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How To Get A Beautiful Beauty Glow

How To Get A Beautiful Beauty Glow

The matte-skinned, berry-lipped winter look is finally officially over as we move into the warmer months. That means that it’s time for us to focus on clear glowing skin and bright eyes. Let’s not forget plenty of protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Here are some of the best beauty products and great ways that you can use skincare and makeup to get a beautiful beauty summer glow.

Protect Yourself From The Sun

First of all, during the summer it’s important to make sure that you protect your skin from the sun. A lot of us want a healthy golden glow, but it’s vital that you get this glow from fake tan instead of spending hours in the sun or on sun beds. We all know that if we’re exposed to too much sun there’s a strong possibility that we might end up getting skin cancer. From a purely aesthetic point of view, too much sun exposure can make your skin age more quickly than you’d like it to. If you want to avoid premature wrinkles, dry skin and discoloration, it’s a good idea to slap on a layer of sunscreen with a high SPF before you put on your makeup. Make sure that you also apply sunscreen to your decolletage and the backs of your hands.

To start of any beauty regimen, you must always make sure you have the best facial mask to hydrate, exfoliate, and moisturize through every season. You’ll fall in love with this celebrity 24 Karat Gold mask. Infused with 24 karat Gold, this luxurious mask will help you to brighten, plump, and deeply moisturize your skin. Precious gold works as a powerful antioxidant to fight signs of aging, giving your skin opulent glow. Blended with a potent dose of Vitamin C, this mask lightens hyper-pigmentation, revealing a luminous, revitalized complexion with each use.

Infused with 24 karat Gold Celebrity Mask

Fight aging and camouflage your problem areas with jane iredale Liquid Minerals, a light-reflecting foundation in a special liquid formula.What it does: Liquid Minerals is made of liposomes entrapping liposomes. This state-of-the-art technology encapsulates large amounts of active ingredients, which are time-released into the skin to provide beautiful, weightless coverage. The spheres are suspended in a gel of aloe vera, lavender flower water and vegetable glycerin. As you pump Liquid Minerals, the pigment capsules and serum mix for maximum, flawless coverage.

Jane Iredale Liquid Foundation. BUY NOW!!!

Get Exfoliating

If you want to glow, exfoliation is a key part of your skincare routine. A lot of the time, the reason your skin might look dull and dry is because of dead skin cells – exfoliating will clean these up and will also help your pores to look smaller – check out sites like Beauty Ambition and other beauty communities to find out more about how to improve your complexion. In turn, that will help with your summer natural glowing look. Although they can make your skin look fab, exfoliators can sometimes be pretty harsh, so make sure that your skin doesn’t feel too tight and itchy after using it – this might mean that your skin is being stripped of its natural oils, which in turn means that it might start over producing sebum in order to compensate.

Must Have Beauty Products:

Chantecaille’s ‘Protect the Lion’ eyeshadow palette is a part of a collection dedicated to the Lion Guardians foundation. The palette include four earthy shades inspired by the beautiful coats of lion cubs. ‘Sand’, ‘African Topaz’, ‘Amboseli’, and ‘Rock’ have shimmery finishes that flatter every skin tone – wear them alone or mixed together.

Chantecaille "Protect the Lion" Eyeshadow. BUY NOW!!!

Chantecaille “Protect the Lion” Eyeshadow. BUY NOW!!!

Start Strobing

If you want to really glow, then the number one technique you should be using is strobing. Contouring is so last year and let’s face it – it’s much more effective during the winter months when you aren’t nearly as worried about your makeup melting off your face during the summer heat. After applying your moisturizer, start with a primer and leave it to settle into your pores for five minutes before applying your foundation. Then it’s time to fill in your brows and to do your eye makeup. At the moment, any shimmery shades are in, so why not go for a dark gold colour and add some vaseline to the top of it to make your eyes really stand out?

After applying concealer beneath your eyes and to any blemishes on your face, it’s time to add some blusher. Try one like NARS Orgasm, with a little shine to brighten up your summer skin. Finally, get out the highlighter – it’s time to start strobing. If you’re going for a powder highlighter, use a small brush to apply. Liquid highlighters look great when blended in with a beauty blender. Add the highlighter to anywhere on your face where you want the light to hit you.

Jacqueline Maddison

Jacqueline Maddison

Jacqueline Maddison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Beverly Hills Magazine. She believes in shining light on the best of the best in life. She welcomes you into the world of the rich and famous with the ultimate luxury lifestyle.


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Beyond the Cusp

July 7, 2014

Israel Palestinian Reality Not What Media Reports

The media in much of the western world has emphasized the Israeli responses to the barrage of Hamas rockets of the past two weeks making it appear that Israel is the offensive party, not the one responding to the Hamas offensive. Since the formation of the unity government where the Palestinian Authority merged their membership which was predominantly, if not exclusively, comprised of the Fatah led by Mahmoud Abbas along with any unaffiliated Arabs living in Judea and Samaria now includes Hamas as well and potentially would include Islamic Jihad and any other groups in either Gaza or Judea and Samaria. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist entities recognized as such by the European Union, United States and most of the European governments. What has been obfuscated is that the Palestinian Authority before the unity government brought recognized terrorist groups into its ranks was made up of largely a single terrorist group renamed from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to Fatah. Both names, Palestinian Authority and Fatah, were simply a rebranding to the original Palestinian terrorist group founded in 1964, three years before the Six Day War of 1967. The fact that for three years there was a full-fledged Palestinian terrorist organization recognized as such by virtually every government, major NGO and international organization before the existence of any contested areas or occupied areas is a fact that has been erased by those who have rewritten Middle East history in such a way as to vilify Israel. The founding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization which predated any Israeli occupation, unless one considers the founding of Israel as making contested lands, was headed by arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat and its second in command was the currently crowned by the Western nations and the United Nations as Israel’s partner for peace, Mahmoud Abbas. The PLO was the original terrorist group which had as their original charter the goal of replacing Israel with an Arab state called Palestine which would have immediately requested to merge with Jordan once the lands were purified and cleansed of any Jewish presence or trace of Jewish existence. So, why all the misinformation, misleading reports, rebranding terrorists into peace partners and what appears to be a systemized, coordinated, antagonistic misrepresentation of the reality in the Middle East all apparently aimed to eradicate the world’s only nation within which the Jewish People could find refuge when the world once again aims all of its animosity, venomous poisons and eradicating weaponry at them as has been the case across almost every age of man?

Some have claimed that the reason behind the Western world acting favorably to the wishes and desires of the Arab world and thus restraining Israel and keeping the balance such that Israel is never permitted to win is all because of oil. Some claim that such an idea is a misreading of the facts and that the Western world has always been there to support Israel and prevent her demise. The one fact that is often pointed out is that when Israel desperately needed resupply when Egyptian and Syrian troops were poised to overrun the IDF on both fronts that the United States provided Israel with the necessary resupply. Where the United States did finally resupply the Israelis, it also must be pointed out that initially President Nixon, on the advice of Secretary of State Kissinger, held back from sending the necessary provisions until Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir threatened to use any and every weapon Israel had should the resupply be withheld and opened the silo blast doors which was detected by the United States satellites. Would Golda Meir have actually used those missiles? Fortunately, that is something we will be left to conjecture. Then after Israel got the advantage and was advancing across the Suez Canal and well on the way to Cairo as well as advancing on Damascus on the Syrian front that the United States, Russia, United Nations and European governments all demanded Israel accept an immediate cease-fire and return to the pre-war positions. Israel returned to the Golan Heights and back across the Suez Canal onto the Sinai Dessert side. There is another fact which was given little coverage back in 1973 though the information is readily available for anyone to research was the actual nations allied and providing support for the efforts by the United Arab Republic (UAR) which was the combined armies of Egypt and Syria. Also providing troops or other support were Jordan, Iraq, Algeria who sent a squadron each of MiG-21s and Su-7s plus one-hundred-fifty tanks to Egypt, Libya provided one armored brigade and two squadrons of Mirage V fighters, a total of six-thousand troops were provided by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, around fifteen-hundred Tunisian infantry provided to Egypt, Pakistan provided one flight of pilots to fly Syrian jets, North Korea provided twenty pilots with MiG-21s and nineteen support personnel, and Cuba provided somewhere around four-thousand troops. Additionally there was a division of Palestinian supporting the Egyptians and there was monetary support from numerous nations to allow the armies of these nations to be resupplied after the conflict back to near their original strength. The reports during that war mostly mentioned news in the West were the Egyptian front and the Syrian front implying that the entirety of the conflict was between Israel against Egypt and Syria, the UAR, with minimal or inconsequential support from around the world. The reality shows a completely different picture and gives a strong indication of the numbers of nations from all corners of the globe who will ally in any war aiming to destroy Israel, the sole Jewish nation on the Earth.

Back to the current situation where there is one item which will probably get full coverage which will eclipse the coverage of the three Israeli youths, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha’ar and Naftali Frenkel, and that is the disgraceful and denounced act of revenge perpetrated against an innocent Palestinian youth, sixteen years old Abu Khder, who was abducted and murdered by burning him to death, a horrific and inexcusable and unforgivable act for which no reason is acceptable. Israel has arrested six young adults and teens who are believed to belong to a fanatical Jewish group, terrorists is the only definition of these reprobates. Their names have yet to be released as a strict gag order has been placed on the arrests and the state of the investigations, but be assured those responsible for this barbarous act will be brought to trial and receive punishment likely greater than any sentence given the Hamas individuals who murdered the three Jewish teens.

Over the past ten days terrorists in Gaza have launched rockets and fired mortars equaling over one-hundred rounds with most targeting Sderot and the other communities and kibbutzim bordering Gaza while a few rounds were targeted at Beersheba which is much further from the Gaza border. Since the Gaza disengagement in 2005 there has not been any Jews residing anywhere within Gaza. And except for brief and small security missions and one extended intervention into Gaza named מבצע עופרת יצוקה (Operation Cast Lead) which was targeted to impede terrorist rocket and mortar barrages and destroy terrorist infrastructure, there has been no IDF or other Israeli forces within Gaza. Gaza is completely under the command and governing by Hamas with Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups also operating within Gaza. The leadership of Hamas has announced they will no longer take any precautions or preventative measures to prevent rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli targets. This has permitted Islamic Jihad and others in addition to Hamas to fire unimpeded into southern Israel targeting civilians. These barrages have struck two factories, a paint and a plastic plant were destroyed both just outside Sderot, the house of Rachmiel Steinberg’s family, and have exploded at a summer day camp moments before children were set to arrive. Even in the contested areas of Judea and Samaria as well as Jerusalem and some of the Arab areas in the Galilee there has been rioting with heavy destruction to much of the Jerusalem light rail stations and tracks in the Arab areas of Jerusalem. There have been warnings from members of a group calling themselves the Coalition of Youth for an Intifada that there will be increased violence against the settlers, a derogatory reference for Jewish residents living in Area C which by Oslo Accords under governance and security control of Israel. Their notice was titled “Expelling Zionists Through Rocks” and threatened a “scorch the earth and make it a living hell under the feet of the invaders.” The particulars were spelled out on their notice explaining their intentions to;

A. Creating huge barricades to block “settlers” from leaving their communities and vandalize their cars;

B. Torching tires on common roads in the area;

C. Hurling rocks at cars and paint barrels at their drivers;

D. Placing sharp objects, nails, and shrapnel on roads to damage passing vehicles;

E. Spraying anti-Jewish graffiti near Jewish communities;

F. Participating in raging clashes against IDF and police in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.

Israel has been facing ever increasing levels of violence ever since the formation of the unity government which was initiated by the Hamas abduction of the three Jewish teens. This increase has been claimed by Hamas and they promised that now that they have entered a unity government and been accepted by the Western nations and European Union that they feel enabled to turn up the levels of violence against the Jews and Israel. This has been accompanied by a sharp increase in Fatah incitement calling for unceasing violence and all measures of impeding all attempts at Israeli enforcement and reestablishing order. The unity government has all the appearances of a unification of the disparate terrorist groups for a single purpose, an all-out offensive aiming to destroy Israel once and for all. A war has been declared but the Western media, national leadership, NGOs are all insisting that the problem is Israel and if only Israel would agree to meet the Palestinian demands there would be peace at last. This has been the path that was begun by the United States with their insistence that Israel freeze building for ten months as that would lead to peace, that failed miserably but ever since Abbas has been demanding building freeze after building freeze, it has become his magic phrase. Then the United States declared that the future borders for the Palestinian state should be determined by the 1949 Armistice Lines with mutually agreed swaps. That just invigorated Abbas to demand half of Jerusalem as a start point. The latest was the assault headed by Secretary of State Kerry and Martin Indyk which demanded that Israel release over one-hundred of the worst terrorist planers and murderers all for naught as Abbas simply stated that his entire intentions were to collect the released terrorists and then walk away and begin a renewed and reanimated terror war against Israel which would have a new life breathed into it with the return of the freed terrorists. Now we are witnessing the initial stages of that assault and the Western media and leadership is still busy picking fault with Israel in an effort to deny Israel her right to self-defense. This is not going to turn out well for those western nations who are all too willing to sacrifice Israel on the altar of appeasement of the Arab and Palestinian interests.

Beyond the Cusp

1 Comment »

  1. Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.

    Comment by OyiaBrown — July 7, 2014 @ 3:42 AM | Reply

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BLAINESWORLD #1086 (Please send any comments to:

Section 2, part 2

(2) Lucas Gregg: Ah, where to begin…

The long and short of it:
A theatre company near and dear to my heart needs your help. Consider making a donation and if you are in the WNC area, check out ‘HARD TRAVELING WITH WOODY’ aka Randy Noojin at Owen Theatre July 27th-30th.

Some backstory:

I’m fortunate enough to have been raised in a “theatre family.” Theatre had always been a part of my life, but in the year 2000, my family moved to Mars Hill, NC where my father Bill Gregg took a position as the artistic director at SART. The theatre was old, and falling apart in many places. But man, it had history! The space was an old church converted into a performance space, and at that point SART had already been running for 25 years.

Growing up, if I wasn’t acting on the stage, I was backstage being babysat by the actors, or in the technical booth operating a follow spot. I’ll never forget playing the role of Little Jake at the age of 7 in ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ along side my mother Liz Aiello – literally kicking ass on stage in cowboy boots and hat, swinging an antique 45′ like it was her job.

Or the time my brother, Cameron Gregg and I played stage brothers in ‘Lost In Yonkers’ with the immensely talented Kay Galvin.
Michael Mattison played the badass uncle and man, cameron you rocked that ‘stickin it to the man’ monologue every night! You got moxie, kid!

And who could forget ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’? Savannah Rose Crespoabsolutely stole the show as scout, Ellis Robinson as Jem. I portrayed Dill. Mackenzie KnappJennifer Ariel HastyRobert P McDaniel all in this one as well.

How about ‘The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’. Manon ManavitJasmine Sky, Cameron and I – What a dream team! One night we forgot one of our prop swords and came out at the end with a frying pan instead….Larry Putnam.

And the summer of 2008 was probably the best summer
I ever had as a kid thanks to Amanda ‘Mandy’ SaylesCat Dillon and Chelsey Lee Mirheli. The year of Evita! Or some might say….Evito? Michael Fisher

All of these individuals and so many others passed through the stage door every summer. Some came and went, others returned each year. And every single one of them I looked up to in one way or another. This theatre, the people, the shows, shaped so much of my being. Im so fortunate to have called SART my home for the last 17 years.

…………………Clear the stage, dim the lights, lower the curtain………………

From 2015-2016 SART and MHC Theatre dept. finally got the renovations and new building they so desperately needed to a falling apart space. However, the construction process displaced SART and the theatre was forced to move out of its home venue for two seasons, drastically diminishing sales and now the doors have been temporarily closed.

However the once downtrodden theatre space has been turned into a state of the art facility with new seating, lighting, and carpeting. There’s a new box office, black box theatre, and bathrooms. What a shame it would be if this new space couldn’t be properly put to use!

I want so much for others to experience the one of a kind magic that SART has the potential to offer, and that I experienced for so may years growing up.

There are stories that deserve to be told on that stage…and actors who eagerly await to tell them.

So lets raise the curtain again for SART, and keep the tradition alive for years to come.

With love & gratitude***

Note: To help out, please click:

(3) Ginger Heskett: The three best tips for customer retention

(4) As Paperwork Goes Missing, Private Student Loan Debts May Be Wiped Away

(7) Natalie Kaye: Saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 – laughed so hard.  I loved it.

Response: I liked it, too–and so did Cynthia.

(8) Bill Rech: [Saw] Dunkirk the movie, today. I Max version. Really worth seeing.

(9) Jacquie Wollins:

Section 12A, NC events

(1) Richard Shulman: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: A Journey in Jazz” with Wendy Jones, Russ Wilson, and Richard Shulman

Great Jazz Songs from the 1920s through the 20-teens.

July 30, 2017

Lounge Seated
Limited Tables Available with a Dinner Reservation :: All Other Seating is First Come First Serve General Admission :: Please Call Venue for Dinner (Table) Reservations 828-575-2737
$12 Advance / $15 Day of Show

Image may contain: 1 person, closeup

(2) Hendersonville Community Theatre:

Disney’s The Lion King has captivated the imagination of audiences around the world. In this family-friendly performance, the African savannah comes to life with Simba, Rafiki and an unforgettable cast of characters.

Join this cast of students, ages5-15, as they take you on a memorable journey of coming of age and finding your destiny!

(3) David Francis:

Note: This is David’s final recital in the area, in that he will be moving to Mexico in September. (Asheville’s loss!) There is no charge for this performance.

(4) Travis Low: Tickets are on sale now for Six Knots. Get them here:

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(5) Nathan Singer: Learning to Listen, for a Change.

Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective presents…

by Mark St. Germain
Directed by Ashleigh Millett-Goff
Assistant Direction by Courtney DeGennaro Robinson

August 17 – September 2 (Thurs – Sat) at 7:30PM
Online tickets are $15 for Opening Weekend or $18 in advance, and $21 at the door. And NO FEES for online purchases.

BEBE THEATRE. 20 Commerce Street. Downtown Asheville, NC

Features: Jeanette Oliver, Sean David Robinson, Bjorn Goller-Hagoob, and Molly Graves

Designs: Artemis Addams, Stephanie Hickling-Beckman, Katy Hudson, Laura Lowe, Grace Siplon, Nathan Singer, and Tippin

Production Beneficiary: Word on The Street, a component of Asheville Writers in The Schools & Community

Osha Gray Davidson’s The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in The New South, chronicles a friendship that developed in 1970 between two people who began as bitter enemies–black activist Ann Atwater (Janet Oliver) and white Grand Cyclops of the Durham North Carolina chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, C.P Ellis (Sean David Robinson). Mark St. Germain’s play, Best of Enemies, brings the story of this “unlikely friendship” to the stage against a Civil Rights backdrop.

Best of Enemies is based on the true events leading up to the official desegregation of the Durham school system in 1971. Ellis’ racism and contempt are challenged by Atwater, a local civil rights activist and Bill Riddick (Bjorn Goller), a community organizer from D.C. sent to Durham to facilitate the desegregation process. Both Ellis and Atwater are extremely reluctant to be in the same room together, let alone co-chair a committee to explore the problems in their school system. But through the course of their work together—and the tough-but-soft influence of Ellis’ wife, Mary (Molly Graves) — the two extremes find their way to the middle, uniting around their shared desire to secure a better future for their children. They realize that regardless of the color of their skin, their children are suffering in appalling school conditions. “We began to talk about what was on our heart,” Ellis says. “And both of us wept. … It was because the kids were suffering.” In the documentary “An Unlikely Friendship”, Ellis explains that people join extremist groups because they feel “shut out”. “Deep down inside, we want to be part of this great society,” he says. “Nobody listens, so we join these groups.”

I love how Best of Enemies explores what these two angry, opposite people have to go through in order to find common ground, and how relevant that is to the divisive times we’re going through in 2017. When I chose this play almost a year ago, I was very consumed by the negative effects of the social and political climate on my friends, and within our community; how people weren’t really listening to each other, yet fighting vehemently to be heard. Best of Enemies appealed to me as proof that the people of this country could find a way to listen to each other despite our personal and political differences; to work together for the rights, equality, and safety of all it’s citizens.

– Stephanie Hickling-Beckman, Managing Artistic Director

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(6) Kai Elijah Hamilton:

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Section 12B, PA/NJ events

(1) ‘The Threepenny Opera’ at ActorsNET through July 30

To read a review for this show, please click:

(2) At Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre:

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Home > Consumer Behavior & Trends, Economy, Executive Briefing, Monthly Consumer Survey, Retail > “Fair is Fair” but is Square…well…Square?

“Fair is Fair” but is Square…well…Square?

As any self-respecting child of the 80’s knows – “Fair is Fair.” Doesn’t the theme from that nearly 30 year old [ack!] cult classic take you back? Pat Benatar, anyone? Supergirl? An undying love for Christian Slater? But I digress…let’s hop out of the DeLorean and evaluate what really got me thinking about “Fair is Fair”:

JC Penney’s new “Fair & Square” Ad Campaign

The complete overhaul of JCP’s marketing, merchandising, and promotions plans certainly made headlines in the retail community, but what do consumers really think about this strategy switch-up? In addition to being practical and realistic in their purchasing, today’s shoppers are also “intelligent”: researching products, comparing prices, stalking sales, and couponing like crazy.  And, consumers are all the more informed when aided by their mobile devices. Knowing all this, it seems that JCP’s new “Fair & Square” approach might be as dated as a Flock of Seagulls hairdo. So who’s buying what JCP’s selling?Hot or Not? JC Penney's "Fair & Square" Ad Campaign

In our March Consumer Survey of more than 9,000 consumers, we put JC Penney’s “Fair & Square” Ad Campaign to the test in our monthly “Hot or Not?” feature. As it turns out, more deemed it “not” (58.3%) than “hot” (41.7%) – placing “Fair & Square” in the middle of the pack compared to the other items we polled this month.

But who are the two out of five customers who have at least had their interests – if not their wallets – piqued by “Fair & Square”? These shoppers are more prone to be women (59.9%), married (53.2%), middle-aged (46.7 years, on average), and earning about $56,000/year…sounds like JC Penney’s typical Women’s Clothing shopper.

Is that not interesting enough for you? Let’s take a look at “Fair & Square” from a different perspective – Women’s Clothing shoppers from competing retailers.* Interestingly, fewer shoppers at Walmart – home to the somewhat similar EDLP pricing strategy – warmed up to the idea of “Fair & Square.” Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Old Navy shoppers were relatively more excited by the concept than Kohl’s or Target loyalists:

JC Penney's "Fair & Square" Ad Campaign is HOT

From this standpoint, it appears that most shoppers have a so-so opinion of “Fair & Square” so far. Perhaps they’re walking into JCP to see what all of the fuss is about, but whether or not they’ll convert to the retailer over the long haul remains to be seen – as does the department store’s ability to retain its current customer base.

Ah, Love Retail is a Battlefield.

For more information on this data, please contact BIGinsight™.

* A selection of Women’s Clothing retailers was analyzed for this report. “Women’s Clothing Shoppers” are defined as those who shop most at a given retailer for Women’s Clothing (an unaided, write-in response).

Source: BIGinsight™ Monthly Consumer Survey – MAR-12 (N = 9242, 3/6 – 3/13)

© 2012, Prosper®

BIGinsight™ is a trademark of Prosper Business Development Corp.

  1. March 22, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    I’m a little vague on interpreting the second graph. Could you elaborate on what is being compared?

    • Pam Goodfellow
      March 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm

      Thanks for your comment! In the second graph we are comparing the results for those who said “hot” for JCP’s “Fair & Square” strategy by shoppers of various Women’s Clothing stores.

      So, JC Penney’s Women’s Clothing shoppers were the most likely of this group of retailers to name “F&S” hot (at 59.5%). Women’s Clothing shoppers at Dillard’s, Walmart, and Forever 21 were the least apt to name “F&S” as hot. The Adults 18+ is our overall number, at 41.7% voting “F&S” hot.

      I hope this helps!

  1. March 22, 2012 at 5:48 pm
  2. April 12, 2012 at 11:55 am
  3. April 26, 2012 at 2:57 pm
  4. May 6, 2012 at 6:28 am
  5. May 7, 2012 at 2:21 pm
  6. June 14, 2012 at 11:40 am

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Home > Consumer Behavior & Trends, Monthly Consumer Survey > Hot Trends for October: Halloween, Kindle Fire HD…and Honey Boo Boo?

Hot Trends for October: Halloween, Kindle Fire HD…and Honey Boo Boo?

With the calendar flipping over to November and the holiday season right around the corner, let’s put official closure on October with a look at our “Hot or Not?” segment from our latest monthly survey.

While the holiday itself was a bit of a bust (#thanksSandy), the record number of consumers planning to celebrate this year BOOsted Halloween to the top of our list for October. The new Kindle Fire HD tablet followed closely behind [note: the Apple iPad Mini is currently up at bat in our November survey]. And while both operating systems scored well with consumers, Google’s Android platform eked out a victory over Apple iOS:

"Hot or Not?" for October 2012

Now trending on Forbes.com: The Aging Of Apple? Google Android Voted Coolest Kid On The Playground

Consumers also still seem pretty Taken with Liam Neeson, and The New Normal is looking pretty cool compared to hot competitor Modern Family. Ankle boots and skinny jeans look like they’ll make a trendy transition from fall to winter this year, particularly among women 18-34.

Finally, in what may have renewed my hope in the morality of U.S. consumers: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was voted little Miss “Not” Hot for October.

For more on what we found “Hot or Not?” for the month of October, plus other consumer highlights, check out this month’s video briefing:

Source: BIGinsight.com

© 2012, Prosper®

BIGinsight™ is a trademark of Prosper Business Development Corp.

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Nike Free: The Classic of Sport Shoes

nike free

Nike businessdeliversreleasedthe specificNo costconceptwithin2005as a wayregardingintegratingthistipsalong withimportant things aboutwithout shoesoperatingto bolsteryour feetpluslower limbsbecause of theprotectionand in additiongripwith theexercisingathletic shoes*in an exceedinglylight-weightpack.
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However, anytimeoperatingbarefoot, you have still gotregardinga couple ofcomplications. The road, pebbles, mug, and also otherrisks, which willalmost allpossess ahardareaalso, can causetinyleakpainsprior to theepidermisround thesingle thickens. And thenoccursthe specificscenarioto operatewithout footwearas well asexperience thespecific joint-protecting strengths, or perhapsplace onrunning sneakersin addition todefendthe specificftfrom theftviaaccidental injuries.The answerfor manyis often acrossbreedwithout shoessneaker. Right now, this sort ofbarefootoffersgave the impression tomake the best ofall possible worlds. Nike Free Running sneakersis really ameant topresent anrealwithout running shoesrunningexperiencehoweveryou might beactually shod. It truly is lightweight-only severaloz of, enabling you tomake awonderful “false impression” connected withjoggingwithout running shoes. Additionally it isaccommodating, so youwill notexperiencedrasticallyoppositionwhilstworking. Apart fromdefendingthe feet, like aitemslinked to Nike, yourshoesmassive, Nike Free Running shoesundoubtedlyget yourself atotallyelegantfaceas well asexperiencedcomplex high-tech. Featuring a no-sew capableplus man-made greater, Nike Free Jogging shoestrulyappears likea fantastic eidolon throughoutneeds. In addition, a newfoam mid-foot and also abottom fender have beenbuilt to dexterously providelowsalong with thehuman body, improving theactualjoywith regards towithout shoesrunning.

nike free sko

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StoneHill Tech was founded in 2007 with the vision of enabling small businesses across the country to use technology to more effectively grow, manage and protect their business.

StoneHill Tech provides a suite of IT management and support services, internet marketing services, hosting, data backup services, and professional services backed by a service team that is available 24/7, with national and international service delivered from our headquarters in southern Orange County, CA.

Our vision is to be Orange County's leader in Technical Services exhibiting ethical leadership and offering undisputable service and quality.

At StoneHill Technical Solutions, our values are to be: Ethical, Excellent & Evolving

As the name implies, Ethics is our primary core value. We believe trust is the foundation to building the right relationships both externally and internally. Externally, trust is critical because when a company is looking to outsource, it needs a partner who understands and takes care of its business, like it would itself. At StoneHill Tech, we know that taking care of your business is our business. We promise what we can deliver and deliver what we promise.

We believe that Excellence goes hand-in-hand with our commitment to good Ethics. There is no sense in delivering on time, without excellent quality. A job not done well, is a job not done. One way we strive for excellence is determining measures of success from the start. These benchmarks set everyone's expectations from the beginning on what is an excellent project. Throughout the project, we also are transparent in our progress updates with respect to these benchmarks.

Even the best companies have room for improvement. Companies that do not change cannot meet the needs of a business environment which continuously does. StoneHill Tech believes in continual self-examination and improvement. At a client level, "lessons learned" are run internally as well as externally. Even as a work begins, the client is asked to evaluate the presales process. Just as we are part of the customer's team, the customer is a part of ours.


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Listen to free music by Dj Yogurt & Koyas

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Listen to free music by One Day At A Time

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Listen to free music by Tom Petty

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badbabygirl So much is broken..I sent you a note..please fix..tyrb@blipfm: "Soooo....what is broken today? Give us a piece of your mind at support@blip.fm (reblip)
HN_ I like it looks cute on you. Have a fun weekend cya soon (reblip)
ellendiane this is me today @ the hair dresser & getting some puppy love as well- :) have a great w end @HN_ x
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Listen to free music by Wild Flag

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December 3, 2010 AT 9:44 pm

A port of the original 1979 Unix to modern hardware

Vcf 6.0 - Guy Sotomayor Exhibit

Fun – A port of the original 1979 Unix to modern hardware

The first public release of V7/x86, a port of UNIX Version 7 to the x86 (IA-32) based PC is now available. UNIX V7 was the last general distribution (around 1979) to come from the Research group at Bell Labs, the original home of UNIX. The port was done by Robert Nordier mostly around 1999 when “Ancient UNIX” source code licenses first became available, and was revised for release, with some enhancements, during 2006-7.

V7/x86 currently supports ATA (IDE) hard drives, ATAPI CDROM drives, a 1.44M floppy drive, and standard serial ports, in addition to the usual PC screen and keyboard. For easier installation and setup, supplied utilities allow access to CD (ISO 9660) and FAT (MS-DOS) filesystems. Most of the source code is available under a Berkeley-style license.

Pictured above, a PDP 11/45 running UNIX V7.

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1 Comment

  1. I used V7 UNIX extensively on PDPs in college in the late 70s/early 80s. I was once banned from running V7 in one lab because the OS had a tight loop which repeatedly burnt out core memory cards. V7 and the PDPs it ran on had no virtual memory. Think < .5 MIPS and < 64K of memory. We had a command line shell, ls, cat, sed, grep, etc.

    Later we got VAXs ( 1 MIP and 256+K of memory AND Virtual Memory (whoo hoo !). Those ran Berkeley UNIX. The first version of vi ran on them. My friend and I co-authored 'sudo'. Only the name survives; it has been rewritten from scratch by others several times.

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Georgia Organics

8 May

Georgia Organics is an association that is trying to support and encourage more production and utilization of organic food grown in Georgia. The State is not known for it’s organic practices compared to other regions of the country.

At Cedar House Inn we purchase organic free range eggs and organic milk for preparing breakfast dishes for our guests. In our area we also have an organic farm, Revival Gardens, who sells locally grown organic vegetables.

In a recent Georgia Organics ezine they asked reader’s the following question which I found interesting: What’s the single biggest obstacle to growing more sustainable farmers in the state of Georgia?

The Answers were interesting but not totally surprising and are noted below.

Low prioritization of university system – 20.8%
Lack of political will – 25.0%
Powerful special interests – 54.2%
Lack of training amongst cooperative extension service – 4.2%

I was dissappointed in the university system percentage being so high since as an ex college professor I expected,encouraged and experienced innovation.

Lack of political will in Georgia is not only a problem in Georgia among our lawmakers in organics but anything progressive or innovative. Lack of political will to take on nasty big coal for electrical generation is another Georgia political problem.

Powerful special interests is a real key problem in Georgia and around the country. Even Michelle Obama is taking heat for planting the White House garden with organics.

For more information on the Georgia Organic’s Association visit Georgia Organics.

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WebStorm 10.0.2 Bug Fix Update Available

The second bug fix update, WebStorm 10.0.2 (build 141.728), is available for download.

We’ve addressed a number of recent issues, bringing fixes and improvements in JavaScript, TypeScript and CoffeeScript support, Karma integration, and more. The whole list of the fixed issues is available in the release notes for 141.728 and 141.614.

We encourage everyone to update. The patch-update from WebStorm 10.0.1 is going to be available within an hour. You’ll get an automatic update notification in the IDE.

Please report any bugs and submit feature requests on our issue tracker.

Develop with pleasure!
– JetBrains WebStorm Team

About Ekaterina Prigara

Ekaterina Prigara is WebStorm product marketing manager at JetBrains. She's passionate about new technologies, UX and coffee.
This entry was posted in Release Announcements. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to WebStorm 10.0.2 Bug Fix Update Available

  1. Oz says:

    Will PhpStorm 9 be based on WebStorm 10.0.2?
    How can I tell which version of PhpStorm is based on which version of WebStorm?

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The Kaltura VPaaS Website – Behind the Scenes

We’ve recently launched VPaaS [Kaltura Video as a Service]. Our mission with VPaaS‘ is to significantly reduce time to market and make it simple to build video based applications and workflows, and grow quickly without worrying about the “video pipeline” – eliminating all of the complexities involved in handling both Live and VOD at scale: ingestion, transcoding, structured and time-coded metadata,

The Choice to Make: Deciding on Your Video Workflows and Experiences

When looking to add video to your product workflows, there are a number of choices you can make. On one extreme, your developers can create all the tools needed to handle video themselves: choose an infrastructure or IaaS, put together all the backend processes and front-end components required, and invest a lot of sweat and


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Web Scalability Practices: Bumper Sticker on Rails

June 23, 2008

This is the first post in a series on scalability using Ruby on Rails including an examination of the steps we took – some successful, some not so much – to scale Bumper Sticker to be one of the top four applications on Facebook. This time out, we’re going to give you a quick history of the Light Engineering Development (LED) team at LinkedIn and the creation of Bumper Sticker.

One of the best things about working for LinkedIn is the constant exposure to new technologies and challenges. While the majority of the LinkedIn infrastructure runs on Java, it’s no secret that we don’t shy away from other interesting languages and frameworks – we’re always looking for ways to make better software faster. This is the spirit that launched the LED group with the charter to see how quickly it could prototype new ideas and features using Ruby on Rails.

Interestingly enough, the most successful of LED’s Rails applications is one of its first – Bumper Sticker, the fun, viral media sharing application that allows users to express their individuality by sticking small, quirky, sometimes edgy, often humorous, rarely serious virtual stickers on each other’s (and their own) Facebook profiles.

Bumper Sticker started as a small experiment in August, 2007. Facebook had released their development platform while we were hard at work on our own. We were curious to experiment and discover some of the characteristics of an application platform built on a social network and to see what, if any, learning we could apply to our own efforts. After noticing that professional and business-related applications weren’t flourishing in the Facebook ecosystem, a few of our Product folks put their heads together while out for a run; one engineer, one week, and a few Joyent accelerators later, Bumper Sticker was born.

We’d be lying if we said that anyone was prepared for the kind of success Bumper Sticker has had since then … though we should have expected it, given the excellent Product team here at LinkedIn. Here's a quick snapshot of Bumper Sticker statistics at this moment:

  • 13.5 million installations
  • 1.5 million daily active users
  • 20-27 million canvas page views a day

All of this is served by:

  • 13 web application servers running nginx and mongrel
  • 8 static asset servers serving over 3,500,000 stickers, soon to migrate to a content distribution network (CDN)
  • 4 MySQL servers in a master/slave configuration using Rick Olson’s excellent masochism plugin

Ruby on Rails is frequently criticized for lacking the ability to scale. While the road to a billion page views per month has certainly had some potholes, Bumper Sticker has clearly demonstrated that the Rails platform can scale quite well, so as long as the team behind it understands that many of the bottlenecks are exactly those faced by developers on any other database-driven web platform. From an engineering perspective, Bumper Sticker could not be more perfect for developing a set of best practices for scaling web applications that exhibit unpredicted, unexpected, explosive growth.

Stay tuned! There’s much more good stuff to come.

Quick Update: Watch Ikai and Jim describe the genesis of the LED team and Bumper Sticker


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Angelina Stonecrop – Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’

sedum-rupestre-angelina_dbg_10200118_lah_7253xAngelina Stonecrop is a garden asset all year long. In summer, the low-growing succulent forms spreading mats of cheerful yellow-green, adorned with clusters of yellow star-shaped flowers. These blooms attract butterflies. But it is in winter that Angelina really shines, when those same fleshy leaves turn an incredible, brilliant orange, with subtle shades of red and yellow. The colors are so intense, the ground appears to be on fire. Such a show would be welcome at any time, but is especially appreciated when everything else is dead or dormant.

All the stonecrops are very easy to grow. They thrive in full sun, and tolerate dry, poor soils. Too much water will kill them. Hardy from zones 3 to 9, they tolerate our Colorado winters with no problem.  Pruning to control size may be done at any time; no other maintenance is needed. Even deer and rabbits tend to leave them alone.

Angelina Stonecrop is well-suited to rock gardens, especially where it has room to spread. The trailing plants will cascade over walls or the edges of containers. Or place it in front of the border, where its winter glow will complement the browns and golds of dormant grasses.

This entry was posted in Gardening, Plant Profiles and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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Help with Upfits from Ram Brand Engineers

Resourceful, ambitious, independent – if you own a business in our industry, there’s a good chance these characteristics apply to you. It’s also a safe bet that yupfit_impageou’re comfortable under the hood a work vehicle, not afraid to grab a wrench when basic maintenance is called for, willing (even excited) to perform the upfit yourself when after-market equipment would make your truck or van more suited for the job.

For those with the time, resources and inclination to perform their upfits in-house, our partners at FCA US LLC (formerly Chrysler Group) and Ram Trucks have made available a number of resources to help the work go more smoothly, including an extensive online Body Builder’s Guide and even a direct phone line to their engineering department in Auburn Hills (manned by real people!). In an effort to lend even more support, the Ram Brand is supplementing existing resources with a new video series featuring tips and advice from actual Ram Brand engineers.

Below are the first seven videos in the series, with more coming soon.

Wiring Snowplow Lighting
Description: Ram System Integration Engineer Paul Wright demonstrates the proper way to connect and wire snowplow lighting on all Ram pickup and chassis cab trucks except the Power Wagon®. Also included in this video is a tip from Paul for accessing accessory power in your Ram truck. Watch Video now.

Auxiliary Switches and Upfitter Wiring
Description: Ram Brand engineer Chris Borczon discusses auxiliary switches in Ram pickup trucks and chassis cabs, focusing specifically on how auxiliary switches work, how to program and how to connect them. Watch Video now.

Connecting LED Tail Lamps
Description: Ram Brand engineer Chris Borczon explains how to install LED lights to the rear of the Ram Chassis Cab in this video from the Ram Trucks Commercial Vehicle Team. Watch Video now.

Power Take-Off 101
Description: Ram Brand engineer Chris Borczon discusses all things power take-off (PTO), i.e., the source of power for your upfit. Subtopics covered by Chris in this video include vehicle self-tests as well as programming, wiring and connecting hydraulics to the PTO. Watch Video

Ambulance Prep Package
Description: Ram engineer Brock Wienczewski discusses the Ram Chassis Cab Ambulance Prep Package. Specific aspects of the prep package covered in this video include the tie-in points for heating and cooling as well as the high-amp power point and the VSIM module. Watch Video

Rear Park Assist Install/Operation
Description: Ram System Integration Engineer Paul Wright goes step-by-step through the assembly, installation and operation of the Ram brand’s rear park assist system. Watch Video

Vehicle System Interface Module
Description: Welcome to VSIM 101. In this video from the Ram Commercial Vehicle Team, engineer Chris Borczan explains the vehicle system interface module, aka VSIM, an exclusive feature that allows for upfit functionality without the need to cut into existing wires. Watch Video

Not an owner of a Ram Brand vehicle? Remember, NARI members, their household family members and employees are eligible for a $500 cash allowance toward the purchase or lease of select Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, Ram or FIAT® Brand vehicles. Visit the member benefits page on our website for more information.

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So, you have your first apartment ..

.. or still live in your Mom’s basement.

No need for the babe you met at the drive-in window of Jack in the Box to not think you’re a player who owns a crib with a view.

Well, finances, that is.

Teasing. This works for the player above, or for the artsy urbanite; Adam Frank brings us "Reveal":

About Michael Coates
I am a pragmatic evangelist. The products, services and solutions I write about fulfill real-world expectations and use cases. I stay up-to-date on real products I use and review, and share my thoughts here. I apply the same lens when designing an architecture, product or when writing papers. I am always looking for ways that technology can create or enhance a business opportunity .. not just technology for technology's sake. My CV says: Seasoned technology executive, leveraging years of experience with enterprise and integration architectural patterns, executed with healthy doses of business acumen and pragmatism. That's me. My web site says: Technology innovations provide a myriad of opportunities for businesses. That said, having the "latest and greatest" for its own sake isn't always a recipe for success. Business successes gained through exploiting innovation relies on analysis of how the new features will enhance your business followed by effective implementation. Goals vary far and wide: streamlining operations, improving customer experience, extending brand, and many more. In all cases, you must identify and collect the metrics you can apply to measure your success. Analysis must be holistic and balanced: business and operational needs must be considered when capitalizing on a new technology asset or opportunity.

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New Content on DataMarket

With the launch of our new marketplace yesterday we introduced a number of exciting new datasets – both public and commercial! Check out some of the great new data we have:

We also announced a list of datasets that you can expect to see soon (You can read more about them on DataMarket, but note the blue Coming Soon logo on the right of the page)

As we post more datasets to the site we will be sure to update you here on our blog… and be sure to check the site regular to learn more about the latest data offerings.

Note: Access to commercial paid offerings will be rolled out to all DataMarket accounts by November 22, 2010.  In the meantime, if you would like to request early access to paid offerings for your account, you can find instructions here.

- The DataMarket Team

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New Discovery: Largest “Structure” in Space!

An international team of astronomers claims to have found the largest known structure in the universe.

Dr Roger Clowes, reader in astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire and Professor Heather Couper, broadcaster, and a former president of the British Astronomical Association, explain.

The Simulation Theory

The Measurement That Would Reveal The Universe As A Computer Simulation

If the cosmos is a numerical simulation, there ought to be clues in the spectrum of high energy cosmic rays, say theorists

One of modern physics’ most cherished ideas is quantum chromodynamics, the theory that describes the strong nuclear force, how it binds quarks and gluons into protons and neutrons, how these form nuclei that themselves interact. This is the universe at its most fundamental.

So an interesting pursuit is to simulate quantum chromodynamics on a computer to see what kind of complexity arises. The promise is that simulating physics on such a fundamental level is more or less equivalent to simulating the universe itself.

There are one or two challenges of course. The physics is mind-bogglingly complex and operates on a vanishingly small scale. So even using the world’s most powerful supercomputers, physicists have only managed to simulate tiny corners of the cosmos just a few femtometers across. (A femtometer is 10^-15 metres.)

That may not sound like much but the significant point is that the simulation is essentially indistinguishable from the real thing (at least as far as we understand it).

It’s not hard to imagine that Moore’s Law-type progress will allow physicists to simulate significantly larger regions of space. A region just a few micrometres across could encapsulate the entire workings of a human cell.

Again, the behaviour of this human cell would be indistinguishable from the real thing.

It’s this kind of thinking that forces physicists to consider the possibility that our entire cosmos could be running on a vastly powerful computer. If so, is there any way we could ever know?

More here:

…and here:

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Trace Indian Mobile Number:

Intex Aqua Pro 4G Mobile Phone Specification Details, Features, Price in India

Intex Aqua Pro 4G

MRP Rs. 5,790
Rs. 5,140

Buy Now

Extra 5% off* on Axis Bank Buzz Credit Cards
Mobile Specifications

Intex company is offering Aqua Pro 4G mobile phone for the price of Rs.5,140. Intex Aqua Pro 4G mobile has 1.3 GHz, Quad Core Cortex A7 Processor & 4.50 inch screen with resolution of FWVGA, 480 x 854 Pix. Intex Aqua Pro 4G is available in Champagne, Blue color/s. This mobile phone comes pre-bundled with Android Marshmallow 6.0 Mobile Operating System.

ImportantProcessor-CPU1.3 GHz, Quad Core Cortex A7 Processor
Graphics Processor-GPUMali 400 - MP2
Screen Size4.50 inch
Screen ResolutionFWVGA, 480 x 854 Pix
Color OptionsChampagne, Blue
Operating SystemOperating SystemAndroid Marshmallow
OS Version6.0
CameraPrimary Camera5.00 Mega Pixel
Front Camera2.00 Mega Pixel
MemoryRAM1.00 GB
Internal Storage8 GB
Expandable upto32 GB
BatteryBattery Capacity2000 mAh
Network, Data, FMNetwork SignalGSM
SIM TypeMicro
Dual SIMDual SIM Stand-by (GSM + LTE)
FM RadioYes
Sensor ChipNavigationGPS, A-GPS, With Google Maps
DimensionsHeight135.00 mm.
Width66.90 mm.
Thickness9.50 mm.
Weight140.00 gm.
Unique Selling Points
  • TFT LCD Multitouch Capacitive Display
  • Dual Led-Flash with CMOS Sensor
  • 3-element lens with f/2.4 aperture
  • HDR, Geo-tagging, Panorama
  • Auto focus, Touch focus, Digital zoom
  • White Balance, ISO Settings
  • Digital image stabilization
  • Exposure compensation
  • Face Detection, Scene Mode
  • Tethering, Bluetoothe with A2DP
  • 4G & VoiceOver LTE Connectivity
Compare with any other Device
Bmobile compare mobile phonesCompare 'Intex Aqua Pro 4G' with Other mobile phones in same price range

Or compare with

    Number one website to search the specifications & price of any Indian Mobiles & Tablets. You can also compare any mobile with any mobile or tablet, new or old cheap or costly mobile phone. website is upto date with latest mobile specification database and expert mobile phone recommendation. Latest mobiles or tablets with weight, size, price and best options are added frequently.


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Trace Indian Mobile Number:

LeEco Mobile Phone Specification Details, Features, Price in India

LeEco Le2 Mobile Phone
Rs. 11,999
LeEco Le 1S Mobile Phone
Le 1S
Rs. 10,999
LeEco Le 1s Eco Mobile Phone
Le 1s Eco
Rs. 9,999
LeEco Le Max2 (4GB, 32GB) Mobile Phone
Le Max2 (4GB, 32GB)
Rs. 17,999
    Number one website to search the specifications & price of any Indian Mobiles & Tablets. You can also compare any mobile with any mobile or tablet, new or old cheap or costly mobile phone. website is upto date with latest mobile specification database and expert mobile phone recommendation. Latest mobiles or tablets with weight, size, price and best options are added frequently.


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The Trouble with TBN

Amid a flurry of scandalous accusations, ministries again face the question of whether to abandon or reform the broadcaster. From Christianity Today November print issue.

Amid the latest drama surrounding the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), should mainstream ministries seek reform or pull their programming?

Brittany Koper, the granddaughter of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch and its chief financial officer until September 2011, has accused network directors of illegally distributing “charitable assets” worth more than $50 million for their personal use. In response, TBN has filed half a dozen lawsuits nationwide accusing Koper and her husband of engaging in a smear campaign to divert attention from their own financial sins.

The filings recently prompted a California federal judge to threaten to brand the network a “vexatious litigant” because its lawsuits seemed designed to “overwhelm the courts … so as to avoid a rational decision on the merits.”

The Trinity Foundation, a group long critical of TBN, publicly called for ministries associated with evangelical icons such as Billy and Franklin Graham, Charles Stanley, Ron Luce, Jack Graham, and the late Adrian Rogers to withdraw from the network’s airwaves.

“It’s a spiritual and moral snake pit,” said Trinity founder Ole Anthony. “TBN uses these legitimate preachers to justify [its] existence.”


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Botanik in Light Blue Cushion Cover 45cm

Let this beautiful botanical print cushion cover inject some soft freash bright tones into your home. Printed onto 100% cotton base this would look great teamed with a pop of colour.

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Cairo: The City Victorious

Front Cover
Knopf, 1999 - History - 300 pages
1 Review
Al-Qahira: Her Arab conquerors called her "the Victorious", and over the course of her 5,000-year history Cairo has richly merited the name. The seat of pharaohs and sultans, the prize of conquerors from Alexander the Great to Saladin to Napoleon, Cairo has never ceased reinventing herself.

Max Rodenbeck, a noted journalist who has spent much of his life in Cairo, provides a dazzling cultural excavation of this most ancient and multifaceted of cities -- from its Pharaonic beginnings to its heyday as the most glittering metropolis of the Middle Ages, from its subjugation by the Turks and British to its emergence as the modern capital of Arab nationalism. Whether he is exploring a belly-dance theater or a medieval mosque, a hashish den or a dusty bazaar, Rodenbeck brings Cairo to life in all its chaotic beauty. A remarkable fusion of travel and history, Cairo: The City Victorious is an epic, resonant work.

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - christinejoseph - LibraryThing

Pg 21 — city's ceaseless urban racket casts an amnesiac spell — easy to forget how close the utter empty silence of the desert lies. lure of Cairo — old as place itself. Arabs think of Cairo as ... Read full review

CAIRO: The City Victorious

User Review  - Jane Doe - Kirkus

An exhaustively researched, thoroughly entertaining jaunt through the back alleys and teeming boulevards of Cairo, where the ancient world mingles daily with the modern. Rodenbeck, a Cairo resident ... Read full review

Dead Cities
Cities of the Dead

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About the author (1999)

Max Rodenbeck lives in Cairo.

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Zanzibar, Paperback Book

The year is 1998. Nick Karolides is a marine biologist working on coral reef protection off Zanzibar - the island of slaves, sultans and spices that for centuries has signified both the exotic and the malcontent.

He meets Miranda Powers and is soon embroiled in a terrorist conspiracy.

  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Faber & Faber
  • Publication Date:
  • Category: Thriller / suspense
  • ISBN: 9780571205172

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£20 or over


text:
Desserts, Food

Kentucky Derby Pie Bars

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, we had to celebrate with a yummy dessert! These Kentucky Derby pie bars are a perfect blend of a chocolate chip cookie and a slice of pecan pie. With a dollop up vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of bourbon sauce to top it off, this treat is a winner at any event! Happy Eating!

Kentucky Derby Pie Bars

Cookie Crust:

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3 Tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup whole pecans

Bourbon Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 Tablespoons bourbon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Cookie Crust:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
  3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until creamy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time.
  5. Slowly beat in flour mixture.
  6. Add water, and beat to combine.
  7. Stir in chocolate chips.
  8. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
  9. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

For the Filling:

  1. While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the eggs, flour, salt and bourbon until mixed through.
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.
  4. Pour over the cookie crust.
  5. Bake about 45 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. If the top starts to brown, cover with foil.
  6. Allow the bars to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

For the Bourbon Sauce:

  1. While the bars cool, make the bourbon sauce.
  2. Whisk together the heavy cream, bourbon and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Combine the brown sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
  4. Bring it to a boil.
  5. Once it begins to boil, whisk until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and turns a light golden color.
  6. When you see that it has started to turn that golden color, slowly pour in the heavy cream mixture, whisking quickly.
  7. Continue to heat over medium-high heat until mixture has thickened and is a light caramel color. About 5 minutes.
  8. Remove from heat.
  9. Once the bars have cooled, cut into squares and serve with a scoop of vanilla sauce and a drizzle of bourbon sauce poured over top.

Enjoy! XO, Carrie

Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest

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4G. The UK lags behind

Update: The UK operator EE (Everything Everywhere), a partnership between Orange and T-Mobile have announced they will be offering 4g to customers in 16 cities by the end of the year. The UK operator Ofcom allowed the roll-out on their existing 1800 MHZ band ahead of their competitors, particularly O2, who would have to bid for the channel when the government announces their auction. More here: http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/articles/everything-everywhere-reveals-uk-lte-launch-plans/25232?elq=fbaeda07d3784a24868b558af464bced#.UE8lQL3vvxo.twitter

In the UK we’re still waiting for our 4G. If the network operator data caps are anything to go by, 3G is creaking under the strain. However, in spite of early promises for the Olympics, it looks like the UK roll-out for 4G will take a while. Ofcom, the regulator won’t decide on how the spectrum will be sold until summer 2012. Then there’s the auctions. Then there’s the roll-out itself. When will we actually see 4G in the UK? 2014 would be my guess. In the meantime, the best solution seems to be O2’s one, which is to install WiFi hotspots for their smartphone users.

Other countries are way ahead. The US has tended  to lag behind other developed countries when it comes to mobile, but they’ve had it for over a year. So have Canada, and the obvious advanced mobile countries including S. Korea, Japan and most of Scandinavia. That’s all well and good, but a number of countries who would be considered less advanced in the mobile space are also starting to implement 4G. The include Bangladesh, Cameroon, Peru, Fiji, South Africa, Ghana, Jamaica and Nigeria. As has been predicted, it looks as if some up and coming countries will leap-frog their more mobile-mature counterparts with new, super-fast mobile connections. And when everyone can get high speed internet everything changes.

Spam SMS and the Operators: what can they do about it?

All the evidence points to a rise in spam SMS. 42% of people in the UK have had an accident claim spam. Add in the other unsolicited marketing messages and it’s fair to assume that more than half of the population have experience SMS spam. And most people blame their operator for it. So why does it appear that they are doing very little to tackle the problem? Why can’t they just filter out these messages?

Some conspiracy theorists have suggested that the operators have an interest in keeping spam going because:

  1.  They earn money from the messages
  2.  They sell the data in the first place

Unfortunately for these theorists neither of these things are true. The messages are typically sent using PAYG SIMS with an unlimited SMS plan. It is therefore better that messages are not sent – they earn money from the top up, and not the message sending itself. When it comes to their data, it is not in their interests to sell it. This would be a pretty fundamental breach of the Data Protection Act – both the fines and damage to their reputation would be far in excess of any revenue from selling numbers. In fact, when some T-Mobile employees sold customer data out the back door, the company informed the police and two people were prosecuted. The biggest reason though is that dealing with spam costs the operators a lot of money. They need a considerable customer service resource to do this.

So, given that it is far better for the operators to be spam free, why can’t they stop it?

First of all, the spammers don’t make it easy to stop. They use multiple PAYG SIMS in a SIM bank. This allows up to 300 cards to send messages via one server. The spammers even spoof IMEI numbers and handset types to make it look like individual phones are sending the messages. However underlying all of this is the fact that operators cannot view the message content by law. Whilst some nameless organisations were happily hacking into mobile phone voice mails, the operators can neither listen in to calls nor look at a text message.

In spam terms this means they have one hand tied behind their back. Still, they have methods of detecting spam – looking at things like message length, originating and IMEI number ranges all helps identify the spammers, but as these constantly change, it is also not easy. In one case in the US the spammers put their SIM bank in a van and drove around to different areas, ensuring that the base station sending the messages constantly changed.

So is there an operator solution?

There are two ways the spammers can be stopped. The first one is by using software, much the same as email spam software. Whilst a human cannot look at message content, a computer can. A good algorithm can identify spam not just through key works, but a whole series of patterns from the sender ID, to the base station, frequency or IMEI number. The second part of the solution is the one that works the best – get customers to report spam. They are the best at identifying it, and if the process is made easy, they will willingly do it.

If it’s so simple, why don’t the operators filter spam already?

Some do, but not all of them. In the UK the amount of spam you get will very much depend on your operator (I won’t name names). However, as one of them put it to me; ‘we didn’t think spam would be a problem’. Naïve? Certainly. But welcome to the world of mobile operators. They are focussed on running big engineering operations for calls, SMS and data and on provider customer service. They can also work at a glacial pace. It’s hard to implement things quickly within these vast organisations. Whilst the spam software can be implemented in a few weeks, it will take an operator years to put it in place.

The other side of this is consumer reporting: if customers tell them when they get an unsolicited SMS it is possible to close the spamming numbers quickly. The timescale to stop the SIM banks is within an hour as around 85% of people respond within that time. Unfortunately at the moment there are two problems with this: firstly consumers don’t know how to report spam. There is a shortcode number for all the operators, but it’s hard to find it. Secondly, the current systems in the operators means that it takes a minimum of three days to close down a number (and typically one week).

In Korea there was a similar problem with spam. They solved it by getting the handset manufacturers to add a ‘this is spam’ link to all of the phone messaging menus. Simple and effective.

Why aren’t they working together?

The biggest issue preventing an operator solution in the UK is that the operators don’t want to publicly admit there is a problem. The primary reason is competition. If one operator puts spam high on their priorities, they are worried that others will simply say they don’t have a problem with it. In many ways, that doesn’t make sense. Most customers are aware of receiving spam, but it would seem that this competitive fear is stopping them from tackling the problem in the best possible way – with the help of their customers. In the end though, they are on a hiding to nothing. At some point, the government will want to legislate. They may happen sooner rather than later if someone in the government gets one of the infamous messages. And when governments legislate around technology, the outcomes are far worse and more draconian that industry legislation. In Canada there is now a fine of $1 million PER MESSAGE for unsolicited SMS. Whilst there are initiatives from the GSMA to monitor and stop spam, it is optional for operators (and they need to pay for the service).

Hopefully that problem will end soon. Representatives from all the UK operators have both discussed the spam problem around accident claims messages, and agreed to give their customers the same advice. I say hopefully because in spite of giving that information to the operators, as yet none of them have updated their site, or publicly admitted to unsolicited messages being a problem. Things move slowly in the world of mobile networks. Very slowly.

Former T-Mobile Employees Fined for Stealing Customer Data

Fines totally £73,000 against two former T-mobile employees raises some interested issues about data protection prosecutions. The two were fined for theft of customer data. This took the form stealing customer data, including contract renewal dates, which was then passed to a company set up by the former T-Mobile marketing manager. There was an attempt to launder the data, with the addition of other non-T-Mobile customers, which was then sold on to marketing companies. Over half a million of such records were sold. Many T-Mobile customers will have experienced calls, usually from abroad, claiming to be from the company and asking about their contract renewal.

The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) took the lead in the prosecution. An interesting aspect of this was that the fines were made under the Proceeds of Crime Act for confiscation costs, rather than a fine under the DPA (Data Protection Act). The culprits received sentences up to 18 months, which were suspended on the condition of the fines being paid. It would seem that the ICO and the courts are now taking the issue of data protection seriously. Prior to the end of May this year, the maximum fine for a breach of PECR was £5000, and it would seem a similar amount under the DPA. Since 25th May 2011, fines under PECR and DPA are now £500,000.

There is no connection between this case and the epidemic of accident claims texts; the stolen data was specific to T-Mobile whereas the claims texts appear to be across all of the UK operators. Although the T-Mobile case involved theft of information (DPA) and the accident claims messages are a breach of permissions (PECR) it is good to see that the courts are taking these kinds of breaches more seriously.

Mobile Broadband: it’s broadband, but not as we know it

With the increase in mobile broadband usage, Ofcom has carried out a series of test to find out how fast it really is. Whereas fixed-line broadband offers average speeds of 6.5 mbits (0.5 seconds for the average web page), mobile has just 1.5 mbits (8.5 seconds for an average web page), although some networks achieved speeds of over 2 mbits. It’s fast enough to be called broadband, but slow when compared to fixed line broadband. O2 came out the best in the studies, and Orange performed the worst (no comment from them). Mobile broadband is on the rise, with 17% of households now using it, and 7% using it exclusively for internet access. Two years ago it was just 3%.

Ofcom concluded that mobile broadband speeds would remain significantly lower than fixed lines until at least 2013, after which new channels will be rolled out.

More on the Ofcom report here.

Operators need to ebrace apps for new revenue streams

A new report from PwC called Embrace New Revenue Sources: Living in an Apps-driven World, suggests that in the future just 50% of operator revenues will come from text and calls. The remainder of their revenues need to come from other sources such as apps. So how’s that going to work?

The problem for the operators is this:

They have little chance to increase their call/sms/data revenues. Most people are on the package they want, including their data, and don’t feel they should pay any more for it. They also expect a free (or cheap) new phone every 18 months. Yet, the operators are having to provide more and more service for that package. At the same time, their little extras have been eroded: inter-network calls, roaming charges and data charges have all been limited by legislation.

To some extent they have no choice but to get into other revenue streams such as content and apps. The problem for the operators is that they’ve already tried apps and it didn’t work. Contrary to some perceptions, Apple did not invgent the AppStore. The operators were at it a few years before Steve Jobs launched apps on iTunes. Stores such as Vodafone’s Betavine and O2’s revolutions put apps in front of their customers. The problem with them, however, was two-fold:
Firstly from the content provider perspective it was expensive. As one developer put it, ‘it would cost £1000 to get in there, and you had about one weeks’ visibility. Unless you had a major hit on your hands, you would lose money’. Apple changed all that with their appstore, going from a B2B to a direct to consumer model, where the developer received a revenue percentage rather than paying to be there.

Secondly, there is the problem of the consumer relationship. People don’t see their mobile operator as a place for content, but more as a utility company to provide calls, texts and access to that content. The operator portal was a classic of this: users tolerated it as it was the first port of call, but they only used it as a jumping-off point to the things they really wanted. When it came to promotion on these portals, if you weren’t on the first page (the Top Deck) you were basically nowhere.

The biggest problem that the operators now have to face is that the consumer relationship for apps and content is now with the operating system: Apple’s iTunes, Android Market, BlackBerry World and Nokia’s OviStore. Changing people’s perception of operators as a utility will be hard, if not impossible to achieve. In the long-term the only solution for content revenue is to create tie-in’s and joint ventures with the OS app stores.

Operators are NOT the place for mobile marketing

An Orange Shots campaign for Snickers

Who are the media owners/media channels in mobile these days? Is it the operators or is it the app stores and social media owners such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Most agencies and brands would regard the latter as the place to buy their media. However the operators would like us to think different. Some mobile networks have made valiant attempts to create their own direct marketing channels, namely Orange Shots and O2 More. Both have a reasonable number of opt-in customers who receive marketing messages on behalf of companies. Whilst there are problems with the media planning and buying in these channels, they have a certain amount of brand appeal. Operator revenues are increasingly squeezed so these channels offer a potentially valuable source of income.

However, according to a YouGov report this week, it would seem that consumers are less than impressed with the idea. In short, over 80% of those surveyed said it was unacceptable for operators to include third party offers in their mobile marketing. Consumers will accept a limited amount of brand marketing on their mobiles: 38 per cent said they would want no more than one per month and 31 per cent saidless than that. 14 per cent were prepared to receive offers up to twice a month, but there was a significant difference between the ABC1 (8 per cent) and C2DE (20 per cent) demographics. The study found that whilst consumers are happy to accept a certain number of offers from their mobile phone companies, such as offers on new tarrifs or handsets, when it comes to third party marketing, they are risking alienating them and pushing them to other networks.

More on the YouGov report here.

The problem with mobile video

I have never been convinced by mobile tv, or even mobile video, for that matter. Whilst there are some people who may use it, it’s pretty small and niche. This is primarily because the true TV experience is so much better, well established and easy to use. It is also a shared experience.

The other problem with mobile TV and video is bandwidth. Even if the demand was there, the networks simply could not cope. To deal with this, Derek McManus, CTO of O2 UK recently explained in a press release that the company was investing to cope with the growing demand for mobile data services, such as those demanded by the iphone.

He said:

“In the past 12 months the mobile industry has seen an unprecedented change in demand. The introduction of world-class devices, in combination with a wide variety of data applications, has brought about a dramatic change in customer behaviour and created an exponential demand on mobile data networks. To put this in context, watching a YouTube video on a smartphone can use the same capacity on the network as sending 500,000 text messages simultaneously.”

I’ll repeat the last line in bold:
To put this in context, watching a YouTube video on a smartphone can use the same capacity on the network as sending 500,000 text messages simultaneously

Brands, may be looking to deliver content-rich video and applications, but this could present a problem for networks. If it is to go anywhere then there needs to be the bandwidth.


text:
The Creative LowDown

Brett May

What does it mean to be Creative? Think long and hard about it. Is it picking up a pencil or paintbrush and making a few strokes here and there? Is it looking at a computer screen for countless hours editing the next big Coke-Cola commercial? Maybe its putting together words to form a pattern thats going to impact the entire world. Heres what webster has to say about it:

creative |krēˈātiv|

adjective – relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work : change unleashes people’s creative energy | creative writing.• (of a person) having good imagination or original ideas :

For me, I see creative with the click of the shutter. Do a little Click’ Click’ with that Snap’ Snap’ if you know what I mean. (Something one of my Professors said) But make something awesome. I want somebody to look at my work, double-take, stagger back and say “Damn thats cool”. But by no means is that my soul motivation. Art is a funny thing because its worth nothing, but then again its priceless. So why do it?  I’m a photographer because I love what I’m doing. “Do what Love, Love what you Do”. Its a real simple concept, but even I screw it up. Its all where your priorities lie. My professors drilled into from day one that photography is not about art, money, and cool equipment. (although they’re apart of the deal) Photography is about Problem solving. You find yourself confronted with a task, you take your knowledge and experiences and you apply them to get the job done. The more you do it, the better you get. The best part is you can be Creative in how you get the job done. I’m not going to have the same answer to creating a photo that somebody else might shoot differently. Maybe my style doesn’t fit your idea; No biggy. We’re still friends and I can learn something from it and grow. Photography is forever changing so Learning and Growing is vital to survival. So what makes you Creative, What pushes you to that next level? Go make something cool!

One response

  1. danbaileyphoto

    Brett, I got some traffic to my blog from your site, so I decided to come over and pay your site a visit. Really nice work! I like your imagery, and I really enjoyed reading this post on creativity. I’m fascinated with the ideas and concept of creativity and how we apply it in our photography and in our general lives as well. Thanks for linking to me and keep up the good work! -Dan Bailey

    July 29, 2010 at 11:39 PM

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Response: As We May Think – Vannevar Bush

Mind-warpingly amazing.

Touching on many currently available technologies such as the camera, voice recorder/playback, video,calculator, etc., the most impressive description is that of the “Memex” and how accurately he describes the process of a search engine. The fact that in 1945 Bush described certain technologies that only within the last few years have become universally used – windows and tabbed browsing, histories, bookmarking, tagging, suggestions, wikis, and blogging – is unbelievable.

His initial argument is also interesting, in that he argues for the scientific exploration and production of these new recording technologies as necessary. With the abundance of press and record loomed the possibility that the proper information might “become lost in the mass of the inconsequential.” It’s of course necessary to point out that, historically, war has always been a catalyst for new scientific innovation, and this was written at the end of World War II.

One last bit of information that I almost overlooked was his mention of universal language. The creation of a universal language could mean leaps and bounds forward for the sharing and aggregating of good and necessary information. Translators can only begin to do part of the work, as his argument was for a universal language in recording information. HTML and XML do this to a certain extent – but formatting can only go so far.

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Linear combinations of squares

How many pairs of integers (not necessarily positive) are there such that both \(a^2+6b^2\) and \(b^2 + 6a^2\) are both squares?

This problem is proposed by Shivang.

Details and assumptions

You may choose to read the post on Gaussian Integers.

You may submit original proposed problems to

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text:
You see, Its moving finally!

Congratulations! You just bought a brand new iron rod that has a length of 1 lightyear.

Now, suppose you pushed one end of the rod.

How much time (in seconds) will pass before you see that the other end moves?

Speed of Light,\(c_0=3\times 10^8 m/s\)

Your eye can see anything at any distance, so you don't need to worry about that!

You must use this Resource for the standard data -Engineering Tools Box

Its suggested that you solve Dinesh Nath Goswami's Will it Move?

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text:
The right fit!

Well its been a little bit quiet over here the past few weeks.  I have been standing at the proverbial fork in the road trying to decide on what direction to go in.  What’s right and what’s next.

When I started this Blog it was purely as an extension of my business; the home-ware range that I started about 10 months ago.  Everybody you speak to says “you must Blog!”   So I did.  But unlike my business I didn’t make a plan, I just started with a couple of Handmade Design posts featuring gorgeous pieces I had found over at Etsy and Made It and off I went!  Now don’t get me wrong – this will still happen, just not to the extent that it was. Along the way there was some random posts giving the readers a very brief glimpse of Justine but you really could only see her if you shone a very bright light in her direction.

by NH Woodchuck

Trees in the River Bottoms / NH Woodchuck

So I have ended up here.  Wondering what to do and what you would like to see.

You may know that for many years I have worked within the Home-ware, Furniture and Interior Design industries in some form or another – retail chick, GM, designer, everybody’s bitch!  And even though none of those where the right fit I still had an immense love for the industry; and still do.  Discovering new product, interacting with designers and buyers, finding out what you loved and what you didn’t; these things made me smile. But you see I am not the most “in your face” person.  I don’t shout how wonderful I am (even though sometimes I may think this)  It’s not easy for me to say “look at what I am doing” like some others are.  I sort of hope that what I do and what I am speaks for itself.  But alas thats not always the case.

People are time poor, distracted, tired, easily led, or just walking thru life with blinkers on.  So they don’t always see what you want them to see. Sometimes they will only like something or follow someone if somebody else does first. They only  buy or download music once a (paid) DJ tells them how great it is. They only “like”something on Facebook if 10 of their friends have first.  This is definitely a great way to discover new things and to test the waters but at some point we have to make our own decisions and form our own opinions.  No matter how left of centre they really are.

But I am going off on a tangent here – so I better get back on track! And quick.

Japanese Maple in the Fall / Gary Liddell

I have always prided myself on loving the things I love, for my reasons.  How it makes me feel and what it makes me think.  I don’t always do things like you would.  I have an analytical side and a creative side, and sometimes they like to fight with each other.  I am accepting, understanding, nice, full of ideas but sometimes at a loss as to how to make them real.  I have an extremely diverse range of interests and loves.

Some you will like, some you won’t. But thats OK.  Tell me what you like and what you don’t.  But also tell me why.

So from now on you will start learning about the things I love, what’s captured my attention and my heart.  Because this is about my journey and what comes along for the ride are the things I love.  Sometimes it might seem a bit random but it will always be me.

Just xx

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