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Hinge lets you customise your profile to add three key bits of personal information - claiming this will help you find something more real. You can certainly tell more about your potential partners from their profiles, but the catch? It comes with the pressure of coming across as witty, fun and effortlessly debonair. Plus the answers might get a little old - we get it, people hate slow walkers.
To find love or a person to share the passion and fun with is really simple. You do not need to be perfect, you just have to show who you really are, with honestly and sincerely. In fact, these are the values that our community shares and those that make LovesFlirt a dating site for men and women really special. With a search that can be filtered regarding your likes and dislikes, it will not be difficult to have new people in your life. And no need to worry and wonder if they are the right ones for you or not, because you will look according to your needs and you will have the opportunity to know them. One of the tools that are essential in this regard is the video chat. The era in which dating sites allow their users to know each other only through the keyboard is over, now is the time to turn on your webcam and get to know who you really are facing. Chat and also video chat with people that you like and do it when you feel like because the advantage of being able to be online on all your devices must be exploited to the maximum. If you desire for a more peaceful and quiet approach, discover the presents! This way you can prove to the one you like your interest in him without risking to put too much at stake and proceed to know that person according to your time. What you're looking is on LoveFlirt, so join the site and start your search!
If you want to give online flirt dating a fair shot, you've got to search for women where they are likely to be. Together2night is the # 1 site for meeting single women from your neighbourhood. This is where playful ladies usually come looking for another flirty date or fun chat. With half a million registered users, you're sure to find someone for online flirting quickly.
That might be one reason why Bumble has its devotees, too. "I downloaded Tinder and Bumble when I got out of a pretty catastrophic relationship because I was certain I had extinguished all game and would never meet someone organically," says Cristina, 26, a graphic designer from Boston. "At first Tinder was the more addictive option because of the number of candidates, but I eventually shifted to Bumble because the conversations were better, and the numbers way more manageable."
Of all the dating sites and apps out there, OKCupid has become one that singles flock to for their first online dating trial run. People also tend to return throughout their online dating journey unless they've settled down for good. The site hasn't changed much in years, but rather banks on what it does have to offer singles, which seems to continually attract and re-attract members. The site features an easy-to-navigate interface, insightful but not obnoxiously long profiles, and a handful of question you can answer to help the site match you better and find you a meaningful relationship.
Searching for an app which is focused more on the social part than just hooking up and similar stuff? If your answer is a yes, then we present to you the app called Skout. Skout is a great app to connect and meet new people around the world. It's an awesome app for you to start your Flirting experience. The application is available for free of cost on both Android and iOS platforms. If you would like to get an ad-free experience then you would have to upgrade the service.
What is typical for iDates, is that you can not only browse the profiles of interesting singles but that you can also directly leave a "Like" to an interesting candidate. And what makes it even greater is that the person answers to your "Like" as well, then you have a "Match". Means: The both of you fit together and iDates rewards this fit by enabling to chat. The "Match" happens actually in real time. What is means in plain English: When someone likes your profile, you don't get informed after a few hours per mail but instantly. What both of you do, is your choice. Exciting!
Hinge focuses on common connections that you and a potential partner share on Facebook. Which is great if you trust the judgment of your friends and family. Of course, some of us are trying to meet new people, far removed from our everyday lives. (Hinge may have gotten the hint, since you no longer need Facebook to sign up.) The app also asks questions to help you match with better connections, which can be a plus for serious relationship seekers.
Dating is frustrating, exciting, awkward, and funny as hell. But more than anything, it's a learning experience of what you like, don't like, and are willing to endure—and for that I'm grateful. And when all hope is lost with a date and you find yourself hiding in a bathroom, or completely zoning out, or ghosting, at least you've got a good story to tell.
Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself or her family ridiculous; a flirt, too, in the worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attraction beyond youth and a tolerable person; and, from the ignorance and emptiness of her mind, wholly unable to ward off any portion of that universal contempt which her rage for admiration will excite.
As a very distinguished flirt I have always been taught to consider her, but it has lately fallen In my way to hear some particulars of her conduct at Langford: which prove that she does not confine herself to that sort of honest flirtation which satisfies most people, but aspires to the more delicious gratification of making a whole family miserable.
They say a conversation opener is a a question or topic that creates a dialogue between two or more people. These 'starters' are some of the most elusive and hard to think of, and without them one is left with awkward silence. A lack of starters is common at the beginning of a relationship, when speaking to someone not entirely familiar to the speaker, or when conversing with any female.
Sure, it has a goofy name and the phrase "Meet Your Everything Bagel" as its tagline, but there's more to Coffee Meets Bagel than the optics. Like other apps, CMB connects you to people with whom you share Facebook mutuals. But unlike other sites, CMB only lets women see men who have already swiped right on them, and only allows the woman to give out just five likes per day among those matches. (If you're looking for a same-sex relationship, the swiping experience is similar to that of Tinder, but users will only be shown one high-quality match per day.) While it might seem restrictive, that might be why it works.
Are you bored of the usual dating? If you're not in the mood for online dating at the moment, don't put up with it. Find thousands of fun-loving and flirty singles to flirt with. Flirt.com is an online dating community dedicated to introducing open-minded singles, who think that an online flirt is much better than a relationship. View personals, communicate with playful singles, share your experiences, and mingle with people from your area. Nothing is as satisfying as flirting online.
How it works: To be honest, there aren't that many places where people who are more introspective can congregate in the outside world. That kind of goes against the idea of being shy. Sure there are clubs and parities, but if you're really shy it's nearly impossible to meet anyone there. This website is the solution. The website's matching system uses your preferences, location, and interests to match you with others. It even offers expert tips to help you overcome your shyness.
Get an amazing love experience here! Enter flirty chat rooms of girls, talk online with fun-loving flirts who are eager to find love-mates for dating adventures. Chat, meet new flirt-mates, choose a life partner or just flirt without any serious intent. Here you can meet single people worldwide from different preferences, tastes, ages and locations and get a life full of new exciting experiences. Come to this amazing site and enjoy the company of other flirty single girls and boys who match your dating criteria! Browse new profiles daily and choose the right companion faster than ever! Now you will become popular among pretty girls who will beg for a date with you! Free online dating site for flirting fun.
From the moment you read this, there won't be any obstacles on your way to local dating ebony women or men. Once you sign up for our black people dating site, with our help you'll meet and get to know dozens of nice black singles nearby to talk to on the web and invite on a date in real life! Just create a free profile at the site and fill it in with the most interesting things about yourself – you know, everything that makes you stand out and can make a black girl or guy like you at first sight. Chances are the most curious black people won't pass by your profile in search! And curious singles are always ready for far-reaching connections.
Valentine's Day has come and gone, but the search for the perfect mate goes on. And your smartphone may be able to help. Even a few years ago, Internet dating meant tethering yourself to your computer, but these days, mobile devices and location-sensing apps have turned the world into your playground for dates, hookups and long-term relationships, with even Facebook testing out a dating service of its own for its massive social network. Check out our top dating, hook-up and meet-up apps that will help you find the Right One... or the Right Now. (Image Credit: Bbenard/Shutterstock)
As for how to approach potential hookup partners you've matched with, transparency and manners are important, as always. "The key to initiating a hookup over a dating app is to exercise patience," says Caleb Hacke, health and wellness expert at Maple Holistics. "Ultimately, it's more important to make sure you don't offend or put off anyone who isn't interested in a hookup than it is to get your point across as boldly and as quickly as possible."
"People didn't have mobile phones and laptops, and the process was people would go home, log on slowly, see who had written to them and write back," she says. "The courtship process was a lot slower, so it took quite a while to get from the first interaction to actually going on a date. Plus in those days, there was a stigma associated with online dating. You did not tell people you met your spouse, or partner, or even a date online."
Star Wars fans rejoice! Dragonfruit matches couples based on their particular nerdy obsessions. A Captain America fan might be connected with someone who's really into Bucky Barnes, for example. At ten times what it was last October, the app's small user base (around 10k downloads on Google Play) is growing faster than your action figure collection.
It's very quick and easy to set up and use. The profile creation is pretty standard. You add photos, age, profession, and interests, and you can also specify what you feel like doing, whether that's taking a walk in the park, seeing a movie, or having a drink. Happn has some nifty integrations — you can use Facebook to set up your profile, hook up your Instagram account to automatically add photos, and add Spotify to see if your musical tastes align.
Features for introverts: Instead of swiping, browsing, poking, and messaging your way into someone's inbox only to never hear back, this app will send you a potential match every day at noon. Men receive curated matches based on the algorithm and women will only be presented with potential matches (called Bagels) that have already expressed interest.
If hookups are what you're looking for without dealing with a sea of bots and fake profiles, FriendFinder-X is your best bet in the world of casual online dating. The dating site claims to be the world's destination for casual dating, and is chock-full of features that give you plenty of options, from the way you discover others, to the way you design your profile. The site has a rating system incorporated into it that ranks members by hotness, providing some insight into what the true purpose of the site is.
"Practice safe texts" with Plume, one of the best free flirting apps that finds you the right picture to send for any text conversation. Besides costing $0 and providing an extensive library of striking images to choose from, Plume also has some of the most sophisticated security technology, such as a Virtual Best Friend that will help you not send messages you'll regret the next day and a panic button that will immediately log you out of the app if someone is looking over your shoulder.
How often do you cross paths with the love of your life before you actually meet them? Maybe you smile at your crush every day when you get your morning coffee, but you can't build up the courage to talk? If so, Happn could be for you. It's a dating app that shows the profiles of other singles and pinpoints the last place and time you were near to each other. All your prospective matches are people you've crossed paths with, so you're always starting out with something in common.
Online dating has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. In the past, the online dating options available to singles (or people in open relationships) were fewer and further between. Worse, at the time, free online dating options were often either highly sketchy, putting your identity and privacy at risk, or simply did not have the membership numbers to give you a worthwhile experience.
The thing is, there won't ever be some one-size-fits-all dating app that everyone loves and totally works: The point of these apps is to connect people, and people are sloppy. But out of all the tech that's pushed on us at all times, it's nice to know there are some apps out there that even the bitterest-about-dating among us can find some good in.
The presents can be packed directly and send in a direct message. You instantly see how much it costs. The payments in iDates are made with a custom currency called "Coins". You can find more information about "Coins" below. A match is a way to notify an iDates member that you have an increased interest in them without being pushy. This nice message opens directly a chat window.
Who doesn't like to Flirt? If Flirting is done in a good way and in a limit, then it's no harm. The person Flirting should know the line which he needs to maintain while performing this art. Yes, you heard it right! Flirting is actually an art which gets mastered with lots of practice. Everyone is not born some cheesy or flirty guy! He/she learns to do the same while he is spending his time on this beautiful planet. Anyways, today we have something interesting coming up for you. So, just sit back, relax and enjoy reading the article.
Appearances can be deceiving, though. Although Coffee Meets Bagel allows for a range of super-specific preferences, the bagel it sends you may or may not match your specified preferences and, more often than not, if they do, they will be a significant distance away. The app can also be glitchy, often resulting in slow update and load times, and sometimes it's frustrating that it sends you only a single bagel a day. You can speed things up a bit by using the "give & take" option, but it'll cost you 385 beans to like someone who catches your eye.
Nobody could have imagined a decade back that most of our manual works would be replaced by our Smart devices known as Smartphones. In today's time, one can basically do everything on a Smartphone only. From shopping to dating, everything is available on your handheld device. The best part is that all such apps are pretty easy to set up, learn and use. Take the example of social apps only like Tinder. Such social media applications can easily be installed and learned within a few days of normal usage. You will never know when you would have to become an expert in handling the Tinder app.
Changes in the last year have made OkCupid a bit more like Tinder, focusing more on swiping and eliminating the ability to message a user without matching with them first. You can still send a message -- it just won't show up in the recipient's inbox unless you match. Because who doesn't enjoy sending a thoughtful message to someone who might never see it? However, OkCupid has pointed out that these changes did help lower the number of offensive messages users received, which might be a worthwhile trade-off.
And of course, you'll want to be using the right dating app to get the job done. Luckily, you're looking for a casual encounter at a time when new apps and features are constantly evolving to help you find exactly what it is you're looking for. Not sure which apps to start with? Here are some of the best dating apps for hooking up, as well as our advice on how to use them to your advantage to get lucky tonight.
If you don't have the patience to weed out matches that are explicitly looking for a no strings attached hookup, a quick search on FriendFinder-X will probably make you pretty happy. You can search for potential matches using filters that range from proximity, sexual preferences and even cup size. Too lazy to search? The app has a list of compatible profiles sent to you for your consideration.
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I've managed to source my final few livestock additions and I'm pretty much done now, I just need to watch and wait for the frags to grow out.
After searching for over nine months for a nice appropriately sized Tridacna maxima clam I finally broke down and ordered one from on online supplier in Germany. It was a risk I know but I just have not found any that I wished to buy from any of the UK shops I have visited and I've travelled around quite a few over the UK during that time. It's early days yet (5 days) but the clam is looking good so far, it's very responsive to movement which I'm taking to be a good sign but it has not fixed itself down to the rock work yet. My T. crocea attached in just a couple of days so I don't know if this is a bad sign or not.
The colour is amazing, blue from the front and a striking aqua green from the top. Please excuse the frag tile in the shot, I popped it in there to prevent the clam from tilting over until it had a chance to attach itself.
In addition to the clam I also ordered another Acanthastrea to contrast with the one I already have. This one is called Lava Glow and is a lovely red/orange colour.
Last but not least, I finally discovered a healthy looking smallish Sun coral colony (Tubastrea sp.) during a recent trip to Manchester. The colour of the flesh is such an intense orange that it almost looks artificial. At the moment I have it sitting on the sand whilst it settles in and I get used to the feeding routine. I understand that all the heads need feeding individually but it's really tricky reaching the smaller heads at the bottom. Even when placed on the rock work I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to reach all of the heads, I'll need to think about it very carefully.
Anyway here's a really terrible shot of it last night with flash, sorry about the nasty reflections on the glass.
Before I go I'll leave you with a few updated coral/invert/fish shots. Hopefully more will follow next week.


Richmond is an exciting city undergoing immense growth and change, currently transferring from a rural community to an international metropolis, while still managing to maintain its original charm. It is culturally diverse and has a unique geographical setting, located on Canada's West Coast. Its central location places Richmond only twenty minutes from downtown Vancouver and 25 minutes from the Canada-US border.
Richmond is home to almost 200,000 people with a healthy mix of residential and commercial property, industrial parks, agricultural land and green belts. Richmond is situated where the river meets the Pacific Ocean, providing expansive leisure and tourist options within a close range of the city.
Richmond is known for healthy living: residents of Richmond have the highest life expectancy in all of Canada and also have the lowest smoking and obesity rates! A wide range of employment options exist, with the economy supporting over 100,000 jobs in several sectors such as services, retailing, tourism, hi-tech, manufacturing, agriculture and public administration.
The city's expansive leisure options contribute to its healthy life style. Quality parks and recreation facilities, culture and leisure facilities abound: over 90 parks, 200 acres of recreational trails, pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, picnic areas, golf courses, running tracks and playing fields. In additional there are several libraries, theatres, museums, art galleries and heritage sites. Learn more about Richmond.
Interested in Buying or Selling in Richmond?
Shafik Ladha's years of experience, coupled with his award-winning sales method has settled many people happily in their new homes. No one knows the property market like a local, and no one deals in property like a local. Having lived and worked in Richmond for over 20 years, Shafik knows the area inside out! Using this knowledge, Shafik provides unparalleled real estate services that will help you find the Richmond home of your dreams, in the area that suits you best, at a price you can afford – the recipe for happy living.


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Home About Carrie Eggleston
About Carrie Eggleston
Vice President – Carrie's background spans consulting, business analytics, leadership, talent acquisition, and strategic planning. She has a passion for fostering synergistic relationships between people and projects by cultivating the innate potential in each. Her diverse background and substantial time abroad, combined with a solid foundation in business fundamentals, adds a new dimension to the Auto Glass Digest team. Carrie has also served the community in a variety of capacities over the last 15 years, striving for a shared value between the private and public sectors.
Carrie holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana Lafayette, where she double-majored in Economics and Finance.

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It is my first year doing The Walk and while I have no breast cancer in my family, I have decided to join the 'Outrunning the Cloud' Team in support of my dear friend Virginia Champoux who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2013. I, along with other friends, will walk along side her during this walk but most of all during her entire journey towards beating this cancer and becoming a breast cancer survivor. Help me raise the funds needed to fight this battle and win! I will also walk in the memory of my sister-in-law's mother, Concettini Costantini who lost her battle with breast cancer 3 years ago.


Our Vintage/Victorian inspired garments have been Designed in house by Carmen for over 25 years. Every one of our Christening/Baptism Gowns, Flower-Girl Dresses, etc. is handcrafted by Carmen's elite staff of creative & talented artist. These pristine classics are the essential must-have for any Vintage themed Wedding, Christening/Baptism, Photo Shoot, Theatrical Production and or Movie. Whether you're looking for aEuropean style Christening Gown, Vintage style Flower Girl Dress, each one of our creations will surely make it the picture-perfect event you dreamed of. Fell free to reach out to us anytime.


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On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, I was sitting at my desk in the Eisenhower Executive office building (EEOB) in the… - Omarosa Manigault Newman, Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House.
Amazon.com Offers Pay-Per-Page Viewing Of Books Online
Written by Doris
MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
November 15-30, 2005 Edition
Amazon.com Offers
Pay-Per-Page Viewing
Of Books Online
NEW YORK, NY/11/04/05—Amazon.com has announced that it will let book buyers download or view books by the page at a small fee, and will let publishers or copyright holders decide whether users can access, download and/or print the pages.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the cost for viewing most books would be a few cents per page. Reference works, however, will go for a higher price. Also, anyone purchasing a physical book would then be able to access the entire text on the Internet for a small added charge. A $23 book, for example, might be accessed online by the book's owner for as little as $1.99.
The Authors Guild, and several major publishers including Holtzbrinck Publishers, which owns Farrar, Straus & Giroux, St. Martin's Press and others, have indicated they will support the program.
Bezos described the new program as a win-win-win situation which will be good for authors, publishers and readers. Amazon already lets viewers search inside some books, and also offers Amazon Shorts, which offers brief, original fiction and nonfiction for 49 cents each.
The search-engine giant, Google, announced the same day that it would offer the entire contents of books and government documents, except for those tied up in copyright battles over the company's scanning and indexing of materials in major libraries
Google faces a law suit from The Authors Guild and five major publishers who seek to prevent Google from scanning copyrighted material in libraries without specific permission. Google maintains that it has the right to scan the books under "fair use" laws.
The Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken has been quoted in the press as saying "The Amazon programs are the way copyright is supposed to work. You provide access to readers and some compensation flows back to rights holders."
Amazon will be the first to sell books on a per-page basis from Random House, Inc., the nation's largest trade publisher. The publisher has said in a statement that it will work with online booksellers, search engines, and other portals to offer book contents to consumers on the basis of online pay-per-page-view. The publisher will allow full indexing and display of works, but will not allow materials to be downloaded, printed or copied, according to its president, Richard Sarnoff. Sarnoff has indicated that Random House is worried about pricing, and said it will work to uphold the value of digital text online.
Categorised in: News & Views
This post was written by Doris
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Buried in eMail? Try these six tips to dig out
From staff and wire reports
"You've got mail!" Remember when that alert sounded thrilling?
Today, not so much.
As scores of electronic messages pour into school eMail in-boxes and spill onto cell phones and handheld devices, the flood often leaves teachers and administrators feeling overwhelmed. But take heart. In just a moment, you'll learn six strategies experts say will put you back in control of your eMail and rescue your endangered productivity.
"We're like frazzled lab rats, being poked and prodded and beeped and pinged," says Maggie Jackson, author of Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age.
The average employee in the United States receives 200 eMail messages a day, according to the business and technology research firm Basex in its report "Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us."
It's an unfortunate irony that a system once lauded for its promises of efficiency has filled hours on the job with wasted, fragmented time.
Basex found that eMail correspondence and other interruptions decrease productivity for U.S. companies at a cost of more than $650 billion per year for billions of lost staff hours. For school employees, more time spent keeping up with eMail means less time focused on teaching and learning.
Constant access to information, communication, and technology has become such a big issue, experts say, that its implications go beyond a lack of productivity and focus at work. eMail and information overload also eats into the quality of relationships both at school and at home.
"Attention is the bedrock to learning, memory, social connection, and happiness," Jackson says.
And yet, at many schools and businesses, a culture is developing that rewards immediacy over focus, so that attending to what's new at any given moment takes precedence over long-term goals. The result? A series of interruptions, such as eMail, that get in the way of the big-picture goals.
"eMail is being used like a drug to get a hit of accomplishment when one feels he is spinning his wheels," says technology analyst Craig Roth in his blog, KnowledgeForward.
In July, technology companies and other industry experts launched the non-profit Information Overload Research Group. Its mission: Raise awareness of how current communication tools can impede productivity.
And the industry that created this problem is also trying to capitalize by helping people organize their in-boxes.
A program called C-MAIL promises to help prioritize eMail by learning through the user's clicks about what is more or less important.
The makers of Xobni, which is "inbox" spelled backwards, say their Microsoft Outlook plug-in speeds up the process by "threading" conversations, or grouping responses together.
Productivity gurus also have created a cottage industry out of eMail overload. Here's a sampling of their advice:
(1) Don't check eMail when you first start work. Experts say you should take care of an important task first before checking eMail, so that you don't use eMail as an excuse for postponing more pressing obligations.
(2) Check eMail in batches, rather than fluidly throughout the day. Some experts suggest checking eMail twice a day; others, up to five times. But the important thing is efficiency.
"You wouldn't do a new load of laundry every time you have a dirty pair of socks," says Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek.
(3) Minimize exchanges. "Learn to propose, instead of asking questions," Ferriss says. Instead of asking what time a person can meet for lunch, just jump right in and propose a few times. You can use "if, then" language, such as: "If you can't meet at 11, how about 12?"
(4) Limit sending eMail. Sending less eMail means receiving less eMail, and sending shorter messages will garner shorter responses.
"This does not mean that you should write elliptically or bypass standard grammar, capitalization, and punctuation," says Merlin Mann on his productivity blog 43 Folders, "just that your well-written message can, and should, be as concise as possible."
(5) Take it to zero. In an extreme case, some experts suggest wiping your in-box completely away and starting fresh. You can always send your contacts a message telling them what you've done, and asking them to resend any truly important messages.
(6) Use other forms of communication. eMail has earned a solid place in the workplace, but in some cases it's not the most appropriate form of communication.
"When you're overusing it for the petty things, like [contacting] the guy in the next cubicle, stand up and ask him the question," says Cherie Kerr, author of The Bliss or 'Diss' Connection: eMail Etiquette for the Business Professional.
She suggests picking up the phone if an eMail thread gets longer than three back-and-forths.
"I don't care how many pieces of technology we have," she says. "At the end of the day, it's always going to be about relationships."
Information Overload Research Group
C-MAIL
Xobni
KnowledgeForward
43 Folders
Don't forget to visit the Easy Email Archiving resource center. Today's schools, much like businesses around the world, depend on technology to survive. As school and district employees' careers become increasingly mobile, eMail has become a quick, easy, and preferred method of communication. Go to: Easy Email Archiving


Day One is Maine's leading agency preventing and treating adolescent substance use, and helping them live productive, healthy and rewarding lives. This part-time 24-hr DSP position will ensure continuity of care for residential clients. ranging in age from 13-18. The position can cover vacation days and shift coverage also. Responsibilities include providing supervision of youth, maintaining safety, documentation and house rules. Take appropriate steps in emergencies; maintain effective relationships by providing active listening and support; document client contact notes; participate in team meetings and training groups when appropriate; dispense medication and maintain accurate medical records. Must demonstrate excellent sense of judgment, personal stability, responsibility and dependability.
Minimum requirements: Two or more years of human services-related experience, including working with adolescents with substance use issues, relevant training and education. Active listening, limit-setting and role modeling skills, sound judgment in maintainig boundaries, good driving record, satisfactory background checks, and interest and availability in working flexible hours. Preference will be given to candidates with adolescent residential experience. This is a part time 24-hour per week position. Candidates must be able to work week-ends and evening hours. Please do not apply unless you can comply with this schedule.
This position offers comprehensive benefits, paid vacation, paid holidays and paid sick leave and personal leave, group medical and dental insurance, which will be pro-rated for part time employees. $14.50 - $14.75 with increase following intro period.
Some knowledge of adolescent development, substance use, and recovery is required. Very good communications skills--verbal, written, interpersonal and listening skills.


The Good Medicine Feather Shield card deck is a tool for personal and professional development. Drawn from the Balanced Lifestyle program based on the Medicine Wheel concept, the 37-card deck is an Inner Travel Guide. Its content is universal.
The Inner Travel Guide is oxygen to the brain and a tool for personal development. The beautifully illustrated 37-card deck and booklet provides wisdom into natural laws of the universe that govern all people. The cards give insight into how to work with your thoughts and as a result create a life for a journey well lived. The 88-page guide helps you build your own Medicine Wheel.


About our project: My GS troop has done this project for three years in a row. They have set up booths at school fun days, parent teacher conferences, and daycares and decorated bags with all the children that came to the booth---they love the project and come up with some very creative bags.
About our project: The project went well. It was fun for the students to visit these grocery stores on Earth Day & see their paper bags put to good use!


Keith J. Varadi, Mission Statement.
This Saturday, the artist and curator Keith J. Varadi opens "Free Wi-Fi, Comedy" at Night Gallery in his hometown, Los Angeles. The centerpiece of the show is a first for Varadi: a film. The 12-minute movie starts at Good Luck Bar, a tiki joint in L.A.'s Los Feliz neighborhood. It then weaves through the foothills to the Santa Antia Racetrack, ending up at The Good Night, a bar in North Hollywood, where Varadi does some karaoke. The film's title? Good Luck and Good Night, naturally.
The show also includes quite a few other things: a series of thick "book paintings," a framed satirical artist statement, a custom short-run 7-inch record that was a collaboration with Milwaukee-based sound artist Wesley Friedrich (who will perform at the opening), and a number of photographic floor works that explore themes congruent with the film.
"A lot of the other pieces are riffing off each other or adding up to different sentiments or statements," Varadi told me over the phone earlier this week, "but the film sort of encapsulates it all and is going to, I believe, propel this overarching outlook I've cultivated into future projects." In addition to the Night Gallery show, the artist has two future exhibitions on the calendar—one at Cooper Cole in Toronto opening March 31 and another at Et. al in San Francisco, which kicks off May 20.
"This is me in a way revealing more about my person, or surface reading of self," Varadi said, "but also a bit more about creating this persona, or self-mythologized core, as a vehicle or a vessel to do so, in a way that complicates things a bit," he continued. "I'm thinking of it as a new act or something." A good chunk of the film takes place at a racetrack. Varadi told me that although he is not a knowledgeable gambler, he has a deep interest in the culture as a representative social stage.
In addition to his practice as an artist, Varadi has mounted a number of curatorial projects over the years, most recently a show called "Blind Mime in Reverie" that featured the work of Kelly Akashi, Wesley Friedrich, Jonas Mekas, and Sydney Shen. "Content vs. Context: What begets what?" muses a press release for the group show, which seems like a fitting question considering another part of Varadi's varied output: his Facebook presence, which has developed a loyal following over the years.
Over time, Varadi said that his aggregation ends up "[revealing] things about myself, my interests, but in a way that isn't so explicit and [is] also, I think, reflective of a mood or a tone of the times." The artist told me that it is rare that he comments or interjects on the content he posts, preferring to leave things ambiguous. "When I review an exhibition or write a long-form critical essay, then you can actually discern what I feel about whatever topic or issue," he said.


Mobile payment has become a daily activity in China with the mobile wallets of AliPay and WeChat dominating those from handset makers like Apple, Huawei and LG according to the latest research from the Media and Services UX, (MSX) group at Strategy Analytics.
Thee quarters (75%) of mobile payment users in China stated they use mobile payments in physical stores daily, with convenience, speed of transaction and discounts the main factors encouraging the use of mobile payments over traditional payment options.
Beyond probing the motivating factors for using mobile payments and individual mobile wallets the study also evaluated the impact on traditional payment formats, mobile payment satisfaction and security concerns.


text:
How the World Can Prepare for the Next Pandemic
Feb 17, 2021 Curated Article | Brookings
Dante Disparte outlines seven lessons that the world has learned from this pandemic, and stresses that there is still work to be done in order to ensure an effective global recovery.
How will COVID-19 leave the world better-prepared for a future pandemic? How can you contribute to an equitable recovery for people affected by the pandemic around the world?
Read about vaccine equity.
COVID-19 has caused more than 109 million confirmed cases, claimed more than 2.4 million lives, and even brought prosperous nations and well-run healthcare systems to their knees. Few countries have been spared. Even in the economically powerful U.S., the tension between maintaining social freedoms and engaging in efforts of collective defense against the virus has led to politicization (e.g., mask wearing, social distancing and vaccine refusal). The U.S. is bearing the heaviest human toll from the virus, with 25.4 percent of total confirmed cases and more than 486,000 deaths.
It is not too early to draw lessons from this lack of preparation and global coordination. Not only will doing so aid current recovery efforts, but it would also increase readiness for the next communicable or vector-borne disease to threaten the world. Below are seven areas of opportunity to learn from our COVID-19 response and improve readiness for future pandemic shocks.
Restore institutional trust: Public health always depends on public trust. Political leaders in a crisis must model the behavior they want to see in the public. Such leaders must also provide clear, fact-based information, even if— especially if—it is politically inconvenient.
Fortify early alert frameworks: Countries with crowded urban environments such as Taiwan or Singapore have fared comparatively well in terms of COVID-19 infections. These examples demonstrate that building a system for defense against infectious diseases, especially novel or emerging threats, requires an outermost perimeter that serves as a veritable early alert system.
Threat-based resource allocation: One of the risk management conundrums in pandemic preparedness and biodefense is that the risk feels intangible. Pre-investing in infectious disease prevention and meaningful ways of breaking the chain of transmission are clearly a better investment than ex-post efforts to deal with a novel zoonotic health crisis.
Science in the war room: The void of reliable real-time information has been a global challenge during the COVID-19 crisis. Sadly, even in the face of a global threat, the tendency of economic nationalism and retrenchment stands in the way of global collaboration and solidarity in the race for a vaccine and its global availability. In fighting the spread of COVID-19, data and science should be the most critical elements of decision making.
Privacy-preserving technology: The general lack of reliable, real-time threat information sharing, contact tracing, and community prevalence data during this pandemic has meant people and public health authorities have either been flying blind in the fight against COVID-19 or are relying on backward-looking reporting of confirmed cases. The advent of privacy preserving technology in the form of portable e-health passports can provide individual protections and community health assurances as we overcome our trepidations to return to normal.
Mass casualty surge capacity: Sending healthcare professionals to fight COVID-19 with ill-fitting, reused, or patchwork PPE, is tantamount to sending soldiers into battle without body armor or weapons. In keeping with this combat analogy, the nation's healthcare and emergency response system must also draw lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and formulate tabletop exercises and preparedness drills that treat mass casualty events, communicable diseases, and bio-threats as ever present.
Public-private accelerator: With national debt projected to be greater than the size of the U.S. economy, the down payment on COVID-19 response and recovery will require generational commitments to ensure national resilience in the face of future threats. If this type of innovation accelerator were not a zero-sum proposition for each country but rather a globally shared and pre-funded capability immune from corporate intellectual property restrictions and national interests, the potential for broad societal benefits would be unprecedented.
Read the full article about pandemic preparedness by Dante Disparte at Brookings.
Diseases and Cures Global Global Health COVID-19
Navigating and Responding to Climate Change Risks [Video]
Three Notable Global Health Accomplishments After COVID-19


The Cairo Criminal Court referred two defendants on Tuesday to the Grand Mufti seeking his opinion on a preliminary death sentence for them over their alleged participation in the Helwan Church attack in December 2017.
The court will announce its final verdict concerning the two defendants, as well as another nine defendants, on 12 May.
The attack killed 10 people as militants opened fire on the Mar Mina Church in the Helwan suburb south of Cairo and attacked a Copt-owned shop. The attackers started by shooting at the shop, which was owned by a Coptic citizen, killing two men. Then shots were heard at the Mar Mina Church.
At the time, hours after the attack, the Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State militant group, said that a squad of militants executed the attack against the church, without revealing any details. The agency, however, released a video allegedly showing a masked assailant stating his pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and encouraging other militants in Sinai.


text:
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The Most Famous Advanced Persistent Threats in History
Hide Slideshow Introduction Read Slideshow Introduction
While new tools are needed to combat ever changing security threats, it is helpful to examine the history of the APT, because it is possible to derive many important lessons for defending against them in the future.
Stuxnet was designed to spread initially through an infected USB drive and then use other exploits to infect or update other computers. It was controlled through two websites in Denmark and Malaysia. The malware contained four different zero-day exploits, a considerable investment for a single attack because such exploits can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The size and sophistication of the code indicated that the development cost would have been substantial, requiring on the order of a dozen or more man-years. Further derivatives of Stuxnet, called Duqu and Flame, were discovered over the next two years, suggesting that these attacks were part of an ongoing development program.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
Many of today's most destructive advanced persistent threats (APTs) were conceived a decade ago, so enterprises that rely on most traditional approaches to cybersecurity are unlikely to succeed against the next generation of attacks. This is one of the cautions in a new book published by global IT association ISACA in cybersecurity awareness month.
Advanced Persistent Threats: How to Manage the Risk to Your Business advises that traditional defenses such as firewalls and anti-malware are not up to the challenge of today's APTs and that organizations need to add skills, processes and technology to their cybersecurity arsenal.
While new tools are needed to combat ever changing security threats, it is helpful to examine the history of the APT, because it is possible to derive many important lessons for defending against them in the future. The earliest use of the term "advanced persistent threat" emerged from the U.S. government sector in 2005, describing a new, deceptive form of attack that targeted selected employees and tricked them into downloading a file or accessing a website infected with Trojan horse software. This slideshow summarizes known facts, anecdotal evidence and reported claims behind some of the most well known attacks experienced over the last 15 years.
How AI Will Be Pushed to the Very Edge
Eight Best Practices for Securing Long-Term Remote Work
Intel Gets Dream CEO: Pat Gelsinger Replaces Bob Swan
How AI Might Change the BI Experience
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Cheap Joshua Garnett Cheap Jersey Outlet Online,First Choice To Purchase.
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Talented chef creates a cake that looks Sir Geoff Hurst reveals that he thinks Women still exist, in vast numbers. Now, we are arguing about 'genderhood' - for the right to live our lives according to our gender. As everybody else has said, while there might be clues, don't worry about that. Fabinho celebrates Liverpool move with Human rights are not cookies. A gender fluid person may feel male on some days, female on others, both male and female, or neither.


text:
Qatar airport officers charged over invasive searches as Australia demands accountability
Qatar's public prosecutor has filed criminal charges against police officers working at Qatar's Hamad airport over invasive strip searches. Source: NurPhoto
The Australian government says it expects those responsible for the invasive searches will be held to account.
Prosecutors in Qatar say the airport police officers who ordered forced internal medical examinations of female passengers after an abandoned newborn was discovered in a rubbish bin face possible three-year prison sentences.
Prosecutors did not say how many police officers at Hamad International Airport faced charges over the 2 October incident that sparked widespread anger in Australia, a key destination for the state-owned Qatar Airways.
"Extensive investigations revealed that some employees of the Airport Security Department acted unilaterally by summoning female medical staff to conduct external examination to some female passengers, thinking that what they had done was within the law," a statement from prosecutors said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the federal government confirmed it had been provided with an update on the investigations and said those responsible for the "grossly inappropriate and offensive" searches must be held to account.
"The Australian government expects just and proportionate accountability for those responsible for offences," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told SBS News.
"This is a matter for the Qatari law enforcement and justice systems, but Australia expects and has been seeking regular updates on the progress of the investigations and legal proceedings."
Compensation for women invasively searched at Doha airport a matter for Qatar, Marise Payne says
The spokesperson said once the investigations are completed Australia also expects a report on the incidents and on the measures taken to ensure they are never repeated.
The abandoned newborn's mother, whom the Qatari statement described as a "convict," faces up to 15 years in prison if apprehended. The woman apparently flew out of the country before the baby was discovered.
Qatar said Monday it had identified the parents of the abandoned baby girl. The public prosecutor said the mother and father were from "Asian countries" which in Qatar typically refers to the nations of South Asia where a large number of migrant workers come from.
Efforts were under way "to arrest the fugitive" who is overseas and faces 15 years imprisonment, the prosecutor said in a statement that called her a "convict", suggesting she may have been convicted in absentia.
"Investigations revealed that the infant's mother... threw the newborn infant in the trash can in one of the toilets in the departures lounge at the airport and boarded the plane to her destination," the prosecutor said.
"(The mother) had a relationship with another person of the nationality of one of the Asian countries as well, and this relationship resulted in the infant that was found.
"The father of the infant admitted that he had a relationship with the infant's mother, and that she had sent him a message and a photo of the newborn infant immediately after her birth."
The mother had told the father that she had dumped the baby and departed the country, the statement added, while DNA screening proved they were the child's parents.
All expatriates coming to Qatar for long-term work are required to give a substantial sample of blood during the registration process.
Women on 10 Qatar Airways flights out of Doha, including one to Sydney, were subjected to the examinations following the incident on 2 October, leading to a diplomatic row with Australia.
The physical examinations of passengers bound for Sydney and nine other unnamed destinations triggered outrage in Australia.
The government denounced the searches as inappropriate and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
Rights activists say such exams conducted under duress amount to sexual assault.
'Unacceptable treatment'
Two Doha-based sources have told AFP that Qatari authorities had requested an Interpol red notice in order to have the woman identified as the mother brought to Doha to face charges.
The incident only came to light weeks after it occurred, when affected Australian passengers spoke out, with Canberra labelling the episode "appalling".
The public prosecutor said "some employees" of airport security had broken the law by ordering the searches - for which Qatar only apologised weeks after they took place - and face three years imprisonment.
It gave no details of how senior those charged were, or how many would be punished.
The baby was found abandoned in a bin in a bathroom at Hamad International Airport.
traveller.com.au
Diplomats have suggested that such a major operation requiring the suspension of flight operations at the authoritarian state's airport could not have been authorised by a handful of junior staff.
Qatar is an ultra-conservative Muslim monarchy, where sex and childbirth outside of marriage are punishable by jail.
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, it has struggled to reassure critics that its promises on women's rights, labour relations and democracy are credible.
Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, who as interior minister is also responsible for the security services, previously tweeted that "we regret the unacceptable treatment of the female passengers" at Doha airport.
Additional reporting by Tom Stayner.
Source AFP-AAP-SBS
Living beyond death: International student saves nine lives in Australia through organ donation
35 mins ago Europe


We believe that the information found on this website is accurate, but in some cases that information is the viewpoint of the builder only. We try to keep prices accurate, and for the most point can be relied on, however they are subject to change without notice. If you are working with one of our realtors, then you are bound to them.


Is Kesha Playing Coachella 2016?
Kesha's legal battle with producer and label head Dr. Luke has dominated the Kesha-related headlines over the past year, but she has graced fans with a few rare live appearances, including a December 2015 set in Nashville with her band Yeast Infection. As of Tuesday (April 12), there's a rumor swirling that's the most exciting Kesha news in recent memory — or crushing, if it proves false: Will Kesha take the stage at Coachella 2016?
If celebrity gossip site X17online's "exclusive" is to be believed, the answer is yes. The site claims a source close to the singer spilled news of a surprise ("surprise") appearance at the Indio, Calif. festival this coming weekend. Whether she'll appear solo, if at all, or will join another act onstage — perhaps Zedd, who extended an offer to produce with Kesha back in February? — remains to be seen.
The "We R Who We R" singer will reportedly be at least attending the festival, at least according to Buzzfeed Music. So if you've got a ticket to the event this weekend, keep your eyes peeled and your flower crown poppin'.
Happily, Kesha does have one confirmed and prestigious live event in her near future: She's joining the lineup for a tribute honoring folk legend Bob Dylan for his 75th birthday. Dylan Fest takes place on May 23 and 24 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, and will also feature Kacey Musgraves, City and Colour and more.
Tickets are on sale on Saturday (April 15). Check out the flyer below, and watch our roundup of Kesha's best live vocals here.
Source: Is Kesha Playing Coachella 2016?


text:
from mongoengine.document import Document
from mongoengine.fields import StringField
from mongoengine.fields import ListField

from .base_models import BaseUserPermission

class UserPermission(Document, BaseUserPermission):
    user_id = StringField(db_field='ui', primary_key=True)
    permission_list = ListField(StringField(), db_field='pl')

    meta = {
        'collection': 'user_permission',
        'index_types': False,
    }

    @classmethod
    def add_permission(cls, perm, user):
        """Add the given permission to the user."""

        # Ensure we do not create duplicate users
        try:
            user_perm = cls.objects.get(user_id=str(user.id))
            new_user = False
        except cls.DoesNotExist:
            user_perm = cls(user_id=str(user.id), permission_list=[perm])
            new_user = True

        if new_user:
            user_perm.save()
        else:
            # Make sure the usr does not already have the given permission
            if perm not in user_perm.permission_list:
                user_perm.permission_list.append(perm)
                user_perm.save()

    @classmethod
    def get_permissions(cls, user):
        """Return a list of user permissions.  If user does not exist return empty list"""

        try:
            user_perm = UserPermission.objects.get(user_id=str(user.id))
            return user_perm.permission_list
        except UserPermission.DoesNotExist:
            return []

    @classmethod
    def remove_permission(cls, perm, user):
        """Removes the given permission from the user if it exists.
        Raises an exception if the permission does not exist."""
        user_perm = cls.objects.get(user_id=str(user.id))

        # Verify the user has the given permission
        if perm in user_perm.permission_list:
            user_perm.permission_list.remove(perm)
            user_perm.save()

    @classmethod
    def has_permission(cls, perm, user):
        """Returns true if the user has the given permission. False otherwise."""
        return perm in cls.get_permissions(user)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Critics have said that audiences will lose weight by laughing at "Waist Watchers: The Musical."
Get ready to hit the gym!
The musical comedy "Waist Watchers" has made its Chicago debut. The creators say it'll make you laugh so hard, you will definitely burn some calories!
"Waist Watchers" actress Martha Wash stopped by the studio to talk about the show and preview a song from the production.
WHEN: Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.


text:
Joseph I. Lubin  (November 14, 1899 – April 4, 1983) was an American accountant.

Early life and education
A native New Yorker, born on the Lower East Side, Lubin had attended local public schools in the city before enrolling at Pace. Lubin received his Certificate in Accountancy from Pace University (then Pace Institute) in 1921 and a law degree from New York University in 1928.

Career
Lubin went on to establish the nationwide accounting firm of Eisner and Lubin. He also served as chairman of the New York State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners and as a director of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. During the Second World War, Lubin was Special Deputy Chief Investigator of the War Production Board, and Chairman of the Appeals Board of the New York County Selective Service. He also served on the board of the National Civil Service League and for a time was treasurer of the League. His corporate board memberships included United Cigar, Whelan Drug Corporation and the Phoenix Securities Corporation.

Philanthropy
A financial supporter of education, Lubin was chairman of the Founders Society of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a member of the board of trustees of Syracuse University, New York University, and Yeshiva University.  From 1961 until his death in 1983 Joseph Lubin was a member of the Pace University board of trustees.  In 1955 his alma mater awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science.

Lubin House, a private club on East 61st St., has been Syracuse University's New York City base since 1964. It houses the Louise and Bernard Palitz Gallery.

Two years before he died, Lubin presented Pace with the largest single donation ever received from an individual, a land trust fund that over a fifteen-year period would amount to $7.5 million. The Lubin School of Business at Pace University is named after him.

References

External links
 Lubin School of Business

1899 births
1983 deaths
American accountants
Businesspeople from Brooklyn
Businesspeople from New York City
People from the Lower East Side
Pace University alumni
New York University alumni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I've long been interested in disaster resilience particularly when considered through the lens of self-organization. To be sure, the capacity to self-organize is an important feature of resilient societies. So what facilitates self-organization? There are several factors, of course, but the two I'm most interested in are social capital and communication technologies. My interest in disaster resilience also explains why one of our Social Innovation Tracks at QCRI is specifically focused on resilience. So I'm always on the lookout for new research on resilience. The purpose of this blog post is to summarize the latest insights.
This new report (PDF) on Burma assesses the influence of social capital on disaster resilience. More specifically, the report focuses on the influence of bonding, bridging and linking social capital on disaster resilience in remote rural communities in the Ayerwaddy Region of Myanmar. Bonding capital refers to ties that are shared between individuals with common characteristics characteristics such as religion or ethnicity. Bridging capital relates to ties that connect individuals with those outside their immediate communities. These ties could be the result of shared geographical space, for example. Linking capital refers to vertical links between a community and individuals or groups outside said community. The relationship between a village and the government or a donor and recipients, for example.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a low-income neighborhood is building a culture of disaster preparedness founded on social capital. "No one had to die [during Hurricane Katrina]. No one had to even lose their home. It was all a cascading series of really bad decisions, bad planning, and corrupted social capital," says Homsey, San Francisco's director of neighborhood resiliency who spearheads the city's Neighborhood Empowerment Network (NEN). The Network takes a different approach to disaster preparedness—it is reflective, not prescriptive. The group also works to "strengthen the relationships between governments and the community, nonprofits and other agencies [linking capital]. They make sure those relationships are full of trust and reciprocity between those that want to help and those that need help." In short, they act as a local Match.com for disaster preparedness and response.
Their early work has focused on "making plans to protect the neighborhood's most vulnerable residents: its seniors and the disabled." Many of these residents have thus received "kits that include a sealable plastic bag to stock with prescription medication, cash, phone numbers for family and friends. They also have door-hangers to help speed up search-and-rescue efforts (above pics).
Lastly, colleagues at the Rockefeller Foundation have just released their long-awaited City Resilience Framework after several months of extensive fieldwork, research and workshops in six cities: Cali, Columbia; Concepción, Chile; New Orleans, USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Surat, India; and Semarang, Indonesia. "The primary purpose of the fieldwork was to understand what contributes to resilience in cities, and how resilience is understood from the perspective of different city stakeholder groups in different contexts. The results are depicted in the graphic below, which figures the 12 categories identified by Rockefeller and team (in yellow).
Collective identity and mutual support: this is observed as active community engagement, strong social networks and social integration. Sub-indicators include community and civic participation, social relationships and networks, local identity and culture and integrated communities.
Empowered stakeholders: this is underpinned by education for all, and relies on access to up-to-date information and knowledge to enable people and organizations to take appropriate action. Sub-indicators include risk monitoring & alerts and communication between government & citizens.
Reliable communications and mobility: this is enabled by diverse and affordable multi-modal transport systems and information and communication technology (ICT) networks, and contingency planning. Sub-indicators include emergency communication services.
Effective leadership and management: this relates to government, business and civil society and is recognizable in trusted individuals, multi-stakeholder consultation, and evidence-based decision-making. Sub-indicators include emergency capacity and coordination.
How am I interested in observing these drivers of resilience? Via social media. Why? Because that source of information is 1) available in real-time; 2) enables two-way communication; and 3) remains largely unexplored vis-a-vis disaster resilience. Whether or not social media can be used as a reliable proxy to measure resilience is still very much a research question at this point—meaning more research is required to determine whether social media can indeed serve as a proxy for city resilience.
As noted above, one of our Social Innovation research tracks at QCRI is on resilience. So we're currently reviewing the list of 32 cities that the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities project is partnering with to identify which have a relatively large social media footprint. We'll then select three cities and begin to explore whether collective identity and mutual support can be captured via the social media activity in each city. In other words, we'll be applying data science & advanced computing—specifically computational social science—to explore whether digital data can shed light on city resilience. Ultimately, we hope our research will support the Rockefeller Foundation's next phase in their 100 Resilient Cities project: the development of a Resilient City Index.
The Rockefeller Foundation recently launched a major international initiative called "100 Resilient Cities." The motivation behind this global project stems from the recognition that cities are facing increasing stresses driven by the unprecedented pace urbanization. More than 75% of people expected to live in cities by 2050. The Foundation is thus rightly concerned: "As natural and man-made shocks and stresses grow in frequency, impact and scale, with the ability to ripple across systems and geographies, cities are largely unprepared to respond to, withstand, and bounce back from disasters" (1).
Resilience is the capacity to self-organize, and smart self-organization requires social capital and robust feedback loops. I've discussed these issues and related linkages at lengths in the posts listed below and so shan't repeat myself here.
Instead, I want to make a case for community-driven "tactical resilience" aided (not controlled) by data science. I came across the term "tactical urbanism" whilst at the "The City Resilient" conference co-organized by PopTech & Rockefeller in June. Tactical urbanism refers to small and temporary projects that demonstrate what could be. We also need people-centered tactical resilience initiatives to show small-scale resilience in action and demonstrate what these could mean at scale. Data science can play an important role in formulating and implementing tactical resilience interventions and in demonstrating their resulting impact at various scales.
Ultimately, if tactical resilience projects do not increase local capacity for smart and scalable self-organization, then they may not render cities more resilient. "Smart Cities" should mean "Resilient Neighborhoods" but the former concept takes a mostly top-down approach focused on the physical layer while the latter recognizes the importance of social capital and self-organization at the neighborhood level. "Indeed, neighborhoods have an impact on a surprisingly wide variety of outcomes, including child health, high-school graduation, teen births, adult mortality, social disorder and even IQ scores" (1).
So just like IBM is driving the data science behind their Smart Cities initiatives, I believe Rockefeller's 100 Resilient Cities grantees would benefit from similar data science support and expertise but at the tactical and neighborhood level. This explains why my team and I plan to launch a Data Science for Resilience Program at the Qatar Foundation's Computing Research Institute (QCRI). This program will focus on providing data science support to promising "tactical resilience" projects related to Rockefeller's 100 Resilient Cities initiative.
The initial springboard for these conversations will be the PopTech & Rockefeller Fellows Program on "Community Resilience Through Big Data and Technology". I'm really honored and excited to have been selected as one of the PopTech and Rockefeller Fellows to explore the intersections of Big Data, Technology and Resilience. As mentioned to the organizers, one of my objectives during this two-week brainstorming session is to produce a joint set of "tactical resilience" project proposals with well articulated research questions. My plan is to select the strongest questions and make them the basis for our initial data science for resilience research at QCRI.


I was recently told by pioneering User Experience (UX) Expert Larry Marine of Intuitive Design that he is more likely to be consulted on a new eCommerce project after a new design has already been completed, rather than before design has started. Sometimes he is even brought in after development has begun.
Larry told me that he is often called in at the last minute to help address issues that arise from focus groups or beta testers just prior to a new product or website launch. Reportedly, these clients are sometimes desperate, and hope UX Designers can apply some "tactical" UX techniques to address user behavior problems. Most notable among these problems are users who complete the "purchase process" without buying anything.
Larry is not the only UX Expert to share this kind of cart before the horse experience with me. Some years ago, another Expert UX Designer I've worked with once provided YODLE.Com a new design concept for the user interface of their product. This exercise was part of the job interview process for a new UX Architect position there - their first, I believe. This was a position they considered creating only AFTER their product had been created and released, and AFTER they discovered some user behavior problems. The employment test was a real world example that resulted from some customer behavior problems they were experiencing at the time.
Upon presenting his concept, this UX Expert was informed that his solution would not work because, "That's not how our system is designed." To which he replied, "I know. You have to redesign your system to meet the users needs." He thought that was why they had brought him in - because they understood the mistake they had made, and recognized the effort required to build it right. He was mistaken. They were hoping he would come up with a few tweaks and modifications that they could snap into place after the heavy lifting was already completed. In the end, my my friend did not end up being offered a position at YODLE.
The management team at YODLE wasn't ready to accept the reality of their situation, which, unfortunately, makes them more the rule than the exception. As Larry explained to me once, most companies unfamiliar with UX Design are often too close to their product to see things from the user's perspective. Often, they already have a solution that they would like to market, and are just starting to look for customers. UX focuses on identifying problems real people are facing first, before designing a solution.
I share these analogies not only to illustrate the importance of starting from a User-Centric Design approach, but also to make it plain that most companies are still early in the adoption of this technique. No one wants their product launch to fail, and most project teams are doing the best they can with what they have. Many of them even accept the concept of UX, but think it is something their team can implement themselves, without experts. The perception is changing, it's just taking too long.
What Larry has witnessed in his consulting practice is not a limited experience. It takes at least one UX-based design project - lead by someone who really gets it - before people become champions of the UX approach, and see it for the competitive advantage it is. We're still early in the adoption curve for UX, but I'd say people are at least more aware of it, and are starting to recognize it's value. They still do not yet know exactly how to integrate UX into their projects properly, but at least, like YODLE some years ago, they are starting to try.
User Centered Design (UCD) is the science of getting people to interact with the artificial as if it is a natural extension of themselves. Think Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit. User Experience Design is the realization of that suit. Tony's suit is tailor-made for him. If someone else - say Andre the Giant - tried to wear it, it would not work, as the UX was created for a different audience.
User Experience Design starts by investigating and understanding the users you expect to be interested in your product. In some ways it's a marketing function, including customer analysis, customer segmentation, and often including customer interviews. UX can even provide the innovative spark for new product invention, such as Apple has seemed to have a monopoly on these last years (iPOD to iPhone to iPad).
As a core tenant, UX strives to solve a problem faced by a user, and to give them a reason to want to interact with your system. Once the value proposition is communicated and accepted, UX strives to make the interaction with the system as instinctual as possible - like Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit. It does this by relying on knowledge we can expect the target user to have, and by avoiding requiring special knowledge (Programmers who design applications seem to forget that users are NOT programmers and often include special knowledge requirements), or by providing users with cool new ways of interacting with a website that is different from anything they've seen before (Graphic Designers seem to favor this approach).
One UX Designer I've worked with liked to say, "If you notice the user interface, I've failed." If you require users to have special knowledge, or that they learn new ways of doing things, you are adding tension to the human-computer interaction, which makes it more difficult to get people to take the actions you are trying to optimize for (like selling products, or signing up for your service).
The best UX designers want users to be able to interact with their products and websites without needing to think about the user interface. What a ZEN career choice - your work only succeeds if no one notices it exists.
Projects that start with a UX-centered approach cost less, deliver more value, and provide business leaders with new tools to better manage and project expectations. It is estimated that every $1 spent on UX returns $100 in overall project savings. Better product, faster to market, cheaper. Strong value proposition.
Unfortunately, UX professionals are also outnumbered by the number of Graphic Designers who claim to know UX, as well as Programmers who believe their experience building commercial software comes with User Experience Design expertise as a divine right. It has fallen out of favor to expect Programmers to do design, thank goodness, but we are still seeing under-qualified Graphic Designers assuming the responsibility for UX on projects. This does a disservice to both the clients and the UX Profession. These are the kinds of projects that Larry often gets called in to consult on after programming has been completed.
What I'd like to see happen is more recognition of the formal education needed to do UX Design properly among Graphic Designers, and Programmers. The skills required for each of these discipline is so great and different that you cannot expect a person to do more than one thing well. It's important that everyone on the team understand and appreciate how UX fits into design. However, expecting graphic designers or programmers to perform the UX function is just too far reaching.
I'd also like to see more acceptance of the UX role at the START of new projects, rather than as a triage activity after the horses have left the barn. I think a solid, forward thinking organization can learn the tenets of good UX Design practice, and start applying them. However, I don't see that being successful without including experienced UX Specialists as part of the team from the beginning.
At TechKnowSys, Larry Marine is the "UX Guru" who I engage on every important eCommerce, or conversion project that I work on. He also has been the personal mentor to my own ongoing journey into User-Centric Design. You can read Larry's blog on SearchEngineWatch.
If you found this article helpful, or know someone who might benefit from reading it, please share it on your favorite social media platforms, or Email a link directly. If you have your own UX horror story to share, please share your comments.


Here's an overview of how to incorporate the appMixable SDK into your iOS application.
Download the SDK and install it into a new or current Xcode project.
Choose the parts of your iOS app to be remixed, whether by yourself, others, or both.
Use our web-based creation tools to make a remix targeting these properties.
Alternatively, download the SDK framework and resources bundle and install it into a new or current Xcode project.
Although the richness of appMixable customization across development environments is comparable, the ease of implementation may require greater effort with the iOS SDK than with the Unity3D SDK. If you are undecided whether to use Unity3D for cross-platform development for iOS and Android, you will find that our Unity3D SDK is practically turnkey when it comes to adding remix functionality to your apps.
That being said, we do have partners who are quite happy using the iOS SDK, because the app remixing functionality fits so many of their needs. And often, it is used to augment an existing app that has already been developed using Xcode.


Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 79F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%..
Rain showers in the evening, then clear overnight. Low 51F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
PHILADELPHIA — Alan Greenspan, who chaired the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006 with an abiding faith in private-sector bankers that cracked a bit in the ensuing financial collapse, is peddling another book — "Capitalism in America," with Economist writer Adrian Wooldridge.
And the Constitution, as updated, guarantees "individual rights, and as a consequence property rights, which give you all sorts of incentives" to learn, work, save, invest and succeed.
Greenspan has long argued that the United States cannot afford Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on today's terms. That's because there are not enough workers, and taxpayers are getting squeezed to finance retirees and patients. "Every dollar of entitlement increase reduces gross domestic savings in the U.S. by $1," a claim that he says he once doubted but that he has validated from economic data.
That's a drag on investment and growth. Greenspan worries that it's a self-reinforcing process: "When (annual GDP growth slows) from 3.5 percent to 2 percent, you get populism in the White House" and Europe, in movements like the U.K. attempt to leave the European Union.
Smetters noted that Greenspan made similar recommendations in the 1980s. President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill agreed to boost Social Security contributions and delay target retirement ages so benefits could increase with inflation without bankrupting the system until baby boomers started retiring.
What about the fast-growing federal deficit? "Politically, deficits really don't matter" — until trillions in debt and bank payments pile up, driving interest rates and prices higher — and by then it's hard to stop, unless the government cuts benefits, another "major political problem," Greenspan said.
China grew fast in the 1980s and 1990s as it granted Western-style investment freedoms. But China's current president, Xi Jinping, has instituted aggressive central-control policies that have slowed that nation's growth, Greenspan said. The "political changes" that have accelerated under Xi — whose government, as Greenspan didn't spell out, has suppressed independent criticism, mass-imprisoned Muslims and members of other minority groups, and demanded corporate support for Communist Party initiatives — mean that China is "no longer what it was under (reformer) Deng Xiaoping." That leaves the U.S. as a world leader.


Samsung today unveiled the Samsung Sleep sense sleep tracker at the IFA 2015 in Berlin. The SleepSense is a new type of personal healthcare device that's meant to help you improve the quality of your sleep.
Given the kind of work and life schedules that most working professionals in Uganda have, its difficult to get in the recommended 7 – 9 hours of sleep every night, and even when you can manage to hit the sack, you wake up feeling tired.
This sleep monitoring device uses patented technology to analyse your sleep patterns and gives you personalized sleep reports with up to 97% accuracy through a mobile application, with recommendations on how to improve your sleep.
You place the sensor under your mattress, download the SleepSence app to your smartphone, connect the two by Bluetooth, and head off to dreamland. SleepSense will analyse heart and respiratory rates and your movements and every morning will give you a summary of your sleep activity with your score.
Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Christos Mantzoros worked with Samsung to provide personalized professional tips on improving your sleep quality, covering your lifestyle, nutrition and exercise. Depending on your sleep pattern, you will receive customized tips and words of advice to help you sleep better next time.
Since I'm one of those people who often sit to watch a movie and end up "being watched by the movie", my favourite is the smart control of your sleep environment by connecting to various smart home appliances including your TV, sound system, thermostats, and lights to adjust them automatically when you dose off. That way you get to sleep in peace and quiet, and also save your Yaka units for the next day.
For people concerned that their loved ones suffer from a lack of sleep, SleepSense can help: simply put the sensor under their mattress and select the app's 'family care' option to receive an analysis of the quality of their sleep via email. After spending last night awake with may sleepless daughter, I'd like to order one of these as soon as they are available in Uganda stores!


A little girl left critically injured in a car crash was today told the heartbreaking news that her big sister died in the accident.
Megan McGrady, five, was left unconscious after the smash which claimed the life of her sister Sadie, six, who she was devoted to.
The girls' grieving parents have kept a round-the-clock vigil at Megan's bedside while she lay in intensive care.
The youngster came around three days later and started asking for her sister when her parents had to break it to her that Sadie had died in the crash.
Their grandfather John McGrady, 62, said: 'It is heartbreaking - the two girls were inseparable.
The sisters were in the back of the family car when it was in a head-on crash near the family home in Mostyn, North Wales last Sunday.
Their parents Kate Barlow, 34, who was driving, and John Paul McGrady, 39, escaped without serious injury.
But 'little angel' Sadie died at the scene and 'critically injured' Megan was airlifted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.
Grandfather Mr McGrady said: 'She wasn't conscious when she got to hospital - she was in intensive care but they've moved her out of there now.
'I have spoken to John Paul and said Megan woke last night and cried, asking for her sister.
Mrs McGrady and her husband, a wind turbine technician, have been at Alder Hey with their surviving daughter since the crash.
Mr McGrady said: 'Sadie's gone but Megan is still there, she will be in hospital for a few more days but she will pull through.
'Sadie was a beautiful girl. She was never in moods or anything like that - always happy.
'Sadie enjoyed school, she enjoyed herself.
'It's hit everybody, it's such a shock. I haven't been out.
Seven people, including two of Sadie's cousins, were injured in the two car crash on the A548 in the village of Gwespyr, North Wales.
Flowers were yesterday left outside Bryn Pennant school where Sadie was a pupil.
Assistant head teacher Julie Davies said: 'Sadie was a bright and confident child with her whole life ahead of her.
'She was popular and well-loved by pupils and staff. She would greet visitors with a beautiful smile and a friendly comment and loved lengthy chats with her teachers.
'She was kind, sensitive, thoughtful and wise beyond her years, a real character who was adored by everyone.
'For her to be so cruelly snatched at such a young age is absolutely devastating.
'We cannot begin to imagine the distress that her poor parents and family are experiencing.
Mostyn councillor Patrick Heesom said: 'The whole community is distraught. Sadie was a little angel and this is completely devastating.
'Sadie was a darling - she could often be seen playing with her sister and friends.
'This is heartbreaking and my thoughts and prayers are with her parents and the rest of the family.' Police are still investigating the accident between a Vauxhall Corsa and a Ford Focus.