text:
Creatine Monohydrate is the most studied and proven effective supplement in sports. You can find this supplement in a form of creatine powder or pills. Still, many gym-goers find this substance "harmful" and "unhealthy". Let's drop down the theory behind the creatine powder (you can find it here) and proceed to the real-life effects!
Creatine Powder and Popular Myths
Creatine Monohydrate for Women
Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss/Baldness?
Does Creatine Increase Fat Mass?
Does Creatine Powder Cause Water Retention?
Does Creatine Powder Cause Kidney Damage/Renal Dysfunction?
Cause #1
Is Creatine Powder Harmful to Children and Adolescents?
Does Creatine Powder Lead to Dehydration and Muscle Cramps?
When to take?
Creatine Powder Side Effects
Creatine Monohydrate is accepted with equal success not only by men but also by women. Previous research has shown that adding creatine to the diet can improve athletic performance, reduce the risk of injury, improve rehabilitation, and reduce the risk of disease in young, middle-aged, and older age groups. Creatine works by increasing muscle phosphocreatine stores, which increases the availability of energy in actively working cells [1, 2, 3].
When discussing nutrition for women, the menstrual cycle must be considered as hormonal changes occur throughout the cycle. Several studies acknowledge a literature gap associated with creatine supplementation in women and have found that creatine powder may be effective during menstruation, pregnancy, and the postpartum period. In addition, as women age, creatine has been found to be beneficial for improving their mental health, bone health, and physical function [4].
While many studies highlight creatine's ability to increase performance, creatine also has benefits for overall health, especially brain health. Creatine may help cognitive performance, regulate mood, reduce depression, and provide neuroprotection, especially in women [5]. Recent literature has shown that creatine supplementation can protect the brain from traumatic brain injury and help recover from previous trauma [5].
Although men appear to be more sensitive to creatine supplementation, improved athletic performance and increased lean body mass have been observed in both sexes [4, 6, 7]. Moreover, in a study on high-intensity interval training (HIIT), men and women who consumed creatine monohydrate had increased peak and relative peak anaerobic cyclic power, maximum moment of voluntary back contraction (MVC), and increased lactate levels [8].
Creatine supplementation has also been shown to improve average strength and endurance in team sports in women [9].
The vast majority of hypotheses about a link between creatine powder supplementation and hair loss/baldness stem from one study by van der Merwe et al [12] where college-age male rugby players who supplemented their diet with creatine (25 g / day for 7 days, and then 5 g / day for an additional 14 days) experienced an increase in serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentration over time.
Specifically, DHT increased 56% after a 7-day load period and remained 40% above baseline values after a 14-day maintenance period. These results were statistically significant compared to when the subjects took a placebo (50 g of glucose per day for 7 days, then 30 g / day for 14 days thereafter). Given that changes in these hormones, especially DHT, have been associated with some cases of hair loss [13], the theory that creatine supplementation leads to hair loss has gained some momentum, and this potential link continues to be a common issue/myth today.
It is important to note that the results of van der Merwe et al [12] have not been subsequently replicated and that intense resistance exercise alone can cause an increase in these androgenic hormones.
DHT is a testosterone metabolite formed when the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts free testosterone to DHT [14]. In men, DHT can bind to androgen receptors in sensitive hair follicles and cause them to shrink, ultimately leading to hair loss. However, van der Merwe et al [12] found no increase in total testosterone in all men who completed the study.
Free testosterone was not measured. Moreover, increases in DHT and DHT: testosterone ratio remained within normal clinical limits. In addition, before supplementation, DHT levels were 23% lower in the creatine group (0.98 nmol / L) compared to the placebo group (1.26 nmol / L).
Thus, a slight increase in DHT in the creatine group (+ 0.55 nmol / L after 7 days of supplementation and + 0.40 nmol / L after 21 days of supplementation) combined with a slight decrease in DHT response in the placebo group (-0. 17 nmol / L after 7 days of supplementation and -0.20 nmol / L after 21 days of supplementation) explains the "statistically significant" increase in DHT noted by van der Merwe et al [12].
Although it is possible that creatine powder supplementation increased 5-alpha reductase activity in these men (potentially leading to increased DHT production). No studies have reported on hair loss in humans. To date, 12 other studies have examined the effects of creatine supplementation, i.e. doses ranging from 3-25 g / day for 6 days to 12 weeks, on testosterone.
Two studies reported small, physiologically insignificant increases in total testosterone after six and seven days of supplementation, while the remaining ten studies reported no change in testosterone concentration. In five of these studies [13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23], free testosterone, which the body uses to produce DHT, was also measured and no increases were found.
Find more about testosterone here – Natural Ways to Boost Testosterone
The theory that creatine supplementation increases fat mass is of concern to people who exercise, possibly because some experience weight gain from creatine supplementation. However, randomized controlled trials (ranging from one week to two years) do not support this statement. Acute creatine supplementation (7 days) had no effect on fat mass in young and old people, but the fat-free mass was increased [24, 25]. In addition, three weeks of creatine supplementation had no effect on swimmers' body composition [26]. Adding creatine to high-intensity interval training had no effect on body composition in active women [27].
In addition, the effects of creatine supplementation during resistance training had no effect on fat mass [28]. Moreover, in a group of healthy performing male bodybuilders, 5 grams of creatine per day, consumed before or after training, had no effect on fat mass [29].
Other short-term studies, lasting 6-8 weeks, found no changes in body fat from creatine supplementation. Becque et al [30] found no change in body fat after six weeks of supplementation plus strength training. In another 6-week study, there were no significant differences in body fat mass or percentage of body fat after creatine supplementation [31]. In addition, creatine supplementation during the 8-week football season also had no effect on body fat [32].
It can be assumed that 8 weeks or less of creatine supplementation is not enough to reach a definitive conclusion about the effect of creatine on fat mass. However, there are several studies that have used much longer time frames. For example, healthy trained men were randomly assigned a creatine supplement (20 g / day for 1 week followed by 5 g / day for 11 weeks) or a placebo. Lean body mass and muscle fiber size increased, and body fat and body fat were not affected during the 12-week training period [33]. In older men (~ 70 years), 12 weeks of creatine supplementation during strength training had no effect (compared with placebo) on fat mass [34].
In addition, Gualano et al evaluated the effect of creatine supplementation (24 weeks), with and without resistance training, in older women. The results showed no effect of creatine on fat mass [34]. Candow et al [35] studied the effects of creatine supplementation in the elderly (50-71 years) over a 32-week treatment period. Study participants were randomized to receive creatine or placebo before or after strength training (3 days per week).
Over time, there was an increase in muscle tissue and strength with a decrease in fat mass. From a clinical point of view, children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who received additional creatine (0.1 g / kg/day) for two consecutive periods of 16 weeks showed a significant decrease in fat mass. In contrast, children who did not consume creatine gained fat mass.
In two studies in postmenopausal women, Lobo et al [36] found no change in absolute or relative body fat after one year of low-dose creatine supplementation.
In addition, two years of creatine supplementation also had no effect on fat mass [37]. Recently, Forbes et al [38] conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials involving creatine supplementation in combination with strength training and effects on fat mass in the elderly (≥ 50 years). 19 studies were included, involving a total of 609 people. Participants taking creatine had a greater reduction in body fat percentage.
There was no significant difference in absolute fat loss, however, the creatine group lost 0.5 kg more fat mass compared to the placebo group.
Aside from the personal observations of consumers, which may be subjective and distorted by the placebo effect, the information that creatine powder supplementation retains water in the body is probably related to early studies. They showed that creatine at a dose of 20 g / day for six days has been associated with water retention [39]. Apparently, the most common adverse effect of creatine supplementation is water retention in the early stages (the first few days) [40].
For example, studies have shown that three days of creatine supplementation increased total body water (TBW), extracellular body water (ECW) [3], and intracellular water (ICW).
Unfortunately, based on these short-term reactions, it is widely believed that creatine increases water retention in the long term [41]. Creatine is an osmotically active substance. Thus, an increase in the body's creatine content could theoretically lead to an increase in water retention.
Several studies of exercise (eg 5-10 weeks) that include creatine supplementation have not shown an increase in total body water (TBW). For example, resistance-trained men who received creatine at a dose of 0.3 g / kg lean body mass per day for 7 days (approximately 20 g / day), followed by 4 weeks at a dose of 0.075 g / kg lean body mass per day for within 28 days (approximately 5 g / day) did not experience significant changes in ICW, ECW or TBW [44].
In addition, resistance-trained men who consumed creatine supplements (20 g / day for seven days, then 5 g / day for 21 days) did not have significant increases in ICW, ECW, or TBW [45]. Similarly, men and women taking creatine (0.03 g / kg/day for six weeks) did not experience significant increases in TBW [46].
Six weeks of creatine supplementation in trained men at 0.3 g / kg lean body weight for five days followed by 0.075 g / kg lean body weight for 42 days did not significantly change TBW [47].
In contrast, when evaluating TBW, ICW, and ECW before and after 28 days of creatine supplementation in healthy men and women (n = 32), Powers et al [48] showed that creatine supplementation was effective in increasing muscle creatine levels. , which was associated with an increase in body weight and TBW, but did not change ICW or ECW volumes.
In a recent study looking at the effects of creatine supplementation in combination with exercise on strength training for 8 weeks, Ribeiro et al [49] found significant increases in TBW (7.0%) and ICW (9.2%) volume compared with placebo ( TBW: 1.7%; ICW: 1.6%), with both groups similarly increasing ECW (Creatine: 1.2% vs Placebo = 0.6%). The ratio of skeletal muscle mass to ICW remained the same in both groups.
It should also be emphasized that ICW – intracellular fluid volume is an important cellular signal for protein synthesis and thus leads to an increase in muscle mass over time [50].
Therefore, while there is some evidence that creatine supplementation increases water retention, primarily by increasing intracellular volume, there are several other studies over a short period of time suggesting that it does not alter total body water (intracellular or extracellular ) in relation to muscle mass for longer periods of time.
As a result, creatine supplementation may not result in water retention.
Issues and concerns related to creatine powder supplementation and kidney damage / renal dysfunction are common. In terms of the pervasive misinformation in the sports nutrition arena, the notion that creatine supplementation leads to kidney damage / renal dysfunction is perhaps second only to the myth that protein supplementation and high consumption of regular protein cause kidney damage.
Today, after more than 20 years of research showing no side effects of recommended doses of creatine supplementation on kidney health, unfortunately, this concern persists. Although the origin is unknown, the link between creatine supplementation and kidney damage / renal dysfunction can be traced back to two things:
a poor understanding of creatine and creatinine metabolism;
a case study published in 1998.
In skeletal muscle, both creatine and creatine phosphate are non-enzymatically degraded to creatinine, which is exported into the blood and excreted in the urine [51]. Healthy kidneys filter creatinine that would otherwise build up in the blood. Thus, the level of creatinine in the blood can be used as a proxy marker of kidney function.
However, the amount of creatinine in the blood is associated with muscle mass (ie, men have higher blood creatinine levels than women) and both dietary creatine and creatinine intake [52].
Blood and urine creatinine can be elevated with creatine supplements and creatine-containing foods such as meat. Creatine is not usually present in urine but can reach very high levels (> 10 g / day) during creatine supplementation [3]. There seems to be an unreasonable prospect that if the kidneys are "forced" to excrete higher than normal levels of creatine or creatinine, then a kind of "overload" of the kidneys occurs, causing kidney damage and/or impaired kidney function.
In fact, short-term increases in blood or urine creatine levels from creatine powder supplementation are unlikely to reflect decreased kidney function. In addition, caution should be exercised when using blood creatinine and calculated creatinine clearance, glomerular filtration rate in individuals consuming a large intake of meat or creatine powder supplements.
In a review of creatine supplementation studies, Persky and Rawson [54] found no increase in serum creatinine in 12 studies, 8 studies showed an increase that remained within the normal range, and only 2 studies showed an increase above the normal range, although not different from the control. groups in one study.
In 1998, a study was carried out on a young man with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and recurrent nephrotic syndrome [55]. A young man who had kidney disease for 8 years and had been treated with cyclosporine (an immunosuppressive drug) for 5 years recently started taking a creatine supplement (15 g / day for 7 days; then 2 g / day for 7 weeks).
Based on the elevated blood creatinine level and subsequent assessment of the calculated creatinine clearance, it was assumed that his kidney condition was deteriorating, although he was otherwise healthy. The patient was advised to stop taking creatine supplements.
At the time, it was already known that creatinine levels in blood and urine may rise after ingestion of creatine-containing foods, including creatine supplements [52]. This was ignored by the authors of this case study, as was the inclusion of two studies that showed that creatine supplementation did not adversely affect renal function [56, 57].
The creatine dose during the maintenance phase, which was also ignored, was only slightly higher than the daily creatine intake of a typical omnivore, or in terms of food, a large hamburger or steak per day (meat contains about 0.7 g creatine / 6 oz serving) …
In response to this case study, two separate groups of creatine metabolism experts wrote letters to the editor of the Lancet [57, 58]. However, the notion that creatine supplementation leads to kidney damage and/or renal dysfunction has gained traction.
Since this case study was published in 1998, experimental and controlled studies examining the effects of creatine supplementation on kidney function have increased significantly [54, 59, 60, 61].
In general, healthy people do not appear to have any side effects of the recommended doses of creatine supplementation on kidney function [54, 59, 60, 61]. Interestingly, Gualano et al [61] reviewed a small number of case studies that reported renal dysfunction in individuals who took a creatine supplement.
Similar to the report by Pritchard and Kalra [55], these additional case reports have been distorted by medication for preexisting kidney disease, concomitant supplementation, inappropriate creatine dosages (eg, 100 times the recommended dose), and use of anabolic-androgenic steroids.
It is prudent to be careful when taking any dietary supplement or medication. Survey data shows that creatine supplementation use ranges between 8-74% in athletes and other exercising people.
Even at a low score of 8% of exercising people using creatine supplementation, this indicates thousands of exposures over several decades. If the link between creatine supplementation and kidney health were significant, then since 1992, after Harris et al. [60] published their seminal work, an increase in kidney damage would be expected in low-risk individuals (ie, young, fit, healthy).
After nearly 30 years of post-marketing surveillance, thousands of ultrasound exposures, and numerous clinical trials, there is no such evidence.
Occasionally, there are concerns about the safety of creatine powder supplementation for children and adolescents. The vast majority of data in the adult population indicate that creatine supplementation, both short-term and long-term, is safe and generally well tolerated [61].
However, the question of whether this is true for children and adolescents remains relatively unclear. The physiological rationale for the potential benefits of creatine supplementation in children and adolescents was first postulated by Unnithan and colleagues in 2001 [62], which laid a solid foundation for the future use of creatine in young athletes.
Most recently, in a comprehensive review of the safety of creatine supplementation in adolescents, Jagim et al. [63] summarized several studies that looked at the efficacy of creatine supplementation among different groups of adolescent athletes and found no evidence of side effects.
From a clinical perspective, creatine powder supplementation has the potential to provide health benefits with minimal adverse effects in younger populations. Hayashi et al. [64] found improvements in pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and reported no adverse changes in laboratory parameters for hematology, renal function, liver function, or markers of inflammation after 12 weeks of creatine supplementation. Tarnopolsky et al [65] reported significant improvements in lean mass and grip strength in 30 pediatric patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy after 4 months of creatine supplementation.
Importantly, the creatine supplementation protocol was well tolerated and did not adversely affect laboratory markers of kidney function, oxidative stress, and bone health [64, 65, 66]. In addition, Sakellaris et al. 66 reported a significant improvement in traumatic brain injury outcomes in children and adolescents who received oral creatine supplementation (0.4 g / kg/day) for 6 months.
These neurological benefits have potential applications for young athletes involved in sporting collisions, which pose a major risk of concussions. In addition, some of these clinical trials applied rigorous clinical surveillance measures, including continuous monitoring of laboratory markers for kidney health, inflammation, and liver function. None of these were adversely affected by appropriate creatine powder supplementation activities. These results support the hypothesis that creatine supplementation is likely safe for children and adolescents.
However, perhaps the strongest supporting evidence for the safety of creatine comes from the recent grading of creatine as Generally Recognized Safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of 2020.
Ultimately, this classification indicates that the current scientific evidence regarding the safety of creatine is sufficient and has been agreed upon by a consensus of qualified experts, thereby defining creatine as safe under the conditions of its intended use. Even though infants and young children are excluded from GRAS, this still applies to older children and adolescents.
Most nutritional supplement survey data indicate that a relatively high percentage of young and adolescent athletes are currently or previously using creatine. For example, Kayton et al. [67] found that in a sample of 270 high school boys and girls, 21% of boys and 3% of girls reported this. In addition, in a sample of elite Olympic level young German athletes (14-18 years old), 12% of respondents reported supplementing the diet with creatine [68].
Thus, these trends require more research to determine with greater certainty whether creatine supplements, both acute and long-term, are safe for children and adolescents. Based on limited evidence, creatine supplementation appears to be safe and potentially beneficial for children and adolescents.
See more kids-related insights here – Exercise for Kids: Is There Any Bad Impact on Health
It has been suggested that creatine supplementation causes dehydration and muscle cramps [69, 70].
In the early 2000s, with limited data and mostly speculation, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommended that people who control their weight and exercise vigorously or in hot conditions avoid using creatine supplements [71].
The physiological rationale suggesting that creatine powder supplementation can cause dehydration and muscle cramps is based on the premise that creatine is an osmotically active substance found primarily in skeletal muscle and can alter fluid distribution throughout the body, preferably increasing intracellular water uptake and retention. especially in the short term [72].
In situations of water loss by the body, such as excessive sweating during exercise and/or elevated ambient temperatures, associated intracellular fluid could theoretically be detrimental to thermoregulation and lead to extracellular dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and muscle spasms, or other body-related musculoskeletal problems. -motor apparatus [73].
In a survey of 219 athletes, 90 participants reported creatine powder use, with 34 of them (38%) reporting perceived negative effects such as seizures (27%) [74]. Similarly, at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), baseball and Division 1 (N = 52) players using creatine reported muscle cramps in 25% of cases and 13.5% reported symptoms of dehydration. Importantly, these studies were unable to control the use of other supplements and the dosage of creatine taken by mouth.
Greenwood et all [74] noted that 91% of participants exceeded the recommended maintenance dose of creatine of 5 g / day. However, these self-reported surveys contradict experimental and clinical evidence. Greenwood et all [75] monitored injuries in football players of the IA NCAA student division (N = 72, age: 19.7 ± 1.0 years), where environmental conditions were hot (27.3 ± 10.90V) and with high humidity (54.2 ± 9.7%).
Participants chose either creatine powder (n = 38: 0.3 g / kg / day for 5 days; then 0.03 g / kg / day for 115 days) or a placebo sports drink (n = 34) throughout the football season. Injuries recorded by the sports coaching staff were observed.
Creatine users had significantly fewer seizures, overheating, dehydration, and general injury. Non-contact joint injuries, contact injuries, illnesses, missed training due to injuries during the season did not differ between the groups. In a clinical setting, hemodialysis patients (n = 10) who frequently reported muscle cramps were given creatine (12 g) 5 minutes before hemodialysis [76].
Creatine powder supplementation reduced the incidence of symptomatic muscle cramps by 60% [77]. These beneficial effects of creatine can be attributed to fluid distribution and electrolyte imbalances, as previously discussed.
Thus, experimental and clinical studies do not support the notion that creatine supplementation causes dehydration and muscle cramps.
There are two effective strategies for increasing creatine stores:
The load phase, which requires an oral dose of 0.3 g / kg of body weight four times a day with protein-carbohydrate food for 5-7 days, followed by a "maintenance" phase of 3-5 g / day.
A daily dose of 3-5 g with protein-carbohydrate food (in this case, it takes more time to increase creatine stores) [6, 10].
These dosing strategies will increase muscle creatine stores as well as the previously mentioned health benefits.
One potential side effect of creatine powder supplementation is associated with increased body weight due to increased total body water. Weight gain with creatine supplementation is more common in men, but for women, weight gain may be more likely during the luteal phase due to hormone-related changes in fluid balance [11]. However, this is likely to happen only at the loading dose.
See more topics:
How to Lose Weight Fast — In-Depth Guide
How to Build Muscle With Scientific Approach
Creatine: What It Is, What It Does, and Its Side Effects – menshealth.com
Follow us on Social Media Platforms:
Harris RC, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin Sci. 1992;83:367–74
Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007:6
Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017:1–18
Ellery SJ, Walker DW, Dickinson H. Creatine for women: a review of the relationship between creatine and the reproductive cycle and female-specific benefits of creatine therapy. Amino Acids. 2016;48(8):1807–17.
Ainsley Dean PJ, Arikan G, Opitz B, Sterr A. Potential for use of creatine supplementation following mild traumatic brain injury. Concussion. 2017;2(2):CNC34
KreiderRB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:1–19.
Cooper R, Naclerio F, Allgrove J, Jimenez A. Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: An update. J Int Soc Sports Nutr; 2012;9:1.
Tarnopolsky MA, MacLennan DP. Creatine monohydrate supplementation enhances high-intensity exercise performance in males and females. Int J Sport Nutr. 2000;10:452–63.
Ayoama R, Hiruma E, Sasaki H. Effects of creatine loading on muscular strength and endurance of female softball players. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2003;43(4):481–7.
Kerksick CM, Wilborn CD, Roberts MD, Smith-Ryan A, Kleiner SM, Jäger R, et al. ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: Research & recommendations. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018;15:1–57.
Eckerson JM. Creatine as an Ergogenic Aid for Female Athletes. Strength Cond J. 2016;38:14–23
van der Merwe J, Brooks NE, Myburgh KH. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clin. J. Sport Med. 2009;19:399–404.
Ustuner ET. Cause of androgenic alopecia: crux of the matter. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. Glob Open. 2013;1:e64.
Bartsch G, Rittmaster RS, Klocker H. Dihydrotestosterone and the concept of 5alpha-reductase inhibition in human benign prostatic hyperplasia. World J. Urol. 2002;19:413–25.
Trueb RM. Molecular mechanisms of androgenetic alopecia. Exp. Gerontol. 2002;37:981–90.
Vatani DS, F
araji H, Soori R, Mogharnasi M. The effects of creatine supplementation on performance and hormonal response in amateur swimmers. Science and Sports. 2011;26:272–7.
Arazi H, Rahmaninia F, Hosseini K, Asadi A. Effects of short term creatine supplementation and resistance exercises on resting hormonal and cardiovascular responses. Science and Sports. 2015;30:105–9.
Cook CJ, Crewther BT, Kilduff LP, Drawer S, Gaviglio CM. Skill execution and sleep deprivation: effects of acute caffeine or creatine supplementation – a randomized placebo-controlled trial. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2011;8:2–
Cooke MB, Brabham B, Buford TW, Shelmadine BD, McPheeters M, Hudson GM, Stathis C, Greenwood M, Kreider R, Willoughby DS. Creatine supplementation post-exercise does not enhance training-induced adaptations in middle to older aged males. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2014;114:1321–32.
Hoffman J, Ratamess N, Kang J, Mangine G, Faigenbaum A, Stout J. Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes. Int. J. Sport Nutr. Exerc. Metab. 2006;16:430–46.
Volek JS, Ratamess NA, Rubin MR, Gomez AL, French DN, McGuigan MM, Scheett TP, Sharman MJ, Hakkinen K, Kraemer WJ. The effects of creatine supplementation on muscular performance and body composition responses to short-term resistance training overreaching. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2004;91:628–37.
Rahimi R, Faraji H, Vatani DS, Qaderi M. Creatine supplementation alters the hormonal response to resistance exercise. Kinesiology. 2010;42:28–35
Gotshalk LA, Kraemer WJ, Mendonca MA, Vingren JL, Kenny AM, Spiering BA, Hatfield DL, Fragala MS, Volek JS. Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older women. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2008;102:223–31.
Gotshalk LA, Volek JS, Staron RS, Denegar CR, Hagerman FC, Kraemer WJ. Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older men. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2002;34:537–43.
Silva AJ, Machado Reis V, Guidetti L, Bessone Alves F, Mota P, Freitas J, Baldari C. Effect of creatine on swimming velocity, body composition and hydrodynamic variables. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2007;47:58–64.
Forbes SC, Sletten N, Durrer C, Myette-Cote E, Candow D, Little JP. Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation Does Not Augment Fitness, Performance, or Body Composition Adaptations in Response to Four Weeks of High-Intensity Interval Training in Young Females. Int. J. Sport Nutr. Exerc. Metab. 2017;27:285–92.
Antonio J, Ciccone V. The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2013;10:36–6 eCollection 2013.
Becque MD, Lochmann JD, Melrose DR. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on muscular strength and body composition. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2000;32:654–8.
Rawson ES, Stec MJ, Frederickson SJ, Miles MP. Low-dose creatine supplementation enhances fatigue resistance in the absence of weight gain. Nutrition. 2011;27:451–5.
Chilibeck PD, Magnus C, Anderson M. Effect of in-season creatine supplementation on body composition and performance in rugby union football players. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 2007;32:1052–7.
Volek JS, Duncan ND, Mazzetti SA, Staron RS, Putukian M, Gomez AL, Pearson DR, Fink WJ, Kraemer WJ. Performance and muscle fiber adaptations to creatine supplementation and heavy resistance training. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 1999;31:1147–56.
Chrusch MJ, Chilibeck PD, Chad KE, Davison KS, Burke DG. Creatine supplementation combined with resistance training in older men. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2001;33:2111–7.
Gualano B, Macedo AR, Alves CR, Roschel H, Benatti FB, Takayama L, de Sa Pinto AL, Lima FR, Pereira RM. Creatine supplementation and resistance training in vulnerable older women: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Exp. Gerontol. 2014;53:7–15.
Candow DG, Vogt E, Johannsmeyer S, Forbes SC, Farthing JP. Strategic creatine supplementation and resistance training in healthy older adults. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 2015;40:689–94.
Bourgeois JM, Nagel K, Pearce E, Wright M, Barr RD, Tarnopolsky MA. Creatine monohydrate attenuates body fat accumulation in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during maintenance chemotherapy. Pediatr. Blood Cancer. 2008;51:183–7.
Lobo DM, Tritto AC, da Silva LR, de Oliveira PB, Benatti FB, Roschel H, Niess B, Gualano B, Pereira RM. Effects of long-term low-dose dietary creatine supplementation in older women. Exp. Gerontol. 2015;70:97–104.
Hultman, E.; Soderlund, K.; Timmons, J. A.; Cederblad, G.; Greenhaff, P. L. Muscle creatine loading in men. J. Appl. Physiol. (1985) 1996, 81, 232-237.
Hall M, Trojian TH. Creatine supplementation. Curr. Sports Med. Rep. 2013;12:240–4.
Rosene JM, Matthews TD, Mcbride KJ, Galla A, Haun M, Mcdonald K, Gagne N, Lea J, Kasen J, Farias C. The effects of creatine supplementation on thermoregulation and isokinetic muscular performance following acute (3-day) supplementation. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2015;55:1488–96.
Ziegenfuss T, Lowery LM, Lemon P. Acute fluid volume changes in men during three days of creatine supplementation. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online. 1998;1:1.
Francaux M, Poortmans JR. Side effects of creatine supplementation in athletes. Int. J. Sports Physiol. 2006;1:311-23.
Andre TL, Gann JJ, McKinley-Barnard SK, Willoughby DS. Effects of five weeks of resistance training and relatively-dosed creatine monohydrate supplementation on body composition and muscle strength and whole-body creatine metabolism in resistance-trained males. Int J Kinesiol Sports Sci. 2016;4:28–35.Return to ref 40 in article 7 Jagim AR, Oliver JM, Sanchez A, Galvan E, Fluckey J, Riechman S, Greenwood M, Kelly K, Meininger C, Rasmussen C, Kreider RB. A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2012;9:43–3.
Rawson ES, Stec MJ, Frederickson SJ, Miles MP. Low-dose creatine supplementation enhances fatigue resistance in the absence of weight gain. Nutrition. 2011;27:451–5
Spillane M, Schoch R, Cooke M, Harvey T, Greenwood M, Kreider R, Willoughby DS. The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2009;6:6–6.
Powers ME, Arnold BL, Weltman AL, Perrin DH, Mistry D, Kahler DM, Kraemer W, Volek J. Creatine Supplementation Increases Total Body Water Without Altering Fluid Distribution. J. Athl Train. 2003;38:44–50.
Ribeiro AS, Avelar A, Kassiano W, Nunes JP, Schoenfeld BJ, Aguiar AF, Trindade MCC, Silva AM, Sardinha LB, Cyrino ES. Добавление креатина Не влияет на Соотношение Между Внутриклеточной Водой и Скелетной Мышечной Массой у Тренированных с Сопротивлением Мужчин. Exerc. Metab. 2020:1-7.
Сафдар А, Ярдли Н. Дж., Сноу Р, Мелов С, Тарнопольский М. А. Глобальная и целенаправленная экспрессия генов и содержание белка в скелетных мышцах молодых мужчин после кратковременного приема креатина моногидрата. Физиол. Геномика. 2008;32:219–28.
Wyss M, Kaddurah-Daouk R. Creatine and creatinine metabolism. Physiol. Rev. 2000;80:1107–213.
Rawson ES, Clarkson PM, Price TB, Miles MP. Differential response of muscle phosphocreatine to creatine supplementation in young and old subjects. Acta Physiol. Scand. 2002;174:57–65
Persky AM, Rawson ES. Safety of creatine supplementation. Subcell. Biochem. 2007;46:275–89.
Pritchard NR, Kalra PA. Renal dysfunction accompanying oral creatine supplements. Lancet. 1998;351:1252–3.
Poortmans JR, Auquier H, Renaut V, Durussel A, Saugy M, Brisson GR. Effect of short-term creatine supplementation on renal responses in men. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. Occup. Physiol. 1997;76:566–7.
Greenhaff P. Renal dysfunction accompanying oral creatine supplements. Lancet. 1998;352:233–4.
Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Renal dysfunction accompanying oral creatine supplements. Lancet. 1998;352:234–3.
de Souza E Silva A; Pertille, A.; Reis Barbosa, C. G.; Aparecida de Oliveira Silva, J; de Jesus, D. V.; Ribeiro, A G S V; Baganha, R. J.; de Oliveira, J. J. Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Renal Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J. Ren. Nutr. 2019, 29, 480-489.
Gualano B, de Salles Painelli V, Roschel H, Lugaresi R, Dorea E, Artioli GG, Lima FR, da Silva ME, Cunha MR, Seguro AC, Shimizu MH, Otaduy MC, Sapienza MT, da Costa Leite C, Bonfa E, Lancha Junior AH. Creatine supplementation does not impair kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2011;111:749–56.
Gualano B, Roschel H, Lancha AH, Brightbill CE, Rawson ES. In sickness and in health: the widespread application of creatine supplementation. Amino Acids. 2012;43:519–29.
Rawson ES, Clarkson PM, Tarnopolsky MA. Perspectives on Exertional Rhabdomyolysis. Sports Med. 2017;47:33–49.
Harris RC, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin. Sci. (Lond). 1992;83:367–74.
Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, Candow DG, Kleiner SM, Almada AL, Lopez HL. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18-z eCollection 2017.
Unnithan VB, Veehof SH, Vella CA, Kern M. Is there a physiologic basis for creatine use in children and adolescents? J. Strength Cond Res. 2001;15:524–8.
Jagim AR, Stecker RA, Harty PS, Erickson JL, Kerksick CM. Safety of Creatine Supplementation in Active Adolescents and Youth: A Brief Review. Front. Nutr. 2018;5:115.
Hayashi AP, Solis MY, Sapienza MT, Otaduy MC, de Sa Pinto AL, Silva CA, Sallum AM, Pereira RM, Gualano B. Efficacy and safety of creatine supplementation in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Lupus. 2014;23:1500–11.
Tarnopolsky MA, Mahoney DJ, Vajsar J, Rodriguez C, Doherty TJ, Roy BD, Biggar D. Creatine monohydrate enhances strength and body composition in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neurology. 2004;62:1771–7. 1Dalbo VJ, Roberts MD, Stout JR, Kerksick CM. Putting to rest the myth of creatine supplementation leading to muscle cramps and dehydration. Br. J. Sports Med. 2008;42:567–73.
Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction? Sports Med. 2000;30:155–70.
Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH. American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med. Sci Sports Exerc. 2000;32:706–17.
Kraemer WJ, Volek JS. Creatine supplementation. Its role in human performance. Clin. Sports Med. 1999;18:651–66 ix.
Deminice R, Rosa FT, Pfrimer K, Ferrioli E, Jordao AA, Freitas E. Creatine Supplementation Increases Total Body Water in Soccer Players: a Deuterium Oxide Dilution Study. Int. J. Sports Med. 2016;37:149–53.
Greenwood M, Farris J, Kreider R, Greenwood L, Byars A. Creatine supplementation patterns and perceived effects in select division I collegiate athletes. Clin. J. Sport Med. 2000;10:191–4.
Greenwood M, Kreider RB, Melton C, Rasmussen C, Lancaster S, Cantler E, Milnor P, Almada A. Creatine supplementation during college football training does not increase the incidence of cramping or injury. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 2003;244:83–8.
Chang CT, Wu CH, Yang CW, Huang JY, Wu MS. Creatine monohydrate treatment alleviates muscle cramps associated with haemodialysis. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 2002;17:1978–81.
Tags: bodybuilding, creatine, creatine monohydrate, health, nutrition, supplements
Previous Natural Ways to Boost Testosterone
Next Weight Loss Plateau: How to Break It?
Natural Ways to Boost Testosterone


PGLI is the industry's leader in proving fast, accurate and cost-effective In-Plant Monitoring and Sampling program to our customers. Our inspectors are strategically located near the major geosynthetic manufactures in the U.S. and abroad.
PGLI selects the sample rolls or specifies the sampling frequency and the manufacturer cuts the samples and sends them to PGLI.
PGLI is present during the sampling and verifies the roll from which the sample was taken. PGLI may select the rolls to be sampled randomly.
PGLI goes to the manufacturer, observes the startup of production and reviews manufacturing QC Procedures. Manufacturer samples subsequent production.
Level 2 plus PGLI will monitor production daily and reviews QC data.
The following are the manufacturing facilities where we have person ready to serve you at 24-hrs notice.


Your products can be grouped together into categories, known as collections, to make them easier to manage your product range or easier for your customers to discover what you are offering. This allows a user to find quickly the right product or choose products with similar characteristics.
Foodly theme has four main collections. They might seem unusual and it is true. Not every food store divides its product range into Fresh, Frozen, Dried, Liquid. We did it on purpose because of associations our brain makes when we are trying to remember some food. For example, a user, let's call her Sarah, needs oil but she doesn't know yet which one suits best for her today's dinner. However, she knows that oil is liquid, not dried or any other state. So we will guide Sarah to the right destination where she finds what she needs.
Moreover, as a result of our user testing, we discovered that none of the users were confused or shocked with this unusual categories vice versa they felt quite comfortable switching between these categories. It is simple - categories use very easy mental models to help users to find what they are looking for.
automatically selecting products and conditions ( a detailed guide is covered in Shopify help article "Automated Shopify collection"
In 'Theme templates', it's possible to choose the layout of collection page. There are two variants — grid, which is called collection and is set by default, and list, which is called collection.list.
In 'Search engine listing preview', there are options to enhance SEO for this collection to make sure this collection is properly ranked by Google and others. To add meta information click 'Edit website SEO'. More about search engine optimization learn in Shopify article on that matter.
You may also take a look at Shopify instruction how to work with collections in its help guide.


text:
HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPublic Schedule...Public Schedule – March 2, 2022
Public Schedule – March 2, 2022
Public Schedule
Office of the Spokesperson
***THE DAILY PUBLIC SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN
11:00 a.m. Secretary Blinken meets with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quirós, Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez, and Panamanian Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes at the Department of State.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY AT TOP)
2:00 p.m. Secretary Blinken delivers remarks to the press at the Department of State.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)
The Secretary's remarks will be livestreamed on www.state.gov and www.YouTube.com/statedept
4:30 p.m. Secretary Blinken meets with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the Department of State.
DEPUTY SECRETARY WENDY R. SHERMAN
10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Sherman testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "The 2001 AUMF and War Powers: The Path Forward," at the Rayburn House Office Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HFAC)
DEPUTY SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCES BRIAN P. MCKEON
Deputy Secretary McKeon attends meetings and briefings from the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS VICTORIA J. NULAND
Under Secretary Nuland attends meetings and briefings at the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS UZRA ZEYA
Under Secretary Zeya is on travel to Switzerland from February 28 – March 2, 2022. Please click here for more information.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE BUREAU OF OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS MONICA P. MEDINA
Assistant Secretary Medina is on travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya from February 19 – March 3, 2022. Please click here for more information.
BRIEFING SCHEDULE
No Department Press Briefing.
Office of the Spokesperson The Secretary of State
Secretary Blinken's Travel to Qatar
Latvia National Day
Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Find a great job
Current Salesforce Jobs
Relocate to Australia/NZ
Written Interviews
Talent Hub TV
Hub Insights Blog
Talent Hub TV Episode 14 with Patrick Bulacz [PODCAST]
In Podcast by Gemma SnaithLeave a Comment
Talent Hub is proud to introduce the fourteenth episode of the Talent Hub TV series in podcast format. Here, Talent Hub Director, Ben Duncombe sits down for 'on the sofa' chats with inspirational Salesforce professionals to learn more about their fascinating stories and market insight.
This month's guest, Salesforce Evangelist, Patrick Bulacz, joins Ben on the sofa to share his own Salesforce journey, which is particularly fascinating due to his early entry into the ecosystem in the Australian market. We take a trip down memory lane to look back at where it all started, the major players at the time, and how the market has evolved since then.
Patrick shares his thoughts on the future of the platform and his insight into the history of the Salesforce Partner landscape here in Australia, and what excites him about what comes next.
Listen here, or if you prefer to read, the entire transcript is below:
Ben: Welcome to Talent Hub TV Episode 14, we're here with Patrick Bulacz today and I've got a whole host of questions for you, so thank you for coming along.
Patrick: No drama, thank you for having me.
Ben: Patrick, tell us a bit about your career before Salesforce?
Patrick: My career before Salesforce, was predominantly non-existent, no I had my own business which I was a web developer and designer back in, you know, this is going back 12 plus years when you could do everything, and people went, "okay, you're somewhat creative, the internet's new, you can put a website up" those sorts of things, and that was fresh out of University effectively. On the side I worked for SBS, I had a radio show.
Ben: No way! So this is all natural to you?
Patrick: Ah, absolutely the camera loves me, no I've got a face for radio. Yeah, I had a radio show with a radio station which was like a youth radio station called Alchemy. We did like, world number one's around the world, it was silly but, we had a little digital presence with that brand as well. I did a bit of that, and then yeah, my web stuff on the side and effectively, kind of played in that space. And then if your leading question is 'how did I get into the ecosystem', eventually, I met someone who happened to work at an SI, and he asked me to do some design contracting for them, and some website redesign, and a little bit of work around some of their marketing campaigns, e-newsletters, things like that.
Ben: Were they Salesforce marketing campaigns?
Patrick: They happened to be, they were for an SI and their capabilities, and eventually it turned into Salesforce marketing campaigns, but that was Sqware Peg, so Sqware Peg was my foot in and Shawn Stilwell, Susan, who yeah, husband and wife team, a very small business, Will Scully-Power at the time, yeah we had a great team and a great bunch of people.
Ben: Your title was Creative Director?
Patrick: I was a Creative Director, yeah I came on, I started doing the contracting and they said, "hey, we actually need someone to do Creative" and I went, "sure, why not" I mean I'd dabbled in design, I wouldn't call myself a Designer by no means, because design is very subjective, but when it came to kind of corporate design affairs and designing for the types of campaigns we were doing, where it was lead generation around technology needs, and then through some of the work that Will wanted to be doing within there, which we called agency on demand, which was trying to run more marketing centric type programs on top of the Salesforce platform, so it was things like driving direct mail to digital, PURLs, personalised URLs, sending out email newsletters and getting live dashboard feedback as to who's filling in a lead form, who's RSVPing to an event, whatever it might be, and we did that with just some little microsites that we would build, we would post on ASB webserver, we'd talk directly to Salesforce API and be able to write that back into Salesforce and that was kind of the evolution of, I mean this is before Marketing Cloud, before Marketo, before anything, this was how I guess it was done. I mean, all credit to Will, he was pioneering that kind of level of thought and definitely ahead of the curve as Salesforce has always been at least three or four years ahead of this market and so bringing some of those concepts in, and this is also before Apex, Visualforce, any of the programmatic languages that Salesforce offers now, Lightning, nothing available it was just a pure API, speak to the Salesforce back-end and then you know, service that data and your webpage. So, we did that and I helped through that, and that was my title, but eventually, it just grew and helping with those sorts of marketing led programs, and became an Eloqua partner.
Ben: So, this was still Sqware Peg?
Patrick: This was still Sqware Peg. So, learning through that Marketing Cloud ecosphere, Exact Target partner, Marketo partner, through that, and eventually yeah, eventually breaking out and doing my own thing.
Ben: So, in the Salesforce world, when you were hands-on, what kind of roles have you performed? Through all my roles? Yes, like a summary of.
Patrick: A summary of – well, Creative Director.
Ben: That was the good one.
Patrick: And then once it became me on my own, and a shout out to Ryan Hallman, he's killing it right now with Litify, a start up in New York, but when Ryan and I went and worked together, and worked through Hallman Consulting and we just purely like, this was at a stage when Salesforce was looking for people with enough knowledge about the product in the market. And they were looking for sub-contractors, we happened to get one of our first gigs with a cool client that happened to sell like Tony Robbins tickets and that was through Glenn Elliot, he's another guy killing it in the start-up space right now at Practifi. We worked with him on this customer. It was the tipping – it was Apex and Visualforce had just come out, or we had the beta release, so we developed a whole website shopping cart, mechanism, drag and drop for internal staff, to drag and drop what the seating plan was for when Tony Robbins would be there. And it was, yeah learning a brand new language from scratch. Learning Salesforce from scratch, learning the whole concept of Apex and the governor limits, and all of the limits from scratch. And that was kind of fun, that was a really, really cool time. And so that was my first, like out on our own, role, where I was helping with the creative piece, helping the design an API core or something like that, and effectively I mean we were, for lack of a better term, full stack Salesforce consultants. Where you knew the back-end and code and aspects of that, and Visualforce and the front-end components and then you also knew, you know, how to load data, how to extract data from other systems, how to, you know, how to correlate that effectively, normalize, create a database schemer within Salesforce that made sense, you know, create the right layouts for customers, make sure it's got a user friendly appeal, train them, roll out, I mean these were small things, this was the early days of Salesforce, and you do it soup to nuts effectively, and so we called ourselves, yeah I guess, Consultants, but we were like engineers, developers, I'm remiss to call myself an actual Dev or an Engineer because there are, like design, there are people way better than me at coding and development. But Salesforce had constraints, and if you're happy to work within those constraints then it was easy enough to get a handle on and then you learn like, the best ways to do it, and I think learning from the ground up was a good base to have going forward, so that was kind of consulting, and then beyond that, when Ryan and I merged with the Velteo team, and I stayed on as a stakeholder to manage the delivery team, then effectively I transitioned to more of a kind of Pro Serve Director and we set up our methodology, we set up our teams, our pods and our hubs of different specialties, you know, we created our own leaders within that organisation of different facets of the technology and yeah, that was good, that was successful, and then eventually selling that off to Bluewolf and through Bluewolf then taking a number of roles, effectively, helping the transition team, I worked in a global role focussing purely on mobile in the Salesforce ecosystem, based on a product that we developed when we were at Velteo which was more of a field sales enabler on a mobile device, so we used that IP and we extended it out a little bit more, we offered it as a 'celebrator' to customers to take on, and so that was running mobile globally for Bluewolf and then eventually that was kind of a whirlwind role where I just travelled a lot, I don't think I saw the guys in the office a lot, and then they went through a few leadership changes during the transition and eventually when I came back I settled to a CTO of APAC role, just really helping strategic customers and accounts on what their Salesforce direction might be, working with the Ignite teams at Salesforce on just more buzzwords, 'blue-sky thinking' around what can I do with this platform? Where can I go? A little bit more of the fluffy stuff of 'you could be here, that's aspirational, how do we get there?' Just kind of managing those discussions and a little pathway together. And then yeah, beyond that, working in a start-up as an ISV Partner, helping other groups become partners, yeah that's been my life in the ecosystem, you can't escape it.
Ben: And you're I mean, you must have been one of the first in the market here, having been on board with Sqware Peg.
Patrick: Oh absolutely, I mean Sqware Peg, credit to them, they were the first, the main first partner in the market space, you know, every year you see the partner space, and this sounds like a massive ad, but I love Shawn, I love what they did, they were great, but yeah, I mean out of all the groups that were out there they were always, you know, a partner, paid for their sponsorship, at any of the tour events, before they were called World Tour events, before they were, Cloud Forces or whatever they were, they would always be at the stands, on the front foot, and talking to customers, which was exactly what Salesforce wanted right? Their mantra was, and effectively still is, you know, bring us leads, do your own BDM, you know, we need an extended sales team through our partner network, so help us. And yeah, they did, and so that was, that was definitely on the forefront of what was going on there. And then it stayed fairly small for a few years, a fair few years before, before sort of 2012. And when we teamed up with Velteo, a bunch of the guys from Salesforce Pro Services left, and started Quattro and they did their thing and that's where, I think that was the kind of tipping point for more and more partners sort of spreading out in the ecosystem. Before that, there was only a few names here and there.
Ben: So you've seen a lot of change with the platform, what products have really got your interest right now?
Patrick: Products right now…I am a Communities fan boy, just because I come from that web space, I mean it doesn't do amazingly well, customers I think try and tackle it a bit too easily. Back in the day when it was Customer Portal, and Partner Portal and those sorts of things, there was always really cool stories and then really bad stories, and I think it's still the same way and they've tried to, you know, polish that product as much as they can but there are still some cool mechanisms that you can use that authentication scheme that they got through there to extend out to customers, which is, was, the end goal, you know, Salesforce is big product, how do I get it in a B2C marketplace, without acquiring, and then eventually they did acquire and that was you know, that was the first portal, mechanism that you could use to do that. So in that space, I'm a fan boy but I think I look more about you know what's coming down the line, in terms of getting myself excited nowadays. Core products and the Marketing Cloud products are what they are. I think the cool things that are coming down the line are more about listening to that customer conversation. I think the latest acquisition earlier in May with Bonobo AI which can kind of analyse and give insights into completely unstructured data, that's fascinating. Being able to hear a conversation that's not, well, it might be pointed at your brand, but is in the way that we are having a conversation with each other and gaining some glisten of insight from that, and be it for using it in a call centre, so that you know, let's say you're this omni channel call centre, how do I prioritise what I'm hearing without someone actually filling out a form "this high priority" or without some looking at it, saying 'let's prioritise that', or without hitting a keyword that I've put in a workflow or something, you know, being able to digest that conversation and go, and then take a whole bunch of unstructured data sources, compile it, say, "this person's reached out to us over a number of channels, here we are, this is the sentiment of what they're saying, you know, we need to push this down the line." And that's a really simple use case, in that perspective, but I think that technology and I don't know what they're going to do with it, and how they're going to integrate it, whether it is in the Service Cloud space, or what, I think that's exciting. I think Salesforce maybe kind of missed the boat a little bit a while ago, where SAP acquired Qualtrics, which is, I mean, a glorified survey platform, but they have some really cool mechanisms for having a conversation with customers whether it be, when you're putting your thumb up or your thumb down in Netflix, or you know, if you're browsing too long in Netflix and then you get a "hey, are these titles relevant to you?" and you know, you only get asked that question if you've been browsing too long and not if you've been asked another question previously, but taking that unstructured data and what that platform does to crush it up and give some insight to either product development or you know, service development, whatever it might be, I think that's powerful and I think Salesforce maybe they're going to use Bonobo and something else to try and catch up to that space, but I think that's fascinating, like the closer we can get to just natural language processing in technology will be amazing.
Ben: For sure.
Patrick: Rather than going, "hey, Siri". True story, I was in a meeting the other day with a customer, and I sometimes slur my speech, as this video will atest to, and sometimes I talk too fast, but my phone was on the table, and Siri started just playing a song. It must have thought I said "hey Siri, play whatever".
Ben: No way.
Patrick: I don't know how it got there but it just started playing this song, I don't have the history enabled on my Siri to see what must have, so yeah, the better that they can listen. "They". The computers. Yeah, that'll be a really good time.
Ben: So this is quite a broad question, but what's your take on the current market, the partner landscape?
Patrick: Current partner landscape. I think it's interesting, it's driven a lot by the way Salesforce want their partners to be now, and a lot of that is the verticalising a lot more, which is tough, in this marketplace to become a specific partner in one vertical and only focus on that vertical can be tough, I personally don't believe there's enough pipeline in one specific vertical, or you know, however they do it, maybe two or three, it's tough to just focus in that space.
Ben: Yeah because you see a lot of people that say "this is our specialism", but then they wouldn't turn away work in another area if it came up.
Patrick: No, every partner plays "the game", and goes, 'yeah, we're verticalising in' I don't know, 'in factory, retail, and distribution'. In reality, they're like, "any work you've got, we'll take it, we do it all". I think for partners it's more important to have Cloud competency, like Service Cloud, or Community Cloud, or like product specific areas, where we know that inside out, and there are certain intricacies in certain areas that a lot of the partners that had grown up in the other space, will quite happily tell you that when it comes to Marketing Cloud, they're not as familiar because it's an adjunct business, it's not something that they focused on from the ground up, core has generally been people's business and you see that now, like you see these agencies coming in, you saw the Amicus guys come in you see these people come in from a digital marketing space that are focussing in that area, which makes more sense because they speak the language and they learn the tools, it takes them a while to learn the tools because it's not familiar for them, whereas the traditional SI space don't know the language, so then they maybe know the tool, or could learn the tool really well, but then don't focus, so you're getting more, like I mean, over the years we've been getting more cross-pollination, but I think it's more of the partners to be yeah, core Cloud competency than anything. So I guess my opinion on the partner ecosystem is, outside of playing that game of going, "I've got an industry focus, and we've got teams that do X, Y and Z, because Salesforce is such a, I mean it's in the title, they're a sales beast. And with them being a sales beast comes them wanting to utilise partners as an extended sales pitch. And that's really where the culture has bred and I think that becomes tough for customers, I feel for customers because often you don't know if you are getting an unbiased opinion when it comes to what's either being recommended, or whether it's the right approach or whatever it might be, because it's a, you know, there's no kind of, there's no regulator keeping everyone honest or anything like that. And it's an intangible solution, it's software, I'm not building you a coffee table and asking if you want it in gold, silver or bronze, it's a Solution Architect or an Enterprise Architect or a Program Architect and they have an idea on how to crack this nut and how to solve it and one person's idea could be the Rolls Royce of ideas, and one person's idea could be, you know, the Volkswagen of ideas and it's hard to scale that. So I think it's, I feel for customers let's say that. When it comes to my opinion on the partner landscape, I feel for customers. That's my one sentence.
Ben: That leads me on nicely to my next question. If a customer is looking to start a Salesforce journey, they're moving away from something else or let's think of it like a decent sized company, not a startup, so they're not just going to have an off the shelf implementation, what's your advice?
Patrick: Look, for customers my advice is always, and I think Salesforce would resonate this too, is build your core competency. Like back in the old days of I.T customers, would work on a stack, they'd be a java house, they'd be a dot net house, so they'd have core skill sets and Salesforce is big enough and enterprise enough now, it has enough products in there for you to be a Salesforce house. If someone asks you, what kind of development team do you run? We run a Salesforce house. There's no shame in saying that. I think engineers and developers might go, "I don't want to tie myself to a proprietary software" and learn, get locked in, but they're not going anywhere, it's core critical business systems now, and some customers sometimes I think need to bite the bullet and go, I can't keep going out to partners, or I can but for some more strategic plans or for some plans that we've developed internally as ideas. I think some customers do it really well right, like the G.E's of the world that have these great Centre of Excellences internally, they have core competency teams, around different Clouds, they have development teams internally, and they are generally the things that are, and customers that are being showcased at Dreamforce, and grandstanded all around in different displays and are always in the case studies, of course, because they have drunk, as we would say in the ecosystem, enough Kool Aid and they've realised we've got a significant investment in this product and this platform and this ecosystem, why wouldn't we invest in our people understanding it, and the ins and outs of it and bettering it and making it better for our customers, so I think yeah I hope that answers your question.
Ben: Yeah, I think we are seeing more customers now saying "well we do need to build an in-house team, we can't heavily rely on just a partner", and also because there's turnover in that partner world, so you might think you've got an Architect from a partner for a foreseeable period of time, but they get an offer from another company paying a bit more money and now all of the IP goes with them.
Patrick: Absolutely. And it stills surprises me how often customers will come and talk to me and say exactly that scenario. We had a whole bunch of IP with a consultant, they've moved on, they've relied on partners for maybe a significant piece of work and now they're like "well we're stuck with that previous partner because we have some retainer or whatever, the core people have left and now we're like, where do we go? Now we're a little stuck, how do I approach this?" And I understand, not every customer can afford a full in-house team but there are ways to cut and slice the budget, make sure that you at least account for a little bit of your investment and ensure that you have somebody in-house that has a little bit of the context and the history and treats it like a core critical business system that, you know, you can keep the lights on yourself. You want to be able to keep the lights on yourself. You know, like if the power goes out in my house, I know that there's the main switchboard and I can go and check if that's been flicked, right? Just basic little things like that, in the concept of adding workflows and fields and creating reports, like that's the stuff that I think the Trailhead things that Salesforce bring out, I think that level of skillset is great, and should be you know, rolled out more and more internally to customers. But customers need to buy into it as well. And some customers are like, "yeah I've got people to do that for me". No, you can't make this investment without thinking well if I'm buying a car, I need to learn how to drive it. And I do think it's going to be interesting now because we are seeing more customers building these in-house teams, but then we're also seeing more partners offering a managed service offering. So how that uptake comes off, like are companies going to go, "actually, it's easier for me to use this managed service and use someone in the Philippines." It will be interesting to see how it does work. Like Bluewolf have had that kind of managed service for a while. I mean everyone's got a different name for it. Managed service and everyone has, I mean, it makes sense, as a customer to buy in that fashion, generally you're going to get some level of discount for buying hours in bulk in advance. It's tough for Partners, to manage that obviously, because they're either managing two separate teams or a combined pool of resources, on the same budget, and you know, offering my one guy that I'm paying X amount at a discount rate now because a customer's bought ahead. They're their own operational gains that they deal with and that's fine, and we've dealt with before I think it's those managed services make sense but you, it's like getting Salesforce support which I don't know what, Salesforce reps generally murmuring, you know they'll groan because they're incentivised to sell it, but at the end of the day, customers don't love it right, and you only love it if you know, it's the kind of support that you get if you know how to ask the question to get the help. Like, you need to know how to ask that help in the right way to get the right support. And that's what these managed services, they deal with that gap right, and say, "hey you don't know how to ask the question, just tell us in layman's terms what your problem is, and we'll kind of solution", right, that customer support from Salesforce is really only beneficial if you've got your own team, if you understand the problem, and you can articulate it, in a way that a Salesforce person will understand, and be able to execute on, right. And that is that almost that weird Solution Architect-y brain set or mindset of understanding the business process and the technology and what it can do. And maybe even if you can't do it on the technology, understanding what you want, and then having someone else execute on it. But yeah, I think we've kind of gone off on a bit of a tangent but yeah, the managed service space is going to be an interesting space, I think more and more customers working out how they enable their own teams, whether they do just have an offshore employee or something, I think it definitely just makes sense to have people on the ground working it out. And then liaising with your vendors appropriately.
Ben: Yeah, but having people on the ground is a struggle because the shortage of talent is definitely a real problem.
Patrick: Yes.
Ben: How do you see that playing out?
Patrick: I think that's, to be honest, I think that's Salesforce's responsibility. Or they can call me, I'll help them. I think Salesforce's responsibility in the marketplace is definitely to educate the customers more and more, you know they do, I think they do a decent job, they can do better. And they can help customers, but it is tough for them, understandably because they work with partners and they're already competing with partners themselves, having their own PS team, so then also to then go and self-enable partners is just like buying everybody's lunch and stealing it right. So I know it's a tough space for them, and I know the customer success groups at Salesforce, they do great work. I think, it's really enforcing that level of education to customers and almost being a little bit more stringent around being able to sell them a product as bad as that sounds, "no we won't sell you this product and have you implement it until you know, X amount of your team learn this concept" right, because if they don't, it just becomes more tech debt, it fails, you know, the project could fail if they rely too much on a partner to deliver it, the customer doesn't know enough about it, they don't know how to articulate to one another or someone else that comes on later who inherits it, what's gone wrong, it turns into a re-implementation, and these are the headaches that customers are dealing with, so I think there's a certain onus on Salesforce I believe, as almost a semi regulator in this wild west with the sheriff and all that, to come in and make sure that the customers are enabled effectively. And yeah, Trailhead, I think Trailhead is the right step, it's just getting it above that admin level of skillset right, getting it to that next level of skillset where you, maybe you learn a little bit of the historical aspects of why some of these parts of the platform are the way they are, why knowledge is such a weird data structure, it's because they acquired a company and then took ages to integrate it and with the main stack, why files is so cumbersome and it's not as easy as just one object to commit to, to attaching a file right there. Like little basic things, that people go "huh?" and get confused about, I think understanding the context, maybe the acquisition history, the Marketing Cloud piece with Exact Target, understanding how those things became part of this large platform and offering, would help a lot of people to think "ah, I understand now." The same way like a Volkswagon or a Porsche Cayenne right? Understanding that your chassis is the same as your Touareg and knowing the components of that, what's similar, what's not. What's different, do I have to learn a new niche skill because of that or not? Because you know, you can learn, you can get stuck into Salesforce core world, and then you can move to Marketing Cloud and it's very different. And a customer can get easily confused and just not go "but I thought it was all Salesforce?"
Ben: All one platform right?
Patrick: "Clicks not code. What the hell is going on?" So I think there's an onus there, I mean generally, that's, customers that I work with, it's trying to bridge a bit of that gap, that understanding is core. I think the more you know, knowledge is power in this industry, if you know more about what you're buying, why you're buying it, and where it fits right I think that's a powerful way to have leverage price wise, solution wise, timeframe wise, yeah, in lots of ways and then being able to strategically cut and slice your road map of adopting this ecosystem properly.
Ben: Almost daily we'll speak to someone that has an aspiration of starting their own business, a consulting business, it could be a product business. What's your advice for anyone that actually wants to go and do something like that?
Patrick: To be their own partner effectively?
Ben: It could be a partner, it could be a product company, like it's something starting in the Salesforce ecosystem though.
Patrick: Right, I mean Salesforce's ecosystem is pretty good, there's plenty of resources out there to go and learn on your own and get across it. I think when rubber hits the road, in being a business owner, and getting you know, pipeline generated and those sorts of things, that's where you know, you're getting into more of their understanding how their sales cycles work, understanding what their reps are incentivised by, and understanding which reps and which areas of the market you want to focus in. Are you an SMB partner, are you a mid-market partner, are you an enterprise solution, where do you fit? Those sorts of things, strategically are important to know, obviously like core, very good understanding of the product, helps. I don't think I've ever met a rep that doesn't want to bring a smart person in the room with them from a partner ecosystem perspective that understands the solution and what they're talking about, to the customer, even though maybe from management's perspective, they're looking to the partner ecosystem to just help them secure the licences, but really that comes from bringing knowledgeable people in the room that know the product, know the ecosystem, know some context, and can help guide a customer along a journey. So I guess advice is, yeah, get deep in, I mean Trailhead is a default first spot for everybody. I don't know where you're coming from, right. If you're not coming from a technical background, I would absolutely just do some introductory GA course into some technical spin, because I think there is, you know, Salesforce is a business solution, developed by engineers. You know, Parker Harris is not a management consultant, or a business leader, even though he is co-founder, he is a CTO, he's a tech head and he developed this platform with his team, as an engineer and you can see that in the product, you can see the way the data is structured, and there has been a logical sense of thought going into it and not having that level of soft skill before you jump into being a partner or a consultant or having a product, yeah it can hold you back I think.
Ben: You have been out of Bluewolf for a few years now, what's your main focus, where are you adding most value now?
Patrick: Adding most value, do I add value? I mean, working with customers that call me from time to time, and ask me about what they're trying to do with the Salesforce ecosystem, I have my own book of private clients. Outside of that, I still have this kind of closet passion of the Field Sales space and work with partners in how to solve that problem for customers. Field Service Lightning came out a while ago, and we had a product at Velteo called Nomad and it was for that industry and it was supposed to solve that problem of, and even though, we have a view that that industry is dying to an extent, you know, heads are being cut, there aren't as many dollars to be able to put into Field Sales representatives or industry, how do I digitise that space? How do I make it more efficient for the people that I do have? So I'm still quite passionate in helping organisations in that space and there's a number of options to go for in that space I believe, and yeah, I worked with a few different organisations on providing solutions, but realistically I keep my head in the Salesforce ecosystem, I help, I find myself more and more helping other people like in your previous question, that either want to become partners or want to start a product and they just need some help on how to go through the ringer with Salesforce, or they need some help on what kind of skillsets they might need internally. For those organisations, as well, I would definitely say, if you're coming from a space and now you want to jump on the Salesforce gravy train, there's an investment to be made, it's not instant flow of work and pipeline and all that kind of stuff, I think there's effort that goes into it and so just a forewarning to everybody that you know, put the effort in, I spent a lot of my own hard dollars going down those paths as well, and you learn but I think you've just got to be prepared to eat that a little bit, and eventually you know, you build up a good core clientele, you know, there's that book 'The Trusted Advisor', and it's for a full-stack consultant in the Salesforce space, you know, that's your end goal ultimately you want to help your customer realise an expensive asset as best they can, so if you think of a where you're training people to drive their Ferrari as fast as they can right, and they want to drive it as fast as they can and so, you want to help them go along that path, whether that's helping them select the right partner, the right product, the right suite of App store products, whatever it might be, which is not always a great idea, selecting a bunch of AppExchange products, but I think that's where I'm at.
Ben: And we've spoken about previous acquisitions, so I'm going to ask you to predict now, nothing that we already know about from a further acquisition or where can Salesforce take the product that we don't already know it's going?
Patrick: I think, the latest acquisition and I kind of touched on it with the throwback to Qualtrics and SAP's acquisition of Qualtrics, I mean Salesforce have a survey tool, it's there, it's something. I think working, there is a gap in that space, the Bonobo AI allows them to crunch that data potentially in some mechanism, of that unstructured conversation, it's the mechanism to be able to have that conversation right, and, you know, there's companies like Campaign Monitor, which I think Salesforce has invested in anyway, Get Feedback, I think those sorts of tools that can do it in a little bit of a less brutal way than just going "here's a survey" you know, if I look at Qualtrics SVKs for being able to implement these sorts of soft surveys into mobile applications, into web transactions, as well as offering mechanisms to have those sorts of conversations, whether it be focus groups that they skill up internally and then they start talking about products and product awareness and those sorts of things and crunch that information. I think Salesforce have the opportunity to take some of their products, mash it up and get ahead of the curve in that, I guess, analysing the conversation or deconstructing the conversation. Because there is a little bit of clutter, not to use a Salesforce product term, but there's a lot of chatter out there about brands, and it's, I think it's just this nut that every brand has been trying to crack. You know, how do I monitor that conversation, that sentiment, and not so much, push it in a certain direction, or push an agenda, but at least have an open conversation, understand where do our priorities sit, what are people buzzing about from all the different mechanisms that people are able to have communications with brands now.
Ben: Well, thank you very much. If people do want to reach out to you, are you a social media guy, what's the best way for people to reach out?
Patrick: LinkedIn's easiest, you can throw me a ping on LinkedIn.
Ben: Busy guy, it might take a while.
Patrick: No, you can tag me, yeah LinkedIn's probably the easiest, my name on Instagram you can hit me up, it's probably just photos of me and my son.
Ben: Thank you so much for coming on, I've really enjoyed the chat and I'm sure the audience will have too.
Thank you for watching, and stay tuned for Episode 15, coming soon. Make sure you're following Patrick on LinkedIn and feel free to reach out to him with any questions regarding the topics covered in the podcast episode.
Talent Hub is a hive of activity at the moment and so visit our Salesforce jobs page for up to date opportunities. If you'd like to become involved in Talent Hub TV as a guest, we'd love to hear from you.


Gordon Clapp – best known for his Emmy-winning role as Detective Greg Medavoy on NYPD Blue and his Tony-nominated role as Dave Moss in the 2005 Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross – stars in this world premiere. Clapp portrays the great American poet, Robert Frost, who "barded" around the country for forty-five years with his poetry, dry wit, and "promises to keep." At times funny, often poignant, This Verse Business will give you things to ponder as the season comes to an end.
Explore Boston Theatre TV, Episode 4 from ExploreBostonTheatre on Vimeo.


Serving up a mix of urban tap, street style and hip sounds and overlaid with a healthy dose of self deprecating Aussie humor, 'Untapped' will introduce some sassy girls into the mix. The gals will bring their punk rock demeanor and angelic feet to the stage with seamless ease and dexterity, giving the blokes a run for their money. Witness the synchronized & extremely comical flip flop & flipper tap; audiences will leave with a serious respect for the creative capacity of this tireless cast.


This blog seeks to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15) and the approach I take (after years of applying other approaches with great dissatisfaction) has been called "Hyper-Dispensationalism" or "Ultra-Dispensationalism" by some. I prefer "Consistent Dispensationalism." With that in mind, I wanted to briefly discuss "dispensations."
It is important to understand the biblical word "dispensation" (Eph 1:10; 3:2; etc.). When we speak of dispensations we are not speaking necessarily of time. Of course, a dispensation can be limited to time, but that is not its primary meaning.
A dispensation is a stewardship or an administration. Joseph was given stewardship over Pharaoh's house, for example. It is how things are run.
Two dispensations, then, can run simultaneously. There are laws in England and laws in France. They are independent yet not mutually exclusive. That is, it is illegal in both nations to murder, but that does not mean all laws are the same.
If you leave France driving on the right side of the road, pass through the Chunnel, and then decide to continue to drive on the right side of the road in England, you will have gone from being lawful to being unlawful despite practicing the same action.
In some of my entries I have noted that Jewish believers functioned under different directives than did Gentile believers in the Acts age (while all were saved by grace). In recent posts, I have noted the difference between several "administrations."
Things in this age are different from the Acts age, and we saw last time that there is a group of believers who will be "guests at the wedding." This is a truth we need to apply in other areas as well.
ALL people in all ages and dispensations receive the gift of eternal life the same way: by grace alone through faith alone. But rewards and hopes differ between dispensations.
Our churches often teach "Old Covenant" and "New Covenant" as the only two separating administrations of God (even some Replacement Theologians who say they reject dispensationalism). It is believed that somehow all men were under the OC of works and now all believers are under the NC of grace (we have covered how both covenants are for Israel and how the NC is yet future eleswhere).
This is gross distortion of scripture and has done more damage to the cause of Christ than almost anything else within Christendom.
Obviously, hundreds and thousands of years before the OC was given in Exodus 19, no one could be under it. Paul said it could never save. And in Nineveh we saw an entire Gentile people spared by faith who had no concept of the Feasts and sacrifices required of Israel, for example.
The OC is for "the children of Israel" (Ex 19); The Gospel of the Kingdom is for "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10); and the NC is "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jer 31; Heb 8). We must make these distinctions to truly understand the will of God. We must "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).
Today, throughout Christendom, truths from other dispensations are being dragged into the current dispensation. The Book of Matthew (a Jewish book given to Israel alone) is often the source of many of these errors. That is why we have been examining the Parables of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, etc.
We must distinguish the hope of the earth, the hope of the New Jerusalem, and the hope of blessings, far above the heavens. We must function under the present administration (the calling to which we have been called - Eph 4) and not fall into the trap of trying to function under other administrations.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh [Gentiles], He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.


The beginning of Passover kind of reminds me of the start of school. Every year it sort of creeps up on us, its commencement marked by the requisite shopping trip. The obligatory matzoh pick-up at the supermarket is like going to Staples for school supplies.
Opening the first box is reminiscent of a reunion with a long-lost friend. Its so good to see you again! Has it really been a whole year? But after we excitedly make our first matzoh PB & J and enthusiastically assemble some matzoh pizza, we start to get a bit bored of our square, unleavened friend. Maybe there's a a matzoh brei thrown in there as well to mix it up (although I've never been a huge fan.) Serious Eats does offer a great guide of 3-ingredient matzoh sandwiches kosher for Passover here. But by day 5, its the texture variety from other grains like a toasted bagel or slippery bowl of pasta that I miss the most.
Luckily, our friends in the Mediterranean come to the rescue with this Spinach Matzoh Pie. Yep, its all Greek to me! This recipe swaps the paper-thin phyllo dough found in Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) with soaked matzoh sheets; creating a succulent, layered casserole with a distinct texture to relieve you of the mundaneness of consuming matzoh plain.  And while a lot of classic Jewish savory mains like blintzes and kugels can be calorie-laden thanks to butter and margarine; the healthiness of this recipe is completely up to you: use fat-free milk, low-fat cottage cheese & reduced feta for a low-cal dish; or full-fat dairy if you desire a richer treat.
The two ingredients that really elevate this dish above and beyond your standard spinach & feta combo is the dill and nutmeg. Chopped dill adds an enlivening burst of freshness to each bite, while nutmeg contributes a nutty sweetness that pairs beautifully with the creamy cottage cheese.  The matzoh textures are varied throughout too: while the top layer of matzoh is golden and crisp, the inner layers are incredibly soft, blending seamlessly with the pie's delicious filling.
I have one strongly-opiniated piece of advice: Do NOT add extra salt to this recipe! Between the cottage cheese and feta, there is plenty of sodium to go around. I wasn't really thinking and reflexively added a dash of salt & pepper to the spinach/onion mixture and cottage cheese blend; and my pie verged on overly salty. Next time I will definitely omit the salt.
1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
2. Cook onion in oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put spinach in a sieve and press out as much liquid as possible. (Or cook with the skillet top off so liquid evaporates.) Add spinach to onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup dill and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
3. Purée cottage cheese in a blender with milk, eggs, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Reserve 2 cups in a bowl and stir remainder into spinach with 1 cup feta.
4. Stack matzos in a deep dish and pour reserved cottage-cheese mixture over them. Let stand 15 minutes to soften.
5. Arrange 2 soaked matzos side by side in a generously oiled 13- by 9- by 2-inch (3-quart shallow) baking dish. Pour in half of spinach filling. Cover with 2 more matzos, then pour in remaining filling. Put remaining 2 matzos on top and pour any remaining cottage-cheese mixture over them. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup feta.
6. Bake, uncovered, until golden and set, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, and serve warm.


CPU Temperature off by 5 Degrees?
I recently built a new PC using an EVGA X299 Dark and Intel Core i7-9800x... I have found that HWInfo64 appears to be 5 degrees off on the CPU temperature readings when compared to other applications such as; Corsair iCUE, Core Temp, and OCCT built in HW Monitor. However it does appear to report the same CPU temperatures as CPUID does.
Any ideas why this is the case? Is HWInfo64 correct or are the other applications correct?
Note: I am running the most current BIOS version for the EVGA Dark X299 and I amusing HWInfo64 v6.0.0-3620.
Please post a screenshot showing which temperatures are off. There might be several values (core, package, etc.), which might differ.


In 2007, while deployed in Afghanistan as an Army engineer officer, Shawn Morelli '98 was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device. The explosion resulted in neck and nerve damage, brain trauma, and blindness in her left eye.
Morelli was placed in a Warrior Transition Unit in Kansas City, Kansas. The ensuing months were painful, physically and mentally.
One prevailing thought kept her going.
A doctor suggested that Morelli, a lifelong athlete, try cycling.
Morelli, a Saegertown, Pennsylvania. native, played on the Behrend Lions soccer team for four years and played softball in her senior year. After enlisting in the Army, she began running marathons and joined the All Army Women's Soccer Team.
Learning how to para-cycle presented a whole new challenge.
A year later, Morelli had mastered the sport.
In 2010, she competed in her first Warrior Games, a multi-sport event for wounded, injured, or ill service personnel. Two years later, she took part in her first national race, which is where she caught the attention of the United States Para-Cycling Team.
Her success is the result of a rigid and intense training regimen.
Currently, she is training to represent the U.S. Para-Cycling Team in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games. It will be her first time representing our country in the games.
Morelli has come a long way in the nine-plus years since her accident, but she said that she still struggles with the idea of sharing her story. She acknowledges that traumatic events affect people in different ways, but she offers one piece of advice for anyone facing difficulty.


ETFs with exposure to Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp.
Here are 5 ETFs with the largest exposure to NYMX-US. Comparing the performance and risk of Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp. with the ETFs that have exposure to it gives us some ETF choices that could give us similar returns with lower volatility.
ETFs with exposure to stocks in the same focus area as Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp..
Here are 5 ETFs with the largest exposure to stocks in the same focus area and region as NYMX-US. These ETFs may not have the highest percentage of Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp., but offer a broader sector/region exposure further minimizing single stock risk. Comparing the performance and risk of Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp. with the ETFs that have exposure to it gives us some ETF choices that could give us similar returns with lower volatility.


We are based in Venice, one of the most romantic cities in the world, what a better place for an elegant and stylish wedding?
Venice, with its unique and glamorous style, is the city where Italy2wed mainly plans weddings, but thanks to a wide range of selected partners and a deep knowledge of Italy we can plan weddings in some of the most breathtaking places around the country: from the art cities like Florence or Siena to the wonderful hills of Tuscany or the dramatic sea views in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast.
With personal attention, commitment and passion, Italy2Wed will take care of every detail of your wedding, offering high-end wedding planning services in Venice and throughout Italy: advice on the choice of the venue for your ceremony and wedding reception in luxury villas, hotels or castle; complete assistance for the legal paperwork; consultation regarding all the other services that make unique your special day: photo and video sessions, flower arrangements, music, beauty services and much more!
We plan every detail with the efficiency of modern times and the fascination of Italian tradition, ensuring that your wedding reflects your true personality and making your wedding day in Italy an unforgettable dream!


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Copyright 2012-2017 Raytheon BBN Technologies Corp. All Rights Reserved. -->
<!DOCTYPE properties SYSTEM "http://java.sun.com/dtd/properties.dtd">
<properties version="1.0">
	<comment></comment>
	<entry key="PERSON">PER</entry>
	<entry key="PER">PER</entry>
	<entry key="LOCATION">LOC</entry>
	<entry key="LOC">LOC</entry>
	<entry key="ORG">ORG</entry>
	<entry key="ORGANIZATION">ORG</entry>
	<entry key="OTHER">OTHER</entry>
	<entry key="MISC">OTHER</entry>
	<entry key="UNKNOWN">UNKNOWN</entry>
</properties>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


On Saturday 8th December 2012, I went to Hillsborough to spend my third matchday with the Sheffield Wednesday media team for their game against Bristol City.
On Saturday 18th February I was at the B2Net Stadium to watch Chesterfield play local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
On Sunday 16th October I went to Bramall Lane to watch the Steel City derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.
On Saturday 8th October 2011 I went to Hillsborough to watch Chesterfield face Sheffield Wednesday in League 1.
On Saturday 13th March 2010 I went to Saltergate to watch Chesterfield get completely annihilated against Port Vale, who are one of only 3 sides to play at Saltergate in its first and last season, the other being Grimsby Town and Lincoln City.


text:
Q: Turn Linux into Router (Cisco-like) how you doing?
I have two Sophos UTM 220 Appliance for study. They have 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports and the hardware is like a common PC (Intel Motherboard, Processor and DDR2 Memory).
I would like to turn these appliances into a router closer to a Cisco one, with based CLI and most capabilities possible (Dynamic Routing, ACL, VLAN, Networking Management etc).
Is there some Linux distro for doing this?
- I know well pfSense, but is hasn't a CLI.
- I has wondering about Vyatta, but now it's a commercial product under Brocade domain.
- I also saw VyOS, a Vyatta fork, but there's no strong community/docs.
Or what do you think of installing a clean Linux distro (CentOS, btw), and start studying and deploying from scratch? What package should I use? I read about Quagga and RPC100, and found it really interesting.
Thanks!

A: Basically any distro can do if you just have 2-3 interfaces, a DHCP and a routing function.
One interface will get WAN feed from the internet.
Second interface will be connected to like a switch for LAN with DHCP enabled on this side.
Third interface is an optional DMZ.
And the Linux would have a static route to forward all second interface traffic to first WAN interface.
I recommend PFsense and it's easy to deploy. You can install and configure using GUI on a web browser.
For complicated VLAN and ACL management, you would want a PFsense.
Another alternative is SmoothWall.
That's basically what all managed routers are doing. They are like small computers routing and NATing.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange