I have waited on the Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Mat for months! And I finally have one! I first heard about the mat when they did a super cool instagram campaign and by the time I clicked over to their site, the bad boy was completely sold out. So I joined their wait list and got an e-mail letting me know when it was back in stock and I am so glad I did! Because sadly, the mat is out of stock again!!! Click this link to get on their VIP waiting list.
The Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Mat lives up to its hype for sure and there is a reason it keeps selling out!!! I have always been a fan of regularly cleaning your makeup brushes - hello, get rid of that bacteria and say hello to clear skin - but if I have a lot of brushes to clean, it can take awhile. (Click here for my tutorial on how to clean makeup brushes if you don't have a spa mat) Well this mat cuts my makeup brush cleaning time in half!
I love that the mat can fit in almost any size sink and that the water runs right over the mat to optimize your cleaning time. I also love that everything washes right down the drain, no need to have to clean extra bowls or cups too! Clean up after cleaning :) is a breeze. And the mat has great suction cups on the back, so you don't have to worry about the mat slipping while you use it.
Because there are so many ridges and textures, I really feel like my brushes get a thorough cleaning. In fact the water runs clear relatively fast, letting me know that my brushes have all of the gunk washed out of them. I really like using the spa mat for my smaller brushes (i.e. for my eyes and lips) because I felt like they looked like new when they were cleaned and dried. The mat can still work for bigger brushes, but I felt like I had to do a little extra cleaning and squeezing more so than with the little brushes.
All in all, this is one purchase I am so happy I made. I can seriously wash my 15 brushes (yes I use that many) in about 5 minutes. Easy peasy and it is all done!!!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below. I'll try to alert you as soon as this mat comes available again!
WOW, this looks amazing. I just use my hands, but this looks like a fabulous option!


The Centre for Rural development (SLE) was involved in Trans-SEC as a partner of the Humboldt University of Berlin. SLE researchers conducted studies analysing the food security relevant innovation systems in Tanzania. Using SLE approaches and tools the researchers conducted a baseline and an impact study at different levels before and after implementing the Trans-SEC upgrading strategies.


Dr. James A. Dinsmoor was at the center of behavior analysis from its beginning and remained so throughout his career. He participated in the first "proto-ABAI convention," the Conference on the Experimental Analysis of Behavior at Indiana University, more than 60 years ago. As a graduate student under Keller and Schoenfeld at Columbia University, he provided advice on research strategy to Murray Sidman. He took up the flag for behavior analysis in the psychology department at Indiana University while Kay Dinsmoor, his wife, was the business editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Dr. Dinsmoor completed a series of studies focused on key conceptual issues. The first of these untangled the complex contingencies of escape and avoidance conditioning, the interpretation of which is a matter of contention to this day. Another notable project unmasked the cognitivist interpretation of conditioned reinforcement by showing that a conception in terms of "information" was a misleading characterization of the processes involved. Dr. Dinsmoor was also a political activist, supporting controversial causes while always displaying personal integrity.


text:
Honda Civic tops Canada's list of most stolen cars
The 1999 and 2000 year model Honda Civic SiR tops the list of Canada's most stolen cars.
Consumer popularity also assures the cars will be popular with thieves. Its the second year in a row the Honda SiR has topped the list.
Rick Dubin Vice President of Investigations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said "The Civics are easy targets."
Dubin said that once stolen, the cars are most often sold to "chop shops" where thieves completely dismantle the vehicles. The automobile's individual parts are worth more than the entire car.
The sheer numbers of the cars and their lack of theft deterrent systems make them thieves' preferred choices.
1999 and 2000 Honda Civics do not come with an electronic immobilizer, however all Hondas from 2001 and onward are equipped with an immobilizer. Immobilizers will be mandatory on all new cars sold beginning September 2007. The devices enable an engine computer to recognize an electronic code in the key. If the code in the key and the engine don't match exactly, the vehicle can't be started.
In third place was the 2004 Subaru Impreza, while the 1999 Acura Integra came in fourth, with the 1994 Honda Civic rounding out the top five.
In sixth place, the 1998 Acura Integra, and the 1993 Dodge Shadow completed seventh.
When asked why early model vehicles are selected, he said that, "auto thieves continue to find it easier to steal older vehicles lacking an IBC-approved immobilizer. We've seen this trend developing for several years, and these results confirm it."
Another Honda automobile, the 1996 year model Civic filled eighth place, with the 2000 German Audi TT Quattro in ninth.
The American 1996 Chevrolet/GMC Blazer rounded out the top ten.
None of the above cars had an electronic immobilizer.
Antje Duvekot on life as a folk singer, her family and her music
ACLU, EFF challenging US 'secret' court orders seeking Twitter data

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A bill proposed in Arizona aimed to get women inmates there unlimited access to feminine hygiene products.
This Arizona representative is getting hate mail in the form of tampons. People in the state are sending menstrual products, cash and notes to demand that women in the state's prisons have unlimited access to the products.
A bill could change that. But Republican Rep. T.J. Shope has stalled the bill by refusing to hear it in the rules committee, which would be the next step.
"We need to do this. We need to make this commitment to our female prisoners in our prison system who deserve just basic dignity and respect," Democratic Rep. Athena Salman of Arizona, who introduced the bill, said.
Women inmates in Arizona currently get 36 pads a month. That's up from 12 pads the Department of Corrections provided before the bill was proposed.
But supporters of passing the legislation say without a law in place, there's not much security in the renewed policy. Plus, the pads have been criticized as being too thin.
This fight for full access to menstrual products in Arizona prisons echoes movements in other states. The conversation was launched after the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced last year it would provide feminine hygiene products.


Photo credit to Gary Wojcik When you finish a project called "Stitching Together A Community," any quilter would tell you, you tie the final knots and tidy up the edges. The Alcona County Quilt Trail Project group has done just that, entering their third season of existence.
The group's original goal was to have two of the 8 foot by 8 foot wooden quilt blocks mounted on locations in each township in order to include the entire county along the trail. They've exceeded the original goal, placing at least two in each township for a total of 28 quilt blocks. A map of the trail showing the location of each block has been printed and is available at Hollyhock Quilt Shop and other area businesses.
To bind the edges of Michigan's first and longest quilt trail, the group is in the process of creating replicas of the Alcona County Quilt Block, "Fish, Forests and Fun" to be placed at the county line in each of three directions, making individuals entering the county aware of the trail.
The trail project got its start in 2008, when an economic development class from Michigan State University researched and presented information on quilt trails throughout the country to a group of interested Alcona County residents. Since that time, groups have begun projects in Osceola County, currently with 10 blocks and in the Cadillac, Mich. area, where three blocks went up last fall.
The Alcona group was fortunate, president Cindi VanHurk said, to receive two grants for the project. Those included a $1,500 grant from the National Quilting Association for materials and a grant of more than 96 colors of paint from Behr Process Corporation, of California.
She noted that the group also received yearly donations from the East Shore Art Guild currently operating a gallery in the Harbortown Marketplace on Main Street. "That collaboration has helped so much", she said, adding that one artist from the guild is in the process of producing greeting cards featuring paintings of each of the quilt blocks.
VanHurk is currently at work on the last of six miniature fabric reproductions of the 28 existing blocks to complete the display at Hollyhock Quilt Shoppe. Kits to recreate each of the blocks are also available, with all proceeds going to the Quilt Trail Project and donations are still being accepted. Officers of the Quilt Trail Committee include VanHurk, vice president Bill Thompson, secretary Bonnie Wichtner-Zoia and treasurer Denise Hartz.


text:
Q: Ruby Docs Mixin Example - Wrong number of Arguments ruby-docs.org tutorial has section on Modules where the concept of Mixins are introduced.
The example given references the first argument as a string and prints it. But I see in the code that there is no receiver for the argument and execution does fail with ArgumentError
# Ruby module Mixin example.

module Debug
  def whoAmI?
    "#{self.type.name} (\##{self.id}): #{self.to_s}"
  end
end
class Phonograph
  include Debug
  # ...
end
class EightTrack
  include Debug
  # ...
end
ph = Phonograph.new("West End Blues")
et = EightTrack.new("Surrealistic Pillow")
ph.whoAmI? #»   "Phonograph (#537766170): West End Blues"
et.whoAmI? #»   "EightTrack (#537765860): Surrealistic Pillow"

My question is what is proper way to fix this code? Also, if someone can enlighten, how come the example in tutorial is wrong. Did anything change between the versions of ruby?
[tw-mbp13-skumaran ruby]$ ruby ruby23.rb
ruby23.rb:16:in initialize': wrong number of arguments (1 for 0) (ArgumentError)
    from ruby23.rb:16:innew'
    from ruby23.rb:16

A: The # ... indicates several missing methods in the code. Try this: https://gist.github.com/3353490

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Supporters of the current teacher strike came out to rally at the local district offices on Jan. 16. (Photo by Julissa Rangel)
Teachers from West Valley area rally at local district offices
Itzel Luna January 17, 2019
Teachers from all across the Northwest district flooded the streets and marched together in demand to be heard while holding signs and blasting music as the third day of the teacher strike continued.
"I have a cousin in the first grade right now and I think I have to lend my voice and do my part for his education," senior Andres Perkins said. "In the future, I want to be a teacher so I came to support."
Teachers and students alike rallied across Balboa Boulevard from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., blocking off the street where the Northwest district offices and Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) are located. Multiple police officers were on sight monitoring the rally.
"We are standing by to make sure that everything stays peaceful and that (the teachers) have the opportunity to exercise their free speech," Police Sergeant Gerald Case said. "We have enough people to deploy to the strike as necessary."
As teachers marched down Balboa Boulevard, Principal Deb Smith and Plant Manager Sal Rivas closed the entrance gate to the parking lot of DPMHS. According to Rivas, the gate was closed to ensure no one would use the parking lot but students still had access to the campus.
Teachers, students and parents that attended the rally picketed on Victory Boulevard and Vanowen Street, encouraging cars driving by to honk in support. During the rally, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board Member Scott Schmerelson voiced his support for the United Teachers Los Angeles union.
"I'm a teacher myself and I cannot stand by and let people be abused," Schmerelson said. "Teachers are being abused, so are kids and so are their parents, it's not fair."
Many teachers are frustrated by the lack of effort LAUSD has put into negotiating. As of now, neither side has proposed a deal since the strike started.
"The district needs to come back and say 'we are ready to give you more of your needs' because (it's) really about needs, not about frivolous things," music teacher Wes Hambright said. "I think the union is waiting for the district to get back to them and say 'let's talk about this again' rather than each side blaming the other."
Tomorrow, teachers are expected to picket outside their schools in the morning and afternoon. There will also be a neighborhood-based parent and community meeting within each school or neighborhood after morning picketing.
by Itzel Luna and Casey Wanatick
Education Hero News Schools
#UTLANow
In living memory: Norimitsu Tosu, 76-year-old hibakusha
Letter to President Trump and Congress: A view on the border wall from your average American citizen


Universal Networks International announced Wednesday that the Electric Entertainment-produced TV series "The Librarians" is coming to Universal Channel in over 100 countries.
The show's worldwide debut will come within 24 hours of the U.S. premiere on TNT in December. Universal Channel viewers in Australia, Asia, Europe and Latin America will all be able to tune in to the new series timed to the U.S. premiere.
Based on the TNT TV movie franchise "The Librarian," the 10-episode drama series features "Falling Skies" actor Noah Wyle reprising his role from the movie series alongside Rebecca Romijn and a cast that includes Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin — who appeared in the original series — as well as John Larroquette, Christian Kane, Lindy Booth and Matt Frewer.
The show centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath Gotham's Metropolitan Public Library, dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden around them.
"With 'The Librarians' we knew we had a great series on our hands and now, with Universal Networks International as our partner, we are thrilled that it will have the global reach and publicity it deserves," said Electric's head of international distribution Sonia Mehandjiyska.
"The Librarians" is exec produced by Wyle, Dean Devlin, John Rogers and Marc Roskin.


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Swiggy's valuation has swelled 5-times this year. Food-tech has suddenly become more exciting.
Bengaluru based food delivery app Swiggy has successfully raised $1 billion, which makes their valuation as $3.3 billion.
This is the biggest VC funding any food-tech startup has raised till now, in India.
With this funding, Swiggy has become India's 5th most valuable startup after Paytm, Oyo, Ola, Byju's.
This is their Series H funding, which was led by their existing investor Naspers, and supported by other existing investors such as DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management, along with new investors Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management Company.
In June this year, they had become a Unicorn (India's 12th Unicorn) startup, after receiving an investment of $210 million.
Hence, this year alone, Swiggy's valuation has increased by 5-times: Such rapid expansion of valuation has never been seen before.
Out of $1 billion VC funding, $800 million will be primary capital or fresh funds.
With this funding, Swiggy has now raised total of $1.26 billion as VC funding.
Swiggy Betting Big On AI, Machine Learning Driven Delivery?
As per the press release, this fresh round of funding will be used to ramp up their hyperlocal discovery and on-demand food delivery using AI and Machine Learning.
Their technological team will be strengthened and expanded to incubate exciting AI-driven technologies, which will help them to deliver on-demand food faster.
Besides, Swiggy will also kickstart their new initiative called 'Access' with the help of restaurant partners, which will incorporate 'delivery-only' kitchens to address the gap in supply. More details are awaited.
Since their last round of funding, they have now expanded to 42 more cities, and have roped in 120,000 active delivery partners. Their GMV has doubled too.
Now, Swiggy has 50,000+ restaurant partners, covering 50+ Indian cities.
As per Larry Illg, chief executive officer (food and ventures) at Naspers, Swiggy has increased their daily order volumes by 10X, since their first investment made last year.
Now, all eyes are set on Zomato, which had raised $410 million in two rounds this year, and considered a bigger rival in food delivery business.
Besides, the rise of UberEats in India, and Ola's foray into food delivery makes food-tech the most exciting niche in India right now. Ola has already acquired Foodpanda, triggering a new round of consolidations in the industry.
"Swiggy Raises $1 Billion, Biggest Funding In Food-Tech Till Now; Bets Big On AI Driven Food Delivery", 5 out of 5 based on 2 ratings.