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Ho Ho Ho, Guess What’s Just Round The Corner?

It’s that wonderful time of year when the leaves begin to turn, the nights get a little longer and you suddenly have a very strong craving for hot chocolate or mulled wine.  But as the winter clothes start to litter shops up and down the high street so too does the faintest of jingles. Yes, Christmas is creeping in fast and we are all too aware of the impending doom which is Christmas shopping!  But fear not, Cuckooland has a blog for you.  Let us guide you through our top early Christmas gift ideas which will take away the hassle and stress of pounding the pavements of the nearest high street. Say bah humbug! to last minute shopping and enjoy a thoroughly festive few weeks in December, safe in the knowledge that you have everything sorted before hand.

Gifts For Her

Choosing a Christmas gift for a woman is no easy task.  Women seem to either love or hate pretty much everything with little middle ground.  However, there are some Christmas gift ideas which will never fail to please a woman, you will often see these items on the high street but we have the very best quality to offer and trust us, your lady will know the difference between a cheap knock-off and the real deal.

The Voluspa Maison Noir Black Figue Chypre 2 wick Scented Aromatic Candle is by far one of the most luxurious candles ever created.  Nestled in a stunning black, red and gold casing, this delectable candle will perfume a home with the highly aromatic and luxuriously creamy rich blend of currant & black fig infused with hysteria chypre. For a lady who loves pure indulgence this is the perfect gift for her.

christmas gifts for her

It may be something of a cliche, but it stands to reason that slippers are a preferred gift of choice for many woman, especially at Christmas.  No lady wants cold feet during the winter months and the super soft Faux Fur Slipper Boots by Helen Moore are sure to keep her toes nice and toasty.  These slipper boots are incredibly soft, handmade in the UK and feature a deep Sherpa fleece lining.

christmas gifts for her

Gifts for him

Where woman are hard to buy for because of the vast amount of choice involved, men on the other hand suffer from the opposite. Fella’s have fewer loves when it comes to gifts, typically they have all the gadgets and gizmos under the sun and a knitted jumper is simply out of the question. So what do you get the man who has everything he wants/needs?

Well, he may have all the tech he could possibly need but what he doesn’t have is any means of keeping that tech safe from the harm of clumsiness.  If his iPad is so scratched looks like it took a trip through the blender we recommend the Berkeley Tweed Apple iPad Case.  The Berkeley Tweed Apple iPad Case is crafted from hopsack tweed giving it a very trendy look and the soft grey micro fibre lining will ensure that his iPad is protected from any bumps or scratches.

christmas gifts for him

If slippers are cliche for women then cufflinks are the equivalent for men.  However, he will still no doubt compare who has the best Christmas  cufflinks in the office.  So deck your other half out, James Bond style with a set of silver plated bullet cufflinks by Solo.  Yes, you man will look every part the sophisticated spy in the office with these stylish accessories.

christmas gift for him

Gifts for Kids

As a parent you will already be bombarded with Christmas gift ideas on the television for children.  Every single kids show is followed by a nauseating tirade of adverts for the latest doll, action figure or gadget.  So how about something completely different for your little ones?

The Tennyson Rocking Horse and Glider is a spectacular one-of-a-kind rocking horse which features a stunning walnut stained swinging stand. The beautiful horse has a fantastic textured chocolate and cream woven body, a soft faux suede mane & tail and adjustable stirrups for a truly authentic look. The Tennyson Rocking Horse will make a wonderful christmas gift for any toddler and will be loved for many years to come.

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Every princess needs a castle and we have just the thing with the Princess Castle Playhouse by Win Green. Featuring fairytale lilac turrets, embroidered with pink blossom, dragonflies and bumblebees, this play tent is sure to enchant your little princess and all her friends. The play tent even comes with a storage bag so it can be used as both an indoor and outdoor play tent.

girls christmas gifts

And so concludes our first Christmas gift ideas blog and congratulations, just by reading this blog you have officially started your Christmas gift search.  We do hope you have enjoyed our suggestions.  Be sure to continue to check our blog for more inspiring gift ideas this festive period.

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Category Archives: Announcements

Jump to any item: item finder

With Dynalist’s file finder, you can already jump to documents and bookmarks pretty painlessly.

Wanna see something cooler? Here’s our latest Pro feature: now you can jump to any item!

It’s exactly like how the file finder works. You search for the item, navigate the results if necessary, and press Enter. Voilà! You’re there.

The shortcut to invoke item finder is Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+O, which you can customize.

Note: This is a Dynalist Pro feature.

P.S. Since there are way more items than documents and bookmarks, you might run into some funky search results. If that happens, please let us know on the forum so we can tweak the search algorithm. Thanks in advance!

Year in review 2017

Happy New Year, everyone! We can’t believe it’s 2018 already!

2017 flew by pretty fast and below is what we added to Dynalist during 2017:

In 2018, we want to focus on:

  1. Making the Dynalist experience more seamless. That means you should be to gather information into Dynalist more easily, shuffle and rearrange items more easily, and export to more formats and third-party apps.
  2. Ironing out small issues here and there to make Dynalist smoother.
  3. Making Dynalist more extensible so that people can develop for specialized use cases on top of Dynalist.

End of year 50% off sale

Happy holidays! 2017 has been an awesome year, and we’re grateful to have you guys around.

To celebrate, Dynalist Pro is now 50% off with the code XMAS17. The code is valid until 11:59 PM EST on January 4, 2018 (2018-01-05 04:59 UTC).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this discount stack with the early bird pricing, for those who subscribed to Dynalist Pro before July 15, 2017?
Yes, these two discounts stack.

Does this discount stack with the student discount?
Unfortunately, this discount does not stack with the student discount.

Can I take advantage of this sale if I’m already a subscriber?
Yes, you can unsubscribe from your current plan first, and then subscribe again with the XMAS17 code. Don’t worry, you won’t lose any of the remaining Dynalist Pro by unsubscribing.

Is this discount one time only or lifetime?
This discount is one-time only, and the renewal price will be back to normal once your discounted Dynalist Pro expires.

Is there any restrictions on this discount?
Each account can use this count once to get 50% off either 1 month or 1 year of Dynalist.

If I still have Dynalist Pro left and subscribe with the promo code, when will I get charged?
Since this is a limited-time offer, you will be charged immediately rather than when your current Dynalist Pro expires. Say if your Dynalist Pro expires in April 2018, after subscribing to the yearly plan with the promo code, you get charged right away and your Dynalist Pro gets extend to April 2019.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

PSA: line break issue fixed

Note: if you do not use line breaks in items or notes, this change will not affect you.

Have you ever hit return and found it not working? Upon hitting Enter again it works. You might suspect it’s something wrong with your Enter key, but the culprit is actually the browser.

Basically, when you pressed Enter the first time, it worked, but the browser decides that it should hide the last line break, if there’s no text following the line break. This has caused a host of bugs in Dynalist.

We’re fixing it today by automatically appending an invisible line break (hidden by the browser) at the end of each item and note, so that the line breaks that you make will always be visible.

The consequence is that for all the text that you’ve entered line breaks in, there will be an extra line break at the end of the text.

To fix this, we’ve temporary added a new option to each document called “Clean up newlines”. It will remove all the extra trailing newlines in this document, for both the items and the notes.

This option will be available for a month, so clean up your line breaks now before the new year comes! 😊

Feel free to let us know in the comments or via feedback if you have any questions or concerns about this.

v1.1.17: a huge mobile update

Recently we worked on improving the Dynalist mobile app with a laser-sharp focus, and v1.1.17 is our first step!

Released in the Play Store today, v1.1.17 will arrive at the App Store shortly. This update features:

  • Share text or URL directly to Dynalist inbox. This is only available for Android right now, and be sure to set up your inbox beforehand. Unlike using a shortcut to capture to inbox on web and desktop, this feature is not a Pro feature and anyone can use it.
  • Sort tags in the tag pane.
  • Fixed issues with back button for Android only.
  • Fixed checkbox being hard to tap on.
  • Slimmer item toolbar for more screen space.
  • More intuitive Lock Mode UI.
  • Allow single tap on folder name of toggle expand or collapse it. Before, you need to tap on the tiny triangle toggler icon to toggle it.
  • Added exit button for the date picker interface. Before, if you accidentally opened the date picker, there’s no way to exit it.
  • Fixed Ctrl key sometimes gets stuck when using an external keyboard with Dynalist.
  • Removed collapse/expand buttons in Search Everywhere results since they don’t make sense.

There are still tons of mobile improvements waiting to be done. Stay tuned for our next big mobile app update! 🤗

See your changes: version history

Have you ever wanted to find deleted content or check who made changes? Now you can do that!

Meet our latest Pro feature: version history.

To see the version history of a document, right click and choose “Version history”. On the left, you’ll see the list of revisions, and you can click on “Load more” if you’re looking for earlier changes.

After you select a version in the left sidebar, you’ll see the “Before Side” on the left. The Before Side shows the state of the document before a certain version is applied. On the right we have the “After Side”, and it contains the state after applying the change. You can choose to hide the After Side by toggling the checkbox in the top right corner.

On the Before Side, removals are shown in red, and on the After Side, additions are shown in green. By clicking any item on the Before Side or After Side, you can export it. The export interface allows you to export to three formats (formatted, plain text, OPML), or download HTML or OPML files. To navigate from the export interface to the version information, click on “Back to version” at the top of the export interface.

We have some ideas in mind for future improvements on this feature, but would love to hear what you think as well. Feedback are welcome in the comments or on the forum!

New 50% off student discount!

We were students just a while back too, so we totally get it that students sometimes don’t have the money to support their favorite tools, even if they want.

So today we’re announcing our new 50% off student discount!

It’s simple to apply for a student discount: use your school email address to send us an email. If the email you used to sign up is your school email, the in-app feedback option works too.

In the email, include the following:

  1. Name of your school;
  2. Your expected graduation year;
  3. The email you signed up Dynalist with, if it’s not your school email;
  4. (Optional) A few words on how you plan to use Dynalist Pro 🙂

The student discount needs to be renewed every year.

If you have any questions about the student discount, or want to extend your free trial before taking advantage of the discount, just let us know!

P.S. Early bird pricing is stackable with the student discount.

PSA: shortcut changes

The motivation

As some of you may know, we’ve been wanting to tweak our default shortcuts for some time now. There are three major reasons:

  1. Some shortcuts conflict with typing certain characters in certain keyboard layouts such as French and Polish. Examples: Ctrl+Alt+1 and Ctrl+Alt+3, since Ctrl+Alt is equivalent to AltGr on those keyboard layouts. Our current workaround is to provide an option to choose your keyboard layout, but honestly it sucks because it’s hacky and unintuitive.
  2. Some shortcuts conflict with browser default shortcuts. Example: Ctrl+L is used to go to address bar in Chrome, but in Dynalist it formats text as LaTeX.
  3. Some shortcuts are not usable on Mac. They input a character and is never captured by our system. Example: Alt+C to toggle checked items.

The solution

Our solution is to change all of the problematic shortcuts at once, to avoid having you guys adjust multiple times as we iterate on this, hence this PSA. The following is what going to change:

Removed but still customizable

  1. Toggle checked item visibility (previously Alt+C)
  2. Toggle notes visibility (previously Alt+N)
  3. Insert LaTeX (previously Ctrl+L)
  4. Make heading 1~3 (previously Ctrl+Alt+1~3), clear heading (previously Ctrl+Alt+0)
  5. Make color label 1~6 (previously Ctrl+Shift+1~6), clear color label (previously Ctrl+Shift+Backtick)

  1. Make checklist is changed from Ctrl+Alt+C to Ctrl+Shift+C.
  2. Make numbered list is changed from Ctrl+Alt+N to Ctrl+Shift+X.

  1. Toggle heading, which is Ctrl+Shift+H.
  2. Toggle color label, which is Ctrl+Shift+L.
  3. New shortcut to add strikethrough or mark text as strikethrough. It’s empty and customizable.

Changes can be a bit hard to adjust to at first, and we hope you can bear with us! The existing conflicts have caused much confusion and annoyance, which is why we’re changing them for the better.

Thanks for reading!

2017/08/28 outage postmortem

For those not familiar with the word “postmortem” in our context, it’s a report after a serious incident that explains the causes of the incident and comes up with ways to prevent such incidents in the future.

Background info: Dynalist was slow and sometimes inaccessible from 2 AM to around 2:28 PM EDT on August 28, 2017. No data was lost.

Link to the postmortem (analysis): click here.

We’re really, really sorry for this incident and the inconveniences it caused.

Capture stuff to your inbox!

As promised at the end of 2016, one of our focused areas in 2017 is to make capturing information into Dynalist easier. Now we’ve made the first step towards it: capture to your inbox!

It’s really simple: set an item or a document as your inbox by selecting “Set as inbox” in the menu. Then, invoke the capture screen with Ctrl+Shift+I (I for “inbox”), type your thought, and hit Enter. Voilà! What you just typed will be sent to your inbox item.

The capture feature is Pro-only, but free users can set an inbox location for future capture features too (e.g. a Dynalist clipper/capture browser extension).

We hope you like it!

Footnote 1: The shortcut for invoke the capture screen is customizable under Keymap – General too.

Footnote 2: This feature will come to the desktop apps soon.

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AR-Assisted Software Development

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Software development has always been the meeting point for technology enthusiasts and process experts who endlessly opine about the best ways to go about it. Paradigms, methodologies and techniques have changed over the years. Whether it is the Kanban system or Aspect Oriented Programming, it all comes down to achieving more efficiency and meeting that often elusive deadline with a robust product.
Topics: Augmented Reality AR

DevOps for improving productivity and software reliability

Now-a-days, DevOps is very popular buzzword in the IT industry and is gaining good traction by companies to adopt DevOps culture and practices to improve software delivery and reliability.

Topics: Benefits of DevOps DevOps

Tech stories handpicked for you - Week 30, 2017

Most efficient cloud migration techniques

Moving huge amount of data to cloud can be risky and expensive. Enterprises who are struggling with cloud migration seek for options that are effective in terms of flexibility and cost. These tips can really help in smooth, secure and cost-effective cloud migration.

Read more:

Topics: big data analytics cloud migrations Sharepoint Online Enterprise Mobility SharePoint Framework

Understanding headless digital commerce

Digital commerce has been impacted by all the changes and trends in technology, ever since it took shape and form. The earliest entrants of digital commerce are leading a new trend today that might lean towards the future of this industry. This new trend ‘headless digital commerce’ is promising in the face of lightning fast changes in consumption channels and the competitive UX landscape.

Topics: ux Magento Digital Commerce Headless Digital Commerce

5 steps to enhance the reach of your SCORM content

The SCORM standard is still an important option that organizations consider while devising their training agendas. The courses that are then churned out with much hopes of boosting productivity, engaging the workforce and at least, meeting training milestones, are often seen going ‘out of fashion’ quickly. It is not just the evolving content needs that render the existing course outdated. Skilled instruction designers are able to garner all the training requirements and extrapolate them to ensure scalability. This way, the content stays relevant even going ahead. But then, SCORM courses have begun sporting frighteningly low shelf-lives.
Topics: SCORM SCORM Offline Player SCORM content

Spark versus Hadoop and using them in collaboration

Now-a-days, whenever we hear the word “Big Data”, two words comes into our mind: Spark and Hadoop, and the question that arises is which one should we use. Before debating over Apache Spark and Apache Hadoop, let us understand the architectural difference between them that decides their speed while dealing with different applications.
Topics: Hadoop Apache Hadoop spark

Tech stories handpicked for you - Week 29, 2017

How to make sure your cloud is secured?

Cloud computing offers lot of benefits that include cost savings, streamlined management for critical information and data processing. However, with all these benefits enterprises must make sure that their cloud environment is secure as well.

Topics: enterprise collaboration tools Big data cloud computing Enterprise Mobility

How the world of e-Commerce payments is evolving?

When the first e-commerce transaction was made in 1994, little did we know that one day e-commerce would rule the industry! Today, it has become an indispensable component for all the business units. It has cast huge impact on the way we shop today and has led to the formation of a whole new industry of e-commerce businesses and support services. According to latest statistics, global e-commerce is predicted to grow at around 19 per cent CAGR up to 2020.

Topics: e-commerce digital payments

Accelerating your digital-transformation journey with Artificial Intelligence

The momentum in digital innovation in today's digital game is seen coming not only from newcomers born in digital era but also from the traditional biggies - read Tesco, GE and Amazon of the world. Large enterprises are making a conscious push to transform themselves from digital followers to digital transformers. For business leaders, the coming years will be only about determining the right technologies to keep their place in the digital world. AI is that one technology which is catching the attention like wild fire.

Topics: Digital Tranformation Artificial Intelligence AI

Best Salesforce tips to simplify the life of enterprises

Salesforce, a renowned customer relationship management software offers numerous features and capabilities that help enterprises to develop customer relationship and build loyalty among them. It also enhances their sales and manage their customer contacts effectively.

Though Salesforce provides enterprises with lots of benefits, managing the platform can be complex at times. However, below are few tips to help enterprises in effectively managing their Salesforce software.
Topics: Salesforce Salesforce for enterprises

Conversational UX will drive next wave digital transformation

2016 witnessed what we call the ‘Big Bang’ of conversational services. Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook introduced a new paradigm of computing experiences that welcomed the new wave of digital transformation. One of the important changes that marked the new wave of digital transformation was the shift from traditional GUI-based digital products to more customer-centric products, leveraging human-centered design while adopting a rapid experimentation mindset. This has led to the emergence of the need for Conversational UX.

Topics: ux Digital Tranformation Conversational UX

Elements of B2B ecommerce success

Today when we speak of ecommerce, we usually think of the conventional, consumer-based online shopping sites. Little do we know that these B2C ecommerce sales are almost half of the B2B ecommerce sales! So, what exactly is covered under this beast called B2B ecommerce? B2C and B2B are two types of commercial transactions where B2B stands for business-to-business. B2C is a process for selling products directly to consumers while B2B involves selling products or services to other businesses. When the transactions are carried online, it takes the form of ecommerce. It is important for the businesses to implement the right system for their customers as B2B and B2C differ fundamentally in complexity, scope, scale and cost etc.

Topics: B2B B2B commerce B2B customers

Technology stories that are worth - Week 28, 2017

What are the best practices of cloud risk mitigation?

If you are considering cloud migration, it is essential to carefully choose a service provider. This process involves various stakeholders including members from IT, legal, business and finance. Enterprises must also consider the risk associated with the cloud migration.

Topics: Big Data technologies cloud migrations SharePoint Enterprise Mobility Cloud Computing Mobile Transformation Power BI

A look into Salesforce IoT cloud

Topics: IoT Salesforce Cloud IoT cloud

Opportunities for organizations in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era

Your journey in the AI era is determined by many factors, only if you are watching closely the many facets of AI, you can also see that AI brings with it an entire constellation of opportunities. I wanted to know what the future of AI would look like, and the opportunities they could bring. So I reached out to our experts who work in this space to ask what their thoughts are. Our experts explain how AI will change the way we work and also change the future of productivity. Their thoughts were insightful.

Topics: IoT Big data Digital Transfrmation Artificial Intelligence AI

PSD2 is pushing European banks to innovate

The change that first triggered in 2007 is about to complete the circle soon in the form of Payment Services Directive (PSD2), disrupting how Europeans transact and finances are operated in Europe. Bill Gates once said, "Banking is necessary, banks are not." PSD2 is going to transform the banking sector which is known for regulation, compliances and incumbency.

Topics: API PSD2

Strategically managing the governance

Corporate governance has become a buzzword in recent times, as the businesses are now paying more focus on balancing profitability with sustainability. It is quite a difficult concept to explain, although easy to define, which says, it is the act of balancing the interests of an organization’s shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community.

Topics: 10 success mantra’s Corporate governance Strategic management

3 P’s of effective team engagement

In today’s team centric era, team members expect the talent management team to anticipate and meet their needs in real time.  At e-Zest, engagement is all about encouraging the team members to interact, share their expectations and experiences like an extended family.
Topics: Employee engagement Team engagement

Making the Operational Excellence – Digital Transformation Story Real

How does your organization define digital transformation? Especially when your digital future is heavily tied to your workforce efficiencies. Many enterprises are aspiring to find Operational Excellence Through ‘Digital Transformation’ whereas Operational Excellence itself is a stepping stone to Digital Transformation.

Topics: digital transformation operational excellence Operations

How blockchain will disrupt Digital Commerce?

In January, news broke of a card hack at Neiman Marcus where the hackers were able to access the debit and credit card information of customers who shopped at this chain between the 16th of July, 2013 to the 30th of October, 2013. In a similar case, a hotel franchise management company that manages 168 hotels in 21 states suffered a data breach that exposed hundreds of guests' debit and credit cards information in 2013. There have been many more such incidents of data breach in the past.

Topics: Technology Blockchain Digital Commerce

Getting started with ReactJS

Topics: JavaScript React ReactJS

Big data in digital commerce

The evolution of big data and analytics have brought enormous opportunities for digital commerce industry. The large number of audiences offering massive amount of raw data are enabling digital commerce industry to add value and enhance the customer experiences.

Fundamentally, big data follows two initiatives in digital commerce world. First is bringing in new opportunities and second is nurturing the existing and core value chains. By leveraging these approaches, digital commerce enterprises can expand their offerings and improve customer satisfaction.

Topics: Big data Digital Commerce

Tech stories handpicked for you - Week 27, 2017

Enterprise cloud 2017

Today every enterprises are heavily investing into cloud market. Considering the year 2017, enterprises prefer Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) i.e. enterprise cloud. It provides an ability to manage virtualization and storage by integrating various services.

Topics: Big data Enterprise Mobility Cloud Enterprise Cloud SharePoint communication sites

3Es to enable effective employee engagement

In today’s VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) environment, trust and care are the buzzword. More predominately with millennials generation, it is one of important expectation from organizations. Our motto at e-Zest is to engage, encourage and enable our team members to contribute in most positive way.
Topics: employee management Employee engagement

The basics of how digital commerce works

No one is accurately aware of when mankind started trading! From horses to ships, from trucks to airplanes, the need to trade goods has shaped some of the best innovations for mankind. With more and more ideas shaping up the business arena, digital commerce is one trend that is slowly concurring the enterprise world. So, what is digital commerce or digital commerce? Put in simple words “Digital commerce involves buying and selling of goods and services by the use of internet, mobile networks and other commerce infrastructure.”

Topics: Digital Commerce Challenges of Digital Commerece Digital Commerce platform

Ways to develop an excellent SharePoint intranet

We were all excited about the recent SharePoint 2016 release including the innovations and enhancements offered by it. The hybrid search, cloud, new user experience and OneDrive features have raised the bar for SharePoint as an intranet platform.

The new feature suite in SharePoint 2016 is definitely great but enterprises often face difficulties on the user front. There is nothing to do with the platform but the tricky point is implementation. This kind of issues generally spoil the reputation of SharePoint.

How can you make sure the SharePoint intranet implementation is hassle-free? We understand every organization follow different methodologies but here we have shared few common approaches applicable in every scenario. Follow them and have a great intranet platform.

Topics: Hybrid SharePoint 2016 SharePoint Framework SharePoint intranet

e-Zest successfully sponsors the Global DevOps Bootcamp, 2017

Bootcamp 2017.png

The Global DevOps Bootcamp takes place once a year on venues all over the world. It is built on the foundation of local organizers and locals. This time the Global DevOps Bootcamp was organized by e-Zest Solutions in Pune. It provided a global platform for different communities and professionals passionate about DevOps on the Microsoft stack to come together to learn about the latest trends. Professionals collaborated and shared knowledge around the DevOps methodology and various Microsoft tools such as Visual Studio, Azure and Xamarin in this event.

Topics: DevOps News & Events Technology

SaaSification for Big Data application

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“Products as a Service” or “Software as a Service” models have innate abilities to potentially scale and be cost effective for both the service owners and the consumers. They also boost the ability to effectively manage the business operations & management services. In one such instance, we have a customer with an on premise Big Data (Hadoop) based application which they were interested to offer as a Multi-tenant SaaS based solution. The customer pressed for a solution that would induce zero to minimal code changes in the existing platform’s codebase. Other specific requirements consisted of having a relatively lower cost of cloud infrastructure per customer while enabling automated on-boarding of new tenants.

Topics: PaaS Hadoop bigdata SaaS Saasification

New technologies shaping new user experiences for digital commerce

‘Are you being served’, a popular sitcom in 1971 that ran for around 14 years, defined the shopping mall culture as we know it today. However, ‘are you being served?’ question today gone far beyond the mall. Newer technologies are being invented constantly and are used innovatively by marketers that keep shaping our buying experiences. We are at the cusp of interesting time where infusion of the technology in the form of Personal Assistants like SIRI/Amazon Echo, AR, VR, AI, machine learning, speech to text and IoT in the buying process is about to explode.

Topics: ux Technology User Experience VR AR Digital Commerce

Innovation updates from SharePoint Virtual Summit 2017

At the time of SharePoint Virtual Summit 2017, Microsoft shared latest developments for SharePoint and OneDrive that include powerful integrations across Azure, Office 365 and Windows.

Topics: SharePoint Framework SharePoint Virtual Summit

Microsoft Inspire - A place to be in every July!

Microsoft Inspire Social media banner2.png

Friends, last year I attended Microsoft World Partner Conference (now known as Microsoft Inspire) in Toronto. It was full of energy. Watching CEO Satya sharing the new Microsoft, the new vision that he is set out for, listening to CEO Jeff Immelt from GE and executives from other great companies was a great treat. It was a carnival- carnival of thousands of individuals who are passionate about making a difference using Microsoft technologies and I was immersed into that for all the days. Cherry on the top was regional offsite to Nigara, a peculiar way to have knowledge-fun balance.

Topics: Microsoft Microsoft Inspire

Key payment trends enabling the digital commerce industry

Importance of payment in digital commerce

Payment is the fundamental need for any online transaction. Payment entails the exchange of monetary information, funds and services between various parties. In the context of digital commerce, it forms an embedded agreement encompassing goods delivery and services including post-sales support and all liabilities and risks.

Topics: Digital Commerce Payment Trends

Ways to create a successful e-commerce strategy

Impact of dynamic e-commerce system on businesses

With the advent of digitization, the e-commerce system is transforming. Considering the past decade, the varying e-commerce paradigm has generated massive confusion amongst businesses that are willing to establish and optimize a successful e-commerce strategy.

Topics: e-commerce

e-Zest Solutions is digital experience engineering company with facilities in the United States (Detroit & San Jose), Germany (Hannover), United Kingdom (London UK) and India (Pune) with global clientele. Our services include custom software development, offshore software development, UX consulting, BigData, Managed cloud Services (Azure & AWS), SharePoint consulting/Migration, Enterprise Java application development, Automated software testing services.


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How guide dogs weather the storm

Photo of Beth and her previous seeing eye dog Harper making their way through a shoveled, tunnel-like path.

The cold and snowy weather last week had a lot of people asking me if my seeing eye dog Whitney likes being out in winter weather. Truth is, she doesn’t have much choice. Poor guide dogs, they never get a day off work!

The snow started falling in Chicago last week, and it was still coming down days later. The American Federation of the Blind devotes a section on its web site to traveling in winter weather:

Winter weather is often more time consuming, more physically and mentally tiring, and possibly more fraught with danger than traveling in good weather. The cold often brings personal discomfort, making it difficult to concentrate and learn during travel or mobility lessons. Your toes, fingers and ears are particularly at risk. To protect your extremities, it is necessary to plan one’s clothing and equipment well beforehand.

When I was a kid, I thought it was magical the way snowfall muffled the sound around you. I still do. But on my walks with Whitney the past week, it just wasn’t the magic I was looking for.

Enough snow fell to mask the audible cues I use to navigate the city. Commuters who could see trudged through the Loop (downtown Chicago’s business district) with their heads down to avoid the snow pelting their faces. This would have been fine if they all had dogs like mine to guide them, but they didn’t. Whitney was on her own, weaving me around the blinded commuters in our path.

And that wasn’t all: snow accumulated between the raised, circular bumps I’ve come to rely on to tell me we’re at the edge of a curb ramp, so I wasn’t always exactly sure where we were. The further we got away from the Loop, the fewer pedestrians crossed our path. I’d stop. Listen. No footsteps in the snow, no sounds of shovels, nobody there. Panic. Where were we?

All I can do when this happens is take a deep breath and remember what trainers drummed into our heads when my blind peers and I were first learning to work with our guides: trust your dog. “Whitney, forward!” I hold on tight to her harness, follow her lead, and before long we’re at our destination, safe and sound.

As the snow begins to melt now, salt on the streets is the problem—it gets into Whitney’s paws, and stings. Thank goodness for booties. Whitney’s gotten used to wearing them now, and I’m getting used to compliments, too. Strangers on city streets gush when we pass by. “Awww! Look!” they exclaim. “That dog has shoes!” It makes me smile, and I picture those strangers smiling in the snow too. My dog is more than a guide, she’s a therapy dog, too. “Good dog, Whitney!”

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  1. Whitney weathers the storm | Safe & Sound blog Says:

    […] have a part-time job moderating the Easter Seals blog, and today we published a post there that I wrote about guide dogs and winter weather. I thought you Safe & Sound blog readers might find it […]

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Reese Witherspoon Attended Camp Monterey

Hey, Campers!

Today’s blog post features Reese Witherspoon who, at one point, was a summer camper, herself, at Camp Monterey—an All Girls camp in Tennessee. But it wasn’t long before she landed her first feature role as the female lead in the movie ‘The Man in the Moon’. She was only fifteen when she starred in it.

That same year she made her way onto television for the cable movie Wildflower. reese witherspoonAppearing in roles here and there throughout the rest of the nineties, she hit a pivotal point for her career in 2001, playing the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and then again two years later in Legally Blonde 2.

Reese has been in other box office hits such as Sweet Home Alabama, Twilight, and she won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role alongside Joaquin Phoenix all for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in the biopic Walk the Line.

Reese has seen success since she turned seven and was selected to be a fashion model for a florist’s commercial. This gave her the motivation to take acting lessons and eventually pursue her acting career.

She’s known to be expressively proud of her Southern upbringing that taught her responsibility, good manners, and “a sense of family.” She’s also known to be a method actor in her films. That means that she tries to act out her roles in her own everyday life—not just in front of the camera.

It’s easy to see that Reese is very passionate about her acting career. When she starred in the movie, Election, she may have played her character too well. After receiving a rank on the list of 100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time, she found it difficult to find work.

She even commented about her struggle, “I think because the character I played was so extreme and sort of shrewish—people thought that was who I was.” Wildly successful, Reese Witherspoon is one of Hollywood’s timeless actresses.

Until next time, Campers!

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Living with diabetes is very complicated.

Checking your blood sugar multiple times a day.

Juggling multiple medications, many of which leave a constant threat of the dreaded low blood sugar.

Counting carbohydrates and managing exercise levels.

Diabetes is a challenge. Every. Single. Day.

Here at Fit4D, we understand just how complex diabetes is. When our Founder and CEO, David Weingard, first started this company, the mission was simple – Help improve the lives of those with diabetes. But with so many aspects to coordinate 24/7, this “simple” mission proved to be quite a challenge in itself.

Flash forward a few years and Fit4D has helped improve the lives of tens of thousands of patients around the country. By using our innovative technology platform, we are able to get patients the answers and help they need directly from some of the world’s most well-trained Certified Diabetes Educators.

Improving the care that people with diabetes receive is not something that can be done simply with fancy gadgets and mobile applications. The real core of what Fit4D does is in the hearts and minds of those who provide the thousands of hours of one-on-one coaching every single day.

Enter our Fit4D Blog – an opportunity to hear directly from our Certified Diabetes Educators, a chance to learn from the best, and a chance to get to know those that provide such valuable help on a daily basis.

We look forward to telling our story, and we hope you find some value in what we have to say.

If you have suggestions, comments, questions, or simply want to give our CDE’s a pat on the back, drop us a line at bklein@fit4d.com – we would love to hear from you!

For more information on our team, check us out at www.fit4d.com


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The World's Largest Free Load Board

Plus Free Freight Broker Credit Reports

Landstar Load Board

Is the right load board for you?

Landstar (LandstarBroker) is an online truck load board that focuses on quick and easy freight matching online. The online load board allows its members to quickly set up and manage load alerts, search for loads and post available trucks. This particular truck board has a variety of minimum requirements that members must meet with before qualifying for an account. Applicants must have a minimum of $100,000 coverage for motor cargo, a minimum of $1,000,000 of auto liability cover and the auto insurance provider must be A.M. Best Rated B+ or better.

About Landstar Load Board (LandstarBroker)

Landstar Load Board is an online load board that is certainly not new to the industry. It is a no-frills that offers and motor carriers the opportunity to connect in a place with little to no risk. Members must be qualified to join the network so risk is kept to a minimum. The company’s slogan “post it, find it, move it’ simply illustrates the quick and easy process that this online freight matching service offers.

How Landstar Load Board compares with Free Freight Search? is the world’s largest and currently has over 50,000 registered members. All load board freight matching services are free to all members and more than 75 million loads have been posted on since its inception. Members enjoy free email alerts when a load or truck is posted that matches their criteria, fully integrated freight bill factoring, access to credit reports on freight brokers, and more. Motor carriers can receive payment upfront when they pick up loads marked with the Platinum broker guarantee. Whether you are a motor carrier, or shipper, has a wealth of services and benefits to boost your business.

Both Landstar Load Board and are great load board sites to use. Here’s a breakdown of what each site has to offer you:

Landstar Load Board Features

  • Let freight find you by setting up and managing convenient load alerts.
  • Quick and easy searching for loads.
  • Let agents and freight brokers find you by posting your trucks.
  • Free mobile application.
  • Brokerage commissions and fees vary

What you can do with Landstar Load Board

  • Use specific criteria to identify available loads.
  • View and manage load details including stops.
  • Use “favorites” for repetitive quick searches.
  • Freight bill related status updates. Features

  • FREE load board for motor carriers, freight brokers and shippers.
  • Search for trucks and loads in your own time, 24/7
  • Make use of a fully integrated freight bill factoring

Freight brokers, shippers and motor carriers can all benefit from

  • Post an unlimited number of loads and trucks
  • Receive funding upfront when you accept loads posted by those who have earned the site’s freight broker’s Platinum status.
  • Review over 10,000 broker credit reports.
  • Brokers can reach motor carriers often missing from paid subscription .
  • Receive email alerts when a load or truck is posted that matches your location and criteria.

Get Your Free Account on Load Board Today!

To gain access to all these FREE freight load board benefits, register on today! Take your freight business to the next level! Learn more by visiting our FAQ section.

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 Foreclosure Prevention | Home Foreclosure Prevention

Loan Modification Requests Imploding in California

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

California loan modification requests continue to be reported with increasing volumes.  Many California homeowners need jumbo mortgage refinance loans, but they do not qualify as the jumbo lending has tightened significantly. Governor Schwarzenegger implemented another California foreclosure moratorium to help distressed homeowners in his state, but is it helping? Many Wall Street analysts covering the home-builder [...]

Refinance or Modify with Obamas Making Home Affordable Program

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Zions Bank and Keller Williams Real Estate are sponsoring an information session on June 9th to inform people about refinancing and loan modification options with President Barack Obama’s Making Home Affordable program.   According to Mike Barnes, most home owners will qualify for some part of the foreclosure prevention program. He calls it exciting and beneficial. [...]

Home Foreclosures Rise in U.S.

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Home foreclosures continue to rise and attorney generals across the U.S. want federal bankruptcy codes amended to allow judges to modify home loans in an effort to help homeowners remain in their houses.  Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard along with state attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, [...]

California Foreclosure Laws

Monday, January 5th, 2009

The judicial process of home foreclosure starts with the lender filing a Notice of Default.  The lender files a lawsuit to get the local court force foreclose, is used when no power of sale is present in the mortgage or deed of trust. However, the State of California has mandated that mortgage lenders and mortgage [...]

Hope Now Reports Record Loan Modifications in October

Friday, December 12th, 2008

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors announced last week that they had set a record in October for the number of foreclosures averted.  The home preservation alliance company said that its mortgage industry members had prevented 225,000 home foreclosures during that month, 13,000 more than the record set in [...]

Florida Foreclosure Prevention Program Gets $11.5 Million

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Florida has received $11.5 million through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act approved by Congress in July.  Gov. Charlie Crist said in a statement that the grant money will be used to continue foreclosure prevention counseling and legal assistance with loan modification plans to homeowners in foreclosure. Nearly 77 counseling agencies and organizations around the [...]

Arizona Homeowners Fighting with Foreclosure Prevention Tactics

Monday, October 27th, 2008

To help homeowners facing foreclosure find alternatives to losing their homes, an alliance of cities, national organizations and lenders is setting up shop for an afternoon.   Preserving homeownership is the goal, said Patricia Garcia Duarte, chairwoman of the Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and president and chief executive officer of Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix, [...]

California Company Launches Foreclosure Prevention Program for Military

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

San Diego-based You Walk Away, a company that helps families facing foreclosure, has instituted a new program called the Military Walk Away Protection Kit. This foreclosure prevention program is based on the federal law called the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), helps members of our armed forces who received loans while on active duty stave [...]


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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Drupal Caching

Drupal Caching

If your content was all static you would not need Drupal. However even the most dynamic of web sites have content chunks that are repeatedly shown to the users, and that’s where caching comes in.

Beyond Drupal – before we begin.

This post does not cover database-level query caching or PHP opcode caching: those are two separate topics deserving an analysis by experts. For those curious about the subject, there is an excellent presentation “Accelerating PHP Applications” (the only option it misses is my beloved eAccelerator).

memcached is another interesting mechanism: it works very much like a database cache, but it can be shared over a network (imagine a “cache server”), and it does not suffer from mySQL’s habit of dropping a table’s cache every time the table is changed. There is a price though: it’s up to you to make sure that memcached data has not grown stale. There is a module for using memcache with Drupal instead of the standard cache.

Drupal itself has several built-in and optional caching mechanisms, so I decided to sort it out here.

An ode to Drupal developers: much thinking and discussion has gone into the impossible task of creating this infinitely configurable yet still speedy CMS. Before you complain, check out the prior discussions and efforts like this, and then go ahead and propose an improvement (if you are in it just for the impotent bitching, go buy yourself a commercial product).

As of version 5.0 Drupal enjoys a pluggable cache system.

What is cached by Drupal?

  • sessions
  • variables
  • menus
  • blocks (not by default)
  • nodes ( = content) and comments

It would appear that the site admin cannot directly control caching of sessions and menus.

Partial Solution: DEVEL module has in its block an “Empty cache” item. This is a “total purge” option: it clears all caches. Very useful for developers.

Standard Drupal Caching assumes that only logged-in users need to see up-to-the-second content, and so the nodes (but not the blocks) seen by the casual visitors are cached.

“Aggressive” caching option is incompatible with many modules, and does a very good job ofmaking the danger clear to the admin. If just one of your modules is incompatible with aggressive caching, you have to switch it off.

However, this compatibility test is not perfect. It is possible for a module to raise the flag, yet pose not danger to aggressive caching (this has to do with some contributors using a potentially invasive hook for rather benign, yet extremely useful, applications). So, if you discover that your favorite module is “incompatible” with aggressive caching, do check around before mourning.

The cache itself can be a source of a slowdown: the most popular mySQL engine, myISAM, does table-only locking, and if your site really grows it will become a problem. The solution for large traffic sites is to move often updated tables to INNODB or similar engine.

Throttling is the ideological opposite of caching: instead of showing your content faster, it throttles (switches off) some blocks when you site is under high load, thus making Drupal work less. Throttling is built into the standard distribution, but you have to enable it on per-module basis (under Site Building -> Modules). It is a good last line of defense.

Contributed Modules

Block Cache

This module creates a cached version of each block. Block caching happens separately from page caching and so it will work for logged-in users whether or not page caching is enabled for the site. Cached blocks make just one call to the database and can therefore reduce the overhead required to render blocks that require complex queries and/or calculations such as some Views or Taxonomy-related blocks.

The module is very flexible in terms of fine tuning. I have yet to hear about a high volume site that does not use it for at least some blocks.

This module uses Drupal’s pluggable cache system, but instead of a database it caches static pages as local files. This can give yor site one hell of a performance boost.

The cached pages are intelligently expired when the page contents are updated. However, block updates are not caught in the same manner, which is why the module also enforces a regular cache expiration triggered by cron. This means that as far as the visitors are concerned, the content of the blocks on your site will change only so often (once and hour if your cron runs every hour, more often if you shorten your cron gaps). – It’s a classic trade-off of speed versus flexibility. You decide what your needs are.

On the surface Boost is very similar to fastpath_fscache. It uses file caching and has been documented in great detail here, here, and here. Boost uses same pluggable cache system and, just like other modules, limits its field to the anonymous users, but architecturally its author has intentionally left space for caching for the logged-in users (possibly with personal per-user cache). – I am vary curious what comes out of this.

Boost promises higher performance than similar fastpath_fscache because it uses Apache mod_rewrite so that when a new request arrives, if the page has already been cached Apache serves it out without ever touching Drupal. So for non-authenticated users it’s just Apache serving static pages bloody fast. (The downside is that you cannot run it on Windows or on any Web server that does not fully support mod_rewrite. Sorry.)

It is also possible to have Boost file cache shared by several Web servers in a cluster, over, say, NFS. (Just remember to balance the IO).

There has been an interesting report of Boost working together with Memcache module where Boost handled anonymous user pages and Memcache took care of the logged-in users.

APC – Alternative PHP Cache

APC is two things. First it is an opcache and second it is a memory based cache. This module only handles the latter. This module overrides the built in caching in Drupal and uses memory based caching instead of database based caching.

Many people love and use APC – it is reliable and mature.

The only questions I would have before installing this module are:

  • can I also use APC as an opcode cache? How?
  • will it interfere with a different opcode cache?

Memcache API and Integration

The concept of memcache is deceptively simple: it’s a daemon that listens on a TCP port and accepts (or serves) key/value data. The data itself is stored in RAM. That’s it.

From this simple idea great possibilities arise, allowing to replace/augment a database cache, create and manage multiple cache “buckets” shared among clustered servers over a network, et cetera, et cetera.

The Drupal module takes an existing Pecl extension and plugs it into Drupal’s caching interface. Since the interface is standardized, memcache plays nicely with Boost and Advanced Cache (see below).

Even more importantly, it does not force you to give up your database cache – you can still have both (thus feeling safe about a power outage).

The installation looks scary, but it really is not as long as you follow the instructions. And the effort is worth it, since memcache can help you with some items not handled by file cache solutions, and thus improve logged-in user experience.

Advanced Cache

The advanced caching module is mostly a set of patches and a supporting module to bring caching to Drupal core in places where it is needed yet currently unavailable. These include caching nodes, comments, taxonomy (terms, trees, vocabularies and terms-per-node), path aliases, and search results.

Without Advanced Cache module, once a user logs in, the caching stops, because the content is considered too user specific to cache effectively. Just think of all the permutaios of blocks, personalization, keywords and stats! Now add the dangers of accidentally giving users access to cached content they are not authorized to view: a disaster in the making!

Advanced Cache patches Drupal to add very sophisticated cashing of information “atoms”, and keeps track of a whole lot of relevant restriction data. In my honest opinion, this functionality truly belongs in Drupal Core.

The module not only allows you to improve the experience of your logged-in (i.e. regular) users, it actually works well with the existing caching backends like memcache.

The installation is not for the timid, but if you are building a highly (but not overly) dynamic site with lots of logged-in users… you got to consider Advanced Cache.

The Bottom Line

  • Caching cad do miracles and turn an apparently sluggish site into a playground of joy.
  • You can apply caching outside Drupal: at the Database, for PHP code, and in the Web Server (see Apache2 mod_cache).

In Drupal:

  1. Start by playing with built in cache (basic and advanced) and throttling
  2. Deploy Block cache (intelligently!)
  3. For a site with lots of anonymous visitors consider fastpath_fscache.
  4. For a more sophisticated installation, Boost is its bigger brother.
  5. For memory caching APC is very straightforward.
  6. Memcache is state of the art, but you must be prepared to actually focus on the deployment – it is not a 3-minute fix.
  7. Advanced Cache, possibly with memcache (and even Boost?) is as sophisticated as it gets these days. But if only few of your visitors ever log in, it may be an overkill. Think of it this way: are you desperate enough to patch the core code?

I’d love to know what worked for you. Drop me a note!

Mike Carper said...

Nice article. I would like to point out that with the 6.x version of Boost it works with windows & is better behaved.

Unique Cameo Necklaces said...

Thanks for the tips. They worked great. Needed the extra support to get the job done. thanks again.

Richzendy said...

Very good article,This makes me confirm that drupal cache variables, thanks a lot


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IndyLive mobile app now available for Android

Back in March 2015, Kevin Gibney floated the idea that we needed an IndyLive app as part of our strategy to bring more people to our livestreams. We needed some technical help, so the call went out.

indylive app
Get the app

Step forward, Dave Murchison of Jott Social Media who had been responsible for the Wings Over Scotland app launched on 15 March 2015. It has been a pleasure working with Dave to bring Kevin’s mobile app idea to fruition. You can get hold of our app for your android devices by clicking on the icon to the right or simply searching the Google Play Store for INDYLIVE.

So what can you do with the app?

IndyLive App Menu
The app menu
The app gives you the easiest access to our full archive, showing first any currently live broadcasts and any featured events we have highlighted. You can search our archive and mark any favourite livestreams among your Saved Events for future reference. You can also show any Nearby Events which will list any upcoming livestreams taking place within 30 miles of your current location, should you wish to go along in person. All our blog articles are also available to view in the app. Notifications from the app will alert you when a new event has been scheduled, a livestream is about to go live or a new blog article has been published. The Archived Events screen currently lists the 30 most recent livestreams available to view and Upcoming Events shows what events we have coming soon. When you tap on the summary for any event, you’ll see the full details and if there are videos available you can tap the play icon (at the top) to view the selected livestream in your device’s browser or the Livestream app if configured to auto-launch with URLs.

See also

NewsNet app
Get the Newsnet app
The Wings App
Get the Wings app

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Just Right Set™ bariatric

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Asparagus with Lemon-Basil Yogurt Sauce

We continue to enjoy the recipes from our new cookbook- Cooking Light fresh food fast 24/7. I am not usually a sauce person, especially on my vegetables, however this recipe for Asparagus with Lemon-Basil Yogurt Sauce was really delicious! It went perfectly with the Pan-Roasted Salmon and Tomatoes that was paired with the asparagus to make a meal (page 268). The combination was truly delicious. What I liked about the asparagus was that it was so easy to prepare...and quite frankly, plain vegetables can get old so it was nice to have a different "take" on a long-time usual for this family's meals. It was a big hit and a definite repeat according to the empty plates I put in the dishwasher!

Here is the recipe for the Lemon-Basil Yogurt Sauce:
1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine yogurt and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve over blanched asparagus. Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1/4 pound asparagus and 2 tablespoons sauce). Calories 46.

Download Our Free  Bariatric Recipes eBook


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Tag Archive

Memocode Mania – Complete Five Fun Tasks for Bonus Points!

Hey Memolinkers – we have an exciting week of all-new Memocodes to enter so you can get some extra points in your account. All you need to do is complete any one of the tasks below and enter the appropriate Memocode! All the codes will expire at midnight on …

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BNY Mellon’s Edith Rigler explores the upheavals in the European payments landscape

As the deadline for migration to SEPA credit and direct debit standards fast approaches, and the payment services directive comes under review, efforts to harmonise the European payments landscape are being kicked up a gear. As momentum gathers, Edith Rigler (BNY Mellon Treasury Services’ Business Strategy and Market Solutions Market Manager) provides EMEA Finance with a wider perspective on the ramifications and benefits for the payments industry:

To read the full text, please click here

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NEMA Makes News — Via Podcasts

NEMA Makes News — Via Podcasts

Some good news from NEMA — we're launching a series of podcasts, downloadable audio streams (6 – 10 mins) that will provide insights into some of our key issues.

The podcasts can be found on our dedicated Podcast web page.  Our crack communications team has initially categorized these audio clips into several channels — a Smart Grid Channel, an Energy Efficiency Channel, an Inside the Electroindustry Channel, and an Electric Minute Channel.  We'll add channels as we add topics.

For a taste of how worthwhile these clips can be, check our NEMA Smart Grid Director Paul Molitor's podcast on the Smart Grid, and NEMA Chief Economist Don Leavens' discussion on the progress of the economic stimulus package (particularly as it relates to the electrical industry).

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Does summer ever end in Baltimore?

"Sophia Koman, 3, of Pikesville, makes her way through a straw maze Sunday at North Run Farm in Stevenson, Md. The farm is host to a corn maze, hay rides, a pumpkin field and other fall festivities."

Yesterday I started my morning in Stevenson, Md. searching for a feature, otherwise know as a standalone for today's Towerlight.

All I have to say is does summer ever end in Baltimore?

As I mindlessly wondered through the confusing corn maze, around the screaming children and across the dusty farm, I realized it had to be 90 degrees. Sweat profusely dripped from my forehead as I continued my end to end journey across the farm and other fall activities.

But I couldn't stop thinking of the heat as I patiently waited in the middle of the corn maze for some children to run by my impeccable photo spot. After twenty five minutes of standing in one spot, waiting for the perfect shot, I had to eventually move on and search out some subjects. Drats.

Normal high temperatures for October in Maryland average 64 degrees. According to, the record high is 90 degrees. I would like to see the exact numbers from yesterday.

As if the corn maze wasn't hot enough, I made my way over to the men's soccer game afterward. They ended up winning, but not after I lost five pounds from the heat.

Keeping this post short today...a lot on my mind and a lot to do. But I had a great time shooting in this abnormal October weather.

I can't wait to break out the jeans and lightweight coat once this heat wave passes. I love fall.

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Oat flour pancakes

I simply love to eat pancakes on Sunday mornings. Usually I'd go for wheat flour. Many people say gluten inside wheat makes you gain weight. Although, it might not be scientificaly proven. [1] Anyways, I find oat flour pancakes to be less filling, thus I feal more energetic after eating them.

  • 1¾ cup freshly ground oat flour
  • 4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1½ tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 drops of vanilla extract (optional)

  1. Grind the oats inside the food processor. [3]
  2. Add all wet ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
  3. Add all dry ingredients and whisk together.
  4. Pre-heat the pan to 66% of the maximum stove heat.
  5. Lightly oil the pan.
  6. Put 2 tablespoons of mixture onto the pan to form a pancake.
  7. Cook one side until the mixture changes color then flip over.

[1] https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/myth-if-you-want-slim-down-go-gluten-free
[2] http://www.foodprepper.com/oat-flour-pancakes-old-fashioned.php
[3] http://www.momables.com/how-to-make-oat-flour/


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Category Archives: MailDirect

Our hosted email marketing platform.

Tips on List Acquisition for effective Email Marketing

While Email Marketing continues to be the highest ROI generating marketing technique, marketers are striving towards optimizing their campaigns in order to get the best results. In order to optimize anything, one needs deep dive right to the root of every opportunity – and the list, of course, forms the foundation of email marketing. Marketers […]

Six best practices for effective email copywriting

It’s no surprise that Email Marketing has been recognized as the most effective means of lead/revenue generation for its ability to personalize the sales pitch and economic viability. And with this recognition came the onslaught of volumes and volumes of mail. Add to it the fact that the average attention span of adults has fallen […]

Stay innovative with your email content to ensure better engagement

We all know that innovation is critical for any business to achieve sustainability. And it becomes all the more important when we talk of it in the context of email marketing. Why? Because while conversing over an email you are communicating with a million customers who you don’t know on a personal basis; because they […]

Abandoned Shopping Cart Remarketing

E-commerce remains a domain where impulse sometimes overshadows reasoning. But while consumers won’t think twice while going ahead with small ticket purchases, they do research a lot when it comes to buying pricier goods. And many a times they simply end up stocking up their shopping cart on multiple sites and abandoning them either due […]

How well do you know your subscribers?

Today, much of digital marketing is centered on getting more traffic to your website, and then trying to increase the conversion ratio. Methods such as search engine optimization, search engine marketing (a.k.a. pay per click advertising), content marketing, social media marketing and blogging are used to entice more traffic by means of Call-to-Action mechanisms. While […]

How to connect with your customers on time, every time?

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance has become a myth in today’s demanding professional life. The list of things to be done seems to be ever growing. Barely have we finished a task, and several others await you already. Amongst the many things that you ought to do are certain recurring mundane tasks – such as […]

Effective customer re-targeting with Outcome-based Campaigns

Customer re-targeting – a term gaining prominence in the ever growing world of digital marketing. Marketers study customer preferences, buying behavior, purchase history, response to previous promotions, demographics – the list can go on. Efficient re-targeting enables organizations to not only get repeated business from existing customers, but also helps in inducing brand loyalty, an […]

How to expand your customer base?

With Social Media and Mobile Marketing having made their mark, many have their doubts about the effectiveness of email marketing. However, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets ensures that recipients almost always carry a mobile device with them and are in a much better position to access their email on the go.   Today, organizations […]

We are Hiring!

Having been in the IT industry for almost two decades, we at QuantumLink Communications (QLC) Pvt Ltd, have plans for some aggressive growth in the near future. We take a lot of pride in offering top-notch products and services, with an inclination to deliver significant value to our customers on a continuous, ongoing basis. And […]

Why ‘per-mail’ based pricing isn’t the most brilliant idea in Email Marketing…

Do you live in the Stone Age? If not why are you still paying a fixed ‘per email’ price for your Email Marketing?   What happened when TATA Docomo announced per second calling rates? Didn’t you think it was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to your steadily increasing mobile bill? Didn’t you wonder […]


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Rack Transfer Switches

Intelligent Hybrid Rack Transfer Switch

Raritan's hybrid rack transfer switch system is the first in the world to offer both electromechanical relays and silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) to overcome the limitations of a traditional automatic transfer switch (ATS). It provides load transfer times that are comparable to that of a static transfer switch (STS), more energy efficiently, and at a far more accessible price point.  It is also the first in the world to offer inlet, outlet, and branch circuit level power metering; and outlet-level switching for better remote power control.

Raritan's rack transfer switch offers:

  • Current sampling at 4,800 times per second for load transfers within 4 to 8ms.
  • Oversized relays, rated at 48A, and SCRs, rated at 70A, even though the transfer switches are intended for 16A and 32A loads.
  • Relay contact air gap of 3.3mm vs. the 0.6mm gap used in most transfer switch relays on the market to prevent electric arcing.
  • Two single throw relays instead of one double throw relay (a single point of failure) to support reliable out-of-phase transfers.
  • Inlet, outlet, and branch circuit level metering.
  • Remote outlet switching.

Patent-Pending Hybrid Design

Raritan offers the first hybrid rack transfer switch combining electromechanical relays and silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) for exceptional performance and reliability.

Blazing-Fast Transfer Times

SCRs provide fast power transfer times at 4 to 8ms, ensuring that your equipment continues to operate when power fails or fluctuates.

Designed for Reliability

This pioneering rack transfer switch offers inlet surge protection, field replaceable output short protection, redundant internal power supplies and dual controllers

Web-based Remote Power Monitoring

Real-time remote power quality monitoring with user define-able thresholds and alerts for voltage and frequency. Includes AC waveform of last transfer and metering of power loads.

Real-Time Power Metering

Monitor power utilization at the inlet, outlet, or branch circuit level to prevent tripped breakers, uncover hidden capacity, and use resources efficiently.

Remote Power Control

Reboot hung servers or keep outlets off to prevent unauthorized access, ensure proper provisioning, and avoid tripped breakers.

Additional Features

Built-in sensors detect failed power feeds and ensure break-before-make power transfer from one power source to another within 4 to 8ms.

Out-of-Phase Transfers

Uses two single throw relays instead of one double throw relay (a single point of failure) to support reliable transfers regardless of power phase.

Eliminates Relay Welding

Uses SCRs and oversized relays, with an air gap of 3.3mm vs. the 0.6mm gap as used in most transfer switch relays, to prevent arcing due to power surges.

Monitor and Optimize Your Environment

Optional ports for plug-and-play environmental sensors that allow you to monitor critical environmental conditions.

Industry’s Most Flexible USB Port

The transfer switch comes equipped with front and back USB ports to support Wi-Fi networking, cascading, webcams, quick setup, and tablet access and control.

Remote Management Capabilities

Threshold alerting and status updates via GSM text, email, and syslog. An intuitive GUI, SNMP, Modbus, TCP/IP, JSON-RPC for scripting, IPv4/IPv6.

Energy Metering and Power Quality Monitoring

Make informed capacity planning decisions, efficiently utilize power resources, and monitor power fluctuations.

Ready for Harsh Environments

Runs up to 60°C(UL) and 50°C(CE) environment at 85% relative humidity.

DCIM Monitoring Integration

Seamlessly integrates with Power IQ® DCIM Monitoring Software for complete data center power infrastructure management.

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Tag Archives: consumer centric

The Most Powerful Marketing Words for Your Business

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”   –Mark Twain You know how difficult it is to find exactly the right terminology. Even Mark Twain knew over a century ago that  just the right words make all […]

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On Tradition and Thankfulness…

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to express appreciation for all of the things that are too easy to take for granted the rest of the year. Many families have a tradition of sharing one thing they are thankful for and at our table it is sometimes mushy and sentimental but more often funny and light-hearted. Whatever the tone of this annual sharing, the food is waiting and I have time for only a brief summary of what is in my heart. So here are a few groups that I am very thankful for that might not get airtime at dinner tomorrow…There will be a slice of pie raised in your honor in our house tomorrow!

  • Consumers. Especially those that care about buying locally produced goods and services.
  • Farmers’ Market Managers. They are heroes in my book, juggling a thousand details to keep the markets operating, working crazy hours for little to no compensation.
  • My Extension colleagues. They are a dedicated bunch, and pretty darn smart too!
  • People who disagree with me. These people give me opportunity to test my assumptions, hone my arguments and, occasionally, change my mind.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

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Tag Archives: Chlorophyll

Chlorella: The Single Most Studied Food in History

One of the most ridiculous comments I have ever heard Dr. Andrew Weil made is “They are good sources of chlorophyll, but there is little to no research supporting the claims made about the algae.”

Chlorella and Spirulina are the two most studied foods in history. The studies come from countries all over the world and they never stop coming. There are literally thousands of them. We have compiled a few of them here. Continue reading

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Chlorella, Vitamin K and Coumadin – Don’t do what is healthy so you won’t be sick anymore

One of the most common questions we are asked about Chlorella is whether it has vitamin K. For the record, Chlorella does have vitamin K in it, as do all green plants to some degree. Vitamin K is found in a plethora of foods. Chlorella has a lot of vitamin K, 46mg per 1 gram. The body requires vitamin K for a number of reasons. It is an antagonist for arterial calcification in humans. A ten-year study documented that people who consumed the most vitamin K2 have a 50% reduced risk of arterial calcification. They also exhibited a 50% reduction for being at risk for cardiovascular events during the 10 year period of the study. In 2009, a 16,000-person study demonstrated that high consumption of vitamin K2, not vitamin K1, protected from cardiovascular disease. Continue reading

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Dr. Robert O. Young’s Biggest Mistake

Dr. Young’s words are in italics. “Meat has no nutritional value other than to just destroy you life.” “[Eating meat is] why most people stink. That’s why they have body odor. That’s why their elimination smells . . . You can smell someone that’s a meat eater. You can just look at their eyes and at their skin.”

I have not consumed meat since 1980 and it is something I definitely tell people not to eat meat, fish, eggs or dairy. But I think Dr. Young goes too far in suggesting that there is no nutrition in meat whatsoever and the reason why people smell so much. Meat may be one of the contributing factors, but I have met vegetarians who smell bad themselves, including their breath. He suggests that meat actually causes people to rot from within. The consumption of cooked animal protein leads to more disease than anything other than not drinking enough water. But it’s not as bad as Dr. Young makes it sound. Continue reading

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Air Ions and Health

by ALBERT P KRUGER AND DAVID S SOBEL In places where mountains are situated to the south, the south winds that blow are parching and unhealthy; where the mountains are situated in the north, their northern winds occasion disorders and … Continue reading

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My Response to Dr. Andrew Weil’s Assessment of Spirulina and Chlorella

Dr. Weil does not have much to say about spirulina and chlorella, yet they are the most powerful foods known. Continue reading

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Spirulina & Chlorella: First Foods of the Earth and the Foundation of Nutrition of Great Health

By Dr. Bob McCauley http://youtu.be/jfbKPCIOLYU A building constructed from inferior materials is ready to collapse at any moment, if not from external then from within. The body built of inferior materials awaits the same fate. The basic elements of the … Continue reading

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Chlorella’s Effect on the Immune System

Chlorella – Natural Medicinal Algae “Immunology is the study of the immune system; the body’s mechanisms developed to fight off foreign invaders, whether they be bacteria, viruses, chemicals or foreign proteins. The body’s defenses have a unique way of inactivating … Continue reading

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Chlorella and Chlorophyll

Chlorella, Jewel of the Far East “Chlorella contains the highest percentage of chlorophyll in the known plant world, from 1.7% to 7%. The chlorophyll molecule is very similar to the hemoglobin molecule in blood, and it acts as a wonderful … Continue reading

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Chlorella and Healing

Chlorella – Natural Medicinal Algae “The pioneering work to introduce chlorophyll into medicine was done by Burgi, who used chlorophyll preparations under the name Chlorosan for wound healing. In 1930 Rollet and Burgi first demonstrated that extracts of green plants … Continue reading

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Some of Chlorella’s Nutritive Qualities

Some of Chlorella’s Nutritive Qualities: Extremely High in Vitamins, Minerals & Amino Acids (Protein) Powerful Nutraceutical Chlorophyll and Magnesium Promote Cardiovascular Vascular Health Contains Natural Digestive and other Enzymes Aides Digestion, Bad Breath, Constipation Best Natural Detoxifier Known for Heavy … Continue reading

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

PLE as subset of PLN

PLE as subset of PLN
Originally uploaded by catspyjamasnz

If you google PLN (Personal Learning Network), PLE (Personal Learning Environment) links will come up too.

Confusing, isn't it? The difference confuses me too. We're not the only ones. This might help.
PLE as subset of PLN, comment on Flickr posted with image

Someone in my PLN asked what the difference between a PLN and a PLE is. This is how I see the relationship - the PLE as a subset or component of the larger Personal Learning Network.
Just my initial thoughts, but can take it from here.

  1. Vanessa

    I have now only three people who I learnt English from online except you. Only one of them has his blog.
    He advised me to learn English on EFI in 2004. Since then I exchanged e-mail with him in English. He taught me English grammar and writing by e-mail. He has been my English teacher. His nick name is Takaramn. He loves English. I'd like to start my PLN with him.

  2. There are many ways to set up and organize a PLN. However, I don't understand what you mean by "starting your PLN with someone. Could you please explain?

    A PLN is also a network of resources. Why aren't you looking for new resources too?

    Also, since this is part of a project for the study group, I expect:

    a) the group will be part of your network

    b) you will share network and resources with the group.

    I think it is time for more discussion about PLN's - and PLE's too

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Is Mayor Mahaney Prepared to Let Beach Theatre Property Continue to Fester for Years?

An Embarrassment to the City (photo taken July 27, 2012)

A Closer Look at Embarrassing Beach Theatre (7/27/12)

Jack Fichter, Cape May reporter par excellence, reports that former Cape May Mayor Jerry Gaffney has suggested using eminent domain to obtain the Beach Theater property. Although my initial instinct is to think that this idea is a bit like closing the barn door after the horse escapes (in light of the fact that the owners of the building demolished the theatre portion of the building many moons ago), it still is an interesting idea worth exploring. I hope we hear something from the Beach Theatre Foundation as to where it stands on this proposal.

I will say this. Having taken a close look at the property this summer, it is clear that the present owner has no interest in the property and won't have interest if and until the real estate market bounces back.  The front of the building looks hideous and is an embarrassment to the city. I find it curious that the City did not require the property owner to make the property presentable as part of last year's settlement of the litigation regarding the property (if there was such a requirement as part of the settlement, then I wonder what the enforcement mechanism is. Right now, there appears to be no evidence that the City made this a part of the settlement, in that the property owner did little to clean the property up either leading up to the opening of the new Convention Hall, or even during the summer season (which has now since passed), and the City has taken no apparent steps to enforce such a requirement).

There is little if any evidence that the real estate market will bounce back anytime soon.  It could be years before the market reaches a level that the current owner thinks makes the property worthy of re-development.

Mayor Mahaney
Is the City Prepared to let the Beach Theatre property continue to fester for years as an eyesore across the street from its crown jewel Convention Hall without doing anything about it? Is the Current Mayor prepared to let the Beach Theatre property continue to fester? I find that hard to believe.  I believe he has the best interests of Cape May at heart. He has a right to brag about bringing in the new Convention Hall on time and on budget. But that accomplishment suffers both literally and figuratively because of the eyesore across the street. Literally because the Theatre significantly hurts the look of the boardwalk/promenade area, regardless of how brand-spanking-new the Convention Hall looks. And figuratively because cleaning up that area should have been part and parcel of opening the new Convention Hall, and some might say that his failure to do so as Mayor detracts from what is otherwise a creditable accomplishment.

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Colombia Church Addressing Domestic Violence Issues

1 Comment » Written on November 9th, 2012
Filed under: News
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BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA (November 9, 2012) – Recent workshops and retreats for women who attend the Evangelical Covenant Church of Colombia are indications that the denomination is intent on preventing domestic violence and healing its victims, says Mary Lou Sander, Evangelical Covenant Church missionary.

Mending the Soul dance

Several hundred women in the Colombia Covenant Church already have begun to participate in the Mending the Soul (MTS) and Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) programs designed to help people respond to issues of violence.

The MTS material was presented to 140 women during the National Women Ministries Retreat held just outside Bogotá. According to its website, Mending the Soul “empowers communities and equips churches for ministry to those impacted by abuse. Foundational to Mending the Soul is the integration of scientific and social research on abuse with biblical and theological truth.” It is being used throughout the world.

The Evangelical Covenant Church Department of Women Ministries is partnering with Mending the Soul to provide the training in North America and Latin America. One hundred women participated during a recent training workshop at Covenant Christian Church in Bogotá, the largest congregation in the denomination.

Mónica Velásquez, who directs an organization promoting justice for women and children in Colombia, spoke at the retreat. Although she does not attend one of the denomination’s churches, Velásquez has been working closely with them as they coordinate efforts.

The church is recognizing that it must deal with these issues among its own members as well as society. Mending the Soul and AVA programs sponsored by the Colombia Covenant Church are helping “transform a violent macho culture that is changing towards equity, respect and dignified life God wants for all his sons and daughters,” she said.

Four Covenant churches in Medellín are using AVA material. “The people from the churches are responding well to the materials, asking good questions and desiring to raise awareness, to help prevent abuse, and to walk alongside those who are suffering from abuse,” said Sander.

Earlier this year, the AVA team in the city of Barranquilla, located on the northern coast of Colombia, held a series of training workshops in each of the churches there. “The responses were positive,” said Sander. “Many of the people want to learn more and to share what they had learned with others.”

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One Response to “Colombia Church Addressing Domestic Violence Issues”

What a significant retreat and vitally important advocacy for victims of abuse program. It will be great for this to be shared with other Covenant churches in Latin America.

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October 6, 2011

Marcellus Shale Coalition Staffs Up.

Total People in Discussion: 0

By John Micek
Categories: ,

The Influential Gas Industry ...
... pressure group has added some bodies -- and just in time for this fall's wrangling Natural gas well over an impact fee for drillers.

The new players are:

Amber Benzon, Director, Government Affairs. She'll be based in Harrisburg and officially joins up on Oct. 17. She's currently policy director for the state Health Department and formerly worked for Greenlee Partners.

Robert Petrilli, VP for Finance and Administration. He's a former senior executive at WQED Multimedia and worked on the Pittsburgh G20 Summit; the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and Chester Engineers (which belongs to the coalition).

In a statement, coalition CEO Kathryn Klaber called the new staffers "experienced and dedicated professionals," who are joining an "organization committed to the economic, environmental, and energy security benefits of natural gas production in our region.”

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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Album Review: House Of Lords - Saint Of The Lost Souls

A couple years ago, when I was talking about House Of Lords' previous album, I was musing on how they were a band that always made solid music, but I was never in a rush to listen to them. Several albums had slipped past me, and I didn't care. That was changed with "Indestructible", which was a powerhouse album that I still go back to. It not only made me rethink my opinion of House Of Lords, but it made their next album appointment listening, to see if they could keep up that momentum, or if it was a fleeting moment in the sun.

We are now at that judgment day.

Things get off to a good star with "Harlequin". After a frustrating wait for the build-up to finish, the song itself is classic House Of Lords, melodic rock with James Christian's hook carrying the day. The production is a bit more polished than last time out, but stops short of being the hyper-glossy sound that makes many AOR bands unappealing to me. House Of Lords still sounds like a rock band.

By the middle of the record, we get to the same problem I had with the previous album; House Of Lords occasionally tries to write a song heavier than they are as a band, and it doesn't work. In this case, it's the title track, which is let down first of all by the guitars not being heavy enough for the riff they're trying to get across, but more by the chorus, which can't fit a smooth melody into the space given for the vocals. It's more aggressive, and less interesting.

House Of Lords is better at the first word of 'melodic rock', and it shows. When they don't worry about trying to be heavy, they make fantastic music. As I already mentioned, "Harlequin" is a great song, and the ballad "The Sun Will Never Set Again" is also top-notch. They aren't fluff, so I can't understand the need to try to up the heaviness here and there to a degree the band just isn't capable of. It's better to work to your strengths.

That would make this still a good album, if they were able to hit their marks. "Reign Of Fire" is a pretty bad track, and while "Hit The Wall" does make an impact, it does so in a way I find annoying instead of memorable. This is the same issues I've had with House Of Lords before. They are not at all consistent when it comes to songwriting. There will be four or five amazing tracks on an album, and then another three that leave me scratching my head that it's the same band. That holds true here as well. There's half of this album that is really good stuff. The other half is either boring or disappointingly mediocre.

That leaves me to say that "Saint Of The Lost Souls" is merely a decent album, and is certainly not as good as "Indestructible" was. That album was fantastic, and this one makes me want to pull that one out again.

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The Blowin' Smoke Podcast

Dec 24, 2008

Look everybody! It's Blowin' Smoke #75!

Just before Christmas, we gathered at King Beaver Cigars in scenic Monaca, PA, to welcome home our good friend, Sgt. Rob Kmetz from his recent tour in Iraq with the Indiana National Guard.  Rob was nice enough to join the Council of Cretins for our review of the La Gloria Cubana...

Dec 15, 2008

First on Santa's naughty list, its Blowin' Smoke #74!

Direct from the Havana Room at Chez Rob with a full house of Cretins, this episode of Blowin' Smoke put a new spin on the Cigar of the Day with, not one...not two, but five Cigars of the Day and all a super secret mystery to those doing the puffing.

Also, in honor...

Dec 1, 2008

Don't look now, but Blowin' Smoke #73 is comin' at ya!

We've gathered once again in the Havana Room at Chez Rob for yet another excursion into herf excellence and you're invited.  Along with a full Council of Cretins, we herfed the Rocky Patel Decade and tossed it into a new Cigar Match: Rumble in the Bundle for you...


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Marco Anatriello

Marco Anatriello

Marco Anatriello is a co-founder, Partner and a Member of the Board of BlueGem Capital Partners.

Marco Anatriello is a Board Member of The Private Clinic, Fintyre, Liberty, Neomobile, Enotria&Coe, Mamas & Papas, Jack Wills, The DMC Group and Lateral.

Prior to partnering with Marco Capello and Emilio Di Spiezio Sardo to launch BlueGem, Marco Anatriello worked at Merrill Lynch for three years in the Italian Investment Banking team in Milan and in the Strategic Solution Group in London. In the Italian Investment Banking team, Marco worked on several mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt transactions, while in the Strategic Solution Group Marco gained exposure to fixed-income derivatives and equity/debt-linked products.

Marco Anatriello graduated summa cum laude in Business Administration at Bocconi University in Milan after spending one academic semester at the University of Southern California – Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles.

meet the rest of our team