at the back of the book, on page 44), is by Kenichi Ohmae: Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.
That's in order to make your time here as fruitful as possible, meeting with you each day to discuss what is arising in your practice. The objective of those interviews is for you to refine your practice so that it is clear and actually—I want to say less struggle—but not that word. There's a lot of wrestling that goes on in practice, but there are better ways and worse ways of engaging that. And my intention is to help you find the ways that are most effective for you, and the experience and training that I've had are available to you in those practice interviews.
Having said that, if there is major stuff coming up and you would like to talk with me at greater length than the interview times allow, then slip Claudia a note and we will find time within the schedule to have a longer conversation. I've done that at every retreat and it's usually not a problem. I mean, if everybody wants a longer session every day, that gets a little difficult logistically, but that never happens. So, you aren't solely restricted to that and particularly if something's deeply troubling or deeply challenging or deeply significant in ways that you don't understand then I'm very happy to be available for that.
Give careful consideration to this. "Okay, what's my intention for this retreat? What are the practices I'm going to be doing?" I suggest you keep it to a maximum of three, probably best one or two. This is an opportunity for you to take your practice as deep as you are capable of over an extended period of time. Part of that is creating an appropriate container, to use a somewhat psychological term. But the environment in which we practice is largely up to us. We create it here. And Claudia mentioned silence, I think, in her orientation, and that's something I'm strongly encouraging. I'm going to go further than that.
So, observe silence. This is going to require you meeting your internal material in a different way, and strangely enough, that's exactly why you're here. So, that's it.
Now, there's a lot of talk about the neurology of meditation and changes in brain functioning, and so forth. And it's very, very difficult to know how reliable much of that is. But this I do know: When we practice, we areÖI'm not sure what the right word isÖevolving, training—it could be any of those words—a different way of experiencing things. In particular, in essence, it's a non-conceptual way of experiencing things. The consequence is that in a period of time such as this, which is very, very valuable, the less conceptual activity you can engage in, the more you are supporting your practice.
So you don't actually need to read anything while you're here. Some people find it helpful to take notes as a way of absorbing information, and that's fine. But I would keep your reading and your notes very, very closely related to practice, and practice experience.
One of the things that frequently happens in practice is that, as the mind becomes clear and you rest more deeply, you discover sources and creative abilities that you never knew you had, and of course you want to give expression to them. In Zen this is known as Zen sickness[laughter], where people write volumes of poetry while they're in retreat, I mean literally. In Tibetan tradition, one of the Trungpa Rinpoches was so inspired by his experience of mahamudra that he wrote 3,000 pages about mahamudra, took it to the Karmapa of that period, who looked at him and said, "You've got to be kidding." [Laughter] So yes, you may uncover stuff and there's that opening. Okay, now open to that experience, because channeling it into creativity or something like that instead is actually a way of avoiding the experience, strangely enough.
There'll be plenty of opportunity after this retreat to give expression to your creative stuff. What I want to encourage—and I don't want to be particularly rigid about this, because that's against the whole tenor of the retreat that I'm trying to set up here—is to use this period to open as deeply as you can to different ways of experiencing things. Because we have ten days here, uninterrupted by ordinary day-to-day affairs and demands. So it is a very, very valuable opportunity to actually instill in ourselves the experience of implanting different ways of experiencing things, in ways which are free of the struggle with the reactivity that we ordinarily have to wrestle with. And that, I think, is getting close to the heart of spiritual practice, at least within the Buddhist tradition.
So, I think those are the main points that I wanted to cover. Any questions that any of you have?
Christy: This may seem counter-intuitive, but how do we sleep? And by that I mean, frequently, at least in the last retreat, I would be so overstimulated, overcharged, going at mach six and it'd be time to sleep, I couldn't turn off and I'd go into this zombie mode. So is there a technique?
Ken: Yeah, a couple of things. You may recall in the Qi Gong practice there's the dispersion technique where you imagine the energy collecting in the center of your body, in the dantien, dispersing evenly throughout the whole system and then coming out the pores of the skin to form a shield, an envelope of energy around your body. It's a way of balancing. Dispersing here doesn't mean getting rid of, it means spreading evenly so the energy is evenly balanced in the system. And you can do that two or three times at the end of the meditation in the evening before you go to bed. It may help.
If you have a lot of energy from the practice then you take the energy out further. So you take it out six inches, a foot, a yard, quite far. At the end of the third time—if you do it three times—leave the energy out there. You aren't bringing it back in. This is a way of balancing energy out that may be helpful.
If you find that you aren't able to go to sleep, and that sometimes happens because you are so awake, okay. Then it's fine to continue practicing. You can come in here and practice in the evening by yourself or in your room, or what have you. When you're practicing at that time, I would recommend that you not actually work at specific practices. It's primarily about resting. You let the body rest, and you let the mind rest in the body. And you drop any concern about going to sleep. It's conceivable you stay up all night. Well, if you actually are resting the body and the mind all night, you're probably going to be fine the next day, number one.
Secondly, the body and the mind will actually have rested, and that's what's important. What happens is we start getting anxious about not sleeping. And that may be the challenge that you have to work with in practice. So that you're lying in bed, say, you're really wide awake, and now your practice consists of resting completely wide awake and allowing the body to rest while you are completely wide awake. My mind is clear and open. And you just let the body rest. And to do that of course, you have to continually let go of, "I'm not going to sleep. When am I going to go to sleep?" You know, things like that.
Because that's the anxiety that churns things up. If the body actually rests like that for most of the evening or most of the night, you'll be fine in the morning. But it's the anxiety and the struggle with it that creates the problems. Does that help? Okay.
Other questions. Okay. Then I think we're through for the evening. It's 9:20. Get a good night's sleep.


Clarence M. Pendleton Jr., chairman, a Republican appointed by President Reagan, president of Pendleton and Associates, an investment firm in San Diego, Calif.
Morris B. Abram, vice-chairman, a Democrat appointed by the President, a partner with the law office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison in New York.
Mary F. Berry, a Democrat appointed by House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., a professor of history and law at Howard University in Washington.
Esther G. Buckley, a Republican appointed by the President, a high-school teacher from Laredo, Tex.
Robert A. Destro, a Democrat appointed by House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel, an assistant professor of law at Catholic University in Washington.
John H. Bunzel, a Democrat appointed by the President, a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
Blandina C. Ramirez, a Republican appointed by Senate Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd, director of development at the InterCultural Research Association in San Antonio, Tex.
Francis S. Guess, a Republican appointed by Senate Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr., commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor, Nashville.


If you take the 410, you know that construction has been ongoing for years. Now, we're inching closer to the project's completion date.
The massive redesign on Highway 410 began in 2014, where the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) aimed to reconstruct the 410 from Eglinton Ave on the 403 to north of Queen Street.
It's true that construction is set to finish this year, in fall 2018.
That means a new HOV lane, a new general purpose lane, commuter parking lots at the Courtneypark and Clark interchanges, widened lanes, and traffic cameras are going to be in place very soon.
You might have seen much of this construction, but as the project nears completion, it's interesting to note just how much is in the works and will soon be ready for use.
The HOV lane, for instance, runs along the Highway 403 northbound Collector, from just north of Eglinton Avenue to the Highway 401/Highway 410 interchange.
"The new HOV lane will indirectly tie into the existing HOV system at Highway 403, currently ending south of Matheson Boulevard East," reads the MTO's website.
The lane is actually the lane next to the median barrier wall on the 410/403, north and south.
"Before the HOV is completed, (work includes all asphalt, sewers, signage, and pavement markings) and can be placed into the correct alignment, traffic will not be allowed into this area," reads the site.
The MTO has also been replacing all overhead sign structures and even worked to construct new ramps - the 403 W - 401 W Ramp and 401 W - 403 W Ramp.
Even a new storm system has been in the works, complete with seven storm water management ponds.
Nightly lane closures are still in effect for parts of the road.
There are two "right lane drops" on the Highway 410 Northbound north of Steele's Ave, one approaching Clark Blvd, and one just North of Clark approaching the Queen St exit. Through traffic must move to the left at both of these lane drops.
The two new ramps at the Highway 410/401/403 Interchange, the 401 eastbound to 403 southbound, and the 403 northbound to 401 westbound, will open to traffic later this year.
The final season of work started in April 2018, and it'll be completed later this year in the fall.
Reconfigure lanes on Highway 410 northbound, Highway 410 southbound, and Highway 403 eastbound to 410 northbound Ramp, Highway 401 eastbound to 410 northbound ramp and Highway 401 westbound to 410 northbound.
Construct Highway 410 northbound separator behind temporary concrete barrier including new storm sewer system (with sewer crossings as shown in the contract drawings), new OHSS, new separator barrier, granular and base course asphalt.
Rehabilitate the 401 westbound to 410 northbound Ramp including milling and surface course asphalt.
Place all remaining surface course asphalt on Highway 410 NB, Highway 410 SB and the 410 southbound to 403 westbound ramps.
What's Happening with the Massive 410 Re-Design?


text:
Muse to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of 'Origin of Symmetry' With Remix Album
Chad Childers Published: May 21, 2021
Karl Walter, Getty Images
Muse are ready to salute the 20th anniversary of their Origin of Symmetry album in a big way, revisiting the material and providing fans with a special remix record to mark the occasion.
Dubbed Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX, the set is not the traditional remix set inviting a bunch of mixers to radically rework the tracks. Rather, the band worked closely with producer Rich Costey, revisiting the material and finding a more open, dynamic and less crushed sound overall. As a result, fans will hear a fuller instrumentation as certain tracks that previous got buried or muted in the mix now can be more prominently featured.
One instance of this is the recorded strings the band cut at Abbey Road on the song "Citizen Erased." The new remixed version is the initial instant grat track that fans can hear on streaming services or by pre-ordering the 20th anniversary edition. Other instances include strings on "Megalomania" and "Space Dementia" and a harpsichord featured on "Micro Cuts."
Frontman Matt Bellamy says, "In revisiting the album, what we found was the original mixes on the singles, like 'Plug In Baby' and 'Bliss,' were pretty good so they were the hardest ones to improve. It was the deeper album tracks like 'Micro Cuts' where we were able to make massive breakthroughs."
Fans can also look for the addition of "Futurism" to the set. The track was initially a bonus cut on the Japanese edition of the album and was tagged on to the record on streaming services. Plus, there's brand new modernized artwork for the Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX created by Sujin Kim. The piece creates a hyper-realistic 3D rendering of the original William Eager cover shot.
The original Origin of Symmetry album really took Muse to the next level in their native U.K., topping out at No. 3 on the U.K. album chart. Their U.S. breakout would come one album later on Absolution, though cuts from Origin of Symmetry started generating some buzz on the group. "Plug in Baby" and "New Born" were the big hits and "Bliss" enjoyed some attention, while the band also turned a few heads with their cover of "Feeling Good."
The Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX is due digitally on June 18 with vinyl offerings to follow on July 9. Head here to pre-order and here for the vinyl offerings.
Muse, "Citizen Erased" (XX Anniversary RemiXX)
Muse, Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX Artwork + Track Listing
Side M
1. New Born
2. Bliss
Side U
3. Space Dementia
4. Hyper Music
5. Plug In Baby
Side S
6. Citizen Erased
7. Micro Cuts
8. Screenager
9. Darkshines
Side E
10. Feeling Good
11. Futurism
12. Megalomania
40 Best Rock Albums of 2001
Source: Muse to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of 'Origin of Symmetry' With Remix Album
Filed Under: Muse


text:
People Before Product : Industry Article
Truck body builder Wil-Ro Inc. emphasizes values, relationships first—success to follow
Feature article, Trailer/Body Builders by Kevin Jones
When Joshua J. Coster bought Wil-Ro Inc. almost five years ago, he recognized an established, respected brand with significant upside potential. He's spent the time since putting in place people and processes, reassessing product lines, and talking up the brand to anyone and everyone who will listen.
"We're building on a solid foundation—owned by the same person for 44 years, with a reputation for craftsmanship and integrity—so now we can bring a mission to it. And our mission today is certainly to put people before our product; if you have great people, you will be successful," Coster said, speaking to TBB at Wil-Ro's Gallatin, Tenn., headquarters and manufacturing facility. "We want to talk about our core values, we want to talk about our pillars of excellence, we want to talk about our mission statement. And then to bring the processes to it and scale-up."
Those values played a big part in Wil-Ro earning a Top Workplaces 2021 honor by the Tennessean. That, and facility renovations; and new safety protocols; and field trips to Chicago for a Cubs game; and paid time off for community projects—all aligned with "demonstrate the Golden Rule," "make manufacturing fun," "give back," and "live passionately."
And, literally bringing those values home, this interview was paused as Coster's mother then his father-in-law popped into the office with updates on preparations for Wil-Ro's Inaugural Truck Show, a benefit for the Nashville Rescue Mission—just one of the many local causes Wil-Ro actively supports.
Appropriately, the severe storms from the day before didn't reform as forecast, and the show went on without a hitch.
Innovation and investment
Even before Coster made "innovate and grow" a core value at Wil-Ro, innovation was built into the company. The origins date to 1970, when brothers William and Roger Anderson made their first cattle trailer for a neighbor, then another and another. Wil-Ro, Inc. was then formed in 1973, focusing on manufacturing horse trailers, farming, cattle, and equipment trailers, starting gates for horse racing, and horse walkers. The factory moved to its current location in Gallatin in 1979—and founder Bill Anderson still lives just across the street.
Through the '90s, Wil-Ro evolved with new products, fabricating truck bodies, dump trailers, roll-off boxes, and landscape bodies before discontinuing livestock trailers altogether. In the 2000s, Wil-Ro launched its Flatbed Series, followed by the Platform Series.
"If you look at our product offering today, we didn't build a single one of those in 1973," Coster said. "The industry itself is certainly changing with the electrification of vehicles. It's changing with the supply chain and how people have to get creative with running their business. It's an exciting time; every day is a new challenge."
Indeed, upgrading a manufacturing facility that hadn't seen major improvements since it was built in 1979 has been quite a challenge for the Wil-Ro team.
"We can put some paint on the wall. We can remodel this, we can update that, we can standardize this—we can really streamline," Coster said. "When you see the amount of depreciation and amortization happening the first four years, then the amount of investment that went back into the facility to create an environment and an atmosphere people can take pride in, one that's safe, that's well lit, that's energetic—it was an opportunity to create something special here."
While Coster has invested more than a million dollars in the facility—ranging from upgrading plant equipment to building a large company break room, exercise room and kitchen—getting SolidWorks 3D CAD software for the engineering department has been critical. Simply, technology was not a prior point of emphasis.
"We weren't even using 3D drawing before the acquisition," Coster said, then pointing to a massive whiteboard that manages production planning, "visit us a year from now; this will be a touchscreen."
The manufacturing floor is bright, thanks to 30 new skylights and LED lighting. New Miller welding stations replaced aging equipment, some of which Coster suspects were from the '70s and kept functional with replacement parts for replacement parts.
The new large break room features an industrial kitchen, where Wil-Ro serves breakfast twice a month. Coster's goal is for Wil-Ro to become profitable enough to provide breakfast and lunch five days a week. Much of the renovation is courtesy of Coster's father, who sold his manufacturing company several years ago and retired—then came to Tennessee because that's where his grandkids were.
Along with Wil-Ro branded work clothes, the company provides workers with an allowance for personal safety gear such as steel-toed shoes and prescription safety goggles.
But, no matter how great the people and products are, truck bodies don't sell themselves.
"Putting together a distribution network has been fun and exciting," Coster said. "We weren't distributing when I bought Wil-Ro; that wasn't the business model. Half of the sales were going direct-to-consumer and half through established commercial relationships.
"We need all consumers to love the product, of course. But how do we get consumers to buy it through either the commercial dealerships in their regions or through our distribution network, which is upfitters and truck equipment companies that have a need for this product?"
Coster seems to be finding some answers: Last year, Wil-Ro sold products in 38 states. Recently, the company announced a move into the Northeast by adding NY Plow & Truck Body as a distributor partner and a deal to make Chandler Truck Accessories a preferred supplier for toolboxes.
And, again, it's about people and relationships—as well as product, of course.
"Are there solutions that we can offer that our competitor in that region currently isn't offering? Is there a solution that we offer when the current regional solution falls short of the customer's expectations? Maybe the customer expects a higher quality product, or the quality of products is on par. However, they value a relationship, and they want something long-term and not just transactional," said Coster.
"And this isn't to talk poorly about any competitors, but we have to find our advantage. When we go into these areas, we say, number one, we're not interested in just ramming our products down anyone's throat. We're more interested in understanding: Is there a foundation, some common ground amongst the organizations? I get super excited if I find the core values between the two organizations have some overlap, and someone who has an appreciation for business and longer-term partnerships," added Coster.
Oh, and the Wil-Ro team is on the phone. A lot.
"I believe if we went back and pinpointed every single one of the new relationships, it's all started by phone call," Coster said. "In the past, Wil-Ro was order takers. So, we've transitioned to a straightforward mindset: if the phone's not ringing, it better be ringing on the other end. Then we're going to get in the car or on an airplane. We're doing whatever it takes to get in front of people."
And that includes Coster himself, who—in this COVID-19-limited times—recently drove seven hours into Ohio for a 45-minute meeting.
"When I travel today, I can go to bed at night and have no concerns," he said. "We have a bench now—we did not have a bench in the past. Wil-Ro is very blessed to have the right leaders in their roles, and they're also excited and motivated and believe in the mission, supporting the core values and saying 'we're going to do this.' I can give very high-level direction and can then travel for a day or two, and they execute."
Not that any of this is a super-secret formula for success. But the Wil-Ro team also reverse engineers the process, paying close attention to what successful competitors are doing in head-to-head areas.
"They're able to take sales of certain of their products within our market because they have solutions that we haven't come up with yet," Coster said. "Or they're able to capitalize on areas where we're not the strongest yet. It takes a team and putting your thinking caps on to say, 'where's the gap?'"
Coster expanded, "Maybe delivery is late, and we can turn it around quicker. Maybe they're not happy with the quality. Maybe they want to have somebody come and visit them every month—every single relationship tends to be a little bit different. We have to be willing to say, 'What can we do to provide the solution?' and we might not have it in some cases. But we're still small enough that we're nimble, and we can make decisions and pivot on a dime— 'we didn't think about that yet, but we'd love to try to come up with something for you.'"
Additionally, this spring, Wil-Ro finalized a partnership to join the General Motors Fleet Bailment Pool, another means meant to support Wil-Ro's growth into new markets, and the geographic footprint expansion among GM Commercial Dealerships for medium-duty and Low Cab Forward (LCF) needs.
Likewise, the deal facilitates business demands and growth for Wil-Ro's customers, providing them greater chassis and truck body availability through GM bailment pool opportunities.
Ford and RAM also have approached Wil-Ro, although the slowdown in truck production means those plans are on hold for the time being, Coster noted.
For the record, at numerous points during the interview and facility tour, Coster emphasized that the story of Wil-Ro since he bought the business isn't about him; it's "a story of the people."
"I feel like I've had this entrepreneur spirit since I was probably 10, and I got my first paper route," Coster said. "And I always knew, at some point, I'd love to own a company—you just don't know when, don't know where, and don't know how it's going to happen."
His resume includes The U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school, multiple honor society memberships at DePaul University, an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, and jobs with Caterpillar, Joy Global, and TransDigm Group.
And at his last stop, with TransDigm's AdelWiggins Group in Southern California, he was able to bring his skills and experience together and—with significant responsibilities as director of operations for the aerospace manufacturer—broaden his understanding of how to run a business.
"I felt equipped. I wasn't getting any younger," Coster said. "My wife and I sat down and decided, 'this is the plan, so let's start looking at it.'"
In mid-2016, Coster began working with a business broker and narrowed the options to a manufacturer in Charlotte, N.C., and Wil-Ro. When the owner in Charlotte changed his mind about selling, the Costers—with three daughters under seven years old—were on the way to Tennessee, settling in Nashville about 30 miles south of the Wil-Ro facility.
Coster insisted he's still learning about the truck body industry but suggested that product-specific knowledge isn't as important as understanding what it takes to run a successful manufacturing company.
"Do you have experience with the different facets, or the different angles, of owning and operating a business?" he said and used managing the supply chain as a prime example. "I don't know if that could be any more critical today—that's certainly relevant in 2020 and 2021. And I feel, again, very blessed that there have been a few different steppingstones in my career where I worked on supply chain and logistics, and pricing and negotiating.
"Also, for truck bodies, you need certainly to come into the industry with an appreciation or understanding of manufacturing and operations—metals and processing and fabricating—and an understanding of engineering," added Coster.
But it's not just a matter of knowing what the company's departmental structure should look like. It's about having a vision—a direction—and then being able to execute.
"For a sales department, if the desire is also to grow, then someone with an appetite for growth is great," Coster said. "But what's the exposure to new business? How do you approach new business? You can't just show up and say, 'I want to grow a company' and then not have a specific plan—a course of action."
"Are you putting together an outreach plan? Are you getting out there and telling your story through your website, through social media, through press releases? Are you doing it the old-fashioned way? Which I believe in—by picking up the phone and making phone calls and introducing yourself," said Coster."
Indeed, Coster heard comments about "this crazy guy from California" when he announced his plans to grow the business. Texas seemed to be a great market opportunity to Coster, but the conventional wisdom was: "Wil-Ro is not going to sell in Texas; it never has, and it never will," recalled Coster.
"And it didn't happen on the first phone call," Coster said. "But that doesn't discourage me. I got on a plane, and right now, one of our top five accounts happens to be in the State of Texas."
Branding, branding, branding
A quick look at Wil-Ro's marketing materials—website, product brochures, social media activity—has a look and feel of the materials produced by much larger organizations.
But, again, it goes back to people. Coster recalled that the old website had only one picture of a person, and in the early days of his ownership, he had asked each employee to sit down with him for a chat but never saw the face from the website. It turns out the image was a stock photo.
"So, when we built our site—because the site's in my head, but I need website designers to execute—I said, if somebody is on our new website and it takes them five minutes to figure out what we do, I'm okay with that," Coster said, over the objections of website developers. "The new site better scream people, people, people, culture, culture, culture, our brand, our brand, our brand.
"It had better talk about our vision, about our mission, about our energy. And showcase our team, like every one of those people working on it. I didn't want the website to scream trucks, trucks, trucks; I want it to be about the story or what I like to say is 'the fabric' that's behind the brand," Coster continued.
(Ironically, someone recently asked Coster where he found the "actors" featured on the website profiles, and, of course, they're all folks at Wil-Ro.)
Likewise, Wil-Ro's slick product catalog features a modern design, professional product photos, and heavy paper stock. But, instead of the latest innovative truck body, the opening spread lays out the company's pillars of excellence, cultural statement, and core values.
While people may be Coster's top priority, his "passion" is branding.
"I get obsessed with certain brands like Disney, like Nordstrom, like Ritz-Carlton—thinking through organizations that really do things right when it comes to people or customer service or relationships. And that stuff excites me," he said.
Coster admits it might sound "corny," but Wil-Ro has a book club that meets weekly to read and discuss business management "and get excited about it."
"You can tell the individuals who are hungry for more, and want to learn more and who are ready," he said, noting specifically the rapid advancement of his operations and sales managers. "It's also mentoring and training them on how to manage without getting stressed out when their plate appears to be overflowing.
"If you're working with them and you're mentoring, and you're sometimes even pushing them to areas you know they can go to—but they don't know because they doubt themselves. And when that person gets promoted or takes on a new role or at times departs the organization for an even bigger role—that's what really excites me the most in my career—and not just at Wil-Ro: seeing the success of those around you."
Fresh faces
Along with recruiting efforts at colleges (not only in the Greater Nashville area, but nationally) that have brought in young talent, Coster cited a local young man who started at Wil-Ro in his senior year of high school. He has spent the four years since doing various jobs for the company before working his way onto the supply chain team. He recently began taking a couple of college classes each semester—with Wil-Ro paying tuition.
Wil-Ro also works with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, which has several area campuses that provide occupational and workforce development training.
"The youngest person in our factory just finished his junior year of high school, and he's working this summer. How many kids want to work in a factory in the middle of summer?" Coster said. "The ones that do, those are the ones that want it. He's rocking it, and he loves welding. He's probably one of six or seven that we've had the last few summers. We weren't doing this prior, but now we're going out into the high schools saying, 'Who wants to weld? Who wants to learn? Who likes a factory? Let's go.'"
Wil-Ro currently has 62 employees—with several open slots for welders—up from 23 when Coster bought the company. And although Wil-Ro added a second shift in March 2021 and could hire several more welders, the company is in no rush to bring on warm bodies.
"We're getting tighter and tighter with our interview criteria —we want to be selective," he said. "A lot of that stuff on your application doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is what's on the backside of your application or resume, which is your drive, your work ethic, your energy, your passion; what do you want to do? What will ensure that the smile that's on your face every morning when you're driving to Wil-Ro is still on your face every afternoon when you're headed home?"
"So, if you absolutely are on fire about welding, and you've never welded before, I want you on my team. If you have welded your whole life, and you're a bump on the log, I don't want you on my team," said Coster. "If you hate painting and you're a painter, you can't paint here because that type of attitude is a poison, and that's toxic to our workplace."
The Wil-Ro team now also looks considerably different than it did four years ago. Along with many younger hires, one in five employees is now female, compared to zero. Thirteen percent are non-Caucasian, again compared to zero previously. Wil-Ro's certified welder count is up 50%, and 13% are veterans.
Finally, products
As for truck bodies, Wil-Ro continues to adapt and evolve as Coster evaluates the main lines, looking for the best opportunities. Since the acquisition, Coster has established the four basic models and instituted specific variations in each series.
For example, he points to the "quality and craftsmanship" of a Wil-Ro standard landscape truck body as a differentiator, making it a top seller—but "hundreds of guys" are building landscape bodies. The removable dovetail landscape body, however, means only "one or two" competitors.
"I like the removable dovetail truck bed. It's versatile; it's three trucks in one," Coster said, making it ideal for the landscaper that has a variety of jobs and materials—but it hadn't been properly marketed previously. With a higher profile, that production ratio is now up by 10X.
But manufacturing efficiency is the big reason for limiting custom builds.
"When I started, we didn't even have them in series; instead, it was just wide open—it was anything you wanted, we would build," Coster said. "That wreaks havoc in your supply chain, in your engineering, in your training, and your standardization. So, we've tried to get tighter and tighter."
The reduction in custom work has "upset some relationships," Coster admitted, but to scale the company, "volume is important"—although "quality always needs to come before quantity."
Along those lines, in early August, Wil-Ro announced the "temporary pause" of its utility flatbed and western flatbed product lines due to "supply chain delays, volatility of steel market, and its availability." The aim is to improve the production rate of higher-demand truck bodies and reduce lead times.
Wil-Ro has not abandoned customers looking for customization, however. The company does offer a "fleet solution."
"If someone's looking at an order of 10 or more truck bodies, we will invest engineering and R&D, and we'll build this for a fleet," Coster said. "But if you're calling us and just want one, we're not going to be able to do that."
So, how's it all working out? At mid-year, Wil-Ro reported a 29% growth rate over 2020, and targets 25% for the year.
The company has plans for a facility expansion later this year.
SOURCE: Trailer/Body Builders, Sept. 26, 2021


As you know the Early Years Inspectorate's QRF was launched in Dublin in September. The QRF document clearly presents the scope of how the Inspectorate will assess services for compliance with the 2016 Regulations, which in turn will promote the quality and safety of services provided to children. Each service has been provided with a copy of the QRF. If you have not received a copy, please contact the inspectorate for a copy. The QRF is also available to download on our website at: https://www.tusla.ie/services/preschool-services/early-years-quality-and-regulatory-framework/.
Throughout November and December, the Inspectorate will deliver a limited series of briefing sessions which you are invited to attend. If it is not possible for you to attend, you are welcome to send another representative from your service, where appropriate. These briefing sessions will focus on the QRF, as well as providing an update on the process for the re-registration of Early Years Services in 2019, and a summary of the Inspectorate's annual report, which will be published shortly.