text:
Closure of the office of the legal advisor at Erez DCO
Other | 23.10.2006
In a letter sent to the Military Advocate General, HaMoked establishes that the closure of the office of the legal advisor at the Erez DCO, as part of the "disengagement plan" is a "cosmetic" act designed to strengthen Israel's claim that the Gaza Strip is no longer under military rule. The responsibilities of the advisory office have been distributed among several military offices, rendering its cancellation meaningless. HaMoked claims that, as at the date on which the letter was written and despite the removal of the settlements and military facilities from the Gaza Strip, Israel maintains continual effective control of it, and often, physical presence in it. Israel controls all resources in the Gaza Strip: its border crossings, the quantities of medicine and essential supplies going into it, the quantity of diesel currently used for operating the generators which supply electricity to the Strip, the Palestinian population registry and the tax system and has a crucial impact on the daily lives of the Palestinian residents. In view of this, Israel is still considered an occupying power in the Gaza Strip and, therefore, is not exempt from its responsibilities toward the protected population therein.
Closure of the office of the legal advisor at Erez DCO, is but a "cosmetic" act designed to strengthen Israel's claim that the Gaza Strip is no longer under occupation: HaMoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual establishes, in a letter sent to the Military Advocate General, that Israel is still an occupying power in the Strip and that the closure of the office is yet another of Israel'...
Freedom of Movement >> Entry into Israel from Gaza
Freedom of Movement >> Travel Abroad from the West Bank and Gaza
Freedom of Movement >> Entry into Gaza from Israel and Jerusalem


New Homes Crown Point - Crown Point Home Builder | Steiner Homes LTD.
Crown Point, known as the "Hub of Lake County" is a city located about 47 miles east of Chicago. It is also the county seat of Lake County, Indiana. As of 2016, the estimated town population is 29,176. It is home to the famous Crown Point Courthouse Square Historic District.
There are also 9 subdivisions in the town: Copper Creek, Deer Ridge South, Ellendale Farm, Feather Rock, The Galleries, Pine Hill, Schmidt Farms, White Hawk West, and Wyndham Woods.


text:
Edward W. Anderson (1871–1953)
Posted on November 29, 2015 February 1, 2019 by contributed by: Robert Fikes
African Americans in the West: AAWPeople: African American History: African Americans in the West: Articles
"Image Ownership: Public Domain"
Entrepreneur, political organizer, and civilian pioneer, Edward William Anderson was born the son of former slaves, Wyatt and Fannie Anderson, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, September 26, 1871. He arrived in San Diego, California, in the mid-1890s with just $1.25 in his pocket but was confident in his ability to thrive as a business owner. His first successful venture was as owner, at age twenty-five, of IXL (I Excel) Laundry which grew to become the largest steam laundry in the region with thirty-five employees.
Anderson unwittingly involved himself in the struggle for equal rights for people of color in California when on May 17, 1897, he and his wife, Mary, arrived with tickets in hand to claim their seats for a performance of Around the World in Eighty Days at the city's premier entertainment venue, the elegant Fisher Opera House. Instead of being ushered to the choice seats near the orchestra, the theater manager, who redirected him to the balcony, said, "I do not allow colored people on that floor." Anderson refused the balcony seats, accepted a refund of the tickets, and a week later filed a lawsuit for $299 in damages. Due mainly to a recently enacted provision of the state's civil rights law, Anderson prevailed and was awarded $50. The judgment was reversed on appeal and further legal action by Anderson did not succeed; however, his challenge set legal precedent as the first racial discrimination court case of its kind in Southern California.
Over the next four decades, Anderson became the most prosperous black businessman in San Diego County. In 1910 he acquired one hundred and sixty acres along the California-Mexico border and quickly resold it at a 50 percent mark-up. Next, he bought his uncle's grocery store and soon after launched Economy Waste Paper Company and the even more prosperous San Diego Rubbish & Garbage Company which held an exclusive seven-year city contract. After winning another garbage disposal contract with the nearby city of Coronado, Anderson used some of the gathered refuse to feed hogs on his adjacent Silver Strand Ranch where he owned a meat-packing operation and Anderson Meat Market which sold its own special sausage brand. His porkers won prizes at fairs throughout the state, earning him the nickname "Hog King of San Diego." In 1943 Anderson launched Anderson Mortuary (later Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary) which continues to serve the community.
Anderson's social activism continued with his growing business success. He remained a central figure in the quest for equal rights, co-founding the San Diego branch of the NAACP in 1919 and serving three terms as its president between 1931 and 1943. He also assisted the branch in various official capacities and as a confidential advisor. A Prince Hall Mason, he also was president of the Negro Business League, the Independent Voters League, and the Douglass League as well as treasurer of the Negro Civic League and a member of the Elks and the San Diego Republican Central Committee.
Edward W. Anderson died August 11, 1953, in San Diego and buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Mary, and a sister, Rosa Little.
Subjects: AAWPeople, African American History, ArticlesTerms: 20th Century (1900-1999), Gender - Men, Sports - Olympic Games, Gender - Women, United States - California, United States - Illinois, United States - Kentucky, United States - New Mexico, Political Party - Republican Party, Civil Rights Activists, Civil Rights - NAACP, Political Activists, Business, Civil Rights, Education, Community Organizer, Caribbean - West Indies, Sports, Law Breakers, United States, Education - Historically Black Colleges (HBCU), Political Activists - Black Conservatives, North America - Mexico, Law Breakers - Street Gangs, North America-Cuba
Fikes, R. (2015, November 29) Edward W. Anderson (1871–1953). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/aaw/vignette_aahw/anderson-edward-w-1871-1953/
Robert Fikes Jr., Biographical Sketches of the Presidents of the San Diego NAACP (San Diego NAACP, 2013); Richard Crawford, "Discrimination Takes Center Stage," (April 14, 2010) at http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2010/apr/24/discrimination-takes-center-stage/.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If you know of Victor Hugo, you most likely know him as the man of letters who wrote books like Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris (better known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). If you know something else about him, it probably has to do with his politics: King Louis-Philippe granted him peerage in 1841, and he became a member of the French Parliament in 1848. This position gave him something of a pulpit from which to speak on his pet causes: abolition of the death penalty, freedom of the press, universal suffrage and education, and — lest anyone call the ambitions of his secondary career minor — the end of poverty.
But this sensibility made Hugo no friend of Napoleon III, who took power in 1851, and so the writer went into political exile in Guernsey. That year marked the end of a period, beginning with his election to Parliament, during which Hugo put writing aside in order to devote himself fully to politics — well, almost fully. Even as he laid down his writing pen, he picked up his drawing pen, producing the images you see here and many, many more.
Hugo, writes The Paris Review's Dan Piepenbring, "made some four thousand drawings over the course of his life. He was an adept draftsman, even an experimental one: he sometimes drew with his nondominant hand or when looking away from the page. If pen and ink were not available, he had recourse to soot, coal dust, and coffee grounds." The Tate's Christopher Turner writes of rumors "that he used blood pricked from his own veins in his many drawings." Whatever liquid substance he used, in the drawing at the top we can see "a giant, menacing octopus, fashioned from a single stain [that] contorts its suckered limbs into the initials VH."
A bold signature indeed, but then, Hugo hardly played the shrinking violet in any domain. And yet, so as not to distract from the rest of his career, he seldom showed his drawings to anyone but family and friends, coming no closer to publishing anything any of his art than the hand-drawn calling cards he handed visitors in his period of exile. No less a painter than Eugène Delacroix, when he saw these drawings, thought that if Hugo hadn't become a writer, he could have become one of the 19th century's greatest artists instead. I'd certainly like to see what Andrew Lloyd Webber would have adapted that octopus into.


text:
Lethem flood: Schools closed, 25 persons evacuated to shelters
Posted by: Denis Chabrol in Business, Education, News Thursday, 5 July 2018, 5:48 0
Last Updated on Thursday, 5 July 2018, 5:49 by Denis Chabrol
Civil Defence Commission photos.
Rising flood waters in Lethem have forced the evacuation of 25 persons and the closure of several schools, a number of which were being used as shelters, authorities said Thursday.
The flood is caused by heavy rainfall and overflowing Ireng and Takatu Rivers.
Director-General of Guyana's Civil Defence Commission, Col. Kester Craig told Demerara Waves Online News that the evacuees are in three shelters as of Wednesday night. The Ministry of Education said the affected persons are being housed temporarily at Culvert City Primary School, Tabatinga Community Centre Ground and the Amerindian Hostel in Lethem.
He added that the CDC was ready to rush relief supplies of food and medicine to the southern Guyanese town and its environs. "We are standby to do same almost immediately but waiting on the regional assessment report to determine quantity. Once we get that we will respond with supplies, I was promised the report today (Thursday)," he said.
Craig said up to Wednesday the Region Nine administration "indicated that they can manage the current situation but if exacerbated, external support would be needed".
The Ministry of Education early Wednesday morning announced that it has accepted a recommendation by the Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) Emergency Operations Centre to close the St.Ignatius Primary, St. Ignatius Secondary, Arapaima Primary, Aprapaima Nursery and Culvert City Nursery schools. The ministry called on parents and guardians of children attending these schools are advised not to send their children to school.
Previous: Mini hydro-power stations to be constructed in interior
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Six alternating red and blue stars adorn the chest and five stars run out the sleeves. If a very high heat, heat through the soles to help you be feel awful. He has been tied for the team lead with nine pass break-ups.


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James R. Smell, 87, of Bethlehem, passed away on March 21, 2019. He was the husband of the late Joann (Lehr) Smell.
James was born in Buck Mountain, PA on July 30, 1931 son of the late Stephen A. and Mary (Demkovich) Smell.
He worked for the City of Bethlehem as a manager in the waste water treatment plant. He was a member of the Heights Athletic Association, the North End Republican Club and the Citizens Fire Co. in Weatherly. He was a former member of Salem Lutheran Evangelical Church.
Survivors: Sons James J. and his wife Kathy, Timothy A. and his wife Heather; daughters Terri L. Earnshaw, Bonnie L. Boylan and her husband Francis and Kimberly A. Sinift and her husband Alick; sisters Anna Miller and Margaret Salabsky; nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Service: Monday, March 25 at 10AM with a viewing from 8-10AM at the John F. Herron Funeral Home, 458 Center and Market Streets, Bethlehem, PA 18018. Internment at Nisky Hill Cemetery.


text:
require 'test_helper'
require 'aws-sdk'
require 'securerandom'

require 'sqs/messages_handler'
require 'sqs/queue_processor'
require 'sqs/queue_processor_config'

# Launch a fake SQS service running on Localhost unless an environment
# variable is set to use the actual SQS service.
unless ENV['USE_REAL_SQS'] == 'true'
  require 'fake_sqs/test_integration'
  Aws.config.update(
      region: 'us-east-1',
      :access_key_id     => "access key id",
      :secret_access_key => "secret access key"
  )
  $fake_sqs_service = FakeSQS::TestIntegration.new(
    database: ':memory:',
    sqs_endpoint: 'localhost',
    sqs_port: 4568,
  )
end

class QueueProcessorTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
  attr_accessor :logger

  # A test handler that allows simulated failure and records received messages.
  class TestHandler < SQS::MessagesHandler
    # @return {Array<String>}
    attr_reader :messages

    def initialize(logger = Rails.logger)
      @logger = logger
      @lock = Mutex.new

      # An array of all of the message bodies received by the handler.
      @bodies = Set.new#<String>

      # A set of message bodies to intentionally fail on.
      @fail_on_message = Set.new#<String>
    end

    def handle(messages)
      @lock.synchronize do
        messages.each do |message|
          body = message.body
          if @fail_on_message.include?(body)
            @fail_on_message.delete(body)
            raise "Fake failure for '#{body}'"
          end
        end
        messages.each do |message|
          @bodies.add(message.body)
        end
        @logger.debug "Handler succeeding on batch of size '#{messages.size}'"
      end
    end

    # Fail the next handle attempt for the given message body.
    def raise_on_next_receipt_of(body)
      @lock.synchronize {
        @logger.debug "Adding fake failure for #{body}"
        @fail_on_message.add(body)
      }
    end

    def received_bodies
      @lock.synchronize {
        @bodies.dup
      }
    end

    def reset_received_bodies
      @lock.synchronize {
        @bodies = Set.new#<String>
      }
    end
  end

  def setup
    @sqs = Aws::SQS::Client.new
    unless ENV['USE_REAL_SQS'] == 'true'
      $fake_sqs_service.start
      @sqs.config.endpoint = $fake_sqs_service.uri
    end

    @logger = ENV['LOG_TO_STDOUT'] ? Logger.new(STDOUT) : Rails.logger
    @lock = Mutex.new
    @message_id = 0
  end

  def teardown
    unless ENV['USE_REAL_SQS'] == 'true'
      $fake_sqs_service.stop
    end
  end

  def test_queue_processor
    response = @sqs.create_queue(
        queue_name: "test-queue-processor-test",
        # Set a short visibility timeout so that retries will happen quickly.
        attributes: {"VisibilityTimeout" => "1"}
    )
    queue_url = response.queue_url

    # Set up a handler which will fail on the initial delivery attempt
    # for 2 of the bodies so that we can make sure that those bodies are subsequently
    # redelivered and handled.
    handler = TestHandler.new(logger)

    # Configure and start the queue processor.
    sqs_metrics = SQS::Metrics.new
    num_workers = 5
    global_max_messages_per_sec = 25

    # Proc for determining the max rate based on DCDO.
    max_rate_proc = Proc.new {
      DCDO.get('test-max-rate', global_max_messages_per_sec)
    }

    config = SQS::QueueProcessorConfig.new(
        queue_url: queue_url,
        handler: handler,
        initial_max_rate: global_max_messages_per_sec,
        max_rate_proc: max_rate_proc,
        num_processors: 1,
        num_workers_per_processor: num_workers,
        logger: logger)
    processor = SQS::QueueProcessor.new(config, sqs_metrics)
    processor.start

    # Enqueue 50 messages in batches of size 10.
    batches = 5
    batch_size = 10
    num_messages = batches * batch_size
    expected_bodies = Set.new#<String>
    batches.times do
      batch = []
      batch_size.times do
        item = {id: SecureRandom.uuid, message_body: create_unique_message_body}
        expected_bodies << item[:message_body]
        batch << item
      end
      @sqs.send_message_batch(queue_url: queue_url, entries: batch)
    end

    # Wait for the queue processor to handle all of the messages.
    while handler.received_bodies.proper_subset?(expected_bodies)
      processor.assert_workers_alive_for_test
      sleep 2
    end

    # Make sure that the metrics recorded at least the expected number of successes and failures.
    # (The queue is allowed to deliver a message more than once.)
    assert_operator sqs_metrics.successes.value, :>=, num_messages
    assert_equal 0, sqs_metrics.failures.value

    # Make sure that the handler received each of expected messages.
    missed_bodies = expected_bodies.subtract(handler.received_bodies)
    assert_empty missed_bodies, "Failed to receive the following bodies: #{missed_bodies}"

    # Now make sure that if the handler throws on the initial delivery of a message
    # that the system will redeliver it and allow the handler to receive it.
    handler.reset_received_bodies
    initially_failing_body = 'initially_failing'
    handler.raise_on_next_receipt_of(initially_failing_body)

    @sqs.send_message(queue_url: queue_url, message_body: initially_failing_body)
    sleep 2 until handler.received_bodies.include?(initially_failing_body)

    # Make sure the metrics capture the initial failure.
    assert sqs_metrics.failures.value >= 1

    processor.stop
  end

  def test_queue_process_config_parsing
    configs_json = <<-JSON
      {
        "queues": [
          {
            "name": "TestQueue",
            "handler_class": "QueueProcessorTest::TestHandler",
            "queue_url": "https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/1234/example",
            "num_processors": 5,
            "num_workers_per_processor": 32,
            "initial_max_rate": 2000,
            "dcdo_max_rate_key": "test_rate"
          },
          {
            "name": "queue2",
            "handler_class": "QueueProcessorTest::TestHandler",
            "queue_url": "https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/1234/example2",
            "num_processors": 1,
            "num_workers_per_processor": 1,
            "initial_max_rate": 1000
          }
        ]
      }
    JSON

    configs = SQS::QueueProcessorConfig.create_configs_from_json(configs_json)

    assert_equal 2, configs.size
    config = configs[0]
    assert_equal QueueProcessorTest::TestHandler, config.handler.class
    assert_equal 'https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/1234/example', config.queue_url
    assert_equal 5, config.num_processors
    assert_equal 32, config.num_workers_per_processor
    assert_equal 2000, config.initial_max_rate

    DCDO.set('test_rate', nil)
    assert_equal config.initial_max_rate, config.max_rate_proc.call,
                 'Max rate proc should return initial_max_rate if DCDO value is not set'

    DCDO.set('test_rate', 234)
    assert_equal 234, config.max_rate_proc.call,
                 'Max rate proc should return DCDO value if set'

    config2 = configs[1]
    assert_equal 'https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/1234/example2', config2.queue_url
  end

  def create_unique_message_body
    @lock.synchronize {
      @message_id += 1
      @message_id.to_s
    }
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Lotus tetragonolobus lectin is a family of closely related glycoproteins that appear to have similar specificities toward α-linked L-fucose containing oligosaccharides. Although many of the binding properties of Lotus lectin are similar to those of Ulex europaeus lectin I, the binding affinities and some specificities for oligosaccharides are significantly different between these fucose-specific lectins.
Fluorescein labeled Lotus tetragonolobus lectin has an appropriate number of fluorochromes bound to provide the optimum staining characteristics for this lectin. This conjugate is supplied essentially free of unconjugated fluorochromes. The excitation maximum is at 495 nm and the emission maximum is at 515 nm.


We had a great family day last weekend. Stayed home all day Saturday, and if you know us, you know that is very unusual.
So when we were making the ice cream, Dave asked what are we going to do with the 8 egg whites that we had leftover from the ice cream recipe. I found an Angel Food Cupcake recipe online. It seemed easier than making an angel food cake. You can find the recipe here. I didn't have cake flour, so I am sure the cupcakes would have came out of the oven a little taller. She also suggested not using paper cupcake linings and spraying the pan very well. I was nervous, but they came out just fine!
When we discussed what we would make with the left over egg whites, we talked about how Dave's grandma Lois Kellner would always make her angel food cakes from scratch. (Then we knew noodles were coming soon afterwards.) Grandma Lois always used her caramel frosting (not icing) recipe. She made it very runny, so it went over the cake easily and didn't weigh it down. It's all delicious, and brought back great memories of her special baking.
Bring to a boil, constantly stirring. Remove pan from heat, add 1 tsp vanilla.
Grandma Lois, we know you always put the extra frosting on saltine crackers, but we licked the pan clean. It was delicious!


text:
import { async, ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing'
import { Component } from '@angular/core'
import { Test1Component } from './test1.component'
import { Test1Module } from './test1.module'

describe(Test1Component.name, () => {
  let fixture: ComponentFixture<Test1Component>

  beforeEach(async(() => {
    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
      imports: [Test1Module],
      declarations: [TestComponent]
    }).compileComponents()
  }))

  beforeEach(async(() => {
    fixture = TestBed.createComponent(Test1Component)
  }))

  afterEach(async(() => {
    TestBed.resetTestingModule()
  }))

  it('should match snapshot', async(() => {
    expect(fixture).toMatchSnapshot()
  }))

  it('should compile', async(() => {
    expect(fixture.nativeElement).toBeDefined()
  }))
})

@Component({
  selector: 'test-component',
  template: '<pm-test1></pm-test1>'
})
class TestComponent {}


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We have 10 places available - please reserve your place. Bring your friends to participate for free.


text:
HomeTech NewsChina to launch state-backed transport platform for ride-hailing, trucking
230119115959 taxi transport beijing.jpg
China will soon launch a state-backed platform for transport which includes services of ride-hailing, cargo trucking, road transport, railway, ferry and flight services, Chinese state media Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday.
The online platform, which has completed internal tests, is expected to integrate more than 90% of total capacity of the transportation market, the newspaper said.
China's ride-hailing market was dominated by Didi Global which ran afoul of powerful regulator the Cyberspace Administration of China in 2021. The 18-month ban on the ride-hailer was lifted on Monday after the company took effective measures to ensure platform safety and data security.
The report did not give details of why the government was introducing the platform, whether customers would be obliged to use it or whether it would compete with existing platforms.
The report alluded to the disorderly expansion of ride-hailing apps and issues of data security.
The state-backed platform, called "Qiang Guo Jiao Tong" – or "Powerful Nation's Transportation" – will offer people convenient services while maintaining data security and protecting personal privacy, Beijing Daily reported.
Other social media apps such as Wechat, Alipay and Douyin will be integrated into the platform, the report added.
CreditChina to launch state-backed transport platform for ride-hailing, trucking
business and industry sectors
domestic alerts
domestic-business
domestic-international news
iab-business and finance
iab-computing
iab-industries
iab-information and network security
iab-logistics and transportation industry
iab-technology & computing
international alerts
international-business
sharing and on-demand economy
trucking industry
Mining Bitcoin with nuclear power
Mining bitcoins requires a lot of energy, so much so that when the price...


text:
by amazingplanetnews · Published October 28, 2012 · Updated June 10, 2015
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park, The lake is 7,732 feet (2,376 m) above sea level and covers 136 square miles (350 km2) with 110 miles (177 km) of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is 139 feet (42 m) its deepest spot is at least 390 feet (118 m). Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet (2,133 m) in North America.
In winter, ice nearly 3 feet (1 m) thick covers much of the lake, except where shallow water covers hot springs. The lake freezes over by early December and can remain frozen until late May or early June.
A rainbow hangs over Yellowstone Lake.
The forest and valleys surrounding Yellowstone Lake had been populated with Native Americans since pre-historic times. The first human of European descent to see the lake was trapper John Colter in the early 19th century. During the fur trading era of 1820 – 1840, the lake was probably visited by many trapping parties moving through the park region.
The famous Yellowstone Lake Hotel as seen from Yellowstone Lake.
The lake has been known by various names as depicted on early maps and in journals. Both fur trader David Thompson and explorer William Clark referred to the lake as Yellow Stone. Osborne Russell referred to the lake as Yellow Stone Lake in his 1834 journal. On some William Clark maps, the lake has the name Eustis Lake and the name Sublette's Lake was also used to name the lake in the early 19th century. The name Yellowstone Lake appears formally first in the 1839 maps of the Oregon Territory by U.S. Army topographical engineer, Captain Washington Hood and has remained so since that time.
"Yellowstone Lake on an autumn morning"
Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park
Frozen Air Bubbles in Abraham Lake
Lake Hillier – Australia
Catatumbo Lightning – The Most Electric Place on The…
10 Craziest Things In Nature You Won't Believe Actually…
Tags: LakeYellowstoneYellowstone Lakeyellowstone lake elevationyellowstone lake fishing regulations yellowstone lake lodge yellowstone lake fishingYellowstone Lake Reviewsyellowstone lake state park campingYellowstone National Park
by amazingplanetnews · Published November 18, 2015
Top 10 Most Incredible Natural Phenomena Around The World
by amazingplanetnews · Published January 7, 2016 · Last modified February 28, 2016
by amazingplanetnews · Published July 15, 2015
Next story The Sundarbans
Previous story The Seven Wonders of the World
Madidi National Park Bolivia
Valley of Love – Lost Wonders of the World
Great Blue Hole
Top 10 Unexplained Mysterious Places on the Earth
The Meteora – Greece
Mysterious Places Where Gravity Doesn't Exist
The Akshardham Temple – Largest Hindu Temple
Kollur Diamond Mine India
World's Most Beautiful Highway-Oberalp Pass Highway
World's Largest Swimming Pool San Alfonso del Mar
The World's Highest Waterfall – Angel Falls, Venezuela
Top 10 Scariest Places In The World
Top 10 Most Beautiful Tree Tunnels In The World


We're talking about the kinds of professional Orange County business mover services we are able to provide.
With a sterling silver reputation in the industry and plenty of top-tier experts working for us that have at least five years of experience moving businesses throughout the Orange County region, you won't ever have to worry about your business mover dropping the ball, damaging your possessions, or setting back your business.
When choosing Orange County business moving companies there are a number of different things you have to look at, but the most important detail to really focus on is the reputation that these moving companies enjoy in the moving business.
You need to work with legitimate professionals (and only legitimate professionals) that are going to be able to help you go about moving your business from one location to the next without any delay whatsoever.
Professional business moving companies – like our own – should have a successful track record and a sterling silver reputation from their clients that gives you the confidence you need to know that you're making the right decision.
Look for online reviews about business moving companies, focus on Orange County business mover services that provide you with real testimonials and case studies, and only choose to work with the very best of the best in the local area.
Your Orange County business mover project is going to go a lot faster – and a lot easier – if you first outline absolutely EVERYTHING that has to be moved, create a real plan of action to successfully pull off the move without a lot of moving parts, and have someone on-site to instruct professional business moving company experts of where and how to set things up at your new location.
By getting this all out of the way you are going to be able to really streamline the process in a way that is going to eat eliminate all of the headache and hassle that other business mover experiences may have involved.
Sure, it's going to take a little bit of extra upfront effort on your behalf, but at the end of the day you're going to be able to guarantee that your new location is set up exactly as you wish without any hiccups along the way – just make sure you work with only the best Orange County business moving company around to help you with the heavy lifting!
Our trusted House moving services are second-to-none, and we have agents standing by to help you start planning right away. Don't break your back trying to do it all alone; let Movers Best be your best friend.


I watched Jaws: The Revenge recently because, well, I had just re-watched Jaws (amazing) with my wife (more amazing) and I tend to be a completionist. After Jaws, I watched Jaws 2 (Jaws returns and only the sheriff remembers what happened last time) and Jaws 3 (Jaws in SeaWorld), and finally made my way to Jaws: The Revenge (Jaws in the Bahamas). I was watching this already terrible movie make weird excuses for Roy Scheider's lack of appearance (he died offscreen while not signing a contract to be in the worst Jaws), and I heard the unmistakable voice of Michael Caine. Sir Michael Caine. Sir Michael Caine was in the fourth Jaws film because Roy Scheider was not.
I was awestruck. I jumped to the internets to explain this to me. I knew that Michael Caine was already a well-established actor before J:tR came out. In fact, he was basically at the peak of his career (I checked). As far as he'll say, he was not blackmailed and did not owe millions in back taxes. He just did a job the best he could, and he got paid. Then, in a move that I didn't think was possible, he went on and continued to be a great actor, grew even cooler, and became Sir Michael Caine.
I don't know why it was so shocking to me, but it was. I guess I was shocked because everytime I do a slightly less than groundbreaking project I feel like I'm just sliding backwards faster than I can run and that, because of that project, I'll be doomed to finish my career penniless in obscurity. It may be extreme, but I don't think I'm alone in these feelings. No matter how many fun redesigns/relaunches I complete, working on this one Wordpress extension sets me all the way back to junior developer. Obviously, that was not true for Michael Caine, and it doesn't seem to be that way for anyone else either.
People work. Sometimes they do good work on bad projects. We forget, and keep working on new projects. Sir Michael Caine was in Jaws: The Revenge. Dustin Hoffman was in Ishtar. Patrick Swayze in Skatetown, U.S.A. I don't know why I give them more slack than myself, but I'm going to change the math in my head (or try to). Maybe I can do a non-portfolio project without feeling like I'm moving backward. Maybe I can earn a paycheck using my less glamorous skills occasionally without fearing that I'm redefining my career. Michael Caine didn't become cheesy action movie guy after that one film. Most importantly, I have to refuse to define myself or my career off any individual projects (big or small).


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Book of Ra 6, which was created on the 31st of August 2015 offers absolutely wild payouts, beautiful interface, and glorious graphics. We can't wait to tell you all about it. Book of Ra 6 is the latest and greatest installment in the series with everything upgraded with the best experience possible in mind. The graphics are absolutely stunning. We're sure they are the best ones we have seen by far – easy.
With what seems to be Indiana Jones's best appearance on screen and some of the best CG known to man, this epic journey is firmly set to be the experience of your lifetime. This is a video slot with some intense work done on the interface, with 5 reels and 10 paylines, plenty of retriggers, and a few expanding symbols across the board you're bound to see soon. The RTP is an even 96%.
Select the bet with a minimum of 0.2 Euros or go large.
The Book is the Scatter and The Wild.
Also, look out for the expanding scatter during those 10 Free Spins you get when you get lucky. 6 Book symbols get you 200x your bet. The Scarab multiplies your bet by 100x when you get lucky. As you need 6 symbols to get the max, you can end up with a staggering 7500x of your bet if your Explorer hits the right spot. Explore the 6th reel, crack the whip, get lucky, and tell your friends about this fantastic game. There is a huge potential for wins here, but the game also can come up with long spells of bad luck, so make sure you manage your bankroll carefully. At other time it seems like a medium variance game, giving out average payouts regularly. Be on the lookout.
So you pretty much already get the picture if you have seen the screenshots – or even if you have played the previous installments of the game.
The Ancient Egypt scene is pretty fascinating. Couple that with extended opportunities and absolutely massive wins – and you know this slot is everyone's favorite for a reason. The 6th reel doesn't come cheap, however, but neither do the wins associated with this game, which is greater in all respects if our opinion counts for anything. The 6 matching symbol wins are absolutely epic, so we think the investments are worth the dividends.
Basically one of the best games we know and can recommend with reportedly great wins. We recommend you aim for the Free Spins firmly and take care of your budget as much as you can. Make sure the game doesn't eat up all your finances in a few swift goes, because it can, and stay tuned for some of the greatest wins around.
This is a very unique and memorable slot. Probably the most memorable of them all. Plenty of bonus features make it one of the most exciting games to play to date. It is one of the most popular slots for a reason. And it will highly llikelystay that way.
Novomatic is probably the oldest company ever when it comes to making online games. Created way back in 1980, Novomatic is in charge currently of way over 200 000 slot machines in land-based casinos as well as online slots. The company has offices all over the world. They are very popular in the UK and Europe too and are known for massive payouts, although they may not be technically as great as Microgaming and their like. This slot is one of the most radically popular of theiк works, and also one of the most in-demand in the gaming world in general (although you probably already know that). Their products are quite rare considering how long they have been on the market but when they do come out they turn out superb. Book of Ra series is easily in the trio of their most wanted games and is considered by some to be simply the best.


text:
require 'ansible/ruby/modules/base'

module Ansible
  module Ruby
    module Modules
      # create, delete, start, stop iSCSI service on SVM.
      class Na_ontap_iscsi < Base
        # @return [:present, :absent, nil] Whether the service should be present or deleted.
        attribute :state
        validates :state, expression_inclusion: {:in=>[:present, :absent], :message=>"%{value} needs to be :present, :absent"}, allow_nil: true

        # @return [:started, :stopped, nil] Whether the specified service should running .
        attribute :service_state
        validates :service_state, expression_inclusion: {:in=>[:started, :stopped], :message=>"%{value} needs to be :started, :stopped"}, allow_nil: true

        # @return [String] The name of the vserver to use.
        attribute :vserver
        validates :vserver, presence: true, type: String
      end
    end
  end
end


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
Copyright (c) 2001-2004 World Wide Web Consortium,
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institut National de
Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique, Keio University). All
Rights Reserved. This program is distributed under the W3C's Software
Intellectual Property License. This program is distributed in the
hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE.
See W3C License http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ for more details.
--><!DOCTYPE test SYSTEM "dom1.dtd">

<test xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/DOM-Test-Suite/Level-1" name="hc_nodetextnodename">
<metadata>
<title>hc_nodeTextNodeName</title>
<creator>Curt Arnold</creator>
<description>
    The string returned by the "getNodeName()" method for a
    Text Node is "#text".
</description>

<date qualifier="created">2002-06-09</date>
<subject resource="http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-DOM-Level-1-19981001/level-one-core#ID-F68D095"/>
</metadata>
<var name="doc" type="Document"/>
<var name="elementList" type="NodeList"/>
<var name="testAddr" type="Element"/>
<var name="textNode" type="Node"/>
<var name="textName" type="DOMString"/>
<load var="doc" href="hc_staff" willBeModified="false"/>
<getElementsByTagName interface="Document" obj="doc" var="elementList" tagname='"acronym"'/>
<item interface="NodeList" obj="elementList" index="0" var="testAddr"/>
<firstChild interface="Node" obj="testAddr" var="textNode"/>
<nodeName obj="textNode" var="textName"/>
<assertEquals actual="textName" expected='"#text"' id="textNodeName" ignoreCase="false"/>
</test>


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Dorothy L. Evans, 91 years old of Elyria, Ohio passed away on Monday, February 26, 2018 at Ames Family Hospice House in Westlake, Ohio.
Mrs. Evans was born on November 1, 1926 in New York City and lived in Elyria since 1996, moving from Fairview Park. She was employed in food service at the Cleveland Browns Stadium. She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Post 12 and volunteered at the former Elyria Memorial Hospital for 17 years.
Mrs. Evans is survived by one daughter, Carol (Darell) Bishop of Elyria; two grandchildren, Bruce Bishop of Elyria and Deborah (Robert) Gromelski of Fargo North Dakota. Three great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren also survive.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Earl Evans in 1996; a son, Charles in 1971 and a sister, Marie Thebold.
Friends may call at the Reichlin Roberts Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 12:00 noon until the time of services at 1:30 P.M. in the funeral home. The Reverend Father Albert Veigas, Pastor of St. Agnes Catholic Church, will officiate. Burial will follow at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio.


Exhibit CONTROL is full project management company that specializes in providing turn-key trade show and event displays to companies in various industries. Services include but are not limited to; Design, Fabrication, Storage, Shipping, I&D, Special Events, Graphic Design, Portable Displays and more.
GrowTech offers services in marketing, advertising, social media, SEO, web design, cartridge sales, automated cartridge filling machine sales and packaging options.


Dear Students, Welcome to Pinnacle online SSC Coaching Portal. As you all know that SSC has already declared the Schedule of SSC CGL 2017 and there are hardly 100 days left when SSC CGL 2017 Tier 1 will start. I believe you must be preparing with best of your ability. We generally spend a few hours daily online on Social media. Usually this time is not very productive with respect to preparation. We use it as a time off from preparation. Now, think if the time spent online becomes more productive than the normal preparation itself. Sounds crazy, isn't it? We at Pinnacle want your time spent online to get as meaningful as it can be. Here comes Day13-Mathematics of MISSION SSC CGL 2017 day wise Comprehensive revision series.
Ans (d)The hour hand traces 300 in an hour.
∴ Angle traced in 3 ¾ hours.
Q3. Eighteen years ago, the ratio of A's age to B's age was 8 : 13. Their present ratios are 5 : 7.What is the present age of A ?
अठारह साल पहले, B की उम्र के लिए A की उम्र का अनुपात 8: 13.था उनका वर्तमान अनुपात हैं 5: 7। A की वर्तमान उम्र क्या है?
Q8. If the toll is to be collected through an outsourced agency by allowing a maximum 10% commission, how much amount should be permitted to be collected by the outsourced agency, so that the project is supported with Rs. 4,910crores?
Q9. If NHAI could receive a total of Rs. 9,695 crores as External . Assistance, by what percent (approximately) should it increase the Market Borrowing to arrange for the shortage of funds?
यदि एनएचएआई बाहरी के रूप में 9,695 करोड़ रुपए की कुल राशि प्राप्त कर सकता है। कितने प्रतिशत (लगभग) द्वारा बाजार उधारी बढ़ाने के फंड की कमी के लिए व्यवस्था करने के लिए सहायता करनी चाहिए?


text:
Real or Imaginary: The Effectiveness of Using Personas In Product Design
Peer-reviewed research paper on the effectiveness of using Personas in product design.
Written by Frank Long
This research paper was first published in the Irish Ergonomics Review, Proceedings of the IES Conference 2009, Dublin. ISSN 1649-2102 – © Copyright 2009
The use of personas as a method for communicating user requirements in collaborative design environments is well established. However, very little research has been conducted to quantify the benefits of using this technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using personas. An experiment was conducted over a period of five weeks using students from NCAD. The results showed that, through using personas, designs with superior usability characteristics were produced. They also indicate that using personas provides a significant advantage during the research and conceptualisation stages of the design process (supporting previously unfounded claims). The study also investigated the effects of using different presentation methods to present personas and concluded that photographs worked better than illustrations, and that visual storyboards were more effective in presenting task scenarios than text-only versions.
The product development process for complex consumer products is a collaborative one. It involves multidisciplinary design teams, consisting of numerous individuals, working on different components of the design, often in geographically dispersed locations. It can be challenging to maintain a consistent user focus in such environments. User testing provides valuable design feedback, but generally, this feedback arrives in the later stages of development when it is difficult to modify the design. In order to create more useable solutions, earlier user validation is required in the design process. The use of 'Personas' as a method for communicating user requirements and maintaining a consistent user focus in collaborative design efforts is becoming increasingly widespread. Personas are fictional user archetypes based on user research. Through a process of analysis and refinement, the data from user interviews is distilled into one or multiple fictitious characters. Each character is developed in realistic detail, and how that character wants to interact with the design is described as task scenarios. This Persona and their associated task scenarios form the basis for specifying how users want to experience the design. Through role-play and QA sessions using the persona, the merits of design solutions can be evaluated against the needs of the persona. Despite the growing popularity of personas, there is considerable debate as to the efficacy of the technique.
There is a surprisingly little published work detailing the methodology or providing evidence of its effectiveness. At the time of writing, only a few books deal with the subject in any detail. Cooper's The Inmates are Running the Asylum (1999) provides a compelling business argument for using personas but offers little practical information on how to use them. About Face 2.0; The Essentials of Interaction Design (Cooper and Reimann, 2003) details a more of a systematic overview of the process, strongly advocating their own trademarked design approach – Goal-Directed Design™. In 2006 Pruitt and Adlin published the most detailed volume on the subject, The Persona Lifecycle'– outlining and developing their interpretation of Cooper's original technique. This work focuses heavily on creation and maintenance of personas throughout the product lifecycle and includes case study references from industry. Pruitt's early background advocating and using personas in Microsoft is also documented through the short paper Personas Practice and Theory (Pruitt and Grudin, 2003). Mulder's The User is Always Right: a Practical Guide for Creating and Using Personas on the Web (2007) focuses on the creation of personas and techniques for incorporating quantitative market research and other empirical data into the process.
From a research perspective, the problem with much of what has been published is the lack of objectivity. Most have adopted an advocacy standpoint and their examples and analysis tend to evangelise the use of personas. Furthermore, there are distinct differences in the way the authors advocate using the technique. There is very little objective research or insight published. Chapman and Milham (also working at Microsoft) identify this in their 2003 paper:
"There is little peer-reviewed discussion of the personas method. The most comprehensive work to date (Pruitt and Adlin, 2006) is a compiled book advocating the method. There is no literature that systematically evaluates personas' methodology or utility in a comprehensive fashion."
"There have been no adequate studies addressing the reliability, validity, or utility of the method. To rectify this, we suggest the following as potential idea sketches for future research… (point 4) Assign multiple teams to design the same product, where some teams use personas and some don't. Which teams create products that are more usable?" (Chapman and Milham, 2003, The Persona's New Clothes: Methodological and Practical Arguments Against a Popular Method, p2–4).
The chief aim of the study was to assess and measure the effectiveness of using personas as a design tool — heeding Chapman and Milham's call for further research. Does using personas as a tool give designers any advantage in designing more effective and user-centred solutions? Would there be a quantifiable usability difference between the designs from the persona-based teams over ones that did not use persona? A secondary element of the research was to investigate the effect of different presentation techniques on the effectiveness of the personas. Would the use of the storyboards with illustrated user personas over the traditional method of using realistic user photographs and text-based scenarios have any significant difference on the resulting designs?
At the core of this research is a project-based experiment that was conducted with a group of 3rd year Industrial Design students from the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin. The experiment was planned as a design project conducted over a period of five weeks. The students were divided into three groups (see table 1.1). In order to ensure a 'level playing field', the tutors were consulted to help distribute the class into groups of equal strength. Two groups used personas as a design tool and one group acted as the control group and did not use a persona-based approach. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate whether there was any difference in the usability of the final designs. The study also sought to measure how using personas influenced the design teams in their approach to solving the brief.
Alpha (Control) 3 Brief and Image Boards
Beta 3 Brief andPersona (Photographic image and text-based scenario document)
Gamma 3 Brief and Persona (Illustrated image and storyboard scenario document)
Table 1.1 Groups used in the experiment and associated design tools
Personas and Scenarios
The scope of the experiment was focused on the effectiveness of using personas in the design process. It was not practical for the students to research and create personas within the project timeframe. It was also felt that using different personas would add an additional, unwanted level of variability to the experiment. Instead, a pre-prepared user persona and task scenarios were given to the students (see figures 1 and 2). The persona matched the target-user demographic outlined in the project brief and care was taken to ensure that it did not contain any information that might create an unfair advantage over the control group. The persona detailed the personal information of a fictitious character, her likes and dislikes, her home environment and her attitude towards new technology. The persona documentation included a 'day in the life' section, where the character's daily routine and how she currently uses the product was described. Finally, the persona's goals were listed, as were the client's business goals (these were also contained in the project brief). Two versions of the persona's image were used; the Beta group received a photograph of a real person while the Gamma group received an illustration. Two task scenarios 'Set-up' and 'Listening to the Radio' accompanied each persona – one set was text only the other was laid out as a storyboard. (See figures 1 and 2.)
Students were briefed in separate groups. Each group was instructed not to disclose or discuss their design tool with the other groups. The Beta and Gamma students were briefed on how to use personas as were their tutors. The tutors agreed to take observational notes during the project and a questionnaire was distributed at the end of the five weeks for the students and tutors to complete. Finally, individual focus groups were conducted among the three design groups and the project tutors to discuss the experience of using the personas. The Beta and Gamma groups were asked to complete a recall test to capture how much detail that they could remember about each persona.
Fig 1 — Sample from the persona and task scenario documentation used by Beta team.
Fig 2 — Sample from the persona and task scenario documentation used by the Gamma team.
On completion of the project, the grades awarded to the students at each stage and the overall grade was noted. By analysing the mean grades awarded to each group at the key project stages, it was possible to gain a comparative progress snapshot of the teams during the design process.
Detailed usability analysis was conducted on each individual design solution. The project timeframe did not facilitate the production of working prototypes or 3D models so user testing was not a viable method for evaluation. Instead, a Heuristic evaluation was carried out on the designs using Nielsen's usability heuristics (table 1.2). By using a consistent checklist to evaluate each design a comparative score could be achieved. Understanding and measuring the variance between the projects was more important than gaining a definitive usability assessment of each one.
Nielsen's Usability Heuristics
Visibility Of System Status
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
Match Between System And The Real World
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
User Control And Freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support 'undo' and 'redo'. Home and back controls should be also present.
Consistency And Standard
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. Icons should be recognisable and consistent.
Error Prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design, which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
Recognition Rather Than Recall
Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
Flexibility And Efficiency Of Use:
Accelerators — unseen by the novice user — may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Aesthetic And Minimalist Design
Dialogues should not contain information, which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, And Recover From Errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
Table 1.2 – Nielsen's Usability Heuristics
Each design was analysed against each heuristic, one at a time. As a design was first assessed for 'user control and freedom', if it contained a feature that supported this heuristic it scored one point, if it contained two or more features it scored two points. If no features supported that heuristic the score was zero. The analysis was carried out for each of the heuristics in this way. The overall score obtained by each design was tabulated and then the results were compared across the three groups.
One of the key research questions was to determine whether using personas within the design process generates more user-friendly solutions. As usability is not a core criterion in the NCAD grading system, but only one of a large number of design attributes that are assessed, this question cannot be answered through simple comparative analysis of the students' final project results. Further analysis was carried out on each project using Nielsen's Usability Heuristics to isolate and quantify the usability attributes.
The Heuristic analysis revealed a clear pattern. The teams that used the persona (Beta and Gamma) scored higher than the control group (Alpha). While the individual scores varied somewhat in accordance with the ability of the individual design teams, the overall results formed a consistent pattern. The Alpha group average was 2.67 compared to 5.67 (Beta) and 10.33 (Gamma) as can be seen in table 1.3. These results indicate that the Beta and Gamma groups had a greater understanding of the user needs and designed solutions around the user-critical tasks to a greater degree than the control group.
Project Grades by Stage
Analysing the grades at each project stage showed that the gap between the mean scores for the control group and the groups using the personas was significantly larger (p-value less than 0.05) at the research and concept stages. However, this gap had narrowed by the end of the project providing an even spread of overall grades.
Example user persona and scenario documentation.
From the results it is clear that the personas gave an advantage to the Beta and Gamma design teams during the early stages of the project. Through using personas these design teams had a clear perception of 'who' they were designing the solution for and what the users' goals were. Through role-playing scenarios and ideas, they were able to quickly identify what design problems the user would encounter and to propose solutions that the user would want. As the project progressed the gap between the Alpha teams and Beta and Gamma teams narrowed. This suggests that by using their conventional design process the control group also identified and addressed many of the design problems; however, it took them longer to reach this stage. The teams using personas seemed to identify and problem-solve design issues faster and earlier in the development process. The tutors confirmed this finding during the focus groups and feedback questionnaires.
The focus groups conducted at the end of the project confirmed that very little information regarding each design tool was leaked between teams. From the 16 responses to the questionnaire, five (31%) agreed that at the end of the project no information had leaked between groups, while seven (44%) agreed that only very minor details had leaked out by the end of the project. The Alpha group (control) confirmed that they focused more on aesthetic aspects of the design brief and limited their consideration of user interaction to physical controls. The Beta group was generally enthusiastic about their experiences using personas. They incorporated the persona profile into their normal design approach – conducting additional research with real people that matched the profile of the persona, conducting product research in stores where the persona might shop etc. One key area where the Beta students identified the positive effects of using the persona was in relation to teamwork. It was considerably easier to achieve a design consensus within the team by being able to refer to an external target user. This allowed them to push personal opinions to the background.
If one of us came up with a design feature that the other didn't like we could think about it in terms of what Marie would like. It wasn't just based on my opinion or their opinion. We could refer to the Marie persona; Marie would not like it to work like that.
Comment from Beta student during focus group
Using the persona seemed to increase the focus of the Beta team on the user interface issues. It was generally agreed that if they had not used the persona they would have arrived at a different design solution. When asked about using the approach again in the future all agreed that it would be useful. Some students admitted that if they had to make the persona themselves, they might be tempted to adjust the details to suit their own design outlook. The Gamma group were less enthusiastic (than the Beta group) about using the persona and through discussion, it became clear that they did not empathise with 'Marie' to the same extent as the Beta group did. The group discussed the fact that their persona was represented by an illustration and therefore was obviously not a real person. This seemed to highlight the fact that the persona was based on research – and perhaps because the students were not involved in conducting the research, they were sceptical. The students also discussed how the illustrated image of the persona made them feel that they could pick and choose from her characteristics and even superimpose their own additional features and information onto her character. Some Gamma participants reported to ignoring parts of the persona and others stated that they designed their solution partly for the persona and partly for more general users. There was general agreement in the group that having the persona was helpful and that it helped prevent self-referential design.
Persona Memory Test
Both Beta and Gamma teams were given a memory test to identify whether there were any differences in their ability to recall specific details about the persona. While there was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the two groups, the Beta group (photograph) could remember more details (mean score 20.6) than the Gamma group (18.4). The difference was most apparent in relation to personal details such as age, names of family members, users likes and dislikes etc. Users with the sketch tended to give more vague answers – for example when asked her age some students responded with an age range of 50–55 whereas the beta group were more exact providing the precise age.
Tutor Feedback
As the tutors were aware of the research objectives and had a ringside seat during the project, they had a wealth of insights into how the student teams reacted to the various design tools. The overall impression from the tutors was that the persona-based approach definitely offered something different. The students seemed to be more enthusiastic about the design challenge when they could relate the product to a specific user. This also resulted in a higher quality and quantity of work produced by the students. The tutors agreed that the students found working and communicating within their teams easier through using the persona. Previously team-based projects had a tendency to result in conflict. While the tutors were very positive towards the technique, they expressed some reservations about using it in the future. Both expressed a concern that it the persona research was not done accurately then the design result could be badly compromised. Tutors felt that students could skew research to suit their own design agenda. They also noted that some students became so focused on the persona that they lost a little perspective on the general design issues. This would need to be balanced in future projects. The tutors reported that towards the end of the project, the general relevance of the personas within the teams began to wane. They suggested that as a result of this, the effect of the different tools diminished as the project progressed; the difference between the groups in terms of engagement with the user was considerable in the beginning and seemed to converge gradually during the course of the project. The tutors reported that at the outset of the project the good students of groups Alpha and Gamma seemed to underperform and weaker students in groups Beta and also, to some degree, Gamma performed better than normal. However, during the course of the project both relative performances returned to their regular levels.
Discussions and Conclusions
The principal aim of this pilot study was to assess whether using personas as a design tool in the product development process would lead to more user-centred designs. It can be justifiably claimed at the outset that there are positive benefits associated with using the technique and this claim is evident from the analysis of the student design work, the student survey and the focus group feedback from the students and their tutors. This pilot study produced objective evidence to support the key claims made by Cooper, Pruitt et al. for using personas in the product design process. Personas strengthen the focus on the end user, their tasks, goals and motivation. Personas make the needs of the end-user more explicit and thereby can direct decision-making within design teams more towards those needs. Furthermore, the study suggests that using personas can improve communication between teams and facilitate more constructive and user-focused design discussion. Students using personas produced designs with better usability attributes than the students that did not use personas – thereby answering one of Chapman and Milham's key concerns.
Using illustrations instead of photographs of the persona would seem to reduce effectiveness. It can lead to selective consideration of the persona characteristics and can increase the risk of self-referential details being superimposed onto the persona. The study also reported a lower level of empathy towards the illustrated persona and a diminished ability among students to recall details about the persona after time. The storyboard task scenario seemed to be more effective than the text version and facilitated more detailed design solutions.
The study indicates that using personas offers several benefits for user-centred design in product development. The results support claims that using personas focuses more attention on the end-user, particularly in the early stages of the project. Not only does this increase the likelihood of a more usable end product but it also provides a clear user focus at the initial design research and idea generation stages, which enhances the possibility of incorporating user-centred features at the product specification stage. Personas have a role in helping designers to innovate new ideas but can also assist in validating new designs as they emerge. They can provide a valuable user-centred input early in the development cycle – helping to bridge the gap between research and design.
Personas are only one of a number of user-centred design tools and are not suited to every situation. There are considerable resources required to implement a persona-based approach within a design project. The time and effort required to research, analyse and document personas, should not be underestimated. As can be seen from the early experiences at Microsoft, where timeframes and human resources are not sufficient, the effectiveness of using personas is greatly diminished. Furthermore, attempting a scaled-back or low-budget version of personas can cause more harm than good. If the research and analysis are not thorough, confidence in the resulting personas will be undermined and as identified in the study, if the persona details and goals are not correct then the design direction can be inappropriate. Using personas also requires training at an organisational level, this is an additional obstacle and given the lack of published material on how to use personas, can be difficult to overcome.
The debate about whether personas work or not has been one of faith versus scepticism; claim versus counter-claim. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of using personas in the product design process and while more research is needed, there is now some objective evidence that using personas does work.
Chapman, C. N and Milham, R. P (2006) 'The Persona's New Clothes: Methodological and Practical Arguments Against a Popular Method', Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting, pp 634–636. (Available online at: http://cnchapman.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/chapman-milham-personas-hfes2006-0139-0330.pdf).
Cooper, A (1999) 'The Inmates are Running the Asylum', New York: Sams Publishing.
Cooper, A and Reimann, R (2003) 'About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design', Indianapolis: Wiley.
Ji-Ye Mao, Vredenburg, K, Smith, P. W and Carey, T (2005) 'The State of User-Centred Design Practice', Communications of the ACM, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp 105–109.
McCloud, S (1994). 'Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art', New York: Harper Perennial.
Moraveji, N, Li, J, Ding, J, O'Kelley, P and Woolf, S (2007) 'Comicboarding: Using Comics as Proxies for Participatory Design with Children', Proceedings from CHI 2007, April 28–May 3, San Jose, California, ACM, pp 1371–1374.
Mulder, S (2007) 'The User is Always Right; A Practical Guide to Using Personas for the Web', California: New Riders.
Nielsen, J (1993) 'Usability Engineering', Boston: Boston Academic Press.
Nielsen, J and Landauer, T. K (1993) 'A Mathematical Model of the Finding of Usability Problems', Proceedings of INTERCHI'93 Conference, 24–29 April 1993, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: ACM pp 206–213.
Nielsen, J and Mack, R. L (Eds.), (1994) 'Usability Inspection Methods', New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Pruitt, J and Adlin, T (2006) 'The Persona Lifecycle, Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design', San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman.
Pruitt, J and Grudin, J (2003) 'Personas: Practice and Theory', Proceedings of the Conference on Designing for User Experiences, June 06–07, San Francisco, ACM pp 1–15.
Citations should use the following reference
Long, F (2009) 'Real or Imaginary; The Effectiveness of Using Personas in Product Design', Proceedings of the Irish Ergonomics Society Annual Conference, May 2009, pp 1–10 Dublin.


Since 1999, the DFA has issued over $981 million in economic development bonds, leveraging over $847 million in investment to support community and economic development activity in our region. Through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program the Development Fund of the Western Reserve (DFWR) has allocated $65 million in federal NMTC plus $11.5 million in Ohio NMTC, leveraging $55 million additional federal and state NMTC allocations and $13.2 million in private investment. These finance projects have enabled the DFA to directly or indirectly be associated with the retention and creation of 14,448 jobs, including thousands of construction jobs throughout Northeast Ohio.


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Teaching English in Dalian
Situated in the northeast province of Liaoning, the gorgeous coastal city of Dalian has a long history of being used by foreign powers as a port.
The city is well-known for its squares, fountains, gardens and beaches thanks to a former leader who initiated a 'Green Storm,' a widespread environmental development campaign. Dalian also has a reputation for its football, hosting many national competitions and having the most successful team in China.
Another big event is the annual Dalian International Fashion Festival attracting thousands of designers, celebrities, pop stars and clothing merchants.
Dalian is many things to many people. From beach barbecues to coastal hiking, Chinese tradition to Russian influence, there is plenty to experience in this magnificent city.
You can buy a local meal for as little as 15 RMB and a bus journey costs 1 RMB per trip.
Population: 7 million
Public Transportation: 2 major train stations, 4 subway lines, 1 international airport and hundreds of bus routes & taxis.
Language: Mandarin, local dialects
Climate: Ocean climate features, with four distinct seasons
First EF Dalian opened in 2000
What Makes Dalian Unique?
Very famous for the beaches, great on your days off from teaching English
Xinghai square is the largest square in Asia and is home to many attractions
Lushun City, Also known as 'Port Arthur,' is a beautiful tourist city zone with a long history
Has won awards for 'Best Tourist City' and 'Best Environment'
Binhai Road, a 22-mile stretch of coast, is a wonderful place to explore the city's natural side with beaches on one side and majestic hills on the other
In late-July & early-August, the city celebrates its annual Dalian Beer Festival, which sees local and international vendors offering the chance for you to try their famous brews
Teach English, travel and work abroad with EF English First
Home > Teaching English in Dalian


Rabindranath was Debindranath's youngest son. Initially he associated himself with the religious interests of the Brahmo Samaj, but subsequently concentrated on his own writing, especially poetry. Politically he was critical of British rule, but he campaigned even more vigorously in the cause of internationalism. Gandhi held him in high regard.


Concordia University is a university of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and one of nine colleges and universities that together form the nation-wide Concordia University System. Our university educates students across a broad range of professional fields, and also offers professional church career education in the areas of Pre-Seminary studies, Lutheran teacher training, parish music, and church ministries leadership.
As a liberal arts university in the Lutheran tradition, CUAA embraces a vibrant understanding of Lutheran vocation. In this, we believe that God has uniquely gifted each person to live a life of meaning that extends God's hands into the world. When we live out our callings, even when we do not realize it, God cares for all people.
In every Concordia classroom, on the playing fields and performance stages, in the residence halls, and even in our online learning, we strive to develop within each student the ideals of a Christian life. Within a Christian framework, students come to recognize that achieving their highest potential is remarkable not only for the betterment of self, but also for the good of others.
Our faith community reflects the Lutheran tradition, while remaining welcoming to students of other faiths. Opportunities for worship, Bible study, Christian service and mission experiences abound on our residential campuses, and in our online learning contexts.
To learn more about Concordia's approach to Lutheran Christian higher education, please contact us at 734-995-7300.


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Amazon Stock Lower After Warren's Break-Up Plan
Elizabeth Warren just announced a plan to break up U.S. tech giants
AMZN shares have traded in a tight range recently
Earlier this morning, the New York Post reported that an Amazon-led group was nearing a $3.5 billion deal for YES Network, New York's prominent cable sports channel. The e-commerce giant would have control of streaming to New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games. More notably, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren just proposed a plan to break up the major tech companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The stock is down 1.6% to trade at $1,600.02 this morning, on track for its fourth straight loss. For the past month, the FAANG name has traded in a tight range, consolidating below the $1,700 level. Year-to-date, the equity is clinging to a 7% lead.
Amazon options traders have grown fond of calls. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.30 is in the 87th percentile of its annual range. The high percentile indicates a much healthier-than-usual appetite for bullish bets of late.
Digging deeper, the weekly 3/8 1,650- and 1,700-strike calls are home to the largest increases in open interest during this time frame. Buy-to-open activity is detected at these strikes, which indicates options traders are banking on a big rally from AMZN by the end of the day today, when the options expire.


The Ultimate Search Engine for the Discriminating Man?
The Wish List- Helpful or Hinderance?
For Selective Singles, How Do You Know If You've Found "The One"?
How Much Should You Drink on a Date?
Moving On: How Do I Know If I'm truly over My Ex?
Should you marry a "10"?
What Makes a Gold Digger Truly a Gold Digger?
Why Use Executive Dating Service Sites?


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Covenant, COREN Agree on Promoting Best Practices in Training Future Engineers
Covenant, COREN Agree on Promoting Best Practices in Training...
Covenant University Set for 14th Convocation Ce...
Covenant Pulls Crowd at FCMB/MOD Education Fair
Greater Use of ICT in Governance Intensifies Go...
Human Settlement Expert Suggests Nature as Solu...
ICESE 2019: Technology Innovation, Urban Energy...
Chrisland University Seeks Mentorship from Cove...
Covenant Wins National Enactus Tourney, to Repr...
CUCIT, IBM Hold Artificial Intelligence Workshop
Faculty, Student Boost Covenant in Accounting E...
http://covenantuniversity.edu.ng/News/Covenant-COREN-Agree-on-Promoting-Best-Practices-in-Training-Future-Engineers
Covenant Management with COREN Re-Accreditation Team to Computer and Petroleum Engineering Programmes
The Team Lead of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) Accreditation Team to Covenant University, Engr. Ezekiel Ojekunle, has urged tertiary institutions across the nation to embrace Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in a bid to ensure academically-sound engineering graduates express practical functionality on their jobs.
Engr. Ojekunle, who led a 7-man team, made the call during a pre-accreditation courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor AAA. Atayero, on Monday, April 8, 2019. He stated that structures were being put in place to begin the gradual shift to Outcome-Based Engineering education.
Engr. Ojekunle noted that the adoption of OBE had paved way for the internationalisation of the Nigerian engineering qualification and improvement of the quality, proficiency and global mobility of registered engineers. According to him, "COREN is a member of the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP), which means Nigerian engineering graduates can now practice in over 26 countries of Africa, Asia and the Pacific regions."
He posited that COREN was working hard to improve engineering education and training, adding that the accreditation exercise conducted by COREN, was for partnership and growth, not for witch-hunting. He, on behalf of the Council, appreciated Professor Atayero for supporting and hosting the Higher-Level In-Country Accreditation Teams from COREN, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) under the International Engineering Alliance in September 2018.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor AAA. Atayero, told the accreditation team that the Covenant brand was one synonymous with quality, which would not tolerate compromising standards in any form, because the mistake of an engineer in the profession could be catastrophic and as a result, the University was always working at improving existing standards.
Professor Atayero noted that the short-term vision of Covenant was partly the driving force behind the massive investment towards quality research materials so as to confer the competitive edge on researchers and students.
He assured the accreditation team that Covenant would continue to hold herself to the highest standards and best practices in the field of engineering, a commitment that had resulted in diverse external validations as seen in her being ranked among the top 501 of renowned engineering institutions of the world by the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
"We are very open to external validation of our resources and products. We are intentional in the things we do, that is why we are so committed to abiding with institutional and professional best practices in delivering on our long and short-term goals as a University," he enthused.
Also present at the meeting were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Akan Williams, Ag. Registrar, Dr. Lanre Amodu, Dean, College of Engineering, Professor David Omole, Director, Centre for Learning Resources, Dr. Promise Ilo, Director, Academic Planning Unit, Professor Francis Idachaba, Director, Quality Assurance and Academic Standards, Professor David Olukanni, Director, Vice-Chancellor's Office, Dr. Obindah Gershon, Head of Department of Petroleum Engineering, Professor Priye Orodu, Head of Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Professor Anthony Adoghe and Dr. Joke Badejo.


A lot of the bloggers that I follow do this "It's Okay Thursday" thing. I am not gonna lie - I will not do this every week. But today I am.
It's okay...that as soon as my boss asked me to come in and talk to her about a few things, I assumed I was getting laid off. Clearly I am scarred. Thank GOD it was pretty much the opposite of that.
It's okay...to think that my mom is acting like a high schooler. Seriously. Sometimes I think her head stopped maturing at age 16.
It's okay...to jump on the crazy train for a few hours. I jumped off. No need to get rid of me, I'm normal again.
It's okay...that I turned off all the lights and cuddled up under a blanket to watch American Horror Story last night, only to jump up two minutes later because I got scared.
It's okay...to live like a poor person. Until I get my severance payout and my first paycheck, I'm trying to live on nothing. It is really hard! Thank goodness it's temporary.
It's okay...that I'm planning on going to church this weekend, but I refuse to commit to going every week. I either need Jesus or therapy, and Jesus is free (poor person mentality right there).
I don't blame you for freaking out when your boss wanted to talk to you. Given your recent luck, that is understandable. I hope things work out for you.
I am also living on a tight budget. I can't get unemployment bennies until my severance duration is up. Next week. I'm not out of severance pay yet, but I want to have SOMETHING left because unemployment is barely gonna cover my bills. Sigh.


Currently the United States along with several other countries are in serious negotiations with Iran. The goal of their meeting is to agree on a treaty to resolve the issue of the Country of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Using any and all diplomatic alternatives to starting a war should be the sane objective of a civilized society and the world community.
Today, March 3, 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu will give a speech before a joint session of Congress warning once again how civilized society must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Since the early 1980's he has been the proverbial wolf crying danger, danger. Every few years he has made the claim that Iran will have a nuclear weapon in 3-5 years. This trip to Washington is designed to once again cry wolf but this speech's primary focus is to undermine and end the diplomatic efforts, designed to bring about a treaty to reduce the risk of war and Iran's attempt to weaponize it's nuclear program. It is understandable that Israel be concerned with their safety and security.
It is only proper that the world community led by President Obama and other countries attempt to answer the threat of war by bringing about a peaceful resolution of the danger. It would be irresponsible for the major countries of the world to not attempt to peaceably resolve the danger. War should never be the first choice and the only option. Starting a war must be the last option on the table to be used only when absolutely necessary.
In Israel, the country is divided on the issue of going to war against Iran. There are some from the intelligence community in Israel who perceive Netanyahu's actions as being reckless.
There is an election in Israel, during March with the Prime Minister in danger of being defeated. This whole disagreement with America could be a political ploy on Netanyahu's part to frighten his own people into believing that only he can provide safety to the Israeli people by being re-elected.
To be frank, Prime Minister Netanyahu would love it if America would do it's dirty work and attack Iran with the goal of eliminating Iran's nuclear capability. Both the United States and Israel have the same goal and that is to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.
But not so fast, Prime Minister Netanyahu must stop trying to end the efforts to avert a major war in the Middle East. We, as part of the world community, must give peace a chance. A war with Iran would not be so simple, in point of fact, very few wars are simple affairs. They are much easier to start than to end.
Let us review a few simple facts to remind the public of the insanity of some who are quite willing to rush to war with Iran. Iran is the second largest country in terms of population in the Middle East with 78 million people. They have a total military force of some 900,000 people. Iran has a long history and an ancient culture. Iran is not some backward nation that we can shock and awe into submission. They would be fighting to protect their homes against an invasion.
With their hardened nuclear sites, the removal of their nuclear program would require a ground war of an estimated American force of 500, 000 men and woman. Air strikes would not be enough to remove the danger. Our men and women in uniform would have to be put in harms way to accomplish the task.
This is why it would be reckless to not try to settle the problem with a treaty. It is to the Iranian people's interest and to the interest of the American people that war be prevented. It has always been true that it takes an old man or a group of old men to start a war and it is the young who fight and die. And let us not forget the long term affects of war on everyone involved. Any war is costly in the blood and sacrifice of everyone and it costs a lot of money and resources to fight a war. Wars are to be prevented and not encouraged unless there is no other alternative.
A war with Iran has the potential to plummet the region into a broader war and bring about a crisis that the world is not prepared to deal with. There is a very great likelihood that Iran would sink some ships in the Straits of Hormuz to block the oil that most of the world's economies depend on. A worldwide depression is a possible consequence of a war with Iran. How would the oil dependent industrialized world survive without the oil from the Middle East? It is just insane to advocate a war with Iran without giving peace a chance.


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St. Louis cop investigated for saying he's spending 'annual Michael Brown bonus' on vacation
Michael Brown's death has become very profitable for police officers in Ferguson and St. Louis.
But actually coming out and saying it has put one Missouri cop under the crosshairs of investigators.
One St. Louis County cop is in trouble after he joked about spending his "annual Michael Brown bonus" in a Facebook post.
The St. Louis Business Journal has reported that St. Louis County spent $2.5 million in overtime pay for cops in 2014 due to unrest, demonstrations and riots.
Officer Todd J. Bakula said he took his wife on vacation with his OT pay, he claimed in a recent social media post along with photos from nearby Defiance, Mo.:
"I decided to spend my annual Michael Brown bonus on a nice relaxing bicycle ride trip to Defiance," Bakula said under the name TJ Thekoola, according to The Guardian. "Eating dinner now and staying at a bed and breakfast tonight."
Brown was shot and killed after allegedly making aggressive and violent moves at then Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. A St. Louis County refused to indict Wilson; nevertheless, he resigned from the force and admits that he now lives in seclusion and fear.
Wilson's exoneration incited intense demonstrations and riots, requiring police from throughout the state and National Guard troops to come into the small suburban city to restore order
As far as the imprudent comment is concerned, St. Louis County police spokesman confirmed Bakula is a patrolman and that the department is investigating his comments.
"We understand the post is controversial," police spokesman Shawn McGuire told the Guardian.
"The St. Louis County police department takes these allegations very serious in every case," McGuire added. "The remarks on the Facebook page will be investigated by our department."
Tags: Ferguson, Michael Brown, Missouri, officer todd bakula, St. Louis County


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By Otha Davis III
"Ascension" is an acrylic portrait of the late great John Coltrane
Other works by Otha Davis III
About Otha Davis III
While working on hit records in the music business has played a driving force in his career, it's Vakseen's (born Otha Davis III) passion for the arts that has served as his key to sanity in the fast paced entertainment industry. The self-taught, Floridian has developed a distinct collage- influenced painting style (Vanity Pop) that fuses elements of surrealism, cubism, photorealism and fashion onto canvas. His paintings deal with the theme of personal identity and evolve around society's idolization of beauty, as well as the enhancements women endure to obtain this level of "perfection". His paintings have been featured by major brands like Adidas, Complex, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Juxtapoz and Tupac Shakur's estate, in addition to being sold to collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide.
See Otha's portfolio here


I've kicked around the world a fair bit, one way and another, thought I knew what Christmas was about but it's so different here in Spain. Take today – 28th – that's the Day Of The Innocents, aka prank day. April Fool in December, if you like: a few years ago one of the national newspapers set the bar high with a headline that the King of Spain had married Madonna . . . on the whole the foreigners are left in peace, since we can't be expected to know, but generally take every unexpected or unlikely comment with a pinch of salt, eh?
The Spanish take Christmas at a steady pace and they need to – it lasts nearly a month. Cava flows like water throughout and it all kicks off with celebrating the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, which is a feast day and when street lights and commercial decorations in shops generally switch on. I must have picked up some kind of subconscious trigger because I never decorate before the 16th (that being a public holiday in the country where I grew up, very handy) but was hauling out the dusty box of decorations in good time and finding new places for old favourites – fun!
Street decorations can be oddly avante garde, and not traditionally Christmas at all. The town sees to the main streets – side streets can do their own. This one was decorated by a local school, very effectively.
Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, is a family dinner, taken very seriously, with much solid food and luxurious side dishes. The devout go on to midnight Mass, the sociable take to the bars to meet friends while they digest the enormous meal.
Sometime overnight there will be a silent visitor: not usually Santa Claus. Depending where you are in the country he is known as Papa Noel, or Olentzero, or Tió de Nadal. He's not lavish – the main gifts come with the Kings in January, so it is usually one gift apiece. This does of course mean no Boxing Day sales! Festive shopping continues briskly up to the day of the Kings.
On the 28th, today, it is the prank-filled el Día de los Santos Inocentes and when I got a nice booking for January I did wonder if it was a tease but nope, it has been paid. Yay!
All this is merely the prelude, the build-up, for 12th night and the overnight arrival of the Tres Reyes Magos on what I always called Epiphany, the 6th of January. Ladders are propped against balconies and effigies of the kings are often added, scrambling up to deliver their gifts.
Children have been writing to them explaining how very well behaved they have been all year, and what they would like as a reward. At bedtime, shoes are polished and set ready, one pair for everyone in the home so the Kings can see how many people there are needing gifts. On the 6th January, there's an excited scramble to the shoes to check the booty – this is THE lavish gift day.
There is, almost inevitably, traditionally a last gigantic feast for lunch, followed by the roscon de la reyes, and then the decorations come down and school starts the next day.
I'll probably do a patch-on blog with pics of the parade, I didn't even know about it last year and missed it completely, so I am as fidgety as a child for this one!
Okay sure that's one meaning and covers a lot of behaviour. Irrational anger, yup, lost the plot. Dithered helplessly instead of following a clear course of action – also lost the plot.
There is the literal meaning. Your plot of land, your home. Losing that, losing everything.
There's a third meaning for writers, a little more up close and personal, when the characters hang around listlessly and shrug at words thrown hopefully at them instead of charging off joyfully in new directions with the writer scrambling to keep up.
I gave up trying to direct my characters around book four and just followed their lead, admittedly sometimes with my eyes popping. Now, poke or suggest or wheedle as I may, the final plot simply won't string together. The quartet know they're on their last book, about to be made redundant, and you could cut the atmosphere with a blunt axe. Damn it. The series has picked up a small but loyal following waiting with interest to see how the quartet disentangle themselves and work out who done it for the tenth and last time, me as much as anyone, and I've given them the plot and will they come to life and play with it? They will not. Not so much lost, in this particular case, as being stonily ignored. I'd give up and try to think up another but I like this one and I surely have some say?
I know, that was whiny.
Funny how one informal phrase can resonate on so many different levels. Well, funny isn't the mot juste, really. Not laugh out loud funny. Not even funny peculiar. But now I've picked the phrase to pieces it no longer even makes sense. I've lost the plot.