text:
Are you using any streaming services? I saw a post about an Amazon service.
I am just at the start of this battle. We received a message two nights ago that not only were we already over our 1 TB limit...we were over it by 280 gbs...on the 6th day of the month. Starting doing some research and realized that this was the 3rd time we have been over since August. We were over 2 TB in August...then it fell to 280 gbs in September. We were at 1.6 TB in October and now the 1.28 TB in just 6 days. The problem with this is that in May, June and July, when my son was home from college...spending almost every day streaming and online gaming, we were never over 800 gbs. (500 in May, 650 in June and 800 in July). The amount of data we use has plummetted since my son returned to college in August...but yet this is when the data has started to skyrocket. There is clearly a problem.
My daughter and I do stream and I play some Call of Duty on the weekends...however, when you consider my daughter is hardly ever home and I might stream for an hour a day, the math isn't adding up. By Xfinity's own numbers, 1 TB of date is 600-700 hours of HD video or 12,000 hours of online gaming. There are 720 hours in a 30 day month. This means to go just barely over 1 TB you would need to have a device streaming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 30 days.
We just switched over to the xFi Modem around the first of November. I would think this was the issue had the massive overages not shown up in August and October. My wife went to drop off our old modem and had one of the guy there pull up our account. He was shocked at the data usage he saw in just 7 days. He said to be at, now, over 1.3 TBs we would need to be running a large company out of house. He wanted us to run a spyware and malware check. We have Norton on our computer and it runs scans every day. However, I ran a full system scan along with Malwarebytes and one other one. None of the 3 found any issues. The guy said they would send someone out to help us start to investigate further if the scans didn't find anything. So, I guess this is the next step.
I paused all devices last night, including the PC and still found "very high" network usage during the overnight hours on the PC this morning when I checked this morning. All paused devices were still showing as paused.
I will update as we know more. Clearly from all the posts on this forum this isn't a just an isolated problem.
I think I have uncovered my problem. I don't know if it will help anyone, but its definitely a place to look.
So, I clicked on "View usage per app." Then you have to select usage from...and change to Ethernet. What I found was that my online backup, Backblaze, had used 3.1 TBs of this data. I'm a photographer with a massive amount of old client data (pictures and video) on three separate 2 TBs external hard drives. So, I actually have about 4.5 TBs of total information on those three drive and on my PC. However, I have had Backblaze now for more than 3 years. I would expect this amount of data use if I had just signed up and it was going through the inital backup. However, there is NO REASON for there to be that much data use from this during a time when I have probably added 100 GBs of data to my computer.
I have a ticket in with them (but I don't expect much remedy so I will probably be ending my relationship with them).
Before you freak out on your excess data, started by running a malware scan (as they suggested), but then look at your online storage, if you have one. None of the several Xfinity people we have spoken with on this issue even suggested this.
Yes, on-line backups have been identified in this thread multiple times as a source of this issue. As have on-line drives, bitTorrent, and oddball programs like a crypto wallet with a bug. The problem for support people is that the programs that you can install on a PC or other device that could do this are virtually unlimited. (For example, I had never heard of yours.) And I know from spending a little time doing support that the first thing 95% of users says is: "I didn't do ANYTHING!... I haven't installed ANYTHING!... I haven't changed ANYTHING!" So I think the support people just get used to suggesting a malware scan as it may catch something and doesn't imply that they think the user is lying.
In January, I went over the cap and research showed that Backblaze was the issue. If it happens again, I might try the ticket approach, but I suspect there may be no recourse; I either cancel Backblaze or I pay for the overage. I would be interested to hear from you about your ticket.
I am currently exchanging emails with the tech support at Backblaze. It is interesting that he hasn't once even implied this couldn't be a problem on their end. In fact, he has asked to see all the log files because he believes it will help him narrow down where the problem exists. It is interesting that in trying to zip up all the log files to send to him, I discovered that one of the folders was 2.6 gbs large...and one of the files in there was 2.1 gbs large. I had a message on my computer yesterday that stated I had not backed my drives since 10-19-18 (even though my account overview on Backblaze showed that 4 of my 5 drives had backed up the previous day and the 5th had backed up 2 days ago. This massive file was created on 10-20-18. Can't be a coincidence.
I'll update you with what I learn.
I called 888-565-4329 ... was on hold 20 minutes and they hung up without picking up. Tried again...was on hold 45 minutes and gave up.
Comcast is reporting between 2x and 4x more traffic than my gateway is reporting. Ive stopped all "internet apps" from the set top box, so something is amiss.
Thank you for reaching out here on the forums, I'd be happy to clarify any questions you have regarding the 1TB Data Usage Plan. This link outlines how we charge for data overages when you're in an area with the 1TB Data Usage Plan. To take a look at the bill together, please send me a PM with your first and last name.
Well, Backblaze has admitted that my problem is "large scale corruption in the infrastructural files Backblaze uses to manages your backup. This is the cause of the file request as the software is attempting to correct these errors by checking each file individually against those already backed up." However, the moron tech support dude then goes on to say that this is "probably" a result of my RAM being corrupted which is, in return, corrupting their programs files. He wants me to uninstall Backblaze and do a fresh backup. LOL! In addition to su.cking up 3 TBs of data in the past 30 days, he wants me to do another 3 TBs to fixe the problem! Ummm.....**** no! Such a typical response from a big company like Backblaze to a problem. I'm not surprised...I didn't expect any other result. The problem with this is that my system is running great, I have none of the systoms of bad RAM, all my fairly RAM-intensive programs that I use like Photoshop and After Effects are running great, I have no issues doing any of the online gaming I do...AND the Memory Diagnostic Tool test failed to find any errors.
So, I'm done with Backblaze.
The morale to my story is that if you are getting huge data overages that you know aren't a result of massive downloading, I wouldn't start be instantly blaming Xfinity. I would start by checking your system to find out where the data is going (see my first post above), run a few malware scans and then check your online storage if you have one.
I would also like to suggest that people who are trying to help people get to the bottom of this stop brining up the streaming issue. Its an issue, sure, but I would venture a guess that it is almost NEVER the result of a massive data overage. You would need to have 4 people streaming 5 hours a day, every single day of the month, just to hit the 1 TB limit. There might be a family out there doing that...but I would guess they are the VAST exception.
I personally have brought up the issue of online backup services several times on this thread.
1. Torrenting or other heavy file downloading/uploading activity.
4. Video viewing and uploading services like YouTube, Twitch, or XBox Live.
6. Failure to account for internet use on other platforms such as Xfinity Stream or X1.
I would love to know the bandwidth statistics of each activity so we can make a Knowledge Base Article about it, but most people just post here to complain yet rarely if ever follow up on what exactly they've done to solve their issues (if they actually have).
In contrast, Comcast says I have used 447GB, between 2x and 3x what my router records.
Actions Im taking - Ive throttled Backblaze way back and stopped "streaming" Netflix to my set top box.
Thanks to everyone in the forum for their constructive suggestions.
I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what the heck I am doing differently. I have been with xfinity for over 3 years and never received a message about going over my data plan. I didn’t even know I had one. Now I am either going over or close to it every month. I am furious!!! I can’t wait for my town to get the fiber optics in place. Right now we are stuck with only xfinity as an option.
do you use Backblaze or other off-site backup services?
For the second month in a row I have received a high data usage notice. After checking my devices separately for data usage, it appears my Mac Air is using high amounts of data even though it is in sleep mode. Why would this be happening?
it is now the twentieth of the month and comcast reeports ive used 636 GB and my router reports only 198 GB - 3x difference.
I tried calling the comcast service desk and they refuse to even acknowledge that there is a problem because I have my own (xfinity-approved) modem and not a comcast owned modem.
your modem does not 'see' (and can't tally) data used by the X1 set top box apps.
Right - and as I said in my earlier post, I have stopped using the set top box apps. From what I have read, On Demand access to TV shows does not count as data usage, but I suppose that would be the next thing to cut out.
Hi. Since 11 Nov data usage has skyrocketed from under 30gb per day to over 300gb daily. Nothing has changed with connected devices or usage. Calls to support have not been useful other than confirming the date when usage increased and suggesting resetting both WiFi and xfinity account passwords - which has not helped. XFi app doesn’t help either as connected devices are not showing any change in usage.
Coerced into to upgrading to unlimited plan for another $50 a month to stop internet speeds from being throttled.
Any my idea how to get to bottom of what is going on?
Funny. I could have written that. Same month, same answers from support, etc. This started when I cancelled cable TV. Now I get an email last night that I am above to go over this month. Only change is that hubby has been working out of town so one less person in the house. I truly think this is an issue for an attorney as they are scamming their customers.
The fact your husband is out of town means he is likely using the Internet more, not less. Also; if you dropped cable-tv are you watching tv only over the air with an antenna?
If you have been watching television on some device over the Internet then your usage would go up dramatically.
He is working and using his phone; not our home wifi. We have been using Netflix for years so all your replies make no sense.
I don’t stream anything. I’m barely home. I check social media on my phone and laptop.
I’ve been away from home for three days for Thanksgiving and in that time my usage went from 202GB to 223GB. I’m not home. It’s makes no sense that my usage would increase when I’m 600 miles away from home and there are no devices at my house currently connected to my network.
Something big changed in September - is that what others are seeing?
Our September and October data is twice our May, June and July data. However, I assume this is just due to being indoors much more. Last year I remember December - Feb being 3 times the summer months.
I wish one Comcast employee would answer this, but it seems every time people bring up data usage Comcast support just disappears. I assume they know exactly what it is and just don’t want to say.
I spent 90 minutes on the phone with Comcast yesterday...everyone was very nice...but the only answer was to spend more money with Comcast - either buy unlimited data for an extra $50 or rent one of their XFi modems and let it prove my data numbers were different than theirs.
No one will escalate the issue. No one will look into the number of people who had a huge increase starting in September. No one wil even consider the data from my router's DPI.
Woke up this morning to an email about hitting some sort of made up cap you put on my package. House of 2, 2 rokus, 1 gaming pc. And i'm about to hit my cap through regular usage???
1TB is not enough for the modern gamer, just one game can be 100GB or more. It's ridiculous you even have a cap on digital data like there's a chance you'll run out or something stupid like that.
This cap needs raised right now before I cancel and go back to free internet. Do not ever in your life email me about a cap again, and if you ever try to charge me extra I swear I will cancel your service.
They'll charge you extra in a heartbeat. It's why the Data Cap is set so unrealistically low.
You get 2 'passes' if you go over, but on the third one, they'll charge you a fee unless you buy up into their Unlimited Data plan for an extra fee.
It's robbery. The whole system is set up for them to either A) Get fees or Get you to buy-up into the Unlimited Data.
Hi, not sure if your data usage has been solved however, I had the same issues as you. It actually is the new XFI box. It needs a refresh signal sent from the XFI support department. I recently spent 5 hours on the phone trouble shutting this same issue. This is something that they know about but yet it seems they will only address it on an individual basis. Hope this helps.
There's extensive discussion on the terabyte data cap and how to manage it in this thread.
Putting a limit on internet usage.
It's pretty conspicuous that all of the sudden I'm going over my data limit. Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that when I first got my internet 5 years ago there was no limit? How is it ok that I signed up with no limit and now you're allowed to put a limit on it with out asking me if I want to change my plan. Now of course there is an up charge for no limit. I realize most people wont notice as they probably do not use the 1T, but we do and have always for the past 5 years. Very disappoint in your company. Trying to milk every penny out of a once loyal customer.
I am investigating this issue as well.
We have Xfinity internet service and nothing else. No cable tv or dvr.
Yet we have exceeded or cap for the second time in three months, going up 40 to 60 gb a day.
I’ll be running a test when we go on vacation. I’m going to unplug the modem for 9 days a see how much data they think that I have used. And since I’ll be able to check while traveling I should at most see some usage as the report “catches up” to the point where the usage stops, but I have a feeling that it’s not going to stop.
When I’m done with this test I’ll post my results.
Forgot to mention that we don’t use YouTube or Netflix nor do we do any internet gaming so before anyone says to check those be aware we don’t even have them.
Wow, I did not realize that others are also concerned with this newly imposed “data plan” rip-off. I signed up for unlimited internet and out of the blue, Comcast comes up with this money making scheme. As one individual indicated, you would have to watch at least 20 hours of HD streaming a day to get close to using 1TB, which is nearly impossible. I plan to make an official complaint to the BBB. This will probably not help, but will make me feel better. If things do not change, I will be changing my internet service to another vendor.
That's insane! Did you ever find out what's going on?
The cap has got to go, this is unacceptable. You will pay for this.
How did they found out that XF1 box was problematic ?
1. The post says, "Enrollment and cancellation go into effect on the first day of the subsequent calendar month."
2. On http://dataplan.xfinity.com/unlimited/, it says, "Enrollment goes into effect immediately and applies to the calendar month in which you make the change."
Which policy is in effect today: 1 or 2?
How much data do i have to use?
Have you read the 1 Terabyte articles?
Highly recommend reading this article with Cisco's annual study backing the evidence.
Why should we pay an extra $50 for Unlimited Data on a landbased service? To recoup Comcast for all the 'TV Package' cord cutters.
I pay top dollar for Fiber in my home and I still only get 1TB. Do you know how easy it is to blow through 1TB when you're streaming 4K movies to multiple devices?
The amount of data I use isn't hurting anyone; because it's not a tangible thing. The line is there, I pay for the service and the fiber can more than easily enough handle what I'm putting through it. so now I'm getting punished for using technology that I've paid for.
Ugh. Someone get this information to John Oliver.
It's because of 4K Video Streaming.
A lot more channels and movies are releasing in 4K and eat up a TON more data.
I'm 100% Comcast saw this coming and is ready to bathe in all the extra fees and 'Unlmited Data' sign-ups that they unethically took away from us all. This was their long-game. It's so obvious and with the FCC in their pocket, and our Government, nothing will be able to stop them.
They work side-by-side with under Internet Providers as well, in the backrooms like AT&T.
How do you tell? If you're looking to switch providers and they have the EXACT same plans... that's collusion, not competition.


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The Irrfan Khan – Saba Qamar starrer Hindi Medium is still running in China! Directed by Saket Chaudhary the film which hit screens in China a little over two weeks ago has been doing stellar business at the China box office. After opening with a bang the film fast made it past the Rs. 100 cr mark and on its fifteenth day in the Chinese market, the business of the film managed to cross the Rs. 200 cr mark.
Now on Day 16 Hindi Medium has managed to draw in a further USD 0.39 million [Rs. 2.57 cr]. With this the total business of the film at the China box office now stands at a massive USD 31.07 million [Rs. 205.23 cr].
But if that wasn’t all considering the fact that Hindi Medium managed to rake in a little above Rs. 2 cr on its sixteenth day in the Chinese market, predictions state that the film will continue to do business well into the weekend. In fact, going by the current trends, Hindi Medium looks more than likely to close its third weekend business at the China box office with collections in excess of Rs. 210-215 cr.

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


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industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


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Canada’s Anaconda Mining (TSE:ANX) got this week what it had been wishing for months — the green light to use its closing Pine Cove pit in Newfoundland to store tailings from its Guysborough County’s Goldboro gold property, about 185 km northeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
So when the 150-metres-deep, 350-metres-wide pit stops producing in about eight months, Anaconda will begin work to turn the massive area into a tailings storage facility with capacity of up to 7 million tonnes.
“The addition of the in-pit tailings facility strengthens our infrastructure at the Point Rousse project and fortifies our platform to support our growth initiatives in Atlantic Canada,” President and CEO Dustin Angelo said in a statement, adding the tailings pit is expected to have a life span of 15 years.
Anaconda believes that using the pit carries less technical and environmental risk than building a conventional tailings pond.
“A long life, in-pit tailings storage facility is the perfect complement to our 1,300-tonne-per-day mill and deep-water port,” he added.
Anaconda believes that using the pit carries less technical and environmental risk than building a conventional tailings pond. Furthermore, it estimates it can save between $35 million and $70 million by using the pit instead of building a new facility.
Over the next two years, the Pine Cove mill will treat ore from both its namesake pit and the Stog’er Tight gold deposit, under development 3.5 km away. There is also potential to outline a minable resource at the Argyle asset, about 4.5 km from the mill, and developing its Goldboro gold deposit in Nova Scotia’s Guysborough County.
Anaconda expects to complete a preliminary economic assessment study for Goldboro before the end of the year.
Initial findings suggest that property has ore that is almost four times as rich in gold as what is mined at the Pine Cove pit, said Robert Dufour, the company’s chief financial officer, in an interview with Cape Breton Post in late August.

industry_corpus2: Mining


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"Le Méridien Taipei" is an international hotel originally from Paris, France in 1972 and it spread to the world. It is a hotel that started with the concept of "another house for travelers", but it continues to grow all over the world. Le Méridien Taipei features contemporary art in the hotel, and a lot of art works enriching sensibility were exhibited. It takes only few minutes to Taiwan's landmark Taipei 101. It was also great that department stores and other kind of stores were around the hotel. I would like to introduce this hotel in the excellent location which is also close to MRT station.
Hotel building is relatively new, built in 2010.
The exterior is a building that fits the cityscape.
The entrance has covered. As soon as I got out of the taxi, doorman welcomed me.
When entering, it was a place with a feeling of openness blowing through to the second floor part in the lobby area wider than expected.
From the high ceiling, a design-like pink gentle lighting is lit.
At the front of the entrance, there is a large giraffe art work made of stainless steel ("Be My Guest") The giraffe lowered his head and welcomes guests.
There is a front desk on the right side.
Art work is displayed on the second floor which blew through from the lobby.
I feel like walking through the museum.
I finished the check-in and took the elevator and headed for the room. The corridor of the guest room is extending in a straight line, so you might feel it a bit far if your room is on the end.
The deluxe room is 38 m² in size. The ceiling is high and it didn’t make me feel claustrophobic.
There are a sofa for one person and a coffee table by the king size bed.
The room key is a card with cute pattern.
The hardness of the bed is just right, so you can sleep very well.
A bottle of mineral water is placed on the side table.
The operation of the light, power, and curtain of the whole room can be done here.
There was also a power outlet in the drawer.
The TV which was stylishly hanged on the wall is cool. There is a desk you can use for working.
There was also a media hub, telephone, DVD player and so on.
Bathroom window is large, and from the bedroom you can see the whole bathroom.
The bathroom is very bright because sunlight comes from the bedroom through the window. Walls and floors are made of marble which is very elegant.
The shower room and bathtub are separated. A bathrobe was hanging next to the glass-enclosed shower room.
The inside of the shower room is well cleaned and beautiful. The water pressure of the shower is also strong enough.
Shampoo, conditioner, and body soap were put.
You can stretch your legs in the bathtub.
You can watch TV while relaxing in the hot water.
Remote controller, bath salt and scrub gel were placed.
The toilet is also new with a washlette function.
Toilet bowl drawer included toothbrush, shaving kit, cotton noodle set, mouthwash, body soap and body washing net. It was so nice of them that they had body washing net because most of the places don't have it.
If you close the blind the inside of the room becomes invisible.
This cupboard at the window has in-room coffee set.
Opening the door, there appeared Nespresso's coffee machine, an electric kettle, cups for coffee, tea bags, and so on. Ritzenhof's cups were also placed.
Wine, glasses and snacks are included in the drawer.
Paid drinks are included in the refrigerator.
There were chocolate and fruit as a part of the service on the coffee table by the window.
There was a closet near the entrance opposite the bathroom.
There were plenty of hangers and a bathrobe inside.
Iron, ironing board, shoe backs and brushes are also included.
Slippers, laundry bags and safety boxes are in the drawers on the next shelf.
It is a simple thing to enter and lock a 4 digit code which is enough large in size.
There are four restaurants in the hotel, but you can enjoy breakfast buffet at the buffet restaurant “Latest Recipe”.
At the counter in the center of the venue, there were chefs and they cooked for us upon order.
The object looks like wings was beautiful, reflecting the light and shining.
The seat was very spacious and there was a large table where even a big group can fit.
Fresh juice in the refrigerator is kept fresh. There are canned juice too.
Various fruits are also available.
You can make your own salad with a fresh salad bar as well.
You cut breads by yourself.
You pick ingredients you like and order how you want to cook it with eggs.
I picked many ingredients and made it omelet.
There is also a Chinese noodle buffet.
You can have honey from natural honey comb.
You can have delicious, high quality coffee from the machine.
You can have ice cream and sweets for dessert after the meal.
There were candies in the showcase like the candy store.
The hotel also has three other restaurants, bars and shops.
At "My Humble House", you can enjoy Cantonese cuisine by a chef from Hong Kong. The restaurant is designed Chinese traditional style with red carpet and it features with modern furniture. You can have elegant meals in the gorgeous designed seats.
At "Latitude 25" in the lobby lounge, you can drink Yrie's delicious coffee. In the evening it becomes a cocktail/wine bar. It feels very open and spacious by the glass window.
"ChocoArt" is a confectionary dealing with macaroons, biscuits and cakes. As each piece is small, you can eat many kinds of them at once.
At the same restaurant you have breakfast buffet, you can have lunch in buffet style with more dishes.
There were many kinds of kiln-baked pizza.
You can also eat steak!
People staying at Le Meridien Club rooms and suites can use "Le Meridien Club Lounge" on the 12th floor.
Soft drinks, tea, coffee, snacks, and so many other things are available free of charge all day. Private meeting rooms and business tools can also be used.
At the fitness center you can workout anytime with the latest machine.
The indoor pool on the 3rd floor is spacious and comfortable. There is a jet bathtub too and you can relax after underwater exercise.
Within a walking distance, there are Taipei 101, the Buddhist memorial center, large department stores, the World Trade Center, so it is a very convenient place for sightseeing. You can walk around without problem even at night with good security. No trouble finding restaurants and shopping spots.
Taipei 101 in the evening is beautiful with light up in daily colors.
It is in a convenient place to use any transportation. It is located 8 minutes on foot to the MRT municipal government station, about 40 minutes by car from Taoyuan International Airport and about 15 minutes from Taipei Songshan Airport. If you take a bus from Taoyuan International Airport, you take Line 1960 and get off the bus at City Hall Station. Limo service of the hotel is also available.
I think taking taxi is the most convenient for sightseeing, but as the station is nearby the hotel, either bus and MRT can work without problem. Parking lot at the hotel is free of charge.
Staff at the hotel was relatively young. They gave me information I needed kindly when asking questions, so I didn’t feel any inconvenience.
Most of the visitors of this hotel are Asian or perhaps there are many local Taiwanese. Not so many people from Western countries.
As the hotel is in a business district where worldwide companies’ headquarters gather, I would like to recommend this hotel for business purpose not just tourists.
People staying at Le Meridien Taipei can visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Mocha for free with a room card key.
Address: 103 Chang An West Road Datong District Taipei City 39 Date of opening: TUES – SUN 10: 00 – 18: 00 (Closed on Mondays) Related sites: UNLOCK ART If you have time please do visit.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


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industry_corpus2: Others


text:
So, Hurricane Irene has decided she doesn't want to go back to school! The first day of school in my county in Maryland will be cancelled due to the storm damage. I have never in my life heard of the first day of school being cancelled! I am so disappointed that I won't see the students tomorrow but I am glad to be able to finish some tasks before the first day.
I will, however, use Hurricane Irene as a teaching opportunity. Perhaps we will read about hurricanes this week and map each state that was affected by it. We can create an analogy about how the conditions need to be just right for a hurricane to occur and compare it to how success in the classroom depends on that same type of scenario. I hope this is all that Mother Nature has in store for this school year as I am sure she has a few snowstorms up her sleeve as well! Is anyone else off of school tomorrow due to Irene? Tell us about it by commenting below!
Sorry you are losing the first day. Here's to a great first Tuesday!

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


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This evening, my classmates from the summer Leadership in Health Disparities Program and I came together for one of our leadership discussions with Dr. Jane Binger and Mark Gutierrez. It was so wonderful to be with my teammates from this past summer; although I don’t get to see everyone as often now because of our schedules, I treasure our times together. LHDP was, and continues to be, an incredible blessing, and I am so thankful to all the wonderful people who have made this program possible: Mark, Dr. Fernando Mendoza, Dr. Ronald Garcia, and so many others!
We talked tonight about “modeling the way,” which is an important component of leadership as described by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge. Over the summer, we had read and talked our way through another book by Kouzes and Posner, The Truth about Leadership, and we’ve now continued to discuss practical aspects of leadership as medical students and future physician-leaders.
Part of leadership involves defining our values, which allows us to recognize what we share with those around us and empowers us to live authentic lives. As part of the preparation for our session, I wrote out a personal credo to outline some of my own personal beliefs and values. This isn’t something that I spent a long time writing and polishing; rather, it is a glimpse into what I value and who I hope to be. I haven’t arrived yet by any means, and I’m still learning how to live out some of these things, but I wanted to share them as a sketch of what I hold in my heart. It’s funny that they came out sounding a bit like an epitaph, but perhaps by looking back from the future, I can live my life moving forward.
She was not afraid to live her life out loud. She did not hide who she truly was, yet she still found common ground with all those around her and listened to their points of view, remembering that all humanity shares the joys and sorrows and struggles of life.
She valued people above things. She remembered to dance in the rain, to share her umbrella, and to run through puddles with children.
She knew her limits but did not fear them, and she always gave her work her best attempt. When she fell down, she never failed to get back up and try again.
She lived for more than just the praise of those around her, and in her own quiet way, she was courageous.
I want to live an authentic life. I think often about how I fit in…although as a general rule, I think a lot. This is a question I imagine a lot of us have, and being a medical student has a way of amplifying this. I feel that we don’t talk about it all that often, though. It makes sense; if someone is wondering how they fit in, they probably won’t mention it to everyone.
Well, if you’ve had that question, you’re not alone. I’ve wondered it too. Even something as wonderful as being a medical student at Stanford (and that’s saying a lot!) isn’t enough to dispel the uncertainties that seem inherent in my life as a med student. I’m learning that it’s okay to ask the question.
It was remarkably timely that during our session this evening, we talked about how fitting in is now what we’re not about any more. We can’t just define ourselves by our roles and degrees; we need to know what we truly believe and live it out. In order to effectively lead, we must live our lives as examples.
For me, some of the key points I took from this is that it is important to find my voice and recognize that I don’t have to change who I am just to be accepted. There is balance to this, of course, and it must be done with respect, but I cannot be an effective leader if I am always trying to reshape myself into what I think people want or expect. It’s okay to be unique. That’s the heart of diversity; we all bring something valuable to the table, even when we don’t see it at the moment.
Your life story is unique, and no matter what has happened in your journey, there is something you can take from it to inspire others. Your story doesn’t have to be like anyone else’s in order to be valid; I know that when applying to medical school (and even now, as a medical student), it is so easy to be continually comparing ourselves to others.
I’m reminded of what a UC Davis medical student told me when I was still a pre-med. His advice to me was this: Don’t lose what makes you special.
So I package these words up into a gift and pass them on to you. Don’t be afraid to sing with your face to the falling rain or to dance barefoot in the puddles, even when the world is wearing boots and bustling past with its eyes on the sidewalk.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


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The CCG commissions the RAD to provide interpreting for British and Irish Sign Languages, hands-on signing, note takers, deaf/blind manual, communication assistants, lip-speakers and speech-to-text reporters. The cost of this service should never be passed on to the user. More information on their website.
Provides instant help for deaf people communicating with medical staff. Online interpreting service is a live webcam link to qualified British Sign Language interpreters. The cost of this service should never be passed on to the patient.
Complete the RAD Interpreting Form and send by fax or email.
Patients can self-refer by online form.


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Retailers and publishers have fought hard to work their way up in the ranking of Google’s search results and refine the search features of their own Web sites to help users once they arrive. Now, Google is taking a greater role in helping users search within particular sites. And some of the same retailers and publishers are not happy about it.
The results of the search are almost all individual company pages. Google tops those results with a link to the home page of the Web site in question, adds another search box, and offers users the chance to let Google search for certain things within that site.
The problem, for some in the industry, is that when someone enters a term into that secondary search box, Google will display ads for competing sites, thereby profiting from ads it sells against the brand. The feature also keeps users searching on Google pages and not pages of the destination Web site.
Analysts generally praise the feature as helping users save steps, but for Web publishers and retailers, there are trade-offs. While the service could help increase traffic, some users could be siphoned away as Google uses the prominence of the brands to sell ads, typically to competing companies.
“Google is showing a level of aggressiveness with this that’s just not needed,” said Alan Rimm-Kaufman, a former executive with the electronics retailer Crutchfield who is now an Internet consultant. Google’s aggressiveness, Mr. Rimm-Kaufman said, ignores a user’s desire to reach a specific destination and it costs those Web sites visitors.
Take, for instance, a situation last week, when users of Google searched The Washington Post and were given a secondary search box. Those who typed “jobs” into that second box saw related results for The Post’s employment pages, but the results were bordered by ads for competing employment sites like CareerBuilder or Monster.com.
So even though users began the process by stating their intention to reach The Post, Google’s ads steered at least some of them to competitors. Similar situations arose when users relied on Google to search nytimes.com.
While executives of both The Times and Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive declined to comment, plenty of others assailed Google over what they saw as a heavy-handed approach.
Google said it had not received many complaints directly from companies, but some search-engine specialists were quick to pounce when the company announced its service. Ann Smarty, a search-engine marketing consultant who originated the SeoSmarty.com blog, speculated that the new feature “could mean bad news” for sites. Other search-marketing specialists echoed her sentiments, and brands began to follow.
“Eventually this could be a huge problem if Google starts throwing this out there to all brands,” said Pinny Gniwisch, vice president for marketing of Ice.com, an online jeweler. Mr. Gniwisch, who is also on the board of Shop.org, an online retail industry group, said Google’s new feature did not appear when users searched for Ice.com, but he said he would object if it did. “This is essentially giving the customer a way to leave a search for your site,” he said.
“But as consumers appreciate this more, there’ll be more and more outcry from companies.” Ms. Hoffman said. Consumers who see advertisements on Google when they search The Post’s or The Times’s content might view the ads as carrying the endorsement of those news publishers.
“Why would I advertise on those other sites when I could just advertise on Google and piggyback on the equity of the other brands?” Ms. Hoffman said.
Retailers, Mr. Rimm-Kaufman added, should be even more leery of this feature, and not because they will lose sales to competitors whose ads appear in Google’s refined search results. More sophisticated retail sites have search functions that take into account a customer’s past behavior to suggest certain items, as well as more accurate data on which items are in stock.
That is the route that Amazon has apparently chosen. The retailer declined to comment for this article, but last week Google’s search-within-search function did not appear when users entered “amazon.com” into the initial search box.
According to a Google spokeswoman, the company has honored such requests from “a couple” of unnamed businesses. These companies, however, may not be able to reverse their decisions.
She added that the feature was currently available for an undisclosed, but relatively small, number of sites, and appeared when Google detected a high probability that a user wanted more refined search results within a specific site. While Google has not received much negative feedback on the service, she said, the company could change it in the future.
Web publishers, Mr. Spanfeller said, might not like that Google is selling ads against their brands. Nor, he said, would they like having to buy ads on the new search service to help ensure that users who were headed to their sites through Google actually got there.
Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association, an industry trade group, said online executives were growing accustomed to the idea that users often did not find their company’s content through the site’s own search box or its front page. More often than not, she said, users would find links to specific articles or products on blogs, search engines or other sites, and navigate to that page.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


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5 Simple Tips to Save You Time and Money this Thanksgiving!
The holidays are in full swing and all of us are looking for ways to save a little money and keep from pulling our hair out from unwanted stress. I am excited to share a few of my favorite time and money saving tips to help you during this Thanksgiving holiday.
First and foremost, have a plan! If you are able, start planning your Thanksgiving meal at least a week (or more) before the holiday begins. Have a quick list of what items you would like to make, who will be making each recipe, and have a game plan for the busy day. There are lots of different components to planning a Thanksgiving meal, so think through the different aspects to the meal (and day) and put it on paper. Everything from decorations, shopping, food prep, cleaning can all be organized and put to a schedule to help the day go more smoothly.
Our free Thanksgiving Menu Sheet is a great way to stay organized. We upload this as a Google document so family members can all add to the document and decide what they would like to help with.
Want help with your menu plan as well? Deals to Meals is here to help simplify your life! On November 18th we will give all Deals to Meals members a detailed Menu Plan and Grocery List to help make your meal planning easy and fun! Members of Deals to Meals also have access to all of our tried and true recipes we know your family will love.
Once you have a plan, it’s time to start thinking about ways you can relieve stress the day of your party, by doing things ahead of time. Many Thanksgiving recipes can be made a week, or several days before, and frozen for later.
Here are some of my favorite recipes that work well with this method.
*Sweet Potato Casserole freezes beautifully and can be baked an hour before serving (thaw in the fridge the night before).
*Homemade Cranberry Sauce can also be made several days in advance and either frozen or kept in the fridge.
*Homemade Pie Crusts are another great recipe that can made, rolled out into pie shells, and frozen until ready to bake (or of course, you can use store bought if you wish).
*Mashed Potatoes can also be frozen ahead of time. Make them as usual, let them cool, and then freeze in a large tupperware or Ziploc bag. Before serving, thaw the potatoes in the fridge the night before. When you are ready to reheat the potatoes, place them in a crock pot to heat slowly. Add some more heavy whipping cream and butter to help soften the potatoes and whip them with an electric mixer once they are warmed through.
*Turkey: if you are using a turkey breast, you can crock pot the turkey, shred the breast meat and freeze until the day of the dinner. When ready to reheat the turkey, you can place into a crock pot and warm on low heat for 3-4 hours, or until ready to serve. Add some chicken broth to keep the turkey nice and moist before serving.
*Homemade rolls are so fun to make ahead and have in your freezer (I use this method all year–no more Rhodes in our freezer!) Make the dough recipe as normal, put the rolls on a greased cookie sheet and then wrap with saran wrap. Put the rolls in the freezer as soon as you have them rolled out (you don’t want them to begin to rise). The morning of Thanksgiving, pull the frozen rolls out of the freezer and place in a warm spot of your home. Let the rolls rise on the counter on a pan (about 2-3 hours) and when they have doubled in size, bake them as usual until they are golden brown. If you want to have these rolls on hand for other recipes, just put the frozen balls of dough into a Ziploc bag and keep in the freezer until ready to use. These work great for monkey bread, calzone dough, etc.
Another tip is to double your holiday recipes so you have plenty of leftovers you can enjoy the following week, or freeze the extras for later. For example, my family loves sweet potatoes all year but yams are rarely on sale besides in November. I always make 3-4 pans of the sweet potato casserole and then freeze several of them for later. Keep freezer tins/pans on hand to make freezing the recipes easier. We also love having cooked meat in our freezer for quick meals on busy nights. So, while I am cooking one turkey breast, I always throw in a second so I know I have lots of leftovers and turkey for another meal. You can do this same thing if you are cooking a ham, pork roast, beef roast, etc.
Being an informed shopper will save you BIG money this week. Most families will spend an average of $50-$100 on this one meal, so it’s important you know what you are buying and where to get the best deals. Some of the year’s BEST grocery deals are on this week. Nearly everything you need for your holiday meals will be on sale. Whether you are looking for turkey, canned pumpkin, frozen pies, stuffing mix, soda pop, potatoes, yams, etc., it is ALL on sale this week.
Deals to Meals will tell you where all of the best grocery deals are in your area. We compare all of the grocery store prices to Costco and Walmart and tell you when items go on sale for great deals (without having to use coupons). Just login to our website, click on the stores you want to shop at, and you’re set to save!
There are over 25 grocery items everyone should be stocking up on this week. If you miss the chance to stock up on these items, many of them won’t be go on sale again for another 365 days! That’s a long time to wait for a another sale–especially if it’s items your family uses on a regular basis. So, save yourself from having to buy these items at full price throughout the year and stock up this week!
I went shopping last week and spent $109 on many of the Thanksgiving deals I wanted to stock up on and saved $166! That’s nearly 60% off Walmart’s regular low prices. How cool is that? Tip: don’t just buy the items you need for the one holiday meal, stock up and buy several to put in your pantry or food storage for a later time. Check the list below to see which items you might want to stock up on.
Visit Deals to Meals for a detailed list of where all of these grocery items are on sale. Focusing each week on the gold starred items (meaning they are LESS than Walmart and Costco), will save you the most money (up to 70% off)!
*Use paper products instead of fine China. If you are less formal, this is an easy way to save you hours of doing dishes.
*Let people help you. Don’t try to put the entire meal together on your own.
*Keep your menu simple. Stick to only those recipes your family loves and cut out any extra recipes that don’t seem to be people’s favorites.
*Cook a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. Turkey breasts can be cooked in a crock pot and are much easier to carve and bake. Here’s our favorite turkey recipe.
*Remember the real meaning and purpose behind the holiday season. It’s not a time to be stressed and run around unable to enjoy the holiday. Keep your focus on family and relishing the moments we have together.
*Keep your meal plan simple, do a lot ahead of time, watch for the best deals, stock up when items are on sale, and you will be set for the greatest holiday season ever!
Here at Deals to Meals, and One Good Thing By Jillee, we wish you a most delightful (and delicious) Thanksgiving season.
FIVE Items you need in your food storage!


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View current CD rates available for Ally Bank's No Penalty CD's. With our two-year certificates of deposit, you can lock in a great rate now. Check out GoBankingRates and compare ally.
Investment Diamond Exchange is the global leader in diamond investing, providing investors with a liquid and price transparent market for GIA certified investment grade diamonds. IDX has the lowest polished diamond prices in the industry.


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Between the food, drinks and the game itself, the Super Bowl is always an exciting occasion, no matter what teams are playing. While most of America watched the Patriots and the Rams battle it out for the Lombardi Trophy Sunday night, a good amount spent the afternoon watching the Puppy Bowl and the Puppy Bowl Presents: the Dog Bowl, a cuter, more relaxed version of the main event.
Animal Planet first aired the Puppy Bowl in 2005 and the Dog Bowl in 2018. The premise itself is simple: a bunch of adoptable shelter puppies and dogs are put into a makeshift football field filled with several toys. The Puppy Bowl features Team Ruff competing against Team Tuff, while the Dog Bowl pits the Oldies against the Goldies. Points are earned when a toy crosses into the opposing end zone, and the team with the most points at the end wins. Even though it’s more about cuteness than competition, the Bowls draw a large audience and provide an entertaining, carefree way to kill time before the big game.
The Dog Bowl is especially important because it is one of the few events that brings awareness to the playful personalities of senior dogs. On television and in movies, senior dogs are often portrayed as the foil to energetic puppies. According to ASPCA numbers from 2015, senior dogs have a 25 percent adoption rate compared to the 60 percent adoption rate of puppies. Giving older dogs the platform to appeal to a wider audience is beneficial in changing the lethargic, dull stereotype that seems to accompany them.


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Ever since Google announced that they would be killing off Google Reader, a number of companies have been working on an alternative, one of those is Digg and they have now revealed more details about Digg Reader.
The Digg Reader will offer ways to sort and rank content, you will be able to sort content by popularity and more, the Sigg Reader will apparently be really clean and uncluttered and will offer speed and performance.
We are looking forward to see what the new Digg Reader is like, it certainly will have some competition as there are a number of other alternatives like Feedly and NewsBlur that are already great alternatives to the original Google Reader.


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Following a team of international scientists, this film exclusively documents an archeological sensation: the exploration of royal tombs beneath the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacán. Despite many decades of research, not much is known about the long-lost Teotihuacán society. But when archeologists enter the newly discovered burial chambers, they find the clues that may finally tell us who these mysterious people were.
The film incorrectly states the city of Tikal is in Mexico when it is in Guatemala. Secrets of the Dead strives to get the facts correct and we regret the error.
PRODUCED BY STORY HOUSE PRODUCTIONS INC. AND THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC FOR WNET IN ASSOCIATION WITH ZDF, ARTE AND ZDF ENTERPRISES GMBH.
© 2016 ZDF ENTERPRISES GMBH AND THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Teotihuacan: A mythical ghost town dating back 2,000 years.
Little is known about the people who built this ancient city in the heart of what is today modern Mexico.
In a hundred years of archaeological research in Teotihuacan, we still haven’t found a ruler’s grave.
Scientists trying to unlock the secrets of Teotihuacan have discovered a hidden tunnel leading right to the center of the city.
Who built this vast metropolis? And why did these powerful people seemingly vanish without a trace?
The answers lie deep underground.
Anything found beneath it must have been of upmost importance and sacredness.
A spectacular journey into a mysterious world built beneath the first Mega City in the Americas, where scientists will find answers that explain the origins of an entire civilization.
It was the biggest adventure of my life.
The Aztecs reign over Mesoamerica as the last great culture before the Spanish conquest.
As they venture south, a group of warriors makes a stunning discovery.
Giant pyramids, the remains of an enormous ancient city – completely abandoned – a ghost town.
The Aztecs are certain: Only the gods could have built this place. They call it "Teotihuacan," the City of the Gods.
Nearly 700 years later, the Aztecs' question remains unanswered: Who built this magnificent city?
One man believes he has found the answer: Mexican archaeologist Sergio Gomez Chavez.
I have been working for 34 years in Teotihuacan and am about to uncover the mystery of the City of the Gods.
The city is more than two thousand years old. The Pyramid of the Moon lies at the northern end of the main avenue, the Street of the Dead.
Towering nearby is the Pyramid of the Sun, the third-largest pyramid in the world. Their builders left no written records, only the ruins of their civilization.
It's easy to imagine that the Aztecs themselves believed that this city was created by the gods.
October 2003. Gomez was a junior archaeologist.
His job: mapping the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, the smallest of the three pyramids in Teotihuacan.
He was just walking toward the pyramid from his quarters to start the day’s work.
Dr. Sergio Gómez Chávez	It had rained a lot those days, it was a very cold October 1st. Suddenly some colleagues walked down here to tell me that the rain had carved a crack in front of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.
Gómez remembers how he hurried down to the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent.
After some digging, he discovers a shaft that looks like a bottomless well.
When I went down the tunnel I felt fear rise up in me. It was like losing control.
I still don’t understand how I found my courage to go down there, with only a rope tied to my waist and no clue of what was coming.
My heart was beating hard. I wanted to get out of there.
But then there was the tunnel. I could see on one side that there was an opening.
Every archaeologist dreams of a moment like this. Your work is driven by uncertain situations.
Gómez crawls into the crevice. He can barely see two feet ahead.
As I moved forward I touched the walls. They were very regular. And very quickly from the way they felt, I understood: these were not natural walls - they were constructed by human hands. They were part of an ancient structure.
In situ: We can’t go further.
and brings in a 3D laser scanner.
Hundreds of thousands of lasers bounce off the tunnel walls back to this device, creating a map of what's ahead.
The 3D image shows the tunnel continuing in a straight path, directly to the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent which stands at the very center of the city.
The pyramid represents the heart of Teotihuacan, its central landmark.
A tunnel leading directly underneath the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent must have some significance.
So I came to the conclusion that the tunnel had been sealed to bury something or someone at the end of it – directly under the pyramid. I thought it could be a ruler or a king.
David Carballo, professor of Archeology at Boston University, agrees with Gomez’s conclusion.
He has been working at Teotihuacan for 17 years, concentrating on the city's living quarters.
This is an example of an apartment compound. It’s where people would have lived. And it gives an idea of domestic architecture and residential space. Right here we are in the central courtyard, so rooms tend to be organized around the courtyard.
On the walls, Carballo finds the remains of murals depicting gods and priests – and scenes of creation and paradise.
They are the only record the people of Teotihaucan left, aside from the buildings themselves.
Burying the dead in tombs beneath their residences was a common ritual in Teotihuacan.
The skeletons themselves reveal even more about the origins of the people who inhabited this mysterious city.
At the lab, Carballo and his colleague, biological anthropologist Rebecca Storey, examine several bones.
This is an example of a burial found underneath an apartment compound in the Tlajinga district.
It’s a male skeleton. From the artifacts found with the remains, the scientists theorize that he may have been a leader of a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
But there's still more to learn from these bones.
He died in Teotihuacan. But one of the interesting questions we have is where did he live? Was he a Teotihuacano all his life?
And as it turns out as one of the most exciting things that's come up in skeletal analysis has been the ability to test where people lived as children and as teenagers.
And the secret is the teeth.
The teeth form from a time that you are a very small child up until you are an adolescent. And as it turns out once the enamel has formed it is permanent, nothing changes.
The drinking water that you take up as a child and then gets incorporated into your enamel has different isotopic signatures depending on where you were geographically and climate wise.
And what you do is, you test the enamel of the teeth and you test the bone and you see if they are the same.
His teeth were tested and turned out to have a signature very different from Teotihuacan.
Isotope tests conducted on dozens of other remains all yield the same results.
With this information, Carballo and Storey conclude that tens of thousands of Teotihuacan's ordinary citizens came from other parts of Mesoamerica.
What that tells you is that they are migrants.
Carballo now understands people came to Teotihuacan because of catastrophe elsewhere.
The eruption of Popocatepetl volcano in the mid late first century was what volcanologist would describe as A V.E.I. 6 eruption. And for some perspective a historical eruption of that magnitude went off in Indonesia and could be heard in Australia.
A catastrophe of epic proportions.
After the volcanic eruption, they sky was darkened for extended periods.
The soothing and the blackening of the sky because of the volcanic ash would have affected sunlight and agriculture.
This would have seemed like an apocalyptic scenario to people living around the volcano.
The magnitude of this eruption, and its human toll, were devastating. People could have believed the gods had turned against them.
Settlements were destroyed, livestock died out.
The very air and soil became toxic from volcanic fallout.
The people were forced to move north as fast as they could.
They found refuge in a valley and settled there.
When they came to Teotihuacan they were leaving a place that was probably burnt and seemed like a hell and they were coming to this paradise.
It was also nicely removed from seeing the volcano Popocatepetl, which couldn't be seen from the vantage of Teotihuacan.
For the refugees, this safe location- 60 miles from the volcano- must have offered a fresh start.
The mild climate and fertile ground made it perfect for agriculture.
Here, they will ultimately build a city unparalleled in the Americas.
The refugees arriving from the areas of eruptions would have felt that they are getting a second chance at Teotihuacan. That here they had the opportunity to build a new order and leave behind the one that was destroyed.
Back in the tunnel, Sergio’s team has dug their way more than 100 feet closer to the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent.
They have removed more than 400 tons of soil and debris. ...Backbreaking work.
The work we do here every day in the tunnel comes with many dangers. The tunnel also poses a risk to our health. We noticed that there is a gas flowing inside the tunnel. This gas, radon, can, according to studies, cause lung damage.
But as difficult and dangerous as these conditions may be, they also represent an upside for the scientists.
The humidity can have the effect of preserving things; these conditions are actually really beneficial for us.
As they excavate the tunnel, they find hundreds of artifacts: mallets, chisels, hammers--wooden tools preserved under these special conditions.
They are incredibly special and unique, because more than one of these objects has never been found in the history of Teotihuacán before. This is very important for us, because these objects will allow us to backdate and learn from what time and what context they originate.
Analysis shows the tools were made around 150 AD, at exactly the time when the main structures above ground were also built.
Wooden tools like this where used with stone hammers to dig the tunnel. The traces are still there. We found holes like this all over the tunnel.
The rock in the Teotihuacan Valley is volcanic. It is extremely difficult to excavate.
For the first time, Gómez appreciates how hard it really must have been for the builders of this mysterious tunnel.
You have to remember that back then they didn’t have metal tools. For this reason, wood or processed bone was used in the construction of the tunnel.
A handprint left by one of the ancient workers, preserved for almost two millennia.
For a moment, Sergio can touch the past.
As an archaeologist this is incredible, because it’s as if I’m touching the hand of the person who worked in this exact spot 2000 years ago.
And it’s more than just the tunnel... these people built this entire city with their bare hands.
You have to imagine, that these are people without pack animals, without the wheel and this construction is occurring on the backs of humans, who were dumping fill of rocks and rubble to erect some of the largest monuments of the ancient world.
Even more impressive, they did it in a very short amount of time.
…More than a thousand years before the wheel was introduced in the Americas.
Pigment traces on the buildings reveal something else astonishing.
Teotihuacan was a painted city, it was full with spectacular murals covered in white stucco and pigments that came from different parts of Mexico.
The city must have been magnificent. Colors adorned the major buildings.
A far cry from its beginnings as a squalid refugee camp.
In the second century AD, Teotihuacan was the largest and most important metropolis of Mesoamerica.
To David Carballo and Sergio Gomez, it is clear the ancient inhabitants built the city in honor of their gods... and one in particular: The Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl!
There are earlier appearances of the God within central Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica, but it's Teotihuacan, where it first really comes together as a clear cult.
Quetzalcoatl, as the Aztecs will call him hundreds of years later, is the god of creation, the harbinger of life itself.
With his feathered collar and rattlesnake tail, he is half bird, half snake.
The ancient Teotihuacanos installed an estimated 260 of these stone heads on the pyramid in honor of the Feathered Serpent.
Clearly the Feathered Serpent was the most important god in Teotihuacan.
But for the inhabitants, the god of creation was also a god that could take life.
Over the years, scientists have found a number of hidden chambers inside the Pyramid of the Moon. .
The remains of sacrificial animals were discovered inside the chambers. The builders must have buried the animals alive and constructed the pyramid around them.
There are predators, there are raptor birds or occasionally there be animals associated with the souls of dead warriors.
In many cases it’s clear that these animals went in alive. So for instance, some of them have evidence of having been in cages. The remains of the wooden beams of the cage, they were preserved.
But the builders did not stop at animal sacrifices.
Humans were also part of the sacrificial offerings in major pyramids.
A lot of the sacrificial remains have their arms tied behind their backs, and this suggests they didn't go in willingly.
Whether they went in alive is another issue, they might have been clubbed or drugged before they went in. In other cases there might have been examples from the moon pyramid of having been buried alive.
The sacrificial offerings at the temples were acts of consecration. So they were making space sacred and making a new construction phase of a pyramid or temple sacred. And that required the giving of life.
Although not all remains show signs of trauma, the ancient human sacrifices prove that this was a culture willing to commit murder for the greater spiritual good.
Rebecca Storey examines one of the skulls found in the Moon Pyramid. It belonged to a young man. She explains how the ritual was performed.
He was decapitated, how do I know that? He's got one of the cervical vertebrae that is right under the head. Those are usually found with decapitated individuals.
The head was detached from the body just below the first vertebra.
The bones tell her even more about this brutal ritual.
This individual was probably killed another way before the head was taken.
These injuries on three parts of the skull are preserved. These cuts actually aren’t the cause of death.
They would cut somebody back here, and then here the mandible has cut marks on it, too. So it means they were cutting here.
But she doesn't believe beheading was the cause of death.
They probably sacrificed him through the heart. Because it/he had lots of blood and certainly this was a very common way to sacrifice people.
There are pictures in Teotihuacan of hearts on an altar, so it makes sense, that maybe his heart was taken.
That meant he would have been dead by the time they were trying to take his skull.
About 40 victims have been found in the different layers of the Moon Pyramid.
Even more bodies have been found at the Pyramid of the Feather Serpent, where Gomez's tunnel seems to be leading: 200 ceremonial victims in symmetrically-arranged, mass burial sites.
From a modern perspective human sacrifice can seem especially cruel, but we have to imagine a religious system in which there was a strong idea of covenants, where the Gods had given and sacrifice and they needed to be fed and time itself needed to continue going through sacrifice.
Back in the tunnel, where the mass graves were found, Gomez's team is slowly making progress.
They have found what appears to be a deeper pit more than 80 yards from the tunnel entrance.
..and immediately call Gomez over to have a look.
The pit contains precious jade artifacts.
We found a number of chains and extremely valuable objects. We know they must have been of immense value to the Teotihuacanos, because they were brought here from far away.
This type of jade only exists in Guatemala… 600 miles from Teotihuacan.
Whoever owned these objects must have been of high-status, because they were able to import them.
Assuming only people of high status would own valuable objects like these, they must have belonged to an important person.
And the next discovery makes clear how important they must have been.
A blade made of obsidian.
For Teotihuacan, obsidian played a very important role.
The rare stone blade was sometimes used as a tool, but most certainly in the ritual killings.
This knife that we found is an exceptional find. It’s incredibly well-made and shows no signs that it was ever even used. It was put here deliberately as part of a very important sacrifice.
The archaeologists now believe this sacrificial blade was buried here with the only type of person who would wield it: A priest.
David Carballo sets out to visit the source of the precious green obsidian. He is heading to El Chico National Park about 30 miles north of the ancient ghost town.
Here, he meets Alejandro Pastrana, one of the world’s leading experts on obsidian. Pastrana found the ancient obsidian mine of Teotihuacan. This is where the sacrificial blades came from.
It's the only place in the world where green obsidian of this quality can be found.
Here we have obsidian fragments. They only emerge when lava solidifies rapidly with a more than 10 percent share of water.
Let’s chip off a shard to test the quality.
You can see how green this one is, it’s extremely sharp when it first detached.
It’s the sharpest material in nature. This edge, if you look under high magnification, it’s completely smooth unlike surgical steel you can see that it’s rough compared to obsidian.
Sharp like a scalpel, obsidian was known as the metal of the Americas.
Scientists have found this valuable green obsidian all over Mesoamerica: as far north as Arizona and all the way to Guatemala and Belize in the south.
Teotihuacan controlled the most desired material of the Americas. It made the city an economic powerhouse.
Meanwhile, the team continues to excavate. Beyond the pit, 100 yards further into the tunnel, they make yet another revealing discovery. A stash of gigantic seashells.
These shells were most likely used as horns during the ritual killings... perhaps calling the people of Teotihuacan to watch the holy executions.
There's hundreds of large shells that were placed in the tunnel, also as an offering. We can tell that most of them come from the Caribbean. They were imported to Teotihuacán and then also just stored inside the tunnel.
Some shells are painted with images of holy animals like crocodiles.
They were valuable and only priests would have been able to afford them.
As the archaeologists wonder about the shells, they continue to find more artifacts.
The quality and sheer mass of their findings is an archaeological sensation.
We found over 40,000 objects made with green stone and about 4,000 of these objects are Jade. All of this Jade comes from the area around the river Motagua in Guatemala.
We see Teotihuacan expanding throughout central Mexico and into more distant places.
In the third century the focus of building at Teotihuacan really changes. It goes from these large pyramids and monuments to apartment compounds, which would have housed the population of this large city.
It appears, at the height of its power, the leaders of Teotihuacan initiated a huge housing program.
Even the apartments for ordinary citizens had remarkable amenities.
They were built of volcanic rock, featured an interior kitchen, and had separate bedrooms.
The apartments even had a functioning drainage system.
At that time it’s one of the largest cities In the ancient world. Teotihuacan had a population of over a hundred thousand people. For comparison London didn't reach that population until the sixteenth century.
And the scientists have noticed something striking.
There is no fortifications around it, it sits on a valley's floor, it is completely exposed and there is also no evidence for any sort of external threat ever having attacked the city. Further there is no written records and within the art of the city we don't see any clear evidence of an external warfare.
Six hundred miles away, in what is today southern Mexico, lies the city of Tikal, once ruled over by the formidable Maya.
This stone stele is where the Mayans kept an account of their history.
Nikolai Grube, from the University of Bonn in Germany, is one of only a few people in the world who can decode the Mayan writings.
And he has found something that may also shed light on the mystery of Teotihuacan.
On the basis of the very detailed Maya calendar, we can pinpoint what happened in what time of history.
The most fascinating part of this long inscription is located here, in the middle of the stele.
It begins with a date. A date that corresponds to the 15th of January 378. And according to the hieroglyphic text, this was when foreigners came from the west. And most interestingly at the same day the king of Tikal entered the water. To enter the water is an expression for death. So he died. This is certainly not an accident.
The illustration seems to depict an invasion. A foreign army from the west invading Tikal.
They killed the Mayan king – and installed a ruler of their own.
On this side of the monument we see the newly inaugurated king, Yax Nuun Ahiin, who exceeded to power in 379 AD. He is dressed in a totally different way, not in a Maya style. In his hand he carries a spear-thrower.
And it’s this particular weapon that helps identify the invaders... and their king.
The atlatl or spear thrower would be used to project darts or thrown spears at a much higher velocity than you could with your arm. So it represents a superior projectile technology for the time.
At this point of time the only civilization in Mesoamerica which used a spear thrower was Teotihuacan.
Therefore we think that Yax Nuun Ahiin came from Teotihuacán, that he is a Teotihuacano king, who was placed in power by the arriving foreigners. And he became the founder of a new Teotihuacan related dynasty in the Maya low lands.
Yax Nuun Ahiin means 'Green Crocodile' in the Mayan language. That the Maya wrote his name down suggests he was a powerful ruler.
The foreigners left a deep impact on classic Maya culture. They changed Maya architecture. They brought a new form of dress, new ceramics forms of mural painting. In general the art all of the sudden changed, but it is not only the art.
The Maya also adopted one of their conquerer's gods: The Feathered Serpent – the Teotihuacan god of creation.
The Maya called it Kukulkan. These stairs at the famous Mayan Temples at Chichen Itza, built more than 600 years after the invasion, are identical to the symbols of The Feathered Serpent at Teotihuacan.
Maya kings tried to draw prestige by associating themselves with Teotihuacan and it symbols. And this would be similar to the Kaisers of Germany looking to Rome as an earlier model.
I would speak of a shift in Mesoamerican history. The conquest of Tikal probably is part of an expansion polity which extended the limits of Teotihuacan power as far north as the modern border between Mexico and the United States and to the South to Honduras.
What if the “Green Crocodile”, the Teotihuacan leader who subjugated the Maya, was an expansive ruler like Alexander the Great or Napoleon?
Could Sergio Gomez and his team have discovered his grave at the end of the tunnel?
Now, the tunnel grows very narrow. Gomez sends in a robot to explore what lies ahead.
Dr. Sergio Gómez Chávez	We've discovered that the tunnel descends at least three meters from the level from which we started. We don’t know what it is because we suddenly had a wall in front of us, which led down.
At first, we thought that the geo radar would show us a room at the end of the tunnel. But when the robot got in there, we found out that there was actually not just one room, but three large areas. So we know now that three main chambers are located at the end of the tunnel.
Three chambers – each more than 100 square feet wide – form a cross as if to mark something directly underneath the pyramid.
The location of these three chambers lines up exactly with the vertical axis of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. We don’t understand how they managed to calculate the exact point where the axis lines up with the pyramid located several meters above.
The chambers at the end of the tunnel lie under the geographical center of Teotihuacan… and Gomez has a theory about why.
This is where the underworld and the heavens meet.
The workers start excavating the first chamber and, after removing only a foot of debris, make yet another stunning discovery.
A statue – in perfect condition.
Because we recognize the clothing, we see that the statue clearly represents a woman. This sculpture symbolizes a very important element, and it’s very likely that it was connected with fertility.
And then they find another statue.
Exactly here next to the female sculpture we have also found a smaller male sculpture. And on every side of the two there’s another woman, and they all seem to point back to middle. This center is the same point that connects exactly with the imaginary path between the underworld and heaven. So I believe that these sculptures have been placed here to act as watchmen and guard this particular place.
Gómez thinks that the four guardians must have been protecting something important in the tunnel.
He is intrigued that their placement seems to align their gazes in such a way that their visual axis intersects right in the very center of the room.
Continuing their excavation, the archaeologists find more artifacts.
Gomez is certain – they must have been some kind of offering. But the team reaches the bottom before finding anything else.
We imagined that we’d find a person’s remains. We thought it would be the burial place of some ruler. We were surprised, when we found – nothing!
Gomez and his team must face the disappointment.
And yet, he cannot believe this intricately designed space under the center of the city holds no meaning.
He and David Carballo return to the chamber one more time to see if they might have missed something.
When they inspect the walls, they notice what looks like a waterline.
I think that the Teotihuacanos excavated this last stretch of the tunnel deeper to make sure that it was permanently filled with water.
But why would the ancient builders dig below the ground water level...on purpose... and cause the lower chamber to fill with water just as a well might?
The ground water would have seeped into this lower chamber, creating an artificial, underground lake.
Why would they have put a lake directly under the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, the god of creation?
Gómez remembers the mural found in the apartments and an idea begins to form.
The mural shows an image of a mountain. Emerging from its inside is the water from the underworld. The underworld is a place full of riches, a place of abundance and fertility.
This painting reminds Gomez of what he has seen in the tunnel.
Could he be looking at a representation of how the Teotihuacanos believed the world was created?
The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent could represent the Holy Mountain. And the tunnel could stand for the underworld from which the water flows up.
The idea may not be so farfetched. In many other ancient cultures, pyramids were built to represent mountains.
If Gómez is right, the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent represents the holy mountain.
And the underground lake symbolizes the origin of life, springing eternally from underneath the pyramid.
Gomez has found traces of a metallic substance applied to the tunnel walls. It’s pyrite, the mineral also known as fool’s gold.
It is impressive. This looks like virtually the entire tunnel, the walls and ceiling were covered with this metallic mineral powder.
Imagine in the light of torches the tunnel covered with all this metallic mineral powder. It really must have been incredible.
It must have looked like a starlit night!
It is Indeed a Portayal of their Cosmos.
Now we can begin to understand the meaning and significance.
For Gómez - the pieces of the puzzle finally come together.
The artifacts were offerings not only to the gods of creation, but to the very source of life itself.
All in this magnificent model located 60 feet underground.
Gomez imagines this is where the priests of Teotihuacan made their offerings.
This chamber represents their idea of how life began.
This holy lake, with its illuminated sky, was used as a stage for their dramatic rituals.
The Teotihuacanos created the underworld in these tunnels and the chamber under the pyramid. But here, instead of seeing the underworld as a place of death, it's actually seen as a place of creation.
The Teotihuacanos erected their pyramids in honor of the gods and they built an underground replica of their cosmos to worship them.
But then, the gods turned against the people once again.
And once again, a volcano seems to control the fate of Teotihuacan.
In 536 AD, the Illopango, a super volcano, erupts in El Salvador.
Another volcanic winter. Even though it was hundreds of miles away, the smoke and ash would have hidden the sun for days.
With the harvests ruined, the city could no longer feed its people.
What we see archaeologically next to the major temples and buildings of the street of the dead, is around the mid to late 6th century there was a massive scale burning in there.
There’s traces that can be registered both on the architecture itself and on the materials such as the actual roof beams that fell down to the floor of the structure.
To Carballo, it doesn’t look like an attack from the outside. There is no damage in the outer districts.
There was this internal and very targeting burning of the city's center; over a hundred buildings around the Street of the Dead were burnt.
The end result could have been something like revolt.
Carballo thinks the people might have rejected the gods who failed them yet again.
And they set the sacred heart of their city ablaze. Soon after, the city was deserted.
The state had collapsed; the city was no longer an impressive place. And then it moved into the realm of myth.
The economic and political powerhouse no longer existed. But its legacy has lived on for centuries.
Even after the collapse of Teotihuacán, the Maya continued to venerate Teotihuacan gods and their religion.
So did the Aztecs until the time of the Spanish conquest, hundreds of years after the Mayans were gone.
Teotihuacan was a high point in the history of Mesoamerica.
And its mysteries have remained unsolved... until now.
Gomez and his colleagues seem to have uncovered the very source of the city’s existence.
That's what makes this discovery so special, by understanding their vision of the cosmos and their religion; we now have a much better understanding of these ancient Mesoamerican people.
How does Teotihuacán Compare to Other Architectural Feats?


text: I decided to sort out the toys we'd stored away. See if the puzzles still had all the pieces, sort out the Legos (I want to store the Harry Potter sets apart from the rest). The girls were bored and started helping. Lots of fun was had.


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With America's recession one year old - according to the official panel of experts at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Massachusetts, who decide these matters retrospectively - and conventional economic medicine so far producing little response from the patient, policymakers are turning to more desperate measures. As the Federal Reserve spends billions of dollars of public money on one rescue attempt after another, much of the US financial system is now effectively on life-support.
Washington has stepped in repeatedly in the past 12 months with injections of cash. Each time the financial markets have responded with enthusiasm; each time, exuberance has rapidly given way to despair. Now, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has said he is considering buying up Treasury bills, the final step to what economists call 'quantitative easing'.
'Since the Fed chairman spoke, government bond markets have been on fire,' says Stephen Lewis of Monument Securities. Interest rates have already been cut to just 1 per cent, and once they hit zero the Fed will have to resort to unconventional measures. By buying up Treasuries from investors, it can channel cash out into the financial markets, in a bid to ensure that the funds keep flowing to firms and consumers beyond.
US policy has moved a long way in 12 months. Early in the year, much of the public funding came in direct support for the hardest-hit institutions. But as the months went by, policymakers reached for their chequebook with increasing frequency.
Bernanke is an avid student of the Great Depression and the policy failures that helped turn the Great Crash of 1929 into a decade-long slump. Wall Street wags nicknamed him 'Helicopter Ben' after a speech in 2002 revisiting Milton Friedman's proposal that once a central bank has slashed rates to zero, desperate measures may be necessary to pour cash into the economy - and dropping banknotes from a helicopter would be as good a method as any. Bernanke may not quite be dumping cash from the sky, but bit by bit the Fed has effectively nationalised one part of the financial system after another.
The bank had already been lending directly to Wall Street; but in early October, as US corporates began to complain that they were finding it increasingly costly to borrow, it announced that it would step in to buy 'commercial paper' - the loans many use to fund their day-to-day operations. In November, it made a much more radical announcement, saying it would use $600bn to buy mortgage-backed securities from the troubled state-backed loan guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This effectively superseded Paulson's Troubled Assets Recovery Program (Tarp), which was meant to buy up the near-worthless mortgage-backed securities many banks found themselves stuck with and hold them until the market returned to normal.


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I got word earlier this week of the passing of 1970s Funny Car racer Omer "the Tentmaker" Carrothers. I’ve seen lots of photos of his cars (all two of them) over the years and heard anecdotal stories about him, but never anything solid.
Carrothers died March 22 at age 71 in Lynn Haven, Fla., but it wasn’t until I received a fax (yes, people still use those things) that unrolled into NHRA that I became aware of his passing.
I reached out to his family through multiple Facebook pages but never received word back so most of what I know is what I read on the amazing 70sFunnyCars website and some observations from a guy who knew him and saw him race many times, the dean of drag racing action photographers, Steve Reyes, whose photos grace this column.
Online, in a very few places, you can find reference to his wild driving style, which some likened to Funny Car wunderkind “Jungle Jim” Liberman, but while J.J. would drive a car into and out of trouble, sometimes Carrothers could not. According to reports, he crashed his first Funny Car, a ‘Cuda, on one of its first runs at Orange County Int’l Raceway, but rebounded with the Woody Gilmore-built “Tentmaker” Mustang for which he is best remembered.
Such an interesting-sounding dichotomy. I wish I had the chance to learn more about him.
Insider regular Al Kean remembers Carrothers as part of a wild incident at Lions Dragstrip's Last Drag Race in late 1972. Carrothers got into the semifinals on the break rule after Billy Meyer was unable to get back to the starting line after replacing a bad clutch. Carrothers was already staging against Don Prudhomme when Meyer's team finally made it to the line, and fired their car and tried to urge Carrothers aside. Officials quickly nixxed Meyer's aggressive move, and Prudhomme beat Carrothers to reach the final, where he was beaten by his old pal, Tom McEwen.
Carrothers later drove Terry Ivey's Dodge Charger in AHRA competition in the mid-1970s and also is cited on DragList as having driven in Top Fuel in that period in a car owned by John Foderaro.
The last mention I can find of him is as the owner of a crane company in Florida. He was a 32nd degree mason (a pretty impressive accomplishment) in itself and is survived by his son, Omer III, and daughters Amanda and Tanda.
Speaking of old Funny Cars, I received an update from Dru Jaxon, who is restoring the famed Durachrome Bug originally driven by Warren Gunter.
The latest additions include a set of the period-correct American Racing “bearpaw” wheels and M&H RaceMaster tires, blower pulleys and belt, ladder bars, parachute, and a two-speed transmission.
To read more about the Durachrome Bug, just out this column I wrote a few years ago.

industry_corpus2: Automobiles


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Designed for added comfort and privacy the Series C Elite 72W x 30D U Station Desk Shell in Mocha Cherry expands your workspace. This classic U Station design connects the 72W x 30D Desk with 42W x 24D Bridge/Return and the configuration is completed by adding the 72W x 24D Desk/Credenza/Return. This workstation is constructed of thermally fused laminate that delivers strength and durability for long lasting value. Organize office supplies and files in the 16W 3 Drawer Pedestal with top two box drawers, and lower drawer for letter, legal, and A4 size files. Plus a 2 Drawer Pedestal provides two additional file drawers that glide smoothly on durable full-extension ball-bearing slides, allowing easy access to all contents. Keep cords neat with integrated wire management grommets on the Desk and built into the 72W Hutch back panel for wire access. Euro-style hinges on four doors which conceal storage for a clean, simplified appearance. Accent this storage piece with a Series C Elite 72W coordinating tackboard (sold separately) to keep important documents or memos close by and visible while you work. Meets ANSI/BIFMA standards for safety and performance. Backed by Bush Business Furniture's 10 Year Warranty. American made with U.S. and imported parts.
Package Weight for Box 5:72.00 lbs.
Package Weight for Box 6:130.00 lbs.

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


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Those who become community program directors have a passion for giving back to their community and helping others. They typically have a keen interest in sports, culture and recreational programs, and are educated and experienced in the administration of such programs.
Community program directors must also have the emotional fortitude and business savvy to endure other struggles, such as budgetary pressures, personnel issues, dealing with facility management, and many others.
Below we've outlined what you'll need to begin a career as a community program director. We've also included helpful information for this career, such as job description, job duties, salary expectations, a list of possible employers and much more!
To become a community program director, you typically need a bachelor’s degree in a field such as management, human services, social work or a related field. Some employers may prefer candidates that have earned a master’s degree in one of these areas.
Many employers prefer Community Program Director candidates to have experience working within community program administration at increasing levels of responsibility. If a candidate has relevant experience combined with an undergraduate or master’s degree in one of the above-mentioned fields, the candidate has an excellent chance of earning the job.
Community program directors are responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of sports, social, cultural, educational, seasonal, family support and recreational programs for all residents of a specific community. Community program directors may be responsible for conducting research in order to determine what services would most benefit their community, and often meet with other directors and business leaders to discuss mutually beneficial projects for their community.
Who Hires Community Program Directors?
The salary level of community program directors can vary based on factors such as their level of education, their level of experience in the field, where they work, their specific job responsibilities, and many others.
Community Program Director Salary Alberta: According to the 2011 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey, Albertans working in the Recreation, Sports and Fitness Program and Service Directors occupational group, which includes community program directors, earn an average wage of between $21.63 and $30.11 per hour.
Community Program Director Salary United States: According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary of workers in the Social and Community Service Managers occupational group is $57,950 per year.
In order to become an effective community program director, you need to posses a certain set of skills.
Communication Skill: Administering community programs requires strong communication abilities, as ideas and directions must be clearly and effectively communicated to staff and other involved in the program, in order to program objectives to be met.
Time Management Skills: Community program managers must ensure that they effectively use their time, and prioritize work activities in a manner that allows project directives to be completed on schedule.
Critical Thought: it is important that community program directors are able to apply logic and reasoning to various work related issues; decisions based on emotion or a lack of forethought may hurt a project in the short or long term.
Personnel Management: In addition to ensuring projects are administered properly, those working on the project must be motivated, satisfied and see value in their work. It is ultimately the director’s responsibility to ensure workers stay focused and excel.
Our job board below has "Community Program Director" postings in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Listed below are careers in our database that are similar in nature to Community Program Director, as they may involve many of the same skills, competencies and responsibilities.
Please consult the references below to find more information on the various aspects of a career as a community program director.
The Applicable Majors section below shows fields of study relevant to a career as a Community Program Director. You can search for scholarships matched to those fields of study on our All Scholarships by Major page.
Studying one of the university majors listed below is an excellent starting point to becoming a community program director. Click on the links to find out what else you can do with these majors!


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They are quite alien looking aren’t they!
They really are gorgeous, aren’t they? I’ve never seen them before. Wow.