text:
I think I’m going to try blogging in the mornings from now on. I have typically written my posts in the evening before going to bed, as that’s when I usually have the most time and energy, but lately I’m too tired to do much of anything in the evenings, let along form a coherent sentence (not that I can be accused of that at the best of times). There’s a nice, quiet stretch in the early mornings between when my husband leaves for work and when the kids get up, so I’m going to take advantage of that and see how it goes.
Spring is in full swing. The trees are leafing out and I haven’t had to turn the heat on in weeks. One of my favorite things about spring here is the return of the hummingbirds. They are so active that they will dive bomb you if they spot you wearing brightly coloured clothing, and are constantly flying in mad, squeaky loop de loops while arguing over who gets to use the feeder.
Resting in a tree near the kitchen (click to enlarge).We’ve been working outside a lot lately, abandoning work on the house for the time being. I just don’t want another growing season to go by without getting at least some landscaping established, and we’ll benefit greatly from whatever the garden can provide this year. The veggie patch has a few more things growing in it now (including small patches of oats, barley and quinoa), and I’ve planted a low maintenance lawn and flower beds over the septic field. We have quite a bit more deer fencing to do before I can start putting in a small orchard, and now there’s also a chicken coop to build as I’ve just ordered 10 day-old chicks which should be arriving in a few weeks.I’m hearing movement upstairs, better go start breakfast!
You’ll love having chickens, maybe you’ve had them before to know that.
We have four right now which are laying monster eggs.
Also raising pheasants. They are the cutest little guys, 4 in the last two days and more on the way.
I am impressed with the humming bird picture. I certainly have never succeeded in attracting enough to have them dive bomb me.
It was beautiful out there last week. It is not very green here and is just starting to get nice this weekend. I want to be out working in the yard this weekend when it is nice. When it is cold, I just don’t feel motivated. We have to get our other coop up and running so we can get our next set of chicks. I think I will get them in June this year to give me a little more time and I won’t have to use the heat lamp as long. I am looking forward to getting some gardening done too.
beautiful pictures, like the last part of movement upstairs words of a mum!
Lovely! I look forward to your writings and updates!
We just added 4 new hens to our current flock of 5–what an interesting experience. And growing season started awhile ago and have been enjoying the growing part–still eating carrots and peppers from last season, and have refrigerated the spinach and berries from this season.
I will be going back to read some of your older post for inspiration and ideas/sources as we continually work on our home and wish to do so with green and sustainable means and methods.
I have a question. On october 10, 2006 you talked about doing a pear honey and pumpkin pear. Could you post those recipes? Or if you can’t because of “rules” could you send me an email about them? The pumpkin pear particularly sounds interesting and though I found a number of references to how good it is I never did find one with maple syrup and pumpkin in it like yours. Yummy.
Sounds great! Thought of having some Guinea Fowl, they’re a great little bird to have around.They eat insects, weeds and look after themselves virtually.Great to have in an orchard to clean up as are geese.Have fun!
I’m always jealous of people who get hummingbirds in their yard! Florida doesn’t seem to get that many, they just keep on going by us.
Janeywan – We're really looking forward to it, and I can't wait until we're getting "monster" eggs too!
Charlotte – I don't think there's any attracting to be done, they're just here. Even when we're out walking, they're constantly whirring around us.
Dawn – I hope it's warming up for you guys and that you're getting into the garden!
Chow and Chatter – Thank you!
Shawna – It sounds like your garden has been in full swing for a while, I'm envious!
Monica – Can't wait to hear how it turns out!
Misti – They're such neat birds, it's too bad they don't stick around in your area.


text:
Two more independent shops will close their doors, disappearing from the town’s high street for good.
Colin and Kylie Cramb outside Coles on Sidmouth High Street.
Coles gift shop, in the High Street, will close on Saturday, October 27, and The Rendezvous, in Fore Street, won’t be far behind.
The two businesses have joined a fast-growing list of shops which have left or have plans to because of rising costs and ‘unfair’ business rates. Since February Carinas, Hospiscare, NatWest and Sweet Temptations have closed.
New Look will cease trading on Saturday, October 20, Barclays on Friday, November 16, and Pure Indulgence will close April 2019 along with Govier’s of Sidmouth - which has gone online only.
Speaking to the Herald, Colin and Kylie Cramb, of Coles, told how they were returning home to Australia to be with their family when their lease ends.
The pair said they don’t know who will be moving into the shop but they were selling all their stock at 50 per cent and plans had been made for merchandise to go to Devon Embroidery, Woolbrook News - which plans to take on the helium balloon service, and Ebenezers Christmas Shop, which hopes to soon sell the Sidmouth-themed Christmas cards.
The couple said: “It’s bitter sweet. We have loved running the shop. We are going to miss Sidmouth and want to thank all our loyal customers.
The second issue, he said, was ‘unfair’ business rates and explained a situation where a card shop that pays can plausibly be next door to a card shop that does not pay rates - despite the fact they sell the same products and generate similar incomes. This means one shop has paid £10,000 before opening the door.
Steve and Lyn Clarke, of The Rendezvous, revealed they would be closed before Christmas. after the opportunity arose for them to take on an East Devon pub, where the rates are the same, even though the restaurant is five times the size of The Rendezvous, albeit the rent it more.
Steve said no body seemed to want to the listen to the businesses that were crying out for help.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


text: As I watched the first trailer for this live action adaptation, I marveled at how striking my beloved home city looked in several shots, but then I began to have a stasis of image association in my head. The flat 2D look of the original "Rampage" game struggled to surface in my conscience. So I did what I do best and I worked with the moving images in my latest video essay and rendered this new film (slated for a 2018 release) as that Bally Midway holy grail.

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


text:
Preparations are underway to organise the next, long awaited, Painting with Light Festival.
From 24th to 26th April 2015 - the third edition of the Painting with Lights festival, renamed as Lana Lights, will be held in Lana, close to the town of Merano, Italy.
A new website has been created www.lanalights.com which is being updated as and when more information becomes available.
CALLING ALL ARTISTS - we are now accepting proposals of work for building projections and light installations.


text:
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text:
The workshop is a registered Federal Government of Nigeria property arm of the Nigerian Postal Service with a factory land mass of 12,167.8 square meters comprising a covered factory block of 1389.56 square meters and a opened factory block 1186,3 square meters.
Equipped with state of the art machineries, It also has a warehouse facility measuring 513 square meters. The workshop was established in 1956, making it one of the oldest and still functioning factory facilities in the country.
The workshop operates in diverse but complimentary areas of business. In meeting the realities of modern times especially in the provision of quality products and services, NIPOST Workshop has recently been invigorated and the product line extended to provide amongst others; provision of office, home and school furniture/fittings, metal/wrought iron works, motor vehicle maintenance and engine reconditioning, production of corporate gift items etc.
These services are all provided by the workshop using reliable machines and experienced workforce.

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


text:
Sales of Prosecco are fizzing across the major retailers in the run-up to Christmas, with Tesco predicting one in three bottles of sparkling wine sold this year will be the Italian favourite.
But Champagne is not being neglected, as consumers are more prepared than ever to fork out for a special bottle - Waitrose has seen sales of its own brand Blanc de Blancs Champagne rocket 258%.
In a supermarket first, Tesco is also selling Methuselahs - the equivalent of eight standard bottles - of Lanson White Label Champagne with a price tag of £499 in selected stores.
Waitrose says the first nine days of December 2014, versus the same period last year, have seen Champagne up 16%, with own label driving the charge, up 40% year-on-year. Its Blanc de Blancs is the stellar performer, having recently won a Good Housekeeping award.
Half bottles of Champagne are up 24%, rose sparkling wine has grown 42%, while overall sparkling sales are up 46%, with Prosecco up 58% and English fizz up 89%. Online the picture is even brighter, with Champagne sales on waitrosecellar.com up 110% year-on-year and up 120% on other sparkling wines.
At Tesco, Laura Jewell MW said: "Brits absolutely love Prosecco and there is no sign of it slowing down in the near future. Their love affair with the Italian sparkling wine has only intensified this year, with demand so strong that one in every three bottle of sparkling wine bought this Christmas, including Champagne, is set to be Prosecco."
It says its sales are up 50% year-on-year, with five of the top six sparkling wines by value and volume being Prosecco. It has sold over 12 million bottles in the past year, with Plaza Prosecco being the bestseller - it sold over 4.5 million bottles. Pignoletto - the Italian sparkler new to the retailer's Finest range, has sold over 100,000 bottles since it was first launched.
Over at Naked Wines, managing director Eamon FitzGerald, told Harpers.co.uk that people are "turning to fizz this Christmas more than ever before". He said it sells three bottles of Prosecco for every bottle of Champagne, and in the run-up for Christmas Prosecco has accounted for 71% of its sparkling wine sales.
"Having said that we've seen a 13% increase in Champagne sales - now that former Champagne Ruinart winemaker Jean Phillipe Moulin is on board producing an exclusive range of Champagne for our Angel customers," FitzGerald added.
Cava sales are also up 28%, while sales of English bubbly have grown 41% on last year.
Over at rival online retailer, Virgin Wines, the group says it has sold over 100,000 bottles of Champagne and sparkling wines in 2014, and predicted that figure would "go through the roof this month" as consumers stock up for Christmas.
Its Le Dolci Colline Prosecco NV at £9.99, saw sales grow by 134% year-on-year, making up 55% of all Champagne and sparkling wine sales within the business.
Laithwaite's said that Prosecco is outselling Champagne to the tune of 65:35, although by value "Champagne still has it by a nose".

industry_corpus2: Others


text:
In my opinion, some days are best spent indoors especially when it’s so icy cold and wet outside.
However, not everyone shares my view, where are they headed…out on a first date? making the most of a lunch break? or too caught up in each others company to notice the weather grows more miserable with every step they take?
Umbrella tilted forward may hinder view, but it’ll prevent the wind catching the brim and folding it inside out…could this be a recipe for disaster as they step out onto the street, visibility compromised as a heavy downpour suddenly hits?


text:
The event brought together 25 representatives from 11 different European Research Infrastructures (RIs), including ECRIN, working in the fields of environmental sciences, medicine, physics, astronomy, social sciences, culture, research, energy research and computational science.
A three-year project (January 2017 to January 2020), RISCAPE aims to provide an international landscape analysis of RIs for the use of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and national or regional funding agencies.
RISCAPE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 730974.

industry_corpus2: Technology & Research


text:
At Northway, we understand that every project is different and we can work with you to ensure your project starts off on the right foot.
Northway Construction provides the best value to the customer when we can be brought on a project early in the design development stage. Our 20+ years of experience in the commercial construction industry gives us insights into the design of a project that will result in a superior project for a superior value. We can work with your architect or bring architects to the team with the appropriate experience for your project. By providing cost comparisons of differing construction types and materials, we can ensure that you end up with a project that specifically meets your needs and your budget.
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"I would like to thank Northway Construction for the amazing job they perform on a continuous basis for us and our clients...."

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


text:
In recent years, Romania has undergone major economic, social and political transformations. Given the significant emigration of the Romanian population and the recognition of the contributions of the diaspora, Romanian authorities are seeking to better understand this pool of talent residing abroad, which has great potential to contribute to the economic and social development of Romania. This review provides the first comprehensive portrait of the Romanian diaspora in OECD countries. By profiling Romanian emigrants, this review aims to strengthen knowledge about this community and thus help to consolidate the relevance of the policies deployed by Romania towards its emigrants.
Many countries are struggling to reconcile greater flexibility in school choice with the need to ensure quality, equity and coherence in their school systems. This report provides an international perspective on issues related to school choice, especially how certain aspects of school-choice policies may be associated with sorting students into different schools. A key question fuelling the school-choice debate is whether greater competition among schools results in more sorting of students by ability or socio-economic status. At the macro level, school segregation can deprive children of opportunities to learn, play and communicate with other children from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, which can, in turn, threaten social cohesion. The report draws a comprehensive picture of school segregation, using a variety of indicators in order to account for the diversity of the processes by which students are allocated to schools.

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


text:
Rasha Elass (2017) is a Syrian-American who has recently returned to the United States after covering the Middle East from inside Syria for over 10 years. Elass covered the uprising-turned-civil war for several media outlets, including Thomson Reuters, LA Times, National Public Radio (NPR), The World (PRI / BBC Radio) and International Business Times (IBT.com), often covering the war from inside the country without a byline for security reasons.
Prior to the Syria war, Elass covered the Iraqi refugee crisis and Arab/Islamic affairs for various media where she covered Islamic Affairs. Her work includes columns and commentary on Islamic ﬁnance and local culture. Elass has also covered the drug wars in South America as a producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C., before becoming a regular Syria Contributor for Al Jazeera America. She helped produce several independent documentaries including one about Arab / Muslim artists in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
During her stay, Elass will complete a memoir which draws from her schoolgirl diaries as a child growing up in the Arab world, as well as from her reporter’s notebook as a journalist covering the Middle East. She recently launched the Voices Unheard podcast which draws on her experience in the Middle East to bring an English speaking audience stories from the Arab and Muslim worlds.

industry_corpus2: Media & Journalism


text:
To promote the new project by Kirk Windstein (Down, Crowbar) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Icepick), Relapse Records got Jamey over to Europe to do some press promotion. Kingdom Of Sorrow is the name of the project, as well as the album. I of course couldn’t resist a chance to talk to this influential person, so I ventured down to the promotions office and asked him a couple of questions.
To get it out of the way, could you give us a brief introduction to what Kingdom Of Sorrow is and how it came to be?
Was the record recorded at that time as well?
You guys signed to Relapse Records; what is your vision on the image that this label has?
So do you think Kingdom Of Sorrow fits the Relapse roster?
So did working with Kirk make you wanna grow a beard?
I saw that you guys already have some shows planned in the US, are there plans to take Kingdom Of Sorrow out here on the road too?
Was it a natural choice to work with producer Zeuss for this record again?
If you had to name one country on earth as Kingdom Of Sorrow, which one would you pick?
What Rambo? The new one?
Do you know that in Rambo III he helps the Taliban get rid of the Russians? That must have made them scratch their heads a couple of years later!
All right then, this next question is about him, I ask this to all the bands I interview. In movies who do you prefer, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone?
But if you put Rambo versus the Terminator, you still say Rambo?
Accompanied by a High On Fire soundtrack?
Sounds like a great movie haha! Next question then. Since the material was recorded about three years ago already, has there been work on new material yet, and are there plans to release another KoS record in the future?
Okay, sort of like Mike Patton's first solo album?
So what's the concept of your solo record then?
You can get that out of your mouth?
Must be fun to be able to do that.
Back to the underground, sort of.
So it's obvious you're still a big supporter of the scene?
Isn't it hard to combine your business life with your family life?
‘Oh yeah, it always is. That’s the head of the snake, Hatebreed is my number one priority, it defines a better part of the last decade for me. Even though I get a lot more notoriety and fame from being on TV for four year, it is still who I am. And as much as you wanna be home with your family, it’s just like a guy who works for IVM, or Mac, or travels some truck you know. Of course you wanna be with your family, but you have a house to pay, a car, my daughter is nine, I gotta go out and do the work. In the long run I’ve provided so many things for my kid that I never had. It’s good because, you know they say distance makes the heart grow stronger, I think it does. It puts things in perspective.
Okay, this is my last question. Have you personally witnessed the Carnival over here?
Okay that was it then. Do you have anything to add to this interview?
That was it then, thank you very much for your time.


text:
Whether you work in a small firm that deals with very few clients or a large firm that handles thousands, every firm needs a website – but they need it to stay secure especially if you are housing important information.
Most people, including many ‘professionals’, think that it’s never going to happen to them; but they are unaware that for some hackers it can be as simple as knowing their WordPress login address. In addition to that, you may think “I only have a small website, no one will want to hack that”. Well that’s where you’re wrong.
You may be thinking this is hard to believe but when a site is created it’s published online and therefore can be viewed by anyone with internet access, and some sites make it super easy for hackers to start their own little project with your website.
WordPress plugins are a big part in WordPress development, and they can help most sites stay secure if you pick the correct plugins, but if these plugins get outdated and aren’t regularly updated then it will pose a threat to the site as this will reduce the security of the site. Also, WordPress gives you a massive range of plugins that are available for free and a lot of these plugins can help your site stay secure; but some plugins are dangerous and can be used by hackers to get access to your site. It’s important to only use tested and highly recommended plugins.
When your WordPress website has been published on the internet and can be found by search engines it means that you can log in to the dashboard and change/edit your content. Well, just think that if someone see’s your domain name and types ‘/wp-login.php’ then they have access to your login page. Also, if you have used a username to post a blog, then this means that they now have your login address and your username – then they just need to get your password, which they are particularly good at. Be sure to use strong passwords and making a different WordPress login page will help. Also look into two factor authentication.
WordPress is constantly getting updated. So when your website is published, it needs to be maintained from then on. Maintaining a WordPress site consists of updating all the plugins when they require an update and also updating WordPress and the theme used. If these aren’t updated then this can leave you more open to hackers.
WordPress security issues do and will continue to exist, but by ensuring the right plugins are used as well as keeping the theme, plugins and WordPress version updated and by sticking to best practice it will minimize the potential for your site to be hacked.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


text:
The automounter configuration consists of the auto_master configuration file, which assigns filesystem paths to map names, and maps, which contain actual mount information. The auto_master configuration file is used by the automount(8) command. Map files are read by the automountd(8) daemon.
mountpoint is either a fully specified path, or /-. When mountpoint is a full path, map_name must reference an indirect map. Otherwise, map_name must reference a direct map. See MAP SYNTAX below.
map_name specifies map to use. If map_name begins with -, it specifies a special map. See MAP SYNTAX below. If map_name is not a fully specified path (it does not start with/), automountd(8) will search for that name in /etc. Otherwise it will use the path as given. If the file indicated by map_name is executable, automountd(8) will assume it is an executable map. See MAP SYNTAX below. Otherwise, the file is opened and the contents parsed.
-options is an optional field that starts with - and can contain generic filesystem mount options.
The following example specifies that the /etc/auto_example indirect map will be mounted on /example.
key is the path component used by automountd(8) to find the right map entry to use. It is also used to form the final mountpoint. A wildcard (‘*’) can be used for the key. It matches every directory that does not match other keys. Those directories will not be visible to the user until accessed.
The options field, if present, must begin with -. When mounting the filesystem, options supplied to auto_master and options specified in the map entry are concatenated together. The special option fstype is used to specify filesystem type. It is not passed to the mount program as an option. Instead, it is passed as an argument to mount -t. The default fstype is ‘nfs’. The special option nobrowse is used to disable creation of top-level directories for special and executable maps.
The optional mountpoint field is used to specify multiple mount points for a single key.
ARCH Expands to the output of uname -p.
HOST Expands to the output of uname -n.
OSNAME Expands to the output of uname -s.
OSREL Expands to the output of uname -r.
OSVERS Expands to the output of uname -v.
Additional variables can be defined with the -D option of automount(8) and automountd(8).
To pass a location that begins with /, prefix it with a colon. For example, :/dev/cd0.
-hosts Query the remote NFS server and map exported shares. This map is traditionally mounted on /net. Access to files on a remote NFS server is provided through the /net/ nfs-server-ip/share-name Ns/ directory without any additional configuration. Directories for individual NFS servers are not present until the first access, when they are automatically created.
-media Query devices that are not yet mounted, but contain valid filesystems. Generally used to access files on removable media.
Mount filesystems configured in fstab(5) as "noauto". This needs to be set up as a direct map.
-null Prevent automountd(8) from mounting anything on the mountpoint.
It is possible to add custom special maps by adding them, as executable maps named special_foo, to the /etc/autofs/ directory.
If the map file specified in auto_master has the execute bit set, automountd(8) will execute it and parse the standard output instead of parsing the file contents. When called without command line arguments, the executable is expected to output a list of available map keys separated by newline characters. Otherwise, the executable will be called with a key name as a command line argument. Output from the executable is expected to be the entry for that key, not including the key itself.
Indirect maps are referred to in auto_master by entries with a fully qualified path as a mount point, and must contain only relative paths as keys. Direct maps are referred to in auto_master by entries with /- as the mountpoint, and must contain only fully qualified paths as keys. For indirect maps, the final mount point is determined by concatenating the auto_master mountpoint with the map entry key and optional map entry mountpoint. For direct maps, the final mount point is determined by concatenating the map entry key with the optional map entry mountpoint.
Those entries cause automountd(8) daemon to retrieve the named map from directory services (like LDAP) and include it where the entry was.
If the file containing the map referenced in auto_master is not found, the map will be retrieved from directory services instead.
To retrieve entries from directory services, automountd(8) daemon runs /etc/autofs/include, which is usually a shell script, with map name as the only command line parameter. The script should output entries formatted according to auto_master or automounter map syntax to standard output. An example script to use LDAP is included in /etc/autofs/include_ldap. It can be symlinked to /etc/autofs/include.
The default location of the auto_master file.
/etc/autofs/ Directory containing shell scripts to implement special maps and directory services.
The auto_master configuration file functionality was developed by Edward Tomasz Napierala <Mt trasz@FreeBSD.org> under sponsorship from the FreeBSD Foundation.


text:
The First Global Conference Against Trafficking in Women, attended by over 500 women from different countries in New York in October 1988, launched the CATW.
In 1989, the Coalition was granted Category II Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The Expert Group Meeting on Sexual Exploitation sponsored by the UNESCO Division of Human Rights and the CATW was held at the Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA on April 1991. The meeting produced the Penn State Report, which contained a draft of the proposed Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Sexual Exploitation.
In April 1993, the “Conference on Women Empowering Women: A Human Rights Conference on Trafficking in Asian Women” held in Manila, Philippines gave birth to the CATW – Asia Pacific.
On June 26-29, 1998, CATW convened a regional meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the theme :Organizing Against Sexual Exploitation”. The was attended by 104 participants from all over Asia, coming from the NGOs directly working on trafficking, as well as international organizations and governments.
An international conference on “Organizing and Strategizing Against Sexual Exploitation” was held in January, 1999 also in Dhaka. This was attended by 250 participants from Asia, North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa. It reaffirmed the common perspectives on sexual exploitation, especially of women and children.
Over the years, The Coalition in partnership with its networks, initiated programs to promote women’s human rights and assists victims of trafficking, prostitution, and all forms of violence against women in the Asia-Pacific region.
-To support survivors of trafficking, prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation.


text:
Playing it safe rarely wins the prize. But it’s easier to play it safe. Risk is . . . well, its risky. We like comfort and security and once we find it, we don’t want to risk it.
But God did not create us to live lives of comfort. We can have security in our relationship with God, but our worldly security is not really a concern for God. Paul said, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In other words, when our priority is pleasing God and living our lives to fulfill his desire for us, then there really isn’t a risk.
God wants to do immeasurably more than you can imagine in and through you today. Will you let him?
I have challenged our deacon body in their daily reading to read through 1 and 2 Peter over the next month. Today’s reading is 1 Peter 1:13-25. As I read this passage this morning, even though I have read it in the past, something spoke to me more clearly than ever before.
The author of this little letter reminded us of the value we hold in God’s eyes.
So often, we buy into the lie that we are not worth much. Some have heard from parents or others, “You will never amount to anything.” Hateful people have called us “losers.” At certain times in our lives, circumstances have left us feeling like no one cares.
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
You are worth more than all the gold and silver in the world. You are worth the very breath and blood of the son of God. The Father paid your ransom with the life of his one and only son!
Stop buying into the lie that your life doesn’t count. You are worth everything to God – not because of anything you have done but because he loves you.
And that is all that really matters!
Live into that love today.
I wonder if Peter really expected Jesus to call him out of the boat?
In Matthew 14 we read a story of Jesus walking on the water. His disciples were in a boat and while it was still dark, Jesus went out to meet them – walking on top of the water. I tend to picture the scene by thinking Jesus would have been content to keep on walking, but the disciples saw him and got scared. Since it was still dark – and of course since there was a man standing on top of the water – they assumed he was a ghost.
Have you ever done that? Have you ever asked God to clarify his calling? “God, if this is what you want me to do, show me a sign.” Has that statement, or something similar, ever been part of your prayer?
Here’s the thing. Jesus really is with us – walking with us. And Jesus really does call us to do things that may seem impossible to us. But just like Peter, as long as we trust him fully and keep our eyes on him only, he will do amazing things through us.
How is Jesus calling you today?
Answer that call and step out.
I started a new sermon series this past Sunday that will continue for two more weeks. The series title is Living Out Loud. I pray that this series will inspire each of us to really live out our faith. This confidence that we have – or profess to have – in Jesus as our eternal savior should make a difference in the way we live our lives.
People should be able to see that we are serious about following Jesus in the decisions we make and the way we relate to others. This past Sunday the sermon title was Faith Unleashed. The faith we profess is not for our benefit – not for our own security. This faith is given to us so that we can share it with others. Ephesians 2:8-10 reminds us that our salvation is a free gift of God’s grace; it is nothing we deserve or earn. But it also says that we were created for good works in the same passage. This faith we have should be turned loose on the world.
Our striving for faith lived out begins with following Jesus and should have one primary focus – to illustrate him to others. These three words should become a part of our everyday vocabulary – COME AND SEE.
Let these words sink in for a moment.
Whatever Monday has brought your way – remember – God has promised to see you through it. If you are wondering why God would be with you or how God could possibly care for a person like you, remember – God offers his redemption and salvation to each of us because we are precious to him – he loves you.
Live as one loved by God today!
God is with us each and every day. Jesus’ promise is dependable – he will never leave us nor forsake us. But so often, we live our lives unaware. We pass through our days marking time but oblivious to God’s presence and interaction in our lives.
But every once in a while, we get a glimpse. In a moment of clarity, we come face to face with the creator and we find ourselves overwhelmed with God’s grace and grandeur.
For me, this past Sunday morning was that way (and I was not alone in that experience). Every Sunday is special. The gathering of God’s people to worship and just enjoy being together is always a blessing. But Sunday was different for many. God’s spirit was moving in the hearts of our family and it was obvious.
As I headed to lunch, I prayed, thanking God for reaching into my life and for moving in the hearts of so many. As I prayed and reflected on the morning, I asked – “Why can’t church be like that every week?” I have continued to reflect on that question. What I keep coming back to is sensitivity. We don’t manipulate God, so it is not anything we can do to duplicate the experience.
But if we truly believe that Jesus never leaves us. And if we accept the reality that where two or three are gathered together to honor God, God is in their midst, then we must acknowledge that God is always present when we gather. If that is the case, then the issue is not God’s presence but rather our awareness. We need to remember today that God is always present and at work, we just need to wake up and be more sensitive to what he is doing.
I pray that God’s presence will be just as visible this coming Sunday in our church.
But why wait until Sunday?
God, wake us to your presence and love this day – in this moment!
Sunday was an amazing day in the life of our church. We started the day with worship – thinking about the privilege of prayer. We also celebrated with four different families as decisions were made to plug into what God is doing here in our midst and become members of our church.
Then we gathered out on the island in the afternoon to celebrate baptism. We celebrated with 16 people who had made commitments to follow Jesus and were baptized in the surf on that evening. It was a glorious time of testimony. Many of our church family gathered to celebrate and of course, the regular beach goers were there too.
As I have reflected on the day, I have been reminded of the importance of sharing our faith openly. Our world has become more hostile toward those who live their faith openly, but if our faith is real, it should show in the way we live. That is hard to do when we try and go it alone.
But when we do it in community – together as family – we can lean on one another as we live out loud.
Seek only God’s approval, lean on other believers and live out loud today!


text: President Trump (second from left) is joined by Gov. Scott Walker (left), Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou and House Speaker Paul Ryan (right) Thursday, June 28, 2018, during the ceremonial groundbreaking for Foxconn's factory in Mount Pleasant, Wis. The Taiwanese-based firm has said it remains committed to investing the full $10 billion in what it has named the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park, and to creating 13,000 jobs. The factory will create display panels out of immense sheets of wafer-thin glass.


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A commercial operations licence is required for any commercial business activities that are conducted on land under the Conservation and Land Management Regulations 2002.
An ever-increasing number of visitors to Western Australia experience the natural environment using the services of commercial tourism and recreation operators.
These operators are businesses that deliver tourist recreational or educational services for private benefit (profit) while on conservation or forest estate.
Legislation governing the management of this land requires commercial businesses to gain the consent of the land manager, being the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, for access and use, to abide by specified conditions, and to pay fees and charges towards the maintenance of licensing systems and management.
The department gives this formal approval through the issuing of commercial operations licences granted under Part 7 of the Conservation and Land Management Regulations 2002.
By issuing of licenses, not only does the department allow lawful access for appropriate commercial use of the land, but it can monitor access, use and environmental impact of commercial businesses to ensure natural and cultural values are protected.
Through park entry fees and licence charges, commercial operators contribute to the management and protection of the land so everyone can revisit them in an unspoiled condition and ensure that the conservation values of these areas are maintained in perpetuity.

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


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Find your new rental home!
We would like to help you with renting out your house, room or other real estate.
Receive the newest properties directly in your inbox? Register for our housing e-mail within two clicks!
We offer an extensive service in finding your new home in The Netherlands!
123Wonen: The real estate rental agency of the Netherlands!
We mediate the rental and leasing of properties from our 28 branches and find the perfect match between tenants and owners. We have our own international network and are specialized in expat rentals, but we lease homes in every segment. From room to villa, from Groningen to Maastricht. We offer a high quality service level and have been since 2009.
Finding a reliable tenant is our top priority. We screen the tenant’s identity, history and credit rating thoroughly and as fast as possible. We have our own legal department and provide customized rental agreements. As a landlord, we take the weight off your shoulders. We are your broker and administrator.
123Wonen does not charge unfair administration or agency fees, we choose to operate 100 % in service of the owner. You can count on honest and transparent service.
We are locally present as property manager with our 28 offices all throughout the Netherlands. Our professional real estate agents have knowledge of the market and are able to adapt quickly. Financial management (basic) or full management; your property is safe with us.
Are you looking for a house? 123Wonen offers a large variety of houses in all of the Netherlands. Please contact your nearest branch for renting out your house or finding your dream home!
After being awarded the biggest real estate rental agency of the Netherlands last year, we can now proudly say that we have found a qualitative expansion for our new office 123Wonen Dordrecht. Earlier, the region Dordrecht was being serviced by our office in Rotterdam, but local presence combined with national success is the power of 123Wonen so we can service our customers in an optimal way.
Franchise-enterpreneur Jolien Heelan opens her 123Wonen office at the Visserdijk Beneden 44 in Dordrecht. She will help investors with investment objects on the high level you are accustomed to at 123Wonen. For management of existing properties and aquiring new investment objects she will be your guide. Jolien has over 10 years of experience as a realtor in rental objects and managment by running a succesfull office in Australia.
123Wonen has now achieved national coverage, as the only real estate rental agency. Only region Zeeland is being serviced suboptimally by Bergen op Zoom at the moment, so in the region Zeeland there is still a spot open for a franchise enterpreneur. When you are interested, please e-mail to franchise@123wonen.nl.
The parliament wants family households with low medium incomes, who currently earn too much for social housing, receive a chance for this anyway. For the one person households it will be more difficult to receive social housing with these new rules. The plans of the parliament consist of the plan to let the income norm for social housing (38.000 for all households) depend on the composition of a household. This way, people who together earn more than the norm still get the chance to live in social housing. According to minister Kajsa Ollongren this is to create more attention for the middle segment in renting.
In these plans, one person households are reduced in their chance to receive social housing. According to the Woonbond and Corporation Aedes this is a worrysome development. It is exactly this group that finds theirselve in trouble with finding a house. The parliament wants that not more Dutch citizens apply for social housing, but less. The policy should be based on actual succes rates. Besides this, the parliament organises a so called 'Emergency button' for the middle rent sector in all communities with high increases in price in the free sector. This way the parliament can determine a maximum price for a house. This rule only applies for houses that are new to rent.
You can find our offices all throughout the Netherlands!
From 28 offices we arbitrate between renting and renting out houses. You can find us all over the Netherlands!


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"For me, it has made me realise that I'm no longer waiting for any guidance or leadership from our government. That's empowering"
Tree Conference founder and Tree Sister Suzi Martineau talks to Campfire Firestarter @Pete Lawrence about the death of opposition party politics and need to heal our culture, starting with our relation to the land.
"We need a little less focus on Brexit and a little bit more focus on what it is this landscape needs to do to bring back balance and heal what it is that's going in other countries and our absolute complicity in what's going on in those countries and our responsibility and the joy and the education that can come from it and I feel that if we get that clear, it's a little bit more helpful on why we choose particular trade deals and helping us to make better decisions about the kind of ethics behind our business structure and behind international policy."
"Our leaders are in a difficult position and they're acting out a crazy scenario. I can't imagine that you'd be in a position of leadership without working out what we need to do to heal out cultural dynamic."
"Citizen-led work is the answer...In terms of Citizens Assemblies I wish it could 'council of all beings' that is not too city-based, not too intellectually based but I want to ensure a space for the consciousness of animals, and insects and microbes and the waters, the land, the mountains and clouds at the table."


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Have that post-Super Bowl, pre-March Madness empty feeling? At least for this year, it’s the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, to the rescue! What’s great about them is that many events look like they were created by someone who said “hold my drink and watch this!” Let’s look at a few events that enjoy their close ups once every four years.
The luge dates back to the 16th century in Switzerland as a method of transportation. It wasn’t until 300 years later that the first luge tracks were built by Swiss hotel owners to cater for thrill-seeking tourists. An Olympic event since 1964, luge riders hurtle down a slippery ice track at great speed, relying on reflexes for steering, so they have no protection should they make an error.
If flying down a track on your back feet first isn’t exciting enough for you, skeleton sled racing provides added thrills because you go down the track head first. Skeleton sled racing owes it entire early history to St Moritz, Switzerland, and the famed Cresta Run, a natural ice skeleton racing toboggan track and home to the St. Moritz Tobogganing Club (men only, please). With a couple of appearances in 1928 and 1948, skeleton has been a part of the Olympics since 2002.
Adding firearms to cross-country skiing might seem dangerous, but the roots of the biathlon are rooted in survival skills practised in the snow-covered forests of Scandinavia, where people hunted on skis with rifles slung over their shoulders. Combining the power and aggression of cross-country skiing and the precision and calm of marksmanship, the biathlon has been a part the Olympics since 1960.
Snowboard events are the newest to the Winter Olympics (1998), and while it’s not a regulation for participants to say “dude” and “bruh”, the skill set needed to perform death-defying tricks cannot be understated. Ski jumping is very straightforward – ski down a hill, jump off the edge, and the person who goes the farthest wins. It’s a sport that’s been around for over two hundred years, traced to Norwegian citizen Ole Rye, who jumped 9.5m in 1808. A part of the Olympics since the first winter games in 1924, ski jumping was famously highlighted in the Wide World of Sports program intro as an example of “the agony of defeat”.
Which Winter Olympic event do you think is the most dangerous? Which one would you like to try? Be sure to share on our Facebook page.

industry_corpus2: Sports


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A few weeks back we visited The Biltmore. Now, there’s a little backstory that needs to be talked about. Well, it doesn’t really, but I am going to anyway. About a year ago I won two tickets. We were excited because we hadn’t been and we wanted to check it out. Life happened and we hadn’t been able to use them for months and months. We actually ended up in Asheville in November and forgot our tickets at home. Smart, right?
It was towards the end of the Fashionable Romance display and the beginning of Biltmore Blooms. It was a great time to come! Although, I still would love to see it decorated for Christmas!
Some of the views were amazing and just couldn’t get a good picture like I wanted. But I did like some of the things around the house. I only had an 85mm lens though so that made things difficult..
Just some random little things that I saw..
The wonderful library!! Love that staircase!
It was just the very beginning of Biltmore Blooms, but it was quite pretty still. I know now that it is fully blooming there it is amazing!!
Funny little thing.. You can kind of make out some horses on the trail in this next pic. Jeffy thought for the longest time that they were statues. The rest of us had seen them move, but Jeffy has always had the best eyesight so then we were all doubting ourselves. Why would they have statues right there though? And sure enough, after a long while they left…lol.
We picked a great place to stay.. We stayed at The Residences at Biltmore. It had six beds which is amazing for our family of five, lol. It was a three bedroom full on condo type thing..full kitchen, two full bathrooms, fireplace, a couple patios. It was wonderful. We need to stay in this type of place from now on.
It was a quick trip but we all enjoyed ourselves. We would have loved to stay longer than just overnight, but the critters at home were calling us, lol.
This entry was posted in Around NC, Family. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
I had an idea this morning which is about "exposure offset correction".
For my taste the Canon 6D which I own often produces slightly underexposed images. So I often adjust my exposure to +1/3EV by standard. As I do so nearly every time, I am not using my light meter in the viewfinder like intended. Instead of setting it to "zero" to get the right exposure I need to set it to +1/3 EV every time. This is not the worst thing ever, but it feels slightly irritating doing so. Therefore the best thing which I could think of is to be able to offset adjust the exposure measurement to my taste.
Now, since some weeks I have bought a third party focusing screen and noticed that the pictures are looking even darker with the new focusing screen. In the Canon menu I can adjust my cameras exposure perception by the customer function C.Fn III where I can choose between three presets for the following Canon focusing screens: Eg-AII, Eg-D, Eg-S. But none of those three presets seem to really fit to my third party focusing screen. So again, the best thing which I could think of is to be able to offset adjust the exposure measurement to my taste.
Can't we use the same way as the customer function for focusing screen selection uses to set exposure offset corrections to set our own "exposure offset"?
So, is it possible to identify which registers are modified by the customer function for focusing screen selection and then write down our own values in there?
This way we might be able to tune our cameras to an exposure perception which also fits our own, very individual taste.
And if yes, who is willing to help developing such a functionality?
In other words, the main CPU is forwarding this option to the MPU (which handles metering in photo mode, among others). What exactly the MPU does with this preset, I'm afraid I'm unable to tell, since I'm not familiar with its CPU architecture.
Hmm, that's really too bad.
But hey, thanks a lot for looking into it. Thought we might have a chance - but I didn't know that the MPU will disrupt my plan.


text:
At Food Fight, we consider ourselves part of the neighborhood. As such, we feel that is not just our duty, but also our privilege to be a productive member in the communities that our restaurants call home. For us, service goes beyond a meal that is served with pride, it includes a chance to serve those who need a helping hand.
The easiest fundraising you’ve ever done.
We believe that food brings people together. Now with our Cards for a Cause fundraising program, food can also be an easy way for people to give back to organizations in the community that are part of their lives.
Inspire your students with Feed the Read, a reading rewards program designed with you and your students in mind. It’s easy to participate.


text: Join other homeschoolers for an informal drop-in gathering around the exciting strategic game of chess. Polish your skills and make new friends. Several boards are available, but you are welcome to bring your own supplies. Players are expected to know the rules and how to play. Culminating challenge events will be held on Friday, November 30th and December 7th.


text:
"We've been together from the beginning, through all the new tricks, hard workouts, crashes, injuries and victories," Caldwell said. "It's an honor to be competing alongside my teammates knowing that they are my friends and that we all are genuinely cheering each other on."
Among five freestyle skiing events in the Winter Olympics – moguls, aerials, ski halfpipe, ski cross, and ski slopestyle – Caldwell competes in ladies' aerials, in which she skis off a 2- to 4-meter jump and attempts tricks such as flips and twists.
"I've said over the years that when I started this sport, I always wanted to 'jump like the boys,' but I don't believe that anymore," Caldwell said. "I don't like qualifying my goals with a gender expectation. I want to jump my best, regardless of gender. I want to be treated like Ashley. I'm proud of being a female, but I don't want to let that define my expectations as an athlete."
Caldwell's career stalled in December 2011 when she tore the ACL in her right knee and a year later when she tore her ACL in her left knee. Those injuries didn't stop her from skiing, though: In 2014, she competed in the Sochi Games.
"One of my biggest struggles in preparing for this Olympics has been injury and doubt," Caldwell told Capital News Service. "I push myself very hard, and that motivation has led to several heartbreaking injuries over the years, but also mild injuries that can make it so much harder to compete your best."
Caldwell's most recent triumph was at the 2017 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Spain, where she took first place.
Caldwell's first appearance in Pyeongchang will be Thursday in the ladies' aerials qualification. She is looking forward to the event.
"I'm prepared to be unprepared. I'm ready for anything that comes at me during this Games," Caldwell said.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University's Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.


text:
It is in part because of weak laws and enforcement that transnational organized environmental crime is both highly prolfiic and highly profitable.
One important way we can combat this criminal enterprise effectively is through stronger laws and effective enforcement. Simultaneously, we also don’t have to wait for stronger laws to act. We can find and use already existing laws and provisions to prosecute environmental crimes. We must have a greater practical understanding on the laws to improve, enforce, and implement under-utilized legislation to combat organised environmental crime – this tool answers those needs.
The TOCLaw tool deconstructs law into data, setting the foundation for an unprecedented ability to conduct smart searches within the laws, compare key legal concepts among jurisdictions and assess the quality of legal systems to effectively manage societal challenges. All frameworks are embedded within data visualizations and GIS tools that allow the user to ‘see’ the law, escalating to another level of legal understanding.
TOCLaw is a partnership between the Global Initiative and Legal Atlas, an award-winning legal intelligence online platform aimed at revolutionizing the way law is understood and used around the globe.

industry_corpus2: Law & Justice


text:
Welcome to the Forth and Ten Podcast Patreon Page!
Do you know people that only have one skill?
How would you defeat a wolf?
Would you drink your lover's bath water? Are you a fan of shooting your shot?
Then, Forth and Ten is the podcast for you. 3 comedians, ten topics, making fun of the biggest sports stories that'll make your life better.
We started the podcast back in 2015, with a little aim of where we were really going. After analyzing sporting events, giving hilarious commentary on absurb sports news and entertaining guests from all over the sports world, we are finally coming into our own. And it's thanks to our listeners. To everyone who has been with us from the beginning, to those who were forced to listen with a friend on a commute to work, or even if you stumbled upon on podcast and laughed a little, THANK YOU.
This page is all about helping us bring more joy, laughter and entertainment to people's lives every week.
With the money from you, we can continue to upgrade our equipment and create more content video, provide more BONUS features, be able to travel and put on more shows outside of Atlanta, and SO MUCH MORE.
Whether it is $1 or more, we sincerely appreciate the support and aim to maximize our efforts to continue to bring you all excellence.
So, jump on the bandwagon if you are new to this podcast. Otherwise, continue to enjoy the show!
OH! Be sure to check out our podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud and forthdistrict.com. Plus, follow us on IG @forth_and_ten for hilarious bonus footage of your new, favorite podcast!
-A Live Forth and Ten show at your HOUSE!
When we reach 500 Patrons, we will make our podcast fully VIDEO! Giving everyone full-access to see what really goes on inside the recording room, when it's showtime! You'll be able to witness all of the unspoken exchanges, secret inside jokes and so much more, each week we record!


text:
If you are a non-profit, community, voluntary or statutory group then you can access our transport by taking out annual membership with us. Please complete the Membership Form and return to us at the address below.
There is an annual Membership Fee of £12.00 which is renewal in January each year.
If you need a written quote for funding bids then just contact the office and this can be arranged. We charge for the hire period and mileage but if you need a fixed cost then just let us know.
Invoices are issued at the end of each month unless you require it earlier.
Please read our Hire Agreement prior to taking out membership where you can find full details of the terms and conditions and costs.


text:
We are an official test centre for Chinese language qualifications issued by Hanban (the Office of Chinese Language Council International; also the Confucius Institute Headquarters). These Chinese proficiency exams are international standardised tests recognised by universities and employers around the world.
Don’t forget that you can visit our resource library to browse exam preparation books, which are also available for students and registered exam candidates to borrow.
The Chairman’s Bao is an online news-based graded reader for students of Chinese. The lessons are written by native Chinese speakers in accordance with the latest HSK word listings – making this the perfect resource for exam preparation, including deciding which level to take.
Below you can view the text from a selection of their sample lessons. To access full site features such as audio, keywords, and grammatical explanations, go to The Chairman’s Bao homepage. There you will be able to view the latest sample lessons and try out the site for yourself.
Click to download a discount code for 35% off a subscription to The Chairman’s Bao.
Visit The Chairman’s Bao website to see the latest sample lessons and explore all lesson features; including audio recordings, keywords, and grammar notes.
Chinese Proficiency Exams are issue by Hanban through Chinese Testing International. Download sample HSK exam papers for each level below. These are taken from the Chinese Testing International website, where you can find detailed information about the different exams, including the audio files for these papers.


text:
Nguiu Garage, Petrol Stations & Garages, listed under "Petrol Stations & Garages" category, is located at Kerininauia Hwy Bathurst Island NT, 0822, Australia and can be reached by 0889783963 phone number. Nguiu Garage has currently 0 reviews.
Browse all Petrol Stations & Garages in Bathurst Island NT.

industry_corpus2: Petrochemicals


text:
Four Boeing employees will be honored for their pursuit of excellence at the 2004 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Conference Feb. 19-21 in Baltimore, Md. These awards recognize the achievements of some of the country's most successful black engineers, scientists and technology leaders.
The employees -- Dr. Henry Grooms, Dr. Joseph C. Mills, Michael A. Avery and Michael J. Emanuel -- will be presented awards in three separate categories during the 18th BEYA conference, one of the nation's premier technology events. All are employees of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Their work in structural, nuclear, avionics and simulation engineering is helping to revolutionize space exploration and advance U.S. defense systems.
"The Black Engineer of the Year awards are synonymous with quality, commitment and integrity," said Joan Berry-Robinson, Boeing deputy vice president of Technical Relations. "Our Boeing winners are being recognized for their work in pushing the boundaries of technology frontiers. They help drive the innovation and agility of our multidimensional, global workforce."
The Boeing Company is one of 130 companies, government agencies, colleges and universities that support the event. Grooms, Mills, Avery and Emanuel join 16 Boeing employees nationwide who have been honored in previous years at the BEYA conference.
The Boeing honorees are based in Huntington Beach and Pasadena, Calif., St. Louis, and Philadelphia respectively.
Dr. Henry Grooms, senior manager of Strength, Structural Analysis and Design for the Engineering organization at Boeing's operations in Huntington Beach, Calif. Grooms is being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished work in structural engineering on the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. The Lifetime Achievement award recognizes people whose accomplishments demonstrate positive results for minorities in technology fields. A 35-year employee, Dr. Grooms leads a team of more than 80 people who perform technical, structural and stress analysis of such space systems programs as the Delta launch vehicle, the X-37 Reusable Space Plane and the Space Shuttle.
Dr. Joseph C. Mills, vice president for Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) in Pasadena, will receive the only Pioneer Award being awarded this year. He is being recognized for his work on the International Space Station. The Pioneer Award is given to individuals who have made professional gains in fields that may have been previously not occupied by African Americans. Mills, who has a doctorate in nuclear engineering from University of California-Los Angeles, spent many years in the nuclear industry and most recently served as vice president and program manager on the space station, overseeing the station's solar power requirements. Today, Dr. Mills is leading the Boeing effort, under a NASA contract, to explore technology options for building the nation's first nuclear fission reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft. In 2002, Aviation Week magazine awarded Dr. Mills a Laureate of the Year for Space.
Michael Avery, a senior engineer at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Philadelphia, and Mike Emanuel, an embedded software engineer in St. Louis, are two of 10 recipients of the Modern Technology Leader award. This award recognizes up-and-coming black women and men who are helping to shape the future of engineering, science and technology.
Avery, who has been with Boeing since 1984, is a team leader for the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter program. He helps manage a team of six suppliers that develop, produce and integrate flight-worthy equipment and components that provide advanced reconnaissance capabilities for the Comanche. As a senior engineer with a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering technology, Avery has held engineering positions of increasing responsibility on several Boeing aircraft and aerospace programs, including the CH-47 Chinook, the Boeing 360, the V-22 Osprey helicopter programs and the International Space Station.
Emanuel develops flight simulation tests for equipment and systems destined for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. A self-described "sci-fi kid," this St. Louis native loves the victory of the chase and credits his quest for knowledge as the driving factor in his career. A graduate of the University of Missouri at Rolla, Emanuel holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. He currently leads an engineering team that is developing a manned flight hardware simulator for the Super Hornet. This simulator will serve as an avionics test bed for all future upgrades to the F/A-18E/F.

industry_corpus2: Aerospace


text: A method for calculating the globally optimal learning rate in on-line gradient-descent training of multilayer neural networks is presented. The method is based on a variational approach which maximizes the decrease in generalization error over a given time frame. We demonstrate the method by computing optimal learning rates in typical learning scenarios. The method can also be employed when different learning rates are allowed for different parameter vectors as well as to determine the relevance of related training algorithms based on modifications to the basic gradient descent rule.

industry_corpus2: Artificial Intelligence


text:
There are currently no venues with scheduled Hothouse Flowers events. Please bookmark this page and check back again.
If you have seen Hothouse Flowers, why not submit your image.


text:
I had the pleasure of meeting with Ann Alsaffar, president of the Canadian Family Practice Nurses Association (CFPNA), a speciality nursing group that’s grown from 17 nurses in Ottawa to over 600 nurses from across Canada in just 10 years.
Why such big growth? Ann explained that nurses joined her association because it does what all good associations do: help nurses connect with a community that shares a passion for a particular area of nursing. Associations help nurses expand their knowledge and skills, share best practices and remain current, connected and relevant.
But how does someone start and maintain a group? Ann spoke about the personal commitment and persistent passion that’s necessary to start a group and keep it moving and growing. It requires many volunteer hours, usually working in a small executive group through e-mail and phone with little or no budget, to plan meetings, push agendas, and build up the association. Ann said to boost CFPNA’s membership, they found pockets of nurses in different parts of the country in family practice who were working on common issues and brought them together. The membership push continues today, as Ann and others still encourage nurses to join and stakeholders to get involved.
Ann compared the concept of joining a specialty group to buying an exercise bicycle. If you buy the bike and never use it, it won’t be of any benefit. So when you join your specialty group, maximize your benefit by being fully engaged, attending meetings and joining subcommittees, because the impact will be immediate and so very worthwhile.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


text:
The child of John Davis and Mary Miller, Mabel Davis, the fourth cousin twice-removed on the mother's side of Nigel Horne, was born in Clay, Indiana, USA on 30 May 19061 and was married twice, to Charles Dean (on 10 Feb 1920 in Vigo, Indiana, USA) and James Bennington (on 26 Sep 1980 in Jasonville, Greene, Indiana). She had 3 children, all with Charles Dean: Melvin Charles, Leslie and Wesley.
During her life, she was living in Lewis, Indiana on 1 Apr 19302 and in Coalmont, Howesville, Indiana on 1 Apr 19403.
She died on 1 Jun 1997 in Terre Haute, Indiana1 and is buried in Howesville, Indiana.


text:
Escape of the Gingerbread Man!
I took Ms. Champ's camera, and am going to get people to take some photos of my adventures. I'm sneaking into Ms. Champ's lunch bag to ride home with her. She didn't even notice! Here we go! I can't wait for some fun! I'll post some photos of my adventures as soon as I can. I'm going to sneak around wherever Ms. Champ goes. Don't tell her I'm on the loose! I promise I'll come back to school, but I need a vacation!
Welcome back Mustangs!!! I am super excited for a new year of fun in Kindergarten at Eanes! ...but I have to admit, I am going to miss some things about summer vacation!
I'm going to miss this face while I'm at school!
I'll also miss reading books and blogs with this guy.
I'll miss hearing Pablo Honey sing and watching him play in the mornings when it gets light outside!
I'll miss day trips to go swimming in the beautiful natural swimming holes around the Austin area.
I'll also really miss sleeping in, and afternoon naps!
What will you miss most about summer vacation?!


text: Its status as the largest science center in the Western hemisphere is impressive. But when you consider that the structure housing 35,000 artifacts is itself an actual architectural relic from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, you’ve got serious wow factor. Exhibitions range from cool (a five-story Omnimax theater ) to interesting (America’s only complete German U Boat).


text:
Mavoko Court has directed a case where a businessman is facing Sh900 million fraud charges to start in two weeks.
Megvel Cartons Limited director Prasul Jayantil Shah is facing three fraud-related charges on a 22-acre dispute in Mlolongo.
Shah was arrested two weeks ago and faced counts of forcible detainer, forgery and conspiracy to defraud.
The land, according to the charge sheet, belongs to Diesel Care limited and without colour of right, Shah held in possession the said plot in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.
The particulars of the charge are in the first count, Shah is accused that on diverse dates between December 23, 2009, and January 10 at Mlolongo in Athi River, he was found in possession of land measuring 9.186 hectares (about 22.8 acres).
He is also accused of forging two grant documents purporting to be genuine and valid signed by the commissioner of lands Sammy Mwaita.
Mavoko Senior Resident Magistrate Elvis Michieka ordered that the hearing of the case begins on April 29.
Shah was arrested on April 1 and arraigned before Michieka on the same day. He denied all the charges and was released on a Sh200,000 cash bail.
Yesterday, the trader appeared before Michieka for mention of the case when the magistrate set April 29 as the hearing date.
Machakos Environment and Land High Court Judge Oscar Angote had last year on January 29, ruled that the land belonged to Diesel Care limited while declaring the title held by Shah as null.
The judge further issued a permanent injunction restraining the Megvel Cartons Limited from remaining upon, selling, allocating, or interfering with the quiet and peaceful possession or ownership of the parcel.
The dispute dates back to July 11, 2011, when Diesel Care sued Shah seeking a permanent injunction to restrain him from entering or remaining on the land, and damages for trespass.
Through their lawyer, they argued that the land was allotted to a couple who in September 1999, subsequently sold and transferred it to them in 2001 for a consideration of Sh6 million.
Shah filed a defence and counterclaim contending that the registration was fraudulent, as the property was surrendered to the government to change its purposes from agricultural to industrial use.
Megvel applied before the trial court for a stay of execution of the decree pending filing, hearing and determination of the intended appeal.
Last year on March 9, the company filed an application, seeking to maintain their ownership pending the appeal they had submitted on the ruling.
The judge decided that the diesel company had proved, on a balance of probabilities, the validity of their title while the applicant had failed to establish. .
An appeal court granted Shah stay orders pending the determination of their appeal.


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