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Photo Book Works at 23 Sandy
By Eleanor Williams
Through March 12th, 23 Sandy Gallery is exhibiting "Photo Book Works," features national and international books, selected by Mia Semingson and first shown in Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, that "incorporate photography as a primary image medium." The books range from one-of-a-kind hand-held artist books accented with photographs, to photographs of a large scale outdoor book sculpture ("Book Man" by Stewart Harvey from Burning Man, 2000), to the finely printed and professionally letter-pressed limited edition books of photographs.
Although the "Photo Book Works" offers a variety of pieces showcasing contemporary explorations of the book as an art object unto itself, the worth of this show is in several of the more traditional books which provoke thoughtful contemplation of time, aging and mortality. A number of the stronger pieces featured in this show are by female artists self-reflecting on existential feelings of loss, nostalgia, aging and mortality though image and journey (journey on a road, journey within, journey through time, journey through the book). Among these books is a breadth of experience and perspective.
Mia Semingson's work, made up of snapshots of her every day life with her family during her 40th year, draws the viewer in with colorful and approachable images, and it is easy to sympathize with her self-reflective project about aging and living. Ginger Burrell's "The Heaven Project" communicates through digitally manipulated black and white photographs different descriptions of heaven. Slowly turning the pages of this book, the viewer is inspired by the unique visions of individuals' utopia while being subtly led to questions of one's own views of mortality and the mystery of what happens in the hereafter.
Several other book works also allow us to take a journey along with the artist. Sally Waterman's "The Journey Home" is a "visual diary documenting a repeated journey" of the artist on the train to visit her family outside of London. From afar the small black and white images of the many small accordion books look alike, contrasts, lines and perspectives of industrial England inside and outside the train. But upon close examination, each day becomes its own world with keen observation of fellow passengers and the ever-changing passing landscapes. Time is elapsed and extended; change is apparent but still somehow things are the same. Heather F. Wetzel's photo book explores "nostalgia for childhood memories" during a road trip made up of intentional decisions to repeatedly get lost.
Lauren Hankin's Displaced, her first book, is a careful assemblage of eerie yet romantic richly printed landscape photographs within a beautifully bound and letter-pressed structure (printed by the artist, with letterpress by Inge Bruggeman of Textura Printing and bound by John De Merritt Bookbinding). The images are evocative of the sadness, distortion, transformation, nostalgia and loneliness of the artist as she journeyed by herself into the countryside of Northeastern North America and also into herself as she experienced the loss of a marriage's end. In Part I, the photographs depict a freedom and hope. "My senses were re-awakening. I began to see again- beauty I had been blind to for a long time: clear sparkling rivers, beachfronts dimpled by boulders, shrouded in fog," Hankin comments, and the images are full of a nostalgic bliss, a hopeful commentary. The photographs of Part II carry on a soft and innocent beauty, but also exemplify the artist's transformed emotions and her feeling of suffocating fear. The artist writes, "I believed that the only way I could overcome these fears was by documenting them; by imprisoning what terrified me most onto a small frame of film, and eventually transforming them into beauty." Hankin's photo book expresses the transfiguring and convoluted power that emotions can have on our view of the world, while offering images of timeless and serene beauty.
Images from top: Judith Hoffman, Mia Semingson, Sally Waterman, Lauren Henkin. All images copyright the artists.
Free Grant Writing Workshop with Oregon Cultural Trust
The Oregon Cultural Trust, along with other leading cultural organizations in the state including the Oregon Arts Commission and Oregon Humanities, is offering free grant proposal workshops a and information sessions in the month of March throughout Oregon.
Representatives from the various organizations will present the types of grants they offer, as well as the best methods to use in writing a proposal. These presentations will be followed by Q & A time and breakout sessions in which participants discuss projects with one another.
Portland's session is on Thursday, March 31st from 11am to 1pm at the Central Library downtown. "Writing Strong Grant Proposals" is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Learn more or sign up.
Modified Style - Call to Artists
What: Modified Style is an annual Fundraiser Fashion Show featuring garments made by local artists out of fabric scrap material that benefits local nonprofits.
Each entrant receives a bag full of scraps and has one month to fabricate a wearable creation. Garments are then worn by artist-provided models and auctioned off to raise funds for a local nonprofit. This year, proceeds will benefit Sisters of the Road, Out to Pasture Farm Sanctuary and Children's Healing Arts Project (CHAP).
When: Deadline to sign up is February 15th. Bags of fabric will be available for pick up from February 19th through February 26th at Modern Domestic. An image of finished creation, blurb and model name are due April 1st. A dress rehearsal will be April 27th, and the full Fundraiser Fashion Show is scheduled for May 1st, 2011.
Where: This year's Modified Style Fundraiser Fashion Show will be held at Disjecta, in the Kenton neighborhood.
Who: Entrants need only have "a creative urge of desire to learn" how to sew.Enter in either the amateur category (no sewing experience necessary) or as a professional (if you have ever sold a garment). Modified Style requests a $25 contribution from amateurs and a $40 contribution from professionals to cover the costs of the event.
How: E-mail info(at)modifiedstyle(dot)org to sign up to participate.
Image from www.modifiedstyle.org.
Artist Opportunity:Portland STOCK Dinner
Portland STOCK hosts public dinners in various locations around Portland on a bi-monthly schedule to raise funds for local artists' projects.
The premise: each participant in a stock dinner contributes $10 and becomes a dinner guest. Artists or artist group proposals are then presented to the dinner guests and the guests get to vote on which project should receive funding, a la the evening's proceedings. Hence, all the money contributed by the individual diners is then allocated, as a sort of grant, towards an innovative and community-supported artist project. The winning artists must present their completed work at the next stock dinner. (Portland Stock was inspired by the Sunday Soup dinners of the Chicago-based group InCUBATE.)
The next round of artist proposals, in the category of "culture as a component of sustainability," are due by 5pm on February 4th. This time around, Portland STOCK is hosting a special micro-grant dinner, in conjunction with the Dill Pickle Club, at the Visual Culture Symposium 2011, and the dinner is not open to the public. Rather, the dinner will serve to demonstrate a unique micro-granting process and feature Portland-based artists' projects to the national symposium of arts administrators and educators.
Learn how to submit an artist proposal.
PDX Places
Ron Ulicny at Spoke Gallery
Heaven's Teas with Paul Rosenberg
NW Reuse Art Highlights
A Survey of Hair Art
abstract art book arts call to artists calligraphy contemporary art craft culture D.I.Y. event exhibition fashion fiber gallery grants hair art history holiday horse indigo installation Japan letterpress modernism museum nature nonprofit object painting philanthropy photography portfolio Portland reuse San Francisco science Seattle sustainability tea textiles Victoriana workspace writing zines
Free Grant Writing Workshop with Oregon Cultural T...
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Dry January..but not for much longer!
It may be dry January for some but we're busy crafting new recipes for delicious, healthy beer for you to drink …in moderation of course!
Then it's all about the tasting as with these good folk who are testing their taste buds with our famous three thirds of a pint "beer tapas" (we also do this with our real ciders too!).
So with a little over 10 days to go we're hoping that all you dry people will be ready to grace us with your presence down at the mill for a pint of healthy English beer, after all it's only barley, hops, yeast and water!


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Saving the special places we love.
Preserving our diverse cultural heritage.
Providing outdoor recreation to healthy communities.
Conserving natural diversity of ancient forests.
Protecting traditional land uses.
Land Conservancy of Tall Timbers
Our conservation efforts are dedicated to helping protect the distinctive Red Hills landscape and traditional land uses of South Georgia and North Florida.
Now in its 63rd year, Tall Timbers has always been a small organization with a large mission. Our Land Conservancy was created in 1990. Its success uses the science and principles of fire ecology, sustainable forestry, game and non-game wildlife management, and working lands conservation.
Our program areas of Land Conservation, Planning & Advocacy, and Outreach & Education reflect this holistic approach.
Process & Costs »
Financial Incentives »
Stewardship »
Community Planning »
Advocacy »
Planning Resources »
Explore the Red Hills »
Education Resources »
Why we conserve
For over a century, the landowners of the Greater Red Hills have been good stewards of this unique American landscape. Their practice of sustainable forestry and prescribed burning has conserved some of the last remnants of the great longleaf pine forests of the Southeast. This unspoiled land provides refuge for wildlife, protects our clean air, and serves as a high recharge area for the Floridan aquifer, the source of fresh drinking water for residents of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
Conserving the distinct natural and cultural resources and rural land use traditions of this region is key to the mission of Tall Timbers.
How we conserve
Tall Timbers has many tools in our land conservation toolbox. Families wishing to keep their land open and free from development should carefully consider the various options and incentives.
Where we conserve
Tall Timbers works at varying scales with its research and land conservation strategies. Our primary land conservation focus is the Red Hills region and the Albany Quail Belt. A broader "cone of conservation" links these areas from the Georgia uplands to the Gulf Coast. This larger area is considered one of the nation's hot spots of wildlife diversity, natural communities, and rare and endemic species.
Due to its biodiversity and cultural significance, the Aucilla River watershed is a strategic focal area for Tall Timbers as well. Launched in 2019, the Aucilla River Watershed Coalition is working to build partnerships, raise awareness, and conserve the unique features of the watershed. Along with its partners, Tall Timbers seeks to conserve 100% of the frontage along the Aucilla River, and permanently protect at least 50% of the watershed.
Explore The Aucilla
Our Conservation Vision
Today, nearly 40% of the 436,000-acre core area of the Red Hills is permanently protected. Tall Timbers is working to link this core area to the broader region from Albany, Georgia, to the Gulf Coast, and from the Flint/Apalachicola Rivers to the Aucilla River watershed. Our 10-year conservation vision closes the gap between conserved and unprotected lands to safeguard the health of woodlands, wetlands, wildlife, and working lands in the Greater Red Hills.
The accreditation seal is awarded to land trusts meeting the highest national standards for excellence and conservation permanence.
Tall Timbers received accreditation in 2009 and renewed in 2014. We are proud to display our accreditation seal and join the nearly 400 accredited land trusts in the United States. These land trusts have saved nearly 20 million acres of land.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Unfortunately not. The Free Disney Dining Plan promotion is fantastic, but it is only valid on a non-discounted Magic Your Way package which includes park tickets. You would have to do the math and determine if the Special Offer which you use for a discounted room ends up saving you more money than any Free Dining offer that may come out.


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Vending machine bill hits snag in state Senate
Monday, February 9th 2004, 12:00 am
(Oklahoma City-AP) -- A bill to prohibit soft drink vending machines in elementary and middle schools hit a snag in a state Senate committee Monday morning.
The Senate Education Committee vote on whether to send the bill to the full Senate tied at 8-to-8, keeping the measure in committee.
Some members say they're worried about money that would be lost by schools that have contracts with soft drink companies.
The bill by Senator Bernest Cain also calls for more nutritious snacks in the vending machines and is supported by health officials who say obesity is increasing in children.
The soft drink industry questions whether soft drinks in schools have as much affect on obesity as a lack of physical activity by children.
Committee Chairwoman Penny Williams says she'll bring the bill back for another vote next week.
News On 6 (Oklahoma City-AP) -- A bill to prohibit soft drink vending machines in elementary and middle schools hit a snag in a state Senate committee Monday morning.
The Senate Education Committee vote on


Global Domains International is a highly effective way for the average person to make good money from home at the unheard of cost of only $10. They pay well, they pay on time, and they pay residuals.
Most of our leads/sign ups come from organic searches on the Internet. Developing and promoting the Global Domains International web site so our site gets to the top of the Internet search engines has been very effective for us.


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package org.jfree.chart.editor;

import org.jfree.chart.JFreeChart;

/**
 * A default implementation of the {@link ChartEditorFactory} interface.
 */
public class DefaultChartEditorFactory implements ChartEditorFactory {

    /**
     * Creates a new instance.
     */
    public DefaultChartEditorFactory() {
    }

    /**
     * Returns a new instance of a {@link ChartEditor}.
     *
     * @param chart  the chart.
     *
     * @return A chart editor for the given chart.
     */
    public ChartEditor createEditor(JFreeChart chart) {
        return new DefaultChartEditor(chart);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Fog over Vergi …
For the family of the unfortunate farmer from Vergi Serres, there are still important questions about his death conditions.
Three days after the funeral of Thanasis Polychroniadis, the legal representative of his relatives, Stergios Saraidaris, found himself in the studio of the show and talked about the questions that still ravage the family.
As he said, they can not explain how the shoes they wore were found in his house and not the place where the tractor was found on the platform.
They believe that even though he decided at that time to go picking wood from the point where his tractor was found, there were no available lumber on those days.
They believe that Polychroniadis would not have been able to go to that point alone, mainly because of the mobility problem he was facing, his poor vision and his fatigue from his all-day stay at the mill.
Relatives say that assuming Polychroniadis drove his tractor to that point, the slope of the ground would be hurled in front of the tractor where he would "end up" or even injure himself. If this was the case, he would have the idea of returning to the tractor and turning off the lights and the engine, which started immediately fifty-three days later when the vehicle was detected by the Authorities.
Also, if he had finally fallen from the tractor and survived, why walk barefoot to the ravine a distance of 800 meters where his remains were found and try not to climb again on the nearby dirt road was only 25 meters away?
Clothes found at the point where his corpse was discovered were identified by his daughters, but it is striking that they were found intact. According to the legal representative of the unfortunate farmer's family, relatives intend to continue investigations to shed light on the case.
Check out the deep tunnel research on the case here.
At the "Smile of the Child" the 12-year-old and her siblings… Category: Watch at Tunnel - The abused minor and her siblings from Sepolia found "shelter ...


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Movies starring Angie Dickinson
Tension at Table Rock (1956)
93 mins Western
"Tension at Table Rock" is quite an intriguing western because it combines a variety of western standards. The introduction gives us the gunman who wants to move on from his past and go straight, this leads into a bit of "Sha...
141 mins Drama, Romance, Western
One of the problems you can have when watching older movies from one star is that you are most likely going to watch them out of order. As such for those who watched John Wayne in "El Dorado" from 1966 may get a surprise when...
Ocean's Eleven (1960)
123 mins Comedy, Crime
Before we were introduced to George Clooney & Brad Pitt schmoozing their way through the remake of "Ocean's Eleven" and the subsequent sequels there was the original "Ocean's Eleven" from 1960. Sadly the original "Ocean's Ele...
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
126 mins Comedy, Drama, War
There is a very simple way to explain "Captain Newman, M.D." and that is to call it a forerunner to that great TV series "M*A*S*H". It has that same mix of humour and drama so that you are amused but often moved by the storie...
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
146 mins Adventure , Drama
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) Kirk Douglas stars as Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus who became involved in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
Point Blank (1967)
92 mins Crime, Drama, Thriller
Expressionist and Neo-noir are two of the terms used frighteningly often in reviews of "Point Blank", I almost feel that they are thrown in because they sound like fancy words someone who understands movies would use. Now I'm...
Young Billy Young (1969)
89 mins Action , Romance, Western
Young Billy Young (1969) Robert Mitchum is the gun for hire who agrees to be sheriff of a small town as he is looking to get revenge on the man who murdered his son...
Dressed to Kill (1980)
105 mins Mystery, Thriller
Dressed to Kill (1980) Nancy Allen is the witness to a brutal murder but also the main suspect forcing her to try and find the real killer...
Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)
96 mins Comedy, Western
"Last Vegas", "The Bucket List", "Cocoon", "Space Cowboys" and I know I could go on because there have been many a movie which work partly down to the respect an audience has for when veteran actors take to the screen and pla...
127 mins Comedy, Romance
One of he funniest things I ever read was a whole hearted condemnation of the 1995 version of "Sabrina" for being a poor, pointless movie which is not a patch on the 1954 version of "Sabrina". In truth that sort of comment is...
Remembrance (1996)
96 mins Drama, Romance, TV Movie
"Remembrance" starts with a young girl called Vanessa being woken by her mother's screams, next thing we know she is being picked up by her Uncle Teddy whilst her mother is placed in a body bag by the cops and medics. This is...
Deep Family Secrets (1997)
96 mins Thriller, TV Movie
Deep Family Secrets (1997) Molly Gross is the daughter searching for her paranoid mother when she goes missing but in doing so uncovers a lot of family secrets...
Pay It Forward (2000)
123 mins Drama, Romance
"Pay It Forward" is a rather pleasant; surprisingly touching movie which draws you in to a clever storyline with impressive sensitive performances but sadly spoils things by trying to hard to manipulate your emotions. Directo...
* This is purely a list of reviews on The Movie Scene featuring the name Angie Dickinson as one of the principle cast members.
1 pages	/ 13 reviews
Simple list of Angie Dickinson movies
RANDOM MOVIE QUOTE
Uncle Buck (1989)
MOST READ REVIEWS THIS WEEK
1) Out of Reach (2013)
2) Fatal Friends (2015)
3) Evidence of Truth (2016)
4) Dangerous Lessons (2016)
5) Reflections (2008)
6) 911 Nightmare (2015)
7) The Ultimate Sin (2007)
8) Abducted (2015)
9) The Promise (1999)
10) The Other Mother (2017)
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© Copyright 2020. The Movie Scene - all rights reserved
Image and video are used in accordance with Fair Use, and are property of the film copyright holders.


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Bachelor Data Science
Master Data Science in Business & Entrepreneurship
Master Study Program
Master Admission Requirements
All Professional Programs
Data Science for Experts
Data Science for Business Managers
Data Science for Health professionals
EngD Data Science
EngD Admission Requirements
EngD Application Procedure
JADS offers data science programs at undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate level. Parallel in these programs is the aim to develop so-called 'T-Shaped' data scientists and researchers, with strong skills and experience in one discipline and an essential understanding of many others.
EngD
AgriFood and Nature
Social & Digital Entrepreneurship
The Jheronimus Academy of Data Science offers Data science research in three locations: Tilburg, Eindhoven and 's-Hertogenbosch. Our Data Science Research Centers enhance the relevance of academic research to business and society.
Go to research
Data Cases
Home > Vacancies > Assistant Professor Position in Data-Driven Business/Entrepreneurship (0.8-1.0 FTE)
Vacancy: Assistant Professor Position in Data-Driven Business/Entrepreneurship (0.8-1.0 FTE)
Job desciption
About JADS
Information and application
The Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), the joint Data Science Academy of Tilburg University and Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, invites applications for an Assistant Professor position in Data-Driven Business/Entrepreneurship. We welcome applications from individuals with research interests and high-quality track record on the interface of data science/AI and strategy/entrepreneurship/innovation management. Prior experience and interest in natural language processing and text mining techniques is appreciated.
The assistant professor will be invited to join the externally funded research projects such as designing innovative business models for a European platform in healthcare and new ventures that employ data science and AI for new services. The assistant professor is expected to teach at both the bachelor's and the master's level in such courses as Strategy and Business Models, Data-Driven Businesses, and Statistics for Data Scientists. Teaching at the PDEng, PhD and Executive levels, supervising master thesis projects as well as PhD projects is also part of the expected responsibilities. Teaching/research time is divided roughly 50/50.
The faculty at JADS publishes in various top journals and conferences in line with their scientific discipline. For the Data Entrepreneurship unit such journals include Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Product Innovation Management, and Small Business Economics, Journal of Information Technology, Decision Support Systems, etc. Due to the strong ecosystem and funding acquisition track record, JADS can uniquely facilitate initiation of new projects in collaboration with various organizations, and the new colleague will be expected to join such initiatives.
Data Entrepreneurship unit @ JADS
There are three research units in JADS: Data Governance, Data Analytics, and Data Entrepreneurship. The Data Entrepreneurship (DE) unit focuses on how data can be used to create and capture value for business and society. We combine the two fields, Data Science and Entrepreneurship/Business. The main research lines are:
(1) investigating how and why big data and AI enable established businesses and entrepreneurs to become successful. In particular, the unit studies the implications of big data and AI on the digital value propositions, business models, platforms, and strategies of firms, and analyzes the (new) ways in which value can be captured from to digitalization. Example projects: Digital disruption and new business models that arise with digitization and transition to it; new business opportunities due to data; best ways to design and scale up platforms.
(2) applying and developing state-of-the-art data science methods and techniques to better address strategy/management/entrepreneurship research questions. Example projects: Using computer vision to analyze emotions and body language to infer the best pitching strategies of entrepreneurs to VCs; using natural language processing to understand optimal competitive positioning in different markets; using network analysis to understand and predict interaction dynamics in organizations.
(3) augmenting data science techniques with data-driven decision-making tools on the interface between human cognition and business and innovation. Example projects: Recommender systems that encourage getting "outside of the news bubble" and explainable AI; how users react to privacy-sensitive permissions in the Google Play Store, in particular excessive permissions that are not needed for the app functionalities.
Must have obtained, or expects to obtain shortly, a Ph.D. in Strategy/Management/Business/Entrepreneurship with a thorough quantitative/data science/AI component, or a Ph.D. degree in Information Systems/Data Science/AI with applications within the field of Business, Strategy and Entrepreneurship. The ideal starting date is early Autumn 2022.
Has acquired (or is willing to acquire) the University Teaching Qualification (see https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/en_GB/utq), Tilburg University offers courses for acquiring this certification;
Has strong communication skills and is able to work in a multidisciplinary team and department.
4. Publications in well-reputable journals, prior teaching, and funding acquisition experience are considered to be a strong plus
5. English is the working language in all the tasks, and proficiency in English is mandatory (CEFR: C2 level).
The ideal starting date is early Autumn 2022 (e.g. September or October 1, 2022)
We offer a full-time Assistant Professor position. In principle, successful candidates receive first a contract for 12 months (for internal candidates) or 18 months (for external candidates). After this period, if your suitability has been proven and you continue in the same position, you will receive an employment contract for an indefinite period of time.
The salary amounts to a minimum of € 3821,– and a maximum of € 5230,- gross per month for full-time employment, based on UFO profile of Assistant Professor 2 and salary scale 11 of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. JADS uses a neutral remuneration system for salary scaling that is based on work experience.
JADS offers excellent employment conditions with attention to flexibility and (personal) development and attractive fringe benefits. You are entitled to a vacation allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross annual income. If you work 40 hours per week, you will receive 41 paid days of leave per year. Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance of 30% of their taxable salary if they meet the relevant conditions. The university applies for this allowance on their behalf.
We make clear agreements about career paths and offer all kinds of facilities and arrangement to maintain an optimal balance between work and private life. You can also follow numerous training courses, for example, in the areas of leadership skills, personal effectiveness, and career development.
All employees of the university are covered by the so-called General Pension Fund for Public Employers (Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP).
JADS values an open and inclusive culture. We embrace diversity and encourage the mutual integration of groups of employees and students. We focus on creating equal opportunities for all our employees and students so that everyone feels at home in our university community.
All researchers working in JADS have contracts at either Tilburg University or Eindhoven University of Technology. Please visit Working at Tilburg University and Working at Eindhoven University of Technology for more information on their respective employment conditions.
The Netherlands is regarded as one of the best countries for raising a family. For more on working in JADS, see https://www.jads.nl/vacancies.
Questions about the application may be addressed to dr. Ksenia Podoynitsyna (k.s.podoynitsyna@tue.nl), or dr. Werner Liebregts (w.j.liebregts@jads.nl).
We invite you to apply online for this position.
Deadline: Until filled. July 1 first interviews will be planned.
The only way to apply is online, which can be done via the button below.
Please attach the following documents to the application:
1) cover letter
2) CV including the publication list
3) recent education evaluations (if any)
4) contact information for two referees (including name, phone number, and e-mail address). We only approach referees for candidates who go to the second selection round.
Apply via Tilburg University
Do you want to do cool stuff that matters?
We do cool stuff that matters, with data. The Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) is a unique cooperation between Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Tilburg University (TiU). At JADS, we believe that data science can provide answers to society's complex issues. We provide innovative educational programs, data science research, and support for business and society. With a team of lecturers, students, scientists and entrepreneurs – from a wide range of sectors and disciplines – we work on creating impact with data science. We do this by connecting people, sectors and industries: in the past 5 years we have been working with 300+ organizations on data-related projects. Our main drivers? Doing cool stuff that matters with data. Our location at the former monastery Mariënburg in Den Bosch houses a vibrant campus fully dedicated to data science.
Being the second campus for both TiU and TU/e, JADS is about an hour away from Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), and Aachen (Germany). JADS hosts master, PDEng, PhD and Professional Education programs, all positioned at the interface of data science and business. The same building hosts a plentiful of AI startups and scale-ups, further reflecting the business relevance of both research and teaching at JADS.
More about working at JADS
Any questions about working at JADS? Get in touch with HR!
E-mail our HR department
The founders of JADS
Master's Program Data Science in Business and Entrepreneurship
Data science for professionals
Thesis assignment
EngD (business)
JADS MKB Datalab
Go to business
Social and Digital Entrepreneurship
Crime and Safety
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ClickThrough Marketing has been named 'Rookie of the Year' for EMEA in HubSpot's 2016 Impact Awards, which took place 9 November, 2016 as part of the annual Inbound conference, in Boston, Massachusetts.
HubSpot works with more than 3,100 agency partners globally, and therefore the team at ClickThrough is especially proud to have been recognised for its efforts amid such strong competition.
"ClickThrough Marketing has set an example for how businesses everywhere should be transforming their marketing with inbound. Their strategic approach to attracting, engaging, and delighting customers has not only built valuable relationships with their audience, but has driven growth for their agency and the inbound movement. Our team here at HubSpot is proud to call ClickThrough Marketing a Partner and recognise them with the EMEA Rookie of the Year Award," said Patrick Shea, Director of Partnerships, HubSpot, Inc.
ClickThrough Marketing started working with the HubSpot inbound marketing and sales platform in 2015. Since then, it has developed a team of seven inbound certified marketers, and has a web development team that is HubSpot Design Certified. The agency became HubSpot Partner Agency Certified in October 2016. To have been awarded Rookie of the Year within such a short timeframe is testament to the results we are delivering for clients.
ClickThrough has been offering digital marketing services since 2004. The agency added inbound to its product offering in 2015 to build out its portfolio of services, which also consists of SEO and Content Marketing, Paid Search, Conversion Rate Optimisation and Web Development. The agency works with some of the best talent in the industry, including Insights Director, Dr Dave Chaffey.
"To be acknowledged in this way by the world's leading inbound marketing automation system is a great complement to the skills of our team," said Phil Robinson, Founder & CEO, ClickThrough Marketing.
"We have been providing SEO, PPC, landing pages and content services since 2004; so making the step to providing B2B businesses with Inbound Marketing Automation was a natural step. Integrating HubSpot with our existing services allows us to improve our clients' contact nurturing process and transform their ability to convert and drive new business sales. HubSpot has provided the central platform for our clients to connect their CRM software with their website to provide marketing automation for their sales and marketing teams," he added.
"We are so proud to receive this award. HubSpot has allowed us to co-ordinate all of our specialist services – SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media and website development – into a single, fully integrated service," commented Louise Abbott, Head of SEO, Content & Inbound at ClickThrough Marketing.
Inbound marketing helps companies to engage with their clients in a way that is more conversational and organic than other direct marketing methods. It helps generate leads and then draws them along a buyer journey through informative content and thought leadership, helping you increase conversions.
ClickThrough's inbound marketing services include content creation and optimisation, lead generating landing pages, email marketing, profiling & segmentation, and marketing automation – all as part of a fully integrated digital marketing solution.
Want to find out more about our inbound marketing services and how they could help your business? Read our blog Getting Started With Inbound Marketing or visit the Content, Automated & Inbound Marketing section of our website.


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Culture Hacking
#GrowthOrLife Reframing Post-Growth Economics
Universal Basic Income: Case Study
Inequality Video: What You Never Knew
#WBWS Whistle Blow Wall Street: An Open Call
London City & Tax Justice
No Unga Tax – Connecting taxes for the rich and poor
SDG Sustainable Development Goals Hack
The Poverty Narrative
TR Archive
February 4, 2015by The Rules13 CommentsDebunking The Gates Foundation Narrative Project, Featured, Ideas, Power, Themes
4 things you probably know about poverty that Bill and Melinda Gates don't
This story fist appeared on Fast Company.
To fix global poverty, you first need to acknowledge where it comes from.
Bill and Melinda Gates just released their annual letter, "Our Big Bet for the Future," with their thoughts on the current state of global poverty and the suite of projects they are funding to tackle it. While their hopeful tone and a good deal of what they are proposing is excellent, the story they tell about poverty obscures far more than it reveals. These are not "big bets," but rather small technical fixes that can't solve the real, underlying problems.
This matters, because the Gates have an incredible amount of power to go with their wealth. What they say carries tremendous weight with policymakers and affects what millions of people think. If their story is accepted, we all get tricked into accepting relatively small actions as solutions to big problems.
Their basic story goes like this: we can break the cycle of poverty—the big bet—by introducing new elements into the mix, like mobile banking, more vaccines, and different agricultural technologies. They say that by taking actions like this, extreme poverty can actually be eradicated by 2030. But they leave out anything to do with why it exists in the first place, and who and what causes it, and so end up ignoring the things that matter most to actually breaking the cycle of poverty.
Here are four of those things that you probably know, that it seems Bill and Melinda Gates don't.
Poverty Fact #1: Poverty is made by people. It is not just part of nature
Greece provides a clear and present example of this. Under EU-imposed austerity put in place in hopes of stabilizing the economy—which, among other things, slashed spending on social services, laid off tens of thousands of government workers, raised taxes across the board and and cut the minimum wage—unemployment shot up from 8% in 2008 to 28% in 2014, while wages plummeted. A humanitarian catastrophe followed, with hospital closures, lack of medicines, and widespread homelessness. Now 44% of Greeks live below the poverty line, up from 20% in 2008. Even middle class citizens have been forced to resort to soup kitchens.
Similar stories can be told about Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, England, and even the United States. No one is under the illusion that any of this is a natural phenomenon, which is why people are starting to vote for dramatic change.
The Greek experience isn't uncommon; it's just that it has until recently been uncommon in the West. People across the global South have been on the receiving end of such policies for decades. In the past it was called "structural adjustment" and was spearheaded by the IMF and World Bank, with devastating consequences. They argued that, through aggressively pro-business measures like privatizing essential services and structuring economies so that debtors are paid off before the population is taken care of, they could kick start economies. Today, we call that agenda "austerity." The effects are the same.
Poverty doesn't just exist; it is created. So when the Gates treat it like a naturally occurring problem—by leaving out any mention of what's causing the problems in the first place and instead focusing exclusively on new technical interventions and big bets for the future—they're telling a story without any of the main characters present. It would be like a football coach saying that understanding what helped the team win or lose last week, or the ongoing fitness of the players doesn't matter; we just need better technology and a bigger crowd of supporters this week. In other words, it helps makes small technical interventions sound adequate when they are not.
Poverty Fact #2: History matters
In order to understand the causes of poverty we have to understand history. Before the 1500s, there was no discernible difference between the West and the rest of the world in terms of human development. The impoverishment of the global South began first with the plunder of Latin America, followed by the Atlantic slave trade, then the British colonization of Asia and the European scramble for Africa. This architecture of wealth extraction was essential to Western development.
Later, neoliberal policies—like the deregulation of capital markets, privatization of essential services, elimination of social and environmental protections, and a constant downward pressure on both corporate taxation and workers wages—were imposed across the global South, mostly by way of western-supported dictators and the structural adjustment we mentioned above. This turned into the biggest single cause of poverty in the 20th century, because it created both the incentives and the systems required—like tax havens—for wealth and power to be centralized in the hands of the elite. Today, the process of wealth extraction continues in the form of tax evasion, land grabs, debt service, and trade agreements rigged in the interests of the rich, a reverse flow of wealth that vastly outstrips the aid (the epitome of a small, technical fix) that trickles in the other direction.
It is no surprise, then, that the fortunes of rich countries and poor countries continue to diverge. Or that the richest 1% have managed to accumulate more wealth than the rest of the world's population combined.
By leaving this history out of their grand story of poverty, Mr. and Mrs. Gates are either saying it isn't true, or it doesn't matter.
Poverty Fact #3: The "good news" story is premised on false accounting
The "good news" narrative that the Gates rely on asserts that humanity is making remarkable progress against global poverty. People who hold this view insist that aggregate wealth is a legitimate proxy for well-being. Thus, because global GDP has grown an astonishing 635% since 1980, we have never been better off overall.
Close on the heels of this come claims that the number of people in extreme poverty is declining so dramatically that we should all believe that it will soon—i.e. by 2030—be eradicated. The World Bank, the governments of wealthy countries, and the UN Millennium Campaign all agree on this narrative. Relax, they tell us. The world is getting better, thanks to the spread of free market capitalism and western aid.
It is a comforting story but unfortunately it is just not true. For a start, it all rests on The World Bank's $1.25-a-day poverty line, which is insultingly low. The UN body UNCTAD has pointed out that anyone living on less than $5 a day is unable to achieve "a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing": the inalienable right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you use that figure, a soul-scorching 5.1 billion people, or 80% of humanity, are living in those conditions today.
Poverty Fact #4: Power matters
All of this is about politics and power. It's a well-established truth that those with the money make the rules, usually in ways that serve their own interests. This is why 93 cents of every $1 made since the 2008 crash has gone to the 1%.
The Gates want us to believe that it's possible to solve poverty without challenging the forms of power that caused it in the first place. It sounds nice, especially for rich people, but it's a fairy tale. Solving poverty will require a fundamental reorganization of power away from the oligarchy and toward real, meaningful democracy. Any plan to end poverty that doesn't put this front and center isn't really a plan at all.
By relying on cherry-picked evidence, the Gates promote a rosy picture of recent progress in order to make the case for more of the same into the future. In other words, they want us to accept that more unregulated neoliberal capitalism is the answer. No need for better, more representative politics, more sustainable economic models, or constraints on corporate control of national and international governance.
Solving poverty will require a fundamental reorganization of power away from the oligarchy.
There are plenty of alternatives. A movement is underway to create genuinely new economic thinking—one that is based in the rigorous sciences of human social systems and complexity research. It has been quietly taking form for decades in various academic departments. Groups like the Santa Fe Institute and Institute for New Economic Thinking have vigilantly explored the need to incorporate real human nature with a grounding in systems thinking to create effective social policies.
We might have had to settle for small technical fixes 30 years ago. In 2015, we certainly don't. So much more is now known about the structural causes of poverty that it is possible to get at the real roots of the problem. Doing so will require that a lot more people know the facts about poverty creation, something we hope Bill and Melinda Gates also learn as they continue to grapple with this thorny problem along with the rest of us.
Written By Martin Kirk Joe Brewer and Jason Hickel
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Orphanages, latrines & soap powder: Changing the #PovertyDiscourse
With a little help from Bill Gates, the World Bank creates a new aid conditionality
4 reasons to question the official 'poverty eradication' story of 2015
Sabin February 10, 2015 at 3:40 pm	Reply
Such sad truths! How can we change the world we live in so that there's more equality or at least a significant move in that direction?!
Jean Kern May 27, 2015 at 1:23 am	Reply
We have to remove the link between governments and big NGO's and the big multinationals. Governments and some of the big NGO's (like WWF) only serve the interests of these powerful businesses.
Governments should focus on the interests of their citizens. Even the main stream media only serves the interest of the big multinationals.
Greed has poisoned our souls (Charlie Chaplin in 1934) !
The solution will only be to get rid of capitalism, but I am afraid that that will not happen. The powerful will not give up their power, they will continue to tell us how good they are.
But we should not give up, people should unite more and more and demand change ! Otherwise our precious planet is certainly lost.
S,A,Moyo May 27, 2015 at 1:36 pm	Reply
alleviation and elimination of poverty is by accountability, i.e. for each member to work hard and in skillful also responsible this will increase production so creating personal independence. In addition learning more for rational thinking and decisions making.
gary dubrall June 1, 2015 at 4:43 pm	Reply
living wage jobs are the only answer to poverty. poverty causes stress which is passed on to fetuses which grow up to feed the military and social service sectors of the rich. the rich have no clue, don't experience despair and don't actually meet the poor.
Truman June 1, 2015 at 6:18 pm	Reply
You had me until Fact #2. The paragraph misses the point and somehow suggests "Western development" was an inevitable desideratum ("This architecture of wealth extraction was essential to Western development.")–and that destroying the rest of the world to achieve it was therefore necessary. The paragraph should emphasize, Europe and the US continue to create global poverty and slums in order to one-percent themselves.
Gerdi June 1, 2015 at 11:48 pm	Reply
I like the article a lot, although I agree, that parragraph 2 should be more precise;(also the jump from colonialism to neoliberalism was quite big, I mean in the case of Latin America there were nearly 200 years in between, in which local elites could maintain or broaden their unfairly advantaged position, and in the case of Asia, Europe and the U.S. we have to consider at least the two world wars that re-shaped power-relations and impoverished some, while others became incredibly rich).
Since I give classes in Chiapas, Mexico, I would like to know if there is some spanish version available?
Tamara A. Turner June 2, 2015 at 12:11 am	Reply
Organize to eliminate capitalism and the horrors of capitalism will be eliminated. There is NO way to "fix" capitalism or make it "gentle"; the system of capitalism is working perfectly. The problem is that it has outlived its usefulness just as feudalism did.
Why waste time and human life by ignoring the ROOT cause of the world's misery? Revolution is a saner way to go than endless reforms (although these are often necessary to give the working class some breathing room).
gaurav chhibber June 2, 2015 at 8:35 am	Reply
There is poverty because of not just dispropotionate distribution of wealth but also the way it is cornered, hoarded and regulated using laws, patents.
A shoe made in 3 $ sells t 299$ why ? is it the product cost, is it the distribution cost, is it the marketing cost ? No its supernormal profit derived out in garb of competitive advantage. which technically means, source from the cheapest, meanest source and sell to the highest prospective bidder and downwards. That goes for Apple,Nike, Reebok, GAP, and all such MNCs.
More on this in my upcoming blog, if and when i write
Suna June 4, 2015 at 11:52 am	Reply
Many NGOs are very aware of the partly harmful influence of the Gates Foundation. They do some/much good stuff, yes. But they have way too much money, and as you say, too much power. And obviously, being a part of the 0.0000..1%, they have no interest AT ALL in changing the system. That's our job. And I think it's also our job to remind people of this hypocrisy whenever we hear them going on about corporate 'philantropy'.
Alan MacDonald June 9, 2015 at 7:43 pm	Reply
The system's functional unfairness has not been named in 'plain language' that both explains the inherent flaws of the system, and also is understandable and ignites revolt against this unfair and corrupted system.
A system openly based on violently stealing and hording wealth would be viewed by all as unjust — but the current system is not described and openly named nor publicly 'exposed' as such.
The narrative of telling such a simple and honest story that can be understood and believed by any majority must be very simple, emotional, and engender patriotic action which seems entirely justified and right by the people.
Sisca Santosa June 19, 2015 at 5:13 pm	Reply
I live in Indonesia where Nike, Gap, Reebook, etc are made. I dont agree if you say that it makes peoplenwho make it suffer coz they make it with "low" wages. It is low per your standard. For them its a blessing to have a steady income. It gives jobs to hundreds thousands of employee which can feed all of their family. Yes they live in "bad" condition (per western standard), such as bad house, bad clothes, bad food, bad health access, bad education, etc… but can u imagine what will happen if they dont hav this job ?
John K. Moore March 8, 2017 at 5:36 am	Reply
I have retired to a third world country and live in the upper class — but very much surrounded by impoverished people.. My business brings me into contact with middle and lower middle classes that have a distinct cultural difference than the impoverished — that of "entitlement" that they and their ancestors have held a small business in the family for years, or that they come from a family able to attend college and keep their place in the middle or upper middle class… I would describe it much like an implicit "caste" system that has for the last 400 years established a barrier constructed more by expectations and history than by any real difference in inherent aptitude for success. CULTURAL baggage has a lot more to do with poverty than raising a bill gates chicken for god's sake. I have engaged with organized charities and found them run by mostly incompetents, so I have done a good deal of private charity… Funding the private schooling, tuition, supplies, tutoring, and other non academic requirements, like new shoes and clothes, to equip the students to play on a fully level playing field… And although this would lead most to believe that the students now have an equal playing field, it simply is NOT the case. The parents of these students (age 7 to 10), are not infusing higher expectations into the children, not setting expectations any higher, but merely enjoying the benefit of "free school"… The students take their cue from their parents, even more than from their teachers at this point. Parents of this class, just do not have, or never learned culturally to set expectations……for them to do homework with vigor and enthusiasm, and just sending clear message that school is not a great opportunity, and can be fun, and empowering!… a path to a better life…….. The resistance is cultural, as bad as a disease! Now if Bill Gates could vaccinate against that kind of ignorance of opportunity, then even I might buy into his 20 year prediction…
The truth is, the biggest barriers are created by
1. Cultural values that are devoid of the true paths to success, and
2. The higher reproduction rates of the people who do not have a value system of success and perhaps even
3. Higher reproduction rates of those with lower IQs……
Is the Sustainable Development Goals' good times narrative for the best?
Strip away the sound & fury and there's a very simple reason we're not solving big problems
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3 ways humans create poverty
The Illusion of Legitimacy: The predatory borrower and inequality
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text:
EU Adrift in the West Balkans
Photo: European Commission President Charles Michel meets Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev. Credit: European Council
The longer the EU neglects to establish a clear, concise, and deliberate strategy towards the Western Balkans, the more it risks alienating North Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries.
Three decades have passed since the people known as Macedonians gained independence from the ruins of Yugoslavia and 18 years since they were recognized as a potential candidate for European Union (EU) membership.
There have been advances during this time. The country now known (rather unwillingly) as North Macedonia is a NATO member and has made positive economic progress. But the country's nationalistic neighbors have unrelentingly made life difficult, and it now seems that some in the EU (led by the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi) are willing to leave it behind rather than tackle the root causes of its geopolitical problems.
Macedonians can be forgiven for some bafflement at the behavior of their neighbors. From the outset, Greece argued that any country called Macedonia would have an implied claim on its territory. The dispute lasted 27 years and was finally resolved only in 2019, when the country adopted the new name.
But that was far from the end of the matter. Bulgaria likewise raised objections over its language and other historical claims, and slowed North Macedonian EU negotiations to a crawl. It is far from the first time the EU has proved unable to overcome objections from a single member.
Várhelyi suggested that the EU was considering moving forward EU membership talks with Albania, as negotiations stalled with North Macedonia. This statement caused confusion and shock through the Western Balkans as the two membership bids had previously been linked. Just last June the European Council agreed to open the latest round of accession talks with both countries.
Thereafter, various EU officials and countries walked back his comments, but though the lack of clarity and clear messaging from the EU brought to the surface what many in the Western Balkans have been thinking: the EU's strategy towards the region is ambiguous, unclear and at worst, nonexistent.
In 2005, Macedonia was granted candidate status for EU accession after addressing inter-ethnic tensions between its Macedonian and Albanian population and implementing democratic reforms. The current government under Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has worked hard on reviving stalled Euro-Atlantic integration and has made significant progress, particularly through the 2018 Prespa Agreement with Greece which resolved the issue of the country's name and finally allowed the shedding of the horrible name, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Following the agreement, Macedonia changed its constitutional name to North Macedonia, and Greece lifted its blockade on the country, paving the way for the country's NATO accession in March 2020. Two years later, North Macedonia is now being asked to compromise its identity for the sake of another nationalist government, this time to the east rather than the south. There was hope when Bulgaria's government collapsed last month that the country would give up on its outrageous demands, but the current government led by Stefan Janev doubled down that they will not change its stance on blocking accession talks with North Macedonia in a dispute over language and identity. (It was reported Bulgaria told other EU members that: "The official language used in today's Republic of North Macedonia can be only considered as a written regional norm of the Bulgarian language.")
The EU's hope for another Prespa-like agreement between North Macedonia and Bulgaria are naïve. Prime Minister Zaev has stated: "Macedonian identity, in addition to being a matter of pride, is also a matter of fact, science, tradition and national symbol of our people. It is not and will not be the subject of negotiations."
In response, the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has called on the European Union to maintain its commitment to the countries of the Western Balkans and left them with the warning: "If we are not careful, we will lose the Western Balkans." Other member states have expressed similar sentiments, Austria's Alexander Schallenberg, the Czech Republic's Jakub Kulhánek, and Slovenia's Anže Loger expressed their displeasure with Bulgaria and argued that is "not fair" for another EU member state to condition the process on such issues.
Their statements suggest that the stakes are high as Bulgaria's North Macedonia rift will have deeper implications for the EU. By allowing a precedent whereby a single member state like Bulgaria or Greece can hold up entry into the EU, especially by demanding that a country alter its identity, sends a troubling message to other would-be EU members including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. The longer the EU neglects to establish a clear, concise, and deliberate strategy towards the Western Balkans, the more it risks alienating North Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries. And that allows other less benign countries, like China and Russia, to fill the gap.
Bruna Celic
European Union North Macedonia


Please, read the general remarks about the special procedures first.
The expert is, inter alia, asked to gather, request, receive and exchange information and communications from all relevant sources, including governments, indigenous people themselves and their communities and organizations, on violations of their human rights and fundamental freedoms; to formulate recommendations and proposals on appropriate measures and activities to prevent and remedy violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people.
The Special Rapporteur receives a large number of communications providing him with information about allegations of violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. The main sources of these communications are NGOs, indigenous organizations, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations procedures concerned with the protection of human rights.
the precise circumstances of the incident such as date, place, description of how the event occurred etc.
when, if applicable, the nature of the human rights gap and the demands of the people concerned.
The main type of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur are "urgent appeals" in cases of imminent danger of violations of the human rights of individuals, or even entire indigenous communities. He also transmits "letters of allegation" to governments on cases of less urgent character. Over the past two years, the expert has strengthened the coordination with other human rights special mechanisms and participated in joint communications with them. Follow-up of the cases in which his intervention has been required is a matter of particular concern to the Special Rapporteur and therefore, a third type of communication is also under consideration in the form of follow-up letters on earlier communications.
Please note that as a general rule, both urgent appeals and letters of allegation remain confidential until published in the annual report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council. A summary of such communications and the replies received from the concerned government concerned are formally included in the first addendum to the Special Rapporteur's annual report to the Council.


Look at two different bodies to see how we can improve extension in this tutorial with Karen Sanzo. She discusses the difference between what it means to tuck the pelvis versus bringing the ribs back and how these affect your alignment. Whether you are trying to elongate your spine or go into a full backbend, it is important to bring all of the important pieces so that you can create a good extension in your spine.
Add the element of the box to increase the challenge of the work while still using fundamental exercises.
Build a better relationship to your abdominals with this tutorial.
I always learn so much from you Karen. You make it all very accessible. Thank you.
This was very informative. I appreciate how you used 2 different bodies with varying abilities to show how to help each one achieve extension properly. Thank you!
Thank you both for the first two comments. This tutorial could've gone on a long time. I have a lot to say as we progress into backbending over the short box and into active backbending following thigh stretch.
Love this, so much information... I will be watching this many times over to get it all into my little brain! Love you!
So great to have another class from you, [Karen Sanzo. Such important work for all of us.
Karen Sanzo, this is such great information! Thank you!
Karen, this is so helpful to breakdown all the details so clearly. when you get to the exercise this makes sense working hard where you should.


Home » Blog » Why is depression a taboo subject?
There should be nothing to be embarrassed about being human. We have emotions, and sometimes everyone has a low day. I do, my friends do, I don't think anyone can claim they've never had a bad day. Sometimes it's a short period of time and sometimes it lasts longer. What qualifies someone as clinically depressed can be debated: the Mayo Clinic has a long list of criteria and tests that are done by doctors to get closer to a Yes or No. But if we take the simpler definition that we all have a bad day sometimes, we could see the rate of depression at 100%. In other words, you are not alone.
Another thing to consider is that people don't talk about depression because they find it depressing. It should be the contrary. If we can discuss how we feel sometimes it gives a foundation to find why we feel that way and what we can do about it.
There are probably some cases where people feel depressed without any reason. My personal experience, when friends came to talk with me about it, is that there are underlying reasons and there are physiological factors that can make us feel better or worse, no matter what reality is like. Sometimes we fall in love and our relationships comes to an end. Sometimes it's the professional situation, if someone loses their job for example, that can make that person go through a tough time. In both examples we've committed all of ourselves into a relationship with a loved one, or into a career and these are changing. Change is hard and going through a tough time naturally affects us.
Time does a wonderful thing: it erases. It doesn't need to erase a memory, what time erases is the obsession. We can focus so much on the past, on one event, one person, that it can become an obsession. Without the obsession the memory remains, but we're back to being ourselves. Of course the ideal solution is to fix the underlying cause that makes us feel low.
Nutrition: eating whole foods, cooking at home can not only be soothing for you to focus on something new, it's also a great way to know that what you're eating is what you want to eat. When you eat outside the menu in the restaurant can tempt you with junk food options. If you only buy the ingredients you want to eat, you'll have these in your home as the only source of food to cook with. Drinking less coffee, more water, and avoiding fast sugars like sodas and other junk food will help.
Sleep: lack of sleep is linked to many disorders on its own. It can be tempting to stay up late at night, if we had too much caffeine during the day, or if we're stressed and just can't take ourselves to bed. The problem is that the more we stay up too late, the less we sleep, and the harder it will be for us to be productive the following day. Keep in mind that with good sleep and nutrition you get your body and mind in a good condition to face the challenges of society, be it work, projects, people, and to remove the underlying reason for the excess stress in your life.
Outside exercise: being close to Mother Nature is essential to our existence. Exercise can be beneficial when practiced indoors, but consider finding an activity you enjoy that takes you on a trail, to a park, to a walk in the city, anything that makes you move outside and change perspective. There are many additional benefits to exercising outdoors, one of them being that with natural sunlight your skin will produce vitamin D. We need vitamin D to feel good.
It's important to have someone to talk to. A family member, a friend. We all go through tough times sometimes. That person will understand.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about depression in both your video and your blog. You're exactly correct. Depression is a taboo topic, but the more we shine a light on it, the less darkness it creates.
Connection is a powerful antidote to depression; however, when we are depressed, we often self-isolate. If we have people in our lives who know us (sometimes better than we know ourselves), and we trust these people, they can help us: 1) appreciate we're depressed, and; 2) understand we are not alone.
Time does attenuate the obsessions; it softens the intensity of the emotion.
Then, we can take steps to change our own brain chemistry. As you mentioned, exercise and nature helps. Cold water helps. Having creative endeavors helps.
If we all understand that depression and periodic depressive states are more normal than not, we can talk about depression and how to work through it without it being taboo and shameful.
Thank you again for this, Nico!


I know it's been a long time since I've updated the blog, and that's going to change this year. Huge transformations coming to both the company, products, and roles. I'll say more about this later as well as what's been happening behind the scenes.
That being said, this announcement was a significant effort. Flirc is now a registered to do business in Canada, and as such, Flirc products are live on Amazon.CA as part of their prime program.
No more waiting 6 weeks for US shipping, and enjoy all the benefits of purchasing on Amazon.
In honor of Father's day, I'm having a sale this weekend on the Flirc Store Front and on Amazon.
A friend of mine was invited to a disney themed party. The girl hosting it required all her invitee's wear a disney costume, however, it had to be self made. Naturally, he wanted to do something as 'cool' as possible, so he chose Tron. He then ran over in my direction and said, 'hey Jason, you gotta help me with my tron costume, I want to hack up an off the shelf tron disk'.
You can see it's a pretty cheesy disk, it's just a kids toy. There are plenty of mods online, but this will put most of those to shame.
Here is our final modification, it's a video link, CLICK it!
It's got two lithium ion batteries, a usb charger for the batteries, a boost convertor to run the led's, magnets installed so he can wear it on his back, it uses 1.2Amps off 12V (because of the 20 LED segments), and the microcontroller is running a poor man's scheduler to get pwm output on all those led segments. All the code has been posted, and a schematic have been shared which demonstrates how we hooked everything up.
There is nothing on the inside that was saved. We threw away all the wires, all the circuits, and my friend even had to dremel away the plastic walls on the inside so everything would fit. The only thing we used was the enclosure. I wasn't at the party, but apparently he was a hit and they asked him to turn it off because it was blinding everyone. Assuming they were in a dimly lit bar and drunk.
It's open source, head to my github repo and you can check out the firmware, a little commandline application for kicking the device into the bootloader, and a very rough schematic.
Here are some more pictures of the process and his final costume.
Some of the lights that will be used on the actual suit.
The costume was made out of a scuba diving suit.
He didn't want his face on the internet.
I unfortunately don't have any images of the disk progress, and I can't open it right now. There is so much in there, it takes me about 45 minutes to get it closed.
I wanted to give a special shout out to Chris and wish him a Happy and Healthy Birthday.
Chris and I got introduced last year when he was one of the first customers. Like many of you, he and I became friends and since then, he's been an amazing help and support. He even wrote up the famous XBMC article that was published.