text:
Home Analysis Kagame Government Wins the Medal for the Buffoon of the Week –...
Kagame Government Wins the Medal for the Buffoon of the Week – The Regime Says it is Ready To Build the Capacity of Rwanda's Railway Workers with Zimbabwean Expertise
General Paul Kagame's government has announced grand plans to build the capacity of Rwanda's railway sector workers with Zimbabwe's expertise. Rwanda does not have a railroad. Kagame's plans to build a railway road have failed since 2008. Kagame first teamed with Tanzania, and later with Kenya and Uganda. He then closed the border with Uganda.
On September 9, 2021, General Paul Kagame's government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Railways of Zimbabwe for building the capacity of Rwanda's railway transport sector. According to the signed agreement, the Kagame government and its Zimbabwean counterpart will collaborate in the areas of "capacity building, the exchange of staff and expertise in railway transport development sector and the secondment programmes." Somebody help me understand this. How will capacity building, the exchange of staff and expertise, and the secondment programmes in the railway transport sector help Rwanda? The country does not have a railroad. The 2019/2020 annual report of Rwanda's ministry of infrastructure describes the country's future railway sector as follows:
"The railway transport infrastructure is shaping up as the design review and updating of feasibility study for Isaka-Kigali Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) was completed…The overall project progress is estimated to be 5%."
The Rwanda-Zimbabwe agreement is bizarre. You can't build the capacity of something you don't have. If the overall progress of the railway project is 5 percent, the arrival of trains in Rwanda is in the distant future. The story of Kagame's railways goes back to 13 years ago.
On January 26, 2008, Kagame announced that an American company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway, was ready to build a rail link from Rwanda's capital Kigali to Tanzania's rail network in Isaka Tanzania. By 2013, when the railway was supposed to be up and running, Kagame promised "to hit" Jakaya Kikwete, the then President of Tanzania.
When the Kigali-Dar Es Salaam railway fell apart in 2013, Kagame joined Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta into the "coalition of the willing." Together they would build a railway from Kigali, through Kampala, and Nairobi to Mombasa at a cost of US$13 billion. The ambitious infrastructure would be completed by March 2018. Kenya's component was partially completed in June 2017, when the US$3.2 billion rail line from Mombasa to Nairobi was launched.
Nothing was ever heard of from Kagame and his railway – until recently. He dropped out of the coalition of the willing. And on February 28, 2019, Kagame closed the Rwanda-Uganda border. Now, the Kagame government is ready to train railway workers with Zimbabwean help. Stay tuned.
Previous articleTrollishly Ideas To Employ Instagram Stickers In Marketing
Next articleKagame and British Politicians' Bromance Collapsed – UK Foreign Aid Dried Up while Criticism of the Rwandan Strongman Sharpened


text:
Home / Success Stories / Oil & Gas Midstream and Downstream
Industry Success Stories
You pursue operational excellence amid a complex regulatory environment. Driving efficiency and control in Accounting & Finance, Risk & Compliance, and Business & Technology can increase your profitability.
Providing an Interim CFO to lead financial due diligence and close a deal
A private equity backed midstream company signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire another midstream company. The acquirer began as a start-up and did not have an accounting and finance organization with internal capacity to complete the due diligence. They came to Aventine Hill for help.
An Aventine Hill CFO Advisory Partner with extensive experience in oil and gas M&A transactions become the Interim CFO for the company. This was a new role because the current size of the company did not require a full-time CFO.
The negotiation period prior to the LOI had been almost a year. So, the goal was to complete detail due diligence as quick as possible and ensure the deal closed cleanly. The transaction was complex because the company to be acquired was twice as large as the acquirer and had a more diverse mix of assets.
The CFO Advisor coordinated the overall financial due diligence. This included:
Oversight of the quality of earnings analysis performed by a big 4 CPA firm.
Oversight of the valuation of core assets performed by a second big 4 CPA firm. The valuation was a critical component of the purchase agreement.
Managing the relationships and detail agreements with the bank syndicate on the credit required to complete the transaction.
Providing advice to the board and executive leadership team on the results of the analyses and valuations and ensuring that any obstacles were addressed quickly to stay on schedule.
As the transaction moved to completion, the company recruited for a permanent CFO who would lead the accounting and finance organization of the combined entity. Aventine Hill's CFO Advisor participated in the recruiting process and assisted the CFO who was hired with transitioning into the role.
With the help of the Aventine Hill Interim CFO, the due diligence was completed within the compressed scheduled desired by the PE firm and company leadership. The transaction was successfully closed.
Because Aventine Hill was able to blend smoothly with the company's fast-paced entrepreneurial culture, our team was selected to assist with the acquisition integration after the close (learn more here).
Learn more about our services for:
Providing CFO leadership to resolve cost discrepancies and partnership disagreement
An early stage midstream partnership was experiencing cost overruns with a large construction project. This was generating conflict between the general partner, a private equity backer, and other investors. Without a CFO in place, the partners came to Aventine Hill to provide a CFO who could determine the facts and facilitate agreement among the partners.
Our CFO Advisory Partner quickly stepped in to understand the scope of the construction project, the vendors providing services and the contracts, and the partnership arrangement that guided how costs impacted investors. A root cause of the conflict was that there was not alignment on or consistent financial reporting of the construction costs. Working with the general partner's staff, the CFO Advisor prepared a full analysis of the construction cost of the facility.
The partners also advised that a forensic audit would be required to fully answer certain questions that were judged as critical. With an extensive network of auditing firms, the CFO Advisor quickly met with multiple firms who provided competitive proposals. After analyzing the proposals and obtaining unanimous consent of the partners, the general partner selected a national CPA firm to perform the audit.
The CPA firm conducted an extensive forensic audit based on the revised analysis of construction costs prepared by the CFO Advisor. The results were reviewed with the general partner and other investors. The constructions costs were now accepted as valid and the general partner was better prepared to manage the cost going forward.
With the assistance of Aventine Hill, this company received expert CFO level assistance that helped rebuild confidence among the investors and better positioned the construction project for success.
CFO Advisory services
Financial Analysis, Planning, and Modeling services
Assessing IT capabilities and preparing for growth
Oil & Gas Midstream-Downstream | Aventine Hill Partners
An early stage midstream company was not comfortable that its IT capability was positioned to support the growth that its strategy would generate. An Aventine Hill Partners' CIO Advisor was engaged to assess the current situation and help the management team understand the options it should consider.
Because the company was early stage, the on-site assessment work was performed over two days and consisted of interviews with key business users and an extended discussion with the company's one IT employee and a support vendor. Analysis of the information gathered allowed the CIO Advisor to create:
A model identifying the major functions that would require software support as the company grew and which areas should be prioritized first
Discussion of the trade-offs between on-premise and software-as-a-service (SaaS) options and which will likely best fit the agreed priorities
An overview of IT spend to highlight where additional spend will be required to support growth
An overview of risks from the company's current IT infrastructure approach and alternative approaches that could better support growth
Advice on governance and control issues, particularly were the company to consider going public
A description of the scenarios that would drive hiring of additional IT personnel; and what type of personnel would be the next hired
Aventine Hill Partners' CIO Advisory services proved extremely beneficial. The company decided to make some changes in how much time leadership committed to overseeing IT and what mix of internal versus external resources would provide the best support. Leadership gained much more comfort that IT would be a support for their strategy rather than something to worry about. Learn more about our IT Strategy / Business Alignment services.
Defining a merger integration roadmap to achieve quick synergies and long term benefits
A private equity backed midstream company acquired another midstream company, tripling the size of the asset portfolio. The acquirer originally began as a start-up and ran lean so did not have internal resources with the capacity to integrate an acquisition quickly. Having received assistance from Aventine Hill during the due diligence phase (learn more here), additional assistance was requested with the integration.
Aventine Hill assembled a team with the breadth and depth of experience to work both urgent and longer term issues the company would need to address to successfully manage the combined companies.
A Corporate Development Executive Consultant led the engagement.
One of our CFO Advisory Partners was assigned to focus on general accounting and finance integration.
A consultant with deep expertise as a Midstream Controller was assigned to focus on business process integration across commercial, operations, plant accounting, and project/asset accounting.
A consultant with broad experience in Human Resources assisted senior management with organization design and advised on personnel decisions and policies.
CIO Advisory Partners were assigned to focus on IT integration, including an overall IT integration roadmap plus specific software application, infrastructure, and IT organization design roadmaps.
Aventine Hill utilizes a triage methodology that allows executive leadership to prioritize which areas of integration to pursue interim solutions for, which to focus on long term solutions for, and areas where new capabilities are needed. This company had some urgent areas of concern so where possible, discrete quick hit recommendations were provided and acted upon immediately.
Quick hit activities
Payroll processes were reviewed and a recommendation to quickly consolidate to one provider was implemented. Related HR services were rationalized where possible and benefit plans were scheduled for standardization for the next plan year.
Business process analysis was performed for functions where there were pain points now or were of concern because they would not scale up effectively. This consisted of documenting the "as-is" process in both the acquirer and acquired companies, then identifying options for consolidating processes. Some quick hit improvements required staffing changes to best implement and new employees with the desired expertise were quickly hired.
Plant accounting methodologies and settlement statement reporting were simplified for the acquired company to quickly drive new value from the assets and standardize the accounting. These changes were coordinated with the Commercial organization to maximize the ability of the company to realize the desired benefits.
A new cost allocation methodology was implemented for shared services costs so that profitability for the assets could be more accurately measured now and as synergies are realized.
An interim approach for integrating email, file storage, and networks was recommended and executed to allow the two organizations to collaborate more effectively and to mitigate technical risks in a portion of the IT infrastructure.
Longer term recommendations
An organization structure was designed that achieved synergies by consolidating locations and resolving redundant positions. A change management plan for executing the synergy plan was created and implemented.
A data center and network consolidation roadmap was defined. A new co-location facility was selected to consolidate the primary IT hardware to one cost effective location. Options for additional IT standardization and improvements to be pursued after the data center consolidation were prioritized. The company can choose the pace of implementing the recommendations based on business conditions.
Roadmap options for consolidating multiple accounting systems to one were defined and presented to executive leadership for a decision. Collaborative debate about the level of investment appropriate to the new combined company resulted in a roadmap that provides the primary value executive leadership seeks while deferring certain spend in IT.
An overall roadmap of improvements was defined that would help position the company for an expected exit of the current private equity owners. This included reviewing internal controls to understand key steps that may be pursued if an IPO is eventually pursued.
With the help of Aventine Hill, this company was able to navigate the complexity of a merger integration successfully and begin driving new value from the acquired assets quickly. The executive team were able to "connect the dots" between the strategic and cultural goals they were pursuing and the practical day-to-day changes required to execute as a combined company.
Implementing a BI Dashboard quickly and cost effectively
An early stage private midstream company had a large capital budget but lacked an efficient process for tracking expenditures versus budget for decision-making and reporting to investors. Microsoft's PowerBI tool was believed to be an appropriate tool and the company came to Aventine Hill Partners for help in developing real time interactive dashboards.
The company's need was a great fit for Aventine Hill's BI QuickStart Methodology.
We provided a Business and Technology Practice Director to oversee the project and a Business Intelligence consultant with expertise in defining KPIs, data analysis/mapping, and implementing dashboards.
An initial scope was confirmed that focused on delivering an interactive dashboard using Microsoft PowerBI, reporting committed expenses and actual expenses real time for comparison to the budgets for individual capital projects.
The business requirements for specific KPIs were defined and the source systems were analyzed to define the calculations and technical approach for connecting to the data sources.
PowerBI was connected to the data sources and the quality of the data assessed so the dashboards could deal with any potential data exceptions.
The dashboards and reports were created in collaboration with the business users to ensure the final design would meet the different user stakeholders' needs. The dashboards were thoroughly tested using actual data.
Our BI consultant trained company personnel on how to use PowerBI and the design of the dashboards so that internal employees could maintain the dashboards going forward.
Thanks to Aventine Hill's BI consulting support, this company is able to manage spending on its large capital budget and did not have to make a large investment in BI technology to do so. A real time interactive dashboard was completed in just a few weeks using the commonly available PowerBI tool from Microsoft. The company's management team sees opportunities for expanding the use of BI and the practical approach our consultants utilized can be extended by the company's internal employees.
Learn more about our Business Intelligence and Analytics services.
Helping improve corporate financial models
Publicly traded companies have to be able to accurately predict the effects of certain transactions on their financial statements and the key ratios that are used by investors to track profitability. A publicly traded oil & gas refining and marketing company found itself in need of the right expertise to improve their corporate finance model and turned to Aventine Hill Partners for help.
We provided an experienced financial analysis consultant to make wide scale improvements to their existing model, which had become cumbersome and inaccurate. Our consultant first reviewed the inputs and desired outputs for the existing model. Data input in the model was not consistent and there was no standardized way for users to make and effectively track adjustments. Hard coding of adjustments into equations was causing significant accuracy issues.
Immediate improvements were made by standardizing and simplifying the inputs – saving existing staff a significant amount of time loading data into the model. Next, adjustments were standardized in a way that was intuitive for users and security features were added to prevent the future hard coding of adjustments.
After standardizing data input, the thousands of calculations made by the model were prioritized based on the most commonly used outputs. These outputs included a Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Free Cash Flow Statement, debt and equity analysis, and key ratio analysis for eleven different scenarios. Our consultant reworked the entire model, simplifying calculations and matching outputs to formal financial statement packages. The end result was a significantly more accurate model that could be managed in half the time previously required from the corporate reporting staff.
Thanks to Aventine Hill Partners,this company was able to make significant improvements to a complex model, which resulted in them being able to accurately model several strategic transactions that they were evaluating. Learn more about our Financial Analysis, Planning, and Modeling capabilities.
Project and Interim Solutions

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How Do We Know What Latin American Conceptualism Looks Like?
Miguel A. López looks at current readings of key political events in Conceptualism, such as Tucáman Arde, to question what we understand of 1960s and 70s Latin American art.
Inti Guerrero looks at the Brazilian architect Flávio de Carvalho's designs for a modern man of the tropics: a transgendered New Look that grew out of his interest in crowd psychology and studies of efficiency.
Willy Thayer investigates the implications of the movements that Eugenio Dittborn's airmail paintings make on their global itineraries.
Looking at the legacy of 1970s social realist painting in the Philippines, Patrick D. Flores reflects on the intersection of postcolonial discourse, historical imagination and political art practice.


text:
Вторже́ние — проникновение фигур атакующей стороны в расположение сил соперника.

Нередко сопровождается внезапными пешечными ударами, позиционными жертвами фигур. Подготовка вторжения ведётся путём определения главного участка вторжения, сосредоточения на нём атакующих сил, разобщения сил и ослабления позиции соперника, лишения его контригры.

Пример

В партии 1968 года Ботвинник — Портиш белые подготовили вторжение по линии с.

16. Л:с7! Сс617. Л1:с6

Приходится совершить позиционную жертву качества, чтобы ладья осталась на 7-й горизонтали.

17... bc18. Л:f7 h6

Чёрный король не может взять ладью: 18... Кр:f7 19. Фс4+ Kpg6 20. Фg4+ Kpf7 Kg5+ с неизбежными крупными материальными потерями со стороны чёрных.

19. Лb7

Вторжение ладьи белых нарушило взаимодействие фигур чёрных и раскрыло короля. Далее в партии последовало:19... Фс8
20. Фс4+ Крh8

На 20... Фе6 21. К:е521. Кh4 Ф:b7
22. Kg6+ Kph723. Ce4 Cd6
24. K:e5+ g625. C:g6+ Kpg7
26. C:h6+1 — 0

Примечания

Литература

Шахматная стратегия

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package com.hyrax.client.email.api.service;

import com.hyrax.client.email.api.request.ColumnEventSubscriptionRequest;

public interface ColumnEmailEventSubscriptionRESTService extends EmailEventSubscriptionRESTService<ColumnEventSubscriptionRequest> {

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The current US Middle East policy is quite radical, almost subverting its political processes over the past few decades. Suppressing all resistance with strength seems to be the US' Middle East policy creed. Israel is likely to pursue this tenet with US support. It is extremely odd that the US, a self-proclaimed benchmark for Western democratic societies, persists in such hegemony.
In the Middle East, which is sensitive and complex, it is much too reckless that all policies on territorial adjustments and regional geopolitics are made on the basis of an electoral situation. History has shown that even a powerful nation like the US cannot afford such a quagmire. The Middle East is a graveyard of ambitions. What this region needs is patience to maintain the status quo. The US has chosen a wrong place to show its strength.


Can you name an holiday destination which you didn't want to come back from. It could be a place were you felt so much at peace or at home, almost like you finally found were you belonged.
It could be a place you had so much fun and adventure and where you felt or found your sense of purpose in life.
Have you found yourself stuck on a destination and unable to move forward. Like you literally fantasise about the beauty of it all in the day time and dreaming about it when night time falls.
I have been guilty of such thoughts and fantasises in the past and indulge in a few in the present. I find my mind drifting without a moment's notice into the realm of my subconscious and firmly landing into a glorious destination.
I have never been to better destinations than the ones I travel to on a daily basis in my mind. This is because I can make it whatever I desire it to be. If I want to be in a tropical Island where no one else is present and the weather is breezy I can. I can also be wintry Canada on a boiling hot day.
Through this way I have visited a lot of places which have held valuable places in my heart. Through this avenue I have witnessed many paradises on earth.


text:
Senior Costs Judge: bids for adjournments based on Coventry receiving "short shrift"
Supreme Court: February hearing
Applications for adjournments of costs assessment until the Supreme Court's decision in Coventry v Lawrence are rightly being given "short shrift", the Senior Costs Judge has said.
Andrew Gordon-Saker also suggested that the future of guideline hourly rates could be in doubt if there is insufficient enthusiasm for a second 'expense of time' survey.
In February the Supreme Court in Coventry will consider whether the pre-Jackson regime of recoverable additional liabilities was incompatible with the Human Rights Act.
Speaking at the Association of Costs Lawyers' conference in Manchester last week, Master Gordon-Saker said: "Inevitably in a considerable number of the detailed assessments that have taken place since the end of July [when the Supreme Court flagged up the issue], paying parties have been asking for an adjournment of the assessment of any additional liabilities claim until the Supreme Court's decision is made. Similarly parties ordered to pay costs at the end of a hearing have been asking for the question of their liability to pay additional liabilities to be adjourned.
"These applications, I understand, have been given short shrift. Additional liabilities are recoverable under primary legislation. If that primary legislation is incompatible with the Human Rights Act, that should not affect recoverability as between the parties, although I know that there are arguments to the contrary."
The judge said he suspected there would only be another survey of solicitors – to inform new guideline hourly rates – if a better response rate could be guaranteed this time around; it was the failure to gather sufficient evidence that meant the Master of the Rolls decided not to accept the Civil Justice Council's costs committee's recommendations to increase the rates.
Supporting the existence of the rates, Master Gordon-Saker said: "In the meantime, we carry on with the 2010 rates, with the important but limited changes approved by the MR. If we do not have another survey, then the future of guideline rates is questionable."
In a wide-ranging speech, the Senior Costs Judge said fixed costs for all fast-track cases were "inevitable" but he felt it would be too hard to set fixed costs for the wide range of cases at the lower end of the multi-track.
He also revealed that the Senior Courts Costs Office is turning around provisional assessments in around 18 weeks, with little prospect of it being able to hit the six-week target because of court resources.
He said: "You will still get a bill provisionally assessed before you would get a detailed assessment, so you may think that's something of an advance. Our experience is that there are few requests for an oral hearing, so generally provisional assessment is it.
"The vast majority of cases the parties are accepting the figure allowed on provisional assessment. So to that extent, despite the delays, it could be said that the system is working."


text:
Dusona alticola är en stekelart som först beskrevs av Johann Ludwig Christian Gravenhorst 1829.  Dusona alticola ingår i släktet Dusona och familjen brokparasitsteklar. Arten är reproducerande i Sverige. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Brokparasitsteklar
alticola


You have decided to enhance your property and your quality of life by improving your landscape.
What are your entertaining needs?
Do you like to do yard work?
How much time could you devote to maintenance each week?
What tasks do you prefer to have others do?


text:
module Daodalus
  module DSL
    module Aggregation
      class Unwind
        include Operator

        def initialize(dao, field, query=[])
          @dao = dao
          @field = field
          @query = query
        end

        def operator
          '$unwind'
        end

        def to_mongo
          {operator => field_as_operator(field)}
        end

        private

        attr_reader :field, :query

      end
    end
  end
end


-The Early Settlers, (culled from 'ANCESTORAL QUEST – The Osanyinjobi Story', by Olufemi F. Osanyinjobi, which was launched by The Olowu of Owu, Oba Adisa Odeleye on 24th November 2001 @ Apomu Village).
…the pioneer settler of that region, a man named Sangojimi who was a rather ruthless hunter, warrior and slave dealer. Sangojimi's reputation was fearsome among the Aworis of Otta who used to shiver and seek for protective shelter at the mere mention of his name.
Sangojimi is also reputed to have influenced the settlement of Arigbajo village by granting his friend and fellow hunter, Gbajo lease of his land so that the latter who came after him could also settle near him.
It is told that when Sangojimi embarked on one of his lengthy slave raiding expedition of the Aworis, Gbajo who was now settled with him started granting land lease to new pilgrims without due authorization. On arrival from his expedition, Sangojimi was disturbed by the undue advantage taken of him by his bossom friend. He was now faced with the unfavorable choices of either continuing to live with Gbajo in a strained relationship or staging a confrontation against him, but in the true tradition of a honorable warrior, he resisted both challenges and moved on, sent himself on a permanent exile, turning his back on the incidence while swearing never to return again!
On his outward journey back in the direction of Abeokuta, he encountered Madam Lanto, a popular and influential food seller to travelers who was located at the site of the present Papa-Lanto (named after her). The food-seller who had always been fascinated by the exploits of Sangojimi, a favourite client of hers, persuaded the warrior not to journey far and led him to a piece of virgin fertile land nourished by a pure flowing stream called Gudugba where Sangojimi agreed to pitch camp and once again settle as the pioneer.
In this context, it is not improper to accredit pioneering status to Sangojimi for the villages of Apomu, Arigbajo and Gudugba, all within the same geographical environ.
After the arrival of Sangojimi in Apomu came his junior brother, who later departed for Ekundayo village to resettle after selling all his land to the newly wealthy and influential Osanyin High Priest, Osanyinjobi.
All early settlers have their allotted farms adjoining the Elueri stream.
Sangojimi,s farm has the singular exception of having the Elueri Shrine built within its perimeters.
His pioneering activities are well acknowledged in the adjourning Arigbajo and Gudugba.
Sangojimi's farm also marks the boundary of the landed properties of Apomu and Arigbajo villagers: – His farm shares a common boundary with that of Aina of Arigbajo.
After Ajayi Oreigbe, came Abu (4th settler), and Odewuyi (5th settler). Next came Osanyinjobi as the 6th settler to Apomu village.
It is also worthy of mention here that all the previous settlers to Apomu village had their roots and origin from the Apomu Township of present Oyo State, situated about 20 kilometers from the ancient Kingdom of Orile-Owu, thus forming the basis for the name of the new village settlement. Osanyinjobi was the first exception owing his own origin and ancestory to the royalty of the old mighty kingdom itself!
Probably as a result of his influence in the new Apomu settlement, the next settler and the 7th to this village was Osanyinjobi's kith and kin, Biobaku, also of Molashin ancestory (Molashin Isale). He represents the last of the early settlers that had the distinction of having their farms situated adjoining the Elueri stream.
PS. – Sangojimi Gudugba is reported to be the first Balogun of Apomu-Owu in Abeokuta (1834), and hails from the Jilafin Compound of Ago-Apomu.
Apomu-Owu Township adjourns Oke Ago Owu in Abeokuta. This historical account is about the rural settlement of Apomuland (Apomu village) where many of the early settlers from the ancient city-market of Apomu, near Orile-Owu proceeded to due to space constraints at Ago-Apomu in Abeokuta.


May 21, 2008 - Calypso Medical said the FDA cleared a new indication for the use of implantable Beacon electromagnetic transponders with the Calypso System in external beam radiation therapy.
Known as GPS for the Body, the Calypso System utilizes transponders to setup and continuously track the position of targeted tissue during radiation treatment. In the event that the tumor site moves outside of acceptable limits, the clinician adapts therapy during daily treatment to ensure the treatment is delivered as prescribed to the cancerous tissue while avoiding adjacent healthy organs. This is reportedly the only technology platform designed to provide objective, accurate and continuous tracking information during external beam radiation therapy without adding ionizing radiation. Radiation therapy is the standard of care for patients with a high risk of prostate cancer recurrence or those in whom recurrence has been diagnosed.
Previously this technology was cleared solely for use in patients with an intact prostate. Studies indicate up to 20 percent of prostatectomy patients are diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer following surgery and require adjuvant radiation therapy.


text:
Q: KeyDown Event Universal Windows App in Visual Studio with VB I'm trying to build a Universal Windows App (in Visual Studio 2015) using XAML and VB. The task is: A simple TextBlock should display every number typed on the keyboard using the KeyDown Event. The TextBlock is located on a Grid on the MainPage.
I have already tried to use the KeyDown Event of the Grid and the KeyDown Event of the MainPage. Neither of them seems to work (see Code below). The Event is just not triggered wenn pressing a Key down. It worked quite well when typing a text in a TextBox (the TextBlock displaying the currently pressed Key). But thats not what I want.
XAML:
<Page
x:Class="App2.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:App2"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d" KeyDown="Page_KeyDown">

<Grid x:Name="frm_main" Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
    <TextBlock x:Name="txt_Ausgabe" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="704,118,0,210" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="hgbv,hjghj" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="752" Width="448" FontSize="72" TextAlignment="Center" FontWeight="Bold"/>
 </Grid>

VB:
Public NotInheritable Class MainPage
Inherits Page

Private Sub Page_KeyDown(sender As Object, e As KeyRoutedEventArgs)
    txt_Ausgabe.Text = e.Key
End Sub

End Class

A: First you have to make an Object of the CoreWindow-Class and then link your main Window to it using the GetForCurrentThread function of the CoreWindow class. This is best done in the Constructor of the MainPage-Class
Public NotInheritable Class MainPage

Inherits Page
Public WithEvents MainWindow As Windows.UI.Core.CoreWindow

    Sub New()
        MainWindow = Windows.UI.Core.CoreWindow.GetForCurrentThread()
    End Sub

End Class

Now the Object contains the KeyDown-Event you need.
For example:
Private Sub Page_KeyDown(sender As Windows.UI.Core.CoreWindow, e As Windows.UI.Core.KeyEventArgs) Handles MainWindow.KeyDown

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


NHL 3.5 lime mortar, 25kg, ready to mix.
Eng. bricks, granite, copings, paving, etc.
Hydraulic lime mortar is designed and manufactured to British Standards following English Heritage guidelines. The product is CE approved.
100% natural, breathable and sustainable. The mortar doesn't contain anything artificial, no additives or plasticisers.
The lime, sands and aggregate are carefully selected and sourced from around the United Kingdom.
Mixing the mortar is really simple. All you need to do is stir the lime and aggregate together, then add clean water and mix to the correct consistency.
As a heritage product, the hydraulic lime mortar's performance depends on the integrity of the natural material.
The tough, waterproof bucket keeps the material in perfect condition which is critical given it's hydraulic nature.
The material is not compromised in damp or wet conditions. It is also protected from internal condensation in hotter temperatures.
The lightweight bucket is a convenient, low cost option for anyone working on smaller pointing or repair works.
Clean and portable, it's easy to handle, store and transport. The buckets are tough, use them for something else when you're done.
Lime mortars from Conserv® come complete with clear, concise instructions and free technical support. Call us any time for down to earth help and advice.
What can I use NHL 3.5 lime mortar for?
NHL 3.5 is suitable for most types of building work in most locations and conditions. Facing bricks, commons, blockwork, sandstone, limestone, terracotta. Walling, bedding, pointing, re-pointing, patching.
It's a traditional lime, it is mixed and applied the same way you would use a modern cement. This makes it practical for modern construction. It has the ability to set underwater, hence the name hydraulic.
Do I need to add cement to make it set?
Absolutely not, hydraulic lime sets just fine. It is often confused with hydrated lime which can be added to cement mortar to increase workability. Genuine traditional lime mortars do not contain cement, ever.
In practical terms, mixing and working hydraulic lime mortar is just like using an OPC mortar.
Shrinkage cracks are virtually eliminated using hydraulic lime mortar due to its hydraulic set.
Major labour and time saving benefits of hydraulic lime mortar can offset the higher cost against the non-hydraulic mortar.
You can safely repair non-hydraulic with hydraulic lime mortar. They are compatible and co-exist quite happily.


State lawmakers snoozed on a bill that would delay school start times, but Richmond students, teachers and parents are waking up to join the conversation.
The state Assembly rejected a bill last week that could have mandated classes to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. But as state lawmakers debated that bill, the local West Contra Costa Unified School District asked itself whether or not a later start was the right move.
Teachers and students at Richmond High School say the extra time would improve attendance and alleviate some of the transportation challenges experienced by some kids. Their parents, though, say a later start time might interfere with work schedules and other morning responsibilities.
Before last week's Assembly vote, the school board decided to delay its support for the bill until it had more information both from the community and experts.
The bill could be brought back next year, and would only affect middle- and high-school schedules, which usually start earlier than elementary schools. Currently, all of the West Contra Costa high schools start before 8:30 a.m., the earliest being El Cerrito High School, which starts at 8:05 a.m.
The main opponents of the proposed law were the California Teachers Association and California School Boards Association, who argued that the state should not dictate the schedules that work best for specific communities.
She also said some students have duties every morning that account for attendance problems. Richmond High School senior Itai Morales said she has no problem waking up early and finding a ride to school from friends or neighbors, but she has noticed that her peers are often responsible for their brothers and sisters in the morning.
"They have siblings and have to drop them off at 8:15 in order to get to school on time. The time management for them is hard," she said.
Some Richmond parents, however, opposed the change and called it complicated. Celia Fuentes and Aida Iguera, both parents of 11th grade students at Richmond High School, said that a later start time would impact their commute.
Iguera — who will have her three children separately attending elementary, middle and high school next year — said her morning routine would be much harder if all her kids had to be at school at the same time.
"Even though it seems like 15 minutes might not make a difference, it does," she said.
But those fifteen minutes spread out over the school year can amount to a real difference in a student excelling in class, according to Cal Walters, who teaches algebra and geometry at Richmond High School.


text:
Accessory plea entered in McBride homicide
ALAMOSA — By giving the wrong person a ride on the morning of June 23, 2016, David Silvas became an unwitting accomplice to murder.
Silvas, 40, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to an accessory to a crime charge for which he will likely receive a two-year deferred sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for December.
Silvas' attorney Ann Kaufman explained to District Judge Michael Gonzales, who accepted Silvas' plea on Wednesday, that her client received a phone call "out of the blue" from Kelvin Ruybal as he was driving home in his van from his girlfriend's house about 6 a.m. the morning of the incident. Ruybal asked Silvas if he could pick up a friend at a gas station and give him a ride. Silvas agreed. The person who needed the ride, it turned out, was Lonnie Cooper, 43, who would later shoot Floyd Dale McBride, 52. Cooper has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Silvas did not really know Cooper, Kaufman said, but he picked him up, and within a couple of minutes Cooper saw two people he knew walking down the street and told Silvas to stop.
(Testimony in this case related that Cooper apprehended the two because he believed they could tell him who had stabbed his son Brian, who showed up at the Alamosa hospital early that morning with a stab wound. McBride's shooting is believed to be retaliation for McBride's stabbing of Lonnie Cooper's son.)
When Silvas stopped to pick up the two additional passengers, he noticed that Lonnie Cooper had a gun. Cooper told Silvas to drive to a location where Cooper's truck was parked. Kaufman related that Cooper broke a window in that vehicle to retrieve another gun and told Silvas to drive him (and the two additional passengers) to the Cooper residence, which Silvas did.
Kaufman said Lonnie Cooper then asked Silvas if he could use his van for a couple of hours.
"Mr. Silvas, who at this point is very afraid, says OK," Kaufman told the judge. "He has no idea what the van was going to be used for."
Cooper then gave Silvas his son's car to drive home.
"Mr. Silvas never got the van back. He had no idea what happened," Kaufman said. "He didn't really know these people … Mr. Silvas never saw the van again."
(The van was used to transport McBride after Cooper shot him.)
Assistant District Attorney Ashley McCuaig added that Silvas met with Lonnie Cooper in an attempt to get the van back and Costilla County law enforcement later contacted Silvas to ask him about the van because Cooper had "spun a story about an injured deer" to explain why there was blood in the van.
McCuaig said Silvas was charged in this case because he did not report what he knew immediately, but he has since agreed to cooperate and testify if necessary in any remaining cases related to the McBride murder. McCuaig said that will not likely be necessary, as most of the defendants have now pleaded in this case.
"We're down to effectively one case, possibly two," McCuaig told the judge.
McCuaig added, "We are giving a deferred because Mr. Silvas was a victim in this case to some extent."
Silvas also has a very minimal criminal record.
McCuaig told the judge the victim's family, while wanting everyone involved to receive maximum sentences, understands that Silvas' role was very limited.
Judge Gonzales accepted Silvas' plea to accessory to a crime and reviewed the plea agreement, which calls for a two-year deferred sentence. At the end of that time if Silvas has complied with all conditions of the sentence, the guilty plea will be withdrawn and the conviction will be removed from his record. If he fails to comply with sentencing terms and conditions, he would be resentenced on this charge, which in the normal sentencing range carries 2-6 years in prison or Community Corrections.
Judge Gonzales told Silvas that if after receiving the pre-sentence report from the probation department and reviewing the case he decided the two-year deferred sentence was not appropriate, he would allow Silvas to withdraw his plea, since his plea was based on the agreement he would receive a deferred sentence.
Judge Gonzales scheduled sentencing for December 20.
By giving the wrong person a ride on the morning of June 23, 2016, David Silvas became an unwitting accomplice to murder.


6 AM-DeadLink 4.7 Deutsch "AM-DeadLink" durchforstet Ihre Bookmarks auf ungültige free vpn for globe 2018 Einträge und unterstützt dabei alle gängigen Browser. 53 202 Bew. 56. 57. 54 13 Bew.Download latest version of MikroTik RouterOS and other MikroTik software products.
They have a detailed. VPN Setup Wizard and FAQ section on their website which is easy to follow. They give prompt reply, although they have mentioned that reply can take more than 24 hours depending on the urgency. They reply in a very polite manner.
in previous versions of Windows free vpn for globe 2018 operating systems,bitdefender Total Security 2017 key. Internet maximum and download speed. Everything encrypts and anonymously even your Mac and your location. It can stop incoming traffic that is not secure for our WIFI networks.
marina Abelha and Eliane Petersohn, pS Gravity and Geodynamic Modeling of the Gulf free vpn for globe 2018 of California, paul Mann, #30586 (2018)). Rediet Abera, jolante van Wijk, dale Bird, #30361 (2014)). And Michael Murphy, the State of the Art of the Brazilian Pre-Salt Exploration,bandwidth Management for free vpn for globe 2018 Hotspot and LAN users (Lab3)) By Author Bandwidth Management,windows 7/XP using Cconnectify. Download the. How to create WiFi hotspot in free vpn for globe 2018 windows, if you are ready to create WiFi hotspot network in how to watch hulu overseas your Windows 7 PC then follow the below instructions. Under Programs click the Uninstall a Program link.
there are free options that don't keep logs if you really need free vpn for globe 2018 that option. The paid version is pretty good, however, though. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY OpenVPN Connect is one of the precious few truly free VPNs available on Android.
exodus, kodi is free vpn for globe 2018 watch bbc online proxy an open-source streaming software that offers unlimited entertainment. Using best Kodi add-ons such as Covenant, however,for Wordpress plugin for Wordpress is free of charge. For Joomla free vpn for globe 2018 plugin for Joomla is free of charge.
install MiniDLNA Plugin OpenMediaVault. Open a web browser and go to the IP address of your Raspberry Pi, installing plugins is done through diamond vpnfw OpenMediaVaults free vpn for globe 2018 web interface.


text:
Q: Adapter doesn´t show the corrects Strings I´m developing an android app and I want to display some data from a database in a ListView with a Title and Subtitle. I did an adapter extending SimpleCursorAdapter and it´s working but it shows the 2 first fields and no what I choose in the method BindView. I´m trying to find the error but I can´t, probably it´s something really stupid but that errors is really hard to find by yourself :-)
So that's the code of the adapter:
package com.apeirons.apeironsdatabasemanager;

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.SimpleCursorAdapter;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MyListAdapter extends SimpleCursorAdapter {

    //private Context context;
    LayoutInflater inflater;

    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
    public MyListAdapter(Context context, int layout, Cursor c, String[] from,
            int[] to) {
        super(context, R.layout.consult, c, from, to);
        inflater = LayoutInflater.from(context);
    }

    public void bindview (View view, Context context, Cursor cursor){
        TextView titulo = (TextView)view.findViewById(R.id.Titulo);
        titulo.setText(cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("name")));

        TextView subtitulo = (TextView)view.findViewById(R.id.SubTitulo);
        subtitulo.setText(cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("kind_place")));

        subtitulo.append(cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("score")));
    }

    @Override
    public View newView (Context context, Cursor cursor, ViewGroup parent){

        View v = inflater.inflate(R.layout.entrys, parent, false);
        return v;
    }
}

And here is where I use the adapter:
package com.apeirons.apeironsdatabasemanager;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.ListView;

public class Consult extends Activity {
    private ListView list;
    private SQLiteDatabase db;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.consult);

        list = (ListView)findViewById(R.id.list);

        this.getIntent();

        ApeironsSQLiteHelper apeironsdb = new ApeironsSQLiteHelper(this, "DBApeirons.DB", null, 1);

        db = apeironsdb.getReadableDatabase();

        String[] campos = new String[]{"_id", "name", "kind_place", "score"};

        Cursor c = db.query("Apeirons", campos, null, null, null, null, null);

        int cuenta = c.getCount();

        c.moveToFirst();

        Log.d("CONSULTA", Integer.toString(cuenta));

        Log.d("CURSOR", c.getString(c.getColumnIndex("score")));

        String[] from = new String[]{"name", "kind_place", "score"};

        int [] to = new int[] {R.id.Titulo, R.id.SubTitulo};

        //@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
        MyListAdapter myadapter = new MyListAdapter (this,
                R.layout.entrys, c, from, to);

        list.setAdapter(myadapter);

    }

}

Really thank you for your help.

A: You are not overriding the bindView method of SimpleCursorAdapter, but defining a new method bindview (not the capitalisation!) which is called nowhere.
Because your new method is public in a public class, you won't be warned by the compiler that it is unused.
If you had used the @Override annotation, your compiler would have warned you that you don't actually override a method...


- Express that the speaker is intending to do something being suggested or is just about to do it very soon.
1. 저 영화가 재미있다고 하는데 저 영화를 볼래요?
- 좋아요. 그렇지 않아도 나도 보려던 참이었어요.
I heard the movie is interesting, so do you want to see it?
- Sounds good. Even if you hadn't asked, I had been planning to see it anyway.
- 배가 고파서 라면을 끓이려던 참인데 같이 먹을래요?
- I am hungry so I was just about to cook some noodles. Do you want to have some together?
3. 얼굴 표정이 왜 그래요?
- 피곤해서 잠깐 쉬려던 참인데 사장님이 들어오셔서 당황해서 그래요.
Why do you have such a surprised face?
- I was tired and about to have a break, then the president came in and I was taken by surprise.
4. 수지 씨 뭐 하고 있어요?
- 커피를 마시려던 참이었는데 같이 마실래요?
What are you doing Suzy?
- I was just about to have some coffee, so would you like to have some with me?
5. 더우니까 문을 좀 엽시다.
- 그렇지 않아도 문을 열려던 참이에요.
Let me open the door since it's hot.
- Even if you don't say so, I am just about to open the door.
6. 시간이 없으니까 좀 서두릅시다.
- 그렇지 않아도 지금 나가려던 참이에요.
I don't have time, so let's hurry.
- Even if you don't say so, I am just about to leave now.
7. 한국 요리를 배우려고 하는데 같이 배울까요?
- 좋아요. 저도 한국 요리를 배워 보려던 참였어요.
I am planning to learn Korean cuisine, shall we learn together?
- It's great. I was also thinking about learning it.
8. 급한 일이 생겨서 약속을 미루려던 참였어요.
Since I have an urgent work, I was just about to postpone the appointment.
9. 버스를 타려던 참에 그를 만났다.
As I was just about to get on the bus, I met him.
10. 안 그래도 전화하려던 참이었어.
I was just about to call you anyway.
1. -(으)려던 참이다 = the speaker was just about to do the action; -(으)려던 참이었다 = the speaker had already been intending to do the action.
2. Phrase 마침, 그렇지 않아도, and 안 그래도 can be used with the expression to express that the speaker had already intended to do the action.
E.g. 같이 식사할래요? - 마침 밥을 먹으려던 참였어요.
3. -(으)려던 참에 is used when another clause is followed.
E.g. 내가 전화를 하려던 참에 어머니가 전화를 하셨어요. -- When I was about to make a phone call to my mother, I got a call from her.
2. -(으)려던 참이다: action can be done from now (지금) and near future (오늘, 오후).


You'll cheer for this smooth-faced sweatshirt in your favorite collegiate and professional sports team colors.
"Perfect fit, very warm, great materials, and well done on the logo ! At an exceptional price."
"Since the sweatshirt, I ordered previously was no longer available I ordered the heaviest weight available and was disappointed in the product. Great sweatshirt for a lighter feel but not what I was looking for in a colder weather sweatshirt."


We all know that customer satisfaction is important, but the journey doesn't end when the customer walks out the door. Reviews and ratings are the new currency when it comes to building and maintaining a restaurant. Almost all (96%) of 18-34 year old consumers read online reviews which factor into their dining decisions according to a 2018 BrightLocal consumer study.
Online reviews can make a restaurant get or lose customers. People report that they will only go to a restaurant that has a minimum of 3.3 star rating.
Certain factors like customer service, cleanliness, and quality affect different groups of consumers more than others. 77% of women say that they will not go to a restaurant if they see negative reviews regarding the cleanliness. If a restaurant isn't hitting perfect marks in these three categories, they may be in trouble.
And one negative review can have a larger impact than you can think. In fact, 22% of customers will not visit a restaurant after reading just one negative review! Four or more negative reviews can cost a restaurant 70% of its potential customers.
Having a great review reputation can help drive profits too. Yelp has shown there is an increase of 5%-9% in revenue for every increase in star rating.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake reviews that make it difficult to keep a restaurant's review reputation genuine. Fake reviews exist on many review platforms like Google, Yelp, and Foursquare which prospective consumers can see and thus cause them to change their decision of going to a restaurant.
Love Yelp? Well, nearly 20% of its reviews were found to be fake from a 2015 Harvard Business School report. This problem is so common that nearly 74% of consumers have mentioned they have seen at least 1 fake review.
But where do fake reviews come from and why do they exist?
Some fake reviews are very positive and these may originate from certain businesses purchasing fake reviews to improve their overall rating.
Other reviews are negative which may come from people responding to a political incident. And sometimes, real people that are genuinely angry at a bad experience may create multiple accounts and sabotage a business by putting in multiple bad reviews for the public to see.
One of the best ways to make sure customers do not turn from low and negative reviews is to respond to reviews promptly. This gives a restaurant a chance to resolve the issue with consumers that may have had a bad experience but also shows to other prospective consumers that they genuinely care about their feedback.
In terms of fake reviews, several solutions including flagging the review and getting support from the review platform are described in this article. But this can be a lengthy process.
Want to automate everything from the start? Check out Yumaroo which verifies customer's location and meals whenever they leave a review to make sure that they are giving honest reviews about a restaurant and its amazing food.
Reviews are getting more prevalent and taking ownership and showing genuine attention is necessary to show a restaurant is hard working and cares about their public image.


A classical styled flower bouquet to dazzle created with passion and flair by our super talented florists.
This dazzling bright coloured bouquet includes roses, lilies and gerberas set amongst vibrant green foliage. Exact flowers may vary depending on seasonal availability. We use only the highest quality flowers sourced fresh from the markets by our expert staff.
The bouquet is presented in stylish wrap and finished with beautiful bright ribbon. As a final touch we attach a chocolate treat.


text: 2. IN DEFENSE OF J. O. BAILEY and "PILGRIMS THROUGH SPACE AND TIME" Some weeks ago I was surprised to find in "The Fanews" a review of "Pilgrims Through Space and Time" by Sam Moskowitz. Surprised, because the book has not yet been published. There is no doubt that Mr. Ben Abramson, publisher of the book and one of our best-known book dealers, knows his business. However, the idea of permitting a more or less unfavorable review to appear before the book was actually printed seems to be an odd way of gaining publicity for the book. Inasmuch as I was in on the ground floor in Prof. Bailey's project (I was of some slight assistance in compiling the bibliography in the early days, spending many hours in the children's section of the N.Y. Public Library looking up items in the boys' magazines) I'd like to answer some of the questions raised in the Moskowitz review. As a matter of fact, ther eis some justice and sense in the review by Mr. Moskowitz. It is unfortunate, perhaps, the first half of Prof. Bailey's book is just a classification and summary of plots. Plot after plot is apt to prove dull. But, without throwing this material into an appendix how else could it have been handled? The stories had to be presented before they could be discussed,because most people wouldn't recognize the stories and certainly wouldn't make sense to put half the book into an appendix. It is true, of course, as Mr. Moskowitz says, Prof. Bailey's first plan was to pubish a bibliography of scientific fiction. He started making such a bibliography when he was working on the subject for a PH.D. dissertation. Keep in mind that he was then making a living (or trying to) as an instructor at the University of North Carolina. Finally, after collecting about 5,000 titles, and spending what little money he had been able to save from a school teacher's salary he had to give it up as a job too difficult for his limited resources. It should be noted that the libraries available to Prof. Bailey (University of North Carolina and Duke University) had very few pieces of scientific fiction and no magazines. When I learned that work had been stopped on the bibliography (not the book) I asked Prof. Bailey if he would entrust his card file to my care; inasmuch as I would like to place it at the disposal of Mr. Langley Searles, who was engaged in compiling a similar but more comprehensive bibliography. Prof. Bailey very promptly sent me his card index. It is now in my possession and Mr. Searles has made use of it numerous times during the past year or more. In so far as the SFL bibliography is concerned, I doubt very much that Prof. Bailey ever knew this group had given up their effort on his account. Most of Mr. Moskowitz's criticisms are considerably biased by the fact that he is a "fan" writing for "fans," from the point of view of "fandom." I want to emphasize that Prof. Bailey did not write Pilgrims Through Space and Time for fandom. It was, as I remember, originally a PH.D. dissertation concerned with scientific fiction up to 1914 - a date chosen because it closed an era that could be studied objectively. In presenting the dissertation, Prof. Bailey had to defend to a group of learned gentlemen the idea that


text:
Jobzone
SITE LICENSE ACCESS
Home > > 05/25/2009
Volume 256 Issue 21 05/25/2009
Why I write...Debbie Macomber
By Debbie Macomber |
First and foremost, I consider myself a storyteller. And I'm endlessly fascinated with people, with what they do and why... and how they feel about it. Which means I'm interested in romance fiction. I was drawn to it, as both a reader and a writer, at the very beginning of my career. It's my kind of storytelling.
You see, I believe that romance fulfills two separate but complementary human needs--for story and for hope. It's a way of looking at life, one that offers optimism and at least the possibility of "happy endings."
Romance focuses on emotions and on relationships, both of which are fundamentally important to women. Yes, I certainly have male readers, but it's well-documented that women read more, especially more fiction, and what they want are stories that make sense of life and that reflect the realities of their lives--the importance of love, family, community. Of belonging.
As a genre, romance has changed and expanded and redefined itself many times in the 30-plus years since I wrote my first novel. Back then, romance was more narrowly defined and typically marketed as either a Harlequin or Silhouette series romance or a single title historical. Many exciting changes came about as writers pushed those original boundaries and broadened them. Today a romance can involve vampires, royalty, single mothers, hot mammas, westerns, suspense--the possibilities are as endless as authors' imaginations. The stories can be realistic, fantasy oriented, traditional, futuristic, lyrical, comedic or any combination of the above. Romance can be the main focus of the novel, or it can be a strong element in a story with a broader focus.
My personal journey in the genre has gone from Silhouette and Harlequin romances to single-title mass market releases to hardcover fiction. As I have grown as an author, so has my audience. I am grateful that the readers who discovered my novels in the early days when I wrote category romance are still fans. Today, much of the fiction I write focuses on communities (whether a neighborhood, as in the Blossom Street stories, or a small town, like the setting of my Cedar Cove series). I explore the lives of the characters who live there, which include a multitude of relationships, among them--of course--romantic ones.
In my books and in romance as a genre, there is a positive, uplifting feeling that leaves the reader with a sense of encouragement and hope for a brighter future--or a brighter present. If ever there was a time for an outlook that promises optimism and relatable characters who try to behave with honor and courage, that time is now. I believe this explains the increase in sales within our genre during the current economic downturn.
The theme of my new spring hardcover, Summer on Blossom Street, is this: we all have the capacity to change our lives for the better. Lydia, a continuing character in the series, organizes a new class at her store, A Good Yarn. It's called Knit to Quit, and the people who join all have individual needs and desires they're trying to achieve. They help each other overcome their difficulties, providing encouragement and a sense of community.
We all face difficulties of our own, and how comforting it is to immerse yourself in a book--my book, any book, any romance. It's entertainment, it's escape, and it can even be an inspiration!
Debbie Macomber is the author of Summer on Blossom Street and the Cedar Cove series.
A version of this article appeared in the 05/25/2009 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
More from pw
Stay ahead with
Tip Sheet!
Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more
Log In Forgot Password
Premium online access is only available to PW subscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here.
New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here.
NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PW's subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PW's site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com.
Thank you for visiting Publishers Weekly. There are 3 possible reasons you were unable to login and get access our premium online pages.
You are NOT a current subscriber to Publishers Weekly magazine.
To get immediate access to all of our Premium Digital Content try a monthly subscription for as little as $15 per month. You may cancel at any time with no questions asked. Click here for details about Publishers Weekly's monthly subscription plans.
You are a subscriber but you have not yet set up your account for premium online access.
Contact customer service (see details below) to add your preferred email address and password to your account.
You forgot your password and you need to retrieve it.
Click here to retrieve reset your password.
If you have questions, contact:
Email: PWhelp@omeda.com
Call:1-800 -278-2991 (outside US/Canada, call +1-847-513-6135) 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday-Friday (Central)
To subscribe: click here.


Booking a room or rooms with Bod Gwynedd B&B constitutes a verbal or electronic contract between yourself and ourselves. If you book by phone, via our website or ancillary websites such as Booking.com, Tripadvisor, AirB&B (or other) we will take and validate your card details to secure the room however no payment will be taken at this stage.
Please note we are cannot accommodate children or pets. This is for the convenience of all our guests. If you turn up with a child or pet we will not be able to accommodate your party however full payment will be taken.
Check-in times are 4pm-7pm. We understand that traffic, flights and ferries may affect arrival times and we will do everything we can to accommodate you however we would appreciate a call or email prior to the arrival date (or on-route) to keep us informed as we may need to go shopping for groceries and frequently retire early as we have to be up at 6am, 7 days a week to start breakfast.
At the risk of stressing the point leaving "after work" or stopping on-route for a drink or meal is unlikely to get you here during our check-in times and we have to reserve the right to refuse check-in.
Earlier check-in can usually be accommodated for however we are confined by our daily duties and wherever possible try to get out and enjoy the beautiful area too so do require advanced notice to make sure we are available. Bags can always be dropped off if you are early (assuming we are in) as can the car.
Checkout time is 10am. This is so we can prepare for the next guest and clean the B&B. Bags can usually be left with us and there is plenty of on-road parking outside of the B&B if you wish to go for a walk or shop in Betws-y-Coed before departing.
We are happy to, and regularly do accommodate guests on a restricted or special diet with prior notice as some items we do not keep in regular stock. This includes vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, celiac and lactose intolerant.
If you are booking for a special event please let us know and we will try and help make your stay extra special. We frequently have guests with birthdays, anniversaries, honeymooners, wedding parties, recovering from an event, recently retired or ticking off items on their "bucket list" and will be happy to advise on or book restaurants.
Please be aware that we do charge for damage to our property. This includes bedding, towels, the room, bed, chairs and electrical items such as the TV. If you have dyed your hair or "added to your tan" for your holiday please let us know so we can provide dark towels and bedding as this is the main occurrences of damage we have to charge for. We will do everything we can to minimise or avoid levying a charge but can only do so if we are informed about the damage at, or as soon as possible after the occurrence. If we discover the damaged items after your departure we will debit your payment card and email you an explanation and photographic evidence.
Vehicles using our carpark do so at "the owners? risk". If you are arriving late or in the dark you may wish to park out the front of the house until daylight when it is easier to see the walls, gate leading to the carpark and other vehicles.
If you have any questions please call us on 01690 710717 or email us. We are here to help make your holiday easier, happier and more memorable.


Looking for a quick and easy way to increase postcard response rates? High-gloss postcards might be your solution. The following details how printing high-gloss postcards can boost response rates.
If you want your postcards to perform, it's absolutely imperative they stand out from the rest of the mail. High-gloss UV or aqueous coating makes your artwork more brilliant; colors are more vivid, photos are more intense, and text pops off the paper. People like "bright and shiny" things – our eyes are naturally drawn to them – so adding a high-gloss coating to your postcards will ensure they get more attention. And getting attention is the first step toward earning high postcard response rates.
A glossy coating on your postcards feels amazing in your customers' hands: it's smooth and sleek, almost glassy. Combined with a thick, heavy postcard paper stock, a glossy coating can increase response rates by earning customer trust. In fact, studies have proven customers are more likely to buy when they handle marketing thick, heavy, smooth marketing materials. In addition, the tactile feeling of high-gloss postcards helps you get more attention; when customers are rifling through their mail, the unique texture afforded by high-gloss postcards gives them pause and reason to devote more attention to your message.
Postcards printed with glossy coatings look more professional, even high-end. Customers instinctively reason that companies represented by professional-grade marketing materials are trustworthy and more credible. Increased credibility leads to increased sales! The best part is it doesn't cost much to add a high-gloss coating to your postcards, yet it can help you dramatically increase response rates and your ultimate return on investment. Print high-gloss postcards now.


Save up to 80% on thousands of items in our store this month. Click here for the key to savings.
What do our condition grades mean?
New - These items have never been opened and are completely functional and retail-ready. They're in their original packaging (packing may show slight wear) and contain all advertised items/pieces and features.
Like New - These items are fully functional and retail-ready, however they may show minor cosmetic defects on the packaging and/or product. Our Like New inventory may also exclude manuals and/or accessories and display in non-original packaging.
Used - These items contain cosmetic issues and/or defects that may affect functionality. Most often, this inventory type is also missing its original packaging, manuals and accessories. We can't always guarantee that these items will be functional and they may show signs of heavy use.
*Orders under $75 ship for $5, orders over $75 ship for free (US only)!
Quick Snap hand tools are built to provide fast access to some of your most commonly used tools. With the patented Quick Snap feature, simply "snap off" the tool from your belt to use the tool or "snap on" the tool back to your tool belt using the magnetic feature. You are also able to magnetically stick the tool to metal surfaces such as steel beams, ladders, tool boxes, pipes and ducts for easy access. The Quick Snap Magnetic Folding Knife Set comes with a Universal Tool belt holder for the ultimate in tool storage and quick access. It also comes with One Handed Flip Out feature for quick knife access and one-handed usage. An easy blade change button makes changing out dull blades a snap. The Blade holder allows for 33% more blade exposure than traditional utility knives allowing faster and cleaner cutting.
Can I find this item in your retail stores?
The short answer: probably! We carry everything from home improvement to home goods, toys to TVs and much more at our stores. We like to say that we have something for everyone.
The categories we specialize in, however, are primarily home improvement-related (appliances, flooring, tools, outdoor power equipment, etc.), patio furniture and refurbished TVs. We acquire our inventory from major retailers (returns, overstocks, etc.), liquidators (overstocks, closeouts) and direct from suppliers and manufacturers. This allows us to have a unique inventory mix unlike any store in the region.
If you have any questions about this item or anything else related to our retail store inventory, please send us an email or give us a call. We're happy to help!
next in-store or online purchase!
© MN Home Outlet. All Rights Reserved.
SAVE 10% ON YOUR FIRST PURCHASE!
Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you a 10% off coupon!
Do you live in Minnesota?


text:
Get Ready for .smith, .sports or .love on the Web
Posted on June 27, 2008 December 29, 2017 by admin
Internet regulators on Thursday voted to relax rules on domain names like .com or .edu, which could pave the way for companies or individuals to create an array of new addresses for the Web.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, also approved measures that will allow top-level domain names to be written in scripts such as Arabic or Cyrillic.
Top-level domain names, or TLDs, refer to Internet name suffixes, such as the ubiquitous .com, .net and .org, among others. Currently, there are more than 200 TLDs, which also include the two-character country codes used by websites, such as Britain's .uk.
"This is a historic resolution," said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of Icann's board. "It's going to make a big difference to how the Internet looks and works."
Icann officials said some technical issues for the new system must still be worked out, but it could be reviewing the first applications for new TLDs as early as next spring. The application fee is expected to cost more than $100,000.
Under the new system, individuals, companies or groups could apply to have any string of letters established as a domain name. It could be a vanity name, for example — .smith — or a category name like .sports or .perfume. A company could also change its domain to reflect its brand, so Apple.com could become Apple.mac, for instance.
Straightforward applications will be approved quickly, officials said. A review process would be undertaken for controversial strings, such as those that infringe on existing trademarks, or appear to be too similar to existing TLDs, or raise moral objections.
Icann adopted the new rules after a meeting in Paris.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
Will Apple Outlast Microsoft?
Mac OS X on Intel?!?
What Does the iPod Have to Do With IT Service Management?
Apple 'RAID's the Enterprise Server Room
Microsoft Rivals Issue New Complaint to EU
Apples in the Enterprise
Apple 'Switch' Campaign Shifts to UNIX Crowd
The Importance of Internalizing Quality
Massive Denial of Service Attack Tries to Cripple Entire Web
Longhorn Offically Windows Server 2008
CategoriesCIO Insights, News
PreviousPrevious post: Gates Leaves Microsoft to Focus on Philanthropy
NextNext post: Defining Innovation


I first read about Borgo di Vagli's fractional ownership concept in a Sunday Times supplement. I cut it out and put it in my handbag knowing that I would be spending time in Rome in a few weeks to meet up with some of my relatives who live in South Africa. I suggested to my mother that she might enjoy a 90 minute train ride up to Tuscany for the day as I was keen to visit a little hamlet that I was thinking about buying into.
The train from Rome Termini to Terontola was very scenic and followed by a short taxi ride to Borgo di Vagli where, Stefania, the resort director welcomed us with a cold glass of white wine as if we were old friends. We lunched under the shade of the Pergola on a hot sunny day, and it was there that I fell in love with the location and marveled at the high quality of the restoration of the hamlet – and although I had visited and soaked up the Hamlet for only a couple of hours, I knew I wanted to be part of it before I left.
I had some funds due from a maturing savings policy and I had been thinking to buy a Porsche! However after my trip to Vagli I decided to make a commitment to spending regular free time in Italy; try and learn the language, try to drive the Italian way, learn more about the local wines and try my hand at cooking local recipes with fresh local produce – and to do all this, I would buy my home in Tuscany and just go with the flow!
I didn't really take much into account before deciding to buy – other than checking the purchase process with a lawyer.
My aim was to visit Vagli at least twice a year – I love the climate in June and September. I also hope my sons and friends can take advantage of visiting and enjoying such a beautiful part of the world. I would love to visit more, but my hectic business and social life coupled with animal ties in the UK and not to mention the stress of flying with Ryanair – unfortunately limits more frequent visits.
A dream of mine is to spend a few weeks driving down and staying at out of the way places en-route. It won't be in 2014, but maybe the year after.
I perceive ownership as more of a lifestyle choice, but when my arthritis eventually prevents me from visiting, my hope is that I will see satisfactory financial return on my purchase, which would make my many happy memories even sweeter.


text:
ABC issues news releases on the latest workforce, policy and industry issues, as well as construction-related economic data and trends. Commercial and industrial construction economic analyses include federal data on construction spending, employment, GDP and the Producer Price Index.
In addition, ABC produces the Construction Backlog Indicator, the only economic indicator that reflects the amount of work that will be performed by commercial and industrial construction contractors in the months ahead, and the Construction Confidence Index, a diffusion index that signals construction contractors' expectations for sales, profit margins and staffing levels. Methodology for both indicators can be found here. ABC construction economic releases are published according to this schedule.
For media inquiries, please contact Erika Walter, ABC's director of media relations at [email protected] or (202)905-2104
Click here to subscribe to ABC's news releases or here to receive ABC's weekly newsletter, Newsline.
1st Half 2012 (1)
2nd Half 2012 (1)
News Releases 2012 (30)
News Releases 2017 (114)
1st quarter 2018 (0)
Construction Backlog Indicator (70)
Construction Economic Update (195)
Construction Spending (137)
Construction Confidence Index (63)
ABC Leadership and News (10)
Construction Economics (434)
Politics and Policy (159)
People and Awards (110)
State Unemployment (70)
Workforce and Safety (60)
Materials Prices (79)
News Release 2020 (94)
News Release 2021 (119)
Letters to the Hill (0)
News Release 2022 (5)
ABC Names 2021 Craft Instructor of the Year
Thursday, March 11, 2021 9:50 AM
Posted in People and Awards, News Release 2021
GRAPEVINE, Texas, March 11—Associated Builders and Contractors today announced Todd Swan, a carpentry instructor for the Franklin County Career and Technology Center, a training affiliate of the ABC Cumberland Valley Chapter, was named the 2021 Craft Instructor of the Year. Swan was honored at ABC Convention 2021 in Grapevine, Texas, on March 9.
ABC presents the annual Craft Instructor of the Year Award to an instructor who possesses outstanding creativity, a positive attitude and the ability to transfer knowledge through communications skills and innovative teaching to promote lifelong learning to the future construction workforce.
"Todd Swan's dedication to educating the next generation of carpenters is evident in his leadership and teaching style," said 2021 ABC National Chair of the Board of Directors Steve Klessig, vice president of architecture and engineering, Keller Inc., Kaukauna, Wisconsin. "With his background in carpentry, Todd shares real-world examples with his students about what craft successes look like from a safety, productivity and professional standpoint. He also helps students outside the classroom, showcasing his passion for developing our workforce and the strong relationships he builds in his community."
Swan began his career in the construction industry as a sophomore in high school when he joined his local vocational technical center's carpentry program. Once he graduated, he moved to Nashville to complete a commercial carpentry course and has since worked as a carpentry instructor for the ABC Cumberland Valley Chapter for more than 10 years.
Swan also gives back to his community. He has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and worked to repair his local church. He also taught grade school children about woodworking at a kid's camp and serves as the co-chair for his local construction competition through SKILLS USA.
As Craft Instructor of the Year, Swan received a $10,000 cash prize from co-sponsors NCCER, the training, assessment, certification and career development standard for the construction industry, and Tradesmen International, North America's premier craft professional staffing resource. Gamble will also be profiled in the April issue of Construction Executive magazine.
« ABC Names the 2021 Craft Professional of the Year
ABC Condemns Biden Administration's Proposals to Rescind DOL's Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final Rules »
Report: Nonunion Workers Suffer Up to 34% in Wage Theft Under Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements
GDP Report: Investment in Nonresidential Structures Falls 7.3% in Third Quarter of 2021, Says ABC
State Construction Unemployment Rates Down in 49 States From a Year Ago, Says ABC
ABC Challenges Federal Contractor COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate in Georgia and Texas
ABC Announces 2021-2022 Tech Alliance Members


text:
The Animal Body Parts and Functions
The classification of animals is diverse. Although some classifications are universally accepted, many others remain controversial. Animals share basic features and behaviors that enable them to be grouped into categories. These classifications are used to help people identify different types of animals.
The first classification is Eutherians, which includes all land animals and all freshwater habitats. The second classification is reptile and amphibians, which include all vertebrates, including humans and all salamanders. Multicellular organisms are eukaryotic, a type of organism with cells that produce both protein and DNA. With few exceptions, all animals breathe air, eat protein, can multiply, move, and reproduce by cell division, are capable of moving about by swimming, have nerve centers that allow them to detect changes in physical structure, and have some ability to regenerate tissue parts.
An animal that is neither a vertebrate nor an invertebrate belongs to an organism that is part of the Kingdom Protista. Kingdom Protista is a subcategory of the Classialevacea, which includes the classes amphibians and vertebrates. Animals in this subclass are not classified as true vertebrates. The main article on this subclass is Animals of the Subclassialevacea.
The classification of animals including insects begins with the class Copeceae, which consists of bees, certain wasps and certain flies. Bees produce honey and queen bees are classified as the main source of food for other insects. Major insectivores include cats, dogs, horses, porcupines, rabbits, rats, birds, and insects that feed on these animals. Major predators of animals include snakes, hyenas, sharks, and scavengers.
The classification of animals also includes protozoa, which are microscopic unicellular organisms that are parasitic. These animals have an exoskeleton and a digestive system but do not have a muscular skeletal structure. The three main orders of the kingdom Animalia are: Prototheria, Dermatophytes and Eutherians.
All animal groups are categorized according to the order they derive from. Cetacea is the first order of animals to be classified according to their skeletal arrangements. A few of the animal groups that belong to the order Cetacea are the elodeons, cephalopods, mollusks, snails, trilobites and the eels. Insects are classified according to the Kingdom Protista and they are further divided into the Kingdom Insecta, which includes all crustaceans and insects that belong to the class insects. The order Orthoptera consists of the butterflies, caterpillars, moths, dragonflies, wasps and beetles.
The digestive tract in animals is divided into two different classes: animal cells and cell contents. Animal cells include the intestinal tracts of all animal species. In the case of plants, these cells are called fascia. Cells content are present in all tissues of animals including the brain, heart, lungs, gall bladder, liver and small intestine. The digestive enzymes that digest the proteins are manufactured in the stomach and these are transferred to the intestines through the excretion. Digestive enzymes are present in all animal cells except in the case of fibrin, which is manufactured by the liver.
The animals possess a set of organs called the exoskeleton, which provides protection to the internal organs. Most animals have only one set of exoskeletons, whereas some groups have two or more exoskeletons. The remainder of the animal skeleton is composed of soft tissues like the muscles and internal organs. All living beings, though covered with a thin membrane called mucus, possess an exoskeleton in which the major digestive organs are located. Mucus prevents the bacteria that cause infection from invading the interior. The gastrointestinal tract of the platypus is lined with glandular tissue.
Previous: Art History Degrees
Next: Defining a Hero


text:
'''
Created on Jul 21, 2009

@author: Andrew
'''

from mod_python import apache
from mod_python import util
from utaka.src.errors.ServerExceptions import ServerException
import utaka.src.config as config
from utaka.src.DataAccess.connection import Connection

def getUser(signature, accessKey, stringToSign):
	conn = Connection(useDictCursor = True)
	rs = conn.executeStatement('select userid, secretKey from user where accessKey = %s', (accessKey,))
	if len(rs) == 0:
		raise Exception, ('hello', 'world')
	user = rs[0]['userid']
	pkey = rs[0]['secretKey']
	computedSig = __computeBase64Signature(pkey, stringToSign)
	if computedSig == signature or signature == 'free':
		return user, computedSig
	else:
		raise Exception

def __computeBase64Signature(key, message, urlEncode=False):
	import base64
	import hmac
	import sha
	b64Str = base64.encodestring(hmac.new(key, message, sha).digest()).strip()
	if urlEncode:
		import urllib
		b64Str = urllib.quote_plus(b64Str)
	return b64Str