text:
ORDER OF THE COURT (Tenth Chamber)
14 November 2013 (*)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Brussels Convention – Judicial cooperation in civil matters – Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 – Article 5(1)(b) – Jurisdiction – Special jurisdiction – Matters relating to a contract – Concept of 'provision of services' – Storage contract)
In Case C‑469/12,
REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria), made by decision of 17 September 2012, received at the Court on 22 October 2012, in the proceedings
Krejci Lager & Umschlagbetriebs GmbH
Olbrich Transport und Logistik GmbH,
THE COURT (Tenth Chamber),
composed of M. Juhász, President of the Chamber, A. Rosas (Rapporteur) and D. Šváby, Judges,
Advocate General: E. Sharpston,
Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,
having regard to the written procedure,
after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:
– Krejci Lager & Umschlagbetriebs GmbH, by M. Stögerer, Rechtsanwalt,
– the Austrian Government, by C. Pesendorfer, acting as Agent,
– the Greek Government, by S. Chala and L. Kotroni, acting as Agents,
– the European Commission, by M. Wilderspin and W. Bogensberger, acting as Agents,
having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to give a decision by reasoned order, pursuant to Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice,
makes the following
1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 5(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ 2001 L 12, p. 1).
2 The request has been made in proceedings between Krejci Lager & Umschlagbetriebs GmbH ('Krejci Lager'), a company incorporated under Austrian law, and Olbrich Transport und Logistik GmbH ('Olbrich Transport'), a company incorporated under German law, concerning payment of the price charged for the warehouse storage of goods on a site in Vienna (Austria).
The Brussels Convention
3 Under Article 5(1) of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ 1972 L 299, p. 32), as amended by the Convention of 29 November 1996 on the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden (OJ 1997 C 15, p. 1; 'the Brussels Convention'):
'A person domiciled in a Contracting State may, in another Contracting State, be sued:
(1) in matters relating to a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question …'
Regulation No 44/2001
4 Recital 11 in the preamble to Regulation No 44/2001 states:
'The rules of jurisdiction must be highly predictable and founded on the principle that jurisdiction is generally based on the defendant's domicile and jurisdiction must always be available on this ground save in a few well-defined situations in which the subject-matter of the litigation or the autonomy of the parties warrants a different linking factor. …'
'In addition to the defendant's domicile, there should be alternative grounds of jurisdiction based on a close link between the court and the action or in order to facilitate the sound administration of justice.'
'Continuity between the Brussels Convention and this Regulation should be ensured, and transitional provisions should be laid down to that end. The same need for continuity applies as regards the interpretation of the Brussels Convention by the Court of Justice …'
7 The rules on jurisdiction laid down by Regulation No 44/2001 are set out in Chapter II thereof, consisting of Articles 2 to 31.
8 Under Section 1 of Chapter II, headed 'General provisions', Article 2(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 provides:
'Subject to this Regulation, persons domiciled in a Member State shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that Member State.'
9 Article 3(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 provides:
'Persons domiciled in a Member State may be sued in the courts of another Member State only by virtue of the rules set out in Sections 2 to 7 of this Chapter.'
10 In Section 2 of Chapter II, headed 'Special jurisdiction', Article 5 of Regulation No 44/2001 provides:
'A person domiciled in a Member State may, in another Member State, be sued:
(1) (a) in matters relating to a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question;
(b) for the purpose of this provision and unless otherwise agreed, the place of performance of the obligation in question shall be:
– in the case of the sale of goods, the place in a Member State where, under the contract, the goods were delivered or should have been delivered,
– in the case of the provision of services, the place in a Member State where, under the contract, the services were provided or should have been provided;
(c) if subparagraph (b) does not apply then subparagraph (a) applies …'
11 Under Section 6 of Chapter II, headed 'Exclusive jurisdiction', Article 22 of Regulation No 44/2001 provides:
'The following courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction, regardless of domicile:
(1) in proceedings which have as their object rights in rem in immovable property or tenancies of immovable property, the courts of the Member State in which the property is situated.
The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling
12 Krejci Lager, established in Vienna, brought an action before the Bezirksgericht für Handelssachen Wien (District Commercial Court, Vienna) seeking payment from Olbrich Transport, established in Gornau (Germany), of an amount corresponding to the storage fee for goods stored on one of its sites located in Vienna. That amount concerns the period between the 40th week and the 52nd week of 2008. The storage fee was set by the applicant at EUR 325.
13 The Bezirksgericht für Handelssachen Wien declined international jurisdiction and dismissed the action. That court considered that the action was to be brought, in accordance with Article 5(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, before the courts for the place of performance of the contractual obligation at issue. That obligation includes payment of the storage fee, which constitutes a money debt corresponding to the right which is the basis of the action.
14 According to that first instance court, money debts such as that at issue in the main proceedings must be classified, in accordance with Austrian law, as 'obligations of dispatch' ('Schicksschulden') and are payable where the debtor is domiciled. Accordingly, 'the place of performance of the obligation in question', within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation No 44/2001, is in Germany, and consequently the Austrian courts do not have jurisdiction to rule on the dispute at issue in the main proceedings.
15 The applicant in the main proceedings lodged an appeal against that decision before the Handelsgericht Wien (Commercial Court, Vienna), asserting that Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation No 44/2001 was not applicable to the facts at issue in the main proceedings. In its view, the storage contract is a contract for the provision of services. Therefore, the place of performance of such a contract is, in accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of that regulation, the place where the service was provided. It is apparent from the order for reference that the defendant in the main proceedings claims, in contrast, that the storage contract does not involve a provision of services but making storage space available.
16 The referring court states that in proceedings where the value of the claim is less than EUR 5 000 it is the court of last instance. However, it considers that the answer to the question of interpretation of European Union law is not so obvious that no room is left for reasonable doubt.
17 In those circumstances, the Handelsgericht Wien decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:
'Is a contract for the storage of goods a contract for the "provision of services" within the meaning of Article 5(1)(b) of … Regulation … No 44/2001 …?'
Consideration of the question referred
18 Under Article 99 of its Rules of Procedure, where the reply to a question referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling may be clearly deduced from existing case‑law or admits of no reasonable doubt, the Court may at any time, on a proposal from the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, decide to rule by reasoned order. The Court considers that it is appropriate to make use of that provision in the present case.
19 By its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether the second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001 must be interpreted as meaning that a contract relating to the storage of goods constitutes a contract for the provision of services within the meaning of that provision.
20 At the outset, it must be borne in mind that Article 5(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 lays down a rule of special jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to a contract. The assignment of that special jurisdiction, the choice of which is at the applicant's discretion and which complements the general rule that jurisdiction is based on the defendant's domicile, is justified by the existence, in certain well‑defined circumstances, of a close link between a dispute and the court which may be called upon to hear and determine the case (see, to that effect, Case C‑204/08 Rehder [2009] ECR I-6073, paragraph 32).
21 It must be noted that, according to the Court's case-law, the applicant may invoke the jurisdiction of the courts of the place of performance even when the existence of the contract on which the claim is based is in dispute between the parties (see, as regards the Brussels Convention, Case 38/81 Effer [1982] ECR 825, paragraph 8).
22 Where the characteristic obligation of the contract at issue is the sale of goods or the provision of services, Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001 provides that a person domiciled in a Member State may be sued, under such a contract, in the courts of the place in another Member State where the characteristic obligation of that contract was or should have been performed. Accordingly, regarding the place of performance of the obligations arising from contracts for the provision of services, the second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of that regulation gives an autonomous definition of that linking factor, in order to reinforce the objectives of unifying the rules of jurisdiction and ensuring predictability (see, to that effect, Rehder, paragraphs 33 and 36, and Case C‑19/09 Wood Floor Solutions Andreas Domberger [2010] ECR I-2121, paragraphs 23 and 26).
23 It is apparent from the information provided to the Court of Justice by the referring court that the contract at issue in the main proceedings concerns the storage of goods. The referring court states, inter alia, that it must resolve the problem of its international jurisdiction in a situation where the goods belonging to the defendant in the main proceedings, a company incorporated under German law, have been stored on a site which is located in Austria.
24 In order to ascertain whether such a situation falls within the scope of the second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001, it is necessary to examine whether the storage of goods constitutes a 'provision of services' within the meaning of that provision.
25 Clearly, that is the case.
26 It must be borne in mind that, according to the Court's case-law, the concept of service found in the second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001, implies, at the least, that the party who provides the service carries out a particular activity in return for remuneration (Case C‑533/07 Falco Privatstiftung and Rabitsch [2009] ECR I‑3327, paragraph 29).
27 In that regard, as the Austrian and Greek Governments as well as the European Commission submit in their written observations, the predominant element of a storage contract is the fact that the warehousekeeper undertakes to store the goods concerned on behalf of the other party to the contract. Accordingly, that commitment entails a specific activity, consisting, at the least, of the reception of goods, their storage in a safe place and their return to the other party to the contract in an appropriate state.
28 As regards the argument that the subject-matter of the contract at issue is the mere renting of an area of space, it must be noted that, in the context of proceedings under Article 267 TFEU, which are based on a clear separation of functions between the national courts and tribunals and the Court of Justice, any assessment of the facts is a matter for the national court or tribunal. In particular, the Court is empowered to rule only on the interpretation or the validity of European Union acts on the basis of the facts placed before it by the national court or tribunal (Case C‑491/06 Danske Svineproducenter [2008] ECR I‑3339, paragraph 23, and the judgment of 10 November 2011 in Joined Cases C‑319/10 and C‑320/10 X and X BV, paragraph 29).
29 According to the information provided by the order for reference, the contract at issue in the case in the main proceedings does not concern the rental of premises, but the storage of goods. Moreover, besides the fact that it is not for the Court to call into question that finding of fact, it must be noted that jurisdiction relating to the former type of contract is, in any event, governed by Article 22(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, relating to exclusive jurisdiction in the matter of tenancies of immovable property (see, as regards the Brussels Convention, Case 241/83 Rösler [1985] ECR 99, paragraph 24, and Case C‑280/90 Hacker [1992] ECR I-1111, paragraph 10), under which only the courts and tribunals of the Member State where the property is situated have jurisdiction.
30 In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the question referred is therefore that the second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001 must be interpreted as meaning that a contract relating to the storage of goods, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, constitutes a contract for the 'provision of services' within the meaning of that provision.
31 Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.
On those grounds, the Court (Tenth Chamber) hereby rules:
The second indent of Article 5(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters must be interpreted as meaning that a contract relating to the storage of goods, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, constitutes a contract for the 'provision of services' within the meaning of that provision.
[Signatures]
* Language of the case: German.


Description: The boy-king Arthor has united his island kingdom but at a terrible cost. For the Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper and the magical shield of Britain, has been stolen. Without the Grail's protection, Britain lies parched and barren, a demon-haunted landscape. To find the Grail, Arthor's mother, Ygrane, must strike a dark bargain with Bright Night, elf-prince of the "pale people", in the hollow hills. Merlin must use his magic to show the way. But it is Arthor himself who must confront the Serpent, sword in hand.
0061059730 200 EDITION 1ST PRINTING. COVER HAS CREASING AND SHELF WEAR. 387 PAGE TEXT HAS LIGHT WEAR. FANTASY. 4.25'' X 7''. WE USE BUBBLE MAILERS.
0061059730 Please allow 4-14 business days for Standard shipping, within the US. Thank you for supporting our small, family-owned business!


text:
class Cake < Formula
  desc "Cross platform build automation system with a C# DSL."
  homepage "https://cakebuild.net/"
  url "https://github.com/cake-build/cake/releases/download/v0.23.0/Cake-bin-net461-v0.23.0.zip"
  sha256 "1ad334de4188e6dd320a8501dd0d76f5efc8f2f4e83a562fb3f309a298f39a4a"

  bottle :unneeded

  depends_on "mono" => :recommended

  conflicts_with "coffeescript", :because => "both install `cake` binaries"

  def install
    libexec.install Dir["*.dll"]
    libexec.install Dir["*.exe"]
    libexec.install Dir["*.xml"]

    bin.mkpath
    (bin/"cake").write <<~EOS
      #!/bin/bash
      mono #{libexec}/Cake.exe "$@"
    EOS
  end

  test do
    (testpath/"build.cake").write <<~EOS
      var target = Argument ("target", "info");

      Task("info").Does(() =>
      {
        Information ("Hello Homebrew");
      });

      RunTarget ("info");
    EOS
    assert_match "Hello Homebrew\n", shell_output("#{bin}/cake build.cake")
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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Why Population Statistic?
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Population Statistic -
Read. React. Repeat.
All Content Copyright
© 2004-2008 Costa Tsiokos
RETAIL'S FOREIGNER FRIDAY
While economic analysts predict a disappointing 2007 holiday season due to U.S. recession fears, retail is getting a compensatory boost from across the borders on the official kickoff of the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping spree. Thanks to a weak dollar, today's Friday is the new black for foreign visitors hitting the malls:
But for those who are enjoying the strength of the euro, pound, yen and other currencies against the moribund dollar, Black Friday provides an added reason to go on a shopping binge. Tourists not only get more bang for their buck, so to speak, but also get to buy things at the steep discounts for which Black Friday is known…
Whether or not increased sales to shoppers from outside the U.S. will be enough to make Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season a success, in light of all the concerns about the health of the U.S. consumer, remains to be seen.
But retailers certainly should be prepared to say "gracias," "danke," "arigato" and thanks in many other languages if fourth quarter sales turn out to be better than expected.
In addition to the cheeky translations for "Black Friday" — Vendredi Noir (French), Schwarzer Freitag (German), Viernes Negro (Spanish) — let me contribute the Greek version: Μαύρη Παρασκευή. That's on behalf of that smattering of Helenes tossing down their Euros, most likely in Manhattan somewhere.
by Costa Tsiokos, Fri 11/23/2007 08:21:45 PM
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THANKSGIVING THURSDAY GOING RETAIL-GRAY
In a clever color-coordination designation with Black Friday, the widening trend of Thanksgiving Day retail openings is being dubbed "Gray Thursday".
I like it. Especially the implication that the preceding days of the year are somehow pure/white, with the impending blackness of hardcore consumerism seeping in on Turkey Day to create some preemptive dinginess.
I should point out, though, that while the "gray" syncs well with the "black" syntax-wise, it veers off the true ledger-book definition. The "black" in Black Friday refers to traditional accounting terminology, where black ink was used for profits while red ink was used for losses. The underlying theory behind Black Friday is that it's the first day of the year that retail businesses get in the clear of deficit or break-even, and make their annual profit — out of the red and into the black (hopefully).
So based on this — a blending of red and black, instead of white and black — I guess the proper color to signify a big-sale Thanksgiving Thursday should… Some sort of dark red? Maroon Thursday? Let's stick with "gray" instead…
by Costa Tsiokos, Thu 11/22/2007 09:56:39 AM
Category: Business, Wordsmithing
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FACEBOOK FACING A BEACON BACKLASH?
When it was pointed out how Facebook's new Social Ads program likely is playing fast-and-loose with users' privacy and consent, I considered the issue to be, ultimately, too abstract to faze the majority of Facebookers. As long as it didn't detract from user experience, the behind-the-scenes swapping of sensitive demographic info between Facebook and other companies wouldn't register.
Well, it turns out the process isn't so behind-the-scenes, thanks to a marketing-feed app called Beacon:
The new program lets companies tap ongoing conversations by alerting users about friends' activities through the feeds. About 40 Web sites have decided to embed a free tool from Facebook, known as a Beacon, to enable the marketing feeds.
The idea is that if users see a friend buy or do something, they'd take that action as an endorsement for a movie, a band or a soft drink.
But it also raises privacy concerns.
Mike Mayer, for instance, saw a feed item saying his boyfriend, Adam Sofen, just bought tickets to "No Country For Old Men" from movie-ticket vendor Fandango.
"What if I was seeing 'Fred Claus'?" said Sofen, 28. "That would have been much more embarrassing. At least this was a prestigious movie."
Embarrassment is one thing. But I'm betting these social-network butterflies would get even more peeved at the prospect of a spoiled surprise:
"People should be given much more of a notice, much more of an alert," said Matthew Helfgott, 20, a college student who discovered his girlfriend just bought him black leather gloves from Overstock for Hanukkah. "She said she had no idea [information would be shared]. She said it invaded her privacy."
This is what it'll come down to: Dead-simple practical examples of what happens when your online persona is tracked. If Facebookers find out they can't buy something — a present, a book, whatever — and not have their online friends find out indiscriminately, then it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they're going to start leaving the site.
I figured the online generation knew no boundaries in their disregard for personal disclosure, but this episode looks to be the virtual brick wall. Facebook is practically sabotaging itself out of relevance by sticking with this format, and I'll be shocked if it doesn't move quickly (i.e., the next few days) to start implementing opt-outs to quell this.
by Costa Tsiokos, Wed 11/21/2007 09:42:59 PM
Category: Advert./Mktg., Business, Internet
FACEBOOK'S DEFAULT-DRIVEN SOCIAL ADVERTISING
Riding on its late momentum, Facebook launched its Social Ads initiative to demonstrate how it can make money in an innovative, seemingly user-friendly (even user-engaging) way.
Aside from questions about the legality of auto-recruiting members into advertising campaigns, some are now criticizing just how Facebook is rigging the default user settings to build an essentially shanghai-based ad network.
To give you an idea, when Leah Pearlman announced SocialAds on the Facebook blog, she claimed that Facebook would never "sell any of your information". But… hmm… aren't my demographics *my information*? Isn't what type of movie I like *my information*? Who is Facebook to determine what my information is? Even though companies can't identify me personally, they are paying Facebook for my age, my interests, and other things about me that make me who I am.
And really, does Facebook think that Blockbuster doesn't have my identity here? I need an account to rent a movie… so obviously Blockbuster knows who I am. So Facebook is kind of saying "we're not going to give any identifiable information to 3rd parties… as you've already done that". It really doesn't matter that Facebook doesn't give up my email… that's a cop-out. What they're doing is connecting the dots… in an under-handed way.
On one level, Facebook is no different from every other software application, on the Web or off. Everyone knows (or should know) that a program's default settings determine the vast majority of usage patterns. For instance, how many billions of Excel files are floating around out there with the standard three worksheets within the workbook — even though only one of the worksheets has any actual data on it? Even experienced users don't bother diving into options menus to change settings unless there's a really compelling reason to do so. In that sense, Facebook isn't doing anything particularly new, and thus not particularly malicious.
The tricky part is that "connecting the dots" business. If Facebook really is serving as a bridge to deliver key trigger information to its partners, then that's a serious breach of trust. It's as though Facebook is pooling fragments of user demographics with other user-frequented sources, thereby building a data-mined version of marketing cryptography.
This is mostly speculative, but given the capabilities of software aggregation databases, not at all out of the range of possibility. If the goal is to build consumer profiles toward which to target the most refined marketing pitches possible — the greatest bang for the buck via honed audiences — then Social Ads could be the glue that helps all the other elements stick together.
I haven't joined up on Facebook yet. When/if I do, I'll have to cook up a bunch of fake personal info. No sense in helping them build a more-perfect machine.
by Costa Tsiokos, Sun 11/18/2007 11:37:39 PM
CHIEF EXECUTIVE SWAGGERER
Here's a shout-out post to Bryson Nobles, who's just launched his personal entrepreneurial blog, CEO Swagger.
I've been working with Bryson on The 8trk Project. Since I encouraged him to keep a blog in support of that venture, I'll take partial credit for putting the bug in his ear to branch out to his own site. I think the new blog will highlight his drive to carry out Web-based business concepts, from idea-germination through to functionality, and beyond.
Hopefully, the swagger will start soon enough with 8trk, as soon as that site is ready for public unwrapping a few weeks from now.
Category: 8trk, Bloggin', Business
DRINKING THE FACEBOOK KOOL-AID
How big of a believer in the new free-for-all Facebook is Lee Lorenzen? Enough so that that he's starting a venture capital fund available exclusively to developers producing Facebook applications/widgets.
What does he expect the return-on-investment to be?
Lorenzen, based in Monterey, Calif., has founded several companies, including Shop.com, and is unfazed by criticism. He truly believes Facebook will be huge and that it is the first mainstream social operating system, taking a page from the playbook of Guy Kawasaki, Apple's former self-proclaimed evangelist.
Lorenzen thinks Facebook will eventually become a massive Web-based mall, but with much more value because people are shopping based on their friends recommendations, with Facebook as their main portal.
The first step in that evolution was the company's introduction last week of its Social Ads. The idea is that a purchase made by a Facebook member on other Web sites can be listed on their page, allowing their friends see, for example, what book they bought on the other site.
Is Facebook the long-awaited critical-mass online hangout? I really don't see it. In the popular consciousness, MySpace is probably a stronger, more recognizable brand. Facebook's stolen the thunder in terms of buzzworthiness, but that doesn't mean it's going to stay that way — especially not with the synergies possible at MySpace parent company News Corp. Add in the innate fickleness of social networking participants, and I'm secure in my skepticism.
If anything, I'd have guessed some VC — Lorenzen or someone else — would have anointed Second Life as the messianist online community, just by virtue of all the marketing efforts directed there. Not to mention that SL's wholly graphical interfaces, with animated avatars and rendered landscapes, make that site that much more inviting than Facebook's text-based format.
I'm sure Lorenzen will burn through a sizable hunk of cash before it becomes apparent that he's bet on the wrong pony. If his fund has anything left over, maybe he can use that to seed the next Big Thing Online.
Category: Business, Internet
VOWEL-PRUNING AS BRANDING
Not long ago, I noted how the formerly chic "e" prefix used for early-wave Internet entities — think eBay, E*TRADE, even email — had been supplanted by the new-wave "i", as in iPhone and iGoogle. I also absently wondered which would be the next letter to come along and signify bleeding-edge Web with-it-ness.
It looks like a less-obvious and more reductive answer has emerged: Instead of adding a letter, the new style is to remove a pesky vowel or two to achieve latter-day branding power.
That's the methodology used to update fusty old eProject, first named in 1997, to its current re-brand of Daptiv:
Daptiv is a good choice because "it sounds very current," [Catchword principal Burt Alper] adds, noting the trend "to alter spellings to create distinctions," citing the Motorola Razr cellphone and the photo-sharing Web site Flickr.
"But since Daptiv is based on a real English word," Mr. Alper says, "there's also a sense of stability" that may be missing from more fanciful coined words.
"It's also short and easy to pronounce," he adds, "and the dot-com domain was available for registration."
It's actually something of a miracle that any semi-sensible URL is free for the picking, what with domain-squatters scooping up speculative letter combinations.
I'll note that I, myself, am currently working with a prime example of this vowel-less phenomenon: 8trk. Yes, I'm part of the problem (or the solution, depending on your perspective).
by Costa Tsiokos, Mon 11/12/2021 10:45:55 PM
TIME WARNER CENTER STRIKE CORRAL
Here's the scene from this morning, 9AM-ish, as I walked in front of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle.
Yes, the television writers' strike has hit the Big Apple, with the Writers Guild of America, East making their presence felt.
You can make out the barricade barriers that surround the strikers. The whole group — probably about a dozen by my count — were corralled into this little patch of sidewalk. There was no way to not notice them, with that giant inflatable pig fronting them. But they definitely looked like they were caged in.
by Costa Tsiokos, Thu 11/08/2021 10:32:33 PM
Category: Business, New Yorkin', TV
DILLER'S DISINTEGRATION OF IAC
Gee, I didn't see this one coming. Acknowledging that he's cobbled together the corporate equivalent of a Frankenstein's monster, Barry Diller announced that IAC/InteractiveCorp will be split into five separate companies, in order to pull the old "unlock the entities' stock value" maneuver.
Diller's other motivation: To get John Malone off his back.
Here's the shape of things to come:
When the transaction is complete, the five businesses will include:
* IAC — This unit will own Web sites such as Ask.com, Match.com and Excite as well as several other Internet properties including Bloglines, Citysearch, Gifts.com and CollegeHumor and investments in sites such as Active.com, Points.com and Brightcove.
* HSN — This unit will be comprised of IAC/InteractiveCorp's current retailing businesses that include HSN TV, HSN.com and Cornerstone Brands as well as a portfolio of catalogs and retail stores.
* Ticketmaster — Includes properties such as Admission.com, Biletix, Billetnet, BillettService, LiveDaily, TicketService and TicketWeb as well as investments in Frontline and iLike.
* LendingTree — The parent's financial arm will be spun off to include the LendingTree.com business as well as RealEstate.com, Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center and iNest.
* Interval International — This unit will also include CondoDirect, Resort Quest Hawaii and VacationSource.com.
It always amazed me that shareholders and partners went along with Diller's years-long un-strategy of simply throwing money at anything that sorta/kinda hinted at online business. I guess nothing lasts forever. Let's see if he can resist a repeat of the mish-mosh acquisition approach when he's in charge of the reduced IAC remnant company.
Category: Business, Internet, Media
COLLECTING ON BANKRUPT PAPER?
Apparently, banks are making big money by collecting on bankruptcy-discharged debts, based on outdated information on credit reports:
Legally, the issue is murky. Bankruptcy law bans efforts to collect discharged debt, but BusinessWeek says the courts are divided on whether a lender's failure to update a credit report can be considered an improper attempt to collect. That ambiguity opens the door for lenders to pursue payment on obligations that in theory should be worthless.
Here's what I don't understand: If those obligations are worthless, then who gets the money collected on these phantom debts? If no one is legally entitled to that repayment, then isn't the latter-day recipient — i.e., those collection agencies who bought the debt paper — essentially shaking people down for money by threatening to inflict black marks on a credit report? If anything, the paper acquirer would have a fraudulence claim against the financial institution that sold them the misidentified debts; but that would then be a business-to-business issue, and shouldn't involve the individuals.
The whole system is shady. I can't believe these databases can be so sloppily maintained. Every other aspect of the financial system — especially when it comes to corporate banking — are meticulously checked and re-checked for accuracy. But personal financial information is allowed to remain error-marred for years? I'm thinking there's loads of culpability to go around here.
by Costa Tsiokos, Sat 11/03/2021 08:12:43 PM
Category: Business, Society
THE BUSINESS BENEFIT OF DAYLIGHT SAVING
Daylight Saving Time sorta sneaks up on us this year — a week later than usual, AKA this coming weekend. That's causing problems for software and (especially) electronics that are on the old schedule:
It's devices that aren't connected to a wired or wireless network — including many wrist watches, alarm clocks and VCRs — that need extra attention. These often are the devices that need to be reset after a power outage, said Jenny Pareti, spokeswoman for [the Consumer Electronics Association].
"Anything that isn't connected to a network or a broadcast source will need to be manually reset," she said. If the product was made before August 2005 and it uses an internal calendar, owners should disable the daylight saving time feature and/or change the time manually, according to the group.
To me, this indicates that manufacturers of digital clocks and the like are due for a healthy spike in sales, as people junk their outmoded, non-patchable devices rather than put up with the hassle.
And that's just one of the tangible business benefits of DST:
Of course, the candy manufacturers are likely happy about the change too, [Tufts University professor Michael] Downing said.
"They've been pushing for it for 30 years," he said, adding that candy manufacturers think they'd be able to profit enormously if kids stay out an extra hour trick-or-treating.
It's a possibility: When a month of daylight saving time was added in the 1980s, both the barbeque industry and the golf industry saw increases in sales due to the extra hours of light people had after work, Downing said.
So I guess this is all grist for the mill for those clock-conspiracy theorists out there.
by Costa Tsiokos, Tue 10/30/2007 10:22:54 PM
Category: Business, Tech
THREE, FOUR, MANY APPLE STORES
As soon as I find out that a giant third Apple Store in Manhattan is going up in the Meatpacking District (I was actually tipped off by a colleague), I learn that Apple is scouting out yet another new location.
Manhattan store #4 is likely to be on W. 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building. That's primarily tourista territory, although if they really wanted to scoop that market, a storefront in Times Square would be more to the point.
As if that's not a veritable bushel of Apples, Brooklyn is being rumored for the site of yet another Macs-and-iPods outlet.
All that's not even counting the other existing Apple store in the five boroughs, in Staten Island. Memo to Steve Jobs: NYC is fairly covered, thanks.
Category: Business, New Yorkin', Tech
A KINDER, GENTLER BLACKWATER (LOGO)
What do you do when you're accused of indiscriminate and fatal paramilitary blunders in Iraq?
Naturally, if you're Blackwater USA Worldwide, you roll out a less-threatening, more professional-looking corporate logo.
The rifle-scope crosshairs so obvious in the old Blackwater logo have been reduced to a set of horizontal elipses that bracket, but no longer enclose, the paw print, which has also changed to more closely resemble an actual bear-paw imprint. The original Blackwater logo had thick white serif lettering draped over the crosshairs on a menacing black field. The new logo separates the image and the letters, which now appear in buttoned-down sans-serif black and slightly italicized on a white field.
Though the red elipses in the new logo retain the horizontal crosshairs, the overall look is far less "kick your butt" and much more "quarterly report," some branding experts said. The new logo, which began to appear on some Blackwater material in late July, may also speak volumes about the company's desire to begin its second decade on a more anodyne note.
"I would say it's a highly significant change; they're repositioning themselves," said Lauren Miller, the owner of MDesign, a graphic design firm in New York. "The old logo suggests that they're targeting people. The new logo is a more ambiguous, more safe corporate logo."
The new look may indeed be a more high-tech, truer-to-real-life crosshairs scope, but it certainly comes off as less specific. It almost looks like the paw is surrounded by parentheses.
I don't know if this is intentional, but the Blackwater site's favicon image retains the old killer-sights look, as shown here in the second image above. The shoddier Web-design outfits routinely overlook this subtle element of a website, so I'm assuming that's what's happened here. If, by chance, they come across this critique, I'll go ahead and help them out by pointing them toward Chami/HTML-Kit's FavIcon Generator, where they can quickly correct their oversight.
Category: Advert./Mktg., Business, Politics
NYC AIRCLOG: FEWER FLIGHTS OR MORE AIRPORTS?
In an effort to ease the chronic delays at New York's chronically-congested three international airports, governmental authorities are cooking up a plan for a voluntary scale-back of the volume of flights in and out of the metropolitan area.
I'm curious: I see no mention in this planning of the role of Stewart International Airport, which is slated by the Port Authority of NY/NJ to become the region's fourth major airport.
In fact, the Port Authority is taking Stewart under its operational umbrella (effective November 1) specifically to take the overflow of air traffic from the three airports to its south. So if that's the plan, why bother with this reduction plan? Is it strictly a short-term move, until Stewart is up to speed in its safety-valve role?
Of course, I'm of the belief that Stewart's never going to see a bunch of passenger flights diverted its way from Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark. The Orange County airfield, owing to its location near interstate crossroads, makes more sense as a destination for much of the air-cargo flights that now head into the boroughs and New Jersey; that would free up plenty of gates for passengers closer to Manhattan.
Category: Business, New Yorkin'
PROFESSIONAL PROFANITY
In response to findings from the University of East Anglia that say cursing in the workplace promotes employee stress-relief and team-building, all I can say is…
FUCK YEAH! Finally, a work-related program I can fucking well get with.
Oh, shit shoot. I'm not currently at work. So I guess I should desist with the foul language.
What am I saying? I'm a consultant, damn it. I'm always working. Damn right. Damn hell ass kings right.
With that out of the way:
This reminds me of a specific cursing-related workplace incident, when I was in the newspaper biz, on the St. Petersburg Times sports desk. A new copy editor had joined the staff, bringing with him a professional but decidedly rough-around-the-edges demeanor. Even in a room filled with daily deadline pressures, where swear words flew with fair frequency, his foul mouth stood out.
Apparently, what was tolerable on the paper's third floor wasn't kosher on the second floor, where the physical paste-up of pages took place. One night, said editor took his turn downstairs to help manage the flow of stories. It was a typically hairy night of right-up-against deadline scrambling, with a few dozen mini-crises to resolve.
At one point, a phone call came from the paste-up area. Apparently, the editor let loose freely with his blue language, not specifically toward anyone but at the situation in general. The result was a shell-shocked group of paste-up artists, who were sufficiently rattled that they requested someone else come down as a substitute.
It was the only time in my several years with the paper that I remember language being an incident. I found it pretty funny, as I came into the field expecting the pressure-valve spewing to be part of the terrain.
Anyway. That copy editor didn't last very long. I don't think his propensity for cursing necessarily did him in. As for the rest of us, we kept up our own four-lettered pace. And I have to say, it did serve as a bit of a bonding agent, especially when we'd get a laugh out of a particularly well-delivered profanity.
Category: Business, Publishing, Society
THE 2.0 BUYOUT BUBBLE
Silly money is once again pouring into Silicon Valley startups, which signals the onset of Dot-Com Bubble 2.0, to be followed by Dot-Com Burst 2.0.
Or not. Because this time around, the inflated valuations are coming — and indeed, being solicited — from a different source:
The greed bubble collapsed like a Ponzi scheme. It turned out that these companies had spent all the money they raised on Super Bowl ads, robotic warehouses, and gleaming offices to hold hundreds of people. Yet there just wasn't enough money to pay the bills, especially since the biggest source of revenue for many Internet companies was advertising from dot-coms that had just raised a round of venture capital or gone public. Most of these companies were so overextended they couldn't adjust to the new reality: The Internet may change everything, but it takes a while.
The fear bubble has a completely different dynamic. The main drama revolves around the slowing growth of the winners of the last round — Yahoo, eBay, AOL, Microsoft. They are mainly worried about how Google is sucking up all the consumer attention and advertising money. They also worry that some little start-up will turn into the next Google.
So out of fear, these companies are trying to regain their youthful growth through acquisitions — lots of little companies like Flickr and some big ones like Skype and Avenue A.
That's a somewhat convoluted way of saying that the merger and acquisitions market is creating the value of the average Web 2.0 startup. The stock market plays more of a secondary role, in the fluctuations of established companies' share prices; therefore, initial public offerings don't come into play.
Which, actually, is nothing new. As far back as 2005, it was recognized that the new start-up strategy wasn't to achieve an IPO and stake out territory as a going concern. Rather, the idea was to position the company as a rapid-growth niche player, to the point where one (or, ideally, more) of the existing Web giants would take notice and come knocking with a buyout offer.
Presumably, this latter-day Buyout Bubble will pop as soon as the stock market starts penalizing the Googles and Yahoos for writing multi-million dollar checks for, essentially, phantom companies. That means relying on the wisdom of the financial crowds — a dicey proposition if I ever heard one.
VICTORIA'S SECRET SPICE
Following the lead of Starbucks and its coffeebar-distributed recording label, Victoria's Secret is finding its musical synergy with the Spice Girls, in the form of becoming the exclusive retail distributor for the re-formed group's greatest hits album.
Girl Power with garters? In this case, it's a match — a marketing-manufactured match, given that both sides of this equation owe more to hype than to actual quality.
Which brings to mind a particularly telling Chris Rock joke from his movie I Think I Love My Wife (I'm paraphrasing from memory, since I can't find the exact quote online):
"I'm buying records in a record store, while I still can. With Starbucks selling music, pretty soon you'll have to go to a liquor store to buy gangsta rap CDs!"
Category: Business, Movies, Pop Culture
HIGH ADSENSE MULTIPLES FOR SHYSTERS
Despite the dribs-and-drabs pace, I'm overall fairly satisfied with my Google AdSense revenue generation hereabouts.
But after seeing the ridiculous dollar amounts some law firms are paying for choice keyword bids, I'm thinking I ought to start up a "Legal" category on my blog.
"Christmas recipes," for instance, was going for 54 cents per click the other day. "Britney Spears" cost 36 cents, and "Britney Spears nude" only 21 cents.
But "Oakland personal injury lawyer" cost $58.03. "Asbestos attorney" cost $51.68. And "mesothelioma attorney Texas" — mesothelioma is a kind of cancer caused by inhaling asbestos — cost $65.21.
I've come across comment-board rumors of folks lucking into such a mega-clickthru; I think the publisher nets something between $10-$20 from it. I wouldn't mind experiencing that kind of single-click payout just once — or twice!
Is this really shyster territory? To the extent that these lawyers shoot for quantity over quality, yes:
Ted Frank, the director of the Legal Center for the Public Interest at the American Enterprise Institute, said the fact that some personal injury lawyers were willing to pay $60 a click was telling, particularly given that relatively few of those clicks would bring in actual business.
"These lawyers don't really litigate cases — they settle cases," Mr. Frank said. "And they need a big inventory of cases. The only job of the attorney is to come up with the clients."
"There is nothing wrong with what Google is doing," he added. "There is nothing wrong with advertising for clients. It's just fascinating that clients are worth so much."…
The market for Google search terms says something, then, about the market for plaintiffs' lawyers. For reasons that baffle economists, personal injury lawyers all charge roughly the same amount for their services, typically a third to 40 percent of any recovery.
"What explains this puzzle?" asked Alex Tabarrok, who teaches economics at George Mason University. "No one knows." It may be, he said, that offering to work for less might be thought to signal that you are a bad lawyer.
In any event, Mr. Frank said, the high prices on Google are a direct consequence of this economic anomaly.
"Instead of competing on price," he said of plaintiffs' lawyers, "they compete on Google."
Like I said, too bad I'm not writing about legal matters, like How Appealing. Of course, I did just publish this very post, laden with legalese… So, let's see some action!
BANKING BRANCH BACKLASH
I've made note of the proliferation of bank branches in New York City, both in terms of breadth and by their uneven distribution between rich and poor neighborhoods.
The same mushrooming is taking place in other U.S. metros, and those two trends are reaching a breaking point in the nation's capital. Metro Washington DC is mulling measures to restrict the opening of new branches across a commercial landscape that's already perceived as saturated.
In [the Adams Morgan area], Wachovia is taking over space once occupied by shops that sold electronics and antiques. The neighborhood's crossroads already offers five banks. "We're becoming a neighborhood of bars and banks," said Brian Weaver, an advisory neighborhood commissioner.
That's better than the trifecta of Starbucks, Duane Reades and banks, as is the case in Manhattan…
It's amusing to think of banks as retail-choking city scourge, as one Windy City politico does:
The rise in branches has prompted some cities to devise controls. A Chicago alderman became so alarmed by the proliferation that she drafted a law requiring that banks obtain permits to open within 600 feet of one another.
"We had them in every block," said the alderman, Vi Daley. "They were destroying my streets."
One would presume that if the banks couldn't make money at their high-rent locales, they'd just close up shop. But maintaining their physical outlets is obviously paying off, if they're so hell-bent on expanding.
Category: Business, New Yorkin', Society
REVEALED: THE FREE AGENT AT 8TRK.COM
It's time to lift the veil, such as it were.
I've been doing some behind-the-scenes work with the team starting up The 8trk Project, chiefly on the business-development and marketing side. That's recently included a smattering of posts to the official blog. I chose "free_agent" as my moniker there, a double-entendre referring to both my role with the venture and my relationship with regards to "head coach", who's one of the founding partners.
What's 8trk about? As I've alluded in previous posts here, it's an attempt to bring the worlds of social networking and music enthusiasm together. How we bring that together is already an evolving process, and it's fascinating to see how all the pieces are falling into place — in both positive and not-so-positive directions, depending on everyone's perspectives.
As the post just prior to this one indicates, I'll start cross-posting entries from the 8trk Blog to here. I don't know that I'll do it consistently; while I plan to markedly increase entries there, they won't always be a good fit on PopStat. Besides, in the short time that I've been posting there, I've tried to cultivate a different, more off-the-cuff blog voice for 8trk, so it makes sense in my mind to limit the crossover. We'll see.
More details as I deem appropriate. It's my first real experience with a Web startup — let alone a Web 2.0 startup — so I'm really soaking things in at this stage. Where it goes is almost besides the point right now.
Category: 8trk, Business
SELLING OFF THE LOTTERY
Considering how government-run lotteries rely upon the lure of the big-purse payout to sell tickets, there's some irony in how some states are regarding the privatization of their lotteries as billion-dollar jackpot opportunities.
"I think there is so much potential there," [California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger] told reporters. "We have gotten numbers all the way up to $37 billion. So I think the question really is, should we not really start thinking creatively here?"
Like shoppers at convenience stores who can't resist placing bets when lotto jackpots get big enough, government officials in at least a dozen states are considering lottery privatizations — what would collectively amount to the biggest privatization of a government enterprise in American history.
In addition to California, investment-banking proposals for lottery-agency buyouts have been prepared for Indiana, Florida, and Texas. Other states, including big ones like New York and Illinois, are strongly considering the move.
The social issues are well-known: Lotteries, regardless of their best-intentions positioning as fundraisers for education, are essentially regressive taxes, and they appeal disproportionately to those who can least afford to sink money into them. And the fundamental issue is whether or not states should sell a high-profit margin operations for one-time lump sums, or else lease them with restrictions that would devalue them in the eyes of prospective investors.
But what I find most interesting is the appeal this concept holds for small-government proponents:
"It appeals to the governor because the state can get out of the gambling business," says Robert Black, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.
Which is ludicrous, since even a wholly-privatized lottery would still be subject to some degree of regulation, just as parimutuel gaming and casino licenses are. But the idea that a divestiture, at any level, could be presented as a cleansing from direct involvement in games of chance, is what makes this palatable for some statehouses.
Category: Business, Politics

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Ground-Level Rebuild
A Scarth St. art gallery gets a sidewalk space and a new approach
Art | by Gregory Beatty
A partial roof collapse would usually be a major setback for an art gallery already operating on a shoe-string budget. But while Neutral Ground's board of directors and members suffered some major headaches when that happened during the run of last November's exhibition Canada's Rectangle, the accident helped spur a major rethink of the gallery's operation.
If a disaster can ever be timely, maybe this one was.
"Neutral Ground had an ongoing committee that was looking for a new space," says programming coordinator Amber Phelps Bondaroff. "Some things about the old space weren't ideal. You had to walk up a flight of stairs, so it wasn't accessible.
"It wasn't very visible either," adds Bondaroff. "The gallery was there for so long but a lot of people didn't know about it — so there was a desire [by] the board to move into a more visible, accessible space."
And now, they are.
Neutral Ground took over its old second-floor space at the end of a long hallway at 203-1856 Scarth St., in 1997. While the gallery isn't moving very far geographically (across F.W. Hill Mall, actually, to 1835 Scarth), the new space is a world away as far as visibility and accessibility go.
"There's an inside walkway so there's lots of foot traffic, especially at lunch time from the business community and people who work downtown," says Bondaroff. "So we're hoping that might increase the audience that comes in. Even through just seeing what's in the windows, people might come in who might not otherwise have done so at the old space."
The new location also has a second window space that fronts the pedestrian mall.
"We're hoping to get that going as a separate exhibition space for younger, emerging artists," says Bondaroff. "For now, it's going to be an additional space that artists in the main gallery can use. It's visible all day, all night, so it will give an opportunity for more artists to show their work."
Shifting Focus
Neutral Ground got its start as an artist-run centre in the early 1980s. For many years, the gallery programmed a regular schedule of exhibitions and other arts-related events.
Lately though, it's focussed more on collaborations with other arts organizations that typically involved special performances and concerts, along with festivals, film screenings and some digital media projects through its companion organization, SOIL.
Moving forward, the focus will shift back to more formal exhibitions, says Bondaroff.
"I think that being a bit more reliable visual art location is one of the things that will help us serve our community better," she says. "The changes were made after a lot of consultation with the membership and the larger arts community.
"People said they wanted to see more exhibitions, plus workshops and other public events. As we come out of this period of transition, we'll be doing that."
Bondaroff coordinated the 2016 Pop-Up project that saw work by eight local artists installed in select storefronts in downtown Regina, so she's excited about the possibility for Neutral Ground to engage more vigorously with the public.
"I feel passionate about making art accessible to a broad scope of people," she says. "Some folks might feel intimidated coming into a gallery, or might think they don't know anything about art. But walking by an art work and just taking a moment to see it and think about it, I think, improves the quality of life for people in the city."
And Neutral Ground's new ground-floor location offers all sorts of possibilities for public engagement.
"The previous space was very tucked away, so anyone who was coming in was doing so intentionally to see an art exhibit," says Bondaroff. "Now, we're going to get a different level of engagement — whether it's people walking by a window or coming into the gallery and spending some time."
And that might bring challenges.
"With that diversity of audience, you're going to get a diversity of opinions and levels of comfort," she says. "As far as sensitive or triggering content, that's something we'll have to navigate with each exhibit. But the work that comes to us has been selected on its artistic merit by a jury of artists from the community. And we're not interested in softening or censoring it."
During gallery hours, staff will be available to speak with people about the art on display, says Neutral Ground administrative coordinator Simon Fuh.
"Being friendly and approachable goes such a long way," he notes. "Often, people have misconceptions about their opinions on art. Sometimes, they think their opinions aren't valid. But part of the idea of greeting people is making sure they know that what they're feeling is totally reasonable."
Neutral Ground will soon hold its inaugural exhibition at its new space. Phenomenal Hosts is by Vancouver-based, Regina-born artist Lucien Durey, and consists of paintings, sculpture and assemblage where he subjects the Regina home of his mother and stepfather to what gallery publicity describes as "an intimate investigation". There's an opening night vocal performance by Durey on April 7 at 7 p.m., and the show will run until May 19.


If you've ever felt like you're not a "true" author if you write fanfiction, this article is for you! The Writer's Digest has shared why fanfiction writing is helpful, and of course, we ran with the topic.
What do fictional characters have to do with our daily lives? Read on to find out.


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Live Global
Back to the Building!
June 9, 2020 •
Hope International School (Yangon, Myanmar)
It's the message they were all waiting for! Hope International School will be allowed to open again in August following COVID-19.
The school serves kids from preschool through elementary, teaching them core subjects, English, and Bible. Hope is one of the best schools in the city and families of all backgrounds desire to send their kids there for the quality education. Students can learn English from a young age, which opens doors for many career and education opportunities in the future. Plus, they give the kids a solid foundation in the Bible and teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is news they might not hear at home.
Before August comes, the Hope International School staff are hurrying to put safety measures in place for COVID-19 protection and also finish the government paperwork necessary to reopen. There are many urgent financial needs in order to be prepared. Let's pray to Jehovah Jireh!
←A New School for HIS Kids!
Hope International School provides an opportunity for teachers and Christian students to share the hope of Christ with non-believing students and parents.
Learn More Meet the Founder: Lydia San Lun
Learn more about at
https://liveglobal.org/hope-international-school-myanmar/
Sponsor a student for a month - $30 Give Now »
Help buy a school bus for HIS - $75 Give Now »
Help build a new and bigger school for HIS - $100 Give Now »
Sponsor a teacher for a month - $100 Give Now »
Pray that God would provide Hope International School with the funds to build a new school on its own campus.
Pray for the hearts of the children to be open to the gospel.
Pray for the non-believing parents and families to be impacted for Christ.
Pray that God would continue to provide the funding to pay the teachers.
Join in Prayer
Interested in going to Yangon, Myanmar to see firsthand what God is doing, and also use your gifts and serve?
There are many opportunities to explore!
Explore OpportunitiesBuild your digital profile
God is working across the globe, and you can make a difference. Visit LiveGlobal.org to find your role in God's work.
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Pastor Joseph's 2020 plans changed, but by the grace of God, he still made it to 13 churches in the mountains and valleys of Togo.
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One hundred (or more!) kids in the Philippines experienced God's love and provision during the pandemic as they each received a treat.
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The Elementary School is located on the South Campus in a new and remodeled building that reflects the creativity and energy of young students. The facility has 12 large classrooms, which include rooms dedicated to art, music and computer science. A large assembly area, playground, dining room and kitchen as well as a nurse's station and administrative offices complete the intended design of this facility to completely serve elementary students and parents.
Trinity Christian School is located one mile east of Highway 67 on Pleasant Run Road in Cedar Hill. The complex consists of 3 buildings located on 105 beautiful acres developed specifically for Trinity Christian School and Trinity Ministries. The surrounding area is largely undeveloped creating a feeling of being in the Texas countryside surrounded by nature. However, within just a mile or so are wonderful Cedar Hill neighborhoods and easy access to the businesses of the city.


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Home / News / I killed many people for ex-NURTW chairman, Olorunwa – Serial killer, 'Ade Lawyer
I killed many people for ex-NURTW chairman, Olorunwa – Serial killer, 'Ade Lawyer
February 17, 2018	Comments Off on I killed many people for ex-NURTW chairman, Olorunwa – Serial killer, 'Ade Lawyer 18 Views
A self-confessed serial killer, Adeola Williams aka Ade Lawyer, has owned up to several assassinations, saying he had killed four people allegedly on the orders of a former Chairman of National Union Road of Transport Workers, Lagos State branch, Alhaji Akani Olorunwa.
Ade Lawyer, 39 and 51-year-old Olorunwa were paraded on Friday at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the ex-NURTW boss was picked up on Thursday while Ade Lawyer was arrested a day earlier in Akure, Ondo State, by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team.
They were arrested for the murder of Ganiyu Ayinla alias Pinero, the personal assistant to the NURTW chairman in Idumota, Azeez Lawal (AKA Kunle Poly).
Pinero was killed on January 23 during an attack on Kunle Poly as the duo wanted to enter a vehicle after attending a meeting on Lagos Island.
The police had earlier arrested four suspects in connection with the murder.
Ade Lawyer told journalists on Friday that Olorunwa contracted him to kill Kunle Poly and they agreed on N1.5m to execute the plan.
He said Olorunwa paid him N500,000 and promised to pay the N1m balance after the deed had been done.
A rift, however, set in between the two suspects as Ade Lawyer eliminated the wrong target.
Ade Lawyer said apart from Olorunwa, he had been hired to kill people in the past by some individuals in the state, including traditional rulers, whose names he did not mention.
He said, "I have been hired to kill many people. I carried out four killings for him (Olorunwa). During the clash between him and Musiliu Akinsanya, alias MC Oluomo, I killed two people for him. He said Kunle Poly betrayed him and contracted me to kill him.
"He told me he brought KunlePoly into NURTW and that there was a bonus he was entitled to as an ex-chairman of NURTW. He said he used to receive the money, but Kunle Poly blocked the payment.
"He said as a result of that, he did not want to see Kunle Poly anymore. He asked me to meet him somewhere for a discussion, but I told him I didn't have a car. He personally drove to where I was at Igbosere and we discussed on how to carry out the operation in his car.
"When I was about to leave, he gave me N500,000 and promised to pay the remaining N1m when the job had been done. He said he met with me in person because he did not want anybody to know about the operation. I assured him that nobody would hear about the killing."
Ade Lawyer explained further that the operation was supposed to be carried out on Tuesday January 22, but was shifted to the following day.
"Unfortunately, we missed our target, Kunle Poly, but killed his PA (Pinero). I called Olorunwa on the telephone to inform him about the development. He started behaving strangely towards me because I missed the target.
"I later called him with my private line and he said he did not want to talk to anybody for now. I told him not to be afraid and that I wanted the N1m balance," he added.
Ade Lawyer said Olorunwa sent a Toyota Camry to him through his (Olorunwa's) brother called Skoda, pending when the balance would be paid. But he said he rejected the car and demanded a Jeep. He stated that he got the Jeep three weeks ago.
Olorunwa admitted to giving Ade Lawyer N500,000, but said the money was not meant for killing Kunle Poly.
He said, "There was a time I was travelling to Ede in Osun State, he (Ade Lawyer) called me and said he had an accident along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. He was disturbing my boys that they should tell me to assist him.
"I did not render the assistance until I travelled to England. While I was abroad, he was sending threat messages to me, saying that if I failed to give him money, he would kill me and my family members.
"When I came back, I called one of my boys and told him about Ade Lawyer's threats. He advised that I give him something because he is a troublesome person. I then sent him to give Ade Lawyer N500,000 to avoid trouble.
"I did not send my brother to give him my car. It was my brother who gave him the car on his own. I was sleeping when my son and one of my brothers woke me up. They said Skoda had given my car to Williams (Ade Lawyer).
"I contacted Abija to help me retrieve my vehicle and he promised to get it back for me but said I had to be patient.
"What made me to fear Williams most was when he shot dead about nine people who were heading for Lagos Island from Ajah in a vehicle. He also killed an NURTW chairman at Oyingbo."
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, who paraded the suspects, said they were arrested based on the confessional statements of their accomplices arrested earlier.
The CP said, "One AK-47 rifle with number 3501357, two empty magazines, one black Hyundai Santafee Jeep seized from Olorunwa were recovered from Adeola Williams (AKA Ade Lawyer). Investigation is ongoing and effort is being made to arrest other suspects at large."
Culled from Pucnh
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text:
New Xfinity Home Video Doorbell coming soon to all Xfinity customers
By Keyan Riddick December 16, 2021
Today, Comcast announced the availability of its new Xfinity Home Video Doorbell. The doorbell will provide added security and peace of mind during this holiday season, especially when more people are expected to do their holiday shopping online this year. With all those packages being delivered and family and friends passing by the front door, an intelligent and secure doorbell will be necessary.
Xfinity aims to curb the worry by providing their Home Video Doorbell to customers and integrating it seamlessly into Xfinity Home Systems. In addition, the Xfinity Home ecosystem includes other smart home devices, such as security cameras, xFi, and mobile apps. "We make it easy, for instance, for a homeowner to view the in-app video feed to see who is at the door or to check to see if a package has been delivered," said Matthew Ecker, VP of Consumer Services.
The Xfinity Home Video Doorbell includes a variety of features that will improve home security, such as:
High Definition Video Quality: The Xfinity Video Doorbell shows footage at a 4:3 aspect ratio, allowing you to get an excellent head-to-toe view of your front door and surroundings. The video is clear, day or night.
Two Way Audio: You'll be able to interact with people at your front door within the Xfinity app, even when not at home. Customers will also receive notifications when someone is at the door through the app, as well as on their TVs through X1 or Flex when someone rings the doorbell.
Motion Alerts: Customers can set specific zones around their front door area so that the Doorbell will only alert them when someone is in those particular areas.
Smart Home Integration: The Xfinity Home Doorbell will integrate into the Xfinity Home app, where customers are already able to pull up video clips from their other Xfinity devices. They can arm and disarm their whole home security using the app, including the doorbell.
Advanced Cybersecurity: Xfinity customers with Xfinity xFi will have all their home security devices protected from cybersecurity threats. This feat is accomplished through Comcast's xFi Advanced Security and is a free feature for all applicable customers.
The Xfinity Home Video Doorbell is available now through professional installation with the Xfinity Home Pro Protection or Pro Protection Plus plans for a one-time price of $120, or $5 per month for 24 months. It will be available to Xfinity Home Self Protection customers early next year.
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text:
Lifting embargo on Civil Service Recruitment can't solve Unemployment in Nigeria – Minister
The federal government has ruled out the possibility of lifting embargo on recruitment into the public service, saying it will not make any significant difference to the unemployment problem in the country.
It also disclosed that it had paid N28.8 billion as stipends to 413,630 beneficiaries across the 774 local government areas under its public work scheme introduced last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, who made this disclosure Thursday at the State House, Abuja while featuring at the ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team, said government was more concerned about improving the skills of Nigerians, and empower them to be self employed.
When asked to reconcile the fact that while government was battling to reduce unemployment, it continued to place embargo on recruitment and replacement in the civil service, the minister said: "I think your question assumes that the kind of employment we want to create is in civil service, that's not the idea of employment."
According to him, public service employment globally account for less than 1% of employment in the country.
He added that it will be very short sighted of government to think it can lift people out of poverty and create employment by opening up gaps in the civil service to employ people.
"How many are we going to employ for the 33% (unemployment rate) that we have now? So high.
"The unemployment figures are indefensible. The 33% was compounded more by the COVID scourge, the whole world is reeling from the COVID scourge. So, we need to react more innovatively to create employment.
"And for us, we are working very hard to ensure that we skill up Nigerians. The way to approach on employment is to skill up the populace. That's the way out, to encourage the small, the macro small and medium scale entrepreneurs, support their businesses, ensure that people are self employed, skill them up," he said.
Keyamo stated that about N24,817,800,000.00 has been paid out to beneficiaries under the 774,000 special public works scheme as at June 24th, 2021.
According to him, a total of 413,630 Nigerians drawn from rural communities and mostly itinerant workers were beneficiaries in the scheme that has achieved 60% success.
He explained that the initial delay experienced in the implementation of the programme was caused by incomplete registration, especially with bank verification numbers.
The minister maintained that despite his attempts to ensure due diligence in the implementation of the programme, some people tried to cheat the process by opening multiple bank accounts under a single BVN.
Keyamo further said: "So far, those we have paid have received their N60,000 for the three months. We saved so many lives across the country by this payment. Some used their own to buy grinding machine. I just discovered a grinding machine costs about N45,000.
"We have paid 413,630 persons out of the 774,000. So, we've achieved about 60 per cent of the success rate and these are those who have received N60,000 each. And the total amount we have paid out is N24 billion, actual monies given to Nigerians to put in their pockets. For them to cushion the effects of post COVID-19."
Lifting embargo on Civil Service Recruitment can't solve Unemployment in Nigeria
Green Agribusiness Fund (GAF) 2021 for Young Africans (Funding Available)
SCHEME FOR TAGORE NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP FOR CULTURAL RESEARCH 2021-2022


Corporations are paying a smaller share of federal tax revenue than they did in the 1950s, dropping from one-third then to only one-tenth of the total today. Yet, an army of lobbyists is pushing hard to convince Congress to cut the corporate income tax rate by nearly one-third — from the current 35% to 25%. This issue is at the epicenter of the coming battle over tax reform.
Conservatives have defined the debate in a highly misleading manner. They focus on the top statutory rate — the rate specified by law — instead of the effective tax rate — what is actually paid. Because U.S. statutory rates are somewhat higher than other OECD countries, corporations claim that this makes them less competitive, and that it stunts job growth. But their argument is unpersuasive when the debate focuses on effective corporate tax rates.
The debate has been further skewed by calls for "revenue neutral" corporate tax reform, in which any revenue raised by closing tax loopholes is used to reduce rates. Corporations haven't contributed a dime towards deficit reduction in recent budget deals. And they want to continue this special treatment while American families shoulder the entire burden. Meanwhile, the country is starved for resources needed to foster economic growth and job creation — from infrastructure to research to improved schools.
The top statutory tax rate of 35% in the U.S. is somewhat higher than that of 30 other OECD countries, but the average effective tax rate — the actual rate paid after deductions and credits — is slightly lower than our competitors, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Our average effective tax rate is 27.1% compared with 27.7% for the other 30 OECD countries, according to CRS.
Profitable corporations paid U.S. income taxes amounting to just 12.6% of worldwide income in 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Citizens for Tax Justice's survey of 288 corporations, which included most of the Fortune 500 corporations that were profitable each year from 2008 through 2012, found that they paid an average effective federal tax rate of just 19.4% over that period.
General Electric, Boeing, Priceline.com, Verizon and 22 other profitable Fortune 500 firms paid no federal income taxes from 2008 through 2012, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.
111 profitable Fortune 500 firms paid zero federal taxes in at least one of those five years.
General Electric, one of the most notorious corporate tax dodgers, got $3.1 billion in refunds on $27.5 billion in profits from 2008 to 2012. The company paid less in federal income taxes in five years than a single American family pays in one year.
Conservatives claim reducing the corporate tax rate will substantially grow the economy. But a cut in the statutory rate from 35% to 25% would increase economic output by less than two-tenths of one percent, according to CRS. Economic growth over the past 60 years has actually been stronger when corporate tax rates were higher, according to the Economic Policy Institute. U.S. corporate tax rates also are not hurting profits — before-tax and after-tax corporate profits as a percentage of national income are at post–World War II highs.
There is no relationship between cutting corporate tax rates and job growth, according to a recent study by the Center for Effective Government. Twenty-two of the 30 profitable Fortune 500 companies that paid the highest tax rates (30% or more) from 2008 to 2010 created almost 200,000 jobs between 2008 and 2012. The 30 profitable corporations that paid little or no taxes over the three years collectively shed 51,289 jobs between 2008 and 2012.
Those who want to cut the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 25% ignore that it will cost $1.3 trillion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. They say that rate cuts will be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, but this will be extremely difficult given the power of the corporate tax lobby. Even if it was possible, there would be no new revenue for investments or deficit reduction. America can't afford that.


text:
44 books • 9 series
Sheila Connolly is the New York Times bestselling, Anthony and Agatha award–nominated author of the Orchard Mysteries (Picked to Die, Golden Malicious), the Museum Mysteries (Razing the Dead, Monument to the Dead), and the County Cork Mysteries (Scandal in Skibbereen, Buried in a Bog). She has taught art history, structured and marketed municipal bonds for major cities, worked as a staff member on two statewide political campaigns, and served as a fundraiser for several nonprofit organizations. She also managed her own consulting company, providing genealogical research services. In addition to genealogy, Sheila loves restoring old houses, visiting cemeteries, and traveling. Now a full-time writer, she thinks writing mysteries is a lot more fun than any of her previous occupations.
Black Sails to Sunward (Black Sails to Sunward, #1)
The Secret Staircase (Victorian Village Mystery, #3)
Fatal Roots (County Cork Mystery, #8) (A Cork County Mystery, #8)
Killer in the Carriage House (Victorian Village Mystery, #2)
Digging Up History (Museum Mystery, #8)
The Lost Traveller (County Cork Mystery, #7) (A Cork County Mystery, #7)
Revealing the Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #6)
Nipped in the Bud (An Orchard Mystery, #12)
Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mystery, #1)
Many A Twist (A Cork County Mystery, #6) (County Cork Mystery)
Cruel Winter: A County Cork Mystery (A County Cork Mystery)
A Late Frost (An Orchard Mystery, #11) (Orchard, #11)
Cruel Winter (County Cork Mystery, #5) (A Cork County Mystery, #1)
Search for the Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #5)
Watch for the Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #4)
Shelter from the Storm (County Cork Mystery, #5) (Berkley Prime Crime)
Defending the Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #3)
Seeing the Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #2)
Relatively Dead (Relatively Dead Mysteries, #1)
Seeds of Deception (An Orchard Mystery, #10) (Orchard, #10) (Berkley Prime Crime)
Dead End Street (Museum Mystery, #7)
A Turn for the Bad (County Cork Mystery, #4)
A Gala Event (An Orchard Mystery, #9) (Orchard, #9)
Privy to the Dead (Museum Mystery, #6)


This route was created on 1989 and it's one of the most complete in the Catalan cultural offer. The regions: Alt Camp, Conca de Barberà and Urgell are the ones that have Cistercians monasteries, temples that were founded in XII century and they are known because they were the official mausoleum of the kings inAragonKingdomfor more than 300 years.
In Vimbodí and Poblet (La Concade Barberà) is situated the Poblet Monastery, the biggest of the entire route and the only one that still has a monk community. It was founded in 1150 and it developed his activity without problems until 1853. The confiscation stopped its activities until 1940. This year the monks returned to the monastery and started an important process of restoration and preservation. This active monastery is one of the biggest inEurope and it was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Santes Creus Monastery, situated in Aiguamúrica (Alt Camp), was founded in 1150 and is the only one that reflexes better a way of construction which follows bernardian manners. Nowadays, there's no monastic live, because a lot of monks were expelled in 1835. So it's a unique opportunity to enjoy a visit in every single place of this Cistercian place and know all the legends about the monastery.
Vallbona Monastery, situated in Vallbona de les Monges (Urgell) is the only feminine monastery in the route and it has conserved the community for more than 850 years without a break. The first notices of this little monastery date in 1150 but it wasn't until 1176 when it was full integrate into the Cistercian order.


text:
Q: Babel don't compile .graphql files inside the build folder on "babel server --out-dir build" Some introduction:
Our app uses Heroku as a server.
So, after pushing code it runs npm start as in my package.json
My current version of nodeJS in a laptop: v8.16.2, npm: 6.4.1.
In package.json:
"engines": {
    "node": "10.16.3",
    "npm": "6.9.0"
  },
The problem:
Currently, it runs like this "start": "node build/index.js"
. Last changes were about adding graphql files.
npm start show Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/app/build/apollo/nCourse/nCourse.graphql'
We don't run with node server/index.js because of using new ecma script features(not common js) like import and export
The question
I see two solutions in this problem

*

*Make something which will create the file with graphql extension in build folder

*Maybe update version of nodeJS if it can understand es import and export
Package.json
{
  "name": "wunder-education",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "10.16.3",
    "npm": "6.9.0"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node build/index.js",
    "server": "nodemon --exec babel-node server/index.js",
    "server:prodDB": "MONGO_URL=mongodb://saturdaykids:52turdayk1ds3@ds117866.mlab.com:17866/saturdaykids-prod nodemon --exec babel-node server/index.js",
    "clean": "rm -rf node_modules",
    "clean:admin": "npm run clean --prefix admin",
    "clean:all": "concurrently \"npm run clean\" \"npm run clean:admin\"",
    "install:admin": "npm install --prefix admin",
    "admin": "npm run start --prefix admin",
    "build:admin": "npm run build --prefix admin",
    "build:server": "babel server --out-dir build",
    "build": "concurrently \"npm run build:server\" \"npm run build:admin\"",
    "dev": "concurrently \"npm run server\" \"npm run admin\"",
    "postinstall": "npm run install:admin",
    "heroku-postbuild": "npm run build",
    "format:server": "prettier --write server/**/**/**/*.js",
    "format:admin": "prettier --write admin/src/**/**/*.js"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "@apollo/react-hooks": "^3.1.3",
    "@babel/cli": "^7.0.0",
    "@babel/core": "^7.0.0",
    "@babel/node": "^7.2.2",
    "@babel/plugin-transform-runtime": "^7.7.4",
    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.0.0",
    "@babel/runtime": "^7.3.1",
    "@badgeup/badgeup-node-client": "^2.0.3",
    "airtable": "^0.5.10",
    "apollo-boost": "^0.4.4",
    "apollo-server-express": "^2.9.13",
    "aws-sdk": "^2.456.0",
    "babel-plugin-module-resolver": "^3.1.1",
    "body-parser": "^1.18.3",
    "chalk": "^2.4.1",
    "concurrently": "^3.5.1",
    "connect-mongo": "^2.0.1",
    "cors": "^2.8.5",
    "express": "^4.16.3",
    "express-force-https": "^1.0.0",
    "express-jwt": "^5.3.1",
    "express-session": "^1.15.6",
    "express-validator": "^5.3.1",
    "graphql": "^14.5.8",
    "jsonwebtoken": "^8.4.0",
    "lodash": "^4.17.15",
    "mongoose": "^5.1.2",
    "mongoose-fill": "^1.7.0",
    "mongoose-paginate": "^5.0.3",
    "multer": "^1.4.1",
    "multer-s3": "^2.9.0",
    "nan": "^2.14.0",
    "nodemon": "^1.17.5",
    "passport": "^0.4.0",
    "passport-jwt": "^4.0.0",
    "passport-local": "^1.0.0",
    "passport-local-mongoose": "^5.0.1",
    "request": "^2.87.0",
    "socket.io": "^2.1.1",
    "socket.io-client": "^2.2.0",
    "supertest": "^3.4.2"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-eslint": "^10.0.3",
    "eslint": "^6.4.0",
    "eslint-config-airbnb": "^16.1.0",
    "eslint-config-prettier": "^6.7.0",
    "eslint-import-resolver-babel-module": "^5.1.0",
    "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.14.0",
    "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "^6.2.3",
    "eslint-plugin-prettier": "^3.1.1",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "^7.17.0",
    "prettier": "^1.16.4"
  }
}

A: Using rsync was my choice too.
I used it slightly differently like so:
"script": {
  ...
  "rsync:graphql": "rsync -r --include '*/' --include '*.graphql' --exclude='*' --prune-empty-dirs 'src/' 'dist/'",
  "build": "BABEL_ENV=build babel src -d dist --source-maps --no-comments && npm run rsync:graphql",
  ...
}

In short, it saying: recursively copy all .graphql files from the src directory to the dist directory and follow the same folders structure.
rsync is basically a powerful transfer files utility for Unix-like operating systems. You might have it shipped with your OS system.
In my case, I needed to install it in my CI/CD pipeline (CircleCi) and added to my Dockerfile commands.
Hope it helps! Will be happy to hear about other solutions.
EDIT:
You can also watch for changes made in any .graphql files by adding the following to your nodemonConfig in your package.json:
"nodemonConfig": {
  "ext": "env,js,graphql,json",
  "watch": [
    ".env",
    "./src"
  ],
}

A: Finally it solved by copy and pasting .graphql files inside the build/apollo by this command
rsync -a --prune-empty-dirs --include 'server/apollo/*' --include '*.graphql' 'server/apollo' 'build'

In package.json:
"syncGraphql": "rsync -a --prune-empty-dirs --include 'server/apollo/*' --include '*.graphql' 'server/apollo' 'build'",

"build": "concurrently \"npm run build:server\" \"npm run build:admin\" \"npm run syncGraphql\"",

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home » Technology » Mobiles » WhatsApp group video calling feature is rolled out
WhatsApp group video calling feature is rolled out
WhatsApp announced its group video calling feature in May, the company said it will bring in the new feature of group video calling to the platform soon.
The company has confirmed now its WhatsApp group video calling feature live, the company has already started rolling out the feature which will reach the masses globally soon. According to WhatsApp, the feature is live now and will reach users on IOS and Android soon,
The feature will allow users to have a group chat with up to 4 people simultaneously without the restrictions on location.
WhatsApp said the company has built the feature which will perform under average network conditions, as long as you are online just like on WhatsApp chat you will be able to use the group video calling feature easily.
Zong 4G offers free WhatsApp
WhatsApp also ensured the security in video calls, the calls are end-to-end encrypted just like the WhatsApp messages. The company already has a huge user base, it reached 1.5 billion active users this year, after the launch of a new group video calling feature the company also expects to attract more users to the platform. The company first launched its voice calling feature in 2014, and video calling in 2016, now it has users who spend almost 2 billion minutes per day on call.
WhatsApp has been updating the app and its features regularly, the company has introduced delete message features in April, restrict group features in May, new forwarded message label to curb fake news problem in July.
Mark Goodman
Digital marketing enthusiast and industry professional in Digital technologies, Technology News, Mobile phones, software, gadgets with vast experience in the tech industry, I have a keen interest in technology, News breaking.
Tags: 4 people group video call, video calling feature, whatsapp, Whatsapp group video call
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irene schoch was born 1972 in switzerland. she studied visual communication in paris and illustration in strasbourg.
since 1998, her illustrations have appeared in a variety of magazines in france and switzerland.
she has worked with the publishers "mango", "atlantis", "seuil jeunesse", "albin michel", "chronicle books" and "naïve".
at present she lives in geneva where she's working on new book projects.
her illustrations were part of the swiss selection at the bratislava biennale in 2005 and 2007.
irene schoch is the winner of the 2008 illustration award of the city of geneva.


I want to apologize firstly for not blogging more often. Truthfully I've just been super lazy and haven't been up to it but hopefully all that is going to change and I will be back as soon as possible with some posts for you all to enjoy.
Although I may not have posted anything, I have been reading other people's blog and I've seen this tag a few times. I think it was started by Sammi (Beautycrush) on her YouTube channel. As I am British I thought I would give it a go because it looked really fun. Hope you enjoy reading.
1. How many cups of tea do you drink a day? Any sugars?
I love tea but I usually only drink a lot of it in the winter so normally I just drink water. Occasionally I start the day with a Mint Green Tea and when I'm working I may have a cup at break and it's taken black, but the teabag cannot be left in for long and I have a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar. I am very precise with my tea.
Hmm...a very difficult decision but I have to say gravy because without it, it wouldn't be a roast dinner. Although Yorkshire pudding came a very close second.
This question is so difficult because I love dipping biscuits and chocolate in my tea. I do love McVities normal and chocolate digestives but another favourite is Fox's Crinkle butter biscuits, I could literally eat the whole packet.
I wouldn't say it's stereotypically British but I do love to bake. Especially a good old Victoria Sponge and I love making a welsh favourite; Welshcakes.
I don't really have a favourite word but I love using the words Cwtch* and Lush although it's probably because I'm Welsh.
Definition of Cwtch- An affectionate hug.
Well I know apples and pears means stairs and dog and bone is for phone...am I right?
I do love sweets but I much prefer chocolate! Some of my favourites are a Caramac, Wispa Gold and anything Cadbury. If I had to choose sweets I'd probably either choose the Haribo Tangastics or Fruit Pastilles.
Oh gosh, you've got me thinking now! I'd probably choose something like The Dragon's Fire or Y Mynydd Du (The Black Mountain).
I can't possibly choose only one?! I'd probably say J.K Rowling because without Harry Potter my childhood wouldn't have been the same. But I could literally make about a hundred categories and choose a person for each one.
I could be typically British and say Nando's but I'm going to think outside the box and say a place called The Mulberry in Saundersfoot. They do the nicest Sunday dinner I have ever had.
For some reason the song If You Wanna by The Vaccines came into my head. Great British band.
Can't say I've really tried it!
Well I hope you all enjoyed reading, why don't you give it a go yourself!
I love reading this tag, I find it so cute! And the Dragon's Fire would be an awesome pub name :) Nice post.


Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Devices Market is set to exceed USD 20 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights.Rising prevalence of diabetes worldwide is the key factor that will drive the self-monitoring blood glucose devices market during the forecast period. According to the Diabetes Atlas of International Diabetes Federation, in 2017, around 425 million people aged between 20-79 years globally, suffered from diabetes and is estimated to reach over 629 million by 2045. Diabetes is leading cause of death in many middle and low-income countries. Lifestyle changes, increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco along with other environmental factors will boost number of people suffering from diabetes.