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There are many business advantages to an increasingly virtual workplace: it saves space, reduces the travel budget, offers flexibility, and increases diversity in your talent pool. However, research suggests this increasingly virtual world is coming at a cost to team performance.
Advances in technology have triggered what's been called a 'spatial revolution' with flexible and virtual working becoming the new norm. In the UK, for example, working from home has increased by a fifth (19%) over the past decade with other studies showing how 46% of organisations use teams who interact primarily through virtual communication.
Team virtuality continuum
of virtual team members report never to have met their virtual colleagues face-to-face.
organisations use teams who interact primarily through virtual communication.
Since nearly every other organisation has teams that primarily interact virtually, you'd be hard pushed to find many teams that don't at least use some virtual tools, like video conferencing or instant messaging. Team virtuality is thus now understood as a continuum1, with teams varying in the following: geographical dispersion, time differences among members, electronic dependence and workplace mobility (i.e. how much people can work anywhere, anytime from any device), and the proportion of their interactions that involves real-time communication.2,3
How Virutal Is Your Team?
Pros and Cons of Virtuality
For organisations and individuals, greater team virtuality definitely has benefits.
Organisations can reach the best candidates regardless of their location,
They can mobilise knowledge more easily, and
They can save on costs.
Similarly, for individuals there's much greater flexibility to work from home or on the road; with many people opting to work remotely to avoid office distractions and the stresses of commuting (FlexJobs 2017 Survey).
Yet most people still highly prefer face-to-face communication over any kind of e-communication (including e-mails and video conferencing) at work. And with good reason. Teams are hindered when they don't work enough face-to-face (and we'll describe why in a minute). Besides regular obstacles like different time-zones and understanding different accents, there are more severe issues connected with virtual collaboration, like the inability to make snap decisions, and the frustrations when a teammate won't talk, and you can't just head down the hall to ask why. A SIS study notes that waiting for information costs an average of $9.97 per employee per year.
Some studies have also shown that high virtuality reduces the frequency and quality of communication (including its openness) and a team's co-ordination and efficiency (i.e. the time to complete a task).4
Handling Virtuality in Your Team?
See the Two Key Challenges
#1: Underestimating shared leadership potential
A recent study found that half the team leaders out there significantly underestimate the shared leadership within their highly virtual teams. Underestimated teams visibly underperform.5
In terms of what's blinding them to shared leadership potential, this study suggests it may be that:
they assume that there can (or at least should) only be one leader,
they believe that only they have what it takes to lead
and/or they're afraid of being replaceable.
#2: Building trust when team members have never met face to face
Trust is essential for the performance of all teams, it's true, but research has shown how it is particularly linked to performance in highly virtual teams.6
Specifically, evidence from multiple virtual teams has shown trust to be key ingredients for making teams:
work harder,
collaborate more,
communicate to get things done and
produce better results.7
Trust-building heavily depends on how we see each others' credibility, reliability and self-interest.8 Trust also subtly rises among team members through nonverbal and social-context cues; these help them express and understand each other's tone, feelings and nuances.9
Without face-to-face interaction, for many, building trust in a virtual team can feel like creating and nurturing a garden in a desert.
How can you build trust within your virtual team?
1. People look for 'tells'
So be sure to make the right impression.
We have evolved to assess the people's trustworthiness by watching their behaviour, responses and interactions.10 We seek e.g. indicators of cooperation or signs of free-riding (benefitting from resources or services but not paying for or contributing to them).
When you're working face-to-face, it's easy to watch how others behave and decide if you can trust them.
In a virtual environment, this 'monitoring' information is limited, forcing people to look for trustworthiness 'tells' 11 (a poker term that means 'cues about the cards others are playing'). Consequently, when starting in or starting up a virtual team, remember that little cues can mean a lot. For example, answering emails or requests slowly may make others see you as hard to trust or likely to stumble. It also helps to be make a habit of letting others know when you'll be unavailable.
Meanwhile, streamlining mutual availability in a team can trigger leaps in performance and decisions to commit to 'being there' for teammates.
Mutual availability
This team was facing low availability of the person F. In this chart, height represents individual availability for teammates. The further team members are from each other, the lower their mutual availability. The arrows highlight people who strongly rely on each other to deliver their outputs – and so higher availability would help them greatly.
This topic was opened up with the team, which led them to establish general rules on how to reach each other more effectively, increasing their availability by 20% in 2 weeks.
2. Take that time from your schedule to share back new insights
Just as we are programmed to seek signs of free-riding, we also notice co-operation as an sign of trustworthiness. It's easy to obsess on working through your own to-do list when working remotely, but a key way to signal willingness to co-operate with others in a virtual team is by sharing knowledge. So to help build trust with other virtual team members, it's important to take that bit of time to share anything new you know.
3. Cultivate 'task-less' trust
Without the benefits of face-to-face interactions, trust among virtual team members is typically founded on predictable performance, or 'task-based' trust. In other words, does someone reliably do what the team needs them to do? But if you want teammates who really, deeply trust each other, it's important to go beyond each team member checking off tasks. Trust is personal, and members must pro-actively build interpersonal, compassionate trust too.12
As a leader, besides introducing new virtual team members in a way that highlights their credibility and role expertise, don't forget to introduce them on a personal level too. And urge teams to take a few minutes from the start of their meetings to share some stories and generally what's been happening in their lives, professionally and personally.13
Informal knowledge
The team was also facing low trust and knowledge among team members, which had a direct impact on the reliability perceived between some people. Only one person (B) who was very well known; most members did not know each other well (in particular J – I).
The further the team members are from each other, the lower their mutual informal knowledge. Height represents how well others in the team know the given person.
What should you do as a virtual team leader to manage the collaboration?
You might help your team to review and confirm its current setup and judge its health in the key areas for effective virtual collaboration:
Availability among teammates,
Willingness to support others and share knowledge and
Informal familiarity between virtual colleagues.
(1) Hoegl, M., & Muethel, M. (2016). Enabling shared leadership in virtual project teams: A practitioners' guide. Project Management Journal, 47, 7-12.
(2) Gibbs, J. L., Nekrassova, D., Grushina, S. V., & Wahab, S. A. (2008). Reconceptualizing Virtual Teaming from a Constitutive Perspective Review, Redirection, and Research Agenda. Annals of the International Communication Association, 32, 187-229.
(3) Hoch, J. E., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2014). Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical leadership, structural supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 99, 390.
(4) Gibson, C. B., Huang, L., Kirkman, B. L., & Shapiro, D. L. (2014). Where global and virtual meet: The value of examining the intersection of these elements in twentyfirst-century teams. Annual Review of Organisational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour, 1, 217-244.
(6) Breuer, C., Hüffmeier, J., & Hertel, G. (2016). Does trust matter more in virtual teams? A meta-analysis of trust and team effectiveness considering virtuality and documentation as moderators. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 1151.
(7) Gibbs, J. L., Nekrassova, D., Grushina, S. V., & Wahab, S. A. (2008). Reconceptualizing Virtual Teaming from a Constitutive Perspective Review, Redirection, and ResearchAgenda. Annuals of the International Communication Association, 32, 187-229.
(8) Maister, D. H. (1998). A matter of trust. Am. Law, 34.
(9) Millward, L. J., & Kyriakidou, O. (2004). Effective virtual teamwork: A socio-cognitive and motivational model. In S. H. Godar & S. P. Ferris (Eds.), Virtual and collaborative teams: Process, technologies, and practice (pp. 20-34). Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.
(10) McNamara, J. M., Stephens, P. A., Dall, S. R., & Houston, A. I. (2009). Evolution of trust and trustworthiness: social awareness favours personality differences. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 276, 605-613.
(11) Ford, R. C., Piccolo, R. F., & Ford, L. R. (2017). Strategies for building effective virtual teams: Trust is key. Business Horizons, 60, 25-34.
(12) Clark, W. R., Clark, L. A., & Crossley, K. (2010). Developing multidimensional trust without touch in virtual teams. Marketing Management Journal, 20, 177-193.
(13) Ferrazzi, K. (2012). How to Build Trust in a Virtual Workplace. Harvard Business Review.
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High performing teams in a disruptive age
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I want to talk to you tonight about a very strange subject–a very, very strange subject: Scientology, its organizations. Now, this is a strange subject: Scientology organizations.
There comes a time in any activity when you have to look forward to the shape of things to come and what they will be. Now, let us envision this as an activity. We do nothing cohesive, everybody just goes his own way, we have no central control of any kind, and people just wander out and process people and so forth; and all of this has into its teeth the combined efforts of people with super-vested interests in making slaves. And that super-combined vested interest then pick us up, one by one, and throw us on the nearest dung heap, and we thereafter find Scientology being practiced with electric shock by the governments.
Now, just look at that, not as necessarily an extreme picture, but one which very well might happen. Now, let's look at the other side of this picture. The other side of the picture consisting of a well unified, a united Scientology with sufficient international esteem, force and wherewithal, that somebody suddenly decides to use Scientology exclusively to electric shock the Chinese to make them work on the farm and collectivize it all, and we sneeze and they fold up.
Now, Scientology would go the way of many other good things unless some thought is put upon its future. Buddhism went its way, collectively, and actually wound up enslaving people. Bum show. The East, the paralysis of the East, the fatalism of the East, and so forth, are as attributable to Buddhism as to any other single item. I don't know what Gautama Siddhartha said, but I sure know that people have been saying since, "If you just sat and regarded your navel for enough years and did nothing, you would become part of nirvana." And nirvana, as far as I can figure out, is the GPM1. Well, just see a picture of it. It looks like a human being surrounded with a lot of little valences. Nirvana. Look at pic–look at a Buddhist picture of nirvana sometime, and you got the GPM–bang.
So, they eventually found out how to put people into the GPM. And all kinds of squirrel, offbeat offshoots like Zen Buddhism, If you know the answer, I hit you; if you don't know the answer, I hit you; because force is knowingness and never the twain shall be separated." Well, isn't that the way it must be? I don't know if you're acquainted with Zen Buddhism, but after you've done a tremendous amount of study on the subject, you finally can make up your mind that if you're hit, you know. That's the end product.
Now, Lamaism, with ghosts and devils and more GPMs, splintered off from Buddhism, everybody went into apathy, and there it went. Of course, they didn't have the technology. I just say that very advisably. The East has never known how to do it. That I can tell you out of the depths of my own experience.
I can show you an Indian rope trick, the small boy going up the pole. I can do it. Hypnotize the lot of you; you'd see most anything. Never did any body any good. Anybody wants to dramatize Axiom 10, by all means dramatize Axiom 10. But there's a point where even that catches up with them. Indian rope trick is mass hypnotism.
The last fun I ever got out of mass hypnotism was hypnotizing the staff of Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington2. I don't know if I ever told you that story. I needn't bother to now. But this, this is all nonsense. They didn't have the technology in the East, they have never had the technology. They knew a few answers. And they all wound up in the soup.
So this is the first time on this planet, certainly–and I think the first time in this universe–when there's ever been a kickback against the igno rance, when man's–or sentient beings were capable of bettering themselves without worsening somebody else. Scientology is peculiar and unique. It is the game in which everybody wins. That's very peculiar. That's very unique. If somebody were to fight Scientology, and win over Scientology, then every body would lose, including that person.


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The oldest coffee in the world?
From huts in remote villages to internet cafes in the capital city, coffee ceremonies are the centre of social life and hospitality in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.
Discover the origin of coffee and its process - from bean to cup!
Two thirds of adult Canadians enjoy at least one cup of coffee a day with the average at 3.2 cups/day.
Coffee is the most popular beverage amongst adult Canadians over 16 – even more than tap water.
Specialty coffee and frozen blended coffee beverages are most popular among 18-49 year olds.
The Coffee Association of Canada is a registered not-for-profit trade organization. The CAC and its members are champions for the advancement and enjoyment of coffee in Canada. The CAC undertakes a leadership and spokesperson role to effectively address collective industry issues. Our members are coffee industry leaders in all facets of the business including importing, processing, distribution, and foodservice hospitality.
We are passionate about everything coffee – from bean to cup.


I was 12 when I watched A Time To Kill and as I watched Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) fight for justice by separating people from their prejudices and making them see with their hearts, I decided that day I wanted to be in a court room one day, fighting for justice myself. My career choice wasn't put on me by my parents…it was my own passion that led me down that path. Once I reached high school, it was clear that I would do everything I could to pursue my education in law, even if I hit a few bumps along the way.
I entered the debate team of my high school in 9th grade. My sophomore year, I tried out and became a lawyer on our Mock Trial team. My first three years in high school were spent researching and writing up arguments. I spent many nights after school debating, practicing and going over evidence. The first time that I entered the courtroom for our trial and made my opening statement was one of the most exhilarating nights of my life. I knew that's where I belonged…even with my shaking hands and fast-beating heart.
One of the reasons that GWU became my first choice for college was their debate and mock trial teams. Once I was accepted into their undergrad program in their International Affairs School, I began researching information for tryouts for debate & mock trial. This was it. I was moving forward with my dream.
Unfortunately, I never made it to the try outs. Since I was living at home and any extracurricular activities naturally met in the evening, my parents weren't comfortable with me hanging around campus late…even though this is what I'd been working towards for four years. In one moment, all of my dreams were crushed. I spent my nights working part-time instead. I never forgave my mom nor myself for letting her get away with everything she's gotten away with…I wonder how different my life would be now if I had pursued debate and mock trial in college.
The strange thing is…as much as I want to move onto law school, I think that the next step in my life after getting my B.A. in International Affairs will be a Master's in journalism. Or Criminal Justice. I know that I want to be involved in justice and making a difference one way or another. Will I ever stand in a court room and speak to a judge & jury again? I don't know…but I do know that even though one dream was crushed, the little girl who was moved by justice, perseverance and passion won't ever let me give up on my dreams again.
Did you ever watch a movie that had such a big impact on you? What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you pursue it? Why or why not? Are you happy with the career you chose or would you rather be doing something else? If so, what?
I wanted to be a lawyer since was I was very, very young, and everything I ever did was geared towards that. I took a break from the law, but what it taught me was that I HAVEN'T been wrong about what I want to do for the rest of my life, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing. But it isn't for everyone, and I have many classmates (and a husband) who don't even have an active license anymore. Go figure.
not a movie….a TV show…..I wanted to be Wonder Woman growing up!!! no, seriously.
Then after watching Smokey and the Bandit….I wanted to be a trucker!
Then after watching James Bond, I wanted to be a spy!!!
I think you CAN do anything you set your mind to. You are a smart little cookie, don't let anything deter you!
I think it's a little too early to be resigned as to say you dream has been squashed. Whatever you do, I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks! I think not focusing on law the last few years and writing more has just changed my focus a little bit.
Growing up I pursued a career in figure skating. I lived and breathed my sport, forsaking much of the usual kids- and teen age activities September through April every year. Plan was to travel the world with an ice show, then settle down abroad as a coach.
Somewhere on MS there are a sequal about this. I believe it is called "Daring To Dream". I was SO lost when my dream was binned, and only now, nearly two decades later, do I dare to take baby steps towards a new dream, that of running my own photography biz.
Get out, then follow your heart. Take it from me; there is NOTHING worse than giving up on ones dreams.
I went to school to fulfill the teacher portion. Received my undergrad in Physical Education, but at the time teachers' salaries in North Dakota were below $18k per year so I decided not to follow that path. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of creating a family that needed supporting, so finances plays far too large a role in life now.
Awwwwwwwww…I bet you were so beautiful and graceful!!!
Well, what do you do now? Yeah…the whole having to earn money deal kinda puts a damper on the 'cool' jobs.
Babe, I'm sorry your plans got smashed. I hope that you get to have your day in court (so to speak).
To answer, I've seen plenty of movies that made me want to be or do something. The overall sense and lesson is that I can be or do anything I want. Besides, I doubt I can fill Sarah Connor's shoes.


The Bike Co-op is open to any Kirksville residents, though it mostly consists of Truman students. It runs a bike repair shop which is usually open 12-4 pm on weekdays while the university is in session, and fewer, irregular hours when it is not in session. Anyone can take their bike there to be fixed; the idea is that people learn to fix their own bikes there (i.e., it is not a shop where you drop off your bike to be fixed, you take part in fixing the bike). The Bike Co-op also periodically orders bike parts and accessories from a wholesale supplier, and individuals can order such items through the co-op. The co-op is supported by the university in that it is a recognized student organization and can hire scholarship workers (under the Department of Health and Exercise Science) and use the workshop; in addition it earns some revenue through a markup on orders and through voluntary donations.


Finally i got my pogoplug v4 running again! I'm now trying to setup netconsole.
The thing is only that the commands fw_setenv dont work. Its just setenv. I can boot in debian now and adjusted the /etc/fw_config but it seems its not read during booting. Im missing something (essential knowledge) but dont know what.
Here is the output of my printenv.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2017 08:36AM by bodhi.
And post the entire serial console log (from u-boot banner until here).
I understand now that the fw_ commands are in debian and not in the u_boot console.
[    0.027646] Feroceon L2: Cache support initialised.
[    0.201072] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
[    0.201089] RPC: Registered udp transport module.
[    0.201099] RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
[    0.201110] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
[    1.173222] Installing knfsd (copyright (C) 1996 okir@monad.swb.de).
[    1.173509] jffs2: version 2.2. (NAND) (SUMMARY)  © 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[   10.982741] 0x000000000000-0x000000200000 : "u-boot"
[   10.989544] 0x000000200000-0x000000500000 : "uImage"
[   10.996380] 0x000000500000-0x000000800000 : "uImage2"
[   11.003299] 0x000000800000-0x000001000000 : "failsafe"
[   11.010359] 0x000001000000-0x000008000000 : "root"
[   12.343571] usb usb3: We don't know the algorithms for LPM for this host, disabling LPM.
Free blocks count wrong (3499384, counted=3499383).
[....] The file system check corrected errors on the root partition but requeste[FAILt the system be restarted. ... failed!
[warn] The system will be restarted in 5 seconds. ... (warning).
[    0.027660] Feroceon L2: Cache support initialised.
[    0.201073] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
[    0.201090] RPC: Registered udp transport module.
[    0.201100] RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
[    0.201111] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
[    1.173137] Installing knfsd (copyright (C) 1996 okir@monad.swb.de).
[    1.173423] jffs2: version 2.2. (NAND) (SUMMARY)  © 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[   10.982774] 0x000000000000-0x000000200000 : "u-boot"
[   10.989578] 0x000000200000-0x000000500000 : "uImage"
[   10.996411] 0x000000500000-0x000000800000 : "uImage2"
[   11.003333] 0x000000800000-0x000001000000 : "failsafe"
[   11.010397] 0x000001000000-0x000008000000 : "root"
[   12.343631] usb usb3: We don't know the algorithms for LPM for this host, disabling LPM.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2017 04:10PM by bodhi.
Please use code tags next time to post log. It is very hard to read without it. Hope you know how to use code tags?
At this point, I need to see the actual log of what going on. How you executed them, and all the outputs. So after you execute these commands, please copy everything on your terminal begining here until the end and post here. Your u-boot envs are incorrect, so I need to know why.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2017 04:27PM by bodhi.
I'm quite new to this and never used code tags. A very basic thing i guess but im not a programmer. (also i tried to change my username cause i didnt know what it meant till just a few moments ago).
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root    4096 Oct 16 05:42 .
drwxr-xr-x 23 root root    4096 Oct 25 03:51 ..
mtd0 is not right but cant get it set to be the right values.
I hope i did the tagging right.
It's obvious that environment is not initialized. Environment is something that you can instruct to do some basic commands like setting the ip-address and such right? It's got something to do with the boundary on mtd0. Unfortunately my knowledge about boundarys and mtd is near zero. I've read your section about the booting process and i understand the principle. I just dont know the basics. I think i can say i'm a noob.
1. Code tags button is the right most button on top of the text box where you type your post (the B button for bold is the left most).
2. You also did not post the log of commands and their output. When I ask for that, you should copy/paste the entire screen to the post. Don't reformat anything.
Since you are new with this, you don't know that the log must be shown as is. The reason is everything is important (including where you are in the root file system, are you root,....), and only the log captured verbatim would show that without me asking for each details.
3. Your envs are a little bit messed up. So I will come back later today and show you how to fix them.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2017 01:11PM by bodhi.
I lost contact via ssh and the serial cable got loose. While soldering i managed to brick it totally. Luckily I've got another fresh one lying around. I'll start allover again, now with more knowledge than zero.
That's a bummer :) BTW, the solder buttons are quite soft, you can use small pins and push them in temporarily to connect. And then later use a JST header instead of just wires.
I've set up a server with my own nextcloud with a raid zfs filesystem and wanted to make my pogoplug the backupserver. Setting up the pogoplug is a lot more work in the meantime. But it's fun doing it!
I'd recommend to install new u-boot, if you plan to boot with the latest Debian on USB. Running stock u-boot is possible of course, but it is too limited to be useful.
With this box, you can boot with kwboot so it is almost unbrickable (if serial console is working, you can always recover from any problem).
I know it's almost unbrickable (unless you overheat something with a seemingly small yet giant soldering iron).
Adjusting inittab to start dropbear at boottime. Added line3.
> Adjusting inittab to start dropbear at boottime.
Cool! another nifty way to activate dropbear.
Finally i had time to test uart booting. Unfortunately this doesnt work.
First i run the code and then powerup the pogoplug. The serial is working.
This actually looks good. It's the Pogo V4 quirk. You need to recall (up arrow) the kwboot command above and execute it again, repeatedly a few times, until the handshake occurs. It could take up to 20 times before kwboot successfully handshakes with the box.
Finally I succeeded! Thanks a lot for your help! Netconsole is also working. Nice that thatś possible at such a low level.
I think i messed up the first time because i thought the B section was not obligatory. Also i did the backup of the current_envs and i got an "crc error using default something" But i was impatient.
Its working now! . Now i can setup the rest of my network! Thanks again!
I've revised the instruction in the latest u-boot version to inlcude section B directly, so that people don't overlook it (in the past it was necessary to separate it).


Not that long ago, I honestly believed that being gay would forever hinder my career as a transportation engineer. When I was in college, it never really dawned on me that my career choice could possibly be complicated by my sexuality; I just picked something that interested me. Once I graduated and entered the workforce, let's just say the reality of how different I was from my coworkers was quite the slap in the face (think Cher in Moonstruck telling me to snap out of it). At that time, I thought the way to succeed was to assimilate. In my work life, I retreated into the proverbial closet faster than tickets sell out for Beyoncé concerts.
I avoided personal conversations at all costs for fear of letting the words "my boyfriend/fiancé/husband" slip (we've had a few title changes over the years). I stifled sassy remarks and "gay" references that came to mind to not draw attention to myself. I purposely deepened my speaking voice in a (feeble) attempt to circumvent preconceived notions. Every morning as I walked up to work, I reached into myself and hollowed out every unique quality of my personality and left them at the front door like an unwanted guest.
Stantec participating in the Edmonton Pride parade. From left, Keith Shillington, senior vice president; Travis Park, senior graphic designer; Gord Johnston, president and CEO; and Ruth O'Haire, regional HSSE advisor.
For years, the only thing that I brought to work was a shell of my true self, but it still wasn't enough to avoid numerous instances of bias and discrimination. After six years of exhaustingly suppressing my authentic self, attempts to hide my sexuality were predictably futile and my career was stagnant. How was I supposed to grow in my career if I did not feel that I could bring all my strengths, talents, and experiences to the table? As children, we are told that the sky is the limit. But at this point, my sky looked much more like a ceiling. As I contemplated 40 more years of being trapped behind my desk, hiding who I am, I felt defeated and hopeless. In that moment, my mind was made up. I spent plenty enough of my younger years in the closet (acquiring a fabulous fashion sense in the meantime, of course), and I refused to spend any more time in that coffin of creativity.
I knew that my best chance for career liberation and personal authenticity was to find a company that blatantly and unapologetically celebrated diversity and inclusion. Sounds simple enough, but in a traditional career and a conservative state like Louisiana, I felt like I would have better luck finding a parking spot in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. I started asking around and talking to contacts in the hopes of finding some direction.
A one-off comment from a friend about Stantec led me to their website. I already knew that Stantec was a leader in transportation engineering, so I went to the website hoping for a good fit and a sign. After a couple of hours on the site, I stumbled across a page about the Pride@Stantec initiative. As I looked at pictures of Stantec's involvement in Edmonton Pride, a sense of relief came over me. I knew immediately that I had found my rainbow oasis in this desert of discrimination. I wasn't just sold on Stantec; I was determined to be my authentic, genuine self at work every day. A casual lunch meeting, an interview, and the rest is history.
Once I started at Stantec, it didn't take me long to seek out a way to get involved in Pride@Stantec (the signature probably wasn't even dry on my acceptance letter). Through an internal Yammer group, I quickly got plugged in, and I'm incredibly happy to say we have launched a Pride@Stantec chapter in New Orleans. Recently, I attended a company panel discussion, "How to Make Uncomfortable, Comfortable." I knew for certain that I had made the right decision coming in to Stantec. Listening to this group of accomplished leaders within Stantec say that I deserve to be respected, that this is a safe space, and that we are all valued was just the rainbow sprinkles on top of this Stantec sundae. Hearing more about Stantec's involvement in the Pride parades in Edmonton and Calgary and the corporate sponsorship of Pride@Work Canada is definitive proof that Stantec doesn't just talk the talk, it walks the walk.
I've been at Stantec for almost four months now and I walk into work every morning with a pep in my step and a Britney Spears song ("Toxic") in my heart. I don't have to hesitate to mention my husband in casual conversation. When I'm filling people in on all the ridiculous injuries my kickball league has had this season, I don't have to conveniently leave off the fact that it is an LGBT league anymore. Overall, I feel lighter and happier, but more importantly, I'm free to be myself. I feel like, for the first time ever within my career, I can breathe. And Stantec has affirmed for me that I am not a burden; instead, I am an asset.
Joseph Barker is a licensed professional civil engineer and professional traffic operations engineer with more than six years experience in a variety of areas including transportation planning, traffic modeling, traffic impact analysis, conceptual roadway design, GIS mapping & analysis, transportation feasibility studies, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements.


Allan Rothschild, Owner of Air On Time, LLC makes it his business to build and maintain long lasting relationships with all of our customers based on our exceptional service and cost effective solutions that meets all of our customer's needs. Our unparalleled service, competitive prices and overal value are why our customers not only refer us to others but keep returning.
Our business is dedicated to providing Connecticut residents and businesses with professional service of the highest quality at truly competitive prices. We look forward to your patronage!


Discussion in 'Pre-Orders, Soft Launches, and Upcoming iOS Games' started by BearHugMark, Sep 12, 2016.
Here's a sneak peak at our work in progress iOS game- Alice: Looking Glass Legends!
Who is your favourite Alice in Wonderland character? Let us know!
Looks great. Will definitely check it out once released.
Looking great, any expected month for the release?
My only criticism is that your logo is beautifully rendered but almost unreadable - running thin text like that over an image is always tricky. Maybe add an outline?
Otherwise, this looks lovely - great art style!
And thank you everybody for the positive vibes, much appreciated!
Are you using Unity for your engine?
This looks awesome. I can't wait!
Hi guys thank you for the positive feedback!
Alice: Looking Glass Legends is an entirely unique take on the classic 150+ year old books with a lot of fresh characters and events added for good measure. It's is not tied or affiliated with any other existing "Alice" / "Wonderland" media/production.
Just out of interest what are peoples favourite Alice/Wonderland characters?
This looks amazing! The Alice books were my favourite, when I was a child. (And I still adore them to the day) Whenever I see something new done with them, that piques my interest, I have to check it out. From what I've seen here, I'm completely sold, and will definitely be buying it once released!
Awesome, thank you! We're not sure what our testing process looks like yet, but if/when we do an open beta test we'll put your name on the list.
We're really pleased with how the game is shaping up. We've got an exciting core-game and a wonderful meta-game in place, gorgeous artwork and creatures to collect and evolve, and it looks absolutely stunning on a mobile device!
Hopefully we'll get to release a teaser trailer soon and maybe even some gameplay footage or something?
In the mean time, here's a couple more screenshots from the early levels of the game.


As we posted a couple of days ago, Cycling Made Easy's founder, has been on a three-day tour of the Isle of Wight by e-bike.
We heard that the Isle of Wight is one of the world's top ten cycling destinations with a suite of over 150 miles of way marked bike routes. But – and it's a big 'but' – there are significant hills, so Welcome to E-bike Heaven.
After basic research we decided to catch a ferry as foot passengers with bikes from Lymington to Yarmouth at midday on a Sunday. The ferry journey is approximately 40 minutes and costs £10 for a single journey (£7.50 for oldies). The ferry runs every hour through the day. Roll your bikes on the ferry and sit back with a coffee.
At Yarmouth harbour, set off half a mile to the now disused Yarmouth station, which is very pretty, and is also home to Wight Cycle Hire ( http://www.wightcyclehire.co.uk/ ) who are friendly and give a good service. We obtained a terrific map called "Bicycle Island " published by Heritage House (£4.95). This map is all you need for your journey, so forget Ordnance Survey or more complex offerings, as it identifies long distance and shorter cycle routes. Helpfully it also lists 'power bike' charging points plus places of interest, cycle shops and other useful snippets to make your trip go with a zing.
We ate at Coast http://thecoastbar.co.uk/ which serves bistro style quality food in a zippy, busy atmosphere with a good choice suiting all.
We got a bit lost here and finished up passing Quarr Abbey on the left when it should have been on the right but eventually got to the coast and rode along the Ryde sea front. Quite commercial and quintessentially English seaside resort but good to see from the saddle as you moved along. Down to Seaview which is quaint and then on to St Helens accessing Bembridge Harbour which is unusual with lots of quirky residential moored boats and good views over shallow water. We lunched in the Crab and Lobster http://www.crabandlobsterinn.co.uk/ which we found did pretty good crab sandwiches but the place looked a little tired and we had to persuade them to serve us as it was 2.35pm. Kitchens close at 2.30pm.
Lovely views along another commercial sea front with traditional promenades. The road wriggles and leads you to Ventnor which is an old style English resort high above the beach and sea front. The descent is not for the faint hearted as it is really steep but the e-bikes coped well and allowed us to discover the Spyglass Inn on the end of the sheltered bay. This is a themed pub (some might say "naff") which has 4 spacious self catering apartments above. http://www.thespyglass.com/ . £80 for a double apartment, with kitchen and living room and TV, was good value and they provide a box of breakfast enabling a feast of an English breakfast which (weather permitting) you can eat on the private terrace overlooking a stunning sweep of empty bay. As the sun goes down life is good, especially as you potter down the steps and drop into the pub for a terrific meal in an unusual environment. The e-bikes were stored overnight up the steps and in our apartment. Safe and secure.
The next morning was a slow start to pack-and-go after a leisurely terrace breakfast in the sun. There was a 25% hill climb from the sea front to rejoin the A3055 and the "Taste Round the Island Trail" identified on the map. Just after Chale don't miss the second turning to join up with a fabulous country road taking you to Brightstone which is very pretty and on to Mottistone Manor Garden. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottistone-gardens . This is a gem and merits a coffee. Allow an hour walking in their bitesize, pretty, formal and colourful gardens. Hop on the bikes and, one mile on, pull in to the Sun Inn in Hulverstone.; Baked Camembert recommended.
…and keep left with wonderful views of Freshwater Bay leading to Alum Bay. This is where life gets interesting. You pass the Alum Bay Needles Park which has coach parks, themed rides and all sorts of touristy "attractions" including chair lift to the beach. This is where you get multi-coloured sands.
You may care to cycle on and keep going following the signs for the Needles and keep climbing the zig-zag road till you get sight of the Needle rocks. Spectacular views and strange selection of disused military installations which are a bit eerie.
Drop down and either cycle through Freshwater, time permitting, or keep going to the ferry and, moist eyed, set sail back to the mainland.
It would be possible to belt round the route but we covered the 90 miles in two and a half days easily on e-bikes. The terrain is hilly and with fully loaded panniers and some of the hills would be really testing without e-assist. We continued to be astonished and impressed by the performance and comfort of our bikes which enabled us to travel with some exercise and effort but also in comfort, while achieving greater distance and range.
The Isle of Wight is a delight with well marked routes and universally wonderful road surfaces (EU money?). Many people say that it is like going back 25 years and it certainly has this feel of sleepiness and time warp. Quite charming.
My wife rode a Scott e-Spark 710 (medium size). This bike has a 500wh battery which gives a range of 75 miles plus in eco mode. On the IOW, particularly, there is often a need to use higher assist but still the battery capacity allows you to access a full day's cycling. As a formality, we topped up our batteries on the second day in the pub at lunch time but there was no real need. In the past my wife has complained of saddle soreness but the combination of the full suspension and the Selle Royale comfort saddle meant that she had virtually no discomfort which, for a relatively infrequent cyclist, was terrific.
The heart of the e-system is a Bosch CX Motor with a Nyon display. Not only does the Nyon display ride info, such as speed, assistance levels (Eco, tour, sport, turbo) but also GPS location and fitness. On this bike, the Nyon is an upgrade (£400 fitted). The standard is an Intuvia display which for most purposes is more than adequate.
I rode a Bergamont Trailster which I was testing but had been fully set up for me by Rob our senior mechanic. For the most part the bike was great and did the job but…the point about these rides is to try the bikes so we can confidently recommend and give informed comment. Sadly, there are a few aspects of the Trailster which were irritating: excessive noise from the upper jockey wheel (which is a standard design on the bike), the disc brakes "chatter" and seem to screech on first set off each time, and also the dropper seat post was a bit 'sticky'. Finally there was an intermittent connection on the Bosch controller which I was able to sort out. Nonetheless the e-bike was a good work horse as it carried not only the heavy lump of me but also loaded panniers and front mounted handlebar bag.
We were all surprised that the Trailster failed to impress in that the other Bergamont hybrid bikes have all been excellent and our customers have been delighted with them. The more bikes you ride the more discerning you get. Bottom line however is that I am now riding the same bike as my wife (ie. A Scott e-Spark 710 – large frame). This is a truly great bike. Quiet, responsive, agile, with great feel and punch.
The equipment – All items available at Cycling Made Easy showroom.
This was our first e-cycle touring spree so what should we take? In a very wet June this poses problems. As it turned out we were incredibly lucky with virtually 3 full dry days and in the last hour on our way to the ferry day three we got soaked.
I took the MTX Trunkbag DXP (£79.99). This is a top-mounted unit which slides into a MTX beamrack seatpost (£39.99). The advantage of this system is that it is not permanently on the bike and when it is not needed can be easily unclipped altogether or just the bag can be slid off if you need to take it off when the bike is left unattended. It also needs an MTX Dual Side Frame which secures the fold-out, drop down side pockets (released from the zip top unit).
I fitted a Rixen and Kaul handlebar bag which has a plastic see-through clip on the top for a map. This was useful to store phone, wallet and odds and sods. It clips on and off easily and can be popped off to take into a shop or a pub leaving the rest of the bike secured with other devices.
I keep an Abus Unigrip Bordo 5700 permanently attached to the frame of the bike with velcro fastenings. This is a fold out plate system which is very effective and easy to use. It has greater range than a D-Lock and is easier to carry. In addition I took a heavier Abus snaplock combination D-lock and I intended using this if we had to leave the bikes overnight outside (which we did not need to do). Finally I always carry a pocket sized Abus combination Combiflex 201/202 which is a pocket pull out strengthened cord – good for securing panniers or helmets if you have to pop in somewhere.
To avoid my wife having to heave her leg over a high pannier she used two A2B zipped removable panniers which were capacious and did the job. It also left the top rack of her MTX seatpost unit free to accommodate a jumper or top as the weather changed. She also had the same Bordo lock on her frame. She carried a water bottle on the frame.
We already had good lights fitted although we did no night cycling on this trip.
Both bikes were fitted with Mudhuggers (mudguards, £49.99). These not only do a great job but also if you catch them as you swing your leg over they don't snap like many others as they are flexible and held on firmly.
Both had Ergon GP1 flared grips fitted. These grips spread load and ease pressure on hands and elbows. My wife suffers from mild arthritis and again no problems in this direction.
Finally both have headset extension units fitted. These heighten the handlebars and make for more relaxed riding. E-bikes welcome a rider wishing to look around and take in the scenery. The crouched "racing style" biker position may not be welcome or a must for many riders. Our e-bike workshop is able to fit extension headstems on most bikes, so give them a call if you're interested in this.
This was a very successful trip. The Isle of Wight is a delight and the route we took was perfect for a 2/3 day relaxed ride. Could be done in much less time but there is so much to see and do. Being on an e-bike is liberating: no parking, no barriers, and the freedom to go anywhere. Simply, spot a lane or an opening and just explore. Stop where you like for lunch, coffee or a drink.
The e-bike ingredient is that vital extra. We met up with a fully loaded biker and girlfriend who were carrying a huge amount of kit. I was pretty impressed until I learned that she was frequently off the bike and pushed her load up steeper hills. Not us. We cycled everything – even the 25% hill – and a bit more. Touring on an e-bike is fabulous.
← RECOMMENDED RIDE – Quietway launches in London!
I very much enjoyed reading your Isle of Wight trip and fully endorse the benefits of pedal assisted cycling.
It would have been interested to hear the daily read-outs on the computer at the end of every day bearing in mind the extra weight carried which would include the battery charger.
Furthermore the "puncture free tyres" as fitted to the Scott would be of great benefit.
Hi Chris, thanks for the kind words. Yes, I shall ask Ray how the battery performed given the extra weight. We shall post the info as soon as we've got it!


text:
Erin Zariah Sanders, ameriška igralka, * 19. januar 1991.

Njena najbolj znana vloga je lik Quin Pensky, študentka Pacific Coast Academy (PCA), v nadaljevanki Zoey101.

Življenjepis
Sandersova je rojena v Santa Monici, Kalifornija. Prvič je nastopila pri devetih letih, po tistem ko je pritegnila pozornost agenta ko je kot skavtinja prodajala piškote od vrat do vrat. Od takrat je imela manjše vloge v več kratkih filmih in mnogih TV serijah, kot so 8 Simple Rules, Judging Amy, Strong Medicine, Carnivàle in American Dreams, kot tudi v oglasih za T-Mobile s Catherine Zeta-Jones in SBC z Joejem Pescijem.

V letih 2007, 2008 in leta 2009 je dobila nagrado Young Artist Award..

Filmografija

Glej tudi
Seznam ameriških igralcev (S)

Sklici

Zunanje povezave
 Uradna spletna stran

 Spletna stran Erin Sanders na Myspacu

Ameriški igralci
Živeči ljudje

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home / All / Empires / Expansion / The Babylonian Empire 1760 BCE
The Babylonian Empire 1760 BCE
The Babylonian emperor, Hammurabi, is famous for his legal code, which addressed issues as wide-ranging as cowboy builders and medical malpractice. However, when it came to boundary disputes, he wrote his own laws. He first allied with the Persian Gulf state of Larsa to repulse an invasion from Elam, then proceeded to annex Larsa. Turning his attention northward, he overcame the empire of Eshnunna situated to the east of the Tigris, and, after a protracted war, subdued the Assyrians, reigning supreme over the whole of Mesopotamia by his death (c. 1750 BCE). After his death, the empire rapidly disintegrated. The Assyrians quickly broke free, followed by the southern territories: the coup de grâce came from much further afield, when the Hittites swept south to sack Babylon (1595 BCE). The Hittites turned Babylon over to their local allies, the Kassites, who established a ruling dynasty there that endured for four centuries.
Categories: Decline/ Empires/ Expansion
The Babylonian Empire 1760 BCE quantity
The Second Macedonian War 202 BCE
The Campaigns of Xerxes 480 BCE
The Voyage of Wenamun c. 1080 BCE
Egypt in Syria 1425–1418 BCE
Egypt in the 21st Dynasty c. 945 BCE
Egypt in Syria c. 1493–46 BCE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Sneijder becomes the Netherlands' most-capped international
The Falcons are gullible laughingstocks for letting Michael Vick retire in Atlanta
Cardinals rookies have work to do as minicamp comes to a close
BY Bob Baum • June 9, 2017
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Coach Bruce Arians praised the work of his veteran players as the Arizona Cardinals wrapped up their three-day minicamp on Thursday.
But his rookies? Not so much.
"The young guys have a lot of talent," Arians said. "They just have to learn what the hell they're doing. We'll keep them around for the next two weeks and get some more practice time so they can be better prepared when they get to camp."
Other than the rookies, the team has six weeks off before training camp starts at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
When camp begins, there will be competition for 10 to 12 open spots on the roster, with various positions in the mix, Arians said.
"Whether it's a sixth receiver or a ninth DB, an eighth offensive lineman, an eighth defensive lineman," he said. "All those guys will be in that pile and pretty much special teams will decide."
Blaine Gabbert, the former first-round draft pick signed to a one-year contract as the team's No. 3 quarterback, said he has made good progress in learning his sixth offensive system in what will be his seventh NFL season.
It's a complicated offense. Carson Palmer needed a season to get comfortable in it.
"Carson and Drew (Stanton) have helped me kind of learn the nuances of the system," Gabbert said. "When I have questions I can ask those guys because they've been in the system an extended period of time."
Gabbert said Arians' offense is "great."
"It's very quarterback-friendly," Gabbert said. "That being said, there's a lot on the quarterback's plate. The responsibility falls on us to get us in the right play, the right protection and so on and so forth. Every day you've got to come in prepared ready to work and be at the top of your game because we really drive this ship."
Notes: Arians said inside linebacker Deone Bucannon will probably be the only player to begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list. He is recovering from ankle surgery. ... Safety Budda Baker, Arizona's second-round draft pick, will join the rookie workouts next week after becoming eligible with the graduation of his class at the University of Washington on Friday. ... First-round draft pick Haason Reddick, a linebacker out of Temple, signed a four-year contract. The signing means all of the Cardinals draftees are under contract.