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Marriott CRN's Bold 48-Hour Film Challenge Breaks the Mold to Showcase Meeting Facilities
Marriott's Convention & Resort Network (CRN) ventured decidedly out of the box with its recent 48-Hour Film Challenge, which pitted four teams of independent filmmakers against each other to produce short films on an extremely tight deadline.
The competition also showed off the flexibility of the meeting space at Vancouver, British Columbia's the DOUGLAS, Autograph Collection hotel and the convention facilities it shares with the attached JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.
While one might not immediately make the connection between filmmaking and hotel marketing, the action-packed proceedings may deserve an Oscar for sheer boldness.
The marketing hook focused on three key concepts:
The independent film theme that the DOUGLAS and the Autograph Collection brand promotes.
The status of Vancouver as the third-largest film shooting location in North America in terms of direct economic spend.
The creativity and flexibility of the CRN in transforming traditional conference facilities into dynamic settings for meetings.
The undertaking was the brain child of Amy Popper, senior marketing manager for Marriott's Convention & Resort Network, and independent filmmaker Jason Dallas, the head of production for 3000 Mile Productions. Dallas has worked on reality TV shows such as Hell's Kitchen, The Amazing Race and Take the Money and Run, among other projects.
[Related Content: 5 Meeting Planner Takeaways From the 48-Hour Film Challenge]
The duo was joined by Jeff Krapf, a broadcaster who serves as the face of the CRN's Made Here. A Marriott CRN Travel Show, as the host of the "movie within the movies" of sorts, as CRN filmed its own reality show of the competition.
Hosting the Challenge was Amy Ballard, director of sales and marketing for the DOUGLAS.
Why Meetings and Marketing Are Like Filmmaking
"This is something that we're thrilled to be doing, to really show meeting planners what can be done that's different," Popper said before the event kicked off. "We really want to challenge and disrupt what's out there from the meeting planner's perspective and show them how 'crazy' we can get to create what they need for their meeting."
Amy Popper, Senior Marketing Manger, Marriott's Convention & Resort Network, Credit: Tyler Davidson
Popper said the key marketing objective was to demonstrate how CRN properties can break away from traditional settings that planners and attendees are used to—and perhaps bored of.
"For meeting planners, they're going to see what it looks like to work with our hotels," Popper said. "They're going to get to see the unique spaces at this hotel that they can actually ask for at any CRN hotel that they may not think of as traditional meeting spaces. They're going to get to see some of our breakout spaces transformed—we have an art gallery, we have an office being built here—breakout spaces that can be transformed into anything. And then they're going to get to see movie magic being made, just like we can do for your meetings.
"It's creating inspiring spaces and moments for the magic to happen," she summed up.
[Also From Marriott: 6 Tips for Working With a Convention Services Team]
The four films can be viewed at the CRN's Meetings Buzz website.
Rules of Marriott CRN's 48-Hour Film Challenge
Three of the teams hailed from Vancouver and one flew up from Los Angeles.
All arrived on-site without a single piece of equipment and were tasked with managing a small budget to hire actors and rent gear and editing equipment supplied by Marriott via Vancouver production equipment company Fusion Cine.
The rules of the March 15-17, 2019, competition were simple:
Each team was comprised of a writer, producer, director, director of photography and editor.
The teams were assigned shooting locations randomly, using traditional meeting rooms that were transformed into an office, art gallery and boardroom. One team was given the DOUGLAS' top suite, The Den, as their location and the others could combine their designated meeting spaces locations with the use of three other luxury suites.
Each film had to include three elements: the use of maple syrup—a nod to Canada—as a prop in the film, the use of the phrase, "This is great space," and the mention of the name Amy Ballard, director of sales and marketing for the DOUGLAS.
The teams had 48 hours to cast, write, shoot and edit their films.
The finished movies were judged by a three-person panel: David Shepheard, film commissioner for Vancouver; Marnie Orr, film commissioner for British Columbia; and Todd Gilchrist, a Los Angeles-based film critic and entertainment journalist who has worked for Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. The films were celebrated at a final-night awards ceremony.
Marriott's CRN 48-Hour Film Challenge Contestants
The team behind the winning film, the comedy Nut Job, received a package of gear that included a camera, lens and tripod, an audio recording package and a lighting kit, as well as the distribution of their short film on the DOUGLAS' in-room channel.
The film was also distributed across CRN-owned channels.
In addition, individual team members received recognition in the following categories:
Best Actor, who won an actor headshot package.
Best Producer, who won a two-night stay at Marriott's dual-branded L.A. Live properties.
Best Director, who won a gift certificate to Fusion Cine.
Best Cinematographer, who won a virtual reality 360 mini cam.
Best Editor, who won two "Tickets to Paradise" (a stay at JW Marriott Marco Island).
Best Writer, who won a two-night stay at the DOUGLAS, an Autograph Collection Hotel.
Marriott's CRN to Release Its Reality Program in Fall 2019
Marriott's CRN is planning to release its reality TV-style film about the making of the 48-Hour Film Challenge in September 2019.
The production process involved with Jason Dallas' crew shooting the 48-Hour Film Challenge for the CRN reality show drew parallels to the competing film crews' efforts.
"It challenges us as filmmakers to get what we need with the resources that we have," Dallas said, noting that his crew had to work in a pressure-filled, time-sensitive environment that the competitors also battled through. "It's almost like we're doing our own 48-Hour Film Challenge as well, it's just that our subject matter is the hotel."
Marriott's CRN 48-Hour Film Challenge Reality Show Film Crew, Credit: Tyler Davidson
The 48-Hour Film Challenge joins a number of other ambitious CRN programs:
Mastermind by Marriott: Meeting planners are teamed with Marriott mentors both face-to-face and via a digital platform to form a peer-to-peer creative community to foster collaboration and improve the design of their meetings.
:60 Smarter: A series of short video episodes designed to inspire fresh concepts geared toward the creative execution of meetings.
Made Here. A Marriott CRN Show. A Marriott CRN Travel Show that allows planners to experience CRN properties and destinations in a travelogue format and hosted by Jeff Krapf.
Watch All of the CRN's 48-Hour Film Challenge Entries
Nut Job
Meandering Lines
Ajoute`
More details on each film are available on Marriott's Meetings Buzz website.
That's a Wrap!: Meetings Today Chief Content Director Tyler Davidson Snaps a 3D Photo With the Marriott Team
Listen to Related Episodes of the Meetings Today Podcast:
the Douglas Goes to the Movies
Marriott CRN and the 48-Hour Film Challenge
Evolution of Meetings: In-Person Connections Are Back, and Here to Stay
Most-Read Stories of 2021 on Meetings Today
Hospitality School Professors Share What Skills Future Planners Will Need


A Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) is an in-depth analytical study conducted periodically to evaluate internal and external constraints on a country's integration into the world economy. The study typically provides for a detailed analysis of the country's key economic sectors and related trade- and export challenges, and includes a DTIS Action Matrix which identifies critical areas for intervention and suggests policy actions that can help the country overcome those barriers. Studies are conducted by highly-experienced technical teams, who analyze specific sectors of the economy as well as cross-cutting institutional issues such as market access, transportation, trade facilitation, standards, poverty, and gender, among others. On the other hand, the Action Matrix facilitates discussions with government, donors, and the private sectors after the diagnostic study is completed, and serves as basis for policy prioritization and resource mobilization. In Tanzania, a first DTIS was conducted in 2005 (see ''2005 DTIS'' and related documents under the ''Documents and Publications'' section of this website), and an update of that study is currently in the process of being conducted – in both cases, the World Bank was requested by the Tanzania Government to act as lead technical agency. The 2016 Tanzania DTIS Update is funded through the generous support of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).


Mt. Baker has a ton of snow this year. Here's why it makes a great getaway for families.
ADHD used to be a younger child's issue, but these days more kids are being diagnosed in their teen years. Here's what the condition looks like and why it's complicated.
Traveling with teens doesn't have to be all about battling agendas. Giving them some say goes a long way toward harmony on the road. Read on for more tips on traveling with this age group.
Vancouver is a culturally rich city with adventures galore for families. Here's our top 10 paired with mini recommendations for extra fun.
A young child's silence may be more than temperament. Here's what selective mutism looks like and what you can do about it.
Does your teen want to travel abroad with a summer program? Here's what parents should be asking about.
British Columbia offers fantastic family ski resorts, large and small, for fun winter getaways. Here are a few ideas for your family.
Wondering if your grade-school girl's drama is normal? It is! Cliques and conflicts start way before middle school these days; read on to find out why.
Vancouver, B.C. is a culturally rich city that offers fun for the whole family, including exploring by bicycle, perusing market stalls, and noshing on Asian food. Read on for what to do with your kids in this spectacular city.


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Resilience for Results
Business Simulations
Outdoor Learning Centre - Wokefield Estate
Outdoor Leadership Centre - St. George's Park
Corporate Outdoor Learning Centre
GRA supports England Blind Squad
The England Blind Football Team recently visited GRA's Outdoor Leadership Centre at the National Football Centre, St. George's Park ahead of their build up to the European Championships.
The squad and coaches participated in a number of activities at the Outdoor Leadership Centre as part of a team building exercise and as a farewell to Gary Knight, who is moving to a different role within The FA after a long time with the squad.
The squad were put through their paces on a cold morning at St. George's Park taking on the Mohawk Walk low ropes challenge as a team before scaling the 40 foot climbing wall; with blind and sighted players and coaches all belaying one another.
Gary Knight, the departing England B1 Blind Team Manager and Disability Mentor, said: "It was great to see the team work together in a different environment. The session further embedded the teamwork and trust within the squad."
The squad are now back at St. George's Park preparing for this summer's European Championships. Furthermore, the Outdoor Leadership Centre is enjoying a growing reputation within the football world as a chance to enhance team building and leadership. St. George's Park Managing Director, Julie Harrington, said: "Since it opened in July of last year, the Outdoor Leadership Centre has already been hugely popular with the football business we've had at St. George's Park."
Email us enquiries@gra.uk.com
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used.
Established in 1989, Grahame Robb Associates Ltd provides people and organisational development training programmes on a global scale.
We own and operate two outdoor learning centres located at Wokefield Estate, Reading and The English Football Association's St. George's Park National Football Centre, Burton-upon-Trent.
GRA launches new Learning Experience Platform
GRA delighted as 92% of delegates recommend virtual offering
FA team support staff to respond to change
GRA leadership centres 'good to go'
Grahame Robb Associates Ltd
Mortimer, Berkshire, RG7 3AE
Email: enquiries@gra.uk.com
© Grahame Robb Associates Ltd - All rights reserved. Website design Hampshire by Oyster
– Reading –
– St. George's Park, Burton upon Trent –

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Brad Mehldau
Live In Japan
For listeners experiencing genres new to them, there's a certain difficulty in critical judgment — doubly so when the genre has a dense and deeply contoured past. Wide-eyed philistines could be blinded by an amalgam of clichés; newcomers may ignorantly believe they have before them fertile soil when all it represents, generically, is tilled and trodden ground, utterly barren, devoid of new life. So too can the naïve be lost amid a masterpiece, wondering if it is all this good, all so productive, new and vivified; such a first experience sets standards that are rarely transcended.
This is more or less the acknowledged background in the cliché "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like." Ignorance is a certain kind of comfort. Things appear; we like them or we don't, no matter what the musicologist can trace for us. Who has time, after all, to chase down all those back-catalogues?
I don't have that kind of time, or, well, that kind of money, so there's a gaping hole in my collection where the jazz should be. Consequently, I don't know much about jazz, but I know what I like. Brad Mehldau, to take a strikingly coincidental example, I like. He doesn't sing — he plays piano, but not like your little brother or sister. He might play "Chopsticks" or "Greensleeves," but you'd only know it by the slowly emerging fragments of a familiar melody. Jazz, as Mehldau reminds us in the best possible way, is largely interpretive, and not nearly as anxious nor insecure about it as lawsuit-happy rockers. Jazz permits the improvising musician to justifiably and equally be labeled a composer.
Mehldau's rendition of "Paranoid Android," for example, is the centerpiece of proceedings here, and he all but claims the song for his own. Alone on stage with only a piano (and an attentive, if hardly effusive, Japanese audience) throughout this disc, Mehldau uses the freedom of the solo form to salvage the best elements from Radiohead's original. He excises the pap and distils the British band's contrived, pompous and almost parodic multi-part prog-rock composition into an 18-minute masterpiece of truly affecting and complex emotions. Where jazz reinterpretations can often focus too much on the original's melody or, alternately, conceal it beneath the weight of academic noodling, Mehldau's "Android" pulls from the original the best melodic phrases and improvises around them. Taking a good four minutes of intro before even dropping the first hint of the original source, Mehldau glides effortlessly where Radiohead were stilted and rigid; Mehldau explores tangential harmonic ideas where others would simply follow the bouncing ball. In doing this, Mehldau gives the song a wrenching beauty largely papered over in the original, overwrought and encumbered as it was by its "Bohemian Rhapsody" rock-opera shenanigans and aspirations. (Mehldau is seemingly taken by Radiohead's music, having covered Kid A opener "Everything in Its Right Place" brilliantly with his backing band on the Anything Goes record of 2004.)
Elsewhere, he slowly wins over an audience surprisingly reluctant to applaud the opening tracks. As the adulation grows, so too does Mehldau's presence at the piano. Wandering along the faultline between jazz and classical music, Mehldau adopts and adapts his performance into either melancholic late-night jazz-club mode or tuxedo'd concert-hall performer (you know the scene: rigidly shaking his head, arched hands dramatically springing back from the keys) within the space of a few bars. Nick Drake's "Things Behind the Sun," for instance, is given a beautiful reading that makes it sound like a Russian classical composer marrying that country's rich chamber-music history to the American jazz tradition. The clear melodies of Drake's vocal are transposed and, like shards of sharp sunlight, they break through passages of frenetic, densely melodic piano work. Through all of this, it still sounds much like the deceptively simple folk song of Drake's Pink Moon.
In a stunning record stuffed with covers and only one original, Mehldau chooses Drake's songs to bookend the album (the soft-voiced Brit lad's "River Man" closes proceedings). Also reinterpreted by Mehldau are songs by Thelonious Monk, George Gershwin (who, like Drake, comes up twice) and Cole Porter. Such varied songwriters are brought together by the strength of Mehldau's exquisite vision, each a welcome player in this potent game of refiguring, reinterpreting and speaking to new audiences. It's rare that the songs of Monk, Radiohead and Gershwin can share the stage so effortlessly and without contrived, pretentious efforts at inter-generic/inter-generational "discourse." Evidently, each is here because it contains a good tune, that main meal around which Mehldau so expertly arranges entrees and desserts. To say this is not to mention it despite his utter brilliance as an equivocal pianist; it is to see that melody is what focuses Mehldau's musical vision. And with a foundational vision so strong and vivid, one doesn't need a map of jazz's terrain to know that Live in Japan is a towering monument to all that's great in music.
by Ben Gook


Ann (Smithson) Jenkins, 69, of Westford, MA died peacefully on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA.
She was married to the late Ernest F. Jenkins Jr., who died on September 10, 2014.
Born in Batley, England, she was the daughter of the late Harold and Edna Smithson. Ann was educated in England and attended the Fox School of Commerce. She moved to the United States in 1966 and became a citizen.
Until her retirement, she spent the majority of her professional career as the Executive Assistant to the Founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, MA.
After retiring, Ann enjoyed playing golf, was a member of the Groton Golf Club and was a dedicated volunteer at the Emerson Hospital in Concord. She greatly enjoyed her time with her many friends at both places.
Her greatest joy was spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.
She is survived by two sons, John and his wife, Pamela Jenkins of Tyngsboro, MA and Ernest Jenkins III of Hudson, MA; two step children, David and his wife, Kathy Jenkins of Gardner, MA and Donna Jenkins of Dracut, MA as well as six grandchildren, Kimberly Jenkins, Joshua Jenkins, Ethan Jenkins, Anika Jenkins, Spencer Jenkins and Michael Jenkins.
At her request there are no visiting hours. Private burial in the Fairview Cemetery, Westford. Memorials may be made in her name to the Kaplan Family Hospice House, 78 Liberty St., Danvers, MA 01923. ARRANGEMENTS BY DOLAN FUNERAL HOME 978-251-4041.


If you're tired of the usual art scene and larger museums like LACMA and the Getty, I highly recommend checking these magnificent towers. I would say that Watts Towers were probably the greatest backyard project of all time. Simon Rodia, being only 4'11 ft. tall, managed to build several towers, the tallest being at 99 1/2 ft tall. He stopped at that height due to city limit otherwise I'm really curious to see how tall he would have built the towers.
After collecting and purchasing broken glasses, plates, and 7 Up bottles from his neighborhood, he successfully finished this these towers in 30 years ALL BY HIMSELF without prior architecture knowledge. The towers were made of metal and decorated with whatever he was able to gather. When he finished, people in his neighborhood were able to admire the towers and see their pieces of contribution. The ground was designed to resemble a shape of a ship that would one day take him home to Italy.
Simon Rodia's Watts Towers truly redefine my definition of ambition. I really admired his dedication and passion into spending so much time in his life building these towers. It's just fascinating to be standing in the ground and surrounded by beautifully crafted and designed art project unlike anything I've ever seen before. This place really blew my mind and my friends and I were having a hard time keeping our jaws off the ground. The height of these towers were impressive, but I was more amazed by the detail of the designs of these towers.
I appreciate ancient drawings and interesting modern arts, but it is so rare to encounter something this unique and personal.
We arrived at noon on a Saturday, and the we went in the art museum which was located in the same area as the towers to purchase a ticket. We waited for about five minutes before our guide came in and took us inside the ground. You'll need to go on the tour to actually be close to the towers otherwise you can admire them from outside the fence. It's really worth $7 , so don't hesitate paying for it. Our guide was really energetic and enthusiastic about the subject, but he was going so fast I felt like I didn't have enough time to appreciate the detail of the towers.
I highly recommend everyone to try and visit this wonderful place at least once during your visit in Los Angeles. Being located near a metro station which makes it even easier to access.
hey, first off, i love your blog. you're an inspiration. keep it up!
second, simon rodia was italian, not irish.
Thanks John for the correction. I will make the changes!


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Sunset+Vine News
SUNSET+VINE WINS THREE YEAR CONTRACT FOR HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE
19 July 2018 | Sunset+Vine
Sunset+Vine, the global TV sports producer and distributor, has been appointed as the Host Broadcaster for the next three years of the Hero Caribbean Premier League, until 2020. The 2018 edition of the series takes place 8th August and 16th September 2018.
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which first started In 2013, is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life - dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Combining broadcast and digital viewership, over 197 million fans watched the 2017 season to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket.
Under the terms of the deal Sunset+Vine will be producing the World Feed for the six-team franchised competition - a total of 34 matches taking place across seven countries - as well as creating all pre and post-match programming. There will be a total of 85 crew working on the HERO CPL which will be split across two teams. Three Outside Broadcast (OBs) units will rotate across the eight venues. Huw Bevan will be Executive Producer.
Huw Bevan, Executive Director at Sunset+Vine, commented: "We are delighted to have reached a long term agreement with the Hero CPL. It is a very special tournament. There's nothing else quite like it. It combines the very best of Caribbean culture with world-class cricket to create the Biggest Party in Sport.
"For 2018, aside from the action, we are committed to showcasing the true essence of this unique sporting occasion and the beauty of the Caribbean. There will also be an emphasis on behind-the-scenes access to players that will enable us to capture the fun, relaxed nature of the tournament and take this to a growing global audience."
Pete Russell, COO of Hero CPL said: "Sunset + Vine have shown over the years that they are at the cutting edge of cricket broadcasting and we are delighted to have them sign a long-term deal to provide world-class coverage of Hero CPL.
"We saw last year the innovative and interesting way they go about bringing the tournament to life and they are the perfect partner for Hero CPL going forward. We are sure that this year's tournament will have even more impressive coverage than we saw in 2017."
For the 2018 competition, each team has a roster of 18 cricketers, with the top salary slot netting the players US$160,000. 2018's draft saw a record 227 overseas players, and 121 West Indian cricketers up for selection. Caribbean superstars Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, and Lendl Simmons, alongside international icons including Brendon McCullum, Sohail Tanvir, Shakib al Hasan, Martin Guptill, Hashim Amla and Shahid Afridi are all confirmed participants. Amongst those making their CPL T20 debut include former Australian limited overs captain David Warner, while Jamaican star Andre Russell returns after missing CPL 2017.
The talent doesn't end on the field. An exciting commentary team has been assembled which includes Ian Bishop, Daren Ganga, Tino Best, Michael Slater, Tom Moody, Alan Wilkins, Mel Jones, Danny Morrison and Mark Butcher. This year's tournament takes place between 8th August to 16th September 2018. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.
Greg Moore, Head of PR, Sunset+Vine
greg.moore@sunsetvine.com


Our recent webinar on Going Mobile was such a success we're repeating it next month, this time in collaboration with PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association)! So if you missed the webinar first time round, here's your chance to catch up.
A whopping 92% of us carry a mobile phone with us when we travel. With this in mind, there's huge opportunity to engage travellers before and after a trip as well as during it via their portable electronic devices. During this webinar, Open Destinations' Travel Technology team will shed light on the potential of mobile technology to enhance your customers' travel experiences and drive business growth at the same time.
Originally from the UK, Tim has been in the travel industry for over 25 years in the UK, France, Vietnam and now Thailand. As well as roles at several large tour operators, he worked for Open Destinations from 2000-2003, and rejoined the fold in 2017 when ODL purchased a stake in his tour operator mobile solution Tineri.
Open Destinations is a leading independent software and services provider to the travel sector. Since its inception in 1999, Open Destinations has successfully implemented their software in more than 30 countries, with a system that supports upwards of 85 million searches per day. In 2017 Open Destinations secured a majority stake in the travel itinerary solution, Tineri. Tineri helps tour operators and travel agents communicate with their customers via a stylish, engaging and user-friendly mobile app.
Open Destinations has a combined staff of over 450 people between locations in London, Munich, Bangkok and Goa. Clients include Abercrombie & Kent, Abreu, Belmond, Dnata, ETStur, Explore Worldwide, Great Southern Rail, JacTravel, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, Talisman Travel Design, Thompsons Holidays, Topdeck Travel and TUI Sports.
Open Destinations is a leading provider of travel technology solutions, designed for tour operators, wholesalers and DMCs. The company's flagship travel booking system, Travel Studio, has been successfully implemented into travel businesses across 30 countries.
Meet Tineri & Open Destinations at Travel Technology Europe 2019!


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Tag: steampunk horror
Evil Jester, DC Comics Artists and Editors Team For Gaslamp Terrors Steampunk Horror Anthology Project
Published on December 3, 2013 March 9, 2020 by BryanLeave a comment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 2, 2013
DC Comics artists and acclaimed editors Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Tim Marquitz are partnering in 2014 for Gaslamp Terrors, a steampunk horror anthology from Grant-Day Media to be released through their Evil Jester Press Imprint. The project will be an anthology of prose stories with illustrations by comic book artists, not a comic or graphic novel.
One of the most popular subgenres of speculative fiction going today, steampunk is as much an aesthetic as a genre, and involves stories set in the Victorian Age in which science and steam power go hand in hand. With top authors from science fiction, fantasy and horror, Schmidt, Marquitz and company will be presenting stories of the terrors that haunt the streets, stalk the shadows, and lurk in alleys. Headliner by New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Maberry and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Gaslamp Terrors will also include stories by Weston Ochse, Jody Lynn Nye, John Skipp, Esther M. Freisner and Mike Resnick, amongst others.
Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Bryan Thomas Schmidt's prior anthologies include Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales 6 for Flying Pen Press in 2012 and the critically acclaimed Beyond The Sun (Fairwood Press, August 2013) and Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age (Every Day Publishing, December 2013) as well as a forthcoming anthology for Baen Books. Schmidt's prior Kickstart anthologies have received good reviews in Locus and Analog, amongst other sites. Tim Marquitz's anthologies include Fading Light, Manifesto and the Kickstarter success Kaiju Rising (forthcoming). His anthologies and work have gotten frequent mention in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year anthologies. Both editors have had prior Kickstarter successes between them and both are also successful authors.
The editors and Owners of Grant-Day Media, Charles Day and Taylor Grant will be crowdfunding the project on Kickstarter in February and March 2014 with the goal of releasing both hardcover and trade paperback editions in Fall 2014. We will be showcasing and selling this at many of our conferences and venues throughout the country. Rewards will include signed editions, signed artwork, multiple copies and more. Details to come.
"I couldn't be more excited to partner in this endeavor with such a great team as Charles and Taylor," Schmidt said. "Their enthusiasm is infectious and their love of genre unparalleled. They have the experience to really make a great book, and we have a ton of experience to bring them great stories. It's the perfect combination."
Tim Marquitz
"We look forward to working with them closely," Marquitz added, "And hope this is the first of many collaborations to come."
Bryan Thomas Schmidt can be found via his website at www.bryanthomasschmidt.net or as @BryanThomasS on Twitter. Tim Marquitz is online at www.tmarquitz.com and on Twitter as @marquitz. Evil Jester can be reached via Charles Day at [email protected] and on the website at: http://eviljesterpress.com/main/
Categories Editing, General, News•Tags anthology, Evil Jester, Gaslamp terrors, Grant-Day Media, kickstarter, official announcement, press release, steampunk horror, Tim Marquitz


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Josh started his career in the southwest corner of the state, Prairie du Chien to be exact. Music was a constant in his home and after starting his first band at the age of 14, he knew music and stage was where he wanted to be. After high school, Josh earned a degree in recording and music technology from Madison Media Institute. Throughout this time, he continued to perform on stages across the upper Midwest as well as two tours out east with singer/songwriter Buzz Meade. Most recently, Josh enjoyed 7 years with Central Wisconsin party band "Spicy Tie Band". Although Josh is a fan of many styles of music, country has always been at the forefront and he can't think of a better outlet than "Grand Union".
With his lovely wife and two beautiful children, Josh is happy to call Appleton home. Outside of music, Josh enjoys traveling, grilling, camping, a good movie, and a cold beer.


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2/19/16 - HS bkb
Sectional game article from News Journal
2/12/16 - HS Boys bkb
Co-Champions!
On senior night at Blanchester High School, the Wildcats took care of their own business Friday night by defeating Georgetown 62-49.
However, it wasn't until the game between Bethel-Tate and Williamsburg went final that the celebration began.
While players and fans milled around the floor, the news came 22 minutes after Blanchester's victory. Bethel-Tate had defeated Williamsburg 54-43, giving Blanchester a share of the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division title.
Blanchester (14-5 overall, 7-3 in SBC) overcame a slow start to bury the G-Men.
The Wildcats put the game away with a 14-0 run. Nick Hopkins had seven of those points and Blanchester led 59-36 with 5:24 remaining.
Richardson led the way with 19 points. Quenton Miller added 10 points. Dylan Miller had 8 points and 8 assists.
On senior night, Blanchester started all five of its seniors: Richardson, Cam Carroll, David Trivett, Nick Grogg and Dade Coyle, who suffered a knee injury against East Clinton and is unable to play.
"I can't even put into words the value he has been to the program," Weber said of Coyle. "His demeanor, his character, his personality … you come in and enjoy working and coaching here because of kids like Dade.
"There are a lot of them like that. The student body, all three teams, it's just a good group of people. This is a good way to cap it off for the community."
Blanchester's boys league co-championship is in addition to the girls winning the SBC title last week. In all between the five high school level teams at Blanchester this winter, they have combined for 74 victories so far this season.
Weber said the culture change in Blanchester basketball is the reason he has stayed in the program.
"This group right here has done a good job setting what we expect. They buy what you're selling, and when they do that and the community backs you up on it, you can do great things." - from wnewj.com
2/5/16 - HS boys bkb
As Blanchester head coach Adam Weber promised, Friday's game between Blanchester and Bethel-Tate was a slugfest.
Bodies were on the floor and in the stands. Rebounds became scrums under the basket.
In the end, it was Weber's Wildcats that stood tall, defeating the Tigers 58-48.
"This is three or four in a row where we're doing some things really well," Weber said. "I was just very pleased. That was the best box-out team we've faced. They can flat-out keep you off the boards.
"We found ways to do other things and get the job done."
Alec Richardson concluded a stellar week with an outstanding performance. The Blanchester senior guard missed just four shots on the night. As the Tigers clawed back into the game in the fourth quarter, Richardson had an answer.
"His vision and his growth as an offensive player has really shown in the last couple games," Weber said. "His hesitation, then attack move, then finding the gaps, finding shooters and finding post players has been very fun to watch.
On a night when the Blanchester girls basketball team was honored between the first and second quarters for its league championship season, Weber discussed how that has motivated his team.
"It really helps when your girls program pulls out gutsy win after gutsy win," Weber said. "It gives you as a community and as a school and a body of students … it's inspiring. That has helped trigger these guys these last couple of games."
Freshman team ended their regular season with a 10-2 record. They earned the #1 seed in the Western Brown Freshman tournament that starts Feb 15.
JV boys - no story submitted
Varsity boys - no story submitted.
Freshman - no story reported
JV - no story reported
Varsity-from the News Journal
Blanchester's third comeback, which included a 20-4 run, was a charm in a 62-55 victory Friday against Batavia.
The Wildcats (8-3) fell in a 21-6 hole late in the opening period after a 13-1 Bulldog run but Blan scored the next 14 to pull within 21-20.
Then Alec Richardson and Jordan Stroud took over. Stroud's bucket started the 20-4 run. Richardson hit a two, a three and a pair of technical free throws to trim Batavia's margin to 45-43 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter. Richardson's steal under the Batavia basket and heave to Stroud at the other end for two knotted the game at 45-45 just before the end of the quarter.
Richardson led all scorers with 15 points. He was one of four Wildcats in double-figures. Dylan Miller and Quinton Miller had 12 each while Stroud added 11.-from
Shawn Robinson - WNJ Sports Writer
1/7/16 HS boys bkb
Blanchester ran away for an 82-58 victory over East Clinton
Four Wildcats reached double-figures; Alec Richardson led the way with 17. Dylan Miller, Jordan Stroud and J.D. Weiderhold finished with 13, 12 and 11, respectively.
The East Clinton JV won a 59-56 overtime thriller.
Blanchester took the freshman contest, 40-24, behind 11 points by Ian Heeg and 10 from Jacob Miller. Zach Mitchell led the Astros with 6. - from NJ Shawn Robinson
12/22/15 - HS BBKB
A second quarter run Tuesday night gave Blanchester all the cushion it needed against Ripley.
Jordan Stroud got the run started with back-to-back buckets. Chandler Slowey followed with the only three points the Jays scored in the final four minutes, as he converted a three-point play.
The rest of the half was all Blanchester. Nick Hopkins resumed the Wildcat run with a three. Blanchester led 24-16 with 2:35 left in the second quarter.
Alec Richardson knocked down a pair of free throws and a three, with a JD Wiederhold basket in between. Richardson and David Trivett each hit another free throw, followed by a Wiederhold basket to close the 18-3 run.
"We started pretty strong," BHS head coach Adam Webersaid. "Our execution was solid. We were crushing them on the offensive boards."
"I think our rotations defensively were pretty fundamentally sound," Weber said. "I was pleased about that." -Matt Sexton from WNJ
The Wildcats got strong offensive nights from Jordan Stroud and Alec Richardson leading Blanchester to a 65-58 victory over Georgetown.
Stroud got warm late in the third when he made three straight baskets, turning a two-point Blanchester deficit into a 45-41 lead. Blanchester led 45-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
"In the fourth quarter, I felt our defense turned around," BHS head coach Adam Weber said. "Overall, we'll take it. We haven't won here in a while."
Blanchester iced the game at the free-throw line, making 7 of 10 in the final 2:18 to complete the victory.
Stroud led all scorers with 25 points. Richardson added 21, including 14 in the first 9:20 of the game.
"We've got the whole back stretch of league play at home except for one," said Weber. "This was marked on the calendar. We had to battle through this." - Matt Sexton
12/16/15 - HSBKB
Playing their fifth game in 10 days the Blanchester Ladycats dropped a tough 61-57 game on the road to New Richmond. Trailing by 11 points with just over four minutes remaining, the girls mounted a rally pulling to within two points on two occasions, but could not get the game tied or get the lead. It was a good effort by the ladies, just not quite enough gas in the tank!-Coach Carrol
12/15/115 - HSBBKB
The Blanchester Boy's basketball program traveled to Bethel Tate Tuesday night, and once again came home with a 3-team sweep. The JV and Freshmen teams both remain undefeated, with a balanced scoring attack and aggressive, physical play on the boards.
The Varsity team is currently sitting in a tie with Williamsburg for First place, and had an incredible second half against Bethel Tate to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit to overcome the Tigers. -Coach Weber


2011 was a great year at Chateau Suduiraut and blending those wines was really exciting. In fact, the last ten years have been something rather exceptional for the region. The last three years (2011, 2010 and 2009) were all magnificent. And before that we had a succesion of great vintages with 2007, 2005, 2003 and 2001. I am not sure there has ever been such a great series in the history of Sauternes. Let's pay a visit to the vineyard and ask Pierre Montegut, who is in charge of Chateau Suduiraut, what happened during this year 2011 and why it is so remarkable.
Looking forward to tasting the 2011 with Bill Blatch later this month. Good to see a Suduiraut TV news production too!


text:
Literary Analysis Of Billy Collins Introduction To Poetry By Billy Collins
When reading poetry or a novel, we tend to just read the words that are on the paper. This uses only one of our senses, our sight. Instead of using just this method to read and understand poetry, Billy Collins proposes other approaches. He wants readers to experience the poem, not just simply read it. Collins wants the reader to use more than one of their senses to understand the poem. Many times when reading, the reader tries to "torture" it to find the meaning, but Collins suggests readers should simply be patient and observant. Collins's use of literary devices really helped introduce a new and different approach to reading poetry. In the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins, Collins is trying to show readers that poetry is …show more content…
To fully experience a poem Billy Collins believes that using the senses are a critical part. Stanza one says, "I ask them to take a poem / and hold it up to the light / like a color slide." One sense he wants readers to use is sight. Collins compares the poem to a color slide, something that holds an image, but can also seem dark. It can be difficult to see the image without light. Therefore, when reading poetry Collins suggests that meanings can only be revealed over multiple readings with careful interpretation. In the second stanza, a poem is compared to "a hive." He says we need to "press an ear against its hive." In this stanza Collins is telling us to listen for the sounds of the poem, and what they convey (danger, excitement, sadness, etc.). The importance of words in poetry is represented by the hive that Collins wants us to press our ear against. Traditionally readers do not think to listen to the words and sound that the words make, but this is exactly what Collins is asking us to do. Another way to experience the poem is to place yourself in the poem and move through it. In the poem "Introduction to Poetry," this is described as "placing a mouse into a …show more content…
In this poem, Collins mocks the way that readers try to extract the meaning of the poem. He relates it to a prisoner being captured and tortured. "But all they [the readers] want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it." The word "torture" implies that the reader is going too deep to force a meaning. Collins suggests that the reader should go deep into the poem, but not go so deep that what is on the surface is abandoned. He advises when reading, no one should strain to find the meaning, but freely and serenely find it. Then it is important to take into account what is on the surface. In the end, Collins is arguing that the readers are trying to unearth what the poem is trying to say without really
The Diction Of Poetry In Poetry By Marianne Moore
The poem "Poetry" by Marianne Moore explains what makes poetry, poetry. She uses different poem techniques to display her thoughts of what it is like to read poems. The author regards poetry from the view of someone who does not understand poetry in all its "rawness" (Moore line 37). She states what most people are thinking when they read poetry. Moore uses imagery, diction, and metaphor to emphasize that poetry is necessary for people to have an outlet.…
Introduction To Poetry Theme
The theme for "Inside a Poem" is that anyone can be a poet. The theme for "Introduction to Poetry" is to be patient when reading a poem and once you do that, you will find the true meaning of the poem. Billy Collins and Eve Merriam create images through their poem for readers that the readers can't withstand.…
Cleanth Brooks And Robert Penn Warren's Poetry As A Way Of Saying
The thought-provoking essay "Poetry as a Way of Saying" by Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren provides an educational direction for a reader's comprehension and understanding of the "naturalness" of poetry. They claim in this critical text that "mere immersion does little good unless the reader is making, however unconsciously, some discriminations, comparisons, and judgements" (16). As illustrated in "Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas, the raw power and emotion that he uses to deal with death is quite the opposite when compared to Emily Dickinson's calmness about it in her poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." To completely understand and feel each narrator's perspective on death, it is essential that the reader…
The Role Of Metaphors In Poetry
The writer will utilize words to make pictures in our heads that help us to translate the poem in the way he or she sees it. Each individual has an alternate view on life and writers are inspired to record theirs for others to peruse and relate to. People reading a poem with imagery will most likely ask what it is for. Regularly, they have gotten the basic and judgment skills answer that imagery exists to clarify what is new by contrasting it with something more conspicuous. The truth of the matter is that imagery, similar to dialect itself is essentially a reality of poetry, one that can be swung to any utilization the writer finds for it.…
My Explanation Of Writing Poetry
I love to write poetry; this is my meaning of self-expression of my views and emotions. The objective of my explanation of writing poetry is: to graciously embolden those who have difficulty writing poetry, to try their hand at it and inspire those who have tried some styles of poetry to expand on their repertoire: Through poetry one's writing improves. My instructions on writing poetry relies on having a theme for one's poetry, comprehend scenery or real life that relates to that topic, and employ literary devices in your poem to appeal to students who want to write poetry-- not just as an assignment but as a hobby. Every time one partakes in it; one will know that there are some instructions to get many struggling poets (including you) on…
Imagery And Symbolism In Billy Collins Introduction Of Poetry
They allow the speaker to express a theme through various literary elements such as imagery and symbolism. Billy Collins's "Introduction of Poetry" does an amazing job at using imagery and symbolism, to covey the them of over analyzation of poetry. The imagery and symbolism start off paining a picture of how a poem should be read an analyzed, and as the poem continues it goes into how a poem should not be analyzed. The speaker is telling the reader that to understand a poem and see the true beauty of it, the reader must look at all the wonderful details because that is where the meaning will be. The reader should not just read the poem over and over looking for a meaning.…
An Analysis Of Keats She Walks In Beauty
Poetry is a creative way of expressing one's self to the public. It is one of the most effective tools that people use to point out wrongs in society and reward the right virtues. Apart from developing the plot in a poem, the setting of the poem has much information that it adds to the general understanding of the poem. First, it helps in developing the theme in the poem. Poets think deeply about the themes that they would wish to present to their readers before starting to write.…
Explication In 'Did I Miss Anything' By Tom Wayman
By fully comprehending the poem, the reader can easily relate to what the writer is trying to convey. The author will not always go straight to the point and tell the reader, "In my opinion," "I believe," or "what I 'm trying to get across is that," etc. If the writer went straight to the point or just wrote whatever he/she was feeling at that time, than the piece of literature will not be worth reading. Although poems are short, the writer still gives the reader a chance to solve the mystery of what is written in a poem, a mystery that can only be solved by gathering pieces of information; the information are gathered in each stanza of the poem.. Although there are millions of stories that are the same, it is important to carefully read and identify the small details that the author has deliberately put together for the reader to enjoy and…
Metaphors And Similes In Introduction To Poetry By Billy Collins
Collins ideal image is for students to discover poetry like a color slide, the colors are only obtainable when you have brought it straight into a light and look into it. Understanding the complexity of poems, Collins shows great comparison to a color slide. Similarly to how a student discovers the colors after performing a task, Collins wants the students to discover poetry after careful evaluation. The purpose of these similes and metaphors was to indicate that the students are suppose to discover poetry when they are interested in poetry and it isn't an obligation. Not only that, but Collins indicates that all senses must be aware of a poem.…
Poetry As A Way Of Saying Analysis
The thought provoking essay "Poetry as a Way of Saying" by Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, provides an educational direction for a reader's comprehension and understanding of the "naturalness" of poetry. They claim in this critical text that "mere immersion does little good unless the reader is making, however unconsciously, some discriminations, comparisons, and judgements" and that "by trying to understand the nature and structure of poetry. . .readers may accelerate and deepen the natural and more or less unconscious process by which they enlarge their experience of poetry" (16). As illustrated in "Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas, the raw power and emotion that he uses to deal with death is quite the opposite…


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text:
require 'nokogiri'
require 'rexml/document'
include REXML

module ITunesAppReviews
  class ReviewsPage
    LINK_SELECTOR = "Document > View > ScrollView > VBoxView > View > MatrixView > VBoxView > VBoxView > VBoxView"

    def initialize(page_content)
      doc = Nokogiri::XML(page_content)
      @links = doc.css(LINK_SELECTOR)
    end

    def reviews
      @links.reduce([]) do |reviews, current|
        review = parse(current)
        reviews << review if review
        reviews
      end
    end

    private

    def parse(link)
      ITunesAppReviews.log.debug("Parsing link")

      node = link.css('TextView > SetFontStyle')
      info = node[2].content.split(" - ")
      version = info[1].strip()[-5, 5]
      date = info[2].strip()

      name_el = node.css('GotoURL > b')
      name = name_el.first.content.strip

      title_el = node[0].css('b')
      title = title_el.first.content

      text = node[3].content.strip.gsub(/(\s){2,}/, " ")

      node = link.css('HBoxView > HBoxView > HBoxView')
      rating = node.attr('alt').value.delete(" Stars")

      {
        title: title,
        name: name,
        text: text,
        rating: rating,
        date: date,
        version: version
      }

    rescue StandardError => e
      ITunesAppReviews.log.error("Error while parsing link")
      ITunesAppReviews.log.error(link)
      ITunesAppReviews.log.error(e)
      nil
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


According to the complaint, Zhang was shown a "proprietary chip" by employees and was working on circuit boards that could have been part of a sensor fusion project, which involves using multiple sensors to make the cars more accurate in their decisions while in self-driving mode. While he was arrested before boarding a plane, the story has no mention of whether the reams of data stolen by Mr. Zhang were sent via the internet.
Zhang was promptly arrested at the airport after the Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified that he purchased a ticket to leave the country.
In April, Zhang took paternity leave following the birth of a child and travelled with his family to China, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. He was subsequently fired, she said.
The U.S. Treasury Department plans to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investments in sensitive U.S. industries under an emergency law.
But Apple may have large numbers of employees working on the project because the process of making a computer "see" the world around it for a self-driving auto can be applied to other products, said Sertac Karaman, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founder of a self-driving shuttle startup called Optimus Ride.
Zhang was also caught on surveillance video entering the software and hardware labs of the autonomous vehicle department and leaving with a large box. Zhang's access to his work at XMotors was denied and his computer and other equipment were secured after United States authorities notified the company they were investigating him; he was ultimately fired. The self-driving space is exceptionally competitive, with dozens of companies across the world trying to take the lead in the burgeoning field. Apple hasn't said how or if it will eventually release its technology to consumers. 5,000 employees reportedly had access to the information that Zhang stole, with 2,700 of those listed as "core employees".
According to the supervisor, Zhang had "been evasive" during the meeting between the two, and, as such, chose to contact Apple's New Product Security Team, which launched an internal investigation.
"Apple takes confidentiality and the protection of our intellectual property very seriously", Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told Bloomberg.
Apple's Project Titan has been shrouded in mystery during the years it has been running.
In a statement, Apple said: "We're working with authorities on this matter and will do everything possible to make sure this individual and any other individuals involved are held accountable for their actions".
Apple told the FBI about the data taken by Zhang, and in a June 27 interview with federal investigators, the former employee admitted to everything that he had told Apple.


Workers at the Whistler Health Care Centre are angry and frustrated that they haven't received the same wage increases as their unionized counterparts across the province.
Their employer, the Community Health Council (CHC) has told them they must wait for the Ministry of Health to approve the pay hikes because they do not belong to any union.
"Up to recently we've always had a really good working relationship with our administration and so never felt the need to be unionized," said Francesca Cole, the head nurse at the Whistler Health Care Centre.
"Most people feel insulted at the moment," she added.
There are over 60 employees at the centre who are now working on a different pay scale to unionized health care workers. This number includes the added staff that join the centre during the winter, its busiest time of the year.
The CHC is hoping that the matter can be resolved quickly but they don't have the money right now to cover the wage increases for the Whistler Health Care workers.
"We receive money from the province. We don't have a large surplus," said Brian Kines, the chief executive officer for the CHC. "I can certainly appreciate their frustration. I wish there was a better process in the ministry to recognize pay increases to non-unionized employees."
Currently the ministry has approved funding for union facilities but has not approved any funding for non-union facilities.
Workers in Squamish and Pemberton, who fall under the same Sea to Sky Community Health Council as those in Whistler, are now making more money than non-unionized workers.
"It's not fair. We're doing the same work," said Cole.
Earlier this year, after five years of restraint and wage controls, B.C.'s unionized health care employees were awarded wage increases.
Workers under the British Columbia Nurses' Union were given a 23.5 per cent wage increase for the average nurse over the next three years.
Health science workers under the Health Sciences Association were also given general wage increases of 5.5 per cent to 14.25 per cent over three years.
It was a hard-fought battle with the province that saw members of BCNU on an overtime ban starting in April. Members of the HSA started an overtime ban in May which escalated to a rotating withdrawal of services and then to a province-wide strike on the first week of June.
The matter was finally resolved in August with increased wages over a period of time, among other things.
But health care employees in Whistler were far removed from the toils of the union members this year.


Phone support, email support and Live chat service is available – that compares very favourably with some important competitors including Getresponse, Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor and Mad Mimi, that only provide live or email chat service.
Furthermore, there's no magic to Proceed through to contact support – related phone number and email details may be seen quite easily on the company's contact page, with no necessity to trawl'knowledge bases' or fill in any forms ahead.
If you are a novice to email Marketing, then this type of easy access to good-quality support is a strong argument in favour of using Aweber as your email marketing supplier.
In contrast to its own Competitions, Aweber supply one of the largest sets of e-newsletters templates accessible: there are over 700 available.
Toe be honest, I do not adore all of The designs – some of them look slightly dated. I would believe them to be slightly better than the Getresponse ones, but not as excellent as Mailchimp's or Campaign Monitor's.
Like similar e-marketing products, Aweber can take your site's RSS feed and turn it in to e-newsletters which get sent out based on a schedule that you specify. Back in Aweber, this is called'Blog broadcasts', though technically you can use this feature with any material which has an RSS feed.
This functionality is Particularly handy for bloggers who want subscribers in their mailing lists to automatically receive e-newsletters containing their latest articles (or, indeed, a monthly digest of blog posts). Essentially, it means you can power your newsletters from your site – this can be a big time-saver.
It's worth noting that You can not use the normal Aweber template designs for RSS-to-email functions – you need to pick from a set of templates which are made specifically for this function.
On the down Side, a number of them look pretty dreadful. And annoyingly, you can't use the standard Aweber email drag and drop interface to edit them. With a little bit of tweaking, you'll probably have the ability to find something that works ok, but I believe there's definitely some massive space for improvement here.
1 thing that you can't use in Aweber templates which you can in certain other competing platforms (such as Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor) is net fonts. You're restricted to using the normal'secure fonts' – Arial, Times New Roman, Trebuchet and so on.
There are good arguments for not Allowing use of internet fonts – for example, your emails are likely to appear more consistently and display more faithfully across email clients – however only using web safe fonts can make templates seem a little bit blander than they otherwise could.
As you import your information, you are Given the option to add your subscribers to a certain set of autoresponders, and label them. Not all competing products allow the inclusion of imported data into autoresponder cycles so this really is a nice feature to have.
For anti-spam reasons, you will Have to answer some questions about how you gathered the information you're importing. If your listing is on the bigger side, you can also have to wait until it's assessed by Aweber's anti-spam compliance group (as is true with other email advertising tools).
With Marketing automation, you typically design a flowchart where emails are routed based on user activities: email opens, link clicks, website visits, purchases made and so on.
Aweber lately introduced a new marketing Automation feature which to a degree provides this functionality:'Aweber Campaigns.' With this feature, you may use certain user activities — specifically opens and clickthroughs — along with the program of tags to determine what needs to be routed to whom and when (see above).
However, I Think this functionality should go a bit further actually – tools like Getresponse and Mailchimp supply considerably more flexibility when it comes to which kinds of user behavior can trigger mailouts.
By way of instance, at Getresponse, you can use triggers like purchase, special page visits, subscriber'score' and revenue pipeline stage to send messages.
On the other hand It's very Straightforward To set up follow up mails based on time period – for instance, automatically sending readers an onboarding email immediately after sign up, a promo code 2 days later and also a'follow us on social media' email a week later is extremely straightforward. This is a typical use of autoresponders and it's a breeze with Aweber.
Using Aweber, you can create 'goals' or unite automation principles with tagging to make autoresponders act in very funky ways. . .but if you would like to make use of autoresponders in really advanced manners, you're likely going to need to appear at other products, particularly Getresponse, which supplies'marketing automation' functionality that pops up to some built-in CRM.
One minor Gripe I have however regarding the reactive designs is that to preview them you'll actually have to send a test email to a smartphone. On other platforms you can normally just hit a'preview on phone' button or comparable. The lack of this functionality is not a dealbreaker by any means, but it will slow you down a bit, particularly if you are sending a lot of campaigns every month.
Split testing (also called A/B testing) entails sending variants of your e-newsletters to some of your mailing list, tracking the operation of eachand every sending the'best' variant to the remainder of your list.
Many e-marketing tools handle This automatically for you: you create a few distinct versions of your email (using either different content or theme headers), send them to a sample of your information, along with your e-marketing solution will roll out the best performing version automatically to the rest of your mailing list.
Divide testing USED to be great In Aweber: until quite recently, you could make and test four variants of an email (making Awber's split testing operation better than many major competitors; Getresponse being a noteworthy exception).
For a few Reason split testing is currently completely unavailable in Aweber – I've been assured by their own sales team that it is coming back during the upcoming few months, but if you think you're going to need this operation desperately you might be best off considering an alternative email advertising solution.
In terms of how this compares With competing products, I would say that Aweber's reporting is much more comprehensive than that which is available in Campaign Monitor or Mad Mimi; nonetheless , I would argue that Mailchimp and Getresponse both provide better reporting ports.
With the latter two goods you Seem to have the ability to acquire more of an summary of information in one place, particularly when looking at the performance of individual e-newsletters.
You can choose to sign up your Users on either a single opt-in or a double opt-in basis (single opt-in is when a consumer is subscribed instantly after completing a form; double opt-in is when they need to click a link in a confirmation email to complete their subscription).
The two Approaches have their merits, so it is good to see Aweber being flexible in this respect – not all of competing options provide their clients with this choice.
Aweber Offers a decent range of integrations with other solutions. There are over 400 integrations available which allow you to join Aweber to different types of cloud-based software – web builders such as Wix or WordPress; CRM tools like Salesforce; landing pages such as Instapage and so on.
A number of these involve committed widgets; others demand including a snippet of code into a website; others involve a sync tool such as Zapier.
It is uncommon that Aweber will plug to other software quite as easily as Mailchimp (which appears to be the default'standard' email advertising option for a great deal of apps), but you shouldn't have too much trouble getting Aweber to operate with a wide selection of other SaaS (software as a service) apps.
Data in Aweber is Pretty straightforward. You can create sections not only depending on the contents of any field in your database, but also on consumer activity too – mails opened, web pages visited, links clicked, goods purchased and in the future. It is all very flexible and easy to use.
It is a bit tricky however To figure out how to get to the screen where you create the sections – you essentially have to go to a'handle subscribers' section, search for some subscribers and save the search for a segment.
To be fair, some solutions (such As Getresponse) use a similar approach to segment creation – although others (such as Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp) provide a much more findable'sections' section.
Regrettably Aweber doesn't let You broadcast mails to multiple sections at once, however. This will cause problems for many users who have a need to'pick and mix' segments in mailouts on a normal basis.
By way of instance, say you are a car dealer having a mailing list containing a field called'car version.' You've used this area to section your mailing list into owners of VW Polos, Golfs, Passats, Tiguans and Touregs.
You now have an offer that is Specifically pertinent to Polo, Golf and Passat owners, and you also wish to send a message about it to those three sections in one go.
The primary Facets of the Item That will nudge me in Aweber's direction are its ease-of-use and thorough support. The latter might be particularly important for some potential users, especially those starting out in e-marketing with no truckload of specialized abilities (you probably won't get stuck, but if you do, you can speak with an actual human being on an actual telephone line about your problem).
Support alternatives are more extensive than is the case with some key competing goods and according to Aweber's Stevie awards for client service, should be high.
It's reasonably priced – although not the most expensive product of its kind out there, it's more affordable than many similar solutions.
It's good import performance, with the option to import a wide range of file types and also add the email addresses you are importing directly into an abysmal cycle.
Segmenting information is relatively simple and you can use both area contents and consumer activity (email opens, hyperlinks clicked etc.) to create your segments.
A 14% reduction is available If you pay quarterly; a 14.9% discount is available if you pay yearly. There are also some discounts available for students and not-for-profit organisations.
1 Part of Aweber's pricing Construction that prospective users might like is that all of features are available on all programs – unlike any competing goods you don't need to be on more expensive plans to unlock specific performance.
It's worth noting that the aforementioned Comparisons do not actually apply to very small lists however – if you've got a small email database, a number of these competing products are better worth.
* A brief note about Campaign Monitor: there are a few cheaper Campaign Monitor programs available which allow you to host the very same quantities of email addresses outlined previously, but they restrict the amount of e-newsletters which it is possible to send them. For the sake of a fair comparison, I have referenced the prices for Campaign Monitor programs that permit unlimited broadcasts as these plans are similar in terms of ship volumes allowed to the Aweber ones.
That is just two examples of Course, and Aweber's competitors have different pricing tiers that will occasionally make Aweber more economical, sometimes more expensive. But normally I'd say Aweber is priced about in the center of the e-marketing solution scale.
Obviously, pricing is not exactly the Only variable you need to base your decision on. . .the more important consideration to work out is what bang you get for your buck.


text:
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Award-winning New Zealand - 2016 successes
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22 December 2016 (Updated)
New Zealand punches above its weight on the world stage - with recognition from prestigious publications and industry alike.
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Taranaki – a fertile volcanic region on the North Island's western extremity – has just been hailed as a rising international destination for 2017 by Lonely Planet.
Credit: Lola Photography
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Huka Lodge - a gracious 20-room lodge on the banks of the mighty Waikato River, in New Zealand's central North Island.
Credit: The Huka Retreats
Scrubby Bay at Annandale on Banks Peninsula - a coastal farm with four exclusive luxury villas in a spectacular landscape.
Credit: www.annandale.com
Waiheke Island's Cable Bay is perfect for an upscale dinner - the view back to Auckland is mesmerising.
Credit: Supplied
Split Apple Retreat Nelson by night.
Credit: www.splitapple.com
Queenstown Airport serves as a direct gateway to some of New Zealand's most renowned scenery and visitor experiences.
Credit: Queenstown Airport
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs looks across blue waters to the Cavalli Islands.
Credit: The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs
Helena Bay is a luxury destination for those seeking peace, privacy and unspoiled natural beauty.
Credit: Helena Bay
Aro Ha Wellness Retreat, Queenstown - swimming pool
Credit: http://www.aro-ha.com/
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New Zealand is shown to be an exceptional holiday destination - not only through its stunning landscapes and thrill seeking adventure activities, but through high levels of service and striving for the best possible visitor experience.
A proven favourite with presitigious publications such as The Telegraph and Lonely Planet, and industry peers, New Zealand has been recognised with top honours as a top travel destination and in categories covering luxury lodges, hotels and spas.
Destination New Zealand
New Zealand - #11 in Best Countries in the World
2016 – Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2016 (UK)
New Zealand - Favourite Country (fourth year in a row)
Telegraph Travel Awards 2015-16
New Zealand - Australasia's Leading Adventure Tourism Destination
Taranaki – runner up in World's Top 10 Regions
Lonely Planet's Best In Travel 2017
Off the beaten track but far from remote, Taranaki and its main city of New Plymouth sit on the western coast about halfway between the main centres of Auckland (in the north) and Wellington (in the south) of the North Island.
This is a region of great natural beauty, remarkable at the very least for its sheer photogenic qualities ranging from volcanic Mt Taranaki – which dominates the rainforest and rich green pastures of one of New Zealand's most productive regions (agriculture on shore and oil and gas fields off-shore) - all the way to its wild black sand beaches and the pounding surf of some of New Zealand's finest surf breaks.
Waiheke Island - #4 The World's Best Islands, #1 The Best Islands in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
Travel & Leisure World's Best Awards 2016
Queenstown - Australasia's Leading Destination
East Day Spa - Oceania's Best Hotel Spa and New Zealand's Best Hotel Spa
World Spa Awards 2016
New Zealand – Oceania's Best Spa Destination
One of New Zealand's largest premiere luxury day spas, East Day Spa opened 11 years ago in the five-star SKYCITY Grand Hotel.
East Day Spa's haven of calm, wellness and beauty sits right in the heart of Auckland city offering a range of expertly crafted massages inspired by ancient Eastern healing traditions, alongside modern beauty therapies. With a philosophy centred on stimulating holistic well-being, the spa specialises in holistic Eastern-style massage and was designed to provide peace and relaxation in an 'East meets West' ambiance.
Votes in the World Spa Awards were cast by professionals working within the spa industry, senior executives, travel buyers, tour operators, agents and hundreds of thousands of spa consumers in more than 90 countries.
Split Apple Retreat - Best Destination Luxury Spa
Condé Nast Johansen Award for Excellence 2017
Split Apple Retreat is an exclusive-use villa and lodge perched on the water's edge of Abel Tasman National Park, in New Zealand's northern South Island. It features three luxurious suites, all with 180-degree ocean views and the Abel Tasman National Park.
Every aspect of the Retreat revolves around relaxation with access to two private beaches, an infinity pool overlooking the Tasman Sea and gourmet yet healthy food prepared by a trained chef.
Aro Ha Wellness Retreat - #2 The 15 Best Wellness Retreats
Condé Nast Traveler (US)
Overlooking glacial-fed Lake Wakatipu and near the alpine resort town of Queenstown, in New Zealand's South Island, Aro Hā is a purpose-built wellness retreat that aims to refresh, rejuvenate and reignite all those who walk through its doors.
Aro Hā is located on the Wyuna Preserve, a 40-minute drive from Queenstown, and five minutes from the small historic settlement of Glenorchy - on the way to another little place called Paradise and gateway to Fiordland, Mt Aspiring National Park and some of the most spectacular scenery New Zealand has to offer. Surrounded by 21 acres of sub-alpine terrain, the 20-room retreat constructed in natural materials is pure minimalist.
Lodges & Hotels
Kauri Cliffs - #1 World's Best Hotels: Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
Other New Zealand properties featured in this list:
Huka Lodge - #3 World's Best Hotels: Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
Sofitel Hotel and Spa Queenstown - #9 World's Best Hotels: Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
Huka Lodge - #3 The 100 Best Hotels in the World, #1 The Best Resort Hotels in Australia and New Zealand, Travel & Leisure World's Best Awards 2016
Huka Lodge – New Zealand's first and oldest luxury lodge – is one of the most celebrated. It is located in the heart of the North Island, on the outskirts of the geothermal oasis of Taupo.
Set within 17 acres of a magnificent Garden of National Significance, on the banks of the teal-hued mighty Waikato River and just above the thundering Huka Falls, Huka Lodge offers a range of luxury accommodation options. There are 18 Jnr Lodge Suites, one Lodge Suite and two exclusive cottages - The Owner's Cottage and the Alan Pye Cottage - both designed and decorated to reflect the outdoor lovers' paradise of the Taupo region.
Other New Zealand properties featured:
The Farm at Cape Kidnappers - #3 The Best Resort Hotels in Australia and New Zealand
Matakauri Lodge - #5 The Best Resort Hotels in Australia and New Zealand
Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2016 (UK) selected Huka Lodge as #3, Best Hotel in Australasia & the South Pacific. Four other New Zealand luxury lodges featured in this list:
Blanket Bay - #6 Best Hotel in Australasia & the South Pacific
Otahuna Lodge - #9 Best Hotel in Australasia & the South Pacific
Kauri Cliffs - #15 Best Hotel in Australasia & the South Pacific
Eagles Nest - #18 Best Hotel in Australasia & the South Pacific
The World Travel Awards 2016 selected Annandale as Australasia's and the World's Leading Experiential Luxury Property - for the second year running.
Annandale is rural New Zealand at its best: in one of the world's most spectacular coastal locations, it is a 4000-acre sheep and cattle farm that offers exclusive use of four distinctive luxury villas with relaxed Kiwi-style informality.
Located on Banks Peninsula, south of Christchurch, Annandale was developed in 1843 and was one of the earliest and most renowned farms in the South Island. As one of New Zealand's newest luxury accommodations (opened 2013), Annandale has been beautifully transformed into a secluded coastal escape.
SkyCity Auckland – Australasia's leading Casino Resort
World Travel Awards 2016: SkyCity Auckland gained this accolade for the third year in a row, and the fourth time in total.
The Residence at The George – Australasia's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa
The Residence, opened in 2016 as an exclusive property alongside the exceptional George Hotel in Christchurch, is already turning heads as one of New Zealand's leading luxury offerings.
The lovingly restored 1950's character villa, offers the best of both worlds - access to full hotel services, but the privacy and exclusiveness of a private villa. The luxury property has been styled in the era of its time, with wood panelling and marble bench tops, and features some of the latest technology to appease every comfort.
Eagle's Nest - Australasia's Leading Villa Resort and New Zealand's Leading Resort
Eagle's Nest is a luxurious multi-award-winning private retreat, styled as "somewhere between seven stars and heaven", and located within 27 hectares (75 acres) of lush estate near the historic seaside village of Russell, in the Bay of Islands.
The private haven has hosted many Hollywood celebrities - Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are rumoured to have stayed there. Most recently it was visited by Indian Bollywood Mega Star Sidharth Malhotra.
The resort consists of five luxury villas that are available fully-staffed with a personal chef, personal trainer, massage therapist and chauffeur. This is the third year in a row that Eagle's Nest has scooped this award.
Hotel DeBrett Auckland - #4, Top Hotels in Australia & New Zealand
Readers' Choice Awards 2016 - Condé Nast Traveler (US)
Hotel DeBrett was the only New Zealand hotel, and the only boutique property to feature in this Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice list. In prime downtown Auckland, surrounded by business and fashion precincts, Hotel DeBrett pays particular attention to retaining its architectural Art Deco features, overlaid with modern comforts. Every room is individually designed and complemented with eclectic furniture, New Zealand art and photography.
Also featured in this list:
Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa - #8, Top Hotels in Australia & New Zealand
Aro Ha Wellness Retreat - #2, Top 25 Resorts in Australia & the South Pacific
Reader's Choice Awards 2016 - Condé Nast Traveler (US)
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs - #6, Top 25 Resorts in Australia & the South Pacific
Heritage Christchurch – Best Luxury Historical Hotel Australasia and Oceania region
2016 World Luxury Hotel Awards
Heritage Christchurch offers guests comfort and class in a building with a 103 year legacy. Originally the Old Government Building built in 1913, the property was transformed into the hotel in 1995, and is now listed as a category one building on the Historic Places Trust Register, reflecting its status as a building of national significance.
The building stood strong through the 2011 major earthquake that hit the region, with only minor structural damage. Today Heritage Christchurch graces the ever-changing central city still with its stunning staircases, wide hall ways and beautiful high ceilings.
Greenhill Lodge - #1 Small Luxury Hotels of the World "Commitment to Quality" Award
Small Luxury Hotels Awards 2016
This award recognises and honours SLH member hotels that have gone above and beyond to provide the ultimate guest experience and exemplify the luxury brand's 'independently minded'.
Helena Bay - #1 Best New Hotels in the World
Luxury Travel Intelligence
Helena Bay is New Zealand's newest luxury offering, situated in sunny Northland on the unspoiled Tutukaka Coast. Private and secluded, it is easily accessible from Auckland and guests can choose to arrive from there by helicopter or by road. Helena Bay has been designed to meet high expectations of comfort and style for those who seek peace, privacy and the opportunity to be close to the unspoiled beauty of nature, whilst enjoying a very sophisticated level of hospitality.
Travel group Luxury Travel Intelligence specialises in assessing high-end accommodation and providing in depth and honest information to its member only clientele.
Queenstown Airport - #3 'World's Most Scenic Airport Landing'
PrivateFly 2015
Queenstown Airport is one of Australasia's fastest-growing airports and is New Zealand's fourth busiest airport for passenger numbers, hosting 1.65 million passengers in the 2015-2016 financial year. It serves as a direct gateway to some of New Zealand's most renowned scenery and visitor experiences. Total passenger movements through the airport have increased 18 per cent on the previous year.
Located in Frankton, 10 minutes from the internationally renowned four-season resort of Queenstown, the airport services the surrounding region with daily domestic flights and regular direct trans-Tasman flights.
Air New Zealand - Australasia's Leading Airline (8th consecutive year)
Air New Zealand - Airline of the year 2017 (4th consecutive year)
AirlineRatings.com
Air New Zealand – # 3 Best Longhaul Airline
Air New Zealand - #7 The World's Best International Airlines
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Dennis Trautwein
Dennis Trautwein completed his Bachelor's and Master's degree in Applied Physics at the University of Kiel, Germany, before transitioning into a software engineering role at freiheit.com in Hamburg. There, he built the real-time event supply infrastructure for the Daimler Mercedes Me app, which is still in use today. In 2020, Dennis transitioned back into academia as an industrial PhD candidate at the University of Göttingen and joined the working group of Prof. Dr Bela Gipp, focusing on decentralized technologies in the area of peer-to-peer networks and especially peer-to-peer networking protocols. In 2022, he joined Protocol Labs as a Research Engineer to work on measuring and benchmarking decentralized networks and network protocols, while still pursuing in parallel his PhD at the University of Göttingen.
Hole punching in the wild
Learnings from running libp2p hole punching in production, measured from vantage points across the globe. Sunday H.1301 (Cornil) Network 11:45 12:15
Decentralized Storage with IPFS
How does it work under the hood? Sunday H.1301 (Cornil) Network 14:45 15:15


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Campaign for an English Parliament
on 15.11.2005 in UK Politics
There have been rumblings for a while about the inbalance in the UK political system where MPs from Wales and Scotland can decide legislation only applying to England. There was also the absurd example of Scottish MP John Reid, representing a Scottish constituency, but yet being Secretary of State for Health but without powers over health policy in Scotland (it's devolved). These are examples of the so-called West Lothian Question – see this page from Wikipedia for a full explanation.
Anyway, today I happened to stumble across the Campaign for an English Parliament – see their site here. Seems that it is mainly run by Conservative Party sympathisers, and their motivation seems to be bang-the-drum Englishness, rather than the need for the UK to have a sensible and organised political system. Even so, the fact that regional governance is even still up for debate in the UK is to be welcomed… Federalism for the UK is really the solution, but sadly that concept is even further away than federalism for the EU!
No problem Jon. We do have a lot of Conservative supporters but I'd say that we had a disproportionately large number of Lib Dem supporters. The Lib Dems are the party that consult us more, and whose MPs are more likely to help or consult us – we even particiate in their focus groups on constitutional issues. The Tories are generally sympathetic but stand-offish although they do invite us to their 'think-tanks'. Labour just ignore.
The national council has members of all three main parties.
Regions would be OK as long as they came under the jurisdiction of an English parliament. England deserves no less than any other nation.
I don't see why there cannot be an English parliament with MPs dual-mandated to oversee regional bodies. Having said that I would scrap Prescott's white-elephants and return democracy to local level.
My apologies – I came across the campaign thanks to debates about what David Cameron would do about the question of an English Parliament if he was elected Tory leader, and have not heard of any significant discussion of this issue in either of the other 2 main parties.
You probably have to admit that you get more support for your campaign from people who tend to support the Tories though?
In principle, I am quite OK with the idea of an English Parliament (although some system of regions might be better).
Sorry for the confusion!
How do you come to the conclusion that we are Conservative Party sympathisers. We constantly attack the Tories for their ludicrous 'English votes' policy.
As far as I am concerned the only solution is a federal UK.
Topic 1 for NL-UK dialogue: rail tickets (London-Bruxelles-Rotterdam) - 2011


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There are plenty of scooter options for young kids who are just getting into the sport. Sometimes it feels like there's too many to choose from, especially when you're not sure of exactly what you need. We'll attempt to break it down and make the process a bit easier!
Most kids that are over 8 years old can ride a standard standard stunt scooter. However, if a child is under 8, they may need a product that's designed specifically for their age group. Otherwise, you risk purchasing a scooter that's too tall or heavy, making it generally difficult to ride.
Children under 8 are most likely to benefit from an adjustable scooter. These scooters have handlebars that can be raised or lowered in height, so they're comfortable to ride immediately, and can grow with them, too. As you can imagine, adjustable scooters provide excellent value for money. The majority of folding scooters are also adjustable, too, making them extremely portable and easy to chuck in the boot of a car, or a cupboard for storage. Many also have carry straps, so you can sling them over your shoulder with ease.
Children under 5 may benefit from a 3-wheel scooter while they learn to balance. Again, these often adjustable for convenience.
There are many different brands to look out for, but JD Bug is one of the most established for kids' scooters. Slamm and Madd Gear also release a few lines for younger kids who would like to try stunt scootering. Just pay careful attention to the product description to ensure you're buying the right model for the age group required.
As always, the more you spend, the better quality youメre likely to get. However, there's no need to spend the earth if you have a child who just wants a scooter to ride to school. £50 is a reasonable budget, but there are some decent models available for as little as £30. If youメd like to buy a scooter thatメs strong enough for the skate park, you should look at spending around £80.


Bull Bear Trader: How Do You Justify Taking On More Risk? Project No Losses.
How Do You Justify Taking On More Risk? Project No Losses.
There is an interesting article by Andrew Ross Sorkin over at the Dealbook blog (see article here), discussing how the FDIC is justifying its participation in the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP). In effect, the FDIC is insuring the PPIP in the name of mitigating systemic risk. While the FDIC is not suppose to guarantee obligations of more than $30 billion, for the PPIP it is not considering total obligations, but contingent liabilities, or what it expects to lose - which conveniently, they project to be nothing. This form of logic essentially allows them to lend an unlimited amount of money. Yet under the PPIP plan, the public-private pool will be financed at a ratio of 6-to-1 public-to-private money, with half of the "1" coming from the private buyer, and the other half coming from the Treasury. With this debt being non-recourse and guaranteed by the government, the risk to the government (i.e., tax payers) would be significant and fully felt. In some ways, it appears that the program will either work wonderfully, or end horribly. Maybe I am missing something, but this sounds like as risky a leveraged bet as I have ever heard. Regrettably, this appears to be just another example of solving a problem caused by taking on too much debt and risk by, you guessed it, taking on too much debt and risk. Why does the term "double down" come to mind? I don't know about you, but I am hoping we hit 21. Otherwise, it may be a long bus ride home.