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Archive for April, 2006

Fence Riding Once Again

screenshotApparently the fixed/fluid-width toggle feature here at SimpleBits was a popular one. The latest realign bid farewell to the option, instead settling on a centered, fluid-width layout with a conservative max-width applied. For those that requested it, the ability to toggle between fixed and fluid is now back. There are a few reasons I decided to add it back in:

  1. Well, you asked. Actually, I don’t usually cave in to reader demands, hence my recent useless-but-riveting articles regarding oatmeal cookies and (of all things) the weather.
  2. It’s so dead-simple to implement. Well, after reading this it should be.
  3. Choice can be nice. Since max-width isn’t currently supported by all browsers, giving those readers an easy option for readable line-length seems to me a Good Thing.
  4. It’s fun to play with. Along the same lines as twirling a pencil in your fingers like the drumstick of a spandex-wearing drummer from the 80s.

Dan’s recent post about software got me thinking. Maybe you’re like me, where you love trying out cool new apps. “Wow, this is great! It’ll save me time and I’ll be far more productive”. But after a day or so the excitement wears off and you’re back to pencil and paper, or storing things mentally, or doing things without that exciting app again.

For general web work I tend to stick to the basics only: Photoshop, BBEdit, NetNewsWire, Transmit, and all the goodies that come bundled with OS X. I suppose the only oddball would be the Backpack Dashboard widget. I’ve found it to be one of the only productivity apps (if I may call it that) I use with any sort of frequency. I prefer the widget over the web interface, although I’m not sure if that means anything. It’s been useful for keeping track of little client bits, unpaid invoices (for which I should be using something else), etc.

Actually I’ve just thought of a few that might be worth mentioning: Iconographer (for creating favicons) and SuperDuper! (recommended by DB and used as my routine backup solution).

I’ve always considered myself a “Power User”, but damn… maybe that’s wishful thinking.

Some Speaking Events

The speaking drought is ending this summer and I’ll be taking Bulletproof Web Design on the road to two conferences. Don’t worry though, I won’t be regurgitating the book, but rather using the concepts as a platform to talk about some recent (and future) projects along with the methods and thinking that’s gone into them.

@media 2006 · London · June 15-16

Kerry and I visited (Old) England back in 1998. Loved it of course (especially Oxford). Looking forward to going back, although we originally thought this might be a first big family trip, it’ll be hard to be travelling solo. If you’re attending the conference and see a misty-eyed, intentionally (for now) bald guy glued to his iPhoto-enabled iPod — now you’ll know why.

@media looks like it’ll be a fantastic conference though, with quite an amazing line-up of speakers. Really looking forward to it.

Webvisions 2006 · Portland, Oregon · July 20-21

I’ve never been to Oregon, but have always assumed I’d really dig it. Webvisions has quite a line-up as well, spread out over two days of workshops, panels and keynotes. Should be fun times.

Mending Jack

Pardon the interruption, but this is by far the easiest way to pass along news and avoid forgetting to email everyone that we intended to.

We found out shortly after Jack was born that he had two heart defects. Thankfully they haven’t affected him negatively over the last few months, but we knew they’d need to be corrected nontheless. This past Tuesday he had surgery that fixed the problems, and after a few roller-coaster days in intensive care, as of today he’s doing really well, eating again and has just moved into a “normal” recovery room.

I’m once again in awe of the doctors and nurses that are taking care of our little guy. We’re fortunate to be in Boston (this time at Children’s Hospital) where some of the best surgeons in the world work. For instance, Jack’s surgeon is apparently the Jeffrey Zeldman of cardiac surgery, so we felt pretty reassured.

Work has of course been put on hold and emails are going unanswered while we’re living at the hospital this week. We’re hoping we can all be home sometime early next week.

Update: Finally home. Mentally and physically exhausted — but home and doing well. Whew.


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(L to R) Top: Hugo Ayala, Guillermo Ochoa, Rafael Marquez, Jorge Torres Nilo, Oribe Peralta and Jesus Zavala. Bottom: Carlos Pena, Javier Aquino Giovanni Dos Santos, Miguel Layun and Javier Hernandez of the Mexican National team pose for photographers before  their FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying football match  against Panama at the Azteca stadium in Mexico city on October 11, 2013. AFP PHOTO/Omar Torres        (Photo credit should read OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images)

The Trouble With Tri – History Is Wiped Out At World Cup For Shaky Mexican Team

on May 28 | in News, Sports | by | with No Comments

On August 11, 2012, Mexicans of all ages, regions, political affiliations, socioeconomic categories and sides of the law poured into the streets to celebrate the result of a soccer game.

But not just any game. It was “the most important game in the history of Mexican soccer,” as one Telemundo sportscaster put it: The gold medal match between Brazil and Mexico at the London Olympics.

It was a hard-fought affair, with Oribe Peralta scoring twice for El Tri. Hulk gave millions of Mexicans a small heart attack by scoring in stoppage time, but it proved too little, too late.

Could it be? Many of those street celebrants were surely asking themselves. Was a glorious new era of Mexican ascendancy in fútbol finally dawning?

Well, not quite.

Everything that could have gone wrong in 2013 did. Players got injured, didn’t develop the way they were expected to or outright refused to play for the national team.

Then there were the friendlies lost, a series of scoreless ties at Estadio Azteca to open World Cup qualifying, two Gold Cup losses to Panama, a three-and-done exit from the Confederations Cup.

And as World Cup qualifying progressed, things deteriorated to the point that they became, as Mexicans like to say, a total desmadre.

There were soul-crushing losses last September to Honduras – Mexico’s second-ever home loss in 78 Cup qualifying matches – and in Columbus, Ohio, to the United States.

Those losses caused the coach of El Tri to get canned. At that point, Mexico had two games left in qualifying and a 1-2-5 record that put it in a position to miss out on Brazil entirely.

In which case the entire country would surely have collapsed into a puddle of green, white, and red goo.

What the country needed to avoid such a fate was no less than two October surprises from the unlikeliest of sources.

The first came against Panama at Estadio Azteca. With the score tied in the 82nd minute, Mexico’s coach du jour, Victor Manuel Vucetich, made the coaching move of the match—of World Cup qualifying, even—bringing in the young forward Raúl Jiménez, whose style is what they call a “supporting striker,” who had been a solid cog in Mexico’s Olympic squad.

Three minutes later, with only five minutes left on the clock, Jiménez received a hard, bouncing pass just inside the penalty area. He tried to control it with the side of his right foot and sent it 10 to 12 feet in the air.

Jiménez took a step and a half to his left, scissored his legs as he leaped, and ripped the ball into the right corner of the goal, pretty as you please for a 2-1 win.

All Mexico needed in its last match was a tie with Costa Rica (which was already assured qualification) in San José. El Tri looked good for stretches in the first half, but then folded like a flour tortilla in the second half to lose 2-1.

The bungler-in-chief was Mexico’s most famous soccer son, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who missed a handful of excellent scoring opportunities, including one in which he squibbed a shot on goal so badly you could almost hear the groans all the way from Mexico.

With Panama leading the U.S. by a goal heading into injury time, things looked grim until the Americans choppered in some much-needed foreign aid in the form of goals in the 92nd and 93rd minutes and beat Panama, 3-2.

It was an entirely fitting end to World Cup qualification that El Tri only won by actually losing.

Of course, it was too late for Vucetich, who received his thanks with an axe.

So much of Mexico’s fate and identity has been seemingly determined by geography. Perhaps the most famous iteration of that thought is often attributed to the strongman Porfirio Díaz: “Poor Mexico—so far from God, so close to the United States.”

The one realm of human endeavor in which Díaz’s bon mot didn’t seem to apply was soccer. At least, until Landon Donovan came of age. But geography hasn’t helped Mexico there much, either.

For much of its soccer history, the country has appeared to be a dominant team, but that appearance has mostly been mirage.

Since 1938, Mexico has qualified for all but five of the 20 World Cups, but only three times did it actually fail to qualify, in 1934, 1974 and 1978. (Mexico withdrew from Cup qualifying in protest over the selection of France as host country in 1938, and, in 1990, it was banned by FIFA for using over-aged players on its youth teams.)

Mexico’s best finishes at the Cup were in 1970 and 1986, when it reached the quarterfinals. Along with Brazil and Germany, Mexico has reached the round of 16 in the last five Cups in a row.

In other words a long, impressive record of achievement. Except:

1) Both those quarterfinal appearances occurred when Mexico was the host nation, and so they can be partly explained by home-country advantage.

2) While Mexico is in some pretty heady company in terms of reaching the last five knockout rounds, it has lost all five of those games.

Beyond that, a pretty good assortment of nations have reached three or four of the last five knockout rounds, including the U.S. Which tells you that in the Finals’ current 32-nation format, there are enough patsies to go around and reaching the Round of 16 isn’t a major accomplishment.

And 3) part of what has always given people, including Mexicans, an inflated sense of El Tri’s importance on the world stage is that CONCACAF is a relatively important FIFA federation—historically ranking No. 3 behind UEFA in Europe and CONMEBOL in South America.

The bottom line is that Mexico, while a regional soccer power with a rich history, has never posed a credible threat to win any World Cup.

So what, exactly, is the trouble with El Tri?

In a couple of words, Chicharito Hernández. Well, not Chicharito himself but what he personifies.

As a goal-scorer, Chicharito is an opportunist. The kind of player who always seems to be in the right spot at the right time in order to tap in that rebound or to take a shot at an empty net after somebody else has drawn out the keeper.

Even that mishit against Costa Rica in October actually trickled toward one corner of the goalmouth at a snail’s pace, rolled under the arm of the lunging keeper, and finally found the net—only to be called back on an offside penalty.

But Chicharito doesn’t create scoring chances for himself or for his teammates, which gives the impression that the enormous success he has had at Manchester United is the product of him just showing up.

And that is precisely what El Tri does during Cup qualifying—shows up with an entitled expectation of victory.

The good news and the bad news for Mexico is that none of the past—not its dreadful 2013 qualifying nor its historical success—counts for anything in Brazil.

What does count is that Group A doesn’t seem to be a tough nut to crack. It can be assumed that Brazil will claim one of the group’s two spots in the Round of 16, but neither Croatia nor Cameroon are the most intimidating of opponents.

In one sense the worst thing that could happen to Mexican football is for Rafa Márquez to captain the team to its sixth consecutive Round of 16 as if everything were just as hunky-dory as it has always been.

Because maybe the dawn of that glorious era of Mexican soccer ascendancy that everyone was expecting to happen has to be preceded by some early exit darkness for El Tri.

-  Bill Vourvoulias/Fox News Latino

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What’s Happening in Library News?

What’s Happening in Library News?

What’s Happening in Library News?

Bennington Free Library Events

Bennington Free Library (BFL) is celebrating National Library Week from Sunday, April 8, through Saturday, April 14. Patrons may return overdue items without penalty; patrons checking out items can enter a raffle featuring a number of special prizes. Visit the Big Kids Fun Korner for coloring and magnetic poetry; drop by the Children’s Room to explore hands-on activities focused on weather, spring rain and flowers and poetry. Art, crafts, puppetry, building, math, games and puzzles and dramatic play will surely engage children and families. CCV job hunt helper Hawke Sleigh will provide individual career services to job seekers on Monday, April 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Thursday, April 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. The Library will close at noon Wednesday, April 11, for its annual volunteer reception. Come on Friday, April 13, from 2 to 4 p.m., for Model Employees, a fashion show for career-minded community members.

BFL will present ‘The Seven Deadly Sins,’ a Vermont Humanities Council reading and discussion series. Discover why, according to Dartmouth professor of ethics and human values Ronald M. Green, these short stories “remind us that most of our problems arise in the hidden recesses of the human heart.” Scholars Rachael Cohen and Charles Rossiter will lead discussion at 2 p.m. on three Sundays: April 8 (’Pride and Greed’ led by Cohen), April 22 (’Envy, Anger and Sloth’ led by Cohen) and May 6 (’Gluttony and Lust’ led by Rossiter). Copies of ‘The Seven Deadly Sins Sampler’ are available to borrow from at the front desk and should be returned by May 6.

Bennington Free Library is located at 101 Silver Street in Bennington, and provides research assistance, timely programming, free access to computers and the Internet, books, movies and downloadable audio and e-books. A variety of online resources are available, including ConsumerReports.com, ChiltonLibrary.com, Powerspeak Languages, Universal Class and Learning Express Library, and Heritage Quest Online.

“The library helps lead our community by advocating for widespread access to crucial services and lifelong learning,” says Lynne Fonteneau McCann, director. “Libraries level the playing field for people of any age who seek information and access to technologies to improve their quality of life.” The Bennington Free Library is open Monday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For information, visit
benningtonfreelibrary.org or call 802-442-9051.

This Week at Manchester Community Library

MCL’s ‘Manchester Memories’ series continues on Tuesday, April 17, from 1 to 1:30 p.m. for an insightful talk by Shawn Harrington, curator of the Manchester Historical Society, and recipient of the 2015 Manchester and the Mountains Community Service Award, often referred to as the Unsung Hero Award. The program is free and all are welcome.

Visit MCL during National Library Week, and sign up for your own library card. Membership to the Library is free for Manchester residents; non-resident fees apply. Library members enjoy free access to thousands of books, audiobooks, movies and magazines; downloadable audiobooks and e-books; over 500 free online continuing education courses available 24/7; an online genealogy research database; online Language Learning Systems; one-on-one and career development technology tutorials; and much more.

Stop by the library on Mondays and Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to sign up for the card that opens doors! Mention this article and receive a free book from the Book Sale cart.

Be sure to add a line to the Community Poem, through April 26, at bit.ly/mclpoem2018. It will be read at the Poetry Salon on Friday, April 27, at 6:30 p.m. Copies of it with the names of the contributing poets will be available.  Everyone is welcome, and it’s a joyous surprise to see how all the lines by different people make for an extraordinary poetry experience. For more information, email events@mclvt.org or call 802-362-2607. MCL is located at 138 Cemetery Avenue at the corner of Main Street/Route 7A in Manchester Center. To learn more, visit mclvt.org.

Geneology at the Canfield

The Martha Canfield Library, 528 East Arlington Road, Arlington, will hold the second in a series of family history seminars from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 15. Learn how to organize your genealogy findings and find out about free and subscription research sources online. Future seminars will focus on proving your family tree and software on April 29, and identifying your sources, the use of DNA and spending your genealogy money wisely on May 20 . There will be time for actual online research to develop skills. The library has nine laptop computers available, and you are welcome to bring your own computer to connect through our high-speed Wi-Fi connection.

The presenter for all seminars is Bill Budde, a professional genealogist and curator of the Russell Vermontiana Collection, which serves as the repository for history, family papers, and documents for Arlington, Sandgate and Sunderland. There is no charge, but donations to help cover printing costs will be gladly accepted. For more information, visit marthacanfieldlibrary.org or call 802-375-6153.

Winhall Memorial Library

Join the Winhall Memorial Library on the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. to eat delicious food and share recipes, tips and tricks. April’s theme is Clean Eats. A collaboration with the Winhall Community Arts Center, it’s a welcoming environment to newcomers and encourages new and veteran cooks alike to join and share in the love of food. The Library’s April Book Discussion Group is reading  ‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden, and will meet on Tuesday, April 24, at 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served. Stop by to pick up a copy of the book to read. Winhall Memorial Library is located at 2 Lower Taylor Hill Road, Bondville. For details, call 802-297- 9741 or visit winhallmemoriallibrary.org

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Birds; most everyone like them. It is nice to see a flock of geese flying in a V formation. It’s exciting to see an eagle hunting on the therms. It beautiful to hear the song of a whippoorwill. It is rewarding to have hummingbirds come to your window to sip nectar from a feeder. So what happens when instead of the beauty and excitement you have bangs and thumps as birds fly into your windows. The reality is, is that is an event that happens every single day.

It happens to us too:

Though you might get a chuckle out of all the videos on youtube of people walking into glass windows or doors, it can be a serious injury to humans too. The problem with glass is a term called glazing. That is the reflectiveness of the surface of the glass from different angles. When the glazing is unchecked, or natural the window from one angle or the next can become mirror-like and birds will fly towards what they think is open sky only to meet their demise with a fatal reality check. This has been going on for hundreds of years.

Bird-Safe Glass

For as bad as windows can be for birds, there is a way to help make them safer. Acid-etched glass has a lower glazing rate which means that birds are apt to see the glass rather than the sky. The treatment does not affect the view through the window and unless it is applied in a pattern is likely to never been seen by humans. Installed in Apple Valley and High Desert homes, the acid etched glass offers businesses and residential clients an cost-effective way to help protect the local and migratory bird populations. Even some of the state and local governments are getting on board with this strategies that are designed to protect bird populations. Birds after all play an important role around our homes and office buildings. Swallows, for instance, eat their body weight each day in mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are known to spread West Nile Virus and other diseases such as Malaria. Birds are clearly a good addition to our yards and neighborhoods.

Vern’s Glass offers bird-safe glass and treatment for existing glass, especially custom glass projects and windows. If your home or business is in need of window replacement make sure to upgrade to bird-safe glass. If you have a glass replacement project, use bird-safe glass and ask the folks at Vern’s Glass about the options to treat all of your commercial or residential windows. Window repair and glass repair projects are the perfect opportunity to make your home bird friendly.


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Bad Work, Good Work, or Great Work In Retirement

Bad work – work that we do just for the money.
Good work – work that we enjoy, and do well.
Great work – work that allows us to express ourselves, puts us in a state of flow and we do well.

In VLR when we have achieve financial independence, how much money we make doesn’t matter as much. In VLR we can therefore avoid bad work, look for good work, and maybe even get great work. Continue reading “Bad Work, Good Work, or Great Work In Retirement”

What Does The Word Retirement Mean?

If you have seen any of our presentations you have heard the story of Mike being told by his publisher that he had written a book about “not retiring”. Despite using retirement in the title of the book, the reality is our language has not come up with word(s) that describe what is going on in the “retirement” world now. So here are some thoughts.

Continue reading “What Does The Word Retirement Mean?”

Summertime And Living Is Easy

Well warm weather has finally arrived in southern Ontario so we can finally start to think about summer, longer days, warmer nights, trips to the cottage and campfires. One of the joys of Victory Lap Retirement (VLR) is that you now have the time and the ability to decide how you will spend your time. To that end we have decided to cut back on our blogs until September, instead we will enjoy the warm weather, focus on our families, travel, and continue to work on building our small business. Continue reading “Summertime And Living Is Easy”

Breaking Boundaries

What are you going to do when it's your turn?
What are you going to do when it’s your turn?

Last week I appeared on BNN as a guest to talk about Victory Lap Retirement. You can see the interview here.

BNN was doing a piece on “Why Canadians Are Putting off Retirement – and The Challenges They Face” and it looks like our book Victory Lap Retirement struck quite a nerve. You can see a review of the book here and here.
Continue reading “Breaking Boundaries”

It’s Going To Be Fun From Here On Out!

Active Retirement and HobbiesIt’s fun now because Jonathan and I finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labours. The book has been written, the Victory Lap Retirement (VLR) website and blog has come to life and we received our first book order yesterday. But there is much work to be done to accomplish our goal of building the VLR tribe and helping as many people as possible start their own version of a VLR lifestyle. Great things take time but the results are well worth it once you get there!

Continue reading “It’s Going To Be Fun From Here On Out!”


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Mrs. Roberta Tione from Italy
classic tours
 Hallo Mario
We had a nice flight back home, and now we are redatto to get back to work. Which is the hardest part or been back home :(
The journey through Vietnam was marvellous and did enjoyed very much! We do appreciate your and all the staff in Vietnamtravelart professional!
Thank you for our discovery of your beautiful country!
Warmest Regards,
Mrs. Roberta Tione from Italy
Mario Nguyen
Mario Nguyen Mario Nguyen


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Creating the Digital Experience Interface

Or a ‘cinematic’ webpresence with a chatbot voiceover

Sketch for Digital Experience Interface.jpg

Digital experiences are what fascinate and drive me. That’s why I admire new media art or #netart (e.g. MuchBetterThanThis.com by Rafaël Rozendaal ) and I strive to create inspirational and lasting digital presences in whatever digital medium that is applicable.

It’s with this in mind that I propose the idea of a web presence with cinematic traits and embedded chatbot, and critique the existing examples of digital experiences.

Let me first state that — in my opinion — it’s impossible to actually create or design an experience; a person has an experience. And unless you’re a geneticist or neuroscientist running a mind control experiment, you don’t get to determine the actual experience (sorry UX’ers 🙁).

You can however try to influence the experience, by telling a story, compel actions/reactions, evoking emotions and designing the interface the person interacts with. I prefer to call this the Experience Interface, rather than the User Interface. It’s more a broad vs. narrow definition, where for me the User Interface is the controls the user is given and the Experience Interface is the totality of the environment and how it evolves during the interaction.

A number of factors is important here.

Story and Cinema

Our evolutionary hardwired way of sharing experiences is storytelling. According to Wikipedia “the term ‘storytelling’ can refer in a narrow sense specifically to oral storytelling and also in a looser sense to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story.” It predates writing, but rock-art (as supporting material) may have served as a form of storytelling for many ancient cultures.

So it’s not story reading, not story watching, but story telling. And (again via Wikipedia):

“Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view.”

Cinema, or motion picture, is a very compelling way of storytelling, and basically a big step up from the rock-art. It also uses some techniques that greatly enhance the conveying of a story, specifically: the establishing shotpanningtilting and zooming.

To clarify “An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place. (Wikipedia)”.

Panning is swiveling the camera horizontally from a fixed position. Tilting is the same, but rotating vertically. And finally, zooming brings the object closer (close-up) or further away (wide shot).

To actually craft a good visual story we can take some pointers from screenwriting. In the chart below you see the ‘3 Act Structure’ as defined by the late Syd Field.

3 Act Structure by Syd Field, author of  Screenplay

3 Act Structure by Syd Field, author of Screenplay

The main elements are the plot points and working your way towards the resolution. The ‘action’ and ‘confrontation’ shouldn’t be taken literal in the sense of ‘physical’; the confrontation can also be emotional and the actions/plot points manifested as certain insights during the progression of the story.

Utilizing these storytelling elements and techniques have proven to be an effective way of influencing human experience.

Maybe even more impactful than a story, and certainly essential to the dissemination of a story is the conversation about the story. The force of a story grows exponentially with the speed and ease in which it is shared (and no, this is not achieved simply by adding a ‘share’-button).

And with conversations there’s a lot of neuroscience at work.

Judith E. Glaser, in her book Conversational Intelligence states “Conversations have the power to change the brain — they stimulate the production of hormones and neurotransmitters, stimulate body systems and nerve pathways, and change our body’s chemistry, not just for a moment but perhaps for a lifetime.”

And “Conversations impact different parts of the brain in different ways, because different parts of the brain are listening for different things. By understanding the way conversations impact our listening we can determine how we listen — and how we listen determines how we interpret and make sense of our world.”

“Language plays a role in the brain’s capacity to expand perspectives and create a ‘feel-good’ experience” — Judith E. Glaser

The importance of this for every product is stressed by Ross Mayfield in his article Products Are Conversations. He states “Your customers want to talk with you […]. They want to be heard and want you to understand their needs. It’s your job to enable these conversations, and figure out how to have them at scale.”

I also like to borrow his quote:

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”

Which he attributes to George Bernard Shaw, but according to Quote Investigator 🔍, it should be William H. Whyte 😉.

So the better conversation you have or incite, the better the experience, and the better your message gets across.

This is also what makes conversational interfaces (like chatbots and voice-assistents) so powerful.

Experience preparation

Like language and visuals there are other dramatic techniques you can use to influence an experience. For this I’d like to refer to Kile Ozier ‘s 5 tenets of Experience Creation (he can create experiences, he’s just that good):

N.B. The explanations contain my paraphrasing

  • Exploration of Assumption; what is the audience assuming when accessing the interface. And can you circumvent or overcome or rather leverage and enhance those assumptions.

  • Liberation of Preconception; preconception is a conversation(!) going on inside the head of the audience, i.c. the user, reassuring s/he knows what’s going to happen. If you can liberate them from this, you can give them a fresh experience and renewed excitement.

  • Comfortable Disorientation; feeling safe in not knowing what’s next. Effectively executed, this technique results in an immediate, deeper level of trust on the part of the audience, i.c. the user, and an intangible yet greater willingness to suspend disbelief.

  • Successive Revelation; too much, up front, can completely overload the audience early and virtually numb them to further sensation, empathy or inspiration; leaving them inured to subtlety and nuance as the Story or Experience unfolds. You should try to shape the arc of storytelling by balancing curiosity and revelation.

  • Subliminal Engagement; inviting the audience, i.c. the user, to participate in the creation of their own experience. Allow for the journey or journeys to be completed in the imaginations of audience members, i.c. users.

So if you truly want to create a digital (user) experience, you’d better be willing to put up a show 🎭 !

Application to web presences

The above mentioned fundamental elements and techniques with regards to (visual) storytelling, and experience preparation, are — in my opinion and perception — currently lacking from most digital experiences. Even the ones that are most dependent on story, like brand websites.

But there are some notable exceptions!

For example the Mercedes-Benz campaign site for their new, all electric, vehicle the EQC:

Animated GIF. See  website  for the full experience (n.b. on mobile the intro tilt doesn’t seem to work)

Animated GIF. See website for the full experience (n.b. on mobile the intro tilt doesn’t seem to work)

Let’s brake it down:

“Electric now has a Mercedes”. Now there’s a story headline! And there is a beautiful establishing shot (with tilt). The story unfolds. Reveal after reveal. There are pans and tilts (in intro and outro) and parallax scrolling (top layer scrolling faster than bottom layer to create depth)! All-in-all a visual feast, with some subliminal engagement: you control the scroll and can pan/tilt around in the establishing shot a bit.

What’s still lacking is conversation, or any meaningful interaction for that matter. Which is a shame, because it would have been a great opportunity for Mercedes-Benz to get a first impression of the user’s reaction to their new product.

On to another example: Apple’s iOS12 website, introducing their latest software update for the iPhone and iPad.

Animated GIF. See  website  for the full experience.

Animated GIF. See website for the full experience.

Again a break down: First the establishing shot is reminiscent of the queue for the ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.

Harry Potter portrait wall.jpg

Talking Portraits and all. Some ‘Comfortable Disorientation’, to which Kile Ozier notes: “Theme parks strive for this all the time, often with what I call the Venice Effect; bringing guests through a queue that is often labyrinthine, usually feels a bit cramped — limited sightlines, low ceilings — to then be suddenly released into a space that seems vast by comparison.”

For a fluent version with sound see  YouTube

For a fluent version with sound see YouTube

Of course Apple here has the benefit of the iPhones/iPads as ‘natural’ frames. There’s some ‘successive revelation’ in introducing the different features with auto-playing animations, but other than that there’s little more experience to be had.

Again the lack of interaction and conversation is a missed opportunity.

And to show that it is possible, see the Typeform blogpost on the rise the conversational interface:

Animated GIF. See  website  for the full and personal experience

Animated GIF. See website for the full and personal experience

I encourage you to give it a try yourself by checking out the blogpost and putting in your own responses. Even though the ‘conversation’ is preformatted, by making your response choices, you get the feeling you’re sharing your view and engage on a basic level.

I first saw this on Adrian Zumbrunnen ‘s personal website, which does allow open ended input. This, at least for me, immediately raises the bar for engagement, because what happens if he responds in person 😳? So it definitely triggers an emotion on my side, which is a good thing.

Chatbots of course make scaled conversations like these possible and can gather a great deal of customer insight. And the Typeform example shows the potential storytelling power and enhanced experience when it is seamlessly integrated in the total experience interface.

The ideal

So an ideal digital experience interface, to me, should contain all the above mentioned storytelling elements and utilize all the available techniques (with moderation of course).

What I envision is basically a merger between the before mentioned Mercedes-Benz EQC site and the Typeform blogpost;

The interface commences with setting the scene in a visually attractive and seductive way. Than the chatbot comes in as a voice-over, or narrator, and engages you by giving pointers as to how to further explore the interface, triggering different user controls and visual attractions; unfolding the story with you. It asks questions and gives options, actively soliciting your feedback.

To be clear the chatbot is not ‘on top of’ (which is often seen as ‘live chat’, and completely disengaged from the site content and story) but embedded, taking or talking you through the story, actively engaging you and asking for your feedback in the moment.

And more…

If we could have all this, there’s one more thing that would be the icing on the cake 🍰: Sound. Or better ‘sonic branding’ 🔊.

Of course if you add video or podcast to a webpresence, you have sound already. But I see it as a stand-alone feature, supporting the overall experience.

To clarify, sonic branding, or sound/audio branding, is “the strategic use of sound … in positively differentiating a product or service, enhancing recall, creating preference, building trust, and even increasing sales. Audio branding can tell you whether the brand is romantic and sensual, family-friendly and everyday, indulgent and luxurious, without ever hearing a word or seeing a picture. And it gives a brand an additional way to break through audiences’ shortened attention spans.” (Wikipedia)

And again I’m not thinking jingles, but embedding sounds that you associate with the topic or product. To give you an idea listen to👂 the NIKE Freestyle video based on an idea by Jimmy Smith:

Wouldn’t you feel more engaged if you visited a website selling athletic shoes and hearing this in the background?

I look forward to your feedback and hope to create some of these ideals with you.

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Siri: “Which wife?”

Wait! What 😳? I asked: “Hey Siri. What can you tell me about my wife?” And I was expecting or anticipating to get some general information like maybe her age, her occupation and perhaps some social media updates. As I was giving my wife some examples of voice commands, I most certainly did NOT expect to get Siri’s, Big Love inspired(?), response: “Which wife?”.

When we both quickly looked up at the screen, it turned out that I had two separate contact entries for my wife’s name on my phone, and Siri needed to know which one I was looking for. So Siri didn’t have a problem hearing me, also did know who my wife is, did have the information available, but still stumbled on a seemingly minor detail.

So much for live demoing 😉, but it’s a fair example of the current state of voice assistants. A recent Digital Assistant IQ test did put Google ahead of Apple’s Siri, but I don’t expect Google to have handled it much better.

However, I’m increasingly growing fonder of using voice commands for certain tasks, as they just give a better experience (i.e. more convenient) than a gesture or typed input. In general, repetitive, daily tasks are most likely to be more convenient through a voice command.

For me it’s “Turn on/off the lights”, “Set an alarm/timer for..”, “Is it going to rain?“, and (even if the answer to the former question is affirmative); “Start an activity outdoor walking” (because I’m already holding the dogs leash, the door keys 🔑, possibly an umbrella 🌂, and a ball 🎾 the dog 🐶 is trying to grab).

They’re basically cues or simple questions that I know my connected devices can handle (and don’t yet handle on their own automatically).

[intermezzo regarding connected lights 💡: voice operating your (connected) lights, in my case Philips Hue indoor & outdoor through Apple Home, is the same difference as using a landline ☎ versus a smartphone 📱; the experience and range of possibilities is almost incomparable.]

Today (July 26, 2018), in the Netherlands, a slew of new ‘Skills’ became available on Google Assistant as they launched their Dutch language capability.

It included among others two national news broadcaster (@NOS, @RTL), our two airlines (@KLM, @Transavia), one of the biggest banks (@Rabobank) and two of the biggest energy suppliers (@Essent and @Eneco) that have connected thermostats. And, finally, our biggest grocery stores (@AlbertHeijn and @Jumbo), online retailer (@Bol.com) and our national postal service (@PostNL).

The fact that all these big players are present at launch does give an indication of the expected potential of voice assistants. I haven’t been able to test them yet, but from what I understand from the various press releases the possible actions are mostly status updates and generic commands, some of which might make more sense (to me) than others.This is a good thing because through experimenting with all these skills you can on the one hand experience the limitations and on the other see the possibilities of voice commands and interactions.

For understanding ‘Voice’ it’s especially important to get an idea of all the implications/variations of a simple question; as you see on the screen recording below, Siri is changing it’s understanding of my question as I speak.

Siri setting alarm demo.gif

For example; if I had paused a little longer after stating ‘6:30’ it would have set an alarm for the same day. You can try it yourself with any kind of voice command and see the different variations it goes through (at least with Apple’s Siri you can see it happen).

In my experience comparing voice interactions with typed or gestured interactions some routines are just faster, where others are just cumbersome. This is keeping in mind the complete interaction: question and answer, where the latter can be simply executed (e.g. lights go on/off), spoken or displayed(!).

As Ben Sauer pointed out in his #OpenVoice presentation: “Using voice input is great because it’s faster than typing. [but] Listening to voice output is hard because it’s slower than reading.

The faster voice commanded, fully completed routines will stick.

Keeping this in mind I can look forward to a lot more voice commanded (kitchen) appliances, so I don’t have to operate them with my dirty or otherwise occupied hands. And I can imagine that setting up devices through voice commands can give a much richer and more fulfilling experience.

A chatbot for news

Last year I got the opportunity to create an update for the Chatbot of the Dutch News Broadcasting association NOS and we launched it right before the end of the year.

It's a Facebook chatbot that gives you daily news updates and allows you to search their archives. You can find it here: m.me/NOSupdate

NOS Update chatbot

For details about the bot and how it is setup I kindly refer you to the Medium article I wrote about it.

Experimenting with Chatbots

The best way to learn about bots is to build and experience them.

For my business bot I used OctaneAI.com, a chatbot creation platform that specifically allows you to create 'conversational articles' or 'convos'.

For my personal bot I used Chatfuel.com, a WYSIWYG chatbot creation platform with all the main Facebook Messenger capabilities and even some Artificial Intelligence functions.

Please click the links below to interact which each bot, or scan directly from Facebook Messenger:

Link to VIRVIE's bot

Link to VIRVIE's bot

Link to Almar's bot

Link to Almar's bot

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An updated web presence

Today, after more than 10 (!) years, I updated VIRVIE.com. It was long overdue, but I was just too fond of the original design.

The original site, or VIRVIE vintage, is still available (just follow the link), because I think it's important to also preserve our digital heritage.

It also marks the end of VIRVIE's ventures in the Web and App space. One of these ventures was the creation of PeRSoN.NeL. It started out as a web based URL shortener, which allowed to at mini artworks to your links. It then evolved into an Augmented Reality App which allowed a user to show these same artworks, and now even in 3D, on there location in reality.

The evolution of PeRSoN.NeL

The evolution of PeRSoN.NeL

After this the App pivoted into diary App, which is still available from PRSN.NL, but no longer maintained.

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text:
Lake Tahoe Waterfall Hikes – Lower Eagle Falls

Lower Eagle Falls is a must see when you visit Lake Tahoe, particularly in the spring.

Lower Eagle Falls

Lower Eagle Falls (~150 ft.) is a must see. Accessible by the entire family, Lower Eagle Falls are located in the back yard of Vikingsholm Castle at Emerald Bay. Both Vikingsholm and Lower Eagle Falls are very popular tourist stops and it is incredibly difficult to get a parking spot here during the day, so it is recommended to arrive early in the morning.

The waterfall is fantastic, particularly in the spring, dropping in two large cascades. The upper section is about 60 ft. and the bottom about 90 ft. high. The hike to this Lake Tahoe waterfall follows a  maintained trail leading from the parking lot at Emerald Bay State Park down to the lake. It is a moderate 1 mile hike down to the lakeside. Dogs are not allowed on this trail, unfortunately, as it is a state park.

Creek at bottom of Lower Eagle Falls

Directions: Along Hwy #89, 8.5 miles northwest of Hwy #50 junction, at South Lake Tahoe. Park at the Emerald Bay / Vikingsholm State Park. There is a parking fee in the lot.

eagle falls mp

Location: Highway 85, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Height: ~150 ft.

Access: pedestrians and legitimate/licensed service animals. No pets.

Distance: 2.2 miles (RT) (hike) Elevation: 6600 ft. (-350 ft.)

Season: Apr-Jul

Difficulty: easy downhill; moderately difficult going back up

Lat/Long: 38.95185N, 120.11029W

See also: Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority


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Southern Wales Tourism
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Shire Hall, Monmouth

Shire Hall is a former Court of Assizes and Quarter Sessions in the centre of Monmouth, South Wales. It is a Grade I listed, classically designed building in Agincourt Square at the top of Monnow Street. It serves as a focal point for the Monmouth community, offering weddings and meeting rooms, as well as local tourist information in the reception. In 2011, the entire building was sympathetically refurbished to provide a modern facility which can accommodate Weddings, business meetings, Conferences, celebrations and exhibitions. All of this has been done whilst maintaining the integrity of this historically and architecturally important building. You will feel that you are in a modern, attractive space but will be constantly aware of the vast heritage that The Shire Hall offers. The large rooms have also become an important part of Monmouth’s vibrant local community and hosts the local youth theatre group, various types of dance lessons, The Wye Valley artists and the Wyedean Embroiderers to name but a few. Shire Hall was the scene of one of the most significant trials in British history when, in 1839/40, John Frost and other Chartists were tried for their involvement in the Chartist Riots in Newport. Courtroom 1 has been fully restored to how it looked in the 1840s and is fully interactive, allowing visitors to sit in the Judge’s chair and go down to the holding cells to experience first-hand the unpleasant conditions prisoners of the day had been subjected to.

Agincourt Square
NP25 3DY

+44 01600 775257

Shire Hall, Monmouth

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(Chapter XXVII (continued), Life of Eugenia, Book 1d
(Also Euphrasia further down this page)

"I promise you," she said, "that our art is much stronger than that. Our master has a Father but no mother, and a mother who knew not a father. For the Father begot him without help from any woman, and a mother brought him to birth who knew not a man. He has a virgin for his spouse, who daily bears him many sons, yes, countless sons does she bear, and daily he gives his flesh to their flesh. She enjoys his embraces unceasingly, their love for each other is everlasting, and exists in such integrity that their union becomes the source of all virginity, all charity and all integrity."

Chapter XVIII
Nicetius found all this quite baffling, and to save the Emperor from having to listen to all that if she were called before him, he ordered Eugenia to be taken to the temple of Diana, where a soldier threatened her with a spear.
"Get your life back, Eugenia," he said. "Return to your own inheritance and sacrifice to the goddess Diana."
Eugenia spread out her hands to heaven and prayed.
"O God, you know all the secrets of my heart. In your love you have preserved my virginity unsullied, for you have found me worthy of being given your son, my Lord Jesus Christ, as my spouse. You have made your holy Spirit to reign in my heart. Be present with me now as I confess your holy name and let all those who worship this idol and glory in its images be put to shame."
As she was praying an earthquake occurred, and the foundations of the temple shook and the idol was overthrown. Nothing remained standing except the altar in front of the temple doors where Eugenia was standing. This all happened in the district of Lycaonia, in the presence of all those who had followed Eugenia in her trials. A vast crowd of Roman people collected amid a tumult of discordant shouts. Some protested her innocence, others branded her as a magician. The prefect was told what was happening and he made it known to the Emperor. The Emperor ordered her to be thrown into the Tiber weighed down with stones, but the stones became untied, and the blessed Eugenia floated over the surface of the water, so that it was obvious to all Christians that he who walked with Peter in the sea without sinking was with her to prevent her being drowned.

Chapter XXIX
They fished her out of the river and threw her into the furnace that heated the Severian baths, but the furnace immediately went out, its heat turned to cold, and all its burning fuel crumbled to nothing. Chaos broke out such as had never been seen before. They threw her into a dark dungeon and ordered that she be given no food for the next ten days nor allowed any light. But such great splendour was daily there with her that when she eventually emerged she radiated light. For the Saviour had appeared to her there, bringing her bread as white as snow and of the most exquisite tasting sweetness.
"Eugenia," he had said to her, "take this bread from my hands. I am your Saviour whom you have loved with all your heart and mind, and do still love. I will receive you into heaven on the same day in which I came down to earth."
Having said this he departed, and on Christmas day a gladiator was sent to kill her in prison, and her body was taken up by Christian relatives of hers and taken to the family estates not far from the city on the Latin Way, where the bodies of many saints were buried.

Chapter XXX
As Claudia her mother was grieving at her tomb, keeping vigil in the dead of night, Eugenia appeared to her clad in a garment of cloth of gold, accompanied by a host of virgins.
"Be glad and rejoice," said Eugenia, "for Christ has led me to share in the joyfulness of the saints, and has numbered my father amongst the patriarchs. And behold, this Sunday he will receive you into the everlasting joys. Encourage your sons, my brothers, to keep the sign of the cross, that they too may come to share glory with us."
And as she spoke she was enfolded in a light so brilliant that human eye could not bear it, as the Angels came down singing a hymn to God in voices of a beauty beyond description, except that it was the name of Jesus Christ and his holy Spirit that resounded through their praises. Glory and honour to the Father, and to the Son, and to the holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Life No 18
The Life of St Euphrasia, Virgin [Celebrated in the Roman martyrology on March 13]
by an anonymous author

Chapter I
At the time of the most godly emperor Theodosius, [Theodosius I, Emperor in Constantinople 379-395]  there was a certain senator in the royal city called Antigonus. He was of the imperial family and a member of his closest circle, a man wise in deeds as well as in words, who governed the province of Lycia [A province of Asia Minor between Caria and Pamphylia]  conscientiously according to Roman Law. He was a compassionate man, sensitive to the needs of others. The Emperor loved him not only as a relative and a senator but as a godly Christian who was always able to offer good advice. He was extremely wealthy; the royal city had no one else like him in respect of wisdom, good deeds and riches. He took a wife called Euphraxia, [Rosweyde notes that other sources all refer to this woman as Euphrasia, Book I of the Vitae being unique in calling her Euphraxia except in the heading to this Life] of his own nation and from the same imperial family, who feared the Lord deeply and spent much time in church offering her prayers and tears to God. She helped many to take part in the work of God by means of her many gifts to churches and monasteries. The emperor and Augusta his wife dearly loved her not only because she was of their family, but also for her upright morals, her honesty and her deep piety. They had one daughter who was also called Euphraxia, after her mother.

Chapter II
After their daughter was born, Antigonus said to Euphraxia one day:
"You know, Euphraxia, my love,
["sister" seems hardly adequate to translate soror here] that this life is nothing, that the vanity of riches and this temporal existence is nothing. A human lifespan of eighty years is consummated in ruin, whereas riches laid up in heaven last for infinite ages of ages to them who fear God. We deprive ourselves of those riches if we are fettered by the standards of the world and held in thrall to the deceits of temporal riches, or if we pass our days in idleness, acquiring nothing useful to our souls."
"What are you suggesting we should do, my husband?" asked Euphraxia.
"God has given us one daughter, which should be quite enough for us. We don't need to conform any further to this unfortunate and miserable age."
Euphraxia sprang to her feet and raised her hands to heaven.
"Blessed be God," she said to her husband Antigonus with a sigh. "He has given you the grace to fear him, and lead you into a knowledge of his truth. To tell you the truth I have often prayed to God to illumine your heart and enlighten your mind on this very matter, though I did not presume to broach the subject myself. Shall I tell you who is the prime mover in this?"
"Tell me anything you like, my love."
"The Apostle bore witness many long ages since, you know, and said, 'We have but a short time. It remains that those who have wives should live as those who have them not' (
1 Corinthians 7.29). All the desires of the world are doomed to perish. What use is our money and abundant possessions? None of it will go down with us into the grave. Let's make haste to act on your good advice and give much to the poor, so that the plan you have proposed will not be unfruitful."
Hearing this, Antigonus glorified God.

Chapter III
Having entered into this higher way of life and given a great deal to the poor, Antigonus lived only for one more year after renouncing his wife. He had died after conducting his life in this godly way for a whole year, and so was buried in peace. The Emperor and Augusta both mourned for him, not just because he was descended from the same family line, but because he had been upright and devout. They were very solicitous for Euphraxia's welfare, not just because of family ties, but also because she was now in the same position as a young unmarried woman. Two years and three months only had she lived with a husband, one year of which they had abstained from each other and lived as brother and sister.
So once Antigonus was buried, Euphraxia received great support from them, to the extent that she felt able to take her daughter and hand her over into the care of the Emperor and Augusta. She fell at their feet, crying and weeping.
"I commend this orphan into your hands and the hands of God," she said. "Be mindful of Antigonus who belonged to you, and take this child and care for her, and stand in the place of both father and mother for her."
Many of those who heard this shed many tears. Even the royal couple wept.

Chapter IV
A little while later, when mourning for Antigonus had subsided a little, the Emperor persuaded Euphraxia that her daughter should be betrothed to a certain rich senator. The betrothal was arranged in expectation of her arriving at full age, for at present she was only five years old. After some further time had passed, this senator began to entertain a desire to be united with Antigonus' widow. He begged for the support of various matrons, who persuaded Augusta that the senator should be allowed to exchange marriage vows with Euphraxia, without seeking permission from the Emperor. Euphraxia wept bitterly when told about this plan and complained to the women responsible.
"Woe to you in the life to come!" she cried. "In foisting this plan upon me, you are contriving to hinder the path of a woman who is striving to live for God alone. Leave me alone. In any case you have ensured that I no longer have any desire to be part of your circle."
They were left in some confusion, and told Augusta what had happened. The Emperor got to hear about it as well, and was furious with Augusta.
"Really, Augusta," he cried, "You have done something which is completely and utterly out of order! Is this your kind of Christianity, Augusta? Is this the way you fulfil your promise to God to govern in a godly manner? Is this the way you honour the memory of Antigonus whom we valued so greatly? You have done something completely at odds with the way we should be governing. Here is this woman who is still technically an infant, although she had lived with a husband for a year. By agreement they stopped sleeping with each other for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and now you want to compel her to return to the way of the world? Have you no fear of God, to perpetrate this wickedness? How am I going to persuade people that I did not authorise this? What you have done is bizarre! Indecent! You have flouted my imperial authority, and sullied the memory of my dearest and greatly loved Antigonus!"
Augusta was covered in confusion at this rebuke, and was struck dumb and as still as a stone for nearly two hours. Euphraxia, Antigonus' widow, had become the occasion of an enormous dissension between the Emperor and Augusta, and at that thought Euphraxia was very upset, and with downcast eyes she felt she might just as well be dead. She decided to leave the city entirely.
"We have large estates in Egypt," she said to her daughter, weeping bitterly, "so let's go there and visit your father's property. Everything I have is yours, my daughter."
So Euphraxia and her daughter left the imperial city, without telling the Emperor, and went to Egypt. They intended to stay there, and visited all their estates in quick succession, before going into the interior of the Thebaid, taking with them slaves and stewards to look after their luggage. They stayed in several monasteries both of men and of women, where they offered many prayers and gave considerable gifts of money.

Chapter VI
In one place there was a monastery of women which had a hundred and thirty architria. [Rosweyde conjectures this word probably means 'small cells', presumably small buildings with three domes] It was said that many notable virtues could be observed there. Nobody drank wine in that monastery, they ate no apples or grapes or figs or other fruits which the region brought forth in abundance. One of those women who had renounced the world denied herself the use of oil in her diet, and fasted daily from vespers to vespers. There were some who ate only every two days, some every three. None of them ever washed their feet. They poured scorn upon the very mention of a bath, judging it to be a word which was almost obscene, to which they ought to shut their ears. There was one of them who took her meagre allowance of sleep on the ground, with a covering of goatskin only one cubit wide and three long. Their outer garments were of goatskin right down to the tips of their toes. Each of them did as much manual labour as possible. If anyone fell ill there was no provision for medicine or ointments, but they accepted their illnesses as the greatest of blessings from the Lord, and bore their weakness in expectation of the medicine of the Sunday Eucharist. None of them wandered outside the gates. There was a mature woman in charge of the gate, who was responsible for all communications inwards and outwards. She was one who dispensed a great deal of sound common sense.

Chapter VII
Euphraxia greatly valued the wisdom of these holy women, the fruit of their marvellous lives, and often went to the monastery where she offered incense and candles. One day she had a request to make of the abbess and her deputies.
"I hope you won't be too angry if I offer you a little gift of twenty or thirty pounds of gold, that you might pray for this little friend of yours and her father Antigonus."
"My dear good lady," replied the abbess, "Your servants have no need of any gifts and no longing for money. For we have left all, and scorned the things of this world in order to enjoy the blessings of eternity. We desire to possess nothing that we may not lose the kingdom of heaven. But I don't want to disappoint you, or send you away empty-handed, so just take a little lamp oil and incense to the oratory, and that will be ample reward for us."
Euphraxia did so, and begged all the sisters to pray for Antigonus and his daughter Euphraxia.

Chapter VIII
One day the abbess put the child Euphraxia to the test.
"Now then, Miss Euphraxia," she said, "how do you like our monastery and all the sisters?"
"Oh, I like you very much, ma'am," she replied.
"Well, if you like us so much, why not wear the habit as we do," said the abbess jokingly.
"If my mother has no objections," said the little girl, "I would be quite happy to stay here for ever."
"Whom do you love best, then, out of us and the man you are betrothed to?"
"I don't know him, or he me. I know you, and I love you. Tell me, whom do you love, me or him?
"We love you, and we love our Christ."
"And I truly love you and your Christ."
Euphraxia the mother listened to all this and her tears flowed without restraint. The abbess was very moved by what the little girl said, to think that such a small girl should come out with such things. For she was only seven years old, when this conversation was taking place.
"Come, daughter," said the mother with a sigh and a bitter tear, "Time to go home. It's evening already."
"I want to stay here with my lady abbess."
"No dear," said the abbess, "you can't stay here. Off you go home. No one can stay here unless they have given themselves completely to Christ."
"Where is Christ?"
The abbess pointed out an image of the Lord. Euphraxia ran up to it and kissed it, turned round and said:
"I truly vow myself to Christ and will not go home with my mother."
"My daughter," said the abbess, "it is not for you to stay here, you can't stay here."
"Where you are," she replied, "there shall I be."
It was already evening, but however much both mother and abbess urged her to go home nothing would persuade her to leave. Day after day both mother and abbess talked to her, but they were unable to make her change her mind and could not drive her out of the monastery.
"My daughter," the abbess said at last, "if you want to stay here you must be able to read, and learn the Psalter, and fast until vespers like all the other sisters."
"I can learn to fast and do everything, if only I can stay here."
"Well, my lady," the abbess said at last to the girl's mother, "Let the girl stay here. I perceive the grace of God alight in her, and I recognise that her father's virtue, and your honesty, and the prayers of both of you have given her a vision of eternal life."

Chapter IX
Euphraxia arose and took her daughter over to the image of the Lord, raising her hands to heaven with a loud cry and many tears.
"Lord Jesus Christ," she cried, "take this little girl who longs for you and has offered herself to you," and turning to her daughter, "Euphraxia, my daughter, may God who has laid the foundations of the everlasting mountains confirm you in his fear."
She handed her over to the abbess, and beating her breast and weeping, left the monastery. The whole congregation wept with her in sympathy.

Chapter X
A few days later the abbess took Euphraxia into the oratory, prayed over her, and clothed her in the monastic habit.
"O eternal King," she prayed as she stretched out her hands to heaven, "you have begun a good work in her; bring it peacefully to perfection, we pray. Grant that this little girl may ever walk according to your name, and be found faithful in your sight."
Euphraxia's mother also prayed, and said to her daughter:
"Is it your will, my daughter, to be clothed in this habit?"
"It is, mother. For I have learned from the abbess and from the sisters that this habit is the bridal dress which the Lord Jesus Christ gives to those who love him."
"May he to whom you are betrothing yourself, " said her mother, "make you worthy of his marriage bed."
With these words and prayers for her daughter, she said farewell to the abbess and the sisters, embraced her daughter, and left to resume her usual custom of moving about, supplying the needs of the poor.

Chapter XI
After a few days the abbess asked the girl's mother to come and see her privately.
"I have something to tell you," she said, "but don't be alarmed."
"Tell me, whatever it is."
"I saw in a dream Antigonus your husband standing in great glory, begging the Lord Jesus Christ that you might depart from your body and be with him from then on, and enjoy the glory which he enjoyed."
Like the religious woman she was, she went home not in the least perturbed but glad and joyful. She prayed that indeed she might be allowed to depart this life and be with Christ. She went to see her daughter.
"My daughter," she said, "my lady abbess has told me that Christ is calling me and the day of my departure is at hand. Everything belonging to your father and me I give into your hands. Distribute it wisely, that you may gain a heavenly inheritance."
"Woe is me," cried her daughter, "I am now a pilgrim and orphan!"
"My daughter, you have Christ for your father and your husband, so don't say you are a pilgrim and an orphan. And you have your lady abbess in place of a mother. So look to it that you carry out everything you have promised. Fear God, honour all your sisters, serve them with all humility. Never entertain in your heart any thoughts that you are of the imperial family and therefore they ought to be your slaves. Be poor on earth that you may be rich in heaven. See now, everything is yours. Give lands and money to the monastery on your father's behalf and mine, that we may find mercy in the sight of God and escape the punishment eternal."
Three days later she died, and they buried her in the monastery's cemetery.

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Headline of your site is only one of many absolute most indispensable things. You Get What You Pay For To obtain the articles that are best, you need to be ready to cover enough to these. About the reverse side, your articles ought to be all set for publishers.

Affordable information providers often retain better writers since they maintain them taking care of a typical basis. Make best custom writing essay use of the assistance of true academic pros and get the services you deserve! Thus be certain that you choose doesn’t work with templates, so you still deserve a more exceptional design that represents you.

Hopefully you finally have ample advice and resources that will assist you to get yourself a nice, lasting couple of inexpensive snowboard boots or bindings. As you are able to save money getting your Clarks footwear online, 1 hazard, obviously, is that you never get to use them. The optimal/optimally method to get affordable skateboardsthat appear complete is to look across the wealth of on line skate shops and also other websites which sell cheap total skateboards.

Most organizations have affordable rates, however restricted consequences. Getting help from auto insurance agents can in fact help save more dollars than you may think about. It is very important to be aware you can readily obtain cheap auto insurance by hunting on line and fill out online software.

On line travel websites like Expedia are terrific for researching cruise expenses. An Traveling representative might be tremendous assistance in locating inexpensive cruises. The purchase price tag on an air travel ticket ought to be deducted to the overall worthiness of your own cruise holiday expenditures.

The Fundamentals of Cheap Essay Help Revealed

If you supply bogus info, they can easily discover it and also you could be terminated by the recruitment process For employed like a company lawyer, it’s necessary for you to find out all of the rules and regulations and also the various company coverages. For each and every business to become productive, best decisionmaking is vital. Do your own homework, analyze the current sector, and select a company that you truly are feeling comfortable with.

OK, let us imagine you’ve adopted all of my suggestions above leading towards the beginning of the test. The more time we must perform the undertaking, the less of the rush job we ought to placed to the project from the exact initial location. Alternatively, you have to employ practitioner to do your occupation.

The Nuiances of Cheap Essay Help

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Then, when you have located the most applied mac book pro model and a fantastic reputable buyer, then you’re pretty much exemplary to purchase. A affordable camp trailer may end up costing you plenty of funds in case you get a significant problem using it. You are even permitted to run in to a re-furbished mac publication experts too.

Together with all our customized service it’s likely to purchase professional writing help for non price tag. All the 3 kinds of insurance coverage possess their particular added advantages and pitfalls. Up front costs might even be okay should you choose to self-publish.

Be certain to research your writers before you search the help of the man who gives the ideal price as well as the ideal writing abilities for your job demands, and you’re going to have seen one of those Internet’s best ghost authors. Occasionally it can possibly be like a result of one’s own negligence for not needing capable help by selecting a superb place to receive essays from. In the event you don’t know how to start your article where you should start looking for encouraging data, we’ll be pleased to assist you to.

Being a budding freelance author, you might be asked to compose content on several genres and subjects. Watch our creating samples therefore that you are able to secure an atmosphere of the gifts that our authors grip. Mcdougal is provided the liberty to select their own technique so as to make his producing appealing and impressive in exactly the very same moment.

An perfect essay structure oahu is the very first issue you have to concentrate on. Finding the right essay matter is considered a part in the most very best path related to essay formulating. It might be comparatively simple if there appeared to be an extremely easy methodical approach to write down this best specific article.

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The simplicity of having a coffee maker would be well worth the little selling cost it costs to get. There certainly are a great deal of smart strategies to save up distance by means of one’s desk. A easy lamp that you are ready to put up your own desk.

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Guinness Nigeria partners ActionAid to support Internally Displaced Persons

Guinness Nigeria partners ActionAid to support Internally Displaced Persons

guiness Lagos, Nigeria: September 28, 2015. In line with its commitment todelivering impactful social investments in host communities, Guinness Nigeria has donated relief materials to ActionAid Nigeria to support the organisation’s ongoing interventions at various camps for Internally Displaced Persons, IDP.

Speaking at the donation, Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria, Mr. Sesan Sobowale said the gesture was in furtherance of the company’s resolve to improve the quality of life in Nigerian communities.

“We are delighted that we have an opportunity to contribute in our own small way to ameliorate the conditions of our fellow citizens who are in IDP camps at the moment. We acknowledge that though this gesture may seem like a drop in the ocean, the value of what we are doing is in the hope that it encourages other corporate bodies to contribute to this noble cause, and also create awareness about the fact that there are many Nigerians today who as a result of the unfortunate circumstances are holed up in camps and make-shift shelters,”Sobowale said.

Speaking on the partnership with ActionAid, Sobowale stated, “At Guinness Nigeria, we are always looking to build strategic partnerships that can drive our various interventions. As such, we are happy that we have partnered with ActionAid in making life meaningful for these Nigerians living in IDP camps. ActionAid has very extensive experience in providing emergency response to conflict-affected persons and communities, we are confident that they would help promote the general wellbeing of the IDPs”.

guiness2Receiving the relief materials,Director, Finance & Operations, ActionAid Nigeria, Oluwole Elegbede thanked Guinness Nigeria for its thoughtfulness and demonstration of goodwill towards the poor and excluded members of society. He said the gesture would go a long way in improving the living conditions of people in some of the displaced persons camps in the country.

“At ActionAid, people are at the centre of what we do. We constantly strive to empower the poor and excluded, which is why we are very pleased with the gesture extended to the IDPs by Guinness Nigeria,” he said.

Elegbede, speaking on the organization’s plans, said that “ActionAid has been providing essential services to over 700 displaced people at the Nassarawa, Kaduna and Plateau IDP centres. “Since we do not know how long these people will live in displacement, we believe the provision of relief materials, psychosocial support and education in emergencies will help them regain their dignity and possibly their livelihood, if not fully but at least partially. These relief materials will go a long way in creating a wholesome environment for many of the displaced persons at the various IDP camps “.


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Archive | Communications Stories RSS feed for this section

Building a Robust Skype in the Microsoft Ecosystem.

Warning: this has nothing to do with NSA and the associated debates. During my career I have worked with several high tech companies, as both employers and clients. One common thread is that you build new offerings or modify existing offerings based on performance experiences and opportunities that the previous offerings exposed. Developer toolkits become […]

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Life Before Skype – RIP: Last Remnants of Telex Disappear

In the early part of my career the Telex machine and associated services played a major role in my business communications. When working with a company with operations in Germany and Switzerland, Telex was our “email” of-the-day. Sit down at a clunky QWERTY keyboard and “punch” the message onto a tape (error correction not allowed!). […]

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BlackBerry 10: Mobile Websites Proxy Mobile Apps.

Or, how I saved 35% on patch grass seed using my BlackBerry web browser. Previously I have followed the theme of “Did i say it was fast?” when covering the BlackBerry 10 mobile computing platform. Yesterday this “speed” allowed me to save 35% on a commercial product because the fast HTML5-compliant browser serves as an […]

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Skype for BlackBerry 10.1: Feature Rich Mobile Conversations

One announcement during last week’s BlackBerry Live keynote was the availability of BlackBerry 10.1 for the BlackBerry Z10. Which also meant that Skype for BlackBerry 10.1 (Preview), previously available on the Q10, became available for the BlackBerry Z10. I had been testing it out on my Z10 for the previous couple of weeks and basically […]

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BlackBerry Live: Discussing PamFax and Skype on CrackBerry Live

While attending BlackBerry Live earlier this week I was interviewed by Simon Sage of as a participant in their CrackBerry Live series recorded throughout the event. After providing an overview of PamFax for BlackBerry 10 and Playbook we then went on to discuss my experience with Skype for BlackBerry 10. More on the latter […]

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BlackBerry 10: If the Tablet is Going Away, Then What?

Tuesday morning marks the launch of BlackBerry Live 2013, BlackBerry’s annual enterprise mobility conference for service providers and enterprise customers; concurrently BlackBerry Jam Americas targets BlackBerry’s extensive network of third party developers.  It would appear that over 3500 will be attending these three day events to learn more about the directions BlackBerry, the company formerly […]

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BlackBerry: A Smartphone Manifesto

To tablet, or not to tablet, that is the question: Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Competition, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Tablet-ache, […]

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BlackBerry and Analysts: A Classical Misalignment of Interests

Yesterday BlackBerry, the company formerly known as Research in Motion, called the bluff of analysts who are trying to forecast their earnings and move share prices. However, the analysts’ interests are not at all aligned with BlackBerry’s interests, including goals, business plans and sales channel management. Analysts seek out short term results; a restructuring on […]

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BlackBerry, the Business: The Phoenix Arises Beyond Rebirth

Following up on last fall’s post, RIM: A Phoenix in Rebirth Emerging, yesterday’s report show the initial signs, yet baby steps, of BlackBerry’s emergence once again as a player of note in the smartphone market space. At least we can move from ad hoc reports of visits to retail locations by overly eager analysts to […]

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BlackBerry 10 “Did I Say It Was Fast?” IIa: Smart Touch Keyboard

This post is the continuation of a series that started out as “BlackBerry 10, First Impressions“. But as I get more experience I am changing the title to “BlackBerry 10 “Did I Say It Was Fast?”. After all, if Microsoft can confuse us with the various names it gives to Windows, I can in full […]

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This biggest news story this week in UK drug policy has been announcement that Secret Garden Party has been the first UK event to trial ‘front of house‘ drug testing – a service where festival-goers could anonymously get their drugs tested and receive advice on the risks of their drug use and how to reduce them.

The news has received widespread and largely positive media attention, with our own policy director publishing a personal account of his experience volunteering with The Loop, the organisation conducting the service, and along with Fiona Measham, director and co-founder of The Loop, an explanation of the groundwork she needed to undertake to make the service a reality.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, Measham gave an explanation of the purpose of the service, and what it hoped to achieve:

The coverage on BBC radio continued with an extended explanation of the service on Radio 1 Newsbeat by members of The Loop team, along with an enthusiastic show of support from festival-goers using the service and long-time supporter of The Loop, DJ B. Traits.

The concept of front of house drug testing was then put to through its paces yesterday, along with harm reduction-based drug policy reform more generally, on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, where it was defended by Steve Rolles of Transform, journalist, author and recent VolteFace guest Johann Hari, and Matthew Taylor of the RSA against a barrage of attacks.

The show provided entertaining if sometimes challenging listening as the moral basis for both drug reform and harm reduction was questioned from all angles. The topic meandered into abstract questions such as whether drug taking in itself could be considered immoral, and certainly led to some lively debate.

Unfortunately in the excitement, the initial topic of providing drug testing services became somewhat sidelined, but for those looking to hear a more detailed description of the service provided by The Loop, a more accepting audience could be found at independent radio station Resonance FM, where our policy director was the guest on late night show Very Loose Women, discussing harm reduction and drug testing:

The second pilot of The Loop’s front of house drug testing service gets underway at Kendal Calling this weekend, and while some will still be sceptical of whether its positives outweigh the potential pitfalls, others will be hoping it is not long until such services are a routine occurrence at festivals around the country. As news comes of a similar service starting up in Uruguay too this week, it seems it’s finally #TimeToTest.

Words by Henry Fisher

Want to comment or contribute?

Join the debate on twitter @VolteFaceHub

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Sign Up for Emergency Notifications

The CodeRED Emergency Notification System is an ultra high-speed telephone communication service designed to deliver emergency messages and distribute information considered to be important in all or specific areas of the village.

This system allows us to telephone targeted areas of the village or the entire village within minutes. It then delivers a pre-recorded message describing the situation to you directly or an answering machine in the affected area. When necessary, you will be given specific instructions which may require immediate action on your part.

If you see 866-419-5000 displayed, you will know the call was from us. If you would like to hear the last message delivered to your phone, simply dial the number back.

Register Your Phone Numbers

While a calling database was developed from SouthCom’s Computer Aided Dispatch System, there may be homes in Park Forest that no longer have a regular telephone. In these cases it is critically important that residents and businesses alike register their phone numbers with the village.

Business Owners

If you reside or are a business owner with property within the area protected by the Village of Park Forest and would like to receive CodeRED emergency messages you may sign up by clicking the link below. Please use the property address and not a post office box when entering your contact information.

Your contact information remains private and will only be used for community notifications.

Sign up for the CodeRED emergency notification system.


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Playa Bavaro
W 11 mph
Feels like: 90°F
Precip: 64%
World Resorts The Dominican Republic Playa Bavaro Weather March Weather in Playa Bavaro

Playa Bavaro Weather: March

Average Day Temperature: 84.7°F
Average Night Temperature: 76.3°F
Sea Water Temperature: 82.4°F
Number of Sunny Days: 16 days
Sunshine Hours: 11.8 - 12.3 hours
Number of Rainy Days: 2 days
Precipitation Totals: 1.0 in

Air Temperature in March, °F

Select Year: 2018 2017 2016

The highest day temperature in March 2018 was 85°F. The lowest night temperature was 75°F. The average values for day and night temperatures during March were 82.4°F и 76.8°F respectivly.

Playa Bavaro Water Sea Temperature in March, °F

Select Year: 2019 2018 2017

The average sea surface temperature in March 2018 for Playa Bavaro was 82.2°F. The maximum and minimum values were 81.4°F and 83.0°F respectively.

Sunny, Cloudy and Gloomy days

Most of the days in March are sunny but you can also expect cloudy and gloomy days.

Precipitation Totals in March, in

Precipitation total in March for Playa Bavaro is 1.0 in. It makes march the least rainy month of the year.

Wind Speed in March, mph

The average wind speed in March is 12.5 mph. It makes March one of the most windy months of the year for Playa Bavaro.

Average Sunny Hours Per Day

We are using day length and cloud cover information for each day of the month to calculate averages for this chart. Average sunny hours for Playa Bavaro in March is 7.8 hours.

Best Time to Visit Playa Bavaro
The most sunny months:
June 17 days
March 16 days
May 15 days
The most warm months:
July 91.8 °F
September 91.3 °F
August 91.3 °F
Warmest sea temperature:
September 87.9 °F
October 87.8 °F
August 87.1 °F
The most cold months:
February 84.3 °F
January 84.4 °F
March 84.7 °F
The most rainy months:
August 6 days
October 6 days
November 5 days
The most windy months:
December 13 mph
August 12 mph
February 12 mph

Playa Bavaro on the Weather Map

The Dominican Republic Resorts:
Arena Gorda +86
Bocha Chica +86
Cap Cana +86
Juan Dolio +86
La Romana +88
Maimon Bay +84
Playa Bavaro +86
Puerto Plata +84
Punta Cana +86
Samana +84
San Pedro De Macoris +86
Santo Domingo +88
Sosúa +88
24 Hours Weather Forecast
Playa Bavaro
Local time: 17:55
25 mar, monday
1800 82°F
8 mph
2100 80°F
4 mph
26 mar, tuesday
0000 78°F
6 mph
0300 78°F
8 mph
0600 80°F
10 mph
0900 82°F
12 mph
1200 86°F
14 mph
1500 86°F
14 mph


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7. Printing and Saving Diagrams

This section explains:
  1. How to print your diagrams on the printer.
  2. How to export your RST diagrams in various graphical formats.
  3. How to incorporate these saved files into wordprocessing packages such as Latex or MS Word..
  4. How to share analyses with your colleagues.

Printing Diagrams

At present, printing support in Tcl/Tk is primitive. All we can do is save the diagram as a postscript file and try to send this file to the printer. This is only possible in some cases:

If the "Print Canvas" button works for you, the program should send the whole structure directly to the printer. if the diagram is larger than a single page, it will be printed over several pages.

If the "Print Canvas" button doesn't work for you, there are several solutions:

  1. Downgrade Tcl/Tk: If you are a Windows user, uninstall Tcl/Tk and install version 8.2, which supports printing. See the Tcl/Tk website mentioned in section 2.
  2. Indirect Printing: Otherwise, you might try saving the diagram as a postscript file (hitting the "Save PS" button). You can then print this file (see below). Note however, that the structure is written to the PS file as a single page, so structures spanning multiple pages cannot be printed in this way. I am still looking for a solution to this problem.
  3. Saving in other format and printing from application: as described below, you can save the diagram as a PDX diagram, which MayuraDraw can deal with. Using Mayura (Windows only), you can then re-export the diagram as either WMF (windows meta file), PDF, EPS, AI (Adobe Illustrator), etc. You may have an application which can read in one of these formats, and deal with it intelligently (i.e., multi-page printing). I don't know of one yet, but I don't own commercial software.
    Note that for printing a single-page diagram, exporting as PDF and printing that is a good option for all platforms.

Exporting RST diagrams in various graphical formats

As mentioned above, RSTTool allows you to export diagrams in two formats (PS and PDX), and one of these (PDX) can in turn be saved as a number of other formats (Windows only at present).

Saving PS Files

When you click on the "Save PS" button, you will be presented with a dialog asking you to "click on the top node of the RST tree to save". Hit the "OK" button, and the cursor changes to a "T". Click on a node of the RST Structure and it, and all its dependent structure, will be saved to a file as postscript. You will be asked for a place to save the file.

The PS file can be sent to a printer (under Unix: "lpr <filename>"). Alternatively, it can be inserted into Latex or Microsoft Word (perhaps other word processing packages also) and printed as part of that document. See below for details.

Some people report that the PS file saved by RSTTool is truncated to the right. However, I don't think the files are truncated, rather, Ghostview (a viewer for postscript files) only shows the first print page of the diagram. If you resize the page larger, you can see more of the diagram.

However, I still don't know how to print these files over multiple pages.

Saving PDX Files

When you click on the "Save PDX" button, you will be asked if you wish to save the entire canvas ("All") or just the subtree under a particular node. If you select the first, you will then be asked where to save the file. If you select the subtree approach, you will be asked to click on a node, and then the file selection dialog will appear. Once saved, the PDX file can be loaded using Mayura Draw (obtain from http://www.mayura.com). Using this package you can: Longer analyses seem to be truncated once loaded into Mayura, but this is a bug in the display, rather than in the file. If you export the diagram and insert into MS Word (see below) you can see the whole diagram.

See the "Export" option under the "File" menu. The useful options here are: WMF and EPS (for inclusion in MS Word documents, PDF (for distribution to other people), and maybe AI (Adobe Illustrator).

Telling PDX which font to use: Font names used in PDX files are different than those used in Tcl/Tk. To get round this problem, there is a file in Library/FONT_MAP which states which PDX font to use for which TCL font.

  1. Finding out the Tcl/Tk name of your font: Select "Appearance Options" from the "Options" menu. Your Current font name will be displayed, e.g., "MS Sans Serif".
  2. Finding out the name of the font in PDX: Open Mayura Draw. Select "Font..." from the "Text" menu, and you will see a list of font names. Select one, and copy the name to the clipboard.
  3. Open the RstTool folder: Library, and edit the file "FONT_MAP". add a line like the ones already there, e.g.,

    MS Sans Serif: TimesNewRomanPSMT

    Save the file.

The new font should be used in your pdx files from then on.

Including Diagrams in your Documents

Once you have your diagram saved as a file, you can include it in other documents, for instance, academic papers.

Sharing Analyses with other people

The RS2 format (RSTTool's native format) is easily distributable, but they need the program.

I think the best option here is PDF: Mayura exports in this format, which is readily viewed on all platforms, with Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free from Adobe for all platforms). The clarity is very good.


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Tuesday 2nd October

Following on from Bob’s post yesterday, attached photos of Goldfinches feeding.
When we arrived at the seat a Kestrel had kindly left a pellet, there have been about a half dozen recently but we have only spotted it once sat on the top of the seat.
The wreck at the north end is very clear at the moment, see photo.
The kite surfers have been enjoying the wind and on the way back yesterday pm they were achieving some great jumps, see photo.
On another subject altogether. When party ballons are released they have to come down somewhere, we are often finding them caught up in trees, bushes and fences. They take a long time to decay, look terrible and the plastic line can get tangled around legs of birds or animals.

Bob and Bri


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When a dog is not a pet: Five things you should know about service animals.

When a dog is not a pet: Five things you should know about service animals.

It’s been 25 years since Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), guaranteeing basic rights for people with disabilities, including full and equal access to your property and services. While many ADA requirements are related to physical accessibility, in 2010 the Department of Justice issued revised ADA regulations that clearly define what can and cannot be asked about service animals. Here are five important things your front desk staff should know when welcoming guests with service animals.1. Does our “no pets” policy apply to service animals?
Legally, a service animal is not a pet. You are required to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by an individual with a disability. A “no pets” policy may be continued, but you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.

Under the 2010 revisions, service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. The only other animal that can qualify under the ADA as a service animal is a miniature horse. A hotel is allowed to consider certain factors in determining whether a miniature horse can be appropriately accommodated within the hotel facility. These include whether the facility can accommodate the size and weight of the miniature horse and whether the miniature horse is housebroken.

2. We charge a deposit and a pet fee. Can we also require this for a service animal?
No deposit, fee or surcharge can be assessed for the service animal, even if the hotel routinely charges a pet fee. If the hotel normally charges for damages caused by pets, then the hotel may charge for any damage caused by the service animal.

3. How do we determine if it is a legitimate service animal?
There is no ADA requirement that the owner carry any certification papers showing that the animal is a service animal. When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, staff may ask two questions:

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?

2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform.

Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task. No inquiries should be made if the answers are readily apparent (such as a guide dog leading a person who is blind).

4. Can we ask that service animals be kept out of the breakfast room?
Under the ADA, businesses that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go.

5. Can we ever ask service animal owners to remove their animal from our premises?
A service dog’s professional behavior and good grooming are necessary for it to be protected under the ADA. An individual may be asked to remove his or her service animal if it:

• Makes a mess on the floor

• Bites or jumps on another patron

• Wanders away from its owner

A fact sheet on service animals published by the Northwest ADA Center notes that a service animal may be removed if it continuously disturbs patrons; for example, if it is repeatedly barking. However, it should first be made clear that the service animal is not just doing its job. Barking may be how the dog performs its job. Find out first!

For additional information on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to hotels in Washington State, WLA members are encouraged to consult their Washington State Hospitality Law Manual (pp. 206-216). To request a replacement copy, click here. To learn more about this WLA member benefit, click here.

Compiled from the Washington State Hospitality Law Manual; the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section fact sheet on service animals and the Northwest ADA Center.


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