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It’s tempting to think that we learn from history; we all like to think we’re wise and reflective and willing to learn. The truth is many of us don’t learn the lessons we need to; history repeats, as the poet Steve Turner wrote, because no one listens. It may not repeat with exactly the same words, but recognisable rhythms and cadences are there.

For example, there are Christian perspectives on sex, relationships, marriage and dating. In 1997 Christian writer and speaker Joshua Harris published the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, a book which advocated not dating to preserve emotional purity before marriage and a variety of steps which he at the time believed would lead to good marriage and a good sex life within marriage. No one doubted his intentions – and the book sold in vast quantities, becoming hugely influential in (evangelical) Christian culture. The problem is that it didn’t work; people became paralysed be fear of making mistakes in their relationships and they found that taking the steps he prescribed didn’t always have the promised outcome. One size, it turns out, does not fit all. This has led to a two-year process of listening, thinking and reassessing from Joshua Harris, which has resulted in him apologising for hurt caused and the book being withdrawn from publication. There’s much else to say, of course; and whilst his diligence is to be applauded, it’s true that apologies don’t necessarily fix what’s broken. However it would be hoped that we – the church  – had learned something important here.

In the last week a high-profile pastor from a high-profile American church published a blog about why people ‘put off’ marriage, and what they should do about. He (of course, he’s a he; and of course, he’s married) will follow this up with “practical steps for catching your man or woman“. He promises “God’s power will deliver you from any pain” and puts masturbation in the same (no-doubt) sinful category as co-habiting. We are made for marriage he says, paying-lip service to the possibility of a ‘supernatural gift from God’ of singleness. It all boils down to this; do this, get that. Do this and you’ll get a (very good) marriage. Do this and you’ll get the partner you dream of.

Again, no one doubts the intentions here, but let’s attempt to examine where this leaves people. It leaves the single with a set of things to do in order to guarantee a good marriage; the post may be replete with Biblical references, but there’s precious little reference to the gracious gifts of grace (not in response to works) God gives. And none of how life just happens; life getting in the way. Sin, sickness, failure. None of that – even people’s ‘blemishes are beautiful’; which they may be, of course, but it’s a somewhat romanticised way of describing someone with an anger problem or who habitually spends too much money.

answer blackboard board chalk

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The fundamental problem comes, it seems to me, with describing people (apart from the ‘supernaturally gifted for singleness’) as ‘made for marriage’. It sees marriage as something we have to do unless we have a clear calling otherwise. Amongst much else, it misunderstands the order of creation in the Genesis picture; God makes people, then He institutes marriage as a gift to them. Marriage is given by God to people, made to serve them; in that sense, it’s like the Sabbath, a similar misunderstanding of which Jesus had to tidy up. Marriage, like the Sabbath, is created by God to help and serve people in all manner of ways. It’s different from Sabbath in terms of where it stands in the 10 Commandments – Sabbath observance is a requirement from God (because we have a tendency to think work is ours to keep on doing and that our work earns us something from God); marriage is to be honoured by not committing adultery – but nowhere are we told we must get married. Just that if we’re married, we’re not to undermine it (through abuse, adultery or the like).

Two or three clicks away from the marriage blog post, I find a ministry founded by the author which seeks to be ” a company of radicals helping to define healthy sexuality”. It’s all well-intentioned; some of it may even contain good advice (I haven’t read anything like all the content on the site). The problem stems, though, from setting marriage as the goal we’re made for, and that we must have a special calling to not be married. This immediately suggests that the unmarried who have not received that ‘special calling’ are broken or in error or sinful in some way. The fault must lie with them; and God forbid they masturbate, or even think about sex in the mean time. It also says to the married couple struggling to keep the flame alive in the midst of children, bills to pay, ill-health or just the pressures of life that they too are broken and wrong, somehow short of God’s plan. The whole enterprise of human relationships and sexuality reduced to a slot-machine, a formula, a puzzle where you just have to put the right pieces in the right places.

Marriage (and the perfect, nuclear family) have become, in attitudes like these, the great evangelical Christian idol. I speak as a minister, much of whose theology might be defined as evangelical. I’m also married with (foster) children. Here’s the truth from that perspective. God doesn’t free us from all pain – I’m still chronically ill; my marriage is not perfect; every need can not be met by one relationship. I adore my wife and kids. But it’s very, very hard work. God will free us from all pain – in the new creation. For now, we all struggle and fight and sometimes get healed and sometimes don’t. I know from 19 years of pastoral ministry that many wonderful Christian people do all the things they’re told are ‘right’  – ‘guard the  heart’, keep a ‘pure thought life’, trust Jesus completely, do all the right things to catch a spouse. But they find it doesn’t work; unless they’re unusually well supported, loved and cared for, cynicism grows, love for God hardens and they drift away or tune out. Of course they do – wouldn’t you, if you gradually discover that the grace gift you thought you were looking at, made for, designed for, was in fact a carefully constructed golden calf?

To better preserve the gift of marriage and family that God has given us, it’s time for the church to dethrone it. To talk openly and freely about lust not being slaked by saying ‘I do’; by admitting that many who are married are lonely; that there’s no formula to finding the right person; that any area of our life is far more complex than the blueprint formula suggests. The longer I go on in this work, the more I find broken, hurt, saddened people fearing they are somehow incomplete without a spouse, fearing they are missing God’s ‘best for their lives’; laden with shame and fear for a sexual thought or deed because they are told that these are the worst possible sins (by men who consume far more than they need, lash out in angry words and thoughts, hold to casual racism or so much else – but remain curiously unchallenged).

Sin is sin. It’s a problem for us all; but in Jesus it’s dealt with. In Him there is no shame or guilt; yet our idolising of marriage and family and the sex we claim goes with it, leaves a trail of that shame and guilt that is rarely voiced and seldom heard. Let’s step away from the slot-machine systematisation of relationships with God and people; let’s listen to the still, small voice of God in and to those broken beneath the wheels of the Golden Calves the evangelical church loves to erect in the place of cross and empty tomb.

The One About The Actress, The Prince And The Bishop

pexels-photo-261848.jpegIt won’t have escaped your notice that there’s a wedding on Saturday; one of the royal variety. A British prince is marrying an American actress and a lot of people are very excited about it. I’m not that bothered about it, to be honest – I’m neither royalist nor republican, and have no special interest in dresses or any of the other questions surrounding the big day. As a clergyman, however, there is one aspect of the whole thing that piques my interest, with which I shall make sure that I catch up at some point. The sermon. Clergy like checking out the sermon on a day like this, because it gives us the opportunity to do to someone else what we imagine goes on in the lounges and kitchens of our church members after every service; discuss the sermon. This was given an extra twist this week when the identity of the preacher was revealed; the couple have requested that the sermon be delivered by Bishop Michael Curry.

I’ll forgive you if his name means nothing to you. It’s true that he is an eye-catching choice; not because he’s American. That makes sense, what with the bride being American. That he’s a person of colour is perhaps more notable and welcome than has been discussed; but that’s not what I’m talking about. The issue is that the branch of the global Anglican church which he leads is on the theological naughty step for a while as a result of a decision it took (and which Bishop Michael supports wholeheartedly) to bless the marriages of same-sex couples. There were consequences to this, hence the naughty step – sitting out various meetings for a period of time.

Same-sex marriage is, to put it mildly, an explosive issue in the church these days; and people on all sides of the debate can’t help but read something into this decision; those who support same-sex marriage are delighted because this feels like a vindication. Those who oppose it are dismayed and feel he shouldn’t have been allowed to take part (ignoring the fact that in the UK, royalty outranks Anglican clergy and we have to do what we’re told). Those who oppose Bishop Michael’s presence were further enraged by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s warm statement about the news  – feeling that he should at least have taken the opportunity to highlight that Bishop Michael’s church was still in trouble.

I’ve never heard Bishop Michael preach, but everyone who says he’s pretty good at it – lively, Jesus-focussed and very passionate. I’m looking forward to checking out the sermon at some point for myself. However I find the reaction to all this disturbing – even if it is understandable. Many of us seem to think that preaching at such an event is and should be a political statement; and that this represents a not so implicit encouragement to those who support same-sex marriage. It may be that, I suppose; but what if it isn’t? What if the Archbishop’s statement was meant to be taken at face-value – that he’s pleased to welcome such a passionate and able preacher to such a high-profile occasion? What if it’s possible to disagree – deeply – with one area of a person’s theology, and yet still see that God can and does use that person?

Such a view is not regarded warmly by many of my fellow evangelicals; for many, the doctrine of marriage is a line in the sand. Change that, and we’re no longer appropriately faithful to Scripture, goes the argument. We must, it is said, take a stand on this. All this will look rather embarrassing for evangelicals if, as expected, Bishop Michael preaches up a storm at the wedding and points people to Jesus without even alluding to same-sex marriage. It’s almost as if some of my brothers and sisters are willing him to fail, to make some big mistake so that they can be proved right all along. I’m sure they aren’t doing so, but that’s how it can feel from here.

The inconvenient possibility for many of us is, though, that is may be rather less important to God than we think it is. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul didn’t seem too worried about the motivation of those preaching the Gospel – he just longed for Christ to be preached (Philippians 1:18). There’s no mention there of the details of doctrine; just the longing that Jesus is preached. Those opposed to same-sex marriage say that this is a matter of Biblical authority and interpretation; with which I agree, but I also say that this is true of every point of doctrine. As long as we’re not changing the crux of salvation, we’re free to differ. What if the Holy Spirit is big enough to use people with whom you and I disagree? What if we’re wrong? Do we hold to this so tightly that we can’t even entertain the possibility that we may be wrong? Will those angered by Bishop’s Michael invitation to preach rejoice if he preaches a Jesus-focussed sermon Saturday? I hope that he does, and that they respond appropriately.

Doctrine matters, of course. I don’t wish to suggest anything else; but over the years I’ve been in ordained ministry, I’ve been humbled to realise that God seems to bless the ministries of those with whom I disagree with alarming impunity. I hope I’m learning to rejoice in that. Knowing some of these people well has challenged my doctrine and my practice, and has put some previously closely held ideas more in their proper place. I still believe much the same as I always have done about Jesus and the cross and the empty tomb; on much else, I have my own views (some of them unchanged, some of them changed) but seek to hold them with humility and grace towards those different to me. The wind of the Spirit blows where it will; it’s not for me to dictate the direction or the force, but rather to pray and join in where I find the Spirit moving. Even if – and perhaps especially if – that means I find out that I’m wrong, or that something I felt was important is of less significance than I assumed.

So I will pray for Bishop Michael, and for all who listen to him on Saturday. That he through him, the wind of the Spirit might blow, and that many may make much of Christ. If that happens, I shall give enthusiastic thanks.

Shadow Sides 3: Hagar, used and abused

A series of posts looking at famous Bible people and how they’re a bit more like us than we may imagine.

We know that Abraham is a miracle father. He and Sarah are promised children in a seemingly impossible situation, and become parents at an absurdly old age. No wonder the son to whom they eventually give birth is named Isaac; it’s laughable if it’s literal. So laughable that little Hagar, a servant, is called into action. Sarah can’t see how the promise of a child is going to come true, so she suggests to her husband that he sleeps with Hagar to get her pregnant and become a second wife.

That may shock us, but it may perhaps be even more shocking to discover that the Bible doesn’t expressly condemn polygamy. Servants exist to be at the service of others, and Hagar’s life doesn’t appear to get any better; she’s used for her body parts and biological capability. Her body can do what Sarah’s can’t, and so becomes the classic female victim of a patriarchal society, passed from servitude to servitude because of her body.

She becomes pregnant, and then finds herself victimised by the woman whose idea this all was in the first place (Genesis 16:6). Even more unpleasant, God won’t let her run away somewhere safer (16:9). She can’t catch a break.

Or so it seems. This is where things starts to turn, and Hagar starts to get a glimpse of a the bigger picture. She is indeed to have a son. The description given of him in Genesis 16:11-12 doesn’t seem complementary, but the translation may be filtered through some misunderstandings. It speaks of him being the child who will stand out from the crowd, stand up and think and act independently.

In a moment of fleeing, Hagar’s been spotted by God, so she names the place for that truth (16:14). When you’ve been used because of biology, mistreated at the hands of the originator of the plan, being seen is significant. The see-er has seen past the obvious to who you are as a person, and the bigger picture of which you are a part. You are no longer just a womb; you carry within you the father of nations. God’s purpose through Abraham was always to do something for every nation; with Hagar and thus Ishmael in the picture, blessing will flow to what we now call the Arab nations. The conspiring, conniving abuse of the aged Jewish couple becomes the birth of whole nations.

What’s more, she’s the first to know. This won’t become apparent to Abraham (and Sarah) until much later. Isaac is born, as promised, and there’s no longer any need for Hagar and Ishmael – or so it seems to Sarah (Genesis 21). She insists that her husband sends Hagar and her son away; she can’t stand a reminder of abuse and unfaithfulness in her house. Out of sight, out of mind. Guilt encroaches on Abraham’s conscience, and it’s as he realises the extent of what he’s done that God steps in and sets his mind at rest. He may have used and abused a woman, but God will knit that into the birth of nations (21:12). In the economy of God, nothing is wasted.

Hagar is off into the wilderness again, this time sent away rather than running. She is hopeless to the point of death. At which point, the God who sees proves He is also the God who hears (21:17). Not for the last time in the Bible, water flows in the wilderness and hope is restored.

If you’ve been bullied, used, abused (and if you haven’t, then you’ll know someone who has been), then you’ll know how reductive is. You become an outlet for a person’s needs and whims. The book and film Room takes this to unforgettable lengths. A woman is kidnapped, given a life limited to one room – and used for sex whenever the captor wants it. This leads to a child, a son. When escape is eventually effected, the beauty of the boy doesn’t exactly eradicate the pain that’s an inescapable part of the family history, but it does harmonise it into something all together more remarkable. Which is the way of God; He doesn’t wipe evil out. He does something far more difficult, and much more creative – he takes evil, and weaves into the warp and weft of grace. He brings nations from a single cell.

Ever been astonished that someone who’s suffered can offer forgiveness? Ever been floored by the generosity of someone with very little – giving away something that is, in the scheme of things quite small but in reality is everything to the giver? This is grace, the work of God, writ small. God does it on the macro – at the extreme, taking the torture and murder of an Innocent and bringing redemption through it.

Have you been the bully, the abuser, the user? You need to repent. When guilt threatens to overwhelm, listen for the distant harmonies of grace that can be weaved. It doesn’t excuse you, but it does mean that your evil wasn’t the end of the story.

Bullied? Victimised? Used? Abused? It’s not the end. Let the master composer play a tune beyond compare.

Also in this series:

Moses: frustrated and angry at God’s people

Paul: impure and limited

These posts are based on a series of sermons

A story

I often write here about stories. They could be films, they could be books, they could be parts of  my own story. It’s because I like stories. Stories are a fundamental part of human existence. We are the only beings on the planet with the capability of telling stories to one another. Stories worm under our defences, help us walk in another’s shoes, see something from a way we haven’t seen before.

Large parts of the Bible are in the form of stories – histories, parables, gospels. They burrow away with truths that detonate in our heart and mind repeatedly days, weeks, months, years after encountering them.

I’m increasingly of the opinion that the debates we enter into as Christians would be changed for the considerably better if we stopped and listened to some stories for a while. Stories take debates out of the abstract and into the everyday. They give a theory a name, an idea, a face, an argument flesh and bones. It’s much harder to use rude names when you’re confronted with someone with their own name.

I was born and raised and remain one of those Christians who broadly fit under the label evangelical. I’m also, in many ways, what you might call an evangelical of a charismatic flavour. I’m not going to explain what those labels mean for me, now: that’s my story and that’s a story for another time. Part of that story is, though, that I grew up with a conservative view of homosexuality. That view of homosexuality remained static over many years; more recently I’ve tried to take a walk round the issue and examine it from different perspectives. It occurred to me that I’d never really examined other points of view on the subject; I’d simply gulped one in with the air I breathed. That can’t be good. As I walked I’ve learned that there are many other stories out there. I’ve learned that there are people in churches of the flavour that I like, who are gay; and they’ve received the message that they’re vile, hated by God and detested. That they can’t love Jesus.

I haven’t finished my wandering around this subject. I can’t say where that wandering will finish, if it ever does. I’m don’t want to call all conservatives homophobes; neither do I want to accept any lifestyle or choice or practice unquestioningly. But I do need to listen. Wherever I finish my wandering, I want to commit to always listening to stories, and always listening well.

So listen with me, will you? And before you and I opine, call people vile or abominations or detested or not-Christians, let’s remember we’re not talking about ideas. We’re talking about a person Jesus died for. A name, a face, a history, a person for whom their sexual orientation is just one part. An important part, to be sure, but only one part nonetheless.

Let’s start by taking 10 minutes to listen to this engaging, humbling, disturbing story.

What, then, shall we say?

We need more stories like this, don’t we? Stories of Jesus and grace and cross and iron nails and visions on beaches. Jesus often seems to do important things on beaches, doesn’t He? Who am I to call this man vile? Who are you?

You’re not, you say. You say you’re just repeating what God says.

Well, Jesus had many hard words to say to those who claimed to speak for God, didn’t He?

What, then, shall we say?

Let’s find a better story.


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Progress in the Studio 7/14

16 x 20 This is of an elderly woman crossing a suspension bridge across the Estero River. Think I am about done with this one. Below is a 36 x 48 painting also on the Estero River. The woman crossing the bridge, this was her boat and dock. I have truly been enjoying this painting!

36 x 48 painting of a garden gate we walked past in Rome. I still need to find out where. This one has been a lot of fun as well. I really like working in this size. Below is a 20 x 24 painting of the view from the Coliseum.

You can scroll down the blog to earlier stages of these paintings. This one is more of a challange that I would have thought. We'll see if it makes it.

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Will Kendall Kill David on All My Children?

Publish date:

Hell hath no fury like a Kane woman out for revenge! This week on All My Children, Erica (Susan Lucci) shoots David (Vincent Irizarry) during his struggle with Ryan (Cameron Mathison), but doesn’t kill him. Never fear, at the hospital Kendall (Alicia Minshew) tries to finish up the job her mother started! Watch this week’s AMC promo after the jump!


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So to bring you up to speed here, Browns tight end Kellen Winslow says that he's been disrespected by his team; Cleveland general manager Phil Savage says Winslow has a big yap and deserved to be suspended; and everyone involved is airing their grievances through the media. Meanwhile, the Browns medical staff, badly outnumbered and armed only with sterilized sponges and a few bottles of Lysol, are currently battling a formidable bacteria army in and around the team's locker room facility. And that's your Cleveland Browns recap! Winslow's appeal of his one-game suspension has been pushed back to Tuesday, meaning that he will miss Sunday's game in Jacksonville, so adjust your fantasy rosters accordingly. Winslow is seeking to recoup his $235,294 game check from last Sunday, lost when the Browns suspended him for one game for "conduct detrimental to the team." The ruling, however, will not likely end the controversy surrounding Winslow and his medical condition. Sports' weirdest controversy centers around Winslow's condition, at first believed to be some sort of swelling of the testicles, then identified as a staph infection. When Winslow wanted to speak out about the true nature of his condition — and what he perceived as insensitivity by the Browns toward him while he was in the hospital — the team slapped him with the rather large penalty. At this point it's not even certain that Winslow actually had a staph infection. But one thing is certain: Staph has become an epidemic in NFL locker rooms, and most teams, like the Browns, are going to great lengths to keep it quiet. This certain strain of staph — or, Staphylococcus aureus, as it should be referred to at formal dinner parties — is a bacterial infection that's resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. It's something that until 10 years ago cropped up mainly in hospitals or nursing homes, but recently a certain strain has emerged in the professional sports community. "Modern professional athletes have been taking antibiotics since they were kids, and quite simply, many of them have become resistant," said Alice Barron, director of OrthoSport Physical Therapy in Elkridge, Md., who was formerly on the athletic training staff at Stanford University. "Infections in pro sports settings have run rampant, period. You're seeing it now with healthier people." In two of the more higher profile cases, Tom Brady has had setbacks in his rehabilitation due to knee infections, and on Thursday it was revealed that Peyton Manning had a staph infection that delayed his recovery from a knee injury this season.

“Staph or MRSA infections develop from person-to-person contact, shared towels, soaps, improperly cleaned whirlpools and sports equipment,” said Ron Courson, head athletic trainer at the University of Georgia in Athens. “Such infections usually appear first as pimples, pustules and boils. "The pustules may be confused with insect bites in early states. The infections may also be associated with previous existing turf burns or abrasions. Without proper referral and care, more serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections or surgical wound infections.”

Winslow says that he spoke out about his condition to, in part, protect his teammates. But Savage appeared on WTAM radio in Cleveland on Thursday saying that Winslow "really called into question the integrity of our medical staff and our organization. "After all of us had been through since 2005, the comments really called into question the integrity of our medical staff and the organization as a whole," Savage said. "To compromise that trust after the Browns had stood by Kellen through the motorcycle episode and knowing without question we had done everything in our power to combat this staph infection problem, it just showed a lack of professional restraint. "The Browns are bigger than one person, bigger than Randy Lerner, bigger than Romeo Crennel, bigger than me and bigger than any player on this team. "We couldn't and won't allow one person to tear down the organization, so we had to do something." Who is right here? Does it matter? There's a bigger problem at large than Winslow or the Browns; the NFL has itself a nice little epidemic, and needs to step up and address the problem. Official Statement On Community-Acquired MRSA Infections [National Athletic Trainers' Association] Winslow Case Set For Tuesday As Savage, Rosenhaus State Their Cases [Cleveland Plain Dealer]


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Blue Jackets winger Nathan Horton will probably never play another NHL game, stricken by a mysterious degenerative back injury that has made hockey impossible, and will probably require career-ending surgery if Horton hopes to live a pain-free life. It's a sad, shitty thing to happen to anyone, let alone a 29-year-old who was never not a very good hockey player when he was healthy.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has the story on Horton, and it's depressing for how quickly and inexorable the end of his career has advanced. It began last fall, Horton says, with some stiffness and discomfort and just got worse and worse, no matter what he did to try and fix it.

Stem cells. Epidurals. Acupuncture. Chiropractors. Massage therapy. So many MRIs.

"I've tried everything," Horton said. "I've seen so many doctors. So many people think they can fix me and they're so optimistic, and then I get optimistic, but then … nothing changes. It's so frustrating."

Horton was the third overall pick by the Panthers in 2003, and put up 203 goals and 218 assists in 627 games with Florida, Boston, and Columbus. He lifted the Cup with the Bruins in 2011, and is in just the second year of a seven-year deal with the Blue Jackets. But he hasn't played since last April, when he suffered a groin injury caused by changing his stride to compensate for his back. His and the Blue Jackets' only option since then has been to wait, and to hope against probability that whatever's gone wrong with Horton's spine spontaneously repairs itself.

Barring that? Surgery, which would include implanting a titanium rod to fuse three or four of Horton's lumbar vertebrae. It'd fix the pain, and prevent Horton from playing top-level sports ever again. It's his choice, and but as he says, "at some point soon, we've got to make the call."

"I don't want to have surgery, because of what that means," Horton said, his voice breaking behind a smile. "I don't want to live with this pain, but I don't want to make that decision. It's hard for me to say that, at 29 years old, I'm done. I mean, really? Done at 29?"

[Columbus Dispatch]


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It’s not always simple for hearing impaired single women & men to discover a romantic match, but here with We've made a online dating site for Charlottesville where real connections can be built and real romance can be made. was built for deaf single women & guys and offers singles like you the resource to do just this easily. A single deaf man meeting a singledeaf woman by chance is rare. Although, our platform that we provide you with, it always happen everyday.

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Giveaway: Set of 4 books “DARK SECRETS” series

Leave a comment to enter this fantastic giveaway! An excerpt of Book Four – Mark of Betrayal follows the description.

(Giveaway will be in the form of Smashwords code for all four books)

Mark of Betrayal

Dark Secrets Series, Book Four

A. M. Hudson

Genre: Paranormal romance

ISBN: 978-0-9871925-9-2

Word Count: 170, 000

Book Description:

A love so strong fire and torture could not break it. A heart so pure neither death nor hate could taint it. But, left alone in a world of lies and secrets, Ara will find herself down the road of treachery, walking very dangerous ground, while those closest to her fight to keep her safe from dangers unseen.

The boundaries between friends and enemies will blur, and the return of an old friend will see Ara crossing a line she can never return from.

Excerpt of Mark of Betrayal

(#4 Dark Secrets series)

By A. M. Hudson

He took my hand and drew me closer, sliding his cool touch down my spine and back up again, lifting my dress, taking it over my head. I watched it fall to the floor in the dark, tucking my elbows into my bare chest—not quite ready to let him see.

“You’re so tiny. Such a fragile little thing.” He cupped his hand to the side of my face, gently moving my wrists away from my chest. “Don’t be scared, Amara. I won’t hurt you.”

“I’m not scared,” I whispered in a shaky breath. “It’s just…it just feels so wrong.”

“I know.” He slid his fingers down my face, over my neck and cupped my hips. “Let’s just do this quickly, okay. Lay down.”

My knees trembled until I felt the ground beneath them—felt the aged blood and sweat these floorboards had soaked up since this whole thing began. And Arthur lowered himself, too, kneeling before me, making the hairs along my neck prickle under his smooth touch. He traced every inch of my spine, slowly wrapping me up in his arms; I felt small but safe, cradled into his chest.

“You smell like strawberries,” he said, kissing my neck; his lips were so warm, so wet and so foreign, his breath hot down the curve of my tight shoulder—his teeth grazing the flesh above my artery. And it felt nice, but wrong; this was Arthur—not David, not even Jason; he was my husband’s uncle—a man I looked up to. A man I cared about, but never wanted to be with this way. I closed my eyes, praying for strength.

“It’s time,” he whispered in my ear, and though my stomach was tight and my body so stiff I could hardly swallow, I managed to roll myself back, restraining my tears, focusing on the chill of the cold ground on my tailbone, up each vertebra in my spine and across my shoulders. As I lay flat, the world around me felt wider, larger, like there was suddenly more space, or like the roof I’d seen a thousand times before, laying right here, usually pinned by a knight, seemed to sit miles up in the sky.

My chest lifted, my ribs expanding around the fear and hesitation inside me. “What are you looking at?” I asked Arthur.

He studied my thigh, running his hand along it so slowly I held my breath. “You’re just so young, Amara—too young.”

“I’m nineteen.”

“Precisely.” He dropped his hand, his head following. “I’m afraid what this will do to you.”

“I’ve been through worse.”

He laughed, but I couldn’t really see his smile; his face was shadowed by the darkness. He could see me, though—his perfect vampire vision making him privilege to all the things I would never have showed him. I bit my lip when his cool touch parted my legs at the knees, and he knelt between them, his bare hip brushing the inside of my thigh.

“Oh, God,” I said to myself.

“Just don’t look.” He wiped his thumb over my eyelid. “Just close your eyes.”

“I…I can’t,” I said, looking up at him, and I couldn’t help it, I cried.

He clicked his tongue, sinking back on his heels. “Amara.”

“I’m okay. I’m…I’m okay.” I let my knees fall softly together.

“You’re not okay.”

I nodded. “I am.”

“We can do this another time if you’re not ready.”

I shook my head. “It needs to be now.”

He moistened his lips, breathing out through his nose, his eyes square with hesitation. “Okay. Just…just imagine I’m him.”

I nodded, tangling my fingers in my hair when he reached for the rim of my underwear.

“Lift your hips. We won’t get far with these in the way.”

I shut my eyes again, feeling the lace slip past my thighs, over my knees and away from my ankles. And we were naked. Together. My legs completely open; Arthur between them. He slid his hands under my bottom and pulled me forward so the harder part of him brushed softly against the warmest part of me.

I looked into his eyes, seeing the fear and concern I was feeling, too. One movement, one millimetre and he’d be in me—and with just a few strokes, all this would be over. Providing I actually fell pregnant.

“I’m just going to check you before I put myself in you—make sure you’re wet.”

“Wai—?” My toes curled over and I jumped when he placed a cold finger just inside me, then pulled it away.

“You’re not ready. It’ll hurt if you’re dry.”

All I could feel was a flood of adrenaline in my arms, making them weak, unattached, disturbed by the tension and memory of his finger inside me, and as soon as that feeling reached my heart, I broke apart into a mess of short, hiccupping sobs.

Author Bio:

A. M. Hudson loves her life in Australia and, despite wishing it would snow at Christmas, couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.

She fell in love with her husband at just sixteen, and since then, has added three boys to the mix.

A. M. prides herself on writing the shocking, the depthy and the highly-emotional subjects other writers steer away from. She addresses the uncomfortable with conviction and enjoys taking stories down dark paths.

Some of her heroes are Stephen King, Walt Disney, Hamish and Andy, Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars, and with influences like these, one can only imagine what stories will unfold.

When she’s not writing, A. M. reads books, watches movies and chats with fans on Facebook.

About Debra S. Sanders

Debra is an RV nomad, traveling full time with her husband, dog and cat. She writes, hikes, star gazes and loves discovering local lore from America's back roads.

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A Civil War Era Short Story – Enjoy!

DeLap Cemetery, LaFollette, Tennessee The Lore: DeLap Cemetery holds the graves of a small band of Confederate soldiers belonging to North Carolina’s 58th Regiment. The recruits traveled from Cumberland Gap to Jacksboro, Tennessee in 1862 where they were soon assigned to guard Big Creek Gap. The harsh winter, lack of medical supplies and rampant disease, […]

Short Story Time Again!

Gather ’round. This little horror story puts a different twist on “roadside shrines”. The Lore ROADSIDE SHRINES Roadside shrines can be seen on almost any major highway in the world. In the United States, they are common throughout the Southwest, especially on Highway 86 between Tucson and Why, Arizona. This two lane road cuts through […]

Another Short Story – ONCE UPON A TIME

The inspiration for this tale came from the historical Edgewood Plantation near Charles City, Virginia. The lore is featured in my book Road Tales. The Lore Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rowland fell in love with a young man from a nearby estate. As soon as she heard the distinctive gait of her suitor’s horse, Lizzie would run […]

FISH BAIT – Short Story Series Continued

This shorty is based on “Crazy Woman Camp”, an abandoned campsite I discovered while hiking in southern Arizona. It’s also featured in my collection “Road Tales”, available in print and ebook at Amazon. The Lore: Crazy Woman Camp, Why, AZ In the far reaches of southern Arizona, just above Organ Pipe National Monument, lies the […]

Short Story Series continues with Unmarked Graves

Time for another Short Story in my ongoing series. You can read more tales here. Or learn about additional myth and lore from my travels in Road Tales – Myth, Lore and Curiosities from America’s Back Roads. Enjoy! Old Mortimer Cemetery, Mortimer, NC The Lore: Mortimer, North Carolina was a thriving logging town in the early […]

Short Story Series: Picher Perfect

The Lore: Northeastern Oklahoma is often called “Green Country” because of the abundance of man made lakes and heavily treed rolling hills. Tucked away just a few miles from the Kansas border lies Picher, a modern day ghost town described by one local news source as “The biggest environmental disaster you’ve never heard of”. Picher […]


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From the box: “Players take on the role of ancient Egyptian architects. Over six rounds, they try to transport stone blocks to end up in the most valuable positions at five construction sites, while thwarting their opponents’ efforts to do the same. To win the game and be named the greatest architect, you must get your blocks to the right place, in the right order, at the right time.”

Kiera says: “Obelisks, pyramids, and a burial chamber, oh my! This Egypt style game is made for people who enjoy strategy. Little blocks are used as you build famous Egyptian structures to gain points. But be careful, other players can redirect your materials to sabotage your plans. Imhotep seems daunting to start, but after playing through a round, the rules are simple to follow. This is a great game for people who love to scheme, but be prepared for your plans to change over the course of the game.”

Dan says: “You’re a builder in Egypt, moving and placing stones among 5 different monuments.  On your turn you can buy stones, add stones to ships, move ships to monuments, or play an action card.  Other players are doing the same, so you need to balance what you’re doing against what they’re doing.  You have 3 rounds to earn as many points as possible.  This game is an enjoyable area control game with nice wooden ‘stones’ and monument cards that each have two different ‘difficulty’ levels to add variety.  It’s fairly easy to learn, and would make a good addition to any gaming collection.”

Amazon: Imhotep

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Think you've got a great README?

We know writing a README can be a challenge. And, how do you know what makes a README any good?

Instead of guessing, we tried to train a model using natural language processing, and machine learning. This data science experiment uses the 10,000 most starred GitHub repositories, across the 10 most popular programming languages.

Try it out: We'll analyze your README, score it, and provide recommendations for improvement across four categories.

Learn more about our data science approach to analyzing GitHub README's.


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A Tax Depreciation blog by Paul Bennion.

The importance of claiming legitimate tax deductions such as depreciation has been highlighted by new ABS figures which show that Governments throughout Australia collected more than $1 billion in taxes every day during the June 2014 quarter. This high level of taxation is revealed in the latest Government Finance Statistics that show that all levels of Government in Australia collected a total of $117.56 billion in taxes during the three months to June 2014. This represented an increase of 4.7% on the $112.25 billion in taxes collected during the March 2014 quarter.

The figures show, that on average, Governments throughout Australia are now collecting around $1.3 billion in taxes every day. With the new financial year under way, these taxation figures underline the importance of all Australians claiming their legitimate tax allowances to help reduce their taxable income. One way is to take advantage of the legitimate tax depreciation benefits that flow from investing in property. For example, an accurate tax depreciation report for an investment property can generate thousands of dollars in potential tax savings each year. These generous tax depreciation benefits can equate to up to 60% of the property price of a property. That means potential tax benefits of $300,000, for example, on a property purchased for $500,000.

Already during the first months of the 2014/2014 financial year, many investors have decided to buy investment properties to coincide with the start of the new financial year. This is particularly the case with high income earners who want to reduce their taxable income yet invest in property to create wealth. If you buy an investment property, it is important to complete a tax depreciation schedule as soon as possible after settlement so that it complies with ATO guidelines.

For the initial cost of a tax depreciation report – which is tax deductible – by legitimately claiming their full depreciation allowances clients can achieve thousands of dollars in tax benefits each year from their investment. Even an older style home can also qualify for substantial tax depreciation benefits if a depreciation schedule is undertaken around the time of settlement. To protect their interests and ensure the depreciation report is fully compliant with ATO rulings, property investors should select a company, like DEPPRO, who are a member of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) and uses systems that are fully compliant with ATO rulings.


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May 14, 2018

CoSSaR’s latest research video is live!

Learn more about CoSSaR's congestion management research--and how law enforcement and transportation agencies are using it along the Seattle I-5 corridor--in this new video produced by UW's Applied Physics Laboratory.

April 10, 2018

CoSSaR Director Mark Haselkorn selected to lead new Seattle interagency mobility partnership

Mark Haselkorn

Thanks to the research done by Mark Haselkorn and CoSSaR last year, six regional agencies--Washington State Department of Transportation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol, and King County Metro--have formally agreed to work together as the Seattle Area Joint Operations Group (SAJOG).

March 1, 2018

CoSSaR Releases New Report: Beyond Incident Response

The final report includes several recommendations based on the outcomes of the initial research, including enhancement of the cross-agency information sharing environment, as well as improved communication with the commuting public.

September 27, 2017

CoSSaR Researcher Scott Miles to Participate in Mexico Earthquake Reconnaissance

CoSSaR's Dr. Scott Miles will be leading a reconnaissance research team to Mexico from October 1 - 10, 2017. Sponsored by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Learning from Earthquakes Program, Dr. Miles and three other researchers will study the roles, impacts, and experiences associated with Mexico’s earthquake early warning system after the recent earthquakes.

August 28, 2017

Maritime Security West – September 20-22

For the second year in a row, the Maritime Security West and the Marine Law Enforcement (MLE) Conference will join forces to bring the largest and most comprehensive maritime security and law enforcement event to Tacoma, Washington.

May 18, 2017

Mark Haselkorn to Keynote ICT DM Conference

Mark Haselkorn, professor of Human Centered Design & Engineering, will be the keynote speaker at the Fourth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Disaster Management, happening December 11-13, 2017, in Münster, Germany.

March 15, 2017

CoSSaR Spring Speaker Series

CoSSaR is announcing the 2017 spring session of the quarterly Speaker Series: Speaker: General Randy “Church” Kee Topic: Operationally Driven Science and Technology in support of Arctic Maritime Responders Date: Wednesday, April 12th 2017 Time: 7:00PM-8:30PM Location: UW Seattle Campus, Husky Union Bldg (HUB) room 145. Campus Map: Map Event is open to the public,...

October 5, 2016

Disaster Response Research Facility Coming to UW

Dr. Scott Miles, senior research scientist in HCDE's Center for Collaborative Systems for Security, Safety, and Regional Resilience (CoSSaR), is Co-Principal Investigator on a new NSF award to host the United States’ first post-disaster, rapid response research facility at University of Washington.

May 23, 2016

ISE Blog: Cascadia Rising, Information Sharing and Interoperability

The New Yorker’s 2016 Pulitzer winning article “The Really Big One” presents an informative, yet terrifying overview of what Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia will experience when, after 316 years of building pressure (and counting), the Cascadia Subduction zone breaks free, resulting in the largest North American natural disaster in the modern era....

Cascadia Rising, Information Sharing, and Interoperability

HCDE Professor Mark Haselkorn describes HCDE and CoSSaR's involvement with Cascadia Rising, an exercise simulating the field response of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, on the United States government's Information Sharing Environment blog.

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June 2013 - Grace Notes: A New Nashville House With an Old Soul by Jeannette Whitson

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1 published resources on Design Freebies

Get free design assets, mockups and other resources made by members of the Unicorn family. All we ask in return is a quick shout out and thank you on twitter to @unicornhq

Become a Subscriber

UI Freebie: Tinder Dating App Design Template

  • Clayton Unicorn
  • Design Freebies

Everyone loves freebies, and designers rely on UI kits just like developers rely on frameworks. We made this design while working on an upcoming product that we are launching, and decided that the few iterations before the final would be useful for other designers. Artboards and groups are pretty well organized in this file, and the UI components and landing pages make for a great starting point for a number of different apps including a dating app design.


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Detroit Gold Record

Detroit Gold Record

The Detroit Gold Record project and the Detroit Voyager Program draw from the daily experience and accrued wisdom of Detroit’s residents in order to communicate the re-imagined dream of the city to others in America, on planet Earth and beyond.

The Detroit Voyager Program provides an opportunity for inhabitants and friends of the city to gather information about the practical realities and the emotional lives of Detroiters and contribute it to a centralized system that will index and represent it to the rest of the world. The Program illuminates the ways in which Detroiters are reconfiguring space, relationships and economies to forge and bolster sustainable, dynamic and democratic possibilities for a city of the future. These insights form an organically growing archive, a record of life and experience to be found in the sounds, images and ideas of the city.

The project seeks to bridge the chasm of understanding that separates the rest of the country and world from what’s happening in Detroit. For the city has much to teach all of us about our own human potentials and futures. By capturing something essential about Detroit’s early twenty-first century civilization, this project is meant to better connect us all, as humans facing the future with intelligence, perseverance, and hope.

The project launches December 19, 2014 at MOCAD in Detroit.

Residetroit-voyager-programdents of Detroit are invited to participate by registering for service and being inducted into the Detroit Voyager Program. New recruits can register at MOCAD through DesignInquiry’s residency period, or online.

Registered Voyagers will receive electronic prompts each month. These prompts are simple assignments are designed to explore and reveal something particular about Detroit through the lens of the people who live there. Voyagers document their responses to these prompts by writing, drawing, making; photographing, recording sound and video, and uploading these responses to Instagram. Using designated tags in the application, the reports of the Voyagers are transmitted back to the Committee, which includes them in the Record. The Detroit Gold Record thus compiles the research of Detroit Voyagers into an organically-growing digital fabric; a revelatory message from planet Detroit.


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Cloudwatch monitoring configuration for EC2 and EBS

Amazon cloudwatch  is one of the services provided by AWS for monitoring the cloud and application resources that you run on AWS. Through Cloudwatch monitoring you can monitor log files, set alarms, define set of actions to carry out automatically during an occurrence of an alert. You can even set cloudwatch to monitor logs generated by your application.

You can use cloudwatch for monitoring Amazon EC2 instances, EBS (Elastic Block Store)  volume, ELB  (Elastic Load Balancer), SQS (Simple Queue Service), DynamoDB tables and  RDS (Relational Database Service) instances.

Is cloudwatch an alternative for other full fledged monitoring solutions ?

The answer for this depends upon your requirement. If your monitoring requirement is very minimal (CPU Utilization, Disk, Memory etc ) then this should be suffice. But mostly for a much bigger environment that requires more detailed monitoring, you would be needing a full stack integration, either built-in house or via an established full stack monitoring service that makes use of Cloudwatch API.

What we are going to see in this article?

We will be configuring cloudwatch monitoring and alert for EC2 and EBS. We will configure monitoring for CPU, Memory, Disk and EBS volume. To accomplish this we need to complete the below steps

  • Enable memory, swap, and disk space utilization metrics using perl script ( This does not come as part of default metrics )
  • Create SNS Topic and Subscribers for alert configuration
  • Configure cloud watch metrics for alert and event based action

Lets get our hands dirty and see how we can implement this

Enable monitoring for Memory and Disk Utilization

By default EC2 comes up with metrics for the below functions.

  • CPU Utilization
  • CPU Credit Usage
  • CPU Credit Balance
  • Disk Reads / Operations
  • Disk Writes / Operations
  • Network In / Network Packets In
  • Network Out / Network Packets Out
  • Status Checks

Excerpt from Cloudwatch Dashboard:

Cloudwatch Dashboard

We need to enable EC2 instance to produce metrics for Memory and disk usage that cloudwatch can consume. We can then see the metrics for this just like the ones mentioned above under cloudwatch dashboard. We will be using perl script to accomplish this.

Follow the below steps:

We need additional modules in order for the monitoring to work. We will install those modules first. Login to your EC2 instance and execute the below commands as per the OS.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

$ sudo yum install perl-Switch perl-DateTime perl-Sys-Syslog perl-LWP-Protocol-https perl-Digest-SHA -y

$ sudo yum install zip unzip

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

$ sudo zypper install perl-Switch perl-DateTime

$ sudo zypper install –y “perl(LWP::Protocol::https)”

Ubuntu Server

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install unzip

$ sudo apt-get install libwww-perl libdatetime-perl

Alright, we are done with the prerequisites for the script. Lets download and configure the script now. Execute the below steps.

$ curl -O

$ unzip

$ rm

$ cd aws-scripts-mon

So we have downloaded and unzipped the zip file which contains the scripts using the above commands. We have than changed directory to aws-scripts-mon which is where the scripts are.

The package contains these files:

  •—Shared Perl module that simplifies calling Amazon CloudWatch from other scripts.
  •—Collects system metrics on an Amazon EC2 instance (memory, swap, disk space utilization) and sends them to Amazon CloudWatch.
  •—Queries Amazon CloudWatch and displays the most recent utilization statistics for the EC2 instance on which this script is executed.
  • awscreds.template—File template for AWS credentials that stores your access key ID and secret access key.
  • LICENSE.txt—Text file containing the Apache 2.0 license.
  • NOTICE.txt—copyright notice.

If you already have a role associated with your EC2 instance, then make sure that it  has permissions to perform the following operations:

  • cloudwatch:PutMetricData
  • cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics
  • cloudwatch:ListMetrics
  • ec2:DescribeTags

Note: EC2 roles are assigned to EC2 instances while they are being launched. To know more about it refer this article.

If you haven’t assigned any role for your EC2 instance then follow the below steps.

If you aren’t using an IAM role, update the awscreds.template file that you downloaded earlier. The content of this file should use the following format:

Script Details

This script collects memory, swap, and disk space utilization data on the current system. It then makes a remote call to Amazon CloudWatch to report the collected data as custom metrics.

You can get the list of parameters it takes by just dry running the script. Execute the below commands to get the list of options that you can pass along with the script.

$ cd aws-scripts-mon

$ ./

We will  only be using the below flags while running the script in our example.

–mem-util Collects and sends the MemoryUtilization metrics in percentages. This option reports only memory allocated by applications and the operating system, and excludes memory in cache and buffers.
–disk-space-util Collects and sends the DiskSpaceUtilization metric for the selected disks. The metric is reported in percentages.
–disk-path=PATH Selects the disk on which to report.

To select a disk for the filesystems mounted on / and /home, use the following parameters:

–disk-path=/ –disk-path=/home

Collects and sends SwapUtilization metrics, reported in percentages.

–from-cron Use this option when calling the script from cron. When this option is used, all diagnostic output is suppressed, but error messages are sent to the local system log of the user account.

Script Usage Example:

The following examples assume that you have already updated the awscreds.conf file with valid AWS credentials if you had not attached an EC2 role with the required policy discussed earlier. If you are not using the awscreds.conf file, provide credentials using the –aws-access-key-id and –aws-secret-key arguments.

To perform a simple test run without posting data to CloudWatch

Run the following command:

./ --mem-util --verify --verbose

You’ll get an an output similar to,

$ ./ –mem-util –verify –verbose
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale (“C”).
MemoryUtilization: 9.21098722040956 (Percent)
No credential methods are specified. Trying default IAM role.
Using IAM role <devopsideas-test>
Payload: {“__type”:”com.amazonaws.cloudwatch.v2010_08_01#PutMetricDataInput”,”MetricData”:[{“Unit”:”Percent”,”Dimensions”:[{“Value”:”i-0dfebb86e5ba1c015″,”Name”:”InstanceId”}],”Value”:9.21098722040956,”MetricName”:”MemoryUtilization”,”Timestamp”:1474367469}],”Namespace”:”System/Linux”}

Verification completed successfully. No actual metrics sent to CloudWatch.

Note the text which is highlighted in red in the above output. The script checks for credentials in the  argument first and then in the awscreds.conf file. In this example I have not provided my API keys either in command line or in the awscreds.conf file. Hence it checks if any  role has been attached to this EC2 instance and finds one named “devopsideas-test”.

I have also attached the relevant policy which provides access to cloudwatch metrics such as PutMetricData, GetMetricStatistics, ListMetrics and DescribeTags. Thus my instance will be able to make an API call with cloudwatch without needing to pass any API Keys explicitly. This is the recommended way as well.

To collect all available memory metrics and send them to CloudWatch

Run the following command:

./ --mem-util --mem-used --mem-avail

Above command will send the data related to memory utilized, memory used and memory available at the time of executing the script to cloudwatch

$ ./ –mem-util –mem-used –mem-avail   Successfully reported metrics to CloudWatch. Reference Id: 36e00ca5-7f21-11e6-973c-0b21689c4d6d

This script queries CloudWatch for statistics on memory, swap, and disk space metrics within the time interval provided using the number of most recent hours. This data is provided for the Amazon EC2 instance on which this script is executed. Similar to script, you can check the different options that you can pass for script by dry running it.   Lets see if we can extract the metrics that we posted in the earlier step using script

./ --recent-hours=12

The returned response will be similar to the following example output:

$ ./ –recent-hours=12

Instance i-0dfebb86e5ba1c015 statistics for the last 12 hours.

CPU Utilization
Average: 0.16%, Minimum: 0.00%, Maximum: 77.17%

Memory Utilization
Average: 8.98%, Minimum: 8.98%, Maximum: 8.98%

Swap Utilization
Average: N/A, Minimum: N/A, Maximum: N/A

We will not be using except for the above test since we will do the configuration in AWS console.

If you had successfully executed script then you can use the AWS Management Console to view your posted custom metrics under the cloudwatch Dashboard. Before that lets quickly add the necessary metrics to be forwarded to cloudwatch using a cron job

Add the below entries in your corn job file

#Memory and Disk metrics for cloud watch
*/5 * * * * ~/aws-scripts-mon/ –mem-util –disk-space-util  –disk-path=/ –swap-util –from-cron

As you can see, we are just pushing memory utilized, disk space utilized and swap utilized metrics since they provide details in percentage. This is because, it will be much easier to configure alerts based on metrics in percentage for our example. Also you can add additional mount points apart from ‘/’ if you have any.

Login to AWS console and go to Services –> Management Tools –> CloudWatch. You can see all the custom metrics that we have created using the above script under Metrics –> Linux System.

cloudwatch dashboard

As you can see our customized metrics are reflected in cloudwatch dashboard. MemoryAvailable and MemoryUsed are present since we executed it during our test. Those two will not get updated since they are not part of our cron.

Note: By default EC2 instance will not come with swap space configured. In that case you’ll not see the swapUtilization metric even though you configured it as part of cron. You need to manually configure and mount swap in order to view it as part of cloudwatch metric.

Create SNS Topic and Subscribers for alert configuration

Next we will create SNS Topic and subscribers. We will use this while configuring alerts in cloudwatch dashboard.

Go to Services –> Mobile Services –> SNS

  • In the SNS Dashboard, click Create topic

Create Topic

  • Give a name for Topic and display name and hit Create

Topic Name

  • Click topics again an click on the ARN link for the monitor we just create

Create Subscribers

  • We now need to create subscribers for the topic. Click on create subscription

Create subscritption - 1

  • Select the protocol for subscription and provide the relevant endpoint. In this case I’m choosing Email as the protocol and passing an email id as an Endpoint. Also note a confirmation email will be sent to the specified mail id and it will get activated only after the confirmation. This is the mail id for which we will get the notification.

Cloudwatch email

You can even configure to push notification through sms by selecting the protocol as SMS. The SMS service is currently not supported in Asia Pacific (Mumbai) .

Alright, we are done with creating Topic and subscription.

Configure cloud watch metrics for alert

We can now configure alert based off of our cloud watch metrics. Go to Cloudwatch dashboard and select Linux Systems under Metrics.

Lets first configure alert for disk usage.

  • Select the metric which monitors the disk usage and click create alarm

Cloudwatch disk

  • Configure the Alarm threshold. Since disk space utilization reports in percentage, we can set the threshold value to 90 to alert whenever disk usage reaches 90%.

Disk usage threshold

  • Next we should define the action to be taken when the threshold is reached. We can perform 3 actions – Notification, Autoscaling Action, EC2 Action. For example, if this instance is part of a cluster, we can set the EC2 action to stop the instance in order to prevent the instance from serving requests. In our example, we will set the action to Notification and we will point the notification option to the topic (EC2 – Monitoring) which we created earlier.

We have successfully created monitoring for disk usage of our EC2 instance. Similarly you can create alert for CPU utilization, CPU Credits if you are using t2 instance type, Memory etc.

Note that I have highlighted the Period option. This is important while analyzing data at different periods. In this example, we are sending data at a frequency of 5 mins. In the graph, if we turn the period to a frequency of 1 mins the data displayed does not reflect the valid details.

Important: In basic monitoring type, data is available automatically in 5-minute periods at no charge. If you enable detailed monitoring, data is available at a frequency of one minute.When you get data from CloudWatch, you can include a Period request parameter to specify the granularity of the returned data. This is different than the period that we use when we collect the data (5-minute periods). We recommend that you specify a period in your request that is equal to or larger than the collection period to ensure that the returned data is valid.

You can get the data using either the CloudWatch API or the Amazon EC2 console. The console takes the raw data from the CloudWatch API and displays a series of graphs based on the data. Depending on your needs, you might prefer to use either the data from the API or the graphs in the console.

EBS IOPS Monitoring

AWS is yet to implement a feature to monitor EBS IOPS  (I/O Operations Per Second) as of writing this article. There has been a huge request ( Refer this forum ) to bring this feature just like the CPU credits but it is yet to get implemented.

If you want to know how IOPS work in EBS and what is the difference between General purpose SSD and Provisioned IOPS then you can refer my other article

There is no direct way for monitoring IOPS as of now. We can see few workarounds with which we can estimate our IOPS usage pattern.

Use VolumeReadOps and VolumeWriteOps

The first option is to use the values of VolumeReadOps and VolumeWriteOps. VolumeReadOps gives the number of read operations taking place at a specific time. It is the same for VolumeWriteOps with respect to write operation.

Considering we are using basic monitoring ( 5 mins interval ) we can get the sum of Volume Read and Write Ops and divide that by 300 to get number of IOPS used per second. For basic monitoring, the calculation goes like,

Total IOPS = ( VolumeReadOps + VolumeWriteOps ) / 300

You can extract the values of Read/Write Ops using aws cli. Example command would be,

aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --metric-name VolumeReadOps  --start-time 2016-09-18T10:05:00 --end-time 2016-09-18T10:10:00 --period 300 --namespace AWS/EBS --statistics Sum --dimension Name=VolumeId,Value=<volume name>

aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --metric-name VolumeWriteOps  --start-time 2016-09-18T10:05:00 --end-time 2016-09-18T10:10:00 --period 300 --namespace AWS/EBS --statistics Sum --dimension Name=VolumeId,Value=<volume name>

You need to pass in the correct  timestamp and volume name as per your need and environment. You’ll get an output similar to the below one.

$ aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --metric-name VolumeReadOps  --start-time 2016-09-18T10:05:00 --end-time 2016-09-18T10:10:00 --period 300 --namespace AWS/EBS --statistics Sum --dimension Name=VolumeId,Value=vol-03b20babfd12d71f2
"Datapoints": [
"Timestamp": "2016-09-18T10:05:00Z",
"Sum": 619.0,
"Unit": "Count"
"Label": "VolumeReadOps"

$ aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --metric-name VolumeWriteOps  --start-time 2016-09-18T10:05:00 --end-time 2016-09-18T10:10:00 --period 300 --namespace AWS/EBS --statistics Sum --dimension Name=VolumeId,Value=vol-03b20babfd12d71f2
"Label": "VolumeWriteOps",
"Datapoints": [
"Timestamp": "2016-09-18T10:05:00Z",
"Sum": 1565.0,
"Unit": "Count"

From the above output we could see the sum for Read is “619.0” and Write is “1565.0” for an interval of 5 mins. The value of IOPS will be,

(619 = 1565) / 300 = 7.28 IOPS

We can create a script to forward these values every 5 mins to cloudwatch and then create alerts based on that.

Use VolumeQueueLength

Second option is to use the value of VolumeQueueLength. This metric comes by default as part of EBS in the cloudwatch. You can set a baseline by keeping track of the VloumeQueueLength value over a period of time and the set a value for threshold to alert.

And thats it for this article. Feel free to use the comment section if you have any suggestions/questions.

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Daily Devotion by Fleur Houston 5th June

Galatians 3: 19 – 29

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.

Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law.  But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.  Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,  for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

From what Paul has said to date, it might seem that he has been undermining the Torah.   If neither ‘promise’ not ‘inheritance’ comes from the Torah, what is its purpose? Are those who accuse him of being an enemy of the law right?  If not, Paul has to produce some pretty persuasive arguments to the contrary.

So to make his point clear, he uses a metaphor which would have resonated with his Greek hearers. He describes the Torah as a paidogogus (disciplinarian).   The job of this trusted family servant was to care for a young boy and ensure that he behaved properly.  Once his charge reached adulthood, his services were no longer required. What the Torah does, Paul suggests, is to guide the people of God into the kinds of behaviour that will enable them to maintain freedom once they are set free.

The Galatians would have got the point. The Torah plays an important part in the process of salvation.    But it does not in itself give life. That happens through faith in Jesus Christ, in whom God’s people find right status with God.

In Christ, believers put on a new identity.  Baptism is decisive. And the community of the baptised is marked by radical equality.   No longer is there any distinction between Jew and Greek. And all who belong to Christ are children of Abraham and heirs of God’s promises of blessing.   This gives us pause. Where children, women and men are oppressed in today’s Church, are we still ‘in Christ”?

Gracious God,
ruler of our hearts,
you call us to obedience
and sustain us in freedom.
Keep us true to the way of your son,
that we may walk
in the path of your kingdom.
We ask this through Jesus Christ
our Lord, Amen

Today’s Writer

The Revd’ Fleur Houston is a retired URC minister and a member of Macclesfield and Bollington URC.

Bible Version

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Bible: © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Copyright © 2018 United Reformed Church, All rights reserved.

If today’s Daily Devotion is not showing on your church’s website, this will have affected all church websites using this feed in the same way. Our volunteer technical team are probably aware of the issue and will be working to fix it as soon as they are able.
Thank you.


text:
If you are looking for an Engagement Ring then let us congratulate you on finding the “Right Person” for yourself. It is said that people who buy Princess Cut Rings are extrovert, charming and highly energetic.
Let me tell you that there are a lot of diamond cuts out in the market such as, round, princess, emerald, square, oval, pear, heart Marquise. Though this is true that the traditional Round cut diamonds are the most popular ones but princess cut engagement rings are the hottest selling and second most popular diamond cut in the market so If you are looking to make a statement Princess Cut Engagement Ring is for you.
Princess Cut Engagement Rings
Princess Cut Engagement Rings

Before we give you our verdict about where you should buy your engagement ring from you should know that the price of diamond lies on the following factors also known as 4 C’s:
  1. Cut [Shape of the Diamond]
  2. Clarify [Amount of Inclusions i.e. Flaws the fewer the better]
  3. Color [Most Colorless are better unless you are buying a colored diamond like Blue, Green, Blue etc]
  4. Carat [Diamond Weight]

Now even though diamonds are damn expensive Engagement is a one in a life time occasion therefore it is a onetime investment so when it is about your love life money becomes a second priority and what matters is giving the best present to your spouse-to-be.

The best thing about buying from internet is that not only you don’t get pushed by a sales person but you can also compare a variety of rings, designs and stones from the comfort of your home easily and make the perfect rational choice. The choice really becomes simple as it is just about your love, the occasion, and the future it beholds.
There are a number of online diamond sellers but James Allen is the best place to buy a diamond ring online. Not only have they had a great diamond quality their database is the largest with the option to select carat size, shape, and color as per your liking. They have now integrated 3D slideshows and Videos giving you real time view of how your engagement ring will look like. A Definite place where you get value for your money and the best part is they are never out of stock and deliver the best. Not only this now they are now giving risk free trial that means you get 60 day full money back guarantee, lifetime warranty , free shipping and 24×7 customer support.

When you are buying an engagement ring 90% is actually the sentiments and emotions and only 10% is price so make sure what you are buying a ring for your Fiancée. It is something that bound them officially together and embarks a special feeling for the beginning of their life together. With James Allen however you can get discount diamond rings

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16/07/2011 18:25
Let your visitors know about news and events on your website as often as possible. You need to keep your website up-to-date so that your visitors will get used to visiting your pages regularly. You can use RSS feeds to deliver new articles directly to your readers.

Website launched

16/07/2011 18:24
Our new website has been launched today. Tell your visitors why you have started a new presentation and how it benefits them. Mention your goals and project advantages. Try to briefly give your visitors reasons why they should return to your pages.


text:
Fri, 25 Jun 2010

Nuking a Rented Server

We recently upgraded one of the servers running our hosted filtering service. The old server was rented from our colocation provider; we own the new server.

The problem we faced was that after the move, we had to remove all data from the rented server remotely. We wanted to completely wipe the disks so no confidential information was left behind. And this had to be done without physical access to the machine.

Luckily, the filtering server was a Linux VServer on its own partition. So zeroing out the filtering server was easy; we just unmounted the partition and overwrote it with zeros. Clearing out the root partition was trickier; we had to nuke it while the system was running.

The solution was as follows:

Amazingly, nuke-block-device ran to completion. Naturally, the system hung up completely after it finished. While erasing the disks with nuke-block-device is not completely secure (you need something like Darik's Boot And Nuke for that), completely zeroing out all the disks makes it impossible for an attacker to recover the data without specialized equipment. And that was good enough for us!

The Code for nuke-block-device

Here's the source code for nuke-block-device. It's a quick hack, and is Linux-specific.

The following code is DESIGNED to destroy all data on a block device. DO NOT run it unless that is your intention!

#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <linux/fs.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>

#define MEGABYTE 1048576
#define SPIT_PERIOD 10

char buffer[MEGABYTE];

main(int argc, char **argv)
    unsigned long long size_in_bytes;
    unsigned long size_in_megabytes;
    unsigned long megabytes_done;
    int i;

    char *blockdev;
    int fd;

    if (argc != 2) {
	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s block_device\n", argv[0]);

    if (mlockall(MCL_CURRENT|MCL_FUTURE) < 0) {
	fprintf(stderr, "mlockall failed; continuing anyway: %s\n",
    } else {
	fprintf(stderr, "mlockall succeeded.\n");

    blockdev = argv[1];

    fd = open(blockdev, O_RDONLY);
    if (fd < 0) {
	fprintf(stderr, "Could not open %s: %s\n", blockdev, strerror(errno));
    if (ioctl(3, BLKGETSIZE64, &size_in_bytes) < 0) {
	fprintf(stderr, "ioctl failed: %s: Is %s a block device?\n",
		strerror(errno), blockdev);

    printf("The capacity of %s is %llu bytes.\n", blockdev, size_in_bytes);
    size_in_megabytes = size_in_bytes / MEGABYTE;

    fd = open(blockdev, O_WRONLY);
    if (fd < 0) {
	fprintf(stderr, "Could not open %s for writing: %s\n", blockdev, strerror(errno));
    fprintf(stderr, "You have 10 seconds before all data on %s is IRRETRIEVABLY NUKED!\n", blockdev);
    for (i=10; i >0; i--) {
	fprintf(stderr, "... %d\n", i);
    fprintf(stderr, "... 0!\n");
    fprintf(stderr, "Nuking %s!\n", blockdev);
    memset(buffer, 0, MEGABYTE);
    megabytes_done = 0;
    while(1) {
	ssize_t n = write(fd, buffer, MEGABYTE);
	if (n <= 0) break;
	if (!(megabytes_done % SPIT_PERIOD)) {
	    fprintf(stderr, "Done %lu megabytes of %lu.\n", megabytes_done, size_in_megabytes);
    printf("%s is officially nuked.\n", blockdev);

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text:
Walnut & Stilton Macarons

  • 115g Icing Sugar
  • 35g Walnuts, ground
  • 50g Ground Almonds
  • 50g Caster Sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs Whites
  • 300g Stilton

Make the macaron shells by blitzing the walnuts with the ground almonds and icing sugar until fine.  Whip the egg whites to a soft peak consistency and add the sugar until the peaks are stiffer and glossy.  Combine the egg whites with the nut and icing sugar mixture until it’s falling off the spatula in ribbons.  Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe out 24 1 inch rounds and leave to harden for 15 minutes, make sure a skin has formed on the shells before baking, if the mixture is still not set, leave for another 15 minutes.  Bake at gas mark 2/3, 120-130 Celsius for 15 minutes then leave to cool.  Cut the stilton to fit the macaron shells in small circles.  Sandwich the shells together with a slice of stilton and serve.

The main comment I received on these from Paul and Mary was that the Stilton was too strong.  I don’t agree, however, if you’d like to mellow the cheese a little, pop the Stilton into a food processor and add a couple of nobs of softened unsalted butter and a tablespoon of cream cheese.  Whiz until smooth and creamy, then pipe into the macaron shells.

A batch of walnut shells cooling, ready for a ‘hunk’ of Stilton.

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text:
• Home
  • News
  • CREATING YOUR CAREER - building a portfolio to suit you

CREATING YOUR CAREER - building a portfolio to suit you

The British health system has a reputation for retention of staff – staff who know that once you’re in, the benefits of staying and developing a career with the support and encouragement the organisation can offer makes it worthwhile.

Spanning a vast range of provisions and facilities, the service covers so many different areas that an employee can make huge changes in their professional life and still find an area to accommodate them.

After 14 years as a practicing doctor, GP Anuhba Sinha is still developing her career and building up her portfolio while she works at Kingshurst Medical Practice in Solihull.

Having worked in paediatrics, then as a GP, followed by a stint in academic work studying genetics before returning to general practice, Dr Sinha has a wealth of experience already, but claims that expanding that is what keeps her job interesting.

She said: “I keep all my training and qualifications up to date and I’m quite motivated that way to be able to offer a high level of service.

“I have only been working here since December but I know there are a lot of opportunities with my role now to be more involved with the CCG or with CQC visits or appraising. I’m not sure specifically what route I want to take yet, but after 14 years in practice I think you need something else as well to keep pushing yourself and to keep motivated.”

Dr Joanne Watt Senior PartnerAnother GP who has built up a varied and challenging portfolio career within the NHS is Dr Joanne Watt, based at the Great Oakley Medical Centre in Corby.

As senior doctor at the practice, Dr Watt continues her day to day GP role but has expanded several other niches alongside such as now being chair of the local CCG.

She said: “For me doing ten sessions as a GP every week was too much whereas doing four or five as I do now allows me to do a really good job and do something else with the rest of my week.

“Now I do three sessions as chair of the local CCG and another session working in sexual health. The ability to vary work like that is something we would want to support with any new recruit too.

“It keeps them fresh and interested and more practically it allows everyone to develop extra specialisms and new expertise that they can then share with colleagues so it is for the benefit of our patients and our fellow clinicians.”

Based at the Maple Access Partnership in Northampton, Dr Mark Mackenzie is another GP who has exploited the opportunities available within the system to create a niche role that he now loves.

He said: “The way the NHS works has allowed me to develop my own niche career. I have been able to get involved in training and teaching but also now split my time between the practice and the hospital which is very important to me.

“I work in particular with drugs and alcohol services and also treat patients of no fixed abode – this is what I am passionate about and creating this portfolio career of my own is just not something that would have been possible when I was working as a GP in South Africa.

“It is being in this country and being within the NHS system that has enabled me to do this.”


text:
banner image
image of IET Circuits, Devices & Systems Current Issue
Online ISSN 1751-8598
Print ISSN 1751-858X

IET Circuits, Devices & Systems covers the following topics:
Circuit theory and design, circuit analysis and simulation, computer aided design; filters (analogue and switched capacitor); circuit implementations, cells and architectures for integration including VLSI; testability, fault tolerant design, minimisation of circuits and CAD for VLSI; novel or improved electronic devices for both traditional and emerging technologies including nanoelectronics and MEMs, device and process characterisation, device parameter extraction schemes; mathematics of circuits and systems theory; test and measurement techniques involving electronic circuits, circuits for industrial applications, sensors and transducers.

The IET has now partnered with Publons to give you official recognition for your contribution to peer review. Read more...

Impact Factor: 1.395
5-year Impact Factor: 1.308
CiteScore: 1.49
SNIP: 1.014
SJR: 0.288

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This journal was previously known as IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems 1994-2006. ISSN 1350-2409. more..

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text:
[Cookie Cooper with Bow and Arrow Aiming Left]

Photograph of Cookie Cooper posing with an archer's bow and arrow during a campus photoshoot.

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This photograph is part of the collection entitled: University Photography Collection and was provided by UNT Libraries Special Collections to Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 13 times . More information about this photograph can be viewed below.

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Date of Award

Fall 2013

Document Type

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering - (M.S.)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

MengChu Zhou

Second Advisor

Yun Q. Shi

Third Advisor

Mingming Yan

This thesis addresses the optimal control problem of timed continuous Petri nets. The theory of Model Predictive Control (MPC) is first discussed. Then continuous Petri nets (PN) are introduced as a powerful tool for modelling, simulation and analysis of discrete event/continuous systems. Their useful capabilities are studied. Finally, a macroscopic model based on PN as a tool for designing control laws that improve the behavior of traffic systems is given. The goal is to find an approach that minimizes the total delay of cars in an intersection by computing the switching sequence of the traffic lights. The simulation results show that by using an MPC strategy to handle the variability of traffic conditions, the total delay is dramatically reduced.


text:
Date of Award

Document Type

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Dr. Diamond

Second Advisor

Dr. Pol

Third Advisor

Dr. Lin

Economic theories of fertility are tested on Norwegian time series data for the period 1962-1991. The Easterlin hypothesis receives the most attention, and generally little evidence is found to support this hypothesis. Large relative cohort size ratios, however, seem to support the Easterlin hypothesis more than small ones. A New Home Economics model with a special emphasis on male income and female wages is also estimated, and results are obtained favoring this model. Finally, the problem with effective time lags in economic fertility models is tested, and in general an effective time lag of two years is favored. Since women's liberation is social liberation, the New Home Economics model predicts a rather dark picture of future fertility. Based on the empirical results, increased equality between the sexes will have the unevitable side effect of reduced fertility.

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Economics and the Faculty of the Graduate College of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Economics University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Terje Christiansen December, 1994


text:
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Website Design that your customers will love and competitors will hate

I’m The Engineer, the Website Design Superhero at Digital Paint. If you are in need of intelligent, responsive and beautiful websites or apps that convert visitors to genuine leads, then I have the special powers to make it happen, no matter how complex or creative you need it.

From simple brochure websites, to complex E-commerce and bespoke website design, we can do it all for you effortlessly, developing a website optimised for Google and sure to put you above competitors in your search category. Sound good? Get in touch now!

Website user experience and interface design that convert visitors to customers

I’m The Creator, the fiery handed website design UX/UI guru at Digital Paint. If you want your customers to see the best brand possible through every one of your touch points, then I’m your guy!

As the website design UX/UI architect, front end developer and brand designer, I can take an idea or dream and develop it into something tangible and remarkable.

If you are ready to upgrade your website UX and UI, get in touch using any of the action buttons.

Digital marketing and creative campaigns to create a buzz for your brand

Hey! I’m The Marksman, Master of Digital Marketing at Digital Paint. I identify markets, then target them every time. If you are looking for the most creative and strategic digital marketing agency to make your brand big and create a buzz around your website and online activity, then you are in the right place.

We will take the pressure and stress away from you by planning, implementing, measuring and reporting on the creative digital marketing success, leaving you to do the important things in life. Whatever that may be. Sound good? Get in touch now!

Creative Social Media campaigns, digital marketing and research and insights. I’m The Protégé, the living trend; a young social media, digital marketing and research superhero at Digital Paint. If you want to create a real buzz on social media about your brand and your website and create a real buzz, from Snapchat to Instagram, Pinterest to Facebook, I'm the guy to make it happen. My superpowers also extend to high-level research and insights, which we use to guide strategic planning, so if this is something you require, get in touch now!

If you want to develop your in-house skills sets in areas such as Social Media Marketing and Planning, Business Development and Creative Thinking, Blogging and Digital Marketing, we can help!

We plan and deliver engaging, entertaining and thought provoking training, providing you with the commercial methods we use to make the biggest impact.

Having planned Leisure and Hospitality tours in London and Chicago for the biggest brands in the UK, The Digital Paint team can plan and deliver any sized corporate tour in any country, dealing with travel plans, tour content, tour schedules, and ensure an enjoyable experience for your patrons.

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text:
Webinar - Punishment and Discipline: What Are the Differences by Jayme Lenker
Am I enabling or empowering the children around me? What is the difference between praise and encouragement? Punishment and discipline? Discover the differences in this discussion and learn a whole new way to look at these issues.

Required Material for this study:

To Enroll, please login