Welcome to Daily Blog no 15! Today I am going to share with you where to stay in Sydney, Australia. Did you know Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs and residents of Sydney are known as "Sydney Siders"? As most of you don't know, Sydney was my first international travel from Nepal back in 2006 and I loved it here so much I didn't leave till 2015! During those 9 years, I moved multiple times from one suburb to another and have experienced living pretty much in all directions. I never thought this knowledge would come in handy! Well, with that in mind, let's start. Dear readers, I am challenging myself to produce Daily quality blog posts. You can show your support by subscribing here.
If you are a convenience person like I am, you would find staying in Sydney CBD handy and worry-free. Although CBD would be busy during the office hours, whichever direction you want to explore, it is easier from here. Whether it be Bondi in the east or national parks in the North or south and west. Just get the Opal card from one of the convenience stores and use public transportation for budget trips. There are also many sites to visit that are within walking distance of the CBD. Read this article for some ideas. The following suburbs are in 10-20 mins walking distance from the CBD depending on which end of the city you are in – Circular Quay station area, The Rocks, Pyrmont, Haymarket, Townhall station area, Surry Hills, China Town and Darling Harbour.
If you want to check out Airbnb in Sydney, I have got $25 discount with Airbnb for all my readers, get it here.
Vaucluse, Rose Bay, Darling Point, Dover Heights, Double Bay, Point Piper, Woollahra, Edgecliff, Woolloomooloo, Watsons Bay, Potts Point, Rushcutters Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Bellevue Hill, Bondi Junction, Bondi, Bronte, Tamarama, Queens Park, Waverley, Clovelly, Coogee, Maroubra, Kingsford, and Randwick are some great choices in the eastern suburbs. If you dream about living on the beach, going for walk by the ocean or surfing right after you wake up, the eastern suburbs got you covered. There are public transportation available and would take about 35 mins to and from the city so, you are still pretty close to the main attractions and landmarks. You can have the ocean view apartment, hotels or an Airbnb with a million dollar location.
I have got $25 discount with Airbnb for all my readers, get it here.
Now if you like to experience the hip lifestyle, cool cafes, bars and gratifies then the inner-west area is for you. Such as Newtown, Strathfield, Burwood, Marrickville, and Canada Bay. Strathfield and Burwood you can find a lot of Korean and Lebanese restaurants respectively and Marrickville and Newtown have some cool and LGBT friendly restaurants and bars. Although you won't find 5-star hotels in inner-west suburbs but if you are looking to stay somewhere close to hip vibes then this is it.
You can use $25 discount with Airbnb here I got for you, my readers.
Some people say, Northern Sydney is where real Aussies live! Though I don't fully agree with that statements, I will leave it to you to find out! Milsons Point, Neutral Bay, North Sydney, Chatswood, Manly (Sydney ferry ride) are great suburbs in the north to stay. Close to water, transport and the city. So, you can still visit the main highlights I shared here.
Find the stylish apartments in Airbnb for your stay, use $25 discount here.
Brighton-Le-Sands (close to the beach and airport), Hurstville, Mascot, Wolli Creek, Cronulla (beach/sand dunes) and Ramsgate Beach are great options in the South. These suburbs are a train ride away from the city too so, not really that far. The taxi fare to the airport would be cheaper from the south as well as it falls in the direction of the international airport. There may be some hotels you can find in these suburbs but I suggest looking at Airbnb as well.
which area would you like to stay?
where have you stayed in Sydney?
Read about must do things in Sydney here.
Sydney looks so beautiful and has so many fun activities!! Looking forward to visiting one day!
Australia is on my bucket list and I'm hoping to go as a celebration when I graduate with my master's degree! I'll have to keep this list in mind.
If I'll ever go to Sydney I think I would love to stay in a hotel close to the water or the beaches. If it has a view of the Sydney Opera House, even better!
I think Southern Suburbs are right up my alley! Close to the beach and conveniently located to the airport are always what I look for when I travel!
Actuallu, the Canon Powershot takes really nice images. I am choosing a compact camera for myself… so may get this canon eventually.
Australia has been on my travel Bucket list for a while now. Thank you for sharing your fav places to stay!
Another informative post, Anna! You're quickly becoming my "go-to" source for Sydney, Australia. That's one of the many things I respected most about my dearly departed travel vlogging guru, Anthony Bourdain. He always networked with and tapped into the knowledge and resources of local blogger wherever he travelled.
For my purposes as a cruise tour planner, this post is very helpful. As I've mentioned on another of your posts, I like to encourage my clients to extend their vacays in or near their port of departure where they can begin and/or end their cruise for a number of reasons including allowing themselves a greater opportunity to really experience the culture of the destination.
Sydney happens to be a very popular port of departure and port of call. It's great to be able to offer my clients an array of distinctive neighbourhoods to choose from as their base from which to explore Sydney and beyond. I've already pinned your post to share with clients; especially those open to a more "authentic" Airbnb experience. I'm sure they'd appreciate the $25 discount, too.
Thanks for this comprehensive list of stays in Sydney. I have heard that being an island country, travelling to Australia could be costly. In that case, knowing ahead of where to stay is a bonus point.
Australia is on my list! I've met so many Aussies through my travels and I would love to visit someday!
How I wish to visit Sydney as well soon! It was another destination that I find enticing and fit to my lifestyle.
I'm planning to visit early next year so perfect that I came across your awesome recommendations! The Eastern Suburbs sounds amazing! You had me at ocean views!


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HomepoliticsObama Administration Fines JPMorgan $13 Billion Over Mortgage Debacle
Obama Administration Fines JPMorgan $13 Billion Over Mortgage Debacle
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
JPMorgan has agreed to a $13 billion settlement over mortgage-backed securities sold ahead of the financial crisis, officials announced Tuesday.
The Justice Department called the agreement "the largest settlement with a single entity in American history."
At issue are allegations that JPMorgan and firms it later purchased, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, sold risky mortgage securities during the housing bubble while misrepresenting their quality. These securities later failed in huge numbers, playing a key role in the 2008 crisis.
"Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
As part of the agreement, JPMorgan admitted to making "serious misrepresentations" to investors in mortgage-backed securities, the Justice Department said.
Samsung's Offer to Install 'kill Switch' in Its Smartphones Rejected
The Top 10 Richest Black Men in the World.
Bank executives were at pains to emphasize that they had not admitted to any specific violation of the law during a conference call with analysts Tuesday. Such an admission would provide ammunition for private lawsuits.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement the firm was "pleased to have concluded this extensive agreement."
The $13 billion figure includes a $4 billion settlement announced last month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which has overseen government-backed housing finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since their 2008 bailout. JPMorgan agreed to pay $4 billion to resolve securities fraud claims and another $1.1 billion to repurchase mortgages sold to Fannie and Freddie.
Fannie and Freddie purchased billions of dollars' worth of mortgage-backed securities ahead of the crisis and required a government rescue in 2008 when those investments soured.
Tuesday's agreement, rumored for weeks, drew Dimon to Washington in September for negotiations with Holder.
Some $4 billion of the settlement has been earmarked to help consumers. This total includes $2 billion to be used for principal reductions for borrowers, and $2 billion worth of other assistance, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
This assistance includes loan refinancing, donation of bank-owned properties, and new mortgage loans to low- and moderate-income families harmed by the crisis.
An independent monitor has been appointed to ensure compliance by the bank, which has agreed to complete the consumer-focused efforts by the end of 2017.
The National Credit Union Association will receive a $1.4 billion cash payment under the settlement, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will get $515 million. Among the states who brought claims against the bank, California will receive $299 million; Delaware will get $20 million; Illinois gets $100 million; Massachusetts receives $34 million; and New York will receive $614 million.
JPMorgan says the payments to the states and the two agencies — along with the $4 billion due to Fannie and Freddie — will be tax-deductible. The final $2 billion of the settlement consists of a penalty to be paid to the Justice Department, which is not tax-deductible.
As part of the accord, JPMorgan agreed not to pursue reimbursement for the costs associated with Washington Mutual from a WaMu receivership controlled since the bank's 2008 failure by the FDIC.
JPMorgan has argued that the FDIC is responsible for WaMu's liabilities, and Dimon told analysts the firm would "vigorously pursue" the FDIC receivership for costs associated with WaMu from private lawsuits.
The settlement does not address the question of whether any individual bankers engaged in criminal wrongdoing. There is an ongoing federal probe on this issue in California with which JPMorgan has agreed to cooperate.
JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake said conduct at Bear Stearns and at WaMu prior to their 2008 acquisitions accounted for the lion's share of costs in Tuesday's settlement. JPMorgan "typically accounted for 20% or less of total losses" on the securities at issue in the case.
Other banks will likely be on the hook for similar settlements. Holder said Tuesday that JPMorgan "was not the only financial institution during this period to knowingly bundle toxic loans and sell them to unsuspecting investors."
JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) was just one of 18 financial institutions FHFA sued in 2011, accusing them of selling Fannie and Freddie securities that "had different and more risky characteristics than the descriptions contained in the marketing and sales materials."
The Justice Department, meanwhile, is reportedly looking to use the expected settlement with JPMorgan as a template for deals with other financial institutions suspected of engaging in similar tactics during the housing bubble.
The case is the latest in a series of legal headaches for JPMorgan, the country's largest bank by assets.
Last week, JPMorgan announced a $4.5 billion settlement with institutional investors who suffered losses on bubble-era mortgage securities. The firm has paid over $1 billion in fines in connection with last year's "London Whale" trading debacle, and $80 million more over alleged unfair credit card billing practices.
In July, the bank agreed to pay $410 million to settle charges that it manipulated electricity prices in California and the Midwest. It is also facing scrutiny over its hiring practices in China and its alleged involvement in the Libor rate-fixing scandal.
JPMorgan posted a loss for the third quarter based on its massive legal expenses. Dimon called the loss "painful" and warned that litigation costs could continue to be a drag on earnings for several quarters.
The bank said at the time that it was holding $23 billion in reserve for potential litigation expenses, but that its legal costs could be nearly $6 billion more than that in a worst-case scenario.
While JPMorgan is shelling out a staggering amount of money, the bank is large enough to absorb the costs. It booked $21.3 billion in net income for 2012, and has assets of $2.5 trillion.
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Funeral Home Settles Lawsuit that Led to Major LGBTQ Ruling
(Source:Getty Images)
A Detroit-area funeral home has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit that led to a groundbreaking decision that protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.
Aimee Stephens, 59, died weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court in June said she was covered by federal civil rights law.
Stephens worked as an embalmer and funeral home director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Garden City. She was fired in 2013 when she told her boss that she no longer wanted to be recognized as a man. She said she wanted to be known as Aimee and would report to work wearing a conservative skirt suit or dress.
Stephens' boss said her appearance would be a distraction for grieving families.
The business is paying $130,000 to Stephens' estate, plus $120,000 in legal costs and fees. U.S. District Judge Sean Cox approved the settlement Monday, The Detroit News reported.
Harris Homes will also begin providing clothing benefits to female employees, a benefit that had previously been available only to men, the newspaper reported.
Paramount Christmas Prize Package!
Ford Takes 2 of 3 North American Vehicle of the Year Awards
New App Will Cater to Black LGBTQ Travelers


Informing everyone about all the new cookie flavors, then invite others to check them out and asks them to tell friends.
Always set your goal higher than you did before, and work hard to achieve it. That way, you can set a vision in your head of where you want to go so you can keep selling more and more cookies, until you finally get to the best that you can be.
I went to the Fall Top Seller Carnival in the Low Desert on Saturday, January 16, 2016. This carnival celebrates the girls who sold the most during the Fall Product sales. Helpful volunteers came in to start up the event, and Top Sellers from all over the Low Desert came in to participate. There were carnival games like bowling, bean bag toss, skee-ball, and many others. While the Scouts munched on cotton candy and had a good time, they got tickets and were able to get a few things from the prize booth, which made all the girls happy.
I also interviewed Daniella, a Junior Juliette, who is a Girl Scout who sells with no troop but with an adult mentor. She gave me a few more tips on cookie selling. Daniella's top selling strategy was going door-to-door to sell cookies, and being friendly with people. She sets her goals by working towards the best she can be and moving along as a Girl Scout, so she can sell 2000 boxes this year, which will get her a Disney VIP tour! It may seem like an impossible task but it has been done before and anyone else can do it too, if you put your mind to it. Daniella also gave great advice to other Girl Scouts on how to do this achievement; her advice is to simply "be kind,"the essence of the Girl Scout Law: to be friendly, honest, and helpful.
It was great interviewing some of the top achieving Fall Product sellers. Hopefully their pointers and tips can help increase your sales goals this year!


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Make a style statement in this ultra-feminine dress from Adrianna Papell.


Sometimes it is P3 where a dieter can go wrong. Many of the clinics and doctors out there today providing the HCG diet have never actually done the diet themselves, so often these people are relying on what they hear, what they see on the web, in support groups etc.
experienced it myself I thought those doing it already were idiots. Thankfully I opened my mind and tried something new by giving actual HCG injections a try.
Many times these clinics and doctors just hire someone that has done the diet and they pick that persons brain. It is not uncommon that the clinic or the doctor that has never done the HCG diet provides some information that is not really the best nor is it accurate.
How do I know all this? I manage several HCG support groups online and the information is coming straight from the actual clients of those doctors and clinics themselves. One story after another and not to mention one of my doctors and I talked about it at length as well so even first hand knowledge. My own doctor said he didn't understand and he kept asking how do you do this and how do you do that etc. He said he was thinking of starting a program for his practice.
The next time I saw that same doctor he had forgotten our entire conversation and this time when I said something to him about how I was losing weight and doing well he blurted out "I wont put you on anything but if you want to try the HCG diet I will give you $50 bucks off." This is the same man that only a couple months before didn't understand and kept asking ME for advice on how the HCG diet works.
These same doctors charge extra for maintenance because they don't understand that the diet is no good unless you complete a min of 3 weeks on maintenance to reset the hypothalamus. To simplify maintenance it means a no sugar and no starch diet for a min of 3 weeks.
I recently met a woman that was doing HCG injections with one of those very popular clinics that you hear about constantly on the radio and the clinic that was already $700 for a 45 day program was charging an extra $500 to get the maintenance information or what many like to call P3. What good is this diet without the maintenance information?
P3 is the most important part of this diet and if not followed properly all the weight you just worked so hard to lose will come rushing back with a vengeance. So hopefully this helps.
When we get to P3 (maintenance) it doesn't mean that you get to eat whatever you like.
You must follow a diet minus sugars and starches for a min of 3 weeks after the completion of a round of injections or min of 25 HCG injections. Thats it those are the only restrictions put on us in Dr. Simeon's Protocol. Of course we should probably use some common sense in combination with that one rule. For some dieters not having structure is the worst thing that can happen but it can also teach us how to eat naturally without having to count calories.
When in P3 you may have the same amount of carbs you allowed yourself in P2 so if you had corn tortillas, sprouted breads, or sour dough on P2 then you can carry that into your P3 with those same limitations.
I limit myself to 1 carb or one serving of a starch per meal in P2 and P3 but only for 2 total meals just like I would if I were on P2.
I realize the protocol says no sugar and no starch for P3 but P2 is also no sugar and no starch yet we are allowed sugars naturally occurring in fruit and also the Grissini which many of you substitute with an alternate carb either a sprouted bread, corn tortillas, or 1 serving of sour dough bread as mentioned above. We find that this works well for both P2 and P3.
Many people just double their P2 foods when they are in P3.
When in P3 listen for your hunger cues and don't eat out of boredom or while watching t.v. or just because its noon and its time to eat. If you are not hungry then don't feed your body the calories that it does not need.
Continue to treat yourself right by increasing the amount of vegetables and fruit that you eat. Your plate should have more veggies on it than anything else. Get fat into your diet without it your body will not function properly. I stick to olive oil and coconut oil.
If you find the scale moving up 2 pounds the protocol says to have a steak day. The steak day would consist of nothing all day except for dinner, a big juicy steak and an apple. By morning you should have dropped those 2 pounds. We have tested this theory and split the steak day up into steak and a veggie for lunch and steak and a veggie or lots of veggies for dinner and it works equally as well as not eating all day and then getting in just one meal.
If it is outside of mealtimes and you feel hungry it is o.k. to snack but, try drinking a glass of water first. Our bodies cannot determine the difference between hunger and thirst so many times when thirsty we are receiving the signal in our brains to eat. The body does this to survive. Our bodies can take the food we eat and separate the water that it needs from the food. Don't make your body do this extra work that it is not intended to do daily by feeding it what it needs first.....water.


We had to skip our weekly contest Who's That? Contest last week due to some unexpected news, but we're back! Let's see if you can guess this week's fashion industry icon.
Think you know who she is? Tell us in the comments below – and, if you can – include the significance of the clues!


The 61st Annual Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder will commence with its annual participant march through the historic Norlin Quadrangle and into Macky Auditorium at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 6.
The procession will travel along a walkway lined with more than 80 international flags from south to north and proceed into the auditorium for the 11:30 a.m. keynote address by former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, chairman of the Atlantic Council of the United States.
Leading the march will be CU President Bruce Benson, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson, CWA Director Jim Palmer, CWA co-chairs Jane Butcher and Juli Steinhauer, and Hagel. They will be joined by conference participants, students and CWA volunteers.
Benson will make welcoming remarks and introduce Hagel prior to his keynote address on "21st Century International Relations." Hagel served two terms in the U.S. Senate representing Nebraska from 1997 to 2009, and is a distinguished professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The keynote address is free and open to the public, as are all 190 CWA events being held April 6-10.
At 4 p.m. Monday, film critic Roger Ebert will make his 39th conference appearance at another CWA tradition, "Cinema Interruptus." Each year Ebert leads an analysis of one film over several days after screening it in its uninterrupted form on Monday. His selection this year is "Chop Shop," an independent film by Iranian-American director, Ramin Bahrani, who will join Ebert in this year's analysis.
The theme of this year's conference is "Perspective 360." A complete schedule and biographies of all 97 conference participants are available online at www.colorado.edu/cwa.
The eight primary sponsors of this year's conference are the Camera, Albion Interactive, Boulder Weekly, Alem International Management, Circle Graphics, Gold Lake Resort, Hotel Boulderado and OneRiot Social Search Engine.


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U.S. $1B Pledge To Gavi 'Will Pay Dividends For Generations To Come'
National Security Council: The GAVI Pledge: An Investment in Future Generations
Gayle Smith, special assistant to President Obama and senior director at the National Security Council, and Brian Deese, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, discuss the U.S. pledge of $1 billion over four years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, writing, "There is no better investment than in the future of our children, and we have no greater responsibility than protecting them. Vaccines save lives, both at home and abroad, and today's pledge will pay dividends for generations to come" (1/27).
Global Health Funding in the FY 2023 Omnibus
Senate Appropriations Committee Releases FY23 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) and Labor, Health and Human Services (Labor HHS) Appropriations Bills
House Appropriations Committee Releases the FY23 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) Appropriations Bill


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Justin Bieber Denies Sexual Abuse Allegations and Provides Proof
"Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed," Bieber explained. "However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action."
New York Repeals Police Secrecy Law After Letter Signed by Rihanna, Billie Eilish, and More
New York State lawmakers have decided to pass a bill to repeal statute 50-A, which keeps police officers' disciplinary and personnel records private, following an open letter signed by hundreds in the entertainment industry.
Justin Bieber Admits to and Apologizes for Benefiting From Black Culture
In a note shared with his 138 million Instagram followers on Saturday, Justin opened up about how black culture has played a role in his career.
Hailey Baldwin Remembers Her First Kiss With Justin Bieber
Fans of Justin and Hailey Bieber are getting special sneak peeks into the lives of the lovebirds through their series, "The Biebers on Facebook Watch." Recently, Hailey relived her first kiss with Justin.
Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber Slam Tekashi 6ix9ine's Billboard Bribery Accusation
Days after Tekashi 6ix9ine accused Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber of cheating their way to the top of the Billboard charts, this week's number 1 artists are speaking out.
Justin Bieber Reveals He Wish He Saved Himself for Marriage
In the couple's new Facebook Watch series, 'The Biebers On Watch,' a fan got deep, asking if there was anything either of them would change about their past.
Who Is Dalton Gomez? Ariana Grande's New Dance Partner and Possible Boyfriend
With the arrival of Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's quarantine collaboration single "Stuck With U," along with a music video that shows Ari adorably dancing with Dalton, we think it's safe to assume they're officially an item.
WORLD PREMIERE: Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande 'Stuck With U'
Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande have joined forces once again, this time for a great cause and an amazing slice of Pop perfection on "Stuck With U."
Hailey Bieber Reveals She Was 'Grieving' After Split From Justin Bieber
The couple got married in 2018, but not before they worked through a breakup in 2016. Now, they are revealing how they overcame the moment and how it helped build the foundation for their marriage.
Justin and Hailey Bieber Give Us an Exclusive Look Into Their Lives With New Facebook Series
Justin and Hailey Bieber, announced Monday that they will be giving us a look into their quarantine life as they launch a new Facebook Watch series called, 'The Biebers.'


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Q: Function depending on a cell word I want to copy the .setValue if a word ("Refresh") appears (from a dropdown) in a cell.
The copy part works perfectly but the first part does not.
function myRecalculate(){

var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById("------");
var sheet1 = ss.getSheetByName("News_raw");
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Cosway Estates are delighted to present a luxury apartment located on the First Floor, in a sought after gated development and within walking distance to Mill Hill Broadway.
The property, which has been finished to an exceptional specification and is flooded with natural light, offers three double bedrooms, two ensuite bathrooms, superb family bathroom, fully fitted kitchen and spacious living room.
The small block features allocated parking and lift access and is situated just a short walk away from Mill Hill Broadway and Mill Hill Park.


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Episode 070 - The Vanishing of Niqui McCown
Twenty-eight Niqui McCown was a loving mother and sister. She was eagerly anticipating her upcoming wedding in August of 2001. However, just three weeks before she was to be married, on July 22nd, Niqui went to a local laundromat and was never seen again.
In the weeks following her disappearance, Niqui's fiance became a person of interest, and then the father of her daughter and, finally a former co-worker with a violent streak. Despite theories and suspicions, no evidence could be found to pin the crime on any particular person.
Three months later, Niqui's vehicle was discovered abandoned in a parking lot and through investigation, law enforcement was able to make connections between her disappearance and one of the person's of interest, who would later become the subject of an unrelated homicide investigation. However, before police can move in, a shocking twist brings the entire investigation to a halt.
What happened to Niqui McCown and will we ever know the truth?
Listen to 070 - The Vanishing of Niqui McCown
Watch YouTube Video
true crime, trace evidence, true crime podcast, pacheco, unsolved, unsolved mysteries, true crime community, forensic files, podcast, brandy hanna,zeke lankford, ray mcadams, north charleston, missing person, murder


Image Title: Stainless Steel Liquid Soap Dispenser Promotion Deck Mount Brushed Throughout In Sink Decor 4. Post Title: In Sink Soap Dispenser. Filename: stainless-steel-liquid-soap-dispenser-promotion-deck-mount-brushed-throughout-in-sink-decor-4.jpg. Image Dimension: 640 x 640 pixels. Images Format: jpg/jpeg. Publisher/Author: Hardy Jast. Uploaded Date: Monday - October 08th. 2018 13:44:07 PM. Category: Architecture. Image Source: housetohome.co.uk. Soap In Ideas Mounted Dispenser Built Bottle Inside Designs Sink EBay A YouTube Regarding Home Kitchen To Steel For Stainless Promotion Dispensers 10. BLANCO Amazon Plastic How The Pertaining Plan 7. 13. Woooow Decor Com Super Mount 304 Cheaper Prepare DIY 16. 15. Within Marvelous Brushed Deck 5. Replace Durable HOMEIDEAS Easy 11oz Blanco 6. 18. X199 3. With 2.


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REVIEW | Electric Mini Cooper SE fails to flip our switch
This Mini is consigned to the range-anxiety lane with its real-world 160km range.
Image: Denis Droppa
Electric vehicles (EVs) have slowly trickled out of local showrooms as they are still too expensive to attract the commuting masses. A recent AutoTrader survey found that two thirds of South Africans would consider buying an EV if it was priced under R500,000, and we're still some way from that with the Mini Cooper SE the country's cheapest battery-powered car at R686,400.
That is expensive with a traditional pay-to-own approach, but more affordable on finance packages aimed at usage. The Mini Select plan reduces monthly instalments by giving customers the option of returning the vehicle at a guaranteed value at the end of the contract; alternatively there's a rental plan with no deposit and a fixed monthly instalment.
The question is whether you'd want to have an electric Mini as your daily drive instead of a petrol-powered one. The cheapest fuel-burning version is the Mini One which gives you 75kW and 190Nm for R401,050, while the electric Mini's closest-powered petrol rival in the range is the Cooper S with 141kW and 280Nm, priced at R564,058. The petrol models also offer the flexible finance schemes.
This makes the battery Mini a hard sell on the face of it, especially given how often it needs charging.
Premium EVs with seven-figure prices get a usable 400km-odd on a single charge but this Mini is still consigned to the range-anxiety lane with its small battery, which gives a claimed range of 217km and an actual real-world 160km range according to the test car's trip computer.
That distance is enough for commuting, but extended trips beyond urban limits aren't really on the menu unless there is a fast charger at the destination.
Life in the electric Mini isn't too impractical if you treat it like a smartphone and charge it overnight at off-peak times, which is the least expensive option unless you charge it at BMW and Mini-branded public chargers which is free of charge.
If you travel 100km a day it takes about 23 minutes to charge the power you need at a DC rapid charging station. At a slower AC charging station or a home Wallbox it will take about 2.5 hours, or six hours at an ordinary domestic socket.
It costs about R23 at Eskom's rate to run the Cooper SE for 100km, a lot cheaper than the R203 it would cost a petrol car consuming 10l/100km for the same distance.
As cheap as the Cooper SE is to run, however, it would take a long time to win back the extra R122,342 it costs over the petrol Cooper S.
The Mini Cooper SE comes standard with a two-year/unlimited mileage warranty and an eight-year/100,000km battery warranty.
The car stands out from regular Mini models by its Energetic Yellow accents in several places, including the closed radiator grille, mirror caps, tailgate and wheels. The 17-inch wheels have a unique "Power Spoke" design.
Though heavier, the Cooper SE handles with the signature quick steering and agility of Minis.
A five-inch digital instrument cluster takes the place of analogue clocks, giving this electric Mini a hi-tech interior look.
The Cooper hatch has limited appeal as a family car with its three doors and limited rear seating space, which is more suitable for small children than adults. The boot is a modest 211l but expands to a useful 731l with the rear seats folded.
From a driving perspective the electric Cooper SE maintains the Mini-typical appeal. It's quite a pleasurable drive with a spontaneous response and ability to briskly but silently whisk about town. Outputs of 135kW and 270Nm are translated into a creditable 7.3 second 0-100km/h sprint, but the car feels quicker than that because of the instant way that electric motors generate their power.
The car scoots off the line with no lag, and there are no gear changes, making for an endearingly seamless surge of power. There's a strong braking effect from the energy recuperation system when you take your foot off the throttle, which takes some getting used to. It's seldom necessary to use the brake pedal at all, except for when coming to a dead halt, which means the brake pads will probably last for ages.
Four driving modes allow the driver to shift between a longer range or more responsive acceleration.
The Cooper SE scoots about with the signature quick steering and agility we're used to from Minis. The car weighs nearly 200kg more than a petrol Cooper S but in normal driving you can't really feel it because the battery is mounted in the floor to create a low centre of gravity.
One can't fault this electric Mini for its driveability and its usefulness as a short-hop urban commuter, but as likable as it is, the Cooper SE's high price and short range limit its appeal.
Even with petrol prices what they are, it will take a long time to win back this EV's high price tag with its cheaper running costs.
LONG-TERM TEST | We review four festive rides for under R500k
You will find a quartet of rather sensible choices in the extended-term test section of our motoring hub garage this festive season.
REVIEW | 2021 Land Rover Defender made better with V8 muscle
It would be fair to say that most were reserved in their expectations for the reinvented Land Rover Defender. The company faced a difficult task in ...
WATCH | Ignition TV reviews the 2021 VW Golf GTI and eGolf
Join Ignition TV presenter Francisco Nwamba as he tests the new VW Golf GTI and eGolf


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Youssef Sidaoui (), né le  à Bou Hajla, est un acteur et producteur de théâtre tunisien. Il a participé activement au développement du théâtre tunisien dans les régions intérieures de son pays. Il est élu en 2011 comme vice-président de la Fédération tunisienne du théâtre, poste qu'il occupe jusqu'en 2012.

Biographie
Parallèlement à ses études secondaires, Sidaoui s'intéresse au théâtre, son expérience de comédien s'étant limitée à quelques rôles mineurs dans des pièces scolaires. Après l'obtention de son baccalauréat littéraire, il poursuit ses études supérieures à l'Institut supérieur d'art dramatique de Tunis, où il obtient son diplôme en 2003.

Par la suite, Youssef Sidaoui enseigne le théâtre dans des lycées secondaires et joue dans plusieurs pièces de théâtre. En parallèle, il endosse quelques rôles secondaires dans plusieurs sitcoms tels Choufli Hal, Sayd Errim et Achek Assarab.

Sidaoui joue également dans l'opérette Elissa (Didon) de Samir Ayadi et endosse le rôle d'Averroès dans la pièce L'Épée et la rose () de Hamadi Whaybi.

En 2008, Sidaoui fonde un festival de théâtre dans sa ville natale. Baptisé « Journées théâtrales à Sidi Amor Bouhajla » (), il se tient chaque année.

Le , dans sa ville natale, il fonde l'Association des cavaliers de théâtre, dont il est le président, avec notamment Rafik Ati comme vice-président, Rafik Djlassi comme secrétaire général, ou encore Sameh Aissaoui et Taoufik Safsafi.

En 2010, Sidaoui produit le grand spectacle Khabaya (), un événement culturel qui marque la ville de Kairouan. Ce dernier veut monter une représentation inspirée du patrimoine culturel de la ville, un spectacle puisant dans l'art traditionnel, mélangeant musique, danse et poésie.

En 2013, il obtient son premier rôle principal dans le sitcom El Mwaswes qui n'est pas diffusé en raison de problèmes de financement.

De 2014 à 2020, il présente l'émission Safar fi al-Bawadi (Voyage dans les campagnes) de la radio Sabra FM consacrée à l'art populaire tunisien.

En 2015, Sidaoui met en scène la pièce de théâtre Snipers, écrite par Imed Saket, avec la participation des acteurs Mohamed Ellafi et Imed Saket. Présentée lors de la  des Journées théâtrales de Carthage, de la quatrième édition du Festival international du théâtre de Tanger et lors des quatrième Journées théâtrales maghrébines à El Oued, elle porte un regard sur la révolution de 2011, évoquant l'énigme des snipers à travers deux tireurs d'élite embusqués sur un toit : deux hommes anonymes, surgis de nulle part, qui à leur manière condensent les contradictions de la société.

Le Clown et le policier, pièce de théâtre pour enfants, est programmée durant la  des Journées théâtrales de Carthage, en 2016.

Cette même année, dans le cadre de son projet  soutenu par l'Institut français de Tunisie, l'Association des cavaliers de théâtre de Bou Hajla, dirigée par Sidaoui, lance un projet pour le bénéfice des enfants scolarisés de Bou Hajla, visant à établir quatorze clubs de théâtre dans les écoles rurales et comprend des sessions de formation pour les enseignants. L'activité des clubs se clôture sur un festival de théâtre qui tourne dans plusieurs lieux de la délégation et dans les délégations environnantes, avec notamment les pièces montées par les clubs mais aussi l'invitation de troupes professionnelles. Le financement du projet, qui se poursuit en 2017, est pris en charge par deux institutions, l'Institut français de Tunisie et le ministère tunisien des Affaires culturelles.

De 2016 à 2020, il est le directeur du Festival maghrébin équestre de Bou Hajla. Il part en 2020 à Abou Dabi aux Émirats arabes unis pour travailler en tant que professeur d'art dramatique pour une durée de cinq ans.

Prise de position
Lors d'une interview accordée à la Télévision tunisienne 2, Sidaoui appelle les artistes à rejoindre les zones intérieures de la Tunisie, à être actifs dans le domaine artistique, tout en reconnaissant les difficultés de travail dans les zones intérieures liées au manque de locaux consacrés aux activités théâtrales.

Il ajoute que les artistes doivent prendre l'initiative et faire le premier pas, et non attendre l'État pour instaurer une décentralisation culturelle dans le pays.

Productions
 2001 : Roméo et Juliette, opérette
 2003 : Elyssa, opérette
 2004 : L'amour fatal, opérette
 2006 : Patience, pièce de théâtre
 2007 : Helma, pièce de théâtre
 2008 : Kasouka ya sokrat (), pièce de théâtre
 2010 : Khabaya, spectacle
 2014 : La Révolte des morts, pièce de théâtre
 2015 : Snipers, pièce de théâtre
 2016 : Le Clown et le policier, pièce de théâtre

Références

Producteur tunisien de théâtre
Acteur tunisien de théâtre
Naissance en février 1976
Naissance dans le gouvernorat de Kairouan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home | Today | Yesterday
Blink-182 Drop New Merch To Raise Money For Australian Bushfire Relief
Blink-182 recently dropped a new exclusive merchandise collection in order to raise money for Australian Zoo, an organization providing medical care and rehabilitation to wildlife impacted by the deadly Australian bushfires.
"Australia is being ravaged by deadly fires, and we just feel so helpless," the band tweeted. "We put out a new merch line + donating all proceeds to charity. Let's do our part to make sure everyone, the environment, plus all of these kangaroos & koala bears are safe."
Australia has been affected by one of the deadliest natural disasters in its history as bushfires continue to spread across the country. The fires have claimed the lives of at least 20 people and killed millions of animals.
Bassist Mark Hoppus revealed that the products generated over $20,000 within the first 24 hours.
"Thanks to your support and generosity we've already raised more than $20,000 to help the animals devastated by the fires in Australia," Hoppus tweeted. "Let's keep it going!"
Several other bands and musicians have also come forward to provide support during ongoing disaster in Australia.
Earlier this month, Metallica donated over $500,000 toward bushfire relief efforts, while Elton John contributed $1 million.
Copyright(c) 2020 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
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Aerosmith To Be Joined By Run-DMC At Grammy Awards
Aerosmith will be joined by fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Run-DMC during the band's upcoming performance at the Grammy Awards.
According to Variety, the hip-hop duo are not expected to perform with the Boston rock band for their entire set but will join them for "Walk This Way."
"Walk This Way," a song from Aerosmith's classic third album, Toys in the Attic, was covered by Run-DMC in 1986 and became one of hip-hop's first crossover hits.
Aerosmith and Run-DMC join previously announced performers Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani.
The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, January 26 at Staples Center and will be hosted by Alicia Keys.
Bon Jovi Announce 2020 Tour With Bryan Adams
American rock band Bon Jovi have announced a 2020 U.S. tour with Bryan Adams.
The Bon Jovi 2020 Tour, presented by Live Nation, will start in Tacoma, Washington, on June 10, and play at arenas across America. Most U.S. dates will feature Bryan Adams.
Backstage with JBJ fan club members and American Express Card Members can purchase tickets beginning January 21 at 10 a.m. local time through January 23 at 10 p.m. local time.
A limited number of LaneOne Premium Packages will also be available, including amazing seats, transportation, preferred entrance, pre-show hospitality, commemorative laminate and more on LaneOne.com
Tickets go on sale to the general public starting January 24 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Every ticket sold includes one CD copy of Bon Jovi 2020.
June 10 - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome June 11 - Portland, OR @ Moda Center June 13 - Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center June 16 - San Jose, CA @ SAP Center at San Jose June 18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum June 20 - Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena June 23 - San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center June 25 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center June 26 - Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center July 10 - Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena July 14 - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center July 16 - Boston, MA @ TD Garden July 19 - Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena July 21 - Chicago, IL @ United Center July 23 - St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center July 25 - Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena July 27-28 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Music News Service distributed by Frankly Media. Copyright © 2020 RTTNEWS. All Rights Reserved.


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Mercedes gearing German plants for electric car production
BerlincomponentsDaimlerElectric MotorsEQFrank DeißHamburgMercedes BenzProduction
Daimler is readying its component plants in Hamburg and Berlin to incorporate key components for electric mobility. In future, the factories will supply electric drive modules, rear axles and lightweight components for the Mercedes EQC.
The EQC is Daimler's first large scale electric car that will be manufactured in Bremen, close to Hamburg from 2019.
Mercedes calls their factories in Berlin and Hamburg their northern facilities and manages them as a joint entity since 2017. In the case of Hamburg, they will start producing electric drive modules, rear axles, lightweight components and integrated starter generators (iSG). The latter is for mild-hybrid vehicles.
From the beginning of the next decade however, the Mercedes plant in Berlin will assemble the electric drive module for future EQ brand vehicles. The drive consists of more than 60 parts and weighs 165 kilos. Hence Frank Deiß, head of Powertrain Production Mercedes-Benz Cars, emphasises that the new task will help build up "know-how" among the workers.
Taking a global perspective, both the Berlin and Hamburg factory thus become part of Daimler's worldwide network of production hubs for electric mobility. Apart from drive train and other components for electric cars, this includes battery assembly. Globally, Daimler is investing more than one billion euros in a total of eight battery factories at six locations and on three continents reportedly.
Mercedes-Benz targets the electrification of its entire portfolio by 2022.
Hamburg, Berlin (both press releases in German)
Infineon buys Siltectra, banking on "cold split" technology
Daimler delivers first fuel cell vehicles in Germany
https://www.electrive.com/2018/11/13/mercedes-gearing-german-plants-for-electric-car-production/


From April 1 2018, arrangements for supporting young carers will change.
To learn more about these changes please click here to read a letter from the Director of Families and Children's Services, Lucy Townsend.
continue to use a DART (or SARF if you do not have access to DART) to refer a young person whom you believe to be a young carer.
Continue to promote early support resources, such as Kooth (an online counselling and emotional well-being platform for children and young people). OnYourMind.org.uk (which signposts children and young people in Wiltshire to sources of support for good mental health and emotional wellbeing), and visit Wiltshire Healthy Schools. In addition, visit the Carers Trust for support and guidance.


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It's Getting Easier to Find a Few Good Mentors
The first question an entrepreneur usually has is: Where can I get start-up funds? The second might be: Who can help me with the process?
Steve Viuker
Freelance Writer, Business Insider
There are a few organizations that can help.. First Growth Venture Network, TechStars, YCombinator and Dreamit Ventures operate in the same manner: putting mentoring on the same level as the actual funding. All take young entrepreneurs and connect them with venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs and advisors.
For startups, there's no cost to apply or participate in the program, and the sponsors don't require startups to hand over an equity stake in the companies. "This is not so that startups will get funded by someone in the network," said Ed Zimmerman, founder of First Growth and chair of the Tech Group at law firm Lowenstein Sandler. "It's about building mentor relationships vertically and building a network of high-quality entrepreneurs horizontally."
According to Zimmerman, his group will meet four times per semester for roundtables, networking, and cocktails. Startups will also be in frequent touch with their advisory teams outside of these formal meetings. TechStars has a summer-long program in Boulder, Colorado and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ten companies per city are accepted and get up to $18,000 in seed funding, a summer of intensive mentorship and the chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists.
"The mentoring is just as important as the funding aspect," said Zimmerman, who is an active angel investor. "It's people who will help young entrepreneurs avoid the pitfalls when starting a company."


Sadly, there may come a time when you're locked out of your own home. This can be a frustrating experience. Either you lost the key, forgot it or someone else locked the door and forgot to inform you. No matter what the reasoning, you may need to get into your home quickly. Luckily, there are emergency lockout services professionals who can help you get a quick fix so that you can get back to your normal life.
If you are looking to move and own a gun safe, you will need to move your gun safe. Odds are, you are hiring a safe mover to assist you with this process. Gun safes can be heavy to transport and need to be carefully transported to ensure they do not become damaged. Before a gun safe mover arrives to transport your safe, there are a few steps that you need to take.
When you bought your home, a multi-car garage may have been a must-have feature for you as the owner of several valuable vehicles. Parking these cars on the street comes with all sorts of risks such as potential damage from vehicles, burglars, vandalizers, and the elements. But, just because you have a garage to park cars inside does not mean that you are superbly protected. If you want to maximize garage security to make sure that your cars are safe in the garage, you should hire a locksmith, because they can provide you with several valuable services.
You've probably heard it said that cylinder locks are the most secure in the market. But are your lock cylinders really safe? There is nothing as bad as having a false sense of security only to arrive back home one day, to find that your fortress was broken into and your valuables are gone. Lock Snapping The truth of the matter is that lock cylinders can break. Homes with such locks can actually be broken into.
Do you have an old classic that you are restoring; or maybe a sports car that is rare and going to be a classic soon? There is a lot of work that needs to be done for the restoration, which also includes small things like fixing locks or ignition barrels. If you have the original keys, it may be a good idea to have a locksmith help with some of the work.


'Desert Safari Bundle (Vols !-4)" By "Mango Loops" brings you 416 Synth and Piano Melodies based on Arabic Scale in WAV and MIDI format which can be used in World , Fusion and can be easily experimented with any genre of music production.These Piano melodies are played by Oscar nominated composer and contemporary jazz pianist Ronnie Monsorate.
The WAV files can simply be imported into any project or sampler, while the MIDI files allow you to go to extremes of Sound patches , tempo and pitch and make precise alterations of your choice,.
This whole pack is 100% Royalty-Free so once purchased, you can use them in your commercial release without any hidden costs.


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When I wrote my blog post on the New Frontiers mission proposals, I could identify eleven of the twelve proposals. One, though, then had no public trace. Shortly after my piece was published, several people emailed me to tell me that the twelfth proposal was a third Venus mission called the Venus Origins eXplorer (VOX). However, they offered no details on its implementation.
Now the team proposing the mission will present its implementation at an upcoming scientific conference. Their abstract for the talk reveals key facts about the proposal, and it's a gutsy break with the missions that have been assumed for New Frontiers Venus missions.
NASA's Magellan spacecraft mapped the surface and gravity field of Venus in the early 1990s. The VOX mission would return with a modern suite of instruments to remap the surface and study the lower atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL.
To understand the strategy the VOX team is following, it's useful to look at the history of the Juno Jupiter orbiter mission. Every ten years, the planetary scientific community establishes its priorities for the exploration of the solar system in process known as the Decadal Survey. The 2003 Decadal Survey report called for a Jupiter Polar Orbiter with Probes mission. The orbiter was to study global patterns and the magnetosphere while three atmospheric probes were to examine the composition and deep structure of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, since the Galileo mission with its shallow atmospheric probe, the United States has lost the technology to build probes capable of entering Jupiter's atmosphere. The team that proposed the Juno mission focused on the desired scientific goals and demonstrated that they could be met with just an orbiter with the right instruments. Based on that well-presented argument, the mission was selected and is now orbiting Jupiter.
The goals for a New Frontiers mission for Venus have assumed an atmospheric probe that would also conduct surface measurements once it landed. The scientific requirements NASA's managers established for a mission appear tailored for that kind of a mission based on the goals set out by the more recent 2013 Decadal Survey report. For example, the ratio of key gasses and their isotopes can only be made by a probe that enters and directly samples the atmosphere. With those measurements, other questions such as past hydrologic cycles and the existence of now lost oceans can be addressed. During its descent the probe could measure the properties of the atmosphere, its clouds, and its winds at different altitudes. Measurements of the atmosphere at the surface could address the weathering environment of the crust. Chemical analysis of the soils and rocks at the landing site could provide insight into the physics of and chemistry of the crust.
Two of the proposed New Frontiers missions would fly either one or two entry probe-landers to address these questions. (You can see summaries of these at this blog post.)
The VOX proposal takes an entirely different approach. As the abstract states, "At the time of the Decadal Survey the ability to map mineralogy from orbit and present-day radar techniques to detect active [surface] deformation were not fully appreciated. VOX leverages these methods and in-situ noble gases to answer [the key] New Frontiers science objectives."
The VOX mission would deploy a small, simple atmospheric probe to make the measurements of the key gases and isotopes. The rest of the measurements would be made from instruments on an orbiter, much as the Juno mission uses orbital measurements to replace measurements from atmospheric probes. (The composition measurements for Jupiter that could only be made from within an atmosphere had already been made by the Galileo mission's atmospheric probe.)
The key elements of the VOX proposal closely resemble the VERITAS mission that was a finalist for the last Discovery program mission but not selected (losing out to the Lucy and Psyche asteroid missions). The principal investigator for VERITAS and VOX are the same, Suzanne Smrekar at the Jet Propulsion laboratory. The core of the VERITAS proposal was an orbiter that would carry a modern radar instrument to remap Venus and a spectrometer to measure the surface composition and study key aspects of the atmosphere. If selected, the VERITAS mission team was considering proposing a small atmospheric probe call Cupid's Arrow to toe-dip into the atmosphere to make key composition measurements. A version of that probe now called the Atmospheric Sample Vehicle (ASV) would be included in the VOX mission.
The VOX orbiter would use three instruments to globally study Venus:
A radar instrument would image the surface at 15- to 30-meter resolution, map elevations to refine topography measurements, and search for minute changes in surface elevations to look for evidence of current volcanic or tectonic activity. The improvements in resolution for each of these would be one to two orders of magnitude better than those made by the Magellan orbiter in the 1990s.
The orbiter's radio signal would be used to map the gravity field at much higher resolution than the Magellan mission to study the interior structure of the planet
The Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) would use spectral bands in five near-infrared wavelengths where the atmosphere is transparent to map the surface composition. Measurements in additional bands would study cloud structure and the presence of water vapor in the lowermost atmosphere.
These images, derived from radar imaging of Hawaii, show the improvement in resolution possible with modern radar systems compared to the data returned by the Magellan mission. This image is from a poster describing a 2012 JPL VERITAS mission that was proposed for the NASA Discovery program. The VOX mission would carry the same radar instrument. Credit: JPL
These figures show the improvement in topographic resolution possible with a modern radar instrument using data from Iceland. The top image shows the equivalent Magellan resolution and the bottom image shows simulated resolution possible from a new Venus radar mission. Credit: Decadal Survey White Paper, NASA
The Venus Express mission carried out the first mapping of Venus' surface using thermal emissions. The VOX mission's Thermal Emissity Mapper instrument would create better composition maps than the Venus Express instrument. Red-orange colors in this Venus Express image of Venus' Idunn Mons volcanic peak indicate warmer areas suggesting different surface compositions and younger ages than surrounding material. Credit: ESA
The ASV would be a small probe released from the orbiter. The probe would enter and briefly traverse the upper atmosphere where it would collect a small sample of the gasses present before its momentum carries it back into space. Once back above the atmosphere, a miniaturized mass spectrometer would measure the composition of key gasses and their isotopes. By only toe-dipping into the atmosphere, the probe doesn't need protection from the crushing pressures and extremely high heat on the surface that the atmospheric probes of the other New Frontiers Venus proposals require.
The VOX mission's Atmospheric Sample Vehicle would be based on the Cupid Arrow probe concept. Credit: NASA/JPL.
While the VOX mission is in competition with the two Venus entry probe-lander proposals (and nine other proposals for other solar system destinations), in many ways it is a compliment to those two missions. Within the column of air in which they descend and in a square meter or so at their landing sites, the two proposed entry probe-lander missions would make much more detailed measurements than VOX's radar and VEM instruments would from orbit for the same location.
The VOX spacecraft's instruments, however, would make those measurements over the entire planet over at least three years (and possibly much longer in an extended mission). The VEM instrument, for example, could look at the surface of every volcano on Venus searching for the presence of minerals suggesting recent lava flows. The radar images could show whether the features on the surface are consistent with new flows. Radar interferometric measurements could look for small surface deformations that could reflect surface movement from earthquakes associated with eruptions or swelling from underground lava movement. VEM measurements of the atmosphere could look for changes in water vapor associated with volcanic outgassing. And the gravity field measurements would tie each volcano to the interior structure below the surface.
The VOX mission would make comparable studies for all the surface types on Venus as well as monitor the lower atmosphere. Perhaps most important of these would be observations of the tessera, which are continent-sized highlands that likely are the oldest surviving surfaces on the planet. For these, the synergy of composition measurements, surface imaging, and interior structure measurements could reveal key aspects of the earliest history of Venus including the role of liquid water and other volatiles in the then cooler times.
In one set of measurements, the VOX and the two Venus entry probe-lander missions are in direct competition. In much the same way as strata of rock record geologic history, the presence and abundance of key gasses and their isotopes record the origin and evolution of the atmosphere. Because the Venusian atmosphere is in contact with the surface, it also records key geological events. Measurements of xenon and its isotopes, which have yet to be made at Venus, for example, would resolve key questions about the origins of the atmosphere. Xenon measurements also would reveal the total amount of degassing from the planet's interior, which reflects the cumulative volcanic activity. Similarly, a long-lost ocean at Venus would be reflected in the ratio of hydrogen isotopes.
The US Pioneer Venus and Soviet Venera entry probe and landers carried now-antiquated mass spectrometers that could not make key composition measurements such as the isotope ratios of xenon. The VOX mission's atmospheric probe would deliver a modern mass spectrometer to Venus that would answer the key first order atmospheric composition questions. The other two proposed Venus missions would carry much more sophisticated instruments that could also address second and third order questions. By descending all the way to the surface, the probes on these other missions would also study changes in composition at different layers of the atmosphere and look for compounds that reflect the current weathering at the surface.
(As a side note, I've been following proposals for missions to explore the solar system for several decades now. Cupid's Arrow, and its incarnation as VOX's ASV, is in my opinion one of the cleverest solutions I've seen to addressing a key set of planetary science questions at a fraction of the cost of much more capable entry probes like those that would be the core of the other two Venus proposals.)
To understand Venus, eventually it's not a question of a VOX-like mission versus entry probe-lander missions. Their capabilities are complimentary – in depth at one or a few locations versus broader measurements across the entire globe across a number of years. The interpretations of measurements from orbit, especially those of composition, would greatly benefit from ground truth measurements on the surface. Eventually, we need both types of missions to fly. (And there's also an entire branch of Venus science focused on global atmospheric studies from orbit that neither of these types of mission addresses.)
In the last New Frontiers competition, a Venus entry probe-lander was a finalist but lost out the OSIRIS-REx mission now inflight to return a sample from the asteroid Bennu. For the current Frontiers competition, NASA will select just one mission from among three proposals for Venus, one to return samples from the moon, three to return samples from a comet, and four to study Saturn or its moons. It's a tough field. By the end of this year, we'll learn whether VOX is selected as a finalist in the current competition with the final selection planned for 2019.
Appendix: Here is the full list of studies proposed for the VOX mission from the conference abstract:
1. Atmospheric physics/chemistry: noble gases and isotopes to constrain atmospheric sources, escape processes, and integrated volcanic outgassing; global search for current volcanically outgassed water.
2. Past hydrological cycles: global tessera composition to determine the role of volatiles in crustal formation.
3. Crustal physics/chemistry: global crustal mineralogy/chemistry, tectonic processes, heat flow, resolve the catastrophic vs. equilibrium resurfacing debate, active geologic processes and possible crustal recycling.
4. Crustal weathering: surface-atmosphere weathering reactions from redox state and the chemical equilibrium of the near-surface atmosphere.
5. Atmospheric properties/winds: map cloud particle modes and their temporal variations, and track cloud-level winds in the polar vortices.
6. Surface-atmosphere interactions: chemical reactions from mineralogy; weathering state between new, recent and older flows; possible volcanically outgassed water.


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Notes from the Team: An Introduction, or Why Predict the Future, Anyway?
I am so pleased to introduce a new member of the CFM team—Nicole Ivy will be working with me for the next two years, supported by a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. I invited Nicole to introduce herself today—you will be learning more about her, and her work, via the blog in coming months.
"So why try to predict the future at all if it's so difficult, so nearly impossible? Because making predictions is one way to give warning when we see ourselves drifting in dangerous directions. Because prediction is a useful way of pointing out safer, wiser courses…Best to think about it, though. Best to try to shape it into something good."
—Octavia E. Butler, "A Few Rules For Predicting the Future"
I am a museum professional. And a skeptical historian. And I am here to help envision the future. At least, this is what I tell my mother. As the newest member of the Center for the Future of Museums team, my job is to research and develop programs that will expand the reach of ground-breaking technologies and ideas throughout the museum community. This work includes identifying trends shaping the museum sector, and also understanding the challenges and implications of these trends—both within and outside of the field. Over the next two years, in my position as a Museum Futurist and an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Public Fellow with the Center for the Future of Museums, I look forward to collaborating with museums as well as with makers, educators, researchers, designers and other individuals (that means you, dear reader) to continue CFM's work at the leading edge of museum innovation.
In addition to helping incubate projects that shape changes in museum practice, I will also be thinking through important issues raised by emerging conversations around the future of museums. One of my first research projects for CFM will focus on the history of labor organizing in the nonprofit sector. When I arrived, Elizabeth briefed me on recent debates in the field about pay equity and labor conditions, and noted that unionization had been floated as one possible route forward. I look forward to helping lay the groundwork for a serious examination of these issues through the lens of history. By grappling with the histories that inform current debates about fair pay and the unionization of museum workers, we might better envision paths to more equitable stewardship within the field.
My becoming a futurist with a track record as an historian is not as improbable it might, at first, seem. I come to CFM through my work as an academic, a curatorial fellow, and a public historian. My Ph.D. is a joint degree in African American Studies and American Studies from Yale University. I have taught students of medical history, visual culture, Black Studies and women's studies at Cornell University, Yale, and, most recently, Indiana University. As an IMLS Fellow in Museum Practice at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, I gained experience in curating, exhibition development, and museum education. I also have eight years' experience in secondary education, having worked with academic enrichment programs in New Haven Public Schools in Connecticut. My scholarly research centers on the race, gender, technology, and the politics of memorialization. I look forward to attending the University of Houston's certificate course in strategic foresight to add formal futurist training to my credentials.
I was attracted to the ACLS fellowship position precisely because of these diverse interests: I'm nosily drawn to the future of cultural institutions even as I'm passionate about the pasts that we present-day travelers have inherited. I'm especially inspired by CFM's commitment to supporting new developments in education and its efforts to promote fruitful partnerships between educators, students, and museums. During my tenure here, I look forward to expanding the practical application of trends in museum innovation into educational leadership. I am honored to solicit your collaboration and feedback as I begin!
Nicole Ivy is a futurist, historian, and lover of slow reading. You can talk back to her on twitter at @nicotron3000.
MCHS says:
I think historians make the best futurists, Nicole, because we have an opportunity to see the full sweep of history and can project it into the future. Welcome to CFM!
Mary Warner
Museum Manager (& also a Futurist Historian!)
Morrison County Historical Society
Nicole Ivy says:
Mary, thank you for these encouraging words and for the warm welcome! I'm excited to think through the connections between a careful consideration of the past and the shaping of the future. Futurist historians unite (and also, perhaps, untie)!


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Buffalo Sabres Knock Off Top Team In the League
Dale Mussen
Dale Mussen Published: February 13, 2018
Chad Johnson stopped 26 shots to win his first game of the season at home (Getty Images)
There haven't been too many games this season where the Buffalo Sabres have made it worth the price of admission, but a much different story on Tuesday night when they beat the top team in the league. Sam Reinhart scored a pair of goals, Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists while Chad Johnson picked up his first win of the season at KeyBank Center in a 5-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Defensively, special teams, goaltending, it was a complete team effort by the Sabres and they have no choice. With Jack Eichel out of the lineup indefinitely, if the Sabres want to win games they have to have all hands on deck and against the Lightning there were no passengers.
Nick Baptiste called up from Rochester to fill Eichel's roster spot opened the scoring for Buffalo with his second goal of the season and Scott Wilson scored his fourth. Wilson's goal in the second period put Buffalo into the lead for good and a power play goal by O'Reilly early in the third turned out to be the game winner.
Consecutive Buffalo penalties seven seconds apart in the second period gave Tampa Bay a 5 on 3 power play for 1:53 and the Sabres masterfully killed it off and that may have been the key to the game. With the firepower the Lightning have they could have taken over the game at that point but the Sabres wouldn't let them.
Johnson was terrific in goal too stopping 26 of 29 shots.
The Sabres travel to Ottawa on Thursday night.
Source: Buffalo Sabres Knock Off Top Team In the League
Filed Under: buffalo sabres, nhl
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Zynga's Journey From Founding to IPO [INFOGRAPHIC]
By Jolie O'Dell 2011-07-01 20:50:09 UTC
In Zynga's IPO filing, which was announced Friday, we found out a lot about the company.
During the day, the company released some of its own stats about its userbase and user behaviors.
However, some of the most interesting numbers came from the SEC filing itself, which showed flat growth in number of users but skyrocketing revenue figures.
From the startup's founding in 2007 through its first rounds of funding and $3 billion valuation in 2009, here's a look at the company's history, including a string of acquisitions over the past two years that's placed some of the best talent in web games squarely in Zynga's game dev studios.
Check out this IPO infographic from real-time conversation startup Namesake, and let us know what you think in the comments.
Click image to see full-size version.
[source: Namesake blog]
Topics: Business, Gaming, infographics, IPO, Zynga


Touted as one of the biggest oil and gas discoveries of the decade, Apache Corp.'s Alpine High development is positioned to expand quickly next year and beyond as the Houston company strikes deals to help build new pipelines to carry oil and gas from West Texas to port and refining hubs in Houston and Corpus Christi.
Last week, Apache signed on as an anchor customer of Enterprise Products Partners' Shin Oak natural gas liquids pipeline that will traverse 658 miles from Reeves County to Enterprise's storage hub just east of Houston in Mont Belvieu. Earlier this month, Apache inked a contract as a major customer of the planned EPIC Crude Oil pipeline project to move crude from Alpine High to Corpus Christi, where the oil can either be refined or exported.
These deals follow Apache's big move in December to become the anchor customer of Houston-based Kinder Morgan's $1.7 billion gas pipeline from West Texas to the Corpus Christi area. The Gulf Coast Express Pipeline will transport dry gas to the port hubs where the gas can be shipped to power plants for electricity generation, to liquefied natural gas export terminals, or to Mexico, which is increasingly importing more American gas for its power generation.
All of these pipeline projects are slated for completion no later than the end of 2019 and the contracts give Apache the ability to buy ownership stakes in the pipelines ranging from 15 percent to 33 percent.
The Alpine High development is located west of Fort Stockton, in the Delaware Basin, a section of larger Permian Basin. The pipelines are critical to Apache's plans to develop the play, located in a remote area without the pipelines, terminals and other infrastructure needed to move the petroleum to market and allow Apache to ramp up production.
Alpine is expected to produce plenty of oil, dry gas and natural gas liquids, called NGLs, much of which are used to manufacture plastics and other petrochemicals. The development has proven controversial because of its proximity to pristine environmental attractions like Balmorhea State Park and the Davis Mountains. Alpine High, however, continues to move forward.
Brian Youngberg, a senior energy analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, said the pipeline deals are good moves for Apache, especially in the Permian where there's currently a shortage of pipelines. Apache is securing its long-term growth while taking it slower for now, Youngberg said.
But some of the luster is off the Alpine High discovery, which was announced in late 2016, Youngberg said. Alpine High is producing more natural gas — which is less valuable than oil — than many analysts and investors had hoped.
Alpine High is believed to hold 15 billion barrels of oil and gas under 350,000 acres of southern Reeves County. But only 3 billion is crude oil.
Apache's stock has fallen from a recent high of $66 a share in December 2016 down to a closing price of $39.28 on Friday.
Apache is focusing more than 70 percent of its capital spending in West Texas' booming Permian Basin, including the Alpine High development. Apache last year sold much of its Canadian assets, in part to pour more money into the Permian, including building pipelines to gather oil and gas from wells.
Earlier this month, Apache Chief Executive John Christmann said the company is focused on drilling wells and reducing costs, targeting dry gas and natural gas liquids for the time being with the goal of expanding into oil wells.
Meanwhile, he said, Apache has already decreased its cost per well by 20 percent from last year, with a goal of at least 25 percent by the end of the year. That would shrink costs from $8 million per well to $6.2 million, he said.
"It's a great story and is going to only get better," Christmann said.


What is the Trade and Industry Register (RCI)?
The Trade and Industry Registry is an official register of all commercial activities, companies other than non-trading companies, and economic interest groups.
It ensures that all the legal formalities relating to setting up a business, and authorisation to run and advertise a business, have been met.
Registration with the Trade and Industry Registry (click here for the factsheet : "How to register your company on the Trade and Industry Registry") is obligatory and must be completed within the two months which follow the commencement of activity.
Your business partners (such as banks, suppliers, potential future partners, etc.) can ask you for an extract from the RCI, to ensure that your company has been registered, and find out about its legal situation.


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Looking for a CD player for my 2018 clubman. Car has backup cameras, but no slot for CDs. Any suggestions??