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The One & Only Elgon
The Magic Is Real
Experiencing Jewel, Book One of Norma Jean's School of Witchery
Throwback Thursday (Make-up) – Van Halen's Debut Album
Books, Editing, Publishing, Writing
Colonial Authority: Chapter 4 – Heritage
September 19, 2017 November 7, 2017 Elgon Williams, Author
**Note: Although the following is part of a previously self-published eBook, portions have been modified. However, it has not been professionally edited and likely contains typos and other errors. It is offered as an example of raw science fiction storytelling.**
The Starport's commuter coach deposited her at a stop in portion of the Star City called 'The Hills', very close to Raven's estate. Just as Chase promised the mansion was within a few dozen meters of the seventh stop.
She reached the front steps and approached the entrance. She knocked, and then stood nervously waiting for someone to respond. The exterior of the estate reminded her of a medieval castle. It was an authentic looking replica of late medieval European architecture covered with moss and ivy. Its dark eeriness intimidated her as much as the understanding of the wealth and power of anyone who could have afforded the construction expenses of such an imposing edifice. She wondered who this artist was, but even more she was curious to know why he wanted to see her.
Chase did not prepare her for anything like this. She was having multiple conflicting sensations of dread and eagerness. It confused and frustrated her. He could have warned her that Raven was wealthy and powerful. Otherwise the Colonial Authority would have never allowed him to take so much valuable space to build such a home for the occupancy of one person.
Her knock must have been ignored or it went unheard. She looked around. Nowhere was there a button for a door chime or intercom. However, there was a rope dangling nearby. She tugged on it, hearing the faint tingling of a bell mounted somewhere on the inside of door. Then, she stepped back continuing to study the detail work, the weathering of the stones of which it was apparently built. It had to have cost a fortune. Why would anyone go to such an elaborate extreme?
The stones were fabricated like so much of the world around it but looked as real as the pictures she had seen in library slides of the estates that once decorated the hilltops in central Europe.
Abruptly, the door unlocked and what appeared to be a middle-aged man opened it and greeted her, startling her a bit.
"Are you Raven?"
The man stood emotionless. "You must be Cristina. The Master is expecting you. He is in his study." He paused to allow Cristina to step clear of the door swing, then closed and locked the door behind her. "Please, follow me."
As she navigated the corridor from the foyer, she marveled at the paintings that adorned the walls. "Did he do these?" she asked.
"Some are his. Some are the works of his closest friends," the servant replied.
"They're very good."
"The Master is without peer, except some of his friends rivaled him at times." He opened the door to the study and announced her arrival. She stepped inside as an older gentleman stood up from his desk. But instead of walking he appeared to float toward her.
"Cristina, finally we meet. I recognize you from your publicity portfolio. I must say the pictures do the reality of you physical presence barely any justice."
"I was prepared to meet a much older man."
"You are too kind. I assure you I am as old as Chase has warned you."
"Then, you are well preserved."
"I suppose that I am. Please have a seat." He directed his attention to the servant, "Dom, please bring us snacks and some coffee. I assume you drink coffee."
"As you wish," Dom bowed then left the room.
"I have never known anyone who could afford a servant."
"Dom is a manufactured being."
"He's a cyborg?"
"For lacking a better term. Really, he is a DOMLIB. He is rare, a prototype and therefore he is more unique in that not all of his features were included in production models."
"Why have I never heard of them?"
"They were available on Earth as servants for a few of the privileged in the Twenty-first Century. Their designed purpose was deep space exploration during the early attempts at colonization. They established thresholds in to and out of subspace to shorten travel times. Without their work, colonization efforts would have been delayed."
"As spacecraft advanced the need for the thresholds diminished, although they are still used for heavy transports."
"Yes, I figured the schools would still teach those half truths. The same Earth-based Corporation that designed the thresholds and the astralnav device that worked in conjunction with them also developed the technology for organic computers upon which the DOMLIB is based."
"It was in their economic interest to use one while proliferating the other," Cristina indicated that she understood the business concept of vertical integration. "Whatever became of the DOMLIBs?"
"There are some here and there. Most dwell on a planet a parsec from here. They began replicating themselves and their population grew. They became rebellious and at one point attacked some of the colonies closest to Earth, threatening the defenses of Earth as well," Raven said as he floated over to a window and pulled back the heavy drapes letting light into the otherwise dimly lit room. He turned to appraise Cristina's response, and then realized how foolish he was. She had just come from traveling by railcar between cities and must still be wearing protective lenses over her corneas. "That was a troublesome time to be alive," he continued. "I think most humans would rather forget about DOMLIBs. That is why almost everything about EthosCorp is absent from the education you received in our schools."
"You lived on Earth?"
"Yes," he said without any immediately forthcoming elaboration.
Dom reentered the room to deliver a tray of fresh coffee to the corner of the desk, and then poured a cup of coffee for Cristina, after asking her in fluent Italian what amendments she desired.
Across the room, Raven let the drapes fall back to where they were and hovered near a rocking chair that was close to a simulated hearth fire. "I'm afraid I speak little Italian, but I understand that you speak some other languages."
"Mi casa es su casa."
"Gracias," she thanked him in kind for his hospitality.
"Por lo nada."
"Besides Spanish, what other languages do you speak?" She asked.
"English, of course. I know a little French, some German and I'm fluent in Russian. In fact, before the end of Dr. Pavlovich's life I actually talked with him several times."
"Uri Mikael Pavlovich, the astronomer?"
"The same. He was the most insufferably miserable man I've ever known. An arrogant asshole without peer. An ego unlike any other I have ever endured. That is high praise because I have suffered many. But he was also brilliant enough to justify most of his hubris. He refused to speak anything but Russian, although he understood English and at least four other languages that I know of."
Cristina was still in awe. "That's why he named this world Pravda."
"This planet was his truth. It was his discovery and he suffered a lifetime to prove that it existed, that his detection through unorthodox methods was accurate. Now, I suppose his truth has become our truth."
"You were a young man when you met him?"
"I don't know about young, I was younger, of course. I was friends with many people from many lands, and so I picked up some words here and there."
"How long were you on Earth?"
"From the time I was born until the time I left," Raven replied with vagueness. Then noting her response, he added, "I see that surprises you."
"It's just that so few people have ever even been to Earth."
"I have returned since first departing – of course, not in recent times since the restrictions and the general quarantine. The last time I was there it was quite uninhabitable. It is worse than this godforsaken world once was."
"When I first came to Pravda, you could still see the poisons swirling the air like a mist or smoke just outside the domes. Even on cloudless days, the poisons were still there, blocking some of the sunlight."
"I have seen the clouds over the oceans."
"They are much rarer these times, but unlike The Colonial Authority would have us believe, they are not eliminated. That is why they tell you not to be outside of our wonderful protective domes without breathing filters. Most places on Earth you don't even have that option. The air is so polluted with noxious gases that a human must wear a pressurized suit and breathe from a tank of compressed air."
"The domes will be coming down soon."
"Despite what the engineers are saying about the quality of the air outside, I don't believe they are going to open the domes within the lifetime of anyone now alive. That is part of their conspiracy of silence," Raven said. He took up the coffee Dom left for him on his desk and floated toward a wall of bookcases. "Come with me," he said as he clicked a remote that he retrieved from his robe's pocket.
One bookcase recessed into the wall and pivoted to one side, revealing a room with impressive electronics that not only controlled the interior environment of the estate but also linked to the outside world as evidenced from the monitors mounted to a wall. It was not a standard world viewer array. "You see, I have access to everything from here. My computers are linked to the Colonial Authority. It is one of the advantages of building here before the city was completed or the dome was finished. I purposely selected this lot. It was close enough to the track so I could tap into the communication systems and the network trunk. Dom took care of everything else."
"I'm impressed."
"Nothing happens that I do not know about. Mostly, it entertains me, but there are times that it has been of vital use. It is not always easy to understand what is truly going on in this world."
"You came here very early on, then."
"I was one of the very first residents of Star City, and so there were many benefits accorded to me that were not offered to others who came later. Also, this and a handful of buildings down closer to the station conform to a much stricter building code. They are sealed environments since the dome was not finished at the time of their construction."
"You came here directly from Earth."
"No, no my dear," Raven shook his head. "Immediately before coming here I lived for many months in an overcrowded colony called Tahlyn, on Titan."
"I've heard of it."
"For all their aspirations to make it into a new Earth, it is still a frozen world and probably will forever be only that."
"I have heard that Earth was very beautiful."
"Yes, and honestly in many ways it is still. For humans it is uninhabitable. However, it is an error to say there is no life there. There are many creatures living deep in the oceans. In a few areas there are some species of insects that have adapted to the contaminated environment. Most neglect to cite the contribution of volcanic eruptions in the catastrophic environmental damage. It was a source of considerable academic debate whether without the eruptions we could have pulled back from the brink of the horrendous ecological disaster."
"I have never heard of it."
"Obviously, we possess the technology to exist in hostile places. The question becomes at what expense. There was a choice at the time, whether to live under the oceans or expand the Luna research center for colonization and terraform Mars. It was debated for nearly a hundred years. Essentially, it came down to a question of expense. It was always cheaper to develop colonization for the oceans, until the volcanic eruptions figured into the equation. Then, transforming Titan seemed an attractive venture. Besides, the acid in the rains from the volcanic ash and sulfur that the massive eruptions released into the atmosphere, there was no acrylic at the time that was strong enough to be used in domes that might have been used to allow us to remain on the surface of Earth in sufficient numbers to continue the species." He paused to sip from his coffee.
He cleared his throat, and then continued. "Even here for the first few decades the acid in the rains marred the finish on the domes. In fact, it was one of the selling points for Star City, which was built much later in the initial phase. The dome here is clear, and you can see all the stars."
"In New Milan it is possible to see the moons but the stars are always obscured. When I was a child, I always believed it was the ambient light from the city at night that prevented seeing the stars."
"Well, there is that too, but the domes of Haven and New Milan are not transparent at all," Raven explained. "Once the acid in the rain had diminished to be rarely ever a problem, except for out at sea, the scientists applied acrylic scratch filler that makes the domes appear clear, but really and truly they aren't. What marvelously clever people the Colonial Authority has working for them," he said sarcastically. "I am sure that given time our gifted, overachieving scientists can appear to remedy most anything."
Cristina studied one of the monitors for a few moments. "That's my home."
"So it is," Raven glanced at the same monitor. "Is there anything in New Milan you'd like to see?"
"Not especially," she turned back.
"It's possible, any exterior view, and interior views of public buildings."
"No, that's okay. So were you part of the original colonization?"
"Me? No," Raven smiled. "I have never got on too well with scientists, especially the ones here on Pravda."
"Differing perspectives and also I find them socially inept. They bore me with their bromides about the better life that they will one day find through their acquisition of knowledge."
"But you have to believe in the future."
"I believe there is a future, but it will be without mankind as we know it. That is a fundamental difference I have with the scientists. They have an insane but deeply established belief in the ultimate triumph of man's technology over nature. They are overly confident in their problem solving abilities."
"But they have solved so many of the problems. The air outside the domes is much cleaner," she pointed out.
"I am afraid that having seen what I have and lived through what I have endured I cannot share their optimism. They have infected you as well as many others, though. From my experience, faith in man's abilities often proves to be false hope at best. Mankind will inevitably fail, becoming another extinct species whether by our own hand or through the vengeance of nature."
Tagged books, inspiration, Space, writing
Published by Elgon Williams, Author
Professional author and Director of Marketing and Sales with Pandamoon Publishing. Author of Fried Windows, Wolfcats, and The Thuperman Trilogy. Currently lives in Irvine, CA, 3 adult children, divorced.	View all posts by Elgon Williams, Author
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It's been more than a week since the public release of the HeartBleed bug and its exploits. Most of the websites, that were confirmed to have this vulnerability were able to fix this issue; but not all of them.
This means that an attacker is able to gain full access to their web servers and steal sensible information. Moreover, this vulnerability can lead to the exposure of their VPN servers' SSL certificates, which can make their clients' VPN tunnel vulnerable to a Man in the Middle Attack.
We hope that this won't lead to any unwanted disclosure of information related to clients of the aforementioned VPNs, and we also hope that these issues will be fixed ASAP.
We are trying to contact these providers to help them fix this issue.
We remind you that Le VPN was not vulnerable to HeartBleed, and you can rest assured when using Le VPN that it is now, and always has been, a secure service.


CHANDRAPUR CD to BADNERA JUNCTION BD train timings, routes, stops, and complete info.
As of now, 8 trains run between from CHANDRAPUR (CD) to BADNERA JUNCTION (BD).
The fastest train from CHANDRAPUR (CD) to BADNERA JUNCTION (BD) is MS-JU WEEKLY EXP (22663) that departs at 06:12 and arrives to at 09:45. It takes approximately 03:33 hours.


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Boeing delivered Ryanair first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 (200)
byLuke Henderson
Ryanair receives the first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 (200) and brings it home to Dublin. Boeing's 737 Max 8-200, which seats more passengers, is designed for low-cost airlines. With a range of 6,509 kilometers, the aircraft can carry eleven more people than the regular Max 8. 200 seats with a 27-28 inch seat pitch.
Ryanair has placed an order for 210 aircraft, which will be delivered two years later than initially anticipated. Along with Ryanair, VietJet Air is one of the few clients of the MAX 200 version, having placed an order for 100 aircraft in May 2016. As with Ryanair, VietJet has decided to refer to their aircraft as 737-8 and exclude MAX.
Ryan Air first 737 Max Photo from Phil Kapelyus
Ryanair placed a $7 billion order for 75 MAX 8-200s on December 3, 2020, boosting its order book to 210 aircraft, the first major purchase since the grounding.
The FAA certified the high-density version on March 31, 2021.
Luke Henderson
EEurope
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British Airways A320neo introduced a special light-blue livery
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British Airways has introduced a special light-blue livery for one of its Airbus A320neo aircraft. The new look…
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Croatia Airlines operated its first flight between Berlin and Split on Croatia's Dalmatian coast this season on Saturday,…
PLAY completed its first revenue flight using an Airbus A321
Today, Iceland's new airline PLAY completed its first commercial flight using an Airbus A321-251N. PLAY Airbus A321-251N registration…
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Is Cam Newton's Restaurant-Cigar Lounge Heading to Charlotte Next?
A rendering of one room in the space.
Cam Newton wears funky hats and outlandish suits. He passes footballs to kids and has sparked a worldwide dabbing phenomenon. One of sports' most recognizable figures, Newton can't just walk into any bar or lounge unnoticed.
"He wanted to create a space that was not private but would be more exclusive," says Snigdha Dhar, senior account executive at MELT, the sports and entertainment agency that worked with Newton on his vision.
Hidden behind bookshelves is Newton's VIP lounge, a place for business and time with loved ones. Cam and CJ Newton were raised by a reverend, so they found Fellaship a fitting name. And of course, Cam Newton put his own twist on the branding, spelling the name out in the hieroglyphic-like text that he's known for using in his Instagram captions.
With tufted couches, a walk-in humidor, discreet TV monitors framed like artwork, and a glass-enclosed wine room, the vibe is undeniably cool.
Chefs Zeb Stevenson and Ross Jones, known in Atlanta for their culinary expertise, curated the menu. You'll find some pescatarian options, which are all Newton's doing (although he's recently gone vegan). Two dessert carts carry Southern specialties like banana pudding, hot cinnamon buns with cream cheese glaze, and fried peach pie.
We can't blame Newton for opening Fellaship in his hometown, but it does leave us wondering: What about the Queen City?


Note: See updates at the bottom of this column.
In the news this weekend, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had been fired. And I'm not going to debate whether this was right or wrong, especially not in this forum. But I wanted to address this as far as retirement issues are concerned.
Would be happy to consider this. The Sixth District of MA would benefit from the wisdom and talent of such an experienced public servant.
Which all gives the impression of a veteran, elderly federal official being cheated out of his pension accruals due to a vindictive Trump administration. But this didn't pass the sniff test. Pensions -- public as well as private -- are required to meet certain vesting requirements, and, in fact, the FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) benefits vest at five years, meaning that benefit accruals cannot be taken away.
But the existence of these special perks, benefits that we in the private sector can barely comprehend in the year 2018, points to a fundamental disconnect between the private and public sector. Why shouldn't someone whose benefits consist of 401(k) account accruals believe that government pensions work so differently as to punish someone arbitrarily by removing their benefits? Add to this the fact that retirement at age 50 is well-nigh incomprehensible for the average working American, except perhaps in the case of high-risk, health-sapping occupations, which surely likewise added to the impression that actual pensions, rather than generous ancillary provisions, were being lost.
Yes, the rationale for these generous pension benefits is that these civil servants accept significantly lower salaries than they would be able to earn in the private sector. But this exchange of "low salaries now, rich retirement benefits later" is a matter of "robbing Peter to pay Paul" that isn't wise in the long term, either.
According to the Post's experts, McCabe "would need to just go to work with the federal government for another day or so in any job he pleases," although "it would probably look more ethical if McCabe worked for at least a pay period rather than just one day." And, due to the nature of federal pensions and their portability from one position to another, this sounds credible -- though at the same time, well, I'm from Illinois, a state with a long list of examples of pension spiking, ghost employees, and other ways that public officials have manipulated public pensions, so it doesn't sit right with me.
In addition, according to a helpful Twitter exchange, the particular nature of McCabe's pension benefits condition age-50 retirement eligibility on primary law enforcement employment, not just general federal government employment, at age 50; what's more, being terminated "for cause" wholly eliminates eligibility for special age-50 retirement, according to 5 U.S.C. § 8412.


Three police officers are being investigated following the death of 44-year-old Jamaican, Humphrey Mitchell who allegedly jumped out of a moving police vehicle in an attempt to escape police custody. The incident happened in the area of mile three on the Stann Creek Valley Road while officers were transporting Mitchell to the Dangriga Police Station from Sarawee Village. There are no other eyewitnesses, meaning that investigators of the Professional Standards Branch are going by the account of the officers involved. However, Commander ACP Chester Williams says they are being thorough in their investigation.
Mitchell was taken to the Southern Regional Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The file, when completed, will be forwarded to the DPP for further instructions. The three officers, two men and one woman, remain on active duty.
Next article Will a Guatemalan Gov't respect an ICJ ruling that is against their favor?


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What We Know About The Additional US Troops Going To The Middle East
Outgoing acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan has authorized approximately 1,000 additional forces to the area for "defensive purposes."
The U.S. is sending more troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran continue to escalate.
Here's what we know about those troops:
Outgoing acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan authorized approximately 1,000 additional forces for "defensive purposes."
Shanahan said in a statement Monday they'll address air, naval and ground-based threats in the Middle East. He didn't elaborate on the type of troops being deployed.
But unnamed officials told NPR they're primarily force protection; engineers; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, otherwise known as ISR.
Shanahan said the move is meant to ensure the safety and wellness of American military personnel and "to protect our national interests." And he made a point to say the U.S. isn't seeking conflict with Iran — a sentiment that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasized during a press conference Tuesday.
"Communicating to Iran: We are there to deter aggression. President Trump does not want war," Pompeo said.
Earlier this week, Pompeo said the U.S. doesn't want a war with Tehran, but that it's "considering a full range of options," including a military response.
The U.S. has blamed Iran for a series of attacks against American and allied interests in the Middle East, including what Pompeo called a "blatant assault" on two oil tankers last week, which Iran has vehemently denied.
The Trump administration has approved sending roughly 2,500 forces to the Middle East. But according to multiple reports, officials have considered deploying anywhere between 6,000 and 120,000 more troops to the region.


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PRAYER: The key to your breakthrough
Inspired by Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig, who also wrote 'The Alpha Prayer Guide'.
"Nothing is impossible for our God of love and freedom."
In 1982, at a time during the Cold War when many East Germans were still cruelly imprisoned by the Berlin Wall, a pastor named Christian Führer began calling people to pray for peace every Monday night at the St Nicholas Church in Leipzig, East Germany. At first, only a dozen people turned up.
Such a response would make some of us think it wasn't worth doing, but Pastor Führer persisted with these organised "peace prayers" each Monday night. By May 1989, attendance had soared as many people sought refuge in these prayer meetings.
Things came to a head one Monday night, on 9 October 1989, when 8,000 people crammed into that church to pray for peace. In a show of solidarity, up to 70,000 people had gathered to pray outside ... on the streets and in other churches throughout the city.
Expecting a riot, communist authorities tried to stop people with barricades, beatings, and hundreds of armed police.
A 13-year-old boy named Markus, who came to pray at the St Nicholas Church that night, later said that he thought, Surely it's crazy to fight military strength with prayer. But there is power, too, in this building tonight.
After about an hour, Pastor Führer led his group of prayer warriors out into the streets, clutching candles and chanting "No violence". Surprisingly, the police didn't open fire.
One communist official said: "We were prepared for every eventuality, but not for candles, and not for prayers."
Within a week, the prayer rally for peace grew to 120,000, and within a fortnight, 300,000 people had joined in. Two weeks after that, on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.
The prayer warriors in the St Nicholas Church had prayed faithfully, and found nothing is impossible for our God of love and freedom.
There are spiritual walls keeping many people in Australia imprisoned as well, but God can shatter any stronghold. Your prayers play a key role in the spiritual warfare we're involved in together!
Who are you praying for—your friend, neighbour, community, nation? Keep praying—and watch what God will do through you and Alpha throughout 2019.


Good evening, first of all, nice to meet you. Im from Venezuela, Im lawyer, and Im cursing an Human Resources Management MBA.
Im Studing: Diversity and Discrimination at de conformation of the Great Jury on the Venezuelan Justice Sistem.
Im Iterested in all the information that you can provide me about diversity, Im having a hard time founding cientific articles, books and magazines.
I would be more gratefull to make contact with you, as you seeme to be an expert.


Activity analysis is the central function of occupational therapy. It is what makes us OTs.
Do you ever think about why and how you analyze activities?
Is it something that is just automatic for you, or do you use a formal system?
How often do you use activity analysis to prove that your treatments are effective?
This article will discuss some aspects of activity analysis and why we as OTs need to pay a bit more attention to it in our daily practice.
Activity analysis has its roots in the job analysis techniques used by industry during World War I (Creighton, 1992). After the war, as injured soldiers received treatment to recover from their injuries, occupational therapists applied these techniques.
Crafts and other therapeutic activities were analyzed, and the components of those activities were used to pinpoint certain skills as the soldiers progressed during therapy.
Today the activity analysis process has been refined to include physical, perceptual, cognitive, psychological, social and cultural factors.
Here is an example. An OT completes an initial evaluation with a 35-year-old woman who has a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. During the evaluation, the woman tells the OT that she cannot make her family's favorite meal of lasagna with garlic bread.
The OT immediately begins asking questions to start analyzing this activity, so she can identify and problem solve what the barriers are to this task and why the task is important.
Why does the woman want to make lasagna?
The woman responds that it is her family's favorite meal and one of the few times she can get her husband and four children around the dinner table all at once. She explains that she has Italian ancestry and the recipe was her grandmother's. In this one question, the OT has established the psychological, social, and cultural significance of the task.
How does the woman make lasagna?
Here is where the OT asks specific questions about the process the woman uses to complete the task.
What kind of kitchen tools does the woman use?
How is the woman's kitchen set up?
By asking these types of questions, the OT should be able to pinpoint the specific skills required to complete the task and which of those skills is limited by the woman's carpal tunnel syndrome.
What is the biggest barrier to the activity?
In this example, it turns out that not only is the woman using her grandmother's recipe, but she is also using her grandmother's kitchen utensils. The utensils are antique and as a results are worn out and difficult to use and hold. By simply changing the utensils used to cook the lasagna to ones that are easier to use and hold, the activity is much easier to complete and the patient can get back to this important occupation.
The OT has established the physical, perceptual, and cognitive requirements of the task through this interview. She identified the primary barrier to the woman's completion of the task which is the woman's attempt to use inadequate kitchen utensils while battling the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
This very important detail about the utensils would not have come to light if the OT had not completed a detailed activity analysis. The example portrays an OT using an interview to complete an activity analysis, but OTs often observe activities as well.
Although activity analysis plays an important role in occupational therapy, the research supporting why and how it is used is not readily available. Most of the information about activity analysis is contained in occupational therapy textbooks.
A perusal of the American Occupational Therapy Association's Evidence Exchange database reveals lists of research articles that target specific treatment modalities and therapeutic activities, but none that focus on activity analysis itself. A Google search pulls up articles discussing the importance of activity analysis, but no research studies that directly examine it.
Perhaps the process of activity analysis is simply an underlying function of our profession, and in a way a kind of common sense that has not been rigorously examined like other interventions would be. Regardless, it is a valuable tool and supported by the general body of occupational therapy work.
Still, more research on the use of activity analysis and its affect on therapeutic outcomes is needed.
Another point to consider is how we use activity analysis. When I analyze an activity, I usually do it quickly in my head. It's pretty much automatic.
But, is this the best way to analyze an activity? What am I missing by analyzing an activity in this manner?
Many OTs analyze activity in this same way, but a quick, informal analysis is probably not thorough and definitely not adequate when the need to prove the usefulness of the activity to others is required.
Yoshikawa (1993) conducted a survey of 100 fieldwork educators on their use of written activity analyses. Of the 37 who responded, only 2 used written activity analyses in daily practice. The other respondents indicated that while formal activity analysis is important, it is too time consuming for use from day to day.
Using standardized initial evaluations that include activity analyses is one way to incorporate activity analysis into daily practice without expending too much extra time. ADL assessments are the best example of how activity analysis can be incorporated into a formal initial evaluation, as shown by evaluation tools such as the Klein-Bell Activities of Daily Living Scale or the Cleveland Scale of Activities of Daily Living.
Both assessment tools break down ADL tasks into their components and assign performance ratings to the components, giving the therapist a number to work from when helping a patient to improve ADL performance. Measurements like these are very important when referral sources and third-party payors want to see evidence of progress.
Given the importance of activity analysis in the profession of occupational therapy, we all need to give the practice a little more thought. If you are a student or a new occupational therapist, use activity analysis assignments to guide you as you gather materials to use in your practice.
If you have been analyzing activity for years, take a look at what you do and how you can improve and document it. Working to make the process of activity analysis a little more formal will benefit our patients, our practice, and the profession long term.
Creighton, C. (1992). The origin and evolution of activity analysis. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 46:45-48. doi:10.5014/ajot.46.1.45. Retrieved June 20, 2018 from https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=1876534.
Klein, R. M., & Bell, B. j. (1982). Selfcare skills: Behavioral measurement with Klein-Bell ADL Scale. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 63, 335-338.
Patterson, M. B., Mack, J. L., Neundorfer, M. M., Martin, R. M., Smyth, K. A., and Whitehouse, P. J.(1992). Assessment of functional ability in Alzheimer disease: A review and a preliminary report on the Cleveland Scale for Activities of Daily Living. Alzheimer Dis. Assoc. Disord. 6: 145–163.
Yoshikawa, Hiromi, "The Use of Activity Analysis by Occupational Therapists in Treatment Decisions" (1993).Master's Theses. 812. http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/812. Retrieved June 20, 2018 from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi referer=https://www.bing.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1848&context=masters_theses.


Caught off guard whilst judging a Nottingham based photography event.
Born in Sale, Cheshire, Julie showed from a very young age that she was naturally creative and had a love for art.
Her mother used to say that the first time she spotted her real talent was when Julie was just six years old, when she ripped a piece of cardboard off a box and painted a blue lady, "it was truly beautiful".
Since graduating from Loughborough Art College, Julie has taught art at secondary school level. Whilst not the most creative in the kitchen, she never fails to capture something truly special and unique within her art work.
Her vibrant abstract images are inspired by her travels to the Caribbean, Italy and her life long love of North Wales. Her distinct use of colour is influenced by Matisse, Hodgkin and Heron, whose work she finds inspirational.
Julie uses a range of media and techniques to capture the world around her in a loose and immediate style. Her understanding of the subtleties of different light effects and her bold use of colour are the hallmarks that create the harmony of her highly collectible paintings and prints. She has now published over 30 prints in limited edition.


text:
DCPrime's Blog
WireGuard® - Simple yet powerful VPN
This post describes how to use WireGuard® VPN and how it can be used to connect to different networks.
This post will mainly include a small introduction about WireGuard1 and most of the part will be about how I use it currently.
What is WireGuard®?
WireGuard is an alternative to OpenVPN for me. But from their website it has a lot of other features.
WireGuard is an extremely simple yet fast and modern VPN that utilizes state-of-the-art cryptography. It aims to be faster, simpler, leaner, and more useful than IPsec, while avoiding the massive headache. It intends to be considerably more performant than OpenVPN. WireGuard is designed as a general purpose VPN for running on embedded interfaces and super computers alike, fit for many different circumstances. Initially released for the Linux kernel, it is now cross-platform (Windows, macOS, BSD, iOS, Android) and widely deployable. It is currently under heavy development, but already it might be regarded as the most secure, easiest to use, and simplest VPN solution in the industry.
How I know about it?
I have been following WireGuard from some time, even joined their mailing list to get some updates on the cross platform tools which they are developing. It was weird how I got to know about this product, I have been using Pass and Cgit in my personal projects and it was helping me a lot. I was curious about other projects the same developer did, that's when I was able to see WireGuard in his repository. I was like, yes I need some alternative to OpenVPN which was bulky and little hard to maintain for a beginner. I tried it few times and didn't use it well as it was not entirely cross platform, as I use macOS at work, servers are Linux and have a phone from Apple so it makes it really difficult to use it everywhere.
Recently I checked and WireGuard officially launched all the apps. It includes macOS, iOS, Android, etc. that made me try it again.
After a lot of failures I was able to successfully connect my iPhone to a small Scaleway server which I used for OpenVPN earlier and now I have just WireGuard in it.
How I use it?
As I said I use in through one small Scaleway server which is Linux and it has the WireGuard kernel module installed.
$ wg
interface: wg0
public key: anxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxHU=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: 65530
peer: EKxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxmw=
endpoint: 106.x.x.x:65530
allowed ips: 192.168.2.10/32
latest handshake: 14 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds ago
transfer: 253.50 MiB received, 3.80 GiB sent
peer: Ndxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1E=
latest handshake: 5 days, 10 hours, 25 seconds ago
transfer: 19.84 MiB received, 102.31 MiB sent
This above snippet is an output from instance which is listing peers and showing details like when was the last handshake and how much transfer is done.
"WireGuard" and the "WireGuard" logo are registered trademarks of Jason A. Donenfeld. ↩
Copyright © 2021 Darshil Chanpura


My son, who is in second grade and has had diabetes for almost two years, recently started insulin pump therapy. Although we have always counted carbs from the beginning (Before the pump we simply used carb exchanges.), now we are using grams of carbohydrate, and I seem to be having problems with the school cafeteria providing the carb counts. Last year, the lunch program manager did so with several rude comments. This year has just turned into a nightmare. She refused to meet with me or provide the carb counts during the first two weeks of school because she claimed she was just to busy, and I requested this meeting two weeks ahead of time. About a month later, she also claimed not to have the time, and I told her to forward it straight to the nurse's office, but he was going to eat lunch that day. Another month went by came and I phoned her, but she did not return my calls for two days. I phoned her again, and she said she would get back with me and never did. During that conversation she once again made a very rude remark about the way I take care of my son's diabetes. She will put new items on the menu even though she does not have any nutritional information for that food. Today, my son was denied the main entree (alternate provided) because they had no idea what the carb count was. He came home crying because of this. Can the school place food on their menus with no nutritional information available? Is there anything I can do to require the school to provide this information ahead of time so that he can eat what the other kids are eating?
I empathize with your situation, you don't wan't your son to be singled out simply because he monitors his carb intake. If the school remains persistent in not providing accurate nutritional information for the lunches they serve, then I would ask for a menu ahead of time, so that hopefully you and your son can "pre-plan" lunch carbohydrate counts before eating that day in the cafeteria. Use the experience you have gained at home with portion estimation and label reading and transfer it to the school cafeteria situation. I hope that the school will be more helpful with regards to nutrition information, because you can bet that you and your son are not the only ones requiring this information.
I would request a meeting with the school's principal. Explain the situation just a you have done here. Be polite but firm--You expect to be provided this information. If you get no satisfaction with the principal, demand to meet with the superintendent of schools for your district. Also, have you considered speaking at a school board meeting? Perhaps a school board member has diabetes or a family member with the disease. In short, don't let this minor functionary blow you off. You are seeking vital information that the school has a duty to provide on request.


Good News – depart San Diego 4:45 pm to Irvine for fabulous meal with son Mike (pre birthday celebration for Chris) Love that carpool lane – No traffic!
Bad News – only briefly!
Good News – rain stops – see first ever full, complete rainbow!
Good News – feed t he stingrays, see sharks & tons of fish!
Bad News – more rain!
More Good News – we LOVE coming home!
Doing your homework so you go at the best time of year – Priceless!
Synopsis: We had an expectation of Tahiti and the islands that did not get met. We were a bit underwhelmed. Tahiti is great if you like "remote" and filling your time with water sports. I think Bora Bora was our favorite because the sun shined there and it did have a bit of a "town area." It is a very long flight and everything was very expensive. We like the Hawaiian Islands. They're a lot closer and cheaper!
Knowing the best time of year to go – Priceless!
Synopsis: We had an expectation of Tahiti and the islands that did not get met. We were a bit underwhelmed. Tahiti is great if you like remote and doing water sports. I think Bora Bora was our favorite because the sun shined there and it did have a bit of a "town area." It is a very long flight and everything was very expensive. We like the Hawaiian Islands They're a lot closer and cheaper!


text:
Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics
Author: Peter Louis Galison
Acknowledged author Peter Louis Galison wrote Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics comprising 982 pages back in 1997. Textbook and eTextbook are published under ISBN 0226279170 and 9780226279176. Since then Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics textbook was available to sell back to BooksRun online for the top buyback price of $ 3.65 or rent at the marketplace.
"I want to get at the blown glass of the early cloud chambers and the oozing noodles of wet nuclear emulsion; to the resounding crack of a high-voltage spark arcing across a high-tension chamber and leaving the lab stinking of ozone; to the silent, darkened room, with row after row of scanners sliding trackballs across projected bubble-chamber images. Pictures and pulses—I want to know where they came from, how pictures and counts got to be the bottom-line data of physics." (from the preface)
Image and Logic is the most detailed engagement to date with the impact of modern technology on what it means to "do" physics and to be a physicist. At the beginning of this century, physics was usually done by a lone researcher who put together experimental apparatus on a benchtop. Now experiments frequently are larger than a city block, and experimental physicists live very different lives: programming computers, working with industry, coordinating vast teams of scientists and engineers, and playing politics.
Peter L. Galison probes the material culture of experimental microphysics to reveal how the ever-increasing scale and complexity of apparatus have distanced physicists from the very science that drew them into experimenting, and have fragmented microphysics into different technical traditions much as apparatus have fragmented atoms to get at the fundamental building blocks of matter. At the same time, the necessity for teamwork in operating multimillion-dollar machines has created dynamic "trading zones," where instrument makers, theorists, and experimentalists meet, share knowledge, and coordinate the extraordinarily diverse pieces of the culture of modern microphysics: work, machines, evidence, and argument.
Objectivity (Zone B...
by Daston, Lorraine, G...
Picturing Science,...


Monday, January 17: I wake up to a drearier day than any I've seen in Vietnam, my throat burning. But, I'm on vacation, so I force myself out of bed and get ready for another local tour I've arranged, to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc, about 100 km south of Hanoi .
It's a long drive to both of these places, and in the van, I get to know the other travelers. Our guide is "Adam," his American-version name that happens to be the same name as my own son. Most of the day, I talk to Colin and Tracy, a couple who work for the postal service in Manchester. There is Joao, a quiet older guy from Lisbon, Portugal, and an entire Vietnamese-Canadian family from Toronto: mother, father, daughter, and Chinese son-in-law. Danny and Kim are a young couple from Australia. Danny is wearing a smart wool jacket he had tailor-made for dirt cheap in Hoi An and Kim says she had some great dresses made there as well. They just came from Cambodia and loved Siem Reap. Sathris and Leholm are two guys from Singapore.
The Vietnamese father escaped on a boat from Vietnam in 1983, when he was 49 years old. He slaved in a Viet Cong labor camp and then was out to sea in this boat for 11 days with no food or water. Luckily a British tanker picked up the passengers and took them to Hong Kong. He eventually was able to join his family in Toronto; his wife had already left Vietnam years before. His daughter and her Chinese husband escaped on a fishing boat when they were 20 and 23 years old, with two small children in tow. They spent 4 days on a boat that eventually ended up in Thailand. The whole family, now coming back to Vietnam for the first time since their escape all those decades ago, is happy that they left here. They now have a nice life in Canada. I am captivated by their stories, similar to Andrew X. Pham's stories in Catfish and Mandala, one of the books I read before I came here.
Adam tells us that Hoa Lu, in Ninh Binh province, was the first capital of Vietnam. His English is bad so I don't know half of what he's talking about.
He keeps referring to two-digit numbers like twelve o'clock as one-two o'clock. He tells us we will see the Ling Lai Temple at Hoa Lu and then we will have lunch at one-two o'clock. After lunch we will spend two hours on a small boat at Tam Coc, where we can see scattered tombs at the tops of the mountains.
We stop at another "happy room" on the long trip south; there I buy a Thailand plum, a cross between a pear and an apple, but not as sweet. Back in the van, as I munch happily on this fruit, we fly past a biker pedaling along loaded down with big flat cone baskets full of limes and tangerines.
It's a long drive in a van with no seatbelts on bumpy potholed roads. The driving style is the same; on two lane roads, people drive at an excruciatingly slow pace, passing bikes, motorbikes, buses or trucks regularly despite the traffic being heavy in both directions. At the last minute, these passing vehicles manage to slide back into their proper lane before a collision occurs. In between chatting with people, this is what I see out the windows: a gas station called Petrolimex; concrete open-air cubbyhole businesses, doorless garages with corrugated tin roofs. Rusted chain link fences, piles of dirt, piles of gravel, refuse everywhere. Palm-like tropical plants fuzzy with dust. Two- or three-story thin rectangular concrete houses with fancy balconies, chipping paint in Mediterranean colors, some with red tile roofs. Again, no paint on the sides, just windowless gray concrete. A few exceptional houses painted nicely with plants on the balconies.
Huge gravel lots dotted with grotesquely shaped rock sculptures. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Symauto. Sidewalk barbers giving shaves and haircuts. The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam. Government buildings in faded banana yellow with brown trim, palm trees in front. Another park with more huge Rorschach-blot rocks. Motorbikers bundled up in knit caps, helmets, bubble jackets, slippers with fuzzy socks, masks. Old buildings in various unfinished states of construction, much like the ubiquitous apartment buildings I saw in Egypt. Not new, these unfinished projects sprout plants and weeds and vines on walls and floors; I can't help wonder why the projects died before they ever got off the ground. Cemeteries filled with hundreds of miniature pagodas. The ever-present gray haze here with us even 50 km south of Hanoi.
The truly nice and beautiful places around Hanoi are just specks in the overall landscape of rubbish and decrepitude. This is more apparent on this drive south than on the eastward drive to and from Halong Bay on Saturday and Sunday. In front of houses along the road, square or rectangular fish ponds are hemmed in by scrubby palm trees or refuse. One of the Vietnamese guys explains that these ponds are filled with sunfish, meals for the local families. Rubbish, rubbish everywhere. Dust, haze, smog, gray skies. It's dreary and cold.
It's a bit depressing today. There is no attempt made by the Vietnamese to hide their piles of rubbish. Piles of gravel, bricks, tires ~ the discarded building blocks of society in useless array. Around the sculpture businesses, chips of stone are left where they fall, littering the ground. I keep thinking that the rubbish collection business could make a killing here if the proper laws were passed and enforced, and public dollars went towards creating a rubbish collection infrastructure. My question about the rubbish is this: is it just poverty, naturally sloppy Vietnamese, or poor government planning ~ no infrastructure? I think the garbage problem is worse than what I saw in Cairo.
I mention my thoughts on this to Colin and Tracy from Manchester, who just came from a month in India. Colin says in India I will see ten times the rubbish I see here. They say there are rules that you can't smoke in certain parts of India, but it's okay to pee or defecate anywhere. I ask them what was their favorite thing about India, and Colin says, "The flight out." They say a trip to India is "a trip you endure, not enjoy." Funny how their experience was the antithesis of Ryan and Thea's trip.
Australians Danny and Kim say Phnom Penh is worse than Hanoi by far ~ impoverished, filled with rubbish, and not much there. But they loved Siem Reap. Later, when I get to Phnom Penh, I don't see this at all; to me Phnom Penh is nicer than Hanoi; I find lots of interesting things there. It's so funny how each person's experience of a place can be so different, how one's experience can be colored by interactions with people, weather, where exactly one is in the place, whether transport goes smoothly. So many factors. Two people can have totally opposite experiences of a place, one loving it and the other hating it. This is how I feel in Korea; while so many native English teachers love their experience, I dislike it altogether.
Finally, after an interminable drive through the dilapidated outskirts of Hanoi, we arrive at Hoa Lu, the political, economic and cultural center of 10th century Vietnam. It was also the native land of three royal dynasties. Today, the ancient Citadel exists no more, and all that's left are some remainders of the dynasties. I find the entire complex quite shabby. No matter how we humans try, everything we create disintegrates around us. While we're there at Hoa Lu, we run into another tour group, and in their midst, surprise, are Roz and Sway and the Korean woman from my first day Hanoi City tour. We are surprised to see each other again and spread hugs all around.
I don't know who this guy is… doesn't look like Buddha. Possibly Confucius?
When we leave the complex, locals descend on us from every direction and try to sell us bananas or water or postcards. I feel stingy sometimes not throwing my money at every person trying to sell me something, but I can't save the world and I can't afford to be too generous. I believe in buying goods made locally, but I must limit myself to buying only things that speak to me, things that I find aesthetically pleasing. I cannot afford sympathy buys.
One old lady carrying bunches of bananas attaches herself to Adam, our guide, and won't leave him alone until he buys a bunch from her. She's relentless; she must have given him the fellow-Vietnamese guilt trip. Later, on the van ride home, he gives us the bananas for snacks.
While I'm at Hoa Lu, I start getting messages on my camera: CARD FULL! I keep erasing old pictures, but for every 5 or so I erase, I can only take one more picture. Finally, one of the guys from Singapore looks at my camera and tells me my pictures are set on RAW, instead of jpeg, meaning they are HUGE files. I don't know how this happened, but he corrects the setting. However, many of the pictures I've already taken on this trip are now RAW, and I cannot delete them. They are taking up the card space. It appears I might have to buy a new card on this trip.
When we get to the lunch destination, near Tam Coc, I am hustled away to a table all alone, away from the rest of the group. I protest that I came on a tour and I want to sit with the others. But, they insist: you paid for the VIP tour. You get a table all to yourself! I say, I never paid for any VIP tour. I just want to sit with the group. The group is eating a buffet dinner, while I am to eat from the menu. That doesn't sound like VIP to me, it sounds like RIP-OFF!! I tell them I refuse to sit where they want me to sit, that I WILL sit with the others. They don't know what to do with me, but it apparently causes great consternation among the staff who insists that it's a problem for the "menu" people to sit at the same table with the "buffet" people, because how do they monitor us to keep us from helping ourselves to seconds and thirds from the buffet menu? I find all of this utterly ridiculous and just plop myself down in the midst of the others. The "menu" meal is bland and cold, hands down the worst meal I have eaten in Vietnam. The "buffet" people say the exact same about their meal. So, what's the difference?
We then head out to the metal rowboats, not as charming as the bamboo boats on Halong Bay. Tam Coc, which means "three caves," is a 2-hour boat excursion down the Ngo Dong River through rice fields, limestone karst towers, and 3 caves. My partner in the boat is the Portuguese guy Joao, since we're the only two not paired up. On the boat ride, Joao keeps talking about the "visitation" in Portugal, and I say, What? Like the Virgin Mary? After much going around and around, I finally figure out he's talking about the "vegetation" in Portugal. Joao keeps hacking away and has been doing so the whole way down from Hanoi. When I express concern about his health, he says he's sick from going from warm Ho Chi Minh City to cold Hanoi. I know what he means because I have felt sick all day, chilled, sore throat, nasal stuffiness and post-nasal drip. Yuck.
The boat paddlers are Vietnamese of all variety, some young women with conical hats, some toothless old men. Some paddle with their feet, all playful, laughing and joking among themselves, across the expanse of water.
We float along marveling at the sheer karsts; I keep looking for rice paddies. This place is touted as the "Halong Bay of the rice paddies," but I don't see any at all. Maybe it's because it's winter and the rice has all been harvested? Since I'm expecting to see these and don't, I have to say I'm disappointed.
We go through the 3 caves with their low ceilings, ducking to avoid getting clocked by the granite ceilings.
Our boat lady paddles us into a floating market, a virtual Vietnamese 7-11, and as we go into the midst of the boats, they surround us. In their straw cone hats, they fling their sales pitches at us. We are at the furthest point out and trapped. One lady offers hot coffee and as I've been cold all day, I take her up on it. She hands me a small dirty glass with her brown stained hands. I drink it, unsanitary though I think it is, just to feel warmth for a few short seconds. In the meantime, she holds out a coke and some crackers and motions that I should buy them for my boat lady. Portuguese Joao remains stone-faced the whole time, acting as if he is totally removed from the scene.
Later, when we escape the floating 7-11, the boat lady paddles out into the middle of the river and opens a big chest in the boat and starts displaying embroidered linens. I say no, no, no, but she keeps bringing out item after item. I just want to get back so I can be warm. I say "No!" adamantly, and then make paddling motions, urging her to take us back to the start point. During all of this the Portuguese is in a world of his own, saying absolutely nothing. Nothing at all to contribute to the situation. At the end, when we get to the shore, she says: Madame, Monsieur, tip?? I give her 20,000 dong ($1), expecting the Portuguese to give her another $1, but he gives her absolutely nothing, just totally ignores her. I don't know what his problem is, but it really irks me, this totally superior, standoffish, attitude.
Finally, we are on our way back to Hanoi in the van. A repeat of the drive down, more of the same. Late in this afternoon, it is gray and even colder than earlier, so I ask the guide and driver if they can please turn on the heat. They tell me the van has no heat. I have been quietly freezing for 1 1/2 hours. Finally, I've spoken up, and still I will be cold. Overall, it is a miserable day. I would definitely NOT recommend this tour and I wish I had just stayed the day in Hanoi, exploring the city.
floating along the gray river at tam coc… where are the rice paddies?
Traveling abroad takes me out of my comfort zone and throws me into an alien world. Sometimes this world is comfortable, relaxing, beautiful, serene. Sometimes it's a hardship, ugly, dirty, cacophonous. I often feel dislocated, a little off kilter, because nothing is familiar. Most times I like this; I feel my senses are heightened, I'm more present to the moment, I notice things I wouldn't notice at home. Other times, it can be drudgery. But ultimately, I'm awake, I'm alive!
I think about my time in Cairo in 2007. Egypt was a hardship. In July, it was miserably hot, and being covered in long pants and long sleeves didn't help. Infrastructure was poor, the city was awash in dust and filth, the electricity was unreliable and sporadic, unexpectedly going off for hours at a time, several times a week. Once a week at least, we had no hot water. Internet service was slow and would cut off in the midst of a session. Public transport and taxis were ancient and lacked air-conditioning. Yet. I felt more alive there than I had felt in a long time. This is what I love about travel, that sharpened awareness, that immersion in cultures and different worlds. It takes me out of my comfort zone, but it mesmerizes, it seduces, it jolts.
Finally, in the evening, I meet Ruth at her hotel and we go to a French restaurant, La Badiane, that Ryan and Thea recommended. Ruth had to work today, but she also found time to go out and buy a warmer coat. I am still cold. We order a bottle of red wine and the whole set menu, with appetizers, main dish, & dessert.
The food is masterfully and artistically prepared. Sadly, my memory is like a sieve and as I was enjoying myself too much to write down what I ate, I have forgotten. But I swear it was delicious!! We had an amazing time laughing and sharing our stories. Thanks to Ruth, my day was saved!
As we're taking our taxi back to the hotel, Ruth sees an Apple store and she needs something for her iPhone. Next door, I see a camera store, so I run in to buy a new card for my camera. I buy an 8MB card for about $25, but strangely, it comes in just a plastic case, with no cardboard packaging. It isn't sealed. At the time, I don't think much of it, but later, as you will see, this comes back to haunt me. Ah, the perils of traveling and doing business in a foreign land.


More Windows Driver Package - Nokia pccsmcfd " LegacyDriver" ( 05/ 31/. Some computer users try to remove this program.
21A This " VIA RAID Software Package" is used to install the drivers VT8251, utility which are needed for using the VIA VT6410, VT6421 VT8237/ A SATA RAID controller. 0) from your computer using Advanced Uninstaller PRO Windows Driver Package - Nokia pccsmcfd LegacyDriver ( 05/ 31/ 7. A way to delete Windows Driver Package - Nokia pccsmcfd LegacyDriver ( 05/ 31/ 7. What is windows driver package nokia pccsmcfd legacydriver.
I' ve just spent the last hour clearing out some rarely used software when I noticed the " Windows driver package - Nokia pccsmcfd legacy driver" in my list of programmes. Nokia - Shareware - more info. VT6410 IDE/ RAID AdapterParticularly recommended for KT4# # series, P4X4# # series ee nokia pccsmcfd legacydriver download software at UpdateStar -. Driver Package Nokia Pccsmcfd Software VIA Hyperion Pro Driver Package v. Paquete de controladores de Windows - Nokia pccsmcfd LegacyDriver ( 05/ 31/.
0) is an application marketed by Nokia.
I' ve just spent the last hour clearing out some rarely used software when I noticed the " Windows driver package - Nokia pccsmcfd legacy driver" in my list of programmes. The size of this application is 3. That seems an awfully large file for some drivers.
You can download Windows Driver Package - Nokia pccsmcfd 7.
34 from our software library for free. The software is included in System Utilities.
Windows Driver Package - Nokia pccsmcfd LegacyDriver ( 05/ 31/ 7. 0) Rated by 8 user( s).


Orbit International Corp. (NASDAQ:ORBT), an electronics manufacturer and software solution provider, today announced that its Power and Electronics Groups have received both new and follow-on orders totaling over $2,500,000.
Total new orders received in September by the Power Group approximated $1,320,000. One of the orders, valued at $770,000, is a follow-on order for a COTS power supply that is part of an ongoing missile system upgrade program for which Behlman received its initial order in July 2009. This follow-on order brings the total value of related orders to over $4.2 million. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in the first quarter 2015 and continue through the second quarter of 2015.
A second order, valued at approximately $199,000, is for a COTS power supply that is used to power the optics on a fire control system for United States Navy ships. Behlman has been supplying these power units for a number of years and anticipates additional awards for these units through 2016. Deliveries are expected to commence in the second quarter of 2015 and continue through the third quarter of 2015.
Total September orders received by the Electronics Group approximated $1,195,000. One of the new orders, valued at approximately $626,000 was a follow-on award for a legacy product manufactured for a major defense contractor. Deliveries are expected in the second quarter of 2015 and to continue through the third quarter of 2015. A second order, valued at approximately $237,000 represents an additional award for a new design effort including qualification units in support of an emerging program. Based on indications from the customer, production quantities for this program could be approximately $4,000,000. Deliveries under these initial contracts are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2015 and continue through the fourth quarter of 2015.
Orbit International Corp., through its Electronics Group, is involved in the manufacture of customized electronic components and subsystems for military and nonmilitary government applications through its production facility in Hauppauge, New York and designs and manufactures combat systems and gun weapons systems, provides system integration and integrated logistics support and documentation control at its facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Orbit's Power Group manufactures and sells high quality commercial power units, AC power sources, frequency converters, uninterruptible power supplies and associated analytical equipment. The Power Group's COTS division designs, manufactures and sells power units and electronic products for measurement and display.


A giant in the crypto industry and innovation leader, Coinbase is a digital currency platform for crypto entrepreneurs where merchants and consumers can transact with new digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin through a crypto wallet or browser.
Coinbase launched Toshi – a private and secure messaging app, Ethereum wallet and browser in April 2017 which was well received. However, on Thursday, the California-based company announced that it was improving its offering even further by replacing Toshi with Coinbase Wallet which it claims will be the easiest and most secure crypto wallet and browser.
Coinbase claims its new wallet is more than just a tool to access cryptocurrency but a home-base for exploring the decentralised web and its possibilities.
With Coinbase Wallet, users can manage ETH and ERC-20 tokens promising to support BTC, BCH and LTC soon. They can also receive airdrops and ICO tokens and buy and store crypto collectibles — non-fungible tokens that are unique — and use them in games, or trade them on marketplaces.
Users can send payments to anyone anywhere, without geographical borders or fees and have access to leading decentralised exchanges and relayers to buy and sell tokens.
There's also the option to explore the full universe of third-party dapps that enable everything from taking out a loan or lending to others on the blockchain to earning crypto by answering questions, performing services, or completing tasks.
With all these features and more, Coinbase Wallet will no doubt become a very popular platform for many cryptocurrency users, including entrepreneurs and companies looking for DApp adoption.
Existing Toshi users need not be alarmed, as their Toshi app will automatically upgrade to the new Coinbase Wallet shortly.
"Goodbye Toshi, hello Coinbase Wallet — the easiest and most secure crypto wallet and browser. If you already use Toshi, you can look forward to the same great product, with a brand new look. We view our job at Coinbase as building the easy to use, trusted products that move the world closer to an open financial system. Coinbase Wallet is one part of our effort to accelerate the adoption of crypto and dapps around the world.


text:
Swampscott promotes town accountants to finance director, treasurer
Posted on May 5, 2021 by ericadminchia
Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald has promoted the town's accountant, Amy Sarro, and assistant town accountant, Patrick Luddy, as their boss Town Administrator for Administration and Finance Ron Mendes entered his final days under the town's employ.
After Mendes announced he would be leaving in mid-April, Fitzgerald conducted "a vacancy review."
That process culminated in the town distributing some of the municipal finance responsibilities and duties that Mendes performed across two new positions: Director of finance and administration and town treasurer and tax collector.
Sarro will be Swampscott's finance director; Luddy will be the town's treasurer and tax collector.
At its Monday, May 3 public meeting, the Swampscott Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to permit Fitzgerald to enter into contract negotiations with the two employees.
Sarro has been Swampscott town accountant for a year. According to her LinkedIn page, she has a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and is pursuing a master's degree in accounting from Salem State University.
"I have come to see Amy as a real strong colleague, she is somebody that I frankly, believe gives good advice. She's clear with her analysis. She's got a strong background in finance," Fitzgerald told selectmen. "She can really help us build upon the foundation that we've laid over the last few years to help Swampscott balance our financial priorities."
Fitzgerald said Luddy has worked for the town over the past three years. He actually started out in Swampscott Town Hall's internship program (he was part of what one might call the program's first class) that Fitzgerald instituted shortly after he became town administrator.
The internship complemented Luddy's undergraduate studies before he graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and business administration. He will soon receive his master's degree in accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in a couple weeks, Fitzgerald pointed out.
"He has demonstrated a strong area of work ethic, he is a really keen, focused professional," said Fitzgerald. "Having somebody of his ability to help us manage our finances and really grow into a strong leadership role is going to be critical."
Selectmen praised Mendes for his public service and his good work over the past seven years. His last day is Thursday, May 13 before his first day as Newton's next tax collector.
The Mendes-Fitzgerald leadership team and the finance staff have improved financial projections, capital planning, debt management and budgetary practices, officials have said. They paved the way for a nominal increase in Swampscott's single-family tax bills and brought the town's bond rating up a notch to AA+.
As the town's finance team turns a page, selectmen set expectations when Fitzgerald announced the pair of promotions: This is not a time to "rest on our laurels:" Swampscott's financial house is in order, but they said the town can do even better.
"Before Ron came here, and I don't mean this disrespectfully to his predecessors – some of the things we've done [during his tenure] are night and day," said Selectman Don Hause. "We've really transformed the way we do things financially in this town and clearly, we've seen tangible benefits of it."
Hause added, "You've got a great basis for us to raise the bar even higher. It's going to allow us to continue a path of fiscal prudence that the town had not seen."
Read More:Swampscott promotes town accountants to finance director, treasurer
Posted in NewsTagged accountants, DIRECTOR, finance, promotes, Swampscott, Town, treasurer
Biden lays into GOP opposition and Trump tax cuts as he says Republicans inAuditor of Windham vote says he's skeptical machines were tampered with


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EEOC Cautions Employers About Discrimination Against Employees who are, or are Perceived to be Muslim or Middle Eastern
By Susie Gibbons
Jan. 19, 2016 Reading Time Created with Sketch. 2 min. read SHARE
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Late last month the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a statement by its Chair Jenny R. Yang, as well as two informational Question and Answer Guidance documents about discrimination against employees who are, or who are perceived to be Muslim or Middle Eastern. While the press release from EEOC may have been overlooked due to the holiday break, the guidance is worth reviewing now. EEOC issued this guidance because of the recent tragic events in the United States and abroad involving extremist terrorist groups who are widely perceived as Muslim and Middle Eastern. EEOC clearly wants to remind employers that discrimination based on country of origin, race, or religion violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEOC's message to employers is that "Reactions in the workplace to world events demand increased efforts by employers to prevent discrimination."
EEOC issued one guidance for employers and a separate guidance for employees. Both guidance documents present the same hypothetical scenarios, including accommodating prayer during the workday and harassment of employees who are Muslim or of Middle Eastern origin. One of the examples involves an Arab American employee complaining because a co-worker calls him names like "ISIS" and "terrorist." The example doesn't specify whether the name calling is hostile or more along the lines of joking, and the message from EEOC is clear that the company has a duty to investigate and take appropriate action to stop this behavior, regardless of the intent behind the name calling.
Another interesting example involves a Muslim employee named John expressing concern to his supervisor that a co-worker regularly seeks him out to discuss Islam, ISIS and terrorism. John feels that this situation may "escalate or spark religious hostility." EEOC's advice in this situation is for the supervisor to ensure the co-worker understands that John is uncomfortable with these discussions and therefore, the co-worker should be asked to stop initiating them. EEOC is clear that although an initial action may "not amount to illegal harassment, there are still steps an employer can take to prevent the conduct from escalating."
Given that the workplace shooting in San Bernardino, California involved a Muslim employee whose family was originally from Pakistan, some employees may be fearful of, and hostile towards, co-workers they perceive as potentially susceptible to "radicalization." Prudent employers should be pro-active in evaluating whether any of their employees may be experiencing overt or subtle harassment in the workplace due to their religion, national origin or ethnicity. This is a good time to re-publish your company's harassment policy and remind employees that the company will not tolerate unwelcome, offensive behavior based on any protected characteristics.
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Mattis: Taliban's Tactics Endanger Afghan Civilians
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis receives military honors before his meeting with Brazil's defense minister, in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 13, 2018. Mattis has spent six days visiting South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA —
The Taliban's use of civilian homes in Ghazni as fighting positions is forcing Afghan government forces to move slowly in expelling the insurgents in order to limit civilian casualties, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.
Mattis told reporters during a visit to Brazil and Argentina that the fighting in Ghazni was continuing, five days after the Taliban overwhelmed defenses and pushed deep into the city, which is the capital of the province with the same name.
"It looks like many of the enemy have run, but some are in the town, in homes, fighting from inside homes,'' he said.
Asked whether the Taliban assault reflected any new capability on their part, Mattis said, "To me it's simply a continuation of their willingness to put innocent people in harm's way. There's nothing new. It's the usual: endangering civilians. That's part and parcel of what they've done the past 20 years.''
The United States has carried out airstrikes and sent military advisers to aid Afghan forces in the city.
Taliban Demand Swap of Haqqani Member, Others for Western Hostages
Taliban Capture Afghan Army Base After Intense Fighting
Taliban Offensive Exposes Fragile US Hopes for Afghan Peace
More Than 300 Dead in Battles for Control of Key Afghan City
Fighting Still Raging in Afghan City of Ghazni
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Taliban Tell Pakistan Not to Blame Afghanistan for Mosque Bombing
India Upbeat About Economic Growth, Despite Slowdown
Can the Taliban Tackle Corruption in Afghanistan?


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Horsham FC
Non League
Steyning under-18s to embark on club's first international
Steyning under-18s will play on Gibraltar's iconic pitch under the Rock
Steyning Town will be the ultimate minnows next year when they embark on their first-ever international friendly.
The club's under-18 team have secured a prestigious match against Gibraltar under-17s in the national stadium in April.
Steyning Town under-18s
The young international team, who are more than used to being the minnows themselves, will for once be red-hot favourites at their iconic Victoria Stadium home ground under the Gibraltar Rock.
A lot of hard work from three of Town's under-18 coaching staff; Daniel Fuller-Smith, Jaime Banasco-Zaragoza and Luke Banasco-Zaragoza has seen the unusual pairing come to fruition for the rural Sussex side.
Town will be partaking in a four-day tour of Malaga and the match against the Gibraltar national team will form the centre-piece of the trip.
The Gibraltar FA will host Steyning for the whole day and take them on a tour of the famous Gibraltar Rock, as well as pre and post-match hospitality.
Gibraltar interim international manager David Wilson, club captain and a number of other players will also be attending and meeting the team.
Eighteen Town players will make the trip to Malaga to compete in two friendlies with the squad selected from their 40 player youth development programme.
Club chairman Richard Woodbridge said: "I, like everybody at the club, am thrilled and excited the Steyning Town Football Club under-18s will be given the opportunity to play the Gibraltar under-17 national side.
"It will be a huge challenge for the lads, but one I know they will rise to. To play in such a prestigious fixture in the national stadium will create memories and experiences they will take with them for the rest of their lives.
"We are extremely grateful to everybody involved in getting this fixture arranged, and we look forward to plenty of representatives from the club coming out to support the match and sample the hospitality that Gibraltar has to offer.
"Steyning Town has a proud history and has had some great days over the years, and this is sure to be up there with the best of them."
Assistant manager Jaime Banasco-Zaragoza added: "We would place on record our sincere gratitude to Gibraltar Football Association for their superb support in our organisation of our tour.
Here's how Horsham are sitting in the crucial points-to-game standings
"The game is a historic game for our club, and one that has sent positive vibes throughout the whole club. To be able to play an international team, in their national stadium will be an unforgettable experience and we can only thank Gibraltar FA for the opportunity."


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press release | eKrantz.com
IBM Announces Lotus Quickr Ship Date!
Undefined No Responses »
Lotus Quickr will ship June 29, 2007. Only 10 days from today. Here's the release. The 4th and 5th bullet are what we at SNAPPS been working with for the last months.
IBM Lotus Quickr 8 Expedites Team Collaboration
Open, intuitive standards-based Web 2.0 tool eases users into a more collaborative work style
with comprehensive Lotus and Microsoft integration
Armonk, NY…June 19, 2007…IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announces the June 29th availability of IBM Lotus® Quickr 8 software, an open standards-based team collaboration tool that helps teams inside and outside the company firewall easily and effectively work together across geographies, working styles and operating systems.
Lotus Quickr provides a rich set of team collaboration capabilities, including blogs, wikis and team space templates supporting a variety of business processes to get a collaboration project up and running quickly. Already an enterprise-ready team collaboration offering supporting both Microsoft and Lotus software environments, Lotus Quickr interoperability will be further expanded with a connector to Microsoft Outlook software currently expected to be released in a beta program for Lotus customers this summer.
Easy to use and install with an intuitive Web 2.0 interface, Lotus Quickr software provides an easy way to share a wide range of business documents and access libraries through plug-ins called "connectors". These connectors let end users work in their familiar desktop applications without impacting their work patterns – and access Lotus Quickr content directly from IBM Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office software.
Through a beta testing program conducted since early 2007, IBM has taken feedback from dozens of customers and partners to improve Lotus Quickr 8 to meet the needs of the connected workplace. The result is a clean and user-friendly interface designed to ease users into a more collaborative work style and increase visibility of materials and contributors.
"IBM has developed an extremely competitive content and collaboration product with the ability to be extended and customized to meet specific business and industry needs," said Daniel Lieber, president of Innovative Ideas Unlimited, Inc. "The Lotus Quickr interface is clean, consistent, and straight-forward. We found it to be very efficient for working with collaborative content and accomplishing tasks in a personal, workgroup, departmental, or enterprise environment."
"Lotus Quickr integrates key Web 2.0 capabilities, such as blogs & wikis that expand the type of collaboration possible, and it provides a breadth of integration across everyday applications from Microsoft & Lotus delivering ease of access to content," said Ken Bisconti, Lotus vice president of messaging and collaboration software. "This flexible tool bridges gaps in working styles and technical savvy — appealing both to workers embracing Web 2.0 internet content tools such as blogs and wikis along with those who are more comfortable accessing content from the familiar Microsoft Windows Explorer interface."
Key benefits of Lotus Quickr include:
Web 2.0 features that enhance usability: IBM has incorporated Web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) into Lotus Quickr to deliver an intuitive, integrated and high performing graphical Web-based user interface. This interface includes dynamic action menus that can be accessed through a right click, and easy drag and drop features to seamlessly move documents into team spaces. Lotus Quickr provides the ability to publish and consume Atom-based news feeds, publish team blogs, use the built-in wiki technology for creating content, and to assign tags and permalinks to content. It is easily customizable and extensible without requiring programming skills.
Support for open standards, providing customer choice of vendor: Customers are free to mix and match products as they desire. Lotus Quickr integrates with Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007, Microsoft Windows Explorer on Windows XP and Windows Vista, IBM Lotus Notes 7 and 8 (with planned support for Lotus Notes 6.5) and Lotus Sametime 7.5. Lotus Quickr supports Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers, providing Web access from Windows, Linux, and Macintosh desktops. In addition, IBM currently plans to release a beta version of a Lotus Quickr connector for Microsoft Outlook this summer. IBM also currently plans to release migration and coexistence tools that will allow users to access content in existing Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange public folders via Lotus Quickr's web 2.0-style collaborative user interface, or to migrate that content out of Microsoft repositories into Lotus Quickr, where it can be easily accessed and widely shared.
Easy-to-use features that can be rolled out across enterprise: Many past efforts to create project spaces have been either difficult to use or were not enterprise-ready. Lotus Quickr makes it easy for any team member to get up and running with easy instructions on how to get started, a clean and simple user interface, tutorial style wizards that guide the user. Lotus Quickr also features helpful pop-ups that remind the user when they can opt to place a document inside a shared place rather than send it as an attachment to others.
User-driven enhancements that reduce information overload and errors that come with sharing documents among team members through email: When documents are sent from a single user to a group for feedback, the process of tracking edits and changes over email can be inefficient and prone to error. Lotus Quickr allows check in and check out of documents to prevent simultaneous editing and versioning to track changes. In addition, wiki technolology provides an in-place Web editing option with history so a user can revert back to an earlier version of a page. The wiki and library views support posting comments about documents that are viewable in a pop-up screen by rolling the mouse over a document.
Business application templates that provide immediate out-of-the-box value and support of common business processes: Lotus Quickr includes business templates, such as a meeting place, project management, image repository, dynamic surveys and more. All templates are customizable, allowing users to easily change the look and feel and add pre-built components, such as a team blog, a project calendar, or an announcement page.
Future enhancements to Lotus Quickr include integration with IBM's enterprise content management (ECM) systems. Customers will be able to use Lotus Quickr to collaborate on content and seamlessly leverage the world-class capabilities of IBM FileNet P8 and IBM DB2 Content Manager software to manage that content.
Lotus Quickr Pricing and availability: Prices will be announced at the time of availability on June 29. For more information, visit: ibm.com/lotus/quickrIBM, the IBM logo, DB2, Lotus, Notes, Quickr and Sametime are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
FileNet is a registered trademark of FileNet Corporation, in the United States, other countries, or both.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.
Other company product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
The information above is based on IBM's current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice.
Posted by Viktor Krantz at 12:05 pm	Tagged with: lotus quickr, press release, snapps, templates