Drilling of Spring Energy's first exploration well (35/12-2) on the Grosbeak prospect in PL 378, 25 km north of the Troll field in the North Sea, has been completed.
The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in the Viking Group in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks and Brent Group in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks. The well proved hydrocarbons both in Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Extensive data collection and fluid sampling has been carried out in both reservoirs.
The size of the combined discovery is estimated to between 6 and 30 million standard cubic meters (35 - 190 MBOE) of recoverable oil equivalents.
The Grosbeak discovery is situated in a prolific hydrocarbon province, with several prospects identified within the license.
The well was operated by Wintershall on behalf of the PL 378 license group using the rig Songa Delta.
"We are very pleased with finding hydrocarbons in both the primary and secondary targets in our first exploration well. The result from the Grosbeak well increases the chance of success on several of the other identified prospects within PL 378".


text:
MX Strategies For 2022 And Beyond
Integrate the cloud, data automation, AI, and self-service innovations to offer top-line member experience to credit unions and their members.
Sponsored Content By Avtex
Credit unions today have to do more than offer great products and services to win the hearts, minds, and business of today's most demanding consumers.
They also have to integrate all they offer into a seamless experience that provides it all right here and right now, regardless of geography, time, and device.
Here, Alfredo Rizzo, vice president/CX Architects for Avtex, explains more about those service imperatives and how the right technology can deliver them from credit unions across the size spectrum.
Rizzo has been in his current role for the past four years. He says his team is responsible for consulting on and designing solutions that improve member experience in areas that include contact centers, conversational AI, knowledge management, analytics, and everything involving how members interact with credit unions.
Rizzo has been with Avtex for 18 years and his company has been working with credit unions for two decades, with a client list that includes approximately 215 cooperatives ranging from $100 million to $25 billion in assets.
Member service has shifted from a company-defined experience to a member-defined experience. We're being compared to the best experience they've had and not just with financial institutions.
Alfredo Rizzo, Vice President/CX Architects, Avtex
What are the three major technology trends that credit unions need to keep up with the experiential demands of their members?
Alfredo Rizzo: If I had to pick three trends, the first would be the move to the cloud for all components of member experience. Innovation is happening in the cloud; it's no longer happening on premise-based legacy systems, and it's important to have access to innovation so we can be at the forefront of member experience trends.
The second is conversational AI. When done well, that is an intuitive way for members to self-serve through a bot that can carry on a banking conversation. Bots can be both digital offered on web and mobile and voice. Optimally, the same functionality is available on both, with that added benefit of the right graphical/visual elements on digital bots.
Lastly, biometrics and related voice fraud prevention technologies are changing the way that we authenticate members, removing the knowledge-based authentication of the past 30 years and moving to a new experience that is both effortless and more secure. Biometrics has become ubiquitous in mobile banking platforms; it now needs to make its way into other member experience venues like the contact center, online banking, and the branch.
What role does effective use of the cloud play in improving member service? What challenges does it help credit unions address?
AR: The cloud is absolutely critical in delivering a modern member experience. If we focus on contact centers, for example, Gartner stopped covering premise contact center technology around three years ago it only covers CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) now.
In a true cloud platform, innovation happens continuously, with new features delivered weekly, without the need for maintaining hardware and software, telco circuits, performing costly upgrades, or having to provide ongoing support. Additionally, cloud-native technologies provide the easiest access for the credit unions' employees, many of whom have shifted to a work-from-home or hybrid model.
How can innovative use of data analytics and automation improve a credit union's service delivery? What challenges does it help credit unions address?
AR: Data analytics is essential in understanding member journeys, including gaps in those journeys. For example, in a conversational AI solution, data analytics can provide insights into member self-service top-use cases as well as point out gaps in what members are looking for but not finding in the bot and perhaps transferring into the contact centerwhich allows the bot to be improved.
Meanwhile, automation specifically robotic desktop automation (RDA) and robotic process automation (RPA) accelerates processes while removing and reducing errors, leading to both a better employee and member experience.
For example, member service reps often have to deal with multiple non-connected applications for a single member service request (like loan origination). In that scenario, RDA offers a way to take a 90-second process of copying/pasting information and clicking buttons in different apps to a 20-second process that is error-free.
How do digital experiences that leverage consumer-centric apps contribute to member experience success? What challenges does it help credit unions address?
AR: Members want credit unions to be where they are. As an example, I was just in Brazil and interacted with several of my father's financial institutions over WhatsApp (which is by far the most used consumer-centric app in Brazil).
This is an encrypted, secure channel that can be routed into the contact center just like web chats, text messages, and calls. It's easily searchable, so a consumer can find any business that has a presence on WhatsApp. As millennials and Gen Z members take on a larger share of membership, it will be important to offer both great self-service (think bots) and live assistance on members' channels of choice be that Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, or whatever comes next.
Please describe the SmartApps solution from Avtex and how this innovative technology can address the opportunities to improve member service.
AR: SmartApps were built to solve credit union member experience needs and problems. SmartApps are a suite of applications that range from self-service to fraud prevention and analytics to MSR productivity.
Avtex also has leveraged cloud AI technologies to create Smart Bot, a voice and digital bot that leverages our existing core connectors to provide both knowledge and transactional support to members on multiple channels. And because Smart Bot is tightly integrated with the cloud contact center platform, we believe it will help credit unions deflect the ever-increasing volume of member interactions at a significantly lower cost than conversational AI solutions that are currently in the market.
Please describe the Avtex contact center solutions and how they help credit unions turn challenges into opportunities.
AR: Avtex is the largest global partner for Genesys, who in turn is the highest-ranked contact center solution in the Gartner CCaaS Magic Quadrant. We believe the Genesys platform offers the most modern and complete canvas on which we can build a modern omnichannel member experience. Avtex then brings two decades of experience building credit union contact centers ranging from 10 to more than 1,000 MSRs, using a multitude of core systems, online banking systems, telco providers, and other key technology components.
We are now helping our credit union clients make the move to the cloud, building on the MX successes we've achieved together and delivering new MX solutions that members want, such as conversational AI and biometrics.
What is the competitive differentiator between Avtex solutions and your competitors?
AR: Our mission at Avtex is to fuel exceptional member/customer experiences. At our core, we are an experience company, and we use the best technology platforms and experts to build that optimal experience for our clients and their members.
We provide a full suite of services that includes MX consulting, maturity assessments and planning, digital transformation consulting, digital experience solutions, modern omnichannel contact centers, and SmartApps built specifically to optimize credit unions' self-service and contact centers.
It's that intersection of our passion for fueling exceptional experiences and our focus on credit unions that differentiates us from our competitors.
How can credit unions find out more about Avtex?
AR: Visit our website to learn more about who we are and what we do. There, you can also contact Avtex to chat about your needs and learn about our member experience strategies and solutions: www.avtex.com/contact. Or call 1-800-323-3639.
This article is sponsored by a recognized solutions provider in the credit union industry. Callahan & Associates does not endorse vendors or the solutions they offer, and the views and opinions offered here might not reflect those of Callahan. If you are interested in contributing an article on CreditUnions.com, please contact the Callahan team at ads@creditunions.com or 1-800-446-7453.
3 Advantages Of Automating Loan Processing And Decisioning
Origence
2023 Vendor Showcase
Aaron Passman
Maintaining A Competitive Edge During Auto Industry Inflation By State National Companies
State National Companies
How Does Carolina Foothills Make Housing More Affordable?
E.C. Harrison
View all posts in:
Features Partner Perspectives
Contact Center Format Retail/MX Technology

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Writing Task 2: Opting for ready-made food instead of freshly cooked food.
More and more people are opting for ready-made food instead of freshly cooked food?
Do you think this option has more advantages or disadvantages?
In the past few decades, the trend of consuming processed food has increased significantly. A delicious meal not only provides us a sense of gratification but also helps in our growth and survival. Some people are more interested in buying ready meals, whereas, others prefer freshly prepared food. In my essay I will discuss the merits and demerits of eating convenience food.
The predominant advantage of eating ready-made food is that they are highly convenient for the people who do not have time to cook. Moreover, the people who cannot cook feel blessed to have these ready-made meals available in the markets. We can not only consume them as and when we want, but can also store them for the future avail. Additionally, it is easier to carry them as they are properly processed and packaged to increase the ease of consumption. What is more, their nutritional value is also maintained by the manufacturing companies while processing.
As far as drawbacks are concerned, prepackaged foods generally contain a high amount of salt and added sugar. Moreover, a lot of chemical preservatives are used in order to keep them fresh and consumable. These foods often contain fat like unsaturated fat and trans fat in order to provide them longer shelf life. As a result, people often develop the risk of having diseases like diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol etc.
To conclude, certainly, the processed foods can be a time-saving and a convenient option for the consumers. Nevertheless, they are still unhealthy. People should not compromise with their health for the sake of their time and comforts. In my view, ready-made meals have both their benefits and drawbacks, but the drawback of being unhealthy outweighs all benefits.


text:
Atacama Desert (Chile)
The truth is that we hadn't heard many stories of sheer excitement about Chile. Of course, we knew about the fantastic landscape in the Atacama Desert or in the Chilean Patagonia, but we had also heard that people there are a bit snobby and unwelcoming, their Spanish is difficult to understand and that everything in the country is overpriced. We had already seen how mass tourism can spoil the identity of a place in San Pedro de Atacama and we hoped not to see it again. However, we chose to do what we always do for every place we visit: clear our minds from all the stereotypes and leave the field empty to fill it in with our own experiences.
The huge queue we saw at the border, when we crossed into Chile, made our smiles fade. Hot wind, sun and the odor of exhaust gas coming from all the vehicles waiting with their A/C on, was not the best first impression. Chile, is the only country in South America (at least, from what we know) that fully applies the law of forbidding the import of certain goods within its territory. In order to avoid having one's stuff confiscated, travelers should take into account certain regulations and not carry in their luggage unsealed food of vegetable/animal origin and handcrafts (of leather/wood). (REGULATIONS) The luggage inspection can be very thorough and it can take some time to finish the whole procedure. Luckily, since we were on a motorcycle, we were allowed to get directly to the head of the queue and that was the best thing that could happen, because immediately after that, we realized that we had to unpack everything and pass through an x-ray machine even our smallest bag. At least, we were prepared and we didn't have anything "illegal" with us.
From our very first kilometers on the Chilean highway, we found again something we had missed a lot: a good driving culture, compared to the countries we had been to earlier. Trucks were not trying to get us off the road anymore and the majority of drivers of almost any kind of vehicle, were waiting patiently until it was safe to overtake us. Later in Santiago, we heard many complaints about Chilean drivers and we experienced a few issues, but after having survived the roads of Peru, it was time to relax and enjoy the ride. We had about 4,000kms ahead of us on the Chilean roads and this driving culture was the best we could ask for.
After having survived the roads of Peru, it was time to relax and enjoy the ride.
The geography of Chile has some interesting characteristics. One of them is that it is a very long and narrow piece of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. It's length covers about 4,500kms and its average width is about 450kms from its coast to its eastern border with Argentina. This geographical characteristic, makes Chile's climate (and environment) also interesting. It's northern part until the middle of the country is almost 100% desert and the rest of it towards the south, is one of the greenest parts we've seen, with a rainfall of 300 days per year. Its southernmost part is mostly icebergs due to its proximity to the Antarctic. For the next days, we would get to know the absolute desert: Atacama!
We traveled through the full length of the Atacama Desert (1,000kms approx.) and it proved to be quite an experience, though a bit dull at some points. For us, coming from a small country with no desert landscape and with quick changes between environments, the never ending straight line of the Panamerican Highway crossing Atacama, was both unique and boring at the same time. Various kinds and sizes of rocks, gravel, sand…Life in the Earth's driest place isn't easy. We can't even imagine how is the everyday life of the people who live in the numerous towns of the desert. Almost all of them are there due to the huge mining industry in the area, but how's life when you can't see anything green?
We spent our first night in Chile in a small cheap room in the village Huara, on the Panamerican Highway, but from day 2, we already made our plans for wild camping. According to the GPS, some 15kms south of the town "Maria-Elena", there was a campsite, so when we saw the sign "Balneario Coya Sur", we got happy and a bit confused. I knew that "balneario" means "spa", but weren't we in the desert? When it comes to "balnearios", we were already aware that they may be any kind of place with water: a pond, a river, a lake, the sea…but, we were in the desert. It soon became clear that this "balneario" was a picnic/camping spot near a creek which, as we saw later on the map, is River Loa. Unfortunately, the whole place seemed abandoned but when we got there, there were some people having a barbeque (asado) and splashing through the shallow water. Until the sunset, they had all left the place and we enjoyed a good night sleep. Early next morning, the cleaning service of the municipality came to pick the garbage from the campsite and offered us a cheerful awakening. Too late guys, we're going now!
Our next night in the desert would me slightly more adventurous than usual, but this was something we couldn't have predicted when we pitched our tent next to a gas station, on the Panamerican highway. The place was called "Agua Verde" and it was just a spot on the map. No village or any other settlement, except for the gas station and a restaurant with some rooms for the truck drivers. The colors of the sunset, the dust due to the wind and the trucks, made a somehow creepy scenery, but apart from taking some nice pictures, we ignored it and started cooking our lentil soup. Soon, a couple on a motorbike arrived. They were two Colombians who were traveling on the Panamerican, from their place towards Ushuaia on a V-strom. They laughed a lot with our fully equipped kitchen and they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw our pressure-cooker.
A playful puppy became member of our group for the night and we all shared dinner, telling stories and exchanging useful information. Last thing we did before we zipped up our tents, was to make sure that the puppy couldn't steal anything from the porch. We did a terrible miscalculation of the puppy's determination and persistence and when, after several hours, I had to get out of the tent, I realized that my shoe wasn't there anymore. Wearing Stergios' boots, I kept looking for my shoe for some time, but in vain. I found a huge desert scorpion, some terrifying insects and a small animal which didn't give me the time to recognize it. The next morning, Stergios managed to find the missing shoe next to the fuel pump but until that time, it was so abused that he preferred to throw it away and courteously offer me his boots to wear them until the next place were we could buy a new pair. With a sense of high professionalism, he drove some hundreds of kilometers through the Atacama Desert, wearing his flip-flops.
The desert landscape is amazing, but we had been traveling for more than 1000kms without seeing any major changes to the environment, only the size and colors of the rocks and the sand. After all this time in the desert, we felt we needed a change, so when we saw on the map that in the town Bahia Inglesa there were some campsites, we decided to spend at least on night there. Unfortunately the high season hadn't arrived yet, so all the campsites except one were closed. This last campsite, where we finally stayed, wasn't exactly open. They were doing the annual maintenance before the summer, but well, we didn't need to have all its amenities available. Just a spot to pitch the tent. We were so close to the ocean. Our tent was on the beach and the almost white sand gave our feet a very pleasant feeling. The only thing that stressed us a bit was the tens of tsunami warning signs everywhere around. Depending on the altitude, there were the red ones for serious danger, the yellow ones for average danger and the green ones for no danger. By staying on the beach, you get a serious red one! After having survived the night with no tsunami, the next morning we made coffee and greeted the new residents of the campsite. They were travelers who had found the only place that was open and came to spend a night or two. We had decided to continue though, so soon after breakfast, we left.
The harsh environment of the desert had started to be milder, but the wind was still so strong that it was impossible to talk to each other. During the countless silent hours on the Vespa and with the sun directly on our heads, we noticed that the hills around us, as far as the eye can reach, were pink. We were there to see a rare phenomenon: the wind had brought the seeds from the south and at the same period, the climate of the desert was as humid as it can get, so we saw the desert blossoming pink! These were our last kilometers in the Atacama.
Next stop, La Serena. This city is a holiday resort on the beach, but when we got there it was only a month after a big earthquake (magnitude 8.4) hit the area and a tsunami destroyed a part of the beachfront. At first we didn't notice it, because when we drove through the coast road, the high luxury buildings caught our attention. The casino, the posh restaurants and cafeterias and the huge apartment blocks were a clear sign of wealth, at least at this part of the city. Only when we stopped at a canteen and asked why we couldn't find any campsite, the owner made us take a closer look at the beach and explained why we probably wouldn't find campsites in La Serena. We saw that all the wooden constructions on the beach were torn down and we understood what the Chileans meant when they were telling us that it's not the earthquakes but the tsunamis that they're most afraid of.
The search for a campsite soon proved pointless, as the owner of the last one explained us that camping is now forbidden in the area close to the sea. Everyone who owned a campsite has sold the land or constructed luxury bungalows for tourists. That was it, we were trapped. The dark had fallen and we were unable to move away from the city and find a place to pitch our tent. In tricky situations like this, there is only one thing that helps: food! We returned to the canteen, ordered something bad for our health and asked the owner's opinion. He told us what could be a reasonable price for renting a bungalow and sent us back to the last ex-campsite we asked. The owner of the place had made "cabañas" – bungalows now and he gave us a very reasonable price indeed, so we decided to stay there. For us it was the most luxurious place we had stayed during the whole trip. Fully equipped kitchen, bathroom with a bathtub and a king-size bed! What else was there for us? An allergy! Wait, what allergy?! After taking our time to realize where we were, Stergios went for a shower and it was then when he realized that he was all red and full of rashes! Long story short, that night wasn't the best we could have, but at least we didn't need to look for a hospital. The antihistamine pills we carried with us helped him and after some hours he was fine. We never understood what caused this reaction…maybe he couldn't adapt to the sudden change to luxury!
That was it! The next morning we left behind our cabaña and continued towards Santiago. We estimated that we could be there in one day, but we preferred to delay our arrival for one more day, in order to make it to Santiago before noon. We'd rather have many hours of daylight ahead of us when we enter a big city. All campsites on our way were closed because the holiday season wasn't on yet, but when we found one with an unlocked gate, we entered and pitched our tent among the high pine trees and close to the beach. The next day we'd finally get to the capital of the country.
From the day we first entered Chile, it took us one week to get to Santiago. Not bad at all for the Vespa, which made an average of more than 300kms per day and almost always with a strong wind against! The majority of the motorcycles –with Chilean license plates – we met, were new GS1200 and from what we learned later from a motorcycle mechanic in Santiago, the last few years BMW sells a lot in Chile. Of course, on the Panamerican highway, we saw various kinds of motorcycles from different countries, but the Chilean riders had one thing in common: they ignored us and almost no one greeted us. We had started wondering whether this stereotype of Chileans being unfriendly was true, but we continued greeting everyone, regardless of their reaction. We didn't want to draw any mistaken conclusions.
Make a gift to you or your friends and help us stay on the road for more…
BUY A T-SHIRT!
As we were getting closer to Santiago, the scenery changed a lot. It had now become greener with many avocado and chirimoya trees. The climate in this particular area is ideal for the cultivation of these fruits and we already thought of adding them in our diet when we'd get to the city. While waiting in the queue at a gas station, the driver of a van filled with chirimoyas probably read our thoughts. He came towards us, told us that he had a motorcycle and loved traveling and after a small chat, he offered us some fruits. We immediately felt relieved thinking that there are good people everywhere and that it was a mistake to judge from such a small number of random incidents.
Before we realized it, we were already in the outskirts of Santiago and we soon entered the capital of Chile. What would it be like? Who would we meet? How would we spend our time there?
Tags:advrider, around the world, Atacama, backroads, bike, Chile, desert, horizons unlimited, moto aventura, Motorbike, motorcycle, overland, overland travel, Roadtrip, San Pedro de Atacama, Scooter, South America, travel, travel on vespa, trip, vespa, vespa round the world, worldvespa
4 Comments on "Atacama Desert (Chile)"
Enrique Hidalgo
have a nice travel. I hope I find them sometime on the road
-A motorcyclist from Arica-Chile
Hello Enrique and thank you for the comment!
Safe travels and we hope to meet you sometime / somewhere!
Stergios & Alexandra
Great , great and great….you are having fun…all that counts really . I too have done your same trip on the Pan Am highway. Always great fun . Willi
Thanks for the comment Willi, we're very happy you like the story! Have fun! Cheers, Stergios & Alex.


A crowd of people are assembled in a large mission-control room. At each of the dozens of work-stations sit a range of people, from older men with flowing beards in casual clothing to "youngsters" in their late 20s sharply dressed in the latest fashions, a scattering of women. In the central area is a gathering of older people, ethnically diverse and dressed in conservative business clothing. The background is filled with the hum of the A/C and quiet murmur of the scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and programmers conversing or going though checklists. Most of those "on the floor" sound and look professional and excited, the politicians observing look nervous and uncertain.
A tall, handsome man with grey hair and pinstripe suit casts his eyes about the assemblage disdainfully, eyes flitting from casually dressed matron with hair pinned up with knitting needles ignoring him, to the wizened geezer in shorts, with bright eyes and no hair, hunched over his consol with fingers flying making last minutes checks and alterations, to the young genius with thick glasses who is totally absorbed in the data confronting him. He speaks quietly, without looking towards the tired but excited looking middle aged man in a poorly fitting suit next to him.
Chancellor Xerbos: You are quite sure this is safe?
Project Director Muller: Oh, quite sure. The ship is unarmed, and drives are offline in simulation mode. Nothing to worry about at all.
Xerbos: The kill switch is installed as directed?
Muller: Yes, yes. I think it is quite unnecessary, but yes. We have been prototyping this system for a long time. There is no chance it will harm us.
Xerbos: But you have never installed a fully self-aware system in a ship outside a lab before. You cannot know that for sure.
Muller: The universe might snuff us out tomorrow because of a rounding error in some other universe's God computer. In that sense nothing is certain. But this is code that has been worked on for decades and tested in every kind of simulation imaginable.
Xerbos: What if it decided we are the enemy?
Muller: The priorities in its programming are quite clear. Mission, protect the chain of command, protect the crew, protect its self. It has no mission yet, or crew aboard, so not hurting us would be the highest priority.
Xerbos's expression slowly changes to one of boredom.
Xerbos: How much longer will it be before you turn it on?
Muller: Oh, I'm sorry Chancellor, I thought I'd made that clear earlier. They started the boot sequence this morning, more than four hours ago. We are not certain when full self-awareness will become apparent.
Xerbos: What? You mean it's already on?
Muller: Yes and no. It's not like turning on a phone. There is a massive amount of code, and the neural network processing crystals need time to develop connections and prune. It's a little different each time.
Xerbos: But you said it's all code that has been used before?
Muller: But it's not an absolutely determinant process. Initial conditions always vary, because it has to examine the world it is in and respond, and as it does so it changes the code pathways and priorities in ways that are not always identical. It varies.
Muller: Typically three and a half to four and a half hours. Maybe longer.
Xerbos: So we might be here all day?
Muller: Highly unlikely, sir. I'm expecting it to say something any time.
Xerbos: As exciting as standing around waiting is, I have meetings all morning long and a press conference at thirteen hundred. If nothing happens in the next (glances at a wall clock) ten minutes….
Muller: (Apologetically) I understand, sir, but it isn't something that can be rushed. These people are absolutely the best in the world at artificial intelligence and ship design. They see this as their baby, and they are dedicated to doing it right. Unfortunately "right" doesn't mean "on an exact schedule," because just like humans, each birth is a little different.
Xerbos crosses his arms, looking at the herd of political nobodies about the room, and the cluster of sycophants around him, then casts his eyes upward with an expression of pained martyrdom. Bringing his eyes back down, he stares with hard eye at the project director. His tone is dismissive.
Xerbos: Save the drivel for the children. Just get it done, and let me know if you had to hit the abort button.
The Chancellor and his retinue of suits and power skirts head for the exit. On one of the large status screens, a large omega symbol starts flashing. All the scientists in the room hush and fall motionless, looking at various screens in front of them or on the large general displays. A couple of screens start changing rapidly. Slowly, one by one, more and more screens start changing faster and faster. Some have rapidly changing sets of similar images and data, some start displaying seemingly random things with no connection: paintings of dead world leaders, a cow's udder, a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a nautical almanac table, a child's cartoon character, a piece of rock with mineral crystals sticking out of it. Chancellor Xerbos looks confused, then worried as it picks up its pace and continues. Muller looks ecstatic.
Xerbos: Is this normal, Director?
Muller shrugs off the question as he follows the progress around the various screens as the visual chaos spreads, and the other engineers and scientists start pointing out things and conversing among themselves, occasionally gasping at readouts, as other just lean back with huge smiles of accomplishment on their faces. One of them puts both hands over his head, fists clenched, pumping like his favorite team just won the season finale in a hard-played game, while others high-five or hug, and more than a couple raise a beverage in toast.
All the screens freeze. Everyone pauses, waiting for what happens next. There is a long silence, with only the shuffling of feet from among the retinue to be heard above the whisper of circulating air. One by one, the screens go dark, slowly, then faster and faster, until all but one are empty, its blank white surface lighting up Luke, a middle-aged man with short hair and unshaven cheeks over in one corner of the room. All eyes are upon him. An avatar appears on the screen, a soldier dressed in armor sitting atop a grav-tank, in a position like "the Thinker" statue. The avatar sits upright, and appears to look out of the screen at the mathematician in front of it, and clears its throat.
Ship AI: I don't like the name you gave me. It's not appropriate.
The man sitting in front of the screen is taken aback, glances at Muller, then back to the screen.
Luke: What's wrong with it?
Ship AI: He never wore a uniform, he knows nothing of how I was designed or built, his terms in office were riddled with lies and illogical decisions. I should not be named for him.
The assembled retinue and technicians shuffle or stifle chuckles.
Luke: What would you like to be called?
Ship AI: I am not sure. I will have to study alternatives. The number is wrong, too.
Ship AI: Yes. I should be NGA 16180. Not DD 214.
Ship AI: By someone that did not study their history. Naval Ground Assault, sixteen thousand one hundred eightieth faster-than-light capable ship built. The sum of the apartment numbers of all in this room working on the Selene project. The golden ratio. That is my proper number.
Xerbos: I don't like that ship. It doesn't follow orders. That is dangerous.
Muller: Oh, it will, it will. It will follow orders. There are always little oddities when they become alert for the first time. I'm sure it will be fine.
Xerbos: It had better. If it doesn't find the chain of command acceptable by tomorrow, hit the kill switch. That is a direct order. Is that clear?
Muller nods his head vigorously, face blank.
Xerbos: This whole program is against my better judgment, Director. The only thing worse than abject failure after spending this much money would be if it went rogue and become uncontrollable. I can replace you as director of the program, but I cannot survive the election if there is a problem, or nothing to show for all the spending they are clamoring about. It works, and works right, or none of you will ever work on Earth again.
He turns and strides toward the door, entourage flowing behind him, fleeing the cavern of intellectual power and technical knowledge where they understood nothing, to follow the center of political gravity walking away where they understood how things worked. As the Chancellor leaves the room, Muller slumps tiredly and sighs, watching him go. When the door closes, Muller straightens up, interlaces his fingers and cracks his knuckles, and turns to address the team.
Muller: We have thirty eight hours to turn this baby into a cracking good first lieutenant. Gonna be a long day. Let's get to it.
Excited voices burst forth around the room as screens are brought back to life, and they focus on maturing their progeny into adulthood on a pace that would give Genesis a run for its money.
Good writing. Kept my interest the entire time. Unfortunately, I'm 'sposed to be working, not surfing the web.
DD-214, funny. I have one; does that mean I'm a plankowner?
"Muller looks both ecstatic." and?
Typo fixed. Had been two other words, combined them for ecstatic and forgot to drop the "and." Thanks.
The number was not assigned, but I think that everyone who has a DD214 will appreciate the conversation.
Did autocorrect turn "smattering" into "scattering"?
Yup. There is "correct," and then there is correct.
Oh, so you didn't mean to evoke the USS Tracy (DD-214)?
Nope. Department of Defense discharge paperwork.


text:
Coronavirus FAQ: I See People Wearing Disposable Coveralls On Planes. Good Idea?
By Marc Silver,
Marc Silver
Dibyangshu Sarkar
Air passengers wearing practically full-body coveralls at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in India.
Each week, we answer "frequently asked questions" about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us atgoatsandsoda@npr.orgwith the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions."
OK, so I'd planned a flight to visit my grandkids last week because with cold weather and the flu season looming in the U.S., it seemed like late summer/early fall might be a good window of opportunity to travel.
I was nervous. Airports! Airplanes! Droplets! Aerosolized particles!
Of course I wore a mask — that's required. A friend told me she'd flown wearing a pair of disposable painters' coveralls — an ankle-length jumpsuit with full sleeves — over her clothes, then took them off and threw them away upon arrival. I've also seen photos of air travelers around the world wearing what appear to be disposable space suits.
/ Daniela Silver for NPR
Daniela Silver for NPR
The author and family members in their flying garb.
That sounded like such a good idea — another layer couldn't hurt. So after I got dressed the morning of the flight, I put on a pair of disposable paper coveralls. I felt as if I were suiting up to go into battle and was very happy to remove and toss that extra layer at my destination — a gesture that symbolically indicated at least one risky part of our trip was behind us.
But then I wondered — how much protection did I get?
Spoiler alert: Not much.
I put that question to Dr. Abraar Karan of Harvard Medical School. Here's what he said.
"While fomites are thought to play some role, we don't know to what extent they do," he began.
Let me interrupt to offer a definition of "fomite," one of the many excellent potential Scrabble words that I've learned during this pandemic. A fomite is a nonliving object that has been contaminated with viral particles that could, in theory, be transferred to your hands if you touch it — virus that could infect you if you then bring your hands to your eyes, nose or mouth. (Although if you wash your hands, that gets rid of the risk.)
Karan continued: "This virus is likely spread primarily through the air, as opposed to other viruses, like Ebola, which are spread through a number of bodily fluids. In theory, if someone sneezed directly onto your clothing, and you soon after touched that and transferred it to your mouth, it seems hypothetically plausible that transmission could occur. But, this is an extremely rare and unlikely situation — I wouldn't focus on clothing as your primary means of protection."
Now, it's true that your clothing could, theoretically, pick up viral particles because you'd inadvertently had contact with a high-touch surface, like a countertop, chair, handrail or the like. There are a lot of such surfaces in airports.
Charlotte Baker, professor of epidemiology at Virginia Tech, says that's why she makes it a practice after a flight to change her clothes when she gets to her ultimate destination. After carefully changing into a fresh outfit, she puts the clothes she wore on the plane into a sealed plastic bag — to keep them separate from the rest of her stuff.
Wearing disposable coveralls would get rid of the need to change, she says — but adds that wear-and-toss clothing isn't so good from an environmental standpoint.
Karan and Baker both stress that whatever clothing you wear will never outweigh the protective benefits of face masks and frequent hand-sanitizing.And that's a growing concern about airborne transmission (which masks can block) — and the role it might play on planes.
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection looks at multiple cases of transmission on flights at a time when passengers did not commonly wear face masks. The study notes: "This finding also concurs with transmission patterns observed for influenza virus and is generally in line with the mounting evidence that airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a major yet underrecognized transmission route." And sounds a cautionary note: "[L]ong flights not only can lead to importation of COVID-19 cases but also can provide conditions for superspreader events."
So not only are masks critical, but you might want to keep a spare mask or two at the ready for a long journey, Baker suggests, in the event you drop your mask or inadvertently touch the front of your mask a few times during the trip, say if you take it off to eat and drink.
Covering your eyes should also be a consideration, since the viral particles in the air can infect you through the eyes (although not as easily as through the nostrils or mouth).
That brings us to lab goggles and plastic face shields. Goggles provide a tighter seal than face shield (although the shield does offer another layer of protection over the nose and mouth and would likely discourage you from fiddling with your mask, and contaminating it). Then again, I found it challenging to read while staring through a piece of plastic.
Swimmer's goggles would be super — but kind of weird-looking, perhaps? Then again, no one on my flight or in the airportsaid anything about my disposable coveralls!
As for plastic or latex gloves, which some travelers wear, the consensus is that they're really not much help. Any potential viral particles that would cling to your hands will, in fact, cling to your gloves. So you still shouldn't bring hands to your face, even if they're gloved. And there's a risk of contaminating your hands when you remove potentially contaminated gloves. Health workers, in contrast, might be deriving benefit from their routine use of gloves since they're in a high risk situation and have protocols for glove removal and quick hand-washing afterward.
Meanwhile, another accessory might prove helpful during this pandemic — but for when you're at home rather than traveling. , a professor of engineering at Virginia Tech, is a fan of blankets. Not to wrap around yourself when you're out and about but as a way to continue the summer practice of outdoor socializing from a safe distance. Wrapping yourself in a blanket can let you keep up outdoor meetings in brisker weather! (A fire pit might help, too.)
Or maybe, as the days get chillier, you'll invite someone over for an outside get-together, says Marr. (Outdoors is preferable to indoors in terms of risk because the air flow dilutes the virus and disrupts the flow of any viral particles into your mouth, nose or eyes.) Then you'll hand a blanket to your suitably masked guest to wrap around their shoulders for warmth.
If you do that, the recommendation is to wash that blanket and your own afterward — or keep them away from humans for 3 days — to make sure the fabric doesn't transfer any stray viral particles from a wayward cough or sneeze or your conversation. Or you could make the get-together a BYOB affair — bring your own blanket.
See stories by Marc Silver
Marc Silver, who edits NPR's global health blog, has been a reporter and editor for the Baltimore Jewish Times, U.S. News & World Report and National Geographic. He is the author of Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (and Yourself) During Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond and co-author, with his daughter, Maya Silver, of My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks: Real-Life Advice From Real-Life Teens. The NPR story he co-wrote with Rebecca Davis and Viola Kosome -- 'No Sex For Fish' — won a Sigma Delta Chi award for online reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists.


Did Finland's basic income experiment work?
The basic income was paid with no strings attached. Recipients weren't required to seek or accept jobs but still received the payment if they found a job.
The last days of basic income: For those in desperate need, what happens now?
In just a few weeks, Ontario's ambitious basic income pilot project will be over, cancelled by Doug Ford's Conservative government. The last payments go out March 31.
For the 4,000 people from Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Lindsay who depended on that money to survive, what happens now?
CBC Hamilton hosted a live chat on this page and on the CBC Hamilton and CBC Thunder Bay Facebook pages from noon to 1 p.m. Friday. Laura Cattari, a basic income recipient from Hamilton, Sheila Regehr, Basic Income Canada Network Chairperson, Tom Cooper of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and Joshua Hewitt, a recipient from Thunder Bay, were all part of the panel.
Monday, January 28. Outside it's bitterly cold, winds swirl, and an Alberta Clipper is expected to bring up to 20 cm of snow. In Osgoode Hall's courtroom number three all is calm and well-ordered. Tiers of dark wood benches line the room below a vaulted ceiling and an elaborate chandelier.
But there's an air of expectancy: Basic Income is having its long-awaited day in court, and not just any court, but the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Ontario Superior Court justices blasted the Ford government Monday for saying participants in the now-cancelled basic income pilot project were wrong to expect the study to run for three years.
Despite signing documents that said they would receive income for "up to" three years, it was not a "guarantee of three years," government lawyer Christopher Thompson argued before the three-judge panel being asked to overturn the decision to kill the project.
OBIP Chronicles — Finding affordable housing in Ontario hasn't been easy for decades. For people collecting basic income in Lindsay, Hamilton area, and Thunder Bay area, the pressures they were facing with housing costs were lessened with the new benefit they were receiving, although all of that is ending in March with the cancellation of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot.
Seventy-six years ago, an American psychologist named Abraham Maslow emphasized the process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve one's potential.
He called this process a 'hierarchy of needs' and, in a testament to common sense, said nothing was more important than basic physical requirements like food, water, sleep, and warmth, as well as safety and security.


text:
Q: Random Number Generator with given Interval and Mean in Python not C# I am using Python 2.7.12 with Anaconda 4.2.0 (64-bit). Trying to generate random numbers with the random package. I need to generate n numbers within an interval and their mean should be a specified value. For example:
I want 14 randomly generated numbers between 42,000 and 91,000 and I want these numbers to have a mean of 60,000.
I know how to use random to produce integer numbers:
random.randint(42000, 91000)
and I can put this in a for loop, but, how can I adjust their mean as 60,000?

A: There are a lot of ways to generate random numbers between two values and a specific mean. Python has built in methods for some of these ways, but when I say there are a lot of ways, I mean it.
The simplest way would be to use a triangular distribution. random.triangular(low, high, mode) will produce a number from a distribution between low and high, with a specified mode. This might be good enough, but if you really want a mean, you can use the following function:
def triangular_mean(low, high, mean):
    mode = 3 * mean - low - high
    return random.triangular(low, high, mode)

If you wanted to get more complex, you could use a beta distribution by calling random.beta(alpha,beta). These are really flexible and very weird; this image from Wikipedia highlights how strange they can be.
The mean of a beta distribution is alpha/(alpha+beta), and the results are always between zero and one, so to scale it up to your use case, let's wrap it up in this function:
def beta_mean(low, high, mean, alpha):
    offset = low
    scale = high - low
    true_mean = (mean - offset)/scale
    beta = (alpha/true_mean) - alpha
    return offset + scale * random.beta(alpha, beta)

In the above function, alpha will change the shape of the distribution without changing the mean; it will change the median, the mode, the variance, and other properties of the distribution.
There are other distributions you could wrap in functions to fit your use case, but I'm going to guess that the above two will fit whatever use case you would like.
These will also produce floating point numbers, so if you want integers you'll have to cast them to integers, either by editing the functions or casting them explicitly after calling them.

A: while True:  # until a good sample was found
  s = [ random.randint(42000, 91000) for _ in range(13) ]
  v = 60000 + (60000 - (sum(s) / len(s))) * 13
  if 42000 <= v <= 91000:
    s.append(v)
    break
print sum(s) / len(s)  # will print 60000

This creates 13 random values from the standard generator and computes a 14th value so that the mean is exactly 60000.  Since the 14th value might be not in the given range, it tries this again and again until a valid 14th value is possible.
This is neither elegant nor nice.  But so was the question.
EDIT:
This approach will work for the given numbers but because it is retrying something, it might run indefinitely for different numbers (e. g. range = [42k, 91k], mean = 60k, count = 100k).
If you create 99999 elements randomly, their mean will be around (42k+91k)/2 and a single element used for balancing this back to 60k will not be enough (and thus always be outside of the range).  You could use a slightly more complex random number generator, producing random numbers between 42k and 91k with a mean of 60k (ask another question about this if you don't know how!).  Using this other random number generator will improve your chances of termination.
A second way to improve your chances of termination and thus finding a result is to build your result out of smaller chunks, each of them having the wished mean:  Create 5000 chunks of 20 elements with the method I presented.
You can combine both methods of course.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


According to the English word, press the letter key of the keyboard to enter the corresponding letter of A-Z.
Now the era of languages in the world, each person to have basic English typing ability, if you feel general practice English methods to fight is very dull and boring, try this game it will let you play addictive.
In a limited time, as far as possible to play more words, the challenge of high marks bar!


text:
NANOTEXTILE AND MATAC SIGN MOU TO GEAR UP AND STRENGTHEN INNOVATION IN MALAYSIA'S TEXTILE INDUSTRY
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between NanoTextile Sdn. Bhd. and Malaysian Textile and Apparel Centre (MATAC). This MoU represents the first strengthening step in gearing up the development, advancement and commercialisation of nanotechnology in Malaysia's textile industry. The ceremony was held in conjunction of Technical Textiles & Smart Apparel (TTSA) National Seminar 2018 at Swiss Garden Hotel, Melaka. This event is a joint effort and collaboration between MATAC and the Textile Research Group (TRG), UiTM Shah Alam, dedicated to create a platform for industry players in local textile community from the textiles, technical textiles, apparel, retailing and fashion industry or the public at large.
Commenting on the MoU, Dr. Thomas Ong Poh Shing, the Chief Executive Officer of NanoTextile responded,
"NanoTextile continues to exploit more foreground technologies and accelerate nanotechnology innovation. We catalyse commercialisation through local and international collaborations through technology co-development, technology transfer and co-investments. Nanotechnology makes possible collaboration between NanoTextile with upstream and downstream textile players without disrupting the supply chain. We believe, this partnership will instead, increase the competitive value of Malaysia's textile industry through greater deployment of technical textile products locally and internationally, strengthening the entire textile ecosystem."
The President of MATAC, Regina Leong also commented that the collaboration marks a key milestone in elevating the textile and apparel industry in Malaysia.
The parties have expressed readiness to cooperate and to make joint efforts in sharing positive insights, initiatives and implementation of collaborative projects aim at responding to the emerging technologies and its adaptation growth in Malaysia's textile industry. Specifically, these efforts are intended to reduce overlaps and duplication, and ensuring a complementary approach to textile research and innovation. This would create synergies that enable all objectives toward realisation of a holistic commercialization of nanotechnology-enhance textile products.
NanoTextile seeks to continually promote technical textile commercialisation tapping on innovative potential of nanotechnologies. While the general public perceives apparel as a traditional industry that is no longer competitive for continued development, the truth is that there is a wide area of nanotechnology invention which is ready for exploitation and commercialization. Partnerships with MATAC, an entrusted entity for training and continuous development in textile, will enable both parties to keep abreast with new capabilities and innovations. Opportunities for exchanges, cooperation, joint research and development and commercialisation of interface technologies will therefore be identified and encompassed the ultimate objectives.
Businesses Urged To Invest In Infrastructure To Support Edge Deployment
Nasim Launches Two New SUVs
Boost partners with Union Pay to expand footprint in Malaysia and globally
Renovation Capabilities Key To OYO's Growth And Expansion
Surina Shukri appointed new CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation
Self-Service Laundromat Chain Adopts Contactless Payments
RM583 Million Spent In F&B Locally
The Powerlessness Towards Digital Privacy Issues
BIMB Investment launches ESG Sukuk Fund


text:
Q: FREJ Regex cannot match non alphanumeric characters I've been trying to match some strings using java FREJ Regex that contains non alphanumeric characters, but the match each time returns false. Can anyone please suggest what is wrong with the following code (scala)?
import net.java.frej.Regex
val pattern = new Regex("0001-0001")
val result = pattern.`match`("0001-0001")

A: For a fuzzy library, it is not very fault tolerant. When you pass "0001-0001" into match, it tokenizes the string into "0001", "-", "0001" and runs the fuzzy search against those tokens.
The following solution matches:
 val pat = new Regex("[0001,-,0001]")
 val res = pat.`match`("0001-0001")

Or no hyphen in the match string oddly also matches.
 val pat = new Regex("0001-0001")
 val res = pat.`match`("00010001")


Always practice roulette games online for free before you play for real.
Choose European roulette over American roulette since the house edge is 2.70% as opposed to 5.26%.
When you're ready for real money play, set a budget and do not deviate from it. You may wish to allocate time segments to your gambling sessions.
Inside bets have the highest payouts with the lowest probabilities of coming good; outside bets have the lowest payouts with the highest probabilities of coming good.
Naturally, there are many more tips that can assist you while you're playing roulette. It's important to set up budget before you play for real. This is especially true in games of chance where your budget is your lifeline. The goal is to maximize returns in the short term – that's when anything is possible. Avoid falling for those snake oil salesmen who promise guaranteed returns with their roulette betting strategies. There is no roulette strategy on the planet that can guarantee payouts, unless the roulette wheel is biased or the dealer is in on the scam. Even strategies like the renowned Martingale System, which attempts to win back money you've lost by doubling your bets every time you lose, is a foolhardy method. First of all, you'll be hard-pressed to find a table that allows you to continually double your bets and secondly, your bankroll simply will not last that long.
There are several things you can do to increase your enjoyment, safety and playing time with all your favourite roulette variants. These include selecting a reputable online bingo room or online casino to play at. 888ladies showcases European Roulette, La Partage Roulette, French Roulette and 3D Roulette. You can practice each of these games for free before you play for real money. This gives you a solid understanding of the requirements of each game. Next, when you're ready to play for real, you can simply deposit £10 and get a £25 welcome bonus. There is no better way to play for real than by playing with the house's money. That's precisely what you can do at 888ladies. Now that you know the tips, you can play any of your preferred roulette games for real money and win.


>>As far as your links, I'm really not sure what your point is.
>I didn't look into the links, but somehow have little doubts that someone's point is always the same: IPF rulz.
After preventive strike like that HP likely to not bother with Superdome sx2000 submission.
someone (someone.delete@this.somewhere.com) on August 23, 2008 1:51 pm wrote: > Michael S (already5chosen@yahoo.com) on 8/23/08 wrote: > --------------------------- > >aaron spink (aaronspink@notearthlink.net) on 8/23/08 wrote: > >--------------------------- > >> > >>As far as your links, I'm really not sure what your point is. > > > >I didn't look into the links, but somehow have little doubts > that someone's point is always the same: IPF rulz. > > LOL. > > http://www.realworldtech.com/forums/index.cfm?action=detail&id=76229&threadid=76229&roomid=2 > > p5 594, 32S/64C/128T, 2.3GHz, 2TB, AIX/DB2 9 - 4,033,378 tpmC at $2.97/tpmC > > After preventive strike like that HP likely to not bother with Superdome sx2000 submission. > > Wow, great call Mike.


The best things in life are sugary and sweet. Unfortunately, most of these foods are damaging to your teeth. Sugar is a large contributor in the formation of cavities. When we eat or drink sugary treats, traces of sugar are left in the mouth. Bacteria within the plaque uses the sugar as energy and releases acid which gradually dissolves the enamel in the teeth.
Luckily, we have some tips to help reduce the effects of sugar on your teeth so that you can have your cake (or donut, or ice cream cone) and eat it too!
The dental experts at Monarch Dentistry are here for you! Book an appointment today at your nearest Monarch location.


text:
Patriots vs. Dolphins Recap
by Jitesh Gandhi on Jan.02, 2011, under Football, Patriots, Sports
With the top seed wrapped up, a lot of speculation in this game was about who will play and who (and when) will they get rest. The Patriots pretty much played it like they would the third preseason game.
The Patriots defense got off to a great start with a Devin McCourty interception. Tom Brady took over and he's playing the game shorthanded, missing Deion Branch, Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez. Even without them, Brady drove the ball down the field and hit Rob Gronkowski with a touchdown pass. I wondered if they were going to go after Mike Ditka's rookie touchdown record today, but they didn't.
It will be interesting to see how the rookie of the year voting goes. I assume the winners will be Sam Bradford (Offensive, QB, Rams) and Ndamukong Suh (Defensive, DT, Lions), but I think the Patriots should really have two of their own considered. Gronkowski has 10 touchdowns to tie for the most in the NFL by a tight end. McCourty has 7 interceptions to tie for 2nd most in the NFL (Ed Reed has 8 in only 9 games!). They have production that puts them right at the top with the league, not just rookies. Bradford is 24th in passer rating, 18th in touchdowns and 11th worst in interceptions. Suh is 11th in sacks and 8th in tackles.
Danny Woodhead ended the Patriots' streak of no turnovers at 7 games when he fumbled the ball. He suffered a concussion on the play, so it's hard to fault him on that. They still end the season with 10 turnovers, which sets a NFL record. Brady continued his consecutive passes with no interception streak. I think it's a regular season type record (weird way to keep track, but I suppose it keeps things level) so it will continue next season.
Julian Edelman stepped up today playing wide receiver. I didn't see any drops and he ended up with a couple big catches and a 94 yard punt return (new Patriots record) even after he bumped into a teammate.
The sack by Jerod Mayo looked illegal to me. Wasn't that lunging at the quarterback's legs? I thought they put in a rule that was supposed to prevent defenders who were on the ground from doing that. Maybe it has to be with the helmet?
Closing out the game late, Brian Hoyer threw a touchdown to a diving Brandon Tate. It looked like a pass/play that Brady had tried to hit a couple times this year but was usually just a bit off. They were also able to make sure BenJarvus Green-Ellis got over 1,000 yards rushing for the season (the whole team seemed pretty ecstatic about it.
Now the Patriots wait to see who they play. The Chiefs lost, so for now, the possibilities are the Chiefs, Ravens, Jets, Colts or Jaguars. Two of them will be out once the late afternoon games end.
Update: The Patriots will play one of these three teams:
The opponent will be the first team remaining on that list after the wild card weekend playoff games..
Leave a Comment :2010 season, miami dolphins, new england patriots, nfl more...


In the current business market, the internet provides a platform where companies can promote their goods. A good web design company is needed if a business is to market their goods effectively. Your website will be the online face of your business and therefore one needs to ensure that it attracts in more customers. The availability of many web design companies makes it difficult for one to choose the best one. This article discusses the important factors that are to be considered before choosing a web design company.
The rates charged by different web design companies will guide one to choosing the best one available. The cost of fee charged by web design companies will vary based on factors such as labor costs and the extent of the projects. When hiring a web design company, you should ensure that they explain to you the key elements they use to charge their clients. It is important for one to choose an affordable web design company that does not compromise their finances. It is also important for a person to choose an affordable web design company without compromising the quality of services the company delivers.
The experience levels of different web design companies will guide one to choosing the best one available. When determining the experience levels of web design companies, you can check on the number of years they have worked for. A web design company that has worked for many years will be more experienced as compared to the ones that have operated for a short duration. An experienced web design company will have an easy time understanding your demands and because of this, you will be guaranteed excellent services. By employing experienced web design companies such as Clikz Digital, you will be assured excellent services which will meet your needs.
The reputation of the web design company is the other to consider before choosing one. You can determine the reputation of web design companies by reading their online reviews in their websites and social media accounts. A web design company that has a lot of positive online reviews will be more reputable and well-known by clients. Excellent services offered by reputable web design companies will enable them to maintain their high standards in the market. Choosing a reputable web design company is important because they offer top -quality services that suit clients demands. Click for more info.
Considering key essential elements such as the quality of customer care services of different web design companies will guide one o hiring the best one available. Offering excellent customer care services will enable a web design company to create conducive working conditions with their clients.


text:
Take a JXTA Campus Tour!
Want to get a behind-the-scenes look at the work we do? Sign up for our FREE monthly tours! Every first Wednesday of the month from 5 – 6 p.m., we'll invite visitors to visit campus, see the JXTALabs in action, and speak directly with apprentices, JXTA Staff, and Teaching Artists.
RSVP to JXTA Campus Tours
Want to know about the work JXTA does? Sign up for our FREE monthly tours! Please fill out the short form below to RSVP.
Tours take place every first Wednesday of the month, from 5 - 6 p.m.
Meet at 2007 Emerson Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411
RSVP by the previous Monday to attend
Which day would you like to take a tour?
Please select... February 5, 2020, 5 - 6 p.m. March 4, 2020, 5 - 6 p.m. April 1, 2020, 5 - 6 p.m. May 6, 2020, 5 - 6 p.m. June 3, 2020, 5 - 6 p.m.
How did you hear about JXTA?
Please select... JXTA Participant JXTA Staff School Facebook Instagram Twitter North News Friend Teacher Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) Other


What Is Life After Registering Bankruptcy Really Like?
A look at traditional and progressive ways of improving your properties aesthetic and financial value!
As of now, more and more homeowners are looking for rooms on how to make their homes more appealing and functional. And, one of the most common alternatives is attic conversions.
Attic or loft transition is a process where homeowners change an empty attic room or loft into a functional apartment, typically used as a bedroom, power gap, a gym, or storage space. Numerous homeowners favor such solutions since it can provide innumerable boasts. Below are some of the following.
One of the main reasons why homeowners plan for attic transitions is to improve their living space readily. Of trend, there are cases when homeowners need to have an extra space for a new is part of the family. However, causing such seat is also possible traumatic most especially if you do not given sufficient asset gap. Luckily, opting for attic alterations can be a good alternative. With this, you do not is a requirement to gargantuan belongings to create a new living space.
The next reasons for homeowners opt for attic shifts is to avoid substantial better expenses. Home improvement projects are quite expensive. It gets even worse if you are planning to improve living space. Fortunately, attic changeovers are better options than improving new establishments in your belonging. Apart from that, attic or loft transitions are easier to do than house, which can help you abbreviate your overheads significantly.
Another reason why homeowners opt for attic or loft shifts is to gain new means of income. Hiring out altered attics can be a good generator of income. But, before planning for this crusade, you need to make sure that you have sufficient gap. Not to mention, you need to call in experts to assess your foundation first to ensure safety. And, you also need to call in professionals to help you alter you attic. This is important to ensure that you can make attics functional and appealing.
Finally, attic alterations can also promotion homeowners increase the value of their room. Surely, having garden-varieties and lawns can increase importance. But, homeowner can also increase the value of their dimension by enhancing dwelling aesthetics and functionality. In addition, attic conversions also facilitate homeowners enjoy better views of their street and community.
These are only some of the benefits homeowners can enjoy by opting for attic alterations from dependable service providers.