One of the best trips I have ever been on, loved it all, I just had a big smile on my face everyday! Thank you so much for the opportunity; I have been telling everyone about it and redspokes. Ken, May and Daolit made the trip for me, you couldn't ask for a better trio. We quickly became friends and we felt like a family. I felt so sad saying goodbye to them and sincerely hope I see them again. Daolit and I have made a pact that I will repeat the trip when I am 70!
Laos, 'lost in time', was my third cycle trip in the past 13 months with the previous 2 trips being with Exodus. Although I enjoyed both of the Exodus trips, my Laos redspokes experience far exceeded either of the previous trips. Value for money, organisation, overall cycling experience, lack of bus transfers and above all the leadership and compassion of both Dermot and Ken could not be faulted.
Throughout the trip I can not recall a single meaningful complaint from any of the participants. One of my outstanding memories of the trip was when tired and hot and ascending a fierce some hill spotting the blue table and chairs with a smiling May waiting with a most welcome picnic. I will not hesitate in future to prioritise redspokes for any future cycling holidays.
What an amazing experience. The rural areas were scenically stunning and we encountered really friendly people wherever we went. Especially the children who shouted sabaidee and held out hands for a high five.
Often the whole school appeared when they sighted cyclists and the shrieking of the school-girls post high-five was guaranteed to bring a big smile and take your mind off the heat or sore bum! Laos is a very laid-back country (compared to Vietnam where I went next), the trip really well organised and run, and the guides provided a wealth of information throughout the trip. It's a trip I would highly recommend; I would consider repeating it in a year or two.
This was my first redspokes trip and it certainly wont be my last. The itinerary was well planned and had the right mix of cycling and other activities. The homestay visit was certainly interesting!
Ken was not only an excellent guide but highly entertaining too! I am sure it can't be easy to get all the logistics of a tour in a country like Laos right but Ken managed it perfectly.
The whole holiday was amazing . We were lucky to have a very friendly group who were very fit and cycled rather to quickly for us but they were very encouraging and Ken or one of the leaders was always there to help .
Overall a very interesting holiday and a load of fun !
I had an amazing tour which was helped by good organisation, great guides and on the road support..
I was lucky enough to have a great group on the tour to share the experiences with..
The trip is over but I still have the photographs and memories.
This was my third redspokes trip, and as always, was fantastic.
Great people, and just the right combination of challenge and comfort.
" The whole trip was an incredible kaleidoscope of experiences, even though I am a well traveled person. The highlights being the home stay, the friendly Loasions, your support team (even... "


You can find detailed instructions for getting started in the product documentation. http://www.broadleafcommerce.org/confluence/display/BLC15/Getting+Started.
Additional documentation added for switching to another database http://www.broadleafcommerce.org/confluence/display/BLC15/Moving+to+another+database.
Maybe I don't have sufficient permissions.
Great video sir.We tried to setup the demo application,unfortunately maven install got failed.
The below are the logs.Kindly help in resolving the issue.
Issue : Few jars not available in local repository.
Fix : Do maven update the project.


text:
Calling for volunteers
In keeping with the idea of slow blogging I mentioned a while ago, I'm going to respond to this two-week old speech by Costello, although other bloggers have already covered at length (From this large set, I'll link, more or less randomly, to Steve Edwards).
Anyway, Costello is talking about social policy and volunteering and I just wanted to emphasise the point that the application of New Public Management/neoliberalism to the voluntary sector, exemplified by competitive tendering programs like the Jobs Network, makes volunteering utterly pointless. The only effect is to save money for the government while delivering a predefined set of services. In most cases, volunteers would be better off working overtime and sending a cheque to the Treasury.
I developed this point at length last time Costello had a progressive spell and I think the intervening period has only strengthened my case. Here's the conclusion:
The core of the social contract was that those willing to make contributions of time and money were able, to some extent, to influence the aims and outcomes of public policy, and the way in which public services were delivered. Broadly speaking, government took responsibility for the delivery of basic services, and the efforts of the voluntary sector played a major role in determining what additional services were provided.
As far as monetary contributions to charitable causes are concerned, this is still the case. Although there are plenty of issues regarding the specific design of tax expenditures to promote charitable contributions (why, for example, a deduction rather than a rebate), the basic point that such expenditures are desirable has been accepted even by the dry economists of the Productivity Commission. Moreover it is clear enough that, if governments seek excessively tight control over the direction of subsidies for charitable contributions, the result will be to reduce the amount people are willing to give.
Unfortunately, the same logic has not been applied to voluntary contributions of time and effort. Governments have withdrawn from their role as a provider of core services and have cut back the provision of grants to voluntary groups and non-government organisations. Instead, they have instituted a regime of competitive tendering. In this system, voluntary groups are invited to bid to provide core public services at a lower cost than competitors which may be either for-profit private businesses or commercialised government businesses.
In this competitive environment, the main advantage possessed by non-profit organisation is the availability of volunteers willing to work unpaid, and of idealistic employees willing to accept less-than-market wages. By harnessing this source of unpaid or underpaid labour, governments can reduce the cost of service delivery.
In the long run, however, this is killing the goose that lays the golden egg. As competitive pressures are tightened, the original goals of voluntary organisations are subordinated to the need to meet tender specifications at the lowest possible cost. In the end, it does not really matter whether the tender is won by a voluntary organisation or a profit-oriented firm – the services delivered are those specified in the contract.
All of this is fine from the viewpoint of governments reaping cost savings, but what about the volunteers? Their unpaid labour is being used, not to provide additional services to the community, but to enable the government to provide existing (or, more often, reduced) services more cheaply. The ultimate outcome is to finance tax cuts for those who have chosen, in line with the government's real beliefs, to maximise their own market incomes.
From the viewpoint of volunteers, this makes no sense. Even supposing they felt impelled to improve the government's bottom line, they would be better off working overtime in regular jobs and sending the extra pay straight to the Treasury.
In practice, people are not so rational, and the tradition of voluntary effort will be eroded only gradually, but the growth of self-seeking over the past decade or so is plain for all to see. Governments of both political persuasions have promoted self-interest as the engine of progress, and leading political figures on both sides have embodied it in their personal behavior. At this point, calling for volunteers is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Findings from America
12 thoughts on "Calling for volunteers"
Jack Strocchi says:
Whilst calling for public service volunteers to subsidise tax cuts for private enterprisers is morally grotesque I am not sure that it spells the doom of the voluntarist civic tradition.
THe US has always had the lowest income/expenditure tax rates of a major state in the OECD, yet it also has a thriving voluntary "social capitalist" sector.
Civil society (church, school and sporting group) provision of community service is, and always has been, very strong in the US (cf de Toqueville).
As has philanthropic private sector financing of these activities.
What evidence is there that, over the past generation, the cuts to:
– state provision of community services
and the complementary
– HVI income tax rates
have caused the demoralisation and disintegration of the civic community sector in the US?
My anecdotal impression is that it that the US's local civic tradition is still pretty strong although it may have taken quite a few hits over the past generation, with the complementary ethnic balkanisation and class division of the US.
Gummo Trotsky says:
My impression is that Costello's current obsession (?) with trust and tolerance is more about rebranding himself as a caring sharing alternative to the PM, without having to say anything of substance or, more to the point, challenge any Liberal Party orthodoxies. Notice how coy he was on Dame Thatcher's "No such thing as society …" statement, remarking only that she was criticised, then finding a much more objectionable "left-wing" use of language (frequent references to this, that or the other community), and marking out a middle position which is indistinguishable from Maggie's.
On the whole, it's a great demonstration of the fine art of saying nothing, while giving the impression of having something of great weight to say. Except perhaps for the remarks on Iraq. This one, in particular, is a classic:
[Iraq] is a country that has no modern experience of tolerance of Sunni for Shia or Sunni for Kurd, no modern experience of competing political ideas, no modern experience of the ballot box. It is expecting a lot to think that these things will organically emerge with the removal of the Dictator. The fact that the Dictator could emerge in the first place, tells you that these values were not strongly and widely rooted. [Emphasis added]
There's a PH D in this somewhere, on the relationship between (for example) the poor performance of voluntary rural fire-brigades in Tsarist Russia and the rise of the Bolsheviks, or the collapse of Rotary Clubs in the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Third Reich.
Homer Paxton says:
How many services contracted out are performed by volunteers.
I profess I only know of job service activities and they are performed by salaried personnel.
It seems to me the not for profit sector has become commercialised and have lost sight of their original objectives.
In this I would include a lot of the 'christian denominations' welfare activities.
Read an annual report these days and there is more management jargon than at a business school lecture!
why do people volunteer? economists will contend that it is because they gain psychic income from the volunteer effort; ordinary people (yes, I imply that economists are abnormal, even though I am one) suggest that it is because they wnat to contribute to the welfare of their fellow human beings. Either way, the key point is that volunteers get their rewards from supplying a service that the market does not. In other words, asking volunteers to participate in a market competition for the provision of services for money is self-defeating: it runs counter to what prompts the volunteers to be there in the first place.
In the short run, not for profits can provide services at a cheaper cost by exploiting their volunteers' efforts, but the long run is self defeating: John is absolutely right on this.
An interesting issue for Australia is the makeup of the not for profit sector: some of them have always had an eye to the profit bottom line. There are various religious organisations for example which have made a pretty penny out of land speculation (turning tax free church land into commercial developments), gambling, clubs and so forth. Thus there is no real problem in them employing staff to go after the job network dollar. The area of concern is the not for profits who really are not for profit.
On the US comparison, really the story is entirely different. 95% of americans claim to be churchgoers; almost every workplace has an active United Way committee and fundraising efforts; philanthrophy is a well established social norm. What works in the USA won't work in a country with a different culture.
bottom line? I agree with John.
Jill Rush says:
I read an article the other day which had the proposition that the key to volunteering is that the volunteer decides where and when to spend their time and effort. (sorry don't have the reference)
In Peter Costello's speech he specifically mentions the concept of Mutual Obligation which cuts across the idea of donation and the core ideas behind volunteering. By extending this principle to sole parents it shows that there is no appreciation of the work that many sole parents have performed in the community for years. Those who haven't have usually had other issues to deal with (eg domestic violence, custody, somewhere to live etc). The enforcement of the mutual obligation principle also fails to recognise that sole parents are doing something for the community by looking after the next generation.
In recent times we have seen volunteering affected by the GST which made people wonder why they would bake a cake, donate their time, ingredients and effort to pay tax to the government ie john's point – just pay tax directly.
Other volunteers have been turned off by the incredible bureaucracy surrounding government contracts and their inability to promise to deliver a service in the long term. Financial issues for voluntary organisations have become the most important issue rather than the delivery of services. There are all the frustrations many feel at the costs of insurance and the failure of government to find a long term solution.
Peter Costello has no understanding of what creates social capital as if he did he would understand how his government's policies have done so much damage to this aspect of society.
Ken Parish says:
Homer Paxton's comment identified the fallacy in this post. That is, to the extent that JQ has in mind the outsourcing of employment-finding services (and it's the major example of shifting functions onto the charitable sector as far as I know), the job centre work is performed by salaried staff not charitable volunteers.
Accordingly the phenomenon JQ posits (volunteers being discouraged because they're merely working to save the government money) is unlikely to occur in any direct sense. It would only happen if charitable organisations like Salvation Army etc became so strongly focused on their money-making job centre activities that volunteers felt they were no longer contributing to an organisation whose aims were charitable. I don't see any real sign of that happening, because I don't think any of the charities have in fact abandoned or even reduced the emphasis they place on their traditional activities. To the extent that they do actually manage to make a buck out of services to the jobless, it might even enhance their charitable works by making additional money available. Presumably that's why so many of them chose to tender for employment-finding services in the first place.
James Farrell says:
Gummo's conclusions go without saying, but he formulates them so nicely they are worth reading anyway. I think Ken has overstated his differences with John and I offer the hypothesis that they would both agree on the following.
A government seeking to reduce its contribution and shift the taxpayer's sacrifice to volunteers has at least these five options:
(1) Sack state employees and directly use volunteer labour instead.
(2) Abdicate responsibility for the services altogether and exhort charities to carry them out with no assistance.
(3) As above, but give grants to some organisations, presumably those who appear most effective.
(4) Retain responsibility for the services but contract them out to non-profit organisations to cut costs. This arrangement is similar to (3) except that the government has more influence over the nature of the services.
(5) As above, except that the organisations are profit making.
Option (1) doesn't seem to be used in any overt way. Where the government uses volunteers directly, to fight bushfires or help run the Olympics, there is usually a popular consensus.
Option (2) is bad because it involves a reduction in state provision of a public good, namely a decent society. Volunteers and donors will alleviate the problem, but free riding will dominate.
Given the state's decision to reduce its contribution, there is nothing prima facie sinister about options (3) and (4). It makes sense for government money to go to the most efficiently run organisations or those that attract the most volunteers (perhaps because the volunteers judge them effective). Such arrangements might also give the charities incentive to operate efficiently, but if the setup it too competitive it could induce them to waste resources and fudge figures in pursuit of dubious indicators. Volunteers would be discouraged by such a trend. But on the whole, what's bad about (3) and (4) is what they have in common with (2).
Course (5) is a self-evidently a way to kill volunteer spirit. People are much less likely volunteer when part of their effort merely serves to line a capitalist's pocket.
Ken's comment relies on factual assumptions that are either questionable or mistaken
(1) The Salvation Army's employment service, Mission Employment is either a standalone operation or a profit centre for the Salvos. In fact, it's part of Mission Australia, which states on its website "The backbone of many Mission Australia services and programs is an army of almost 1000 selfless volunteers. Volunteering opportunities come in many varied shapes and sizes.".
(2) Staff are getting market wages. Historically, paid staff have got less than market wages, effectively volunteering part of their time
(3) Voluntary organisations are keen to tender for Job Network contracts. The Salvos are a notable exception, but most groups have been very reluctant about this, even though the Job Network replaced programs under which they had previously received funding.
I don't know how much contact you have with these groups, Ken, but Jill Rush's comments reflect the kind of feedback I'm getting. There's a very good book edited by Jeni Warburton, which I'll try to give a proper citation for when I get back home.
No one seems to have heeded my call for empirical evidence on the issue of the scale and scope of the civic voluntary sector, relative to alternative modes of community service provision.
So I heeded it myself, as the blog geist popped up in aid of my point.
The evidence confirms Pr Q's point about the miserable nature of the Australian ruling class,
whose econmic efforts are mainly land-based extractive and whose social efforts are paltry.
It also confirms my point that the low taxed, free enterprise US has a relatively thriving voluntary civic sector – it's richest man is, in absolute terms, the most altruistic philanthropist in History.
Society will pay a heavy price unless the stingy nation heeds a call to alms
Australians just won't give. For a country that must come close to being a middle-class paradise those who have done well are notoriously parsimonious.
…Fundraising makes up a mere 0.5 per cent of our national economy. In the United States it is well over 2 per cent. In Britain, 1 per cent…
…as government moved from its regulatory role the private sector has not responded by taking on some of the social obligations being abrogated. It was happy to make the money, but shunned responsibility.
…in the US 50 per cent of funds flowing into non-profit cultural and recreation organisations come from philanthropy. In Australia it is 4 per cent. The equivalent comparison in education and research is 15 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. Australian non-profit volunteer levels are barely half of the norm in other developed nations.
The conclusion is the the degree of volition versus compulsion in the provision of community services is a function of culture (US protestantism, Aust Anglo-Catholicsm).
Another implication is that a further cut in top marginal income tax rates, as proposed by COstello, is not indicated.
His call for a revival of voluntarism is bogus and represents special pleading on behalf of privileged economic interests.
I would beg to differ with you.
The main activities volunteers do is the work that supplements Previous Government activities.
To take some examples Vinnies or Anglicare ( and I am sure this is the case with Mission Australia) have volunteers that help out with clothing ,food etc.
They have nothing to do with activities that have been contracted out.
My research has shown that salaries are at market rates not below indeed in some areas they are above.
If one is a tenured University Professor one would take a paycut but then that is unusual.
Paul Watson says:
A bit of clarificationânâcorrection about ãthe Salvation Army's employment service, Mission Employmentä. Until a year ago, I also thought that there was such an organisation.
As I then found out, the Salvation Army, which owns and operates ãEmployment Plusä, is completely separate from Mission Australia, which is mutatis mutandis with Mission Employment. While the Salvosâ general history and ethos is well-enough known, a useful insight into Mission Oz is found in this speech by PM John Howard: http://www.pm.gov.au/news/speeches/2001/speech1160.htm
Unsurprisingly, both organisations would seem to have John Howard on their respective speed-dials and ideological* pin-up boards, and vice versa.
John Quigginâs confusion is thus understandable, as here are two unrelated organisations operating in the same, highly-specialised market, but with zero effective differentiation between their products and services. Please explain this, all you right wing economists out there.
My knowledge of the consumer-level similarity of Employment Plus and Mission Employment (plus my impetus to research the matter last year) comes from direct experience. Not, I hasten to add, as an employee, or still less as a volunteer, but as a conscript.
How ever many volunteers the two organisations may have, these numbers are certainly dwarfed by their numbers of conscripts doing Work for the Dole programs (both would be approaching 100,000 pax, in my guess). The Salvos (Iâm not sure about Mission Oz) also supervise a lower-level form of conscription: the provision of (the recently-notorious) Job Network services.
As to the broader volunteerism thread, Iâm probably too biased to make a rational contribution. I simply say that if anyone knows an industry than is less exploitative of human labour than the farming of people in pointless Work for the Dole projects (other than the sex work industry), Iâd be interested to know.
* Then again, this article: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/26/1053801337917.html
suggests that there might be something of a ãChinese wallä between Mission Australia, and Mission Employment. The former may thus be allowed to formulate policies that have a semblance of humanity, while the latter remains oblivious-as-usual, as it goes about filling its daily quota of cattle-cars.
Oops, I meant "MORE exploitative", in the above comment. (Sometimes my capacity for irony of Freudian-slip dimensions overwhelms me).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The EVS hosting organization Mladiinfo Slovensko has offered an opportunity to young people from different countries to join the short term EVS project entitled 'Sign For Media' for European Deaf Badminton Championships that through journalism volunteering they could promote the inclusion of young deaf sportsmen and sportswomen.
Perhaps you have heard about Erasmus+ before but don't have a clear information about it. Let's think of Erasmus+ as a huge umbrella with different parts; these parts would include training courses, youth exchanges, study mobility etc. and EVS is also just one of them. You probably came across with the word 'EVS' but had no idea what it is. EVS, or, European Voluntary Service is an international volunteer program funded by the European Commission. It allows young people between 18-30 ages to carry out an international volunteer service abroad ranging from 2 to 12 months. The good thing is that Erasmus + covers complete coverage of the program, so all you need is to apply is motivation!
#2. 31 volunteers from 8 different countries are part of the project!
Thirty-one participants from eight different countries, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Turkey who are interested in photography, video editing, writing, interviewing and social media are participating in this project. The goal is to promote the inclusion of young disabled people.
'It's really interesting to be in the same environment with different cultures, you learn a lot from them' says Monika Tehrani, a journalist volunteer from Bulgaria.
#3. 'Sign For Media' aims to raise awareness of young disabled people.
People with disabilities, especially the youth are most of the time excluded from our society, even though they might have range of different skills regardless of their disabilities. Thus far, the main idea of this project is to raise awareness of young people with disabilities and promote their inclusion, especially in sports in order to make their talents be more known and visible.
#4. The name #SignForMedia has a double meaning.
#5. #SignForMedia provides young people with professional training in different fields.
The project aims to make sure that all participants gain enough professional experience related to the fields of their interest such as video editing, photography, social media, writing, conducting interviews etc, before being able to work as successful volunteers. Because of this, professional trainings and workshops supported by the Deaflympic Committee and professional journalists and trainers are provided during the project.
#6. Free Slovak Language courses and Sign Language trainings are included in the project.
Volunteers are not only able to enrichen their professional experiences in certain fields, but they are also being provided with free Slovak language courses and Sign Language trainings.
#7. The project is not limited to one place!
Most of the time EVS projects are happening in specific countries and cities; Sign For Media, allows young people to explore the culture of Bratislava, Slovakia in the first two weeks and also gain professional education related to journalism, while the last two weeks participants will spend their time in Trenčín and put their experience and knowledge gained in Bratislava into practice.
Visit our website here, or, like us on Facebook.


text:
De jaren 79-70 v.Chr. (van de christelijke jaartelling) zijn een decennium in de 1e eeuw v.Chr..

Belangrijke gebeurtenissen

79 v.Chr. : Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla treedt af. De Romeinse burgeroorlogen flakkeren terug op, zoals die van Quintus Sertorius en Lepidus.
73-70 v.Chr. : Derde Slavenoorlog. Spartacus leidt een slavenopstand tegen het Romeinse Rijk. Zijn troepen worden uiteindelijk verslagen, waaronder Spartacus zelf, door Romeinse legioensoldaten, die geleid werden door Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives.
73-63 v.Chr. : Derde Mithridatische Oorlog. Mithridates VI van Pontus steunt de Romeinse opstandelingen.

7
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Local Authorities Elections
SUNDAY POLITICS
England is hosting the Cricket World Cup for the fourth time [ICC]
All you need to know about the 2019 Cricket World Cup
The teams, the format, the favourites and the criticism, here is everything you need to know about the 2019 tournament.
The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup kicks off in London on Thursday.
England is hosting the World Cup for the fourth time. The tournament returns to the United Kingdom after 20 years when Australia beat Pakistan in the 1999 final.
Here is what you need to know about the 2019 tournament.
Which are the participating teams?
The 2019 World Cup goes back to a round-robin format (in which each team plays against all other teams in turn) - last used in the 1992 World Cup - with 10 teams taking part:
Every team plays each other once before the top four advance to the semi-finals.
When are the matches taking place?
The 2019 World Cup starts on May 30, with the last round-robin fixture taking place on July 6.
England will take on South Africa in the tournament opener with neither side having won the global event.
The semi-finals will take place on July 9 and July 11, while the final is scheduled for July 14 at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
Who are the favourites?
England, having won their last 10 One-Day International (ODI) series, are the favourites. They swept Pakistan away 4-0 earlier this month.
"England have got a great side. They've actually got a winning side and they could win this World Cup," said former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee.
West Indies have won the World Twenty20 twice and have power-hitters all the way down the order. Having scored 421 in their warm-up match against the fancied New Zealand, the West Indies side is capable of denting the opposition bowlers in the field.
"I have never ever counted the West Indies out," said former West Indies great Viv Richards.
"I'm a die-hard West Indian. Not because I would have played, but I am a die-hard West Indian fan. I back my team to beat anyone."
However, despite the issues plaguing Australia in the last 12 months, it won't be wise to rule out the five-time champions.
Who are the new kids on the block?
None. All teams in this tournament have played in a World Cup previously.
Afghanistan, however, will be the least experienced side, having made their World Cup debut four years ago. The rise of Afghanistan's national cricket team has seen them come from playing in the ICC World Cricket League Division Five in 2008 to making their Test debut earlier this year and qualifying for two World Cups.
Young spinner Rashid Khan sits at number three in the ICC ODI bowlers' ranking and occupies second place on the all-rounders' list - with former captain Mohammad Nabi in third.
"It's an outstanding story. The way they have forced a cricket team that can be feared is incredible," said former England captain Nasser Hussain.
"They have some wonderful bowlers. Do not take them lightly."
While an upset or two is on the cards, Afghanistan are unlikely to go all the way.
Why is the tournament being criticised?
The International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to reduce the tournament to 10 teams has been criticised by the associates who are yearning for more exposure at the highest level.
The 2015 edition, held in Australia and New Zealand, featured 14 teams, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Scotland and Ireland. All three of them will be absent from the 2019 edition as will be Zimbabwe, who missed out qualifying after having played in all World Cups since 1983.
Who are the players to watch out for?
Rashid, with 125 wickets in just 59 ODIs, is a force in the shorter formats of the game.
Chris Gayle, former West Indies captain, is playing his last World Cup and despite missing games due to injury and league commitments recently, he will be ready to script a fairytale ending.
Virat Kohli, India's captain, is officially the best ODI batsman in the world and marked by former cricketers as the "player to watch out for". He has already scored 611 runs this year.
England's batting line-up. The top-ranked ODI team has gone past the 300-mark six times in the last 10 completed ODIs, having also scored 418 against West Indies and scoring 340-plus in every completed match against Pakistan recently.
(aljazeera.com)
More in this category: « How will Modi handle India's economy? D-Day: 10 things you might not know about the Normandy invasion »
Ban on operation of drones lifted
Revision application against granting bail to Rajitha: Ruling on Jan. 21
Oil from Singapore or Malaysia if not from Middle East
Two DGs for SLBC?
No contract for MS Dhoni because he hasn't played in six month
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Find The New Year Lights is another point and click escape game developed by Top 10 New Games. Assume that you are going to find the New Year Lights by using objects, hints and solving puzzles. We hope you will find the New Year Lights. Good luck and have fun!


3D printing helps post sales efforts to a great extent. The level of spares that is required for maintenance and service can be lower with 3D printing. This helps companies to save costs.
3D printing helps in maintenance of in-house spares. Spares for existing machinery can be difficult to find due to long lead times or excessive costs. It is always possible to 3D print such devices. This ensures that production does not stop for want of spares. This is important from a logistics point of view. Customers do not like to keep waiting for supplies. An uninterrupted production helps in maintaining the supply chain.
Many major manufacturers are using 3D printing for printing out spare parts. This is more prevalent in the after-sales markets. 3D printing helps such manufacturers to assure spare part availability at short notice. It also helps them to keep inventory levels low. The funds saved from inventory can be useful to other critical areas of the business.
This is one of the major advantages of manufacturers. Some customers may have older product models which need spares. It is possible to 3D print spare parts of older models from design drawings. This ensures the integrity of the part. Customers will feel happy that their investments last longer.


Beginning this Monday, the All-Request Hour will be back (from noon to 1:00pm Eastern each weekday)! Even though though the Sounds of Christmas plays thousands of songs, we may have missed your favorite (or you may just have missed hearing it)!
I'll put up a new Request Blog each week (or more often, if needed) with that Monday's date so it will be easier to check back.
With that said, let me know what you want to hear and I'll start playing them back this Monday!
Can I interest you in an MP3 of my Christmas song Fluffy Snow for aiplay?
Personally I love a song by Uncle Carl: Have a Hap, Hap, Happy Christmas.
It's the best xmas dance song and would love to see it in a show some time.
A song from Judy Pancoast The house on Christmas Street!


text:
Birlasoft's 'agile pods' maintain productivity levels during WFH
Birlasoft's 'agile pods' maintain productivity levels during WFH
This article was originally published in HR Katha - Source link
The company has put in place a governance Model where large teams are shrunk into microcosms or smaller agile teams called 'agile pods' with clear ownership and accountability of deliverables, balanced with feasible and achievable workloads
Features insights by (SK) Shreeranganath Kulkarni and Arun Dinakar Rao
Shreeranganath Kulkarni
Arun Dinakar Rao
Information technology (IT) services provider, Birlasoft, has come up with a novel way to tackle the delivery and productivity issue amidst remote work during the COVID lockdown. Focusing on being lean and nimble, the Company has incorporated a governance model across the organisation, where teams are shrunk into microcosms, or smaller agile teams, with clear ownership and accountability of deliverables, balanced with feasible and achievable workloads.
So how did Birlasoft ensure agility and nimbleness?
"It was important for us to ensure that clients and teams are on the same page. This is a new way of life and has its own potential for leakages. It was essential to find a novel method of working which was efficient, acceptable and useful for all stakeholders during these times to generate the right kind of output."
- (SK) Shreeranganath Kulkarni
Usually, the teams deployed by the organisation to service clients are large, with 100, 150 or even 200 members. In a remote working setup, however, collaboration and communication amongst members of such large teams took up more than the usual time it would otherwise require in the normal office environment. With the exchange of information becoming more time consuming, project delivery got impacted.
To tackle this issue, Birlasoft came up with a governance model, where critical elements were selected to form a smaller team of around 5, 10 or 15 members. These leaner teams were then given a mandate to operate and function as an independent leg in a project, with micro deliverables and faster rates of delivery.
To ensure that responsibility and accountability were maintained even while facilitating constant communication with each other, standard protocols applicable in remote work environments were put in place along with overlays, such as the need for daily calls with all stakeholders.
Creating 'agile pods'
For each 'pod', a set of people with compatible skills is brought together to form a smaller team. The size of the group depends on the project load — a bigger project requires a larger pod.
For instance, for each team to have a complete set of essential skill sets, there has to be a scrum master, a domain expert, a technology architect, a person in charge of testing applications and a person to document it all, among others.
"Some of Our Victories During the Pandemic Were Because We Were Able to Deliver Beyond Client Expectations."
- Arun Rao
Agile pods work because since the teams are smaller, the members are aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, which allows them to develop a rhythm and cohesiveness.
"This has made a huge difference in terms of our delivery and winning client confidence. In fact, some of our victories during the pandemic were because we were able to deliver beyond client expectations," reveals (SK) Shreeranganath Kulkarni, Chief Delivery Officer (CDO), Birlasoft.
Delivery has speeded up for Birlasoft with the addition of these agile pods. Teams are now working on smaller work packages, with work becoming easier to track. Moreover, delivery for these packages has been possible in 8, 16 or 24 hours, which means just one, two or three days.
To further ensure, that there are no delays due lack of communication or clarity, dedicated time slots have been put in place, for clarification of doubts by each team.
Clients are more engaged than before
Apart from the team members, this new way of working also ensures clients are much more involved throughout the process. Earlier, a team in India would finish working on a project for the day and hand it over to another team, let us say, in the US. Prior to the handover, the client would review the work done till then and suggest modifications. Moreover, if there was any response needed from the India team, the client had to wait one whole day to get the clarifications. During the handover, the overlap time between the two teams and the client would earlier be a maximum of one and half hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.
"It was Important for Us to Ensure That Clients and Teams Are on the Same Page. This is a New Way of Life and Has Its Own Potential for Leakages. Therefore, It Was Essential to Find a Novel Method of Working, Which Was Efficient, Acceptable and Useful for All Stakeholders During These Times to Generate the Right Kind of Output."
- Shreeranganath Kulkarni
However, instead of waiting till the end of the day to point out pain points in the project delivery and request clarifications, clients are now engaged with the teams twice a day in the morning and evening. This ensures that modifications and clarifications are made before the handover and there is no one-day lag in receiving clarifications from any team, either in the US or India. In addition, the overlap time has increased to two and a half hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.
MealFirst campaign
Birlasoft, along with a Noida-based NGO called Under The Tree (UTT), extended a helping hand to all underpriviledged kids and their families.
They distributed food items and hygiene kits to 1000+ daily wage earners and families in and around sector 135. The campaign was initiated on March 23, 2020 and those in need were provided, dry ration, hygiene kits, milk and other essentials. A total of 1600 people and 450 children were given support through this initiative.
As part of its engagement initiatives, Birlasoft is also reaching out to employees and their families during this time to engage them productively. Kids across ages at home are engaging in reading activities, as well as yoga and Zumba sessions. An open platform called Creative Masters was created for the adults to share poetry, paintings and online blogs. Virtual Antakshari is another initiative, where employees participate by sharing videos of themselves.
To ensure health and wellbeing of the staff, webinars with health practitioners, industry experts and life coaches through WebX sessions, in addition to regular e-mailers on mental and physical wellbeing have been an effective initiative. Consultation with doctors, counselling sessions and fitness challenges, all organised online, are some of the facilities offered by the Company for its employees.
Journalist | Arindam Goswami | HRKatha
Fresh into the HR beat, Arindam began his writing career by volunteering as a student writer during his college days. A fan of almost all kinds of sweets, he enjoys light music. He hails from Assam and holds chai as the best beverage.
Failures are Stepping Stones to Success
Designing Work for Better Well-Being: Work-Life Balance and the Emotional Connect
Importance of Zero-Trust Framework for a Near Perfect Hybrid Working Model
Bridging the Demand for Digital Talent in the New Digital Age
Hybrid Working Models: Redefining Business Strategies
Survival of the Fittest in the Post-COVID World
Re-imagining cloud computing in a post-COVID world
Digital is a way of life today
It is time to leapfrog & not think
Corporate | 7 min Read
The world of work: Socially distant but more connected than ever before
Life @ Work | 7 min Read


text:
Георги Илиев Чанджиев или Чинчиджиев е български революционер, деец на Вътрешната македоно-одринска революционна организация и на Българския земеделски народен съюз.

Биография
Георги Чанджиев е роден на 16 юли 1884 година в Неврокоп. Завършна прогимназия. По професия е звънчар. Присъединява се към ВМОРО и подкрепя санданистите.

По времето на Балканската и Междусъюзническата война е доброволец в Македоно-одринското опълчение и служи във 2 рота на 14 воденска дружина.

След Първата световна война в 1919 година е сред основателите на земеделската дружба в Неврокоп и е избран за неин председател. Чанджиев е първият председател на окръжното ръководство на БЗНС. Противопоставя се на ВМРО. Бил е народен представител.

По време на Септемврийското въстание в 1923 година, макар и бивш санданист, е принуден да сътрудничи на ВМРО. В 1925 година е убит по време на така наречената Дъбнишка акция на ВМРО. През май 1925 е арестуван от полицията и предаден на ВМРО. Закаран е в Дъбница и след изтезания е обесен на брега на река Мътница на 15 юни.

Бележки

Български революционери от Македония
Дейци на ВМОРО
Санданисти
Родени в Гоце Делчев
Македоно-одрински опълченци
Дейци на БЗНС
Български политици от Македония
Депутати от Народното събрание на България
Жертви на Дъбнишката акция на ВМРО
Български политици (1918 – 1945)


Spooky World presents Nightmare New England and the Haunted Hayride, New England's largest haunted attraction, will open its over 80 acres of fear on Friday, September 22nd at Mel's Funway Park, 454 Charles Bancroft Hwy, Litchfield, NH.
Voted "Best Haunted Attraction" in 2017 by the Union Leader Readers Choice Awards, Spooky World, with five haunted attractions including a mile-long Haunted Hayride, invites lovers of fear to experience their worst nightmares. Whether it be on the Haunted Hayride, where you come face to face with the horrors of the dark woods, walking through the deserted halls of darkness at Brigham Manor or stumbling into a place where rot, decay, and the filth from the earth are a haven for evil, there will be little time to catch your breath before experiencing yet another haunting. The unnatural beings at The Colony are looking for bodies to torture and souls to destroy, and of course, one has to explore the tortured world of rejected carnival misfits in the 3D Festival of Fear. And if you are really brave and not afraid of the dark, you will want to purchase tickets to the traditional Lights Out event on November 4th. Spooky World is bringing you a night where the intensity is turned up, and the lights are turned off! Can you make it through all five Haunted Attractions with only a glow stick to navigate?
Faint of heart? Fear not. Spooky World offers the Monster Midway, zombie paintball, go-karts, mini-golf, batting cages, carnival concessions, tarot card readers, fire-pits and a beer garden, providing something for everyone.
Located five minutes from Manchester, NH and 45 minutes north of Boston, MA, Spooky World presents Nightmare New England and the Haunted Hayride is open weekends and select weeknights beginning Friday, September 22nd and running through Saturday, November 4th.
Tickets for opening weekend, September 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, are buy-one, get-one free and are available online and at the ticket booth while supplies last. On September 29th and 30th, all general tickets are $25 while regular VIP tickets are $50 and the Super VIP tickets are $65. On Friday October 13th, Spooky World has slashed its prices! Take $13 off any regular-priced ticket on October 13th.
Regular season tickets may be purchased online and on-site at the ticket booth.
Ticket Booth Hours Friday and Saturday nights: 6 to 11 p.m.
Ticket Booth Hours Select Sunday, Monday, and Thursday Nights: 6 to 10 p.m.
*Haunted attractions open at 7 p.m. The park will remain open one hour after the final ticket is sold.


Ann Intern Med. 2009 May 19;150(10):670-80.
de Groot K1, Harper L, Jayne DR, Flores Suarez LF, Gregorini G, Gross WL, Luqmani R, Pusey CD, Rasmussen N, Sinico RA, Tesar V, Vanhille P, Westman K, Savage CO; EUVAS (European Vasculitis Study Group).
Abramowicz D, Wissing M, Madhoun P, Blockmans D, Stolear J, Ekstrand A, Chabova V, Teasr V, Rychlik I, Bataille P, Puechal X, Vanhille P, Leblau J, Esnault VL, Gross WL, Weidner S, Rupprecht H, Schneider M, Specker C, de Groot K, Schmitt W, van der Woude F, Vischedyck M, Feighery C, Garibotto G, Sinico RA, Santostefano M, Dadoniene J, Flores Suarez L, Hagen EC, Oudejans I, Verburgh C, Ballarin J, Mirapeix E, Valles M, Bruchfeld A, Pettersson E, Eriksson P, Selga D, Segelmark M, Westman K, Lundberg I, Svenungsson E, Chizzolini C, Adu D, Harper L, Savage C, Jayne DR, de Souza R, Luqmani R, Watts R.
Current therapies for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis are limited by toxicity.
To compare pulse cyclophosphamide with daily oral cyclophosphamide for induction of remission.
Randomized, controlled trial. Random assignments were computer-generated; allocation was concealed by faxing centralized treatment assignment to providers at the time of enrollment. Patients, investigators, and assessors of outcomes were not blinded to assignment.
42 centers in 12 European countries.
149 patients who had newly diagnosed generalized ANCA-associated vasculitis with renal involvement but not immediately life-threatening disease.
Pulse cyclophosphamide, 15 mg/kg every 2 to 3 weeks (76 patients), or daily oral cyclophosphamide, 2 mg/kg per day (73 patients), plus prednisolone.
Time to remission (primary outcome); change in renal function, adverse events, and cumulative dose of cyclophosphamide (secondary outcomes).
Groups did not differ in time to remission (hazard ratio, 1.098 [95% CI, 0.78 to 1.55]; P = 0.59) or proportion of patients who achieved remission at 9 months (88.1% vs. 87.7%). Thirteen patients in the pulse group and 6 in the daily oral group achieved remission by 9 months and subsequently had relapse. Absolute cumulative cyclophosphamide dose in the daily oral group was greater than that in the pulse group (15.9 g [interquartile range, 11 to 22.5 g] vs. 8.2 g [interquartile range, 5.95 to 10.55 g]; P < 0.001). The pulse group had a lower rate of leukopenia (hazard ratio, 0.41 [CI, 0.23 to 0.71]).
The study was not powered to detect a difference in relapse rates between the 2 groups. Duration of follow-up was limited.
The pulse cyclophosphamide regimen induced remission of ANCA-associated vasculitis as well as the daily oral regimen at a reduced cumulative cyclophosphamide dose and caused fewer cases of leukopenia.


HOOORAY for your husband curbing the scroogeness ;)!
I love all your simple ideas. As I've grown up, I've become much more drawn to the simple and beautiful, instead of the loud and bright. Well, unless it's sparkly or pink.
Hope the move goes well. Glad today isn't too rainy or gross for ya! Sending easy moving vibes your way!
I love the simplistic look too. Sometimes when you have too much from different places and everything is mis-matchy is ends up looking overwhelming and tacky. The looks you picked out are simple and chic and I love it. And even the 30 house Christmas village looks cute!!
Hope you're feeling settled into the new place!!
Lovely ideas. Thank you so much for sharing.
I'm so glad you are getting into the Christmas spirit! If I ever have the space I am totally making a hot chocolate bar!!
I think I am going to try to make these crinkle cookies! Not sure what kind you are looking for but these looks amazing to me.


text:
Martha Stewart to open first-ever restaurant concept in Vegas
We're still waiting for an official initiation to dine at Martha Stewart's house, but we'll settle for a seat at her new restaurant in the meantime.
Martha Stewart is opening her first-ever restaurant this spring!Cindy Ord / Getty Images
Jan. 5, 2022, 2:34 PM UTC
By Chrissy Callahan
If you've always dreamed of dining at Martha Stewart's table, this might be the next best thing.
The lifestyle guru and accomplished cookbook author just announced that she's opening her first-ever restaurant this spring in the Paris Las Vegas hotel, and it looks like her 2022 is already shaping up to be a busy one.
Aptly named "The Bedford by Martha Stewart," the restaurant takes inspiration from Stewart's Bedford, NY farmhouse residence and will serve some of the same dishes the 80-year-old likes to whip up at home.
"Our menu will be delicious, depicting the very same kinds of foods I serve my friends and family," Stewart revealed in a press release.
The full menu is still under wraps but it will feature "seasonal dinner, weekend brunch and holiday menus that feature exceptional quality and creativity."
Chefs will rely on seasonal ingredients from local providers like the Las Vegas Farmers Market to create the signature menu items and they'll also source food from some of Stewart's favorite hotspots across the company, including Dartagnan Inc., Urbani Truffles, Roe Caviar, Frog Hollow Farm, Jasper Hill Farm and Vermont Creamery.
The cookbook author has been quite hands-on with the project and even designed the restaurant, which features a neutral color palette and 194 seats.
"The architecture and decoration of the spaces cleverly exemplify the beauty and atmosphere you might find at my beautiful farm in Bedford, New York. Dining at The Bedford will be immersive, fun, unexpected and utterly delectable," Stewart added in her statement.
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Paris Las Vegas Jason Gregorec expressed his excitement over the partnership in a statement, calling Stewart "one of the most celebrated voices in hospitality."
"Martha and her whole team have been incredible partners. When we open the doors, The Bedford by Martha Stewart will be a dining experience you simply can't get elsewhere."
This might be the lifestyle icon's first full-scale restaurant, but she did have her own café in New York for a few years. Stewart first announced the business venture in 2014 and it later closed in 2019, according to Food & Wine.
Chrissy Callahan
Chrissy Callahan covers a range of topics for TODAY.com, including fashion, beauty, pop culture and food. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, watching bad reality TV and consuming copious amounts of cookie dough.


Does someone you know have a dog that is in dire need of a Darth Vader outfit? Yes? I thought so. Lucky for you that our home and office pages can deliver. Filled to the brim with gifts for Dad and the nerdiest housewarming gifts around, Costume Box can provide you with tools that you need to look interested in your Fathers/ Sons/ Boyfriends Star Wars obsession. The most convenient place to find last minute presents for men who need only the most 'useful' of knick knacks so they can pretend to be productive in the home/office.


text:
Untitled Edition Of 60
By Prabhakar Kolte
Prints Not Available
19 X 27 In | 48 X 69 Cm
Serigraph on Paper
Created in 2007
Sold by Gallery, Shipped Rolled unless rolling not possible
Lot No 160178
International Shipping available for this product
The serigraph is individually signed and numbered by the artist and is a five color print.The early work of Prabhakar Kolte shows the strong influence of Paul Klee, the Swiss ar...
The serigraph is individually signed and numbered by the artist and is a five color print.The early work of Prabhakar Kolte shows the strong influence of Paul Klee, the Swiss artist and teacher whose childlike figures belie the sophistication of his richly textured surfaces. Indeed, Klee`s influence was felt by many of Kolte`s classmates studying at the J.J. School of Art in the late 1960s. Kolte`s debt to Klee can be seen in his technique of weathering his stronger colors, adding touches of white to age the effect of an otherwise bold hue. His early canvases are characterized by a single, dominant color in the background, on which lighter and more complex forms, both geometric and organic, are placed.
Click here for an insightful article to appreciate this work better


Made from cast molded polyurethane, the DO-MAX Single Channel Cable Protector is light weight and designed to endure pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Cables and hoses in high traffic areas can quickly be concealed under the DO-MAX cord cover has a 1.5 by 1.5 single channel, while the yellow exterior ensures visual notice. The Diamond-tread pattern top increases surface traction and the low angle shape allows for easy crossing for all traffic.
This Drop Over cable ramp can easily extend its length because of its built-in connection system enabling it to provide refuge over long running cables.
With the DO-MAX Single Channel cable cover, protection and safety is a few seconds away!
Click the "Specifications" tab for dimension chart.
This is a great product. I ran electrical cable through 1" conduit across a gravel driveway with 7 of these protecting it. They are very solid, well built, and interlocking works great. Many cars and trucks have driven over them without issue.
This product is exactly what I wanted. Works perfectly. I'm running a #8/4 conductor SO cable under it for an emergency generating system.


text:
Mahindra XUV300 spotted heading to a dealer ahead of launch this week
12/02/2019 - 12:12 | Mahindra XUV300, Mahindra | Yatharth Chauhan
IAB reader Adeel Ahmad has spotted a black-coloured Mahindra XUV300 W8 (O) on its way to a dealership in Lucknow. The new small SUV will go on sale on 14 February, and its pre-bookings have been underway since 9 January.
The Mahindra XUV300 shares the X100 platform with the Ssangyong Tivoli and, in the words of the manufacturer, has a 'Cheetah-inspired' design.
The Mahindra XUV300 is its carmaker's fifth attempt at cracking the sub-4-metre SUV segment after a lacklustre sales performance by the Quanto, which was launched in 2012, and Mahindra TUV300 that went on sale in 2015. The new model will rival the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, and Tata Nexon.
The Mahindra XUV300 will be sold with two turbocharged engine options - 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel. The former produces a maximum power of 81 kW (110 bhp) at 5,000 rpm and a peak torque of 200 Nm between 2,000-3,500 rpm, while the latter offers 85.8 kW (115 bhp) at 3,750 rpm and 300 Nm from 1,500-2,500 rpm. Both the powertrains will be paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. The new SUV offers an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 17 km/l with the petrol engine and 20 km/l with the diesel engine.
A highlight of the Mahindra XUV300 is its best-in-segment equipment list, with the top-spec W8(O) trim offering several high-end features like engine start-stop, auto-dimming IRVM, heated ORVMs, dual-zone climate control, front and rear parking sensors, seven airbags, Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), and electric sunroof. Dual front airbags, audio system with four speakers, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX, rear parking sensors, electric tailgate release, and multiple steering settings will be standard across the grades.
While the Mahindra XUV300 will be launched with a 6-speed manual transmission on both petrol and diesel engine variants, an AMT is expected to be introduced at a later stage.
Also Read: Electric Mahindra XUV 300 (e-s201) to be available with two different powertrains
The Mahindra XUV300 is 1,821 mm wide, which makes it the widest offering in the segment. To put things in perspective, the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, and Tata Nexon are 1,790 mm, 1,765 mm, and 1,811 mm wide, respectively. Even the Hyundai Creta, which belongs to a higher segment, measures 1,780 mm. The new model has a boot space of 265-litre and a ground clearance of 180 mm.
[Source- autocarindia.com]
Mahindrra XUV300 - Image Gallery
Mahindra XUV300 News & Updates
Mahindra Cars Discounts and Other Offers for July 2019
Mahindra XUV300 AMT launched in India, priced from INR 11.50 lakh
Mahindra XUV300 AMT pre-bookings open, to be launched soon - Report
Mahindra XUV300 AMT starts arriving at dealerships [Video]
Mahindra Car Discounts and Offers for June 2019
Mahindra to launch XUV300 AMT this month - Report
More from Mahindra
Mahindra XUV500 finally gets Apple CarPlay support
Top 5 upcoming EVs: From Mahindra e-KUV100 to Hyundai Kona Electric
Mahindra Bolero Power+ ABS silently launched, priced from INR 7.31 lakh
Mahindra June 2019 Sales: Passenger Vehicles sales up, exports stumble


text:
package com.navercorp.pinpoint.profiler.context;

import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.AsyncTraceId;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.SpanEventRecorder;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.SpanRecorder;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.Trace;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.TraceId;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.bootstrap.context.TraceType;

public class AsyncTrace implements Trace {
    private static final int BEGIN_STACKID = 1;

    private final Trace trace;
    private int asyncId;
    private short asyncSequence;

    public AsyncTrace(final Trace trace, final int asyncId, final short asyncSequence, final long startTime) {
        this.trace = trace;
        this.trace.getSpanRecorder().recordStartTime(startTime);
        this.asyncId = asyncId;
        this.asyncSequence = asyncSequence;
        traceBlockBegin(BEGIN_STACKID);
    }

    public int getAsyncId() {
        return asyncId;
    }

    @Override
    public long getId() {
        return -1;
    }

    @Override
    public long getStartTime() {
        return 0;
    }

    @Override
    public Thread getBindThread() {
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public TraceId getTraceId() {
        return trace.getTraceId();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean canSampled() {
        return trace.canSampled();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isRoot() {
        return trace.isRoot();
    }

    @Override
    public SpanEventRecorder traceBlockBegin() {
        final SpanEventRecorder recorder = trace.traceBlockBegin();
        recorder.recordAsyncId(asyncId);
        recorder.recordAsyncSequence(asyncSequence);

        return recorder;
    }

    @Override
    public SpanEventRecorder traceBlockBegin(int stackId) {
        final SpanEventRecorder recorder = trace.traceBlockBegin(stackId);
        recorder.recordAsyncId(asyncId);
        recorder.recordAsyncSequence(asyncSequence);

        return recorder;
    }

    @Override
    public void traceBlockEnd() {
        trace.traceBlockEnd();
    }

    @Override
    public void traceBlockEnd(int stackId) {
        trace.traceBlockEnd(stackId);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isAsync() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isRootStack() {
        return trace.getCallStackFrameId() == BEGIN_STACKID;
    }

    @Override
    public AsyncTraceId getAsyncTraceId() {
        return trace.getAsyncTraceId();
    }

    @Override
    public void close() {
        traceBlockEnd(BEGIN_STACKID);
        trace.close();
    }

    @Override
    public SpanRecorder getSpanRecorder() {
        return trace.getSpanRecorder();
    }

    @Override
    public SpanEventRecorder currentSpanEventRecorder() {
        return trace.currentSpanEventRecorder();
    }

    @Override
    public int getCallStackFrameId() {
        return trace.getCallStackFrameId();
    }

    @Override
    public TraceType getTraceType() {
        return TraceType.ASYNC;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
O campeonato de futebol da Suécia da temporada de 2015 - Allsvenskan 2015 - decorreu no período de abril a outubro. A dureza do inverno sueco dificulta ou impede a prática do futebol no exterior durante os meses de inverno, sendo por isso preferida a temporada primavera-outono, embora isso provoque um desfazamento negativo em relação aos países que adotam a temporada outono-primavera.

Participaram 16 clubes. Esta época o escalão principal do futebol da Suécia contou com dois novos clubes: o GIF Sundsvall e o Hammarby IF.

O campeão desta temporada foi o IFK Norrköping que conquistou o seu 13º título nacional, e se classificou para a Liga dos Campeões. O 2º e 3º classificados - IFK Göteborg e AIK- ganharam a presença na Liga Europa.

Os despromovidos à Superettan no fim desta época foram o Halmstads BK e o Åtvidabergs FF. O Falkenbergs FF terá de disputar um playoff com o 3º colocado na Superettan - o IK Sirius.

Campeão

Classificação Final 2015

Play-offs
O 14º colocado na Allsvenskan 2015 enfrentou o terceiro colocado da Superettan 2015.

Jogo de Ida

Jogo de Volta

Resultado
Agregado: 3-3 Falkenbergs FF venceu pelos gols marcados fora de casa.

Melhores marcadores

Participantes 2015

Ligações externas

Ver também
 Superettan 2014
 Allsvenskan 2014

2015
Futebol de 2015 na Suécia


Steve Quiner | Coleman/Quiner Ltd.
I am proud to be a 4th generation Des Moines native, a husband of 41 years, father to three children, and grandfather to six.
Like Bob mentioned, despite college degrees, mine from the University of Iowa and Drake University, and a handful of professional designations, my real "education" has come through practical experience. It's the kind of experience gained by working in diverse areas of the financial world on behalf of thousands of clients over the past 40‐plus years. It's the experience gained by weathering bad times as well as good.
It's been an amazing partnership among the three of us here for the last 20‐plus years. Bob & I have actually worked together for more than 30, and I'm excited to head into the next chapter.


New Musical Express (NME) is a British music magazine first published in 1952. The magazine was responsible for the first UK singles chart that same year and has gone on to publish multiple best-of lists (links at bottom of page) throughout its history. Based on those lists are the top songs of each year from 1952 to 2008. From 2009 through 2018, the top songs are determined by year-end lists.


The Indosiar TV Station is an Indonesian's favorite entertainment place in the whole country. Since 1994, Indosiar is working in Western Jakarta. It working with the too awesome Slogan which shows its dedication to complete the requirements of the viewers and the slogan is "Indeed for You". Indosiar TV Indonesia is providing the great enjoyment programming environment to its dearest viewers. The Indosiar channel is working with a powerful concentrate on social development i.e. system devoted to learners efficiency. Simultaneously, TV Indosiar has currently been expanding its skyline with talk shows programs with various well known 2personalities; discuss reveals and dilemma sequence, particularly "sinetron" detergent operas with styles such as really like and close relatives.
Indosiar reveals also cover few of the Japan people interests programs, Korean shows, and Taiwanese dramas. If we see Indosiar TV Indonesia rank of popularity in the country then it's seen that during Sept 2008 its audiences figures was 16.2% of audiences in whole country. But with the time during the Dec 2009 this percentage had reduced to 11.6%.


Due to the sensitivity of the environment and level of regulation required in the Food and Beverage industry, we offer specific materials specifically developed for food contact. Many of our products have FDA and European Food contact approval. We provide materials that reduce maintenance costs and increase productivity.
Our technical experts are ready to advise you on our range of materials providing details regarding chemical resistance data, material selection and of course supplying food compliancy certificates for our products.


Car Sketch Tutorial, Fast Ideation.
When I look at portfolios, to give a feedback, I often see lots of sketches with too many details. If you decide to draw all details on each sketch you risk losing the "ideation feeling" or that right mood that will bring you to find an interesting proportioned car sketch.
For this reason, I made a car sketch tutorial to explain and show how to just have fun looking for new proportions before thinking about design and details.
In other words, do not close yourself to fast into a styling mood. Proportions come first!
Do you want my personal feedback on your work?
The Course is about how to start sketching cars starting from basic tutorials, it will last 4 weeks from the date of start: 16th of January 20017, end on the 16th of February!
It is important for you to validate your inscription before the 16th of January!
Remember that every week I will give you homework to do, you will upload your homework done and I'll critic or draw corrections and also write some comments to help you understand better your mistakes and how to improve.
I made a short video showing my method to start sketching a car in side view. Please follow and enjoy!
Michele Leonello is an expert Car Designer (former Alfa Romeo designer) and also one of best SPD Design school teachers in Milano Italy.
Michele made this great step by step marker car sketch tutorial to clearly explain his own technique and methodology, so here I am presenting it to you because it might be useful to understand and of course exercise!
Visit Michele Leonello website here!
Alain Derosier is a French young designer working in China. Today looking at his blog I found this nice Photoshop tutorial that I am happy to publish here to show it to you.
As you can see Alan starts from a free-hand simple sketch that already has the right proportions, perspective, line quality and composition on the page. The wheels are very well done following the perspective.
What really is strong in this illustration is the control of its Focal Point (front wheel/hood/ground) with the light effect which is driving our attention to it first before admiring the rest of the illustration. Reading from left to right.
The balance between the light and shadow is perfect and the color treatment, too.
Sketching Wheels' Tips is my latest eBook about how to draw cars correctly. I receive many requests to see portfolios and car drawings, often I see sketches with wheels not respecting perspective rules and it is a very bad mistake.
For this reason I decided to dedicate a short eBook (21 pages) to this topic to explain basic rules to draw wheels in perspective on your car sketches. Mostly how to do it correctly.


text:
Q: Panda, how to shorten/hide a list in a dataframe when using print I'm using a dataframe with a lot of relevant data so I can have an easy access to all the relevant information when doing. It looks as such
df
     ion    m/n  qte   C1    C2   rCC  compte
0     H   1.00    1  0.1  0.25  0.50       2
1    H2   1.00    3  0.5  0.30  1.00       4
2  10B2   5.00    1  0.6  0.30  0.50       4
3  11B2   5.50    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0
4   10B  10.00    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0
5   11B  11.00    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0
6   Si2  14.01    1  0.8  0.80  1.00       0
7   Fe2  26.90    1  0.8  0.35  0.65       3
8  Fe2*  27.90    1  0.5  0.50  1.00       7

Later in the code I add two columns which, for each row, contains a very long list.
This makes any print(df) unreadable as it looks like this after adding the new rows.
df with fluxC1 and fluxC2 columns
     ion  ...                                             fluxC2
0     H  ...  [0.0004506072467966082, 0.0004511067891697997,...
1    H2  ...  [9.65067757502627e-05, 9.663517466177602e-05, ...
2  10B2  ...  [9.65067757502627e-05, 9.663517466177602e-05, ...
3  11B2  ...  [0.0021039651287393384, 0.002105830883498985, ...
4   10B  ...  [0.0021039651287393384, 0.002105830883498985, ...
5   11B  ...  [0.0021039651287393384, 0.002105830883498985, ...
6   Si2  ...  [1.9595400763556396e-11, 1.966500053364854e-11...
7   Fe2  ...  [2.0668903644852728e-05, 2.070098966831758e-05...
8  Fe2*  ...  [2.030468908656194e-07, 2.0349733523508614e-07...

Is there any way for me to print my df so that the list is show as [...] or something similar so that my printed df would look like this
df
         ion    m/n  qte   C1    C2   rCC  compte  fluxC1  fluxC2
    0     H   1.00    1  0.1  0.25  0.50       2   [...]   [...]
    1    H2   1.00    3  0.5  0.30  1.00       4   [...]   [...]
    2  10B2   5.00    1  0.6  0.30  0.50       4   [...]   [...]
    3  11B2   5.50    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0   [...]   [...]
    4   10B  10.00    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0   [...]   [...]
    5   11B  11.00    0  0.2  0.20  1.00       0   [...]   [...]
    6   Si2  14.01    1  0.8  0.80  1.00       0   [...]   [...]
    7   Fe2  26.90    1  0.8  0.35  0.65       3   [...]   [...]
    8  Fe2*  27.90    1  0.5  0.50  1.00       7   [...]   [...]

I havn't even found a way to print a list as a [...] or with only very few elements in it, like printing a rounded list (without rounding anything in the df) so I'm a bit skeptical.

A: You can use style formatting offered by Pandas. There are two ways to go about this. One is to use style.format() on your dataframe (df) on each invocation where you want to display your df.
df.style.format({'fluxC1': '[...]', 'fluxC2': '[...]'})

You can use whatever style you want for your columns. The syntax to remember is to use a dict where key is column name and value is the style you want, like above. Or, use a callable if you have some complicated logic. Consult documentation for more info on this.
Another approach is to set pd options for style formatting so that you no longer have to pass format each time. Here's one way to do that (with a sample dataframe for better understanding):
import string
import pandas as pd

# A Style formatter that styles only Lists which are of len > 2
def style_formatter(i):
    if isinstance(i, list):
        if len(i) > 2:
            return '[...]'
        return i
    return i
pd.set_option('styler.format.formatter', style_formatter)

# Sample dataframe
df = pd.DataFrame({'colA': [[*string.ascii_letters] for i in range(0, 6)], 'colB': [i for i in range(0, 6)]})

Default df output:
    colA                                                colB
0   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   0
1   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   1
2   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   2
3   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   3
4   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   4
5   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ...   5

To style output, call df as df.style. Example output after auto-styling based on pd styling option:
    colA    colB
0   [...]   0
1   [...]   1
2   [...]   2
3   [...]   3
4   [...]   4
5   [...]   5

Serious note: styling can take a while if you run it on a big  dataframe. Better approach is to get your data and then use styling over it. E.g. df.head(20).style

A: This might be able to help you, I use this a lot when working with bigger dataframes
pd.set_option('display.max_rows', 500)
pd.set_option('display.max_columns', 500)
pd.set_option('display.width', 1000)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Бартелеми Луј Јозеф Шерер (; 1747 — 1804) био је француски генерал.

Учествовао је у француским револуционарним ратовима; 1795. године командант је француске Италијанске армије. У бици код Лоана 1795. године поразио је аустријске снаге али пошто није искористио тај успех, убрзо је смењен. Почетком 1799. године поново је постављен за команданта Италијанске армије. Да би предухитрио долазак Руса, Шерер је 26. марта из рејона Мантове предузео офанзиву против Аустријанаца, али је у бици код Мањана претрпео пораз од аустријског генерала Краја и принуђен на повлачење кад је и смењен. Написао је дело: Преглед операција Италијанске армије.

Извори
 Војна енциклопедија, том 9 (553)

Рођени 1747.
Умрли 1804.
Француски генерали
Личности Француских револуционарних ратова
Личности Наполеонових ратова


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text:
野村控股
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (nmr)
Laura Simone Unger
Laura Simone Unger is on the board of Nomura Holding America, Inc. and 5 other companies. In the past Ms. Unger held the position of Chairman of US Securities & Exchange Commission and Securities Counsel at US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a graduate degree from New York Law School.
J. Christopher Giancarlo
Currently, J. Christopher Giancarlo holds the position of Chairman at Common Securitization Solutions LLC and Vice President & Legal Counsel at Fenics Software Ltd. He is also on the board of Nomura Holdings, Inc., Nomura Global Financial Products, Inc. and American Financial Exchange LLC and Senior Counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Member of New York State Bar Association. He previously held the position of Chairman for Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Executive Vice President-Corporate Communications at GFI Group, Inc. and Partner at Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP. J. Christopher Giancarlo received a graduate degree from Vanderbilt Law School and an undergraduate degree from Skidmore College.
Takahisa Takahara
Presently, Takahisa Takahara holds the position of Executive President & Representative Director at Unicharm Corp. Mr. Takahara is also on the board of Nomura Holdings, Inc. and CALBEE, Inc.
Lap Lik Chu
Founder of First Eastern Investment Group Ltd. and Victor Chu & Co., Lap Lik Chu is a British businessperson who has been at the head of 7 different companies and is Chairman of FE Securities Ltd., Chairman at First Eastern Investment Group Ltd., Chairman of First Eastern Marina Investments Ltd., Chairman of Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Ltd. (a subsidiary of First Eastern Marina Investments Ltd.), Chairman of First Eastern (Holdings) Ltd. and Chairman of Hong Kong-Europe Business Council. Mr. Chu is also on the board of 12 other companies. He previously held the position of Senior Partner at Victor Chu & Co., Member of Hong Kong Takeovers & Mergers Panel, Director & Council Member at Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (France), Co-Chairman-Business Council at Forum Mondial de L'Economie, Deputy Secretary General at International Bar Association and Member of Hong Kong Securities & Investment Institute. Lap Lik Chu received a graduate degree from University College London.
Kazuhiko Ishimura
Presently, Kazuhiko Ishimura holds the position of Chairman & Chief Operating Officer at Advanced Industrial Science & Technology. Mr. Ishimura is also on the board of Ricoh Co., Ltd., Nomura Holdings, Inc., TDK Corp. and AGC, Inc. (Japan) (former Chairman).
Kenji Kimura
Kenji Kimura is Executive Officer & Head-Banking at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Steven Antony Ashley
Steven Antony Ashley is Executive Officer & Manager-Wholesale Division at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Takumi Kitamura
Currently, Takumi Kitamura holds the position of Chief Financial Officer & Head-IR at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Noriaki Shimazaki
Currently, Noriaki Shimazaki holds the position of Chairman for Kamikawa Taisetsu Sake Brewery. Mr. Shimazaki is also on the board of Nomura Securities Co., Ltd., Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Loginet Japan Co., Ltd. and Chairman for XBRL Japan, Inc. and Member-Business Accounting Council at Financial Services Agency. Mr. Shimazaki previously was Director & Executive Vice President at Sumitomo Corp. and Public Director at Japan Securities Dealers Association.
Koji Nagai
Koji Nagai is Chairman for Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Chairman for Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and Chairman at Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Private Banking) (both are subsidiaries of Nomura Holdings, Inc.). In the past Mr. Nagai was President & Group Chief Executive Officer at Nomura Capital Markets Ltd.
Kentaro Okuda
Kentaro Okuda holds the position of President, Group CEO & Director at Nomura Holdings, Inc. and President for Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and President of Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Private Banking) (both are subsidiaries of Nomura Holdings, Inc.). In the past Kentaro Okuda held the position of Managing Executive Officer of Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.
Jonathan Wayne Lewis
Mr. Jonathan W. Lewis is a Chairman-Supervisory Board at Nomura Financial Products Europe GmbH, a Chief Executive Officer & Group Chief Administrative Officer at Nomura International Plc, a Chief Executive Officer at Nomura International Plc (Italy), at Nomura International Plc (Market-Maker), a Chief Administration Officer & Executive Officer at Nomura Holdings, Inc., a Chief Executive Officer & Director at Nomura Bank International Plc and at Nomura Europe Holdings Plc. He is on the Board of Directors at Nomura Bank International Plc, Nomura Europe Holdings Plc and Instinet International Ltd. Mr. Lewis also served on the board at Instinet Europe Ltd.
Yosuke Inaida
Currently, Yosuke Inaida is Chief Compliance Officer & Executive Officer at Nomura Holdings, Inc. Mr. Inaida is also on the board of Japan Securities Clearing Corp.
Tomoyuki Teraguchi
Currently, Tomoyuki Teraguchi holds the position of Representative Director & Vice President at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Hajime Ikeda
Hajime Ikeda occupies the position of Executive Officer & Head-Brand Strategy at Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Chairman at BOOSTRY Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc.).
Mari Sono
Mari Sono is on the board of Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Commissioner of Securities & Exchange Surveillance Commission and Auditor for Waseda University. In her past career Ms. Sono occupied the position of Senior Partner at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC.
Masahiko Maekawa
Masahiko Maekawa holds the position of Executive Officer & Manager-Merchant Banking at Nomura Holdings, Inc. and President & Representative Director at Nomura Capital Partners Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc.). He is also on the board of Welmo, Inc. In the past Mr. Maekawa occupied the position of Manager-Corporate Planning at Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd. Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer at Japan Post Capital Co. Ltd. and Manager-Business Creation at Japan Post Real Estate Co., Ltd. (both are subsidiaries of Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd.).
Shoji Ogawa
Shoji Ogawa occupies the position of Corporate Auditor at Nomura Asia Pacific Holdings Co., Ltd. Mr. Ogawa is also on the board of Nomura Holding America, Inc., Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Instinet, Inc.
Toru Otsuka
Toru Otsuka is on the board of Nomura Financial Products Europe GmbH and Chief Strategy Officer for Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Satoshi Arai
Satoshi Arai holds the position of Executive Officer & Head-Sales at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Yoshifumi Kishida
Currently, Yoshifumi Kishida holds the position of Executive Officer & Head-Group Legal Affairs at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Etsuro Miwa
Presently, Etsuro Miwa occupies the position of Executive Officer & Head-Global Human Resources at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Jun Yoshimura
Jun Yoshimura holds the position of Executive Officer & Head-Group IT at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Go Sugiyama
Presently, Go Sugiyama occupies the position of Manager-Sales at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Yuko Horiuchi
Yuko Horiuchi holds the position of Accounting Manager at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Patricia Mosser
Patricia Mosser is on the board of Nomura Holding America, Inc. and Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Assistant Professor at The Trustees of Columbia University in The City of New York, Vice President of Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Member-Markets Committee at The Bank for International Settlements.
Shinsuke Tsunoda
Shinsuke Tsunoda is Global Head-Mergers & Acquisitions at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Omar Ghalloudi
Omar Ghalloudi is Head-Developed Markets Trading in Flow Credit-EMEA at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Marco Bonetti
Marco Bonetti is Head-Global Markets Equity Origination & EMEA at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Ronan Connolly
Ronan Connolly is Head-Equity Trading & EMEA at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Seamus Hanly
Seamus Hanly is Head-Equity Syndication & Asia Ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Daisuke Mototani
Daisuke Mototani is on the board of Nomura Europe Holdings Plc and Global Head-Equity Sales at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Massimo Labella
Massimo Labella is Head-Directional Delta One Sales at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Arun Master
Currently, Arun Master holds the position of Managing Director at UBS Securities LLC. Mr. Master is also Managing Director-Health Care Group at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Caio Costa
Caio Costa is Executive Director at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Christopher Striedter
Christopher Striedter is Managing Director-Industrial Group at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Harry Ng
Harry Ng is Head-Wealth Planning Strat & Sol, Asia Ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Nobuhiro Sano
Nobuhiro Sano is Head-Wealth Management & Asia Ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Greg Brandtner
Greg Brandtner is Head-Global Markets Sales-South Africa at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Matteo Spinosa
Matteo Spinosa is Head-Global Markets Sales-Central & Eastern Europe at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Claire Bussiere
Claire Bussiere is Head-FIG DCM & BENELUX Region at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Matt Shiel
Matt Shiel is Exe Dir-Pass-Through Trading-Agy Mortgage-Americas at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Adam Islef
Adam Islef is Head-Technology, Media & Telecoms, EMEA at Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Member-Advisory Board at Thinkforward.
Hugh Karseras
Hugh Karseras is MD & Global Sales COO, Global Markets Div at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Anoop Chaudhry
Anoop Chaudhry is Head-Infra & Utilities Invt Banking-Asia, Ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Eric Roddy
Eric Roddy is Exec Dir-Restaurants-Consr/Retail Gp & Invt Bkng at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Charlie McElligott
Charlie McElligott is MD & Cross Asset Strategist, Global Markets at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Matt Reader
Matt Reader is Head-Global Markets & EMEA at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Slavko Andrejevic
Slavko Andrejevic is MD-Fincl Sponsors-Europe, the Middle East & Africa at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Akshay Prasad
Akshay Prasad is MD & Head-Invt Prods & Adv Sol-Asia Pac-Intl Wlth at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Mohan Kuppuswamy
Mohan Kuppuswamy is Executive Director-Architecture & Technology at Nomura Holdings, Inc.


...students achieve their goals and maximize their potential through practice and hard work. I'm a firm believer that the best way to improve in any area of academics is through practice. Once you become accustomed to the style of question, you will begin to realize why you are making mistakes and how to avoid making them in the future. Outside of tutoring, I am an avid sports fan and video game enthusiast.
...Learning should be an enjoyable and enriching experience. I also believe that answers should not be readily given. To truly grasp a subject material, students need to engage their critical thinking and problem solving skills throughout the learning process. No one ever said that learning and studying would be easy, but I am confident that I can help ease the process for other students and even make it fun along the way!


Stick to a budget. Travel, entertainment, and gifts can add up quickly. Keep track of what you spend to ensure a budget you can afford. Think of the talents and time you can offer to your loved ones. Make homemade gifts for inexpensive, yet meaningful, presents. Plan ahead. Look at ads, websites, and store circulars to ensure finding the lowest prices. Get tips from TalkAboutSavingMoney.com.
Know your body's limits. Shopping, social gatherings, and cooking meals can easily exhaust your body. Make sure you say no to unnecessary holiday activities. Keep healthy habits. Everyone knows the regret that can surface after a delicious holiday season. Make sure you don't overindulge on sweats and stay physically active.
Have realistic expectations. Conflicts and tensions tend to intensify during the holidays when you deal with increased demands. Since family relationships are continually changing, be open to create new traditions and shift plans. Schedule time for fun. Take time for yourself. Put aside at least 15 minutes personal time each day to get a clear mind and refreshed attitude. Reach out to your community. Service is a sure way to lift your spirits and put your life's problems into perspective.


Take away the location, the millions of dollars, the media attention and elitist status that comes with it.....and Broadway is just a word. What I mean by this is, incredible Broadway calliber artistry is everywhere. And Broadway is not the only place you can see incredible artists, designers, and award worthy creativity. Sorry to burst your bubble. It just isn't.
Broadway is simply a location in New York City. Its also an incredible community full of lovely talented artists that is considered the pinnacle of the theatre community around the globe. But, know this, great theatre exists everywhere. And what brought me to write this is I am sick of incredibly talented and hard working theatrical artists feeling less than because they haven't climbed and conquered the mountain called Broadway. I'm also quite tired of those who have been on Broadway acting like they are better than those who haven't, but that's another entry all together.
Listen, I love Broadway. I am one of the lucky ones who, at a very young age, had the privilege of performing and starring on Broadway many times. But, I also love artists, performers and designers. I love creative souls. And this expression, without having the stamp of approval that is a Broadway credit, doesn't diminish an artists brilliance. I feel the need to talk about this because it is such a wound in so many theatre artists....not having been on Broadway. Or having been on Broadway, but only for a moment, and feeling the rest of their lives like they will never measure up to that Broadway show ever again. And this is simply not true.
Listen, Broadway is incredible. But having been on Broadway, does it make me better than another performer who hasn't? Absolutely not. But this business seems to think so. The notion that someone who has a Broadway credit surpasses someone who doesn't, is ludicrous. Because I have seen some incredibly talented performers who blow me out of the water, but they have never booked a Broadway show. Why? Who knows? Maybe they never went to New York City or wanted to? Its a rough city to live in. Maybe they tried and after a few years wanted a better quality of life? We all know that getting to Broadway is a mixture of many things. The right show, the right role, knowing the right people, getting an audition, being the right age, voice type, dance type, etc. The list goes on and on. But I tell you, there is SO much talent all over this world that will never see a Broadway stage and will never win a Tony Award. And they are still very viable, brilliant, talented, and incredible artists.
And that is truly the way the entertainment industry works.
But Broadway is still a goal that may not ever be attained by some, and this is the most frustrating part of being a theatre performer. Not attaining it and feeling less than because you don't have the B word on your resume is heartbreaking. And lord knows, the business is hard enough as it is. The struggle to find a great theatre job is real, but also there is a struggle to be taken seriously if you don't have that Broadway credit. You are always climbing the mountain. Especially when the years begin to creep on by. People look at you and think. What's wrong with you? Why haven't you been on Broadway yet? Or why aren't you back on Broadway?
Nothing is wrong with you. Nothing, my friends.
I am not more talented than the next performer. I am not knocking my talent, the countless hours and dedication to my craft that I have done, I am just saying, there are SO many out there who have done the same as me. And they haven't made it to Broadway. They don't have a Tony Award (neither do I).
But we are all worthy. We are all SO worthy.
I booked my first Broadway show in the ensemble of the musical On The Town (Revival). But before we went into rehearsals the choreographer was replaced. I was told that they needed more ethnicity in the show and so I (and a few others) were also replaced before we even began rehearsal. This wasn't about my ability or talent, or work. I simply wasn't the right ethnicity. Do you see where I'm getting with this?
My second and third Broadway shows I booked were a new musical called Footloose and a new musical called The Jazz Singer. Neither were actually on Broadway yet but they had plans to be. I had done the workshop of The Jazz Singer and decided, based on my taste in shows and tap dance ability, to choose to be the understudy to Ruby Keeler in The Jazz Singer instead of the understudy to Ariel in the musical Footloose. Did I choose wrong? Some would say yes because as you may guess, The Jazz Singer never made it to Broadway and Footloose did. Could I have predicted that? Nope. I was 22 years old and I didn't know which potential Broadway show to choose. So, I went with my gut and my love of jazz and tap dancing and picked the show that felt good to my soul. Side note: I still believe I picked right....because a few years later that choreographer of The Jazz Singer, Mr. Randy Skinner, ended up casting me as Peggy Sawyer in 42nd ST which lead a long 20 year work relationship which included my Broadway musical debut, many regional productions and onto originating a starring role on Broadway in the musical White Christmas.
The fourth Broadway show I booked was a Comedia Del Arte play, and this was the show I actually made my Broadway debut in. For this musical girl, I never thought in my wildest dreams, my Broadway debut would've been a play, but it was. It was directed by the incredible Julie Taymor, with music by Elliot Goldenthal, and included a cast of tremendous actors (some of whom are still my friends today). It was called The Green Bird. It debuted at The Cort Theatre in the year 2000 and I cried as I stepped onto that stage for the first time. It was magical. But the show wasn't loved by critics, and we closed in just 7 weeks.
I detailed all of this journey to show you the craziness that can happen in order to not only get a Broadway show, but be in one. Imagine if my Broadway journey ended with The Green Bird and I was only on Broadway for 7 weeks? And i didn't even mention the countless Broadway auditions I have done and didn't book. It is am exhausting mountain to climb.
All in all, I have been a part of the most amazing productions that never made it anywhere near Broadway, nor planned to. I have been a part of transformative shows with exquisitely stellar performers who, within a phrase of song, could bring you to tears. And they have never been on Broadway, nor planned to be. These artists are Broadway caliber, they are humans who should grace the stage with their talent, their designs should be seen, there transformative artistry should be on Broadway....but it just isn't.
Listen, I hold Broadway in the highest regard. I always have. But when I moved into the Broadway community, many of my beliefs burst. There are a lot of factors that go into a show getting birthed, a performer getting a shot at auditioning and maybe a celebrity wanting to take the role you wish you could audition for, politics and money. It's a crazy and awesome puzzlement how Broadway show's even get made.
But whether or not you make it to Broadway doesn't define you as an artist.
I will leave you with this, I am in the Appalachian Mountains, working in a small yet awesome theatre, performing a role in a show with some of the most wonderful artists I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. And we are all doing transformative work, loving our craft and perfecting it every performance as we take the audience away on a journey. Add millions of dollars, the geographical location, and media attention...and its Broadway because let me tell ya....these artists are giving Broadway caliber performances. And that's the truth that I'm trying to convey. That stellar artistry, no matter where you happen to be, is truly the pinnacle of what live theatre is all about.
Keep on keeping on my friends.


The highly-stimulating sensation of dishes being made in front of you.
while viewing the chefs' professional knife skills over the counter.
Table seating and private rooms are available.
割 in 割烹 Kappou refers to cutting with a knife, and 烹 refers to simmering or boiling using fire.
Using various traditional Japanese cooking methods, we cook ingredients carefully selected from all over the world.
Please enjoy our chef's choice course, which exquisitely represents the seasons.
The restaurant features a wide variety of Japanese sake and wines.
11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
* Ukai Group restaurant Ginza Ukai-tei is also located in Ginza. Please be careful when you make a booking.
* There is no onsite parking. Please use the metered parking located nearby.
* Children 12 years old or younger are not allowed to dine in our restaurant.