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Rising to international fame in 2000 with his audacious, innovative zombie actioner, Versus, director Ryuhei Kitamura went on to create other fantasy epics like Alive, Azumi, Aragami and Godzilla: Final Wars. Over the phone from Tokyo, Kitamura talked about No One Lives, his horror-tastic second US film after The Midnight Meat Train, as well as moviemaking in Hollywood vs Japan, more details about the long-awaited sequel to Versus, and what's with Tak Sakaguchi's retirement, anyhow?
Ryuhei Kitamura
The Lady Miz Diva: What brought you to this project?
Ryuhei Kitamura: It was back in 2010, I think, the producer found me and he sent me the script – that's what happens when you're in Hollywood, right - they send you a script all the time - every week. Unfortunately, most of the scripts suck. So, especially after I did this movie, The Midnight Meat Train, I wasn't interested in doing a hardcore, bloody movie. It's so easy to put the label on you in Hollywood. Midnight Meat Train was the only horror movie I did, but the people don't know – like the executive producers don't know who I am; they didn't watch Versus, or Godzilla, or Azumi – if I do this bloody movie again I didn't want them to put them label on me that this was just a bloody, horror movie director … Which I believe I'm not! {Laughs} I wasn't really interested. I'm more interested in doing an action movie; something totally different. But when I got the script and I started reading and after the first 15 pages I was telling my manager and agent, "No, no, no, I'm not going to do this torture porn movie. Come on." This is exactly the same movie, right? The couple in the wrong place at the wrong time and a group of bad people capture and torture them. I'm not into that kind of movie very much. Then, the movie shifted into something completely different. I said, "Oh my god, this is not about the couple being tortured and trying to survive, this is completely different." After that, I finished the script and I called my manger and said "I wanna do this." It was completely different from The Midnight Meat Train. I felt like this is like a movie that I would be watching when I was growing up back in the 80s, when I was a teenager. I felt like I had to do one movie like this. These movies taught me a lot when I was a kid. If this was a movie like Friday the 13th, or Halloween, or that kind of slasher movie, I'm not sure if I would want to become the director.
LMD: What was your take on the script when you read it? It's so surreal, at times I wondered if the whole thing wasn't going on in Emma's head?
RK: Wow! I never thought about it {Laughs}. That's a very interesting theory, but I never thought about it. In my mind, yes, it really happened. But when you watch a movie like The Midnight Meat Train, that story was surreal; it was a story about two worlds, which most of the people don't know, and Bradley Cooper's character finds a gateway to get there and he ended up basically on a another world, and his whole fate and the world changed. Even on Versus, it was a story about previous life and this life and the next life. So, I'm very interested in the surreal tone of the movie. I'm not really that much interested in doing a superrealistic movie, because superrealistic … that's what I'm really living right now, right? When I go to the movies, I feel like, "Come on, show me something else. Show me something that I can't experience in my life.' So, of course most of the things that happen in the movies, you don't want to happen in real life. But I totally agree with you, I really loved that if was just about killing tons of people and lots of guns I wouldn't have done it. What grabbed me most from that script is I really felt it's a very twisted love story. I've never read something like this. It's funny, the movie opened a couple of weeks ago in Japan, which is probably the reason I'm here. Most of the guy fans, they were like, "Oh, that shot was unbelievable," or, "This movie was great because of the hardcore violence." But most of the female audience was telling me, "Oh, I felt like pure love.' That's so funny. Even though The Driver is crazy and is sick, what they shared was pure love. That's what I felt when I read that script, is that this is totally fucked up. He's doing it all for love.
LMD: Are you drawn to stories where you don't really know how to cheer for? With Versus between the prisoner and yakuza, and now here with No One Lives; none of the characters are really good guys.
RK: It's very challenging. It's all about the balance because this movie's main character is a fucked up psycho, right? There are not many movies like that, but like the first Terminator; the Terminator was killing everybody, but you couldn't stop loving him, right? Or a movie like The Hitcher, the Rutger Hauer character, I don't know anything about this guy: Who the fuck is this guy? But a very strange emotion was coming up to me when I was watching that movie - I think I was 15 - 'This guy's an evil person, but come on, he's so cool.' So when I read the script, it was a rare opportunity for me to make this kind of character. It's not that easy to do it, of course, but I always like a challenge, so I just knew that this is a tough premise, but I want to make the audience cheer for this character.
LMD: Now having made two films in Hollywood, what, if anything do you miss about making movies in Japan?
RK: To me, it wasn't that hard to adjust to the Hollywood industry, because movie making after all is all about the communication. You have to have your crystal clear vision. Then through the relationship with producers and the crew and the cast, all I need to do is tell, crystal clear, that 'This is my vision, this is what I wanna do, this is the direction we're going.' Then the rest of the job is my great crew and cast will work with me, so it's basically not that much different. Whatever the fucked up finances … I'm pretty strange because Hollywood, Los Angeles, through the weather, traffic, whatever, nothing moves fast. I believe that if Hollywood was in New York, it would be better. I was shocked; everybody's late like 30 minutes, and they don't even say sorry. No, it's natural. Nobody gets there on time! Now I know why all the Hollywood projects take 100 times longer than the movie in Japan. In Japan, we don't have a contract; we don't have lawyers, managers, agents. If we say we're going to do it, we do it! There are not many sharks in the industry like in Hollywood. Everybody makes you dream, then stabs you in the back. They have all have Luke Evans' face and they make you love them, then, of course, they're gonna fuck you up. That sort of superficial human relationship, that's very different than making movies in Japan. That's part of the things I miss about making movies in Japan, but still I love watching Hollywood movies, and when it comes to actual pre-production and production, there is not much difference. It's all about the communication and it's all about working hard and doing your best. It's been like 6 years since I moved to LA; it took me a while to figure out - cos I'm basically a nice guy, so I trust when someone tells you something - but then I found out that, no, no, no, no, don't trust anybody in this town. 99% of the industry people are liars.
LMD: I had the pleasure of speaking to some protégés of yours back in 2011, Mr. Tak Sakaguchi and Mr. Yudai Yamaguchi. They hinted at a Versus sequel in the works and you've just recently confirmed it. However, I wonder how you'll be able to make that movie when your main star is in retirement?
RK: {Laughs} That retirement thing is fucking bullshit! I was kind of pissed that I was the only one who was very vocal about that. On the opening night of No One Lives, because of course, Sakaguchi was there, right? They think that it's a retirement, but it's all about the fucking politics. Those powerful agencies - those parasites and sharks - and poor Tak Sakaguchi, he's trapped in the middle and he was kind of like forced to retire. Which he never had to do, anyway. But it's a small world, anyway, and of course that's why he retired, but I was like, "What on earth made you? You are the stubborn person. Just fuck them all." But you know, Taku has his reasons. He is like my son. I don't call him my brother; he is like my son. He calls me Daddy. Because before Versus, he was just a street fighter, he was nobody. Taku, he's a super loyal soldier to me. He never betrayed me, he never ran away from me, and I've know that guy for like 14, 15 years. I met him last week and every single time I meet him, he'd come top speed running with a big smile {Laughs}. He is like a crazy guy who loves me too much.
LMD: Well, it doesn't sound like his retirement is going to stick.
RK: No, I'm going to bring him back. That's the thing. The only time he can retire is when I tell him to.
LMD: I believe Versus is at least partly responsible for the zombie renaissance in film and television we see now. When Versus came out it, wasn't like any other zombie movies before. Now that zombies are everywhere, is it more of a challenge to make Versus 2 stand out from the current trend?
RK: Uh-huh, whatever is happening the US, we all love zombies. Every, like, five years, the Hollywood producers, they all love the zombie movies, right? Zombieland, The Walking Dead kind of stuff. Now everybody loves zombies, right? Then everybody says, 'Uhh, too much zombies." So now they don't want to make zombie movies. It's so crazy right? It's not about what you wanna do; it's all about, 'Somebody's making money? All right, we'll do it.' Then, there's too much, "Uhh, no, no, no, no, we don't do it.'
LMD: So Versus is going to stay true to what we saw before?
RK: Yes, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I made that movie 13 years ago and everybody all over the world – I really appreciate the fans – they're telling me "Versus 2, Versus 2, Versus 2," but I never wanted to do it just for money. I know that if I did Versus 2, I'm gonna get money. That's not my motivation, so I always was thinking; I'll do it when I come up with the right story. Then when I was doing the preproduction of No One Lives, one day lightning strikes and all the pieces of the puzzles came together inside my brain. So, I actually wrote the script when I was in Louisiana. So now I have the script and now I feel like, okay, now I see what I wanna do. Ultimately, it's the same script, but it's not gonna be the same. It's on a completely new, much, much bigger scale. But the movie opens up from the exact moment the original Versus ended. We'll do a story showing how that KSC2-303 character - Tak Sakaguchi's character - how he's fallen into the dark side. {Laughs} How he got a Darth Vader story.
LMD: Will any of the other actors from the first film make an appearance?
RK: I don't think so. Taku will be there. Taku is the only spirit of Versus. It's a sad thing, but people change, right? Also, half of the actors, they disappeared. They retired from the movies. I made the movie with an all-nobody cast. But, of course, 70% of the actors, I have no idea where they are or what they're doing. Obviously, they're not in the scene. Then a few survived, then they changed; they forget about what made them and some of them betrayed me. But I'm the director of Versus; if you pick a fucking fight with me, I will fight you back. That's exactly what the movie No One Lives is about right? You picked the wrong guy. I will kill you all! That's exactly me; if I don't find myself in this project, I can't do it. I can do it technically, but I'm not interested in doing it. The Driver character, when I read the script, I was like, 'Oh, this is like me. I'm a nice guy, but if you pick a fight I will fucking fight you back.' That's what I am. I will do anything to protect somebody I love. Tak's somebody I love, and it's all connected in my work.
LMD: We've been talking about Versus 2, but is there anything coming up for you before that?
RK: Actually, right now I'm about to start the preproduction of my big comeback movie in Japan. That's why I'm here. I cannot tell you what it is. {Laughs} It's a completely different role than what I've done before. It's also not a bloody movie, not a horror movie. It's a big action movie.
Click here to read our Exclusive Interview with WWE Superstar Brodus Clay for No One Lives.
Film Stills Courtesy of WWE Entertainment


Use the PrecisionX™ OnTarget™ Gene Knock-out HR Targeting Vector (MCS1-EF1α-RFP-T2A-Hygro-pA-MCS2-PGK-hsvTK) to knock-out any gene or edit the genome. Clone your homology arms into MCS1 and MCS2, and use hygromycin selection and/or RFP-positive imaging to find integrants. Even better, with this series of OnTarget™ HR Donors, you can enrich for on-target events using negative thymidine kinase (TK) selection (Figure 1). After you've identified clones with your gene-of-interest knocked-out or edited, you can remove the selection cassette using the Cre-LoxP system (learn more about Cre-LoxP excision here).
Figure 1. Using negative TK selection to enrich for on-target events. With on target HR Donor-mediated gene editing (left column), the homology arms of the HR Donor drive homologous recombination, resulting in insertion of only the region of the HR Donor that lies between the two homology arms—if the PGK-hsvTK cassette is outside of the homology arms, it will not be inserted into the genome and cells will not be sensitive to ganciclovir or fialuridine.
However, with off target insertion of the HR Donor (right column), integration is not mediated by homology, resulting in insertion of the entire HR Donor Vector. If the HR Donor includes the PGK-hsvTK cassette, even if the cassette is outside of the homology arms, the cassette will get inserted into the genome, rendering the cells sensitive to ganciclovir or fialuridine and enabling negative selection against off-target events.
Figure 2. Knocking-out a gene using an HR Targeting Vector. Step 1: Cas9 creates a double-stranded break (DSB) in the genomic DNA at a site that is complimentary to the gRNA. Step 2: The DNA repair machinery is recruited to the DSB. In the presence of an HR Donor with homology to the region adjacent to the DSB (blue areas of the genomic and vector DNA) homologous recombination (HR) is favored over non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Result: The HR event leads to insertion of the region of the HR Donor Vector between the two homology arms—your selection cassette is integrated into the gene, disrupting the open reading frame.
Figure 3. Editing a gene using an HR Targeting Vector. Step 1: Cas9 creates a double-stranded break (DSB) in the genomic DNA at a site that is complimentary to the gRNA. For gene editing, this DSB should be within an intron. Step 2: The DNA repair machinery is recruited to the DSB. In the presence of an HR Donor with homology to the region adjacent to the DSB (blue areas of the genomic and vector DNA) homologous recombination (HR) is favored over non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). If one of the homology arms of the HR donor contains the gene edit, it will be incorporated into the gene through the HR repair process. Step 3: Transient expression of Cre recombinase will result in excision of the selection cassette, leaving behind a single intronic LoxP site.


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package us.gov.dod.standard.ssrf._3_1.metadata.lists;

import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlEnum;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlEnumValue;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
import us.gov.dod.standard.ssrf._3_1.receiver.RxMode;
import us.gov.dod.standard.ssrf._3_1.transmitter.ObservedRFAnalysis;
import us.gov.dod.standard.ssrf._3_1.transmitter.TxMode;

/**
 * Enumerated values for fields using the ListCFO type.
 *

 * Used in {@link ObservedRFAnalysis}, {@link RxMode}, {@link TxMode}
 *

 * @author Key Bridge LLC <developer@keybridge.ch>
 * @version 3.1.0, 04/02/2015
 */
@XmlType(name = "ListCFO")
@XmlEnum
public enum ListCFO {

  @XmlEnumValue("Hz")
  HZ("Hz"),
  @XmlEnumValue("ppm")
  PPM("ppm");
  private final String value;

  ListCFO(String v) {
    value = v;
  }

  public String value() {
    return value;
  }

  public static ListCFO fromValue(String v) {
    for (ListCFO c : ListCFO.values()) {
      if (c.value.equals(v)) {
        return c;
      }
    }
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(v);
  }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Join ThoughtSpot for a pre-game learning and networking session to discuss how search-based analytics is reshaping how leaders are leveraging data to drive results. Following the learning session, we will enjoy a brief stroll to the Rogers Centre to watch your Toronto Blue Jays take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Home / Artists / Darius Brooks/Tommies Reunion Inks Deal with Tyscot Records
Darius Brooks/Tommies Reunion Inks Deal with Tyscot Records
Darius Brooks, the former music director of the late Rev. Milton Brunson's Grammy® Award winning Thompson Community Singers (also known as The Tommies), has just signed a deal with Tyscot Records to release, The Tommies Reunion (Tyscot), a live recording, on October 26th. "In the early years of my career I was a Tommies fan," says Tyscot CEO, Bryant Scott. "Our church choir literally sang a Tommies song every Sunday. It is exciting that Tyscot has been able to sign one of the premiere choirs from the `choir era.' Tommies fans from back in the day, as well as new listeners, are sure to be delighted with the offering on The Tommies Reunion album."
Brooks is equally excited to be affiliated with Tyscot. "I love the label and its rich history," he says. "They understand the legacy of the Tommies because they have a similar one as a label and I know they will do great things with this project. I told Bryant Scott that I'm probably going to work harder than them because that's just how excited I am about everything that's happening."
The 14-track set of powerful original songs reunites the key personalities from the most successful era (1982-1997) for this choir's choir when they reigned as the No. 1 choir in the world with massive radio and Sunday morning service hits such as "Safe in His Arms," "There Is No Way," "I'm Available to You," "It's Gonna Rain," "For the Good of Them" and "If I Be Lifted," among many others. "To do something new, we knew we had to bring the staples and plus we added some new singers," Brooks adds. "I was 21 when I joined and most of us were that young when we joined, so now I want to train some young people like Rev. Brunson did for us and keep that Tommies legacy alive."
Some of the voices that stamped those classic songs such as Percy Bady, Kim McFarland, Tina Watson Conley, Leanne Faine, Denise Battle and Brooks are back and featured on these brilliantly rendered musical gems. The players have returned as well such as Steve Huff, Richard Gibbs, Al Willis, Tyrone Block, Bady, Brooks and Rev. Brunson's son, Kevin Brunson. "It was an incredible blessing to bring all the original band members and choir director together to write and produce for this project," Brooks says. "We have all gone on to accomplish great things in our own respective careers, but it was just an incredible blessing to be together again."
The original Thompson Community Singers were formed by Rev. Milton Brunson in 1948 when he was still a high school student. The community choir regularly met and rehearsed at Chicago's St. Stephen's Church where the pastor, Rev. Eugene Thompson, was a huge supporter, and christened itself in his honor. Brunson eventually became an ordained minister and formed Christ Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in 1962. The group began recording for Vee-Jay Records in 1963 at the same time that the historic black-owned label introduced the now-iconic Beatles rock band's first American single to the world.
Over the years, the group recorded for HOB/Scepter Records and Nashboro/Creed Records before joining Word Records (Myrrh/Rejoice) in 1982. They enjoyed a solid decade of success that included five Billboard No. 1 albums and numerous accolades. Rev. Brunson died suddenly in 1997. His widow continued the choir for a while and supervised its final album Real, for Word Records in 2000. A couple of years later, Brooks and key members convened for the Tommies Reunion and recorded the Side A and Side B albums in 2008. The Tommies Reunion is a continuum of those rich works. "We can do three concerts and never sing the same songs because we just had that many hits," Brooks says. With The Tommies Reunion, it seems as though they now have at least a dozen more in the making.
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Darius Brooks Tommies Reunion Tyscot Records	2018-07-03
Khalif M. Townes
About Khalif M. Townes
Khalif M. Townes is the Founder/President/CEO of the That's True Media, LLC (formally Urban Roundup Group, LLC.) He is also the creator of uGospel.com. Townes formed uGospel.com to provide an outlet where up to the minute information on the Faith Based Community and Gospel Music Industry can be accessed with the click of a button.
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Myriophyllum Aquaticum in Piru, CA can be a real problem for municipal and home owners ponds and lakes as well as golf course ponds throughout the State of California. Now there is help with controlling and removing Myriophyllum Aquaticum in Piru. Check out our equipment at dkenvironmental.com.
Water plants are plants that have adjusted to living in aquatic places (salt water and / or freshwater). Also, they are referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes. These kind of plants need special modifications for existing submerged in water, or even at the water's surface. The most widespread variation is aerenchyma, but floating foliage and perfectly dissected leaves are also normal. Aquatic plants are only able to flourish in water and in dirt that's completely soaked with water. They're subsequently a frequent component of wetlands.
Water vegetation is for the most part a beneficial portion of the water body, whether it's a lake or perhaps fish-pond. The water vegetation is a source of food, cover and oxygen to the creatures living in the pond or lagoon. However , left uncontrolled most of these water plants will be able to spread quickly and prohibit the activities in the water-feature or body of water. That's when these particular aquatic plants turn into aquatic weeds.
A straightforward description of a water weed is a plant that grows (generally too densely) in a area in ways that it hampers the usefulness as well as enjoyment of that area. Many well-known examples of water plants that can become undesirable weeds are water milfoil, duckweed, pondweed, Myriophyllum Aquaticum, water hyacinth, cattail, bulrush, ludwigia, and many others. They may flourish within fish ponds, lakes, streams, canals, navigation channels, storm water basins and channels, wetlands and lagoons. The particular growth may perhaps be due to a variety of elements for instance surplus nutrients in the water as well as the intro of rapidly-growing exotic species. The difficulties caused by water unwanted weeds are numerous, ranging from unsightly growth and nuisance aromas to blockage of waterways, flood damage, boat damage, and in some cases drowning and impairment of water quality.
Most of the time it is more practical as well as affordable to work with an experienced professional water weed control firm to take out and manage your water weed situations. Throughout California one of the most qualified business is DK Environmental. DK Environmental is located in the San Francisco Bay area however performs aquatic weed eradication all around the State of California. The machines that DK Environmental employs is absolutely distinctive to the western United States. Using its number of Aquamogs DK can access any sort of water body system.


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Caltrain Adds Fare Increases to List of Budget Crisis Solutions
Flickr photo: Rev Dan Catt
Facing a budget deficit that threatens to end train service altogether, the Caltrain Board of Directors voted today to declare a fiscal emergency and began considering some new options to cover the deficit for the next fiscal year, including raising fares.
Caltrain has whittled together enough money through partially restored state funding and one-time savings that it may get through the next fiscal year, 2011, without gutting the railroad, but with a $12.5 million deficit left to cover, its staff is proposing cutting some service altogether, including the three trains that reach Gilroy daily, and increasing fares by 25 cents.
Working out the numbers in the past month, Caltrain staff has found that cutting service has limited returns, said Caltrain Deputy CEO Chuck Harvey. That's because Caltrain has an especially high fare box recovery ratio. "We're getting over 40 percent [of our revenue] out of the fare box," said Harvey. "So when we start cutting service, we start losing revenue in a big way. You have to cut a lot to get a net savings."
By cutting the three trains to Gilroy, Caltrain expects it would save $770,000 annually, versus just $200,000 from cutting four midday trains altogether, and just $170,000 from cutting four early morning and late evening trains. Harvey said those trains have much higher ridership, so cutting them cuts deeply into fare revenue, offsetting much of the savings on operating costs, compared to the more sparsely patronized Gilroy trips.
Caltrain would get even less out of cutting weekend service: staff projects it would save just $420,000 from cutting weekend service altogether, since weekend riders are generally different than the commuters who ride the train during the week, and most pay per trip instead of using an unlimited monthly pass.
Without taking any votes on the budget today, the board appeared to favor the Gilroy option. As for fare increases, the options include a 25-cent increase in the base fare, netting $2 million annually, an identical increase in the fare for each travel zone, netting $2.8 million, or an increase in the employee-sponsored Go Pass from $140 to $155, bringing in $150,000 annually.
"Fares are a sensitive subject, particularly in this economy," said Harvey. They were last increased in January 2009, and if the board approves it, they could increase again next January. While the path to a balanced budget still isn't certain, he said the combination of fare increases, service cuts, and capital funding swaps should leave the agency in a position to "cobble this together." The service changes could go into effect as soon as October.
The board will take a vote on the FY2011 budget on July 1, with money from the service changes and fare increases assumed. But an actual vote on both of those changes won't happen until later: first, the agency will hold public hearings in July and August on any changes. Oddly enough, that means the public could be commenting on major changes that haven't been approved yet, but are assumed for budgeting purposes.
Things look even worse for fiscal year 2012, however, when the agency faces a projected $35.6 million deficit.
Caltrain CEO Mike Scanlon said he was "cautiously optimistic" about fiscal year 2011, and that the board could approve a budget that would "buy us another 12 months." But there are "dark, dark clouds ahead in the not too distant future," he said.
"The cliff at the end of the next year is an extremely steep cliff and extremely difficult one to fall off and survive," he added.
The fiscal crisis at Caltrain snowballed in April when Scanlon, who also heads SamTrans, announced that agency, hit hard by the poor economy itself, would likely pull 70 percent of their funding contribution to Caltrain. That triggered similar moves from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
At the time, Scanlon suggested Caltrain might need to cut 50 percent of its service to balance its budget. That's no longer looking likely for fiscal year 2011, but it's still uncertain how Caltrain will make it through FY2012.
"We have not been able to find a service model that will work to keep this railroad open" in FY2012," said Harvey.
Filed Under: Caltrain, SFMTA, Transit
Caltrain to Hold Public Hearings on Fiscal Emergency, Service Cuts
By Aaron Bialick	| Feb 4, 2011
The Caltrain Board of Directors has decided to hold a series of public hearings and community meetings before voting on a declaration of fiscal emergency and approving dramatic cuts that would slash service and potentially close up to 16 stations. "Hopefully, we will be able to come up with additional funding sources before we are […]
Caltrain Riders Plead to Save Stations as Board Declares Fiscal Emergency
By Aaron Bialick	| Mar 3, 2011
The Caltrain Board of Directors declared a fiscal emergency for the third year in a row today as a step toward enacting severe service cuts to help close a $30 million deficit. At the meeting, dozens of speakers representing Peninsula families, city agencies and organizations plead with the board not to close stations next month. […]
Caltrain Service Cuts Could Be Mitigated With New MTC Plan
Communities from San Francisco to San Jose may be saved from much of the expected crippling Caltrain service cuts. A new Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) plan being developed could make up much of the agency's budget deficit for the next two years, said MTC Public Information Officer John Goodwin. A large chunk of the coming […]
SamTrans to Raise Fares and Cut Nearly All Express Routes
By Michael Rhodes	| Sep 9, 2009
Four of these six routes will be discontinued or have reduced service. Flickr photo: 4nitsirk The SamTrans Board of Directors voted today to cut nearly all express routes to San Francisco, reduce service on several local lines, and raise adult one-way fares by 25 cents in an effort to narrow a $28.4 million budget deficit. […]
SFMTA Board Approves Two-Year Budget by 4-3 Vote; Muni Cuts Extended
By Michael Rhodes	| Apr 20, 2010
Muni riders warned the SFMTA Board that buses are already packed — even before 10 percent service cuts arrive in May. Flickr photo: John 'K' The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board approved a budget for the next two fiscal years today that continues Muni service cuts into 2012, setting up a possible confrontation with […]
Caltrain Chief: We'll Be Fine If We Don't Starve on the Way to the Banquet
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Executive Director Nat Ford at today's Caltrain Board meeting. Photo: Michael Rhodes There's still no relief in sight for Caltrain, which faces a dire financial situation that could force the agency to cut 50 percent of service by next year. Even if the train operator pulls a rabbit out of […]


Home › ADIDAS DAVID BECKHAM MANCHESTER UNITED 3RD JERSEY 2015/16.
ADIDAS DAVID BECKHAM MANCHESTER UNITED 3RD JERSEY 2015/16.
When the Red Devils circulate the ball and put the pressure their opponents, they wear a version of this men's soccer jersey. Based on the one from their third kit, it features breathable climacool® ventilation and their team badge on the chest.


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CHEMMY IS READY TO RACE
Gerald Ferreira
Chemmy Alcott is gearing up for an exciting new high-speed adventure. The Olympic downhill skier and recent star of ITV's Dancing on Ice has just passed her test to become a racing driver and now, as a fully-fledged MSA competition licence holder, is ready to get on track.
"That was really, really fun – it's always nice to pass things isn't it!" grinned Chemmy after successfully completing both written and driving elements of the official ARDS test at Silverstone. "When you get past a certain age you don't get many opportunities to challenge yourself and learn something new. That was one of the things I enjoyed about Dancing on Ice and this has been the same. I've really loved it – and it's been really great to learn a new skill. It was really interesting out on the track and it really helped having some instruction from an ex-driver. He's given me loads of tips and shown me how to drive fast and stay in control of the car."
The five time Senior British National Champion is hoping to put her new-found driving skills to the test in a special, star-studded Celebrity Challenge race being staged as one of the highlights of this summer's Silverstone Classic powered by the AA (20-22 July), the world's biggest classic motor sport festival.
Chemmy, 29, will line up on the starting grid alongside a host of personalities from showbiz, sport, TV and music all whizzing around the famous Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in lightweight, competition prepared Morgans capable of topping 130mph. Those taking part include Hollywood star Sir Patrick Stewart, award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal, lifestyle guru Jo Wood, 'Comedy Dave' Vitty from Radio 1, Sky Sports presenter Vicky Gomersall, legendary rocker Brian Johnson from AC/DC and Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole.
"I've been clocked at 92mph on skis but I'm hoping to double that speed in the car!" joked Chemmy who has already challenged Sir Patrick to a re-match on skis. "I'm going to be a racing driver for the day and it is just going to be an amazing experience! With all those fabulous cars racing and on display, the Silverstone Classic sounds fabulous and I'm really looking forward to it."
Unlike in downhill ski competitions, motor racing is a sport in which girls can compete against boys and Chemmy is relishing the opportunity to mix it with her male rivals. She added: "I'm going to tuck my hair up in the helmet on the day, so that none of the boys know that I am a girl – I don't want to be judged on that basis! When I take on the boys skiing, they just don't like it; so I want to see if the same applies here!"
The Celebrity Challenge takes place on Saturday 21 July and will raise funds for the Birmingham Children's Hospital, the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and the RPJ Crohn's Foundation.
Adult tickets for 2012's Silverstone Classic powered by the AA (20-22 July) cost from as little as £35 and special two- and three-day weekend tickets are also available with savings of more than 20 per cent if purchased in advance. Full details are available via the event's official silverstoneclassic.com website.
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energy managementregulations and standards
By Kenneth Wacks March 14, 2022 May 11th, 2022 No Comments
Home » Ken Wacks' Perspectives
This is the fourth article in a year-long series that premiered in November 2021 on international standards for energy management. These standards support the transformation of the power grid from centralized generation to distributed energy resources including local solar, wind, and stored energy in homes and buildings.
These are voluntary industrial standards developed to promote world trade by a committee I chair for ISO1 and IEC2. They are part of a family of standards for interconnected consumer electronics (home automation) called the "Home Electronic System" (HES) 3. I welcome your comments and participation in developing these standards; please visit kenwacks.com for contact data.
Energy Management Agent (EMA) Data & Control
I introduced the international standard Energy Management Agent (EMA) in the previous article in this series. The EMA is a type of consumer electronics product that helps users manage energy whether generated locally, obtained from storage, or purchased from neighbors, a microgrid, an aggregator, or a public utility. This article explores the data needed by the EMA for automated operation while fulfilling the user's goals. It also examines how appliances could respond to control signals from the EMA and a practical method for accommodating existing appliances.
Electrical Energy Measuring System (EEMS)
Integral to the HES energy management system is the ability to measure and modify system performance including premises use, generation, and storage of electricity. Traditionally, electricity consumption is measured only at one point, namely, the electric meter. Electric utilities supply and manage electric meters at the demarcation point (e.g., at the service entrance to the premises where the electricity service line from the distribution grid is terminated). Electric meters with remote reading access are often known as "smart meters." The primary function of smart meters is customer billing using government-approved metrology methods and technologies. The international standard ISO/IEC 15045-5-24 introduces local power measurements at the point-of-use by selected appliances to facilitate the decisions made by the EMA for allocating power based on consumer desires and goals. Locations where local power measurements are recommended include:
Solar and wind power generation (at the input to an inverter)
Stationary batteries (e.g., Tesla Powerwall)
Mobile batteries in electric vehicles (EVs)
Appliances and other loads
Utility or aggregator power via the grid
Transactive energy using a private power feed
These energy measurements are primarily intended to enable effective energy management by providing the EMA with electricity flow data and analysis of loads (application systems or specific appliances), local generation, and storage. Measurement techniques have advanced in accuracy with reduced costs to enable such on-premises measurements. A feature of IoT (Internet of Things) is the proliferation of low-cost sensors. The power measuring devices proposed for supporting the EMA functions are examples of such IoT-sensor devices. These distributed measurement devices on premises constitute an Electrical Energy Measuring System (EEMS).
EMMA: EMA + EEMS
The combination of an EMA with an EEMS is called EMMA, Energy Management and Measurement Application, in the HES standards. EMMA supports measurement of electrical parameters and power flows in order to determine the optimal allocation of power according to the consumer's goals.
Future electricity infrastructure deployments may shift generation resources from a public utility to locally-based renewable sources that fluctuate with the weather and time-of-day. Measurements of power consumption by major appliance loads are becoming increasingly important inputs so the EMA can allocate power to loads as local supplies fluctuate. These measurement features combined with the computation features5 of the EMA enable EMMA to provide accurate automated energy management so users can balance appliance usage when desired against goals such as staying within a budget or limiting their environmental impact. If power supplies are constrained by events (such as weather) or too expensive according to the user's budgetary limit, the EMA can shift power to critical loads.
Energy Allocation to appliances and EV chargers
The prime benefit of the EMA is the tailoring of energy allocation based on user preferences for appliance operation and power sources (such has "green energy"), and user constraints such as a monthly budget for energy. Once the EMA has determined where to allocate power, it must convey this message to the affected appliances and EV chargers. Most appliances were not designed to respond to a power allocation message. The only option is to interpose a switch module (often called a smart plug) between the appliance power cord and an outlet.
Smart plugs allow remote curtailment of power to a specific appliance via an app or voice control. Controlling an appliance by cutting power is a crude method of control. Furthermore, it is likely to be ineffective for appliances controlled by a microprocessor. Many such processors reset the appliance when power is restored, or may lose configuration data unless non-volatile or battery-backup memory is designed into the product.
Responsive appliances
Energy management would be simplified if all appliances were designed with internal controllers programmed for intelligent responses to energy management messages (called responsive appliances). Many appliances include controllers that communicate data with sensors, actuators, and user interfaces to provide various functions. These components are usually embedded in or dedicated to an appliance. Appliance controllers could be designed to include expanded responsibilities for communicating with cluster controllers (specified in ISO/IEC TR 14543-46 and the ISO/IEC 10192-47 series). These cluster controllers provide management and coordination for applications such as energy management, entertainment, lighting, health, safety, and comfort.
Figure 1 illustrates the structure of an integrated home system using cluster controllers to manage applications. The Home Systems Coordinator shown in the figure might offer a common user interface on a wall panel or a smart phone app to initiate applications and to coordinate operations across applications. For example, the lighting cluster controller could be programmed to adjust media room lights when the A/V cluster controller prepares to show a video.
Figure 1 – Home Automation Systems Organized by Cluster Controllers
Ideally the EMA, serving as the cluster controller for energy management, would communicate with appliances that understand energy management commands. If appliances were designed to operate in modes with reduced energy consumption, the EMA could request a percentage decrease in energy consumption to achieve the user's goals, given the available electricity supply and costs. The ability to request an operating mode with reduced power consumption offers "shades-of-gray" between operating and curtailing appliances, so power consumption is reduced while appliances continues to run, but with some modes limited (such as temperature limits for AC and water heating). Smart appliances that consume significant energy might be designed to allow a choice of levels for energy consumption with the appliance features possibly limited at lower levels through a process I call appliance modulation.
As explained in ISO/IEC TR 14543-4 and the ISO/IEC 10192-4 series, HES applications are managed by cluster controllers. In this environment, the EMA sets operating modes for appliances and clusters by communicating target goals to the appropriate cluster controller or smart appliance. For example, HVAC energy reduction may require adjustments to temperature and relative humidity settings for each room evaporator and for the compressor, especially if it has variable speed control. These parameters are very specific to the HVAC design. Therefore, an HVAC system intended for energy management would interact with an EMA that specifies a target reduction and lets the HVAC controllers decide how to achieve that goal, rather than programming the EMA to adjust the thermostat.
Priority load center
In reality few appliances and HVAC systems are designed with built-in energy conservation modes that can be requested by the EMA. To accommodate these appliance limitations, the EMA needs to be adapted to the local premises environment, which may include a mix of appliances and application clusters with varying degrees of responsiveness to energy commands, EV charging stations, and local energy equipment (renewables and storage).
Appliances not designed with internal energy management features could be connected to circuits that are wired to a load center8 designed for a level of priority services. In a typical residential house or apartment, the appliances are powered from one load center containing all the circuit breakers on one electrical panel. ISO/IEC 15045-5-2 specifies multiple load centers where at least one is assigned for critical loads. For example, appliances important for human welfare, such as a refrigerator or medical monitor, would be plugged into a high-priority load center that connects to mains power plus local renewable power sources and storage for enhanced resiliency.
Adapting appliances for energy management
The HES family includes a standard interface for appliances that are switchable on/off or amenable to modulation of energy consumption (such as a thermostat adjustment). This is called the Modular Communications Interface (MCI) and is described in the next article.
1. ISO is the International Organization for Standardization, founded in 1947, www.iso.org.
2. IEC is the International Electrotechnical Commission, founded in 1906, www.iec.ch. Both ISO and IEC are headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
3. The Home Electronic System (HES) is the name of the international standards committee officially designated as ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25/WG 1:
JTC 1 = Joint Technical Committee 1, entitled Information Technology
SC 25 = Subcommittee 25, entitled Interconnection of Information Technology Equipment
WG 1 = Working Group 1, entitled Home Electronic System
4. ISO/IEC 15045-5-2, Information Technology – Home Electronic System (HES) gateway – Part 5-2: HES gateway energy services [In progress]
5. The computation features of the EMA including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will be presented later in this series of articles.
6. ISO/IEC TR 14543-4, Information Technology – Home Electronic System (HES) architecture – Part 4: Home and building automation in a mixed-use building.
7. ISO/IEC 10192-4-1, Information Technology – Home Electronic System (HES) interfaces – Part 4-1: Common user interface to support interworking among home cluster systems – Architecture.
ISO/IEC 10192-4-2, Information Technology – Home Electronic System (HES) interfaces – Part 4-2: Common user interface to support interworking among home cluster systems – Interfaces, services and objects [In progress].
ISO/IEC 10192-4-3, Information Technology – Home Electronic System (HES) interfaces – Part 4-2: Common user interface to support interworking among home cluster systems – Messaging [In progress].
8. An electrical load center contains a panel of circuit breakers that provide protection against fires and shocks.
© Copyright 2021 Kenneth P. Wacks
Dr. Kenneth Wacks has been a pioneer in establishing the home systems industry. He delivers clear and practical advice to manufacturers and utilities worldwide on business opportunities, network alternatives, and product developments in IoT and AI for home and building systems. The United States Department of Energy appointed him to the GridWise® Architecture Council to guide the electric industry toward smart grids. For further information, please contact Ken at +1 781 662-6211; [email protected]; www.kenwacks.com.
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When you say rum, I hear mojito!!! It's my new favorite beverage, mostly due to the use of tons of fresh mint, which I adore! So when I read on Peter Shankman's HARO about the opportunity to score an invite to the Brugal rum-tasting, I heard a mojito calling me and my hand shot up!
The tasting was held at the clubby John Allan's, where gentlemen go for a bit of "manscaping" (I love that new word!). Unfortunately, but certainly not disappointingly, this was a tasting of fine sipping rum: the Brugal Extra Viejo. I did a quick expectation make-over and slipped right into sippin' mode.
Available Stateside for the first time ever, this "extra old" rum from the Dominican Republic was supremely smooth with a rich amber color and sweet, spiced vanilla flavor notes. Definitely worthy of its place in a snifter, with or without a smoking jacket. It's a sophisticated taste that is quite reasonably priced (suggested retail price for the 750 ml size is $24.99) and an excellent addition to any rum connoisseur's collection. Those same connoisseurs might say that making a mojito out of the Brugal Extra Viejo would be a fine liquor crime, but you know I'm gonna do it since it will be outstanding!!!


Cardiff International Pool provides an extensive range of facilities, which include a 50 metre pool, as well as leisure pool with flumes, lazy rive and space bowl. The pool is available for public swimming with 50 metre lanes available early in the morning for serious swimmers and less intimidating 25 metre lanes at other times.
Built to international championship standards with 10 lanes and seating for 1,000 spectators, 3 training pools can be created with moveable booms. Aquazone swimming lesson programmes are available in this pool.
The complex includes a leisure pool with 4 flumes covering 200m in distance, Lazy River and Space Bowl, an exciting children's play structure, to provide fun for everyone from ages 1-101.
Furthermore there is a fully air conditioned health and fitness studio. Instructors are always on duty to help you perfect your training when you need it. There are over 50 group exercise classes per week which are held in the fitness studios. Classes include, Spin Tone, RPM, Yoga, Tone ball, Box 'n' tone and many more.


Military style is one of those trends that never seems to fade out. There's something about the infinite combinations and contrasts available when you mix military style pieces with your everyday fashion that makes it an exciting and edgy look in almost every case. The key is probably to avoid going completely overboard – you don't want to look like you just dropped out of a helicopter when you're walking down the high street – but at the same time incorporate something that transforms a basic look into something impressive.
There are so many ways to incorporate military style into your casual and even formal looks, all with different outcomes. For example, for a real statement piece you might incorporate modern army clothing from army surplus stores into your everyday outfit, perhaps including camouflage pieces, utility belts and accessories or even headgear. Alternatively you could look to more antique military looks for inspiration, like the ever-popular Napoleonic look – oversized, stiff jackets, high boots, and accessories with a majestic royal flair.
A more subtle option might be more influenced by the fashion of the WWII era, with less explicit military connotations but still heavily influenced by the atmosphere at the time. Practical, functional and restrained: the core features of style at the time result in a sharp look that has never gone out of fashion. Structured jackets and uniform-like ensembles can work well however you choose to wear them – either opt for a plain and strict look with no embellishment, or add functional belts and accessories to put more focus on the finer details. The key is to balance utility with understated style.
Colours are as important as anything when putting together your own unique military-inspired looks. Muted steel greys are a staple, and a near-monochromatic scheme can really accentuate the dramatic outline of a 1940's-inspired ensemble in particular. For a more modern approach, khaki shades are an essential and can allow you to combine other pieces with your military elements for a cohesive finished outfit.
Straight-up camouflage always makes an impact, especially for unusual items and different shaped jackets. Even alternatives like leopard print in the place of camo can look great for these pieces, if you can track them down. Don't be afraid to base your look around a single statement piece inspired by the military look, and contrast it with one of your usual smart looks or even a casual or party outfit.


Qdoba is your delicious Mexican food restaurant. Take your family to Qdoba for a yummy night out on the town and enjoy an amazing meal for very little money. At many Qdoba locations across the US, you can even place your order online and have it delivered.
Receive an e-mail when a new Qdoba coupon is added!
Currently, there are no Qdoba coupons. But we will immediately notify you when a new coupon is posted to the site.
Get an overview, which Qdoba discount codes have been available recently.
Available only at participating Qdoba locations.
Where are those Qdoba coupons when you need them?!
Usually they are all right here on this page: the buy one get one free offers, the season's specials and other promotions on those irresistible Mexican treats. However, there may be times when Qdoba may not be offering any discounts or freebies on those tacos, burritos, nachos, salads and quesadillas. Though we partner with the Mexican cuisine restaurant to bring you the best offers, at times updating those new offers may take a bit of time.
Tip 1- We have a plethora of Restaurant coupons for you to choose from: discounts on dinner entrees from Olive Garden, freebie when you sign up for the Chili's reward program, deliciously irresistible combo deals from Steak 'n Shake and special in app deals at Applebees. If you're looking specifically for gourmet deals, ways to save on grocery purchases, sweets or beer & wine purchases, we have those here for you as well.
Tip 2- If you are particularly fond of eating at Qdoba, you should sign up for our coupon alerts. As soon as a new offer from this Mexican restaurant is added to the system, we will tell you all about it.
Click on any coupon on this page to know about the discounted offer or to view the secret code that will help reduce your total bill or fetch you a freebie.
Coupons may be valid for use only at select outlets or participating locations. Some offers may be valid only for some menu items and not for all products. Also, some coupon codes may be useable only when your order value equals or exceeds a certain amount. Some rebates may be valid only on some combo deals or along with specific orders of beverages or desserts and so on. There could also be specific exclusions (menu items, times of day and so on), so be sure to read all conditions.
Step two- Is your coupon current and valid?
Your coupon code may be valid only for weekdays, may not be available on festive days and so on. Check the expiration date and be sure to use a coupon that you like while it is still valid.
If you're still having problems with the coupon, use the contact info in the side panel to get in touch with the coupon guru with your complaint.
Signing up for Qdoba rewards can be rewarding indeed! You get a reward for registering, receive email offers on new products and outlets, get birthday gifts and earn free entrees when you earn sufficient points. The Q-Cash gift card can be a great idea for someone who enjoys Mexican cuisine. A great way to say Happy Birthday, or Thank You or even Well Done! Qdoba also has a catering option which can take the hassle out of entertaining. Know more about the Hot Taco Bar, Boxed Lunches, Add ons and more.


Today I wrote an Applescript that saves InDesign pages as EPS files, with text converted to outlines. It's kind of sad that I have to do this, but unfortunately that's where we are at this point. Anyway, I thought somebody might find this useful.
To use it, open up Applescript Editor and save as an application.
Open each page of the PDF in Illustrator, in turn, and then save it as an outlined EPS, in the same subfolder.
If you drag one or more closed InDesign files to the application icon, it will open each file in InDesign, do the above steps, and then close the document.
Good luck. Some of this was inspired by code on macgrunt.


"He has declared he will use maximum force to defeat the terrorists. He's vowed to eliminate illegal militias and armed gangs. He wants to accelerate the training of the Iraqi security forces so they can take responsibility from coalition forces for security throughout Iraq. He wants to improve health care, and housing, and jobs so the benefits of a free society will reach every Iraqi citizen."
"Not a single one of the people I talked to, not one of the political leaders, from whatever part of the spectrum in Iraq that I talked to - and these are all people from all the different communities elected by their people - not one of them wanted us to pull out precipitately. All of them wanted us to stick with it and see the job done... They have a very, very clear sense of what they want the multinational force to do. They want us there in support until they've got the capability, and then they want us to leave, and then to take full charge of their country. And I believe that can happen."
President Bush said that the United States, Britain, and other coalition members will "work to engage other nations around the world to ensure that constitutional democracy in Iraq succeeds and the terrorists are defeated."


At 98,955 km this 2014 Hyundai Tucson has been driven 18% less than the average vehicle of the same year.
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Women in the Soil: Highlighting Women Cultivators in California's Emerald Triangle
Veronica Castillo
"Women have historically been the rulers of home and hearth, have developed an innate sense of the world around them, and seem to sense things a little faster and more deeply." — Wendy Kornberg, Humboldt cannabis grower
Continued after the jump.
The Emerald Triangle—made up of California's Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino Counties—is known as the largest cannabis-producing region in the country. Literally shaped like a triangle, the region is home to some of the world's best and most experienced cannabis cultivators. It's said that the Emerald Triangle first started developing its reputation after San Francisco's Summer of Love in 1967, when the flower children gathered in Northern California to create a magical place known today as the cannabis mecca of the United States.
Sun-grown cannabis plants at Bennett Farms. Photo credit: 1st Lady of the West Coast
According to cannabis tour company Mendo Experience:
"These three Northern California counties have the ideal terroir – that combination of soil and climate – for growing the best weed on the planet. These three counties make up the largest cannabis growing region in the United States. There are more weed farmers growing more weed here than any place else in the country, and they've been growing here for generations."
Here, we are paying homage to the region that has been taking care of the needs of those in the United States by growing cannabis for decades; to the region that has saved lives in the face of adversity; to the hippies, cultivators, allies, and women in the soil. Here, we highlight and honor four women cultivators in the Emerald Triangle: Wendy Kornberg, Karla Avila, Sequoyah Hudson, and Chiah Rodriques.
Wendy Kornberg is the owner of Sunnabis: Humboldt's Full Sun Farms. Sunnabis is a legacy Humboldt, female-owned and operated, DEM pure regenerative cannabis farm specializing in natural farming.
Karla Avila is the owner/operator of Flowerdaze Farm. Flowerdaze is a regenerative cannabis farm; Karla is also an author and the creator of Rose Lemonade.
Sequoyah Hudson is the co-owner/partner of 8-Mile Farms. 8-Mile Farms is a multi-decade farm specializing in growing cannabis with the natural resources that the region provides. Sequoyah is also the founding farmer of True Humboldt and the CEO/CFO of Humboldt Sun Growers Guild.
Chiah Rodriques is the owner/co-owner of Mendocino Generations, Arcanna Flowers, and River Txai. These farms/brands specialize in off-grid, sun-grown, organic, solar cannabis.
Generational Farming: Passion, Inspiration, and Mentors
Recently I traveled up to the Emerald Triangle for a full, three-county tour led by Lele Dubois. I met the most amazing people, some of the most skilled cultivators, and all were some of the most humble people I have ever met. It wasn't until my visit up that I witnessed true passion for soil, nature, plants, and the medicinal and overall healing benefits of cannabis.
I had the honor of meeting several cultivators, but the women cultivators were my highlight. Cannabis is very much a male-dominated industry so it was magical to meet second, third, and even fourth-generation women farmers/cultivators. I wanted to pick the brains of legends in the cannabis space and they graciously allowed it.
Do you come from a generation of women in cannabis? If so, what generation are you?
Chiah Rodriques: "I am the first woman in my line of cultivation. But I come from a large community where about half of the cultivators are women around me."
Wendy Kornberg: "I am a second-generation female cannabis cultivator. My mother ran the garden, really more of a hobby farm with about an acre of: veggies, fruits, orchard trees, and cannabis."
Karla Avila: "I am a 4th generation herbalist and homesteader where cannabis was part of the homestead apothecary garden along with myriad other medicinal and useful plants."
Sequoyah Hudson: "I am the 1st generation woman cannabis farmer in my family."
Where did your passion to cultivate come from?
Chiah Rodriques: "My father was a guerilla grower back in the 70s/80s/90s and I watched what he did. At that time, I was coming into my teens in the mid '90s and started using cannabis so, the passion grew for learning. I grew my first crop when I was 18."
Wendy Kornberg: "I've always loved gardening and farming, but cultivating cannabis seems to have been born into me. My family didn't grow at home, but guerrilla gardening ran strong in our blood. One late summer at the age of about 13, I decided it was far time to grow my own."
Karla Avila: "It is in my bones, in my blood. For as long as I can remember, cultivating, nurturing and caring for life and the life-giving plants that heal and sustain us, has been important in my family."
Sequoyah Hudson: "My passion really developed from growing cannabis as a hobby with my husband. It has always been so rewarding to have successfully grown a 'crop' whether it was 1 or 500 plants."
Do you believe that women have a kindred connection to plants—why or why not?
Chiah Rodriques: "Yes I think that women have a unique connection to all plants. Typically we are the healers, the medicine women, the herbalists, the witches. Cannabis is a female plant when flowering and I feel a connection with that plant more than any plant."
Wendy Kornberg: "I believe most people have a kindred connection to plants, when they allow themselves to feel it and focus on it. Women seem to be especially in tune with cannabis, perhaps because we cultivate and culture the females more than the males."
Karla Avila: "Absolutely, without a doubt. Women, perhaps by their nature to be nurturers, caregivers, healers, organizers, connectors, and mothers, vibrate in harmony with useful medicinal and spiritual plants. As a woman who spends time with plants, we become attuned to their vibrational existence and to the connections between us and all life "
Sequoyah Hudson: "Women absolutely have a kindred connection to plants. Our keen intuition, ability to adapt, and desire to nurture just fosters a relationship naturally."
8-Mile Farms. Photo credit: Veronica Castillo
Lessons learned and lessons taught
As cannabis legalization continues to sweep the nation, current and aspiring cannabis cultivators are leaving the shadows for the light.
What lesson about plant cannabis has stayed with you since learning it—and is it something that you pass on to women that you teach and inspire?
Chiah Rodriques: "I can't think of one specific lesson from my years right now, but the main thing is that cannabis is a healer for almost everything—humans, the body, ailments, the land, the soil, and the community. I listened to the wisdom of the plants and created some remedies that help hundreds if not thousands of people over the years."
Wendy Kornberg: "Cannabis has taught me so much, but mostly that it is so important for bringing our bodies into balance. Every time an ailment hits someone it appears that cannabis has the potential to alleviate some, if not all, of the pain and suffering the illness has caused."
Karla Avila: "This plant is a teacher, there can be many lessons. This plant is adaptive, it will give you rest if you need it, it will give you wisdom if you seek it. It is a teacher, and it teaches you to be your own teacher, to know your own wisdom. It is an ally."
Sequoyah Hudson: "The lessons are endless and she makes you want to share all you have learned to everyone—men and women, boys and girls, old and young. But mostly there is beauty and resilience in all things."
Legacy cultivation and the journey from prohibition
Many of the cultivators in the Emerald Triangle grew cannabis during the prohibition era and have transitioned, like these ladies, from prohibition, to medical, to recreational.
What has it been like as a woman in cannabis to go from prohibition, to medical, to adult-use legalization?
Chiah Rodriques: "I was not the main cultivator on my farm because I was raising the babies mostly for years, but once we got through legalization I began to use my creativity and ingenuity to build a better farm, a brand, and began to network and connect with others as women do."
Wendy Kornberg: "California has really messed up this time. We had a thriving market for small farmers who risked everything to bring this medicine to the people prior to a list use regulations, and now we have corporations who swooped in during the green rush and have deep pockets, enough to last a couple more years of losses. As a female in a very male-dominated marketplace, it's been hard to claim a seat at the table with the guys."
Karla Avila: "NOT easy. The regulatory system for adult-use legalization has a long way to go before it is truly the end of prohibition. Small legacy farmers in particular, those on whose backs this industry was built, are at massive risk of being able to survive and thrive in the new regulatory framework, which is extremely prohibitive to small farmers."
Sequoyah Hudson: "It has been quite the roller coaster ride for sure. It has been extremely disheartening to see our small rural communities—across California— that had been thriving, caring for one another, developing 'neighborwoods' with character, supporting local businesses and charities who were thriving FOR DECADES begin to crumble and suffer and struggle just to make ends meet. A battle has come down on us that none of us could have ever been prepared for."
Arcanna Flowers cannabis farm. Photo credit: Veronica Castillo
Final words—advice and encouragement for aspiring cannabis cultivators
Chiah Rodriques: "Growing cannabis is not for the faint of heart. Growing your own medicine is one of the most satisfying and empowering things a person can do. You can change the world one person at a time."
Wendy Kornberg: "Find someone who inspires you and intern or train under them, just like with any other crop or career. Having patience and determination is key. Also, don't step on others to get to where you want to be."
Karla Avila: "If you have a passion for cultivating, do not ignore it. Practice. Become a Master. Surround yourself with a team of dedicated women and men, build community around this plant and the values that it teaches, and stay true to those values."
Sequoyah Hudson: "Cannabis has nurtured a community of teaching, learning, giving, and sharing. If you want to learn, she will teach you. In return, teach what you learn to others. She will provide abundantly. In return, share what she gives to you."
Veronica Castillo is a writer from Miami — currently a resident of the road — on an exploration of all things vegan and cannabis. Connect with her on Instagram.


Did you know that the texts for the Exsultet have changed? Use these settings with confidence to enhance worship during Easter Vigil, knowing they have been approved by the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship (BCDW) and the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).
From Latin chant and the official ICEL setting to updated editions of popular settings by Paul Hillebrand, Tom Kendzia, Christopher Walker—and a bilingual setting by Pedro Rubalcava—choose from six different settings of the Exsultet in the convenience of one playlist!


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Mucuna Pruriens Boosts Dopamine and Stimulates Receptors
Role in the Brain
Increase Dopamine
Mucuna Pruriens is a dopamine-boosting natural supplement that is able to improve mood, motivation and focus in its users.
A native of tropical Caribbean climates, the tall leafy Mucuna plant bears seeds which are full of L-Dopa (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine), a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Consuming some form of these seeds is one of the only ways to directly supplement and increase dopamine levels in the brain. This is one reason that Mucuna Pruriens has endured as a folk medicine for many hundreds of years.
We'll look at the links between Mucuna Pruriens and dopamine production, as well as the implications for mood disorders and nootropic effects. Mucuna could be a safer, more effective alternative to prescription anti-depressants.
Read on for a complete summary of how Mucuna Pruriens works, and the best way to put its dopamine boosting effects to good use for total emotional wellbeing.
Body -building
Elevates dopamine & norepinephrine
Boosts mood, focus & motivation
Improves stress response & libido
Between 500 - 1000 mg per day
Rated Possibly Safe
Top Mucuna Pruriens Products* ❯
Dopamine's Role in the Brain
What is Mucuna Pruriens?
Velvet Bean Extract
Benefits & Effects
Mucuna for Depression
Increasing Dopamine Levels
Use for Bodybuilding
Use for Parkinson's
Dosage Guide
How to Take Mucuna Extract
Buy Supplements
Dopa Bean
Bulk Powder
Risk of Side Effects
The neurotransmitter dopamine is a critical component to emotional wellbeing and mood.
One of the catecholamine hormones, the release of dopamine in the brain contributes in many ways to vibrant, energetic mood.
First, it improves circulation by dilating blood vessels.
In the brain, this ensures that oxygen-rich blood will be delivered to nerve cells, making their function more efficient while preventing decay.
Metabolism is raised, as is the speedy removal of waste. All of these functions provide greater mental clarity and focus to the user.
Next, dopamine stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain. It delivers the feeling of physical pleasure and emotional joy and euphoria. Dopamine regulates the perception of reward for action and results in determination and drive in all of our endeavors.
Dopamine deficiencies are linked to symptoms of depression, as well as lack of motor control. Chronic dopamine depletion can lead to very serious degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's Disease.
As dopamine is not able to cross the blood brain barrier, using Mucuna Pruriens supplements is one of the only viable ways to increase dopamine levels naturally. We'll explore how this mechanism works below.
How Mucuna Pruriens Increases Dopamine Activity
Every seed of the Mucuna Pruriens contains L-Dopa. This organic chemical is identical to the body's synthesized product of L-Tyrosine. L-Dopa is the direct pre-cursor to dopamine in the body.
Once Mucuna is consumed, the L-Dopa content is immediately transformed into dopamine in the brain which can be taken up by the neurons.
When Dopamine receptors in the brain detect the presence of this neurotransmitter, it causes a series of energy and metabolism related activities, as well as activating pleasure and reward responses in the brain. A Mucuna dosage also prompts the production of other important neural hormones, such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
Together, all of these hormones provide a super-charged boost to mood, mental energy, confidence, satisfaction, and ambition. The Mucuna Pruriens dopamine effect is immediate and powerful.
However, as L-Dopa is well-tolerated by the body, the onset of effects is natural and comes without the harsh spikes of prescription pharmaceuticals like Adderall.
Why Should You Take Mucuna Pruriens?
Most people will not have the need to take Mucuna Pruriens for its original, traditional uses, such as treating snakebites.
But everyone can benefit from Mucuna's powerful effects upon mood and emotional balance.
If you suffer from any kind of social anxiety, the increase in dopamine levels that Mucuna Pruriens provides can give you the confidence and energy to handle social situations.
Light symptoms of depression, such as lethargy and pessimism, will gently lift as dopamine levels are restored. Mucuna provides a perception of mental focus and heightened concentration which is of great benefit for anyone suffering from ADD or ADHD.
In fact, most prescription medications which doctors give to ADHD patients work by artificially stimulating the release of catecholamines like dopamine. Mucuna provides a natural alternative which in many cases is more effective than its prescription counterparts.
Mucuna is also widely used in fitness and bodybuilding culture, due to its ability to increase motivation and fat burning.
If you are already taking a natural supplement for mood, such as the serotonin-enhancing 5-htp, Mucuna makes a worthy complement, delivering a synergistic lift to emotional states and mental energy.
Can you Take Too Much Mucuna Pruriens?
Mucuna Pruriens has a long track record of safe use, since before the time of recorded medical history. In modern users, it rarely present side effects within moderate dosages. 500 mg per day represents a typical dose.
Dosages as low as 100 mg per day will still generate the Mucuna Pruriens dopamine response, while up to 1 gram per day is considered very safe.
Above that amount, you may begin to experience side effects which are common to stimulants – namely, high blood pressure and rapid heart rate. If you feel palpitations while taking Mucuna at any dose, you are likely more sensitive to this supplement and should stop taking it immediately.
There are many other natural mood enhancing supplements to explore which may deliver comparable effects.
A popular Mucuna alternative is L-Theanine, a glutamic acid which dramatically boosts serotonin levels and cuts anxiety. If you are too sensitive to Mucuna, L-Theanine should be the next supplement you try. However, most people are able to tolerate moderate doses well.
With thoughtful exploration respectful of dose, you can experience Mucuna's mood-lifting, energy enhancing benefits without risk.
Suresh S, Prakash S. Effect of Mucuna pruriens (Linn.) on sexual behavior and sperm parameters in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male rat. J Sex Med. 2012
Pulikkalpura H, Kurup R, Mathew PJ, Baby S. Levodopa in Mucuna pruriens and its degradation. Sci Rep. 2015
Poddighe S, De Rose F, Marotta R, Ruffilli R, Fanti M, Secci PP, Mostallino MC, Setzu MD, Zuncheddu MA, Collu I, Solla P, Marrosu F, Kasture S, Acquas E, Liscia A. Mucuna pruriens (Velvet bean) rescues motor, olfactory, mitochondrial and synaptic impairment in PINK1B9 Drosophila melanogaster genetic model of Parkinson's disease. PLoS One. 2014
Bhaskar A, Vidhya VG, Ramya M. Hypoglycemic effect of Mucuna pruriens seed extract on normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Fitoterapia. 2008
Misra L, Wagner H. Alkaloidal constituents of Mucuna pruriens seeds. Phytochemistry. 2004
Li X, Chen Z, Yang F, Pan J, Li Y. Development of a microchip-pulsed electrochemical method for rapid determination of L-DOPA and tyrosine in Mucuna pruriens. J Sep Sci. 2013
Manyam BV, Dhanasekaran M, Hare TA. Neuroprotective effects of the antiparkinson drug Mucuna pruriens. Phytother Res. 2004
My experience with this supplement has been varied but mostly uninteresting. I've tried two different brands…NOW and Himalaya Herbals. The NOW brand gave me a very strange dopamine hallucinatory effect that was very uncomfortable…made my brain fog way worse.
The other brand, Himalaya Herbals (or herbs, can't remember which), had much cleaner effects and felt altogether okay, but I didn't have any dramatic boost from it.
Overall, I think Mucuna could be a good fit for some, but I believe my problem is much more than just a typical dopamine deficiency and I think I'll try Uridine next.
Taking some forms of Macuna seems to give me something like a mild nasal allergy. But taking an enteric coated brand, such as Solaray, doesn't have that effect on me.
ADDaptogen
I have been taking nootropics for several years now. I have ADD inattentive type. I love phenylpiracetam, sulbutiamine, and phenibut. Lately I have tried mucuna powder and LOVE how I feel. It's not racy or overpowering… but it does help me with being more present and 'going with the flow'. I have worked out a trial schedule so I can rotate the above to help with focus, sense of well being, and just feeling like my chilled out self.
I wanted to know how long does it take to start to have any affect as most vitamins you take take a couple of months to start working in your body.
As the Dr has given me tablets for this and I ready done want to take them I prefer natural ingredients going into my body .
Nootriment Editorial Staff
Hey Nicole,
Thanks for your question! It varies depending on which specific product you are using and what you are taking it for. If you can let me know more about the specific products you are looking for, I can look up research on the onset of effects for you.
OVERVIEW: Mucuna Pruriens seed extract (Cowhage, Velvet Bean) has been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. It contains L-Dopa which is converted into dopamine in the brain. READ MORE...
USED FOR: Mood, Depression, Energy, Focus, Motivation, Athletic Performance, Bodybuilding, Parkinson's Disease, Arthritis, Pain and more.
MECHANISM: L-Dopa from Mucuna extract is a precursor to dopamine. This excitatory neurotransmitter is involved in regulating mood, executive function, physical movement and more. READ MORE...
DOSAGE: 500 - 1000mg per day; Taken 1 - 2 times a day.
SIDE EFFECTS: Rated Possibly Safe for oral use at appropriate dosages. May cause mild gastrointestinal side effects. Limited clinical research data currently available. READ MORE...
INTERACTIONS: Anesthesia, Anti-Diabetes Drugs, Anti-Psychotic Drugs, Guanethidine (Ismelin), Methyldopa (Aldomet), MAOIs, Tricyclic Anti-Depressants. May interact with supplements that decrease blood sugar, Kava or Vitamin B6.
RELATED SUPPLEMENTS: L-Tyrosine, L-Theanine, GABA, 5-HTP, L-Tryptophan, SAMe, Rhodiola Rosea, Ashwagandha, Mucuna Pruriens, Sulbutiamine, Phenylalanine, Phenylethylamine, St. John's Wort
Top Mucuna Pruriens Supplements
TOP MUCUNA SUPPLEMENTS *


text:
Louis Castle departs EA's Westwood Studios for InstantAction
By Stephany Nunneley, Thursday, 16 July 2009 18:31 GMT
Louis Castle, co-founder of EA's Westwood Studios has left the firm for free-to-play games company InstantAction where he will act as CEO.
InstantAction specializes in third-party 3D browser-based games funded through advertising and micro-transactions.
Castle, who founded Westwood with Brett Sperry in 1985, became general manager of EA's Blueprint Studios after Westwood was acquired by the publisher in 1998. It's greatest success came from Command & Conquer series.
Via GI.biz, IndustryGamers.


The IDC predicts that spending on robotics will grow at a rate of 22.8% per year over the next 4 years as technology advancements enable companies to deploy robots in new areas outside of the more traditional industrial manufacturing processes. In parallel, the increased demand is incentivizing innovators in the field to invest in delivering robots that are capable of performing a wider range of tasks.
So with that in mind, and the New Year just beginning, here's our pick of the robotics trends set to create opportunities for businesses in 2018 and beyond.
Collaborative robots or Co-bots are starting to take centre stage thanks to the advancement and cheaper prices of AI and motion-sensing technologies. Such capabilities are making co-bots increasingly smarter, enabling their ability to work alongside and interact with humans better than ever. From adjusting their position to avoid collisions when they sense the presence of a human colleague to machine learning that allows them to be easily trained to do new tasks and the option to redeploy them to a different working environment, it's no wonder that co-bots are becoming increasingly attractive to businesses of all sizes who are adding them to their operations to assist human workers.
Many people confuse artificial intelligence and robotics as the same thing. A robot is a machine that can be pre-programmed to carry out a specific task or tasks, if you add Artificial Intelligence to that machine, you create an intelligent robot that can provide services to humans in unpredictable and changing environments. We're not quite at the stage yet where intelligent robots can handle any task but what they are good at is doing a single task really well by processing and analysing reams of data far more quickly than a human brain could. Therefore, businesses are increasingly using AI to allow computers to understand and respond to queries from customers. At the same time, financial institutions are using automation to deal with increasing volumes of data. As artificial intelligence programs become less expensive to produce and easier to implement, we expect we'll see many more new start-ups, numerous business applications and consumer uses coming to the fore.
The concept of autonomous cars has been around for a long time, with many of the large car manufacturers already researching, developing and testing autonomous cars. But mobile autonomy is not just for transporting people. Mobile robots, through autonomous self-guiding vehicles are expected to grow vastly in the coming years as these increasingly complex machines become more and more capable of performing challenging tasks in our daily environments. Capabilities in environment perception, localisation, mapping and motion planning are complex but they're becoming increasingly more necessary as robots are deployed in warehouses, fields, airports, hospitals and the like. From warehouse goods retrieval to fruit picking or room service, mobile robots that act autonomously to move through a real world environment to perform it's tasks are expected to grow at an annual rate of 70% by 2020 according to the IDC.
According to the IDC by 2020, 60% of robots will depend on cloud-based software to define new skills, cognitive capabilities and application programs.Think the film, The Matrix, where characters downloaded new skills from a computer to enable them to carry out unfamiliar tasks such as flying a helicopter. While this capability is still in the realm of science fiction for us mere mortals, for robots it is entirely possible. Currently, every task a conventional robot completes requires a significant amount of processing power and pre-programed information, not to mention the powerful computers and batteries required to operate them. If all of that information was stored on the Cloud, it would enable robotics to be lighter, cheaper and ultimately smarter and thus more appealing and more attainable for businesses and consumers alike. What's more, the widespread use of a robotics cloud marketplace whereby developers could upload their programs to be integrated into existing robots or used to create entirely new ones is only a matter of time. The possibilities are endless!
Robotics as a Service (RaaS), is a new business model where robots are offered as a service rather than as a product. While still in its infancy, RaaS is quickly growing into a multi-billion dollar industry. By offering highly adaptable robotic solutions for rent, RaaS providers enable companies to avoid large capital investments in robotics while still being able to take advantage of the benefits robotics systems can offer businesses such as increased productivity, reduced costs and allowing the human workers to focus on more value-add tasks. At the same time, the service provider can invest in and keep up with the latest technologies, while spreading their expenses out over many users.
While these are just a small selection of the trends we foresee in the robotics industry over the coming years, one thing is for sure – robots are here to stay, they are improving fast, and the future is going to look very different because of them.


We love alphabet-based typography work (here and here), and artwork from everyday objects (here and here), so we are naturally drawn to this series, STRUCTURE x Type, by Indian design student Rigved Sathe. With form and structure in mind, Sathe created each individual letter from an object (or objects) corresponding to the letter. We love his use of subtle details, from the ghosted letter in the background, to the objects very subtly peeking in from all sides of the perimeter. Sathe has a terrific sense of composition, and his letterforms are quite unique. It's amazing how typographic explorations of the alphabet itself never get old, and we're very fond of this talented student's take.
We've featured California-based contemporary artist Andrew Myers before (here), but his awesome work deserves a revisit. Myers amalgamates sculpture and portraiture in some really intriguing ways. Whether intentional or not, on some level Myers' work bears some resemblance (at least conceptually) to that of the great Chuck Close. Rather than splotchy "pixels" of paint, Myers' work is comprised of screws (yes, as in something you'd get from a hardware store). He painstakingly drives thousands of screws by hand (ranging from a few thousand to over 10,000) at various depths into his "canvas", then paints over each screw head to create these brilliant works, that in the end are basically three dimensional sculptures. These stunning portraits are engaging viewed from near or far, but as one gets closer, it's clear that Myers spends some serious time creating these works. He has an obvious love for working with his hands and clearly knows his way around a tool bench… hardware seems to be a common theme in all of his work, from these aforementioned screws to steel rods and even automotive paint. You will see in the video below, Myers has the hands of a carpenter, and we can see why. Tremendous, tactile work… we absolutely love it.


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One of the most popular names in the eyewear world, Lafont designer glasses frames offers an array of fashionable choices for people who want function when it comes to their glasses. Lafont frames are renowned for their comfort and durability and come in styles suitable for several facial shapes.
Lafont designers take their time and inspiration from numerous sources in order to come up with frames unlike any other. Keeping in mind the differences in vision requirements, Lafont ensures that you will be getting what you need while still maintaining a high standard of fashion and comfort.
The brand caters to both men and women wearers, offering an extensive listing for frames in different styles, sizes, and shapes. This gives you the chance to buy one for a specific person or something for yourself. When unsure, there are also unisex glasses in their lineup, allowing for an easier choice and versatility in options.
The beauty of Lafont designer glasses is the variety. Even as you enjoy basic and simple designs, you also get access to some of the most imaginative frames on the market. Lafont also utilizes all possible shapes and sizes for their frames, creating a smorgasbord for all facial shapes and types. With these designs, you will find the perfect pair that complements your bone structure and makes you stand out from the crowd.
A company that has been making eyewear for years, Lafont is always in the forefront of design fashion, customizing their designs for appeal without losing sight of what comfort is all about. This is why it is not surprising that more and more buyers are finding Lafont a better option. Often inexpensive and very durable, the brand has now made a name for itself in the eyewear niche and is always creating new fantastic designs. Right now Lafont is a favored eyewear brand of several Hollywood celebrities.
We carry many styles of designs of Lafont frames. Simply stop into the Eye Care Center of Colorado Springs and you will be free to try them on and to find the perfect pair of glasses for your unique style and taste.


This unfinished, unassembled kit is from popular miniatures blogger Kris Compas.
It contains cardstock pattern pieces, dowels, resin legs, batting, crochet thread for piping. You get everything you need to make your own chair except fabric (1/4 yard of 100% cotton fabric needed), and basic craft supplies. Information is included for downloading the illustrated step-by-step instructions (printed instructions are not included).
The kit has an intermediate level of difficulty and can be assembled in about a day. This kit is shown assembled and finished.


This statistic shows the number of range hoods sold in Norway from 2011 to 2016 with a forecast for 2017. During the presented period, the number of range hoods sold in Norway fluctuated. In 2016, 120 thousand units were sold in Norway.