text:
This character is a Other Letter and is mainly used in the Hangul script.

The glyph is a Canonical composition of the glyphs 노 ᆩ. It has a Wide East Asian Width. In bidirectional context it acts as Left To Right and is not mirrored. In text U+B17A behaves as H3 regarding line breaks. It has type OLetter for sentence and ALetter for word breaks. The Grapheme Cluster Break is LVT.

The Wikipedia has the following information about this codepoint:

The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul in South Korea and as Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea and China, is the alphabet that has been used to write the Korean language since the 15th century. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443, and is now the official script of both South Korea and North Korea, and co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China's Jilin Province. In South Korea, Hangul is occasionally augmented by Chinese characters called Hanja; whereas in North Korea, Hanja are virtually nonexistent.

In its classical and modern forms, the alphabet has 24 consonant and vowel letters. However, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. That is, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, it is actually composed of three letters: ㅎ h, ㅏ a, and ㄴ n. Each syllabic block consists of two to six letters, including at least one consonant and one vowel. These blocks are then arranged horizontally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom. Each Korean word consists of one or more syllables, hence one or more blocks. The number of mathematically possible distinct blocks is 11,172 (see "South Korean order" below), though there are far fewer possible syllables allowed by Korean phonotactics, and not all phonotactically possible syllables occur in actual Korean words. For a phonological description, see Korean phonology.

System Representation
UTF-8 EB 85 BA
UTF-16 B1 7A
UTF-32 00 00 B1 7A
URL-Quoted %EB%85%BA
HTML-Escape 녺
Wrong windows-1252 Mojibake ëº
Encoding: EUC-KR (hex bytes) 86 E7

Complete Record

Property Value
Age (age) 2.0
Unicode 1 Name (na1)
Block (blk) Hangul
General Category (gc) Other Letter
Script (sc) Hangul
Bidirectional Category (bc) Left To Right
Combining Class (ccc) Not Reordered
Decomposition Type (dt) Canonical
Decomposition Mapping (dm) 노 ᆩ
Lowercase (Lower)
Simple Lowercase Mapping (slc) 녺
Lowercase Mapping (lc) 녺
Uppercase (Upper)
Simple Uppercase Mapping (suc) 녺
Uppercase Mapping (uc) 녺
Simple Titlecase Mapping (stc) 녺
Titlecase Mapping (tc) 녺
Case Folding (cf) 녺
ASCII Hex Digit (AHex)
Alphabetic (Alpha)
Bidi Control (Bidi_C)
Bidi Mirrored (Bidi_M)
Bidi Paired Bracket (bpb) 녺
Bidi Paired Bracket Type (bpt) None
Cased (Cased)
Composition Exclusion (CE)
Case Ignorable (CI)
Full Composition Exclusion (Comp_Ex)
Changes When Casefolded (CWCF)
Changes When Casemapped (CWCM)
Changes When NFKC Casefolded (CWKCF)
Changes When Lowercased (CWL)
Changes When Titlecased (CWT)
Changes When Uppercased (CWU)
Dash (Dash)
Deprecated (Dep)
Default Ignorable Code Point (DI)
Diacritic (Dia)
East Asian Width (ea) Wide
Extender (Ext)
FC NFKC Closure (FC_NFKC) 녺
Grapheme Cluster Break (GCB) LVT
Grapheme Base (Gr_Base)
Grapheme Extend (Gr_Ext)
Hex Digit (Hex)
Hangul Syllable Type (hst) LVT Syllable
Hyphen (Hyphen)
ID Continue (IDC)
Ideographic (Ideo)
ID Start (IDS)
IDS Binary Operator (IDSB)
IDS Trinary Operator and (IDST)
Indic Positional Category (InPC) NA
Indic Syllabic Category (InSC) Other
ISO 10646 Comment (isc)
Joining Group (jg) No_Joining_Group
Join Control (Join_C)
Jamo Short Name (JSN)
Joining Type (jt) Non Joining
Line Break (lb) H3
Logical Order Exception (LOE)
Math (Math)
Noncharacter Code Point (NChar)
NFC Quick Check (NFC_QC) Yes
NFD Quick Check (NFD_QC) No
NFKC Casefold (NFKC_CF) 녺
NFKC Quick Check (NFKC_QC) Yes
NFKD Quick Check (NFKD_QC) No
Numeric Type (nt) None
Numeric Value (nv) NaN
Other Alphabetic (OAlpha)
Other Default Ignorable Code Point (ODI)
Other Grapheme Extend (OGr_Ext)
Other ID Continue (OIDC)
Other ID Start (OIDS)
Other Lowercase (OLower)
Other Math (OMath)
Other Uppercase (OUpper)
Pattern Syntax (Pat_Syn)
Pattern White Space (Pat_WS)
Quotation Mark (QMark)
Radical (Radical)
Sentence Break (SB) OLetter
Simple Case Folding (scf) 녺
Script Extension (scx) Hangul
Soft Dotted (SD)
STerm (STerm)
Terminal Punctuation (Term)
Unified Ideograph (UIdeo)
Variation Selector (VS)
Word Break (WB) ALetter
White Space (WSpace)
XID Continue (XIDC)
XID Start (XIDS)
Expands On NFC (XO_NFC)
Expands On NFD (XO_NFD)
Expands On NFKC (XO_NFKC)
Expands On NFKD (XO_NFKD)


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text:
30% OFF Everything from Morphe Brushes
Bag 0

Matte LipQuid - Sedona

They Talk About

  • Details
  • Ingredients
  • How To
  • Share
They Talk About is a brand that was born, raised, made with love in Jakarta, Indonesia. Founded in 2016. Started from a group of beauty enthusiasts with unwavering passion for beauty that has grown into a vision: to make every woman confident by bringing out the better version of themselves.

With that vision, we create the most coveted beauty products to be their reliable company. We developed no-fuss products to fit in their routines. Since all of our products are a respond to their needs and insights.

THEY TALK ABOUT is a well-made local cosmetic brand offering wide range of products to cater all aspirations of women. Our brand is inspired by the ideas of women-talk. A safe environment for women to pour everything on the table; talking candidly about anything and tossing positive vibes to each other.

Matte LipQuid (5 SHADES)

Shades available:

1. Sandstone: Warm Taupe Brown
Matte-finished liquid lipstick in warm taupe-brown color. Just like the name Sandstone that represents creativity for easy-going personality, this shade is fun and unique at the same time.
2. Agate: Dusty Rose Nude
Matte-finished liquid lipstick in dusty-rose nude color. This shade is called Agate because it works like a lucky charm for every intellectual, courageous, and confident individuals who wants to up their game.
3.Marsala - Muted Reddish Pink
Matte-finished liquid lipstick in muted reddish-pink color. Marsala is the shade for those who are mysteriously attractive and charming.
4. Mimosa - Plum Purplish Pink
Matte-finished liquid lipstick in plum-purplish pink color. Mimosa might gives off a tough-look, but this shade represents lady-like individuals who are generous, kind and sensitive.
5. Sedona -  Brownish Deep Red
Matte-finished liquid lipstick in brownish deep-red color. Sedona is the shade that will give you an amazingly sexy smile that can steal any heart.

      Isododecane, Talc, Microcrystalline Wax, Cyclopentasiloxane, Kaolin, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Diisostearyl Malate, Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polybutene, Propylene Carbonate, Polyglyceryl-2 Diisostearate, Fragrance(Parfum), Sodium Dehydroacetate, May Contain : CI 77891, CI 774

      Clean any leftover product on your lips. Start applying lipquid from the outline of your lips and then fill-in the rest. Let the product rest for about 30 second before touching anything. (Before applying, make sure that your lips are not dry or chapped. If your lips are dry or chapped, use lipscrub to remove dead-skin and then apply lipbalm for 5 minutes and then wipe-off the excess product.)

      More About This Product

      Sold Out

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text:
Moon Knight #200
Series Next

Moon Knight #200

Writer: Max Bemis Artist: Jacen Burrows Publisher: Marvel Comics Release Date: October 24, 2018 Cover Price: $4.99 Critic Reviews: 4 User Reviews: 13
5.4Critic Rating
5.4User Rating

+ Pull List

•  MARC SPECTOR comes face-to-face with his demons!
•  Old enemies return!
•  It's a celebration of 200 issues of the multifaceted MOON KNIGHT with an oversized anniversary issue you'd be crazy to miss!
Rated T+

  • 8.0
    The Beat - Alexander Jones Oct 24, 2018

    The issue is an ending, not a beginning. I definitely would not advise anyone to start reading here. I think this is a pretty strong script capping off another interesting Moon Knight run. While I wish some of these runs would be longer. Read Full Review

  • 6.0 - Chase Magnett Oct 24, 2018

    While Moon Knight #200 is as messy as most special issues of a long-running series, its approach to the character and story of the past few years provides lots of reasons to love it, flaws and all. Read Full Review

  • 5.3
    Major Spoilers - Matthew Peterson Oct 29, 2018

    Well-drawn, with a wonderful artistic cameo from Sienkiewicz, but a confusing story and some tone-deaf dialogue moments detract from the story somewhat. Read Full Review

  • 2.5
    Multiversity Comics - Elias Rosner Oct 26, 2018

    In a run with moments of brilliance, the conclusion drowns them all out with a nonsensical story without a satisfying resolution, art that is mostly, technically fine but clashes with the tone, and a main character that was less developed than one of his antagonists. Read Full Review

Reviews for the Week of...


text:
Source members no longer being shipped with the next IDMS release =

Discussion created by ca.portal.admin on Jul 23, 2010
currently referred to as release 18

We are sending this email to let everyone know that in our current plans fo=
r CA IDMS r18 there are several source members that we longer plan on ship=
ping. We would like to hear from you if you believe this is going to cause=
you any problems. Please understand that these are our plans currently an=
d are subject to change. =20

List of members:

With respect to IDMSINTL. We have enhanced IDMSINTL to provide a new ""OPTIX=
IT"" for dynamic routing of requests.

The information contained in this message, including attachments, may conta=
privileged or confidential information that is intended to be delivered onl=
y to the
person identified above. If you are not the intended recipient, or the pers=
responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, Windstre=
am requests
that you immediately notify the sender and asks that you do not read the me=
ssage or its
attachments, and that you delete them without copying or sending them to an=
yone else.
IDMS 3rd-party providers forum

Re: Source members no longer being shipped with the next IDMS release currently referred to as release 18
"Hello John,

We use those modules the same way as Stephen does.

John N. Baloga
IDMS DBA, Global I & O
Volvo Information Technology
7825 National Service Road, Greensboro, NC 27409
United States of America

Telephone: 336-393-3425
Telefax: 336-393-4080


text:
11 Replies Latest reply on Aug 25, 2016 5:49 PM by Intel Corporation

    535 240gb SSD doesn't show in BIOS, was working for months till recently, now weird trick allows me to get BIOS to see it

      I have a Intel 535 240gb SSD that was working perfectly with my Gigabyte P55A-UD4 rev2.0 motherboard till recently.

      I think a drive firmware update made it so the drive no longer shows in the bios.

      I’ve tested with different cables and ports on the motherboard - nothing works, although the drive works perfectly on another PC at my house and passes the full test in the toolbox.

      This may be related to the Device Sleep DEVSLP issue possibly (addressed in firmware update tool FUT 2.0.14).

      If I boot to the firmware update tool (latest version 2.1.3) it shows no drive (similar to the bios), but if I disconnect and replug the sata power on the drive while the tool is open it shows the drive perfectly all of a sudden.

      If I click shutdown but quickly press ctrl-alt-del to soft reboot before it powers off, I can then boot into windows and the drive works perfectly unless I let the PC go to sleep or restart (proving the sata port/cable is fine, just this sequence of events puts the drive in a mode that is useable).

      Is it possible for me to downgrade my firmware to a version that will work? (without DEVLP potentially?) FUT 2.0.14 wouldn’t let me downgrade the firmware.

      Hopefully this doesn't affect too many people, but could be quite a serious bug for those that it does affect - obviously an issue with this drive firmware, as I haven't updated my BIOS for a year.


text:
AnsweredAssumed Answered

Deleted items retention time and CIFS best pratices question

Question asked by hikenboots on Aug 8, 2006
Latest reply on Sep 26, 2006 by derek
Is there a time limit on how long deleted items are stored or must users manually purge the deleted items store periodically to keep the size down?

Also, I have users who are working on documents directly through the CIFS interface.  It is a little laggy but the real problem to me is that MS Word writes it's temp and recovery files into the working directory (CIFS) and the deleted items store is collecting a lot of junk in this manner.  Is this a bad idea to work directly from within CIFS in this fashion?


text:
AnsweredAssumed Answered

Searching Mind Maps Through Content Transformations?

Question asked by vrothenberg on Feb 28, 2013
Latest reply on Mar 19, 2013 by mlauer
I'm looking for a way to index the contents of .mm files on Alfresco 4.1 for Windows 7 so I can search within each mind map. So far I've found a promising method below but I can't seem to get it to work:

The best way seems to be extracting each .mm file's text by getting the values of each node's text attribute. An XSLT in the method posted renders all the text clearly in a web browser after renaming the mind map to an xml, then adding the xml prologue and stylesheet tags. Can't seem to figure out a more elegant solution so Alfresco searches each mind map as if it were an XML, yet still returns an .mm file. The method I've already found suggests using xmlstarlet from within Alfresco's RuntimeExecutableContentTransformer bean. However this resulted in a server missing resource error when I tried it on Windows.

Does anyone have a step by step process for implementing full text searching of mind maps through content transformers?

Greatly appreciate any kind of help you may have.


text:
AnsweredAssumed Answered

Can't login alfter upgrading Alfresco

Question asked by theobroma on Jan 11, 2018
Latest reply on Jan 22, 2018 by theobroma

I know that many others asked this question too, but I have tried almost all of the found solutions and nothing works in my case.

Upgrade path is from 4.1.2 to 5.2.2

Database: PosgtreSQL 9.6

So I have done following

  1. installed the latest Alfresco
  2. imported dump of the database
  3. copied contentstore, contentstore.deleted and keystore in alf_data_dev folder

As a result system is connected to the database but when I try to login nothing happens except page reloading.

Running the authentication webscript it returns following:

I have tried following:

1. Created a new empty database afterwards login works

2. Added following line of code in

alfresco.cluster.enabled = false

3. Tried to change the password directly in the database referencing to: Admin password in default authentication | Alfresco Documentation. One interesting thing here is that sql query intended for the latest Alfresco did not work, I had to use the one that was intended for the lower versions - doesn't help.


text:
3 Replies Latest reply on Nov 6, 2018 9:19 AM by psyu

    PSOC BLE transmit sint16 type value

      Could you please provide a reference or example code where I can send sint16 type value from a BLE PSOC device.

      Currently I am sending uint16 type value successfully using the following code snippet –

      uint16 mydata = 25;

      UpdateBleServiceValue16(mydata, CYBLE_MYSERVICE_DATA_CHAR_HANDLE);

      void UpdateBleServiceValue8Array(uint16 mydata, uint16 attrHandle)

      uint8 len = sizeof(mydata);

      static uint8 arrayData[2] = { 0x00, 0x00 };

      *(arrayData) = (mydata >> 8) & 0x00FF;

      arrayData[1] = mydata & 0x00FF;

      CYBLE_GATT_HANDLE_VALUE_PAIR_T pair = { { arrayData, len, len }, attrHandle };

      CyBle_GattsWriteAttributeValue( &pair, 0, &cyBle_connHandle, CYBLE_GATT_DB_LOCALLY_INITIATED );

      But now I want to send value that can be negative as well i.e. I would like to send -25. How to make that possible?  CYBLE_GATT_HANDLE_VALUE_PAIR_T accepts only uint8 types.

      Alternate question is - Currently the data attribute is of type uint16, do I need to change it to sint16 in order to allow it to transmit negative values?

      Please help.

      Kind Regards,

      Jitender Kumar


text:
AnsweredAssumed Answered

add a user phone and e-mail in quote print

Question asked by Cosmin Costean on Jan 31, 2018
Latest reply on Jan 31, 2018 by B_Canales

I configured the quote print and I have 2 major problems:

1. How can I add the sales manager phone and e-mail on the quote ( if I select Assigned to I have 3 options - First name, last name and last login) ?

2. How can I add an image in the footer ?

Thank you for your help.

Btw: Sugar 7.11 Professional edition , cloud


text:
February 2018 Babies
427K posts 118K members
Join this group For full access & updates!

Bookmark Discussion
kittyaira wrote:

So we went to babies r us yesterday to get an idea of what kind of strollers we like, and to get an idea of prices and talk about overwhelming. I don't even know where to start when it comes to them, what features to look for, are other brands safer or better, I have no idea. I know I want a travel system so we can easily go from car to stroller, but that's it. Do you have any advice or tips? Great websites that I can do research on. Please help, lol.

Sort by: Oldest Newest 24 Posts

I'm on my third baby and use chicco gear , always been happy !

I have the uppababy vista. I got it with my first bc it converts to a double. It's expensive but worth it, we love it!

Check out the doona it's really cool but only for babies. You need another stroller for when the baby will be older.

Look up Lucieslist.com I absolutely love her reviews! She talks about the wide range of prices on things as well, not just the expensive things.

I have a Britax travel system that I used with my first and I loved it :) trying now to decide what type of double stroller I need/want now that my first will be 21 months when this one is due. Good luck :)

Everyone has a brand they love! Pointers I personally will give are:

1: think about future, will you try to have more than 1 kid.. maybe find one that will adapt if u do have more kids

2: think travel, some are super easy to fold, others not so much

3: adapters, storage, other accessories, tires etc.. all features of strollers you should check out!

Hope this helped you! I have a stroller system that goes all the way down to just a frame and I used that with my infant carset, then ended up buying a totally different brand and stroller for when my son was older and for travel.. took it to Disney twice so far! Now in the boat where we're having baby #2 and trying to figure out what we want to do, wish I thought it out more because I will probably end up with 3 separate strollers in the end lol talk about $

Agree I had the vista in 09 but sold it. Going for the Cruz this time. Really like quality and how it handles.

Thank you!!!

This book is a Lifesaver

I got the Nuna Car seat with Mixx2 stroller

Ik u

Agree with the Baby Bargains book and Lucie's List for reviews. I followed the book's advice and started with just the frame stroller for the first months. It was all we needed then, as taking baby in and out of car in the car seat and popping into the frame was so easy. And, I was so glad to be lifting a 10lb stroller in and out of car instead of something full size. Most importantly, I had time to learn our true preferences, which features I needed and which wouldn't matter. I ended up with a stroller I had never even heard of (Nuna Mixx), and am still so glad! We love it!

If you have a locally owned baby store, they can also be helpful. They gave me very honest opinions, listened to my needs, and actually directed me away from the more expensive stroller I had intended to buy (uppababy vista).

I was feeling the exact same way and a lady from baby buntings explained it easily for me - you have to figure out what YOU want. If you want a light weight pram stay away from those that can convert to a double because they tend to be heavier, if your going to be going "off road" then you need a pram with thicker tyres..... all different things to consider when your choosing one and it's up to the individual mother to decide what ones best for her.

Uppababy Vista is great.  I see it everywhere and heard great reviews from friends.

we just put the city mini gt travel system on our registry.

We just got the Nuna IVVI stroller system. We liked the features and the quality compared to other systems we looked at.

We have the summer infant fuze, a great economical stroller that works from birth, my girl was 6 lbs when we brought her home and she's still happy in it at 22 months. Decent undercarriage and very good handling. Definitely no regrets!

We are doing the aborted B-Safe car seat with the BOB Revolution stroller. My wife likes that it has a hand break. She has partial paralysis in the leg and can't pick up her foot for a foot break. Plus the Mom storage and the larger wheels make it easier for her to manuver. Plus she feels safe putting a little of her weight on it too when she needs to on bad days.

'm in the same boat but wondering how much I'll really use it. I live in the city in Dallas and most of the city is not walkable. I know I would use it for running around the neighborhood, so we are thinking of a jogger. That could also be used at a zoo, etc. If we travel, we would have a separate compact stroller just for that. We only travel like once a year though. I would love any thoughts you ladies have on the subject!

How do you like it? Any pros cons?


text:
Dennis Wright's Blog

Nagasaki: Glover Garden

Posted in Far East Cruise 2007, Japan, Nagasaki, Travel by Dennis Wright on August 9, 2007

japan flag It’s somehow fitting that on 9 August 2007, 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb which devastated Nagasaki, I’m blogging about my visit to the city. It does though bring it home how far behind I am with this blog. I started this series of cruise-related posts so the kids could follow us on our holiday, but I’m still writing it even though we were in Nagasaki on Tuesday 1st May. This has become an “I’ve started so I’ll finish” job. At least there will be a record for posterity, made while the trip is still fresh (or freshish) in my mind.

After the atomic bomb museum we returned by tram to Oura-kaigan-dori station close to where the Statendam was docked, then took another tram for the short journey to Glover Garden.

nagasaki statendam

nagasaki tram ourakaigandori

Glover Garden is named for Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish industrialist who came to the city as a young man to seek out his fortune when Japan opened its borders to foreign traders in 1859, ending a long period of self-imposed isolation. The garden features the western style homes from the period, including Glover House.

The garden is on Minamiyamate hill overlooking the harbour, with panoramic views of the city.

nagasaki glover garden

nagasaki glover garden

nagasaki glover garden

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text:
Photo/stories from the field: do you obey your husband?

What can we learn about childhood if we consider it through a lens of liminality? A time of changes and passages, some being ritualistically annotated while others not, and a time in which identities are fluid and negotiable as is the experience of the social world. The usual order of things may be questioned or turned upside down, by actors who may find themselves being between and betwixt. In this series of short blog posts we explore experiences at various thresholds as we encountered them in the fieldwork over a three-year period.

In a previous post, I described my time in the field as feeling ‘one foot out the door’ more than I would have liked.  At the same time, the image of ‘one foot out the door’ brings to mind that of the threshold. Arrivals and departures are moments in everyday life when a threshold is literally crossed, with all the liminality that offers. The fieldwork in London provided such moments in which the typical order of things are overturned. With one family in particular these ‘threshold’ moments were when the children in the family would take the opportunity to have discussions which might be recognised as ‘political’, asking questions about identity and belonging, gender dynamics and religion, which resonated with them as much as with me, as they tried to make sense of this strange interloper into their family life and their own place in London life as a migrant family. In terms of our research questions it also shows the ways in which ‘the political’, whether a feeling, a conversation, an experience, is often fleeting and ephemeral, both conversations from the fieldnotes below happened a few minutes before I stepped out the door.

It’s end of May 2015, and we’re approaching the end of the first six months of fieldwork. I have spent the day with Dana, the middle of the three siblings, going to school with him and coming home with the family after participating in a family after school activity.  Leila has spent the afternoon cooking ‘proper Asian food’ on her husband’s insistence, she had wanted to order pizza for us instead. She’s informed me that the bitter melon that she’s cut up is really good for pregnant woman, during my visits Leila regularly asks me when I will have another baby or if I’m pregnant.  While dinner is being prepared I watch Bollywood films dubbed into Farsi on the TV with the children – the image of the male protagonist ironing his trousers and getting burnt with by the iron in a slapstick comedic moment the children find hilarious, forever etched in my memory.

For dinner we sit in the traditionally furnished front room, with cushions on the floor, all together as a family eating chicken, rice, kidney beans, and salad. We finish dinner. Hamid has to go to work and goes off to change into his Western clothes, he’s been wearing a kaftan. He says goodbye to me and leaves. It’s time for me to leave too. The children are asking me if I will bring my son with me next time. I show them some pictures of Elias on the mobile. Yasmin says ‘he doesn’t look like you’ and then adds ‘he looks Muslim’. I respond ‘that’s because his dad is Muslim’. Leila, Donya and Yasmin all look at each other as if they have been having this conversation since my previous visit, when I had also showed them photographs, and had been trying to work it out. Donya, the oldest, seems quite excited at my response. Leila is smiling as I show them all some more pictures. They want to see a picture of my husband can I bring one next time? ‘I can show you one now,’ I say and do so. ‘He’s Indian!’ they exclaim. I explain that way back his family came from South India most likely but his parents are from Trinidad, condensing and simplifying a much more complex story of 18thcentury migration and indentured labour. Hamid comes back to the flat for a minute, he’s forgotten something, and Yasmin, the youngest, four and a half at the time, runs to him and says something in Farsi and then in English, she’s really, really excited, ‘he’s Muslim!’ she tells her father who doesn’t look like he knows what she’s talking about. I’m gathering my things together. It’s time for me to say goodbye. I try to get an indication about when next we can meet but Leila says ‘just call me’. Yasmin and Dana are hovering around the door. Dana on his scooter. We all say goodbye and I leave.

My next visit to the family is in October of the same year. It’s time for me to leave. I collect my things and start putting my jacket on and get up from the floor. As I’m doing so, and as if continuing our conversation from May, Donya asks me ‘are you Muslim?’ ‘No,’ I say, ‘but my husband is’. ‘But you follow the oldest,’ she says her eyes searching my face inquisitively. I don’t follow what she says and ask her to repeat it. She has to repeat it twice and then Leila says ‘she means your husband’.  Of course, I don’t like the premise of the question, and I want to respond in a way that both challenges the question but also answers it. I say ‘well sometimes I do, and sometimes he follows me,’ and I wink at her. Leila is standing behind her and grinning nervously. I can’t quite tell, is she’s telling me to cut it out (she makes a little hand waving gesture)? Or is it that this is not a discussion she wants her daughter to have or have I’ve just walked into a negotiated space? All three siblings have been trying to work me out from the outset – whether it’s my son’s complexion or my tattoos. This must be stuff that the family has to negotiate all the time between their more traditional family life and the (post)modern city they live in. It feels like I’m a person through which these negotiation happen.  Leila asks me what my son’s name is again and I tell her. She recognises it, we talk about my son’s name as existing in a number of cultures and that being the reason we chose it, because it’s oecumenical, I tell her, a name that wanders across borders. I say he will grow up with (at least) two cultures and religions. Donya is still looking at me quizzically.

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Annie and Eddie’s 5 Year Adoption Anniversary

Annie and Eddie close up

Eddie and Annie

It is so hard for us to believe that the kittens have been sharing their lives with us for five years.  No, they are no longer kittens, but I bet you too might still think of your cats as kittens from time to time.  They grow up so fast and time seems to simply evaporate. The above photo is from one of the first nights in their new  home.

Annie and Eddie were best friends when we brought them home and today they remain best friends.  Of course, there is the occasional tussle but nothing too serious. Where we see one, the other is not too far away.

Annie and Eddie in the kitchen window

A few days ago, we caught the dynamic duo looking out the kitchen window. They are not normally allowed to hang out on the counter but look at those little legs.  Could they be any cuter? And we can clean the counter.

Annie and Eddie love the track

Here they are taking a nap in Eddie’s favorite racetrack.  Eddie is keeping his paws on Annie.

Eddie and Annie Waiting

Watching the birds in the driveway together while Bad Kitty looks over them.

Annie and Eddie I see you looking at the cupboards.

Annie and Eddie One of my favorite photos of the two kittens.

Still one of my favorite photos of Annie and Eddie.  It makes me laugh every time.

Annie and Eddie in boxTwo peas in a pod or two cats in a box.  They look like they were up to something don’t they?

Annie and Eddie

Playing in the sunroom.

Annie and Eddie in Cat Ball

There is room for two

Nap time in the shark.

Eddie on BagAnnie is inside the paper bag.  Eddie is asking her for the password.

Annie and Eddie hugging

This photo was taken just a few days ago on the five year anniversary of their adoption day.  Still best friends and still bringing joy into our lives every single day.

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Fingers and Gesture Recognition with Kinect v2 Sensor

Open access

The paper presents enhancements and innovative solutions of the proposed in [3] algorithms for fingers tracking and hand gesture recognition based on new defined features describing hand gestures and exploiting new-tracked tip and thumb joints from Kinect v2 sensor. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm is used for gestures recognition. We increased its accuracy, scale and rotational invariance by defining new 3D featuring angles describing gestures and used for training a gesture database. 3D positions for fingertips are extracted from depth sensor data and used for calculation of featuring angles between vectors. The provided by Kinect v2 3D positions for thumb, tip and hand joints also participates during the phases of recognition. A comparison with the latest published approach for finger tracking has been performed. The feasibility of the algorithms have been proven by real experiments.

3. Rayan, D. Finger and Gesture Recognition with Microsoft Kinect. MSc. Thesis, 2012, 203-208.

6. Stein, M. Finger Tracker. 2012.

7. Tang, M. Hand Gesture Recognition Using Microsoft’s Kinect. Paper Written for CS229, March 16, 2011.

8. Ren, M., J. Yang, and H. Sun. Tracing Boundary Contours in a Binary Image. – Image and vision computing, 20, 2002, No. 2, 125-131.

9. Chang, F., C. Chen, and C. Lu. A Linear-time Component-labelling Algorithm Using Contour Tracing Technique. – Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 93, 2004, No. 2, 206-220.

10. Yan, L. and Z. Min. A New Contour Tracing Automaton in Binary Image. IEEE Int. Conf. on Computer Science and Automation Engineering (CSAE), 2011, 2, 2011, 577-581.

11. Trigo, T., S. Pellegrino. An Analysis of Features for Hand-gesture Classification. 17th Int. Conference on Systems, Signals and Image Processing (IWSSIP), 2010, 412-415.

Information Technologies and Control

The Journal of Institute of Information and Communication Technologies of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Journal Information

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Trump is not a Candidate. Trump is a Nemesis.

Anyone who has ever said of the Democrats and Republicans, “A plague on both their houses”, behold the plague.

My own view on Trump is fairly plain — he is a boor and a hyper-egotist, a shallow and avaricious blowhard, whose candidacy can almost stand as a rebuke to the idea of a democracy. But it is not Trump who should bear the responsibility for his success. It is the practice of politics itself and the political class (which includes, more and more, the news media) that has for so long abandoned honest representation of ideas, facing difficult issues with real language, which has so professionalized campaigns and elections that the sound of a human voice saying something it actually means is so rare.

It is the toxic atmosphere of political correctness that suffocates so many voices that enables a Trump, when he rants with full stream-of-consciousness abandon, to be seen as a plain speaker, authentic and different.

Read the whole thing. (h/t Insty)

I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories.

-Revelation 6:2

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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A Vintage New Year's Greeting

The sentiment on this vintage card still works. Wishing you all good things.
Pin It

Gail, in northern California said...

Thank you, Rosemary.

NanaDiana said...

Happy New Year to you, too! xo Diana

The Queen Vee said...

Happy New Year Webster, Tabitha and Rosemary. Love all the vintage New Years greetings, probably because I'm a bit vintage myself.

I like your resolutions for this year, I'm resolving to make some. I probably should resolve not to procrastinate on doing that.


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Posted by on January 6, 2014

MAKE POWER GOOD.001Don’t you wish you had power? You could get people to do pretty much anything you wanted. The rich have quite a lot of power. Presidents, Popes, CEOs, and Head Coaches all seem to have a lot of power. Some power is open, and considered to be legitimate (it’s called authority); while other power is hidden, and may be considered illegal and/or immoral. Power and even authority can be used for either good or evil. Its exercise can make life better or worse for many people.

We probably all know quite a bit about power in the traditional economies we live in.  Money in these systems is amoral, so people can use it to do bad things which will gain them more money. Organized crime, white collar crime, political corruption, and just plain fraud are all examples of the means by which people have gained money, as well as the power made available by money.

But what would power be like in a Copiosis economy? How would people gain and exercise power, and what would they do with the power they gain?  Remember that in a Copiosis economy, no person can give their money to anyone else. Like video game points, when one earns money it comes into existence in their account and when one spends money, that particular money ceases to exist. Also there is a special set of people who have volunteered to give up all their own money and all the things which money can buy (only Luxuries, in a Copiosis economy) in order to be able to create money in the accounts of others. These people are called Payers.

So let’s start with the Payers. After all, in our traditional economy those who can give others money are very powerful indeed. Surely the Payers would also be powerful. And indeed, they are powerful. But as we pointed out above, not all power is the same and not all power is exercised in the same way.

Payers can reward but they cannot punish. The power in a traditional economy is a power that can reward OR punish, but in Copiosis power can only reward. If one loses one’s income in traditional economies one may starve or be homeless. If one loses one’s income in Copiosis one may not be able to go on that fancy vacation for another month, but there is no need to spend that accumulated income on necessities just to survive.  Also, Payers are in a free market. Just like other buyers in free markets, they collectively have power but individually cannot exercise power over any particular seller since the sellers can always sell to another buyer.  Therefore, though a Payer can influence what gets accomplished, the Payer has no power to require, force, coerce, or make any particular individual do anything.  The closest a Payer can come to controlling a given individual in any sense is to entice, lure, or tempt someone into doing something. If that individual does something that he knows the Payer wants done then the individual can expect to have a little more money before too long.

Thus, the power of Payers is great in terms of getting things done but is almost useless in getting any particular person to do any particular thing.

Payers only pay after the fact. That is, only after the Payers know the consequences of a given action do they pay for that action, and they only pay for the Net Benefit* of that action. This is not by regulation or some rule that needs to be enforced, it is a consequence of the situation in which Payers have placed themselves. They are completely vulnerable to the common people among whom they must live since they cannot have money or the luxury accommodations money can buy. The Payers have no way to avoid ordinary people. Thus, if the ordinary people are suffering they will know just whom to blame, the Payers. And the Payers must take the blame because they cannot escape. Therefore, the Payers are going to pay only for those actions which result in the ordinary people being at least content if not happy. This being the case, there is no need and no point in paying until they know the consequences.

Given all this, Payers will pay morally since that is the only way to be treated well by those among whom they live. Therefore, the Payers will use their power only for good actions. The more power the Payers have, the better the consequences for the lives of others. Thus, no one tries to resist the Payers having power; instead, they support and encourage the Payers to exercise their power.

So the power of a Payer is safe, both for those among whom the Payer exercises that power; and it is also safe in the sense that no one else is trying to take that power away from the Payers.

But there are other forms of power besides that which stems from being able to see that other people get money.  Let’s examine how a Copiosis economy affects the acquisition and exercise of those other forms of power.

Some people have charisma. Others are attracted to their personality and they willingly do what such people ask of them.  One can easily imagine such a person causing terrible things to happen.  Examples from history include cult leaders who led followers to their deaths; political leaders who have taken their nations into terrible, destructive wars; and popular celebrities whose example has led the foolish to harm themselves.

We really don’t understand yet exactly what charisma is and how it comes to be. But we do know that such people are often motivated by a desire for money. Many of the destructive things such people have done have been an attempt to get money. In Copiosis they would have no such motivation.

When it comes to political leaders, Copiosis societies need not fear their despotism since their followers will not be willing to lose very much money and others would be paid to prevent and resist harmful actions by those followers who are willing to sacrifice their income. Finally, the media in a Copiosis economy will not show self-destructive behavior in a flattering light. They will not make celebrities of those who would lead others astray.

Thus, one is relatively safe from the negative consequences of the exercise of charismatic power.

According to Marx, the capitalists were able to exploit the masses because the capitalists owned the means of production. So what about the people in a Copiosis economy who own the means of production? Do they have power?  The simple answer is yes they do have power. They have lots of power.

In a Copiosis economy, those who own property have considerable “property rights.” They are completely free to do what they want with the property they own. Not only that, all property that is owned at all is owned by individuals. There is no public property, there is no group- or jointly-owned property, and there is no “community property.” For all practical purposes there are no laws, ordinances or other restrictions on what a property owner can do with their property.

In traditional economies this would result in considerable abuse and suffering, which you can read about in history.  Marx was responding to real suffering by millions of people in his day and property rights then were not as permissive as they will be in a Copiosis economy. But the context for these complete property rights is not the same context that traditional economies present.

In a Copiosis economy, there is no way to gain money by harming others. The only route to wealth is to produce a lot more benefit than harm for others. Thus, all of the things one is motivated to do by this sort of monetary system are moral, ethical, beneficial actions. This concentration of power or “rights” is safe for the common person.

Next, because one does have these rights over one’s property, one is held completely responsible for one’s own actions and inactions with respect to that property. If one allows one’s land to become a breeding ground for pests and disease (mosquitoes for example) then one will lose money one might otherwise have earned. If one allows erosion runoff to pollute a stream one may lose income. (Note that once money is in one’s account only the owner can remove that money by spending it. No judge or Payer can ever remove money from one’s account. It is only the Net Benefit in the present that is affecting what one earns for this time period.)

So let’s say that Bob owns several trucks. These trucks can be used to distribute goods to people who need them. If they just sit in the parking lot they earn Bob nothing. So Bob wants them to be used. To earn money he will *give* a truck to Sam with the understanding and agreement that Sam will return the truck to Bob after making some deliveries. Now Sam owns the truck. He drives it making deliveries and returns the truck to Bob and *gives* it back to him. Bob gets paid some for his actions in helping Sam make those deliveries which generated Net Benefit.  Bob will get income from that truck so long as Sam himself or some other person or persons to whom Sam gives the truck are generating Net Benefit by using it.

Note that unless one is personally using capital goods (like tools or materials) one gains income by *giving* them to others to use. One gets income from that giving only if those who do use them produce Net Benefit.  It is similar to a traditional economy’s bank lending money to someone, and getting interest only if the person uses that money to make a profit so that the loan and interest can be repaid. In both cases the person giving will be rewarded only if the person they give to uses the resource well.

Therefore, the owner of capital (in the Marx sense) cannot use it to exploit others.  In fact, one makes money on capital by giving it away. Thus, the literal ownership of capital tends to permeate the economy. Each person who is given capital has a vested interest in using it well and preserving its value. To do otherwise will result in others being reluctant to give one more capital so it would ultimately reduce one’s income.  Drivers take good care of their trucks.  Land owners take care that their land is not damaged and does not damage or harm others.  Owning property is a responsibility.  Those who assume that responsibility own that property.

Organizational power, the office holder

In traditional economies those who have high offices in large bureaucracies have power. This power exists because they can control the pay of others. This is both the power to reward and to punish. They also control the allocation of money with and outside the organization via their departmental budgets. In a Copiosis organization, the pay is always controlled by Payers who are not a part of the organization. The organization must request the gifts of resources from others and must request the cooperation even of those who work within the organization. Those who have high office have power only to the degree that those with whom they work choose to grant that power. They attained high office by helping others earn money. The more successful they have been in the past at helping produce Net Benefit, the more likely they are to be trusted to do so again. Naturally, their past successes and failures in producing benefit are public information. It must be public, or the Payers would not know about it. These office holders suggest what should be done by those beneath them in the organization, and they provide coordination; but they cannot command, coerce, or require anything of those who work with them. They are like a football quarterback who calls the signals but the others run the play called, not because if they do not do so they will be punished, but because they believe that doing so will give the team the best chance of success.

In other words, high office gives power only when it is granted by those lower in the organization and only when the office holder is helping to provide benefit to others.

So, in summary, all the various forms and sources of power available to people in a Copiosis society come from actions that benefit others.  In no case will actions which cause harm to others gain someone power. Therefore, power can be safely concentrated, when useful, in the hands of a few; but ceases to exist if the powerful attempt to abuse that power. Power benefits everyone in a Copiosis society, not just those who have power.

*Net Benefit = Overall Benefit – Negative Consequences

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Joint Savings Bank Accounts in Maryland

By Alvin Katzenstein
Topics: banking, joint accounts, Banking and Finance Law
Publisher: DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law
Year: 1939
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Avionics Architectures: Mechanisms, and Assurance

By John Rushby

Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the advancement of aeronautics and space science. The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office plays a key part in helping NASA maintain this important role. The NASA STI Program Office is operated by Langley Research Center, the lead center for NASA's scientific and technical information. The NASA STI Program Office provides access to the NASA STI Database, the largest collection of aeronautical and space science STI in the world. The Program Office is also NASA's institutional mechanism for disseminating the results of its research and development activities. These results are published by NASA in the NASA STI Report Series, which includes the following report types

Year: 1999
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Trifold Arrangements and Cevian Dissections

By Vincent J. Matsko, Douglas B. West and John E. Wetzel

Abstract We determine precisely how many triple points can be formed in the plane by an arrangement of n lines lying in three parallel families of p; q; r lines, respectively. Using this result we solve the Euclidean realization problem for such arrangements. We apply our results to solve an analogous problem in which a triangle is dissected by three families of cevians. We conclude by mentioning some related unsolved problems

Year: 2009
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Cornwall's Living Landscape

The mythology, history and environmental aspects of Cornwall’s rich landscape embracing the inspiring stories of the many locally led initiatives.

Sue Sayer and the Cornwall Seal Group

3 Cornwall Seal  Group Steering Group

Sue Sayer on the left, with fellow CSG Steering Committee members Kate Hockley, Dan Jarvis ably assisted by Bentley the dog

How it all started

Combine a vibrant personality with an intelligence fuelled by a passion for seals and you have Sue Sayer.

This love affair started in the year 2000 following a visit to a local seal spot, the acquisition of a pair of binoculars and the discovery, when climbing with her partner at Gwennap, that seals come out of the water and so can be fully observed. Continue reading


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Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve View larger The picture may differ from the original

Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve

12V - 1/2 NPS

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In Stock

28,70 €

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Control the flow of fluid using the flow of electrons! This liquid valve would make a great addition to your robotic gardening, aquarium, or pool project. There are two 1/2" (Nominal NPS) outlets. Normally, the valve is closed. When 12VDC is applied to the two terminals, the valve opens and water can flow. Unlike the plastic solenoid valve, this one does not have a gasket, so there is no minimum pressure requirement.

We tried this solenoid at various DC voltages and found we could actuate it down at 6VDC (although it was a little slower to open). Here is the current draw table for various voltages. We suggest a TIP120 or N-Channel power FET with a 1N4001 kickback diode to drive this from a microcontroller pin. For a power supply, our 12V 5A power adapter will do the job.

If you want smaller, more basic valve, we also carry a plastic version which does have a minimum pressure requirement but has much lower power requirements!
Voltage     Current
6V     1.6 A
7V     1.86 A
8V     2.0 A
9V     2.3 A
10V     2.5 A
11V     2.7 A
12V     3 A

These solenoids are not rated for food safety by any official standards. However, they are made of cast brass, with a rubber gasket made of NBR (Nitrile Rubber) so it can be used with any fluid that will not damage or be damaged by the rubber gasket material.

  • 1/2" Nominal NPS
  • Working Liquid Pressure: 0 Mpa - 1.0 Mpa (140 PSI)
  • Working Temperature: -5℃ - 80 ℃
  • Actuating voltage: 12VDC (but we found it would work down to 6V)
  • Actuating life: ≥ 50 million cycles
  • Weight: 1.7lbs
  • Dimensions: 105mm tall x 55mm wide x 65mm long

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Course Overview

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to human-computer interaction and the design process. Students will learn methods and skills involved in designing and prototyping interactive systems. The course covers the design process from the initial formulation of a design problem to creation of digital prototypes. The class structure is a mix of classroom design activities, lectures, and design critiques of student work by peers and instructor. The course is overwhelmingly organized around a group project, in which students:

Learning Objectives

Project Theme

Social software continues to pervade our daily lives, influencing with whom we connect, the news to which we are exposed and the entertainment with which we amuse ourselves. In addition to our online social networks of friendship and shared interests, everyone also lives in a specific physical community. Each community is a locale with a distinct mix of individuals, resources and needs, with the particular complications of space, awareness and privacy that go along right in hand. Considering both the benefits and challenges of physical proximity, what kinds of applications, interactions or services can we design that support and leverage our communities?

Over the course of the semester, your group project will be to design a system to an activity or relationship within the particular context of a community that is not sufficiently well supported by current tools.

As part of your project, you’ll need to define what the specific community-focused activity is you wish to address and what aspects of it you are trying to support. Think about how that activity is currently supported via technology, what doesn’t work about current ways of supporting it, and how your solution will do this better. The specificity of addressing a particular community allows you to deeply think about what makes the location/community unique and how you would best want to support it. So, dive in and see what you can come up with.

Project Structure

Projects are organized around four assignments, each consistent of several milestones:

Example project from prior offerings include:

Note that details of assignments may have changed since prior offerings, so their reports may not map to the current project. However, these represent examples of strong work in this course.

A small set of readings are assigned throughout the quarter, with additional resources also made available.

Basic Information

Contact: Email all instructors at cse440-instr [at]

Class Time & Location: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:30-11:50 JHN 175

Section Times & Locations:

Office Hours:

Scheduled hours are held most weeks, but check the calendar:

Other meetings by appointment.

Course Staff:

Katharina Reinecke

Katharina Reinecke

Catie Baker

Catie Baker

Alex Fiannaca

Alex Fiannaca

Saba Kawas

Saba Kawas

Kelsey Munsell

Kelsey Munsell

You should do good work in this class because you care about your project and because you want to learn how to design interactive systems. That said, the university makes us use grades, so here is how grades will work in this class:

Each assignment will also provide a point breakdown intended to convey how it will be graded. Design is an inherently subjective practice, and so grading in this course is necessarily subjective. Wow us with your work.

Because the course is designed around feedback on project milestones, grades given to those milestones indicate that you have invested sufficient effort and insight at the time of the milestone. You will get feedback and are expected to continue acting upon that feedback in your design process. The bulk of project grades is therefore attached to the final deliverables, which are evaluated on their quality.

Many assignments are due “the night before class”. We will implement this in Canvas as 4:00am.

In order to be prepared to give you feedback, the course staff must have your submission in the morning. Submitting the day of class, just before class, or in class is therefore unacceptable, risking zero credit.

Submissions should be in PDF format (i.e., not plain text, not Word). The PDF should be ‘printable’, containing everything we need to review and grade the assignment (e.g., your name). The course staff has a large number of submissions to manage, so format and completeness issues are problematic.

This course website lives on GitHub:

You can submit pull requests to update the webpage, and you will publish project webpages via pull request.


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Welcome to the class!

Course Description

It is hard to imagine anything more fascinating than automated systems that improve their own performance. The study of learning from data is commercially and scientifically important. This course is designed to provide a thorough grounding in the fundamental methodologies, technologies, mathematics and algorithms of machine learning. The topics of the course draw from classical statistics, from machine learning, from data mining, from Bayesian statistics, and from statistical algorithmics.

Students entering the class should have a pre-existing working knowledge of probability, statistics and algorithms, though the class has been designed to allow students with a strong numerate background to catch up and fully participate.

Prerequisites: either CSE 326 or CSE 332; either STAT 390, STAT 391, or CSE 312.

Instruction Times

  • Lecture: M/W/F 9:30-10:20am, THO 101
  • TA Office Hours: 2:00-3:00pm Monday-Thursday. See people for locations.
  • Additional office hours: 5:00pm-?? Thursday, the day before problem sets are due. CSE second floor breakout area.
  • Emily's Office Hours: 10:30-11:30am on Fridays
  • Optional tutorials
  • Material covered:
    • Jan 5: Python
    • Jan 12: Linear Algebra
    • Feb 2: Midterm review
    • Mar 9: Final review
    Meeting times/locations:
    • 8:30-9:20am, MEB 242.
    • 9:30-10:20am, MEB 242.
    • 12:30-1:20pm, GLD 435. **This time not offered for Jan 5 Python tutorial.

  • Midterm (15%)
  • Homeworks (4 assignments 40%)
  • Final project (20%)
  • Final exam (25%)


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Lip Enhancement

Lips are a defining feature of the face, and there are many factors that make lips appealing including border, balance, volume and symmetry. Our highly experienced Cosmetic Nurses are experts and great artists when it comes to creating the perfect lips that you want.

Recent examples of treatments performed by our highly experienced Cosmetic Injectors

Lip enhancement injections are becoming an increasingly popular way to achieve lips you’ll love, offering instant and long-lasting results.

A beautiful smile can provide a wonderful boost to self-confidence, helping clients look and feel radiant and youthful. Everyone’s lip shape is different and dermal fillers in this region help to enhance your natural features and rejuvenate the area.

Our team of experienced Cosmetic Injectors can advise you on the best course of treatment to achieve the desired results.

Our expert cosmetic injectors use either JUVÉDERM® and RESTYLANE® – the worlds most trusted dermal filler brands that give instant results and clinically proven to last for up to 12 months.

When it comes to lip enhancement there is an art to creating naturally beautiful lips which makes selection of an injector critical.

The injector must understand the complex, and sometimes unforgiving, anatomy of the lips. Our team of Cosmetic Nurses are experts and regularly attend training sessions to ensure we applying the latest and most advanced techniques.

What would I want to get lip filler?

Lip filler is a dermal filler treatment in the lips. It is becoming increasingly popular and one of the fast growing cosmetic injectable treatments in New Zealand. It can add volume to thin lips, correct uneven lip shape, smooth out smoker’s lines and we have also treated scars on the lips with dermal fillers.

Does the procedure hurt?

Generally lip filler treatment is not painful. We have a range of options to make the treatment very tolerable including the application of a strong numbing cream that acts quickly. The dermal filler even has a dose of the painkiller lidocaine mixed in the gel, which will further help to numb the area.

What should I expect from my treatment?

We use either JUVÉDERM® or RESTYLANE® which is a dermal filler and a non-surgical procedure.

You will have a thorough consultation with one of our highly experienced Cosmetic Nurses to review your medical history and assess your suitability for the lip filler treatment. We listen to your concerns and what you are looking to achieve from the treatment. We will then discuss treatment options and agree a treatment plan with you.

A tiny needle is placed into the lips or lipstick lines to give the desired results. Some gentle moulding is done as part of the treatment. The process usually takes around 20mins. There is usually some swelling after the treatment; this can be reduced with the application of an ice pack.

Are there any possible side effects?

Dermal fillers have been clinically studied for many years and clinical trials have shown that JUVÉDERM® and RESTYLANE® are well tolerated. While you may experience no side effects at all, there is a chance you could experience site redness, pain, firmness, swelling, lumps/bumps, bruising, itching or discolouration. These effects are generally temporary and should resolve within a few days.

How long do results last?

Whilst everyone is different – results have been clinically proven to last for up to 12 months.

Free Consultations

If you are curious about any of our treatments or have skin concerns get in touch for a free and no obligation consultation to discuss the treatment.

Wellington Leader

Courtenay Clinic is Wellington’s most popular destinations for appearance medicine, skin and laser hair removal treatments.

Highly Trained Team

Our team Cosmetic Nurses are experienced and expertly trained to deliver great results whilst maintaining the highest standard of care.

Low Price Guarantee

Our goal is to offer Wellington’s best prices. Find a better price using the same or similar technology and we will beat it by 10%*

Courtenay Cosmetic Clinic is Wellington’s number one destination for laser hair removal, appearance medicine, skin and tattoo removal treatments. With three locations and highly experienced specialists there is a reason why we are Wellington's most popular destination for treatments that get results.

For a superior experience contact us today for a free consultation.

Courtenay Place – Featherston Street – Johnsonville


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William Shakespeare

This introductory course is designed to expose students to the process of creating theater. Cadets will explore acting techniques, such as voice projection and movement, and characterization, but also the use of props, language, and costumes. The second term will focus on the history of theater, with an emphasis on William Shakespeare. The first term will conclude with performances of monologues and small-group scenes, chosen by the Cadets, and the second term will culminate in a final performance of “All the World’s A Stage” a collaborative Cadet-written educational show about Shakespeare. These performances will take the place of final exams.

Keep in mind that this course is a general introduction to drama, and not an advanced acting course. It is expected that by the conclusion of this course, Cadets will be more comfortable speaking and performing in front of an audience, and know how to create and “sell” a character. In addition, a greater appreciation for theater and the work behind it will be fostered.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As well as the two performances (one per term) 10% of a Cadet’s grade will come from attending two live theater performances (one per term) and writing a response and critique. There will be at least one organized “class fieldtrip” to attend a performance per term, but Cadets are not required to attend the school-sponsored one – merely a performance in general.

Open Disclosure – Theater Foundations

Direct any questions to CPT Curtis at


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Creative Genius TIP #6 Be Young while Growing Old

We all like to look young or at least young at heart and in our actions. Looking one’s best, no matter how many years we have added, continue to be our goal. But the true benefit of looking young is that it helps us feel young. When you feel young, you think your best years are still to come. We really look ahead to what we can accomplish. And if you want to become a creative genius, it’s important to believe that you’re still capable of great things.

Visit and for Internet Marketing information.

About Alka Dalal

Alka Dalal, MA. , MS.,( NYU and Rutgers) a mother, Entrepreneur and an Artist with many years of corporate experience in USA has Internet Marketing company where she trains newbies and artists to be proficient with new technology using Internet. She has published a new book called, "Creative Genius, TIPS to Unleash Yours. She is working on another one on "Creative Genius, Secrets on finding yours". She has enjoyed success with different careers, family life and business. She is thrilled to share the stories of her struggles and triumphs in spite of adversities with others, to help find their own Creative Genius. She draws upon her vast experience to provide valuable tips on how to succeed in today’s economy. We are all blessed with soul and our own Creative Genius, it is matter of finding it and using it to the fullest extent. Get your FREE million dollar Rolodex on tons of website from the following websites. Also you get FREE articles and newsletter. Please visit her web site at and
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We are through and through included by created by graphic designers. So no huge shock various individuals pick the design livelihood. Notwithstanding if you intend to go to a design school this fall, or you intend to dedicate this mid-year to take in some design capacities, you need to begin from something. We have gathered here a collection of significant articles you can read if you have to acquaint yourself with the basics of becoming a graphic designer who makes logos and does (re)branding and what’s more the quintessence of grid speculation, splendid extent, and shading in design – absolutely complimentary. Take a gander at our aggregation of resources for learning graphic design in 2018

The speediest and best technique for learning is to copy what different people have done. It’s a conclusive “staying on the shoulders of beasts”. As opposed to contributing years developing a fitness, you can quickly take in the ropes by basically following the steps of master organizers. This is the reason all around requested instructional activities and no matter how you look at it books (like mine) work so well to learn plot.The issue is that as a student, you don’t yet fathom what incredible arrangement takes after. That is the reason I consolidated the best inspiration areas where you can make sense of how to see what incredible arrangement takes after.

When I started with learning design, I was completely overwhelmed by all the information that is out there. I was certain that knowing how to use Photoshop was on a very basic level proportional to knowing how to design. By then I learned CSS in light of the way that I speculated that was the following stage. I’d like for you to skirt this investigation and just – learn design. That is the reason I requested this amassing of links. I can essentially guarantee that following this once-over intently will put you in the best 20% percent of all who are trying to learn design. For any situation, don’t trust me, take a gander at the number of offers this post got! Check these Resources For Learning Graphic Design in 2018.

The best strategy to Become a Graphic Designer

Nothing beats formal direction, especially with respect to family relationships and magnificent affiliations that may incite business achievements later in your calling. Regardless, if you have successfully finished school studies and now need to broaden your knowledge – or are essentially not outfitted with a perpetual budgetary adjust – you can start from fundamental, yet important, online instructional activities and sites.

An unbelievable significant article on Creative Market includes the considerable sides of not going to configuration school and making sense of how to plan from the comfort of your home. Start from the stray pieces, make sense of how to draw, learn visual communication theory, centre around typography, and especially customer experience, and get heaps of near to comprehension to create your portfolio, and various more things. Take in these things in this significant instructional exercise.

Shading Resources for Learning Graphic Design

Shading accept a basic part of outline so if you have referred to about such terms as RGB, CMYK, Pantone, et cetera, however, are so far not sure about what they mean and why they are so basic in visual computerization – there is an important article on our blog which illuminates the refinement between these contemplations can clear things up a bit. Knowing these three shading rules will be valuable paying little respect to in case you expect to work for print or the web.

Designers guide to Golden Ratio

One of the central outline norms is the splendid extent. This is a logical extent that was truly found in nature an enormous number of years earlier and is solidly related to the Fibonacci Sequence. It addresses “the magnificently symmetrical association between two degrees” which is generally equal to 1:1.61 extent, as illuminated by Creative Bloq. If you are not that extraordinary at math, here is a blueprint of this run the show:

Not only would this have the capacity to rule be found in nature, however in articulations and designing additionally: the Egyptians used it to create the pyramids, the Ancient Greeks to collect the Parthenon, and likewise Leonardo da Vinci to paint the Last Supper. Thusly, if you require your outlines to be (close) glorify and take after the rule used for longer than four centuries – take in additional about it and complete it in your plans.

Guide To Grid Theory

Another basic piece of configuration is the structure speculation. The inspiration driving a lattice in configuration is “to set up a plan of principles for how parts should be arranged inside an organization.” It moreover describes the meter and offers beat to the outline, at any rate as shown by Creative Bloq. Essentially, in case you require your plans to be cognizant and parts all around arranged and proportionate, read this supportive manual for lattice theory in realistic (and web) outline.

Checking Design Principles

Outlining logos, business cards, and distinctive illustrations for your clients is one of the central assignments every planner gets once per day. In any case, when tremendous associations need to amass their photo, they require checking organizations. Understanding the client, using a framework, offering inventive courses of action, and following a plan decide that develops, are only a segment of the measures of stamping outline we starting late discussed on our blog.

The best technique to Create a Design Style Guide

Style control fills a particular requirement for associations so a huge amount of pros and outline workplaces join them while giving out their dares to the client. A style coordinate is an undeniable report which explicitly portrays how and why you decided for a couple of decisions in the midst of the outline system and how the client ought to use the logos, content styles, shading palettes and other imperative information that can empower the brand to create and take after a comparable justification.

What is Print Design

Various people don’t separate from outlining and printing. When they call up a visual planner, they normally would like to get a full organization – yet this sometimes happens for all intents and purposes since dispersing houses do this work. It is basic for you, as an architect, to know the difference between these two thoughts and unveil to the clients what your work truly proposes. Here is a useful guide for youngsters in print outline we starting late dispersed on our blog where you will take in the fundamentals of print configuration and how to manage clients.

Introduction To Typography

Managing typography should be one of your best needs while diving into the visual communication pool. One simply needs to know an OK kind, the terms, conventions, standards (and general rules) in case one plans to take after current penchants and examples. California Institute of the Arts offers a concise preparing of Introduction to typography on Coursera, which is everything with the exception of liberal. The course continues for a month and you will be required to commit it around 1-3 hours for each week. The course is instructed by Anther Kiley and if you have to enrol now – the accompanying course starts on June 26th!

 The best strategy to Design a Logo

Resources For Learning Graphic Design in 2018

When you have started from the stray pieces and starting at now know outline speculation, the best thing you can do to get sharpen is to truly start drawing. In case you are involved with logo configuration, however don’t comprehend what you need to center, on the ideal approach to take an interest in clients, what instruments to use, how to pick the right literary styles and tints, our accommodating manual for logo configuration can give you a planner’s perspective of most of the beforehand said – and anything is possible from that point!

Well ordered guidelines to Become an Art Director

When you have filled in as a visual planner for quite a while, and have all the right data and practice in your portfolio, it is average to need to push your occupation and go to the ensuing stage. Likewise, the accompanying stage is transforming into a workmanship official. Workmanship heading, as a rule, proposes a place of a specialist in the disseminating, publicizing, advancing or some other craftsmanship industry and solicitations data, skill, experience, and heaps of organization and organization features. It is positively a section you should look to from the day 1 you start outlining, and we believe you will achieve it one day.

Extra Tip: Designer Networks

Here is an extra tip: every planner should have an portfolio and acknowledge guide tips from the partners. In case you have to upgrade your outlines, take after latest examples, and exhibit your outlines to the world – join Behance and Dribbble, two biggest plan related casual groups on the planet.

Remember that outline is both a workmanship and make, and that you need to invest energy into your knowledge and improve yourself moderately reliably. Examples backpedal and forward yet you need to remain mindful of the extensive number of changes and alter your work to meet the most critical rules.

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Grass Valley DUI Attorneys

DUI Attorneys in Grass Valley, CA

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Driving Under the Influence is a serious crime with possible lifelong repercussions. If you have been charged with a DUI in Grass Valley California you are going to need a dependable DUI attorney who specializes in fighting DUI charges.

Attorneys in Grass Valley that specialize in DUI Defense

DUIs in California are complex cases that often involve many forms of evidence. Often times, proving your innocence can hinge upon the testimony of a single witness, or a very small piece of evidence. The DUI attorneys in the area are there to help explain your trial strategy to you, as well as defend you in court.

Grass Valley Lawyers Can Help You Decide the Ideal Course of Action if You Are Charged with a DUI

The penalties and fees associated with a DUI conviction can be steep. That's why obtaining the help of a reliable DUI attorney can make all the difference. With their understanding of the law, a DUI lawyer can help you negotiate for reduced or dismissed charges. Grass Valley, CA DUI lawyers await advising you on your individual DUI circumstances.

Make sure that you protect your rights - hire a DUI lawyer today.

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Michael Stoffer

Loan Officer

CrossCountry Mortgage, Inc.
6850 Miller Road
Brecksville, OH 44141

About Michael

When working with clients, Mike ensures they get the most efficient and seamless service possible, while making their home purchase experience both stress free and positive.

With more than 31 years of experience helping home buyers with their financing needs, Mike's passion has always been putting clients first, listening to the financial goals of his clients and providing guidance and support through every step of the loan process.

What Customers are Saying about Michael

Resources & Tools

Learn more about our 21 day loan process and home loan options as well as utilize some helpful tools and resources.

21 Day Loan Process

We can close most loans in as few as 21 days! Learn about the 5 step process for our program here

Mortgage Checklist

Make sure you have all the necessary required documents and information during the loan process with this checklist..

Home Loan Types

Looking for help about what types of loans to apply for? See all your options for buying and refinancing.

Buying & Refinance Guides

Our free guides to buying and refinancing a home provides all the information you need on getting started.

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Crossing Paths Contest!

I’m very excited to announce the first ever Crossing Paths giveaway contest! Details are coming this Friday. I’ll give you a few hints to whet your appetite.

First, to qualify, you need to be a member of the Crossing Paths Facebook fan page.

Next, you must be available the evening of Saturday April 10, 2010.

Last, you must enjoy a taste for luxury.

Details are coming in the Photo Phriday post this week! If you’re not already a member of the Facebook fan page, join now! If you are, but your friends aren’t yet, they still have time to qualify for the fun!

Stay tuned!

(I’ve always wanted to say that)

Holding Your Pastor To A Higher Standard

You’ve seen them. You’ve seen the bracelets, license plate frames, t-shirts, hats. WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? I used to sport the bracelets. They were cool and colorful, and made a statement about the standard by which we are to live. But then it became trendy. It became like the yellow LiveStrong wristbands which were very cool, and a very good cause. But then it simply became a fad.

While I think the idea of keeping Jesus in our consciousness as we go about our daily activities is a good thing, I also think that we’re conveniently setting ourselves up for excusing failure. In other words, Jesus was perfect. I am not. How can I live up to His standards? Why try? It’s futile. I’m not going to kill anyone or knock off a liquor store. But that extra dollar the clerk gave me when giving me change at the grocery store? Well, I’ll tithe on it. Praise God!

Here’s a little litmus test that I think is pretty effective. If you found out your pastor was involved in the types of activities you were keeping secret, would it diminish your respect for him? The other day I wrote about members of a church singles group who were carrying on in a bar. Some find my attitude about such behavior as judgmental. Some would defend this behavior as OK in light of the fact that they go to church regularly. They might even be in some kind of church leadership. But then I ask, if you walked into that bar and found your pastor there behaving exactly as you were, would it bother you? Do you hold your pastor to a higher standard than the one you live by?

I grew up Catholic. When I was 13, I was at a youth retreat. The boys were in one dorm, and the girls in another. I don’t know about the girls, but when you get 20-30 boys in a dorm at night with no adult supervision, you can expect all kinds of craziness. At one point, the priest came rushing into our room shouting at us, “what the hell is going on in here?” You could have heard a pin drop. He said hell, and not in the context you might expect.

When someone’s vocation is as a church leader, we definitely hold them to a higher standard. It’s human nature. But is it right? They’re human, just as we are. We shouldn’t put them on a pedestal, but neither should we diminish their responsibility to live in accordance to the high call of Christ. Instead, we should elevate our game so that we perform at a higher level. We should live at the level we expect and require of our church leaders. I am no less called to behave appropriately and glorify God in my life just because I’m not a pastor.

I hope you have a pastor who is a positive example to follow. If not, find a church where you have such a leader. But his walk cannot compensate for yours. You are still responsible to live according to the very same bible as Billy Graham. You may not be a pastor of a church, but you are every bit the same example to which people look in defining Christian behavior.

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1

You Be The Judge

If I were a gambling man, I would have put money down on getting at least one response to yesterday’s post accusing me of judging others. Sure enough, the obligatory warning was given. If you missed yesterday’s post and the comment to which I’m referring, you can check it out here.

For whatever reasons, for which I’m sure you already have theories, people get really touchy when you dare to take a stand about certain behaviors. You know what? I’m OK with that. There was a time when I was more concerned about everyone agreeing with me. Now I’m more concerned with having God’s approval. When I shared the story of a group of people from a local church getting their drink on, I knew there was going to be an invisible line dividing those who disagree from those who share my feelings. The common go-to response to a post such as yesterday’s is the “do not judge” refrain. The warning was taken from Matthew 7, also referring to the well-used “speck” and “plank” in the eye.

To those who fall back on such an argument, I want to point out that we judge practically every day. If you find yourself breaking out into a cold sweat at the mere mention of the word judge, let me translate it into the more comfortable Christianese word, discern. We are to exercise judgment all the time. That doesn’t mean you are to look down your nose with a pious heart at someone else. But we have to use discernment. Proverbs 3:21-23 says we must hold tightly to wisdom and discretion. You have to understand the difference between this and judging one’s salvation, or criticizing someone else while justifying your own sin. I know it’s the same word in English, but different meanings in different contexts.

If you’re a single female and someone knocks on your door after dark, do you just fling the door open without even looking through the peep hole? Are there certain parts of town you avoid late at night? Do you have any particular standards when deciding whether or not you want to go out on a date with someone, and what activities to which you’ll agree?

I hope the answer to these questions is “yes”. If so, you are exercising wisdom and discretion. If you see people participating in an activity which would damage your character and reputation as a Christian, you are wise to separate yourself from them.

It is true we are not to criticize others if we do not hold ourselves to at least the same standard. We do become hypocrites if we criticize others for their sin when we’ve got a truckload of our own that we’re ignoring. Yesterday’s post clearly makes this disctinction.

If you read yesterday’s post and your instinctive reaction was to defend yourself by dismissing the message and turning it around on the messenger, you need to allow yourself to be held accountable. You better believe I’ve got a lot of qualified people in my life who I respect who are free to get in my face if my actions are inconsistent with the beliefs I profess. My stable of close friends has a variety of people in it. No matter their age, gender or background, they share one distinctive characteristic. They each have qualities I admire and want to have in my own life.

To close, I want to say something to two types of people.

First, if you know where your weaknesses lie, (we all know where we are vulnerable), and you find yourself with a person or group of people who dismiss its sin value, find a different set of friends. It’s that simple. You need to be around people who elevate your game.

Second, if you know a person or group whose activities and practices are inconsistent with the principles of an authentic Christian life, study and put into practice Galatians 6:1-7. We are to hold one another accountable. We are expected to bear one another’s burdens.

Finally, don’t be afraid of whether or not people will approve. Instead, strive to please God.

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
 10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:6-10

Christians And Bars

I have noticed a trend among many of my Christian peers which really disturbs me. I’ll share with you a story of an experience I had last year, and then get on with my point.

One Friday afternoon, I was invited by a couple very good friends of mine to join them and a larger group of people they knew from a church singles group. We were meeting that evening at a Mexican restaurant. I love good Mexican food, so I decided to join my friends. I figured we would be sitting at a long table and enjoy a good meal. Much to my surprise, I got there, and everyone was in the bar. OK, maybe they’re in there waiting for said long table to be ready. There were TVs in there, so maybe it was just an easy place for a large group to hang out while waiting. As it turned out, nobody but my two friends and I were there for the food. The margaritas were flowing and the tequila was taking its affect. At one point, one of the guys was going around the group asking who wanted to do shots with him. As they got louder, the other patrons were noticeably annoyed by the conduct of the church group. Once the festivities at the bar were concluded, the group made its way across the street to a nightclub for dancing, and presumably more drinks. My friends and I, instead, decided to finally have our Mexican dinner with some great conversation.

This story is a sad, and all-too-common example of what I’m seeing among many of my Christian peers these days. I see so many who treat their relationship with God like a day at work. When they’re in church, like the office, they do their duty. They sing the songs, they nod in agreement with the sermon, and they bow their heads properly when they pray. But when quitting time comes, it’s off to the party! We hear their profanity. We see their attitude towards others. There is nothing that distinguishes them as Christians when they’re “off duty”. Nothing identifies them as people who have been transformed by their relationship with Christ.

When Christians behave badly, the world notices. In fact, the world is quick to point it out to us. They call us hypocrites. We must understand the world wants us to be different. The insults that come our way when we fail is because we preach that we’re different, but act the same. The world needs us to be different. We should stand out in a crowd. How can we tell people of God’s life-changing love for us if we haven’t changed? If someone was in that bar because they were struggling with their circumstances, how could someone have entered into a conversation to tell them of God’s transforming love while gulping down shots?  How can we expect others to want what we have if we’re doing the exact same things they’re doing?

The truth is, at one time or another, we all have been guilty of justifying sin in our lives. We have no problem pointing our finger and words of disgust at sin with which we have no struggle, while giving safe haven to some other destructive behavior in our own lives.

If you like a glass of wine with dinner, no problem. If you like to listen to music and dance, that’s nice. But if you have become a chameleon, simply blending into whatever setting you’re in, it’s time to do something about it. If you’re trying to do a balancing act between worlds, you cannot and will not experience the full benefits God intends for you. Submit yourself, truly, to God. He will not only give you a taste for His will and desires, but He will give you a distaste for the things which are harmful and unfruitful.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Saturday Rerun: July 13, 2008

This week’s rerun was inspired after a Sunday morning experience in San Jose, CA. As I re-read this post in considering it as a rerun, the mental and spiritual movie began to play itself over in my head. I hope this touches you in some small way, as it touched me in a very profound one.

Fingerprints of God

This morning in church, I sang the Steven Curtis Chapman song, Fingerprints of God. It’s a very good song which is, in essence, a contemporary view of Psalm 139. I’ll post a video below so you can hear it, in case you aren’t familiar with it.

Because the song was embedded toward the end of the sermon, I sat on the platform so I could make a relatively smooth move to the microphone without being too much of a distraction to the congregation. From my vantage point during the message, I could only see about 1/3 of the congregation during the first service. In my absolute line of sight was a little girl, all of about 6 or 7 years old, confined to a wheelchair. It was plain to see that it wasn’t a broken leg or something temporary. She is permanently and devastatingly disabled. As I looked out to her, even 20 minutes before we’d get to the song, my heart was deeply touched as I ran the lyrics through in my head while considering this sight.

My emotions were so jarred by the combination of the powerful lyrics of the song and the plight of this young lady that I barely made it through the song. I don’t know if she heard a single word, but I sang that song to that girl with everything I had in me. Following the song, I left the platform, made my way around the back to make sure I was awaiting this young lady and her family as they left the sanctuary following the service. I had the pleasure of meeting little Hannah and her family. She’s a precious little thing, and I will never forget her.

The world will look at Hannah all her life and see someone who is flawed, even damaged. But God created her, and He just doesn’t make mistakes. Little Hannah touched my heart in a very powerful way today, and I’ll never forget her. I complain about so many trivial things, and little Hannah had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen as I talked to her and told her how pretty she is. She is a masterpiece.

Encouraging The Encourager

I’d like to think of myself as an encourager. I really like thinking positively. It’s very easy for me to do for you, but it can be a chore sometimes to think positively for myself. But I’ve really been working on that. Things don’t always go the way I’d like them to, but I still know I’m blessed. I have many things for which to be thankful, even on bad days.

I’ve been writing about joy. I’ve been writing about being strong and courageous. I’ve been writing about daring to leave the comfort of the familiar for the unknown treasures of faith. I believe all those things passionately. But the other night, I was feeling a bit discouraged. I found myself frustrated about something which is still an area of vulnerability in my heart.

Late that night, just before going to bed, I posted on my Facebook page that I was feeling a bit down. I even shared that it’s sometimes a significant challenge to practice what you preach. Crossing Paths is undergoing some significant growth in terms of audience in recent weeks. Because of this, I have a more significant responsibility to walk the talk. If I’m going to talk about faith, joy, courage, strength and such, I can pretty much guarantee I’m going to soon face challenges in those very topics. That’s just the way it works in ministry. It’s not enough to say these things. You have to live them.

I had a very special experience when I dared to be honest about my feelings of discouragement on Facebook. I was hesitant to admit that despite trying to be Mr. Encourager, I sometimes need to be encouraged. But when I woke up the following morning after my late night “confession”, I found these messages waiting for me from friends:

  •  “The good thing about living in Christ is we don’t do this alone! Hang strong in Him!”
  •  “You are hereby granted grace and mercy, Corey, so that you don’t have to struggle to ‘practice what you preach’, but can rest in the security of your relationship…knowing that you are loved and accepted regardless of ability to perform. then, out of that love and peace and rest, you will find the strength to succeed.”
  • “I know what you mean my friend, dealing with problems and problem people can suck the life out of your joy. It is so easy to fill the void with anger and frustration. I believe that is why God surrounds us with good people and his love. With His and their support we will get out of the valleys. Stay strong and in faith, and joy will come to you. Have a blessed day!”
  • Matching Calamity and Serenity is only acheived through belief that I will be taken care of . NO MATTER WHAT…”
  • “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that
    all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. John 12:46 (New Living Translation)”
  • “This too shall pass… Hang in there!”
  • “I definitely can empathize with you, Corey. When I feel that way, I keep chanting that famous phrase from Psalm 30:5 – “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.” I pray that a sunny morning comes your way soon.”

Most of the friends who rallied to offer me encouragement are people I haven’t seen in over 20 years. With the exception of two of the encouragers, who are brothers, these people don’t even know each other. These messages came from people I really didn’t expect. It was a real blessing to find these messages. They were special because they weren’t the tried and true boilerplate responses. I found myself strengthened and lifted up with each message.

I have always said that I think you can tell a lot about a person by the quality of friends in their lives. I can honestly say that I have had the blessing of knowing some truly incredible people in my life, and I’m humbled. They have definitely raised my game.

Thank you for reminding me of the wonderful blessing and necessity of great friends. If we’re not yet friends, please feel free to add me as your friend on Facebook. As iron sharpens iron, we can work together to bring out our very best.