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Content Marketing: What Is It and Why Do It?
According to a July 2016 article by Content Marketing Institute, the only thing you need to do to be successful at content marketing is "write a few thousand-word articles several times a week, produce masterful, in-depth, search-engine-optimized, intensely visual, user-focused content, and unleash it with the grace of an industry maven and the power of a market leader." You may have to wade through the dripping sarcasm to actually read that entire quote, and CMI made the statement with obvious tongue-in-cheek humor intended. The point of the article was the importance of content marketing and what people are doing to fail at it.
"write a few thousand-word articles several times a week, produce masterful, in-depth, search-engine-optimized, intensely visual, user-focused content, and unleash it with the grace of an industry maven and the power of a market leader.... " Yikes!!
More often than not, marketers and business professionals are failing at content marketing. In some cases, this failure is unnoticed because the perceived success of other marketing efforts and strategies balance the scales somewhat. This balance detracts from the negative impact poor content marketing has on the success (or failure) of a company's online presence.
Regardless of whether the content marketing failure is noticed or if it plays a role in the overall success of marketing strategies, the failure is invariably due to one key reason. Content marketing is seen as necessary, and you can find a variety of tip and trick lists to give you pointers on doing it or doing it better, but the what and why of it are often not fully understood.
There are several different definitions of content marketing that vary a bit from each other, but it can most easily and concisely be described as the creation of original content that has value for and is intended to appeal to a specific audience. While this definition sounds quite a bit easier than the one provided by Content Marketing Institute, it does not truly convey what, exactly, content marketing is. Yes, it is the creation of original content and then distributing that content through various online marketing channels where your target audience is likely to see it. It is also the process of designing that content that evokes a sense of need in your audience, meaning they are compelled to take action in some way. This action can be through clicking links to learn more, signing up for something you are offering (like a subscriber-only newsletter or video tutorial), or buying whatever you are selling, among other things.
Content marketing involves more than just creating irresistible content for your target audience, however. After the painstaking process of creation has been complete and you have published your content on one of your online marketing channels, you also need to promote that content. This makes sure your marketing material gets as much visibility as possible. Promotion can take several forms, like sponsored (paid) advertising, targeted distribution of news or notices, featured sections on your website or landing page, or cross-channel linking from your other marketing content. By promoting your content, you are essentially placing a bunch of billboards along the information highway to let surfers, searchers, and shoppers know who you are, what you are offering, and how you can meet their needs.
Finally, after creation and promotion, you need to implement an effective method of monitoring the performance of your content to make sure it is having the marketing impact you are hoping for. Performance monitoring can be done through platform-specific tools, web-based monitoring programs, or independent analytics applications, or any combination of the three. In addition to performance measurements, many analytics tools offer options to help you set up publication schedules for your content, keep track of which content is active on what marketing channels, and maintain an inventory of your content - published and unpublished - so you can tell, at a glance, what you have and what you may need more of. These are just a few of the numerous features and options you can find on content management and marketing applications, to give you an idea of what to expect or what to look for when searching for a program that fits your content marketing needs.
The obvious reason why content marketing is important to businesses would be because it is, in essence, "selling" your content to your target audience. This, in turn, "sells" your products, services, or even your company or brand, and attracts online traffic to different parts of your online presence. More traffic equals more leads, which eventually translates to more sales. In other words, content marketing is the root of all your online marketing activity. Going back to the billboard analogy for a moment; without effective content marketing, your billboards may as well be located along the side of an abandoned digital dirt road rather than the information highway.
This list of fifteen benefits of content marketing is hardly all-inclusive. It just gives you a detailed look at the many ways content marketing can boost your company's success in several areas. Providing an exhaustive list of benefits would only serve to more fully illustrate the point that content marketing, when implemented effectively, is highly beneficial to any business with an online presence.
The act of marketing your content, or promoting your marketing material, is only one leg of the content marketing tripod, also. Without content creation, you would have nothing to promote and, with nothing to promote, there would be no performance to speak of that would be monitored or measured. Many definitions of content marketing leave out the promotion and performance measurement, focusing instead on the creation of content that appeals to a specific audience and motivates them to take positive action toward a sales funnel. While these definitions may be silent with regard to promotion and performance measurement, they are no less important to the overall concept and process of content marketing than content creation is itself.
Effective implementation of a content marketing process, plan, or strategy can sometimes seem to be a challenging obstacle that isn't worth tackling. While it does require an investment of time, effort, diligence, and commitment, a well-formulated content marketing strategy can make a significant difference in the success or failure of your company's online content across all your marketing channels.


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The sixth and final season of Downton Abbey has a US premiere date.
Julian Fellowes has provided more details about a potential Downton Abbey spinoff.
Gareth Neame admitted the period drama could have clocked up ten seasons, but he didn’t want to dilute the story.
Carnival Films and MASTERPIECE on PBS announced on March 26, 2015, that Season 6 will be the final season of the hit drama series Downton Abbey.

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


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15 June, 2016–The original Machinedrum was introduced in 2001. The Monomachine in 2003. During the years both machines saw updates, both hardware and software, refining the already from the beginning very robust and truly unique sounding combo. Crispy, weird and gritty - Machinedrum beats and Monomachine soundscapes are instantly recognizable. They have soul.
Now, fifteen years after the Machinedrum first saw the light of day, the last batch of these soon-to-be legendary machines has arrived. They will remain on sale in the Elektron webshop for a week. Then they are gone forever.
Thank you Machinedrum and Monomachine. You will always have a very special place in the Elektron heart.


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The LFPA will provide the following benefits to its memberships (access to some benefits may be limited to certain membership categories).
Regional workshops are held to allow face-to-face discussions with industry experts and colleagues to discuss all aspects of the challenges that the industry is faced with.
During the annual conference industry experts will address in plenary sessions current issues and will provide an outlook of trends and how to address the challenges. Workshops will allow for in-depth discussions between members.

industry_corpus2: Others


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The Asian 5 Spice Stir-Fry Sauce sounds good – and I’m curious if their Korean BBQ is as good as President’s Choice’s Memories of Korea BBQ Sauce!
Please Enter Me In Your VH Excite Your Dinner Giveaway.
That Consists Of The VH Sauces And Grocery Gift Card.
In Response To Your Question Of How Do You Make Your Weekday Dinners More Exciting?
I Don’t Really Cook Very Much So An Exciting Weekday Dinner For Me Is Eating At A Restaurant.
I’d love to try the Korean BBQ sauce.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


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We love games. Some time ago we said "Why don't create our one". And so here we are creating our cRPG game. We develop, write, draw, model, create, cut, scream and much more. But most of all we learn ourselfs everyday how to make this all work with best result.
I can't do it ?! Give me 5 minutes!

industry_corpus2: Gaming


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The installation of solar panels for residential use within Stanford, CA should be handled by professionals who have experience. At Solar Company Guys, our experts will handle the installation of the solar panel at your residence with utmost care and attention to detail to ensure that the performance of the solar panel is maximised especially due to positioning. All areas in Stanford, CA have the perfect opportunity to enjoy high quality solar energy may it be in their private homes, residential apartments or even gated neighbourhoods since the installation of the solar panels can be done even on the roofs where there is exposure to sunlight.
Due to the varied climatic conditions in Stanford, CA, experts at Solar Company Guys have come up with options on the production line that handle the specifics that are needed for the different residential solar panels. For instance some parts of Stanford, CA may be prone to limited hours of sunlight exposure due to factors such as proximity to skyscrapers and other mega structures. This way Solar Company Guys is able to manufacture customized pieces that have stands that enable them to turn in accordance to the direction of the sun before it blurs thus maximising power output.
The maintenance schedule for solar panels from Solar Company Guys is quite straight forward and shallow given that their high quality eliminates the need for additional maintenance procedures anywhere in Stanford, CA. There are no moving parts in a solar panel so all you need to do is regularly clean your solar panel using a dump cloth to ensure that the absorption of sunlight energy is not inhibited in any way. To order for high quality maintenance free solar panels from Solar Company Guys that only require regular cleaning, contact us by calling 800-671-6390 today and our experts will handle the installation.
The affordability of all processes involving the solar power project within residential areas and places in Stanford, CA is achievable and within reach for people of all walks of life. The purchasing of a solar panel for residential use is affordable in nature which has further been enhanced by the tax incentives offered by authorities in Stanford, CA. The installation process can be termed as cheap since although there is the involvement of experts, their work is not that much to warrant a high pricing since they only take care of the degree of positioning facing the sun and placing for safety purposes.
The different sizes of solar panels mostly go hand in hand with the amount of power they generate. At Solar Company Guys, the larger the solar panel, the higher the amount of energy it produces. Solar panels for use in private residential homes within Stanford, CA only require small to medium solar panels for a manageable amount of energy production. For the case of residential projects involving two or more homes, the size of the solar panels should be medium or the large ones which will in turn require a larger installation space than the small sized ones. Contact the experts today via 800-671-6390 today for consultation on the appropriate size of solar panels for your residential project.

industry_corpus2: Power & Energy


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If you feel excessive vibration in the car, or wobbling of the steering wheel, your tires may be unbalanced. Waugh Chapel Towing & Auto Repair has the professional equipment and technicians to measure the balance of your vehicle's tires and make necessary corrections. Call us at 410-721-7220 if you have questions, or contact us so we can evaluate your tires.
An incorrectly repaired tire could pose a safety hazard to you and your passengers. At Waugh Chapel Towing & Auto Repair, our tire experts will determine whether your tires are able to be repaired, or if they need to be replaced. If the tires are repairable, our certified technicians will make sure they are repaired correctly and get you back on the road.
At Waugh Chapel Towing & Auto Repair, we understand that tires are an important part of your car. The quality of tires and material used on them highly affects the vehicle's performance. Their main purpose is to protect the wheel's rims and improve vehicle performance. For this reason, we only deal with brand name tires. Also, we offer fleet tire management services to ensure you are getting the best value, fuel economy, and life from your tires.
Once a need for new tires is determined, it is necessary to identify the best tires for your vehicle and driving demands. Look for tires that do well in tests for braking, handling, and resistance to hydroplaning. Winter traction should also be considered, if applicable. Let tread wear, ride comfort, noise, and rolling resistance be tiebreakers. Trust the tire experts at Waugh Chapel Towing & Auto Repair to help you choose the right tires for your vehicle.

industry_corpus2: Automobiles


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For the first charter trip we strongly recommend destinations without reefs or areas of shallow water. Also areas with strong currents or large tidal ranges are not well suited for the first charter trips. In general, areas with better weather on average, good visibility and (if you depend on sails) moderate winds should be preferred. Regions with too little wind may on the other hand spoil the sailing fun.
The waters of the Balearic Islands, the Côte d'Azur, the Gulf of Naples, the Ionian Sea and the US Virgin Islands are particularly easy to navigate. In all five areas (especially around the Balearic Islands) there is sufficient but moderate wind and there are no big navigational difficulties in these areas. They have hardly any tidal range, pleasant currents, good buoys and there are sufficient anchorages and harbours so that it is not necessary to sail overnight and individual day trips are managable.
Easy charter destinations include the waters of the Costa Brava, Corsica, the Aeolian Islands, Malta, Croatia, the western Baltic from the Danish islands down to the Bays of Kiel and Mecklenburg, Brazil, Florida and the British Virgin Islands. The weather in Germany and the stronger winds on the Costa Brava, around Corsica and Croatia are usually a little trickier. Sometimes there are problems with the buoyage (Malta), sufficient anchorages and harbours (Costa Brava, Corsica, Aeolian Islands), reefs (Florida, Corsica, Malta, Germany) and the currents in Germany.
Somewhat more difficult but not yet really problematic or tricky areas which reuirea bit more boating experience and knowledge: These include the waters of the Gulf of Lyon, Sardinia, Sicily, the northern Adriatic, the Aegean, the Turkish west and south coasts, Cyprus, the Swedish archipelago, the Norwegian west coast, the English south coast, the Algarve, the Canaries, Cuba, the Spanish Virgin Islands, the Leeward and Windward Islands, the Seychelles, Malaysia and Baja California.
It is the more difficult wind conditions (especially in the Gulf of Lyon, the Aegean, the Turkish west coast, the Norwegian west coast and the Canary Islands) that stand out here as bigger challenges. The waters of Turkey, Cuba, the Spanish Virgin Islands, the Leeward and the Windward Islands, the Seychelles, Baja California and Malaysia are usually less marked with buoys, which makes navigation more complicated. The Swedish archipelago, Cuba, the Spanish Virgin Islands, the Leeward and the Windward Islands and the Seychelles are particularly difficult to navigate due to their many reefs and areas of shallow water. The same applies to southern England and the northern Adriatic. Particularly few ports and marinas (in some cases very long distances) can pose a problem in Cuba, the Spanish Virgin Islands, the Leeward and Windward Islands, the Seychelles and Baja California.
The Marmara Sea, the waters around Ireland, the Northwest Caribbean, the Bahamas, New Zealand, Tonga and Thailand are not suitable for unexperienced charter sailors. Especially in the Marmara Sea (inland sea of the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey) unpleasant current conditions are frequent, the shipping lanes are poorly buoyed and many stretches are relatively long due to the lack of harbours, marinas and sheltered anchor bays. It will happen that you are still sailing at dusk or overnight. In Ireland, on the other hand, the unstable weather and the sometimes strong wind can disturb the tranquility of a charter cruise. Also a stronger tidal range and the problem of reefs have to be considered. The area around New Zealand is not easy due to the difficult wind conditions and the tidal range. Due to missing or bad buoyage and due to many reefs the areas of the northwest Caribbean, the Bahamas, Tonga and Thailand are not at all easy to navigate. These areas should not be your choice as destinations before you have acquired really good sailing skills.
How to find the right charter boat?

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


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New York, NY – ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a Purchase Agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Phoenix Color Corp. from Visant Corporation. Phoenix Color is a leading manufacturer of book components, educational materials and related products with over 30 years of superior print experience. Drawing on a broad spectrum of materials and decorative technologies, Phoenix Color produces memorable, value- added components, heavily illustrated books and specialty commercial products. The acquisition is scheduled to close no later than October 5, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of debt financing and applicable consents and approvals.
“Phoenix Color has been servicing the publishing industry within the United States for over 30 years and has formed lasting relationships with some of the biggest names in book publishing,” said Jess Ravich, ALJ’s Executive Chairman. “In addition, it is either the #1 or #2 market leader in the primary categories in which it competes. We are excited to add Phoenix Color to our family of market-leading companies under ALJ.” ALJ currently owns Faneuil, Inc. and Floors-N-More, LLC, dba Carpets N’ More.
The aggregate consideration for the acquisition, subject to certain closing adjustments, will be $90 million. ALJ expects to enter into a $95 million term loan and a $30 million revolver with Cerberus Business Finance, LLC. The proceeds of such facility together with the proceeds from the sale of ALJ stock described below will be used to fund the acquisition and refinance the outstanding obligations of ALJ, Faneuil and Carpets and to provide working capital facilities to all three of ALJ’s subsidiaries.
Phoenix Color and a member of the board of directors of ALJ. “I am excited to continue my involvement with Phoenix Color as well as to be joining the ALJ board. I look forward to working with the members of the Board to continue to grow ALJ’s family of companies,” noted Mr. Reisch. John Carbone, the current President of Phoenix Color, will remain as the President of Phoenix Color.
ALJ also announced today that Anna Van Buren, the Chief Executive Officer of Faneuil, and Tarsha Leherr, the Vice President of Operations of Faneuil, exchanged their 32,857 and 3,286 shares of common stock of Faneuil, respectively, for 1,500,000 shares and 150,000 shares of common stock of ALJ, respectively, using an exchange ratio of 45.65 shares of ALJ common stock for each share of Faneuil common stock. On a pro forma basis assuming that this exchange had occurred on April 1, 2014, ALJ’s consolidated EPS, fully diluted, for the 12 months ended March 31, 2015 would not have changed. Also on July 10, 2015, Ms. Van Buren entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with Faneuil and waived her option to purchase 60,000 shares of Faneuil’s common stock.
ALJ also announced today that Steve Chesin, the Chief Executive Officer of Carpets, exchanged his 750,000 Class B Preferred Units with a preference amount equal to $750,000, 75,000 Common Units and 40,000 Equity Award Units of Carpets for 150,000 shares of common stock of ALJ. On a pro forma basis assuming that this exchange had occurred on April 1, 2014, ALJ’s consolidated EPS, fully diluted, for the 12 months ended March 31, 2015 would have decreased by approximately $0.02.
As a result of these three exchanges, ALJ now owns 100% of each of its subsidiaries. “Having Anna, Steve and Tarsha exchange their interests in our subsidiaries for shares in ALJ plus having Marc become a significant stockholder in ALJ is extremely positive for our company as now all of our executive officers are fully aligned with our stockholders,” continued Mr. Ravich.
Since March 31, 2015, ALJ has repurchased 176,383 shares of its common stock under its repurchase program at an average price per share of $3.83.
Taking into account all of the above transactions, on a pro forma basis and subject to the finalization of the opening balance sheet, had we acquired Phoenix Color and consummated all of the above transactions on April 1, 2014, ALJ’s consolidated EPS, fully diluted, for the 12 months ended March 31, 2015 would have increased by approximately $0.20 from $0.46 to $0.66.
ALJ was advised by Shearman & Sterling LLP in these transactions. Visant Corporation was advised by Houlihan Lokey, its financial advisor, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, its legal counsel. Cerberus Business Finance, LLC was advised by Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.

industry_corpus2: Literature & Emotions


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When David Cho went looking for a site to open his second high-end liquor retail store, Woodinville beckoned.
Not only does the Eastside town have an established and still-growing alcohol-based tourism industry, it also is full of educated residents who appreciate and expect the kind of sophisticated environment he felt his shop would offer.
Cho, whose Proper & Ernest store has been open on Northeast 175th Street since April, feels his business is fitting right in. “People say this store is like a Disneyland for adults,” he said.
Cho’s 1,700-square-foot store sells 2,500 types of spirits, 800 varieties of wines, and 300 varieties of beer. That Proper & Ernest hosts tastings and exists in an upscale environment sets the store apart from competitors, he said.
“Woodinville’s educated demographic, as well as its distance from big box stores and malls, is what attracted me,” Cho said.
A few minutes away by car sits 21 Acres, a showcase of sustainable living and agriculture. When you’re standing in the middle of the farm, urban development seems far away. Cranes at the under-construction Woodin Creek Village apartments may loom in the distance, but Woodinville’s rural quality is palpable.
The fact that agricultural land still exists in Woodinville is no accident. In 1979, King County voters passed an arts and open space bond to create the Farmland Preservation Program. The bond money was used to purchase development rights on agricultural land that was zoned commercial. In addition, King County created several zones called Agricultural Production Districts. About 1,400 Woodinville-area acres fall in to that category.
The 21 Acres farm showcases Woodinville’s agricultural strengths. It is a community-based, organic farmstead with a market that sells a wide range of products from small, local farms. It offers tours and showcases the agricultural history of the area. The market is housed in an environmentally friendly building complete with solar panels and composting toilets. Cooking classes are offered on-site for both youths and adults.
Though 21 Acres doesn’t focus on attracting tourists, tourists sometimes focus on the farm.
The wine industry draws an estimated 800,000 visitors to Woodinville each year, according to the Woodinville Wine Country association.
Lee sees the value of Woodinville’s agricultural sector, and says agricultural tourism is a natural extension of the wine tourism industry. There are sustainable organic farms, cooking classes, bike rentals, and lavender farms to entertain visitors when they aren’t tasting wines.
On summer Saturdays, the downtown area features a farmer’s market where shoppers can purchase locally grown vegetables, flowers, and hand-made products. And Molbak’s Garden and Home is one of downtown’s anchor stores. All this exists on the developing Eastside — in the shadow of chain restaurants and retail stores.
Quigley agrees. The agrarian ethos draws wineries to the area, he said. Chateau Ste. Michelle, built in 1976, seeded the region’s winery cluster.
As with many developing cities on the Eastside, balance is the trick. Residential growth in the downtown district is gaining steam. An upscale, 600-plus apartment community across the street from City Hall will open soon.
“The increased downtown population will bring more consumer demand that will attract more retail and entertainment assets to the area,” said Dave Witt, executive director of the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce.
While tourism is the fastest-growing economic segment in town, Woodinville’s economy still is diverse. Precor, a major manufacturer of exercise equipment, highlights the city’s light-manufacturing industry. The Warehouse and West Valley districts are home to many other businesses outside the tourism sector, Witt said.
But as tourism becomes increasingly lucrative, there is a need for commercial growth to accommodate the visitors.
Woodinville’s draw also is used by other Eastside cities. The wineries send many visitors to hotels in neighboring towns, Witt said. In addition, those other towns are promoting Woodinville to fill even more hotel rooms. Keeping those tourists in town is Woodinville’s end goal.


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This workshop enables pre-advanced to advanced Japanese learners to master conversational expressions that are useful in business environments. The workshop provides intensive training in business Japanese, focusing on honorific expressions frequently encountered in the business world.
The deadline to RSVP for this event is Wednesday, September 23rd.

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


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Well, you wait for two months for a new post, and two come along at once. (well, one actually, as I’ve combined them, but you get the idea).
Since my last post, announcing the near completion of the foundations, I can now announce the near completion of the foundations, only more so. At the end of May, a further herculean effort from myself, Katie, Tony, Chris, John, Jim and Archie, we finally filled the last trench of the foundations with tyres and gravel.
So, after 8 months since we first broke the ground, all our wall foundations are complete. However, there’s still work to do to these before we can put walls on top of them. The outside walls need another layer of tyres above ground level, and then a ply-board and timber ‘wallplate’ box section to form the base on which we’ll build the straw walls. For the internal brick walls that will be the thermal mass for the passive solar, and support the stairs, we need to lay several courses of steel reinforced trench blocks to level and support the weight of the bricks. This is all still to come, once we’ve worked up the courage to start!
However, the next job, that we threw ourselves into, hot on the heels of the foundations, was the drainage and sewerage systems. The enthusiasm was largely mine, because it involved another digger! So, although finishing the foundations meant no more tyres, it didn’t mean no more holes in the ground.
Another week-long digger hire meant 2 days off work, and a lot of after work evenings saw us dig about 30 metres of narrow, and sometimes very deep, trenches. The sewerage pipes will take the waste water and other ‘stuff’ from the house to a septic tank on the edge of the site, by the hedge. On top of this, along one side of the house, we also laid a rainwater drain, to take water from the roof away from the site once the rainwater storage tanks are full.
Rob digging the next leg of the trench, down the short side of the house. This trench is for the sewerage pipe and the rainwater drain.
Katie checking the fall of the trench. It has to deepen by a minimum of 25mm in each metre’s length to keep the turds on the move.
Once dug to the correct depth, the trenches were lined with a few inches of gravel, to protect the pipes and ensure an even gradient. Here Chris is levelling the gravel to the correct depth before putting the pipes in.
The task of levelling got increasingly tricky as the trench got deeper, through a combination of the continued fall and it passing through a raised part of the site.
Just as well Chris is tall – this part of the trench was above my head height!
Getting deeper, note the inspection chamber at the direction change to help things flow and aid clearing when it doesn’t.
Once the pipe trenches were dug, then we had to tackle the big one – a hole 12ft by 5ft by 9ft deep! We have used a low profile septic tank, rather than the more common ‘onion’ shaped ones, or the hole would have had to be even deeper. With trepidation, hoping that we wouldn’t hit solid rock before the hole was deep enough to accommodate the tank plus the required fall, we began digging.
Chris helping to shift larger stones from the bottom of the hole, and demonstrate how deep it is.
Katie checking the depth and levelling the base of the hole with road aggregate.
Once the hole was complete and level (we got this spot on first time!!), we lowered the tank in with the digger.
And then filled in around it.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 8, 2014 by scampifield.

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


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Home > Más de Subirá 2015, DO Priorat.
Más de Subirá 2015, DO Priorat.
More de Subirá 2015, Priorat red wine, Catalonia, Spain. A perfect combination of fruity aromas and exceptional softness. Prepared by the exclusive Bodegas Viticultors del Priorat. Cariñena and Garnacha grapes.
Pairing: Red meats, stews, starters, appetizers, game.
Tasting notes: Cherry red color very intense, with flashes of violet. Bright color. On the palate, good intensity, ripe fruit such as black plum, and a good level of minerality, with light touches of wood, which do not dominate or mask the fruit. On the palate it is refreshing initially, evolving quickly in a palate of full and heavy fruits. Good acidity, rich and silky, full-bodied, creating a long and deep finish and aftertaste, where the intensity of the fruit and mineral notes with class returns. Very well structured with fine ripe tannins.
Morlanda Blanc 2015, DO Priorat.

industry_corpus2: Agriculture & Fisheries


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Chances are that, unless you’re one of those vinyl weirdos, your listening pleasure comes from a digital source, whether it’s music you bought from a digital storefront or a subscription-based streaming service, you’re probably filling your ears with ones and zeros.
Which means there’s no longer a need to confine our music to one dedicated hifi system, a living room centerpiece that was still in vogue just a few years ago but is now all but obsolete. These days a smartphone or tablet provides the music processing and a wireless speaker (usually Bluetooth-powered) turns it into soundwaves. We’re not just talking about cheap and cheerful speakers here, you can get audiophile-grade Bluetooth speakers fill a room with high-end sound as quickly as they drain your bank account.
For the home automation enthusiast it’s hardly elegant to carry a Bluetooth mobile speaker around from one room to the next, which is why multi-room audio systems are so cool. They allow you to have the same song playing in sync in all the rooms where you place the speaker. Some let you play different audio in each room, but either way you can control all the audio in your home from a single interface.
So here are some of the best selling multi-room audio systems you can buy online today. Reviews of the ones I really like go at the top, and the rest hang around the bottom.
Good on you, SONOS. This is what I love in a speaker design. It looks elegant, expensive, and solid. It doesn’t matter that it may or may not be mostly air, what matters is that it looks heavy and premium. Although, to me, the white color option does make this a little less so.
Each unit has two mid-range drivers, a tweeter and a bass radiator rather than a dedicated woofer. Bass radiators are a very clever way to get close to the bass response performance of larger systems while maintaining that unobtrusive size and shape.
The PLAY:3 is exactly what I want in a multi-room setup. The speaker can be installed permanently, set down horizontally or vertically, and even hidden out of sight. Neat and elegant.
There’s no limit on the number of rooms you can add PLAY:3 speakers to, and you can mix and match with other speakers in the series such as the Play:1 and Play:5. Sonos’ app links up to all the streaming services that you subscribe to and then lets you control playback on a room-by-room basis.
Sonos speakers automatically get software updates and support for additional services. Although out of the box you are ready to go with Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, Google Play Music, Spotify and more, pretty much every major streaming service is supported. These Sonos speakers are endowed with “Trueplay”, which the company claims provides rich, room-filling sound. They also say that you will hear more details in songs than ever before.
Bose is the brand that audiophiles love to hate, but for those of us who don’t live in basements (for the acoustics apparently) Bose represents a product clearly a cut above the audio of most mainstream systems.
I have to say though, I think Bose dropped the ball hard when it comes to the look and design of these speakers. When I see the picture I immediately think that I am looking at guitar amplifiers – which of course is not bad in itself, but I’m not sure I want my house-wide speakers look like rock band equipment was strewn around. Of course, this is just my own personal opinion; you may really like it, but it ain’t for me.
Interestingly, each speaker comes with its own remote control. Compared to the Sonos setup where you control all the speakers from one app, this is actually a cool option. You have to program the remotes with six presets, but from then on you can start up your favorite internet radio channel immediately.
Of course, the most powerful control method is still an app on your phone or tablet, which will also let you control all the SoundTouch 10 speakers in the house, but having the remotes is great because you can very quickly adjust playback volume, skip tracks, or pause. In that case, getting your phone and opening an app can become a chore.
These speakers also have Bluetooth, so you can stream audio directly from a device like an iPad, rather than directly over WiFi. Although Bluetooth speakers are a dime a dozen these days, few are going to match this for sound and it’s a nice option to have, even if it does muddle things a bit in terms of elegance.
Sound-wise, it seems that these are par for the course when it comes to Bose. In other words, they kick the behind of just about everything in the mainstream and knock on the door of speakers that are much, much more expensive. For me the looks and additional “Bose tax” knock them off my top list, but you won’t be sorry if you buy these.
It may be my age showing, but I love the look of the GGMM M3. It has that brushed aluminum style front panel and speaker cones that are clearly visible through the mesh. I don’t know why there is this obsession with hiding the speaker cone these days, I personally love watching the cones work and it makes the whole thing look awesome. I also dig the leather bits the box is wrapped in. When they say retro, they mean the best of audio equipment style from the past.
The downside is that this unit is very expensive. When it comes to these multi-room speakers I have to be harder on price than usual, simply because we are expected to buy not just one, but many of these units.
Where did the money go? Well, apart from the amazing styling and materials this unit comes with some impressive audio components. You have two glass fiber mid bass units and two silk dome tweeters. Although it would be better to have a dedicated bass speaker, the glass-fiber material should help to keep the frequencies better separated and give an experience close enough to having a dedicated subwoofer.
You can have up to ten speakers and if you have two speakers in the same room you can have one stream the left channel while the other streams the right. Of course, if you do this you move into blowing a grand on one room’s audio. Yeesh.
The sound? Owner’s of this beast say it is top notch. I’ve hardly ever seen such a strong vote of confidence in audio quality from lots of different people. Audio quality is very subjective and even with objectively high-end sound people will disagree a lot.
While this speaker is pricey, I think it’s worth the money. If you can stomach the price this would be my recommendation.
I liked some aspect of the HEOS 1, but criticized it for nasty looks and a generally unattractive package. This offering from Denon however, is at the far end of the spectrum. This is a pricey unit. Triple the price of the already-pricey HEOS 1, this speaker has a lot to prove in order to justify that steep price point.
Let’s get straight to the way it looks. Compared to the HEOS 1 this is a supermodel. Compared to the rest of the field I don’t think Denon has the design chops that Sonos and Bose does. Still, this is not ugly and would look great on a shelf or anywhere else where you don’t necessarily want attention grabbed.
Like the HEOS 1 this supports high-resolution audio and has built-in Bluetooth.
Unlike the HEOS 1 the 7 goes all-out in terms of audio. Two tweeters, two mids, two passive bass radiators, AND a dedicated subwoofer. Each active speaker is powered by its own dedicated amp. That means a total of five amplifiers.
This speaker is meant for the largest room in your house. It’s meant for the open plan part of your apartment or the open air patio if you are having a party outdoors.
I have read a lot of customer feedback on this speaker and, like with all HEOS speakers, people are a little down on the software. When it comes to the sound, however, this is in a class of its own. Is it worth the massive price? If you care about the quality of your audio on a technical level, this needs to be on your list. This is knocking on the audiophile end of the sound spectrum while still being a smart multi-room solution. This is going to be the closest you’ll get to a true enthusiast solution in this product category.
This is another brand that I have never heard of, but right off the bat I approve of its simple and effective styling. When I look at these speakers I have to imagine how good it will look in my home. After all, the idea behind these speakers is that they should make your home look nicer and add a great convenience to it.
This speaker doesn’t go out to look pretty, but it looks handsome.
For a speaker at this price it has a lot to offer on paper. There are three drivers and a dedicated subwoofer. It also supports Bluetooth, 3.5mm aux, and has an integrated battery. As I say elsewhere on this page, I don’t like the idea of a battery in a WiFi multi-room speaker. Just buy a dedicated portable Bluetooth speaker instead.
Sound-wise people who own these are pretty lyrical about them. Some people claim that they almost rival Bose in perceived sound quality. Whether this is true on an objective level is debatable, but in the end what you hear is more important than what’s on paper.
As far as I can see there’s nothing better in terms of sound at this price level. It is certainly the most affordable way to cover every room in a home with good sound.
These Radiant360 speakers sure look like the Amazon Tap or Google Onhub, but of course this is only a speaker, not a home automation hub or router. There is no stereo here since the Radiant360 is designed to stand in the center of a space and beam the music in all directions. You do get 10W of power and a five inch subwoofer though, so the sound promises to be strong and full.
What can you say about what’s basically a tube? It looks, nondescript.
Samsung provides us with Bluetooth and direct wireless TV connection in addition to WiFi, and supports multi-room audio via the app.
The big fancy feature that makes this speaker different from all the rest is Samsung’s “ring radiator” technology that uses acoustic lenses to take the speaker output and evenly project it in 360 degrees.
My favorite feature has to be the touch controls on the top of the cylinder. It’s very clever, I have to admit and the whole thing is rather elegant.
The main thing that bothers me about this is where in the room I would put it. Most people have spaces for speakers (and furniture) at the edges of the room rather than in the middle of the space, but maybe you have a setup that has logical spot for a speaker meant to be in the middle. It’s not that this won’t work, it just seems like a waste. Especially since, on a per-speaker basis, these cost about as much as the Bose SoundTouch speakers.
If the tech and looks of this speaker appeal to you then you’ll be happy to hear that the sound quality is great. Unfortunately, the app is apparently a bit spotty and, as an owner over several Samsung phones over the years, I’ll believe that.
I guess designing attractive speakers is a lot harder than I think it is, because for some reason a lot of companies fail at it repeatedly. This speaker from Denon is an egregious example. I had a series of PC speakers from the mid-90s that looked just like this. Yup, this HEOS is ugly with a capital H, but maybe its specs will be a saving grace.
This particular model supports high resolution audio and just about every streaming service you can think of. There is also an optional battery add-on product known as the HEOS 1 GO, this provides six hours of portable power. If course this extra flexibility will cost you, but it’s nice to have the option.
Another thing I do appreciate is the fact the the HEOS is sealed against humidity, which can be a real killer of electronics in some environments.
This is another speaker that is not limited to WiFi streaming, Bluetooth is built-in, which means you can also directly beam audio to it from the appropriate source. You can also connect via USB and a plain old stereo jack. It’s all there.
The actual sound circuitry is a cut above in the HEOS, at least on paper. You can customize the EQ on the speaker itself and the amplifier is a good quality, dual-channel model.
This amp powers the two drivers, a wider-than-usual midrange speaker and a dedicated dome tweeter.
Users complain about the app being unfriendly and compared to other similar speakers it seems there is a lack of bass. However, taken by itself the bass is good enough and the sound is acceptable. What bums me out is the price. This is more expensive than either the Sonos and Bose, both speakers which give more bass and a fuller sound going by user opinions. I would choose either of those speakers over this Denon.
I have no idea who DOSS. I’ve never seen their stuff until now, but while the brand may be a bit obscure, the price puts them right against the big boys like Bose.
The DOSS is a bit different than the other multi-room speaker systems that I’ve looked at here. First of all, there’s a battery built right into the unit. These guys are not usually meant to be portable, so that clearly shows DOSS is trying to go for a slightly different market segment.
The reason this isn’t actually all that great to me is the fact that a battery is a consumable device, which means that your speaker’s lifetime is limited to the life of the battery. This is where something like the HEOS 1 from Denon makes more sense since it allows you to add the battery as an optional extra and without even opening the unit up. In any case, being a WiFi streaming device it is very unlikely you’ll be away from an outlet, even if you want to move the speaker from one room to the next.
The company claims that you’ll get 16 hours of playback at 50% volume, which is not bad, but once again I’d rather buy a much cheaper portable Bluetooth speaker when leaving home.
Sound wise there is a bit of oomph here. There is 16W worth of mid-high range and a passive bass radiator, which is a space-saving solution that gives us almost the same subjective experience as we’d get from an active woofer.
There’s no Bluetooth, but there is a good old 3.5mm jack so you can connect sources directly if you can’t use the WiFi.
In terms of the sound, consumers are super happy with it for the price. I’ve seen the DOSS discounted often, so I do not recommend buying it at full price. At the recommended price it’s up against the Bose and I don’t think it’s competitive in that space, but with the frequent and deep cuts to the price this is worth picking up on sale.
The PLAY:1 is the little brother to my top pick, the PLAY:3. Obviously it’s not quite at the same standard as the PLAY:3, because that’s how it’s been designed, but the PLAY:1 provides some of the best bang for buck you’ll get in this segment of the market.
The PLAY:1 is small and unobtrusive. Sonos also says that it is designed to withstand high humidity. How high is not explicitly stated, but it does sound like these may work well in a kitchen or the room with the hot tub. Your mileage may vary.
Since you can mix and match the different PLAY speakers now and you now longer need a special bridge device, you can put the PLAY:1 in rooms that don’t need quite as much oomph.
The sound quality at moderate volumes is apparently on par with the bigger boys, with a relative lack of bass a predictable complaint. However, this is only something you’d notice relative to more bassy speakers. In isolation, the PLAY:1 sounds great.
The PLAY:1 is a great little speaker and if you are planning on investing in the superlative PLAY:3, then you might as well plan on getting a few of these to spread the music around to the less central corners of the home.
I have a really hard time believing that the same company that gave us the gorgeous, award-winning design in the M3 Retro made this hideous lump of plastic.
In black it’s just about bearable, but in white or awful blue this thing is just ugly.
Still, it is what it is. This is also a speaker that costs more than great offerings from Sonos, Bose, and Denon.
This speaker is designed to be more of a bedside clock radio replacement and it includes inputs for direct Bluetooth, WiFi direct, WiFi to router, or plain 3.5mm auxiliary.
GGMM says this has been designed to fit perfectly on a bedside table. I assume that this is a bedside table from a 1970s caravan park, in which case they succeeded.
Still, what’s the sound like? Well, the sound is much better than the average alarm clock and I guess you could always put something in front of it. Personally, I think you’d be better off getting another one of the cheaper and better sounding speakers we’ve seen here and just use your smartphone as an alarm and clock the way normal people do.
Unlike the R1 Radiant 360, which I look at on this page as well, the R7 is an unashamedly high-end product. It’s not as expensive as the HEOS 7, but it’s not far off either.
I have to commend Samsung on the design of this speaker. My main criticism of the R1 is that the tube thing had been done and really doesn’t look that great, but this R7’s egg-shaped styling is interesting, futuristic, and I want it in my own home from an aesthetic point of view.
These Radiant360 speakers have a unique gimmick where they use a set of acoustic lenses to project the sound evenly in a 360-degree ring. There’s obviously no stereo with this technology, but it should work well for group listening where people were not going to notice stereo in any case. You can simply make sure everyone can hear things equally well.
This is one of the most powerful speakers I’ve seen in this product category. This has a stonking 24W of power and a fat five-inch subwoofer. There’s Bluetooth, WiFi and Soundconnect support as well.
The sound and hardware in this speaker are phenomenal, the problem that it shares with the rest in this series comes from the wonky software. This is a common issue with Samsung products, which I love to death, but the software is usually the low point. When it comes to a TV or smartphone you can either ignore or replace the software, but in the case of a speaker like this the multi-room functionality depends on the software and I am seeing too many complaints about it. If Samsung ever sorts this out it will be a top product, but until then I’d rather have a HEOS 7.
This speaker is not meant for mere mortals. At two and a half grand PER SPEAKER it’s clear that only a millionaire could afford enough of these to have a multi-room setup. This is also a giant product, which is more like another piece of furniture thanks to its big cloth wrap and wooden legs.
Let’s talk about that design for a second. This is clearly something that’s not meant to be looked at. It’s meant to blend into a room. Which is fine. The people who this is aimed at often don’t care much for tech details, they just want the best of something and will pay for it. You can get the A9 in black or white, which will fit many aesthetics. You can, however, buy covers in other colors so that it will match the color scheme of the room it is in. You know the target market for this speaker has rooms with color schemes. If the stand doesn’t appeal to you they also sell wall mountings, which personally I think suits the size and shape of this speaker much better.
The A9 touts an earth-shattering 480W of power. This comes from five independent amps powering one eight-inch woofer, two three-inch mids and two tweeters.
The A9 has got the most intuitive touch controls that I have ever seen. You simply make gestures along the top of the device in order to control playback and volume.
Predictably the audio is peerless for this product category; the only complaint that I could find is that the Bluetooth is buggy. If that doesn’t bother you then this is probably the best speaker of any type you will ever own.
This is the cheaper member of the Beoplay “A” range, and by “cheaper” I mean it only costs a grand rather than almost three times that much.
I’m split on the design of this speaker. It has some impressive tricks with it’s shape and size, but to me it looks more like some sort of foot-heater than a speaker. It’s completely a personal opinion, but I think they missed the boat on this design. They include a picture of the A6 without the wool sock cover and that looks great. Put some speaker grills on that puppy and you’d have a winner.
The A6 has a total of 260W of power split over five amplifiers. It has no fewer than two five and a half inch woofers, one full-range speaker, and two tweeters.
So yes, this is a very powerful speaker that promises to blow even large rooms away with rich, powerful and clear audio if you look at the on-paper specification.
B&O say that the A6 was envisioned as the modern replacement for the classic home stereo.
The A6 supports Bluetooth, Airplay, DLNA, and Spotify Connect. At first I thought that WiFi was not included somehow, but that support is hidden down in the technical documentation. I guess B&O thought people would just know that this had to have WiFi to be multi-room compatible. You can also connect a USB device and the A6 will play MP3, WMA, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF.
What’s the verdict on the sound? Well, we’re definitely in audiophile territory here and if you are currently using something from the upper part of the mainstream from Bose or another reputable brand this would represent a strong upgrade. There are no real negatives about the A6, but the price is a sticking point, especially if you want to run two in stereo per room or have many rooms to cover.
Thanks to the generally abysmal sound you get from the tiny speakers they squeeze into even high-end flatscreen TVs these days, aftermarket speaker solutions have become more popular than ever. While many people still want a surround-sound home theater setup, a new product known as a “sound bar” has pushed cumbersome surround kits in a bit of a niche these days. It’s not that soundbars are cheaper than surround sound – often they are as expensive as a multi-speaker system.
Sonos has some very impressive speakers in the PLAY series, but this PLAYBAR stands apart as being a device with two different roles. On the one hand it’s a soundbar meant to give you a far superior TV viewing experience compared to just the built-in horns. You can choose to have just the soundbar, an additional subwoofer, or an entire surround kit. These three options range from insanely expensive to ludicrously expensive. If the amount of money Sonos is asking for this soundbar is anything to go by, this is a serious bit of kit.
If we judge it just as a soundbar the price certainly makes me balk, but it is probably one of the best sounding and most elegant soundbar solutions out there. The unit has an incredible nine speakers meant to produce sound that is true to life. It only needs two wires as well – one for power and one for optical input. Turning the bar into a surround system basically just involves adding two PLAY:1 speakers for the rear channels.
Going the whole hog will cost you nearly two grand, but you also have all the same streaming features and multi-room audio. The downside? Since the idea is that all your sources go to the TV and then to the Playbar, it means your aren’t really getting digital surround. Most TVs don’t pass more than two channels through the optical port, even high-end ones. That’s why so many systems make use of HDMI pass-throughs or direct connection from a source device.
If all you want is a very high-end sound bar then the Playbar is an excellent choice, but if you plan on making it part of a surround system in future I would be very careful that you aren’t building the world’s most expensive stereo instead.
Few things say that you have a modern, connected home than a house-wide audio system that pumps out great music for any occasion. I was pleasantly surprised by how mature these products already are. There’s something for every budget and for every taste in audio quality. Speaker technology also keeps blowing me away with bigger and better sound coming from smaller and smaller speakers. What a time to be alive.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


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Where Shopping is FUN & AFFORDABLE!!!
Perfect for Fiesta or any Spring event!
Mommy & Me Sherpas- Navy, Olive & Maroon!!
Sign up for our Email Newsletters with discounts!!
All orders now ship for a FLAT $5.99!!


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Cassidy "Cassie" Black (b. 1968) is a professional thief and former Blackjack dealer who lived in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. She was the student and lover of Max Freeling, with whom she bore a child named Jodie Shaw, and an associate of Leo Renfro and Jersey Paltz.
After a job at the Cleopatra Casino and Resort fell apart in 1994, resulting in Freeling's death, she was incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison in Clark County, Nevada. She was pregnant at the time and the child was put up for adoption shortly after birth. She served five years of a seven-year sentence before she was paroled in 1999 and transferred to Los Angeles under the supervision of parole officer Thelma Kibble. Soon after, she began working for Ray Morales at Hollywood Porsche. Part of her motivation for moving to L.A. was to be able to secretly observe her birth-daughter whose adopted family lived in Laurel Canyon. She was planning to abduct the girl and take her to Tahiti, but she needed cash to carry it out.
In 2000, Black contacted Renfro, who arranged for her to take part in another heist at the Cleopatra. Black traveled to Las Vegas and met with Paltz, who agreed to sell her the necessary electronic equipment as a cover for attempting to rob her. She overpowered him and left him bound in his van in the parking garage of the Flamingo, then proceeded to the Cleopatra to carry out the robbery of Diego Hernandez in suite 2014. She soon learned that the robbery had far larger implications than she had been told, as Jack Karch attempted (unsuccessfully) to kill her. When Karch abducted Jodie Shaw, Cassie saved the girl and returned her to her adopted family.
Black initially hid in California but then made her way back to Las Vegas. In the Spring of 2004, she encountered private investigator and retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch while staying at the Executive Extended Stay Motel, with a new look, under an alias. She appeared to have returned to her criminal ways.


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Korea’s healthcare system depends too much on hospitals to treat the ill and not enough on community-based medical practices to keep people healthy, according to OECD’s Health Care Quality Review: Korea.
Las reformas estructurales pueden hacer la diferencia en la búsqueda de los países por superar la crisis, impulsar el crecimiento y crear empleos, de acuerdo con el más reciente estudio de la OCDE: Apuesta por el crecimiento (Going for Growth).
The pace of reform has accelerated in those OECD countries where it is needed most, says the latest Going for Growth report. It identifies the specific action needed to help governments steer their economies out of the crisis, stimulate growth and create jobs.
Experts, manufacturers and government officials meeting in Paris this week reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining safety standards in farm machinery by expanding and updating the OECD’s harmonised tests and codes.
Greece has signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a multilateral agreement that was developed jointly by the Council of Europe and the OECD and that is open for signature to all countries.
To help governments boost competition and drive down excessive prices in international mobile roaming markets, the OECD has released a series of recommendations to protect consumers.
More people in developed countries are overweight or obese than ever before, dooming them to years of ill-health and early death. New OECD data show however that in some countries obesity rates are slowing, and that’s good news for people’s health and government budgets.
The Secretary-General says the package will provide the necessary confidence and breathing space for Greece to work on its recovery and for Europe to address its sovereign debt crisis.
Germany recovered rapidly from the 2008-09 recession, with GDP topping pre-crisis rates during 2011 and unemployment falling significantly. Public finances are sound, but further reforms are needed to transform its growth model to thrive as a knowledge-based economy.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


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since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941.
How many students have registered for French classes?
Look at the girl. She's gorgeous.
A: When are we going to have our year-end party?
★英文常見錯誤★ 別再寫錯了!! 聖誕快樂是 Merry "Xmas"
Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31.
It is strongly associated with symbols like the jack-o'-lantern.
telling ghost stories, and watching horror films.


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Joseph has been active with ME to WE and other social justice work, including leading a campaign against unethical mining practices while in high school, and he has served as a peer success coach at the Student Success Office. He has also managed The Unaccompanied Minors, a local a cappella group.
The Alex Foto Memorial Award was created to honour Alex Foto’s legacy and inspire others to “live like Alex.” She was a charismatic St. Paul’s student studying International Development who cared deeply about humanitarian and anti-poverty issues, but passed away in a tragic accident in 2014.
The award is given annually to a student studying International Development at the University of Waterloo and is embarking on the fourth-year field placement. The field placements are made in partnership with World University Service of Canada.


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My question: Is "mir" where I post what I found?
Do they just leave them on there or do you use file recovery software. Cuz what software. I'm looking for a good one. Lost some awesome nudes of my ex.
They are maybe 20 years old, ya fuckwit.
They just left them on there. Have an external HD set up that ends on a USB cable...It bypasses any and all PW's and allows you to view entire drive.
A little over 100 images of the two and them in tanning bed.


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FOX News Channel’s unprecedented interview with Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh is in the history books. Kavanaugh apparently felt the urge to sit down for a national television interview on sexual misconduct allegations which became public against him in the preceding days.
Though the interview was chock full of Kavanaugh’s blanket denials of any improprieties and demands by Kavanaugh for due process when it comes to the allegations against him, it did result in several comments which those opposed to Kavanaugh (read: Democrats and liberals) are surely at this hour pouring over in extreme detail. A few of Kavanaugh’s denials and claims, which we will review here, could become problematic if his opponents have facts to the contrary. Again, we have no indication that they do — but through our legal lense– this is where we see his vulnerabilities. Watch for these points as Senators begin their grilling on Thursday.
(1) He basically doesn’t know Christine Ford, one of his accusers.
(3) He “never did any such thing” with Deborah Ramirez, either.
He said any allegations that he was sexually inappropriate towards Ramirez “would’ve been the talk of campus” if they were true.
(4) He corroborated that he was the roommate of a guy who recently threw him under the bus.
(5) He apparently knows nothing about gang rapes at parties he attended.
Later, he elaborated that he “never participated in any such thing” and “never saw or heard of any such thing” at parties he attended.
(6) He never drank to the point where he blacked out or wouldn’t remember what went on.
(7) He was a virgin for a very, very, very long time.
KAVANAUGH: “Many years after. I’ll leave it at that. Many years after.”.
(8) He has no clue what’s behind the accusations.
MacCallum asked him repeatedly what’s behind the accusations. She asked if it had to do with Roe v. Wade. She also asked more generally.
Kavanaugh kept deflecting. “I don’t know,” he said one time. Several other times, he deflected back to simply wanting a fair process to defend himself.
Kavanaugh refused to repeat or to elaborate his “coordinated effort” claim to FOX News.

industry_corpus2: Law & Justice


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Meet Danielle Troy, who teaches art to middle and high school students in Redmond.
At Freefly Systems, Coltin Knudson assembles, programs, calibrates, tests and packages camera drones for cinematographers.
Tara Murphy Forde’s job is to strengthen the impact of Global Partnerships’ investments in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
Senior animator Marco Piceno works for Splainers, a company in Seattle that creates explanation videos for clients.
Stacey Black leads free financial-education classes and webinars for the credit union.


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Hybrid publishing is a relatively new term in the industry, and it can be very confusing because most publishing insiders have different definitions of what a hybrid publisher actually is.
A small press publisher that pays royalties and doesn’t charge any author fees. They often don’t pay advances.
A publishing services provider (also called a subsidy publisher or vanity publisher) that charges fees to do editing, layout, and book production for authors.
A traditional publisher that also sells publishing services on the side.
Or some combination of all of these.
Because hybrid publishing is such a vague and confusing concept, you should do extra research to make sure you pick the right publisher before deciding to sign a contract with a hybrid publisher.
Note: We have not done business with all of these publishers, so you should do your research, understand what a publishing scam looks like, and get some good advice from an experienced professional.
Here’s our list of hybrid publishers that are currently accepting submissions from unagented and/or agented authors.
Unlike most hybrid publishers, TCK Publishing never charges their authors any fees. They pay 50% net royalties, and they cover all the costs of editing, design, layout, production, printing, and publishing. They also invest heavily in providing coaching, mentoring, and marketing for their authors.
You can learn more on their FAQ page.


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Winds are coming out of the southwest at twenty to thirty miles per hour with gusts up to fifty miles per hour. The National Weather Service reports that winds will increase in speed from the mid-morning to mid-afternoon with the highest speeds coming in the afternoon hours.
Be on the lookout for scattered tree and power line damage along with some minor property damage caused by the highest gusts. The NWS said that winds as strong as the ones blowing Friday could make driving difficult, too, especially for high profile vehicles.
Winds took out a big piece of a tree on the Sixth Street Promenade in Mainstrasse Village late Thursday night. These photos were submitted by readers Amy Myhaver and Brian Goldberg.
A wind advisory is issued when sustained winds are forecast to be 31 to 39 miles per hour or gusts will range between 46 and 57 miles per hour.
FRIDAY Sunny, with a high near 45. Breezy, with a west wind 16 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph.
FRIDAY NIGHT Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Southwest wind 10 to 16 mph.
SATURDAY Mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Southwest wind 11 to 15 mph.
SATURDAY NIGHT Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32. West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming north after midnight.
SUNDAY A chance of rain and snow before 2pm, then a chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 41. Northeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
SUNDAY NIGHT A slight chance of snow before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
MONDAY Mostly sunny, with a high near 37.
MONDAY NIGHT Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23.
TUESDAY Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34.
TUESDAY NIGHT Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.
WEDNESDAY Sunny, with a high near 31.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT Partly cloudy, with a low around 16.
THURSDAY Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.


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What if you knew the government and certain businesses were messing with your brain? Well, they are. As Ellen Ruppel Shell writes in her book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, governments and some big businesses know that most people get the same buzz from a good discount as they get from gambling. But as with gambling, the �house� always wins.
For every big-win story, there are thousands more who�ve lost. This discount technique comes into play in our food as well, as no government subsidies or handouts are given to organic farmers, putting the cost of paying for pricey certifications, inspections and high insurance plans solely on them. This is why the things you buy the most�such as milk and eggs�are dirt-cheap compared to their organic counterparts. Zap! That good deal just gave you a buzz that encourages you to resist organic.
So, allow me to attempt to rewire your brain a bit�or perhaps free it�with 10 reasons that organic is worth it!
Whether you are liberal or conservative, that�s a good thing. Although, it does mean that your tax dollars are paying for all that cheap food.
You will automatically become an environmentalist without having to make a donation or show up for a protest. Here�s a short list of things organic farmers help keep totally out of our soil, water, air and bodies: toxic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, sewage sludge, antibiotics and growth hormones. All of these are known to cause grave physical damage in people as well as bees, bats, frogs, and fish.
You can pay more now or pay later (in health care costs). Agricultural chemicals are known to cause diabetes, obesity, cancer, allergies, asthma, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, ADHD and perhaps even autism. And we�ve only scratched the surface in understanding what damage these toxins are doing to our health.
It�s kind of like making a charitable donation, but instead of it filtering through a middleman, your money directly helps an entire chain of good people, families, and the environment they affect. Your health, too.
I have seen this with my own eyes over and over again. Farm families that thought they would lose their farms because of the fluctuations of commodity milk prices switch to organic and not only save their farms, but also find that they are all healthier and happier as a result. And the companies that help them transition, like Organic Valley, are truly wonderful companies that do great things for their farmers, their customers, their employees, and the whole community.
YOU WILL BE HELPING TO PREVENT CLIMATE CHANGE. SERIOUSLY!
Organic soil holds much more carbon, uses much less fossil fuel resources�which aren�t just used in tractors but are in the toxic chemicals that are made from fossil fuels used in nonorganic farming practices�and sustains habitats for all the creatures that help keep our planet healthy.
Research at the Rodale Institute and many other institutions have shown that organic soil is much more absorbent than chemically farmed soil. That means it holds more water during droughts and floods. Plants grown organically also have a much bigger and more resilient root system, so they can last longer in extreme weather.
Really, what is the price of that? And all you have to do is go food shopping and eat yummy stuff and perhaps buy organic cotton clothing for your body and home (cotton is one of the most toxic crops on the planet).
When you pay more for good things, other people can afford to pay you more. This is where the true economic brain rewiring happens. It might not seem like a direct link from one thing to another, but as Ellen Ruppell Shell shows in her book, everything is connected economically. Our obsession with cheap stuff actually shrinks all of our economies and pocketbooks and makes it much harder for employers to increase wages and spending. Try it. You�ll see it works. And at the very least, you will eat better in the process.
This article originally appeared on Mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.


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On Wednesday, the Stennis compromise becomes a formal written offer. Cox doesn't rule it out right away, but insists, on Thursday the 18th, on several points. The actual tapes must be available at any trials. Moreover, Cox refuses to sign away the option of asking for additional tapes -- remember, they are now fighting only about the nine conversations in the original subpoena.
Nixon also hears, on Thursday, that Cox is working on Nixon's (and Bebe Rebozo's) taxes -- something the president considers beyond the scope of the special prosecutor. Haig phones Richardson to complain.
That evening, Richardson meets with Haig and Nixon's lawyers. The White House clearly wants Cox fired; indeed, one of the lawyers calls Cox directly, later that night, rejecting both of Cox's conditions. Haig has Nixon that night saying: "No more tapes, no more documents, nothing more! I want an order from me to Elliot [Richardson] to Cox to that effect now."
Drew has Ted Kennedy, on the evening news, threatening that Gerald Ford should be rejected if Ford "refuses to acknowledge the obligation of the President to obey the Supreme Court" on the tapes.
With the next day, Friday, as the deadline for appealing to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is threatening to cut off oil to the US, and Egil Krogh pleads not guilty in his trial over the Ellsberg break-in.
Do you think at this point Nixon's authority is starting to slip? Can everyone see 'mene, mene tekel upharsin' up there on the wall, and is that playing a part in his trouble with the courts, Richardson, Cox, firing Cox etc? Or is that just what you'd expect anyway given the weakness of the US presidency?


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Wake up and start your day right with the "Love The Smell Of Coffee And Witchcraft" Mug.
The "Love The Smell Of Coffee And Witchcraft" Mug helps you start your day with a positive mindset and dash of humor!
A happy place first thing in the morning!!!
Awesome store, great customer service.
It's my favorite coffee cup at home!!! I use it every day for my morning cup~someday I'll get a 2nd one!
The picture is a bit off center, but I still love it!
I get a kick out of the message on the mug . I'm using it this morning because it sets me in a good mood. I love it!
Wish I had ordered a bigger one, but I did with my next mug, which I’m anxiously awaiting!
I’ve barely had a chance to use it as I’ve been in Oregon (I live in Maine) almost since it arrived. I was super impressed with the packaging though! No way was that mug going to get damaged in transport. Thanks!
love the mug - and the care with which it was packed and protected. Thank you, so much. Sorry for the lack of photo, but I am "old" school and do not have the capacity, yet.
I love this mug! My coffee tastes so much better!
Purchased this as a gift for a friend so I wasn’t able to see it in person, but she said it was one of the best coffee cups she had ever seen!


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Technology giant Sony is celebrating after its Pencoed factory was crowned Britain's Best Factory at the 2013 Best Factory Awards (BFA).
The company also walked away with the BFA innovation award and the electronics and electrical plant award at the ceremony which is now in its 22nd year.
Sony is the first Welsh organisation to have taken the top prize since the inception of the awards which are run by the Cranfield School of Management in partnership with the magazine Works Management.
Steve Dalton, managing director of the Sony UK Technology Centre at Pencoed, said: "We are overjoyed to have to have won the esteemed BFA Factory of the Year Award plus two category awards.
"This is the first time a Welsh organisation has won the accreditation and it demonstrates we are excelling in our manufacturing techniques and capabilities outside of England.
"We were up against some well-known and established manufacturing sites and to be named overall winners is a huge achievement.
"Myself and the rest of the team at Pencoed are immensely proud of this award.
"We have a reputation for being a centre for manufacturing excellence and this award is testament to this.
"As a team our drive and ambition to continue to innovate has meant we have been able to make our processes and techniques more effective and efficient.
"Furthermore, the team's loyalty, commitment and hard work to continuously help grown the organisation has ensured we are exceptional in customer service delivery and has encouraged new business opportunities by offering third-party manufacturing solutions as well as extending our own product portfolio.
"As a site we are always searching to do something better today than yesterday.
"I am confident that our commitment to innovation and improvement will put us in good stead to compete with our competitors and ensure our site's sustainability and longevity.
"Our hope is that our success will inspire other Welsh manufacturing companies and encourage them to follow in our footsteps."
Director of the Best Factory Awards, Dr Marek Szwejczewski, said: "Sony's facility in Pencoed is a high performance plant in every sense.
"It has a highly skilled workforce, state-of-the-art electronics manufacturing equipment and processes, and a visionary and proactive leadership team, who are ensuring continued growth.
"The factory's unique combination of skills meant that it recently started production of a range of professional camcorders, the only factory in Europe to do so for Sony.
"The fact that global production of the new Raspberry Pi mini-computer moved from China to Pencoed is testament to the factory's ability to manufacture high quality products."
Welsh Government economy minister Edwina Hart congratulated Sony on its award win and said: "This is excellent news and a fitting tribute to the hard work of the management and workforce who between them have transformed the Pencoed facility.
"It has an international reputation as a centre for manufacturing excellence and the highest quality standards which has been further endorsed by winning these highly prestigious awards that are well deserved."
Sony's UK Technology Centre was officially opened by the Queen in 1992.
The site provides work for 500 people including 350 direct employees and 150 staff working for the 28 companies based in a business incubation centre on site.
The factory recently expanded its portfolio with an additional six professional camera products including a camcorder which can produce footage suitable for broadcast.


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Everything about IgnitionDeck comes down to its main purpose – the Deck. Read our Blog Post about the Deck Builder Here: Build Your Own Deck.
With the IgnitionDeck Deck Builder, you can control what is shown and what is hidden within the project’s data display. You can build and customize any number of decks in any format you want. This works with widgets and shortcodes only, and does not work with theme templates.
To use the Deck Builder, give your Deck a name, and then select the components you wish to display. Once you click save, your deck will be assigned a custom Deck id, which you can call via shortcodes.
This currently works on project_widget, project_mini_widget, project_grid and project_page_complete. Simply add deck=”id” within the shortcode.
Some examples below using the project_grid shortcode, please remember to type them in using Text (HTML) mode and without the start or ending spaces.
Deck Themes – By default IgnitionDeck comes with 4 themes that you can choose from. Please see the following page regarding the: Installation of Your Own Deck Skins.
– Upload skin assets to the wp-content/plugins/ignitiondeck-crowdfunding/skins directory via FTP.
– The CSS file will be named ignitiondeck-skinname.css. Enter the ‘skinname’ in the box and click ‘Add Skin’.
Delete Custom Skins: To delete, select the theme and click ‘Delete Skin’.
IgnitionDeck Logo – Check this to enable the ‘Powered by IgnitionDeck’ logo at the bottom of the project widget. You may also define the link that our logo links to – great if you’re part of the IgnitionDeck Affiliate Program.


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Check Out These Tips to Get Your Baby Ready for the Beach or Pool!
Summer is here! Many families are headed to the pool or beach with a little one. So it is important to get your little one ready for the water. If introduced early, children take to water like little ducks. Water safety should be introduced right along with baby's first trip to the beach or first time poolside.
These tips from Bambino Mio can help ensure a safe and fun trip by the water is had by all!
Tip #1 — Water is Fun!
Swimming is the perfect way to bond with your baby and boost their confidence, so introducing the benefits of swimming early is ideal. Use bath time to get babies used to the notion of playing in the water.
The more they experience the senses of swishing, splashing, and waves as fun, the easier a transition to a pool or the sea will be easier for everyone involved. The movements of the water, noises, colors, and splashes in the bath will be similar to a pool environment. This will help sensory development and prepare your little one for the new environment when all of their senses will be working at the same time. Start with the bathtub and move your way up to the baby pool, beach, and beyond!
Tip #2 — Be Prepared!
Going to the pool or the beach is a treat, so make sure you have everything you might need in your swim bag, including reusable swim diapers. Nothing ends a trip to the pool faster than a leaky swim diaper.
Look for adjustable waistbands, a water resistant layer, and leak-proof elasticized legs to ensure that there are no accidents in the pool. The ideal swim diaper is lightweight and compact so will not weigh your baby down in the water and they are less expensive than ones that need to be replaced constantly.
Tip #3 — Use Adequate Sunscreen and Reapply!
Baby’s skin is very sensitive so it’s vital to remember to use a good quality, water resistant sunscreen. Apply to baby’s exposed skin at least thirty minutes before going out in the sun and don’t forget to re-apply regularly throughout the day, or after swimming. Even water resistant formulas come off eventually. Add a hat and sunglasses (if your baby will keep them on) and your baby will be well protected from the harmful effects of UVA / UVB sun rays.
It might seem counterintuitive to worry about baby cooling off in the summer sun, but water, whether at the pool or at the beach, can be much colder than the outside air temperature. An ideal water temperature is 89 degrees F. but anything less and you’ll find that it doesn’t take baby long to lose heat and start to shiver a little.
Keep your pool or water sessions short to start with, 10 or 15 minutes at most. Then pop your baby out and dry them off with a hooded towel, so they stay cozy and warm. Having more than one swim diaper ensures that you can stay at the beach all day and keep baby warm and dry, too.
Tip #5 — Know the Rules!
Check with your local pool before packing up and heading over in regards to their policies: How many children per adult they allow, what they consider an acceptable floatation device, whether you can bring your own toys, and how deep into the pool you can go with your children. Most pools are clear about their rules and policies, in writing, so familiarize yourself to avoid disappointment!
With a little planning and packing, you’ll have a great time at the beach or by the pool with your little one this summer!
How to Get Your Baby to SLEEP!


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The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is intensifying efforts to advance the agenda of economic diversification in Nigeria. As part of effort to continually improve export standards in agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy, NEPC has organised a one day seminar at it's Lagos Zonal headquarter on cocoa, rubber and palm oil export to Malaysia.
In his opening address, regional coordinator, NEPC, Mr. Babatunde Olusegun Faleke explained that the forum was specifically put in place to inform and sensitise Nigerian agricultural commodities exporters and other stakeholders in the export business, especially on cocoa, rubber and palm oil with Malaysian. This was done with the intention of adding value to all our agriculture commodity export trade and the creation of comfort and also to reduce risk associated with export trade.
Speaking at the forum, Trade Commissioner, High Commission of Malaysia, Mr. Mohd Khairy Maidin gave insight into various efforts and successes recorded by his home country, Malaysia on agriculture and it's value chain and how it has tremendously helped to growing the economy of Malaysia. "Nigerian agriculture commodity, particularly cocoa, rubber and palm oil exporters will benefit from being a registered member of Nigeria-Malaysia Export Trade Council".
Also speaking at the event, President, Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council, Michael Oladipo Aderohunmu went down the memory lane on the trade relationship and similarities between Nigeria and Malaysia, stressing however that the later has a better story to tell in terms of success.
He pointed out that documentation, securing a foreign buyers, packaging,, meeting up with standard for export is painstaking. He explained that over the past few months, the NEPC has been working with Malaysia and have come up with the aim of encouraging Nigerian exporters to Malaysia to register and become a member of the Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council by simply logging into the following web site: www.Nigeria-malaysiabusinesscouncil.com for ease of exporting their agriculture commodity to Malaysia.


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PHILADELPHIA, PA (TheSpread) – Rashad Evans got the last laugh in his beef with Tito Ortiz on Saturday at UFC 133 as Evans beat Ortiz by second round TKO in the main event.
Evans and Ortiz fought for the second time, as the two fought to a draw in a previous meeting. This time around, Evans dominated the contest, landing a number of big punches to Ortiz before finishing the fight with a big knee to Ortiz’ sternum that was followed up by a series of punches. The referee was then forced to stop the fight.
According to oddsmakers, Evans had a money line of -450 to win. That means a wager of $450 on Evans will pay out an additional $100.
In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort knocked out Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round of their middleweight contest. Belfort had an explosive striking outburst in the middle of the round that left Akiyama unconscious on his face. Belfort had odds of -300 to win the contest.
For complete results from the main card of UFC 133, see below.

industry_corpus2: Sports


text: The Internship Training Committee is listed below. Dr. Jan Witte is the Training Director, and one of five licensed doctoral level psychologists on the Training Committee. Dr. Tessie Blake and Dr. Juihsien Kao are primary supervisors. There are six secondary supervisors who provide supervision for rotation activities and group supervision meetings. The Training Committee meets monthly to review the Internship Program.


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Using its pre-built cognitive engine, CogniFrame powers credit decisioning for a variety of lending products including loans, lines of credit, mortgages and trade credit. It works with or without credit scores and is integrated with a number of banking solutions.
Our machine learning platform combines experimental data with multiple data elements provided by clients to deliver predictive analytics for real-time decision making. The platform uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to find anomalies and patterns based on historical and real-time data.
Being adaptive, its vastly superior to standard algorithm based models as it adapts constantly based on every approved, amended or rejected application, repayments, delinquency, etc. In addition, it supports the use of a variety of business rules including corporate objectives such as profitability, delinquency, growth, etc., including adjustment of interest rates to arrive at desired profitability values.
A number of loans are for small business purposes and hence involve both personal credit and business plan evaluations. Our platform has converted qualitative aspects into quantitative metrics that can be easily evaluated and scored, and the resultant value is used as part of the decision process leading to a holistic approach. We provide Dynamic Ratings for every loan customer, so banks are able to proactively manage potential delinquencies.
Our solutions are customized for each institution. We understand that everyone has their priorities, risk policies, tolerance and deals with different customer segments. Each therefore is unique. We combine this uniqueness with the learnings from the pre-cognitive engine to improve outcomes.
Why our Loan Decisioning Engine?
Our Machine Learning based platform offers a number of advantages to banks and lenders.
Support for corporate objectives such as profitability, delinquency, growth, etc., including adjustment of interest rates to arrive at desired profitability values.
In this age of social media and instant gratification should the loan decisioning process be from the last century?
The CogniFrame platform is self- adaptive and ratings are dynamically changing constantly as new information is received unlike algorithm based models that are non-adaptive. Best of all, this obviates the need for manual intervention.
Our Solutions are customized for each institution to better reflect their risk policies and customer profiles. More risk, low risk or anything in between; we combine the learnings from your portfolio profile with our pre-cognitive engine to improve outcomes.
Contact us for the demo.

industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


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The festival of colours is finally here, and it’s time to rejoice and celebrate! If you’re looking for the perfect Holi cocktail, try this Rang Rasia recipe, that’s been kindly shared with us by Manikanta SM, a mixologist at Radisson Blu Atria! Its base is dark rum, so it sure packs a punch!
Light up your Holi celebrations with this delicious dark rum cocktail!
Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a glass.
Garnish with some mint and slices of pineapple and orange.


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Soon the calendar will show 2019!
Therefore, JAI would like to take the opportunity to send seasonal greetings to our friends all over the world. We would like to thank our customers, partners and other business contacts for your interest, co-operation and continued support throughout 2018.
A new fresh year is waiting to be embraced - and we hope that 2019 will bring success and happiness to both you and JAI.
We wish you and your family a colorful and prosperous 2019!
Also our thoughts and good wishes go out to people who are in special need, and this year we have made a donation to the international medical humanitarian aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), who are working hard to provide medical attention to people in many unsecure places around the world.


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Mustapha, Zakari, Aigbavboa, Clinton, Thwala, Wellington Didibhuku. Small and medium-sized enterprises contractors' health and safety performance. 2016.
Abstract: Small and Medium Sized-Enterprise (SMEs) contractors form the bulk, by number, of companies in each industry. SMEs differ significantly from large firms, and these factors affect their compliance level. The study aims to assess the SMEs contractors Health and Safety (H&S) performance in the construction industry. Delphi survey was used for the study. Experts were asked to rate the impact of other factors in predicting SMEs contractors compliance with H&S regulations in Ghana. The rating were based on either the impact was considered to be very high or high. Microsoft EXCEL to analyse the data collected. The output from the analysis was a set of descriptive statistics such as means, median, standard deviations and derivatives of these statistics. The findings from the study shows that changes in company structure, changes in ownership at various stages of growth, lack of H&S experts and short track records of H&S regulations were rated by the experts among the factors that affect the SMEs contractors H&S performance.


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There are layers of diversity within a business school applicant pool and classroom.
Today, greater focus is being placed on creating a campus with a culture that’s inclusive for people across categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic background, educational background, nationality, age, and physical ability. And, graduate business schools are making diversity a priority for a simple reason: A diverse class enriches the academic experience for everyone. These diverse layers are part of what helps a business school innovate and create valuable networks for students.
Students in graduate business programs often learn as much from each other as from their faculty. In the US, ethnic and gender diversity at business schools echo the larger shifts in demographics happening within the United States. Globally, there are unfolding efforts to diversify the intellectual mix of incoming talent, more international talent, and greater emphasis on recruiting students from non-business, or non-traditional undergraduate majors.
Currently, my colleagues and I aim to create more tools and resources for increasing the pipeline and enhancing the recruitment and retention of diverse groups, especially US underrepresented populations (including African American, Native American, and Hispanic students). Links to download the newest reports for more insight into diverse candidate segments are available below. GMAC is committed to diversity initiatives that enhance the graduate management education experience for both schools and students - and build the student pipeline.
There’s data to suggest some b-schools are seeing improvements. For example, results of last year’s Application Trends Survey showed that full-time two-year MBA programs across all US regions reported increases in the percentage of applications they received from US underrepresented populations (URPs) for the 2014 application cycle. Programs located in the US South and West saw the largest rise (62% and 60% of programs, respectively) in applications from these candidates. Four out of 10 programs in both the Midwest (40%) and the Northeast (41%) also report increased application volume from underrepresented populations. All combined, URPs account for nearly 16 percent of the unique US citizen GMAT® test takers (or 11,834 individuals in Testing Year 2014)1.
With levels of college attainment among African American and Hispanic communities reaching unprecedented levels, b-schools could face larger numbers of candidates from these communities to aim to recruit. Pew Research reported that in 2012 nearly a quarter (23%) of African Americans ages 25 to 29 had completed at least a bachelor’s degree, an increase from 20 percent in 2011. Bachelor’s degree attainment among young Hispanics increased to 15 percent in 2012, up from 13 percent in 20112.
The challenge of recruiting underrepresented candidates for your programs may be related not only to finding them relative to where you are or are not looking, but also the positioning your messaging or marketing efforts so it resonates. Recently, we released several reports from our GMAT test taker data and survey analysis that offer market data to help reveal who these candidates are in the business school pipeline, and inform your viewpoint and assist with student recruitment efforts. As you look for ways to recruit diverse students, consider reviewing your strategy with these resources in mind.
Women worldwide account for a total of 105,476 GMAT exams taken, representing 43.3 percent of the global business school pipeline in testing year 2014 (TY 2014). This marks the sixth year in a row that women broke the 100,000 mark in the number of GMAT exams taken. More than 45,000 female GMAT examinees, or 54 percent of all women who took the GMAT exam, intend to pursue an MBA degree. To commemorate International Women’s Day (March 8, 2015) and Women’s History Month in the United States, colleagues prepared this brief as a summary of current GMAT test taker and research data about women in the business school pipeline.
US underrepresented populations (URPs) are largely represented in the US South (27% of unique URP GMAT examinees), followed by the Southwest (19%) and Northeast (17%). This regional distribution differs from that of non-underrepresented unique US GMAT examinees, for whom the South is only the fourth largest region (19%). In addition, more than 80 percent of URP GMAT examinees have some work experience; most frequently between one and three years (34%). A series of four briefs present key statistics for specific populations of US GMAT test takers, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans, and combined URPs.
Using the Interactive Data Research Tool of the latest mba.com Prospective Students survey, GMAT accepting programs can explore the student mindset data in detail in responses from URPs, women, and other segments – including their program choices, career goals, information sources, decision time lines, and more. The information can help you examine candidate timelines for decision making, and combined with GMAT testing data may help you plan where you prioritize recruiting stops. Wherever you go, be sure to attune your messages to the specific information each of these communities looks for in their decision-making.
Integrate data into your outreach.
For example, take advantage of resources in the Graduate Management Admission Search Service® database (GMASS®) for purchasing lists of candidate names that might help your efforts for diverse candidate outreach, even before they sit for the GMAT exam or in more targeted ways to find the best candidates. An additional example comes from Shandra Jones, Associate Director of MBA Admissions at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, who has a great blog on action items worth checking out, “Fit” As an Assessment and Marketing Tool. And, there are a number of valuable insights and best practices from admissions and diversity professionals worth a read.
Many programs are available to provide internship and other opportunities to aid diverse candidates. I’ve spent time with our partners at organizations that help prospects prepare for MBA programs, like the MBA Launch for Women hosted by Forté Foundation and the MLT MBA Prep program for minority young professionals.
I look forward to continuing this conversation with you next month during GMAC’s Annual Conference in Denver, CO. There will be two specific diversity sessions related to the role of gender in communications and partnerships to develop the LGBT pipeline. And, as your program explores its strategies, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sabrina White is the vice president, Americas, at the Graduate Management Admission Council.