text:
Historiated initials

Italy, 1250-1260.
MS M.178

Northeastern France, 1131-1165.
MS M.962

France, possibly Paris, between 1250 and 1275.
MS M.970

Northeastern France, during last quarter of the 13th century.
MS M.969

Prague, Czech Republic, ca. 1410.
MS M.317

France, ca. 1260.
MS M.109-111

Padua, Italy, ca. 1287-1300.
MS M.436

Paris, France, ca. 1260.
MS M.953

France, ca. 1260.
MS M.851

Bohemia, Prague or Raudnitz, 1391.
MS M.833


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Support The Moscow Times!

Cryptic Talks on Libya Suit Lavrov

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that an envoy of Moammar Gadhafi told Russian diplomats that the embattled Libyan leader would consider obeying the terms of UN resolutions on the North African country.

Western diplomats, however, voiced doubts about the effectiveness of Moscow's diplomatic efforts, which centered on a meeting with the leader of an obscure Libyan charity, apparently without the knowledge of the Libyan Embassy.

Lavrov said he was satisfied about the talks with Muhammad Ahmed al-Sharif, the general secretary of the World Islamic Call Society.

"We raised the issue that the Libyan leadership must explicitly embrace and begin the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions in full," Lavrov said in comments carried on his ministry's web site.

"The answer that we got cannot be called negative. We were told that Tripoli is prepared to consider approaches that form the basis of the African Union's Road Map and to fulfill the demands of UN Security Council Resolution 1973," he said.

Lavrov confirmed Moscow's criticism of NATO's ongoing bombing campaign in Libya, which he said goes "far beyond the resolution's goals."

Moscow says the resolution only allows the protection of civilians, while NATO is seemingly trying to bring the opposition to power. The Foreign Ministry issued a harsh statement Tuesday saying the alliance had once again bombed non-military targets in Tripoli.

At the same time Lavrov stressed that Russia would not take any mediating role in the conflict, which he said should be carried out by the UN and the African Union.

He said, however, that Moscow also was eager to speak to Libyan opposition representatives and that a planned visit had been postponed for "technical reasons."

Mystery has clouded Moscow's diplomatic efforts, and it remained unclear for much of Tuesday who the Foreign Ministry had actually met with.

Lavrov only named al-Sharif and the World Islamic Call Society during a joint news briefing with Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland.

The society was apparently founded by Libya in the early 1970s. Its Canadian branch was forcibly closed earlier this month because of suspected terrorism links. The Canadian government revoked the registration of the branch, based in London, Ontario, because documents showed that it had transferred money from Gadhafi's so-called Jihad Fund to bank accounts of known terrorists, the Ottawa Citizen reported last week.

It was not even immediately clear whether Lavrov himself had taken part in the meeting with al-Sharif.

The Libyan Embassy was apparently unaware of the talks. "We know nothing about this visit and can give you no information about it," an unidentified diplomat told RIA-Novosti.

Calls to the embassy were not answered Tuesday.

While the heads of many Libyan foreign missions have defected to the opposition since the start of the popular unrest in February, no such move has been reported from the embassy in Moscow.

But President Dmitry Medvedev fired the Russian ambassador to Libya, Vladimir Chamov, in March after he indirectly criticized Moscow's waning support for Gadhafi.

Diplomats suggested on Tuesday that the Foreign Ministry's efforts were probably little more than an attempt to show that Russia was not sitting on the sidelines during the Libyan conflict.

"Probably somebody just has to show that the country is playing an active role here," a senior European diplomat told The Moscow Times.

"Formally they can hold talks with everybody, but it will be interesting to see whether anybody from Benghazi will come here," the diplomat said, asking for anonymity to speak candidly.

The east Libyan city of Benghazi is the basis for the opposition forces.

The Benghazi leadership did not reply to e-mailed requests for comment Tuesday.

Yevgeny Satanovsky, an analyst with the Middle East Institute, said Moscow was actually the best possible mediator. "Russia is neutral, while NATO is the air force and navy of Benghazi," he said by telephone.

Satanovsky also dismissed any skepticism about Moscow's diplomacy. "It does not matter who they speak to as long as he comes from Gadhafi," he said.

He said it would probably be much more difficult to find a trustworthy interlocutor from the opposition. "Whoever comes from Benghazi will represent nobody else but himself, which will make negotiations very interesting," he said.

Read more

Independent journalism isn’t dead. You can help keep it alive.

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world.

Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from domestic violence and LGBT issues to the climate crisis and a secretive nuclear blast that exposed unknowing doctors to radiation.

Please consider making a one-time donation — or better still a recurring donation — to The Moscow Times to help us continue producing vital, high-quality journalism about the world's largest country.

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-05
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for January 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-129.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
Support The Moscow Times!

Saudi Spending Helps Russia

Saudi Arabian social spending aimed at preventing the kind of political unrest that has gripped the Middle East will help support oil prices and Russia's economy, Sberbank said Wednesday.

The country's higher spending commitments require crude prices of about $100 a barrel, a level that would support Russian budget revenues "for a long time to come," said Ksenia Yudayeva, chief economist at Sberbank.

"The overall social tension in Saudi Arabia will definitely help keep Russia afloat, even if there's a slowdown in global growth," Yudayeva said. "In that sense, the Russian economy may be partially isolated."

Saudi Arabia has raised social expenditures after popular revolutions toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt. Russia needs oil prices to average $125 a barrel over the next three years to balance its budget, according to the Finance Ministry. Urals crude, Russia's main export blend, fell Wednesday to $114.37, the lowest since July 6.

Read more

Independent journalism isn’t dead. You can help keep it alive.

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world.

Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from domestic violence and LGBT issues to the climate crisis and a secretive nuclear blast that exposed unknowing doctors to radiation.

Please consider making a one-time donation — or better still a recurring donation — to The Moscow Times to help us continue producing vital, high-quality journalism about the world's largest country.


text:
Senior Backend Engineer, Guest Experience

"The front page of the internet,” Reddit brings over 330 million people together each month through their common interests, inviting them to share, vote, comment, and create across thousands of communities. Come for the cats, stay for the empathy.

We are establishing our first engineering footprint in Dublin as we look to expand our international presence. Reddit is poised to rapidly innovate and grow like no other time in its history. This is a unique opportunity to leave your mark on one of the most influential and trafficked corners of the internet.

The Guest Experience team within Growth Engineering has the mission of helping millions of guest users find relevant content and start a rich journey towards becoming a Redditor!

Search experience optimization is one of the strongest opportunities for bringing in new users and the guest experience is critical in helping them continue to explore and engage with Reddit. Reddit’s users have created posts, discussions, and communities covering a diversity of topics. The huge volume of content creates an opportunity to grow our user base by connecting search users with engaging content.

What You'll Do:

Search optimization at Reddit involves a breadth of interesting work to help our guest users find relevant content and start a rich journey. We use data instrumentation and experimentation to gain insights, backend services to create relevant content connections, partner integrations to highlight AMAs and other Reddit gems, and our web platform to provide guests the best initial experience possible. Our team touches a number of backend and frontend sub-systems.

As a software engineer on this team, you will help us build, scale and maintain user facing products, large scale systems, services, and tools all of which have a direct impact on the lives of our users (external & internal) and the success of our business.

  • 5+ years of experience building clean, maintainable, and well-tested code.
  • Expertise in at least one backend programming language ie Python, Go, Java
  • Experience with large-scale distributed real-time systems
  • Curiosity and ability to be autonomous to figure out what's important.
  • Excellent communication skills to collaborate with a service-oriented team.

Back to top


text:
09CBC386 A050 4D49 A7E7 61E41DEA46FD

Former boxer, David Haye, has warned Anthony Joshua's team to take the Andy Ruiz Jr rematch, if they know the reason for his defeat and not just attempt to repair his reputation.

Joshua is expected to reveal details of a second fight with Ruiz Jr very soon, after his world title reign and unbeaten record were ended by a stunning defeat in New York.

Haye hopes that Joshua knows the cause of that loss, before enforcing a second fight and would have backed the 29-year-old, if he needed a few more fights to prepare for Ruiz Jr.

He told Sky Sports: "The fact that I'm hearing that there's going to be a direct rematch is actually quite heart-warming, because it gives me the thought that the powers that be, Team AJ, realise they got it wrong, and they know what needs to be done to rectify it.

"If they do go for a rematch, they are a smart team, they know what they're doing. They've got him to this stage.

 They are not going to put him back in a fight against someone who has got his number.

"If he says 'I need two or three fights to work against smaller guys who come forward, to prepare me better for that,' I would be happy with that as well. Okay, smart move.

"The fact they are talking about an immediate rematch, I hope they are not just doing it for PR sake. I hope they are doing it because they truly know that it was a freak thing that happened and he'll be better."

Download Now


text:
The Kings Man Trailer Gq

Hollywood movie studio 20th Century Fox has recently released the first official trailer for 'The King's Man' which is a third installment of the Kingsman series of films.

Based on the comic book series of the same name, it has been revealed that the third entry would feature an entirely new cast of characters as it explores the origins of how the secret spy service came to be.

The prequel stars Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Liam Neeson, Daniel Brühl, Rhys Ifans, Gemma Arterton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Charles Dance, and Djimon Hounsou among many others. In addition to featuring an absolutely stellar cast, Kingsman 1 and 2 director Matthew Vaughn has returned to the handle the project.

Although the latest installment to the trilogy seems not to feature a lot of laughs like the previous films, Vaughn has still referred to The King's Man as an action-comedy.

The King's Man is set for release on February 14th, 2020.

Watch the first official trailer of 'The King's Man' via YouTube below;

Download Now


text:
Useful Tips on How to Get Excellent Diamond Rings

Rings always have their way of making an occasion stand out, not to mention that there are plenty for every fashion enthusiast to choose from. It all depends on a couple of factors, such as personality as well as prices.

Diamond rings happen to be the most fancied out of all of them. It gets even more fun when you get to know just what you are signing up for. Your sources must be credible and available for you to get genuine information during your research. For instance, when a man plans on proposing to the woman his heart beats for, he will run up and down just trying to get it right. Factors such as these must be put into consideration.

The Jewelers

accessoryYou are probably looking for a jeweler who will understand all your needs as a jewel enthusiast. They are all over the internet especially with their latest and best designs in jewelry. Whichever the case, keep in mind that you are the one with the say and your selections have to stand out. On the bright side, you can get your facts right by consulting professional jewelers. They have a solution to almost every query that pertains to jewelry.

It’s not a guarantee that you will understand everything that has to do with your choice of fine jewelry. You can also visit them at a local jewel store near you for further inquiries.

The topic of jewelry is a wide one and requires you to always be on your toes for all the latest updates.

The Prices

Let’s not forget that nothing as precious as jewels comes free of charge. There are varying prices which should see you through your budget.

Since there are many professional jewel designers, you can pick according to the work they put in. Your pocket doesn’t have to be a limitation especially when you have a cocktail to pick from.

Prices also vary according to the stones used in the manufacturing process. Diamond rings are no joke especially when handled by the finest designers in the world of fashion.

Ratings and Reviews

No one likes to be spotted wearing cheap jewelry. All the more reason for you to dig deeper and get your facts right first before making any serious move.

Check on the ratings and reviews given by previous clients. They have been at this for the longest probably than you have. Spare a few minutes to read through first so you may know what you are getting yourself into, not to mention just how honest most of the feedback given usually is. At least, you don’t have to worry about buying jewelry that will be considered fake.

A Wide Variety

Rather than stick to the same jewelry each year, make a deliberate effort to upgrade your wardrobe whenever the opportunity presents itself.

What makes it easier and more fun is the fact that there are plenty of jewel designs to choose from. You can make the most out of this and land the best deals that are sure to sweep you off your feet. Keep your eyes wide open for such.…

Continue Reading


text:
TheNigerianVoice Online Radio Center

Saurabh Sharma Blog

India: Not Just A Heritage Spot Anymore

Monday, March 28, 2016
Medical tourism is a term that basically means that you travel to another country for your treatment instead of doing the honors in your home country. People do this for a variety of reasons. Financial reasons and better medical care facilities are some of them. These reasons are discussed below. ...

World Health Capital Shifts From West To East!

Thursday, September 17, 2015
We all live in the hurried world where each being is in the rush for the tasks to be completed for a day. When the job is still undone, the person tends to worry and starts absorbing tension. This jumps to the next level emotional problems such as eating instability, over-thinking, etc. In some case ...


text:
What is Operation Varsity Blue?

On March 12, 2019, Andrew Lelling, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, in what is now dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues", announced and exposed a nationwide conspiracy initiated by socially prominent and wealthy parents to influence college admissions decisions at several of the most revered universities across the United States to ensure sports for their children.

From financial bribes, falsifying of SAT scores, to fabrication of accepted students as student athletes, a total of fifty people have been charged, with the most notable culprits singled out as actresses Lori Loughlin -- star on "Fuller House" and "90210" -- and Felicity Huffman -- a Golden Globe recipient and Oscar nominee for her work on "Transamerica". Coupled with the Department of Education announcing it will conduct its own investigation alongside that which has been opened by the Department of Justice, it is highly probably more indictments will be on their way. Between the investigations thus far, eleven personnel from the following universities have become the subject of legal oversight -- Georgetown University, Stanford University, University of San Diego, Wake Forest University, University of Texas at Austin, Yale, USC, and our very own -- UCLA.

A large but quiet campus secluded between the upscale and equally as private neighbourhoods of Brentwood, Westwood, and Bel-Air, UCLA has managed to avoid much overhead courtesy of bad publicity while its students have -- calmly and pleasantly -- drifted back and forth between the classrooms of its bright halls, lounging on Janss Steps and the pastoral fields that spread before it and Powell Library. Making use of the sun drenched grass cooled by streaks of deep blue shadows cast by tall sycamores. It remained so even as its crosstown rival USC found itself embroiled in a scandal back in the fall, when then president Max Nikias was forced to resign when it was brought to light his administration had covered up 300 incidents of sexual assault, and misconduct allegations committed on the part of student health care centre gynaecologist Dr. George Tyndall. A university that has sailed into the highest echelons of renown for its pedagogical accomplishments across various fields of science, medicine, and the humanities since its inception in 1919, even UCLA's idyllic, seemingly untarnishable, straits could not save it from a shadow cast in blue deeper than its sycamores. As deep as varsity blue.

In the midst of the ethical and legal firestorm that has resulted in charges and the dismissal of high ranking university officials, in particular, the athletic departments where many of the alleged offenses are said to have taken place, one particular program at UCLA that has become subject of the nationwide controversy is the school's NCAA Division I Soccer Teams. Scrutiny that followed when, on the same day indictments were filed against Huffman and Loughlin, it was also discovered the now former head coach, Jorge Salcedo, accepted $200,000 in bribes to help two students gain acceptance into UCLA. A charge that was further compounded when another story broke concerning Lauren Isackson -- a junior who was accorded a spot on the Bruins Women's Soccer Team despite being, rather, an accomplished equestrian with next to little soccer experience -- after her parents paid $250,000 in Facebook stock to attain their daughter admission.

As a result of dishonesty that has far bypassed, and circumvented the standards of academic integrity and lawful statute, universities, specifically the ones named in Operation Varsity Blues, including UCLA, have vowed to conduct their own internal reviews. In order to further identify whether there remain any students, or officials, who continue to allow the former to venture between their classrooms, their dorms, and their halls, beneath the guise of doctored test scores, and any other relevant records. With penalties ranging from the rescinding of admission, expulsion, and voiding of degrees obtained.

Yet, in the thick of what is perhaps justified public outrage, and mounting legal battles initiated on the part of students who feel they were denied a fair admissions process, or one that was even remotely close, this scandal -- the largest of its kind -- is likely to yield more questions than what might be interpreted as an appropriate application of justice.

While it is a convincing case, on perhaps overwhelming proportions, to be made against the Lauren Isacksons, and the Olivia Jades, since many such students neither possessed the extracurricular, nor the academic merit to be admitted in the first place, then comes the following contention: What if Isackson managed to stay in good standing during her time at UCLA, her high school records not withstanding? What if she managed to keep a 3.2, even a 3.7 GPA without plagiarizing a single paper, or midterm? What if she DID have the grades worthy of admission and believed she was tendered such a privilege based on her work without being aware of her parents under-the-table dealings? Seems highly unlikely since she remained on the practice roster of the soccer team for an entire year -- a move she would have undoubtedly questioned if she got an acceptance letter, and, at the same time, was suddenly being asked to report for soccer practice without having played a shift of varsity soccer.

Still, to what degree were these students aware of such actions taken by their parents?

Whether they were, or they weren't, what if they've managed to prove they CAN meet the academic riggers of their post-secondary institutions (universities have been know to harbour the occasional pension for the underdog)? And if for the latter, is it appropriate, is it just, to punish a child for a mistake committed on the count of his/her guardians without knowledge of such egregious dishonesty they might have otherwise have never condoned?

Needless to say, whatever decision that is tendered on the count of the universities, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education, there are bound to many left feeling cheated, accosted, and devalued. The price of remedying a system so broken, so unfair for so long -- with the hopes of making it more fair. Fair as the deep blue cast by the sycamores. A deep that has been the cause of much wonder, and much doubt -- that has been the endeavour of all ambitions sought. Whether honestly, or something more shaded.

Report this Content

More on Odyssey

Facebook Comments


text:
Three Night Stay – Single Room

Attend the festival and benefit from this fantastic rate as you stay in one of the elegant single rooms at the Outing Hotel. Relax together in comfort and enjoy access to all the evening entertainment of the festival weekend, as well as a few extras.

Lunch & Dinner For One (Optional)

Contact The Outing Festival

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt

Start typing and press Enter to search


text:
Summer is here. Put on your party pants shorts and let’s get strange. Here is a list of our five favorite summer festivals. These festivals all have two things in common: we look forward to them all year, and they’re walking distance from our front door at The Quisby. You’re welcome.

San Fermin in Nueva Orleans (aka Running of the Bulls)

What – A red wine fueled romp through the streets of the Warehouse District. Like the Pamplona affair it’s based off of, this one starts early. People start drinking at 6:30am and the running starts at 8am sharp after a blessing from El Padrino. Instead of bulls, you’ll be chased down the streets by hundreds of roller derby girls (who fly in from around the country) wearing horns on their helmets and wielding wiffle ball bats. If you’ve never been whacked by a whiffle ball bat and are wondering if that’ll hurt… it does. So mind those bulls!

Dress code is all white with red accents (bandanas, scarves, capes, or whatever you can find).

While you can run for free, this one’s for charity so we strongly encourage you to buy a ticket. Plus, your donation gets you access to La Fiesta de Pantalones (yes, the pants party) after the run. Basically a massive drunken bounce party that starts at 9am. As you might have guessed already, it’s best to drop the kids off with Grandma for this one.

When – Saturday, July 14th, 2018. Procession Starts at 7:15am. The run starts at 8am sharp.

Where – The run winds through the Central Business District. The afterparty is at The Sugar Mill.

How much – $40 gets you access to the after party with open bar and includes a donation to two worthy charities, one that supports women fighting Breast Cancer in New Orleans, and another that finds new homes for abused and neglected animals in the area.

Motto – Por Que No? (why not?)

Tales of the Cocktail

What – Tales of the Cocktail is an annual convention for the spirits industry. Not technically a festival, it’s more like one week a year when the simmering centuries old love affair between New Orleans and fancy cocktails boils over into every bar in town. Those that happen to be here when it goes down are treated to a slew of famous bartenders from all over the world converging on our little town to flourish their skills for our unworthy palates.

Where – Bars, restaurants, and hotels all over the city. A full schedule of events can be found at their website.

When – July 16th – 22nd, 2018

How Much – Paid event passes are sold individually. Spending $150 or more on individual events gets you a wristband which gets you into a number of special events. But… there are also many events that are free to attend and some sponsored events even feature free drinks so really pay attention to that calendar. Especially keep an eye out for events marked “Dynamic Duo” as these are fun expert bartender showcases and usually open to the public.

Satchmo Summerfest

This one is a little more straight laced than the others on this list but what it lacks in antics, it makes up for by showcasing sticky sweet local music from the likes of Kermit Ruffins, Brass-A-Holics, Charmain Neville, and Wendell Brunious (just a short sample, there too many noteworthy acts to name them all here).

All this goes down every August in the French Quarter as a tribute to New Orleans favorite son and global ambassador for New Orleans Jazz, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong.

When – August 3rd – 5th, 2018. Check their website for a list of all artists and showtimes to be announced the week of June 25.

Where – Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, the oldest neighborhood in America.

How Much – Admission is $5 a day. Less than the price of a drink.

Midsummer Mardi Gras

What – This one really takes the ridiculousness to the next level. Started by a bunch of misfits to have a little fun at the expense of the real Mardi Gras, it’s evolved into something bigger. For one day every summer, we can pretend it’s February and the rules of polite society don’t apply. And it’s in August so you can expect even less clothes than regular Mardi Gras (which is already not much).

The walking parade (or a few hundred people in elaborate costumes pretending to be an organized thing) starts on Oak Street and heads to Palmer Park. There it turns into a temporary rave for a couple of hours then coalesces again and heads back to Oak Street for a street party that goes late into the night.

This is the most NOLA of all the events on this list because it truly could not happen anywhere but here. Like Running of the bulls above, this one is better enjoyed without the kiddies in tow.

Where – Starts on Oak Street, meanders to Palmer Park, stumbles back to Oak Street

When – August 25th, 2018

How Much – The cost of attending Mid Summer Mardi Gras is waking up with the knowledge that it will be 52 weeks till the next Mid Summer Mardi Gras. Oh, and pretending you don’t have glitter on your face for the next few days even though you definitely do.

Southern Decadence

What – Known as the “Gay Mardi Gras”, the Southern Decadence Festival is one of the wildest festivals that calls NOLA home. Attendance in 2016 broke all records, with over 180,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender partiers descending on the city.

A six-day event, it kicks off the Wednesday before Labor Day Weekend and usually doesn’t peter out completely until the following Tuesday. Southern Decadence started in 1972 as a going-away party among friends and has now evolved into a something people spend all year looking forward to.

Where – This one centers around the part of the French Quarter lovingly called the gayborhood but bars, restaurants, and clubs all over the city get in on the fun too. There is usually a free outdoor concert on Bourbon Street on the Saturday of Decadence known as The Bourbon Street Extravaganza. The main event, a parade on Sunday is led by the Grand Marshal and is a spectacle of color, feathers, and leather.

When – August 30th – September 3rd, 2017

How Much – Mostly free although some bars and clubs will have cover charges in place.

Get to know the Real New Orleans


text:
May 28, 2019

3 ways to cultivate more green space in your community

From vegetable gardens to bike paths, the nonprofit ioby gives tips for starting three types of green space in your neighborhood.

The nonprofit ioby mobilizes neighbors who have good ideas for their community—like creating new green spaces. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

“Green space” means lots of different things to different people. If you’re the Environmental Protection Agency it might be something more formal like a park, or a community garden. To our friends at Strong Towns, green space might simply be the “non-place padding put between buildings to set them back from the street”–in other words, any place you can squeeze some trees, shrubs, and other plant life.

While your community might think of green space differently—or even disagree on exactly what it means—it’s likely that you and many of your neighbors would like to see more of it. Why wouldn’t you?

Green space provides a multitude of environmental benefits, including:

  • Reduced heat buildup, soil erosion, and air pollution
  • Improved rainfall retention, water quality protection, and energy savings

As well as benefits to human wellbeing, like:

  • Reduced stress and sedentary habits
  • Improved mood, attitude, mindfulness, & creativity

Sold on bringing more green space to your community? Here’s an intro to a few basic types of green space, a few of our favorite green space project ideas, and tips on how to start a neighborhood green space project where you live.

Green space type #1: The urban garden

Exemplary ioby campaign: Urban Gardening at Services for the UnderServed (SUS)

Project overview:

Community gardens are the classic green space, and maybe one of your first thoughts when thinking about green spaces. They give neighbors the physical space opportunity to grow their own fruits, veggies, and even flowers in urban places where it might otherwise be hard to do, and offer the neighborhood a chance to come together around a shared project.

SUS took this concept and made it even better by opening large organic gardens at four of its supportive housing programs in Brooklyn. These residences offer shelter and services to people with developmental disabilities, people living with HIV-related illness, and people with mental illness or at risk of homelessness. For these gardeners, the benefits of accessible green space can exceed the usual.

“The garden gives me something positive to do,” said Fred, an SUS resident. “When you don’t have something positive to do, the negative finds you. Having this responsibility is the reason I’ve stayed clean.”

Tips for getting started: Break it up!

Building and maintaining even one community garden is a lot of work—let alone four. SUS wisely broke the tasks into chunks and phases, beginning with a small vertical tomato garden behind one of its buildings in 2010. A couple of years later, they had established four gardens, and raised over $3,500 on ioby to buy soil, seedlings, and gardening tools—and to pay their resident-gardeners a wage for their work.

Green space type #2: The bicycle and pedestrian promenade

Exemplary ioby campaign: The Heights Line

Project overview:

National Street in Memphis is a former trolley line with a wide median that runs through the center of the city’s Heights neighborhood. While it had long been used simply as a thoroughfare for cars, residents could see the street’s potential as a community connector and green space for gathering.

In 2017, they banded together to stage a pop-up demonstration of what National Street could look like if transformed into a 1.75-mile multi-use path and linear park, complete with planters, benches, solar lights, and a welcoming “Heights Line” banner. Their pilot project sparked a large public engagement campaign that is informing the design of the eventual, permanent transformation of the street.

Tips for getting started: Band together!

The Heights Line is a big project, requiring input from a variety of sources. The Heights Community Development Corporation—which raised over $11,000 on ioby for pop-up demo materials, programming, and documentation—partnered with the socially engaged art collective Like Riding a Bicycle to create the Heights Line Design Studio: a hub space where local residents and passersby can get information about the project’s progress, share their ideas about the future of the street, and attend events to get to know each other better.

Green space type #3: The multi-purpose community space

Exemplary ioby campaign: H.A.C.E.R Project at Gilliam Family Community Gathering Place

Project overview:

Avital Aboody had been working in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood for several years when she started looking for vacant lots that could be repurposed into green space. After plenty of sleuthing–and a stroke of good luck–Avital located the owner of one particularly apt lot, and found him receptive to the idea of opening it up for community use.

She invited a local community development corporation and architecture & design firm to help envision the revitalized space, including the construction of raised garden beds, a three-story treehouse, an amphitheater for performances, an outdoor movie screen, and even a maze. When the time came to break ground, local students, artists, police officers, and even Navy volunteers came out to lend a hand.

Tips for getting started: Ask, ask, ask!

Avital’s curiosity and persistence paved the way for this green space at every turn: from inquiring with the land’s owner and securing his permission to use it, to asking her neighbors to collectively chip in and raise over $4,000 on ioby to build its infrastructure, to querying some city workers about what they planned to do with those old utility poles they were removing (they became reclaimed shade structures to keep the green space cool). So the lesson is clear: ask away!

Know of a plot of land that would be perfect for a new green space? See how to find out who owns it!

If you want to see more green space in your community and have a great idea about how to make it happen, drop us a line! We can help you bring your vision to life.

This article was first published on ioby’s blog. Read more here.

Noah Lumbantobing ioby

Noah Lumbantobing

Noah Lumbantobing supports communications and storytelling work at ioby, helping to let people in on the poorly kept secret of community-led decision making for change–through crowdfunding! He is passionate about racial justice and collective agency, and is excited about the ways he can contribute to that everyday through ioby. He comes to ioby after previously working at the NYC Mayor's Office of Strategic Partnerships, supporting government, philanthropic, and private sector partnerships that advance the public good.

Noah holds a B.A. in Politics and Government from the University of Puget Sound. Originally an Oregonian and Indonesian, he spends a lot of time shuttling around the world meeting old friends, making new ones, and eating plenty of good food. When he can stay put he enjoys shell fishing, visual design, and geeking out over urban planning and local governments.


text:
ATLANTA (AP) — This time, Notre Dame was prepared for the closing minutes of another close ACC game.

Lessons learned while suffering two losses last week by a combined eight points helped the Fighting Irish in another tight game.

Prentiss Hubb scored a career-high 25 points, John Mooney recorded another double-double and Notre Dame pulled away late to beat Georgia Tech 78-74 on Wednesday night.

“I thought it was really important as I'm watching this game unfold, we really need to finish this one,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after recalling last week's 73-68 loss to North Carolina State and a 67-64 “heartbreaking” loss to then-No. 13 Louisville.

“I think we can grow again here with this one,” Brey said.

Hubb's follow-up layup gave the Fighting Irish (11-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 67-64 lead. T.J. Gibbs added a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to six points with 1:04 remaining.

Gibbs' long 3 came after Georgia Tech switched to a zone defense after playing man-to-man most of the game.

“The one time we went zone they hit a 3 on us,” said Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner.

Jose Alvarado's layup with six seconds left cut Notre Dame's lead to 77-74. Hubb made one of two free throws with four seconds remaining for the final margin.

Gibbs had 17 points and Dane Goodwin added 15. Hubb and Gibbs carried most of the scoring load in the final minutes.

“We feed off each other's energy,” Hubb said. “If we are playing in tandem and everything is flowing, I think we can be very dangerous in the ACC and the NCAA.”

Michael Devoe led Georgia Tech (8-9, 3-4) with 22 points and nine rebounds. Moses Wright had 16 points.

The Yellow Jackets fell to 0-3 in home ACC games.

“It sucks. We've got to protect our home court,” Alvarado said.

Mooney's hook shot with 2:48 remaining gave Notre Dame a 63-60 lead and gave the senior his 11th consecutive double-double, tying the school record. Mooney overcame 0-for-6 shooting from the field in the first half to finish with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 senior missed each of his six shots from the field, including three 3-pointers, in the first half. His only points came on two free throws.

Hubb drove the length of the court for a layup to end the first half, giving the Irish a 29-27 lead.

It was a familiar halftime scenario for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have trailed at the break in 13 of 17 games. They have rallied in the second half for four wins after trailing at halftime.

Even as Mooney began to find his shot, Georgia Tech took a 47-41 lead before Notre Dame scored six straight for a 50-49 advantage.

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish showed good poise down the stretch, especially from Hubb. Notre Dame used only seven players but its veteran presence paid off in the final minutes.

Georgia Tech: Despite shooting 51.7 percent from the field and outscoring Notre Dame 48-32 in the paint, the Yellow Jackets fell short in yet another home loss. Alvarado had nine assists and Devoe played an all-around solid game.

Mooney matched the Notre Dame record of 11 consecutive double-doubles set by Luke Harangody in the 2008-09 season.

“I don't really care about the personal stuff," Mooney said. “I really don't. I'm just glad we got the win.”

Mooney's first field goal came on a jam about three minutes into the second half.

Pastner said the key was Notre Dame's 7-0 advantage in offensive rebounds in the second half. “That created seven more shots for them,” Pastner said. “That's the game right there.”

Notre Dame: Following a week off, the Fighting Irish play Syracuse on Jan. 22.

Georgia Tech: Remains home to face Virginia on Saturday night.

More AP college basketball: and


text:
Darcy Diamond Light Grey Felted Wool Rug

Introducing the Darcy Diamond Light Grey Felted Wool Rug- one of the newest felted wool pieces from The Darcy Collection!

The Darcy Diamond Light Grey Felted Wool Rug is inspired by natural elements using a neutral colour palette which adds warmth to any space. Constructed using 80% New Zealand Wool and 20% polyester, this rug has been hand woven by artisans - one piece at a time! It has a backing to keep the rug in place, not to mention beautiful braided cross weave details that will give your room more than enough texture to make it stand out from the rest.
Please note products that are handmade from natural fibres will be individual in colour. Sprouting yarns where strands of wool have ended and started during the weaving process may be visible or become visible over time. This is not a defect, instead a natural occurring feature of this product. Product returns will not be accepted on this basis.


text:
No feedback was found for this user.

How to leave feedback

About | Help! | Advertise | Donate | Premium Membership | Privacy/Terms of Use | Contact Us | Site Map
Copyright © 1996-2020, Everett Barnes. All Rights Reserved.
Not affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen of America | Forum powered by phpBB


text:
Summerlings Outdoor Nursery

Summerlings Outdoor Early Learning and Childcare

for 3 – 5 Year Old Children

Summerlings is an outdoor early learning and childcare setting for 3-5 year olds based at the Shieling Project.

Through play in the outdoors children will develop their physical and mental ability, becoming comfortable and confident in the outdoors.

Our adventures will help develop a strong attachment to the local landscape, its past, present and future.

There will be freedom, time and space for the children to enjoy and create their own learning journey.

Want to find out more? Please get in touch through the contact form on this website and organise a visit

Enrol now for August 2019.  We offer 1140 hours as a partner centre to the Highland Council.  Split that time across settings for a blend of quality learning and childcare experiences.

Promoting sustainable living, connecting to the land and outdoors in their daily lives, children will be educated in the core functioning of a healthy life.  Above all else children who attend Summerlings will be in a happy, stimulating and safe environment dedicated to their fullest development and brightest future.

  • Drop-off from 8.30 at our end of the track welcome bothy.
  • Pick up from end of track at 3pm

We make the trip to the site fun through electric bikes, balance bikes and walking. Children will be outdoors the majority of the time but also make use of our range of simple, warm buildings on site.  An Talla is used as our hub for storage of bags and learning materials.

Am Bothan Bidhe is where we prepare and organise our food provision.  Snack and lunch is provided (local & organic), lunch is charged at £2.30 a session.  Food provision can be covered by the Highland Council for eligible homes.

Council childcare hours can be claimed at Summerlings, we charge the same rate for private enrolments.

£26.40 per session (6 hour sessions, £4.40 an hour)

We ask for users to pay a monthly donation of their choosing.  This allows us to support the project as a whole and enrich our early learning and childcare with the extra features the project can offer.  Further information regarding this optional payment will be found in our terms and conditions and through the enrolment process.

If you would like more information about the nursery please get in touch with Karen.

To enrol your child in the nursery please click here to go to our secure online registration form

  • 07584855846
  • Dunmaglass, Struy, Beauly, Inverness-shire, IV4 7JX

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events.

Subscribe to our newsletter

We use the donation system ‘Stripe’ as used by GoFundMe – you can find out more about this here

Photos by the Shieling Project, Mhairi Baird, George Logan and David Powell


text:
After a year of anticipation and planning, the construction of Exit 118 on Interstate 15 is set to begin Wednesday, bringing with it the hope for new businesses in Mesquite.

General contractor Meadow Valley Inc. will complete the new exit and interchange by summer 2016, said Aaron Baker, Mesquite city liaison officer. The $14.7 million project will create more than 190 jobs for the community.

"The exit will hopefully change the paradigm in Mesquite and bring more opportunities," said George Gault, Mesquite Regional Business president.

Baker said the new exit will provide access to the 800-acre planned Mesquite Technology and Commerce Center (MTCC), an area devoted to technology, industrial, distribution and manufacturing businesses.

"I think it's going to be a boom for development in the community," said Mesquite City Manager Andy Barton. "I see it as a very positive thing."

When finished, the exit will include a 300-foot long, four-lane road that bridges I-15 and provides an exit and entrance for drivers traveling in both directions, Baker said. The Exit 118 project is being paid with fuel revenue indexing funds from Regional Transportation Commission. There is no cost for the city.

The first big project to be constructed near Exit 118 includes a travel center. In October, Mesquite City Council granted 104 acres of land for economic development purposes near Exit 118 to 333 Eagles Landing. The land will be used to create a travel center and 40 full-time jobs.

Andy Geller of Eagles Landing said he has a letter of intent from a hotel chain to use of some of the land and plans to use some of it for hotel development according to the needs of the commerce and Mesquite community.

"We're excited that construction is beginning," Geller said. "We've already began working with engineers to get things organized for the travel center. So when we negotiate a contract with the city we're ready to get things moving."

The interchange could also reduce congestion and improve safety at the existing Exit 120 interchange that causes problems for semitrailer drivers.

"I know some semi drivers have said they hate going through that roundabout," Gault said. "So the new ramp for Exit 120 is important because it'll decrease the risk of wrecks and frustration at that roundabout."

Recently, MRB, a nonprofit organization responsible for economic development in Mesquite, received a report from The Boyd Company that said Mesquite is one of the top areas for warehouse facilities in the country, potentially creating more opportunities Mesquite.

"Mesquite has a lower land cost and there's also more land available," Gault said. "We have large parcels of land available. Currently there aren't other such lands available in Las Vegas.”

Gault said he's sent out the report to about 250 organizations, including 90 site-selection consultants that operate nationally. He's received some response back but will continue to notify businesses and clients of the benefits that Mesquite and the new exit brings for warehouse facilities.

The public is invited to the groundbreaking celebration Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., a quarter-mile south of Cimarron Court. Mayor Allan Litman, Gault, and Wendy Kenny, RSC general manager for Do It Best Corporation, will be guest speakers at the event.

Follow Brandon on Twitter, @BmullensDVT, and Facebook, BmullensDVT. Contact him at 702-346-7495.

Popular Stories

Virgin Valley grad overcomes homelessness

Mesquite salutes US veterans at closing ceremony

City council awards land for economic development

Read or Share this story:


text:
Rep of Ireland 2 Oman 0: Three talking points

Rep of Ireland 2 Oman 0: Three talking points as Martin O'Neill secures his second win as Irish manager

By Iarla Duignan at Aviva Stadium
Rep of Ireland

Possibly an entirely different starting 11

Questions must be asked about the point of this friendly just four days before the Republic of Ireland’s first qualifying game for Euro 2016 against Georgia. Martin O’Neill took no risks in his selection and picked 11 players that are unlikely to feature from the start in Tbilisi. Friendlies are about learning more about his players and ironing out tactical issues before their competitive games. Little will have been learned by O’Neill and his staff; most of the players won’t feature in competitive games. Oman provided such abject opposition that didn’t offer anything to raise Ireland’s efforts in the friendly. In return, the hosts didn’t get out of first gear and were happy to keep the ball in what must have felt like a training exercise. Although Ireland and Oman are separated by just one place in the Fifa world rankings (66 and 67 respectively), this was a mismatch. There are tough games to come for Ireland, with three of their first four games coming away from home in their group. Taking this into account, playing Oman feels like a wasted exercise.

Lots of possession, but no creativity in midfield

As expected, Oman sat deep throughout the game, allowing the Irish to have plenty of possession. With nine men behind the ball almost all of the time, it was up to Ireland to break down a side that were set up to limit the hosts at all costs. As a result, the returning Darron Gibson and Stephen Quinn saw a lot of the ball in midfield. Their lack of quality was evident from the start, as Ireland passed the ball from side to side with no penetration. Quinn worked tirelessly and showed for the ball constantly, but he rarely ventured forward. In his first game back in a year, Gibson was unimpressive. It was clear he didn’t have the legs to get around after his injury. It was no coincidence that Ireland’s rare chances came from crosses, as their lack of creativity meant it was their only way of testing Oman’s defence. Kevin Doyle and Alex McCarthy scored the hosts’s goals at The Aviva – and both were the result of corners. Their other rare openings materialised after they got the ball out wide. O’Neill will hope the return of James McCarthy on Sunday will bring some much-needed improvement in midfield.

There are some positives

The Irish manager can take some positives from the tie. First of all, winning games is important for any squad and O’Neill’s side haven’t tasted victory since his first game in charge against Latvia almost a year ago. Since then, Ireland have played six games, drawing three and losing the other three. In their last outing, Ireland were trashed by Portugal 5-1 just before the World Cup. All teams thrive on confidence, and in this sense Oman were the ideal opponents. When Kevin Doyle scored, the result was guaranteed. Oman had no shots in anger in the game whatsoever, so it was then a question of whether Ireland would add to their lead. Secondly, when the Irish substitutes came on, their play improved no end. The introduction of attacking trio Shane Long, Robbie Keane and Aiden McGeady spurred on Ireland, injecting some pace into the attack. In particular, McGeady added some directness and creativity that was lacking before his arrival. Twice he came close to scoring, hitting the bar with a lovely curling effort. It was the sort of quality that will be expected of Ireland from the start when McGeady and the rest of the Irish first-team return to the line-up on Sunday.

Follow @thesportreview on Instagram

MORE: The latest football transfer news

MORE: Meet the Premier League's most stylish footballers

MORE: Do you know the top Muslim footballers in the Premier League?

MORE: Man United latest news

MORE: Arsenal FC latest news

MORE: Chelsea FC latest news

MORE: Liverpool FC latest news

Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic makes honest admission about Frank Lampard at Chelsea FC
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford praises ‘brilliant’ Man United summer signing
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Solskjaer told 25-year-old would be perfect signing for Man United
Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes makes Marcus Rashford prediction ahead of Liverpool FC v Man United
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal interested in signing 23-year-old AC Milan star – report
Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic makes honest admission about Frank Lampard at Chelsea FC
Top 50 Muslim footballers: Arsenal, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Man United stars feature
Top 50 Muslim footballers: Arsenal, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Man United stars feature
Rafael Nadal
Australian Open 2020: Seven-time champ Djokovic eyes No1; is drawn in Federer half
Michael Owen
Michael Owen states his prediction for Liverpool FC v Man United
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta confirms he has an Arsenal transfer wish-list for January


text:
Editors' pick: Originally published Dec. 5.

Harried holiday travel can be made better or worse depending on the airport hub you use.

A survey of the country's 30 busiest airports produced a list that examined flight delays, cancellations, average security wait times, distance from the city center, public transit options, bars/restaurants, lounges, WiFi costs and parking rates, according to travel and lifestyle media platform ThePointsGuy. The company sourced information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, J.D. Power, Google Maps, iFly.com and the airports' official websites to arrive at results.

"This is the first year doing the report and we looked solely at data rather than asking people what they liked or didn't like," explains James Cury, editorial director for ThePointsGuy.

Evaluations included aspects like parking proximity and prices. "Parking rates ranged from $7 to $30 for a 24 hour time period, taking into consideration on-site parking," Cury says. "We also wanted to see how long it took travelers to get to the airport and how accessible it was by public transportation."

Examining data on several aspects for the survey was important because not all travel aspects hold the same value to everyone. "For instance amenities like WiFi may be highly significant to some travelers but not others," Cury says. "WiFi prices and usage may vary. Most airports offer free WiFi that covers you for that half of an hour layover but will impose a charge to use the service if you are stuck at the airport for lengthier amount of time."

The top five airports did all have free WiFi, but what makes these unique are their timeliness scores; these airports have the fewest flight delays and cancellations, and the fastest average security wait times, Cury adds.


text:
The price of propane also rose during the disruption

Dan Veldman and his son Josh in Embro. Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network

Share Adjust Comment Print

The angst that had settled over farm county is lifting thanks to the tentative agreement reached by CN Rail and the striking Teamsters Union.

That propane trucks were rolling into farmyards that same day was beneficial.

“We resumed delivering to all our corn dryer customers today,” Peter MacEwen, owner of MacEwen Fuels told Ontario Farmer. His central Ontario company was one of the first to slam the door on farm deliveries for crop drying; a move forced on fuel companies forced to priorize customers when propane supplies were forecast to dwindle.

“It’s a great day,” MacEwen said adding that all of his farm customers which had requested propane would be receiving it out of company reserves.

The bad news for farmers though is that the 20 per cent hike in the price of propane which had occurred over the week, was being applied to deliveries post-strike.

“The price that our suppliers charge us has increased now,” MacEwen said, explaining, “the price of propane is a commodity; routine, every day. We just follow the market.”

Dan Kelly, chairman of the board of the Canadian Propane Association said that some customers could still be waiting to receive propane.

Different regions are also going to have different challenges in getting up to speed on replacing depleted stocks.

Some cars have to be emptied then they have to be returned and refilled before the industry can get back up to speed, Kelly, who is chief financial officer at Dowler-Karn, told Ontario Farmer.

Dowler-Karn services most of western Ontario and Kelly said it would be resuming deliveries immediately as well.

“Last week we had to let them know they were being cut off and today we’re letting them know we can resume deliveries,” Kelly said.

He was checking with customers first because some had finished drying and some had found alternative drying options, he said.

The price, he said, is based on refineries forecasts and each one has a pricing mechanism that involves supply and demand as well as other factors.

One farmer had told Ontario Farmer his price had jumped by 20 per cent in the week that CN workers were striking; including nine percent between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Kelly said with the supply issues those would be ballpark numbers and he didn’t dispute them.

The Canadian Propane Association is not involved in price setting, he said.

“Each supplier sets their prices independently, he said, adding that as has been seen over the week, the prices depends significantly on supply and demand.

“We hope to see some softening,” Kelly said.


text:
TV newsman Jon Snow slammed by MPs after festival-goer tweets him ‘chanting f*** the Tories’ at Glastonbury

Rules about journalists' neutrality do not relate to what they do in their own time but they are advised to 'be careful about comments on political issues'

VETERAN newsman Jon Snow is in a political bias storm after claims he chanted “f*** the Tories” at Glastonbury.

When the Channel 4 News host failed to deny joining in, senior Conservatives said he should quit or be fired by the publicly-owned broadcaster.

Having a Glasto … TV newsman Jon Snow posing with festival-goers amid claims he chanted ‘f*** the Tories’ at the event

On air TV news is covered by strict rules on impartiality by regulator Ofcom, meaning presenters must avoid any political bias.

The rules about neutrality only relate to what is broadcast and not what journalists do in their own time.

But Channel 4’s own rule book states staff “generally should be particularly careful about comments on political issues and politicians”.

Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow claims he has no recollection of what was chanted or sung at the festival

Mr Snow was forced to explain himself after Twitter user Danny Millea posted a snap of the presenter posing with a group of festival-goers.

The tweet said: “Boss place that Glasto. Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dream are made of.”

The tweet was later deleted but not before the controversial claim went viral.

Labour frontrunner Rebecca Long-Bailey refuses to deny trying illegal drugs
Sky boss calls for new watchdog to crack down on internet abuse & fake news

Mr Snow, 69, said in a statement last night: “After a day at Glastonbury I can honestly say I have no recollection of what was chanted, sung or who I took over 1,000 selfies with.”

But Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “I think it’s time Channel 4 told Jon Snow where to go.”

And ex-Tory minister Rob Wilson said Mr Snow had “no credibility now for impartiality”.

Jeremy Corbyn enjoyed a warm welcome as he addressed the crowd from the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury on Saturday

During last weekend’s festival Mr Snow tweeted: “Amazing to be among 200,000 at Glastonbury amid a real energy for a better politics.”

He added many festival-goers had “a longing for decent politics”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn got a “hero’s welcome” when he addressed Glastonbury crowds from the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.


text:
Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind Book Review

hand holding Sapiens A Brief History Of Mankind book in front of path

Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is a momentous masterpiece that spans the origin of our lucky and some would argue self-destructive species all the way to the possible post-human future. We’ve been roaming, or rather members of the genus Homo, aimlessly on our home we call planet earth for approximately 2.4 million years. Our own branch of the Homo family, Homo Sapiens, were quite late to the party, exiting for about 150,000 years. Although the history of homo sapiens only forms a small chapter in the history of humankind, 150,000 is still a huge span of time to cover in one book, but Harari does a pretty good job of it.

At the start of time…

Or at least the start of our time as a species, we were quite unremarkable. Harari opens Sapiens and indeed dedicates the first third of Sapiens to our early development and progression towards the ‘cognitive revolution’. This is our progression from unremarkable apes to something as more recognisably ‘human’. although our reasons for doing so are unknown.

This part of the book in particular feels based on a lot of guesswork or at least guestimates. Very little is known for certain about the early sapiens, and there is limited evidence behind the claims about our ancestors. More than once, Harari generalises that ‘most historians’, ‘most scientists’ and the like attest to a certain theory about the lives of our animalistic predecessors. It could do with some more precise figures or more in-depth explanations about recent discoveries instead of vague references to some of the latest evidence available.

But the title of the book is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, not Sapiens: An In-Depth And Meticulous History of Humankind. If Harari was going to do a completely thorough job, Sapiens would have to be divided up into a series of books with extensive footnotes probably making up half of each book.

From the cognitive revolution, we move to the agricultural revolution when about 11,000 years ago were started the irreversible transition from foraging to farming. From there, Harari goes on to explore the progress from simple farming civilisations to empires and nation-states, to the (almost) globalised world of today. It’s a mighty timeline to cover, so you can’t fault his ambition to cover our history in one book.

Get over yourself

As a species, we are quite an arrogant and self-important bunch. Our religious, political and social beliefs are held with vehemence and have been the cause or catalyst for many a war, conquest or social revolution. Harari unapologetically shows how all of our ideas and ideologies are mere imaginary constructions, stories we tell ourselves to justify the ends we seek or society we live in. I think him and Seth Godin would get on quite well.

He breaks down all human progression to mere ideas built one on top of the other. What is particularly enlightening is the connections Harari makes between religious ideologies and the political ideas of Marxism and Communism. Or how the fairly modern idea of individual rights and the unique personality of every individual is the child of Christianity and the belief in an all-powerful God creating each of his children differently from the other.

At times, Harari personal biases are all too visible in his more scathing moments, particularly the at times sharp criticism of religion and its ideologies. But overall, Harari offers a fresh look at the ideas which underpin our culture, something that made me examine the ideologies that I myself believe in and how much of it is a construction that I take for granted.

No one likes a waffler

Although the main focus of the book is our past, Harari dedicates quite a lot of page space at the end of Sapiens to discussing our potential future. This is arguably going off on a tangent at the end of his ambitious book, and I would certainly have liked a more focussed ending to wrap up the previous 350 pages. If the reason is to give the reader a taste for his sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History Of Tomorrow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Film Score Friday Top 5: Ranking the “Star Wars” scores

So on my recent vacation, I kept myself awake on my long drive by listening to the Star Wars scores of Mr. John Williams (No Clone Wars or video game scores here…but maybe later).  And, having now ingested all six as fully as can be had on Compact Disc, I feel confident enough to post my rankings of the scores.  As mentioned in my earlier post, the versions used in this were the 2-disc “Ultimate Edition” of Phantom Menace, the standard 2-disc sets of the Original Trilogy, and the single disc releases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

So here it goes…in reverse order…

#5) Episode III – Revenge of the Sith: I’ll say this right now, it was hard to compare the films with only a single disc release against those with 2-disc releases because with the single disc you’re getting only the highlights.  That being said, this score was good, but not great.  It showed a good integration of themes, and the “Battle of Heroes” music for the final duel between Anakin and Obi-wan was quite good.  But it there was still something lacking.

#4) Episode II: Attack of the Clones – Say what you will about the film (and I think it is easily the worst Star Wars movie of all time…maybe even worse than Clone Wars), but I think the score is just as easily the best of the prequels.  It is ironic that the Love Theme for Anakin and Padme is among, in my opinion, the best in the series (right up there with the Force Theme, Luke and Leia, and the Imperial March), but yet it is those scenes and their awful dialogue, that utterly destroy episodes II and III.

#3) Episode IV – A New Hope: I always have a problem with ranking both the film and score for the original Star Wars. On the one hand, it is the original and set the stage for what was to come, and there are many great moments and themes (Force Theme, the Jawas, Cantina Band).  On the other hand, though, the subsequent scores takes everything to a higher level.

#2) Episode VI – Return of the Jedi:  Three words – Battle of Endor.  The rest of the score is also good, Jabba’s Theme also being a highlight.  But as good as Jedi is, it can’t really compete with…

#1) Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back:  So many great moments come from this film, and also introduced many classic themes (Imperial March, Yoda, Han and Leia).  The Battle of Hoth sequence is so well scored that one really doesn’t need to watch the film, but just listen, to understand what’s going on.  Oh, and Boba Fett’s theme uses a Contrabassoon, which is just cool.

So the question now becomes, why did I decide to rank Phantom Menace last?  Well, this is where the question of 2-disc vs. single disc comes in, because in listening to the entire Menace score, there were times when I was kind of bored with it, long stretches, probably underscore for dialogue, that I question why they were scored.  In listening to the 2-disc sets for original Trilogy, I experienced no such moments of boredom.  So it could be that the scores for II and III were not markedly better than I, but because they were in single-disc sets “seemed” better.  Thoughts from the gallery?

Also, I have yet to find out why, in the end credits on the album for Sith, it goes into the Throne Room from New Hope, but doesn’t in the actual film release.  I know that there was much editing done after recording, and things are routinely changed, but the fact that it is there makes me wonder if the credits were longer originally, or if there was some sort of mid-credits scene, or something else entirely.

Anybody out there know?

2 thoughts on “Film Score Friday Top 5: Ranking the “Star Wars” scores

  1. One of the biggest problems with the way Williams assembled the albums (this goes for the original trilogy albums as well) is that he would edit together multiple cues into a single track that was a “more pleasing listening experience”. This is more obvious on the prequel albums than the original trilogy (owing to the ubiquitous use of “and” in the track titles).

    Ultimately I don’t think you can actually compare the scores to between the two trilogies. Yes, they share a lot of material but, as you no doubt know, a lot changed in film music (and filmmaking!) aesthetics in the 16 years from Jedi to The Phantom Menace. Indeed John Williams’ own compositional aesthetic either shifted or asserted itself more strongly (depending on your point-of-view) in the interceding years.

    One thing about the 2-disc set of The Phantom Menace. The album is presented as the music heard in the film; nothing more. As I understand it, the last 30 minutes of the film underwent a heavy re-edit after the scoring sessions. This is why the big battle (and its music) in the last act feel so disjointed with strange cuts and weird transitions. I imagine that what Williams originally wrote fit quite a lot better in order to help make sense of it all.

    As far as “The Throne Room” from A New Hope being on the Revenge of the Sith album, I think Williams did it because he could and really no other reason. I think he thought it would tie the two series together but its was kind of lost on me, too. Personally, I think it would’ve been more interesting if he had written something that connected “Anakin’s Theme” to “The Imperial March” (in a less subtle way than the final bars of “Anakin’s Theme”) and tied it all up with the end credits fanfare from The Empire Strikes Back. But that’s just me.

  2. I agree that it is hard to compare between the two trilogies due to Williams’ evolution as a composer. But as people do compare the two, I felt it was still appropriate, and I simply went with my “what is more enjoyable to hear.” Part of the problem with the “Phantom Menace” score is that either Lucas of Williams (probably Lucas) decided to underscore the whole thing practically, whereas in the original movies, while you may have alot of underscore, there are at least moments where there is no music. It’s an intersting question of when to use music and when not to, and the reason I say it was Lucas’ decision is that it would seem to be in-line with all the other bad choices he made in those films (namely writing and directing them himself).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


text:
Grand Luxury at Danesfield House, Marlow

Danesfield House hotel and grounds
Danesfield House hotel and grounds

When looking for a destination for your wedding, it’s nice to think that the place you choose has some history and some character as a back-drop for your special event.

Danesfield House in Marlow, nestled in the Chiltern Hills and overlooking the River Thames, certainly has all that.

Danesfield House main reception room
Danesfield House main reception room

As a quintessentially British venue, it was the location for the RAF Intelligence during the war, and has had a host of owners since it’s original building in the 1725 including Royal attaches, Carnation Foods, the “Sunlight soap” family, and of course, the Air Ministry. And for anyone who reads the gossip pages, it was also the chosen location for George and Amah Clooney’s English wedding.

With it’s imposing and beautiful clock tower, expansive grounds, and excellent massage and spa and features, it’s a perfect mix of luxury and character for a destination wedding.

Danesfield House features four poster beds fit for a King
Danesfield House features four poster beds fit for a King

The rooms for your guests range from Superior (complete with four poster beds), Classic (with a more understated elegance), and even Phillipe Starck moden style with views across the grounds.

The restaurant has received accolades from Michelin star in 2012, and the sunny breakfast room is a very enjoyable start to the day with attentive and friendly staff.

There’s also good surrounding facilities including golf, boat packages, and access to the gym facilities (with 20 metre pool).

The Wedding packages are well priced starting at £95 per head, and all facilities from childcare to marquees and photographers are available for an easy wedding planning experience. Arrivals by helicopter can also be arranged for an extra special entrance!

A perfect venue for your classic English countryside wedding or honeymoon – with a lot of glamour to boot.

See the full Danesfield House wedding brochure and full information on the property at their website

Eloise loves unpacking when she gets to a hotel, finding the best coffee shop at any destination, and that first G&T on the plane.

No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


text:
Posts By Month: September 2018

All latest news from the Ticketing Technology via our monthly archive of posts. See something you like? Read, share and comment! Want to be part of it all? Get in touch on the email address provided on our questions page.

Page 10 of 11« First...7891011


text:
California Pick-A-Payment Customers to Receive Mortgage Assistance

Posted on December 20th, 2010

wells fargo

Wells Fargo announced today that former Wachovia Pick-A-Payment mortgage customers in California may be eligible to receive principal balance reductions for making on-time mortgage payments as part of an agreement reached with State AG Jerry Brown.

From December 20, 2010 through June 30, 2013, the total amount of relief for option arm customers could reach as much as $2.4 billion, depending on economic and individual borrower circumstances.

The bank and mortgage lender will contact customers likely to be approved for the new program via postal mail – homeowners who already received loan modifications are not eligible.

Customers can also contact the company at 888-565-1422 for more information regarding the program.

“The majority of Wachovia’s Pick-a-Payment customers reside in California,” said Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, in a release.

“We’re pleased that going forward the attorney general’s office will assist with outreach, so that we can continue to work with as many customers as possible on the options available to them to prevent foreclosures.”

Wells Fargo will also contribute $33 million to the state of California to provide for customer outreach, and to prevent or lessen the impact of foreclosures in California communities.

From January 2009 through November 2010, Wells provided mortgage payment relief to more than 50,000 at-risk Wachovia Pick-a-Payment customers in the Golden State.

The modifications included mortgage rate reductions, term extensions, forgiveness on tax and insurances advances, and more than $2.9 billion in principal forgiveness.

Nine other states have already made similar arrangements with Wells Fargo, including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas and Washington.

Pick-A-Payment loans, or option arms mortgages, allow for negative amortization up to 125 percent loan-to-value, meaning many of these borrowers are now in negative equity positions, thanks in part to the steep decline in home prices.

Today's Mortgage Rates 3.50% APR
Compare the Top 10 Mortgage Refinance Options Near You
Select your state to get started

Leave A Response


text:
Home > Favours > Favour Containers & Bags > Favor Boxes >

Personalized Leaf Acrylic Boxes

Personalized Leaf Acrylic Boxes
Leaf Acrylic Boxes

Alternative Views:

Reg. Price $7.49
(Minimum order):  24

Processing Time: Special Order - Approx. 2 weeks + shipping time
Product Code: EB2144

Choose your colour*:

Description Shipping Info

It's time to "embark" on your new journey and celebrate with others! These "Fall for Love" acrylic boxes are ideal favors for fallthemed weddings and events. The tree-shaped boxes and personalized labels echo the autumn atmosphere of your wedding. These clear leaf shaped containers, complete with personalized leaf shaped labels, are ideal for storing candy, nuts, bubble gum, chocolate and much more! They can also be refilled and reused by your guests and become permanent keepsakes that will remind them of your special day with every use. Your guests will immediately "fall" in love with these custom favors.

Due to the personalization for this product the minimum order is 24.

CONTENTS NOT INCLUDED. Feel free to fill the favor boxes as you wish.

Boxes arrive separate from the labels. Some assembly required (attaching the self-stick labels to the boxes).

Size: 3.25" x 3.5" x 0.75"

Max. Characters per line (including spaces):
Line 1: 18 Characters
Line 2: 18 Characters

Share your knowledge of this product with other customers... Be the first to write a review

Browse for more products in the same category as this item:

Favours > Favour Containers & Bags > Favor Boxes
Favours > Favour Containers & Bags
Themes > Autumn Events
Event Blossom

About Us

As you will soon see, our online shop is full of great wedding ideas and products to make your big day a unique and memorable one. We carry thousands of products to fulfill every customer's vision of their special day. Our family owned and operated business has been proudly serving Canadians since 2008 and we are well known for our high quality products and excellent customer service. There are many other reasons why our customers keep coming back to us to help them plan their pre-wedding engagements, wedding day, bridal shower, other special events/occasions and to purchase unique gifts for their loved ones.

Read More


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Glenfarclas 2001 Family Casks Release S18 #3353

ABV: 58.3%
Vintage: 2001
Cask Type: Refill Sherry Butt
Cask #: #3353
Bottler: Distillery
Region: Speyside
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Volume: 70cl

Glenfarclas 2001 vintage Family Casks Release Summer 2018 Speyside single malt Scotch whiskey. Single cask refill sherry butt #3353 bottled July 2018. 553 bottles.

Glenfarclas Distillery

Glenfarclas Single Malt Whiskey

Glenfarclas Distillery was established in Speyside in 1836 by Robert Hay and following his death it was bought by John Grant in 1865 and has remained in the ownership of the Grant family ever since. The interior of the visitor centre is stunning, the walls are lined with the original oak panels salvaged from a lounge on the liner SS Empress of Australia when she was scrapped 1952. Ace sherry casks underpin the ethos of Glenfarclas single malt whiskey, exemplified in the Family Cask range, and way back in 1968 released its first cask strength single malt. The range includes Glenfarclas 15 Year Old, Glenfarclas 105 and Glenfarclas 21 Year Old alongside the Family Casks series.

Write Your Own Review

You're reviewing: Glenfarclas 2001 Family Casks Release S18

Related Products


text:
Does the Egg Sitter Cushion Work Like It's Advertised?

The Egg Sitter Cushion is supposedly so comfortable, you can sit on an egg and it won't break. In the commercial, an egg is seen remaining intact as a woman sits on the cushion with the egg on top. Inside Edition hit the road to find out just how accurate the commercial is. Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero went to an egg farm in upstate New York to test the cushion. The farmer’s daughter, Vanessa, was the first to test the cushion with an egg.

The Woody Show

The Woody Show

Listen to The Woody Show on weekdays from 5am-10am! Read more

Content Goes Here


text:
In Stock
6,500+ Positive Reviews
Simplify Your Bike Build
We Are Proudly Australian

More info.

Make 4 payments of $1.25 over 8 weeks and get it now!

Voltage N/A
Sold As Single Unit
Light Type N/A
Colour Black
Primary Material Rubber
Mirror Lens Type N/A

Calculate Shipping

Free Post - $0.00
Non Registered Post

Rubber 19" rim strip. A rim strip is used to protect the inner tyre tube from punctures. Made from 0.65mm thick rubber with a 9mm valve hole.

  • Protects inner tube from punctures
  • Size: fits 19" tyres
  • Dimensions:
    • Length: 1360mm
    • Width:25mm
    • Thickness: 0.65mm
  • 9mm valve hole

Brand Third Gear
Shipping Weight 0.0100kg

More From This Category

Reflective Rim Tape - Red
Alloy Rim Lock - 1.4 - 1.6
Alloy Rim Lock - 2.15
Rim Strip - 17"
Alloy Rim Lock - 1.85
Rim Lock Kit - Red
Rim Strip - 21"
Tyre Bead Breaker


text:
Account Reset

Enter the email address associated with your account. You'll receive an email with further instructions.

Human Verification

We've added a filter to ensure only humans fill out this form. Please answer the question below.

The list trousers, foot, coat, elbow, tongue and chest contains how many body parts?

Powered by Squirrelcart


text:
…had a footy team

this story is about a really full on night where I did some fairly bad things. i should say im not proud of my actions. but. i am. i had a lot of fun. and ultimately the only person who was wronged in this story broke my heart and changed my life. i had a fuck buddy who i had fallen in love with and was spending all my time with. but he refused to take it further and make it a relationship. he didnt want to sleep with anyone else. but didnt want a girlfriend. to me, if you want me to only fuck you, youre my boyfriend. so it was while involved in this stupid situation that this story occurred.

i had gone to bar one for sunday session to meet up with the fuck buddy cause i thought we were hanging out. earlier that weekend i had met a gorgeous boy while i was stripping, who was on a trip to the town with his AFL team. i gave him my number, we had been trying to meet up all weekend and he had just text me telling me he was at the bar next door and that i should come see him. i arrived at bar one as the fuck buddy and his friends arrived and he was like, oh hi, who you meeting up with? as he had previously made me feel like it was him i was going to meet i was pretty pissed off, so just told him my girlfriends were at the bar next door. then walking off i text the AFL boy that i was coming to hang out.

i walked up to the end of the bar i knew the boy was and i saw a group of about 16 lads at a table covered in beer bottles. as i approached them they all serenaded me with a one direction song. which they proceeded to sing at any females who happened to walk past. safe to say they had been there drinking all day and somehow i  was the only girl hanging out with them. i was happily flirting away with the boy and somehow it came up that my gangbang record was 10 and i would love to beat it. as there were actually 25 of them there the news of my desire spread pretty quick round the table and soon all attention was on me. it was fun for a while, before i remembered that the fuck buddy was going out of town for a week at 4am and we had actual plans to spend the end of the night together. at this point it was about 5pm. i told the boys if they were still awake at 4am i was theirs. there was general disappointment as we all knew they would be fast asleep by that time of the morning. so they started trying to convince me to do it now. i wasnt sold as i had other friends to meet up with and it was so early and i did have to meet the fuck buddy later. the hot boy was being quite persistent that me, him and one other should go back now and the rest can be done later. i hate being pressured into a situation so was getting turned off. i told them this and nothing was said about it till the two were like, hey we wanna go back to the room and get changed, its now or never. well i thought, fuck it. it would be a quick bit of fun. it was still only 6pm. i could go back out and party later.

this was a very small town i lived in and if anyone would see me walking away from a bar with two boys, the fuck buddy would promptly be informed. so i told them to follow me to my car and that they had to quickly duck into the car without anyone seeing. it kinda added to the fun of it anyway. after a stop for condoms and water we headed to their room in a hostel. basically one room with 8 beds in for half the boys. i dont think there was any time with just the two of them before two more boys turned up cause they had realized what was goin on when we left the bar and followed us back. i was sober at the time but i have generally fuzzy memories of sex from the last year as there was so much. anyway i remember them taking it in turns fucking me and sticking their cocks in my mouth. we had some interesting combinations of positions on a bunk bed. me bent over with my head in one guys lap, sucking his cock, with one guy either side of me in my hands and another behind, fucking me. one of them, 231, came in my mouth pretty quick. which is always great. at some point there was an influx into the room of about 10 guys. some were super down with what was goin on, gettin naked and into the action, some watched then realized they were out and left. they were takin pictures and filming it and i really didnt mind. it was fun.

i had started gettin calls and texts from a few girlfriends and the fuck buddy wanting to know where i was. i thought id give myself till 9 to reappear and ignored the phone. the boys knew we were on a little deadline and we kept up pretty intense switching of bjs, hand jobs and me getting fucked. i think at this point there was about 8 of them involved. 231 who had already blown was doing a great job of fanning me and keeping me cool. i wanted to get on my knees with them all around me. so they formed a circle so i could suck one and use my hands on the two either side, and then id move around on to the next cock keeping them all hard. 231 was still dutifully fanning me and another guy who had blown while fucking me, got underneath me and started licking my pussy while i serviced his mates. after a while i let a couple of them fuck me till they blew and there were a couple left who hadnt. by now it was nearing 9pm. i was so hot and pretty exhausted. i told them time was up and i had to go. they were cool and a few of us took a team shower. when we were all getting dressed i asked for a group photo. so they picked me up naked and we got the best photo. since then i have stupidly smashed my phone and lost the picture.

as i was gettin my shit together i started replying to messages and found out that fuck buddy was at a bar round the corner. i told him id been with another gf and would be out to meet him soon. after a few goodbyes i left the boys and drove over to meet the fuck buddy. without even brushing my teeth i greeted the FB with a kiss and hung out outside for a bit. he told me the girls were still at bar one, so i told him id go hang with them and meet him later.

several bar and club hops, dancing with the girls, and hanging with the FB later, i ended up at one club while the FB was at another. another boy i must have made fall in love with a stripper that weekend was at the same club as me. i think i had hooked up with him on the friday or something and was so keen to bump in to him again. he was also on a trip with his footy team. he was the drunkest man in the club that night and we had some epic fun dancing and secret making out in dark corners. however my midnight date with the FB was fast approaching. i had put him off twice already so eventually had to go meet him. i went and picked him up and took him home to mine. we had some lovely last night together for a week sex. i told him that i was still wide away and the girls were still out so i wanted to go back to town and party some more. he was fine as i promised to bring him back a maccas at 4am and wake him up for his trip.

i went back to the club and found drunkest boy ever, 238. he barely even knew i was there by this point. but i wasnt giving up. he was so freaking cute. eventually the club was quieting down and i told his friends i was taking responsibility of him for the next couple of hours. he managed to get a taxi with me down the ocean front to a little park where we ended up fucking for ages on a well lit walkway. only a couple of people passed us by and without incident. he was fun and funny and i lay him down on a bench and rode him till he came.

i walked him, not an easy task for the drunkest boy ever, back to his hotel and to meet his boys before they had to fly home. i jumped back in my car, rushing now to get the maccas before i was late to wake up the FB back home asleep at mine. i managed to get us a huge breakfast, which after the 12 hours i had, i really needed, and wake him up as his alarm went off. we said a sad goodbye about how we were gonna miss each other that week. then i fell asleep and i slept very well that day. ironically i didnt do anything while he was actually away. i didnt get to break my gangbang record. but they were all one footy team. so atleast it was a good attempt.

Next Post

...wanted to tell you my fantasies

Wed Oct 9 , 2013
hmm my fantasies. i have a few. detailed role plays i want to act out. but i never want to tell someone i want to do it cause it would go against the fantasy. its a hard line to figure out how to tell someone to rape you and to […]
Flashing a little nipple


text:
Today is an excellent day for cloud adoption in Switzerland. Back in March 2018, Microsoft announced the plan of opening a new Azure Geography with two Azure Regions in Switzerland. Today, Microsoft announced the availability of new Azure Regions in Switzerland, next to 31 new Azure edge sites. With the Azure Region Switzerland West and Switzerland North, Microsoft addresses the need of customers to have cloud regions and datacenters available in Switzerland. The availability of these Swiss Azure Regions and Microsoft Cloud datacenters will address data residency, sovereignty, compliance, resiliency, and latency requirements of Microsoft customers and partners.

Tom Keane, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure:

Today, we’re announcing the availability of Azure from our new cloud regions in Switzerland. These new regions and our ongoing global expansion are in response to customer demand as more industry leaders choose Microsoft’s cloud services to further their digital transformations. As we enter new markets, we work to address scenarios where data residency is of critical importance, especially for highly regulated industries seeking the compliance standards and extensive security offered by Azure.

Microsoft Azure Switzerland

Reliable, secure data residency in Switzerland Your data. Your solutions. Local cloud. Global scale. More about the Swiss Azure Regions

Microsoft Azure Switzerland is not only interesting for Swiss organizations which need low-latency access or have data residency requirements, but also for companies outside of Switzerland which want to store their data in Switzerland.

Understanding Azure Regions and Geographies

Azure Geographies

A geography is a discrete market, typically containing two or more regions, that preserves data residency and compliance boundaries.

Geographies allow customers with specific data-residency and compliance needs to keep their data and applications close. Geographies are fault-tolerant to withstand complete region failure through their connection to our dedicated high-capacity networking infrastructure. You can find more information on Azure Geographies here.

  • Geography: Switzerland

Azure Regions

A region is a set of datacenters deployed within a latency-defined perimeter and connected through a dedicated regional low-latency network. This allows customers who are having data residency requirements to have disaster recovery and geo-redundant within the same country.

Microsoft Azure Switzerland - Swiss Azure Regions

Microsoft Azure Switzerland – Swiss Azure Regions

With more global regions than any other cloud provider, Azure gives customers the flexibility to deploy applications where they need to. Azure is generally available in 46 regions around the world, with plans announced for 8 additional regions. You can find more information on Azure Regions here.

  • Switzerland North
  • Switzerland West
Microsoft Azure Regions Map with Swiss Azure Regions Switzerland

Microsoft Azure Regions Map

As of today, Microsoft will offer two Azure regions in Switzerland called Switzerland North (Zürich region) and Switzerland West (Geneva region). Switzerland North will become the main available region for this geography, while customers can request access to Switzerland West if needed. You can find more information about Microsoft Azure locations here.

Microsoft Cloud Switzerland

With the opening of these new Swiss Azure regions, Microsoft will deliver cloud services directly from Switzerland. This will not just include Microsoft Azure, but also Office 365 and Dynamic 365. However, Office 365 and Dynamics will be available later after the initial launch. The Microsoft Cloud in Switzerland will provide you with more than 90 compliance certifications, including over 50 specific to global regions and countries, such as the US, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, and China. And, get more than 35 compliance offerings specific to the needs of key industries, including health, government, finance, education, manufacturing, and media. Find out more about Azure compliance.

The Microsoft Azure Switzerland regions will offer multiple benefits for customers and partners.

  • Enterprise-grade performance, flexibility, and reliability
    Get all the cloud benefits to accelerate your business growth using an extensive collection of cloud and secure data services.
  • Remove barriers
    Financial services and other regulated industries can accelerate their digital transformation to the cloud with unique services tailored to meet their needs.
  • Regional paired Swiss datacenters
    Azure Switzerland will enable customers to meet local data residency requirements within Switzerland. Customers will also have the ability to pair the geographically separated Switzerland North (Zurich) region with Switzerland West (Geneva) for regional disaster recovery scenarios that maintain data residency.
  • Compliance you can trust
    One measure of Microsoft’s commitment to the privacy of customer data is Microsoft’s adoption of the world’s first code of practice for cloud privacy, ISO/IEC 27018. Upon completion, the Swiss Azure datacenters will have global Azure certifications, including SOC 1-3, ISO 27001, and others. Visit the Microsoft Trust Center for more information.

Azure Services available in Swiss Azure Regions

The availability of Azure services will be a staged process, with some services available as of today and additional services following in the coming months. Also, remember that not all services are available in all Azure regions. As of today, you can find more information about the products and services available in the Swiss Azure regions on the Azure website.

Office 365 and Dynamics 365 in Switzerland

Office 365 and Dynamics 365 will be following later after this initial release. This will allow Office 365 customer data-at-rest to stay in Switzerland depending on the service. You can find more information about where Office 365 stores your customer data on the Office 365 page. If you are an existing Office 365 customer, you will be able to move your Office 365 tenant later. More information on tenants move can be found here.

Azure Pricing

Azure pricing is different depending on the Azure region you pick. You will be able to find the Azure pricing page for the specific Azure regions.

Request access to Swiss Azure Regions

If you login to the Azure portal today, don’t be surprised that you won’t see the Azure Switzerland regions, Switzerland North and Switzerland West. To get access today, you will need to request access by creating a support ticket, which will give you access to Switzerland North. This managed onboarding process of customer access to the Swiss Azure datacenters will be removed later.

Azure Portal Region Switzerland North and Switzerland West

Azure Portal Region Switzerland North and Switzerland West

In Switzerland, where Microsoft has been operating for 30 years, Azure is now available from new cloud datacenter regions located in the areas of Zurich and Geneva. A selection of more than 30 early adopter customers and partner organizations are already using Azure services. Microsoft is helping Swiss organizations embrace cloud services for improved efficiency, innovation development, and increased productivity. General availability of Azure is anticipated for all customers in the coming months. Additional early access customers will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Request access to Azure Switzerland

Innovate Switzerland Event

Innovate Switzerland is an event where Microsoft celebrates Swiss innovation driven by the cloud and the Microsoft datacenters in Switzerland together with customers and partners. On Thursday, August 29, Microsoft hosts three parallel events in Geneva, Bern, Zurich and many other locations with our partners, to demonstrate Swiss diversity.

Primo Amrein, Cloud Lead at Microsoft Switzerland

Partners are in the core DNA of Microsoft. That is why we offer Innovate Switzerland as an enabling platform for our Swiss partner ecosystem. There will be a live broadcast from the three Microsoft-led events including content from all regions. This stream is shared with Microsoft partners, enabling them to hold their own customer event at the same day/time. Thereby, partners can add their relevant content around the overall broadcast from Microsoft.

With that, join our partner events in a location near you!

Create free Azure Account ☁

Create your Azure free account today and get started with 12 months of free services!

I hope this gives you an overview of the Microsoft Cloud Switzerland and the Swiss Azure datacenters. I hope you will be joining us at one of the partner locations or online in the live stream for Innovate Switzerland and also check out the latest Azure Certification exams to get your Microsoft Azure Certification. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. And please refer to the official Microsoft documentation and resources on You can also find the Microsoft Switzerland announcement here.